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LIBHARY VICTORIA. B.C. A Established over IS years. _ if , ■■ . i||.,, Established over 13 years, ' ! * • * ' ■ ̂ * I ^ j ■ • ' ' . ' " C ircu lating in the D is tr ic t o f W est Vancouver--Am bleside, H o lly burn, Weston, D u n darave $1.00 per yew. Cypress P a rk , C au lfe ild ,W h ytec li/f, E tc . bc per copy V ol.X lV HOLLYBURN P.O., WEST VANCOUVER, B,C.. THURSDAY, D E C E M B E R 14th, 1939 No. 3^ CIVILIZATION VERSUS SAVAGERY Vho events of the past few months have shown in start- umr fBshion that there can be no real civilization which is not L 'ised on religion. And th e higher the tenets of th a t religion thp iiiirhcr the civilization. It is no new doctrine. But the last few decades science h-m led very large numbers to believe th a t all religion is super- being built upon certain* historical assumptions and slender premises which will not bear;the light of scientific in­ vestigation. In this connection i t seems to have escaped the notice of the average man th a t the scientific theory of the origin of man is founded upon assumptions equally incapable of proof as well as premises ju s t as slender, and th a t science is d a i l y changingf its opinions on a variety of thibgs. The Great War shook the faith of m'any in the conception of a merciful God or of any god a t all, ihore particularly of a number of those who were actually engaged on the battlefield. They found it difficult to reconcile th e idea of mercy with the awful suffering. Yet^,in so far as Christianity is con­ cerned there was Calvary and^ the direct statem ents of the Master; made on several occasions, th a t His followers could * only purchase real peace of mind a t the cost of much physical suffering and privation. The Buddha's teachings were much the same in th is respect, while Mahomet nowhere promised paradise except a t a price. , ' Our civilization is, qf course, founded on Christianity, and, however much we may have become Christians merely in. Vname, there has still survived sufficient inherited Christianity in our hearts for us to abhor unprovoked physical violence when directed against the weak. But the lesson is still there, namely, th a t man without the restrictions of some high form of religion takes to him­ self the, powers of a god responsible to nob<^y but himself for his actions! The only difference then between the uncivilized and the civilized human being is the la tte r's greater power to inflict misery and destruction through his greater know-, ledge. . . . Humanity on the average will pot tre a t humanity with ordinary decency ju s t for the sake of doing so. . T h ^ e must be some penalties somewhere, e ither in th is life or the next. REEVE LBYLANO^S m e e t i n g and of the two punishment in the H ereafter has always proved ^ greater deterrent. . The present world*" torm ent . is'-ri n^w. Our^fore- fathers and those of other races have suffered, equally in the past from the same causes. But vye shall be the better able to meet the future, if we have a little more faith in the. eventu­ al triumph of gooci over evil an d ja great deal less pride in our own cleverness and scientific and material progress. BRITISH - ISRAEL SANTA CLAUS FUND The regular Monday evening meeting at 25th and Marine as usual. This is the last meeting of the year. The speaker is Mrs. Brereton of North Vancouver. The subject: 'The Coming King.' Come and enjoy th is Christmas message. Tea will be servd a f t­ erwards. A t 7 :30 Christmas Parols will be sung. Come as - The West Vancouver Santa Claus or Christmas Cheer Fund is once more under way and oarJy as you can to enjoy the singing. ♦♦♦ HOLLYBURN HALL A Young People's Service il­ lustrated by lantern views will ^h e ld a t 7:15 p.m. tomorrow (Friday), in Hollyburn Hall. Next Sunday, December 17th,. a t 10 a'.m. there will be Sunday ^hool and Young People's Bible - Class and at'7:30 p.m. the same day a Gospel Service with A. Q orning as speaker. Tuesday a t ̂P-m. prayer 'and Bible study. Taunton h o u s e t o -----------------PRESENT-PLAY^ On Monday evening, Decem- 18th, the girls of Taunton ,ouse will