Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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‘ ■ ■ ms- ' * m'L- PUBLISHED EVERY THURSDAY O. F. Armfield, Jr., Owner 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: $2.00 per year in ad vance; six months, $1.25. COMMENTS ON MEN AND THINGS , - By SPECTATOR Local Suggestion Started Spectator The Edgefield Advertiser is one of South Carolina’s old est papers, probably the oldest. However, I don’t wish to bring down the wrath of Brother Tom Waring, the versatile and resourceful editor of The News & Courier, which was once “the old lady of Broad Street’’ (meaning the paper) though now The News & Courier blasts iniquity and nar row' politics from a towe^ of magnificence on Columbus St. At any rate, The Edgefield Advertiser carried my Spectator, and the Editor, Mr. W. W. Mims, gladdened my spirit by sending me a marked copy, with his congratulations. My Spectator goes to many papers; and even to Boston, New York, Chicago and Richmond; I talk every week over many radio stations; I hope my w'riting and speaking serve a useful purpose; I have no axe to grind. Recently I have observed with pleasure that Editor Tom O’Connor runs Spectator in his Allendale and Hampton papers. The Editors throughout the State and my Radio brethren do their best to render' a public service and I am proud of my association with them. Some Editors have “carried” Spectator since I began writing it, years ago. I owe an immense debt of appreciation to those stalwart spirits, from Charleston to Greenville and across the State. I began writing Spectator at the suggestion of the Arm- field brothers of Newberry; I started on the radio by invita tion of John K. Cauthen, then a broadcaster. In general, peo ple have been very tolerant and kindly-disposed and my feeble efforts have not provoked a storm, nor upset the equilibrium of the State. In 1953 THE NATION PRODUCED 365 BILLION DOLLARS WORTH OF ©OOPS & SERVICES, A MILLION DOLLARS, A DAY A MEW ALL-TIME HI©H I) “Must Legislaton” Wearyng It may be the heat, but I grow weary of “must legisla tion.” Now and again someone tells us that the President has submitted to Congress certain bills or proposals which are “must legislation!” That sort of brow-beating was a trick of Mr. Roosevelt. It so happens that the President merely recommends measures to Congress; it is the prerogative of Congress to act, to accept, amend, or reject the proposals. You do not hear the Congress telling the President “he must,” in matters within the purview of executive discretion. Sometimes we become impatient because of small politics in Congress but the remedy for lack of high-minded diligence on the part of Congress is not to set up a dictatorial sway in the White House. As is known, I think highly of Mr. Eisenhower, in general, having my grave misgiving about some of his mischievous propensities; it is not the President who talks this “must” nonsense, but some of his assistants; and others who like to think they reveal the President’s mind to us lesser folk on the outside. ; ,< Building Indicates Good Year “The building industry is the strongest feature in the gen eral business situatiqn. Expenditures for new construction in June showed the tsual seasonal rise and reached a total of $3.8 billion. This brought outlays for the first six months to a record high of $16.6 billion, or about 2 percent more than a year earlier. Of total expenditures for new construc tion in the first half of the year, about 70 percent was fi nanced by private residential building, state and municipal building projects, and commercial and utility construction. The gains from these categories have more than offset the sharp decline in military building and public housing as well as the leveling off in industrial building. There is still considerable vigor behind the construction industry, based upon the continuing high level of contract awards. Retail sales have held up surprisingly well. For June they were estimated at $14.5 billion, bringing the total for the first six months to $84 billion, or less than 3 percent below the same period of last year. The trade is optimistic over the fall prospects, and is expecting a rise in the volume of business that will equal or exceed that of the comparative period of 1953. Following mass vacation shutdowns, indications are that there may be a gradual industrial upturn in August or early September, due to the stepping up of military spending, higher employment, and replenishment of inventories in a number of lines/’ Too Many Hand-Outs The fiscal year ended June 30, 1954, closed with a deficit of around $3 billion. In only three out of the last twenty-one years has the Government stayed out of the red. The Na tional debt increased during the past fiscal year by $5.8 bil lion, bringing it to $271.3 billion, which is close to the statu tory limit of $275 billion. There is a bill now before the Senate Finance Committee that would raise the limit to $290 billion, but there is considerable opposition to lifting the ceiling to such a high level. / The Federal Government is expected to spend $65j6 billion for the current fiscal year that began on July 1, and to col lect $62.7 billion, leaving a deficit of $2.9 billion. The Eisenhower Administration is making strong efforts to place the Government on a sound financial baas. Con siderable progress has been achieved ^but much remains to be done in the face of several major obstacles. The present Administration inherited the accumulated evils of a great in flationary era. During the last war period about $400 bil lion was raised by the Government, of which only $176 bil lion was collected in taxes. The remainder came from bor rowings, which caused such an inflation of values that the purchasing power of the dollar was cut nearly in half. In consequence, all Governmental costs have been raised to an abnormally high level. Since the end of the war, Federal outlays have amounted to over $465 billion. This exceeds by $300 billion, the total expenditures of the Federal Government for the one hun dred and fifty-one years from 1789 to 1940, which period included the War of 1812, the Civil, the Mexican, and the Spanish-American wars, and World