The Clinton chronicle. (Clinton, S.C.) 1901-current, February 23, 1956, Image 4
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THE CLINTON CHRONICLE
olhr QUinton (C^rnnirlr
Established 19—
PUBLISHED EVERY THURSDAY BY THE CHRONICLE PUBLISHING COMPANY
Subscription Rate (Payable in Advance) —
One Year $3.00, Six Months $2.00
Entered as Second Class Mail Matter at the Post Office at Clinton, S. C. t under Act of Congress
March 3, 1879
The Chronicle seeks the cooperation of its subscribers and readers—the publisher will at all
times appreciate wise suggestions and kindly advice. The Chnonicle will publish letters of general
interest when they are not of »-defamatory nature. Anonymous communications will not be noticed.
This piper is not responsible for the views or opinions of its correspondents.
* ~ Member: Sotith Carolina Press Association, National Editorial Association
National Advertising Representative:
AMERICAN PRESS ASSOCIATION — New York, Chicago, Detroit. Philadelphia
CLINTON. S. C.. THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 23. 1956
An Unwise Course
A bill has been introduced in the legisla
ture which provides for the election of dis
trict school trustees by a vote of the people
of this county. \
They are rjow appointed by the County
Board of Education, members of which are
appointed by the governor upon the recom
mendation of the county legislative delega
tion.
The bill has passed the house, having been
introduced by two members. The third mem
ber, while not a sponsor, did not oppose it
(he has a brother who is a trustee). It has
had one reading in the senate and is on the
calendar for second reading. (Three are re
quired for passage).
This writer refuses to take a back seat for
anybody as far as his belief in and adherence
to democratic processes are concerned. We
believe in giving the people the right to name
their officials. But we also believe in dele
gating authority.
* And that is what has already occurred in
the process of naming our school trustees.
The legislators themselves chose the mem
bers of the county board, which in turn
named the district trustees to administenour
schools. '
The state legislators choose the boards ot
our state institutions, the boards in^furh
name the heads of those institutions. The
people do not and should not name them. It
is a proper delegatibn of authority.
The boards of state institutions are the
policy-making bodies. Heads of the institu
tions are the administrators, working under
authority of the boards. * ,
School trustees are the policy-making bod
ies. Superintendents are the administrators,
working under authority of the trustees.
Again, a proper delegation of authority.
■Claims are made that there is a “demand”
for-the election of trustees by the pedple.
A meeting was held in Laurens Monday
night when those who “demand” such a move
could be heard. Relatively few attended the
meeting. If there were a widespread demand
by the people to elect their trustees they cer
tainly. would have availed themselves of the
opportunity to make their desires known. The
people evidently are satisfied with the pres
ent process of naming trustees—which be
gins with 1116 legislators themselves.
Can’t the legislators trust their own judg
ment? Can't they trust and support the men
they themselves appoint?
The present bill is now in the senate, where,
one member of the house saiys, the senator
has been “sitting on” a similar bill for three
-years.
If we were the senator, we would bet our
political life on it---and continue to sit.
Another Demand
. For a Vote of the People
A meeting of the county delegation in the
general assembly and trustees and super
intendents of the two school districts in the
county was held Monday at Laurens, at
which time budgets for the districts for the
1956-57 session were, submitted for approval.
No action could be taken because two mem
bers of the house refused to agree to appro-
’ priate the increased funds requested for the
v year’s operations. They stated they could
not agree to increase taxes without submit
ting the question to the people for a vote. If
the people vote for inrceased taxes, they
said, they would make the requested appro
priations.
The zeal to keep taxes at a minimum is in
deed a virtue, but sometimes, if carried too
V far, it can become a vice. It can prevent a
proper evaluation of a situation and create
a barrier to progress.
When a man runs for office and makes a
promise not to increase taxes, he is not neces
sarily elected on that promise. Rather, he is
elected for a number of other reasons also. He
is elected with the expectation that he will
give an all-around good performance—in the
.process of which he will be faced with prob
lems the solution of which will frequently
outweigh his general promise not to increase
taxes.
