The Seaforth News, 1943-04-01, Page 2COUNTRY EDITOR
SEES
WRITTEN ,SPECIALLY. FOR THE
.WEEKLY NEWSPAPERS CP CANA(?A
f JJM GREENlLAT, Editor of 00 SUN
SINiFT CURRErer SASKA'rew Sw Ak
INTERVIEW WITH CHAIRMAN
jest a•
13r; L latfll'.
.. ti 1his h :.
tar l.'1. se :else ,f tee
Pieces eee Teele Bosei 41
of ag,e. :. leg. Seek `lith: wessive
leeays glasses., but with r twinkle in
his .yes end a soft acntch act•ent in
his speech kinda dominates the room.
the big piles of papers and doeu-
ments on hes desk. and you like him
fight away.
I thought. in ibis last article, you'd
like to know something about the
man who pulls the strings that juggle
your living these days. But he didn't
want to talk about himself. He'd just
down in from Vancouver. was busier
than heck and said. after a little
plain gossip. "Fire ahead, ask me
questions." So I did. I had a few
things in my mind that I know you
have had unanswered. too. So take
his answers, not mine.
"What, in a nutsbeil. are the bene-
fits to citizens in general from the
Wartime Prices and Trade Board?"
1 asked. and he replied. 1 made act-
ual notes. The savings to consumers
(I the tonntry can rnoghly be esti-
mated at i35e.seseeee. and is the tax-
payers as a whole a similar amount
the costs of the war to date. That'e
cash. tut there is a moth greater
saving in human terms. fee' if iufia-
tion were to rear its ugly head. mon
ey could net measure the human:
misery. to say nothing of the effect-
iveness of our part in the United
Nations' war against Hitler and the
Japs,"
Go -operation in Switch From
Peace to War
To my questions if disdavantages
had cropped up, he admitted some
had, but they were inherent in the!
switch from a peacetime to wartime
economy, and none that cannot be?
worked out with the co-operation of
primers producers. industry and con-,
sumers. the direction of manpower to' essen-
Maybe I tried to stymie him when}}l tial uses.
I asked if controls, such as price] Farmers and Inflation
ceilings, would stay after the war, $ An here I asked the question im-
permanent or temporary. "That," he, portant to these articles. How about
said. "will be matter of government i the belief among some that farmers
policy and. in the final analysis for! constitute the one group who could
the people themselves." I wanted' benefit from inflation? Here is his
elaboration. Supposing the war lasts ; answer: `Those who hold this belief
two or three years more? • seldom advocate inflation openly but
"Insofar as price control is con-, we hear it argued that ander infia-
eerned. it is the creature of govern -I tion agricultural prices would rise
ment, but it will also depend. largely. i faster than the prices of goods or
upon the future form of the war it -1 supplies needed for farm cou_tnnp-
self and how Canada can best fit into : tient. No one can gay po_itively
an effective part in the offensive. If. whether this would happen or not,
for instance. parts of conquered Eur- Ltd I fervently hope we never have!
opo sheuld be opened up. we would the opportunity of finding out. We do
need ,o feed .starving millions. That ki-t t. however, that the, last time the
night re one thing. If it's -Dolsexperiment wastried. in 1514-1i i"
an r.ffetnive. that's another matter. everyone suffered eventually and
We can only %Ake ouch action as may farmers. 1 e=less, the most heavily
be justified by the day -today derel- of all."
opmenrs, it s obvious that 533 of us The chairman feels we are not
must be ready to give up ranch of paying a heavy price to avoid the
what we have been used to. and in disaster of inflation. It takes only, fn
even measure. if we .are to be honest his mind. teamwork and organization,
with ourselves in the demands for a And so I left him. 'Tway short as
total war effort." interview, go. but maybe there is a
"Would you mind answering me if thought for you and I in it.
1 ask whether there is any political
interference in your set-up?" Even THE INVENTOR OF LINOLEUM
his mustache bristled as he answered, Two wary eyes peered out from
one word, "None."
What About Subsidies?
I wanted his say-so on subsidies.
You know us people back in the
country are liable to think they help
the big shot, and are designed for'
that purpose. He put ire bebind the
eight -ball by saving this:
'As a matter of fact. subsidies are
of relatively greater help to the
little fellow than the big shot you
speak of. The big fellow is generally
In a stronger financial position, and
could weather the storms, but if sub-
sidies were not paid to the little
fellows they would be the first to fall
by the wayside. Subsidies are paid
and designed mainly for two pm' -
poses: one, to assure a stable cost of
living. and secondly to assure a sup-
ply of essential goods. These are
handled in what can de.finately be
Said in the interests of the entire
population. They are paid in no case
to increase profits. and the strictest
accounting is made throughout;'
That dominating figure of a span
leaned over hie flesk as he spoke ae
seriously anis, earnestly. I thought, to
me as to Mr. Ilsley. Then 1 wanted
to know if his surveys show that
more tmopusion is necessary 01' are
people co-operating with the admin
istration
"We have the finest co-operation
imaginable from the rank and file of
Canadian people," he. declared, "In
this connection we are the Envy of
one neighbors and our friends across
the. sea. True, same Selfish interests
4.1.i7.t... 7i'.
