STAR EDITORIAL PAGE Thursday, April 26th, 1956 "speeches made by the Soviet leaders. 'said that war was impossible; that though At this time: of the year the average tax- payer tends to take a rather glum view of this _ tax-bedevilled world. While still Wishing to retain the clear conscience of a good citizen, he dallies with all sorts of impractical and ° game of taxation in a just-try-and:catch-me dodge. -And there is some justification for his attitude. The provincial government seems to have done very little to ease the tremendously in- creasing burden of taxation that falls on owners of property because of our expanding educational needs. Is the federal govern- ment recklessly throwing money into out- moded weapons of war and war personnel? It would be a lot easier to pay our taxes if sometimes ation fa Jun for turning this we were convinced that so much of it wasn't - misspent. What real purpose can a new cruiser like the St, Laurent serve? Sure, if we had built it in 1939 there would have been What i is a Better Education? The tremendous strides made by the Rus- sians in the field of education have forced us to take a good long critical look at our system of education. So far we haven't been able to come to any real agreement with regard to what is really wrong with our education; nor are we too sure about what is good education. Is it more book learning? . Is it better com- mand of the so-called fundamentals? Some suggest that it is the all-round development of personality, but what does that > enlly mean? It looks as though we now have in our secondary schools a high percentage of boys and girls who are simply putting in time. They learn little or nothing; they do little or - no work; they are a drag on the class and a worry to the teacher. They don't want to go to school and there isn't anything for them to do outside school. They are passed on from grade to grade by lowering the stand- ards, by taking options in which passing marks are meaningless, or by simply being a nuisance. In some extreme cases they have frustrated teachers to the point where their work is gheer drudgery and education mean- ingless. Re ; '© The Merry-Go-Round Well! Well! What a week this has been! Take the Khrushchev' Bulganin visit for an instance. -Far more important than the of- ficial tea at Windsor Castle were the two They the people of the Western world had no real liking for: the Communists, the Communists in their turn didn't exactly love the people of the West. The undeniable fact was that we both were on the same planet and that we would have to learn to get along together. We may not be the neighbours you want, and certainly you aren't the neighbours we.want but we've got to live with one another. They pointed out, too, just how foolish the modern arms race was. Weapons are out-of-date be- fore they are really ready to use. They laughingly referred to the cruiser which had brought them to England. "What is it good for?" they asked. "For nothing, except to transport important visitors" they angwered. The significant thing for us to note is that the Russians are convinced now that they can conquer us without going to war. They feel that history is on their side and that their advances in the past two years indicate that they can far outstrip the West in every phase of human endeavour: in production, in or- ganization, in distribution of goods, in cu]- ture, in education, in any thing you can name. Further significance is added to their claims "in the disturbing situation that now exists with regard to foreign aid from America. The American people are quite dissatisfied "with the use of foreign aid schemes as they have worked out over the past ten years and dissatisfied too are the countries which they have attempted to help. = As soon as the elections are out of the way the problem of foreign aid will completely dominate the American political scene. come the primary issue in the election. The cease-fire truce in the Middle East has prompted Ben Gurion of Israel to declare that war is more imminent than ever. Are we to conclude that if the Israelis and the Arabs had kept on taking pot shots at each other with vendetta skirmishes thrown in for good measure that there would be less chance for war? Apparently that is what he meant. oh SESS 40 CoE Ts Taxes hm And how is it -done? It may even he-- o some 'sense in it. But in 195656? Isn't this a rather expensive kind of target for a guided missile or an atom bomb? Conspicuous waste in the face of unsatisfied needs is not a con- dition that encourages us to pay heavy taxes. The people would pay even heavier taxes if the government would devise up- -to- date and intelligent spending programs. One such program is needed in education. And it should begin at the provincial level. If the C.C.F. were to plump the present educational set-up and come up with a widely publicized new deal for an educational budget the Con- servatives in Ontario would be in for a real shock. Come, to think of it, it's long over- due. Conservatives seem to have forgotten that George Drew rode to power on his promise to assume 50% of all educational costs in the Province of Ontario. Is it that we really don't believe in educa= tion? Where do these dullards pick up their attitudes? From the home? From society? From the Misses Brookes and the Messrs. Conklins?" Is the average home unfriendly to the-idea of work?