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The Wingham Advance-Times, 1963-04-04, Page 114 Now Its Up To You For weeks you have been hearing and reading the claims and counter- claims, the accusations and defenses of the four political parties which are seek- ing election as the government of the Dominion of Canada. If you are confused you are just like the majority of'Canadians. We had hop- ed that as the campaign progressed the leaders would have clarified to greater degree the platforms of their parties, but such has not been the case. Several issues have been discussed at length by the various party speakers, and among these are the defense of our nation and whether or not nuclear de- fensive weapons should be accepted. The NDP says "No"; the Liberals are now saying "Yes" and the PC's are saying "Maybe". Social Credit says yes in the West and no in the East. Another urgent issue is the economic future of the nation, with which is in- timately entangled the problem of un- employment. All parties claim to have the answer to that one. It is our belief that there is another and much more important issue at stake —one which has been scarcely referred to by the two older parties. That is the question of whether or not Canada will swing, in any major degree, toward a so- cialist form of government. The New Democratic Party has many commendable objectives—and it has in Mr. Douglas a leader of outstanding ability—but for our part we do not favor a system of gov- ernment which would increase the scope of state ownership in Canada. It is a principle to which we are opposed, for increased government control leads to only one result—curtailment of personal freedom. Unfortunately the general public has lost much of its faith in the two old- er parties. There is a feeling that neither one of them know how to govern. This is not true, of course. Both the Liberal and Conservative parties are made up of average -type Canadians who lean nei- ther to the right nor to the left. By and Targe these two parties attempt to carry out the will of the people as they are able to interpret it. There is an old saying, in which there is much truth, that any nation gets the sort of government it deserves. With this thought in mind Canadians should go to the polls next Monday with some solid thinking behind them. Let us not make the mistake of vot- ing for the man or the party with the rosiest promises. Promises are easily made and soon forgotten. And you all know perfectly well that the good things in this life aren't handed out free. There is always a cost—and we are the folks who will do the paying. There is no easy road out of the dif- ficulties which face Canadians. No leader has a magic formula. The path to full employment is the up -hill course of de- velopment: broader education, invest- ment of more capital in business. The solution to economic ills lies in a more sensible approach to national spending; tightening our belts and living according to our means. The only answer to the defense problem lies in courage and in- telligence; not in a clammy sort of paci- fism which will leave us cringing on our knees for the next four or five genera- tions. There is no need to tell you more about the men and the parties for whom you may vote. You will have to make up. your own mind. But do your own thinking and then get out to the poll and cast your ballot. The Burden Grows Heavy Legislation was recently introduced in the Ontario House to provide a com- pulsory pension plan for working people. On the surface is it a highly commend- able effort to make provision for the illears of retirement of a vast segment of the population. It has, however, a few hidden snags. Labor organizations have already condemned the plan because it is design- ed to apply only in those firms where there are 15 or more employees. We are inclined to agree that this clause does appear unfair. The act will guarantee the "portabil- ity" of pensions, so that no workman will lose any credit if he jumps from one job to another. For the workman that is good. There is, however, another fellow in- volved in this pension business—the em- ployer. Since he is expected to contrib- ute a healthy slice of the pension fund, would it not be reasonable to suppose that he should get some benefit for his dollars? • Many firms in Ontario, large and small, already have pension plans for their employees, and to be quite frank most, of them were set up as a limited inducement for skilled employees to stay with the firms that are helping to pro- vide for their old age. The portability clause will remove the incentive. Smaller businessmen are already carrying a stiff load for their employees. Unemployment insurance, for example, is available to all workers—and 50 per cent of the premium is paid by the em- ployer. Holidays are enforced by law, and paid for