HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1973-08-23, Page 2PAGE 2--GQDERICH SIGNAL -STAR, THURSDAY, AUGUST 23, 1973
Inspiration plus
Goderich citizens this summer saw
one of the most dramatic and inspiring
examples of participatorys democracy
they are likely to see formany years.
That example, of course, was provis ed
by –'two elderly „ citizens of this
municipality, Mr. and _Mrs. Earl tmpey
who donated the Royal MP to the local
police and fire department for water
rescue purposes.'
A man not given to publicity seeking,
Mr.: Empey •had very' little to say about
the reason behind the generous gift by
him and his wife. As simply and directly
• as he could, Mr. Empey said both he and
his wife believed a rescue boat was the
best way to get the most benefit from th'e
money they had to spend. Although har-
dly a wealthy man, Mr. Empey is convin-
ced that sorne lives will be saved
because of the Royal MP and that's
reward enough. for him and for his wife.,
This newspaper has been urging par-
ticipatory democracy for some time -now.
Deputy -reeve Stan Profit often talks
about it, too. Many are agreed that in a
tinie when the municipal money pot is
depleting fast, alternate methods of
financing necessary municipal projects
must be,found.
In a world geared to youth, keeping
youthful and to the promise. of the
young, it is fitting that this truly unselfish
example of participatory 'democracy in
Goderich came- from. a gentleman and
his lady who are perpetually young
despite their advanced years.
It is to be hoped the gift of Mr. and
Mrs. Earl Empey will be regarded by the
citizens of Goderich as it was presented
- with dignity and in sincerity.
Those days are gone
Food prices are sky -rocketing.
Ap-pliance stores are fast running out of
freezers, because consumers are trying
to make sure that they can afford to eat
this winter. They are buying now in bulk
and freezing a good food supply,
especially of meat, before prices rise
even higher, as they seem likely to do.
Consumers are angry• and bewildered
and are looking for a scapegoat. Some
blame; .the • farmers, seeing' them as
modern day profiteers. This is unfair and
just _not borne -out by the facts. The
prices which farmers are getting.. now
represent the first equitable returnl"on
tabour, and capital investment that many
farmers have seen in many years.
As, Murray Gaunt, M.P. for Huron
Bruce said in the Legislature recently
"farmers have a lot of catching up 'to
cio...A look at income tax returns in
recent years shows that except for pen-
sioners, farmers have the lowest average'
income". ' •
Some commentators put the blame for
huge food price, ncreases on our super -
Markets and processing companies.
Certainly there • is no excuse for the ap-
parently common practise an� `many
Toronto stores of making excess profits
by marking up several times food
products which are already in the store
and were purchased at an earlier lower
price.
CBC radio carried an item..the other
night about an editor who was selecting
a T -V dinner at a Toronto supermarket
when the dinner was snatched out of his
hands and marked with a higher price by,
an industrious sales clerk! Of curse the
food industry as well as agriculture has
a right to a legitimate ' profit and to in-
creased prices as a consequence of
their increased costs: But fast buck ar-
tists should be clamped down on and
prevented by strict government
regulation and control. •
Frankly, and depressingly, we have to
admit that there is no cure in sight, just
as there is no scapegoat we can blame
► for food prices that appear to "rip us off'.
We have had huge', but more gradual
increases in other essential com-
modities in the past few years. Remem-
ber when a lovely dress cost $15.00 and a
two bedroom apartment rented for $25 a
month? It was not very long ago, in
Seaforth. Food price increases just have
not kept pace with the, rising cost of
other necessities and we are paying for
many years of "cheap" food now.
There may be an element of panic in
food -purchasing -today that is artificially
pushing up prices: But even When things
settle down, the days of the 89 cent a
pound steak probably are long gone:
-Huron Expositor
Famine looms again
co From all over the world, gloomy
r. reports pour in about the food situation.
The stories invariably are the same.
Some nations are. facing severe food
shortages, and in some regions of Asia
and Africa people are dying of hunger.
The pessimists speak of' the possibility
of famine in a number of poorer coun-
tries.
