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VENIN VT
By Quimby Melton
Yesterday we wrote about the
perfect “timing” that made the
annual Chamber of Commerce
banquet an enjoyable one.
One of the best bits of
“timing” came when retiring
President Lee Roy Claxton
wound up his short “farewell
address” with announcement
that he had been informed by
the State Health Department
that afternoon that the long
sought after addition to our
hospital is now a certainty and
actual work could start by fall.
The addition will add a 66 bed
wing to the present structure
and will cost $2.4 million. This
will be a Hill-Burton project and
authorities say a bond issue will
not be required.
The most often quoted “fare
well address” is the one George
Washington delivered to his
army after the Revolutionary
War had been won. He warned
against “foreign entangle
ments”. Washington, our first
President, and every other
President has had to deal with
“foreign entanglements.”
But this nation has never been
so “entangled” in foreign af
fairs as it has been during the
last two administrations.
Tuesday night, President
Nixon went on the air and told
the world that he had hope of
untangling some of the things
that have “hogtied" this nation
and much of the world. The
President made this talk less
than a month before he will
make his muchly publicized trip
to Red China.
What the President said was
interesting. He told how there
had been two kinds of meetings
of American and Hanoi
representatives that had been
held. One type was those at the
Paris Peace conference; the
others were “secret meetings”.
At first, he intimated, the
American representatives had
hopes that good results would
come out of the "secret meet
ings.” They realized that the
“Paris Peace” meetings were
just window dressing; that
Hanoi wanted to impress the
public that they would not
agree to any “demands” of “the
bigger, more prosperous nation.
But at the “secret meetings”
they were “more reasonable.”
However, when any news
“leaked out of these, news that
indicated the Viet Cong was
weakening” they would call this
news a “lie” of a “capatalistic
press.”
This led to much confusion
and even to suspicion on the
part of some Americans that the
administration did not want to
end the war.
So the President said he
wanted to tell the American
people of an eight point offer he
was planning to deliver to the
enemy. Salient points of this
are:
America will withdraw all
American troops from Indo-
China within six months after
an agreement has been reached
as to details of the withdrawal.
Both the President and Vice
President of South Vietnam will
resign five months after this
agreement has been reached,
leaving a month, in which a
“caretaker” government will
arrange for an election of a new
government; with election to be
supervised by neutral nations.
There was no attempt by the
President to withhold any of
what he planned to offer. We
hope he will be successful. No
man wants to end this war more
than he.
Good Evening’s reaction is
one mingled with hope and fear,
is that since the “party of the
second part” (Hanoi) is so
unreliable, so tricky, so quick to
charge a “lie” that any such an
agreement should be and must
be taken with more than “a
grain of salt.” Frankly we
wouldn’t trust them as far as we
can spit.
But nothing is impossible and
we sincerely hope and pray this
will be a time when decent#
shall prevail in spite of all the
trickery of the devil.
Weather
CLOUDY
ESTIMATED HIGH TODAY
60, low today 45, high yesterday
60, low yesterday 30. Sunrise
tomorrow 7:40, sunset
tomorrow 6:01.
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Poliee and FBI agents surround body of hijacker.
Carter sends senate
omnibus revamp bill
ATLANTA (UPI) - Gov.
Jimmy Carter sent to the Sen
ate today an omnibus bill which
would restore provisions of his
government reorganization plan
which senators earlier vetoed.
Major cuts made by the Sen
ate in its consideration of the
package last week knocked out
plans to get up a centralized
state printing facility and to put
forestry in the new Natural Re
sources Department.
The Senate, meanwhile, pre
pared to take up a committee
substitute bill which would re
peal House Bill 1, the original
bill authorizing reorganization,
and wipe out the controversial
“reverse-veto” provision.
Sen. Al Holloway of Albany,
the governor’s floor leader,
planned an amendment which
would continue a legislative
“mandate” for further reorgani
zation efforts by Carter.
In the House, the Ways and
Means Committee gave a “do
pass” recommendation to a bill
requiring insurance companies
to pay premium taxes of 2V«
per cent on a quarterly rather
than annual basis.
