The Wingham Advance-Times, 1972-10-26, Page 130
11
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A page of oclitorial opinion thursd
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Onesided.ec�n
We live in. an age when economics, and
the experts who call themselves e+onorIsts,
dictate the path into the 'future. The manu-
facture and sale of numberless commod..l-
„ties; the growing of food and its access to
markets;, even the size and shape of our.
communities --all are planned by the think-
ers and enforced by our governments.
There is nothing wrong with planning.
provided 'it is sound and based on truth
rather than assumptions. Unplanned growth.
can bring chaos in its wake. One has only to
walk through the narrow, twisting streets 'of
the big European cities to realize the price
that has been -paid for unplanned develop-
ment.
• Thus it is not surprising that in Ontario
the re -shaping of rural communities is al-
ready in progress. It is natural, too, .that
there should be bitter disputes over names
and boundaries as well -loved place ,names
disappear fromofficial listings and new
groupings are forced upon those who fail to
agree.
Only time will tell how wise have been
the decisions of the seventies. It is possible
that our grandchildren will live better and
more fulfilling lives because of the changes
we are making right now. It is also possible
that they will curse our stupidity for settling
•
on patterns of community living which mini-
mize the role of the individual in society. We
suspect that human need for independence
and personal expression is being scarificed
to the great god Efficiency.
Be that as it may, has it ever occurred to
you that the planning programs have been
aimed almost exclusively at smaller places?
mics
The official argument for change is that our
present municipalities are too small to con-
tinue aS viable tax bases. We •must unite to
form larger units of administration, etc. in
short, like the family farm, the small town
has become 'inefficient. Only in bigness can
we achieve greatness.
So far we have heard very little about
.the opposite extreme in the planner's spec-
trum.. What about the monster on the shores
of Lake Ontario we calf Toronto? Is there
any possible basis for assuming that a city
which is spilling out all over the pleasant
countryside and gobbling up fields and for-
ests in its need for concrete and steel • can be
econoYniCally acceptable?
Toronto's demand for roads and aver -
passes; firetrucks and policemen; fuel and
electricity; its gift of smoke and grime and
pressure are an economic burden not only to
its own citizens but to all the people of the
province.
There is no example in all history to indi-
cate that the unlimited growth of a large city
is either wise or healthful. The target it pre-
sents in time of war; the crime it breeds in
time of peace—both are increasing hazards
for the entire land in which it mushrooms.
Why, then, do the planners concentrate
only on the little places? If we can be told to
get bigger, why cannot Toronto be told to
quit getting larger?
A few small voices in the wilderness
have, within the past decade, said that the
province should foster. the development of
cities in places other than along the Lake On-
tario shore. They received scant attention
fom the general public, and, as far as we
know, none from the official planners.
Great name forgotten
The process of enlargement was ex-
perienced'in a'personal way by the residents
of the Galt-Preston-Hespeler area last week
when they elected the first council of those
now -united communities. Accustomed, as
6 they and their forebearers were to 150 years
of independent municipal life, it must have
been something of a tug to start thinking and
voting in terms of one community rather
than three.
The emerging fact of a united council,
however, appeared less significant to us than
a,secondary decision which was made at the
same time. The residents voted on a new
name for the community. Presented with the
options of Blair (one of the small villages in
the neighborhood) and Cambridge, they
chose the latter. Henceforth a trip 4 to Galt, r.
to Hespeler or to• Preston talkee one in qt.
ficial fact, to Cambridge.
Thus, in one short day, themost illus-
trious name in the annals of the Huron Tract
disappears from official use. Galt no longer
exists and in time all memogy of the man
after whom that place was named will fade.
Only local jealousies forbade the retention of
4"the one significant place name in the en-
virons of the new city.
It was on April 22, in the year 1827 that
John Galt, first superintendent of The Can-
ada Company, reached the small settlement
on the Grand River known at that time as
Shade's Mills. His arrival was the first step
M
in a jo4rney to the west which would mean
the settlement and civilization of the entire
Lake Huron' region of Ontario. So sensitive
was the founder of that village t6 the import-
ance of the visit that he immediately re-
named the place Galt—the name by which it
was known for the next 145 years—until a
political development dropped it back into
' oblivion.
