Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - February 13, 1975, Winnipeg, Manitoba Printed and published Dally except sunday by Winnipeg free press company limited 300 Carlton Street Winnipeg Manitoba. Richard c. Malone it. H. Shelford publisher pres. And Gen. Mgr. Peter Mclintock Maurice Western editor Ottawa editor p s Malone chairman Winnipeg free press Winnipeg thursday february 13, 1975 pages 19 34 Freedom of Trade Liberty of religion Equality of civil rights Grants and jobs although the Federal department of regional eco nomic expansion manages to fritter away impressive sums in miscellaneous Small Grants to inconspicuous mouse like projects it also has its elephants in assorted sizes. Both types of expenditure invite the question is Public Money being wisely spent the answer obviously depends in Good measure on the adequacy of the controls. If Che Case of Central Canadian distilling Corpora Tion ltd., which came to Light monday is at All typical they Are feeble enough to arouse legitimate Public con Cern. The purpose of the Grant to a Weyburn company was to provide employment in Saskatchewan in itself a laudable objective. Whether the project would have gone ahead for purely commercial reasons in the absence of government Aid is a question which cannot be an swered. But the Grant of was available and the company naturally took advantage of it. The attraction from the department s standpoint was the Assurance of 24 jobs. In Aid of the new million Plant the govern ment advanced in 1971 and in 1973. Three months after the second collection the owners sold out to a Toronto company with a United states Parent. In the View of Allan Mckinnon the progressive conservative critic who extracted this information the government should have attempted in these circumstances to recover the Money. According to department officials no such attempt was made because the Sale took place after the expiry of the specific control period. It follows that any restraints which the government May have bought with the expired at some Point within three months of the time when the company went off the bread line. The limitation seems remarkably modest. By Way of explanation the department observes that the jobs Are still in existence and will remain de spite the change in ownership. For this to be persuasive it would have to be shown that persons who were not parties to the original agreement Are bound by the agreement. If the government has no such hold on the new owners the controls Are plainly a Sham. After All the moves behind acquisitions Are varied and not All of them have to do with the maintenance of employ ment. Buyers May be interested in strengthening an operation As presumably and hopefully is the Case at Weyburn or they May in closing it to Eli Minate Competition. If the reality is that the govern ment can exercise control Only while it is doling out Money what the Public supports As a program for regional expansion May be Little More than another make work program. There Are a number of reasons for questioning the effectiveness of the Federal department s vast outlays. Presidential election on starting Bell they Aren t new but they Haven t elicited satisfactory answers. The department does t fail to publicize its Grants but we hear nothing of any monitoring of invest ments once the Money leaves the Public purse. It is a Good time to press the questions because rising unemployment will increase the temptation to spend for the cake of spending. Box scores of applications and Grants approved Are All very Well but they will not Long satisfy taxpayer unless there is convincing evidence of assured and Long term results. Washington on t h e metro liner from new York City to Washington a few mornings ago a Busi Nessman looked away from the front Page of his news paper grimaced and re marked to a fellow Passen Ger Here we co again Here we go he almost certainly was the Only american voter who gritted his Teeth recently As senator Henry scoop Jackson who had hardly been secretive about his pre head in Sand the Yorkshire miners have decided to Challenge the British labor government s much advertised social con tract and have invited the Chancellor of the exchequer to put his economic head in a sack and Start practising what that is supposed to mean is not easy to see. Perhaps it Means that the British Workman should go on being what he has been for several dec Ades no matter what becomes of the country and what he appears to be unable to see no matter what happens to himself. Last week two american companies with plants in Britain announced that they were closing them. They can no longer Deal with the antics of their employees. So the people who were disinclined to work in these plants but regarded it As a right to go there every Friday to pick up their pay can now be As Idle As they want to be but without pay. The companies Are Texas instruments and the Imperial typewriter company. What has been described As a ferocious squeeze on Public and private spending is on in Britain in an at tempt to Bridge the Gap Between National earnings and foreign expenditures. Now a Book has appeared called crisis 75 in which a group of economists disagree about everything except the fact that Britain is in for a horrifying four years Wito still higher taxes local and National still higher prices and a lowering Standard of Liv ing. One of the things that is Likely to make the four years longer is the economic ignorance and shortsightedness of some influential Union leaders who appear to believe that a contract with a big wage guarantee in it is better than a mine or Plant open and paying real wages. The same mind shows now and then in our own society when some Union leaders cannot see