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P»g«^_NORTHWEST HERALD Section B Friday, August 23,1985 Opinion Another state holiday? Who's next? No offense to any nationality or race, but this latest news is taking things a bit too far. Gov. Thompson was expected to sign into law yesterday a measure making the birthday of Revolution­ ary War hero Casimir Pulaski a state holiday. Pulaski was a great hero who, born in Poland, fought on the American side in the Revolution­ ary War and help win the war. Up until the signing of the new law, his birthday was being celebrated as a commemorative holiday. That act in itself Signifies the recogni­ tion of the importance of his con­ tribution and the esteem in which he is held. Is Pulaski held in any greater esteem because of this new mea­ sure? Does this change his well- deserved place in history, our hearts and our minds? Of course not! The only things done by making a new holiday are: add another day of no-work-with-pay to the state payroll; and pander to a vot­ ing bloc before elections. During these trying times of at­ tempting to balance the state bud­ get while dealing with federal cuts, and ensuring the continuation of important programs and services, it is ̂ irresponsible to-add another paid holiday to the budget. Rather than feeling honored, Polish-American citizens should feel used. Readers have words for it WASHINGTON - Write a news­ paper column about controversial subjects like budget cuts, taxes and politics, and pretty soon the Postal Service will beat a well- worn path to your door with bags of mail -- delivering praise and criticism. Here's a sampling in re­ sponse to some recent columns: Joseph McKinstray of Belleville, 111., writes in response to a column about wasteful Agriculture De­ partment programs: "A good example (of wasteful spending) occurred in the block where my daughjter lives in Cen- tralia, 111. She bought a new house five years ago (costing approxi­ mately $50,000) and pays about $568 a month in mortgage pay­ ments and about $855 a year in property taxes. "Two years ago a house of simi­ lar value was built on the vacant lot next to hers and was sold to a couple on Farmers Home Adminis­ tration low-interest terms. They pay $98 a month. They have three automobiles," says McKinstray, although the man of the house "has no steady job, but repairs old cars in his front yard, degrading the neighborhood. "There are several other houses down the block with the same situ­ ation, and at least two were aban­ doned after being trashed by the occupants. I have no quarrel with helping people who need it, but do they need a brandtaew bouse at ridiculously loWTates'Wfren people who work and try to have a nice home and yard have to struggle to buy a house?" Mrs. Elizabeth Charbonneau of San Antonio says Hie was ^Tn- censed" by my criticisms about pensioning 20-year-and-out mili­ tary retirees who can receive a monthly pension as early as age 38. "I am the wife of a military retiree after more than 28 years of active service," she writes. "He retired at the age of 49, an E8, at half (his) base pay, not at 'half pay,' as you wrote. "That means the retirement is not enough to live on; he still has to work each day. He is not enjoy­ ing a life of leisure. You give the impression that this is a gravy train, a bonanza for the retired. Well sir, that just is not so." Myron Lamb of Limerick, Maine, an 85-year-old retiree, read Donald Lambro my column in the Boston Herald on the decline of reading achieve­ ment in our schools. "The reason American kids can't read, in my opinion," he writes, "is that from grade one they haven't been taught the fundamentals of reading." From the very beginning of his public schooling, Mr. Lamb writes, he and his classmates were drilled in phonics, which enabled them to attack and read virtually any word with relative ease. "In the early grades, we were also blessed with McGuffey's Readers," he recalls. "Those read­ ers gave an introduction to good stories, fine poetry, basic history and many other basic elements of education." Mr. Lamb says he passed on these lessons to his daughter, who, "by the time she was 3, could read," largely because he devoted time each evening to regular read­ ing lessons with her, as well as with his younger daughter, who also read at 3. 