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VENIN vJ*
By Quimby Melton
Tuesday Good Evening’s
column was about the “State of
the Nation” address President
• Nixon is to make to a joint ses
sion of Congress.
Wednesday we commented on
the “State of the City” speech
• Mayor Joe Dutton made to the
Exchange Club.
Today we’ll wind up the
, “State 0f...” columns with the
“State of the State” address de
livered by Gov. Lester Maddox
Tuesday.
• There probably has never
been a “State of the State” ad
dress delivered by a governor of
Georgia that has created more
• "talk” and that has brought
about more arguments than the
one delivered Tuesday by Gov.
Maddox.
• The governor told the General
Assembly, as well as a state
wide audience byway of TV,
that despite all the “warning”
• of bad things that would happen
if he were elected governor the
state had made much progress,
, was in good financial shape, and
destined to continued progress.
He devoted much of the speech
to criticising his critics, de-
• nouncing his denouncers and in
restating his feelings on the
federal government, the
schools, integration and the
• like.
He gave the public plenty of
fuel for heated arguments.
For some reason this old ti-
• mer keeps thinking of lister
Maddox as the “Tom Watson of
the Sixties.” For there are so
many ways in which the two
Georgians are alike. One of
these is that Lester Maddox
probably has more devoted
a followers, who will go right
down the line with him on all
matters, than any living man in
office. And this was true in the
• 1890 s and early 1900 s about Tom
Watson. Back in the Watson
days there was no such thing as
a candidate’s being able to hold
• his campaign speeches to TV
appearances. He had to face the
people, he had to visit every
part of the state, and nine times
• out of ten he would find a lot of
hecklers in his audience, both
men and women, who were past
e masters at heckling. There are
people living in Griffin who pro
bably remember when Watson
once spoke in Griffin he was
t interrupted time and time again
by fist fights. Campaigning
then was more than strenuous.
But Tom Watson was able to
• accumulate enough “tried and
true” followers to swing many
an election for governor, not to
mention lesser offices.
• There are stories to the affect
that the candidate who got the
support of Watson would be
elected by a margin of some
• 60,000 votes. Mr. Watson in the
old days published a weekly
newspaper that had wide cir-
, culation. And he always with
held his “endorsement” of a
candidate until the week before
the election. But once the
• Jeffersonian announced “Wat
son Likes ” the man he
liked could count on being elect
ed.
•> But enough about Tom Wat
son, one of the most interesting
political figures ever to live in
Georgia, except to say that Les-
• ter Maddox has the Watson-like
ability, hard to define, that en
ables a man to build a large per
son following.
' His “State of the State” ad
dress Tuesday certainly did no
damage to his personal follow
t ing, those who are with him
“erne rain or come shine.”
It will be interesting to watch
future developments in the life
«of Lester Maddox. There are
those who would like to “brush
him off”, ignore his influence,
and consider him just a passing
• actor on the stage of Georgia.
Many thought that of Tom
Watson. When he died, he was in
the United States Senate.
Weather
t
ESTIMATED HIGH TODAY 53,
low today 36, high yesterday 55,
a low yesterday 23. Sunrise
tomorrow 7:42, sunset
tomorrow 5:47.
TALKS TOO MUCH
SHOREHAM-BY-SEA, En
gland (UPl)—The Urban Coun
cil, by a vote of 12-5, has
decided to bar councillor Mrs.
Margaret Colquoun from all its
meetings.
The reason—she talks too
much.
“She goes on and on and on,”
said one councillor. “The move
is basically away of shutting
her up so constructive work can
be done.”
r mH li 111 t
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111 In II
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WllliBIIS \ |SII H! i wist '
Maddox Asks
Billion Budget
ATLANTA(UPI)—Gov. lister
Maddox recommended today
Georgia’s first billion dollar
budget and urged the General
Assembly for the third time to
increase the sales tax by one
per cent to bring in an estimat
ed slls million in additional rev
enue.
Maddox said revenue for fis
cal 1971 was expected to hit
$1.25 billion, up 10.7 per cent
over 1970. Coupled to that would
be an estimated surplus of $58.3
million.
