bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Canadian Federalism and the United Nations
Authors: Eayrs James
Published: June 2006

More than three years ago, Professor H. F. Angus published an article entitled: “The Canadian Constitution and the United Nations Charter.” In it he sought to show that the Canadian constitution, which provides for a division of legislative powers between the federal government and the governments of the provinces, will hamper the Dominion in its conduct of foreign affairs in the post-war world. In particular, he predicted that existing constitutional arrangements will obstruct Canada from fulfilling in a responsible manner certain international obligations incurred under the Charter of the United Nations. The immediate causes of this situation are threefold: the assignation by the British North America Act of topics with which international legislation may be concerned to the exclusive jurisdiction of provincial legislatures; the obsolescence of Section 132 of that Act, which governs the treaty-making powers of the Dominion government; and the juridical opinions on the ability of the Dominion government to implement international legislation which were handed down by the Privy Council and which, with the exception of the war years, have governed the situation ever since. One other factor serves to aggravate the problem: the growing importance of international legislation since 1945. Social and economic problems, no longer local or even national in scope, are now of international importance, and require international action for their solution. The recognition by the nations of the world of this fact and its implications is in part indicated by their decision to create the United Nations, its commissions, sub-commissions and affiliated agencies. It is more imperative today than ever before that members of the United Nations be both ready and able to ratify international legislation which the world organization promulgates. Canada may be ready, but she is certainly not able, to provide such implementation.
The Case for Increasing the Price of Gold in Terms of All Currencies: A Contrary View
Authors: Johnson Harry G.
Published: June 2006

In the past year there has developed a strong campaign for a devaluation of all currencies in terms of gold, a campaign in which the narrowly self-interested arguments of the gold producers have been augmented by the arguments of those who see a rise in the world price of gold as a painless way of solving the present international monetary disequilibrium. The obvious special pleading of the former, and the ignorance or naiveté of the monetary opinions of the latter, should have been sufficient to reveal the weaknesses of the case; but surprisingly enough the arguments for a higher price of gold have been allowed to pass practically unchallenged, with the consequent danger that by sheer reiteration the advocates of the scheme will secure an unthinking acceptance of their proposals.

The writer does not deny that a rise in the world price of gold would be of some benefit not only to the gold producers, but also to the non-American world generally; obviously any measure which increases the price which America is willing to pay for imports will provide more dollars for the rest of the world economy. But it is his contention that the arguments which have so far been advanced in support of the measure are of a dubious or fallacious nature, in large part attributable to a lack of understanding of the problems involved; that the arguments over-estimate the gains and under-estimate the difficulties that would follow a rise in the price of gold; and that consequently it would be a major error of policy for the British and other European authorities to commit themselves to a request for a higher price of gold as a substitute for more fundamental international economic reforms. These contentions are substantiated by an examination of the case for increasing the world price of gold, to which the remainder of this article is devoted.
Political Participation and the Organization of the Cooperative Commonwealth Federation in Saskatchewan
Authors: Lipset S. M.
Published: June 2006

Various observers of the North American scene have called attention to the problem of mass passivity and political apathy in our culture. Myrdal has pointed out that the masses in America “are accustomed to being static and receptive. They are not daring but long for security. They do not know how to cooperate and how to pool risks and sacrifices for a common goal. They do not meet much. They do not organize. They do not speak for themselves: they are the listeners in America. They seldom elect representatives from their own midst to Congress, to state legislatures or to city councils. They rather support friendly leaders from the upper strata, particularly lawyers.”

Myrdal's description of American mass passivity is an accurate one for most parts of the United States and Canada. There are, however, certain areas on this continent where the political behaviour of the people contradicts the assertion that the American lower economic classes, the workers and farmers, are politically apathetic. The Wheat Belt regions of the United States and Canada have repeatedly given rise to large-scale “class-conscious” political organizations which were genuine mass movements. The Greenback, Populist, and Non-Partisan League organizations in the United States, and the Progressive party and the Cooperative Commonwealth Federation (C.C.F.) in western Canada involved large numbers of people in agrarian political action. The recent success of the C.C.F. in attaining power in the Wheat Belt province of Saskatchewan is the latest instance of a mass North American “people's party.”
Newfoundland's Entry into the Dominion
Authors: Mayo H. B.
Published: June 2006

In view of Newfoundland's long tradition of separation from Canada, and its rich heritage of anti-confederation feeling, how does it happen that union has come about on March 31 of this year? The answer is best seen as it emerges from the background of recent events in Newfoundland.

