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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Wingham Advance-Times, 1975-12-18, Page 4i• ,r •JV•{VtK-YN SC GRh'1. 4.,Y -'tom-! YY.4•X^'r,Kti'. Y'Q`17K'C}F170P"^t`c_`:;. ..w Is our democracy dying? Several men of learning have observed in times past that, although democracy is the ideal form of government, it has never been known to succeed. If you are a student of his- tory you will be able to find ample evidence to support this pessimistic observation. Man achieved his noblest statOre in the great democracies of the past—in Rome, in Greece, and in more modern times, in Brit- ain. Why, then, the conclusion that govern- ment of the people, by the people and for the people will never survive for long? The great republics 'of the past eventually degraded into dictatorships, con- trolled by kings or political leaders who were strong enough to seize and hold the power of life and death. The emergence of such f'ulers and the destruction of self-government was, in most instances, occasioned by a combina- tion of greed and laziness on the part of the common citizens of those lands. The rugged farmer -soldier who believed passionately in the worthiness of his occupation and realized he must fight for his country when the need arose, was the backbone of his democracy. Honesty and a sense of justice were not merely virtues to which he paid lip service: they were the basic tenets of an entire way of life. As these sturdy and industrious citizens and their sons and grandsons proved the wisdom of their choice, the wealth of their democracies began to accumulate. Gradu- ally the universal disease of greed set in. The man who could stoop to a little craft or could shout louder than his neighbor found he could trick or force the government into handing over an ever larger share of the public wealth.- In the course of time. the pressure of personal and class demands left the governments of the day in chaos. Over- burdened by the debts they had incurred to placate the hecklers, all semblance of democracy was abandoned when some indi- vidual' politician with enough clout to take command arose out of the ruins. Dictator- ship became a fact. The entire process was gradual. The TI grandfathers Who warned a new generation that government handouts and entertain- ments were paving the road to ruin were laughed at as dotty old fools who had never learned how to get their piece of the public pie. By the time the grandchildren had enough experkence to understand the warn- ings, it was t& late. It would be very difficult to convince present-day Canadians that some personal sacrifice is vital to the survival of our kind of self-government. We have, however, already demonstrated that lack of any form of sacri- fice or self-restraint inevitably brings government intervention. During the past five years scarcely any country in the world has given a more blatant demonstration of greed and self-interest than has Canada. Most of us are in favor of wage and price controls—as long as they are imposed on someone else. We are ready to cripple the nation's economy, leave its youngsters without schooling or commit any other public mischief just as long as we can reach for a bigger piece of the pie. The fact that almost every one of us is more prosperous than at any time in our lives seems only a reason to make us de- mand more. If you doubt that fact observe where the most frequent strikes and the highest wage demands are taking place. Al- most without exception you will find them in those trades and professions which are al- ready among the best paid in the land. So—the suffering public demands more and more government intervention, which means more and more government control over our daily lives. At some point before long we will find that government; controls have become so entrenched that we will never more have a hope of returning to the freedom we once enjoyed. Government will become bigger and more powerful; stronger and more ruthless leaders will be needed. Eventually this sort of leader will be able to get along without a cabinet. He will substi-. tute a new brand of inspectors and the in- spectors will shortly become enforcers. Sounds pretty gloomy? You'd better be- lieve it. urder of a language Sometimes. it .is impossiblertci ioid oFegi :bearing 'someone, else's conver$afnon, pair-- ti'cutariyFin a croWdettrestaurant It was our' fate the other dayto hear the exchanges be- tween two very smart -looking businessmen. "Now, George, if you can be persuaded to, take over the department I'm quite sure you will be able to deal with the costing, okay? Dave's accounting leaves 'a bit to be desired, eh? . but with a little pressure from me he'll respond, okay? Good man, Dave, okay? Just a bit old fashioned, eh? We'll up the sales' quotas, okay? and the extra volume will bring unit costs down, okay?" The unending "eh's" and "okays" were getting in the way of our digestion, but when the