City Rejects School  Board Budget
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An Independent Semi-Weekly Newspaper Devoted to the   Intercut of Cer.Wo! and Northern British Columbia
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THE WEATHER
Mostly cloudy tomorrow. Few showers on  Friday. A little milder.   Light winds.   Low tonight and high -  tomorrow,  30  and  48.
Vol. 40;     No. 25
Price George, B.C. THURSDAY, March 28, 1957
(Three Sections    - 24 Pages)
$4.00 per year
5c per copy
ARENA
JLfi^ILANT'pver figures that reveal City of. Prince George succeeded in going over the top. in drive to sell $455,000.worth of municipal bonds locally to finance arena, is. this group of bond committee members. Seen here are from left back r'ow, Hal Hetherington, Alderman Percy-Williams, Frank Hewlett. Gordon Bryant, Geoff Hill, Don McEachni.e, and Ross Goodwin..  Toting up final figuros^ce City Hall accountant Kay Jqnes and Milton Burt.
An Editorial
Victory!
Some people laughed. Some simply scoffed. Many indicated astonished disbelief. A few became sufficiently articulate to say, "It can't be done." One or two were alarmed and thought it shouldn't � e-veYi be attempted. Fewer than a dozen in 14,000 showed anything but outright skepticism or pure indifference.
But the warriors of reactionism were beaten, as they so often are, by a b'reath of pure enthusiasm and by the steel arm of determination.
Today the city has the $455,000 with which to build the finest arena in the northern half of British Columbia, and possibly the finest one of its size in western Canada.
The money is there because the people of this city and the surrounding rural community put it there. This is to their credit.
But the money is also there because of three men who showed, respectively, courage, enthusiasm, and executive ability, all to a high degree.
We cannot help but be awed by the personal courage showed by Mayor Morrison in proposing that the reputation of this community, and indirectly his own reputation, be laid on the line in the name of civic progress. It was a gamble and the stakes were high. His Worship would have been the laughing stock of B.C. if the gamble had been lost. But it was not lost and the old cliche "Nothing ventured, nothing gained," takes on new meaning.
The spark of enthusiasm which set the bond sale committee on fire came from C B. "Chuck" Ewart, a man whose indomitable drive has achieved more for this community in three years than most men have contributed in a lifetime.
Finally, the executive ability to organize and administer a high-pressure sales campaign during a period when the local economy was anything but receptive to fund raising came from a relative newcomer to the city, Milton Burt, a young man who has written his name in the book of those.who have contributed to the welfare of this com-
$75,000 From Government To Defray School Cost
City of Prince George will stand firm on a decision made Monday night to demand arbitration before it will approve the school board's  15)57 budget.
News that a provincial govern-       ;----------------:-----------------------
ment bill will j-csult in a 975,000 ' jt appeared  that the city would
school aid grant to the city will not effect council's determination to seek arbitration over the controversial budget.
"We are .'going to go ahead with arbitration," finance chairman Alderman Percy Williams announced firmly  today.
"Council is 100 per cent behind it," he said.
According to school board secretary Robert Grac'ey this will be the first time that a municipality
not be getting financial assistance from the provincial government. , Earlier rejection of the budget was stalled to. await outcome of representations made at Victoria by Mayor John Morrison, city clerk Arran Thomson and comptroller Gi A. Jeffery.
NO  WOIU)
When tlie trio travelled to the capital city nearly two weeks ago, it was assured by Department of Education officials that results of
has sought arbitration involving the talks would be known to the settlement of a school budget.        cil   on or b f      March 25
As equally determined to stand ;
behind its budget, a spokesman! No word had been received for the board of School District I w,hcn cnuncil convened, although 57 told The Citizen today that it \ Msi-VO1" Morrison was in Victoria would  "stand pat" on  its record jat thc Umc
Yul, Ingrid Capture Oscars For Acting
HOLLYWOOD,     �
girdling epic produced by Mich- market will be enhanced by the confidence shown in this ael Todd.                                J community by the people who live in it.
Word that the bond drive was over the top had hardly been delivered to The Citizen by volunteer sales manager Milton Burt, (Industrial Acceptance Corporation) than congratulatory messages began to pour into thc paper's Quebec Street offices from high government officials.
WI.LLISTON
Telegraphed Lands & Forests Minister Ray Willi.ston, "Congra-
Local Man Killed Under Wheels Of Freight Cars
� Vincent Peter McDonald, aged 55, was killed by moving railway cars when he attempted to cross the CNR tracks early Wednesday morning.
The accident was discovered by a switching crew at tuiations to the people of prince 1:45 a.m. on a section of the railway track, opposite George, George and district oir achieving Street                          *                                                      |'their goal in the bond selling cam-
The victim had been passing between cars which were apparently stationary at the time and was struck and run over .when they were, being switched.
A
 g
of no other
shown
faith in itself, 1 can honestly say that   vevy   few   financial thought you
had lived in Prince George for about 15 years and" had j noufUis issue;'-Well done." worked as a logger. A brother, Hafry McDonald, lives at Chatham, N.B.
An enquiry was conducted by Dr. A. L. Chambers.
