Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - November 21, 1949, Winnipeg, Manitoba Freedom of Trade Liberty of religion Equality of civil rights Winnipeg free press sound advice the latest advice which president Truman has Given the United states should be carefully marked in Canada. He says that the european countries must reduce the Price of their exports to America and the United states of course must be willing to accept greater Competition from european suppliers in order to help Europe pay its this advice As applied to Canada is timely since it Fol flatly advice which or. James Dun can chairman of the Canadian Dollar Sterling Trade Board has lately been giving to British exporters. Whereas or. Duncan insists that the importation of British goods into can Ada should be painless and must not disturb by serious Competition the comfortable position of Canadian manufacturers or. Truman insists on rigorous foreign Competition and tells United states industrialists that they must meet it. In this matter fortunately the position of the Canadian government in direct conflict apparently with the state ment of or. Duncan was made perfectly Clear by or. Abbott in his budget speech of Qto bar 20 last. Explaining that the equilibrium of the world Economy could be restored Only by a heavy new movement of British and european goods into America or. Abbott said the Dollar countries would have to facilitate these efforts through the maintenance of conditions and the removal of barriers which would provide adequate opportunities in their and in particular the surplus Dollar countries would have to refrain from measures which would frustrate the attempts of the deficit areas to earn their Hansard Page then or. Abbott turned to the very Point which worries or. Necessity of Canadian Industry preparing to meet Sharp new Competition from British goods cheapened by the devaluation of the Pound. Or. Abbott said it is possible that a part of the increased imports from overseas May result in greater Competition with some of our Domestic producers. Some adjustments May be Nec Essary but this will be a Small Price to pay compared with the inevitable results which would flow from the inability of our customers to earn More dollars in our country. I do not need to remind Hon. Members How heavily the Prosperity of our great primary industries of agriculture forestry mining and fishing Are dependent upon overseas markets. We must not expect that these markets will be maintained indefinitely through credits and gifts from this continent. Sooner or later our custom ers must be in the position where they Are Able to pay for what they buy from us out of the proceeds from what they sell to the Dollar markets. We cannot afford to be Short sighted about a matter so vital to the welfare of every Industry and every Region of this by this definition or. Duncan s advice to the British exporters certainly is Short sighted. He tells them according to a report of his statement in the Manchester guardian already quoted Here that they should not reduce the Price of their goods sufficiently to disturb Canadian Industry by serious Competition. Their prices should be Cut sufficiently to compete with United states goods but not to compete seriously with Canadian goods. Preferably they should concentrate their exports Here in goods which Canada does not produce. Or. Truman and or. Abbott on the contrary advise the British and european exporters to get their prices Down to ship whatever they can sell Here and ship it in the largest surely be in error or the govern ment exceedingly a. If past re ports Are Correct the Board was in fact screened Many months ago and it cannot be trusted to guard the secrets of this coun try. Whatever the judgment on the minister s remarks two alter natives become apparent either a grave injustice has been done a Section of government employees or the government has been woe fully amiss in the handling of its own business. Winnipeg monday november 21, 1949 Vishinsky creates another scene printed and published the Winnipeg free press company limited. To Carlton Street. Winnipeg Manitoba. Authorized As second class matter by the Post Holce department. Ottawa Victor Sifton. Grant Dexter. Publisher. Editor. Win. Lord. Bruce Hutchison. General manager. Associate editor. Order the new democrats the simple mind of the North american must reel before the Complex mental processes of communism. Consider for example the following coincidence of events Otto Grotewohl Premier of the new puppet state of Eastern Ger Many issues an Appeal to the people of the new West German state to liberate themselves from imperialism at Home and abroad and make the Constitution of the German Dern cratic Republic of the East the basis of the National future and to create a National front to restore a United demo cratic within a few hours the Deputy Premier boasts of the assistance which his state is receiving from former German nazis and at the same time the people s chamber fictitious legislature of the state otes full civil and economic rights to former nazis and militarists. Democracy in Eastern Germany Hus includes not Only communists who take their orders from mos cow but nazis who used to take heir orders from Hitler and now ind a new fuehrer in stain. But if his looks like madness to benighted Democrat in the Western world there is method in it. The Eastern German state is recruiting a reliable police Force to support the russian regime and it finds in former nazis just he material