bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Canada and the Abdication
Authors: Cronkite F. C. 
Published: June 2006

In a recent work on constitutional law one finds the chapters prefaced by quotations from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass—a feature somewhat startling to the uninitiated but highly refreshing to any student of the Constitution of the British Empire. The complexities of this constitution have not been resolved with the passing of the years, rather have new difficulties arisen through the apparent achievement of autonomy by the Dominions. In search of a constitution there is almost a note of despair in the words of the Inter-Imperial Relations Committee (1926): “it [the British Empire] defies classification and bears no real resemblance to any other political organization which now exists or has ever yet been tried.”A visitor to the House of Commons during the early days of the second session of the eighteenth Parliament of Canada might well have considered himself in Wonderland. The House had under consideration the abdication of His former Majesty King Edward VIII and the accession of His Majesty King George VI to the throne, and was concerned that rules of law should be followed and constitutional proprieties observed in this Dominion. The discussion called out an amazing variety of opinion. Eminent constitutional lawyers were in disagreement at almost every point. Probably the bewilderment of the average member was pretty well expressed by Mr. J. S. Woodsworth, leader of the Cooperative Commonwealth Federation, when he said: “I confess that as I have listened to the discussion so far I have not been greatly enlightened, but indeed somewhat confused. We have had brought before us a great many legal and metaphysical subtleties. Whether the Crown is unitary or divisible and multiple I do not quite know.” In this article it is proposed to discuss the abdication with reference to the more important legal and constitutional principles involved. No attempt will be made to examine the body of legal learning touching the nature of the kingship. Emphasis will rather be placed on the difficulties and anomalies which have developed along with the evolution of the British Commonwealth of Nations. This will involve a consideration of the propriety of the action of the Parliament and government of Canada in dealing with the situation created by the abdication of His former Majesty.
Classificatory Note on the Theory of Public Finance
Authors: Bates Stewart 
Published: June 2006

The great extensions of government activities in all industrialized countries since the War have not been balanced by an equivalent development of the theory of public finance. The need for analysis of the relation of large government expenditures and taxes to the system of individualist enterprise is urgent.It is true that many specific inquiries have been made into the repercussions of taxes and tariffs, into the inequalities of incidence as between industries and regions, into government financing, government investment in depression, and so on, but a survey of these attacks reveals the lack of a method adequate to cope with the questions. The existent theoretical structure, established by the classical writers, was evolved to handle a system of public finance and a system of individualist enterprise, which have been greatly modified in the twentieth century. Consequently many of the modern questions confronting economists are really outside the assumptions of classical theory, and are therefore unable to be grasped by the weapons of the classical analysis. Apart from this practical difficulty, it is to be expected that the post-war developments in economic science itself—the new knowledge of monetary systems, of business cycles, of imperfect competition, and of short-time analysis—necessitate a reconsideration of the theory of public finance. In the future the subject-matter of public finance will probably be systematized along these lines, but meanwhile the need is for a sifting of the materials.
The Report of the White Commission
Authors: Keirstead W. C. 
Published: June 2006

In its report of 1926 the Duncan Commission found the claims of the Maritime Provinces for a larger federal subsidy so just and so urgent that it recommended an immediate increase in the form of interim payments (which were to form the minimum of any increased subsidy) and that the Dominion government should take immediate steps to secure “a complete revision”, “by detailed determination and assessment”, “of the financial arrangements as between them and the maritime provinces”.The White Commission was accordingly appointed by the federal government in September, 1934, on the written request of the premiers of the Maritime Provinces to make this financial settlement. Sir Thomas White, as chairman, and Edward Walter Nesbitt, both of Ontario, and Chief Justice J. A. Mathieson of Charlottetown, P.E.I., were the Commission. Judge Mathieson brought in a dissenting report. Another Maritime commissioner would probably have changed materially the amount of the increase recommended, since in a report based not upon any accurate standards of measurement but upon “broad and general considerations”, political opinions and personal bias are important. Probably the personnel of the White Commission was not so favourable to these provinces as was that of the Turgeon Commission to the province of Manitoba. Yet the White Commission accepted without question the recommendations of the Duncan Commission and the Maritime Provinces were allowed to present their case before the Duncan Commission without any contesting case of the federal government.
The Marketing of Whole Milk
Authors: Drummond W. M. 
Published: June 2006

