The Wingham Advance-Times, 1966-10-20, Page 9Two spokesmen for the Town of Go-
derich have publicly expressed their dis-
satisfaction with the federal government's
present legislation on designated areas.
They have pointed out that as matters
stand many sections of the country find
themselves the victims of unfair advan-
tage when industries are seeking new
sites. R. G. Shier, spokesman for the
Goderich Industrial Commission, said
that Radio Condenser Corporation was
about to locate a plant in that town when
the section to the north was designated as
an area of slow growth and the industry
decided to locate in Collingwood in order
to avail itself of the generous federal
grants thus provided.
A resolution passed by the Liberal
conference in Ottawa last week asks that
the government extend the areas covered
by the slow growth legislation. The gen-
eral argument is that the areas now cov-
ered are not sufficiently less prosperous
than neighboring localities to merit the
tremendously attractive tax and grant
benefits available under designated area
legislation.
There are two schools of thought
among those who are actively interested
in the industrial development of the
smaller centres. There has been a good
deal of publicity in recent months about
the activities of the committee which was
formed at a meeting in Mount Forest, and
which seeks a broad extension of the
sloW growth area designation. On the
other hand many keen businessmen in
the same area feel that slow growth desi-
gnation is a poor approach to the solution
of economic difficulties. They believe that
it is plain bad publicity for an ambitious
municipality to proclaim itself backward
and in need of federal assistance.
Crux of the question lies in the over-
Though this column has previously
carried information about the current
essay contest sponsored by Lions Inter-
national, it is a subject so important that
we would like to remind young people
once again. In a nutshell, Lions Inter-
national is offering $50,000 in prizes for
the best essays written by young people,
up to 21 years of age. The first prize is
valued at $25,000.
The subject of the essay is to be on
world peace discovery of a workable
plan for world peace; concentration of at-
tention on world peace and accentuation
of the meaning of freedom and liberty.
The very size and scope of the subject
may be enough to discourage young peo-
ple. We can imagine that most high
school students, for example, may say to
themselves, "How can I possibly suggest a
workable plan for world peace when the
smartest statesmen on earth have failed?"
Perhaps the fact that all the older
people have missed the mark is the
greatest and best reason there is for
Many times we have heard small wage
earners speak with obvious mistrust (or
envy) of the big business owners who
make their millions every year from the
profits of the country's large corpora-
tions. No doubt some business moguls
do rake in fantastic earnings from their
corporate holdings, but that is far from
the complete picture,
For every single Midas counting his
golden hoard there are hundreds of com-
paratively unimportant people, just like
ourselves, who own a few shares of Bell
Telephone or International Nickel or some
other stock, Lots of them are widows and
pensioners who depend in no small way
upon the earnings of their small holdings
of stock to see them through the year.
Next time you hear a friend or neigh-
Opinion Split on Designated Areas
generous grants which accompany the de-
signation, Originally, as we understand
it, the federal government offered some
tax and depreciation concessions to new
industries which would set up in the
areas of the country deemed most in need
of new sources of employment. Brant-
ford was a case in point.
Later, however, grants of up to one-
third of a firm's capital expenditure were
added to the package. Naturally, such
an attractive incentive left the un-design-
ated areas pretty well out of the running.
It would seem that the general con-
cept of incentives has been on much too
narrow a scale. The basic fact is that
Canada is developing very rapidly as an
industrial nation; that far too much of
the industry is clustering around the big
metropolitan centres like Toronto and
Montreal; that the mass-accumulation of
industry and population is detrimental to
the proper and orderly development of
the country as a whole, creating a tre-
mendous and extremely expensive prob-
lem of urban service development in new
areas and leaving the open sections of
the nation inadequately supported by in-
dustrialization.
The federal government has attempted
to cure the problem by a crash program
of extreme measures, when in reality only
a carefully considered long-range plan of
education and profit-oriented decentrali-
zation will eventually be effective.
