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THE DAILY TIMES-GAZETTE[ -- Rublished by Times-Gazette Publishers Limited, 57 Simcoe St. S., Oshawa, Ont, Page 6 Saturday, March 22, 1958 | 'Why Should Schools Be Closed On November 11 The Guelph Board of Education, ac- cording to the Guelph Mercury, has passed a resolution calling for abolition of the school holiday which has be- come customary on November 11. This resolution will be submitted for endor- sation to a forthcoming convention of Ontario school trustees. This is a subject in which there is a good deal of interest. It stems from the time, over 25 years ago, when the Par- liament of Canada passed an act de- elaring November 11 in each year a statutory holiday, It was observed as such for a few years. But the passing of time has blurred the original thinking behind it, and it is now very little ob= served. Certainly, in business and in- flustry, the day's holday on November 11 is a thing of the past. It is observed only by banks, government offices and the schools. There is some merit in the idea of the Guelph board of education that the day could be more fittingly observed and made impressive to the children if they were in school on that day, If the children were in school, there could sbe proper memorial services at which the meaning and significance of Re- ! Imembrance Day could be brought home 'GUEST EDITORIAL 'Importance Of By REV. S, C. H. ATKINSON Samuel Shellaberger, who is the au= shor of many stirring tales of rumance, imight not be thought of as being pri- Jnarily spiritually minded. This is the ®ort of injustice we do to people who 'move in circles different from our own. "Mr. Shellaberger wrote a few comments on the American home which deserves 'attention from us. "How many homes in the fullest sense of the word are there in Ameri- ea?" he asks, "how many of our people e prepared to pay the price in terms .-} character and spirit that such homes Fpavire?" "The home into which 1 was born xty odd years ago," he continues, "in- uded three generations, therefore it plied the past and its heritages; it "iso implied religious faith and princi= ples of conduct, It was a life in com=- mon, a'sharing of good and evil for- to the pupils. As at present observed, it is just one more holiday, one more day to go to the movies in the after- noon, as most children seem to do when they have a day free from school. Hon. Dr, W. J. Dunlop, Ontario minis= ter of education, a few years ago sought to have this day abolished as a school holiday. He presented a plea to the On- tario Command of the Canadian Legion to support him in such a move. He put forward the arguments used above, But the Ontario executive did not see eye to eve with him, and voted down the pro- posal, As a distinguished member of the Legion, Dr. Dunlop took the decision gracefully, and gave up his idea. Now it has again been brought for- ward, from another source, it should be given careful consideration. We are all in favor of a proper observance of Re=- membrance Day. On that day, Oshawa honors its war dead with a service at the War Memorial, 'Although it is a school holiday, only a handful of the thous- ands of Oshawa school children attend. They are seeking pleasures elsewhere They could have the day brought much more dramatically to their attention by attending school, and having an im- pressive Remembrance Day service there, Good Homes tune, joy and sorrow. It had its own individual accent. So through the years it grew as an elm tree grows. Among the various influences on my life -- education, travel, friends -- nothing equals it in importance." But this home exacted a price. It required qualities of spirit and charac- ter that could only be had by discip= line. It did not exist merely for the benefit of one generation. It was inter= dependent rather than independent; youth, maturity and age were all part of its pattern, It valued tradition as well as progress; old experience as well as new-fangled theory; and above all did not find nervous activity essential to happiness." Happily, a great many people still have homes, but surely we agree with Mr, Shellaberger that homes in the ful- lest sense of the word have to be deserv- ed. They have to be self-built. They cannot be had at any lower cost. Collecting Taxes Earlier T, D. Thomas, MLA. for Oshawa rid- Ing, in his weekly report on the Ontar- io legislature to readers of The Times- Gazette, made mention of a bill which would be of great benefit to all Ontario municipalities, It is a private bill pre- sented by the city of Chatham. It would permit the council of that city to col- lect up to 40 per cent of its taxes at the beginning of the year, before the final tax rate has been struck. The benefit of this to any municipa- lity is readily apparent. Take the case of Oshawa, which is typical. The first tax payments do not come due and pay- able until some time in May, There- fore, from January 1 until the date of the first tax instalment, the city has to borrow large sums of money from the banks in order to finance the city's op- erations. Under the Chatham bill, this borrowing would not be necessary, as sufficient