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PORT PERRY STAR -- Wednesday, October 3, 1979 -- 5 RS ------ ET ---- Taw Bits Toe CRAWAL AY The old mill at Cadmus, Ontario that was once a thriving business under William Brown in the early part of the century, and later operated 60 YEARS AGO - Thursday, October 9, 1919 The County good road markets are busy in Port Perry building a bit of road from Taggart's corner south along John Street to the Avenue and along the Avenue to Ontario Street and South. As this is to be part of the Provincial Highway, the road will be of standard width. by Russell Brown. The old mill is still standing, but in poor condition and it is rumoured it will soon be torn down. [Photo courtesy of Mrs. Ross Brown] A touch estimate of the power requirements of this town has been made. After canvassing the probable users, it was found that about 148 h.p. would likely be used. 35 YEARS AGO Thursday, October 19, 1944 The fine day brought some 1500 spectators to the South Ontario Plowing Match, held on the farms of Geo. Beare and E. Phair at Greenbank on Thursday last week. The home of Mr. and Mrs. Stanley Ploughman was the scene of a very pretty wedding on Saturday, Oc- tober 4th, 1944 when their eldest daughter, Luella Mae became the bride of Ellsworth G. Kennedy, son of Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Kennedy of Udora, Ontario. 25 YEARS AGO Thursday, October 21, 1954 The residents of this community are thankful that they suffered so little damage compared to the Hum- ber Valley area when Hurricane Hazel struck. Ruby Leask won the inter-school Senior Girls' Championship to add to her track and field laurels. In- cluded in her triumphs was the breaking of a twenty- two year old record in the softball throw for distance with a throw of 188 feet. 20 YEARS AGO Thursday, October 22, 1959 Those who are interested in the past record of Port Perry and area may find the following of value: The last fall fair held in Prince Albert was in 1872. The first fall fair to be held in Port Perry was in 1873. The fair grounds were at the south end of Water Street and the first train in Port Perry was in 1872. - These dates are quoted on authority of Mr. Wellington Somerville, who called into the Star office last week. Last Friday evening Teen Town held its second regular dance of the year. Mr. and Mrs. Storey Beare very kindly consented to act as chaperone for the evening. 15 YEARS AGO Thursday, October 22, 1964 Robert Smith, son of Mr. and Mrs. Leslie Smith, Port Perry, received the Port Perry Lions Grain Club Trophy, which he won for obtaining the highest number of points in the club. He received a total of 875 points out of a possible 1,000. Larry Burt, one of the club leaders and a teacher at our local high school, presen- ted the trophy to Robert. Cottagers on Lake Scugog rescued two Oshawa fliers, Dr. Barry Woods and Mr. Ron Poulter, on Saturday when their single engine amphibious plane crashed and overturned at the mouth of the Nonquon River. The Port Perry High School announced that Bill Diamond, son of Mr. and Mrs. Jack Diamond of Port (Turn to page 6) chotterboX ....... FLORA AT THE UN Canada's external affairs minister Flora MacDonald went to the Big Apple last week to address the General Assembly of the United Nations. In her speech, she called for the establishment of an ombudsman to deal with flagrant violations of human rights which occur on a day by day basis for countless millions of people around the world. She also had some words of criticism for the United Nations itself, saying that the institution has lost all its effectiveness to deal with serious international problems. Many people might be tempted to dismiss Ms. MacDonald's appeal as nothing but silly naivete, a waste of time and effort. The General Assembly is dominated by countries where guarantees of human rights are simply non-existent. For the citizens of many of these countries, the struggle of their daily lives is not for human rights, but for sheer survival itself. There is no question that the UN has become something of a sad joke. Why just recently, the member nations voted to recognize the credentials of the Cambodian "govern- ment", 'which in the past four years is reported by international agencies to have systematically starved to death millions of its citizens. More recent evidence from that hapless nation indicates that unless emergency relief supplies of food are sent immediately, as many as two million more Cambodians could die of starvation in the next six months. Why did the United Nations agree to recognize this "Government?" Because China wanted it. And a lot of countries around the world, including Canada, are doing just about anything to curry favour with the Chinese, eyeing China's population of one billion people as a future bonanza for consumer goods. . The UN charter, written more than 30 years ago in the wake of World War Two, has given way to the power politics of the sixties and seventies. The Assembly, now with more than 150 member nations, has become nothing more than an expensive