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The Lucknow Sentinel, 1982-05-26, Page 6edttorta Lucknow Sentinel,Wednesday, Kay 26, 1982 -Page "The Se fol Tow&" EsIsWls 1873. Tbe. Iiigh .cost of iflnocencc Attorney -general Roy McMurtry .announced yesterday that there will be no public inquiry 'into the .mysterious. deaths of some 43 children at Toronto's Sick Children's. Hospital until the police have completed their investigation. A call for such an inquiry came on the weekend after nurse, Susan N. eiles was discharged, followed a preliminary heating to, determine whether'there was Sufficient evidence to take her to trial in the deaths of four babies,. who died unexpectedly of massive overdoses of •a heart medication while' in her care on the hospital's cardiac: ward.. Wrongfully accused, she will tarry the emotional scars of this or Teal for the rest of her, life.: But it remains to be seen. how the wrongful accusation will affect her future career as a nurse and how she will cope with the stigma of guilt which lingers despite, the jud8e's verdict of innocence: This:' does :not even hint at the financial burden her defence•has created nor the emotional strain on her family.. Yet, Susan Nelles` was discharged without even an apology. Is society ready to accept the responsibility for such miscarriages o justice? Productive and.worthy measures have, been taken ;in recognition . of the pain and anguish. endured by victims otcrime and their families In. 1971 a Criminal .Injuries' Compensation Board was established to, provide monetary assistance to persons victimized by crime. But surely • it is time" to recognize that sometimes the person most . victimized by . the, criminal , process is the accused. This is ,not to suggest that everyone found noeguilty. should automatically be compensated. Nor is it`to• imply that the mechanics of instituting such a program would 'be • simple, Careful thought ; would be . 'required to ; determine who would be best' suited .to decide the issue. Legislation. is 'necessary .to .define which: individuals might deserve compensation and 'under what circumstances. Guidelines . must be established showing .the nature andamount of the awards available and thefactors•tobe considered in'arriving at the appropriateamount. ` This . injustice has existed . too longand to shirk our. responsibility in Such miscarriages of justice is .to perpetrate the wrong. • .. . flspIta1 looks to future Perhaps the most valuable service.any smaller community can possess is an efficient .and well-equipped hospital..: In this regard the people. of Wingham and a wide surrounding arca are fortunate.. Over theyears the Wingham and District Hospital has achieved a. fine record not only for ''routine patientcare, but for innovative programs which provide for specialized care in many fields of the healing arts.. Nor is,the end of the improvements and advances in, sight. Iii recent years new emphasis has been placed on such services as will permit many potential • hospital patients to receive treatment on. a day-care basis,' returning to their homes by evening. Not only 'does such a programrelieve the necessity for. expensive ; in-hospital accommodation, .. it fosters a better frame of mind' for the patient, and thus speedier return to good health. • ' . It is with such projects as this in mind that the governors of the local hospitalhave plans in the making for a further addition to the hospital complex. However, provincial funds through the OHIP plan are strictly limited. The community. bAS to'provide a much larger share of the money needed for oth'building and, equiment purchases. Over the years the ,people in this town and area who have benefited from the presence of a'good, modern hospital, have proven more than generous in their support. ' . Since the board of governors is chiefly concerned with the day-to-day operations of the hospital a second body Was established a few years ago, known as the•Wingham and District Hospital Foundation, . Composed. of .sixformer chairmen of the hospital board, the sitting chairman and the. hospitaladministrator, this Foundation committee is responsible for the long-term planning which will produce .the funds*, provide for the institution's capital needs. Not infrequently donations and bequests are given to assist with hospital :financing by those who recognize the supreme importance of maintaining local health services: The purpose of the, foundation .is to allocate such funds, to invest theni when possible in order to maintain an on-going source of funding as needs