State Budget Director J. Bat
tle Hall said if the measure is
passed, the state would receive
a sl2 million windfall because
the measure would go into ef
fect April 1 and require pay-
Griffin Daily News
to feature pictures
of years gone by
The Griffin Daily News
Centennial edition will be
crammed with pictures
depicting life in this community
in days long gone by.
One of the pictures will show a
steam engine puffing smoke as
it passes under the Sixth Street
bridge. Another will show the
old Chicken Row, now Meri
wether street, section and will
identify some familiar land-
GRIFFIN
DAILTftNEWS
Daily Since 1872
Airline hijacker slain;
had stewardess, $200,000
ment of the tax for the first
six months of 1972.
The House Industry Commit
tee postponed action Wednesday
on a controversial utility bill
condemned by House Majority
Leader George Busbee of Al
as a measure with “scandal in
it.”
In addition, the House
Wednesday voted to freeze the
amount of money local schools
systems are required to put up
to finance their share of the
Minimum Foundation Program
and beat down a bid to change
the state flag.
The utility proposal would al
low the Georgia Public Service
Commission to set up terri
torial boundaries for electrical
power suppliers, including the
rural electric co-ops, the Geor
gia Power Co. and a string of
municipalities.
Busbee said the proposal
grew from a secret meeting at
an Atlanta restaurant and that
those attending did not allow
anyone to see the bill until it
was introduced.
“It doesn’t give the people
anything, it just takes their
rights,” said Busbee.
Some 50 Georgia municipali
ties are fighting the bill be
cause they say they were not
consulted.
marks.
Front pages with significant
stories of local, state, national
and international importance
will be reproduced in the edi
tion.
One will show how the
newspaper told of the end of
World War One.
The 100 page edition will be
out Monday.
Griffin, Ga„ 30223, Thursday, Jan. 27, 1972
The measure freezes terri
torial rights as they now stand,
and opponents said it would
give Georgia Power a strangle
hold in some cities.
However, Robert W. Scherer,
executive vice president at
Georgia Power, said his com
pany is supporting the plan
even though it will restrict
them.
Some representatives have
expressed favor with the bill
because as one said, “It will
keep Georgia Power and REA
from fighting with each other.”
Rep. Mac Pickard of Co
lumbus, chairman of the In
dustry Committee, cast the de
ciding vote when the motion to
postpone action on the bill tied
9-9.
The House has concurred with
the Senate on action to keep
Georgia’s local school systems
from paying more toward the
cost of education than they did
last year.
The State Auditor’s tax digest
for 1971 has almost doubled
and school systems would have
been paying sll6 million as
their share of the Minimum
Foundation Program if the leg
islature had not acted.
The House bill freezes the
amount paid by local systems
at $78.5 million. A Senate ver
sion limits the amount of in
crease to any system to no
more than 5 per cent of what
they are paying now.
Urban legislators, led by Rep.
Joe Mack Wilson of Marietta,
wanted to freeze the exact
amount paid by each system
during the past year. Urban
legislators claim the jump in
the tax digest illustrates that
rural land has been underval
ued and the cities have been
carrying too much of the
burden.
But Gov. Jimmy Carter said
in conferences he would not ac
cept that because some systems
have tax structures under 40
per cent of their digest and are
not paying their fair share.
Additionally, the House beat
back a proposal by Rep. Jannet
Merrit of Americus to change
the design of the state flag on
a 138-21 vote.
Mrs. Merrit has proposed that
the stars and bars of the Con
federacy be removed from the
flag.
“It would be good for the
progress of the people of Geor
gia and we could all march
forward to the 21st century with
a flag all people could proudly
salute,” she said.
But Rep. Denmark Groover
of Gray said in opposition that
to change the flag would put
the state “in a posture that we
must forever apologize for our
forebearers ...”
Bmnlr /m
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“Most groups seem to be
made up of folks who want to be
everything but quiet.
0 news focus
111
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Vol. 100 No. 22
POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y.
(UPI)—An airline hijacker was
diot and killed by an FBI agent
early today when he tried to
escape in a car from Pough
keepsie’s airport with $200,000
ransom and a stewardess
hostage.
A spokesman for the Dutch
ess County prosecutor’s office
said the hijacker, identified as
Heinrich Von George, 45, of
Brockton, Mass., was killed by
a shotgun blast after he had
fired a starter’s pistol at the
FBI man.
