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The Wingham Advance-Times, 1943-03-18, Page 7THE ECONOMIC OUTLOOK Out of a normal consumption annually of 500,000 tons of sugar we imported .400,000, growing the .difference in Canada, half of it in Alberta. With shipping acute Canada agreed through British-American arrangement to fore- go enough sugar to save 100,000 tons of shipping yearly; later things became worse and we agreed to lop off another 50,000 of shipping space. That's why, folks, you're getting less sugar. Of course we could grow more in Alberta, say; it's a profitable ,crop, but remem- ber freight rate costs and suppose you had to move it out- to Winnipeg you would have to meet normally lower price structure. Could be done, naturally, but only by use of heavy subsidies. Well, how about coffee? The dif- ference in consumption with us would be saving two shiploads only, but with the Americans, who consume more, it would amount to 40 shiploads saving, Business and Professional Directory WELLINGTON FIRE Insurance Company Est. 1840 An all Canadian Company which has faithfully served its policy holders for over a century Head Office Toronto H. C. MacLean Insurance Agency Wingham W. A. CRAWFORD, M.D. Physician and Surgeon Located at the office of the late Dr. J. P. Kennedy. Phone 150 ° Wingham II Po -fits. tio'rris-c 51-Aus qivE off m05-1- OEM'? Thursday, March 18th., 1943 WING RAM ADVANCE-TIMnS but then the board feels we cannot treat our consumers any better than the Americans, Then I hitched up my galluses, started asking about agricultural prices and problems, and Mr, Taylor opined there was plenty of difficulty in. recon- ciling beef, butter, whole milk pro- ducts, etc. Well, how about beef? They were faced, he said, with three alternatives because .the American market "ran away fast", They could either hold rigidly to the price ceiling, which meant that most of the cattle would go to the U.S.A. with very little left for the Canadian housewife; the price could be put up to the American level, which means the ceiling would break down; or-and this they decided to .do-hold the price in Canada' and control exports. The price was put up a little, too, at the same time. He admitted frankly there was a difference of opinion. Wwithin" for a while and it got a little out of hand, but, "remember this, the western cat- tie•grosirers will probably get in 1943 the best average'price since 1920." Food Demands Strain Resources Generally the demand for food 'is straining. our resources, he pointed out, There is a heavier demand over- seas; the is sending more to Russia, less to Britain; all our salmon pack .is going to the Mother Country, besides milk products, canned meats and what not, And on top of it all agriculture has a labor problem. We came back to meat for a minute and be explained that our beef short- age in the east is relative-not basic -as compared to the west. The in- dustrial eastern workingman is mak- ing more money, eating more meat; wants it. The shortage on pork sup- ply is "deliberate" and the result is a greatly increased demand for beef; much pork is going overseas, but (and he interjected) "if the Department of Agriculture's progress is realized, 8 million hogs will be the figure for 1943." Some bacon, some porkchops! I got back to economics in asking how the ceiling benefits the farmer, It does,. he says, in a number of ways. For instance the ceiling on feeds aSid fertilizers is below American prices; on wire fencing, etc., where available, "You know," he mused, "a short time ago I was out at the farm where my son was working and I was shown an old stack of bills and I noticed that that farmer, paid $70 a ton for mid- dlings, back in 1918-19. Today the same thing is $31 a ton." Maldigtribution Avoided in Goods Price ceiling, the Board holds as preventing inequitable distribution coming from uncontrollable scarcity of goods. The fear that business can- not operate under rigidity of the set- up he thinks groundless. A lot of the the supplying of sufficient food is Lord Woolton, the Minister of Food, and, everyone over there seems con- vinced that he has done a marvellous job. In fact what he has done is one of the big accomplishments of the war, for he has taken the worry of insuffic- ient food away from. the people, They now know that all they have