bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Rural Municipal Difficulties in Alberta
Authors: Abell A. S. 
Published: June 2006

In Alberta, the Municipal Districts are the centre, or at least the most important units, of rural, local government. They possess a greater diversity of function than either school or hospital districts and, for the most part, they assume the task of collecting all local and provincial taxes on real property within their borders. An attempt will be made in the following pages to analyse their present position and to determine what adjustments are necessary to enable them to survive.Historically, the Municipal Districts mark a comparatively recent stage in the evolution of Alberta's municipal units. They are the lineal descendants of the Statute Labor and Local Improvement Districts which were created while Alberta was a part of the North West Territories. There seems to have been no long struggle for local government, comparable to that which the people of Ontario waged for similar privileges at a much earlier date. The theory and practice of popular municipal government had been well established and accepted by senior governments before Alberta was settled. Hence the territorial, and later the provincial, government took the initiative in the formation of municipal institutions, and the comparative instability and sparseness of the population made possible a fairly strong central control.The year 1912, seven years after the formation of the Province, is a landmark in Alberta's municipal history. A Department of Municipal Affairs was created to administer the various municipal acts and to furnish guidance and supervision to the local authorities. An arbitrary unit, a square of nine townships (324 square miles), was adopted as the physical basis of rural municipal organization. Provision was made for the establishment of Rural Municipalities with corporate powers. In addition to this “permanent” form of municipal government, provision was made for the formation of “small” and “large” Local Improvement Districts. The former were to possess elected councils with more restricted powers than those of the Rural Municipalities; the latter were to be directly administered by the Provincial Department of Municipal Affairs.
Canadian Problems of Government
Authors: Dafoe J. W. 
Published: June 2006

I am going to speak on the Canadian aspects of the largest and most difficult problem with which the countries of the world are faced—that is, the method and characteristics of government and the ends it ought to serve. The world is in a state of anarchy today because there is universal demand that the scope and purpose of government shall be widened without any common agreement, either within individual countries or between countries, as to precisely the ends to be served or the techniques by which they are to be reached.Much is heard of a reversion by some nations to ancient types of tyranny, but this is to misinterpret the points of resemblance. The new dictatorships rest upon the consent of their people who still feel that it is their approval that gives validity to the acts of their leaders; this is a condition far removed from the old tyrannies where the mass bowed their necks to the yoke of slavery. What will happen when these leaders lose the consent of the ruled remains to be seen; the demonstration, whatever form it may take, may be nearer than we think.But considerations of this nature do not enter into a discussion of the question of government in Canada. This is a country in which no question arises of the right and the power of the people to direct and change national policies if they can make up their minds about what they want. The machinery by which they can give effect to their decisions is available. In theory, then, if popular government is the answer to all problems and difficulties, we should be the happiest of people. But perhaps there never was a time when there was such a general feeling that our machinery of government is inadequate to our needs, that it is unable to deliver to the people those benefits and alleviations which they desire and which they think should be within the competence of government if they could only devise the right machinery. This address is an attempt at a brief study of these discontents, difficulties, and dangers in the light of an acquaintance with political affairs which covers more than half a century.
Family Budgets and the So-Called Multiplier
Authors: Marschak J. 
Published: June 2006

If for any national income and its given distribution we could estimate the amount of annual savings, we should be able to tell how much investment is necessary to make the aggregate receipts of entrepreneurs (plus the value of any additions to the inventories) equal to their outlay and thus avoid entrepreneurs' losses and shrinkage of output, and keep national income at a given level.The relationship between national income and savings has been estimated in three ways: (1) by studying the relationship between incomes and savings of families, leaving the undistributed corporation incomes out of the picture; (2) by studying separately savings of wage-earners and of profit-receivers out of their respective incomes (distributed or not); (3) by confronting, through time, national income and investment. Only the first method will be discussed here.If people adjusted their behaviour to changes in their income more quickly than they actually do, the family budget statistics could give an answer as to how a change in the total national income affects the national savings, apart from the undistributed profits of corporations. Actually, there is probably a time lag between income changes and changes in consumption and savings, which should be studied separately.
The Recent History of the Australian Loan Council
Authors: Maxwell J. A. 
Published: June 2006

