\

Fs emiaies a kitchen, bedroom or livingroom, such distance
et all-in no case -be tess than four feet unless a lane

THE WILLIAMS

LAKE TRIBUNE

Thursday, May 21, 1959

EDITORIAL PAGE

CONFIDENCE LOST

It is rudimentary to say that public confidence is
necessary to the survival of any elective body, and
generally speaking, the present incumbents on the
village commission have merited this confidence toa
certain degree.

But we believe that in at least one direction the
comissioners are in danger of losing public confidence
—in fact have lost a good measure already.

We are referring to the building regulations and
the way in which they are administered.

There is a growing feeling among property owners
that we are, as far as building restrictions are con-
cerned, at the mercy of two sets of rules. One set is
carefully chronicled in the building and zoning bylaws,
and the other is on a “ catch as catch can” basis, with
the results too often being a muffed “ catch.”

We have in our town, for example, certain one-
family dwelling zones, which are dotted with homes
housing one, two and sometimes three families. The
building plans of these units didn’t show second family
areas when they were presented for approval, but the
results are just the same. On the other hand, when a
duplex plan is submitted for location in one of these
single-family zones, the project is turned down.

This type of administration leads only to one re-
sult. Eventually the majority are following the obvious
course of not letting offcialdom know when they are
planning some renovation that might be questioned in
the light of written rules.

And even these rules are not infallible.

Before last Tuesday night, if you had asked any
commissioner what the restrictions were as far as the
relation to building line to lot line were concerned, he
would have unhesitatingiy answered that your build-
ing line must be at least 10 percent of the width of
your lot from the side property line.

That is the intent of the law, but because the
commission was ready to do legal battle over a house
that was placed four feet from the property line (in-
stead of six feet six inches) there is now considerable
doubt in our commissioners’ minds just what the ap-
plicable clause does mean.

The clause reads: ‘‘ No wall of any dwelling shall
be less than 10 percent of the width of the lot from any
adjoining line (so much for intent) and when any wall
eontains a window which exclusively lights and ven-

~<r side street adjoins such lot line.”

When this clause was read out at the meeting, the
case was promptly dropped.

What has gone before is probably too late to
remedy, but we feel the only way that public confidence
can be regained, and maintained, in this regard, is to
first have a clear set of rules—and then see that they
are rigidly enforced.

THIS FOOLISH MAN

The story appearing in this issue of the Toronto
man who came across a continent to pre-empt land
only to find there was none to pre-empt, will find a
fairly predictable and general reader reaction.

Most people will almost automatically criticize
the man for not having investigated the situation in
person before bringing his large family out to a home-
stead, even if it had been available.

However, if Mr. Morgan’s story is a true one, and
we don’t see what he would have had to gain in dis-
torting the facts, there is little credit reflected on gov-
ernment officials in the telling.

This man, or any prospective settler enquiring
about availability of land should be told the whole
story at the ‘beginning. It is not good enough to cir-
culate pamphlets on how to pre-empt land, if the loop-
hole of ministerial option of refusal is to be used as
blanket policy in certain areas.

We can understand that this option is necessary.
In some districts much of the “‘ open” land is not suit-
able for agricultulral production, and a homesteader
taking his chances on a parcel of this land would surely
go broke and possibly merely end up as another charge
on the state.

When an enquiry is made about specific land, such
policy as prevails should be outlined to the applicant
and the reasons behind the policy should be explained.
Any other course of action can result only in poor
public relations, and sometimes, as in the case in point,
of some hardship.

The man from Toronto is something of an oddity
in this age of security, when taking any chance on the
future is becoming more the exception than the
accepted way of life. Perhaps he was foolish, but a
year ago we were all paying lip service to the courage
of people who made the same foolish moves 100 years
ago,

THAT THE PUBLIC MAY KNOW

Observations passed along to us this spring indi-
cate there has been a larger than normal crop of ticks
in district fields and bush. The situation would appear
to be general too, since several newspapers to the south
have carried warnings to parents in this regard.

Such warnings come under the heading of “ public
health,’’ and have been issued through the provincial
health units concerned.

So far there has been nothing on the subject
emanating from our own health unit, and the omission
has made us realize that this lack of contact has been
evident fr some time now. Since public education in
health matters depends to a great extent on mediums
that the public hears or sees or reads, we hope the
present gap reflects oversight rather than policy.