waiter came along with our check, out it. came: "That was an excellent lunch, okay?" Then there's that poor, abused word "lay". The word at one time was used in several forms, depending on tense and number. Such as "lying", "lies". Now the word has only one form—Flay". "He lay down after lunch." "He left it lay on the gtable.44' Of cours� f' we, newspaper writers are guilty of errors too. Nara Of us are letter- perfect in spelling or grammatical construc- tion, but our medium does demand more accuracy than does conversation, either pri- vate or over theairwaves- After all, we must put our words on paper and that paper is' al- ways l.ways there to provide evidence for the boss if he is in a mood to point out the places we have gone wrong. Listening to an obviously unrehearsed conversation between two radio news an- nouncers the other day we counted no less than 18 times one speaker threw the expres- sion "y'know" into his sentences with two minutes of talk. English is a beautiful language, with its broad heritage of Latin, French and Anglo- Saxon- words. Miserable though it must be for the non-English person to learn, it pro- vides one of earth's most flexible and des- criptive tongues. What a pity that we butcher it so unmercifully! McMurtry has a point Attorney -general Roy McMurtry has suggested that there is a possibility that the legal age for drinking alcoholic beverages may be altered upward. At present the law permits young people to drink at age 18 but the 340 per cent increase in alcohol-related motor accidents since the age was reduced, from 21 to 18 years has many people worried. Several tavern -owners with whom we have talked are outspokenly hopeful that the 18-year-olds will be excluded. They say that the problems of handling young customers have multiplied to the point where they would gladly do without the business. They admit that it isn't always possible to tell whether the person who asks for a drink—or several drinks—is actually 18. Some kids at 16 look much older, particularly when long hair and beards make an accurate judgment more difficult. It is patently impossible to hassle every young person into proof of age, so 16 and even 15 -year-olds mix with the legal age and trouble results—for the kids themselves and for the tavern -keeper. The attorney -general also believes that the legal age for operating a motor vehicle should be raised—once again based on the alarming accident rate among the young drivers. He does not suggest, however, that ,rrnp,.e �Mnuu'.^.0 rnrmr!r "Ah, the sounds of Christmas ... the ringing of cash registers!" ews DECEMBER 1928 In the death of Freeman Carr in Toronto, another of the oldtune businessmen of Wingham pa away. For some years he had a flour mill in Wingham and later conducted a flour and feed busi= ness on the site now occupied by J. A. Mills. In the United -,41+` ` the Ukanous group of the Canadian Items from Old Files Hawkins. Miss Mitchell . was named the winner, with Miss Davison coming a close \ second. Miss Rebecca -Thompson was elected president of the Donny- brook Women's Missionary Soci- ety. Other officers are Mrs. Albert Campbell, Mrs. Wiliam Robinson, Mrs. Mark Armstrong, Mrs. Jefferson and Mrs. Colin Campbell _ - At t lie gear -end` meefinig o Wren County Council, it was reported that, as of December 1, there were 83 residents at the house of refuge. The deaths at the home during the year have been more numerous than any year since the home has been opened, there being 25. The chief causes were apoplexy, cancer and heart diseases DECEMBER 1940 At the final meeting of the year of the Wingham Town Council, a Girls in Trainingieid Tts'ann'- Mr— meeting and elected Mary Robertson president. Vice-presi- dents are -Vesta Fox and Louise Thompson; secretary is Mar- garet Finlay; treasurer, Mar- garet Mitchell; press reporter, , Marion Simpson. the voting age should go up. There is little doubt that all of us would be better off if we never touched a drop of the demon rum, but there is no known method to achieve that dream. Nor would such a situa- - tion be fair to the vast majority of people who use alcohol in moderation. As far as the young people are concerned, however, that is exactly the point. Very few of us had reached the age of moderation by our 18th year, much less at 15 or 16. Hang in kids! And now a word of encouragement for all you boys and girls who have been cleaning up your track record in preparation for Christmas. Yes, we know it's pretty tough, this business of being good so Santa Claus will really be happy with you after all. It's a rough grind, but you don't have to hold out much longer. Just a few more days and then you can get right back to slapping your baby brother, dropping jam sandwiches face -down on the chesterfield and pulling the cat's tail. Anyway, you've been overdoing it. Your mother thinks you're sick. THE WINGHAM ADVANCE -TIMES Published at wirigbais, Ontario, by Wenger Bros. Limited Barry Wenger, President Robert