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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes-Advocate, 1985-05-15, Page 4rge 4 Times -Advocate, May 15, 1985 Times Established 1873 Advocate Established 1881 Amalgamated 1924 dvocate Published Each Wednesday Morning at Exeter, Ontario, NOM 1S0 Second Class Mail Registration Number 0386. LORNE EEDY Publisher Phone 519-235-1331 rtals eN A "� JIM BECKETT Advertising Manager Soil is Some area farmers are employing soil conservation practices on their farms and are finding it is economically feasible to control ero- sion. In fact productivity has increased. Farm land stewardship is a ques- tion of ethics and how faithfully stewardship is practised depends on the values of society. In our society to own property is an inalienable right. But does the right permit the farmer to do whatever he wants with the land? When a factory dumps harmful waste and chemicals into a river, the public outcry forces 'a clean up. But when a farmer allows soil laden with large amounts of nitrogen and phosphorus to erode into the ditch and ultimately the river, little is said. History provides many lessons about the failure of land stewardship. One North American example is the dirty thirties dust bowl in Oklahoma. Exploitation of the soil combined with drought and high winds caused the---- destruction hedestruction of the soil and vast migra- tions of people. Land stewardship requires a fun- daniental agreement ori the value of land. Vast amounts of money are 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' a trust spent to preserve our heritage of old buildings, but little is done to prevent our true heritage, the soil, from washing into the lakes. Failing in- dustrial projects which threaten the loss of thousands of jobs are bailed out by the government, but the ero- sion of our land which inevitably will cost much more than jobs, goes vir- tually unnoticed. The Ontario Institute of Agrologists published "Agriculture and Environment" in 1981, a report which,estimated the equivalent of 6,000 hectares of top soil to a depth of 15 centimetres is being eroded annual- ly by water from Ontario farm land. Ontario has a considerable amount of land but only seven percent is fit for agriculture and this seven percent is already under intense competition from urban and rural interests. The Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food has recognized the problems of soil erosion and has appointed .advisors to assist farmers in developing programs to control ero- sion on their farms. But a commit- ment is required from both rural and urban residents if the problems of soil erosion are to be corrected. (From The Lucknow Sentinel) Have first say too If. as Reeve Bill Mickle sdg- gests, the time has come for the dog to wag the tail in the matter of the local recreation depart- ment, it would appear to follow that the clog should take full responsibility and control for the manner in which its tail should be wagged. Stated more succinctly. council should move to disband the South Huron rec centre board of management at the end,Qf the current term and turn the opera- tion of recreation and facilities over to it committee of council. M the outset let it be noted that is in no way intended to suggett it is a necessary move through the record !of the current or previous boards of management. That board has been well served by a number of capable and con- scientious volunteers since its inception. The suggestion is based specifically on the contention that there are too many aspects of the board's operation which are un- workable and subject to ine- quities and inconsistencies under its present format. For many years. recreation boards have come under criticism from council over in- creasing expenditures and there has always been the cry that the board has not strived to match those with increased revenues. At the same time, appointees from council have generally failed to serve as strong liaisons between the board and council and have consistently had trouble getting the board's message through to council members and vice versa. The most persuasive argument is that council has the final say and therefore may as well have the first one as well and in effect become responsible solely for their own decisions and not pass • them along to others to either suf- fer or enjoy the total ramilications. Council could move to operate recreation solely under its own jurisdiction or could take steps to establish an area board by in- viting elected representation Batt'n Around ...with The Editor from the other contributing municipalities. The latter would be the more advantageous, but also more dif- ficult due to establishing a criteria for voting representation in line with financial involvement. One of the major inconsisten- cies with the current setup is the fact that three board members can vote for budget increases. ‘t bile the townships they repre- sent remain steadfast in not alloting more funds to the board. Any argument that the townships should not contribute without direct representation can be offset by the fact they now have representation but do not agree to budget increases presumably endorsed by their own representatives. • Because Exeter council decides on the policy. it would then he up to them to decide whether the financial contribu- tions from the townships are suf- ficient to warrant voting rights, or whether some type of user. fee should be implemented to rectify any inequities that they see. regardless if they are real or imagined. *** *** *** The budget squabbles and periodic questioning of board ac- tions is not exclusive to the pre- sent council, nor even to the South Huron rec board's com- paratively short history. The debates and concerns have been part of the recreation pic- ture in this town since recreation boards or their variously named predecessors have been operating. It has , however. ac- celerated in the past couple of years in large part due to the lack