Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - July 22, 1968, Winnipeg, Manitoba Print eco and published a sunday Winnipeg free press company limited 300 Carlton Street Winnipeg v r f John Sifton r. S. Malone publisher and Peter Mclintock executive editor Maurice Western 1 Ottawa. Editor Winnipeg free press Winnipeg monday july 22, .1968 Freedom of Trade Liberty of religion Equality of civil rights Post office and parliament the strike of postal workers will be represented As _ test of strength and Resolution Between unions and the Trudeau government. In a sense it is that because the government could have peace either by Concession or at a comparatively Early Date by legislation. But the ministers Are Noc a group of men bargaining with their own Money this is their weakness As negotiators since the unions assume that the government can always find Means of replenishing its purse. It is their strength if the taxpayers recognize that they in reality Are the second party on whom these demands directly or indirectly Are being served. In its statement of wednesday the Council of postal unions scoffs at suggestions that what it Calls a fair and honorable settlement would endanger the Economy of this country or create if the matter could be considered in isolation the government s task would doubtless be easy it could Grant a generous settlement without worrying about larger consequences. This in fact is what the previous ministry thought it was doing As or. Pearson carefully explained to parliament in the famous 30-per-cent award to Seaway workers. The sequel was very painful because a settlement in one segment of the Public sector was accepted elsewhere As a signal of what the government thought tolerable in the Way of wage can be no doubt whatever that it determined the magnitude of other demands and the result was an inflationary surge Felt by every family in Canada. The government demonstrated by its attitude to the latest Seaway strike that it has Learned a hard lesson plainly it regards settlements in excess of six per cent As inflationary. Or. Trudeau has been at pains to spell put the consequences. As he said recently i think the Public should be made to realize this that the5 reason the govern ment drags its feet is feels it has to in some cases look at the Over All position of the Economy and even though it could taxes and thereby augment the has to take a broader View and realize that if it did so it would be setting trends which would be damaging to everyone in can it is evident that the postal strike is Good Deal of inconvenience to the Public the question is Are the taxpayers and Consumers prepared to put up with this inconvenience in preference to another round of inflation if the Public is Resolute its agents at the bargaining table the ministers will no doubt stick it out. But there May As in earlier disputes be for parliamentary intervention based in part on a notion that this is the Way to show strength and to defend interest. There Are two Points to be noted. Is that when parliament is summoned to Deal with a wage dispute the Issue is immediately tossed into the Arena of competitive politics. The second is awards in such circumstances tend to be higher than necessary because they Are influenced by non economic considerations since Union leaders will at out with indignation some of it perhaps synthetic that sacred rights Are being trampled upon any government will be concerned to minimize criticism making the settlement fas generous As possible. The most recent strike on the railways is instructive in this context. If the government a now bows to the postal workers it will lose the advantage won not without Cost in the Seaway strike. Taxpayers and Consumers will be i better served if it holds l it s ground with Public support. Even prospective interruption of mail wide spread doubts about the Wisdom of legislation permitting strikes in the Public sector. This should be a Plain enough warning to Union readers of the probable consequences of prolonging the walk out. Future danger from protectionism More strife in Middle East the military coup in Iraq inserts another instability into the Middle East. It was the fourth such coup since the old Royal hash emite regime was ousted in 1958, and four coups in 10 years is a fairly Low average As Arab regimes go. However Iraq is wracked by a number of Domestic and foreign conflicts and the Advent of the baathist Rule does not augur Well for the Region s tranquil Lity. Baath in arabic Means Renaissance and the baath party was founded by Michel Aflex in 1943. Or. Aflex had been one of the leaders of the syrian communist party but left it to found Al baath a left Wing ment since then the party has split into a number of factions. Its extreme left Wing which has been flirting with Mao s China is in Power in baathist Are Noj on speaking terms with their syrian namesakes but then they Are not on speaking terms with almost everybody else. Al baath is banned in Egypt new Baghdad government made history by omitting from its inaugural statement the. Obligatory obeisance in the direction of Cairo Nasser indeed the Baghdad demanded a pan Arab inquiry into the Arab defeat last june implying that the egyptian president could Well find himself in the Dock. The new regime with its pronounced nationalism that is the hallmark of Al baath will undoubtedly cause Dis quiet in Tehran. With the impending departure of British forces from the persian Gulf the conflict Between the arabs and Iran for the Possession of the Oil Rich Gulf has been growing in sides have made overtures to the soviet Union and the soviet Indian Ocean Fleet has been making Courtesy Calls in the area. However Iran is deter mined to defend the Gulf against All Comers. The Shah fears intrusion by president Nasser into Iran s affairs and moreover the Tehran government is not1 Happy about the Prospect of Iraq s machinations in the Gulf. The intentions of the left Wing regime in Baghdad have Given Rise to misgivings hot Only in Tehran but also in the Arab trucial sheikh Doms that like Iraq Border on the Gulf. Iraqi claims in the Gulf have been supported but the moslem the saudis is no More popular Cantong the littoral is iraqi radicalism. There is thus scope for International intrigue and the they would mean higher Consumers and Duckers alike. Would fan the flames of inflation rather than Damp them it ill1" Behoved anyone in Winnipeg with " our murky and polluted to look askance at Victoria. But it is regrettable that the . City s Lovely Shoreline and beaches should be spoiled and defiled by a deliberate acts of Munici pal government. Victorians might Well ask