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OPINIONS DAILY TIMES-CAZETTE EDITORIAL PAGE -- The Daily Times-Gazette OSHAWA WHITBY THE OSHAWA TIMES (Established 1871) THE WHITBY GAZETTE & CHRONICLE (Establshed 1363) The Times-Gazette is a member of the, Sanailan, ---- th Daily Newspaj Assoc! 3 Provineial ineias. Datiies sociatio gh the - Audis Bureau of Circulations. The Canadian Press is exclusively entitled to the use for republication of all news despatches in this paper credited %0 it or to The Associated Press or Reuters and also the local news published therein All rights of special despatches herein are also reserved. A, R. ALLOWAY, President and Publisher T. L. WILSON; Vice-President and Managing Director M. MCINTYRE HOOD, Managing Editor . SUBSCRIPTION RATES Delivered in Oshawa, Whitby, Brooklln, Port Perry. gin Plokering, Me per week. By mall, outside carrier delivery areas, a Riese i Canads and England, ya per year, US, Authorized as RL Satier, or, Post Office Department, Ottawa, Canada, DAILY AVERAGE CIRCULATION for NOVEMBER 9,138 SATURDAY, DECEMBER 18, 1948 Relaxing Austerity Finance Minister Abbott's announéement of relaxation of the austerity regulations by which restrictions were placed on im- ports from the United States will be wel- comed by the people of Canada. More wel- come still will be his statement as to the improvement of the exchange situation with the United States. The steady increase in the nation's holdings of United States dol- lars, to $854,000,000 as compared with $501,- 000,000 at the end of 1947 indicates a trend in the right direction, In this connection, however, there is one point which was not made at all clear in the finance minister's announcement. No mention 'was made of the extent to which the improvement was due to United States purchases of Canadian supplies to be ship- ped to Europe under the European Recovery Program, . better known as the Marshall plan. Recent reports have stated that over $600,000,000 of United States money came to Canada under E.R.F, auspices. If that is the reason for the improvement in Canada's United States dollar position, then the situ- ation is not as happy as would appear on the surface. If, however, the improvement has been made exclusive of E.R.P. purchases, then there is room for self-congratulation. That is a point which Mr. Abbott should clear up without delay. The E.R.P. opera- tions cannot be considered as normal trad- ing relations between the two countries. At the, best, it is a temporary influx of busi- ness, and at the best will be available only for the next three or four years. What will happen at the end of that period is a mat- ter which should be giving our Dominion Government cause for concern. But we should not be allowed to fool ourselves into thinking that all is well in the country's ex- ¢hange position with the United States if the improvement is due solely to Marshall plan orders coming our way. Perhaps Mr. Abbott will make 'a further statement to men which should be heeded, because" it might be one of the means whereby they can be saved from the necessity of fighting in another war. What Affects Prices? In the brief presented by the Canadian Manufacturers' Association to the Royal Commission on Prices, some statements which are worthy of general consideration appear. For instance, the following extract shows the attitude of the members of the association towards inflated prices. - "Like other economic groups in the country, manufacturers d> not like inflated prices, whe- ther for what they have to sell, or what they have to buy. They prefer sane, moderate prices and the elimination, as far as possible, of peaks and valleys in production and sales. High prices can only tend in the long run to reduce the de- - mand for the manufacturers' products. This is particularly true of export manufacturers who must compete with world prices. If Canadian prices are higher than those quoted by manufact- urers in other countries, Canadian manufactur- ers will lose their export business, upon which a large section of our economy is based." Quoting from a report of the Bureau of Statistics on the physical output per man hour up to and including 1946, and the in- creases ih wages rates, the brief seeks to show one cause for higher prices. It states that the physical output per man hour in 1946 was nine per cent lower than in 1939, although the factory wages rates in 1946 had increased 61 per cent over those in 1939, and the wage rate in 1947 was 83 per cent higher than in 