POLITICS IN CANADA

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXX, Issue 21618, 10 October 1933, Page 13

POLITICS IN CANADA

CRITICS OF GOVERNMENT .TWO OPPOSITION GROUPS NOVA SCOTIA ELECTIONS f [lr.o.u our own correspondent] VANCOUVER, Sept.. 13 The Nova Scotia elections, in which n Conservative regime of eight years' standing was decimated by the Liberal Party, reflect the political restlessness of (lie. whole country. British Columbia will to the polls shortly, and it is certain that the Conservative Government will bo defeated. Two reasons aro assigned t:> tho change. Mr. Mackenzie King, who has spent half the summer addressing Prairie picnics while farmers aro waiting for the wheat to head up for tho harvest, says it is a sign of revolt Against Mr. Bennett's Conservative tule at Ottawa. The more generally accepted view is that any Government, going to tho people jus", now, is assured of defeat, as the country i<j unsettled, after a losing battlo with depression for three years.

Provincial Governments have adopted soma unique, irritating taxation experiments, such as tho wtge tax and the meal tax, 111 their search for revenue.' Tho meal tax luu been quashed by tho Courts. Tho wago tax is duo for a severe test. The fuel oil tax has been declared "ultra vires" by the Privy Council. Tho gasoline tax, which has laid up thousands of r-ars in tho past two years, is universally condemned. The irritation extends also into the Federal sphere of taxation. Appearance of Third Part/ Eager ,to exploit this discontent, both Federal Opposition groups are actively campaigning, although there is little likelihood of an election within two years. The issue is clouded by tho ooise associated with the emergence of a third party. The Conservatives follow their traditional policy oi providing generous tariff protection for domestic manufactures. The existing economic and social order, in their view, is quite safe, subject to moderate readjustment. The Liberal Party demands tariff reform, reciprocity with tho United States —which wrecked Sir Wilfred Laurier's Government over 20 years ago—and a chango in banking practice, to cheapen money, mainly 011 the Prairie.

Tho Commonwealth' Co-operative Federation, still in the debating society stage, is navigating as close to Communism as it dare. Its firtt convention, held recently, was a confusion of voices, with extreme radicalism tho loudest. It is running with the farmer, as well as tho worker. But its plan to socialise production met spirited agrarian opposition until it exempted the farm from confiscation. Its candidates, in their first contest, in Nova Scotia, lost their deposits.

Both the Liberals and the Commonwealth Co-operative Federation want a central bank. The ir recital of what it would do to set Canada 011 its feet moved Professor Gregory, the noted English economist, who was at tho Pacific Conference at Banff, to observe that tho central bank was being asked to do the impossible. Lord Macmillan, presiding over the Royal Commission on Banking, heard the same flights of fancy, in the evidence given on the Prairie, and may be expected to Bound a similar warning. Wheatgrowern' Prospects

But the Canadian wheatgrower is (emerging from tho slough of despond. Mr. Bennett "bonused" his wheat production, and guaranteed him a fixed minimum value for the pound, sit only a. shilling below the pre-depressioii parity. "An Act of God" —Mr. Bennett's phrase—saved the Dominion Treasury from paying out millions on this guarantee. The world wheat agreement, with its 200 000,000-bushel export quota for Canada, and its fixed price—at a figure higher than the farmer dreamed was possible—did the rest. His outlook was never brighter. Three months from now, when he is handling plenty of cash for a good crop, ho will have no quarrel with the banking structure. Tho natural forces of recovery, unattended by tho stir that marks the effort at revival across tho international border, will dissipate much of the flamour indulged in by Mr. Bennett's critics. In four months 200,000 new jobs have been found. A continuance of the present steady rato of progress -will bring prosperity nearer. With prosperity comes forgetfulness of tho past. The task of unseating tho Administration will bo more difficult.