R. D. Mulholland, general manager of the Bank of Montreal says there is every sign that the tight money will continue throughout 1960 here in Canada. = * % & Labour Minister Lyle Wicks stated in the B.C. Legislature recently that Bill 43, “has stood the test of time.” * * od = Canada’s jobless numbered an estimated 504,000 in mid- January, up 134,000 from the previous month. January jobless registrations with employment service offices in B.C. totalled 80,898. The December figure was 63,281. = * * * Works Minister David Walker has stated that housing starts in Canada will drop this year and that Central Mortgage and Housing Corporation will reduce direct lending for home construction. j * % The United States is not pricing itself out of world mar- kets, a recent study has shown. The study, presented at a Princeton University seminar, declared that there is “No broad evidence” to back up claims that the U.S. is losing its export markets while imports are rising. Automation Blamed For Jobless Rise The coming employment crisis induced by automation and technological development may push U.S. and Canadian governments into more economic planning, a top U.S. union researcher predicted. Woodrow Ginsberg of De- troit, research director for the United Automobile Workers of America, drew a frightening picture of mounting job prob- lems in a review for delegates to the Ontario Federation of Labour’s education parley. Once Remote Technological development and automation—the computers and the feedback systems—have in- vaded areas of industry once considered remote from such processes. Thousands of skilled workers as well as assembly line men found their jobs disappearing, their years of experience worth- less, Ginsberg pointed out. The effects were just as dramatic in the ranks of office workers and bank clerks, he said. Giant firms which could af- ford to install the expensive new automated equipment were Squeezing out small suppliers and key competitors — throwing many more out of work. Stranglehold “These corporations get a stranglehold on the market so that the so-called free play of economic forces which everyone used to think was the governor of our society has been pushed aside.” In the postwar period, Gins- berg declared, each succeeding recession had left a higher “plateau” of unemployed, After the 1958 recession, for example, the U.S. jobless total remained at 5'2 per cent of the labour force —- up more than one per cent from _ previous “low”, 6% Unemployed “Now at a time when we talk of prosperity there are 32 major production centres which have moré than six per cent unem- ployed,” Ginsberg said. The UAW research chief said unions could press broadening i! seniority provisions, better ransfer clauses, retraining ures, supplementary un- ployment benefits and a work week, But the job was too big for llective bargaining measures, stressed. The place to get HE 1-6515- Haver & Kingsway TV lified guaranteed service, new sets, - _ service policies at lowest possible prices. More “honest - to - goodness” long-range planning by govern- ment’ was essential to meet the sharp fluctuations in our society. Federal Commission As a first step, the UAW was Suggesting creation of a federal commission on automation and technological development. This matched a Canadian Labour Congress demand for a govern- ment-labour-industry conference on the subject and a continuing planning committee. The UAW in the US. also wanted more detailed studies of the impact of automation on displaced workers, a uniform federal system of unemployment compensation and great ad- vances in vocational education, Ginsberg told the delegates, Home Buyers Do The Impossible When it comes to buying homes, Canadian workers are like bumblebees, accomplish- ing the seemingly impossible, the Royal Architectural Insti- tute’s committee on residential environment was told. The bumblebee, according to the theory of aerodynamics, can’t fly because of its wing shape and size, but it flies any- way. Similarly, even highly- paid workers can’t afford to buy homes, but they buy them any- way, said the brief from the joint labour-co-operative com- mittee, Workers accomplished the seemingly impossible by sacri- ficing other areas of expendi- ture the brief said. It takes an annual income of $7,800 for the first five years and $6,000 for the next 20 to buy even a modest home under the National Housing Act, it said. Yet bureau of statistics figures showed the average industrial wage, assuming 52 weeks full employment, at only $3,984. 