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THE COLBORNE EXPRESS, COLBORNE, ONT., DECEMBER 16, 1948 chronicles %ngerFarm Gwervdoltrve P CtcVPke Nobody is grumbling, of course --but isn't this the craziest weather? Here we are, just into the beginning of December and no sign of winter yet. Now for goodness sake don't be a spoilsport and say--"We'll pay up for it later on!" Maybe we shall, but we don't need • to let it spoil our present enjoyment, do we? And ft won't if we'don't set out to meet trouble half-way. And no doubt you have heard that scientists are repeatedly telling us that ont seasons are changing. If that is really so then we might just as well get ourselves accustomed to thinking of long open falls and late springs. Time was if a farmer didn't sow his fall wheat by September 15 he figured it was no good putting it in. Now wheat sown that early is in danger of having More top than is good for it. 1 even noticed a farm advertised late in November which read --"Land ploughed for fall wheat 1" That seems to be expecting a little too much of Mother Nature, don't you think so? But maybe the agent, ■was just doing a little1 wishful think- And speaking of wishful thinking --we had been guilty of that too-- but along rather different lines. Our wishful thinking concerned taxes. Round about this time we generally look for our tax bill to arrive. Naturally we had been thinking about it and allowing for it on our expense sheet. And since everything else is up we thought the taxes certainly would be. Oh brotherl Were they up! In our own minds we allowed them a boost of around $20. When the bill came in, to our dismay they were $50 over and above what we paid last year. We haven't recovered yet! However, we sort of managed to dissect it, as it were, and we find that over one-third of the total is for education. Of course, we want to see all children given an opportunity to get a good education. But what is a good education? Isn't education supposed to be a means of training a child to adjust himself to life along with what knowledge he can absorb from the usual school curriculum? But is it good .training when children are raised on a spoonfed system of education? Is it kind to children to relieve them of any trouble or hardship in regard to getting to school? Adversity develops character, then what chance have present-day children to develop character--or muscle, or physical endurance? How can- they when a bus comes along, picks them up and drops them at their school door? Do you know what? We are glad we haven't got any school age children now because we would hate to have them grow up robbed of their independence by having transportation provided for them day after day. "They don't need to ride in the bus," did you say? Oh come mow, you know children . . . not one of them likes to be different from the rest. If one rides the rest must tide too. Our children walked one and a half miles to school in every kind of weather and I don't think they were ever any the worse for h. Oh well, let's talk about something else--my collar is getting a little warm. 0 » * Maybe the' Royal Winter Fair might be a safer topic. The three of as went down on the last Tuesday to the night performance. Last year we looked around at all the livestock. This year we didn't go near them at all. It seems impossible to do everything in a few hours. We did enjoy the Musical Ride and the horse jumping, also the showing of the magnificent horses. There was one part of the programme I haven't seen mentioned, in the papers . . . after the heavy six-horse teams had been in the ring the announcer said --"One team of horses was not ready when the others came in but they insist on coming in now--so here they are!" And with lots of fan-fare in came a miniature dray drawn by six Shetland ponies which the announcer called "The- Mighty Mites". My, how they raced around the ring -- and we noticed the dray was fitted with a brake on one back wheel -- and I am sure the driver needed it. Of course we saw the Flower Show--and I never saw one I liked better. There was a beautiful ex Mbit of roses put on by several nurseries co-operating to make one big showing instead of individual exhibits. It seemed almost . impossible such perfect roses could be real--and not the least bit wilted. Borrower David Ewen tells about the con poser who signed to do'the complet score for a musical comedy in te days. "That will take a lot out c Pretty Swanky, Don't You Think?