•Today, these are not merely isolated
reports that appear from time to time in
the columns of the more' ,concerned
newspapers. The United Nations Food
and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the
World Health Organization (WHO), the
-'United Nations Development Programme
(UNDP) and the World Bank all are
issuing warning ,signals.
According to one FAO report, global
grain reserves are down to a mere 29
Million tons, just.., enough to feed
750,000,000 Chinese for a` few months.
Among the causes for , world-wide
shortages are drought, disappointing
'Wheat output ` by Australia, the coni`'
tinuing failure of Soviet harvests, a
shaky grain situation in China, floods in
parts of the United&States, the worst har-
vest in Chile since 1930, and an all-time
low in world fishmeal production.
But there is an additional factor that is
not often mentioned. The fact that too
much food is produced these days not
merely to feed people, but for plain
profit. Some of the world's grain -
producing nations have been paying far-
mers to let their fields lie fallow,have
been paying them not to, grow wheat.
They did this mainly because the global
economy is' not yet geared to distribute
the world's wealth justly.
At present, if the prices of basic food
commodities fall, the poorer nations suf-
fer evenmore than we in the , Western
world. And yet it seems criminal for
Governments to encourage farmers to
neglect their: 'fields when countless
millions are going hungry, when daily,
thousands .starve to death — those
unknown, unmourned poor about whom
one rarely hears on the evening news.
Mankind must build for itself a better
world. Men must have more wisdom,
more understanding. Nations and gover-
nments must cooperate more closely in
order to avoid future catastrophes.
eobcrf tJj
SIGNAL-- STAR
--r)— The County Town Newspaper of Huron
-}—
Founded in 1848 and publishedOvery Thursday at 37 West St , Goderich, Ontario Member of the Audit
Bureau of Circulation, the CWNA and OWNA Advertising r stet on request Subscriptions payable ,n
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typographical error, thatport,onof the adverl,s,nq spice occupied by 0* *rrnnenut item. together
w,lhveason►bleallowance for signature. wilt not becharged for but the balance of the advertisemenl
will be paid for at the applicable rate In the event of a typographical error advertising goods or
services at awrong price, goods or services may not be sold Advertising ,s merely an offer to sell
and may be withdrawn at any 1,me
Business alnd Editorial Office
TELEPHONE 524.8331
arra code 519
Second class mail -registration Number --0716,
Published by Signal -Star Publishing Lid.
ROBERT G. SHRIER---president nd publisher
SHIRLEY J. KELLER.--editor
t . W. SHAW --editorial slaafl
EDWARD BYRSKI--advertising manager
DAVE R. WILLIAMS--advertising representatiire
•
NQ4t FELL -AS, FIGHT
LEAN, wII.LYA ? NO FALSE;
CCUSATIONS, No3TAMPEiDE
CTIGS, NO ICNOR-
-INl THE PUBLIC,
NO TWISTING
HE BYLhLJS
1.DEAR READERS
Everybody's talking about -
the high cost of living these
dans. And-ev.er_ybody's ready to
blame the poor farmer for the
problems of. the consumer,
forgetting perhaps that the far-
mer in -many, many ways is also
a consumer. The eclat. of living
is high for a farmer too.
An editorial last week in The
Listowel Banner brought home
this point especially well and I.
thought Signal -Star readers
(particularly - those from the•
rural community would like to
see what the -Listowel editor
has to say about the whole mat-
ter.
The editorial begins:
"Because . we are all con-
sumers, none of us• are too ec-
static about the present high
cost of -living. However the high
price of meat and other fhod
stuffs has ,had one good spin;
off. It has made a lot -of people
take another look at 'the far-
mer. -
"The man who used to he a
nobody, or worse still the butt
of jokes, has suddenly become a
somebody. Like the 97 -pound
weakling who picked himself
up out of the sand, he is now a
force to be reckoned' with.
"For the first time in
decades, 'the farmer has the op-
portunity to get an honest
return -for-his work.-Agv-a `result--
, he has assumed- status in the
comrnunity. Words like hick,
rube, plow -jockey and sod -
buster are fast disappearing.
