Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - January 22, 1965, Winnipeg, Manitoba Printed and punished Dally except sunday by the Winnipeg free press company limited 300 Carlton Street Winnipeg Manitoba. John Sifton president r. S. Malone pub usher and vice president Shane Mackay executive editor associate Western Peter Mclintock Freedom of Trade Liberty of religion Equality of civil rights Section paces 13-22 2 Winnipeg Friday january 22, 1965 to raise exports a North american common Market now planned of automotive products should demonstrate the three objectives of Tariff reduction or abolition. The first is encourage imports for the advantage of the consumer the second is to reduce prices for the same purpose the third i to encourage exports. As now designed the partial free Trade Deal betwee Canada and the United states apparently will succeed in the first objective by increasing imports into both nations. I will fail in the second since the Price of Canadian Automo Biles will not fall for some time anyway. Objective encouragement to exports will be accomplished in the Case of one Canadian Industry but it is almost completed ignored in the general Tariff debate now under Way. Indeed it might be supposed from the anguish of som protected and soft Canadian industries that lower Tariff Are always devised solely to flood the Home Market wit. Foreign goods and to put canadians out of work. Thes protests Overlook the other Side of the Coin. For the Certai result of foreign Competition is to increase the efficiency o production and enable Industry to sell goods outside the Home Market. If the productive process of Canada improved by Competition its exports assuredly will Rise. This fact which should be obvious but is usually forgotten has been emphasized in the first report of the economic Council. It predicts increased International com petition along with Active Canadian participation in inter National Trade negotiations with the aim of securing substantially improved Access to foreign markets for Canadian suppliers and As a consequence improved Access for Cana Dian Consumers to Many foreign goods thereby promoting competitive performance by Canadian that is True but apart altogether from theory two cases have lately proved that Competition does assure efficiency and exports on the other hand that Lack of Competition diminishes both. Once they began to remove tariffs among themselves the nations of the european common Market were compelled to raise the Quality and reduce the Cost of their production. The result was not merely to expand Commerce and wealth within this group but to increase its sales to the world Market. The six have prospered in Short because they allowed Competition to operate and drive production into its most profitable channels. Today the opposite Case of Britain confirms the truth of Continental Europe s experience. Barred from the com Mon Market and shielded by comparatively High tariffs British business has not responded adequately to the Spur of Competition and a continuing Exchange crisis has resulted. This problem will not be solved by exhortation from the government an Effort cried repeatedly and ending always in failure. British business will not become sufficiently competitive in foreign markets until it is obliged to compete much More vigorously at Home. Only foreign imports or the Assurance of them at competitive prices will produce the desired reforms. Identical imperatives must apply to Canada in the Long run though for the present it enjoys a Boom mainly in consequences of its massive exports. As the economic coun cil reminds us exports of raw or Semi raw materials will not solve the nation s future problems because these pro ducts do not create enough jobs to employ our exploding labor Force. Full employment can be found Only in a rapid growth of fully manufactured exports. How Are they to be achieved certainly they will not be achieved by industries so Well protected in the Home Market that they see no need to sell outside it. The surest method of stimulating their exports is to allow More Competition within Canada then they will be persuaded to keep their prices Low their Quality High and thus will be Able to sell abroad. And without these sales in vastly larger volume Canada cannot continue to Prosper for Long. All such Plain facts As summarized by the economic Council form the background of the Kennedy round which is now working to reduce the tariffs of the Gatt partners. In practical politics of course few if any nations will reduce their own tariffs significantly unless they secure reciprocal concessions from others. That is the bargaining position of the Canadian government and a proper position. Nevertheless the necessity of reductions in the Cana Dian Tariff remains not Only to win similar reductions in our foreign customers markets but to strengthen Harden and rationalize our own Economy against times very Dif Ferent from the existing Boom. When your income tax form arrives a Pitt tips right Han Over Heap it now pick do new incojh6t4x the people s people How traditions Are made Ryphe Queen looked pleas i Antly suburban in a print afternoon gown my wife says we no longer have afternoon owns they re out of Date and the archbishop of Canterbury looked Plum ply re axed in Grey flannels and a Harris Tweed jacket purple and a very protestant looking dog Collar. The ecumenical movement has gone about As far As it can go. The Moderator of the Church o Scotland was almost Stenta ious in a charcoal Grey suit Lack restock and a roman Ollar. However he eased the Ocial tension by wearing a air of Brown brogues. Stan grandson recited Ubert Onald and the lion Wolf it danced the or. Fulton s beam or. E. Davie Fulton is a pleasant and personable Man. He is also a politician and sometimes As a politician he says things that he would t otherwise say. For instance lately or. Fulton has taken to going around the country claiming that prime minister Pearson is a political failure. Or. Fulton s statement has occasioned Little Surprise inasmuch