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HomeMy WebLinkAboutClinton News-Record, 1964-02-27, Page 411,ET'S .DEBATE THE ISSUE WHAT'S YOUR QPIN!ON1, Sweopstakes Dangerous And Economical. Clinton News-Record tHE ditt4tON NEW ERA Amalgamated THE CLINI-PN NEWt -RECORb 1924 tit 865 Pubtlisited every Thursday At the Est isirt ti IVO 4 . Heal i Of Huh* county ., Clinton; Ontario -;.- liOpulatiOn a,360 • A.- 1...- Oat:K/146(1N, Publisher • . ,. WittJAM RAtTEN t Editor ilehOel tindilbiithiiii hi Ali iimilliottint, iiiii, hut C O t A opinions tit the iiiiifiiii oily, iiiid di; iiiii- iiiialoalif . . (iliktil 0* Vt.* of ifii 'iiivii01046 MithOiliett if ikeirid thin Mill, Pon °Wee DiPithivont 'OttiWai, 'ionj ton' Osiqiiinf if Piifaiii In ittistatilinii itAtitic0.4614' to adiEn"di '.CiiiriOtts and driii irnaint 4064 0,10 Uniiii 'POW' and 'F6rotsiot ,1C;ii:"StOol• 6)04 Ifin '&404 slti CONR SUGAR and SPICE (By W. B. T. SMILEY) 041,,IMANisevitWsINI...4411.00#0.0004.0.00,11,F1.4,41 SEE YOUR CAR DEALER ...THEN TALK TO THE BANK OF MONTREAL There are bargains to be had just hOw in neW and used cars, If your heart is set on a newer model this spring — see your favourite car dealer. He can probably offer you a deal that's right for you. And when you've found your bargain, be sure to talk to the Bank of Montreal. The B of M 'Family Finance Plan offers you a low-cost, life-insured method of financing that will make your bargain doubly attractive. ,DANK ..,A1.11101, CANADIANS Fatal ti Finance an LOW-COST LIPE-INSUM LOANS Clinton :Branch: IC, Cr litttT, Mgr. IICAP station (Sub-Agency): Open Daily tonclesbOto (guh-Agency)t Open mon, & Thurs. Ens ge .4,--Minton .News-Record. TiSut„ Feb, 27 1964 .......... ,p., Opportunity To Show Hospitality guments presented by those in favour of a goyernrnent-operat- ed sweepstake, one of 'the main points pres- ented is that at present large, sums of Money are being taken out of the country through Canadians purchasing tickets on foreign sweeps. Supporters say that it would be much bet- ter to keep this money right here in Canada for the benefit of Cenadians. This is indeed a negative ar- gument inthat foreign sweep- stakes are ., illegal in Canada, and tickets being sold or„ pur- chased is in fact a crime. Although we may 'be accused of being slightly facetious, it Would be almost as correct to Say that the government should hire men to go around and hold up banks and use the money for charitable purposes rather than 'having criminals do the work for their own personal gain. The supporters also note that proceeds' from such sweepstakes could be used for such pro- jects as hospitals and other public institutions and to de- crease—or at least halt the increase—the amount of taxes we now pay to provide such facilities. Our main 'arguments agains17 sweepstakes are: 1. They become too accessible to people who can not afford to squander money on s a eh long-shot chances to make money. Argument — People who are most attracted to making large sums of money are generally those who are in need, and • to withhold 'shipment in the rush season. This to me is the kind of co-operation we should have 'in a co-operative, and that it is possible, is proven by the fact that this group has been. able to operate for 40 'years. When the honey producer de- cides to ship 'he requests a shipping permit and is inform- ed as to the date his shipment can he handled. The honey ar- rives and the producer receives an initial payment of about 10 cents per pound. The honey is processed—Which mainly- means pasteurized. In fact the manag- er stated that he is really oper- ating a dairy, using honey in- stead of milk. As the crop is processed and sold throughout the year the producers 'receive additional payments until the total operat- ing costs are learned. This am- ount is then subtracted from the total Sale price of the honey and the balance is paid out to the last cent in a final payment to the producer.. This method of operation and good co-operative spirit has ad- vantages. The fact that produc- ers are willing to wait for final payment pays off in greatly re- duced interest charges that would be necessary if the co..op were expected to pay in full at harvest tithe. The fact that these producers arc Willing to help each other out by with- holding shipment greatly reduc- es the plant -coal. Finally, the fact that the co- operative returns completely to the producers the sale price, less ()Orating cOstaf eliminates any possibility of controversy THE FIRST thought one may have after reading of two projects being undertaken at CHSS would be that "things were never thatgood ,when I went to school", The projects include an exchange visit with a high school in Milwaukee and a trip to the United Nations being sponsored by the Huron County IOOF and Rebekah lodges, Both are indeed very commendable and the benefits to be derived by the lucky students in meeting their con- temporaries from other sections of the continent are untold. All 'students will share to some