Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutZurich Citizens News, 1975-02-06, Page 4PAGE 4 ZURICH CITIZENS NEWS THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 1975 Famine can be beaten Th: daily news diet of gloom becomes depressing. Auto- mobile plants are shutting down in many of the world's cities. The unemployment lists are growing. Inflation has spread far and wide, with the rate hitting more than 20 per cent in Australia, and above 40 per cent in Israel. Count- less billions of dollars have been wiped out through inflation in many of the Western nations. In the proper countries, the situation is desperate. In Bangladesh, tens of thousands have starved to death in recent months. Famine in parts of the subcontinent follows hard upon the years of drought and famine in the Sahel region of Africa and in Ethiopa. Perhaps it is hard at tunes to look on the bright side. And yet that should be the task of political and opinion leaders, in fact, of every thinking individual. The world is not a gloomy as it may seep. Even less than a century ago, famines, droughts and floods were wiping out not thousands, but millions in Asian lands. Most people didn't even know about these calamities. Those who did cared little, for they were powerless to help. But now, for the first time in history, mankind has the power to banish hunger and disease from the face of the earth. Nations need the political will to move ahead faster with their develop- ment, but at least they have the know-how. The international community has built organizations and agencies like the United Nations, the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the various regional development banks and many others to guide and help the poorer countries. The affluent West remains affluent --despite inflation and the loss of savings. People have social security, welfare and health schemes, pension and insurance plans to assist thein during hard times and in their old age. The average person enjoys an economic security our ancestors could not possibly have envisaged. From time to time, one must banish the gloom with light. It can be done --by looking carefully into the past, as well as hopefully into the future. Progress — but with caution The whole world has become concerned with energy. Many basic amenities that people in the affluent lands took for granted just a year ago --such as electric light and heat --are no longer in abundant supply. In some countries, people are going without heat for days on end. In Canada, heat and energy are vital to survival. And there has been considerable debate about the warning of Toronto lawyer Robert Macaulay that the energy policy Canadians select this year will determine our lifestyles, maybe our future and likely our existence." Mr Macaulay argues that Canadians face a serious energy situation --or what he calls alife and death energy problem. He blames the federal government for failing to provide leadership during the past 10 to 20 years in the energy field. He accuses industry of dominating government policy amid public indifference. If Mr. Macaulay paints what is perhaps too bleak and pessi- mistic a picture, it is mainly to alert the people of Canada to the dangers that lie ahead. Unlike people living in Indones- ia, Australia and Egypt, in Africa and in Florida, Canadians must have ample energy during the long winters. It is more important to have heat than to keep the wheels of industry turning, for it means survival. Doubtless Canada, with its large areas and relatively small population, will not merely survive but will make great strides in the decades ahead, But today one must plan for progress with caution. The federal government would be wise to take an accurate inventory of the country's energy resources. ZURICH Citizens NEWS PRINTED BY SOUTH HURON PUBLISHERS LIMITED, ZURICH HERB TURKHEIM, Publisher Second Class Mail Registration !slumber 1385 Member: • •`to �� CA Canadian- Weekly. Newspapers Association %� `fi Ontario Weekly' Newspapers Association ''t,.l"®C� Subscription Rates: $5.00 per year in advance in Canada; $6.00 in United States anti Foreign; single copies 15¢ International Scene (by Raymond Cannon) IS ANYTHING SECRET? Our friendly neighbourhood spies from the American Cent- ral Intelligence Agency have been caught with their hand in the cookie jar again to the int- ense embarrassment of every- body in the Agency and the delight of those people who don't think much of the CIA anyway. This time it concerns spying not in other countries but in the United States itself. It seems that the CIA decided it would like to take a look at some of the radical groups active in the U.S. to see if they were being supported in any way by foreign funds. As spies are wont to do, the CIA investigators got carried away with themselves and did some poking about in the private lives of some Amer- icans who didn't merit such an investigation. The result will