It is a laudable purpose to be concerned
with the welfare of the people and keep de
mands for taxes at a minimum.
But growth and progress make demands
on cities, counties and states that must be
met with additional funds.
We think that is the situation faced by our
county schools today. Progress and growth
in the county in recent years is evident on ail
sides. Business, agriculture and industry
have moved along. New people have moved
into the county. #
We are in the process of tremendously en
larging and modernizing our schools, to give
our children the very best in educational fa
cilities—and it takes money. \
And the people, we think, will not resist
any reasonable demands made upon them.
Our legislators have had the authority
delegated to them to carry cn our affairs in
a business-like way, meet and act on prob
lems as they arise, protect and foster our in
stitutions—providing for their needs in a
manner that won’t short-circuit their ser
vice to the people.
On the front page of The Chronicle to
day is a table showing the millage rate of
several nearby counties for operation of
schools. Laurens county districts have the
lowest rates of any county shown. They are
less than half of some.
That should mean something to our legis
lators—it should mean a great deal. We
think its meaning will not escape the majority
of Laurens county people.
Any considerations that have been brought
to bear on this situation that are foreign
to it should be discarded.
SENSING THE NEWS
By THURMAN SENSING
Ex*cutiT* Vic* President
Southern States Industrial Council
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CRIMINAL NEGLIGENCE ENDANGERS
POWER SUPPLY IN TENNESSEE VALLEY
The safety and welfare of the people in the
Tennessee Valley area—even the people of the na
tion, due to the location in that area of certain vi
tal defense projects—is now being seriously endan
gered by a situation that has^ been brought about
by the inefficiency and autocratic mismanagement
oi the Tennessee Valley Authority.
This fact, which is ,not generally known except
to-the inside management of the Authority itself,
has been divulged by Justin Potter, of Nashville,
Tenn., a former large coal operator who is no long
er in thbe-business and who is therefore not vulner-
tble to TVA reprisal and not afraid to give out in
formation. • *
The essence of the situation is that the TVA is
not maintaining a sufficient. coal reserve at its
various plants to assure its users an ample supply
of electric power for a reasonable length of time
in case of sometfemergency. Theliormal coal re
serve needed at all plant locations, recognized as
imperative throughout the industry, is enough to
last 80 to 120 days. 'Rvis is considered sufficient
to tide the plant over until any ordinary emergen
cy is ended.
But what is the stiuation now at fhe various
large TVA electric power plants? Instead of hav
ing enough to last 80 to 120 days, the information
disclosed is that, approximately,
The Shawnee plant has enough for only 40 to 50
days;
The Johnsonville pl^n\ has enough for only 40
to 50 days;
The Colbert plant has enough for only 15 to 25
days;
The Widow’s Creek plant has enough for only
15 days;
The John Sevier plant has enough for only 15
days;
The Kingston plant has enough for only 12 days,
and
The Watts Bar plant has enough for only 7 or
8 days.
This is indeed a serious situation. Suppose
a coal Rtrike were caUed; or a railroad strike. The
American people well know that John L. Lewis
and his United Mine Workers can disrupt the econ
omy of the nation by an industry-wide strike. We
all know that nothing can ruin our whole economy
more quickly than shutting off our supply of elec
tricity.
By^maintaining such a low coal reserve the
TVA is gambling with the welfare and economy of
the people in the whole Tennessee Valley area.
It is making the location of big industry in the Val
ley a calculated risk. The TVA is even now buy
ing electric power from die efficiently managed
prviate power companies all around its fringe in
order to have sufficient electricity to supply its
customers.
The TVA public information office is trying to
cover up this situation by saying that it is a tem
porary-condition that will soon be corrected, plac
ing part of the blame on the recent drouth. Refer
ring to the Kingston plant, which uses 14,000 tons
daily, it says they have a 75-day reserve on hand.
