The Axe, 13 janvier 1922, vendredi 13 janvier 1922

[" æ, a The | Merchants\u2019 Bank Scandal Lo \u2019 - * sensational proposed absorption by The Bank of Montreal has not only created a deal of ugly comment throughout Canada but hag caused considerable disquietude in the minds of many people.A great outcry is _ being made in certain quarters about the hard bargain driven by The .Bank of Montreal in taking over the unfortunate institution, but this is only so much \u201cpiffle\u201d.about the poor shareholders, with whom, however, we are not unsympa- But there are some aspects of the case nok touched upon by any of - the persons or newspapers that have delivered their souls on the matter.| For one thing, we note The Merchants Bank has been carrying on a cam- | ign in furtherance of its Christmas Savigs Club for Christmas, 1922.8 appeal was addressed to the workers, the wage-earners, rather than any other class, that is, to those amongst whom thrift ahould be encouraged.In other words, while this Bank was apparently tottering to its fall, the Directors have been attempting to induce the workers of the country to place their hard-earned surplus income in the keeping of à financial institution which they musthave known was somewhat shaky.still.This is a serious matter for the rank and file of the common people, to whom the safety of the institutions to which they entrust their * savings is of vital concern, .Perhaps The Merchants\u2019 Bank might have been saved by this means; erhaps not.But it is surely morally indefensible on the Lot the n , \u2018Directors of a Bank, so near to a financial crieis as the M has been to attempt at such a time to secure the savings of people to carry their institution safely around the corner.This phase of the A case is one we demand be looked into by the Minister of Finance before giving approval to the proposed absorption.There is à far more serious aspect of the incident that merits consi- Merchants\u2019 Bank, showing the condition of the Bank to be perfectly sound and healthy.Now it is declared that the reserve fund has almost \" disappeared.Millions of dollars have gone somewhere.Where have they one?Mr.D.C.Macarrow, the General Manager of the Bank, who in the ank\u2019s present crisis seems to be no longer in the public eye, should give - the public some information on this point.: : Although he is rot connected any longer with the Mer- \u201c chants\u2019 Bank, the responsibility of the chief executiveof a bank is ~~.net a thing to be lightly laid seide at the approach of trouble.If the \"+ Inst financial statement issued was incorrect and misleading that is a se- \u201crious matter.It is questionable in our mind if the issuance by a Bank of 8 false financial statement, likely to mislead and deceive the public, is 7 not an offence against the banking laws rendering the responsible offi- .\" cials amenable to Jaw.I, on the other hand, the financial statement in \u201c.question was correct when issued, the question to be now asked is how «2 bas the money vanished so suddenly?That a bank can be financially * - sound in July and on the rocks in December is unthinkable.Anyhow, there the matter stands.Ther is à mystery somewhere, and someone 5 49 evidently trying to cover it up.If so, id whose interests?Our judg- ©\" \"ment ig that the public interest, not.the shareholders\u2019 interests, are - the chief concern, hecause a bank derives its existence from the Govern- 2\" \u2018ment, the people, and if Bank Managers or Directors, or other employ- \u201csas can act either so inefficiently or dishonestiy,whichever it may be, the oublie interest is endangered, and suffers.If nothi is done to clear public apprehension on this point the Banks of the country will only have themselves to blame if a demand arises ST mand arises for the establishment ©\u201c.of Government Banks ke the Commogweatth: Bask in.Australia, which Lda owas ¥ f, = Ls : has been à wonderful success.(ES CAS +: Without accusing anybody of frrongdoing in connection with The \".Merchants\u2019 Bank affair, it 1s just - ÿ well to say bluntly that Sir Monta.\u201cgu Allan and his Board of Directors are suspected of shieldinig somebody Hf so, whom?Are they covering up, transactions of their own?1s it 1 General Manäger, or should wd'say, the late Genaral Manager, Mr.).C.Macarow, who Is being shielded?Picture what would happen if a * slerk in The Merchants\u2019 d used a couple of thousands of the Bank's dollars t6 \u201cplay the ponies\u201d and lLieen found short.What would te en?That poor bank-clerk would be behind bars now, on the inside \"looking out, and the Bank would he pressing the charge nyt him, + \u201cmaking an example of him.\u201d If millions of dollars can disappear, as \u2018appears to have beer the case in the instance under discuss on, without any satisfactory explanation being givex to the public, wel, it looks \u2018like \u201crotten\u201d business, to put it mildly, et those responsible for The | A JOURNAL OF ACTION AGAINST REACTION EDITED BY JOHN H.ROBERTS \u201cLAY THE AXE AT THE ROOT OF THE TREE\u201d ) MONTREAL, FRIDAY, JANUARY 13th, 1922.Where did the \u201cRest\u201d fund Go?Lats have the lid lifted! The sensational collapse of The Merchants\u2019 Bank and its equally |} There has also been much agonising talk } \"If they didnot know its shaky condit fon, their culpability is more serious || to whom the loss of their savings means the loss of everything, in order | deration, A few months ago a financial statement was issued by The | mt \u201c Price: 5 conts.Annus] subscription Two dollars.- T-am The Axe .T am The Axe.The Axe is ever the weapon and too] of the pioneer, the fight- : er, the man who conquers.With me men have blazed trails through vast wilderness, made tracks through the trackless forests, and utilized the growth of centuries in the Service of Man.Men use me to clear away the underbrush and make pains to walk in.| Giant trees that for centuries have reached out towards the sky have fallen before by ringing blows.The dead tree that has ceased to be useful and menaces the liZe of healthy trees dread my stroke._ The oak, the maple, the pine, and every tree that can efficiently serve mankind is laid low by me that, in turn, it can perform the greater service.I am the symbol of civilization, the herald of progress, the friend of Man, the enemy of stagnation.I am useless except in action, when I can be terrible._ By me, The Axe \u201cthe tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down,\u201d The Axe is action against reaction ware and fear.BETTING and BOOKIES How Telephone and Telegraph Companies help.Why not get the big fellows?