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The Exeter Times-Advocate, 1966-10-13, Page 4"e• !V= eiesferZmesakfocafe 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 galtkains ?home 235-1331 Commandments dead? Solving the economic problems While we've never professed to know a great deal about economics, there are apparently a great many oth- er persons in the same boat in these days when spiralling costs — and the mounting concern about them — are chief among the national topics. The latest move has seen women from across Canada band together to set up boycotts against supermarkets in their bid to have food prices brought down to lower levels. The very fact that the government has started an inquiry into food prices suggests that they too believe that some parties are making more profit than what is reasonable. That may well be, but it all boils down to the most pertinent question of our times: what is a reasonable profit; or for that matter, what is a reasonable wage? While the price of food is a major concern to all, the fact that it is stead- ily rising is not difficult to understand. It is just impossible to have wage in- creases of the proportion that have been paid in the past few years with- out affecting the price of every com- modity and service we receive. It would be interesting to have a detailed report on the ladies who are so adamant in their action to have food prices lowered. Perhaps we'd find out how many of their husbands have been granted some of the giant wage in- creases in the past year or so that have affected the cost of living index, in- cluding food costs. One of the most interesting aspects of the entire Issue is the fact that sta- tistics show that we are now spending less percentage of our income for food than we ever have. That may sound strange, but it points up the fact that food prices are just among the many items that eat up more dollars than most people make. In the same category are housing costs, taxes, entertainment, automobiles, finance charges, etc., etc. The fact of the matter is, most people are deep in debt due to their in- sistence on living at a higher level than ever before and we're caught in an endless cycle of rising costs. Similar to a merry-go-round, the best way to get • rt 44;,4 A off is to stop it, and perhaps the lead shown by Great Britain in pegging wages and prices is the answer. * * One of the things which has been mentioned during the food pricing bat- tle is the fact that advertising, shop- ping comforts, trading stamps, packag- ing and other costs involved in operat- ing grocery stores have been a major reason for the increases. There's no doubt that if some of these "frills" were eliminated the price of food would not be so high. But basi- cally these "frills" keep our economy going and are a result of the stiff corn- petition in all products and services. How simple it would be to elimi- nate high prices on most items! Auto manufacturers could reduce costs sub, stantially by producing only one mod- el; food manufacturers could do the same. If everyone stopped advertising or designing new packages, the price could drop too. The elimination of trad- ing stamps and give-aways would also send prices down. However, in eliminating any of those present "ingredients" of the econ- omy, a vast number of people would be put out of work. The buying power of most others would be drastically re- duced and in the long run we'd end up in the same predicament that we are now. Food prices would be lower, but our ability to pay would be in direct relation, As stated at the outset, we have no great knowledge of complex eco- nomic situations, but we do have the answer to all our problems. The an- swer is that there is no answer. We're all in this crazy world to- gether. Some will survive and others will fail. It's been that way since time began and it obviously shows no signs of changing. In short, we can't make all the people happy all the time, and it ap- pears that no matter what steps we take we will never accomplish the feat. No society in our history has ever been able to perform that magical trick and there's no evidence that our present one is on the brink of discovering the secret. By Vol Baltkalns r4 td tCze#eired cvre Balancing press clippings Going in wrong direction times and that in our day we need to keep the commandment of Christ to love one another in mind to broaden it out. Surely this is good counsel and good judgement if it is extended and interpreted properly. Dr. Goth uses a strange argu- ment when he dispenses with the commandment not to steal by saying, "It isn't enough to be an honest man. Some of the worst people I know have never stolen a penny". That is true but it's a little silly to throw out the com- mandment on that basis. Would they have been better people if they had stolen and were dis- honest? Dr. Goth writes that the seventh commandment concerning adul- tery is "perhaps the most in- adequate of the ten". Granted the polygamy of Old Testament times. Granted the presence of concubines. Granted that "the sex act should be reserved for the ultimate expression In love between two persons". But is it possible to bypass this guidepost and still meet that reservation? I think not. Concerning covetousness, Dr. Goth comments, "They contain good sense. Surely the application must go far beyond tribal needs if we are to pursue truth and overcome the perils of the acquisitive society we live in". Agreed. But how do you ac- complish this purpose if you consider helpful guideposts to be irrelevant? I believe that there is nothing irrelevant about a com- mandment which cuts across the status seeking, the greed and the keeping up with the Joneses which corrupts