The Wingham Advance-Times, 1974-04-04, Page 4A lack of credibility
Although Washington and its Watergate
problems are many hundreds of m 1 Fes away
the continuing disclosure of dishonest y in
high places is beginning to breed conse
quences in our own society. We are findin
an ever-increasing tendency on the part of
the average citizen' to scoff at the statements
of people in high places.
The most notable example, perhaps, is
the conviction in many minds that the much
talked -of shortages of fuel, food and produc-
tion equipment are simply a ruse to force the
buying public to pay higher prices. Big cor-
porations, along with most politicians, are
generally discredited in the eyes of the
average Canadian who feels that he is being
victimized by the most cottly hoax In his-
tory.
Obviously we still have some honest po-
liticians and some conscientious business-
men in this country, but they are all suffer-
ing from the taint exuded• by those who have
been proven untrustworthy. Although
Watergate and its rogues have no direct
bearing upon what happens in Canada, the
average man or woman who has relied too
much upon the. decisions of the powerful in
our land feels let down by those in whom he
or she trusted. -
Officials of Ontario Hydro have admit-
ted to us that they face a gigantic task, not
merely to Provide the . energy capabilities
that this province must have, but more im-
• portantly, the job of rebuilding Hydro's
credibility in the eyes of its shareholders—
the people of Ontario. Many people, and par-
ticularly the: farmers whose lands are af-
fected by the exproprlation, ,of tower line
sites, simply 'do not belleveAWhat Hydro is
telling them—and that in face of the fact that
Hydro has taken more pains to present its
case to the 'public than most 'powerful cor-
porations •
Perattons have done on the past.
However, if Hydro Is in the public dog-
house at the present tiMe, their plight is
,
pie lsant compared with the big oii compel -
es. It is uniust, of course, to Lump them all
together, but then the ordinary Man In the
street has no readily available means of dis-
tinguishing the rogues from the righteous.
Very few Canadians actually lielleve that
thc.re is any serious shortage of 011 in this
country—and with considerakle justlfica-
t, in. Not one vehicle owner has ever found a
line-up at a service station; no limit was ever
placed on the use of sporting equipment such
as snowmobiles or motor boats. There has
been an avalanche of comment about oil
shortages in Canada—on the air waves and
in the daily press—but the folks who have to
pay for the fuel have one experience in com-
mon, and only one. The price has gone up
and is going even higher.
Whether we like to believe it or nott most
Canadians are pretty Well-to-do these days.
We have a lot of loose change. So when a
manufacturer finds that a shortage of his
products creates a willingness on the part of
the consumer to pay ever higher prices he's ..
on to a good thing. Shortages mean higher
selling prices, so let's not be too hasty about
remedying the cause of the shortages. It's as
simple as that.
' The sad part of the whole deal is that
some goods are, in fact, in short supply.
Some manufacturers and retailers are hon-
estly trying to provide for public needs—but
rnost of us no longer believe even the honest
men. Skepticism is the order of the day. Car.
ried to its ultimate extreme we will find our-
selves doubting the word of good• hiendt and.
.neighbors. •.
The whole situation is regrettable*, On-
tario Hydro,Imperial Oil anithundreds„of
other big corporations have, over the years,
served us well. They provided quality-good
and services without which our civilization
would have been inestimably poorer. The
disease of disbelief will, take a lot of curing.
t of paper
The acting niaior ofttratford got angry
one daY 'last week. Seems the *city council
was about to pay a, consultant a fat feefor
advice on thesetecti. of an upper level ,d1Y
cia'• r,,
-7-70 • his
n e
rp ,
IthOugh We have no idea whether or -not
Was off base in this particular case, he did
mention a few points about consultants with
Which we are in tote agreement. Perhaps
JOS Strongest point was that elected repre-
sentatives Of the -public are usually voted
into Office because their fellow 'citizens be-
lieved them capable of making important
decisions. The practice of hiring a consultant
Whenever such a decision must be reached it
tantamount to admitting that the voters
were wrOng after all.
•
Living,. as we do, in an age of advanced
technology, it is inevitable that specialized
knowledge and advice are, at times, neces-
sary if mistakes are to be avoided, but along
with the Stratford mayor, we believe that the
hiring of consultants has become an expen-
siye habit.
