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Clinton News-Record, 1973-03-08, Page 4Guest editorial opinion Winging the trap syndrome Editor's Note: The recent spate of anti-trapping articles and letters reaching our newspapers and magazines lately has only served to give a bad name to a skilled trade that has been passed down from generation to generation; the only livelihood of many Northern Ontario Indians. The following article is by Carl Monk, an information officer with the ministry of natural resources in reply to one of the irate let- ters appearing in a publication. It is reprinted here, in the hope that it will serve to clear up many of the miscon- ceptions associated with the trapping of furbearing animals. . . "This is a mild rebuke to an angry protest - also on behalf of our furbearing animals. Her plea that more humane methods for harvesting some of the annual fur crop should be found is commendable. No serious minded person would dispute this. Unfortunately, as so often happens when we let' our emotions run away with us, we lose sight of the facts. She blew it in her final sentence: 'And do OPENLY REFUSE to buy any item of wild animal fur.' Wild fur is a natural resource. It was Canada's first industry. For more than 300 years an annual crop of furbearers has been taken from the bush. And it has not cost her or any other citizen one red cent. The modern trapline management program in Ontario which began in 1946 is the finest of its kind anywhere in ,the world. It brought back the furbearers - some of whom at the time were literally tracking into oblivion. In fact, with one or two exceptions, the crop of furbearers in Ontario during the last decade has never stood higher. This was accom- plished throUgh legislation, surveys, controls, communications, education, dedication and common sense. Present day trapline management in Ontario may well be the greatest conservation achievement4 of this century. The 10,000 or so professional trappers who harvest the annual crop of fur- bearers are human beings, do pay taxes and are good citizens. And as professional trappers they do practice humane methods of trapping. (The record shows that 94 percent of all wild furs in Ontario are taken humanely). They are reaI people who often have to live and work outdoors under harsh con- ditions. The fur industry in Ontario is especially vital to our northern residents. It provides many of them with the necessary cash to clothe and feed their families. For some it's a way of life carried on for centuries before. the white man came, and guaranteed by treaty af, terwards. (The letter writer) is all for ban- ning wild fur commerce altogether.' That commerce In 1969 was Worth 79 million dollars - and it's all the more im- portant because most of the fur was ex- ported. It represents about 75,000 jobs at a time when this country can ill afford to lose anything. But the case for furbearers, trappers and the fur industry is not just one of economics - it is one of conservation. Eat-outs, overcrowding, die-offs, disease, nuisance and misery will un- doubtedly fall in the wake of any policy to ban the annual harvest of furbearers. The spread of rabies throughout Ontario and New York State during the 1950's was directly attributable to a high den- sity of foxes. Today the unusually high number of beaver colonies in much of the animal's southern range is a con- stant worry to wildlife managers, far- mers and maintenance crews, Live trap- ping and restocking elsewhere, however, is not the answer because most of the land is already at or beyond its carrying capacity. (At the present time there are close to two million beaver in Ontario). The old Chestnut about endangered and vanishing furbearers also needs to be pulled out of the fire - at least here in Ontario, As stated earlier, the .stocks •of fur- bearers today are as high or higher than they have ever been. The possible ex- ceptions are muskrat and wolverine. There are fewer muskrats because mar- shes and swamps have been drained or filled in and watercourses have been trenched, • concreted and/or dammed. This has left the animal with less habitat and a constant risk of being drowned or frozen to death whenever his water levels are raised and lowered. The wolverine probablY nevi r: was very plen- tiful. A few (50 - 100) still inhabit the remote regions of Northwestern Ontario, such as Cape Henrietta Maria, Sachigo and Sandy Lake. Most of Ontario is suited to the production of furbearers - some of it is suited to little else. That the management of these furbearers is not at the highest possible level cannot be disputed. To suggest that all animals be taken humanely is just and proper.. To suggest that all trapping be banned is unwise. It can come only from people who understand little about the nature of things." To hang or not to hang A member of the Canadian Weekly Newspaper Association, Ontario Weekly NewspapCr