The Wingham Advance-Times, 1939-03-09, Page 24
PAGE TWO WINGHAM ADVANCE-TIMES
RTF*
Wingham Advance-Times
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WHITHER BOUND
.An. Answer to the Coupons of Mr
.George McCullagh of The Globe
and Mail.
By
R, J, Deachman, M.P.
Mr. George McCullagh of the Tor
onto Globe and Mail has closed his
radio addresses — finished his argu
ments and. sent out his printed coup
ons asking members of parliament to
froget party advantage and co-oper
ate for the common good.
Personally'! am glad that he made
these addresses, It is no easy task to
make, five speeches — one a week, for
five weeks! Grinding out a connect
ed story, thirty minutes long, is a
tough job — I know, I have done it
myself. .Even if his speeches had been
worthless he would have deserved a
knighthood for the effort — and, in
my humble' judgment, they were
worth the price.
Debt and Facts
Let us now put down a few facts if
for no other reason than merely to
find an anchor to reality. It would be
.scant honor to Mr. McCullagh if we
.attempted to discuss these issues with
out knowing the background. Our na
tional debt in 1914 amounted to $335,-
.9^6,000. It was mainly the result of
.railway expenditures.
In' that year we went to war. Here
is the story of war costs to date.
fORD ^HOTELS
------- iz."
pOMMr
FiKTOOOf
►hotels
Chocs J
PATES
ROC HESTER-BUFFALO-ERIE
couldn’t
the debt.
What are we to do with jthese
debts? The total charge on debts to
day including interest, cost of man-
Total debt
March 31, 1938 ...$ 3,101,000,000 .
*'This
causes”.
item is
It represents expanded ser
vices —• tilings the nation wanted but
afford. They were added to
LOCATED
»U*Y
Bouas
Direct War
Expenditure .........$ 1,698,619,000 ,
Pensions. ..............
Soldiers’ Civil
Re-establishment ...
War Graves .........
Soldiers’ Settlement
(Administration) ...
Interest ...............
Estimated Loss
Soldiers’
Settlement ...........
770)563,000
258,750,000
4,811,000
100,000,000
Total Costs of War
to end of 1938 ...„..$ 5,014,263,000
We now have these two items—-Let
us state them in round figures and
put them together.
Pre-War Debts ...$ 336,000,000
Cost of War ....... 5,000,000,000
Total ....................$ 5,336,000,000
Taxes and War
We did, however, collect a consid
erable amount under the War Tax
Revenue Act. These taxes were ap
plied to banks and trust .companies.
They covered also excess profits, in
comes and sales and stamp taxes.
From 1915 to 1938 the total amount
collected by this means was $3,268,-
000,000. Deduct this amount from the
$5,000,000,000 of war costs and we
have in our debt of today $1,732,000,-'
000 due to the war.
' There is another item in our debt
pile -7 it amounts to $924,000,000.
Where does it come from? It re
presents the cost of the depression.
Revenues fell off — costs went uj5.
Money was spent on relief, railway
deficits and other things. It had to
be borrowed — it was added to the
debt.
Let us now sum up in one brief
table the whole stopy of our debt in
cluding one item still to explain
which amounts to $109,000,000. •
Cause
336,000,000
1,732,000,000
Debt and Its
Old pre-war debt $
Debt due to war ...
Debt due to
depression ...........
*Debt due to
“other causes” .....
924,000,000<
marked as /'other
t
Jr
w
tct. %
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of gov-
intgrest
told us
Even as you read this, some
Father somewhere is rushing
this news to relatives, No matter
where they are or what time it
is—his first impulse is to let
them know!
agement, discount'and exchange am
ounts to approximately, $137,000,000,
Total expenses of government in pre
war days (1914) was $186,000,000.
Are yon surprised that costs
ernment have gone im when
charges take so much money
Mr. McCullagh has not
what we should do to cut down these
debts -— neither has any other public
man. I intend to discuss it at the
close of this article. But I would like
your opinion — the opinion of the
man or woman now reading this ar*
ticle, What should bp done to reduce
the debts of the Dominion of Canada?