extent in the exchange visit with Nico- let High School, •as 12 students will be coming to Clinton to spend one week to view the practices followed in the edu- cational and 'social life of the school, Teurs- of the area, such as the Goderich salt mines' and perhaps the Stratford theatre will also be included, but other groups will also have an op- portunity to display some of Clinton's noted hospitality. Service clubs and other organizations' are being asked to come up with ideas on how the group may be entertained and informal programs would appear to be endless, The students involved in the ex- change will be primarily senior students and therefore should have some pertin- ent views on a host of topics from juve- nile delinquency, U.S.A. and Canadian relations, race problems, educational needs—and undoubtedly the Beatles. An informal panel discussion which would require little preparation on the part of the students other than giving their own opinions would prove inter- esting; as well as some other ideas the groups may choose to not only play host to the students, but also to put them to • AS INDICATED at last week's annual meeting, the operation of Clin- ton 'Public Hospital is indeed big bus- iness.' And that is exactly the way in which it is run. Similar to town council, the hospit- al board works under a committee- type government. Fortunately in many regards it is similar to town council's 'form of government in name only. Meetings of the board are opened to the press and a "secret". session is not held prior to that meeting to have, everything cut and dried so that mem- bers' views and opinions are not known to the public. Each committee looks after its own responsibilities and presents a report at the regular monthly meeting. The rea- sons for the committee's actions are ex- plained and the topic is discussed and then voted Upon. If a member has dif- ferent views they can be reported by the press so that the public may know the type of thinking their representa- tives are giving to, this "big business". At times there are subjects on wh- ich the press is requested not to com- ment and this is only natural: HoWever, under these circumstances the press is often given the reason why it should not be reported and in most instances the board apparently realizes the press is "responsible" and discussion is still freely enjoyed by the members without the exclusion of the press. As we mentioned, this type of ad- ministration is similar to town council in name only. - Council still fails 'to recognize the fact they are conducting public bus- iness and that this business should be conducted openly except in certain ca- ses when the topic may be detrimental work while they. are here. We suggest groups interested COP, tact Principal D. J, Coehrane. as soon AS. possible, as the itinerary will. pro, Ably be • planned well in advance and will be on a first come, first served Some groups may also consider donating some needed cash to help 'fie, fray the expenses ,of the CI-ISSstu - ,dents on their lieturri visit,. AS it will certainly be much appreciated and ,de- served, Whether or not the suggestion will be needed, we might add, that the local students could consider some sort of community program using their own. talent and that of the visiting students, to make some expense money for the trip, The - United Nations trip sounds exceedingly exciting, and we can well imagine the amount of competition there will be for the all-expense paid, trip to New York and all its attractions. The IOOF and Rebekahs are to be congratulated for -undertaking such a venture, as it will give Huron students an insight into the work 'of one of the most important organizations in the world. Due to the fact the winner will have to be a comparatively good speak- er, the benefits will be returned to the whole community as the student will undoubtedly be willing to impart some 'of his experiences and knewledge..gain- ed to interested groups and those stu- dents in his own and neighbouring schools, Again we add our commendation to the projects and those responsible and we know the students will take full ad- vantage of the opportunity to broaden their' knowledge and understanding of their fellow man. to some negotiations or to some private citizens or groups. However, these occasions are gen- erally few' and far between. At present, all business which rea- ches the council table is cut and dried and motions are even prepared before- hand to indicate that this is quite true. Generally speaking, all topics have been discussed in "secret" sessions and the public has no way of knowing what opinions individual councillors may have on certain subjects. While 'they are free to state their opinions at open meetings, they rea- lize that this is of little value as they already know whether their opinions are the same as the majority of councillors or not. In either case there is little sense in stating opinions at an open session as the decision has already been made at a closed