teen six, result happiness.

nual expenditure twenty pounds

Merey on the taxpayer and
ames Ottawa for clouds on

@€ economic horizon.

This budget is designed to

Play a political role in the fed-
€ral election expected in May

_ or June—to seduce voters with

the “On to Ottawa” march of
the Socreds

Like Bennett’s political phil
Sophy, his budget is opportu-
Nstic, full of contradictions
and based on a boom econ-
°my. Whether it is good poli-
Ics, time will tell. =

For instance, is B.C. in bet-
fr or worse financial shape
han it was a year ago?

Much better, boasts Bennett
for we'll start the 1957-58 fis-
Cal year with a $42,100,000
Surplus. Contingent liabilities?
Oh, they increased by $85 mil-
fons and now stand at $223
millions. But contingent lia-
bilities aren’t debts.

The premier is a sleight-of-
hand artist. He’d make a good
dealer jin three-card monte.

Ow you see the debts and
Now you. don’t. :

Contingent liabilities — gov-
€f(nment guarantees to many
*nterprises are indirect

ebts. Repayment and inter-
st costs, as in direct debts,
Must be borne by. the public.
To the taxpayer direct and in-

direct debts are much the
Same thing.
Premier Bennett grandly

FREE
CONTINUING

CREDIT

No Interest or

Carrying Charges

MEN! Buy your WORK OR
DRESS CLOTHES this
easy, easy way. Absolutely
ho money charged for in-
terest or carrying charges.
Just pay the purchase price
and NO MORE .. . Choose
from a large selection of
UNION MADE) MEN’S
WEAR. Drop in now!

of Fy pe?
45 EAST HASTINGS

udget des

Annual income twenty pounds,
Annual income twenty pounds, an-

| Te #

annual expenditure nine-

result misery.

David Copperfield.

ought six,
—Dickens,

_ Premier W. A. C. Bennett presented his second
election’ budget last week,
shine budget’? of 1956 designed to boost Socred stock
| it the snap election which only the premier knew he was

Ging to call in September,

but in contrast to the ‘‘sun-

the 1957 budget shows no

proclaims he will put $36 mil-
lions of his $42 millions “sur-
plus” into sinking funds to
“reduce debts.” Then he will
take it-right out again as a
temporary source of finances:
for crown agencies (PGE, B.C:
Power Commission, the Toll
Authority, etc.) :

By this method, B.C. will be
“out of debt” in a few years.
The only flaw is, our contin-
gent liabilities will have in-
creased by another $100 or
$200 millions.

Premier Bennett is brazenly
attempting to hoodwink the
public. The province is not
climbing out of debt. It is
sinking deeper into it.

xt <t *

The 1956 “sunshine” budget
included small increases in old
age pension bonuses, bigger
grants to municipalities, a cut
im the amusement tax and
slightly higher salaries ‘for ci-
vil servants — all vote getters
for the Socreds last Septem-

er.

. Another provincial election
isn’t due until 1960, but a fed-
eral election is in the offing.
Hence the 1957 “misery” bud-
get which puts the blame for
everything on Ottawa.

B.C. economic prospects are
“clouded,” warns the premier.
There’s a slowdown in home-
building and plant expansions.
Concern over export markets.
A continued “tight money”
policy on the part of the fed-
eral government could “play
havoc” with government ca-
pital expenditures, which nor-
mally: help to balance a slack-
ening in industrial expansion.

“Until corrective action 1s
taken by the government of
Canada to temper the harsh-
ness of its monetary and credit
policies, and until internation-
al affairs take a decided turn
for the better, caution will
have to be exercised and flex-
ibility applied in the use of our
cash resources,” said Bennett.

There you have the Socred
line in the coming federal el-
ections.

“No, No, a Thousand ‘Times
No,” was Premier Bennett’s
budget theme song in response
to requests for aid by the peo-
ple of B.C. :
@ No cut in the exhorbitant
~ five percent sales tax, al-
though citizens of this
province are the most heav-
ily taxed in Canada.

@ No increased help for UBC.

© No additional aid ‘to muni-
cipalities.

@ No addition in the $20 pen-
sion bonus.

As for the widely-advertised

by BERT WHYTE

Sosy see a

% This was the reaction of UBC students to the Bennett
government’s failure to include in its budget any

provision for additional grants to the university.
mock solemnity they buried “Higher Education.”

With
Wide-

spread criticism of the government’s attitude produced a
sop in matching grants this week.

$28 rebate on homes, with the
money paid directly to the
municipalities, there are indi-
cations that Vancouver City
Council and several other mu-
nicipal bodies are already plan-
ning tax hikes to wipe out its
benefits.
xt 50 ce

Debate on the budget will
continue in the House for the
next two weeks, and should
prove a bit more lively than
the speech from the throne.

Riding high with his. ma-
jority, Bennett so far has been
able to snow under the opposi-
tion with little trouble. Big-
gest chink in his armor has
been the Wenner-Gren north-

ern development deal, which
will likely continue to hold the
spotlight for the remainder of
the session, and might well be
the issue on which the govern-
ment will stand or fall in the
1960 provincial elections.
og 5 %

Footnote to the Wenner-

Gren deal: Premier Bennett

has named John V. Fisher,
deputy finance minister, to
the post of economic adviser
and co-ordinator of provincial
finances. Former holder of the
position was Einar Gunderson,
one of the directors of the
newly formed Wenner-Gren
Company of B.C.

d for federal vote

UBC offer

called sop
to criticism

VICTORIA, B.C.

Trying to get out from under
the strong public criticism
levelled at the Socred govern-
ment for its niggardly attitude
towards further aid to UBC,
Education Minister Les Peter-
son told the House this week
that the province will match
dollar for dollar, up to $5 mil-
lion, all contributions to the
university from industry, la-
bor and other donors.

This’ belated attempt to rem-
edy the failure of the budget
speech to mention any further
financial aid for capital pur-
poses for UBC got a mixed re-
ception. Although members
pounded their desks when Pet-
erson made his announcement,
a second look at the proposal
caused many to adopt a dub-
ious attitude concerning its
“generosity.”

“This is a sop to public opin-
ion,” charged. Gordon Dowd-
ing (CCF, Burnaby.) “It is a
case of passing the buck.”

“The government has not
put up one cent,” editorialized
the Victoria Daily Times. ‘“In-
stead, it proposes to shift the
responsibility to industry...
Responsibility for education,
under the BNA Act, is a pro-
vincial concern Perhaps

’ roads and bridges and tunnels

and vast exploratory programs
are more ‘glamorous’ than
universities and hospitals. But
in terms of enduring values,
there is no comparison.”

“While the government turns
down the UBC request for
necessary buildings, it is ready
to spend some $10 million on
new liquor stores,’ CCF lead-
er, Robert Strachan said just
prior to Peterson’s speech.

Some indication of the des-
perate plight education faces
was given in Peterson’s re-
port. Increase in enrollment
in public schools in the year
1956-57 over 1955-56 is about
21,000,. and “‘to accommodate
this increase alone would re-

quire 700 additional class-
rooms and , 700 additional
teachers.”

In September, 1956, some 1,-
890 new teachers were requir-
ed compared with 1,600 in
1955. Next September the num-
ber is expected to approach
2,000, yet Victoria College and
UBC, "he only institutions in
B.C. providing teacher-train-
ing, will supply in round fig-
ures only a third of the de-
mand.

MARCH 1, 1957 — PACIFIC TRIBUNE-—PAGE 5