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*^ Presentation of Portrait A Portrait of J. S. McLean, Esquire, President of Canada Packers, painted by Wyndham Lewis was recently presented to Mr. McLean by the employees of the firm to mark the Fortieth Anniversary of his entrance into the packing industry. Mr. McLean was recently appointed Principal Trade Advisor oi the United Kingdom Food Mission to the United. States. The Food Mission is part of the British Purchasing Commission now at Washington. Mr. McLean has already assumed his duties. THE WAR WEE K Commentary on Current Events CANADA, UNITED STATES COMBINE WAR PROGRAMS "It was agreed as a general principle that In mobilizing the resources of this continent each country should provide the other with the defence ar- ticles It Is best able to produce, and, above all, produce quickly, and that production programs should be co-ordinated to this end." Joint statement issued at Hyde Park, N.Y., by Presi- dent Roosevelt and Prime Min- ister King. An agreement of momentous im- portance in the history of thig con- tinent and of vital concern to all Canadians was last week reached t Hyde Park, N.Y., by the chief executive* of the United States and Canada, under the terms of which tiii> two largest countries ot the New World merged their econo- mies, to most practical purposes, tor to production of war materials tor British aid and defense of the hemisphere. Economies Merged In brief, the agreement amount- ed to: 1. An undertaking by the United State to buy between $200,- 000,000 and $300.000,000 worth of 4efene and wax material from Canad during the coming year, this to help out Canada's unf.avora.ble balance; 2. A further undertaking oy the United States practically to Include In the Leasts-lend arrange- ment with Britain all unfinished war material which Canada im- ports from the United States and re-exports or transfers to Britain, this making current payments by Canada unnecessary. Total Union Inevitable? Many and far-reaching would be the results of such a pact. Numer- ous thinking Canadians, taking tha long-raaige view, saw in In the agreement a big step toward the ultimate union of the Dominion with the United States Toronto's late Goldwiu Smith's dream brought to fruition. Total co-oper- ation was sure to follow economic and productive collaboration, they averred. But of more immediate conse- quence would certainly be a vast shipbuilding and armaments manu- facturing boom in Canada. Indus- trial leaders last week, estimated that, with the United States now needing many things of which Can- ada has a surplus, an employment *te.p-up of forty per cent might be necessary, drawing rnoro women Into industry anil more western farmers off the land. Over the Border The foreign exchange situation which for Canada had been grow- ing increasingly critical was taken care of by the agreement; oue of the minor offshoots would be the lifting of restrictions on travel to the United States by r.itin/llan $Jtl- tens. Joint Defence Two days previous to the Hyde Park declaration had ome> the an- nouncement from the Permanent Joint. Defence Board of Canada and the United States, that sfratcev plans for the military and navnl defence of the eastern and western coasts of Canada ami the United States had been completed down to the minutost 0"! <;]. June, Peak Month The question most commonly d'scussel last week by Washington officials was reported to be not whether the United States would so to wax but WHEN'. Preponder- ance of authoritative opinion seem- ed '.) bt two-Ui-one that the Unit- ed States would get. Into belligerent war. The time and incidents pre- cipitating It were still uncertain. .*onie guessed 30 days, some 60 duyg, and very few placed the date any later. The mouth of June was coming to be thought the peak month of the war. If Britain could hold on till then, United States' weight would surely be able at that time to help torn the tide. No Slackening There was a certain amount of feeling In the T'nlted States last week following the Allied defeat In the Balkans that shipment of American war materials to Bri- tain' might drop off if the admin- istration believed itself backing a losing cause. But to scotch this wave of rumor, President Roose- velt at his press conference declar- ed that the Axis victory in the Bai- kans neither would win the war for Hitler and xiussolial nor resuit in any slackening on Lease-Lend de- liveries. * * # Semi-Final Round That the defeat In Greece wa not decisive was the opiulon held by most military experts on thig continent. Major Georg3 Fielding Eliot pointed out that the setbacks in the eastern Mediterranean by no means meant that Britain was losing the war; for the Germans to win, he said, the British Isles must be conquered. Associated Press' Dwltt Mackenzie pointed out once again that the Battle of the Bal- kans was only a phase important but still far from decisive of the general conflict. Should Hitler be- come master of the entire Mediter- ranean, he postulated, he would only have copped off the semi-final round of the contest with the Batt'.e of Britain still to be won. Decision In Atlantic Writing from Washington, Kirke L. Simpson, military expert also with the Associated Press, declared that it was in the Atlantic that the war would still be lost or won. And "provided British morale can en- dure the strain," he said, "there i nothing definite to imply that tht* crisis in the Atlantic will come this year." Of the same mind apparent- ly was Prime Minister Churchill when lie said last week that Bri- tain was in for an "undoubtedly long and formidable war." . But no one really could prophesy with truth what would happen be- fore the end of 1941. Russia and Germany might ?o to war and the entire world picture would be changed. * * * Six-Nation Pact? Things appeared to be shaving up according to a new pattern in the Far East last week, if the sen- sational reports of the> Osaka i Ja- pan) MainichI were to be credited with any degree of correctness. This newspaper stated that a mil- itary and naval pact had been con- cluded between six nations Unit- ed States, Britain. China, British India, Australia and the Nether- lands East Indies which pooled their entire military and material