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Times -Advocate, October 11, 1989 •
f ime% established 1871
Adhoiate Established 1881
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& North Lambton Since 1873
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DO.. SMITH
Opposition continues
Cries of protest from across the
nation are continuing to come
in on Finance Minister Mi-
chael Wilson's proposed government and
services tax scheduled to start in 1991.
The new national sales tax is intended
to close a budget deficit, which, when the
proportionate, sizes of the two economies
are taken into consideration, makes the
one in the United States look rather mini-
scule.
The government across the border is•
spending only eight or nine percent more
than it takes in while the Canadian gov-
ernment is spending close to 30 percent
more.
Wood Gundy Inc., a Toronto invest-
ment house has studied the likely impact
of the new tax and concluded that it will
drive up inflationby two percentage
points, unemployment by as much as
three percent and interest rates as well.
These facts would seem to completely
undermine the government's projections
of revenue from the new tax. Throw on
.top ofthatthe cost of paying the people
to administer and collect the new' tax.
That figure of extra employees seems to
be ranging from 4,000 to 10,000.
While situations maybe somewhat dif-
ferent, it may be practical for our politi-
cians to remember what has happened in
'Japan in the last couple of months.
There, a prime minister has been
forced to resign and the 34 -year rule of
the Liberal Democratic Party has been
shaken to its foundations by the imposi-
tion of an unpopular three percent sales
tax.
The only people smiling about the new
tax here are Americans living close to
our borders and they are wringing their
hands in glee.
For the city of Detroit, especially, the
tax is a potential bonanza. If you think
lines at the bridge and tunnel from
Windsor are long now, just wait until the
nine percent tax is in effect. Every Cana-
dian in his right mind will be shopping
across the border. Remember the Con-
servatives have promised tariff barriers
will drop under the free trade pact. Some
of the tariffs are dropping on a gradual
scale.
Detroit and other border cities may
benefit in the short run from the heavier
taxation here, but it could hurt over the
long run as Capadians will have less
money to spend on either side of the bor-
der. That won't be good for anybody.
We- would hope that by the time 1991
rolls around that the government listens.
to the masses of the people and the new
tax plans, be at least modified and re-
• duced considerably.
By Ross Haugh
When autumn leaves begin to fall
Did you ever wonder why
some folks say fall, and others
prefer autumn? I don't use au-
tumn unless I'm forced to. I cer-
tainly find fall more descriptive.
It stems that fall is Canadian,
while autumn is British.
But now that fall is upon us
again, I thought I'd treat you to a
handful of sayings you might en-
joy. I've collected them from a
whole bunch of sources, espe-
cially for this column. For once;
I'm not trying to make a point in
PETER'S POINT. Just to enter-
tain you.
Tears, idle tears, I know not
what they mean,/Tears from the
depth of some divine despair/
Rise in the heart, and gather to
the eyes,/In looking on the hap-
py Autumn fields/And thinking
of the days that are no more. (Al-
fred Tennyson).
0 wild Wes M.'iml, thtiu breath
or Autumn's being,/Thou, from
whose unseen presence the
leaves :dead .arc driven.. liikr_
ghosts from an enchanted flee-
ing. (P.B. Shelley).
No spring nor summer beauty
hath such gracc/As I have seen in
one autumnal face. (John Donne,
Dean of St. Paul's Londoh).
How well i know what i meant
to do/When the long, dark au-
tumn -evenings come. (Robcr•
Browning).
Along the li•lc ot
The crinlsor ore st
all the day th. blu0).. .,
Throughout the autumn Ia 's.
(W.W. Campbell).
Coldly, sadly descends/The au-
tumn evening. the field/Strewn
with its dank yellow drifts/of
Withered leaves, and the elms/
Fade into dimness apace/Silent;
hardly a shout/From a few boys
late at their play. (Matthew Ar-
J
nold).
During the whole of a dull,
dark, and soundless day in the
autumn of the year, when the
clouds hung oppressively low
in the heavens, I had been pass-
ing alone, on horseback,
through a singularly dreary tract
of country, and at length found
myself, as the shades of the
evening drew on, within view
PETER'S
POINT
•
Peter Hessel
of the melancholy House of
Usher.. (Edgar Allan Poc).