No exhaustive consideration of whole milk marketing in its many aspects is possible within the limits of a single paper. We propose, therefore, to consider but three phases of the subject, and to treat each of these more or less separately. These three sections deal with the general nature of the price making arrangements, the sharing of the producer's market, and the possibilities of narrowing the spread between farm and retail prices.The price received for milk which is consumed as whole milk has always been considerably more remunerative than that received for milk which reaches consumers in any of the several processed forms. This relatively higher price for whole milk can be attributed to a variety of factors which vary in importance from market to market and time to time. They include the peculiar characteristics of the whole milk demand, the fact that a number of outlets for milk other than the whole milk market exist, the fact that milk production exhibits pronounced seasonal variation, and the fact that supplies offered for sale as whole milk whether by farmers or distributors are capable of being specially restricted in amount. Of these the special nature of the whole milk demand is by far the most important; indeed, in its absence, the other factors would lose most of their special significance. The peculiar characteristics referred to are that the demand is extremely inelastic, that it is decidedly less elastic than the demand for any processed dairy product, and that it is well-nigh constant throughout the year. Because pronounced changes in price in either direction are necessary before any significant change in consumption ensues, any ordinary price appeal will be relatively valueless and will not be used. Since consumption remains substantially unaltered within a considerable price range, the natural aim of sellers will be to secure the highest price permitted by this price range. This will be possible only if the existing milk supply corresponds with the quantity which consumers are willing to take at the price indicated, or if there is a possibility of restricting the supply to that amount.
Pareto's “General Sociology”: The Problem of Method in the Social Sciences
Authors: Macpherson C. B. 
Published: June 2006

By sociology Pareto means a synthesis of all the particular researches and disciplines dealing with human society—law, economics, political history, the history of religion, and so on—in a search for the relationships between social facts (1, 2). Sociology is to provide a framework into which will fit the results of these specialized studies; it is to be a comprehensive study which aims at discovering the principles underlying the form and changes of society in general.Such is Pareto's own formulation. It is apparent that he believes both that there are general principles underlying the form and changes of society, and that these can be discovered by a new discipline, sociology, working on the results of the specialized studies. The primary concern of the new discipline must therefore be methodology, and Pareto devotes much more attention to the problem of method in the social sciences than he does to the construction of his own theory of society. His justification for this is his belief that the methods of all previous sociologists have been basically faulty and can lead only to invalid conclusions. In this paper it is proposed to follow Pareto's emphasis, and to deal with his analysis of social facts and his general theory of society primarily with a view to bringing out those aspects which raise the problem of method in the social sciences.
Some Problems of War Finance in Canada
Authors: Parkinson J. F. 
Published: June 2006

While the war lasts most decisions and policies can only be provisional. It has now become apparent that the view that the conflict had settled down into siege warfare, supported by the Allied blockade of Germany, has been belied by events. In the last war the long military stalemate in France gave the Allies time to organize their superior economic strength, and in the end this superiority tipped the scales. The economic strategy so far would seem to have been based upon the assumption of much the same kind of military development. If, however, the military situation is as critical as it appears to be, the economic strategy will have to alter. Our economic and financial measures are then likely to undergo a series of improvisations which will defy all attempts at precise calculations. Germany's blitzkrieg will certainly warrant new forms of economic mobilization in the United Kingdom, and probably in Canada too. In this situation careful attempts to minimize costs, involving a widespread reliance on private-initiative and the free pricing system, must and will be thrown overboard. And with them will go the framework and modes of thought of much of our traditional economic theory.Discussion of the finance of war is also complicated by the fact that public finance—or the larger problem of war economics—is as much a problem of politics as it is of economics. And it is the political aspect of the subject which surrounds war finance with most of the controversy which it possesses. Whether a particular form of taxation, or the decision to do by government decree what is normally done by taxation, is desirable or not, turns more and more on the state of political sentiment, and less and less on questions of economic analysis. In this domain of politics the economist has no particular jurisdiction; and for the politician himself the condition of public opinion changes so rapidly during war that measures deemed impolitic today may be universally demanded tomorrow.
Post-War Reconstruction in Great Britain
Authors: Finer H. 
Published: June 2006

