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Clinton News-Record, 1971-04-22, Page 44 Clinton. News.-Record, Thursday, April 22, 1971 Editorial coma-mat Still the same myth Former Premier John Robarts was at it again last weekend blasting away at the federal 'government for trying to centralize power around itself. Once again the same old myth; once again the pot calling the kettle black, For who has done more to centralize power than the Ontario provincial government in the last 20 years? Who has promoted centralized school boards, hospital boards and regional governments? Who has its finger in every municipal financial pie in the province telling the municipality what they can and, can't do? Mr. Roberts, his predecessor Mr. Frost and his successor Mr. Davis, always seem to take credit for everything good that happens in the province and blame either the federal or municipal governments for the bad. If action should .be taken on a 'situation and the government doesn't want to get its hands dirty, blame is shifted either up or down. The government takes credit for the What future for the Once again the future of the monarchy has become a question of interest across the country following a report that the parliamentary committee on the constitution is going to recommend‘Canada scrap the monarchy. For once this newspaper would have to agree with Tommy Douglas, leader of the New Democratic Party in his suggestion that before we scrap the monarchy we should make sure 'we have a replacement. It is all very well to say the monarchy has outlived its usefulness, but what do we want in its place that will be more useful. A republic? A dictatorship? There still is some use to the monarchy in Canada. It is one of the tangible differences we can all grasp between ourselves and the Americans, and anything that helps us to feel Ping pong Once agaifrr sport has shown' that can be a great mover for peace in the world following the tour last week of table tennis teams from Canada, the U.S. and several other western nations. Many great steps may be made in the next few years to get the West and Red China talking together again but none can be any greater than the first step taken by some little-known ping-pongers. It shows sport, when used the proper way, can be a bridge builder. Remarkable during the tour was that scores of the games were never mentioned even though the Chinese, with far better teams, could easily have gloated on how the thoughts of Chairman Moe had helped them defeit the Western capitalist imperialt historical and geographic facts that make Ontario the richest province in Canada, It would take monumental bungling on the government"s part for Ontario to be anything but the richest province in Canada. But who takes the blame everytime taxes have to be raised? The federal government of course, because they won't cough over more money and raise their own taxes to make up the difference. And probably the cause of the increase in taxes was the governments band-aid policies such as rent rebates and farm education tax rebates that make the government look gOod until \,after the next election but don't solve the real problems. No. Mr. Roberts, we wish you'd stay retired. We're going to have to take enough of this guff from Mr. Davis and company during the election campaign that will be coming soon without having to put up with yo too. monarch? different is of use. Canada /should not become a republic for this same reason. So what is the alternative? Perhaps the best alternative is a monarchy of our own, here in Canada, aside from that in England, but there seems little chance such a step might be taken. • And we should be on guard against remarks such as those of a London commentator who said abolision of the monarchy would be a small price to pay to improve the situation in Quebec. That's like prescribing an aspirin for pneumonia. If it would really work it would be a small price to pay, but the troubles in Quebec are rooted much more deeply than that. So until someone comes up with a better alternative, here's a vote we keep the monarchy. aggressors time and time again. Attempts have been made, particularly in the U.S. to play down the importance of the tour and to make it look as if China was winning a propaganda war against the U.S. with this action. Newsmen in New York, for instance, were openly aggressive to some of the returning American players because of their favourable remarks on the trip. Surely there is reason to be cautious of ,this move by the Chinese, but we should take advantage of any move to improve world relations and thus the chance of peace in the world. If we turn a cold shoulder to the Chinese we may be guilty of some of the derogatory remarks they have levelled at us in the past few years. Proud ones suffer in new "hard times" Clip this. put, sign it, and 404d. it, All .you. can 10.4e is six