WHITBY FREE PRESS, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 16,1986, PAGE 5 "I have sworn upon the altar of God eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man." - Thomas Jefferson THE CROW'S NEST by Michael Knell There's a lot Of bull floating around these days and it's all over bingo - you know, the game the local church used to hold on Fridays to help pay off the mor- tgage or pay the rector when the collection coffers were a bit low. It seems as though several non-Whitby groups are anxious to retain their Whitby bingo licenses. Others, including the town clerk and various community organizations, are not anxious to allow them to continue operating bingos in this community. Well, I'm going to jump in with both feet and come fully on side with those who feel that non-Whitby groups shouldn't be allowed to operate bingos in town. Frankly, since it is ail too apparent that bingo pieis far too small, perhaps it's in the best interest of our own copmmunity organizations that bingo licenses be restricted to them. Such a move would not be without precedence in Durham Region. Neither Pickering nor Ajax issue licenses to groups from outside their communities. Those that want the status quo maintained, bingo-wise, note that these organizations support activities of a regional, provincial and national nature and that some Whitby people do benefit from it and, therefore, should be allowed to continue. However, in at least one case there is a group that is com- peting with its own Whitby branch, and what good is that? Don't the Optimist Clubs of Ajax, Bowmanville, Oshawa and Whitby have the same goals and ob- jectives? Don't they support the same things? If so, why are those other clubs wanting to Infringe on Whitby's piece of the action? I would also like to point out something else here. Bingo is a lottery. Technically, a form of gambling. Gambling is illegal in this country. Bingo is only permitted in this country as a means to raise money for community organizations such as churches, service clubs and minor sports groups. But having reviewed the. report submitted to council Monday night by clerk Don McKay, it is not such a terrific money-maker. In fact, from what I can see the only sure fire winner in these bingo sweepstakes is the bingo hall operator. To prove my point: according to the submission of the Whitby-Garrard Road Minor Lacrosse Association, during the period between December, 1984 and Oc- tober, 1985, they made $2,812.13 profit from the operation of their bingo. During that period they had a gross income of approximately $185,000. They paid out about $150,000 in prizes and incurred about $31,000 in expenses. Now, according to the provincial government regulations that govern bingo, expenses of any bingo are not to exceed 15 percent of the gross earnings and the profit is to be 20 percent. As you can plainly see in this case, the expenses are substantially higher than 15 percent of the take while the profit earned is sub- stantially less than the 20percent required. According to McKay's report, very few of the groups operating bingo games in the town make their 20 percent profit almost ail of them are incurring expen- ses greater than 15 percent of their take. What this seems to tell me is that the bingo pie in Whitby is split into too many parts and if we are going to start limiting licenses then those from outside town should not have priority over local groups. I mean, council is going to start looking pretty silly if it gives a bingo license to the Ajax Minor Baseball Association but refuses one to the W.G.R.M.L.A. In a November, 1984 letter to Mayor Bob Attersley, Catherine Wood, the owner and operator of the Hideaway bingo hall gave another good reason for limiting bingo licenses to local groups. "It has been my observation," she said, "that depending on the social mix of a town, one-half of one percent of your total population will be willing to play bingo. Therefore, Whitby provides about 200 patrons and the remaining number wll come from Oshawa." While Wood was writing In opposition to the application of a Pickering man to open another bingo hall in town, her words also give support to those arguing in favor of liniting the number of licenses. Here's yet another arguement for limiting licenses to local groups: according to the town clerk, of the $282,000 in bingo roceeds raised in the town in 1985, ap- proximately $108,000 or 38 percent ofe proceeds left the Town of Whitby. McKay points out that the "local benefit" concept established by provincial regulations is an Important issue here. He wrote in his report that: "The clerk's departinent is concerned that the current bylaw exception severely limits the benefit the town could potentially realize from bingo proceeds, benefits which include the development and support of recreational facilities, social and cultural activities, youth programs, etc." From where I'm sitting, it doesn't matter where you slice it, the pie is too smal to permit non-Whitby groups a wedge. There are too few people who play the game and too many groups wanting