Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutZurich Citizens News, 1973-08-02, Page 4PAGE 4 ZURICH CITIZENS NEWS THURSDAY, AUGUST 2,, all right to me. "What am I going to wear? What shall we do with the cat? How can I be ready in time? What if it rains all the time? Who's going to mow the lawn?" And on and on, I answer: "Just wear your swim suit. Then, if it rains, you'll be all set. You wouldn't be ready in time for your own funeral, and you wouldn't know what to wear. We'll put the cat on the back lawn and she can graze it, like a sheep. " Like any wife, she truly apprec- iates understanding and help 1iI<e this. However, all these things can be ironed out. It's the fin- ancial aspect that's bad. After spending a small fortune gett- ing ready to go, I think we have enough left for a one-way ticket. We'll get home somehow. I have a rich niece in England. If she doesn't kick through with the home faxes (and I think she would, with alacrity, after we'd visited her for a few weeks) we might have to swim. I should have stayed in the stock market and bled to death slowly, with dignity. 0 THIS WORLD OF OURS While environment noise pollution alone probably does not produce mental illness, the con- tinual bombardment of noise on an already depressed person can- not be helpful. A 1969 study in England illustrates this point. Comparative studies of persons living' adjacent to London's Heathrow Airport with others living in a quieter environment revealed that among those living in the noisy environment there was a significantly higher rate of admission to mental hospitals. patterns mane in the last few months are larger in the waist. Criticism is a public right! One of the most distressing tendencies of some public off- icials, especially those who hold elected office, is to retort upon the heads of any critics with aspersion upon their charact- er of sincerity. People are not stupid, or crackpots, or in any way repreh- ensil5le characters because they utter criticism of public offic- ials. Very often, it is true, the criticisms go too far, and conclude with foolish and impractical suggestions, In many cases critics are simply not in possession of all the facts. And unfortunately, there are public officials who are so unwise as to try to keep some facts from the public, in the mistaken impression that they know best what the public should know. There is an easy cure for that. It is simply to conduct public business in the most open manner possible, give reasons for• all decisions made, and then standy by those decisions without fear. It is when facts are obscured or there is stubborn refusal to answer questions which are entitled to be asked, that the public naturally begins to ask questions. It is certainly not always easy to give quick answers to questions. But the wise public official knows that the best way to deal with criticism is to state facts frankly as far as possible, but to avoid like the plague any slighting reference to those who criticize. This is still a free society, and free speech, and free expression of opinion by means of letters and editorials is a right, not a mere privilege. Brand critics with harsh names is wrong. It does not deal with the real issue, which is to answer the criticism. Rarely do answers to criticisms satisfy everybody. But that does not matter. Frank answers are all that can be expected. Nor can anyone find fault with public officials for sticking to their guns. But they must not be annoyed if people quarrel with their decisions. That is part of democracy. In the last analysis the public official is accountable to the people who elected him, He is wise to explain as far as he can, without any personalities. After that, his final appeal is to the court of public opinion at election time. He should not at any time fear public opinion, or try to stifle it. He is quite within his rights, and riven his duty, when he tries to inform public opinion as fully as possible. Television needs a conscience! We hear a good deal about invasion of privacy these days. Some people deeply reser the questionnaires we're frequently asked to fill out by some knocker on our doors, even the census. They argue that information about their make of car, the number of bathrooms, and whether or not they smoke, is their own business. One can make a case for parting with this information on the grounds that the information has economic and statistical value that is useful. Also, save for the census, we're not obliged to answer. We can refuse. There is another aspect of this invasion of privacy that seems to go un -noticed, the beaming into homes of television programs unsuitable for children but shown in prime times. Householders should have the right to choose what enters their doors. Not long ago, in some parts of Canada the "Confessions of the Boston Strangler" was televised at eight o'clock on a Saturday night --just the time many parents are turning their children over to sitters. It was preceded by the pious sentence. "This is not recommended for children under 16, " when possibly half or more of their viewers ate children. It is all very well to say that anyone can turn the set off; children won't, and parents can't monitor everything they see. If an adult, or category X film is shown late at night, well and good. If it is running at a local cinema, clearly marked, and children see it, the onus is on the family. Beaming such a film in at eight o'clock on a weekend is another matter. If we have codes to monitor untruthful advertising, surely we should have a rule that films of