Pago 4, The Herald, Tuesday. Ausust 14, 1979

TERRACE/KITIMAT

| daily herald

Published by
Sterling Publishers

General Office - 638-6357
. Circulation - 615-6357

GEN, MANAGER - Knox Coupland ©

EDITOR - Greg Middleton

CIRCULATION- TERRACE- 435.6357
KITIMAT OF FICE - 632-2747 oo,
Published every weekday af 3212 Ketum Street,
i ‘Terrace, 8.C. A member of Verlfled Circulatien.
L Authorized ss second class mall, Reglatration number
lf 1201. Postage pald In cash, return postage guaranteed.

NOTE OF COPYRIGHT

The Herald retains full, complete and sole copyright in
any advartisement produced and-or any ediferlal or
photographic content published In the Herald.

Reproduction la not permitted.

u

COMMENT
BY GRAHAM LEA |
PRINCE RUPERT MLA:

British Columbians have continually been fold by
the Social Credit that the province is nothing more
than a big business; good management is synonomous
with Bhs government, The Socred government,
judged by its own criteria, has been a dismal failure.

It coata B.C. residents $410,000 a month because the

government is three to four months behind-on stum- .

eb for gorest companies. Outstanding
Pas ogee to tereat firms have fallen $50 million

behind. The problem is not a new one. Earller this

year Auditor General Erma Morrison reported two —

years ago the govenrment lost interest on $26 million
and at this time last year an incredible $86 million wes
uncollected. Judging from the fact these inef-
ficlenctes are long-standing the conclusion one
can make is that the government does not take the
situation seriously, .
This inability to collect outstanding debts is by no
means isolated to the Ministry of Forests. Similar
ineptitude exists in the health, attorney-general and
mines and petroleum ministries. The total interest.
lost because of all latc billings is estimated to be near
$750,000 per month. The government's self-
; cial ed expertise, if it exists, is certainly well
This, however is only the Up of the proverbial
iceberg. In the forest industry, B.C.’ most important
economic resource, the government's record is indeed
abysmal. Aside from gross mismanagement and
shortaightednesa that threatens the long run health of
the forest industry the government's policies are
coating B.C. millions of dollars right now.- Up to $500
million to be more precise, That.is the amount of
royalties the government has deliberately overlooked
because pulp operations in B.C. utilize 50 per cent and
the case of ‘Rayonier, up to 50 per cent of lumber
grade logs in their pulp. Just as a butcher would not
Wwe filet mignon to make hamburger the utllization of
ty grade logs in pulp is an unnecessary and costly
waste. The government not only fails to capture
enues, it encourages inefficiency by guaranteeing
tual timber righta to the multinational forest
ts well in excess of thelr needs, while the small.

independent Canadian operator is not even allowed to
bid for timber

| The lastest in a long string of economic debacles is
the government's intention to export an additional 60
million cubic feet of natural gas dally to the U.S. In

£-}

5

: 7 “J ust my way of showing I still have confidence in the dollar.”

. Chrysle

toiback its loans, Looking’at

WASHINGTON (CP) - "Top
executives of alling Chrysler
Corp. have set an artful

example by. successfully.‘

' promises of up to
$760 «million in loan

ee

company’s recent
financlal history - a whop-

‘piri $07 million Joss in the

AprilJune second quarter

and more red ink to come -

[guarantees from the U.S. raises questions about how

government.
While engineering one of
the biggest federal rescues
af a private company in U.S,
history,
managed to turn the
spotlight away from ita own
management mistakes on to
what the induatty
overzealous ©

-regulation.: oe pe on.

intense. Ic! ying blitz ‘on
Congress by Chrysler
executives to cultivate the
-view that bankruptey for the
country's 10th largest cor-
poration would be a
catastrophe when’ the
economy is already in’
recess

on

This ls how Chrysler
chairman John Riccardo
‘who personally visited
congressmen started last:

fact B.C. is not receiving an equitable return for the. June, put lt: “We are not

gas it already sells to the United States, B.C., as the
second largest gas producing province has lost, in the
first six months of 1979 alone, in excess of $60 million
because the current price 1s substantlally less than the
going market price. B.C. is in effect subsidizing
American gas purchases by $120 million a year.
Exporting more natural gas will not only worsen an

_ already grosaly unjust arrangement but may
jeopardize the future natural gas needs of B.C. At the
National Energy Board hearings underway in
al , B.C. Hydro opposed the government's plan

a

that which is needed tomorrow should not be sold
teday. B.C. does not even have a government of
common sense let alone business sense.