The Australian Loan Council is a unique body. Established in 1928-9 as a part of the Financial Agreement, after the opinion had become widespread that the credit of the whole of Australia, under existing conditions, could never be much higher than that of its weakest state, the Loan Council was given full legislative and constitutional status as the body which was to handle all borrowing by Commonwealth and state governments, except borrowing for temporary purposes or by the Commonwealth for purposes of defence. Against its decisions there is no appeal because the Council is not directly responsible to any one Parliament or electorate. “If,” as Mr. Forgan Smith of Queensland has complained, “any Premier agrees [at a meeting of the Loan Council] to a line of policy from which his State Parliament dissents, all that this Parliament can do is, by means of a vote of no confidence, to remove him from office. Nevertheless the decision of the Loan Council would stand.” It is more than probable that nobody foresaw the extent to which, in the depression, the Loan Council might “be made the instrument of forcing upon the Commonwealth and the States a common policy involving the very details of their internal administration.”Reduction of deficits. The first evidence of the powers of the Loan Council came in April, 1931, when Australia was fumbling for a proper policy to stem depression. On the initiative of the Council the so-called Copland Committee was appointed and on the basis of the report of this Committee the “Premiers' plan” was drawn up, which aimed, through a variety of measures, at a prompt balancing of budgets. These were long steps forward, but the question as to what could be done to keep governments in line still had to be answered, and here again the Loan Council had an important role. Early in 1932 New South Wales defaulted on its debt, and then approached the Loan Council for additional authority to borrow.
Monetary Reconstruction
Authors: Michell H. 
Published: June 2006

To those of us who can remember the first world war and the high hopes that followed upon its successful conclusion for the Allies, there must come at times the most anxious apprehensions as to the peace which will follow upon the present one. The saying that we won the first war and lost the peace, annoying though it may be, is yet only too true. And even now, while the second struggle still rages, we may feel uncertainty, not that we shall not win in this war, for that is certain, but that once more the fruits of victory may turn to ashes and again we may lose the peace. We do not quail before the foe in the field; but we may well tremble at the thought of what may lie before us when the struggle is over, when we are faced with the awful task of reconstruction.It is, I apprehend, by no means true to blame everything upon the Peace of Versailles. That settlement was framed with all the wisdom and ingenuity of which the statesmen of that time were capable, and we need not underrate their ability nor doubt their wisdom. It is so easy for anyone to be wise after the event; to find fault and point out the mistakes that were made. Wisdom lies in profiting by the mistakes of the past and determining not to commit similar ones a second time. I have nothing to say of the territorial provisions of the Treaty, because I do not think that they were the cause of the subsequent breakdown. Probably they were as good as the ingenuity of their authors could devise. But rather I would say the real mistake lay in an utter failure to grasp the one essential fact that the monetary set-up of the world was in complete chaos, a chaos more complete and devastating because bankers and finance ministers were still bemused with the preoccupation of the pre-war monetary theory.
The Price System and the Procurement of Essential Supplies
Authors: Mackintosh W. A. 
Published: June 2006

Professor bates's paper has set the whole background for a discussion of the price system in war-time, and has raised important theoretical problems. I propose to deal rather with specific measures, of policy and organization which have been undertaken in the present war period, and lead up to some indications of the serious problems which loom ahead.I shall have little to say here on the broad problems of controlling inflation. These have been attacked mainly by fiscal measures, though the co-ordination of such fiscal measures with other policies of control is of the most vital importance. The foundation of price control has been since September, 1939, and must in large measure continue to be, a fiscal policy which has endeavoured to channel the increase in purchasing power through the Treasury into the procurement of essential supplies. Such specific measures as the Excess Profits Tax have had a very important influence in reducing the incentive of the business, seller to raise prices, though the Excess Profits Tax doubtless has an opposite effect on the business firm as a purchaser.By luck and good management, fiscal policy has been so far reasonably successful, but it has up to the present not encountered really serious inflationary problems. It is sufficient, however, to say here that without an appropriate fiscal policy no measures for the control of prices or supplies can be fully successful.For my own purposes I suggest three elements of background for a discussion of this subject.
The War and North American Agriculture
Authors: Patton Harald S. 
Published: June 2006