themselves exactly How much if indeed it can be measured in collars their beaches and Shoreline Are Worth. These direct distortions in the american Economy would not be As serious however As their indirect consequences abroad. Speaking As the negotiator i who More than any other saved round from collapse at the eleventh hour Roth said that american quotas would bring immediate retaliation from other countries. Choosing their targets for retaliation our trading part ners would pick the products in which United states Export prospects Are brightest from computers to soybeans. Thus our Access to markets for these products would be restricted the same time Attiat inflated costs would be impairing our Price competitiveness in other products. In both ways across the Board quotas would hinder rather than Helt dealing with our. A 1 l Here or froth As the president s spokesman flatly denies the Central argument of the protectionists. Their Case in the next Congress Jill be claim that a or at least a freeze of imports would cur Tail the United state foreign Exchange deficits though in visible merchandise Trade it has Long accumulated a sur plus. The deficit is entirely of invisible items like f foreign Aid investment expenditures d tourist if import restrictions brought retaliation from other gait members As they undoubtedly would the m e r c h a n Dii s e surplus would fall or disappear wors ening the net deficit and undermining the strength of the United states Dollar. But or. an even worse danger. He asks United states were now to adopt a Bill that makes the quota our Basic form of Protection applicable to Many products and Many industries is there any reason Why other countries should be willing to continue1 with Gatt what is at stake Here is not just the loss of Export opportunities for certain american industries but the destruction of the whole system under which All our exports have thrived. What is proposed is in effect the virtual repeal of the Rule of Law in International these Are Strong words from a Man not Given tto exaggeration. They mean in Plain terms that the president and Congress to be elected in november must decide whether the world Market on which All nations live to be demoralized and the entire International currency system with it. Apart from All other considerations of policy no foreign nation has so Large a stake As Canada in the outcome of this impending decision. For the Canadian Economy the United states election is hardly less important than last month s National poll. Thirty years of growing up by Tom tf7hen a Man has w known the farmlands of Manitoba returns to Canada after years abroad he wants to see More than the he wants to see something of the Prairie which he once knew As this was so with my Friend who had spent 30 years in England and now making a sentimental journey to the land his youth. J when he i was making a trip through the Rural areas of Manitoba and that he had thp1 Opportunity to accompany Mey he was Quick to respond. For three Days we drove together through coun try with which he had once been familiar. But though much on the Prairie was still recognizable to him after so Long an absence much1 had changed. The most obvious changes involved highways methods of farming and farms them selves in some places there was Only one farm where two or three and in some cases four had been. There were changes in farm buildings. Only occasionally did we see an old Type barn with its huge Hayloft. In most instances the barn had been replaced b y implement Sheds and the old two store House by a modern brightly painted single Storey one. He was impressed by the variety of crops especially in Pembina Triangle and by the evidences of specialized farming and he could not help contrast the Prairie As he remembered it in the dust years of the 1930s with the Lush Rich crops he now saw everywhere. Despite the marketing problems he knew that today s Farmers were facing he Felt that everywhere in country and in country there was a sense of Prosperity arid Well being. Some of the Small towns had become smaller and some of the Large towns larger but the Over All impression was of a thriving in America s bureaucratic Maze Washington govern w ment is big these Days and the United states holds a warning to others govern ment can get so big that no one knows How big it is. This is the lesson provided by a Little known Republican con Gressman serving Only his first term in office who undertook what at first seemed a simple research task but ended As a major achievement. Rep. William Roth of Dela Ware did something the administration itself has been unable or unwilling to do. He has compiled the first catalogue of the multitude of government and assistance programs that annually Dis Burse billion of the Public s Money. It was an undertaking that took him and his staff eight months of intensive work. The catalogue when completed was words Long and covered spending programs. And it will be longer in revisions when gaps Are filled. Why was it left to an individual to do what the administration should have done itself rep. Roth found out. The official secretiveness concealed a morass of Duplica Tion and confusion so much so that the administering Agen cies Felt they must preserve it. Rep. Roth told the House upon publication of his catalogue that sometimes As Many As 10 Cabinet level departments and 15 or More agencies have programs de voted essentially to the same general area of activity but that there is no Way to Cross reference these and thus be Able All the programs in one area at one time. We found that virtually All Federal departments and agencies Are most willing and co operative to describe any one of its sic activities but that some Are most unwilling to describe All their activities in a Way that might k permit meaningful analysis and com rep. Roth found at the outset of his investigation that no one knew How Many pro Grams there 7 were or even How a defined. Congressmen themselves could not get enough information on existing programs evaluate the need for new ones. Even administration officials lacked enough information to Check on overlap duplication and Lack of co ordination. By Richard Puner above All potential Benefi diaries of these programs the people at Home who pay the Bill have virtually no Hope without the help of expensive consultants of finding put about All programs for which they would qualify and from which they might gain Benefit. We found that Only the largest cities and states and universities have the Neces sary Money and staff required just to keep abreast of the programs from which they might i a Lone congressman tried to