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5 4 News PAGE TIN THURSDAY THE THIRTEENTH DAY OF DECEMBER NINETEEN HUNDRED AND FIFTYONE FALSE CHARGES EXPOSED Grow of Aurora News Page Prompts By Those Who Resent Its Popularity Last week we advised our readers that the pencils of Banner reporters were very busy while Mayor Bell and Reeve Cook fired their verbal shots at us and our newspaper A few days later the Banner tidal wave of abuse broke over us Jt is necessary that we should- is admitted to Public School make a few things clear in case j Board meetings falsity supersedes fact We value The Lions Club deeply the growing confidence so attacking the Aurora many citizens in Aurora have we were once de- placed in our News Pages It is due to them that charges made scribed by a pastpresident of club its ambassador at large for the reason that we had done so much voluntary publicity work for its activities We were given an open invita tion to attend its functions whenever we felt like doing so While we appreciated this we did not avail ourselves of it as we did not think it right to abuse the hospitality of the club by constant appearances It is a service club for members and we did not relish the idea of abusing its hospitality I It appears that some members of the Lions club have taken of fence because we published the opinion of one Aurora lady who thought that the suggested new name of Lions Den for the Mechanics hall sounded like a cocktail bar In no way what ever did we attack the Lions club On the contrary in the same editorial in which we quot ed the ladys opinion we paid tribute to the work of the club The irresponsible Banner has now twisted it to mean that we railed the Lions club a cock tail lounge It had better get another sticker out on its front page marked CORRECTION Some people believe what they want to believe however much the facts may be against them There is only one answer for such the one that Dr Samuel Johnson gave to a foolishmind ed person who persisted in say ing that whatever the evidence against him he would still hold to Ids opinion Sir said Dr Johnson I can give you a rea son but I cannot give you under standing We will leave the matter there except to say that if the Aurora Lions club persist in renaming the Mechanics hall the Lions Den we shall con demn such a choice as ridiculous ly foolish Everything and Mayor Bell said we had at tacked in fact everything and everybody in Aurora There is an old saying that nothing is opened more often by mistake than the mouth Mayor Bells preposterous and untruthful al legation is a case in point It is so far from the truth that it was slanderous when it was spoken and libellous when it was print- led One had a right to expect against us by Mayor Bell and published verbatim in the Ban ner should be corrected Were we to remain silent some people might mistake our silence consent Accusations Mayor Bell did say these words and they were printed in the Banner of last week This man has attacked the Planning Board the Public School Board the High School Board the Ban ner the Lions Club in fact everything everybody in Aurora This man of course being the editor of Au rora News Pages It is quite true that we have consistently criticized the oper ations of the Aurora planning Board during the two years and four months we have writ ing for the Banner and Aurora News Pages At all times we our reasons for so doing but never at any time have we written one word of personal criticism of any member of the planning board To criticize the work and purposes of the plan ning board is one thing to criti cize members personally is something very different AH the members of the Aurora Planning Board are citizens of repute and we are glad to say that some of them are our per sonal friends Of the boards chairman Dr C we have previously written in praise of his outstanding per sonal abilities We have regard ed and still regard Dr as a very able man Even if he were our enemy which we do not believe he is we would re tract nothing from our estimate of him as an able and clever ex ponent of his policies Hi School Boards We have criticized the High and Public School Boards for the reason that we have not found their meetings open to the press We are of the opinion that as boards are spenders of public money the press should be invited to their board meet ings to enable the citizens of Au rora to be informed on their ac tivities It is a reasonable re quest and we cannot see any basis for opposing it As for our personal relations j more careful utterances with the chairmen of the boards lips of the first citizen and chief they are of the best We have a high regard for Dr Williams chairman of the High School Board and are on good personal terms with him believe he lias the longest record of public service of any nian in Aurora Thai does not deter us from say ing that in our opinion the press should be present at high school meetings Only by press attend ance can the citizens be inform ed on their work- As a man talk with and to argue with we want no better than Dr Henderson chairman of the Public School Board We have found him a very likeable man He says what he thinks and be damned to it He cer tainly is no He is a dynamic personality and such personalities are too rare We certainly dont think Dr Hen derson is our enemy We cer tainly are not an enemy of his But we shall continue to barrage magistrate of the town of Au rora Besides the Christian chur ches the Masonic lodge the Oddfellows and the Sons of Temperance there may be other organizations of which We have no knowledge In addition to those others we are mentioning here Ve would mention how ever that we have not attack ed the Agricultural or Horticul tural societies the the Home and School Association the Rotary and Lions clubs the Commission the Canadian Legions We have never at any time attacked any individual in his private capacity Of Mayor Bell himself as a private individual