- out effort . longed? . Dr. Althouse in a speech at the O.E.A. said that a child must be inured with the idea of work. Is this the job of the home? Is it the job of the school? Should they both work together to develop a healthy capacity for work and ef- fort? Can you get boys and girls to. work when they see that grown-ups don't take kindly to work.. Have we come to the place where we have a dictatorship of the worker who is determined to get as much as he can with as little effort as possible? A great many serious thinkers in our society feel that in this lies the crux of problem. It "appears that we must find new and powerful incentives to encourage:our chil- dren to develop themselves through an edu- cational programme that is much more signi- ficant than the present one. This apparently is a job for all of us. How ridiculous can the statements of states- men get, we sometimes wonder. But talking of Israel brings us back to Canada. A few weeks ago a minor crisis was created in Parliament with the accidental discovery that some twelve Harvards were being shipped to Egypt. Now Mike Pearson with the backing of both government and op- position is, about to O.K. an order for 30 sabre jets for Israel. And this after the government made a statement to the effect that no shipments of war material would go forward to any country or area where the presence of such material was likely to in- crease tension or armed conflict. But the 'pressure on the government has been great and the election of 1957 draws ever nearer. And talking about elections the Conservatives have a beautiful new emotional issue all ready to hand. - Keep Canada for Canadians. The speech of the retiring ambassador from the United States has been twisted to provide ammunition for this dog-eared slogan. Mr. ' Stuart pointed out that since 1953 American investments in Canada had. been on the de- crease; that if it hadn't been for American capital we would not have financed the boom we now enjoy. These two facts the Conser- vatives, will ignore as though they had never been spoken. probably accept the slogan as they have ac- cepted the Ranier-Kelly circus. The principality of Monaco is not a tiny kingdom but rather a vast gambling syndicate which had fallen on evil days and in the' re- organization of its finances needed a specta- cular event to attract tourists and gamblers. Ranier has always been a pawn and this time the manipulators capitalized on the fact that their pawn happened to be a prince . . not a real prince . .. but a prince. Grace Kelly was made to order. The newspaper men have blown it up to the skies; television has thrived on it; and the general public has gulped down the romance in gobs. Historians of the future may well argue that the great- est contribution of American society to hu- man culture was the publicity hoax which has now been developed to a fantastic degree. The Ranier-Kelly nuptials will well serve as a case in point. Well! It's certainly been some week! "I'years. Can any education' worthy of being called education exist with-. . . effort that is serious and pro- And the people of Canada will' Bill McPherson discovered that when he dropped a piece of burning |HAS 800 ENTRIES MUSIC FESTIVAL AT PETERBORO District Doings FIND GAS IN WELL ON PICKERING FARM A 60-foot well on the farm of Mrs, Jean L, McPherson on the 2nd conces- sion, caused some excitement last Fri- day, when it was discovered there was a fair amount of natural gas in the excavation, rag down the shaft, there was enough explosion to blow the boards off the top of the hole, At night the same test, showed flames shooting several feet into the air, The well-digger, Don Ferris, of Whitby, said that in digging many wells, he had never come across a gas deposit like this one, Whether there is enough natural gas supply there to be of value is not known, This is an increase of about 200 over total entries in 1966. - The 1956 festival, to be held in St.| Peter's auditorium from May 10-19, promises to be the best ever. Several new classes were introduced in the syl- labus, One entry in the organ class, one in the piano concerto, five in sight reading and five in the family classes have been received, Entries from the city have shown a sons will participate in the sonata classes, the junior choral classes and mixed choir classess than in previous MUNICIPALITIES DISCUSS FUTURE WATER SUPPLY ) Newmarket.