1 Both daughters have been avid readers since, he says. His youn­ gest daughter trained her children on McGuffey's Readers, and it ap­ parently paid off. A grandson graduated magna cum laude last year from Bowdoin College with majors in physics, Greek and Russian. "If parents will help their chil­ dren learn the basics and if the / ' a h wwA&wmwittf m ir^c ;v,r 11 «A\ 4 I SI CBS 1 Avoiding Canada's problem I Here's one for the books. So this Canadian frog is driving wheel through Manitoba and the fuzz ze­ roes in, stops him and gives him a nice juicy speeding ticket. Well, this feller is no born-yesterday, and so he puts on his spectacles and says, "Q'est-ce que c'est que ca?" And the cop says, don't wise- guy me, buddy, that's a speeding ticket. And so does the speeder then go to traffic court and pony up his 15 bucks? No. He goes to the Canadi­ an equivalent of the Supreme Court, and in due course the court hands down a ruling. The province of Manitoba is in contempt of the Articles of Confederation by which it agreed to protect its French mi­ nority when, in 1870, it joined the Commonwealth. Having agreed that all laws would be issued in both languages^ , M anitoba begin­ ning in 1890 staify disregarded it contract and began publ laws (and issuing its speeding tick-^ ets) in English only. So now the prime minister of Canada, puts it nicely. "If in 1976 (when the Tories held their leadership conference) the issue for the Tories was ex­ pressed as, 'Can we elect a bilin­ gual Quebecer as leader/ in 1983 Mulroney was able to force the party to rephrase it as, 'How can we not.'" What had happened in Canada is the great separatist William F. Buckley federal political power: because to do this would require them to learn another language. Canada inherited its problem. Indeed, at the time of our Revolu­ tionary War there were as many Canadians who spoke French as English. But what is happening here is that we are inviting a Cana­ dian-type situation. It is at least conceivable, probably predictable; that by the turn of the century no one will be able to run for public office in the southwestern strip un­ less he is fluent in two languages; It is desirable and commendable to study Spanish. But it ought not to be a requirement. The availably ity of Spanish alternatives to Ens glish laws, instructions, communi­ cations and other forms of public assistance should be in the nature of transitional courtesies, not an" invitation to bilingualism. u scare, the nightmare of the '70s. "amely, tfcat Qu^ecwouW,secede; u •om the pommonwealth. Today1 residents of Quebec list only as ' constitutional 'ftmendlfccfrt their sixth concern the matter of Canadian high court orders all 4,500 laws passed during the last 95 schools will-come back- to earth years written into French, which and teach the foundation blocks of reading," he syas, "Johnnie will be able to read." Finally, James D. Thackrey of Santa Ana, Calif., writes with an idea "whose time has come" -- one that he thinks would halt run­ away federal spending: "NEVER re-elect any legislator. "Imagine legislators unable to blame 'special interest groups,' or to assert that good ideas are 'polit­ ically impossible,' or to buy to­ day's votes with our grandchil­ dren's money. "Suddenly, all things, like bal­ ancing the budget, would become possible politically. (Donald Lambro is a columnist for United Feature Syndicate) has the corollary benefit of every unemployed^ Man] French teacher to work. The Canadian experience with bilingualism is interesting and rel­ evant to our own dawning problem with Spanish. A recent biography of Brian Mulroney, the bilingual independence from the rest of Can ada. And the issue has gone to sleep largely because of cultural and political concessions. In 1981, 15 percent of Canadians reported that they could carry on a conver­ sation in French and English -- up from 12 percent in 1961 and, one hopes, rising. But the meaning right now of the figures is that 85 percent of Canadians are disquali­ fied from exercising significant proposed by California, i Jfim Sen. S.I. Hayakawa of . now primarily an en* thusiasm of Sen. Steven Symms ofc Idaho. The amendment is wonders fully simple. Section 1 reads, "The English language shall be the offi*" cial language of the United" States." And Section 2 reads, "The-r Congress shall have the power tqf! enforce this Article by appropriate;! legislation." > (William Buckley Is a columnist̂ for Universal Press Syndicate) * Reader Forum ...imust pay my debt,or ELSE?