Zurich Citizens News, 1972-08-31, Page 4IPv
PAGE 4
ZURICH CITIZENS NEWS
THURSDAY, AUGUST 31, 1972
compared my wife to that bird,
flicker. Ron Cumming writes
from Port Elgin, comparing
husbands to bobolinks, "Before
marriage, the bobolink has a
beautiful, slick, yellow -strip-
ed suit and sings a mate -entic-
ing Bobo -link -a -link -a -link.
After marriage, in late stunmer,
he dresses in dull brown, and his
song is merely a dull 'clunk.'
As a middle-aged hubby, I keep
seeing a parallel."
Woops! It's not all sweetness
and light. Just reached and
read two letters giving me hell.
I must have written a snarly
(continued on page 6)
Labor Day stock -taking
This has been a trying year for everyone --
workers, management and the general public.
We've been plagued by strikes and nobody en-
joys them. Because their results are so visible
we blame the unions and grow impatient with
the collective bargaining process.
Before we're too hasty in assigning blame
we'd better look at some of the less visible
elements in the labor -management -citizen
triangle, and try to be fair,
Murray Cotterill, the publicity director of
the United Steel Workers Union (Canada) --
our largest, points out that 95P/o of labor -comp-
any contracts are negotiated quietly and peace-
fully, with no strikes or threats of strikes.
These agreements never make headlines. I -Ie
also reports that one out of every eight workers
is injuredon the job to the extent of needing
compensation. This throws a spotlight on the
callousness of some employers toward safety
standards.
Before our fur rises too high about wage
demands and their relation to inflation we'd
biter kook at corporation profits. The Canad-
ian Press reported a month ago, "The record
year for dividents was 1970 and market analysts
are now predicting that corporate payouts this
year will surpass the 1970 rate." For example
"The profits of Ford of Canada jumped 45°jo in
the first six months of 1972,"
When profit is the only touchstone, we all
forget human values. As operations get bigger
and more highly mechanized there is a tendency
for firms to close branch plants and consolidate.
Men who have worked 20 years and more for one
company in one place, who have bought their
homes and put down roots are either dismissed
with little warning or required to move. Man-
agement- - particularly at the lower levels is
not exempt from this upheaval, which can be
traumatic to families and a tragic blow to the
whole economic life of the vacated community,
(contributed)
A dubious gift
Publicly these days, Robert Stanfield is
crowing over the fact that a former Liberal
cabinet minister, Paul Hellyer has joined the
ranks of his Conservative party. It shows, he
says, that people are turning from the Liberals
to his party for leadership.
But is he so happy privately, one wonders.
Hellyer is a strong man who says and does what
he likes and isn't adverse to stepping outside
party policy. He did it many times in the
Liberal party and provided a good deal of am-
munition for Stanfield and his colleagues when
they tried to prove even Trudeau's own party
couldn't stand him.
Hellyer was the man who pushed through
unification of the armed forces, a policy the
conservatives have always condemned, It was
only months ago that Stanfield said he would
split the forces into three units again. How can
all Hellyer's critics now slap him on the back
and honestly say what a good guy he is?
Much the same goes for his housing policy
which was his major job under Trudeau and
which eventually led to his split with the
Liberals because they wouldn't adopt his pol-
icies. The Conservatives didn't think much of
his policies either.
Then, there's the fact of what Hellyer is in
himself, a man who wants to be number one.
Most people believe that the biggest thing
leading to Hellyer's defection from the Liberals
is that he was still angry at being beaten by
Trudeau and couldn't stand being number two
under the strong leadership of the Prime Minist-
er. Stanfield's hold on his party is not as
strong as Trudeau's. How will Hellyer react
to these conditions? Will he be happy with a
less strong hand at the helm or will he try to
push his way to the captain's cabin?
The addition to Hellyer could make or break
the Conservatives. If he can curb his bull -in -
a -china -shop way of doing things, then his
obvious ability could help the party, particul-
arly if they should form the next government.
If he continues his head -strong activities as in
the past couple of years, he could really hurt
the party.- (The Blyth Standard)
ZURICH Citizens NEWS
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THE THINGS
MY READERS SAY!
By Bill Smiley
With the best intentions in the
world to do so, I never quite
get around to answering all my
mail. There always seems to
be some domestic or other crisis
that interferes.
