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THE CLINTON CHRONICLE Clinton, S. C, Thursday, March 18, 1965 On The Welfare Blitz: From the news of his demise until the close of hif unprecedented obsequies, the soul-stirring words of the late Sir Winston Churchill that moved Britons from the dftha of despair at the time of Dunkerque and the "bliti” to the selfless plane of in vincibility were heard from every loud- But, today, as our Congress obliges our hard-driving President with the billion- phis Appalachia bill just as he wanted it, the Citixens’ Legislative Information Pro gram of Los Altos, Calif., reminds us that Sir Winston was as stout a defender of eco nomic freedom as he was of the “tight little Isle”; as implacable a foe of socialism as he was of Hitler. The Clip-sheet from Los Altos invites us to hear again these Churchillian words: “The Socialist planners have miscalcu lated and mismanaged everything they have touched. They have tried to substi tute government control and discretion for individual enterprise and skill. By their restrictions they make scarcity; and when scancty comes they call for more restric tions to cure it . . . 700,000 officials have settled down upon us to administer 25,000 regulations never enforced before in a time of peace . . . I do not believe in the capacity of the state to plan and enforce an active, high- grade economic productivity upon its mem bers or subjects. No matter how numerous are the committees they set up, or the ever growing hordes of officials they employ, or the severity of the punishments they inflict or threaten, they cannot approach the high level of internal economic production which, under free enterprise, personal initiative, competitive selection, the profit motive cor rected by failure and the infinite processes of good housekeeping and personal * ingen uity, constitute the life of a free society. who do not haVe it—or bestow ambition or initiative or creative ability on those who are not born with these qualities. And the individuals who do have these Cod-given capacities will not require governmental stimulus as they strive to improve the ‘great society* of yesteryears.” This goes to the heart of the matter. Whatever the programs, whatever the dra matic names given to them, they must rely primarily on individual initiative, individ ual ambition, individual risk taking, and the desire of the individual to pro gress and to serve. Only in that way can we make material gains without sacrificing those freedoms and spiritual qualities which are the roots of true greatness. Nothing will ruin this democracy if the people themselves will protect its safety. Nothing can save it if they leave that safety in any hands but its own.—Benja- man Franklin. Perils of Medicare — Edward W. O’Brien, of the Portland Ore gonian’s Washington Bureau, writes: “An unpublished study by top government actu aries shows that the administration’s medi care proposal would cost 53.8 billion a year by 1976 and that the proposed special health care fund would be just about broke by then. “In this study, Social Security Adminis tration experts found that the cost of operating medicare would exceed by 1972 the income to the fund from the new pay roll taxes provided . . . ,” These findings square with warnings given by non-governmental authorities of the financial perils that medicare contains. And there is more than theory to back them up. Some foreign countries have imposed various medical benefit plans on top of pension and retirement programs and have invariably found that the actual cost far exceeded the optimistic estimates. In France, which took that step, reports indi cate that the wlefare system is perilously close to bankruptcy. To make a bad matter worse, medicare is far more limited in its benefits than most people realize. Survey's show, for in stance, that great numbers of people think it would pay doctors’ and dentists’ bills. It would not. Basically, it offers only a re stricted program of hospital and nursing home care. Other plans, which would provide much broader and more liberal medical services to the needy and which would avoid medi care’s built-in dangers and weaknesses, are proposed. It is the duty of Congress to give every consideration to these alterna tives and to see medicare for what it it ac- TTtually is. T - The Paramount Obligation David Lawrence recently wrote in U. S. News ft World Report: “. . . *no great so ciety’ will ever