--A classic suit and match- r ing coat fashioned, in this picture, from a worsted type gabardine made by blending nylon staple fibre with wool. Addition of the nylon is said to impart greater strength and crease ' resistance. TABLE TALKS cJanc Andrews. If your children are like most youngsters, there's probably nothing they enjoy more than gathering in the kitchen to make candy. ' This is especially so at this season, when there's a spirit of jollity in the air. Here are some recipes they might try--easy to make but really grand , I c Honey Crisp 1 cup shelled walnut meats 2 cups honey Break or chop the nuts into small pieces and spread them in a medium-sized, well-oiled dripping pan. Put the honey into a saucepan, place over gentle heat and let it boil for five minutes after it reaches the boiling point, stirring occasionally. Pour over the nuts, set aside to harden, "then crack into pieces for serving. Vanilla Caramels 1 cup sugar Yi cup corn syrup (light) small pinch of salt' Put sugar, corn syrup and Yi tup of cream into saucepan. Stir until sugar dissolves, then boil to soft-ball stage, Add another half-cup of cam and boil again to soft-ball stage, than add remaining cream and boil to firm-ball stage. Do not beat, .as candy may become granular. Pour into oiled pan, 8"x8"x2". to become cool, then cut into small squares and wrap in waxed paper. Popcorn balls are always popular, especially at Christmas. Here is an old recipe, using molasses: Molasses Popcorn Balls Ys cup light molasses Ye, cup of sugar )4 cup of water Yi teaspoonful of vinegar Yt. teaspoonful of salt 1% tablespoonfuls of butter 6 . cups of popped corn Combine molasses, sugar, watei, vinegar and salt. Cook slowlj without stirring, to the point when a small quantity, dropped into cold water, separates into heavy threads. Remove from heat, add butter, stirring only enough to mix well. Pour mixture over popped corn, stirring constantly. Shape lightly and quickly into balls. Peanut Butter Marbles !4 cup peanut butter V/i cups shredded cocoanut or crumbled cornflakes I 1 teaspoon vanilla Mix ingredients thoroughly and mold into small balls. Chill until firm and roll in powdered sugar. (Add more peanuf butter if mixture seems too stiff.) And I know that some of you would like the recipe for this gen- YORKSHIRE YULE SPICE CAKE Two-thirds cup lard Yi cup butter yi teaspoon grated nutmeg. Grated rind and juice of one lemon \Ys cup butter the flour. Sift remaining flour with the baking-powder. (3) Separate eggs. Beat yolks till thick and yellow. Add yolks to creamed mixture. (4) To the same mixture add blend of baking powder and flour a little at a time, alternating with milk. Fold in fruits. (5) Beat egg whites till they stand up in peaks but are not dry. Fold them into the cake batter. (6) Pour the mixture into two bread tins, which have been greased and lined with paper. The paper should be greased, too.' Bake one hour and a half to one hour and forty minutes in a slow oven (300 degrees F.). Note: Tops of loaves may be decorated with blanched almonds, maraschino cherries, pineapple and so on. In this case, place sheet of paper over the loaves while they are baking. *Not . of ented 5 ounces sultanas I ounces candied shredded fruit 4Yi cups sifted cake flour 5 teaspoons baking powder 5 eggs I scant cup milk (1) Cream shortening, sugar, nut-ncg lemon rind and juice until light and fluffy. 12) Dredge fruits with some of The Best System What is "justice" in system? Is it the equalization of rewards regardless of the contribution that anyone makes or fails to make to the social producf? * To majiy of us a system under which the talented and skilled and indust- competent' and shiftless and lazy, and which equalize rewards irrespective of effort, would be not only unjust but, what is worse, unproductive. Most of us, if we thought that were the only alternative, would prefer an enormously productive if not ideally just system to cne which provided a perfectly "just" distribution of scarcity and poverty. Fortunately, a free capitalism not only provides both more liberty and welfare than any other system, but most of us, in spite of exceptions,' i?et approximately the economic .ilue that we ourselves contribute :o the total social product. That is how the system provides incentives. Keep improving it, certainly; but don't "reject" it.-Henry Hazlitt. Poor System The late Sam Harris once bought a play because he heard that excellent actor, Arnold Daly, reading it aloud to a group and found himself profoundly moved by it. It'turned out to be one of the most dismal flops of his career. "This has been a great lesson to me," he said. "That's what I get for letting a $2,-' 000-a-week actor read "a drama to me and getting a $100-a-week actor to play it." With the Movie and Radio Folks By Grace Sharp A few weeks ago I wrote something of what I had heard and read regarding the new Laurence Olivier "Hamlet" film. Now, having seen it, I want to say that it's a really tremendous thing--which probably sounds like a raindrop sliding down a window-psjne at Niagara, and saying that the Falls is a pretty considerable body of water Anyway, when you get a chance, you owe it to yourself to try ahd see this version of Mr. Shakespeare's mighty opus, as doing so is the sort of experience which doesn't often come to one. Seeing Olivier as a blond Hamlet may be something of a shock at first, as I've always thought of the "gloomy Dane" as on the brunet side, but you soon get over it. suiting However, there's everyone. I've spoke about a certain