Loading...
The Goderich Signal-Star, 1979-08-30, Page 4Gtoderich� SIGNAL -STAR The County Town Newspaper of Huron . Founded In 1818 mid published every Thut$dpy of Goderich. Ontario. Member of the CWNA and OWNA. Advertising rates on request. Subscriptions payable In advance 94.58 In Canada, •35.80 to U.S.A., •31.00 90 all other countries. single copies JS'. Display advertising rates available on request. Ploasa ask for Rate Card No. 8 effective Oct. 1, 1978. Second class mall Registration Number 0718. Advertrding is accepted on the condition that In the every of typographical error, thte advertising %pato occupied by the erroneous Item, together with roasooable allowance for signature, will not be charged for but the balance e .of , the ecivalrtipement will be peld for of the applicable rate.. in the event of a typographical error advertising goods or, services, at a wrong price, goods or sorWlce may nq4 bo sold. Advertising Is merely an offer to seil,'6nd may be withdrawn at any time. Tho . I SIgnel-Star Is not responsible for the doss or damage of unsolicited manuscripts or photos. Business and .Editorial..Affice TELEPHONE 524-8131 area code 519 Published by Signal -Star Publishing Ltd. ROBERT G. SHRIER — president and publisher SHIRLEY .1. KEI LER — editor 'DONALD M. HUBICK - advertising manager Mailing Address: P.O. BOX 220, Industrial Park, Goderich Second class mail registration number — 0716 PAGE 4 —GODERICH SIGNAL -STAR, THURBDAY, AUGUST 30, 197-9 Penalty for the ..married It used to be that "divorce" was a dirty word, but now it is the word "marriage" that seems to carry the conotation of unpleasantness, unprofitability, undesirability. In a country that has long been lauded as a Christian society, where the Christian principles of decency and chastity form the basis of the laws, it is more and more evident that people are being _penalized for being married. It is actually true that the law tends to encourage some couples to get divorced. One blatant example of this is demonstrated in the income tax law which makes it profitable for small businessmen and professionals such as doctors, dentists, architects and veterinarians, to divorce their spouses before hiring them as em- ployees. . The laws date back to the early days of the graduated income tax. The graduated system means that the more money a person earns, the higher the percentage of income is paid in tax. . It seemed logical to many businessmen then, to circumvent the higher tax by hiring their spouses, thus splitting the income, and splitting the tax between them at a lower rate. This led toa tax law that states that any money a boss pays to a spouse is taxed as if it were pare of the income of the boss. Later, bosses found they could circumvent this rule by incorporating the business. Since no one is the spouse of a corporation, the la.w could n'ot apply. appy. Then came the doctrine of "reasonableness". The tax department ruled that the corporation could not pay the wife of a president more than it would pay a complete stranger performing the same duties. That seems fair. So fair, in fact, that it's a wonder it is not applied to businessmen wh,o choose not to incorporate, or to professionals who ate forbidden to incorporate. Such a person, earning $60,000 a year, who replaces his $15,000 a year secretary with his spouse, actually winds up paying his spouse nothing, and losing $200 on top of that. Example: The husband earns $60,000 a year. A secretary who earns $15,000 a year leaves, and is replaced by the wife. The wife pays $3,000 a year for day care of their two children, and incurs anothor $4,000 a year in expenses on such items as clothes, transportation, a'housekeeper, etc. Out-of-pocket expenses thus amount to $7,000. The husband pays tax on her salary as if it were his own, and that costs $.8,200. Net result: A $200 loss. On the other hand', if they divorced before the wife went to work for her husband, the tax savings would be attractive_- about $5,700 a year. These, figures, supplied through Donald Shaughnessy, a chartered accountant with G.H. Ward and Partners in Coboug, may not excite too many readers. Some may think the wife of a man earning $60,000 per annum should stay home in the first place. But in a day and age when marriage and family life is failing at a frightening rate in Canada, it should be government's responsibility to see to it that outdated laws and poorly thought-out legislation, doesn't become a contributing factor in these sad statistics. - SJK Parents have responsibilit That thunderous cheer you are hearing all around you this week will grow to a ear-splitting chorus on Tuesday morning as Goderich and area children troop back to school. - Goderich and area mothers and fathers will be rejoicing now that the summer holidays are of- ficially ended and their sons and daughters are. going -back to the classroom for six hours or so a day. Years ago, mothers were glad to get children out from under foot after summer vacation, And that may still be true for --a portion of the women in the community. • But more and more now, the big thing now is to get kids back on a schedule and away from the Come out The lith annualfastball tournament sponsored by the Goderich Industrial Fastball League is going on in Goderich this weekend. If you like fastball, you'll love this tournament. There's a special edition in this week's paper about the tournament. Teams from all over Ontario will be making their bids for the glory accorded to the winners,but winning won't be everything. The best thing will be the challenge of the competition. The