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The Clinton News Record, 1932-09-22, Page 3THURS., SEPT. 22, 1932 ING4NE 5 w;1i Clar' i.. We were motoring the other day with a man who clammed to know ex- actly how tlhe elections would go in the 'United States, but we observed that he slowed ep when. he saw cow on the side sof the road. ;Giving high taxation and under- consumpti'on as the causes, 78 Scot, tish distilleries ave to' be closed in the 1932-33 'season. In Canada ate well as the United Kingdom, hard times and high prices caused the high taxation are doing more for temperance or total abstinence than all the prohibition organizations peetogether, but the danger that lurks in high •prices is the temptation that they offer to illicit manufacture, Which, paying no excise or customs duties, bedevils official statistics from which we ordinarily gather in- formation as tom o production and con- sumption. mg badly hit by. changed and ehang- mg conditions since gas -driven vehic les came into vogue. 'There is more travel now than ever, but the major- a ity of travellers ste.y at tourists homes or at the ]nits that cluster a long the highways. They take thee. meals there ;or at restaurants and cafeterias. It may be that when times improve they will go beck tc the hotels, which just at present they are avoiding because they cannot afford to pay hotel rates, but wo doubt it, Travellers have imbibed a new idea about values. They ere not going to pay six or seven dollars for a room for one day, and big hotels built on extravagant linos in extrava- gant times cannot afford to charge less if they expect to Pay the bond - folders interest. There are 'other debts besides war 'debts that have to be written off before we get down to brass tacks. Those big hotels never cost the amounts charged for construction. At any rate, they should not have cost so much. They would never have paid interest on the money alleged to have been in, vested even if the kiting times of '28 had continued and the public had remained insane. It's wonderful how some people gc on moving up from high to higher. Alfred E, Smith is now an editor, We can remember when he was only a state governor. C l o The aim of the state should be to disccurage people from going to pen.. itentiaries, yet crooning is not allow, ed on the receiving sets at Sing Sing. C-`1Lb "Eventually all education will be free," says the Vancouver Province. Alas, nothing in this world is free, Someone must pay for it. The Pro- ince's notion is a comma one, viz., that education will be freewhen the state pay; the whole shot, but when that time conies education will be more expensive than it is now, when the individual pays a portion of the cost. If speed contests were, eliminated, ae someone suggests, enterprising sfianufacturer's 'Would only have to devise other means of advertising en- gines and oils, gas and grease, autos andplanes and boats. The human elements of skill and endurance are only the incidence of the advertising echemes which stand behind the pro- motions. ate Once more we hear a complaint that the apples we ship to Britain are not.up to standard. We some- times wish the British people had to eat the sort of apples we keep for ourselves. C==Jtel Hotels, as well as railways, are be - tee Ex -Mayor Walker of New York profited through contracts which were made with the city, and when he saw he was going to be dismissed from office by a politically friendly governor he resigned, but not without making a bitter attack upon the gov- ernor and his "persecutors." Is not that just like a man? He is not satisfied with being allowed to re- sign. He does not rejoice that he is not made a disgorge and go to penis tentiary for malfeasance or 'misfea- sance. He gets indignant and angry and fancies himself a martyr. It is not a pose. He is ,not play-acting He really feels that he has been un- justly treated. What sort of educa- tion did he have? Does he know the difference between right and wrong? Has he ever heard that public office is a public trust? Or did his long association with Tammany and ward polities lead him to believe that graft was a perquisite that went naturally with his 510,000 salary in a city where thousands expected him to do it and would think him a fool if he did not take advantage of his posi- tion to enrich ]himself, his brother, his friends and his henchmen? He is the bee -product of a system w'hice started with Tammany and which will rise triumphant from this set, back as it has done more than once before in the course of its slimy career. Government in Canada was Simple Sixty Years Ag© To -day is S mug Toward Centralization and Municipal Councils are Doing Shorn of Mneh Power Local Councils are too Eager to Shoulder Financial Burdens on the Government, Says Aylmer Reeve The following address was deliver- ed by Mr. E. S. Livermore, son of Mr. and ilIrs. James Livermore of town, now, a rising young lawyer in Aylmer