PAGE TWO ABBOTSFORD, SUMAS AND MATSQUI NEWS WEDNESDAY, JULY 16, 1941 Abbotsford, Sumas & Matsqui News Established 1922 LANG. SANDS, Editor and Publisher Published at Abbotsford, British Columbia, Every Wednesday Subscription Rates: Tn Canada, $1.20 per year in advance; United States, $2.00 per year in advance, Member of Canadian Weekly Newspapers’ Association and B.C. Division, Canadian Weekly Newspapers’ Association. Abbotsford, B.C., Wednesday, July 16, 1941 Daylight Saving Time and the Farmers Considerable sympathy is due the farmers as a result of the hardship imposed upon them following provincial enforce- ment of Daylight Saving Time in British Columbia. There is no more loyal group of citizens in the province than the farm- ers or any group contributing more and receiving less for their patriotic effort than the men and women engaged in the agricultural industry. Therefore it may be taken for granted that, if they thought the province-wide imposition of D.S.T. was essential to the war effort, there would be no squawk from the farmers. However, the war effort phase of D.S.T., is com- monly understood to concern but one industry, shipbuilding. But, if it is as essential to rush shipbuilding as we are told it is then this industry is presumably operating three shifts around the clock so what difference does D.S.T. make? D.S.T. shifts ean be arranged, if there is any advantage, within the industry itself and the rest of B.C. can carry on by nature’s timepiece. If Daylight Saving Time is really important to the war ef- fort in Canada or an advantage to a considerable majority of Canadians it is distinctly the duty of the Dominion government to say so and to enact accordingly. The situation created by in- dividual cities and provinces enacting clock legislation ‘to suit noisy minorities and to confuse the nation as a whole is a ridi- culous one and demonstrates weakness in Federal administra- tion of the country’s affa S. Locally it has been suggested by the farmers that the business men do something about it. The business men are sym- pathetic; they realize that the farmers’ welfare is their welfare. However, in this case it is up to the farmers’ organizations to present a united front on the subject and ask for the endor- sation of the business men—and they will undoubtedly receive it, locally at least. But for the business men to protest D.S.T. is not sound. Already regimented within an inch of their eco- nomic lives by government rules and regulations, the business men are expected by the authorities to follow the groove laid down. It is known that they can and that their clerical staffs probably favor ‘‘city time.’’ The protest, if it is to be success- ful, must come unitedly and forcefully from the industry most directly concerned. When the farmers meet with the Board of Trade next Monday night they.should make sure they have a better repre- sentation than usual at these meetings. All phases of M-S-A ag- ricultural industry should have spokesmen and supporters pre- sent so that whatever can be done in this unfortunate situation is attempted in the name of a substantial proportion of the pub- lic. There is a big point to remember that is that in the same way the local business men are sympathetic to the farmers’ plight—because the farmers are their customers, the farmers have upwards of half a million customers in the Coast cities who favor D.S.T. and are not worried how the farmers are in- convenienced but rather, as customers, they demand the pro- verbial ‘‘the customer is always right’? consideration and ex- pect the farmers to adapt themselves accordingly. We have several examples in industry, transportation, government offices etc., in this Area demonstrating the confusion that ean be creat- ed when such legislation is not comprehensive in character. It would appear that the farmers must show that the disadvan- tages outweigh the advantages in provincial economy if their protest it to be constructive rather than tend to increase the present chaos. o 10) The Functions of the Press This is one of a series of editorials specially designed to acquaint our readers with the various functions of the Press in a democratic community. Following ts No. 8. 3 The Function of tiie Reporter A reporter is of necessity an impersonal observer of the happenings of the community, Officially, it matters little to him what action.a town council may take in any given matter. As an impartial observer a news item stating one side of a con- troversy is just as important as an item conveying the other side. In other words he is not a biased witness of any event. He is interested only from the standpoint of news. ! Perhaps the actions of a reporter at a meeting sometimes seem unusual, but they have to be unusual because he is, as we have said, only an observer and not a participant in an event. It will be noticed that he doesn’t applaud when a speaker makes some remarks that please the audience. He doesn’t join in the program, unlegs it is to stand when the national anthem is sung. He is merely an onlooker and is reporting the course of events, not for the benefit of those at the meeting but for the whole community. To paraphrase a famous poem “‘his is not to reason why’’. That phrase adequately deseribes the reporter’s attitude toward any assignment he is called upon to cover. He should not be expected to take part in the proceedings unless he is per- sonally interested as a member of the group. Newspaper reporters are often asked to keep things out of the paper, or to soft pedal on some news item. The conscien- tious reporter will never make any promises to do this. This is the prerogative of the editor only, and the only thing a report- er can do is to take the matter up with his editor. Sometimes a bribe is offered, and if one reallp wants to earn the ill-will of a reporter this is the surest way to it. Reporters haye