to do is to go to the store where they are reg- istered, hand over their coupons and the FOOD WILL TIE THERE. Even during the worst of the blitz, Lord Woolton's department never fail/- ea to deliver the rations. The editors had a conference with the Minister of Food on September 16th, and were greatly impressed with his ability and sincerity. He extended his thanks to Canadians for their as- sistance in feeding Britain, and ex- pressed his appreciation for the re- strictions which Canadian had impos- ed upon themselves in order 'to help Britain.. Imports of food from Canada are up over 40 %, The. Ministry of Food buys all the food imported into Brit- ain, and oversees the distribution .and price, The Ministry endeavours to main- tain a standard of nutrition ,and to this end scientists are at work all the time trying to provide a proper Sup- ply of calories and vitamins through subStitutes,. The needs of children and the sick are especially provided for. Lord Woolton said, "It is the children who will have to clean up strong." The and they must grow up The best way to maintain morale, Lord Woolton believes, is. to keep the people well fed, and in this he is succeeding in a wonderful way. Canteens And Restaurants Part of his plan to keep the people well, fed was the establishment of can- teens in the larger factories, the sup- plying of food to smaller factories, and the British Restaurants, sometimes called "Woolton's Restaurants", to provide meals where canteens are not practical. The number of these rest- aurants nearly doubled in 1942 and the figure, served amount to a staggering Later the Canadians editors were taken to some of these restaurants for a meal, and had soup, meat and vege- tables, pudding and tea for a shilling and fourpence. Most of the help is volunteer. It is no wonder that there are now nearly 2000 of these estab, lishments. One factory canteen which we visit- ed was a marvel of cleanliness and ef- ficiency, and could serve 1200 meals in twelve minutes. Changing The. Public Diet Lord Woolton believes that he is permanently changing the public diet. The people are learning what is good for them to eat, and wilt continue to eat more vegetables and cheese even after plenty of all kinds of foodstuffs will be available, They are also learn- ing how to prepare food in better ways.' The result of all this is that the health of the people is better than it ever has been before. As our conference drew to a close, one of the Canadian editors asked him what was going to happen after the war. After a few moments of thought, lord Woolton replied, "Well, I am going to have a nice, thick, steak." The Points System Selling food on points was designed primarily to control the distribution trouble is not price control but in business such As those which handle automobiles, etc. That's easy to see through. Total war, he holds, is not achieved until all resources not necessary to satisfy the minimum of essential needs of the civilian population is devoted to war production. He argues that we must accept this all in the proper spirit, because strong inflationary forces tend to• produce stronger de- flationary trends when the country's economy is reconverted to peace-time production. It would bring mass ,unem- ployment, much less demand for farm products and low price levels, And, "The serious problem of post-war will not all be eliminated by prevention of inflation, but it will certainly facilitate the solutions and help stop any pro- longed post-war' .depression," I hope you're not weary of ponder- ous economics, There's something brighter coining next week, I hope, How to Cut the cost of - Hooting Your Horne BY aafalcws HOME liEATINO ,081Pril WRITTEN SPEPIALt.Y FOR THE WEEKLY NEWEPARERS OF CANADA 6/JIM GREENRAT, Editor of the SUN SWIFT CURRENT SASKATCHEWAN March Winds! Just the OpPOSite way, Pus to a strong draft on windy 41978, the fire will burn out very rapidly and often leaves only a small core of fire in the center and a. large bed of ash all around, This condition permits a great amount of air or draft to pass through the fuel bed and on up the chimney, thus the greater part of the heat is wasted in needlessly warming up this air. It is therefore desirable dur- ing spring and fall weather to maintain a reasonably deep fire- bed and to throttle down the turn damper