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The Citizen, 1990-01-24, Page 5The International Scene What does the Berlin Wall really mean? BY RAYMOND CANON There are few people who will not rejoice wholeheartedly at the tearing down of the hated Berlin wall or at least the symbolic destruction of it. Lost is all the euphoria is what the wall was originally built for and what it meant in a divided Berlin. This might be as good a time as any to set the record straight. To really understand what it is all about, you have to go back to 1945 when the Second World War came to an end as far as Europe was concerned. The war was to contin­ ue on for another few months in the Far East as the Japanese were being forced to surrender but for the Germans the war was over and it was time to pick up the pieces. One of the pieces that had to be examined was Berlin which found itself, when prewar Germany was divided up into four sections bythe French, British, Americans and Russians, in the Soviet zone of occupation. It was, as most people know, the capital of pre-war Ger­ many but, as it was located 88 miles from the nearest part of what was to become West Germany, or that part occupied by the three western powers, it was hard to see it become the capital of anything. It did, however, remain a capital to a certain degree in that, as west and east Germany became more Irresponsible Campeau hurts staff and more separated one from the other, it became the capital of what we know as East Germany. How­ ever, Berlin, too, had been divided into four zones and only the zone under Russian control was con­ sidered to be the capital of East Germany. For the rest of the city it was considered nothing more than a western enclave in the eastern zone. It may come as a surprise to most people that as yet there exists no peace treaty between the wartime allies, the four nations which 1 mentioned above, and defeated Germany. Surrender, yes, but peace treaty, no! Until one is, and there is as yet none on the horizon, the four powers will have overall, if a rather hazy responsibility for Germany. The same four countries are still legally and physically in occupation in Berlin. All four powers work together in one building - the Berlin Air Safety Centre - which is responsible for the air traffic in three - 20-mile- wide air corridors leading from West Germany to Berlin. Free passage between the two parts of the city has always been denied to civilians, yet soldiers and diplo­ mats have been able to go to any part of the city that they want. All this did not change when the Berlin Wall went up in 1961. The reason for the wall was very simple; the East German govern­ ment was alarmed at the number of people who were leaving the coun­ try clandestinely by way of Berlin and the communist government decided to make it as difficult as possible for those who showed a propensity to flee. The so-called “iron curtain’’ was already in place and I recall being nothing short of amazed how escape-proof it was when I drove through one of the few crossing points allowed. When the wall went up, it was virtually impossible to get across any place to a western country and sure enough the flood of escapees was reduced to almost zero. Ironically enough, when the wall was finally breached in the fall of 1989, it was for the same purpose in 1961. The East German govern­ ment became alarmed again at the large number of people escaping the country by way of, first, Hungary and then Czechoslovakia. It occurred to them that the only way to really keep the people home was to make it easy for them to come and go and hence the breaching of the Berlin wall. But the destruction of the wall does not mean for one minute that things have changed in Berlin. Wall or no wall, all of Berlin is still controlled by the four occupying powers and the four ambassadors to the city made a point of meeting to discuss the matter, the first time that the Russians and the west had got together in such a way for 18 years. It is not going to be easy to get a peace treaty drafted, let alone signed; the Germany that was defeated in 1945 no longer exists. Some of it was given outright to Poland while part of what was known as East Prussia was ceded to the Soviet Union. The West Ger­ man government, for one, has agreed that the borders around Germany will not be changed by force and there is no hope at the present time that they can be changed by negotiation. The wall may be down and good riddance. The Pandoran Box that is Berlin still has to be opened. THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 24, 1990. PAGE 5. Letters Blyth council says Radford’s responsible for extra costs of project THE EDITOR, Re: George Radford Memorial Ball Diamond Project All suggestions offered and opin­ ions given at the January 16th, 1990 meeting for the George Rad­ ford Memorial Ball Diamond Pro­ ject have been considered by the Council of the Village of Blyth and an effort to accommodate these has been established in the following manner: A letter has been sent to George Radford Construction Limited stat­ ing: “After the January 16th meeting in Blyth Council Chambers con­ cerning the George Radford Con­ struction Limited bill pretaining to the George Radford Memorial Ball Diamond Project Council discussed the situation and the following decisions were made: “Council expect George Radford Construction Limited to honour their commitment to finish the improvements as laid out in corres­ pondence to Ken Siertsema dated August 30, 1988 and confirmed January 24, 1989 at their expense. No further remuneration will be honoured by the Village of Blyth. This finishing work will be completed by May 1, 1990 to allow for seeding to commence. Should an extension to this deadline be required, George Radford Con­ struction Limited will make appli­ cation for such for Council’s con­ sideration. Blyth Men’s Industrial Slow- pitch is expected to be in a position to commence tower installation, fencing and seeding immediately upon the completion of George Radford Construction Limited work. This date will be May 2, 1990, unless an extension to the completion date is required by George Radford Construction Limi­ ted. Notification of any change of schedule will be provided. Over and above all expenses to date, the estimated cost of complet­ ing remaining work at the George Radford Memorial Ball Diamond is $6,500.00. The cost of this is to be shared by George Radford Con­ struction Limited; Blyth Men’s Industrial Slow-Pitch and the Vill­ age of Blyth in the following manner: George Radford Construction Limited Blyth Men’s Industrial Slow-Pitch Corporation of the Village of Blyth $1,750.00 $1,000.00 $ 500.00 Charitable donation receipts in these amounts will be provided. These amounts will hopefully be matched under conditions of the PRIDE Grant system, which