cants, Mr. Pierre E. Trudeau, Parliament Buildings, Ottawa, Ontario. Dear Mr. Trudeau, We have a problem here in Clinton and perhaps you are the only one who can help us. We have a Canadian Force Base just south of town, and which for nearly 30 years has been a source of jobs and,0 boost to the economy of our town and our county. More than 50,000 people live within 20 miles of the Base and over the years people from every corner of the county have worked there. But starting in September, the base will be closed because of the cutback in defence spending. Several alternative uses for the base have been suggested, one of which would involve the defence department, and the department of transport in a new training school, It has become fairly obvious that these departments do not want to use the base after it is closed out, yet- they have not told us and until they do, others who may wish to use the base cannot make plans. We NEED an alternative occupant for the base. We wish you could come here yourself to see the large number of empty houses, the number of businesses that have closed and the growing number of unemployed, but we know you can't. But we beg you to do everything in your power to help us get something to take the place of the armed forces when they leave in September. The future of Clinton, Huron County and 50,000 people depend on it. Sincerely, ,W„t4 arn matter of principle iiii111.00111111MMINIMIN BY Al, CARL HEMINGWAY I haven't quite gotten back in the routine of writing these articles. I fail to plan far enough ahead to make up for the time lag of about ten days between the writing and publishing of these items. As a result Easter is ten days late. The "Young Christians" a group of young people 14 years to about 3.9 years from the Presbyterian and United Church congregations wrote and produced a play based on the Easter scriptures. The theme was love and concern for our fellow man as exemplified by the teachings of Christ and showed a sincerity of thought and purpose that was most encouraging. It pointed out the prejudice and fears so common in our world today, The hate and suffering that is rampant in so many countries throughout the world, the poverty and hunger that is so widespread in the midst of abundance. All these things could be overcome if we followed our Christian teachings, I,n other words if we "practised what we preach". It is certainly encouraging to see these young people joining together in their effort in spite of at least some opposition from their elders and a credit to the two couples, one from each congregation, chosen by the young people who act as counsellors, The young people have taken at least one step towards overcoming a certain amount of prejudice. It seems strange to me to see the Lions Club in my community operating successfully with a membership of all the denominatione' in our community, Presbyterian, United Church, Romall Catholic, Dutch Reform and perhaps a few more that I don't know about. Yet these same men go their separate ways come Sunday morning, some driving several miles to receive their own particular brand of religious teaching which they bring back Monday night to practise at their Lions Club meeting. to help the needy. People are funny! One point that the young people failed to bring out, probably because they haven't lived long enough, is the fact that if the poor are to have more, those who are wealthy must be satisfied with less. Even in a prosperous country everybody can't be a "millionaire': There is an equal amount possible for everyone. Just what that amount would be is very difficult to discover but a couple of years ago I read where the average income in United States was $3300. Just recently several people have mentioned some article that stated the average income in Canada was about $10,000. What ever the average is there are a much smaller number above the average who have large incomes and since there is only a certain total there must be a very large number below the average. It then becomes a matter of how far is it reasonable for incomes to vary above and below this average. One man I heard discussing income said nobody should receive more than $4. per hour or about $8,000 per year. I'm sure there are a large number in Huron County who would feel rich with such an income, also there are a much smaller number who would feel that they were very poor. Just what income is necessary for health and happiness? Just how much am I justified in grabbing for myself? What do "Christians" feel about the needy? Some time ago I saw a chart showing the percentage of income that the members of one Church denomination gave. I have forgotten the exact figures but I can give you the comparisons. Those who had an income of $5,000. or less gave, let us say two per cent, then those with an income of between $5,000. and $10,000 would give one and a half per cent and from $10,000 