The sun. [volume] (Newberry, S.C.) 1937-1972, September 21, 1945, Image 4
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THE NEWBERRY SUN
FRIDAY, anr-iravuiFK 21, 1945
1218 College Street
NEWBERRY, SOUTH CAROLINA
0. F. ARMFIELD
Editor and Publisher
Published Every Friday In The Year
Entered as second-class matter
December 6, 1937, at tht postoffice
at Newberry, South Carolina, under
the Act of Congress of March 3, 1879.
SPECTATOR
President Truman recommends to
Congress that this country cancel the
debt for the lend-lease. This country
has shipped to Great Britain, Rus
sia and other nations about $43,000,-
000,000. We have received in re
turn about $5,600,000,000 The dif
ference is a small mattear, a mere
$37,000,00^.000, more or less. Thirty-
seven billion dollars!
This proposal should not surprise
anyone; it is what most of us pre
dicted. But let’s look into it a bit.
Thirty-seven billion dollars is quite a
sum of money. It is ten billions more
than the entire cost of the First
World War. Following that war the
nations owed us eleven billions. They
still owe it, with interest. Quite
apart from our will, that is a can
celled debt. Ye must not think of
getting any of that back, except the
small part owed by Finland.
President Truman tells us that this
was spent in a common undertaking
and that most of it was spent here.
Yes, we have almost robbed the next
generation by taking what was on
the surface and what was under the
surface. But we didn’t win the war
merely by lending thirty seven bil
lion dollars; we sent millions of men
and we spent $200,000,000,000 our
selves Thousands of graves through
out the world tell the story of Ameri
ca’s great war enterprise; thousands
of maimed and enfeebled men prove
America’s participation on the fields
of battle. Heavy taxes, almost pro
hibitive taxes, still rest on the pro
ducing enterprises of the nation.
Where did this money come from?
Was it a surplus in the Treasury?
Not so; but from the sale of bonds
and the virtually oppressive taxation.
And it is not yet ended Mr. Tru
man would wipe the slate clean for
those who owe us, but this Govern
ment will pay seven hundred million
dollars in interest every year until
Gabriel blows the trumpet on just
this Lend-lease which Mr. Truman
would brush aside a small matter
between friends This nation will
have to pay interest on about $250,-
000,000,000 until time shall be no
more—at least five billions a year,
which you, your children, their
children—and down the line, must
pay.
What did we do? We saved Brit
ain; we gave great and timely aid
to Russia; we played the major part
in redeeming France and beating
the Germans; we beat the Japanese,
recovered the Asiatic dominions of
Britain, France and Holland. What
do we get? We get nothing—as
usual, but the happy privilege of
saddling our people with an enor
mous debt in perpetuity.
Those of us who recall the propa
ganda used against America, follow
ing the First World War, foresaw
all this. We knew that the cry would
go up by both our debtors and some
of our people—that there wasn’t
enough gold in the v/orld to pay the
debt; that if our debtors paid us in
goods it would ruin our own produc
tive enterprises. But nobody told the
nation the truth; it was all a loan
on a lease, with the title still held
by us
Frankness compels me to say that
there is truth in both statements,
but we of this country must pay the
interest and redeem those bonds. We
must do that. Our Government can
cancel oun debt to other nations, but
it can’t cancel the debt of billions to
its own people.
At the very least, we should have
received all islands near our coasts
and near the Panama Ganal. Britain,
France and Denmark own islands
that could dominate our coasts. We
did not even negotiate for our own
protection We did not even insist on
and require strict equality in many
other matters of interest to our peo
ple.
Why did we get into this war?
Let us recall the facts before the
propagandists begin their campaign.
Many months before the attack on
Pearl Harbor, President Roosevelt
was actively helping Britain. Not one
but a thousand acts of war he com-
mitte* while we were at peace with
Germany. I must admit that those
of us who love old Britain were not
disposed to see her overrun and de
spoiled by Hitler. Facts are hard
to deny A fact is a thing done.
America openly sympathized with,
and powerfully aided, Britain long
before we were at war. We deliber-
ateljr, then, prepared for war in our
diplomacy, though we were asleep at
Pearl Harbor.
My point is that from the begin
ning we were helping others. Now
we talk about equality of sacrifice
and cancellation of their debt to us,
though we must pay that debt to our
selves, and we must care for the
maimed soldiers, the widows and or
phans.
