The Goderich Signal-Star, 1975-11-13, Page 14YA
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PAGE 47–GODERICH SIGNAL -STAR, THUR DAY, NOVEMBER 13, 19
EDITTORIAL COMMENT
Some remembered
In Flanders Fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row.
The traditional ode to the fathers,
brothers, husbands, sons and friends
that fought and died in a war against
the denial of the freedom they
cherished. Farmers, businessmen -anti
laborers, all volunteers and all armed
and shipped to foreign soil to fight an
army of men whose only difference
was the language they spoke.
The war was perhaps unavoidable,
as were the millions of lives it claimed,
but to forget those millions of lives is
unforgivable.
November ,11, Remembrance Day.
One day of each year set aside for
Canadians to take a moment's silence
to remember their fellow countrymen.
Here in Goderich a short service, the
laying of wtt-eaths of gratitude, prayers
for the dead and the living and The
Last Post.
Government offices, most businesses
and the schools we're closed for the day
in tribute to the- dead soldiers. Ap-
proximately 2,000 people of all ages
were given the necessary time to go to
The Square to the cenotaph. About 200
showed up.
To realize the ravages of war one
need only walk to the cenotaph and
readthe names listed on the
monument. Names of people from
Goderich and Colborne and Goderich
Townships. Goderich and area, Lest
We Forget. °
Take ip your quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands, we throw
The torch: be yours to hold it high.'
If .ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep.
Though poppies grow
In Flanders Fields.
Shoddy excuse
County council's eagerness to stay
within the federal government's
guidelines for salaries of employees in
Huron's . various departments is
commendable. But to attempt to hold
-the road committeeto the guidelines,
despite the.fact that negotiations with
,-'the road crew went on October 9, four
days before; the Prime Minister's
announcement on October 13 is
somewhat shoddy and cheap. b •
The, main reason for the argument in
council seems to be that the Huron
County road crew's salaries set the
tone for salaries of county and
municipal employees across the length
andbreadth of Huron. Many coun-
cillors
ouncillors feel that . what the Huron -road
crew gems, everybody has a right to
expect. . "
Even if that has been the criteria for
negotiations in the past,it still has no
bearing in the present. situation. The
road committe,3 made the offer to the
road department workers in good faith
,,at a time when there were no federal
government guidelines. There is no
reason to think the offer: would have
been questioned without guidelines..
According- -to £hai-rman.. _Ralph
,McNichol, the committee felt the in-
- crease was reasonable. County
engineer Jim Britnell reported that
Huron's wage scale for road employees
is the lowest of. any county in Ontario
except ' one... and that county is
presently negotiating at considerably
more. than Huron County road workers
—JS
have been offered. Wardep An-
sonMcKinley told council that
negotiations at tli .time of. year with
road crew are.not u,nusua_ 1. He further
reminded council that if the offer had
been made' to a, union groups it would.
have been binding.
Clerk Bill Hanly, brought the matter
into focus when he recalled union
settlements with, county employees
earlier in the year. The county clerk
said councillors had exercised no
control over these negotiation: Very
likely, council felt it had no control or
like every other employer in .,,, the
nation, was settling as amieibly as
possible for just about anything
requested because ;there seemed to be
no alternative.
Now the government guidelines
provided an out, a bit of muscle and
backbone to be tough. And it, made no
difference that the, offer had _been
made by the road committee beforeithe
guidelines were ever imposed. Council
was grabbing ,at a chance; to be in
control.
The real test in this whole thing is
whether or not the committees of
colint y countr1-have-any power -:—t# -the
road committee is forced to back, down
onthis issue, then the purpose of the'
road committee' is.indeed in question.
In that case, the entire system under
which county council: now functions,
is -in question. 'And that is oneahing few
county councillors.would hate to admit,
government guidelines or not.—SJK<
The printer
The fellows who write and the
fellows who read
Have often forgotten one
fellow they need,
Though reading and writing
were not very much'
Till this fellow came with, his
magical touch.
Then he who would write had
a. reason to try
And he who would read had a
way he could buy,
Then reading grew easy, and
knowledge began;
Began,with the printer - yes,
he was the man. •
Men boost of their freedom,
and often forget a -
The source of their freedom,
the source of it yet.
Where more is the knowledge
the monarch behaves,,,
Where less,is the knowledge
the people, are slaves.
A word that is written one
hand can erase:
A word that is printed can
awaken a race.
And yet we've forgotten the
fellow, I guess,
Who's setting the type or is
turning the press.
Salutes for the soldier, a
wreath for the sage.
Applause for the speaker who
stands on the stage
A penny for poets -who give us
their songs,
But never alone have they
righted our wrongs.
For down in a basement or
back in a room
Are liberty's future and
tyranny's doom.
