The sun. [volume] (Newberry, S.C.) 1937-1972, October 20, 1950, Image 4
THE NEWBERRY SUN
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 20,
tw
1218 College Street
NEWBERRY, S. C.
O. F. Armfifld
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, 187 ; 9.
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
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f
Dr. W. W. Ball, the grand glad
iator of the News & Courier, re
marks that no South Carolina
leader rises to defend Jimmy
Byrnes, except Governor Thur
mond. Why should they? No
body regards the remark by Mr.
Truman seriously except as a
fresh indication of a lack of
judgement and poise. “The State'*
published numerous quotations
from its files which take us back
to the days of Mr. Byrnes’ retire
ment. We can recall also that
Time Magazine widely proclaim
ed our Mr. Byrnes as the man of
the year, didn’t it?
Seldom does a man receive so
much applause as comes to Mr.
Byrnes because of the Truman
remark that Jimmy was a mis
erable failure.
It is easy to form and express
horseback opinions but it is dif
ficult to measure the achieve
ment of a man in Mr. Byrnes’
position. We Americans had
evidently gone about the Rus
sian menace under many mis
conceptions. Though Mr. Roose
velt seems to have been so griev
ously wrong we are bound to
admit that many endorsed his
course because of the problem
of how to win the war. That
hectic period must be remem
bered in fairness to Mr. Roose
velt, although he seems to have
renounced his professed princi
pals, as well as the Chinese and
Korean rights.
Mr. Byrnes, caught in a whirl
of trouble, was always deeply
aware of the grave threat of
Communism. Roger C. Peace,
well known publisher, told me in
1945 of conversations with Mr.
Byrnes in which Mr. Byrnes had
told him of the heavy Com
munist cloud hanging over the
world.
Frequently we hear the remark
that the State would be able
to operate without a deficit if the
State would use all State rev
enues for State purposes only
and let the towns and Counties
raise revenue for themselves
from other sources. That is a
little like letting father use all
the money for himself while
mother takes in “washing.” Who
are the people of South Carolna?
The citizens of towns and coun
ties are citizens of the State, but
towns and counties are without
the same opportunities for col
lecting taxes.
If the State does not contri
bute to the towns and counties
we shall have higher levies on
farms and homes, for the coun-
tes arid towns raise most of their
revenue from “Properity taxes.”
If the towns and counties spend
the public money wisely then the
problem might be to curtail
towns and counties.
We seem to increase funds
for law enforcement as fast as
we increase appropriations foi*
the schools and colleges. In the
days of the simple life a Sheriff
might operate with one deputy;
today the average County has
quite a force. And this County
force, along with the Highway
Patrol and the Governor’s of
ficers, are a numerous body of
police. I do not say that we
have too many; I merely wonder
whether we are worse in conduct
than our grandfathers. Of course
we are a problem on the paved
highways—and growing worse.
Perhaps the automobile is the
reason for our numerous public
protectors. When a man com
mitted a crime, in the long ago,
he hid somewhere in the negih-
borhood, expecially down in our
region of swamps. But today
he takes the wings of the morn
ing and goes a hundred miles in
a couple of hours, with all the
rivers bridged, the roads paved
and the hills shaved off.
Towns and school districts
never have enough money. Every
year there are more people;
every year more miles of water
and sewerage lines; every year
the need for more and better
streets, more and better play
grounds. We don’t catch-up with
the need. Then we need more
street lighting, more neighbor
hood policing, more traffic sig
nals, more street cleaning more
garbage removal, more water,
more fire protection—more of
everything.
There was a time when the
Mayor of a town or city did
little but look impressive and im
portant; perhaps a wee bit pom
pous; but today the average
Mayor is like a man carrying all
the world on his shoulders; and
some of it gets in his hair.
One of the problems of a town
is to extend the public services
to all citizens. In most towns
the public services are restrict
ed to a few acres. It Is un
avoidable, but undemocratic,
since we are all Kings, accord
ing to the late Huey Long. 1
doubt if there is a towb in the
State adequately provided with
parks and playgrounds, unless
it be Charleston.
