The sun. [volume] (Newberry, S.C.) 1937-1972, April 22, 1949, Image 4
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PAGE
THE NEWBERRY SUN
FRJDAY, APRIL 22, 1949
1218 College Street
NEWBERRY, S. C.
0. F. Armfield
Editor and Publisher
PUBLISHED EVERY FRIDAY
Entered as second-class matter December 6, 1937,
at the Postoffice at Newberry, South Carolina, under
the Act of Congress of March 3, 1879.
SUBSCRIPTION RATES: In S. C., $1.50 per year
in advance outside S. C., $2.00 per year in advance.
COMMENTS ON MEN AND THINGS
BY SPECTATOR
Does a train thrill you?
Or are you one of those who
have never ridden on a train?
I sometimes stop on the high
way to look at a fast passen
ger train or a long freight.
There are questions we ask
about trains and railroading:
how many miles of track are
there on a given line? How
many engines does the Com
pany own? Everybody calls
a locomotive an engine. How
much does a coach cost? Well
I have before me a very hand
some booklet, a report from a
railroad company to its stock
holders. It is so handsomely
presented that I suspect the
^•mariagement of adroit adver
tising. But that would be en
tirely proper, even desirable.
Wtell, now, what about this
railroad, which shall not be
named? I repeat, the report
is handsomely printed and in
formatively presented.
The Company had a good
year in 1948, taking in more
money than ever before, I
think. It received as operat
ing revenue $175,098,789. What
' did it do with that money? It
cost 74.28% for ordinary opera
tion. The stock of that Com
pany can be bought for $13.00
a share, a total of $18,963,613
—10.8%. It is interesting to
observe that the Company
earned $5.00 per share of com
mon stock, but could not pay
it all out; it had to hold back.
a part for development. It
paid the stockholders $1.50 per!
share, as compared with $7.72'
pai ’ >. taxes per share. The
t? |iector takes five times
mor e per share than the own
er whor" money is the hazard
which makes the Company a
reality.
Because of the high taxes,
people with money do not
wish to buy stock. Each share
of stock represents a value of
$59.09, but the public is will
ing to pay only $13.00 per
share, and is not scrambling
in a wild rush to buy at that
figure, even.
The Company is owned by
27,266 stockholders and employs
23.541 men and women.
This railroad owns 2,229 miles
of track.
Maintenance, or upkeep, is
very expensive. This Company
spent nearly $73,000,000 in
eight years to keep tracks, road
bed, rolling stock and build
ings in order.
Not everything is peaches
and cream for the railroads.
Fuel and materials advanced
19% during 1948 and are now
100% above the prices of 1939.
During 1948 it cost about
$20,000,000 to maintain tracks,
roadbeds and buildings. Tak
ing some of the items of ex
pense Jpy percentage, the main
tenance of roadbed and build
ings consumed 11.3% of rev
enue; maintaining rolling stock
15.8%. The transportation cost
was 40.6%.
How much business was han
dled? Nearly 48 million tons
of freight and more than 8,-
000,000 passengers. The report
shows that a train usually haul
ed about 3,500 tons; and the
haulage was for about 241 miles
a car travelling about 56%
miles per day. The average
passenger travelled 29.37 miles.
They get the facts boiled down,
don’t they?
Do the railroads really suffer
-rom the high cost of living,
or operating? A box car now
costs $5,000, instead of $2,500
Flowers and Gifts for All Occasions
CARTER’S
Day Phone 719 — Nig-ht 6212
as it cost a few years ago. A
6,000 horsepower diesel-electric
locomotive costs over $650,000
And there’s the rub, as Shakes
peare says. If a locomotive
cost $300,000 ten years ago, and
the Company set aside $30,000
a year for 10 years to buy a
new one, where is the Com
pany, in what condition, when
the new one costs $650,000—
and more? This Company now
owns, and has ordered, 153
Diesels.
The Company has provided
instantaneous four-way radio
telephone communication be
tween trains and stations.
