Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - August 01, 1949, Winnipeg, Manitoba Freedom of Trade Liberty of religion Equality of civil rights leg free press Winnipeg August 1, 1949 Grant Dexter Sifton publisher. We. Lord Bruce Hutchison _ Genera. Manager. Associate editor. Third balance Sheet statements recently appearing in the news have a direct tearing on the third anniversary of the United kingdom Canada wheat agreement. This agr lenient came into opera Tion on August 1, 1946. A few weeks ago the House Organ of the Alberta wheat Pool said this the Winnipeg free press calculated that the loss to the growers on wheat sold by Canada under the wheat agreement in the crop years 194s-47 and 1947-48 was Little is to be gained by disputing the figures of the free press. Let them be accepted and decide what is to be done about the Alberta Pool proposes that the Farmers recover this loss from the Dominion Treasury. On july 8, the Alberta wheat Pool Organ went still further arguing from the annual report of the wheat Board for 1947-48 that apart from exports the difference on sales in Canada Between the world Price and Domestic prices from 1945-49 was millions. Further reference to this loss in the Domestic Market was made in an Alberta Pool broadcast in june 25. On july 19, at London Hon. Douglas Abbott Canadian minister of finance was reported As saying with respect to the British Market for our wheat Canada will have to Start looking for other markets for a on this third anniversary of the agreement some Stock taking is in order. In the first year August 1, 1946 to july 31, 1947 the loss As reported to parliament by Hon. J. A. Mackinnon the then minister of Trade and Commerce july 17, 1947 unrevised Hansard Page 6020 was 77c per Bushel on 160 million bushels or millions. In the second year the loss calculated from the spread Between the world Price and the wheat agreement Price was millions. In the third year of the agreement just ended the world Price of wheat continued to be above the wheat agree ment Price of per Bushel from August .1, 1948 until june 1949. It is Well within the Mark to say that Western Farmers lost 20 cents per Bushel on the 140 million bushels sold under contract in the past 12 millions. Each month the wheat Board announces the difference Between the world Price and the wheat agreement Price. The fore going calculation is made by averaging these monthly state ments for. The eleven 1948 to june 1949. On average the world Price was 23% cents per Bushel higher. The 20 cent estimate therefore allows Lor a substantial change in favor of the wheat agreement in july. It is useful to make the calculations for the 1949-50 crop year not that there is any Hope of recovering the millions which have been lost the contract itself contains no Safe guard against a loss in the third year but because there May Well be a slight gain in the final year of the contract. The United kingdom will continue to pay per Bushel on the final 140 million bushels to be sold under the agree ment in 1949-50, while most of our other foreign buyers be cause of the world wheat agreement will pay not More than per Bushel. But whatever May be gained in 1949-50 will no More than offset the loss in 1948-49. There will still remain the loss of millions in the first two years of the agreement. The higher figure of millions is the result of calculations made from the annual report of the wheat Board. Tax if to the statements of the Alberta wheat Pool be added the admissions of it. Hon. J. A. Gardiner the Federal minister of agriculture last fall and the joint declaration of the United kingdom and Canadian governments on january 20 last it May now be said that the loss under the wheat agree ment is everywhere conceded. There was a time when to suggest that there would or could be such a loss evoked storms of abuse. The wheat pools and or. Chief authors of the insisted that All possibility of loss had been excluded. This was True even a year ago of the second anniversary of the agreement. But today it is generally accepted that there has been a loss of some s330 millions not counting the year just ended. All this is bad enough but or. Abbott s state ment raises another and much More important aspect of the wheat agreement. The loss of invaluable markets for our wheat was an inevitable consequence of entering into this con informed of the meaning and implications of British Trade policy by or. Wilgress and his staff i the critical months ahead. In Many respects Washingto has become the place where the major decisions affecting the fre world have to be taken. For the reason and because of Canada s in Tilatti association with the unite states it is of More than Usua importance that our representation there should be of a Hig order. In or. Hume wrong car Ada has an ambassador who a won a place of distinction an Trust in Washington his master of Public affairs acknowledge everywhere is bringing Honor i Canada As Well As credit to him self. I some Day when All the facts a available canadians will realize that it was More than an that Canada benefited so Large from the Marshall plan by the sys Tern of off Shore purchases tha Canada s influence on the