If you have ever had occasion to read the
, reports turned out by these consultants you
will agree that their chief stock -in -trade is
paper—lots of paper, printed one side only
and triple spaced, with oodles of charts and
Maps and graphs and then collated into vast
volumes to be presented to their employers
of the moment. By the time a board or coun-
cil has floundered its way to page 75 the
whole purpose of the study has been com-
pletely snowed under in the blizzard of
wordstfigures and technical terminology. So
the. average board member doesn't like to
admit his ignorance and solemnly concurs
with the consultant's report and the public
pays through the note for a typical snow job.
Sure, we must have cofisyltants—but our
publitr, boards ancilartgWitaiilit bear in
" mind' that such peogrle art wh,akthe- name,
implies—persons whom one 'can tonsUlt; not
wizards who have the answer- to everything.
• Here's a case in point. A few years ago a
consultant made a study of Huron COunty
and one of his conclusions was that the popu-
lation of Huron would nOt increase in the
next 25 years. Because the report came out
in a nice, fat book form and really looked
tremendously official, the statement about
static population was. never argued, Much
lets denied. As a consequence several later
reports on the future of services within the
county --notably a survey on hospital
requirements, solemnly requoted this statis-
lic—Huron's population will not increase.
Now, it could be true. The next 25 years
may, in fact; see a drop in population.
• May—that is, because neither the consultant
nor -this writer can see that far into the
future. He apparently based his statement
on the fact that farm production will require
less human hands. But he -also ignored the
facts that a constant stream of city people is
moving outward to the open spaces of West-
ern Ontario; that land prices for homes and
industries are forcing the enlargement of
towns in the rural areas; that available rec-
reation lands are still beckoning thousands
who aile tired of city congestion and smog.
No, we can't get along without consult-
ants—but we can get along very well without
quite a few of them. It's high time we made
use of some of our own thinking capacity.
Time for alternatives
This column has previously referred to
the urgent need for alternative sources of
energy and we find it somewhat surprising
that the recurrent problems resulting from
the oil "shortage" have not given birth to a
rash of ideas for sources of power which
would, to some degree, ease our dependence
On a fuel everyone knows will be gobbled up
within the foreseeable future.
• There was an interesting story ifi last
week's news about the development of a
new -type windmill which could be installed
on the roof of any hoUse or barn for as little
as\ 5250 to $500. Utilizing advanced know-
ledge about aerodynamics, the blades or
vanes of the mill would enable the system to
function in very light winds and transfer its
energy to a simple mechanism employing
modern frictonless bearings.
The energy available from the wind and
the sun is so vast that the potential of fossil
fuels such as oil and coal or even nuclear
sources are dwarfed by comparison. The
trick, of course, is t find a way of storing the
power of light an wind for periods when
they are not ava able.
Th person vyho WO comes up with a re-
volution ry kind of storage cell will be an in-
stant millionnaire and.a savior of the human
race. However, the same story which told of
the new -type windmill mentioned an inter-
esting use of wind energy. The electricity
produced from a wind -powered generator
can be passed through plain, ordinary water
and by a process called eledrolysis, would
separate the water into hydrogen and oxy-
gen. The hydrogen could be bottled and used
as a source of heat and energy for those
times when the wind dropped off.
It is rather interesting.
THE WINGHAM ADVANCE -TIMES
Publithed at Wingham, Ontario, by Wenger Oros. Limited
Barry Wenger, President Robert 0. Wenger, Secretary -Treasurer
Member Audit Bureau of Circulations
Member ..- Canadian Community Newspapers Assoc. Ontario Weekly Newspapers Assoc.
Subscription $10.00 per year. • Six months $5.25
• To United States $12.50
Second' Clas$Ma Registration No. 0821 , Return postage guaranteed °
164.36/1pOnd Curt
Richmond MI, (Moir.;
March 36, 1,71.,
The Editor,
Advancelimes
Dear Sir:
Qn 'behalf:Of 'the parents and
Ayers of the Richmond'
Minor -Midget Hoc*, team, I
would like to thank the people of
Your 'Own 40 the Hockey As
sociation for their very, kind hos-
pitality last Weekend,
The boys theraughlY. 00)0Y0(1
themselves and the food provided
at the Legion' and at the 'arena •
. was hot, delicious: and served
,generously, The .parents fond
the prices very reasonable' and
the tournament run most effic-
We especially appreciated the
enthusiastic support 'offered by
the, folks who billeted the bops.
They were quitea cheering See* .
