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SATURDAY, A : ; UGUST 7, 1948 THE DAILY TIMES-CAZETTE King Steps Down @ End of a Chapter In Dominion Story p. By JAMES A. OASTLER QTIava, Joy 31--1In just seven days William Lyon Mackenzie man RB i and back to a national Liberal convention the I op ergip he accepted 29 years ago. Next Saturday ot ae only the end of a chapter in the life of Mr, King Bo e nd of a chapter in Canadian history. Shion A ore in the life of this country has a man ever ge ihe Deon for continuity of office such as Mr. King. prfng B he oy a Party in power for more than 21 years out rok. as leader, It is a record which will not soon be In the eyes of the world, Mr. Ki ¥ . King represents the spirit of Sutiada, with a its strong vitality; the true aay spirit foaione is iberty and freedom. He has been styled "one of Me Ri 0S Staiglinen of the world." It is cnly those who know Tong AR an ly who understand the single principle on which oh 1c] career and governed his country, This principle rth A nply stated as the importance of the individual man. o on age Wi ere Liberalism has been engulfed in a large section Filgrorne y he has remained a Liberal, not only by considered Judgment ut cause his instinct goes back through his ancestors 10 The uggle for responsible government in Canada, linked as it v th the struggles for freedom in the old world. Rejected Extreme Policies Ras because he believed in the individual man, in the reform dics, Ssiety through the genius of its people, and not through Shaan ji ol Suporior Sas from the top, that Mr. King has ie : e policies. It is why he has built his reforms --at sixt ation : oA x ray id Ine Deohle Themselves were ready for them, 5% ger Grade Pars The Sion Homo gen.&, Masknsie Ki 0 reconcile the fierce conflicts of Cana- dian ie. Jn this same belief he has built his method of cabinet I aan entary leadership. He has made himself the inter- ty e righ He as modified his own desires by the e to follow him. He has recognized al that politics is the art i ays he area igs da 1 A the possible and he has steadily increased e whole record points out that i i i t was not by accident, not bY Some fortunate set of circumstances or of luck that the hs . ue 29 : as held the confidence of his fellow Canadians longer ian fhe 0. eid other public man in the world in a similar posi- on. (] words could better describe the reason for his success thm use e himself made in the House of Commons on July 25, » & few days before the 25th anniversary of his leadership of the Liberal Party. "lI Have Fought" ---- LL T HAVE fought for measures of social security and national well Parache ih Season and out of season, in Parliament and out of 3% ie , in this country and other countries. I have fought for em whenever the opportunity presented itself, and win or lose in the future, I intend to fight for them to the end of my days." In many ways Mr. King, who was born in Kitchener, Ont. is @ solitary figure. For instance, it is not laziness that causes him to drive the three hundred yards from the East Block to a private entrance in the House of Commons. It is an effort to avoid being buttonholed. When Mr. King wants to meet anyone, and he is very fond of company, he likes it at a time and place of his choosing. He is a shy man and not given to any great display of feelings. Ruthless of those who fall down in his service, his words of praise are few. He does not forget any kind deed however and more than one person has reason to remember his generosity. The pattern for Canada's new order of social security and human welfare, the foundation of which is now well laid and the outlines of which are now clear, were formed in Mr. King's mind when he was a young student at Toronto University. Reforms Take Time Ma KING is quite convinced that reconstruction of the social order is something which in the nature of things is bound to take time. The problems of industry, being world problems as well as human problems, are not of a kind which permit. of immediate adjustment. It is not surprising, therefore, that social and indus- trial reform, the consideration of which the war forced on a scale H : sal . 