In a country as vast as Canada hun-
dreds upon hundreds of communities
could justifiably claim to be areas of
slow growth. It is obviously unfair that
a few of them should be selected to
benefit from a Santa Claus program or-
iginating from Ottawa. As one of the
Goderich spokesmen said, "broaden the
plan or scrap it."
younger peOple to think and write about
the subject. Certainly the goal of univer-
sal peace is so important that any fresh
ideas, no matter how "far out" are
worth considering. It seems unlikely that
permanent peace will ever be achieved
within the lifetimes of most of the older
generation, so its discovery must fall to
those who are young people now. It is
not too soon for them to start thinking
about the answer.
As a concrete suggestion for a start
toward a worthwhile essay on the subject
of world peace, how about a group of
high school students asking their English
teacher to moderate a free-wheeling dis-
cussion on the world's ills and how they
might be cured? Your group may not
contain the winning essayist, but the very
fact that a few young people are free to
talk about this vital question achieves at
least a part of the intent behind the
Lions' offer.
What's more, the mental exercise will
do you good.
bor calling down the wrath of the gods
upon the greedy tycoons and telling every-
one in general how those big firms should
be taxed out of existence, bear in mind
that your own Aunt Emma might suffer
far more painful consequences than the
wolves of Wall Street if the gods should
happen to act on your friend's advice.
In fact you might quote him these
figures: Between the first quarter of
1965 and the same period a year later
average wages in Canada rose 13%. The
wage earners must have had a little bet-
ter than their fair share because the gross
national product rose only 11 %. Those
greedy businessmen didn't do too well.
Corporation profits increased by only
7%.
Don't Forget The Essay Contest
Who Makes All The Dough?
THE WINGHAM ADVANCE - TIMES
Published at Wingham, Ontario, by Wenger Bros, Limited.
W. Barry Wenger, President - Robert 0, Wenger, Secretary-Treasurer
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SUGAR •
AND SPICE
by Bill Smiley
Thanksgiving is the best
ONE OF THE MOST popular of the eating mile in the tented city was this one, op-
establishments which stretched for a half erated by the ladies of Belgrave.—A-T Pix.
inobam IthbanctsZimt
Wingham, Ontario, Thursday, Oct. 20, 1966 SECOND SECTION
LETTERS "*HE EDITOR
• •:.••••••••••••,,,,t,,b;m4lAgMar.441i*:::?•.*:!:
REMINISCING
OCTOBER 1917
Miss Vina Smith, who ,has
for the past few years clerked in
Alex Mowbray's grocery has ac-
cepted a position as saleslady in
W. J. Greer's Shoe Store.
Sapper Roy Gray, a former
Wingham boy, and a brother of
Mr. W. G, Gray, is home from
the front and spending a few
days in town, Roy enlisted in
Toronto, his family having Mot,-
ed there from Wingham, some
years ago. He has received
wounds in the legs and walks
with the aid of a stick.
Mr. Robert Laidlaw, son of
Mr. Joseph Laidlaw, of West
Wawanosh is home from Eng-
land on furlough. He enlisted
with the 71st Battalion two
years ago, and spent some time
in the trenches. Corp. Laid-
law is the first Whitechurch boy
to return from the front.
Mr. W. D. McDonald who
for the past couple of years has
been a member of the Bank of
Commerce staff, was transferr-
ed to the Dresden branch and
left on Tuesday morning for
that place.
•OCTOBER 1931
Miss Jessie Warwick and Mr.
John Nicol, who have spent the
past three months visiting with
relatives in England, have re-
turned home.
Mr. Gordon Buchanan while
on his eastern trip for the firm
of C. Lloyd & Son, met with a
serious accident having his
shoulder blade fractured as well
as cuts about the face. At pres-
ent he is being cared for in Ed-
munston, N.B., and it will be
at least two months before he
returns to work. The car was a
complete wreck.
Dr. M. C. Calder has pur-
chased the old Bank of Com-
merce building from Mr. John
W. Hanna, and Mr. W. H.
Rintoul is making interior alter-
ations so that when completed
it will be a modern and up-to-
date office. The building for
the past few years has been oc-
cupied by the Wingham Club.