and reeve of that town, at the thirty-fourth annual meeting of The Ontario Municipal Association held in Toronto recently. Mr. Liver- more was elected a member el the executive 01 this association at this annual gathering: "In 'Canada, and more particularly in Ontario in the past fifty years momentous changes have taken place in the form and more particularly in the functions of ;Government. Chan- ges have taken place so quietly and so subtly that to unobserving persons they have not been vdry obvious. These modifications in the form and functions of government have been due largely to the amazing social and economic changes wrought in most instances by mechanical inventions and scientific progress. Sixty years ago in Canada Govern- ment was comparatively simple; its chief 'functions were to .preserve peace and good order, administer :jus- tice, construct a very few roads and collect a very modest revenue. The Dominion Cabinet was small; Civil servants were comparatively few. To -day governments Supervise ev- ery department of our lives; there are Inspectors for every conceivable -reimpose. Governments to -day oper- ee, railways, steamship lines, con- struct and maintain many thousand miles of highway, a vast amount of 800101 machinery has been set up to maintain and care for the aged and the infirm, the widows and orphans 'and various agencies have been ese tablished and equipped to deal with the criminal minded and the mentally defective. Departments of health, public welface and labour have been set up, to deal with new phases of government enterprises.. A vast army of -Civil! servants are being employed; it is said that one out of every ten persons in Canada derives his or her maintenance from government revenues.. In some consti- tuencies there are a tremendous num- ber of Civil service appointments to be made where formerly there were comparatively few so that the larger part of a Member's time is taken up witlh recommending apEointments and assuaging the feelings of the disappointed. To=day governments have taken unto themselves the supervision of trust and lean companies, banks, in- surance companies, investments and stock brokerage houses. navigation and radio. The supervision of these great and powerful financial insti- tutions requires large numbers of highly trained experts, well versed in economics and practical business. The Provinces have set vast networks of public and secondary schools and colleges allemploying armies of teachers and Inspectors and by a, complicated system of grants are directed and controlled by the Provincial governments, Under modern conditions problems of public finance of international ex.. change, trade relations and the seneie tiveness of the money exchanges of the world increase the difficulties and complexities of the government. It can, be readily seen therefore, that in order to carry out these rap- i idly increasing and complicated func tions of government, cabinets ]nus THE CLINTON NEWS -RECORD • Commissions have been ;created i Example;- neeessalily employ large numbers of technical ev erte The average mein- net cb -net Minister's knowledge must be quite generaland foradvice and counsel upon no multitudes of tech- nical questions, which constantly come before him, he must rely almost wholly upon his technical advisers. With this increased reliance by gov- ernments upon expert advisers, ter tain definite results have followed and it is to these I would zloty draw your attention; The complexity and intricacy of modern government has made elect- ed officials':of Mss and less impor- tance and selected or expert officials exceedingly influential' and import- ant, And further - the executive branch of the geverniiieht has. be- come more and more powerful while the legislative branch Of government has tended to become' weaker ' and weaker. Dictatorship Becoming Popular The most extreme example of this is to be found in Italy. During •War daye and in the period immediately afterwards the Italian parliament was ;hopelessly inadequate to grapple with the difficult economic problems confronting Italy. Parliamentary Government fell into disrepute and to -day apparently has no place iii the constitutional structure of Italian government. The country is govern; ed by a strong executive dominated by one man. This idea so firmly en- trenched in Italy is rapidly spread- ing to other countries. Hitler and his followers in Germany are also expon- ents of the idea, and in Poland, Spain Greece and Russia parliamentary government is extinct or extremely weak. It is becoming quite fashion- able to have the dictatorship form of government. This tendency was also very evi- dent in Great Britain during War days when that country, in fact the ;whole Empire, was dominated and controlled by the Inner War Cabinet headed by Lloyd George. Parliament was really superfluous except for the purpose of complying with the constitutional requirements. To -day