of a proper and formal agree- ment among the participating municipalities that has placed hoard members in the position of middlemen. scapegoats or whip- ping boys or their feminine synonyms. Assuming the responsibility and control of recreation would be no major hardship for council members. Two members now at- tend board meetings and it would require only the appointment of one or three more to constitute a viable committee. Similar to all other departments, the- elected officials would have professional departments heads to run the system and carry out the policies with little more effort than is now required for the police, public works or town administration. The reality is, that council assuming control would result in little change as they now have that control. it would merely make them totally responsible for their actions, a situation that does not now exist and 'creates problems and unpleasant condi- tions that should not be part of the recreation picture. Serving South Huron, North Middlesex & North Lambton Since 1873 Published by J.W. Eedy Publications Limited The greatest misadventure ever born MAYBE (Secret Of The Lost Confidence From the White House, guest appear- ance by the world's oldest living fossil. A Blarney Stone production — from the producers of "Great Expectations"! .Co- starring John Turner as the Great Grey Hunter.. Ed "Bronco" Broadbent as the Voice in the Wilderness.."Neanderthal" Nielsen as Minister of Clubs and Stones. . Michael Wilson as the "let -'em -eat - crow" Magnon Man.. "Cruise" Clark as the "Cold Warrior". .See — the colossal deficit! Falling Dollar! Mass unemploy- ment! A feeding frenzy at the patronage trough! Walk the campaign trail of broken promises! And hit song "Just Singeing in the Acid Rain." MX -rated Get a black eye If ever you decide to do some research on the lower forms of wit, i can tell you how to go about it. Just get yourself a black eye. i had a doozer one time. My wife gave it to me. All right. Not that way. She was sitting in the car, waiting for rpe to carry the groceries into the house through' the rain. Just as i bent and reach- ed for the car door to open it and ask her if that was all, she open- ed it smartly from the inside to ask me why 1 hadn't brought out an umbrella. When the door nailed me in the eye, 1 thought i was a goner. My wife shrieked and ran straight in- to the house to see whether my "loss of limb or eye" accident policy was paid up. Within a few minutes. the eye was the size and color of a bartender's beezer. But by the time we'd finished arguing about whosefault it had been. it was ob- vious -that 1'd live. We didn't have a piece of steak. and if we'd had. i doubt that it would have been sacrificed. But the Old Girl. bless her. dug out some hamburg that was going a bit blue. and made me lie down with a big hamburg poultice on the injured optic. Right off the ice, it felt pretty good at that. and i dropped off to sleep, moaning but brave. During the night. the bandage worked loose. and when i woke in the dark, 1 thought the eye had fallen out. But it was only hamburg, all over the pillow. Next morning, the orb looked like a purple golf ball..We patch - Sugar Si Spice Dispensed by Smiley ed it up as hest we could, and 1 set off to face the wits. The comments were hilarious. They ranged from the simple. dry brilliance of ")loo hitcha`'" and "Forget to duck, eh?" to the coy. insinuating. "i knew she'd catch up with ya some day." They ran the scintillating gamut from the inevitable. "I suppose ya ran in- to a door" to the ineffably humorous sally. "Meet the former welterweight champ of the Stniley household.'' 1 came back with some real funnies myself. "My wife," I replied. "Footwork isn't what it used to he."i admitted, "Volta see the other guy," I quipped. i can go along with a joke as well as the next bird. But after a %%bile. in fact if i remember rightly. it was just after the fourteenth "Hoo hit - chit?". 1 began getting a little sore, I mean, fun's fun, you know. but. after all. So when the next joker made his move; i told him. dolefully. that a maiden lady who didn't like my column had thrown acid in my face. and that I'd never have the sight of it again. He turned green. My next customer was- a woman. who tittered. 'that'll teach you to write things about your wife in that column of yours." I gave her a gentle. sad look from my good eye. and sug- gested that she not let the divorce alienate her from my wife. 1 left her with her mouth open. 1 quickly disposed of an elder- ly lady. strong in the temperance movement. by informing her the injury had been received from rnV young daughter. when she clubbed the on the eye with a half empty whiskey bottle. it's good sport. Next time the old trouble - and -strife hangs one on you. ,Jack. you':I know Ix hat to do. Got a good chance Somewhere out there I am sure that there must be an award for having the most garbage out in front of the house on a Monday morning. if there is then J have a pretty good idea who is going to win it. Back in the old days you used to have a. couple of garbage pails. As the junk accumulated through the week the family knew that they had to cut back when the first one was full and put everything on hold in the disposal department when the heaviest person in the house couldn't jump on top of the junk and drive it in any further . Now that the man from (:lad has corny along•*with his neat green bags it seems that everybody thinks that there's no limit In him. much they can throw out. By TticAiid morning the first hag is overflowing. By Saturday i have to leave the car outside and by Sunday I'm usually con- sidering renting a trailer to get everything from the garage out to the street. I'm sure the garbage man (excuse me. sanitation engineer ► double cheeks his load before he conies down our road to see if hell make it hack out of the subdivision without breaking a rear axle. So if you hear about that award lel me know. eh`' Fin sure i've got a good chance at it