Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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FRIDAY, MARCH U, 1944 THE SPECTATOR THE NEWBERRY SUN PAGE FIVE The 0. P. A. will expire June 30. Congress wil. probably renew some features of price control, but it prob ably will study carefully any bill which may be presented. Moat of us are familiar with the control of gasoline, food, shoes, and other articles of common use, but the Price Control Act, like so many Acts prepared by the brain-trusters, rides rough-shod over the people, and creates within the to|>-heavy bureaucracy a lot of young tyrants who act as though the people had no rights. As a part of our system in Ameri ca a man may always carry his trou bles to court; certainly he may go to court for redress of grievances. Under the O. P. A. law, “No court. Federal or State, has any jurisdic tion to consider the validity of an order or regulation except a special court called the Emergency Court of Appeals, which sits in Washington. The Constitution certainly implies that all Federal cases shall be tried in the State in which the cause of action arises. It prescribes trials by jury within the district, etc. No one could forsee the manifold activities of the Federal Government, but the readiness of the courts to hear grievances is a part of our political foundation. I doubt the validity of any law which would require a man to carry his case to Washington, ex cept on ap'*eal before the Supreme Court. The practice of depriving a citizen of resort to the courts is entirely un- American. The reason for having Federal District Courts is for the convenience of the citizens; it brings the protecting arm of the Govern ment close to them. Congrress should repeal all its acts which confer broad, judicial powers j and legislative piwers, too, on the Executive. We are a timid people; and ’ o'-ds can strike terror to our hearts. When I was a child at sehocl I was told that the pen is mightier than the sword. As is true of children mv imagination would net grrsr that, for I saw before the eye of my mind the knight of the mi'He ages astride his great horse and brandishing his long sword. With that picture of glamorous chivalry before me I co dd not conceive of a pen in com-1 petition with a sword. The pen was held by a man in some little cell or dark corner, while the sword flashed on the field of battle in deeds that thrilled the world. I know that no man could walk into the halls of our Legislature with a sword and terrify the members. A dozen men would rush upon him, disarm him, and ren- j der him helpless before their courage and strength. But, alas! A few words written with a pen put to flight most of the legislators. We will concede the vigor and valor of our law makers; many of them served in the first World War with credit and distinction; and some are serving today in the home guard, ready to quell uprisings at home; but at the sight of a little ink, drip ping from a pen, they fell down in mortal terror. Now what is all this about? Sena tor Rowland and Mr. Senseney, both mild-mannered, amiable and well- meaning gentlemen, introduced bills to provide a State Ballot. And the result was what? Abject fear that the foundations of the State would be tom asunder and the sovereignty of dear old Carolina would be trail ed in the dust. I know now that a small pen can do what all the cannon and bayonets and bombs of the enemy could not do —put the Legislature to rout. This is one of the most interesting studies of fear and prejudice I have ever known. A simple bill, about a simple matter, presented simply, and capable of a simple solution of a simple problem aroused opposition that was almost incredible. I think the solution of all the trou ble mig'ht have been arranged by a mere item in some bill, without any explanation at all. When some one tried to explain it, the explanation brought about the difficulty. Whait harm could possibly come from having the State provide an of ficial ballot? It is manifestly its duty to do so, and the failure to do so is one of those little incidents which, make many people believe that popular governments are a fail- There ha sheen much agitation for the Australian Ballot, or a Secret Ballot for the General Election. Un fortunately the expressions “AUS- TRAUAN” and “SECRET” have so confused many of our people that they have come to believe that this is something dangerous and foreign. I have been amazed at the complete lack of information about this which has served to arouse strong preju dice. One very distinguished lawyer in high official position told me that he was opposed to the Australian or Secret Ballot because it would let down various bars and cause the people of a county to vote for a Re publican for Sheriff. A considerable number of the most intelligent men in the State have so expressed them selves against this Secret or Austra lian Ballot that we must recognize as a fact the profound and widespread misinformation among many of our best people. I think the best approach to this question is to omit such words as “SECRET” and “AUSTRALIAN” from the discussion. What is it that we advocate? Simply that the State in its official character prepare and distribute the balots for the General Election, since IT calls the eleation, appoints and pays the managers, re ceives and counts the ballots, declares the result officially, and officially makes it effective. Our accomplished and courteous Secretary of State, Mr. W. P. Black- well, and I made quite a study of this simple matter and our conclu sion was, after studying the laws of many states, that the only thing that our State ned do was to direct that the Secretary of State should print ! and circulate the ballots for the Gen eral Election. Obviously that raises ! the question HOW SHALL THE SECRETARY OF STATE DETER MINE WHAT NAMES TO PUT ON ; THE BALLOT? Mr. Blackwell and j I wrested with that and this is our i conclusion which seems to us to be I as plain as day: I 1. That any political party might j submit its candidates if that party j I polled 15 