The Clinton chronicle. (Clinton, S.C.) 1901-current, August 27, 1970, Image 10

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I I l ikn, £di£aitaJh> As Ye Sow, So Shall Ye Reap 2-B—THE CHRONICLE, Clinton, S. C„ August 27, *70 RIGHTS FOR MEN Under strong pressure by the “women’s liberation” sentiment, on August 10 Congress passed House Resolution No. 264 calling for an aimendment to the Constitution stipu lating that “equally of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on acount of sex.” The resolution will become part ot our Constitution if the legislatures of two-thirds of the States ratify the measure. It will be inter esting to see what happens next— because there appears to be much more involved than meets the eye. To begin with, the resolution does not say that equal rights shall not be denied women; but “on account of sex.” Since there are, the last time we counted, two sexes, that means that equality of rights will be guaran teed to men. And, as it now stands, every State in our Union has pages of laws which discriminate against the man in favor of the woman. What happens if all of these laws become unconstitutional ? For example, Alaska law specifies that the “husband must provide home and wife must reside there.” But “equality under the law will wipe out such favorite treatment, since the wife will lie equally responsible to pro vide a home. Our Social Security laws specify that women can retire and start drawing benefits at 62; men at 65. This discrimination will have to be removed. All kinds of similar laws regarding alimony, divorce, domicile, community property, child custody, support and a host of others most of them favoring women, will have to be changed. If the mesaure is ratified, the women will be just as liable to pay alimony as men. Most states have laws to protect women from hazardous employment in mines, quarries, foundries, or in jobs such as railroad section hands, bell hops, baggage or freight handlers, etc. Labor law gives women more rest pe riods than men. And what about the help wanted ads in newspapers? We must suppose that the Supreme Court will rule that one cannot discriminate by specifying that the applicant be male or female. Will school boards be forced to “achieve balance” by having an equal number of men and women teachers; And we can think of many other problems. Of course, the idea of Congress was to see that women would be given equal pay for equal work and that sort of thing. We wonder however, if in passing the Constitutional provision, Congress has not used the equivalent of a sledgehammer to kill a fly ? If so, it could very well be that the loss of present provisions under existing laws favoring women could far outweigh any gains. E-AS IN ESSENTIAL Everyone in the printing or writ ing business knows that the letter “e” is the most overworked letter in the English language. But “Nod” (Niles) Dillingham, Editor of the Dawson Springs (Kentucky) Progress says that “there is more to the “e” than meets the “i.” In some ways, “e” is the most un fortunate letter in the alphabet, be cause it is always out of cash, forever in debt, never out of danger, and in all the time. Still, it is never in war; always in peace; and it is always in something to eat- It is the beginning of existence, COLOR IT CAPITALISM An interesting illustration of how advertising men work overtime to draw your attention to products they want you to buy; Media Decisions, a magazine for experts in advertising and marketing, published a special re port as to how colors influence con sumers. And here is some of the things they report. Red, the experts said, is the “sym bol of blood and fire; it’s the hottest color with highest action quotient.” Hence it is, “appropriate for soups and meats.” But since red .also con veys a “strong masculine appeal” it is used for such things as shaving cream, etc. Brown, however, is another “mas culine color,” associated with earth, woods, mellowness, age warmth, com fort—i.e., “the essential male”. The ad moguls say: “Brown is used to sell men anything—even cosmetics ” Yellow, they report, has “high im pact” to catch the eye, particularly when used with black. Conclusion of the advertising geniuses: “Yellow is psychologically right for corn, lemon, or sun tan products.” When it comes to the color green, most of us would probably reach the same conclusion as the experts: “Sym bol of health and freshness.” Blue is described as the “coldest color, with most appeal, effective for frozen foods (ice impression).” But if used with lighter tints it becomes “sweet,” and hence is used for things like beverages and flour. Black? To the uninitiated, black would not seem to have much sales ap peal. Not so, say the experts; “black cepveys sophistication,” hence used to promote expensive products also good as background and foil for other col- Orange is said to be the most yum my, “edible” color, especially in brown- tinged shades. It “arofcas” autumn and good tfcingi to ssi* Didn’t know that advtttisen went to so much trouble to please you, did yon ' But they indeed do, and that is B rainy ^ look Llleview :-tprnrf*rti h i !