| ; let the reactionary be- sand dollars per month in long dis tance tolls from people supplying racing information.A fine thing for a rich corporation like the Bell Telephone Company to do, isn\u2019t it?There is -great interest being manifested in the cases now before the Montreal-Courts in wheih Laurence O'Loughlin and.\u201cBilly\u201d Moorhouse are the leading figures, charg- 1» Lger question at the à {ed with selling information on races -to bookmakers, or some such thing.One of the evening papers has referred tô the matter as a] \u2018\u201cGarblers\u2019 Tong War.\u201d Well, if such a condition as a gambler ting another gambler \u201cpinched\u201d .is \u201cwar\u201d, that term will do as well as any other ,we suppose, Doubtless, the cases will proceed leisurely through the Courts and- possibly, or otherwise, fines.will be and the game go merrily on.What is 8 paltry fine when there are at least five hundred handbook men in Montreal who want the inform.\u2018ation (and want it quick) that these \u201cNews Services\u201d supply?Nothing.\u2018Or, at-most, merely a license fée.We are not concerned about this internecine strife.There is.a big- issue.What about companies that are ns by which these providing the people receive and it information on horse races?I the press reports of the raids m in these two cagem it was ghown that in © case there was a telegraph operator and a telegraph instrument in evi.) dence and in both instances tele- phonés were ia.use.Why, for ine.\u2018tance, is, not the Bell Telephone Conipsuy placed on trial?That: Company knows what kind of de js coming over ony from AL \u2018bany, or Troy, qr New York; né ghould know.It hag a {ipecial ope- Merchants Bank affairs speak out.There is pet going to be one law .for high officials and angther for bank-clerky if we tan hélp it.© ryBOY: PAGE 81% MONTAGU ALLAN AND Mr.B.6, MACAR- ed |the comp Te ah Company concerne and e mpany concerned à we would tike to see the President or Manager of the utility companies involved arraigned before the {Courts in the Company of Moorhouse and O'Loughlin.Without prejudging the cases at all, \u2018we say that, if Moorhouse and O'Loughlin \u2018have viotated the law im receiving and sending out racing information, ies, bave provided them with a physival means of operation are equally culpable and should likewise \u201cface the musie\u201d.- io A It\u2019s time the axe was laid \u201cat the root of this gambling tree, so were sharpening up the old tool.Thanks to the, shall we say greed?of oie racing shoo the other off hig preserves, the opening wedge has been driven In and the opening can soon be wide ned until those hand-book harpies who prey upon man\u2019s love of sport are all put out of business.Th game has gone oh.lang enough } Montreal.RE Ca The law of - ths \u201cssantry ates n Gases the pari-mutuel nis.r run for their money, providing the races are run on the level, let - betting - on \u2018races be confined to where it je legal.But this making of \u2018On races rux-at Havana, New = Orleans, and other points of Uncle : rafor assigned to this long distance n hundred tn two thao.felipe tha A wn tren HINT.SR SS pe who, for a price, ing News purveyor in trying fo QE on race-courses, sols \u2018 Le ines give the backers of horses a ; Cn THE AXE, FRIDAY » © 19 \u201c > Tal .LY 3 3) \u201c shed 11.4 i + \u2019 ?\u2019 vl MAPLE LEAVY, \u2019 S This NeW GERAN MENACE 4 : German Goods Entrenched in ( Being the Editor's comments on Topics of the week).Canadian Storesvage - A HAPPY NEW YEAR.Its an old, old wish and might be more freshly phrased.But let it stand.The In 1914 this country threw in its - iot with the mother country, sent ,- half a million soldiers to Europe, \u2019 and impoverished itself for generations to come in order to free the world fron the German menace.Today, there are thousands of the brave fellows who risked everything for Canada\u2019s sake walking the streets out of work, many of them : \\ dependent upon charity.Some are selling newspapers at street corners (all honor to them!), others are compelled to beg in order to _ support themselves and families.In addition, there are many others without jobs who are looking hungrily for tho chance to earn a decent living, but our civilisation has failed them; they are jobless.And as there is no war now, the powers that be have no use for them.Having gone through the Hell of War in Europe the ex-soldiers may go to Hell now for all the authorities in the main care.The Mayor has not been without practical sympathy, and others have shown real kindness.But our stores are flooded with German-made goods.Talking with a Manufacturer's Agent a day or two ago, he informed us that he represented several German factories here and that the lines he handled were without competition, as he was able to undersell any Canadian manufacturer.During the war, when some of the fire-eating merchants and manufacturers branded us as disloyal and unpatriotic because we expressed our own convictions about the war and conscription, we were told that never again would Germany be allowed to undersell the British and, especial- by the Progressives who have the fundamentals of real Literalism in them and, wo think, the \u201cguts\u201d to fight for them.It is seriously to be hoped that Mr.Crerar and his flock will preserve an.attitude of strict independence and remain independent to support, independent to oppose, independent to criticism, independent to defend, as\u2019 the case may me.From such an attitude on their part Liberalism has everything to gain and nothing to lose and, incidentally, the Progressives will consolidate their own position and win wider respect for themselves than yet they have one.WHAT ABOUT CANADIAN WAR-MADE FORTURES?We note with great regret that the Honorable Krank Tudor, leader of the Australian Parliamentary Labor Party, whom we had the pleasure of meeting and knowing in Australia, is dead.Frank Tudor was not a brilliant leader by any means but