evolution of the North Atlantic Pac was so marked that or. Truman arms programme contains both direct and indirect benefits to can Ada and that there has been such constant understanding in Washington of Canada s anxiety As a trading nation Over Britain s Exchange problems. The influence of the Canadian embassy should not be overlooked when one is assessing this achieve Meiu and giving thanks for it. Or wrong whose own ability a been attested in years of service has deepened his title to our gratitude by gathering an exception ally competent staff about him these younger men will continue the traditions of service Abe adj embodied in the record of affairs whose present minister or. L. B. Pearson is himself a graduate from the ranks. Neither or. Wilgress nor or. Wrong is in need of Eulogy. Their work is their Monument and their justification. But in. Is Well when one hears so much about noisy and far less indispensable figures to re member for a change these ser vants of Canada and of others like them who labor so quietly and effectively for the Advance ment of our country and the grow ing prospects of world co opera Tion i but what if they could t come right away a Juar Call he. Who rules South Africa government by fear by m. Huizinga Manchester guardian to Tho rules South Africa sessions at the mercy of the Black f v some will say or. Malan chamber of mines. Both Are wrong. Fear is the real ruler of this unhappy land the fear of a hereditary ruling class which sees itself threatened by the Rise of the masses identifies its survival with that of the nation As a whole and seeks ils self preservation in a policy of repression that in its heart of hearts it knows is powerless to Stem the tide it is this fear which has driven South Africa Ever farther to the right while the rest of the human family to which it continuously moved to the left during 40 years in which the poll tical emancipation of the Massei All Over the world and regardless. Of their color has progressed a leaps arid Bounds the Black people of South Africa have seen their civil liberties and Politica rights steadily reduced. Opposite direction majorities. This and not any inherent moral or intellectual differences Between the different european communities is the. Obvious explanation of the fact that the settlers of Kenya where they talk of a Plu ral society with equal representation of the numerically very unequal racial groups show them selves less steadfast in the demo cratic Faith than for instance the alien bureaucracy Uganda ack of adequate investment the key the Central problem of Bri Tain As sir Stafford Cripps Ever tires of saying is increased to wealth tract. Under its terms we undertook to sell far More to the United kingdom than we Ever did ii Normal times. The figures Here were Given on this Page in the articles written by the late or. Sanford Evans last april. Our Normal Market in the . Prior to the War was 78.8 million bushels per year. Yet under the agreement we undertook to sell 160 millions in each of the first two years and 140 millions in each of the last two. It is one of the glaring weaknesses of bilateral or two nation deals that at the end of the contract the seller is left bereft of other markets. As was pointed out in july 1946, during the wheat agreement negotiations the consequences of t such a contract would be that we would have to throw Over Many of our traditional customers. Normally we sold 126.7 million bushels per year to Continental Europe and it is some of this by Sines that we will now have to recover. More than that at a time of acute world shortage this country went in for Price discrimination. Under the contract was sold for per by 8hel in the first two years to the United kingdom while our other customers had to pay the world Price which in this period was never less than si.85 and Rose to per Bushel. The consequences of. This kind of dealing Are obvious. They Are precisely the same As occur in the Corner store when one customer buys goods at a Spe dial Price denied to others. There is no surer Way of losing Trade and Good will. All this will become painfully evident As we seek customers among the buyers we have discriminated against since August 1, 19-16. it looks As if Congress will take no action on senator Lodge s proposal to Amend the electoral procedures of the United states even though the judicial committee of the House of representatives and Senate have both approved of his plan. The excuse for delay is too Busy. The real reason is that politicians of both parties Are unwilling to tamper with the voting machinery. If accepted senator Lodge s amendment would have allowed the minority vote in a state to count towards the election of a presi Dent. At present the party which gets a majority even a majority of Only one vote pockets All the state s voting strength with the votes cast for the minority count ing for nothing. Senator Lodge wanted each state s vote for the president to reflect the result of the ballot. If two thirds of the new York vote for example went in out a had advanced in creating put for every hour worked which is in exactly but another Canadian a combination of factors authority or. Gilbert Jackson