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pt SAMUEL FARMER. Editor and Publisher, PORT PERRY PORT PERRY, ONTARIO, THURSDAY, MARCH 20th, 1941 STAR Watch your label; it tells when your $1.60 per year in advance. 5 cents a single copy subscription expires ¢ + 0 EDITORIAL "Such is the patriot's boast, where'er we roam: His first, best country ever is at home." 4 THEY MEAN WHAT THEY SAY. President Roosevelt's address, before the White House Correspondents' Association, on Saturday evening of last week, was couched in simple language, much more effective than 'a brilliant outburst of eloquence. You felt that he meant what he said. In the first place, he based all that he said upon two main facts: 1. That the British people are really fighting to maintain the freedom of the peoples of the orl 2. That the American people have $a and Fave determined to give their all to support Britain and all other nations that are in the fore- front of the battle for freedom. . Sincerity was the keynote of that address, and , his tributes to the courageous endurance of the British and their -gallant leader, Mr. Winston Churchill, brought out such applause from that influential audience as is seldom heard. It was not staged, but was a spontaneous outburst of deepest admiration, Perhaps even more important was the splendid response when the President demanded that neither labor strikes not greed of industrial man- agement should interfere with the success of this great undertaking of the American peopel. The address was a gallant challenge to every citizen of the United States to be prépared to make such sacrifice as is necessary to carry out the pledge of sid to Britain that has just been given, One thing is certain--if the factories are near- ly all'engaged in war work, there will naturally be a shortage of some civil requirements, and that will hold good in Canada, too. If Britain can keep sand and water in every home to put out enemy started fires, we can show the same spirit of preparedness and willingness to meet our own problems; and carry on in spite of the difficulty and privation which the war may impose upon us, .No band will play, no applause will be given, for the sacrifices we shall make. They will have to become the normal way of life, dnd be taken as a matter of course. i --% . * CHINS UP! _Ev@Yy person, every institution, every com- munity, has its problems to meet and, the way in which those problems are met, decides the fate of those that are tested. Just now Port Perry has to face some pro- blems; and the forésight, courage, and co-opera- tion of our people will be 'the deciding factors of our future. Our people have met and overcome their dif- ficulties with good sense and courage; and no village of our size in the Province is in better shape regarding municipal and social equipment. We have well kept streets, Hydro, one of the best schools to be found anywhere in a similar community, good Fair Grounds, a developing Waterfront, easy highway connection with out- lying points, good Churches, efficient Telephone service, and many other municipal assets. It is a matter of congratulation that such a municipal plant can and has been kept going by some three hundred taxpayers in all these years. The same people who pay the. taxes support the churches, the rink, the Fair, the waterfront; and > are largely responsible for keeping alive those public services which have earned for Port Perry an enviable name for its generous contribution to all patriotic and welfare work, Now comes a partial set-back that will have to be met in the same fine spirit in which we have met other problems. We are to lose our railway; such is the decision of the Railway Commission; a decision which appears to be final. The immediate effect of this decision will fall mainly on four or five local concerns, particularly those dealing with heavy freight. One other business that ships express parcels daily all over the Province (Jeffrey & Taylor) will feel the loss of the railway keenly, . are meeting the situation constructively. Some co-operative carrying system to meet our daily requirements will likely be arranged, In whatever steps there may be taken to meet the transportation problem, the whole community should be prepared to support our local business mien in their effort to serve the community of- fectively, From time to time proposals may be made about coal shipments, etc, and if all pos. sible the consuming public should be prepared to assist in any constructive transportation plans, ..The most expensive thing that could be done now is to indulge in "the blues." Port Perry will still go marching on --railway or no railway, It -- may be that we may build -an even better com- munity transportation service than has been 'pos- sible during the past few years when railway service has been so urieei alii and "so uhsatis- factory. A village that could rebuild itself after the great fire of 1884, can