Alo—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, October 31,1981
Vote yes for uvater
on Tuesday
Next Tuesday Pennsylvanians will once
again be heading to the voting polls to execute
their democratic privilege, casting their
“ballots” for candidates who’ll best serve
them in their communities.
Voters also will be indicating their yeas and
nays for five questions which will be appearing
on the November ballot, the first of which has
drawn support from a number of farm
organizations.
The question is;
“Do you favor the incurring of indebtedness
by the Commonwealth of $300,000,000 for
use as loans to repair, construct, reconstruct,
rehabilitate, extend and improve water supply
systems, or to repair, reconstruct, or
rehabilitate flood control facilities, dams and
port facilities in order to improve the health
safety and economic well-being of the people
of the Com mon wealth ? ’'
This 'eloquently-worded’ question was part
of House Bill 1484 (not to be confused with the
controversial Water Bill, HB 1483) which was
passed by the Pennsylvania House of
Representatives on June 22 by a vote of 194-
0, and later by the Senate on June 30 by a vote
of 48-0. The Governor signed this Bill into law
on July 12 and it became known as Act 88.
What this law throws into the voters’ laps is
whether to authorize a $3OO million debt by
the Commonwealth in order to make available
monies to be loaned to water companies and
others with vested interests in water for
repairing, constructing, et cetera, the Com
monwealth’s water supplies.
Advocates for Act 88 have been on the
campaign trail since August, using the slogan
“Vote Yes for Water.” Heading the campaign
committee is one of Lebanon County's farmers
and agricultural leaders, George Wolff. Wolff
has been active in the Pennsylvania
Association of Conservation Districts for quite
some time, so speaking for water and con
servation measures as chairman of the Vote
Yes for Water committee is not something new
for this lobbyist.
Other supporters of Act 88 include staunch
agrarian groups such as the Pennsylvania
State Grange and Pennsylvania Farmers’
NOW IS THE TIME
To Check Ventilation Equipment
For Winter
Exhaust fans in dairy and
poultry houses have a heavy
ventilation job to do. They remove
moisture and dust, and in many
cases run almost continually from
October to April.
To make your ventilation system
ready for winter, several items
may need attention.
The fan blades, motor enclosures
and louver shutters need cleaning
frequently. Loose belts are com
mon on belt driven fans. Fan
output varies directly with fan
speed. A 10 percent loss in RPM’s
of the fan means a 10 percent loss
in air delivery.
Check the thermostat for ac
curacy by hanging a thermometer
beside it for easy comparison. Be
Off the
Sounding
By Sheila Miller, Editor
By Jay Irwin
Lancaster County Agriculture Agent
Phone 717-394-6851
sure the sensing element is clean
and free from dust.
Have your tan motor protected
by adequate overload protectors.
Protection is secured by using
thermal overload switches in the
power line, or you may use a time
delay motor fuse.
To Purchase Your 1982
Agronomy Guide
Due to rapidly increased costs, a
state-wide policy was adopted to
sell the 1982 Agronomy Guide for a
few of $2.00 per copy. This is an
excellent bulletin with a lot of
valuable information. The $2.00 fee
is very reasonable in relation to the
important information contained
in the guide. The information in the
form of recommendations and
management guidelines is worth
Board
yeas and 6 nays 9
Association as well as the Pennsylvania Rural
Electric Association, the Pennsylvania
Chamber of Commerce, the League of Women
Voters, and 30 other organizations.
One group, the Pennsylvania Builders’
Association, showed their support of the
Water Act by donating $l,OOO to the cause in
August. Since then the Vote Yes committee
has raised $15,000 for the campaign through
the efforts of its volunteer members.
The group circulated 140,000 brochures
which explained the law and what the question
would involve these informative fliers were
printed by REA for the Vote Yes committee,
free of charge.
A lot of effort by a lot of people has gone into
promoting this law which could supply the
revenue for vitally-needed improvements for
Pennsylvania water supply systems.
And, since these revenues are not hand
outs but merely loans to water companies,
Pennsylvania tax payers won’t get socked for
the bill. The state’s credit would be used to
borrow money at a lower interest rate than
would otherwise be possible. And, water
companies will have to pay back every cent
they borrow from the state, plus interest. No
state subsidies would be involved.
If the question passes next Tuesday, the
Governor has already received the recom
mendations of the enabling legislation
committee of Vote Yes For Water which calls
for $220 million of the total $3OO million to be
set aside for community water projects, with
$4O million each available for dam and port
facility projects. They also recommended that
the Department of Environmental Resources
administer the majority of the program.