by the employer; many firms pay a portion of their employees' hospitalization premiums. The employer is forced by law to handle all the book- keeping for his employees' income tax and remit the money so collected to the department. The employer, too, is forc- ed by law to provide and pay for Work- men's Compensation in case of injury on the job. All this is good—for the employee. It assumes, however, that every employ- er is a big shot who makes all kinds of money out of the sweat of the working- man. Such, however, is far from the case. There are many smaller businessmen in this country who earn not a cent more out of profits than do employees From their wages. What's more, the total number of small businessmen amounts to a sizeable proportion of the voting public. Sorry To See It Go This week Alton Adams is announc- ing that the Lyceum Theatre will be clos- ed permanently. We understand the ne- cessity for the move in the face of pre- sent day economics, but we do feel sin- cere regret. Mr. Adams has done his best to con- tinue the theatre operation when most other towns in this area have long been without a movie house. It has meant a great deal of effort and worry. Wingham will be the poorer for the closing of the Lyceum. Over the years the local theatre provided a great deal of fine entertainment for people of all ages. When one recalls such great movies as The Ten Commandments, Ben Hur and the other stand -outs of past years it will be readily imagined that no other med- ium will be able to replace the moving picture on a full screen. Television is a wonderful invention—but the movie house had its own merits. THE WINGHAM ADVANCE - TIMES Published at Wingham, Ontario, by Wenger Bros. Limited W. Barry Wenger, President - Robert O. Wenger, Secretary -Treasurer Member Audit Bureau of Circulation; Member Canadian Weekly Newspapers Associ- ation; Member Canadian Community Newspapers Representatives Authorized by the Post Office Department as Second Class Mail and for payment of postage in cash Subscription Rate: One Year, $4.00; Six Months, $2.25, in advance U.C.A., $5.00 per year; Foreign rate, $5.00 per year Advertising Rates on application 11 I•it I �I MII Li II au I ' 1 MU NI I id I 8 r991 is N k rill II ANNUAL PROBLEM—The Murray Taylor home on Scott St. was again flooded during the high water last, week. It happens almost every year and the family has be- come accustomed to the inconvenience.—A-T photo. ut bain itcoZi Wingham, Ontario, Thursday, April 4, 1963 SECOND SECTION ''t!ICi111g. :Si11111iIIlI:;iiilliio �!!iiiuuumarll!!liluu!r ,I:�uum'�°o<,,,s.,;l, II!IIIIIIIIIi(L'1141� Uill;!Iillllliil;��, SUGAR and SPICE, ,;,,,;,I,IBy Bill Smiley441411rII111Ii Something unprecedented, uncalled takable is happening to our good, gray Their feelings are showing. One of the things I've al- ways admired about us Cana- dians has been our dour lack of response to any of the usual standard emotional stimulants: Queen, country, flag, anthem, politics, religion. Latin races are expected to be excitable, emotional, vol- uble and revolutionary. No- body is surprised when a Teuton wants to beat you up one minute and sob over a song the next. Scandinavians are noted for their moodi- ness. Slays are explosive. Asians form shouting mobs. Africans are unpredictable. Not us. At least, we never were before. Compared to us, the Yanks have always been a wildly emotional nation. Even the British, who pride themselves on their reserve, are sloppy and sentimental compared to us. Or at least they used to be. * * * We have always been thorny, owly, surly. ornery, independent and deeply un- enthusiastic people. We have been unimpressive, perhaps, but also unimpressed. Other nations have had processions and parades. The people turn out in hundreds of thousands to cheer at the tops of their voices, wave flags, surge against the police lines. We have had our parades, too. If it's not a nice enough day to go for a picnic, or play golf, or go fishing, or work in the garden, Cana- dians will turn out in their handfuls for a parade. They will stand in their scanty ranks, stonily watch- ing anything from a prime minister to a Santa Claus pa- rade. Occasionally, if it's the Queen or Winston Churchill or somebody of equivalent rank, there night be a gentle patter of handclapping. Once in a while, some eccentric for, and unmis- Canadian people. will actually cheer—one little hurray! He subsides immedi- ately, horribly embarrassed, while everyone in his vicinity stares at him coldly. In other countries, univer- sity students write poetry, join parties, man the barri- cades, march on the palace, die for their ideals. In this country, the university stu- dents write letters home for money, go to parties, man the bars, march to the folknik joints, and die at a rine old age, usually for their high living. * * * But things are