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THE CLINTON CHRONICLE Thursday, MarcL IS, 1961 Job Killer BiU Will the proposed minimum wage increase (up to |1.26 an hour) hurt the ones it’s sup posed to help? Let’s dig a hit. Sure, we, favor everyone getting a fair shake on the job. But since when did raising the cost of labor increase the number of job opportunities? We’ve always found the re verse to be true. Recently, a determined man took this minimum wage bit in his teeth and appeared before the House special subcommittee on labor. Said George Hagedorn, research di rector of the National Association of Manu facturers: ‘The wage proposal would have an espe cially severe impact on the employment op portunities of the very groups who present ly have the most trouble finding jobs—the unskilled, the older workers and the .very young.” Hagedorn contended that the direct and immediate impact of these proposed meas ures would be on the cost of hiring those who are at the lower fringe of the wage scale —the very people among whom unemploy ment rates have been highest. Then Hagedorn added this kicker: “If the standard of living could be raised by placing legal floors under wage rates, then the backward nations of the world could have as high a standard of living as this country does, since they are as free as we are to take such action." Let’s get on with the real cures for rolling back the recession. During his campaign, and after his elec tion and inauguration, President Kennedy laid and continues to lay heavy and constant stress on our national economic growth. It has been second, in his thinking, only to the most urgent international problems. And the President is explicit in saying that the cur rent growth rate is inadequate. Without debating the pros and cons of that, a statement made by the research di rector of the Council of State Chambers of Commerce is highly significant: “Unless the upward spending trend is halted, there is little likelihood of enactment of tax reforms that are needed for sound economic growth. If tax reform is not chosen as the fiscal road to economic growth, then the road will undoubtedly be bigger spending, deficits, and inflation, with the consequences being economic boom and bust.” The kind of reform we need is that which will encourage investment and the modern ization of industrial plants, great numbers of which have become obsolete because of existing tax laws covering depreciation and replacement- Ibis is the way to maximum employment—and to maintaining our posi tion in a world that becomes ever more com petitive. It is also the way that will produce greater tax revenues in the long run. Rome Went Out Of Business There is a common wish among people to peer into the future but the future cannot be visualized except through history—which often repeats itself. Due to the wide belief that the federal government should provide an endless list of benefits from welfare to education with centralized Bureaucracy re placing local responsibility it is well to pon der possible results. The fate of the Roman Empire suggests what might happep to the United States- The Encyclopedia Britannka says this about the decline and fall of the Roman Em pire: “. . . nothing could compensate for the lack of self-determination, and although dur ing the first century and a half of imperial role a flourishing local patriotism in some degree filled the place of the wider senti ment, this gradually sank into decay and be came a pretext under cover of which the low er classes in the several communities took toll of their wealthier fellow-citizens in the shape of public works, largesses, amuse ments, etc., until the resources at the dis posal of the rich ran dry, the communities themselves in many cases became insolvent ... the organs of civic life became atrophied, political interest died out and the whole bur den of administration, as well as that of de fense, fell upon the shoulders of the bureau cracy, which proved unequal to the task. . . . The gigantic bureaucracy of the 4th century proved, in spite of its undoubted services, an intolerable weight upon the energies of the. empire.” History, let us remember, has a habit of repeating itself. Absurd Measure Supporters of the Tennessee Valley Au thority have given wide publicity to a sta tistical table which indicates that TV A is a more efficient operation, offering its custo mers better value, than are investor-owned utilities. Edwin Vennard of the Edison Elec tric Institute has made a careful analysis of this, and points out, in considerable detail, where comparisons are erroneous and mis leading. Fbr example, to take just one important element, Mr- Vennard observes that taxes and the cost of borrowed money together take