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HomeMy WebLinkAboutZurich Citizens News, 1966-10-06, Page 2PAGE TWO ZURICH CITIZENS POEM Natural Prices Are Best A railway trainman and another man were discussing the recent strike. The view was expressed that the crucial ques- tion is how much the railways are able to pay. To this the trainman replied: "To hell with the railways, let the government pay it". Those words slipped out in an un- guarded moment, but they revealed what the man really had in mind; and indica- tions are that many thousands of the strik- ers and their sympathizers are of the same mind. The meaning in those words is that, in the minds of the strikers, the value of their labor is not the issue in this dispute, that the purpose is to compel the •taxpayers to supplement whatever wages the railways are able to pay. This means that the people were being deprived of railway services in order to compel them to submit to being taxed for the benefit of the em- ployees. Any wage increase the railway men gain in this manner will have to be taken out of the earnings of other workers, or the government has no money of its own to give to anybody; and many of those who would be taxed for this purpose are earning less than the railway men who are demanding such assistance. There is noth- ing fair or just about raising wages in this way; and the unions should be the first to object to it. The determining of wage rates is largely a matter of weighing value against value, the value of the workers' labor against •the value at which the consumers will buy the products of such labor. No man nor any group of men can acturately measure such values. They are the product of thousands of separate decisions by thou- sands of different persons, each acting in his own interests and each free to buy or sell as suits himself. The natural result of such bargaining is the "going price" or "going wages" as the case may be. Such prices and such wages are not enforced by any public authority and are binding only on those who agree to them. The great advantage of this way of determining values is that such values are acceptable to all parties, they are the values at which men agree to deal with each other. They are natural values, natural prices, natural wages. They are the values at which the most goods can be sold, the most can be produced, and the most workers can find employment. They result in the greatest good to the greatest number of people. Experience teaches that when these natural prices and natural wages prevail, unsalable surpluses of goods do not accum- ulate, for under such a system goods that won't sell at once prices will always at- tract buyers who can find other uses for them at lower prices and thus keep the markets clear. The railway strike is over and most of the men are back on the job. But it did not settle the wage dispute. In spite of negotiations and arbitration in this and other fields labor peace was not on the horizon and •there were clouds remaining. On the day the men went back to work it was evident that whoever drafted the final settlement of the dispute the value and the durability of that settlement would depend on the extent to which it would protect the rights of all parties concerned, the workers who do the work, the man- agements which directs the operations, the owners who furnish the capital, the ship- pers who pay for the services, and the tax- payers who should not be called on to pay for services they don't receive.—The Print- ed Word. More Taxes -- lower Prices We may be dense but we certainly can't see the logic in Hon. Mr. Sharp's statement that the only way to keep infla- tion down is to put taxes up. One is rather inclined to agree with statements made last month by Mr. Caouette that government's raising of existing taxes and imposing new ones constituted inflation. It would be just as sensible to claim that the government's recent granting to the railwaymen an 18% boost in pay, fol- lowed by the railways' consequent boost in freight rates is a means of keeping prices down. Of course there may be something in a sort of far-fetched argument that since a tax is not a commodity its increase will not appear in the cost of living index, but it will certainly deplete the contents of the -taxpayer's wallet and form a first charge on his dwindling -value dollar. It's true that a writer in the Financial Post advances the idea that inflation has about shot its bolt and will presently ease off, He, or she, states that some indus- tries have already lowered prices among them being the car producers. This how- ever, is denied by news items in the daily press that "new cars are safer, and higher in price". Every boost in wages adds to the cost of production and that increased cost must be passed on to the consumer with a consequent reduction in the pur- chasing value of the dollar. We noted a statement the other day that in respect to one union of which the speaker knew a total wage increase of $7.50 weekly had by reason of increased prices dwindled to an actual boost of $1.50. Of course Mr. Sharp will get away with it. Nobody wants an election, least of all the MPs of all parties. So enough Opposi- tion .members will vote with the govern- ment to keep their jobs. We do approve Mr. Sharp's decision to give Medicare the heave-ho for a year or so. The longer the "or so" the happier Canadians will be.