a very difficult job, They are surrounded by people who want special favours that he has not the power to grant. In practically every instance the reporter is worthy of the fullest confidence. He is a hard working person who is trying to play the game, trying to serve his community, and his finding his satisfaction in life, not from the ordinary pleasures of life, but from following the most fascinating calling known to mankind. When one is tempted to invite a reporter to forget his code of ethics, it is well to remember that he is no power to as- sure you of immunity from publicitp or of special consideration. That responsibility rests solely with the editor, ——— “‘New Canada’’ Speaks on Recruiting Some very positive statements regarding the duty of young men in Canada to respond to the present recruiting ap- peal are made in the foreign language press in Canada. ‘‘New Canada Speaks”’ is the caption given to this comment by one editor and while the import of such a caption opens up pos- sibilities for an editorial in itself it is sufficient to quote three of these papers and to note the surprising parallel in thought despite the trio of tongues. “Our Canada,”’ declares Der Nordwesten, German lan- guage weekly of Winnipeg, ‘“‘has done very much as a British Dominion in respeét to money and war materials, but she has not put up enough recruits for the armed forces fighting for freedom. If the young men of our country wish to preserve it with all it offers for themselves their duty is quite clear. They should make up their minds firmly and without delay: Canada ealls and whoever—whether he is from England, France, Ger- many or the Ukraine—has found here another homeland and does not do his duty now is certainlp an undesirable citizen.” In pointing out that a polish army is being organized in Canada, the Gazeta (Polish Gazette), also of Winnipeg, states: “The moment is near when armed action will decide our future, the fate of the world and civilization. Nobody must be absent at this historic moment when the fate of the world and the free- dom of nations are being decided, Every Pole must prove by his preparedness to fight hondrably for his country that he is jand wll be worthy of it. The fatherland expects every citizen to do his duty. Let everyone who has a Polish heart and in j whose yeins flow Polish blood report at once at the camp to in- erease the ranks of the Polish army.’’ i In a simple, straightforward summing up of the situa- tion the **Kanadiysky Farmer’’ (Canadian Farmer) Ukrainion- language weekly, declares bluntly: ‘‘The Canadian army needs j men. It must have them at once. The sooner it gets them the | better because the modern soldier must be trained much longer ' than his comrade of the last world war. This is a war of mach- ines. It is the patriotic obligation of every able-bodied healthy , Canadian to respond to the appeal of the Canadian Government. ; Canada calls her sons to rally round the British flag. Our sac- red duty is to heed this appeal.’’ On a per capita basis every man, women and child in [British Columbia invested 7le in War Savings during June— or a total of $551,502. To moot the provincial quota of a mil- lion dollars a month this should be $1.30 per person. What is wanted is an increase in Savers and nerease n each savers Savings. : With speed Canada goes full-out on the war. CANADA’S WAR EFFORT A weekly review of developments on the Home Front. for workers in preference to increase in basic rate of wages. Basis of bonus: 25 cents per week for each rise of one point in cost of living. Canada makes more Canadian dollars available to Great Britain. Authority given to increase advance of $325,000,000 to $400,000,000. Advance is to enable Great Britain’ to purchase war munitions, raw materials and foodstuffs in Canada, Dominion Bureau of Statistics cost of living index rose from 108.6 in April to 109.4 in Map. In May last year, the index stood at 104.9 (Base 1935-1939 equals 100), All radio stations on the air bases from Edmonton to the Yukon are to be finished this fall. Construction of the bases was recommended by the United States-Canada Joint Defence Commission. Canadian imports incredsed $125,000,000 to $530,360,000 in the first five months of 1941 in comparison with 1940. Revenue from income tax during the first three months of the fiscal year (April-June inclusive) totalled $238,578,197 as against $117,891,134 received during the corresponding period of last fiscal year, a net increase of $120,687,063. Owing to the increase in metallurgical use of coke and heavier industrial d d for war pr in the United States and Canada, supplies of coke for domestic use will be considerably reduced next winter. Next group of men called for four months compulsory mili- tary training begin their term July 31. Defence of Canada Regulations, in regard to persons in- terned, amended in accordance with recommendations of special committee of the House of Commons, Three-men advisory com- mittees replace the one-man bodies now hearing appeals, the chairman to be a person who holds or has held high judicial office. A person detained under the regulations must be in- formed of the general grounds on which he is detained and no- tice of his detention given to his family or such person as he may request, where possible and not contrarp to public interest. Contracts awarded by the Department of Mumitions and» Supply during the week ended June 27, numbered 3574 and to- talled $30,710,497. To meet a scarcity of qualfied masters, mates and engineers for ships, Order in Council passed permitting the Minister of Transport to authorize ships to sail from Canadian ports with persons holding qualifications one grade lower than those stip- ulated in the Canada Shipping Act. onstruction work proceeding on more than 2000 houses, staff houses and other accommodation in ten centres from Halifax to Fort