War-time Agricultural Exports. The first world war and the present world war were preceded by periods marked by fundamentally opposite trends in international agricultural trade. The period extending roughly from about 1840 to the outbreak of war in 1914 was characterized by a continuous expansion in the volume and range of importation of foodstuffs and agricultural raw materials into the British Isles and later into industrialized continental Europe from overseas countries. While the dominant position in this expanding overseas agricultural export trade was held by the United States, a definitely rising participation developed after the turn of the century by the British Dominions, Latin American countries, British and Netherlands India, and the African possessions of European powers. Despite the rise after 1880 of agricultural protectionism in such European countries as France and Germany, growth of population and industrialization in Europe was reflected in a steadily increasing volume of agricultural imports into that continent, and after 1896 by a gradually rising trend in world prices of most agricultural staples. This was the great era of the international gold standard, of the free export of private capital, and of free world markets.Although the first world war disrupted this competitive pattern of world agricultural specialization and trade, it greatly stimulated the agricultural export trade of overseas countries, especially of North America, to the allied countries, and this movement to Europe was substantially maintained during the twenties through the twofold influence of American and British foreign lending and investment and of the virtual disappearance of Russia as a significant and dependable agricultural exporter. Between 1925 and 1930 world agricultural trade rose to record levels, but in the later years mounting world stocks and gradually falling gold prices of most staples gave statistical warning of a developing disequilibrium.
War-Time Labour Problems and Policies in Canada
Authors: Stewart Bryce M. 
Published: June 2006

The comment is often made that Canada has no war labour policy. Before dealing with this question, it may be well to consider some of the difficulties that attend any effort to determine and administer a national labour policy, especially in time of war. The problems of geography, uneven distribution of population, depressed areas, concentration of industry, and varying standards of living, together with the many revisions of policy necessitated by an ever-changing war need, can only be mentioned, but they constantly intrude on plan and practice. Inertia, easy assumptions that the ways of peace need not be changed materially and that the methods of the last war are good enough in this crisis, put a brake on the formulation of plans and their prompt execution.There are Canadians who still do not realize, as Mr. Menzies, the Prime Minister of Australia, said, that the British people are engaged in the deadliest war of their history. Some employers and workers do not appreciate the proportions of the war programme or the necessity for many departures from peace-time procedures. Certain firms still feel that they will be able to secure all the labour they require and respond but slowly to appeals to train more workers, to thin out their skilled staffs, and to up-grade labour. Although the Minister of Labour has received a number of voluntary offers from trade unions to work longer than the usual hours at straight time, there are those who hold that the forty-hour week, urged in depression years as a device for spreading work rather than increasing earnings through higher overtime rates, should be maintained.
Some Economic Aspects of Air Transport
Authors: Currie A. W. 
Published: June 2006

Aviation changes so rapidly that one is virtually compelled to acquire wings oneself in order to keep up with it. Moreover, there is a scarcity of accurate information on many matters in which the economist is particularly interested. Nevertheless it is worth while to outline some of the economic aspects first of air transport in general and, secondly, of airplane transportation in Canada. The analysis is necessarily incomplete but it is hoped that it will serve as a basis for further discussion.Air transport can best be dealt with under its most important characteristics—speed, reliability, safety, cost, scheduling, completeness, and comfort. Speed, of course, is the greatest single advantage of airplanes over competing forms of transportation. The characteristic of speed arises both from high speeds per hour while in motion and the fact that the planes can fly in a direct line without much regard to the underlying terrain. Scheduled aviation maintains an average of 180 miles per hour in the United States. On the San Francisco-New York fast sleeper service, however, the average speed is 165 miles per hour compared with 161 miles per hour on Trans-Canada's Vancouver-Montreal service. As these figures include stops, flying speeds are more than 200 miles per hour. Because air resistance increases as the square of the speed there would seem to be definite limits to still higher regular speeds except, as in military service, where costs can be ignored. On the other hand, past experience with prophecy in aviation indicates the dangers of prediction. Moreover, sub-stratosphere flights at upwards of 400 miles per hour are an immediate possibility. Speed is significant mainly in the longer hauls for in the shorter distances the time involved in going between the terminal airports, which are usually on the outskirts of the city and downtown business sections, offsets any reduction in travelling time in the line haul. The terminal difficulty may be overcome by taxicab services to and from the fields or by higher line speeds or by the expensive process of locating terminals near down-town areas.
Decentralization and Democracy
Authors: Innis H. A. 
Published: June 2006

