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The Wingham Advance-Times, 1972-10-19, Page 11• ,,••WAMM--4.-i2,4-.; , Ar.,0::4.:5r17,4410314:" 741:f .4.0" 0:^:40.:•;X•ftkA43:4').:;‘'W.:'%. • /*•▪ :"5:4,..M.4.'01,4 , m„,..„ „.•1;24•4:4,44.41:40.44,9S{: .•.4•7/ / ..4? • A.. , Meagre gratitude I/0 Apparently the government of the Prov- ince of Ontario Is enamoured of bigness in every form. The latest victims in the search for ever larger areas of operation are the planning councils. Eric Fleming, a government repre- sentative, faced some very direct question- ing at a recent meeting of planning council executives. They wanted to know why these groups, which have contributed so much to the development of Ontario over the past ten or fifteen years, should be suddenly and ruthlessly abandoned. Mr. Fleming stated the government's stand. Planning councils are to be five in number—to cover all of Ontario. He was sure that these five vast groupings would do a better job, but he could not support his con- tention wtith hard evidence because none of these large-scale councils, have been set up as yet. Some of the present councils, such as the Mid -Western and the Erie group, have said they will stay in business—if necessary with- out the government's 'financial backing. The need of a co-ordinating executive body to dovetail the efforts of the present planning councils might be conceded, but teal elimination of such groups is a poor mark of gratitude for all the hard work and long hours which have been devoted by pub- lic spirited people all over Ontario. Although the provincial government has borne the major share of the cost, ordinary citizens like ourselves have paid out many hundreds of thousands of dollars through county levies, • There is no sound reason why the gov- ernment should not have contributed. After all the planning councils were taking on a task that would otherwise have fallen direct- Pity the minority The cause of organized labor is suffering some sad wounds as the Ontario Hydro workers'. strike drags on. CU PE leaders are I* proclaiming a resounding victory in a recent vote at which settlement of the strike was voted_ down -by a- slim ma-jority of members. -- Ws not much of a victory for the large minority who wanted. to go backto work. Many Hydro people are really feeling the pinch. With payments long Overdue on such necessities as homes, health and educa- tion, they are selling cars and other non -es- sentials. We know of one young lad who has Cannot agree • The Huron County Council has, so'fa'r, to be convinced that the taxpayers should as- sume the responsibility for preserving the old jail building in Goderich as a penal mu- seum. We're not convinced either. The town of Goderich is now considering the same pro- posal.' If they want to pay for the project that's their business. It's not that we lack regard for what is of historical significance. Far too many valu- able buildings.and landmarks have been de- stroyed. But thb-countylairis something else again. It is a place of sad memories and a monument to an era when Canadians treated their criminals inhumanely. Why anyone would want to visit a museum which houses $11 such barbaric reminders of an unen- lightened pastf we cannot imagine. • There is supposed to be a theory that ly upon governments—and most of the men and women who devoted their time to the cause did so without any remuneration. What is the particular merit in making every administrative body so big? It is evi- dent, of course, that with fewer planning councils they will he more neatly tucked under the thumb of Queen's Park—but when it comes right down to the hard work of mak- ing plans, the smaller groupings have a dis- tinct advantage. The members of the coun- cils are more intimately acquainted with the problems and aspiratiOns of their own areas. The representatives know one another better than would be the case on a larger scale and thus are able to work together more effec- tively. The same urge to bigness is going on in. many other sectors. The most notable case is the county boards of education. (and some government officials have predicted that even larger geographical areas than coun- ties will be thrown into single administrative units.) The latest document from the provin- cial ministerof health lays out a similar pat- tern for hospitals and other health care pro- jects. Provirfcial dictation may-, of course be inevitable: This column has predicted for two decades that this sort of provincial take- over would come. We consistently sold our right to autonomy for a fat mess of pottage in the form of grants. Now we are so dependent on