tax money would be collect- ted to carry the city over until the fur- ther tax payments were made. We note with interest that when the bill was before the private bills com- mittee of the legislature, Mr. Thomas protested that the government should Bible Thoughts Be strong and of good courage. Josh- ua 1-9, + Joshua was an ir spiring leader, his courage was contagious. Faith is a form t Jof courage. We need it to make a real Jife, The Daily Times-Gazette T. L. WILSON, Publisher end General Manager. ditor Editor (Editorial Page). ly Newspcpers Publishers res udit Bureau of necia! Dailies clusively en- of all news tches in the paper it or to The sted Press or Reuters olso the local news publisned therein. All rights of special despatches are clso reserved Offices: 44 King Street 640 Cothcart St, West, Montreal, P.Q. SUBSCRIPTION RATES Toronto. Ontarle; hawa, Whitby, Ajax, Port Perry, Prince Frenchman's Bay, n. Enniskillen, r ver 40c per week. oro outside carrier ry arecs E AVERAGE DAILY NET PAID CIRCULATION AS AT JAN. 31 15.575 nce of Ontario) 0 ewhere 1500 per vear amend the Municipal Act, to make it permissive for any municipality to do exactly what the city of Chatham pro- poses to do, He also suggested that provision might be made for a small rebate on tax payments made at the be- ginning of the year. We agree with Mr, Thomas that this is something which should be done, instead of confining this legislation to one municipality. As a matter of fact; the same thing has been done in Oshawa before, and without any legislation at all, Back in one of the depression years, the city council offered a discount to all tax- payers who would make deposits against the payment of their taxes in January, to save borrowing money from the bank. By this means, some $200,000 found their way into the city treasury in the first month of the year, and that was a lot of money in those days, Perhaps next year, so many other municipalities will want the same le- gislation as Chatham has asked for that the government will see the wisdom of Mr. Thomas' suggestion, and make such legislation available to all municipali- ties. Other Editor's Views BRITISH FREEDOM (Hamilton Spectator) Since the last war 15 new nations have come into being, most of them ay aresult of wise British colonial policy. It is a record of which the British peo- ple might well be proud and it is a sharp contrast to the policies of the Soviet Union which has denied self- determination to millions of human be- ings, Bits Of Verse PROPER TIME Touch a word lightly, Ever and ever, nurture it fondly Hurry it never. Let it come slowly. Find what is needed after a living language is seeded, after the patient untiful sowing; nthe morning lL that is ¢rowing l that is growing leaves ti were hidde e sho vey gree Words as awake as the crowing hour Joseph Joel Keith 'and cast! ever MAILMAN'S TROUBLES GALLUP POLL OF CANADA Interest In The Election Seen Highest In West By CANADIAN INSTITUTE OF PUBLIC OPINION How's interest in the election? Are voters lethargic about it -- or is there widespread concern? If Canadian voters today coud take the count across the country as a whole, it would be a three to one balance between at majority who profess interest, and those who report they are not much concerned or have not interest at all. On a comparable basis over- all degree of interest described as "Very" or 'Moderate' is about the same as was found in a similar pre-election period before last year's «lection when 74 per cent used their vote. It is larger than before the 1953 Federal election when turn-out was smaller, and 67 per cent actually voted. Degree of interest starts at a low of only 25 per cen. of Mari- timers who claim to be 'Very interested" and rises across the country to a high of 40 per cent in the West who feel this way U.K. OPINION The question is of particular interest in pre-election weeks, as experience has shown that, on the whole, it is those Cana- dians who show a positive de- gree of interest who are the likliest to use their franchise. Interviewers first asked vo- ters in a national cross-section, whether or not they were inter- ested in the coming election. Those men and women who said Very interested Moderately interested Only a little interested Nat at all interested Examining the four regions of the country separately shows the upward slide. in interest from east to west. It shows, too, that in Quebec province, one of the enigmas in the current Mar, 25% Very Interested .s Moderately interested .. Only a little interested Not at all interested . 43 14 18 they were, had a second ques- tion put to them: "ABOUT HOW MUCH YOU INTERESTED IN IT, WOULD YOU SAY--VERY IN- TERESTED, MODERATELY INTERESTED, OR ONLY A LITTLE INTERESTED?" For purposes of comparison the degree of iterest at about the same time before the last two Federal elections in 1957, and 1953 are shown below. 