---- Municipal representa- tive from this district met in Aurora last week to consider the whole ques- tion of the future water supply for the area. Dr. E. J. Henderson, Mayor of Aurora, presided and was named chairman of a special committee repre- sentative of seven municipalities to investigate possibilities of joint action in providing a water supply for all. A suggestion to be seriously consider- ed is that a main from Lake Simcoe serve all municipalities from Sutton to Thornhill. Attending the meeting besides May- or Henderson were: Reeve W, J. Taylor and councillor Harold Jones of Richmond Hill; Mayor H, M. Gladman and engineer D, Bosworth, Newmarket, Reeve Marshall McMurchy and Coun- cillor Bob Kirk of Vaughan, Reeve Al- fred LeMasurier and Deputy-Reeve W. L. Clark of Markham, Reeve P. S. Legge and Deputy-Reeve George Rich- ardson, of Whitchurch, and Deputy- Reeve Wilfred Aitchison of King Twp. STOUFFVILLE TO TIGHTEN RESTRICTIONS ON FUTURE SUBDIVISIONS At a special meeting of Stouffville Municipal Council last Monday after- noon, members discusssed at some length the need for establishing more stringent restrictions on new sub- divisions. Such reghirements includ- ing hard-top roads, drainage, sewer- age, water and payment of bonds all came up for lengthy discussions. Councillor Ken Laushway stated that he believed the members make a point to inspect other developed sub- divisions in neighbouring municipali- ties in order that proper restrictions could be impoged. Considerable discussion arose with concern to who should put up the cash deposit, the subdivider when he sells the lot, or the home owner when he purchases his permit. Reeve Daniels contended that the subdivider should | pay since he expects the town to pro- vide services even before a building permit is: issued. Councillor Laush- way felt that the fee should be paid when the permit is granted. NO PAY INCREASE FOR BOWMANVILLE TEACHERS At the regular meeting of the Bow- manville Public School Board, April 12, a request from the Teachers' Group for an increase in salary was for the present, turned down. The Board ex- I plained that due to budget commit- ments it was unable at this time to change the salary schedule. However, the door was left open, suggesting that the teachers bring the matter 5p again in in the fall, Mr. Arthur Hooper, reporting on a visit he had from the Principals in re- gards to their salaries, was instructed 'by the Board to report to the Prin- pals that the Board feels that the aries as set are fair, satisfactory and adequate. FIRE MARSHALL SUGGESTS DISTRICT FIRE PROTECTION SET-UP : Lindsay, in the opinion of a repre- sentative of the Ontario Fire Mar- shall's Department, has not enough equipment in its I'ire Department, and not enough full-time staff, to send trucks to out of town fires without leaving the town in jeopardy. In fact, according to David M. Lowe, who was present at a meeting last week, of representatives from several out-of- town municipalities, Lindsay has' not '| enough equipment to serve the town completely, and the.staff at present is 'not too strong." "Tt is my opinion that the Fire De- partment has no business going out of town to a fire," he said. Suggests Special Levy Ife made some suggestions based on other experiences in the province. One was that the municipalities - asking protection should levy a regular rate Jon the assessments of the protected properties, providing enough funds to 'pay the protecting municipality for the additional equipment and staff it may. require to give adequate service to the whole area. He said that such a system would probably mean that the out-of-town taxpayers would pay less, per capita for their fire protection than Lindsay residents, PICKERING TO BUILD: NEW SCHOOL Voters favoured a new school here last Wednesday with a vote of 164 For, and 73 Against," Nine ballots were spoiled. The vote carried by 71 per cent. Of the eligible 400 voters, only 246 cast a ballot, Plans will get under way at once for the new 6-roomed Public School, at a cost. not to exceed $120,000 when marked increase. This year more per- day night, to permit a debenture issue for this.expenditure, © A Board member said on 'Wednesday |night--"Now it is up to us to build the best school< we can, at the mini- mum cost", LAKESHORE LEAGUE TO HAVE SIX TEAMS THIS YEAR Sid Little was elected president of 1956 Lakeshore Baseball Intermediate League which appears to be headed for one of the best seasons with six teams, Bowmanville, Orono, Cobourg, Lind- say, Port Hope, and Belleville all signi- fying their wishes to compete in the league. DON MESSER FEATURE ATTRACTION AT CANNINGTON SPRING FAIR Mr. Wes Brandon, chairman of the Agricultural Committee of the Can- nington Lion's Club, informs this paper that the Agricultural Society, in conjunction with the Cannington Lion's Club have sécured Don Messer and his Islanders from Prince Edward Island for