There is an almost universal expectation of considerable social reconstruction in Great Britain as soon as the United Nations have achieved victory, and even of instalments in the course of the war itself. This expectation rests upon keen disapproval of certain British social and economie institutions, but also upon confidence in and respect for a national character, which, in the centuries of its development, has achieved mighty and noble works in the building of its political and economic habitation.In the following observations on the subject of reconstruction we shall be chiefly concerned with four factors: the influences that have produced the manifestly strong impetus to reconstruct; the cardinal reforms that are in mind; the agencies which have been established to collate, ponder, and implement the proposals; and finally, it will be well to find an answer to the question, what are the prospects of substantial advance?Britain entered the war in a deliberate, not a romantic frame of mind. There was a job to be done, a terrible problem to be solved, not an adventure to be enjoyed. This sobriety led to the immediate raising of the question, “How can this shocking event be prevented from recurring, and to what extent are we as a nation responsible for it?” The result was a widespread canvassing of war aims and peace aims—the newspapers were at once full of the discussion. Generally, the first phase of attention was to international arrangements, and, in the course of time, this produced a spate of suggestions revolving around the conception of federalism. We need not do more than point to the establishment of Federal Union, and the series of papers written on the subject of World Order under the auspices of the Royal Institute of International Affairs.
Walras and Pareto: Their Approach to Applied Economics and Social Economics
Authors: Clerc J. O. 
Published: June 2006

Recent publications have once more drawn the attention of the scientific world to the School of Lausanne. While economists emphasize chiefly the originality of the conception of economic equilibrium in Walras, sociologists and mathematicians pay homage to Pareto's versatile genius. Contemporary authors are mainly interested in the mathematical method and the conception of pure economics advanced by these two men. But the same authors forget too easily that Walras and Pareto dealt with numerous political and social questions, and that their opinions in these matters are important from the point of view of both applied economics and methodology. The object of this paper is to discuss these opinions. We shall first state the great philosophical antithesis which marks the division between the ideas expressed by Walras and Pareto, and secondly, consider the ideas themselves.Although the works of Walras and Pareto on the subject of pure economics are complementary, their methods in dealing with practical economics are completely different. According to Walras, the duty of a politician is to apply the principles and data deduced by the pure economist. The pure economist must scientifically deduce laws from the “good old Natural Law.” Walras believes in scientific ideals and in the permanence of political laws; in philosophy, he is a Realist, in the sense given to this word by the quarrel of the Universals. In contrast with this, the conception of Pareto is much more flexible, much more pragmatic. His doctrine is that certain principles, rationally erroneous, can in practical reality be excellent, because people are usually governed by their feelings and not by their intelligence. To the great Italian, scientific laws were only “experimental uniformities.” This is the conception of the nominalist philosophy, which Pareto stresses when he writes: “Io sono il piu nominalista dei nominalisti.”
American Economic Preparations for War, 1914-1917 and 1939-1941
Authors: Wright Chester W. 
Published: June 2006

My purpose in this paper is to indicate the extent to which the United States seems to have learned something from history as regards the economic problems incident to the preparation for war by comparing the preparations made during the period of neutrality in 1914-17 with those of the corresponding period of 1939-41, though I shall at points go beyond the neutrality period. The topic is a wide-ranging one and in the time available I can only hope to touch rather sketchily upon the more important aspects of the problem. I shall not attempt any analysis of the factors which explain the greater results secured during the last two years than in the earlier period of neutrality, involving such things as the attitude of the administration, of Congress, and of the public, as well as the fact that so many of the generation that faced the problems of the last war are still alive, in marked contrast to the situation in 1861 or 1914, for to do this would carry me too far afield. I shall treat the subject topically under the headings of the chief economic problems of war.These chief problems are: first, getting the goods and services required for fighting; second, providing for the essential needs of the civilian population; third, devising means to enable the government to pay for these goods and services, the problem of war finance. Sometimes a fourth problem is added to this list, that of preparing to meet and to minimize the inevitable post-war readjustments. While I think this last should be classed as a peace-time problem still it is one which should properly be held in mind in shaping war-time policy, but it must be kept strictly subordinated to the problems involved in the effort to win the war.
The Cabinet Minister and Administration
Authors: Dawson R. Macgregor 
Published: June 2006

