The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

A r J I I VOl IIS No And Promises r With the of a new year as is we pause to cor elder thV prospect we have in store for us and perhaps the promises con we have in store for us ana pernaps ine promises or new year resolutions made a year ago which were probably not kept as as they might have been The year will be a significant one as we of Canada and people Of the world celebrate the Centennial of Confederation As we close to home arrange many activities to mark the birthday of Canada those in other countries will watch with interest our enthusiasm and progress made The spotlight will be on us in our home town and as we travel to visit other parts of Canada the United States and perhaps European countries which leaves us a definite part to play It is our job to sell to others our own community its advan tages and the people with whom we mingle In addition when far from home we should be Canadians in the fullest sense be proud of the fact do whatever we can to add prestige to our people and country and be ambas sadors of goodwill Expo will bring many from other countries to Canada and some of us will have occasion to meet with them in a variety of public places and this will be the golden opportunity to impart to them that Canada is modern progressive and friendly Our prospects for the new year could be great more emphasis on the commercial industrial and cultural aspects more happiness for each as our individual economic level rises Our resolutions or promises to ourselves could be many and quite varied and it is up to us in trying to keep them to do our utmost to promote more harmony and friendship wherever we may be Canada is a country of great potential and from it in various ways we have reaped many benefits and now as she is celebrating an important birthday it is our responsibility to be truly Canadian The Virus Another World Even Jules Verne couldnt create such a galaxy of beauty This type of scene is common throughout Canada during Jan uary and February as a cover of white blankets the wooded areas These two skiers are pausing to thrill at the wonderment of winter as they take a crosscountry tour along one of the many picturesque Canadian ski trails SUGAR SPICE By Bill Smiley What A Year More Rigid Inspection The inflammatory characteristics of the Raggedy Ann dolls sold this Christmas season makes one wonder what restrictions apply regard ing the safety of dolls and other toys brought into Canada It has been firmly established that this type of doll manufactured in Warsaw Poland and another from Great Britain are a hazard to a child and probably the home According to one source toys such as these have to be approved by either a provincial or federal department before they can be put on the Canadian market If such is the case someone slipped badly in not subjecting the dolls to a series of tests to ensure they would be safe for a child to handle that the hair is a synthetic fibre and the facial con struction a form of plastic should have been sufficient reason for more rigid inspection before quantities were admitted to Canada and distributed for sale Challenge Of Hunger The recent demonstrations of Canadian housewives against rising foodprices was an exercise in responsible citizenship But a realistic perspective must be kept on such things The sense of proportion must not be distorted by peoples general affluence Public health authorities have said that in North America more people die of too much food than of too little Malnutrition has not been eliminated in our society but obesity has become a greater health prob lem in Canada and the USA than is malnutrition The medical people seriously discuss what is called for the child Sleek affluent North Americans need to be reminded that two- thirds of the people in the world are undernourished The World Health Organization an agency of the United Nations has estimated that mal nutrition is a major factor in over four million deaths throughout the world each year For most people in the world today the great problem is not a cold war in danger of becoming hot but a cold empty feeling in the pit of the stomach which is not likely to become a warm full one It will be to the lasting shame of the people of the affluent parts of the world if they do not meet aggressively and constructively and compassionately the problem of world hunger The beginning of a new year is a sort of effort Its a bit like having a party You are fresh bathed and charming Your Hello to the first guests radiates warmth affection and vitality But your Goodbye goodbye as the Inst guests totter off into the snow is a combination of exhaustion relief and cold horror as you realize what time it is And thats pretty much the way we feel about the year thats ahead and the year that has passed Its a sign of the indomitable human spirit that we can look back on a year that was nothing but an unadulterated mess and yet look forward with the greatest cheer and optimism to 12 months of what will probably be exactly the same Or is it plain stupidity the irrationality of man the only rational species For most of us normal human beings each year like life itself is a mixture of pitfalls and prat falls and victories and conquests and frustrations and accomplish ments Its a good drink but it has more than a dash of bitters in it Maybe your husband had a heart attack But your daughter pro duced a beautiful grandchild May be your teenage daughter became pregnant But your old man finally went on the wagon You lost some old friends hut gained some new ones Your hair grew whiter and your teeth blacker But your arthritis im proved and your Aunt died and left you You worried for approximately four hours about the state of the world and the starving in India and the war in Vietnam And you worried depending on your age anywhere from two to hours about your hair your complexion your constipation your job your boss your bills your wife your husband your children your roof your base ment your inability to sleep your inability to hold your liquor as you used to your mother-in- law your daughterinlaw your smugness your lack of security your brain tumour your stomach cancer your waistline your bust- line And thousand other things of equal importance Yes Jack or Jill you worried Silly wasnt it But this year Wow Things are going to be different Your children are going to do what you want them to Your wife or husband is going to realize finally that your were right all the time Youre going to be a Belter Person Thats it A Better Per son And no fooling about it You arc going to stop nagging You arc going to be more tolerant of your nutty child ren or nutty parents You are going to go to church every Sun day You are going to get more sleep more exercise You are go ing to have a baby write a book join a club Thats the stuff chaps Well good luck Mac and Mabel You may need it I have the utmost faith in the human spirit but you cant kill a dinosaur with a pea shooter And thats about nil we have to fight with when we enter the jungle of another year of life However this is a different New Year Its the anniversary of the Fathers of Confederation or something I know how that stirs every Canadian to the marrow Theres no doubt that every one of us feels a thrill of pride as we enter this particular year One hundred years ago we were ft patchedtogether uneasy suspi cious resentful amalgamation