The Leader-Post from Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada • 23

visit OL i w-wim THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 1963 Hir Leader-Post la published by The Leader-Post 1964 Park St Regina. William Thomson. Executive Vice-Piesidrnt; Tom Melville, Editor, Memoer of The Canadian Prose. Mr. Pearson General's succinct statement insists on medicare Prime Minister Pearson has decided to go ahead with the federal governments medical care plan despite the general opposition of the provinces.

Mr. Stanfield, the Opposition leader, made his strongest attack on the government since entering the House of Commons, saying it was folly to proceed with the plan in light of the attitude of the provinces and the present economic conditions. The acting leader of the Socreds said the government was wielding a big stick over the provinces, while Mr. David Lewis, speaking for the NDP, took the' socialist tack that compulsory medicare merely means the transfer of payment from private group medical plans to a government plan and the added costs would be a mere $80 million a year and not the $1 billion, estimated by the minister of finance. The Saskatchewan medicare plan fits into the federal plan and this province should receive in the neighborhood of $10 million from the federal treasury for the last half of this year.

British Columbia may also be ready with a suitable plan by July 1, and possibly a reluctant Nova Scotia. There could be a new federal tax, which would be part of the big stick over all provinces. For a start, the federal money to support the plan will come from the general revenues, which means that all Canadians will help pay for the plan, regardless of the number of provinces involved in it. It will be interesting to see if concessions are given to Quebec should some or all the other provinces eventually bow under the stick. Premier Johnson of Quebec has been blunt in declaring his province will have nothing to do with federal medicare and a new federal tax.

He will oppose the use of revenues to subsidize other provinces. Perhaps it is too simple to have a plan to look after those in need a minority and let the others look after themselves, which appears to be the wish of many of the provinces, particularly Ontario and Alberta, which, like Quebec, have said they do not intend to bow to Ottawa. At a time when the British government is turning from the unbearable costs of universal welfare to take a look at selectivity, Mr. Pearson is just a bit too determined to wield his stick. He has said he has no desire to put pressure on provinces that do not wish to enter at the start, but if a new federal tax or use of general revenues is not a pressure, what is it? Continuing need for NATO LONDON A British general has made as remarkable and succinct a statement of policy on the North Atlantic Treaty Organization as we have seen In a long time.

It Is, In fact, remarkable for more than its content. First, it comes from a serving British officer, Gen. Sir John Hackett, Commander of NATOs Northern Army Group. As he explains, he exercises operational command from Munchen-Gladbach in West Germany over "a Belgian, a Dutch, a German, and a British Corps and a Canadian Brigade Group." Second, General Ilacketts statement is in the form of a letter to The Times, of London. In Britain, serving officers do not make public policy statements.

A British commander in the field would not, for example, make public speeches such as those made by General Westmoreland when home, from Vietnam for consultations in the United States last November. Obviously, then, General Hacketts unusual letter must have been prompted by unusual circumstances. He says that he wrote it "with the knowledge and approval of the NATO command to which my own is subordinate. So perhaps it can be assumed that NATOs Supreme Command feels it necessary at this time to restate the case against permitting erosion of the organization either in the a of Frances defection, or consequent upon Britains military retrenchment, or simply because 1969 is the year when the organizations initial span might be considered to lapse. Briefly, General Hackett argues that what NATO is engaged upon here in Europe is peace-keeping by military stabilization.

He says that it is unfortunate that the stability in East-West relations in Europe which is of course a direct consequence of the establishment of NATO is so often described as detente. His apparent concern is lest use of this word produce apathy and a facile assumption that a continued NATO presence on the Western side of the dividing line is no 1 needed. General Hackett maintains: (1) that the present relatively low level of political stability in Central and Eastern Europe could diminish sufficiently far for a military emergency to develop; (2) that the Soviet military purpose, understandably, is to keep a military force in being in this area of sufficient size and capability to ensure that if a military emergency should develop the subsequent course of events would be guided in a manner solely to the interest of the U.S.S.R.; and (3) that the Western response to this be (a) to maintain suitably located a force able to ensure that in case of military emergency the Soviet force would be unable to guide events solely in the interest of the U.S.S.R., and (b) to guarantee that West Germanys legitimate defence needs be met in a military system in which West Germans do not themselves dominate. It would be hard to put things better. Christian Science Monitor.