to $15,000 one per cent. That is as far as I remember accurately but the trend continued the same. The larger the income the larger the percentage retained for personal use. These young people with their high ideals of Christian examples would have no difficulty in reversing this trend but I wonder what changes the next 10 years will make in their thinking and actions. I wonder just how we, of the older generation can justify the example,. aneleeeeditieeiseWee havee preparedefor them in.,the light of he Easter message. I vyoulde t,so ginet,e,frorn ea TN. _Easter pirograM,'Ati (lie time ti'f'dhllititil i idifikida the question was' ,Will a le Christ's teaching endure?" Now after 2000 years the question is "Will Christ's teaching every prevail?" Huron NDP'ers optomistic of future THE CLINTON NEW ERA Established 1865 Artilatg2a4 RO mated THE HUN NEWS-REC RD s Established 1881 Clinton News-Record.. A member of the Canadian Weekly Newspaper Association, Ontario Weekly Newspaper Association and the Audit Bureau of Circulation (ABC) Published every Thursday at the heart of Huron County A Clinton, Ontario Population 3,475 me HOME OP RADAR IN CANADA KEITH W, ROULSTON — Editor J. HOWARD AITKEN — General Manager second class mail registratien number — 0817 SUBSCRIPTION RATES: (in advance) Canada, $6,00 per year; 'U.S.A., $7.50 For most people, and especially for Canadians, spring is usually a time of hope. The ice and snow have gone, or are going. The days are lengthening, the sun is strengthening. The world is totting alive again, with the first hints of new growth. But for a great many people in this land of ours, this spring offers little but doubt and despair. There is a dark shadow lying across this relatively clean country of ours. It's name is unemployment. For the first time ih a generation, Canada, this vast and wealthy country, is facing the hard facts that its economy is in rough shape, Thousands of university graduates will be scrambling for the jobs that will absorb half of them. Thousands of students will be competing for jobs for a quarter of them. Thousands of skilled workers will be ready to try anything to make a living. Maybe it hasn't caught up With you yet. But it could. In my town, we had a 'boom about three years ago. New industries came in. New sub-divisions were developed. Real estate soared. New families moved in for all the new jobs, and the population increased, This spring, the industries are hobbling, it's tough to sell a house, and men who have worked well and hard for 10 or 15 years are laid off and looking for work. The signs are familiar. I was only a kid during the worst years of Vlik Depression, but I remet eber. Mist father had a prosperotte business. He went broke because pet)* didn't have the money to buy what he was selling, or couldn't pay for what they did "We". 'f ar iMiddle-aged (late forties), he didn't stand a chance when there ware hundreds of thousands of ypi.Vig men looking for anything. He was a gentle Man, and a proud one, and it broke his heart. He wound up selling coffins, on eommission, No etepenees.; pay your men- Try t sometime, during a ptession. My mother was made of stern ".guff, and with five children, she ifnevv it was a situation Where pride and dignity had to go by lie board. She patched and she mended and she sewed and she darned. She took in boarders, and we kick doubled up. She sold home baking. She went out and knocked , on doors, selling cosin6tiee to women who couldrit afford a box of fate powder. What it Cost her 'I can only imagine, But somehow we staggered through. Going "on relief" Was a disgrace to her, and we never tell that Tow. She invented new culinary triumphs like potato-skin hash (when there was no meat) and porridge soup (when there was no Meat or vegetables). Today, going on relief, or welfare, doesn't seem to bother many people. In fact, for many it is a way of life and they feel no opprobriutn or discomfort. Their attitude is that the world owes them a living, no matter how stupid or useless or lazy they are. But it's the proud ones who are hurt. A friend 'of Mine was a production manager, working in big industry. He was a good one, Suddenly, his job didn't exist. He's tried with all his energy for months to find something. There's nothing. He's bitter. Last week I got a letter from a chap who is desperate. He's sixty, was laid off from a responsible job in industry, has used up his unemployment insurance and savings, and doestft know where to turn. He wants a job, but knows the odds against him. Other countries, including those with almost no natural resources, are flourishing. Canada, with massic natural resources, is withering on the vine, How come? Perhaps the root of the problem is that our leaders are talking out of both sides of their mouths at once. One side spouts free enterprise, the other socialism. And we are left with one foot in the boat