■> <• a ? is T. T ‘if { I l ► V i it* V \ THE LAND IN BETWEEN By Lennart Pearson Head Librarian Presbyterian College I ; it . * u 1 JVAV t a. ■r GREEN LIGHT SMUT PEDDLERS the commencement of ease, and the end of trouble. Without it there could be no life or heaven. It is the center of honesty and is always in love. It is the begin ning of encouragement and endeavor, and the end of failure.” That reminds us of the editor whose editorial read, one day: I am rxally in troublx, and I hopx that our rxadxrs will xxcusx mx. Thxrx is onx Ixttxr on my typxwritxr that is broknxn, and the rxpairman won’t havx it fixxd until nxxt wxxk. In thx mxantimx, I hopx you won’t mind if I substitutx an “x.” Pxoplx don’t rxalizx how much thxy miss an “x” until thxy nxxd onx.” the “big secret” of success in the American free enterprise economy. Since you, the consumer, are the boss, the producer must do everything he can, in competition with others, to please you, both with the contents of the package and the attractiveness of the label. And that is certainly better than the non-competitive socialist sys tem, where the government monopoly porduces what it wants with no regard for the wishes of the consumer—and with no back talk, either’ BY ANTHONY HARRIGAN Executive Vice President Southern States Industrial Council While millions of Americans are deeply concerned about the flood of pornography and demand legislation to drive smut peddlers out of business, a presidential commission has recommended that all laws a- gainst pronography be re pealed. The 18-member commission (17 appointed by former Pres ident Johnson and one by Presi dent Nixon) proposed that the United States adopt laws as favorable as Denmark’s. To day, Denmark is the capital of the smut trade. Pornographic books, films and materials are sold openly in shops on main street and exported overseas. The commission specifically recommended repeal of all fed eral, state and local laws a- gainst showing and selling of pornographic films, books and other material to adults. It said: “The commission is of the view that it is exceedingly unwise to attempt to legislate individual moral values and standards.* No doubt the vast majority of decent citizens are shocked at the recommenda tions of the panel established by President Johnson and dis mayed by its faulty logic. Public authorities can’t be unconcerned with public mora lity. The moral fiber of the .S' ‘‘tj* ON THE HIGH WIRE nation is a legitimate public and governmental concern and always has been viewed in that light. If the commission’s re commendations were approved, the Congress would be giving legislative sanction to immora lity. In defending its proposals, a member of the President's Commission on Pornography said sex crimes in Denmark declined 31 per cent after le galization of pornography. Wheter this statistic is accu rate, one cannot say. What is clear is that the people of Denmark have been exposed to a flood of sick and pervert ed material. The psychological impact of that material on Danes now growing to maturity is likely to be grave indeed. No western society, based on Christian values, has been ex posed to pathological erotic material in such enormous quantities. It is questionable that Christian morality in Den mark can survive the legaliza tion of morally depraved material. Very properly, the U. S. Con gress is indignant about the conclusion of the commission appointed by President John son. Only a few weeks ago, Congress gave overwhelming approval to a bill ( H. R. 11032) designed “to prohibit the knowing deposit in the mail for transport in interstate com merce* of unsolicited salacious advertising. The penalty for this, as approved by Congress, is a fine of not more than $50, 000.00 or imprisonment of not more than five years—on the first offense. Obviously, Con gress is determined to crack down on smut peddlers. the U. S. Post Office Depart ment has received459,129 com plaints from citizens who have been the target of the smut peddlers mailadvertisingcam- paigns. In a message to Congress, requesting action against por- nographers, President Nixon said that “American homes are being bombarded with the lar gest volume of sex-oriented mail in history Mothers and fathers by the tens of thousands have written to the White House and the Congress. They resent the instrusion in to their homes.* President Nixon urged “a citizens’ cru sade against the obscene.* The Commission on Porno graphy showed insensitivity to moral considerations and to the quality of American life. It also showed appalling ignorance of the fact that a flood of erotic material is symptomatic of deterioration in a nation. We know from history that fall of the Roman Empire was marked by the spread of pornography. It would be intolerable if U. S. lawmakers turned permissive in their approach to porno graphy. In stead of facilitating distribution of such material, the need is for even tougher laws against those who pro duce and sell filth. THE LAND IN BETWEEN; THE CAMBO DIAN DILEMMA. By Maslyn Williams. 241 pages. Morrow. 1970. The news from Cambodia these days is not very encouraging. This quiet country, having tried for years to maintain a fragile neutrality, is once again being squeezed by the kind of strug gles which have characterized Tndo-Ohina for lenturies. The Land in Between is a helpful introduc tion to Cambodia today—or at least to Cambodia before the recent overthrow ol Prince Sihanouk. (That’s the hazard of writing about areas in transition: a book can be out of date by the time it is published!) The author, an Australian jour nalist and author of several books on other Far Eastern countries (Five Journeys from Jakarta, The East is Red), went to Cambodia in 1968, main ly to observe and penetrate the singular style of Cambodia’s enigmatic head of state, who has now become—for the present, anyway—a historical figure. As Williams sees it, the flaw in Sihanouk’s leaership was not the irritating carpnciousness by which he leaned alternately toward East and west, depending on which bloc had most to to of fer Cambodia: this is just normal political beha vior. Rather, the flaw was Sihanouk’s inclination ta live in the past. It is one thing to encourage appreciation of the great Khmer civilization as the national heritage (and tourist attraction) ; it is quite another to suppose oneself a reincarna tion of the builder of Angkor Wat. Williams also reports on his conversations with a variety of city and country people. In gen eral, he found deep respect for authority and tra dition, apparent acquiescence in national policies, a facade of democracy, and an oriental politeness concealing something which could be interpreted as resene, passably as fear. The I^ind in Between can be read as an in terpretation of an extremely shrewd politician. It will also fill in the gaps in one’s understanding of the evening news. Whatever the future of this land of elephants and