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PAGE 2—The Newberry Sun, Newberry, o i ) . Thursday, Sept. 28, 1967 1218 College St., Newberry, S. C. 29108 PUBLISHED EVERY THURSDAY 0. F. Armfield, Jr., Owner Second Class Postage Paid at Newberry, South Carolina SUBSCRIPTION RATES: $2.00 per year in advance Six month? $1.25. COMMENT on Men & Things By J. K. BREEDIN Do you know our fabulous country? I have crossed to California by car and made re cordings in Hollywood, the home of the movies. Texas I’ve visited many times and 1 like the vast panorama of that vast area. Of coursr- most of us have been to New York and Virgin ia, but there we find hustle and bustle along 1 with quiet, peace and serenity. Let’s turn from politics and taxation and war. No war. Let our minds rejoice in the tran quil calm and majesty of New York (rurally) and Virginia. I like to treat interesting sub jects, quite apart from the pol itical confusion and misdirection of both our nation and State. The nation has a debt of so many billions—375 or what ever; and we are operating at a loss for the year of at least ten billion! Out State deliberately dis regarded the State Constitu tion that directs a Senator for each county. I must assume that someone —at least one—knows that re quirement. I fear that the whole proceeding is subject to a court review, although our State in the sovereign dignity and autonomy does not have to consult the Federal Court— as I see it. The Federal Consti tution-Amendments and H) cover that. Hut, let’s dwell on something interesting and uplifting. Here goes: Someone m Washington, speaking for the Administra tion, regrets, laments and op poses tat least it seems) the mercase m the price of steel. Hut what about a deficit of ti .. billions for last year while we ml! along at the same pace ace in size and scale, the massive four-story structure contains 70 rooms, each still equipped with its original fur niture. The majority of Newport’s incredible lush estates proved far too expensive for even the wealthiest families to maintain in today’s economy. Most have been sold to tax-free schools and religious institutions.” “ From early J. urr.es town to the new Dulles Airport, old Virginia doesn’t hesitate to snap her fingers at Presidents just as m :he once did at ki ngs. As an ea rly Briti sh visitor put it; ’Truly these Virginians worship themselves. I believe if one were introduced to the queen, he would feel it no honor.’ Virgina’s green acres still offer the visitor a wealth of things to do and see. Hund reds of creeks and rivers fringe her Chesapeake shoreline. A mountain chain of epic gran deur forms her boundaries with West Virginia and Kentucky. Beautiful? Yes. But charac ter is Virginia’s first claim to fame. For 3(10 years such per sonalities have formed a mos aic of achievemtnt unsurpassed in America. In a recent natio nal poll, Virginia was chosen the ‘most historic state’ by a majority of the respondents. Loyalty to principle: this is what Virginians value above all. This is why Robert E. Lee stands highest in the pantheon of his native state. Lee gave up all but honor to accept the Southern leadership and to stick by what he regarded as a first principle: the loyalty of a man to his own people. Stonewall Jackson and Jeb Stuart are loved for the same reason. So are the great gen eration of Virginians who led the colonies in 1775 in defence of powerful Britain Washing ton, Jefferson, Henry, Madison, (ieorge Mason and many others. They took a big chance, too. First things first. Let’s make our beachhead at James town, where the first perman ent settlers of Aim nca stepped ashore m InOT. To many his- Kiwanis Club Ladies Night was held Thursday night at the Community Hall with Dick Britt, manager of thelocal Southern Bell office as guest speaker. Among those til the head table were, from left, Mrs. Clarence Wallace and Mr. Wallace who is secretary and treasurer; Mrs. Bobby Underwood and Mr. Underwood, president; Mr. Britt; Mrs. Ralph Watkins and Mr. Watkins program chairman. (Photo by Nichols) wielded cuch power. Mount Vernon is a must and Alexandria is rich in old houses and churches. No tour of Virginia would be complete without a visit to the highlands. For Virginia’s first 200 years, the Scotch-Irish mountaineers and the lowland Virginians disliked each other, but peace has reigned since the angriest highlanders broke aw ay in 1863 and formed West Virginia. A trait that made Virginia famous. It is the sturdy inde pendence of the educated An glo-Saxon freeholder, conscious of his rights, jealous of his liberties. He is the American counterpart of the English yeoman, whom Churchill called the ‘custodian’ of Britain’s greatness. You can convince him by reason, said Sir Wins ton, but you can never coerce him by force.” THE M ANION FORUM By MARILYN MANION Some weeks ago, the New York Times stated the fact that American Negroes enjoy the highest standard of living, fur non-white persons, in the 1 a-t tin t ru. 1 tin 1 of tn mans it i s tin- i Host his torir world. Nrg roes in this ru .untry. N t ■ w ! 1 \ (HI -houiii appro arh G <ut m Ann .■ i lea. 11 liorsn’t look m oth rr w ords, have mure in- ii r i 1 ’ .in (hr ■a N.a ring I he it . for all till 1 rai ly Huih lings ronir and better living condi- Ills’. 1 nr port, ■ ane "t the At t ' (rrpt thr 1 65'. i r hiurh t o\vrr tons than do Negroes any- 1 a n t ic ei ’ a s t! i n»•' 'f 11 a ■! nat i ; ra 1 a I r go D.t w hr rr r i S r on earth. hari "'IS, V " u ’ 11 mu 1 a ; Kinor; mia Willi a in -i nirg i- thr ra \t Thi > . iliSr i ration by the Times < i f . a i! v cnldnu a 1 H m 111 mgs a n.i n. Op. 1 t j r' ' -i\ nnlr , ami a cm- limit. •d Hi a deluge of angry win’ r <•! iutvh - ■ tn pits lip t hr ti n y a \\ ay. To it h.gh gr i.iumi co!i in po i uii .'iiiu from civil hill- ale. V ii'gini a 11 a movi ti thni 1 ra pital rights pro) lonents - both white Two ( a ■ 11 ,C U r M ’ -- apta t til:- W . i S m i 1 ti;* p . T hr Ivor krf rHrr ir.