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The Seaforth News, 1955-03-31, Page 2PLAIN HORSE SENSE .. ay F. WOE') VON PIUS The marketing of farm prod- ucts is primarily the responsi- bility of farmers. As the indi- vidual farmer has practically mo bargaining power when.deal- ing wth the big corporations which buy most of his products, farmers must band together for collective bargaining and coop- erative marketing of their prod- ucts, Although this principle has quite generally been recognized, farmers have not been given the atppartunity to put it into opera- tion. POWER TOO NARROW The Ontario Farm Products Act provides for a Farm Prod- ucts Marketing Board, appoint. - ed by the government, with'mar- keting schemes for various com- modities administered by local boards, subject to the approval el the producers concerned. The powers conferred on the Board under the present Act are marrow.The Provincial Board has power to arbitrate disputes, investigate costs and marketing methods, establish price nego- tiating agencies, set minimum prices, register producers, li- cense buyers and processors, and may delegate all or any of these powers to a local board. In practice, however, price 1Sxxing powers are never dele- gated to a local board or even used by the Provincial Board. All the schemes under the Act (about 24) provide for negoti- ation of minimum prices be- tween producers and buyers or processors. If they fail to reach an agreement, they may ask the Provincial Board of arbitra- tion. This process is slow and cum- bersome, especially if processors deliberately delay it. It has hap- pened that before an arbitra- tion board brought down an award, the crop had been har- vested and sold by producers for whatever price they could get. The great weakness of the Act is that "regulation" is simply authority for collective bargain- ing and that it provides no MAGNETIC SMILE—What makes these choppers different isn't a matter of appearance. Their magnetic appeal for prospec- tive wearers comes from small, U -shaped magnets buried in back portions of both plates. Magnets oppose each other in polarity, forcing plates to make o snugger fit with the jaws. Displayed before the Chicago Dental Society, they're design- ed for mouths especially hard to fit. solution to the producers' prob- lem that even when they act together their bargaining power is far less than that of the big buyers. Another weakness of the Pres- ent system is the concentration of all powers h the hands of the government and govern- ment appointed boards. This makes the , system subject to political considerations and may, et times, provoke decisions in- fluenced by political expediency. The only answer is direct marketing by self-governing bodies of producers with con- sumer representation, to be established by separate Acts of Parliament and to operate under the supervision of a Minister of Cooperation. Recommendations. The present session of the Legislature may be too far ad- vanced to re -vamp the whole system of farm marketing and existing marketing schemes may have to get along for another year under amended legislation. However, farm organizations can urge the government to establish a new department to take charge of all cooperative activities including marketing of farm products, and they can be- gin right now to prepare their proposals for new legislation to be submitted to next year's provincial parliament. This column welcomes criti- cism, constructive or destructive, and suggestions, wise or other- wise; it will endeavour 'to an- swer any questions. Address mail to Bob Von Pilis, Whitby, Ontario. Diamond As Paperweight Latest unofficial estimate of the vast fortune of the 70 -year- old Nizam of Hyderabad is that it amounts to about $85,000,000. He owns four palaces staffed by 35,000 servants but leads a life of comparative austerity. The Nizam's jewellery is worth at least 52.5.000.000. He never travels outside India. He goes for a daily drive with his wives, guards and retainers, rarely goes to the cinema and does not possess a radio set. He is often called the world's richest man. Much of his time is spent writing poetry. He usually wears peasant clothes and al- ways eats sparingly. Yet he pos- sesses a collection of gold which includes a table service for 150 people. Since his state, occupying an area of 83.000 square miles, was taken over by the Indian Gov- ernment, the Nizam': powers have been much reduced, but he remains today an important figure and so wealthy that he is reputed to use a large diamond as a paper -weight on his desk. There is sweet music here that softer falls Than petals from blown roses on the grass, Music that gentlier on the spirit lies, Than tired eyelids