As or. Fulton is a conservative and could even have thoughts of being National Leader of the party one Day in which Case or. Pearson would be his prime opponent. But or. Fulton could have chosen stronger ground for his attack on or. Pearson. After All what is the highest Post politician can to which a aspire in can Ada the prime minister ship and or. Pearson is prime minister. When he talks about Politi Cal failure or. Fulton is on swampy ground. The former minister of Justice left Federal polices to go Home to British Columbia and put the falter ing tory party there on its feet if there has been any marked improvement in the fortunes of the . Provincial tories since or. Fulton took Over it has not been notice Able to the rest of Canada. Indeed or. Fulton himself failed to win a seat in the last . Election. There is some sound advice in the new Kerning the con Mote in one s brother s Eye and the beam in one s own which or. Fulton would be Wise to follow when he talks about political failure. Anniversary of Independence 1 today citizens of ukrainian descent in the free world observe a double anniversary the Day of the declaration of Independence of Ukraine and the Day of the Union of ukrainian territories. When promises of self determination were broken by the soviet government in. 1917, the people of Ukraine rebelled. Ultimately the ukrainian forces were Defeated and since then Ukraine has been part of the . In 1945 Stalin demanded that Ukraine and Bye Orussia be recognized As Elig Ible to be original signatories of the in charter. This was agreed to by the Western Powers although Ukraine remains an integral and Indi visible part of the soviet Union. Ukrainians abroad today find it hard to reconcile the insist ence of some countries that the soviet Union live up to article 19 of the in charter the loss of voting privileges if a member Falls too far behind in its dues while nothing is said of article 2, Section 1 the organization is based on the principle of the Sovereign Equality of Alf its ukrainians feel that although Ukraine May have a vote in the United nations that Ukraine is a free and sover eign state is to make a mock Ery of the word freedom1. Lonkey in his Bath chair. The thing was As casual and assess As a Tennis party at be Wigan Public Park s Awn Tennis association this is a report from the Ondon times of the some Ime Coronation of a Democrat c Queen. According to a lbs Tele Sion program on the first world War the americans with four divisions in the French lines at the Battle of the Marne loaned their spirit of adventure to the British and the French and the War was won. If this goes on the classless inauguration will be come the pomp less Coronation and princes of the realm May walk in procession in West Minster Abbey in Good con science and sharkskin shorts. The president of All the people has As the Pep leaders at Church conferences love to say Given leadership in his business suit and the rest is Only a question through. Of follow Westminster Abbey is itself by implication a pompous setting for a democratic picnic and we May expect the affair to be transferred to Hyde Park Corner where restraints Are at a minimum and an untrimmed Beard has equal ratings with a Crown. Crowns May indeed go out and instead the future Queen May take a Leaf from the inauguration Book and Wear a trick Tiara that flashes the a a son and off in red White and Blue. This was the contribution of one of the president s Texas guests to the inaugural Ball. There seems no reason Why the Queen s Tiara should not Flash Rule Britannia Milf. But we must not be proud. In All Public occasions of great moment there Are symbolic actions of profound theoretical import that had the humblest and perhaps the meanest origins. For centuries the Bible has been presented to the Queen at by Shiun Herron her Coronation by the clerical functionaries of the Church of England. Queen Elizabeth received it from the Moderator of the Church of Scotland. It was agreed by the scottish Church but not by the English Church that the National Church of Scotland must participate in the Crown ing of the National Sovereign. The anglicans said this is not really a Public ceremony but the anglican communion ser vice and obviously you cannot help us celebrate. The scots churchmen stubborn even unpleasantly dogged and eventually a Crumb fell Tiey were allowed to hand Over the Bible and Given a line to say. It was a harmless Concession. Most americans Are under the impression that the out door inauguration has some thing to do with the Simplici ties of tie new nation and the american love presumed to be a Peculiar National trait for the great outdoors. The facts Are less romantic. The British in 1812 burned the Capitol Monroe and was 1817, when be inducted into office the new Capitol was a temporary Brick build ing. Henry Clay was speaker of the House and he had sup ported Monroe for the presi Dency. He expected to be named Secretary of state which in those Days was a stepping Stone to the White House. But Monroe called John Quincy from the court of St. James and Clay was deeply embittered the inauguration of presi dents at that time took place in the House and Clay As speaker ruled that the floor of the temporary Structure could not Bear the weight of the crowd. It was a vindictive act and the president had no Choice but to take to the open air. Barred from the Legisla Tive building he ordered a platform to be built outside it and a tradition was born. At that time however the inauguration was in March. The weather could be warmer but it could also be Wetter. When the occasion moved to january it was too late to take the picnic Back indoors. Some people watched the first open air inauguration and the crowds grew with the years. They would not now be denied though the freezing rain might fell. The meaning of the out door says a local teacher of history is the offering of the Leader in the midst of the people democratic Courtesy of Henry Clay. . May set standards tires under investigation today s scripture Trust in the lord