Today, the news seems to justify pessimism. Dictators like Idi Amin seize headlines and hostages, while British democracy (according to conservative economist Milton Friedman) has a 50â€"50 chance of being dead in five vears. But the news now includes many things it used to ignore. War massacres like My Lai have happened before. But no one cared about them. Now they get reported, and for the first time a people repudiated their own armies. When Biafrans were starving a few years ago, people all over the world helped them. A century earlier when the Irish were starving, neither their government in Westâ€" minster nor their neighbor in England bothered caring. Greece and Spain have both moved from dictatorship to free elections recently. And while China and much of Africa and Asia may not practice Canadianâ€"style democracy, at least their people can now have more influence on national policy than they could under their tyrannical warlords of former centuries. Maybe the world isn‘t perfect, Dr. Frankl. But it‘s not as cruel and callous as it used to be. And more people than ever before know what‘s going on â€" in Canada and elseâ€" where â€" and care about it, and are trying to improve it. Surely that‘s grounds for optimism, not pessimism. Political dirty tricks were around before Watergate. But this time, a nation‘s moral indignation forced a president to resign. ‘"‘In former times," he said, "all our activity was based on optimism ... that there is something like automatic proâ€" gress, and that all the evils will sooner or later be done away with. But this has now been shown to be a complete illusion. There is no automatic progress but rather an automatic reâ€" gression in which things keep getting worse."‘ It‘s hard to quarrel publically with someone you respect. And Dr. Viktor Frankl has won respect around the world. He is to psychiatry today what Freud and Jung used to be; from the horror of his experiences in Nazi extermination camps, he developed a new school of psychiatry called Logoâ€" therapy, based on each person‘s need to find meaning in life. He suggests that only pessimism â€" realistic awareness of how bad the world is â€" offers a creative minority the will to fight on. That‘s a Biblical and theological concept too â€" Abrahamic minorities who persevere with the truth while society selfâ€"destructs. I would like to correct an error made in the last column about St. Paul‘s Lutheran Church in Erbsville. The land was donated by Adam Schaefer not the Doering f'jamily. But recently Dr. Frankl stated, in Toronto, that the world is getting worse, not better. â€" A former mayor of Waterloo, Christian Kumpf sold lot 34 to Walter Wells who sold it to the trustees of St. Paul‘s Presâ€" byterian Church in 1888. The church was built the same year. It was slightly less than half of the present size. floor and you are there The church built of yellow brick with a square Norman tower on the right. and tall gothic style narrow stained glass windows at the front. resembles one you might find in Britâ€" ain. Waterioo Chromicle office is located on 2nd floor of Waterioo Square‘s Office Tower Enter via the mall entrance beside the Longhorn Restaurant {directly opposste the card shop) or from the elevator foyer beside the Tâ€"D Bank Take the sievator to the 2nd The founding members of the congregation were Russian Mennonites that left revolution torn Russia and arrived in Waterloo in 1924. It was very important to them to be able to worship together and conduct services in the German language . The church was purchased by the congregation in 1932 from the United Church. Previous to this they had rented Historic Waterioo waterioo chronicle In ancient Greece, Hippocrates. called the father of mediâ€" cine. required his students to take an oath. For over two thousand years the graduating young doctors of many counâ€" tries repeated it. But how meaningful can this vow be today with the mass abortions that take place each year with government approval. The oath: "I will not give to a woman an instrument to produce abortion,‘‘ becomes another serap of paper. To the Editor Bad news can be good news jotter fto the edifor â€" Waterloo Chronicle, Wednesday, September 7, 1977 .â€" .. __ _ ._ â€"_;. _ published every Wednesday by Fairway Press, a division of Kitchenerâ€"Waterloo Record Ltd., owner . 