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Editorial Comment STP letter a flagrant attempt to deceive On it's editorial page, this newspaper has stated -- like other citizens of the community -- their position on the penitentiary controversy. There are others in this community who have stated another view, showing sincere and- responsible concern about the proposal and an attempt to get all the facts before any decision. There is a third group, we hope a small minority, whose open letter to their neighbours appeared in- Hones in the township. In their zeal to stop what they think is a bad thing for the township, the authors ave stooped to the same tactics that they accuse the ederal and municipal authorities of perpetrating. We can only assume that this letter is aimed--pur- posely--at those who are uninformed as to the facts. Some of those people whose names are listed on the letter have been seen at public meetings, so are well aware of the facts--or at the very least--the contro- versy. Even the most paranoic person would balk at the suggestion of a federal-municipal conspiracy, but who would argue with the authors' position against furloughed rapist and murderers coverting about the streets? What is not mentioned, is the fact that there would be no passes awarded at the institution. More than any other, that point was repeatedly stressed. That the kind of institution slated for our area "promises nothing but problems" is questionable. If locals had a choice of not if, but which one, of the wide range of institutions to host in the township, few would disagree that a regional reception centre is the least of the evils; low number of inmates; short stays here; maximum security classification, despite the fact that only a small percentage of the inmates would be of that classification. There will be no apparent economic contribution, the letter states, but neglects to mention the $3 million budget including $2 million in salaries, and some 100 jobs that the institution would bring. Absolutely no taxes will be paid, the letter states, only a paltry grant. The amount of that 'paltry grant" is not mentioned, although it was stated repeatedly at recent meetings. $90,000 to $100,000 We will receive virtually no employment benefit, say the authors, although penitentiary policy is to hire locally, and has done so in every other area. Penitentiary officials stated about 100 jobs could conceivably be created here, a figure they have estimated through past experience. Policing and insurance costs will go up and real estate will go down, the reader learns, but the fact that this was called highly unlikely, and not in the experience of penitentiary personel from other locations, wasn't mentioned. But perhaps the most blatant example of a somewhat warped truth is the bit about who would go through the gates of Scugog Pen. Since a maximum security institution is planned, . authors say, only the worst, most incorrigible criminal element will come here. Fact is because a very few of those processed at the centre would be of the maximum security classificat- don, the institution must provide this protection. A regional reception centre would host the total range output of the courts. From here they would go to minimum, medium or maximum institutions as classified. This point has been continually stressed by officials. There is, of course, a last-ditch argument against the institution. It's the 'What If syndrome, and there's simply no defense against it. What if the government changes its policies? What if officials are lying? There is a point when you simply have to believe someone. It is the intelligent choice of the public which must decide who is to be believed. Is it the fellow who says: "Look folks, there aren't any guarantees, but all the indications are the opposite," or the fellow who, through sheer demagogy tried to swing your vote his way. Just who is arrogant and unresponsible is question- able as well. It certainly isn't council, as suggested in the letter. Councillors have stated their positions openly, and courageously, considering the company they were keeping at the time. Council is trying to railroad the decision through without public input? Council has until July 18 to answer. They've been elected to make the decision. They've visited Warkworth, talked to officials, councillors there, and the public on the street. At the last meeting, although not on the agenda, the meeting was completely dominated by discussions on the penitentiary, at the insistance of the citizens who attended, not an official delegation. For council to have cut the discussion short would have been as simple as a swing of the gavel. Instead, all were heard - over and over again. As for the referendum. Is there time? We could always have one on taxes. Who wants taxes? And who doesn't. That would give us a popular council but a bankrupt Township. EDITOR'S NOTE: We believe, and are backed up by the evidence, that the authors of the above-mentioned letter did in no way further this cause, and in fact, had all the potential of harming it. In retrospect to council's decision on the matter, we feel