Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - July 29, 1968, Winnipeg, Manitoba Printed and published daily except sunday by the Winnipeg free presi company limited 300 Carlton Street Winnipeg Manitoba. John Sifton president r. S. Malone publisher and editor in chief Peter Mclintock executive editor Maurice wes1ern Ottawa editor Winnipeg monday july 29, 1968 Freedom of Trade Liberty of religion Equality of civil rights the next decade the fifth annual review of the province s Economy by the Manitoba economic consultative Board is reassuring in some aspects less so in others. Optimists can take heart from the news that 1967 was a favourable year and 1968 is Likely to be pretty Good also. Most of the indicators of economic growth and expansion Levels of employment capital investment per capita income population growth Are satisfactory although some when viewed with a hard Eye Are not so Bright. For example although person Al income is up it lags behind that for All Canada. The value of production in Manitoba s manufacturing sector Frose by about 2.5 per cent from the previous year s level but there seems to be no indication of whether this was a real Rise in productivity or whether part of it was due to increases in prices. There Are some soft spots in the provincial Economy. The worst appears to be the agricultural sector. The reason is not hard to find and it is not within the Power of the province nor even perhaps of Ottawa to Correct the situation. Farm productivity Rose to record High Levels in 1967. But farm income much of which is derived from sales on world markets lagged far behind production costs. Prices for farm products vary but production costs Rise inexorably and the Farmer is squeezed Between using the year 1939 As 100, the Index of the Cost of farm production in 1952 was 243 this Rose to 352 in Rise of nearly 45 per cent in 15 years. In the same period the Index of prices received for farm products did not Rise at All but fell from 267 to 265. Nor does the report hold out much Hope for a solution unless the Federal government devises new policies to Deal effectively with the problems of sell ing farm produce on world markets. This although the report does not say so clearly suggests that Canada May have to follow the example of Many countries and subsidize agriculture a step that Ottawa has always shied away from on the grounds that it would raise More problems than it would solve. Of great concern to the Board Are the problems that Manitoba will face in the next decade in common with the rest of Canada regarding the Cost of welfare health and education. Manitoban Are already worried about these costs particularly those for education and the report predicts that we have seen nothing yet that education costs will by 1975, be 85 per cent higher than they were in 1966. There will As the Board notes be a Strong temptation to limit increases in expenditures in these Fields. On Friday in Regina the premiers of the three Prairie provinces met in the Hope of arriving at a plan to keep health costs from in Premier Ross Thatcher s words escalating through the yet Manitoban must have High productivity Indus tries to support High wage Levels and these cannot be had without a High general level of education and a healthy population. The expenditures must therefore the Board s suggested solution to. The problem is that Ottawa take Over responsibility for Basic Levels of health education and welfare thereby simplifying provincial budgeting in these Fields. Any province wishing to go above these standards and which Felt wealthy enough to do so could do so on its own this is a simple standing suggestion but one fraught with complications. Education and health Are provincial responsibilities and although Ottawa is these areas by what might be described As the Back door to have the Federal government responsible for National standards of health education and welfare will require a larger degree of co operation from the provinces than some Are willing to give. The recent Power trend has been away from Ottawa and to the provinces. The Board s suggestion would reverse this. Nor could Ottawa undertake such responsibilities with out a relinquishing by the provinces of some of their tax revenues revenues which they now complain Are too Low and which they Are fighting to have increased. All of which does not mean that the idea is without Merit and should not be carefully examined. If one could leave aside provincial jealousies and provincial Federal animosities the proposal could work. At least it. Provides a jumping off place for discussions of a problem that one Way or another will have to be solved. And Manitoba has a very Large stake in the solution. Offensive driving car approaching him on his Side of the White line. It was Over a mile off. When he first sighted it and he waited for it to resume its proper place on the Highway. It did t. With his Speed reduced to ten Miles an hour he pulled Over onto the gravel shoulder. The car swept past swerving at. The last minute. It was full of Young people who leaned out the windows and jeered As they went