surprised he discovered t Canada the United every Mart. In Britain increased productivity is needed for National survival. In America it is essential to any in the Standard of living for if the average Man does n it produce More goods he can never consume More goods. The Economy of North America is far More productive for the hours labor put into than any Ever known before. By 1940 it producing twice As Many goods for the average Man As it produced at the first of the Century. But according to business week. Pro for the democratic nominee he would get Only two thirds of its votes in the electoral College with the rest being divided among his opponents accordance with secret of Hight productivity. Gigantic Hydro development despite Canada s Gigantic Hydro electrical development or. Jack son says the mechanical Energy now being consumed in the states per head of population still is More than 25 per cent. In excess of what s being consumed the United states of. . Per is using 220 millions head of population Canada 175 millions. That Means As or. Jackson says that for ductility which increased steadily each four horsepower available to this agreement has one More year to go. But there will be no difference of opinion As to results. The Farmers have lost s330 millions As Well As invaluable Export markets. It will be the general Hope that the Canadian government and the wheat pools will have Learned the lesson and Liat there will be to More bilateral contracts of this kind. Ambassadors in the nature of things most of an ambassador s work must be done without publicity. Making Public speeches is Only one of Bis duties. His True Worth is measured by his ability in negotiation by the respect he commands and by the accuracy and timeliness of his reports to his government. Can Ada is fortunate at this period of growing tension in world Trade in being represented in London and Washington by such outstanding Public servants As or. Dana Wil Gress and or. Hume wrong. Or. Wilgress became High com missioner in London in succession to Robertson now the Secretary. To the Cabinet at Ottawa. Or. Robertson won the Confidence and respect of British officials to a remarkable degree. That tradition is being sustained by or. Wilgress who has been recognized for Many years As one of the Best informed men in Canada on the problems of world Trade. During the recent financial negotiations in London or. Wilgress was throughout a close adviser to or. Abbott. Canadians can have every Assurance that the govern ment at Ottawa will be kept fully their popular support. The present system which ignores minority representation has produced some strange results on occasion in . Politics. But each party thinks it May one Day be the Lucky beneficiary of this system and hesitates to interfere with it. This reluctance of politicians in for More than a Century has not been increasing of late years. No More goods than in 1941 the american it says turns out no More goods in an hour than he did in 1941. We Are getting More total production in our Only because we have More people working not because each one of u is producing under such conditions living Stan Dards cannot Rise. There Are no More goods for the average Man because he is not making them. The average Canadian producer five horsepower Are in use by his United states counterpart. To this difference much More than to the climatic differential which handicaps the people of this says or. Jackson i personally Trace the difference Man mechanical. Productivity throughout the rest of Africa the native populations some of which have Only enjoyed the Bene its of european schooling for half an increasing Art in government. In the Union there they have had no less than lire centuries of european example to guide them and where they have known moreover be cause of the much larger numbers of europeans in their midst a much More intensive Contact with Western civilization the process of progressive disenfranchisement has now reached the Point where they Are very nearly voiceless in the councils of. The nation. Thus the South african Domi Nion is moving in the opposite direction to that of the common wealth of which it forms part and whose democratic principles it pro fesses. Thus or. Malan s policy of apartheid for the non europeans which has no stake Ivi the country and therefore Little or nothing to lose by the democratic acceptance of majority Rule. Thus again the Hundred thousand White inhabitants of Southern Rhodesia where they Are thinking of suspending the native franchise because Ahe natives Are beginning to Brake toe Good use of it take even More liberties with the democratic Prin Ciple than their neighbors in Kenya. Thus finally the two and a half million South africans for whom nothing less than their existence As a nation is at stake have gone the whole hog and no longer even pay lip service to the democratic Deal of majority Rule. The hand Oil of bureaucrats and the few White traders of. Uganda can go Back to England when the Black chickens they Are hatching with heir training for democratic self government Corne Home to Roost. The two and a half million South africans have no Refuge anywhere except a Camp for displaced