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2 The Canadian Stateman, Bowmanville, December 7, 1977 Section Two Zbt Canab'an *tlatteman Durham County's Great Family Journal Established 123 years ago in 1854 Also lncorporating The Bowmanville News The Newcastle Independent The Orono News Second class mail registration number 1561 Produced every Wednesday by THE JAMES PUBLISHING COMPANY LIMITED 62-66 King St. W., Bowmanville, Ontario L1C 3K9 JOHN M. JAMES JOHN E. JAMES Editor - Publisher General Manager GEO. P. MORRIS BRIAN PURDY DONALD BISHOP Business Mgr. Advertising Mgr. Plant Mgr. "Copyright and-or property rights subsist in the image appearing on this proof.-Peroission to reproduce in whole or in part and in any form whatsoever, particularly by photographic or offset fprocess in a publication, must be obtained from the publisher and the printer. Any unauthorized reproduction will be subject to recourse in law." $10.00a year - 6 months $5.50 foreign -$21.00 a year strictly in advance Athough every precaution will be taAen to avoid error, The Canadian Statesman accepts advertising in its columns on the understanding that it will not be liable for any error in the advertisement published hereunder unless a proof of such advertisement is requested in writing by the advertiser and returned to The Canadian Statesman business office duly signed by the advertiser and with such error or corrections plainly noted in writing thereon, and in that case if any error so noted is not corrected by The Canadian Statesman its liability shahl not exceed such a portion of the entire cost of such advertisement as the space occupied by the noted error bears to the whole space occupied by such advertisement. Editorial Comment A Great Achievement An impossible dream came true last Friday when the large audi- torium of the new Durham Christian High School was packed with proud parents, guests and students for the Official Dedication ceremonies. Several speakers spoke of the number of years of trials and tribulations that had been ex- perienced by those involved before the school became a reality and one could feel the.pride of achievement that they felt in seein the building in operation. They ha faith that it cou[d be done, overcame the doubters and just went ahead.. It must have been quite a project for the families who participated. The school even with a great deal of volunteer labor, cost about $430,000 and the remaimnm debt is only $170,000. According o rîncipal Ren Siebenga, if the school had been built through publie funds it probably would have cost a milfion dollars. Obviously, the families sending their children there must feel it is fundamental to tie a religious educa- tion in with normal academic studies. In fact the opening cere- monies stressed a religious outlook not found in ordinary public high schools. That is the main reason why these folks of Dutch ancestry were not content to enroll their children in our public school system; they wanted religious education and made great sacrifices to bring this about, often in the face of con- siderable opposition. First, they built Knox and expanded it with portables ana now this new struc- ture that will accommodate up to 200 students. All at a cost of between $1,500 and $2,000 each year to a family with just one student. Their dedication to their beliefs may be difficult for many to understand, but one has to praise them for being ready and willing to make whatever sacrifices _ were required in order to achieve their objectives. Thev are good citizens and we are indeed fortunate to have them living in this area. So, we say congratula- tions on completing yet another tremendous project. @4CA Dear Sir, Your editorial in the Octo- ber 26th issue of The Canadian Statesman is one-sided. You should allow space for an alternate opinion. You blame organized labour for the economic problems of the country and you state that "we've priced ourselves out of international markets in many areas..." This editorial was prompted by the massive lay-offs of miners in Sudbury and Thompson, Manitoba by Inco Limited. Some of your readers probably recognize that wages have nothing to do with the prices of minerals produced in this country. The prices are fixed on world m: rkets in response to world-wide demand. For example, according to Statistics Canada, between 1970 and 1975 average hourly earnings in the mining in- dustry went up 48 per cent. But during the same period the price of nickel went up 60 per cent. Miners in Sudbury couldn't change the price of nickel or the current slump in world markets even if they took a pay cut. You also criticise the workers