Today most towns are eager to
provide costly air fields, but few
provide good parking lots. Every
town needs parking lots near the
center. And all parking lots
should be provided with comfort
and telephone facilities at rea
sonable cost. More people come
to Columbia by bus and private
cars in one day than come by
plane and train in 9 month.
I don’t know tfhat we shall
do about the streets: cars, and
there isn’t space enough for
everybody to use a car.
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BEST WISHES
FOR THE
AMERICAN LEGION’S
’ BIG NEWBERRY
COUNTY FAIR
October 23 to 28
We Know That It Will Be A Big Success
Take a Few Days off and Come to
The Fair
Make Our Store Fair Headquarters
\
You Are Welcome Here!
MAXWELL BROS
AND LINDSAY
FURNITURE
—
Mr. E. H. Agnew, President of
the South Carolina unit of the
Farm Bureau, advocates con
tinued control of cotton acreage.
His attitude is based on ' the
western trend of cotton. Texas
is the larest producer of cotton
but the second cotton State may
be California. Most of us are
astonished at the cotton produc
tion of California and New Mexi
co; we think of cotton as a
great crop of the South.
As Cotton conventions I learn
ed of one farmer of Mississippi
who planted 38,000 ' acres and
had an average of 600 pounds of
lint cotton per acre. There are
many farmers of the Mississippi
Delta who plant large areas and
produce heavy poundage. Last
year I overheard farmers from
Oklahoma and New Mexico talk
of three bales to the acre! My
greatest surprise, however, was
the speech of the Mayor of Los
Angeles: his County averages 693
lbs of lint per acre and California
intends to be the second cotton
State.
So you see what Mr. Agnew
has in mind. Uncontrolled acre
age may result in a half million
more bales in Souh Carolina, but
the likelihood is that California,
New Mexico, Texas and Okla
homa may take the crop from us,
ullmately getting our cotton
mills, also. At any rate, Mr.
Agnew as a farm prophet, sees
this danger clearly. It may be
that cotton from irrigated fields
lacks something that our cotton
has but the problem is not a
simple one.
And this one company paid over
$40,000,000 in taxes to support
government in 1949.
Compare this with $800,000,000
taken from the taxpayers to
build tax-exempt government-
owned power monopoly. Advo
cates of federal power claim gov
ernment projects cut rates. But
their arguments fall flat as long
as such projects escape the same
taxes as private plants and
private citizens pay.
It is time to boost the tax-
paying American system of pri
vate enterprise which is made
up of every-day people whose
savings make it possible. Under
this system every individual has
a chance for advancement accord
ing to his ability and skill. It is
interestng to note that the pro
ponents of government in busi
ness should not be classed as
socialism.”
Well said. We’ve had news
paper week and we must acknow
ledge our debt to the news
papers ; they are great public
servants; real “defenders of the
faith.”
Condensed Statement of Condition
Higher taxes S Taxes to sup
port the Nation are higher. This
isn’t entirely because of Korea;
we continue to spend federal
tax money on all the programs
of our Socialist bureaucrats; and
we continue to throw away bil
lions of tax money on the wild
dream of resisting Communism
throughout the world. If Ameri
ca were strong and ready no one
would pick a quarrel with us.
Then State taxes are higher;
County taxes are higher.
We read that County taxes are
higher because of the consolida
tion of schools and school dis
tricts. What Is there about con
solidation to Increase the cost?
Obvously a greater number of
pupils will require more teach
ers ; probably more buildings;
but the mere fact of consolidation
surely cannot occasion higher
costs; more likely the other way.
At bottom, the argument for con
solidation is to promote effici
ency and more economical use of
the school funds. Is it failing
in that?
“No. 1 Tax Evaders.