no one has at any time heard one word of condemnation foil from our lips On the contrary we have spoken of him as a very pleasant man to talk to As chairman of council him and bis board u the press leader as head of a municipal is fl LETTER TO EDITOR Protest Rink Financial Report we failure An Independent Paper anyone has been maligned it is ourselves Through our writings over the past two years and four months we have tried to serve the citizens of Aurora in the best way we could No one has suggested what should write in Aurora News Pages no one interferes with it Ours is in every sense an inde pendent newspaper working for the best interests of the com munity it serves Readers rec ognize this and that is why our sales have rapidly increased dur ing the past few months The concentrated fury of the attacks made on us at nomina tion night supported by the grimy overflow in the pages of the Banner is evidence of the power and popularity of Aurora News Pages These partisan forces would like to destroy us as they tried to liquidate us by buying the Banner They did not succeed then they cannot succeed now Our strength lies the support of many hund reds of Aurora subscriber who week buy our newspaper know what would in for If there were no other paper to Aurora but the JllfMUOfllibw Aurora News Page Dear Sir I have waited for weeks for some responsible per son to correct the misinforma tion given the public in the fi nancial statement that was pre sented to council by Mayor Bell and was supposed to be a correct statement of the financial affairs of the Aurora Memorial Arena Commission This was a bastard statement for no one had fathered it as it was unsigned not even a birth certificate for it was not certi fied by any auditor Mayor Bell appeared to act the part of a midwife and pre sented unfortunate urchin to the council who apparently ad opted it without even taking the trouble to investigate its back ground What is the use of electing council members with business experience and ability if they do not use it for the bene fit of the community As a former member of the Arena Commission I know the statement to be grossly mislead ing There is no reason to doubt the figures given in the report but the figures that were not given change the picture very con siderably No financial statement would present a true picture if it did not include the accounts out standing also credit accounts or any other information that would effect the final balance I have good reason to know that an examination of the town treasurers books will show that the Arena Commission owed the town treasury about as of December 31 for expenses paid by the town treasurer on behalf of the Arena Commission during before the arena came into operation The Arena Commission has not paid this account but it ap peared in the 1051 tax bill as part of the levy of 2600 as ex penses of the Recreation Com mission though the Recreation Commission had no part in in curring this debt as they had Mr J Aubrey Holmes engaged as recreation director that year from about June 20 to the end of August full time and part time for most of the winter and he was paid by the Recreation Commission out of their own funds No services were receiv ed from the arena staff by the Recreation Commission that year This action of the town council is a clear case of making a goat of the Recreation Commission I have good reason to know that a further examination of the town treasurers record will show that on December 3 the Arena Commission owed the treasury a further amount for that year of almost of this amount was paid into the town treasury to lie ap plied to the Arena Commission account by the Recreation Com mission as consideration for the services of the arena staff the arena manager and his assistant according to an arrangement be tween the two commissions that vas negotiated early in 1950 and verified in a letter dated April 1950 Strangely of the two accounts in and al most in a lotol of almost which had been incurred by the Arena Commis sion was levied on the taxpayers by the town council in the tax bill as Recreation Commission expenses which left a balance of unac counted for Perhaps it will ap pear as expenses of the Recrea tion in 1 It is a fact that the Recreation Commission did not receive the levied for it but It did receive a grant of which did not show as such on the tax bill and I was informed by a person in a position to know that this amount was hidden under another heading So it would appear that the tax bill was a deliberate attempt by town council to deceive the taxpayer Getting back to the re port even a casual observer would see that the statement showed the revenue for two seasons but only one years de benture payraent debenture payments are due in August of each year com mencing in August This money must be made be fore that date if the payments are to be met By teminating the report at Julv 1951 a much rosier pic ture was shown but in reality the debenture payment for that year must be met out of the bal ance on hand July 31 Since the statement covers the period up to July it should have shown the amount owing the town treasury for ex penses paid in up to that time And as all three of the arena staff were employed full time it is expected that the ac count will be substantially higher than in with less time chargeable to the Recrea tion Commission The statement is also mislead ing in that it does not give the Arena Commission credit for the value of the free time given the community at the amount such time could have been sold for The Arena Commission is en titled to credit for this amount and if it had shown the taxpayer would then be able to see what the services were cost ing him There is also the item of fire insurance premium Previously insurance prem iums on the arena had been paid by the town out of the general fund but since the extension to the arena building and the in stallation of artificial ice equip ment this