Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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^JjJtxAiaSU> TECS NEW OFFER Two weeks ago, we editorially en dorsed a stand taken by our legislative delegation in regard to Laurens Coun ty’s financial participation in Pied mont Technical Education Center in Greenwood. The delegation said the county could not afford to pay the $75,000 in itial sponsorship fee. That would cover Laurens County’s pro-rata share of the center’s construction costs. We agreed with the delegation’s stand. We do not believe the taxpay ers would want their taxes increased for this purpose. We also pointed out that technical centers in Greenville and Spartanburg are just as accessible to Laurens County students as in the center in Greenwood. Since then, the Piedmont Techni cal Education Commission has made another proposal to Laurens County. This proposal would allow Laurens County to become a participating county in Piedmont Tec upon payment of an entrance fee of $5,000 per year, starting July 1, 1970, and continuing for 15 years at the same base fee. The yearly financial support from each county is based on student enroll- m e n t, figured by determining the number of student contact hours for the first six months of each school year. Student participation from Laurens County for the first six months was 22,986 contact hours. Therefore, the annual participation fee for Laurens County for 1971 is $8,277. Based on the formula, Green wood County will pay $55,000 for 1971 in local support based on 152,516 stu dent contact hours. We believe this latest proposal is something within the reach of Lau rens County and we hope our legisla tors will give it the serious consid eration it deserves. One of the legislators has said that the latest proposal is too late to do anything about this year. However, we urge our legislators to sit down again with Piedmont Tech officials and try to work something out. Laurens County needs access to technical education facilities. This is vital in the progress of any industrial ly orientated county these days. At the same time, Laurens County does not want to be a slackard in providing its fair share of support for technical education. The day could come when Laurens County tecMncal education students would be heavily penalized because their county does not official ly participate in support of any of the technical education centers in this area. Already some technical educa tion centers are charging higher tu ition fees for students from non-par ticipating counties. This latest proposal is one which Laurens County should be able to af ford. We urge that it be given fair consideration THE PRESBYTERIAN HOME We do not ordinarily offer sug gestions concerning contributions to various causes but we would like to call attention to one which we feel is worthwhile and will be a fine asset for our community. The Presbyterian Synod of South Carolina has purchased a 45-acre tract of land in Clinton as the location of a Presbyterian Home for the elderly. The Presbyterian Home in Summer ville is an attractive place and at tracts hundreds of visitors to that area. The Presbyterian Home itself is a very worthwhile institution. It takes on even more significance for Clinton- ians because our community will de rive many benefits from the estab lishment of such an institution here. A master plan for the development of the Presbyterian Home here is to be presented this month at the annual meeting of the Presbyterian Synod of South Carolina. Construction on the Home here will depend upon the re tirement of the indebtedness of the Presbyterian Home at Summerville and raising funds for the new facilities at Clinton. In remembering Presbyterian friends and loved ones with memorial gifts, we suggest that you consider the Presbyterian Home. Memorials may l>e made to the Presbyterian Home in Summerville or to the pro posed Presbyterian Home in Clinton. Either way, you will be benefitting the Clinton community. REASONS Edd Burch, editor of the Greer Citizen, says there are two reasons why women don’t wear last year’s dresses: they won’t and they can’t. THE SENIORITY SYSTEM We have noticed with interest, as we are sure you have, the reported drive by “young turks” in the United States’ Congress and Senate who are bucking the seniority system. Under this system, those representatives who have been in office the longest occupy seats as chairmen of congressional committees. Under particular fire have been Speaker of the House John W. McCormack (D., Mass), 78; Rep. Emanuel Celler (D., N.Y.), 81; Sena tor Richard Russell (D., Ga.) ,72; Senator Everett Jordan (D., N.C.),74; Rep. William Dawson (D., 111.), 83 and others. A recent headline in a Wash ington D. C. newspaper read: “When will the old men of Congress be forced to quit’’? Our immediate answer to that question is: when the people back in their home states stop voting for them, and elect other representatives. We, too, can think of one or two congressional chairmen we would in deed like to see replaced; but as long as the voters in their states or dis tricts continue to send them to Wash ington, who are we—or anyone else— to say they