debating club. Despite all this, the suggestion by Ms. MacDonald to set up an ombudsman to investigate violations of human rights around the world must not be dismissed outright. It has some merit. As imperfect, flawed and laughable as the United Nations has become, it is still the only international agency where representatives of just about every country at least get-together under the same roof on an ongoing basis. Observers of the United Nations know that what delegates say publicly in the General Assembly debates often gets thrown by the boards in the private back-room discussions where the real business of the UN is conducted. This may be the very worst kind of political hypocrisy, but in its own limited way, it does help to further progress of the "goals of the UN. Part of the criticism of the UN, especially that from western nations like Canada, is that we expect it to be too perfect. We expect every action and every speech from that organization to follow the letter and intent of the Charter. When the UN gets bogged down in politics and hypocrisy, we condemn everything that it is doing. The UN may on the surface be just a debating club. But it is the only one we have, and at least when nations are screaming at each other across the floor of the Assembly, it is better than no communications at all. Although the practice of power politics may be detrimental for some reasons, it can on the other hand be used to advantage. Pressures can be exerted with such carrots as preferential trade agreements, bilateral aid promises, bargains and trade-offs. For the idealist, this may be a despicable way to get things done, but when the UN is the only game in town, you have to play by the rules. Setting up a human rights ombudsman is not going to make life a bed of roses for the countless millions of people around the globe. But it won't make the situation any worse for those people, and more likely it could be a start towards even tiny improvements. That in itself would make it worthwhile. The UN is 33 years old. When one looks at what has gone on in the world during those 33 years, it is hard not to call the UN anything but a dismal failure. But that judgement changes a little if we look at the UN from a different angle. Where would the world be today if we had not had the UN for the past three decades? That is impossible to answer, of course. One success of the Un has been that it has played a role in averting global warfare, which if it did break out would probably mean the destruction of mankind. While tensions among the superpowers still run high, the likelihood that they will go to war with each other now seems remote. It has taken the better part of the three decades to reach this situation. It may take the world the better part of the next three decades to tackle and solve the "lesser" problems, such as human rights, starvation and disease. The UN already has agencies in place that are working slowly on the problems of health care and food production, peacekeeping and the prevention of 'brush fire' wars. Another agency for human rights isn't going to do any harm. Maybe in 30 years, we will see that it has actually done some good. PETRO-CAN Since the election last May of the Joseph Clark Conservatives, there have been a series of controversies. But none is bigger than the campaign pledge to sell the government owned oil company, Petro-Can. The oil and gas industry in Canada and around the world is a complex one, the ins and outs almost impossible for the layman to understand. Private enterprise is the "in thing' these days, and there is nothing too much wrong with that. But almost all of us agree that energy is of fundamental importance to the existance of Canada as we know it. If we accept this premise, must we not also accept that the federal government should continue to play an active role through the ownership of one energy company? We have accepted a government role in a host of other endeavours: transportation, communications, food distribution and marketing because they are important to the country. Should the same not be done for energy? Petro-Can does not give the government a monopoly, far from it. The multi-national oil companies are doing very well. But the government must maintain control over at least a piece of the action. It's fine for the Clark government to sell off crown corporations like Canadair, Eldorado Nuclear, Northern Transportation and deHavilland. But Petro-Can should belong to the people. a port perry star Rh Company Limited J.PETER HVIDSTEN Publisher Advertising Manager J.B. McCLELLAND Editor Member of the Canadian Community Newspaper Association and Ontario Weekly Newspaper Association Published every Wednesday by the Port Perry Star Co. Ltd_, Port Perry, Ontario Authorized as second class mail by the Post Office Department, Ottawa, and for payment of postage in cash Second Class Mail Registration Number 0265 Subscription Rate: In Canada $8.00 per year Elsewhere $10.00 per year. Single copy 20c 5 ~ on 8 .. Rin er Re Lb rs or, Wa; = > Bo CK 43 2) rr ny ies EAE A CREA - hod