Gait's next stopping..place in the forst
was the site of present-day Guelph, where he
unhesitantingly bestowed the name of the
royal family. Other places in the Tract pre-
served the names of government officjals
who had no important connection with the.
pioneering effort --:-many who had nevereven
seen the land. poderich, for example, bears
'thiknameof an English viscount, whose fam-
ily lne4ie was P. G. Rdbliiion eihd litiPPelfed
to b
e head of aBritish
governmentcommit-
.
it-
. tee charged with liaison between the pro-.
moters of The Canada Company • and West-
minster. The name Maitland, which adheres
td so -Many spots and enterprises in Western
Ontario, was in honor of the governor of Up-
per Canada in those early days—and a man
who actively disliked John Galt and what he
was creating in the woods to the west.
Perpaps the voters in south Wellington
•have solved their place name problem in an
amicable fashion, but we haven't a very high
regard for their sense of history.
Price must be raised
The urge to vandalism seems to be
something with which many humans are
born. It has been with mankind, in sone%de-
gree, since the tbeginning of time, but it
seems to be reaching new and more revolt-
ing heights in this present age of permissive-
ness and excuses for everyone who feels like
doing his own thing, no matter what .the cost
to society generally.
, Every community has experienced this
sort ofthing in the past. It is a rare occasion
indeed, when . a new park or monument or
recreation facility can survive even the •first
few months without some sort of senseless
depradation.
The latest major episode of which we
have heard was the destruction of dozens of
new cars on a storage lot in the Toronto area
last week. An estimated $200,000 damage
was done by vandals who got into the cars -
and dro ie them into each other and the sur-
rounding fences.
It would seem apparent that the penalty
for such willful and premeditated destruc-
tion must be sharply increased. It can no
longer be accepted as youthful pranks. •The
perpetrators should go to jail for a long
time—with plenty of hard work to make the
penalty memorable.
What sort of idiotic society do we live in
when our young people do not hesitate to
smash and destro°i? It doesn't matter
whether the property is public or private,
this sort of stupiditymust cease.
Deserve high marks
Readers of this column may, from time
to time, .conclude that we are simply "agin
the government'„. It is true that we devote
quite a few words to what we feel is wrong
with, or could be improved in the way public
affairs are handled. We do so with keen con-
sciousness of' the fact that there are many
places in the world where this sort of com-
• ment would land us in a work camp: It is,
however, our duty, at least as we see it, to
arouse public consciousness to any abuse of
or carelessness with the rights of the com-
mon citizen.
We should point out, however, that be-
cause we feel it a duty to criticize the deci-
sions of our politicians from time to time, it
does not mean that we believe for one mo-
ment that the politicianthemselves should
be objects of derision. On the contrary, we
have the deepest respect for every person
who is willing to become a candidate for
election, no matter what" the party repre-
sents.
Our entire system of self:government is
hinged upon the right of the people -to name
their spokesmen. History and practice have
developed a party system, which usually
makes it easier to foretell the trend of a rep-
resentative's sympathies. The important
fact is that candidates for office are vital to
the continuance of the democratic process.
At times it seems to be a clumsy and'ineffec-
tive way to guide our affairs, but we have yet
to see anything better emerge.
Hats off to our candidates—they deserve
our respect.
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INGHAM ADVANCE -TIMES
Published at Wingham, Ontarib; by Wenger Bros. Limited.
Barry Wenger, President Robert 0. Wenger, See.-Treas.
Member Audit bureau of 'Circulations.
Member Canadian and Ontario Wekly Newspaper Associations
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votes in my town
if you al,e one: of*We people who, for
whatever manufact d reason, doesn't
think it worth your whgeto vote -this coming
Monday1• then read •the< following article. it
just might change ye mind.
"Nobody Votes in Illy: Town," was sent to
us some time agoy Pete.87776 Simer of Post
Office Box E, Jacks nMi USA. The article is
by Ray 120530 Conley..a$ told to Pete Simer.
It
is'a product of Southern Michigan Prison's
Inmate Writing PrograJE, sponsored by Jess
VanDusen. We know nothing more about
Pete or Ray and we don't need to. Their ar-
ticle speaks for itself. Read it:
As another genei`al, election day ap-
proaches, no doubt much is at stake in my
country. But nobody Votes in my town and
most of my 3,700 town*en apparently are
chronic misfits who coi#.ldn't care less. My
town seems a million. trines from my home-
town: "Beausejour, Manitoba. My town is
"Jacktown"---Southerft'• Mighigan Prison,
near Jackson.
Now, in the morning chow Jine, a young
murderer and a middle.aged burglar seem
ready to tangle in an argument on the merits
of the Republican Party. An alert guard
breaks it up just . in time.