The question Who was to blame at
Pearl Harbor? will not down. One
Board of Inquiry suggests that Gen
eral Marshall, the Chief of Staff of
the Army,—in Washington—was not
entirely free of blame. The Presi
dent and the Secretary of War ex
onerate General Marshall—as well
they might.
Let us look at this just as plain
men in the street, without uniform
or rank or military aptitude. How
does it look?
Where does General Marshall come
in? President Roosevelt and Secre.
tarv Hull were negotiating with
Japanese envoys in Washington when j
our flee^ was almost destroyed at
Pearl Harbor. So far as I recall,
President Roosevelt did not give
General Marshall special orders; ,
President Roosevelt, the man who
was best informed, was himself tak-1
en by surprise So why blame Gen
eral Marshall? But that does not in
any manner or in any degree excuse
Admiral Kimmel and General Short.
To say that everybody was to blame;
or that the whole nation was at
fault, is mere piffle, and a failure to
look at conditions realistically.
Since the great words of the day
are Realist, Realistic, let’s be realis
tic and look at realities. General
Short is a soldier; Admiral Kimmell
is a man of the sea. I assume that
every ship had men on watch. Sure
ly that was taught the Admiral when
he was a cadet. General Short must
have had even the same elementary
knowledge. If both garrison and
fleet were alert—by any standard-
why were they caught so ignomini-
ously? And they had planes, too.
Why keep planes on the ground? The
average Sumter County farmer would
have had his men on guard, if he had
suddenly been put in commhnd of the
fleet.
We have believed all these years
that a ship of war is always alert—
always on guard. So to us in the
street, Admiral Kimmel and General
Short did not have to wait for or
ders from Washington; they had cer
tain elementary duties, which they
failed to perform, one inust assume.
Of course it will be pointed out
.that President Roosevelt liked to fan
cy himself Lord High Admiral and
run everything from Washington;
but even Mr Roosevelt did not tell
an Admiral or a General when to
maintain “look-outs” a s ordinary
precautionary measure, even in time
of peace.
Charleston is our great port; it is
one of America’s greatest ports.
Consider this splendid war record:
The Navy 'f'ard built 209 ships and
serviced (rebuilt or repaired, too)
1359 American and Allied ships. The
Navy Yard employed 26,200 Civilian
employees. The Port of Embarka
tion handled three million tons of
war supplies. 75,000 wounded sol
diers came to the Charleston Army
Hospital (Stark). The Charleston
Shipbuilding Company built 33 fleet
tugs. The South Carolina Power
Company’s busses carried, from Jan
uary 1, 1942 to July 1, 1945,—131,-
226,153 passengers. Charleston now
has one of the Sou.'.h’s finest air
fields.
The value of manufactured pro
ducts of Charleston County, exclu
sive of Navy Yard and Shipbuilding
Co.,—increased from $31,758,609 in
1940 to $74,365,972 in 1944. The Navy
Yard paid in wages in 1944—$68,000,-
000—quite an industry. Other wages
—by Industrial and Service, Whole
sale and Retail establishments—to
talled $23,931,148—a grand total of
$91,931,148 for the year.
It is small wonder that we could
hardly get about the streets of the
old city for the press of the crowd
eager to buy something.
Perhaps you saw the houses going
up in every nook, corner, field, lot or
piece of woods. The record shows
that 10,548 houses were built and
300 are now under construction. If
we assume an average of four to the
house, we shall have more than 40,-
000 people. Add to this the rooms in
which three or four slept in the day
time and three or four different peo
ple in the nighttime, and you’ll begin
to have a picture of Charleston dur
ing the Second World War. Thou
sands of men in all the services were
there in uniform, of course, and oth
er thousands came by every sort or
type of vehicle from farms, towns,
cities a hundred miles away.
The task for us South Carolinians
is to maintain Charleston as a great
port. This is of importance to us as
a State. If we will think clearly and
act together we can compete through
our great port with the world.
The great, the immediate and
pressing problem, is to create work.
Everybody who thinks at all will ad
mit that. Our trouble in America is
that we do too much unguided, un
based thinking—and get nowhere.
We need work; we need jobs. All
well and good; but does any one think
that the problem is so simple that
we can solve it merely by putting
men on the payroll of existing plants,
whether they need men or not? Try
this out on yourself:! if you operate
a small office can you take on three
or five men, just for the privilege of
paying salaries? If you have a
small store can you employ five or
ten new men? If you operate a
farm—a two-horse farm—can you
guarantee wages to four or five men,
in addition to a full crew that you
now have? Can you just invent jobs
and pull the wages out of the air?
