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The Exeter Times-Advocate, 1953-03-05, Page 2Page 2 THE TIMES-ADVOCATE, EXETER, ONTARIO, THURSDAY MORNING, MARCH 5, 1953 This journal shall always fight for progress, reform and public welfare, never be afraid to at­ tack wrong, never belong to any political party, never be satisfied With merely printing news. THURSDAY MORNING, MARCH 5, 1953 Better World Some Thoughts On Taxes And Welfare A western newspaper quotes figures from the Dominion Bureau of Statistics to show that, during the first nine months of last year, the income, of farmers in Ontario was almost equal to that of farmers in the three Prairie. Provinces combined. ‘'Yet,” the edi­ torial govs on, “for the latest tax year for which figures are available, farmers on the prairies paid more than $15 million in in­ come tax, while the farmers in Ontario paid less than $2 million. The. conclusion that the newspaper draws from these figures is not flattering to either Western or Eastern farmers. It is to the. effect that the Westerners have to sell their grain to the Wheat Board, so that the tax collectors can easily check their re­ turns while the Ontario farmers have di­ versified crops, which they sell in various markets, and the collectors can not easily check the accuracy of what the farmers re­ port. In other words, the suggestion is that Ontario farmers are dishonest in reporting their incomes, and that the Prairies farm­ ers would be if they were not afraid of be­ ing caught. One who likes to believe that farmers, by and large, are as honest as any other class points out that the newspaper has omitted to consider one important factor in its comparison, namely the relatively small size of Ontario farms and the consequent difference in individual farming incomes. Thus, ten farmers in Ontario earning $2,000 annually apiece would legally be ex­ empt; from tax, even if they had no depen­ dents to raise their, exemptions higher than that. A Prairie farmer earning an annual $20,000 would have to surrender a sizable chunk of it to pay for the unproductive ac­ tivities of government, # # ♦£* Honest Farmers (Exchange) Defence Minister Claxton observed not long ago that “A danger we have to face is growth of the feeling that anyone is en­ titled to a free ride. In these times some people look to government for social secur­ ity and welfare payments from the cradle to the grave, for relief and assistance if there is too much or too little sunshine or rain, for higher handouts and lower taxes —all on a platter and all at once”. The Senate Finance Committee not long after restated the problem in these terms: ‘‘The increasing tendency of people to demand that the Government do some­ thing about all kinds of problems which the community or the individual should solve for itself or himself is, we believe, account­ able for much mounting public expenditure and, if not checked, bids fair to undermine our present system of government.” Now the Prime Minister himself echoes the words both of Mr. Claxton and the Sen­ ate Finance Committee. Out of total Fed­ eral expenditures of $4',500 million, Mr. St. Laurent points out, more than $1,000 mil­ lion goes for social security payments. Yet warns the Prime Minister, taxation cannot ,be increased without grave danger to the .national economy. * * * * "Nuts" The hecklers, who ever they may be, Who drove the Red Dean out of a Lon­ don auditorium last week receive our con­ gratulations. We are glad they gave the clergyman­ communist the bum’s rush. Would there were more who would do it! There seem to be many who object to the reception accorded the red disciple be­ cause, they say, it violated our cherished tradition of freedom of speech. Nuts! The Red Dean stands for communism '—the arch-enemy of democracy, the de- troyer of freedom of speech, the destroyer of freedom itself. Dear God! If all of us don’t know that by now, let the good Saints preserve us! It’s the Red Dean who is violating our freedom of speech—-not the hecklers. And it's the righteously indignant pro- Education This is Canadian Education Week. Lei’s do some thinking about the education of our chid ten. We’ll suggest some topics you might consider. The one way to make a better world is to make better people.. The. one way to make better people is to give them better education. To give better education, it is necessary to build a better educational sys­ tem. To build a better educational system, we must be interested because it is what we, the people, make it. Before we jump to conclusions and start yelling about high taxes, we might re­ member that we Canadians spend approxi­ mately four times as much money on alco­ holic. beverages as we do on our education­ al system. Before we argue about what method of education is best (are you interested in the current dispute between the modernists and the. fundamentalists?), let us decide on what kind of graduates, or people, we want and what