Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - September 20, 1949, Winnipeg, Manitoba Freedom of Trade Liberty of religion Equality of civil rights Winnipeg free press printed and published the Winnipeg free press company limited 300 Carlton Street Winnipeg. Manitoba. Authorized As second class matter by the Post office department Ottawa. Victor s1ftox. Grant Dexter publisher. Editor. We. Lord. Bruce Hutchison. General manager. Associate editor. Winnipeg tuesday september 20, 1949 devaluation of Sterling the devaluation of the British Pound in terms of . Dollars from s4.03 to s2.80 announced on sunday by sir Stafford Cripps Chancellor of the exchequer whether judged As a political or. Economic measure is an event of major importance. On the highest political level its significance is obvious. It is one of the measures which it is hoped will close the Gap which gradually has been opening Between the Sterling and Dollar areas. The world today is divided politically be tween the peace Loving nations and aggressive soviet Russia and its satellites. This division for the time being has made the United nations impotent thereby calling into being the North Atlantic pact. The nations subscribing to this pact under the leadership of the United states and the United kingdom need to be strongly United both economically and politically. The Dollar crisis threatens to Divide and weaken to Fem economically particularly the United kingdom and vie Sterling group. To solve this crisis the Washington con Ference was held and a number of policies affirmed. Valuation of Sterling is another and most important item in this programme. It is therefore impossible to exaggerate the importance of the purpose in View. The Canadian government last night announced that the Canadian Dollar has been devalued in terms of the . Dollar. This of course is a consequence of the action of the United kingdom. The affect on this country which will be far reaching will be discussed on another occasion. A considering the devaluation of the Pound purely As a British policy several Points emerge. The circumstances which led to devaluation Are these the United kingdom must buy certain essential foodstuffs and raw materials in the Dollar area. Otherwise her people would go unfed and her factories have to shut Down causing mass unemployment. The . S need has greatly exceeded her earnings of dollars. The devaluation of the Pound Given certain conditions will operate in two ways to help solve this problem. It will reduce British prices in terms of dollars thus enabling Bri Tish goods to compete in the . Market and increase the earnings of . Dollars. It will also increase the Cost Britain s imports from the Dollar area and thus tend to Dis courage All but the most essential imports. Sir Stafford Cripps in his broadcast illustrated these Points by references to the Sale of British automobiles in the . And the Purchase by Britain of Canadian wheat and Ilour. British cars Are priced in Sterling. If a car is priced at and the Pound is Worth s4 . Then the . Price will be but if the value of the Pound is Cut to s2.80, the . Price for this car will be s840. After de valuation the will give the manufacturer precisely the cum he formerly got from is the lowering of the Price is Clear enough although As sir Stafford noted it will mean that a larger volume of exports will be needed to maintain not to mention increasing the Dollar earnings. In reverse however the United kingdom will have to pay More for imports from the Dollar area. With wheat the Price at fort William will continue to be per Bushel. But whereas the Pound bought two bushels the Pound will buy Only 1 bushels. The 10 per cent devaluation of the Canadian Dollar improves this slightly for the British. The Pound in . Money becomes in Canadian Money and at per Bushel will buy just Over 1% bushels. As with wheat so with All the . S imports from the Dollar area. This Means that the Price of foodstuffs and raw materials then the effects of crop failures and Low farm produce prices began to be Felt. The population fell steadily year by year. In 1942 alone Saskatchewan lost nearly the equivalent the population of the City of Regina. Manitoba and Alberta suffered some bad years too but they have Long since bounded Back from their Low Points and the population of both is far higher than it was in 1936. Saskatchewan however Kep right on losing population in t 1946 when she was Down nearly from her Peak. Now she has at last reversed the trend but she is still below her 1936 Peak and the rate increase is disappointingly Low. It is Only half what the province should expect from natural in crease alone. The fact Htit the natural increase last year was while the 1949 population is up by Only shows that people Are still leaving Saskatchewan Manitoba on the other hand gained about 9.000 new residents Over and above her natural in crease. Alberta gained and British Columbia Over the other provinces Are proving attractive to new settlers. Saskatchewan is not and even its own people Are getting out. Opposition last week the economic Coop ration administration in the uni Ted states approved Britain s use of in e. C. A. Funds for the Purchase Canadian wheat. This is Welcome news for can Ada but h must be remembered that the decision can be upset by the Congress if it so wills. And although the administration is hopeful of convincing a majority of the Congress that the action is necessary there can be no doubt that it will run into opposition. An indication of this opposition has already appeared in the informal reaction of several Sena tors to the e. C. A s decision. One Republican senator describes it As a flagrant violation of