The sun. [volume] (Newberry, S.C.) 1937-1972, March 18, 1954, Image 2
PAGE TWO
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COMMENTS ON MEN AND THINGS
By SPECTATOR
Would A New S. C. Constitution Help?
Can the General Assembly call a Constitutional Conven
tion and limit the scope or character of its operations? That
seems to be quite a topic of discussion.
Do we need a new Constitution? Why are some political
leaders afraid to call a Constitutional Convention? How,
or by whom, is a Constitutional Convention called? Says the
Constitution: “Whenever two-thirds of the members elected
to each branch of the General Assembly think it necessary
etc. they shall recommend to the electors to vote for or
against a Convention. Then at the next session (if the peo
ple approve) provision shall be made for a convention.”
Once a Constitutional Convention is in being it becomes
the Supreme law-making body of the State. No act of the
General Assembly may limit the authority of the Conven
tion. It may reform old Counties; consolidate Counties;
create new Counties; prescribe two Senators for each Coun
ty—or do anything else, more or less. The one thing it
must do: it must retain the republican form of government,
for the Constitution of the United States (article 4, section
4) prescribes: “The United States shall guarantee to every
State in this Union a republican form of Government . . . .”
But the Constitution of South Carolina, with customary in
dependence, says: “All political power is Vested in and de
rived from the people only, therefore they have the right at
all times t6 modify their form of government.” S. C. Consti
tution—Art. 1, Section 1.
The republican form of government is properly written
with a small “r”; it has nothing to do with the Republican
Party. In fact I do not know what the Republican Party has,
by way of form, unless it be the new idea of yielding to pres
sure groups—and that is not exactly a matter of form or
substance; rather it makes government more or less insub
stantial.
The Constitution of the United States, in declaring for a
republican form of government, is guaranteeing a republi
can form for the States, not for the Nation. In general, it is
assumed to mean a government of three separate depart
ments of equal rank, each separate and distinct from the
other. Straightway we find that we Carolinians mix them
up, as political considerations, or personal political interest,
or ambition, may seem to suggest.
The idea of a new Constitution might appeal to me power
fully if thtre were any likelihood that a new Constitution
would be strictly followed, or obeyed. We seem to need new
natures within ourselves. How, for example, are most of our
Counties governed? By the County Board? No; by the Sena
tor. From what source does he derive that power? From the
practice of the Senators in allowing each Senator to have
sovereign sway in his County. So the Senate, the whole Sen
ate, in special County matters, is the Senator from that
County.
Whenever it seems desirable, the Delegation assures a
County official that he may (or must) do this or that and the
Delegation will pass the necessary legislation to make it
legal. Will any new Constitution change that?
There is a remedy provided in the present Constitution
but not used.
Article 10, Section 4 prescribes: “The corporate authori
ties of Counties, Townships, School Districts, Cities, Towns
and Villages may be vested with power to assess and collect
taxes for corporate purposes; such taxes to be uniform in
respect to persons and property within the jurisdiction of
the body imposing same . . .
Years ago I drew a bill for a Delegation invoking that pro
vision and, as I recall, Representative R. Beverley Herbert
also prepared a bill, his for Richland County, invoking the
same provision.
As to the Republican form, we take that, along with the
first section of our State Constitution, and then we turn
to Article 16, Section 1 and find that even though the
Sovereign electors, at the polls, vote overwhelmingly for a
Constitutional amendment, which has been proposed and
submitted to the electors, by the General Assembly, their
act is not conclusive, does not become sufficient, unless the
General Assembly shall ratify the said proposal.
So the people, in whom resides all wisdom and political
powers, must have the approval of the General Assembly.
Since my mind is on the Constitution, let us glance at
something else: “The General Assembly is hereby forbid
den to create any further debt or obligation, either by the
loan of the credit of the State, by guaranty, endorsement,
or otherwise, except for the ordinary and current business
of the State, without first submitting the question ... to
the qualified electors.”
The Wall Street Journal published recently an item
from Clemson College stating that The Budget Commission
has authorized several State institutions to issue bonds for
$9,575,000. Those institutions, except Clemson College, are
WHO IS TO BLAME!
the property of the State. Whatever their debts may be,
the State is certainly a party in interest.
If the Legislature must submit such matters to the quali
fied Electors w T ho authorized the Budget Commission to Act?
One must be a lawyer to keep abreast of w r hat is going
on. The University and the other colleges, with the excep
tion of Clemson, are the property of the State. Santee-Cooper
is also the property of the State. Santee-Cooper, however, op-
perates under an act of the General Assembly which declares
that the State shall not be answerable for its obligations.
