HomeMy WebLinkAboutZurich Herald, 1941-01-02, Page 6'V.
SIROIS REPORT
The Ontario Farmer
The Royal Commission on Do-
minion- amnion~ Provincial Relations
StudiedHew to Relieve the
Municipalities, Hence Rural
Areas, of Part of Their
Tax Load.
(NO. 4)
Far and away that it may seem„
what is going to happen in Ot-
tawa at the Conference of the
Dominion and the Provinces on
the Report of the Rowell-Sircis
Commission affects .directly the
Ontario farmer. Like very few
other things that happen away
from the farm, what the dele-
gations at Ottawa will or will not
do means dollars and cents to
rural Ontario.
The debts of the municipalities
are in some cases very heavy.
That is true in the province. The
Report calls for the assumption
by the Dominion Government of
the debts and provincially guar-
anteed debts of the provinces.
With the assuinption of the On-
tario debt by the Federal authori-
ty it puts the province in a po-
sition to look into the question
of helping the municipalities
which are in some cases now too
heavily burdened with debt.
Help Small Communities
Ed(ation, social services and
public health all come under the
main responsibilities, from a fin-
ancial point of view, of the mn-•
niciplities. The province has juris-
diction over the municipalities,
and when the burden is removed
from the shoulders of Ontario it
will then be in a better position
to try to relieve the municipli-
ties of part of their load. What
is almost as important, the pro-
vince can devote more of its time
and effort to helping the small
communities find their own way
out of the maze of heavy debt.
and consequently heavy taxation.
The province of Ontario shares
the burden, in some cases in large
part, in some cases in only small
part, of the education, public wel-
fare, and public health of all
municipalities. With the imple-
menting of the Rowell-Sirois Re-
port the province will be able to
take 'over a greater share of the
financial assistance of the muni-
cipalities which in many cases
have been bearing too heavy a
IQad _fox some of the smaller
Centres to Carry.
Who Best Pays Taxes?
The essence of the Report as
, far as taxation is concerned is
Ache shifting of the burden of tax-
ation to those best able to pay.
If the Report is implemented,
and the taxation scheme or struc-
ture is so arranged as to be more
equitably applied, then certain
work that the municipality has to
assume will likely be undertaken
Tay the provinces. In that way the
greater burden will fall with the
authority that has the greater
taxing ability and source and so
•e&n best handle the pressing
seeds. Right now the municipali-
ties are too heavily burdened with
payment of taxes for services
that the province, in equity,
Should look atter.
Th real principle behind all
taxation is to put the tax where
it can best be paid. If the Re-
port is put into action there will
be a saving for the municipalities
as there will be for the province.
So the implementing of the
Rowell-Sirois Report comes right
home to every farmer of Ontario
who pays any sort of municipal
taxes.
Farmers' Handy
Account Book
Aids Greatly In This Busin-
ess of Farming — Record
Should Be Kept of Each De-
partment of Production
In modern farming, one of the
more important essentials is the
keeping of accounts, and something
more than a rough and ready estim-
ate
stimate is necessary. farming is now
more than ever a business proposi-
tion and the farmer who does not
know the exact state in which he
stands with reference to every item
connected with, his farm is under a
5tandicap. In order to assist the
farmer in keeping a record of each
department of his business. the
'Dominion Department of Agrieul-
hire issues a very simple and use-
ful little account book.
INVESTIGATE YOUR FARM
This account book covers every
essential detail, and while no spec-
ial knowledge of accounting is nee•
essary, a record of transactions
can often be made in less than one
tour a week. The book may be ob-
tained from the King's Printer, Ot-
tawa, at the nominal price of 1O
Cents, The beginning of the year
fel as good a time ae any to start
using the account book. and as
it happens the winter time affords
the hest opportunity to the farm-
er for making a detailed investi-
gation of hie business, least, pre -
eat, and future -
Italian Equipment Abandon ;d After Attack by British
Here is a scene on a battlefield at the Libyan frontier with Italian equipment strewn after an attack
by British motorized units. A British soldier is examining some of the wreckage. The two forces clashed
in this section as the British drove the Italians into the interior of Libya.
THE WAR -WEE K—Commentary on Current Events
Churchill Talks To Italy;
U. S. Moving Nearer War
To the Italian people, last week
floundering in a sea of bewilder-
ment, despair and defeatism, fol-
lowing the Fiasco in Egypt and the
debacle in Albania, Prime Minister
Ohurchill of Great Britain address-
ed an open invitation to revolt
against their Duce, the "man who
bas brought his country to the hor-
rid verge of ruin." To this one
Haan alone, Mr. Churchill told the
Italians, do 3-ou owe your pre-
sent sorry plight—Italy must eith-
er stand up to the full battery of
British power or call in the Ger-
mane to occupy, protect and hold
dawn the country.