Clearly, then, we must have need for
men. That means that men with
money must invest their surplus in
productive enterprises, so that men
can earn wages by useful, neces
sary work. How can a man invest a
surplus if he has no surplus?
Tlje Saturday Evening Post, of
Sept. 1, publishes a table as an edi
torial. It shows in figures what a
man has after paying his taxes. If
the Government takes it all, who will
risk his money in investment?
We need jobs, based on investment.
We need investment based on the
chance to make a profit. Otherwise,
let’s all go to Russia.
SAM BURNS IN HOSPITAL
Sam Burns, who entered Duke
hospital at Durham, N. C., Monday,
September 10, under went a major
operation the following Wednesday.
His condition is report to be good.
G. I. LIFE AT UNIVERSITY IN
FLORENCE, ITALY
Cpl. Ben Anderson, who has been
recently attending the University
Study Center at Florence, Italy, af
ter being in service in the Italian
theater for about two years with the
347th (Bomb Squadron, writes inter
estingly about the university as he
saw it while he studied there, us in
a recent issue of “The Runway”
which is published in the interest of
the 847th Bombardment Squadron
(heavy) and the 99th Bombardment
Group (heavy).
“In Newsweek magazine a short
time ago, there was a n article on the
G. I. University in Florence, Italy.
All of the fellows, WACs and Nurses
interviewed by the Newsweek corres
pondent agreed that this was about
the best deal to be had so far in the
Army.
“The University is located about
two milek from Florence in a former
Facist aeronautical school. The build
ings are of modern architecture;
large and roomy with tile showers
and toilets—nearly all of the com
forts of home. (Ah! The wonderful
sound of pushing a lever and hearing
a toilet flush!)
“The grounds around the Universi
ty are beautiful. Lots of tall, shade
trees—green grass growing every
where with flower gardens scattered
over the campus. One thing the
‘Dust Eaters’ of Foggia will appre
ciate in particular is the fact that
you can stand in a mild breeze; take
a deep breath and no dust! Just
plain fresh air coming from the
mountains that skirt Florence.
“The academic precedure at the
school is fairly easy. Upon arriv
ing, you register and choose your
courses—you don’t necessarily have
to take the same courses that you
signed up for at your outfit. When
registering, under the guidance of
trained personnel, you can choose
any course that you like. After fill
ing out a dozen G. I. forms, you are
on your way for a month of school
ing.
“Three one-hour courses a day in
academic studies and one hour of P.
T. are compulsory. Classes are held
at various hours throughout the day
and you can arrange your schedule
the best way seen fit. The P. T. is
the kind you take and enjoy at the
same time: Swimming, tennis, horse
back riding, softball, etc.
“Besides the Red Cross the Uni
versity recently added a beer and
coke garden. The P. X. sells you
beer and coke chits and anytime you
feel in need of an ice-cold glass of
suds or coke, you take the quickest
path under the shade trees to the
beer garden.
“The pass situation is ‘molte
Buono’—you have a class ‘A’ pass
and can go into Florence anytime
you aer not required to be at school
or studying. However, two cuts in
a class and you’ll find your — back
in the Foggia dust bowl. On Sat
urday and Sunday (classes end on
Friday) you can get a weekend pass
and visit the surrounding cities of
Pisa, Siena and Bologna.
“And last, but by no means, the
least—the Signerine. The women are
‘molte Carine’—just ask some of the
fellows that watched the moon come
up over the Amo!”
GOVERNOR ASKS SUPPORT OF
DRYS
Columbia, Sept .14—Support from
prohibitionists of South Carolina for
a state liquor store plan to “cut this
liquor ring down to size” was asked
today by Gov. Ransome J. Williams, j
Asserting at a press conference |
l that “the liquor interests still are
making an outrageous profit despite
our new control laws,” Williams
said “the liquor interests now have
the most powerful political ring in
the history of the state.
“We’ll never get prohibition, but
if the temperance forces will back
the state liquor store plan, we might
pass that next year
“That’s the only way we can cut
this liquor ring down to size.”
Williams was commenting on a
State Tax Commission report that
there now were 617 retail liquor
stores in South Carolina, more than
the 605 operated when revised con
trols werel enacted by the 1945. legis
lature.