by. The police unfortunately were nowhere in sight. Commit a t66etacwrt Rockefeller s last spurt psst want to buy a of Washington things Are w beginning to come up roses for governor Nelson Rockefeller of new York. But with Only about a week to go until the Republican nominating most observers remain convinced that there is not enough mine left for h m to Harvest the blooms. Amons his recent credits within the space of four Days he won the endorsement of two More Republican governors Claude Kirk of Florida and John love of Colorado for a total of six the support of the flamboyant gov. Kirk Marks his first major break 1 through backing from they South not counting that of his brother governor Winthrop Rockefeller of a Kansas. He was Able recently to j announce the names of nearly 300 top executives Many of j them very Well known to serve As his fund raising j group. J the latest Gallup poll shows gov. Rockefeller outpacing the leading democratic con tender vice president Humphrey but shows Richard Nixon doing less Well. And his four stage peace plan for Vietnam has been Weir received. While gov. Rockefeller s people Are trying to make the most of developments their meaning is wide open to question. Or. Nixon needs 667 votes a majority of the delegates to win Nomina Tion in Miami Beach. Although Only about one sixth of that number Are to Date absolutely committed to vote for him his Cabinet Solidarity magnificent myth there have been some dreadful accidents on Mani Toba roads this summer and considering the Way some people drive it is surprising there have not been More. Anyone who makes regular trips to and from a summer cottage will know the sort of hazards that abound on Mani Toba roads. He will be familiar with Drivers who fail to turn on the headlights at dusk Drivers who straddle the Centre line and motorists who jog along at 40 Miles an hour. He will have encountered Over loaded trucks and Drivers who i insist on overtaking on curves. All these things Are bad enough but one Winnipeg businessman driving on High Way no. 7 in the Vicinity of Stonewall recently in i countered driving behaviour j that appeared to be deliberate rather than careless. While driving along the almost empty Road he saw a this sort of thing of course is not what one usually encounters of our highways but examples of carelessness and rudeness come frequently enough to make the practice of defensive driving essential. The fact that police vehicles Are Seldom seen on the Beach roads adds nothing to the cautious Driver s peace of mind. The excellent parliament Ary reporter Anthony Westell of the Toronto Globe and mail is worried by prune minister Trudeau s air of Sec Recy lit will be dangerous to democracy or. Westell writes if the cabinets famous vow of silence is pushed Loo far. Actually i venture to think it will be much More dangerous if or. Trudeau. Cannot make his ministers obey their solemn oath to keep the Queen s business secret the Queen being Only the Symbol of the in any Case or. Westell is underestimating the ability of his own Craft to get the news and overestimating the prime minister s ability to suppress it. The news always gets out it floats through Ottawa like pollen in springtime and is wafted from coast of coast with resulting allergies and political Hay fever. So Long As there Are human beings not double sealed computers in the so Long As there Are Able reporters like or. Westell in the press gallery we shall always know what the government is doing. But we should under stand at the Start of a new regime that we Are not entitled to know what the government is thinking while it makes up its mind. For the whole parliamentary system depends on the magnificent fiction of Cabinet Solidarity As invented in Britain. We know that Solidarity is fictitious that a Cabinet is not a band of Brothers but an internecine g if e f r i 11 a War without pause. Or was quoted recently As saying that in a Strong Cabinet the leading ministers hate one another s guts and this View though perhaps lacking in elegance is certainly accurate in principle. It remains essential nevertheless that the old fiction should be upheld since otherwise the system cannot work at All. Once a prison Alcatraz rising like a great White ship out of the Blue Waters of san Francisco Bay ceased to be a prison in 1963. Ever since a mild Battle has raged Over what use should be made of the Island. At one Point it was suggested that the Island be the site of a memorial to the United nations but there was considerable opposition to the idea of using an Island that had once been Home to Al Capone machine gun Kelly and baby face Nelson for such a purpose. Others wanted to use it As a tourist attraction a . Version of the Tower of London or As a resort the Island already has sleeping room for a great number of tourists without the bars of course. All such plants have come to nothing now a Texas Oil millionaire has come up with a curious suggestion. He wants to erect an enormous Torch of Liberty on the site of the old prison and provide restaurants and observation decks for tourists. This idea has. Attracted