5 wg - . = never before attempted, has become the subject of general and With Their Majesties, King George VI and Queen Elizdbeth, 'whom he accompaniea practical interest which it has become within the recent past. on the Royal Tour of Canada With his deep understanding of the basic problems which \ ; affect this country, he early fought for maintaining unity between distant populations of different interests and races. In the first statement he made as Prime Minister he referred to his desire to aim constantly for national unity. That statement was made a matter of minutes after he had been sworn in. He understood that Canada was a nation of two major cultures and two major races, each with a special contribution to make to the enrichment of the national life. He has recognized that the two races and cultures of Canada, existing side by side and working together, can make an unparalleled contribution to the world of tomorrow. Just how far Mr. King had succeeded in maintaining unity between the English and the French speaking people of Canada could not be judged beforg this war. His critics have charged and many still charge that he had succeeded in name only, that his national unity was a flimsy facade which would collapse under the first shock. The test came in 1939. He led Canada into the war a united country. Many consider this the greatest achievement in Canadian statecraft since the foundation of the nation. Perhaps even greater--he led Canada to victory still a united country. Social Order Development 'A NOTHER achievement by which Mr. King will be judged by the future generations of his countrymen will be the develop- ment of the Canadian social order. Under his leadership there has been nothing spectacular, sudden or disruptive, nor was there in- tended to be. An historian himself, Mr. King knew that sudden revolutions often set back the tide of progress. He sought rather to graft reforms into the living tissues of the Canadian system with no interruption of its growth. He has succeeded in this so well that many of his reforms are now taken for granted and not even remembered in his name. A short time ago he pointed out quite plainly to his Cabinet colleagues that the pattern for a new order of social security was outlined in the platform of the Lib- eral Party in 1919 and it was that convention which elected him leader of the party. The record shows that in labor laws, mon- opoly prosecution laws and in the establishment of the people's right to control the fiscal policies of the nation, Mr. King has been one of the most progressive reformers in office during his time. In the policies concerning external economics, Mr. King's management of Canada as a part of the world economy, will be : r : . ; . . long remembered. In the first 20 years and more of his leadership, With President Truman in Washington he faced a world which was committing economic suicide through . the poison of economic nationalism. He faced a nation which had not yet fully grasped the fact that to live on external 'trade and that, to sell its goods, it must buy from its customers. He has had to wait a long time for the vindication of these views. Canada's Vital Role ME. KING'S name will also be linked with the development of Canada as a nation. He came into office at a moment when in- fluences throughout the Empire were seeking to turn back the tide of events, to -halt the tide of Dominion autonomy which had advanced under the leadership of Borden and Laurier. When Mr, King attended his first Imperial Conference in 1923 he found there a well developed plan to establish an Empire executive, a complete tentralization of the Empire countries. His rejection of this plan, little noted by the Canadian people at that time, marked Mr. King not only as a courageous Canadian Prime Minister but as a future leader in the development of the Com- monwealth. It was on the basis of this original decision in 1923 that the Empire continued its evolution into the Commonwealth. The Balfour Declaration and the Statute of Westminster, which finally rita of single the equality of the Birtish nations, were not the - fruits of a le mind, but Mr. King was one of those who fought vigorously forthe full sovereignty of his nation. Elder Statesman Now with his retirement as Prime Minister not many weeks away, he has said he is looking forward to the day when he can lay down the cares of office and write and see people and generally attended to his own personal affairs, Mr. King can find me. to do any ot he things Be has long wished to do. There is jou at in the years ahead he will play the role of-the : 3 elder statesman in Canada. That is a role for which i In the garden of 10 Downi) joys ji ' 7 i he | a EE Le Lor Wi I i El | a OL ON yey onioyiny = Joke with Fordisn mE ao si rica, on the occasion of the latter's uisit > Ottawa. These two senior statesmen bution to ald Canada along the road to i Attlee, with Rt. Hon. Vi r 0 increased stature and to ttlee, wi . n. Vincent Massey, then High Commissioner for : of the British Commonwealth of Nations aie friends of long standing, and were t v ¥ ire 'y e two help bring about a world 'at , ; ; . Pr {5r bout a world at peace. Caneda in the United Kingdom, Jin the background. |_ of the Empire's leading war figuges,