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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1989-02-08, Page 4PAGE 4. THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 1989. Opinion It all adds up When Brussels Village councillors asked Les Tervitt of the Maitland Valley Conservation Authority Monday night why their river smelled so bad, Mr. Tervitt said something that was a little startling. While poor sewage lagoons in upriver towns have been taking most of theheatfor pollution in the river Mr. Tervitt pointed out that if you doan animal count on farms above where the Maitland branches join at Wingham, the animal population is the equivalent of a city of a million people. The thought of a city of a million people emptying its sewage into a river as small as the Maitland is astonishing. Yet think aboutit. When you go past one of those long, low pigs barns, there may be 1,000 pigs or more in it. Even if one pig only produces as much waste as one human, that’s the equivalent of a village the size of Blyth or Brussels in one small area. And how many large hog operations are there out there? How many big chicken barns? How many large dairy barns and feed lots? Luckily, the waste from most of these operations is well handled by the farmers in question. If a farmer has a large land area and spreads the manure carefully there is no great danger to the environment. But there are those that aren’t so careful. There are those who spread manure on top of snow so that when the snow melts, some of the manure is carried into waterways. There are farmers who don’t properly treat the wastes from their milk houses and it finds its way into drains and eventually rivers. There are farmers who allow cattle right into rivers to drink. With farming the scale it is today it doesn’t take many poor managers on the farm to effect water quality. One of those large pigs barns that has poor manure management practices can do as much damage as a malfunctioning sewer system in Blyth or Brussels. This is serious business and every farmer with a large livestock operation has to show his responsibility. The freedom to think The current battle raging around the University of Western Ontario (UWO) professor who believes some races are superior to others points out again the touchy issue research can be. Dr. Phillipe Ruston says his research proves that there is a difference in the races in intelligence. His isn’t a typical white supremist theorizing however: he says whites are inferior to orientals in intelligence but superior to blacks. His theories and the fact he will be teaching at UWO have caused a storm of controversy. Everyone from Premier David Peterson to groups seeking greater tolerance between the races have called for his head on a platter. Standing alone among all the fury is the University. UWO PresidentGeorge Peterson insists that researchers at the University must have academic freedom to pursue their research, even if we may not like what they say. Academic freedom is like freedom of speech in that often, defending the one good can make you seem to be defending an evil. Dr. Ruston’s theories sound too uncomfortably close to those of others over the years who have promoted the superiority of one race over another. Ev en if he is sincere, others with twisted minds may be able to use his statements to promote racial hatred. Yet wishing doesn’t always make it so. It would be nice to think that all races are equal just as the theory a few years back that if only girls and boys were raised the same way they’d turn out to have the same interests when they grew up. As anyone who has tried not to stereotype boys and girls knows, it just isn’t so. Similarly, painfully as it might be, it may be that there are real differences in the races. Maybe it would be better not to know but one can’t stop people from trying to find out. Once upon a time there was outrage when a scientist proved the earth moved around the sun instead of the other way around because nobody wanted to know. There was outrage over the theory of evolution that still has some people denying it. The fact is you cannot stop enquiring minds from enquiring. Instead of trying to fire Prof. Ruston it is better, as Dr. David Suzuki hasdone, totry to disprove his theory. You can’t get rid of unpleasant thoughts by trying to hide them away. You can only do it by pulling those theories out, examining them and either discrediting them or seeing what good can come from them. Winter twilight The International I Scene________ Inflation - causes and cures BY RAYMOND CANON Last time we talked about the worldwide phenomenon of inflation as well as who gained or suffered from it. This week 1 want to conclude the discussion by looking at the causes as well as the remedies for it. If only it were as easy to cure it as it is to bring it about, all might be fine but fortunately once infla­ tion has gained root, it is extremely difficult to eradicate. Unless it is checked early in its growth, it tends to feed on itself until it becomes something of a monster. To see what happens let’s take a look at Germany in the period after World War I when the country was attempting to meet harsh repara­ tions payments and satisfy its creditors. Not surprisingly it could not raise enough money by taxation to pay for government spending and so it started to create or print it. In just over two years prices rose by just under 100,000,000,000 per cent as people rushed out to spend their money as soon as they got it. I have a banknote that a relative of mine gave me which dates from that period and, if it were valid today, I would be able to retire for the rest of my life. Unfortunately it is worthless. This brings us to a point I touched on last week. Inflation has its roots in the amount of money created by the government but the distortions come when it starts to flow through the economy. These distortions are generally two-fold and both are worth looking at. The classic type of inflation is called “demand-pull” and by clas­ sic I mean that you are able to see it taking place even back in Biblical times. Admittedly there is no passage in the Bible that says, “And lo there arose in the land of Canaan a severe case of demand­ pull inflation.” What it actually means that the demand for goods and services starts to run ahead of the economy’s ability to produce them and this excess demand results in a bidding up of prices. Continued on page 5 Th.e Citizen P O Box 429, BLYTH, Ont. NOM 1H0 Phone 523-4792 P.O. Box 152, BRUSSELS, Ont. NOG 1H0 Phone 887-9114 The Citizen is published weekly in Brussels, Ontario, by North Huron Publishing Company Inc. Subscriptions are payable in advance at a rate of $17 OO/yr ($38 00 Foreign). Advertising is accepted on the condition that in the event of a typographical error, only that portion of the advertisement will be credited Advertising Deadlines- Monday, 2 p m - Brussels; Monday, 4 p.m - Blyth We are not responsible for unsolicited newscriptsor photographs Contents of The Citizen are © Copyright Serving Brussels, Blyth, Auburn, Belgrave, Ethel, Londesborough, Walton and surrounding townships. Editor & Publisher, Keith Roulston Advertising Manager, DaveWilliams Production Manager, Jill Roulston Second Class Mail Registration No. 6968