CHAPTER 2
Costs and; Economy
In the light of all the facts is there
wild extravagance at Ottawa? The
mpre existence of the debt does not-
constitute proof. No one defends ex
travagance. But there are many who
attack expenditures without consider
ing the cause. We reason only from
intelligent comprehension of what has
happened,
We must examine facts — exlama-
tion marks will not get us very far—
hasty conclusions are dangerous. If
we compare the’ figures of govern
ment expenditures for 1914, the last
pre-war, with 1938 they appear, as
tounding.Here they are:
Total Federal
* Govt. Expenditure
$186,000,000
$334,000,000
Year
1914
1938
Why so vast an increase in twenty-
four years? The previous chapter giv
es some idea. Here are the details
of increase and new items of expense
added since 1914.
I. Interest and
Management on
Public Debt ..................$123,293,000
Pensions, Military ... 42,000,000
Treatment and After
care of Returned
Soldiers ............ I...'.....
4. Unemployment Relief
including drought
relief .............................
5. P.O. Expense (offset
by revenue increases) ...
6. Old Age Pensions ...
Maritime Freight
Rates ..............................
Air Services .............
Militia and Defence ...
10. Government Annuit
ies to maintain reserves
II. R. C. |M. P.................
12. Special Grants -to
Provinces ............ -...
13. Subsidies to
Provinces ..................
2.
3.
7.
8.
9.
12,152,000
68,532,000
8,941,000
5,400,000
What items of this list would
McCullagh eliminate? Until
is more- definite information we
no idea of his intentions. But
Total of Increase and
New Items since 1914 ......$345,944,000
Losses on Canadian National Rail
ways not included in this list because
the total expenditures on railways in
1914 were almost as great as in 1938.
, ’Can these items be cut down? The
interest on the debt must be met —
our obligations to returned soldiers
must be faced. Relief under present
conditions is essential. .People cannot
be allowed to starve. We are now
face to face with the practical prob
lem.
Mr.
there
have
the»qucry is not addressed to Mr. Mc
Cullagh alone—let the business man
speak—what has he to offer? <
It has been suggested that provinc
ial governments should be eliminated.
It could not be done. It would save
little if its were done. Historically
they are a part of our system — it
would take a revolution to move
them. In practice it is impossible. It
is so remote from the possible that
it is hardly worthy of serious com
ment.
But suppose in some way we could,
cut expenditures by $100,000,000 —
something which could not be done
by any government —- would it solve
the problem of today? It would not.
Such suggestions arc merely pills for
Vesuvius —? they skim around the sur
face of the problem. They do not ap
proach even remotely the fundamental
facts of the situation.
What.Do We Need?
The two things primarily needed in
the Dominion.of Canada today are, ail*
increase in the national income and
a more equitable distribution of
total
’ In
pie <i
1933
$3,000,000,000. Last year, 1938, it was
roughly $3,900,000,000.
What wc need in the Dominion of
Canada is the restoration of the na
tional income to, qt least, the .1926
level. Under a sound economy, the
application of which would' be oppos
ed by two-thirds of trar businessmen,
this would be possible. We^cannot do
It by cutting expenses of the Federal
government $100,000,000, If that can
be done let’s do it — tell us how!
What we need is an increase in the
national income to $1,500,000,000
above the level of 1933, or an amount,
above the 1988 level, equal to the en
tire expenses of the Federal govern
ment,
I am not condemning economy of
wealth produced,
1926 the total income of the j:
f Canada was $4,330,000,000,
it was less
the
.co
in
approximately
And that is also true of Aunts
(and Uncles) and all the in-
laws. Before Baby is half an
hour old his arrival is cele
brated far and wide—and he is
endowed with
... In every pound and
half pound package of
Lipton’s Tea there are
valuable coupons. Save
these carefully, they are
exchangeable for beauti
ful Wm. Rogers and
Son Silverplate. Write -
now for premium book
let to Thos. J. Lipton
Limited, Lipton Build
ing, Toronto.