The close range shotgun blast
blew away most of the
hijacker’s head.
The stewardess-hostage, Ei
leen McAllister, was not
injured.
Von George, the father of 1
seven children, hijacked the
Mohawk Airlines F 227 twin
engine propjet Wednesday night
on a flight from Albany, N.Y.,
to New York City.
Demanded Ransom
But instead of landing at
LaGuardia Airport, the plane’s
scheduled stop, von George
ordered the plane to land at
Westchester County airport
near White Plains, N.Y., where
he released the 42 passengers
and demanded the $200,000
ransom.
Von George held Miss McAl
lister at gunpoint throughout
the hijacking and also told the
pilot, Carl Rieth, that he was
carrying a impact-type bomb.
He also demanded two
parachutes and cold weather
clothing for the stewardess,
apparently intending to force
her to jump from the plane
with him.
Mohawk Airlines said it
would be extremely difficult to
parachute from an F 227 be
cause of the danger of hitting
the tail section of the plane.
Jets Follow Plane
Rieth later said, “Anybody
who thinks he can chute out of
this plane has to be a little on
the sick side. He’s really a big
dreamer.”
After he collected the $200,000
and the parachutes he ordered
Rieth and copilot William
O’Hara to take off. During the
75 minutes the plane was in the
air before landing here, four
U.S. Air Force jet interceptors
followed the hijacked aircraft.
Air Force surveillance of
hijacked aircraft now has
become standard operating
procedure, an Air Force
spokesman said.
“Maybe if all this is publicly
known, it will deter some of
these hijackers,” the spokes
man said. “They must be a
little crazy in some ways.”
The Federal Aviation Admi
nistration (FAA) said the pilot
radioed that the hijacker
wanted a car waiting at the
Dutchess County Airport and
that he would keep Miss
McAllister hostage.
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ATLANTA—CarI P. Savage, a Montzuma, Ga., attorney, told
a Senate hearing that woman’s dormitories at the University
of Georgia in Athens are becoming what he calls “budding
communes”. Savage has a daughter enrolled at Georgia.
(UPI)
Thompson quoted
as being in race
WASHINGTON (UPI) - Rep.
Fletcher Thompson, R-Ga., to
day was quoted as having
made an “irrevocable decision”
to seek the Senate seat of Sen.
David H. Gambrell, D-Ga.
Thompson told reporters he is
carefully considering such a
race but had no further state
ment to make.
However, Thompson was
quoted by other sources as
having told a group of Georgia
supporters at a meeting in At
lanta last Monday that he has
made an “irrevocable decision”
to oppose Gambrell.
There has long been specula
tion Thompson would seek a
Senate seat because he is in
creasingly at odds with voter
sentiment in his district.
Thompson’s sth Congression
al District comprising most of
Fulton County and Atlanta in
1968 swung behind Democrat
Hubert Humphrey while the
state voted for George Wallace.
Similarly in 1964 the sth Dis
trict voted for Johnson although
the state as a whole supported
Republican Barry Goldwater.
Reports of the Atlanta meet
ing said Thompson’s supporters
believe his staunch conservati
vism which might hurt his
statewide race.
In the 1968 presidential race
Wallace got about 43 per cent
of the state vote, Republican
How old is too old to love and
care for children? Whatever the
authorities say, a Vermont couple
refuses to retire from the foster
parent business.
See page 12
Inside Tip
Campaign
See Page 6
Richard Nixon 30 per cent and
Humphrey 27 per cent.
Thompson has no prospective
opposition for the Republican
nomination. As a Republican
candidate he could expect to
hold the Nixon vote and get at
least a share of the Wallace
vote.
Highways
no longer
are plums
ATLANTA (UPI)—New urban
highways are no longer regard
ed as political plums but must
be sold to a public that has
become conscious of its environ
ment, an engineer said Wednes
day.
Citizens must now be con
vinced that the benefits a new
highway will bring will out
weigh the disruption to the en
vironment, said Alton L. Dowd,
an engineer with the Georgia
Highway Department in a
speech to a meeting of the
American Society of Civil Engi
neers.
Dowd said the best way to
convince citizens that new
roads are needed is to involve
them in planning.