as much as possible to avoid over heating rather than attempting to attain this by firing in thin layers. It is easier to maintain a uniform temperature as well as avoiding excessive fuel consumption by maintaining uniform depth of firebed, then when more heat is required, there is always a suffi- cient body of fire on hand to re- spond immediately. Even temperatures definitely save money. Over and under heating is both costly and un- healthy. It is needless and troublesome. Remember these simple rules and your home will be comfortable, the fire "sleep- ing" during mild weather, will immediately awake and go to work for you when a call for heat is made. (25) Mouton is usually .a month J-."- when the variations between night and day temperatures are greater than at any time during the heating season. As the stronger rays Of the sun supply a g.reater portion of the heat re- quired, it is not necessary for the furnace to give forth as much heat during the day as in the winter months. At night, however, it is likely to be quite chilly, and more,heat is required. Follow these suggestions for the proper care of your furnace dur- ing this period, Gradually decrease the open- ing of the turn damper as the milder days arrive. This is par- ticularly important on windy March days, as wind has a ten- dency to increase the draft in the furnace. If this draft is not throttled down-by closing this important damper -,sometimes the fire will burn out premature- ly, and consequently up and down action in house temper- ature will follow. More impor- tant, this strong draft will pull most of the heat into the chim- ney, resulting in huge heat loss . and wasted fuel. There is also a strong ten- dency, as the weather moderates for many householders to put less and less coal on the fire, thus causing a thin fuel bed for the purpose of saving fuel. 'This is an erroneous idea, and works manpower for civilian industry be- comes scarcer and turnover of goods lower, This is all, of' course, a direct indication of our country's war effort," So gather around in back of the drug store o r out in the barn and hear a little more, Mr, Taylor explained that as manu- facturers' and other costs creep up slowly, labor became restless and other maladjustments slipped in, Civilian production had to be streamlined to save metals, time, etc. Then the emphasis shifted to problems of sup- ply as Singapore and the Dutch East Indies fell and the submarine warfare, he warned, will be seriously reflected in the supply of civilian goods for the summer of 1943. By urging of the board beforehand, Mr. Taylor said, coupled with the good sense of business men, quite a good supply of raw materials including wool and such commodities had been laid in, though we were caught short on rub- ber. Then we reached the point where, while not actually acute, we saw a shortage of limited supplies, with buoyant pressure, increased pur- chasing power, etc., and presto: first thing we knew we had rationing start- ing with sugar, tea and coffee. Sugar Shortage EXplained "Price ceiling, squeeze, control," 'That all sounded brackish and puz- .2.1ing to me, Most likely it does to you, • So I talked with Economist *en- sneth W. Taylor, secretary Of the Wartime Pai,des and Trade BOard, seated in his ordinary looking office, and• me gazing directly out at the Peace Tower on Parliament Hill, (Since this article was first written, Mr, Taylor has been appointed Foods .Administrator as successor to Hon, 5. -iGs Taggart.) . I had learned the day before about the necessity of a check on strong in- flationary forces which are inevitable in wartime; that from Aug. 1, 1939, 'to April 1, 1941, our cost of living in-' -de...; had risen frbtn 100 to 107.7, due to depreciation of. the Canadian dollar, higher taxation, in- crease in hitherto low farm prices; that Canada had put a ceiling on goods and services, on wage increases and introduced the cost-of-living bon- us, and that, as a result, from Nov. 1, K. W. TAYLOR 1941„ to Nov. 1, Here's something will interest you. THE BOMBER PRESS IN GREAT BRITAING Another in a series of articles .written by W. R. Legge and C. V. Charters, who represented the Canadian Weekly Newspapers Association in • a recent tour overseas, FOOD PROBLEMS IN BREAT BRITAIN (Article No. 18) By Walter R. Legge Canadians everywhere seem