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▼Ml CAMPPf OPOinCLR CAMDCW, IQOTH CAgOLBU. T1 PUBUSHKD ON TUESDAY and TODAY EACH - Editor PuMiflher Harold C. Booker - DaCoita Brown - - SUBSCRIPTION TERMS: All Snbeeriptions Payable In Advance One Year i 43.60 Six Months 2.00 OfttM at si th« Post S. C, ud«r act of Oonsraoa March S, 1S7» All artlclaa aabaalttod for fobUcation moat ho algaod by tho author TUESDAY, JANUARY 31, 1950 Have We A Democracy? If it should develop that it is sn infrac tion of the law for an organization— representing over 70 per cent of the em ployees of an. industrial plant—to protest against another organization—represent ing less than 26 per cent of the employees —appearing as the sole representative of the employees in employee negotiations with the management, we might just as well recognize the fact that we no longer have a democratic form Of government and that If we wish such a form of govern ment we had better be doing something about it. Tax Assessments In his most excellent address at the annual meeting of the Camden Chamber of Commerce on Thursday night, A. L. M. Wiggins put his finger on one of South Carolina** weak spots when he declared that “a reorganization and improvement of assessment on real estate and other property is long overdue.’ , As Mr. Wiggins said, this is largely a problem for counties and towns but it is one that fre state as a whole should take ccgnizahce of because “the principal tax deterrent to business and industry in this state is the disproportionate basis of as sessment that is prevalent throughout the state with assessments running in some in stances 6 per cent to 10 per cent of real values, while business generally is assessed a uniform rate of 42 per cent of real value. The Chronicle recently published the final tabulations of assessed valuations of land and real property in Kershaw county* This county follows about the same gen eral rate of assessed values as do the other counties in the stste. In this county the assessed valuation of the 113,089 acres of land in DeKalb township (Camden) is only $581,700 or less than $6 per acre. Wonder how much land you could buy in the township for ten times that amount? The 2,811 buildings in DeKalb town ship (Camden) have a total assessed valu ation of $829,070, or about $114 a piece. Now the inequitable part of it comes in the fact that manufacturing plants, merchants’ inventories, etc., are assessed by the state tax commission at a uniform rate of 42 per cent of real. value. Cer tainly this is unfair to business and you now see what Mr. Wiggins was referring to when hd said that “the principal tax deterrent to business and industry in this state is the disproportionate basis of as sessment that is prevalent throughout the state with assessments running in some instances 6 per cent to 10 per cent of real values, while business generally is assessed at a uniform rate of 42 per cent of real value.” We agree with Mr. Wiggins that “the deep rooted inequities in property assess ment should be removed.” More Livestock The hope that Sooth Carolina will soon bo growing livestock on d large scale was expreseed by A. L. M. Wiggins in his ad dress to the Chamber of Commerce Thurs day night The scientists in agriculture, he pointed out have now achieved the goal of year-round pastores and thus have made possible an enlarged and profitable livestock industry in this section. There is no reason why just as fine meat cannot be produced in South Carolina as in Iowa or Kansas or any of the Western states. And yet we import enormous quantities of Western meat into our state every year. It is the thought of many of our agri cultural experts that livestock offer*' us an excellent money crop in this state. This country is a big meat consumer. Yet lead ing authorities on diet are now convinced that a still higher level of average con sumption ife extremely desirable in order to build our (health and stamina as a peo ple. Meat is one of tlfe best sorces of pro tein—and protein, the scientists have found, is the food element which does the most to create physical strength, resistance and mental morale. In many kinds of illness high-protein diets are now pre scribed. It is forecast that the South’s livestock population will increase very substantially during the next few years. Various rea sons are responsible. One is that we have got to get away from cotton as our one money crop. Another is out large supply ot feed grains and grasses—produce in many instances which will be wasted un less used for animal husbandry. Another is that meat animals can be raised on either a small or large scale here. And still another is that, in the packing indus try, the farmer has a year-round cash market for his livestock. A Planned Economy Oh what a tangled web we weave when we try a planned economy. And nowhere do the paradoxes of the planned economy show up more clearly than in the attempt to juggle prices. As a very minor example, consider the mink situation. * According to a trades publication mink farmers are complaining that business is poor, so the government is bailing them out by lending them about a half million dollars. ji Indirectly, the Johns help to support 1 of its midst The state law provides that there can bt. no back dooyr to a liquor store. A town of Simpsonville law requires every place of business in town to have a backdoor. fur prices, a fact which does not improve the marketability of furs. But more than this, the farmers claim that'the main rea son for shrinking sales is the wartime luxury tax of 20 per cent being collected by another branch of the same govern ment that is lending them money. Meantime the government has the mink and their offspring as security and if busi ness gets really bad we may even see so^ .the constitution so as to limit the term