item was paid by the Arena Commission and as the policy is for three years two- thirds of the premium is pre paid So taking all these items into consideration the final picture is quite different to that shown by the statement which was adopt ed by the town council and given to the public through the press The taxpayers are entitled to a true picture and there is no good reason why the Arena Commission should not present to the town council and the pub lic a properly authorized and audited statement for each cal endar year just as the school board hydro commission lib rary board and recreation com mission do The taxpayer has capi tal invested in the arena pro ject with an annual operating expenditure of or more At the time of my resignation from the Arena Commission three of its members did not even make a pretense of attend ing the meetings and it is hard to understand why the council could expect efficient adminis tration of arena affairs by re appointing members who do not attend the meetings have no doubt the attendance of the members would have been much better if regular meetings held and the work of the Arena Commission was properly organized so that each member would have a definite share of responsibility and work- Most any organization of consequence has definite meet ing dates and divides the work under standing committees The Arena Commission bod no regular meeting date and no standing committees to give euciy member a share of the responsi bility Enquiry disclosed the fact thai similar organizations In some neighboring communities met once a week when the arena was operating full lime and once a month during the summer sea- son and in most cases they com their project in the year or less while the Aurora Arena Commission has yet completed one project in nearly three years The statement has definite in dications of having been de liberately compiled to mislead the taxpayers rather than to in form them of the facts Surely the people are entitled to know the truth about their community affairs Yours truly Swindle December 3 I TO THE HECTORS OF THE vtf iia HAPPIEST LITTLE GIRL Mr C J Clarke attended the sixth annual banquet of the QuarterCentury Club of the Civil Service Association of On tario held in the Royal York hotel on December when over members were present Mrs Clarke served for the long period of years in the Civil Service in the Department of Lands and Forests originally known as the Department of Lands Forests and Mines G I B B O TRANSPORT LOCAL ft LONG MOVING AND Storage NKWMAMKnr 1 I 1 Happiest little girl anywhere this Christmas will be this five- yearold going home after two years at Queen Mary Hospital for Tuberculous children Weston New wonder drugs streptomycin and PAS speeded cure from of the kidney rare in children Christmas Seals pay for free chest xrays to find hidden cases before they spread Christmas Seats financed free xrays given by the National Sanitarium Association in the past year and so found hidden cases of TB CHRISTMAS SEAL APPEAL On that night long ago when a star paused over Bethlehem the crowd gathered there took no note of the wonder They were too intent on the taxes they were going to have to pay Some like the innkeeper had time only for business There may even have been some absorbed in schemes dark as Herods What a sombre picture of mankind it would have been had not a little group of shepherds hastened to worship and three strangers come to pay homage and bring gifts How grateful we should be that there some who came forward with gifts No wonder we call them the Wise Men since they had the insight to do what we would all have wanted done Even the care less ones who went heedless about the town would have wished gifts brought had they realized how great the occasion Knowing the Wise Men were right we have made Christmas a time for gifts which relieve the misery imposed by want and disease The Christmas Seal Sale sponsored by the National Sanitarium Asso ciation offers an opportunity to those who would lighten the burden of disease by preventing tubercu losis It is one way open to those who wish to follow the example of the Wise Men His lik J it a Chrim actually bearal e No matter which hand you never to wrong Arrow sturdy longwearing fabrics he especially lined to chase away wrinkles and encourage a perfect knot Our FArrow patterns color the ones he would choose himself Come them GLENVILLE We are pleased to hear that Mr and Mrs Tustin are recov ering from their bad colds Mr Carson our school teach er has got his garage erected Mr and Mrs Chns Norton celebrated their years of mar ried life We hope they will have many more Congratula tions Mr Art Edwards attended the supper at the Hunt club at Au rora Mr Chas Norton is busy these days getting some wood homo for next winter Mr and Mrs Howard Norton of Do gar I town visited at the home of his parents Mr and Mrs Chas Norton school teacher Mr ar son is preparing a concert in the near future Mr from Toronto been visiting Mr and Mrs Albert MRS A REJOINS AG OFFICE It has been announced by M Cockburn agricultural for York County that Mrs Arthur of Now- market has been reappointed secretary on the staff of ftjfi York branch of the Ontario Depart ment of Agriculture at Newmar ket Mrs Kirbyson ho re membered by many of the far and former Junior farmers who have availed themselves of the services of the department of agriculture as Webster prior to her marriage to Arthur of Newmarket who passed away recently Mrs Kirbyson resumed her duties in agricultural office on Dec I on the resignation Miss Alberta Atkins her farmer successor We have it on the very best authority Old Santa himself been year for toy production Stated he in prepared to gifts that will many tittle friends On his list we noted such wttfcit FOR MECCANO SETS TRUCKS AND SETS MODEL BOATS AND SIGNAL MUSICAL INSTUlMENTS SETS am LOO SB m 1 I TV aii ay to r I v CLAY MODELLING Sffi i I- t- a J xV p t 4 I El c i2 tr st I At J M si 4 t