When freedom is callingithe
summons is heard
Because of the printer, who
gives us the word.
A
the obericry
SIGNAL -STAR
—0— Thi County Town Newspaper of Huron —0—
Founded
0—
Founded in 1848 and published every Thursday at Goderich, Ontario. Member of the l'WNA and
OWNA, Advertising rates'on request. Subscriptions payable in advance 811,00 in Canada, 812,50
in all countries other than Canada, single copies- cents. cents. Display advertising rates available on
request. Please ask for Rate Card No. 6 effective Oct, t. 1975. Second class mail Registration
Number 0716, Advertising is accepted on the condition that, in the event of, typographical erroh.
g advertising space occipied by the erroneous item, together with reasonable allowance for
RI ' ; re, will not be charged for but the balance of the advertisement will he paid for at the
app rate. in the event of a typographical error advertising goods or services a(t.,a wrong
price, g or service may not be sold,'ndvertising IA therely an offer to sell. and may be with-.
drawn at any time. The Signal -Star is not responsible for the loss or damage of ulsolicite
manuscripts or photos.
Bus1011 irs and Editorial Office
'ffi EPHONE 524-8331
aria code 1519
Mailing Address:
P.O. BOX 220, Goderich,
Second class 'mall registration number --07$
Published by Signal -Star Publishing Ltd,
ROBERT G. SHRIER—president and publisher
SHIRLEY J. KELLER--editor
JEFF SEDDON—editorial staff
DAVE SYKES--editorial staff
EDWARD J. BYRSK I—advertising manager
Tim) h,sofl
By D,ve Sykes
,f
DEAR READERS
•
;The mail strike continues.
Canada's postal workers
insist that the government
tan come up with more
money; the government
bargainers stand pat. That's
the situation to date... and
from the look of things, it
could remain that way for a
while.
Reports this week hold little
hope of a settlement before
Christmas. Earlier this week
I was in London and
overheard a conversation
outside a greeting card store
• in a mall there.
Storekeeper: "Got your
Christmas cards yet?"
Customer: "No. I've been
rejoicing that I won't have to
send any this year, •with the
postal 4'trike on.'°
Storekeeper: "If you buy
your cards here, I'll take
them to the States and mail
tl ,em" for you to friends and
relatives in the USA or other
parts of the world. No
`charge."
Customer: "Hey, that's a
great idea."
• Storekeeper: "Well, I had
to think of something, I've got
so many cards in stock, I
have to think of ways to get,
rid of them."
Customer: "Well, I'm not
going to mail any cards this
year. I'm going to use the
mail strike as my excuse.".
Storekeeper: ,"If you know
of anyone who wants to send
greetings to friends in other
countries, send them down
here. Spread the word.".
Customer, waving his hand
and leaving: "Sure thing.
But as fat as I'm concerned,
the Strike can go on for a
while yet. I don't have to mail
cards this C1gristmat, and I
;iny hills 5o I'1l have
lots of money to spend on
Christrnas gifts. Best thing
that's happened in years:"
The customer in that card
shop was only one example,of
the Canadian outlook.., not
only about the postal 'Strike
but about many other things
including Christmas.
Unfortunately, for the postal
• workers in particular... and
for' Canada ingeneral... this
attitude is all too common.
The mail, to this customer,
is a one-way service. It only
serves to bring bills and
problems to the door. It
doesn't provide a means to
deliver greetings and news.
not to mention payment of
accounts, to othexs.
Selfish? Indeed. But also
short-sighted and destined for
econoi is disaster. How
many other unwise
Canadians will be tempted to
spend 'their money on
Christmas gifts instead of
putting it aside icor the
payment of legitimate ac-
counts?
Businessmen are un-
doubtedly finding more and
more people using credit
cards during the mail strike.
Consumers are expecting
several. weeks, perhaps
months, of free money before
the mails get going again and
the, bills start rolling in.
Another example of short-
sightedness which could lead
to untold hardships in the
months ahead for everybody.
Incidentally, I found the
statement on 'sending
Christmas greetings by tlfe
aforementioned customer,
most interesting. As one who
has long since freed herself
from the burden' of ad-
dressing mounds and mounds
of Christmas greetings, many
of which contain little more
than a dutiful signathl're, I was
intrigued by this person's
delight at' not having to, send
Christmas cards this year.
It just proves my theory
that Christmas cards are a
racket... a commercial
gold mine that catches un-
willing peolfle in its senseless
grip, giving them a false
impression of Christmas and
the Christmas spirit. -
Same people, of course,
send Christmas greetings
with love and joy. The verses
are sincerely rheant; the
cards are willing and
cheerfully purchased, signed,
addressed, stamped and
mailed.
But for the great majority
of people, Christmas
greetis are an expensive
annual duty.. like taxes.
They are, concerned about
missing no one lest someone
should get the wrong im-
pression; about sending only
the very hest greeting cards
sous not to look cheap; about
returning all greetings which,
arrive for them, whether they
know or care about the
recipient at all.
Not much Christmas spirit
about that... and a fine way to
turn people off Christmas and
away from its true meaning..
But more 'about 'that some
other time.
+++ •
Speaking of the postal--
striiCe, it is gratifying for the
staff of this newspaper to find
that subscribers are pleased
to receive their Signal -Stars
despite the strike.,. and are
worried when they aren't on
time, ,
So many times, the em-
ployees at the Signal -Star
hear only the negative
com`inents... about the weekly
rag and something called the
seven -three journal (seven
days to produce and three
minutes to rehd).,
Since .the mail strike, this
BB.Shirlei J. Keller
newspaper �; has
deluged...literally... by calls
from readers who want £o.
know if they.have to pick up
their Signal -Star or if it will
be delivered as last week:
Tffe 'gills in our front .office
tell us that on a Thursday
morning, they handle dozens
of telephone calls and in their
usual courteous manner they
reassure 'people their papers
will be delivered (rhaybe a
day late) by hired couriers.
Last week, one of the girls
learned that the lady on the•
telephone absolutely needed
her paper on Thursday. She
couldn't wait until Friday
because she had to make up
her shopping list from the ads
in the Signal... and she
heeded time to study the
newspaper before her
husband took her -shopping.
Proof positive for the 'ai'd-
vertisers that p"eople do
appreciate their weekly
spa'ce... and a pleasant
reminder for the staff at the
Signal that our work her is,
valued by at least one lad in
Goderich..
Not long ago, the publishe
of the Signal -Stat, R.G.
Shrier, clipped an editorial
from The Observer and'
Eccentric (Michigan) en- •1
titled "This is your
newspaper". The postal
--strike here has reminded us
• ( continued on page 5)
been
DEA [OhlOV
�.4
Lapd custodians
Dear Editor,'
W,e, as farmers are
custodians of our land, one of
the most precious resources
that we have. In this country
we are tremendously wealthy
in terms of natural resources
of all kinds and have a very
small population in terms of
land dimension.
There are many places in
the world where land was not
husbanded correctly over
generations and they have
found it necessary to rebuild
land to the capabilities of
producing 'food to sustain the
population.'
Who is going to ' control
farmland -in the future? If we
agree that it should be left in
the marketplace then those
•with.�the,top dollar are given
the right to decide the
allocation of land.
A great many people will
not have that right. A land
tenure committee of the
National Farmers Union is
gathering information on
existing forms of land tenure
in the'Provinces and in U.S.
Some of the questions to be
answered are: Who is going
to control food producing
land? Will if be the oncoming
youth as farmers? At what
cost? Will that cost mean that
young farmers . can only
operate as a type of tenant
operator (in effect) because
of high „ interest on capital
r'equired2 a
G, Austin
Neel theatre
Clear Editor,
Last night I attended a
performance of Brigadoon by
students of Goderich District
Collegiate Institute. "
They put on a. fine show -
fast, gay, well 'paced and
disciplined -- which the•
audience enjoyed to the ex-
tent of giving the young ac-
tors and musicians a standing
ovation.
- I could not help thinking,
though, how much better the
whole thing might have been
if it had not been necessary to
stage it in a gymnasium.
Here's hoping the school,
and the community, may
soon get a proper theatre with
fixed seats, sloping floor, and'
adequate facilities_ for the
performers.
Sincerely,
Borden Spears
._ __ Toronto
again of some of the truths in
'that editorial,
In part, the editorial said:
"Our overriding purpose is
to provide stories and ser-
vices our readers need and
desire, in a manner that is
entertaining as well as
meaningful to them. This is
ever important because a
hometown newspaper, after
all, is a pers'onifi'cation of all
the residents. Each reader is
a "stockholder" because he
,or she, more' than anyone
Out of reach
Dear Editor':
As .some people are trying
to reach me and a few others
may simply.wonder what has
become of me lately, it is
perhaps sensible to make it
known that two weeks ago I
had a rather major operation
in a London hospital, I am at
home now, but having had
hysterectomy (not really of
interest to anyone at all, but I
like to keep all stories on the
right track) there are some
stages of recovery to go
through and some medical
instructions I musffollow,
While I am well satisfied
with the progress of my
recovery, I -am annoyed that
the whole thing keeps me, for
another , couple of weeks,
from a number of useful and
interesting activities. It also
keeps° me from being
available over the telephone
for another week or so.
However, I' am keeping in
touch and i,thf'ormed, although
during 'the month of
November I must be 'out„oil
active circulation.
Yours "impatiently",
Elsa Haydon.
fi
Do you
havea beef?
Tell it._to the
Signah..Siar!
wn
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