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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Seaforth News, 1949-03-24, Page 7THURSDAY, MARCH 24, 1949 THE SEAFORTH NEWS Thos. Pryde Speaks In the Ontario Legislature 1 The following is the text of the speech made in the Ontario Legisla- ture at Toronto by Mr. Thomas Pryde, M.P.P. for Huron, on March 16. Mr. Speaker, before 1 start my re- marks this afternoon, I wish to pay tribute to the memory of one of our members who so suddenly passed to his reward and whose earthly remains are being laid to rest this afternogn. It was a privilege to have known Walter Reynolds. I regret his death and I' extend, to his wife—that kindly lady whom many of us knew -• MY sincere sympathy. I think I can say this of Walter Reynolds—to live in the hearts of those we leave behind is not to die. I want to say, Mr. Speaker, at the outset, I have listened very attentive- ly to the speakers oil both sides of the House and have been impressed with many of the arguments of the hon. members opposite. Some of the criticism has been constructive and. fair,most of it expressing the honest convictions of the speaker, but em- phasizing mphasizing the difference in political; thought between the official opposi- tion . and the other parties of this House. For this purpose I do not include our friends of the L.P.P. be- cause I believe they are in a class by themselves. The approach to most of our prob- lems by the hon. members of the Op- position is from the top down, in ef- fect to set up a government with power over life and death, and it will tell us what is best for us; that ie tbo state 15 supreme. I need not mention specific instances where this argu ment has been advanced, because I think • socialism means just that. There are many services ,the State must, of necessity perform, but there is a '.limit beyond which they shojild not go, and this is where we com- mence to disagree. Men's most cher- ished possession is individual lib- erty. This is a priceless heritage, a heritage we" have gained through the sacrifices of our forefathers, who for the preservation of individual liberty, endured hardships and sacrificed, not only : material' wealth, but life itself. Here.. in Canada we know Oro master save the laws of the land; laws en- acted for the protection of pro- perty and individual liberty; laws thrust upon us by dictators, but en - acted by legislators of our own choosing, Today there are in Canada those who hold up to ridicule these estab- lished principles; Who scoff at the virtues and the sacrifices of the men and women whom we Canadians revere as builders of our nation. Those unworthies who abuse the hos- pitality and protection of our insti- tutions deserve the contempt of every right-minded citizen. We must not, however, harbor hatred against the misguided ones. Rather, let us con- duct ourselves as becomes citizens of a free and enlightened country. This government, being composed of human beings, is not infallible, and, of course, the opposition parties nat- urally, wish to point out the mis- takes. Frankly, it seems to me as if we, on this side of the House, see a great province, offering tremendous. opportunities to our people if they have initiative and the will to work. While, on the other hand, if we listen to some hon. members opposite, it would appear that this is the most backward, unprogressive land in the world—where everything is wrong and we are a retrograde people. This is a rich province with bound- less opportunities and, if we care to look around, we can see men at the top in almost every f life — l v er industry, commerce, government, who have started with nothing, or very little of this world's goods, and today have reached the top. Mr. Speaker, the same opportunities still exist for those who have the will. Still, there are those in our midst, who, through circumstances beyond their control, do not have enough to procure the bare necessities of life, and I believe that all members of this House are concerned about those people. I think, first, of mothers who have been left without the aid of a husband to raise a ;fancily. It was with satis- faction that I heard the hon. Minister of Welfare (Mr. Goodfellow) say that greater sums were made available last year. I hope in our budgeting, still greater assistance will be given to these mothers, so that their children will have an even chance in the race of life. The Mothers' Allowance Act is a worthy piece of legislation and has not yet reached the limit. Pensions to aged people, which are not contributory, is quite different. The present Old Age Pension: is just a hand-out, but it is not so regarded by the general public. 