and do Good so Stilt thou dwell in the land and verify thou Shalt be fed. Delight thyself also in the lord and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Psalm birthdays mrs. Anna m. Aune St. Born Norway Jan. 1889. To Washington the fed w Era Trade commission has completed a series of free swinging hearings on tires their Complex marketing practices Quality and safety. As the chief Federal Agency n enforcing Laws against deceptive and unfair Trade practices the Etc was res onding to a great outpouring of consumer complaints on ires that have streamed into legislators and the White House consumer office headed by mrs. Esther Peterson. This year the commission vill decide whether to take stronger action and whether o ask for tougher Laws from Congress. Witnesses before the five Etc commissioners were highly partisan with tire retailers associations consumer groups and various private experts and legislators arrayed against the tire manufacturers spokes men. Sharp and insistent questioning by the commissioners helped bring Forth from wit Nesses a picture of bewilder ing dimensions which con fronts any consumer. There Are Over 940 tire names from which the Amer ican consumer May choose. No standards or guides help the buyer to determine what he is purchasing. Terms of common understanding often really mean something closer to the opposite. Safety special or deluxe Are often applied to inferior or third line tires. A first line tire was conceded by the. Industry to be primarily a merchandising term with no generally accepted Quality or performance Grade. List Price was revealed to have Little meaning other than an inflated measure from which to credit customers taking advantage of the tire company s guar Ante e. One commissioner after detailed probing of a tire company representative retorted you mean you Are charging the customer for a Guaran tee which he thinks he is getting with the Price he paid originally for the defective tire ? the reply was that such guarantees involved High ser vice costs and someone had to pay them. By Ralph Nader Ross Ormsby president of the rubber manufacturers association told the commission what few con Sumers know namely that tire name sizes 7.35, 8.25, 8.55, for example Are not in tended to define precisely the physical dimensions of the tire or the wheel on which it is name he said designate Only the approximate size and the general Type of the chief concern repeatedly expressed through the hear Ings by Many witnesses and the dealt with the was that there were no prob lems which could not be tire Quality and safety tire Industry s position taken care of by the Rma s new recommended minimum standards for new passenger tires which went into effect january 1, 1965. All Domestic producers were said to have voluntarily standards. Adhered to these the Rma was moved to establish these Stan Dards because two year investigation into tire safety legislative by state by a new York committee headed senator Edward Speno. There was Sharp criticism Over the adequacy of these standards. T i r e company spokesmen admitted under questioning that their companies have much More Strin Jent standards for most of their tires. This led the Etc chairman Paul Rand Dixon o suggest that perhaps the Ima standards were pegged of to protect the lucrative Chapie tire Market which the larger tire producers have moved into rapidly in recent years. Senator Gaylord Nelson of Wisconsin told the commission hat the department of com Merce informed him of Var Ous inadequacies in the Rma standards. He filed complaints from metropolitan purchasing agents Ori the tire situation from All Over the country. He suggested that safety is of such deep Public concern that it cannot be left to self regulation by the Industry no matter How enlightened. Judging by the commission ers expressed reaction the most disturbing matter to be brought up was the overload ing of modern automobiles. Henry h. Wakeland technical consultant to the Speno com Mittee in new York detailed How the automobile manufacturers who Are the tire Industry s largest customers specify tire sizes and characteristics that favor styling substantially Comfort and lower vehicle Centre of Gravity at the expense of safety. Other witnesses raised the Issue of tire Over loading on cars particularly station wagons and the role of the Auto Industry in deciding the kinds of tires produced one tire industrialist Harry Mccreary president of the Mccreary tire company submitted a statement saying that Over the years the Auto manufacturers to Cut costs have Cut Down the amount of tire which they Are designing onto the this practice overloads some vehicles when they Are empty and most vehicles when they have a full Load of six passengers he added. I. Mccreary also attributed styling priorities As leading to overloading design by As much As 50 to 70 percent for some fully occupied station wagons. Overload ing increases the Chance of blow outs among other Haz Ards. Tire Industry spokesmen when questioned about Over loading admitted that the car makers set the specifications and had a Good Deal to do with the design. But under repeated questioning by the commissioners these spokes men declined to explain the Auto producers policy on tire Denigri. No representative of any automobile company or Trade association was present at the hearings. This absence visibly irritated some commissioners and led one commis Sione Philip Elman to re Mark it is like a performance of Hamlet without the Prince of the polite burglar the Canadian economic Council of Canada the increased Cost of living in the last decade was tolerable. If it rises no faster during the next few years the nation will enjoy a satisfactory degree of Price and Cost Stabil perhaps this is True in statistical terms and in com Parison with the experience of some other nations. Anyway the economic Council is Only a Spectator of the process. But a Cost of living guaranteed to Rise by about two per cent every year will hardly satisfy the consumer. In particular it will not satisfy the