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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Exeter Times-Advocate, 1966-05-05, Page 4Two area youths were fined $85.00 and costs for drinking under age by Magistrate Glen Hays last Tuesday dur- ing the regular session of court, To the casual reader this may seem like a very stiff punishment for what many term a minor offence. But it is not a minor offence, (no pun intended), it is a very serious one. In recent months there appears to be a growing rash of cases in which youths have been charged with drink- ing below the legal age. And in most cases there were other incidents which led up to this charge. Generally the youths are charged following a traffic accident or violation, a fight at a dance or some other disturbance to which po- lice are called. This was not the case with the two youths mentioned above but it is the case when most youths are charged. There have been many occasions when young people in the area were found drinking and sent home without being charged, or, taken home to their parents following a lecture by police officers. Apparently this method of dealing with these offenders has not worked and it is time to hit these peo- ple where it hurts—in the pocketbook. And there is another way in which the newspaper can help. This is in pub- lishing the names of the offenders. Part of the punishment which the law inflicts on the guilty is the fact that their names become a matter of pub- lic record, We do not believe in the old method of the public stocks in which guilty persons were held up to public ridicule but we do believe that the fear of public disclosure can be a powerful deterrent to the majority of people. We support the actions of Magis- trate Hays in dealing with these cases severely. The point in question is not whether the Ontario Liquor laws are proper for this day and age but that the law is in effect and must be en- forced. By their actions, many young people appearing in court today pre- sent an argument that Ontario Liquor Laws are in order and the age limit should be retained. In supporting the magistrate in his actions we may make a few bad friends, There are many young people who appear at this office following court asking that their names be omit- ted. The excuses are varied but seldom do they impress us very much. "We will lose our job." "My parents don't know about this yet, I won't be allowed to drive if they find out." These ex- cuses and many others are given in an attempt to evade the final punishment, that of having others find out about their actions. We find it very difficult to find a reason to commute this sen- tence. Be prepared There will be a booming business for the next week or two for the pur- chase of small gasoline motors, pumps and generators. The rush has been caused by the disastrous wind and ice storm last week which left area farm- ers without electrical power for up to three days without any method of pumping water from their wells or run- ning their automatic feeding operations. Whether we like it or not, we are dependent upon hydro and yet despite this there are very few people who take even basic precautions to ensure they will have minimum comforts in the event of the failure of this service. Perhaps the only good thing which will come from this power failure will be to make, people realize the extent of their dependence and take a few pre- cautions against any further occurrence of this kind. There were many people caught without candles, flashlights or coal oil lamps despite the fact that there was a total area blackout not too long ago. And there were others who had flash- lights but no batteries, coal oil lamps but no coal oil and portable heaters dication of leadership" on this issue. To show they aren't play- ing party politics they quote with obvious favour the Globe and Mail's comment on Davie Fulton who voted against a five year experiment with abolition: "Mr. Fulton apparently has neither courage nor conviction." I agree wholeheartedly withthe warm applause accorded Mr. Diefenbaker in the editorial. I personally feel that his speech in this debate was a real classic. As the Observer put it; "It re- mained for that old fighter from Prince Albert to give leadership to a cause that was unpopular in his party. They will never say of John Diefenbaker that he lacks courage or conviction. He made a prophetic stand". I believe it is just a matter of time until the majority swings over on this issue. The tired old arguments for retention will cease to appeal to the majority. I have close friends who favour- ed retention their minds have been changed by one fact. It is good for all of us to reflect that if Steven Truscott had been over 21 at the time of his trial he would now be dead under this absurd law. That one fact has changed many retentionists into abolitionists. The law is fallible. As someone stated sarcastically to me a week ago: "Not only is it true at times that 'the law is an ass' as Shakespeare said but it is also true that there are times when the law is wrong". I believe that the final para- graph in the Observer editorial 4s an accurate assessment of the present situation; "We may be grateful too that the abolitionists accepted no compromise that would undermine the basic prin- ciples for which reformers must fight for complete abolition. We agree with Reid Scott — whose NDP party is the most progres- sive of all parties on these social issues -- that it is better to wait and fight again. Those Bible sup- ported arguments now advanced to retain the noose will, a few decades hence, look as ridiculous as the Biblical arguments for re- taining slavery, of a century ago, now look to all civilized men". An editorial in the May 1 issue of the United Church Observer best sums up my own personal reaction to the House of Com- mons' decision