it wants. To such people any fuehrer even if he is a foreigner is better than a demo cratic government. The words possible Quantity to balance their trading accounts As soon As possible. This is the advice which the overseas exporters should follow. Or. Duncan s advice they will be Wise ignore. To communist and nazi Are found in practical politics to be interchangeable. The nazi officers Hitler Are now enthusiastic communists of Stalin because the pay is Good the rewards seemingly assured and the two systems essentially comparable. Busy elsewhere Stalin is build-1 freight rates hearing Manitoba s Brief 0 by h. B. Ottawa first of Manitoba s the the three Prairie provinces to put its main submission before the Royal commission on transportation headed by inn. V. F. A. Turgeon and the task of presenting the Case Lell to or. Moffat economic adviser to the Lani Loba government a confident witness even under the prodding Cross examination of or. Evans of the car. It was under this Cross Examina Tion that the witness acknowledged with a disarming Candor that the Manitoba Case had its imperfections. If a Man has a Good Case perhaps he can afford to admit freely and frankly that he does tally Manitoba a not pretend to offer the final Solu Tion to All the problems involved. Meals to its services in Case the regular Money Market is unresponsive. This stems from a line of attack by the company in the 20 per cent freight rates Case which meant in effect that the car must have higher freight rates in order to pay higher dividends in order to attract More investment capital. A the Western and maritime provinces sharply objected at the time. Manitoba is just As reluctant As Ever to entertain such a solution but it does recognize the problem of raising funds for a privately owned railway. Inc Irien ays it wants the car to continue As a private Enterprise believing that compete the Mcgregor controversy 0 report charges Combine Ottawa As described in the Mcgregor report on the flour milling Industry How did the alleged Combine function Between the years 1936 and 1947 and to what extent did it succeed the report says that it functioned by Means of Price agree ments. These agreements were complicated. They Are alleged to Lave covered not Only flour but other Grain Mill products and coarse grains. But taking flour As special correspondence ing up in Eastern Germany a illustration an agreement had Power which can keep the new the Canadian and United states governments know first that their people want can use and can pay for overseas goods that they want cheaper prices to reduce the present High Cost of living that More abundant goods and cheaper prices will raise not lower North America s living Standard. The governments know second that if North America does not buy far More British and european goods than Ever Britain and Europe will be unable to maintain their purchases of North american goods and this in the Case of Canada would mean nothing less than a drastic dislocation of the great exporting industries on which the whole Economy lives. As or. Abbott says we cannot expect either the desirable supplies of overseas goods at reduced prices or the maintenance of our overseas markets if we Are not ready to adjust our own industries to new Competition. The process cannot be As or. Duncan Hopes. If our manufacturing industries refused to make readjust ments and if the government were foolish enough to shelter them from such readjustments by restricting imports because imports Are relatively cheap then Canada would face re adjustment of a different and More violent order. The great exporting industries of agriculture especially of for Estry mining and fishing would have to adjust themselves to drastically reduced markets overseas readjustments which would first impoverish these industries and then the entire nation. Readjustments we must face. The Only question is whether they Are to be readjustments towards a More Abund ant Economy on a firm foundation of Trade or readjustments towards poverty and indeed towards ultimate disaster. It is quite obvious which would be the More painless process. State under control but he is too Wise to rely entirely on this local he has suddenly decided not to Grant Eastern Ger Many the peace treaty and the withdrawal of russian troops which to promised. The nazi communists might turn but to be germans after All if they got the Chance. Perverting Freedom the american civil liberties Union has recently announced it will support legislation to curb picketing of courthouses where such action interferes with or obstructs the administration of jus the decision is reported to be the result of communist excesses in carrying on picketing and other obstructive activities during re cent trials of communists in new York. It Means that the Acle Ong counted on by communists in the . To defend their picketing As a Basic right in a free country is at last drawn the line. It can no longer support in the name of free democratic expression such spectacles As those that occurred before the Federal court first of All to cover All the Dif Ferent grades in each of a no Hiber of Price zones into which the coun try was divided. Beyond flour prices there had to be agreement upon the terms of Sale discounts for Cash or other considerations time limitations on shipments cartage charges storage allow Oats conference meaning Price agreement has made us real Money during the past five or six years. We estimate it has been Worth to a year More than we got curing the pre