about half of each dollar of annual reve nue of investor-owned utilities. But TVA has been excused from paying most of these two items. So, he writes, “If TVA is required to earn a 6 per cent return on its gross plant account and to pay taxes equivalent to the taxes paid by investor-owned companies, TVA would have to increase its gross reve nue by 46 per cent. To do this, TVA would have have to raise its rates. If so raised, the rates of TVA would be, as expected, about in the the same range as those of compar able investor-owned companies.” Babton Discusses California Vs. Florida Land As An Investment Babson Park, Mas*., March 16—As I write this column, thousands of farmers and their wives in the snow-packed Central West are insisting they will never spend another winter on the farm. They are agreeing to spend their winters in California or Florida, and are trying to decide which it will be. Here is a brief, but impartial, answer. WHAT ABOUT CALIFORNIA? Although I have spent 39 winters in Florida and expect to do so for the remainder of my life, I often wish I had been born in California! It is a wonderful state, with tropcial climate in the south, snow in the north, and climate between these which anyone could wish. It has a long coastline, a desert interior, and great mountains. The only out is Los Angeles, with its I c r o w d e d population, terrific transportation problem, its •smog," etc. California is also rich in nat ural resources, with the possible | exception of coal. It has great waterfalls which supply electric- w y, tll , ity to all the homes; It furnishes natural gas which heats most of the homes; but its great asset is oil. California has an abundance of oil of good quality, and this has been a tremendous asset to the state industrial ly. besides paying for roads, state buildings, and other public improvemente. All of these came af ter the discovery of gold in 1849, which sparked the “gold rush’’ and resulted in the building of the Union Pacific and Southern Pacific railroads. IS IT TOO LATE TO MOVE TO CALIFORNIA? As I think of the farmer and his wife in Nebras ka, I wonder whether all these natural resources will be of much help to them? For the business man with money, who can purchase large acreage for an extensive cattle ranch or orange and other fruit groves, there is still an opportunity for health, power, and prosperity in California. Few investment bargains, however, exist at the mo ment; although they will appear again when the next depression comes. A large amount of money is borrowed on California enterprises, and most of these mortgages are held by one or two great California banks which could be very tough if the tide turned against them. For the farmer and his wife in moderate cir cumstances who want only a winter home or place to retire to—California may not be the state. Prices are high, and there is a shortage of bouses in most sections. If you have friends living in some small California city—preferably near the coast—and they know of some reasonably priced home, it might be well to go out and look It over. California in general, however, is a place for big business rather than for retired farmers. WHAT ABOUT FLORIDA? Outside of sunshine and a fair rainfall, Flori da has only a few natural advantages. It has no coal; no water power; no natural gas, except that being brought in by pipeline; and, most important of all, Florida has not yet discovered oil. Some years ago oil was found in South Florida around the town of Sunniland and a few miles nearby wells were drilled and produced oil. This caused the great Florida oil boom. Nearly all the large oil companies sent representatives to get leases and do exploration work. Many of these compan ies spent millions of dollars drilling for oil, but not one drop of commercial oil or gas did they find. Very few wells have gone below the 10,000- foot limit, and very little "off shore” drilling has been done. Small industries are starting up in Florida, using electricity. Orlando and Tampa are rapidly becoming industrialized, while Jacksonville is a great Jobing center. Florida is a state of small homes; in fact, just now there is a surplus of small houses. Therefore, for farmers of the Cen tral West and the East who want a winter home free from snow, or for retired families who would get a check from the north every month, I surely advise one of the small 9ities of Florida. Perhaps it would be cheaper to buy a house already built than to buy a vacant lot. But I do not advise buy ing a Florida home without seeing the actual prop erty. There surely is a surplus of motels and sub divisions. Nevertheless, I believe that a man with a check coming in every month would never re gret moving to Florida. “COME AND GET