the difference Between one set of economic facts and another. When for example a Union Leader comes close to promising strike action on a wage offer or a conciliation report be cause the government seems to have the Money for sync rude but not As much As he wants for his Union. Presumably the Man who does not understand the rela Tion Between different parts of the National Economy and the different parts they play is qualified to do for Canada what some of Britain s Union leaders have done for that unhappy country. Side tial ambitions officially declared his candidacy for the democratic party s presidential nomination. As the most important Democrat to make such a declaration so far or. Jack son s announcement am mounted to an unofficial starting Bell for the 1976 presidential election More than 20 months in Advance. M r Jackson s eventual Fate is highly Uncertain be cause his record of solid liberalism on most Domestic issues contrasts with a reputation As a right Wing hard liner on military spending and foreign policy. But there was Little doubt after his announcement last week that . Voters Are about to be bombarded b y drawn out presidential electioneering. Or. Jackson has entered a race that will be crowded by other democratic hopefuls. Three democrats have of 1976? ready declared their Jackson is a Lack Tion congressman s t r e campaigner who u d a 1 1 a Liberal president Ford s Democrat former speaking style Jimmy Carter of exciting by compari and Fred Harris the this reputation was cer senator whose current earned in 1972, when for the presidency is senator trailed far be de to be no More in several primaries be than his attempt in dropping from the pre other candidates will race. Clude senator Lloyd that time however. Sen of Texas who is has become better known ruled to make a formal his seniority Side tial declaration 12 years As a senator this month and following 22 years in the North Carolina of representatives Terry Sanford who Given him a prominent to announce his to speak out about this on which he has prov the most important expertise. These include declared candidate and the environment course is Alabama and arms limitation n o r George Wallace. The soviet Union and demonstrated his outspoken support for Ting ability As an and dissident soviet Dent presidential by Paul where Law in 1968 and again in the 1972 primaries before he was shot at a Maryland shopping Centre. It is unlikely that the Alabama governor would Ever receive his party s nomination because of his record As an opponent of civil rights for Blacks but there is no doubt he will play an important role in the Back rooms of the party. This Power stems from the potential threat of a third party candidacy of or. Wal lace or someone he endorses. Although or. Jackson is Given the Edge at this Early Date All democrats including the senator himself admit there is no front runner. At this time four years ago senator Edmund Muskie of Maine was clearly in the Lead although his support later waned. The race for the demo cratic nomination has been an open one since senator Kennedy withdrew last fall from consideration As a candidate. Despite the unanswered question about Chappaquiddick Many democrats relieve the nomination could be his for the asking. The Fate of senator Jack son s candidacy depends on two questions can he win the loyalty of the Democrat c party s left Wing because of his reputation As a cold Warrior and can he survive the scramble of the Pri Maries in the Winter and senator Jackson has also attempted to build Bridges to the democratic party s left Wing. He campaigned for do v i s h congressional candidates like Alfred Lowen Stein in new York and con Gressman Robert Drinan of Massachusetts last fall. He says he will oppose supple m e n t a r y military Aid to South Vietnam which has been demanded by president Ford. He also was highly critical of the Vladivostok arms limitation agreement which he believes will fail to limit significantly the arms race. Regardless of this shifting to a More Liberal foreign policy stance senator Jack son is still anathema to Many in the party because of his die hard support of the Vietnam War in the late 1960s. Unless one Democrat stands out in the primaries As the overwhelming popular Choice the betting around Washington is that the Choice of nominee will be brokered in the Backrooms at the democratic convention in 1976. There is also speculation that the democrats might still attempt to draft senator Kennedy s Talent de spite his insistence that he will not run next year. Aside from senator Ken d y s personal considerations for his safety and his family s welfare an important consideration would be his assessment of president Ford s chances of winning re election. As senator Jackson announced his candidacy new government statistics revealed that unemployment last month climbed to 8.2 per cent the highest level since the depression. What those figures say at this time next year would affect not Only whether president Ford could win but whether he would run. That in turn is Central to the future of the democrats. Years from the real thing playing at War by Christopher oaf a nowadays i suspect most people take a dim View of War. While it is generally agreed that extreme measures sometimes have to be taken in order to defend ourselves against madmen and bullies like Hitler and daddy warbucks most sen sible people tend to feel that War at Best is a painful necessity and at worst a Mon Strous obscenity. Most of us have never heard a shot fired in anger the generation that fought the second world War is getting on in years. And yet the idea of War continues to fascinate although most people shrink from the Prospect of actually taking part in one. I