provincial money that we can be forced to do what we are told. Whatever eventually becomes of the planning councils, we owe their members a debt of gratitude for the work they have done. We hope they will accept our thanks because it doesn't appear likely they will get any from the powers -that -be in Toronto. already sold his car, cashed his bonds and postponed his plans to marry this fall. Fed up entirely, he has taken another job and will not go back to Hydro when the strike, is set- tled. If Hydro's offer was something that would force workers back into sweat shop conditions it would be a different matter. However, with wages at over $6.00 per hour for linemen they are not likely to starve. There are a lot of Canadians surviving on a good deal less. when a convicted person has served his sen- tence he has paid his debt to society. If he .stays on the straight and narrow, human de- cency demands that his crime be forgotten as far as possible. Already the possibility of making the jail a museum has stirred up many of the old and sordid tales. A national publication has carried a detailed story about the last public hanging in Goderich— no doubt to the embarrassment of members of the man's family who still live in the neighborhood. Of course the name of a Clinton boy who has served his sentence for murder was dragged up again because he was a prisoner in the jail. There are plenty of worthwhile"projects on which we can spend our money. Let's do something more than remind ourselvesof an age of ignorance. Unworthy comment When .Prem ier William Davis of Ontario announced that he would actively campaign on behalf of Robert Stanfield there were nurnoroUs predictions that he had his.eye on the tory leadership. Since party policy will demand a leadership convention should the PC's lose this fall's election, the prophets saw a ready-made opportunity for Ontario's premier to makela name for himself among those who would be delegates to the big shake-up meeting. Whether they are right or not,.we have no idea. Frankly, we doubt that Mr. Davis has ever answered with anything more than his • Mona Lisa smile- if the question was asked. It remained for Mr. Trudeau, however, to put a nastier connotation on the Davis in- terest in federal politics. He came out flat- footed and said that Stanfield is making a deal with Davis which will include federal concessions to Ontailo in case of a PC vic- tory. By suggesting that the Tories would help to make the "rich' provinces" richer,.he has encouraged the poor ones in an attitude of antipathy. For a man who pays lip service to the cause of national unity at every turn the fostering of inter -provincial jealousies is more than a little out of character. Barrett shows the way Premier Dave Barrett of British Colum- bia, who managed to unseat the time -worn Social Credit party under "Wacky" Bennett, has gone into action. His government has al- ready taken over three major businesses in the province. He has also reinforced the moderate thinkers who have a strong fear of such wide-open socialism in the rest of the country. The Ontario NDP suffered a serious split In its ranks only a few months ago when members of the extreme left "Waffle" group were defeated in their efforts to dominate party policy. Even Stephen Lewis, who has projected a pretty radical image at times, was forced to part company with supporters who, he feared; were endangering the N DP's chances with centre of the road voters. The immediate effect of the NDP action in nationalizing businesses in British Colum- bia was a hurried flight of funds from BC in- vestments. Fearing future government take- overs, the Toronto and Montreal stock ex- changes registered drastic new lows in the priceorporate shares for BC holdings. F'41:-4Ute enterprise has made Canada a prosperous nation—and a lot of Canadians want to keep it that way. THE WINGHAM ADVANCE -TIMES Published at Wingham, Ontario, by Wenger Bros, Limited. Barry Wenger, President Robert 0. Wenger, Sec.