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Home My WebLink AboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1975-09-25, Page 4• fl 1 PAGE 4--GQDERICH SIGNALSTAR, THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 1975 EDITORIAL.COMMENT niy growing pains The water problem lathe Textral Fibres Limited ' plaint in ` Industrial Park is just further evidence of Goderich's bothersome growing pains. The municipality is' plainly and simply developing'More,quickly than services can be provided by. the taxpayers. •At a recent council meeting,, Robert Tease of Textral made it clear to Public Works Chairman Dave Gower and other members of council that his company is dissatisfied with the 'fully 1 service land" on which their plant is located. Mr: Tease claims that when, negotiations for the purchase "of the property were underway, he had beery assured by county and town officials that adequate sewer facilities would be' installed by 1975. Now it is late Sep- tember in 1975, and Mr'. Tease is concerned that the necessary sewer will be delayed much longer than, originally intended. Now he wants more than verbal assurance that the sewer will: be going in within a ,reasonable length of tingle. He wants a written agreement. Councillor Gower hat taken .the Positron that Textral has provided inadequate pumping equipment to handle the water problem at the plant until the sewer is installed. •AccoFding to Councillor Gower,- there is reason- to hope that.the sewer will be completed in.1976 - but that's far from settled and he suggests that Textral take i m Mediate alternative steps to ,provide ;additional pumping facilities to protect their interests .in the meantime, It is all very frustrating :;to Robert Tease who obviously feels the Town of ° Goderich should make . good its Thanks promise to provide adequate sewers and not expect,incoming industry to establish their. own services for property sold as Tully serviced; to Dave Gower and council who feel their responsibility keenly and art eager to, provide the necessary sewers not only for industrial park, but for every part of the municipality where water is a headacheifor taxpayers. There is no easy answer, for it is all a 'question of money ... money gathered from ratepayers already •burdened with payments for necessary " and viable community 'needs. It .is all a matter of catching ups with the development which has taken placeNn the past, and keeping .pace with the development which i§ bound to'come in the future. It is possible that in Goderich's zeal to attract industry and provide jobs for citizens, there has been a tendancy to over -promote the industrial park as was suggested by Councillor, Elsa Haydon. Still it is a near impossible task- to synchronize' the 'arrival of in- dustry with the provision of total services, and no • one should be criticized for .going. out after industry before all the town's industrial corner Was fully developed to the satisfaction of, a I l ,• • The pains of growing and developing - especially in Industrial—Park, "- are worthwhile. What's needed .now is understanding and : co-operation of citizens and industry so that council can get on with the development plan as quickly and as practically as possible. , €J K �EAR EDITOR professions drawing con siderable more. For $6, even at today's in - Dear Editor: fp flated prices, one can buy about I would like to offer my nine quarts of milk, or as many sincere gratitude to the electors loaves of bread, or 3-4 pounds ofbeef, or"almost� eight gallons of of Huron -Middlesex ,, for their gasoline. There might be Some many courtesies to myself and•• items which will not conform to campaign. my aign. during the election . this comparison, but not even houses did go up 500 percent in Regardless of tonight; Sept. price since 1952, 18 outcome, I know that another Assuming now, .that all those chapter '• in tithe process of facts are' correct, a whole Canadian democracy'has'been bunch of questions seem to unfolded according to the present themselves, questions wishes of the electorate. like : Sincerely, Paul Carroll Is it fair, that any profession which' is already considered good middle class, asks for and gets a 30 perter4 raise in pay, Think Cl h0 u t•l t when inflation . overall was - considered to 'be only 10 per - Dear Editor! cent? In a 'news -item a few days Are striking for an ago, we were told that the extra . slice of bread, or just purchasing -power of the because "whatever"? Canadian Dollar has slipped , How fair, in the light of above some' more. Rather discom- facts, are strikes which are forting, isn't it? U - carried out on the public's back I wonder though, whether one (police, transit 'and postal should consider the purchasing- _workers)? power of one's hourly ,rate of Surely everybody, on their "pay instead, and ,compare it to Nrespective picketline, will have computed their personal loss in wages. How many got thinking about how the other half of the world, the hungry half, lives? How - much good could have been done with all that money, which is given up voluntarily? • Are 'all those:strikes really necessary, or should there be a more modern and less wasteful way to settle disputes?