had those sterling qualities of dogged endurance and directness which are the hallmarks of the real \u201cAussie\u201d, and he led the Federal Labor Party in the Australian House of Commons with skill and success.His loss will be a severe blow to the Labor Cause in Australia which, however, has many outstanding and brainy members.Following the war, Frank Tudor had waged a campaign against fortunes made through the war.It would be a most timely thing if such a campaign vhere Gentiles fear to tread.If they will ac.Were started here and thosc who fattened cept Gentile members we are ready to join | #Nd battened on the blood and brawn of up.fighting men compelled to disgorge.MORAL: GIRLS, FOREIGNERS.The United Farm Women of Manitoba are asking that the Naturalisation Act be changed so that any Canadian woman marrying an alien shall not lose her nationali- gistrate with extended jurisdiction.This will leave Moare still a magistrate, we presume, which is a pity, After the remarka- AXE starts at the beginning of a new ble and unparalleled exhibition of asinine year for the purpose of making every year stupidity he has furnished to the world 6 happy one for everybody.And so just the less he figures in a magisterial capacity es the New Year's bells \u201cRing out the|the Moore people will be pleased.What old ring in the new,\u201d we want the ring-|an outcry' there would have besn\u2019in Oning strokes of The AXE to \u201cRing out the [tario\u2019 if this had happened in\u2019 Quebec! false, Ring in the true\u201d.Without rant or eant, without fear or favor, we intend to place The Axe where it will do most good.in your case.Mr or Mrs or Miss Reader, it will do you most good if you \u201cGet The Axe\u201d regularly.A WAR AGAINST HIGH RENTS.We note with pleasure that a Tenants\u2019 Protective Association has been formed in Montreal and cordially wish it success.Is there never to be au end to the increase of rents in Montreal?It is already one of the most expensive cities to live in on the North American Continent and this condition is; largély due to the inordinate greed and rapacity of the owners of property.hereabouts.Regularly: as February comes, the property owner looks for an increase in the amount of rent paid him, although intrinsically, allowing for wear and tear, his property is worth less not more.Under a more sensible social system we should recognize that value is given to land and property by the people who live and have their being on or about it, and that of all leeches the rent-racking property owner is usually the worst.We observe that most of those connected with this new Tenants\u2019 Protective Association are of the Hebrew persuasion.Well, no- sody will grudge then the honor of pioneering in this good cause and rushing in THE NEW YEAR'S BEST GIFT.Peace in Ireland, self-government, freedom and all that the words.\u201cIrish Free State\u201d connote, is surely the best New Year's gift not only to Ireland but to England and the British Empire in general, indeed to the whole world at large.Ireland was made a brave struggle for her freedom and she has won it, even through a pathway of blood.Not a Brithisher \\ among us, and we are incurably British, N will begrudge her hour of triumph.But we may as friends of Ireland in her darkest days hope not to be misunderstood when we say that we trust the victory Irishmen and Irishwomen have won for Ireland will not be frittered away and lost because those who love Ireland, and have made such tremendous sacrifices for Ler sake, cannot agree among themselves, Get together, Bhoys an\u2019 gurls! CANADA'S POPULATION.int Canada has reached eight and a \u201c:1.millions of population is surely a \u201cuvre for gratification to all who love vanada, It would have reached a higher liürk had it not been for the war, without a doubt, but it is a marvellous increa- ¢ een.DON'T MARRY THE COMING SESSION AT QUEBEC.The talking shop will have been reopened before these lines are in print.What a pity we could not declare a moratorium for legislation and stop making any new :e for all that, Let us hope that the new Government will inaugurate a bold im- immigration policy not for the purpose of bringing the scum and riff raff of Continental Europe but to further people this vast land with real old country stock.And let us also express the pious wish that those who come will be brought specifically to go on the land and cultivate it, not to make our already overcrowded cities more overcrowded, but to build up the real Canada in the open spaces.This laws until we had learned to obey and secure the best possible results from the laws we already have.Too many laws, too many lawyers, at Quebec.We wonder if the presence of women in the Legislative Assembly would improve matters, It certainly could not make talk more plentiful or profuse than now and possibly some of the ladies would utter sense sometimes.WHAT WILL THE PROGRESSIVES DO?ty but, at least, have the right to say|} what nationality she shall possess.There is much to commend this proposal for it has always seemed absurd to us that any Canadian girl, marrying, for instance, a citizen of the United States becomes at once an American.Nevertheless, the supply of Canadian men is not yet exhausted, sisters, and we respectfully and reverently suggest that one sure way of not losing your nationality through marriage is to y the Canadian manufacturer.Now, for the sake of the extra profit they can make, these merchants don\u2019t care a thinker\u2019s curse about Imperial ideals or Canadian prosperity; they are about after the dough and they are getting it.Yes, they are susbcribing to the unemployed relief funds, merchants are giving food to help feed the unemployed soldiers, But what these lose your hearts only to Canadians.In any case, we are sure you'll ultimately have your own way, whatever happens.