upon tired eyes; Music that brings sweet sleep down from the blissful skies. —Tennyson. * But what on earth is half so dear — So longed for — as the hearth of home? —Emily Brenta. SH ELD FOR THE UNGODLY Some hapless company of the 80Brd Aviation Engineers Battalion, stationed at Essex, England, will be the far from proud possessor of this shield at the end of the Lenten season. To be awarded to the company having the poorest church -attendance record during Lent, orders are that the shield must be displayed in a prominent place for two. weeks following presentation. Says Chaplain Theodore J. Klein- hans: "We want to instill in all our troops the fear of the Lord. Giving them the devil is only incidental." Toys Are p -to- to NUBw toys displayed at the 52nd annual Toy Fair indicate that m3anufacturers are in step with the times. Typical of the many toys are those shown below. Demonstrating them are Kenneth McKee, 6, and Jill Montini, 5. Kenny provides the sound effects as he fires a "rocket warhead" Based on the Army's mobile atomic cannon unit, the toy has a "target range" of more than 35 feet. The soft plastic nose of the rocket shell is designed for maximum safety. Jill kneels beside her new doll and joins it in prayer. The pajama -clad toy recites 20 seconds of "Now I lay me down to sleep. I pray the Lord my soul to keep. God bless mommy. God bless daddy. Amen." A built-in recording mechanism makes it all possible. Attacked By 3,000 Size and savagery in animals seldom go together. Some of the smallest animals are extremely vicious and practically impos- sible to tame, while large ani- mals are often quite docile. For sheer savagery, baboons take some beating, although they're only the size of a fairly large dog. Capturing them alive alive is a risky business, often more dangerous than catching a rhinoceros of a lion. The efficiency of baboons' col- lective s e c u r i ty organization might well be the envy of United Nations. They are very socially - minded animals, going about in troops sometimes numbering several hundred. The old males rule the troops with Victorian severity, monopolizing all the females and administering cor- poral punishment to the younger members at the slightest sug- gestion of misbehaviour or dis- obedience. These old males are brave, too, and are quick to rally round any member of the troop in danger. They have been known to beat off •even the formidable leopard, sometimes sustaining extensive injuries without retreating. Professional hunters whose job is to catch animals alive for zoos have had many uncomfort- able and dangerous experiences trapping these savage but loyal members of the money tribe. Before a trap can be set the troop must be carefully watch- ed and its drinking pools dis- covered, Then all except one are barred with thorn bushes, To attract the baboons to the remaining pool, all kinds of favourite foods are scattered around. After a few days a bas- ket -work cage made of saplings is placed in position and baited, a long cord being attached to the open door. Soon a troop ap- proaches to drink, and in go some of the members. A pull on the cord, and the door closes with a bang. For a moment the captives sit petrified with terror, then pan- demonium breaks out. Unholy screams from within are an- swered with equally blood -curd- ling yells from without, as the rest of the troop attack the trap to release their comrades, For the hunters this is the crisis. In a short time the trap will be demolished. The would-be res - ad Baboons cuers must be beaten off at once. Sometimes this can be done suc- cessfully. But often the troop will attack and a battle ensues before the hunters are left with their captives. It was on such an occasion as this that a party of hunters came near to losing their lives. The trap had been set, perhaps rather recklessly, in the territory of a huge troop of baboons esti- mated to be 3,000 strong. No sooner had the door been closed on a number of captives than the rest of the troop attacked. To the hunters it must have seemed like a nightmare as the savage hordes with bared teeth and erect manes, and uttering terrible screams, rushed upon them. Despite their firearms and cudgels, their position was cri- tical, though somehow they managed to get away. Then, quite suddenly, the at- tackers transferred their atten- tion to the teap. With concentra- ted fury they flung themselves on it, reduced it to a complete wreck, and departed with their released fellows. Even when the would-be res- cuers are beaten off, there still remains the highly dangerous task of roping the captives and removing them one by one to separate travelling cages ready for their journey overseas. If one should break out, woe be- tide