ceding measures on tenders on tenders the report says that special measures were 1aken by the alleged Combine. For some of evidence. It was contended strongly by some that no agree ment in tact existed others testified that agreements had been entered into but that there were its behalf. An intelligent buyer appreciates thai approach. Maybe the commission will react in the same Way important effect the Brief traverses a Good Deal of the ground Over which the 30 per cent., and 20 per cent freight rates Battles wore fought. Again Manitoba attacks the cup s method of. Calculating and depreciation charges which obviously must have an important effect on determining the financial need of the railways. But the Brief also roves Over Fields which were left unexplored in the two cases before the trans port Board. Some of these Ven Tures Are cautious particularly where the Manitoba government Niles the commission to take a Long look at the mounting Bill of the railway companies. Premier Campbell had some thing to say about this matter when the commission visited Winnipeg last summer. At that time mental or open reservations that one of sues is participants which made the decision As to whether Cana ments effect still others lians Shou d pay higher freight while admitting agreements had been entered into stated Nuj there was Little Confidence among Oval wakes higher than that the members and thai the agree a d for comparable work else meals were really inoperative throughout cause members so often failed to the present Brief goes Little fur it is like the Salesman u Ith he publicly owned Road thinks enough of his product no jul " he he ultimate Benefit of make extravagant claims canadians one alternative proposed by Manitoba to the Royal commis Sion is a fund for financing improvements to be built up by users of the railway services through the payment of rates slightly higher than would be required to support the existing Standard of when this suggestion came under the Eagle Eye of or. Evans of the car or. Moffat agreed there might be practical difficulties in the Way. He was still More forthright when talking to the company s counsel about the working of the Canadian National Canadian Paci fic act of 1933. This is the measure designed by the Bennett govern ment to effect economies through a certain amount of co operation in the Way of ironing out duplications of service. Manitoba s Brief suggests that reports of what has been done under the act should be placed in the hands of the transport Board Only parliament has a Cess to them so that the Board might take the co operation deeds or the Lack of them into account in making decisions on freight rates applications. Curious to know wage rates in order to ensure to railway employees a observe them. One witness described her than to put on the the time the members would put in u in their own bids in conformity ,._ e evidence of agreement with the Price at other limes the members agreed that All bids should be sent in unsealed envelopes to the Secretary of the Combine so that he could Elamir ances carrying charges on unde each Biti before mailing to the prospective buyer. In this Way errors in addition and multiplication could be guarded against. At Vancouver in 1944, an elaborate system was worked out for tendering on business offered by slivered balances freight Arbi traries or in addition there were Trade classifications. A buyer might be classed As a wholesaler a jobber a dealer a retailer and so on and the agreed Price to each class would be different and there had to be special agreements Cov luring is bids on con tracts. Confronted Vith Price wars mules As sounding resolutions said that in the backs of our minds we were never bound by any agree ment explanations offered he said also that at statement that in 19-1s w c record a made up 57 per cent of the total work or. Was curious to Knovs what would be done by the Board to a company which for any Rea son refused to co operate within the meaning of the act. How ing expenses of the two major would it be penalized by a Riff rails Vays and a set of figures Ferent level of freight rates from its rival of the meetings he had mentioned that his company Felt itself free at All times to meet competitive conditions. Similar testimony w Ken from the records of the showing rates of pay to Dif Ferent classes of employees. The Manitoba Brief also discals ses not quite so cautiously the question of How the car is 10 raise Money to finance improve i department of munitions and by another ply. According to or. Mcgregor s i claimed that everything done report the members thought it was unwise to put in identical bids. A the same time it was desired to avoid real Competition. Therefore a system was devised Page 101 the report quotes from the report whereby the Dif ments found in the files of the milling companies to show that the alleged Combine at no time be tween 1936 and 1947, succeeded in agreed to in Advance. The report controlling All flour prices in indicates that this system was Ferent companies turns putting in the lowest bid the Dif Ferent prices to be quoted being areas. Domestic flour prices fell below the War time prices and control Board s Price ceiling on flour As fixed in december 1941, and Competition in greater or lesser degree persisted. The Small flour Louse during the recent trial of Mills never being members of the discrimination the following quotations from article in Maclean s Magazine should Humble canadians who May think themselves slightly above