Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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I ! 2-B—THE CHRONICLE, Clinton, S. C., Dec. 23, 1970 Nixon Is Behind At End Of 1st Half UPSTAGED REAPPORTIONMENT MAY AFFECT LAURENS COUNTY Reapportionment will never catch on as a popular parlor game. It’s too frustrating. You get one district set up and it throws another out of kilter. But reapportionment is s o m e- thing our legislators are going to have to think about during the coming ses sion. What they do about it will af fect us for the next 10 years. This is particularly an important item for Laurens County because our county apparently is one of the keys to any reshuffling of South Carolina’s six congressional districts. Laurens County currently is in the Fourth Congressional District with Greenville and Spartanburg coun ties. The 1970 census figure for our district is 463,983. According to standards set up by the Supreme Court’s “one man-one vote” ruling, a congressional district should include 420,000 people. We won’t go into all the possi bilities because there are so many and some are so complicated but what it boils down to is this: The easiest way to bring the state’s congressional districts into balance would be to move Laurens County into the Fifth Congressional District and move Clarendon Count}, from the First District to the Sixth District. The Fifth Congressional District currently is represented by Congress man Tom Gettys, a Democrat, of Rock Hill and includes Cherokee, Union, York, Chester, Fairfield, Lancaster, Chesterfield, Kershaw and Sumter counties. By switching Laurens and Clar endon Counties to other districts, the state would have a variation of 4.6 per cent from the perfect “one-man, one- vote” standard. The current varia tion is 6.1 per cent. However, that might not be good enough. The Su preme Court rejected a Missouri plan which had a 3.1 per cent (variation. There is also the possibility that there will be some changes in the Third District, served by Congress man Bryan Dorn, also a Democrat, and including Oconee, Pickens, Ander- s o n, Abbeville, Greenwood, McGor- mick, Edgefield, Saluda, Newberry and Aiken Counties. And there is the possibility that the state would have to start splitting counties, putting one part of the coun ty into one congressional district and the other part in another district. That has happened in other states. It’s usually the larger counties which are split. Whatever happens, it probably won’t take effect until after the primary in 1972. But now’s the time to be thinking about it. We have been fortunate in that we now have a compact district in which we have a lot in common with our sister counties. We hope that in the future we will be fortunate enough to be in a district shared by counties with which we have common interests and hopes. We also hope our legislators will do their homework before the session so that they can look after our best interests. BY GEORGE HAGE DORN Chief Economist NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF MANUFACTURERS Administration economic policy-makers have been re vising the game plan followed during the first half of the President’s present term in office. Those of us on the side line begin to wonder how much this will affect the course of the game in the second half. During the first half, the Administration lost points both because unemployment rose and because the inflation continued with very little perceptible let up. One can argue--and this column has argued--that things were bound to turn out that way because of the situation that prevailed at the beginning of the game. The fact remains that these are the figures on the scoreboard at the end of the first half. The strategy was a relatively simple one. Fiscal and mone tary restraint were to be the main tactical means of getting inflation under control. How ever, these were to be applied only gradually. It was hoped that this "gradualism* would obviate any significant rise in the unemployment rate. During most of the first half the Ad ministration made it plain that it would not rely on razzle- dazzle plays, like the wage- price guideposts. The Administration team got some bad breaks, whose im portance to the outcome in the first half is not entirely clear. The 1970 GM strike slowed the economy down just when it was beginning to show signs of some recovery from the 1969-70 downturn--and just before elec tion day. The corn blight may have some effect on food prices next year, although most ex perts foresee no severe short age. We are not, at this point, sure just how different the strategy for the second half will be. But at least the langu age used to describe it sounds a lot different. The key word is no longer "restraint* but "stimulation.