Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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2-B—THE CHRONICLE, Clinton, S. C., March 26, 1970 DEPUTY CHECKS LITTER If any of the political candidates are looking for planks for their cam paign platforms, we have a sugges tion: crack down on littexfcugs. We are speaking of a continuing program and one with some enforce ment behind it Within the past year, Pickens County launched a major campaign tc keep Pickens clean of litter. A deputy sheriff was hired with the pri mary responsibility of tracking down and prosecuting Utterbugs. The deputy apparently has done a conscientious job. He has made sev eral arrests. Those who are found guilty are given their choice of a fine or imprisonment or so many hours of picking up litter around Pickens Coun ty. According to a news article, a couple of the county’s best-known citi zens have put in time picking up litter after the deputy made cases against them. Now Pickens’ neighboring county, Oconee, apparently is interested in launching a similar campaign. Oconee Sen. Snead Schumacher last week introduced legislation to provide for, a special deputy sheriff to sleuth out litterbugs and bring them to justice. The deputy will be officially called the “county litter of ficer” and will be assigned to the coun ty’s City-County Health and Sanita tion Commission. He will work with the sanitation department of the county board of health and with other law enforcement agencies in the county in enforcing anti-litter laws. As Sen. Schumacher observed, “If a man dumps his garbage or litter on public property, he ought to be prose cuted. There’s something in every body’s litter to tie it back to where came from ... A lot of people in a community know who does it. But they haven’t had anybody to report it to.” The senator said the special depu ty will provide that someone. i KEEP CLINTON CLEAN (Editor's Note: The following was written, printed and distributed by Tommy Oakley, son of Mr. and Mrs. Charles (Buddy) Oakley and, Jimmy Jacobs, son of Mr. and Mrs. J. Ferdi nand Jacobs Jr. We heartily endorse their efforts and hope their interest and enthusiasm will rub off on the adult citizens of Clinton.) Dear Citizens of Ginton: Mrs. Strock’s Fourth Grade Class is trying to help keep Clinton clean. To do this, we must tell all our friends and neighbors about our project. We must not throw trash and litter around our neighborhood or on our streets in town. If we find trash on the ground we must pick it up and put it in the trash can. If we all take an in terest in this we will have a much cleaner and nicer city. Help us keep Clinton clean, don’t be a litterbug, be a picker upper. Tommy Oakley, Jimmy Jacobs "IS LIFE SO DEAR ... It was March 23, 1776. For three days the Second Virginia Convention, meeting in St. John’s Church in Rich mond, Virginia, had been bogged down with rambling debate and discussion. On that day Mr. Patrick Henry, dele gate from Louisa County, rose in sup port of his resolution calling for the “establishment of such militia at this time . . . peculiarly necessary ... to secure our inestimable rights and lib erties . .” The resolution called for y^giggg>intment_ of a committee to prepare a plan. The church was hushed as Mr. Henry addressed Peyton Randolph in the chair. “This is no time for ceremony. The U question before the House is one of awful moment to this country. For my own part, I consider it nothing less j A than a question of freedom or slavery. “Mr. President, it is natural for ^ man to indulge in the illusions of hope. I We are apt to shut our eyes against a painful truth ... Is this the part of wise men in a great and arduous struggle for liberty? Are we dispos ed to be of the number of those, who having eyes, see not, and having ears, hear not? . . . For my part, whatever anguish of spirit it may cost, I am wil ling to know the whole truth; to know the worst, and to provide for it. “Let us not . . . deceive ourselves longer . . . There is no longer any room ifior hope. If we wish to be free, if we mean to preserve inviolate those ines timable privileges for which we have been contending ... we must fight! An appeal to arms, and to the God of hosts, is all that is left to us . . . “It is vain, Sir, to extenuate the matter. Gentlemen may cry peace; but there is no peace. The war is ac tually begun. The next gale that sweeps from the north will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms. Our brethren are already in the field. “Why stand we here idle? What is it the gentlemen wish? What would they have? “Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? “Forbid it, Almighty God! “I know not what other course others may take. But as for me— give me liberty or give me death!” The resolution passed. A commit tee was appointed. Richard Henry Lee, George Washington, and Benja min Harrison were among its mem bers. Patrick Henry was its Chair man. Front Line in Battle Against Inflation 1 l3 C? nllfli' ,v v i!