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HomeMy WebLinkAboutClinton News-Record, 1971-05-06, Page 14Miss Catherine Hunt (centre), Huron County Home Economist is assisted by Miss Carroll Yakalshick (left) and Mrs. Marilyn Rose, home economists from the Department of Agriculture and Food in a demonstration during the Food Forum, Never a pull Meal, sponsored by the Ontario Department of Agriculture and Food and held at Central Huron Secondary School, Clinton, recently . photo by Jack Hunt. Government must take action to reform education taxation HELD DRAINAGE will improve Crops and Land CLAY TILE will reduce cost by providing many, many years of service FOR QUALITY TILE BRUCE BRICK & TILE CO. LTD, BOX 30 — TEESWATER, ONTARIO Phone TEESWATER 392-6929 First Year Report from Hundreds of Farmers: Lasso 4 with Atrazine gives season long control of annual gbroadl rasses and eaf weeds Last year Lasso 4 was a brand new herbicide and we made a lot of promises. Now the promises have been proven. A Lasso 4/atrazine mix needs no incorporation. Lasso Vattatide will not damage your crops or ruin your rotation plans because there is less carryover. Lasso Vatratine controls both broadleaf weeds and grasses (including crabgrass, fall panicum and barnyard- grass.) in corn, Lasso 4 is available from your local farm supply dealer. For free descriptive liter re on Lasso 4 and uses, write Mo o Canada Limited, 175 dale blvd., Toronto, Ontario. Lasso litIAICIDI Monsanto Hertsall District Co-Operative OFFERS BEAN CONTRACTS We have a COMPLETE LINE of Seed, Fertilizer and Chemicals For Your Spring Needs SEED BEANS CO-OP SEED CORN FERTILIZER Bulk, Blend and Bagged • ANHYDROUS AMMONIA • LIQUID NITROGEN • ATRAZINE • EPTAM • 2.4-D • PATORAN • LASSO • AMIBEN BUY AT YOUR CO-OPERATIVE HENSALL ZURICH outepie D "A NEW CONCEPT IN TOUR TRAVEL" Join Clinton COMMUNITY FRIENDSHIP TOUR To * HOLLAND * GERMANY * AUSTRIA * SWITZERLAND * FRANCE * ENGLAND Departing from Toronto July 15th TOUR PRICE ONLY $871°° 3 Weeks (All Inclusive) Personally Escorted By: WALTER FORGES HEADING THE TOUR FROM CLINTON This is your opportunity to travel with friends from Clinton and district to Europe. You'll visit exciting Amsterdam, cruise on the romantic Rhine, view the spectacular Alps from your deluxe air-conditioned otorcoach, breathtaking and beautiful Austria, picturesque villages and lush vineyards Of France, not to forget Paris "The City of Lightt" and then on to fascinating and historic London. This Tout hat been designed with YOU in mind . leisurely paced, interesting and best of ail moderately priced. Tour Price Intludest First Class Hotels throughout based on twin bedded robinS with Bath or Shower; all transfers; Air transportation; deluxe motorcoach on land; Breakfast and Dinner daily. All in all an excellent valued Tour. ‘UttiOe • WANDS Pack Power • STOCKER FEEDER SALE HENSALL SALES ARENA MONDAY, MAY 10, 7-30 p.m. 100 HEAD t4NSIStialt1 ras CALVES, COWS, 441,10$ ANQ STEERS 10R CONSIGNMENTS CONtACT SE mANACAMENi • ViCtok NXitGREAVES JACit AtOPIOSSICY 442.7:511 044240 AutrioNtEttS1 HECTO'R McNEIL LARRY GARDINER 18b • evArleoMirrAt',7-, ter A iNfirilift 1MM I was intrigued by an editorial signed J.G. in the Farm and Country recently entitled "But Is Your Strike Really Necessary". In the light of my recent article referring to the "railway strike", the only answer labour can give is YES! Ten months of negotiations after their contract expired brought no settlement, but 10 days or so strike did. I am also intrigued how gently the editorial treated the matter of inflation. It suggested that the Prices and Income Commission be given "some control of both prices and wages", This is nonsense! Either we give the Commission complete control of prices and wages or none at all. So far, I think farmers and our lower income groups (minimum wage of $1.65 per hour) would be a lot better off with no government interference at all. Strikes get a lot of publicity. Some years ago, maybe 20, there. was a strike of steel workers and they got a wage increase and the price of steel went up $5.00 per ton — all this was in the papers. A short time later a hardware dealer told me the price of nails went up $20.00 per ton. Who really got the profit? This wasn't in the papers but labour got the blame. Back in the early sixties I was canvassing for Fame in the Oshawa area where many of the farmers worked in the auto plants. Car sales were bad that year and a labour contract was due for renewal. Labour was threatened with a layoff because of poor sales. The labour leaders, so I was told by several of these farmers, went to management and offered to take a cut in wages . provided prices of cars were • lowered accordingly to stimulate sales. Management refused, workers were laid off and went on strike for higher wages. When called back, wages