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V >: Yes' On City Hall >i; Clinton needs a new city hall. Clin ton can afford a new city hall. There fore, we hope voters will cast their ballots in favor of the proposed city kail when they go to the polls Tues day, April 15. Voters will be asked whether they favor issuance of up to $240,000 in i. 5 u EUGENE SLOAN Clinton lost one of her most tal ented native sons Easter morning in £the death of Eugene Sloan. Mr. Sloan, 47, was an author, [ historian, reporter, photographer, and • naturalist. He combined all of these ? skills into a book called “Scenic South ; Carolina. He was working on an- qther book at the time of his death, c Be died on Hunting Island Easter f morning while returning from a hike. He had gone to Hunting Island for the £ weekend to obtain material for his ►: planned new book. Work on his books was a labor of love for Eugene Sloan. He made his : living as a reporter for The State f; Ifewspaper, with whom he had been as- •; sociated in various capacities for over j: 20 years. People in small towns often are wa- j: ry of “big city” reporters, but local peo- : : pie trusted Eugene Sloan—although ii possibly for the wrong reason. Many Seemed to feel that in dealing with a, Eugene Sloan, they were certain to be :• treated fairly because Mr. Sloan was a ffellow Clintonian. What they prob- »; ably didn’t know is that Mr. Sloan •: treated everyone that way. He had a ! historian’s propensity for accuracy and : fairness. f. PASSING ERA Seaboard Coastline Railroad has •petitioned for permission to cut out :its Richmond, Va., to Washington, D. r C., passenger service. The company recently cut off its ! Atlanta, Ga., to Birmingham, Ala., .passenger service. ’ If the Richtnond-Washington peti tion is approved, it will mean that passengers boarding the train in Clin- WO ;gd toe Atlanta or Richmond without changing trains. Previously the passenger service stretched from Birmingham to Washington. * The railroad company has made ho secret of the fact that it would like to get out of the passenger business. Jt hasn’t kept its passenger service abreast of the times and the competi tion from airlines, which are heavily Subsidized, is too much. The rail road’s profit potential apparently is I n freight service these days. All of which makes us feel a little 4>kier. < We can recall when there were Numerous passenger trains stop ping in Clinton. And we can recall When the first diesel “streamline” came through town. It was on a Sun- iiay and it was an event of such im- portance that church services at the [First Baptist Church were curtailed fco members of the congregation could [go see the “streamliner” and take a jquick trip through the train. ‘4 general obligation bonds to finance the balance of construction costs on the proposed new city hall. The city already has about $260,- 000 in its building fund. This money has been accumulated in recent years as the city’s share of revenue from the Clinton-Newberry N a t u r a 1 Gas Authority. City Councilmen plan to allocate part of the Gas Authority revenue over the next few years to re tire the city hall bonds, if Tuesday’s vote is favorable. Councilmen also say that retire ment of the bonds will not take all of the Gas Authority revenue and that there will be at least $30,000 to $40,- 000 available each year for other need ed projects. This is in addition to other city revenue, such as property taxes, business license fees and the city’s share of state and federal taxes which are used to cover costs of gen eral municipal operations. Councilmen say no tax increase will be necessary to finance construc tion of the city hall. We believe city voters are being of fered an unusual bargain in this ref erendum. The city can have its city hall without a tax increase because of the foresight of city administra tions which set up and fed the city hall building fund. The city could pay off the proposed bond issue in a matter of two or three years if it so desired. However, if a good interest rate can be obtained, it may be that it will be in the city’s best interests to spread the bond payments over five years or more. As we have said previously, the proposed city hall is well-planned. It should take care of this growing city’s fire, police and city clerk’s office needs for many years to come. It was de signed with room for growth but there are no unnecessary “frills” in the plans. The proposed building is both attractive and planned for efficiency and economy. The city hall is an investment in the future of Clinton and this pro posal is a bargain citizens of Clinton can’t afford to turn down. On the Right Path > * : V WORTH umasM® ABOUT ! \ /f If! / 1 > k is A i * * i 4 I 1 i > •: 1 I L NAM’s Taxation Committee believes the first priority in tax reform is a commitment to future rate reduction. And we believe that a determined effort to get federal spending under control will make feas ible a long-run program of scheduled tax rate reductions. Compared with that, reshuf fling of tax burdens between various classes of taxpayers would be a pale accomplish ment. Robert C. Warren President Cascade Corporation + + » + + + **«**.»* To follow the crowd is to waste your time. No man ever really succeeded without step ping away from the routine and attempting something dif ferent.