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Page 4, The Herald, Friday, May 25, 1979

TERRACE/KITIMAT

"daily herald

General Office - 635.4387
Circulation - 635-6357

GEN. MANAGER - Knox Couptand
EDITOR. Greg Middleton

CIRCULATION - TERRACE-
KITIMATOERICE «632-2747 ,
Published every weekday at 3212 Kalum Street,
Terrace, B.C. A member of Verified Circulation.
Authorized as second class mail. &
1201. Postage pald In cash, return postage guaranteed.

NOTE OF COPYRIGHT ~ .

The Herald retains full, complete and sole copyright in
any advertisement produced and-or any editorial or
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Reproduction Is not permitted.

Published by
Sterling Publishers

635-6357

Istration number

In the Herald.

LETTERS TO
THE EDITOR

Dear Sir;
Last week 1 had the
Privilege of being one avin
mes, accompanying
the’ Skeona Junior High
School ‘Gold Band’ to
Dawson Creek, B.C.

L would like to award top
honours to both teachers and
students for the courtesy and
respect.shown to me.

Tn-today's society, we are
very: quick to criticize our
teenagers and slow to praise
them. It was indeed a
pledsia to be in their
company for a few days, and
come-away with a feeling of
total respect and admiration
for'a: very talented group of
fine thusicians

Mrs, May, their band
director, and Mr. Van-
derkwaak, thelr manager,
are’ to::be commended for

thelr hard work in arranging: :

this visltat very short notice.
Comments received from
thnee with whom we came in
contact with, had nothing but
praise for the students’
musical ability, and their
good behaviour as well,

Finally, a special thank
you to our bus driver, Bill
Nystrom, who not only
showed an interest in all the
students, and came to all the
concerts with us, but was a
credit to his professionon the
highway, we ail enjoyed his
company. .
Yours sincerely,
Osra M. Chettle

Dear Sir,

In reference to the article
in last Friday’s paper about
the Sparks Street group
home and the tax problem, I
agree. that the home is a
worthwhile and beneficial
service for the community of
Terrace, -

I agree that It would also
be a decent gesture on the
part of council to forgive the
taxes if {t were a reasonable
possiblity. But I cannot
agree that Js is fair to
-preasure council to the ex-

tent that they are solely

responsible: for the future
existence of the home and
that if they refuse to forgive
the back taxes the home will
cease to operate,

If the home is a good

ject of the TDCCSR, andI

lieve it ip; then we all
ought to get behind it and
give it our support. The
Suggestion that the home
must close down and cease
operation simply over a few
dollars taxes |s complete
nonsense. . .

Look at the facts. The
money has to come from
somewhere in the long run. If
the elty does not realize the
revenue from the property in
question, it will eventually
come out of -every other
taxpayers pocket, There is
no such thing as something
for nothing!

It is only s:atural that moat
of the residents of Terrace
are in favor of the home
continuing. Rather than
accepting a. fatalistic at-

packed by loving ha

titude with the current
problem of the home, let's ail
throw in a dollar or two each,
or more if we could afford it,
pay up the taxes, and get on
with it, A short, intensive
campaign to inform the

public of the problem, with .

the co-operation of the news
media would undoubtedly
result in the necessary funds
being raised by voluntary
contributions.

If the TDCCSR will take
the initiative and act in this

direction, I willbe morethan ‘
happy to give a small

donation myself,
Sincerely,

David McCreery. .

Dear Editor, .

[should support the idea of
Paul Johnston and the labour
council to stop buying from
oppressive and suppressing
countries. However, I cannot

‘do it, I myself love to buy

eran ans of duley apples
in
the People’s Republic of
China (Red China), a
country who’s Red Guards
murdered and tortured
millions of non-communist
patriots. No, they were no
fascists, they loved their
country, They were just non-
communists. -

I also buy all kinds of
goodies from Russia, the
Breat socialist republic, a
country that keeps 1.7
million patriots In prisons
and death camps, No, they

-are no fascists, they love

their country. They are just
non-communists. '
Anyone who has read
“Murder of a Gentle Land”
by John Barron and Anthony
Paul, knows how in Cam-
bodia (just another
“Hberated" country) bet-
ween April 1975 and
December 1976 1.2 million
patriots died at the bloady
hands of the communists.
Liberation? What
liberation! People's
republics? What people!
Now, look who are pointing

fingers in the direction of .

rightist military govern-
ments and who are talking
about democracy. Believe it
or not: the murderous
communists!

Is Paul Johnston one of
them? I certainly Hope not.
This handsome young man

with his friendly smileon.his |

face la not one of these
deceivers.

I hate communism (dic- . ,

tatorship), but I do Jove the

people that suffer so much .

under this system.

I love the people of China
and Russia and all other
communist countries. Why
should we add to their sul-.
fering and economic hard-
ships by not buying their
products?