The generalization of Walter Bagehot that successful administration “depends on a due mixture of special and non-special minds” has lost none of its importance with the passage of time, for the problem of combining competent administration with democratic control is more urgent today than ever before. Bagehot contended that the Cabinet Minister, the “non-special mind,” served a double purpose: he not only enabled a democracy to control the civil service, but he also made a genuine contribution to its administrative efficiency. The specialized civil servant, if left to his own devices, tended to become narrow in outlook, careless of the public convenience, and restricted by departmental routine; and the important secondary function of the Minister was to correct these failings by supplying a fresh mind and a different point of view.The government of Great Britain still furnishes, as in Bagehot's time, the best practical application of this principle, and the high standards maintained by many of the departments bear testimony as to its essential truth. The need for this interplay of “special and non-special minds” is perhaps best seen in the history of the War Office, a department which by its very uniqueness in several respects presents in exaggerated form both the difficulty of the problem and the virtue of the remedy. The War Office is thus considered not merely as a sample department, but one which places, as it were, a magnifying glass over the general problem of departmental administration elsewhere.
Some Implications of Prospective Population Changes in Canada
Authors: Hurd W. Burton 
Published: June 2006

The purpose of this article is to make available in somewhat more detailed form than has heretofore appeared, the results of a population projection recently made by Mr. M. C. MacLean and the present writer and to discuss some of the more important implications of the indicated changes in the Canadian population structure.The Basis of Projection. In making the projection specific, birthrates were computed by relating the average number of births over the six years 1931-6 to the estimated number of survivors of the 1931 adult female population at the mid-point of that period. The projection was carried forward by five-year intervals for the two sexes separately using birth-rates so computed and mortality rates derived from the official all-Canada life tables for 1931. These rates were held constant throughout and no account was taken of the possible future effects of immigration and emigration or of war.The reason tor this procedure as well as tor the selection oi the above-mentioned birth- and death-rates may be stated briefly. During the post-war decade (1921-31) the crude birth-rate in Canada as reflected by the ratio of children 0-4 to women 15-44 experienced a quite unusual and drastic decline. It fell by as much as 14.4 per cent in the ten-year period as compared with an average drop of approximately 5 per cent per decade in the preceding fifty years. About half of the decline in the last intercensal decade may be attributed to postponed marriages. A further drastic decline was registered during the depression years which undoubtedly resulted in many more postponed marriages. It seemed reasonable, therefore, to regard the existing low rates as somewhat abnormal and cyclical in character, and to anticipate at least a moderate though perhaps temporary revival as soon as economic conditions permitted the resumption of marriages on anything approaching a normal level. At the same time experience in Canada, as well as in other countries, suggests that the underlying trend in Canadian birthrates is likely to be downward for some time to come. Instead of attempting corrections for trend and cyclical movements which at best would involve a good deal of guess-work, it was decided to use throughout the low rates prevailing during the first part of the present decade (1931-6) on the assumption that their use would offset in some measure the neglect of the long-term downward trend.
The Independence of Municipal Councils in Ontario
Authors: Crawford K. Grant 
Published: June 2006

The purpose of this paper is to survey the trends in the history of local government in Ontario which are gradually eliminating independence or self-government from municipal councils in Ontario. We are not here as much concerned with considering the desirability or otherwise of these trends as with recording the facts of the situation. Whether for better or for worse, the municipal councils in Ontario, as local self-governing units, have been, and are continuing to be, more and more restricted and circumscribed. They are becoming merely agents for other local units of government and for the central provincial government. The various aspects of this situation will be considered under the following headings, namely: (1) the establishment of subsidiary or auxiliary boards of varying degrees of independence; (2) imposition of obligatory and uncontrollable expenditure and the elimination of sources of revenue; (3) imposition of restrictions on control of municipal officials and employees; (4) the development of the Ontario Municipal Board; (5) establishment of the Department of Municipal Affairs; (6) municipal subsidies.In general, the activities of a modern municipal government fall into two main classes-legislative and administrative. Of these, the first is of relatively minor importance. The second is essential to the everyday life of the individual, particularly of the urban dweller. As it is not possible, in the space available, to deal with all types of municipal government in the Province, this paper will be limited to a survey of the situation as it applies to the larger urban municipalities where the problem is most acute.