municipality welcomes all the ballplayers and their families to Goderich this weekend. For those citizens who have time, show your civic pride and your support for your community by getting over to the ballpark once or twice. You might be surprised at the fun you will have. -SJK babysitters' houses where it costs money to leave them in care. Or to get them off the golf course or out of swimming pool arid back into some productive kind of living that will help them grow into useful men and women. As classrooms reopen for another year of training and edification, parents should be reminded' once again of their great responsibility in this regard. It isn't enough simply to send kids off to school and let the teachers worry about them from then on. It isn't enough to outfit them in new clothes and shoes; pack them a nutrious lunch; see that the family car is available to drive them to special functions when the weather is bad. No, sending kids to school is a fulltime job. It requires just as much interest and effort to keep them happy and active and co-operative and growing while in school as it does to• see that they are health and happy and entertained and safe during the summer months. Maybe, if .the truth were known, it takes even more work. School starts Tuesday for another year. Take an interest in your student. Talk to him about his classes. Encourage him when he's down. Praise him when hedoeswell. Be concerned 'if his grades start to slip.- Listen to him when he wants to talk about things. Guide him when he needs the benefit of your experience. Help him have faith in himself. Establish a line a communication with the school ... and keep that line open for two-way conversations. Know your school, your' teachers, your school board representatives. God to school when invited and help out where you can. Keep informed about all school matters. There's more to it than sending your children off to school. Much more. Why -not get ready now to really do your part toward the education of your family during the 1979-80 school year? -SJK Escape artist's challenge Legion Dear Editor: On Sunday, August 19 Legion Branch 109 held its annual Memorial Service and Decoration Day at the Maitland Cemetery. As I am now in the process of 'resear- ching the history of -the Goderich Branch, I learned from Comrade Clarence MacDonald some interesting facts regarding this important Legion function. Comrade MacDonald is a Past President of the By Jeff Seddon DEAR EDITOR Branch who operated a printing business in town and now resides in - Brantford. Priot to World War II, the First World War vets met at the Legion rooms on a Sunday and marched from there all the way to the cemetery and back again at the conclusion of the service. On the return march, the boys began the practice of singing old army songs in a rather noisy manner. (It is a 'common practice for troops to sing on the march. It sets the cadence and keeps the 'spirits up on,a long march - World War I troops were not as mobile as we of the. Second War). To over- come public objection to this bit of revelry, the members suggested that they meet inside the. gates of the cemetery and march to the Veterans' Plot from there. (This was still the practice when I joined the Branch in 1953),, This plan worked out well and the singing discontinued. For years Joe Juck and Comrade MacDonald went.out to the cemetery prior to the service and spent three or four' holi'rs placing a tiny flag on the grave of each veteran buried in the Maitland Cemetery. This is still done today and since not all veterans are buried in the Veterans' Plot, it requires considerable walking. To quote Clarence, "We know where all of the boys were buried. The Veterans' Plot at Maitland originated when E. Douglas Brown, a town councillor and chemist at the Western Canada Flour Mills, brought the idea up in council and it was ap- proved. A portion of land was agreed upon and the Veterans' Plot became a reality. This area was set aside for veterans only and a wife can not be buried beside her veteran husband if he requests to be buried in this area of the cemetery. Time changes situations. Today the average- age of the war veteran is approaching 60 years and as a result, we now form up at the back of the cemetery and march behind the Turn to page 5 • 75 YEARS AGO At the sale of the M.C. Cameron' estate, auc- tioneer Gundry sold all the town property but the family mansion and all the Bayfield Jots were sold enbloc to Tudor Marks of Bayfield for $1,000. The dwelling occupied by Mrs. Hyslop was purchased by that lady for $400. Thomas Gledhill bought the other dwelling for $475 and J. Mosier bought the marble shop on Hamilton Street for $590. The meeting of the committee of the branch of the National Sanitarium Association called for Tuesday in the Law Library was disappointingly small, only five persons being present. LOOKING BACK During the half year ending June 30, 37 births, 14 marriages and 24 deaths have been registered in Goderich. Gundry Brothers imported a pair of horses the other day from Windsor, a nice addition to their livery business. ,The Goderich Planing Mill Company has the contract to build a cot- tage on the west side of Colborne. Street for Mrs. (Rev..) McLauchlin. .25 YEARS AGO The Goderich Midget baseball team has won the WOAA Midget "B" title and is now engaged in OBA Midget "B" playdowns. Goderich schools re- open Tuesday morning and indications are that enrolments will be over 1,300. Winner -of -the $1,000 Persian lamb coat at the Lions bingo Tuesday night was Miss Viola Sch- midt, an employee.of the_ Holeproof Hosiery Mill, Goderich. Another big Labor Day program, marking the tenth anniversary of Labor Day celebrations here by the. Goderich Trades and Labor Council, -is being planned for next Monday. A tourist decrease of 172 has been noted in Goderich for the month of August. Huron County Pioneer Museum's collection of hearses was completed on Monday when Curator J.H. Neill went to Mit- " chell and returned here with,a children's hearse. Veteran mariner Captain Bert MacDonald, hero of numerous Lake Huron rescues, wrote another one into his log book last Thursday af- ternoon when he saved. three youngsters from drowning about 600 feet off the harbor breakwall. 