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THE FORSYTH COUNTY NEWS - AUGUST 31. 1972 -
THE COUNTY NEWS
Established 1908
Tony Maddox, Editor Si Publisher
Minor Martin, Advertising Mgr.
John D. Solesbae, News Editor
Published every Thursday by The Forsyth County
News Company. Second Class Postage paid at: Post
Office in Cumming, Georgia under Act of March Bth
in 1897. Subscription rates in Forsyth and adjoining
counties, $4.12 per yaar, ineluding State Salas Tax*
elsewhere, $5.15 per year.
107 DAHLONEGA ST. CUMMING. GEORGIA...
887-3127 30130
Editorially Speaking
Fire Fighters Needed
It was all too apparent last week how insufficient
Forsyth County’s fire department really is.
A lake home of one of Cumming’s citizens was des
troyed by fire and although a Forsyth County fire truck
was at the scene, it may as well have been pumping gaso
, line on the fire for what good the water was doing.
It is not the fault of the Forsyth County Sheriff’s
Department which mans the fire engines. It is the fault
of this county for not getting behind and promoting a
fire department that could serve the county rather than
make an honest effort to serve.
The deputies should not have to be responsible for
operating the fire department. It is apparent that their
hands are full in enforcing the law, which is, and should
be, their primary duty.
All right, so the county is in debt and can’t afford a
full-fledged fire department. We’ll go along with this.
It’s sad but true.
We would suggest that a group of citizens band toge
ther and form a volunteer fire department. Volunteer
fire departments have more than once proven their wor
thiness and if enough citizens would be willing, it could
work. . .
Human nature provides us with a non-committal att
itude until something happens that directly affects us.
In other words, we do not realize what all goes up in
flames and a cloud of smoke until it is ours.
Insurance will replace many things that a fire would
destroy but some things are gone to ashes that no policy
could ever cover.
We’re not saying a volunteer fire department will
solve the problem, that with one no fire will ever again
destroy a Forsyth County home, but we’re saying it
could do more good than it could do harm.
Naturally, more equipment will be needed, but we’re
willing to bet if enough citizens gave their backing and
showed a sense of willingness to work to local govern
mental officials, something tangible and beneficial could
be worked out for our county.
=ffj-
A number of Cumming Shriners recently went to New Orleans
to participate in parades and festivities there. Bobby Wallace
had the misfortune of suffering a spill from his motorcycle
during the parade, but he says that he picked a good spot for the
mishap - right in front of several thousand people. He wasn't
seriously injured.
-O-
James Otwell has returned to his home in Cumming after
hospitalization in Atlanta. No word on when he expects to return
to his duties as head of Andean Motor Company.
-O-
Mayor Ford Gravitt said Tuesday that the Moose Lodge has
been padlocked “indefinitely". He said that complaints had been
received concerning after hours operation and other violations,
forcing him to order the closing.
-O-
Bllly Martin, Unicity developer, may soon become a perman
ent Forsyth County resident. By phone Tuesday, Billy said he
has found a homesite (in Unicity, naturally) and expects to
build a home near Cumming in the new residential section.
Despite strenuous efforts by the prosecution Angela Davis
was found not guilty on charges of kidnapping hostages and the
murder of a Judge In California.
Before an all-white Jury, the evidence against her was not
substantial to find her guilty, and I'm glad the Jury was not
prejudiced and she was freed.
Cast week, Miss Davis spoke to several hundred people In
Atlanta. This week, she Is In Russia.
As a black militant leader, she came to Atlanta to announce
that she, SCI.C president, Dr. Ralph David Abernathy, and s
tate Rep. Julian Bond will "sponsor” a national committee
to " V ree K mily Muller.”
Holding a PHD, Miss Davis has the ability to speak before
an audience and the fortitude to llve-oulside the system, but
1 disagree with her role In Atlanta to free Emily Muller.
Kmlly Muller, a black woman, happens to be In the DeKalh
County Jail without Ixtnd on charges of murdering her super
visor, Mrs. Hetty Davis, last June at the Internal Revenue (
Disagreeing With Angela Davis
lIY JAN 111 Kill KS
PAGE 2
Letters To Editor
Process Of Law
Dear Sir:
This Is a comment upon the
process of law as observed by
a life long resident of Forsyth
County. Being 42 years old, f
alrly well-educated, a regis
tered voter for about two de
cades, I was mildly surprised
that I was belatedly considered
worthy of the solemn civic duty
of Traverse juror. However, the
tax treasury Is a few dollars
poorer today because my ser
vice amounted to zero.
My disqualification was due to
a peculiar belief that has foll
owed and plagued me for many
years. Namely, that murder by
the state makes no sense if it
cannot either restore life to the
murdered or prevent the same
from taking place. The state, of
course, calls its murders by a
fancy name-capital punishment.
What is lacking, not only in
our courtrooms, but In our sch
ools and churches and homes is
an open and honest discussion
of our problems. What are we
doing to ourselves? Is crime
merely a problem of criminals
and victims? Who was the man
before he became a criminal?
Why does a Christian society
have so much violence? What
Is the difference between the vi
olence which good people do not
approve of and the violence wh
ich they glorify? Why is it so
difficult for a people to be good
to themselves? Are we express
ing a need for self-punishment?
Can truth be found at the end
of a very mechanical pro
cedure?
