The sun. [volume] (Newberry, S.C.) 1937-1972, December 23, 1949, Image 2
THE NEWBERRY SUN
Sun
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
lawyers before the Boards and
Commissions of the State. It
is a bad practice because the
legislator had undue' influence
bad or so nervous that calm since he may cast a vote for
What is the matter with us?
The newspapers tell us day by
av of scares and alarms and
crimes. Have we become so
and repose are impossible? Or,
is it that everything is now
played up by the papers and
radio commentators?
Almost every day I rejoice
in my citizenship in South Car
olina. Here we are far from
the “madding crowd’s ignoble
strife.” as Shakespeare says.
But just as I feel the pride of
my Carolina background—and
present, and foreground, too—
1 hear something unwholesome
about this State. We have no
big bosses who can issue orders
to their underlings, but we
have developed a legislative
condition which should be cor
rected. Without indulging in
names we have such a state of
affairs that an Administrative
Board or Commission of the
State will fail to act on public
matters because a member of
the Legislature passes the word
that he wants the petition de
nied, or wishes such delay as
may be prejudicial to the inter
est of a petitioner.
Much has been said of the
evil of legislators practicing as
or against the officer or offi
cers, if the choice be by the
Legislature; or he may have
something to do with the fix
ing of the pay of public offi
cials. The men who prepared
the Constitution thought they
had made State officials in
cluding Judges, independent of
the Legislature. They thought
they had done that by stipu
lating that a salary might not
be increased or reduced dur
ing the term for which the of
ficer, or Judge, was elected.
That was easily evaded in re
cent years by providing expense
accounts and travel funds. Most
of the State officials have been
granted increases by subterfuge
or legislative disregard for the
Constitution. I do not say that
they are overpaid; I am refer
ring only to the method adop
ted for increasing the pay.
Now, if the Legislative whim or
favor may increase pay by sub
terfuge, it may just as easily
reduce the pay. Do you imag
ine that the Legislature loses
or gains in influence by pro-
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OH’S
Expressing our oppreciotion for
your courtesies of the post and
attending compliments of the Season.
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Buzhardt Furniture Co.
DON ROOK
GRADY GRAHAM
ELDRED AMICK
HUBERT WICKER
TOM GRAHAM
JAMES LANGFORD
JIM MORRIS
MARK KELLEY
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ceeding as it does?
Practicing law, as it is called,
before the State Boards is one
thing, and should be stopped,
but passing the word in pri
vate to one’s beneficiary on a
Board or Commission is a prac
tice which is not open and sub
ject to public hearing. For ex
ample, if a legislator practices
as a lawyer before a State
body we can assume that the
whole proceeding is a public
record and open to public hear
ing and public inspection. But
if one merely passes the word
on the quiet, that is a practice
which makes the State Gov
ernment the plaything, the pri
vate intrumentality, of some
one acting in the dark. There
are many rumors of that, with
names and dates and places.
We have full control of the
Counties, by legislators by
which the nod of the lawmaker
is the royal sign of the cortsent
or denial.
In local matters, the General
Assembly bows to the Senator
and Representatives of a Coun
ty as though the so-called
County delegation were a leg
islative body. Almost no Coun
ty Supply Bill is passed which
does not contain provisions in
complete disregard of manda
tory provisions of the State
Constitution. Sometimes this
may be due to ignorance of the
Constitution, but one hesitates
to suggest that any legislator
is ignorant. If not a matter of
ignorance, then what? Is it just
indifference to the Constitu
tion? Are they assuming that
if no one challenges the act in
Court it will be the law of the
land? And that is true.
The greatest failure of our
National and State Government
is the wide-open break in our
law.
What is the law?
We, a people under a gov
ernment of law, do not know
what the law is; and the courts
are frequently so far at sea
that the law changes with the
Judges.
If one would study our gov
ernment, government through
out the United States, includ
ing the National government,
he would wonder why we had
not found how to have laws
which are clear and beyond
dispute. Haziness of the law,
however, is not the reason for
the State’s ignoring the Con
stitution.
The most dangerous trend in
America is not the attitude per
sonified by Mr. Truman; or the
weak spirit of Congress in
playing me-too politics with
the President: we expect poli
tics in the Executive and Leg
islative branches of the Gov
ernment—although a brand of
politics of distinctly higher
practice; but we did not ex
pect the courts to play me-too
politics with the President, as
though the courts were merely
a part of his Administration
and bound to do his bidding.
The attitude of the Federal ju
diciary is the most dangerous
development in our land.