per on. They have Only one Home he Union. Vill it work cannot be maintained much Les Swinich is. Only the dutch word increased if the average Man is not prepared to work hard and efficiently during his hours of la Bor. However hard or efficiently he works no major increase in productivity no great Rise in living standards can be achieved with it would be tempting to con out huge investments in new and More efficient Plant both in in Field marshal Smuts policy of be which in turn is Only a pretty word for repression is achieving a position of apartheid in the literal sense of isolation for the nation As a whole. Dusty and agriculture. If policies of governments encourage thir investment they Are encouraging higher living Stan Dards. If they repress this invest ment nothing that the state can do by Way of social services can raise the living Standard of the average Man thought May improve the condition of the under privileged in average Liv ing standards North and South of the Border. The varied slates May As a higher Liv health of the United sure it permanently no Standard than Canada can support though this b Canada s resources Are not. Yet revealed and on the other hand the business week blames the United states is using up Many of its resources at an Al farming rate. But in any Case there win be no higher living Standard in Canada or anywhere else until the aver cessation of productivity s Long upward momentum partly on the restrictive practices of manufacturers and labor unions but mostly on the Lack of adequate in vestment in be w Industrial Mach Washington is All the More puzzling winery. Investment it argues is Dis because even if Congress had agreed Jeou raged by High taxation and the to the Lodge amendment it could not have become Law being a constitutional amendment until it had been approved by three quarters of All the states. From the Golden books Blan by John Drinkwater this is the wonder always not that vast mutability which is event the pits and Pinnacles of change but Man s Valiance that Range All circumstance and come to port unspent. Agents Are these events these ecstasies and tribulations to prove the purities or poor oblivion that Are our being. When Beauty and peace possess us they Are none but As they touch the Beauty and peace of men nor when our Days Are done. And the last utterance of doom must Fali is the doom anything memorable for its the bearing of Man facing it diversion of too much of the nation s income into government in Stead of into Industrial expansion and improvement. Whether this be True or not the figures on productivity in Canada Are surprising and a Little discouraging. One of Canada s greatest Engi neers recently tried to find out just where Canada stood in its Abi Lity to produce goods compared to it big neighbor. These facts Are hard to obtain for productivity As distinguished from total production is Seldom measured. The Best information this Engineer could secure came from the National Industrial conference Board which in 1946, reported the productivity of various countries in pre War years. If the United states unequalled capacity to produce goods or Man hour be taken As the in Dex figure of 100, Canada comes second with a figure of 89, Ger Many third with 48, Britain fourth june mass with 44., Russia fifth with 41. Is today s scripture human production of consumer goods mass appeals in politics mass entertainment arts r elude that these South Afri cans must be an unhappy Breed of White reactionaries. But the True explanation of their conduct is less flattering to our Western complacency. For one does not have to do much travelling Between Nai Robi and Capetown to discover that the degree of liberalism and democracy Practised by the different White communities varies in direct proportion with the Cost of these expensive articles of Faith. The farther South one goes the greater by the redistribution of wealth the european stake in the Terri by a real Ami durable improve ment in social services themselves cannot be supported without in creased productivity which must pay for them. Tories one passes through and hence the higher the Cost of that liberalism which consistently applied would eventually leave the european minority and All its pos is such a fear As dictates he policy of the South african uling class Likely to prove a Good counsellor will repression work let the leaders of african opinion live the answer. Here it is typical quotations from half a dozen Peeches delivered at the last ses Ion of the native representative Council the african people Are be coming More and More restive already some of tie non european people Are beginning seriously to con Sider boycotting All the oppressive measures of the government we have now come to the. Of. The ways if. You do not want the Friendship of a who belong to this country then the Day May come the Day when the asiatics come Here that we shall not stand by you within a very Short time there will arise in this coun try a very serious and danger Ous state of affairs. When we feel that even Hope has been lost then the african has to find a Way out for him self if it has been found possible to get the euro peans to Retreat from India