The day of their true
liberation is coming soon.
They and we shall overcame
with Jesus,

Bill Homburg.

publication

Letters
welcome

The Herald welcomes its readers com-
ments. All ietters to the editor of general
public interest will be printed. We do,
however, retain the right to refuse fo print
leHters on grounds of possible fibel or bad
taste. We may also edit letters for style and
length. All jetters to be considered for
must

be signed.

\

(ee apy ee

Cer cre. en ey

a as

» we ai. ew re ha
ci eR a aN Tee Os ae

Seep Matos

" “Who do those

4 : : a

WE

hospitals think they are, expecting a handout — |

multinational oil corporations?”

--. Hous

REPORT SAYS —

EDMONTON (CP) — A 1961 was 66 per cent and.
study of single-detached there were. no high-ratio

home ownership by
Canada’s largest .
manufacturer of bathtubs,
sinks and basins indicates
home ownership is more
affordable now than it was in
1961, .

The American-Standard
study shows that although
house prices increased
sharply — 247 per cent —
between 1961 and 1977,
family income rose even

more steeply — 291-per:cent, cant of -8, gpa

‘During the 16-year; period:
the median price of a new
singledetached house went
up an average of 8.1 per cent
a year, compared with a 4.9-
per-cent . average annual

increase in the consumer -

price index.

But the average annual in-
crease in annual income was
8.9 per cent. Median family

-income, $4,757
reached $18,585 by 1977. - |

William Rackel, mortgage
manager for National Trust
Co. Ltd.,. said maximum
financing is making it easier
for families to obtain a
house,

“The maximum Joan in

t

in 1963, -

loans allewing the purchaser.
to get into a house with five
per cent down.”’ The pur-
chaser had to either put one-
third down or get a second
mortgage.

In the 1960s the maximum
National. Housing Act loan.
was 27 per cent of gross
income and lenders per-
mitted 20 per cent of a wife’s
income. The gross debt ratio
now is 30 per.cent and 100 per

go's. salary

i Qualifies, i" 2, ete

The American-Standard
study says part of the relief
to home ownership is dueto a
growing number of working
wives,

In 1976 wives were em-
ployed outside the home In 50
per cent of families having
both husband and wife and
no children werking. In 1971
that was true of 40 per cent of
such families and in 1967 of
31 per cent. .' '

Ed Teslyk, regional
mortgage manager for
Toronto-Dominion Bank,
says high-ralio mortgages
have made it easier for
people to get into a house,

4

In a conventional mor-

igage a person puts down 25 -

per cent. In a higt-ratio
morigage, Teslyk says, a
person can get up to 95 per
cent of the first $60,000, 75
per cent of the next $20,000
and 50 per cent of the
balance, It is therefore
conceivable that a five-per-
cent down payment of $3,000
could get a family into a
$60,000 house, ;
But two real eslate
lawyers say it is not that
simple. : ;

“« Bill Connauton and Bill.
*'Kinasewich say mortgage

money may be too easy to
get, judging by. the number
of mortgage foreclosures
occurring. They blame the
situation on high-ratio loans,

Connauton said the initial
down payment may be lower
but. the monthly payments
will be higher, Mortgage
payments are usually the
first to suffer should
something happen to the
earning power of one part-
Ter.

Rackel estimates three per
cent of his clients’ mor-
tgages fall into arrears, the
majority caused by marital

es easier to get

problems ‘or expectations’
being more than the income
can afford. A national survey .

of elght. banks. in Match -

showed a mortgage-arrears
average of 2.4 percent.

The American-Standard
study shows Canadian
homeowners in general
devote a small proportion of
their incomes to housing, ©
’, In 1974 three quarters of °
the homeowners in six
Canadian cities spent 20 per
cent or leas of their incomes
for shelter, including
Mortgage payments, taxes”
and utilities, The afforda-
bility Limit of'30 per cent was
‘exceeded by' 11 per cent of
homeowners and by 11 per
cent of those aged 25 to 35,
_the key age group for first-
time home purchases.

The survey showa the first:
few years are the most
difficult for homeowners. A
‘median-income familly
buying a medianpriced new
house in 1977 could expect to
see the’ proportion of Its
income devoted to housing
drop to §2 per cent from 38.9
per cent by 1962, if. both in-
comes and operating casts
increased at ah annual rate
of seven per cent, ”

“Before the TV debate, I was undecided — now I’m adamantly undecided.”

|[ omtawa Orraear]
[| By RicHARD IACKSON

Ottawa Suddenly, asif purely shaken from a warm.
. snooze in the ‘spring sun, |

‘a change in the peckitig order in the ranks below. .
about the future. - .