Santee-Cooper, in owing the Federal Government $29,000,-
000, and borrowing $15,000,000 from Wall Street bankers,
is not adding a debt to the State. The State stands off and
the creditors of Santee-Cooper must find their satisfaction
in putting a lien on Santee-Cooper, if it were not operating
prosperously; but the Colleges can’t be treated in that man
ner; they are the warp and woof of our State life.
Santee-Cooper did not think it necessary to seek permis
sion from the Budget Commission, nor of the Legislature, in
borrowing $15,000,000; but the University and the Col
leges did prove their complete dependence on the State by
seeking permission from the Budget Commission. I only raise
the question here about the validity of the approval of the
Budget Commission.
So, my fellow Carolinians, I ask what we should do with a
new Constitution?
By no means have I exhausted the lack of respect for this
or any othqr Constitution.
Do not misunderstand me: I am not arguing against the
need for money for our institutions; undoubtedly they need
it; their trustees are men of honor and their leaders are
men and women of high dedication and entirely worthy and
deserving; I call attention to our apparent disregard of the
Constitution.
My reference to Clemson you likewise must not misin
terpret. The majority of the Board of Trustees of Clemson
are gentlemen not elected by our General Assembly; they
are chosen independently in accordance with the provisions
of the gift of Mr. Clemson. As I recall, there are seven
permanent, independent trustees and six elected by our Leg
islature.
I need not say more about our Constitution now than this:
Although by duly adopted amendments the original text
was changed, we still find such contradictions as the follow
ing: That the Governor shall be re-eligible, but shall not be
eligible for reelection. That is just a matter of editing, of
course.
How does this strike you:“.... a majority of each House
shall constitute a quorum to do business; but a smaller num
ber may adjourn from day to day, and may compel the at
tendance of absent members.” So what? Frequently not a
third of the members are present; and on Fridays some
times eight or ten—acting in the name and with the author
ity of the State of South Carolina.
Even in the Senate of the United States, treaties are
sometimes ratified by a few Senators.
The man in the street wonders about all this.
Again I ask: what difference would a new Constitution
make?
Paraphrasing the well known quotation, our trouble is not
so much with our Constitution, but with ourselves.
Too Many Washington Reports
We are afflicted with too many reports from Washing
ton. What must we expect when we read that the President
supports Stevens against McCarthy? Mr. Stevens is a fine
gentleman; I have no criticism of him; but if reporters quote
him, or tell the public this, that, and something else, does
it not estrange the President and Mr. McCarthy; or the
President and some Senators? Why must everything be
rushed over the wires, or published? Then, again, our of
ficials are not tactful in dealing with the press: they talk too
much.
I read in the papers that the President “gives the nod” to
some proposed tax reduction, or that the President is op
posed. It all sounds as though the Congress were a lot of
school-boys, instead of being the law-makers. The President
can’t move or speak or sip a wee bit of soda-pop without in
spiring some one to report it. Then we have long and learhed
comments on that more or less childish news.
DaleCarnegh
★ AUTHOR OF “HOW TO STOP WORRYING AND START LIVING” ★
TN COMMON with most worriers, Henry Heyl, 750 Olympia Street,
* S. W., Grand Rapids, Michigan, thought he had a priority on wor
rying. He worried about anything and everything and when he re
ceived his "Greetings’' from Uncle Sam he really got under way. By the
time he had reached the receiving center and had passed hi§ physical
examination he was almost a total wreck.
After being assigned to his barracks, he started
talking with the fellow who had the bunk next to
his, just to get his mind Off himself. Among all
the fellows in the barracks, whose average age
was twenty years, imagine his pleasant surprise
to find that his bunkmate was even older than he
was—over 38. Right away they had something in
common. This chap was the most cheerful fellow
he had ever met. He said they called him "Kain-
tuck” because he hailed from Kentucky. He told
Henry that he had seven children who had gotten
about every disease to which a child could be ex
posed. And he was very poor; just barely making ends meet. On top
of all that, he and his family were illiterate—they could neither read
nor write.
Well maybe Henry Heyl didn’t feel ashamed of himself and his
imaginary troubles. He asked Kaintuck how he could be so cheerful
with all his troubles, and Kaintuck handed him a philosophy of life
that he declares he will never ferget. Here it is:
“I ain’t had much book learnin’, but I’ve found out when 1 got
troubles I couldn’t lick, I can take them to the Lord in prayer. Then
I get up off my knees, forget all about it, and go on doin’ the best I
know how."
CARNEGIE
Q—I know that the courts won’t accept evidence obtained through
wire-tapping, but what about evidence gathered from intercepted
letters or telegrams?