Many of Pennsylvania’s water supply
systems are long overdue for improvements
for the safety and well being of all the citizens
who depend on them for our most precious
resource water. Let's make these com
panies come out from behind the excuse that
there’s no available funds to make the
necessary changes, or they can’t afford the
high commercial interest rates.
' Vote "Yes” for Water on Tuesday.
far more than the cost of the
bulletin.
The Agronomy Guides are
available at your individual
County Extension Office. Quantity
discounts to schools, young farmer
groups or businesses are available
at 10 or more copies for $1.60 per
copy.
Please stop at your County
Extension Office and purchase
your 1982 Agronomy Guide.
To Pick and Store Apples
Whether you grow apples or just
like to eat them, it’s important to
store them properly.
Cool apples will keep longer.
Ideally, they should be stored at
33° F., at 90 percent humidity, and
in dim light or darkness.
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THE PRAYER HE
PRAYED FOR US
November 1,1981
Background Scripture:
John 17.
Devotional Reading:
Luke 11:1-13.
One day just a little over two
weeks ago, Valere and 1 stood
looking into the rums of West
Berlin's Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial
Church. Almost entirely destroyed
by bombs in World War 11, this
church was left m ruins by
Berliners to remind themselves
and the world of the folly of war.
Next to it was a new church ball
and a campanile have been con
structed in a contemporary style
that is a jarring contrast to the
Romanesque architecture of the
ruined church tower, which is all
that remains.
As we turned to leave, we were
confronted by an elderly woman
who asked, “Are you Americans?”
Aware that Secretary of State
Alexander Haig was scheduled to
be in West Berlin the next day and
that there was likely to be a sizable
protest demonstration by Berlin
youth against U.S. foreign policy,
we were wary of her intention as
we acknowledged that we were
from the U.S.A.
Please Tell America! *
With a gleam of sincerity m her
eyes, the woman said, “Please tell
the American people when you go
home how grateful are the people
of Berlin for what you have done
for us.” She went on to say, "Since
the Berlin Airlift, i have been
OUR READERS WRITE,
AND OTHER OPINIONS
Still more gov’t control
in our marketplace
1 would like to respond to
Congressman Tom Harkin’s ar
ticle ‘Great Grain Robbery’.
I, for one, am an American
farmer who believes very strongly
in a truly free, freemarket system
something which there has
never been in my lifetime!
1 greatly cherish the idea of
having the freedom and in
dependence to study the supply
demand situation of the nation and
HAVHAWS
'<%&>
“Good news, fellas!...Hooper says he found water!”
coming to this church every day to
thank visitors from England,
France, and America and to give
them these cards as a reminder of
our gratitude.” The card was a
postcard photograph of the Liberty
Beil replica given to West Berlin
by the American people in 1950 and
hanging today in the tower of the
Shoeneberg Town Hall, where on
June 26, 1963, President John F.
Kennedy proclaimed that the
proudest boast anyone m the free •
world could make were the words,
*‘lch bin em Berliner” ("I am a
Berliner”).
Responding to our questions, she
told us that she had lived in Berlin
during the dark days of World War
11. She had been in a bomb shelter
nearby the mght the Kaiser
Wilhelm Church was destroyed by
bombs. She had saved herself from
rape by the Soviet- troops by
disguising herself as a deformed,
old woman. She bad seen star
vation, pillage, and pestilence.
"How did you survive all that?” I
asked. There was no trace-of false
piety in her voice as she answered
simply, "One learns to pray."
She had prayed her way through
the horror of World War 11, the
occupation and the Cold War. She
had prayed and stillwas con
tinuing to pray prayers of
thanksgiving for the help Berlin
has received from England,
France and the U.S.A. She prays
for our people and feels a oneness
with us. Although she is m her
eighties, she still believes God has
a mission for her to perform.
The Work Thou Gavest
That was the way Jesus prayed
for us, too, in John 17. He thanked
God for his disciples (and us) and
prayed that they/we might fulfill
his mission “the work which
thoughgavestmetodo” (17:4).
And his second petition? He
prayed "that they may all be one.”
Thus he prayed for us and thus he
.wills that we would pray for each
other. “One learns to pray,” the
woman said. Have you?
the world, and make my own
marketing decisions, based on my
own outlook of the future.
As an American, 1 am insulted
whenever this government is given
power to control supply and
demand, either domestic or
foreign, because both are tied in
together anyway. I am insulted
because this government, which
should be merely representing me
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