the e. C. A. Act which says that e. C. A. Dollars shall not be used to Purchase outside the United states any agricultural commodity of which there is a United states surplus. Wheat is in surplus sup training for the big fight monday night club by k. M. M. Selection of a Leader the Liberal convention a ply in the another United states senator predicts that the Congress striations on place new re the use of e. C. A. Rise. Here is the rub in the policy. The amount of the Rise in living and other costs will be a direct Cut in the Standard of living of the people of the United kingdom. It will be reducing by that much the gains made in recent years by increases government welfare payments subsidies and it is unfortunate but absolutely necessary that this should happen. And if the present cuts Are not sufficient More will have to follow. The British people As sir Stafford stated must stand on their own feet. The deadline As he put it is in 1952 when the Marshall plan will end. There f in which they can have a higher Standard of living is no than they can earn in open Competition an the markets of the world. If the British people refuse to accept this lowering of their Standard of labor seeks higher wages and the government takes up higher food costs in pres ent policy will fail. In due course costs will be pushed up by wages and taxes to the Point where the British goods will be just As uncompetitive in the Dollar area under a 80 Pound As they have been under a s4. Pound. Sir Stafford realizes this. The higher Cost of food is to be paid by Consumers. Bread prices will go up and the Cost of living will Advance nearly one Point. There will be no increase in subsidy payments and the government is urging labor not to seek higher wages and Industry generally to hold Down production costs. These exhortations Are eminently sound and it is to be hoped that they will be darkened to. Yet it is obvious that the difficulties of carrying through a policy of devaluation in a time of full employment Are infinitely greater than in a time of depression. Great Success attended devaluation of the Pound in 1931. But there was then an effective Brake on wage and other increases in costs of production this Brake was unemployment. If men went on strike their places could readily be filled from the ranks of the unemployed. Large surpluses of raw materials kept these prices Low. None of these factors obtains in present Day Britain. In consequence it will be much More difficult to reap the benefits of devaluation than it was 18 years ago. While recognizing the hazards it goes without saying that the British policy will have the unqualified support of All who realize the urgency of the problem. It is of crucial importance alike to the safety and the Prosperity of the free world that it be population trends Manitoban can take solid Satis faction from the population Esti mates issued a few Days ago by the Dominion Bureau of statistics. They show that the rate of in crease in this province is second Only to British Columbia s in All nine provinces for which 1948 and 1949 figures were issued. And . Gained the top spot Only by a couple of Decimal Points. Funds. Another expresses his Lack of understanding of the administration s action and still another talks about the harm which the Andrj the decision will do to United states thus Farmers. All this emphasizes the unstable position into which Canada s wheat marketing machinery has fallen As result of Britain s shortage of dollars. As pointed out by our Washington correspondent the marketing of a Large part of our crop is now made directly depend ent on the discretion of e. C. A. Officials and the Bounty of the Congress. For this reason canadians will Hope devoutly that the extensive Steps now being taken to help re Lieve the Dollar famine among our wheat customers will be successful. Until they Are the Outlook for our wheat producers in the world mar Ket cannot be Bright. Convention is normally the time when the laity of a political party takes Over. For a few Days before they scatter and vanish delegates Are a powerful Force in the destinies of a party. When All is Over however it is for the professional politician to carry on and try and put in effect their deliberations. Next week s convention of the Manitoba Liberal progressive association is no such Clear Cut affair however. The very name of the association indicates that it is not a straight Forward party meeting As is the Federal Liberal party but a combination. Not on Independent group this original combination must be added the further com plication that the Liberal progressives in the legislature Are no today an Independent group by partners in an official coalition with the provincial conservatives social while credit party normally wha comes out of party convention affects Only that party and its relations to the electorate the coming meeting inevitably involves much More. As matter stand. The Liberal progressives in the legislature a not in a majority. They Are the largest single group but alone the do not control the House. The firs Issue which must confront Dele Gates therefore is that any elec Tion result which did not increase Liberal standing would one vital pave the Way for another Coal Tion perhaps under far less advantageous terms. Were the convention to try 1 break up the coalition which i of course unthinkable it Wou e faced with this responsibility at hand whether the election Ere to be held this fall or next ring. Nor is it the business of the mention to attempt to set an action Dale. That is the response trility of. The Premier of the prov ice in consultation with his cab let. The real Job which confronts the invention next week