"Ripe For Revolt"?
The New York Times, comment-
ing on Mr. Churchill's bold speech,
declared that the Prime Minister
would hardly have taken so daring
x line "unless convinced that con-
ditions in Italy were ripe to over-
throw the regime and withdraw
from the war."
The official Turkish radio at An-
kara broadcast that an armistice
between Britain and Italy was "en-
tirely possible." The announcer
said Italian reverses in Egypt
would have "great repercussions
in Italy." The newspaper Ukchani
said: "The damage done the Ital-
ian fleet and the removal of the
possibility of an attack on Egypt
have settled the Mediterranean
problem in England's favor. This
means half the war won for Eng-
land."
Prepare For Anything
While aiming crushing blows at
Italy on several fronts in a grand
effort to incapacitate the country,
force its withdrawal from the war
and detach it from the Axis, Bri-
tain
•ritain .was busier than ever before
with preparations to counter a vast
Canadian Trade with America's Increases Since
War Started
Unloading Canadian Produce at Demerara, British Guiana.
Canadians are becoming interested in the Latin-Ameriean coun-
tries as sources of raw materials needed in Canadian industry, as sources
of food, and as markets for Canada's manufactured merchandise. Can-
ada's trade with the Americas has increased since the war started, al-
-Weigh in 939 it amounted to about 5 per cent. or $70,000,000 of
Canada's total world trade. The Dominion is the fourth trading nation
in the world.
Since the outbreak of war, Canada's trade commissioners at Buenos
Aires; Port of Spain, Trinidad; Kingston, Jamaica; Havana, Cuba;
Mexico City, Mexico; Panama City, Panama; and Liana, Peru, have
inundated Canadian business opportunities in their accredited coun-
tries. Canadian bankers are pointing out to Canadian business men that
tries. Canadian bankers are pointing out to Canadian business men that
the Dominion can supply Latin -America with numerous products which
were formerly imported from Europe.
Nazi onslaught within the next few
days, weeks, months. Plans were
made to stave off a possible invas-
ion during Christmas week. But
the most vital work engaged in by
Britons had to do with the secur-
ing of immediate aid in the form
of ships, planes and munitions from
the Americas, from the United
States in particular.
Tangible Aid, Now!
The big problem in Washington,
following the receipt of the British
requests, was how to divert to Bri-
tish use without delay, war facil-
ities that were already in existence.
The general opinion seemed to be
that "Roosevelt would find a way.".
Competent American observers
agreed that the balance was .now
tipped in favor of the United States
entering the war at an early date,
much earlier than predicted two
weeks ago; and that some form of
American -British union, military
and economic, was to come in the
near future. (Leading most directly
to war between. the U. S. and the
Axis would be the use of American
warships in British convoys).
• • •
Of "peace on earth, good will
toward men" these was very little
in the worl4 last week.
Evergreens Need
Winter Protection
Join Main Stems Together
to Resist Snow and Sleet
'Whether or not winter has really
set in for keeps, it is time to give
a thought to the welfare of ever-
greens and shrubs during the per-
iod between now and spring. Every
year thousands of beautiful ever-
green specimens are severely injur-
ed merely because they have been
left to shift for themselves. Much
of the damage is done by sleet
storms and heavy falls of wet snow
that freezes on the branches, bend-
ing them down until they break.
The mere fact that an evergreen
may have gone through many win-
ters uninjured is no guarantee that
it is safe.
PROTECT SHRUBS TOO
Evergreens of the. type that has
several main branches are especial-
ly subject to snow and ice injury.
It is no great task to fasten the
main stems together with small,
stout rope in such a way that they
cannot be spread a,part in such
manner as to cause splitting. The
foliage will usually hide such sup-
• port from view; if not, the rope
can be made inconspicuous by
soaking it in green shingle stain,
which serves also as a preserv-
ative.
The Book Shelf
"LAND OF THE GOOD
SHADOWS"
(The Life Story of Anauta, an
Eskimo. Woman)
By Heluiz C. Washburne and
Anauta
This is an amazing story —
and a true one -- of an Eskimo
woman who spent the first half
of her life far up in the Arctic
Circle, and is 'spending the last
half in our industrial civiliza-
tion. Born on northern Baffin
Island, during the swine night
that a hunter • on a floating ice
pan drowned in a blizzard, Anau-
ta was given his name, that his
departed soul might have a body.