Chuckwagon racing

popular in recent years, but in the
20’s one of the most thrilling track
events at the Stampede was the
In this 1924 pic-

stagecoach race.

FINISH

EXCITING
has become
win,

seen the

ture “Punch” Trieserra is seen whip-
Ping his teams home to a driving
In the background can be

old Borland House.

BACKER

: ay Aa. ye
BARREL

‘g i ie ty mM :

— LOOKS AT —

The financial

By

warning on the wall

. J. Drinkell

The current issue of Newsweek carries a sorry
story anent the financial plight of many states of the

union.

All told 29 states
are in a_ terrible
mess, financially.

Their predicament is
tersely put this way,
“They built up
whacking surpluses
during World War 2
and the Korean War
—when taxes kept
rolling in and there
was a limit jon what
‘could be sgient fof public im-

provemen: In the past five
years this picture has been
completely reversed. A boom-

ing economy and a zooming
population have created an in-
satiable demand for new roads,
new schools, new hospitals—
new everything.”

In almost every state legis-
lature the answer how to fin-
ance these improvements has
been clear—spend the surplus.
Today's dilemma is equally
clear—the surpluses are spent.

In 1949 Michigan, with a
population of six million, had
a surplus of $25 million and a
budget of $529 million. Today
its population is around eight
million; it is $76 million in the
red and its budget about $1
billion. Two months ago, in-
dustry made advance tax pay-
ments amounting to $35.5 mil-
lion to stave off financial dis-
aster yet today the State
University has suspended pay-
ment of its bills and all pay-
ments from the state’s general
fund have been halted, leaving

Nature's
scrapbook

BY BILL MYRING
Humble Implement

Over 5,00 years ago, some
prehistoric farmer, perhaps in
Mesopotamia, got the bright
idea of hitching his ox to his
digging stick—and so the plow
was invented. Such primitive
plows are still used in some
parts of the world.

The ancient Romans shod the
point of the plow with iron or
bronze to protect it from wear
as it was drawn through the
soil by yoken oxen. The first
people to improve the Roman
plow were the Dutch, who
needed a more perfect imple-
ment to do satisfactory work
in their soils. Their plows
seem to have foreshadowed the
fundamental principles of the
modern plow—a curved mold-
board for turning the soil to
one side of the furrow. It is
doubtfeul whether any of our
modern inventions has really
meant so much to the welfare
of the race as has this humble
implement.

Public opinion surveys show
that a big percentage of Cana-
dians believe labor unions are
too prone to use the strike as
a weapon.

some 28,000 state
employees and 144
legislators without
pay. It is estimatea
by the end of the
present fiscal year,
the deficit will be
$140m illion. Higher
taxes and J-astie
economies are inevit-
able and that is typic-
al of the other 28
statds. / xi
SIMILAR HERE

In B.C. we are experiencing
a similar trend of events, but
we had no huge surplus to start
with. In recent years we have
enjoyed a booming economy, a
growing population and the in-
evitable demand for bigger
this, better than, and more of
everything. Today, although
Premier Bennett blandly in-
forms us we are about to be-
come a tax free province,
actually we are going deeper
into debt at an alarming pace
notwithstanding the rapid
growth of the annual budget.
The Bennett government is not
wholly to blame for this con-
dition, They are simply yield-
ing to public clamor.

It makes no difference. what
method is followed in raising
funds for public requirements,
the bill is ultimately handed to
the taxpayers. When we esti-
mate the cost of a local im-
provement at $500,000 and
then proceed to assure our-
selves it will only cost us one
half of that amount due to the
availability of a government
“grant in aid,’ we are just
fooling ourselves, and therein
lies the cause of much of our
reckless spending.

No government can give us
a thing without first taking it
from us. Unfortunately, it
shrinks in value ‘before com-
pleting the return journey.
Every taxpayer in the province
must contribute to those in-
numerable ‘grants in aid.”
Being government guaranteed
loans they represent public
debt no matter in what area
the bonds are issued or what
proportion is slated to be met
through local taxation, This
illusory governmental munifi-
cence has inveigled municipal
councils and other local bodies
into bearing more and more of
the responsibilities rightly the
function of the legislature, and
is, as previously stated, respon-
sible for their present straight-
ened circumstances.