The burgler is serving his fifth term in
my town. I know him Well. So, after he cools
off, I needle him'a bit,„saying, "I take it you
voted for Hubert Humphrey in nineteen
sixty-eight.”
"You kiddin'?" he'scowls. "Man, I never
voted in my life. I got sense enough to know
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no matter who gets elected, the best any
little guy's gonna get is the worst of it. The
hell with votin';"
That's seditious philosophy, isn't it?
"The hell with votin'!" means down with
democracy, your country, your government
and, consequently, every home (where gov-
ernment really begins) in the land.
Yet, I have been guilty of comparable
"sedition". It came out disguised something
like this: "Didn't get around to voting; had
too many other things to do on election day."
The reflection isn't easy to face, now that I
am exiled from my Canadian voting rights
for many elections to come.
I begin to wonder how my neighbours
feel about not being allowed to vote. Later, 1
question nearly 300 of them. Almost 90 per
cent merely shrug qr otherwise indicate lack
of concern. Eighty individuals admit that
they had never voted! (Could the deeds that
landed us here be germane to such disregard
for ;democracy?) Consider three responses
to: "Did you vote regularly when you were
free?"
Gambling syndicate underling (age 33,
serving 5-10 years): "The organization al-
ways saw to it that I voted; even told mp who
and what to vote for."
Alcoholic (age 47, doing 1-2 for non-sup-
port) : "They'd let me off work in time to
make it to the polls, all right. But I'd stop at a
buddy's house to talk the election over..
There'd be a bottle or two around. And some-
how, before I considered all the issues and
candidates and decided who'd get my vote, it
JJJ
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Pierre's Different This Time Around
Bill Smiley
•titiv
Canadians, fairly phlegmatic'
in most ways, are mercurial in
their voting. They've shown that
since confederation, swinging
now behind one party, then turn-
ing it out for a while, then putting
it back in power.
John Diefenbaker swept the
country withhis.fire and vision at
Mit the 'right moment. Not Malty
Y s
ear later, he couldn't even win
a contention for leadership of his
own party.
And I confess with a slight
blush that I'm no exception. At
one time or another, I have voted
for candidates of all three major
parties, and would probably have
cast a vote for Social Credit if I'd
ever had a chance and theriglit
man had been running. •
How about you? Have you
made up your mind yet, or are
•you still looking Over the fieldand
wishing there were some other
alternative, such as Mao -Tse -
Tung or Guy Lombardo?
It's bard to choose. The present
government has not exactly won
wild plaudits in the last four
years. It has achieved little in
cutting expenses and taxes, in
fighting inflation, in creating em-
ployment, and in buying Canada
back from foreign investors. It is
doubtful whether any other party
11044.4 coMe
would have done better.
How about the Prime Minister?
Can he swing it virtually on his
own, as he did last time? From
my tiny vantage point, it looks as
.. though he's running scared.
Last trip around, he had an
enormously favorable press. He
'Vas something, newand exciting,
a `swinger viwith a razor-sharp
mind. andacharming min
g shrug. . The
women loved him. -
But now he's an • old married
man,with a family,, the press has
soured, and you don't Bear that
word "charisma being tossed
around. He's deadly seriousin his
commercials. He is resorting for
the first time to the old backroom
politics with what look sus-
piciously like election . bribes to
various parts of "the country.
What would he ' do if he lost? I
think he'd pick up his ' marbles'
and go home. He's always been a
winner, and he has none of the
parliamentary skill, the patience
and the doggedness that make a
good opposition leader.
Well, then there's • honest Bob
Stanfield. He's hard-working and
oozes integrity and is intelligent.
But lordy, lordy, if only he'd take
a course in public speaking. He'd
probably' make a solid but unin-
spiring prime minister. But is it
worth it to change the whole gov-
• ernment for a fellow whose slo- '
gan is about as fatuous and feeble
as you'd find: "We Can Do Bet-
ter."? Better than what? Better
than nothing., a good Tory might •
retort. Even that isn't good
enough:
'There's something I can't stand
about David Lewis, head of the
NDP. He's smarmy. He has only
on• Y
one tune. And he has that old-
fashioned belief that,there's a Big
Business rapist forever hiding
under the bed of that perennial
spinster, the Canadian socialist
party.
That leaves Reay Caouette.
There's a real firebrand for you'.
I'd rather listen to one of his
speeches, even though I can
barely follow it, than any given
number by • shrugging Pierre.,
bumbling Bob and I-can:get-it-to-
you -wholesale David.