present their annual ^ristm as play; a t St. Mark's! all, comer of 2nd and Larch. operetta,, "The Seven Old adies of Lavender Town."Every ^aunton House girl, both in the Vancouver and the W est Vancou­ ver schools, wiil take part. The - ■. of the school will act and will sell candy-' uring the- intermission in aid of Club. Tickets, 35 adults, and 15 cents for Mio laay be obtained from Clachan i n o - ^ r d n the even- Wni concert. All proceeds C hL ^ Mark's urch for the fu rth e^n ce of many community functions have been arranged and sincerely apr preciated by the committee mem­ bers. However the generosity of Mr. John Citizen is a very neces­ sary factor. " W ^know th a f th is year th ^ ~ have beenm any calls on every­ one but-Christinas is a time for the children. We also know how much Christmas and Santa Claus mean to every child's heaiY and how empty Christmas would be without the filled stock­ ings. May we again rely on your generous' support a t this Christmas season. Cash or donations of any kind may be left a t the Fund Head­ quarters, the B. C. E l^ tr ic Show Rooms on Marine Drive where Miss Ruth Blair has been author­ ized to give official receipts, or the the West Van News office, com er 17th and Marine Drive. U; ~ T h ^ H i- Y Girls~have~placed niilfc bottles in all the stores. "Drop your pennies in.'[ All carol singers wishing to assist should obtain authbriza-^ tion from Miss Blair" a t head­ quarters. P. no. Box No. 2, Hollyburn, will take care of all appeals to assist or telephone members of the committee: Mr. John Rioh- ardson. West 795-L; Mrs. C. B. Greenwood, West 16; Mrs. W.,i,B. Small, West 638.-^ P.S.--Citizens- pIease„ask_alL collectors for Santa Claus Funds fo r their authorization. ' the work among needy families a t; Christmas. therscchool choir will sing an anthem in St. Mark's Church ap \the morning service. On Sunday, December 17th, Reeve J. B. Leylaml defended his record and th a t of the Coun­ cils who had served with him in a, fighting speech at his public meeting Tuesday evening in the Orange Hall, which^WiiifYcrowded with enthusiastic rcijjdents. J. Haydn Young, a pioneer resident who acted ali chairman, stated in paing tribute to the Reeve's fine record, especially in the handling, o f,th e municipal­ ity '̂ finances, th a t it was no time for big expenditures. Reeve Leyland said he was glad there was to be an election, because it gaye the ratepayers the chance to express th ir satis­ faction or. otherwise with his record .' S tarting in pip26 as councillor he had put through the Town Planning Act as- he had promised without which there would have been no bridge. He had spent also a year on the school board, which had given Him an insight into their p rob lem s.A s Presi­ dent of the U.B.C.M., he had sub­ mitted a brief to Victoria asking ' th a t they, relieve landowners of som e, of the cost fo r education. Since ; taking office in 1930 a , $55,000 bank overdraft had been paid off and the sinking fund was now $25,951 over the sum re­ quired. But he had refused to specula,te in bonds once purchas- ed for the fund, a practice which should be stoppel ;by law. Out of 78 munibipaliCies, 71 taxed improvements, and the taxes here fo r the average $500 lot and $2,000 home was $36.60 per year which was lower than any muni­ cipality in B. C. The land assess. m nt was lower than in 1916, be­ cause then there was a boom, and they had now got down to sensible "figured,- Only 13.62 ̂mills were available for adm inistra­ tion afte r paying fixed ^charges, and widening roads cost money. ̂They were widening roads grad­ ually, any other method meaning raising the taxes. He had h ^ Marine Drive made a provincial highway and tried to have it made an arterial highway, so that its cost wojlld be borne by 'Victoria; ~but~il^would-^have-to become a trunk road to other places outside West Vancouver l^fore the government would take it over. Also Victoria had refused the request of himself and Commissioner Vance to share the cost of 'a wooden bridge a t Keith Road; As to the €apil- anb Slough,-Gfeneral McRae had- been unable to persuade Ottawa to dredge it, nor could Ian