Faced with imminent default in the early nineteen-thirties, the Newfoundland government resorted to all the traditional tactics, such as reductions in the salaries of civil servants and teachers, and increases in the rates of the customs tariff; and under the spur of necessity resorted to more ingenious measures. The stream of willing foreign lenders had dried up by 1932, and the government fell back upon temporary loans from Canadian banks, upon a deal with the Imperial Oil Company, and upon joint advances from the governments of the United Kingdom and Canada. When to these was added a controller of the treasury, Newfoundland had in fact lost full control of its finances, and hence of its political destiny, even before self-government was formally abrogated.

It was in the midst of this desperate situation in 1933 that the Royal Commission presided over by Lord Amulree was appointed, at Newfoundland's request, “to examine into the island's future and finances.” The Commission duly found bankruptcy imminent, and the debt burden beyond the capacity of the island to carry. Newfoundland's public debt had grown but slowly in the nineteenth century and early part of the twentieth. Including $13 million added for war purposes, by the beginning of the nineteen-twenties, the debt stood at only $43 million. More spectacular increases occurred after 1920, the total debt being more than doubled in the space of twelve years. Throughout this period the average annual deficit was some $2 million, including losses on operation of the railway system which, early in the decade, passed from private hands to government ownership. The current deficits, together with capital expenditures upon public works, were covered by borrowing from abroad at interest rates from 5 to 6½ per cent, to the extent that in each year some $4.8 million was added to the public debt, which by 1933 reached nearly $100 million. This was the period when, according to the Amulree Commission, the country “was sunk in waste and extravagance,” and displayed “a reckless disregard for the dictates of financial prudence.”
Some French Contributions to Economic Theory
Authors: Lamontagne Maurice
Published: June 2006

The purpose of this paper is to present a review of French economic thought. It has, however, definite limitations as to content and scope. First of all, it is restricted to the field of economic theory, because it was simply impossible to cover the other subjects of economic science. It is also limited in its scope, since many economists are not even mentioned. It deals especially with the contributions which, although not widely known, are important in the development of economic theory. Going beyond a simple restatement of the theories as originally expounded by their authors, it seeks to stress points of real interest for us. The following analysis is also purely descriptive; scarcely any criticism will be made of the works reviewed. Finally, in order to avoid subjectivism, which is always possible in essays of this kind, we will use the method of quoting abundantly from the original sources, a method less brilliant, perhaps, than summarizing but certainly more objective, offering, as it does, more direct contact with the authors themselves.

French contributions to modern economic theory may be viewed as a long cycle containing several phases. The first phase, extending from the Physiocrats to Walras, is marked by important developments which are at the origin of all the modern schools of thought. The second phase, which the outbreak of the Second World War brought to a close, is a period of decline; that downward movement can be explained, as we shall see, by several factors. Finally, many signs of revival have appeared in recent years.
Some Peculiarities of Cabinet Government in Prince Edward Island
Authors: MacKinnon Frank
Published: June 2006

The adaptability of the British form of cabinet government to local conditions in many lands is illustrated in a unique fashion in Prince Edward Island. The same type of executive which governs in the large and populous parts of the Commonwealth has developed in miniature in the tiny and isolated province which boasts a land area of only 2,184 square miles and a population of little more than 93,000 persons; and, on the whole, it has worked extremely well. Broadly speaking, most of the principles associated with cabinet government elsewhere are recognized in theory on the Island. The familiar steps in the development of responsible government have taken place in much the same way as in other provinces. The idea is generally accepted that the Cabinet is a team operating on the basic principles of mutual confidence and solidarity among its members, collective responsibility to the Crown and to the legislature, and popular endorsation through the electoral machinery and the political party. The peculiarities of cabinet government in Prince Edward Island lie not in the principles, but in the way some of the principles have been altered, sometimes almost beyond recognition, to meet local conditions and political expediencies, and in the occasional reversion to colonial practices which have long been considered extinct. These features are manifest in the Cabinet's composition, procedure, solidarity and responsibility, and judicial functions.
Political Economy and Enterprise
Authors: Easterbrook W. T.
Published: June 2006

There is much talk in our time about freedom and economists have not been silent on the subject. It is apparent that in discussing the meaning and conditions of freedom they are moving beyond the limits of economics “proper” into the realm of political economy, which as O. H. Taylor has recently pointed out “… involves the latter [economic science] plus all other social or human sciences, plus philosophical, ethical and political reflection, plus thoughtful study of human history.” And since freedom involves value judgments, “ … is itself an ethical category …,” economics, in so far as economists concern themselves with freedom, cannot be regarded as a neutral science. There are deep waters here, deeper than many of freedom's advocates seem to realize. It is argued in this paper that while many economists writing about freedom will pay lip-service to the ideal of political economy as described by Professor Taylor, the strong tendency to remain economic scientists in thought and method is likely to produce in the end a flabbier economics and very little new light on freedom.