-- and N • gro . Negroes, sai ti the a Hu--* i mg. ! sra r; ! "S | " l’i' 11 - < a ’ y. t< . ratio n of thr Hr autiful town w iat. r - "f numerous left ers-to- VY; lit h\ aptaar- Unit « 1 L'* l <1 i l ' * u Vnumca’ s [iroutl leg- t hr • mi i t o r. do not wish ti i com- aborate, well-const riicted hutm > ■ filling them with fine tur niture from the Orient, -ouve nirs of the lucrative China trade. More than 350 original 18th century -structures, tin- greatest concentration of colo nial buildings in America, still stand at Newport. In the old est section of town, known as ‘The Point’ dozens have been carefully restored, some for public display, many as private residences. ” For *1 a year the Countess leased them thebuilding end grounds of the Breakers, the fabulous $11 million mansion built by Vanderbilt in 1895, when Newport was hitting its stride as the exclusive U. S. summer resort. Now almost 90,000 visitors a year pay $1.75 each to view the most elaborate summer home ever built in America. Done in the style of the Italian Renaissance, and truly a pul- From jour W illiam, burg ba.-w you should im aiulei 12 miles to Yoi ktown evt-r the Colonial Parkwav Then' 11 e r old Ann- rican man a ugton m li\ mg forces un- on the DeG rasse fled. lion's hold It :s onies. The " WO! Id irked with plertie , and you ’’ downt t he guns gro." i can almost hear booming. And at Norfolk, Virginia'.- biggest city, is Ceneral Doug las MacArthur’s tomb and tlu F. S. Navy’s Atlantic fleet base. If you concentrate, you can imagine yourself right back in the Richmond of 1801, when Jefferson was president, Rich mond’s John Marshall was F. S. Chief Justice, and Jeffer son’s disciple, James Monroe, was governor. Never since has Virginia pan- thoir lot with their for eign hivthren. Tiny prefer to mutch their state with the eon- d tnui of the Ameriean white mi since his standard of is higher than theirs, whole, tliev are dissatis- mcern for the bout the worse lot of Negroes elsewhere. In many of the new Blaek African nations, for in stance, disease, malnutrition, illiteracy, and utter squalor are tho order of the day. I he indi vidual Afriean who lives un- dor such appalling conditions presents an interesting com parison to an American Negro earning $3600 per year or more. (Over 17 per cent of those arrested for rioting in Watts in 1965 earned as mueh as or more than thm amount.) But professional civil righters are not interested in such com parisons. Their point is equal ity, not prosperity. If the black Africans are poor and unletter ed, they are at least equal to all of their neighbors who are also poor and unlettered. This popular frame of mind transcends racial matters in America. Equally concerned with the “unfair distribution of wealth” are the poverty cult- ists. If a family has enough to eat, be clothed, sheltered and educated, it can neverthe less be labeled as “poor” by these cultists. Even if said fam ily has a television set, a car, and a telephone, it is still list ed in the category of the under privileged—simply because oth er families have two cars, two television sets, and three tele phones. Poverty is, under these terms, a relative thing. If oth er people make more money than you do, you are poorer than they. In simpler terms, this sort of thing was known as “keeping up with the Jone ses.” Now it has become a matter of “equal rights.” It is difficult to predict where the line will be drawn. Will it be necessary in the fu ture to possess a modern, split- level home complete with dish washer and garbage disposal, and a garage containing two latemodel automobiles, in order to be classified above the pov erty level ? As prosperity ex pands, more people obtain more material things. Perfectly ordinary individuals today en joy luxuries that only the priv ileged few could obtain a gen eration ago. Are those who have the necessities of life, but not these luxuries, to be lump ed in the “poverty” class? If poverty is a comparative thing, nobody will be satisfied until everybody has as much as everybody else. Such a condi tion cannot evolve while the standard of living is rising, for there will always be a “some body” who has more, no mat ter how high one manages to climb on the ladder of success. There is only one sure way to cure “relative poverty”: the destruction of wealth. Perhaps our spiraling taxa tion will accomplish just that. Misery loves company. “FOR THE PEOPLE” “State responsibility” was a recurring theme at the South ern Governors’ Conference held at Asheville, N. C., September 10-13. Time and time again, Governors and other conference participants hit at the need for strengthening the role of the State, particularly in the area of it relationship to Wash ington. No Governor likes to see his State become dependent upon the Federal Government for guidance and direction. The trend that direction for a time was alarming, but tue tide has been stemmed and ev- en the Federal Government is happy with the change. In this day of complexity and diversity at all levels of our society, Washington must play a role in the activity of states. But that role should be one of friend and companion, not enemy and jealous benefactor. The Federal Government was created by the people, for the people, anil it has a responsib ility to serve these people, re gardless of boundary lines. However, each state knows best its own needs and the assist ance from Washington should be tailored accordingly. With all the computers and other technical assistance available to the Federal Government, it cannot determine a local need in South Carolina nearly as well as those representatives in Columbia, each thoroughly familiar with his own area, who come together to enact and support programs for the peo ple. Washington must exert some influence, but that influence should be controlled through the channeling of its programs through each State capital. The Southern Governors’ Confer ence lent support to this view point, and the actions in Ashe ville did not go unnoticed in Washington. The more progress in this area of Federal-State cooperation, the more adequate ly government - at all levels - will serve..