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* v'V ' -Cl THE CLINTON CHRONICLE 1 Clinton, S. C., Thurada;', April 25, 1968 We Aren’t That Rich / There is, beyond doubt, heavy support for a federal tax cut, whatever the differ ences over methods and details. It comes from groups as diverse as the National Association of Manufacturers and the AFL- CIO. But, as Life magazine accurately observes, . . they almost all agree that the President’s program is wrong. What unites most critics of that program is their feeling that a tax cut must be earned by a corresponding control of expenditures.” Administration spokesmen have said there is no possibility of an over-all reduc tion in federal spending—that, indeed, it may go up. But thoughful studies have been made of the budget, and specific areas for heavy cuts, which would not touch the national security, and would not reduce or eliminate any really essential federal duty or obligation, are delineated. To take one, the Chamber of Commerce of the United States has a program for a * $9.1 billion cut. Senator Proxmire thinks that $2 billion in subsidies can be eliminat ed. Th€ House Appropriations Commit tee proposes a reduction of just under $98 million in funds for the Interior Depart ment alone. And so it goes. To quote Life again: ‘The control of unnecessary expenditure is one of the most serious problems facing modern denioc- racy. Government has grown so huge and complex that no individual congressman • can grasp the full dimensions of any budg et But Congress can have a knowledge able impression of White House budget making and the current impression is one of carelessness.” And carelessness of this unbelievably , expensive kind, is one thing the nation simply cannot afford. We aren’t that rich. the major tax bill is out of the wjty “ . . . I certainlly think there should be a general look at the excises to see if there is pot a better way to rearrange them or if some of them should be modified, changed, elim inated, or have something done to them.” This, as a spokesman for the American Re tail Federation observes, is “hardly a com fort !” It is vague, and it shoves the problem into an indefinite future. Expressions of consumer feeling, which certainly must be on the side of repeal of the wartime- excise taxes, would be ex tremely helpful—there are a lot more con sumers than there are makers and sellers uf the goods involved. And a strong case can be made that repeal of emergency tax es, now that the particular emergency has long passed, should be part and parcel of any tax reform program. THK AMERICAN WAT • •n'lH. Babson Discusses Florida A Tax Is Not Insurance “Insurance” is an attractive word. Al most everyone has some—life, accident, fire, theft, hospitalization, liability. It is protection against adversity. But the word can be used in a mislead ing way. And that is true of the current effort to apply the “insurance” tag to the bill—which got nowhere in the last Con gress, but is up again in this one—to fi nance various measures of health care to everyone drawing social security benefits. The bill is called on page one, a “Hos pital Insurance Act” But if anyone will fight his way through to page 62 (which, one can be surer extremely few will do) he will find that the payments are described as taxes rather than premiums. And page 62 is the truthful one. Social security pay ments are taxes—and not premiums. So cial security offers no contract as an in surance policy does. The taxes collected for medical care, for example, would not be set aside for the future use of taxpay ers, under an actuarial system, but would be used on presort beneficiaries. The courts have held that these taxes are exactly that—taxes. And so has the Internal Revenue Service, which has placed liens on “delinquent taxpayer accounts” within the Social Security System. Let government medicine, socialized medicine, be debated to the limit. But let’s not accept misrepresentation—which is ex actly what calling; a. tax an insurance plan is. No Easy Job A primary goal of retailing is to obtain repeal of the wartime excise tax on a wide variety of goods sold at retail—leather wares, cosmetics, and so on. These were imposed as World War II emergency meas ures. But they are still on the books, all these years later. The biggest winner of all, if the effort is successful, will be the consumer. Prac tically everyone in the country perodkally and frequently buys products carrying these excise taxes. But the job ahead is not an easy one, due to several factors. One is the muddled tax situation in general. An other is the difficulty, because of the in getting a measure such as this ii in a tax bill. Another is the apparent