meeting. With this system, the public only knows whether they are receiving good administration from the majority and never do know if there are certain mem- bers who have better ideas, or similarly, do not have any ideas and are not good council material. • The only .way ratepayers can be assured they are receiving good repre- sentation from each and every member is to have all 'discussions held openly where all the, views may be aired. The present system is a complete mockery of democratic government. However, if council members are afraid to have their views known by the people whom they represent, the present sys- tem is the one with which they should stick. The hospital board has proven the democratic system works. We suggest again that town council use it. the dust out of •the paper clips, realign- ing the desk trays, setting up lists and systems, and with nothing to show for the labor but a neat desk, there comes the inescapable conclusion that the work of the world is done by the dis- organized. * * * He reminds me of the man who murdered both his parents, and then, when sentence was about to be pro- nounced, pleaded for mercy on the grounds that he was an orphan, —Abraham Lincoln * * petition being circulated to ask It is not surprising that a the pv0.'110'10'4' to operate a sweepstake or other forms of lotteries is gaining strong from Clinton and area realdentS, Similar to countless thous- ands of their fellow Canadians, area residents buy their share of the illegal Irish sweepstake tickets and on many occasions throughout the year take a oh mice on Winning everything from new cars to dressed and glass turkeys for 'the' nominal fee of 25 tent or half a dollar;. And too, many can be found lining op at the parimutuel wickets at the • various race tracks in the area. The argument iii favour for these various forms of garnb- Eng — and let us not tool ourselves into thinking it; is anything but gambling -= is varied, and similar to most other things must each be judged on its own merits; al- though it is difficult to suggest any merits for something which we have been taught is im- moral. In the ease of small draws, raffle tickets, pools, bingoA, and other forms of lotteries con- ducted on a small scale by ser- vice clubs and other organiza- tions, the main argument is that this is one of the few ways such clubs have to raise 'the necessary funds to carry on their beneficial community wel- fare projects. The price to take a "chance" is usually nominal and within everyone's means, and while the prize offered is the lure for the purchaser, it is gener- ally the realization that the money is going to a "good cause" that is the main deter- Mining factor as to whether the "chance" will be taken. This argument can be backed up by the fact 'that most peo- ple put such tickets into their pockets or purses and forget about them and are often quite surprised that they even had a ticket if they are fortunate enough to witi, The fact that should be est- ablished clearly in this particu- lar case is that the prize of- fered is not the sole reason for the purchase, and in fact is secondary to the work 'for which 'the proceeds will be used, However, draws on such large items a's houses, cars and large sums of money would' have to be considered as bor- der-line cases in' this regard. Betting on racing is again different 'in nature and here the emphasis is directly on the benefit to be derived by the individual Making the wager, and therefore is more difficult to suggest any virtues or mer- its in it. However, it is not 'strictly a gamble, in • that one's ability to, judge a horse against its competitors is a factor. Unfortunately, this is offset by the allegation :that many drivers and owners "fix" races to further their own ends through personal wagers, and too often except in cases where the winning purses are high enough to serve as a detriment to this situation, 'horse racing is strictly a gamble. Now let us consider the ar- Just recently I had the op- portunity and pleasure of meet- ing Mr. L. A. Inkster, manager of the Ontario Honey Produces Co-Op. Since I am interested in co- operatives in general and FAME in particular, I was very much interested in learning the history of the Honey Producers Co-Op. This organization of Honey Producers was organiz- ed about 40 years ago and is one of the oldest in operation today. The membership was volun= tary but when first set up, the member was required to sign a very binding three-year con- tract which obligated him to Market 100 'percent of his crop through the co-Operative. How- ever this contract proved too irritating to the members and was only in effect for six years. The contract that is now used can hardly be called 'a contract but is rather an indication of the percentage of the year's crop that each honey producer expects to market through the co-operative. This gives the manager a reasonably good in- dication of the volume that can be expected for the coming year, The object of the co-opera- tive is to