; PAT O’/DONAGHY Se return postage guaranteed EDITOR * ' ; "NOTE OF COPYRIGHT + The Herald retains full, complete and sole copyright In any advertisement produced and-or = editorial or photographic content published in the Herald. Repraduction is not permitied ENERGY FROM SURPLUS WOOD ; Methanol, or wood alcohol, to help power automobiles and other forms of equipment, could be produced in large quantities from Canada's surplus forest materials, ac- cording to a preliminary report released by federal Fisheries and Environment Minister Romeo LeBlanc. Entitled "An Economic Pre-feasibility Study: Large Scale Methanol Fuel Production from Surplus Canadian Forest Biomass’’, the report has been prepared by In- terGroup Consulting Economists Ltd. of Winnipeg for the Environmental Management Service of Fisheries and Environment Canada. ; The report shows that with favorable tax treatment methanol could be manufactpred profitably now at a price competitive with that of gaSoline. - Surplus forest biomass referred to in the report includes trees available as part of the annual allowable cut from Canada's forests but not expected to be utilized by the year 2000. It also includes species regarded as unsuitable for conventional forestry operations. Wood residues, such as slash from harvesting, bark and sawdust, which are nor- mally viewed as wastes by the industry, are also suitable for methanol production. Methanol can be used alone or as a blend with gasoline. Unblended, it would require basic design changes in motors; but in blends of up to 20 percent only minor, inexpensive alterations are necessary. On the basis of a blend of 15 percent methanol with 35 percent gasoline, the report estimates that there is more than sufficient surplus forest material available to meet Canada’s projected motor fuel requirements at the end of this century. rea the herald 635-6357 An Award Winning Weekly Published by Sterling Publishers Ltd. Published every Wednesday at 3212 Kalum St., Terrace, B.C. A member of Varified Cir- culation. Authorized as second class mail. Registration number 1201. Postage paid in cash, GORDON W. HAMILTON = Test - * Of the things we think, say or do. Is it the TRUTH? ts it fair to all - concerned? .- ‘Will it build GOOD | WILL and BETTER FRIENDSHIPS? Will it be BENEFICIAL PUBLISHER The blended fuel promises a substantial reduction in pollutant emission — an environmental aspect seen as a key additional reason for phasing methanol into our present liquid fuel systems. ; InterGroup foresees prospects in methanol production for amajor new Canadian industry that could bring substantial regional development in many rural areas and up to 40,000 new jobs. The report indicates that production of 5 billion gallons of methanol] annually is feasible. This would lead to an $800 million annual saving in foreign exchange ex- penditures —- funds that would normally be required for - petroleum purchases from abroad. Methanol, preduced from renewable resources, could be expected to sustain supplies of liquid fuels over the long haul, with consequent lessening of pressures on non- renewable fossil fuels. . ; Besides indicating potentials of methanol for increasing Canadian energy security and self-reliance, the report anticipates thata domestic methanol industry could benefit forest management and improve the efficiency of forest industries. . The report further indicates that a methanol industry would enable provinces to produce more of their own energy and encourage more equitable distribution of energy production across the country. Commenting on the report the minister said: ‘Within the federal government, we intend to follow up vigorously to see if these preliminary findings can be confirmed. If results are positive, we will assess all opportunities for action that. are open to us. I encourage all interested people to study and diseuss these proposais and to convey their views to us”’, . : Watch your language It used to be that anyone addicted to cursing earned a reputation of ‘‘swearing like a trooper’’. That comparison’ wouldn't hold today for just about everyone swears, from preachers to politicians. Perhaps the odd damn or hell doesn’t do anyone harm but profanity which the Oxford Dictionary defines as ‘‘outside the temple’’; ‘‘irreverent” and “‘blasphemous”’, is offensive to many and an insult to God. ‘ Many people today sprinkle their conversations with *God” and ‘‘Jesus Christ” but in contexts one would never hear in prayers or at religious services. Last fall the Presbyterian Synod of Toronto and Kingston sent a statement to Prime Minister Trudeau protesting the use of profanity by public leaders. “We feel a need to express our concern about the in- creasing lack of restraint on the part of public figures in regard to the use of the name of God, often coupled with expressions that...infringe upon the exclusive prerogative Feeding A long-delayed fund of $1 billion designed to help poor. countries to grow more of their own food is becoming a reality. Under an agreement proposed by the oil-exporting nations at the 1974 World Food Conference, the fund would become operative once it reached the billion dollar mark. According to the World Food Council, the industrialized nations are pledging $567 million, the OPEC countries $435. million and some developing nutions $9 million, So far, some 91 nations have initialled the articles of agreement of this new fund. : Soon the fund will begin making grants and low-cost loans . to poor countries, especially those with serious food deficits, to help