All of a sudden we have city-
' slickers dedicating songs to the
farmer. We have sociologists
telling • us that the farmer,
because he can readily see and
appreciate the fruits of his
labor, because he is involved in
a job from beginning to end,
has an enviable occupatioln.
"Now instead of laughing at
their country cousins, we have
city children who boast about
the fact that they spent a week
or so on a farm during the sum.,
mer. And instead of heading for
the beach, many city folk are
looking for farm vacations.
"Yes, times have changed;
and as, meat and bread are
rationed, or disappear from our
grocery shelves, the farmer's
place in- our society will climb
even higher. And why not? Af-
ter all, the fishermen of Iceland
are among that country's hest
paid workers. In 'Russia, a
truck -driver. in the north
receives a salary equal to the
doctor in the city.
"F000lon&_we havg_hen-
•
judr tging people by the cut of
their clothes or the color of
their fingernails. It's high time
we learned that straw hats and
overalls are as respectable as a
business suit and brief case and
the tractor as impressive a
piece of machinery as the
limousine."
* * *
The title of that editorial 'was
"From hick to somebody in one
summer."
in .the same vein, there was
an article in the July issue of
Municipal World which Illso
talks about folks enjoying the
feeling they are "somebody".
That article of Course, is
written especially for municipal
elected officials but it makes a
valid point. it reads:
"A Canadian firm : called
"Speedy Muffler King" which
repairs or replaces worn out
mufflers -,on motor cars frequent
tiv advertises their Service on
T.V.
'The ad shows the owner of
a car needing these repairs
coming with car to Speedy and
.being received there by an`alert
staff of uniformed service men
— eager to get on with the. job.
While the job is being done the
waiting owner has not -been
forgotten. He has a comfortable
chair to ..wait in and .is of-
fered a good cigar to smoke
while he waits. The ad's con-
cluding punch line is not as one -
might have expected, about
their speedy efficient 'muffler
service, 'howtyver praiseworthy
— hut is about concern for 'and
service to the person who
brought' "the car in ` ' and who'
was obliged to wait' and who
will take the car away'when the
job is done. The punch- line is
"a't Speedy you're A.
somebody!:'
"As the ad concludes and the
owner drives away = the
owner is smiling — the service
men line up to wave goodbye.
"Much more thanjust a new
muffler left Speedy's premises.
That was "a car with a
"somebody" at the wheel — a
new friend of Speedy's;
"IDo your citizens 'on
-municipal business — by
telephone t-o'in person — itnow,a
that :you know that ,"they're ,a
somebody?" Have they reason
to feel as they leave that you're
a friendly somebody?
* * *,
.So Mill following up ,the
theme "you're a somebody" 1
decided this week to give vent
•
to two suggestions I've heard
from a few of the "somebodys"
of my acquaintance in
Goderich.
First of all, the question was
asked of me recently why the
municipality did not have twice
a week •garbage pickup in the
summer months. One
homeowner complained that in
the very hot weather, such as
we've been fortunate enough to
enjoy so much of this summer,
the garbageets "pretty high"
by the end of seven days.
I know the answer without
asking, I think. Like most con-
veniences, additional garbage
pickups would mean extra
money, and already the
ratepayers ' of Goderich are
complaining about their taxes.
Some town councillors have
been known to feel that gar-
bage pickup once a week is an
~expemriiture--r-which---wnu hF beT
unnecessary if citizens were
responsible for carting their
own garbage to the Holmesville
landfill site.
People who feel they are get-
ting very little value from their
tax dollars should perhaps take
a reading on the convenience
where garbage alone is concern
ned. Twice a week in the sum-
mer? I agree that would he
ideal if expehke`Was no object.
One other "somebody" ex-
pressed deep bitterness over the
fact that newcomers . to
Goderich have such a terrible
time reading the street name
signs. It is true. You have to be
in a certain sp,ot at a certain
angle to read the dark, dark
lettering .... and `Tor persons
depending upon reading those
markers, getting around
Goderich can be a challenge.
Many, communities are awit-
ching to those large -lettered
yellow. signs which almost leap
out at- , you with • the infor-
mation.