In his budget message to the
lawmakers at noon, Maddox
asked for a total of $1,082,586,-
000 for the fiscal year starting
in July, leaving less than $1
million in surplus.
In calling for the sales tax to
be raised from three to four
per cent, after twice being re
buffed by the legislature, Mad
dox said it was the only “true
tax revision” and was vital to
provide “needed and essential
programs.”
Hits at Sanders
He also took a hard swipe at
Carl Sanders without naming
the former governor, who is ex
pected to be a candidate again
and under whom Senate Bill
180, known as the Omnibus Edu
cation Act, was passed.
Maddox called the measure a
“fine piece of legislation” for
education but “probably the
most damaging, destructive, un
reasonable, unfair and discrim
inatory action against home
ownership and the citizens who
pay ad valorem taxes...ever of
fered by a chief executive, ap
proved by the General Assembly
and signed into law within a
few days.”
He said those legislators who
served in 1964 when the act was
passed would recall “the politi
cal arm-twisting and the co
ercive efforts of special interest
groups” to obtain commitments
to the bill before the assembly
convened.
‘ ‘Neverin contemporary Geor
gia history was so much brutal
political force used,” Maddox
charged
Requests Trimmed
The governor said state agen
cies and 'departments had re-
GRI E FINr
Daily Since 1872
Tight Money Big Factor
In Housing Shortage Here
quested increases totaling $291.8
million but he had cut them by
$l4O million.
Maddox said he was recom
mending an increase of $163
million over earlier appropria
tions along with built-in increas
es.
He said he was recommend
ing an across-the-board hike of
S4OO annually for school teach
ers and all other state employ
es as “the absolute minimum
required...(to) help keep us
from falling behind.”
Maddox said Georgia’s “fa
vorable position” in teach
er recruitment was “seriously
threatened by not having pro
vided a salary increase in the
present fiscal year.”
He said he was “giving” high
est priority in his budget rec
ommendations to $10.3 million
to cut the teacher - pupil ratio
from 28 students per teacher to
26.
College Building
Maddox also recommended
$29.3 million more for the Board
of Regents along with $2.5 mil
lion to launch a $27.5 million
construction program.
He increased the Health De
partment allocation by $29.4 mil
lion, including $4.9 million for
medical assistant to welfare rec
ipients which would generate
$12.3 million more in federal
Medicaid funds.
He also requested $5 per mon
th cost of living increases for
136,000 blind, aged and disabled
adults.
In a $4.4 million proposed in
crease for the Department of
Corrections, he included a new
prison for women and expan
sion of the work-release pro
gram.
Maddox said the state was
“in serious trouble” in its De
partment of Public Safety and
he was recommending 75 more
troopers and 10 more GBI
agents.
He said the extra GBI agents
would make up special squads
“to wage war on organized
crime and will be especially
trained to combat the illegal
drug traffic which poses an im
mediate and grave threat to our
state.”-*
Griffin, Georgia 30223, Thursday, January 15, 1970
With the extra income gener
ated by enactment of a sales
tax increase, Maddox proposed:
—To return some $lO million
in sales tax rebates and credits
to the poor.
—540.1 million for Georgia cit
ies and counties.
—slß.l million to local school
systems, increasing the “state’s
cost for education from 80 per
cent to 85 per cent, and reduc
ing local cost of education from
19 to 15 per cent.”
—s2B million to the State
Highway Department which
would “forestall a 1% to 2 cent
per gallon gasoline tax in
crease.”
—53.9 million for an additional
reduction in the pupil - teacher
ratio.
—ss million to implement the
first phase of a statewide kin
dergarten program.
—57.3 million to provide ad
ditional across-the-board salary
increases for teachers.
22 Break At
‘Escape Proof
Alabama Prison
ATMORE, Ala. (UPI)-Twen
ty-two prisoners broke out of
the new “escape proof” Holman
State Prison early today and 15
remained at large at midmorn
ing.