arise in the future, Those who. may be interested in supporting the work of the . Foundation may obtain full information from the hospital office. Since many inquiries of this nature are addressed to area lawyers and accountants, these• profes- sionals can also provide guidance to those who wish •to lend their financial support to the highly deserving cause of local health care. —Wingham Advance-Tit'ttes SHARON J`, Dlh.TZ ditor. PAT LIVINGSTON ., Office Manager MERLE ELLIOTT , Typesetter' ;JOAN HELM : * Compositor Business and Editorial Office Telephone $28.2822 Mailing Address P,O,Box 400, Lucknow, NOG MO Seeond Class trait: Registration. Nunnber 0847 d $uiscrlptiog rate, 1t4.3O per year in advance' .Senior Cltlzi i rate, $12.00 per year hi advance V.S.,4, and Foreign, $2$.00 per pow in ndvanae' Sr, Cit. and.Forclgn, $36.00 per year to advance by dor~caimpboil A, large yellow harvest moon rose above the trees, as Chippy Chisholm made his way on foot to the Brodie cabin: It cast a pale glow over the new settlements of the. Scottish pioneers, but the .only harvest it greeted, was a small crop of oats, in the clearing • by the home of Doctor Cameron, As Chippy passed the place, . he. realized how much the. Friends of Skye owed, to, the Camerons, . pairticrlarly: tp Jane, the wealthy ',:wife • of the physician. She would supplement the livelihood • of the entire: community until the land alone provided for their needs. Most of the cabins were at .least liveable, but there was much to do, 'before the coming of the snow.; Grain ' for both man. and beast must be hauled from Weston. There was a need to collect what hay 'could be gleanedfrom the more established settletnents, and Ian Jamiesonwould have to procure' a great stock of essential supplies for his new general store. Yes indeed, without Jane Cam- eron the Highlanders would be faced with a long, hard • and bitter winter. The greatest chore of all had yet to be completed. The new Presbyterian Church wasonly ill -the initial Stages of construction and must be... closed in before the first white flakes descended upon the Caledon hills. Soap, every available. man would bend his back . to - the task, for even in .a promised land flowing With milk andhoney, man cannot live. by bread alone. This, the new immigrants: believed and, under - MOW. Religion was essential to their way of life. Chippy Chisholm was a .little weary' after, a longday's work, as he,Made his' way down. the •narrow avenue of trees • called "Third Line'. In later years it was to developinto a road the width of two wagons, but in the latesummer of 1843, it Was merely a rough. trail, Under normal circumstances, Chippy would not have made his journey on foot at such a late hour, but the image of Elizabeth. Brodie was sufficient compensation for his weary limbs. Hewas thankful when he at last saw thelights of the Brodie cabin, winking through the trees. Ewen Brodie was still :v ,orking by lamp light on a lean type shelter against' the south wall -of' the cabin., It was intended as a temporary byre for his one and only cow. Inside the cabin, young Mrs. Brodie was -working at the' spinning wheel. The wool had been . donated' by Neil MacCrimrnon and had been sheared in the spring . from his small flock. Elizabeth Brodie was upstairs in the "loft", sewing a patch on sollle bed linen, and she -did not hear Chippy's knock upon the cabin- door. "Come awa, the young woman called out, as *she I still treadled the spinning wheel. The grey beard of Chippy, Chisholm poked around the door and his old,eyes blinked in the. cabin light, as he looked around ..for the,, woman of his fancy. "'Good evening tae ye ma'am," he said, removing a well worn and dirty hat. "team see ye• mother-in-law. Is. she Name the noo?" The young women Stepped the wheel. She was pleasantly surprised at the carpenter's visit, and thought, she knew . the reason for Chippy to .come calling.._ is "Och, I'm saw happy ye came, Mr. Chisholm. Ye'll be wantin' tae talk to one toot in. the furr�w, Mother Brodie about the cradle, She is fatting, therewill no be ' a weer bed when the bairn. comes!" Chippy -Chisholm had hoped that Elizabeth had discussed her forthcom- ing marriage with her son. a'nd. 