changing. The solemn, cynical Canadian is being swept out of his quiet backwater into the seething mainstream. His inkJlike blood is aboil. Strange, sav- age snarls are escaping his thin lips. Deep within him, a Beast is being aroused. He's prying up the stones of his patio to hurl at somebody, though he isn't quite sure who it is. Gone is his decent reserve. Vanished is his phlegmatic calm. Ripped to ribbons is his ancient fear that somebody might think he was display- ing emotion. A new, strange violence surges through his knotted veins. There's going to be terror in the land. I can feel it. "Nonsense," you say. Oh, yes, I can hear you. "Piffle and poppycock," you sneer. All right, don't believe me. But don't say I didn't warn you. Just take a look at your daily newspapers. It's all right there. Your fellow Canadians have gone haywire. "PM JEERED BY STUDENTS," says the headline. "HECK- LERS DISRUPT MEETING," it says. "SPEAKER HOWLED DOWN," it gloats. Isn't that enough evidence for any - Letters to the Editor Because of the many inquir- ies regarding the lack of local labor being used to construct the Senior Citizens' apartment house in Wingham, I have been instructed by the Kinsmen Club of Wingham to write this letter for publication in The Wingham Advance -Times, outlining the position of the Kinsmen Club in the building of this apartment. Sometime ago the Kinsmen Club was approached by a rep- resentative of the Twin Pines Apartments Limited to see if we were interested in obtaining an apartment house for Wingham. The Kinsmen thought that this would be a very worthwhile venture and proceeded to carry out their part of the agreement with Twin Pines Limited, which consisted of the following: To conduct a survey to see if enough people of the required category were interested and to obtain the land on which the apartment would be erected. The club received full co- operation from the town on this venture and both of the above requirements were met. At this time the whole matter re- verted to Twin Pines Limited for the erection of the apart- ment building and the Kinsmen Club was divorced completely from the construction of the building. It is my understanding that body? The Canadian public, famous for its total, soporific calm during election cam- paigns, is aroused. The tiger is loose. Can you actually conceive the picture of an honest, placid Canadian standing up and asking questions at a po- litical meeting, unless he was drunk? Can you imagine sens- ible Canadian voters cheer- ing, except at a hockey game? * * * The 1963 election is going to go down in history. It may not solve anything, politically. But emotionally it will sym- bolize the time when the wild, free spirit of the Canadian people burst loose, and we were revealed for the tem- pestuous, exotic, romantic race we really are. It's beautiful, somehow. And, somehow, sad. For gen- erations there was nobody like us. And now we're just going to be like everybody else. this organization advertised locally, calling for tender prices on the building with no success. It would seem that all contractors as well as the trades in this area were all fairly busy at that time and therefore the Twin Pines Limited had no al- ternative but to advertise at other points to obtain a con- tractor for this building. Twin Pines not only con- struct but equip the building, pay for the maintenance of it and of course all rents are paid to them for a period of 45 years, after which the building is given to the town at no cost. The Kinsmen Club has one further obligation, and this is to set up a panel of local citi- zens to administer the leasing of the apartments in this build- ing to local applicants, both initially and to fill vacancies as the need arises. I certainly hope that this will clarify any questions re- garding the construction of the building and serve to point out the position of the Wingham Kinsmen Club. The names of the people serving on the above panel regarding leasing will be published at a later date. Sincerely, M. N. Boyd, President Wingham Kinsmen Club Mall Medical Building, Winnipeg, Manitoba. March 26, 1963. The Editor, Wingham Advance -Times, Wingham, Ontario. Dear Sir: The confrontation between Kennedy and Khrushchev over Cuba on October 27, 1962, projected into stark reality the one critical issue for all govern- ments and all peoples today: human survival. It is vitally important that this message be clearly understood. All other questions by comparison are either transient, or irrelevant or dishonest. There is only one solution. The explosive situation where human survival depends on the sanity or emotional stability of two men -- two fingers on two triggers — must he replaced by World Government. Only in this way may International Law be enforced by supra -national force. The rule of Law is the PleaE::,. turn to Page Two