considerable support especially since Public funds will not be required. Alcatraz Island is a pretty sight from the open air restaurants on the far Side of san Francisco Bay. A Bright Beacon in mid Bay would be attractive and people would probably forget in. Time that a Torch of Liberty was burning where people who had lost their Liberty once lived. You May not approve system. You May prefer the the american presidency in which the president can disregard his non elected Cabinet and quarrel outright with the elected legislature As he often does. You May prefer the French system in which the president disregards everyone but himself and god or the russian system which no one understands. But while the British system operates in Canada by. Our own free Choice we must accept its drawbacks with its Advant Ages which make it i believe the Best system yet devised. Its theory is simple enough. The Cabinet tackles a problem. The ministers nearly always disagree and fight., among themselves until a majority opinion usually a Compromise prevails at a minority opinion May prevail if it has the support of the most powerful ministers because Power is not measured by numbers and votes inside a Cabinet but by a calculation of outside forces. The Cabinet tries to Frame the Wisest policy on the known facts but sometimes by Bruce Hutchison prime minister Trudeau has every right not to Tell the Public what goes on behind the doors of the Cabinet room but he also must Dis close the reasons for Cabinet decisions once they have been made. Must sacrifice Wisdom to Public opinion that does not , in Short is . Democracy will Bear or what the Cabinet thinks it will Bear. Then the policy Wise or unwise must tie supported by the whole Cabinet in parliament and before the Public otherwise orderly government becomes impossible. Throughout this queer pro Cess the Public realizes that the Cabinet is Seldom solid but agrees that it should look solid and act As a unit lest the nation be plunged into continual crisis with elections and new governments every year or two. And if the Cabinet is to look solid its disagreements in Advance of its final decisions must be kept secret at least in theory though in fact they never Are for Long. When a decision is taken however secrecy must end. Through parliament and press the Public is entitled to know All the facts. Hence it is quite wrong to criticize or. Trudeau because he locks the door during Cabinet debates but it will be quite right to criticize him if he refuses to open the door afterwards and disclose the reasons for his policy. He has idiot done that yet. On the contrary he has been More candid with the Public than prime Nii Nister in our history. He has even printed in a his distrust of Public opinion itself As a tyranny which honest politicians must sometimes defy. In Candor you can t go further than that. Possibly indeed or. Trudeau has gone too far for his own Comfort and will regret v it later on which the opposition quotes him and doubtless represents him As a tyrant. Soon we to. See another fascinating aspect of the Cabinet system. All cabinets Are the same under the All Are Dif Ferent under the Impact of the prune minister and his own Peculiar methods. His personality his views his strengths an d weaknesses color not Only the government and parliament but the entire nation since essentially he is engaged in a struggle with the nation while apparently expressing its will. And As he blasters or fails to master the nation he is a successful or today s scripture the Harvest truly is plenteous but the labourers Are few Pray be therefore the lord of the Harvest that he will Send Forth labourers into his Harvest. Unsuccessful prime minister. Only five at most of our prime ministers having mastered the the Odds against or. Trudeau or any Man Are heavy. They will be impossible if he cannot first master his Cabinet and that i take it is what he is trying do. In doing it he deserves a decent degree of privacy in his official family and full Dis closure once a divided Cabinet emerges from its quarrels to announce that it agrees unanimously. No one will believe this of course but it does t matter provided that the hangs together and Cabinet its Deci Sion is Wise enough to survive parliament s examination and the proper ruthless dissection of reporters like or. Westell. Human nature being what it is and Ottawa a perpetual whispering gallery never silent by Day or night there is no risk of a news blackout by or. Trudeau Fri the risk As always is a fadeout of Strong government now that we need it More than Ever. Birthdays or. James Abernethy Glenboro Man. Born Kirk Patrick Scotland july 29, 18771 by Richard Purser gov. Rockefeller is hav ing some Success in obtaining support for Bis nomination. But it stems to be too Little too late. Unofficial strength is running in the neighbourhood of 550 to 600 votes. Some experts in convention nose counting Are certain he enough additional votes Between now and convention time to go Over the top on the first ballot. Even if he does not hit 667 on the first count his present strength is. Almost certain