Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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FLOWERS IN WALL STREET $he Minneapolis4>aaed Dayton Hudson Corporation, the nation’s 14th largest non-food retailer, made its first appearance on the New York Stock Exchange on Monday, Septem ber 8. To mark that occasion, Dayton Hudson treated the Wail Street com munity to a three-day open air flower show, half a million blossoms that blanketed the steps of the Federal Hall Memorial at the corner ot Broad and Wall Streets, and spilled over to brighten the entrance to the Stock Exchange, the Morgan Guaranty trust and the subway entrances. Before the flower show opened, the first in Wall Street history, the cynics predicted the flowers would be vandalized, that within hours of its opening, the tloral display would look like a plague of locusts had descend ed upon it. But the Dayton Hudson officials, who have staged lavish flow er shows in Minneapolis tor a number of years, were certain that New Work ers would respond to the beauty of the show and be deeply appreciative. De spite the warnings, the otficials re- TWO VIEWS Elsewhere on this page, there is a letter from a service man who found friends in Clinton in a time of need We aren’t publishing the letter to promote one company over another but'to show that kindness ami fruv liness reflect on the entire town. Because Bill Bell went out of his way to help a couple in trouble, they will always remember Clinton favor ably. It is somewhat ironic that we re ceived this letter at this time. It was only a couple of weeks ago that a local serviceman, just returned irom Vietnam, called to complain about the treatment he has received here. He said that he has had diffi culties establishing credit and that his wife had trouble getting things fixed around the house while he was away. fused to establish police barriers to force the Wall Streeters to keep their distance from the flowers. There was some minor pilfering, but in the main, reaction was tremen- mendous. “This is the first Monday morning I’ve seen people smile on their way to work,’’ one secretary commented, and she had 20 years’ ex perience on the street to back up her astonishment. To further dissipate the gray drabness ot Wall Street, Dayton Hud- s o n contributed boutonnieres and nosegays, sold from their flower calls by pretty models, for the benefit of the Seamen’s Church Institute of New York. The first day, 18,000 appre ciative passersby made donations and took away a flower to brighten their offices* In all, $.145 was collected for the Institute. What Dayton Hudson did was a first for Wall Street but it is part of the growing involvement of American business in the cultural environment of this country’. It is a trend which should get the most enthusiastic en couragement. OF CLINTON The Vietnam veteran said, “I don’t expect any special favors but I would like to be treated like everyone else. I have tried to establish credit but the minute they find out I’m a service man, they aren’t interested in doing business with me.” We don’t know the particulars in this case but we think it deserves some thought. If the two service men mentioned above ever get togeth er and compare notes on Clinton, they probably would think they were talk ing about two different places. Each individual contact between Clintonians and persons from other towns reflects on our entire commun ity. W’hat community image do you present for Clinton? BOUQUETS J™, Garden erve bouquets' for ""he Garden |B|pbs of Clinton de serve bouquets' for their beautifica tion efforts downtown. With the assistance of Streets Supt. Eddie McGee, the Garden Clubs planted a flower bed between the rail road tracks downtown. The beds are now in full bloom and have turned a rather desolate area into a beauty spot. McGee deserves special thanks. In addition to helping the clubs pre pare the flower beds, he has helped keep them weeded—working oei his own time. Efforts such as these will help keep Clinton an attractive town. Wish I’d Said That Even a woodpecker owes his success to the fact that he uses his head and keeps peck ing jftway until he finishes the job -he started.—John Mav erick, The Cherryvale (Kans.) Republican. » - Few things in life are more satisfying than parking on what’s left of the other fel low’s nickel.