—George C. Keyes, The Oklahoma County News. •**»»+****X***4 It’s almost like basketball has turned into a participant sport instead of spectator sport. Everybody wants in the act —Wayne W. Kittley, The Karens (Tex.) Tribune. »*»»»**«««**++ 'MANPOWER-BO YPOWER' The Laurens CountyBoy Scout Dis trict currently is involved in a “Man- power-Boypower” program which is designed to bring Scouting to more young men in this county. The objective is to establish more Scout units—Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts, Explorers — so that some form of scouting will be available to all young men in all sections of this county. More Scout units mean that more adult scout leaders will be needed. That’s where the “Manpower” phase of the campaign comes in. If the “Manpower” is available, the result will be more “Boypower” in Laurens County. If you are an adult interested in becoming a scout leader, contact local Scout Executive Aubrey McCroskey, Jr., in Clinton. If you are interested in sponsoring a scout unit in an area which is now without a unit, contact McCroskey. It could be that your church or civic organization could ren der an important service to the youth of your area through scouting. tell you what's unfair about guys making $200,(XX ) a year without paying income tax— Tm nrd onp nf them! 2-B—THE CHRONICLE, Clinton, S. C., April 10, 1969 SENATOR STROM THURMOND REPORTS TO THE PEOPLE EQUAL OPPORTUNITY The recent hearings of the Senate Subcommittee on Admin istrative Practice and Procedure have demonstrated that the pre vious Administration did not fol low the Congressional mandate on equal opportunity. Instead of equal opportunity, it adopted a demand for preferential treat ment. LEGISLATIVE HISTORY Despite the clear legislative history of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, the Johnson Administration issued an Executive Order on contracts and employment that went beyond the law. In 1964, Congress, in laying down em ployment policy, directed that the legislation could not be in terpreted to require any em ployer to grant preferential treatment because of an imbal ance of race, creed, color, reli gion, sex, or national origin with respect to the available work force in any community, State or area. This clause of the 1964 Civil Rights Act was in accord with the Equal Protection clause of the 14th Amendment to the U. S. a program without categorizing employees by race, and then giv ing preferential treatment to the race or races which are in imbalance as compared to the total work force in the area. In short. Congress has said that an employer shall neither discriminate nor be required to give preferential treatment un der the terms of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. But the Department of Labor has said that the same employer must discriminate and grant preferential treatment if he wants to obtain Federal con tracts. This program is contrary to Congressional policy, and flatly unconstitutional under the most recent Supreme Court deci sions. As a result of the difficulties in enforcing such an unreason able program, and the conse quent Federal harrassment, the program bogged down. The re cent contract awards to five textile firms cut through the red tape and dubious regulations by getting agreements at the highest management levels. ANYBODY WHO QUALIFIES He Believed In America BY THURMAN SENSING Executive Vice President Southern States Industrial Council For millions of Americans the passing of DwightD. Eisenhower, 34th President of the United States and commander of the allied armies in Europe, provided a solemn occasion for recalling the vital qualities of leadership in this Republic. Gen. Eisenhower was a product of the American experience and embodied patriotic virtues which are essential to this country if it is to endure. At a time when there is disorder in the land and not inconsiderable disloyalty to its values, as evidenced among the militants of the New Left, it is timely to bear in mind what is basic to greatness and to the survival of the American system. Nowadays, militants angrily denounce “The System,* and call for its overthrow or radical al teration. The militants have their camp followers in politics who try to sell the idea that the United States is riddled with imperfec tions and in need of radical re construction. Some office-hold ers, sad to say, believe that it is smart to adopt the New Left’s slogans about this being a land of hunger and hardship. Dwight Eisenhower was a pro duct of the American System, and his success in life demon strates how effective and worth while that system is. He was born into a family of modest means. His father was a worker in a creamery in Abilene. Today, “liberals" no doubt would de scribe his family as “deprived* or ‘disadvantaged.* But the Ei senhower family didn’t see itself that way. Members of the family worked hard; they had faith in A- merica. Not only the future Pre sident but his brothers did well in careers, achieving substantial success. The story of the Eisen hower family is the story of countless other American fami lies of modest means who be lieved in the virtues of work, thrift, and loyalty to God and country. The man who later in life was to command the largest force of free men ever committed to battle was a man brought up to believe in self-reliance. He didn’t have the comforts and pleasures of other young men from more af fluent circumstances, but he didn’t complain. He relied on his own abilities and energies. He didn’t expect an CEO or any other agency to provide him with in stant prosperity. For the young Elsenhower, service to country was a won- to believe that it’s better to be “Red than dead. * Finally, courage in defense of one’s country is dismissed by radicals as a shop worn concept. They speak of the virtue of anarchy. In the eight years that Dwight D. Eisenhower was President, he displayed none of the arrogance of power characteristic of some of his predecessors and succes sors. Though his administration disappointed some conservatives who hoped for a thorough house cleaning of entrenched radical elements in the federal govern ment, President Eisenhower was not afraid to show his belief in free enterprise. He brought businessmen into the Cabinet. As a result, America’s affluence gained greatly in the 1950s. Home ownership grew enormously dur ing the Eisenhower years. A- merican society was strengthen ed and stabilized. Like other outstanding men, Gen. Eisenhower made mistakes in his appointments and his poli cies, but he acknowledged mis takes. He was extremely re luctant to give moral approval to court-ordered experiments with public education. It has been written that he felt he erred greatly in using troops at Little Rock in 1956. In the main, however, Gen. Ei senhower was in the central cur rent of American thinking. He understood the strength of the A- merican “system,* and upheld it as a model of opportunity and enlightenment. He had no use for the strident doctrines of so cial revolution. He rejected the demagoguery and truth-twisting that is involved