1057 327% ARE 1953 30% 37 44 12 18 21 8 campaign, more than a quarter of the voters report they are not interested at all. In Ontario this proportion drops to almost a third of this figure, while it is still lower in the West. Ont. 38% 41 39 11 13 10 8 Que. 35% 33 West 40% 5 27 Carolina Bomb Incident Starts Repercussions By "ONLOOKER" THOMSON NEWSPAPERS London, England, Bureau That bomb that dropped over South Carolina may not have ex- ploded, but it certainly let off a number of minor pangs over here. America's Strategic Air Command has bases in England's Midlands and in East Anglia, just northeast of London. Its aircraft have been at "readiness" for many months past and have been patrolling with nuclear bombs. When the bomb-dropping news flashed across, the Labor Opposi- tion immediately tried to make capital out of it on the "it could happen here' theme But British defence chiefs take the view that, when first heard, is apt to startle. "This," said one of them to me, "is the best thing that could have happened, People now. know that unless the bomb's complicated arming process 1s carried out, the bomb is just like any other bomb." Nonetheless, there is a need over here to educate the people more -- especially to dispel the dread of radiation. A Civil De- fence organization does exist here, but it is kept alive mostly by the enthusiasm of a public spirited few, Theoretically, too, the British have 33 "flying col- umns'"' of rescue workers based in spots all over the country poised to go to a nuclear bomb incident. But few of the columns are up to strength. GAMBLE Eighteen years ago a British film-maker called Michael Bal- con was sitting somewilere in the south of England waiting and wondering. Coming across the English Channel were the rumbles of British, French and German guns as the tiny British Expeditionary Force the only army the British had were being pressed back to Dunkirk Then came the evacuation, "One day said. Balcon then, "I'm going to 1aake a film about this." Now Balcon is boss of the Eal- {ng Studios over here, the outfit that has turned out those hilar- ious British comedies like "Pass- port to Pimlico" and "Whisky Galore'. The studios have spe- cialized in the smaller-scale pro- ductions But next week Balcon fulfils his promise. The film "Dunkirk" will open It is more than a promise that Balcon fulfilled. He has embark- ed on a gamble. It is the biggest British film (in terms of extras made. Close on 5000 troops were used But now the film publicists are facing a problem. The bulk of Britain's moviegoers now were babes in arms when Dunkirk took place. Most of them think of it as a French seaside resort. In show parlance -- will they "dig' *'Dun- kirk"? EXTRA POLISH There are a number of men over who are beginning to polish their marbles, I'd better say that again: There are a number of men over here who are beginning to polish their marbles. They are doing it at a little vil- lage called Tinsley Green, just outside London. For years past they have down there a World Championship Contest for marble players, No kid's stuff is this. Grown men play the game seriously. Teams come, generally, from the surrounding villages. Now and again they come from further afield, A couple of years back a squad of American sailors came down with their equipment and tried to beat the locals. They fail- ed But at least they tried. One Good Friday some time after the war -- the competition is always held then, on the green outside the village "pub" -- the locals were expecting some marble players from Scotland. But they never showed up . . . THE YANKS ARE COMING U.S. industrialists have been among those from overseas who have set up factories in Scotland. Most of them are for light en- gineering products. Now the Yanks are going to invade one of Scotland's most sacred fields. They are going to set up in the Highlands of Scotland a whisky distillery. With typical thorough- ness, they are going to build a model village to house the work- ers there. That is not all. Side-by-side with their Scotch activities, the Amer- icans, who have just acquired a controlling interest in a long- established British Distillers hope to boost sale of Bourbon over here. They want people to ask for Bourbon as instinctively as they ask for Scotch in a Brit- ish hotel or public house, Perhaps they will succeed in a generation or so. Vodka is be- coming an increasingly popular drink over here among some of the younger folk. But whisky still holds the lead -- and I'm noticing that more and more British women 'are asking for it in preference to tle "'gin-and-some- thin' ** drinks they .usually favor- ed SAVING "NESSIE" And 1 must keep north of the border to sign off with news that some of Scotland's brighter Mem- MAC'S MUSINGS One of the reasons why Many people suffer from Lack of peace of mind And worry needlessly About things which never Happen is the habit Of putting off such Tasks and duties as May seem unpleasant, It has been said that Procrastination is the Thief of time, but it Can just as truly be The thief of Peace of mind. We are all guilty of This habit of putting off Making telephone calls That may result in Complications, and we Defer writing letters That may be distasteful Day after day we face Situations that we would Like to dodge and in So doing we store up Nerve strain, destroy Our peace of mind, Cause ourselves endless Worry and often finish Up with a bad case Of