Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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/ Complications 2-C—THE CHRONICLE, Clinton, S. C., April 30, 1970 ETHICS • • YOURS AND MINE UJ3. Sen. Birch Bayh (D-Ind.). the young expert on ethics, suddenly has become very foggy about his favorite subject Birch Bayh is an expert about oth er people’s ethics. He becomes dense on the subject of ethics only when his own are questioned. What caused Bayh to become con fused about his favorite subject is this: Columnist Jack Anderson asked him who pays the bills for his annual winter vacations on Miami Beach’s gold coast Anderson reported in an April 20 oolumn: ’The records of the swank Hilton Plaza hotel show that the Senator, his wife, and 14-year-old son occupied two ocean-front rooms at the heigh of the winter season, December 26 to January 2, compliments of the man agement “Indeed, every winter since he en tered the Senate in 1963, the Bayhs have taken a free vacation in the sun, staying at the Hilton Plaza or Eden Roc, both winter hangouts for the mink-and-sable crowd.” Anderson further reports that the Hilton Plaza’s private records show not only that Sen. Bayh got his $60-a- day rooms free but that the hotel also absorbed the $209 bills he ran up for incidental expenses. Anderson quoted Bayh as saying he had been the guest each year of Mikles (Mike) Sperling, a 71-year-ol retired Indiana industrialist whom Bayh called his “political godfather.” Anderson said Sperling told him the hotel apparently had put Bayh up for free but had billed Sperling for the incidental expenses. However, hotel records showed that Bayh’s room bill marked “Comp”, meaning complimen tary, and the bills for incidentals were marked “ABP”, indicating it was charged to t h e hotel’s advertising, business and promotion account. This is the same Bayh who con ducted the character-assassination at tempt on Judge Clement Haynsworth, challenging his ethics and charging conflicts of interest, and then led the fight against nominating Judge G. Harold Carswell to the U.S. Supreme Court. As columnist Anderson points out, Bayh was supported in both bat tles by the labor unions, including the powerful Teamsters Union. Anderson wrote, “It may be mere ly a coincidence that the Hilton Plaza, perhaps Miami Beach’s most fabuolus hotel, is mortgaged to the tune of $13 million by the Teamsters Pension Fund. OPPORTUNITY AT PC Presbyterian College is offering an opportunity which should not be over looked by young people in Laurens County. PC President Dr. Marc C. Weer- sing last week announced the estab lishment of a Laurens County Com muter Scholarship Program. The fine points of the program haven’t yet been worked out but the primary point at this time is that students from Laurens County will be encouraged and assisted to attend PC km a day student basis. Programs will he available to assist Laurens County students financially. We feel this is a major step for ward for PC and for prospective stu dents in Laurens County. Such a pro gram should help draw the county and the college even closer together. Of paramount importance now is that Laurens County students investi gate the program. Before a decision is made to attend college elsewhere, check with PC. It could be that Lau rens County students will fmd the best educational opportunity right here at home. THE TECH DILEMMA Laurens Conuty legislators are be tween a rock and a hard place as they study whether the county should be come asupporterof the Piedmont Technical Education Center in Green wood. The county can afford to pay its share of the annual support ($7,600) but legislators don’t think the county can pay the $70,000 initial fee. That $70,000 outlay would cover Laurens County’s share of construction of the center. It would require the county to raise its taxes, according to Rep. Paul Culbertson, and he doesn’t believe the tax increase would be justified. Piedmont Tech is supported by Greenwood, Saluda, McCormick, and Abbeville Counties. Laurens County residents now at tend Piedmont Tech but pay addition al fees because they come from a non participating county. Some Laurens County students are enrolled at Green ville Tech and Spartanburg Tech. Because of its location, Laurens County has a different situation from those counties which are supporters of Piedmont Tech. In terms of travel time, the technical centers at Green ville and Spartanburg both are as ac cessible as the one in Greenwood. There are four-lane highways to both Greenville and Spartanburg. Piedmont Tech is well-staffed and offers an excellent program. The ad ministration is highly capable and en ergetic and is willing to cooperate in presenting needed educational pro grams. However, we agree with our legis lators’ sentiments that the county cannot justify that $70,000 initial fee in support of Piedmont Tech now. If all of our technical education students were going to Piedmont Tech, it would be a different situation. At present, there is just too much over-lapping of comparable programs in Greenwood, Greenville and Spartanburg as far as Laurens County is concerned. rrs YOUR MONEY If you would like to have something really big to stew over, why not consider the federal debt, which now stands at $277 billion. If that is too overpowering, take the annual interest on the debt alone—approximately $18 billion dollars. Suppose that we had no national debt, and that the huge sum we pay in annual interest could be pot to a really constructive