went up and the prices of cars went up even more. Why don't we have price and wage controls? Why was it that we have been told we must have two or three percent inflation each year? If either price and wages were controlled or inflation was stopped, large profits would be impossible for individuals or corporations. Where in the world did our present government get the idea that unemployment and the resulting reduced production would bring prices down? Any farmer knows this is stupid. Prices come dovin from full employment and over-production: for example, broilers, eggs and hogs. Why hasn't beef price dropped the same — simply because farmers haven't gotten around to over-production of beef, yet — but have patience. Labour unions through ever increasing wages, and corporations with high profits, are the most satisfactory tax collectors the government has yet discovered and this includes the Canadian Medical Association and the Teachers' Federation. Even the heads of our churches are doing their share at promoting inflation by increased salaries, Why is farm income left Wet? Farmers are so well hooked with property taxes that income tax isn't important. What would happen if there weren't inflation and ever increasing prices? Let us suppose that a farmer needs a new tractor. He has managed to save up $2,000 while wearing out his present tractor. He pays $2,000 down on a $5,000 tractor, about the same power as his old tractor, and borrows $3,000 at eight percent interest. Had the" price of the tractor been $2,000, as his old one was, he would have paid cash and $3,000 of somebody's money would have been out of a job, Is there anything as useless as money in an old sock not earning interest? I'm still old fashioned enough to believe that a person should earn at least a little more than he spends each year. Therefore, there is money left over for investment. If prices continually increase, as the tractor price did, then there will be borrowers. But if the prices stayed the same for the tractor, there would be $3,000 available for development of new Canadian resources and new industries. We don't have to have inflation! And it won't be stopped humanely by unemployment and reduced productions, The govermrient isn't stupid. In fact, it is much smarter than I am. It's method keeps profits in the right places and brings in the tax dollars for increased salaries and insures re-election. What are huge profits? I'd like hog producers to figure this one out. A short time ago my wife bought a pound of sliced bacon ends in a supermarket for 39 cents. It was very good quality and processed by a reputable packing plant. Accidentally I found out the following week that this same plant was selling exactly the same package for 29 cents and, undoubtedly, would have sold large quantities for less. For easy figuring lets make it 30 cents at the packing plant and 40 cents at the retail level — that is 33 1/3 percent profit at the, retail level. If a storekeeper has back in his store for more than r a week he isn't a "storelleeper" so a dollar invested makes 33 1/3 cents every week in the year. How much is $1.00 worth at the end of the year. It's sure got "sloppin hogs beat". This special tax would be a deductible expense for income tax purposes for farmers and businesses. Second major concern in the federation's brief to the government was property assessment. In recent years many farmers, particularly those located near urban areas, have had to contend with inflated land values. This has resulted in inflated property taxes bearing little Briefs from the Huron County Federation of Agriculture and the Huron County Pork Producers were presented recently to the Huron County Council. Complete texts of the two briefs are reprinted here. BRIEF FROM THE FEDERATION We, the Huron County Pork Producers have three suggestions to present plus one criticism. We believe that the residents of Huron County should be better informed and have more available knowledge of what the different county committees are performing for them in programs policies and decisions within their elected year. These reports of county activities should be performed by someone within the county office and sent to the press, radio etc. and therefore the public would not be confused with unrealistic quotations and personal opinions within county business that we are subject to nov.k The Pork Producers also recommend that the county present an urban and agricultural development building program plan to be made available as soon as possible to all livestock and agricultural producers, as to the forseeable future growth of Huron County. The modern livestock or agrictiltnral ahitS that are being built today and in the future are all very complex in design, size and expense. These units cannot be planned for just one generation but two, therefore