An approach very common in economic literature is to identify extremes of (i) freedom in thought and behaviour and (ii) authoritarian control, and then to suggest some happy middle way, preferably one which combines the “best” features of each. Freedom is identified with change, uncertainty and “progress” (these somehow identified with competition in free markets) and its absence with concentrations of power which threaten essential liberties. The problem appears to be that of reconciling liberty with stability, freedom of competition with an unseemly demand for security. To make the best of both worlds there must be some planning for stability, but not too much planning because it is so debilitating. Extremes must be avoided, some compromise sought; it is as simple as that.
Some Theoretical Schemes of Proportional Representation
Authors: Black Duncan
Published: June 2006

We have already considered the election of a single candidate to represent a constituency. Now we turn to the problem of choosing the group of representatives who will best reflect the political opinions held throughout a country or constituency. The desirability of proportional representation, ceteris paribus, we take to be self-evident; a change in the electoral system that makes the legislative bodies more truly reflect the citizens' opinions will certainly be desirable, provided the party system and the system of cabinet government remain as effective after the change as they had been before. Of course, the source of difficulty, the opponents of proportional representation would add, is that when proportional representation is introduced other things do not remain the same: instead a degeneration of the party and cabinet system sets in.

These “dynamic changes” include alterations in party structure, a heightening or lessening of the political interest of the voters, alterations in the type of persons who stand for Parliament, new problems of cabinet formation, and increased or lesser control by the electorate over the course of government. And we readily concede that these are the aspects of the problem that it is most important to investigate to decide whether proportional representation would, in practice, do good or harm. The present paper will make no reference to them, and is not, indeed, much concerned to answer the broad question of whether proportional representation would, in any particular circumstances, be a good thing or a bad thing. A proper scientific procedure permits the treatment in isolation of particular aspects of each wider problem; and our concern is with the “statics” of the problem. (We only consider one or two small dynamic changes which are intimately connected with the course of the argument.)
The Territorial Waters of Newfoundland
Authors: Gushue Raymond
Published: June 2006

The use of the term “territorial waters” herein is that generally applied in international law to the strip of water where the open sea washes the edge of the land territory of a state, within which strip the state has certain jurisdiction over its own nationals and those of other states. It does not include more extensive strips of water over which some states have asserted jurisdiction for certain purposes over their own nationals or in which, by treaty, adjoining states have asserted jurisdiction over the nationals of both.

There is no generally accepted rule of international law which may be regarded as universally applicable with respect to the right of dominion or jurisdiction over a particular belt of ocean adjacent to a country. It may be said at the beginning, however, that most countries have abandoned the old theory of Mare Clausum, under which coastal waters were sometimes fixed at sixty miles, one hundred miles, two days' journey, etc., from the shore, and under which claims were also made by agreement between two or more countries over an ocean common to them. In the decision of the Permanent Court of Arbitration at the Hague (1910), a member of the Tribunal referred to Selden's doctrine of Mare Clausum and to certain ancient treaties based upon it as “wild, obsolete claims over the common ocean which all nations have of old abandoned with the progress of an enlightened civilization.” In the early nineteenth century Russia claimed the Behring Sea as Mare Clausum. This was protested by Great Britain and the United States of America, and in treaties in 1824 and 1825 with the United States of America and Great Britain respectively, Russia recognized that “jurisdiction in the said Sea should be regarded as the reach of a cannon shot from the shore.” It may be of interest to note, however, that the theory is not entirely dead, for within even recent years Russia has applied it to the White Sea, with such effect that Norwegian sealing ships can no longer operate in this area.
Elite Groups: A Scheme for the Study of Power in Canada
Authors: Porter John
Published: June 2006

Gaetano Mosca, in his work which has been translated as The Ruling Class, engaged in an extensive criticism of the democratic theory that stems in particular from Rousseau. In the light of the historical evidence which he considered important he concluded:

Among the constant facts and tendencies which are to be found in all political organisms one is so obvious that it is apparent to the most casual eye. In all societies—from societies that are meagerly developed and have barely attained the dawnings of civilization, down to the most advanced and powerful societies—two classes of people appear—a class that rules and a class that is ruled. The first always the less numerous, performs all political functions, monopolizes power and enjoys the advantages that power brings, whereas the second, the more numerous class is directed and controlled by the first ….