cialized fur eoats on the market. M , h .ir-'t ■ t The continued warm weather is causing the political pot to start boiling a little ahead of time. Camden is the city pf opportunity. The Coal Strike Many thousands of workers all over the United States are being thrown out of work because of the coal strike. One steel company in Pittsburgh laid off 500 in one day and from all over the country come reports that unless the strike is soon settled many big plants will have to shut down. Coal labor is an iron-clad monopoly under the contro'l of one ihaB, Johirfc. Lewis. Mr. Lewis-has decided that net a ton of coal shall be mined without his consent. There have been shut-down after shut-down, dislocation after dislocation, strike after strike, in the industry in re cent years. The losses to the miners, the owners and to other industries have been incalculable. This condition will continue so long as we allow nation-wide labor monopolies to be completely free of the anti-trust, anti- monopoly laws that applies to other busi ness. U : ' - 1 •' Of Such Is Our Government Alger Hiss was convicted last week of having lied when he denied passing of ficial secrets to Russian spies while he held high state department office before the <war. A Federal judge sentenced him to five years in prison. A few hours after sentence was passed on Hiss, Secretary of StAte Acheson made it known that he still regards Hiss as a friend. In Washington, Acheson told a news conference: “I do not intend to turn my back on Alger Hiss.” Of such is our government. A Tax On C off be Representative Floyd E. Wright of An derson, one of the men who supported the higher appropriation bill passed by the House, is said to be looking around for some method of raising the additional money. According to the state some of the legis lators are considering putting a tax on coffee and t£a. Others are suggesting that the tax on cigarettes be lifted. Nobody seems to be trying to reduce taxes. Keeping The Town Dry The little town of Simpsonville has an unique way of keeping a liquor store out It is good to note that the House of Representatives thas gone on record as favoring ratification of the amendment to of a president to two elected terms. It is to be hoped that the Senate will follow suit Before imposing a tax on tea, members of the South Carolina General Assembly should recall the Boston tea party. ThinkinqOufLflud It is sstimated tfctt one hydro- sen bomb will flattm out sn area of throo hundred square miles. Woq^jghrill not be necessary to y of them. We’d say that a statesman is b who believes In states' rights. It's sll right for s farmer to let his oowa go to grhss. Seeing where the South Carolina General Assembly is going to dis- cuss, a bUl next week to permit the kUUng of alligators in one county in the stste reminds us of the old. old story of the Northern tourist who wss visiting Florida for the first time and. while taking in the aiift'-S. visited an alligator farm. The guide was pointing out to him what wba supposed to be the larg est slttgstor in the world. The tourist, not very well posted on alligators, asked: "Is he amphibi ous?" “Amphibious h " re plied the guide, ' he ll bite your d legs off.’’ , ■,-jF. Another thing we’d like to know is what moths lived off of in the days of Adam and Eve. What has become of tho old- fashioned boys who used to swap knives “aikht unseen?” It haa always sounded funny to us to hoar of s bachelor being charged with a misdemeanor. We soe where some nut haa again proposed that an extra hour be added to the day. We'd be In favor of it if he would inject it somewhere early in the morning before wo have to get up. And Joat to think!—we are sup posed to have a popular form of goveraifaent in the United States. A town in the state of Wash ington is being sued by a sculptor because it refused to pay for a statue on the grounds that the figure was so unlike that of the local man in whose honor it wss erected. And this bring to mind the story of the old man who wanted to put up some sort of memorial to hla deceased wife. A stained glass window in his church being • suggested, the old man agreed and left all arrangements a of the minister. At Uniens Fer Coheel Unless the State of South Caro lina with Its dsparUnent of educa tion shall bs allowed to conduct Its public school system and en force rules for tho employment and the discharge of teachers, without impudent interference by the fed eral government. It were better that it abolish its public school system. The taxpayers of South Carolina, were the public schools abolished, could organise unions to support schools by voluntary con tributions, have a better educa tional system than they now have and save for* themselves millions on millions, of dollars a year.— Charleston News aad Courier. Pseeing The Buck The Herald la glad that Repre sentative Hutto of Bamberg coun ty, was not a party to the de bacle in the house last week when that anything but august body approved an appropriation bill six million dollars more than there Is any money in sight to pay with. The house added on right and left just as if there was money growing on trees. Mr. Hutto voted against the bill. The house, of course, has no idea of the bill becoming law, it was merely doing some fancy politicking with the evident idea of pleasing everybody, knowing that the senate will lop it right and left—or, at least, probably hoping so. A bunch of high school boys and glria could do better than that They, at least, know you can’t pay $112 millions of appro priations with llfa millions. They alao know the impropriety of in creasing people’s' taxes when their Income la on the down grade — Bamberg Herald. body else and not because of their aptitude for the work Involved.