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PAGE 18 - PLA1NDEALER -WEDNESDAY. JANUARY 18, 1978 -- P L A I N D E A L E R Editorial Opinion Chaplin Humor As television and film theaters show more and more of Charlie Chaplin's films this year, it's fitting to examine the difference between Chaplin's humor and that of today's comedians. Chaplin's death Christmas day didn't end his comedy genius. That ended years ago, but it nevertheless seems appropriate, now that his films are being introduced to millions who never saw them, to analyze them. Chaplin's talent, probably the greatest in this field films have yet revealed, was humbleness mixed with pathos, sentiment and the ridiculous. He was the underdog, the sloppily dressed little tramp- against the system, the establishment, with a cynicism and cockiness of his own. In that role he was often quiet, timid, repressed or reserved. That's sharp contrast with today's typical comedian-loud, aggressive, ostentatious and often self-oriented. Chaplin was almost invariably the little man, humble, often ridiculous but always human. He identified with the average human being, the downtrodden, and touched deeply their hidden hopes, dreams and fears. The world is waiting for another comedian with this kind of talent. Skirts Versus Pants Economists have often mused that the length of women's skirts affect the stock market. Women's Wear Daily says skirts are going up in 1978. So, perhaps, there's sound scientific evidence for better days in the market! Before one bets his hat, or skirt, on it, however, other forecasts should be kept in mind. And figures for girls' purchases in 1977 are also relevant. Last year girls between 13 and 19 bought almost twice as many pants as dresses-though dresses are now coming back into vogue. What do economists think of that? Even if skirts go up, most women may well be wearing the pants in the house-probably in the economist's house! A. G. Edwards & Sons, Inc. Weekly Market Review There is just no other way to describe it--the new year started out miserably for stockholders. The Dow Industrials have declined sharply on increased volume and selling has been quite broad as shown by a very negative advance-decline ratio. Historians must be losing sleep as pointed out by "The Stock Trader's Almanac" and its January early warning system. In a rather uncanny fashion, the first five days of January have set the trend for the full year almost as often as the full month of January has which is 89 percent of the time. Now, as always, there are excuses one can dig up to explain away our new year's hangover and this time it's the demise of the dollar in international markets. Forget the excuses, stocks act badly and we have to take what the market gives us and adjust to it. Using the decline of the dollar as an extra-ordinary excuse for the general market weakness and thus reason to give little respect to market action is fallacious thinking. Yes, the problems of the dollar are part of the stock market's woes but only, part and the dollar decline itself is a symptom, not die disease. Actually, since the start of intervention last Wednesday by the treasury, fed., and foreign central banks to check speculation and reestablish order in the foreign exchange markets the dollar has acted a bit better. We felt at the time that the short term outlook for the dollar had improved but longer term, as a fixed rate is not our goal, the U.S. must solve its balance of trade and international payments deficit problems as well as the increasing inflationary pressures to produce a lasting impact on the dollar. One of the stock market's Roughest competitors, the bond market, continues to grow in appeal at the expense of stocks. If nervous institutions enjoyed their safe haven in 6.15 percent returns on 90 day treasury bills just a few weeks ago, they obviously have to love the 6V2 percent now available. A plummeting stock market is certainly no incentive for them to give up that security blanket. Responding to higher short term rates, Citibank raised its prime to 8 percent, and the Fed. raised the discount rate-its change on loans to member banks-to 6V2 percent which means support for the dollar but also higher interest rates. Yes, lot's of things are going on in the Carter administration and contrary to the 1977 results, some might even do some good. We won't, however, be optimistic on that score until market action improves. Continued patience and a tight fist on cash reserves remain our new year's resolution. ~ -- P L A I N D E A L E R , Letters to the Exlitor Public Pulse A FRIEND INDEED "Editor. "People