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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes-Advocate, 1985-10-30, Page 4Page 4 Times -Advocate, October 30, 1985 • Times Established 1873 Advocate Established 1881 Amalgamated 1924 Published Each Wednesday Morning at Exeter, Ontario, NOM 1SO Second Class Mail Registration Number 0386. Phone 519-235-1331 nies €NA� «� LORNE EEDY Publisher JIM BECKETT Advertising Manager BILL BATTEN Editor HARRY DEVRIES Composition Manager ROSS HAUGH Assistant Editor DICK JONGKIND Business Manager SUBSCRIPTION RATES: Canada: $23.00 Per year; U.S.A. $60.00 C.W.N.A., O.C.N.A. CLASS 'A' Asleep or dead? The number of candidates presen- ting themselves for civic posts in this area is again extremely low and sug- gests a general apathy on the part of residents of the various communities. The only mitigating factor for the general lack of interest may in part by explained by the feeling of satisfac- tion with those currently holding of- fice. In some cases that's a valid acknowledgement, but those acclaim- ed to office would probably agree that a return to office in that manner is not as rewarding as one garnered at the polls when the electors are given options. It also suggests that the electors are preparedto allow their represen- tatives to remain in power as long as the latter choose and that is not a credible position for electors to take. Some newcomers claimed office virtually by default, and while they may be most capable representatives, it highlights the general apathy with which most residents view public office. While there is nothing particularly startling about the current situation in that it has been evident in most com- munities for some time, there is and obvious need for more public par- - ticipation in the councils and boards which direct the affairs of any community. Perhaps those officials returned to office by acclamation could use the - time they may have set aside'for cam- paigning to consider some ideas which would attract more public involve- ment not only during :election_periods_-- but throughout the year. They would perhaps counter with the argument it is best to leave the public dog sleeping, but there is every indication the beast may be virtually close to death. Same old tale Ontario Treasurer Robert Nixon has provep once again that budgets • are often designed more for the party in power than the people from whom that power is bestowed. His budget last week will no doubt suit his Liberal cohorts as they envi- sion an election in the not too distant future, while at the same time pro- viding enough enticement to keep the NDP from forcing such an election. Unfortunately, the. budget does not address Ontario's major problem: over -spending by governments that now forces taxpayers to cough up $3.3 billion just to pay the interest on past gifts governments have bestowed mainly upon themselves in their bid to keep favor with the voters. Ontario now spends more on in- terest payments than education and it will soon replace hospital and health care costs as the top budget item if someone doesn't restore some sanity to the situation. Nixon projects total spending will hit $29.5 billion in the upcoming year, an increase of 9.8 percent over last. Keep an eye In his planning studies of Ex- eter, summer student Stewart Findlater extolled the merits of home occupations, noting they may form a significant portion of the busineFs sector of the economy. Many people see the confines of their own homes as a much more compatible atmosphere from which to operate a business, rather than risk the chance of bankruptcy in the usually com- petitive and expensive commer- cial core area," he wrote. Findlater noted there were close to 35 home occupations in existence in Exeter at the present and went on to explain that each year several home occupations outgrow themselves and are forc- ed into new quarters. Once established from the home where risks are low to start with, it definitely makes it easier to take a risk by renting space in a more accessible location. Just as often as a business is moving out of the home, a new one is starting up somewhere else. In his recommendations, Findlater urged the town's economic development commit- tee to promote home occupations as viable business ventures and not as hobbies as many people view them. "The offshoot benefits to the Town could be substan- tial," he suggested. The City of Pembroke has 1 That's double the inflation rate, although the latter may also increase with such a lack of leadership and responsibility shown by our elected officials. Ironically, some of the programs introduced by the Liberal government, such as aid to unemployed youth, stand a fair chance of being self- defeating because the lack of cuts elsewhere in the budget prompts a great risk of stifling the economic growth required to provide jobs for those youth who will graduate from the training programs. While showing that the Liberals have no more fortitude than their PC predecessors in coming to grips with government spending, Nixon has shown the same lack of inventiveness by pouncing on those who work, drive, drink or smoke. He did remove the sales tax on meals costing less than $1.00. Of course, such a meal is as easy to find as a provincial treasurer willing to reduce or even hold the line on government spending. on this one taken the idea one step farther, by building a 20,000 square foot "incubator" building in an effort to attract would-be entrepreneurs who have always wanted to start their own business but couldn't Batt'n Around ..with bib: he Eddor afford the tough overhead costs in the first year. The city is offering rents as low as $1.00 a square foot per year in the brand new building in its in- dustrial park. An operation re- quiring 1,000 square feet of space would thus pay about $84 monthly rental. . • * . The low rental is only one of the incentives being offered. Cen- tralized services, such as office equipment, computers, telephone and answering service and secretarial help can also be pro- vided to the tenants who will pay for those services on the basis of the time used. Pembroke's business com- munity have also put their sup- port behind the venture. An ad- visory board made up of local F business people, successful in- dustrialists, lawyers, accoun- tants and bankers will be available to help guide the fledgl- ing businesses through their dif- ficult start-up