Mr. J. M. McKay has pur-
chased the residence of Mr.
A. K. Copeland, corner of
John and Frahcis streets, and
will make several alterations
before moving in. Mr. Cope-
land, who was a mail clerk on
the Wingham-London line, has
found it necessary to leave
town on account of his work,
and will reside in Windsor.
OCTOBER 1941
The following members of
the 7th Army Field Regiment
and the 100th Anti Aircraft Bat-
tery are home on leave: Cap-
tain T. W. Platt, Sgt. C. Bas-
kerville, Sgt. Hugh Cum-
mings, Bdr. Cliff Taman, Gnrs.
Henry Ross, Cliff Jenkins, J.R.
Johnston, Bob Murray, W. Ol-
sen, Jack Fraser, Bdr. Ralph
Hammond, L/Bdr. Alvin Ham-
mond, Jas. Ohms, G. Irwin.
Mr. Robt. McMurray has
purchased the Thos. Burke farm
on the second of Morris.
A.C. George King of Fingal
was a Sunday visitor with his
mother, Mrs. T. C. King.
George recently successfully
passed the first part of his ob-
server's course at Chatham,
N.B., and he will be at Fingal
for five weeks before receiving
his wings.
The Wingham and district
Ministerial Association meet-
ing at St. Pail's Rectory last
week, elected Rev. John Pol-
lock as president, and Rev.
E. 0. Gallagher, as secretary.
OCTOBER 1952
In Wingham United Church
on Sunday morning, Rev. Dr.
W. A. Beecroft christened the
following children: Joan Marg-
aret, daughter of Mr. and Mrs.
Roy Bennett; Gloria Jean, daugh
ter of Mr. and Mrs. Jack Lewis;
Wendy Barbara and Sheila Pat-
ricia, daughters of Mr. and Mrs.
John Crewson; Judith Anne,
daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Don-
ald Newman; Marilyn Isobel,
daughter of Mr. and Mrs. G.W.
Tiffin; Paul Douglas, son of Mr.
and Mrs. Freddie Templeman;
also on a previous Sunday, Janet
Mary, daughter of Rev. John
and Mrs. Thompson, who are
home on furlough from the Unit,.
ed Church Mission in Trinidad.
As a Canadian, what is your
favorite holiday in the year?
Think carefully, now. (No ob-
jection to Yanks playing the
game.)
Originally, our holidays had
religious overtones. Hence, the
term holy days: Christmas,
Good Friday, Thanksgiving.
Then we developed patriotic
— or, if you prefer — political
holidays. These include such
stirring times as Dominion Day,
now better known as The First
of July; British Empire and
Commonwealth and The Queen's
Birthday; Armistice or Remem-
brance Day.
Finally, we have a few pure
pagan holidays tossed in: Labor
Day; Civic Holiday and New
Year's Day.
Well, let's start at the bottom,
and eliminate, Civic Holiday has
no significance whatever. It's
the day on which everyone gets
out of town for the weekend,
except the local merchants, who
are supposed to get a civic holi-
day, but spend it working like
mad at the service club carni-
val, raising money for some
worthy cause. It isn't even a
national holiday, Big-city stores
ignore it.
Labor Day, as we all know,
far from being a tribute to or-
ganized labor, is a day on which
nobody' does a tap of work, ex-
cept for getting their kids ready
for school, or closing up the cot-
tage.
The next in insignificance is
difficult to choose. We have Do-
minion Day, of course. Once it
was a day of horse races, pic-
nics, boat excursions, and
speeches in the park. Now it is
merely a day which, annoyingly,
doesn't always fall on a Monday
or Friday.
And we have that whatever-it-
is Day in May. It used to be
Queen Victoria's Birthday. In
the morning trees were planted,
For the rest of the day, and
night, you burned your fingers
on firecrackers and your eye-
brows on Roman Candles, I
guess what we're supposed to do
now is sit around and think of
our Commonwealth brother in
Zambia and Senegal, or the
Queen, whose birthday is in
another month, or something?
