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10—THE CHRONICLE, Clinton, S. C., Oct. 10,1968 COURT HOUSE REFERENDUM A major decision faces Laurens County’s voters on Nov. 5 in addition to the decisions about political offices. County voters will decide what to do about the Laurens County Court House. The county’s legislative delegation is offering the voters three choices: (1) build a new court house at a cost not to exceed $1.8 million on the site of the old Laurens Central Elemen tary School: (2) renovate the present court house and build a county office building at a cost not to exceed $2 million; (3) neither of these. We have run news articles about the proposal but there is little discus sion about it and many voters seem unaware that the issue is coming up soon. We suggest that local civic clubs contact the legislative delegation and arrange for programs about the pro posal. The delegation will be most co operative because its members are trying to inform the people about the situation. It’s too important a decision to make without being fully informed. PILOTS AND HUNTERS The Federal Aviation Administra tion sent out its annual alert to the nation’s airplane pilots a few days ago. It warned that the airways will be filled with an estimated 10 million ducks in the weeks ahead. In addition there will be something like 500,000 Canadian geese, as many as 450,000 blue and snow geese, and perhaps as many as 50,000 wdiistling swans heading south and eastward. That invasion of air space is cause for caution for pilots, and we join in the hope that no crashes will result from high-speed aircraft flying into birds in migration. The alert also means that the hunters across the country are begin ning to get their gear ready for the season. The number of hunters rises an nually. It has risen from 12.6 million licensed in 1950 to a 1965 high of more than 19.3 million, according to the Fish and Wildlife Service of the Inte rior Department. There is some dupli cation in those figures since they in clude those hunters licensed in more than one state, and the 1960 figures in clude our younger states of Alaska and Hawaii. Still, they reflect an im pressive percentage of our population. There is one area of the world that is going to experience a marked de crease in the number of hunters this ftUl. In Soviet occupied Czechoslo vakia, the newspaper Vereni Phaha reports that “Anyone going into the woods armed with a rifle . . . really has a lot of guts.” The deer and duck season is al ready open in that unhappy country. But with occupation troops camped in the woods there won’t be mjiny sports men venturing forth this year. In deed, most no longer have a hunting weapon. That’s the way things are when a totalitarian regime runs things. WOMEN DRIVING ALONE Each report on crime released by the Federal Bureau of Investigation includes statistics showing an in crease in the number of assaults on women. These reports do not indi cate what percentage of these assaults involve women who are driving alone at night, but the problem is one which troubles women drivers throughout the nation. It is impractical for anyone to ex pect all women to refrain from any night driving unless acompanied by a companion, nor is there any insurance against breakdowns on lightly travel ed roads. The Mississippi Automobile Deal ers Association has taken cognizance of this problem and compiled a list of protective measures which can be fol lowed to reduce the danger. The first consideration should be the vehicle. Keep it in the beet pos sible mechanical condition; be sure the gas tank is full: make sure all doors lock properly. Avoid bad neighborhoods and trav el on well-lighted streets where pos sible, even if it means extra driving time. Keep doors locked and windows closed. Don’t leave enticing valuables in plain sight on the seat. Inform someone of your route, des tination and expected time of arrival. If the car stalls and won’t start, stay put. You’ll be safer in a locked car until trustworthy help arrives. If you have a flat tire, drive slowly to a safe place. In an emergency, you can drive on a flat for as many as 15 miles, if you keep a slow pace. Carry a flash light so you can signal passing cars. If someone unknown to you stops, tell them through closed windows that the police are on their way, and that you’ll be patient and wait fax them. If a car blocks your path, lean on the horn. If followed, drive to the nearest police, fire or gas station. Don’t go directly home, even if home is close by. And if all else fails and you find yourself in trouble, don’t panic. Just scream your head off. who ever heard of burning money? But every year people do. People cause forest fires. To the South, trees mean jobs, industry, money. And every time a forest fire strikes-the South gets burned! Including you. So be extra careful with fires. And be on the lookout for the malicious woods burn er. Report him! gjjSjp’ aT| HELP PREVENT FOREST FIRES IN THE SOUTH "Here Come De Judge, Here Come De Judge!!” CONFRONTATION IN EUROPE The mood of the country is to turn away from international affairs, and to concentrate our attention upon the domestic scene. It is precisely at the time of our election campaigns, and immediately after, when our nation is most vulnerable in the international arena For this reason, the growing intensity of the Soviet threats against West Germany and West Berlin ought to give us serious alarm. Although Berlin has always been an object of Communist pressure, many observers are now convinced that the Soviets are also trying to bring about the submission of West Ger many to Soviet policy SOVIET PLANS The Soviet plans include di rect intervention into the affairs of West German politics. De pending upon the reaction and attitude of the United States, the Soviets' plans quite possibly include the use of military force against West German territory The ceil meaning of Czecho slovakia is becoming clearer every day. Although the Sovieta had real grievances against the Czech Communist rulers, the force used to crush the Czecho slovakian attempt to weaken Party rule was far out of pro portion to that required At least 30 divisions poured into little Czechoslovakia Six divisions taken from East Ger many were replaced with seven divisions of fresh troops The Warsaw Pact