1 am in favor of the $10.00 provincial bonus being paid to everybody across the board. However, I hope the day is not far distant when we will have a contrib- utory plan, making pensions available to all our people when they are un- able to earn a living because of age. However, let me say a word on behalf of the many thousands of tax -payers in this province who have worked hard all their lives to provide for their own old age. I speak particularly to rural mem- bers this time. Rural members know full what that our towns and villages are made up, principally, of retired farmers, who gave up farming, moved to town and expected to live on the interest de- rived from their life savings—in many instances less than $16,000.00. At present day rates of interest, that is less than $450.00 per year. That is what many people life on, augmented by some help from the farm and the produce of their gardens, and now drawing on their capital. Alongside of this aged couple, an old age pensioner and his wife may live, drawing any thing from $720.00 to $960.00 a year. Believe nue, I don't for one minute suggest that an old age pensioner gets sufficient to live on at $30.00 per month and, personally, I have no hesitation in asking the Minister to consider an increase where circum- stances require it. Better still, I hope a contributory plan will soon come into being. WILL 17 7 E KILLEIi PO During the past 15 years 9,567 persons have been killed and 170,000 injured in motor vehicle accidents in Ontario. If the present rate continues it is estimated that the same number will be killed and quite as many injured in accidents on our streets and highways within the next 15 years. The Department of Highways, the police and other organizations and agencies are working to reduce this needless waste of life, health and property. But the final solution of this problem is Yours—the drivers and the pedestrians. YOU AND ONLY YOU CAN STOP ACCIDENTS. Accept your responsibility- as a citiyen and do your part each day to make highway conditions safe. CHECK YOUR 5RlVING TODAY Whitt i'syourhonest rating an the following test? DO YOU ALWAYS- 1 Exercise good. judgment. 6 Keep your mind on your when driving? driving? 2 Make sure the road is clear 7 Signal when stopping or ahead before passing? turning? 3 Stay in your traffic line? 8 Approach intersections cau- tiously? 4 Keepalert for what other drivers or pedestrians may 9 Avoid passing on curves do? and hills? 5 Come to a full stop at a through street? 10 Take extra care in the pres- ence of pedestrians? DRIVE AS 700 WO iD N4 VE OTHERS DRIVE ON1TM 1O DliPARTMENT Oi HMI -WAYS GEO. H. DOUCETT M1Nisuit What I want to' emphasize is this: n even n -cont 'with a no r�rbutor y plan, a et balance must be maintained between those who pay and those who receive. ' Let me tell .you I am speaking on behalf of many thousands of our citi- zens who have labored hard through- out their lifetime to provide for their own old age, and have denied •them- selves many things to save enough to. keep them in their declining years.' I have said a word for our older people. Now let me say something for our younger ones—the men and wo- men who will lead this country in the future. Education has been the subject of much discussion and a great deal of criticism' has been levelled at the Government in this respect. Some of it has been just—much very unjust. Statistics and "figures can be made to prove anything, and much that'ha's been said there has proven nothing. Teachers in this province a few years ago were woefully underpaid; because of low earnings superannuation has been totally inadequate; and school buildings in smaller places deplorable. Many teachers were beingpaid far less than common laborers. Let us keep this in mind. Teachers are en- gaged by local boards, and they are paid according to local conditions and the law of supply and demand. When a school board had to pay practically all the salary out of municipal taxes, —they were considerably less than they are now—and the improvement is directly due to the policy of this government. To say that this govern- ment has implemented none of its promises is sheer nonsense. In this matter of education, it has gone be- yond its promises. The situation would have been this: Without -great- er grants, many schools would have been closed for lack of teachers and, because that situation has not arisen, is directly the result of the policy of this administration. The creation of High School Areas, whereby the schools in rural districts will be comparable to city schools and where specialists can be employed at salaries comparable to the pay in city schools, is a tremendous stride in our educational system and a step in the right direction. By that I mean equal- ity of opportunity for all the people. I think the Minister of Education (Mr. Porter) adequately answered the charges of the hon. member for Beaches (Mr. Scott) in his complaint regarding university fees. The hon. member is a graduate of the Univer- sity of Toronto, to which successive Ontario governments have made very liberal grants. Without them, fees paid by the students would be a great deal higher.