Letters welcome

ie Herald welcomes its readers comments.
‘All letters to the editor of general public interest
wili be printed. We do, however, retain the right
{to refuse to print letters on grounds of possible
libel or bad taste. We may also edit letters for
style and length. All letters to be considered for

tional maseive exports for that very reagon:'

blication must be signed.

HERMAN

“What would the ‘widow's benefits’ be, say,
six months from now?”

L

£F] mation known as

about ballout, we are
not talking about handout,
we are not talking welfare. .
We are talking equity.”
Rhetoric aside, Chrysler
plainly is throwing Itself at
the government's mercy by
asking for taxpayers’ money

Chrysler. also.

' soon Chrysler can start

off more loans.
te has the U.S. govern-
ment chosen " le save
Chrysler er cor-
poratlons, such as the Penn
Central railroad that went’
into bankruptcy in 1970 and

terms emerged a ‘smaller and
deral’ leaner operation, were

Me help. i
recent years has had to trim
its ct Ine, but turned
ii into: a: profit-making
Pere Chyal is thed
@ ler rescue
to current weak economic
conditlona and to ihe
possibility of repercussions
affecting other automakers,
particularly Ford Motor Co.
In some analyeta’ view,
letting Chysler fall might
trigger a similar crisis for
Ford, third largest U.S,

company.
Aastudy by Data Resources
Inc. of Lexington, Mass for
Congress shows up ;
jobs might be lost if Chrysler
collapsed. This work force
would be partly absorbed by

tl

r plans its rescue

forelgn car sales would rise
and add §2,1 billion to the
US. trade deficit.

. But because Chrysler's
work force is scattered in
Plants in many different
ocatlons, congressmen from

these: regions apparently
have became convinced the
-unemployment increase is
, unacceptable when business
conditiofis are already weak.
Then there 1s the question

of Ford, Both Ford and
-Chysler have fallen behind
mt General Motors Corp.

autos, Ford's market share _
has slipped since January to
21.4 per cent from 23.5 per
cent at the end of last year,
and ita U.S. profits dropped:
by 50 per cent in the second
quarter this year from @
year eariler, -
More fuel shortages of the
type that sent auto sales
mmetting twice in the
t five years are nearly a
certalnty in the 1980s, put-
ting the whole industry
under pressure. If Chrysler
disappeared, industry,

t
take:
the hinduncst" because of
lnge investment outlays for
new models that are needed.

other automakers but| This might spell sérious

trouble for Ford.
Chrysler has coupled its
relief requests with a
campa against govern?
ment rules that it claims will
coat it $1 billion “extra” this
Jetively, Crysler ls making
vely, er
‘iteelf a cause celebre for the
whole: indusiry to try to
shake the grip of regulation.
Basically, federal stan-
dards coming into effect in
1991 require better fuel
economy, fewer polluting
emissions and installation of

in bigger models, :|
._ The pitch frpm: rip
that these standa: add

hundreds of dollars ta
product costs and make
profitabillty impossible. |
Carysler, which has more
than 400,000 unsold and
unwanted larger cars and
trucks, takes the position
that it can't bear the costs
that the {ast “pace of new
‘regulations imposes.

When the proposal fir loan

‘guarantees’ to. Chrysler

comes before Congress

sometime next month, the
burden of arguments is
‘likely to ehift away from
Chrysler and ite

management decisiona and .

back onto the entire issue of

government Involvement in -

industrial regulation.

WINNIPEG (CP)- Rising
energy prices and recent:
changes to the provincial tax
structure for resource in-
dustries have combined to
rekindle interest in the
ollfields of southwestern
Manitoba, .

Already this year, the
provincial natural resources
department has Issued seven
licences for exploration and

teat drilling, compared to a.

total of nine in the previous
‘two years, ,

| *sqtry spokesmen In-
unené six major companies
may spend more than §%

on in the search for oil
this year, up from $3 million
in 1078 and only $1 million in

1977.

_Manitoba now produces
about 10,000 barrels of oil a
day and advanced selamic
research opens the
possibility of companies|
profitably draining the. reat
of the province’s shallow
reserves, .

The opportunity also exists:
to tap deposita deep below:
exiatlig wells,

“There's lots of potential -
our wells are not only

shallow, but there haven't:

been many drilled,” says
Dalton Dupasquier of
‘Winnipeg's Canarim In-
veatment Corp,

Most of the interest is
focused on the Virden oil
fields, acbut 260 kilometres
east of Winnipeg, The are is
part of the geological for
thei
Williston Basin - a blanket of
potentially oil-rich
sedimentary rock covering

"MANITOBA OIL
Interest rekindled in

parts of southwestern
Manitoba,
Saskatchewan and North
Dakota.