While
travelling through
Georgetown, recently, I noted
very attractive street " signs
which were lit up and served as
attractive lamp posts as well as
street .markers.
There'sone obvious disad-
vantage to these, naturally, and
with Goderich's rather dubious
record in the•vandalism depart-
ment there's little doubt .that
such street signs would soon be
By Shirley J. Keller
broken and worse than the ones
we presently possess.
But if there is some public
spirited body around with com-
passion for Goderich's guests
'and travellers (surely more
citizens than just me still need
the sign posts for getting
around) this project could be
considered for the future.
Notice it has not -been
suggestedthat town council
foot the bill. Not this time
this is the type of project which
Goderich citizens and council,'
could promote together.
.11(111 bizness
Dere Mr. Signal Star:
This hyar shoppin mall us
here about had me an Mandy
Jane all" cerfuse. Yer see I uster
use a big hamer which us called
a mall ter drive fense pos, an
didn see t'cernexshun wit shop -
pin rite off.
Sum o't'kids was, home on
Sunday an they splained it ter
us. They wants dis hyar shop -
pin mall ter drive them mer-'
shunt fellers on t'scfuare to
t'plase whar them'ull com-
mence ter do gud bizness.
T'kids , tells me when they
has ter spend reel dough fer fer-
nitur or startin t'kids ter skul
or Crismus they goes ter Lun-
non "br Kishener or Stratford
cause thyar they kin git a
choice o'colers n'prises an sises
like don't sist 'in Goderich. Me
an Mandy has ter gree cause
most all we byes in Goderich is
our vittles. Mos o't'stuff hyar
in town is too dere or dey ain't
got it an thar ain't no plase ter
leev t:car whilst us walks roun
lukin fer stuff they ain't got
a nyways.
So us Links this mall 'drivin
bizness is a ' gud idea(' if')
t'fellers what sets up shop in
her duz better. Us wunners if n
dey will? Proberly not if n them
fellers on t'square now jist
stops an don fite wit there
prises an chois an gud parkin -
an credit lik dey has in them
big stores in udder plases.
But if n dey stays in bizness
- an..,r} -al-- ud'intr fititr'Mi1ndy
an me tinks dat spendin doe
that goes outer town now mite
jilt stay'.home and everybudy is
beter off includin them mer -
shunt fellers on t'square.
Serely yrs,
Roddie Slattery
l'ri rate ►►tc�nc'r�thi/►
Dear Editor:
It's time to encourage private
ownership of recreation land.
s>In Ontario, there are
26,400,000 acres and about
8,000„000 people. Yet in a sup-
posedly free enterprise
province, about 82% of the
land (21,876,000 acres) is held
by the Province of Ontario.
Most of it is bush, unsuitable
for farming and the Govern-
ment holds it idle. Miners may
stake for prospecting and tim-
ber rights are granted to -big
corporations from -time to time.
But' grants to individuals for
recreation are not encouraged.
We should reverse this
Government policy. With if3-
creased leisure, more Ontario
people want a place . to call
their own. Land, worthless for
mining and worth less than
$10.00 - an acre for timber,
should be thrown open for
recreational use both summer
and winter. Snowmobiles make
even the most remote lands
easier of access. Citizens should
be allowed to claim parcels of
25 to 50 acres upon payment of
a fee of $5.00 per acre with
clear title to be given upon
suitable development Within
three years.
Access by road and rail
would- make these properties
available and proper spacing
and zoning would prevent the
crowding that now' defaces
some of our resort areas.
During the past thirty years,
large amounts of Ontario
bushland have been purchased
by Americans via the tax sales.
Yet present Government policy
.aims to forcing native
Canadians off the land. ARDA
` encourages farmers to sell their
holdings. Then the Government
buys the land to lease it to
other farmers or increases
Crown holdings and 'the gran-
ting of timber licences to big
companies discourages private
use.
A positive policy for
_recreation land would mean
better prospects to our Owns
-.g
_ -- ear futt►te�.
�epresse� are�acTly� Cg son is retiring�°t!t"
rant, road clearing and on the advice of ha'.
development program would an indefinite period;'
provide work for the unem- pllet4
ployed and give more • John 0. 1,a Ai
Canadians a chance to own a and M Street. G"�,
piece of .Canada. utiw.