“All this,” says Mr. Potter, “is deliberate deception
and misstatement of fads. Drouth has nothing
whatever to do with maintenance of an ample re
serve. And as for the Kingston plant, the actual
fact is that instead of a 75-day reserve, they have
a reserve sufficient for only 12 days or less.”
The background for this present situation—one
that could be most disastrous—goes back to the
very beginning of the TVA. The TVA bought out
and forced out of business all privately operated
power companies in its area. It became a monop
oly—and worse than that, a government-owned,
politically-managed monopoly. It therefore be
came autocratic and dictatorial.
Being a monoply and the only purchaser of coal
in its area for the production of electricity, tradit
ionally one of the largest uses made of coal, the
TVA could tell—and did tell—the coal operators
what it would pay for coal. The finally negotiated
price was quite often below the actual cost of pro
duction, and this forced dozens of small operators
in the territory into bankruptcy and out of busi
ness.
Now that industrial demand for coal ' has in
creased enormously, along with demand for coal
from private power companies outside the area,
the TVA can np longer dictate the price of coal.
“It is still trying to do so, however,” says Mr. Pot
ter. “It is still trying by subterfuge and high
handed pressure to buy coal below the cost of pro
duction in order to save face and not increase its
own cost of production—but the result has been to
reduce their coal supply and to gamble with the
welfare of the people.”
Court Session
X
(continued from page 1)
housebreaking, larceny and re
ceiving stolen goods, pleaded guil
ty to first end second counts and
received a sentence of 18 months,
suspended on service of Seven
months and probation for one year.
True bills returned by the grand
jury included the following: Al
phonse Cook, forgery; Harold
Parks, murder; Clarence Malone,
burglary and larceny; Jessie Shel
ton, murder, two counts; Eugene
McGowan, murder; JDanl Griffin,
violating liquor laws; Dial Chap
pell, housebreaking, larceny @nd
receiving stoleh goods; Paul God
frey, Marvin Godfrey and James
Ridings, housebreaking, larceny
and receiving stolen goods, four,
counts; Feorge E. Beck, house
breaking, larceny and receiving
stolen goods; James Leake, alias
James Wright, murder; Lester
Madden, violating liquor laws;
George B. Patterson, assault and
battery with intent to kill add car
rying concealed weapons; D. W.
Smith, J. B. Lapford and Billy
Calvert, larceny and receiving sto
len, goods; Bobby Cothran, house
breaking, larceny and receiving
stolen goods; James Elbert Car
ter, operating motor vehicle un
der influence of intoxicants, sec
ond offense; McKinley Mosley, op
erating motor vehicle under in
fluence of intoxicants, fourth of
fense; Dial Chappells, housebreak
ing, larceny and receiving stolen
goods, two counts; Thomas Clyde
Grant and Ralph Howard, house
breaking, Larceny and receiving
stolen goods; Lee Bell, operating
motor vehicle under influence of
intoxicants, second offense; James
A. Millwood, operating motor ve
hicle under influence of intoxi
cants, second offense; Rufus Shaw
Madden,' operating motor vehicle
under influence of intoxicants,
second offense; and Johnnie Eu
gene Taylor, operating motor ve
hicle under influence of intoxi
cants.
The grand jury handed down the
following no bills: Homer Shirey,
assault and battery of a high and
aggravated nature; W. B. Williams,
obtaining goods by false pretense;
Sammie James, obtaining goods by
false pretense; J. B. Brown, ob
taining goods by false pretense, and
Ed Williams, housebreaking, lar
ceny and receiving stolen gbods.a
Tuesday's Session
Solicitor William T. Jones said
he wuold not call the cases of two
teen-age white youths cnarged
with reckless homicide until after
school is out. Y"
The boys are Charles A. Senn,
Jr., and Robert Nelson. They al
legedly were drivers of two auto
mobiles involved in a wreck with
a truck last June. Two young
girls, Patsy Lenford and-Edna
Callahan, died of injuries received
in the accident.
John Arnold was found guilty bf
malicious injury to real proper
ty in the only jury trial complet
ed. He was sentenced to serve six
months. Sentence was suspended
on payment of $200 for* repair of
the damage and Arnold was placed
oq probation for two years.