In almost every case, the
letters I get are both friendly
and interesting. The exceptions
are business letters and bill
collectors. Form letters and
promotional letters I don't even
read: just tear them once
across and toss into the logical
depository --the garbage pail.
Anyway, this column seems
to get around quite a bit, and
the letters pile up, and I keep
making new resolutions to
answer them and the pile keeps
growing. If my wife would
leave me for a month, and I
worked eight hours a day, I
could clean them all up and
start a new life, relieved of
guilt and shame.
Just to give you an idea,
here's a cross- sampling. Just
got a card from the Bobsey
Twins, Regina and Kath. Post-
mark: Venice. They're two
former students. When they
were in Grade 13, and I could'nt
find a boy to clean up the
estate, they took it on, and
did the best job. I've ever done.
Unlike the boys, who don't
get into the corners, they crawl-
ed into the bushes and dragged
out leaves with their bare hands
They garnered forty plastic '
garbage bags of leaves and twigs,
I gave them their pay and an
illegal beer and we've been
buddies ever since. According
to the card, they've covered
seven countries in three weeks
and are now heading for Spain.
Poor old Madrid.
Here's a letter from R.F.
Stedman, County Wicklow,
Eire. An excerpt: "Your column
holds for me a note of sanity
in a mad world and ranks in
my mind with Greg Clark."
Double thanks, R.F. Greg Clark
is about six tiers above me, but
I appreciate the sentiment.
Mr. Stedman went to high
school with my older brother
and sister,
Just grabbed another one
from the heap. Holy smokes,
it's dated Feb. 1971. Thomas
A. Smith, Rouleau, Sask. He
noticed a reference in the
column to Calumet Island, in
the Ottawa River, where my
mother -was bron. He was born
there too and remembers
Smileys in Shawville, Que.,
where my dad once ran a store.
It's a long, interesting letter
from a real old-timer who
went west in 1910, at the age
of 17, went overseas in World
War I. Mr. Smith, I hope
you are well, though you
must be 80, and I'll write a
proper letter.
Here's another, from White
Plains, New York. Holy Old
Hughie! Dated June 24, 1969.
It's from A. Leslie Hill, Capt-
ain, Army Nurse Corps, U.S.
Army Reserve (retired). Born
in Fergus Ontario, three score
years ago, graduate of Kingst-
on (Ont). General Hospital,
served in World War 11 and
Korea, and read my column to
a group of Negroes in the laun-
dry room. How about that?
Letter ends, "Thanks for your
column, dull or not."
Here's a self-addressed env-
elope from Mrs. Walter E.
Dorsett, Smiley, Sask. But I
can't find the letter. And anoth-
er one from Gordon Fairgrieve,
publisher of the Observer,
Hartland, N.B. He has a sub-
scriber called Bill Smiley, who
lives in Massachusetts, and
asks that I drop him a line.
I will, Bill and Gordon.
A note from G.R. McCrea,
publisher of the Herald, Hanna,
Alta. He agrees it's a mad,
mad world, has been forty
years in the newspaper "game:'
started at $5 a week, and
recalls with nostalgia" "For $5
in those days you could take
your best girl to the local dance,
but a mickey of rot -gut rye,
and still have money enough to
buy the gal a lunch at midnight,
and some left over for a pack-
age of roll -your -owns on Mon-
day. Boy, was that ever livin, "
Thanks, G.R. for a grand letter.
From a lady in Bowmanville.
She thanks me for my salute
to the housewife, and has some
good advice: "I have learned,
slowly, never criticize what
someone's doing unless you have
tried it yourself." And it turns
out the lady lived next door for
eight years to the lady who
wrote me a beautiful letter
from New Zealand.
In a column this summer, I
Forest Fires start as a result of
what people do or do not do.
How's
Your
Hearing?
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special interest to those who
hear but do not understand
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Try it to see how it is worn
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These models are free, so we
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Again, we repeat, there is no
cost, and certainly no obligation.
Write to Dept. 5361, Beltone
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Business and Professional Directory
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J. E. Longstaff
OPTOMETRIST
SEAFORTH MEDICAL CENTRE
527-1240
Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, Sat-
urday a.m., Thursday evening
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10 Issac Street 482-7010
Monday and Wednesday
Call either office for
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OPTOMETRIST
Office Hours:
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Closed all day Saturday
Phone 235.2433 Exeter
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