find i Way oat of the labyrinth of the uni Ted states welfare pro Grams. He found it an impossible task frustrated by bureaucracy incompetence and utter Lack of co ordination and planning. In other words most of the government s largesse was going to those who could hire High priced help to find a path through the Federal Bureau Cracy. Rep. Roth began his study after he had found As All new congressmen do that he could not easily find answers to constituents questions about Federal programs. One such constituent was a Small col lege in his state which was unable to compete with Large universities for Federal funds to upgrade its doctoral Cour ses. Rep Roth found that Many Large universities main Tain offices in Washington. One Sutti University aside a storage room half As Large my office in Washington. Filed and stacked in this Large storage room is an almost incredible profusion of Federal communiques Federal program publications catalogues transcripts of Federal conferences v speeches by Federal assistance program administrators and press re leases. It maintains a full time librarian just to keep track of this material rep. Roth quoted a country i spent a great Deal of time going from office to office trying to find out where funds were available who could in fact authorize Grants what application forms had to be completed and where they should be submitted. Although everyone was pleasant no one could provide answers for anything but their own special interests. I was unable to get anywhere in that period of Tiro " what rep. Roth was an information crisis created by the tremendous growth in government prot Grams and requiring a new Breed of High salaried specialists to act . The situation causes Federal departments and agencies to sometimes carefully and zealously guard information on some of its sic activities lest the activity be lost through unification with analogous activities of other agencies or simply voided by the con even the Roth catalogue is yet far from Complete. The health education and Wel fare department which runs a confusing multitude of programs has answered hardly any of the 478 questionnaires he sent ii. In explaining his research problems rep. Roth said that some depart ments disagreed with his definition of a program. Others said programs and so rapidly that Supply of data was impossible. One department said it would take hours of work to answer rep. Roth s questions which Only con Vinced rep Roth that the system was wildly at fault. Every legislator in a democracy should obtain a copy of the Roth catalogue and stare at it from time to time just to realize what even a partial welfare state can become if its apparatus is allowed to grow without co ordination Over sight or planning. The catalogue so painstakingly assembled will of Tourse be speedily outdated rep. Roth and some of his Collea gues last month introduced program information act which if passed will require the administration to publish an annual compendium of assistance programs with a monthly updating bulletin. It would1 the president annually to recommend simp1 consolidations and other improvements. The administration is trying to kill the Bill. It would reveal too much and too much advantage from " the the Federal handout queue. A former retaining to the after Many years com the changes that be encounters. And even Richer in promise., 1 he was surprised at the number of Indus stand in towns where lie. Had never expected Industry located. But while he was impressed by the Ness that had brought these industries to Rural Manitoba he wondered if some of them were not artificial creations that would have time but perhaps the most significant change he noted was in the absorption of ethnic groups into the mainstream of Canadian life. When he had been at University he recalled his professors had thought it a great mistake that ethnic groups been allowed to Settle in blocs on he Felt that these fears had been largely unfounded., there were Stilt evidences of ethnic emphases in certain localities but they were muted emphases. By another generation he Felt they would be More still. I perhaps it was this reflection that led him to make some observations about can Ada itself. During his 30-year absence he Felt that the. Greatest single change in the of Canada was thai they were no quite so self consciously Canadian. To Day he sensed that Canadian ism was taken pretty much for granted. If we were not yet a mature people nation ally at least we were on the Way to maturity. We might still be too obviously enamoured of our achievements and our cultural achievements and assets but we much less adolescent than he remembered and More and assured of ourselves. He Felt that Canada ing of age dated perhaps to the second world War when Canadian servicemen abroad had become conscious of their Canadia ism and he recalled an Art exhibit a Century of Canadian Art at the Tate gallery in London that had made a marked impression in that City in the Early 1940s. I i he said increasingly becoming recognized abroad As a cultural Community and her political image though damaged somewhat by a succession of minority governments definitely improved. The fact that Lester. Pearson was a political figure who was inter nationally recognized had had much to do with this and he Felt that the return to majority government under Pierre Elliott Trudeau would help restore International As Well As do Restic Confidence. He found canadians much More politically informed than he remembered and much More aware of the International part of this Felt might be due to the new world of instant communication but he also sensed that it had a relationship to the country s coming of age. And Here he had a word to say about Canada s cities.1 in the 1930s, he said even the largest of them a Montreal and Toronto gave the impression of being Little More than overgrown provincial towns. This was no longer the Case. He remarked on the urbanization of Canadian cities of their As it were. This was one of the most marked changes he had observed on the Canadian scene. It was a phenomenon that was especially marked in the East but lie had also in the West even in Winnipeg.1 the Symbol of this r new Canadian maturity had been Centennial the Impact of expo. This had been profound in Canada but it had been less profound abroad. He the Case of wife whose visit to expo last year had helped Spur his own desire1 to return to can Ada. She had come to see Man and his world remained to be impressed by Canada arid not Only by Canada but by canadians. Second of two articles today s scripture to him that Krio Weth to do and doth it not to it is sin. James 417 ;