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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Wingham Advance-Times, 1975-03-06, Page 44 h d fi 11 s S fi C THS ADVRACE—Timis What is the right price? A -good deal of public criticism has arisen since members 9f boards of education in this area voted to increase their own rates of pay. Most boards stayed well below the $400 per month which was set by the Ministry of Education as the ceiling, the average in- crease being to the $300 level—usually doub- ling the members' "honorarium". Are these people getting too much money as our representatives—or not enough? It's an open question and the an- swers vary according to the individual's knowledge of and reaction to the track records which the boards have established since the formation of county units of ad- ministration. Exactly the same type of problem has arisen since federal members of Parliament decided, almost unanimously, to vote them• selves a healthy increase in pay—a decision which was met with such a storm of public disapproval that the original- proposal of a 50 per cent increase was trimmed to 33 per cent and still remains unsettled. The proper remuneration for public representation is indeed difficult to decide. If the salary is too low we will fail to interest the sort of intelligent, decisive man or woman on whom we can rely for sound con- duct of our affairs. On the other hand, if the pickings are rich, we will find ourselves rep- resented by the greedy types' who are in there for the money alone.=The proper rate of pay lies somewhere between the two ex- tremes. Generally speaking we feel the public is not aware of the hours of travel and delibera- tion required of a conscientious school trustee. The people who are appointed to the A page of editorial opinion '�, .` • '` : • �, •. " •. I •t, •'C O \:5%. •�" '' ^.ti '4s•;'„: ,' ti\., .'ti tin �'ti R�'}•• .'Nby �:�i $ ••+. M ti �ti, v. •k, '•,•ti b . w �v'•. , i?w-. `'g:. • � •. � .ti •,ti ��\.,�;h '•. . .. � �� a .�,� ti 1"ti ` ti•• ^•y�.y.^;,:k.. •�'�.�^.ti s�.�jitit:•,,;'A�i�•.1, \i•���ati:•�. ti :^•.,.,y,`•���' •.'ti3�'ti�.\'. ti� ��\ti1'� �ti :•::.�'!CtiY•'�'\^•.'.�'��tiS� ,� ��`���ti��:.`�� i`::•.•��� i..v.-0•.ti :�� �. more active committees of the board attend a great many meetings In the course of a year—seventy or more in some cases. A rep- resentative from tl ; more distant points in a county may spepdas much as an hour and a half in travel and four hours at a meeting for each time called—and some meetings last a good de& longer than four hours. However, using the figure of five and a half hours as an example, and remuneration set at $300 a month, a member who attends 7Q meetings would be paid at a rate of $9.35 per hour—not a particulacrty high rate in this day and age for 1positions of responsibility. Obviously there are some members who do not attend 70 meetings, in which case their rate per hour goes up sharply. Perhaps a more reliable barometer of proper pay schedules would be the measure of the representative's worth, to his constitu- ents, in terms of his input to the discussion of education problems, his regularity of at- tendance and, above all, his responsiveness to the wishes of his constituents. It is in this latter aspect of service that many board members fall short. As we have observed previously, we- have known of few instances where board members are making a'realis- tic effort to inform the people back home about school board affairs or to seek their opinions. You can be sure, however, that elementary school teachers and the , lower grade teachers in secondary schools,�,all of whom put in long hours in the classroom and in preparation of lessons, will feel that board members, who are only part-time workers in ,the education system, are very well paid at $3,600 a year. Most teachers in their earlier years are paid in the $6,000 to $8,000 bracket. Victims of blackmail Canada, the land of promise, is on a col- lision course with disaster, unless we can find a solution to the cancer of work stoppage which is eating into our personal incomes and our international trade. The present disruption of almost every aspect of life created by the strike of the pub- lic service employees is, perhaps, the most disgusting example we have ever known of the way a handful. of dissidents can practise extortion .on.an, entire nation. Mail service, which is vital to business people and indivi- duals at everyi,level, has been seriously dis- organized --not by postal workers, but by a, tiny group of equipment maintenance people. The mail service has ground to a virtual halt in important centres like Toronto because truck drivers, who belong to another union entirely, won't cross the maintenance men's picket lines. The same is true at some of the busier airports. The people of Canada have become the hostages in a fantastic game of "pay -me -or - else". If you doubt that statemdnt, recall the words'of a spokesman for the Public Service Alliance of Canada last week when he ex- pressed the hope that the weath = would worsen so that accumulated snow wo'► • pre- vent the movement of aircraft, because e snow -clearing crews were striking. His hop of course, was ..that the travelling public would be caught in a bind. Not the federal minister, mind you, nor