Unless we drastically change
this system of financing, it is
quite conceivable our local
governing boards will wind up
in the same straits as the 29
states to the south of us. Un-
palatable economies and
sharply higher taxes will then
be forced upon us. There are
many signs indicating our
financial position is not nearly
so comfortable as Finance
Minister Bennett wishes us to
believe, and we certainly are
entitled to a more honest re-
port upon our present standing.

Letter to the Editor

The Editor,”
The Williams Lake Tribune.

PUBLICITY APPRECIATED

Dear Sir—On behalf of -all
the members of the Library
Association, I would like to
thank you very much for the
large amount of space you gave
to the library and its history
in a recent issue of your paper.

We do appreciate all the pub-
licity you have given to us at
one time and another, and we
will try to let you have some
newsworthy items should any-
thing sensational occur, but we
thought you would like to
know how pleased we were to
see the history written up on
the front page.

ANNE IRWIN,
Secretary.

THE

MACDUFF OTT

‘A REPORT

The high

= OTTAWA—About two-thirds
of Canada’s 265 Members of
Parliament haye entered the
Commons within the past two
years. Nearly all of them have
reached one conclusion in com-
mon, regardless of party differ-
ences: they're underpaid.

Douglas Fisher, the out-
spoken CCF'er who beat Hon.
C. D. Howe in Port Arthur, was
the first to bring the issue into
the open in the House. He
urged that the pay should be
raised 50 percent, from $10,000
to $15,000 a year. While
Prime Minister Dietenbaker
frowned his displeasure, his
backbenchers applauded the
Proposal and two of them rose
to speak in favor of it.

The case for the raise is
clear. Parliamentary sessions
now last for six or seven
months, and with the business
of the government growing and
getting ever more complex, the
work fo MP’s is gowing too.
Federal politics has become a
full-time job and most MP’s
have to rely on their pay as
their full income. It is not
like the old days when they
had time to bolster their earn-
ings between sessions ard when
the “man of means” was a
more usual figure on Parlia-
ment Hill than he is today.

But still, you may say,
$10,000 is more than twice the
$4,000 which the average Cana-
dian head-of-family in full-
time work earns. Why isn’t
that enough?

TWO HOMES

The main reason is that the
MP has to have two homes:
the one he comes from in his
riding, and the other in
Ottawa. Why should the MP’s
have to be separated from their
families more than half the
year and live in dingy Ottawa
rooming houses in an effort to
make ends meet? Also an MP
is subject to many additional
expenses; he’s an easy mark.
Constituents Ottawa
expect to be entertained by this

CARIBOO COMMENT

By William Speare, MLA

We have grown accustomed
to rather fantastic figures in
connection with road appropria-
tions. This year, approximately
94 million dollars of your
money will be spent. To meet
anticipated road requirements
from 1959 until 1975, we will
need $2,281,000,000 for an
average of $127 million per

think of how much
money is raised towards this
effort by motor vehicle licences
and tax on gas consumption?
Did you ever wonder what por-
tion of our road construction
and maintenance costs are
raised by this revenue, by the
people who use the roads?

True, the users should not
be required to pay it all, for
the whole province benefits
from good roads, but just what
are the proportions?

Rising construction costs and
more costly type of roads re-
quired to serve heavier trans-
port have caused government
circles to take a long look at
this question. In April of
1958, a commission. was ap-
pointed to study the proportion
which taxation of road users
bear to total costs, and the
share which different classes
of road users contribute.

This study embraced our an-
ticipated requirements, types of
construction, methods of financ-
ing, and legislation in other
provinces as well as Pacific
Northwest States. Recommen-
dations of this commission
form the basis of revised
schedules for commercial trans-
port licensing.

Roads are divided into the
categories of arterial, second-
ary and pioneer, calling for
varying degrees of structure
and maintenance. On a cost
basis they are classed as “Basic

road costs,” and “additional
road costs.” Basic pertaining
to general vehicle service,

while additional refers to extra
thickness of pavement to ac-
commodate heavier vehicles.

It is felt that to place all
this on an adequate basis, each
class of user, private passenger
and commercial, should contri-
bute one-third, 3314 percent,
with non-user portion of the
final third from consolidated
revenue. This requires an up-
grading of commercial licences
which is naturally the subject
of concern and study by the
industry.

As with many other aspects
of our economy, the individual

characteristics of varying areas
throughout our province de-
mand consideration.