to be tremendously interested in two things about Britain, and they are Bomb Damage, and Food. After eating meals for six weeks in training camps, hotels and the private homes of friends or relatives, the ed- itors began to have a good idea of conditions there. Probably the outstanding feature of the meals is the total absence of any white bread or rolls. At first one is inclined to think that the dark bread is excellent, but after a few weeks of nothing else, there is a yearning for some good white bread. Perhaps after a longer period one would be- come so accustomed to it that it would be preferred, Many items are entirely absent, such as citrus fruits,-oranges, grapefruit and lemons,-ice cream, fresh eggs, cream and some other items. Fresh eggs are very scarce and they are re- served for sick people and young chil- dren. Fresh milk is also difficult to obtain. There is, however, a fair sup- ply of. powdered Most foods are rationed, and others are sold on the point system. The weekly ration for one -person when we were there was: butter 2 ounces, tea 2 ounces; sugar 8 ounces, bacon 4 ounces, cheese 4 ounces, jam 16 ounc- es, meat 23 cents worth and canned goods 24 points. The prices are fixed by the govern- ment which also controls the distri- bution of supplies. This is the reason why consumers must register with one storekeeper and buy rationed goods there only. The storekeeper then re- ceives only sufficient stocks to look after the requirements of the people who are registered with him. This is an important part of the whole method of keeping everyone supplied. The Minister of Food ' The man who is responsible for the smooth working of this system, and 11/11111101, and supply of foods which are not rat- ioned. Points for certain foods are raised or lowered as the available sup- ply goes up or down.. If one line is selling too freely, the number of points necessary to purchase that food is in- creased, and the demand falls off, If some new food is available, but his not proving popular enough, the number of points is reduced. In this way the use of a certain brand of pres- sed ham was increased until it now is quite popular oved there. The people look on this points bus- iness as a game which appeals to their gambling instinct. They try to guess what item will have the points raised, and buy it; and if, as often happens, the points on it are decreased instead, the people say, "Woolton has done us again, 'but we'll get Min tomorrow on something else." Between the rationing and the points, the queues which might have become a problem have been absolute- ly eliminated. The only queues which we saw all the time we were in Eng- land were at theatres and bus stops. They tell a good story about the queues.. At one time if a shopper saw, a queue she would join up, with the idea that there must be something good for sale, One day a queue form- ed in front of a theatre and streched around the corner. A woman saw this long queue and joined up at the end! of it. After a few minutes she asked the man in front of her, "What have they got today?" "The Tales of Hoff- man", he replied. "How do you cook them?" she enquired. The Queen's Messengers Lord Woolton praised the women who are known as the "Queen's Mes-1 sengers," an organization of women volunteers who go into blitzed areas and help in the emergency canteens.1 Our beloved Queen is the head of the organization, Whenever there is a !raid which causes damage, a mobile canteen with some of the "Queen's Messengers" is sent immediately to feed the people, These messengers with their food and cheer is proof that someone is looking after them, Shipping is the greatest concern of Lord Woolton, and so every effort is made to provide food that does not • • have to be brought in by ships, or to use the most concentrated food with the maximum nutrition value, That is why powdered eggs are so valuable, for it is said that 80 tons of dried eggs are equal in food value to 2,100 tons of feedstuffs for hens,_ i. The margarine is now SO reinforced with vitamins that its nutritive value is equal to that of butter, and it is. very difficult to tell from butter. At one hotel, we suspected by the quant- ity served that it was margarine in.' stead of butter, and 'on enquiry found we were right. We probably often. were served margarine without