Character--to whom I'm slightly related by marriage-- and on the way out of the theatre, when 1 was doing a slight rave about Olivier's performance, he condescendingly remarks, "Shucks, you should have just seen Forbes Robertson." But that's how it goes! Whenever I say that hockey players such as Teeder Kennedy or Roy Conacher are pretty smart, he always looks scornful and starts raving about Howie Morenz, Dutch Nighbor and the like. I suppose when Mother Eve used to remark how grand the Garden of Eden was looking, Adam would take her down by telling her how much lovelier it was before she came along. But I managed to get some of my own back. Of course every man, deep down inside him, thinks that HE--if he only had a chance-- woul- hake the perfect "Hamlet". So when we got home from the show I could hear the Character pacing up and down in another room, muttering to himself, "Tis not alone my inky cloak, good mother" over and over again. So I just h llered out "That should be a reminder for you to take yqur winter overcoat to the cleaners tomorrow-- it's simply filthy." Hamlet's final speech fitted what followed perfectly. It is, as you probably remember, "The rest is silence." So be sure and see the Olivier "Hamlet". It's honestly worth while--even though I must confess that, for steady fare, I'd prefer Red Skelton or Clark Gable. Whoever it was that first tagged The Prince of Denmark as "gloomy" was certainly quite a word-painter. You could clock all the laughs in the show with an hour-glass. A week or so ago the papers were making quite a fuss over the "disappearance" of Bobby Breen, who a lot of you will remember as a "child singing star" twenty years or so ago. He and the pilot of his consin, suddenly vanished and it plane, off on a hunting trip in Wis-was feared that they had crashed. Now it looks very much as though it was all a publicity stunt. Breen was discovered comfortably stowed away in a hotel, and the plane found undamaged not far away. "The whole thing smells" said the Captain of the State Patrol which had sent parties searching for the missing pair in sub-freezing weather. I sometimes used to think --When little Bobby was starring-- that a good spanking wouldn't do him any harm. Now, maybe he'll When your BACK ■ins to Ache BECAUSE- ^ Backache is often due to • • an upset kidney condi- tion; and for over half a century Dodd's Kidney Pills have helped bring relief from backache by treating the kidneys. Get Dodd's Kidney Pills today at any drug counter. Look for the blue box with the red band. You can depend on Dodd's. 155 get one. "If it was for publicity, it's going to take a whole lot of explaining" says one angry official. Not long ago one of the big radio networks paid "Amos V Andy" something like two and a half million dollars for the full lifetime rights to their show--and similar deals are pending with Edgar Bergen and Jack Benny, the latter reported to be getting three million for his corporation stock, The reason for such deals is generally explained as the stars' trying to escape^ the very heavy "upper Bracket"' income taxation. By forming themselves into corporations, they get off much more lightly than when working for straight salaries. But there might possibly be something else behind it all--the threat of television. Here in Canada we have little idea about the way television is going ahead south of the border; movie people are beginning to rea- lize that the "honeymoon is over" so far as those huge salaries are concerned. Within a year there will be plenty of stars, both on the air ana in filmland, working for only a fraction of what they receive now--so maybe Messrs. Bergen, Benny et al are just "getting out while the getting is good." And although it's pretty late to be telling any gags about the U. S. election, here's one you might like. Happening to say to the aforementioned Character that I wondered how Dewey was feeling, he told of a man who ran for Reeve in an Ontario smali town many years ago. Maybe McCarthy wasn't the name, but we'll call him that. McCarthy made an intensive personal canvass, and on the eve of polling day was certain of winning. It turned out that he was very badly beaten--swamped, in fact. When the results were known, somebody asked the defeated candidate how he felt. "There are more liars in Teeswater," said McCarthy sourly, "than there are in hell." So . probably Mr. Dewey's feelings are greatly similar to that. So long for Economic Regimentation Threat To AH Canadians - B of M Head FLEXIBLE INTEREST, MORE EQUITY CAPITAL ADVOCATED BY B. C. GARDNER AS STABILIZING FORCES General Manager, Gordon R. Ball, Reports Record Deposits -- Loans Levelling Off Montreal, Dec. 6.--B. C. Gardner, president of the Bank of Montreal, told shareholders at the 131st annual meeting that doctrinaire socialism was attacking the moral and economic foundations of the nation. No Canadian, he stressed, can hope "that it will be possible to establish in this country some form of selective economic dictatorship that will apply to others but leave him unscathed. The experience of other countries makes it perfectly clear that once regimentation is established, no istefest or class in the community can escape its toils.