per cent of the total vote I in the most recent General Election, j Now how about other parties? In order to be legal the State cannot dis- j | criminate either between parties or ; against parties. We did not think it would help matters to have every | handful of people call themselves a' ■narty; so we worked out this expe dient: 2. The Secretary of State should include the names of any persons ' which may be submitted by a petition i signed by 1,000 qualified and regis- [ tered electors of the State. That provision would rule out all the little two-by-four and fly-by- night groups. One of the most prominent offi cials of the State raised an objection to the State Ballot on the ground that it would be too long, too cmpli- . cated, fo rthe average citizen to un derstand. He evidently overlooked i the present law of the State which ' prescribes three State Ballots: (a) For Senators and Representa- : tives in Congress and Presidential i Electors. That is one ballot and it could not be very long or confusing. (b) One for State Officers. (c) One For Constitutional Amend ments. This is the law of the State today and is found in the Code of 1942, Volume 2, Section 2304. As will be seen, there is nothing difficult, or dangerous, or confusing about this. It is something we should do without fail, because the State must handle its General Elections as official State Elections in order to be free from challenge in the Fed eral Courts. Two bills are pending, both con taining the points mentioned above. One in the Senate by Senator Row land, is now on the floor, having been reported out of Committee; The other in the House by Repre sentative Senseney of Charleston— a much shorter bill than that of Sen ator Rowland but containing the same points. ANOTHER INCOME TAX PAY MENT DUE APRIL 15 Washington, Mar. 15—Whew! So you’re glad that’s over! Well, mister, do your income tax celebrating in a hurry. The mail man is practically on his way with another form for you. You’re on his calling list if you’re | one of the 15,000,000 Americans who get caught by the estimating pro cedure of the pay-as-you-go tax law. They are single persons who earn more than $2,700 and married persons with incomes over $3,500— too high to be covered fully by pay roll withholding. N The Treasury hasn’t taken the wraps off its new forms yet—quite frankly to give the paying public a 'breather after the most complicated i returns they’ve ever struggled with. But they’ll be made public Sunday and go into the mails immediately, with an April 15 filing deadline, , just one month after tonight’s in- ] come tax deadline. HAZEL BOUKNIGHT Hazel Bouknight of the Oakland /community died Friday after a pro longed illness. He was 42 years of age - ' I Mr. Bouknight is survived by his I ! wife and the following children, 'Tommie Bouknight of Newberry, Robert Bouknight in the armed ser- i vices and Mrs. Heyward Evans, of Indian Head, Md., also his mother, Mrs. Alice Bouknight and the follow ing sisters: Mrs. C. N. Hayes, Spar tanburg, Mrs. Fred Jenkins, Mrs. Frank Wheeler, Mrs. Vera Arial and < Mrs. Roy Davenport of Newberry. “For A State Ballot” The State of South Carolina has coirip'lete charge of the General Election. We have Democratic Pri mary Elections and could have pri mary elections for other parties; but the real decision is the General Elec tion which is called, financed, man aged by the State; and the result is declared officially by the State in its sovereign official capacity. Most South Carolinians pay so little attention to the General Elec tion that they even fail to ask for registration certificates from the County Boards of Registration. They think of the Democratic Primary as the election: and even citizens of the State in public office sometimes con fuse the rules of the Democratic Primary with the election laws of the State. The Democratic Primary is nothing but a vote among Democrats to de termine which Democrat shall rep resent the Democratic Party in the General Election. The State has fail ed for many years to prepare the bal lot for the General Election; and the different, or various political parties print ballots and circulate them at the polls for the voters. This is a bad practice, because the State is holding the election, not a political party; and we must distinguish sharply between the official election and the so-caled Party or Democra tic Election—which is only a Party choice and not an election. boy cries "Mother •-‘A ^ T HERE are some wounds no drugs can heal, some longings that can be answered only by a mother’s touch. Yet now, when your boy needs you more than ever, you cannot be at his side. But wait . . . There is one way in which you reach him, reach him when he needs you most. That way is through the Red Cross— your Red Cross, still the Greatest Mother in the World. In a strange town he will always find the helping, smiling Red Cross worker. And by his bed—should he be hit—she’ll sit and do a mother’s job ... write letters for him... read to him... bring him flowers . . . the little "homey” things that make a great difference. Rest easy, mother, when you think of him. Always remember that wherever he may be your Red Cross is by his side. * * * You have given your sons. You have done the extra work—donated your blood and bought your bonds. Yes, and you have helped the Red Cross before—gen erously and with a glad, will ing heart. GIVE TO THE + RED CROSS Giving to the Red Cross has always been a great proud habit of thirty million American families . . . proud that thev could give . . . proud of Red Cross that made the giving worthwhile. But this year the need is greater than it has ever been in the past. This year we serve more than eleven million Americans on every fighting front the whole world over. So this year give once again—give freely—give to your oum Red Cross and to your oum sons in the service. This year dig deep and be glad you can give and be at his side when he needs you. For wherever he is The RED CROSS is at his side a/u/ the Ret/ Cross is YOU! Oakland Plant KENDALL MILLS Mollohon Plant