we want to teach them. Do we want to teach our children to think for themselves, or do we want them to be able to recite Hardy’s “Loveliest of Trees”. Do we want to teach our children to weight intelligently the merits of two op­ posing arguments or do we want them to know the Triple Alliance was made in 1668? Do we want graduates who can ex­ press themselves correctly and intelligently or do we want graduates who understand the science of electronics ? Do we want graduates who can dis­ tinguish between good music and bad music, good literature and bad literature, good art and bad art? or graduates who do not at­ tempt to make a comparison? Do we want to teach them how to make money or how to live? Do we want to teach them to play games or how to drive a car ? Teachers are the most important ele­ ment in our educational system. Do we pay them enough? Do we ask enough of them? Do we provide them with the proper facili­ ties to teach well ? Do we encourage them to teach better? Our school board members select our teachers and provide the equipment for the education of our children. Do we ever ask for their opinions of education ? Do we ever question their judgment? Do we appreciate their work ? testors of the hecklers' action who are warping the concept of freedom of speech, too. These people are allowing others to suppress the freedom they are supposedly defending, Rather than being the great de­ fenders of democracy, they are the lethar­ gic, apathetic nitwits who, lolling about in their luxurious bath of freedom, will per­ mit communists to organize an efficient subversive network to destroy the very freedom they loll in. The hecklers, in our opinion, are the active defenders of our democratic princi­ ple. If there were only more of these peo­ ple, perhaps our world might not be in such a catastrophic mess. A local daily newspaper suggested edi­ torially that the heckling was just what the communists want to get people con­ fused about the freedom of our democracy. We say “nuts” to this, too. The reds did everything possible to prevent a similar occurrence when their Dean appeared in Toronto. Can’t we Canadians take a realistic view towards freedom of speech ? Must we be so fanatic about it that we must permit it even when it promotes the very abolition of itself? Do we have to Jet people promote in our own country an organization which is killing our own boys in Korea? Shall we let public speakers tell our children to rob and kill ? Shall we let men promote the burning of churches, the destruction of factories, the enslavement of people? How ridiculous can we get? Hfje Exeter ®tmeg=^iJtoocate Times Established 1873 Amalgamated 1024 Advocate Established 1881 Published Each Thursday Morning at Exeter, Ontario Ah Independent Newspaper Devoted to the Interests of the Town of Exeter and District Authorized as Second Class Mall, Post Office Department, Ottawa Member of the Canadian Weekly Newspaper Association Member of the Ontario-Quebec Division of tile CWNA , Member1 of the Audit Bureau of Circulation Paid-in-Advance Circulation as of March, 1952 * 2,534 SUBSCRIPTION RATES Canada, In advance, $3,00 a year United States, lri advance, $4.00 a year Slagle Copies 70 Each X Melvin Southcoft - Publishers * " Robert Southcott “TIMMY” FOR 1953 — Twelve-year-old Bruce McGregor of Vernonville, Ont., who has been selected to represent the crippled children of the province during the Easier Seal cam­ paign. The campaign, conducted by the Ontario Society for Crippled Children, runs from March 5 until April 5, and its objective is $475,000. . 50 YEARS AGO Thomas Miller White of Wind­ sor, son of the late John White, senior founder of this paper, died in his forty-seventh year. When hardly out of his teens, he assisted his father in establish­ ing The Exeter Times. When it wras fairly well established, he went with the St. Marys Journal and later became associated with the Windsoi’ Review. His wife, two sons, his mother, two bro­ thers and two sisters survive. Burial was made in the Exeter cemetery. The Exeter Hockey Club won the Berger silver cup donated by W. H. Hoffman and Son, of Zurich, after’ winning the Cy­ clone league finals in a playoff with Hensail before a large crowd in the .Exeter arena. Exeter Shuffleboard Club sponsored a fancy dress carnival at the arena. Elimville ladies staged a broom-ball game which proved very entertaining, Teams represented the W.A. and Mis­ sion Circe of Eliinville United Church. Jottings By J.M.S Exeter’s First Motor Vehicles I wonder how many of our read­ ers will remember the first auto­ mobile that' came to Exeter; of the noise and dust they used to create; of how frightened the horses used to get and at times how calm the horses were and how frightened the drivers would be. With the open exhaust the rat tat tat from a motor could be heard a block away and everyone stopped to gaze as the car went by. To get the first ride in an automobile was as much as get­ ting a ride in an aeroplane or a motor-boat to-day. There was little use for gasoline in those days. Coal-oil was the more important product of the refineries. It was in July, 1904, that F. E. Karn, manager of tlv1 old Sove­ reign Bank in Exeter and W. W. Taman went to Toronto for a week-end and while there Mr. Karn, bought a McLaughlin car, made in Oshawa, the forerunner of the General Motors plant there The Sovereign Bank at that time occupied the building now owned by E. R. Russell. I remember when the vault was installed in the new bank. Sev­ eral of us kids were standing around when one of the men worked the combination and open­ ed the vault. As soon as his back was turned, one of the kids stand­ ing by repeated the performance. Mr. Karn’s cat was a steamer with a speed of from ten to twelve miles per hour. It was said at the time that it was an easy and ra­ pid way- of getting oyer the ground. It had a short life and on Sept. 15 of the same year while Mr. Karn was in Toronto, Mr, Walter Connor, who was the mechanic in charge, was on his way to Chisel­ hurst when the car caught fire from the fire-box and was des­ troyed. The second motor-driven vehicle to arrive in town was a bus for A, Q.,Bobier, who was then reeve of town. It was built by a Mr. Kurtze, of St. Williams and was brought to Exeter by the builder. On the day of its arrival Mr. Bobier received word in the af­ ternoon that the bus would leave London about four and was ex­ pected to arrive in Exeter a little after six, A Well-timed Hoax Word soon circulated that the bus was to arrive and a crowd assembled on Main street and in front of the Central Hotel to greet the arrival of this new mode of transportation. About eight o’clock out of the darkness of the night two lights appeared in the distance “Here she comes” went up from the crowd. Finally two lads with a horse and buggy, each carrying a lantern at the side, drove past waiving their hats in high glee at the hoax they had perpetrated. However, about ten o’clock the Canadians ■s 25 YEARS AGO W. A. Patrick, teller of the Canadian Bank of Commerce, has been transferred to the Crediton bank and J. L. Hambly of Midland has replaced him here. William Treble^ died here in his eighty-eighth year. Ruth V. Jory, daughter of iMr. and Mrs. S. Jory, Stephen, was married to Keith S. McLaren, son of Mr. and Mrs, W. E. Mc­ Laren, Cromarty, at the parson­ age of James Street United Church. Harvesting of ice above the dam has been in full swing dur­ ing the past week. 15 YEARS AGO Heber Snell has his right arm badly mangled when it came in contact with a buzz saw at his farm in Hibbert. 1O YEARS AGO Capt. J.- M. Harvey, officer comnianding the military hos­ pital at Red Deer, Alta., has been promoted to the rank of Major, Before enlisting he was a physician and surgeon at Olds, Alta. He is the son of Mrs. J. S. Harvey, of town, Sgt. Pilot Cliff Hicks is re­ turning to Alaska where he is stationed with the RCAF., fol­ owing a visit with his mother, Mrs. Loretta Hicks. Several hockey fans who drove to Seaforth in a blinding snow storm to see a game between Exeter' and Seaforth, found the game cancelled. They spent the night in Seaforth and were stuck in snowdrifts three times on the return trip to Exeter next morning. Boy Scouts and Cubs held “Open House” in the town hall, under the direction of Scout­ master Harold Whyte and Cub­ master Barry Wenger. News From Our - NEIGHBORS Sulphur And Spring Some residents of Jones Street, West Ward, and over on Elgin Street, are wondering .what sort of precipitation fell ’from the heavens on Friday night last. Strong sulphurous fumes were noticeable for a while and in the morning when some householders looked at their homes they no­ ticed them streaked with a yellow deposit which was very hard to remove. The springlike weather of Feruary has apparently brought out many of the habitual bums and panhandlers. There has been a number of these gentlemen calling on homes and offices in town the past fortnight solicit­ ing alms. Usually these folk are none too anxious to work and some have a craving for lemon extract and other forms of enjoy­ ment. (St, Marys Journal-Argus) Minister To Speak *• The rural relations committee of the Seaforth Lions Club has been, fortunate in obtaining the Mon. J. G. Gardiner, the federal Minister of Agriculture, to be the guest speaker at its annual Far­ mers’ night. (Seaforth News) Observe Coronation Some sort of observance of Coronation Day will be staged in Mitchell, This Was decided at a meeting of the Chamber of Com­ merce held in the Town Hall on Monday bight. After some little discussion, the Public Relations committee and National Affairs committee were given the signal > to go ahead and arrange a program. (Mitchell Advocate) Assist Calf Clubs An executive meeting of the Tuckersmith Federation of Agri­ culture was held at the home of Gordon Richardson, Mill Road, Tuesday evening. A resolution was passed concerning