• Who, if anyone, is cham- pioning'. the cause - of the minimum -wage earner or that of times gone by. In 1952 for example, $1 pera hour was a widely accepted„ rate of pay. At that time one 'could play about five quarts of milk for that," Of• five loaves of sliced white bread, or two pounds of beef of a medium cut, or some three gallons of gasoline, • Today hourly rates (or Salaries broken , down into Dt 11ars per hour) are $6 or getting .there fast, 'with some fixed-income pensioner? They seem to be the ones who were left behind in the great stam- pede! Are w,e all blaming everybody else, and above all the "Government" 'for our personal shortcomings in economics? Must everybody shove as hard as they can, trying to push the country over the brink? - How recently, if. ever, has • anybody counted his blessings? ° E. Tafeit. , Net minder Dear Editor, A couple of weeks ago while driving on Highway 7 out of Stratford I had to straddle my -car over a • ' black unrecognizable hump on the road. The hump made no rudible contact with the un- dercarriage of my car so I paid no more attention to it. 1alowever, when I was .coming out of a farm lane, the hump disengaged itself from the undercarriage and spread itself along the driveway. It was not ' until I was back at home that the farmer telephoned me to see if I had lost a fish net, and then I knew what the ,hump was. Thefarmer brought it to me at my home, I made what inquiries I could " and watched the papers for a "Lost and Found" ad- vertisement, which' did not appear. The net i>5 a" commercial fisherman's net strung on a• (continued on page 5), IH A >4 affith SIGNAL -STAR —0— The County Town Newspaper of Huron =0 — Founded In 1848 and pti llahed every Thursday at Goderich, Ontirlo. Member of the CWNA and OWNA. Advertising rates on request Subscriptions payable In advance 810.00 In Canada, 811.50 In all coun- tries other than Canada. single copies 25 cents. Second clan mall Registration Number 0718 Adver- tising is sccepted.on the condition tnat, in the went of typographical error,,the advertising apace7Dc- cupled by the erroneous Item, together with reasonable allowance far signature, will not be charged for btri the balance of the advertisement will be paid for It the applicable rate. In the went of a typographical error advertising goods or tiedfices at a wrong price, goods or rvice may not be sold. •Advertleing la merely an offer to sell, and may be withdrawn at any time The Wgnalatar la not respon- albte for the foss or damage of unsbllcited manuscrlpta or photos. Business and Editorial Office TELEPHONE 24-8331 area code 619 Mailing Address: , P.O. BOX 220, Goderich lbrid class' mail registratiten number ---0116 Published by Signal•Star Publishing. Ltd. ROBERT G., SHRIER—president and publisher SHIRLEY J.;KELLER—editor JEFF SEDt3ON---editorial staff DAVE SYKES--editorial staff EDWARD J. BY1?$Kl--advertising manager • '(1n you I(h?IIIlJY Illy time, pkie (lel(! (ecus The' First Canadian Bank, ° to produce one item) advanced The Bank of 'Montreal, said in significantly more than in the its September news letter that United States last years. And it preliminary data indicates that has been that way for several the lengthy decline in Canadian years. economic activity is easing and, Qn the other hand, the that the nauch-awaited turn- Canadian performance . has rrW..s..A around i's in the offing. been substantially better than Good news eh? • ' that of major trading partner's Well, now- the bad news. The abroad. That's primarily news letter continues: because of the exceptionally "Less encouraging,, however, rapid pace of wage increases in have,been"re.e,e.xLt developments countries like Japan, Germany in Tabor Markets for while the and France. unemployment situation ap- The news letter points out the parently has stabilized, the problem this way: high level, of wage increases "Looking at.the recent severe has been leading to con- deterioration ' in Canada's siderable long -run concern."' merchandise trade balance in •. Employment of men,. 