HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Lucknow Sentinel, 1982-09-08, Page 6editorial
Lucknow Senthnel, Wedne.day, September 8, 1982 -Page 6
LUCKN
u
SENTINEL
"The. Sspey Tewin" Estal W sled 1873
THOMAS A. THOMPSON - Advertising Manager
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The Palestinian question
The Palestinian withdrawal from Beirut has been hailed as a
great victory for the occupying Israeli forces who have been
bombarding the city for the past several months. Several
thousand PLO soldiers have' been evacuated and spread
throughout the Middle East in an effort to break up
Palestinian resistance.
At first glance, it may seem that the PLO has been dealt a
major setback in its operations- throughout the war torn
Middle East. However, this may be deceiving. According to
PLO chairman Passer Arafat, his movement will continue its
efforts to create a Palestinian state.
The war and evacuation have served to draw attention
away from the real issue in this long and bloody conflict; the
right of the„Palestinians to have ” their . own state.
Thereis no doubt that efforts, will continue by the PLO to
gain their goal of self rule: With his forces now living in
several Arab states, Arafat is only temporarily out of action.
Meet the Israelis are well aware of. Their efforts to stop the
PLO:are only short term and do not deal with the real issue.
Both sides will have to get together if, there is ever to be a
lasting peace in the region. The PLO must recognize Israel's
right to exist and the Israelis will have to recognizeithat the
Palestinians have a right to a country of their own.
These two issues have been lost in the several wars that
have taken place in the region since the creation of Israel in
1948. Both sides will have to recognize each others claims.
• ' An important part of any negotiations is the support of the
United States and other western countries for both sides
views and dreams. Only then will peace be .a reality.
Daniel Dong Goes to School
It; was Daniel Dong's first day of school and
Daniel Dong felt like a fool-. He put on new shoes and
grabbeda new book, he peered in the mirror for a
final look. "Oh," he sighed, "Oh, what can I do, I'm
always afraid of something that's new.
His head went . boing, his stomach went clang,
when all of a sudden, the doorbell rang He ans-
wered the door, and who should it be, but. Kim, his
friend, as scared as he.. "Oh," said Kim, "Oh what
can we do? Believe me Dan Dong, I'm nervous like
you,,
They looked at each other — they let out a
sigh — Daniel and Kim would give it a try. They
trudged to school, their stomachs in knots. Dan was
so scared his eyes saw dots. The school bell rang,
they went inside,- "I'm really scared," Daniel.
cried.
They met their teacher, their teacher met them,
"Hmtnm," thought Daniel, "My teacher's a gem."
He looked' around the room at 'the kids in their
chairs, "Hmmm," thought Daniel, "These • kids
aren't bears." He looked at the books, helooked at
the board; he looked at his friends — Daniel's heart
soared.
He winked and he smiled as he lookedrat Kim, she
winked .and she smiled and she looked at him. "I
like my teacher, my teacher .likes me, my friends
are here," he whispered with glee.
"Yes," whispered Kim, "School will " be fun!"
And all of a sudden, that first day was done.
Distributed by Canada Wide Feature Services Ltd.
(c) 1982 MacKay Fairfield Tote . '
SUNNYDI
'PUBLIC
SCHOOL
•
one foot in the furrov
by Bob Trotter,
The debt therest of Canada owes to
the agricultural community is beyond
comprehension.
In Asia, for example, one farm
worker produced an average of 44,000
pounds of food. crops last year. In
Russia, a farm workermanaged to
produce 33,000 pounds of food. Sounds
good?
The average Canadian farmer an-
nually supplies 375,000 pounds of food,
more than 10 threes that of his Russian
counterpart. It has been long
established that the Russian farmer
on his private plot produces far more
than the communal farms. Which is
why the Canadian farmer has become
so efficient. He produces on his own
land, using his.' own equipment and
risking his own money.
Without this exceptionalproduction
capacity, Canadians would be hnpor-
ting far more food than they do.
- Even then, we import too much but
that is another story. '
r Canadians have been proud of the
fact that our factories produce a great
many goods but productivity growth
in farming has been five times
greater than the non-farm sector in
redtrees
the last five to 10 years. Yet some
publications, especially the large
metropolitan newspapers, constantly
refer to farmers as not being able to
keep up with the technological and
production advances of other major
industries.
Why farmers get tarred with this
unproductive brush is beyond rile. All
that is necessary is to look at the pro-
ductivity figures. One Canadian
farmer supplies enough food to feed
about 70 people. Thirty years ago, one
farmer fed approximately 16 ' s .1e.
Eighty years ago, one farmer p 1 uc-
ed enough food for about five people.
Who could, in all fairness, suggest
that the Canadian farmer,is not pro-
ducing as much or more than his city
counterpart?
What sets the farmer aside, what
makes him/her different from any
other producer is his/her investment.
The factory worker has little or no in-
vestment in a' job; that is, no invest-
ment in land, buildings or equipment.
But that factory worker makes, on
average, more thane farmer.
The factory w6rker has not made an
investment; his employer' has made
the investment. But the tanners in
Canada have invested more than $115
billion, most of it in land. .
It is Canada's largest industry. It
has been said by better economists
than me that if you were to group
together the assets of the top 20 in-
dustrial corporations hi Canada, the
total figure would still fall short of
what Canadian fariners have invested
to produce food and fibre.
So when farm, leaders suggest that
farming is different and that farmers
should be treated in a different Man-
ner
arner - from other sectors of the
economy, they are not just whihtting
in the wind. They have great deal to
be proud of. They are different and
should be given some favors.