resources in the Far East for the purpose of strengthening their de- fenses a.id opposiug Japan's south- ward advance, while protecting the> communication lines linking South Africa, British India. Singapore, Hong Konir, M.inila. Australia and the United States. Under this pact, which this col- umn believes to be largely authen- tic, Sir Robert Brooke-Popham, Commander-in-chief of the British Forces In the Far East, is su-piwsed to assume the supreme command of the combined land and ah- forces, while Admiral Thomas Hart, Com- manrter-ln-Chlef of the American LIFE'S LIKE THAT By Fred Neher "5t all started v.hen they tossed the coin for goals!' REG'LAR FELLERS New Style Asiatic Fleet, la supposed to re- sume supreme command of the combined naval forces, the head- quarters of both being in Singa- pore. Russia and Germany The same paper reported anoth- er sensational, if true, development. According to it, Russia was de- manding the right to ocupy the northern Provinces of [ran (Per- sia) in order :o protect the Baku oil fields, as well as to obtain a possible outlet on the Persian Gulf iu the event of a German drive to the Dardanelle-s, and that to back up these demands Russia was con- centrating troops around Tiflls. VOICE OF THE PRESS CAN PLANT TREES Every farmer could plant at least 500 trees. That can be done some day after a rain when the land H not in a fit condition to work. Farmer's Advocate RUNNING OUT It is said that German generals are taking over the Italian army. Apparently either Italy is running out of generals or the generals art running out of Italy. Gait Reporter o A DIFFERENT LAW Down in Gananoque the police -.-lumped down on slot machines and as a result 18 men charged with keeping slot machines, pin ball games and punch boards paid a total of $1,298.48 in fines and costs. It seems there's a differ- ent law for slot machines in each section of Ontario. Amherstburg Echo o THE WHEAT POLICY The disappointment and con- cern that die announcement of the Federal Government's 1941 wheat policy has caused through- out the Prairie West were inevi- table. But they are much more acute because of the easy opti- mism in regard to the situation that has been expressed in recent mouths by many who ought to have been fully conscious of its ::.. -les and have been impres- sing the painful necessity of ad- opting public measures in accord- ance with these. Edmonton Journal The Book Shell. "UP AT THE VILLA" Bjr W. Somerset Maugham This short novel of a beautiful woman's indiscretion and its ef- fect on the lives of three men who love her presents as enthralling; a situation as Somerset Maugham has ever created. It is the dra- matic story of Mary Panton, a widow at thirty, who finds herself in a situation which threatens to jeopardize her future life and happiness. The author of "The Letter" and "Of Human Bondage," Som- erset Maugham is the dean of liv- ing novelists; the clarity of his style, the perfection of his form, the sublety of his thought, havt made him an international figure in the world of literature. "Up at the Villa," so full of his shrewd observation of the human animal under stress, is a fine example of this brilliant writer's mastery of his craft. The title is borrowed from a poem by Robert Browning. "Up at the Villa" ... by W. Somer*et Maugham . . . Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, Publish- er. ... $2.00. Turkeys on Farms Turkeys on Canadian farms to the number of 2,715,600, states the second bulletin on the De- cember 1, 1940 live stock survey, showed an increase of 2.8 per cent on the 2,641,800 on farms at December 1, 11)39. The large increase in Saskatchewan from 880.300 in 193!) to 1,013,300 in ;:'ii). together with the increases of 1.700 in Prince Edward Island and SOO in Nova Scotia, offset the declines in numbers in the other provinces. UNP <* GAINS SEEN FOR AGRICULTURE FROM WINE IMPORT LOSSES Replacement ci foreign wares follows trade ban Result Was Foreseen fit. Catharines, April 24 Col- lapse of French and Italian trade with British countries as a result of the war promises to bring some beneficial results to one branch of Canadian agriculture, with na- tive-grown grapes finding a greater use in the production of vermouth. Supplies of Italian and French vermouth have been ex- hausted and already Ontario ver- mouth has taken their place in government stores throughout at least one province. Long-sighted wine producers in Canada, it is stated, began the purchase of heavier quantities of the compound of herbs from which Italian and French producers made their vermouth. For years a small quantity of vermouth had been produced in Canada, with the result that considerable ex- perience had been gained long before the need for increased quantities was felt. As a result, large stocks of the herbs had been gathered in Canada, and before the ilemand arose Ontario produc- ers had begun production of extra supplies. Vermouth is produced from SWOI-T ir dry wines, each native to Italy and France respectively. Because Canadian grape-growers, most!;.- In Ontario, produce grapes from which both types of wines are made. Ontario growers stand ii nefit from the increased pro- duction of vermouth. Excellence of the Ontario product, it II claimed, Is reflected in the readi- ness with which Canadian win^ connoisseurs have adopted th domestic vermouth. Grape-grow- ers also claim that this indicatsf the extent to which the Ontario wiue industry lias gone in iai*> ing the standards and improving the quality of their wares in re- cent years, inasmuch as purcha** ers of vermouth were mostly ia the class of buyers who ''bought imported wines. ENERGY for PL AY! Serve Their *** Favourite Energy Food Re&ularlyl Bee Hive e^ Syrup Sarah Churchill Learns Gas Mask Technique Wing Commander Hodsoll, Inspector General of Civil Dtienc* Services in Great Britain, shows Miss Sarali Churchill, daughter of Th Prime Minister., how to don a gas mask in a demonstration of anti-gas measures. Top. the first stop is to put the thumbs under the tapes of the mask. Centre, t'.ie chin is jutted fnruu.d anu the mask iii'iorl to tht face with the thumbs in the tapes. Lower, the mask over the fare. It is held in position liy drawing the tapes i>:u'k ir.er the head. By GENE BYRNES