for not accepting the federal governnent's pro- posed "work-sharing" scheme. Putting mineworkers on shorter weeks might save some jobs and avoid some lay-offs, but it would not solve the world economic problems that have led to the drastic surpluses in nickel. The so- called work-sharing scheme is reelly unemployment- sharing. It would require the average Sudbury worker to take a pay cut of more than $1,000 a year. I doubt whether the owners of The Canadian Statesman would be prepared to "share the work" under such condi- tions. This is a key reason why the union rejected the idea. It is not fair because it puts all the responsibility and suffering on the shoulders of the workers. Furthermore, while the employees were asked to take home less pay, the super- markets, the finance commit- tee, the hydro company and all the rest of the corporations were not asked to accept lower prices. The Toronto Star comment- ed in an editorial recently, "The best solution to problems like Inco's is to strengthen the Canadian economy. This would provide alternate job opportunities and a healthy economic climate." This is a more reasonable attitude than the view expres- sed in your editorial. Yours truly, Marc Zwelling, Staff Representative Editor's Note: 1. While our editorial com- ment may be "one-sided", we always allow space for alter- nate views. In addition, if someone convinces us that a position we've taken is wrong, we retract. In this case, no luck Mr. Zwelling. 2. In terms of "fairness", an owner of a business, be it large or small, makes money only when the business shows a profit. In a loss situation, they lose money. Would it be "fair" to compare that to the proposed work-sharing for the Inco workers in their current plight? 3. As you say, "Putting mineworkers on shorter weeks might save some jobs, and avoid some lay-offs, but it would not solve the world economic problems." Most of the people around these parts put a lot more emphasis on the first paft of that statement than you have. 4. Since you are concerned about "reasonable attitude", perhaps you could send us a few words outlining the reasoning behind the Ontario Federation of Labour's recent call for an increase in the minimum wage from $2.65 to $4.50 an hour? Or, how about their suggestion to drop the average wdrk week to 32 hours from 40 hours, while leaving the weekly pay rate the same? Our reasoning tells us that's either a 20 per cent drop in productivity or a 33 per cent hike in the hourly wage rate. 5. We doubt very much if you'd be interested in a "share the work" arrangement with the owner of The Canadian Statesman under any condi- tions. Dear Sir; I would like to compliment all those responsible for an excellent Santa Claus Parade: Your paper for your support. The Committp who work year after year to improve on the previous year's effort. The merchants who support the project without mention- ing commercialism. The participants locally and further afield, and the public who support this community exercise each year. Congratulations and best wishes for continued success. Yours truly, Walter Beath, Chairman Durham Region Dear John, We thought someone might have mentioned the renting of the old Bell Office so certain of our employees wouldn't have to work "elbough to elbough". Not that "elbough to elbough" is necessarily all bad, we think it has something to do with who belongs to the elbows. Apparently we are renting 2500 sq. ft. at $2.50 per sq. foot per month which is $75,000.00 per year. The lease is for 3 years and at that time we will have spent $225,000.00 and will have nothing except the right of first refusal if the place is for sale. Big deal, In the same issue of the. Statesman that the above little Bus Service We don't sny it often, but we'll say it this time because we think our elected officials have come up with a good idea. Congratulations to Newcastle Council, for its efforts to get an urban transit system in Bowman- ville, and the outlying communities of Orono and Newcastle Village. The plan endorsed by Newcastle Councillors Monday night has just about everything going for it. It's inexpensive; it's a service to the public (especially for those who are too old or too young to have their own transportation); it's also an experiment that will test the ares's need for public transit, without costing an arm or a leg. No doubt members of Newcastle council could have hired a high- priced transportation consultant to start their transportation program, but they didn't do that. They decided to try an experi- ment, and learn from experience. They will see exactly how many people make use of the expanded bus service