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MONDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 1948 THE DAILY TIMES-GAZETTE PAGE NINE Mackenzie King Had Human Touch As Political Leader Twenty-Two Years In Office, Premier Has Served Canada Well Prime Minister King's Uncanny Facility for Judg- ing Public Opinion was Important Factor in Keeping Him in Office for a Longer Period of Years Than Any Other Premier By M. Mcintyre Hood There will be many in Ottawa, the capital city of Canada, and throughout the Dominion, whose hearts will be saddened because of the passing from the political scene of the man who has guided Canada's destiny for twenty-two out of the last twenty-seven years. The retirement of the Rt. Hon. William Lyon Mackenzie King might well be said to sever a link between the old generation and the new. Yet in both generations there were those who revered him, not as a political leader, but as a gentleman with a great human heart, who walked with kings but never lost the human touch. It has been our privilege, during® the last thirty years of active news- paper work and government service, to have had many associations with the prime minister who has just re- tired, and through these we have learned to know him, not merely as a prime minister, but as a man of great compassion for those of his fellowmen who were finding the burden of life too heavy, or who were among those unfortunates who were in the lower strata of society. Many people have wondered what it was that made Mackenzie King the great political leader that he was. His political opponents have charged that he was successful because he was a political opportunist. But the real secret of it was that he knew his way into the hearts as welll as the minds of the people fo Canada. Mr. King's Appeal Mr. King lived in a time 'hen emotionalism was more important in winning public support than ration- alism, Mr, King lived in a time too, during which the opposition parties were sadly lacking in leaders with a combination of qualities such as Mr. King possessed, the ability to appeal to the emotions as well as to the reason, the ability to talk to people instead of talking at them, 'and therein lay much of his power at the polls. The only opponents he faced who might be considered formidable were the Rt. Hon. Arthur Meighen and the Rt. Hon. R. B. (later Viscount) Bennett. Mr. Meighen was a cold realist. He tried to reach his audience through logic. He was a facile debater, but his arguments were too precise and formal to arouse the enthusiasm of audiences to fever pitch. As one shrewd old politician once said to me back in the election campaign of 1925, on hearing Mr. Meighen, "That was a grand speech, but it ' did not have any rousements." Mr. Bennett, on the other hand, suffered in the public mind because he was aloof and unapproachable. From his suite on the second floor of the Chateau Laurier at Ottawa, he looked out over the Dominion with a somewhat autocratic view- point, and thus he never became personally popular. He could not arouse in the minds or hearts of pven his own followers the feelings of personal affection with which Mr. King was regarded by the rank and file of the Liberal party. A Friendly Premier Mr. King was always friendly; al- ways approachable. We have seen him, tired at the end of a day on which he had ridden long distances on his spceia] train and delivered as many as four or five speeches, still smiling, greeting with a warm hand- shake and a kindly word small groups of farm people who had lingered behind at his closing meet- ing of the day to claim the honor of having shaken the hand of the Prime Minister of Canada. As an orator, Mr. King was/not as vola- tile. as was Mr. Bennett, but he never talked over the heads of his audience, as Mr. Bennett was prone to do, and he was never coldly log- ical, as Mr. Meighen was. More than once we have seen how, when oc- casion demanded, he could play on the emotions of his audineces like a skilled musician playing on the strings of a violin, He could warm up an audience, and send it home feeling that here was a man who was in tune with their own ideas. Versatile As Speaker We always noticed, in travelling around with an e'ection caravan with Mr. King as the central figure, that former Prime Minister pre- pared his speeches with meticulous care, dotting every "i" and crossing every "t". Yet he had a great faculty when the situation war- ranted it, for discarding what he had prepared, and delivering an en- tirely different speech from that which he had intended. We recall very clearly one such occasion, about the year 1925, when he come to Woodstock, Ontario, to speak at a great picnic in Southside Park. Be- fore the proceedings were opened, one of his secretaries handed to the newspapermen copies of the manu- script of the speech that was to be felivered. At that time, the mayor of Wood- stock was a staunch Conservative, Everett A. Rea, who was the