very seldom will recognize others for a job well done but will be first to criticize than when things go wrong. The Fox Lake Lions would •like to recognize personnel of McHenry hospital's second floor for their assistance to Ken Hamsher and Rick Tobias in our eye-donor program. Through their efforts they made it possible for two persons to have a chance to see again. "Fox Lake Lions "John Moseley "District coordinator "Lions Of Illinois Eye Donor Registry" Tight Fit The tight money situation has led one manufacturer to produce a small bicycle with no seat and no handlebars for small busi­ nessmen who have lost their be- hinds and don't know which way to turn. For Your Informotion Dear friends. Your will should list all items in your estate, including items of sentimental value, bank ac­ counts, real estate, and securities. Note the number and location of a safe deposit box. You may find it a pleasant task assigning items to those who can best use them, or who will most appreciate them. Respectfully, .fen 4> ^ . PETER JUSTEN *fl1" Ne PAL 'home Mclltnry, Illinois 385-0063 - Perspective HUANG HUA'S SPEECH BY RONALD REAGAN 100 Years Ago ; January In Illinois Nearly five months after it was delivered, a lengthy speech by Communist China's Foreign Minister Huang Hua has sur­ faced in the West, courtesy of the Republic of China (Taiwan) whose intelligence agents smuggled it from the mainland and whose information service translated its 42,000 words. Even allowing for the Republic of China's obvious desire to continue its diplomatic relations with the United States and not have them shift to Peking, the Huang speech is a remarkable document. He delivered it July 30 to a group of senior party, political and military officials and it is ,a primer of Chinese foreign relations, ranging over virtually every aspect of Peking's dealings with the world and its thoughts on friends and foes. 'Conventional Wisdom' Huang's blistering remarks about the Soviet Union should spike the "conventional wisdom" arguments raised endlessly in recent months by some American academic and State Department types, to the effect that we must hurry to "normalize" relations with Peking, lest we drive the mainland Chinese into the arms of the Russians. This argument, usually cloaked in thousands of words of academic language, always has that same bottom line. It is based on the curious assump­ tion that, for Peking, formal diplomatic relations with the United States would represent the pinnacle of success. That "normalization" is less im­ portant than internal stability, steady yields in agriculture and adequate preparations for possible hostilities with the Soviet Union is made quite clear in Huang's speech. But, then, Huang sees the world through Chinese eyes, not the eyes of American academics. Though he ranged Over many topics in his five-hour address, Huang took as his central theme China's deeply held differences with Moscow. China should even be prepared for war with the Soviet Union, he said. "All our work should evolve around the preparations for war. We should proceed from the needs of war, do every job well and with a high sense of responsibility, as if everything we do is preparation before war," he said. "What kind of war will it be9" Huang asked his colleagues. "We leave it to you (the Soviet Union) to decide. However, it is us, not you, who will decide the scale and the boundary of the war. If the Soviet revisionists should at­ tack our northeast, we might send troops to attack their rear, but whether it would be from Khazakstan to the Ukraine, or from Khazakstan to Moscow, we will make the decision and Brezhnev will have nothing to do with it, which is only fair." Sensitive Point That Soviet expansionism is a sensitive point with Peking, Huang made clear. He said, "The newly emerged (Soviet) social imperialism, which is also the largest and most ignominious colonial power, is frantically taking over the position of old imperialism expanding its barbarism to t world." He went on to recite Soviet activities in Africa, the global expansion of its naval power (emphasizing its improved access to the Indian Ocean) and Peking's concerns aver- Soviet meddling in Southeast Asia, blaming the U.S.S.R. for conflicts between Vietnam and Cambodia. Huang's speech came three weeks before Secretary of State Cyrus Vance visited Peking. In it, Huang took a pragmatic view of U.S.-Peking relations. His government did not expect any movement toward "nor­ malization," but saw the Vance visit as a good opportunity to visibly show that the post-Mao government was fully in charge. They also saw it as a device to improve U.S.