Proponents of gigantic Feder
al power projects such as TVA,
Bonneville, and the Southwestern
Power Administration bitterly re
sent factual studies revealing the
great advantages, from the stand
point of tax payments, that these
projects enjoy over the private
companies with which they com
pete. They often argue that the
net income of a publicly owned
enterprise is the same as a tax,
but they don’t pay the taxes
levied on private industry. Their
reasoning does not hold water.
As one qualified financial ob
server declares: ‘The same prin
ciples of accounting should be ap
plied to similar types of proprie
tary busness irrespective of the
character of ownershp. Taxes
are a cost of doing business. Net
income is the amount that re
mans after all costs have been
met and represents a return on
investments whether the owner
ship be public or private. Taxes
may be defined as compulsory
contributions levied upon per
sons, properity of business for the
support of government. How does'
the net income of a public owned
utilty fit this definton? The lat
ter is certainly not compulsory
Since it is not collecting by
authority—in most cases—net in
come is used to Increase the in
vestment in a proprietary activ
ity which is something quite dif
ferent from the support of gov
ernment.’ ”
This ie the Eenterprise of Mul
lins.
The South Carolina National Bank
.
as of October 4, 1950 J
ASSETS " m
Cash and Due from Banks . $ 38,798,924.98
U. S. Government Bonds 61,863,953.33
State and Municipal Bonds 685,626.31
Federal Land Bank and Fed. Int. Credit Bank Dee 1,615,196.81
Federal Reserve Stock 150,000.00
Loans and Dscounts 48,057,285.00
Banking Houses (13) . .\ $1,292,375.00
Less Depreciation 120,996.75
I, *71,378.2!
Furniture and Fixtures ..1... 215,304.49
Other Real Estate 1.00
Other Assets ........................... ......................... I
$152,647,308.
FALL FIRE SUGGESTIONS
BY RANGER WILSON
As the fall fire season for
wood fires Is here. County Rang
er M. E. Wilson has made the
following suggestions forPburnlng
brush.
“Make a fire break around the
area to be burned, select a day
that is not too windy, better se
lect a damp day, have fire fight
ing tools on hand, better burn In
small piles and before leaving be
sure the fire is out. Dead out.”
When you burn, it is better to
notify the Ranger so he will
know not to send someone to
suppress a leagal bush burning
fire.
Our County editors are dis
cussing the free-handed spending
of the National Government. I
quote an editorial from the Aiken
Standard and Review. Under
the heading “Time to Boost
Private Citizen,” Brother B. J.
of Aiken says:
“The Department of the In
terior and the government-owned
power projects which it promotes
get so much .publicity every time
they wangle a few hundred mil
lion dollars of tax money out of
Congress that many people are
actually forgetting that the in
vestor owned electric industry is
supplying 80 per cent of the na
tion’s power and doing an out
standing job. It is Interesting
therefore to make a few com
parisons.
A newspaper advertisement of
one of the largest power com
panies in the United States, lo
cated on the Pacific Coast, de
scribes the type of people who
have put some $800,000,000 of
their savings into that company’s
building program since World
War II ended. In 1949 these
savings helped employ 16.572
local people in 386 communities.
■ liabilities -
.
Capital — Common $ 2,500,000.00
Surplus 2,500,(
Undivided Profits 2,058,698.93
Reserve Under Section 23K (Int. Rev. Code) 850,000.00
Reserves — For taxes, etc * 348,704.46
•
Deposit* .• 144,389,904.91
/ ■ ■ ■ ’
$ 152,647,308.1w
^ A
,
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The South Carolina National Bank Serves South Carolina Through Offices In
ANDERSON FLORENCE NEWBERRY
.
BELTON FORT JACKSON | .^...... PICKENS
CHARLESTON GEORGETOWN ST. MATTHEWS
CHERAW GREENVILLE Ifel SENECA
COLUMBIA LEESVILLE SUMTER
DILLON NAVAL BASE Ifc
■
Member Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.
. —
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