merchandito the pro- ducer's crop 'to the best advan- tage at the lowest possible cost. To carry out this program, the plant is Only 'able to accept about one-quarter of the total volume of the crop at any time, The producers who have t ter- age available are asked to sup-ply the storage when necessary, Also those producers who are not pressed for cash are asked' by selling tickets at .banks or post offices, they become too easy 'to obtain, .Purchasing tickets would become a way Of life and 'as easy as buying a loaf of bread and the tempta- tion would be 'tee great for people in need of money. It is not unreasonable predict thp.t such persons would buy more tickets. in ,an effort to strike it•rieh. with few win, hers, their chances are too slim and the money lest would net be buying the necessities their families require and they would be going into debt even far, they, while this may be difficult to 'Understand in such a press perous area as -Clinton, Jet 14$ not forget we are talking about a Canadian sweepstake and not all areas, are as well off as ours, nor are all Canadians as intel- ligent and . able to govern their Private affairs, as most in our community. 2, The prize is the only rea- son for which tickets are mu- :chased. Argument — Regardless of what purpose the proceeds' will be used, such large stakes 'as are offered in sweepstakes over-shadow any other purpose for buying tickets and 'there- fore is gambling in its truest form. 3. The proceeds would appar- ently alleviate us from onr per.- sonal Christian and democratic responsibility to aid those less fortunate than ourselves and to directly provide for our own needs, Argument On the surface there would appear to be little difference 'in "donating" cash On most matters, I take a stand. But in this denunciation of the 'other fellow's mode' of life, I take two stands. The first is gentle agreement with my small-town friends.' I go along with their 'belligerent argument that 'the city is no place to live; that I'd Irate to battle that traffic; that living is cheaper in a smaller centre; and it's wonderful to live with- in five minutes air fishing, cur- ling, golfing and friends, When I'm listening to some old buddy who lives in the city, I nod sagely when be points out that the city is an exciting place to live; that it's wonder- ful to be 'able' to take in all the dhows and concerts; that it's grand to be able to go out for an exotic meal in a fascinat- ing place; that the small town doesn't provide the same cul- tural opportunities for ;your kids. s- Privately, I chuckle at both points of view. Both are full of contradictions. The city fel- low claims there's. no privacy in a small 'town — everybody knows your business. T h e small-town f ellow explodes, "Privacy! How can you have privacy in the city when you're jammed into a two-by-four lot, in a house beside people you don't like and who have terrible kids ?" The small-town fellow raves about the mythical "rat-race" in the city and goes out and roars, around in service clubs and fralernal organizations and athletic clubs and church groups at a pace no city rat could stand, The myths multiply. In a city of a million, theatres are half empty, concerts play to small crowds, exotic restaurants go broke. In a small place, one- tenth of two per cent of the population is revelling in that fishing, hunting and so on, at the front door. The rest are at home watching the same TV program as the fellow in the city, On Saturdays, the whole pro- blem is brought into perspec- tive, on. 'a Tour-lane highway. Down to the city, in one stream, pour the thousands of people going in for a day to sheik see to a 'worthy cause or buying a ticket on .4 sweepstakeof Which the proceeds would be donated" to. a worthy cause But a closer look does show vast differences. In the. case of sweepstakes,. large prizes Are offered as the enticement, and therefore a large share of the proceeds do pot go to worthy charities, but .end up in the pockets of lucky individuals, Such a sweepstake, parried on in .4 large scale operation and conducted by the govern- Mentz would take vast sums to administer, especially when the charge is not alWays Without foundation that the government needs twice as many people to look 'after most of their affairs as private concerns, We may be away off base With our estimate, but would hazard a guess that it would take at least -50 cents of each. dollar paid into a sweepstake to 'administer the f u n d and pay off prize winners, • The conclusion to this 'is that it would actually require spend- ing twice as much money to provide facilities that are nor- mally realized through public donations, and -that hardly sounds economical. Another problem is that peo- ple do not have the same int- erest when they do not know for what particular venture their money is going, To point this up, the local hospital board is finding it difficult to raise funds to pay off their recent building debt. Except 'for the prize, would we 'be interested in buying