A—Section 605 of the Federal Communications Act (1934) states: "No
person, not being authorized by the sender, shall intercept any com
munication . . . and divulge (it) ... to any person." Violators
are subject to two years’ imprisonment or a $10,000 fine or both.
Q—Was a Member of Congress ever assassinated?
A—Yes, but the Library of Congress says that, in the absence of an
official record, it is aware of only one. The late Sen. Huey P. Long
(D-La.), father of the present Sen. Russell B. Long (D-La.), was
shot to death Sept. 8, 1935, in Baton Rouge, La. Three Presidents
(Lincoln, Garfield and McKinley) were killed by assassins’ bullets
(no Vice Presidents ever have been) and there were attempts on
the lives of Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry S. Truman.
Q—Does the Tennessee Valley Authority, a federal corporation, pay
state and local taxes?
A—No. But the Tennessee Valley Authority Act of 1933 provides that
TVA must "render financial assistance to those states and local
governments in which (its) power operations are carried on, and
in which the corporation has acquired properties previously sub
ject to state and local taxation." This "financial assistance,” paid
“in lieu of taxes,” presently nets state and local governments in
volved five per cent of the gross proceeds derived from the sale
of power by TVA each preceding fiscal year. The money is divided
among the areas involved according to a formula set up in the Act.
(Copyright 1D54. Congressional Quarterly)
DOGGY HOUSE . . . Chihuahua mother named "Monkey” stands
guard while her six puppies frolic through pillared doll house in
Bell, California.
WEEKLY CROSSWORD PUZZLE |
Marine Device^
Here's the Answer
\
HORIZONTAL
1,9 Depicted
marine device
13 Worshipful
; 14 Italian river
15 Goddess of
j infatuation
; 16 Command
18 Scold
19 Nickel
(symbol)
. 20 Descended
suddenly
22 Guinea (ab.)
23 FaH
25 Chiller
27 Dry
28 Kind
29 Preposition
30 Weekday (ab.)
31 Hypothetical
force
32 Anent
33 Bargain event
35 Ages
38 State
39 Dispatched
40 Six (Roman)
41 Spades
47 An (Scot.)
48 Girl’s name '
50 Expunge'
51 Dutch town
52 Egyptian river
54 Regarded
56 Insect
57 Breastbones
VERTICAL
1 Trademarks
2 Go to bed
3 Night before
an event
4 Eye (Scot.)
5 Bird
6 Demigod
7 Within (comb,
form)
8 Pace
9 College degree
(ab.)
10 Vase
11 Wild ass
12 Curdled milk
product
17 Concerning
20 Wastrels
21 Sorrow •
24 Song bird
26 Cling
33 It is used for
life
fi [7i riira
wFimen
Fir-iFi^g
piraRR
FuraPiFi
FI PI
ran
HfSPJ
xona
mm
FiwnrTi
raFiran
giuaH
Fir*] mmm
nsn
FJP1RH
Uiolfiiql Isl^iMtoiara
a
34 Egg substance
36 Garland
37 Horses
42 Pronoun
43 Mineral rocks
44 Immense
45 Italian town
46 Ogle
49 Winglike pari
51 Australian
ostrich
53 Diminutive
suffix
55 Half an em
THURSDAY, MARCH 18, 1954
DRESIDENT EISENHOWER has
1 snowed Congress under with his
196 item legislative program. And
his Feb 17 message on atomic
energy the President substituted
15 recommendations for three more
general requests submitted earlier,
raising the total almost to the 200
circle.
The volume of these legislative
requests is important because both
Republicans and Democrats agree
that the voters next November
will judge the President and the
83rd Congress largely by the fate
of the Administration’s legislative
program. And, both parties will
have to justify their treatment
of controversial White House legis
lation.
Congress has started many of
the President’s proposals on their
way to enactment—holding hearings
and sporting bills from committee
to the floor.
Sifting down Mr Eisenhower’s
recommendations to their most con
crete form, and omitting recom
mendations which require no new
Congressional action, here are a
few of the proposals by certain
important categories:
Agriculture: Of 33 proposals
made, the president asked Congress
to bolster Commodity Credit Cor
poration resources; use existing
farm commodity surpluses in non
commercial channels; build foreign
markets; allow modernized parity
to take effect; Institute or continue
flexible price supports for most
farm commodities.
Continue 90 per cent parity for
supports for tobatfeo, permit use
of conservation funds to control
diverted acreage; continue or lib
eralize indirect aid for some com
modities; aid wool producers
through direct payments; continue
aiding hay distribution in drought
areas; expand and revise the con
servation program; curtail federal
share in agricultural disease pro
grams.