Seven of the blue denim-clad
inmates were captured by a
75-man search party of state
troopers and prison guards us
ing dogs. Officials said they did
not know if the escapers were
armed.
The men escaped from a dor
mitory-style unit of the one
month-old prison by cutting a
big lock from a prison door,
according to Acting Prisons
Commissioner James T. Hagan,
who came here from Montgom
ery to supervise recapture op
erations.
“They got out by getting a
lock off an exterior door,” Ha
gan said t
Awards
Three committees in the Griffin
Kiwanis Club won top state
awards for their performances
during the 1969 year under
President Lon Knowles (left).
Shown with the award plaques
are (1-r) Ralph Gatlin, chair
man of the Boys and Girls Com
mittee; Dr. James Skinner,
chairman of the Scout Com
mittee; and Dr. Guy Woodroof,
chairman of the Program and
Music Committee. The awards
were presented at the state Mid-
Winter conference at Rock
Eagle.
Airport
Authority
Sought
ATLANTA (UPI)-A bill to
set up a Georgia airports au
thority to supervise all airports
in the state will be proposed in
the General Assembly, an At
lanta area legislator said today.
The lawmaker, who asked
not to be identified at this time,
said the need for such an agen
cy was “dramatically brought
to our attention because of the
proposed new airport in Atlan
ta.”
He said the airport, which
has stirred up a controversy
over whether it should be locat
ed north or south of Atlanta,
was “not the property of any
one city or county but is obvi
ously a regional facility.
“The state has the responsi
bility to exert authority over
such facilities which affect the
economy of the entire state.”
The legislator said the pro
posed authority would operate
much like the Georgia Ports
Authority and he said several
“influential” legislators from
over the state would join in
sponsoring the bill.
A Henry County site south of
Atlanta was initially recom
mended by a study commission
but the majority of the airlines
serving Atlanta have said they
prefer a location in north Ful
ton County where “70 per cent”
of the persons traveling by air
live, even though development
would cost about S2OO million
more than the Henry County
site.
Vol. 97 No. 12
Financers
Watch War
Indicator
High interest rates and in- 1
creased costs in building are the
two major causes of decreased
home building in the Griffin
area, according to Griffin
Federal Savings and Loan
Executive Vice President Bill
Ramsey.
Ramsey, a veteran in the
home loan field, said in an inter
view that as salaries go up, in
terest and material rate in
creases will soon follow.
Savings and loan association
home loans are presently at
eight and one half per cent with i
Federal Housing Admin
istrationloanstoping 9 per cent
when the required insurance is
added, Ramsey noted.
FHA loans are not handled by
either of Griffin’s Savings and
loan associations.
“The present loan demand
has exceeded the supply of
money in this area and a condi
tion of ‘tight money’ has
developed,” Ramsey pointed
out.
People are not saving now as
they once did, and because of
this banks, as well as savings
and loan associations, do not
have the necessary cash re
serve to meet the public’s loan
needs, Ramsey added.
“We like to make 80 per cent
loans, meaning the person in
terested in building or buying a
home will need a 20 per cent
down payment,” Ramsey con
tinued, “So when people don’t
save, they can’t make the
necessary down payment and
we then hear talk of the banks
making it impossible to build.”
A possible easing in the “tight
money” situation may come as
early as mid-1970 with the
condition of the war as the main
indicator, but the future of
money is still very uncertain,
according to Ramsey.
With many newcomers to
Griffin spending weeks, and
sometimes months, living in
motels, rental property is be
coming of prime importance to
the growth of the Griffarea.
John Dallas, city building
inspector, has found that the
high cost of borrowing money to
construct rentals has made
many builders realize they
cannot receive an adequate re
turn on their investment at
present interest rates.
Dallas, who returned to
Griffin in March of 1968,
following 21 years Army ser
vice, said, “Those persons who
cannot afford to build and can
not locate rental housing be
cause of the shortage, are being
left without a place to turn.”
A decrease in the number of
private residents constructed
within the city may be caused
by a “wait and see” attitude on
the part of many families and
builders who are hoping costs
will go down soon, Dallas
speculated.