probably be something that the CIA hadn't expected-- a clipp- ing of their wings. Ever since the Watergate affair, Americans have been rather sensitive about wire taps, listening devices and all the other gadgets that go with intelligence gathering. There- fore, when the CIA is caught in the act, it is understandable why there is a hue and cry to carry out an investigation and no less a personnage than rec- ently appointed Vice President, Nelson Rockefeller is leading the investigation. Since Rocky likes to throw himself into his work, it will be interesting to see what he digs up. The fact that the CIA is in the news means that I start getting questions about the spying, if any, that Canada does as well as how valuable spy ing is in the first place. We have been brought up on a diet of spy novels and movies and spying is considered to be one of the most glamorous profess- ions there is. The fact is that few people really know too much about the profession and those who do and are still inv- olved aren't saying too much about it. Since I ain no longer under an oath of secrecy, I can tell you a bit and the first thing I'll say is forget the glamor. If there is any, it exists in the books and movies and not in real life, I suppose that some people might think it is glamor- ous to fly a U-2 spy plane over Russia but I don't think Gary Powers though of it that way, certainly not when he had the misfortune to be shot down and put in prison for a while. There .is no glamor in sneaking across borders, no bevy of beautiful women to seduce you so if you are thinking of joining, forget it. If you still insist, you won't be able to find employment in Canada for the simple reason that we don't carry our clandes- tine operations in the naive of democracy. At least not the corning and going of all sorts of agents on secret missions in all parts of the world. True, we do have intelligence gathering organizations in Canada, a fact that the C.B.C. revea led in an hour-long program last year, but they are relatively minor and fit into a large patt- ern. As far as spying in this country is concerned, there is some done undoubtedly by the foreign powers, notably the Communists but the RCMP is responsible for ferreting them out and dealing with the, Every once in a while we read about a foreign diplomat or newspaper man who is asked to leave the country and not come back. Today machines are replacing men in some fields in that the Americans have satellites that circki the globe constantly. Every time they pass over Russ- ia, for example, they take , pictures or are making soundings that are radioed back to the proper authority. This sort of data is much more accurate than any battery of spies could produce if let loose in the Soviet Union. If you want to read a good book about spying, there is an excellent one which has just appeared about the Russians. It is called simply the "KGB" which, if you can understand Russian, stands for Komitet Gosudorstbennoy Bezopastnosti. That is a real Slavic tongue twister which, translated means Committee of State Security. Perhaps your local library has iton order or can get the book fox you if you ask nicely. There are also a few books out on the CIA, mostly written by unhappy ex -members of the organization. Remember, thougl they are unhappy people and are not always objective in their descriptions. It is admittedly difficult to be objective about something when you don't know the whole story but I cannot help but wondering sometimes if we don't spend an awful lot Banghart, 'Ke!!y, Doig and CO. Chartered Accountants 268 Main St., Exeter ARTHUR W. READ Resident Partner Bus. 235-0120, Res. 238-8075 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 10 Isaac Street 482.7010 Monday and Wednesday Call either office for appointment. Norman Martin OPTOMETRIST Office Hours: 9.12 A.M. — 1:30-0 P.H. Closed all day Saturday Phone 233.2433 Exety INSURANCES Robert F. Westlake Insurance "Specialising In General Insurance' Phone 236.4391 — Zarlsh NORM WHITING LICENSED AUCTIONEER A APPRAISER Prompt, Courteous, Efficient ANY TYPE, ANY SIZE, ANYWHERE We give complete sale service. PROFIT HY EXPERIENCE Phene Celled 235.1%64 E1flTER AUCTIONEERS PIRO' WRIGHT LICENSED AUCTIONEER Kippen, Ont. Auction Sale Service that is most efficient and courteous. CALL TH■ WRIGHT AUCTIONEER Telephone Hensel) (511)262-5515 D & J RIDDELL AUCTION SERVICES * Licensed Auctioneers and Appraisers * Complete Auction Service * Idles 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 20 years' experience of complete sale service _ Provincially licensed. Conduct sales of any kind, • any place. To insure success of your sale or appraisal Phone Collect 666-0833 666-1967 Guaranteed Trust Certificates 1 & 2 YEARS 9 1/2% 3 & 4 YEARS 9 3/4% 5 YEARS 10% Je W. UABE.AL.R ZURICH PHONE 236-4346 GERALD 1. MERNER Chartered Accountant BUS: 20 Sanders E.—EXETER— 235-0281 RES: 10 Green Acres —.GRAND BEND — 238-8070