Mosca, of course, is but one of a long line of writers who have tried to show that as an explanation of the power processes democratic theory is absurd. At the same time, however, most of these anti-democratic writers grant that there is, in all human beings, a compelling sentiment that justice and equality should temper power; that the masses should enforce some restraint on their leaders; and that government always involves some kind of consent of the governed. Those who bring an empirical method to the study of power are frequently condemned on the ethical grounds that they seek to justify some kind of tyranny, but what they do more than anything else is to show up the realities of power. Only after some examination of a power system has been made, can it be determined whether or not that system conforms to some ethical ideal. The ideals which are widespread in the Western democracies are, first, that there is popular participation in decision-making; and, second, that the class system is open, that is, that recruitment to positions of power is the result of personal achievement in a competitive society.
The Theory of the Consumer Price Level
Authors: Weintraub Sidney
Published: June 2006

The theory of prices developed by Keynes in the General Theory is always likely to appeal strongly to the student approaching the subject from the side of value theory for in his analysis customary supply-demand categories are reaffirmed. Yet, despite its insights, his analysis here is incomplete: although there is a fairly detailed account of the supply curve the chapter is vague on the exact composition of the corresponding demand function. This paper reviews the problem, constructs an appropriate demand-supply apparatus, and uses it to analyse the determination of the price level of consumer goods, as measured by index numbers. It appears, however, that the same technique can be extended to explain the price level of investment goods if certain of the functional connections are modified.

The essential distinction between the analysis of the firm (or industry) and the analysis of the economy is that in the former supply and demand can be regarded as independent, whereas in the latter interdependence must be stressed from the very beginning. Causally, however, it is usually argued that the initial impetus comes from the supply side. Factors are viewed as being paid for by reason of entrepreneurial decisions to hire them for productive uses, and resource owners as thereafter expending these earnings, in whole or in part, on the forthcoming consumer good output. Viewing this as the essential proposition descriptive of the economic process, let us develop its implications for the theory of the price level.
British Labour's Lobby, 1867–75
Authors: McCready H. W.
Published: June 2006

The years 1867–75 were ominous ones in the history of British trade unionism; they were also years of some of its greatest successes. The renewal in 1867 of trade union violence and murder by the Saw-Grinders of Sheffield created a widespread demand for suppression or at least investigation of the unions; and in the same year the Court of Queen's Bench in the case of Hornby vs. Close questioned the legality of unions and denied their funds the protection of the law. Legislation of some kind was certain to follow from these events and organized labour was therefore faced with a serious situation. The Conservative Government of the day decided to proceed by way of Royal Commission and it was only after the organization and practices of the unions had been examined exhaustively over a period of almost two years in 1867–9 that the first steps were taken in the direction of new legislation. Even then the Government—the first Gladstone administration had come to power—moved with exasperating slowness and the unions were kept uncertain of their fate until 1871. But the Liberal enactments of that year did not dispose of the problem; only with R. A. Cross's acts of 1875 were British trade unions set upon their modern foundations. Though long delayed, the two instalments of reform, in 1871 and 1875, constituted a complete success for the unionists, the first great legislative victory won by organized labour and a forecast of its power in the twentieth century.
Membership Participation in Policy-Making in the C.C.F.
Authors: Engelmann Frederick C.
Published: June 2006

The Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (C.C.F.) claims to open all its policy-making agencies and channels to its dues-paying membership. This very claim runs counter to what is usually considered the proper operation of political parties. Most groups of active supporters, if they enrol in a party at all, do so primarily for the purpose of closer identification and to lend more substance to their support, but not in order to determine the party's affairs. Even in the case of the major U.S. parties where voters enrol as members with the purpose of helping to nominate candidates, and of those interest-based parties such as the British Labour party and the Mouvement Republicain Populaire, where the party consists of constituent organizations with dues-paying members, the claims of the members to participate in the direction of party affairs receive little support from party theorists. And even where the legitimacy of an assertion by members of a right to participate in policy-making receives consideration, we find at once an insistence that apathy toward public affairs on the part of most people renders widespread membership participation in policy-making nugatory, and that parties, engaged as they are in a struggle for political power, demand in their operations secrecy, flexibility, and unity, none of which permits the kind of open policy-making in which lay members can freely participate.