our time. It is unfortunate that the baby went with the bath water. Many of his other comments on our modern society I believe to be helpful and accurate. I believe with him that individualism is a demonic force in our economic life, I agree that we need more than a set of rules for living. I agree that the so-called new morality has much to offer, But surely we can build on the mean- ingful insights of the past without going off half cocked. I agree that God wants to speak to us through the events of our day. I agree that our lives need to be open to Him. But I simply do not believe with him that "the commandments can be placed gently on the shelf". I believe that a tar stronger case can be made for any one of the commandments than for Dr. Goth's point of view. There has been a suggestion that some streets in Exeter should be changed to one-way thoroughfares in an effort to increase the amount of available parking space near the busi- ness section. It was explained that the move could provide for angle parking on one side and parallel on the other, thus in- creasing the number of parking spaces. The reasoning is that with traffic moving in a single lane one way, less space would be required in the actual travelled portion of the road. While more parking is required in the vicinity of the business section, the idea to revert to angle parking appears to be a retrograde step. In addition, One section of the October B Star Weekly had a horrible cover drawing of Dr. George Goth say- ing, "The Ten Commandments Are Dead". As I looked at the drawing and before I read the article I thought of the joke that was told at the height of the 'God is dead' debate. Some cynic had written on a New York subway wall, "God is dead"—Nietzsche. Someone else had scrawled underneath, "Nietzsche is dead" —God. Unfortunately there was too little in the article to dispel this remembrance. Much of what Dr. Goth writes and says is exciting journalism and good copy, It is also from time to time good radical challenging theology. However, I believe that in this particular article, "We Should Rewrite .The Commandments", he has gone far too far. I agree that love is the basic guidepost for our day. But to go on from this to junk the ten commandments by saying, "The ten commandments are no more relevant for todays needs than the particular terms of govern- ment and science that were ac- ceptable in the time of Moses"— to say this is to overlook certain basic truths which I believe to be Inherent in the Commandments. I agree that we need to find out what God is saying to us in the 1960's. I don't think that I can be accused of being, "a Rip Van Winkle" nor can I be thrown in with "the Goidwaters, the Billy Grahams and our wailing Methuselahs." It is obvious that there is a real split in interpretation within the Church itself. For example we have far out liberals like Dr. Goth and we have fundamen- talists like Dr. Graham. But there is also another point of view which likes to try and main- tain the deepest and best insights of both points of view. This is a frustrating source of constant tension because there are times when I can whole- heartedly agree with Dr. Goth and at times agree wholeheart- edly with Dr. Graham—at times with neither! In looking at this specific issue I believe that Dr. Goth has thrown out the baby with the bath water. For example he says that the first commandment no longer makes sense to the contemporary person. Now granted we don't have the polytheistic view of primitive man. But do we not create idols? It takes little imagination to see that we often give our ulti- mate allegiance to militarism or economic systems or posses- sions. I don't believe that idolatry is dead just because we don't take the ancient gods seriously. We have just as many sacred cows as our ancestors ever had and I think this commandment still speaks to this tendency. I agree that the commandment not to kill was 'oo narrowly interpreted in Old Testament the idea to narrow the travelled portion of any road does not appear to be rea- sonable in this day of the wide auto- mobile, and mounting accident rate on congested- rtiads. The widening of some of the pres- ent roads has proven a real boon to the travelling public in the municipality and it appears ill advised to now move in the opposite direction. There are certain advantages in having one-way streets, but there ap- pears to be little value in making them dangerous snake-trails through parked cars and the amount of additional park- ing that could be provided in one short block does not appear worth the prob- lems that could accrue. "Get lots of rest and eat plenty of green vegetables. This is a recording .. ." The silent many It's time to be outdoors called a boy. Boys come in as- sorted sizes, weights, and colors, but all boys have the same creed: To enjoy every second of every minute of every hour of every day and to protest with noise (their only weapon) when their last minute is 'finished and the adult male packs them off to bed at night. Boys are found everywhere — on top of, underneath, inside of, climbing on, or jumping to. Moth- ers love them, little girls hate them, older sisters and brothers tolerate them, adults ignore them, and Heaven protects them. A boy is Truth with dirt on its face, Beauty with a cut on its finger, Wisdom with bubble gum in its hair, and the Hope of the future with a frog in its pocket. When you are busy, a boy is an inconsiderate, bothersome, in- truding jangle of noise. When you want him to make a good im- pression, his brain turns to jelly or else he becomes a savage, sadistic jungle creature bent on destroying the world and him- self with it. A boy is a composite — he has the appetite