7 { ...io h.t-t rlte
i_. ',ut we lies.. ,stir u;n,lnd
t 17v. iy fat them and that is rseteriar
:ousts nf. the land. What hap-
pens then is tate responsibility of for
judiciary,"
"No amount of compulsion in a
democratic country,", !dr.Gordon
pointed out, "ran equal in effective-
, nese
ffective,ness the co-operation of a people
such as ours acting of their own soli-
. tion with enlightenment and under -
fstanding,"
t "We Have Done Our Best"
The chairman assured ole he was
aware that an organization like the
} Wartime Prices and Trade Board,
run by ordinary human beings, had
made mistake: and has its sbortcom
' ings; and bere be pointed a really
big index Huger at me, "We have
done our best, all of us." He was
sure that the anti-inflation policy of
the government has, at heart, the
best long run interests of the wage
earning class. To wreck that policy,
or to make its administration impos-
sihie, is an act he considers one of',
self-destruction. Well, you readers
GET in the cotmtry can take it or
leave
Mr. Gordon says Canada has made
economic' history by demonstrating
that inflationary effects of war can
be controlled. But he is determined
as long as he has anything to do with
it. that to prove it can be done is not
sufficient. The policy must be seen
through. To do so, in his opinion,
there can be no weakening on any
one of five points. namely: the fiscal
policy tmoney to you) calling for
maximum taxation and borrowing;
the price ceiling; salary and wage
stabilization; control and rationing,
of supplies as found necessary, and
the darkened room. through cracks'
in the drawn blinds. A few minutes
later the street door cautiously:
opened. and a furtive figure slunk
out and vanished into the shadows
of the dimly lit London street.
No criminal, Frederick Walton was
forced to these seemingly sinister
tacties by the hounding of his many
creditors. Yet. strangely enough,
money for all his needs. and more.
was his for the asking. Son of a
wealthy manufacturer, he had only
to give up this pet project of his and
return to a soft job in his father's
factory. But because he resisted this
temptation—beause be resisted this
temptation — because be stubbornly
accepted his lot and continued to.
press his experiments — Frederick
Walton won fame and fortune as the
inventor of linoleum.
But tbat is ahead of the story.
Frederick Walton, the third of ten
children, was horn on March 1S, 1534,
near Manchester, England. Frederick
and hie older brother, when each 'M-
eanie of age, were taken into their
fathers fat'tory at Haughton Dale,
near Manchester, where wire brushes
for wool carding were manufactured,'
The company name was then Chang-,
ed to lames Walton & Sons,
With two of his boys in the bust -
nese. the father planned to retire.'
But William, the elder. was more in -i
terested in art and literature, while
Frederick spent more time on bis in.'
ventions than in the supervision of
THE S AFOI..TH NEWS
THURSDAY, APR 1,
RESERVE ARMY GIVEN WINTER TRAINING
The Regiment deMaisonnenve tend Reserve Battalion 1 took the initiative in winter warfare manoeuvres in the
34th Reserve Brigade Group in Montreal this winter. Here they are pictured building intercommunication huts.
I;pper left. a platoon of men start the first phase of building the huts. Pictured in the background are water
carriers whose job it is to make the huts solidly packed with ice and snow. Upper right shows the huts finished
and men in them. The purpose of these huts is to house advance scouts or field telephones to relay the enemy's
forward positions. Lower left, Col, Paul Grenier, commas ding officer of the 34th reserve brigade, second from the
right. views plans drawn up by Major Rugbes Mitchell, se cond from the left. Two members of the regiment are seen
in the insert looking from their finished hut. Their job fi nished. a work party is seen in the lower right picture
marching back to their base after a strenuous week -end.
943
the factory. He was granted many
patents, including one in 1848 for
artificial leather—made by coating
calico with a compound of India, rub-
ber and ober and covering it with
varnish. Consisting of Copal gum and
linseed oil. the varniih world not
dry quickly enough. When Frederick
found that the oil had to oxidize be-
fore the varnish could dry. he made
oxidized oil by coating sheets of
glass with linseed oil and allowing it
to dry. Then he dissolved the oxidiz-
ed oil in a mixture of alcohol and
coal -tar naphtha. Unfortunately this
mixture took even longer to dry than
the varnish, but Walton had made a
discovery.
He found that this csidized oil had
the elasticity of rubber, yet was un-
affected by many solvents, greases
and oils, as well as heat. He patent-
ed the mixture in England, the Unit-
ed States. France and Belgium.
After a quarrel with his father,
because he was spending so much
time working on his discovery, Fred-
erick went in the middle of 1860 to
London where he opened a small
laboratory at Cheswick on Thames.
Needing funds to carry on experi-
ments, he withdrew his small capi-
tal from James Walton & Sons.
His new substance—a mixture of
oxidized linseed oil. gums. and re-
sins—was named Campticon and of-
fered for sale in many products,
among them a door covering made
of Campticon and cork. But his sales
campaign was a failure and before
long his capital was entirely used
up. After unsuccessfully attempting.
to borrow money from his father,
Frederick received a small loan from
his older brother. He went back to
work, but soon all his money was
once more gone.
Walton, Sr.. feeling the invention
would never be a success, finally
agreed to loan money on interest
against Frederick's personal note,
thinking this obligation could be
lased to make his sou give up his idea
and return to James Walton & Sons.
The loans were small and given only
at irregular intervals, so that for
enough to get along on. Then, when
he was over eight thousand pounds
in debt, and his father had refused
him any more, he got hte idea of
putting his plastic mixture on a
fabric backing.
By this time the product had been
so improved that Frederick fas able
to attract outside sapital Late in
1863 he set up a small factory in
British School Lane, for the manu-
facture of what he call linoleum,
named frmo the Latin words linum,
meaning flax, and oleum, meaning oil.
In January, 1864, the plant was
moved to Staines, and five months
later hte Staines Linoleum Manufac-
turing Company, Ltd., started pro -
three years Frederick had barely duction with Walton as manager.
under
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SEAFORTH, ONTARIO,