is not co lotion though a few party die Ards May attempt to make much it but the selection of a new Ader. Here again or. Campbell so far the obvious Choice that docs not seem to be a race at or. Campbell is Premier of the province by Choice of his colleagues the Liberal progressive party. He has not been endorsed As yet y the general membership of the arty but it is absurd to think hat the convention would go against a Man whom fellow Politi ians in the thick of the political Lattle feel is the Ablest candidate or the Job. Allows room for surprises the make up of the convention allows room for surprises however. Provincial constituencies outside Winnipeg Are entitled to Send 450 delegates. Many if these will come rom constituencies which at pres ent Are represented in 1he Legisla Ture by coalition members who arc not Liberal progressives. There is some excuse for their impatience but there is no excuse for that impatience Impe Rilling the stability of government in Mani Toba. And finally that is All that matters. This province has been Well governed because among other reasons it has had stable govern ment. The ambitions of a few should not be allowed to jeopardize the Dominion constituencies will provide 120 members and it is equally important that these Dele Gates who Are really bystanders in the provincial Field do not risk upsetting the government because they feel it would be to the advantage of the Dominion Organiza Tion to do so. The delegates from Winnipeg Winnipeg sends 144 delegates the Junior Section of the association 50, the women s part of 1he organization another 50, lib eral members of the House of commons and legislature together with Defeated candidates for those seats 50, Liberal senators from the faint Alderman n or won fail voter and judging by the warming up exercises monday night the electors had better Brace themselves for some pretty strenuous wooing during the coming civic Campaign. Alderman Brotman touched of the Fine frenzy with a protest against a proposal to operate trolley buses on Portage Avenue. The Unsung pedestrian was having a Tough enough time now he thought dodging autos Street cars process servers. On top of that it would mean another Maze of overhead wires to mar the local architecture. This was not All chimed in Al Derman Scott. The fire department would not be Able to use its new High ladders for fear of electro cutting the firemen. This would be a shame for the ladder was one of the finest inventions Ever de Vised by the mind of Man. Six months trial but the Winnipeg electric and Hydro always shut off their Power in such an area in Case of a serious fire reminded Alderman Sharpe. Father of the move. It was Only to be a six months trial. If it did t work out the buses would have to go Back to their old routes. Alderman Black who has been trying to teach the natives of Winnipeg to queue Ever since he visited Britain a couple of years ago. Saw his Chance. Buses will not be satisfactory on Portage unless Pas he asserted singers queue up firmly. And of the they won t queue in a voice declared. Said Alderman Black. They line up for nylons and liquor and movies Don t they i la work out a plan those who recall Alder an Black s single handed Reform of the British transport system while he was overseas will under stand he is not the Man to make such a Promise lightly. During the next debate the contretemps created by a fertilizer dealer in a congested residential area was resolved by endorsing a Deal for a property Exchange that would move him off to the wind lightning calculation on our own look led us to the conclusion it Ould probably Cost him a tenth Nore to make the trip. Next item was or. Penner s notion to set up a Winnipeg hous no authority to negotiate with the province and Dominion for con traction of a Low rental housing 31-Oject. Under present terms of he National housing act. Beaming at the oratory addicts in he gallery or. Former launched nto an explanation of How it was 10 be financed. He wants houses. On average they would Cost st.000 apiece. He would ask the province for for each the Dominion for and the City would put up the balance of per House would be Bor rowed under terms of the act at 3 per cent interest. Ill Case anyone was skittish about million the City would have to put up. Or. Penner had it worked out that the City s share for each House could be paid out of the taxes the House would bring in. At so much a year. The rest of the taxes would go into the City Treasury. The mortgage debt of per House he calculated would Cost about a month to retire. Exploded Alderman Cheser interest alone on the would Cost a month. How in the world 10 you expect to service the whole debt for s9? How do you figure these thing out anyway .1 or. Penner gave or. Chester a frosty Glare for breaking his train of thought his manner indicating hat he had no time for people slavishly preoccupied with minor mathematics. In the offing Alderman Scott reminded coun cil that the Dominion had in bounced it intended to Amend the National housing act at the com ing session. Why tie up to such a Deal with Dominion. The province and the when a much better Deal was in the offing moreover Council was forgetting it had no land to put the now houses on. We have no authority anyway to make this million Grant of organization with present members the executive make up the remainder. Some 910 delegates May attend. Much will depend on the strength of the country delegations and it is vitally important that they come in full Force. The convention will be an exciting one. Much is at stake in the province. It is important that enthusiasm does not Bury somewhere. At this juncture the news was passed in to the