Loser

Like millions of his fellow Canadians. William Lyon Mackenzie King spent the first days of last week waiting to learn whether he would win or lose in his own constituency of Prince Albert, Saskatchewan. When the soldier votes were finally counted,* the Prime Minister had been beaten by socialist CCFer E. L. Bowerman. What made the dose doubly hard for King to take: his defeat was by a piddling 129 votes (out of 19,341 votes cast); Bowerman was running for public office for the first time.

"Very, Very Sorry." Mr. King was plainly disgruntled. Said he: "I am very, very sorry. . . . The CCF sweep in Saskatchewan goes far to disclose how much of the [CCF Party's time] was being given to ... the winning of elections, while the Government and its followers were mainly concerned with making Canada's war effort as effective as possible."

It was the fourth time in his 37-year political career that Mr. King had suffered personal defeat. As before, he would seek this time to be returned by some safely Liberal constituency (probably near Ottawa) in a by-election. Actual by-election balloting might be unnecessary: other parties were not likely to oppose Mr. King, and he would win by acclamation. Whatever happened, the Prime Minister indicated, he would have a seat in plenty of time to attend the opening of Parliament. The date for that, he said, was Aug. 23.

At week's end the Prime Minister was on his way, with Justice Minister Louis Stephen St. Laurent, to attend the closing session of the San Francisco conference.

*Canada's soldiers, like her civilians, favored the Liberal Party. But the socialist CCF, third in civilian balloting, ran a potent second in the service vote.

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