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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1976-11-04, Page 16P 4--GODERICH SIGNAL -STAR, THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 1976 We're part of it News last week that Textral would be closing down its plant in Goderich was greeted with surprise and dismay by many people in Goderich. Theioss of jobs for'30 people and the der ise of an industrial newcomer to Goderich, .will take its toll in the community. There`s a psychological. effect, too, which is -even more difficult to measure: This,neWspa per indicated some of fhe problems encountered by Textral in an editorial last 'spring. Robert" Tease, manager of the local plant, told the Signal -Star at that time that Tess ex,pen$ive imported' fabrics were killing the Canadian textile mill's. He said the*textile- industry here was just getting too tittle' of the -domestic market and that Canadian textile factories were folding left and right. The editorial pointed outtwo things: first, the need for Canadians to pur- chase only `those articles produced in Canada; and second, the danger that • • Canadian jabot' is pricing itself right out of the marketplace.. It is unfortunate that, Textral has been a victim of circumstance, for that is precisely what has • happened. Yet there are •4essons to be learned here and :Goderich -residents should study the situation careful and completely, Textral closed because it is' part of the textile industry"in Canada which is - unable to' compete with • the textile industries of other nations. Some of the problem is the ,cost of labor; some of it is,the attitude of labor; some more of it is- the unconcern of the shopper. Textral is not an isolated .incident; Goderich and area people are not an, • isolated example. Textral • and-. Goderich are part of the whole economic • scene . and it. is time everyone ev ywhehe came to thesfuil realization f ',at what happens here in Canada is a personal responsibility for people all .across this nationTo accept and to sharp. —SJ K • Will you remember One .week from today . will be` Remembrance Day. November 11 is a time to think about the sacrifice made by the men and women of thi.s .country -who gave :their lives so that others might live in peacsaand freedom, It is a necessary time, a proper and fitting tribute to thousands. Also on November 11, schoolchildren will not'attend classes. Some- workers will not be at their jobs. They will have a.day off tb pl.ay,"to rest, to rake leaves, to put on.the .storm windows, to take up the geraniums, to watch .television: There .might not' even be-- time,. to remember. . Just when or Why Remembrance .Day turned into a • holiday doesn't matter. What does : matter is that the new format may be far less- ' effective than ' the old one . . . as far , as remembering thedeadof two wars is concerned. School children no longer march to .the cenotaph with their teachersand their classmates to hear the.. mournful trumpet and bow their heads in silent. recollection and gratitude. Few offices and plants shut down at 11 a.m. for . a five 'minute "break" for the purpose of offering a quiet prayer for this great land and the valiant warriors who helped to preserve it, and then -go• back` to work with a new sense of pride. Next week When the annual cenotaph service is held, there will be the hand- ful of dedicated Legion members and a few other interested persons .who -will bravethe cold November morning to. - attend. Some other. s around the town • will stop what they are doing andthink for a time, about the battles won. the lives. lost. In general,though, itwill be Gust another day .. Nand for someit will be a holiday. Where will you be? What will you, be doing? SJK Lgt'$b.thOse tickets It . will ' be a big night ' Friday, - November 26 when • the Sports Celebrity Dinner is held. Judging from the advance publicity; the en- tertainment that evening will be top notch for those :men. and women who enjoya good meal and 'some fine after- dinner speeches. . The committee planning the event ° hopes this Sports Celebrity Dinner. won't be the last: This first one is, of course, designed to raise funds for the arena renovations....But'a far-sighted' committee • realizes that a ' Sports Celebrity Dinner could be a. real plum for Goderich an opportunifi to raise money from time to time easily and enjoyably for sports and recreation in town. The biggest threat to a' successful undertaking anywhere is'sti•il apathy. People