This paper is concerned with the changes in types of power in the Atlantic basin following the discovery of America. Direct control from Europe under the French, Dutch, Spanish, and British Empires has gradually changed with emergence of independent states in North and South America and of the British Commonwealth of Nations. In Canada European institutions were more strongly entrenched and feudalism continued to exercise a powerful influence, latterly, for example, in the control of natural resources by the provinces. The provinces have become land-lords with great disparity of wealth varying with federal policy, technological change, and provincial policy. The changing disparity enhances the complexity of democracy in Canada.The advantages of the British Empire in its struggle with the French Empire were in part a result of the implications of imperfect competition between drainage basins in the interior as contrasted with more effective competition between the maritime regions of the Atlantic seaboard. In the latter region, imperfect competition was reflected in the slowness with which adjustments were made between the West Country in England, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia and New England. In the interior of the continent competition was less effective in the struggle between traders of various nationalities or of the same nationality as it was carried on between drainage basins. Trunk rivers and tributaries with low heights of land between drainage basins facilitated the tapping of vast regions. The relative effectiveness of competition on the seaboard and in the interior of the continent had implications for the struggle of empire.
Trends in Collective Bargaining: A Study in Causal Analysis
Authors: Logan H. A. 
Published: June 2006

Apart from its legal aspects, and legislative promptings and permissions, collective bargaining on this continent is pretty much of a single piece. The international trade unions play out their bargaining offers and techniques in Canada as in the United States, with little attention to the boundary line. In this paper on trends, therefore, I have chosen to move freely over the whole movement rather than limit the study to Canada where in fact little of the pioneering has been done.Expansion. Collective bargaining on this continent is enjoying rapid growth after marking time or even falling back for a decade in the 1920's and early 30's. In the United States, the year 1933 marks a dividing point in time. But the longer history of trade union development has in fact been characterized by a series of up-surges followed by slow-downs or flat periods. These have been affected in some measure by business cycle conditions, but the sequence of prosperity and depression is not always the central and frequently not a very revealing feature in their explanation. One needs to consider the unevenness of trade union advance in relation to many matters such as changing attitudes toward recognition by employers, attitudes of different governments as expressed through legislatures and courts, periods of war and cost-plus contracts, the social and political philosophy of the men who give leadership to the two sides, the Carnegies, Girdlers, Fords, Gompers, Hillmans, and Lewises. Above all, one must examine its different rate of progress among different industries and trades. With respect to the last, one must examine the areas of early conquest and the special additions made from time to time. This paper attempts to examine only two or three strands of causation.
Problems of Legislation Relating to Collective Bargaining
Authors: Midanik S. 
Published: June 2006

The purpose of this paper is to examine some of the main problems involved in collective bargaining legislation and to indicate how they have been dealt with in Canada. The study is confined mainly to provincial legislation, since the Dominion Industrial Disputes Investigation Act deals with conciliation machinery, and not collective bargaining, and the validity of the Dominion Trade Union Act has been strongly impugned by the courts. The discussion will be -confined to five main headings: (1) the right to organize; (2) the right to bargain collectively; (3) the bargaining unit and the bargaining agency; (4) the extent of the duty to bargain; (5) administration.The Right to Organize. The first main problem is the question of the right to organize. I use the term “right” advisedly, for lack of a better. The developed liberalism of modern times does not seek to define the rights of citizens in terms of strict indefeasibility. Everyone, at common law, has always been free to organize or join a trade union, so long as its purposes did not violate the criminal law. Nova Scotia and Saskatchewan declare that it shall be lawful for employees to organize and join a trade union; Ontario substitutes the term “collective bargaining agency” for “trade union,” the former term, by definition, excluding company unions “dominated, coerced or improperly influenced by the employer.” The rest of the provinces recognize the right of both employers and employees to organize for any lawful purpose. In connection with this latter group, if the word “lawful” means not criminal—then it is superfluous; if it means lawful, as not being in restraint of trade, the declaration is of little value, since most trade unions have objects, such as strikes, pickets, etc. which are in restraint of trade.