Ramsay MacDonald and the inner circle of the Cabinet are to all in- tents and purposes the real rulers of Great Britain, They look for their support and guidance, not so nruelh tc Parliament, as to the press and pub- lic opinion, and this process has been developing under our own eyes on this continent, Parliaments and legis- lative bodies have, in reality, become the rubber stamps of the executive, True it is that Cabinets and Govern- ments are supported by a majority in, the popular houses of the legislature, but in most instances they register their votes as the executive desire. Thus we see that the power and in- fluence of the legislative branches of Government are becoming weaker and weaker as the power of a centra' executive is growing more and more powerful. Government a Technical Affair And this is not to be wondered at. The problems of Government are to- day so complicated and intricate and technical. The average member of Parliament is not qualified either by experience, training or education to grapple very intimately or intellig- ently with then]. He makes the oc- casional speech for the electors back home and registers his vote, in most instaneas, as the party indi- cates. He has to be content with the jtidgmcnt of the Cabinet. He as- sumes that the Cabinet and its ad- visee's have carefully considered the. question and he is content to do their bidding. The whole thing in many instances, is beyond his comprehen- Rion and he quietly falls in line with the leader of the party, This only accentuates the tendency that is so obvious, the strengthening of the executive branch of government and the weakening of the Legislative branch. In all the recent economic and political conferences which have been held since the 'close of the war, it has been so noticeable that the re- presentatives of each Government aro supported by a strong phalanx of financial economic experts, and nd one can overestimate the influence of these technical experts in the matter of governments,' decisions. Commissions Created The Legislative bodies have been weakened in another way: --namely, by the creation of a large number of independent commissions to adminis- ter certain phases of government work. Example: -- U. S. Government Federal Trade Commission. Federal 'Labor Bureau. Interstate Commerce Cbrnmis- sion, Interstate Debt Commission. Federal Reserve Board, and numerous others. All these ;Commissions do part of the work of the executive. They are largely independent of the legislative branch of government. Their ape pointments for the large part • are made by the President directly and are an evidence of the continuation- of the process noted above. This process is also quite obvious n Ontario where a large number of Ontario Municipal,! Board, Old Age 'Pension Commission Mothers' Allowance Board The ;hydro Eleetrie Congnis:eon T. Si Iv. 0. Railway ,Conuxiission The Athletic Commission The Minimiun Wage Board The Workmen's • Compensation Board, Ali these Commissions and others are practically independent cd the Legislative branch of Government The appointments, though 'largely political, are made by the Cabinet, independently of the Legislature.. They do the work of the executive and while the creature of the legis- lature legally yet they operate quite independently of it.' Elected Bodies llecoining Stripped of Their Power • The tendency to strip the popular branches of government of their real powers is most evident in the muni- cipal affairs.' And it is with this ten- dencyin this field that I presume you are interested. Thetendency has. been very apparent for the past twenty yearn; popular, and elected bodies are gradually becoming strip- ped of their power, and the' centre of power, both in fact and legally, is being concentrated ih permanent of- ficials, who, in most instances, are either appointed of controlled by the Provincial •Government. There is much to be said for this tendency and much to be said against it. Many people are accustomed to bemaon the tendency, but few offer any sugges- tions how it can be averted; fewer still have analysed the reasons for the tendency; and it is only by an analysis of the reasons for the ten- dency that one can reasonably offer any suggestions to change its direc-: tion. This tendency, has, been due to Several reasons, all of which are im- portant. The first reason is this: (1) The short sighted demands of municipalities for financial as- sistance In recent years, with the mounting costs of highway construction ant' maintenance and tine increased eosts of education and administration of justice, municipalities have, in their; eagerness to keep the mill rate down; turned to the Provincial Government fdt' increased financial assistance. Everything which the province could be persuaded to pay, the province has paid, and the Proviibcial Government is being continually bombarded with, repeated requests to assume the cost of an increasing number