the treasury board nor the prime minister—just the general public. With thousands of farmers dependent upon the movement. of grain to the West Coast foeshipment to customers around the world, 30 Or 40 empty ships lay waiting day after day in Vancouver harbor for their car- goes—prevented from reaching .their holds by a scattering of grain inspectors in the Public Service Alliance. Labor unions are endangering not only their privileges, but their very existence by the price they are exacting from the rest of the people in this nation. Members of par- liament had better start taking a nose count; they will find the victims of union arrogance vastly "outnumber the organized labor groups. Better than we realize We who live in the smaller communities have long spoken smugly of the advantages of our particular way of life the fresh air, the slower pace, the neighborliness. Per- haps, in the .past, some of these were dec- larations of self -reassurance because we were not competitors in the more intense contest of city business. Be that as it may, we who live on the quiet streets of these smaller communities now realize that thousands of city dwellers would gladly change place`s with us for a very pointed rea- son. Housing is the key. The comparatively few who live in apartment units in small communities do so of choice. The elderly, younger'couples without children or working couples can enjoy the conveniences of apartment life, where there are no worries about shovelling walks or tending heating equipment. For the most pari, however, townsfolk live in individual homes -either their own or as tenants. They have no worries about being too noisy for the people on the floor above. Their youngsters usually have a yard in which to play or a nearby park or skating rink in which• to spend their spare hours. 'Rents and purchase prices have escalated, -but they haven't yet gone totally out of sight. A drive through the suburbs of any larger Canadian city will give you some idea of the plight of those who must, or think they must, live in a high-density community. Can you imagine bringing up your family in an apartment 15 or 20 floors above the street? Think what it must be like' to send your chil- dren out to play among the hundreds of other kids who are your "neighbors" in the same complex of apartment buildings! Your apartment may be close enough to ground lest" so you can see your own young- • sters from the balcony without binoculars. So you happen to be watching when a beefy nine-year-old knocks your six-year-old Jimmy to the sidewalk and then proceeds to kick the starch out of him.,A hundred and thirty feet down the hall to the elevator; four minutes' wait till the doors open; six stops to the ground floor and a` 300 -yard dash to the place you last saw your own boy in trouble. Great way to live! Yes, you do have access to an apartment lot parking space; perhaps you have a turn in the pool if your building is a newer and more expensive one. You have janitor serv- ice of sorts and the heat is supplied. But the price for all this today is well over $200 a month at best and closer to $400 in many buildings. You have choices. You can buy a condominium .at a lower price per month than apartment rental, it you have money fore down payment .and can afford the extra charges for building maintenance on toil of your mortgage payment. Or you can move 50 miles out into the country and father can battle the traffic four or five hours a day. Or you can look for a small business or a decent. job in a small town 100 miles away from the big city where you wilt eventually find a home with a back yard, a swimming pool a few blocks away, a modern hospital, the best of schools, a doctor who knows you by name, a curling club, an arena, a golf club and neighbors Who quite often do care whether you live or die. Smug, maybe—but personally we wouldn't have it any other way. THE WINGHAM ADVANCE1T,1ES Published at Wingham, Ontario, by Wenger Bros. Limited Barry Wenger, President Robert O. Wenger, Secretary -Treasurer Member Audit Bureau of Circulations Member -= Canadian Community Newspapers Asgoc. Subscription $10.00 per year. Six months $5.25 Second Class Mail Registration No. 0821 Ontario Weekly Newspapers Assoc. To United States $12.50 Return postage guaranteed Thursc.ay March' Letters to the Editor The Advance -Times, Wingham, Ontario Dear Editor : The letter in last week's Ad- vance -Times about the United Church's developing stand on abortion was, in general, a fair and moderate commentary, but feel- that there are a couple of points where additional comment and opinion may be appropriate. One is the indication that the United Church has, through its General Council, approved (with- out stated qualification) of "abortion on request". The other is the statement that (appar- ently) "the grass roots of the church object to the hasty and superficial decision on abortion in 1971 and 1972." In this Protestant Christian de- nomination elected ministers and laymen do meet in General Coun- cil to consider the church's pro- gram and to establish, confirm or amend the church's stand on matters of moral and physical concern. The fact that there are differences of opinion was well il- lustrated in the sessions of debate on abortion at the Councilin Sas- katoon