Association and the Audit Bureau of Circulation (ABC) Published every Thursday at the heart of Huron County Clinton, Ontario Population 3,415 MI CANADA • - .ort. OF RADAR tHE HOME second clasS Mail registration number — 0817 'SUBSCRIPTION RATES; (in advance) tanaaa, $8.00 per year; U.S.A., $9.50 JAMES E. FlTnERALID—Editer J. HOWARD AITKEN — General Manager Amalgamated 1924 THE HURON NEWS-RECORD Established 1881 Clinton News-Record THE CLINTON NEW ERA Established 1865 4—CLINTON NEWS-RNCORD, THURSDAY, MARCH 8, 1973 There has been a good deal of unfair pressure placed on federal M.P.'s in the past mon- ths, over the question of capital punishment. Across the country, the mood seems to be that capital punish- ment should be reinstated, and many M.P.'s who might have voted against it, on the grounds of conscience or principle, are having their arms twisted pretty hard by their con- stituents. This, despite the fact that it was to be a "free" vote, with party lines waived, It makes it, tough toenails for the M.P. who is hanging onto his seat by his fingernails. It would be a good time for someone to define the role of a Member of Parliament, Is he or she merely a delegate to carry to Ottawa the wishes of what might well be a Minority of the voters in his riding? Or is he or she a represen- tative of that riding, with first the good of the country at heart and second, the good of his riding? If the M.P. is merely a delegate, Why pay Someone $18,000 a year? 'Why not just send a paper-boy or a pensioner to Ottawa with the wishes of the riding? But if the M.P. is to be a representative, he should be given freedom to make his own decisions, especially when it is a matter of principle. It is my fear that some M.P.'s putting expediency before con- science, the end before the means, will be stampeded into voting against their private convictions. I am firmly opposed to capital punishment, and I have no hesitation in saying so. I don't think that it serves as the slightest deterrent to the drunk, the drug addict, the person momentarily insane, or the paranoids who will murder for money. And statistics don't impress me. Sure, the murder rate has gone up during the five-year moratorium. But so have the rates of muggingss rapings, pur- sesnatchings and wife-beatings. To be consistent, the adherents of capital punish- ment should be pushing for a revival of corporal punishment' as a deter rent. If we're going to revive the brutish elimination of human life, let's go all the way. 'Let's bring back the ducking- stool for gossips. We'd need the whole of the Great Lakes for ducking, but never mind. Why not revive burning for witches? Ah,what a conflagration that would make. Kids who stole apples would be branded on the forehead with a T for "Thief". Prostitutes would be marked with a P, and if they were also pickpockets, they would read PP. Poachers would get twelve lashes and be sent to the tun- dra. That means I'd never see a lot of my old friends again. People caught with illegal firearms would have their trigger fingers, or, preferably, their whole hand, lopped off. That would mean a surplus of southpaws, but one can't stand in the way of deterrents, can one? Detergents, of course, are a different matter. We can stand in the way of them, and feel a righteous glow. It makes me physically ill to 'hear otherwise decent people say they don't believe in hanging, but they'd have no ob- jection to ending a human life by an overdose of heroin, if the villain were an addict, or a "nice" tranquillizer that would put him to sleep forever, Murder is murder, whether it is done by the individual or by the state, and I want no part of it,, "Our" Queen Needless to say, there have been several complaints about my assessment of the image of royalty in Canadian eyes. You were out to lunch at the time? Well, I was suggesting that we do not have any particularly strong feelings in this country toward the monarchy, as such, and that consequently there are few rabid critics or defenders of the institution. A Lord Altrincham or a Malcolm Muggeridge in Canada, hooting at any aspect, of the royal family, would sim- ply be considered un- sportsmanlike or maybe a little off his nut. The complaints come from those of traceable British stock who hate to face up to this tor- pid loyalty and who confuse the rousing welcome we accord to royal visitors as a sign of aggressive allegiance. True, we are most kindly disposed to Her Majesty and her family, we are not at all hypocritical in asking, God to save our gracious Queen at every meeting of the PTA, and we have a small degree of possessiveness, possibly based in the sub-conscious awareness that having a ruler slightly 10 YEARS AGO MARCH 7, 1963 Members of the Ontario Street United Church choir presented the "With Hearts and Voices" program over C.F.P.L. radio on Sunday night as a feature of the station's Lenten program. Meditations were read by the minister, Rev, Grant