the feature attraction at the evening show of the Cannington Spring Fair to be held on Wednesday, June 13th, of this year. As most of the many fans of Don Messer and his Orchestra know, Don Messer, last year, suffered an illness and as a result. was unable to make his annual tour.as usual, and his orchestra made the tour without him, Clipped Comments A TEST FOR THE NEW LABOR CONGRESS . The Dominion Government is now to be asked to contribute to labor unions' "war-chest", by providing full em- ployment insurance benefits to strik- ers who down their tools in support of a majority decision of an arbitration or conciliation board. This latest bid for increased power in the nation is the brainchild of the Calgary Trades and Labor Council, and it will present its demand to the recently-organized Canadian Labor Congress at a convention in Toronto this week. It is to be hoped that the new na- tional labor organization--which now groups together a million members of the former Trades and Labor Congress of Canada and the Canadian Congress of Labor---will exercise some wise re- straint in this matter, in keeping with the tremendous responsibility it as- sumed with the merger of the two labor bodies. ] Whether or not a company--or a labor union, for it is one of labor's basic freedoms too--is willing or able to accept a ruling of an arbitration or a conciliation. board is the basic issue at stake in this particular case. The ruling of either type of labor boards is not legally binding upon either of the parties, and indeed it could not be made so without interfering with labor's right to strike or a company's right to operate its own business as it sees 'economically fit. We do not say that every-company which has refused to accept an arbitration decision has acter wisely, or even in its own inter- ests, Neither do we say, in all cases, that a union is necessarily neglecting its own interests by refusing a similar decision, a course of action which is also not unknown in labor-manage- ment negotiations. The proposal, then, to have the gov- ernment authorize the payment of full henefits under the Unemployment In- surance Act is clearly intended to load the dice against one of the parties to the dispute by relieving the union of paying strike benefits out of its own funds or by supplementing the union's allowance to its strikers. It is one thing to make full unem- ployment insurance payments to non- striking workers whose earning cap- acity is impaired by the fact that a strike is in progress somewhere else, and quite another to provide govern- ment aid to those who decide that it is in their own best interésts to tem- porarily withhold their labor. And it is on demands like this, ema- nating from district labor councils which can see no other point of view but their own, that new Canadian Labor Congress should exercise care- ful watchfulness lest it lose the sym- pathetic goodwill of the general public. --The Calgary Herald TRAGEDIES OF BROKEN HOMES, Concern in Britain over the tragedy of broken homes has prompted a gov- ernment-appointed commission on di- vorce to urge that an official body be set up to help prevent broken marri- ages throughout the nation, The com- mission, in its recommendation, makes 'the following significant statement: -- "Unless the tendency to resort too readily and too lightly to divorce is Council introduces a By-Law this Fri-| checked, there is real danger that 'England, the first training schoo) for 'THE TABLOID GALS larly on CBC's "Tabloid". handle the interviews and other duties Joyce Davidson and Paisley Max-fon this popular daily television pro- well are the girls who turn up regu- | gram enjoyed by every member of They | the family, MRS. CHARLES M PRESIDENT, ONTARIO HOSPITAL National Hospital Day is not just a day. It is a memorial. For years hospitals throughout many parts of the world have annually observed "National Hospital Day" on May 12th, the birthdate -of Floreiice Nightingale. Thus the day is a mem- orial to the courageous and immortal spirit "of the woman who is frequently referred to as the "mother" of modern nursing. It is also a tribute to all those who have trained and served in the nursing profession, for in them is reflected the vision and the ideals of that brave and gallant woman. . Over a hundred years have passed since Florence Nightingald organized a select band of 38 young women to go to the Crimean battlefields to nurse the wounded and the ill. It was al- most a century ago that she establish- ed, at St. Thomas' Hospital, in London, nurses. Canada has a proud and enviable re- cord in its training of nurses. It is a récord that dates back 'to 1874. Ir June of that year, only 14 years after the establishment of the first training school for nurses in London, England, the St. Catherines General Hospital inaugurated Canada's first school of nursing. In fact, it was the first to be! founded on