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The Wingham Advance-Times, 1964-01-09, Page 9CoagoC Should They Get The Vote? Perhaps there is no great point in dis- cussing whether or not Canadians should have the right to vote at age 18 rather than 21. With virtually no reference to public opinion on the matter the govern- ment appears to be quite set on its course of lowering the voting age. The question of whether or not this is a good move f, remains. Recently the television program "In- quiry" created quite a furore by present- ing a half-hour of interviews with 18 - year -old Canadians in several cities, very few of whom could answer such simple questions as "Who is Canada's prime minister?" There was considerable out- rage because many viewers thought the purpose of the program was to show that young Canadians are stupid. However, the emcee announced the following week, as indeed he had at the opening of the original series of interviews, that the pur- pose of the show was to indicate only that a great many young Canadians are not sufficiently aware of basic facts about our country and its government. The one slogan which has pervaded all discussions on the subject of whether or not Canadians should vote at 18 has been, "If they're old enough to fight they're old enough to vote." In our op- inion this statement is a foolish, indeed pointless utterance. In the first place it originated in the States, where all teen agers face compulsory military service. In that country it has been claimed that no government has the right to demand military service from those who have no opportunity to express their disapproval by ballot. In Canada many seem to have overlooked the fact that there is no com- pulsion about military service. Every man or woman in our armed forces is a voluntary enlistee. If they do not ap- prove of military service for young people there is no need of the ballot to express their feelings. They simply need not enlist. Another important point in this "old enough to fight" slogan is that when a soldier is sent to the battlefield to do his fighting he has been trained and armed. He is not picked up off the street and sent to the front lines. What tl-ainin§ has been offered to those who will suddenly be armed with a pencil and sent to a polling booth? Perhaps it is in this matter df train - t 3 ing that our country betrays its greatest weakness, for it must be admitted that there are thousands of older Canadian voters who do not know the name of the prime minister. One of the facts of life in Canada which is most deeply surprising to im- migrants from Europe is the stunning ignorance of so many of our people about public affairs. Perhaps this country has been too prosperous; maybe we fathers and mothers have failed in our duty to pass along our knowledge of the values of freedom and responsibilities. What- ever the answer, we have bred a gener- ation of youngsters who are shockingly ignorant of those freedoms which our grandparents worked so hard to attain. Some of the blame may lie with our schools. We have found, time after time, the attitude among students that history is a "drag"; it bores them. Anything that happened before 1955 is so far back in the musty reaches of time that no kid in his right mind will give it a thought. Somewhere along the way the true meaning of history seems to have been lost. History is not merely facts in a book. It is the recorded experience of those who went before us. It is our one chance to benefit from their suffering, to avoid their mistakes and to understand just how rough was human existence for the common man before his present rights and privileges were won. How many of our students, for ex- ample, realize that had they been born 150 years ago most of them would have been apprenticed at 6 or 7 years of age to learn a trade under conditions that were paramount to slavery? Do they know that it took the British people 1800 years to solidify laws against imprison- ment without trial? We would like to believe that the com- ing generation is so enlightened, so much smarter than we were at the same age, that they can be given the franchise at 18 and that they will use it with intelligence. The truth, however, is that vast numbers of those who suddenly face this new re- sponsibility will do either of two unfor- tunate things; they will vote blindly for the fastest talker or they will become so- cialist agitators and provide a new and forceful backlog for the reactionary ex- tremists who would like to control Canada. So Long, Roy Roy Thompson, Canadian newspaper and television magnate, who was recently honored by the Queen with a British title, has been featured in many headlines dur- ing the last few days. The question of whether or not he will continue to be a Canadian citizen seems to be uppermost. Who cares? Mr. Thompson is a man of undoubted ability in the financial world. He has the know-how to make money out of the newspaper business where other and much better journalists fail. We admire his money -making tal- ents, even envy them to some degree. For several years, however, he has chosen residence in England rather than Canada. The mere matter of his citizen- ship seems of no very real concern one way or the other. Jet Crash