Mills, and the choir was under the direction of Miss Elva Wiltse and the, organist was Miss Lois Grasby. Solos were taken by Mrs. Don Kay and John Lavis and a male quartet of Elvin Merrill, Don Symons, John Lavis and Don Mills also performed. Robert P. Allan, Huron's perennial winner in seed exhibits at the major shows, was judged the inter-county champion for his exhibit of field beans at the 25th annual Western Ontario Farm Show held at the Western Fairgrounds, London. Mr. and Mrs. W. H. John- ston, Bayfield, marked two oc- casions at a family dinner at their home on Sunday, February 28. On that date, Mrs. Johnston marked her 84th birthday, while on Monday, the couple marked their 50th wed- ding anniversary, 15 YEARS AGO MARCH 6, 1958 Judge Frank Pingland, Clin- ton, threw a curling stone down the ice at 8 p.m. Thursday, February 27, to mark the of- tidal opening of a new, four- sheet curling rink at R.C.A.P. Station Clinton. Cost of the Station project is ap- proximately $35,000 covering refrigeration equipment for ar- tificial ice, waiting rooms and all other facilities. distinguishes us from those un- couth yokels of the U.S.A. But that durable and, in- deed, often touching relation- ship that exists between Her Majesty and her subjects in the British Isles has no discernable counterpart in Canada and there's little to be gained in pretending that it, does. Awhile back I would not have argued this way. Indeed, on more than one oc- casion, I enjoyed the luxury, fashionable among Canadian columnists, of writing caustic criticism of the occasional foibles of life in the palace. That the response was in- variably negative was, frankly, the only reason that this sauciness was occasional. Then , having lived for a year in the shadow of Windsor Castle—our riverside hou'se at Datchet was just a stone's throw across the Thames into the royal grounds and the ten- der of the royal sheep often fished alongside me—I developed an entirely new mat- ched set of values. Our friends and neighbors were a fairly representative cross-section of the English outlook. 25 YEARS AGO MARCH 4, 1948 March may have come in like a lamb but it was a lamb in wells clothing. The weather was really of the "lion" variety the better part of Monday and all day Tuesday. Ten inches of snow fell here this week and some of the country roads are still blocked. Associated with the News Record for the past 16 years, except for four years' Service with the R.C.A.F. during World War II and a brief period on the Pacific Coast, Arthur Laurie Colquhoun has entered a partnership with R. S. Atkey in the publication of this newspaper and operation of the commercial printing plant, in connection therewith. The change was effective as of March 1, 1948, Mr. Atkey will continue to act as editor and business manager and Mr. Colquhoun will have charge of production as plant manager. Mrs. John McPhee and Miss Martha Mcllwain, twin sisters, Auburn, celebrated their 81st. birthday on Saturday, February 28, when they were guests of honor at a dinner given by Mr. and Mrs. Cliff McPhee. The Legion-Lions "Food for Britain" fund is steadily growing and the committee much appreciates the good work, The fund now stands at $244. 40 YEARS AGO MARCH 9, 1933 Miss Eleanor Plumsteel sup- plied in the Seaforth Collegiate last week, owing to the illness of a member of the staff. Miss Lucy Woodsy Bayfield, is visiting in Toronto, Mr. and Mrs. John Fingland, They ranged from a fellow toiler in Fleet Street with such fierce anti-monarchial tenden- cies that he belonged to some tiny secret society devoted to republicanism, to our im- mediate neighbour whose idea of heaven was to attend each Sunday at Smith's Lawn in Windsor Great Park to watch Prince Philip play polo and to watch the Queen watching him. What these people have in common and what we lack in this country is the day-to-day awareness of the crown as a living, immediate, vital and tangible factor in their lives. For or against, it is for the Briton a pervasive, if not in- timate, influence on his existence. His reactions of sen- timent or admiration or allegiance—or, .conversely,, his reaction of disdain or anger—are meaningful and genuine. This cannot be said of the average Canadian and that, simply, is why our attitude to the sovereign is so pallid. To be exposed for any length of time to that climate, as we were, is to revise your thinking and so to move either closer or farther away in your personal Londesboro, are leaving this week for a visit with their son, Rev. Will Fingland, Niagara Falls. Lawrence Plumsteel and Bill Murch had a narrow escape from serious injury when a car driven by the former collided with a horse-drawn buggy just at the edge of Kippen. Driver of the buggy, Robert Jarrott, was convicted of driving without lights and making a left hand turn against traffic regulations. At Lobb's General Store: Sugar, 10 lbs. for 46 cents; raisins, 2 lbs. for 23 cents; Chateau cheese, 1/2 lb. pkg., 2 for 25 cents. 