When it is suggested that the rest of
the country cannot allow subsidies,
for instance, for farmers; to be paid
forever out of the, public purse,
perhaps those detractors should look
around and be grateful for . what
agriculture has done and will continue
to do.
Farmers are a precious resource
and should be treated that way.
They are different. : They are
special.
by don Campbell
It was a cold, crisp night, on
Sunday, December 31st, 1843. Above
the Caledon Hills, the celestial beauty
of a million twinkling stars formed the
background for a clear bright moon
`which, like a benevolent ghostly face,
smiled down upon the brave new
settlement of Redtrees.
The pale light revealed small scat-
tered clearings in the otherwise broad
.expanse of undisturbed wilderness.
Here, . - single wisps of wood smoke
from log cabins, rose slowly towards
the heavens. In the windless, erie still,
they appeared as writhing phantom
reptiles, gliding upwards to eternity.
Within the humble homesteads, the
flickering candles and firelight reveal-
ed the restrained excitement on the
faces of the pioneer families, waiting
impatiently to.celebrate the coming of
the :. new year. • In other times,
festivities would already be underway,
but in 1843, New Year's Eve coincided
with the Sabbath. Needless to say, the
Lord's Day took precedence, even
above the traditional . Scottish Hog-
manay. Thus, they waited for that
precise moment which gave birth to
'1844.
The coming. year would be more
significant than any other period in the
lives of the "Friends of Skye". It
would bring the first harvest and the
answer to their prayers for a new and
dignified beginning, free from humil-
ity and want. Then as . now, world
poverty and hunger were the major
tragedies ofhuman existence Nor was
their adventure unique in history.
Centuries before, God led another
exiled people -from a hostile land to a
theatre
rich - earth "flowing with milk and
honey".
In the home of Doctor Cameron, a
group of people stood by the ; window
and looked out into the night:
Amongst the shadows of the naked
trees, : Neil MacCrinimon waited for
the: signal to fill the air with the soul
stirringmusic of his illustrious ancens-
tors. Occasonally, the doctor turned to
check the big clock which ticked away
the seconds to midnight. It was one of
the very few time pieces in the
community and had once graced his
wife's home - the magnificent Dove
mansion in Toronto.,As the: large hand
moved to the top3vertical position,
Doctor Cameron took a lamp from the
table and on the first stroke of twelve,
he went to the window and waved it
back and forth. Suddenly, the sound of
pipe music broke .the silence. It was
carried to the scattered homesteads
and greeted by whoops of joy.
Inside the church, Grant the black-
smith, a bachelor without a family and
therefore free to carry out the duty,
pulled on the bell rope: Those who
heard the peals which rang out the old
and rang in the new, may not at that
moment have recognized the signif-
icance of the role which the bell had
played in their lives. The same bell
had sounded the time on that ill-fated
ship which had transpRorted them from
their homeland. It was inscribed with
the five letters -• "Mavis".
The 'guests in the Cameron house-
hold did honour to the occasion by
taking a "wee dram" and singing a
song, two verses of which were written
by the immortal Robbie Burns. Some
of the,:, ' words might have been
composed' especially for thoseScots in
exile:
"We tw hae paidled i' the burn,
Frae, morning sun till dine;
But seas between us braid hae
roar'd
Sin' :auld tang syne."
When the excitement of the new
year declined, the Reverend Duncan
MacLeod and Mary MacKenzie sat in
the parlour, as if to escape. from the
remainder of the guests. The minister
was intent upon making the most of
this rare opportunity.
"I hope you will not consider me too
forward if .I kiss you?" MacLeod said
impetuously. f""As a' New Year greet-
ing, of cours
Mary blushed but she had .no
intention of showing discouragement.
"I think if would be most approp-
riate," she said softly. "After all, it is
expected that friends should kiss on
these occasions. "-
The embrace which followed was
something just a little more than
friendly, which Ian Jamieson, about to
take his departure, observed on his
way to the door.. The two "friends"
however, were too intent ontheir
personal activities to notice. him.
Jamieson was a man of the world.
He knew only . too well that to be
contented in life, one must have love
and a sense of purpose. His purpose in
Redtrees was to operate a general
store, but after seeing the minister
and Mary, he realized that a vital
element was missing in his life. He
intended to correct this deficiency as
soon as possible.
ak
BY JOANNE
BUCHANAN
Due to popular demand,
Quiet in the Land has been
restaged and extra per-
formances added at the
Blyth Summer Festival this
year.
Commissioned and written
for the Festival in 1981 by
Anne Chislett (better known
as Ann Roy, a co-founder of
the Festival along with her
husband James), the play
explores the pacifist Old
Order Amish community
during the time of the First
World War.,
Since last year, parts of
the play have been rewritten
by Chislett under the
direction of Guy Sprung who
will laterr stage it at his
Toronto Free Theatre. Some
cast members have also
been changed. However, the
technical ' excellence has
been left intact, including a
revolving set which portrays
two different kitchens used
by the Brubachers and the
Baumians, the two main
families in the play.
Quiet in the Land offers
much. It gives insight into
the Amish way of life;
probably the most intimate
look any outsiderwill ever
get (Chislett's research
included actually living with
some of the Amish to become .
acquainted with their
customs, etc). It features
love, humor, hurt and pain.
There are two underlying
conflicts; one between father
and son and the other bet-
ween
etween church members and
their bishop.
Keith Thomas is again
admirable as Jake (Yock),
the son who runs off to war in
rebellion against his father
and his church's believes.
David Fox is . back too as
Yock's father, Christy
Bauman, a proud, stubborn
and unforgiving man whom
the audience can both hate
and sympathize with.
Other cast members from
last year include the ever -
popular William Dunlop as
Turn to page 11 •