be maintained nnlrni indi vidual responsibility is recognised as the paramount obligation of the citizen, even as government expands and population grows. “Government may guide and help its citizens but cannot supply talent to those Babson’s Point of View On: Perpetual Prosperity By ROGER W. BABSON Babson Park, Mass., March 18—The country never had it so good. That is what we hear all over the nation today. Dollar incomes after taxes are at record peaks. The physical volume of production is higher than it has ever been be fore. And now a new prod to the economy in the form of excise tax cuts is expected to go into effect after mid-year. STITCH IN TIME Yet, President Johnson is not planning to rest on his laurels. He knows that the history of good times is that bad times always return— sooner or later. He wants to prepare now, while business is booming, to ward off any sinking spells the very minute they appear. He under stands that the beginning of a downturn is a shadowy area at best. Usually, not even the economists can say for sure that a decline has set in until after it has gotten started. Hence, if the government is going to do any thing to stave off a recession, it canot afford the time loss of waiting on Congress to formulate plans and enact them into law. The anti-slump arsenal must be ready and waiting In the closet ... to be hauled out at the first sign of trouble. ANTI-RECESSION ARSENAL While this column is going to press, a task force is preparing—at the President’s request- all manner of plans for warding off any reces sion that may appear. The Council of Economic Advisers has been alerted to develop “early warning signals” for use in determining when a letdown in production and in income may be about to start. For it is realized that, to be ef fective, the anti-slump tools must not only be available ... but they must be used early. Biggest objective is to have vast sums “ready to go.” These would be poured into the econo- by by executive order whenever the council warned the president of the need. Among meth ods most talked about: The right to raise unem ployment benefits and to lengthen their time of payment: standby authority to order tax cuts, perhaps even a tax moratorium; cold-storage public-works . . . that could be trotted out of the 1 “freezer” at the drop of a hat; and stamlby lists of ordinary government supplies that could be bought in-increased q anti ties at any time. WILL IT WORK? The intention of leveling the hills and raising the valleys of economic fluctuations is a noble one. But it is a new stand ,for government to take. It is not the same as the administration’s saying that no one will starve, that no one will have to sleep in the streets. It is actually the assumption of a responsibility for doing some thing that no one in history has been able to do. Cycles appear to be a part of nature ... in weather, in harvests, in anmial life, and in hu man populations. Granted the historical fact that in periods of high good times men begin to think more and more that “things will not change.” Their minds become conditioned to boom. It becomes very unpopular to suggest,, when the economic sun is shining brightly, that it will ever rain again. But ... it usually does; at least. It always has. As economists, we are very much impressed by the power of rising credit totals to carry production and trade along to higher and higher levels. This has been true in other booms; and we see the same forces at work now. The cor. relation is certainly worth noting. We are ex periencing the best good times of all. We are having the most massive increase in credit in history (credit is the other side of the debt coin). However, just as in other eras of debt buildup, there will intervene some force—nos that will check the upsweep. The dap and will not be recognised until tt is upon us. But, at that moment, the chain of higher debt, bigger boom will be broken. In to the . the SENATOR! ■STRO URMOND Reports PEOPLE Big Gaveraattat, Big Debt Aad Big Fewer THERE ARB at least 8 cer tain end results of the Great (Planned) Society—bigger gov ernment, deeper debt, and in creased centralization of power. ALREADY the size and scope of government activities in this country have grown to fantastic proportions in recent yean. Of every 6 employees in this coun try, one is working for some level of government Taxes and other government receipts at the State, local, and national levels now account for 