—Ridgetown Dominion, The Status of Women Our eye was caught a few days ago by an editorial referring to the difference the past decade have seen in the economic status of women. It is within the memory of at least some of us that women didn't even have the right to vote. Remember Mrs. Pankhurst and her colleagues chain- ing themselves to the palings around the British Westminster Hall to emphasize their demand for that right? Now a female MP is common and they are even filling Cabi- net positions. Women executives in the business world are just a matter of routine. Western nations are inclined to plume themselves on their progressive ideas but From My Window By Shirley Keller REST ROOMS MY EYE Everybody has some pet peeve, Some people hate starch in hotel sheets. Others dislike dining without a white linen cloth spread on the table. Usually I don't really worry about what bothers other peo- ple. Somehow the things that bugs them is mostly unimpor- tant to me. Each to his own quirks, I always say. Live and let live. The other day though, 1 lis- tened to one woman's pet peve and realized I had to agree. It is a delicate subject and one she bet me I'd never tackle in this column—but I've always stepped in where angels fear to tread. Who was the smart-alec archi- tect who dreamed up the first ladies' washroom? And why doesn't someone smarten up and change the standard idea that women- need a ballroom in which to powder their noses but only .a yard square cubicle for the vital operation. Walk into any public wash- room for milady. There before you is a spacious room filled with mirrors and equipped with to hold 17 handbags and three to hold 17 •ahndbags and three steamer trunks. There may even be some easy chairs and two or three 50 -pound antique ashtrays. Through the ornate gold door you wind a generous corridor lined with sinks wide enough and deep enough to bathe an elephant. There are soap dis- pensers, electric dryers, paper towles, waste baskets and more mirrors placed at comfortable intervals to allow freedom of movement. it is noteworthy that Asia has produced the first women prime ministers. Ceylon and India have shown the way in PM class and Israel has come up with the first lady foreign minister. That's quite a change from Emmeline Pankhurst's day and a far call from the time when women were considered more or less a mere chattel to be sold or given away according to circumstances, a survival of the latter idea being still notable in our wedding ceremony ritual. Wonder if Mother will get back to her place in the Trinity as she was in Ancient Egypt . . . Osiris, Isis, Horus? It's coming to her don't you think?—Ridgetown Dominion. seat, the coonskin coat and a lot of other items that appalled the oldies of the era. Personally, I don't agree with any of the above reactions ex- cept the last one, though I haven't yet reached group. Or that fine plain of tolerance. To go back over them. Long hair is seldom yummy. And it is seldom revolting, though it can be. It is not the greatest. Greatest anything. A year in the army solves nothing. And all sorts of things are erta cute: monkeys, baby alligators, infant pigs Immediately in front of the necessary stalls in the third segment of the ladies' wash- room, you find a cramped alley. Sometimes this passageway is wide enough to accommodate mother and her small daughter standing side by side. Gener- ally it is not, so the tyke must trail behind hanging on to mother's skirt or barge ahead to a collision with the lady just leaving. Always the doors open in on the cells. The trick is to enter and still have room to close the door. Once inside, there is no space left to deposit a parcel or a purse—so these items sit on the tack ready to drop into the waiting resevoir below. Turn- ing around or bending over is a nightmare.. When you sit, your knees are propped firmly against the door and your arms pressed close to your sides. There is no possible way to stand up again without teeter- ing and tottering on the brink