-" Such an attack, Mr. Gardner asserted, was a challenge to all Canadians, but it placed a particular responsibility on business men. "I hold no brief," he said, "for any concern that in this day and age operates without regard to the public interest." Good business practice was the first essential, and, to achieve more effective public relations, business- had to tell its story more completely and in terms more readily understood bv the man in the street. Weapons ^Against Inflation Chief corrective to the present "wide disparity between the supply of money and the things that money buys," Mr. Gardner stated, was increased productivity, which in turn depended ultimately upon more rapid technical advance. There had been a boom in capital expenditure on new plant and equipment in Canada during the past two years, an encouraging development, but unfortunately this expansion had not been matched by an offsetting increase in saving. The result was competing demand for capital and -ner goods and a strong impet-the upward spiral of prices After expressing his approval of the Government's policy of operating at a substantial fiscal surplus, Mr. Gardner questioned whether sufficient attention was being paid to the control of expenditure. Governing bodies might well be expected "to give a lead in the elimination from the public budget of all .but absolutely necessary outlays." This point, the speaker continued, took on added significance in that existing levels of taxation had a . direct and adverse effect on the saving capacitv of the public, particularly that portion of the community which might be regarded as a substantial source of venture capital. The president referred,to the possibility of using a flexible rate of interest both to stimulate saving and to retard the rate of capital outlay. The policy of easy money had been developed in a period of deflation and unemployment, and he felt that there would be a definite advantage in introducing a further element of flexibility into the interest rate Further, he said, it was highly desirable that an increased proportion of corporate financing should be done in equity form than through the issue of additional debt. General Manager's Address Gordon R. Ball, general manager, reported that the bank's assets stood at $1,991,000,000. total deposits at $1,877,000,000, both at the highest level in the B of M's history. The volume of banking transactions had continued to expand throughout the year; special services of the war and early post-war years had been replaced by the larger volume of more normal banking business. The staff of the Bank of Montreal now numbered 9,300. ( Referring to journeys he had made across the continent, in the course of which he visited 135 branches in Canada as well as the bank's offices in the United States, Mr. Ball said, "This was a most inspiring experience . . . I cannot speak too highly of the fine spirit of teamwork, enthusiasm and devotion of which 1 found evidence on all aides." The rapid increase of personnel in recent1 years had brought special problems of staff training. Schools for entrants were now operating in Montreal, Toronto, Winnipeg and Vancouver, and senior staff courses had been instituted at head office, while intermediate courses were in contemplation for the coming year. Mr. Ball noted that the upward trend of commercial loans, which had reached a peak in November, 1947. was now levelling off, and he regarded this as a "constructive development". In view of rising prices and costs many customers were adopting a more cautious attitude" in their commitments. Turning to other aspects of the bank's loan policy, he showed that advances to the grain trade, as 'well as loans to farmers and primary producers, had increased over the past year. The bank found great satisfaction in the fact that loans under the Farm Improvement Loans Act had risen almost 50 per cent. 99 of Every 100 B of M Loans Approved Locally the ) small business o ual borrowers. "Despite this," said Mr. Ball, "it has been alleged from time to time that, because of a concentration of financial resources in the larger centres. Canadian business concerns, and small ones in .particular, are at a disadvantage in dealing, with branch banks in the smaller centres, the inference being that only relatively few have access to credit. ■ "With this view I emphatically disagree. The full facilities of the entire bank are placed at the customer's disposal at all of our branches and the number of borrowing clear indication that our customers' requirements are being properly and promptly met. "I may say that as at September -30th last, of the total number of loans on the books of this bank, over 99 per cent were made directly by and at the discretion of our branch managers and local superintend- WMOTHE DEUCE