SOCIAL CREDIT

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22444, 13 June 1936, Page 20

SOCIAL CREDIT

ALBERTA'S PROBLEMS

"UTMOST CONFUSION"

MR. ABERHART'S LEADERSHIP [from OUR OWN CO It I! ICS PON dknt] VANCOUVER, May '2O Tlio soc-ia 1 credit. Premier of Alberta, .Mr. William Aberhart, lias stated that lie will retire after one term in Parliament and return to liis teaching at the girls' high school in Calgary, the committee of which has retained him on its stall' as on leave of absence. Mr. Aberhart does not indicate how long his one term of oflico will hust. M ho state of public feeling in Alberta wonltl suggest that it will last not more than a year.

Mr. Aberhart and the province of Alberta are getting more publicity than any other public man or province in Canada. llis unorthodox methods and bitterness toward the Dominion Government have made him very didicult to approach. The authorities at Ottawa have been extraordinarily patient.. Any other provincial Premier would have been sharply disciplined if he indulged in the abuse that has become the daily routine of Mr. Aberhart. The whole of Canada feels sorry for Alberta, which alone, tinder its quaint Government, is holding itself outside the communion of the provinces. Burden of Sales Tax

The utmost confusion prevails. Hastily-conceived legislation was "steam rollered" through the Legislature by the unwieldy majority at kdmonton. These laws are now in force, as instalments of social credit. A sales tax of l 2 per cent was imposed a fortnight before the Federal Budget increased the sales tax from G to 8 per cent. Alberta residents are now paying 10 per cent on their purchases. In addition, they are subject to further increases on the cost of retail goods, due to the "just price" legislation, which fixes the price of all goods, with exemptions. Betailers say this fantastic piece of legislation adds 10 or 15 per cent to the prico of goods. Mr. Aberhart and his Ministers are opposing the Dominion at every turn of its administrative functions, while other provinces are co-operating, with the reservation of spasmodic outbursts against the higher sales tax. I'or example, the Alberta Premier says the allotment of relief subsidy and of public works subvention, made at Ottawa, is not nearly sufficient, although it is on the same basis as was made to other provinces, which have accepted it.

Public Debt Conversion The relations between the province and the Dominion are threatened by Mr. Aberhart's determination, next month, to attempt to convert the public debt of his province, £.52,000,000, to lower interest, without the Dominion guarantee that is to he accorded the general conversion of provincial debt, under the aegis of the new Federal Loan Council, which Mr. Aberhart alone refuses to accept. There is evidence of a split in the social credit Cabinet. How 'serious, it is diflicult to judge, apart from the rare public pronouncements Ministers are permitted to make. One member of the Aberhart Cabinet, on a visit to the United States, in a public address, said his Government intended to use scrip in paying workers in its road construction programme. Mr. Aberhart promptly denied that this had been - decided.

In spite of his demurrer, the Minister concerned repeated the statement in Canada when he learned of the amount allotted to Alberta for public works. In addition to this, a new member of the Cabinet, just sworn in, has been instructed to report on the question of scrip for wages, in connection with his commission to advise on the best means of introducing social credit. "Tax on Interest" When Mr. Aberhart announced his intention to retire, he coupled it with a threat to dispose ot' what he termed "the interest racket." Next day. one of his Ministers stated it was intended, by Order-iu-Council, to put a tax of 50 per cent on interest, to produce £5,000,000 a year, to pay an instalment of tlio social credit dividend. This also was denied by Mr. Aberhart, who said it had not been discussed by the Cabinet. The Minister countered with the statement that it had been informally discussed and approved by the party, and was obviously the surest means of producing the nucleus of the dividend. A movement is already on foot in Alberta to establish a nationalist party. At its head is the Conservative leader, who realises that only by a coalition of the United Farmers', Liberal and his own party would it be possible to disturb the hold, already weakening, which the fanatical social credit doctrines have on the people. The approach of next winter will see Mr. Aberhart and bis followers face the crucial test. Civil servants are already disgruntled at (he decline of provincial bonds, which they are obliged to accept in part-payment of their salary. One or two more defaults by the Government on its loans will throw this and other semi-public bodies into the arms of the Opposition. In the meantime, every Canadian is genuinely sorrv for the impasse in which Alberta finds itself.