Policy-making in the two major parties in Canada follows the traditional parliamentary pattern. The parliamentary leader is responsible for the initiation and execution of policy, which he discusses with advisers of his own choosing.
Changes in the Structure of Canada's International Trade
Authors: Slater David W.
Published: June 2006

This paper deals with long-run changes in the structure of Canadian external trade. By structure is meant the magnitude, content, direction, and “terms” of trade. The paper is focused mainly on commodity trade rather than on all international transactions, and on long-run or secular changes rather than on the business cycle or other short-run concerns. The period of study is the “half-century” 1896–1950, and it permits some observation on recent controversies in the theory of international economic adjustment, such as the discussion of Graham's Theory of International Values.
Welfare and Direct Taxation
Authors: Koo Anthony Y. C.
Published: June 2006

Discussion of the issue of the welfare effects of direct, as compared with indirect, taxes have been greatly clarified by the recent contributions of Mr. Little and Professor Friedman. Both of them show that the usual method of using indifference curves to prove the superiority of income tax over sales tax makes “no overt reference to marginal costs. Yet it is well known that nothing can be proved without some such reference.” They employ an alternative mode of analysis which is designed to take account of conditions of cost of production.

Before the appearance of their articles, Professor Boulding showed the comparative welfare effects of proportional, progressive, and regressive income taxes by the use of indifference curves. His conclusion is that, even if the same amount of revenue is exacted, an individual is better off under a proportional than under a progressive income tax and still better off under a regressive one. Friedman questions the validity of Boulding's result because he thinks Boulding is one of those who base their arguments on a fallacious proof, although Friedman does not set out his criticism in detail. Since Boulding's results, if valid, are of great significance and since the weak point of his analysis cannot be derived directly from Friedman's contributions, it is the purpose of this paper to show the limitations of Boulding's conclusion, which, if known, would deprive it of much of its generality and usefulness.
Ground Rent for Provincial Forest Land in Ontario
Authors: Wilkes George C.
Published: June 2006

Ground rent for provincial forest land in Ontario, dating back as it does to the mid-nineteenth century, is among the earliest means whereby the provincial government has sought and obtained revenues from the forest. As this charge on licensees of Crown timber-lands has been established for so long, it is pertinent to review its history and to record its place in the annual revenues yielded by the province's forests over the past century.

These annual forest revenues have in the past come chiefly from stumpage—the price paid for timber cut on Crown lands. Forest revenues have also included, besides ground rent, bonuses paid by licensees in order to acquire their limits at auction from the Crown, tolls for the use of certain timber slides built by the government, and small sums collected as penalties for trespass and other infractions of the law. Slide tolls ceased to form a part of provincial revenues after Confederation as they were then collected by the Dominion government. Today the province's revenue from the Department of Lands and Forests comes from a variety of sources. For comparison with the forest revenue of early days, forest revenue in this study is equated with the revenue of the Department's Division of Timber Management. This includes stumpage—the chief component and now comprising Crown dues and the Crown evaluation and bonus payments—ground rent, fire tax, mill licence fees, certain payments for scalers, and sundry other small items.
Statistics Of Canada's Balance of Payments
Authors: Blyth C. D.
Published: June 2006

Everyone expects the statistician to be the foe of easy generalization and glib phrases. Hardheadedness and a sceptical approach are occupational characteristics of those who spend their days measuring the world objectively. In talking to you about statistics of the balance of payments I am therefore going to stay on firm ground by discussing several recent developments in Canada's balance of payments and in the statistical tools which have been devised for observing them.

Balance of payments developments have close interrelationships with the internal economy, which, I feel, have never been satisfactorily elucidated. For those interested in studying them further there are two new statistical sources which will facilitate closer analysis. These are new reports soon to be published by the Dominion Bureau of Statistics showing quarterly statements of the national accounts and quarterly statements of the balance of payments in the post-war period. Quarterly statistics of this kind are comparatively new tools and consequently must be used with care, particularly when relationships between internal and external factors are being explored. A thorough knowledge of concepts, definitions, and sources is indispensable before even the obvious steps in comparison may be taken with confidence. Knowledge must also be acquired of the seasonal behaviour of the various series entering into these statistics, in order to distinguish the special and non-recurring from the seasonal. Frequent data on the monetary background published by the Bank of Canada also throw new light on related transactions.
Grants in Lieu of Taxes on Crown Property in the United Kingdom: An Historical Note
Authors: Clark Douglas H.
Published: June 2006