War I. The amount of money spent by the Federal Government is so staggering that most persons have no conception of its magnitude, and in consequence have not been too much concerned about national fiscal affairs. The figures carry more meaning when it is pointed out that, for the calendar year 1953, Federal expenditures were nearly equivalent to all the wages and salaries of the more than 15 million workers employed # ih all of the factories and mines of the country. Based upon the Federal tax program, for the fiscal year ended June 30, 1954, it is estimated that the total levy for the New England states, which have only about 6 percent of the population of the United States, was around $4.3 bil lion, or more than the total taxes paid by all the American people in any peacetime year up to 1938. The tax per house hold in New England averages around $1,500 and this com pares with $1,400 per household for the entire country. Fed eral expenditures within a given region are not in the same proportion as revenues received from that region. In some areas of the South and West, Federal expenditures exceed receipts. In New England, however, over the years there has been a heavy net outflow aggregating about $12 billion in the last quarter' of a century. Large sums of this money have been used to build power plants and other public works that have intensified the competition between our section and the regions that have generously benefitted by Federal grants. The national habit of turning to the Government ip time of trouble and for hand-outs of one kind or another con tinues. All classes of pressure groups from every section of the country make shameful raids upon the Treasury in the mistaken belief that they are getting something for nothing. But the Government has no magic source of funds. It obtains its money from the American people by taxes or by borrowing Upon which interest must be paid. This vic torious trek to Washington must be stopped and determined efforts made tpward solving more of our problems at the local level. The principal budget item is national defense, which con stitutes more than two thirds of total expenditures. WHiile the American people insist that the Government should spend whatever is necessary as a safeguard against aggres sion, that there is much waste is obvious from casual in spection, as has been brought out even by those in military service. Non-defense expenditures for this fiscal year, which be gan on July 1, are expected to amount to $20.7 billion. This compares with ^7.6 billion in 11)40. The principal reason for the substantial rise in these expenditures is that the Fed eral Government is carrying on activities that should be eliminated, or that could be performed as well or better by state and local governments or by private enterprise. The bulk of these Governmental projects were established dur ing the depression or during World War II to serve emer gency purposes, but they continue to exist. The pumber of separate Government corporations reached 101 during the war period of 1945, but around 80 still remain. It has been estimated that if the Government’s commercial-type pro jects were sold to private enterprise they would bring any where from $25 billion to $40 billion. The time has come when Federal finance must be faced realistically since not only the debt but also taxation is bumping the ceiling. In consequence, all groups should rally around the Administra tion in its determination to decentralize big Government. Ffanu the South Phsadena Re view, South Pasadenan California: Only by producing mor« goods for everybody do we actually im prove ■ our national standard of liv ing. Increases in wages which raise costs and hence cause higher prices bring no real benefit to anyone. Productivity—unit output per manhour—is the powerful jack which, ay it rose higher, has lifted the buying power of an hour’s work to three times what it was in 1900. Increased productivity depends upon many things—inven tion. capital investment, better machines, the skill and co-opera tion of employees, competent man agement, and even the weather. Greater productivity means high er wages, more goods, lower prices. If all of us do what wo can to speed the rise of productivity, our living standards will be lifted too. and all of us can benefit • • • From the Webster Times. Web ster, Massachusetts: The consumer has been getting a welcome*break lately The cost of commodities we buy has declined Others have held steady In price, which is itself, a refreshing change from the time when every month brought jumps. Few costs have risen And most of the forecasts say a moderate downward trend will continue Various reasons are responsi ble. For one thing, practically ev erything is in abundant supply—the output of factories has literally been staggering. In some instances improved production method's have resulted in cost euts. And, on the retail level, competition is at an extremely high pitch. This means that tile merchant must offer every inducement, in cluding the lowest, possible price, to the public—not because he is charitably inclined, but because that’s the only way he can keep business. From the Woodford Stmv Ver sailles, Kentucky: As we read on and on about union demands tor “fringe’* benefits, paid vacations, shorter work weeks, guaranteed annual wages—in short, more and more for less and less—it is down right refreshing to be reassured now and then that the rank and file of American workers are truly inter ested in their jobs. * * * From, the Minnetonka HIM, Mound, Minnesota: The Orated States, down to the tiniest hamlet is in the process of finding itself astride a gigantic threshold- one foot firmly planted hi' the old system of' free enterprise and the other about to sink in the noire of socialism ^ AUTHOR OF "HOW TO STOP WORRYING AND START LIVING ALL his life, says Elvin IL Baer, 1030' ft Glendora Avenue, W. TA Covina, California, he has been a. procrastinator; Five years in surance selling made him realize that he has always-had an uncon scious fear of meeting certain types of. people. Hfe* admits he is an expert in making excuses and putting things off. He has improved in recent years, but he finds himself' still making; excuses