-Treas. Member Audit Bureau of Circulations. Member Canadian and Ontario Weekly Newspaper Associations Subscription $10.00 a Year Second Class Mail $5.25 for Six Months, in United States $12.50 in Advance Registration No. 0821 h.ci.urn Postage Guaranteed page of editorial opinion' Thursday, Oct() Res t in Bed and Look at Me Bill Smiley It takes some people aIQflg time torealize that they arecom- pletely dispensable. I realize4 years ago, but keep forgettmg until something jolts me. Today it's the mother and father of all colds.. I haven't adaa- ed a day's work in about thl'ee years, at times tottering (Alto the job with one foot in the grave. For some reason, I had the cone ceit to imagine that the entire English department, if not the whole school system would crack, crumble and, collapse if I weren't there. Common sense tells me that if I were ill for a month, n3lxidy would know the difference, and that if I dropped dead this mo- ment the human race would not falter for a second in its pursuit of folly, happiness. and all the other things that make it tick. • So, here I am surroundediby soggy Kleenex, coughing up chunks of lung, and sweating like a mule -skinner every time I do, •anything more vigorous than blink my eyes. But it's not all bad. My wife iS dancing attendance on me, soM.0-- thing she rarely does because rai almost never ill. I have a good, foolish detective story which I'd normally never have time to read. And perhaps most importantof all, I have this lazy, hazy feeling that I have stopped the world andi got off, even if only for twenty- four hours. • My wife has just 'forced on me, quite against my will, a large li- bation of hot water, lemon, sugar and some sort of cough medicine with the odd name of Teachers' Highland Cream. It makes me sweat, but certainly eases the cough. In fact, it makes life look almost rosy. I hope she doesn't run out of lemons. And stuff. Isn't it a pity, though, that we go through life, or the biggest part of it, with this feeling that we're so important, when we're less than ants on the face of the earth? Businessmen flog themselves daily to meet the competition. Executives and lawyers drag home their brief cases. Doctors burn themselves out in twenty years of inordinately long hours. Teachers develop ulcers or quiet- ly go Iliad. Why don't we all relax a little more often and let the earth take a few spins without us? Perhaps the most guilty of all are politicians: Right now the country resembles a disturbed bee -hive as our politicians hurtle about, every one of them con- vinced that his, constituency, his party, and his country will go to the dogs if he, personally, is not elected. God forbid, but what would actually happen if Trudeau, Stan- field, Lewis and Caouette had a four-way air collision, which is not an impossibility at the rate they're haring about their home- land? Would we just have to throw up our hands and sell the country to the highest bidder? Fat chance. There'd be enough power-hungr, men and women, or just plain idiots, to fill their shoes before the bits were picked up. Nobody is irreplaceable. The sky didn't fall in when the British kicked their great war -time lead- er, Winston Churchill, out of of- fice: The States didn't disinte- grate after the deaths of Lincoln, Roosevelt, Kennedy. When Joe Stalin finally expired, Russia didn't exactly hit the skids. It seems that the only way to stay off that treadmill of feeling indispensable is to be poor. The fewer our possessions, the freer we are to step off the merry-go- round, take a look at the wonder- ful world we live in, and realize that we are about as individually important as grains of sand. I have a fellow just like that sit- ting downstairs talking to his mother. He drifted in this morn- ing from Montreal. 'He's off to Alaska to spread the Baha'i faith. How is he going to get there? Well, if he can get to Penticton by Friday, he'll catch a ride north with some friends. I point out that there is no way, short of flying, of getting to Penticton in two days. Oh, well; he may hitch -hike, go- ing through northern Saskatche- wan. (He got the hint that wasn't going to loan him air fare.) What was he going to take? Well, he has a sleeping bag and a sweater and jeans and boots, and it's only about three thousand miles, so there's no problem. He's been to Mexico, New Or- leans, New York and across Can- ada from coast to coast. His total assets are those listed above. Physical, that is. On the other hand, he's completely bilingual and has an education no univer- sity could provide. Best of all, he knows clearly that he is not indispensable. News Items from Old Files OCTOBER 1937: Last week -we had a couple of snow flurries but Wednesday morning it was quite a surprise to find the ground. covered with a blanket of snow. Mrs. J. W. McKibbon was elected president of the Women's Auxiliary to the Wingham Gen- eral Hospital at its annual meet- ing thir week. Vice presidents are Mrs. (Dr.) Co.nnell, Mrs. A. Peebles, and Mrs. (Dr,) Stewart. Miss Norma Dinsley and Mrs. W. J. Greer are secretaries and treasurer i Mrs. R. Clegg. To accommodate all the class- es under the new curriculum for high schools and collegiate insti- tutes, it may be necessary for the High School Board to build an ad- dition to the High School. The new course of study includes shop work Lnd domestic economy which will be compulsory for the 1938 and 1939 terms. About the only excitement here On Thanksgiving Day was caused by a big buck deer that scamper- ed about the north end of town: James Murray, Carl Deans. John P. McKibbon, W. H. Haney, T. Y. Smith and N. L. Fry were elected officers of Maitland Lodge IOOF No. 119. They were installed by DDGM W. B. Mc - The CNR traip due here at 10:25 Monday night did not reach here until the wee small hours. The cause of the= delay was the - derailment of an engine and ten- der at Guelph. CNR station. No one was injured..