period. In the U.S., where earlier this year it was estimated 60 such "in- cubators" were operating suc- cessfully, the advice of other small business people who have already been through the start-up experience helps the success rate and the advice ofrexperienced business people was labelled a major contribution to the health of new operations. The Pembroke project has a graded rental scale based on the category into which the firm fits, but even at the top end, rental rates are far below current market rates. While the resources of a city of 60,000 people is obviously much greater than those available to smaller communities, it is a ven- ture that should be followed closely by local civic and business leaders. There can be no doubt that many communities miss out on prospective industrial clients because they do not have rental space available. Neither can there be any doubt about the benefit to the community when it can attract small industries to provide steady, growth and job opportunities for the young peo- ple in its midst. Serving South Huron, North Middlesex & North Lambton Since 1873 Published by 1.W. Eedy Publications Limited City life is tough This is a time of year when my heart goes out to city -dwellers. It's a time when rural or small town living is immensely superior to that in the concrete canyons, the abominable apart- ments, the sad suburbs of metropolia. In the city, day ends drearily in the fall. There's the long, weary- ing battle home through traffic, or the draughty, crushed, degrading scramble on public transportation. The city man arrives home fit for nothing but slumping for the evening before the television set. And what greets him? The old lady, wound up like a steel spring because she hasn't seen a soul she knows all day, there's nothing to look at but that stupid house next door, exactly like their own, and the kids have been giving her hell. He's stuck with it. For the whole evening. That's why so many city chaps have workshops in the basement. It's much simpler to go down cellar and -whack off a couple of fingers in the power saw than listen to Mabel. Life is quite different for the small town male. He is home from work in minutes. He surveys the ranch, says, "Must get those storm windows on one of these days," and goes in, to the good fall smells of cold drinks and hot food. His wife saw him a breakfast, again at lunch, has had a good natter with the dame next door, and has been out for two hours, raking leaves with the kids. She doesn't need him. Instead of drifting off to the basement, the small town male announces that this is his bowling night, or he has to go to a meeting of the Conservation and Slaughter Club, and where's a clean shirt. And that's all there is to it. While her city counterpart squats in front of TV, gnawing her nails and wondering why she Sugar & Spice Dispensed by Smiley didn't marry good old George, who has a big dairy farm now, the small town gal collects the kids and goes out to burn leaves. There is nothing more roman- tic than the back streets of a small town in the dark of a fall evening. Piles of leave spurt orange flame. White smoke eddies. Neighbours call out, lean on rakes. Women, kerchiefed like gypsies, heap the dry leaves high on the fire. Kids avoid the subject of bedtime, dash about the fire like nimble gnomes. Or perhaps the whole family goes to a fowl supper. What, in ci- ty living, can compare with this finest of rural functions? A crisp fall evening, a drive to the church hall through a Hallowe'en land- scape, an appetite like an alligator, and that first wild whiff of turkey and dressing that makes your knees buckle and the juices flow free in your cheeks. But it's on weekends that my pity for the city -dweller runneth over. Not for him the shooting - match on a clear fall Saturday, with its good humored competi- tion, its easy friendliness. Not for him the quiet stroll down a sun- ny wood road, shotgun over arm, partridge and woodcock rising like clouds of mosquitoes. It's not that he doesn't live right, or doesn't deserve these pleasures. It's just that it's physically impossible to get to them easily. If he wants to crouch in a duck -blind, at dawn. he has to drive half the night to get there. Maybe on a Sunday or holiday, in the fall, the city family decides to head out and see some of that beautiful autumn foliage. They see it, after driving two hours. And with 50,000 other cars, they crawl home in late afternoon, bumper to bumper, the old man cursing, the kids getting hungrier, the mother growing owlier. Small town people can drive for 15 minutes and hit scenery) at least around here, that leaves them breathless. Or they'll wheel out a few miles to see their relatives on the farm, eat a magnificent .dinner, and sit around watching TV in a state of delicious torpor. Yup. It's tough to live in the ci- ty, in the fall. Not always constructive With Iallowe'en fast ap- proaching I am reminded of a couple of stories that my father told me, incidents that happened back in the twenties when youngsters made up their own entertainment instead of having it canned for them on the tube in the living room. Mind you, it wasn't always constructive entertainment that they were up to. Every Iallowe'en some of the young fellows would go around the neighbourhood pushing over privies. When the dawn broke you could see the results of their work throughout thevillage.Before one could go about the morning business a little bit of construc- tion had 'to take place. One of the local farmers had quite a large building of this nature, a three-holer in fact. It seemed that it was always a prime target. This year he decided to do a little bit of con - By the Way by Syd Fletcher struchon himself, got out his team of horses and a strong rope and moved the privy over about two feet. That night he was hiding in the bushes and heard the lads come up. One hollered, "Okay boys, here we go. One, two. three... Oh no", I guess that that farmer never slopped chuckling for over a week. That of course brings hack the old story about the lad who was asked by his father whether it was he who had pushed over the outhouse. The hoy answered that he had and the father immediate- ly started whaling him. In bet- ween sobs the hoy said, "But George Washington's father didn't punish him when he told the truth about cutting down the cherry tree". "True, but George Washington's father wasn't in the cherry tree."