know- ing it. Hotel meals are limited to three courses and the price ceiling is • five shillings, but in some cases service charges are allowed. ,At our London hotel, the price of the dinner was five shillings, but the , service charge was seven shillings and sixpence, and a. charge for the orchestra was two shil- lings and sixpence, bringing the cost of the meal up to fifteen shillings. However, these service charges are also under regulation. While Britain's diet has changed, and many items of food are difficult or impossible to obtain, British people have sufficient wholesome food, thanks to Lord Woolton. It is no wonder that everybody admires the job he is doing. 1.942, our index only rose 2.3 points, from 115.5 to 117.7, while in the same period in the United States it had jumped 9.7 points. And in the last -war with only a quarter of the present resources devoted to production of war materials the Canadian index' hopped tip 20.1 points. Out of a maze of information I ;give you merely these few meaty figures, because I, too, hate statistics; they sometimes frighten the ordinary man. Price Control in Brief "What can I tell them in a nutshell, Air. Taylor?" I asked, and he replied, 'In our first year we maintained stability of, prices with minimum of evasion and interference with normal functioning of industry and trade . • . but, remember the battle against in- flation isn't wan yet. The supply of civilian goods will become shortlr, operating costs will rise as trained • J. W. BUSHFIELD Barrister, Solicitor, Notary, Etc. Money To Loan Office - Meyer Block, Wingham DR. W. M. CONNELL PHYSICIAN AND SURGEON Phone 19 J. H. CRAWFORD Barrister, Solicitor, Notary, Etc. Bonds, Investments & Mortgages DR. R. L. STEWART PHYSICIAN Telephone 29 SCOTT'S SCRAP BOOK By R. J. SCOTT CROSSWORD PUZZLE ACROSS 2. Great Lake 1. Weight 3. Palm leaf 15. Mineral 4. Little child springs 5. Weep 9. Pack animal 6. Strained 10. Unit of vegetables weight 7. Indigo 12 English 8. Crust on author sore 13 Wood for 9. Plead pipes 11. Before 14 Narrow 17. A color valley 18. Conjunction 15 German 19. Vigor river 20. Muffler 16 Flock 21. Bower 20 Mourdful 22. Small 23 Silkworm • wheeled 24 American truck Indian 27 Multitude 29 Chew 81 Dexterous 32 Inflamed spot 83 Actor's parts 35 Mountain pools 86 Young fish 87 Hewing tool 24. Breathe noisily in sleep 25, Fields 26. Game of skill 28. Tiny 30. Employ 34. Juice of plants 35. Male adults 38. Greek lettcti 40. To bombard 41. Variety of cabbage 42. Narrow inlet 43. Taverns 44. Muse of history Wingham. Ontario e4 A. H. McTAVISH, B.A. Teeswater, Ontario Barrister, Solicitor, Notary Public 'and Conveyancer Office: Gofton House, Wroxeter every Thursday afternoon 1.30 to 4.30 and by appointment. Phone - Teeswater 120J. J. ALVIN FOX Licensed Drugless Practitioner CHIROPRACTIC - DRUGLESS THERAPY RADIONIC EQUIPMENT Hours by Appointmenf. Phone 191 Wingham HARRY FRYFOGLE Licensed Embalmer and Funeral Director Furniture and Funeral Service Ambulance Service Phones: Day 109W. Night 109J. isil fir. OF NEARLY MA. COLORS of - 4E. 12AIRBow IS GROWN IN SOME PAP:r a; AMERICA WI,(li PURE BLACK CORN hio51r RARE, Buf am A I\ COLORED 1 \50 41,1 $ RIY: . i .Wi 3 : iN IS CI I N:D°11.APtit4IES CIN/21/21.1. You MAY 9:11iwik104 41crfltsT, Bur MIRE No'( U14111E.D 121':1±42itts.i..., 46 African river 47. Spoke 48. COnjunction 50. Spread grass to dry 51. Xing of Judah It K. M. MacLENNAN Veterinary *Surgeon Office-Victoria St., West. Formerly the Hayden Residence PHONE 196 Wingham, Ontario THOMAS FELLS AUCTIONEER • REAL ESTATE SOLD A .Thorough Knowledge of Farm Stock. Frederick A. Parker OSTEOPATH Offices: Centre St., Wingham Osteopathic apd Electric Treat- ments, Foot Technique. Phone 272. Wingham. 4 r5 (3 7 2 yir 10 9 eirit7 3.1F 4, LAND Wlkp,E EL.E.PROKS ltuLf floPLE 1.1v1144 11EXR •ritIVANDRAIM.-conlitEen MOM- SPEND '(HEIR LIstES AD.ikoR of ELEPHANTS IkNO BUILD illEtR. tietlIES 12 14 Phone 231, 'Wingham IA0 0011011•11•11•111102Mila 1JGGSL)Wr) SKFF.TIR CAE Td SEE. YOUR MOTHER A SECONID,,,HANG THIS IN THM HALL ,WILL YOU "Vt-EkSE 21 23 ZO 89 Large worm 40 Revolves 42 Wealthy 45 Part of Saturn's rings 49 Entrance /51 Pertaining to birds 62 Old- womanish 453 Firm 64 Disposed of by' ale 65 Voted in affirmative DOWN I. American statesman as ti 32 31 34 "// 37 35 A 35 33 . 39 3E1 V./ 42 40 43 44 49