Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - July 6, 1954, Winnipeg, Manitoba Freedom of Trade Liberty of religion Equality of civil rights Winnipeg free press printed and published Dally extent sunday by the Winnipeg free press company limited. 300 Carlton strut. Winnipeg. Manitoba. Authorized As second class matter by the Post office department Ottawa. Tom Kent k. S. Malone editor Victor Lipton vice president Grant Dexter president a publisher lord associate editor general manager Winnipeg tuesday july 6, 1954 or Pickersgill s task last year people entered the few Square Miles of West Berlin As refugees from soviet controlled East Germany. Last year Canada took in a total of immigrants from All countries. In the contrast Between such figures lies the Core of the immigration Issue. It is the real Core although it was completely ignored in the perfunctory debate or this matter with which parliament recently wound up its session at Ottawa. The arrival of a new minister at the department of immigration in the person of Hon. J. W. Pickersgill entitles one to Hope that there will be some reconsideration of the fundamentals of policy which have too Long been taken largely for granted. The number of people currently admitted to this country is by any standards Small. It is Small in relation to the existing population. It is smaller still in relation to the area of the country and the wealth of the undeveloped resources on which we base for ourselves such Happy thoughts about our opportunities and our future. It is Small in relation to the poverty and Over crowding that make men look enviously from Europe towards Canada. It is Small in relation to the High living standards Here which in a Freer world would be so powerful a Magnet for new canadians. It is Small in rela Tion to the number of. People displaced in the last War or postwar refugees from communist tyranny who Are still living in Camps in Germany. It is Small in relation to Many of the movements of population that in the past have made new nations or altered the balance among the old. It is Small in relation to the peopling of these Western Plains. Every such comparative aspect of present immigration was ignored by the House of commons. Indeed the most profound remark in the debate was made by or. George Drew. He said that there is perhaps no More important department than the department of but nothing said by or. Drew or by anyone else in the debate bore out this assessment accurate though it ought to be. Instead one or two members displayed a prejudice against immigration As such while the remaining speakers were Content to talk Chic Fly about the details of policy about alleged injustices to particular individuals. Almost the Only discussion of general policy came from the social credit Leader or. Solon Low who propounded a remarkable theory of a chosen people. Such is apparently the urge in or. Low s party for a Racia Listic doctrine of a Type More familiar in Europe that he manages to apply it even to a nation of such mixed origins As this. By and in or. Low s View in Canada we have had a Choice so let us keep it and in our screening of prospective immigrants i think we should Ever Bear in mind that we want our Canadian population to be a Choice or. Low did not explain How it was that while people coming Here freely without government discrimination had in the past built a Choice people now it is necessary for government officials to sit in judgment on the applicants. Canadians of All parties except social credit will surely reject so authoritarian a philosophy. Yet from his unusual basis in principle or. Low finds no difficulty in heartily approving the present government s immigration policy. That if nothing else should give liberals pause it should make them look again and suspiciously at the policy. In fact or. Low went unchallenged. No one cared Why he supported the present policy. What mattered was that he did not make a fuss. For the prevailing philosophy about immigration is simply a doctrine of expediency. The govern ment s View was implicit not explicit in the speech of the former immigration minister Hon. Walter Harris. It is that immigration is a Good thing in principle but touches All the delicate spots in Canadian politics the problems of race and religion and housing and jobs. The policy that gives the least trouble is therefore one of obscurity of using elaborate administrative procedures to keep All kinds of delicate balances Between racial and National groups and to keep the total number of immigrants fairly constant a Little up or a Little Down according to whether protests Are less or More noticeable. It would be unfair to say that the resulting policy is simply the one that is the Best for vote minded politicians it is also the policy that is most comfortable for the