of distinct areas worrying only about local rights and how much it was going to cost us But what a change in a years Today we arc a proud glori ous nation worrying about how much its going to cost us local rights resentful envious suspi cious uneasy and One cannot help but think AS one looks with shining eyes into the shining new year our centen nial year that we have made trc- strides Sideways When a virus infects a neigh bors house no citizen of the neigh- should go unconcerned It Is for this reason that the virulent racism now so rampant In the United States should be of con cern to Canadians The long struggle for civil rights and integration of blacks with whites in American society so valiantly supported by the Kennedy and Johnson administrations pears now to have reached a turn ing point The fight for rights within law has been won Integration with nil the accompanying privileges of freedom of transport education and housing has become a fact of law Negroes were imported to Am erica as slaves and have provided an economic base of cheap labor for the South ever since Similar parallels can he drawn with other racial minorities In North America particularly Orientals And In other areas of the world where whites have exploited native colored labor such as in South Africa the goal of white power blocs has always been to retain a cheap labor source That the natives have benefitted to the extent of an improved liv ing standard in comparison with standards that prevailed before the arrival of the whites does not diminish this fact Flowing from this economic exploitation is a whole folk lore of racism created to justify and explain away the behavior of the white power blocs While segregation has been out lawed in the United States and desegregation is now under way the achievement of full integration remains at least a generation away In my travels throughout the United States I never cease to be impressed by the sharp and clear division between black and white society even in the North I am convinced that except in rare cases contact between whites and Negroes is limited to servile inci dents with the Negro of course always filling the role of the ser vant One cannot meanwhile escape the fact that most Negroes in America are indeed inferior to whites in economic cultural and educational qualities It is equally obvious that a very great weight of this burden must rest on the white community which by its domination of the Negroes has kept succeeding generations imprisoned in a bleak world of immorality ignorance and unem ployment onto a global scale hence the American hysteria over yellow China and the ferocity of the war against the yellow peoples of Vietnam Canada is not perfect in treatment of racial minorities but it is important to recognize the virus next door The most significant turn in the civil rights struggle has of course been the rise of the Black Power advocates such as Stokely Riots will now become bloodier and more deadly If and when Negroes and poor whites unite in the United States in a common struggle for Dollar Power Negroes will have a much better chance of achieving their goals It is a forgotten fact of Ameri can history that racism in the South never reached really serious proportions until after the Civil War when a Populist movement arose that was based on a coalition of poor whites and Negroes The white power structure cleverly split this natural coalition by setting the two races apart and creating for the poor whites a class even lower than themselves The result is that racism has so infected American society that this attitude has been projected t Dear Editor Much has been said from time to time regarding council proceed ings but the fact remains that most of the comment has been based upon hearsay rather than on experience gained by attending council meetings Each time the inaugural meet ing is held the council chamber has 200 or more spectators on hand but come the regular ses sions and they are held in virtual privacy With a new mayor and some newcomers to council could see a more progressive approach to civic matters and proceedings should prove of rest to those who take sufficient interest in town affairs to attend a Monday night attendance of the people f Newmarket would also indicate there is interest and Attendee Mr Bill Smiley The Era Newmarket Ont Bear Mr Smiley I want to personally commend you for your recent article in The Era in which you defended the traditional truths in connection with the Christmas event It is a source of rejoicing to many of us that a number of laymen like yourself are seeing through the ridiculous extreme liberal pratings of supposedly learned theologians who are leading thousands of people into confusion and uncer tainty Please accept this note of grati tude from one who deeply appreci ates your frankness Please keep abreast of current religious con troversial issues and use your in fluence through the gift of writ ing to help preserve rather than destroy the precious faith of our fathers Sincerely yours Gerald Kemp r I By Elizabeth To start the new year with happy note A shopper highly mends an unknown youngster who recently and in a downtown store did volunteer to help her carry a few armful of parcels to her car away some distance This saved a lot of precious time a second trip through crowd and slush and brightened up her day and outlook on humanity In view of some of- todays headlines on youth this certainly deserves a public lion as one good turn deserves another Its little things that For those who have no big plans or big resolutions for the centen new year here are some wild suggestions Some would be wet come to check the ice on Fairy Lake and post a sign on days when it is not safe to skate Somebody would be welcome to tow away from public sight into a dumpyard an old car abandoned In a downtown parking lot Un served as plaything for the young sters to the extent that practically nothing is left except the battered chassis with its licence plate which incidentally could serve to find the owner Someone could take up the pro ject of keeping the population numbers up to date on our high way signs Newmarket proudly ranges in the residents the signs are lagging years behind Someone could put the Town Hall up as object of a contest in mural painting for young and wouldbe artists Abstract art or not thing could look worse than pre sently the naked walls Some very minor projects are found on everybodys doorstep a Just once a day pick up a discarded piece of paper from the road or sidewalk and in turn to never drop a thing oneself would keep the streets so clean for resi- dents that one would no more wonder when on earth they ever will get swept This project really would be perfect for the children they stoop much easier and gen erally are the worst offenders There must be dozens more of similar ideas in fact this could be a project in itself for somebody or some organization to gather such ideas see how they can be worked and put them up for bids by volunteers Is anybody 1 THE ERA t J Serving ji Northern York County Since I -l- j DAVID HASKELL J Editor and Publisher GIL SHEPHERD News Editor Published every Wednesday at Charles St Ontario the Newmarket Era Com- Limited Subscription two years for one year vance Single copies Member or Canadian Weekly pa pen Association Bureau of Circulations Authored mm Second Class Mali Post Office Depart ment Ottawa- a