Mac­ kenzie. He had taken i t up with A, J. T. Taylor but the w ar had stopped everything. If the Gov­ ernment wanted to make the Ridge a playground, they m ust reimburse our residents first for the loss of their watershed there. __ As-to-transportatioii_he_paid_ a tribute to Councillor E lgar's long and yeoman service and re­ gretted his retirement, also to Mrs, Elgar for the inconvenience- caused, through his absence on transportation m atters. He had called in leading citizens twice ovver transportation, to Council meetings but to have had a bus service ready, for the bridge­ opening would have meant put­ ting a by-law for buses, which would certainly have been turn­ ed down; Also, the bridge was -to- have-^been__opened in May, 1939, but was -suddenly opened in October, 1938. They would have the results of th e ' new bridge bus service in six months, .v/hich he was sure would be sup­ ported. He had run the bridge plebiscite in Vancouver. If $1,- 727,327's worth of new buildings (Continued on Page 6) J. EDWARD SEARS' MEETING Reeve JMI. Leyland ___ A. Harvey Smith _ ̂ Ex- School Trustee - *-k « ' Councillor S. Gisby 'J'lu' Orange Hall was crowdiHl last night for the public nKH;t- , ing of .1, Edward Sears. E. H. .Inpi> acted as chairman. J. Edward Sears Mr. Soars said he had ' the Iiigliest rosjiqct for Reeve Ley- land, but thought he had lot t lungs drift the jast two or throe years, and .sonic of his policies would stand criticism. He would do this without iiersonalities. Cheap transpoHation was essen­ tial, and, while money had been ' lost, the loss would have been less, if a bus service had been started when the bridge opened. ' This would have given the chance to charge cheapei^ rates, but now their hands were tied. Again the new bus service" to and j'rom the city did not opor- al!e in the rush hours. As to finances the population as given in the annual .statement fbr-1938 - was 800 le.ss than th a t given for ,1930, and the assessed value of -taxable lands had dropped over ^200,000. But improvements had gone up over $1,000,000 in the last 10 years. In 1930 revenue began to drop, and in the last 3 years the municipality had run behind $105,000 according to the statement, which drop would have to bc stopped. - The require­ ments of the sinking fund had been met, but only if valued, at par. At market prices the fund was behind, though not serious- His transportation policy, both as regards ferries and bus­ es was to employ an expert from outside B.G., and act on his ad­ vice. The ferries, which were more than meeting operating costs, were being unduly penal­ ized, aufi the traffic should be stimulated, as the ferries m ust be maintained for* those °who could not afford bus tran.sportfi- tioh. He believed in planning ^ ahead, for work over the years.-, -- The water system---was not in - good shape and should -be im­ proved, and the $12,000 paid for watershed lands, on the Ridge had better have been spent on the system. This was the proper time to approach Ottawa re dredgiag-the-Capilano^loughrfGr--- - the u.se of patrol boats'. The roads could be widened and wood­ en, sidewalks built without rais­ ing taxes. He had never sat on a council, but his professional work for 20 years had been 'ad­ vising businesses and niumci.:^^--= palities. If elected; he might not straighten th ings up in a year, but under no circumstances -would he ac t as reeve for longer than-two years. The caendidates for the Council and School Board reiter­ ated the s'ame policies as a t the Reeve's meeting. NOTICE Ferguson's Motor 'Transport Company have been appointed agents, for Cox Moving & Stor­ age Company, Victoria, This will mean quite a saving^ on goods shipped to Victoria or Vancouver Island. Furniture can "be shipped uncrated to your house in Victoria or stored in ■Victoria a t a reasonable charge; r o r prices,, etc., plea.se phone Ferguson's, West 85. ■ RUGBY Ex-Gouhcillor'LanceS. Gartho;^ne - There will be a rugby match^ on Saturday of-this \veek a t 2:30 p.ni. a t Ambleside Park, when the All-Black Barbarians (Bar- blacks),. will be, Ĵ ee'n in action against Ex-Bribannia. I t will be an exciting game.