Newspaper Page Text
New State Constitution
May Be In Big Trouble
By TOM GREENE
ATLANTA (UPI) -One of the
first controversial issues expect
ed to arise when the General
Assembly convenes Jan. 12 is a
proposed new constitution.
House Speaker George L.
Smith has said he plans to call
for a vote on a new constitution
in that body during the first
week of the session. But a sur
vey of legislators by United
Press International indicates it
may be in trouble.
The General Assembly last
session created a Constitution
Revision Commission to come
up with a new document to re
place the current, much-amend
ed 1945 constitution.
The group worked all summer
and into the fall drafting its pro
posal, which included several
controversial changes. The com
mission recommended, among
other things, that legislators be
given four-year terms, that both
the state school superintendent
and members of the board of
education be appointed rather
than elected, and that the Gen
eral Assembly create a board
to control prices of milk and
dairy product substitutes.
The issue of four-year terms
and the milk control board were
rejected by the voters in 1968.
The House Judiciary Commit
tee already has reviewed the
proposal drawn up by the com
mission, and made major
changes in the recommenda
tions. The committee, for in
stance, rejected four - year
terms and the milk board.
But neither action is final,
and the members of the entire
General Assembly will have the
last word on whether or not a
new constitution is approved
and submitted to the voters next
November, and what it will con
tain.
Asked if they felt a new con
stitution will pass next year, the
majority of more than a third
of the legislators who answered
the UPI survey said no. The
count was 31 yes, 55 no.
But many of those who indi
cated a new constitution would
pass added that there would be
major changes in the document
recommended by the commis-
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sion.
Veteran Rep. Mac Pickard of
Columbus said it would not pass
“without some changes, and
then only maybe.”
Rep. George Potts of New
nan said “it will pass the Gen
eral Assembly, but the people
may reject it.”
One legislator who did not
sign his answers pointed out
that a proposed new constitution
passed in 1964 was barred the
federal courts from a vote by
the people. The courts ruled the
General Assembly was not
legally apportioned and thus
could not draw up a valid new
constitution.
He said he expects someone
to raise that issue again, point
ing out that the General Assem
bly will be reapportioned after
the 1970 federal census.
But the survey indicated that
most of the legislators would
vote for four - year terms for
themselves, if they get the
Glynn County Jury
Finds Howser Innocent
BRUNSWICK, Ga. (UPI)—It
took a murder trial to reunite
Charlotte, N. C., baseball execu
tive Charles Howser and his
wife of 20 years.
A Glynn Superior Court jury,
after less than one hour of de
liberation, found Howser inno
cent Monday night of murdering
47-year-old Charlotte Divorcee
Carolyn Hogan.
Mrs. Hogan’s body was found
last Aug. 17 beneath the bal
cony of the third-floor room of
the resort motel where Howser
was staying on nearby Jekyll
Island.
Howser, 56, general manager
of the Charlotte Hornets of the
Southern league, walked out of
the courtroom after the jury re
turned its verdict with his wife
and son, Robert, in his early
20s, holding back tears of joy
until they were outside the old
courthouse.
He went into seclusion almost
immediately. Robert said his
father would issue a statement
today.
A source close to the family
said the trial was “almost mi
raculous” in drawing the How-
chance. The vote was 66 for and
28 against.
Sen. W. Armstrong Smith of
Atlanta said “personally and
selfishly” he favors longer
terms, but “from the standpoint
of the people, I would vote
against it.”
Others said they would vote
for it if the longer terms do not
begin until after the General
Assembly is reapportioned.
On the issue of appointing
both the school superintendent
and board members, 57 said
they opposed it while 37 were
for it. But others said they
would favor appointment of the
superintendent and election of
board members. “I am consid
ering introducing legislation to
that effect,” Sen. Steve Reyn
olds of Lawrenceville said.
The question of establishing a
milk control board was a close
one, with 42 favoring it and
only 47 opposed.
ser’s together. They have been
married 20 years and have two
children, but had been separat
ed for the past seven and a half
years.
During the seven - day trial,
Howser was described as a
lonely man who had sought out
Mrs. Hogan for companionship.
His wife was by his side, how
ever throughout the court pro
ceedings.
Southern League official Sam
Charles Smith of Knoxville,
Tenn., said the trial would have
no effect on Bowser’s career.
In his summation Monday,
Dist. Atty. Glenn W. Thomas
Jr. said Howser had beaten
Mrs. Hogan and pushed her
from the balcony. He said
Howser was the “architect of
his own misfortune.”
However, the defense main
tained Howser was guilty only
of “drinking liquor,.eating too
much and enjoying himself”
and was brought to trial in the
first place only because “he vio
lated a moral code.”
Howser, testifying in his own
defense Sal urday, had described
to the jury the circumstances of
Mrs. Hogan’s plunge from the
balcony. He said she had been
drinking during the afternoon
and, after taking a nap, he had
seen her lying across the bal
cony.
“Carolyn, get down before
you fall,” Howser testified he
told her.
“I turned my head and then
looked back and there wasn’t
any Carolyn.
“I got up and walked out on
the balcony, and so help me
God, there she was,” he said,
his testimony wracked by sobs.
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Richmond
Deputy
Suspended
AUGUSTA, Ga. (UPI) -Rich
mond County Deputy Sheriff J.
E. Johnson, accused by a Negro
Augusta councilman of calling
him “boy” while he was de
tained at the county jail, has
been suspended for one week
without pay.
Sheriff E. R. Atkins suspend
ed Johnson Monday for his part
in the detention last week of
Councilman Grady Abrams. The
sheriff said Johnson violated
sheriff’s department rules dur
ing the incident.
Abrams was held in the jail
several hours after he refused to
identify himself when asked to
do so by Johnson and a fellow
investigator. Abrams accused
Johnson of grabbing him by the
coat and using the word “boy”
in addressing him.
NEW AWARENESS
WASHINGTON (UPI) -Vice
President Spiro T. Agnew
reviewed the Nixon administra
tion’s accomplishments and
said “Above all, we have
restored ... a sense of real
awareness in the ability of the
government of the United
States to govern the people of
the United States.”
“We have seen respect for
the presidency itself in
creased,” Agnew told about 120
Cabinet and sub-Cabinet mem
bers Friday. “This has not
come about through accident
but because of the high moral
tone of the Nixon administra
tion.”
Then President Nixon invited
the members and their families
to a Christmas party in the
White House.
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Griffin Daily News
CLOSING NOTICE
The Undersigned Auto Ports
Companies in Griffin
WILL BE CLOSED
from NOON WEDNESDAY, DEC. 24th
through SUNDAY, DEC. 28th in order
to give our employees a long weekend
Christmas Holiday.
RE-OPEN FOR BUSINESS
ON MONDAY, DEC 29TH.
BEATY AUTO PARTS
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MOYER AUTO PARTS, INC.
SPALDING AUTO PARTS, INC.
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7
Tuesday, December 23, 1969