35% of the total national income. Thus, $1 of every 15 expended in this country for goods and services is spent by government In fact total annual government spend- mg in the U. S. is more than 1190 billion, S to 4 times what it was in 1950. The impact of government spending is so ter rific that $1 of every $4.50 of personal income is derived from direct government payments. MOST OF ALL this govern ment 'pending is by the Na tional Govern meat la fact tbe National Government now sap- plies State and local govern ments with 14% of their rev enues in federal aid programs, getting them more dependent on sad subjecting them to more controls from Washington. This percentage will rise even more in fiscal year 1946, when federal aid programs are estimated to reach $13.6 billion, ap 260% since 1956. EMPLOYMENT by the Na tional Government is now so high that federal workers out number State government work ers in 30 of toe 50 states. In cluding the 6 largest States IN FISCAL YEAR 1966, tbe National Government will spend at least $12? billion. This in cludes Social Security and other trust fund spending, which is not added into toe budget pre sented to the Congress and the people. This amount of money in one dollar bills joined end to end would circle the earth 494 times, stretching 12.3 million miles, according to V. S. New and World Report. MUCH OP THIS spending is dependent on credit or deficit financing hecaase Uncle Sam has been aasMe to balance bin bonks for 29 of the last 35 years By June, the national debt will to $322 billion, and this doss not include all the other commitments to which tbs NaUoaal Government has obli gated itself. CIVIL SERVICE employees have particular reason to bo concerned over another obliga tion/of the National Govern- mau. This is the Civil Service Retirement fund. It is now re ported by its board of actuaries to be $40 billion in the red. SOCIAL SECURITY partici pants likewise have cause for alarm. If that program were closed tomorrow and all those now'in the program should con tinue to make their contribu tions and then receive all their benefits until the last benefici ary expires, there would be an unfunded accrued liability of approximately $330 bflHon. Add ing more programs, such as medicare, under Social Security will only further endanger the 1 solvency of the over-all program. MORE AND MORE people are becoming acquainted with the strong arm of federal con trol which lurks behind every federal dollar. The President has recently decreed that State govern menta must follow a formula he is laying down for beautifying the highways and eliminating billboards, slthough the Congress specifically agreed to leave such decisions to tbs Ststes when the interstate high way legislation was approved 10 years ago. Local school dis tricts are being directed to raci ally integrate their facilities or lose their federal aid dollars. Some recipients of federal dol lars were even enjslcd and co erced into supporting the Pres ident in the past ’ presidential election. In effect, the federal dollar in being used today as never before to bring about formity with the will of Wash- ; ington bureaucrats, Md. uafar- tunstely. the federal dollar | touches every facet of life in America. ALL OF THIS is whsre big , government, big deficits, and Mg power stand todayVtoeforo we begin to feel the effects of tbe Great (Planned) Society. How is America going to be able to stand up under all the addition al bureaucracy, indebtedness, and controls which the Great i Planned I Society promises in its aim to make everything and everyone common? Sincerely. Xl/ugwu- ‘f&AASt/KlAJBTtol Baboon theory of aetton aad (as Newton’s in phyrics) «i»wt Dig greater the win be the, correction. very m of to the to the nphm severity of an eventaal CLINTON, S. C., THURSDAY, MARCH IS, IMS ©Iff (ZUtottim ((UfnmtrU Mr 4, im - wnuui muwi n/uum - +» EVERY THURSDAY BY THE CHRONICLE PUBLH Rath (Payable in Adrance) Second Class Postage Paid at Otatoa, 8. Cl POSTMASTER: Sand Forman»to CUatoo Cfaradda. OMm S. C. IS OUR BUSINESS SELL IT WITH A CHRONICLE WANT AD! Stories Behind Words WUUub a PntUU Chameleon The chameleon is a small lizard that inhabits trees. It is commonly believed that the chameleon changes its color at will, to match the color of its surroundings. The chameleon’s color does change, but the action is involuntary, and the color does not always match the surroundings. The change in color is reaction to tem perature