of enter- prises. One doesn't abject to this, al- thcugh municipal people seem to think that the Provincial Govern- ment secures the money for these various •pttrnY:es Nam some other planet and that the people of the Province, do not, in the final analysis, pay. But the principal point to ob- serve is, that in making these re- quests for financial assistance, the municipalities have largely sacrifiecl their own autonomy, until for prac- tical purposes municipalities have left little real power in respect to higways, education; administration of justice, and many matters over which municipalities had formerly a large measure of centro]. It should be unnecessary to point out exam- ples of these, but for the purpose of emphasis consider, Township Roads—To obtain Gov- ernment grants it is necessary that the road programme of municipalit- les and all county and township road construction be under the direct sup- ervision of Government engineers. and comply with Government regula- tions. Road Superintendent — Bylaw ap- pointing him must be approved by Government. He cannot be discharge ed without the consent of the Min. ister of Highways. Of course, it should be pointedout that the muni- cipality can, to some extent, limit the amount of motley to be spent on roads, It should also be pointed out that this increased control over the roads by the Government is inevitable under modern conditions and neces- sary to secure uniformity and a proper standard of worinnanship. Education—The Boards are elected it is true, by the ratepayers, but they are simply tools in the hands of the Department of Education 'whie ' issues regulations telling them what to do and what standards to main - tale, and these in turn are all regi lated and controlled by grants. It is by threats of withdrawal of the' grants that school boards are forced into doing what the Department de- sires done, Public school `inspectors; were formerly appointed by the coun- ty and their salaries paid by the county. They are now appointed by the Department and paid by; the Gov- ernment and their influence in the counties in advising, urging, and threatening Boards to do the wishes of the Department of Education are very great. 1. Medical Health Officers — They were formerly appointed by the 'Mun- icipal council and under control of the council. They are now under direct{ control of the Department of Health' and the council cannot interfere with the .conduct of their duties, although the counoil pay their salaries. Police Administration-ln counties are largely taken over by the Pro- vincial Police, who are under the di - sect control of the Attorney -General's Department. Inspectors — 'Inspeators'',of jails, Rouses ouse s ;,Iudustry cep., place, their stamp of approval or disapproval up- on these institutions and iib devious way , the Government make these in: stitutions confdrin to their standards and requirements. The above examples indicate how the local elected bodies are gradually being shorn of the, . power and one of the reasons for this situation is that the municipalities in their eager- ness for financial assistance from the Province haveel Ycq ui'etl auiesced in tllo process, µ a • The second reason for this tendency is: (2) The 'extravagance,. and iv some cases, corruption in municipal- ities, Corruption has not been entire- ly absent from municipal affairs in Ontario, but we have reason to be proud that there has not been very much. Some Municipalities Extravagant Many. municipalities have been notoriously . extravagant and lacicing in foresight. Improvident expendi- tures, too costly building's, too costly public works, indirect or direct hon- using of industries, guaranteeing bonds of companies, the improper assessment of lands, and a genera] recklessness in financial matters, combined with the present• economic distress, have so far unpaired the credit of a number of nfunicipalitiee and greatly wealcened the credit of others. And this impairment of the credit of a number o f municipalities has given the Provincial Government another opportunity to intervene in municipal matters and this has been done under the terms of the Ontario Municipal Board Act 1932. We may not want to be understood as criticising this legislation. But we must all regret its necessity. This tendency to which we have been referring, ;has been made pos- sible in Ontario by mechanical in- ventioes. Under primitive condition:,. prevailing fifty and sixty years agc, it was impossible and impracticable for a Cabinet at Toronto to control the activities of municipalities throughout such a Iarge extended province as Ontario. Means of com- munication were very difficult. There were no telephones, telegraph. no concrete highways or motor ears or aeroplanes. There was no practical or efficient means by which a Cabi- net Minister could keep in con:etani touch with so many local situations. But now, with the telephone, mater PAGE 3. ear' ;ind