25 and fully -processed goods, one over rose for the third con- Suspects that our poor ,,cost secutive month' in July, and performance has been a factor. although total . seasonally "Through the first six months adjusted employment slipped of 1975, the deficit in this area slightly, over 1.8 percent more has swollen by"over.75 percent Canadians were at work than in from the same period two years July, 1974. A good per. earlier to over $5.5 billion, and, fdrniance, all "1things con- only about one-third of.this can sidered, be accounted . for by the auto - With the labor force also off trade situation where ' the slightly in the month, • the -deficit has widened `from 32b0 million to over $1 billion. "With the U:S. recovery likely to bring about significant gains in productivity, and rates of wage increases there ap-, parently lower than in Canada, our,,,, relative unit cost per- formance could worsen further in �.1rirai d into 1976, even taking into consideration the recent weakening in the Canadian dollar. "This tends to suggest a continued large current ac- count deficit, implying, in turn, relatively high interest rates to attract inflows of funds to balance,the nation's book. "Clearly, if the recovery in economic activity .and a renewed round- .of long -run ,broad-based recovery•could•be growth is to be achieved, some short lived if ho-yseholds and moderation is rising wages and businesses elect to purchase costs must be attained as soon seasonally ... adjusted rate' of unemp1oyrnent remained. unchanged at 7.2 percent. Despite this relatively high unemployment rate, the pace of wage increases in Canada continued immoderate in° the second quarter. Negotiated wage 'settlements excluding construction resulted in in- creases close to 19 percent while the increases negotiated in manufacturing were over 16 Percent. There must be a reason for this set of strange cir- cumstances. The Bank of Montreal news letter went on to say that export prospects do not appear good. With the economy picking up, imported goods instead of those produced domestically. And -this could happen: A chart in the news letter showed tlitt the Canadian unit labor costs (that is the costs for labor as possible:" Not being an economics wizard, I dare not make further comment. But one doesn't have to know much about economics to sense that this trend to higher and higher' wage set- tlements must not continue or truly . what Nikita Khrushev said will become fact: that North Americans will be brought to their knees by'their own economic policies. -t- -i- + Last week, I clipped an `editorial from The Wingham Advance -Times which may give some insight into our troubles. The article originally came frtriioLegion Magazine, July issue. Here's what it says, in part: "I can remernber - in the "Dirty Thirties" one of the major fears facing a man or woman was to be poor. The thought of . not having enough money to buy food or to care for the needs of the family caused many a family man to find some kind of work and to save for a rainy day. This sense of responsibility prevented- many , from doing the things they would have liked to do. "But now, in our mad rush down the road of socialism, this work -and -save thinking has taken a beating. Today, all people can think about is enjoy the pleasures ' of •an affluent society. ""If you are poor, you are in • the new privileged, group. You can have' the finest legal advice available, free. You don't have to worry about medical ex- penses. "You can have pre -natal care and medical care through life .rnd right up until and including an' all -expense funeral with the compliments of the taxpayers. All you have to do is become a relief recipient. "You can forget about saving money to have a nice place to IA. The taxpayers will provide you with subsidized housing for little or nothing. "Today -,it is a disadvantage to he middle class. To receive the benefits of our society you need to he poor, or to run afoul of the law in order to receive psychiatric assistance and to receive a free . education without having to meet the requirements set for regular. students. `Imagine the following dialogue between a hard- working man and his em- ployer: "Sir, may I speak with you? I -t is very important." • "All -right. Butmake it snappy. I'•m busy:" `,It's about my salary, I. wonder' if you could see your way' to ive me a decrease- in salary?' "Well, I don't know. I gave you a decrease last year." "Yes sir! But I sure could use less money. I can't live on the large salary you pay me." How much of a decrease did you have in mind?" 'Well sir, if I could have a $100 decrease I could qualify- for a larger and nicer place to live, nearer to the office. I could also have my children's teeth- fixed and we could send our oldest child to college, free. We can't qualify with what you are paying menow." "I don't know. A hundred - dollar -a -month decrease is a 'If I give you a $100 decrease, every, employee in the office will be -asking for less money, and I can't do that." "Sir, I have worked for you for over 25 years. ' 1 think I deserve a $100' cut. With the taxes I have to pay we just can't make it. I need that $100 decrease. My wife has her heart set on it." "Well, all right. I'll give you a $100 cut, but don't tell the others in the office. Tell me, where do you think you can get a subsidized house? Close to the office you say?" "Yes, sir. With