Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - March 19, 1955, Winnipeg, Manitoba Freedom of Trade Liberty of religion Equality of civil rights part atm and by crap mar n. Manitoba author it poll Sluwa Tom kjen1 Ted. D Vic Jill a Fjon Prail Dent Maun a Vic. Loru Winnipeg saturday March 19, 1955 an economist s View Ever out pennies under the Golden boy every government department has built in propensities for growth. That is the nature of administration it feeds on itself. To be vigilant against this tendency in the departments that serve them is one of the important functions of the ministers in any government. And because it is a function that politicians in these times Are extremely Apt to neglect it is one that those who pay the Bills Are bound to stress. A Thrifty attitude towards the size of departments is Only one of the attributes of Good government but it is the one that most politicians most need telling about. To this the present Manitoba government is something of an exception. Its it is that it is in general Thrif tier than most. Thrift however is like other Virtues its value depends not on the motive alone but also on the forms of practical expression that Are Given to it. And there is unfortunately a mounting volume of evidence that the Manitoba government has not judged the forms too Well. The first secret of successful Thrift consists in resisting unnecessary accretions to the work of government. The second secret is to resist administrative waste in doing what is Neces sary for Good government. The difficulty is that this can be misapplied to mean in neglect. The fault is rare. Where there is neglect of things that the government has undertaken and that it alone can do the reason lies most often in inefficiency it is not any real Lack of staff and funds in the department responsible. But such false Economy can happen in theory and perhaps in Manitoba in practice. One recent sign of it has been provided by the terrible disaster Over assessments. Part of the trouble in that Case May have been a shortage of staff to serve the equalization and Appeal Board. The facts in this respect have still to be publicly established. But if it is True that the Board would not have so completely mishandled one of the essential functions of government if it had had an adequate staff then certainly this is a Case of false Economy and misdirected Thrift. Similar allegations Are contained in the recently published report for 1953-54 of the labor department. The Deputy minister or. W. Elliott Wilson writes that his de not undertaken Forth with. The apartment does not have sufficient staff to perform the duties required of it by Law. He says that an estimate was made a few years ago of the staff needed to provide minimum reasonable service by each division of the department. The fire commissioner s office was then judged to need several additional Field men. None has yet been added and meanwhile the demands of the office have increased. Or. Wilson claims that merely in order to go lightly a minimum of three additional Field staff is required. The inference is that at present the fire commissioner s office is not performing its duties even once Over lightly. In other words the province is facing fire perils that the Law is supposed to guard against. Again the department s mechanical and engineering Divi with extra work because of the wider use of equipment burning Oil and Gas the growth of refrigeration and Oil said to need three More inspectors in Ordi r to perform its statutory duties in the interests of Public safety. The implication is that Public safety is now being neglected. A similar need for More in this said to exist in the division responsible for see ing that Laws relating to wages and hours Are observed. A the Deputy minister of a department is not of course the final authority in these matters. But he presumably would not commit such views to paper without feeling very sure of his ground. The Only Way in which ministers can reject them is to say that the department at present wastes staff through inefficiency if so presumably they will at once do something about that. If on the other hand they accept or. Wilson s judgment there Are two possible courses of action. One is to say that the present Laws regarding fire inspection safety of equipment wages and hours Are not Worth the amount of staff and expense involved in administering them properly. But in that Case the right course is certainly not just to leave the inspection inadequate for its professed purpose. That Only invites general disrespect for the Law. If it is the government s View the Only honest course is to alter the Law to what can be properly done with the staff that is thought Worth the taxpayer s Upkeep. To let the Law and the practice Drift on unmatched is Sloppy government of an intolerable by m. B. High Point of any ses spent for this purpose could what the . Government tries to do put and employment occurred in the United states Economy in mid-1953, opinion has been divided on what the government should do about it. One View has insisted that this was the prelude to a major depression or certainly would be if Large scale deficit financed Public expenditures were chief spokesmen of this View Point seem Able to detect in any downturn in economic activity however mild a ghost of 1929-31. A second group apparently less neurotically affected by their economically unhappy childhood adopt a More optimistic prognosis. And this seems to have been the basis of by or. William Adami department of economics University of Manitoba commodity inventories surplus capital equipment or Industrial and residential housing. If business starts with ample Cash reserves or the Banks Are willing to provide the Neces sary , this accumulation process May continue for a considerable time. But