\u2014 ment want, and are entitled to is not charity but justices.A square deal! And they are not getting it.; We hate to advise or encourage dis- \u201c, oo order or lawlesness but it would cer- \u2019 tainly serve some of the miserable skunks of storekeepers right if the- men who fought overseas to save the property of these parasites from passing into German control were to take every article of: German manufacture out of the stores forcibly and make a bonfire of the junk on Champ de Mars.Forcible representations should be made to these get-rich-quick storekeepers, who are piling up huge profits out of German goods, and the men who fought should eR take steps to find out who they are a and what they are selling, and then À expose them.If there is no other | avenue of publicity open, the columns of THE AXE will be at their Rservice.And Mr.Mackenzie King > should be interviewed at once about eee the matter.He has promised a lot of things to the soldiers.Let him do \\.something practical now to restart Ce the idle Canadian factories, set the + wheels of industry humming, and \u2019 Now that all the Cabinet offices have been alloted and the victors are preparing to divide the spoils of patronage, there is much speculation as to the course of action to be followed by Mr.Crerar and his associates, We hear many things said in condemnation of the Progressives but we would remind all good and true Liberals (like ourselves) that the only fault with the Progressives is that they are more Liberal than the Liberals.As a matter of fact some of the men elected to the new Parliament as Liberals are Liberals in name only, without the scantiest idea of what true Liberalism consists of.We foresee a great time for THE AXE in dealing with all such weakling Liberals and shall unhesitatingly and unsparingly handle these wolves in sheep's clothing.In this we are going to bé greatly helped is the policy that Australia i% now pursuing, having already seen the inutility, indeed, futility, of the other method.And, for God\u2019s sake, let's hear no more about *Blokies\u201d not being wanted.Every man and woman willing to work is needed in Canada and, if British, have as much right kere as any of us.A CLEAR CASE OF CIVIC MEANNESS.The Executive Committee of the Montreal City Council hag given as piffling an exhibition of petty parsimony as it has ever been our misfortune to meet.In pursuance of their policy of making civic servants responsible for city property which may be in their care, a policy that is not without merit, the City Fathers have decided to make a fireman pay for a crowbar that he had lost at a fire.Could stupidity farther go?The next thing they will do will be to compel the relatives to compensate the \u2018city when firemen lose their lives in the City's service.Messieurs le Executive Committee, please don't make yourselves ridiculous! 7 +\" JUSTICE'S JUSTICE.The sentence of forty years imposed by Magistrate Moore, of Parry Sound, Ontario, on a poor luckless, half-crazed foreigner who had broken windows in order to get into jail for the winter, is probably the greatest crime ever committed in Canada, murders not excepted.Mr.Raney, the Attorney General of Ontario, is reported as intending to supersede this Moore person by appointing another ma- PROGRESSIVE DRUNKENNESS.In 1918, the convictions for drunkenness in Montreal were 4,986 in 1919, 7,000, and in 1920, 9,092.This increase synchronizes with the adoption of Government ownership of the business of supplying alcoholic liquors to the people.In other words the Government, of the Province of Quebec are making drunkards in order to have money to spend on good roads, education, colonization, and other .| | administrative services (according to the|Comply with what is every man\u2019s King\u2019s Speach at the opening of the Legis- inherent right, the right to work.lature this week).No wonder amend- = - Co ments are to be introduced this session BY{ ore and more dissatisfied with what FC the Government to improve the efficacy|commercially-minded managers, especially NY TT of The- Aleoholic Liquor Act (vide.King'a{those from below the boundary line, seek - 7 Speech).It certainly needs improvingiito foist upon us as high Art.In this latter « > Better a return to the old method of :pri-{connection, the efforts of Mr George Dris- 2 = vate ownership than this hypocrisy! | :.[coll in linking up Canada with the old coun- {try stage should not pass unrecognized.A = copfparison of this week\u2019s bill with lgat \u2018 wéek's at our leading Montreal theatre will e sufficient to indicate where the best ine terests of Canadian playgoers and the thea- , tre in Canada lie.One week of Miss Marie Lohr is worth a century of \u201cBehind the Masks\u201d.We intend to encourage amateur dramatics in these columns to the full extent of our ability and we invite The Community Players of Montreal, Incorporated, and all other amateur dramatic organisa.\u201c \u2014 tions to make yhemselven at home with as, \u2018 IF YOU LIKE THE AXE and want to be sure of getting it regularly order it from your news-agent (5 cents) or, better still, send us Two Dol lars (Money Order or Currency ) for one Year\u2019s Subscpiption.Address: Publisher \u201cThe Axe\u201d 104 Coronation Building, 121 Bishop Street, Montreal.GET THE AXE! = en GOOD NEWS FOR THE CANADIAN DRAMA.All lovers of the drama, and especially the Canadian drama, will rejoice in th success that has attended the Community Players of Montreal, which fiow bec an incorporated body.- Anythi will encourage the idealism of th and minimise its commercialism is.go praiseworthy.Such a movement as the Community Players will fostez/a love for the best in the drama and teyd to make us + 7 AE 4 .es \u2019 ; f 10 OUR READERS If you are suffering any injustice: If you have a story to tell that the public would be interested.in ; If you have anything to drag into the light of day; If you know anything worth telling ; If you want to ventilate any grievance, Anf if you have \u201cthe goods\u201d \u2014Let us hear from you! FRIENDLY LETTERS To important, would be important, and inimportant people To the Right Honorable William Lyon Mackenzie King, Prime Minister of the Dominion of Canada, Ottawa.Dear Mr Prime Minister:\u2014 You are to be congratulated on arriving At such eminence so early in life.You have & great chance to make good and do good.Yours is not an easy task for you reign only by sufferance, but if you steer a straight course you have nothing to fear.It is yours to remember that the great majority of the people of Canada are just plain folk, hard-working, sober, poor.This is not a country of millionaires but of workers, Therefore, your policies should be formulated with the common people in mind and not with a view to making the rich