PAGE 4, THE HERALD, Thursday, August 4, 197

—{the herald) __

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f.

“The neutron
bomb debate

The bizarre nature of the debate about the
awesome neutron bomb being developed in the
United States indicates how far some of the world’s
military men have moved toward wholesale
destruction of entire nations. For despite all the
secrecy that surrounds the neutron weapon, one
fact stands out very clearly: A number of top
people in the United States think the N-bomb is a
useful and viable military tool.

What kind of weapon is this neutron bomb? Its
simple purpose is to wipe out human beings while
allowing the places where they live and work to
stand unharmed. The neutron bomb - a so-called
“clean” bomb - would kill by ruining men’s central
nervous systems. The form of death that these
bombs would inflict on their victims would include
convulsions, intermittent stupor, a lack of muscle
coordination, with death coming sometimes only
days after the attack. ;

It is to the credit of the U.S. public that there has
been a wide-spread outcry against the weapon.
Newspaper editors have been flooded with letters
describing the neutron bomb as barbaric and
reminiscent of the napalm that was used during the
Vietnam war. A death of this sort, said a student
from the University of North Carolina, can be
described only as horrible, construed by a
diabolical and Hitlerian type of mentality.

Yet the strangest aspect of the whole affair is

’ that President Carter has approved development of
the new bomb. Is it possible that the man who
speaks about himself as the champion of human
rights will go ahead with the manufacture of this
horrific new device?

One can still argue that the neutron weapon is no
worse than the catastrophic thermonuclear bombs
that can wipe out entire cities within seconds.
Hopefully, as the United States and the Soviet
Union move at snail’s pace toward some form of
dentente, the grisliest and deadliest of these
weapons will be banned in the fullness of time. Why
the United States is even thinking of developing yet
another horror weapon for other nations to copy
must remain one of the great mysteries of 1977.

Morality declines
in the marketplace

The revelations over the past few years that
kickbacks, slush funds, under-the-table payments

and, in some cases, outright bribery have been -

employed by a number of large corporations in
many countries, including Canada, seems to
indicate a decline in commercial morality.

The scandals associated with Atomic Energy of
Canada Ltd., a Crown corporation, and the
kickbacks in the Sky Shops affairs, make it clear
that dishonest business practices are not limited to
the private sector.

Along with a general decline in personal and
social morality, there is an ‘anything goes”
attitude within the business community that has

had a deleterious effect on public morality as a

whole.

This lack of ethical consideration has resulted in
aserious decline in the public’s mind of trust in the
‘business sector but while some corporations do not
let ethics stand in the way of profit, there are
indications that many executives of large and
small corporations are beginning to see the need
for serious reform.

Generally speaking, the public views big
business with the same suspicious eye it reserves
for big government. But now there are signs that

some large Canadian companies understand that .

public morality includes them. Codes of ethics are

appearing in the boardrooms of the nation. Senior

executives are being required to sign statements

that they will under no circumstances violate these
es.

Bribery, large or small, is of course illegal but
now it is also forbidden in the new corporate
morality. Transactions must be conducted in an
open and acceptable manner. Lavish
entertainment or expensive gifts are prohibited.
The laws of Canada and the laws of other countries
must be strictly observed in negotiating business

eals.

It’s ‘good business in the long run, both for the
corporations and for the citizens of Canada, if
commercial transactions are conducted with
rigorous honesty, observing both the spirit and the
letter of the law.

Adn then the tarnished - albelt sometimes
undeserved - image of business might brighten.

Insurance plans for th

TUKONTO (CP) — Want
to be insured against havin
twins? Or how abou
insurance against rain at a
rock concert?

Kenneth Gilbert can
arrange either, although he
emphasizes this is not a big’

art of his insurance

usiness.

7s president and chief
executive officer of Dale-
Ross Holdings Ltd., Gilbert
said he has arranged all
kinds of coverage, ‘‘from
the ridiculous to the sub-
lime.” His company has just

by GORDON HARDY.
Number 1 in a series of five
eolumns ;

The excellent whiskey
made -by the Banker
Distillery in England
depended on the pure waters

,of a certain stream for its

well known qualities.