—Glenn P. Mc Henry, The (Blanchester, Ohio) Star-Republican. People who reach the end of their road are often sur prised by what they find there. —Joe Harrison, The Texas (Dickens County) Spur. * * * 1hs Old ic/meA. Anybody who thinks a word to the wise is sufficient isn’t doing the talking.” "Any day I expect to see a swarm of housewives come up th' draw,protestin' high beef prices..." "Hold HI! We re getting another change in our bomb-drop orders../' mam SENATOR STROM THURMOND REPORTS TO THE PEOPLE PRELUDE TO REVOLUTION This past week marked the be ginning of the trial in Chicago of eight ringleaders of the riots during last year’s Democratic Convention. Circumstances sur rounding the trial made evident the contempt of these agitators for the American legal system and the American way of life. The events of the past week have confirmed that the riots last year were the result of a policy of challenge on the part of the militants. They were not in terested in debate, or in the presentation of a point of view. What they wanted to do was to challenge the very basis of au thority, that is, the concept that every citizen willingly consents to obey the law. THURMOND AMENDMENT The eight ringleaders are ac cused of conspiracy and of cross- iryg State lines to incite a riot. Included among the eight are the founders and leaders of such groups as the so-called Students for a Democratic Society and the Black Panthers. One of them is currently in Federal custody in another State for murder. However, the principal weapon which the Federal Government is using against them is the Thurmond Anti-riot Amendment to the 1968 Civil Rights Act. The militants are continuing their policy of challenge to any and all authority. In their at tacks upon the judge and the court, they have gone beyond the practice of raising technicalities to impede the course of justice. Thev are seeking to prevent any trial from taking place. Violence is an essential constituent of their method; they are attempt ing to provoke the necessary use of force to quell the disor ders they have caused. The pur pose of this strategy is to create resentment and to polarize opin ion among confused young men and women. Once emotions are aroused, rational debate and the pursuit of truth disappear. Some young revolutionaries may be drawn to the movement in a burst of idealism and good will, but this attitude is soon dissi pated by radical power politics. This anarchy is the end result of s decade of agitation by many preachers and teachers who have been counseling civil disobedi ence. The distinction between breaking the law for so-callea noble purposes, and civil an archy is so One as to be indis tinguishable in practice. Social order is not possible when every man is his own judge. The demonstrations planned for Chicago are coordinated with a nationwide program of an archist action scheduled for October 8. In addition, a so- called student “boycott” has been announced for October 15. The committee planning the stu dent walk-out spent thousands of dollars for full-page adver tisements in major newspapers. Both college and high-school stu dents are included La the plan. The ad was signe^j by a group of Marxist and leftist professors who have been gi</er> -national prominence by the press. MORE LEGISLATION Such demonstrations give ur gency to the need for the pro posed Academic Freedom Protec tive Act (S.1988) now unde consideration in the Senate Ju diciary Committee This legisla tion would outlaw the techniques of all who engage in campus demonstrations at Federally- funded institutions, whether stu dent, teacher or outsider. The seriousness of the present situation was indicated by re cent hearings released by the Senate Internal Security Sub committee. The witness was Dr. Ernest E. Blanco, formerly a professor in pre-Castro Havana, who has since taught at several major United States universities. As one who lived through the radicalization of the Cuban aca demic community, Professor Blanco sees the same process be ing repeated at universities in the United States. Professor Blanco says: “Amer icans should be informed of the seriousness, the real danger of the situation we are living in. We are living in the preliminaries, the clearcut preliminaries, of a revolutionary period.” The Professor also says: “We have a very hard core of Com munists, Fabians, and anarchists in our faculties. These people on the university faculties have a counterpart on the outside that Influences all these peripheral groups surrounding them to car ry out their revolution against the administration of the univer sities and the rest of the fac ulty.” The dangers pointed up by Professor Blanco indicate a real need for passage of the Aca demic Freedom Protective Act. (not propmrtd or frimtod ot tooornmont tmponoo) Curb", ” ^ To Lower Taxes, Economist Urges “Fiscal problems through out all levels of government in this country are growing alarmingly,” says Dr. Arthur A. Smith, senior vice president and economist of the First National Bank in Dallas, Tex “Taxpayers, already burdened with a heavy tax load, are re acting ^jtrongly—in some in- .stancehangrily,” he adds. NotiTlg that there are more than 80.000 governmental units in the United States, he said total government spend ing more than doubled from 1958 to 1968—from $100 bil lion to $213 billion. Dr. Smith said that the in