55 YEARS AGO MARCH 7, 1918 The Mary Street drain, that constant source of worry to council and others, was up again for discussion,. Solicitor Brydone advised that there be no delay in appointing a com- mittee to meet the users of the drain and that an endeavour be made to come to some definite understanding which would be satisfactory to the town and to concept of regard and duty to the crown. The British papers chronicle the royal family's doings to the saturation point. A dozen rumors of events in the inner royal circle are constantly cir- culating. Even the silliest of popular press controversies is earnestly and sometimes even violently discussed. Nor is it uncommon, in the daily rounds of London, to find yourself crossing paths with the more industrious members of the royal family. In short, while we in Canada take our royalty in the massive, concentrated doses of visits by the Queen the Briton experien- ces throughout his life the mild, though insidious, conditioning of the crown's various forms of symbolisms , ,t s For myself, I found this a good deal more sensible and more appealing than the Canadian style and I now believe that we can only claim token membership in the club. Not that it matters, of course, but it seems pointless to main- tain the myth of close Canadian ties with the crown simply because the myth is har- mless. the users. The mayor and councillors Sheppard and Miller were appointed a com- mittee to represent the council at this conference. ' On Monday evening, the Leagues of the two Methodist churches met together in On- tario Street Church, the visitors giving the program. Mrs. Frank Andrews, Mr. and Mrs. C. Lobb and J. E. Doherty con- tributed to the musical part of the program and Misses Ella Rutledge and Daisy Nediger each gave a reading. The Clinton branch of the Women's Institute held a very successful meeting last Thur- sday at the home of Mrs. R. Fitzsimmons. John Cuninghame attended the meeting of the Huron Presbytery at Hensall last week. Mr. and Mrs, J. A. Sutter ex- pect to leave this week for Toronto to visit their relatives and friends. 75 YEARS AGO MARCH 4, 1898 Headlines state "The Gover- nment Again Sustained But Its we get letters Dear Editor: The Association of Natu Resources Technicians of tario strongly supports t restoration of red dome lig onto vehicles used in enf cement work. In a brief to Mr. Walter Matinee, 'Deputy Minister Ontario Ministry of Natu Resources, the ANRTO, requested necessary amen ments to provincial statutes made in order that this imp tant tool of resour management be effective, Since removal of the r dome light from enforceme vehicles, Resource Technicia charged with the responsibili of protecting our heritage a most ineffective, Yours very trul BJ, Labont Preside A Missing Smile In Clinton, everybody know, Handsome John, the number one star of the local football and hockey team, He's fast, graceful, good-looking and a first-class player. Whenever and wherever John is around, the girls go into a spin — that is, they used to swoon and scream until John had the misfortune of blockin g a tackle with his front teeth and lost his beautiful smile. Handsome John would stil l have his smile and his fron t teeth if he had used a mouth protector. He didn't forget his helmet, shoulder pads, leg protectors or ankle bands, but he forgot to get his mouth- protector or rather, his smile- protector. Parents whose children play hockey, football or any other contact sport, have a duty to protect the young teeth and their children's bright smiles. This can be done by making sure that-their ,children wear mouth-protectors; a small and inexpensive piece of equipment, These protectors can radicall y eliminate all injuries to the mouth and teeth without inter- fering with the child's athletic. abilities. Ask any coach about mouth-protectors, Always bear in mind that a smile is meant to last a lifetime. Protect that smile with mouth protectors. Majority Practically Gone" "South and West Huron Go Conservative". In the South Mr. McLean, Liberal lost to Mr. Silber, Conservative; in the West Mr. Beck, Conser- vative, won over Mr. Garrow, Liberal. In Clinton, both par- ties had agreed to receive the returns unitedly at the Town Hall. The meeting was good humored and each side grimly "took its medicine" as occasion required. The death of Chas. Girvin, Sr., of West Wawanosh, on Tuesday, removes another of the old landmarks, and a man who was respected and esteemed by all. The children of Mr. Peter Fisher, Jr., Benmiller, are ill with scarlet fever, Mr. Wesley Fisher's sale on Friday last was largely atten- ded and things went off at good prices. Robt, Coats and Son's adver- tisement states $10 buys a nice made-to-measure suit; $1.2 buys a better one; $13.50 gets you more style; $14 leads you to higher grades; $15 splendid value; $16 elegant styles, beautiful cloth.