average in matters of racial discrimination. The writer is or. Sidney k Atz. In the town of Dresden Ontario men and women of the negro race cannot eat at the town s three restaurants serving regular meals cannot get a haircut in the four regular barbershops cannot patronize the Only Beauty Parlour. They do not attend the White people s Church they Are barred from the town s poolroom. There policy. Many months ago the negro citizen published in Truro . Commented with astonishing impartiality on the behaviour of the adults or Dresden. Other canadians need not be so restrained. The attitude of the adults of dres Den is an ugly blot on this country. Police screening few More amazing statements have been made by a Cabinet min ister in recent months than that attributed to or. Claxton minister of defence. Or. Claxton is said to have told the House that the National film Board would not be allowed make secret or classified films for he 11 communists when thou of communist sympathizers gathered to bawl insults at judge Harold Medina As he arrived at and left the court. Two of the key liberties the american civil liberties Union exists to uphold Are Freedom of speech and Assembly but there is a distinct difference Between free Dom and Public nuisance. The Acle has apparently decided that the crude communist attempts to intimidate judge me Dina did not come tinder the alleged Combine which consisted of the Large companies were Al ways in Competition on Price. The alleged Combine Itse fas the Docu ments show was constantly being confronted with Price wars Here and there across the country. Price agreements Are said in the report to have worked most successfully from 1943 Onward. Letters from milling companies the Best comment Here s con ing of liberties to defend but rather were perversions that i undermine and discredit principles of Freedom. Is not a single member in any of the department of defence until the service the chancesp5 film Board employees have been screened by the Royal Cana Dian mounted police. Consider the implications of this statement. Here is one Cabinet minister informing the House of commons that a Section of the department of another Cabinet min ister is so regarded that it cannot be trusted to handle confidential material without screening by the police. The inference from or. Clax ton s remark is that the film Board has not been screened he fore. In this the minister must of even a trained Young negro get Ting a Good non manual Job Are almost nil. I did not find a single negro in Dresden working in an office or waiting on this is an indictment of a Canadian Community made the More so because Dresden was once a Refuge for escaped slaves from the United states. It is Good to read that the discrimination is not applied by Young people under 17. It is not so Good to read that it is applied by adults who see nothing wrong in a Cost of operation a business visitor to Winnipeg says that perfume is no longer a luxury. The next step presumably will be a drive to have its Purchase classed As a necessary and legitimate expense in the business of husband Hunting and thus eligible for income tax deduction. Today s scripture whosoever will come after me let him deny himself and take up his Cross and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it but whosoever shall lose his life for my Sake and the gospels the same shall Sive birthdays Guttor Mur j. Guttormsson Riverton born Riverton. Man. Nov. 21, 1878, companies which Are printed in the report. One member of the alleged Combine writing in 1943. Said Page i have shut my eyes to Many breaches in the past As i have always worked on the principle that half a loaf is belter than none still another wrote in 193ei Page but i do want an agreement so that we can get a nominal Price As High As we can have it because if they Only sub scribe say 60 or 70 per cent to a Price we Are better off at say level x for the amount of business we do than if we do it at x minus 30 cents per and still an other wrote in May 1945, Page True there is always a cer Tain amount Price cutting. No agreement has Ever worked one Hundred per cent but by working seventy five per cent it Means a lot of extra dollars in the an actual estimate. Of these extra dollars was by. A member a 1938 1115_ foiled tended later to purchases by the government of British Columbia the bidding on two the Purchase of bags of flour by the Hudson s Bay co. In april 19-44, and a flour Purchase Quan Tity not Given by the United states army at fort St. John late described in detail in the report and will be summarized in a later article. Summing up of report in summing up the report re cords that the members of the alleged Combine at no Point would admit that Price agreements were in operation. The report says Page the word agreement and its equivalents which appear repeat edly in the minutes and Corres with a reservation or to use his own words everybody had his Tongue in his Cheek when these things were discussed. Other explanations were offered that the discussions related to costs not prices that some members never intended to agree but for their own advantage sought to mislead the others into thinking they had agreed that the agreements re or. Moffat said at once that this was probably the weakest Point in the Manitoba submission and it was the Best idea that offered itself to Deal with what was a most unsatisfactory situation. Suits against the Crown Case in the . By m. F. Washington in the past a citizen of the United slates usually had to submit