If I were a rural French-Cana-
dian, I'd certainly say, "Dat
Caouette is de bes' bet."
Well then, what in the world
does one do? It's easy for the
faithful of any party. They'd vote
for an ape if he were running on
the party ticket. Some of them
are so rigid that they'd even vote
for a woman.
But the rest of us are faced with
!0•
was either too late or I was too loaded to care'
anymore."
Sex offender (age 39, serving 02-10
yearn : "I never bothered.to vote except .in
presidential elections. I voted for Richard
Nixon because my name is Nixon, too."
(Wouldn't it 'be interesting. to know how
many other votes are cast for similar, lacka-
daisical reasons?)
As for me—well, sometimes it is ti -
pleasant to face the mirrorof patriotism. in-
stead of voting I have gone hunting and--fish,-
ing and attended to personal matters of- as-
sorted kinds. But my future, back home in
Manitoba, will offer opportunities to prove
my 'determination never again to skip a
chance to vote. And I will vote as intelligent-
ly as I can.
In the meantime, what about you?
Like many other sheer blessings In our
full-fashioned freedom, the privilege of vot-
ing just' can't completely be appreciated un-
til it is lost. I know. So I must agree°with the
immigrant who said: "It is difficult for most
Canadians to adequately appreciate their
system of government because they don't
understand what it is not."
However; our beautiful Maple•Leaf For-
ever waves best when every thread is intact.
Similarly, the government that this flag rep-
resents needs every vote.
But nobody votes in my town. Nobody
may.
• What could be worse, patriotically?
Your town, where every adult Canadian
may' vote. and you don't.
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the same old spectacle: the gov-
ernment desperately shoring up
the old levee, and the others all
howling that they will do this and
that and thus, if only.
That makes us get down to the
local level and take a look at the
candidates, trying to disassociate
them from their leaders. In my
riding, we have three. There's the
incumbent, a Tory, a doctor, an
elderly man who is a • master at
politicking and never misses a
fiftieth anniversary or a ninetieth
birthday in the riding.
We have a handsome, youngish
lawyer who has done a lot of work
in municipal and service club af-
fairs, and sings at weddings. And
we have a university studentr full•
• of ideals and somewhat blinkered
when it comes to reality. Three
generations.
And do.you know who is going
to win? The elderly doctor, who
has been years in parliament and
should have retired,. gracefully,
after making a mark on the face
of our history that could be wiped.
off with a Kleenex. Because this
is a Tory _riding,' and that's it.
The student will get his lumps,
the lawyer will get some ex-
perience, and the old gentleman
will get the gold ring.
Well, that's elections, and I
can't even tell my wife flow to'
vote, because she thinks Trudeau
is still sorta cute and Margaret is
beautiful. •
• My .:guess? ,3.ibetals.=•back: int
with a minority government.
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TOOAYS CHILD
BY HELEN ALLEN
('hristopher has had many moves in his lifetime and urgently -
needs the feeling of belonging that goes with having your own'
family. A mother, a father, a home, a name he can share
these will give ('hristopher the•security and the knowledge of
being. wanted • and loved.
('hristopher is a healthy, active boy with an engaging smile, a'
pleasant personality and a sense ,of humor. Anglo-Saxon . in
descent, he is small for his age with light brown hair, brown eyes
'and freckles.
('hristopher is in senior opportunity class and will likely goon
to vocational school. Though not academically inclined, he is a
steady worker who responds to encouragement and supervision
by completing wha'Le'er task is set for hint.
('hriistopher is a real outdoors boy Who likes to .climb. Baseball
and hockey are his favorite games and he is proud of his bike.
Most comfortable with children younger than himself, he would
best fit into.a family as the oldest child. He also enjoys adult
company. •
('hristopher has spent most of his life in a rural setting. Both
the country life and..,the opportunity to know and befriend
animals appeal to,him. But more important is that he find
parents to whom he will be a welcome, cherished.son. •
To inquire about adopting Christopher—please write to
Today's Child, Box 888, Station K. Toronto. For general adoption
information, please contact your Children's Aid Society.
$5.25 for Six Months, in United States $12.50 in Advance
Registration No. 0821 Return Postage Guaranteed
"WOW coMX DAD, EI/e121e7/ME y»UeeE TALK/MG
Tb Hata MOH YOU'RE tE4MA/ uAAtl Y
PICTURES Z •
HE WANTS A FAMILY