the unfortunate person who meets it. Baboons seem to have an un- canny immunity to poisons. On one occasion a captive baboon escaped from its cage in the hold of a vessel bringing it over from Africa. For three days it re- mained at large, then the hunter in charge and an assistant were lowered into the hold to attempt ' to catch it with nets. As they chased it around the hunter stumbled and fell. In a moment the savage beast was on him, and his legs and hands were badly mutilated be- fore it could be beaten off. Both men were eventually rescued. Poisioning was then suggested as the safest way of avoiding fur ther trouble, and a half-pint of whisky containing enough opium to kill ten men was lowered in- to the hold. The baboon promptly drained the lot -- and showed not the slightest symptoms of distress, Th lih is On Books 3y Famous Writers w y. There is no 'frigate like a book To take us lands away, Nor any coursers like a page Of prancing poetry. --Emily Dickinson. Books have always a secret influence on the understanding; we cannot at pleasure obliterate ideas: he that reads books of sciencethough without any de- sire fixed of improvement, will grow more knowing; he that en- tertains himself with moral or religious treatises, will imper- ceptibly advance in goodness; the ideas which aro often offer- ed to the mind, will at last find a lucky moment when it is dis- posed to receive thein. —Samuel Johnson. Of all the inanimate objects, of all men's creations, books are the nearest to us, for they con- tain our very thoughts, our am- bitions, our indignations, our illusions, our fidelity to truth, and our persistent leaning to- ward error But most of all they resemble us in their precarious hold on life. - -Joseph Conrad. The images of men's wits and knowledges remain in books; exempted from the wrong of time, and capable of perpetual renovation. —Francis Bacon, In Books lies the soul of the whole Past Time . All that Mankind has done, thought, gained or been: it is lying as in magic preservation in the pages of Books. They are the chosen possession of men. —Thomas Carlyle. For books are more than books, they are all the life The very heart and core of ages past, The reason why men lived and worked and died, The essence and quintessence of their lives. —Amy Lowell. The first time I read an ex- cellent book, it is to me just as if I had gained a new friend. When I read over a book I have perused before, it resembles the meeting with en old one. -.Oliver Goldsmith, A book is like a garden car- ried in the pocket. —Arab Proverb. Old wood to burn, old wine to drink, old friends to trust, old books to read. —Alonzo of Aragon. Far more seemly to have thy study full of books, than thy purse full of money. —John Lyly. A good book is the precious life -blood of a master spirit, em- balmed and treasured up on purpose to a Life beyond Life. —John Milton, Books are the treasured wealth of the world, the fit in- heritance Of generations and na- tions. —Henry David Thoreau. Dreams, books, are each a world; and books, we know, Are a substantial world, both pure and good: Round these, with tendrils strong as flesh and blood, Our pastime and our happiness will grow. —William Wordsworth. If a book comes from the 'heart, it will contrive to reach other hearts; all art and author - craft are of small amount to that. —Thomas Carlyle. Of making many books there is no end. —Old 'Testament. Even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written. ' —New Testament. Every' age hath its book. —Koran. If a book is worth reading, it is worth buying. --John Ruskin. • When we are collecting books, we are collecting happiness. —Vincent Starrett. It is with books as with nien: a very small number play a great part, the rest axe lost in the multitude. —Voltaire. Literature is my Utopia. Here I am not 'disfranchised. No bar- rier of the senses shut me out from the sweet, gracious dis- course of my book -friends, They talk to me without embarrass- ment or awkwardness. —Helen I{eller. UPLIFTING WORK—Sitting prettl is Joy Mary Marlow, who ap. pears with the Ganjou Brother acrobatic dance team. Offering the helping hand aboard tht liner Liberte is Serge Ganjou o+ the team. To be a poet is to have a soul so quick to discern that no shade of quality escapes it, and so quick to feel that discern• ment is but a hand playing with finely ordered variety on the chords of emotion: a soul in which knowledge passes instam taneously into feeling, and feel- ing flashs back as a new organ of knowledge. —George Eliot. AND IT MAY, TOO — An unidentified, unreconstructed Rebel chose recent Texas Independence Day' to paint this Confederate battle flag and legend on a blank signboard' in Topeka, Kann