IT!" Farms and Folks By L C. Hamilton Clemson Extension information . Specialist frequently wrote of change in ag riculture. I have just seen a program for press and other information men at North Carolina State College. Topics included “Population in Transition” . . . “Production in Transition” ... “Credit in Trans ition” . . . and “Consumer* in Transition.” CLINTON, S. C., THURSDAY, MARCH 18, IM1 aJljp (BUnion QUjrnntrlr tm Jaly 4, 1M - WILLIAM WILSON HARRIS - Jaae U. IMS PUBLISHED EVERY THUBSDAY BY THE CHRONICLE PUBLISHING COMPANY Rate (Payable in Advance) One Year $3 08, Six Months $2.00 Out-of-County One Year $100 Second Class Postage Paid at Cttntoo, S. C. The Chronicle the an set of a tor tea •f its subecrteen and readers - the publisher will at aD tones kindly advice. The Chronide will publish letters of general interest whan Anonymous communications wfl oat be noticed. This paper It not of ite AMERICAN ’ Yetk. Chteage, Detroit, What’s the best opportunity in agriculture? Clemson’s Roy Feme says It’s growing pecans. He likes pecans for two reasons. At the present time South Carolina is producing less than half the nuts required by pecan processing plants in the state. “And,” he says, “there’s a def inite trend toward more process ing in the pecan business.” Now this appears to be a real attractive proposition to me. With fruits and vegetables we have a definite shortage of processing fa cilities. Now, here is industry that is asking for more produc tion to supply existing processing plants. And, increasing our acre age for processing would be in line with the trends. • • • If you already have pecan trees, you don’t necessarily have to plant more trees in order to increase production. The present average yield per bearing tree in South Carolina is only about 8 pounds. Such a low average yield may seem rather astonishing to you. It surprised me, too. Clemson’s horticulutrists say the biggest single reason for these low yields is low soil fertility. If you trees need fertilizer, the season’s not too late to do some thing about it. Putting fertilizer on in late Feb ruary or early March is best. If you have 18-20 year old trees, it’s suggested that you apply about 1,200 pounds of 8-8-8 fertiliser to each acre of trees. If the trees are of other ages, figure the fertilized needs on the basis of 3 pounds for each year the tree is old. Another way to estimate fertilizer needs is to apply 3 pounds for each inch of the trunk diameter. When putting the fertilizer on, remember that the roots go gur- ther from the trunk than the long est limbs. • • • Well done! In effect, that’s what George Settles of Radio Station WABV, Abbeville, told selected local farmers over the air last month. I'm mentioning this incident be cause it is one of several things that seems to be part of a pattern. I believe one can now detect a little more promotiinal effort on behalf of agriculture. Some of the effort Is coming from town people. It points up a growing consciousness of the part that agriculture plays in the total economy. • • • Four-H club members are feed ing next year’s birds. That’s a long way off, you say. But they do it by planting bi-color lespedeza on unused areas of the farm. Bi-color is one of the best feeds for quail and doves. It is peren nial, and once established, should stay with you. E. C. Turner, Clemson's extension conserva tionist, says that bi-color drops its seed in late winter when birds need feed the most. Larry Hutto of the BlackviDe 4-H club in Barnwell County, started planting 8.000 M-coior plants last month: • • • Jim Eteazer, the light-penned originator of Farms and Folks, over-all conference was “Agriculture in Transi- The called tion.” Mr. Eleazer's “Constancy of Change” very aptly described the Current movement in agriculture. • • • The cold winter has caused some disappointment with winter grazing. County Agent G. W. Bonette of McCormick says feeding live stock through the winter has been difficult, and many thousand gal lons of molasses have been used. Here’s hoping that better moisture and more sunshine dur ing February and March will im prove the situation. • • • Last year’s cholera outbreaks among hogs alterted Marion county growers. More fanners are now vaccinating hogs against the disease as a preventative measure, County Agent J. L. King, says. Cron Hill News The Rev. Roy W. Coker, -a-na tive of Franklin County, Ga„ and pastor of Lebanon and Warranton Presbyterian Churches in Abbe ville county for the past six years, will become pastor of the Liberty Springs church beginning March 19. The church has been without a pastor since the resignation of the Rev. R. D. Neece In June, 1960. Mr. Coker, a graduate of Franklin County High School, Carnesville, Ga., received