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Plan caters to affluence The draft plan of the and Suburban Planning Area released laat week contained no surprises want to retain rural atmosphere of tho townships and restrict urban growth to existing villages and hamlets Policies all in line the of tho TorontoCentred Region master plan which was drawn up by provincial government planners who decided the prime agricultural land in this area should be protected from exploitation by developers and land not suited for agriculture could be used for recreation Most of the provisions In tho draft plan were logical and in our estimation reflect the wishes of the great majority of people in both and townships but there ore areas which tend to be exclusive and bind farmers up too tightly with red tope For example the plan would limit the creation of lots in rural areas for new urban dwellings to over the four townships involved This Is broken down to 20 for Erin and six for township per year In township and in Puslinch township Although the plan docs not aim to create a new country aristocracy it fs provisions such as this one which will soon manage the job Limited residential growth of this scale will lead prohibitive prices for land Tho average person will no longer be able to it country home Wealth and prestige will take over The countryside as we know It will no longer be the same In our estimation this would be the other end of the development slick We would not have the sprawling dormitories everyone deplores but the affluent would soon have complete control How can we overcome stringent regulations without losing control of very valuable agricultural land It is a problem for planners but we believe there arc many ureas of land In all the townships concerned which are unsuitable for cither agri culture or recreation but would make idcul Why not use these on a limited scale instead of letting them lie fallow When we speak of tight control we arc reminded of the difficulties residents of various townships are experiencing now over small problems such as building garage Farmers are protected under agricultural provisions in zoning bylaws but how long will this provision last The absurdity of some planning regulations was demonstrated in township recently when people were burred from erecting a garage to house a truck Apparently the regulations allow an unsightly truck to be parked anywhere but it is illegal to hide It from view In a garage because the owner makes his living wilh the vehicle From an aesthetic viewpoint we would prefer the garage to the truck any day of the year Planners who envision a rural Utopia composed of large houses neatly enclosed with trimmed hedges fences and harmonious out buildings being practical We can see nothing wrong with a person or family using their own property to operate a business in rural areas provided they do it with taste and discretion We believe the regulations should have more stress on provisions to control natural growlh rather than the initiative of rural people These are points to ponder before the draft of the official plan is final and policies implemented Township planners dont pretend to have all the answers or the future Residents should forward their own suggestions and comments on the plan to the clerk of their township It is In their best interests to do so Meanwhile we think the various planning boards should be congratulated for the time and effort they have put into producing a plan which in the whole reflects the thinking of their areas SOME OF THE BEST ice conditions in years attracted pattern tried a pirouette or landed on buttocks Monday the hundreds of skaters to Fairy Lake on the weekend weather turned mild and the giant ice rink was again flooded acres of ice had few areas where someone had not cut a with water h coles Photo Comment B2 Free Press Wedneidoy January One reader Brown of Acton dropped in with a magnet and clipping had a reape for cubing leg cramps says he has found that taking a magnet to bed and putting it over the afflicted spot cured many a leg cramp for him The clipping showed that a pediatrician from the Hospital for Sick Children agreed one hundred per cent Troubled by leg cramps for years she now says Whenever I feel a cramp coming I just move my leg over magnet and by the time I cowl live Im asleep Sounds crazy but it works It seems to us taking a magnet to bed would be far less bother than taking all your troubles with you Unless it is your wife of course Ordinarily we dont plug things In this column but this week we are asking readers to take a serious look at the centennial commissions buy a brick campaign for an arena wall of fame It is one way of name stand for posterity at very little cost and aiding the centennial campaign as well Names will be inscribed on the bricks which go into the wall on small plaques It should be quite a wall when it is finished Old Man Winter gave us a January pause last week when warm winds turned everyones thoughts to Spring ice melted roads regained some of their flatness and puddles were everywhere No doubt by now winter has regained its icy grip and our teeth are chattering again The prodigious amounts of sand which have had to be dumped on town streets to make them passable for pedestrians and motorists unfortunately will again have to be swept up in the spring Roads usually are swept but sidewalks often suffer from lack of attention It would be an excellent project if council could initiate a cleanup week in which residents and town employees could co operate and have this old burgh gleaming when the trees put on their spring coats Tear down order most peculiar Lets have standup decisions Recently Acton councillor Norman Elliott completed an excellent job of rearranging the towns council chamber to expedite business more efficiently Chairs are arranged in a semicircle