1939. While no one would begrudge the work- ers the increased wage rates, made neces- sary by the higher costs of living, the re- port of reduction in production per man hour is disturbing. The only way in which prices can come down is by greater production, and not by reducing the amount of goods made available to purchasers at a time when wages are going higher. | "Up Against A Stone Wall" RUSSIAN REFUSAL TO LIFT BERLIN BLOCKAPE * --Messner in Fhe Rochester Times-Union Looking Around The World By DEWITT MACKENZIE Associated Press News Analyst For some days now anxious Chin- Editorial Notes It is claimed that the world's gold supply FY is fast disappearing. We were under the impression that most of it was stored away in bank vaults in the United States. *® LJ] * * It is estimated that the talk at the United States Assembly meeting in Paris. cost 53 used cents a word. A lot of the . words weren't worth it. * x * *x Finance Minister Abbott did some bad timing on his announcement of relaxation He should have re- leased it a couple of days before the by-elec- of import restrictions. tion down in Nova Scotia. * kK Ww We are not taking political sides in hop- ing that George Drew is elected. to the That is where the leader of the opposition party ought to be to carry out his duties properly. House of Commons on Monday next. * 0% * % ese eyes have been turned towards the 3,000-year-old city of Peiping | (Peking) as the oracle which would in its own good time divulge the fate of Generalissimo Chiang Kai- Shek's Nationalist government. The rebel Communist forces have drawn in close and partly encircled the beleaguered metropolis. Still there has been little gunfire and the victorious Reds have appeared to be sparring for time. Communist spokesmen Friday gave what pur- ports to be an explanation for the mysterious procedure. They said: "Peiping could be captured at any time we choose, but Fu (Fu Tso-Yi, governor of Suiyuan province in which Peiping is situated), perhaps hoping to make some deal, is pre- tending to defend the ancient wall- ed capital. "He is trading on our known de- sire not to destroy this beautiful centre of Chinese culture. No Chin- ese army will take the responsibility of destroying Peiping." Face Value : Well, while that's a story we have to take at face value, it could be correct, -The question of whether the Generalissimo should withdraw as head of state and let someone else take over is. being debated in Chinese political circles, although Chiang himself has given no indi- Business Spotlight By The Canadian Press Gold shares held the spotlight on security markets this week. Increasing interest in golds from United States investors spread into Canadian markets to give stocks their best showing in about two months. Observers say that investing in- terest is turning from industrial is- sues--which moved into lower ground this week--to the almost for- gotten mining shares. The Associated Press 60-stock in- dex showed a gain Friday for the first time this week, advancing .1 to 64.1--a decrease of '8 from last Friday. Canadian exchanges sparkled with the upsurge in gold prices. In To- ronto, the predominantly gold board stole all the attention in three strong days of upward movement. Gold issues opened the week with an advance of almost thres points on the exchange's index and then lapsed into two days of consolida- tion before resuming their climb Thursday. Action increased steadily Thursday when the gold index rose almost four points and slowed Friday as prices moved narrowly upwards. Senior produces like McIntyre, Dome, Hollinger and Lake Shore, led the advance during the week that soon spread into the junior Mac's Musings So they've called The new Prince Charles of Edinburgh, And already The newspapers Are 'referring To Elizabeth's son ° As Bonnie' Prince Charlie! Perhaps it is In tribute to Scotland, That this name Has been chosen, And yet we wonder If its significance Has been considered, In calling an heir '| To the British Throne By the name of Charles." A Bonnie Prince rae Of the '45 rebellion : Was a romantic figure It is true, But a tragic one, Who headed a lost cons; Was chased like a fox Around the Highlands, ' To escape and die *| In poverty and misery, An exlle From his native land. There was another Chirles, Who became king Of the United Kingdom, And whose life became A reign of terror Until he died Upon the scaffold, Beheaded, by his own people. There was another Chhrles Who became king After Cromwell's reign Came té an end, And who, ingloriously