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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Exeter Times-Advocate, 1966-07-07, Page 4The Church and Expo Integration of economies By Val BaltkaIns X : saasa-eSee:,::::aesse:%".e.a.sexe.ea.sssee• z••• • :%:*:" " " • " ;AYR :I •,":";f:::."'" " A stranger called Summer legrimartvir aasikoleol earao. pitfilai4" • T 1 jl United States and should speed it up by removing tariff barriers. The fact itself, in their opinion is a foregone conclusion. The question is merely of "when". Such an integration, of course, would completely change our indus- trial character but at the same time would pay off in greater productivity, improved economic climate and higher living standards. Which brings us back to the open- ing sentence with the following con- siderations. Our labor force will progressively strive towards parity with their breth- ren in the United States. The move has started and can not be stopped. It can only progress. Our politicians at the same time seem to be out of step with the reali- ties, advocating retardation rather than progress. This makes us wonder, if instead of training politicians in the great art of unearthing scandals and compromis- ing situations in regard to their op- ponents, we should not rather concen- trate on developing politicians who would be specialists in managing the business of the nation. As far as fear of losing national identity is concerned we have only to take a look across the Atlantic where a European community is forging ahead and doing so successfully to the detriment of Canada. We can not turn the wheel of history back but at least we can turn the lessons thus learned into an ad- vantage. The recent strikes on waterfront may well deserve a closer scrutiny as an indication of things to come. The issues put forth in the dis- pute, among others, for the first time seriously demanded pay equity with the United States. And the contention is not SO ab- surd as it sounds if viewed without prejudices that so far have governed the economies of this country. For the past decades we have grown accustomed to accept as a mat- ter of fact the higher living standard and higher salaries across the border. To justify our complacency in this we have tried to hide behind ex- cuses of a more accelerated industrial development in United States and to some degree, in the inferiority com- plex of our own younger nation. And at the same time Canada has been proud of its superior natural re- sources often still untapped and unex- hausted, only to realize that these are being "sold out" at a disadvantageous price to our greater neighbor simply because this nation lacks the adventur- ous spirit for the money) to fully uti- lize them itself. In recent months the general pub- lic has been presented with warnings by politicians who have been closely associated with the economies of this country that Canada should still fur- ther withdraw in its inner shell if it wants to preserve its national identity. (Whatever this should mean). Contrary to this view, some seri- ous economists with established inter- national reputation, paint out that Can- ada faces economic integration with efte water 14 ecfrfe Who can blame them? Mrs, Wm. G. ( Sandra ) Pollen at Lake Huron t."X• „„1.. :V,;” ‘,"-: X." : • " ):* : Those tractor-parading dairy farm- ers are all wrong, of course. Their protests started before many of them received the federal subsidy far manufactured milk. Besides, they were never promised $4.00 per cwt. f.o.b. farm. They aren't being fair because they haven't allowed the Ontario gov- ernment time to work out the prob- lem created by the Quebec subsidy to its farmers And it's not cricket to bypass the county milk committees or to ignore the provincial milk marketing board before it has a chance to prove what it can do for dairy farmers, Nor is it fair to shirk the good old Federation of Agriculture in favor of the upstart Farmers' Union. Despite all that, however, it's dif- ficult not to sympathize with the farm- ers who have decided to harass motor- ists on the highways with their trac- tors. For years, farmers have watched labor unions use all sorts of unortho- dox and sometimes illegal methods to secure shorter working hours, higher pay, more benefits and less physical strain. (It might be interesting, for ex- ample, to compute how much it would cost to produce milk if farmers were paid the same wage and benefits, and worked the same hours, as union em- ployees in government offices or work- ers in plants which produce the equip- ment farmers are required to buy.) And for years farmers have heard political parties promise all sorts of subsidies, parity