What we actually do is open the
cottage, or go fishing.
And then of course, there is
New Year's Day. Hangovers and
broken resolutions. Actually,
New Year's depends on how fer-
vently you first-footed it on the
preceding eve. It can be as
bleak as a beverage room, or as
rambunctious as a rooster. But
ahead of it there lie three cold,
dark dreary and deadly months
of winter.
The two saddest holidays of
the year are Remembrance Day
and Good Friday. And, appropri-
ately, they come at the most dis-
mal times of the year.
On Nov. 11th, the sky weeps,
the widows and mothers weep,
the flags droop at half-mast and
the bells toll. The only joint in
town that jumps is the Legion
Hall. After the solemn rites
have ended, old cronies gather
to exchange lies, enjoy good
food and drink, and listen to the
inevitable speaker trying to con-
vince them it was all worth-
while.
Feels Criticism of
Centennial Promotion
Carping at Television
Dear Mr. Editor:
The main difference be-
tween Newspapers and Televis-
ion seems to be that newspapers
(yours included) when faced
with a drought of political or
civic issues... devote a por-
tion of their editorial pages to
carping at television. Televis-
ion, on the other hand, seldom
mentions newspapers except in
a complimentary way.
Your last week's editorial
(obviously a filler) on the Cen-
tennial TV promotions is the
latest example. Your first mis-
take was to refer to them as
"commercials" when in reality
they are free promotional spots
developed for the TV industry
and designed to stir and stimu-
late the Canadian imagination
with regard to Centennial pro-
jects.
I think you'll agree that
imagination is the starting point
for any worthwhile civic or na-
tional project ... and the aver-
age Canadian is not so stupid
(your phrase) as to take this
type of visual stimulation liter-
ally.
A little imagination might
even remove TV from the edi-
torial page ... and replace it
Good Friday is gloom, dark-
ness and bitter wind, remnants
of snow drifts. A day of death,
sacrifice and sorrow. Cold, cold,
and the earth is dead and fro-
zen.
Christmas is another thing. A
season of peace and joy on
earth with goodwill toward men,
according to the ads and the in-
terminable carols, But, let's be
honest. By the time The Day has
arrived, you are baffled, bushed
and broke.
'That leaves nothing else but
Thanksgiving, That's my choice,
every year. It's the best Cana-
dian holiday, and we had a won-
derful one this year.
First, there are the physical
delights. Weather is usually fine
— brisk and bright, Scenery is
magnificent: blue, bronze and
crimson. Blood bubbles in the
veins. Fire feels good. Food
tastes like never before. Lungs
lap clean air. Sleep is sweet,
smooth and as dreamless as
whipped honey.
And then there's the thanks-
giving itself. Thanks for good
health. Thanks I'm alive. Thanks
for children. Thanks for a good
harvest, or fat beef, or a steady
job. Thanks for a chance to go
on living through another year
of those other holidays until I
can say thanks again.
with a few imaginative Centen-
nial project ideas for individ-
uals and communities in the
area.
Ross Hamilton,
Commercial Manager,
CKNX Television.
R. R. 1, Box 20,
Haines City, Fla.,
October 1, 1966.
Dear Sir:
Just a few lines to let you
know that we increasingly ap-
preciate the news and editorial
content of your keen newspaper.
While writing, may I ex-
press one Canadian's pride in
that advertising message in last
week's issue beamed at " The
youth of Wingham area..." and
titled: "The Challenge -- A
Plan For Peace! -- $25,000,
Offered For Winning Essay".The
above contest sponsored by
more than 20,000 Lions Clubs
in more than 130 countries in
the free world....°'
I am not a "Lion"; but am
convinced that there can be no
lasting Peace where, reported-
ly, two-thirds of the human
family are perpetually HUN-
GRY! At any rate, I would be
proud to see a Canadian youth
ring honor and glory to his
country in the above contest, in
Canada's "Centennial Year" .
Sincerely,
Walter P. Davidson.