It is interesting to note that
the Company is constructing
13 buildings for bunkrooms,
rest room:. etc., to improve
working conditions of the em
ployees.
Breaking down the- report
here is vv’hat happens to the
revenue dollar received by the
Company! 43.3% for wages—
7.3% for supplies—7.0% for
fuel—4.0% for depreciation of
roadbed and equipment—10.8%
for taxes—5.7% for Common
stock dividends, improvements,
retirement of debt, etc.
How much money is invested
in this railroad Company?
$360,496,051.
President Truman’s persist
ence in demanding increased
taxes reminds me of a man
trying to explain something to
a lady. It can’t be done—not
by a mere man. After he ex
hausts all the logic and the
persuasiveness of his silver
tongue , and builds up a case
beyond all question, the lady
asks the original question. Isn’t
it so? Mr. Truman wants a four
billion dollar increase and will
still ask for it, though the
whole world crash in utter
failure.
I’m not fully informed about
th e Truman proposal to change
the farm program, but the pro
test of Mr. Agnew of Anderson
deserves careful consideration.
Some critics say that the pro
posed new plan would give to
the Government larger and
stronger controls. That, I
think, should be opposed, even
if the opposition should destroy
every form of Government aid.
Our Nation is in the hands of
a lot of bright people who
spend days and nights planning
for us. All this clearly carries
with it Government regulation
and bureaucratic controls which
eventually may result in a de
gree of Russianized manage
ment that will maks us mere
puppets of governing groups.
Dollars and cents are valu
able, but the liberty of the peo
ple is more valuable. This Na
tion would be a finer country
on hog and hominy, with inde
pendence, than on the richer
foods and delicacies of pam
pered palates, with a cringing
dependence on the Government.
We have been slow to un
derstand that when we seek
Government money for good
projects, we let the Govern
ment come into our Affairs, so
that the principle of Govern
ment aid becomes Government
regulation and Government
control.
The proposal to increase the
educational budget by four mil
lion dollars may be the same as
proposing to increase the fam
ily spending by a considerable
sum. One’s wife may do very
well with a $50 suit and a $100
fur, until she finds that a
neighbor has a $1000 fur. Then
the trouble begins. But how is
a $100 man to buy a thousand
dollar fur? His wife may be
the most beautiful and grace
ful and gracious lady in the
town, but the coldly efficient
banker will not smile at over
drafts for that reason. So, the
price of the Easter bonnet and
the Christmas fur may be de
cided by one’s income Natur
ally one solution would be to
let the husband be a bit shab
by so he may rejoice in the
elegance of the wife; but even
though the husband buy noth
ing at all, and go about with
shining suit and frayed cuffs,
the family budget may not
stand the strain of the new
thousand-dollar fur—So then—!
Perhaps the General Assem
bly might solve its problems
by deciding on the total which
may be spent, then hewing to
the line within that sum. ‘
Beyond a doubt our State
has the Socialistic urge. We
are in the early stages, but we
are advancing rapidly. We ac
cept as proper fields for Gov
ernment activity many forms
of public aid that are like bot
tomless pits for the public mon
ey. Just at the moment we
want a hospital in every com
munity. The physicians could
build and operate small hos
pitals, enlisting local capital.
Taking our population as a
whole, only a small percentage
of the people go to hospitals;
and those who pay can go a
hundred miles as well as thir
ty. If five per cent of the peo
ple go to hospitals, about nine
ty per cent go to stores. Shall
we operate stores for the nine
ty per cent? If we do, we be
come like Communists.
It would be profitable to do
more sound basic thinking and
less of the casual, unthinking
acceptance of what some group
advocates.
“Why should it be thought
a thing incredible with you,
that God should raise the
dead?” Paul, the Apostle, asks
the question.
Easter is just ahead of us.
It celebrates an event of the
most intimate concern to every
one, for each one hopes to have
an Easter in his life, when he,
too, shall rise from the dead.
Death is just a phase of life.