richer.Of course, you know all this, my dear Prime Minister, for you have probably given a closer and more detailed study to labor problems than any statesman in the Dominion.Be careful what you do about handing back the Government railways to private enterprise.You'll make the mistake of your life if you do so.The C.P.R.has as much as it can handle efficiently now.No private company is big enough, or able enough, to handle a nation\u2019s transportation.And if your Quebec colleagues tell you they are opposed to Gevernment ownership, remind them of the dirty, rotten business they placed under Government ownership in the Province of Quebec, the booze business, which has made their province stink to high Heaven.Another thing, don\u2019t be little.You should have welcomed Mr Meighen's action in finding himself a seat in Parliament.For one thing, it was an accomplished fact and you could not prevent it by your criticism.For another, it made you look picayune.The British are alwyas generous to a fallen foe.Besides, you may find Mr Meighen of great help to you in keeping some of your followers more faithful to the people's interest than to the Intereis\u2019s interests.And, by the way, we'll help you in that, too.The best of good luck to you.\u201cTHE AXE\".To the Honorable Mr Alexandre Taschereau, Premier of the Province of Quebec, Quebec.Dear Mr Premier :\u2014 We notice that you have issued a New Year's message to the.people of this Province in which you hold up Quebec as an example to the rest of Canada and the world in general.Well, in most respects that is true.It sure is a grand old province, this old Quebec, and better people you cannot find anywhere, broadminded, tolerant, hard-working, thrifty, clean-liying, and full of the joy of life.But there is one aspect of our common life in the Province of Quebec in regard to which we are not a good example to the rest of Canada and the world in general, and that is in our common ownership of the dirty, disreputable, destructive liquor business.You may -think it a fine thing to be able to raise millions of dollars in revenue by catering to the basest passions of mankind.To you, it may appear high statesmanship to keep | the Treasury full by keeping the cupboards of the poor empty, for it is still true thas even the drunkard made such by Government liguor \u201cshall come to poverty\u201d.You may delude yourself into believing that because the Government owpership booze is economically successful; therefore, .it must be morally right.But tim will show that what your Government has done to the people of this \u201c air province is the blackest crime ever com- \u201cmitted against the home, the lives, and the immortal welfare of the citizens of any .country and that so long as your Govern- \u201cment sanctions the maintenance of this evil institution long will they be damned - by the curses ¢f those who suffer and suf- \" .fer the contenfpt of all who think in terms .of.the peoplels highest welfare, Further-[; == \" * ve PRE AXE 4, .Around Xn NUARY 43,1088 + «117» = FAs Ny Led A AR AA ne cao» Camp Fire (Being the best stories of the week gathered from all quarters.) Mickey, the Dop.The Inspector: Name?Prisoner; Pat McSweenie, Sorr, The Inspector: Nationality?Prisoner: Oirish.The Inspector: Business?Prisoner: Italian organ-grinder, Sorr.Sketch (London) In difficulty A young married man went into the ladies\u2019 departrhent of a large Boston store and was noticed to walk from counter to counter looking at goods and signs until he noticed he was under watchful eyes.Noticing a smart, smiling Miss, he went up to her and said: \u201cMy|* wife sent me here to make a purchase, and I have been reading the signs to see if I could get the right word to describe what she wishes.It is either a camisole or & casserole.Can you help me?\u201d The young lady replied: \u201cIf you] will answer one question I can.more, we predict that if your administration does not rid itself of this incubus, you Party will pay a terrible price for it.Mark our words.Government booze will kill it.There will be such a holocaust of scandal and corruption descend upon this vile institution you are so proud of that your Government, will be driven \u2018from; power to be replaced by one that will wash the hands of the province of the stains Liberalism has placed there by taking over the sale of liquor as a Government monopoly.Already, it is known how easy it is to get licenses from the Commission if certain things are done or certain people are seen.Already, certain people are selling liquor to the Commission who live too near to the Throne.Already, there are -whispers going around of the high commissions said in Scotland and England.What can you expect when you set out to manage an | , \u2018conduct de Consternation Service.\u201d unmanageable business?How do you expect your Government can sell liquor without the kriown, ascertained effects of alcohol resulting therefrom?Rum has always ruined its devotees, Whiskey always has made prostitutes of women and slaves of men.Brandy has ever been the club by which the finer sensibilities of drinkers have been crushed.Do you think you can}.change the nature of a tiger by changing its keeper?and the Legislature, had better wash your hands and make them clean, before you talk any more bunk about the Province of Quebec being an example to anybody.\u201cTHE AXE\", Ta Mr Recorder Semple, City Hall, Montreal.Dear Mr Recorder Semple: \u2014 You are reported in the press recently as having had before you a girl named Florence St.John, who.was charged with \u201cLoitering\u2019\u201d.On your asking this poor creature, somebody's daughter, be it fe- membered, how much she earned, ;she informed you that her earnings as a waitress were six dollars per week, plus five or six dollars in tips.