don't always get excited about a. community •effort, even for such a worthy .cause as the. Goderich •Memorial Arena .which is useful to citizens of all: ages and interests. All too often people will let an opportunity fora fun outing topass, simply because they dare so little .a • ut what's going on in their town. The committee p anning the Sports Celebrity Dinner,is ha ing quite a time selling 250 tickets at $40 each. Forty bucks is a fair bit of money to layout for a dinner, you say? True, but it is a real bargain when one considers that included in•the price of the ticket is a gala evening such as Goderich has never .seen; a generous donation to the municipality's . non-functional arena and community centre; a tax receipt to help .out at income tax time; and a bountiful dinner to boot. For those vvhofind it difficult. to -put together forty dollars cash all at one. time, the committee -suggests four post-dated cheques for .$10 each! Now there's an offer that can't be beaten. Some guys'. may fear . difficulty getting out- of -the. house without the little woman. No need to panic. The committee is hoping that lots of the fellows will bringtheir wives, for the Sports • Celebrity Dinner will be a chance for the men to show their ladies a supertime, right here in Goderich. The special guests -at Goderich's upcoming Sports Celebrity -Dinner are all fabulous entertainers as well as sportsmen They are all in demand on the public appearance circuit and`they are coming to Goderich because they have been invited to help this com- munity out of .a bind. The committee has spent long hours and plenty of. their own money and influence to put. together a group of celebrities that will attract an appreciative audience: Let's go Goderich. Let'sdo ourselves a- favbr and show- that community spirit is alive and well in this town. Let's get behind the committee and, support this celebrity dinner. Let's give a real . welcome to „the sports celebrities who -Will be coming here later this month to entertain us, and ` prove.their efforts on our behalf are 'truly worthwhile: - .SJ K they plantidi rt fi1llre of Boderich Dr. Iain Todd is president of . the Ontario . Medical Association, and judging from a release received recently, it would be safe to say that Dr. Todd is annoyed. In his one page brief, Dr. Todd -made it perfectly clear that he did not agree at all with R. Alan Hay's 'statement :that doctors admit to hospital and treat many patients at great public expense •for ailments that •do not need such expert care. R. Alan,Hay is executive director of the Ontario Hospital Association and if readers will' recall, Mr. Hay has been fairly out -spoken about the subject of the doctors' contribution to the - steadily increasing health costs in the province of -Ontario. -Mr. Hay -suggested the fee-for-seryice systein ,,gives doctors the incentive, to prescribe more hospital care. and services than are really required. Of coures, R. Alan Hay isn't the first person 'to make this suggestion which has so irritated Dr. Todd and probably many' other members of the Ontario Medical Association. Patients the province 'over have been asking questions about OHIP and doctors' fees, and for- ming, similar Conclusions as they have watched the health care bill soar upwards in recent years. It has even been suggested in this column that in . some . instances, doctors may well abuse the system which pays each and every time an OHIP card-carrying patient . sees the doctor, no matter where or for how long. Now- Dr. Todd is em- iphatically denying that doctors admit patients to hospital unnecessarily so they can assess fees :And who can dispute it? To do so would be like- ' • conderrtning Motherhood .... although 'in many cases today, motherhood isn't held in the same respectful position it once enjoyed; Dr. Todd says that doctors could earn higher fees treating patients out of the hospital. 13y Dr. Todd's own calculations,' the family doctor is paid through 'O);IIP $6.75 for an office visit; $12.50 for a home call; and .