indifference in some influential circles to the problem. The Secretary of the Treasury, com menting on the matter, has said that once Babson Park, Mass., April 25—1 came to Florida 40 years ago when convalescing from tuberculosis (TB, not TV)! I never got mixed up with the Florida boom as I then had neither ambition and strength. MOM OK BUST — As this is the 40th anniversary of the begin ning of the famous Flordia boom, I want the younger generation to know that when that hap pened. One illustration will give the picture. The young man who typed for me showed me a check for $10,000 which he had received as a commission; he immediately bought a Rolls- Royoe with the money. Very few people actually saw any money, or even the property they bought. They were content to receive to receive a “purchase and sale agreement which they did not bother to file at the court house. They merely gave their note for the sales agreement; then they sold this at a profit to someone rise, who. In turn, sold it to another party. A man could build $1,000 up to MOW W. mmm gioo.QOO, swapping one piece of paper for another. Finally the crash came, and the last party lost everything. FLORIDA MUNICIPAL BONDS Farmers were not the only ones taken in Many banks failed. And municipal bond prices collapsed. Sarasota bonds fell from $100 to $20; Orlando bonds fell to $40; the bonds of the city of Sanford dropped from $100 to $10. Beautiful homes costing $500,000 sold at 10c on the dollar. Most people called it a “pan. ic” hut it was more like an epidemic of diph theria or typhoid, except that it was mental. Will it come again? I don’t know; but there are no signs of it now. ! People are no longer speculating in pieces of paper. Most speculators are buying Large acreage dividing it into house lots. People are buying one or two lots on speculation, but their total loss would he not more than $5,000 even if the development company went into bank ruptcy. The difficulty is that these companies sometimes fail to put in water systems or hard roads or other improvements promised. There is still considerable speculation in Florida land, but it is legitixhate; the lots have been bought and deeds recorded. WHERE TO BUT? I do not answer specific questions which come to me, as I cannot, afford to get involved in any lawsuits; but I am willing to say that anyone who buys a small house and an adjoin ing lot in a Florida city of 20,000 or less, in which he plans to live, should make a good and healthful investment. He, however, should first drive down to Florinda and take a trip around the state. The local hank of any city will give the name of a reliable real estate agent. It is a mistake to put all your money in any one thing, whether it is a bank or the stock market or an orange grove. Many orange groves are good investments if they are in frost-protected sections and old enough so that a freeze will not hurt the trees, even if the fruit is lost for a year. However, if I had all my investment in orange groves, I should cer tainly sell one-half and invest that money in the stock of General Foods Co. or Coca-Cola, (which owns Minute Maid). I also advise all subscribers to this newspaper to read “The Day Money Stopped,” by Caroline Bird (Look Magazihe, for March 12th). DIFFERENT SECTIONS OF FLORIDA DISCUSSED If buying land for speculation—by the acre or by the foot—I would surely get ocean-front property. For many years there will he plenty of available land in Florida, hut ocean front will be very scarce; the most expensive is on the East Coast north of Miami. ' — >*-• •V* The Everglades should be avoided on ac count of mosquitos and other insects. The most attractive area at present may he the West Coast south of Sarasota—including Venice, Punta Gorda, Fort Myers, and Naples. A por tion that has appealed to friends of miwo is Sanibel Island. A bridge to Sanibel is soon to be opened and a second bridge to Pine island is under construction. If prices have not in creased too much in anticipation, ,seasho property on one of these islands might be at tractive. at- You Can't Do Business With Communism I Stories Behind Words William by S. Penfield V - Curfew During the Middle Ages, the English household fire was built in a hole in the floor. There was a hole in th roof for the smoke to escape. With the roof usually made of thatch and the floors covered with straw, the fire hazard was great—espec ially if the fire were left burning when the family re tired for the night. Therefore, a bell was rung shortly after sundown as a signal for the people to extinguish or cover ther fires. The bell was called curfew bell, curfew being an adaption of the French words “couvrir feu”—to cover the fire. From