William, for which contracts have been award- ed by -Wartime Housing Drd. Contract also let for 150 houses in Parry Sound and Nobel, Ont., while other extensive housing projects being initiated in Kingston, Hamilton (additional) Oshawa, Frakford, Hull, Valleyfield, Quebec City and Amherst, N.S. Projects involve commitments to date of approximately $9,500,000. (Wartime Housing Ltd. -is a government-owned company).” = ¥ Writing in the June issue of the “B.C. Teacher,” the Minister of Education says of the British Columbia curriculum: “The curricu- LIBRARY BOOKS AND THE SCHOOLS partment of Education. Minimum library requirements have been set for schools of certain classes, AIR COMMODORE HAROLD EDWARDS is Air Member for Personnel on Canada’s Air Council. Personnel problems of both the Royal Cana- dian Air Force and, since Canada administers it. The British Com- monwealth Air Training Plan, fall under his responsibility. This in- cludes appointments, promotions, enlistments, recruiting, manning, discipline, pay and many other things. Today the right men must te picked from the vast number who wish to join the Air Force, existing members and newcomers must be grouped and shifted about in the process of manning the ex- isting air stations and new train- . Air Commodore Ed- bas undertaken a tremen- dous assignment. Do You Remember? Fifteen Years Ago Bu the M.S.A. Area From the A. S. & M. News of July 15, 1926 Loss estimated at from $10,000 to $15,000 was caused by fire at Huntingdon yesterday morning, when the Huntingdon Hotel and contents were destroyed and ad- joining buildings and stock damag- ed. A Ford car owned by W. Roberts was considerably smashed whenit collided with C. Watson's parked machine at Musselwhite Tueday evening, iverage of one automobile minute was cleared by the Huntingdon customs and immigra- tion staff during the hours of 8 ®.m. and 12 noon on the two busiest days of the U.S. holidays. E. T. Weir was elected school trustee to fill the vacancy created by the withdrawal of R. Millard. Abbotsford Cleff Club has enter- ed the orchestral contest at the Vancouver Exhibition this year. Traffic was so heavy on Sunday that the Matsqui ferry was forced to make eight ex trips to ac- commodate the tra autos, According to “Butter-Fat” 4,000 cattle have been slaughtered to date as a result of t.b. eradication methods introduced in this Valley. An each lum stands today as a distinct credit to the large group of school- men who were its architects. Indeed, not a few parents have advised the minister that the new curriculum has proved to be a most il- I on worthy of ranking with the works of great ae ding to this same curriculu m which has met with such uni-versal approval, “the library isthe heart of the school, and, as such, its influence radiates to every de partment. As new methods in school technique are developed, the school library becomes more and more the centre of activities of the school.” * NOT NEGLECTED How does the country fare as compared with the city in this modernizing and enriching of pub- expected that the city is one lap ahead, but the country is far from being neglected. From 1936 on there has been increased fi ial and pressure has been brought to bear on others. Summer school courses are provided for teacher- librarians. Travelling library ser- vice of the Public Library Com- mission has been increased, and, in certain areas, aggressively im- Proved. But the small rura) school that has seen the greatest im- provement in this-respect is that located in the Union Library dist- rict. GEANTS AID SERVICE lic schoo! education? It is to be|support from the Provincial De- This has been made (Continued on Page Six) FIRST CANADIAN FORT IS REBUILT N= Scotia went back morejin place, and other hand-worked than 300 years for the plans tron is used for bers. on the win- =i pedld struct-| dows and decorative work. ve o be “more historic” than an- which housed the first Europeans} t07 this one can b i 2 ” e described to settle in America north of the) Gniy ‘in superlatives. DeMonts Gulf of Mexico — and which Ws) and Champlain arrived in A: Anna- recently opened to the public by} polis Basin in 1604 and named it the Hon. T. A. Crerar, ee | Port Royal. The Fort budait in of Mines and Resources. That) the following year was the scene famous oe ener ee ood oF hagele ate pete between the instituted the Order o ie Good’ French an nglish and had ac- Time, stands today as it did) tually changed hands eight times when hardy French explorers | by 1710 when it was finally cap- made it their headquarters in| tured by a strong expedition of 1605. New England troops from Bos- The rambling log buildings, as | ton. much like the original as human ingenuity could make them, are the product of Nova Scotia craftsmen. Hand-hewn beams and floor boards are pegged into|cient habitation at Annapolis position; wrought-iron hinges) Royal — to give it its modern The name was changed to Annapolis Royal in honor of Queen Anne who then occupied the English throne. The reconstruction of the an- hold the doors and solid shutters| name — has attracted wide at- nm tention in Canada and the United States. Many individuals and or- ganizations have donated old records, furnishings and other articles to lend to the authenti- city of this famous site, 20 miles from Digby by Dominion Atlan- tic Railway. Digby is the west- * ern waterway entrance to Nova Scotia, connection with Saint John, N.B., being maintained by the S.S. Princess Helene. Other famous military structures still standing at Annapolis Royal in- clude the ramparts of Fort Anne. | The park, 28 acres in extent, in- cludes a later French fort com- pleted in 1707 amd captured in 1710, and the officers’ quarters erected by the British a few years later. Layout shows the Port Royal Habitation; the well house, and a view showing tha care with which the hand-hewn beams were put in place.