Senate appointment By HARVEY STOCKW1N Loyalty and desire to please Secret of Japans success Senate, doing worthwhile tasks for Canada, but as long as the appointments continue to be political in nature, the cry, to reform or put the Senate into the cobwebs of history will get louder and louder. Putting a retirement age on Senators was only a step in the right direction. The federal government introduced a working paper to the provinces, prior to the recent constitutional conference, which outlined some proposals for reform. The paper said the Senate might well be reconstituted so as to enable it to play a new role in representing the federal character of our country changes in the method of appointments should be considered so that these will be related to the particular role and functions of an upper house in a federal form of government. The paper will be the subject of discussion, possibly at the next conference.

The appointment of Mr. Herb Sparrow of North Battleford to the Senate of Canada is the continuation of the practice of rewarding efforts on behalf of a political party and is further ammunition for those who think the Senate should either be reformed or done away with altogether. Mr. Sparrow is a prominent. North Battleford business man and no one will doubt his abilities in that direction or as a farmer.

Nor will they doubt that he will apply himself with vigor in his new position. The point of objection is that Mr. Sparrow has been very active in Liberal political circles in the province, is president of the Saskatchewan Liberal Association, and was twice, unsuccessfully, a candidate in provincial elections. That this had great bearing on his appointment is evident. There are many good men in the tion from a computer in Tokyo.

Not all Japanese are completely happy about Shinkansen, for it adds immeasurably to the already frantic pace of living in these overcrowded Japanese islands. When I went to Tokyo in the old days, said a friend, it was at least an overnight stop. Now I am expected to go and come back in one day. The Japanese are still furiously bent on catching up. One wonders how far ahead in many fields they will be before they lose this urge.

In high speed railway techniques, it is the rest of the world which has to do the catching up, though curiously many Japanese havent realized this. Of course there are many Shinkansens in Europe, is a reaction I have heard so often that it is not explainable merely in terms of Japanese modesty and politeness. But at least the Japanese are hurrying life along with taste and comfort. Their attention to this to things like the buffet-car speedometer is as striking as their technical progress. TOKYO The slow train from Tokyo to Osaka does the 316-mile trip in four hours.

The fast train does it in three hours ten minutes. The bullet-like expresses of Shinkansen, the New Tok-kaido Line, have proved that there is life in railways yet. You no longer save time taking a plane to Osaka. 1 Shinkansen is one of the most striking symbols of Japanese progress. Not only do you travel at 135 miles an hour without your coffee spilling, but in the buffet-car there is a speedometer to tell how fast youre going.

There is also a moving indicator showing just where you are between stations. You can phone from the train to the cities you are passing through. There are earthquake-measuring instruments at regular intervals along the line, which is built mostly on a viaduct cutting a straight swathe through the Kanto region. As soon as a certain level of disturbance is recorded, all trains in the sector, or on the whole line, come to a halt. There is one transistorized control signal-box for the whole line.

And at any station you can get a reserva- A dream nears reality Chinese influence Most of the express trains go to the cleaning sheds after every journey if, by chance, they dont get a thorough going-over in Tokyo or Shin Osaka stations. One begins to imagine that in every large-scale Japanese business there must be a tasteful details department. It would not be surprising if there were. Everybody worker or manager, cleaner or executive car9 for his company in a way that would be inconceivable elsewhere, is loyal to it as he was once loyal to the Emperor. This was brought home to me when I visited the Kora-kuen Stadium in Tokyo.

I went to watch the soccer crowd. The game was between a major oil company and the Tokyo municipality. The city council and the unions both chartered buses to take their workers to the game. Everybody joined in songs praising their workplace. Between 15,000 and 20,000 supporters, including wives and children, were supporting each organization.

There were cheerleaders and bands, group chants, songs, slogans and shouts. The game seemed incidental to the togetherness. The unspontaneous nature of the performance was as depressing as Shinkansen was uplifting. It indicated that continuing strength of group ties and loyalties in Japanese life. This is a complex phenomenon.

As one able Japanese social scientist said: Group attachments are today the cause of our success just as previously they were a cause of our failure." Or, as one friend from the perhaps too individualistic nation, the Phillippines, described it: Im seldom impressed by the Japanese as individuals, but I never fail to marvel at their teamwork. The main focus of loyalty is no longer the nation. It is the company, the school, the office, the home. The dedication of the Japanese National Railways employees produced Shinkansen as surely as the devotion to expansion produced Pearl Harbor 26 years ago. Gemini News Service nearer and means a great deal to campaign workers in terms of shortening the arduous hours of campaigning given for so long by so many dedicated workers.