them increase their food grain production. Intiially, the fund will grant and lend a total of $350 million annually. And there is further good news in that officials of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations says af Almighty God to judge and condemn”, the resolution sail ‘The churchmen entreated the prime minister “‘to refrain from the use of such.expressions inorder that you may set before this nation an example of good taste, respect for the . ’ Christian faith and reverence for what is sacred to millions of citizens of Canada.” . We hope the prime minister and Canadiansin general will take the Presbyterian appeal to heart. We need all the help’ we can get to stem the tide of obscenities now polluting gur language. The latest public example is that of a so-called musical group, the Sex Pistols — who spewed four-letter words during a television interview watched by children. We grant that a lot of the swearing and blasphemy engaged in hy “nice peopie”’ is due to thoughtlessness and sloppy speech habbits, but we would all do well to remind ourselves that Christ was explicit on the subject and said it: was far more important to watch what came out of the mouth than what went intoit. (Matthew 15: 17-20). the world | there are signs of a significant recovery in.the global food situation.. . All the experts are agreed, however, that the long-term perspective remains serious. It is estimated that more than a billion people today get inadequate diets. And this malnutrition is usually caused not so much because of lack of food production, but because of poor and uneven production. The question that has haunted us now for decades — can ‘the rich remain well fed in a starving world — is as valid as ever despite the appearance of hopeful signs. Nations like Canada, the United States, France and Australia which are the breadbaskets of the world, must not waver in their present goals of growing more food for everyone. But even more important, the rich must help the poor to make their soil more productive. For only when there is a world- without hunger will there be a world with less fear and less turmoil, The transportation mess grows worse There’s a story about a businessman setting out on a major trip. He checks his suitcase: ‘‘Socks, underwear, clean shirt, shaving gear, lunch...that’ll get me as far as Mirabel....”’ The stories about the federal government’s latest white elephant of an international airport squatting in the lush farmlands north of Montreal would be funny if they weren't so indicative of the cast of mind that permeates the bureaucracy at the Ministry of Transport. Mirabel took over 80,000 acres of farmland that were needed, the MOT experts said, because Dorval was over- crowded and couldn't handle the traffic predicted for the late seventies and eighties. Over the protests of Ste. Scholastique farmers, prime land was expropriated far beyond the needs of Mirabel and the enormous facility started. Much of the expropriated land is still vacant. Farmers can’t use it, the airport is almost useless, In order to beef up their predictions, (Which have proven incorrect), MOT officials are deliberately diverting traffic from the much more convenient and inexpensive Dorval, Mirabel is taking flights from overseas that airlines would like to see arrive in Toronto. Toronto airport, according to independent studies, is not overcrowded, as MOT claims, it is merely ACCOUNTS SMALL BANKERS STUDY The Canadian Bankers’ More than 12,000 stu- Association says 70 per dents are enrolled in cent of personal savings courses of the Institute of accounts at the chartered Canadian Bankers, educa- banks contain Jess than tional arm of the Cana- $1,000, and 40 per cent dian Bankers’ Associa- less than $100. tion, under-utilized and only overcrowded at certain peak periods because of poor scheduting. Anyone who has had the misfortune to use Mirabel or the outlandish facilities foisted on Air Canada at Toronto's Terminal Two cannot help but wonder at the slavish commitment that the federal government has to air travel in this country. , It was former Transport Minister Jean Marchand who said the MOT was a mess, Since that statement almost four years ago Mirabel has been built, Pickering narrowly — and probably only temporarily — postponed the rail travel further diminished by the bureaucrats who make the real decisions at MOT. Every other major industrial nation in the world, faced with rising fuel costs, air. congestion noise, pollution and the need to move people efficiently is turning back to the cheapest and most effective way for medium and short distances — the train —- Canada’s policy commits it to bigger and more expensive terminals, gobbling up prime farm land in rural areas while our railways decline to the point where few people can use them even if they wished. This deliberate policy of denigrating rail travel while prompting such monstrosities as Mirabel calls our whole transport policy into serious question. MAJOR LENDER FARMERS ASSISTED More than $55 of every $100 of credit required by the farming community. in Canada is supplied by the chartered banks, mak- ing them the jargest single lender in this field. During the last 10 years the Canadian chartered banks outstanding loans | to Canadian farmers have tripled to almost $3 bil- lion. " ‘The Editor: - Have you noticed how easy it is to solve other people’s problems? Most of us find the solutions very simple when we are not involved personally but what may seem to be common sense to us may aggravate rather than solve the