facing a dais where the mayor or committee chairman presides Similar setups are being used at all municipal councils in the district They reflect the thought that all municipal Is there anything new under the sun the old adage Not much 1 Just been reading a 124year old assay by Henry David d it could have been written last week by anybody who ray despises government and what it stands or The author says that the government is best which governs least Many Canadians who ore sick to death of government and Its agents poking their inquisitive snouts into every aspect of the Individuals life would agree heartily Most businessmen would not only concur but would raise a cheer for the sentiments expressed Ask any man who runs a small business if want to get a blistered ear what he thinks of eminent Thoreau suggests that the first purpose of any government Is not to seek out and abolish injustice but to perpetuate Itself Ask any realistic politician and agree We should not necessarily cultivate a respect for the law but for what Is right says He uses the Illustration of an undue respect for the law of soldiers marching to war against their common sense and consciences This has been happening for years n Viet Nam There are three types of men he says First are those who serve business must be done sitting down After countless hours of sitting down along with councils squirming and when the hours get long and dawn gets closer we wonder where the idea originated Why must all discussions and decisions be made sitting down We are putting our vote in for a standup milk bar at all council chambers Issues could then be the state with their bodies such as soldiers Next are those who serve thestate with their minds lit leans lawyers office holdersbut not with their consciences Finally there are the very few martyrs reformers patriots in the real sense who serve it with their consciences also and are commonly treated as enemies by it The trigger for essay was his strong disapproval of the American govern ment of his day on two issues the Mexican War and slavery The Mexican War was one of flagrant aggression in which the Americans moved in and conquered vast territories in the southwest It has always been a source of pleasure to me when Americans decry British colonialism to remind them of Cuba Puerto Rico Hawaii the Philippines Panama and Texas They have conveniently forgotten in most cases that many of these acquisitions were a result of direct and violent conquest spoke openly of revolution When a sixth of the population of a nation which has undertaken to be the refuge of liberty are slaves and a whole country Texas is unjustly overrun and conquered by a foreign army VS think it is not too soon for honest men to rebel and revolutionize Isnt the situation almost exactly the same today Blacks are not legal slaves but they are economic ones North Viet Nam was not exactly overrun but not for want of trying And what would happen to Thoreau If he expressed such sentiments today Probably not much because there is a growing swelling anger against the stupid war among Americans of all walks of life But if hed said it ten years ago Or in the era of Joe McCarthy Hed likely have lost his Job been harassed by the CIA and or The generosity Council has shown in allowing Joseph Bonnano Lot Con 9 to wait until the summer before tearing down a garage he has partially constructed can cover up neither the peculiar way in which Mr Bonnanos case has been handled nor the incumbency upon council to offer this man better Although it is true the present location of the garage approximately five feet from the township road is in contravention of the municipalitys building bylaw it must also be remembered Mr Bonnano was issued a building permit in good faith and that the site was not at first inspected by the township budding inspector Only after Mr had discussed standing when sitting becomes tedious We submit decisions would have as much thought and more despatch as the hour gels late Since only milk would be served the inclination to linger at the bar would not interrupt the meetings continuity Certainly it could lessen the tendency for municipal officials to become broad at the beam Are you listening out there completed most of the building and used up most of his money did one ratepayer complain and the building inspector arrive on the scene At a November council meeting French ad mitted there had been a mistake in the township offices in issue of the permit and Reeve Tom Hill criticized building inspector Tom McLean for not visiting the site earlier Subsequently members of council visited the site and found Mr had not constructed the garage on the exact spot plans showed it would be located It was also discovered Mr Bonnano had been looking at his plans upside down when he presented them If he was guilty of misinterpreting the plans the same must be said of those who issued the building permit In spite of mistakes council ordered Mr to tear down and relocate the garage in a December vote opposed only by retiring Deputyreeve Miller who maintained the fault lay with the township Following a final plea before council last week Mr was refused manual help to tear down the building Instead Reeve Hill suggested he could be excused from the teardown order unul warmer weather arrives Council may be trying to repent for their sins by offering Mr a stay of execution What they should be asking is What would their decision have been if the building had been a residence or barn Back Issues of The Free Press the FBI attacked by some segments of the press and generally driven like a fox before hounds It speaks much for the growing lack of freedom in the US and elsewhere that nothing serious happened to at all when he uttered these inflammatory remarks He did spend one night in Jail when he refused to pay his poll tax on the basis that his dollar might