\u2018You are reported.as then saving to this victim of our social system :\u2014 \u201cYou know you oaght to be able to live fairly respectably on that amount of money; you look respectable, and should have no reason for loitering.Ten dollars and costs or one month\u201d.! We look back to the time before you were elevated to the position of \u2018Recorder of the City of Montreal when your warm Irish heart was always ready to best i in odie with suffering and pain.Nene heart still beats.It may be that a job like yours has the tendency to make you callous and indifferent to human sorrow.Well, so much the worse for you, if such be the ase, But on reflection I believe you will you, the employer who paid You and your Government, lize $hat eleven or twelve dollars a week, | rvation wages should have ap-|.And you ought to have ssid |F solve the problem, Is the chicken dead or fre?) _\u2014 , Judge, New- York.202 | \u201cObl ?The family was 5 seated\u2019 at dinner, and the conversation - turned.to school lessons, much to the consternation and diegust of Cynthia.\u201cWhat period in English history are you doing?\u201d inquired her fa- er.\u201cThe Stuarts\u201d, replied Cynthia, timidly: after which an ominous pause suggested - that father.was thinking of a question -upon a period \u2018of history: about: which.his facts were dim and hazy.ne.\u201cWhat was.the \u2018first thing James I, did when \u2018he-came -to the.throne?\u201d he asked, at length.- \u201cSat on it, I suppose,\u201d replied |\u201d Cynthia, with calm conviction, \u2014 Tit Bitss (London).Little difference, now's days \u201cPoor Smithers, I don't believe he\u2019s ever had a new \u2018thing in his life; all his furnishings came from second-hand shops, and when he bought a car he bought a used car.\u201d \u201cRight! And now he\u2019s gone and married a widow.\u201d \u2014 Judge.(Newor Consternation It was at a revival meeting in Dixie-land, and the coloured ladies and \u2018their gallants had put on not only their most swagger clothes but their most elaborate manners.\u201cMassa Dixon\u201d, inquired a lady of her escort, \u201cwho am dat tall, dig- nifaced gemmun constituting down de aisle wit de lady wit de gol\u2019-rimmed tentacles ?\u201cDon\u2019 you know who dat am, Miss Lindy?\u201d replied Massa Dixon.\u201cDat am de new deacon w'at is comin\u2019 to \u2014 Tit Bits (London).There's more than one! \u201cWell, Jim\u201d, he eaid to his friend, \u2018after being told quite an untruth, \u201cyou'll never go to heaven.\u201d \u201cI dont want to go to heaven,\u201d he replied.\u201cI own the other place.\u201d - \u201cWhat do you mean \u2014 you own the other place?\u201d \u201cMy wife gave it to me this morning.\u201d \u2014 Judge, (New-York).Granny\u2019s Ghost 7 ~The house where Granny lived was said to be haunted, and fifteen- year-old Tom was nervous of sleeping alone.During the first night he fancied he heard strange noises, so in the morning he tackled the old lady.\u201cDo you believe in spirits, granny?\u201d he asked.The old lady thought deeply for a moment, then suddenly her face brightened, and she said, slowly: \u201cWell, they do say that whiskey good for rheumatism.\u201d \u2014 Tit-Bits (London).To Without what?\u201cMr, Wadlelgh 3.a gentleman waits without to see you on urgent business.\u201d \u201cDoes he look prosperous?\u201d \u201cHe looks poor.\u201d \u201cIn that case the urgency is his.Let him wait.\u201d\"\u2014Birmingham Age- \u2018[Heraldyet Turned the the trick! \u201cHow would you you have played that hand?\u201d asked the bridge novice after the \u201cinquest.\u201d \u201cUnder an assumed name if I had been you,\u201d replied the club cynic crually, A: all was onc?again smiles, good humour and b:anevolence.\u2014 Toun Topics (Lonion>, Make him an Alderman! Overheard.\u2014 \u201cYus! an\u2019 I says to im: \u2018You shove any more water in my milk an\u2019 I'll take it down ter the Town 'All an\u2019 \u2018ave it paralyzed by the local Anarchist.\u2019\u201d \u2014 Pearson's Weekly (London).S-S-S-Soda Water A woman who stammered was charged with a minor offence.As there was some doubt as to her proper name, tha court officer said, \u201cWhat's your name?\u201d She tried to reply, but being nervous, merely said, \u201cS-s-s-8-s-,\" hissing loud and long.\u201cTell the magistrate your name,\u201d rapped out the officer.This made her worse than ever, and a prolonged \u201chiss\u201d was the only result.\u201cWhat's she charged with?\u2019 asked the magistrate.A facetious lawyer rose from the table and said, \u201cSoda-water\u201d, I think, your worship.» \u2014 Ti Bits (London).We know this Kid! \u201cWhom does the baby resemble?\u201d \u201cWell, he has my wife\u2019s eyes and my nose, but I can\u2019t imagine where he got his voice, unless it was from my automobile siren.\u201d \u2014 Town Topics.Bootleggers, beware! \u2018\\ \u201cHonestly, I believe that man was trying to flirt with me!\u201d gasped the sweet young thing.\u201cNothing like it, dearie\u201d, retorted the wretch; \u201cthat guy\u2019s a dry agent winking at a violation.\u201d \u2014 Buffalo Express.\u201cRepent at leisure\u201d Desk.\u2014Do you: believe in writing anonymously?Quill\u2014Well, Ive often wished that one of my productions had been anonymous, \u201cWhat was it?\u201d - \u201cA letter proposing to Mrs.Quill.\u201d \u2014 Edinburgh Scotsman.TO THE PUBLISHER, \u201cTHE AXE\", 104 Coronation Building, 121 BISHOP ST, SIR, ~~ \u2019 ! .City or Town .S000 9008 Ges ne0 soUD sous S000 s200 oea0 sets 2008 County.$04088 6100 vous dons aocs su0s dons 006 000 0000 ave weve 9906 7 Province.\u2018Vrof 0000 vous sees 200s oué BIG 20D TURE CIGD 0000 WISE 0000 4 Datei.tie dors veri sii ure sere sere sane #00 oe ye Ae a aC CUT ME OUT! Montreal, P.Q.Please send me a copy of \u201cTHE AXE\" every week for one year, beginning with the next issue after date.I enclose Two Dollars in payment.(Sigged) Name.coe we vgee ae 9000 vues 0400 Bree vécu ca06 as0s 0000 000s sai - - # rex Page 8 scoop.hem: selves the pictures should ba inte- - resting an Page THE AXE, FRID Splinters and Shavings Hon.Tobert Rogers says, \u201c The Conservative can give to thig country the form of Stable government which it best requires.\u201d After the gamble the country took over the Union Government the Honorable Bob wants Canada to \u201cplay the ponies.\u201d A Ladies\u2019 Hatter in Montreal advertises, \u201cLadies\u2019 Hats, 1-2 off\u201d.Is this a new fashion or did it happen early New Year's morning?De Valera proposes a treaty of \u201camity\u201d with England.Does he mean \u201cI-am-IT-y\u201d?\u201cGive your friends Oka Cheese\u201d says a Montreal grocer in his ad.\u201cGive your enemies Lymberger\u201d, say we.Newspaper headline-\u201cChinaman swears on burning paper.