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the stouffville tribune ettablithed uts member of the canadian weekly newspapers association and the ontarioquebec newspapers association member of the audit bureau of circulations authorized at tecondclass mail pauoffice dtp ottawa printed and issued everv thursdav at stouffville ont in canada 5250 elsewhere s350 c h nolan editor jas thomas sports tc asst a v nolan son publishers the ever widening gap between financial resources respons ibiliti e s the trfoie stouffville ont may it 154 ont mp appeals on behalf of taxburdened municipalities notes and comments try more walking with such innovations as the drivein banks and above all things a drivein church as announced for new yorks bronx one begins to wonder if people will eventually forget how to walk it seems people are getting away from walking far too many of us wont walk if we can figure out a way to avoid it whenever the subject comes up the quick and easy answer is the automobile is to blame but as a writer in this week magazine truly says this dictum is just a simple way to pass the buck the automobile has countless legitimate and constructive uses nothing good can be said for the abuses and they arise from plain laziness in many cases walking is an ideal form of exercise for both young and old the subject of exercise was summed up a few years ago in the lancet a british medical journal by sir adolphe abrahams a noted physician primitive man sir adolphe observed had plenty of exercise the main part of their activity was walking the auto has been recommended as a way back to nature never have we had such a convenient means of reaching the great outdoors the big trouble is that once we have driven there we generally refuse to get out of the car only the man who does stop and get out will discover nature in relation to himself the man walking can learn the trees flowers insects birds and animals the significance of the seasons the very feel of himself as a living creature in a living world he cannot learn these things in a car tei of a srch delivered in ih house of commons by michael starr ml ntario on tuesday may lmh 1954 mr chairman although i have made ex tensive inquiries among prac tical experts in municipal fi nances i have not been able to and anyone who had a good n representations made by the to municipalities in this whole spending mentality yet under municipalities had resulted matter of sales and excise taxes the present policy of the govli l only in this unpractical dec- would mean a saving to that ernment they would be foolish y exemptions to road mak- ilaratson of policy that a first one community of almost to pav a mere 300 for a road- year school trustee would have 200000 or more than 3 mills machine when thev can actu- been ashamed to be associated j in the municipal assessment ally win friends with this gov- with j thg seon absurdity in theernmeat and even save mon- the first absurdity is the j token treatment the municipal- jey by paying 51001 but apart limitation of exemptions to lilies received last april is the from that aspect 1 am wonder- jioad and firefighting equip- j limitation of the txecption ioirs if the government in its imctst call h a prize boner jour municipalities at least itation at road equip- 1 to what extent they may in the future expect i found anyone who could ex stiver kltos ml ykaich ix aurora stiver bros aurora elevat ors last week marked 50 years in business in our neighboring town the present premises near the cxr are the same with the exception of a few additions the aurora depot of stiver bros is nearly as old as the firm itself the partnership started at unionville in 1900 so successful did it prove that in a very short time the mat thews c o in p a n y asked the young firm to take over man agement of its elevators in stouffville and richmond hill mr f l stiver was in charge at stouffville while his bro therinlaw joseph watts took charge of aurora operations in 1915 the young firm bought the interests of the matthews company excepting richmond hill and has carried on at unionville where new offices were opened recently and stouffville and aurora ever since plain its purpose w possible exception of a few realists who seemed to think i it was just another to the long list of political tok- etis to which we have become ceustomed in the policies of this government whatever its purpose it has of course been a complete failure our hard- pressed municipal administra tors are too close to the reali ties of evermounting expenses and the everwidening gap be tween their financial resources and their financial rakponsibili- es to be taken in even for a moment by the niggardly ac tion which 1 find described on page 3737 of hansard of april h it reads as follows he govern- nwnt what possible sense can i unit purchases exceeding 1- mania for large spending has this make does this govern- 000 what possible sense can completely forgotten that think that roads this have does it mean that si 000 in many little items is just as important to the muni cipal taxpayer as a 1000 spent on a single item the efore to be time for some- j and better spending perhaps very nature of municipal fin- e j body to make it clear that i so at least we have some evi- 1 anting means an excess of hese are only two categories j dence that scene of our federal small over large items it is part and parcel of the thrift and good housekeeping which today of the utmost importance j not yet the lordbe praised to millions of canadian home- caught this glamorous federal jing yet it is currently penal- owners 1 cannot believe that government disease they arepzed and penalized heavily by anyone with any knowledge j not bigtime spenders at least the federal government they do not have a bigtime i the third absuiditv i might of hundreds of categories of i departments think so but mr addition i itll services which are chairman municipalities have canadian builders this man makes steel his name could be smith with his sweat the future of canada is being written for it is through the workers in steel lumber oil paper mining and on farms that canada grows and it is for smith and men like him that the modem con sumer finance company exists for as