Council that the Canadian Dollar was to be devalued 10 per cent. Alderman Blumberg perpetually abandoned to despair could see no Good in this and moved that authority lot one of the City employees to visit a convention in san Francisco be held up until its effect on the Man s expense account could be taxpayers Alderman Brotman said. You la have to ask their permission with a Money Alderman Penner reacting to these collisions Between theory and realities makes sounds Ike nothing else in nature. When he subsided Council for better or worse tabled his motion until such time As terms of the new Dominion housing Lesis s Ion Are made known. The Trade act Extension w numerically speaking our in crease was British Colum Bia s was the rate of in crease Here was 2.79 per cent. Against .2.95 per cent in the coast province. While. Manitoba s rate is just the Best in Canada that of her neighbouring province Saskatchewan is just about the. Worst the Saskatchewan increase is .s2 per cent. Only Prince Edward is land which suffered a loss of More than 3 per cent in population has a worse Mark. Besides doing so poorly while her neighbors were doing Well Saskatchewan also saw another Western province nose past her in the population race. British Colum Bia went by her in 1942 and now this year Alberta has done the same thing. By this year s estimate Alberta has a population of 000 and Saskatchewan Manitoba s is and British Columbia a for a new province that would ordinarily expect a Long growth Saskatchewan s experience since the mid depression years has been tragic. She reached , in of poetry and prudence How bravely autumn paints upon the the gorgeous Fame of summer which is fled. Thomas Hood Dame autumn has. Indeed been pretty Busy lately inline up the landscape and her chief Handy Man to. Frost esq., has called around several tines to remind us we will be sorry if we do not shake a leg with those storm windows see to that weather stripping Oil up that Stoker turn off those out Side water taps. But the whole autumn need not be spent doing obeisance to the gods of gadgetry. Although fall is supposed 1o be melancholy charged with regret for what has gone with shrinking from what is to come that is to forget the Opal and Gold of a fall Sunset the breath taking Beauty of a Tamarac set among the evergreens the whole riot of color to be seen on every hand. Whittier reminds us we Lack but open Eye and ear to find the Orient s marvels this is True even in the Early morning the grass White with rime the in comparable freshness of the frosty air mellowed by the first rays of the sombre autumn Sun and the Prince s Ransom of autumn scents .s.r. Forced labor a we Krum saturday nit is eminently desirable that whatever there is of Good in the russian Politico economic sys no human system is entirely and in All Points should be understood and admitted by us of the West who regard that system As being in the main deplorable and who seek to avoid it at any Cost. Thus the Manchester guardian has done a useful work in pub Ishing a letter from a Moscow gentleman who signs himself Hon ored worker of science a. Train a defending the russian corrective labor system about which a lot of indignation has been expressed of late in the West Ern discussion Between the first and third of the three main types of punishment employed in the .s.r. These Are 1 corrective Abor 2 imprisonment and 3 corrective labor Camps. The of these is the Mildest and that never will be captured in a bottle. All this is free and can been Joyed to the full by taking a walk in the nearest Park or a drive out in the country or even in one s own Back Yard. But just the same before pne becomes too entranced and wrapped up in it All it might pay to take another look into that Coal bin. Today s scripture o lord thou Art my god i will exalt thee i will Praise thy name for thou Hast done wonderful things thy coun Sels of old Are faithfulness and first does not include loss of Freedom or compulsion except that of perform ing the prescribed work for a per Iod ranging from Day to pne year but not More. The last is the most severe and is applied Only to persons serv ing sentences of More than three years for grave even this punishment is less torment in or. Trainin s opinion than confinement in a prison cell As is Practised in the West european countries where people Are buried alive certain protective regulations concerning the kind of Laborim posed in the Camps Are cited from or. Trainin. But we note with some apprehension that exceptions to the Rule Are established by the people s commissariat of Justice in. Agreement with the All Union Central Council of Trade if the persons confined to these Abor Camps had any real Means f self defence against ill treat Neil if there were any Appeal to a responsive and critical Public of Nion in the event of ill treat ment we should be inclined to put ome Faith in or. Trainin s idyllic picture. But there is no such safeguard eople Are sent to these Camps and Are kept in them not As the result of a Public and strictly regulated trial on specific charges but often by the decree of an administrative which As he guardian Points out includes the secret political police who themselves control the labor Camps. In these circumstances it is impossible to believe that the inmates of these Camps who Are believed to number millions and the .s.r. Refuses All International investigation of. The question can have any defence against unlimited barbarity except such natural humanity As May exist among their keepers. And natural humanity where there is neither responsibility nor publicity is unfortunately a most unreliable safeguard he Ashington the Victory of the administration