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Zurich Citizens News, 1975-05-22, Page 4PAGE 4 ZURICH CITIZENS NEWS THURSDAY, MAY 22, 1975 Olympics restricted to citified! It's hard to imagine a more muddled or unfair situation than that surrounding the 1976 Summer Olympics to be held in Montreal. Already reeling under building delays due to strikes and bes- et by financial problems (despite assurances by Montreal's mayor to the contrary) the Olympics organizers hit rock bottom in their scheme for the sale of tickets for the world's foremost sporting event. We clearly remember a couple of years ago that ALL Can- adians were promised they would be given an equal opportunity to purchase tickets fot the Olympics. The question now is equal as compared to what or whom? For some nebulous reason --undoubtedly having to do with money --the sale of the tickets was turned over to Eaton's of Canada. Now we have nithing against this venerable company, but just what a private concern, best known for its mail order business in everything imaginable from A to Z, has got to do selling tickets, we don't know. Going a step further, if that company were offering tickets on a mail order basis --as they do their merchandise --then we could see more merit in their position as ticket handlers. But no, tickets are being made available at Eaton's stores in major cities for a full month before they will be offered at their retail outlets elsewhere. And Eaton's themselves have said they hope they won't have any tickets left to sell at the end of the month. What this ticket selling scheme means is that virtually no Canadian living more than an hour's drive from a major city will have a chance to acquire an Olympic tickets. And in the case of Canadians living in the Northwest Territories, the difficulty is compounded to the extent that anyone wishing to get a ticket first has to fly about 1, 000 miles to reach an Eaton's store. The whole idea is so horrendous that once you stop laughing you start to feel your blood boil. We only wonder where the sale of Olympic lottery tickets would be if Eaton's had been asked to handle them? We also wonder that come 1976 and summer, just bow many Canadians are going to give a tinker's darn about even watching the Olympics on telly? And that's the unfortunate part of the whole mess. Instead of generating a much-needed interest in sports in this country, Mayor Drapeau's Olympic show in Montreal is turning people off in droves. (Listowel Banner.) Take a horse to lunch! It is most interesting at times to take a peek at the laws by which we are governed and which have been hidden away in deep filing cabinets for so long that they have become ridicul- ous. They could be, and sometimes are, the subject of some truly amusing programs. During a recent stay in a Toronto hotel we found one of these anachronisms tacked neatly to the inside of our room door -- and every hotel room in the city must carry the same notice. It reads; "Rate for this room is X dollars for one person; XX dollars for two persons." Up to that point it was sensible --and that is as far as most people ever read. However, apparently the law compels the hotel management to include an extract from the Innkeepers Act, Chapter 210, Revised Statues of Ontario, 1927. 3. (1) No innkeeper shall be liable to make good to any guest of such innkeeper any loss or injury to goods or property brought to his inn, not being a horse or other live animal, or any geat appertaining thereto, or any carriage, to the greater amount than the sum of $40. The balance of the notice goes on to explain that if it can be proven the "innkeeper" was neglectful of the guest's property he might be in trouble and sets out the conditions under which valuables might be lodged with the hotel for safekeeping. Wonder how often in recent years any guests have pulled up to the Front Street door of the Royal York and told the doorman to put their horses away for the night? (Wingham Advance Times) ZURICH Citizens NEWS PRINTED BY SOUTH HURON PUBLISHERS LIMITED, ZURICH HERB TURKHEIM, Publisher Second Class Mail Registration Number 1385 ops e �+ Member: *����.��e 4pCNA Canadian Weekly. Newspapers Association V Ontario Weekly Newspapers AssociationV.WAMLZ .fs Subscription Rates: $6.00 per year in advance in Canada; $8.00 in United States and Foreign; single copies 200 International Scene WHAT'S A EURODOLLAR? You've probably heard of homeless children but have you ever heard of homeless money? Probably not but, strange to say there is some. Quite a bit as a matter of fact, although nobody is quite sure of the exact amount, Let's say in round figures that it is one hundred billion dollars and you will probably exclaim that it can't be true! Therein lies a tale -the story of Eurodollars, the world's first homeless currency. You will probably be able to guess from the word that it has something to do with dollars and probably just as much to do with Europe but what is the connection? Simply this! Ever since World War I1 the Americans, by means of foreign aid programs, or else buying more from other countries that they sold to them, have managed to send a great deal of money out of their country. Since American dollars are valid currency just about any place you go, the countries on the receiving end of these dollars never got around to spending them on American goods but in- stead used them to buy things from other countries. These countries in turn_would use• them to purchase goods and services from yet another country and the dollars never did get back to the United States. Since most of these dollars, when they left the United States, headed in the direction of Europe they came to be known as Euro- dollars, a name which has stuck to them ever since although some of them are not to be found in any European bank. To show you what I mean by that, let me give you the following illustration. If an Am- erican firm buys something from a European firm, it will likely pay for the purchase in dollars. It will not send the dollars itself but ask its bank to make the necessary transaction. The Amer- ican bank will notify the Europ- ean bank with which it does bus- iness to pay the European firm the required amount but the European Because the European bank may not need the dollars at the time, it tells the American bank to hold on to the dollars for it for the time being. In effect, then, these dollars have become Euro- dollars although they are still located in the United States. Sound confusing? Well, it really isn't to the banks since that is how they operate but to most other people it can get a bit tricky. When you have about a hund- red billion of these dollars float- ing around in international bank- ing circles, it can be a bit of a problem. If there are enough of them in any one country, they can foul up any monetary polic- TED VOOGEL • AND SONS LTD. BUILDING CONTRACTOR FRAMING Houses & Cottages *Renovations* CUSTOM BUILT Homes Free Estimates! DASH W OOD R,R,1 PH; 238-2742 les which that country is trying tc carry through. For one thing, they are not considered to be part of the money supply of the country and so are not subject to any controls. Secondly, they do not conform exactly to the inter- est rates in the country so that they can readily foul up any efforts by a government to raise or lower these rates to keep in line with current economic cond- itions. Needless to say the Americans have considered all sorts of ideas to get these dollars home without throwing the international mon- etary system into something approaching chaos. jus how do you bring a hundred billion doll- ars home and give their present owners something valid in return. This amount is, after all, almost twice the amount of all money in circulation in Canada and you can't just order banks to return it. It took years to accum- ulate and it won't go away over night. The only way would be for the United States to run a surplus each year or a great many years --and this, I assure you, is easier said than done. So these dollars continue to circulate, to be borrowed, hoard- ed, lent and what have you. Perhaps someday, somewhere, somebody will come up with a feasible idea as to how to handle the situation. In the meantime, there they are and how good or bad they are for the economy depends on who you listen to. 0 Importedfood Canadians spend between 26 and 30 cents of their grocery dollar on imported food. During the winter, 70 cents of every dollar spent on fruits and vegetables goes for imported produce. Banghart, Doig and Co Chartered Accountants 268 Main St., Exeter ARTHUR W. READ Resident Partner Bus. 235-0120, Res. 238-8075 usiness and Professional Directory OPTOMETRISTS J. E. Longstaff OPTOMETRIST SEAFORTH MEDICAL CENTRE 527.1240 Tuesday, Taursday, Friday, Sat- urday a.m.. Thursday evening CLINTON OFFICE 10 Issac Street 4112.7010 Monday and Wednesday Call either office for appointment. Norman Martin OPT ETRIST Office Hours: 9-12 A,M. -a 1:30-0 P.M. Closed all day Saturday Phone 235.2433 Exeter INSURANCES Robert F. 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