**£*'<*. •» * Rhodesian Move Is Significant BY THURMAN SENSING Executive Vice President Southern States Industrial Council In voting the Nixon adminis tration into office, the American people undoubtedly hoped that a new team would return common sense to the country’s foreign re lations. For almost a decade, e- motionalism and liberal ideology had been substituted for consid erations of national interest. No where was this more evident than in State Department and White House policy towards the so- called “emerging’' African coun tries. The Nixon administration has sought to apply common sense to some foreign relations prob lems and areas, but in other areas its efforts have fallen short of the mark. The pernicious in fluence of the State Department, which hasn’t received the house cleaning that is needed, is clear ly visible. It was visible in re cent days when Secretary of State William P. Rogers announced that the U. S. consulate in Salisbury, Rhodesia, would be closed. Dur- DearMr. Publisher: I had the funniest dream the other night. I dreamed the world council of churches decided that all the denomuu^ons in the world oughta get together. They claimed that every church should be made up of every faith. For instance, my little church would include Catholics, Methodists, Baptists, Lutherans, and so on. First off, they tried the free dom of choice plan, where a mem ber could decide where he wanted to go. The idea was that of their own free wills, church members would provide a de nominational balance in every church. Well sir, that approach didn’t turn out too good on account of some people still preferred their own churches. Some folks wouldn’t go to another church ’cause they said it was too far to travel It looked like the whole program was gonna fall apart when the world council of churches came up with another plan. They decided to make mem bership assignments and bus peo ple to their designated churches. There was a lotta grumbling at first, but pretty soon folks got used to the idea. But it wasn’t long until they decided the de nominational balance should cut across state lines. Folks in Ala bama started attending church in Florida and visa versa. That wasn’t too bod. Next they decided that the northern Christian and the southern Christians ought mix. Pretty soon, church mem bers in South Carolina were at tending with the Catholics inNew York. That plan worked so well they decided to "bus* folks from one continent to another. That way people tn the United States were attending church in Germany and versa visa. It got to be such a ing his recent swing through black African countries, Mr. Rogers heard much criticism of Rho desia -- and the U. S. Consulate there -- from several of the Af rican dictators and strongmen. Now, obviously, the closing of the consulate isn’t the adminis tration’s biggest decision in the area of foreign policy, but it has a symbolic importance that will be noted throughout Africa and around the world. The action shows 1) that the Nixon adminis tration is as susceptible as the Johnson administration to the in fluence of the British Labor gov ernment and 2) that the State Department is still eager to ap pease the black African regimes that were catered to by the Ken nedy and Johnson administra tions. In Jthe procpBf, the U. S. nat ional-Interest ha« suffered. If the Nixon administration wanted to signal to the world that it sought a more reasonable and construc tive policy towards Africa, it would have kept the Salisbury consulate open. Moreover, it would have gone ahead and re big thing that people had to give up their jobs and go to church full time. I woke up before every body starved to death. Parson Jones * * * STRICTLY FRESH We’re anxious to see what color the kitchen sink will be for the year to come, once the kids get done coloring eggs. * * * On Easter Sunday, you’ll see a lot of people who go to church among the wor shipers. ♦ * * At our house, we’re get ting ready for the Easter pay raid. Grandma is the only one who doesn’t recall with nos talgia those big, big Easter dinners of yesteryear that took two days to prepare. * * * Just bought our Easter outfit, and hope the other shoelace doesn’t break for awhile. At one time a poor man was a fellow with no money; now he’s a fellow with a pocket full of credit cards. • • • Count your blessings and there’ll be little time left over in which to number your woes. cognized the new Republic of Rho desia. On the African scene, Rhode sia is one of the success stor ies. Self-governing and self-sup porting since 1923, Rhodesia in 1965 declared its independence of Britain. The circumstances were very similar to the American co lonies’ declaration of independ ence in 1776. The Rhodesians chose the path of independence because they knew that was the only way to safeguard and main tain civilization in their coun try. They looked around them on the continent and saw the emer gence of black dictatorships. They saw much of the continent sinking into its ancient savagery. Instead of being helped by other civilized countries the Rhode sians were lambasted.Neverthe less, the Rhodesianf&fcowedwhat self-reliance can achieve. Th$ U.N..