during the 16-day trial period. After that, there will be more discussions to see if the system will become permanent, or if changes can be made in the original bus service proposal. The worst that could happen is that nobody will ride the buses and the town will be faced with a bill of $384 plus advertising costs for the Bowmanville transit program. We wouldn't be at all surprised if the area is- '-ready for a new transit plan. Elected officials have cer- tainly picked a good time to try it out. Furthermore, the idea of having busses go downtown on a regular basis cannot help but support the area's downtown businesses, especially during the holiday shop- ping season. All in all, it looks like a good idea from every angle, and we will await the conclusion of this month's experiment with great interest. It's important now that people who want this transit system make certain that they use it. If the experiment proves bus services are unnecessary, it is unlikely that an expanded transit system here will be tried for at least a few more years. Advertisements on bus routes and times are to be printed in upcoming editions of this newspaper. Scan them carefully for further details. LZ~ Y$,cee~ §2ecem4c 25 Years Ago Thursday, December 4th, 1952 To-day, December 4th, the "Big 20" is celebrating its 70th birthday. The management of Mr. and Mrs. J.W. Jewell, and their daughter Mary, for 23 years. Miss B. Mclntosh, New- castle, is the winner of the Royal Canadian Legion, Branch 178, prize of a return trip by plane for two, plus $500 for expense money, to Eng- land for the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth 11. "Life With Father" was the feature production at the B.H.S. commencement exer- cises last week in the town hall. Cast members included James erguson, BTanéhe Crowe, Douglas Heylanc, oy Ashton, Donald Cramp and Donald Bate. At town council regular monthly meeting, it was decided to install new street lights on Liberty Street and on the approaches to, and exits fron Highway 401, and to increase the police force to four. Rt. Hon. James Miller, Lord Provost of Edinburgh, Scot- land, was in Bowmanville on Saturday to visit his aunt Mrs. W.P. Hall. Ex-Mayor L.C. Mason has written a letter to the Editor warning citizens on the climb- ing costs of civic administra- tion. The local B & P Club have donated the sum of $100 to the hospital fund. DIM and DISTANT 49 Years Ago November 29, 1928 It will be a surprise to many citizens to learn that Bert Bell, The Clothing Man, is going out of business. On November 26th a com- pany of United Church mini- Sters of the Oshawa Presby- tery convened for a "Retreat" in St. Paul's Church, Bowman- In the Dim and Distant Past ville. Rev. John E. Griffith, chairman, presiding. Attend- ing were Rev. E.J. Maxwell, Oshawa, Dr. D.W. Best, Bowmanville, Rev. W. Ster- ling, Orono, Rev. A. L. Richards, and Rev. W.P. Fletcher. Mr. Fred W. Nelles has sold his interest in the White Rose Gasoline Station and Grocery Store to Mr. W.J. Flett. Mr. and Mrs. Gordon Rice were entertained on Tuesday evening at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Geo. Callan with 75 neighbors and friends attend- ing and presenting them with a mantel clock and three piece silver service to bid them a fond good-bye prior to their moving to Windsor. Fred Billett was the winner of the annual B.H.S. Oratori- cal Contest held in the Assembly Hall on Tuesday. Gladys Cobbledick and Winnie Rickard also competed. The judges were Mrs. Geo. Mason, Miss Odgen and Mr. W.F. Ward. You may have noticed that I didn't write a Remembrance Day column this year. It's not that I have turned against it. It's just that, in 20-odd years of writing this column, I think I've said everything I could about it without producing a bundle of maudlin cliches that would em- barrass me as much as my readers. I've written about the silvery wail of The Last Post on the desolate November air - that cry from the dead that would raise a lump as big as a golf ball in your throat, tears as big as tea bags in your eyes. I've written about Old Sweats chortling as they went back to Vimy and Mons and the days when they were young and gay.and scared stiff. I've described middle-aged vets sucking in their guts in the parade, hoping they could hold in the pots until they finished the march and got back to the Legion Hall for a coldie. I've described the little old Silver Star mothers, wiping away one dry tear as they awkwardly placed a wreath, not quite knowing whether to salute of bow or just shuffle around until someone steered them away. It's become too much. I've dried up. It's a bit like being the Poet