/ Orelse what? NORTHWEST HIRALO "Rather than love;* than money, than f a m e , g i v e , m e truth." Henry David Thoreau ROBERTA. SHAW Editor and Publisher LEONARD M. INGRASSIA Executive Editor STEVEN H. HUNTER Marketing Director -MtC-HAEfc-trMORSCH News Editor/Regional DENNISM. McNAMARA Editorial Page Editor RONALD L.STANLEY Circulation Director Typical Disney To the Editor: I would like to comment on a column of Friday, Aug. 2, bad mouthing Disney's 'Black Cauldron.' It made the movie sound like a horrifying monster movie, inappropriate for young children. I took my three young children (6,4 and 2) to see it. I therefore feel that I can now say the article was way off base discouraging parents to bring small children to the movie. Any well-adjusted child would enjoy the film, and although there are frightening moments, the blend of cute and light-hearted moments make this film the typical Disney family film we've all grown up with and enjoy at any age. We all had time to laugh, be frightened, shed a tear and walk away happy ever after. I did not see one person quaking in their boots at the conclusion of 'Black Cauldron,' nor was any child, and there were a lot of little people around us, so frightened that they requested an early exit. The storyline may be familiar, but Disney has not let us down producing g o o d , p r e m i u m f a m i l y entertainment for all ages. Mrs. P. Callahan McHenry Public apology Tb The Editor: Recently I had the opportunity to tell a fellow employee the ad- jvantages of buying his new home in Algonquin and living in McHenry County. After viewing several homes in our community he told me how pleased he was with the area and the people he had met while looking for a home for his family. •/• Then, on August 9tli, in an article in the Cardunal Free Press, I felt as if everything I had told him was all make believe. The article "County urged to continue bypass study," quoted County Board Member George Lowe several times with statements which totally embarrass­ ed me as a resident of McHenry County and insulted me as an Algon­ quin resident. I can appreciate the fact that peo­ ple are entitled to their opinion, but to say that "If push comes to shove then We should ram it down their throats," totally stretches this point beyond anyone's sense of fair play. Mr. Lowe went on to say that after the study was completed and Algon­ quin officials and residents still didn't support it, "then we should go down there and break a few heads." It is my belief that Mr. Lowe should publicly apologize to the residents of Algonquin and McHenry County and keep the integrity of the office to which he was elected at a level it deserves. If Mr. Lowe cannot bring himself to do so, I then feel compelled to ask all residents of Algonquin and District I, to write to Mr. Ed Buss, County Board Chairman, 2200 N. Seminary Ave., Woodstock, IL 60098, requesting Mr. George Lowe's resignation for unethical conduct of an elected public official. Henry H. Ramos Algonquin War chests To the Editor: This is about the editorial you printed on Aug. 7, "Political war Chests". I had experienced with "war chests" in a relatively minor case when I was candidate for State Representative in the 1984 primary. I am a private citizen, not a politician, and I firmly believe more private citizens should run for elective offices. I did not and will not accept contributidfts from any ill '.1 special interest group. The editori-» al said there were two ways to ; fund a campaign, personal wealths (my note is the money is expected ' to be retrieved one way or the other) or contributions (in this' case the candidate is committed to ,s favors). There is a third way, putt in a lot of time and energy andLj spend a few bucks of your own money for gas and xeroxed flyers n you hand out door to door. o) ih For you who'd like to run for,* elective office, such as states representative, it is easy and cheapo to get on the ballot. Call gr write the State Election Board for forms and'> instructions. By walking door to door " obtain the required 300 signatures of ^ registered voters in your district. That costs only your time and a little * gas money. Talk to everyone you canoi and leave a xeroxed sheet with your 0i statement of objectives. Xeroxing " costs only 2 to 3 cents a sheet if you order say a 1000. We need more people in office who are not professional government people with a zillion commitments on spending tax money. This would lead us back to people controlling the nt Tns' * • government instead or the government controlling us. Ed Armstrong Fox River Grove Write us! Send letters to Reader Forum The Herald, 7803 Pyott Road Crystal Lake IL 60014. Letters must be signed and give the author's ad* dress and telephone number for the editor's reference. We recommend letters of 300 words or less. All let­ ters are subiect to editing for clari­ ty and brevity. i \ (*