University of South Carolina Libraries
-■ ♦ SIP a hbpe t 1< BACK-TO-SCHOOL ADVICE Egyptian Pyramids 2-B—THE CHRONICLE, Clinton. S. C., September 18, 1969 It’s school time again. Children d young adults are back in the assrooms and are hitting the books. thoughts are with them. They e the future of the nation. For what it’s worth, we’d like to ve some advice for young and old on me of the pitfalls of the return to hool and some safeguards that we will save some the students and eir families from grief: Parents: Teach the little ones eir names and addresses. Instill oughts of obedience. It will help >th teachers and crossing guards or hool bus operators. Warn against aternization with strangers, espec- those in cars. Train them in the bits of study and completion of eir work projects. Drivers: Watch those little < hil- ■en. They’re at your mercy. They ay often seem the most hardy crea- res on God’s earth, but they are uly fragile when met headon by au- < mobiles. Taking five extra minutes r safety can prevent a lifetime ol sirrow for both you and someone’s h lly parents. Heed the warnings of school crossing signs and the Hashing lights of the school bus. Slow do<wn. Give them a break, not a fracture. Students: What can we tell you thid hasn’t been said? Listen to your parents. Respect the policemen or the crossing guard. Do your work the best you c a n. Don’t talk to strangers, whether they are dressed like the men at the bank or the work er in the ditch. There are bad men and women in the world and they wear many kinds of clothing. Watch out for the cars. Play hard and study harder. If you see a grown-up make a mistake, remember that some day you will be the Hrown-up and set it in your mind that you will avoid the same mistakes. Cherish your school days. Ask any adult about school days and watch the expression on his face. It will be one of longing for the days of youth. They are your days now. They are the golden moments you should cherish always. Bless you and good luck! A TWO-MAN LESSON Within a 24-hour period America cently lost two famous personali- tis. One was a figure in the world of •orts: the other belonged to the w arid of journalism. Each left a void w lich may never be filled. Rocco Francis Marchegiano — Rocky Marciano—was described as a li dng figure of the famed cartoon character, Joe Palooka. His was a vio let occupation. His job was to get idto the ring and defeat his opponent \*6th his powerful punches. He was undefeated in 49 bouts, 43 of them \*lon by knockout. But it was no se cret that “The Rock’’ in victory was a; softie. He exhibited genuine con cern for vanquished opponents, j The comments of his former ad versaries were free of bitterness. To a* man they were deeply saddened on hearing of Rocky’s death in a plane cj-ash. Great champions of the ring -j-Louis, Walcott, and Griffith—and njany not-so-famous wept when they ere informed of his death. He died t|e day preceding his 46th bi ton scene who do not mourn his pass ing. Three presidents called him a liar. Countless public officials con- curred. Pearson appeared willing to accept the animus of his contempora ries as the price of smoking out mis creants on Capitol Hill. On balance, it is fair to observe that Pearson fre quently revealed wrong-doing in high places, some of it of great value to the nation at large. In a biography of Mr. Pearson— The Drew Pearson Story—written by two newsmen, Frank Kluckholm and Jay Franklin, he was described as wielding “more power from Washing ton than all but two or three persons in Government.” One of the closing paragraphs of the book is of interest at this time. It reads: “According to Shakespeare, ‘It is excellent to have a giant’s strength; but it is tyrranous to use it like a giant.’ Pearson did not;always use his strength like a «mnt but rather like a gnome, some times mischievously, sometimes ma- mtjwely with magnanimi- almost never with re- Andrew Russell “DreW*^ Pearsbn' <4: sfraint. “Drew lias accumulated a for- wfis proud of his title as a mckrak- tune but dug the grave of his reputa- There are many on the Washing- tion with his own typewriter.” A SMALL INCIDENT? ! There’s an interesting article about was evicted. He spent the night on thje late Mahatma Ghandi of India in tT^s month’s Reader’s Digest. | Ghandi popularized the attitude olj passive, non-violent resistance in time and its impact has been felt roughout the world. We thought it was particularly noteworthy that the seed for Ghan di s way of thinking was planted one ni fht on a boat. Ghandi paid first cliss fare, entitling him to one of the st Uerooms. However, because of piejudice, another man objected to G landi sharing the quarters. Ghandi deck reflecting upon man’s injustice to man and later referred to that night as the night he became dedicat ed to passive resistance. It was just a small incident in the life of the man who had Ghandi evict ed. He probably gave it little thought thereafter. It was a turning point u>r Ghandi and, eventually, for India. Ghandi undoubtedly was nursing his ideas anyway and had the incident not occurred, something else would have happened to give Ghandi such a time for reflection. Or would it? The Final Court For The Kennedy Case '-■V-J •M"** r * Kk«l Oil Demand Grows BY BABSON’S REPORTS, INC. WELLESLEY HILLS, MASS.