We go from one existence to
another, throwing off the body
as no longer necessary, and en
tering upon a new activity, a
higher life. The Resurrection
tells every soul that the grave
is •just an incident in the
stream of life, that “dust thou
art, to dust returnest, was not
spoken of the Soul.”
In the sweetness of Tenny
son we find the universal
faith: “Thou wilt not leave us
in the dust: Thou maddest
man, he knows not why. He
thinks he was not made to die;
And thou hast made him: thou
are just.”
On all other questions we
may have two opinions, or
more: one this we can have
but one: “As in Adam all die,”
—that we know. Everywhere
the graveyards stand mute wit
nesses to fleeting glory, to end
ed life among us; then, “Even
so in Christ shall be made
alive.”
All the days lead to this—
the triumph of Jesus and His
promise of salvation—the most
intimate and vital concern of
every soul.
The General Assembly of
South Carolina has much to
do, but it should take time to
study the offer to operate the
Santee-Cooper as a non-profit
enterprise for the benefit of
the State. This is not matter
for small-time politics; it is
proposal which the State should
accept. The State would re
ceive $1,800,000 more than it
has received any year; and
the counties could count on the
same tax revenue from the
Santee-Cooper that any private
power company pays. All the
illusion of great income to the
State from the Santee-Cooper,
as now operated, should be
dissipated by the record; we
do not receive any benefit of
any sort from the Santee-Coop
er comparable to the benefits
received from the private pow
er companies. Even if the San-,
tee-Cooper could produce a re
spectable public revenue it
would be destroying existing
companies which now pay in
taxes $5,603,354.71 to the var
ious agencies.
We should study this as a
matter of practical business
and not delude ourselves with
vague words and misty mean
ing.
Every political effort to
block the offer made by the
power companies will be made,
but the State should not yield
mildly and unprotestingly to
political maneuvers: the State
of South Carolina and the pow
er business of the State are
not the private possession of
any one man, nor of any group.
The people should demand pub
lic hearings on the proposal.
Either the Governor or some
Committee Chairman should
grant a hearing.
Public services always tend
to get out of hand, to grow
overlarge, and to become, en
trenched bureaucracies. Every
public service renders some de
gree of public benefit, but
some public services might be
dispensed with, and some
others might be deeply cut. We
multiply the obligation of the
State, just as the service of
the Federal Government has
swollen enormously inefficient,
extravagantly.
Why must the State or the
Nation or the Counties operate
hospitals? Why not sell coal
and groceries, shoes, gasoline?
Why not operate millinery
shops, sell fertilizer and seed?
Why must any unit of govern
ment operate power plants and
hospitals rather than drug
stores, beef markets and chic
ken farms! Why do we plunge
into somethings all the time?
The position taken by Sena
tors Maybank and Johnston is
so eminently sensible that we
wonder why even Mr. Truman
does not see it. If prices are
off ten percent we should trim
the foreign aid at least ten per
cent. There is neither patriot
ism nor commonsense in in
sisting on the original figure
as though it were sacred in it-
telf. Frankly I think much of
our foreign aid is money was
ted, because it has encouraged
reliance on us, on the American
taxpayers, rather than on
themselves. If all the billions
given by this country ar e still
not enough then the method
of our disbusements must have
MAYER-FOLK ENGAGEMENT
IS ANNOUNCED
Of much interest is th e en
gagement of Betty Dunn Mayer
and Daniel Paul Folk, II, of
Denmark and McCormick.
Betty is the daughter of Mr.
and Mrs. George Lawson Ma
yer, her mother being the for
mer Sa^ph Buzhardt. She at
tended the Newberry city
been extremely bad; or the
political policies have been
mostly sadly inept and bungle-
some.
schools and is now a student
at Newberry College.
Paul is the son of Mr. and
Mrs. William Rudolph Folk of
Denmark. His mother was the
former Pauline Wells of Wa-
chulla, Florida. He graduated
from Denmark High School and
entered Clemson college im
mediately afterwards. Last
year he attended Newberry
College.
The wedding will take place
on May 13th.
gw-M
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How to protect your child
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Cancer can strike anyone,
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