Local operators affected by
the proposed increases are
quick to draw attention to cir-
cumstances confronting them.
For one thing, our long break-
up period prevents any work
and shortens the producing
period covered by their licen-
ces. Their hauls are mainly
over roads of secondary or
frontier standard which-is hard
on their equipment, shortening
the life of their investment.
Engaged as they are in hauling
primary products, it is neces-
sary to do so at comparatively
low revenue rates. Isolation is
also an important factor in
assessing the overall operation
as trucks can be held up for
considerable intervals awaiting
parts or repairs.

Another important point
which operators believe legiti-
mate in appraising their posi-
tion is the role the raw mater-
ials they haul to mill and rail-
head plays in our general
economy. This is worth while
to consider when we stop to
realize how dependent we all
are upon the feeder system of
our haulers.

It is altogether an extremely
involved problem. Information
to support the interests of our
trucking and transport in-
dustry is being compiled to
form a submission to the newly
appointed Minister of Commer-
cial Transport. The significance
and measure placed upon this
problem by your government
can bed rawn from the fact
that a separate ministry has
been set up to administer this
work. We will undoubtedly
be hearing much more on this
subject.

THE WILLIAMS LAKE
TRIBUNE

Established 1931
Editor, Clive Stangoe

Published every Wednesday at
Williams Lake, B.C., by the
Cariboo Press Limited.
Subscription per year _ $3.06
Outside Canada $4
Advertising rates on application
Authorized as Second Class
Mail by the Post Offiee

cost of (political) living

“pig wheel” they’ve elected to
office and every charity drive,
of course, has the local MP on
its list.

In the matter of pay alone,
the MP is put into a position
of inferiority which tends to
quicken the tendency of Cab-
inet and Civil Service domina-
tion of Parliament, the down-
grading of our democratic in-
stitutions about which we
heard so much from Mr. Dief-
enbaker in the recent election
campaigns. Buy pay isn’t the
end of the story by any means.

Take the question of working
conditions. MP’s are crammed
two-to-an-office, have to share
secretarial help and get almost
no research assistance in an
era when the elected represcn-
tative has to grapple with com-
plex scientific and technological
problems ranging from the
effects of radioactive fallout to
the displacement of workers
due to automation. A fairly
junior executive in the civil
service has better quarters than
an MP. Beside him, a con-
gressman in the U.S. looks like
an oriental potentate.

Then again, take the
question of transport. At the
time of Confederation it was
recognized that in a country
the size of Canada, the MP’s
essential function in keeping in
touch with his constituents was
difficult to fulfil. So he was
given a train pass. For MP’s
from points in. Quebec and On-
tario close to Ottawa, this still
makes it possible for them io
get home on weekends. But
since 1867 there has been an
invention: the aircraft. An air
pass would bring the western
and eastern MP as close to
home as others are with their
train passes. But can he get
one? Oh no. Too expensive.
What would the public think?
BUSINESS CHAOTIC

Finally there is another
problem that ties in closely
with those mentioned. Under

the present lack of system, Par-
liament follows the old course
of meeting in early January
and staying in Ottawa until it
gets its work done. Today this
means that the, sovernment
drives Parliament on through
the summer’s heat in the hope
that it will wilt under pressure
and speed up the work. But
the desired result never seems
to happen. They wilt, but they
don’t speed up. The actual re-
sult is that the organization of
Parliamentary business is
chaotic, the MP’s work becomes
dull and lethargic and he's
robbed once more of a summer
at home with his family while
school’s out.

The sensible system, now
that politics has become a full-
time job, would be to recognize
this development by upping the
pay, improving the working
conditions and putting Parlia-
ment on a term system like the
British Parliament. This latter
reform would have the advan-
tage not only of improving the
work of Parliament but also of
Keeping it more, continuonsly
seized of public affairs instead
of having a great adjournment
gap of five or six months a
year,

Throughout this article, the
term “Parliament” has been’
meant to cover the House of
Commons, not the Senate; the
Upper House has long been in
such low estate that it hardly
counts in the parliamentary
Process. But the House of
Commons has more recently be-
come an underdeveloped area
in the domain of Big Govern-
ment. Parliamentary stick-i
the-muds like Prime Minister
Diefenbaker, and others who
revel in their stay of 29 years
or more in Ottawa, are always
good for a little platitudinous
uplift on the glories of parlia-
ment. Actually, they are par-
ties to the downgrading of par-
liament and the upgrading of
the executive arm of govern-
ment and the huge government
service on which it bases its
strength. The cause of cemo-
cratic government demands
that the MP be given a better
deal before his position slips
further and good men are com-
pletely discouraged from enter-
ing public life,