meet this new problem un- der much happier conditions just as effectively as did the citizens of that earlier day. Chins up. Talking about the village being ---- "ff the map" or any similar ideas, can lower property values; and discourage ratepayers new or old more rapidly than by any other plan, Chins up! There'll always be a Port Perry, so long as we show courage and constructive ability to meet new situations, 2 -- edd It is pleasing to note that those most concerned' Ii} g! "Viva Hitalial" Garcon trom we London Daily Mirror. Not avalible In British htes Save your Spare Change for the War Service Fund. Shing is as.much a necessity as eating to-day. Hg) "of the debts we owe to those who protect us. i is one The following letters were sent out by the Board of Transport Commis- sioners for Canada: March 13th, 1941 Dear Sir: File 39310.3-- Appl'n of Canadian National Railways, under Section 169A and all other appropriate pro- visions, tor an Order granting leave to abandon operation of its Port Perry Subdivision, in the Province of On- tario, between Whitby Town (Mile 2.11) and Port Perry (Mile 19.61), a distance of 17.50 miles. I enclose herewith copy of Order of Board No. 6042¢;-dated--March 12th, 1941, together with Judgment of Com- missioner Stoneman dated February 26th, 1941, concurred in by the Chief Commissioner and the Assistant Chief Commissioner. P. F. Baillargeon, Sec'y. Judgement: Stoneman, Commissioner: This application was heard at a sitting of the Board, held in Whitby, October 21, 1940, in the presence of-- W. E. N. Sinclair, K.C,, for the Vil- lage of Port Perry, and the Townships of Reach and Whitby; Duncan McIn- tyre, for the Town of Whitby; R. D. igri for the County of Ontario; 1. . Rand, K.C,, for the Canadian Na- ob Railways, In support of the aplication the ap- plicant filed a statem®nt setting forth a general description of the line, its special industrial relationships, its re- venues and expenses for -the nine months--April 1 to December 31, 1936 and for the calendar years 1937, 1038 and 1939--an analysis of ils freight traffic for the same years, and a map of the territory through which it runs. A' copy of -the application and" the statement was sent to all interested parties. This railway was built under the charter of the Port Whitby and Port Perry Railway Company, which later became the Whitby Port Perry Ex- tension Railway Company; and in 1877--the year in which it was opened for traffic--Hecame known as the Whitby, Port Perry and Lindsay 'Rail- way Company. In 1882, in consolida- tion with other lines, it became the Midland Railway of Canada. In 1884 the Midland Railway was leased to the © Grand Trunk Railway; and in 1893, became part of it by amalgamation. Finally, in 1923 it bécame part of the Canadian National Railway Lines, Under judgment, dated 3rd Feb- ruary, 1936, and Board's Order No. 52747, dated February 6, 1936, and Board approved of the abandonment of the line between' "Port Perry and Cresswell, and refused abandonment of the portion between Whitby and Port Perry, without prejudice, to a renewal of the application if the line showed continued loss of revenue. * Under the heading--*Physical Char- acteristics" of the Line embodied in the application--rail, bridge, culvert, ballast, ties, and drainage are shown to be in a condition described as fair to .poor. "The line passes through a prospor- ous mixed farming country; Port Perry is the business and commercial centre. Among the industries located at Port Perry is a lumber company and a milling company; concrete high- ways closely parallel the line; bus service operates between: Toronto and Lindsay, via Port Perry; and the Can- adian National Railways operate, un- der contract, a dally trucking service for L.C.L. freight and express be- tween Oshawa and Port Perry, via Whitby. ~~ In addition, a number of trucking companies operate In and through the territory served. by 'the railtvay line involved in this applica: tion, The statement of revenues and ex- penses, covering a perlod, April 1 to December 31, 1936, and calendar years 1087, 1938, 1039, shows a system loss, for the nine months-- °° Port Perry to Whitby 'Railway to be Abandoned The followihg Letters, Reports, and Decisions Tell the Story. April - to Dee. 31, 1030 ....$5,208.00 Year 1937 oii, 8,664,00 Year 1938 ......i0iin . 1,339.00 Year 1030 ..... vers sene T9000 'the Engineering and Operating De- partments of the Board made an in- spection of the line on May 28, 1940, and submitted reports dated May 29 and 30, respectively, wherein they agree with the statements made by the applicant as to the physical char- acteristics of the line, description of the territory, and the bus and truck service operating. Witnesses for the respondent stated they were satisfied that if figures were filed for the year 1940 they would show a substantial increase in tratic. The railway company was therefore directed to fyle a statement setting out system revenues and car- loads, by commodities, from January to September, 1940, This statement was filed as a comparative one, for the nine months January to Sept. 1939-40, showing total gross revenues-- 9 months in 1939 ...