$4.50 for a hospital visit: If Dr. Todd's rates , are. correct - and I assurrse they are -. it does indeed appear that :a doctor could make an extra •$2.25per visit if the • patient came to the office. READERS How then, woulda doctor possibly benefit from having a patient in hospital - unless perhapsit would :be possible (maybe even desirable?)' to drop in on a patient daily fora. little look. Could be that three minutes would suffice in the hospital at $4.50 when it would take ten minutes in the'offibe for only $6.75: If •a doctor was ' lucky (and now Ham, being factitious I know) he could visit three patients in 10 minutes at the hospital and make $13.50 ... double what he stood to make seeing one patient in his office. One could even carrythe argument further.. One could say that when a patient is in hospital, a doctor may call on him daily. The doctor is in the. hospital, anyway. Let's say the doctor calls on the patient five days in a row for three minutes each day. The bill is $22.50. It might be verydif- ficult toget that same patient to come. down to the office five daysin succession ;where the bill would . 'be only $10 more: Chances are the patient would come to the office' twice -at the most three times. That's money and time lost. NO, in this sense Dr. Todd's argument ' doesn't hold up. For if as Dr. Todd suggested, the doctor doesn't hospitalize patients unnecessarily because the doctor earns higher feestreating patients out of hospital, one would ,naturally suspect that doctors wouldbe eager to make house visits at $12.60: ashot, getting close to twice. as much as could . be earned . seeing patients at the office! And most patients anywhere in Ontario.can attest this is NOT . what happens. In fact, Dr. Todd chose a dangerous point upon which. to build a case for the medical profession in Ontario. " What Di .:Todd• probably intended 'to show in his release was that doctors are not as con- cerned about fees as th6y are about patients....but there are just too many loopholes in his argument, witnessed . every day ,by men and women who have,...nagging doubts about thephysicians withwhom they come in contact. -` Doctors are human, • and some doctors are not . *)Cove_: manoeuvering their practices to obtain the greatest financial benefit from the present - fee-for--ser`ee system. That" fact must be admitted. Fortunately for the people of this province, however, the Medical . profession is generally dedicated to . the care and treatment of the sick, and to the prevention of disease. And for this, Ontario -residents and 'OHIP sub- scribers alike must be grateful. ' In his brief Dr. Todd went on to list three im- portant factors which, . he said, ' "mitigate against doctors admitting patients to hospital unnecessarily". The first is the common. sense of patients who, ac- cording to Dr. Todd, are too sophisticated to accept blindly' thepoor judgement of an unethical- physician. This. is an acceptable point, for it attaches some responsibility to the : patient as well as supportingwhat has already been said - that there are some "unethical" doctors around." Secondly, according to Dr. Todd; there's the .pressure of sick people for use of the limited hospital facilities in.,, the community._ We've . all seen how that works in busy hospitals and we can readily agree . with. Dr. -Todd there always seems to be room for the really sick: But • then, (continued on page 18) 1 �ht ioatrith SIGNAL. STA L .- .The County Town Newspaper o1 Huron Founded in 18:16, and published every Thursday at Goderich, Ontario. Member of the CW11A and OWNA. Advertising rates on request. Subscriptions payable in advance 112.00 In Canada, $15.50 to U.S.A., 120.00 to a0 other countries, single copies 25 cents. Display advertising rates available on request. Please ask for Rate Card No. 7 effective Oct. 1, 1976. Second class Mail Registration Number 0716. Advertising is accepted on the con- dition that, in the event of typographical error; the advertising spare occupied by the erroneous item, together with reasonable allowance for signature, will not be charged for but the balance of the• advertisement will be paid for at the applicable rate. In the event o1 a typographical error advertising goods or service's at a wrong price, goods or service may not be sold. Adi ertising le merely an offer to sell, and a be wunsolithdritedawn at any time. • The Signal -Star is not responsible for the loss or damage or photos. Published by Signal -Star Publishing Ltd. ROBERT G. SHRIEK president and publisher SHIRLEY J..,KELLER — editor EDWARD J. BYRSKI -- advertising manager • Business and Editorial Offige TELEPHONE 5244133i area code 519 Mattis Address: P.D. BOX 220, Goderich Seeond class "Moil registration numbefr-6716 ' Does killing follow AR EDITOR human beings should live or die is quiteevident and quite frightening. Dear Editor: _ Hindmarsh, Huron Planned .Parenthood, states in his letter of October 