Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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V WE RE 40 OUT OF 46 'Ym good for six more months and that's it!!" Laurens County’s showing in the general election, a presidential elec tion year, was disgraceful. According to an article in last week’s Chronicle, Laurens County ranked 40th among the state’s 46 counties in the percentage of eligible persons who voted in 1968. Only 15,540 of 26,593 eligible ad ults are registered to vote in Laurens County. And only 77.9 per cent of those registered actually voted in the 1968 election. Getting even closer to home, only 892 people voted in the mayor’s elec tion in Clinton last August. Only 892 people participated in an election to select the man who is in charge of the progress of a town of 10,000 popula tion. This is not intended as a reflection of those who were elected in the 1968 campaigns. Both the winners and losers worked just as hard as they would have if all eligible persons were registered and there was a 100 per cent voter turnout. We have protested this area’s vot er apathy before. We don’t harp on the subject simply to be howling at the moon. There is a danger in this apathy. As long as there is voter apathy, we run the risk of someone with organizational and political know how “stealing” an election. That per son might be totally unacceptable to the majority of the citizens but it would be fairly simple for him to gain power if the majority takes its voting responsibilities too lightly. RESCUE SQUAD LESSON The recent demonstration and ex hibition by the Laurens County Res cue Squad at Lake Greenwood was very impressive. It also served as a reminder of the service the squad ren ders to Laurens County. The squad members work hard, on their own time, to be prepared to as sist in emergency situations. Working on the Rescue Squad gives the members a sense of accomplish ment in knowing that they are trained to cope with emergencies and that they are available to help people in trouble. Also, Rescue Squad work gives the men an appreciation for safety. Squad member Robert Ballew of Clinton commented recently, "If some of these young people could just work a couple of wrecks with us, 1 think they’d learn how stupid it is to treat an automobile like it is a toy. If they could just see some of the wrecks, I’ve seen, they’d realize how dangerous an automobile can be.’’ WISE WORDS On his seventieth birthday a few weeks back, E. B. White, the noted writer, gave a rare interview to The New York Times. It has always seem ed to us that most writers come off better on paper than they do w’hen they begin to talk. Mr. White is a pleasant exception because he appar ently insists on thinking before he speaks. The consequence of this is that Mr. White is interesting in any medium on virtually any subject. In the course of the interview, Mr. White commented on many things, among them the literary scene. (“I’m not against good taste in writing, how ever unpoplar it may be today.”), old age (“The Bible has me dead on July 11, and I believe everything I read in print.”), and student dissent. On the latter topic, Mr. White had this to say: “It’s not easy to keep the true dis senters (those who want to improve something) separate from the phony •"dissenters (those who want to destroy 'V ** the whole business). The two inter mingle in the heat of campus contro versy. “Universities have become very big, and with bigness comes remote ness, inacessibility. This is bad, and it causes trouble. When I was an un dergraduate, there were a few profes sors who went out of their way to be friend students. At the house of one of these men I felt more at home than I did in my own home with my own father and mother. I felt excited, in structed, accepted, influential, and in a healthy condition. “Apparently, most students today don’t enjoy any such experience, and they are ready to dismantle the Es tablishment before they have either defined it or tasted it. In a democ racy, dissent is as essential as the air we breathe. It’s only when students form an elite society, immune from J ordinary restraints, that I worry about dissent.” WHO KNOWS? We know two young men of more or less equal intellect, and from like ^-backgrounds. But there is one char- ®acteristic in which they differ signifi- ***’cantly. Confronted with a complex , .problem, one man never asks ques- y tions, never expresses any puzzlement and, as you might expect, promptly Ci fails to execute his assignment prop- tteriy. In the same situation, the other man just as promptly says that he doesn’t grasp the problem, asks ques tions until he has the answers he needs, then proceeds to do the job ex actly as directed. More mischiel has been perpetrated by the man who is too timid to confess his limitations than by almost anyone we can think of. We read somewhere about a man who proposed to tumble the walls of ^the Time-Life Building in New York ' by the simple expedient of standing in the lobby and shouting, “I don’t 8 ‘ know!” It was a plantive way of commenting on the know-all quality of those magazines. This omniscience, interestingly enough, was never part of Founder Henry Luce’s makeup. Nobody at Time, Inc., asked so many questions, nor listened to the answers more in tently. It probably was one of the main talents he brought to his maga zines. If we were given to addressing a graduating class, we would say some thing like this; No matter what field you enter, never try to bluff your way through when you don’t know what you’re do ing. There is an appropriate time to ask questions and get a clear compre hension of what’s expected of you. Most bosses will be grateful for your candor. In any case, you’ll know more about your job than you did before. There are a lot of Chairmen of Boards who likely got their starts by saying, more than once, “I may be dumb, but I just don’t understand .. Private Plane Potential "We got everything for vacation? Maps, suntan lotiorv camera, travelers' checks, diaper pail, hamsters dog, kids, tranquilizers...