University of South Carolina Libraries
PAGE FOUR THE NEWBERRY SUN FRIDAY, MARCH 13, 1942 Legislature Deserves Some Praise For What It Did Not Do! BY SPECTATOR Governor Harley died last week. I had not seen him since one day about three years ago when I drop per in at his home in Barnwell. He was in bed, but we talked about mat ters before the Senate, of which he was the President. During the con versation I asked who would appoint the Free Conference Committee on the Appropriation bill. He replied, as I well remember, “I am going to Co lumbia Tuesday to tell the Senate that Senator Stukes should make the appointments. I think it’s only fair, since he has presided most of fhe time.” I have had three friends in Barn well whom I usually swapped the SAFE HATCH! o. ,. i SuperWame Oinclair I r SuperFlame Kero- \ sene bums without V®'® odor or gases to kill the hatch in incubators or brooders. Waste elements that cause odor and gases are re moved in refining. SuperFlame saves money, too, because it gives maximum usable heat per gallon. Try SuperFlame. Let me deliver to your farm Strother C. Paysmger AGENT SINCLAIR REFINING COMPANY time of day with; Mr. Harley was one of them. In the days of the crusading tax-leaguers, Mr. Harley was one of us and we did not forget it. He always was a quiet, safe, sound man in whatever office he held. Much has been said about the Barnwell ring; and when Mr. Harley presided over the Senate men some times talked of a ring of Barnwell, including Mr. Harley. I have writ ten several times about the consid eration of the Barnwell leaders for one another, which makes for har mony and effective cooperation in their public work. Mr. Harley, how ever, was usually outside of this for he did not serve as a Representative of Barnwell, but of the State. He took that very seriously, as he did all his obligations. He was like an old time statesman. Recently, the Governor vetoed an Act though all the Barnwell delega tion favored it. He thought it might prove unwise. His public statement assuming the responsibility for an increased salary was thoroughly typical of him; he didn’t dodge res ponsibility or try to evade an issue. During his brief service as Gover nor Mr. Harley impressed our people as level-headed, sober-minded and sound. He had all the old-time vir tues: he was of strict integrity both personally and politically. That of it self is rare, for many men who are honorable and trustwothy in private life are so shifty and grasping in public life as to seem two different men. Mr. Harley was a patriot of the old school; not a flag-waver nor a drum-beater, nor yet the type of orator who makes the eagle soar and scream in tpublic discourse, while really striving only for effect, recog nition or reward. Governor Harley was not a man of the showy or flashy type; he was studious and refleative. Whatever came before him commanded his careful attention. Just as he an nounced, upon assuming the presi dency of the Senate, that he would not sign bob-tailed bills, so he gave to each problem, as it arose, the con sideration he thought it merited. Many of us have lost a friend, but our State has lost a high-minded son who gave his best to her service and, finally, died in her service. The Budget^ Commission has broad powers. It never used its preroga tives, even when by so doing it might have averted a deficit of two million dollars. But the power to reduce any or all appropriations is vested in thh Budget Commission by statute. It is re-enacted every year in the General Appropriation Act and is a broad grant of power, un less we regard it as a solemn farce for the purpose of hoodwinking the BEER BENEFITS THE NON DRINKER, TOO! BEER TAXES SWELL TREASURY f / { r RECEIPTS, AND /. fV/ REDUCE THE COSTS OF GOVERNMENT TO ALL OTHER SOUTH CAROLINA TAXPAYERS... BY % 1,668,000 A YEAR WAGES-INSTEAD OF THE COST OF KEEPING THOUSANDS ON RELIEF! How does beer help the non-drinker? The answer’s easy: j Taxes on beer — $1,668,000 a year in : South Carolina alone, a million dollars 1 a day nation-wide — reach back into every community. | These taxes in South Carolina help support the School Aid Fund. They ! help pay costs of government in the cities of 46 counties. Over the nation, they help pay for public works, fam ily relief, education ... and to lift a burden that would otherwise rest directly on every individual taxpayer in the country. Local merchants know that legal beer has provided 3,500 honest jobs in South Carolina, with an annual pay roll of $3,500,000. This money is spent for food, clothing, homes . . . right in this State . .. and thus beer makes all good business better! These are benefits which every public- minded citizen knows are worth pre