terest cost alone on the Federal government’s debt will exceed $17.3 billion this fiscal year. That is more than double what Uncle Sam spent in 1938 for everything ($8.4 billion) and only slightly less than all gov ernments— Federal, state, local—spent that year ($17.7 billion.) Per Capita Spending “It is true that our country has grown in population and in economic strength,” said Dr. Smith, “but total government costs have grown even faster. Per capita spending in 1968 amounted to $1,444 compared with $781 in 1958, with $380 in 1948 and with $137 in 1938. Total government spending was 30.5 per cent of Gross Na tional Product in 1968 com pared with 28.4 per cent in 1958, with 19.5 per cent in 1948, and with 19.8 per cent in 1938—all in current dollars, thus taking inflation into ac count.” Government is spending too much for things we don’t need with money we don’t have, ac cording to Dr. Smith. “Many state and local governments are in fiscal trouble today,” he said. "Officials are beginning to realize that it is a lot easier to spend than to tax. Where to get more revenue is the ques tion now consuming most of the time and attention of legis lators and local authorities— and too little time and atten tion are being devoted to curb ing expenditures,” Dr. Smith Concluded. U.S. Farm Debts Reach Record $24.9 Million Non-real estate farm debts owned by farmers In the United States reached a record high of $24.9 mlllioQ on January 1, 1969, according to Dick Suggs general manager of Palmetto Production Credit Association. Non-real estate farm debt ac counts for nearly ball of all debts / owed by farmers which also In cludes farm real estate mort gage debt according to figures released by the Farm Credit Ad ministration in Washington. On January 1, 1969, farmer’s total debts amounted to $52.1 billion, an Increase of $3.1 billion over a year earlier. Mr. Suggs said non-real es tate farm debt is held by ins titutional lenders (PCAs, com- merlcal banks and farmers Home Administration) and by mer chants, dealers and individuals. On January 1, 1969, the Pal metto PCA was serving farmers, growers and ranchers, with 48.9 percent of the total non-real es tate term debt held by institu tional lenders In Its territory of operations which is comprised of Greenwood, Aiken, Saluda, Ab beville, Edgefield, McCormick, Laurens and Newberry counties. The Association currently has $6.3 million outstanding to 430 borrowers. Production Credit Associa tions in the Third Farm Credit District which Is composed of the Carollnas, Georgia and Florida held 54.6 percent of the total non-real estate farm debt held by institutional lenders on January 1, 1969, an Increase of 1.8 per cent over a year earlier, Mr. Suggs stated. There are 60 PCAs in the Third Farm Credit District with 180 complete service offices which are provided leadership, supervision and agricultural loan funds by the Federal Interme diate Credit Rank of Columbia, South Carolina. The 60 PCAs are currently serving over 43,000 farmers, powers and ranchers with over $500 million of operating and capital investment credit on an Intermediate-term basis, Mr. Suggs concluded. * * * Money isn’t a worry to most of us, but the lack of it sure causes considerable concern. 2-B—THE CHRONICLE, Clinton, S. C., Oct. 2, 1969 Rights Group Puts Pressure On Nixon BY THURMAN SENSING Executive Vice President Southern States Industrial Council In accusing the Nixon admin istration of making a major re treat on school integration in the South, the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights has put the ad ministration on the defensive. Actually, the administration has done little to ease pressure on school districts faced with al most overwhelming problems. Many citizens might argue that enforcement has been stepped up by the Department of Health, Edu cation and Welfare, headed by Robert H. Finch. The Civil Rights Commission, whose members are partisans favoring radical restructuring of American public school prac tices, want to put the political hear on the Nixon administration and undermine those officials in government who urge a more practical approach to school op erations. The Commission thus represents not a middle-of-the- road position but an extremist stand. It is eager for the goal of integration to be placed a- head of the real purposes of the public schools which is educa tion. This latest outburst by the Ci vil Rights Commission serves as a reminder, however, that the country needs to take a new look at the school question. When the U.S. Supreme Court handed down its integration rulings 15 years ago, it seemed that the dual sys tem of public schools would even tually give way under federal pressure. But public attitudes have shifted in the intervening years, in all regions and in both racial groups. One of the significant deve lopments of recent years