There is still something in the neighborhood of $473,000 to be raised. With construction scheduled to begin in May and this latest service club contribution, indicating keen and continued citizen interest in the project, the dream of many years is now becoming reality. It is to be hoped that young Reginans who are looking forward to participating in projects in the new building, will not forget to be grateful to those who made the dream come true. The tireless YWCA board members refused to be discouraged by continuous -setbacks. They will share the credit with the generosity of individual citizens and service-minded organizations who have pledged more than a million dollars to date.

Their example, and particularly this latest one of the Kinsmen, may yet inspire others to come forward and shorten the distance to the final cash objective. The campaign for funds for the new YWCA has received new impetus through the announcement that the Queen City 'Kinsmen Club has shouldered complete responsibility for construction of the swimming pool for the new building. This project represents the largest undertaking the club has ever embarked on in its 41 years of existence. Estimated cost is in the neighborhood of $112,000, and represents the largest single contribution to date that the YWCA campaign fund has received. Swimming classes and YWCA work are as indivisible as bread and butter.

For many years the demand for swimming instruction has taxed to the limit the fapilities of the present small pool in the old YWCA building. The absolute necessity for an enlarged pool in the projected new building was recognized by the campaign committee and included in the budget, swelling the same to $1,885,000. The most generous gesture of the Kinsmen puts the objective that much Guatemala uneasy -Over possible civil war -In West Africa is necessary, physical liquidations. So far, this has not been reported necessary. Officials of the government and the one party, Union Soudanaise, have been major targets of the revolution in a land where 95 per cent of the 4,500,000 population are subsistence farmers and livestock herders.

The socialist revolution has run parallel to another, quite unsocialist, movement involving a series of agreements designed to bring back French support for the Mali franc. Mali in 1962 demonstrated its independence by leaving the franc zone. That meant France no longer backed its currency, and the Mali franc became worthless outside the country. Now France has agreed to back the franc as of March 31. It has demanded certain conditions, including a 50-percent devaluation last May that increased prices by 100 per cent in the face of a wage freeze.

The French demanded the Malians balance their budget and economize in state owned enterprises which owe about $40,000,000. Mali officials insist the return to French economic protection will not deter the country from what they fondly call socialist option. BAMAKO (AP) Austere Mali is waging a Chinese-flavored cultural revolution but is returning to the protection of the capitalist French franc. Mali ideologues call this Year Two of the Revolution. The 80-member National Assembly started it Jan.

16 by abruptly dissolving itself. The members bent to pressure from labor and youth leaders who claimed the legislators were corrupt and no longer representative of the popular will. President Modibo Keita, 52, revered by many, showed up at the assembly in a Mao Tse-tung style tunic he had acquired in Peking in 1964. Under his aegis, the Chinese are more active in Mali than anywhere else in West Africa. Estimates of Chinese in Mali range from 800 to 5,000, compared with about 500 Russians and 40 Americans.

Most of the Chinese work on Chinese supported development projects. There is doubt about the Chinese influence on the Malian cultural revolution. The Malis always have been a proud, go-it-alone sort. Red Guard-like youths have been told by Keita: Our revolution will be a violent revolution which will entail, if it Mendez government, originally pledged to carry out social and fiscal reforms, has been unable to do much more than fend for survival. In an effort to stem the violence, the government has imposed a state of alarm under which some constitutional guarantees are suspended and all security forces come under control of the interior minister.

Right-wing activists claim the armed forces are discontented, feeling the government has a soft attitude toward left wing extremists. They say Communists are everywhere in the administration. Other Guatemalans, challenging these claims, point out that far rightists have labelled as Communist even members of a U.S. aid mission here. The modern Pathan 20th century influence GUATEMALA CITY (AP)-Guatemalans are busily putting together all the ingredients that go into political upheavals.

There is increasing fear a government toppling tremor is not far off. The 29-month-old government of President Julio Cesar Mendez Montenegro, a middle-road lawyer, seems backed against the wall in the battle for survival against leftist and rightist extremists. A deadly little civil war has claimed more than 1,000 lives perhaps as many as 4,000 since Mendez took office. A step up in leftist terrorism is regarded generally here as evidence the Castrolte left, routed in mountain warfare during the last year, has opened an urban front with the remnants of its guerrilla forces. Five anti-Communist groups have formed into a single organization called Organization of Associations against communism, and have appealed for national support.