25 Fairway Rd. S., Kitchener, Ont. address correspondence to Waterioo office: Waterioo Square, Waterioo, Ont., telephone 886â€"2830 subscriptions : $10 a year in Canada. $12 a year in United States and Foreign Countries Publisher: James M. Boland Editor: Mary Stupart Advertising Manager: Wolfgang Urschel established 1854 W .D. Pope What a pleasure it would be to write a buoyant article on Canada‘s economic prospects. Unfortunately it can‘t be done. The situation is particularly grave in the industrial sector. Last year Canada‘s trade deficit in manufactured goods was more than ten billion dollars. Nearly every branch of Canadian manufacturing displayed weakness. Textiles, clothing, leather goods, consumer electronics, are all sucâ€" cumbing to fierce foreign competition. As an example a well O i;y195| the congregation had grown too large and an adâ€" dition was put on the rear portion that doubled the size of the church and matched the original church exactly. _ it since 1927 li lérge vestibule was added in 1960. It partially obscures the three original gothic windows at the front. The church purchased two houses, one to the east . on George St. and one directly behind it, on Allen St. They were used for Sunday School rooms. Both have been demolished. The George St. one was removed when a large educational wing was added in 1975. The Allen St. home was removed to extend the parking lot. The interior of the vestibule is lit by amber and turquois gothicâ€"style windows. _ The church has an attractive vaulted and beamed ceiling. The plaster is painted a lighter shade of blueâ€"grey than the walls and the dark beams stand out against this backgrounq. â€"The \;rainscotling on the lower third of the wall is an early feature. The windows contain diamondâ€"shaped amber and turquois panes. A View from the Grass Roots The organ is the focal point of the sanctuary. The clergy sit on high backed carved chairs. Some changes to the sanctuary are planned in order to give the organ and choir more prominence. The basement contains Sunday School rooms. a large meeting room and a kitchen. From the vestibule one enters the educational wing. A large lounge overlooks a court yard. The secretaries office and Reverend Leonard Epp‘s study are adjacent to the lounge. The rest of the addition is taken up with classrooms and a large auditorium which occupies the centre section The g(;iden jubilee of the congregation was held in 1974 and there was much to celebrate and be thankful for. ANCIENT CANADIAN â€"TORTURE by Marg Rowell established Waterloo firm, General Instrument of Canada Limited, has announced it will close its doors early in the new year. We need a coherent national policy which will revitalize and enhance our industrial base. In this way jobs will be created and business prosperity will be restored. This counâ€" try‘s geography and climate present special challenges in transportation, communication and energy. A coherent industrial strategy will take advantage of our strengths, it will require new government initiatives. The problems are fundamental. There has been too much government control through regulations and interference in private enterprise. Price and wage controls put forward by the Antiâ€"Inflation Board have driven away capital and created uncertainty. High taxes and loss of competitive wage rates have also had an effect. Uncertainty created by nationalism with its implications for confederation has had an effect. Perhaps the most serious problem facing Canadian indusâ€" try is one of attitude. There is a loss of incentive and imagâ€" ination. There is no air of confidence or determination. There is uncertainty about the AIB and about government attitude towards business. A government which advocates expensive social welfare programs and the quality of life while at the same time downâ€"grading initiative, enterprise, and challenge must accept a good deal of the responsibility for these negative attitudes. One area where we will have to improve is in our techniâ€" cal expertise and our productivity. We must be able to do things faster and better and cheaper than the competition. We can export technologically intensive goods. One school of thought recommends greater tariff protecâ€" tion for Canadian manufacturing. This would be combined with the creation of larger national companies with the ability to provide economical productiveness and to comâ€" pete with the United States multinationals. Another school argues that world tariffs should be reduced thereby giving Canadian manufacturers greater access to world markets. This would permit greater productiveness and lower per unit cost of manufacturing. A third school of thought emâ€" phasizes the need for more professionalism in management technology, greater use of known technology to increase productivity, and greater access to capital markets. This approach also advocates the use of government measures such as investment incentives, tax rebates and so on. by Rich Hobson