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Times-Advocate, 1978-02-23, Page 4Times-Advocate. February 23. 1978Page 4 1/iglit is dawning The light seems to be slowly daw­ ning that racism, long thought to be a problem of the United States, Southern Africa and a few other unenlightened areas of the world, has raised its vicious and evil head in Canada. We suspect that it has always existed here if the treatment of Canadian Indians and Inuit is any example, but the fact that our immigration policies and the treatment of non-whites in our big cities is becoming cause for concern has brought it out in the open. Racism is indefensible yet almost universal. It is based simply on the belief that one race, color or creed is superior to any other. It is bigotry, plain and simple. It is also illegal, although the law in this country is too often not enforced. There is a theory being expressed with frightening frequency that the vic­ tims of racism deserve it. After all, this antiquated mode of thinking says, these people came here from another country because they thought Canada was a better place than the one which they were leaving. Therefore, these bigots assert, they must be prepared to accept with grace all the insults, abuse and downright discrimination that is tossed at them because that is the way others “had to make it” in Canada. The non-white, the immigrant, the minority should be humble and preferably stupid and should show their gratitude for being allowed into this na­ tion of freedom and equality by accep­ ting racism. There is a cure for racism but it requires stern measures on the part of our politicians, police, churches, schools and all other institutions of society who must declare uncom­ promisingly that racism is unaccep­ table, illegal and will be dealt with severely. Politicians and police must enact and enforce rigidly the strongest laws possible in a democratic society against these such disgusting prac­ tices. They must begin by rooting it out in their own arenas. But the molders of opinion, the con­ sciences of society have an even deeper responsibility because racism is not something people are born with. One rarely sees it among children. Racism is an acquired attitude, acquired from parents, teachers and acquaintances. The churches and schools must make quite clear that, in the eyes of God and of society, all men and women are created of equal worth and have the right to equal treatment. Anything less is an attitude of mind and emotion that is totally wrong. “Dimwitty — what are you doing out of uniform? cJhecEneigy gavers BATT’N AROUND 9 •with the editor Something is wrong There are still people in our society who believe that non-violence is a vir­ tue, that frugality, personal morality and virtuous living are the way-of-life ordained of their Creator. These are the same virtues that once were the cornerstones of our social order. These people believe that human energy is the best alternative source of supply and decline to depend on non­ renewable sources of energy. These people believe in community living and mutual support. And while the rest of us stand about the yearn for the good old days and wr­ ing our hands impotently about the loss of values or spend hours over cocktails decrying the breakdown of family and the advent of the permissive society, the non-violent, hard-working Men- nonite communities do something about it — they live their beliefs. But look what they get for it. Do we try in some small way to emulate them? Do we encourage their peaceful attempts to live as they feel right without infringing on our rights to waste and spend more? Incredibly, no. Indeed, it seems we persecute them for living as we ought. Recently in Ontario, the Old Order Amish dairy farmers, who produce milk using little or no outside energy supplies, found itself in direct conflict with the bureaucrats at Queens Park. Believing, as they do, that electricity is not for them, the Amish nevertheless produce high quality milk, chilled to regulations but without benefit of On­ tario Hydro. The government has said change or go out of business. The Men- nonites, peaceful to the end, are not fighting. An even more bizarre case exists in Texas where a community of Men- nonites was ready to transform the arid land they had purchased into a paradise using deep wells and hard work. They did not know, and the im­ migration authorities did not tell them, that they faced an unsurmountable series of obstacles — legal and otherwise — such as waster rights sold to others, thereby making it illegal to drill on their own land; ineligibility to obtain work permits, making it im­ possible to obtain cash and now depor­ tation as undesireable aliens. All this, for wanting to work land others wouldn’t touch. Something is clearly wrong in both these cases when, in a society tolerating the violence we do, a group of decent, hard-working, peaceful peo­ ple are persecuted so easily by the representatives of all of us. Who will take up the cudgels on their behalf, albeit peaceful cudgels? Assignment only half done unemployed adults and to design new courses on such matters as racial ten­ sions, leisure time, etc. * * * Those suggestions are all very com­ mendable, and no doubt the programs would be beneficial. It would also alleviate the waste of public money that will become evident when classrooms, and even entire schools, are closed down due to the declining enrolment. But the big issue is the matter of cost. Can the people in the province meet the bill for the special programs and the benefits that can be derived from lower pupil/teacher ratios? As the declining enrolments suggest, there will be fewer people to pay the bills, and as the current economic pic­ ture suggests, there will be fewer of those people gainfully employed and therefore able to share the costs. It therefore behooves the teachers to not only come up with sound programs to maintain their numbers, but also sound methods of enabling the tax­ payers to pay for those programs. We suggest they’ve only completed half the assignment. ’ * * * While this writer appreciated the op­ portunity last week to attend the press conferences called by the Huron board and the secondary school teachers, it was a rather frustrating experience in that the two sides hold such divergent viewpoints on the issues at stake. Spokesmen for the board suggest It isn’t difficult to see why job securi­ ty and job opportunities are such im­ portant issues in the current strike between secondary school teachers and the Huron County board of education. Ministry of education figures show that provincial enrolment in elemen­ tary schools will decline to 1,051,301 by 1986. Secondary school enrolment will fall from 615,232 to 502,728. The drop in enrolment has already led to various announcements of teacher layoffs and closing of schools. If the present trend continues, it is es­ timated that the 620 secondary schools in the province will need 5.000 fewer teachers than they now employ. The 4,- 000 elementary schools, which have already dropped more than 2,000 jobs this decade, will need to eliminate another 4,000 before 1980. The future looks bleak for those presently in the teaching profession and those enrolled in the many teachers’ colleges. It is not difficult to sympathize with many of those presently in the profes­ sion, and it is only natural that they should be concerned and taking steps to protect their jobs. It’s called survival. In a brief to the one-man commission on declining school enrolment in On­ tario, the Teachers’ Federation suggests that the situation presents an opportunity for education to serve other needs, such as the need to provide adequate special education for exceptional children, the handicapped, the mentally retarded and others with special needs. They contend as well that the surplus . that the real issue is simply a matter of of teachers could be used to upgrade who will manage the educational system in the county. The teachers, on the other hand, claim it is a matter of the quality of education in Huron. Somewhere in the middle lies the real answer, but it is most difficult to ferret out in separate press conferences. It would have been much more ad­ vantageous had we been able to get the two negotiating committee chairmen, Cayley Hill and Clay Murray, into the same room and heard them expound on their respective positions and debate the facts as each sees them. Perhaps the two sides may yet see that as an avenue to better inform the ratepayers of the county. ★ * * Both sides in the debate have in­ dicated that if the public is really aware of the issues, that public would support their respective causes. In fact, the public is generally at a loss to know the true facts. The students, who are the pawns in the affair, are also uninformed as to the respective positions. If the board and teachers are really anxious to enlist the support of the public, they would be well advised to call a public meeting and state their case so the people who are affected can at least draw their own conclusions. There is a particular need for the teachers to consider this type of action, because there is little doubt that at the present time, support for their cause is minimal and is probably decreasing. by Richard Charles Do you know how much gasoline we use each year? About 10 billion gallons that’s over 400 gallons for each man, woman and child in Canada and we could probably pour one or two billion gallons down the drain for all the good they do us. Can you picture all the oil wells, refineries, pipelines, tankers, tank trucks and filling stations it takes to deliver this ocean of gasoline to us, and the energy used in doing it? But, despite the price, which is steadily creeping up toward the world level of $1.50 a gallon, we use and waste more gasoline each year, and no one can be sure how soon the wells will run dry. Ideally, we should all be driving cars that give at least 50 miles to the gallon. But, as these will not serve everyone’s needs, we can at least see that our cars use as little fuel as possible by keeping them in top mechanical shape. The Champion Spark Plug Company carried out some tests which showed that almost half of the cars in the Toronto and Montreal areas were badly maintained and wasted fuel, polluted the air excessively or otherwise performed badly. They said that the fuel efficiency of cars could be improved by an average of 9 per cent. They reduced one car’s fuel consumption by 5 5 per cent. I The Office of Energy Conservation, Department of Energy, Mines and Resources, estimates that good car inain- , tenance increases fuel economy by 15 per cent over a poorly maintained car. They explain proper maintenance fully in a publication called The Car Mileage Book, which is available free if you write to Box 3500, Station C, Ottawa, Ontario, KI Y4G1. Winters are especially hard on cars. The book recom­ mends a