forces, over whelmingly Soviet, now number over one million men stationed in territory adjacent to West Germany, armed with the latest and most modern equipment, in rluding missiles and tactical nuclear weapons The skillful and dramatic operation in Czechoslovakia could easily be the dress rehearsal for an in vasion of West Germany. CZECHS AND GERMANS The picture darkens when recent Soviet declarations are examined. In the Soviet mind, the Czech situation and the Ger man situation are closely linked. A recent article in Pravda justi fied the invasion of Czechoslo vakia on grounds that its so- called “socialist independence” was threatened by reactionary elements. The article blamed the Czech Communist leaders for not having suppressed these activities on their own. Then the article went on to assert that false notions of sovereignty could not be used to justify an alleged resurgency of neo- Nazism m West Germany. The Sovieta have also said that the Potsdam Agreement allows the signatories to enter the territory of former enemies to repress the resurgence of to- called militarism. Finally, ths Soviets invoke the UN Charter, claiming that it gives them the right to take enforcement action against the “aggressive policies” of any former enemy atate. It is clear that the Soviets would seek to avoid any direct confrontation with U.S. or NATO troops. , Instead, they would invite the United States to “re-occupy" Germany on a Four-Power basis; in the ab sence of a positive U.S. re sponse. they would go it alone. TRANSITIONAL SET-UP The arrangements cited in the Potsdam Agreement and the UN Charter were never In tended to be more than a transi tional set-up. Our planners naively failed to foresee that the Communists would keep half of Europe in bondage for 22 years. In any event, there is absolutely no justification for attributing any aggressive actions to West Germany, or for declaring uni laterally that West Germany is undergoing a resurgence of militarism. The West German armed forces are under-manned, and equipped only with conven tional weapons. The Soviet Union, a great power, has just completed a troop movement on a scale not seen since World War H—yet H dares to accuse a relatively weak nation of “militarism." The Sovieta have laid out their plan in stagea, and they will proceed as far as they think they can go without opposition. It all depends upon their judg ment of the American will to resist We must declare that any aggressive act against West Berlin or West Germany is an immediate act of war against the NATO pact We must back up our words with action and commitments to see that the full level of NATO force* in West Germany la restored. The next few weeks may tell the tale whether ths U.S. is too dis tracted by internal politics to save the heartland of Europe from Communist control. Questions, Answers About Life Insurance (Not prtpmrmi or pritUod at gjiornmtnt FIRM CONTROL—"What is required is a clear-cut acknowl edgment by all of us who par ticipate in' Federal policy making that our objective is establishing firm control over the course of fiscal develop ments, i.e., over the amount and character of Federal spending in the future. For this purpose, spending cuts this year are not the basic in gredient, welcome as they will be. What is essential, rather, is change in spending programs. We have to focus sharply on what the Government is to do as well as on how much it is to spend,” says Rep. Wilbur D. Mills, (D.-Ark.). Chairman, Committee on Ways and Means. BY RICHARD GANTT Attorney Prestyterian College Q: What kinds of insurance does the Federal estate tax in clude under the term insurance? A: Every kindof life insurance, including term, ordianry life, limited pay, et cetera. Q: Is the Veterans life in surance issued by the Federal Government taxable? A: Yes. The estate tax is in the nature of an excise tax for the privilege of transferring the property in an estate. Q: Are Social Security death and survivor benefits included in a person’s estate? A: No. Q: Are death benefits received under accident policies taxable as part of a persons estate? A: Yes. RICHARD GANTT Future Of Vending Machines WELLESLEY HILLS, MASS.- Over the past couple of decades the automatic vending machine has developed into a robot con trolling an impressive segment of big business. Just how great its significance was revealed at a recent convention in Philadel phia of the National Automatic Merchandising Association. The occasion drew approximately 9,000 delegates representing bet ter than 6,000 vending service firms throughout the nation. UPTREND STILL STRONG To those who may have assumed that the market for vending machines and the ex pansion of their use had reached the “glut’ stage, figures from within the industry will come as a surprise* Total take in this field during 1967 reached a spec tacular high of $4.5 billion. And the projection for the current year promises sales volume al most 9% higher, hoisting the dollar turnover for automatic merchandising devices to a new record of $4.9 billion. Convention representatives of this thriving industry were es pecially optimistic about the fu ture. About one-third of the con cerns anticipate that within five years their sales volume will surpass present rates by 50%, a particularly rosy forecast in view of the wide selling base already established. Even more arresting, however, is the fact that one out of every five com panies represented look for a sales advance of 100% during that span. Pessimists were almost nonexistent at the meeting. FOCAL PRODUCT AREAS Most of the business done by vending machines Is concentrated in such lines as cigarettes, sand wiches, ice cream, milk, candy, chewing gum, soft drinks, and nuts. While discussion on the sub ject is still somewhat tentative, many Insiders look for constant additions to the list of products machine-vendable. Planners for some department stores and dis count houses, faced with steadily rising expenses, aim to test out the possibilities of machine- vending smaller items, clothing, kitchenware, appliances, etc. For the present, though, sur veys show that the quickest changes for the industry are like ly to be involved with articles of food and methods of distri buting them most efficiently. As the automatic - merchandiser operators have become larger, they have