in describing A- merica as a land of hunger and poverty. His conficence in the United States and its essential goodness and greatness should be remembered for years to come. ♦ llM* 4 ^ Constitution, as interpreted in recent years by the U. S. Su preme Court. While not every one will agree the Supreme Court’s interpretation of the 14th Amendment, the fact re mains that Congress was simply following the controlling inter pretation. Equal opportunity is the very opposite of preferential treatment. The hearings of the Senate Subcommittee have confirmed that Executive Order 11246, is sued in 1965, as amended, re quires an employer to grant preferential treatment in em ployment and promotional poli cies, presumably to make up for alleged past discrimination. Un der the regulations issued pur suant to that Executive Order, the employer is required to de velop a so-called “written af firmative action program’’ with regard to his present and po tential employees. PREFERENTIAL TREATMENT Under this De- "I assure you, madam, if such creatures as you de scribe really existed we’d be the first to know- about it.” program, the partment of Labor requires em ployers to analyze minority group representation in all job categories, in hiring, recruit ment, and testing, and in up grading, transfer, and promo tion. The employer must then set up so-called goals in his em ployment practices. Manifestly, it is impossible to develop such It ought to be sufficient that an employer takes anybody of any race who applies for a job if he is qualified to do that job. Equal opportunity means that race shall not be a factor in hir ing and promotion. Anything more goes beyond the law. The situation for minority em ployment in South Carolina has improved considerably in the past few years, despite the fact that the punitive regulations of the Department of Labor had not taken practical effect. In 1958, only 5,500 Negro males and 200 Negro women were em ployed in South Carolina textile mills. In 1968. 17,500 Negro males and 6,200 Negro women were employed, for a total Ne gro employment of 16.9 percent. In many South Carolina plants, as many as 40 percent of the new employees hired in the past year were Negroes. These statistics show that the proper way to increase minority employment is by the expansion of the economy, and the provi sion" Trtdii^iar JcM for those of all races who cannot find employment in the agricul tural sector. When mills are beg ging for workers, they do not need Federal harrassment to hire those who are willing and qualified to work. (not prepared or printed at government expense) Convertible Securities BY BABSON’S REPORTS, INC. WELLESLEY HILLS, MASS.- An increasing number of conver tible securities have been issued by corporations in recent years. To a great extent, this has re flected the fast pace of merger activity and the tight money sit uation. Thus, many companies have used convertibles in making acquisitions and consummating mergers, while others have issued convertible securities as a means of raising capital at a cost below prevailing money rates. CONVERTIBLES HAVE DUAL CHARACTERETICS Convertible securities possess some of the characteristics of both a senior security and a com mon stock. Generally, they offer a certain degree of safety, a de pendable yield and, through the conversion feature, an oppor tunity for capital appreciation. Although convertible bonds and convertible preferred stocks re present two different types of senior securities with different features, they are usually viewed as a homogeneous group. This is because their differences tend to be overshadowed by their com mon characteristic of converti bility. CONVERTIBLE DO NOT OFFER “SOMETHING FOR NOTHING’' At first glance, it might appear that all convertibles are ideal investments which offer “some- could be making a costly mistake. From a yield standpoint, a con vertible holder may also be at a disadvantage. This is because the convertible feature does not auto matically guarantee apprecia tion. If none occurs in the com mon stock, then the investor has given up the higher return he might have had from a non-con vertible fixed-income security. A MATTER OF SELECTIVITY Perhaps the best opportunities in convertibles arise when they are viewed as an alternative to the purchase of a common stock. In this respect, the investor must look first at the common. If the common stock of a company of fers a worthwhile opportunity for capital appreciation and/or growth, then the company’s con vertible issue (assuming one is available) could be even more at tractive. When considering which issue to purchase (the common or the convertible), the investor should look at the price of the conver tible in relation to its conver sion value, and at the yield. If the market price of the conver tible security is too far above its conversion value, it will have lost any possible advantage. Also, the yield on the convertible issue should be at least equal to, and preferably greater than, that a- vailable on the common. Generally speaking, a conver tible should be purchased as an alternative to a company’s common stock. . .when the con vertible is selling at or near its conversion value Presidential Popularity Poll derful opportunity, not something thing for nothing* through their to be avoided by taking refuge convertibility feature. Such, how- in graduate school. Throughout ever, is not usually the case, his life, he adhered to West Generally, the investor must Point’s injunction to follow the make some concessions in ter ms path of duty, honor and courage, of quality and/or yield (in com- These concepts are a million light par is on to other fixed-income se- years away from what the New Left intelligentsia teaches today. Instead of stressing duty, the “liberal* intellectuals urge young men to avoid national service. Honor is scorned by the Left intelligentsia as an outmoded concept Instead, they urge the young to seek peace at any price, curities) as the price for the convertibility feature. If one's investment objectives are safety and stability, then the investor will usually do better in non-convertible bonds or pre ferreds. The investor who sacri fices quality for convertibility