2.8th, that what is truly immoral is forcing a woman to bear an. unwanted child or into some back -alley abortion shop. Does it `follow then, that truly :moral is killing an unborn child? Since there is much evidence to prove that a new.life begins at conception; it is necessary to change the value of a human life to make taking the life of an 'unborn child justifiable. '..The danger of one group of I believe:that if Huron '. Planned Parenthood receives public funding,it has an obligation -to the public to make known its policy on abortion (the, act of bringing forthyoung prematurely). Sincerely, Mrs. John. Austin Point clarified Dear Editor: Regarding: Mr. Barney's letter concerning the recent : report on a Baha'i' meeting stating that• "death re6.11y does not exist", I would like to briefly clear up: any misunderstanding. As the article wasnot printed in its entirety itwasn't explained that, of course, physical death is very real; but that there is ',part of man that is "not • composed" and therefore cannot cease. to exist. The purpose of earthly existence is, therefore, ' to ' enable man to develop through the experiences of joy and pain, through struggle, achievement and well -directed activity, those spiritual ,qualities of love, purity, humility, selflessness, truthfulness," wisdom, faith and seryice to humanity, that will constitute his life in the realism of eternity. All the great religions teach the continuity of existence and that the soul or.reality, of man is . immortal. An in- creasing body of 'scientific opinion too, as weli,r,,as the evidence of• the Physical Research Society, confirm the Baha'i teaching that the soul_ continues its life, and activity after its separation from the physical body, in a new,dimensign removed from time and spade. Thus set free, its feelings will be more powerful,its perceptions greater and its happiness increased. Sincerely,' Phyllis Durst. RR2, Clinton. Skirted issue Dear Editor, • . . Mr. Hindmarsh, in replying to Mr. Reid's letter, did not address himself to the issue but spouted the well used questionaguments. central issueble isarthat the fetuThes (offspring) is human life. I will only bring to memory the words, of Psalm 139:6; "thy eyes'. beheld my (continued on page 18) 40 YEARS AGO The opening of Assize court before Mr. Justice Nicol Jeffrey on Tuesdaysaw a crowd of spectators; wit- nesses and officials, the majority of whom were in the courtroom for the trial of Mr. Robert S. Fletcher and Gordon Mactatin, Toronto brokers involved in the shortage of John J. Huggard, former' Seaforth lawyer, bonvicted ,of theft of $150,000 in securities from his clients. The vetdict carne through, • LOOKING BACK and each was given five year penitentiary sentences and unpublicised fines, estimated to run over $50,000 each. October 29 is a day that will be .remembered by sailors on Lake Huron for a long time. Although the weather forecasts' were for "fresh Westerly gales"., they were not prepared for the near hurricane that came up suddenly about noon. While Goderich has been free of any .contagious diseases lately, Holm esville and district are in the midst of a scourge of scarlet fever. Eighteen cases have been reported and all public schools have been closed as well as public meetings .cancelled, Unable to raise the $165 fine and •costs incurred about a $40 • horse 'and litigation over the nag, Leslie MacLeod, Nowick Township farmer, walked into Goderich tb" serve three months lit jail. The case was up in some form or another at least 20 times. MacLeod lost his -farm and chattels in the process and now winds up in jail. FIVE YEARS AGO. Hallowe'en in Goderich was well celebrated on Saturday, evening as an estimated crowd of . 125 to 135 young people gathered on The Square throwing eggs, setting fires and .turning on fire hydrants. "This Was the first year that Hallowe'en crowds gathered in such a con- centration on the Square," Goderich Police Chief Fred 1V1inshall said. "Mostly they were throwing eggs at anything that moved . in - Chief Minsall termed the events that sok place on Hallowe'egi,„)•• "an utter disgrace to Goderich". Goderich Town Council agreed unanimously last evening by a recorded vote to suppartJ. Harold Walls, town' clerk, in his refusal of a buildingg permit for Lake City Home Centre for a building on Christina Court. All eligible members voted on the (natter, except Ed Giesbrecht away on vacation and Deb Shewfelt because of a conflict eluding themselves." Police of interest.