the Day will come when you will be called upon to re treat from this land that Man Lincoln at. The recent so called Bill rights Congress in new York City communists and fellow travellers whose names have be come familiar to the american attempted to exploit for its under the Sycamore tree by w. Healy Man is producing More value the negro problem Day for his use As a consumer. That problem has been fanned to and this Inq ease must depend up torrid temperature by the great Gult of mediocrity modern trend to mass mobbed As though they were a 1 emphasis in various Fields d baling with the subject of surgery itself professor and literature for the masses Lead this to Sav so on All embodying carefully Cal i the surgery is particularly examples curated appeals to the common1 level of appreciation and Intelli gence was the subject of some pertinent comment by an austra Lian educator recently. Speaking before the australasian College of surgeons professor Job Burke of the University of Melbourne emphasized the Dang ers inherent in the growing cult i of mediocrity from which no a j of life and death cannot of of great men whose discover ies have been thwarted and denounced by the rigid and standardized opinions of con temporaries. It is surely a mat Ter of some concern that the Broad tendencies of society to Day Are More favourable to shared mediocrity than those of unshared excellence. Surgery so often a matter Canada still Short of . Record thus before the War Canada closer to the efficiency of understand these things Pru Dent and he shall know them for tire ways of the lord Are right and the just shall walk in them but the transgressors shall fall United states Industry than any Tion seemed to be exempt Russia was no mean proponent of his own fiend. Of Fine arts he cited among other things the present glorification of russian painters who perpetuate the worst traditions of the 19th Century and Are hailed As masters of a modern turning to the United states and other nation but had some he saw second raters usurping the Public appreciation of to go to equal it. How far these figures have varied no one knows first Rale artists second rate actors writer crooners being Lance and free Ford the Price of mediocrity. Tie professor is an aria tour talc and can never be otherwise. Its Advance will always Call for the Best in ability and achieve ment mass Cults carry with them As is being demonstrated in Many today a High degree of in tolerance and prejudice. To pre serve High standards the austra Lian teacher observed there must be a revival of the drive for Toler negro Singer and actor Paul Robeson. At that meeting he spoke against a Resolution calling upon president Truman to Pardon and restore civil liberties to is Mem Bers of the socialist workers party whose names have become familiar to american newspaper read ers whom Robeson As a Stalin Ite denounced As trotskyist thereby adding to a muddled political def Bate. Ralph bundle the distinguished negro of tie United nations who has declined a High Post in the United states administration be cause it would oblige him to live in a segregated District in washing ton and Jackie Robinson the base Ball Syar have taken Issue with Robeson for saying that he would not fight for the United states against the soviet Union and Lave declared that most negroes under the stars and stripes Are Oyal citizens. T was a warm Day and the nurse s Diess was Low necked. The baby was kissing her and affectionately patting her Nock and shoulders. The child shows no sign knowing or caring that the nurse s skin is said mrs. Buckner. What a pity that it is said her husband. He pointed out to me a Row of old huts on the Buck Ner estate where the slaves lived in the slavery Days. Best remembered i n Russia where Paul Robeson has been living for some time As an honoured visitor there Are few negroes who Are welcomed for their propaganda value and there is no parallel to. The Ameri can situation which has grown greatly As a National problem As i heard predicted in Lexington Kentucky in 1932, by professor Buckner of the University of Ken Tucky. Professor Buckner was the grandson of general s. B. Buck Ner of the Confederate army. I remember an afternoon at the old Buckner residence where pro Fessor. Biskner lived. He beckoned me to a window in the room where we were having Tea and told me look Down upon As pretty a scene As one could imagine. Under the Shade of a. Spreading Sycamore tree the negro nurse was sitting with the year old Buckner baby i in Lexington i saw the famous Blue grass pastures and i saw the celebrated horse Man o War at his Home but the two things i remember Best Are the picture i have in mind of the White baby fondling its Black skinned nurse and a remark made by an elderly lady of one of the oldest Lexington families whose grand daughter took us in her automobile to see some of the sights of the town and to neighbourhood. The Young lady pointed out to us an old residence and told us that it was the of Mary Todd s family and Birthplace. Said the old lady vrho accompanied us the Odds were a Fine and after a pause she added bitterly and to think that Mary Todd married that Man i could hardly believe my ears ;