Marvin Smith, of Greenwood,
testified that a house >trailer be
longing to him and Marion Car-
nell, of Ware Shoals, was damag
ed to-the extent of $200 last June.
The door of the trailer, used as a
fishing cabin at pake Greenwood,
was broken open, pillows and mat
tresses were cut open, a table was
broken and holes broken in the
sides, Smith testified.
Arnold admitted “scraping” the
sides of the trailer, as he sought
to drive his car from soft ground
near it, but he stoutly denied do
ing anything else. He appeared in
court without a' lawyer and re
fused Judge Johnson’s offer to ap
point one.
Judge Johnson agreed to allow
Arnold to pay the money in $10
weekly installments. •
Dial Chappel, charged with two
counts of housebreaking and lar
ceny, pleaded guilty. He had en
tered the same plea to a similar
charge yesterday. Chappel was
sentenced on the three counts to
serve a total of six years. This
was suspended and he was ordered
to serve a total of 21 months and
placed on lengthy probation.
Ralph Howard pleaded guilty to
receiving stolen goods and was
sentenced to two years, suspended
on service of nine months and pro
bation for two years.
Johnnie Eugene Taylor pleaded
guilty to operating a motor ve
hicle under the influence of intoxi
cants, third offense. He was sen
tenced to three years or a fine of
$2,000, suspended on service of six
months or a fine of $500 and was
placed oh five years probation.
Robert Franklin TYammell, Jr.,
pleading guilty to non-support,
was sentenced to one year and $1.-
500, suspended provided he pay
$10 a week for his wife and chil
dren and placed on five years pro
bation. < * ,
John Henry Ballew pleaded
guihy to larceny and was senten:-
ed to six months or $300, with this
suspended and one year of proba
tion ordered.
George E. Beck pleaded guilty
to housebreaking and larceny and
was given a sentence of 18 months
suspended on service of nine
months and three years probation.
Beck now is serving a tertn in the
state penitentiary for parole viola
tion and the sentence today was
ordered to begin after his present
term is ended.
Clyde Mellon pleaded guilty to
non-support and was sentenced to
one year and $1,500 suspended,
placed on probation for five years
and ordered to pay $8 per week
for support of his wife and chil
dren. s -
Jonny Lee Bowers pleaded guil
ty to non-support. He was sen
tenced to one year and $1,500 sus
pended, placed on probation for
five years and ordered to pay $5
a week for his wife and children.
Trial of D. W. Smith, J. D. Lip-
ford and Billy Calvert, charged
with larceny and receiving stolen
goods, was interrupted toy re
cess late this afternoon. The three
are alleged to have stolen a quan
tity of brass, selling it to a junk
yard.
Calvert pleaded guilty to the
charge and testified the others
were involved. Smith and Lipford
danied the accusation.
True bills handed down toy the
grand jury included: Robert L.
Mobley, operating motor vehicle
under influence of intoxicants, sec
ond offense; Furman Baker and
Donald Ray Baker, breach of trust
with fraudulent intent and grand
larceny; Charles Giles, obtaining
goods 'by false pretense; Leonard
*9cott, disposing of property under
lien; John Henrv Ballew, larceny
and receiving stolen goods; Jack
Ballew, escaping public works;
Jerry Ballew, escaping public
works; end the following, all
charged with non-support: James
Reese. Dial Chappell, Johnny Loe
Bowers and Clyde Mellon.
Randolph Davis
Buys Angus Cows
A. A. Ramage, Jr., recently sold
19 purebred Aberdeen - Angus
cows to T. R. Davis of the 1 Hope-
well section south of Clinton.
Stem $1.75
HILLCREST WATCHES
BLUE NILE DIAMONDS
No bills returned included: Wil
lie Sanders, bastardy and Sidney
Lee Anderson, bastardy. ,
MIDWAY
drive-in theatre
Clinton — Joanna
FRI. & SAT. FEB. 24-25
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Firestone 16-CubU Ft.
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