Canadian people. Its difficulty is that it takes no account of the needs of people outside Canada people who would be productive and useful citizens if they could leave the overcrowded areas of Europe and even for Canada itself the policy takes account Only of immediate needs. The problems that would arise with a faster flow of immigrants Are obvious. No one denies their existence. They Are the problems that arise from All economic change. To bring More people into the country accentuates immediately a shortage of housing and similar facilities it is Likely to be accompanied by a Little More unemployment in the Short run. But these Are temporary effects. They ought not to be enough to deter a country that has grown As Canada has grown and is confident As we profess to be and should truly be of our resources and our further growth. If we look beyond the first few months after their arrival immigrants Are a source of employment not competitors who throw canadians out of jobs. A real danger of depression in the Canadian Economy would arise from problems such As the loss of Staple Export markets that an Economy serving Only 15 million people was too Small to take in its stride. Canadians will enjoy More real Security against such dangers Security based on a healthy Economy As Canada grows. In a country so richly endowed with natural resources it is a growing population that will keep the Economy truly expanding enable the country to ride out the inevitable Short term problems and improve the prospects of jobs and Prosperity for everyone. To take but one obvious example the wheat Farmer can face his current difficulties More confidently if he can assume that his markets nearest at hand which he can serve most efficiently Are expanding markets. This is the proper basis of an immigration policy in Canada. It has too Long been pushed aside by recollections of depression and by political expediency. A changed policy would need some foresight a Little courage a certain willing Ness to sacrifice immediate Comfort for Long term Benefit but the Canadian people and their politicians do not Lack these qualities. It is for or. Pickersgill to give a fresh Lead. Armed Japan largely overlooked in the re cent storms of Domestic politics the first stage in Japan s rearmament has begun. As it proceeds it must drastically change All calculations of Power in the Pacific. Japan has now escaped from the strict As it has turned out far too strict provisions of general Macarthur s Constitution which prohibited armament for Ever. Like so Many other things in this Topsy Turvy postwar world that restriction had hardly been imposed before it became obsolete. A defence Board will soon be set up headed by a director general who must also be a member of the Cabinet. As under the american Constitution the head of the govern ment will also be commander sex offi Cio. The military establishment planned for the immediate future is not Large men. But it is a beginning and there is no settled limit on its expansion. Once the United states decided to break the paper Walls of the Constitution and by an interesting piece of historical irony to demand rearmament the growing Power of Japan could not be suppressed provided of course the impoverished state can finance its heavy costs. In prewar Japan civilian government had Little constitutional and less actual control Over the armed services which largely drove the nation into i s aggressive adventures. Under the new Laws the Civi Lian is on paper supreme Over the military Power. Moreover the government has attempted to keep the military establish ment out of the hands of professional soldiers experienced in the intrigues of the old re Gime. Seven of the eight Lead ing officers in the present armed services Are former civilians. It remains to be seen however whether the military when they feel Strong enough will begin to interfere like their predecessors in politics. All these changes have been effected by a remarkable interpretation of the Constitution. It has not been altered but conveniently stretched into new meanings. Thus the Law yers discover Japan can rearm legally so Long As it does not join any Alliance or Send its forces overseas. These remain ing restrictions no doubt can be removed it necessary by further interpretations later on. In everything but name Japan is an ally of the United states already. Bright Side in a time of declining farm income wheat surpluses and Uncertain crop conditions the Western Farmer Hass an almost instinctive anxiety he recalls the grim years of the thirties with a finely etched clarity. Thai is natural but not Alto Gether realistic much has happened to stabilize Prairie agriculture since the depression decade. In the words of or. J. R. White president of Imperial j Oil limited Prairie Farmers Are Riding today