that it was the majority of well-meaning, concerned citizens who brought council to their decision. Tate a Se fe ZY 1975 EL LECTION' HOPES RES Forpive A TIGER IN Jie Bic Brue MacHiVe Bill Smiley Progress? | hate it! Many people have a peculiar idea of "progress". They confuse it with change or growth for their own sakes. All too ofen, these things represent regress, rather than progress. I try not to be bitter, but I have a perfect example of that kind of "progress" right outside my front door. When we moved to this house, it was on a quiet, residential street, a leafy tunnel of voluptuous maples and stately oaks, with a greenboulevard on each side of the street. It was gentle and pleasant and safe for children. The town council, in the name of progress, tore out the boulevard, cut down some trees, and widened the street. Results? We now have a speedway out front, and you can scarcely risk crossing the street to the mailbox. The squeal of tires makes the nights hideous, as the punks try to car. proclaim their dubious manhood. The remaining trees are dying because their natural environment has been disturbed and he:cause they get a heavy dose of sprayed salt from the snowplow each winter. Much beauty lost, and the only ugly things. on the street, dead cedar poles for telephone and hydro, left standing in their nakedness. Just to complete the picture, there has heen a development', which is synonymous with progress in many small minds, at the and noise. me sick. greenery. end of our street. bushland is now an asphalt wasteland inhabited by supermarkets, a gaggle of gas stations, and the inevitable hamburger joints and milk stores. Because of the "development" and its accompanying "progress", street has quintupled about five times, with the accompanying multiplication of stink Tough luck, says you. Right, says I. But this is not just a private beef. I've seen this sort of thing happen so often on handsome old streets in pleasant small towns that it makes First move of the progress-happy morons isusually to cut down the trees, some of them 70 years old, so that they can widen the road. Grace and shade and dignity are sacrificed tothe number one god of North America - the In the cities, the same process holds. Potential parklands are turned into instant parking lots. Thruways slaughter miles of Ranking high among the villains are the "developers". Inmore enlightened cultures, they would be called ecological rapists. They take a section of beautiful bushland, fertile farmland, or lush fruitland. They send in their bulldozers to ensure that the property will look like no-man's-land. They then carve What was once glorious traffic on our children. And the stinks! toxic elements, because industry". it into 50-foot lots and jam in the jerry-built houses, cheek by jowl, give the whole thing a fancy name, spend a fortune on advertising, and flog the swollen-priced abortions to poor - suckers who are so desperate for a house of their own they shoulder a mortgage they can never possibly get out from under. This, when Canada has more land that is useless for anything else but building than it can ever use. That is "progress". Oh, "'progress" has many faces, and many sounds, and not a few smells. Far below the roar of the over-sized, over-priced cars burning up precious energy as they whoosh down the superhighways may be heard the whimper of starving Behind the smiling face and honeyed words of the Public Relations Department canbe seen something not unlike a mountain range - huge, ever-growing piles of non- returnable bottles, rusting cans, and indestructible plastic garbage. "Progress" will take a cool, clean, sweet trout stream and poison it with chemicals and detergents and other "We need the And the big belching smoke- stacks go right on belching their nauseous gases from their rotten stomachs, laughing hilariously when the government slaps them on the wrist with a staggering $25 fine. "Progress" hoists, again and again, the taxes on booze, because governments would fall without that revenue, and sets up a cheap and panty-waist program barely hinting at the evils of drink. '"Progress" produces bigger cars that go faster and burn more fuel on bigger highways, the vehicles propelled, in many cases, by drivers who couldn't handle a crisis in a kiddie-car race. 'Progress' taxes everything but the living breath of the working stiff, but encourages the plumpies with the expense accounts and the credit cards to go out and live it up and lie and cheat on their taxes. Medical 'progress' means turning a great number of adult neurotics into drug addicts by socking the pills to them, and with the other hand giving a stiff-arm in the face to the dirty, sick, frightened kids of the drug age. A pretty dim view of progress? It is, as many people look on the word. But surely there are enough of us left who believe in the real meaning of the word - moral, social and intellectual progress - to -try to do something about the spreading sickness. Same time next Sunday, please. In the meantime, on guard against the progress' people. The Argyle Syndicate Ltd. 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