- imposed sanctions honor ed by the Johnson administra tion, only served to help Rhode sia build up its home industries and commerce. Trading nations such as France, West Germany, Italy and Japan have continued to do business with Rhodesia and invest in its future. Every consideration of prac- tacality dictates U.S. recognition of a country that is working and prospering -- and that is com- mitteed to the struggle against communism. It is impossible to give a logical argument for non- recognition, for support of sanc tions, or for withdrawal of the U. S. Consulate. The United States recognizes Nigeria, though its forces killed over one million Ibo tribesmen. It recognizes the revolutionary government of Libya, which is forcing the U. S. Air Force to evacuate the vital Wheelus Air Base. The United States recog nizes Kenya, though the black Kenya regime imprisons its po litical foes and is busy squeez ing out the Indian population. The U. S. recognizes Zambia which is nationalizing foreign-owned mines; and Tanzania, which is a one-party nation with close po litical ties totheCommunistChl- nese. If the U. S. State Department can accept recognition of these brutal, demagogic and anti-A merican countries, then it should be able to favor recognition of Rhodesia, which is populated by veterans of World War n and which is capitalist in its eco nomic system and firmly on the Western side in the cold war. That the State Department op poses recognition is evidence of its irrational bias against civi lized, Europe an-led governments in Africa. In short, emotional ism rules over considerations of American national interest This rule endangers America’s se curity, for the nation’s foreign policy ought not to be made on the basis of the personal preju dices of policy-makers in the State Dept. The tragedy is that President Nixon has gone along with this State Department emotionalism. Realistic citizens can only hope — and insist — that he promis ed reforms of the State Depart ment foreign and policy-making be put into effect and that for mal U.S. recognition be accorded the Republic of Rhodesia, as clear evidence that the Nixon adminis tration intends to inaugurate a new era in foreign policy. Parson Jones Says They Bused 'Em To Church SENATOR STROM THURMOND REPORTS TO THE PEOPLE tWinMIMlWE CONSTITUTIONAL QUESTION Lowering the voting age to 18 raises an important Constitu tional question. When oui Founding Fathers drafted the United States Constitution, the; left the question of voting ag< qualifications to the States. At that time, it was felt that onl the people of each State could judge the wisdom of defining the qualifications of electorate. Under the widely varying condi tions of the day, with different social structures in different regions, it would have been im possible to set nationwide stand ards of voting. In Article I, Section 2, the Constitution expressly says that the electors for the House of Representatives shall have the same qualifications as the elec tors of the most numerous branch of the State legislature. When the Seventeenth Amend ment, ratified in 1913, provided for the direct election of Sena tors, the same provision was re iterated. This is a straightfor ward mandate that these quali fications shall be set by State law. STATE MATTER Thus the Constitution is silent upon the lower age limit of the electorate. Whatever the States choose to set, whether it be 18, 21, or even 35, is entirely a matter for the State Legisla tures to decide. In recent years, more than 20 legislatures have considered the question and re fused to lower the voting age to 18. Nevertheless, we must con sider whether or not a uniform age limit may be desirable in our own times. Today we have increasing levels of education, and greater awareness of na tional issues. Our young people in particular have greater ex perience than formerly, as a re sult of increased ease of travel, higher education, and military service. Because of television and improvements in education over the past years, more and more young people are aware of the vital issues of the dav. We are developing a national con sensus that the 18-year-old, who is reauired to assume the re sponsibilities of citizenship in many areas of dutv, is also ready to participate intelligently in the privilege of voting. However, the Constitution is a bar to any action by means of a Federal statute to lower the voting age to 18. The only Constitutional method of lower ing the voting age is through a Constitutional Amendment. The Amendment process was pro vided in the Constitution just so that changes could be made in accordance with changing situations. TWICE AMENDED Aside from the Seventeenth Amendment already mentioned, the Constitution has already been properly amended twice with regard to voting qualifica tions. The Nineteenth Amend ment, ratified in 1920, gave women the right to vote. The Twenty-fourth Amendment, rati fied in 1964, prohibited the use of a poll-tax in Federal elec tions. The "oil-tax ban was first attempted by a proposed Federal statute, but Congress, after de liberation, rejected the attempt as unconstitutional. The rejection of the poll-tax statute clearly shows that a de sirable change must be made only through Constitutional processes. It is short-sighted to undermine nur legal system even if the end in view is beneficial Those who argue that no Con stitutional Amendment is neces sary to lower the voting age rely upon a strained interpretation of the Fourteenth Amendment. They say that citizens b< low the age of 21 are denied the “equal protection” of the laws, a* guar anteed by that Amendment. If this argument is true, then 17 year-olds would have as much right to vote as 18-yenr-olds. In deed, such logic would allow no voting qualifications whatsoever, since any restrictions would l>e a denial of “equal protection.” As a matter of fact, both the women’s vote and the anti-poll tax amendments were pa^cd suhsequentlv to the adoption of the Fourteenth Amendment, proving that Congress felt the Amendment nrocess n«ces<arv If the Constitution is to have any meaning as a basic law, we cannot suddenly change our in terpretation at the whim of popular opinion The onlv way to give 18-year-olds the right to vote is to amend the Constitu tion (vof prr tutted t/r prtnttd nt oovrmw* ft rxpe»mri BY JOHN J. SUTHERUND Certified Public Accountant Schedule E has a section in the middle of the page labeled “PART III.---Income or Losses from., and Miscellaneous Income.’This section is the place to put all kinds of unusual things for which there is no other specific sec tion provided in the myriad of schedules available. You may have wondered how people who have income from illegal or immoral sources ever hope to avoid tax evasion. There just doesn’t seem to be anyplace in the tax forms to report this kind of income. Schedule E Is the place for it. By way of comment at this point, as some of you know, I not only try to be helpful in this column but also show you the lighter side of a generally ser ious matter. Taxes are too com plicated to explain fully in a news paper column anyway. I shall now proceed to talk about things which the majority of you will never encounter. Income from wagering is tax able. Wagering losses are de ductible from wagering income but if you have a net wagering loss for the year, this is not de ductible from ordinary income. Wagering income technically in cludes even penny-ante poker, pitching pennies, and betting a dollar on the ball game. However, the IRS does not expect you to keep track of every little bet and assumes that that average person break? even each year. However, should you win an un usually large sum of money at gambling, it is advisable to re port it on Schedule E. A person who steals, mugs, or burgles need not report this money until be is caught and only then if the tidbit is forgiven. kickbacks must report this in the year in which he received the money or other thing of value. This is because he is not re quired to pay it back even if caught It is not a liability. A person who incurs expenses while obtaining money in any of these ways cannot usually deduct any of them from his gross in come. To be deductible you must quality as a trade or business and the expense be ordinary and usual. It must also not be im moral or illegal. No business man can deduct any expense which is immoral or against public po licy. It, therefore, would follow that a person pursuing the trade of stealing, embezzling, taking bribes, etc., is, of course, in curring expenses for an immoral purpose. This alone would dis qualify them as business ex penses. He must pay tax on his gross take with no deductions. Persons operating gambling casinos in states where legal would, however, be carrying on a legal trade or business and it would follow that most of their expenses would be deductible so they would pay taxes on net in come. The Treasury has long followed a practice of awarding a 20 per cent boons to anyone who turns in a person for not paying his taxes. This bonus is paid on the taxes that are actually collected. If you know of someone who has ob tained money in any of these ways and did not report it as income, you may wish to turn them in. If you turn them in, be sure to report this bonus on your tax return or be can, in turn, turn you in. If a person has done some of these things and hesitates to report them on his tax return, he can still escape tax evasion by calculating what his taxes would have been had he reported it and paying the money to the Treasury anonymously. The Treasury has , . what they call a ,conscience fund The underlying theory behind and they do in feet receive mo- this is that a person who steals ney regularly. If they catch a has not really enriched himself person in income tax evasion and hut has simply created a liabili- he can prove be ban paid this ty in like amount It would be money to the conscience fend, be closely akin to borrowing money, will then not be prosecuted for tax A person who takes bribes and evasion.