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HomeMy WebLinkAboutZurich Citizens News, 1971-11-25, Page 4PAGE 4 ZURICH CITIZENS NEWu' THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 1971 Municipal clerks have problems! To some of us the municipal clerk is a name on a tax notice, someone to whoni we complain when a drain is blocked or our road needs plowing. But to others including those on municipal councils and boards and commissions who work so tirelessly for their municipalities, the; municipal clerk is someone to whom they look for advice and guidance --some one who provides continuity in municipal procedures, who interprets objectively the statutes and by-laws under which the municipality operates. These people know the work involved in the clerks office and they know too to what an extent it increases year by year as the Listowel Banner points out. "Never an easy job, the work of the municipal clerk in this province is becoming more difficult each year. It has now reach- ed the point where many clerks are openly complaining and some are even threatening not to do the additional work delegated to them. Pointing to the fact that the duties of municipal clerks are clearly defined in the Municipal Act, they say they do not include many of the jobs they've been asked to do in recent years. "Clerks are especially angry about a recent memorandum from the Ontario Municipal Affairs Department requesting them to supply information to the department regarding the farm tax rebate program. The township 1 offices are asked to list the gross taxes on each property and the amount of the residential tax rebate on each. "The 25 per cent farm tax rebate is paid on the net tax bill after the residential rebate is deducted. In effect, the clerks say the provincial government gets the glory while they get the work." The Listowel editor sums it up by concluding:- "After seeing policies like this coming from the Ontario Municipal Affairs Department, we can't understand the big push for regional gov- ernment. It seems it takes the low man on the totem pole to spot the mistakes and without him around we could all be in trouble. It's about time the government offered to pay its fair share for its own red tape work, give the money to the municipal clerks and start to pay attention to some of those little details. The sad thing about this one is that the guy who's going to hear about it is the same municipal clerk who had nothing to do with it except the dirty work." (Huron Expositor) At the moment The more hours one manages to cheat death, the more one becomes convinced a human being is governed by the pres- sures of the moment. Even those of us with extensively -planned lives .,. the weal- thy man who owns his business and has a pretty good idea what he'll be doing 10 years from now or the long-term prison inmate with a similar crystal ball ... will find, upon looking back from the future, that a majority of actions and opinions have been suggested or ordered by the circumstances of the briefest duration. We are all guilty of what another weekly editor once accus- ed his municipal council of doing "leaping from crisis to crisis." The same thought was phrased equally well by a campaign- er in the recent provincial election when he said an opposing party's platform offered "band-aid solutions." Taking all of this into consideration, therefore, it may not be all that surprising to find people who feet a radio talk show on Remembrance Day is the ideal medium to use in suggesting we "should forget the wars," Her intentions were probably gold-plated. By forgetting the war, she may have assumed, war would be forgotten. We all know how much chance there is of that coming to pass. Or, she may have been one of the many who make the mis- take of thinking the Royal Canadian Legion is dedicated to the glorification of war. . It's not. RCL members are, undoubtedly, in the best posi- tion of all to recognize war for what it is ... bloody and heart- breaking, but necessary and expedient from time to time. They would be the last to want another war. Whatever her surface reasons for making that statement, the lady on the radio delivered a fine testimonial to the fact we live for the moment. Few would have made such a statement in the first week of September, 1939 or August, 1914. (New Hamburg Independent) ZURICH Citizens NEWS PRINTED BY SOUTH HURON PUBLISHERS LIMITED, ZURICH HERB TURKHEIM, Publisher Second Class Mail Registration Number 13854 4;i:k; Member: Canadian Weekly Newspapers Association;' ): Ontario Weekly Newspapers Association w�,oF�q inscription Rates: $4.00 per year in advance in Canada; /WOO in United States and Foreign; single copies 10 cents. My tired old eyes almost popped out and ran down my cheeks the other day, like a couple of peeled grapes, when I read about the increases in pay to our armed forces. "My God, " I groaned to my wife, "willyou listen to this? A buck private is going to get $480 a month, " She wasn't impressed. But she perked up her ears and turned down the corners of her mouth with niy next remark: "And a colonel will be drawing $1, 960 a month, " My brother, her brother-in-law, is a colon- el. Out came the pencil and she started some rapid calculation. In about half an hour, while I sat there shaking my head with a mixture of shocked disbelief and incipient nausea, she blurt- ed. "Do you realize that young pup is going to be making $22, 520 a year?" I nodded morosely. I had done it in my head, give or take a few hundred dollars, in eight seconds. "Why - why, that's imposs- ible, " and her voic e went up an octave. I just took the paper over and pointed to the cold, black print. It was like swallowing a horse -pill without benefit of water, for both of us. While I had been slogging along serv- ing humanity as a weekly news- paper editor, sometimes hitting a high of $6,200 a year, and later as a teacher, he had been gallivanting around to all sorts of glamorous and exciting places. Aide-de-camp to an Air Vice- Marlshal in Europe. Boar -hunting in Germany. Commander of a fighter squadron in France. Liaison officer in Paris. Desk job in Ottawa. Back to Europe. Back to Canada to head a fight- er squadron at Val d'Or, guard- ing us against the Eskimoes, then a soft touch at Colorado Springs in the States, watching the panic button, and skiing weekends. There was only one bright spot in my mind as I reviewed this circuit. He's now stuck in Syracuse. Who wants to live in Syracuse? Buy my wife wasn't finished. "Why didn't you stay in the air Photography r Children • Portraits • weddings • COLOR or BLACK & WHITE HADDEN'S STUDIO GODERICI! 118 St. David St. 5244787 force?" I gave her some lofty reply about being my own man, and not wanting to wallow ar- ound in peace -time on the tax- payer's ,money. I didn't ment- ion that the air force wouldn't have had me if World War III had broken out twenty minutes after World War II ended. Then, in the gloomy silence that followed, I started think- ing bacl<. When I joined up, we got $1.30 a day, or $40 a month. I sent home $20 a month to my mother. We got paid every two weeks, so I had a handsome $10 to blow. I'll never forget the time I lost my $10 bill about twenty minutes after pay parade. It was at Manning Pool in Toronto, with about 10, 000 airmen on hand. The next couple of weeks were slim pickings. But I made it, by borrowing. That's when I started borrowing, and I've never caught up since, But it wasn't so bad, really. Beer was 100 a draft and a dollar went a long way. I didn't smoke. Girls didn't expect you to take them out for drinks, dinner and the theatre. They just expected you to take them out. Hotel rooms were no prob- lem, on weekend leave. One of us would check into the old King Eddie in Toronto, and take a single room. Price was $3.00 with 10 per cent off fer service- men. Then about five more would sneak up and six of us would share a single room, sleeping three on the bed, crossways, the others on the floor. Average cost, 45¢ each, We didn't need much sleep any- way. Wages went up with each in- crease in rank, As I recall it, when I was commissioned, I got about $6.50 a day. This was wealth beyond the dreams of avarice, in those days. The Australian and U, K. offic- ers envied us bitterly. They were paid about half that, to maintain the standards of an officer and gentleman. I don't envy the servicemen their increase. They have a job that is especially thankless in peacetime. But if I were quite a few years younger, I'd be running, not walking, to the nearest recruiting station. But my kid brother is another matter. I'm smarter than he is, though he'd never admit it. I could always beat him up. He's got his only child married off to a wealthy Englishman. He's going to have a fat pen- sion in just a few years. It's only fair to serve notice on him that he may have long- term, perhaps permanent, guests when he retires and picks out his villa in Spain. 0 Henson News A sextette consisting of Mrs. Ron Mock, Miss Mary Goodwin, Mrs. Bill Fuss, Mrs. Cecil Pepper, Mrs, Robert Reaburn and Mrs. Pearl Passmore, were featured at the Sunday morning service at Hensall United Church. They sang, "Make the World a Better Place," For his topic Rev, Donald Beck chose, "This House has Seven Days." Business and Professional Directory OPTOMETRISTS J. E. Longstaff OPTOMETRIST SEAFORTH MEDICAL CENTRE 527-1240 Tt{esday, 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 SATURDAY. Phone 235.2433 Exeter Robert F. Westlake Insurance "Specialising In General Insurance" Phone 236.4391 — Zurich Guaranteed Trust Certificates 1 year 54% 2 year e2% 3year 7%% 4 year 72% 5 year 72% J. W. HARMER ZURICH PHONE 236-4346 AUCTIONEERS PERCY WRIGHT LICENSED AUCTIONEER Kippen, Ont. Auction Sale Service that is most efficient and courteous. CALL THE WRIGHT AUCTIONEER Telephone Hensall (519)262-5515 FUNERAL DIRECTORS WESTLAKE Funeral Home AMBULANCE and PORTABLE OXYGEN SERVICE DIAL 236.4364 — ZURICH ACCOUNTANTS Roy N. Bentley PUBLIC ACCOUNTANT GODERICH P.O. Box 478 Dial 524-9521 INSURANCE For Safety... EVERY FARMER NEEDS Liability Insurance Far Information About All Insurance — Call BERT KLOPP DIAL 236-4988 -- ZURICH Representing CO-OPERATORS INSURANCE ASSOCIATION