producers should know the plans for their area as to the life, usefulness of these units are worth in particular near urban areas. relationship to the productive ability of the farm properties. Hill urged that the government of Ontario give farm land fair tax treatment by means of reduced assessment, as recommended by the Committee on Farm Assessment and Taxation. This committee proposed a sliding scale of farm values for assessment purposes_ Maximum rate would be $200 an acre for top productive land; $15 an acre for wasteland. BRIEF TO HURON COUNTY DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE Another suggestion we propose is that the county along with the townships study the possibility of erecting traffic signs at all concession and cross roads in the county. With the increase of traffic of cars, trucks and farm machinery, we are witnessing an increase in accidents and deaths at cross roads. With the knowledge that we all protect the one on the right at cross roads, we feel this is not good enough with increase of traffic at faster speeds, concealed cross roads with crops etc. Most towns now have signs on back streets, why not on township concessions? Federation hold April meeting. The Mullett Federation held their April meeting in Loridesboro with a poor turn out. At the next regular meeting Mr, Kenwell of the Huron County Board of Education will speak on Special Education as it pertains to Huron County. This Meeting will be held in Mullett Central School. All interested people are invited to attend. The secretary was to contact the Fish Hatchery in Chatsworth arid other places iri that area hi order that a bus trip could be taken to that district. A membership drive has been organized. The date to be announced later, First aid for lawns needed Lawn areas that were buried under mountains of snow by street clearing operations this winter should be hosed thoroughly as soon as the snow disappears. The tip on first aid for lawns comes from a specialist in the matter, W. E. Cordukes of the Canada Department of Agriculture's Plant Research Institute at Ottawa. An early and thorough soaking of these lawn areas will speed recovery of the grass by flushing away the salt left by the melted snow banks. The treatment can make the difference between a normal greenup on the one hand, and a prolonged recovery period — or possibly even death of the grass — on the other. Mr. Cordukes' advice is useful in any year but is especially so this year in areas where new snowfall records have been established. "Chances are that the greater snowfall and increased street clearing operations will mean a more-than-usual amount of salt left on lawns from the melted snow banks," says the lawn specialist. There may be more sand, too. Clean up the sand and other debris first and then soak the lawn, advises Mr. Cordukes. Following his advice can be a big step toward having a lawn that greens up quickly and evenly. Tour Membership wilt be accepted on a first come, first-serve basis, Already a number of your friends have booked — make your reservations today!! For further information and Tour Brochure please clip the Coupon below and send tot MR. J. H. AITKEN General Manager Clinton Nevin Record Clinton, Ontaticy es, # am interested in joining the Clinton Community Frieodship Mut. NAME: vvvvv ADDRESSf r TEL: 4A Clinton Nows,Reoord, Thursday, May 6, 1971 molter of pripcipie 11111111 BY J. CARL HEMINGWAY A taxpayer revolt by farmers, home owners, labour unions and tenants. That was the warning contained in a brief presented Wednesday, April 28, to Prime • Minister William Davis and his cabinet by the Ontario Federation of Agriculture. "The government of Ontario must take action — and take action soon — on reforming the present system of ' education taxation," OFA President Gordon Hill told the government ministers. He explained that farmers had given OFA authority to call a second tax withholding campaign if the Ontario government doesn't show a willingness to introduce a new and fair method of financing education. Last year the federation led a tax withholding campaign that climaxed in a $15 million government grant to farmers. The federation is seeking the complete removal of education taxes from property. Hill continued: "This year farmers will not be alone. This year farmers will have as their allies; ratepayers' groups, labour unions, tenants' organizations and many prominent individuals." The Huron county hog farmer outlined the OFA's proposal for education tax reform. This calls for the substitution of the education tax on property by a special education tax on income. The tax would amount to 3.27 per cent on personal taxable income and 11.61 per cent on corporate taxable income in order to raise $735 million, the amount now raised for education by property taxes. Pork Producers report