food is essential to man and man to industry and industry to canada so an additional source of money is essential to smith the citizen money for ihe unexpected the emergency ihe opportunity we are a source and often the answer to his needs household finance hps pioneered in providing a sound and intel ligent answer lo the money problems of hundreds of thousands of people money when you need it oushmmd finance utnxdas urges ud most becommekdeo consumer finance company item that the sales tax on the following goods be repeal ed e equipment sold to or imported by municipalities for their own use and not for re sale at a price in excess of one thousand dollars per unit especially designed for use di- lectly for road making road cleaning or fire fighting but not to include automobiles nor ordinary motor trucks in the first place it is limited to two classes of municipal ex penditure those on roads and firefighting equipment in the second it limits the exemption to purchases within these cate gories where the per unit cost exceeds 81000 in the third place the road equipment is limited to road making and road cleaning in the fourth place it attempts to set up a new cateogry of equipment unknown in the business world and quite without meaning namely ordinary motor trucks i shall discuss these absurdi ties in detail in a moment first of all however i think it should be said that the off hand and careless manner in which this important subject was handled in the budget ap pears to me and to many oth ers with special knowledge of and experience in the munici pal field to prove as conclus ively as anything could the complete unconcern of the gov ernment for the plight of the municipalities in this matter of excessive federal taxation here we have the evidence that the representations of worried and harassed munici pal officials and their associa tions are regarded by this government as unworthy of serious attention or honest thought even of reasonably precise draftsmanship more the shock with which the budget announcement was re ceived by municipal officials throughout canada was two fold first of all there was the keenest disappointment that the request for fair treat ment for the municipal level of government had been so arbitrarily i might almost say jocularly brushed aside the fair treatment which they de manded and which they still demand is the same treat ment in the matter of tax ex emptions for the poorest level of government the munici pal as that enjoyed by the richer provincial and federal levels instead they received only this thoughtless brush- off and i for one can only hope that we can impute to it no more sinister motives than political expediency or a misguided ministerial or de partmental sense of humour secondly there was some thing close to despair when it was realized that the detailed travel treats for prfnqtrn of municipal government would have omitted for ex ample school expenditures hospital and social welfare ex penditures when these exemp tions were being considered there are of course some gen- eral exemptions applicable here but the fact remains that millions of dollars are still be ing exacted in tribute by the federal government from the efforts of our municipalities to provide adequate education for our youth hospitalization for the sick and comfort for the old age of our senior citizens mr chairman we all know that in other fields we regard i some kinds of money as taint- 1 ed i respectful suggest to the government that any money it obtains from these sources falls into that category we know that according to cur rent fiscal policies some fields of taxation are regarded as especially fair game to the tax ing authorities 1 suggest that the field of school hospital and social welfare expenditures by municipal governments is one on which our people would if they could post xo hunting signs and expect them to be honoured even by the federal government in spite of its reputation for total disregard for such civic decencies surely mr chairman it is not too much for the munici palities to ask even at this late date that an immediate survey be made by the govern ment of this- whole field of municipal expenditure so that whatever action may be taken in the future will at least be realistic practical and in keep ing with the facts of the situa tion not just with the fancies of some dreaming draftsman to give only a single exam ple from a jurisdiction with which i am familiar a gener al exemption from sales tax of school board purchases in the city of 0 s h a w a alone would mean a saving of some 35000 to 40000 to the citi zens of that community to carry the matter further the decision of this government to grant equal and fair treatment tag and road cleaning has anvone in this government ever stopped to think that the by the preset making and cleaning of roads are actually less than 50tc of average road expenditures by municipalities in other jurte- dictions of course these may well represent a larger portion of the whole but on the muni cipal level road maintenance is the big item then why was it not mentioned perhaps someone will say that this is a mere technicality but i can not agree the words as they stand are specific and they do not include maintenance xor do they include bridges also an important item in mu nicipal expenditures if the omission was merely careless serious thoughfu and painstakiitg consideration of their problems govenunem the fourth absurdity and it has already caused endless dif ficulty is the careless phrase ordinary motor trucks can anyone on the government side of the liouse or anywhere else for that matter tell me what an ordinary motor truck is is it a motor truck to which no snowplow is attach ed if so and i believe that is the current ruling docs it cease to be ordinary when the snowplow is attached should the municipality therefore pay its toll to the federal govern ment in summer but not in winter in good weather but not in bad and what mr ness as i suspect it was then i continued on page 1 memorial scholarship fund for agnes macphail agnes macphail believed in canadian women and devoted her great and generous life to the enrichment oi theirs when she died last february she left her house in perfect