O. Wenger, Secretary -Treasurer Member Audit Bureau of Circulations Member -- Canadian Community Newspapers Assoc.. Subscriptioti WA per year. Six months $5.25 SeeOnd Masa Mall Registration tration No. 0421 Return postage guaranteed A medal contest was a feature of the meeting of the Loyal Temperance Legion. . Those taking part were Thora Davison, Frances Currie, Edith Campbell, Ruth Mitchell and. Hazel Ontario Weekly Newspapers Assoc. To United States $20.00 TODAY'SCHILD BY HELEN ALLEN Ron \is a handsome. healthy. eight-year-old with boundless energy. He plays any game that's going, with baseball and hockey his favorites. Ron has dark eyes. wavy brown hair and fair skin. He is doing well in grade three and is considered average or better in ability. He prefers to play with younger children because • he likes to be the boss and youngsters his own age sometimes resent that attitude. - Ron needs young active parents who will want to spend a lot of time with him. There should be no older brothers in his adopting family. To inquire about adopting Ron. please write to Today's Child. Ministry of Community and Social Services. Box 888. Station K, Toronto M4P 2H2. In your letter tell something of your present family and your way of life. for general adoption information. contact your local Children's Aid Society. by-law was passed that a Wed- John Snell, Mrs. Lloyd Magee, nesday afternoon half -holiday be Mrs. William Wright and Mrs. observed throughout. the year George Gibson. with the exception of the months Harold Bell of Gorrie has taken of November and December. a position in Fergus. Last week the community A Wingham rink won the Fred. -Christmas tree was erected at the L. Davidson Trophy at the recent Bank of Commerce corner. It is a five-day Wingham Curling Club lovely shaped tree and adds a bonspiel. Skipped by Donald Rae. great.410 to fine appearance of,,, - The rink also included D. A. 'Ike' the maiii street: HE'S FULL OF ENERGY 'Rani", Frank H� �rand,Harold. f --The-work of -Installing -he new�, 'Thomas. 1 tn, r. :. e. front on the Field Buildnmg was At a recent meeting o completed last week. This build-. township of lilirnberry Public ing now presents a very modern School Area, Mrs. Alex McCrack- appearance, the front of the but- in was appointed janitor for the cher shop is white and the front coming year. . of CKNX is dark green. The annual meeting of St. Mrs. Donald Rae is the new Paul's Ladies' Guild was held in president of the W.M.S. of St. the church. Mrs. Miller Davis Andrew's Presbyterian Church. was.elected president; Mrs. Wil - Her supporting officers include . iam Connell and Mrs. Murray Mrs. George Olver, Miss M. Johnson vice-president; Mrs. 'Anderson, Mrs. J. Roby, Mrs. H. Herb Mitchell secretary; and F. McGee and Mrs. P. King. Mrs. Bert Porter treasurer. li with Wingham is well supped DECEMBER 1961 snow plows this year. The On- - On Saturday afternoon more tario government has stationed a than 500 people visited they ) new large highway plow here. It is one Toronto -Dominion Bank building of the largest type, next to a during its official open house. caterpillar, and . is operated by Manager J. B. Runstedtler and Armstrong Construction of his staff welcomed the public. Brampton. It is housed in the The staff at the bank normally town's machinery building back numbers ten. of Cook's factory. Mrs. E. Wightman was named Helen Lockridge was named the president of the Belgrave the senior champion in the Public Presbyterian Women's Mission - School table tennis tournament.- ary Society. Her vice-presidents Junior champion. was Gloria are Mrs. G. Nicholson, Mrs. Swanson. Senior runner-up was Purdon, Mrs. McBurney and Dawna Walker and junior run- Mrs. A. Dunbar. ner-up was Mary Ross. The Lee Trophy was at stake At the closing meeting of 'the when the local rink was filled to Senior Cub Pack, Sixer Stripes capacity for a two -draw bonspiel. were awarded to Jim Hall and Sixteen rinks competed, the John Armitage. Tom Lockridge trophy being won by a foursome was appointed Senior Sixer and skipped by Murray Rae of Wing - received the Badge of Office. ham, with members Wilfred Instruction books have been French, Gordon Godkin and awarded to Jack Henderson, Bill Frank McCormick. Lockridge, Bill Johnson and To mark Mayor R. E. McKin- Ernest Buckman, and also to Bill ney's retirement from the coun- Pollock and Gordon Moir of the cil, the reeve, J. Roy Adair, pre - Junior Pack. sented Mr. McKinney with an en - Dr. C. A. Myers has left Brus- graved ^silver tray. Councillor sels to join the medical corps of Warren Callen presented Coun- the C.A.S.F. Dr. T. T. McRae will cillor William Burgman with a resume his practice. set of cuff links, marking the Mrs. A. L. Stephens was elect- latter's, retirement from the ed president of the Gorrie Eve- board. ning Auxiliary. Mrs. V. Shera, The new organization, the Mrs. Irving Toner and Mrs. C. United Church Women, took over Michel are her vice-presidents. in Bluevale