You and I would like to
think that a man is a Judge
because of his thorough ground
ing in the law, in the law, and
because of his character and
temperament, and because of
his commonsense; and we find
our free institutions without a
champion whn Courts merely
echo the whims of a vote-seek
ing politician.
I happen to be a member of
the Hoover Committee for the
Reorginization of the Execu
tive Departments of the Nation
al Government, though I am o,
no ■ value to the undertaking
Even if a few millions were
saved they would be like chic
ken-feed in comparison with
the grandiose squandering ad
vocated by the President and
meekly authorized by the Con
gress. I can’t shout with joy
over the outlook, but I do find
comfort in the achievements of
business. Before me are five
papers telling about business.
One tells me that the American
people are buying more things
in cans. Our British friends
have no cans; they put them
in tin. You will recall the_play
on the word “can.” An English
man, looking over a field of
tomatoes — also tomattoes and
tomartoes-—asked an American
“What will you do with all
those tomartoes”? Th e Ameri
can said “We eat what we can,
and what we can’t we can.”
This left our English brother a
bit confused—we eat what we
can, and what we can’t, we
can—so the American explain
ed the word “can” in conserv
ing. Our English friend en
joyed the play on the word
can, and tried it out on a fel
low Englishman in this style;
“Those Johnnies across the wa
ter have a saying that they eat
what the can and what they
can’t the tin."
Well, the article calls this
“Tin Can Civilization” and says
that there has been a 70%
increase in tinned commodities
in ten years. Everything from
paint to prune juice and nut
cakes can now be bought in
tin or cans. Beer, dog food,
cat food, potatoes, bread, cheese
pastry, fresh milk, lemonade,
cosmetics, marshmallow whip,
whipped cream.
Florida packers say they will
need three hundred million
cans in 1950, California calling
for sixty million cans. Pet
foods now use a billion and a
half cans. So my cats are
members of a large company.
About 210 plants make tin
cans. Tin cans, by the way,
are about 98% to 99% steel,
with a thin coat of tin.
A big field for canned stuff
will be the automatic machines.
It is estimated that 35,000,000
cans of chocolate milk, tomato
juice, apple juice, and other
things, are sold by vending ma
chines in a year.
The use of vending machines
is increasing rapidly. One is
being prepared to sell hot
sandwiches.
In tin are our old friends
salmon and sardines, while the
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M€RRY CHRISTMAS
It’s time for Christmas Carols, time for wreaths and
holly, and time especially for us to wish that your
Christmas this year be a jolly success.
Hutchinson & Snelgrove
venders still depend on candy
principally.
We are prone to think of
Christmas as it was observed
in the big houses of England
and America, years ago. Great
quantities of food and drink,
snow and ice, the coming of
friends and kindred, all mingled
with a warmth of humanity
and geniality. We have much
of that today, much good liv
ing, rich eating, hearty fellow
ship, but the real meaning of
the day must not be drowned
in liquors nor forgotten in riot
ous indulgence of any kind.
Some folk think the Christmas
season, and especially Christ
mas eve, is a suitable time for
a real debauch, heavy drink
ing. Can anyone conceive of
a celebration more foreign to x
to occasion? A spirit of rever- ! *
ence, by all means, should sig- x
nalize the coming of Him whom
the Book calls Immanuel—God
with us.
It is inconceivable that any
person should care to enter the
presence of Jehovah drunk.
How, then, do we plan to drink , X
ourselves into the spirit
Christmas? The spirit of Christ- j X
mas, by all means, but not the
spirits for Christmas!!
The Christmas story is a
wondrously beautiful one, of
the Son of God coming into the
world as a baby — th e great
event at Bethlehem in Judea,
in the_ stable. In the simplici
ty of *it all we see goodness,
greatness, graciousness — all
without pomp or trappings of
rank. Humility and simple liv
ing were enthroned that day;
man was to see the personality
of the Creator in the life and
ministry of the Son.
Everyone has heard the sweet
Christmas carol of th e great
preacher, Phillips Brooks: “O
little town of Bethlehem.”. In
recent years we hear it in every
mechanical contrivance. In the
first years we recall “The hopes
and fears of all the years, are
met in thee tonight.” But the
third verse is significant:
“How silently, how silently,
.. The wondrous gift is given!
So God imparts to human
hearts
The blessings of his heaven.
No ear may hear his coming,
But in this wprld of sin,
Where meek souls * will re
ceive him, still
The dear Christ enters in.”
I am making this recording
because of my engagement in
Wiashington with the Hoover
Committee.
Upon my return I’ll tell you
about the meeting unless some
thing more interesting comes
up.
A jft
Whitfield’s Ready-to-Wear
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