will bring the total dollars available for completion to $6,500.00. Grant monies are being properly and prudently administered by the Village of Blyth; yet the $3,250.00 in matching dollars will be provid­ ed at the expense of other PRIDE projects. This alteration to our original application must have the approval of the Ministry of Munici­ pal Affairs. If this alteration is deemed unacceptable by the Mini­ stry, the full $6,500.00 will be the responsibility of the above-named parties. Council of the Village of Blyth. Continued from page 4 ed their lives. Robert Campeau was already a rich man from his holding in Canadian real estate, but he decid­ ed he wanted to shoot for the moon by taking on some of the giants of U.S. retailing. Within months he acquired two of the biggest depart­ ment store chains in the U.S. He did so by borrowing heavily, issu­ ing so called junk bonds. He counted on the stores being able to do enough business to more or less buy themselves for him. He actu­ ally invested very little of his own money in the deal, but counted on the good times to keep on rolling so he could keep ahead of the mort­ gage payments. But he goofed. The money didn’t come in fast enough to keep ahead of the payments and he got in trouble. It wasn’t that the stores themselves got in trouble, just that though they were profitable, they Central Jr, Farmers formed The Huron County Junior Farm­ ers are going to have a new look in the future with the formation of a new club in 1990. The new club to be known as the Central Huron Junior Farmers’ Association is composed of the former Clinton, Seaforth and South Huron Junior Farmer Clubs. The amalgamation of the three clubs is a positive step in strengthening Junior Farmers in Huron County. The Central Huron Junior Farm­ ers will be maintaining a high profile in their former communities by keeping many of their former weren’t profitable enough. He was robbing them of cash so he could meet the payments to his creditors. Finally suppliers worried that they wouldn’t get paid for the produce they delivered to the stores and there was worry the stores would­ n’t even get merchandise to sell at Christmas. Mr. Campeau kept his high-wire act going long enough to make it past Christmas but he couldn’t teeter on the brink any longer and last week went into bankruptcy in the U.S. Under U.S. law the company will be given a chance to come up with a plan to bail everybody out but the cost is likely to be painful and some of those who must feel the pain most will be workers who may find their jobs gone. It hasn’t been because they were lazy or uncompetitive that they may be unemployed. It isn’t because of bad management by their bosses in the chains. They are in trouble because Robert Cam­ peau had the power to play with activities as well as many new ones. The Club also hopes to reach out into new areas and to new people with its activities. The new executive consists of President, Robert Hunking, RR 1, Auburn; Vice-President, Ross Mc­ Intosh, RR 4, Seaforth; Secretary, Joan Bergsma, Goderich; Treasur­ er, Debbie Craig, Blyth; Public Relations Committee, Linda Plaet- zer, RR 1, Auburn, Al Renning, RR 1, Exeter, Dave van Beers, RR 1, Blyth, Paul Hoggarth, RR 1, Kip­ pen; Agricultural Contact Person, Ross McIntosh; County Directors, Rick Fowler, Seaforth, Lynda their lives. The swing to a greater belief in the free enterprise system has been as strong in North America in recent years as it is now in the Eastern Blok. But the excesses of people like Robert Campeau and the other greedy junk-bond bandits can do more to undermine the faith than anything that can happen overseas. Free enterprise can only work if the people involved have a sense of responsibility and moral­ ity. When people like Robert Campeau forget that responsibility they have for thousands of other lives or when industrialists forget the responsibility we all have to our environment, they begin to sow the seeds of the destruction of the system. Pendulums of public opin­ ion swing and the excesses of one side inevitably lead to a change in direction of people’s feelings. Too much government led to the swing to the right. Too much business irresponsibility can drive the public back to the left again. Feagan, Seaforth, Paul Hoggarth, Ross McIntosh. The Huron County Junior Farm­ ers consisting of West Huron Junior Farmers and Central Huron Junior Farmers welcome inquiries concerning membership, activities and programmes. The next meet­ ing of the Central Huron Junior Farmers is Tuesday, February 13, 1990 at 8 p.m. in South Huron District High School, Exeter. For information about Junior Farmers in Huron County contact the Clin­ ton O.M.A.F. Office at 482-3428 or 1-800-265-5170. Writer pays tribute to a special neighbour DEAR EDITOR, In memory of my neighbour Mary McQuarrie. I’ve lost a friend, a neighbour, someone I’ll dearly miss. A person with a great memory, and a great love for her family and friends. She loved to receive and look at her many birthday, Christmas, Valen­ tine and Easter cards. Six years ago this spring I bought a pie down at the bakery and on the way home I stopped in at my neighbours. She’d just baked six pies and she was 87 then. I said Readers can call Canada Post for info THE EDITOR, In response to the many letters and articles printed on the subject of postal service problems - wheth­ er they be delivery problems, conversions, access to services or community mail boxes - I am writing to inform your readers about the existence of a new forum set up to deal with such complaints. The Postal Service Customer Council acts as an independent Postal Watch Group to aid Cana­ dians in making their voices heard. After direct talks between Canada Post and the Customer have failed, the Council will seek resolution and in some cases make recommenda­ tions to Canada Post. Canada Post is striving to improve its efficiency to myself, “Smarten up, Lois, and get baking!’’ Many times since I’ve called or run over to ask what spices to use or how much thickening to put in a cherry pie and she would tell me without thinking. She loved her flowers both inside and out. Her windows are full of African Violets. I’ve many special memories and I’ll treasure them. Lois Whittard Brussels. and productivity and, while recog­ nizing the complexities of moving an enormous quantity of mail throughout our vast country and beyond, the Council is determined to ensure that service to the Customer remains paramount. In Southwestern Ontario, from the Niagara and Bruce Peninsulas to Essex County, the telephone number in London is (519) 645- 5146. Collect calls are accepted. My suggestion to your readers is that if they have a complaint, why not make their voices heard by contacting the Customer Council. Norman Lang Co-ordinator Huron Region Postal Service Customer Council