The rating, that is, the taxing, of property in England by local government is based on the Act of 49 Elizabeth. While this statute did not specifically declare Crown property exempt from rating, it did provide that for property to be ratable there must be an occupier and that his occupation must be “beneficial.” By “beneficial occupation” the law means “an occupation from which the occupier derives either a pecuniary profit, or some personal advantage or convenience.” All buildings such as post-offices, customs-houses, barracks, prisons, belonging to the Crown and occupied for public purposes are therefore exempt from rating. Crown property in the possession of an occupier who has a beneficial occupation is ratable, and hence tenants of Crown property are required to pay property taxes. Occupation of property by nationalized industries does not amount to occupation by the Crown and these premises are also ratable. Lands occupied by the royal family are exempt for different reasons arising from the prerogatives of the Sovereign.

In 1874 the Parliament of the United Kingdom approved a system of grants in lieu of property tax which are known as “contributions in lieu of rates.” Under this system the United Kingdom makes ex gratia payments, generally equivalent to full taxes, to all county boroughs, boroughs, urban districts, and rural districts containing Crown property beneficially occupied. Other local government units do not receive these grants since they are not taxing authorities. The United Kingdom was quite certainly the first country in the world to make such payments. It may therefore be of interest to record the events leading up to this historic decision and to trace briefly the growth of these contributions.
Productivity of Labour in Canadian Agriculture
Authors: Anderson W. J.
Published: June 2006

This paper is concerned with measuring and comparing the value of the productivity of a similar unit of labour in the agricultural and the non-agricultural sectors of the economy. In such a study the term “productivity of labour” may have several meanings. It may mean the gross value of the product of a given combination of labour with other factors of production, divided by the number of units of labour employed. Or, secondly, it may refer to the inherent ability or the willingness on the part of a person to contribute his efforts. Thirdly, the term may refer to the value of the incremental product resulting from the addition of one unit of labour to a fixed quantity of other factors, given the demand for the product, the inherent ability of the worker, and the nature of the production function. Economic theory has identified this third concept as the marginal product of labour; it is the increment to the value of the total product contributed by an additional unit of labour in the particular circumstances in which it is being used. It is this concept which has meaning in the solution of the problem of the best allocation of factors within an industry or among industries. Notwithstanding the crudeness of the method which I have been forced to use to measure productivity of labour it is this third concept which I have in mind for this study.
A Forgotten Classic of English Life and Government
Authors: Lewis Gordon K.
Published: June 2006

Sir Edward Bulwer-Lytton belongs to the group of Benthamite disciples who, in the generation after the publication of Mill's Essay on Government, initiated that programme of legislative and administrative reform which transformed the England of Eldonian Toryism into that of Gladstonian Liberalism. In half a dozen fields of first-class importance—education, law, factory legislation, colonial administration, the reform of the civil service—they applied the Benthamite principles with energy and enthusiasm. The two Mills in the India Office, Southwood Smith in the Poor Law Commission, Cornewall Lewis, whose book on political semantics has been too long neglected, at the War Office, Sir Henry Taylor at the Colonial Office, all combined the Radical application of disinterested intelligence to the art of government with a genius for administration which outraged both aristocratic sinecurist and Cobdenite business man. With a passion for statistics worthy of Dickens' Gradgrind, factory inspectors like Leonard Horner and medical officers like John Simon gathered the material which Marx later employed in his brilliant indictment of industrial capitalism. They married theory to practice; Austin elaborated from his naval experience a theory of sovereignty in which the ability to command became the essence of government, while the younger Mill discovered in the running of the East India Company principles of efficient public administration which the ancient universities were quite incapable of supplying. They obtained a new prestige for the public servant; the growth of the English civil service in the nineteenth century, indeed, is nothing much more than the gradual fulfilment in practice of the major ideas outlined in Bentham's fertile Constitutional Code.
A Note on Taxation and Inflation
Authors: Higgins Benjamin
Published: June 2006

The cold war has resulted in levels of government spending in advanced countries far bigger than the post-war deflationary gaps as estimated by the most pessimistic of the pessimists. Deflationary gaps have been over-filled, and the postwar situation in the advanced countries has been one of chronic inflation rather than chronic under-employment. The high level of demand in the advanced countries has also aggravated the chronic inflationary pressure in the less developed countries. It is natural, therefore, that the attention of economists and laymen alike should have turned from public spending policy to tax policy.