$10,0633 9 months in 1940 .,.. 15,7565 which indicates a slight decréase in the first nine months of 1940. 'As stated above, application was made for the abandonment of this line, and judgment dated February 3, 1936, refused abandonment of the por- tion between Whitby Town and Port Perry, without prejudice, to renewal of the application, if the line con- tinued to.loss of revenue. It is evi- dent from the judgment that the re- spondents were confident that traflic would increase, and statements made at that time convinced the Board that this portion of.the line should be ope- rated for a suflicient length of time to show whether, or not, those opposing the application were correct in stating that, if the portion of the line from Port Perry to Whitby Town continued to operate there would be a substan- tial increase in traffic. The line has operated up to the present time and the statement filed is conclusive proof that not only has there been mo in- crease, but that' traffic is decreasing. At the sitting, held October 21, 1940 counsel for The respondents suggested that if the line had been rehabilitated, as directed in the judgment dated 3rd Feb., 1036, it would Have had the ten- 'deney to decrease the cost of opera- tion and increase the traffic. -I think it is clear the line has been kept in shape to handle all the trafic that has offered, and, I think it is also clear that if the line had been brought up ta any higher standard, the out-of- pocket costs of operating from 1936 to the present time would have been substantially increased. The only commodities handled over this line are low-rated heavy ones; coal, coke, and cordwood make up more that 50 per- cent of the carload traflic for the years 1937, 1938, 1039. There were three coal who gave evidence; two from Port Perry and one from Brooklin. When asked what the cost of moving coal from Whitby to Port Perry by truck would be, they were unable to furnish any figures as to the-actual cost. Mr, Reesor, a coal merchaht-from-- Port Perry, undertook to file figures at a later date, and, on October 25, 1940, he filed the following letter, including a statement-- "Relative to the inquiry held at Whitby on Monday, October 21st, into the affairs of the Whitby-Port Perry Branch of the C.N.R, and your re- quest for an approximate cstimate as to the cost of trucking coal to Port Perry. "The following statement is figured on trucking from either Oshawa or Whitby and we feel is as conservative as can possibly be made, on a .one year pheratioh basls-- merchants Outlay for 10 tons truck + $5, 000,00 Interest on investment (6%) fio Depreciation. TRI Operation (driver) ........ Cap reeneaans 900.00 200.00 Gas, oil and repairs ........ 127.60 50.00 Operation costs for one year $2,627.00 Our records show that we received approximately 1200 tons of Anthra- cite Coal in one year which would mean a trucking cost of over $2.00 per ton, \ We thank you for this opportunity of laying these figures before you, and feel sure that they speak for them- selves," License .........c00vvuunnn Insurance The above figures of course are no guide to this Board. It must be ob- vious to anyone that no practical businessman would purchase a ten-ton truck and employ a man for a year to haul 1200 tons of coal a distance of 12 miles from Oshawa to Port Perry. Coal dealers in Port Perry and Brooklin were therefore written to, as follows: February 1st, 1941 "With respect to the hearing held by the Board at Whitby on October 21st, 1940, on the porposed abandon- ment of the Canadian National line between Whitby Town and Port Perry I am. instructed by the Board to re- quest that you file a statement of the 1910 mileage made by cach of the trucks which you. operated during that year. [If the above is not avail- able, will you kindly supply an esti- mated annual mileage. Please give this request your im- mediate attention." On February 4, 5 and 19, 1941, the following replies were received: Port Perry, Feb. 3, 1041 "Your letter of the Ist received ask- ing for mileage on -our truck for the year 1940, "We have only one truck and an estimated mileage for 1940 would be 9,000 miles." Sd. F. E. Reesor." Port Perry, Feb. 4, 1941 "Replying to your letter of the lst we hereby give you the estimated mileage for our two trucks during the year 1940 which 17,600 miles. "This figure includes the distance covered by our trucks in delivering ice, lumber and fuel. Sd. Lake Scugog Lumber & Coal Co. per E. G. Michell, "Your letter of Feb. 12 received, re haulage of coal. It is impossible for me to give you the mileage the trucks travel in cartage of coal as they haul gravel the greater part of the time. The average haul would be a mile de- livery. I cannot see