order the country girl from grey county first woman to be elect ed to the liouse of commons hed that seat from 121 to 1910 and during that time conduct ed almost singlehanded a cru sade for prison reform as ear ly as 1927 when no woman was allowed to visit penitentiaries the intrepid agnes macphail stood on her right as a legis lator presented herself at the formidable north gate at king- ston and refused to leave until she had marched through the prison from dome to dungeon it was then the inriefatigu- able exschoolteacher began her long and valiant struggle for better and more humane condtions in canadian prisons agnes macphail was a superb orator but greater than that she was the purest of humani tarians her compassion was boundless but beyond that she felt a personal responsibility for the welfare of these forgot ten people her unceasing fight for justice throughout the pris on riots of the early thirties and afterwards resulted in the appointment of a royal com mission to investigate condi tions in canadian penal insti tutions the findings of this commission later became the famed archambault report one of the most challenging documents on canadas penal problems agnes maaphail was a pio neer of a dedicated kind she held fast to her high principles and accepted her public respon sibility with unflagging zeal and a yeoman courage new horizons unfolded for canadian women through her pointing fok parkxts only letter to mother by nancy cleaver dear mother how are you how i wish i could come to see you this mothers day but as that is impossible here is a second best a visit by letter ill be phoning long distance around noon if my call can get through it is always such a comfort to hear your voice but three minutes goes so quickly i never quite get time to ask you all the things i want to know and i usually realize af ter i have hung up that in the excitement of talking to you i had forgotten something 1 detroit st louis new orleans 1335 3090 5080 round trip by bus snowbalps paiber shop ph stoufftilk 270j2 wanted to say as i struggle with the varied activities of three children i often marvel at the patience you had with all the projects we four youngsters carried out what fun we had with the neighborhood gang in out back yard i remember one spring and summer following a visit of a circus lo town we had a series of circuses we collected pets from every one in the block and put them into improvised wooden crates for cages as our wild ani mals they were wildly indig nant at such strange treatment do you recall our tumbling rfcts the mouth organ numbers choruses and recitations on our kntertainment program paul ine johnsons flint and fea ther was much used as suit able poetry for a circus do you remember the hot saturday afternoon when the borrowed tent collapsed on the indignant audience each of whom had paid a v admission fee including a weak luke warm lemonade drirvkl no one was hurt but to pacify jtponse the spectators you gave us a there plate of freshbaked cookies to pass around another thing im always grateful to you m i remember of mud i recall the very spe cial place togo had in our home how his stubby black tail wriggled with joy when ever we paid him any atten tion how eagerly he would bring a ball to us drop it at our feet and beg us to play with him you welcomed our friends and our pets but most of all mother you never were too occupied or too weary to wel come us when we came home from school on blustery win try days it was so good to come bursting in the door to the warm house and call mother are you here when we went away to com plete our education and to work and later when we were all in homes of our own you have always stood by us it has been so comforting to turn to you in our anxiety or per plexity then too it has been a great source of strength to us to know that each morning when you waken you remember us one by one in your prayers i am very sure they help us through each day as we think of you too at that lime the miles letween us seem to vani ish the french have a ying a mothers love is ever in its j spring and the scottish folk the mothers breath is aye so sweet in the springtime i of the year when the world out of doors is so full ofoveliriess it is good to have this special day mothers day we are thankful through and through that in all the days in all the seasons we can call eagerly j with confidence of a quick re- m other are you just like we did when we were small we hope you will be with us for a long long time and be just as hood when ou mg en- us for r you anything the way and her unique ac complishments roused the in terest and support of women everywhere one o her last projects was helping to found the toronto branch of the elizabeth fry society of which she was hon orary president this organi zation given to aiding in the rehabilitation of women pris oners was especially close to agnes macphail with the sponsorship of the elizabeth for students who wish to study in that department it would seem fitting that this tribute to the lasting mem ory of agnes macphail will carry on her inspired and hu manitarian crusade for human dignity and justice within the walls of our canadian prisons contributions may be sent to the agnes macphail memorial scholarship fund 311 jarvis street toronto fry society a committee litis been formed of representative women to establish an agnes macphail memorial fund the fund to be used to establish scholarships at the school of social work university of to ronto for students who may wish later ao work in the field of probation and rehrbilitation of prisoners or when a chair of penology may be set up to be wr jth nouse mors thin her share i from your middle child j thats a question we all ask ourselves q wi we ask it at imperial too and ihe answer is to be found in our annual report- here is where each imperial dollar went last year 53 went fo buy crude oil and other raw materials i 28a went to operating costs including pa cheques pu jq our employees 10 was gobbled up in taxes and this doesnt include the provincial gasoline w 4wgs used io replace wornout equipment- tie rest- 4 wac dividends jo our shareholders for the use of plants and equipment bought with their mone imperial oil limited