buy either a man or a musket to shoot one with But somebody paid his fine and he was released Today have the prospect of men spending years In Jail because they refuse to go their consciences We have thousands of S draftdodgers In Canada forsaking their home and native land for reasons of common sense who wants to be killed I or conscience Joan Baez the folksinger and antiwar individual tried to take a similar stand by refusing to pay her Income tax The govern ment merely deducted it at source from the record companies who paid her royalties advocated that if there were an unjust law we should break it What do you think What would happen to an ordinary Canadian who said I will pay to have my garbage collected and the streets repaired But I will not pay one penny for national defence I dont want welfare unemployment insurance medicare so I wont pay a nickel toward them The answer is obvious That bold Canadian would spend the rest of his life in the law courts being punished by his government instead of being allowed the simple sensible alternative of opting out Life is too short But are we being governed to death Oh for a Tew Thoreaus in these timid days years ago Token from the issue of the Free Press of Thursday January 1953 The first boxing show was held in the gymnasium with an attendance of tons rooting for their favorites Gold and silver cups were presented Saturday afternoon at the theatre by and secretary Bob to Bill Churchill Teddy Moyse Andy Williams Brian McCristall Kenny Gary Bill Dawklns Peter Newton Don Lindsay Richard and Bill McCoy Boxing instructor is Don Clayton Assisting at the boxing show were Crawford Douglas Cliff Sutton Judges Jock Greer Jock and Mansell seconds Hunt and Elmer Smith tickets Sheila Paul and Mary Mages at the snack bar Mrs Peter is celebrating her If a railway strike is called for the Monday morning deadlines at least 10 local employees will be out of work trains a day will not pass through Acton mail will be cut to first class only and delays will Include the prompt delivery of medical supplies from Baxter Labs Mac was elected president of Acton Pall Fair at the annual meeting held Saturday succeeding George Wallace Gordon Leslie 1st vicepresident and Ray second vicepresident At years Mac is the youngest president of the fair Acton Citizens Band held their election with Tommy president Rams den vicepresident Tom Ware Treasurer Elmer Smith secretary com mittee Rudolph Ted Tyler Charles Mason Lawrence Mrs was hostess for Knox Evening Auxiliary Mrs A J Buchanan of the Senior S introduced the study on Africa taking members back to their school days with the use of maps and questions A and Jim Dills took over the Neigh borly News broadcast on the radio Sunday morning 50 years ago Taken from the Issue of the Free Press of Thursday January 1931 Messrs WJ Reid and J A Smith were appointed by council to equalize the assessment Mr Smiths fee was set at The reeve suggested the council had gone too far in raising Mr and Mr Reids salary by each He thought would have been sufficient It was felt insufficient care was being given to the collection of poll tax Several accounts Assessors supplies charity and McKay supplies Mr T Thetford asked council for a grant in favor of the Horticultural Society He pointed out there were members and that a grant of only was received from the government Itwasdecidedtoletthematter stand over for another meeting or two At the meeting of council grants were given to assist families names given of or per month Jack Miner the wild bird man was favored with one of the largest audiences which ever crowded into the town hall when he appeared In Rock wood The people were delighted with his lecture and his pictures which showed how wild geese and ducks may be attracted by kind treatment The drifts on Friday morning baffled most of the motor cars The bylaw to obtain HydroElectric power and light was passed in the Police village of Campbellville by a large majority only three votes being cast against it Messrs J W Kennedy and Son Main St have disposed of their hardware business to William Talbot He has been with the firm the past year or so and should do well Everybody should to drive a car That is especially true of those who now sit behind the wheels years ago Taken from the Issue of the Free Press of Thursday January John Nickel of Lot Con died last Thursday at the home of his son Mr J of Until a couple of weeks ago he helped with the work on the farm but contracted pneumonia and died at the good old age of John Nickel St father of the deceased emigrated from the county Antrim Ireland in and secured the homestead He built a log cabin at the rear of the property and his tell the story that he had for the rear of his first residence a cut of one of the Immense pine trees which then abounded there It was here that bis first son was born and careful investigation proved John was the first male child born in the township of He was never further from Toronto he visited that city only once and he was before he took the trip Mr Dan Mann one of Actons most prosperous sons and William have been at Ottawa on business with the government One report has it they have been endeavoring to make arrangements for the construction of the tine from Telegraph Creek to Lake On the other hand it has been said their mission Is in connection with the construction of a section of the Vancouver Victoria and Eastern Railway They have made heavy investments in western Canada Tuesday afternoon John Dickieson and his mother were thrown from their cutter at the T station at The horse had become frightened at a passing train and Mr Dickson was thrown in front of the nun and had his arm cut off He later died The mother was not much hurt The coroners jury exonerated the trainmen Itev Father Haley been transferred to Morton THE ACTON FREE PRESS PHONE Business and Editorial Office