Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - May 17, 1950, Winnipeg, Manitoba Freedom of Trade Liberty of religion Equality of civil rights published us Winnipeg free presi company limited 30o Cartton Winnipeg Manitoba. Authorized in cold Claus matter by tit poit Tolice department Ottawa. Victor Sifton. Grant Dexter publisher. Editor. Lord Bruce Hutchison general min scr. Associate editor. Winnipeg May 17, 1950 behind the budget while there is real reason for satisfaction in Britain s latest Trade figures sober second thoughts on sir Stafford Cripps recent budget confirm his cautious warning of difficulties ahead. The outstanding fact on the Side of optimism is that in the first three months of 1950 the Sterling area As a whole sold to the Dollar countries millions More than it bought from them. For this Brief period the Dollar Gap was bridged. United states and Canadian aug in this period was All velvet and was used to increase the Sterling area s Dollar and Gold reserves by millions to on March 31, As billions last september on the eve of devaluation. It must be realized however that the Reserve is still about millions below the level of millions sir Stafford called a minimum in 1948 and that the trading experience of three months is no sure guide to conditions in the future. In Short the Sterling area has not yet achieved a position of safety in its reserves and because it has closed the Dollar Gap for three months it cannot count on its ability to maintain that balanced the latest British government figures Are discussed elsewhere on this Page. Seasonal and fluctuating factors undoubtedly accounted in part for the Good showing in the first Quarter of this year. The largest improvement was due to heavy imports of raw materials into the United states from Sterling countries of Asia and such imports Are notoriously mercurial. A year ago for example a recession in the United states reduced these imports overnight and largely precipitated the British crisis of last autumn. The largest Factor in the improvement of Britain s bal Ance of payments unfortunately was a further reduction in its imports of Dollar goods. This must be considered unfortunate even if it was inevitable and Wise since it restricted the flow of goods throughout the negative rather than a positive solution. Britain has reduced its Dollar imports to a rate of billions a year or 25 per cent below the rate planned up to last year. Other Sterling coun tries have imposed similar cuts thus creating new problems for Dollar exporters like Canada. It is notable that sir Stafford seems to be relying much More on the negative method of reducing Dollar imports than on the positive method of increasing British exports to the Dollar area. A decrease in Dollar imports he said was a regular and controllable saving whereas the Dollar earn Ings of the Sterling area Are More Uncertain and not in our Power to while he urged British manufacturers to seek larger Dol Lar sales and while he agreed that the fullest possible removal of Trade restrictions is still he insisted that Britain retain the controls to safeguard our balance of payments and reserves and carry out that degree of plan Ning necessary for the maintenance of full employment in our restrictions on Dollar imports would be essential under any government during Britain s present crisis but sir staf Ford clearly implies that restrictions Are needed also to protect Britain s Over All socialist plan from world Competition which it cannot face. The socialist Economy inevitably is a protectionist Economy. It fears the Uncertain world Market and relies mainly As sir Stafford says on regular and controllable measures like import restriction. The Core of Britain s immediate problem is not to be found in the current Trade figures which Are surprisingly Good compared with those of 1949. It lies obviously in the present inflationary pressures within Britain itself. Sir Stafford s main struggle is with the labor unions which in Many cases Are insisting on higher wages regardless of their effect on prices and exports. If the government proves unable against this urgent pressure to hold the wage line during the next few months the gains of devaluation the slight favourable balance in Trade with the Dollar area the increases in the and Dollar reserves could melt away almost overnight. For this reason the new budget with its Trade calculations cannot be considered As a set of assured and invariable figures. It will stand Only so Long As the labor unions permit it to stand. The Structure of real recovery faintly discernible in these last few months is at the mercy not Only of the world Market despite every attempt to shelter it but of the labor unions wage demands which a labor govern ment for All its courage is in a weak political position to Comfort from a crop failure. But hey cannot ignore the fact thai in latest figures from washing on have added nature s warning against Over expansion to the Crit isms by economists which went needed for so Long. The Rye crop is placed at bushels one of the Small St crops in this Century though Arger than the output for 1946 and 1949. The intended yield for ats and Barley May not be achieved. Even with the carry Over of Early 15 million tons the Hay Rop of tons is believed o be inadequate for livestock eeds in several areas. The record on Dairy production s Good. There will be no forecast on Pring wheat until Early in june More study needed the seventh report to Congress if the economic co operation and Nini Starlion Points out that West Ern Europe s share of the United states Market has been declining readily Over the past fifty years. From 1900 to the report declares imports from Western Europe comprised about two Pel cent of the United states Gross National product. Since then the proportion has persistently declined and is now one third of one per recent figures provide no rounds for optimism. In 1946 Western Europe earned from sales in the . The figure Rose to in 1947. In 1948 there was a jump to but exports for the first six months of 1949 were 2 per cent below the figures for the last Quarter of 1948. There has been a slight improve ment in recent months but the Dollar Gap is As ominous As Ever. Or. Hoffman the Eca adminis razor has told Congress that the experience of 1949 during the us. Recession has shown that european goods find it very hard to adjust themselves to even slight changes in the . Market. Western Europe he claims must concentrate More on trading prospects in the United states. The advice is sound. Canadians with their greater know ledge of United states conditions found it relatively simple tip meet the Market demands of 1949. The largest Market in the world merits More study than it has yet received from Western Europe. How about it confusion in the . After its breakdown in the last year the machinery of the United states bipartisan for eign policy has been fully re established. The machinery in fact is More extensive and on paper More effective than Ever before. Two distinguished republicans messes. Sherman and Dulles both former senators have joined the state department As advisers to or. Acheson. So that the Congress May be constantly in touch with the policies of the executive the powerful Senate foreign relations committee is being divided on a bipartisan basis into geographic groups each which will Cor. Sult with the appropriate Branch of the stale department and thus Lake a full share in policy making. The real difficulty the machinery of co operation is Complete but machinery alone ver solved the problems of a democratic state. The real Dif Russia and its satellites Hii speech was at first interpreted ast a Call for stronger internationalist policies apparently a Complete repudiation of or. Hoover s former isolationism. But when the speech s carefully read it is seen to something else entirely. It is movement away from internationalism. It is a Clarion Call for re. Treat. Or. Hoover proposes that non communist nations organize a definite new United while it May be argued soundly that the destruction of the present United nations would be t a mistake at least or. Hoover s proposal appears at first Blush As an attempt to put a stronger organization in its place. But this obviously is not what or. Hoover Means for he adds that his plan nol a Extension of a military Alliance or faculty in re building the by overcoming flood conditions 0 resist. Drive opened the Manitoba flood Relief fund already established on a National basis is now being organized provinces. The Manitoba provincial committee has completed its organization and is ready under the chairmanship of or. Allan h. Wat son president of the Winnipeg chamber of Commerce to attack its problem. This task is the raising of a great sum of Money for the rehabilitation of the thousands of Homes in greater Winnipeg and the rest of the red River Valley that Hae been devastated by the flood. The Money so raised will go to Ward the replacement of essential furniture effects and personal belongings the loss of which will not be covered by government assistance. The aim of the voluntary Effort is to fill the Gap that is left where government Aid Falls Short. No one can Tell at the moment just How much Money will be needed. But it is Only necessary to see some the flood pictures in the paper to realize that an enormous amount help is required. The Manitoba committee Wil solicit this help on a business Industrial and professional basis. A direct approach will be made t each business in the it in turn will arrange for its own donation and for soliciting its of staff members. It May Issue temporary receipts to donors and All i due course will receive official receipts which can be used for in come tax deduction purposes. All branches of chartered Bank Are collection agencies. X because of the great need of Speed it has not been possible t organize this emergency Campaign thoroughly As campaigns of say the Community Chest or re Ross Are organized. This haste will make it Almos Ertain that some people will be issued in the canvass particularly unmasked it is the one and Only purpose of communists to stir up All the trouble they can. Communist our new Post office be of the Best centres for the Exchange of St. Vital neighbourhood news height of Iva Ter on the streets and the whereabouts of friends is the first floor the Winnipeg Post office. That is where the St. Vital Post office is now situated and in its new location it is once again a favorite meeting place As it was years ago before mail was delivered by Carrier. One of the people i saw there was or. Claude Law of place who had Beer to St. Vital Only a few hours be fore and who reported that while i my Street was All under water by . Business when i was there. He came Here on the last train out of Morris packing a Lackful of outgoing mail on his shoulder for seven Miles when the train was stranded that far South of. Winnipeg. One of the most popular generally has greatly fallen off but this is More than counter balanced by the massive increase in incoming mail from worried friends and relatives. The Job of handling this mail for the unevaluated parts of greater Winnipeg and for the temporary Post offices has been made harder for the Winnipeg and Dis one of the most popular pieces of mail which he was handing out was. The. Morris Herald now be partisan policy does not lie within the government but within the Republican party and machinery cannot assure the latter s co operation. Up to last year the bipartisan policy was carried by a fortuitous combination of Able individuals. So Long As senator Vandenberg was in an unchallengeable position to express the foreign policy of his party and carry the parly with him the government had Only to secure his assent to to assured of general support in the legislature. It is one of the major misfortunes of the times that senator Vanden Berg has been stricken Down by illness at the most useful Point of his career that no adequate successor has been found in his party. With his removal from Active life All the latent disagree ments within the party and notably the latent isolationism which dominated it for so Many years emerge again. Thus the task of the govern ment is not to Clear its foreign policy with a cohesive which will agree or disagree on specific questions but to find agreement Ith a series of conflicting groups. On the one hand Are the inter any color of it. It is a proposal based solely upon moral spiritual and defence yet or. Hoover publicly sneers at the United states programme of foreign military Aid when he says that in persistence of an old habit we Are taking up the if the United states is not ready to take up the Cheque then there can be no effective de Fence against Russia with the United nations or without it. Or. Hoover goes on to say that the non communist nations May be unwilling to follow his advice smash the United nations and form a United front which the United states apparently would not attempt to finance. Their unwillingness would not be Surpris ing. They would have to reach an advanced stage of lunacy be fore they would consider anything of the sort. Unacceptable terms there were parts of his on which no printed at Altona. The Issue parties of the Western said the dust was blowing. Hon. L. B. Pearson the other Day now been finally unmasked indeed have unmasked them selves As Frank and avowed adjuncts of the soviet communist parties and we have witnessed the strange spectacle of communist leaders in the Western states announcing publicly that they would never defend their country against the russians that on the contrary they would Welcome the arrival of soviet we have not got any communists who would qualify As political leaders. But we do have or. Kar dash in the legislature or. Pen and or. Forkin on the City Council and or. Zuken on the school Board. Or. Pearson s Point is a Gooc one. Perhaps these gentlemen who eople living in Rural areas. Have taken an oath of loyalty to this country might Ommittee is appealing to them in visually and collectively not to Ait to make their donations but o organize on a local basis immediately and if no local Organiza of is set up to take their Indi dual contribution to their local Ank branches. A similar request o organize the Campaign within Cir own firms immediately with it waiting for official solicitation made to All employers. Of necessity the Campaign has Een organized at Short notice. But hat need not in any Way Cut Down he receipts from the Campaign " he Way is open for everyone to Ive even if he is not approached directly. Many times in the past Manitoba is Given generously for the Relief if suffering far beyond her Borders this time the Appeal is from close o Home the Appeal of a neighbor Manitoba is who have never been Low to help Distant sufferers car be counted on to respond magnificently to this Call for help from heir own people. . Crop Prospect the latest estimates by the department of agriculture place hat country s crop of Winter wheat at bushels. Thi will be the smallest crop since 1943. Bad weather in april cd the crop estimates by. Bushels below earlier forecasts there is a decrease of bushels or 24 per cent., below last year s crop. This is a larger reduction tha had been planned. The Over expansion of Wii a acreage in the . Was disturbing the future of world trading. Canadians axe the last people to Tak shillings 6 Pence to the t7xperience Tho vt73 pc Al Jas t e asked the questions would by defend Canada against rus a or would they Welcome the arrival of soviet invaders very particularly the questions re in order for or. Zuken who Olds a position of Trust on the Oard responsible for the Educa on of the children of this City an analogy in the United kingdom the to n Large incomes runs As High s 19 found. That is just 6 Pence Short f 100 per cent. Or. Churchill has been question no the Wisdom of eliminating highly successful business men by his Means. Nin doing so he Drew he following analogy. London times report late in life i have taken to keeping a Herd of cows. I found a different principle prevails in dealing with cows from that which s so applauded below the gang Vay opposite in dealing with Rich men. It is thought a great and in a Dairy to have cows Vith Large udders. You get More milk out of them. These exceptionally Fertile Milch cows Are Welcome. Anyone would be thought foolish if he got rid o the Best milkers just As he would be thought foolish if he did no milk them to the utmost Limi compatible with the maintenance of their numbers he was sur the minister of agriculture w Oul look in a very different Way Upo the reduction of these thousand of his Best milkers from what the Chancellor looked upon the consideration of the most Fertile am of taxation.1-the Job of switching postal ser for about people in the space of a Day or so is obviously a hard one. But it has been accomplished by the postal authorities. All mail addressed to St vital s now coming to the Winnipeg Post office and is being sorted handed out at the wicket or re directed by the St. Vital postal staff which has moved Over to the new location. Home staff handling the mail with the Home staff on hand the handling of St. Vital mail is going ahead Well. More and More changes of address Are coming in and. This Lightens the work. But for the other red River Post offices which Are also established in the Winnipeg building the task is More difficult. Only in one Case Morris is. There a local staff Mem ber on the the Mai for people at All the other places such As St. Norbert St. Adolphe Genthon and St. Jean is being handled by Vinn speggers. The e Morris or Jerold Lewis was just trying to catch his breath after a Rush of know whether there would be an other printed and Kent in Here in .11 after the flood. But if there a the Morris people who Call on Lim will be sure to get it while the Morris paper was among the most popular items of Nail the top spot in general favor for Morris people and All others was the monthly the Federal department of health and welfare. Ordinarily the family Al Lowance cheques Are not mailed until about the 20th of each month. But this because of the Hood emergency they were mailed about the Middle of last week. And if department officials Are wondering How Well the change has been received ail they need to do is visit the first floor 1 of the Post office. Strict offices because their staffs have been depleted by the flood. Some men Are away to protect their own Homes. Others have been called up As members o f re serve units. But some of the flooded out workers Are now com ing Back and. The Job of gelling the mail through is going ahead for an organization thai is resourceful enough to figure out in stantly that Cyptar Means . And hos Ohby Means Hudson s Bay company a flood should t be too much of a problem. Nationalist republicans who never agreed with the isolationism of their party. On the other Are the unrepentant isolationists. In be Iween these extremes Are confused internationalists who seem Only interested in Asia and Are tired of helping Europe. If any further evidence was required to show the Basic conflict within the Republican party it was supplied a few Days ago by sex president Hoover. When or. Hoover proposed that the peace Loving nations organize a new United nations with the elimination of if the other democracies refuse 10 Combine with the United states n a new plan of weakness what then then says or. Hoover at East it would clarify what we have to this revealing conclusion can Only be interpreted in one Way the rest of the free world is not prepared to accept the unacceptable terms he offers the United states should Retreat once More into isolationism out of what or. Hoover Calls an expensive and dangerous cold this is the tragic Point reached in the thinking of a great and Good Man. What he says explains Many of the confusions of republicans in the Congress who make warlike gestures against Russia and then vote against foreign Aid. They talk As or. Hoover does As internationalists. They vote As isolationists. Fortunately they Are in a minority in the Congress and perhaps in their own party. A new problem Britain and dollars by t. W. K. About millions last month. London Britain s Gold and Dollar reserves increased by this can be safely said altho ugh official figures Are published Only four times a year at the end of each Quarter. Ministers and civil servants Here make no secret of cheques and All. Other _ first class mail Are being pushed through quickly. The same applies to parcels. But with exception of or. Lewis Home town paper newspapers and magazines will have to wait a while before they can be delivered or outgoing mail from greater Supply and demand from the London times be Ween the wars has proved hat Falls in primary commodity rices once they get under Way an have serious consequences hich in themselves May become source of world wide economic difficulties. It would be rash to Sunie that measures such As the american farm supports stockpiling and financing of commodity shipments by the economic co operation administration have substantially reduced that danger. Already declining Marshall Aid is already declining and will soon be coming to its end. Stockpiling is not designed to support or stabilize markets and does not offer any Means of correcting fundamental gaps Between Supply and demand. The american farm supports while offering firm guarantees to United states Farmers Are from an International viewpoint a danger rather than a remedy. Indeed the United states commodity credit corporation is already burdened with unwieldy most farm products in to undermine the stability of world markets in the not too Dis an future. The discussion last november at the annual conference of the food and agriculture organization on the proposal for the establishment of an International commodity Clearing House suggested that schemes designed to Deal with commodity surplus by uneconomic Means stand Little Chance of adoption. The establishment of rela Tive equilibrium Between effective Supply and demand remains the one Hope of preventing new Anc Erious dislocations of markets Anc prices with All their damaging con sequences. A that during the last six weeks dollars have been coming in As fast As they did during the first three months of the year. There Are some sighs the rate May be faster. As things Ai e going it is reason Able to expect that Middle of the year the Reserve will be millions. At the Low Point of last september 18, the Day the Pound was devalued it was millions. Only four months ago the government s own estimate for the Middle of the year was Mil Lions. It looks that is to say As though the recovery of the Reserve May in fact be twice As fast As was expected. Probable gain in Stafford Cripps Laid it Down As the objective of British policy to maintain during the four years of the european recovery programme the Dollar Reserve with i hich Brilain started that period. This was on april 1948, millions. It As is probable Hie Reserve has of business for Exchange into Dol Lars. Confidence is lost and devaluation becomes inevitable. W that ule Middle of ule pc ise above this figure then sir staf Ford s own words can be used to support the View that Britain no Onger needs . Aid. That is at any rate the fear of or. Allee s government. Quite throng the probable gain of millions in nine months raises a new form of Dollar problem for the British government. During this period the Sterling area is Balanc in its Dollar accounts without id. All the -e.r.p. A ittle More besides Are going Irto he Reserve. The government is afraid lest the United states con today s scripture we wrestle not against flesh and blood but against principalities against Powers against the rulers of the dark Ness of this world against spiritual wickedness in High places. Wherefore take unto you the whole Armor of god that be May do with stand in the evil Day. Ephe sians it would in fact be quite wrong to think that the British Dollar problem is anywhere near solution when the Reserve is millions or so. The Bank of England holds this Stock of Gold and dollars As in effect the banker of the whole Sterling area. The experience of last summer showed that even with All the tight Exchange controls millions is the minimum working balance on which the business of the Sterling area can be conducted. When the Falls to this level As it did Early in july last year a the Bank England begins to have difficulty in meeting All the Ith a Reserve of Only millions Britain is in other words in the Edge of bankruptcy. The margin above that must be far bigger than to 5770 millions to provide Protection against the inevitable fluctuations in void Trade. Between March 1938, and March 1d39, Britain s holdings if Gold and dollars were reduced by millions As the result of a quite moderate pre War depression in . Business. At Post War prices that is equivalent in purchasing Power to Over millions. In pre War Days such a Drain on the Reserve did not matter be cause its total size was equivalent to about millions in present prices. At the very least in Post War circumstances the Reserve must be millions before Bri Tain has any Chance of achieving Security in an open competitive world of multilateral trading. First flush Gress should conclude that Britain no longer needs the . Vioney. Ministers naturally have not paraded this fear in Public speeches but it is a frequent sub act of private discussions. Until april the increase in the Reserve was unlikely to influence . Opinion. Outside Britain at any rate everyone realized that it was due to temporary Circum stances the immediate repercussions of the Sharp devaluation of currencies combined with the commodity Boom in the United states. But by july with devaluation nine months away the temporary Char Acter of the Sterling though still in real As Ever will be much less obvious to Public cheques so to speak that Are pre it in Ordinary course from the Golden books from evening on Lake Leman by lord Byron it is the hush of night and All Between thy margin and the mountains dusk yet Clear Mellow d and mingling yet distinctly seen save Darken d Jura whose capt Heights appear precipitously Steep and draw ing near there breathes a living Fra Grance from the Shore of Flowers yet fresh with childhood on the ear drops the Light drip of the sus Pended oat or chirps the Grasshopper one Good no govt Carol More. To reach that level by the sched de end of the european recovery programme in june 1952, Britain ust henceforth add millions f Gold and dollars to the Reserve very month. So far since septem or in the first flush of recovery after devaluation with the reviving United states Boom and while re living american Aid still at the High rate of the 1949-50 pro Ramme the rate of increase has n fact been Only millions. Even if there was any reason for believing that this rate could be maintained it would be inadequate. Opinion in London is unanimous hat it is most unlikely to be main aimed at any rate beyond the Pring of next year. There is cer mainly no reason for seeing in the present Rise even if it continues for a Jong time the solution of the British problem or the end of the need for . Aid. There is even less reason for see ing in it any grounds for satisfaction with present British economic policy ;