use. ‘For example. President Nixon has proposed that am additional $10 billion be spent for municipal wgmte treatment plants, over the next five years. If die $18 billion now going to interest were available, entire project could be under way this year! UdaD recently said that it would take $100 billion until the end of the century to the water, inii and air to its natural quality. for debt half* if that tlS jbitton didn’t have Interstate Road Code Topics and Trends re ports that there is a logi cal pattern for the new interstate highway num bering system. East- West routes are assigned an even one or two digit number. North — South routes receive an odd one or two digit number. Three-digit signs indicate proximity to cities—if the first digit is even, expect to go through or around a city—first digit odd will take you into a city. What all this amounts to is that should you be lost on an unfamiliar interstate road some night, without a map, yon would know that you’re traveling either East or West, or North or South, or by a city, or into a city. SENATOR STROM THURMOND REPORTS TO THE PEOPLE mm® THE TRICENTENNIAL Porson Jones Soys Man Has Some Dog In Him Dear Mr. Publisher: I took the little woman out to eat the other night We had steak. It was one-a-them rare events. The younguns stayed home - mainly cause we wouldn’t let ’em go. Just didn’t have enough money to go a- round. As I sat there eating, I got a real good glimpse of the hu man race. There was all those people craming food in their mouths, and it dawned on me how much they looked like my ole dog Spot. The only dif ference was they sat in chairs, ate off tables, used a fork and wiped their mouths with a nap kin. Then I got to thinking how they were like Spot in a lota ways. They would all go home and curl up and sleep. They would all look for sex at one time or another - just like Spot. They all wanted to be recog nized and petted. Yes Sir, about the only difference I could see was that man has a little bet ter manners - at least he tliinks so. Spot spends all his time on these things and so do most folks. I got to wondering what, if any, real difference there was between the two. Then it dawned on me like the sun com ing ig). The only difference be tween Spot and man is that man worships God. That got me to thinking even more. When a man doesn’t worship God he’s in the same boat with Spot (I don’t know how Spot is gonna take this, cause he doesn’t like to share his place with nobody.) And the way church attendance is dropping off in this country, we may have to call this “the American dog house". And go ing to the moon is an effort to find more places to bury our bones. Well, I guess I’ve done enough damage for one day. I just want ed to get this letter off be fore folks started saying “bow wow". Who knows, maybe some day our constitution will read, “all animals are created equal”. That is unless we can get more people to praying before it hap pens. Give your wife our re gards. Come see us when you can - if you can. Don’t chase any cats. Parson Jones STRICTLY FRESH The fellow who gets a kick out of his work should be more careful. * * * You don’t have to be an etiquette nut to know that some things just aren’t done in restaurants — very often, the food. Never let the sun go down on a squall with the frau— she’ll spend the night dream ing up a whole new argu ment. V V V The local salami foundry advertises what we call “been” soup. We’re willing to agree it was soup at one time, but just what it is now is what we’d like to know. V V V Teachers agree that it’s not right when parents do the kids’ homework. This is the year of the Tri centennial of the first permanent settlement in South Carolina. We are happy to share our heri tage with the whole United States. South Carolina has been at the pivot of history again and again in the development of our Nation. From our tradi tion have come the men who made critical decisions at mo ments of turmoil, men who have affected the destiny of the whole country. We have had men of initiative whose ideas opened new dimensions of culture and development. S.C. FIRSTS Let us look at some of our historical “firsts.” The first Charter or Constitu tion for South Carolina was drafted by the great philosopher, John Locke. In 1685, South Carolina was the first province in the New World to plant rice for sale, thus opening up a basis for the agricultural economy of the South. In 1698, the first free library in America was started by the provincial General Assembly. In 1712 the first state health officer in America was Gilbert Guttery of South Carolina. In 1735, the first opera adver tised by title on American soil was given in Charles Town. In 1736, the first building in America devoted wholly to drama was built in South Caro lina. In 1740, the first free school for Negroes in America was founded in South Carolina In 1762, the first musical so ciety in America, the St. Cecelia Society was organized in Charles Town. In 1773 the first public muse um and city Chamber of Com merce were founded in Charles Town. In 1776, South Carolina »a- the only State whose signers i f the Declaration of Independence were all natives of the State, and all college men They were: Edward Rutledge. Thomas Hey ward, Jr., Thomas Lynch. Jr., and Arthur Middleton. South Carolina was the eighth State to ratify the l\S. Consti tution. leaving only one more State to ratify to tugger the Constitution into effect. South Carolina was also the first State to secede from the Union, on