hardworking family which tries to save a Little Money for its old age instead of depending on the taxpayer. Nevertheless the economic Council is quite right in believing As apparently it that the policy of most governments in the Western world not to mention the chaotic regimes elsewhere is geared to a steady remorse less inflation so Long As it proceeds slowly and if possible invisibly. They utter the usual pities to the contrary but they will be Content if they can debase their currencies at no More than the current Speed. Stated in the annual figure of about two per cent the rate does not look very alarming. Stated in the figures of a Man s working life it is theft savings on a grand scale. It would be absurd of course to imagine that any government under any social system can for Long prevent any increase or decrease in the Price level As a whole. Moreover such rigidity would be undesirable. A flexible Price system is needed As even the russians have lately discovered to indicate the consumer s preferences and adjust the production of goods to his demands. A High Price Calls Forth the goods he wants and All things being equal their abundant output will lower the Price. On the other hand falling prices for goods no longer wanted will limit production and avoid the sort of waste rampant in Russia where the state tries to manage everything. Besides it is impossible to isolate Canadian prices from those of the world. As a great exporter and importer Canada inherits overnight the Broad Price level of the world Market and especially of its largest Trade partner the United states. Even if prices were not flowing Back and Forth across International goods no govern ment could fix them without fixing wages profits and indeed every aspect of individual life. The state can use its Central banking mechanism to lean against Price increases or to encourage them As it expands or contracts the Money Supply and manipulates interest rates. That is to say it can prevent monetary inflation or deflation. It cannot prevent production costs from rising if wages and profits Rise faster than productivity unless it is prepared to regulate the entire Economy. But to say that a free society cannot fix the Price level is very different from saying that it should use inflation As a deliberate weapon of policy which is precisely what most governments have been doing. The immorality of this systematic theft is unlikely to disturb the elastic conscience of the state. With rare exceptions Welcome at least a measure of inflation because it is the simplest method of raising Revenue. An article Selling for and taxed at the rate of 10 per cent yields 10 cents to the Public Treasury. If the Price is increased to the yield is 20 cents. So Long As the amount of Money in circulation expands so do revenues automatic ally without the disagreeable necessity of higher taxes and perhaps even with lower taxes. The citizen is concerned however not Only with the amount of Money in his savings but with its actual Worth to purchasing Power. And As we arc going now All savings vill be devalued a Little at a time but nonetheless inevitably. This will suit most governments if the Public tolerates he Legal robbery of its assets and continues to buy govern ment Bonds directly or through insurance policies pension funds and the like. At some Point further Down the line government will find it difficult or impossible to sell Bonds hat Are warranted to lose value on a regular schedule. It is popular and politically convenient for government o argue that inflation is the necessary Price of growth but All past experience denies this Assumption. Over and Over again inflation has produced devastating deflation and a Udden interruption of growth. If a society commits itself to inflation for inflation s Sake even at a moderate the ame familiar result will occur again. And if a society commits itself to an annual inflation of two per cent we May be sure that government will quietly increase the rate like a habit forming drug because it is the easiest Way of escaping hard decisions and postponing the ultimate show Down. I Britain s alternatives the following letter written by eminent Bri i Tish financier appeared in recent Issue of the London s times i sir recent events have emphasized the necessity of an objective re assessment of great Bri Tain s place in the world of the future. Whilst the position that this country has held in the past should not be forgotten it is not a firm platform on which to build a future policy. Many Battles have been won against heavy Odds but the smaller Force has accepted the facts and planned its tac tics accordingly. The acceptance of an agricultural policy has finally created in the european economic Community a unified trading unit consisting of around 170 million people. We thus stand Between two roughly equal sized giants each with about four times our population and far greater natural resources. Our membership of the european free Trade association and the support mostly moral of the Commonwealth is no adequate support in this exposed economic position. Thera Are three viable courses open to us if our Standard of living is to be maintained. 1. Actively and wholeheartedly seek entry into the common Market 2. Follow the Lead of Australia new zealand and Canada in aligning our Economy to that of the United states with the agreed object of entering a Dollar free Trade area in due course. 3. To accept the Posi Tion of a Small isolated country and cast aside All the liabilities an d responsibilities we gained As a great colonial Empire and a leading Force in world affairs. This would mean withdrawal into a Neu Tralis hardworking highly disciplined state on swedish lines. Any of these alternatives would require a Basic change in ideas and habits from the top Bottom of the country. Has not the time come to face facts now when we still have the Accuu Jated wealth of years of Prosperity rather than wait until it is dissipated in attempting to maintain an untenable position yours faithfully Cyril h. Kleinwort ;