The general tax problem which seems to have aroused most interest is, “What are the limits to taxable capacity?” Among business men, trade union officials, government advisers, and even among professional economists, from Canada to Indonesia, one often hears today the statement that when tax rates reach a certain limit, further increases in tax rates will be inflationary rather than deflationary. It is the present writer's opinion that this statement is based upon a misunderstanding, and that its frequent repetition in high places calls for a restatement of home truths regarding the economic effects of taxation. What follows is certainly not original analysis; but sometimes a simple application of familiar but appropriate tools can help to clarify an economic policy issue. Such clarification is the purpose of this note.
The Price Mechanism in the Market for Mortgage Loans
Authors: Macintosh R. M.
Published: June 2006

R. F. Kahn's recent review article on the literature of “full-cost pricing” brings out the fact that the controversy which began with the article by Hall and Hitch in 1939 remains unresolved. Because the actual pricing of manufactured products takes place within a very restricted range of plant capacity, and under dynamic conditions which limit the entrepreneur's horizon, some writers have argued that the pricing process is necessarily arbitrary and based on rule of thumb. Most theorists, on the other hand, maintain that, however restrictive the data from which business-men form their decisions, the pricing process may be interpreted by marginalist concepts of profit maximization.

The gap between these points of view has been substantially narrowed in recent years. Extended subdivision of the theory of imperfect competition into individual market situations has brought that theory close to the methodology of “industry studies,” at least of those studies which have included some attempt at generalization. There remain, however, several obstacles to closing the gap between the deductive and the inductive analysis of the price mechanism. In particular, the available data are usually so unrefined that appeals to empirical cost and revenue schedules are misleading, or inconclusive, or contradictory. Joint costs, indeterminate demand schedules, and the natural reluctance of producers to reveal their private information all hinder the theorist searching for empirical support. In the face of these formidable difficulties some economists (notably the exponents of full-cost pricing) have turned to the technique of the questionnaire. This procedure is open to a serious methodological criticism: information derived from questionnaires is more likely to reveal the entrepreneur's idealized conception of his own behaviour than to show what his behaviour actually is. The phrases “usually full cost,” “cost is the normal guide,” or “the initial guide” recur throughout the replies to the Hall-Hitch questionnaire. These qualified answers are unrevealing for the same reason that the Marshallian long run (when all the various forces have had time to work themselves out) is a poor guide to real-world price determination. Normative statements such as those obtained in the studies mentioned above cannot be regarded as empirical data.
The Development of British Exchange Control, 1939-45
Authors: Clayton G.
Published: June 2006

Exchange control can be considered as an extension of the principle of war-time rationing. There is a scarcity of the means available for making payments and therefore purchases abroad are limited. As a result the central authority allocates these resources according to its own list of priorities, instead of leaving the selection of the needs to be satisfied to be determined by competitive bidding in the market. This requires the control of imports and may also be taken to include restrictions on transfers of capital and other foreign payments. Another feature of exchange control—the requisitioning of assets which can be realized for foreign exchange—can similarly be regarded as part of the general policy of commandeering resources necessary for the purposes of war. But a comprehensive system of exchange control involves a further essential feature—the pegging of exchange rates. Theoretically it would still be possible for the central authority to leave exchange rates to be freely determined in the market, although the quantities demanded and supplied were controlled by such methods; for the possible dangers of inflationary increases in domestic prices could be overcome by the use of subsidies to offset exchange depreciation.

However, several important reasons can be given for a country at war maintaining fixed exchange rates. Bear speculators might have a bad effect on the country's prestige especially when the fortunes of war were adverse. Secondly, it is easier to requisition international assets on terms which do not give large windfall profits to the sellers, if extensive depreciation of the currency can be avoided. Thirdly, consideration of the “terms of trade” offers the most substantial ground for maintaining exchange stability. In conditions of total war the resources that are used to produce exports must be reduced to the minimum. For this reason the object of policy must be to achieve the best possible price for a restricted quantity of exports rather than to expand the volume of exports by offering them as cheaply as possible.
Life Insurance Savings in Canada
Authors: Poapst James V.
Published: June 2006

Modern macro-economic analysis has emphasized the role of saving and investment in economic fluctuations. As the totals of saving and investment are important, so are their components; for the more that is known about the components the more meaningful are the aggregates. Life insurance savings merit investigation for at least two reasons. In the first place, they constitute an important medium through which personal savings are effected. In Canada from 1926 to 1948, except for the war years, 39.0 per cent of total net personal savings were realized through the purchase of life insurance.