Held the throne As one of the last To uphold The divine right of kings. So the name Charles, Through history Of Britain Has meant tragedy, Death ignomonious And rule inglorious. But let us hope That this Prince Charles Of Edinburgh, Heir to the throne. Of the Commonwealth, May find a happier age, When he comes To manhood's state, To lead a people Who are. true and loyal To monarchy which serves Rather than rules, Business Outlook By FORBES RHUDE Canadian Press Business Editor This week's advance in the price of gold shares may be regarded as a natural reaction from the Jow figures at which they have been selling. i4 Over the year the Toronto Stock Exchange gold index, which is bas- ed upon the prices; of leading issues, fell 28 points from:103 in January to below 80 in November, the low- est point since early 1943. The swingback started slowly Nov. 24. Golds have been gloomy for most of 1948 and it would not have been surprising if they had dropped more than they did. (The index was down to 50 in 1942). That they did not drop more seems to indi- cate there was a fair amount of support right along, of the Far East where it is cur- rently bringing about $85 an ounce. Some people think they should but the official view is that that price wouldn't stand up long if the Unit- ed States chose to turn some of its hoards loose, Here are cons: some gold pros and Pro: Despite tendencies sometimes to pooh-pooh gold as a factor in the strength of currencies, humanity /| has an dge-old faith in it. Though no country is on a gold standard in the pre-1914 sense, it remains a potent backing for cur- rency. It is a first class "war chest." Many believe the price of gold must go up. They think this is be- cause virtually everything else has gone up since the United States established the $35 price in the '30s. Also, the $35 price was fixed when there was much less money in circulation than there now is. If gold were now to be given the same relation to the amount of money in circulation 'as it had in the 30s, it would require a higher price. Some people get dreamy-eyed thinking about it and what it would do to the value of their gold stocks. But remember that even an increase in the price of gold won't do any good "to mines which haven't any. There have been, and will be from time to time, rumors of gold re-valuation, but it would seem reasonable to expect that a clearer picture of world currencies will be required before such a decision is made, There is considerable argu- ment about just what effect it would have. Con: If, contrary to present indica- tions, general prices should go up instead of down, or if there should be war, golds would again be hit. Gold in bullion is extremely val- uable in wartime, but gold still in the earth has to stay there because costs are high and manpower is required elsewhere. If the United States should de- | cide that she would no longer buy gold at $35, matters would be con- fused, though many gold men say they would be glad to get a chance at the free markets. Or if the United States should cease to regard gold as a backing for currency, that would be bad, but probably no one expects her to do that. DOCTOR DIES Torgnto. Dec. 18. -- (CP) -- Dr. Gregor William McGregor, inter- nationally known ear, nose and | throat specialist died Friday. FEATURES U. S. N. Seeking Silent Engine Annapolis, Md., Dec. 18--(AP)-- The Unijted States Navy is trying to develop ship engines that are so quiet that enemy listening devices will be unable to hear them. The experts have no illusions about building a completely silent ship, but they hope to muffle engine noise to such an extent that it will be quieter than nature's uhderwa- ter sounds. In the laboratory's almost per- fectly sound-proof compartments, huge ship engines will be hoisted up end turned over. Microphones will pick up the sounds and feed them into delicate noise-measuring in- struments. That's the first thing on the Navy poise doctors' agenda. After they've determined the decibel rating of the various types of engines, they hope 'to be able to decommend changes to cut down the racket. No Throne For Crown Prince Cairo, Dec. 18--(AP)--The news- paper Akbar El Yom said today King Abdullah of Trans-Jordan plans to keep his son, Crown Prince Emir Tallai, from inheriting the throne. The paper said Tallal opposes Ab- dullah's plan to annex Palestine. In a Damascus dispatch, the weekly paper said mediators are trying to .obtain a statement from Prince Tallal approving his fath- er's action, which he has opposed in public. (Egypt and some of the other Arab states are bitterly opposed to the scheme under which Abdullah would add Arab Palestine to his own domain.) 