• H. Bryans, who taught at Wroxeter last year, is teaching in Elmwood this term. Two Salem young people have left for Normal School,. Joe Hig- gins attending Stratford School and Donald Fortune to London. OCTOBER 1947 Officially opened by C. D. Gra- ham, deputy Minister of agricul- ture for Ontario, the annual f all fair of the Teeswater Agricul- tural Society was one of the most successful in its history. Visitors at the fair included Hon. Russel T. Kelly, minister of health and Hon. W. A. Goodfellow, minister Of welfare. The population of Wingham is • now 2,307, an increase of 75 over last year. W. H. Haney is the town assessor. . Fred Riehl was named junior boys' champion at the Huron County Secondary Schools' inter- school track and field meet, at Clinton. Four schools competed, Goderich, Clinton, Seaforth and, Wingham. Jean Adair was run- ner-up in the intermediate girls' division. Gordon Deyell received word this week from 'the Town of Southampton that he had been appointed chief of police of that village. Gordon served as night police here for four years before joining the Huron County Police - Force four years ago. Miss Muriel Watt of White- church commenced work at Mc- Kibbon's Drtug Store. She has had • five years' experience at Grims- by. Gordon Cruickshank, son of Mr. Roy Cruickshank of Weston, formerly of Wingham, gained recognition in the sport world this week when he signed a prq con- tract with Eddie Shore to play for his Fort Worth, Texas, hockey er 19 //*//7/751/711,17~/e04YOffroftwo • TODAY'S CHILD BY HELEN ALLEN 11111111111111111111.111111Mingami With that searching Iook„Ponald seems to be as.king what in the world the, photographer is up to. It is not ap unusual ex- pression for Donald because this youngster is always curious. Donald is an appealing, healthy lad of white and Indian descent. Ile is tall for one who has just bad his, seventh birt1-11 v and stdrdily built, with brown eyes, dark hair and dark ..sears glasses for near-sightedness but like most sm prefers to leave thein off. This young fellow's early development was uneven. In some ways he seemed. very intelligent — at three he knew the alphabet and colors. In other ways he was extremely backward so that the Children's Aid Society doctors suspected he might have sustained brain damage at birth. However, recent,- exhaustive tests at the Hospital for Sick Children produced a happy verdict: There is no brain damage and he has good intelligence. In school Donald has been under average but is beginning to achieve. Ile is doing some Grade one work this year. Donald is friendly, outgoing, impulsive and active. He enjoys working with his hands and has a limitless imagination. Donald needs energetic parents who will give him love, Un- derstanding, stimulation and the security of having a home and mother and father of his own., To inquire about adopting Donald, please write to Today's child. Box 888, Station K, Toronto.. For general adoption in- fidnation. please contact your Children's Aid Society. • .ALWAYS CURIOUS crew this winter. OCTOBER 1958 C. Keats, who has been agent in Wingham for the Cana- dian Pacific Railway for the past year and a half, will move to the town of Alliston the end of next week. Beverly Stewart, a former Wingham District High School student, has been awarded a $2,- 000 fellowship by the Atkinson Foundation for high standing in Grade XIII last year. He is the. son of Mr. • and Mrs. Clifford Stewart, RR 1, Clifford, and is now attending Waterloo College°. • New stone pillars at the en- trance to the Dungannon fair grounds were officially dedicated at the fair held there Friday to Favors controlled production on foodstuffs Last week The Advance -Times received a letter in answer to our recent editorial on farm marketing boards. Because the letter, -written to us by George Underwood, sets out. an intelligent argument in favor of con- trolled production of foodstuffs in Canada it presents the other side of the argument. Contrary to our usual policy we have