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reader's forum Who’s Putting Up All ThatMoney? / by Joseph Llnfr f wtxiki like to congratulate the winners on the Question 9 bar issue The township voters have approved the current hours by a 3 to 2 margin, but I don't agree with the methods used to obtainthis result, such as distorted facts, fear tactics, and large sums of money. Negative reinforcement was paramount in their approach The 1200 jobs that they speak of, if we can use this figure accurately, are minimum wage, part-time for the/ most part, and seasonal in duration These jobs annually convert into long lines in the unemployment office. The ■people who are more fortunate to work on a regular basis must pay higher payroll taxes to supplement this unemployment I don’t want to suggest that what I call the 'Unemployment Syndrome' 1 is unique to the bar and club industry, but it exist as a cancer within the entire' tourist industry > ^ It is the business man who deplores welfare, goverhment waste, and higher business taxes, yet it is this "Unemployment Syndrome" that, is never questidned. It is a subsidy that perpetuates complacency within the work force, while the few reap larg£ profits When was the last time you heal'd a politician discuss this issue? I FULLY AGREE WITH saving 1200 jobs, but let’s create employment thal has meaning, jobs that create Careers, jobs that have futures beyond three months of \ the year It is ironic that the taxpayers spend thousands } on school taxes, yet cannot $hnw dividends in enrich- ^ ment to the community. To the bar owners, I say "What ' Jobs have been saved?" FeV is the great political motivator in today's world, and fear was an effective tbol in the literature dUtributed by the "No" proponents. Negative rather than po^live aspects were emphasized to sway the pdblic on this issue Who can question the means, when the ends were accomplished—victory? Senior citizens coitqirise a major voting block in the township, and the ultimate targets of their message. The figure $400.(Xto was evident on pamphlets, and heard through radio messages This ploy stimulated the insecurity of our elderly The logic of such a figure was never explained, but the five zeroes that proceeded were surely effective. I would relish an explanation of this figure: Who is this organization "Citizens Against Higher Taxes'*? Who are it’s officers? Membership? and * meeting place? Does it truly dkist, or has it served its purpose 7 . MONEY IS POWER In the American political system of the winner takes all the marbles. But does this reasoning justify the large outflow of dollars'NWho benefits, the many or the few? There hav^be&i various estimates of the money expended on Up? issue, but no one will know unless the figure is made public. THE NUMEROUS NEWSPAPER ADS. the constant radio messages, and the free b^er ajd food b&sh attended by our citizens could only have been accomplished by large dollar figures Was money power on this issue 7 Their expenditures were in sharp contrast to the 1380 spent by the "Yes" proponents Sour grapes? Poor loser? No. just damn concerned at ’ this dangerous precedent. Hundreds, even thousands, have been spent on an issue that would be hard pressed to substantiate such an outflow of monies from a business standpoint. How can committee candidates substantiate their expenditures? Spending.that far , exceeds the yearly salary of the position. Is our township a puppet.on a string, for those who have seemingly endless money resources? The people in our township should demand answers to these many questions! Who are behind these monies? Joe Link is a Township resident.

opinion

Herald A lanitern 18 November 81

CLOSEUP, ordinary items of ot^r surroundings display their own beauty of texture c such as these feathery phragmites and thjegrdin in a utility pole. v viewpoint Didn’t Vote? Don’t Complain

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John II. Andrus II William J. Adams Ronnie Relna Darrell Kopp

Editor Advertising Director ■ General Manager -Publisher

* Co<p All i.ghM contontt ot.ihH publication tholl bo tbo ptopocty o« lt«o Womovo Co'* No pari horaotyno* b* loprorluc od wiiboul p<K» wfitton contant DEADLINES, - New* & Photo* Thursday Advertising Friday - 3 p.m. Classified Advertising............. Friday - 3 p.m. t W7-33I2 For News 6r Advertising Information 1 NpMn* parUcIpaKnR odvortlorro par I hr poMHhrr* ol (Hr MKRAI.il AND LANTERN will bo re«pon*lhk'or llablo for HlMnrormatlaa, mtaprlaU. ItpagrapMra! orrorv rtf . In ant liinr Tbo rtllor rrtwvti the rlglH !• HU any Irtler or artklr« tabmlllH lor poMIra- .