* King Featurt* SyrnHota BY BABSON’S REPORTS INC. WELLESLEY HILLS, MASS., The Business/Private Aircraft Industry -- known to the trade as General Aviation -- has more planes in the air, uses more air facilities, serves more places, and logs more hours than all the major airlines together. The rapid growth in the number of certified private pilots and stu dents in training and the bloom in flying clubs indicate the strong long-term potential for the indus try, paced by a swing toward fleets of company-owned planes and a new trend to air-taxi-com muter line operators. ATTRACTIVE ISSUES In 1968 the three leaders -- Beech, Cessna, and Piper -- re corded strong advances, and a well regarded aerospace market ing research firm, DMS Inc., forecasts that by 1973 there will be a 47% gain in unit sales of small planes over the num ber produced in 1967. Over 85% of annual unit sales and 80% of dollar volume are generated by the “Big Three”. Of these, the Research Staff of Babson’s Reports currently favors pur chase of the common stock of Cessna Aircraft for near-term appreciation and growth. We maintain a hold position on Beech Aircraft. Piper is being wooed by Chris-Craft and Bangor Pun- ta, with the outcome not yet re solved. The common stock of Narco Scientific Industries is recom mended by appreciation and long- Weekly Newspapers Endorse Post Office Corporation Plan A spokesman for weekly newspapers told the House Post Office Committee in Washington, that he accepts the need for postal rate in creases but they must be ac companied by reform such as the Administration’s proposal to turn the post office into a government corporation. Jack Lough, Albion, Neb., and president of the National Newspaper Association said that his members realize “con version of the post office de partment to a corporation will mean an increase in what they pay for delivery of their news papers.” “But rate increases, with out reorganization, are inevi table,” he said, and “the result will have to be higher and higher rates for poorer and poorer service.” The NNA represents 7,000 newspapers the bulk of them weeklies. Lough is publisher of two weekly papers, The Albion News and The Cedar County News at Hartington, Neb. The NNA voted recently to support the Administration’s proposal to remove the post office from the Cabinet, oper ate it as a corporation under a nine-member board of direc tors and set up a separate board to adjust postal rates subject to Congressional re view. Lough warned, however, against any attempt to weaken the self-management proposals in the corporation plan, term growth. This company is a leading producer of avionics (electronic) equipment for small aircraft. AIR-TAXI-COMMUTER LINE MARKET Currently representing a mi nor portion of total general avia tion sales is the so-called third- level airlines or “air-taxis” market, representing those air taxi operators offering scheduled flights in areas not served by the regional and national airlines. These “air taxis’increased from 12 in 1964 to 270 last year; a 69% gain in passenger traffic was re corded for 1967 compared to a 2 % gain for all scheduled domes tic airlines. By designing new aircraft, both for passenger and cargo operations, the “Big Three” are assured of a sub stantial share of this market. CORPORATE MARKET Since 80% of new manufactur ing plant facilities are located in areas not served directly by com mercial carriers, the demand for company-owned planes is creat ing general aviation’s largest market. Only 10% of this market’s potential of 400,000 businesses that could profitably use one or more aircraft has been penetrat ed. Key indicators of the growth increase in the number of stu dent pilot certificates from 1964 to 1967 and the rise m the num 2-B—THE CHRONICLE, Clinton, S. C., August 14, 1£69 Chile And Peru Add Problems BY THURMAN SENSING Executive Vice President Southern States Industrial Council With war in Asia, strife in the Middle East and tension in Eu rope, the United States some times seems to be engulfed with problems and responsibilities. As the leader of the free world the U. S. is burdened almost beyond belief, and apparently there is no end to problems. Some of the most vexingproblems have cropped up in the Western hemis phere in recent weeks and months. Gov. Nelson Rockefeller’s tour of Latin countries started a chain reaction of riots and demonstra- WORTH ABOUT ber of flying clubs to 2,500 op erating 3,500 aircraft. The manu facturers help foster this growth by offering inexpensive instruc tion and assistance in financing purchases of new aircraft through a substantial dealership network. BRIGHT LONG-TERM PROSPECTS Manufacturers of private planes have enjoyed a good but variable upward trend in the num ber of aircraft sold. However, over the past decade a shift to higher priced and more versa tile planes by both flying enthu siasts and corporations has re sulted in a faster and more even pace for revenues. This trend is expected to continue in the future as shipments rise. More exten sive dealer-distributor organi zations and plans for closely co ordinated factory branches should also favor an accelera tion of growth over the longterm. A cessation of the Vietnam con flagration would, in our opinion, also contribute importantly to the future prospects. More commer cial business would be sought by many companies to replace gov ernment business; this would re quire more business