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Home My WebLink AboutZurich Citizens News, 1978-08-17, Page 4Page 4 Citizens News, August 17, 1978 PO YOU HAVE THE BOOK'HOW TO SURVIVE ON A FIXED INCOME'? ITS 1f THE 'ECM UCTION C.11.11111.11.I.111.1111.111111111.1111.111111..111.111.1.1111III .,..0111.1..111.1111111111. lIl lI l 111111.....11111111111.111111111.1111.11111111111111x11111111.1.1..1' 11111111.11111= I Vie liol.nt . z.C.N . '.xnl. ...„, ulfli ,..u..„„. lnn..n.......x.x.nl..........nnnl.0uilx.lliln..nunn.111nuu....xxx.xuuxluuii...inl.„„,„,.nui......nnt The youth drinking proble Earlier this month changes that effected the consumption of alcohol came into force with further changes planned at the start of the new year. One of the changes to come into force on January 1 will be the raising of the legal drinking age from 18 to 19. According to an editorial in the Goderich Signal -Star the raising of the drinking age in Huron will have little effect on underage drinking. Police officials from Huron say one way to dis- courage underage booze consumption is to raise the fines for second, third or fourth offences. All the chiefs contacted by the Signal -Star said the number of offences are up quite a bit this summer, apparently for unexplained reasons. Exeter police chief Ted Day said he didn't know why so many young people are drinking these days but he said he believes the lower drinking age has contributed to the problem. Raising the drink- ing age will have little effect with Day saying youthful drinking is something society will have to "contend with " because it has already "gone too far." One wonders if there has been such a dramatic increase in youthful drinking this past summer. Could it not be that the increased police vigilance has been partially responsible for the increased number of charges? Another possible reason for the increased charges could be a more arrogant attitude by youthful drinkers towards the constabulary and as such, the migration of the drinkers from such traditional haunts as township roads and farmers' laneways to the town. Whatever the actual statistics of the situation maybe, it's obvious that there is a problem and something which the citizens of Huron should be concerned about. Freedom of Religion The educational pot is boiling across Canada. What is happening to Ontario is suggestive. The Supreme Court of this province recently said 'no' to North York's plan to set up a Jewish school with compulsory religious classes. The Board of Education — in a policy switch from the sixties — wanted to integrate a private school into the public system. About 400 junior high school students at the Associated Hebrew Schools would have been involved. Having rendered this verdict, Judge John Holland, in a personal comment, said "Religious instruction of all denominations would appear to have merit from an educational viewpoint." However, he noted that this would require substan- tial changes in the legislation. The fact is that a system, conceived by men like Rev. Egerton Ryerson, is dead. We now have a public t of education that is neutral or agnostic. So the pot is boiling. " Ryerson travelled abroad to get ideas. We would do well to take a good look at the Netherlands. The constitution of Holland lays down that the cost of voluntary schools (fulfilling certain con- ditions imposed by law) is to be defrayed from public funds on the same scale as public schools. State primary schools are run by municipalities, voluntary schools by the organizations that set them up. State supervision is exercised by the schools' inspectorate. Suffice it to add that in the Netherlands, although state and voluntary schools are not on the same financial footing when it comes to higher education, even at the university level voluntary in- stitutions receive state aid varying from 70 percent to 90 percent. Those who cherish the spiritual heritage of our own country, a heritage affirmed in the opening words of the Canadian Bill of Rights which acknowledges "the supremacy of God", should be prepared to do some very careful and vital think- ing. Those who would not hesitate to invoke this statute if they felt deprived of justice even in an area under provincial jurisdiction, should also be ready for vital and careful thinking about im- plications of "freedom of religion". gion" . There may be separation of church and state in Canada. But this does not mean that there is or should be separation between God and government, between religion and the state, between people and public support to band together for education ac- cording to the dictates of conscience. It is an historic position which is at stake in a new ecumenical climate. It is a primary position which is bound to be attacked by various in- dividuals or groups for a variety of reasons. 4111111111111111111111111.IItlIl1111ti1lIlinni.um n..mulinilnllInnalalln 111111 Miscellaneous Rumblings By TOM CREECH Honesty is the name of the game One of the fundamentals which our society is bas- ed on is the term honesty. Trustworthy, not giving to lying, stealing or cheating are a few of the terms which are syn- omymous with the word. While it is true that there are many individuals who do not take this term verbatim, the general assumption is that one is not going to be cheated every time some form of business transaction takes place or an interchange on any level between two people oc- curs. There are a couple of incidents that started this writer thinking what the word actually means when applied in a couple of different situations. There is a resident in this village who celebrated a milestone recently which this writer believed would have made interesting reading. When approached initially about doing an article about this milestone, this individual responded in a positive manner but later, the individual had a change of heart. This person said honesty was always the best policy and that she (he) regretted not telling me intial- ly that an article about this person was not necessary. This individual said she (he) could remember every incident when an honest (there's that word again) mistake was made in a financial transaction. Another incident that was related to the writer by the same person, is while walking to church, he (or she) found a dollar bill. Rather than keeping it for per- sonal use, the dollar found its way to the church collection plate. This person kept remarking about how he or she was "funny" about the way this person behaved. I told the individual there's nothing funny about being honest. Another area where the term honesty comes into play is in the sphere of human relations. The success of any type of meaningful relationship beit working, friendly or living is honesty. I have this friend (Do they ever come in handy when the day before you go to press when you haven't got your column done) who this summer has been engaged in aliaisonof friendship with a young lady. My friend had no particular interests in this relationship other than having a good time and passing away a summer in a pleasant manner. It was understood that one was quite free to hook up with another male or female but with some discretion being used, in other words, an honest relationship. A problem arose one evening when this comrade in arms of mine went to a watering hole with this young lady and a female friend. This was the type of establishment where every one was "fair game" and my friend's lady friend was some of the fairest game there. No problems, said my friend as his lady friend enjoyed the company of a few of the other males pre- sent. The thing that disturbed the friend was when she said she had another ride home and that the friend could dispose of himself as he desired. This type of occurrence is of course an every day happening and one that is understandable if the one party is after more than friendship but when the party departs the scene with another individual, the word "used" comes to mind. When a person feels used, it usually means that somewhere along the line, a person hasn't been honest. * * * Talking about honesty (Oh, are we?) one of the Please turn to page 5 FRN$T W. IOCAI News Published Each Wednesday By J.W. Eedy Publications Ltd. Member: Canadian Weekly Newspapers Association Ontario Weekly Newspapers Association News Editor - Tom Creech EcNA Second Class Mail Registration Number 1385 Subscription Rates: $7.00 per year in advance in Canada $18.00 per year outside Canada Single copies 20-