The new controls prohibit family
or business relationships between
retailers and wholesalers, and
among retailers, and Williams had
hoped, he said, that the “excessive”
number of retail stores operating
several months ago “would be re
duced.'”
Williams issued his appeal to pro
hibitionists on the assumption, he
said, that legislative dry forces
would resort to the practice of past
re-election sessions, of pushing a
bone dry prohibition bill, and get
ting roll call votes to put all mem
bers on record as wets or drys.
“The liquor interests are too
strong for the prohibition forces,
but with the aid of the prohibition
ists, I believe we can give South
Carolina temperance through a state
store plan,” Williams said.
“Further,’’ he added, "we can re
duce the unholy profits the liquor
ring is making—410,000,000 a year
on $35,000,000 worth of legal busi
ness, while the state draws less than
$6,000,000 in taxes.
“We’re just licensing and making
legal, excessive profits from a poten
tial source of evil.”
LUBRICATION
CHARTS -
FOR TRUCK AND TRACTOR
By following a Sinclair Lubrication Chart for your
tractor and truck you’ll save time, wear and break
downs. Sinclair Charts are prepared by Sinclair
engineers in cooperation with tractor and truck
manufacturers. They show what parts need lubri
cating, how often to lubricate and what lubricants
to use.
Phone or write us the make and model of your
tractor and truck and we’ll gladly give you a free
chart for each.
SINCLAIR FARM OILS
LF7 ME DELIVER TO YOUR FARM
S. C. Paysinger, Agent
OZRO H. SWYGERT DIES
Ozro H. Swygert died early Fri
day morning at a Columbia hospital
rfter an extended illness. He was
59 years of age.
Mr. Swygert was a native of Peak,
a son of the late John C. and Anna
Swygert. He had lived most of his
life in Peak.
For more than 20 years Mrs. Swy
gert was in the employ of the South
ern railroad and had retired from
this connection a few years ago on
account of %is health. He was a
devoted member of Mt. Hermon
Lutheran church.
Mr. Swygert is survived by his
wife, Mrs. Lillie V. Swygert and one
sister Mrs. W. P. Timmerman.
Funeral services were held Satur
day afternoon at 3 o’clock from his
late residence with,Rev. D. M. ShulU
conducting the service. He was
buried in the family cemetery at
Peak.
SOUTHERN RAILWAY GOING
AFTER BUSINESS
Atlanta, Sept. 14.—Ernest E. Nor
ris, president of the Southern rail
way, said here today that his road
intended to go after postwar busi
ness in a big way.
He said the Southern had 12 new
6,000 horsepower electric diesels for
freight runs and on order are six
3,000 horsepower diesels for passen
ger runs and 30 for work in yards.
He said he was very enthusiastic
over the new speeded - up freight
runs to be inaugurated by the South
ern with heavy diesel equipment.
These will be started October 1.
LOCAL FIRMS NEED HELP
All employed workers in Newberry
and adjacent communities are re
quested to contact the U. S. Employ
ment Service at 1015 Caldwell street,
as textile workers, sales clerks, car
penters, garment workers, and lab
orers are urgently needed by local
firms.
Acid Indigestion
Relieved in 5 minutes or
double your money beck
When excess stomach add causes painful, suffocat
ing gas. sour stomach and heartburn, doctors usually
prescribe the fastest-actins medicines known for
symptomatic relief—medicines like thotffe In Bell-ana
Tablets. No laxative. Bell-ana brings comfort In a
Jiffy or double your money back on return of bottle
to us. 25e at all druggists.
HELP WANTED
Experienced and inexperienced Sewing
machine operators.
Apply at
HALLMARK MFG. CORP.
319 Caldwell St. Newberry, S. C.
Notice!
Johnson-McCrackin company announces that after
34 years of operation as a grocery and farm supply store,
it has closed its store-room on Main street and will with
draw from the grocery field.
We wish to express our thanks for your patronage
over these long years.
Farm Implements
and Trucks
At our newly remodeled building on Thompson
street we will devote our time and energies to supplying
the farmers of Newberry county with McCormick-Deering
farm machinery and parts, and businesses of all kinds
with the famous International trucks.
Having pioneered in the field of farm machinery
in this county we feel that we are particularly fitted to
render a real service to farmers.
Call on us at our Thompson street location; we
will be glad to see you.
Johnson-McCrackin
Company