eventually business will become satisfied it has acquired sufficient inventories. It then reduces its orders from manufacturers. When this occurs manufacturers Cut Back production since the portion of output that unti now has been going into increased inventories is no Nomy was liquidating crease in inventories has been arrested the authorities must stand ready to shift. Over quickly to an easy Money policy that will encourage in creased spending in other directions and thereby counterbalance the reduced spending on business inventories if full employment is to be maintained. The Federal Reserve and Treasury succeed in checking the build up and Price inflation. Whereas bus iness had been adding to inventories at an annual of tighter Money policy to curtail these speculative tendencies in housing and the Stock Market. If. Allowed to develop a hous ing Boom would have kept the Economy at full employment for a time Only to create major difficulties sometime in the future. The authorities feel there is demand in the Amer ican private Enterprise Economy to support a stable full employment rate of production provided no dangerous Nubal an Cirg of production is allowed to develop. As they see it the immediate task is to avoid Over production and accumulation in any Par a. Sion is the budget. It is especially important this year. It will be brought Down about midweek and there is every sign that the debate will pro Duce the major Issue of the session. Hon. R. D. Turner Provin Cial treasurer is putting the finishing touches on his Bud get address this week end and Duff Roblin the conservative Leader is polishing up his contribution written some time ago. The throne speech mentioned an amendment to the gasoline tax act but so fax there has been no sign of it. The. Fact that or. Turner is holding it up until after his budget suggests it will have an effect on Revenue from this source whether or not it will involve an actual increase in the tax. The first indication of the is sue to develop from the budget debate came during a skirmish Between or. Roblin and pre Mier Campbell in the debate on education Grants. Or. Roblin called for moderation and judgment in pay be used for bigger payments on the very things or. Roblin mentioned. These Are the lines along which the Issue will be drawn. At the Start of the session or. Roblin proposed among other things a Hospital insurance scheme based Cross Aid Lor needy old age pensioners and Loans to Young Farmers. He said he had a plan Lor paying for it All and that he would unveil it in the Bud get debate to this extent modification of the debt retire ment program will be the key hem of conservative policy. The House is a big Public drawing card this session. In recent years members Consi dered themselves Lucky to have a dozen Odd souls to play to. Most nights now however the galleries Are decently filled. Crowds of a Hundred or More Are common. Members regard the gallery As a barometer of Public interest in the issues and actions of the session. The business of the session ing off the provincial debt he is running about a we Etc behind indicated his stand would be that the government s retire ment policy was being pursued to the neglect of its welfare and education obligations. Last year. The government is optimistic it can clean things up by the end of the month but some members think it will run a few. Days beyond that. 55.4 billion in mid-1953, the eco Ana accumulation Nomy was liquidating these in titular Industry that Wou d longer demanded. As product recent Federal Reserve Board Tjon fans income and employ ment Are reduced and probably As Well expend and Treasury policy. By its critics this policy is blamed for getting the country into of 1953 and failing to get it out in 1954. Meanwhile the Federal res Erve and Treasury argue they kept the Economy out of a de pression in 1954 and Are helping to insure a smooth recovery from the outstandingly mild recession which did occur. The following is their explanation of the recent difficulties of the american Economy and their justification of present policies. At times an Economy May enjoy a full employment level of spending partly because business is willing to accumulate inventories. This Means commodities Are being ordered from the manufacturers faster than they Are being sold by the retailers to final Consumers. Why might this happen Basi Cally because when prices arc rising it becomes profitable for business to acquire commodities which they can sell later at advanced prices. At such times business be comes willing to produce at a faster rate than warranted by i current sales. The excess pro alternatively if ministers think that the Law As it stands duct Jon May take the form of requires no More inspection than it is proper for the govern to pro they must provide it. Anything else is net proper Economy but neglect. Tures. Craf crashes this May cause further in another reduction in income and consumption and a downward spiral that once started May precipitate a major depression. Moreover the longer the inventory accumulation has been allowed to continue the More marked must to this curtailment of production and employment. Also the longer this reduction in output and employment lasts the More Likely Are consumption expenditures to fall. In Conse Quence the More Likely is the recession to develop into a major depression. Confronted Early in 1953 by rising prices and a rapid build up of business inventories the . Authorities took Steps to counteract both tendencies. To be most successful such a policy should be inaugurated As soon As any significant inventory accumulation is detected. Furthermore once the inventories at a billion annual rate by january 1954. Unfortunately a billion reduction in defense expenditures Macle itself Felt in the Economy at about the same