serving. The South Carolina beer in dustry pledges its cooperation in keepirfk the places that sell beer as wholesome as beer itself. HOW YOU CAN HELP 'X, Patronize only legal and reputable places selling beer; they’re the great majority. Report others to responsible enforcement authorities. SOUTH CAROLINA BEER WHOLESALERS citizens of the State. The commis sion is also empowered to survey the State Government in order to propose reorganization, prevent duplication, multiplication and all that. It ii a very wise grant of power, but a sort of lackadaisical power over all State operations is that of the Budget Com mission. Through it, the Governor and his two associates, really can effectively participate in all the functions of the State government and all its institutions. Within recent years the Legisla ture has usurped most of the power of the Supreme Executixe Authori ty, as the constitution calls the Governor, but it is due largely to the acquiescence of the Governors in an unsound procedure. While our State Constitution shows a strange confusion of purpose, almost appear ing to be the work of two or three groups at cross-purposes, there is enough authority vested in the Gov ernor to make him a real factor in the Government of the State. Of course, if the Governor asserts his Constitutional prerogative he will clash with the Legislature; and, un fortunately, the courts may feel closer to the Legislature than to the Governor. But public opinion might become the determining factor, since the public looks with much disfavor on many of the practices of the law makers, particularly in such matters as extra pay, extra mileage, and equally, because of the election by the Legislature of its members to all the positions, from judgeships down. And there is a growing and deep resentment because the resolu tion to ratify the people’s will and mandate for biennial sessions has merely been played with and shunt ed about, as though the people’s voice in three solemn elections were of no importance whatsoever. There will be questions about Punitive Dam ages. It is hardly likely that the people of this State, business and labor uniting for restriction of Puni tive Damages, will just sit down with folded hands and do nothing. The Legislature has done nothing; its members, for the most part, have even declined to express themselves. Well, after all that has been said and witten about Punitive Damages; and after the demonstration in the House by a thousand citizens of the State, it is a safe guess that every candidate will meet that question in his race next summer. His own constituents may want an explana tion, for this issue has been raised in every county. A man snid to me last week: ‘‘Well the Legislature hasn’t done anything, after ail.” I think my friend a bit unfair to the legislators and I told him so. Of course, if you judge a Legislature or a Congress by the standards of a Board of Directos you will not think highly of our method of dispatching public busi ness. It may be said that all that has been accomplished so far might have been done in three or four meetings of directors, if the details had been threshed out in Committee, as was done for the House and Sen ate. In Directors’ meetings oratory is not encouraged, or even permitted; nor are the affairs of the corporation regarded as a sort of game. So we need not expect a legislative body to get down to brass tacks like a business group. But a legislature may do its most useful service some times by doing nothing. Legislatures are like people; some people are al ways in a FIDGIT, runnng about in circles, constantly doing something. Frequently they would be more useful if they were not so active. It is true of the Legislature, likewise. A hundred pestiferous bills might have been introduced which were not introduced; and a number of bills were introduced which have been put to sleep in Committee. So the Legislature deserves some praise for what it did not do. Of course, it is true that some good matters have been put to sleep. We still are not allowed credit on our income taxes for the income taxes paid to the Fed- eral Government; nor are we allowed to deduct our gasoline taxes; nor has anything really been done about bien nial session or punitive damages. In holding down undesirable le'' slation we have also been denied some very desirable measures. A distinguished member of the I 1 Classified Ads CORN FOR SALE;—2000 bushels or more Shelled and in shuck at Pros perity. Those in need of corn see me at once. I will only be in Prosperity for 2 weeks. Leo T. Adams. 