stomach ulcers. And this could easily Be avoided if we formed The habit of facing up To life's problems and Difficulties instead of Always looking for the Easy way out of them. WOULD BE BIGGEST ROTTERDAM (Reuters)--The four largest passenger liners ever built, each to be about 120,000 tons, will be constructed here for an American combine, the Neth- erlands News Agency reported Thursday night. The two largest now are the 83,673 - ton Queen Elizabeth and the 81,237 - ton Queen Mary, owned by Britain's Cunard Line. bers of Parliament are getting up a protest They have just heard a keen under-water swimmer is planning fo go up to Loch Ness later this vear, don his flippers and the rest of his frogman kit, grasp a com- mando knife and a crocodile gag, and dive down to find and do battle with the famous Loch Ness monster I've met Scots who insist that the monster does exist. I've pass- ed Loch Ness myself with nary a sign of it But the Scots MPs are ready to defend even a hypothetical monster. They are trying to keep the under-water enthusiast at home. It's strange that somehow there is invariably mention of the Mon- ster around this time of year about the time most Britons are making their holiday plans . But, as the Scots themselves would say: "Och, weel, it makes life interesting." 4 HISTORY OF OSHAWA-No. 120-° How Oshawa Geared Itself To Wartime Conditions By M. McINTYRE HOOD September, 1939, and war came to Oshawa as it did to the whole of the British Commonwealth, When it came, Oshawa was pre- pared mentally -- and in some other ways -- for the great con- flict which was to last for six yedrs. Although it was in September that war was declared on Hit-, ler"s Germany, preparations had begun in Oshawa some time be- fore that date. A year before, when war seemed imminent, the need for defence preparations be- came apparent. The government was assured that the full facil- ities of General Motors of Can- ada would be at its disposal in the event of an outbreak of war, And at that time a start was made with the production of ex- perimental military vehicles at the Oshawa GM plant. It was a start which in no way fore- shadowed the tremendous effort the plant and its employes were to make during the war years. STARTING TO PREPARE In March, 1939, Hitler com- pleted his seizure of Czechoslo- vakia, and the world knew that it would be only a matter of time -- and short time at that -- until Poland would become involved, and with it Britain and France. The handwriting was on the wall, but all did not see it. One man who did see it was Hon. Gordon D. Conant, of Oshawa, then at- torney-general of Ontario. He was convinced war was not far off, and he had grave fears of at. tempts to sabotage Ontario hydro electric systems and other essential public works. So in the spring of 1939 he assigned an officer of the Ontario Provincial police to do two things. One was to make a survey of the number of guards who would be required at all Ontario's power plants and transformer stations. The second was to enrol veterans and have them sworn in as spe- cial constables ready to take on guard duties should war come. GUARDS READY FOR DUTY This was done all over the province, and in July, a cere- mony was held in Oshawa at which a large group of members of the Canadian Legion were sworn in as special police, to combat sabotage and act in a war emergency, On August 26, Mr. Conant received a message from Ottawa that war was im- minent, and that all strategic places should be placed under guard, This was the moment for which he and his staff had been preparing. August 26 was a Sat- urday. Mr. Conant and his offi- cials worked without a letup over the whole weekend, and on Mon- day morning, every electricity generating and transformer sta- tion was adequately guarded by some 850 of the men who had been sworn in as special police during the spring and summer In Oshawa, guards were placed PERHAPS 30 YEARS NEW YORK (AP) -- The little Vanguard moon may be up in space for as long as 30 years, a consultant to the U.S. Navy pro- ject said Thursday. Dr. Paul Herget also predicted the life of Explorer I, the army satellite, would be about five to 10 years. GETS SIX MONTHS ST. CATHARINES (CP)--May- nard Dockstader, 19, Thursday was sentenced to six months im- prisonment for attempted rape. Evelyn Britt, 17, said a man pressed a knife against her back and told her to walk with him March 8. She screamed and ran. on the Armories, the pumping station and waterworks, and the hydro sub-stations on August 28. On September 1, Germany be- gan its invasion of Poland and on September 3 Britain declared war on Germany, On the same day, the Ontario Regiment, now a tank regiment, was placed on a war basis and ordered to mobilize up to wartime strength, under the command of Lt.-Col. E. Pearson. Recruiting was started at once, and there was a stream of men to join the regiment. Not only did the men of Oshawa and Ontario county enroll in the Ontarios, but some 200 men recruited in To ronto arrived to swell the ranks. By the time the Canadian par- liament officially declared war on Germany at 10.36 p.m. on Satur- day, September 9, the Oshawa Armories was a scene of feverish activity as men were enrolled, medically examined, and outfit. ted, and started their training. By November, the regiment was well up to strength and.made a splendid showing when it was in- spected by Hon. Albert Matthews, Lieut.