time. Though the authorities promptly changed Over to an easy Money policy the fall in total spending was sufficient to cause substantial unemployment. Had this reduction in def Ense expenditures not complicated things it is. Quire Proba ble the Federal Reserve and Treasury might have curbed the incipient inventory inflation without any significant lapse from full employment. As it was the authorities Felt an of have to be corrected by a sub sequent contraction ints activity. By a vigorous monetary policy they Hope to prevent a repetition of the mistakes of the prosperous twenties and thereby make it unnecessary to relive the economic unpleasantness of the thirties. Debt retirement has been a Keystone of government policy in practically the whole Post War period and if or. Roblin it As seems Likely to be the Case it will be the time this has happened. It would confront Manitoba with its leading political Issue. In reply to or. Roblin s com ments the Premier said the purpose of the vigorous debt retirement program was to re Lieve the province of Delft charges so Money now being birthdays James h. Mayhew nor Wood born Renfrew ont., March 39, 3s65. Alex Ander Munro Bremner nor Man. Born Cullen Banffshire Scotland March 39, 3ss4. Walter Lawson Winnipeg born Newburgh Fife Scotland March 19, 1st7, alter Skalitar Winnipeg born Odessa Russia March 20. 1870. Norman Mcleod Gallaway St. James Man. Horn Stayner ont., March 20, 3878. Trains of fancy there is something at once startling and dreamy in the modernization scheme for British railways. In sense it is As revolutionary in its resolve to do away with steam in Britain As was Kemal s abolition of the Fez should be provided the veil in Turkey. For let for increased private expenditures to fill the Gap created by reduced defense spending. To this purpose they placed Prim Ary Reliance on a continuing easy Money policy to restore full employment. By Paul Jennings the things they say at Ottawa a selection from the remarkable records of Hansard Many people will be impressed by the Craf s detailed account on Friday of the methods it employs to train student pilots. The air Force has indeed shown a commend Able frankness and has thus dispelled Many misconceptions that have Arisen from the grow ing number of air crashes in Manitoba. What the air Force argues convincingly is that its methods have been intelligently conceived to produce sound pilots. A. M. Nicholson Kcf during the per Iod i was away from Parlia ment from 1949 to .1953, i had fault. That surely is a to earn Rny bread by the sweat constant process there should not be so Many accidents attributable solely to Pilot diction of facts. One possible explanation of the contradiction is bound to suggest itself As being at least logical. It is that there is a difference at some regions Between theory and fact. For the Craf to show that excellent methods of train ing Are Laid Down on paper is not the same As saying that but this still leaves unan j these Are consistently adhered we Rcd the question of Why there Are so Many crashes. If every possible precaution is taken to Weed out unsatisfactory students and the Force says that this is a to in actual administration of program. Until the air Force has thoroughly satisfied itself of my brow. E. G. Hunsell Mac what is wrong with the soap operas is there any thing particularly wrong with them i do not listen to them. I think they Are a lot of non sense. They play on the Heartstrings and contain a lot of sob around stuff and the eternal revolve Triangle and that sort of thing. Seldom however do you find excessive drinking scenes in the soap operas. Seldom do. You and the Public on this find Bloodthirsty murders Tak score the crashes will continue to raise anxious comment. An easy the social credit party has in the past been criticized for its funny Money theories. But none of these has been quite us funny As that advanced in the Manitoba legislature on tuesday y by or. Bullmore so Cial credit member for Dau Phin. It is or. Bull Hore s con Tention that a housewife can color Margarine in two min utess she can buy Margar Ine a Pound less than butter this Means that can make 24 cents for two minutes work or an and that said or. Bull Morei is Good pay. Indeed it is. Had or. Bull More carried his arithmetic a Little further he could have shown Manitoba housewives that they can make them selves on a 40 hour week just by buying Margarine and colouring it. This it must be has earlier social credit promises a month to. One and All beaten to a frazzle. On the basis of his firm grasp of so Cial credit fiscal principles alone or. Bullmore looks like a Good bet As next National Leader of his party. Ing place in the soap operas i do not think they Are such terrible things after All. Koy Knight Kcf Saska these corporations or these people who want to sell they first sell us the filth and then they sell us the soap should not be dictating to us what Type of pro Gram we Are going to listen to. That is Why i am glad there is still in this country a body which is to a degree in dependent of soap such As the Csc. Agriculture minister t., g. Gardiner the average House wife knows the difference be the other Side of the House. Colin Cameron Ccann i suppose it is a sign of hardening of the cultural arteries that i find television very hard to take. I have tried it Here in the United states and in the United kingdom and i must say that in All three places it leaves me completely cold. Elmore Philpott lib Van Couver i have heard it said that there would never have been a social credit government in British Columbia if a great number of the voters had not been confused by so Cial credit and Ambrose Holowich so Edmonton e a s imagine someone behind the Iron cur Tain crawling into the loft of a barn or into a Haystack where a radio is hidden