FREE!
Globe and Mail has dealt with it in
recent years. I am not suggesting
sook-the-rich policies which are far
too often veiled attacks on the pock
et-books of the poor, The income tax
story, reveals the power of privilege,
The figrues are a challenge to democ
racy — a barrier to business progress.
We cannot have a true democracy un
less, at least, the opportunity to ac
quire a competence is open to oil. •
CHAPTER 3
THE REAL REMEDY
Then beyond that there is the*great
problem of go ordering our economy
that we may no longer be faced with
the problem of unemployment and all
its concomitant destruction of life
and hope,
Is that possible? *
The answer is “yes,“it can be dope.
It cannot be done by governments
— they may help but they cannot do
it alone, It is a problern pf industry
but industry tries to run the govern
ment instead of facing its own tasks.
Progress in the solution of unem
ployment will come when industrial
leaders who control the great- indus
tries of the nation recognize' that on
ly by a thorough reorganization of
their own businesses
confidence be restored,
labour must aid capital
er will continue, as he
walk the streets in idleness,
Industry has triumphed in the fields
of production. We have the capacity
to produce. Industry apd labour have
succeeded in blocking the channels of
exchange so that the purchasing pow
er of the producer is restricted—the
basis of industrial expansion is lost,
i Man, with his machines has trium
phed only to find that, by reason of
his own selfishness, victory is, ashes
in his hands. All the technical and
mechanical advance of the ages have
reduced the cost of production, low
ered the selling price of goods, in
creased the purchasing power of^the
people. . . ,
Why is more machinery employed
in factories? Because the application
of improved machinery, though it
throws men out of work, lowers the
cost of production. But the manufac
turer does not lower the selling price
of his products. If he did there would
be no decrease of employment. Some
times he cannot. Labour in control
may take for itself the full saving
brought about by mechanical change,
thus throwing, into the discard, work
ers who have lost their jobs. In plain
straight language, the problem of un
employment is up to industry and la
bour. They have created it — they
alone can cure it.’ It is, and I say it
quite frankly, beyond the power of
government,. Oh, for a combination
of the wealth of a McCullagh and a
Wright and the pentrating power of
mind necessary to drive home these ■
facts.
Manufactured produced today are
wholly out of line with the prices, of
basic products. This condition is driv
ing people off the land — it is forc
ing farmers on relief. If reductions
in costs, which are the natural fruit
of improved methods, had been pass
ed on to the consumer in a lower sell
ing price of products instead of in
higher wages and increased profits,
there would be no unemployment, nb
problem of government finance, no
swelling tide of debt.
Great leaders in some fields of in
dustry have realized these facts.
Some of them today are attempting,
to their eternal honour, to carry it
out. They arc the real leaders seek
ing new and ever expanding frontiers
of effort. There are others who con
centrate their lives on attacks upon
governments, failing to realize that
they are- themselves responsible for
the situation they condemn. The rem
edy lies with .industry and labour.
The men who have created the prob
lem. are best able to provide the cure.
If only the. leaders of industry and
labour could realize these facts we
might indeed achieve what we desire,
we would not be on the road to re
covery, recovery would be an accom
plished fact. Will industry speak?
Will it act? Has it the driving pow
er? If so, the nation marches forward
—nothing can stop—nothing except
war.
can national
In this task
or the work
does now, to
Yes, and so do thousands of other tea lovers
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satisfaction with every cup. Enjoy the superb
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tinctive grades: Red label, Orange label and
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392A
a dozen names.
It’s a Boy!
To Grandparents another chapter
of Family History begins. Their
grandparents may ‘have waited
for days before they had good
news, like this, but that was
before the telephone—and Long
Distance—became part of our
everyday existence.
