I “opened my. cupboard door last night and Ihave the. pixyish thought . that folks - might like to join. me. Hold my hand tight! It will be a short trip... fwenty Five years...a- mere . whisper: « on the clock: of Time. From the ghostly closet: we _ will take a rejection slip. It. crumbles with age. It says, “Sorry, we do not publish» nor print doggerel!”’ . * ¢ & I had to turn to the dictionary to:find: just what the hell ‘‘Doggerel’’ was! ® When I found out, it was quickly interred in the. cardboard box, wherein- writers put things that are ‘spattered with blood. THEIR BLOOD! —_ There is a "sardonic amusement in the knowledge that the magazine, wherein _ . publication ~ would - permit young writers to die happily - (even. though -Starving!) has ~~ long since departed. this world. 7 In short, looking down its "autocratic nose as it gave the By JIM SMITH Well, here we are in the . midst of the most serious unemployment mess ° since the dreary days of the 1930s—and it promises to gei much worse by the end of winter. So what is govern- ment doing? In typical fashion, our national leaders are sticking — their fingers in the economic dike and praying for a miracle. | You can count on one thing about government: whencyer it gets into economic trouble, it responds by trving to shore up big business. The ass- umption in Ottawa is that big business is the foundation of our economy. But, as a new book called **Small Business: Building a Balanced Econ- omy"’ by York University's Dr. Rein Peterson strongly _ points out, big business isn't: necessarily good business. Not, at least. for all Canadians. oO ‘Dr. Peterson spent a year ‘investigating some of ' the’ more popular beliefs about _ the merits of big business. ‘The results of his investiga- tions are surprising. For instance, although big. bus-- iness is. believed to be the. most. significant ‘source of — employment in Canada, in fact, only 15% of the ‘big firm's total costs are for wages. The small. firm, on the other ‘hand, pays out approximately 30% of its” total expenditures as wages. So the small firm is respon- sible for more employment, - per dollar of. sales. than, ‘the large firm. | Now, you ‘might suspect a that the. government wold 5 - An writers have. closets. and cupboards. Within them rest the skeletons. of. long-forgotten Stories. . - Writers do not often open’ the doors, for there is no: consternation: the small pink . ‘rattle of spectral chains, nor. ghostly moans just’ the rustle of rejection slips! | -constipated, ‘probably,. from | _a surfeit of its own rejection - slips! ce mt rae shee. And the ‘Editor. who . om ‘crocodile with . th | coined the masterpierce?- . it"seemn smile - attendants » ; - Washroom, whenever I enter fiscal | ‘So, twenty-five years. later, | I offer to“all young people_ | | Tonight they 6 seem: an. incred- Whe contemplate | ‘with some — ible dream, But, Aht. they . are so few... o Soon, the. restless. beat of the. “ dancing | feet . will fade with the’ passing — . years And then there be just | the. . | memory, ~ me Mixed with bitter tears, a Of a sawdust doll; a rubber . animal. they’. have created, ‘this small fragment | from or. ‘Bir 's cupboard. . | The Editor. ‘(an under- - standing soul): will | print it, I. _ hope. ce : Which only proves “that : ball... "patience is a virtue, to. which . And ‘the truck” with’ the’ _T- add only a. few: words;: because writers are irrepres- sible! ‘ ne - ‘missing wheel. . oe Lif. is. fleeting. Enjoy : : Ow, kids! one: i “Look! You can see it still © , While cookie crumbs by baby, . thumbs. - Are rushed on ‘the windo last gasp. it went 1 bellyap Are matched 1 wth a blosk “Well, J look closely at the in: the Mens" a bus terminal! | He's : ted his: ener. ° go out of i its way to o help the ' _ small businessman. After all, ‘a thriving. small . business. sector could solve much of the employment crisis. But the government doesn’ t ‘See . it that way. Instead, the small firm—.. because it has a_ higher proportion of its business . tied up in labour—bears a. heavier paperwork and tax | burden than the large firm. Not only must the emplover act as the government's tax collector, but it must also contribute to unemployment _ insurance and pension funds - on the employee's behalf.” Meanwhile, the big firms— which can use. machines to. replace’ large numbers of. workers—receive tax breaks | ‘from the government and are | _.freed from much. of - the | paperwork that comes with employing others. - The way it works out, the - small firm is actually paying | for the social costs that are — created by the big firm. In” socialist | countries, Dr... Peterson. discovered, the big, state-owned firms consist- ently lose. money; the deficit | is paid out of taxes on the. ‘profitable small firms. And what about the theory. that the small firm gets tax _ concessions | that aren't. ‘availible to big business? Dr. Peterson found that the average smallest corporation “We made the, pe ) ect move.” ‘The location j is: ‘Vancouver’s best. 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