and the other on shore, as the boat drifts quietly away from the land, It's becoming an acutely uncomfortable position, and somebody else is going to be acutely uncomfortable, in the ritaetuture, if'somebody doesn't grail an oar. demands for respect, compassion, forgiveness, and peace, for the Bomb is victor over the Tomb! Only the stupid would really turn the other cheek or go the second mile, or give first obedience to Love. Those who die to win a war are heroes, but those who die to oppose war are cowards, renegades and traitors. "So persecuted they the prophets who were before you." Those who have heard the lessons of history, who have felt the call of freedom, who have shared the mysteries of Faith, are always resisted in man's struggle for humanness. Make no mistake about it: mankind still battles the dark forces of superstition, greed, tyranny, hate and exploitation. The weak and needy are always ground under the wheels of the Sponsored by Huron Fish and Game Club, a very successful Easter Parade Dance was staged in Clinton Town Hall Monday, with about 350 in attendance. Net proceeds of about $100 will be donated to the Board of Park Management for park improvements. Easter visitors at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Noble Holland were Mr. and Mrs, W. Moore, Flint, Mich.; Mr. and Mrs. Gordon Loats and Lynne and Mrs. Victor Heely, all of Toronto. 40 YEARS AGO April 16,1931 D.D.G.M. Sutter and installing team of Clinton visited the Brucetield 1.0.0.F. on Friday evening and installed the officers. The Clinton men report a very enjoyable time at Brucefield, as they say the members of that Lodge' have mastered the art of hospitality and are unexcelled as hosts. During the month of April, the Canadian Legion has been conducting an intensive membership drive in order to bring men who live in villages and country outside of the larger towns and cities into membership. Mr. It, W. Wade, director of the Ontario Livestock Branch, Will address a meeting of livestock men in the office of the Agricultural Representative on Saturday afternoon at two o'clock. Mr. Wade will explain to all interested, the bonus system for the improvement of livestock, and organize a livestock association. 56 YEARS AGO April 20, 1916 The latest recruit to sign up at Clinton is Dick Teske' who takes the rank of Armor Sergeant, and left on 'Monday for London to take a six week course in the construction and work of the machine gun and other arms. This line of work should suit Dick. Rev. Mr. Wesley of the Presbyterian Church and now Pte. Wesley in the 161st Battalion, is now connected at Headquarters in the orderly The April meeting of the Women's Institute will be held at, the home of Mrs. Howard Fowler, Princess Street, A large attendance is expected. powerful, ruthless, warmongering, or avaricious. Confusion besets a world which can plant its species on the planets, or can incinerate itself. Social structures in politics, economics, education, religion and family life are collapsing and leaving men destitute of a faith by which to live out their deaths and die out their lives. Into this void must come a committed company of men who will forge new structures in which mankind can relate in peace, creativity, enlightenment and brotherhood. Easter says, above all, that men can rise from the deadness of the past to the opportunities of the future. Man can reach into the unknown and determine his own history. We are not victims of the tomb. We are deciders of the cradle! 75 YEARS AGO April 22, 1896 The first rhubarb of the season is supplied by Gardener Allanson. The sample places him at the top of the list, being large, well-flavoured and showing the remarkable growth and superior quality of soil, On Monday evening next at die Baptist Church will be held the usual monthly open meeting, Christian work is the topic for the evening. There will be an address, reading, music, etc., to which all are welcome. The President of Summerhill Cheese Factory has made arrangements with Messrs. Hailand Bros. for milk cans for said factory at a special rate. Patrons desiring cans are requested to call and have their names printed on the cans. Safety tips Motorists! When you're driving and decide to slow down, step or change lanes, always signal your intentions and help yourself and others avoid collisions. Remember signals help prevent collisions. Drivers! When you see a child riding a bike on the street . . don't blow your` horn, unless' it's absolutely necessary. A sudden blast of a car horn can cause a young cyclist to panic, and he or she May swerve right into your car's path. Remember , when kids are around on bikes — Slow down and don't scare them with your horn. Sound it only when necessary — and then make it a couple of warning beeps not a blast! BY MRS. GWEN PEMBERTON Optimism pervades the NDP Huron Riding Association. Provincial Council member