that $100 cut we can qualify. It is only a few blocks away. I't has a pool, tennis courts and everything, and it only costs me about one- thir'd of what I'm paying now." "O.K. Brit remember, if your .work slips,I am going to have,to give you an increase." ood race; exciting outcom This election was indeed, a strange •one: People in the know all over the province felt that something was happening during the campaign, but nobody was. prepared to guess exactly what. In retrospect, it should not have been, difficult to surmise that the citizens of this province were fed up with the Bi°g Blue Machine; that the Liberals provided no real alternative: and that a swing to the New Democratic Party was just the clout that was needed to restore some sense in Ontario. In many ways, the Provincial Govern- ment 'under Prehaier Bill Davis treated the people of Ontario like gullible children - telling them one 'thing,, doing •another; giving'with one hand taking with the other; showing one face, hiding quite another. And though the Liberals under Bob Nixon warned that these tactics were too costly and totally ur acceptable, they did not have the kind of concrete solutions to the dilemma for which voters were looking this time around."Only the NDP had the policies that fired the imagination of frightened, weary citizens who had lost faith in the two old-line parties. For the NDP, the gains in Toronto were not only welcome hut surprising. NDP supporters had quite naturallybeen hoping for a break, but when it came they were as flahhergast d as anyone, For the Tories to lose seats was comforting, for the NDP to he'thc victor was river -whelming. In 1'Iuron: Middlesex, Jack Riddell chalked up a solid win. It wasn't ef- fortlessly, however. Mr. Riddell and his Party , workers really slugged it out all through the campaign. They knocked "on more doors and contacted more people than ever.' They worked long, tedious hours. They didn't coast by any stretch of theimagination . They couldn't. They were being dogged by PCJames Hayter and his organization. About half -way through the campaign, Mr. Hayter said 1 ,..:'d nver worked so hard for anything in his life, That was easy to believe. Jim Hayter wanted to regain the seat for the Tories: His co-workers wanted that too. But the time was not right. Mr. Hayter admitted that the feeling across the Riding was that Jack Riddell had -done a good job and deserved to be returned to office. Add to that opinion a definite anti -Davis government mood, and there's :the 'makings of a Riddell win without much doubt. For. NDP Paul Carroll, the school teacher who spouts facts and figures like a computer and has the flair and self- confidence to put it across, itmusthave been a disappointing election. Many people are saying that young Carroll should take the hint and' get out of politics for a while; Mr. Carroll has said he'll be hack. One thing is ,certain: unless Paul' Carroll campaigns with more fervor in another contest, he might as well let someone else carry the party banner. Mr. Carroll has noted with some dismay his apparent loss of -popularity in the Riding. His vote was down. This may be largely due to the fact that in the 1973 by- election, Paul Carroll's was the only familiar face from the. previous contest. Riddell was new; so, in -a' sense, was Don Southcott. The uncommitted vbtel-, then, might very well have cast a ballot infavor of Paul Carroll last time ..., and this tirpe, still uncommitted, swung support to the incumbent. - In all, though, it was a decent campaign in Huron -Middlesex. Many issues were debated by all candidates;. many people were able to express their viewpoints at a time when all parties were listening; much constructive dialogue took place , in the Riding. ]'' Logldng at the map in this part of Ontario - election -wise - there is a solid' Liberal Klock in this section which should give constituents here a strong voice in n. .al W [OOKIN6 BACK ,Till YEARS AGO The contractors''are pushing work on th0 new rink and at present it looks like the ,structure will be completed by the specified time. ,Lover of baseball will be ^-given a good opportunity to see an excellent ., game on Friday afternoon, The Harriston Browns, ore of the best teams in Ontario, • are to meet , the Goderich ,players' on the Agricultural Park grounds. —r This is announced as the last' game of the season and a huge crowd is expected to be in at- tendance. Great . pregtzess hast• been • made towards completion of the House of Refuge on the interior, The plastering is nearly finished and the walls are trimmed with base, skir- ting architraves of, solid and plain character and,.well ,...painted. The plumbing fixtures are now being placed in position and a clean, well -laid- out job has been made. All then• pipes, connections, traps, etc. are exposed and `open. to view on all sides so that there IS