through eight days of August, 1972. General Council did not meet in 1971, but it was my privilege to be a 1972 commissioner to Saska- toon, where the elected delegates included 225 ministers, 130 lady commissioners and a fair num- ber of ordinary men. The person- nel of that council seemed to as- sure that abortion would receive am ample and adequately articu- late assessment. I think it did. The 1972 General Council's statement on abortion runs to several pages. The declaration opens: "As Christians we wish to af- firm : "The sanctity of humah life, born and unborn. "That life is much more than physical existence. "We also affirm that : "The taking of human life under any circumstances is wrong." The further assessment of the abortion problem goes on to recognize areas of real difficulty in applying those worthy asser- tions to the everyday facts and conditions of modern life and death. It may be that some part of the statement from Saskatoon or elsewhere can be interpreted as going too far toward softening the game of Christian living. As a voting delegate I do re -af- firm that abortion was given more than "hasty and super-. ficial" attention at Saskatoon in 1972. y way of information (for United Church people and others) the commissioners to General Council do not go there complete- ly "cold". About six weeks ahead they receive a printed agenda outlining matters for considera- tion by council and including recommendations from standing committees and all area resolu- tions (memorials) accumulated since last General Council. (That 300 page agenda grew as Council proceeded.) Also distributed ahead in 1972 was a cassette with an hour's discussion of Council's aims and duties. Subjects at Sas- katoon ran from abortion and Anglican Union to wages and West Coast tanker routes, so the decisions we reached were not "final words". G. W. Tiffin P.S. — It seems abit intriguing now to find in my notes from Sas- katoon this opinion: "Spent too many hours on abortion." It did not interfere with the challenging hours we spent with our honored guest, Jean Vanier of France and the world. G.W.T. ws items from Old Files MARCH 1928 The Orangeville Banner, re- porting on entertainment in the town, stated that Mrs. Walter VanWyck of Wingham `was' `warmly encored after each, ap- pearance'. The Banner also wrote that Mrs. VanWyck's work\ on stage `would compare quite. faro bly with the efforts of pro- ional elocutionists'. Mrs. Thomas Cassels last week sold her brick home on Minnie Street to R. Lloyd. A large deputation from Wel- lington and Huron Counties wait- ed upon Hon: George S. Henry this week, urging that the depart- ment take over as a provincial highway the road between Clin- ton- and Wingham and eastward through Harriston to Fenelon Falls. The minister promised to take the proposition into con- sideration. The Wroxeter businessmen's carnival was held and was a de- cided success. Prizes for best costumes went to Margaret Davey, George J. Town, Katie Waller, W. T. McClean, Dorothy Henry, Stewart Higgins, Marg- aret Durst and Fred Hoperoft. Miss Eva McMichael of Salem has gone to Blyth where she will teach school. There is again cause for rejoic- ing ,in the excellent financial showing of the people's railway system, the Canadian National. In an address 'this week, Sir Henry Thornton announced a 1927 net revenue from operation of $42,100,000. Isaiah Congram has sold his one hundred acre farm on the boundary, near Lucknow, to Dick McQuillin of West Wawanosh. Mr. and Mrs. Congram will move into Lucknow. John McEwen sold his dairy business to Albert Foxton of Mor- ris who gets possession in about a week. Miss Evelyn Holt of Brussels, a pupil of W. A. W. Anderton, was successful in passing her prim- ary theory examination of the Toronto Conservatory of Music with first class honors. 0-0-0 MARCH 1940 A ten per cent reduction of fire insurance rates for Wingham be- came effective February 26. A simil.ar_reduction has been given in 215 other cities, towns and yil- lages. The reduction will benefit all lines of commercial, domestic and industrial fire insurance. Premier Mitchell Hepburn an- nounced that the shoaling of the news film, "Canada at War", has been banned in Ontario until after the Dominion general election on March 26. Charles Dauphin, who has been on the staff of Canada Packers Ltd. here for the past year and three months, has been transfer- red to the company's branch at Clinton. D. E. Hick of Toronto, formerly of Centralia, has joined the staff here in Mr. Dauphin's place. Hal Peterson and his brother will soon open a store in the old AdvanceJimes location next to the Bell Telephone office. We understand that they intend to do plumbing and tinsmithing, also carry electrical lines. A definite uptrend in fur prices is indicated by a recent sale at the, Canadian. Fur Auction Sales Co., Montreal. Staple furs such as raccoon, skunk, ermine ancl mus- krat advanced from 30 per cent to 50 per cent over the company's last sale. Silver Fox and mink ad- vanced ten per cent. Carl Casemore, local carrier boy for the Globe and Mail, at- tended the annual meeting of the firm's carriers in Toronto. "Gone With the Wind" woe the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' annual production award. Best acting achievement awards of 1939 went to Robert Donat for "Goodbye Mr. Chips" and Vivien Leigh for .her role of Scarlett in "Gone With the Wind". An enjoyable evening was spent at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Vern MacDonald before their moving to the village of Wrox- eter. Mr. MacDonald has enlisted with the RCAF and is in training at Trenton. Mrs. MacDonald and family will reside in Wroxeter. 