Theres anxiety among many Guatemalans for the lives of innocent citizens caught in the moves against Communists. Caught in the middle of this leftist rightist struggle, the TODAY IN HISTORY The United States battleship Maine was blown up-in Havana harbor 70 years ago today in 1898. Of the 350 men aboard, 252 were killed or drowned and eight died later. A court of inquiry was never able to fix the responsibility but the disaster stirred passions to the point where the United States went to war with Spain a little more than a month later. 1872 The first session of the British Columbia legislature opened.

1965 The Maple Leaf flag was first flown at Ottawa, 1 Cumbersome and outmoded. Acting Presi-. dent John Sword accepted this description of the University of Torontos disciplinary methods when he announced this week that a 10-man committee would review the broad question of discipline over both staff and students. The move is to be welcomed for many reasons, and the committee should be more effective than the one set up last year by President Claude Blssell. Three of its members will be students, and the experience of the Macpherson committee on undergraduate instruction should encourage Professor Ralph Campbell as chairman to hold open hearings.

Last year's committee foundered on this issue. The review is timely because several issues, such as the Varsity reprint of part of a viciously obscene article, the demonstrations against recruiters and the use of drugs on campus, have helped spotlight the weaknesses of the present system. It will also go some way toward reassuring outsiders, whose taxes support the universities, that both staff and students are prepared to put their own house in order. Toronto Clobo and Mall. Sometimes the law, or at least the interpretation of it, seems silly.

Take that case out in Vancouver as an example. A drunken driver hit two cars, pushed another car at speeds up to 70 miles per hour, slashed eight tires on parked cars and attacked with a knife a man in a cafe. He was in court on eight charges. On seven of these he won stays of proceedings, his couhsel convincing the court his client was so drunk as to bo "legally insunc. So he was convicted only of impaired driving.

The moral of the tale appears to be that if a driver is going to get drunk, the drunker the better. Yet the law is supposed to protect the public. Windsor Star. Studies have shown that the modern child, exposed to the blanket influence of television, has a bank of knowledge waiting to be tapped when he is three and four. In the U.S.

some children are started in appropriate classes at age three. They have, the specialists maintain, a latent vocabulary of 5,000 words waiting to be activated. Surely it would encourage the natural development of children to introduce them to school at four. They should be placed in classes specially designed for their age, rather than being left, as is too often the case, to linger at home, their curiosity unsatisfied and their abilities uninspired. Toronto Dully Star, The return of Mr.

J. C. Van Ilorne to the New Brunswick political scene was almost as difficult to understand as his election to the leadership of the provincial Progressive Conservative party. Ilia flamboyance was just too out of place to go down either with party or electorate. Not that politics arent lively in New Brunswick.

Far from it. Theyre taken with deadly seriousness in fact, and few were convinced that the unlikely Tory chief could ever take the serious approach required. There are places in Canadian life for men like Charlie. We have lots of them. But not as party leaders.

And certainly not In New Brunswick. Montrcul Star. 'O' PESHAWAR, Pakistan (Reuters) The 20th century is catching up fast with the Pathans of the old Northwest Frontier the hardy gun-slinging tribesmen who not long ago sniped at British regiments storming the Khy-beg Pass. The modern Pathan nowadays listens to a transistor radio set hanging from the horns of his oxen as he plows his fields. Hundreds of gaudily painted trucks and buses travel the blacktop road through the Khybcr into Afghanistan, owned and driven by descendants of the same Pathan marksmen who once made the pass hum with bullets Education, together with development plans, has catalyzed this change.

The Pathans, however, still cling to tradition. They go about swathed in bandoliers, with rifles, expertly manufac-ured In their own tribal gun factories, slung carelessly across their shoulders. Feuds still erupt and no Pathan farm house is complete without its high protective walls and a watch-tower with sharp shooter rifle-slits. More than 3,000,000 tribesmen still dwell around Peshawar in the tribal areas where tribal chieftains dispense traditional justice, imposing fines and assessing compensation. Pakistani political agents counsel the Maliks but the Pathans are largely free to live, and feud, as they will.

More than 200 new schools have been opened in tribal land around Peshawar during the last 20 and the plea to political officers is for more schools, hospitals, roads and electricity. The Pathans are interesting themselves in what goes on In the adjacent non-tribal areas and Pathan businessmen are buying property and entering the hotel trade. 4 "We have rights, too. Im getting fed up with all these gibes at complacency..