* But there is always a quali fication attached to these sim plified descriptions of the game plan. In early 1969, in explana tions of its plan for ending inflation, the Administration always stressed that its policy of restraint would be applied only gradually--so as to avoid a serious rise in unemployment. At present, in setting forth the new policy of stimulation, Ad ministration spokesmen usually add that this policy wiU be pursued with cautlon--as to avoid restarting inflation. The observer trying to in terpret this is left wondering how large a difference there is between "gradual restraint" and “cautious stimulation.*One suspects that spokesmen mak ing such statements are leaving themselves a wide range of choice in applying the new strategy. And this is perfectly proper. Good coaches try to keep their options open. Another aspect of the re vised strategy is a change in the attitude °f the Adminis tration toward more direct at tempts to influence prices and wages. Specific wage-price guideposts have not become part of the game plan and don’t seem about to be. But the Ad ministration is beginning to show less reluctance to inter vene in specific situations on an ad hoc basis. The President’s reaction to the rise in petroleum prices is an example of this. WeU, after listening to all the discussions and analysis in the between halves interval, how do we think the game will turn out in the second half? We think that, on the whole, it wiU turn out better for the Administration than the first half. They will begin to put some points on the scoreboard, both for reducing the rate of inflation and, a little later, for reducing unemployment. Whether that kind of economic score wiU be good enough to win the game for the Ad ministration we won’t know until November, 1972. However, we don’t believe that any mid-game change in strategy wiU have much to do with this favorable turn. The slow-down that has already oc curred in the economy wiU begin to hold back inflation to a more noticeable degree in 1971. After aU, unemployment was stiU at the abnormally low level of 3.5% only a year ago in Dec ember 1969. The development of some slack in our economy is stiU too recent to have a pronounced effect on wage and price trends, but we may expect a noticeable impact next year. The improvement in the un employment rate wiU come later, but before the present game is over in 1972. This is the normal cyclical succession of events. As for incomes policies and plays of that type they may produce some spectacular mo ments on the field. They will keep the audience turned in, but they won’t gain much yardage. We would expect that, at the end of the game, both the un- ployment rate and the Inflation rate will be lower than they are now. But it is doubtful that un employment wiU be down to the 4% goal, or that prices wiU have ceased to rise faster than most people would like to see them rise. Many a first-rate coach has been severely criticized, and some have lost their jobs, for events that were really beyond their control. Sometimes the coach started under condi tions that made it almost hope less for him to look good. A President who takes office at the height of an inflationary boom Is in much the same predicament. The Wanderers’—1970 Where Space Starts Although there is no exact or recognized boundary, many space scientists place the beginning of space—as far as the earth is con cerned—at 60 miles above the earth’s surface. During the Depression of the 1930’s, Americans were ac customed to the sight of hobos. They camped along railroad tracks, begged from door to door, and sometimes were a menace to householders. Today, we have a new class of hobo. We caH them "street people.* They congregate in the vicinity of colleges and universities and are troublesome to respectable communities. Unlike the hobos of the past, the * street people* of today are likely to have money in their pockets -- a check from Mom and Dad or the welfare depart ment Some of the "street people,* the new wanderers, have sizable, illegal Incomes from the sale of marijuana, LSD, speed and herion. They are a key part of the new drug culture. No one can say how many of these drop-outs from a working society are to be found in the country today. They may num ber hundreds of thousands. Some of them live in communes in cities and rural areas. Others inhabit campuses, though they are non-students. They consti tute a floating population full of menace to our society. The Columbia Broadcasting System recently focused atten tion on the menacing nature of the "street people* in a spe cial report on groups of them who have drifted into Kansas where marijuana grows wild in great abundance. The "street people* cut the marijuana at night, when it is ready for har vest, and peddle it to support their life of indolence. The head of the Kansas State Bureau of SENSING THE NEWS By Anthony Harrigan IXICUTIVI VIC* MlSIO*NT Southern States Industrial Council CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICTS OF SOUTH CAROLINA Parson Jones Says ...If Jesus Came Today? Dear Mr. Publisher: My younguns are studying the Sears and Rareback Catelogue day and night in hopes that St Nichelos will soon be here. They read somewhere he might not come to the cities this year for fear he might get mugged. Plus, there have been rumors that his sleigh might get bombed from two directions. One group has got it in for him cause he's got a white beard and another can’t stand his red suit The more I think of it the more I’m glad Jesus came when he did. If He had to come now-a-days there might be some real troubles. First off, with all this in flation Mary and Joseph couldn’t afford to stay in a motel. To complicate matters, Joseph’s carpenter union would probably be on strike and he’d be broke. They wouldn’t be able to stay in a stable cause it would have been condemned as sub standard housing. When baby Jesus did arrive the rich Wise- men and the poor shepherds would have been so polorized that they’d either boycott the meeting at Bethlehem or else stage a riot when they got there. And neither would have showed up if the press hadn’t been there. The chief of state, in stead of killing all the babies, would have put baby Jesus on ADC (aid to dependant children.) The Angels would have to check with the musicians union before they could sing. Not only that, somebody might report’em as a flying saucer. What I’m really saying, Mr. Publisher, is that in the year of our Lord, 1970, things are really messed up. If the world ever needed a Savior, it’s now. Greed, suspicion, hate, violence are the labels on modern man. It’s hard to understand how, after 2,000 years of the Gospel, we’re clawing at each others throats. Maybe the Lord is let- ing us sink in our own mire til we’re up to our big mouth and we have only one second left to cry. Then maybe we’ll cry out for his mercy and guidance. Maybe, like the prodigal son, we’ve got to go the hogpen route before we come to ourselves. I just hope we don’t mess around and gag our selves to death in the big cess pool. Well, I gotta be running along. I hope and pray that God will pull a miracle this Christmas and melt the wax out of our dirty ears-so’s we can hear the heavenly music. Merry Christmas! Investigation reported that the wanderers came into the state from many parts of the Union. They have teamed up with or ganized crime groups on the West Coast Helicopters are used by organized criminal ele ments to airUft the marijuana harvested by the "street peo ple.* Some people excuse the wan derers, saying that they are "idealists.* But idealists don’t peddle dope. Moreover, the "street people’ aren't seeking true isolation like some hermit sects of the past. The "street people* decline to cooperate with conventional society. They express hatred for the orderly life. At the same time, they also want to extract everything possible from conventional so ciety in the say of financial assistance. They try to obtain welfare payments and free medical care. The "street people* of the 1970’s deserve the label of pa rasites. They want to live off the host community of employed, responsible citizens. They talk about “love* and “sharing,* but they want to take from society and give nothing in return. They aren’t utopian, for they have no vision of a better society. They merely want to exploit the society in which they Uve and take ad vantage of its generosity and tolerance. History-minded citizens re call that in times of breakdown in civilizations there is a turn toward nomadism. Bands of ruffians inhabit unce proud cities. We are witnessing the same phenomenon in our own time and country. In Atlanta, Ga., for example, hippie "street people* have made some streets unsafe for respectable people. On the West Coast, much of the superb Pacific coast is deluged with "street people*. BizarrC crimes and disease are the re sults of this flood of wanderers who refuse to take up any du ties In the society in which they live.. Toleration of the wanderers has been unduly extended. As the 'street people’ spread their drug culture and infect commu nities -- quite literally -- with physical disease, as well as the diseases of the spirit, it is becoming imperative that orga nized society take steps to break up the ruffian bands of wan derers. HopefuUy, the‘streetpeople’ will learn the error of their ways. Practically speaking, there isn’t much chance of this. Therefore, society will have to step in and deal firmly with the wanderers. They will have to be rehabitated by public autho rities. They will have to be educated anew in personal hy giene and social attitudes. The task will be difficult, but it can be done. The nation can’t afford to have hundreds of thou sands of drifters turning to drugs and street crime and re jecting the very basis of an or derly life. Why Come You Got Brown Eyes This Year ?? Parson Jones