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PAGE 6 â€" WATERLOO CHRONICLE, WEDNESDAY , MAY 13, 1981 Last week Canadians saw the prime rate charged by the chartered banks rise to a record level of nearly 19 per cent. Rates for most businesses have passed the 20 per cent level. The price of gasoline recently rose 3% cents per gallon, bringing to a total of 21 cents per galion the increases since January 1981. The Consumer Price Index is rising at its highest rate since the Korean war. While I have received a great deal of mail from Waterloo constituents as a result of the Government‘s aimless economic leadership, one recent letter brings a new poignancy to the present situation. It is a sensitive and precise description of the plight of our farm community. With the permission of its author, John Weber, of RR 1, Waterloo, I have included it below. I think it stands on its own. ‘‘I am writing out of a concern for not only the future of me as a farmer and our family farm, but ailso many of my neighbouring farmers. Is the Government not concerned about the escalating input costs to farmers? Is the Government not concerned about the crippling effects of the high interest rates? Is the Government not concerned with the reduced returns for our beef and hog farmers? How are we to survive as a family farm when all our input costs, over which we have no control, keep escalating at a 10 to 20 per cent rate per From my side of the line fence, it looks as if the government‘s not at all concerned with the problems of the beef and hog farmer. Their only concern is their damned constitution. Knowing me, Waiter, that is pretty strong language, but those are my sincere sentiments. Ministry officials knew in advance that the pamphiets were to be used as part of the proâ€"fluoride campaign in a plebiscite. That is not their intended purpose or what the pamphlets were printed for. And it is not a seemly role for Dr. Andrew Glenny, the region‘s dental services director, to arrange the acquisition for a private citizens‘ group. This is a matter of principle that goes beyond whether anyone is pro or antiâ€"fluoride. The pamphlets themselves may or may not have a significant impact on the outcome of the vote, but we feel a regard for fair play and due process has been thrown out the window. A referendum is basically a type of election, where a stand on an issue, rather than a candidate, is chosen. As we wouldn‘t expect a candidate for public office to run his campaign on taxpayers‘ money, we don‘t expect one side of the issue in a plebiscite campaign to get government support â€" at least if it causes unfair advantage. â€" Case in point is the agreement by ministry of health officials to provide the local proâ€"fluoride group with thousands of pamphlets to be delivered to city homes. By his own admission to the Chronicle, Dr. Glenny says "it‘s not the civil servant‘s job to try and influence it (the plebiscite) whatsoever.‘""‘ Doesn‘t he see the paradox in that statement and his own actions? wwhne 20 00 WALTER McLEAN Fair play published every Wednesday by Fairway Press. a division of Kitchenerâ€"Waterioo Record Lid . owner 225 Fairway Rd S . Kitchener. Ont address correspondence to Waterloo office p 92 King St South Waterios Ont tiephone 886â€"2830 Waterioo Gronicie oftfice is located on 2 nd aq: of the 0 W Sports busiding opposte Waterioo Square Perung on King Street or in Weterioc Square Open Monday to Fragay 9 OO a m 1o 5 00 p m Editor: _ Phil Jaisevac subscriptions $14 a vear in ( anads $l6 a vear in Ur‘ted States and Foreign Countries Publisher: Paul Winkier establishea 1854 Waiter, the hog and beef producers, if they are to survive 1981, must have subsidized interest rates at no more than 12 per cent on our operating loans. This must happen in 1981 and must be retroactive. This is only a Would you ask the Government where we went wrong? I suggest to you that it is mot because of our negligent efforts or management. 1 suggest to you that it is the Government which has put us in these dire straits. It is because of the mismanagement of our economy by the government that our crippling interest rates are where they are today. This is the most serious factor in our plight for survival. The Government also has not given agriculture the importance it deserves in the whole economic outlook of its priorities. One may say our problems have been selfâ€"inflicted â€" allow me to give you an example from my personal experience. Many of us with growing families made substantial commitments to agriculture in the mid 1970s in the form of expansion and modernization to our beef and hog enterprises. l invested several hundred thousand dollars in our operation to make it more efficient and also to bring in interested family members. These financial commitments were made over a 10 to 15 year period at interest rates of between eight and a half and nine and a half per cent. In the late 70s, we found ourselves in a position with shrinking returns and a higher carrying cost on our money. We had to reâ€"finance. 1981 looks even bleaker and more disastrous. year; and the prices we receive for our beef and hog carcasses keep reducing? Farmer states his case While many of us consumers have plenty of cause to complain about increased costs, we should stop to consider just what the effects increased costs have on the producer. I thank Mr. Weber for allowing me to make public his position. I hope that the exercise wil} not be in I also intend to raise his concerns in the House of Commons, (or in Committee) with the same Ministers. 1 will be happy to provide anyone interested with copies of those exchanges. â€" At my next meeting with the Waterioo Federation of Agriculture, I will report to representatives of our farm community on the Government‘s present thinking on interest rates as they apply to farming operations. I woulid appreciate if you would photostat this letter and pass a copy on to the Minister of Finance and aiso the Minister of Agriculture." I sent copies of Mr. Weber‘s letter to both MacEachen and Whelan, as he requested. I think we will al} be very interested in hearing their response. plug in the dyke, but that is the only way this Government has performed for the beef and hog producâ€" er. . I could go on about the many pieces of farm equipment on my farm that are nearing the end of their sojourn here on this earth, with no money to replace them, but 1 will Something must be done on a longerâ€"termâ€"basis for the return to beef and hog producers; but the number one priority is subsidized 12 per cent interest rates and secondly, the price we receive for our product.