to put him close enough to Victory to set off a bandwagon effect. It could come in the form of changed votes by state delegations some of the ones committed on the first ballot to favorite . Their own governors at the end of giving him the first ballot Victory on the revised figures. Failing that the second ballot should pro vide the landslide. Gov. Rockefeller s strategy is to try to persuade delegates away from Over Hasty Capitu lation to or. Nixon. He feels at least for Public con sumption that he can Iii if push the contest to four Tion five ballots. Preven an. Early convention Victory by or. Nixon would lend that credence to he rather his theme than or. Nixon stands the Best Chance to win against the democratic candidate in november. His new found backing by additional Republican Gover nors is of questionable value aside from the publicity. Gov love in announcing his sup port admitted that gov. Rocke Feller was a facing rather Long and that or. Nixon probably had 15 of his own delegation s 18 votes. Gov. Kirk also failed to see his action having much weight with his delegation. About 29 of the Florida republicans to attend the convention Are for or. Nixon Fiir Are for governor Ronald Reagan of California and Only gov. Kirk is for gov. Rockefeller. Gov. Rockefeller s backing from executives can also be overrated. The most prominent Are members of the financial and communications interests that the Republican heart Landers like to refer to derisively As the Eastern establishment the publisher of look the president of time an investment firm vice president named Roosevelt a Bank president named Rocke Feller and a former Secretary of defence chairman of the atomic Energy commission and president of the world Bank. The governor is counting especially on the opinion polls to Sway Nixon leaning Dele Gates. But it is generally believed that his present standing of a few percentage Points ahead of vis a vis or. Humphrey is insufficient. And there is Little tune for improvement. Since the last Gallup poll he has commissioned his own National poll which he Hopes will show decisively that he is the strongest candidate. This can be a risky business. Politicians other than those who Benefit from private poll showings tend to regard them As loaded the Rockefeller Vietnam peace plan is the most interesting recent development in his Campaign. It has been received favourably by republicans who take their Lead from governor George rom by of Michigan since it is Akin to the views propounded by gov. Romney before he quit the race. This is hardly surprising gov. Romney s former foreign affairs adviser is now gov. Rockefeller s Vietnam strategist senator Charles Percy of Illinois also spoke highly of the Rocke Feller policy statement which was significant because sen. is under powerful pres sure from his state s Chicago Tribune dominated Republican organization to be Nice to or. Nixon. Later sea. Percy went even further by Jully sing gov. Rockefeller for the Republican nomination. The peace program attracted considerable National attention because it is specific going beyond the usual lamentations Over the present Situa Tion in Vietnam. It went so Well that gov. Rockefeller had parts of his press conference replayed As paid television ads. In practice the plan internationally monitored Mutual pullback of forces followed by internationally supervised free elections in South Vietnam followed by withdrawal of . Forces while an International peace keeping Force remains Fol Lowed by a joint decision by the two Vietnam do Unity is. Separation an d the withdrawal of the International Force is meaningless except As a Campaign document any incoming president will have to meet the Vietnam situation As it stands next january. But signs of serious thought Are More than Welcome in . Politics these Days. Sheikhs hold a merger feast lbs Dahabi seven sheikhs and some 300 of their courtiers and retainers flowed into a Long Cool chamber on the torrid shores of the Gulf one Day last week and sat Down to a noontime feast. Britain s decision to withdraw her troops and supervisory presence from 1971 is carrying some unusual events in its train and this was one of them. The guests addressed them selves to the Hillocks of Rice the haunches and saddles of Mutton the dishes of kebabs and curries with the silent determination of men who have a experience of real desert hunger in their make or at least in the Case of the several multimillionaire present some kind of Ilock memory of it. There was not so much As a murmur. Of polite conversation. Consider ing the jealousy intrigue and feuding in the history of these emirates of the trucial coast most observers were greatly surprised to ing such in fact the rulers had just signed an agreement which is the first important step to wards linking their seven sheikh Doms in a federation. The two other British protected states in the Gulf Bahrein and Qatar would also be in it. The task of framing the Constitution for the federation has been set afoot further discussion will take place on a common currency and postal service besides a Federal capital a