highway, a Cabinet Minister seated in his office in Toronto can t cry effectively control an army of local officers in alln arts of the pro- vince. He is within easy teach by motor car and can reach them at any moment with telephone, Thus we pee that mechanical inventions scientific • progress has made it possible for the Goverement to take an active and effective oonteol over municipal af- fairs, Te'ndeecy to Reduce Size al' Legislative Bodies In conclusion, it should be observ- ed that the latest tendency, both in Provincial ants Municipal Govern- ment, is to reduce the size'of legis- lative ;bodies. And it . can be said that this is a direct result of the con- viction that under modern conditions legislative bodies are neither as effi- cient or as useful a; they may have •been in former days. A Bill has al, ready been introduced in the British Columbia legislature to reduce . the size of the legislature sof that Pro- vince, In Ontario it would seem that the Government have the pro- position undeli' review and itis 1001 -+ ored that the Dominion and Provin- cial constituencies will be the same. The union of Alberta, Saslcate.hewari and Manitoba under one legislature. has been urged in. some (matters. In municipal affairs. Alberta is considering the adoption of harmer' municipal units in order to effect economies. In Ontario a snare bolo of public opinion is develenine in favour . of tate abolition cf elounty Councils, and there is a crnsielernble body of public opinion in fnvrm• ref smaller county councils anti the ab- olition of the cffice of Deputy Reeve, It may be that this wave of nub1!, opinion is only the result of present heavy taxation hut this present d" - pression lime at least enabled nh to place our fingers upon some of the weak spots in our municipal system. At any rate, most people eeem to be agreed that in most eases. both in municipal and provincial spheres, one legislative bodies are too large and cumersmne and expensive. Many people view with regret the passing of the power of municipali- ties and would like to restore to them mucin of their former power and in- fluence, but under modern con- ditions this would seem impossible. Economic and social forces are at work, which. will continue to assist the tendency of divestine municipali- tiee of many more of their legal rights and privileges. The forms and functions of Gov- \ 1 eminent are; constantly uitaugirig. They are fashioned and, moulded, tiro meet' the necessities of a new, eon - genie an social d s c al order. And it'plecnisc therefore, that municipalities ave waging losing a t fi ght against thee foeces of centralization. Angle -asp ons have long been noted •for.^ thein. adaptation of Government forme- and institutions to meet ever-changlog I requirements; and we feel that we can - therefore anticipate the future pith confidence. One naturally tarns. to same lines of Tenny.eons "The old order changeth, yielding place to the new, and God fans: Himself in many ways less .one vote custom should corrupt the wore DOINGS1N THE SCOUT COU3T WORLD The Azores have been addled to the world's list of Boy Scout countries, Former Under Secretary of State Dir. Anthony Papp has been elected! President of the Hungarian Boy Scouts Association. •teetrze Educationist Reads Danish Secnts Mar. H. A. Evans, Chairman of the School ]loard of Copenhagen, is President of the Danish Boy Scouts Association. Lithuanian Order of the Lily The Order of the Lily, Litbtmaa''s! Highest honorary Boy Scout decor lion. was conferred upon Mr. Hubert Martin, Director of the International] Bureau of ,Scouting, Peg Snouts Supervise Plavgrohsmlk Winnipeg Rover Scouts this smite mer kepi: open a children's wading pool and several city playgrouncer which otherwise would have closed, for lack of funds to provide Super- visors. Edmonton Scouts' First Aid Record' A first-aid competition record vasa made this year by the 2nd Edmonton Scout Troop. Its teams won else Junior Leonard Shield for Alberta, and the Wallace Nesbitt Ir. and J, 11. Gaunt Intermediate first-aid trophies for the Dominion. eC7=1 Marc Peace Honours For IL -Pe Two new honours have been coir felted upon Lord Baden-Powell itt recognition of his leadership of Scouting as a world peace rnoVement- They are Grand, Crass of the Order of Orange and Nassau, of the Nethe erlande. and the Order of Gentle -Jame First Class, presented by the P°reae- dent of the Republic of Lithunia, I�Il���I��lii►I1110up;.r II �,�tllli�llil�l! Our Commercial Printing Department is equipped to handle printing of all kinds from a box of Calling Cards to ten thousand Statements or Letter Heads Give os Your Order for Couter Check ooks We are prepared to supply you in any quantity We will be Pleased to receive your order for Letter Heads ill Heads Statements Envelopes Calling Cards, Private Stationery or Correspondence Cards THE CLINTON NEWS -RECORD A FINE MEDIUM 'FOR ADVERTISING—READ ADS. IN THIS IS SUE PHONE 4 1