6-2tp CERESAN—Get yours now and treat your seed early. JOHNSON- McCRACKIN, CO. 16-4t AUTO KEYS—Made while you wait at DAVIS MOTOR CO. LOOK HERE—Add 2000 to 3000 miles to the life of your tires by having them re-grooved, thereby cut ting out road friction which wears your tires so rapidly. DAVIS MOTOR COMPANY. Keep the Home Fires ~ -ning / GmcmmdlSXiKL C. T. Summer, Inc. To Relieve g ^ y f 'v Misery of A-J V-F JLa mJ LIQUID, TABLETS SALVE NOSE DROPS COUGH DROPS Try “RUB-MY-TISM” A Wonderful Liniment General Assembly tells with lamen tation that among the numerous employees in the service of the Se nate are several young men whose chief business it is to move about in the lobby and say to tie grave and dignified conscript fathers “ Won’t you please come in to the Senate Chamber”? Well, if the young men are successful I hope the matters I have referred to may recieve a little attention. If the plan of making a deep bow and in courtly manner soliciting the presence of a Senator should prove efficacious I hope it will be tried by the House. As an experi ment it might be tried out on the Judiciary Committee, whose hard working Chairman so seldom can count a quorum present for the public business. WE HAVE A NEW GOVERNOR —RICHARD MANNING JEFFRIES. Mr. Jeffries has represented Colle ton County in the Senate for some years. He has been regarded for years as a leader, even before as suming the Chairmanship of the Fin ance Committee, or the Presidency of the Senate. Governor Jeffries is a man of intellectual power, and he is what used to be called a go-getter. That is, he is energetic and unwav ering of purpose in carrying out any plan or program which he formu lates. As Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee he has steered that Committee and the Senate in the path of sound financing. GOVERNOR JEFFRIES is a man of independent thought. It is well to know that in this period of tense war emotion, he is quiet and calm-and not likely to be swept off his feet by any clamorous appeal or degree of hysteria. The assumption of the Governor ship by Mr. Jeffries will have import ant results in our State operations. The most powerful authority in South Carolina is the State Budget Commission It is composed of the Governor, the Chairman of the Fin ance Committee of the Senate and the Chairman of the Ways and Means Committee of the house. Mr. Jeffries, who as chairman of the Senate Finance Committee was a member of the Budget Commission, becomes Chairman of the Commission as Governor. But two vacancies were left When Mr. Winchester Smith was elected a Public Service Commissioner and Mr. Jeffries be came Governor. The two gentlemen who may be chosen as Chairman of the two Committees w'ill become members of the Budget Commission. Dr. Thomas H. Dreher of St. Mat hews has handed in his last manu script and joined the hosts beyond the River. I did not know the Doc tor as a physician, but all of us knew him as a frank writer, an editor 1 whose courage and straightforward ness lifted him from the ranks. Edi tors of Dr. Dreher’s type are too rare; the country needs them as al most never before. SAVING AND SERVING Are you one of the 15 million Americans who are already ar ranging voluntary to save something set aside from your enve lope or pay check every pay day? The Payroll Savings Plan for buying Defense Savings Bonds is sweeping the country, with 14,000 firms cooperating. People who always knew they ought to save a litle money, but somehow never did, now find it easy to request their em ployer to hold out a little each pay day so be used to buy a De fense Bond when the amount islargeenough. In that way they are able regularly to save money help fin ance the war, and combat inflation. It’s the regularity that does it. The treasury has set as its goal the enlistment of all the country’s 40,000,000 regularly employed workers in this volun tary plan. It is part of the fight, and part of the price of victory.—Green ville Piedmont. WHAT DO WE VALUE MOST? Yes the picture is dark and dreary and our path is beset by deadly peril, but the darkest hour is always just before the dawn. We will lose this war if we love any one thing more than we do liberty—and if we lose liberty, we also lose that one thing that we love more.—Williston Way. POULTRY LOADING Colored Hens, lb 17c Leghorn Hens, lb 13c Roosters, lb 7c Will Pay Market Prices tor Turkeys! Ducks and Geese, lb ... . 8c Capons, lb 18c Here Every Thursday from 8 until 10 a.m. Near Lake’s Machine Shop Greenville Poultry Co. Quality is the first rule in buying things to eat and drink at home. Nobody wants less. Coca-Cola has quality, — the quality of genuine goodness. Its taste has a thrill that is pleasantly exciting. Its refreshment satisfies. You trust its quality plus tax BOTTLED UNDER AUTHORITY OF THE COCA-COLA COMPANY BY NEWBERRY COCA-COLA BOTTLING COMPANY