Con- servative candidate for North Ox- ford in the Provincial General Elec- tion of 1923. As Mayor, however, he went to the picnic to extend a civic welcome to the Prime Minister. In doug 50, Lie Wok occasion ww ask the Prime Minister a number of rather pointed questions, regarding some matters which were the cause of some concern in the minds of the people at that time. When he had finished, Prime Minister King began his speech, and with pencils put away, the newspapermen leaned back with assurance that they did not need to take notes, since the speech was all there in the manu- script. But in a very few minutes they were all scribbling furiously, because Mr. King discarded entirely his prepared speech, and proceeded to give a complete and devastating reply to the remarks of Mayor E. A. was delighted that the mayor had given him a splendid text on which to-deliver what he considered was a more effective speech than the one he had spent many hours in pre- paring. Meticul Yet that habit of meticulous cafe was innate with him. I can recall In Stat t campaign when he was to issue a brief statement in support of a can- diate--in fact the candidate was Colin A. Campbell, now Brigadier, who was at that time running in the constituency of Frontenac. I was called to Mr. King's room in the La Salle Hotel in Kingston, to receive ,a copy of this statement. It was brief, covering only two sheets of paper. When I reached the room, his secretary had just typed it, from Mr. King's dictation. Then the Prime Minister began to edit it, and for half an hour he went over it again and again, changing words, striking out phrases and substituting new ones for them, until by the time it was finished, little of the original remained. Yet when it was finished, it was a masterpiece of choice but telling English. Solicitous For Veterans Some of the most interesting recollections we have of meetings with Mr. King were those during the late twenties and in early 1930, in connection with the plight of dis- abled and burnt-out veterans of the First World War. Tt was at some of these meetings that I became aware of the essential humanity of Mr. King. He was always ready to listen to a plea setting forth injustices under which many of the war vet- erans were suffering at that time, and just as ready, when the situ- ation was made clear to him, to see that action was taken to remedy these injustices. I can recall how, late in 1929, after the famous Re- gina National Convention. of the Canadian Legion, a group of us went to talk to Mr. King about some of the conditions regarding which complaint had been made, and which needed to be put right. He listened, and without hesitation he agreed to the appointment of the first Parliamentary Committee on pensions and war veterans problems, and agreed also that his government would accept and put into effect the recommendation of that com- mittee. That brought about the ap- pointment of the 1930 committee which completely recast the Can- adian pension act, and wiped out in one piece of legislation all the major complaints which had been voiced by war veterans. But it was note- worthy that the appeal made to him on behalf of burht-out veterans touched hig heart to such an extent that even before the parliamentary committee opened its sitting, his government introduced into the House of Commons the War Veter- ans Allowance Act, to make provis- ion for these non-pensionable cases. Appreciated Little Things Mr. King had a faculty, too, for taking note of little things which were done for him, and expressing his thanks for them in a delightfully informal way. I can rz2call that in 1931, when the Canadian Legion Provincial Convention was held in Oshawa, with Earl Jellicoe, Admiral of the Fleet, in attendance, Mr. King was unable to be there, but he sent as his representative Major Fred Sanderson, of St. Marys, Ontario, then the Chief. Libcral Whip. On that occasion, hotel accommodation in the city was at a premium, and it was only after a great deal of difficulty that accommodation was found for him. As a matter of fact, the problem was solv" by having a cot in my own room and giving up my bed to Major Sanderson. When it was all over, I was greatly sur- prised to receive, not only a letter from Major Sanderson, but also a very .kind letter from Mr. King, thanking me for having taken care of the member who was represent- ing mm, The last time I saw Mr. King was in 1941, in Aldershot, England, when he was on a visit to the Canadian Rea. He did a masterly job, and he | \ confided in me afterwards that he | one occasion in another election | Favourite Pose The above photograph was Mr. King's favourite picture of himself. He always referred to it as the "Lafayette photo," because it was taken by the photographer Lafa- yette of New York--about 1934 or 1935. Army overseas. He knew that among the troops overseas there were some feelings of resentment against his government's anti-conscription policy. But