LANTERN

V'-. P O Bo* 484 Cold Spring, N J 0R2M

BY James R. Hurley We had an election and nobody won. Sixty-three percent of the registered voters in New Jersey went to the polls last week and cast their ballots for the next governor. To put it another tvay, 37 percent of New Jersey's registered voters decided they had better things to do than vote. - •^ Some were too busy with work, school,, family or whatever. Others perhaps fee) elections are "just, politics." Many others, ! am certain, are Convinced that their votes can’t possibly make any idfference when cast among 2.3 million others. # Whatever their excuses, the result is cl^ar. We held an election for governor and we don't have a governor. THE FINAL DECISION could be. based on a Single vote. Now tell me your vote doesn't count. * \ The possible realities of this situation in the conning weeks or months are truly disturbing. In the event of a recount, which is virtually certain, hundreds or even thousands of votes cast by real voters could be arbitarily thrown out due to minor doubts as to their veracity, while thousands of other votes of equal doubt might stand, for lack of thorough examination. The results of a recount could become the basis of a lawsuit in which legal doubts could destroy still more valid voids. Regardless of who the winner might be after a process such as this, the bottom line is that the election will have been decided, not by the voters—but by lawyers and

judges

Everyone knows someone who refuses to vote. Few people are more cynical about politics and politicans than - non-voters are. \ > BUT THE NEXT TIME you run into one of your all , politicans-are crooks acquaintances, tell him that the 1981 gubernatorial election may ultimately be decided by lawyers and 1 judges; then stand back. There are dozens of good reasons why everyone who is eligible should vote, and nearly everyone has heard them all. The standard flag-waving arguments obviously don’t influence the nqn-voters, and clearly the issues don’t mean anything to them. But last week we stood in the midst of nearly 2.3 million votes for Governor, and only 1.000 votes stoodiietween the winner and the loser. If two voters in each of the 567 municipalities had voted _ Hiffercntly, the figures could show a lie, or a margin of one or two votes. s> THERE IS ABSOLUTELY no reason wl|^ the certified vote tallies that will emerge this week cotdU not show a margin of a single vote, to one candidate or™e other. The same could result from a recount. The idea that there are 1.1 million registered voters out there who couldn't be bothered to vote, and^whose votes could have made this election clear and decisive, is ap-

palling.

But perhaps more appalling is the thought that, by not voting, these 1.1 million people did not accomplish what tht^ probably thought they would. ——notice to-—— Letter Writers Opinions for our Reader’s Forum should: • Be signed by the writer and includf the writer’s address and phone number. Letters can be printed anonymously, but the newspaper must have writer verification. Deal with one topic or issue in an accurate, nonlibeloiis manner • Be typewritten or legibly handwritten, doublespaced on one side of the paper • Be received by the newspaper prior to Friday.

Chances are they thought that they were simply leaving lhe % election of government officials fo the rest of the voters, and under normal circumstances they would have

been right.

But what they really did was to give their rights away to whatever tribunal ultimately decides this election, on whatever basis it chooses to make that decision. ^ And they gave up one other important thing: the right to complain about government. The next time you see one of our non-voting friends, be sure to mention that. James R. Hurley. ' Assembly minority leader, is the newly-elected Senator for Cape May Cunsberland. British Seagull 387 School Boreds by Ima Byrd One night in September I was sitting on the ledge out-* side a high school in Cape May County 'patching some kids standing around outside smoking pot, when I happened to look in the school window by my perch: Now if there’s one ming that pleases a bird more than strutting his stuff across a township dump, it's watching humans try to govern, their lives. I was especially fascinated by this particular school board and sal came back to the next meeting in October to see if anything

changed.

NOW ON MY WORD AS A GULI^-I tell you the teachers and administrators were telling the board in their terse little reports, that everything in the school was just fine. And on the other side, the board was telling the small grodp of adults and students that everything in the school was just fine. After awhile the board disappeared into something they called an executive session. The audience wiggled and shifted in their seats, the board came back and told the group everything was still fine and so everyone fimlly went home feeling good. Now I can't for the life of me understand the hypocrisy of these school board meetings. We birds, for instance, know there y is a drug problem and a drinking problem among high school students. We see a lot because most drug pushers-*uts who sell drugs to kids to get them hooked so they’IIBecome steady customers—don’t pay attention to birds. They're too busy selling their junk to

teenagers.

NOW. IF THESE SCHOOL board people, administrators, teachers and spectators at these performdnaes REALLY cared about kids, they'd get busy establishing some kind of programs to Counteract drug pushing before it swallows the kids whole—and they’d certainly be honest enough to recognize that those hypodermic needles found on some Jocal streets,^and those groups of kids that congregate in,certain areas-, and those vaTns that move in to sell their evil stuff to unsuspecting youngsters, constitutes a serious threat to education and to a healthy environment. TMs old bird has heard comments that certain people who uso'clrugs are very upset about my remarks. They say that quaaludes and other self-destruct paraphenalia are not addicting and can be used in a controlled setting. These people haven't done theM homework and probably have never worked with youngsters hooked on drugs. DRUG USE IS SO PREVALENT in Cape May County that parenLs are unable to cope with the problem alone. It is up to school boards, and others concerned with the total well-b^ig of their students to stop placating each other with kmd words and sounds of sameness. There is a need to face head on to the startling fact of the dangers of drugs and their influence on our children. Officials need to stop smiling and start acting We birds understand. When you see the turn off, the burn out. the vhcant stare of just one child, then you’ve seen it all. ^ ^ NEXT WEEK Utterly Lonely