major tune-up in the fall to help make your car last longer and save on fuel. This involves a thorough check to rectify any faults in the following item^ • fuel system - carburetor, air cleaner, fuel lines, fuel filter, emission controls; • ignition system - spark plugs, ignition leads, coil, distributor (or leads and insulators on electronic ignition), timing; • cooling system - radiator, hoses, thermostat, coolant (replace it each year); • oil - change oil usually every 2,000 or 3,000 miles, and replace oil filter at every other oil change; • mechanical - heat riser valve, control linkages, com­ pression, motor mountings; • electrical - alternator, voltage regulator, battery, starter, blockheater; • exhaust system - look for weakened spots in muffler and all pipes; • drive train - transmission, transmission linkage, dif­ ferential fluid; • undercarriage - drive shaft, shocks, steering linkage; also for lubrication and wheel-bearing repack instructions, see your owner’s manual; • brakes - linings, master cylinder, parking brake. If salt is used on the winter roads where you drive, have your car rustproofed, but insist on a guarantee; or have the underside of your car sprayed with used motor oil before or during winter. Also, if possible, wash the underside of your car at a do-it-yourself car wash, and pay special attention to the places where salt and dirt collect. Whether you are a do-it-yourselfer or not, you can pick up a lot of useful information about cars and their upkeep in The Car Mileage book. A way of life? Two side-by-side stories in a daily newspaper which reached our desk last week provided a fresh overview of the unemployment picture. One told of the remarks made by Howard Moscoe, an official of the Ontario Teachers’ Federation, when he addressed the board of that body. Ontario schools, said Moscoe, should teach students how to find a job, get unemployment in­ surance and go on welfare. In the very next column was a story which told of the dire shortage of skilled workmen in Ontario. Ross Strickland, vice-president of Ex-Cell-0 Corp, of Canada Ltd., said that his firm had sent a representative to England in an attempt to hire a dozen skilled machinists. “If we could get 30 we’d take them” he added. Strickland, who is also president of the Canadian Tool Manufacturers’ Association, said the firm had adver­ tised without success in Toronto, Mon­ treal, Kitchener, London and Windsor before sending the man to England. A government-financed group of unemployed people in Chatham inter­ viewed 766 employers in Kent County and found 300 skilled tradesmen are needed now and another 2,670 jobs will be open within the next ten years. But the report added there is no sign of where the workers will come from.* Douglas Omand, chairman of the provincial government’s Industrial Training Council, which is studying how to improve apprentice programs, said of the Kent County study, “We have every reason to believe that the situation is the same all over the province to a greater or lesser extent.” Sugar and Spice , Dispensed by Smiley A nation of layabouts Times Wnieg South Hvten, North Mid Times Established 1873 vocate rth tembeioe Since 1*7) Advocate Established 1881 SERVING CANADA'S BEST FARMLAND C.W.N.A., O.W.N.A. CLASS ’A' and ABC Published by J. W. Eedy Publications Limited LORNE EEDY, PUBLISHER Editor — Bill Batten Assistant Editor — Ross Haugh Advertising Manager — Jim Beckett Plant Manager — Bill Weekley Composition Manager — Harry DeVries Business Manager — Dick Jongkind _ Phone 235-1331 (♦Bna SUBSC............. Amalgamated 1924 Published Each Thursday Morning al Exeter, Ontario Second Class Mail Registration Number 0386 Paid in Advance Circulation September30, 1975 5,409 SUBSCRIPTION RATES: Canada $11.00 Per Year; USA $22.00 Well, who are you going to vote for when they call the election? The youthful, righteous, quivering jowls, or the aging but still elegant shrug? What a choice! One of the guys is so hungry for the big job that he looks as though he can already taste it. The other is so mesmerized by failed bilingualism and his personal feud with Rene Lavesque that he wouldn’t know an ordinary taxpayer if he climbed into bed with one. Of either sex. If Joe Stalin were alive and well and living, say, in Moosejaw, he’d probably garner more votes than the other two put together. That other Joe was chosen leader of the Tories by a handful of votes. Ap­ proximately 49 per cent of the conven­ tion delegates didn't want him. Since then, one of the latter has become a Liberal cabinet minister, another, his Quebec “lieutenant,” has faded into the woodwork. His opponent, the ubiquitous Pierre, bedevilled by domestic troubles, a sagging economy, high unemployment, a feeble dollar, and an apparent lack of touch with reality, looks and acts every one of his nearly 60 years. What’s a million? This famous line, spoken by the arrogant but extremely competent C.D, Howe, builder of Canada’s industry, almost toppled a government a couple of decades ago, when he uttered it in the famous Pipeline Debate. Red-blooded Canadians across the land shuddered in horror at this scorn­ ful attitude toward that magic figure. Today, a politician could stand up in Ottawa and say: “What’s a billion?” without raising a ripple. A minor example: the government people in charge of unemployment in­ surance have launched a $1 million advertising campaign to warn cheaters of the system of the dire consequences should they