\ BENSON JOHNSTON, Publisher HE STRATFORD MIRROR Published Weekly by the Stratford Mirror Press, 123 Ontario St. DAVID RAE, Manager re area =o Vol. 24 Circulation 4,200 STRATFORD, JUNE 7, 1946 No. 23 --_--_--_ New Labour Laws Needed The wisdom of past and present civic planners in encouraging a wide diversification of industry in Strat- ford is very apparent today. While other centres, built around one or two types of heavy industry, are either paralyzed by strikes or brac- ing themselves to stand the shock of imminent labour strife, this city is free from even the threat of local trouble. But nevertheless the re- sults of labour unrest throughout the Dominon are keenly felt here and should be of grave concern to every citizen. i Present labour laws seem entirely unsuited to present-day conditions and the government, instead of be-| ing a supreme arbiter, has to take _ the role of an incapable meddler. It is a sorry state. Two glaring examples are in the news today. The strike of seamen on inland shipping is the more tragic and apparently senseless. Just what are the issues at stake no one out- side of the union bosses and com- pany officials seems to know. Even the Labour Department appears to be threshing around in the dark, powerless to come to grips with a problem that is disrupting the whole Canadian economy at a most critical time. The other, of less interest or con- cern to the general public, but just as important in its implications, in- volves printers in various units of the Southam chain of newspapers. The International Typographical Union to which the affected printers belong, is one of the oldest unions on the continent. Strictly a craft - union as opposed to the newer, all- inclusive labour prganizations more recently formed, it has a long record for fair dealing and reasonable out- look that has been of immense benefit to both printers and publish- ers alike. It is by far the best run and most democratically controlled union in North America. That such an organization should be forced to take the drastic steps it has in order to win security for its members is a severe criticism of the laws gov- (Continued on page 4) ~ Scouts Salvage Drive Tomorrow "Any rags, bones, bottles today" _ The old cry will be taken up again by the Stratford Boy Scouts when they stage their regular monthly salvage drive tomorrow afternoon. With the holday season fast ap- proaching, this will be the last sal- vage collection until next September so citizens are urged to clear out their cellars and attics and give the boys plenty of loot to drag away. Paper, rags and cardboard are the items that the Scouts will be hoping to find stacked on the curb When they come down your street tomor- row. The collection will start at 1.30 "p.m. and will cover every street in Stratford. The entire proceeds from the sale of any materials collected will be used to further Boy Scout work in this city. So help the Boy Scouts. Have your salvage on the eurb tomorrow. AS I SEE IT BY ELMORE PHILPOTT - EDITOR'S NOTE: The Mirror is pleased to announce that it will publish the weekly column by Elmore Philpott entitled As I See It. Nationally recognized as a foremost writer, editor and radio news analyst, Mr. Philpott's comments are often con- troversial but never dull. We are sure that this new feature will be welcomed by Mirror readers. NOBODY DENIES the gravity of the world food shortage. Yet some great mysteries remain. ; How is it that there is literally a glut of surplus food in Denmark which cannot be sold--while just a few miles away people are starving? * * a SCANDINAVIAN READERS have been sending me clippings from their homeland newspapers to prove a food surplus. One is a large dis- play advertisement in the important Danish paper, Politiken, showing great piles of cheeses. ..It reads: "Because we cannot arrange export, we offer 15 tons of Vestenkov Ost (cheese) at 2 kroner per kilogram. Maximum permitted home price 4.55 kroner." : y Another Copenhagen paper, Aalborg Amstitende, says (April 3): 'Despite starvation in a number of European countries nearing catas- trophe, Danish farming officials are seriously considering curtailing flow of cattle for slaughter. Cold storage plants are so choked with frozen meat that it is impossible to find room for another carcass. "The Foreign Department, and interested organizations, have done everything possible to arrange export--but so far this has been in vain. Nobody can or will buy it. ao say, : "Denmark has tried to persuade UNRRA to change the distributing lists so that Danish meat could be sent to Italy, Portugal, Greece--coun- tries that would like the meat, but who cannot get permission to obain it. "Tt is absolutely impossible to understand when, every day, we read in our papers about the hunger in Europe, and about one charity drive after another to alleviate the hunger, yet we cannot get rid of those very things the masses are starving for. "The President of the West Jutland Fishermen's Association declares: 'We have 1000 sea-going boats--but only 10 per cent. of them are allowed to sell their catch, because of Denmark's quotas. The other 900 sea-going boats are laid up, with the seas teeming with fish, and millions starving. Is not this completely crazy?" A THE PEOPLE OF CANADA are being begged to make sacrifices for Europe--and are willing to do so. Yet reports like the above are too numerous, too disturbing, to ignore. The UNRRA set-up seems to be clumsy and inflexible. There is apparently no provision for UNRRA to buy for cash the huge food surplus Denmark has. Yet countries Ike Italy, Austria and Greece cannot do so out of their own money resources. The first charge on their national budgets is the cost of the armies of occupation. The disgraceful thing is that the U.S. still has its huge hoard of idle gold buried at Fort Knox. It could buy today the entire 1946 Danish food surplus and never know the difference. 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SIMBA RBERY OVEN EVO VOL OCOS ELEC AVEC OC OVEN GE OVAL OC ECON OPENER OV ON OV OPEN ENOTES Commission Secures Homes For Veterans Distressed by the lack of housing accommodation for veterans which has taken the glow out of the home coming of so many returning soldiers, the Stratford Industrial Commission has been striving val- iantly to fill the breach. Through its efforts accommodation has beem -- found for sixty-six veterans and their families, all within a period of a few months. It is an achievement of which the Commission can be justly proud. However the task is far from fin- ished. Veterans are still coming home; brides are arriving from over= seas impatient to set up housekeep-- ing in the new land. And homes have not been found even for all the first. arrivals. The Industrial Commission is very' grateful to all those citizens who: have opened up their hearts and' homes to help fulfill our obligations: to the returning men. Even many out-of-town residents have come forward to offer help, although transportation difficulties have oftem made its acceptance impossible. But the Commission asks every citizen who can spare two or three rooms suitable for light housekeeping to get in touch with R. W. Hardwick by telephoning 922. In this way any accommodation that is suitable will be made available to veterans and 'their families. Teachers Federation Promotes FineSeries In keeping with the eminently successful series of concerts they sponsored in the 1945 season, the Perth County Music Teachers' Fed- eration has arranged a new series that bids fare to provide the musical highlights of the fall and winter months. Three outstanding perform- ances have been booked and mem- berships aye now being made avail- able to the public. Perhaps the most outstanding and best known locally of the artists en- gaged is Todd Duncan, great Negro baritone whose talents and person- ality have made him one of the lead- ing figures in the American musical world. The original "Porgy" of Gershwin's "Porgy and Bess', he has deserted the stage of late years to devote himself entirely to concert work. No one fortunate enough to have heard him in his previous ap- pearance in Stratford some years ago will miss this opportunity to hear him again. : Lubka Kolessa, recognized as one of the greatest pianists of our time, is the second artist engaged for this series. A great favourite in the con- cert halls of Vienna, Berlin and Munich in the days before the war, she has attained even greater pop= -- ularity since coming to America. Her brilliant performances have thrilled audiences throughout the nation and will no doubt give great pleasure to those who hear her here. To round out the series the Fed- eration has engaged the famous Pirani trio, a musical organization of © recognized brilliance. Consisting of Max Pirani, pianist, Leila, Pirant, violinist, and Boris Hambourg, cel- list, this instrumental trio has taken a commanding place in the field of ae chamber music.