Municipal Affairs Minister W. D. Black; stated, "May I take this opportunity to congratulate the citizens of Prince George on their splendid showing in purchasing $155,000 worth of debentures issued by their city for the purpose of rebuilding the community arena. This action demonstrates the all-too-rare virtue of self help and the confidence "of the citizens in the future of their community. The good citizenship of the peo-A $10,000 scholarship in school and business admihis-'"pie h; further demonstrated by tration, one of six offered in North America by theKellog 'the fact they purchased tho de-Foundation, has gone to a Prince George school teacher, j Ventures on less favorable terms
City Teacher Wins $10,000 Scholarship
City council at its regular meet- j grant reached thc city yesterday ing  Monday  night,   unanimously  morning in a message telephoned i'ton"litate" University*.
Lome Downey, youthful principal of thc 17 classroom senior high school here, will leave at the end of the school year for Chicago, where he will study under thc foundation grant at the Midwest Administrative Centre.
Mr. Downey, who came here last year to administer thc new school, will be absent from the city for two years. He will study towards his ThD degree.
News that thc school district would lose its senior school administrator came as no surprise to schoql trustees when Mr. Downey appeared before the board Tuesday night to apply for a two year leave of absence.
The school principal was notified of his succesful application on the same day that he accepted a job with the school board, and he was successful at that time in deferring the scholarship for one year.
Mr. Downey formerly served as principal of the P"ort St. John high school and earlier taught school in Vanderhoof. Before coming to Prince George he took postgraduate study at  the  Washing-
, -.    ->
LOltXK DOWNEY
than would have boon demanded by the general investor." �Sly,000 TODAY
Final $19,000 worth of unsold bonds were disposed of to local firms and private investors this morning.
Mr. Burt, who could hardly conceal his elation at the success of the unprecedented local bond sale campaign, told The Citizen that the issue will probably he oversubscribed by several thousand dollars by the lime all returns are in.
He said those investors who are in the over-subscription category will'be offered the option of withdrawing their money, or leaving it with the city for purchase of other equally attractive municipal bonds. In any case, their (See ARENA,  Page 8,
agreed  to demand arbitration on
by His Worship.
irmnitv  arid   who   we  chrrrfullv  nrrdiet   will   writ*   it   .-,J a motlon Put by Alderman Charles      Thc   grant   is.  apparently   con munity and  wno,  we  cnecitull\   pieclia,  will  vwite  it  in  Cranston,                                      itaincd  in a government bill in
larger letters on a broader field.                                                 He  recommended  that council, troduccd by   Education  Minister
In an era when men are 'judged by whether or not they produce the goods, these men produced, and on behalf of the community we tender our gratitude.
advise the school board "that we reject the budget as excessive, and demand arbitration."
Leslie I'etcrson. City   officials  are   certain
that
it is a result of representations
The  decision  was  made when   made   by   the   City   of   Prince
'Rapacious Profiteering' Charged By Fishermen In Provincial Liquor Sales
V ANCOU\ ER (CP) �- The   vention   hoc   said   it   would   be  ment liquor retailing stores.
United Fishermen and Allied Workers' Union (Ind.) Wednesday demanded that the provincial government reduce iLy liquor prices sub-stantially-.'
A resolution sponsored by Vancouver shoreworkers' local and passed by the union's annual con-
difficult to give 1-an example of more rapacious profiteering anywhere in our economy" than the government practice of purchasing liquor at SS or less per 12-bottle case and selling it for $36.
The resolution demanded that a. 200 per cent markup from thc cost price of liquor should be set as the legal .maxinuim in Govern-
Delegatc Gordon Grafton suggested that if the tax did not come off liquor it would come off something else and he said he was quite happy with the present situation.
Secretary Homer Stevens said there were people other than the working man from whom the taxes could be gained.
George,  although  all  municipalities will benefit by it. ,
TOO HIGH ANYWAY
Said Alderman Williams: "This assistance does not affect the fact that we believe that our school budget is still too high."
School district 57 gets $118,938 under the grant. Thc city's share of 63 per cent, amounts to approximately $75,000.
This will have the effect of reducing the city's share of the budget to roughly $275,000 from a whopping $350,000.
Last year thc city's share of the budget amounted to about $180,-000.
The city school system will lose two more administrators at the end of the present school year.
Applications for one year leave of absence have been received by the board from Ralph Gardner, principal of the King George V school and William Fisher, principal of the Hart Highway school. Both will continue studies at University of B.C.
Penny Oldtimer, 77, Dies In City Hospital
William G. Tuckwood, 77, of Penny, passed away in Prince George & District Hospital Sunday, March 24.'
A resident of thc district for the past 40. years, he was employed as a sealer with local sawmills and as a bridge guard during thc war years before retiring.    �
Born in England, he had no known relatives. Funeral will be The grant will have the further | held Saturday at 10:30 a.m. from See ARBITRATION, Pog�_ 6) -   .j the Assman Funeral Chapel.
. NOMINATED Progressive-Conservative candidate unanimous vote at a nominating convention last night in the Civic Centre was prominent city barrister William D. Ferry, former alderman, and chairman of the Prince George & District Hospital Society. In accepting the nomination Mr. Ferry, 43, told party members a "golden opportunity" existed in the Cariboo Riding for his party to wiri a seat in the Commons. Here he is seen accepting the congratulations of Ontario MP for York West, John
- "'.      Hamilton,, guest speaker at -the convention.