cannot do so? Strangely enough, members of the so-called “new left” who swagger about with the catchy slogan “Power to the people” are all for abolishing the seniority system. But would not such a move take power away from the people—who now determine who will, or will not, serve as the congres sional committee chairmen—and sub stitute a “committee of experts” in Washington who would make that de ft seems to us that whatever im- jvownsnts in our representative sys- neeri to ha ed by going right hash to the grass roots and making the improvements there. To us true “power to the people” cannot be achiev ed by transferring more power to the bureaucracy in Washington. It may be that not all of us will be happy with the choice of folk in other states, but that is the way a Republic worics. Un der our system of checks and balances we get just about the kind of govern ment we deserve. How Not To Combat Pornography The Washington weekly Human Events reports an astonishing letter by Rev. Morton A. Hill, a member of the hold-over President’s Commission on Obscenity and Pornography, re vealing that in an experiment sanc tioned by committee chairman Dean W. Lockhart twenty-one young men were paid $100 each to expose them selves to “hard, hard core” pornogra phy. This committee, we remind our readers, has somehow managed to spend nearly $2 million in taxpayer money without producing a single pro- p o s a I or recommendation to combat obscenity and pornography. It would appear to us that a letter from you to the President on this matter is in or der. You choose your own language. Just keep it clean. ****** Putting Alcohol in the Right Tank The Senate Committee on Air and Pollution has heard testimony that an alcohol-gasoline blend can replace present lead-gasoline mixtures, cut exhaust pollution as much as 50 per cent, and prolong engine life. We’U vote for it, on the ground that tanking up the car is & lot better than tanking up the driver, and that such a con version is likely to increase the life of the motorist as well as the engine. A Little Work Needed on the Foundation 2-B—THE CHRONICLE, Clinton, S. C., May 14, 1970 Parson Jones Says To Hell? No We Won t Go' U.N. Youth Assembly Stacked Against U.S. Dear Mr. Publisher: I went to the Doctor the other day and he put me in the hospi tal. He said I was suffering from battle fatigue. Its’ a wonder everybody isn’t afflicted with this disease. I saw a lotta con flict during World War II, but it was nothing like I’ve seen since. Sometimes I get to wondering if that war is really over, or whe ther it’s just now getting into full swing. Everybody seems to be demonstrating about something these days. In some cities it’s so bad that if you walk down the street without a sign in your hand they think you’re anti-A merican. Who knows, maybe the next generation of kids will born with signs in their hands. It’s getting so bad that the other day I saw a dozen dear "id ladies carrying signs down the street which read, “What's going on anyway Sometimes I think us preach ers would reach more people if we carried Bible verses up and down the street. It is the'fhost popular form of spreading in formation these days. Even the newspapers and the TV people get their stuff from street- news. How about a street march with this theme, “Impeach The Devil’'. Or better still, how a- bout this one - “To Hell? No We Won’t Go." Even better might be a “quiet-in ".where no body says anything and all the signs are empty. Maybe if everybody shut up for 30 days, God might speak to us. After all the Good Book says, “Be still and know that I am God". God doesn’t shout Mr. Pub lisher, he whispers, and with all the racket going on these days- a whisper wouldn’t have a chance. Well, I gotta close for now. The doctor just came in and told me to stop fighting bat tles and rest a while. Just re member, Sir, that every cloud must have a silver lining - so there's silver, somewhere, in them there skies. Keep looking. Parson Jones X.lsCSWvv BY THURMAN SENSING Executive Vice President Southern States Industrial Council Reports on planning for the United Nations WorldYouthAs- sembly, scheduled to open July 9, indicate that it will be a for um for anti-American revolu tionaries and a scene of turbu lent dissent. The Youth Assembly is sup posed to be part of the cele bration of the 25th anniversary year of the U.N. It is likely, however, that the proceedings will only deepen U.S. public dis gust with a body which promotes strife, not peace, and which is profoundly antagonistic to the interests of the American peo ple. Ironically, the Youth As sembly is being planned by Francois L. Pouliot, a 29-year- old “youth." This fits in with the global pattern of “youth" organizations in which “stu dents” may be in their late twenties and even their thirties. While Uncle Sam picks up the biggest ; : i. ■ of the U.N. tab, the arrangements for the meeting are clearly rigged against the United States and other free world countries. In mid-April, it was disclosed that U.N. of ficials, charged with making arrangements for the Assem bly, had agreed to issue 126 invitations to go to such non- member states as Communist China, North Vietnam