400 DEAD Rio De Janeiro, Dec. 18 -- (AP) --Torrential floods sweeping over a wide area of two Brazillan states were cstimated Friday to have taken more than 400 lives. Hun- dreds of other persons were missing and thousands were homeless. The end of the disaster still was not in sight. Rain still was falling. NAMED EDITOR New York, Dec. 18--(AP)--Mrs. Anna Roosevelt Boettiger, daughter of the late President Roosevelt, has been named editor of the national monthly magazine The Woman, it was announced Friday. Mrs. Boet- tiger is formerly a Phoenix, Ariz, newspaper' publisher. Off-the-record speeches at the mayor's|ecation that he intends to retire. So [1st The chief factors that have de- clear up this confusion, and it is important that he should. A Duty Of Citizenship No one in Canada wants war today, unless, of course, it be those who are adherents of Soviet Russia rather than of Canada. Our people are peace-minded, and have no desire to have the young men of this country sacrificed in another war. That, however, does not alter that even peace-loving countries find them- selves involved in war through circumstan- ces not of their own creating, and the experience of history "shows that such countries are usually caught unprepared when war comes. Hon. Ray Lawson, Lieut.-Governor of Ontario, in an address in Toronto the other day, expressed the view that both world wars could have been avoided if the British Empire had had sufficient trained reserve forces. Had Britain and the other nations of the Commonwealth been in a state of preparedness for war, in his view, the enemy nations in these wars would have withheld their hand and refrained from aggression. On that basis, Hon. Mr. Lawson made a plea for the building up of strong reserve army forces in Canada, as a warning to other nations that this country is prepared to meet aggression. In his travels around the country, he had found local reserve army regiments with less than 20 per cent of their complement of men in the ranks and less than 50 per"cent of their comple- ment of non-commissioned officers, There is an urgent need for building up these reserve units so that they will be an ef- fective force for persuasion in the direction of peace. National defence is one of the duties of citizenship, and even for people who have no desire for war, it is imperative, in the disturbed state of the world today, that there should be adequate and well-trained reserve forces. This is a challenge to young A banquet stressed the need of a modern civic administration building. That .is something which demands attention from the 1949 city is the question of whether a coali- tion should be formed between Na- tionalists and Communists. Fu does hope to drive a bargain.' Maybe council, e Other Editors' Views DISILLUSIONMENT? (Cchourg Sentinel-Star) Are there ny hunters unkind enough to shoot San- Recently, a little boy was enjoying ta's reindeer? the fact, the novelty of a trip by train. Being a bright child, he chatted and toc? an interest in his surroundings. As the train pulled into Union Station, Toronto, the In any event, he would be a hardy general who dared lay violent hands on Peiping. This big metro- polis, which normally has a- popu- lation of more than million and a half, has through the centuries been the intellectual centre of all China. It has great traditions of learning and contains many schools and col- leges. Marco Polo enthused over its magnificence some 82 centuries ago, and the city then was in fits third millenium. Lost Standing Peking was the National capital little lad pressed his on the. platform. nose against 'the glass and peered -out at the wonders of th. big city station. He was happily commenting on all he noted until his eyes fell upon the carcasses of deer, lying very dead 'The boy stared at them in horror. Could these be Santa's reindeer that someone had shot? It is a terrible thought with which to confront a little boy, just before Christmas. And this boy was visibly af- fected, too, because he continued his journey in silent meditation. eo A Bitof Verse o ¢ TO SE- THE MEANING FREE The snow builds softly flake by flake * Its certain crovn of white; some 900 years but lost its standing in the Nationalist revolution of 1911. It was the first capital of the re- public but as the Nationalist move- ment grew, with its focal point in the southern