&
Spread Good News by
LONG DISTANCE!
Look in your telephone direc
tory and you’ll find., that by
using Low Night Rates (also
applying all day Sunday) and
placing “Anyone” calls you can
talk to nearby towns or Prov
inces for much less than you
expected.
administratioon. Gladstoniah
tradition has a firm hold upon me, but
I do say that cheese paring is not
enough. The great problem is to in
crease the national, inco’mp. That car
ries with it increase of purchasing
power, elimination of unemployment
and relief — the restoration of our
railways to solvency and buoyancy in
the national revenue. It means too,
the return of conditions which will
change the static' credit situation and
start money moving into the channels
of business, It settles the whole range
of problems which darken the econ
omic horizon —( all, save One — war
— and only God can tell what will
happen there.
Poverty and Progress
But coupled with this there is the
problem of a more equitable distri
bution of the wealth of lite nation,
Only'21*?,000 people out of Canada’s
11,000,000 paid income tax in 1937,
Only 921 farmers had income
which brought them into the income
tax class. One thousand, two hund
red and fifty-nine people paid more
than half of the entire personal in
come tax,
This mal-distribution of wealth, far
more than the expenses of the Feder
al government, constitutes a great
task for the people of Canada, whe
ther they be Grit, lory, C.C,F. or
members of Mr, McCulIagh's Leader
ship League. I wish I could appeal
to George McCullagh upon this ques
tion, Neither Mr, McCullagh nor the
LETTERS TO
THE EDITOR
LEADERSHIP LEAGUE
To the Editor
Wingham Advance-Times.
Sir:
' I have just finished reading an or-
ticlc in your issue of 2nd fast over
the name James G. Webster, in which
he sets forth that with all his appar
ent knowledge of things in general
and his power of smell, he cannot get
to the bottom of the meaning of the
Leadership League. No, Sir, He can*
hot just seem to even get a good
laugh out of the thing. Well, being
a member of the League, I will try
in a simple way, to give him a little
enlightenment.
The League, when the next Federal
election comes around, will have a
Lis.ten to the “Lipton Melody Hour” Musical every Sunday after
noon, 4.30’ to 5.00 p.m., over Radio Station CBL, Toronto.
candidate ain every riding, a man of
their own choqsig, not an import, and
chosen by the .Tory machine or Grit
machine, a man, honest of purpose
and sound business principles, and
who will use his energies for the good
of the people of Canada, not the par
ty and the Leadership League will
see to it that these candidates get ov
er the top.'
It does seem a pity that Mr. Mc
Cullagh didn’t talk on some topic that
would have been of more interest to
J.G.W. 'such as how necessary it is
that Canada scrap, the Union Jack,
and have a brand new flag that will
end Unemployment, or,\ .how import
ant it is that the government spare
neither time nor energy in working
out ways and means for the burial of
another $12,000,000 in that hole in
Montreal.
J. G. Webster’s drivel will not, I i —Mary Baker Eddy.
am Sure, have the least effect on Mr.
"■McCullagh.
He just gave expression to what
was in the minds of thousands of
people in Canada, quid there are peo
ple of both the political parties that I
know personally who don’t take him
for a windbag or blowhard. /
T wonder that anyone with a sniffer
like J.G.W. don’t get a whiff of some
thing fishy when he thinks of the
sweeping promises made at the last
elections, and the results to date.
However, if Mr, Webster can man
age a little patience, I feel certain he
will get to know what the Leadership
League stands for.
Robt. Thompson,
Blyth, R. R. 3. (
“Enjoying good things is not. evil,
but becoming slaves to pleasure is.”
HOW MANY DIED MAY NEVER BB KNOWN
this woman ‘ttmlTy iniposslble to identify, have
25 been recovered from the ruins of th6
the $800,000 fire. Danger of falling walls
vir- halted search for other victims,
. Flames behind he
waits rescue by Halifax firemen,
others at least were trapped in
Queen Hotel, Six charred bodies,