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^Thursday, November 13, 1930 MeCORMICK MESSENGER, McCORMICK. South Carotin* * Page IN umber r * McCORMICK MESSENGER Published Every Thursday Established June 5, 1902 edmond j. McCracken, Editor and Owner Entered at the Post Office at Mc Cormick, S. C., as mail matter of the second class. DISPLAY ADVERTISING— 25 cents per inch for each inser tion; nothing less than 4 inches accepted for double column dis play, nor less than 2 inches for single column display. Positions given at ONE-THIRD extra charge: BUSINESS READING NOTICES: 6 per cent per line for each inser tion, average of 6 words to line. WANT AD VS., 6 cents per line for each insertion,, average of 6 words to line. TRIBUTES OF RESPECT, 6 cents per line, 6 words to line. All advs, set in body type, 6 cent& per single column line; extra charges for big type on all single column advs., except head and signature. SUBSCRIPTION RATES: — Strictly Cash In Advance One Year $1.00 Six Months .75 Three Months.50 IS HERE TO STAY A professor in one of the large universities of our country has laid <lown a severe indictment of the automobile. It takes the high school and college student from the home group and makes him an enemy of society, the professor says. Perhaps the auto is a disturbing element in society, but never for get that it takes two to make a v bargain. The auto is a temptation leading to evil ways that some young people can’t resist, and it becomes the duty of those who are guiding boys and girls to build up a resistance against it. Complaining about the bad in fluence of the automobile does not remove it as a factor to be dealt with in the rearing of children. It is a real problem, the more so be cause it can’t be autocratically removed. The family car, though it may liave flattened the family purse, has broadened the viewpoint and increased the knowledge of count less persons. It has enabled peo ple of small means to get a liberal education through travel.. It has taken people into the fresh air, where they have found their first contact with outdoor things. It has changed the courses of many .lives by cultivating outdoor habits «nd an appreciation of nature and mil its beauties. The automobile is here to. stay. It can’t be driven out as the open saloon was, because it has eco nomic and. social values, that far pntweigh the evils that are laid at Its door. ■ . r Regardless of what may . be said regarding the bad habits, it is teaching people, young and* old alike, the automobile has had ; a beneficent influence on many homes. X gasoline Taxes For General Purposes (The Newberry Observer.), * Quite naturally the sight of abundant revenues pouring into state treasuries from gasoline taxes has suggested the idea that this source of revenue should be used in part for general state purposes. The idea has been expressed in many states. The protest raised against the proposal to use part of the gas taxes for general purposes overlooks the very nature of taxes. A tax is a contribution made to the support of the government without any reference to the indi vidual payer’s receiving personally any direct benefit in return. A fee on the other hand is a payment made by the person who is to re ceive the particular benefit, al though even here the general wel fare is also conserved. Those who object to the idea .gas taxes being used in part fo- general state expenses seem to re gard these taxes as not tax^r " all, but a voluntary con f .Hs- /: o- of motorists with a string tied to the contribution. The idea is un tenable. When soft were imposed, were r '' ceeds specifically limited to any rsrvice connected with soft J *' dealers or the convenience of t’i'i •customers? Docs the land tax " in any direct way to the land own er, or the timber tax to a service specifically devoted to preventing forest fires? That is not the na ture of taxes. The absurdity of the situation in to which spme of the states with high gas taxes have entered is as tonishing. South Carolina, for instance, spends about $11,000,000 a year for all purposes of the state government combined, derived un der great strain from a great var iety of general and special taxes. She puts at the disposal of high way building a sum of about $13,- 000,000. At the same time, the rev enues for the general purpose of government, which are less than the sum for this one purpose, are insufficient to meet the expenses of government. South Carolina last year cut by ten per cent the appropriations for institutions of higher learning, not withstanding we are one of the most backward states in the Union in education, and notwithstanding the fact that few states are in more need of educaion. South Carolina is in natural re sources a poor state. That means that our prosperity must depend upon the highly intelligent and technically trained development of what resources we have, and the upbuilding of such industries as manufacturing and hydro-electric power. For those purposes educa tion is the prime essential. Let us take the example of New England. She* is poorer than South Carolina in natural resources. Yet by intensive application of trained intellect, she made herself the richest region of the nation, and still, in the face of every diffi culty, problem, and change retains the same sort of position. South Carolina has fallen into the control .of a group that see one thing so large that it is willing to sacrifice far more important and necessary ends for this one end. One way to prevent the decline of the essential services on which permanent progress rests is to real ize that the state must use its to tal revenues for the most needed purposes in proportion to their importance and their returns in general welfare, and not to go on any such idea that soft drink tax es must go for soft drink services alone, land taxes for soil service alone, railroad taxes for improving grade crossings alone, fines and mortgage taxes for supporting the courts alone, and gasoline taxes for roads alone. Taxes are taxes, and should be derived from the justest and most productive sources, and should be spent for the most essential and beneficial 'ends, irrespective of their source. X Railroads To The Rescue (A. C. L. Ry., Bulletin) That the reduced rates establish ed by the railroads for forage and feed stuff? for the drought-strick en areas constitute a form of re lief that is tangible and effective is