at the year's final 0-0-0 meeting. Rev. G. C. Mitchell in - DECEMBER 1951 stalled the new officers who are The masterpiece of Christmas Mrs. Alex Corrigan, Mrs. Carl decoration on the front door at Johnston, Mrs. Bert Garniss, the home of Mr. and Mrs. Roy Mrs. Mel Craig, Mrs. George Bennett is worth seeing. It lends a Hetherington and Mrs. Alex festive air to the whole neighbor- McCracken. John Fryfogle has accepted a position with the IGA store in The meeting of Court Maitland Walkerton and began work there No. 25, Canadian Order of Fores- last week. ters, was held in the Orange Hall. Mrs. Alan Pattison, who has Elected officers for 1952 were been a conscientious worker in Lloyd Casemore, David Weir, the WMS of Calvin -Brick United Ken Sinnamon, Alex Reid, Church for many years, was pre - Thomas Gaunt and George sented with a life membership at Robertson. the December meeting. The Women's Association of Harold Pollock of Fordwich has the Wroxeter United Church been appointed secretary-trea- ended a successful year with a surer and administratdr of the bank balance and a membership Listowel High School. of 27. Mrs. Leslie Douglas was Mr. and Mrs. Harold Townsend elected the new president and she have moved to their new home in will be supported by the other Wroxeter, the former United officers, Mrs. Ken Webster, Mrs. Church manse. D .''CBERlht BY Jai SMIllevitz A ,filar TirestbeF pattern to the previOtis week wobserved. 'ibe week which started with wady alld temperatures and Ugt. wfaH gave way, to very 0 mild temperatures and a disap- peaXance of the snow. , Law pressure systems moving eastward south of the. region brought periods of light snow. Temperatures. remained fairly constant falling to a few degrees below freezing `doming the night and rising to near freezing during the day. C Aller .,air that was rapidly approaching the area failed to penetrate into southern Ontario on Thursday. Upon approaching f1/4he waren waters of the Atlantic a large high pressure system became stationary off the south-. eastern U.S. coast. The clockwise circulation around the center of the high sent mild air from the Gulf of Mexico northward. The effect was to block the -southward progression of the Arctic air. . By the weekend warmer air pushed into the region causing temperatures to rise. Freezing rain occurred Saturday morning when rain fell from the above • freezing layer of warmer air into the below freezing layer of air. The warmer air pushed tempera- tures into the low teens • by Sun- day. The unseasonable mild weather once again eliminated the -week's snowfall accumula- tion. Oncoming colder air produced abrupt lifting of the warm air resulting in a rare mid-December occurrence — thundershowers. Temperatures dropped to below freezing by mid-morning on Monday. . The extended outlook indicates. that the cold air will keep a firm grip on the area for most of the week. Temperatures will be below- normal for much of the week with a warming trend by the weekend; Light snowfall accumulations are likely but no major snowstorms are expected during the, period. • Catrin# hockey letter without name During the past week The Ad- vance -Times received a letter to the editor from a writer in Brus sels. The letter dealt with what is• apparently a highly controversial topic related to the rules govern- ing admissability of players to various -teams in- the Brussels Minor Hockey Association. , Being entirely unfamiliar with the hockey situation in that town, we have no way of knowing how accurate the commentsin the - letter might be. However, the subject is of sufficient interest and importance to merit publica- tion — and responses, if any. Unfortunately the writer asks that his or her name be omitted and therefore we cannot print the letter. We occasionally insert letters without signatures, but only if the contents are of such a nature that there would be 1 general agreement. If the con- ' tents are controversial the signa- ture of the writer must be in- cluded. New books in the library Early Yukon Cultures by Jinn. Cruikshank & Tom Melkioty This book is a must for anyone interested in learning more about Canada's native peoples. Written by a girl who grew up in Wing - ham, Early Yukon Cultures is essentially a text designed for use by the native studefifs—of the Yukon. However the many ori- ginal photographs and illustra- tions along with the excellent commentary make its appeal universal. Miss Silver's Past by Josef Skvorecky Skvorecky tells a spellbinding story of moral corruption and political cynicism in the guise of a love story that turns into a murder mystery. Karel Leden falls in love with Lenka a beauti- ful girl, as soon as he meets her. But Lenka rebuffs Karel's ad- vances preferring instead the company of Karel's boss, a bald- ing, middle-aged Communist party official whose body is washed ashore one night. As Karel in desperation plays detective, hq discovers that the victim insteaof the murderer, is t the criminal. 1