as he moved amongst them, spoke to them by the hun- dreds, and sometimes shocked com- manding officers by the way in which he mingled with the rank and file of the army, he won the ad- miration of many of the troops who had only a day or two before been openly antagonistic. We had lunch that day in a cooking school at Aldershot where the meal was pre- pared by a group of Canadian Army cooks who were being given some special training in their work. It was an excellent meal, although served in army style, but Mr. King did not forget to go' behind the scenes and express his appreciation to the cooks who had prepared it. These little acts of thoughtfulness, which were typical of him, were all counted in his favor when the time came for the people of Canada to cast their ballots. Uncanny Intuition As we have watched Mr. King's career fromy the sidelines, we have always felt that he was gifted with an uncanny intuition as to the state of the public mind in Canada. He could sense public opinion as few Canadian political leaders have been able to do. He knew just how much in the way of reform the people of Canada would support, and he stopped there. What was perhaps more important, he had also a great faculty for selecting the right kind of issues on which to fight an elec- tion, That was never shown more clearly than in the election of 1926. It will be recalled that . King's Government had been defeated in the House by a very narrow margin. He went to the Governor-General, Baron Byng, and asked that Parlia- ment be dissolved and a general election held. The Governor-General refused, and called upon Arthur Meighen to form a government, which lasted only a few days when v Record-Breaking Premier Passes From Political Scene "Labor Entry ¥ After serving Canada as Prime Minister for 22 out of the last tw enty-seven years, the Rt. Hon. William Lyon Mackenzie King resigned from office, and passed on his mantle to the Hon. Louis St. Laurent. Mr. King served in his high office longer than any other Prime Minister of Canada, Scores Win London, Nov. 15--(CP) -- Labor candidate Austen Altu won the parliamentary by-election in the London suburb constituency of Fd- monton Saturday. He defeated Conservative Edwin P. Hubbard by a majority of 3,327, it was announ- ced early Sunday. . Alsu, 45-year-old engineer, polled 26,164 votes to 22,837 for Hubbard in a straight fight. The labor plur- ality in the 1945 general election, when 1,500 fewer votes were cast, was 19,069 in a three-way race. Conservative leader Winston Churchill hailed the heavy increase in the Conservative vote as a "won- derful" sign. Edmonton has a population mainly comprising working and middle class families. The district was hit hard by the depression of the 1930s and has been faithful in returning labor members since 1935. The by-election was necessitated by the death of labor member Evan Durbin, Parliamentary secretary to the Works Ministry, who was drowned last summer. In the general election Durkin polled 33,163 votes to -14,094 for Sqdn.-Ldr. G. Sparrow of the R.AF. An independent candidate, J. A. Ward, former Mayor of Edmonton, received 1,382 votes. The Edmonton victory maintain- ed the Labor party's almost unbro- ken string of by-election successes since it came to power in 1945. La- bor has lost but one of the 29 by- elections it has had to defend since the general election, a record un- equalled in British Parliamentary history. ANNOUNCES RETIREMENT Halifax, Nov. 15--(CP)--Dr. Ar- thur Beachesne, clerk of the Cana- dian House of Commons, announced his retirement here Saturday after arriving from Liverpool on the liner Britannic. Dr. Beauchesne, who had attended the Commonwealth Par- liamentary conference in London, sald he would retire next Jan. 7, on the 35th anniversary of his entry into the Commons. DIES IN ARKANSAS Toronto, Nov. 3--~(CP)--Word has been received of the death in Ar- kansas of Dr. Jardine McKerlie, 51, Canada's former director of mili- tary transportation development. Other wartime jobs he held were those of director of the Army Mil- tary Trade School in Hamilton and production manager here for the Crown company of Wartime Ship- building. 60 Witnesses Will Appear At Hearing w Windsor, Nov. 15--(CP)--Sixty witnesses from many Ontario points have been lined up for the first Canadian hearings of a Canada- United States investigation into p-llution of border waters, to be held here November 17-20. The investigation is being 'con- ducted by the International Joint Commission, which has jurisdiction over boundary waters, on a joint reference from the two governs ments. It opened in 1946. Waters under investigation in the current series of hearings are the St. Clair River, Lake St. Clair anq the Detroit River. Later sessions at Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., will deal with St. Mary'. River from Lake Superior to Lake Huron. The Windsor hearings, which will be preceded by a two-day meeting at Detroit today