This voluminous flow of savings has produced an accumulation of investment assets which has attracted the attention of economists concerned with trends in the supply of equity capital and the stimulation of depression period investment. Since the rate of return expected on insurance investments is important in determining premiums, the investment practices of the insurance companies have a bearing upon the welfare of millions of Canadians. This concern of the economists about insurance investments is the basis of a second reason for examining insurance savings. In the various proposals involving insurance investment it appears that the savings side of the question has been too little emphasized. In the case of an investment intermediary, investment policy cannot be considered totally apart from the demand for the institution's product; the institution's demand for investment outlets is a derived demand.
Adaptation of Parliamentary Processes to the Modern State
Authors: Corry J. A.
Published: June 2006

Adaption of Canadian parliamentary processes to the conditions of the modern state must aim at two objectives not easily reconcilable and not easily pursued at one and the same time. First, it is vital that we enable the Government to govern. Governing now involves a large annual volume of new and amending legislation, the devising of complex taxation measures for raising some $4 billion a year from the reluctant taxpayer, and the appropriation of this vast sum to the various items of expenditure. A very large portion of the time of the House of Commons is therefore needed for Government business.

Second, it is equally vital to ensure effective responsibility of the Government to our elected representatives, to make it reasonably possible for the House of Commons to understand general Government policy as well as specific proposals for legislation, and to grasp the reasons why this policy and these measures are held to be necessary in the national interest. In addition, because the numerous policies being administered from day to day are more important than the new policies being proposed for adoption at any given time, it is necessary for the House to be able to learn enough about the actual running of the great business of the government of Canada to conduct an intelligent audit of the ramified activities of government. A large part of the time of the House is needed for these purposes.
Foreign Exchange Control in Canada, 1939–51
Authors: Gibbons Alan O.
Published: June 2006

Shortly after the outbreak of war in 1939 foreign exchange control was imposed to maintain exchange stability and to conserve Canada's reserves and prospective receipts of foreign exchange so that they might be used in the first instance for purposes deemed to be in the national interest. An ancillary objective related to war financing was to prevent the demoralization of Canadian securities markets through panic sales by non-residents in moments of crisis. While the control was directed essentially against exports of capital by residents and non-residents, the instruments of control applied equally to current and capital transactions and the power given to the Board of regulating current transactions was exercised restrictively on occasion, notably in the case of travel. Of necessity the machinery of control was elaborate because it had to be all-embracing but it rested on five basic rules: (1) Permits were required for payments by residents to non-residents. (2) Permits were required for the export of funds by travellers. (3) Permits were required for change of status from resident to non-resident. (4) Residents were required to sell to an authorized dealer all foreign exchange accruing to them. (5) Payment in an appropriate manner and in a currency designated by the Board was required for exports of goods, services, and securities, and for anything of value transferred from a resident to a non-resident whether in Canada or abroad.
Labour and Politics in New Zealand
Authors: Pauling Norman G.
Published: June 2006

In the United States the chief concern of unionists has been the conduct of industrial negotiations, but in New Zealand and Australia the significant achievements of workers, almost without exception, have been gained through political action. Around the turn of the century, students of labour movements were led by the successes of Australasian workers to speculate about the different roads which workers had taken there and in the United States. As its general political and economic features became familiar, particularly such prominent ones as factory codes and arbitration procedures, political unionism ceased to be a curious phenomenon, and students turned their eyes elsewhere. In so doing, they lost sight of the subterranean forces and directing currents which have turned the energies of workers toward politics.

Historically, the similarity between the United States and New Zealand is arresting. Both were frontier countries with fluid institutions and expanding economies, although New Zealand had no moving frontier as had the United States. Both were settled from England and inherited English legal and cultural traditions. Both early developed democratic political processes, and both were characterized by a high standard of living for workingmen as a result of the natural scarcity of labour typical of inaccessible and virgin countries. In both countries, the land offered an alternative to wage-earning which favoured social as well as occupational mobility. Both countries lacked the stratification of a traditional aristocracy. In both countries, extension of the franchise placed the political weapon in the hands of the people. The analogy is more than historical: today New Zealand and the United States are generally acknowledged to be among the leading nations of the world in terms of plane of living. What, then, explains the development in the United States of a system of collective bargaining by workers with their employers, and the growth in New Zealand of a system of bargaining vis-à-vis the state?