s bumps in a vehicle far different from the one they drove in the or. While s remarks were contained in a recent address to members of the Western Canada Trade fair at Brandon. He acknowledged the unsettled nature of world markets and prices and their effect on West Ern Prosperity. But he added the ability to produce efficiently is the first requisite for this Means the ability to Prosper when prices Arp High and the greater ability to get along if prices should go there had Boen or. White no served. A revolution in Agri culture Over the past 20 or 30 years. The farm worker could i now manage twice As much acreage As in the twenties. Yet the actual acreage per Man had increased just 50 per cent. He continued i am not a specialist in the complexities of agricultural economics but i wonder whether our thinking about agriculture has kept Pace with farming techniques unless i am very much mis taken the 1954 wheat Farmer is far belter equipped to Deal with Price fluctuations than was his 1930 i or. White s remarks to not apply to agriculture alone. In Industry also improvements in efficiency should be the True Cushion against economic blows. They Are solid achieve ments sharply contrasting with the artificial props of subsidies and tariffs which do not cure the ill. News item protectionists assail president Eisenhower for rejecting a Tariff commission recommendation to increase duty on ground fish fillets. Monday night club by a. F. Alderman Carrick was i. Quite outspoken. He did t like to see people doing Busi Ness with a gun in their pocket and that he inferred was what the town of Tuxedo was doing. offering to sell land to the City of Winnipeg to enlarge Assiniboine Park but the Price was too High. The Alderman had More to Edo would be Happy to con tribute to the costs of Park maintenance. Veteran Mem Bers who Haven t much Faith in anyone helping the City greeted this with derision but Alderman Chown went on in impassioned terms to a larger View. The City needed Matur Ity to go with its growth it had to work harmoniously with other governments or it would say on the matter and so had end up sans Disraeli Bridge Europe s reserves after the Dollar crisis pro Var depression years. Its Exchange reserves in in rms of purchasing Power have greatly declined. But the uni Ted states still possesses twice As much Gold As All the other free countries together. The currency gains of Bri in their impatience with United states Tariff poli cies the free nations of Europe Seldom pause to note the Al most unbelievable improve ment in their supplies of Gold and dollars. Two years after the last War i during the worst Days of the Dollar shortage Europe s Exchange position was desperate. Yet today it has in its reserves More Gold and dollars than Ever before. Thanks very j Lars. Now they hold Bil billions in Gold and s400 millions in dollars. A booming West Germany has increased its holdings from is 48 millions in 1950 to si.2 nations Wilt have received some billions More in Gold and dollars than they needed to pay for their current Ameri can imports. J it is impossible to look far Thor ahead than a year or two since future United states for Tain and the Sterling bloc Are Jsn Aid Are Uncer. Particularly remarkable. In j Tain but it cannot be doubted 1949, at the Peak of the Dollar that the Congress crisis these nations held about si.7 billions in Gold and Dol eleven other members of the monday night club. At their last meeting they had swept the land Deal Back to finance committee for further study. The committee in View of the ultimate was now More than willing to drop it entirely. The motion however did not please Alderman Penner. There was much to be said for both sides in the argument and much had been said but he did not think the Cost was sex. Jessive. The land was needed to expand the zoo and he for one would t take the responsibility of blocking it. Neither would Alderman fines a Mem Ber of the Parks Board. Plans were being developed he said for a first class zoo and a Manitoba zoological society was being formed to encourage it. Now some of the Alder men were trying to throw a Monkey wrench into the proceedings. Cost of plan sans this and sans that. Looking ahead is largely to the generosity of the United states. And these reserves Are rapidly increasing. According to figures recently compiled in washing ton the present non communist nations outside the uni Tori slates possessed in 193s, s11.3 billions in Gold about billion in u. S. Dollars and j700 Mil Lions in various other foreign currencies a total Reserve of something Over si3 billions. After the intervening cur Rency crisis these nations now hold billions in Gold billions in u. S. Dollars and s7.9 billions in other foreign currencies a total of about s25.7 billions. It must be remembered of course that an ounce