this continent. With a trained nurse at its head, it was based on Miss Nightingale's plan and rigidly adhered to her prin- ciples and policies. Today, though there have been many changes in the education of nurses' as their profes- cional status has beék raised with the progress of medical knowledge, some of the basic principles of the training system developed by the "Lady With the Lamp" are still in evidence. It is most interesting to read the first annual report of the St. Cath- arines Training School and Nurses' << « the conception of marriage as a life- long union of one man and one wom. an may be abandoned. We there- fore consider that the government should, at an early date, set up a suitable qualified body to review the marriage law, and the existing ar- rangements for pre-martial educa- tion and training." We believe there is as great a need for something of this kind in Canada as there is in the United Kingdon. The incidence of broken homes in this country is sufficiently serious as to give grave cause for concern. Where a home is disrupted, due to failure of husband and wife to get along amic- ably, a serious situation can arise, par- ticularly where there are children. Some may- suggest that this is an old- fashioned view, but we feel that a broken home represents a tragedy. In many cases, asbroken home is a crithe against the social structure. It certainly is! not very conductive to social stability. It cannot be taken too lightly. The tragedy of hroken homes stems from many causes, of which excessive drinking is only one. There is need! for such guidance as is suggested in the recommendation of the British commission on divorce. It might be worth while to watch carefully what results from the recommendation and see if anything is developed which might be of service to Canada, ----0Oshawa Times-Gazette cLEAN ASSOCIATION Home. Dated July 1, 1875, it says, among other things: "Every woman entering the service must give satis factory evidehee of purity of motive, of good character and Crhistian con- duet, and of having received the ole- ments of a plain English education." Certain by-laws laid down for the nurses were even more interesting, particularly because of their contrast with ithe modern concept of nurses' duties. "The duties of both day and night nurses at the hospital are a little more onerous than at ordinary hospitals, in- as much as cértain. household offices are to he performed as well as actual nursing, The first business of the nurse in the morning is to get up the patients who are permitted to rise, and who, after washing themselves, are to assist the others in their neces- sary ablutions, and so on. The wards should then be put straight, and thor- ough ventilation effected. When win- dows are opened in cold and damp weather the patient should be protect- ed by covering their heads. This duty performed, breakfast must be served, prayer offered up in each wud, and everything prepared for the medical visit, hot and cold water, Tint, oakum, sponges, towels and bandages must be in readiness, and the unseemlinness avoided of the nuise hurrying from the ward in quest of the usual neces- saries for the surgical or medical at tention: performed in the ward while going: from bed to bed." After the visit, everything that cannot be again used, should be burned or destroyed, and things to be cleansed should he left soaking in carbonized water, the sponges need especial care. The slop and closets should then be carefully at tended to. The directions of medical men punctually carried out. Absolute cleanliness must prevail, and unplea sant smell must be promptly removed, and, when necessary, disinfectants he freely used. The day and night nurses should work-m-perfect unison and the changes in the patients be carefiflly reported to the surgeon, as well as any failures in the action of remedie The staff members and nurees-in training at the first training =chool for nurses in Canada pioneered the profession in this country, and om modein schools of nursing have heen built on the solid-foundation of thei ideals and. efforts. "National Hospital Day" is a mem- orial to them, as well as to Florence Nightingale and to all nurses and members of hospital staffs every- where. It is also an opportunity for the resiidents of various communities to become familiar with their own hospital. A Again this year, hospitals through- out Ontario will observe "National Hospital Day" on Saturday, May 12th, A wide variety of programs and special features are being arranged to acquaint the citizens with the service which their hospitals provide. Many {hospitals will hold "open house", when the public may attend, visit the var- iolis departments, and see the hospital at work, Your hospital needs your interest and understanding for its endeavour to provide good medical care, and some day you ay urgently need your hospital, One of these reads us follows: