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HomeMy WebLinkAboutZurich Citizens News, 1971-03-11, Page 4PAGE FOUR. Nothing To Do is Your Fault ZURICH CITIZENS NEWS THURSDAY MARCH 11, 1971 Judge Philip Gilliam of Denver Colo., recently gave some advice to the young people of his community that is worth repeating. It was by way of an answer of the cry of many high school age boys and girls, "What can we do? Where can we go?" "Go home!" the judge says. "Hang the storm windows, paint the woodwork. Rake the leaves, mow the lawn, shovel snow. Wash the car, learn to cook, scrub the floors. Repair the sink, build a boat, get a job. Help the minister, priest or rabbi. Visit the sick, help the poor, study your lessons. And when you are through -- and not too tired-- read a good book. "Your parents do not owe you entertainment. Your city or village does not owe you recreational facilities. The world does not owe you a living. You owe the world something. You owe it your time and energy and your talents so that no one will be at war or in poverty or sick or lonely again. "In plain, simple words, grow up, quit being a crybaby, get out of your dream world, and develop a back -bone, not a wislbone, and start acting like a man or a lady. You're supposed to be mature enough to accept some of the responsib- ility your parents have carried for years. They have nursed, protected, helped, appealed, begged, excused, tolerated and denied themselves many things so that you could have every benefit. This they have done gladly, for you are their dearest treas- ure. But now, you have no right to expect them to bow to every whim and fancy just because selfish ego instead of corn - mon sense dominates your personality, thinking and requests. In Heaven's name, grow up and go home." To which parents, we think, will answer, "Amen!" Change Clears Up Tax Confusion Over recent weeks hundreds of farmers have returned their farm tax rebate cheques to the Ontario Department of Municipal Affairs. They should reconsider their decision. There appears to be a misunderstanding of the so-called "repayment clause" covering land converted to non- agricultural uses between now and 1980: There are those farmers who object to any condition being placed on the tax rebate. There are those who fear they might be unable to honor the repayment obligation should the land be converted to non-agricultural uses at some time in the future. We have discussed these questions with officials of the Department of Agriculture and Food and Municipal Affairs to clarify matters. The key question of course must be: "Why were any strings attached to this program?" The Ontario government from the outset, made it clear these rebates were for the purposes of easing the tax burden on farm people. It was not interested in subsidizing developers, or real estate speculators. It was for this reason the program -- as first announced -- specified that should farm land at any time between now and 1980 be converted to other uses (residential, industrial or com- mercial) the tax rebates would have to be repaid to the Prov- incial Treasurer plus interest at eight per cent. But who should be responsible for repaying these rebates? While the intentions of the Ontario government were clear, the original Order -In -Council authorizing the program did not express these wishes clearly. Farmers took the program to mean that -he person who originally received the tax rebate cheque would be responsible for repayment, even though he might not then own the land. This Order -In -Council has now been amended. To avoid further confusion, here is the revised section in unvarnished Parliamentary language: "6. Every grant paid under this program is subject to the condition that where and when the property or any part thereof ceases to be assessed as a farm by reason of its development for residential, industrial or commercial purposes in or before 1980, the person who owns the property or part thereof at the time it ceases to be so assessed, shall thereupon repay to the Treasurer of Ontario and Minister of Economics the amount of the grant or such proportional part thereof, as the case may be, with interest thereon at the rate of eight per cent (877o) per annum, for the period from the date on which the grant was paid to the date on which the grant is repaid." The important passage is stressed. It means, in effect, that the person who owns the land at the time it is converted to other than agricultural uses, is responsible for the repayment. It removes the onus from the present owner of property that may change hands several times prior to its conversion to other uses. The responsibility is placed squarely on the shoulders of the developer or speculator who owns the land at the time it is reassessed for non-agricultural purposes. The municipal subsidies branch of the Ontario Department of Municipal Affairs is remailing returned tax rebate cheques. Farmers are being asked to reconsider their actions in light of this precise amendment. As one official said: "We are anxious that no farmer in Ontario be penalized through his own mis- understanding of this policy, and the extra work in remailing these cheques is a small price to pay for this consideration." (Farm and Country) ZURICH Citizens NEWS PRINTED BY SOUTH HURON PUBLISHERS LIMI'1ED, ZURICH HERB TURICHEIM, Publisher Second Class Mail Registration Number 1385pno:" Member: Canadian Weekly Newspapers Association on Ontario Weekly Newspapers Association Subscription Rates: $4.00 per year in advance in Canada; $5.00 in United States and Foreign; single elopies 10 cents Bill Srniley. TOO MANY BRAINS NOT ENOUGH HEARTS Between the length and the depth of this winter, the de- pressing unemployment pic- ture, and the looming of new taxes, perhaps a chap has a right to be a bit gloomy these days. We've had about 13 feet of snow so far. Today I saw a chap up on a snowbank about twenty feet high. Crouched under the limbs of a maple tree, he was try- ing to push the snow back enough so that he'd have somewhere to put the next 'deluge. And when it hasn't been belting down the white stuff, it's been freezing rain, or cold enough to freeze the brains of a brass monkey. Despite some statistic - juggling at Ottawa, unem- ployment figures have climbed steadily. On paper, they're just digits. But when they hit close to home, they're human beings. It's not just the transient or the unskilled worker who is laid off. I have friends, indus- trious, sober, intelligent workers — foremen and management — who have worked their way up through sheer guts and de- termination, and are now suddenly in limbo, drawing unemployment insurance. After searching desperately for a job, they become bit- ter, and one can't blame them. With mortgage and insur- ance payments to meet, and just enough money coming in to put food on the table, they feel cheated. After a decade or two of hard work, just when they're beginning to see daylight financially, they are tossed aside through no fault of their own. Perhaps we have too many brains at Ottawa, and not enough hearts. The logi- cians, with their figures, convinced the top brains that they could halt infla- tion. A fiasco! Interest rates are still crippling. The cost of living slides slowly but steadily upward, while the standard of living does down, or stays static. Don't ask the financial moguls, or the banks, or the credit companies. They're doing all right. Ask the small business man or the skilled worker whose unem- ployment insurance has run out. He'll tell you. And then there are the sneaky taxes coming out of Ottawa. Oh, they're not called taxes. They are mere- ly readjustments, or what- ever the slide -rule boys want to call them. You move so much money from here to there, and you're not in- creasing taxes, merely re -dis- tributing the wealth. One of these gimmicks is taking away the family al- lowance from those making more than $10,000. That used to be the fabulous fig- ure we all thought we'd never make. He probably takes home about $7,500, after deductions. Let's say he has a batch: of kids, and is pulling in. about $800 a year in baby' bonuses, every nickel of it allotted to education or clothing or something. Thel government has just taxed him $800, call it what you. like. It doesn't bother me. My kids are past the age. But it hits some families like a sledgehammer. Now there's another sneaker in the offing. The federal government has specifically stated its intent to tax another very large group, made up of school teachers and other people who have not paid unem- ployment insurance, It plans to hit them for this, despite the fact that they have been paying into insurance and annuity schemes for years, and that perhaps one in one thousand would ever col- lect. Again, it doesn't bother me personally. 1 can afford . the $60 -odd dollars a year it will cost. But it's the princi- ple that bothers me. Not only do 1 pay this, but I will be taxed on the similar amount the school boards, as employees, will have to pay to the fund. This will be several millions of dollars, not to mention all the extra cost of administration to collect it and distribute it. I got a lesson in econom- ics today. A student said, "Why do we have to worry about all this? When we graduate, there'll be a fixed minimal income, and we won't have to work, any- way." 7W0 M/M 1174 E BOBLE BY CORNELIUS R. SIAM PRES. BEREAN BIBLE SOCIETY CHICAGO, ILLINOIS 6063$ ES "THE SECRET OF SPIRITUAL Believers in Christ have been made "free from sin" by grace (Rom. 5:14, 18) in the sense that they need not, indeed, should not, yield to sin when temptation arises (Rohl. 6:12,13). Be- lievers have also been made "free from the law of sin and death" (Rom. 8:2) for Christ, in grace, bore the death penalty for them. But no believer is free from what Paul calls "the law of sin which is my members," that is,the old Adamic nature, with its inherent tendency to do wrong. Nor is he free from the conflict with the new nature which this involves. If the Christian would be truly spiritual and deal in a Scrip- tural way with the sin that indwells him, he must clearly recognize its presence; he must face the fact that while, thank God he is no longer "in sin," sin is still in him. But this conflict should not dis- courage us, for it is one of the true signs of salvation. It is unknown to the unbeliever, for only the addition- al presence of the new nature, along with the old, causes this conflict, for the Bible says about these two natures: "these are contrary the one to the other." VICTORY" But not only is this conflict within the believer a sure sign of salvation; it also creates within him a deep and necessary sense of our inward im- perfection and of the infinite grace of a holy God in saving us and min- istering to us daily in helping us to overcome sin. And this in turn gives us a more understanding approach as we proclaim to the lost "the gospel of the grace of God." Paul's epistles show clearly that there is nothing that will so help us to overcome sin and live pleasing to God as an understanding and an ap- preciation of what He has done for us in Christ. As we are occupied with these "things of the Spirit'' we find ourselves "walking in the Spirit," and Gal. 5:16 says: "Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lusts of the flesh." How much better to have our lives transformed by occupation with Christ (II Cor. 3:18) and our position and blessings in the heavenlies with Him (Col. 3:1-3) than to assume the hopeless task of trying to improve the "old nature";. always engaged in intro- spection; always occupied with the flesh! Business nd Professional Directory OPTOMETRISTS J. E. Longstaff OPTOMETRIST SEAFORTH MEDICAL CENTRE 527.1240 Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, Sat- urday a.m., Thursday evening CLINTON OFFICE 10 Issac Street 482.7010 Monday and 'Wednesday Call either office for appointment. Norman Martin OPTOMETRIST Office Hours: 9.12 A,M, — 1:30.6 P.M. Closed all day Wednesday Phone 235.2433 Exeter Robert F. Westlake Insurance "Specializing In General insurance" Phone 2364391 -- Zorleh Guaranty Trust Certificates 1 Year -- 6%% 2 Years --• 7%v 3 Years — 7 %2 % 4-5 Years — 73/4 % J. W. ZURICH ERER PHONC! 2364346 AUCTIONEERS ALVIN WALPER PROVINCIAL. LICENSED AUCTIONEER For your sale, large or small, courteous and efficient service at all times. "Service That Satisfies" DIAL 237.3300 — DASHWOOD FUNERAL DIRECTORS WESTLAKE Funeral Home AMBULANCE and PORTABLE OXYGEN SERVICE DIAL 236.4364 — ZURICH ACCOUNTANTS Roy N. Bentley PUBLIC ACCOUNTANT GODERICH P.O. Box 471 Dial 524.9521 INSURANCE For Safet y s o • EVERY FARMER NEEDS Liability Insurance For Information About All Insurance — Call BERT KLOPP DIAL 236.4909 — ZURICH RepresentlnO CO.OPERATORS IMdfJ; ►NCI ASSOCIATION