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Page 4 The Colborne Citizen Nov. 13, 1974 citizen editorial From the past. What's with the Defense Department? Ask most members of the Armed Forces today what they think of .their current situation and you will probably get a very disgruntled and downhearted reply. Why? Well, it seems somewhere along the line someone got their wire crossed and were premature and very oblivious to the feelings of serving members of the Armed Forces when they made the announcement reductions would have to be made in Defence spending to keep within the current budget. According to all reports, results of that announcement have been rather drastic. With no obvious consideration of the 600 or so members leaving the Service each month through retirements, etc., Defence Minister Richardson went ahead with his announcement. As a consquence, the 3,000 or so applicants needed each month just to keep even with the present manpower strength, have fallen off drastically until it is impossible to replace those who are leaving. By the time all applications are weeded out, of the 3,000 applications, there remains only about the 600 needed. Most people will tell you the morale of the troops has never been lower. Not only is everyone wondering if he or she will have a job tomorrow, their faith in those in authority to make sound decisions has been severely shaken. And no wonder! The reason given for the cutbacks in spending was to stay within the Defence budget yet, every day you can view numerous, costly, television recruiting commercials which would lead the public and the members of the Forces to believe officials in the Defence Department haven't a clue to what they are doing. It would also lead you to wonder if the Defence Minister even consulted with his various chiefs of staff before arrving at his momentous decision. And, if he did, was he not informed by them the effects such an announcement would have on the serving members? Have their offices become so exalted they do not know what the men and women in the ranks are thinking and feeling? Or do they really care? Perhaps the eyes of the Defence Minister were on the number of votes of the general public instead of on the good and welfare of his charges. Perhaps too, it is time those in high places made a real effort to concern themselves with the welfare of those Colborne Citizen whose lives it is to direct. Maybe now is the time for a complete revamping of the "Channels of Communication" to allow the voice of the serving member to be heard more readily by those who set the policy. Could it be there are too many intermediaries between the top and the bottom in whose maize the voices are lost? Let's cut out this foolish nonsense of directly opposing programs; one to cut back spending; the other to spend as fast as possible. Why not adopt a troop information program designed to keep each individual member of the Forces informed as to his role, and to advise him FIRST of any anticipated changes there might be. Anything would be better than the present attitude of seeming indifference the top brass has for the "little guy "! What? No sports in Colborne It is very hard to believe there is no sports activities in Colborne, especially at this time of year. What about the minor hockey program and all of the other hotkey leagues. Are there no schedules drawi up for these leagues, and, if they are, w, ere are they? And how about all the other types of sports such as dart leagues, euchre, badminton, bowling etc.? Why hasn't some official from each activity contacted us to let us know what is going on with your sport or activity? Surely everyone doesn't expect a reporter to attend each and every function of every sport that is WHAT'S SIIK DOING NOW? - This picture, taken about lilfi:!, shows Miss Jane Wright, a member of the senior girls basketball team at Kast Northumberland District School, sinking a perfect basket while other students watch. Miss Wright is now a Physical Kducation Teacher at a school in Scarborough, Ont. Her school athletic team recently won top honours for the Scarborough District in an athletic meet. Perhaps you can recognize some of the other faces in the picture. (Photo submitted by Jerry Wright. It was taken by Mr. Austin Fulton, Principal of K.N.D.II.'S. at the time.) going c ! We wish we could but that is We are interested in publishing as much sports news as space will allow out we can't do it without your co-operation. We are also interested in publishing upcoming games and everts but we can't do that without schedules. Besides the fact it couldn't do anything but good for your particular activity, it would also give those who cannot participate through ill health, or other reasons, a chance to share in the sports scene. We have a drop off centre at the Simpson-Sears Order Office at 25 King St.E. Why not jot down a few facts such as goal scorers, final score, number of penalties, etc., and drop them off, along with a schedule, at Sears? We will even find the time to drop around to take a few photos if we know when events are taking place. The Colborne Citizen is your community newspaper. It is here to serve you so why not help to make it a paper full of the things that makes it worthwhile reading. If you keep us informed, we'll keep you informed. Sounds fair, doesn't it? tie foot in the furrow'% MEMBER OF THE CANADIAN AND ONTARIO COMMUNITY NEWSPAPERS ASSOCIATION Simon Conolly, Publisher Ted Forder, Editor Subscription Kates: $6 per year, payable in advance anywhere in Canada. $7 in advance in the U.S.A., $8 to any other country. Both old and new address should be given when change of address is requested. Advertising: Rates upon request. Although every precaution will be taken to avoid errors, The Brighton Independent accepts advertising in its columns on the understanding that it will not be liable for any error in any advertisement published in its columns. Offices: Main St., Brighton, in the lower floor of the Brighton Public Library. Drop-off depot Simpson Sears office, Colborne. Phone 475-0255. Second Class Mail Registration No. :t:m That world conference in Rome is supplying a lot of figures for the statisticians. To listen to many of the delegates, feeding the whole world is a job set aside for Canada, the United States, Australia and, possibly, Argentina. These four states apparently have enough money and the technical know-how to feed those 460 million people in the world who live in a chronic state of malnutrition. And an equal number -- another 500 million -- who are hard hit when there are crop failures are also depending on the Big Two -- Canada and the U.S. -- to feed them along with some help from Australia and Argentina. What is baffling is why the onus is on only Canada and the U.S.? Surely, European nations are just .as responsible for their fellow men as Canadians and Americans. Dairy surpluses are common throughout Europe. France, in fact, has one of the-biggest surpluses in dairy products in the world and the French government must have millions of pounds of dairy products in storage because France pays huge subsidies to farmers. Don't misunderstand' me. Canada should do everything possible to feed the underdeveloped and developing nations. But is it all to be done by North Americans? Years ago, Russia was an exporter of grain. Russian grain caused considerable fluctuation on the world markets in the early 1900s. But that country has become one of the world's biggest importers of grain in recent years. Why? Probably because collective farms are not working as well as the five-year plans predicted. Which is another reason why family farms should be maintained, encouraged and subsidized in this country. But that is another topic. Asians and Africans who are on the verge of starvation are desperately looking to Canada. And their governments will continue to hassle Ottawa and Washington for aid. Let us hope that aid will be enlarged. But, at the same time, those same governments should be hassling the Kremlin for help, too. Some of the statistics being thrown around in Rome certainly indicate that man's inhumanity to man knows no bounds. The group labelled Rome Forum, 25 men and women who are known internationally as experts in agriculture and economic development, made some astounding statements through writer Barbara Ward, the British economist. Mrs. Ward said it would take about $5 billion right now to keep those 5 million people on the edge of starvation from dying. That sounds like a lot of money. I guess it is. But the nations of the world spend $350-billion on arms every year, said Mrs. Ward. And that's a helluva lot more than $5 billion. This corner was suggested many times that the big battles of the world in the next two or three decades will not be fought with guns or nuclear weapons. The big battle starts and ends in the bellies of all the people of all the nations in the world. Until the day when every living soul on this globe can go to sleep with a full stomach, there will be wars and rumors of wars. Hunger brings desperation. Desperation breeds violence. Energy shortages can come and go. Trips to the moon can be televised as giant steps for mankind. But Christ's admonition to feed His flock is as valid today as it was 2.000 years ago.