of disaster. Getting out is still another matter. If someone on a rush call is trying to beat nature, the situation becomes critical, even desparate. With your hat askew and your makeup smuged you emerge from the inner sanctum of a public washroom looking very much as though you have come off second best in a wrestling match with an alligator. Please, washroom designers of the world, re-aportion the measurements of that public convenience. Reduce the size of the towel bars if you must, but give us elbow room in the closets. THURSDAY, OCTOBER 6, 1966 cut if they went to high school today. Can you imagine Christ in a crew cut. He was a conform- ist in the things that didn't matter, an individualist ,in:. things that did. Sir John and Einstein had other things on their minds, and didn't have time to worry about hair cuts, But I'll bet they didn't spend several hours a day combing and admiring their locks. Guess I sound like an ,)ld fumf. But I know how the Gids suffer when the sacrilegious scissors start their desecration. But let's get down to the I still have a psychic . ,sear principals and the principles in this world-shaking debate. Many high- school principals react just like the 13 -year-old girls above. They roll their eyes to heaven, when the subject of long hair comes up. But they don't ejaculate, "Yummy!" At least that isn't what is sounds like. Creep up behind a principal and say, even quietly, "hair- cuts". I guarantee he'll jump a foot and a half and turn on you with a decided tic below his left eyeball. A principal confronted by a few shaggies feels exactly like an inspecting brigadier in the army, who arrives at "C" pla- toon and finds that six of the bodies stiffly at attention are wearing white sneakers instead of spit 'n' polish black boots. And what about the princi- ples? This is what the culprits purport to defend: individual- ism; freedom of expression; non -conformity. You name it. It's all the rage these days. And the muddled kids are aided and abetted by parents, "lib- eral" thinkers and misguided editors. After that comes the emo- tional hogwash. Einstein, Sir John A. Macdonald, Jesus, would all have to get a hair - LONG HAIR, — YUMMY! What do you think of long hair on boys! I imagine your answer will depend on your age and sex. If you're a 13 -year-old girl, you'll probably roll your eyes toward heaven and ejaculate, "Yummy!", or something of the sort. If you're a male junior ex- ecutive in the late twenties, you'll probably sneer "Revolt- ing!", while secretly wishing you were 10 years younger and could have .a go at it yourself. If you're a young swinger, late -teens, early twenties, your reaction is probably, "The Greatest." This group, female, are fad -followers. Fifteen years ago, they wouldn't even look at anybody who didn't have a crew cut. Male whose forties are fading Zurich News PRINTED BY SOUTH HURON PUBLISHERS LIMITED, ZURICH HERB TURKHEIM, Publisher J E. HUNT, Plant Superintendent Authorized as Second Class Mail, Post Office Department, Ottawa and for payment of postage in cash. Member: Canadian Weekly Newspapers Association Member: Ontario Weekly Newspapers Association Member: Canadian Community Newspapers Representatives Subscription Rates: $3.00pd yor in ign;a v n e i ,f m in United States ar►d because the Germans made rice shave a magnificent bear in prison camp. And I'll never forget the wave of anguishthat swept over me the day I stood before a mirror and saw half of my fine, handle -bar, fighter. pilot's moustache hayed. But. there was no going back. You do look pretty siltie in half a handle bar. But Can's hear you opinions on boys' long hair. Write your editor. along with their own hair will probably grumble, "What they need is a year in the army." Females of the same vintage are quite likely to coo, "It's sorta cute, really!", as long as their own young male is clean- cut and beardless. If you're over 50, you prob- ably look with mild amusement, or mild disgust, on the current crops of sheep -dog, male. You know it doesn't amount to much. You remember the flat - chested flapper, the rumble imasimaamw BOB'S Barber Shop Open Tuesday and Friday Nite MAIN STREET, ZURICH BUYS YOU A CANADA SAVINGS BOND AT CANADA'S FIRST BANK BUY YOURS FOR CASH OR BY INSTALMENTS. DOWN PAYMENT OF 5°a--$250 FOR A $50 BOND; $500 FOR A $100 BOND, ETC. BALANCE IN EASY INSTALMENTS OVER A YEAR. BUY YOURS AT ANY BRANCH OF THE B OF M. BANK OF MONTREAL Canada's First Bank Hensall Branch: Zurich Branch: VICTOR PYE'l1E, Mgr. RAYMOND McK.INNON, Manager Petroleums Limited Gasoline • Diesel HEATING OILS Valvoline and Veedol Motes Oil and Greases "Go With Arrow" AGENT: ROBERT N. 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