0-0-0 MARCH 1951, The public school board IS-fac, ed with a serious problem in planning for sufficient accom- modation at the school. A survey, conducted by the town, shows that the public school population in five years will be 498 pupils. The present accommodation is worked to capacity with only 333 children in attendance. J. N. Allen, Wroxeter druggist, has disposed of his business to D. Stacia of Orangeville who will take over the business next week. Mr. Allen's retirement from busi- ness closes a long and successful service to the people of this com- munity. Total enrolment at night school classes this ,year was, 80 and the average attendance has been high throughout. This is the sec- ond year the classes have been held. The teachers have been : commercial, Mrs. Norman May- nard; sewing, Mrs. Hutton; leather work, Miss A. Heard; shop work, Ross Vogan. The courses have run for 18 weeks. Mr. and Mrs. Oscar -Rapp, Wingham, announce the engage- ment of their daughter, LaVonne, to . Carl Joseph Bondi of Wing - ham. The marriage will " take place this month. June Lear was elected presi- dent of the Belgrave Junior In- stitute as the annual meeting was held in the community centre. Other officers are Evelyn Leaver, Mae Dawson, Norma Brydges and Dorothy Pattison. In a report from Ottawa, it has been made known that Canada will field army brigades number- ing roughly 6,000 men both in Korea and Europe ,this year. It will be the first time in peacetime that so large a project has ever been planned in military strength. Rev. Stewart Miner, who has been serving in Fordwich, has accepted a call to become pastor of the Florence appointment in Lambton County. Earl Hamilton has sold his Bluevale area farm • to Harry Montgomery of Wingham. Mr. and Mrs. Hamilton and family have moved to Wingham. 0-0-0 MARCH 1961 - The home of William Gamble, first line of Morris Township, was extensively damaged by fire. A defective furnace is thought to be BY HELEN' ALLEN Rickey is 12, a good-looking blonde• blue-eyed boy. He is In good health, wearing glasses for near-sightedness. Extremely sports -minded, Rickey enjoys hockey, soccer, swimming, and skating. But Rickey is not academically inclined though he is making good progress In a special developmental clans_ He will need this special program for at least another year before he can enter the regular classes. He will likely take a vocational course later on. Rickey is good at working with his hands. He has done some woodworking and he likes building models. This likable boy needs a great deal of love and attention together with the security of knowing he belongs to a family. It will be good if there are older children in his adoption home. To inquire about adopting Rickey, please write to Today's Child, Ministry of Community and Social Services, Box 888, Station K, Toronto M4P 2H2. For general adoption information consult your local Children's Aid Society. HE'S SPORTS MINDED the cause .of the blaze. A semi -trailer transport, load- ed with 25 tons of bulk salt, left Highway 87 a mile west of Wrox- eter androlled into the north ditch. AA wrecking . truck . was brought in from London to get the vehicle back on its wheels and the cargo was salvaged by the De- partment of Highways for use in this area. The driver was unhurt. Last autumn, when the stu- dents of the Wingham District High School began their annual magazine sales campaign, they had already decided to use a part of the proceeds to help an under- privileged child through the Fost- er Parent Plan. This month word was received that an eight-year- old Italian boy, Guiseppe Mar- azza, has been assigned to them. A native of Huron County, Don- ald Fortune,,an employee of the Waterloo Cattle Breeding As- sociation, has been 'promoted to the new office of supervisor of in- formation. Bill Strong of RR 2, Dublin was elected president of the Huron County Junior Farmers. Other officers include Murray Gaunt of Wingham and Murray Mulvey of Wroxeter. . The 50th anniversary or the Belgrave Women's Institute was marked at a special dinner in the Knox United Church basement. The only charter member, Mrs. James„ Milchie, cut the cake. .Dick . LeVan has moved his . ObLi t from, Toronto tb the mouse he has secured in Teeswater. Joe Butler of the Canadian Bank of , Commerce staff, has been transferred to a Sudbury branch. What's new at Huronview? As a result of the visiting restrictions at the Home, several of the regular events have been cancelled. Mrs. Elsie Henderson, Norman Speir and Jerry Collins provided the Old Tyrrl Music for Mon day's activities along with several numbers by the Huron - view Rhythm Band. The resi- dents practised square dancing with Mrs. McGratton doing the calling. -Slide pictures that have been taken during the past four years of special events were shown in each of the areas during the week. ... AND SHOVEL THE DRIVEWAY ON YGUR WAN/ OUT! 1 is* 0