-China trade since Peking is anxious to obtain American technology and sophisticated industrial equipment. Boost Illinois Economic F uture - Illinois' economic future got a shot in the arm last week with the appointment of some thirty- six Illinois business, labor, academic and professional leaders to the blue-ribbon advisory council and board of trustees of "Illinois 2000," a newly-formed foundation which will propose long-range goals for the state. Illinois 2000; created by the Illinois State Chamber of Commerce as part of its economic development program, is embarking on a three-year program to chart directions and provide guidelines for the state's overall economic development. "We have received a fine, positive response so far to our plans for a goals program in Illinois," said David E. Connor, president of the Commercial National bank of Peoria and chairman of the Illinois 200 foundation. Illinois business leaders who assisted in organizing the new advisory council are A. Robert AbboUd, chairman of the board, the First National Bank of Chicago; Roger E. Anderson, chairman of the board, Continental Illinois National Bank and Trust company of Chicago; Thomas G. Ayers, chairman and chief executive officer, Commonwealth Edison company, Chicago; and Connor. David E. Baker has been appointed executive director of the Illinois 200 foundation. Baker, a nationally-respected expert on state futures planning and citizen involvement programs, was affiliated with the Population institute, Washington, D.C., for the past four years. "Our aim is to arrive at a set of realizable and realistic goals for the state's economic future," Connor said. "We want the broadest possible consideration of these goals and seek to build a consensus for them throughout the state." To accomplish this task, Illinois 2000 has been organized into a three-year, three-phase process. During the first year, ten volunteer teams of about twenty specialists each will carefully examine the major economic issues facing the state. These have been identified in a survey conducted by Illinois 2000 to include: development of a cohesive jobs and industrial development policy; urban economic development; impact of taxes and spending;, transportation; agriculture; the environment; and the workforce The teams will project current trends in a particular area and suggest a range of new alternatives to those trends. In the second year, business and political leaders and the general public will be invited to review a series of proposed goals recommended from the first year alternatives. The goals will be set initially at a statewide conference planned for January, 1979. After the review process, consensus goals and related implementation strategies will then be presented to the state in the fall of 1979. "In the third year," Connor explained, "Illinois 2000 will receive its real test as the public and private sector consider and act on the goals. Progress in reaching the goals will be monitored by the volunteer participants and staff of Illinois 200. "Creation of the Illinois Futures Task force by Illinois General Assembly this year signals a new concern for these issues in Springfield," Connor said. "We will work closely with the state effort to insure a thorough and useful analysis of these and other problems." Added Connor: "The success of the Illinois 2000 program depends on the concern and commitment of its volunteer participants. It is their collective vision of the future that will ultimately be translated into the state's economic^ goals through interaction with the public and policy makers." (Special from the Illinois State Historical Society, Old State Capitol, Springfield) p Illinois celebrated the arrival of the New Year 1878 with somewhate less enthusiasm than it had previously been showing and business was in the doldrums during that January. Some-but not all~of this dullness was due to the unseasonably warm, rainy weather that had carried over from December, 1877. A check of the century-old newspaper files in the Illinois State Historical library reveals that there were also numerous bank failures during the month. The tradition of holding open house on New Year's day was continued by the ladies of Chicago, Springfield, Aurora, Mendota, Moline, Rock Island, LaSalle, Peru, and other cities, but there were variations from the usual pattern in several places. The Chicago Inter Ocean described in detail the dress of some fifty hostesses, in Springfield calls "were of necessity made by pedestrians, the state of the streets almost prohibiting the