-Governor of Ontario, aud Brig. R. O. Alexander, general officer commanding the military district. HUMMING WITH ACTIVITY In other ways, Oshawa swung into action towards the prosecu- tion of the war. The United Aut - mobile Workers pledged their loyalty to the cause, and soon the great plant of General Motors was humming with activity as large scale production of military vehicles of many types was start- ed. Men flocked to work, and the relief lists of depression days be- came a thing of the past. In one week, the number of men 'n re- lief was reduced by 518, and in three weeks, the lists almost ceased to exist. Everyone was either enlisting in the armed forces, or seeking other avenues of war service. On September 19, the govern- ment announced that an expedi- tionary force would he sent over- scas to join the allied armies. Two divisions were authorized. The Ontarios were scheduled to become one of the three units of an armored brigade for overseas service, and its training went on, in Oshawa and at the armored vehicles school at Camo Borden. When the Veterans' Guard was formed for home defence duties, some 350 Oshawa men quickly en- listed in it, many of them vet- erans of the first world war. Fears of profiteering by un- scrupulous individuals became rife, and the city council of Osh- awa appointed a special commit- tee to control and check prices. It had the backing of Attorney- General G. D. Conant, who in- timated that there would be an all-out war against profiteering. With hundreds of soldiers in training in Oshawa, the need for entertainment and recreational facilities for them became acute. The Canadian Legion made the first move towards establishing tLese, by placing their spacious quarters at the disposal of the enlisted men, In October, haw ever, a need for a broader effort became apparent and a local committee, made up of many local organizations, and wit Mrs. R. 8. McLaughlin as p dent, was organized to pro for the care and comfort of the troops. An Army Club was start- ed in upstairs quarters at 12% King street west, and on Novem- ber 9 it was officially opened at a gala night on which the sol. diers were royally entertained. RED CROSS CAMPAIGN The Oshawa Branch of the Canadian Red Cross Society also swung into wartime activity. To finance this work, a campaign was launched to raise a fund of $25,000 in Oshawa for Red Cross purposes, George W. McLaughlin was chairman of the campaign organization, and Ernie Cay served as campaign manager. It was a brief but intensive cam- paign, and resulted in over $33.- 000 being raised, more than 30 per cent over the objective which had been set. Towards the end of the year, the educational facilities of Osh- awa were called into use. The Oshawa Collegiate and Vocatign- al Institute was asked to inaugur- ate a course in aircraft mechan- ics, and this was at once dome, and through the war years, "it gave hundreds of young men a training in this important phase of war work. . In municipal circles, a bit of a flurry was caused when Premier M. F. Hepburn of Caitario an- nounced that he intended to abpl- ish all municipal elections in tario, after the election for 1940, for the duration of the war. This was strongly protested by the Oshawa city council as an ffi fringement of the democratie rights the war was being fou to preserve. Most of the leading Ontario municipalities joined "in the protest, and the idea was abandoned by Mr. Hepburn be« cause of the pressures of public opinion, And as 1939 ended with Canada * and Oshawa at war, the General Motors plant was going ahead Al full capacity with the buildi military trucks and other ho hicles, and gearing itself for the tremendous effoyt which it amd t.e workers of Oshawa were.io make towards providing the tools for victory. J 3 (Next Saturday -- The Munie- ipal Election for 1940.) » AUTHORS WANTED, BY N.Y. PUBLISHER NEW YORK, N.Y. -- One of the na- t H t book publishers is seeks ipts of on, poetry, wrilers, If all types--fictien, Specicl ettention cur work is read for publication, send for booklet DN- -- [it's free). Vontoge Press, 10 W. Jist Street, New York Dial RA Hon. J. Waldo Monteith, MP, P.C, FCA, Robert F. Lightfoot, C.A, Monteith, Monteith, Riehl & Co. CHARTERED ACCOUNTANTS 135 SIMCOE ST. N. Gordon W. Riehl, C.A, Res. Partner -- RA 5-4478 Licenced Trustees -- AJAX 730 5-3527 A. Brock Monteith, 8. Comm, C.A. George E. Trethwey, C.A. v0 On Monday, March 3lst TE "JOHN" BRADY The C.C.F. will put the welfare of people FIRST. . Old SUPPORT the C.C.F. Inserted by the The record proves the C.C.F. FIRST introduced 1. A National Health Plan 2. Unemployment Insurance Age Pensions . Family Allowances Cash Advances on Farm Stored Grain Now is your opportunity to vote C.C.F. and improve the Government of Canada Let's Have a Government of the People for the People Mark Your Ballot IN DURHAM cer Election Committee for Ontario Riding. VOTE DENT N-