5 -- 2 Equaled 8

5 -- 2 Equaled 8

In British politics, whether at home or in the Dominions, the Prime Minister springs a general election at a time most propitious for him and his party. Two months ago, Ontario's Premier, the Hon. Mitchell Frederick ("Mitch") Hepburn, self-styled C. I. O.-hater and loud-mouthed critic of President Roosevelt, decided to trust his political fate to the favorable reaction sweeping over his Province as a result of an industrial boom, called for a general election.

Elected in 1934, with a five-year mandate, "Mitch's" Liberal Government still had two years to serve, but by winning another general election, "Mitch" would be entrenched, not for two years, but for five more, a total of eight. In "Mitch's" calculations, five minus two equaled eight. That "Mitch" correctly judged the political tone of the Province was evident last week. When the polls closed and the results were tabulated, the Hepburn Government was returned with a comfortable majority.

Of the 90 seats in the Provincial Legislature, 63 went to the Liberals, 23 to the Conservatives, four to Independents. The Conservatives gained nine seats from the Liberals, while the Liberals took three from the Conservatives; from a majority of 49 seats in the 1934 election, the Liberals came back with a majority of 40. This slight loss had been expected by "Mitch" and did not upset him.

Chief personal satisfactions to the chub-cheeked Premier were three: the defeat of handsome, dapper Earl Rowe, new Conservative leader, the victory of Gordon Conant, Hepburnite, at Oshawa--scene of last April's C. I. O. strike against General Motors, squashed by "Mitch"--and a Liberal victory in northern Ontario, stronghold of the C. I. O. mining unions.

A slap in the face to the C. I. O.-hating Premier came unexpectedly from Windsor and Toronto where David A. Croll and Arthur W. Roebuck, former Hepburn cabinet members who split with "Mitch" on the C. I. O. stand, were returned with large majorities.

Appealing largely to farmers, Onion-Farmer Hepburn made the C. I. O. his campaign issue, was photographed visiting the Dionne quintuplets and boasted that his action at Oshawa had saved the Province from the terrorizing of "foreign agitators." That was good enough for Ontario.

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