fbc Ms -de fection. One day he had a lot of fun when a variety of happenings took place in that one day. more than normally happen to him in a week. This was the result of his doing the important things that popped into his mind immediately and without hesitation. In analyzing his list of calls at the beginning of the- day he found tl^t most of them were not essential. So' he discarded these, made the important ones, and then started out “cold-turkey.” The day ended with six new policies sold and most of the premia tuns collected on the spot. He* even got free beer on one of his last calls, and he knows that he got one policy because he played duets on a piano with; a housewife. He adds that if someone had told him a year before that he could go out a week before Christmas and have a day as good as he. had he woukkhave laughed derisively. “But, fellow sufferers,” he says, “I am a procrastinator no more.” CARNEGIE T OOKING over the record: of the Republican Administration, for the past year and a half, it’s inter esting to note that many times Ad ministration-appointed citizens ad visory groups have been charged, literally by the score, with telling Washington what to do. Citizen advice on policy has been sought in such fields as agricul ture, foreign, economic program, housing, military reserves, social security, Taft-Hartley labor law, and the anti-trust laws. The National Agricultural Ad visory Commission advised the Sec retary of Agriculture on flexible price supports, drought problems, cattle prices, foreign agricultural trade policy, reorganiz’ation of the Department of Agriculture and the plight of the small farmer. Presi dent Eisenhower’s special message to Congress, urging flexible price supports, insulation of surpluses, a new wool program and increased borrowing authority for the Com modity Credit Corporation, was prepared with benefit of the Com mission’s advice. Proposed legisla tion included these objectives, in modified form. The recommendations of the Ran dall Commission on Foreign Eco nomic Policy, which became the basis of the President’s special message to Congress in this field, fared less wall. One of the major recommendations of the Randall group was extension for three years of the Reciprocal Trade Agree ment. Congress voted only a onf- year extension. Fifty-two recommendations were made by the 21-member Advisory Committee on Government Hous ing Policies and Programs. Of these the President’s special mes sage to Congress included facili tation of some slum clearance and improvements in existing housing, reorganization for low-income fami lies, and the revamping of some federal housing mechanisms. Both houses passed an omnibus housing bill but their versions differed. Universal military training was studied by the National Security Training Commission, while anoth er citizen group, the Advisory Com,- mittee on Manpower Resources for National Security, weighed the im pact of military manpower pro curement on the supply of person nel for other security needs. The NSTC proposed training for 18- year-olds parallel with the draft; the manpower resources group' outlined a plan for ap immediately callable and selective reserve. On the basis of these findings, the Pentagon submitted plans foe a complete overhaul of the reserve policy. Most of the advisory groups were set up by executive order. Others were established by statute. Some groups include Senators or Repre sentatives among their number and some were instructed to report to Congress. Since the Eisenhower Administration began, lawmakers are serving or have served on groups advising on both policy and government structure, including the Hoover Commission, Kestnbaum Commission on Intergovernmental Relations, Randall Commission and the Commission on Judicial and Congressional Salaries. 1. A narwhal is (a) an Arctic whale; (b) a storm; (e) aa African rodent. 2. Roister means (a) a list of names; (b) to swagger; (e) befl over. 3. Aureole refers to (a) a bird; (b) encircling illnminattoa; (e) the enter ear*' . "' ;• mmmm RESSIONAL // Q—Is the President 4 required' by law* to submit' a- budget? A—Yes. The budget and? Accounting Act* of 1921’ authorized tile* Presi dent, assisted by the*' Bureau; of the Budget, to prepare and submit' an annual budget on the first day of each regular session* for con sideration bar the Congress. Ih 1950 the* provision was awarded to require submission within 15" days* of the convening of Congress. This year Jan. 21 was the last date" on which the budget could legally be delivered because the second session began* on Jan: & . Although the' President submits a. budget the Congress is in i)o way bound to follow his recommendations. The* Constitution) gives || to the Congress * the* i»ower to levy taxes andr vote expenditures for" the operation* of the government. Q—Does the term “senior Senator** refer to age or-length of service? A—The words “senior** and “junior” as. applied to Senators refer to length of continuous service. A senior Senator may be' younger or older than his junior colleague. Since seniority ia important in the Senate, a stated senior Senator is more> likely to hold the com mittee posts he prefers and to rank high^nr his committees (which means he is closer to committee chairmanships or a> position aa ranking member.). Provided they are both, members of the party controlling the Presidency, the senior of a state’s two. Senators: could normally expect a greater voice" in patronage. Actually, a junior Senator sometimes ranks well in Senate seniority. Sen. Richard B. Rixssell (D Gd.)* in the Senate since 1933, is the Peach: state’s junior Senator, but is ranking minority member (and a ‘ml former Chairman) of the Armed Services Committee. Sen. Walter F. George (D Ga.), in the Senate since 1922, is ranking Democratic- member (and former Chairman)^of both the Foreign Relations, and Finance. Committees. ^ im "1 PC ~4 m :j j: JJF c? TTCT <• 12.. - jl-L-O - jgggCSjlj ^ terO -E - LABOR SAYER . . . This combination crib *ad> self-feeding floor made of snow fence and poles is a labor saver. Chib, which can be constructed to bold up to 500 bushels, and floor are both on skids.' 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