prices and what have you. So who can blame them for being fed up with the proper procedures? Who can score them for being tired of briefs, studies, consultations, dele- gations, which have produced ineffec- tual results over the decades? Not us, — Stratford Times po, and Christians of this coun- try will be present there through their involvement, financial and otherwise, in this Christian Pa- vilion. They will be there together, The seven major Com- munions of this land, including within their membership 95% of Canadian Christians have under- taken this as a co-operativepro- tect, Their 'Common Declara- tion" has this to say: "Joined together through their baptism in a same faith in Jesus Christ.. the Christians of Canada.. wish to express their love of their fellow-men throughout the world and to alleviate the anxieties and fulfill the expectations of our century by a common pro- clamation of the Gospel, . ,We will erect a CHRISTIAN PAVIL- ION capable of showing the world that God was made Flesh to dwell among us and that He is present in all that is happen- ing concerning Man and his World." The pavilion is designed to provide the vialtor with an ex- perience of himself in the world which is his home. Photographs, mechanical equipment, mirrors, motion pictures, sound, space and light will all be used to help the individual to see him- self surrounded by the noise, tensions and problems of today. Man may be proud of his tech- nical achievements, but what a- bout the relationships of home and community, of nation with nation, power bloc with power bloc? Here man dare not be so proud, and it is the realization of this that suggests the old question—"What must I do to be saved?" — saved from our- selves, our selfishness, our pre- occupation with the wrong things, our lack of love? These are thoughts which will stir those who enter the Christian Pavilion and find themselves reminded of some of the frightening issues which confrontcontemporary man. In the last stages of the ex- perience, the Christian message will be presented by the use of the same modern audio-visual techniques which earlier helped to depict man in his mixed-up world. There will be the word of hope to a world which is anxious and afraid, There will be an expression of Christian concern and love for all man- kind. There will be an intrusion into each visitor's awareness of the fundamental fact that Chris- tianity is concerned with people, and with those specifically human values without which the most spectacular achievements of technology are of little use. I personally have not been in- volved in any of the planning, and the details and aims of the pavilion which I have presented have been culled from some notes by H.St.C. Hilchey. I believe that this is the right approach that the Churches of Canada have made, and I suggest that as you plan your visit to Expo, you reserve a definite time to go to the Christian Pavilion. Guest erticle by Rev. J. Philip Gandpn Last week we velebrated the 99th anniversary of the Confed- eration of Canada, and the "Cen- tennial pace" is being stepped up all over the country. In al- most every community plans are being made to mark our 100th birthday in some appropriate way. And of course in Montreal we shall be inviting the world to Canada's birthday party. We shall have a unique opportunity to witness to the very latest results of man's inventiveness. The theme of Expo 67 is 'Man and his World", and the mes- sage to be presented is unmis- takeable — "See what we hum- ans have done. See what we can do. See what promise there is for a future of unprecedented prosperity and efficiency and comfort," Honour will be paid to Man the Explorer, Man the Provider, Man the Producer, man the Creator. Man will be shown set in the amazing environment of 20th century scientific power, surrounded by all his most re- markable inventions. Space of course, will be represented, to- gether with modern means of global transportation and com- munication, and there will be a place for all the gadgets that make life so comfortable and profitable for modern man. In other words Expo 67 seems to be designed to present Man as master of all things — needing no God but his own brain —Man the all-powerful. This presents a great chal- lenge to the Christian concept of life. How does our belief in "God the Father Almighty, Ma- ker of heaven and earth...." fit into the theme of Expo? Quite a while ago some of our church leaders, laymen as well as cler- gy, got to thinking about this. Many hours were spent discus- sing ways in which some Chris- tian witness could be made which would speak effectively to mod- ern man about God, in the con- text of Expo. Many ideas were examined and dismissed. One suggestion, for example, was that there should be a huge statue of Christ with arms outstretched in welcome to the people of the world, Another idea was a pa- vilion with three courts, one for fellowship, one for dialogue, one for contemplation. Finally something definite emerged from all these sugges- tions. There would be a Chris- tian pavilion which would not be a chapel or a series of cha- pels. It would not be an informa- tion centre for enquirers about the faith where clergy would dispense the answers. It would- n't be a place primarily for Christian fellowship or for dia- logue. Rather it would be the "Christian presence" manifes- ted to "Man and his World", speaking the Christian message in the modern idiom to people of the 20th century. The building is now in the process ,of construction at one of the busiest crossroads of Ex- The other side of the fence lives but paradoxically we tend to pussyfoot around them. It is understandable that once touched these issues can raise quite a stink, but then, the stink is no less because they aren't touched. The only difference is that in the former case we might eventually start doing something about them while by closing our eyes the issue will stink just that much longer. On this note then I would like to raise my glass filled to the brim with iced tea and propose a toast to a spirit of healthycontroversy. As I said earlier, a newspaper column is not written to win a popularity contest. And while at it, don't miss the conclusion of last week's column in which a very immoral "vil- lain" (Canadian immigration authorities) contributed to the heartbreak of deserted East Ger- man families by helping the hus- bands and the fathers to escape into the free world. This merely proves that words can be weapons and that so much depends on which side of the fence one finds him- self in a particular situation. and then in a calmer mood sug- gested. "Better leave now or it will take the whole day", Humbly I must counter, that all my points could not have been that bad. After all, writing a column is not the same as win- ning a seat in the federal elec- tion. One just does not fish for approval to get "in". After I wrote the paragraphs about respectability of our press it occurred to me, that I had overlooked an aspect of "ir- respectability" which seems creeping into light lately. The offending aspect is term- ed sensationalism or s e ek i n g controversial issues, though my logic does not readily grasp the relationship between the two. It seems that controversies have been accorded some dirty mean- ing in this tranquil life of ours and for the sake of peace on earth it is advisable not to touch them. It appears to me, that a con- troversy actually is a sore on which quite a number of people have exceptionally strong views. Thus it would qualify a number one problem in our everyday By V.B. Mercifully, the time has ar- rived when I can begin my last column for this page. We will have somebody Batt'n Around in the next issue and will that ever be a welcome sight after these weeks of hectic goings on. The weather, of course, was no help either. Thus, taking my demise, I find myself in the position of that long-winded speaker who stepped down from the platform and ex- claimed. "Boy, I sure am glad it is all over". To which one of his friends wryly remarked. "You might be glad it is all over but you sure went a mighty long way about it" * * * * All in all, I am grateful to my readers for their indulgence, and, even if I say so myself, this column seems to have been well received. As our proofreader said after I asked whether she liked my last masterpiece. "Sure, it was good", she answer- ed then added somewhat thought- fully. "Only I could not under- stand it". • I have also ran into friends who wanted to argue the points I had taken. One of them took a deep breath, opened his mouth "Wilfried Pohl, 27, worked in a coal mine. His mining com- bine sent him to study engineer- ing. After graduation he joined the East German deep sea fish- ing fleet. Monica met her hus- band while he was a student," (One might ask what a mining engineer was doing on a deep sea fishing vessel but we will leave that for the concerned to answer. A deep sea fishing ves- sel, of course, has a chance of reaching foreign ports and that just might be a clue. - v,b.) , "As usual when a letter from her husband arrived she eagerly tore open the envelope . . It started; As you can see I am no longer on the Erich Weinert. When she sailed from St, John's . . I did not re- turn on board ship but remain- ed in Canada." Mr. Romberg continues "Three years have passed since then but Monica Exeter High School, died in Lon- don in his 74th year. Continued from lost week by Y. B still has difficulty tr. speaking about A. Three years have passed. Mrs. Pohl loves her husband as much as ever. And the attachment is mutual she tells me. They are corresponding. Wilfried Pohl writes that he is lonely and un- happy. He is working in West Germany. From the money he saves he bought a car, but does not enjoy it. Why does he not return':" He wants to return. He will return. But fear of facing the consequences of his deser- tion makeshim postpone the step." . . (He will return, even if he fears the consequences of his desertion is the author's opin- ion. He further states that such fear is not based on fact, but is merely Cold War propaganda. If so then the following para- graphs are especially interest- ing - v.b.) 10 YEARS AGO Dominion Day greetings were sent to the town from the Mayor of Exeter, England, Guenther - Tuckey Transports Ltd. this week received delivery on a 31-foot bulkmobile conveyor tank truck for salt, the second of its kind in Ontario. . . "Meanwhile Mrs. Pohl is waiting for her husband to return, knowing that when he returns they will both be happy. Does she urge him in her let- ters to return home, I ask. No, she does not urge him. Mrs. Pohl replies. I am astonished, I can't understand that, Mrs, Pohl ex- plains: with all her being she wants her husband back, but not as a result of her urging. He is an adult, she says, he must know what he wants to do. It must be his decision and his ac- tion. Suppose, she says, he re- turns at my urging and is dis- satisfied. Will we be happy if I am blamed? • . (The husband is unhappy and wants to return. He tells his wife so. He is afraid of the consequences but one day he will gather the courage and come to face them. In the meantime according to the author of this LETTERS TWE EDITOR 50 YEARS AGO W,S, Howey is moving his fa- mily to Grand Bend this week and will re-open his drug store there for the summer. Mr. Thomas Smale of Elim- ville is again to the front with early garden vegetables. Tues- day he brought into the office some splendid samples of new peas and potatoes. The following candidates for high school entrance have been suCcessful: Thelma Connor, Eddie Davis, Mildred Harvey, Czar Harness, Maurice Harvey, Greta Harness, Clyde Heaman, Viola Jones, Verda Rowcliffe, Cora Sanders, Stella Sanders, Blanch Senior, Vera Sweet, Ed- ward Taylor, Edward Yellow, Alice Vincent. Efi'ag• • Times Established 1873 Advocate Established 1881 AMalgamated 1924 7,11e txeferZimesaknosocafe SERVING CANADA'S BEST FARMLAND Member: C.W.N.A., O.W.N.A,, C.C.N.R. and ABC PublisherS: J. M. Southcott, R. M. Southcott Editor: Bill Batten Advertising Manager: Val BaltkaIns Phone 235-1331 25 YEARS AGO Two hundred members of the First Hussars from London and Exeter headed by the Hussars' Band and accompanied by the municipal council and by the veterans from Exeter—liensall Legion paraded to Main Street United Church Sunday for public service. Rev. N. J. Woods preached the message. Published gach Thursday Morning at Exeter, Ont. Authorized as Second Class Mail, Post Office Dept, Ottawa, and for Payment of Postage in Cash masterpiece, his fears are un- founded. But does the wife urge him to come back, knowing that he would like to. No she does not. She could assure him, that he has nothing to fear but ap- parently she can't for he has grounds to fear, She wants the homecoming to be his decision, but he already wants it, Still she would not urge him - they Might be unhappy. They prob- ably would at that, with the hus- band serving his sentence. At the present moment the hus- band is enjoying a superior liv- ing standard and in all probabil- ity is sending food and clothing to his family. - v.b.) And here is the crux of the tirade (it repeats in variations throughout the case histories) with the pathetic statement: "I look at this young woman and marvel at her maturity and wis- dom, It is lack of such maturity and of such wisdom in the prac- tices of the Canadian immigra- tion department that has made the Pohis an unhappy family. Why is it done? For whose bene- fit? The above are short quota- tions from a pamphlet that has been produced and mailed in Canada, It is but one weapon used In the peaceful destruction from within utilizing words that are familiar to everyone of us that kind 1 e compassion and understanding and thus push us into thinking that is strange to our everyday thoughts, And we travel along the preconceived lines of the communist propa- ganda machinery unless we use our logic and critical thinking in evaluating this material.. (V, B. Is the author of a book "The Whirlwind of Lies-Soviet Press and Propaganda Methods", published Riga, Latvia 1944) by the Latvian Department of Pub- Ile Affairs). Paid ih Advance dirculation, March 31, 1066, 4,180 and he must don the apron and get to work. When his holidays come around, the pace triples, No put- tering about the house for him. No sitting in the back yard, un- der a shade tree, and restoring himself. It doesn't matter what has been planned for his holidays. Whether it's a mad motor trip of 3,000 miles, or a cottage at Crud Lake, or a tenting excur- sion, he's going to have to be a human dynamo for about 18 hours a day, What's happened in three dec- ades? Cars, affluence, desire for status, and women. Cars, and the subsequent high- ways to accommodate them, have opened up the hinterland. Beach areas that used to be quiet, little summer settlements at the end of a rugged gravel road are now roaring, raucous neon jungles by night, flesh strips and scream- ing motors by day. The eternal pursuit of status in our society hag played its part. if that crumb next door can afford a cottage for two weeks, Joe can afford a flight to the West Coast, If he has a 50- 'verse motor, Joe needs a '75- horte. If his kids are going to camp for two weeks, Joe's are going for the whole of August. And women? Ah, how theyhave helped change the face of Canada's summer! They used to be content to stay hoMe, look after their gardens and put up preserves In the summer. They used to be happy with a family picnic on Sundays. Now they want a cottage for two months, or a new and big- ger boat, or a second car, plus a membership at the golf Club, plus a new patio, plus a Couple of weeks at a swank resort, It's no wonder poor Joe is a whimpering alien at the end of the summer, exhausted, broke and frazzled. SUBSCRIPTION RATES: Canada $5.00 Per Year; Utis, $7.00 In about the last three decades, the face of a Canadian summer has changed almost beyond re- cognition. Think back to your summers as a child. The sights and the sounds and the smells have all changed. You'd scarcely know you were in the same country. Summer itself has not changed. As a nation half-frozen after a long, weary winter and a cold, wet spring, we still greet it with rapture and incredulity. It is the celebration of the season that has been transformed. Thirty years ago, summer was a quiet time. The pace was lei- surely. The mood was one of peace. Today, it's just the oppo- site. It is the noisiest time of the year, the pace is frantic, and the mood is jazzy. In those days, summer pleas- ures, for the working staff, were simple. And for a couple of good reasons. He worked nine or 10 hours a day; and he didn't have any money. When he got home, he was whacked. After supper, he might water the lawn, or do a little weeding, or just sit on the front porch until dark. Occasionally he'd take in a ball genie, or maybe drive the family around for a while, and buy everybody an ice-Cream cone. When his holidays rolled around, he didn't do much. Put- tered around, painting the trim on the house, or worked in the garden. Maybe took the family to visit relatives for a few days. In those days, summer cot- tages, and power boats, and re- sort hotels and golf were for the wealthy, What a difference today! The working stiff gets home, and his day has just begun, He has a golf date, Or the family wants to go out in the beat. Or the kids demand he drive them for a swim. Or his wife has asked somebody Over for drinks and a barbecue Dear Sir: As a parent with children en- rolled in Stephen Township School Area, I would like to throw out a suggestion for the consideration of the board and the teaching staff at the new central school. Since the educational system in the area is to be entirely new beginning in September, I wonder if an Open House for interested parents could be ar- ranged prior to the start of fall classes, perhaps in late August. I am certain parents would have a better feeling about send- ing their children off to school on September 6 if officials at the schbol could take a night Out to answer the many ques- tions mothers and fathers must have concerning transportation, facilities, procedures and Spec- ial opportunities to he offered. A tour of the building would also be most welcome. Ititereat of this kind could prove Valuable in this period of change. Sincerely, Just One Mother 15 YEARS AGO A school teacher at Exeter High for almost 15 years, Miss M, E. Ross died in Toronto June 28. The Children of the Huron Park area have found a coal spot in the hot weather In Victoria Park, corner of Carling and Huron Streets. The park has been im- proved by the Sorority. Edmund J. Wethey, who for many years was principal of