be caught. What a farce! The system is so full of holes that it is being ripped off — legally it must be added — to the tune of millions, and we all know it. It’s nice commission for the adver­ tising agency handling the account, but they are the only bodies who will get anything out of it. Who is going to read the ads? Certainly not the people who are cheating. They already know all the loopholes and fine print. Only the very stupid are caught. Certainly not the employers who also cheat, “laying off” a skilled workman when things are a bit slack, with a tacit agreement that he go on unemploy­ ment insurance uhtil things pick up, when he will be “re-hired.” Certainly not the millions of people like me who a) pay into the fund and b) will never get a nickel back from it. That leaves, as readers, the guys who drew up the ad, the civil servants who authorized it, and a scattering of pensioners who can afford a newspaper and read everything in it, for want of something better to do. But what’s a million, if it keeps some advertising types and civil servants happy, and makes the blood of a few pensioners boil? Unfortunately, those ads and that million, along with many more squandered on such pettifogging piffles, don’t mean a thing to the man or woman in Glace Bay or Sudbury or Chilliwack who has been out of work for a year, and has no prospect of being in it in the near or distant future. Clark carps and Pierre pontificates and Broadbent issues broadsides. And factories close because Canada’s prices are too high because Canada’s wages are too high and because Canada’s production is too low. Many people — mostly young people — rejoice at our release from the slavery of the “work ethic,” even though they don’t really know what it means. To my generation it mferely meant doing an honest day’s work for a day’s pay. Today’s generation ranks the work ethic with slavery, racism and having a bath Saturday night, whether you need it or not, all the trappings of a vicious, misguided past. So be it. It’s their funeral, not mine. They are the ones who will be paying the horrendous taxes for welfare, medicare, unemployment insurance and indexed pensions for civil servants when I am sporting about in the Elysium fields with a couple or three nymphs. What with the half-hour coffee break twice a day, the calling in sick when you have a hangover, the sneaking off at noon Friday for the weekend, and various other little games, which you know about as well as I, we are turning into a nation of layabouts. And we’re already beginning to pay the price. Add to this incipient separatism and — Please turn to Page 5 55 Years Ago The girls’ hockey team from the Exeter High School went to Zurich Saturday and played a game with the Zurich girls resulting in a 1-1 tie. It was a strenuous game and the lone tally was scored for Exeter by Amelia Acheson. , The line-up was goal, Florence Harvey; defense, Mildred Rowe, Mary Elworthy; forwards Amelia Acheson, Gertie Francis, Margaret Wethey; subs, Helen Wethey and Helen Elder. The 15h.p. steam engine of Mr. S. J. V. Cann, opposite the Metropolitan Hotel, ran away on Tuesday and did considerable damage to his shop. Something went wrong with the governors. A 60 foot shafting was broken from its hangers and badly twisted. Some of the pulleys were broken and thrown about. The choir concert held in James Street Church on Monday evening was a success. Rev. W. H. Piercy, dramatic reader, furnished the greater part of the program. The choir sang four anthems. Those taking solo parts were Miss H. Snell, Messrs. Walter Cutbush and C. Godbolt, Mrs. G. Williams and Miss V. Essery. 30 Years Ago Some 300 farmers were in attendance both Thursday and Friday at the farm machinery school held in the town hall under the auspices of the Ontario Department of Agriculture, Clinton and the agricultural committee of the Huron County Council. Capt. J. M. Harvey, officer at the military hospital at Red Deer, Alberta and son of Mrs. j. S, Harvey, Exeter, has been promoted to the rank of Major. LAC Stan Smith, trumpet soloist with the Lachine RCAF Silver Band has written a song “After a Dream” for which a bright future is promised. 20 Years Ago Mr. and Mrs. John Spacek have returned home from a three-month trip to their native country, Czechoslovakia. Exeter Chapter OES voted $250 toward furnishing a room in the nurses’ residence Wednesday evening. Rev. Duncan McTavish, a former minister in this area, recalled early farm prac­ tices in Huron County when he spoke to South Huron Junior Farmers at their annual banquet Thursday night in Thames Road United Church. James G. Gardiner, for­ mer Minister of Agriculture, suffered this first personal political defeat in 44 years of public life during Monday’s Tory landslide. 15 Years Ago LAC Paul McDowell, 22, and his two year old son were killed Saturday when they drove into the side of a passing CNR train near Centralia. Helen Hendrick, daughter of Mr. & Mrs. Sam Hendrick, Exeter, was chosen queen of the SHDHS At Home dance Friday night. Mrs. Kenneth Broom, Exeter who has been hospitalized for four months with accident injuries was prsented with a $500 cheque by the Cancer, Polio and Tuberculosis committee of the IOOF and Rebekahs. Charles A. Fiford, who has held the position of comp­ troller at General Coach Works of Canada, Hensall, for the past 10 years was honored at a suprise dinner party last week, He left Saturday to accept a position in Sarasoto, Florida.