original problem. Less apparent but much more significant, the solution to other people's problems often do concern and affect us, When we ask and expect governments to protect the incomes, pensions and allowances of some groups, we should not be surprised to find that the consequence is supplying the government with funds from our own pockets — whether by direct or indirect taxation. Similarly, when we seek protection for Canadian abour through enforcement of tariffs or other barriers on imported goods, we must expect to pay for the Bantam Reps Editor Dear Sir: We, the Terrace Bantam Reps, would like to thank you for donating the second. prize for our raffle. It was very much. ap- preciated, Yours truly, - Doug Richey Greg Paulson Terrace Bantam Reps. More The Editor: On behalf of the Terrace Bantam Reps, we would like to thank all who generously supported our hockey team in our fund-raising drive. Special congratulations to the winners of the three prizes drawn on February 2,197... 6.0, 0 7: Also, a special thanks to Mr. Ray Bergstrum, CFTK, for the numerous plugs; CFPR, Prince Rupert; Mr. Pat O’Donaghy, Terrace Herald and Mr. Harry Rogers, Spee Dee Printers, for the printing of the tickets. Doug Richey Greg Paulson ‘Terrace Bantam Reps Oh... Canada! By BILLSMILEY WE have sucha crazy climate: in this country that by the ‘time this appears in print some dingbat-~ will have spotted the first crocus peep- ing its dainty head through the snow. But right at ihe moment, any such crocus would have to come from the garden of King Kong. This winter has been not a little unlike a sort of arctic King Kong — a vast, uncon- ' trollable monster laughing with fiendish glee at the pros- pect of puny man trying to cope with his whistling, frigid breath, his frosty and fickle fingers, and his extremely bad case of dandruff, Around these parts we've had 13 to 15 feet of snow, depending on whom you are conversing with, Lf you are talking to me, you'll learn thal -we’ve had 18 feet. My wife would say: “About twelve anda half feet," in that sickening, righteous tone of hersthat has made me hurl the hatchet and the butcher knife deep in the 16 feet of snow right behind the kitchen door, to avoid temptation. Though we have a pretty good running parry-and- thrust on everything from pea soup to politics, from golf to garbage, we just don't fight about the weather. Until this winter. Now it's hammer and tongs almost every day. And I seem to have wound up with the tongs. 1 stagger out through the blizzardevery morning, btush . the snow off the car, scrape the ice of f the windshield with protection through higher prices. It stands to reason that a healthy, thriving industry will not seek ex- cessive protection against the production of other countries unless it has lost the competitive edge through inefficient production, a restricted market or excessively high costs, Protection of farmets and food producers in the form of tloor prices and marketing boards, will generally lead to higher prices for food consumers — and that is without con- sidering the added cost of administration. It is noted that a long promised review of the Provincial Markeiing Board system has been outlined by Consumer Af- ‘fairs Minister Rafe Mair ‘ Bill Smiley_ and the terms of reference tentatively described. The - suggested study of the food industry, agricultural policy, markeling boards and the U.S. border town shopping could be very enlightening. Consumers Simple solutions throughout the province may become aware for the first time, of the direct cost and benefits accruing from support of food producers. Seeking government intervention in the set- tlement of disputes between employers and employees has a price. A price not measured in dollars but significant in the surrender of some of our rights and privileges as citizens free to negotiate for oyrselves in the labour market. However it is not only to government that we turn demanding the seemingl simple solution that will better our positions in the economic race. Employees, like employers are subject to regulation although the ‘control exerted on each is varied in type and pressure. Employees who are union members may seek higher wages and increased benefits while recognizing that eventually they will pay for them. Less equitably, so Canada by Ruby E. McCreight Thirty-one years I've been away From my home in London Town Far across the ocean blue Where the Queen rules all around. My loved one was a Canadian ‘ o asked me if I’d wed And travel to the Jand he loved _ To the farm where he was bred. All these years I’ve loved my home My family and my man I’ve loved the land, the open space And Canada isso grand. If ever I went back again - To dear old London Town It would be just to visit there For to Canada I’m now bound. The Kinsmen streaker Dear Editor: As concerned mothers in. town we have got together to - notify the paper of an event which tock-place Thursday, February 17. An event _ which we are sure you are aware of but perhaps have not had any cooperation in. The event is the “Kinsmen streaker” at the banquet of the ‘“‘young adolescent girls” from out of town, The streaker, whose name it .