Starts Legal Wrangle When the big TCA jet slammed into that Ste. Therese swamp, it may have started the most complicated technical - legal -financial wrangle in Canadian trans- portation history, Basil Jackson says in The Financial Post. In human terms, it was Canada's worst air disaster: 118 dead; no survivors; about 100 children left fatherless. In business terms, it wiped out some- thing like 2,000 man-years of corporate experience. The loss of talent and know- how left some companies dazed. "It is impossible to assess the loss to the com- pany," a Polymer Corp. spokesman told The Financial Post. Polymer lost five men. "It will affect our service . . . We've had offers of help from many peo- ple in the profession. Some former em- ployees have offered to help in any way," said L. S. Hammond, of Sheppard, Cart- ledge, Hammond & Tossell, the public ac- countancy firm that lost three key men. In financial terms, the crash nearly clean- ed out TCA's self-insurance fund; it will in the long run means millions of dollars in life insuranceand liability claims. In legal terms, it could lead to long, bitter' in -court and out-of-court arguments over the claims of dependents. One key question: Was the airline negligent? An- other: Will insurance companies pay bene- fits if a body is. not found and identified? THE WINGHAM ADVANCE - TIMES Published at Wingham, Ontario, by Wenger Bros. Limited W. Barry Wenger, President - Robert O. Wenger, Secretary -Treasurer Member Audit Bureau of Circulation; Member Canadian Weekly Newspapers Associ- ation; Member Canadian Community Newspapers Representatives Authorized by the Post Office Department as Second Class Mail and for payment of postage in cash Subscription Rate: One Year, $4.00; Six Months, $2.25, in advance U.S.A., $5.00 per year; Foreign rate, $5.00 per year Advertising Rates on application WINGHAM'S 1964 COUNCIL—The 1964 town council was sworn in at the inaugural meeting on Monday night, includ- ing Wingham's first lady councillor. Seated are, from the left: Reeve J. Roy Adair; Mayor R. S. Hetherington; Clerk William Renwick; standing are Councillors John Bateson, Warren Callan, Alan Williams, W. G. Cruickshank, Harold Wild and Mrs. Roy Bennett. Deputy Reeve Joe Kerr was absent for the picture.—A-T Photo. btoncemEinte Wingham, Ontario, Thursday, Jan. 9, 1964 SECOND SECTION SUGAR AND SPICE The Cocktail Party By BILL SMILEY We went to a cocktail party during the holidays. In fact, we went to four of them. In fact, we even had one ourselves. And, after j udicious c onsidera- tion, I state categori- cally that there is no form of en- tertainment, self - abuse, penance or p unishment that comes Bill Smiley r e a sonably close to the cocktail party for sheer ridiculosity. Once upon a time, I sup- pose, a cocktail party was a genteel affair, a gather- ing at which friends sipped a drink, discussed the arts, and nibbled a canape or two, before going off to dinner somewhere. Ur- bane, sophisticated, the manners as polished as the glasses. Nowadays, the cocktail party is a social monster with 44 tales and one great big fat head. * * * First, there's the guest list to prepare. This is a lot of fun, and takes only three weeks. It is inter- spersed with remarks like, "What the hell did they ever do for us?"; and, "Well, you may think she's terrific, but I can't stand her." The list includes the names of all the people you "owe" hospitality to. This means the couple who took you for a ride in their crumby boat last summer and soaked you to the skin in the process. And the neighbors who called you over for charred spareribs one evening when their ex- pected guests had enough sense not to turn up. Also all the people who invited you to one of their cocktail parties during the last three years, and the couple who sent you a Christmas card and whom you had cut off your list, and the people down the block who looked after your dog the day you were at the wedding, and the couple you don't know but who look "interesting." You now have eleventy- seven names on your list. So you start scratching. This too is fun. Joe and Mabel are given the axe because Joe always gets stoned. Miriam and Elmer go down the drain because Miriam always starts a fight just because Elmer is a bit of a girl -squeezer. * * * Then there's the booze problem. This produces an agonizing session of ele- mentary mathematics, which results in a reason- able figure, which you then double. And then there's the food business. Food at a cocktail party used to be a matter of a few hors d'oeuvres, but now it's a horse of a different color. Nobody who has gone to the trouble of getting a baby sitter and putting on his best suit at five o'clock in the afternoon has any intention of going home until he has eaten about five dollars worth of the only can of smoked oys- ters you've ever bought in your life. But these are all on the surface, by-product kicks. The real delight of the cocktail party, as we all know, is the conversation. Where else do the girls get a chance to bare their souls almost as thoroughly as their bosoms? Where else can you hear a chap tell the same story he told at the last three cocktail parties, and tell it even better? When I started writing this column, I was feeling a bit jaded, a trifle critical of the cocktail party. But during the process, I have come to realize that there's nothing quite like it in modern society. Nothing. Unless it might be throw- ing lions to the Christians. WELL -KEPT SECRET The breeding of silk worms and the making of silk began in prehistoric times. The in- dustry was well established in China as long ago as 1500 /LC, But for centuries after silk fab- rics were known in the Western world, people insisted that silk was either a fleece which grew on a tree (thus confusing it with cotton), or was the fibre from the inner bark from some tree or shrub. It was not until 552 A.D. that the carefully -kept secret of the Orient was reveal- ed by two monks who brought back from China a small quant- ity of silkworm eggs, conceal- ed in their staves. Reminiscing JANUARY 1914 There was a very happy gathering at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Geo. Bryce on Christ- mas day when a re -union of the Turnbull family was held. There were seven members of the family present, viz.:(Jane), Mrs. Geo. Bryce, Turnberry; (Janet), Mrs. John Watson, Fer- gus; Andrew Turnbull, Galt; (Lizzie), Mrs. Robt. McKague, Turnberry, Jared Turnbull, Galt; Thos. Turnbull, Komoka; (Lucy), Mrs. Brown McPhail, Galt. The husbands and wives above named were all present. Dr. and Mrs. T. H. Agnew and children left on Tuesday afternoon for Vancouver, B.C. , where they prupose locating and where Dr. Agnew will prac- tice his profession. Many friends here will wish the doc- tor success in his new home. o--0--0 JANUARY 1928 A very pleasant evening was spent at the home of Mr. and Mrs. W. J. Currie on Wednes- day, December 28th, when a number of relatives were enter- tained to an oyster supper, the occasion being in honor of the 35th wedding anniversary of the host and hostess. Speeches, games and dancing were enjoy- ed and the guests on departing expressed the wish that Mr. and Mrs. Currie see many more an- niversaries of their wedding day. Miss Mary MacGregor re- turned to Toronto on Monday, after spending the Christmas holidays with her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Alex McGregor, Cul- ross. 0--0--o JANUARY 1939 Mr. Clarence Golley and Mr. John Walters are attending a short course in the Ontario Agricultural College at Guelph. Lloyd Dark of town was elected Minister of Group Or- ganization in the Older Boys' Parliament of Ontario at a ses- sion of the parliament held in Toronto last week. The Council for 1939 is as follows: Mayor, J. H. Craw- ford; Reeve, R. S. Hethering- ton; Councillors, J. J. Evans, R. H. Lloyd, Murray Johnson, Walter VanWyck, Frank Sturdy and Elmer Wilkinson. Rev. J. R. Greig, Bluevale, has announced to the congre- gation of Knox Presbyterian Church his acceptance of a call to Atwood Presbyterian Church. On Friday night the mem- bers of St. Andrew's Church Choir entertained Mr. F. J. Hill who has been choir leader for 18 years, and who has re- tired from this position. A sumptuous banquet was served in the Sunday School room of the church in his honor. Mr. Hill was presented with a purse of money. Murray Rae, star of last year's hockey club, a local boy who is sadly missed in the Wing - ham line-up this year, led the attack at Tavistock against Goderich on Tuesday night and with his wings Neeb and Vogt accounted for five goals. The Goderich Sailors lost 6-1. Mur- ray urray notched three goals. 0--0--0 JANUARY 1949 Mr. Murray Rae spent New Year's in Guelph. Mrs. Rae and daughter who had been visit- ing her parents, Mr. and Mrs. J. T. Steel, returned home them. Misses Dorothy Hamilton and Isobel Griffin, nurses -in -train- ing at Wellesley Hospital, Tor- onto, spent New Year's with the former's parents, Mr. and Mrs. W. G. Hamilton. Doreen Hays and Earl Young of Wingham, both escaped with nothing worse than bumps on the head, Friday night, when a car driven by Young skidded on the ice, turned over in a ditch, caught fire and was completely burned. The accident hap- pened on the ninth concession of Turnberry township, north- east of Wingham. A passing motorist, Ross Smith, Wingham, brought the occupants of the destroyed automobile to their home here. Mrs. A. D. MacWilliam en- tertained at the tea hour at her home on Patrick St., for Mrs. Edith Wood of Toronto, a holi- day guest of Mrs. W. W. Arm- strong. Among those present were: Mrs. E. Wood, Mrs. W. W. Armstrong, Mrs. J. J. Brown, Mrs. W. A. Beecroft, Mrs. W. G. Burton, Mrs. Rhys. Pollock, Mrs. R. R. Hobden, Mrs. W. J. Adams, Mrs. C. B. Armitage, Mrs. J. H. Craw- ford, Miss Agnes MacLean and Mrs. W. B. McCool. Misses Pauline Swanson and Joan Armitage were junior bridesmaids for the wedding of their cousin, Joyce Corinne Ney of Port Stanley, on Thursday, December 30th. C. D. Walmsley is the new- ly appointed Manager of The Dominion Bank, Gorrie. Don Schatte who has been connected with The Beaver Lumber Co. here for some time, has been transferred to Welland. He left on Monday of this week and will commence his new duties at once. Three New Year's Day ba- bies, two girls and a boy were born in the Wingham General Hospital. The happy parents are Mr. and Mrs. hugh Cum - min, Lucknow, a daughter; Mr. and Mrs. Russell Kelly, Wingham, a son; and Mr. and Mrs. Eldon Kirton, Bluevale, a daughter.