lotus-blossoms, it is obvious that many Cambodians will have to find a new oracle and father-figure Meanwhile, each new- smashing allied victory seems to be several miles closer to the heart of Phnom Penh. “I believe that Sihanouk is trying to combine irreeoncilables; going through mock motions of democracy while striving to perpetuate the god- king myth; urging his people to accept material Western methods of progressive delelopment, yet insisting: that they cling to the philospohical tra ditions of Nirvana—of passivity and inner con templation leading ultimately to nothing.” —From the book illl SENATOR STROM i THURMOND REPORTS TO THE PEOPLE VETOING WASTE Wish I’d Said That President Nixon has vetoed the appropriations bill for fund ing Housing and Urban Develop ment programs and for some Ed ucation programs. Together, the two bills, as amended by the Congress, would have added nearly a billion unrequested dol lars to the President’s budgetary recommendations. The two bills would have ap propriated money for many good programs. There is no question The people who get up in but that both bills contained es- the world today are the ones sential items. Yet Congress can- who drove carefully the night no . t o’! blackmailing the Ad- . . .... before.—FredW. Grown, Tlie in wUh* 1 swollen 8 ^ In advocating passage of this _ Bergen (N. J.) Citizen. que8t8 for politically motivated ^ l1 ’ U ;. S : R n e P* Not every trash basket P ro STams. catches all the stuff that should CRITICAL PERIOD methods of the smut peddlers, ... ■ . ... ..j. . savintr- 'The nanf£rers of be thrown into it.—James We are in the middle of a nnrrmrrrQnh from A - Williams, Jr., Southwest critical economic period. Every pornography glean names from f iyvthe Countv 1 Virginia En- °f the economy is feeling nmircnarsorc morro-Hnoc cehonl 1 W yiHC V,OUmy; V irginia t,n- . • . , { „ fl .• “ newspapers, magazines, school club, and even church ro sters.* Though the Commission on Pornography wants to give smut peddlers a green light, the American people think other wise. In the last two years, terprise. RENEW LICENSE The Editor: Please remind your readers to watch their driver’s license expiration dates. As I was look ing through my biUlbld, and noticed that mind saicTexpire on your birthday 1970*. Well, my birthday for 1970 had pas sed. The next day I went to the Highway Department to renew my license. The clerk said “your license has expired and the pinch of inflation. Every citizen has had reason to be con- cerned over the rising curve of The value of the products Yv! lch increa8 ^ . , , ... . Y _ A _. . sharply in the past five years. It made by the textile industry in j 8 on ] y j n recen t months as a South Carolina has increased result of the Administration’s more than 10-fold in the past anti-inflation program that the 30 years, according to the S. broad economic indicators have C. Labor Dopartmant ’ Unquestionably, the most im- 1 L port ant factor in inflation is defi cit spending by the government. The cost of every government deficit dollar has to be made np out of the current money supply. When inflation w on the brink of getting oot of hand, the gov ernment must do what the ordi nary householder mnat do. It must restrict spending to match current income. In this dangerous situation, the leaders of the Democrat-con trolled Congress have decided to play a tragic game. This being an election year, they chose to spend hundreds of millions of dollars additional on popular programs, thereby attempting to buy the goodwill of the voters. This was money which the Presf- dent felt we could not afford.' you will have to take the com plete driver exam.” I passed the test but I did not make a perfect score at all. It can save time and trouble if you get year license renew ed before they expire. The next step in their strategy to blame the President Yours truly, Allen A. Young Rt 2, Box 202 Clinton, S. C. then was for doing nothi for doing nothing about infla tion—inflation which they them selves had consciously aggra vated. INFLATED CRISIS When the Housing and Urban Development appropriation bill first came before the Senate, it was even more grievously in flated than in the final version vetoed by the President. The Senate voted for an increase in that one bill alone of $1.2 bil lion dollars over the Adminis tration request. This was a thoroughly irresponsible action which sacrificed fiscal sanity for purely political considerations. On the roll-call vote for this out rageous maneuver, I voted “no.” In the final passage of the House-Senate conference report, this bill was still $541 million over the Administration request, and I once more voted against it The President was on sound ground in vetoing it. He refused to play the political game at a moment when there is hope to return to a sensible money policy. The President said that if he were to sign the two bills, he would be “saying yes to higher prices, yes to higher interest rates, yes to higher taxes.” The kind of spending represented in these bills would be the worst kind of waste, since inflation wastes the money which every one has to spend for the neces sities of life, and which everyone must save for the unexpected needs of tomorrow. RESPONSIBLE LEADERSHIP The President said further: “We cannot have something for nothing. When we spend more than our tax system can pro duce, the average American either has to pay for it in higher prices or in higher taxes.” All citizens straggling to make their incomes meet rising prices know the essential wis dom of the President’s line of reasoning. We cannot have everything when the money is short. The President’s budget re quests were the result of a care ful balancing of all the factors and priorities involved fat our present fiscal aitnatioa. Tet there are those who, for political gain, would trifle with the nation’s economic future. The President’* vetoes were acts of statesmanship and re sponsible leadership. Let us hope that his actions are not lost upon the liberal elements in Con gress. ■t. V '