to retain capital punishment. The editorial was entitled "Abolitionists will fight again and win". The editorial states; "Those who were disappointed as en- lightened persons all over Can- ada were — by the 143-112 defeat of the resolution to abolish capital punishment need not be discour- aged. It has become obvious to whom the future belongs. This uncivilized hang-over from primitive times continues to be a symbol of Canadian backward- ness in hand'ing crime and re- form. Its abolition will eventually be accompanied by a complete change in philosophy which edu- cation, enlightenment and the passing of time must inevitably bring. An educated generation won't tolerate this bit of frontier thinking". "The vote did serve to separ- ate the progressives from the reactionaries. It underlined again that we've got enlightened MP's and 18th century thinkers in both major parties". I have one question for those who favour retention — why don't you go all the way and declare a holiday and hold executions in the public square? After all if it's a deterrent the more gory it is, the more publicity you give it the better it should be. The Observer editorial goes on to say, "most fundamentalist groups, Presbyterians and un- progressive Roman Catholics still favour retention". As a Presbyterian I must say that such a generalization is a dang- erous oversimplification. My own presbytery has had three votes on this subject in the last year. Every one of them was a close split but the last vote favoured abolition. Nationally we still have not voted to abolish and like the rest of the country we are split 50-50. The wheels grind slowly. But in our group at least it is clear as to where the majority will rest in the near future. The Observer raps Mr. Pear- son for what they call his 'tab- eNed 0410teWie - etaz 044t with no fuel. To some it may seem foolish to keep emergency supplies on hand when they may never be needed but in our dependent society it is es- sential. Speaking to council recently, EMO co-ordinator Stewart Forbes stated there would probably be enough food in a town to last for a month in the case of emergency. It takes a minor emergency such as the storm last week to make us realize what conditions could be like in the case of a much greater disaster. We would suggest it would be in the best interests of everyone if they were prepared for emergencies, no mat- ter of what nature they may be. It costs only a few dollars for an emer- gency type heater, only a few cents for extra flashlight batteries and candles and a little foresight to make sure ex- tra reserve of food are on hand. If this same emergency had occurred at 30 degrees below zero, services could not have been restored so quickly. And the hardships would have been much more severe. It's been a tough week Those things in the air We don't see why it has suddenly become fashionable to refer to those unidentified flying objects as U.F.O. in- stead of "flying saucers". We admit that we are somewhat prejudiced by the good old times and we still find early ideas bothersome in these mod- ern days. Over many years we have associated the "U.F.O." with the United Farmers of Ontario and we can't get used to thinking of them as up in the air. So we think we'll stick to the fly- ing saucer name. There has been quite a swarm of sightings of late and questions concern- ing them have appeared in Hansard. While, as we said last week, we have no conviction one way or the other as to their origin, we do think some of the "explanations" are as fantastic as some of the sightings. One given at Ottawa seems to us to take the cake — The sightings, said the investigators were caused by the city lights being reflected from the un- der sides of a flock of geese on their We've been a pretty lucky crew around our place this year. All winter, friends, neighbors and relatives have been coming down with everything from the ordinary stuff — pregnancy and insanity — to exotic items like oriental hepatitis and whooping mumps. We haven't had so much as a sniffle. It was too good to last, and we got the whole bundle this week. Nothing serious, physically, but mentally and emotionally, a shat- tering period. First it was the dentist. Kim's was her regular six-month check- up. It's a breeze. She waltzes in blithely, has her gums frozen, and the dentist pumps a litle concrete into a pin-hole you couldn't see with a telescope. It's a little different for father. I also go regularly to the dentist. Every three or four years. When I have a broken tooth or two, and have wild stabbing pains from several of the other old stumps, and have postponed my appoint- ment about six times, I go down and discuss the subject. Like many people, in the heat of con- troversy, I begin to wonder, was I right? Have I harmed a group of people unjustly? Was it really in the best interests of all the readers? In the majority of cases there can be no conclusive proof to answer those questions and it is left to the conscience to decide. But this week I did get proof to back up my own beliefs. It gave me a lift to find that a competent firm had investigated all the material I had read and come to the same conclusion. And the nice thing is, their word will carry a great deal more weight than mine did, even if it does come a couple of months later. I suppose my wife would have been justified in asking for a divorce during the period I was studying the information regard- ing the structure of the Bean Company and the Bean Board. I am not trained in either law or accounting so I suppose it took me a lot longer to wade through the mountains of information and paperwork than it would have taken most people. But wade through it I did until 3;00 and 4:00 a.m. some mornings with my wife screaming from the bedroom, "Ken, will you please come to bed?" with that exas- perated note in her voice which indicates she is about to hit me Dreaming up ideas for a weekly column can be difficult at times but it is a responsibility which must be faced. From time to time we have people who come to us and ask, "why don't you write something about . . . any par- ticular subject? In many cases if we are interested we will take the time and attempt to find out the full story and write this. On other occasions it appears the article involved would take too much time and research for the number of people who would be interested. And being human, there are other times when we are just too darn tired and lazy to be bothered at that particular time. I realize I offend people by writing this column sometimes but in the majority of cases most people realize it is not pointed at any one person but is rather a generalization of thought. At pre- sent, among others, I have my in-laws a little disturbed because I hit a sore spot in their home hunting. And yet, if the column is read twice, you can see it only highlights the characteristics of many people. I suppose the column which generated the most hard feelings was the one written on the recent bean issue. I was condemned and damned by a lot of people and I still have a few that won't say hello to me, let alone sit down way north. That seems about on a par with the U.S. air force marsh gas idea. We just can't help wondering how they knew about the geese in the dark. Did they get the flock to come back for a rehearsal? And someway we don't believe it was a flock of geese that a deputy sheriff at Ravenna in the Pennsylvania area followed for 86 miles. It obliging- ly kept just ahead of him and even waited, hovering, while he extricated himself from a traffic jam. Eventually tiring of the game it vanished straight upward in seconds. The police chief at Ravenna took a picture of it but the air force authorities forbade him to release the picture. He said it looked like two saucers put together, Either the Chief saw what he says he did or he has seen the picture in Adamski's book "The Saucers Have Landed." It's all up in the air of course, but so is the whole world just now and anyway it's a pleasant change from a lot of the dope coming out of Ottawa lately. (Ridgetown Dominion) 50 YEARS AGO A special recruiting effort has been put forth during the past week and several new recruits have been signed up. The town bell is rung and whistles blown each morning at nine o'clock to draw the attention of the citizens. The hydro line and station having been completed last week the hydro was turned on for the street lights Thursday and they have been running each evening since. The town now presents a very brilliant spectacle at night. The price of marriage licenses will increase from $2 to $5 after May 14. Elmer McF ails, John O. Strang, John G. Hunter, and Rufus W. Kestle of Usborne and George Bailey, Elimville, enlisted this week. LETTERS THE EDITOR 15 YEARS AGO One of the first pedlars to hit town since the new by-law was passed was a rambling photo- grapher who was giving away "free" color baby pictures. Town authorities made him pay his$50 fee. Miss K. I. "Katie" Scott has watched the lives of Hensall re- sidents and has seen the major events of the past 40 years from her vantage point at the telephone switch board. Murray Stephen, RR 3 Exeter, had one of his paintings chosen for exhibition of the Western On- tario Art League at the London Library. There were 300 can- vasses submitted. Times Established 1873 AdVocate Established 1881 Amalgamated 1924 late exeferZimefAhtsocafe Dear Sir: On behalf of the Ontario Society for Crippled Children, may I ex- press my sincere thanks and appreciation for the publicity given by your newspaper to this year's Easter Seal Campaign. We are all most grateful to you. In providing this help you are in reality, joining with us and the Easter Seal Service Club in On- tario to ensure that the crippled children in Ontario will continue to receive the finest care and treatment possible. Our thanks are also sent on behalf of the several thousand campaign volunteers and espe- cially from the more than 16,000 crippled children in Ontario who receive direct help as a result of the Easter Seal contributions. SERVING CANADA'S BEST FARMLAND Member: C.W.N.A., 0.W.N.A„ CLASS A and ABC Publishers: J. M. Southcott, R. M. Southcott Editor: Kenneth Kerr Advertising Manager: Val Baltkalns Phone 235.1331 Yours Sincerely, W. D. Whitaker, Chairman Provincial Easter Seal Committee Published Each Thursday Morning at Exeter, Ont. Dear Sir; We were most pleased to get your letter regarding the success of the Exeter Teen Town's Easter Parade. We are anxious to assist friends in the CFPL RADIO Neighborhood on aPublic Service basis, Authorized as Second Class Mail, Post Office Dept, Ottawa, and for Payment of Postage in Cash 25 YEARS AGO Ted Buswell left Friday for the Regina Training School of the RCAF. Ted has been em- ployed with the HEPC and the employees presented him with a gift before leaving. Nearly one-quarter of a mil- lion pounds of honey, represent- ing 80 percent of the combined production of Middlesex and Hur- on Counties, has been shipped to Great Britain during the past fall and winter. Mrs. R. N, Creech, chairman of the Exeter Library Board, Miss L. M. Jeckell, secretary, assisted by R. N. Creech are compiling a scrapbook for the library cove ring the past 20 months of war and will add to, as time goes on. Dr, Dunlop has been appointed coroner for Heron County taking the place of Dr. Weekes, who haS enlisted with the CAMC. Paid in Advance Circulation, September 30, 1965, 4,208' 10 YEARS AGO Eight-year-old Sandra Walters of Winchelsea received the high- est mark at the eighth annual South Huron Music Festival which completed its three-day competi- tions last week. Uel J. Schroeder, son of Mr. ,and Mrs. Schroeder, Centralia, and former SHDHS student, was one of three RCMP constables cited for bravery in the gun- battle capture of four armed bank bandits in New Westminster, B.C. Bill Batten, who topped the graduating class in printing man'- agement at the Ryerson Institute of Technology, Toronto, has join- ed the mechanical staff and Don Gravett, popular member of Ex- eter Mohawks hockey team, has been appointed sports editor of The Times-Advocate. At the Lions Club meeting Fri- day evening past DDG "Jake" Sweitzer was nominated for po- sition of district governor, the election to take place at the con- vention in Niagara Falls. SUBSCRIPTION RATES: Canada $4.00 Per Year; USA $5.00 over the head if I don't do as she says. This weekend I had a chance to read the report of Poole, Bell and Porter a London firm who were requested to give their opinion as to the legal aspects of the Ontario Bean Growers Marketing Board and its wholly owned subsidiary, Ontario Bean Growers Ltd. After having a great many people tell me I was wrong, both in writing and in personal conversation in my office it gave me a great deal of satisfaction to read the first point in the report. (1) The Growers Board has no legal authority to own and operate the company. And they go on to refer to court cases which uphold this view in similar circumstances. P o int number (2) The illegal levy of 77e by the Bean Growers Board. The legal effect of this is that the Growers Board illegally col- lected levies from the produc- ers. Point (3) describes the mis- use of Board Funds and it also deals with the conflict of interest as well as failure to hold elec- tions and shareholders meetings. In all the report is a complete investigation into the problem and proves without doubt that the Ontario Government was com- pletely justified in taking the action it did. At one point we called this action, "drastic but necessary". After having read this report we can find no reason to make us change our minds. An editorial in this month's Grower, a publication of the fruit and vegetable growing industry takes to task writers who publish articles without knowing all the facts. We think the article speaks for itself and are pleased to pub- lish it. Many things have been written and said about the summary dis- missal of the Bean Grower s' Marketing Board. The interest created by the controversy has found many participating, some of them with a lamentable ignor- ance of the issues. One such was a self-appointed critic on the staff of a St. Catharines newspaper. This critic drew a reasonable reply from J. M. Sandham of the Peach Marketing Board. Mr. Sandham accused the St. Cathar- ines writer of indtdging in half truths and biased reporting. With this we would have to agree. Most people who jumped in with com- ments and criticisms were guilty of a common fault. They failed to realize that the operators of all Marketing Boards in Ontario are bound to observe the terms of the Ontario Farm Products Market- ing Act which defines the juris- dictions and modes of operation. The responsibility of policing the operations under the Act falls on the Ontario Farm Products Mar- keting Board. It is not an enviable job especially when individual marketing boards undertake to exceed the powers given them by the Act. Mr. Sandham's in- tereSt is that of an Official of one of the Boards. He, along with many others, realizes the clang- - Please turn to page 5 T. 0, Trowell Promotion Supervisor • Best regards, for my regular check-up. Sweating, trembling and con- demming all dentists and their inane questions to the murkiest depths, I sit there trying to tear the arms off the chair. Too gut- less about needles to have the freezing I go through the agonies of Prometheus as the poor man prods about among the snaggles of porcelain, looking for a piece of genuine, human tooth he can drill. And then there's always that excruciating moment when he steps back, with some kind of chisel cocked in his hand, shakes his head more in pity than in sympathy, and says. riimmmm." Visions of the blood, the pain, the ignominy swirl through my head. Well, that's the way the week began. Worse was to come. I've been suffering from a bad shoul- der for years. I know. Eevery- body has one. Or a bad back or a bad hip. One week, the doctor says it's an inflammation. On the next visit, he says it's an old injury aggravated by tension. Next trip, it's bursitis. Next, after X-rays, it's a calcium de- posit. If I had half the calcium in my teeth that I have in my shoulder, I could be one of those grinning-ape models in the tooth- paste ads. Anyway, I finally decided to do something about it. Or my wife did. She didn't mind my groaning in my sleep. It was the cursing, everytime I rolled onto that side, that upset here. She was worried about my soul., I wasn't. But when it got to the point where I couldn't pour a bottle of beer anymore, without weeping, I realized that man can- not exist on pain pills alone. I've mentioned what a yellow streak I have about needles. The doe said, as he took out this ele- phant-syringe, loaded with cort- isone, "You'll feel a slight pin- prick as the needle enters," The cold sweat stopped flowing. Noth- ing to it. Then he started to lean on the needle. Have you ever had a pin- prick with a crow-bar? The only comparable expe- rience I've had was one time in a veterans' hospital, I was wheeled into this room for "tests", Flat on my back. Two nurses held a hand each, one on each side of the bed. Decent of them, I thought. Comforters As I was smiling at them, in turn the doe rammed this huge hypodermic in my chest and Shoved down. Then he started to suck ( marrow out of my breast- bone, as it turned out). In the next three seconds, those nurses wound up on opposite sides of the bed, without touching the floor. — Please turn to page 5 Part of the punishment Just round one! By Val Baltkalns