6647 JUBILEE, S. BURNABY Impressions VICTORIA — Statement issued by Opposition Leader Strachan on behalf of the CCF members in the Legisla- ture during the progress of the Budget debate removed false impressions given of the CCF position with regard to the proposed increased home- owner grant. The CCF group in the Legislature will not vote against the proposed $22 increase during the pres- ent session. Furthermore, it was pledged that the party, if elected to office, will not revoke the grant. Earlier in the debate, CCF members had been highly crit- ical of the grant, but they had not made a considered statement of policy in the matter. They suggested that more equitable methods of relief for the over- burdened taxpayer might have been devised, as the funds for the grant had been derived from all the taxpayers, and should be utilized to benefit all the tax- payers, whether owning or renting; Vote-Catching The timing of the Bennett an- nouncement, they said, was quite obviously a _ barefaced attempt to influence the voting in an election year, and divert attention from less satisfactory features of the Government’s fiscal policies. The Opposition members also expressed the fear, that, as in the case of the former $28 grant, increased taxation might easily wipe out the worth of the rebaie, Distortions Made In a rapid-fire exchange of remarks during the speech of the Leader of the Opposition, the attempt had been made by Gov- ernment members to _ distort this criticism into an announced policy of outright opposition. Evidently the official CCF statement was made after con- sideration in the CCF Caucus, and consultation with the party’s top officials. In its text the re- lease, gave no suggestion that the Parliamentary Leader had been repudiated. It was the practical step of giving recogni- tion to a budgetary provision which has now been made a continuing feature of the pro- vince’s taxation policy. WESTERN CANADIAN LUMBER WORKER Prime Minister Fails Howard Green External Affairs is usually considered to be a field in which secrecy and confidentialness abound. Documents in the External Affairs Department are mostly classified as secret. Notes, memos and draft letters of a preliminary nature are all destroyed so that no inkling of the nature of the draft material gets into unknown hands. The doors to offices of the various external affairs officers are kept closed so that no visitor walking along the corridor may peek into the offices. Air Of Secrecy This air of secrecy filters into the House of Commons during debates on external affairs also. Ministers in the past have in- variably read their statements about foreign policy from texts carefully prepared by officials within the Department. We had a so-called foreign affairs debate this week with one of the main topics being dis- armament. The Minister, Howard Green, was careful to point out that it would not be wise for Canada, as a member of the disarmament commission, to disclose what our true feel- ings are. We should do nothing which could possible be construed by the U.S.S.R, as representing’ a difference of opinion among the Western Nations. This attitude was, of course, criticised by op- position speakers. Should Show Lead Our attitude was that Canada should show the lead in this re- gard. 3 Canada is not a major power. Canada is looked upon by many other countries with respect and regard. We should exploit this respect for altruistic purposes by Make saving indicating to the World that we are truly interested in disarma- ment and by taking unilateral action if necessary. Howard Green Howard Green stuck by his guns throughout the debate by continuing to maintain that Canada’s role should be a silent one insofar as public announce- ments were concerned. But, Minister’s comments, He virtu- ally cut the feet out from under Howard Green by making: an- nouncements about the very things said should not be made public. Practically every newspaperman to whom I have spoken since that debate has said practically the same. This isn’t the first time the Prime Minister has openly dis- agreed with his Ministry. It oc- curred when Sydney Smith was Secretary of State for External Affairs. It has occurred also in the field of the Defence Depart- ment. It is a most unwise practice. It leaves the impression that Ministers are not speaking government policy, or that there is no government policy. Headline: Grabbing Headline grabbing is incom- patible with statesmanship and leadership. We cannot develop the latter by following the former. A diet of newspaper articles will lead to indigestion not to disarmament. How To Win Friends — ] am very glad to know that my Hon. friend has an in- terest in violins. | thought he belonged to the wind rather than to the string section. Derick Heathcoat Amo ry, SAVINGS ACCOUNT THE CANADIAN BANK OF COMMERCE Chancellor of the Exchequer, speaking in the House of Com- mon:, England. a_ habit with a at then came the Prime ’ which Howard Green’ Hh I, | j i