.1.sasval ASf,*1 Irrrr4n B-tc misty
morn/Stand shadowless like si-
lence, listening/To silence.
(Thomas Hood).
.,f.. ..<,... v..w as .vuVYv i1.
n
year's death in it - one noticcs
that a little more sadly and fear-
fully as one grows older. (R.
Haig -Brown).
Up from the meadows rich
with-corn/Clear in 11 c cool
Scptcmbcr morn. (J ; . Nhittt-
er).
uh, it's a long, long while/
from •May to December/But the
s grow short,/When you
rea�h September. (Maxwell -An-
derson).
0 suns and skies and clouds
of June,/And flowers of June
together,/Ye cannot rival for one
hour/October's bright blue
weather. (Helen Hunt Jackson).
There is something in October
sets the gypsy blood astir.
(W.B. Canhan).
The autumn always gets me
badly, as it breaks into colours. I
want to go south, where there is
no autumn, where the cold
doesn't crouch over one like a
snow -leopard waiting to pounce.
(D. H. Lawrence).
I know of only one other sea-
son in one other country which
compares in beauty with the Ca-
nadian fall. It is the English
spring. The two seasons evoke
different thoughts and emotions.
The one cries "Hail!" and the
other says "Farewell!. The one
is concerned with birth and the
other with death. One expresses
joy the and the other sorrow.
Thcir moods contrast widely.
But for sheer, aesthetic beauty
they are peers in perfection. (M.
MacDonald, British High Com-
missioner in Canada).
The- leaves fall early this au-
tumn, in wind./The paired but-
terflies are already yellow with
August./Over the grass in the
West garden;/They hurt me. I
grow otuer. (t .zra Poulin).
A week at Loughborough in
the fall i • h ' ful . Then the
wood, .. 'i. - coats of
mai . )Ioul 'he 'ugaiaples
display all the . .0 . s ot red -
from deep crimson to bright or-
ange. (Sir James E. Alexander).
Fall is the'hush before winter
(French proverb). .
Autumn steals summer like a
thief. (English proverb).
If the twenty-fourth of August
be fair and clear,/Then hope for
a prosperous autumn that year.
(English proverb).
Leaves falling, dead man call-
ing. (Canadian proverb).
Every falling leaf caught by
hand in the fall means a happy
month the following year. (An-
cient supeistitiou).
Weather
It's that time of year again
when a couple of almancs are
out with their annual predictions
of weather for the next 12
months.
We have had a chance to peruse
the Farmers Almanac and the Old
Farmers Almanac and they are
quite similar in telling us what is
going to happen weatherwise
during 1990.
It sounds as if we should be
ready for a payback on the last
two winters with more snow and
colder weather.
The Farmers Almanac which
started in 1816 can be picked up
free of charge at National Trust in
Exeter. It shows a number of
heavy snowstorms. They am list-
ed for January 4 to 11, February
18 aand April 1-3 with severe
cold and sub -zero temperatures
the last two weeks of March.
This is to be followed with heavy
snow and strong winds from
April 1 to 3. •
The Old Farmers Almanac
which has been in business for
198 years gives a general synop-
sis. it calls for mild weather in
November and December with
storms in early November and
from mid-December to Christ-
mas.
Mild spells are also expected
through the last half of January
and at mid-February, but other-
wise considerably colder than
normal weather should prevail,.
together with well -above normal
predictions
snowfall. Get the snow shovels
ready.
Spring is anticipated to be con-
siderably cooler and wetter than
normal with frequent and heavy
precipitation throughout the sea -
t
From the
r editor's disk
by
Ross Haugh
son. Temperatures will be quite
variable, but with cold periods
being more frequent and intense
than the brief warm spells.
Summer will start out milder
and wetter than normal, with few
and brief warm spells generally
offset by more prolonged mild
spells with heavy showers.
However, August and Septem-
ber arc expected to be considera-
bly warmer than normal, with
less frequent showers in -August
to be followed by frequent,
heavy ones in September.
* * * *
*
As we are slated for a gall blad-
der operation on October 24 at
University Hospital in London,
an article entitled, " Running a
body is a big job" turned out to
be interesting.