- Today the search for untapped pe troleum reserves has spread into every section of the globe. De mand for oil, today and into the future, is steadily on the in crease. To meet this demand, oil companies now seek out the black gold even in regions having the most inhospitable topography and cllmtate. TWO EXTREMES Alaska and the Arctic will un doubtedly provide a huge pool of oil in a few years, but some cold- weather operational problems and the very difficult question of getting the oil to the refineries have yet to be resolved. At the opposite end of the thermometer are other prolific fields in South America near the Colombia/ Ecuador border. This is a sec tion of dense rain forest averag ing 25 inches of rainfall an nually, but the difficulties which have been overcome here in get ting oil production to market give proof that the Alaskan problem can also be solved. OVER THE TOP The most logical outlet for Co lombian oil was a seaport on the Pacific Ocean, some 200 miles away. A pipeline of this length is usually not particularly diffi cult to construct, but in this case the route of the pipeline took it from the eastern slope of the Andes Mountains, up and over the top at nearly 12,000 feet, and back down to sea level. A joint venture by Texaco and Gulf Oil, the Trans-Andean pipe line must rank as one of the most awesome construction feats of all time. Heavy jungle, vast swamps, landslides, extremes of heat and cold, and the constant rain added to the difficulties of laying pipe at high altitudes. Much of the work could be done only by hand and at times as many as 2,500 men worked on the job. The $50 mil lion project not only spans the mountains, but also crosses six rivers which were rarely at less than flood stage. Helicop ters provided access and trans port of men and materials. With out either manual labor or the modern helicopter, it is doubt ful that this pipeline could have been laid at all. Pumping stations boost the crude to the top of the moun tains, while on the downhill run pressure reduction stations re move the tremendous energy built up due to elevation. The capacity of the line is 100,000 barrels per day, with storage capacity at both ends providing flexibility in tank er operations. A MAJOR FIND The effort of constructing this important pipeline would indicate that Texaco and Gulf have ex tremely important fields in Co lombia and Eucador. In Ecuador, for example, Gulf had 10 poten tial production wells out of 11 drilled. Further, since the Trans-Andean pipeline began operating in April, Texaco and Gulf have negotiated new royal ty agreements with the two coun tries. In Colombia, royalty and tax payments were increased from 40C t of net income to 60^ and 1/2 of the oil companies’ concession acreage was returned to Colom bia. Ecuador received back 2/3 of its concession acreage. For this, permission was granted to build a spur pipeline from the Ecuador oil fields td the Trans- ■ Andean line. Authorisation was also given for another new pipe line across the Andes. This would appear to give evidence of oil properties with high potential in these two countries. The roads required to build and maintain the pipeline have opened remote areas of Colombia to settlers. PROSPECTS Both Gulf and Texaco are pro minent * international” oil com panies with operations in all phases of the petroleum business conducted world wide. While higher costs and early-year la bor troubles have impaired earn ings to date this year, the re maining months should see im proved profit margins and better earnings gains. The Research Staff of Babson’s Reports feels that Texaco is in a slightly more favorable position than Gulf, and hence is currently reconnnending purchase of Texaco shares. How ever, the edmmon stdek o/ Gulf Oil is certainly well worth hold ing for long-term growth. SENATOR STROM THURMOND REPORTS TO THE PEOPLE THE WELFARE PROBLEM TGV. - >?