• In effect, the hon. member for Beaches (Mr. Scott) was asking that university fees be virtually abolished. I oppose the principle altogether. When a young man or young woman has reached the age when he or she enters the university, they have also reached the age where a little work, particularly manual labor, is a good thing, not only physically, but men- tally. As the hon. member for Elgin (Mr. Thomas) said a few days ago, many. of our leaders in the country today paid their own way through university by working during holi- days. You all know students who washed dishes in restaurants and did similar work to help pay their board while attending university. I deplore talk such as the hon. member for Beaches (Mr. Scott) used in his address in this House. It was a plea to youth to look to the gov- ernment to give them a little more —'gimme' something for nothing. One can easily get a following with such an appeal. I would like, here, to read from a short article which I took from the Reader's Digest. It is written by E T. Leech, Editor of the Pittsburgh Press, entitled the "Gimmes", and it says: "The whole world is being swept by an epidemic of the 'gimmes. Nearly everybody wants to be given something at• the expense of somebody else. This epidemic grows r out of a belief that government can somehow provide aid and security for its people, no matter what the o far in debt it alread cost and how Y is, "The more government provides, the more is expected of it. One of the penalties of government assist- ance is a widespread lowering of the sense of responsibility. Individual stamina and self-determination go down at a tine when public ex- penses are going up. This parallel development has destroyed na- tions. It enabled a few thousand barbarians to overthrow the mighty Roman Empire, The Romans came to depend on the state for food, shelter and entertainment. In their eagerness for free security at the state expense, they became so in- secure they lost everything. "A state is just a large number of individuals. In the end, it is subject to the same limitations as the in- dividual; it pays the same penalties for bad management. Take debt, for example: The U.S. Government owes over 250 Killion dollars—more than $6000 for every American fam- ily. Other political subdivisions — states, cities, counties, school dis- tricts—owe 20 billions. "All of them are under terrific pressure to provide more services and greater benefits. All are having to boost taxes and borrow money to pour out to a never -satisfied public. "The popular idea is that these funds can be obtained from the rich and big corporations—so that the majority of people can have the benefits without paying the cost. But nobody gets anything for no- thing. Everybody shares the debt. Everybody pays taxes—direct or in- direct. "There aren't enough rich people to enable the government to finance itself at their expense. If govern- ment took all the wealth of the corporations, it wouldn't put the country on a sound financial keel. But it would put the corporations out of business and workers out of jobs. Meanwhile all that the big com- panies pay the government becomes a part of the cost of the goods they produce—an important factor in the cost of living for everybody. "Only wider realization of these basis facts can stop the tragedy that must eventually happen if the give - everything -to -everybody theory con- tinues unchecked." Now, returning to my remarks about the university students, should we not rather appeal to youth in this way: this is your country. There are unbounded opportunities for those who have the will to work. There is still room at the top. Should they not be encouraged to ask themselves, "What can I give to this country, so that it will be greater still, so that it will keep its place in giving leadership 1n "this struggling world ?" Let us keep this thoirght in front of the youth of this country—What can I give to Canada—not, what can I take out of it. Reference was made to the success of war veterans in their University courses. Their success is due to what I have said. These fellows had the spirit of giving. They had offered their lives for their country, and are carry- ing that spirit into their University studies. In London we have the University of Western Oetario, which is filling a wonderful place in the educational' needs of the province. It is serving the richest and largest revenue pro- ducing section of this province and is greatly in need of assistance in its programme of expansion, I am now making a plea to the hon. Provincial Treasurer (Mr. Frost) and the hon. Minister f Education (Mr. Porter) to make provision for a substantial grant this year for that purpose. I repeat, this institution of higher learning is serving the needs of the greatest MORE PEOPLE ARE USING £Oiig tam MORE OFTEN Our Long Distance operators now put through over 5 million calls a month — twice as many as six years ago. To -clay more families keep in touch with one another and busy men get more things done by Long Distance. Providing for this growing use of Long Distance is an important part of our vast expansion and improvement program. Thousands of new operators have been added — more are being selected and trained. FIindrecis of new and improved switchboards and lines have been built -- more are on the way. With Long Distance as with local service, We want to put . your calls through courteously, quickly and accurately—to give you even greater value by continuing to provide more and better telephone service at the lowest possible co.!. THE BELL TELEPHONE COMPANY OF CANADA revenue producing section of the .pro- vince—and in a manner second to none ole Dominion. he in the It is sometimes said: "Look well to the East." 1 say in this Daae: Look well to the West." ' Those is one more subject rn which the State can rightly make its con- tribution. That is public health. This