ap- pended a reply following Mr. Underwood's letter—not with any intention of deriding his views. The production of food is so important in this country that it deserves all the thoughtful attention we can bring to beaton the subject. Mr. Underwood's letter follows: 0-0-0 October 9, 1972. WinghaM Advance -Times, Dear Editor: Your editorial, "Th• e Wrong Approach" lacks lustre and carries with it some un- founded imagination. You refer to farmers manipulating the market. I would like to suggest that you price comparatively sized autos, farm tractors or even overalls and note the lack of any noticeable price differ- ence. You referred to the CAC suggestion that farmers should be subsidized at times of low prices. I wonder what the reaction would be if Ontario consumers were aske,c1 to subsi- dize Ontario egg producers up ta-13.00 per bird on 9.6 million layers to offset recent losses? How much longer wilI aoriculture he the wh . pping boy tor province's chain stores, and consumers? After all. the inen- ;,asn't eel ail that envtaole when sta„tIstics recent ly compared a farmer's average income to that of old age pensioners. Your reference to withholding goods from the market and the USSR makes' me wonder how any country can tolerate strike action such as the dock workers in England, when thousands of tons of food were left rot- ting on the docks and farmer S worried how to feed their poultry and swine without Cana- dian wheat and corn. You recognize the various aspects of ag- riculture' that we cannot withhold 'many products from the market, so, as the learned Judge J. F. W. Ross said when he recom- mended controls for eggs, "I commend this ,Iss;gnment as a strong believer in 'free enterprise' and resisted coming to this con- clusion until I was quite satisfied by the evi- dence that some form of restraint was re- quired" r-urtner eviaence to this thinking was given by Dr. Jonathon S. Tobey, vice presr- dent of the Chase Manhatten Bank in New York. "The egg industry will never solve its serious dilemma of wild swings in product - tion and price until it becomes more closely associated with a national mak^eting or- ganization." Many learned people now recognize the fact that while controlled production, whether in industry or agriculture is inevit- able, so a well -remembered quotation comes to mind. "To teach farmers to grow two blades where one stood." It makes us realize that in many cases this has been done and we, as agriculturists must learn to market both blades profitably. Yours sincerely, George Underwobd. mark the centennial celebration of the agricultural society. In the Howick SchoorTair, Mrs. J. Coultes' pupils of SS 5, Turnberry, won the highest num- ' ber of points. William Renwick of Durham has accepted the position of clerk -treasurer in the town of. Wingham. At the Huron -Bruce Liberal nomination meeting held at the Wingham town hall, Rae Watson of Lucknow was elected candi- date for the party and will repre- sent the Liberals in the next pro- vincial election. Announcement has been made that the immigration office which has been operated in Goderich since 1951, will be closed at the end of this month. The key to the situation is included in the final paragraph of the letter, when George Says that controlled production, whether in ' industry or agriculture may be inevitable. He may well be right—and if so .we are about to turn the corner into a new era of Canadian life—an era sin which the incentive and independence of manufacturer and farMer alike will be seriously injured. We agree, as we did in the original edi- torial, that controlled production of food- stuffs seems to be the only inswer for the farmer's dilemma at the present time. The question we raised was whether or not production controls should become a perma- nent fixture in our econorny.- With so many millions going hungry in this world we cannot view controlled produc- tion favorably—nor do we have the answer that the world's politicians and leaders have failed to provide—the mechanics and financ- ing of Canadian food feeding the hungry on the other side of the globe or in Latin America. However, mankind has success- fully addressed itself to problems of greater difficulty—like putting humans on the moon • and bringing them back alive. Perhaps our theory that Canada is doing less than it share to alleviate human suffer- ing may read like so much dipy-dreaming. We do not suggest that Canadian farmers should be sending food to Brazil at their own expense. We do, however, believe that some concrete plan should be under way so that ALL Canadians could make a contribution to the cause of human betterment.