what the delivery of coal has to do with the railway. Sd. W. F. Croxall. From the above information the Board's Transportation Economist made a study of moving conl with a 2-ton dump truck by highway from Oshawa to Port Perry and from Whitby to Brooklin. The carloads of coal for 1039 were used because they were higher in that year than for any of the years covered in the statement accompanying the application. The result of the study has satisfied me that, allowing for the differential in the freight rate of 61 cents per ton from Oshawa to Port Perry and 36 cents per ton from Whitby to Brooklin that no serious burden would be im- posed. upon the community because of the added cost of transporting coal, if this application was granted. In so far as available trucking ser- vice in the district affected by this appliaction is concerned I give the fol- lowing information given by the On- tario "shipped by truck" Directory for the year 1940-1941-- Port Perry--Cook's Transport, Hen- shaw Transport, daily to Toronto. Smith Transport. Brooklin -- Woodville Transport, Henshaw Transport, McBrian"s Trans- port, Smith Transport. The Canadian National Railways operated under contract, a daily truck. ing service for L.C.L. freight and ex- press between Oshawa and Port Perry via Whitby, and it is stated by the dap- plicant that it is the intention of the railway to continue the above service, Counsel for' the respondents, in a brief submitted on behalf of the Town- ships of Whitby, Reach and Scugog, dnd the Village of Port Perry, in op- position to the application of the C. N. R. states as follows: "The Railway is a people's railway fiom the beginning. Whitby Town, stock ..... ++. $10,000 Whitby Town bonus ......... 60,000 Brooklin, Feb. 17, 1941] Whitby Township, bonus .... 15,000 Reach Township, bonus ...... 30,000 Scugog . Township, bonus 2,600 Port Perry, bonus .......... 20,000 These bonuses were given so that this territory would have a railway for all time. In addition, the railway is now part of the National System, which is nationally owned. The peo- ple now have a moral right to have the service continued _npon equitable grounds," It has been pointed out by the Board on other occasions, regardless of the payment of subsidies or of agreement, the Board has absolute jurisdiction to authorize the abandonment of opera- tion of any line of railway. If it had not, then the whole puropse behind the enactment of section 165A of the Railway Act would be nullified. The underlying principles applied and under which abandonments are considered can be found by referring to such cases as Municipality of Archies et al. v. C.P.R, Brandon, Sask., and Hudson Bay Ry. vs. Morden et el. The main issue for considera- tion in such cases is whether or not the inconvenience occasioned by the abandonment and consesuential loss to the public outweigh the burden that continued operation of the line would impose upon the railway. Having regard to all the factors in- volved in this application, in my opinion an Order should issue grant- ing the application. 2 J. A. Stoneman... I concur: J. A. Cross, Hugh Wardrope. i Order No. 60427 "It is ordered ihat the abandonment of operation of the Applicants' Port Perry Subdivision, in the Province of Ontario, between the Town of Whitby, and Village of Port Perry, a distance of 17.60 miles be, and it is hereby approved. Sd. J. A. Cross, Chief Commissioner. R. M. HOLTBY. APPRECIATION h (The Canadian Countryman) Courtesy and a Christie An incident related by Hugh Colson in the Holstein-Friesian Journal car- rics a couple of kernels . . . As the roaring 'twenties were booming to- wards their disastrous close, Bob Holtby (Holstein Fieldman for East- ern Ontario) sat at the ringside ot the Minnesota Holstein Company dis- persal sale, and acting for Hon. A. C. Hardy; of Brockville, Ont., bid $7,100 for May Walker .Inka Segis, All- American yearling heifer of 1926. Be- side him sat, quite by chance, Senor Eladio Susacta, of Santiago, Chile. Mr. Holtby was courteous to th South American visitor," and chatted with him about Canadian Holsteins. Nor was that all ... Mr. Holtby's bowler hat has become a personal trade. mark, much the same as Win- ston Churchill's cigar. We know, be- cause once Bob and we inadvertently traded toppers in the Rep's office at Carp, Ont. .The Holtby hat covered too much of our ears, while 'our size must have made the genial Robert ap- pear not quite his usual self, but any- way the situation was straightened out satisfactorily within a couple of days. . . . Senor Sugaeta needed no such experience to be impressed by Mr. Holtby's bowler, and this along with the accompanying courtesy and conversation helped bring Senors year, when they bought 400 Holstein cattle, , . The impression we make on some chance acquaintance or growing boy may ultimately. produce more than one kind of harvest, Echinque and Susaeta to Canada last" DNR on A | ~ SE a NT eRe AG » Den