Health: Strengthen public health
research; expand and revise state
aids for health and welfare; re
insure private health insurance
plans; create National Commission
for Health Improvement.
Social Security: Extend coverage,
increase benefits, and relax re
strictions on Old Age and Survivors
Insurance, extend current formula#
for public-assistance state aid,
pending revisions.
Education: Expand educational
advisory and research activities
and help construct state schools.
Labor: Revise Taft-Hartley la
bor law through 18 changes, high
lighted by: relaxation of prohibi
tions against secondary boycotts;
protection of striking unions against
loss of representation rights; au*
thorization of stricter union secur
ity in certain industries; and pro
vision for government-conducted
strike votes.
The categories mentioned above
represent 79 separate proposals.
Other categories are Military and
veterans, government, internal se
curity, postal, civil service, re
sources, unemployment insurance,
housing, foreign policy and taxes.
From the Claremont News, Clare
mont, Minnesota: There is no ques
tion but what there are huge sur
pluses of dairy products in govern
ment storage and we have no
more idea of what to do with them
than government economists have.
We asked several dairymen their
idea of a workable plan without re
ceiving a concrete reply.
{ It will not be long before cows
will be on grass and feed pur
chases will drop and we feel satis
fied that before the summer is over
there will be a radical change in
our whole economy. Thousands of
industrial workers are being laid
off weekly as farmers ^refuse to pay
the high prices demanded.
I Dairy products are a basic food
and industrial workers must buy
them to live either with part of
their wages or relief money. What
ever happens, we think dairying
will continue as a staple source of
income in an area such as this.
• # •
From The Aztec Independent,
Wildwood, New Jersey: If you get
a ten dollar or twenty dollar bill
and it smells of goffee, the chances
are that it’s counterfeit
The United States Secret Service
says counterfeiters. are soaking
their currency in coffee to give it
a brownish color. The odor of
coffee still clings to the bogus bills.
. * * *
From the l^hiteside Conn tv
News, Morrison, Illinois: OUR
CREED: Smile into the face of the
world and a smile comes back, ren
der good service to others and good
service is returned to you. show m
spirit of helpfulness and that spirit
will surely send back to you of
a like kind, think good thoughts
and the same thoughts will be of
you.
The world Is a great mirror
which truly reflects the thoughts,
acts and ambitions of every indiv
idual Let no one cloud his vision,
poison his mind and dwarf his soul
with the false Imagination that the '
world Is not giving him a square
dead. The only way to avoid getting
a square deal from the world is by
not giving a square deal yourself.
Fron* the Mason County News,
New Haven, West Virginia: The
house postoffice committee has
fired the first shot in the battle to
raise postoffice revenue 400 million y
dollars a year. And the first victim,
if the committee has its way, will
be the citizen at the stamp window
who wants to mail a letter out of
town. Collectively, in paying four
cents instead of three for his
stamp, he’ll chop 159 mflUnnw a
year off the PO deficit . , .
he gets writer’s cramp.
It would be nice enough, if that
new four cent stamp gave us the
kind of service we used to get with
the red ones that had George Wash-
insrton on them I
fWjttL
INTELEIGRAM
Check the correct word.
1. England (does) (does not) celebrate Thanks
giving Day.
2. A bass drum (is) (is not) larger than a kettle
drum.
3. A baby elephant is called a (foal) (calf).
4. A baby beaver is called a (kitten) (bea).
5. A baby camel is called a (foal) (calf).
6. Brazil (is) (is not) larger in area than the U. S.
7. Julius Caesar (did) (did not) conquer Britain.
8. A Kanaka is an (Eskimo) (Hawaiian).
9. The Cape of Good Hope is in (Africa) (South
America).
10. Croutons are (food) (feminine hair styles).
Check your answers, scoring yourself 10 points for each
correct choice. A score of 0-20 is poor, 30-60, average;
70-80, superior; 90-100, very superior.
Decoded Intelligram
'poo.i—01 ‘®3WV—6 ‘ueueAveH—8
PIG—L * S I—9 'l®Oj[—5 'uonrx—* 7I®D~€ si—z lou saoQ—\
brain budi
1. There are (a) 50; (b) 100; (o) 19 U. 8. coal mines with an
nual production of more than one million ton* each.
2. Manufacturers estimate there are some (a) 100,000; (b)
50,000; (c) 541,159 Cadillacs on the road today!
3. About (a) 45 per cent; (b) 80 per cent; (e) 20 per cent ef
fatal highway accidents involve cars traveling in the same di
rection.
ANSWERS
M t
wig -i