is the desire of many black Americans to maintain a black cultural iden tity. In some cases, Negro pa rents have protested transfer of their children to white schools. They claim that their children are unhappy in schools where the other race is the majority. In tegration has lost some of its centrality as a goal for Negro Americans, and cultural separa teness commands respectful at tention in this group of citizens. The federal government’s in sistence on total integration of the public schools shortly may cease to have much support in either racial group. If this is the case, the Commission on Ci vil Rights, HEW and other par tisan agencies would be utterly foolish to push unwanted pro grams. The country would do well therefore, to consider alternative educational formulas to the co ercive integration plans now pro moted by HEW and the federal courts. Actually, President Nixon, in campaigning for the presidency, espoused the freedom of choice system. This system may be the answer to America’s most di visive social problem.Under this system, parents select the school they want their children to at tend. It is hard to see how any fair- minded citizen can object to free dom of choice, for it leaves de cisions regarding schools to pa rents and excludes all compul sory elements in decision making. The ideologists of racial balance detest freedom of choice, however. They want to force pa rents and children to conform to specific sociological dogmas and formulas, irrespective of the pa rents’ wishes. A complete freedom of choice school system might offer an in tegrated school and other schools in which the enrollment was on the basis of a student’s cultural group. Teacher assignment also would be in accord with the type enrollment. Thus a parent could send his child to an integrated school if he wishes, but a Negro parent would be free to enroll his child in a black school where his youngsters would feel psy chologically secure. White pa rents would have the same right to enroll their children in a school for white children. If government officials want to promote education, they will pro mote the freedom of choice con cept. For a child doesbestwhere he is happiest, and he will be happiest in a school setting that is in accord with his environ ment at home and family circle. While the ideologues of the Ci vil Rights Commission may try to force the Nixon administration to apply more pressure on the schools, public pressure is grow ing in the other direction. Parents throughout the nation are deeply disturbed at HEW’s unsound and irresponsible efforts to impose sociological formulas on schools that hinder classroom work and slow the students’ progress in learning. President Nixon, if he realis tically examines the school situa tion and abides by his 1968 cam paign promise, will give renewed emphasis to freedom of choice. It was good to hear Vice Pre sident Agnew say at the Southern Governors meeting in Williams burg that he was opposed to busing children to other schools simply for the sake of integration, and encouraging to hear a White House spokesman say later that President Nixon agreed with this view. Now, if they will only let their actions support their words. * * * Thank You, Clinton Dear Editor: My name is Charles R. Gilbert. Fm in the United States Air Force, stationed at Charleston AFB, S. C. I would like to thank your town of Clinton and Plaxico Chevrolet. On September 22 my wife and I were coming from our home to this station when just out of Clinton on 1-26 our automobile failed us. Our situ ation was rather embarrassing, we weren’t pre pared for trouble in either appearance or money. ‘Plaxico Chevrolet was summoned to get my automobile to the garage for repairs. Mr. Bill Bell was the first person from Clinton that I met, and it was quite an impression. He treated us as if he had always known us, not as if we were just an other customer. After my automobile was pulled to the Plaxico garage and it was determined the damage and ro* pairs necessary, Mr. Bell saw to it that we had a room in a local motel. He personally drove us there and told us where we could get some food and also gave us phone numbers where he could be reached in case we needed something. The next morning he returned to the motel and return ed us to the garage once we had phoned him. At Plaxico, I met the mechanic to do the work on my car, his name was James (Junior) Johnson, a dum good guy and mechanic. During the rest of the day I met other mechanics and people of the town of Clinton and they all seemed to be so nice. The town of Clinton and I met under unpleas ant circumstances but thanks to Mr. Bill Bell Junior, other Plaxico mechanics and the wonderful people of Clinton it turned out to be one of the most memorable occurances of my life. CLINTON, THANK YOU Thanks again, Charles R. Gilbert Summerville, S. C.