aircraft tra vel. F inally, the strong and ex panding export market (20% of sales) is growing at a faster rate than the domestic market. U. S. producers have a definite edge over foreign manufacturers, and this is expected to widen in the next decade. Where did the benefits of economic growth go? They did not go into corporate profits which edged up only from about $45 billion in 1965 to less than $48 billion last year, or about 5 percent. But total government spending — fed eral, state and local—increased 35 per cent, from a rate of $182 billion in mid-1965 to $246 billion at the end of 1967. Gov ernment’s share in the gross national product is up from 27 per cent to 30^ per cent. In other words, most of the na tion’s economic growth in the past 2 Vi years has been pre empted by government through higher taxes. Meanwhile, man agement’s efforts to hold down costs have collided head-on with labor union practices. Take the case of housing. It is impossible to provide the amount required without rely ing heavily on prefabricated construction items. Whenever this possibility is mentioned, most unions turn a deaf ear. George Champion, Retired Chairman of the Board and Director Chase Manhattan Bank • • « • • •• •tTmk-jm. OuBiUt They who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength. (Isa. 40:31). We have more strength than we realize. We are capable of standing strong and steadfast, because our strength is of the Spirit. It comes from the Lord of my being. If we need physi cal strength, God in the midst of us is powerful and life-giv ing. Draw on this life-giving strength by affirming “We are strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. God power will help us accept His good will and purpose through in creased spiritual understand- _ ft ing. tions against the United States. Lands that long were considered “good neighbors* proved to be centers of bitterness towards North Americans. As disturbing as the angry out bursts were the actions of Peru and Chile in nationalizing U. S.- owned properties. These actions were all the more troubling be cause in the past Peru and Chile were generally stable and friendly. The nationalization hurts the United States and hurts the people of all Latin Ameri can countries. Peru, a military regime with left-of-center views, expro priated large land holdings by both Peruvians and foreigners. Owners are supposed to be com pensated for their lands, but when and in what amount they will be paid is highly questionable. The Peruvian government, by seizing large land tracts and re distributing them, hopes to gain the loyalty of the Indian masses. “Agrarian reform” is a slogan beloved of all leftwing regimes, but it is a hollow phrase. Peru has been making economic pro gress in recent years as agri culture has been diversified, ir rigation has been introduced, and modernization of farming me thods has been employed. But the progress has resulted from the enterprise and investment of owners of large tracts. Fragmenting the country’s farmlands or putting them under politically-controlled collectives almost certainly will reduce farm production in Peru. The ex perience of farmers around the world is that small plots and state-run farm enterprises will not work. Profitable farming requires investment, skilled direction, and incentive for owners. Thus Peru has taken a backward step in dividing large land holdings. A socialist dogma has been allowed to overcome economic realities. In expropriating the land, the Peruvian government also has scared off U. S. and other foreign investors. If the Peruvians will seize farm lands*,. likely that they will seize other pro perties as well. In the'sexircum-' stances, capitalist investors have good cause for keeping their money out of Peru. Again, the people of Peru will be hurt by the shortsightedness of their left leaning government. In Chile, the U.S.-owned Ana conda Company has been forced to agree to so-called "negotiat ed nationalization” of its copper mines and facilities. Business writers have estimated that, in the process, Anaconda will lose access to mines that provide two- thirds of its earnings. The North American company apparently had no real choice in the matter of a sale. Either it agreed to terms offered, or more direct nationalization would have been decreed. Again, Chileans aswellasU.S. investors will be hurt by the takeover. The mining and mar keting of copper is an extreme ly complex operation. Copper- producing countries face a high ly competitive situation. Right now, copper prices are high be cause of defense uses. If the V iet- nam war is ended, copper prices may sag, and the inexperienced Chilean management may find that it is unable to compete with the highly experienced companies that sell copper mined in Zam bia, South Africa and other coun tries. These South American na tions are cutting their own throats. They are depriving their people of economic opportunities. The taxpayers of the UnitedStates are not going to pour endless funds into Latin nations in the form of giveaways. The only long term hope for the Latins is for partnership arrangements with companies owned by U.S. invest ors. By economic cooperation on the private enterprise level, Latins and North Americans can benefit together. But arrogant and wrong-headed forces in Latin A- merica apparently are rejecting partnership and doing everything they can to discourage free enter prise in the United States from investing in the southern part of the hemisphere. The Latins are in for a cruel awakening. They are cutting themselves off from the benefits that capitalism holds for their countries’ future. They are moving down the socialist road, which is the road to economic serfdom in the modern world.