5 YEARS AGO A log cabin on Black's Point Road belonging to John Hindmarsh: was destroyed early Sunday morning after fire swept through the structure. If the Ontario Gover- nment implements their plan for restructured health -councils outlined in the Mustard report„lit will be against the wishes of Alexandra Marine and General Hospital ad- ministrator Tim Elliott, supervisor of .public health Frank Mills and Huron County Council. Trucks, sometimes 30 at a 'time, are lining up daily to unload Ontario wheat at the Goderich Elevator Company and in some cases load western wheat in storage to take hack to feeders. The company has had to accept the truck and rail increase due to the shipping strike that has halted Great Lakes transport. Gary _Walden, student placement officer here, °has made it possible for all but about 60 of 950 students who applied for jobs, to make some spending money during the school ' break. Advertising was the key, he commented. �EAI� REALE BY SHIRLEY J. KELLER Headlines in the papers last week claimed that the rural municipalities in Huron County are angry over proposed changes that could increase taxes in the majority of townships and reduce taxes in all of the towns•"and villages. As a lifelong resident of Huron County, I would suspect that the ire of Huron's rural -dwellers Will most certainly be raised if they are tagged with more taxes .... and that their wrath will be .most keenly felt just as soAn as, and not a moment before, they get a tax bill -reflecting--a--hefty_bike-in-assessment.— - At the outset of this discourse, it should be pointed out that I have lived on practidally all sides of the fence. For the first nine years of Our married life, we lived on and paid taxes on a farm. 1?or the next six years we owned a home in a village and for the past 10 years, we have owned property in Goderich. From the townships to the county's largest urban municipality. From no service to well serviced. From sideroad to highway. From main thoroughfare to residential sidestreet. From carting to the dump to paying for garbage pickup to prepaid -through - taxes garbage 'removal. From septic tank to sewers. From well water to town water. From flashlights to'street lights: 'From school buses to 'shank's pony. From digging up the drains to. public works. From draughty far- mhouse without conveniences to a new, comfortable, well equipped modern home. Twenty-five years of tax paying in Huron County and a wide variety of -c-ir-cums to n c es . And this much I have learned. Assessment .should be geared to the worth of the property and taxes for county -wide services should be equal where assessments are equal. Not long ago, my -husband and I took a trip to London via the backroads in Huron and Middlesex Counties. We saw some of the finest farmland one will find anywhere. We saw some of the most lush crops one will find anywhere. But we saw somethin:else, too. We saw beautiful farm homes, some of them brand new; landscaped gardens; paved driveways; swimming pools. And I can,tell you we were delighted. It was good to see farmers in this area enjoying such obvious prosperity. It renewed our faith in this country which, as many of you will agree, has been having its share of problems during the last few years. , But it naturally tollows, I believe, that if.a home in Stephen Township will sell on the open market for $70,000 .... and a home on Wellington Street in Goderich will also' sell on the open markef -for'-$70-;IIXr--7::'-the owners of those two properties should be paying an equal share of the ,county school expenses and an equal share of the county's people services. It will be argued that a home at- tached to a farm is not actually worth $70,000 on the open market because it can't be severed from the farm. A home with all the modern con= y' eniences, newly remodelled, featuring swimming pool, landscaped round and double garage is worth absolutely nothing on the open market if it is attached to a farm. But the farm. Ah yes, the farm. The house is situated on a $200 -acre farm worth roughly $1,000 an acre or $200,000. If it had no buildings on it at all it would still be worth $200,000. And the farmland shouldn't be ta,xed in the same way as residential property, say the critics of present property tax legislation. It just isn't equitable they say. Obviously the government agrees, because a portion of the taxes on far- mland is returned to farmers. But that highly desirable farmhouse which_ _.would'..--r-ra-ke a, mode s -t urba-n home look sick, isn't worth anything on the open market, these same critics say. It, can't • be , sold separately so therefore, you can't tax it in the same way as you would a home in an urban area like Goderich. Unfair taxation on farmland. Can't tax farm homes separately. What's the solution? There hasn't been a solution found yet to appease ;the farm community. Maybe there4 will never be a satisfactory answer.