violence unsuitable for children should not be thrust upon them in the place where they should be safe ---their homes. (Ridgetown Dominion) ZURICH Citizens NEWS PRINTED BY SOUTH HURON PUBLISHERS LIMITED, ZURICH HERB TURKHEIM, Publisher Second Class Mail Registration Number 1385 sle w Member: Canadian Weekly Newspapers Association 4E10. Ontario Weekly Newspapers Association vo- Subscription Rates; $5,00 per year in -advance in Canada; $6.00 in United States and Foreign; single copies 15¢ CALL IT PEOPLE'S CAPITALISM Idle notes for a hot summer day. Columnist Richard Need- ham, a modern Casandra who is never happier than when he is crying disaster, prophesies with some glee the wiping out of the American dollar, and with it the Canadian, owing to inflation. He says to put your money in a Swiss bank, in Swiss francs, Question; what money? Because of that same inflation he's talking about, ninety per cent of Canadians are lucky to make ends meet, let alone have anything to invest. Needham also says he doesn't believe in stocks and bonds. Nor do I. When I was young and foolish, just out of the service, and had a couple of thousand dollars in back pay, I was twice bitten. Now I'm thrice shy. Both 'investments' were based on red hot tips. One thousand shares of a real dog called Ansley, a "gold mine" which turned out to be moose pasture. It rose three cents in a week, and I was counting my paper money and congratulating my- self on my shrewdness. Seriously considered becoming a speculat- or and getting rich fast. In two weeks Ansley was down to twelve cents. In two months it was off the board, as we wheeled -dealers say. But the second tip was too good to pass up. It came from a friend who was not only an ex-P.O.W. and therefore to be trusted, but a stock -broker and therefore on the inside. He was sinking every nickel he could raise into Eldridge, anoth- er gold stock. There really was a mine this time. So I went for 1, 000 shares at 33 cents. Like the other, this stock immediately went up a few cents, no doubt due to heavy plungers like me, Then it began to slide, slowly and gracefully. When it was close to bottom, there was an announcement to shareholders of a reorganization of the company. It would now be called Elder and we would get one share of Elder for each eight shares of Eldridge we poss- essed. This was a little disappointing but it was better than a goose egg. Each year came glowing company reports of the great future for the stock. The reports were all we got. Then carne another announce- ment. Elder was going to amalg- amate with Peel and the outlook Independent Shipper to United Co-operative of Ontario Livestock Dept Toronto Ship Your Livestock with Roy Scotchmer Monday Is Shipping Day From Varna Stockyard CALL BAYFIELD 565-2636 By 7:30 a.m. Monday For Prompt Unice ,Mo . Charges on Pick- p was roses all the way. Again there was a juggling of shares. I would up with twelve shares. Not bad when I started out with a mere 1, 000. But hold. Peel -Elder actually did stagger through and is now a respectable stock, if the term is not automatically contradictory, My twelve shares are now worth almost as much as the original 1,000, In 25 years I am down only about $40. Except for that 1, 000 shares of Ansley, which I've written off to experience. That's a pretty dang ept finan- cial career, if you ask me. You thought this story was going to have a sad ending, didn't you? This all seems to have very little bearing on anything, but it does. When the Smileys finally decide to go to England, the dollar is steadily slipping, and prices in Europe are rapidly increasing. Result, the trip costs a lot more than we figured on. Somehow, there is a paral- lel there to my career in the stock market. "Why does anybody want to travel, anyway, " groaned my wife, as she contemplated the horrors of getting ready. "I'd much rather stay at home." Her trouble is that she's a woman. I could throw a sweat- er, shirts, socks and underwear in a bag and be off, without a backward look. She says, "But the house is filthy, " and goes into an orgy of vacuuming and scrubbing. The place looked 978 Business and Professional Directory OPTOMETRISTS J. E. Longstaff OPTOMETRIST SEAFORTH MEDICAL CENTRE 527-1240 Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, Sat- urday a.m„ Thursday evening CLINTON OFFICE 110 Issec Street 482-7010 Monday and Wednesday Call either office for appointment. Norman Martin QPTOMETRIST 41uffice Hours: 9.12 A,M, -- 1:30-6 P.M. Closed all day Saturday 3.2433 axeter Phone 23 .. __ INSURANCES Robert F. Westlake Insurance "Specie!,',; n b General laiwerunee" Phone 236-4391 --. Zurieh NORM WHITING LICENSED AUCTIONEER A APPRAISER Prompt, Courteous, Efficient ANY TYPE, ANY SIZE, ANYWHERE We give complete sale service. PROIT BY EXPERIENCE Phone ,Collect 235.1964 EXETER AUCTIONEERS PERCY WRIGHT LICENSED AUCTIONEER Kippen, Ont. Auction Sale Service that is most efficient and courteous. CALL THE WRIGHT AUCTIONEER Telephone Hensel) (519)262-5515 D & 3 RIDDELL AUCTION SERVICES * Licensed Auctioneers and Appraisers * Complete Auction Service * Sales large or small, any type, anywhere * Reasonable -- Two for the price of one Let our experience be your reward. Phone Collect 'Doug' 'Jack' 237-3576 237-3431 Hugh Tom FILSON and ROBSON AUCTIONEERS 28 years' experience of complete sok service •Provincially licensed. Conduct sales of any kind, any place. To 'insure success of your sale, or appraisal Phone Collect 666.0633 -1967 Guaranteed Trust Certificates 1-2 YRS 7 3/4 3 & 4 YRS 8 1/4 5 YRS., 8 1/2 ai WO ZURICH PHONE 23.4144