government has again pioneer- ed in this respect. I-Iospitals are be- coming more and more essential in the life of the average family and hos- pitalisation - is expensive to the in- dividual. Many hospitals have been established throughbequests by pri- vate- individuals and memorials of various kinds, by religious Institu- tions and municipalities. It is imprac- tical to . say the government .should take them over and operate them. However, greatly increased grants have lessened the cost to the individ- ual. The assistance given in th'e con- struction of new hospitals and the expansion of old ones has greatly in- creased the accommodation. In my own riding, three small hospitals have benefited in grants for capital eipend- iture by more than $75,000, while grants for maintenance have increas- ed from $2,870 in 1942 to $16;293 in 1948. Let me say once more, that the mere voting of more money does not provide more hospital beds. Construc- tion of the additions to these hospitals has been under way for two years but, due to shortages of men, materials and the proper equipment, they are not complete yet. Then let us not forget the shortages of nurses, which the voting of money will not correct. County Health Units are being es- tablished with government aid which, I believe, will prove of great value. There is' something else which must be faced in the near future and which involves large expenditures of money. I refer to sewerage systems in smaller centres. This is becoming a number one problem throughout Ontario and, like the cost of education, is too great a burden on property. This calls for immediate study by the Department of Health and the Treasury. Septic tanks, which are in general use, are becoming too numerous and are a direct menace to public health. We may come to a business races sion. I suggest that a programme of provincial assistance be worked out so that work of this kind can be un- dertaken on a large scale to prevent unemployment. What I have suggested and the policies of the government I have endorsed herb, are all the proper function of the State and I consider it a pleasure to support a Progressive - Conservative government which will so guide our affairs so that money can be raised to carry out a programme of this kind and'not cripple legitimate business. Many of you.have never been in the County of Huron or know much about that banner county. So, before I close, I will quote a few instances of where it excels and is, thereby, the leading county in the Province of Ontario. As most of you know, it is largely agricultural, with several smaller: towns engaged in limited manufactur- ing. It has also two important RCAF training stations within its borders, where many hundreds of our young Canadians are being trained for the same purpose that we have fire insur- ance—protection in case of need. They are fine young people, as is evidenced by the lack of crime in that part of the country. With their wives and families they form an important ele- ment in the life of the county. However, the towns and villages to a large extent are shopping and trad- ing centres for our industrious, edu- cated, honest, prosperous farming people. The people who raise the cattle and bogs and chickens and grain to feed the teeming cities buy the things you manufacture and sell. Here are a few figures whirl} sub- stantiate my claint that it is the best county in the Province. Status of Agricultural Production in County of Huron (1947, annual report of Statis- tics branch): Wheat 5th, oats 3rd, barley 3rd, mixed grain 4th, flax 4th, beans 2nd, butter 4th, poultry 2nd, swine 4th, turnips 2nd. It will be seen that, with such a variety, we have an extremely well balanced agriculture, one that is most unlikely to feel the effects of a crop failure. Along the shores of Lake Huron we have beautiful beaches and summer resorts which attract thousands of tourists. The Blue Water Highway running along its shores is a scenic road, which is being improved from year to year by our Department of Highways. I invite every one of you to visit Huron this year. No government, under any known system, can accomplish all things at once, however necessary and desir- able they may be. No government, under any known system, tau attain to its best achievement Without the full co-operation of all its, citizens. Few governments are endowed with wisdom sufficient to enable them to lay down a long-range progratirme so perfect in design as to be carried to final completion without meeting re- verses or without finding sound rea- sons for changes in original plans. Mr. Speaker, I submit there is every reason for confidence that the future holds in store for all who deserve the name "Canadian", an enduring period of happiness, prosperity and security. FARMERS: Machines will be hard to obtain if you wait until the Spring rush! We have just received 3 3 -furrow Tractor Plows with furrow straighteners and a limited number of Spring Tooth Lever Harrows Tractor Discs will arrive soon. Also a limited supply of Fertilizer Sowers and Double -Row Packers, Fleury -Bisset Machines are tops in Quality, tops in Per formance, and Lower In price Ask the man who owns one! LOCAL AGENT V. J. LANE SEAFORTH R. R. 5 Phone 46-12 [Dublin tPS.9d1R8at'1R°