shown by a statement issued by the Department of Agriculture on October 27th, which quotes Dr. C. W. Warburton, secretary of the Federal drought relief committee, as saying, “The decision by many railroads to extend from October 31 to November 30 the time for making emergency shipments of feed and livestock at reduced rates was the most encouraging develop ment in the drought relief program during the last week. “The reduced rate ranges from one-half to two-thirds of the regu lar rates, Dr. Warburton explained and has meant large savings to farmers. Already farmers of Ten nessee have bought 1,000 cars of feed, on which the savings in freight rates amounted to $50 a car, and one county in Virginia has reported an estimated saving of $55,000. The 58 Virginia counties that have reported show a saving of about $630,000.” These figures give some idea of the extent to which the railroads have been willing to sacrifice their revenues in order to give immed iate help to farmers in the strick en areas. Since 1,016 counties are receving the benefits of the reduc ed rates the total amount contrib uted by the railroads to drought ~e 7 ief will probably be by far the largest contribution made by any agency. Asking the railroads for help in j -iich emergencies has gotten to be i habit, many observers comment. “Once again,” says the Cuya hoga Falls (Ohio) News, “the rail 1, roads have been called on to as sist in what amounts to a national emergency by making substantial reductions in freight rates on farm products in the drought-stricken area. They have readily enough assented to the plea for reduced rates. So far no request has been made of commercial motor truck lines, which are taking a large part of the railway freight business, to do likewise. “There seems to be developing an idea that for the railroads it is always ‘more blessed to give than to receive.’ Railroad security own ers, already affected by the tre mendous shrinkage of over 33 per cent in net railroad operating in come, for the first six months of 1930, cannot but note how the rail lines are called upon to make fur ther sacrifices, and how their truck line competitors are allowed to skim the cream from the transpor tation business without being call ed upon to make emergency rates in times of stress. “In 1929 the railroads were asked to reduce freight rates on wheat flour designed for export, on the theory that this would relieve con gestion in the wheat markets. Poli ticians got the benefit of passing a ‘farm relief’ measure, even though it was impractical, and. the rail road stockholders lost considerable revenue. Immediately after the stock market crash railroad execu tives were the first called to Wash ington, where they pledged them selves to maintain their budgets for expenditures to sustain wages and employment as far as possible. “For the first six months of 1930 railroad earnings were at the an nual rate of only 3.61 per cent as compared with a possible 5 3-4 per cent which the Transportation Act permits them but which they have never been able to earn. “No means of transportation has yet been found which is a substi tute for the railroads. It would be well for the public to realize that it is the real loser in any policy, state or national, which tends to discourage railroad development.” tXt A Call For Aid With an estimated 5,000,000 per sons threatened with idleness this winter, and approximately 20,000,- 000 likely to need aid during the cold weather, the co-operation of every citizen and civic organiza tion is going to be necessary to cope with the nation-wide suffer ing arising through unemploy ment. The National Emergency Com mittee for Employment appointed by President Hoover is promoting an extensive campaign to alleviate the' situation. Units are being or ganized in every community to meet local problems. The appeal for aid has been sent forth to all. The replies have been fairly num erous. Large industries have prom ised to employ as much labor as possible. One small loan corpora tion has made available a special fund of $100,000 to local welfare bodies in oyer 200 cities of the country for the purpose of helping as many families as possible. This is to be distributed in amounts of $10 to $50 per family to be paid back in small monthly payments, without interest or other charges, when the breadwinner of the fam ily finds employment. Individuals have made contributions to various funds. Yet the response has not been sufficient to meet the need. To a person who has always been fortunate enough to have an in come that assured a home and plenty to eat, the realization of what it means to be without these does not come very easily. Some day in the near future take a little time off and visit a mission or municipal lodging house where those without the price of a meal or bed seek their food and lodg ing. Watch that group of men as they line up and file by to re ceive their portion of food; see how eagerly they grasp the bread and bowl of stew; with what diffi culty they restrain their hunger and wait their turn. One glimpse of those tired hungry faces, stamp ed with a mixture of misery and hope, longing and despair, wir stimulate anyone possessed with r spark of human sympathy with the I desire to do something to lessen the number of those in that un fortunate position. The call to aid those that are poor and cannot find work is one that no citizen can well ignore. tXt Burglars Are Active—Headline. Did anyone ever see an inactive t burglar? - $25.00 - FREE Every Saturday for remainder this year First award $10.00; second, $5.00; third, $5.00 and fourth, $5.00. Ask undersigned merchants and business men for particulars. i Carolina-Georgia Service Co. CORLEY BROTHERS. , D. M. BULLOCK. DIXIE STORES, No. 16. E. F. CREIGHTON, Service Station Gulf Service Station, J. T. Faulkner. H. DRUCKER. J. O. WILLIAMS’ Service Station. J. T. MARTIN. J. BUTLER BLACKWELL. J. S. STROM. J. R. CORLEY. J. C. TALBERT. J. B. HARMON & CO. M. L. GIBERT. N. G. BROWN & SON. NEW YORK BARGAIN STORE. McCORMICK MESSENGER. M. M. MAJOR. PIPKIN’S STORE. PATTERSON CLOTHING CO. STROMS’ DRUG STORE. STANDARD SERVICE STATION. SMITH’S 5 & 10c STORE. T. M. DORN. T. Howard Smith’s Meat Market. T. CARLTON FAULKNER. WHITE HARDWARE CO. W. G. HUGULEY. - THIS IS THE TIME - Any subscriber who is in arrears with THE MES SENGER is urged to come forward now and make payment of same. raH MESSENGER McCORMICK, S. C.