But suddenly old-time
customers were
complaining. There’s
something wrong with the
taste, they said, it’s just not
what is used to be.

Alarmed that the
distinguished Banker
reputation might be washed
down the drain, the owners
lost no time in searching out
the case of their woe.

What they found was that
the unpleasant change in the

. taste of their whiskey was

due to a change in the water
of their. stream; upstream,
John Young and Company
had begun using the same
water to wash coal, While

this didn’t dirty the water it,

completed its first $1-million
profit year,

Gilbert is an insurance
broker, not an agent. A
broker acts for a client by
shopping for the best
coverage deal available
while an agent acts for only

_ One or a few companies and

sells what they have te offer,
Dale-Ross arranges
coverage for auto, casualty,
life and group insurance,
pension and welfare
programs, property and a
ost of others. It also main-
tains a large engineering

did change the chemical
balance so that whiskey
made with it tasted
different. '

The distillery took the coal
company to court and the
resulting case, which b
1870 got as far as the Britis
House of Lords, was to be a
milestone,

The courts decided in
favour of the distillery,
ordering the coal company
to stop changing the quality
of the water, This was
important because it set a

ern for lawyers and
judges to follow in later
cases.

What John Young and
Company v. the Bankier
Distillery established was
that the distillery, through
whose property the stream

ran, had a right to enjoy the
continued good quality of
the water. This right, called
a riparian or a water right,
includes lakes, rivers, and
$0 On,

oy wouldn’t say we've £0

WASHINGTON (CP} —
President Carter's energy
proposals have so far shown
remarkable progress in
Congress but he still has a
long way to go to convince
some legeslators and the
general public that tough
conservation measures are
needed,

Voting on the Carter
package this week,
Congress approved
establishment of a new
energy department which
will absorb most federal

agencies dealing with

energy.
But the department's
authority is to be pared
considerably, Carter
wanted to give the de-
partment authority to set
energy prices. This instead
will be laced in the hands of
an independent federal
regulatory agency.
Meanwhile, the House of
Representatives and Senate
have expressed conflicting
views on howto control the

Jegulator

‘ “og ; _ a
t a traffic problem, but yesterday I got a parking ticket
driving home during the rush hour.” .

oe Business spotlight

staff and chemical and
petroleum coverage is a .
strong part of its operations.

It has written insurance
against multiple births, with
the rate epending on
family istory;
performance insurance,
such as against adverse
weather or the non-
appearance of a star at a
rock concert; and insurance
against someone shooting a
hole-in-one at a_ golf
tournament,

Gilbert said the insured
parties have occasionally

Environmental Law/A Series

collected on this ‘‘odd-ball"’
type of civerage despite the

insurance coverage of
communications satellite
launchings, It also provides
aircraft coverage for Air
Canada and Quebecair and
is a leading marine insurer.

Gilbert said that although
a broker arranges for ¢
best coverage for his client,
itis not necessarily the leas
é Nnsive. =o :

‘If he buys the cheapest
insurance, he is going to try

heavy ' ;
Dale-Ross has arranged .

~ Law Talk

common law, ° This kind of
law, originally decided on
the basis of what judges
think is common sense and
fairness, is different from
legislation, which is decided
by elected officials, not

judges,

Laws which deal with the
environment come from
both common law and
legislation. Lately laws
from legislation have grown

-much more quickly than
commen laws.

Areport of the West Coast
Environmental Law
Association points out that
the common law rights are
based on the idea that ‘‘each
person's right to enjoy his
own property should be
protected as- much: as
possible and that no one

‘should be allowed to
interfere unreasonably with

Laws prolect mush more
than just water rights.
There are laws that protect
property “owners from
private nuisance. In one
recent case, a farmer in
Delta, British Columbia,
arranged to have his
vegetable crop sprayed
from the air.