in getting the Senate s approval for an Extension of the reciprocal Trade act by such a decisive vote is being described As a return to the principles which animated the famous Cordell Hull philosophy of Trade. Significantly on the last Day of debate or. Hull As it realizing that the Fate of the programme he had launched while Secretary. Of state was in jeopardy sent a letter from his sick bed to Sena Tor George the leading Democrat supporter of the Hill. Or. Hull vote i have watched with intense interest the current congressional debates on the re enactment of the reciprocal Trade agreements legislation. The Bill on this subject Cordell Hull s by m. F. Message enlightened republicans like Sena Tor Vandenberg to vote for the Bill itself though he had been out spoken in his advocacy the peril Points provision which he had helped to draft. Senators Taft and Dulles abstained on the main vote desire to import already passed by the House of representatives and reported by you to the Senate is in my opinion eminently sound. It embodies pro visions for the administration of our foreign Trade policy similar to those under which the reciprocal Trade agreements pro gramme was conducted for 14 years after we first embarked upon it in june 1934. Mel every test not. Only in russians but in Man beings anywhere in the world. Our own prison system is not without defects and they exist chiefly because in prisons publicity is inadequate and responsibility is hard to enforce. Birthdays John Bishop. St. Vital. Man born Dudley. England. Sept. 20, 1s56. Edward Hyndman glad Stone Man. Born Inver May. Bruce county. Ont., sept. 1s5s. H. H. Saunderson Winnipeg born Lotus. Durham sept 1866. My Long and close observation of the operation of the programme convinces me that the procedure employed met every lest of Wise statesmanship the interests of of Industry labor and Agri cultus were amply safeguarded and the entire nation benefited greatly from the increase of Commerce and the improvement of International relations brought about by the programme. Today i feel mor strongly than Ever that our natio must continue and vigorously Appl an Active reciprocal Trade agree rants policy. That policy has Al ways had and merited substantial bipartisan support. It is an in dispensable Cornerstone of endur ing peace based on International co operation upon the Success which our own Security an Prosperity this letter played its part with out doubt in keeping the d pm crafts United in their support c the Bill except for one waver it also persuaded some of the Monter the United states. This arge was Marie with particular reference to the Geneva Trade con sessions of 19-17. Senator George read a memorandum from the stale department which showed that . Agriculture Vas far from being endangered by sports into the country. In the ast fiscal year ending tune. Agricultural exports were at they exceeded imports by j5800.000.000. The stale department in this Nemo Kadum Dalid september declared United slates Agri culture is greatly Piniero Supri in he objects of our foreign Trade policy namely to reduce the bar kers to International Trade so As o increase the flow of goods be tween the United slates and foreign countries and thus to a sure markets abroad for the pro duels of our farms and factories. It is that we can receive payment for our exports Only through imports and that therefore we cannot maintain a High level of exports unless we permit our imports to increase. Otherwise a shrinkage in exports will inevitably result in a lower in commodities ejection affords ground for Hope w9 produce far in excess Nat the administration Doc sic demand such As lans to make full use of its Conon Tubat to certain pro the speeches of administration spokesmen showed that they Hope use the enlarged Powers of the 11 to increase the flow of in its to Hie United states. Senn Toi Eorge explained int the United ales now is importing at the a null rate of Only six and n Hal lion dollars about half its sex Orts. This desire to import mot1 of immediate value to the acadian government As it begin s plans for a new reciprocal Rade agreement. It also should help great Bri Ain to earn More dollars by he sports. It will contribute to the revival of world Trade. It Wou i ave been an unhappy Omen of Ter National Trade if the wrecking amendments submitted by Mem ers of the Republican party had Een endorsed by the Senate. Their level of production especially those agricultural or unities to broaden the import products raw and programme of the United states. Ami it should be noted in Western Canada that senator George on o Retreat i half of the administration de ended the reciprocal trades agreement act from the charge hat it had permitted an excessive volume of agricultural products to from the Golden books from ode by Arthur o Shaugh Jessy we Are the music makers and we Are the dreamers of dreams wandering by Lone sea Breakers. And sitting by desolate streams world losers and world for Sakers on whom the Lall Moon gleams yet we Are the movers and shakers of the world for it seems. The administration from this statement of policy does not in end to Retreat even before pres ure by the farm bloc. It is to in regretted that the Havana Trade charter has nok reported from the committee stage there it now is stalled. It May never reach the floor of the Senate his session and it is almost cer Tain to be Defeated if it does. The plans for an International Trade organization Are therefore far from fulfilment. But from standpoint of greater world Trade in the immediate future what has been happening in the Senate these past few Days is infinitely More important and is cause for rejoicing. The last of throw ;