to a tedious process before he could bring suit the Federal government. An act of Congress was required before Legal action could be started lated simply to a fair Yard Sti Kianci in cases another act was of values that the Price Stab needed if damages were to be paid wished was not mandatory and by the government. The cover each member was free to meet in Short had to consent to petition within or without the i elation that incorrect terminology had been used and the word agree ment was a Misnomer the prices referred to in the so called agree ment being merely indicative of value based on Cost to provide a reasonable return that the representatives agreed merely that cer Tain prices were fair and reason Able without any understanding to adhere to them. Witnesses con tended also that even on those occasions when a pledge of Honor Vas reported to have been that prices would be maintained t was understood by the members hat they would be free to meet he sued before the individual Citi zen could try to make it answer Able in court for actions of which he complained. Government no longer is to be above the Law hiding behind its right of Fiat but is to stand judg ment in the courts like an Ordin Ary citizen. An individual cannot begin a suit while a Federal Agency is dealing with his Case. However the act has dealt with this difficulty Loo. It provides that a citizen May withdraw his Case from consideration by a Federal Agency at the end of 15 Days on serving written notice and then May begin his Legal proceedings in court. Congress was not reluctant Toi 1 it another Section of the act pass these acts but much time was provides for administrative adjust wasters and Many people dropped their grievances rather than go through the trouble involved. Sim Ilar restraints were imposed by the stale governments. Still complicated Poydence were subject to various and that no matter interpretations by the associationi7hat the minutes contained the secretaries and representatives was most competitive the member companies in their from the Golden books front the Frost spirit by John Greenleaf Whittier he comes he comes the Frost spirit comes and the quiet Lake shall feel the torpid touch of his glazing breath and ring to the skaters Heel and the streams which danced on the broken rocks or Sang to the leaning grass. Shall Bow again to their win Ter Chain a n d in Mournful silence pass. He comes he comes the Frost spirit comes let us meet him As we May and turn with the Light of the parlor fire his evil Power away and gather closer the Circle round where that firelight dances High and laugh at the shriek of the baffled fiend As his sound .ing.wing, goes with everybody for the documentary evidence after considering these arguments or. Mcgregor Page 84 said that despite Lack of Confidence Between members and the numerous breakdowns in agree ments the representatives have continued for Many years to meet from time to time and make new Price agreements or vary or re finally procedures the situation is still complicated but a trend has been in evidence for some time to enlarge the right of the citizen to take Legal action against the government without its prior consent being needed. One illustration of this trend is provided in an act passed by the 80th Congress and effective sep tember 3, 1s4s. It now is title 28 affirm existing ones the Well established have been set up for the receipt investigation and disposal of Price complaints provide the most convincing proof that the documentary evidence of agree ment May be taken at face in a word or. Mcgregor finds that a Price fixing Combine contrary to the combines investigation act did in fact exist. Thin of ment of claims of or less. Here the head of each Federal Agency is specifically enjoined to make a settlement where the United states if a private person would be liable to the claimant in accordance with the Law of the place where the act or omission Here again there is no attempt to claim special immunity on the contrary the government deliberately equates itself with a private other amendments might be cited relative to the Long standing Tucker act and having special in of the United states code and is Ortance in tax disputes. In each known As the judicial code procedure act. Extensive in scope the act was the first Complete re vision since 1911, of the Laws re lating to Federal judiciary and judicial procedure. One Section of this act declares the United states shall be liable respecting the provisions of this title relating to tort claims in the same manner and to the same extent As a private individual under like circumstances but shall not be liable for interest prior to judg ment or for punitive this far reaching principle later is qualified by some enumerated exceptions but it has already greatly simplified the procedure for bringing agents of the govern ment into court. It is a. Clear recognition of the principal that the Case the tendency is to give the individual greater Freedom to bring his government to account in the courts. Similar spirit the More enlightened state Legislatures have acted in a similar spirit. The position in the United states in Short is much better than in Canada where the government still clings stubbornly to this right which has no place in a democratic society by refusing to abandon the right of Fiat officials in Ottawa Are seeking an undemocratic exemption from judicial scrutiny which shows they really Are afraid their actions would not stand up very Well u challenged in open court ;