of a horse, the diges- - Please turn to page 5 After all, you have to treat them all alike, and their press clippings should bear some re- semblance for fear of drawing complaints of favoritism. Both boys suggest they'll grow into such stature that such anommis- sion by the old man could be dealt with severely in a few years. Despite the fact we had to stick the turkey in the freezer until the cook has returned, Thanksgiving is a wonderful sea- son of the year for having babies. It gives yours truly an excel- lent excuse for not keeping up with the energetic neighbors in raking up the leaves, giving the lawn and garden the last going over, plus the multitude of oth- er chores scheduled before the snow starts to fly. In addition, we can now see that in not too many years the Job will no longer be ours with two young lads ready to take over. At any rate, we have much to be thankful for at this colorful time of the year. For those who may not have had the pleasure of boys in their families, we reprint below the description of a boy: Between the innocense of baby- hood and the dignity of manhood we find a delightful creature "Silence is Golden", someone once said and the extent to which many peo- ple have adopted this outlook becomes frightening as each new inroad of free- dom, on morals, and on everyday living is carved deeper. Speaking out requires involvement. It requires formation of an opinion, it requires some thought process that de- mands involvement. But no one wants to become involved. Citizens today pay their taxes at arms length. Many are paid through a mortgage company that collects month- ly payments from the homeowner. This way it doesn't even take a trip to the municipal office to pay the taxes. Citizens today are willing and able to speak about civic affairs on the street corner, at the club meeting or in a two way discussion, But such con- versations rarely get to the forum of government locally at the town hall be- cause that would require involvement and the old adage about silence being golden leaps to the fore. At what point do we quit ration- alizing, quit being passively quiet, quit whispering on the street corner and get involved. Democracy cannot long sur- vive where laws are challenged almost weekly in every phase of life from the injunctions of the courts to the speed limits on the highways. At some point someone with enough strength will get involved and that individual may be in- terested enough to make a career out of directing other people until we all find ourselves being directed even more extensively than we presently are. The end of the trail, dictatorship, we say could never happen here. Couldn't it? "Silence is Golden". — The Milton Canadian Champion 15 YEARS AGO Robert Chisholm, who services the Piper Cub plane owned by Larry Snider, flew to the Inter- national Plowing Match last week and assisted newspaper photo- graphers in getting aerial photos of the match. Enumerators for the town of Exeter have almost completed their, survey for the provincial election. The Exeter girls' intermediate basketball throw team of Pat Hopper, Julia Dunlop and Marj- orie Taylor set a new record at the WOSSA Field Meet held in London, Saturday. The new time was 31.4 seconds. Bill Batten is writing "Hi Lights Gleaned from EXeter District High School" for the TimeS-Advocate each week. liostsiszacizzlitr. 0,K,A*1.114 4If Published Each Thursday Morning at Exeter, Ont. AuthOrized as Second Class Mail, Post Office Dept, Ottawa, and for Payment of Postage in Cash Paid in Advance Circulation, March 31, 1966, 4,180 This is the day and age of non- conformists, so very little at- tention is paid to people who don't follow the accepted patterns of our normal way of life. Most readers probably enjoyed the Thanksgiving holiday in the usual manner — with plump turk- eys and all the trimmings, round- ed out with some pumpkin pie smothered in whipped cream. Well, that's not what we had at the Batten residence. We had a baby! Before we sound too cannibal- istic, best explain that Number Two Son arrived in South Huron Hospital Saturday afternoon, weighing in at a hefty eight pounds, fifteen and one half ounces. Minor athletic officials in Ex- eter will no doubt be happy to hear that Steven William has al- ready displayed some genuine baseball enthusiasm and it will be no time before he's bashing out hits at the local park. He waited until the seventh inning stretch in Saturday's world series encounter before kicking up enough fuss that a visit to Dr. R. W. Read's office was felt adviseable by mom and dad. While things were progressing favourably, we were able to re- turn home to see the completion of the game before descending upon South Huron Hospital. Readers who knew of the ex- pected arrival may have been concerned over the fact that Bill Pollen, our congenial floor-walk- er at Number One Son's arrival had moved to Milton and would not be available for duty at this event. However, he managed to make the scene and came through in flying colors again, appearing even less nervous than last time. At last report he was resting comfortably after his baby-sit- ting stint with Scott and should be back to normal in time for classes as usual. He has indicated he may not be so eager to accept our invitation to watch the world series if any offspring are expected at the same time, in future years. His only real concern was when we dropped out to get some cig- arettes (our doctor doesn't smoke anymore and We had to get our own) for our "waiting ordeal". Hill's plaintive appeal as we walked Out the door was to "hurry back", indicating that he was less than overjoyed at the thought Of staying in a house with a wo- man expecting a baby at any time, Can't really explain why he was so concerned. We made it to the hospital with at least a half an hour to spare, although that mes- sage took a little of the color out Of his face. Somehow we don't think he'd make a good mid-wife, although the fact that we named Our latest arrival after him should Certain- ly repay him for any anxious Moments, While we have ne intention of boring our readers with facts about our new arrival, it has been pointed out that having de- voted a full eOlumn to the arrival Of our first son, it would hardly be fair to digress too far from this precedent. 