She was brought up as a boy, and
lived the nomadic life of hoer
people — travelling long distanc-
es by dog sledge, sleeping in snow
houses, harponing seals, hunting
caribou—a life of adventure and
courage, of simplicity and kindli-
ness.
As a young woman Anauta liv-
ed In Labrador and Baffin Island
and on Hudson Bay. Then through
tragedy and an extraordinary
series of circumstances she and
her children found themselves in
Indianapolis. She met dishones-
ty, sickness, poverty, the driving
drudgery of a factory. But the •
simple traits characteristic of her
people — humor, understanding,
determination, and bravery —
carried hes through to triumph.
The late Sir Wilfred T. Gren-
fell has written a foeeward for
the book. The text is accompanied
by photographs.
"Land of the Good Shadows"
(The Life Story of, Anauta, an
Eskimo Woman) . . . by Heluiz
C. Washburne and Anauta . . .
Toronto: McClelland & Stewart,
Publishers ... $3.75.
Birds Are Ideal
.Fliers Strive For
Flights of 22,000 Mlles A
Year Achieved — Canada's
Native Birds Furnish Examp-
' les of Endurance, Speed
Canadian fliers have had good
examples in the native birds for
years of endurance and speed in
the, air it was demonstrated
by John H. Storer, natural-
ist of Waltham, Mass., who spoke
recently ]n Montreal, under the
joint auspices of the Province of
Quebec society for the Proteetioh
of Birds and the Sigma Xi Society.
Mr. Storer, who showed natural
color films and spoke on "Birds
in Wild Life," pointed out that the
Arctic tern makes a maximum
round-trip flight in a year of 22,000
miles. This tern travels from the
Arctic to the Antarctic areas, and
at the extreme northerly and
southerly points manages to miss
seeing sunset for eight months of
the year.
The speaker had a special inter-
est in the Canada goose, wh.ieb,, he
nays, performs very creditably In
the, air. This goose, which should,
incidentally, take the place lit
people's conceptions of the so-
called wise old owl, travels at 55
miles an hour for many Itcue at
a stretch:,
Votes Slacking
Fail Democracy
Hamilton Woman Contruplier
Charges Voters In Canada
This Year Are Failing --
Light Votes Recorded to Sup-
port Soldiers
s
Miss Nora Henderson, member
of the Hamilton, Ont,, Board of
Control, said in a recent address
at Toronto that Canadian soldiers
are fighting to save democracy on
the war front at a time when de-
mocracy is at its lowest ebb on the
home front.
The survival of democracy, she •
said, could not depend on force of
arms unless citizens accepted their
responsibilities and realized that
democracy was "a great co-opera-
tive enterprise."
APATHY AMONG ELECTORS
Miss Henderson cited -recent mu-
nicipal elections in Hamilton and
Montreal as showing the apathy
that existed among voters. in Ham-
ilton only 32 per cent of the elec-
tors cast ballots and in Montreal
there had been elleof the lightest
votes in years. -,
"It seems incredible that at a
time when we in Hamilton are
sending our sons to lay down their
lives if necessary to save the de-
mocratic system, one of the lowest
votes in the history of our ei:y was
recorded."
11, .!7
ENE' GY'
fo r i bet byes\\\
OTTLE
ee Hive
Syrup
For Infants
Feeding! Cie
LIFE'S LIKE.THAT
By Fred Nether
les
SH
moo
4oV¢
'roo.,.
acr e L� t/'Eit . .r« , _v
(Copyright, 7088, by Fred Helier)
"General, we wish to report the show is lousy, l .1 1"
REQ'LAR FELLERS -- What a Life
MY• MOM SAYS WORRY
AN' UNI•IAPPINESS CAUSE
WRINKLES DO YOU
BELIEVE THAT
CERTAINLY/ DIDJA
EVER NOTICE THE
PRUNES IN
NOODLl:NADI-Et
4RQCERY STORE 'l
SURE f2UT WHAT
HAVE PRUNES TO
WORRY ABOUT A
X CAN'T SEE WHAT
SHOULD BOTHER
By GENE BYRNES
OH, No WELL, Novi womb
'i U LIKE TO SPEND ALL YOUR
LIFE IN A V.00DEN BOX WITI4
A PRATE OF ONIONS ON ONE
SIDE AN' A MESS OF SPINACHia
, ON THE OTHER SIDEOF YA i' S,