— Lee County Messenger. * Talents In Cats Mrs. Laws McGaw of Wllwau- kee, believes she .has the oldest cat In Wisconsin, and possibly a few adjoining states. He has str tained the ripe maturity of years. In the process he not only has survived s broken leg. which heal ed under Mrs. McGaw's ministry five years ago. but he has attain ed to s more dignified sad tnipres- ilve name than that with which he hngaa his career. Known then as “Pinky," he now responds to the more venerable titld of "Mr. Pink erton." j, '■*’ There are people, of course, who question whether s cat responds to anything other than s bowl of milk or a pinch of hamburger. How ever, Dr. Clara B. Flahpaugh of Baltimore, insist that her black tomcat Kikt, calls her "Mom" and talks with her in s vocabulary of several words, the first of which wfs "Yeah." Kiki was perversely uncommunicative, however, when reporters dropped In for s press conference. Since s cat we know the other morning walked to the door and said, “Lemmeowt," Dr. Fishpangh’s report is perfectly credible. Never theless, there Is serious question whether cats would be well ad vised to cultivate the habit of speech.. Anyone who thinks they should might read Saki’a great short story “Tobermory" hi which obssrvni h haa got hi how sides, they will only get ers looked at with pationea. a i w On careful consideratloi cline to the Judgment of m erton ratter than that of' advise all cats to devote ggieite tor. FINAL DISCS Notice Is hereby month from this final John J. Tolbert, ,< charge at said Ad Judged’ Camden, S. C, Jba. 3, I NOTICE TO AND CREDITORS All parties indebted^* tate hereby toth$ to Louise, make and i if any, having said ertate will present wise, duly, ‘ time pre« Camden, & C, Jan“i* MILLER'S For ttso ASRICULTURAL' PROGRAM SOUTH SUjU, imittejL A Good Argument The recent ware of safe and store robberies in Lee and other South Carolina counties is a very good argument, we believe, for the setting up of an efficient State Bureau of Investigation and for the progressive training of all county and municipal law enforce ment officers in the latest meth ods in crime detection. We believe that it is no fault of town and county officials that they have been unable, so far, to aolve a number of safe robberies. They just aren’t trained in that line of work. Unless something is done to curb the activities of what appears to b* a ring of thieves not one single store, factory or business estab lishment will be safe from the threat of robbery. The arrest of s tew safe robbers sod sentencing them to long terms would make thievery in South Carolina much more rare than it is today. We hope that the present Gen- length ths window ’iftlVIHI^rttthwas erat- Aeseinbly *wlll pass a bill Point 3. Soil Consorvotion and Impvovsmsnt: o ■ ' * < • JsftfV' mkILS * Consorvo and improve fho productivity < soils through liming, propor fortili ‘ cover crops, crop rotations, and tei drainage, and irrigation whore Cover South Carolina with a "Blanket! Green.” Cover JSouth Carolina with a "Bl of Green" with hbrnegrowa grots end gume seed. Harvest your own with McCormick - Doering Comfciiie. ."*T / oyf' 'fix $'4 *•#, 4$ \ ■ e * ' •* • H fitted inie position. The old man in an aansaally excited frame of mind sot out to view it. The minister escorted him into the church and with a flourish indi cated th4 window which depicted an angel. “How do yon like itr the minister asked. The old man gased at k thoughtfully. "No good." he grunted. “Why. what’s your objection?" asked the min uter. "It ain’t a bit like the old woman." replied the heart-broken old man. • • / i A writer says that s preacher doesn't hav^/an opportunity to doltars. Yes but they make lots of better halvas. Mb • Another sad thought Is that there are ao many youngsters of today who have never known what it Is to ait in front of tho fireplace in which there la s roaring fire— and think. We just don’t sea how the No mads, of Asia stay that way. Instead of trying to break up worthwhile enterprises why doesn’t the justice department try to break up the carrot and peas combina tion? And than*there were the two tramps who wars seen studying an income tax return blank to see how muck they had saved by hav ing nothgB£*‘ ' establishing a real honest to good 1 1 boss State Bureau of Investigation. This bureau should be'is far moved from politics as possible and Us personnel should be under some sort of a civil service system. Otherwise they would bo appointed r T v --4 jpw ■ V., •• ’ (6.00 x 16 Sin) v; A Western farmer raised a 170- pound skoash last year, thereby winning first prise for doing the most unnecessary thing in ths year. Conservative party members in England feel that the tremendous expense of outfitting Englishmen with free eyeglasses will be worth the cost If by olsctlon day It en ables ths voters to see the'light. North Carolina's Governor's man sion has been thoroughly remodel ed and refurnished so that all It needs now Is a first class occu pant. "Microbes have millions of rela tives." says s filler. Well, it serves 'MB right A writer says that no man shonld feel sorry foe himself. If he doesn’t feel sorry for himself, who’s going to feel eorry for him? •' f ■ — It Is sstimated that at least Si per cent of fhe world’s trouble is caused by people trying to run other people's business. The World's famous do’s are: . unto others. HSlr ... i ... You Get A Top-Quality First- lino Tiro. YouGotSpocial Sawtooth Treads That Fight Skids. . '■ , You Got A Double Breaker Strip —Less Chance Of Blowouts. V Y..- • \ YOU GET THE GREAT GULF TIRE FOR ONLY *12 » OTHER POPULAR SIZES PROPORTIONATELY REDUCED •All prices plus Federal Excise Tax nad old tiro. v. 1 — wonder One cannot help * hut whet the members of the Diet who are now visiting in South Carolina think of our diet. Sign try to slaa in motion.’’ LOWEST PRICE iny** M- np while the JAMES F. WATTS ’- KALIR Fair and DeKalb Sts.