Flag and an Anthem. The differences Between them Are that they Are a Long Way from being Cut and dried aware but All of the ate keenly danger of leaving any sign of a. Vacuum in the Security of this fabulously Oil Rich the merest twitch of can the major Powers. From Britain they hear rumours that the present conservative opposition would postpone or Shelve the plan for withdrawal if it gained by Roy Perrott the ancient arabian desert is rapidly changing under the influence of vast Oil Royal ties. But some of the characteristics of its inhabitants their Gargantuan feasts for instance remain the same. London. But none of the participants appears to believe this Likely and now that they have spontaneously found the first glimmering of their own collective Security the be getters of the federation idea think be disconcerting to change minds. They feel under pressure to get things moving. The British army stationed i various places Here is probably at brigade strength say troops. The Only local defence forces Are the trucial Oman scouts Strong and the Abu Dahabi defence Force the privately financed 700 Man troops of sheikh Zaid. Both have British officers. The Ideal of a Federal army under one command is too embarrassingly grand an idea to be considered at the moment but the present forces will have to be enlarged several times Over. The most promising change in the atmosphere is that former interlopers this sensitive All badly shaken by the disastrous possibilities of last year s june War Between Israel and the now seem to show a common desire for stability in the Gulf. Not Only British diplomats but the egyptians kuwaitis and saudis have been Wori ing behind the scenes to persuade the sheikhs of the trucial coast to forget their rivalries and get together. There May be a touch of Tongue in Cheek about it in some instances. It is noticeable that the saudis for instance have not dropped their old fractious claim to Abu Dahabi s Green and valuable Oasis at Suraimi. The seven sheikh Doms Are an oddly assorted lot even More so possibly than when Over a Century ago the British in veiled them into signing a truce that would piracy against East India company shipping. The real Prodigy of the coast is Abu Dahabi itself a Grey and sultry Klondyke which would have been hard to invent had it not existed. With a local born population of about it now has an Oil income of million a year and this will shoot up even further Over the next few years it is going through the drastic transformation of an Oil welfare state As Kuwait did before it. Until the intelligent and temperate sheikh Zaid took Over two years ago his eccentric predecessor. Sheikh Shack butt had tended to keep the Treasury in a Chest under the bed and his Only cautious purchases from visit ing salesmen but Lof his millions had been a typewriter and an espresso Coffee machine. Now about million has been allocated for a five year plan and buildings of All sorts Are shooting up at a prodigious rate. It is expected that very soon Abu. Dahabi which until the Oil exploitation began in. 1960 was Pover shed will have in Hospital for every Iso citizens the highest rate in the world schools Are also going up and Many jordanian teachers Are Bei brought in staff them. The free books free clothes free meals to Ance they Are even come. Each child encourage attend paid to gets a monthly allowance rising with that in the top form he will be getting take Home pay of a week. This May look extravagant and the Cost of living Here shot up by no less than 32 per cent last year but an educated Middle class is just what Abu Dahabi does not have and needs. Some of sheikh Zaid s ideas Are very attractive in their . Out at the Suraimi Oasis 150 Miles into the desert i saw How they were transforming a Barren area of around 25 Square Miles into a Fertile spread of Market gardens and fruit farms growing Melon banana Citrus and dates by the use of water pumps. Sheikh Zaid has been anxious to get nomadic bedouin on his the territory there Are several thousands of them to Settle Down Here they Are offered a piece of prepared land a free House and paid a week to try to become smallholders. Several Hundred have taken the bait and Are trying. But some resist it and one cannot instantly say they Are fools. Those who know the kuwaitis say they have lost some of the old Arab identity and simple Virtues in pursuing the prosperous life. Out on the Edge of Suraimi Oasis where the Sand sea begins to Roll away for centuries of time and distance where the noon Sun was getting ready to Bend the Day double like a soft Iron bar we saw some bedouin setting off for their summer Camp across the Border of Oman. Romantic figures from a distance though local medical inspections show that there is much trachoma among the children that infant mortality is. About 60 per cent and tuberculosis is Rife. No they did t want to Settle Down at the Oasis they told us and laughed in a dry wheezy Way when we asked Why. They loped away South with their camels old lags of the desert who Best know How they Are when they Are not going straight. Of tatar foreign Newt service ;