of Gold or a u. S. Dollar now buys roughly half what it would buy before the inflation of the last War. Allowing however for a Hundred ppr cent increase in prices the free world outside the United slates had regained some thing like its prewar Exchange position. Shrunken Gold Hoard this is one Side of the Coin. The other is the shrunken Gold Hoard of the United states. In 1938 the United states Gold Supply stood at billions. As foreign nations depleted their Exchange reserves to billions. Movement of floods what has produced to Hosp drastic changes for the better the movement of goods ser vices Ami currencies in and out of the United states Dur ing 1953 explains the process now at work. In that year foreign nations deter j mined to scale Down these Grants As much As possible and May Well Cut the appropriations proposed by president 1 Eisenhower. In Short As a Short run cure for a grave emergency t h e i United states program of Aid in its foreign friends has Propri itself one of the most successful operations in the i history of International Fin Finch. It has established a foun i elation on which a permanent j Structure of balanced Trade can be reared. The question now is whether the United states and its Trad ing partners abroad by liberalized Tariff policies and an bought from the United states increasing Exchange of goods. To the amount of billions and sold to the United states s16.6 billions. They thus suf Fred a deficit of billions and. Barring a Thor factors would have suffered a similar decline in their reserves of Gold and dollars. But the uni Ted states made Grants of billions to foreign nations and. As a result their Exchange re serves grew by billions at heavy expense to the Ameri can taxpayer. Such arrangements of course cannot be considered satisfactory in the Long run. The world at Large will not be in a sound position until it is paying its full Way in the american Market by its own sales of goods and services by Trade rather than Aid. But in the immediate future unless the movement of Trade changes will use the foundation built at great Cost or by damming up Commerce will allow it to crumble. Today s scriptures the people that Walker in darkness have spen a i Pat Light they that in t h e land of hip Shurlow of death upon them hath the Light Shiner. Isaiah 9 2. Birthdays William Arthur Elliott Winnipeg Man. Born Perth ont., july 6, 1ss5. F. J. Stephens Kel Vood Man born Grey county ont., july 6, 1866. The word Monkey brought up the matter of peanuts and the Cost which was t peanuts said Alderman Bebchuk. He wanted to get Down to brass tacks too the entire Cost of this plan including land trans Fer of land and paving of Park Boulevard was about that was the real figure not and he was t willing to see the City pay it. In a quiet persuasive voice Alderman Mckelvey agreed. He had always questioned spending the Money for a zoo when so Many congested City areas lacked recreation Fields. He tacked on an amendment set the aside to buy land for Tot. Lots and play grounds a much More Tan Gible and valuable Endeavor. I Alderman Orlikov tended to the same View. Just prior to i the meeting he had driven around some of the older heavily populated areas and had seen children playing in the streets. J Alderman Chown just Back i from vacation had other views. He approved of the Park expansion but could t say the Alderman Sharpe had been doing some behind the scenes Spade work sans fuss. He had met three Tuxedo councillors and in his opinion the negotiations might be profitably re opened. The members he said had to look fifty years ahead and see the future need for an expanded zoo. Alderman Mulligan was Only ready to look Twenty years ahead but even from this Van Tage Point he could see the virtue of the plan. At this Point he got involved in some higher mathematics which left most of the members gasping. The City he said sold lots for there were some five and a third lots per acre in the Tuxedo tract and at this rate the 66 acres actually were Worth about come off exclaimed Alderman Blumberg but Alderman mul Ligan was Adamant. Unwinding his Long legs Al Derman Scott ventured that we Don t need the 66 he had trekked into the Virgin territory on sunday and came to the conclusion that it was just scrub it would Cost thousands to develop. Do monkeys Cost inquired Alderman Taraska who seemed bored by the debate. No one Felt qualified to answer. Choice Street Alderman Blumberg had visited the Park too and still did t like the Deal. He added somewhat obscurely that Park Boulevard was one of the choicest streets in the City and the Homes on it wonderful. Some of your friends live said Alderman Chown but the . Member refused to be stigmatized As a Friend of Well to do citizens. He knew one Man there he said that s All. You know More than Alderman Chown persisted. If