and East Germany. It is obvious what such re presentatives will do if they are permitted to enter the Unit ed States to attend the Youth Assembly. They will use the sessions at the U.N. to make propaganda war against the United States and its allies. In asmuch as the United States has no diplomatic dealings with these nations, and as they are bitter enemies of free peoples, there is no reason why dele gates from these nations should be admitted to the United States. Indeed, the Nixon adminis tration should make it plain at the earliest possible date that these youthful propagandists will not be permitted to set foot on American soil to abuse this country in the halls of the U.N. building. Other reports regarding As sembly planning reveal the character of the forthcoming meeting. For example, there will be no rules about voting, so communist elements are likely to rig the outcome of every resolution. Asked by the press whether there would be any rules against four-letter words during the proceedings, Mr. Pouliot said “None." That means the world is likely to be treated to another spectacle of obscene protest such as the in famous Chicago 7 put on at their trial in federal court in Chi cago this past winter. The very idea of celebrating the 25th anniversary of the United Nations, whether by youths or adults, is offensive to many citizens. This is especi ally true in view of the recent statements of United Nations Secretary General U Thant at a U. N. conference in Tampere, Finland. Speaking shortly be fore the commencement of the Lenin anniversary celebration, U Thant described the brutal au thor of the Soviet totalitarian system, V. I. Lenin, asan“out standing scholar and prominent humanist," who helped advance “human rights and fundamental freedoms." It is profoundly shocking that the operating head of the United Nations, which is supposed to be dedicated to peace and freed om, would use the occasion of a UNESCO conference to heap praise on a man responsible for untold misery among hundreds of millions of human beings. The man U Thant hailed as a “prominent humanist" but chered or starved his opposition in Russia, condemned and dis missed morality, and directed a terrorist and torture cam paign against anti-communists. Lenin, with Adolph Hitler, was one of the principal authors of the misery, violence and hor ror in the 20th century. He cared nothing for “human rights' or any other type of rights. His career was one of trying to ob literate “fundamental freed oms." In his speech at Tampere, U Thant showed his true colors and indicated where his sympa thies lie. The speech explains why he has been so bitterly anti-American over the years, never missing a chance to use the U.N. as an instrument a- gainst the United States and other free world, capitalist na tions. For Americans to join with U Thant in ' celebration" of the U.N. would amount to hail ing a man and an organization dedicated to downgrading the United States of America and the values i>n which it is built. If the Youth Assembly does any good at all it may be in the way of causing U.S. taxpayers to take a new look at their funding of the organization. This year American taxpayers will con tribute $110 million to the U.N. The U.S. is providing about 40 per cent of the U.N. budget and getting about 90 per cent of the U. N. criticism in return. If the Youth Assembly turns out as expected, the public may demand that the U.S. stop paying Americans paying for an or ganization that abuses them and seeks the downfall of the re public. SENATOR STROM THURMOND REPORTS TO THE PEOPLE A NEW JUSTICE Traffic Sign Damage Carries Stiff Penalty The South Carolina State Highway Patrol has issued a re minder that the law provides a severe penalty for damaging, knocking down and removing traffic signs and signals. Colonel P. F. Thompson, Di rector of the Highway Depart ment’s Traffic Law Enforce ment Division said that damag ing or removing a traffic sign is a very serious offense and has resulted in the deaths of several persons on our high ways during the past year. “It cannot be considered a childish prank when it can re sult in tragedy,” he said. “The 1969 legislature considered it serious enough to pass a law which says, in effect, that any person who alters, defaces, in jures, knocks down or removes any official traffic control de vice, upon conviction shall be fined not less than $1,000 or im prisoned for not less than one year. . . and the driver’s li cense of such person shall be revoked for a period of not less than five years. If the person does not have a divers license, he is not eligible to obtain one for a period of five years from the date of conviction. “When a traffic sign is re moved, it creates a hazardous situation that can easily result in injury or death," Colonel Thompson said. “If this happens the law has provided stiffer penalties. It reads: ‘Where death results from the viola tion (of this law) by any per son such person shall be deem ed guilty of a felony and, upon conviction, shall be sentenced to a term of from two to 30 years. Where injury results. .. such person . . upon convic tion shall receive such sentence as may be determined by the