Mobile homes may be the
answer for some families,
especially young couples, who
cannot find a suitable place to
rent and cannot afford to build,
says Spalding County Building
Inspector Sam Cobb.
“Contractors can build fast
enough to keep up with the
demands of individuals who can
afford to build, but tight money
has left many families unable to
borrow enough to meet the
rising costs of housing,” Cobb
said.
Cobb said the average value
of a home built in the county in
1969 rose more that $2,000 over
the 1968 average.
Charles McKemie
Is Proud Os Griffin
Because - -
I am proud of Griffin because, here we have
the chance to grow in a peaceful environment
where there are no major or any disturbances
among us.
Here in a changing, growing city we know most
people we want to know and have all the freedom
to do what we want to do.
I am also proud of our school system which of
fers some of the finest in education. I don’t believe
Griffin will ever die because we, the Griffinites,
work together, stick together, and have the right
to express our opinions.
This is why I am proud of Griffin!
Charles McKemie
Spalding Jr. High, 7th Grade
r*l IT VAI ID OIAJKI TA VEC . A
vui luunuHii ihalo vnap. IU
Taxes Should
Be Deducted
By RAY DE CRANE
Distributed by Enterprise Press
Deductible taxes on your
federal income tax return
are generally restricted to
real estate taxes, state and
local gasoline taxes, state
and local sales taxes, state
and local income taxes and
personal property taxes.
Some taxpayers err in
totaling the real estate tax
figure on their monthly mort
gage statement and listing
that as the real estate taxes
paid for the year. Your
actual real estate tax pay
ment could be more or less
than that total.
Your monthly contribution
to taxes goes into a reserve
fund to provide payment
when the taxes are due. The
real estate tax figures to be
reported on your return are
those payments actually
made to the taxing authority
by you or your bank or sav
ings and loan institution in
your behalf.
If you don’t pay your real
estate taxes directly, your
mortgage lending firm
should be able to supply you
with that figure.
The amount that may be
claimed for gasoline taxes
depends upon the gasoline
tax effective in your state
and the number of miles
driven last year.
State gasoline tax charts
are printed in the instruction
manual mailed to you to
gether with your income
tax forms by Internal Rev
enue Service. Consult your
state chart for the effective
tax per gallon and then
check the mileage chart for
the allowed total tax.
Similar charts are pro
vided in your manual of in
structions for state sales
taxes. These charts provide
a flat allowance depending
upon total income and the
number in the family. This
indicates the amount of sales
tax IRS will allow without
requiring proof.
Should you be able to
establish that you actually
paid more sales tax than the
chart allows—such as sales
tax paid on home furnishings
and appliances — preserve
your records of such tax pay
ments and claim the full
amount paid.
Before consulting the chart
for your standard allowance,
add to your adjusted gross
income the amount of any
Social Security or Railroad
Inside Tip
Schools
See Page Three
Retirement Act benefits and
get the benefit of the higher
tax deduction.
Note the many footnotes to
the state sales tax charts.
This will point out that the
chart does not include any
local or county sales taxes
that may have been adopted
during the year. If your own
community instituted a sales
tax during the year add a
proportionate amount to the
figure on the chart.
Also allowed—and not re
flected on the chart—is a
sales tax allowance for the
sales tax paid on a car pur
chased during the last year.
If you bought a new or used
car and paid sales tax on it
last year, show the sales tax
on the car purchase as a
separate item on your re
turn.
If you are claiming a high
er than usual gasoline tax
deduction on your return be
cause of the ownership of a
second, or even a third, car
in the family, make note of
that fact for the benefit of
IRS auditors.
(NEXT: Charitable
contributions.)
********
NO EXCUSE
GLASGOW, Scotland (UPI)—
Ferguson Shaw and Sons
Limited were fined $l2O at the
sheriff’s court here for failing
to keep their factory clean.
The factory produces soap.
★★★★★★★★
The Country Parson
i ■
“Learning to walk is the
most daring thing some folks
ever do.’’
Copyright 1970. bv Frank A Clark