‘renowned”’ shames us to mention is a Terrace lawyer. His price for em- barrassing our district, who was the chosen host of the Provincial Girls Curling Playoffs was a mere $1060, We are sure that his legal fees are much more exor- bitant than that, with a lot less “show” in return. Signed: “Concerned Mothers of Terrace” will those whose wages do not include the additional dollars. But for those even less fortunate who exist on fixed incomes, any cost of living adjustment must seem a mere band-aid measure which leaves them further behind. Employers, whether private companies or large industrial cor- poralions, who attempt to make unaturally high rofits can expect to lose Business to competitors, Consumers through their purchasing habits regulate this market but this control is no longer available when the government undertakes the supply of goods and services. This is a free economy. individual effort can still expect to be rewarded and we, as consumers, enjoy the privilege of choice. We can consider all the simple solutions, but can we afford them? Vancouver Board . of Trade Survey results — OTTAWA (CP) — Energy ’ Minister Alastair’ Gillespie said today he hopes to soon present the results of a survey showing how much of the additional rev- enue going to’ oil companies is being spent on exploration and development. . The minister told the Com- mons national resources com- mittee the information is being provided voluntarily by the oil companies, covering spending in the last five years. Meanwhile, he said he ex- pects within a matter of a few weeks lo introduce legislation making it mandatory for the companies to provide such in- formation to the government. The legislation was promised last spring. T.C. Douglas, the New Demo- cratenergy critic, said the gov-. ernment has been assuring con- sumers that oil price increases will increase the search for flew supplies. Oe He said he felt the govern- ment should have had such in- formation from the companies before now, saying ‘'we may have been kidding the public” about where the additional money went, Crude oil prices increased to $9.75 from $3 in the last five years and are expected to rise again July 1. my fingernails because she has lost the scraper, and sit there freezing my poorly padded bum for 10 minutes, warming the beast up. Then I bomb the vehicle out of the driveway, risking my life every morning; because | can’t see anything coming, ' from any direction. I park it on the street. On the odd occasion when she decides to shop, she minces out to.the car, heavily - garbed, climbs into a warm wagon, parks behind the supermarket and walks 40 feet to the door. Every time she goes out, it has stopped snowing for one hour, the wind has dropped for one hour, and the sun gleams palely for one hour., She leaves the car out on the - Street when shecomes home. I clean it off again, buck it through a drift into the drive- way, climb through more snow that goes in over my boots, and totter, breathless and forlorn, into the house. ““Why do you make,such a ‘fuss?’* she queries. ‘It’s been a beautiful winter day.” I don’t mind her scoffing at my golf game, being able to ski twice as fast and far as I, or wondering aloud why any- bedy reads my column. But this winter she’s gone too far. One of us has to break: either the weather, or me. ; She won't be so dam’ smart when she wakesup on the first day of the March break and finds a note pinned to her pillow: “Off to the Canary Isles for 10 days. Hear they're loaded with Scandinavian girls in’ bikinis or (gasp!) topless. Why don’t you go and visit Grandad for a week or so. Love. Fahrenheit Bil,” - She’s a Celsius and it drives me nuts. But it’s not only my wife who has helped, with the aid of this atrocious winter, to depress me. It’s the cost. This is rough reckoning, but close enough. From last November the first, it has cost me, approximately: $420 for fuel oil; $120 for driveway plowing; $50 for the kid next door, snow-shovelling; $60 for battery boosts, tow trucks and other winter items for cars. That, my friends, is 650 bucks for the privilege of spending the winter in the true north, strong and freezing. _Oh, Canadat, You can well say that I didn’t need to ‘spend all that. Well, I dang well did. 1 could have saved a bit on the oil bill by burning the furniture, And Icould have saved a bit on the plowing and shovelling if 1 had been able to quit my job and shovel about four hours a day. But it seems rather a peculiar way to save money, And of course, by now I'd be , dead of a heart attack, so where’s the percentage? Tell me, some of my friends who go south every winter. Does it cost mofe to eat down there?. Less, you say. Does it cost more to drive a car down there? Less, you say. Does it cost more for accommoda- tion? Less, you say, and you add that it can cost $52 for an ordinary double room in Toronto, Montreal, Van- couver. But don’t you get sick of all that fresh orange juice, and those crispy salads twice a day? No, you say. Don’t you feel you are deserting the ship, somewhat, when your country needs you, when it is the duty of every man and woman to put his * and/or her shoulder tothe car that’s stuck in the drift? No, . you say. Have you no thought, no slightest sympathy, for the pensioner who tries to peer through his frosted windows, _ who is scared to venture forth because he might bust his back in a foot-skid, or freeze into a statue on his way to the liquor store? Definitely not, you say, O.K. O.K. [haven't figured it out yet, but I’ll devise same way of some day getting even with all you rotten rich who are loafing around in the sun while 1] battle with the Old Battleaxe about the windchill factor. . In the meantime, it’s the least you: could do, some- body, anybody, to ask me down for a long weekend. From about the fifteenth’ of: February to the Ides of March would be just right. © The Argyle Syndicate Ltd. ° M NAAN TREES A B 7 a HE ves SD MUCH | OTHER haa