December 20, 1860. SHARING OUR TRADITION It is appropriate that we share this tradition of courage and vision with today’s America. For too long the South has been excluded from a position of equality in the halls and coun cils of our Nation’s leaders. Many younger regions have not had the opportunity to under stand the depth of our trade tions. Our social structure has been viewed from the bias of narrow mercantile and lil»eral prejudices and judged by a pov erty imposed upon a conquered region. Today this unhappy situation has changed. We are making progress in raising the standard of living for all of our people. We have brought in new indus tries to give jobs to those who want to work. W'e are consci ously developing the best strains of our culture, as the Tricen tennial celebration demonstrates THE VICE PRESIDENT Best of all, we are hemi understood in other regions of the country. Today people an listening, and their ears an attuned with sympathy and justice. In the midst of this celehra tion. we were pleased to welcome the Vice President of the United States, the Honorable Spiro Agnew, to participate in this noteworthy event. It is highh appropriate that the Vice Presi dent, a former governor of his State of Maryland, was able to speak at the ceremonies in Edgefield County, birthplace of ten governors of our State. Mr Agnew exemplifies the new in terest which the Nation as a wh >le is taking in the South This year’s Tricentennial, therefore, represents the turning of the full circle. South Carolina once more plays its proper rob in the affairs of the Nation The rich traditions of our past equip us in a significant way to contribute to the future d< velopment of America The Tri centennial is not a turning toward the past, hut a turning toward the future ( nnt fprt I*t Ti li tf>1 of \J i I « rnni* nf < r leview SINCE SILENT SPRING By Lennart Pearson Head Librarian Presbyterian College Quotes... The District of Columbia library director says that some of Washington's branch libraries will have to be closed unless “disorder, theft and vandalism can be brought under control.” He points out that “children, students and adults are not per mitted to study, read or carry out research because of the dis turbances created by gangs or the threats of bodily harm made by individual offenders.” Can anyone possibly argue that the time has not come for firm action when crime in the nation’s capital gets so bad that it isn’t safe to even visit a public library? —Rep. H. R. Gross (R.-Iowa) • •••••••••••■••••••••••••••••••••••a •••••••• •••••••••••• • ••••••••••••••••••••••••■•■•••••••••**«««**«********************* • • • • • “Strong actions as well as strong words, are long overdue. For too long the citizen who claims a clean and healthy environment as his constitu tional rights has faced a legislative and adminis trative stone wall. He parades his rights in pe titions, public meetings, and letters of protest. The polluter marshals his power behind the scenes. It is an unequal struggle.” The Latest Supreme Court Nominee... St'Helena’s ptt- to the Heir L*ad March of the True Crues. Since Silent Spring. By Frank Graham, Jr. 333 pages. Houghton Mifflin. 1970. If last week’s demonstrations are any indica- tron, people are finally getting worked up about the problems of pollution. No one would have been happier than the late Rachel Carson, whose land mark book, Silent Spring (1962), did much to trig ger the explosion of current interest in our en vironment. Rachel Carson was a government biologist and a writer, whose fame came with the publication of two maginificently written best-sellers, The Sea Around Us (1952) and The Edge of The Sea (1966). It was the ominous report of fish and bird kills related to the use of DDT that aroused in her a sense of horror over the massive and in discriminate use of chemicals for controlling pests and weeds. Silent Spring, based on painstaking research, described in detail the nature of the threat, point ing out that when man contaminates the food chains he endangers not only the songbirds but ul- tibately his own existence. What happened after Silent Spring was pub lished? That is the story which Frank Garham has to tell in this disturbing sequel, Since Silent Spring. Rachel Carson was subjected to all kinds of abuse, particularly by those industries who saw in her charges a threat to their economic in terests. Attempts were made to discredit and associate her name with gardening nuts and food faddists. Chemical manufacturers spent vast sums on public relations campaigns to counteract the force of her indictment, while the government in its customary way sought to contain the contro versy through bureaucratic dodges and buck- passing. Graham’s account updates Silent Spring. He shows how Rachel Canon’s original research has stood up well under fire, adding new evidence for the gravity of the situation, and urging measures to deal with the threat to the world’s oceans before it is too late. Those who would prefer voluntary self-regular of industry to the strong hand of -a—- credibility tion on the part government might ponder the credttiuty gap which industry created for itself by its treatment of this gentle and very courageous lady. Those who think changes come about by the strong hand of government might ponder the power of vested interests in the making of environmental policy. The sequel is as hard-hitting and controversial as Silent Spring waa in 1962 ; it deserves wide read ing. - * - — X. »** 'Ak.