judge.’” Colonel Thompson said that the Highway Department q>ends thousands of dollars annually replacing signs that have been knocked down, defaced or re moved. “While we deplore the waste of money and time that goes into replacing these signs, we are more concerned about the human lives that are endan gered by these foolish acts of vandalism.” “Highway Patrolmen have been told to utilize every means at their command to bring vio lators of this law to justice,” he said. Jud>re Harry A Blackmun ha> approved L r the vacancy on tht* Supreme Court by the l S. Senate Judiciary Committee. Jud^e Blackmun i- a man of httfh ethical conduct and com petence Durirur the hearings, he answered questions forthnirhtlv. and with a sense of humility ap propriate to the hurh po-t to which he was appointed. NO DIKFKRKSCK In these qualities. Jud^c Black mun differed in no respect from Judtre Hay ns worth and Judire Carswell. Judire Blackmun. for example, ruled on cases tnvnlv- inir companies in which he had a few shares of stock There wa* nothmir reprehensible about ^uch conduct, since it was obvious that his holdimrs were too m- sienificant to affect hi> obiec- tivitv. Judire Ha\ns»orth is also a man of hiirh character and re sponsibility. No proof »as ever presented that he had allowed his stork holdings to affect his decision, or that he had failed to comply with the hiirh ethical standards required of Federal judires in such matters. Judire Carswell was also the subject of a bitter attack; yet he has l>een a judire of irreat ex perience and discernment. Hi> character was defamed and ho competence slandered. ANTI-SOUTH All three—Judire Havnsworth Jud^e Carswell, and Judire Blackmun—were nominated bv President Nixon as "strict con structionists.” All three were otherwise qualified. Yet the labor lobby and the civil rights zealots chose to do battle against the first two, and not against the third. One reason for this difference is that not even this group of militants had the gall for another round of character assassination and slander. But another significant reason is that Judge Blackmun is not from the South. Any Southerner proposed for national office if immediately attacked by north ern liberals unless he casts off his heritage and principles Northern intolerance and preju dice against the South haf reached new heights because of ynical manipulation vested intcrc't> of the bv eft th. STRICT CONSTRUCTION The South doe> not a-k for a Supreme Court .1 ustlre to e.-poUM- n personal philosophy character r/.ed as either liberal or conser vative. The South asks only that the Supreme Court in interpret ing the Constitution espouse the philosophy of the Framers of that document. Judge Blackmun straightforwardly held to that concept. When asked whether he thought it proper for the Su prerne Court Justice's divisions to take into account his own per sonal idea of what constitute- enlightened social, economic, or political policy. Judge Black mun replied “I personally feel that the Constitution is a di cument of specified words and construction. I would do my best not to have mv decision affected by m> per sonal ideas and philosophy, hut would attempt to construe that instrument in the light of what 1 feel is its definite and de termined meaning.” This statement bv Judge Blackmun i- indicative of the meaning of "-tnet construction" of the Constitution, We must not expect that strict construction will alwa - produce a dcci-ion whose substance is personallv pleasing to us. The very essence of law is it- absolute impartiality and settled meaning. But when we start with the philosophy of the Framers of the Constitution and construe strictly in line with what they laid down, we can ex pect that, on the whole, the principles of this nation will endure. A geographic balance on the Court is desirable, but the im portant thing is how a Justice regards the Constitution. The neople of the South are known to have a treater respect for strict construction of the Constitution inbred in their culture. President Nixon sought to do honor to this great tradition by choosing two nominees from among the South ern people. He still recognizes that Southern tradition, even though the Senate forced him to seek a strict constructionist from the North. (not i>r<i>arrd or printrd at government expense) TYPES OP ACCIDENTS :i 1969 KIM Per CM Injured Psr Can* COLLISION WITH: Motor vehicle 22,500 39 8 3,440,000 73.2 Pedestrian 9,700 172 268,000 5.7 Fixed object 6,500 11.5 277,000 5.9 Railroad train 1,200 2.1 5,000 .1 Bicycle 800 1.1 71,000 1.5 Other vehicle Miscellaneous 500 .9 33,000 .7 Non-collision 15,300 27.1 606,000 12 9 TOTAL se,soo 100.0 4,700,000 100.0 v. w AGE OF DRIVERS Dear Editor: 'Thank You A sincere “thank you” for the weekly paper I received while stationed in Vietnam. It helped to bring Clinton a little closer to me, as well as my fellow comrades. Sincerely, Sgt Gary Thomas 1969 Drlvars In Fatal Accidents ■w wa-a- |_ na a * wi isriwr* in ivofi-r ■imi Cent Accidents Per Cent Under 18 years 3,800 53 293300 6.6 18-24 years 20,100 283 13M300 25.9 25-64 yeara 42,300 59.6 8337,000 633 65 and over 4300 63 246,000 4.7 TOTAL 71,000 100.0 5,230.000 100.0 V' V. I a I