« SERVICEMEN Servicemen who are within six months of discharge will be of fered training as police recruits under a new Manpower Develop ment and Training Act Program. The program, which is designed to relieve the critical shortage of police manpower, will operate until October 1, 1970. Soon-to- be-released servicemen will be trained by Junior colleges and other policy science institutions under a subcontract with the In ternational Association of Police Chiefs, Inc. President Nixon has outlined a bold new program to reorga nize our outmoded system of as sisting the needy and indigent. The proposals are so fundamen tal in their attack on a system loaded with waste and abuse that they will require careful study in detail. If some kind of reform is not forthcoming, the welfare burden will soon become staggering. Be cause the various welfare pro grams are scattered throughout the Federal Budget, little no tice has been taken of the total .sum. A recent study by the Sen- nate Republican Policy Commit tee shows that all programs for promoting the general welfare in FY 1970, if added up, total some $60.4 billion. In addition, State and local welfare pro grams cost more than $6 billion. Thus the total of welfare spend ing in this country is close to $72.5 billion. WELFARE AND DEFENSE This sum of $72.5 billion for all welfare is much more than we spend on general military preparedness, exclusive of the war in Vietnam. For general de fense purposes, the FY 1970 budget is estimated at $55.4 bil lion. With Vietnam added, the total is still only $77?6 billion— that is to say, about $5 billion more than the total welfare spending in this country. The cost of Federal welfare expenditures breaks down this way: For health, $14 billion; for job training in all agencies, $3.5 billion for income replacement programs, such as Social Secu rity, $42.9 billion; for public sup port, such aa Aid to Dependent Children, $6.1 billion. Something must be done to halt the spiralling costa of wel fare. The President has asked Congress to give close considera tion to four areas of the welfare problem. PRESIDENTS PROGRAM Ik the welfare programs, the President would continue aid to the fged, blind, and disabled, but he would establish a national minimum. He would eliminate the Controversial Aid to Depend ent v •Children program, where costs are soaring, and abuses rampant. In its place, he would substitute a family assistance £ Investment Capital Very Important To Provide Jobs BY THURMAN SENSING Executive Vice President Southern States Industrial Council While it is important to give individual taxpayers relief from growing burdens, it also is neces sary that the nation’s lawmakers bear in mind the need for main taining investment in the coun try’s free enterprise system. No thing could be more hurtful to the financial interests of all citizens than a drop in investment of capi tal in productive enterprises that furnish jobs to working people. Secretary of the Treasury David M. Kennedy clearly had this fact In mind when he pro posed changes in the tax bill developed by the House ofRepre- sentatives. Testifying at the Se nate Finance Committee’s pub lic hearing on the House mea sure, Mr. Kennedy proposed that the House bill be changed to re duce corporate income tax rates by one percentage point in 1971, and by another in 1972. The Sec retary maintained that redis tribution of tax relief toward corporations is necessary be cause of the “bias in the bill against investment in favor of consumption.” Secretary Kennedy went on to observe that “such overweight ing, embodied in the proposed treatment of capital gains as well as corporate tax increases, could impede economic growth in the years ahead by curtailing the in centive to make productive in vestments.” Liberal members of Congress are not likely to take kindly to Mr. Kennedy’s proposal. They apparently feel that there is po litical mileage in soaking U.S. business. But informed citizens are aware of the tremendous im portance of maintaining a high rate of investment. And invest ment is made only when there is an expectation of reasonable re turns. If industry lacks sufficient tax incentive, new investment will not be made on the necessary scale and job openings will not occur in the desired number. It’s as simple as that The alternative facing government will be to create jobs for government spending — to order make-work projects, or relief, that is. And no thinking American wants re lief programs instead of pro ductive employment in private in dustry. Secretary of the Treasury Ken nedy was on the right economic track, therefore, in dealing with this aspect of the tax bill. Un fortunately, he didn’t go quite far enough in another area --the oil depletion allowance area. i The Nixon administration has decided not to oppose the House plan for reducing the depletion allowance from 27.5 per cent to 20 per cent. Recent events in the news underscore the danger of reducing an allowance that encourages development of new oil fields in this country. The liberals in Congress be lieve they have an easy target in the oil depletion allowance and try to present it as a present for “economic royalists," to use the old Rooseveltian term. Actu ally, students of the oil situa tion around the world understand that the depletion allowance plays an important role in guarantee ing the United States adequate supplies of oil to power its in dustries and light its homes. Only a short time ago a re volutionary socialist regime took over the North African country of Libya, which is the seventh largest oil-producing nation in the world. U. S. companies