Here is part of the article:
Do you ever say, "I'm dog
tired and don't feel like I could
do another thing. I'm just too
bushed to eat. Well, no wonder.
In addition to your regular job, if
you are an adult above average
weight, it has been estimated that
every 24 hours:
Your heart beats 103,689
times. Your blood travels 168
million miles. You breathe
23,040 times. You inhale 438 cu-
bic feet of air. You eat over three
pounds of food.' You drink 2.9
quarts of liquids. You eliminate
almost a pound of waste. You
move 750 muscles, some of them
subconsciously but constantly.
You exercise 7,000,000 brain
cells and you speak 7,800 words,
not all of them necessary, of
course.
Did you ever consider how per-
fectly your body is controlled?
How it maintains a normal tem-
perature of 98.6 degrees, how
blood pressure is adjusted just
right, why you breathe an aver-
age of 16 times a minute and your
heart beats 72 times?
How common food is digested
into bone and muscle, blood and
skin, hair and nails and properly
distributed while wastes and poi-
sons are eliminated with no ill ef-
fects?
That's how a perfect body is
supposed to operate.
Thought for the Week: Worry
often gives the little things very
large shadows.
An encore, Grand Bend?
1 spoke into his eyes
1 thought you died alone
A long, long time ago
Oh, no
Npt me
I never lost control
You're face to face
With the
Man Who Sold the World
David Bowie, 1971
-..--Grated B nd Wats i`balre1
breath while someone, some-
where in Toronto makes a deci-
sion that could change the future
of the lakeside community forev-
er..: ,.z
"No one can own a beach," is
the often -heard phrase used when
people bring up the subject of the
Gibbs vs. Grand Bend trial.
"Why not?" one might answer,-
Malcolm
nswer,Malcolm Gibbs has a deed; and
he has a right to find out what it
means. Some have questioned
the way he brought attention to
his cause, which might explain
why it has taken more than a dec-
ade to finally bring this issue to a
head.
Nobody took seriously the bilis
he sent to council for the rental of
"his" beach. Now everyone
takes him seriously indeed. He
finally put together enough evi-
dence to support his claim and
took the province and village to
court.
Grand Bend, -on the other
hand, has a right to fight for a
beach they have always consid-
ered the main attraction f the re-
sort. Even if they lose, Gibb's
lawyers have hintcd hem sign
it over for a hefty settlement -
Hold that
thought...
ti\t‘
Adrian llarte
by
something in theareaof S2 mil-
lion taxpayers' dollars.
The lawyers on . both sides
aren't making any outspoken
claims for their client$ success.
They all say the case is almost
too close to call.
This leads to a mental image of
someone in Toronto flipping a
coin.
This sort of legal mess is ine-
vitable in a democratic society.
it's just too bad the taxpayers
have to foot the hill to sec justice
is dome:
The truth is, whatever the final
decision, the only guaranteed
winners in this game are the law-
yers.
it could be worse, thougbr.
Couldn't it?
- Suppose there were rumours of
a man living near. Grand Bend
who claimed lake ownership.
He doesn't claim to own Lake
Huron, exactly - just all the water
in it.
It seems his great -great-
grandfather's father was an ec-
centric native chief who named
himself "Guardian of the Waters
for the Great Spirit". What if a
19th century English ship's cap-
tain humoured the guy once by
giving him a sixpence to -let his
ship pass-safef9'etrrt t—lake and - -
entered the expense into his log,
not realizing he was legitimizing'
the man's claimed title?
Today's descendant figures if
he indexnc _tha q4i. rF.a. cs.atl, +ca.
Ration and charges a toll for eve-
ry boat on the lake, he'll make
millions every year.
His lawyer thinks the ship's
log will hold up in court. Some
may the suit will he tested first
against the Grand Bend Harbour
Committee.
But the word on the street is the
man is reluctant to bring attention
to his case for fear of being sued
himself.
1t seems cottage-owrner •hl`ttfe
area are eager to charge him with
high -lake -level damage to their
properties caused by "his" water.
Disclaimer: This writer's poor
excuse for humour is not intend-
ed to be disrespectful to lawyers,
natives, or those who live in,
near, or who have ever visited,
Grand Bend. •
A