to use this as a source of funds. Another point I'd like to make is that there is no question of free enterprise or restraint of trade here. Bingo Is a form of gambling. If it isn't operated in the manner dictated by the provincial government, i.e. to the benefit of charity, it is illegal under the provisions of the Criminal Code. The only free enterprise benefit here is to the hall operator and I don't care if there are five halls in town so long as each caters only to local organizations, doesn't charge them more than 15 percent of the take in expenses and ensures they make their 20 percent profit. Bingo ls not a business, it is a fundraising tool for community organizations. Because of this, council has the right to say who shall benefit from this activity and who shall not. I hope they swing the balance in favor of local groups. I understand that this matter came up before council Monday night. I don't know what the result was (I tried to watch it on the local cable channel but fell asleep) but I hope they exercised some sense. WITH OUR FEET UP By Bill Swan 1933: North America is locked in the depths of the Depression. The question: what will the world be like in 50 years? Some answers (from Modern Mechanies and In- ventions, Popular Science, and Popular Mechanics, from 1930 to 1937): •Talkies create riew movie jobs but put many musicians out of work; @Miniature golf is an invention which is creating thousands of new jobs. In 1932 more than $125 million is invested in courses in less than a year; @Jack Dempsey, former heavyweight champion of the world, boasts that he can whip any mechanical robot in a boxing duel. These, and a few of the bits and pieces to follow, are from a 1979 publication by Tim Onosko and published by Clarke Irwin & Company. (I pur- chased my copy a few years ago in a clearance bin somewhere. If you wish a copy you may be too late.) Is Man Doomed by the Machine Age? Bennett Lincoln wrote: "Will machines, sooner or later, destroy civilization by putting al men out of work and concentrating wealth in the hands of a few? ... Take the example of radio. This invention has been with us ten years. During that time half the homes in America have been equipped with receiving sets, and the building of these millions of receivers has employed thousands of men and women... (But) the business of manufacturing and selling pianos, and to a lesser extent, other musical instruments, has confessedly slumped... Business fell off alarmingly for talking machine manufacturers until they, too, started turning out radios, either alone or in com- bination with their standard product." Great. What other joys are in store for us in 1986? "The time if fast coming," said Joseph Weber, president of the American Federation of Musicians, "when the only living thing around a motion picture house will be the person who sells you your ticket. Everything else will be mechanical. Canned drama, canned music, canned vaudeville." Dr. Lee de Forest, famous radio inventor, is predicting low power radios which operate on bat- teries, bringing radio reception to rural areas with no electricity. "Television will not be on the market this year and perhaps not for some time to come," he said. "Radio control of warships, airplanes, and tanks is also a long way in the future." From the news front (an -area that these magazines usually avoid): The world's greatest un- derground fortifications guard France from the menace of Germany. "Invisible and sunk beneath the rolling and wooded terrain in Lorraine is a great underground fortification system, 200 miles long, guarding France's vital industrial area." From the same page: German Rises Six Miles in Rocket. "Inhiistory's first successful rocket flight, Otto Fischer, brother of the inventor of the rocket plane, was shot 32,000 feet in the air in a shiny 24 foot steel projectile." And inventions? "Paul H. Rowe, a Los Angeles sound engineer, has perfect a nearly human robot that answers his telephone perfectly when he is out. The ringing of the telephone bell starts this ingenious machine operating, and whatever the caller says is received by a microphone and recor- ded." And: YOUR NEWSPAPER BY RADIO Facsimile transmitters and printers will make it possible for you to receive your newspaper over your radio. The printers will print out facsimiles of newspaper pages overnight - just in time for your breakfast reading. The machine will be sold at a price no higher than the average good broadcasting receiver. You can also build yourself a wrist radio. Following directions provided, you can build a radio tiny enough to be worn on your wrist. Its 17 parts have been crammed into a midget cabinet measuring 2.5 inches square and less than 1.75 in- ches deep. "When connected to a ten or 15-foot an- tenna, the set should give good earphone volume." Need we go on? We also have encountered plans for 3-D television; television in theatres; and plans to mount mammoth flying swings atop the Egyptian pyramids, to give a bird's-eye view coupled with the thrill of a carnival ride. Wow! Wasn't the future wonderful'