During the spraying, the
airplane roared oyer some
neighbourhood houses,
causing fright and shock to
two elderly ladies. The two
ladies took both the farmer
and the aviation company to
court, and the court decided
in favour of the ladies,
granting them.
compensation.

Over the years, cases like
this and the Young v.
Bankier case, both here and
in England, har-> become
part of what. is

J
a y
‘ 2]

Interpreting the news

Energy plan goes to Congress

production and sale ofcgas-
z tin cars. sal

going along with the Carter
wWiew, calls for extra taxes
‘an cars that get low gasoline
riijeage. The Senate energy
committee recommended
angoutright ban on any 1980-
model cars which get less
than 4 mcles to the gallon.
It also“\suggested fines on
manufacturers who sell high
gasoline-cdnsuming cars,

But the car-buying public
appears to be Jess concerned
about high gasoline con-
sumption. The big manufac-
turers report high earnings
so far this year, mainly
through the sale of large and
medium cars. Those
producing smaller cars are
showing lower profits.

The energy proposals
Carter sent to Congress last
Apri] included taxes
rebates, grants ‘and
powers aimed at
cutting oil consumption and
reducing imports. He

before the House,

estimated his package’
would reduce consumption |
by 25 per cent by 1985.

But congressional studies
suggested Carter
overestimated possible
savings and Republicans
generally opposed. the
package, saying it does
nothin, to encourage
production of new energy
resources and that it is
basically just another tax

consumer prices.

_ The House approved a
modest compromise which
would raise the ceiling for
natural gas to $1.75 per
thousand cubic feet from
1,45.

Many of the non-tax
matters in Carter’s
program—such as
yoluntary standards for
home insulation, grants for
improving energy
conservation in schools, and
hospitals, standards for
more efficient home
appliances and authorizin
federal grants to implemen
conservation in munivipal
buildings--have had an

- easier time going through
Congress. .

' Carter has pledged that he
will not give up the energy
fight, If Congress dees not
approve his ener Fy package
this year, he will continue
efforts to get in enacted next
year. ;

Lu. .

This sentiment was
echoed last month by state
governors who told Carter

is plan puts teo much
emphasis on conservation
and not enough on resource |
development.

Much of Carter’s program
relies on continued
government regulation of oil
and natural gas prices.

Republicans. want to
eliminate oll and natural
gas price controls.

‘Carter says natural gas
controls, in effect since 1954,
are needed to heip stabilize

_ person who
_ dangerous substances onto

MLA

‘when we
. members placing a higher
. priority on such a childish
-issue, rather than deal with

‘ petter ‘from the

to increase his coverage the
first time he has a claim and

that means we-have to go ;
with

back and renegotiate

the insurer with our cap in
our hand.’’. _

_ Among the most difficult

types of insurance for .
brokers to arrange 18

product ability and officers
and ‘directors liability
coverage, gilbert said. —

For example, United
States lawyers can take
cases on a_ contingent

.basis—they can sue on
_ behalf of a client for a per-

other people's rights.”

A property owner, or even
a tenant, can use the
common law to protect his
land against factory smells,
smokes, oisons,
insecticides, and noise. Tim
Mackenzie, a Vancouver
lawyer, explains: ‘If you
start up a mink ranch and
your neighbour is operating
a shooting club, and the
noise of the shots from the
guns causes your minks to
misearry...you could obtain
acourt injunction (order) to
sto his nuisance
activities.’”

The common law also can
rotect property owners
rom ottier kinds of damage.
Mackenzie explains that “a
brings

his own land for his own use
and then allows them to
escape onto your own land
will be held _ strictl
accountable for all
damages.” This is called

e ridiculous -

centage fee if they win—and
this has led to huge Hability
settlements on - product
safety, he said.

Canadian lawyers are not
allowed to do that and
Gilbert said such insurance
coverage would be even
more difficult to arrange in
Canada. o :

However, he said Dale-
Ross is. considering
expansion into the U‘S;
partly to look for additional
profit but mainly to provide
service for its existing
clients with U.S. operations;

Unclean water meant foul-tasting wine

the rule in Rylands ¥.