was on hand to see the soldiers marching off to Stop Hitler but when the War ended i was still too Young to take up arms. Now i m too Clu and slew to be considered suitable for Cannon fodder and like most members of my generation i have escaped the dubious thrill of hearing shells explode Over my head. The generation born during the 1930s is More or less intact and More or less out of danger. We May perish As civilians in some future War but the chances Are Good that we won t be called upon to fight in it. The sinister fascination of War continues however to exert its Power. Books about famous Battles sell briskly. Television series about the War attract Large audiences and hold them spellbound. Enormous sums of Money Are spent every year on Cle verly devised games that allow peaceful pipe smoking men to participate at a Safe distance in some of the most dismal Battles of history. It is now possible for those who have never been involved in anything More serious than an altercation Over a parking ticket to impersonate Napoleon at Waterloo Wellington at Sala Manca or Wolfe at Quebec o decide the Fate of nations with a Mere Roll of the Dice or to change the course of history with an inspired tac tical manoeuvre on a Square piece of heavy cardboard. On a recent saturday afternoon for example my on and i restated a portion of the first world War in the cosy Comfort of our Liv ing room in North Van Couver. Our Battle took place or was imagined to take place in the troubled air above the Allied and German trenches on the Somme. Christopher or. Impersonated the celebrated German air Ace Baron von Richthofen and i pretended to be capt. Roy Brown can Ada s greatest gift to the Royal flying corps. As our cardboard planes turned and spluttered Over the cardboard Battle Field i could not help recalling that my own father then aged 18 or 19 had participated in the original Battle 57 years ago not in a Sopwith Camel but Down below in the trenches among the whizz Bangs. My father who took an Active part in several of the most horrendous Katucs of the 20th Century never talked about his adventures under fire. He volunteered at the age of 17, did what he had to do was wounded three times saw some of his friends die around him and when the War finally ended he put it behind him and got on with the business of Liv ing. He was Happy and Active until the Day he died Well into his 70s. I have a feeling that he would t have been All that keen about our War games. It is perhaps significant that the War game with the obvious exception of that ancient War game chess did t come into its own until our last big War had been Over for More than 20 years. Those who have sur Vived the real thing Don t feel the need of Safe substitutes. I suspect that War games Are played by people who grew up in the soft years of peace. They satisfy some vague silly need that lurks within even the most civilized of us. We seek adventure by proxy. Last saturday afternoon Baron von Richthofen re wrote history. Capt. Brown went Down in flames. Then we had dinner. Birthdays Charles Eugene Pilote the Pas Man born mail baie Quebec feb. A classic debate Public is private land ownership footnote if Rev. Lloyd Henderson of Portage la Prairie does indeed run for the leadership of the Liberal party of Mani Toba at its convention later this month it will not be the first time he has sought a leadership. Political observers whose memories go Back a few years will recall that or. Henderson sought the leadership of the Liberal party of Canada at a convention in Ottawa in 1958 the convention at which the late Lester Pearson became Leader of the liberals and of the opposition at Ottawa. The vote then was l. B. Pearson Paul Martin 305 Lloyd Henderson 1 or. Henderson insists that the solitary vote was not his. Legacy today s scripture they were astonished at his doctrine for he taught them As one that had authority and not As the scribes. Mark on july 23 last year a woman named Ann Ogilby was found dead in a ditch near Belfast. She had been beaten to death with clubs that had nails protruding from the Heads. She had been beaten about the head with these clubs. She was murdered by ele Ven women and men All members of the Ulster de Fence association. One of the women found guilty the other Day charged that the dead woman was her Hus band s mistress and that this was the reason for the kill ing. Or. Justice Mcgonigal in handing Down his judgment in a gruesome Case had some pertinent things to say about thugs who ruled their districts by gang Law and claimed that it was political self defence. He called them members of a vicious and brutalizing organization of people who take the Law into their own hands by Kan g a r o o courts intimidation and terror nation of the this in Belfast s protes Tant working class districts was exactly what had been going on in Belfast s Catho Lic districts. The people on both sides had surrendered to the men and women of violence. It is impossible when a society surrenders in any de Gree to its psychopaths that civilized life can survive. They have on both sides left Ulster a fearful legacy. A agriculture minister Sam Yuskiw and two representatives of the win in p e a chamber of com Merce staged wednesday morning one of the most classic socialism free Enterprise debates yet seen in the Manitoba legislature. The debate Between the minister and or. Jack Hare and Douglas Mcrorie before the legislative s land com Mittee was on the question of private versus Public land ownership and leasing. It was fascinating because it Vas conducted on a completely rational level. It exposed and developed the two completely divergent positions on the nature of government and Man but with out the hysteria and hoary