the warble fly in Western Canada, and it will be sent to the Huron Fede­ ration of Agriculture. Members decided to donate money for prizes in the Hensalll Calf Club. It was also voted to send $200 to Huron County Federation of Agriculture, The resignation of the secretary, Ig­natius O’Leary, Was accepted (Huron Expositor) Flan Nairn Memorial. The design for the McIntosh Memorial at Nairn Cemetery has been approved and the contract for erecting same has been given to T, Pryde & Son, of Exeter, and work will begin as soon as possible, The Memorial, which will form part of the entrance gate, will be tapered pyramids of Vermont granite and there will be a bronze plaque with the inscrip­ tion: “In memory of Robert Mc­ Intosh and the early settlers of Nairn, who so generously gave their sons in two World Wars.” (Parkhill Gazette) • Canadiana; Canadian cot­ ton textile mills in 1952 market­ ed only 245 million yards of fab­ rics compared with 315 million yards in 1951, . . . . The Twillin­ gate, Nfld. Sun, founded in 1880, the only “hand set” newspaper in Canada in recent years, folded up because the two compositors were leaving Twillingate and could not be replaced . . . . W. H. Keller, 70, saw robins in Mid­ land just recently and having lived in the town for half'a cen­ tury said he had never seen them that early before. ... It can be done, according to the Picton Gazette; they put 62 patients in in a 28-bed hospital during the weekend; The Prince Edward County hospital. . . . fish came to the surface at the site of an old exploration oil drill test hole near Bentley, Alta,, and the pro­ fessor of zoology at U. of Alberta has identified them as brook stickleback which occur every­ where throughout the Saskatche­ wan drainage .... Canada’s oldest living thing, a Douglas fir that stood for 110 years on Van­ couver Island, was cut down, gave up 30,174 board feet of lumber .... The News at Stein­ bach, Man., reports being told that in a recent test at United College, 25 per. cent of the stu­ dents couldn’t name the Prime Minister of Canada, but they made up for it by being able to name all big league baseball players .... At Battleford,’ Sask,, taxi-driver Gord Simpson is recovering following his mad race to take Mrs. Doug. Taylor to Notre Dame hospital; the stork won out, baby was bor.n in the taxi ... 7 Mrs. Elsworth Kinney, of Ashmore, N.S., has in her possession a valentine which belonged to her mother, which is over 72 years old .... An apt remark reported in Barrie Ex­ aminer: “A dollar won’t do as much for us as it used to. But then, we don’t do as much for a dollar as we used to” .... At the congregational meeting of Sheridan United Church, Oak­ ville, Ont., paper reports, organ­ ist and choir leader got the sur­ prise of her life, Mildred Leach was handed a return plane ticket to Sunny Florida for a vacation, and it was her first plane trip as well. ... At New Liskeard, Ont., treasurer Wat Thompson reported to council with a big smile that there wasn’t^a single relief case on the rolls, attribut­ ing it to the industry of the resi­ dents of the town . . The congregation of Olds (Alta.) United Church sat tense as sud­ denly while a hymn was being played on the organ by Mrs. J. C. Turple, ghostly sounds came forth that were mighty like the voice of a well-known local citizen; investigation after proved that local “ham” operator P. C. Fair had been at work, and by a coincidence the frequency pitch of both the transmitter and the organ were in perfect attunment. • Oliver (BO) Chronicle and Osoyoos Observer: “Under. terms of our political and economic system, government has no authority from the people to in­ terfere or attempt control of business unless business is harm­ ing the people. This is a principle that government itself, as it be­ comes bigger and more complex: and more powerful, tends to for­ get.” • NantOn (Alta) News: The scarcity of teachefs has been a topic of conversation over most of the country for the past 12 years but few have noticed the scarcity of ministers until lately. • Estevan (Sask.) Mercury: It seems that the provinces more and more, and Saskatchewan in particular, are looking to the ■federal government foi- more and larger grants on every pretext. • Canada is a predominately Christian country and it is a 1 great factor in our social and political life that cannot be ig­ nored, comments the Simcoe, Ont., Reformer. Regrettably it is quite true that with a large num­ ber of Canadians, their adherence to Christianity is a fragile thread. Nevertheless, it is a link, surviv­ ing from childhood association, perhaps, and they are better off. • The Capitol Free Press of Fredericton, NB, comments on the recent Canadian Press poll to decide the leading Canadian Woman of the year. After toy­ ing with Ottawa’s mayor, golfers, actresses, etc., the Free Press agrees that the woman who hard­ ly ever makes the headlines, but is the woman of the year, 365 days in the year, is the