tense with anticipation tense to receive a vibrant message. He turns the radio Knob and what does he. Get talks on Reindeer and the St. Lawrence Seaway. E. G. Mccullough Kcf Moose shall Prophesy that if they continue to make these political appoint ments whereby Liberal organizers roam the. Prairies at the taxpayers expense the Liber Ali party is doomed to extinction in Western Canada. cd d. Howe actually in 1954 output in the american Economy fell Only about 2 per cent below that of the previous year. By Decem Ber the recovery appeared to be proceeding smoothly. Then complications arose. There was an unusual state of affairs in the automobile Industry where production was running 40 per cent ahead of last year As Well As an incipient Stock Market Boom and a sudden spurt in residential housing. It was Felt desirable to Check this unbalanced increase in production even though full employment had not yet been regained and the Price level remained stable. Accordingly the Federal Reserve and treas Ury arc now engaged in a no one imagine that the change will affect the railways Only. Once those gaunt Strong engines named after people and places one has never quite heard Henry Thorn Kins Swindon Hall ate re placed by secretive diesels once continuous brakes in goods trains have silenced for Ever the e night Long myster ious Bing Tongbang from misty Moonlit Yards that for generations has told millions in their warm Beds of our ancient endless Commerce once the Fretwork stations Are replaced by pin Bright Foyers it is Idle to suppose that the station hotels the houses and the Blue Brick Churche s and the people in them will re main the same. A certain openness a cer Tain ancestral earthy communion with fire and water and the lonely native Hills will have gone for Ever. It is even possible that in certain Remote valleys steam will be kept defiantly alive squads of reinforced railway police will meet sullen silence in their inquires among vill agers into reports of illegal steam trains seen or heard puffing at night under the dark celtic mountains. Nay the. Very climate May be j changed. The instead of think ing primeval empirical thoughts in a sort of Perm Anent pre creation Mist an aboriginal foggy steam or steamy fog one thinks of that marvellous Basic Turner Pic Ture rain steam. And May. Become just another scandinavian coun try matter of fact under a Pale Clear Sun. Tween Cutter and canner and. Fed beef William Bryce Sel. Where does our Bologna come from F. Hellyer lib. Toronto from we never threaten. Scripture v a thu Shalt worship the lord thy shall thou leave. Matthew but in another sense there is about the whole thing a dreamlike Quality that does preserve a continuity with the old mystery of British steam the ancient abiding foun Dation of the modern world. Quite apart from the lordly almost Oriental scope of the new diesels the element of magic in the Way these vast moneys Twe Lve Hundred million pounds have suddenly been calmly produced so soon after All that about financing the wage have these words of the chairman of the transport commission him both the diesel and the electric locomotive Lack the Glamor which surrounds the mighty steam engine pounding through the night with the Light of its fire glow ing in the faces the Crew. There is something Here of real importance and we Are honestly seeking a Means to avoid losing All the Romance which is attached to this great Iron there Speaks a j voice. Sir Brian Robertson has commanded troops he knows the. Strategic practical arguments in favor of diesels. But clearly he also knows about this aspect at once More fund j of steam. When the Newcastle and Carlisle railway was opened in 1s3s. Thirteen spec Ial trains containing per sons crossed the fells. Many flags and banners were says or. J. Mclean s history the memory of 1s15 blood out in glorious eighteenth of june and vapor Vin Cit Omnia proclaimed the might of steam. Alderman Thos. Wilson a famous Tyne Side poet celebrated the occasion in with ten coaches contained 1he Carlisle. Town band. Then with its steam Organ. The whole vast Peregrina Tion took place , fog and Thunder people fell in the River trains ran into one another. Mayors got Fost ladies in silk dresses were marooned till after Midnight in the misty Hills that re sounded to the loud state ments of steam organs and Lusty bands. After this dionysian age the Romance department must perforce seem socratic self conscious. It will employ poets the train on platform seven will take us All to Hea Ven. Reading beckons you. Yea holy Salisbury and on to the dark worn bed and actors who bearded or Beautiful or exotic will intensify the mystery we have always observed in people that Are in mental would be More True pleasant it to i i first Coly a filthy Jutt terribly sent Itic think. That what he envisages is the actual setting up of a Romance department with its obviously at eur Stem. Day and age the Romance will have to be plan artistic formal. It cannot compete with Folk jubilation in the first Days other trains and who will hang Marine stations with draperies of nets or paint murals of cog wheels for Bir Mingham new of Lathi but the department will look backwards As Well As for wards. Gently authoritatively it will Shepherd steam from into history. Over the centuries there will develop at Euston a sort of Taber Nacle of steam where one holy splendid symbolic Nat ional steam train will be kept. On special occasions it will Roll through the streets of Lon Don on special lines. It will go to Buckingham Palace for the changing of the guard it will take conventions of for eign scholars to the British museum and guests to the Royal Academy for the annual dinner and it will Lead the lord mayor s show that the plumes of steam May add their tradition to the ancient stones Oje London. On Trier Orryl fat ;