no Possibility of dirt accumulating nor any leak or brake occur, without at once announcing itself. In plumbing 'matters the innes of the house will- be mu better• off than the majority of the' townspeople. The steam -fitters are daily expected 'to geCin the radiators and connections. Drains and levelling will be finished .to get the balding- into shape by the, •' appointed time. provihcial matters. Many people are asking how long this minority government in Ontario .will survive. That's difficult to,say, but at this point it is difficult to imagine that any of the parties will be pushing for an early election, The Conservatives will have to mend some fences and realign their party sup- port. The New Democrats should be counting° their blessings and basking in their new role as officiAI opposition. The Liberals, somewhat embarrassed and maybe a little bitter, will want to have' a leadership convention to elect a successor .to Bob Nixon. Surely this three -time loser cannot hope to hang on any longer, especially when there is much evidence to support the belief that had the Liberals had another leader thistime around, they would have been swept into office easily. It's likely then that the Province of Ontario will limp along for some time with present distribution of seats, despite Lewis' claim he's ready for an election any timed if necessary •and there are many citizens who are dbwnright satisfied with the set-up and excited about the progress that could be made under such govern- ment. ' Two things will be worth watching in this government-.' First of all, Premier Bill Davis should be a new man with a new vision of what's best for Ontario. Secondly, Stephen Lewis will have his golden op- portunity to bring about some of the changes in legislation Itis party has proposed and gather even greater voter support for the -next election whenever that will be.' Any way you look at it, the people of the province have had their say ,.. and quite a word it was. Ontario's politicians now should get down to business to legislate fairly and honestly, remembering their° role _is to serve the electors in every sense of the word, Ell YEARS AGO Miss "Skinnings wishes to "thank the choir of Knox Church through the columns of the Signal f"or purchasing a copy of "Golden Leaves" with which to present their pastor Rev. Geo. E. Ross. • We .regret to say that Mr. Mutch, keeper of the county - refuge house at :C. tiritob and father ,of Mr. Joseph .Mutch of - town was taken wih a paralytic stroke last Wednesday evening and is listed in serious condition' at his home. ti During one of the severe electric storms on Sunday the tower of the Grand Trunk Railroad station .,was struck and a large jagged hole torn in the west Side. The slates were torn off . and thrown in .every direction for many yards. After dama•gingn the' roof, the bolt left no further trace of its path of travel. The su mmer tourist season of 191,45 is now a thing of the past. The' few remaining • guests at the Hotel Sunset, the Park. House and the Point Farm returned to their respective homes this week. The season has not been as pleasant for the visitors .nor as prosperous' for the entertainers as some for- mer ones but with all the drawbacks of a cold, wet season many pleasant hours were enjoyed. There is quite a jam --several kinds of jam.in fact -at the Red Cross store on The Square this week. The ladies have been holding a jam and fruit 'shower' for the soldiers on the front, and as 'a result, several different preserves will he sent across to tickle the palates 'of our brave soldiers. The housekeepers of Goderich ;and vicinity are giving their hest, remembering the biblical saying: -"By their fruits •ye shall know them". About 550 jars have already been sentin. SYEARS AGO Reeve Harry Worsell/ suggested in 'council' las Thursday that fireboxes should he placed' in various locatiohs around the town., He noted two examples of Square fires that could have caused less damage had fireboxes been available on The Square. Councillor Deb Shewfclt i°eporled that fireboxes were proven to be a nuisance. "If it saves 15 or 20 minutes at the time'tyt a serious fire it's worth the one or two false alarms a year," insisted 'Reeve Worsell. . Mr, Bert Kempster, a registered, bnefnber .of the Canadian National Institu for the Blind wondfi.rst prize ii the hooked rug competition at the Western Fair, , This is the second year in a row he has won. Mr. Kempster's rug, a •hand -hooked woolen rug, was judged against the work of sighted persons, He has, been making rugs now for five years. Harvey Johnsn,- outgoing president of the` a Huron unit, Canadian Cancer,Society, was presented with a: ertificate of service, last week' following the election of officers of the unit. The Ontario Federation of Agriculture will,'begin selling individual se -vice mem- berships in the ot. •ganization, r