•. tion! The boys were .under -age
and playing at the AAA level but
who could fail with such ien-
couragement?:'. '
Thanks again Wingham;
Veurasincerely,
K. V. Cox.
"NO, TIMMY, IT'S NOT A BIG BOTTLE OPENER," said sky diver Bill Cole as he
showed 'golfer Bob Panasiuk and young 1311Iy Lynch of Belleville the rip cord of the para-
chute he didn't have when he made the world's first lump without one. Cole, who last year
broke the Canadian altitude record for parachute tumping with a six mile drop, is the oniy
man who has jumped on two separate occasions without a 'chute. Each time, he bet his
life against his skill and experience in catching up with his team mates in time tOpick up
his 'chute from them in passing, strap it on and pull that cord before time ran out. With the
Easter Seal campaign past the half -way mark, time it beginning to run out for the Ontario
Society for Crippled Children in its efforts to raise $1,800,000 this year and. Timmy is
hoping it's not going to be a "lost cord" as far as he and more than 13,000 of his handicap-
ped friends are concernedtaking a firm grip on the cord, Timmy hopes everyone will
pull together until that S1,800,000 is reached.
' ' • •Qt in A
h
Rose, Pauline, WINDOW ON
MOUNT ZION. 3 #
This short and moving sstory
tells of how Pauline Rose and her
husband left England and fol-
lowed their heritage to the new
State of Israel. Undaunted by -
warnings, they made their home
next to the Arab-Israeli border,
overlooking war-torn Jerusalem.
When political tensions exploded
in the Six Day War, they wit-
nessed the horrors from terrify-
ingly close quarters. Pauline
Rose's book is a document to the
spirit of a people.
gni
Cookson, Catherine, THE MAL-
4IRL.
This deeply absorbing story
explores a pattern of life during
the years in which Barbara
114allen carrie'to womanhood. She
was becoming totally deaf, living
iwari ahnost silent world which
protected her from what could
have been her werst affliction - to
linciw the truth of her own origins.
Completein itself, this book fol-
lows "The Mallen -Streak" as the
second novel of a trilogy that will
finally bring the history of the
Mallens into the present century.
Three men hurt in collision
Three area men were taken to
hospital after they were involved
in a two car collision on Hwy. 86,
west of the Perth -Huron 'County
Line on Wednesday, March- 27.
Frank Vandenbroek of RR 2,
Wroxeter, the driver of one car
and his father, also Frank Van-
denbroek, were sped to hospital
in Listowel while the driver of the
other car, Ira. McLean of Wing -
ham was rushed by ambulance to
Wingham and District Hospital.
• Mr. McLean suffered a frac-
hiked left hand, mtdtiple abras-
ions to his face and a, lacerated
right hand. He Was admitted to
hospital and listed in satisfactory
condition. The extent of the other
two men's injuries are not known
at present.
The accident occurred When
Mr. Vandenbroek stopped to turn
off Hwy. 86 into a private lane -
way and was struck in the rear by
the McLean vehicle.
• Manages in the accident have
been set at $2;750,
Paul Somerville was the driver
or a car involved in a single car
accident on Hwy. 4, north of the
CPR spur crossing, Turnberry
Twp. on March 27, Anne Mohr, 18,
of RR 1, Lucan, a passenger' in
the car, was taken to Wingham
and, District. Hospital for treat-
ment of a dislocated left elbow.
She was later released. Damages
to the car were minor.
On Saturday, March 30, Donald
Ruttan of RR 1, Gorrie was in-
volved in a single car property
damage accident on "Huron
County Road 12, tenth of Hwy. 86,
Morris Twp. Damages to his car
were estimated at $750.
Jelm Brush of RR 1, Listowel
was involved in a single car acci-
dent March 31, on Hwy. 4, south
of HurOn County Road 16 Morris
Twp. There were no injuries and
diunages were set at 5250.
• 'Winghani, April 1,74
)ear . Editor; •
I liatened to our local MPP, Mr.
Murray Gaunt, make,a statement
as reported over Cli.NX in which
*he charged that, the Ontario
government and the Ontario:
Hydro were playing one farmer
against another *with regard to
compensation for the Hydro cop-
ridor. As 'said in iny last letter of
a few week's ago that I sat in at
the Hydr4 hearings , that were
held in Winghain Feb: 27 .'and
Mar. 6th and 1 was convinced that
Hydro was very generous with
regard to coMpenSation. In con-
versation with a number of
Gaunt's supporters, I found that
they were perfectly satisfied with
• the coMpensation they received
from Hydro for" the right Of Way
for the line to pass through their
• property. Am I to believe that you
areolaypg cheap polities, Mr.