part of.the country, the' Peking government became in- effective and Nanking was gnade capital. In 1928 the name of Peking was changed to Peiping. e 50 Years Ago Officials of the Toronto Street Railway Company paid a visit to Oshawa in possibility of connecting Oshawa with Toronto by electric railway. connection with the M. A. James, publisher of the The unsuspecting branches drenched In tenderness and light. All that I've never understood, All that I've ever known, Beautiful, remembered Knowledge of branch ang kone. Long in my heart the words will seek * To set the meaning free; The supple boughs that never break Upon a snow-bent tree. --Dorothy M. Dillon. In. The Christian Science Monitor eo A Bible Thought e In Thine Own Heart Thourh Chriet a thousand times In Bethlehem be born, « If He's not born in thee Thy soul is still forlorn. --Angelus Selesius (1828). " .. . Christ in you, the hope of glory." (Col. 1:27). Bowmanville Statesman, has pur- chased an interest in the Cobourg World, Prospects. of the Presbyterian congregation having a new church in the near future are very bright, as a result of special collections for this purpose. William Coleman, who was for 16 years postmaster at Cedardale, passed away at Hyde Park, Cali- fornia. The Young Conservative Club held an enthusiastic function for the opening of its new club rooms over the Dominion Bank. .~ NO COMMENT : London, Dec. 18 -- (Reuters) -- 'Government officials Friday refused to comment on the statement in Sidney by Dr. David F. Martyn, Australian radar expert who recent- ly visieed Europe, that Britain would would be indefensible in atomic war. A Defence Ministry spokesman, however, classed as "completely untrue" Martyn's charge that Britain appeared to have no defence policy to meet the threat of atomic warfare, ; The gold list gained 8.36 on the index over five days. Industrials issues followed the New York trend, slipping steadily into easier territory to close the week on a loss of 1.23. Base metals advanced .35 from a week ago in dull action and wes- tern oils moved narrowly to gain .21 --the result of a minor upsurge late Friday. Volume for the week was 5912, 000 shares,» compared with 5,035,000 shares the previous week. Grain markets showed a slightly firmer tone over the week. In Chi- cago, December corn and oats were ahead while December wheat and rye held steady. In Winnipeg, De- cember barley made the best im- provement and December oats and rye also edged ahead. CHARGES DISMISSED Toronto, Dec. 18--(CP)--Charges against John Rylko of theft of $5,788 worth of meat from a York Coynty packing "house were dismis- sed Friday. when Rylko denied statements made to police follow- ing his arrest. Rylko, who worked as a shipper and trucker, told the court that John Kurosad, president of the company (York Packing Co.), had made him memorize his state- ment given under questioning to police. pressed gold are high costs of pro= duction and scarcity of labor, com- bined with the fact that its price is fixed at $35 an ounce. pe Now at long last, based on pres- ent indications, costs of production seem to have reached their peak and may head down slightly, and labor is easier to get. Accordingly, as about 80 in the Toronto index was the low reached in' this discouraging year for golds, they would seem now to be in a po- sition for improvement. Also, pro- duction is increasing, and mines will receive considerable money under the federal assistance plan, even if they don't think it is enough. It is possible that this week's advance is only a'flurry, for there is no new, factor b&yond the favor- able ones which have been accu- mulating for some months. On a longer-term view there are a number of things which could happen which womld make golds highly attractive. Some dismal things could happen too. When we say that the price of gold is fixed at $35 an ounce, we mean that that is what the United States will pay for it, and that price has been recognized by the international monetary fund. They don't offer it on the free markets 7 ""Here's how to avoid the rush of Long Distance Ch To be sure of reaching faraway friends with a minimum of delay -- Call BEFORE Christmas Eve or AFTER Christmas ristmas Calls" who lloeth Fer wey! Hasten your business affairs . . . add days to your holiday. . . fly direct from Canada to the Caribbean by T.C.A. 40-passenger "North Star" Sky- liners offer the utmost in travel From TORONTO fo: Nassau = = $101. $143. $236. $258. 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