this custom came the modern curfew—a sig nal or deadline (sometimes applying only to juveniles) for people to retire from the streets. while visiting his grandparents. Mr. and Mrs. James Simmons and children of Clinton were also recent guests of the Sheppards. Mrs. W. M. Lsaman returned home Friday after several days visit with relatives in Asheville, N. C. Visiting Mr. and Mrs. W. I. Smith Sunday were Mr. and Mrs. Fred Rush of Greenwood and Mr. and Mrs. Curtis Parkman of Cal- lison. Miss Peggy Doares of Green wood was the weekend guest of Miss Elaine Smith. Mrs. C. S. Pinson spen^a re cent weekend with relatives at Harleyville and Bennettsville. Mrs. Raymond McKittrick and little daughter of Norfolk, Va., visited Mr. and Mrs. G. W. Mc Kittrick last week. The Cross HiU-Mountville H.D. Club held its regular monthlly meeting with Mrs. J. E. Sharpe and Mrs. W. A. Simpson at the home of the former/ Eighteen members answed the roll call. Mrs. Herman Gabbert led a most inspiring’devotional. Mrs. Hugh Jones was program leader for the afternoon and gave an instructive program on “Health”. Plans were made for the Can cer Drive in the two communi ties. Mrs. Judy Glover gave the demonstration on “Fabrics and How to Care for Them”. The hostesses served enjoyable refreshments. Mountville News MRS. MAUDE BRYSON Dinner guests of Mr. and Mrs. Lucius Burns Sunday were Mrs. Eugene Pratt and her grandson, Jackie Orr from Greenwood. Mrs. Clarence Smith from Ath ens, Ga., spent Sunday with Mrs. Frances S. Hunt. Mr. and Mrs. John M. Hudgens and family from Laurens, spent Sunday with Mrs. Hudgens’ sis ter and Mrs. J. M. Thomason and Mr. Thomason. Mr. and Mrs. James Goodman spent last weekend at Myrtle Beach. Mr. and Mrs. C. D. Padgett and daughter Anne from Spar tanburg recently visited Mr. and Mrs. Walter Lynch. Crass Hfl News MRS. HAROLD AUSTIN, William Martin Boyce, Perry Simpson and George MackarifttM with other members of the 12th grade of Clinton High School are on the annual trip to Washington and other places of interest which the seniors enjoy each year. Mrs. Austin Leaman has re turned to her home in Newberry after spending several days with Mr. and Mrs. J. T. Hollings worth. Mr. and Mrs. Freddie Setter had as their guests during the weekend Mr. and Mrs. Joe Mc- Jlary of St. Stephens, Mr. and Mrs. Billy Grigsby ano children of Greenville, Mr. and Mrs. K. Black of Chester, Mrs. Paul Greece of Greenwood and Mrs. Renie Setzer of Clinton. Miss Marie Leaman of Wash ington, D.C. is on an extended visit to her mother, Mrs. Bigte Leaman and sister. Miss Agnes Mr. and Mrs. Charles Sheppard and son Keith of Anderson were guests of Mr. and Mrs. BUI Shep hard recently. Their little son Crith celebrated his 1st birthday CLINTON, 8. C. APRIL 25, IMS $4* ttlUttmt (SknmitU Jnly 4. IMi — WILLIAM WIIBON HARRIS — U, PUBLISHED EVERY THURSDAY BY THE CHRONICS PUBLISHING COMPANY Bate (Payable In ») One Year $MM, Six Msnflte |U0 Ons Year $5.00 Paid at CUaten. 8. C. al Be MbacrBf and renders. — the kinriy advice. The Chnaftcle wfil the views or opinions of its Ntpytofaw* Your Program ■ BMY CARS, IBOLM 6AS Hums M VOL AS PROM. idths iRdteWShl •Hi » nr vith Sift# A.ea a--a—a tai ns lossy I Ernest R. Ousts 108 N. Brad St 8384811 Today - Friday - Saturday SmGin' , swinoir* CIYIS Features: 3:10, 5:10, 7:10, 9:10 ‘ Starts Saturday 1:00 P. M. Mon.-Tues. April 29-30 hihOer AVALON SCOTT | BRADYi NmiUMIIQMM.*S BIKINI. Starts Wed. May 1 OPERATION COWBOY! WALT D MIRACIE of (he St\uj( Misses Lyena ’ Thomason and Leona Milaus are in Washington D.C. this week. Col. and Mrs. W. H. Finley ac companied by Mr. and Mrs. P. W. Finley spent Sunday in Char lotte, N. C., with Mr. and, Mrs. George Finley. Misses Lizzie and Lists Bryson and Mr. - Henry Bryson from Cross HUl spent Sunday after noon with Mr. and Mrs. Hugh Jones. , Mr. and Mrs. Hugh Bryson and family, Mr. and Mrs. Tom Bry son and family were with their parents Mr. and Mrs. H. W. Bry son Sunday. - Mr. and Mrs. J.‘ H. Thomason Sr., left last week for several weeks stay in Florida. NOTICE OP LOST CERTIFICATE OF DEPOSIT Notice if hereby given that Time Certificate of Deposit Num ber 11518 dated March 8, 1962, in the sued Bankers C. Watts has been Jost hr de stroyed and (Kat ah Application wW be; made to said batik on May Si 1963, for the issuance of a new certificate in the places of the one described above. G. C. WATTS, Mountville, S. C. 4c-m» lioio aaiea ivtarco o, imoo, ie amount of $3,000*00, is- by M. S. BSiley and Son, ;ers of Clinton, iS. C., to G. IF YOU DON'T BEAD TOE CHRONICLE YOU DON’T GET THE NEWS PHONE 8334641 HEY...MOM! Thursday - Friday - Saturday Only April 25th, 26th, 27th . 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