Ga
majority of the 'far-
mers.a tending the protest ineet-,
'rigs werejn-the25-45 age grOup. I
would like to reminisce a little.
My grandfather'. Ireland arrived
in this country irons Ireland With
only an axe and after a great deal
of hard work managed to save
$100.01) to pay a down payment on
- a 100 adre farm for $900.00 two
miles south of Teeswater and
only ;partially ,cleared. After
inany, years 'of bard work he
managed to get it paid for.
My father was 15 years of age
" when the first CPR train tame
into Teeswater 90 years ago. He
informed me that the Teeswater ,
band and all the people of the vil-
lage 'Of Teeswater and sur-
roundingarea were on hand to
,welcome the first train; •Just
think.of the number of farms this
railniad track 'crossed from Tor-
onto to Teeswater: I am sure that
a railroad is a greater hazard
than a hydro line passing over a
farmer's property. When I was 13'
• years of age I assisted my father
to drive a number Of fat steers to
Teeswater to be loaded on the
train (there were no trucks then).
. I saw 11 carload of fat cattle ,
leave Teeswater by rail that
. moming plus four ears of other
freight. Two passenger trains left
Teeswater daily and very often
two freight trains. It was our only
means of transportation.
Later Highway 461 was started,
which connects Windsor and the
Quebec boundary over 400 miles.
I will leave it to your imagination
as to the number of farms cross-
ed by this wonderful highway. I
recall the Liberals hounding the
Conservatives for not ,building it
fast enough. Prime Minister Les-
lie Frost told the opposition that it
was built as fast as funds were
available to pay for it. This high-
way is now recognized as one of
O'Brian, Patrick, H.M.S. SUR-
PRISE. •'
Captain Aubrey's latest adven-
ture takes him and his friend to
the distant Indian Ocean. Aubrey
finds himsellon the defensive; as
he attempts to save the British
• merchant fleet. Exciting battles,
skirmishes and cloak and dagger
operations stir the readerlt blood
as the author vividly conveys the
fragility of a sailing ship in a wild
sea.
Herbert, . Marie, " THE SNOW
PEOPLE.
Marie Herbert learned what it
is like to be an Eskimo hottsewife
- to collect ice for fresh water, to
skin a fox, to Make sealskin shoes
and polarbear pants, etc; Marie,
her husband and their infant
daughter decided tO live with the
Eskimos in northwest Greenland
about ninety miles north of a U.S.
strategic air base. It is a moving
account of a fascinating but true
story of a year of Arctic adven-
ture, and a vanitihing way of life.
Logidon, Gene, HOMESTEAD-
ING. ,
You can *make your entire
• living ori a homestead. It takes
work, but the work outlined in
this book can be a pleasure. And
that pleasure is what homestead-
ing is all about. The, pleasure of
producing your own food; of pro-
viding many of the staples of your
family's . existence; of indepen-
dence. You'll find ideas, tips and
techniques.
WOOD HARVEST
More wood is being grown
each year in the United States
than is behfg harvested. —
11011ehl to the prov.
We,
1 predict that when this heavy,
power line from Douglas Point to
its destination is eompleted it will
• be regarded as another great
achievement which will benefit
evet7000- More 0.390r0 Is needed
as the Wingham town council in-
formed me that 64 housing units
.will be builtNin WinghaM in WM
and two electric -fired furnaces
*mill be added to the Western
Foundry this year411. neat. More
hydro is needed and the heavy
linesirnuat pass over some one);
, PrOPertY and MAW 'farmers are
'being compensated for the' incon-
venience,of woridng around the
base of the towers.
I must. congratulate Mr.
George Underwood , on hit; fine
presentation on behalf .of the far-
inerabut the contents OW pre-
tientation was most disappointing
to me and many others. 1 only
wish. that Mr. 'Under*ood's and
Mr,. Murray Gaunt'is' ,grand-
fathers were around to heat them
make such 'irresponsible r state-
thents._I am sure theft early set-
. tiers experienced many Mimi-
* ties as did my grandfather:
In closing Ican,quote from sta-
' Ogles that in Englandowhere the
population of the country is twice
that of Canada, the rule there is
that 15 per cent of the land'must
be left in forest and trees. They
know that trees conserve mois-
ture, provide Shade and Stop land
. erosion. Trees by. the thousands
are being planted' in Western.
