News from Nova Scotia

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXVI, Issue 23263, 4 February 1939, Page 12 (Supplement)

News from Nova Scotia

THERE are two ways to set out to reform the life of a country, states a London journal. The way of Stalin, Hitler and Mussolini is to try to spread reform over a whole country like a blanket without stopping to bother about how many people may bo stifled in tho process. The other way grows out of tho old Chinese saying that tho longest journey begins with a single step; it attempts to reform tho economic life of a single community by building up the co-opera-tive spirit of the people themselves. To nil those who are sorely troubled by the growth of cruelty and injustice in the Dictator States, wo recommend a review of the new life that is coming to the east coast of Nova Scotia. Distressed. Area It began when Father Tompkins look Little Dover, in the parish of Crtnso. under his care in 1923. Little I)o\er was a distressed area with a vengeance. A township of .'SOO people, it had neither horse nor cow; its children never saw milk. Many had not enough clothes to attend the poor, one-roomed school. Every family was receiving relief' in one form or another, eked out by three-halfpence a pound paid for thenlobster catch by canneries in tho United States. , , The people of Little Dover had come to accept abject poverty as their lot. Experts reviewing their situation said it was hopeless; they recommended that the whole community start life afresh in some more favoured place. But. why not make Little Dover a 'favoured place? said Father Tompkins. The . people themselves could do it if someone would show • them tile way. And there was St. Francis Xavier University near by, from which to get hell). Study Clubs First, many had to bo taught to rend, for these wore a backward people, and while this was going on the men and women were brought together in the evening in study clubs, it was a long, slow process, building up the morale and the initiative of these underfed people to the point where thev could themselves see what was_ wrong and what, could be done about it. For eight years Father Tompkins worked on, and in 1931 the seed he had planted took root. Little Dover decided that it needed a co-operative cannery to tin

its own fish and so keep tho profits at home. , , ~ There was no lack of timber, but it had to be felled and hauled, and by hand. Rock for the foundation had to be brought in the name way; there still was no horse. The men banded together and did it. Their factory built, they offered it as security to a bank, asking to borrow £2OO lor machinery. Hut the bank, not impressed by this hand-hewn building, refused the loan. Finally a friend was found willing to risk his money on, the fine spirit ol these people and the factory was completed. Debt Paid Off The first year of its life it brought in £BOO, so the debt was paid off, and the fishermen of Little Dover were able to increase the price they paid themselves for their catch by a halfpenny a pound. The next winter their children had better boots, and more went to school. Another teacher was sent for to deal with the increase.

Expenses, however, were high. What could be done about that? A co-opera-tive shop! This was opened. Here fish nets were 16s cheaper, nails and rope were down by twopence a pound. These savings meant the difference between poor meals and good ones. Must the (children of Little Dover go without milk for ever? No! They clubbed together and bought a herd of goats to give milk. Other towns and villages along tho j coast, seeing tho transformation in 'Little Dover, asked how they could set about pulling themselves up by their own boots straps, as it were, and the Francis Xavier University formed its Extension Department to give tliein the help that they wanted. Housing Scheme Thus it has conic about that one community has. built itself a wharf anil a lumber mill, and provided its children with the possibilities of a high school education; a poultry-raising district has formed a "pool" and brought up the standard of poultry from last place to first, and this district has also chartered a ship to bring flour from the Great Lakes, saving £I6OO in one year. Tho co-operative purchase of fertilisers also saves them an average of £SOOO a year. A coal-miming community has drawn up a plan for a housing scheme, and bought the land for it. The houses are to belong to the individual families, but the tennis courts, barn, and hen-houso arc for the use of all.

Throughout eastern Nova Scotia the seed that Father Tompkins planted and

tended so patiently in Little Dover has now borne fruit in the form or iUo credit unions, 17 lobster canneries, 2b co-operativo stores, and a revival ot interest in. cottage industries all along the coast. , , The spirit of neighbourliness has made possible these remarkable improvements in the economic life of these people. The habit of co-operation leads to stories with happy endings, like that of Mr. Mac Isaac, who was earning Jus living running a lorry bought with borrowed money when ho was taken ill and had to go to the hospital. Instead of taking possession of the lorry because he could no longer make payments on it, the credit union of neighbours from whom he had borrowed the money hired a man to take Mr. Maclsaac's place on the lorry while he was laid up, paid themselves their regular instalments, and gave the remainder of the lorry » earnings to the Maclsaac family to live on. Bv the time the father wa9 able to work again he found his family healthy aiyi happy and himsjlf out ol debt! , ~ May it not be that this democratic method of rebuilding society from the bottom up will go farther and last longer than all the grandiose plans ot tvrants and dictators? This news from Nova Scotia is encouraging indeed.