Can Alberta's New Social Credit Plan Be Made To Succeed?
Province Pioneers Neiv Plan
of Credit Untried by any
Government In the World
BY A. C. BALLANTINE
f .ALGARY, ALTA: Will it work ? That is the
v question which ia being asked in Alberta by all.
but a few simple souls to whom William Aberhart,
originator of the provincial Social Credit Plan, is
a sort of deity to. whom all things are possible.
Social Credit, undouotedly the most venture
some economic experiment of all time, is the sub
ject of much speculation in this, the first province
of Canada, and the first political unit in the world,
to attempt it. j
Although, of course, the government which was
elected on a pledge to inaugurate the system has
as yet "nothing to show for its money," plans are ,
in course of preparation. The seeds have been
planted. Into what manner of flower will it grow?
It might be going too far to .say, as the Al- -berta
attorney-general, Hon. John W. Hugill, says,
that those who were opposed to Social Credit be-; .
fore the election are now "enthusiastic" over it,
but certain it is that much of the early prejudice
against it, not only in Alberta but in other prov
inces, is wearing down. , ,
This is to some extent a case of bowing to the '
inevitable and the converse of the force which won
the government its election the suspicion that '
anything was worth a trial and even if a new gov-;
ernment failed to inaugurate Social Credit it might
still accomplish substantial reform.
Premier Aberhart acknowledges the inspiration
of Major C. H. Douglas,-the Scottish economist ;.'
and originator of a plan of Social Credit for his
country which, however, has never yet been tried. .
The Aberhart plan differs slightly from the ,
Douglas, but is based, on the premise that it is the
duty of the State to organize its economic struc
ture in such a way that no bona fide citizen, man, '.
woman or child, shall be allowed to suffer for lack '.
of the bare necessities of food, clothing and shel
ter in the midst of abundance. The remedies he
proposes are set out in his "Manual" thus: -.
"1. Basic dividends are to be given to every
bona fide citizen in the form of credit (not money) ,
to provide for his bare necessities of food, cloth- ;'
ing and shelter." : ' "
(An impression that these dividends will range
between $25 and $75 a month arises from the fact
that Mr. Aberhart once mentioned the sums as a
hypothetical figure.) ... .
' f"
William Aberhart, premier of Albera
"2. An automatic price control system will be
introduced to fix a Just Price at which goods and'
services will be available.
"3. Provision will be made for the continuous
flow of credit."
; The estimated benefits are that business would
take on new life, increased consumption would call .
for more production and, hence, more employment.
ir IVTDENDS will not be paid in money," Mr.
J Aberhart explains, "but issued in the form
of credit much as banks now issue many of their
loans, and this credit will be a charge against the
natural resources of the province." .
He is quite emphatic that this will not increase
the public debt, nor will it resolve itself into a
gigantic scheme of taxation, for the plan contem
plates reduction in the spread between the produc
er's cost and the consumer's price, increasing the
producer's cost so that he may have a fair turn-
Limelight Destroys Island 'Tranquility
for Kin of Famous Mutineer-
Seeks Escape and Fortune in Big
P LETCHER CHRISTIAN, swashbuckling, adven-
I turous leader of the mutiny of the Bounty, in
1789 sought escape from civilization on far-off
Pitcairn Island, a beautiful but lonely atoll in the
South Seas. He married a Tahitian girl of royal
lineage and lived and died away from his native
land. Today, his great -great -grandson, Chester
Christian, last of the line, chooses a great teeming
metropolis in which to escape from a world that,
following the widely-publicized story of the Bounty
and his ancestor's part in it, made life a nightmare
for him.
Young Christian was ideally happy on his tiny
atoll until the romance of Pitcairn Island, which so
giamorously rolled from the pens of Charles Nord
hoff and Norman Hall, intrigued a bored world that
was soon sending expeditions to the South Pacific.
Motion picture cameras, photographers, writers
prying, inquisitive white men came. Strange people
were constantly about. He must do this, and that,
and the other thing, they told him. Even tourists
came to demand autographs and snapshots.
On his treasure island, he had hunted-wild pigs
- and chickens in the mountains; he fished, swam,
and made love. He was without-care ideally
happy. Then, the sudden exploitation of Fletcher
Christian and Pitcairn, the forgotten isle! Strang
ers planned his life for him. He began to seek a
refuge, but he could not escape in the islands, and .
one day found him boarding a San Francisco-bound
steamer at the quay in Papeete. '
TODAY he has found escape just as completely
ia a great city as Fletcher Christian found it on
lonely Pitcairn. Singing the old "himenes" (songs)
of the islands and performing the dances of days
over if the price is too low, or reducing it if it is
too high.
Two years ago he became interested in the Doug
las system of Social Credit which, he says, he re
ceived at first cynically; then, wondering if the
Scottish economist's plan could not be adapted to
Alberta, he. proceeded to do so more or less for his
own diversion, and almost before he knew what
had happened his present plan had been evolved,
swept the country and carried himself into the
premier's office. .
City
Chester Christian Today and Yesterday
that, even in the South Seas, are almost forgotten,
Chester Christian is making his living in a San
Francisco cafe, living quietly and unknown. Few of
the many people he entertains hear his name and
those that do seldom connect it with Fletcher
Christian, the mutineer.
Like Fletcher Christian, Chester, (still in nis
twenties), has ideas of accomplishments of his
own. Duly proud of his hardy progenators (h?
carries with him at all times a treasured picture
of Thursday October Christian, son of Fletcher),
he is not content to bask in reflected glory.
Is the youth happy in his new world? Perhaps
as happy as his great-great-grandfather was in his.
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