Clare Moster, director of

the provincial petroleum

branch, says there was little -
' drilling activity in the: ‘also being snapped

southeastern)

> “Now, about 60 per cent of -

‘all privately held mineral
righta have been leased and
ithe activity looks very
similar to to the boom of the
:19506,"' says Moster, .
Leases on Crown land are

up.

province during the five 010 Exploration rights ‘to 42
years up to 1977 and most of parcels, totalling’ 27,000
the 700 productive wells In acres, were sold in April for .
Manitoba were drilled before $556,000 and another 40

1984.

CANADA COLUMN

Parcels will be offered in

By Jobn Fisher of the Council for Canadian Unity

oo

_ Canada’s biggest church
is Notre Dame in Montreal.
It can accomodate 7000
worshippers at one sitting.
The bell in Notre Dame
weighs 24,780 pounds and
is called Le Gros Bourdon.
To give some idea of the
size of thia church, the twin
towers are more than 200
feet high.

’ On the other end of the
acale is: the miniscule

church ‘ at’ . Drumheller,

Alberta, It holds six people
and is only 11 feet high.
It is called “World's largest
little church’’, It is a mere
seven feet wide which
meane a large man with
outstretched arms could
almost touch both sides.
It is 12 feet from the door
to the back of the altar.

It was ‘built by volun-
teers, The pews will accom-
odate one person, 60 an
obese worshipper might
have difficulty in finding
enough room, The doors
are never locked. Another
unugual feature is that wor-
shippers can never be
late for the service. There
is no minister and no
schedule of church service.

“The World’s largest
little Church’’ has a push
button just inside the door.
Push it and automatically
you will hear hymna and a

fields

‘September. ;

* Although oil's rising price,
now. makes marginally.
productive wells
economically viable, Moster.
says, the greatest incentive
for more and d

eeper
Is- Manitoba's simplified
royalty rate structure,

Oil-producing wells

pril 1, 1074, on

subject toa. alidingecale
a le

royalty that increases with

‘the volume of oll produced.

But the new incentive
allows producing wells
drilled this year to bs taxed

jat a special 8§ per cent

royalty rate for a period
determined by the depth and
number of wells drilled
before oil is discovered.

Chevron Standard Ltd. of
Calgary, which operates
about 80 per cent of the
province's wells, is once
again interested in ex-
ploration’ because of
government incentives and
improved seismic research
techniques, says Glenn
Crufekrhank, the company’s
‘Virden-area suprévisor.

Voyager Petroleums Ltd,
ls another company which
haa jumped into exploration
with leases on a total of
120,000 acres in the Virden

short recorded service. And fields.

there are no ushers to pass
the collection plate.

John Fisher, Executive
Vice President of | the.
Council for Canadian Unity
was Canada's Centennial.
Commissioner.

“With the combination of
Alberta's land prices and
Manitoba's geological and
economic merit, that's
definitely one area we're
looking
vice-president
Allso

Harold
PP.

"|. differences in products,

~"'Tprediet that the time will come wheri tinje payment
- plans will mention a sum of money only, ommiting the

Mn bringing to market. {improved seat belte or aly,
jamaller, more fyel-efficient ars

- ready have risen sharply thia year.
at,” saya Voyager —
‘declined as Investors take profits

tee ate ee “ ¥F fog nr irieetrs
pee wate WORT 2 AC lead bee Arde ee Sete A oi,

“The mes they are a-changin’ ', went the old
alxies protest song. . Coot
Musing on this , L reviewed in my mind the
prices and trade practices,
through the forty and more years that I have been
aware it them, - The following are gome of those
* Gasoline sold for about eightdollars a ‘drum’, which
came to about eighteen cents a gallon. More
correctly, this came te about 15 cents a gallon for
gasoline, and three cents a gallon for tax. We now pay
a dollar or more for one gallon of gasoline-plus-tax;.