\u201d We are not surprised.The language we once heard from an Irishman who unthinkingly sat down on a red hot stove was likewise profane, and with more justification.The employees at the City Hall have all received notice to quit.Heavens! Who'll provide Montreal with its daily bread now?A returned soldier charged with having liquors in his possession with intent, etc., denied that he was a private still.Bootlegging, which used to be a crime, is now an art.Quebec Provincial Government's motto for the New Year: \u2014 We care not who may make the country\u2019s laws so long ag we can sell her booze.\u201d > It is said that the Quebec Liberals want the bestowing of titles restored.One result of having a King of their own.\\ * De Valera has resigned.The rest .of us ARE resigned.The torpedoing of merchantmen has been declared an act of piracy.What about the perpetrators of election \u201croorbacks\u201d?Get The Axe every week; you might be getting it for all you'd know.If titles are to be given to Canadian hereafter we beg to nominate the Honorable Médéric Martin to be Hereditary Grand Duke of Montreal.- Premier Taschereau might be made C.B, \u2014- Chief Bartender.(After \u201cMy Mammy\").Meddy \u2014 Meddy The taxpayers live North, South, East, West, But the streets down East are paved the best, Meddy \u2014 Meddy \u2014 You'll be Premier when you are good and ready.Its a-coming; You \u2019ave à head Quebec Its a-coming; You have a head above your neck Meddy \u2014 Meddy \u2014 .I'd give a million notes for haif of your votes - My Meddy._ We hear that \u201cTommy Conway\", the enterprising amusement impresario, has secured the moving picture rights of the Irish Free State.As from-the proceedings in the Dail Eirann during the past month they are evidently lively times ahead, we congratulate \u201cTommy\u201d on \u201chis If the Irish live up them: big draw everywhere.gn - | that I should fight this thing?What less committed.entiti=ëd to trial before punishment of law or an officious inter- Why I start THE AXE\u201d 18, 1922 ee ES For ten years or more I laborèd in Montreal and in the Province of Quebec, fighting social wrong of e blows, I received hard blows, but very kind and type.I gave hard never whined nor whimpered, however hard the blows.Even my enemies say I was \u201cever à fighter\u201d.After nearly three years\u2019 absence I have returned to find much of my work undone, that reaction has triumphed, and social evil sits in the seat of Government.I do not propose tions, I cannot.to remain quiet under these condi- Everyone will remember the fight of which I was the outstanding figure, the fight for Prohibition.For years I was regarded as a \u201cjoke\u201d because I incessantly preached, \u201cA Dry Montreal in 1920\u201d.But the forces I served were finally able to rejoice in seeing a law passed which provided for complete prohibition throughout the province, as from the first day of May, 1919., When I left Montreal to officially serve the Prohibition movement in New Zealand I went away believing that the law I had worked so long and hard to secure was safe.In fact, one of the last things I did before leaving the city was to make a special trip to Quebec where I received assurances that no change would be made in the prohibition law.Had I not been positively certain that the law was safe I would never have left Montreal.On my return I find that the last state of the province is worse than the first.The bad old days of a privately-owned liquor traffic have given place to the worse new days of a Government-owned liquor traffic, In place of a private enterprise which, | after all, was not so hard to fight and, overcome because it was utterly discredi-! ted, I find that our Government has thrown the cloak of respectability over the liquor trade and is now \u201criding to Heaven on the.back of the Devil\u201d.Inetead of some six hundred liquor licenses in Montreal, I find one hundred Government-owned liquor stores, and over a thousand applications for wine and bear licenses for the year, 1922, before the Liquor Commission.And all this in the name of prohibition.Ye Gods! Not only this, but parts of the Province that had adopted Prohibition laws have reverted to a wet regime (encouraged by the action of the Government in converting a social evil into a respectable Government utility, no doubt) while the Province of of Quebec has become the chief instrument in nullifying the Prohibition laws of the United States and other Provinces of Canada, the dumping ground for all the .degenerate drunks of New York, Chicago, et al, and a cesspool in which the moral filth of outside places is poured so that our Government may have revenue and our taxes be reduced.But what is worse I find that every man and woman in the Province of Quebec is now a partner in the liquor business.We are all saloon-keepers now, God help us! And my soul revolts, What else could be expected of me than dare 1 do?The people have been betrayed by the Government they trusted.They have all become involved in the social ownership of a bloody business.Our hands are stained with the blood of men and women done to death by the poison sold in our name by the Government of hte Province of Quebec.The hands of the Government are red; the hands of the Legislature are red; the hands of all who condone this crime are red.Mine shall not be it I can help it.As to Prohibition, there are organisations that have been established to work and agitate for that.If they will work for Prohibition they can secure it, They have been shown the way; let them walk in it.But for me, my task is to undo the wrong that has been done in making all of us owners of the traffic in alcoholic liquors] and I shall not rest content until the Government has washed its hands of the \u2018foul stains they themselves have placed there and handed back the liquor trafic to private ownership, where the people have already proved they can deal with it.To this end, I will accept the help of any man going my way and I will help any man working for this result.The question of Prohibition is not the paramount question of the hour in the Province of Quebec.First things are always first and the first thing to be done by all who love their fellows, by all who resent being legislated into becoming partners in the liquor business is to demand and secure the abolition of the Government ownership of the liquor traffic.