use of carriages," and in Aurora "no wine or liquors were served any callers." In Centralia the Temperance Reform club held a parade and "over 600 people were in line headed by a brass .band." In Rock Island the Daily Union reported receiving nine announcements from ladies who had excuses for not receiving and others who were combining two or more receptions at one home. The paper's Moline correspondent said "there seems to be a growing dislike for the pastime which Washington loved so well." In the two cities, however, the - visiting championship was claimed by a man who said he had made 101 calls. The mild, wet weather Making a Hole! / SB? •jnfvjnvnjiin •Pg J mm Tony Fick . /w Chuck Lewandowski McHenry Area? Do You Know Someone New? WE WOULD LIKE TO EXTEND A ROYAL WELCOME TO EVERY NEWCOMER TO OUR AREA!!!!! Tony Fick CALL JOAN STULL 385-5418 08c imrnium KNOW YOUR AREA-ROYAL WELCOME DOES IT BEST GIVE ME A CALL FOR THE FACTS ON LOW-COST HEALTH INSURANCE. ' • V ' ' prompted the Inter Ocean to publish a New Year's day editorial titled "Roads or No Roads," advocating road' improvement. It said "for the last sixty days the entire prairie region has been absolutely roadless-one vast sea of mud, (athomless.. Farmers have been as essentially kept at home as though snowbound...If a welcome frost does not soon come, the end must be disaster to the entire business interests of the West" The editorial contended that since the prairie was a "country without rock or gravel" well drained roads could be built up of the subsoil. The problem was solved temporarily by a cold period in the middle of the month but on Jan. 30 Chicago had a 2 p.m. high temperature of 32 degrees. Ice cutting and storing for summer use was, of course, an important business in the Rock Island area. On Jan. 23 the Daily Union reported, "George Heck was busy cutting ice yesterday. The ice is but seven inches thick and is hardly fit for packing." The next"day, "The slough was thronged with happy skaters yesterday afternoon, and the ice was in excellent condition," On Jan. 25, however, the report read: "ice was being cut with the thermometer at 50 degrees above zero yesterday afternoon." Unseasonable weather was not the only problem facing Illinoisans of a century ago but was probably a contributing factor to another one: a rash of bank failures. Major banks were closed in Chicago, S p r i n g f i e l d , D e c a t u r , Carlinville, Sterling, and other cities. During 1877 there had been 361 business failures in Chicago-including fourteen banks, twenty-seven real estate firms, nineteen contractors, thirty-one hardware dealers, and two carriage makers. Among the $431,000 in assets of the Springfield bank were the "Opera House Block, $30,000; Riverton Distillery, and 800 acres, with 100 town lots, and coal mine, $75,000; 1,500 acres Sangamon county land, $45 per acre; 3,800 acres Nebraska land, $10 per acre; 900 acres and 100 lots at Chester, $25,000; 2,550 acres in Livingston county, with twenty houses, $30 per acre." Incidentally, at that time eggs were .15 cents a dozen in Woodhull and Geneseo (Henry Co.) and ladies' corsets were .30 cents in Rock Island. Today's "message parlor" controversies are not new, although a hundred years ago they were called "Turkish baths." From the Daily Union of Jan. 23, 1878; "Dr. Esterbrook, who ran a Turkish bath institution in Rock Island and Davenport, with the assistance of four or five soiled doves, has moved to Moline, having been driven out of the former places by the police." Thawing Meat The best way to thaw meat and poultry is in the refrigerator. But if you must thaw meats outside the refrigerator, put them in a sealed plastic bag under cold run­ ning water; or, put them in a closed double paper bag without the use of water. This allows the products to get just warm enough to thaw but still cool enough to s l o w d o w n g e r m g r o w t h -- especially on the surface of the meat. ice & S e n ' - i profess""10 p i r e c t ( > r V I 'D LIKE TO ANSWER YOUR QUESTIONS ON LOW-COST HOME- OWNEHS INSURANCE. I 'D LIKE TO SHARE WITH YOU THE FACTS ON LOW-COST L IF f - " INSURANCE. Chuck lowandowski Call us for Details 385- A M E R I C A N F A M U Y I [AUTOHOMEHEAnHm* AMIMCAN FAMILY MUTUAL INSURANCC COMPANY*.MADISON. WIS. 59701 >UR NEW LOCATION-- Corner of Crystal Lake Blatktop & Rt. 120, McHenry, III. EARL R. WALSH & JACK WALSH INS. Fire. Auto. Farm, Life Representing RELIABLE COMPANIES 4410 W Rte 120. McHenry MS 3300 DENNIS CONWAY AUTO LIFE FIRE State Farm Ins. Co. 331* W Elm St McHenry, III. /MS-7in DR. 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