and tomorrow, will take evidence concerning industrial and other wastes disposed of in the waters under investigation and the measures taken in various locali- ties to prevent pollution. At the end of the inquiry, the commission is to make recommen- dations aimed at maintaining the | purity of the border waters. Under | the treaty covering them, no boun- dary water may be polluted on either 'side to the "injury of health or property" on the other side. Several years ago the commission made a similar investigation that resulted in purification measures being taken. The new inquiry has resuited from the enlarged indus- trialization of localities in the bor= | der area. A nine-man board of technical advisers has been set up to aid the commission, with members repre- senting the Canadian and U. 8., Federal governments, the Province | of Ontario and the State of Michi~ gan. FISHERIES MEET Washington, Nov. 75--(CP) -- A new attempt to solve the problem of "serious" depletion of certain com mercially important species of fist in the Northwest Atlantic will -b: made here in January. The Stat Department announced Sunday tha | the United States government i: arranging an international confer ence to be opened Jan. 26. Canad: and Newfoundland are among 1 countries invited to send representa- tives. it was defeated, and an election was | then called. Against the advice of his col- | leagues, Mr. King at once raised the constitutional question of the right | of the Governor-General to refuse | the advice of his Ministers, and al- though many in his party felt that | Mr. King was on dangerous and un- popular ground, yet his judgment in fighting the election on that con- stitutional issue was upheld when | his party was returned to power | again. with a larger representation in the House. He knew his people far better, it seemed, than many of | those who were his advisers. Mackenzie King has passed out | of the active political picture in Canada, but his inflanence will long | be felt in the life of this country. | He has set a pattern of government, of social reforms, that cannot easily | be changed, and he has left his im- print on the life of Canada in a way that no other Canadian Prime | Minister from Sir John A. MacDon- ald down to the present time has been able to do. The day has long since passed when he was referred | to by the man on the street as "Billy" King. In the early days of | his political career, that appellation | was heard on all sides when he was under discussion. But as years went on, and he grew. in stature as a statesman, the "Billy" was dropped, and it is a good many years since | we have heard if, that rather familiar term being supplanted by the more general appellation of "Mackenzie King." REBEL AT HEART Mr. King himself. was rather proud of that form of his name, | which docked last week. The largest because he never forgot that he was | a descendant of the man known as | a rebel, William Lyon Mackenzie, | whose rebellion in 1837 was one of | the guiding posts towards respon- | sible government in Canada. Mac- kenzie King was also in some re- spects a rebel, in that his heart | rebelled against inhumanity and in- justice wherever he found That was apparent in his book, "In- dustry and Humanity" written when | he was quite a young man, and it was anpvarent in many of the mea. s which were enacted under his leadership of the government of Canada, | William Lyon Mackenzie King has | passed from the political scene to! the quiet backwater of life in the evening of his days. During his active career, he has aroused pol- itical enmities which, however, did not cross the boundary line between public 'life an¥ private friendships, | and so there will be no bitter par- tisan feeling towards him, but from | all Canadians who are willing to | | recognize that a great man has been | giving them leadership through dif- | | ficult years, there will come a heart- felt wish that he will be restored to health and strength long to enjoy | the rest from his labors that he so richty deserves. LARGE CARRIER Goderich, Nov. 15--(CP)-- More than 1,000,000 bushels of grain 'was unloaded here from four ships grain carrier to call at this port this season, the 480-foot James P. Walsh, brought 309,000 bushels of corn from Chicago. rl Last Visit To Oshawa As Prime Minister Here Prime Minister King is seen shaking hands with Lyman Gifford, who was the Liberal candidate in this year's federal by-el , at the Osh head of the Canadian government, railway station on what was Mr. King's last stop in Oshawa while them. |* "CATERPILLAR" SETS Auxiliary or Permanent EASILY-INSTALLED EASILY-OPERATED POWER for all types of industries, hospitals, theatres, schools, stores, etc. This efficient "Packaged" Electric Power Unit pays for itself in increased profits and lower production costs. Power 'cut-offs' cost you money! and employee-time because of power restrictions. 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