« There are other things to do besides smashing the booze business.It is my aim to make \u201cThe Axe\u201d a journal of justice in which every wronged man or woman or child will find an advocate, to which any one with a legitimate grievance may come and find help, and in which every evil influence \u2018affecting the life of the common people will be fought outright.In Whittier\u2019s words I want to make The Axe.\u201cThe hope of all who suffer, The dread r\u201c all who wrong\".JUHN H.ROBERTS.THE CLARIDGE CAFE CASE Has condemnation without trial been established in the Province of Quebec?It will probably be charged against us that, being irreconcilably opposed to the Government owner- sip of the whisky business, we can see no good in any action the Government Liquor Commission may perform.Well, we'll risk that.Our attitude to the booze business has not changed and the work of past years done by the E-itor against night cafes is not yet forgotten in Montreal.But there is something greater and more to be desired that the wiping out of a cabaret, and that is justice.As we understand the case, the Government Liquor Commission believed the Claridge Cafe had violated the Liquor Law.So its offic \u2018ers on the day before New Years\u2019 Day swooped down upon that establishment and seized all the liquors there, and took away its permit.That is to say, the Claridge Cafe before being tried for any offence alleged agaiffit it, was punished for the offence it was believed to have We hold this is not justice, that it violates the elementary principle of our law which provides that ev@lly accused person is ment, and that in so-doing, thé Government ~~ Liquor Commission, whether upheld by law or not, have boen guilty of a tyrannical enforce- and highhanded than anything of which the Prohibitionists have been charged in their campaign against the liquor traffic.The fact that a few hours before this spectacular raid was brought off the Claridge Cafe purchased nearly a thousand dollars worth of liquors from the Government Liquor Commission, and that the officers of the Commission seized this liquor, shows either a most inefficient lack or coordination of the different departments of the Commission or a spirit of petty meanness unlike Montreal.if the Chairman of the Government Liquor Commission, Mr.G.A.Simard, will refresh his memory regarding a raid made on the Country Club at St.Lambert some years ago he will recall that somewhat kindlier treatment was given on that occasion.Our strong objection to the manner in which the Government Liquor Commission has acted towards the Claridge Cafe is that if the.Commission, or its officers, can leg- towards license-holders the possibilities of grafting by officials becomes enormous, The big stick can be held over the heads of the potential victims to a \u201cfare-you-well\u2019y and ,instead of the law being wé administered its very sev may become a help.to its loosé ministration.When the Prev Government took over t wretation of law far more severe Pa 4 i ally or otherwise act in this manner |.+= arr eme Du San cs aa ee What the man in the street would like to know.Why in the Financial Statements of Banks issued to the public all the information seems clouded in a maze of figures?LE J J What was the real objection to having Sir Montagu Allan questioned in the Colin Cameron case?* Is the new Minister of Finance going to institute an effective investigation Into The Merchant's Bank affair?$ 8» Does the same gentleman know anythi of another Montreal Bank lately whic required and received the help of still another Bank to enable it to \u201ccarry un\u2019?#« Why the cause celebre of Shirlis Ogiivie vs.Miss Martin should be heard in camera?¥ & # Is it because of the high social position of the parties, or of one of them?- » 9 Are the details of the case too sordid, or the example of social leaders too unsafe, to set before the common herd?* 8» If Montreal's moat profitable industry at present is not the bootlegging busineas?LE J +# If an official receiving a few thousand ollars per year in salary can afford to build and own three or four apartment houses on that \u201cscrew\u201d?¢ 8 « How much bootlegging money in the case in mind has gone towards the purchase prie ce of these apartment houses?#0 Why the much-lauded Government control of the alcoholic liquors in this province has not prevented the crime wave in Montreal?.KX #% = The total number of handbook men ia Montreal?: 4 » How many hundred handbooks are being operated in Montreal?doe If any of these could be worked half se successfully if public utility companies did not assist in the swift transmission of racing information?.# = What might not the late \u201cEddie\u201d Brene nan, the bookmaker, tell if he could speak regarding a certain transaction by which a well known backer of horses, who was also a partner in a racing news service, used advance information of the winner to \u201craid the book\u201d?* + # If certain other handbook men, still alive, could not supplement the story with similar experiences?3&8 What is the \u201cApartment House Menace\u201d in Montreal?aa À Does the phrase have reference to lack of precautions against fire only?\u201c # 8 Or does it have refernece to some of the occupants ?» + - How many \u201cSweeties\u201d a census of apart ment houses would reveal?.& & & If Apartment houses could speak what reputations would go?\u201c+ # # What goes in to the products of certain breweries in this good old town apart from malt and hops?$88 Whether an analysis of certain \u201cbeers\u201d would not reveal something else of à deleterious nature?.# « # When deflation of wages is progressing 20 rapidly?FE If it is not high time that a Fair Prices Commission were created with power to fix prices of commodities?Lo - sn constituency in the recent Federal Elections who demanded fifteen thousand dollars to withdraw from the contest?\u2019 cL 8 858 2° = Ii it true that he got half the amount de- cL.dt Co mando se wilt Thou save the people, O, when?\" Pp ple, Va of M \u201cThe Axe\u201d je published by Join H, Ro: berts, and printed by \u201cLe.Matin Libel: >.: Why do High prices continue in the stores Who-wns the candidate for a Montreal 1¢ it is any wonder ve still deg: \u201cWhen î nee "]