tickets to erect a shows, suck up some fast cul- ture. Up from the city, in the other stream, pour the 'thousands of people going North for the skiing or swimming or fishing. They don't even wave to each other. hospital, in Newfoundland, or , vice versa? Such a scheme would ..deaden out- :sense providing our own needs and community hotter* .rrient and we would sink deep- er into- our ever increasing state of .delhanding more and more from our governments, And too, we ,would come even closer to a socialized state of government, An-Other problem is in entic4 ing the people with the greatest means to purchase the number of tickets to correspond with their ability to pay, And too, unless nil forms of charity come under such 'a, plan, will we he able to compete against the lure of 'big prizes to collect monies for Charities not covered by sweepstake pro,: ceeda? Will we be able to conjure' in our mind the need for buy: ing all the tickets we can fob a crippled child When we have no concrete idea that some of our sweepstake money will be going for such a cause. 4. Winning large prizes such as sweepstakes ruins too inanS!. lives and puts spins of money into the hands of people who do not know how to use wisely. Argument -2- The cases' are many where people have lost all sense of values after being suddenly 'presented with large sums of money. Not being ac- customed to having such pur- chasing power; they often spend their profits very quickly and unwisely and find that when their money -runs- out they have picked up a habit that is dif- ficult to shake off. - They are constantly bothered by "sharks" and others who want them to invest in deals that are often crooked and of- ten they lose favour in the community by show-off antics that come from their unpre- paredness for a sudden new way of life, Conclusion — These are but a few of the arguments against sweepstakes and some of the pitfalls that we could step into'. Arguments both for and ag- ainst are welcomed by this newspaper as this is one of the major topics which will appar- ently be settled in the not-too- distant future. Citizens should be heard in regard to this topic as it is YOU who should de- cide after the pros and cons have been aired, Grass Ts Always Greener "I wooden live in that Tron- na if ya gave me the whole dump on 'a silver platter." This is an expression oft heard in the vast hinterland of our dom- inion, the true north, strong and free. It is echoed with equal em- phasis about Montreal, Halifax, Vancouver, Winnipeg and the other dozen or so cities of any size. The statement above is usual- ly followed by a diatribe against "city living". Its high rents, its heayy traffic, its unfriendli- ness; its distance from that demi-paradise, the speaker's home town. "Ya, I know it's nice in the summer up north there. But wuddaya do all winter in that dump." This is equally familiar. It is asked in the tones of simple incredulity of a sophis- ticated suburbanite who spends all winter doing exactly what you do in that dump up north: working, playing, bringing up your family, trying to pay the bills, and growing older. A Matter of Principle (By J. CART. HEMINGWAY) Why Can't Council Do It? Points. To Ponder On the principle that if a thing is worth saying, it is worth saying briefly, we can net do better than to quote without comment an answer given by the• editor who handles the question- and-answer department in the United Church Observer. The question: "The same elders have been taking up the colleetion our church for decades, and the same stewards have been running the show. They wouldn't let a young fellow take up that offering except at night, of course. He might drag the plate. We can't get new blood into the stewards. Yet we notice some of our boys, who Stopped going to church here, have got Unfortunately, I have never been married, moved to the suburbs and are able to maintain a consistent attitude now active in new churches that are toward life Or reality, or toward any- already twice as big and four time as thing else. This may be entirely due active as ours.. What gees on?" to nervousness. —James Thurber The answer, which may be considered * perfect: "Life." I don't believe on ghosts, but I've * * * been afraid of them all my life. After an afternoon Spent in taking Charles A. Dana Over laconic tax oh patronage refunds that is presently bug- ging the co-operative movement in .Canada, Since 'this co-operative is now --and has been for several years—handling 65 percent of the total commercial crop there is no ouestion of its value to producers. When we realize that a large percentage Of the balance of 35 percent is sold by individual producers direct to lodal consumers we get sonic idea of the impact of this group on 'the honey market in On- tario. Whether this method Of op- eration could be applied to Other 0-Operatives marketing agriculture prottuets is open to huestion, hut its Success would indicate that .intensive study by prospective marketing Co- operatives Would be well ad- vised.