Canada to stop land erosion and
conserve inoistUre. 1 know it is
much nicer to operate a farm that
has no obstacles in the way so
that,one-can proceed with large
machinery and *accomplish a
great deal in one day. My advice
to Mr. Underwbod is , that he
consider planting at least 5 per
Cent of hialarge farm to trees and
it will pay good 'dividends.
Sincerely,
,\ Ebner Ireland
Advance Times
Wingham, Ontario.
Lear Editor:
'Producers generally*ant to
promote the sales of their pro-
ducts. The liquor industry along
with the others 'desires to pro-
mote the tale of its wares. This
desire has led to what many con-
sider' to be a dangerous 'half-
truth. The liquor industry con-
tinually presents a picture of at-
tractive, well-dressed young
people enjoying a moment of
relaxation•along with the use of
its product. Well grant that there
is an element of truth here — in
that this is the manner in which
many of the youth of our day do
enjoy a Moment of relaxation.
' But this it not the whole truth.
The use Of alcoholic beverages is
associated with other situations.
It is associated with drunkeness,
highway accidents, death, broken
homes, impoverishment etc. This
is one side of the picture that is
rarely if ever brought to the at-
tention of the general public. I
understand that in the province of
British Columbia all liquor ad-
vertising has been banned. In this
province youthand the public
generally are allowed to make an
open, unbiased d ion about the
use of this product. is not
be a saner position for our prov-
ince to take? I for one would be
much happier to live in a prov-
ince where my children were not
constantly and persistently, and
right in their own hiring room,
dinned with this dangerous ,
half-truth. Liquor advertising
should- be banned in Ontario so
that our children could make an
open, unbiased responsible de-
cision apart from this daily, and
sometimes hourly barrage of a
dangerous half-truth.
Rev. Bill Wilkinson
Box 118,
Lion's Head, Ont.
• NO11 IWO
uncil meets two delegations
Wingham Town Council met
with two delegations before mov-
ing into regular council business
at their meeting on Monday even-
ing. One delegation was from the
Wingham and District Associa-
tion for the Mentally Retarded
and the other was a small group
of citizens concerned about the
town's proposed zoning bylaw.
Bill Stephenson, the repre-
sentative for the first group, in-
formed cduncil of plans to erect a
new • nursery school to service
mentally retarded children. The
building will be about 3,000
square feet in size and cost
$00,000. It will replace the Silver
Circle Nursery School, building
which the association plans to use
for an adult workshop.
The problem Mr. Stephenson
was bringing before council was
that the lot the Association had
thought of bu*ing for the project
had Si* feet Of toi,Vri road on it.
Mr. Stephenson told council that
with theroadway encroaching on
the 'lot, which is adjacent to the
present School, he did not know
whether the expansion could be
undertaken. He said th4 architect
can not proeeed with plans until
the matter is cleared up.
Council decided that rather
than change the roadway it **id
be Mere realistic tthd ekpedient
to provide the aatintiatiOti %.vith
another lot adjacent to the school.
The other delegation sparked
more debate on the town's zoning
bylaw. The major point of con-
tent* was the reasoning behind
giving the bylaw first and second
reading before the infortnal pub.
lic meeting to discuss it has been
helcd.
Most couficillors agreed that no
one was completely in favonr of
the existing bylaw, but as
councillor Jack Hayes pointed
out, "If the highest paid planners
In the world had drawn it up,
there would still be some
reservations."
• Andy McBride, a planning
board representative, voiced the
board's feeling saying the bylaw
isn't binding until after third
reading, however if given first
and second reading it demon-
strates that the council is backing
the planning board although
some changes will probably be
made after the public meeting.
ile algo pointed out that if given
the first two readings then,eoun-
cil has demonstrated its intent to
zone and that would provide
enough legal, sanction to halt any
undesirable constrnttion from
being rushed through before the
bylaw takes effect.
Another point Mr. McBride
made wag the zoning bylaw must
concur with the town's official
plan passed five or so years ago.
MI the planning board has done,
he saidwas to determine what
• kinds of commercial enterprises
should be placed in a 'commercial
zone and what kind of residential,
development should be permitted
in a area marked residential on
the official plan.
Councillor Jack Gillespie sug-
gested that residents concerned
about the bylaw should form
groups and elect a spokesman
and then a copy of the bylaw
could be given to the spokesman.
The bylaw will be published in
theAdvaticedlimes before the
public meeting which is to be held
Pleat* turn to Page 12