his AB degree from Presbyterian Col lege, Clinton, and his BD degree cum laude from Columbia Theo logical Seminary, Decatur. Ga. He attended the Pastoral Council- ing Clinic and the Preaching Clin ic at Union Theological Semi nary, Richmond, Va. He served with the armed forces for four and a half years after graduating and a part of that time was in the European theeater of operations. He com manded a tank company for two and a half years, with the rank of captain and was discharged as a major. The pastor and his family will move to Croas Hill around March 21 and will reside at the manae prior to the building of a new manse. Mrs. Coker is the former Anne Graham of Goshen, Va. She is a graduate of Goshen High School and Longwood College, Farm- ville, Va. Before marriage she taught school and then was en gaged In home mission work in the mountains of eastern Ken tucky. The Cokers have two chUdren, Marc, who is in the third grade, and Lucy, who will soon be four yean old. v • t * The Friendly Garden Club held its March meeting on the after noon of the 7th at the home of Mn. L. R. Adams, with Mn. Carl Crisp as co-hostess. The home was lovely with ar rangements of spring flowers. The president, Mrs. J. H. Thomason, Jr., opened the meet ing by reading a poem, “The White Magnolia Tree ” She wel comed the members and the visi tors, Dr. Ruth Stokes and Mn. S. J. Hunt. During the business session the president appointed a ways and means committee which consisted of Mn. Jake Rasor, Mrs. W. M. Leaman and Mn. P. H. Miller. African violets were distributed to the members which will be their project for the year. Mn. J. T. Hollingsworth and Mn. J. A. Richardson were pro gram leaden for the afternoon. Mn. June Smoak, Duke Power Co. economist, of Spartanburg, was introduced by Mn. Hollings worth. She gave a most interest ing and informative demonstra tion on “Put Your Electrical Appliances To Work.” She dem onstrated the electric blender, the egg cooker, the mixer, the patio server and the redi-baker, port able oven. After demonstrating the appli ances she served the food as the refreshments. EVERYDAY COUNSELOR Time writes in its owfl peculiar language upon the human race. The book of each life ts different. Each passing year leaves Its tell tale mark. Sometimes It writes with a pen of iron upon the face, but always with indelible ink up on the soul. Some lives grow richer and riper with the passing years, while others grow hard and cynical. On* thing youth, after it gains perspective, expects of age—ripe ness of spiritual experience. Age has had so many more oppor tunities to explore into the deeper mysteries of life. It has stood of ten on the brink and watched friends and dear ones pass over into toe Great Beyond. Nothing is mars disappointing to me than to encounter an older person from whose Ups I expect wisdom, whom I expect to be looking forward to a new and fuller life beyond with sweet faith and assurance, but instead to find a soul as dry as the Sahara expressing itself in the cackles of gossip or the oaths of outworn profanity. Sometime ago a well dressed older man engaged me in convcr- th pro prof an sa tion. I did not know him and he «hd not knew me. Every ean- tence was punctuated with faulty. I had eucounb ity in, abundance when I was In military service. But this was different. How could an old man in the sunset of life expect to meet his Master in such a manner? I shuddered! "• If we knew that life ended at death, we might do things dif ferently. But we don’t know that, and we don’t believe It. Man never has believed it The belief in im mortality has persisted since the beginning of history amongst Ml races;' Life here Is but a phase of our existence. It Is preparation for happiness and service or fuller of something fuller beyond—fuller of misery and suffering. The courae we (dot here we continue yonder. Life never stands still. Progress Is one of the great laws of the universe. Our Uves are progress ing in goodness or in evil. Time marks It on the soul day by day and year by year, and It often has a way of marking in the face. Now go and look in the mirror and see what you see. Time gives us the pen and w* do the writing. IF YOU DON’T READ YOU DON’T GET THK NEW! DIAL $$34841 Two Important Keys to a mortgage loan that makes it easier to pay off, more comfortable to live wBh. Let our years of experience go to work in planning a loan that is just right... for YOU. • CITIZENS ® FEDERAL SAVINGS AND LOAN ASSOCIATION 220 W. MAIN ST. CLINTON. S. C. Member Federal Home Loan Bank Syst OFFICE 8UFFUB8 CHRONICLE PUB. OO* c«S5 smtt USED CM CUARANO! MANY MAXES, MODELS AND COLORS...ALL PRICED LOW...READY TO GO! YOU’VE NEVER SEEN SUCH VALUES! 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