‘quiet idle.:

“demonstration”.

he 100,000 or so public ser:
vants here in the powerhouse of the federal ad-

"| ministration are wide awake again in the cold world of

: political reality, —. woe Care
. After every election, regardless of which party
~ takes-power, there is a néw adminiétration, a shaking
~ of the establishment;.a reshuffling of the power pack;

‘Uncertainty "means nervous tension, ‘speculation

‘So it comes as a jolting shock, .this instant
emergence from the lassitude of these last two months,
of campaigning when the battle seemed far away, into’

. the pressure of here and now,

Ever since Parliament was dissolved for. the. elec-
tion late last March, this has been what, long years

| ago before Big Government becamie the Bureaucratic
’ Giant-Monster it is now, was fondly known as the Larid -

of the-Afternoon; a
” Pull of quiet. ° ' a
The corridors of power, peaceful and empty of the
men who wield it, echoing only to the shuffle ofthe |
tourists. Ft
Oh sure, there were, distant sounds of the war of
words raging across the land, but filtered down here to
polite words between the local candidates. —*:
And while a few ripples of sound ruffled the smooth
pool of silence from the three national headquarters of
.the parties, the real clash of action-came ‘from the
election power bases of Toronto and Montreal...

‘Even cabinet, which in ‘previous campaigns
regularly met weekly, this time managed it only once

|: a fortnight, the few ministers who could make it jet-

ting in'to circle the big ‘green felt-topped oval table of
the Privy Council Chamber then rushing back to the -
air terminal and the long campaign trail awinding

‘through the skies, | ; .

Little if any time or even inclination for a fast check
of their departments to see what their deputies had

4: been doing.

‘There was’ no need, for they weren't doing: much -
with the machinery of government geared down toa

Turning over slowly at the junior levels, it pumped
out the routine, the pension, family allowance and
unemployment insurance payments, spun. off. tax
receipts-and kept the run-of-the-rautine correspon-
dence moving.
_ But in ‘the
decisions are made and policies plotted
not unworrlediy serene," Lo
- There in the rarified atmosphere of High Places, the-
mandarins, the pro-donsuls of power, the movers and
shakers in charge of the big bureaucratic machine
pondered the shape of things to come while the

administrative stratosphere’ where
all was quiet if

-politicians fought it out to determine who would be

coming to Parliament to petition their guidance, |
accept their counsel and do their bidding.

This time especially, because they couldn't be at all
sure who their politica] masters would be asking their
direction and seeking their advice, the mandarins,
pragmatists always, simply waited it out in.the qilet,

_, country club, comfort of their tower suites,. confident,
~All but,a-few, oftheir indispengabiltyy 4 oe -

"T98

It's been said there's no such thing as a free
lunch. : lo

If that’s true, what about free steak knives,
clocks, barbecues or other merchandise you
“‘win'' without even entering a contest?

Such schemes often begin with a notice ad-
vising you can claim your prize by calling a

- number and arranging to witness a demon-

stration of a praduct. No obligation, of course,
and you get the prize whether you buy anything
or not. ; Sot,

In some Instances the demonstrator comes to
your home; in others, you go to the company’s

‘ office. Elther way, you'll probably be subjected

fo an intense, high-pressure sales pitch almed at:

-. persuading you fo purchase whatever appliance
_Or new wonder product Is being pushed. . °-

You probably will get the prize whether you

. buy anything or not, but chances are you'll buy
. Something, If only because It may seem the only

way fo escape the salesman’s clutches. - *'
One consumer reported anexperience in which

' the salesman arrived at her home at 7:00 p.m. .

and was still there at midnight. Groggy. from

‘fatigue and the unrelenting sales pitch, she

Signed a contract for several hundred dollars .

just, as she explained, ‘to get him to leave so |

could go to bed.” i _
You'd never stand for that, you say? ‘You'd

. have thrown him out after the first half hour?

‘That's what she thought too, before the: - -

Fortunately, since the contract was signed in
her home, she was able to cancel It by taking
advantage of the 7 day grace perlod on door-}+-
door sales provided in the provincial Consumer
Protection Act. ;

She did get her prize - an inexpensive (to put it
kindly) set of salt and pepper shakers, but In
view of the concern and embarrassment she
suffered, in future she'll gladly forgo such
windfalls. co , ;

if you've won a contest you haven't entered, or
if several of your neighbours have also been

‘Identified as winners, proceed cautiously,
‘particularly if you're required.to attend a sales

talk to get your prize. You may feel you can
resist the sales pressure and still get the prize, -
but the talk is likely-to be more persuasive than .
you expect. After all, If it weren't fairly ef.
fective, the company wouldn’t use this method of
selling. | a
Don’t let the.excltement of winning a “prize”
or a free ‘gift’ overcome your better
Judgement. This is one gift horse whose mouth’
you should examine carefully. Otherwise you
may be taken for quite a ride. « so