CAPITAL HILL CAPSULES

The pay of an MP started at
$1,000 a session in 1867. It
Went to $1,500 in 1901 ana
$2,500 in 1904. ‘The sessional
indemnity was raised to $4,000
in 1920 and the $2,000 tax-
free expense allowance was
added in 1945. In 1954 the
pay was raised to $8,000 but
Put on a yearly basis, so that
the possibility of an MP getting
double pay if two sessions were
in a year was Temoved.
The expense allowance was re-
tained, so that MP's pay today

amounts to $10,000 a year. Mr.
Fisher wants the pay raised to
2,000 and the allowance tc
3,000.

One argument ~ frequently
heard is that the question of a
pay raise for MP’s should be
put before the voters in an elee:
tion campaign to see if i
should be implemented. But
how would you do that? Would
the voters be asked to choose
between a man who offered
himself for $10,000 and an-
other who offered himself for
$15,000. The argument is

specious nonsense based on the
mistaken idea that electing a
man to parliament is the same
as hiring a man for a job.

ONE YEAR AGO
May 22, 1958
With a generous “ assist”
from the weather man, the Wil:
liams Lake Trail Riders Club’s
first annual Western Playday
on the Victoria Day holiday
was an outstanding success .
Our continuing hot weather is
posing its usual threat to lum-
bering operations, with the fire
hazard mounting daily Sam
Sloan, former merchant in Wil-
liams Lake and a well-known
figure in the Cariboo for over
40 years, passed away at, Van-
couver Tuesday... Last Wed-
nesday night thieves broke into
the premises of Williams Lake
Meat Market and hauled a
large quarter of beef out of the
freezer and into the back of
the shop . . . New village clerk
for Williams Lake is Robert
Guy Smith, 48, local account-
ant, whose appointment was
confirmed by the council on
Tuesday night.
FIVE YEARS AGO
May 20, 1954
The provincial government's
new policy on disposing of wild
horses on the range came in for
a good deal of criticism &t the
cattlemen’s meeting last Fri-
day. Previously permits were
granted to shoot these horses
subject to certain regulations,
but now the horses must be
rounded up. Only permits for
shooting are special ones
limited to disposal of stallions
Lord Martin Ceeil was
returned as president of the
Cariboo Cattlemen's Associa-
tion by directors of the sroup
who met following the annual
meeting last Friday .. . Early
risers Sunday morning watched
the United Church manse being
pulled from its familiar loca-
tion on the corner of Oliver
Street and Second Avenue as
Rudy Johnson's moving crews
started the slow trip with the
building to the other end of
town ... Forty people, making
up one of the smallest groups
to attend the annual affair,
witnessed the installation of
Officers of the Williams Lake
Junior Camber of Commerce
Saturday night.
TEN YEARS AGo
May 19, 1949
Livestock shipments from the
South Cariboo hit an all-time
peak last year, the annual
meeting of the Cariboo Cattle-
men’s Association was told on
Saturday . . . Williams Lake
softballers made their 1949
debut at Lone Butte Sunday
and walked off with both ends
of a double-header . . . Two
members of the United States
Fish and Wildlife Service
visited the Cariboo by air last
week. The two men are con-
ducting a survey of waterfowl
particularly the migratory

species . . . The provincial de-
partment of agriculture is re-
ceiving strong support from

cattlemen in its fight against
brucellosis, or Bang’s disease,
stated M. J. Walsh. Two
Bangs-free areas have been set
up and applications are coming
in from all over the Cariboo for
more... Angus McLean, Wells
goldminer will carry the banner
of the Coalition Government in
Cariboo riding in the June 15
election. By the barest of
margins, Mr. McLean defeated
the present MLA, Walter Hogg,
for the nomination. i
TWENTY YEARS AGO"
May 25, 1939
In the softball game of last
, Sunday afternoon at the Mis-
sion, the Mission Indians wou
over Williams Lake wth a final
score of 20-19 . . . Again the
Lac La Hache Community
Club ordered perfect weather
for their annual stampede and.

to a nearly record crowd
Interior points.