or sunlight, or is a result of fear or hunger. The belief that this lizard changes its color at will led to the unflattering name “chameleon” as applied to a person who shows little strength or conviction—a per son who “changes color” to meet the approval of any individual or group he happens to be with. New* of Bonds Ctom RoacU MRS. M. A. SHOUSE Highlights From Clinton High Well, the big trip to Washing ton is over for the seniors. Last week was a memorable and won derful, as well as educational, time for all of them, in spite of food poisoning, laryngitis, pulled muscles, and sore feet. The seniors saw most of the sights usually seen on these an nual tours, with the exception of the White House, which was clos ed to tourists on account of ra cial demonstrations going on all week. However, the CHS gradu ating class was given a special treat when these students visited Capitol Hill. Senator Strom Thurmond acted as their person al guide. He showed the group the United States Senate cham bers from the Senate floor, a rare occurance, since most such groups must view this place Pat B. West, 49, Passes Monday Patrick (Pat) B. West, Jr., 49, died suddenly Monday night after a period of declining health. A native of Edgefield County, son of P. B. West, Sr., and the late Mrs. ‘ Leonora VWilliams West,-he was a member of the First Baptist Church of Clinton and was a veteran of World War II. He was employed at Whitten Village. Surviving are his wife, Mrs. Mary Beck West of Clinton; a daughter, Miss Amelia West, a senior student nurse at Green ville General Hospital; his fath er of North Augusta; and two brothers, Herbert and Rill West of North Augusta. Funeral services were con ducted Wednesday at 4:90 p. m. at the First Presbyterian Church by Rev. J. H. Darr. Burial was in Rosemont ceme tery. Pallbearers were William Young, Gary Holcomb, Francis Blalock, Robert Johnson, Jim Furr, Grady Adair, Mason Simpson, and Wyatt Ledford. The honorary escort included the Fellowship class of the First Baptist Church. By CAROL SANDERS from the Gallery. The CHS sen iors also became the first school group ever to enter the Senate Reception Room. • • * Tuesday night the Future Homemakers of America staged their annual election of officers in the Home Economics Room. After a program on leadership the girls elected the following girls their 1966-1966 officers: president, Sara Lynn Wysor; Vice-president, Martha King; secretary, Ekylar Adams; treas urer, Carolyn Bradford and re porter,Lee Davis. These FHA members will be responsible for leading the Future Homemakers throughout next year. Mr. and Mrs. Joe H. Bonds and Mrs. Ed Bonds of Clinton visited Mrs. J. C. Nabors on Wed. of last week. Mrs. J. C. Nabors accompanied them to Mrs. Claude Satterwhite for the after noon. John Martin, brother of Mrs. Ruth Hill was honored on Sun day with a birthday dinner at the Joanna club house. The mem bers of Faith Tabernacle and family of John Martin attended. Also attending from the Bonds Cross Roads section were Mr. and Mrs. C. H. Hijl and famUy. Mrs. Evelyn Davenport and fam ily and John’s mother, Mrs. Mar tin. Mrs. Ike McCarley visited Mrs. J. C. Nabors on Sunday. J. C. Nabors was in Charlotte, N. C. Sunday and visited Pete Avery of Lincolnton, N. C. Mrs. Felton Crapps visited her daughter, Mrs. Emmie Snipes last week-end. Mrs. Snipes was sick. A Susan and Kay Shouse spent Sunday at the home of Mr. and Mrs. N. A. Shouse. Mr. and Mrs. Joe Simpson, Jr. of Whitmire were supper guests of Mr. and Mrs. N. A. Shouse Monday night. Mrs. Ann Willis of Columbia visited friends in the community last week. The last meeting of the Laur ens County Electric Club was held Tues. night. Shady Grove club members attended. Mr. and Mrs. Ronald McQuirt and young daughter visited rel atives in the community on Sun day. Claudia Johnson spent Satur day night and Sunday with her mother. Mrs. Raymond Dean of Whit mire visited Mrs. Texie Johnson recently. OFFICE SUPPLIES CHRONICLE PUB. CO. PHONE 8SS-6641 t Your MUAWW^i Program LAST DAY TODAY Fate Is The Harter" Glenn Ford, Nancy Kwan Shows 3, 5, 7, 9 P. M. FRIDAY-SATURDAY MARCH 19-20 The Big One Of TheGreat Southwest) STARTS MONDAY MARCH 22 WALT DISNEY TECHMMlfr eiemwiBwn mourn it HHnfinMHIhriHBn Shows 3, 5, 7 and 9 Saturday Start 1 P M. Shows 3:00 5 :30,(8:00 Sat., 1:00, 3:20, 5:46, 8:00 COMINGSOON— “BECKET” A checking accoit at ike Rank of Clin ton saves 70a 11 m a, footwork. The coot is low, ienee groat! CLINTON