‘Fletcher, after an old case,

*

- responsibility for it,

andincluees everything
from baltery acid fumes to
wild animals.

In common law, it is the

citizen, ususally the
proper owner, who must -
‘ta e law into his own .
hands’. No government

department as any

a
operty owner feels that
mage is being done to his
land, then he must arrange
with his lawyers to drag the
offending party to court,
Next: Citizens who don't
own property; the public in
general,

For a copy of the booklet
Pollution & Environmental
Law please contact the
Vancouver People’s Law
Schoo], The booklets cost
fifty cents. each, plus
postage. Write to 2110-C
West Twelfth Avenue,
Vancouver or phone 734-
1126,

AN MLA’s Report _
House discusses
committee spat:

CYRIL M. SHELFORD,

Two days this week was
spent in discussion on a
private quarrel in a
committee which most
members had no direct
knowledge. It is certainly a
sad day in this province
see many

the numerous serious issues
facing the nation and the

“pravince,: ,
~ ‘There is no question in my

le in the
country side not only want,
but deserve somethin

resen

enty-

mind that the peop!

Legislature. In my

- five. years of experience,
- T’ve never seen the House in

such shambles, and s0 much

“time being spent on petty

issues - not for the good of

the people of the province, .

but pr ely for poll tow gain.
5 strategy is no
to the credit of any member
and destroys the total image
of the legislature and t

‘whole Democratic process,
_ In. fairness, no one in

particular is at fault, but all
seem to be caught in a

‘system that seems to have

veloped since 1972.

Nearly all members seem
to recognize the problem,
but seem to be caught in a
trap of their own making.
Unless there is a change,
Province will suffer..even
more in the future as many
good people will not run - fo
sit in Victoria and spend
their time on minor issues
repetition and personal
abuse. The system itself
should be looked at because
the only way at present for a
Party to build, is to tear
down the others. The logical
way naturally, is to build on

top rather than tear down all.

that was there. -
T regret I have to mention
this from time to time, but

changes simply have to be

made, and I hope all Party
Members will turn their
altention fo this problem
-with the hope of improvin
the system more in line wit
the needs of the Province. I
feel we are 50 years behind
the times in getting the
business of the people done.
I spoke this week on the
need for a better “on the
job” training program, so
our. young. people would be

better prepared to fit: into

the employment system
rather than bring in people
from other countries - while
still having a high
unemployment rate. ”
If new mines and mills are
starting up, then a study
should be made of the le
required, the type of skills
required, how many are
available, and when
training has to start. In
many cases there is far too
much theory and too little on
the job practical training.
One of the greatest
problems of many coming
into the work force and even
more, those being
unemployed for a spell; is
they are simply physically
unfit, due to lack of exercise
they aresimply unfit to go to
work. “
I'm concerned with
second language training in
this province and asked the
Minister of Education
whether he was satisfied
with the present system
where. millions are spent; -
and nearly everyone takes
french. Nearly everyone
passes, yet few are able to
speak the language. ;
The Minister answered by
saying ‘‘heck- no’, and
seemed interested in the
proposal from Ashley
Proceviat of Terrace
outlining the goals of the
Terrace Association of
Cultural Enrichment. -o
Young Children age 3-5. I'm
convinced this is :the age
they should be learning:
second language, whether it
be french or some other
language. . : oO
@ purpose of the newly
formed group is to teach a
second language through
games, stories, craftd,
songs, fun and play. =”
All of us should be
interested in a second and
even third language, with
travel s0 easy. °
Gordon Gibson algo urged
the teaching of children al
an early age-and quoted: ©
~ “For us to think education
begins when a child goes to
first grade is grossly -in
error. mo
Children start to learn
long before they're six years
old. They start to learn at
birth, and by three it’s
pretty much ail over.” «~
Where the best time up to
age three, this has . been
proven in some European
countries, =