'daughter-in-law, but had never visual- ized that she had made forecasts so far ahead. Planning a wedding was quite sufficient, but providing for a baby well in advance of the nuptials, was just 'a little too much, Besides, the widow Brodie (as far as Chippy knew), Was past the age of child bearing, unless another star was to shine from the east! He walked over to the fire- i W' place and lit a sliver of wood to apply • to his clay pipe, -and when. the young ,: woman rose from her seat to reveal her bonny figure, he ,realized that his previous, thoughts had been a little premature. "Ye can see frae yeses," the young woman said .in: an embarrassed' tone. "Twill . no be long beforemy baby comes." Chippy chuckled to himself at 'being such an old fool He was nevertheless, very relieved, and quick to assure the young woman that her need would be satisfied. • Q "And 'a cradle ye shall hae, Mrs. Brodie. The very best that. Chippy can make free ye Dinna fash yesel,• twill be finished tang before Doctor Camer- on comes to visit ye." The sound of voices brought Eliza- beth Brodie to the top of the rickety ladder which served as a staircase. With some difficulty she descended into the lower part of the cabin. Glancing. up, "Chippy was assuredthat she was still .a bonny woman,, and he was not too' old' .to stop looking! by bob trotter* They are called eggheads. They are . the experts from the higher halls of learning, the unviver- shies, who stand back,and survey their chosen field of. expertise . from the outsidelooking .in. They have had.a great many good ideas and .a few disasters. ' Farmers, as a general rule, pooh- pooh their theories because most of -them have never spent much time in the barn. K. A. (Sandy) : Worley; an agricul- tural economist'from the University of Guelph, is an egghead. But Sandy Worley is not your ordinary egghead; He should be listened to. A couple of years ago, heard . him at a marketing conference in Hespeler 'where he suggested, logically andforcibly, that the price of quotas will eventually level off if the. marketplace is not tampered with. He recently suggested that govern- ments should revoke the pricing . powers from the egg, chicken and turkey marketing boards because he feels those boards are using, their powers to reduce production too far and setting prices too high: Dr. Worley is Concerned - and he is probably a step kir two ahead of the boards involved - that the track record of a few marketing boards could ruin., the image of all the rest of the marketing boards,.. And hcfrankly added that marketing' boards are a useful tool for farmers and the rest of. the nation, too. -In other words, marketing boards are good for us` all until those boards go beyond working in .a free market- +place. He thinks that surveys of production 'costs should be done by the public, not by farmers. He thinks the National Farm Products Marketing Council, the agency, that supervises marketing boards, should have more influence e.g.: more power - the membership on the council should be drawn from the general public. Right now, 'legislation says that there should, be more farmers on the council than: others and the chairman or vice-chairman must be a farmer. He suggests a need for moderate reform within the present marketing legislation, not wholesale change or 'revolution. ; Well, I like' Prof, Worley. He is really a mild-mannered, unassuming' chap whose 'words of wisdom make a, great deal of sense...sometimes. I suggest that the eggheads, though, take a look at their own house. ' of cards before jumping on their anti -marketing board horse. Market- ing boards Were 'originally 'set up to give fanners some parity within the. food system. To take got shots at these boards without a full scale investiga- tion into the entire food industry is :a dreadful mistake: Too many : econom- ists are guilty of :such unfair criticism. They. zero. in on one ;sector and completely ignore • the rest• of the questions begging an answer. Farmers would never have pressed for. marketing boards if they did Piot need them. Farmers are fiercely inde- pendent.people. They no more want to be bound by the rules and regulations than they want 20, inches of rain in May. ' It was the rest of the food industry that forced them into. the position of needing marketing boards, The -so-cal- led free market syste +m,. out there beyond the farm gate, was •killing agriculture. Farmers could not 'coin - pew, And:the concentration of power is !getting. greater. • Four of five big buying units are surfacing in Canada right .now. In a few years, perhaps even months, that, concentration of power may be so great that marketing boards' will be considered a blessing rather than .a blight. 'Economists like Dr. Worley, have directed too much flak at marketing boards and not enough at the rest of the system so that farmers tame through looking like bad guys when all they are trying to do is remain viable.