i do. I Don t know said the Dean of coun cil. The debate ended on that in consistent note. In Quick Suc cession. Alderman Mckelvey s Tot lots were banished a to same for the Back Lane snip i vion to refer the matter Back ing he had read about. He was concerned about the City s future relations with other municipalities if this went on. Alderman Blumberg who had done some sniping himself snorted moreover he was convinced he did not say that Tux to finance committee went Down s to 7 and the original motion to drop the was accepted also 8 to 7. The debate lasted one hour and ten minutes. In fifteen More minutes the aldermen swept through a Jungle of re ports and headed Home. Fight the War and to buy j greatly the outside world american goods afterwards j should continue to increase its the u. S. Gold Supply Rose to i Exchange reserves. For or. Heads for Albany Man with the magic name special correspondence billions in 1919. It now stands at about billions. Again it must be remembered that this Supply has a greatly diminished value by prewar standards. Since the Price of the United states imports is now about three during the current year it is expected in Washington those reserves with the Assis Tance of american Grants and private foreign investment should Rise by More than billions and increase by about billions next year. Times that of the immediate thus in three years foreign Grain boats fort William to Washington repro Vav tentative Franklin d. Roosevelt jr., who looks talks and. His critics say. Acts like his father has entered the Campaign for the governor ship of new York. With Many of the new York City delegates to the Forth coming democratic state nominating convention already committed to support him and More than half the necessary 500-vote majority assured or. Roosevelt is virtually certain to win the nomination. His chances of election Are Al most As Good. Some Day Settle the question of just what the founding fathers meant when they de Creed in the Constitution that the president of the United slates must be a natural born up to the present this has been interpreted As meaning one born in the United states but most constitutional lawyers agree that if could mean an individual born of Ameri can parents. The problem has been examined with new emphasis governor Dewey who is pro j Ever since or Roosevelt in. Bably the most efficient state governor in the Union is said to be planning to retire to Pri vate Law practice. Senator Irving m. Ives the senior sen Ator from new York is the probable Choice for re publican nomination As his Suc Cessor. Either governor Dewey or senator Ives however would have a hard election Battle against the Young con Gressman with the magic name. Reasonable Chance All this caused much mus Cle flexing and trumpeting among new York democrats. For the first time in 10 years they have a reasonable Chance of electing a democratic governor at Albany and perhaps with Luck pushing him on to greater things. Or. Roosevelt is 40. He was born at his father s summer Home near Campobello n.b., a circumstance which May tired Public life and there is general agreement that it would not be allowed to stand in the Way of anyone nominated by a National party for the presidency or the vice presidency. Like his father or. Roose velt went to Groton and har i Vard and entered Law. While his family was in the White House he attended the famed University of Virginia school later setting up prac Tice in new York City. He entered the United states Navy Early in 1941, and in due course became a destroyer Captain. He served on the treacherous Murmansk run in the North Atlantic and in the Pacific where his ship Sank a Jap anese submarine. He was wounded and decorated for heroism at a time when the Navy and Marine corps unlike the army were chary of indiscriminate medal giving a policy which they have since been forced to Amend in self a Liberal 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 whose capt Heights appear precipitously Steep and drawing near there breathes a living Fra Grance trom the Shore of Flowers yet fresh with childhood on the ear drops the Light drip of the suspended oar or chirps the Grasshopper one Good night Carol More. A professed Liberal he was once National vice chairman of americans for democratic action an officially non part Isan organization which usually casts itself As the social con science of the democratic party in 1949, or. Roosevelt was nominated by two new York City groups the Liberal and four freedoms parties in a special election of a Succes Sor to the late sol Bloom. His District which comprises the Midtown Manhattan area bounded by Central Park eighth Avenue 21sl Street Ana the Hudson elected him with a Clear majority Over three other candidates. He was re elected without difficulty in 1950 and 1952 ;