John C. Medcof. named chic c � lad
the Com
National Bank: It
California, it was .t
recently by Martin
chairman of the
Dsar Editor, tors.
The wartime personnel of Mr. Allan ,eta ,
No. 6 I'I' Dunnville will get Toronto in 1934.!;,
with h�.
together for their 28th annual Goderich
reunion in 'Dunnville on years later.
Friday, Saturday and Sunday,
September 21, 22, 23rd. lease co 1
Highlights will be the annual
'golf tournament, an air show, a
brief service at the Harvard
Memorial in the Cjvdc Centre, a
banquet at the golf club, and
Sunday thorning breakfast.
For further information,
LOkIwi Ii:t
•
70
which stuntYacbt
came intra
ibor
o'clock Mnnda, of
the admiration
visited the bar
stay, She
The
ceedin ptese4t
glY heat a, , • ;
all her appoint
best. The 114ta
parativel SaphO'.�
Y nevv`y���
hull, which is 100'h,,'
and draws 8
Benton ft., w
Harbor, ld'•
yacht hails from C:':
her engine,
was bu lath e
then is 13 tpgs The
sista' of 'an engineer,
hands, and a '
boy. The Sapho j3
with a 3,500
search light andcand
electricity, A G Ibl
points over_ the prow
is another cannon on
miniature one. Last
sapho was rigged
masts and sails'and
sails set carried $1,104
silk. Every evening d,
stay a sunset gun wp
On Monday a p.
' )uld•be passenger
steamer Pittsburg
the hill just as the
leaving the dock • and,
a fluttering of skirts
t icoats and scattering
there was!
The Waltonian lA
ned from their week'r,
Main Station Island
night between 8 and
'after a pretty rough
down the lake, moat
party suffering more
severly from mal de,
:he West street
en presents a
rance today W'
decorations of flags a
toes. There are
rinks to take part in
nament, which is
today and tomorrow,'
six • local rinks. Most
visitors arrived on W
evening and the
players came up on
slow. thimornin,g: Pia
preliminar\ round.of
match commenced tit
sing.
25 YEARS
August 19,
A large gravel•c
machine, .. a ptO
Dominion Road Mai
Ltd., is on ifs
Goderich to the Y.'
district 6n the Alaska
Loaded on two tat
machine was shi.
Tuesday This is tit
Such .machine to goto'
from the Goderich p
A t a meeting
Progressive .Con^
executive for the
North -Huron held at'
on Monday night
were appointed for
national conventionto
at Ottawa September
October 1st and 2nd.
Selected, delegates'
Donnelly, K.C., G
George Feagan and
Haacke, Goderich is
alternates, Mrs. N.
C�lnton;�GeorgeGinal
township and W.H.8
Goderich.
The Goderich Girid
Band took part in
London band tanight, ht
Park on Friday g ,
evidently made a
report of the event to
Free Press says:
ant ;
of the most eleg • ,
bands. was the God,
Band, with their
hats and brown
orange linings." The
says it was one eon
music fests
5 YEAS
August 22,
Emerson's drug
the oldest es' h,'
stores in Goder
41,
doors for the last
I►rt•ilr►Iinn
"tires.
nuct�
18 , `-
Scholfield, Bess
who will send SIL
ur nems
p1Ace 'ailing l�
manent m
reunions. YoUtt
Fns
hl
. Ay n
<.Oln
Crow
, Paul
I
ol
eai
aldols
,the Di
,mpan'
armour
of 26-
36 Cal
Goderic
dent at
g facili
trial P
'1 south
e of 'G
been
mpany
had bet
at thl
Street
Superi
product
olm
ent wi
II opera
vision.
have f
'on,” C
learbor
:id Mr.
was pi
•arborn
ng eml
ompan!
sholm
expect i
ew pia
'••n the
'perat
ial Par
we are
dily
he exp
the nea
olm sa
'es to
ogram
rk site
be abli
!$ diffe
s.
are loot
rn Stee
ontinui
I Mani
aPPoin
the n
WH
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