have invested heavily in the Libyan oil fields. These fields are now endangered by the leftwing re gime in power in Libya. The United States and its al lies may need to develop new oil fields in speedy manner. Ex- or the re- v P# rati ^ n f n Alaska’s north slope turn ofjpsups ‘s:J^ ver y T>?omising, but oil com- from^WlWfltMost oftKesk to invest vast sums are young draftees who will leave ^ ex Ploratory drilling. To bring military service on their return and start looking around for jobs. If they are to find jobs, indus try must be expanded. The only way the nation’s industrial plants are expanded is by investors put ting more money into factories. So if high employment is to continue in this country, the Sen ate Finance Committee will have to amend the House-passed tax bill to give free enterprise com panies as adequate incentive to enlarge existing facilities and add new ones. out the oil to refineries will be estremely expensive. One com pany is spending $40 million in trying to send a specially re built tanker through the ice of the Northwest Passage. All this means that the oil industry needs adequate incentive to undertake risky new ventures essential to the country’s well-being. The Senate Finance Committee should consider that fact and restore the full depletion allowance. The real beneficiaries in the long run are U. S. taxpayers who gain from a healthy, active oil industry. roRram that would offer a basic ederal payment of $1,600 for a family of four. In order to encourage recipients to take a job, the basic payment would be continued even if the recipient earned up to $60 per month; after that point, there would be a reduction of 50 cents in bene fits for every dollar earned. One of the moat impressive merits of the President’s pro gram is that those who CAN help themselves will be encour aged to improve their situation and get off the welfare rolls. For the first time, those who CAN work,, and refuse to work, or re fuse to take job training, would be taken off the public dole. However, the ovef-all effects of this program need to be examined realistically. In the beginning, the program would cover 22.4 million beneficiaries, instead of the present 10 mil lion. It would cost $4 billion ad ditional. The President’s rea soning is that costs will ulti mately decline as those who are able to accept training, get jobs, or get off the dole. REVERSING THE FLOW In the area of job training, the President wants to reorga nize the present scattered pro grams, so that Federal adminis tration can be phased out in favor of State and local admin istration. Seldom has a chief executive proposed to reverse the flow of power by returning jurisdiction over a program to the States. As regards the Office of Eco nomic Opportunity, the Presi dent would make it into a lab oratory agency, testing pilot projects. Any successful proj ects would be spun-off into reg ular administrative agencies for better control. Finally, the President has pro posed a plan of revenae sharing, whereby a set portion of reve nues from Federal Income Taxes would be remitted directly to the S^es with a minimum of Fed eral restrictions. The President would begin revenue shoring by the middle of FY 1§71. desling with s thorny pi TAX REFORM-1969 EDITION We are aH interested in sound, constructive tax reform. It should be based on a careful analysis of the nation’s needs and the most equitable way to attain them. The recently passed House bill, “Tax Reform Act of 1969,” adopted after only two days of con sideration of the 368-page document, contains serious distortions which should be rectified before the Senate approves it. One of the most serious drawbacks is the bill’s long-term negative implications for capital forma tion. We should be thinking of the kind of tax sys tem that will be appropriate to the economic con ditions that will prevail for the long term after the boom is over. The tax system should not penalize job creating, domestic capital formation. Serious consideration should be given to possible economic and other effects, and indeed, to whether or not capital gains should even be considered part of regular income taxation. The proposed change of rules governing the taxation of deferred compensation is a striking ex ample of complicating the tax even though no abuse has been shown and where there is only a slight revenue effect. These are but a few examples of areas where it is hoped the Senate Finance Committee will give serious consideration, before releasing the bill for a vote on the floor. Taxes will be with us for a long time—so why rush legislation through—when a little more time will result in a better tax code for aH concerned? Wish I’d Said That IhtOldlcmwi (net prepar'd or printed at A good listener is not only popular everywlfrre, but after a while he knows £|gw things. LuciUe Thies, lie Manteno (III.) News. ‘The oifrly safe thing to do behind a person's back ia to pat it.’’ - > *