tended to run their own food kitchens rather than to buy from outside sources. This tendency will persist and be come more prevalent, according to the surveys, fa fact, close to one-half of the firms within the Association are currently turn ing out their food in their own commissaries, with still others expressing Interest in this pro cedure. MACHINES VS. NO MACHINES One of the most striking re velations within the vending in dustry is the increasing rever sion to non-machine techniques of selling and servicing. High on the list for development are more widespread regulation cafeterias and lunch counters. It should be noted, in fact, that some 35% of the vending- machine firms are already selling food by other than automatic-machine methods. Key emphasis for the future is “ser vice* by whatever means. On the horizon, therefore, loom greatly extended tactics in truck catering and the letting out of con cessions. To save money, more and more of the smaller units are turning to the purchase of their conven ience foods from concerns run ning their own output kitchens. Though the larger establishments are still somewhat divided, some purchasing their requirements and some running their own cen tralized commissaries, the trend is strongly in the latter direct ion. Because of rising labor costs and other expense factors, the move toward consolidation of companies has gained speed. And this tendency will become strong er. Some executives in the field point to the inefficiency of work ers as one of the worst draw backs for the industry. Where profits are lagging, inept or in different personnel is often cited as the most telling cause. Hence, upgrading of hiring standards may well be a prime issue for the business in the years ahead. Q: Are proceeds of life in surance payable to beneficiaries other than the estate of the in sured subject to the Federal es tate tax? A: Yes, if the insured held any incidents of ownership or transferred the policy in con templation of death. Q: What are the rules deter mining taxability of proceeds of life insurance payable to named beneficiaries? A: The proceeds payable to named beneficiaries of the in sured are taxable if the insured possessed at death any incident of ownership, exercisable alone or in conjunction with another, in the policy. Q: What is a legal “incident of ownership*? A: This term has never been fully decided by the courts. But some examples of ownership are: right of the insured, or his es tate to the economic benefits; the power to change the bene ficiary of the policy; power to surrender or cancel; right to assign; right to pledge it for a loan. We Con Dish It Out But Con We Take It? BY DR. HERBERT SPAUGH “To get along, go along.* I saw this motto sometime ago, and it made quite an impression on me. How true this is in our rela tions with our fellowman, and with God, t*o. The Bible puts It another way: “Thy shall love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy soul, with all thy mind, and thy neighbor as thyself.’ We were not put on this earth to wander around aimlessly ac cording to our personal desires. It Is inconceivable that the Crea tor of the universe who never re peats Himself by creating one ob ject exactly like another object, would expect man to be exactly the same as his fellowman. Bio logists tell us that no two leaves of a tree are exactly alike. Even our fingerprints are different That’s the secret of our whole fingerprint identification system. If God creates us all differ ently, then there must be a dif ferent plan for each one of us. It remains for ns to find that plan and follow it That's the se cret of success. How wonderful the fact that Divine Guidance can be had even if life is confusing and we don’t know the way. All we have to do is to learn to know the One who does know the way. And if we learn to know our God, yield our lives to him, He will show us the way. So if we are to get along in life we are to go along with God and H is plan for us. This is likewise true in our relations with our fellowman. The successful politician knows this. You could see this at work in our recent political conventions. How true this is in the home. My mother used to say that there were two bears in every home: “bear* and “forbear.* The Bible tells us that the secret of a successful marriage Is to submit yourselves to one another and un der the Lord. I’ve written enough. You have a brain; absorb this and use it. Note - You may write to the Everyday Counselor in care of this newspaper enclosing a long self-addressed, stamped en velope and twenty cents for a copy of my bulletin #139 - “Divine Gui dance.* * * * "If we and the other great corporations can find the way to make a business out of de velopment, if we can learn to measure profits in human progress as well as dollars, we will not only win the enthusi astic support of our young people, but the last third of this century can bring all man kind a long way toward the realization of the human po tential.” . B. McKitterick V. P. Corporate Planning General Electric Company Life Is both give and take. Many of us can give criticism freely, but how hard It is to take criti cism. We can dish it out, but we can’t take it • If criticism begets criticism, by like token love begets love. You ought to be quiet and do nothing rashly.—(Acts) 19:36). Often we wish we could re tract something we have said or done. When we feel this way, it is time, right then, to take an idea of truth that will free us from hasty or unwise deci sions and actions. Let’s pause first and make sure that our actions will be wise, right and good so as to be a blessing to ourselves and our neighbors. “Each of us, I think, has accepted the absolute necessity of involvement as citizens and businessmen in the urban problems of our times. Let me make this observation: Our ultimate goal is not to offer welfare in any form; it is to offer opportunity in every form. Our obligation is not to perpetuate dependency; it is to remove the roadblocks that stand in the path of self-devel opment.” —J. D. Wright, Chairman & Chief Executive Officer TRW, Inc. The 171 Youth Opportunity Cen ters in 132 metropolitan areas served 3,286,300 young men tad women from February 1985, through May, 1968, the Dapert- ment of Labor reports. A total of 821,300 individuals were placed in Jobs.