Herb Klopp reported last week that the riding is well above the quota assigned it in the spring membership drive. President • Wilf Glazier announced at a meeting held in the Murphy L.O.L., Clinton that due to the upsurge in membership, the Association is entitled to send a second voting delegate to the NDP National Leadership Convention at the Civic Centre in Ottawa this Week. Mrs, Shirley Weary Was elected to attend at an earlier Meeting. At Clinton, Mr, Ed Bain was chosen as a second voting delegate and Mrs. Ray Stoddard was appointed an alternate. All three are residents of Goderich. Members heard reports of proceedings at a, conference held on Mardi 14, at Waterloo University to discuss farm problems and in particular NDP farm policy with .ND? candidates nominated for an expected provincial election. Those who attended from Huron were Will. Glazier, Ed Bain, Bob IVIcMillari and Shirley Weary, Donald Macdonald, self-styled 'farmer from South York' addressed the conference. He said that NDP farm policy is to keep 'as m ny farmers on the land as economically possible. He stressed that the burden of education costs must be shifted from property taxes wiiicli not only are regressive but are too inflexible to provide the necessary revenge; consequently an NDP government in its first term of office will raise the present provincial share of 50 percent overall to 80 percent by the end of the term of office, making the shift in a step-by-step way. `Phis will enable municipalities to plan ahead; and will permit the provincial government to find the large sums of money required through a restructuring of the tax system and general economic growth. Further assumption of educational costs Will be reviewed when the 80 percent is achieved," 'Mr. Macdonald stated. In line with declared NDP education policy Mr. McMillan presented a resolution to the Clinton meeting which was discussed and approved to be forwarded to the NDP Provincial Council. It read as Whereas the present education tax structure is unfair to land and property owhers, and whereas the present Ontario Government has recognized this inequity and has taken action in the form of an education tax refund to qualified farmers, therefore be it resolved that the NDP act to insure that the present education tax structure is changed to one where the taxpayer is charged for education in direct proportion to his ability to pay, 10 YEARS AGO April 20, 1961 W. P. Roberts, RR 3, Seaforth has been named assessment commissioner of the town of Seaforth. He succeeds W. E, Southgate who resigned early this year. Mr. Roberts has been assessment commissioner in Tuckersmith Township since 1951. He also is secretary. treasurer of the area school board. Members of the Clinton Ladies Progressive Conservative Club will meet in the council chamber at 8:30 p.m., April 26, to discuss plans for attending a meeting in London of the Western Ontario Progressive Conservative Association in May. Participation in the Focus for Talent competition on CKNX-TV is being planned by several folk in the area, Penny %Peterson of RCAF Station Clinton will sing pop tunes. A number of other area people will also perform. 15 'YEARS AGO April 19, 1956 An all-expenses paid trip to New York city for two, the reward for a year of high service to his company, has been achieved by Clarence Neilans, local insurance agent. Mr. and Mrs. Neilans will leave on Tuesday, returning home on Sunday. A surprise party for Mr. and Mrs. Bruce Medd was held at the horde of their son-in-law and daughter Mr. and Mrs. William Livingstone, RR 2, Seaforth, on Sunday, April 17. Dinner was served to the children, grandchildren, great-grand- children and other relatives, Miss E. Kathleen Talbot, Bayfield, received her graduation diploma at the annual graduation exercises of the Toronto Bible School. The exercises terminated the 62nd session of the college. 25 YEARS AGO April 25, 1946 A full page of photographic studies of "Bird Life' made an interesting feature in a recent issue of the Toronto Globe sand Mail. The bird studies were don6 4' by W. V. Crick V,R.P.S., a native of Clinton and graduate of Clinton 'Collegiate Institute, lIe is a nephew of Gifford Crich, Tackersrnith. "The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it." The minions of darkness still proclaim that Love died on that cross, and only its body was stolen from the Tomb. They whisper that the true power of history is hate, and only by subservience to its whispers and shouts of destruction can our world be saved. Massacring, murdering, manipulating and emasculating the Body of Love, they cry that the way of Love will not work. And millions follow in their train. Lift high the dead body of Jesus, extoll him in songs and honor him as a great teacher whose truths stand over against the judgements of men. But do not follow his way of the Cross, do not try to apply his stringent