. the product coating 36 cents and the tax amounting to

4 cents, or more than half the price. . “y
- In varying degrees, this tax-product ratio applies to.
all the merchandise we buy. . It is a complicated. _
subject which also includes overhead and varying
amounts of profit. But, as a consumer, I am con-
cerned with one vital factor, the product-price ratlo.
Or, to be more precise, “how mucho: the price.
represents product, and how much represents other
coats such as taxes, profit, etc.?” ; -
In recent years, I have seen an alarming tendency.
for r prices to rise without a corresponding rise in
product content, or less and leas product and more and.
more other charges, And that ls why repoaseaslon, a.
very real danger to those who did not payforanarticle .
In years gone by, is now a rare’ Occurence, —
Repossession is now a last resort,“ '
a a dealer sold an- automatic vwashing
mac for five hundred dollars, Dedijct his profit,
taxes and other extras, and you now have a two
hundred dollar article. It is used for.six months,
during which time no payments are made. Let us say.
that the amount owing is four hundred dollars. Who,
in his right mind, would repossess a {wo hundred
dollar article in order to cancel a four hundred dollar.

oduct altogether. Payment will be in ra
preciating dollars, ane

and nonpayment will be handled
by the courts. ._- mopar ‘

As I wrote at the beginning, these are afew random:
thoughts. If you have any comments, please write to:
this newspaper. Your lettera are always ‘welcome. «|

“NDP WARNS
.OF DEPRESSION

VANCOUVER (CP) - United States, but
British Columbla faces a even will drag down
major depression early Canada, although 3&.C.

-next decade because will stave off a recession
there will be a decline in for a short time because.
real eatate values, MLA of a healthy forest in-

‘State: Sa

“Vancouver The MLA sald govern
Centra told the annual sents must’ redirect.

- pavention of tne Be. - more-iavestment-in-rapid «

that continuing oll price ,_ Ganalt because of fuel
increases plus massive es :
public and private debt Jack Munro, regional

president of the In-
soaring and iat yaises ternational Woodworkers

wmmet of America, urged the
ewe -s facing YoungNDPs to encourage
something pretty Closer co-operation’
geriour,” said Lauk. between the labor
. “The free market syatem Movement and the NDP.
is hitting a reef. Munro sald - relations:
“We ow 10 times what between organized labor
we own," and the NDP have not
Lauk, minist.. of mines always been smooth, but:
dn the NDP government there is no other political
rom 1972-78, said a  cholcefor organized labor
recession sparked by in the province. .
_ higher energy costs will § Moe Sihota, former
cause unemployment to student member of the
exceed I4percent andthe University of B.C. board |
recession will turn into of governors and now 4
depression when social worker in White
unemployment forces Rock, Sunday was electéd
homeowners to turn over president of the Young
New Democrata. Other
members of the new
executive are Bob Staley,
Paul Sandhu, Fran
Watters, Orson Yee and
Greer Warren,

mS

Canada profits
show an increase

TORONTO (CP) — Higher oil prices are Increasing the
profits and stock prices of the major oll companies, leading
analysts to revise their profits predictions for the next two

In the first six months of the year, profits of Canada's six
largest Integrated oll companies were up 36 per cent over the
same period last year, Integrated companies refine and sell

oil products as well as produce crudeoilandnaturalgas.
ell Canada Ltd, ed a gain of 43 per cent, Imperial

Oi] Ltd, 35 per cent, Gulf Canada Ltd, 9 per cent and Texaco

Canada Lid, 31 per cent, .

The big contributor to rising profits was returns from in-
ereqaed crude production as Canadian companies moved to
make up shortages when [ranian supply was curtailed by -
political upheavals. Also helping were higher profits from
chemicals and refined products.

Campbell Glass of R. A. Daly and Co. Ltd., a Toronto in-
vestment firm, estimates a profit of $9 a share for Imperial
Oil, up from the $2.41 earned in 1978.

in other oil stocks, heexpects Gulf to earn $4.75 a share this
from from $4.02 In 1976, Shell $1.60 from $1.51, Texaco §5.75
from $4.19, and BP Canada Ltd. $2.25 to $2.50 from $1.77.
FIGURES HIGHER

His new figures are 25 to 65 cents higher than his earlier
predictions,

Denis Mote, oils analyst for Bache Halsey Stuart Canada .
Lid, in Montreal, said Petrofina Canada Ltd, may earn $5 a
share this year, up from $2.97 in 1978. He said the stock may
go as a6 $4 in 1900,

: For this year and 1960, Mote expecta profita to be $2.90 and
$9.60 a share for Imperial, $4.60 and §5,40 for Gulf, $1.90 and .
($2.30 for Shell, $5.70 and §6.80 for Texaco and $2.60 ard $9.90
for BP Canada. : . .

But rising profits don't necessarily make oll stocks a good
inveatment. Some analysts caution the stocka may suffer if
there is a general decline in the market and many priees al-

Glass, however, notes that the majors have recently
and the stocks are begin-
‘ning to look attractive again, ,