shibboleths that so frequently characterize and obscure the argument. Or. Yuskiw sees govern ment As totally benevolent with the ability to solve All problems and believes Man should be neither acquisitive nor competitive. The chamber sees government a s inherently undesirable and a creator of problems it self and recognizes Man As both acquisitive and competitive. Or. Yuskiw believes land should be a Public Utility and a government s aim should be to remove As much As possible the Cost of land from being a Cost of production. This Way the Farmer would get to keep More of the income from his labor and the consumer would Benefit through cheaper food. Or. Hare a former vice president of National Grain a n agricultural consultant and a conservative candidate in St. Boniface in the last Federal election and or. Mcrorie director of agricultural services for the Royal Bank of Canada be Lieve that land in a free Market Economy is one of the components of that free Market and it is impossible to regard it any other Way. By Frances Russell or. Yuskiw believes not All Farmers want to own their land and that the govern ment has a right and a duty to intervene in the land marketplace to allow poor farm ers who wish to lease land an Opportunity to get into farming that they otherwise would not have. The govern ment or. L skin believes is a More benevolent landlord than a private landlord. Or. Hare and or. Mcrorie believe that most if not All Farmers eventually want to own their land and that the government has no business intervening in the land marketplace. Or. Hare stated he did not think that everybody had the right to be a Farmer and that the government was doing a disservice to agriculture by making it easy for people to become farm ers. In order to make it in the competitive atmosphere of the free Market agricultural Economy a Farmer sooner or later has to show ingenuity has to work hard has to be motivated to be come efficient. He will not be if the government takes his initiative and motivation away by easy land rights. Or. Yuskiw believes that position helps and protects Only the wealthy. Further neither or. Hare nor or. Mcrorie believe the govern ment to be a benevolent landlord but instead a re Mote bureaucracy without cognizance of the individual a r m e r s difficulties and Worth. But their biggest objection to government As landlord was that in the Inal analysis decisions on wishes eventually to own All Manitoba s agricultural land whereby the govern ment could help Farmers and Consumers and give the province an enormous competitive advantage in Agri cultural markets by establishing a Low fixed Price for farm land. Or. Yuskiw postulated the government owning to farms the agriculture minister said farms and quickly stated that was unrealistic but tory Agri culture critic Warner Jor Genson described it is a freudian the government would establish the Price of those acres at current Market value but would never allow the Price to Rise. The Price of other agricultural land would tend to be held Down too or. Yuskiw argued. This would make food cheaper for Mani to bans increase the return to Farmers and help Over come Manitoba s competitive disadvantages in the National Market by offsetting High freight rates and Dis Tance from population centres. Or. Mcrorie agreed with the agriculture minister that a Low fixed Price for land would help accomplish these Ings and the fear of Many Farmers about government land ownership is that Pri vate land rights Are still a very Basic and emotional Issue in society. The govern ment s theories about assist ing the Farmer which undoubtedly Are Well intentioned discount that very Basic impulse an impulse which May be receding somewhat in but remains Urban areas As Strong As Ever among Farmers. It is easy to see Why the government thinks private land ownership is no longer an Issue. The operations of the free Market have certainly in Urban areas and now increasingly in Rural areas made the Hope of own ing one s own House or farm More and More Remote. Land is becoming too costly for the average individual to Purchase. The government too can see no difference be tween an individual making monthly mortgage payments for his entire life and an individual making monthly rental payments. But to Many individuals Partick 1 a r 1 y Farmers mortgage payments have a qualitative difference to rental pay ments. The land eventually will be owned and the Mort Gage company will Only re possess if the payments Aren t met. A landlord s lease always imposes some controls and rented land never will be owned. The conservatives know about this Basic ownership things but argued it Over-1 impulse and they know it is looked several very important facts. Holding Down the Price on land would merely Transfer the Cost to another area in this Case the value of the government land an emotional Issue particularly when government be comes involved. They were undoubtedly overjoyed b y or. Yuskiw s philosophic arguments with the chamber s would be political decisions. In reality or. I representatives. Those a Mcrorie argued the Low go meals Are Likely to be re pealed Back to or. Yuskiw government Ever As land would be a subsidy particularly on the hustings threat. It is the people. I from the provincial Economy the government should real or. Yuskiw does not see Price of government Agricula or. Yuskiw s philosophizing included a hypothetical situation he constructed which the tories immediately took As proof the government to those chosen Farmers. Something or. Mcrorie did not mention directly but which has been the major Issue behind the land hear j ize that emotion plays As much a part As reason in people s understanding o f themselves and the function of government ;