WANTED, AN ATLAS [To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR.] anyonz
suggest to London editors that it ivriuld be a good idea for them to buy an atlas to which their staff writers could refer when mentioning places in Canada ? Particularly, this applies to The Times and The Observer, two papers that we have been taught to-believe were infallible. Punch makes fearful howlers in its verse when referring to places outside England.
Rently The Times had a photograph of the King, when Prince of Wales, on horseback "on his rata* near'Manitoba" ! Now the King's ranch, as everyone knows, is in Alberta ; the next Province eastward is Saskatchewan, and after that six or seven hundred miles away, comes Manitoba. Believe it Or nth-, -there are quite a number of places between the "E.P. 'Ranch" and Manitoba !
'The Weekly Times had an editorial- on Canadian Prothicitil Debts in which came the quite unpardonable words, " . . the very Unsatisfactory budget before' the Vancouver Legislature." Don't they know, in London, that the capital of British Columbia is Victoria, on Vaneonver Island ? Is it' possible that geography, even that of the Empire, had been left but of the curriculum in English schools? 1 feel mire 'that The Times dlice has radios, and telephones, and televisions, and cablegrams, And. everything up to date—except a map. I dO wish theywatild-bupone.."It would save a lot of badfeeling -
on this side. _
In the Court and Personal column of The Observer I see a. notice worded as follows : t` Sir Percy Vincent. will visit Canada in August where he will be -a- guest of the State of Vancouver." Now where and what is the State of Vaneouver ? We in British Columbia know all too well what -the state (with a small s) of Vancouver is-just now, hut—the-State ? That has an American savour, we don't grow States in Canada. Perhaps the editor meant Province ? And why of Vancouver ? Please tell him this is a town.
And now to cap all comes a really flagrant breach of Imperial diplomacy: In The Times Weekly of April 9th is a photograph of Vancouver, captioned below, " Vancouver, the capital of British Columbia" !
But here words fail me. Perhaps you may be able to do something about it ?—Yours truly, H. GLvissi-WAiin. Treanna, Sidney, British Columbia.
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