Canadian Housewife. • Editor of New Glasgow (NS) Eastern Chronicle reporting his visit to Ottawa, comments “It’s quite a place for a small town boy.” Found everyone either in the Civil Service or trying to get in. Adds, “The clock is watch­ ed for their lunch hour and the calendar is watched for their pension .... when you come from a small town, you get the notion, at first sight, that Cana­ da is making progress in spite of Ottawa.” • Vernon, B.Cr News: Are conciliation boards the most ef­ fective mechanism for the settle­ ment of wage disputes? Certainly the experience of the trecent threatened nation-wide rail strike suggests the need for a careful re-examination of their useful­ ness. • Kamloops Sentinel: One labor leader said recently that ■wages might be stabilized in 1953 if there is no rise in the cost of Hiving. We hope he will be right on both counts. Somehow, though, he’d stand a much better chance of being a successful prophet if he would put his fore­ cast the other way round and say that the cost of living won’-t go up in 1953 if only wages can be stabilized. • Discussing editorially whether one-store merchants are being driven out of business by chains, the Swift Current Sun argues that the little business­ man, with an idea and an incen­ tive and his own enthusiasm, is pretty dangerous competition for anyone, however big. It shows that iri the U.S. in a ten-year period when 275 grocery chains were coming into being, besides those extant,- some 30,00 indi­ vidual merchants too the plunge Traffic Fatalities High Premliminary figures of traf­ fic accident fatalities in Ontario show January’s total as 57. This is the same- as the number of persons killed in January 1941, the previous record for the month and compares with 46 in Janu­ ary 1952. Drivers, with 21 killed, made up the largest group, followed by a total of 18 passengers, and 17 pedestrians. One cyclist was killed. Of the 18 pedestrian, vic­ tims, 15 were either over 60 years of age or under 10, (Clinton News-itocord) new bus arrived and took a num­ ber of passengers for a trial spin. I stood close-by hoping to be asked to hop in, but no such luck. The bus made a couple of trips up and down Main street. It was chain-driven and with the heavy loads over the then gravel road, one of the cog-wheels broke. Passengers Left At Centralia It was the first of numerous break-downs for the jll-fated bus. Many will recall the old-time strawberry festivals that used to be held at Centralia on July 1st It was a gala affair with a pro­ gram of sports in the afternoon and a program at night. I used to help Mr. E. A. Follick in an ice cream booth and incidentally won several prizes in the foot races. The new motor-bus made three trips to Centralia with pas­ sengers and then broke down. Band wagons were brought from Exetei’ to bring the people home. On another occasion a number from Cromarty engaged the bus to take them to Grand Bend. They landed out on the Thames Road when the battery went dead. It was necessary to make a trip to Exeter for a new battery. The picnicers decided to take no fur­ ther chances with the bus and secured a band-wagon. The bus was finally returned to St. William. Next week we will have some­ thing about the first Reo. The Voice Of Temperance So we have beverage rooms in Huron. That’s not what they are called by their patrons—but that’s what they are called by outsiders. And that’s what they are. We have beverage rooms even though the people of Huron have never voted for them and do not want them. This is just another way in which the letter of the law is being evaded and the spirit of the law frustrated, It is in the record that every one of these beverage rooms has had police action brought against it. The question is—how long are men going to keep on paying a third more for their intoxicating beverages. Moreover, beverage rooms represent one of the worst features of the liquor traffic nuisance. The people of Huron do not want beverage rooms. (adv’t.) SMILES . . , A farmer who had spent his life in the country, retired and moved to the city. On the first morning in their new home, his wife said: “Well, Pa, it's about time you started the fire.” “Not me!” he replied, nest­ ling down deeper in bed. "We might as well start rights now getting used to all the city con­ veniences. Call the fire depart­ ment!” also. In 1933 the individual grocer had done 61% per cent of the grocery business in the U.S.; in 1950’ he was doing 70 per cent of the business total. • Deloraine (Man.) Times: We contend that when members and'adherents of the several, re­ ligions reach a certain state of Christian perfection, there would be no need of putting on teas, dinners anl bazaars to make sure the parson receives his wage, the coal is paid for, and the other odds and ends are not charied. It will be the advent of the mil- lenium when this stage is Christ­ ian progress is reached. I just had to have, some fresh air once in a, while.”