Laureate of England, and having to produce a sonnet to celebrate the birth of Princess Anne's first born. It's like being an editor and groaning when you're told that you will have to produce, for the 28th time, an editorial lauding the virtues of Labor Day. With any luck, the Legion will die away, because there will be no such thing as a veteran, all veterans of all wars being dead, and Remembrance Day will be something vaguely recalled as a pagan holiday back in the 20th century, when people thought they could solve their differences by killing each other. But don't think I ignore Remem- brance Day. No sir. I take it out on my students. On the day before the Day, I lug to school an armful of souvenirs, and rub their noses in them. I think this is much more effective than writing a column or making a speech to a group of veterans. For one thing, I can lie and lie without fear of contradiction. Those kids are left with the clear understanding that had it not been for Bill Smiley, we'd have lost World War Il and they'd now be subject to the whim of some Gestapo Gauleiter. Mind you, my souvenirs are nothing like the real stuff my uncles brought home from World War I: belts with "Gott Mit uns," gas masks, shell cases. But on the other hand, they know as much about World War Il as they do about the Boer War, or the War of the Roses, so it doesn't take much to impress them. I bring my flying log book, which shows clearly the number of bombs I dropped on the enemy. I don't have to mention that "the enemy" in most cases consisted of a plowed field, or a river with a bridge which I'd missed. I bring an eight by 10 picture of' "your hero," dashing, mustachioed, standing beside his trusty Typhoon. They say: "Was that your own airplane, 'D for Dirty Dick'?" I re- ply casually, "We were like husband and wife." I don't have to mention that D for Desmond was borrowed for the occasion and that I flew any old, clapped out Typhoon the riggers could put together for another mission. Nor do I have to elaborate that Dirty Dick was indeed like a wife - she yawned violently to the left on takeoff., Another feature of my souvenirs is a half dozen blown-up cartoons of prison camp life. I just sort of drop this in. Then comes the inevitable question: "Sir, did you try to escape?" I slide into my British accent. "Well, eckshwully, cheps, the Old Hun took a veddy dim view of escape attempts, but ..yes," chuckling reminscently and nostalgically. "What happened?" "Well, nothing much, relly. Tried to nip off with the Obergruppen- fuhrer's Volkswagen jeep and steal a plane. But they caught me. Demmit." You see, I don't have to explain that I made what must have been the dumbest escape attempt in WWTII, after stealing the Feldwebel's lunch out of his coat pocket, and had the boots put to me, severely and accurately, b y several old guys who had been badly scared recently by Typhoon pilots, and had no desire to be sent to the Russian front for letting a prisoner escape. "Andwhathappened then?" "Well, I was sent to a special camp for prisoners whose spirits could not be tamed, even by the dread Gestapo." I don't have to tell these young turkeys that there were 10,000 other "untamed spirits" in the camp, most of whom would have sold their ancient mother to Kubla Khan for a packet of fags. And I wind up with a rather vivid description of the final escape, fighting my way through, Russian and German hordes as the war drew toward its climax. And falling into the arms of a Canadian corporal and trading him a PoW chocolate bar for a bottle of beer. You see, Remembrance Day wil never be dead while I'm alive. gem was announced there were at least 5 ads, under "Work Wanted" by local contractors, carpenters and builders. Now, building an office is no great shakes. You can spend about as much or as little as you choose. The Town Hall has a second storey which is an auditorium, it is partially heated and is likely bigger than the Bell Building. We-- wish the firms mentioned above had been called in and told "we need x number of offices, here is the space, we have $100,000.00 to spend, show us what you can come up with." Who knows we might well have come up with all the offices we need and all under our own roof. Sounds simple doesn't it, so why didn't it happen? Likely, one of our numerous consulting firms frowned upon it, so our council as usual goes right along. Chuckle of the week frorn another paper, The Newcastle Reporter - "Trustee Andy, Thompson broke down the cost of french instruction - the taxpayers paid slightly less than 15 per cent of the cost, the government paid the rest." Isn't that great? Morgan Àle Umm& E Y", dltor