50 YEARS AGO Mrs. Cochrane of town re- ceived word that Gunner Goldie Cochrane had been wounded in the right arm and left leg and admitted to St. Johns Ambulance Brigade Hospital. The Exeter Evaporator will pay 40 cents per 100 lbs. for peeling apples,—J. Sutton, Man- ager. Mr. William 'Melville Martin, an Exeter Old Boy, has succeeded Hon. Walter Scott as Premier of Saskatchewan. Melville Martin as he was best known in town, is a son of Rev. and Mrs. Martin, now of London, but for 26 years pester of Caven Presbyterian Church. Word was received in town on Sunday by Mr. Arthur Davis that his son Pte. Archie Davis had been injured and admitted to hospital. 25 YEARS AGO Mrs. M. F'. Gladman and three children of London, have moved to Exeter into the residence of C. V. Pickard, which has been turned into a duplex. Mr. Glad- man is acting as intelligence offieer for the military camp at Chatham. Miss Labelle Sims left Wednesday for Kitchener Where she will train for a nurse in the KitChener-WaterloO Hospital. Over 1,200 people were fed at the hot goose supper provided by the ladies of the En church, Crediton. Mr. O. A. Martin, who, for the past three years, has been stationmaster at Exeter Depot, has accepted a similar poSitilen at I-larriston, SUBSCRIPTION RATES: Canada $5.00 Per Year; USA $7.00 we trudge off to some ridiculous job in order to put food in our mouths and oil in the tank. Just because it's fall and all these asinine activities are back with us. It's not only unintelligent. It's unfair , unpatriotic, unscrupu- lous, unreligious and unbeliev- able. For years I have longed for a holiday in the fall. And for years I have been denied it because of the incredibly insane social structure in this country, which decrees that you have holidays in the summer, or, if you can afford it, an equivalent hot-holi- day in winter, down south. Who wants holidays in the sum- mer? With long evenings and weekends, we can fish, swim, boat to our hearts' ,content. And with the up-coming four-day work-week, there'll be even more time. But we're Stuck with an ar- chaic system that seems to be tied to the school year, On Labor Day, we all go back to the plough, and spend the most glorious weeks of the year at mundane, monotonous chores. Not for us the gold and blue of autumn days at our myriad lakes, the wild fire Of sumach on the hills, the honk of wild geese flying, the wood fire's warmth on a cool evening. Now after Labor Day, we don sober garb and pious mien, crawl back into our huts and begin once again the pretence that life is real and earnest. It's just as well they're not planning to make me Minister of Education. If they did, there'd be a month's holiday in June, school through July and August (nail one pin every day) and Six Week's holiday beginning Labor Day, Don't worry. It will never hap- pen in this country. It's much too sensible, sasmosis This is a time of year when there should be 24 hours of day- light, when a man should be able to keep going 24 hours a day, and every man should be on a month's vacation. Think of that fishing. Bass, muskies, pike and rainbow trout, just lying around there drool- ing, wishing somebody Would toss them a lure. With the water so cold their flesh makes chicken taste like dessicated rubber. In the bogs the ducks chuckle and in the bush the partridge Chortle. Whether it's a bitter morning crouched in a blind, or a stealthy stroll down a sun- filtered wooded road, everything beckons the hunter. And there's the golf course. A crisp day, the turf like velvet, and all the tourists and women Out of the way at last. Nothing to distract, Fat bottoms in Ber- muda shorts are replaced by plump black squirrels intent on filling the larder with acorns. And everywhere there's sky as blue as a virgin's veins, blue- black water welcoming, butter- golden sun and blazing bush to delight the eye and uplift the Soul. Every orange-blooded Cana- dian from the most venerable of bird-watchers to the Grade Four tyke who must make a leaf collection, yearns to be out in the Most wonderful country in the world in the most wonderful time of the year, in the most Wonderful life that any Of us will ever have. And what are we all doing? We're behaving like typical Canadians. We recognize the beauty, the allure of autumn, but we do nothing about it. If We're youngsters, we go to stupid school. If we're oldsters, We rake the ruddy leaves. Or' we worry about the silly storm win. dews, Or we go to idiotic Meet,- logs to exchange Inanities. Or 10 YEARS AGO Perla Hern, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Ward Bern, Woodham, Was Crowned queen of Exeter Kinsmen's second annual Harvest Jamboree Friday night. She was chesen from 15 contestants. The Frank Van Bussel con- struction firm of Liman began digging footings Tuesday for the $112,000 Hengall Public School. Ross Marshall, ER l kirkton, brought home most of the awards presented at the annual banquet Of Huron County Holstein Club Tuesday night, John F. Ilaberer, Zurich, who graduated in honors eCohomies and received the UWO gold medal, WAS given the men's award for best record of students from Buren County.