Anything that obscures the
nature of violence leads to gre
ater violence. Still, we fumble
and stumble with an obsession
for proper procedure and are
well-pleased if the operation g
oes smoothly. For whom is ju
stice? For the victim? For the
criminal? But what kind of jus
tice does the community get f
rom a mechanical, compulsive,
paper-scared process that n
ever deals with the fundamen
tal questions of desperate be
havior? Why are our minds cl
osed? Is our happiness to flower
as we carry on problem-solving
processes that are almost de
void of spontaneity? Why the p
sychological rigidity of a grist
mill? Can the behavior of one
be honestly explored without e
xplorlng the behavior of the he
rd? Or are we, unlike cattle, a
bove the herd instinct? Can the
bad be known without question
ing the good?
A community or society that
does not care to carry on a con
tinuous struggle and search for
truth and justice creates crime
hand over fist. The fundamen
tal mistake is to assume that
the well-being of a people can be
promoted by a final, paper-tr
uth; that truth can be finalized
and the struggle ended by re
sorting to the threat and force
of law. Truth or value are par
adoxical! They are as cycles,
not as straight lines with the
bad at one end and the good at
the other. Once the good is fo
und it is lost again. All forms
of life turn in cycles.
TO THE EDITOR:
I would like to congratulate
Mr. Robert B. Otwell on being
elected as Superintendent of
Forsyth County Schools for the
next four years. I pledge my
full support to Mr. Otwell the
remaining time I am In office,
In trying to work out as
mooth transfer of duties.
The people of Forsyth County
have been good to me for the
last seventeen and one-half y
ears, and I am very proud of
enter In Chamblee.
Should the defendant lx> found guilty by a Jury, then the above
mentioned plus Emily's attorneys should not lie permitted to
betray America’s law on die grounds that one Is "driven to
desperation...by the racism and oppression.”
All people are subject to periods of desperation. If Mrs. 11-
utler’s circumstances were so adverse then why didn't she
find another Job'.'
Rather than killing without regard to consequences, In many
Instances, courage can be Ixirn from despair.
Miss Davis said "Emily Muller has been made a scapegoat -
In the truest sense of the word. She has linen charged with !*•-
tng a murderer....she Is a victim.”
We are not blaming Mrs. Muller with the murder or using her
as a scapegoat. In the truest sense of the word, she Is accused
or a very serious crime, and If she Is found guilty by a Jury then
she should be punished.
The seed must die under pro
per conditions or it can never
bear fruit. The process of the
beautiful is continuous struggle.
We dare not make our truth
the automatic result of force
and expect it to yield happin
ess! We are not gods! Our tr
uth is necessarily a limited,
non-absolute, human product.
To allow authority to substi
tute for a personal struggle is
to frustrate our nature and to
predispose us to aberrant be
havior in its many forms. If
the law is truth, neatly defined
and with the power of punish
ment why should we risk a c
lash by using our minds to deal
with truth? So we do not think;
we do not feel; we do as we
are told; we herd like cattle!
We kill and and are killed in
turn, but never, never do we
dig into rusty, cob-webbed mind
and dare to deal with our life
and happiness in a courageous
way.
To summarize: The law and
the crime are the right and 1-
eft hands of the same main
stream psychology. That is,
they are complementary exten
sions of a mainstream which
falsifies and hides its failures
by wholly blaming a part whose
malfunction is related to the w
hole.
Respectability assumes a co
mpleteness it does not have. T
his assumption is the path of
the herd, the thrust of a dee
ply alienated thought. This fa
lseness wears us down, brings
us into conflict with others and
disturbs the solitude of our m
inds.
We make no progress towards
community and personal health
by merely blaming violence on
the obviously burden when we
deny our kinship with even cr
iminality. What is repressed
may be forgotten and ignored
but it lingers in the emotions
to direct behavior in a less con
trollable way. We good folks who
take credit for community suc
cesses can wash our hands on
the matter of crime, but at s
ome point we are going to be
forced, out of iriher psycholo
gical necessity, to see our con
nection in this ugliness.
An institution is not worth a
dime if its people are not wil
ling to endure, the pain and su
ffering which go with a rigor
ous self-examination.
We are well-heeled, psycho
logical slaves whose morality
and law stem from fear of b
eing stampeded by the crowd.
We are losing our freedom be
cause we never use it! We have
no deep convictions! Our hat
red is reserved for the insi
gnificant and it easily turns up
on anything.
Our dearest become the fo
cus of burdens external to them.
We haven’t even taken the first
step in this matter of violence.
Dare we put away our laws and
papers for just a little while
and try to see things in an al
ternate way?
Thanks,
A Reader
Superintendent
Gives Successor
Congratulations
the many opportunities I have
had to serve the boys and girls
of Forsyth County.
I will always wish the very
best for the residents of For
syth County. I also want to t
ake this opportunity to thank
all the people In Forsyth Co
unty for the courtesy and kin
dness extended to me during
my campaign for re-election.
Sincerely yours,
Clarence N. Lambert, Supt.
Forsyth County Schools
H
'v k,mmm
Special Report from Washington
BOMBING CLAIMS DISPUTED
By Jack Anderson
1972 Pulitzer Prize Winner for National Reporting
(Copyright, 1972, by United Feature Syndicate, Inc.)
WASHINGTON-Henry
Kissinger’s staff is privately
questioning the accuracy of
recent military reports bally
hooing the effectiveness of
U.S. bombing of North Viet
nam.
These reports claim the
bombing has caused massive
disruption of Hanoi’s supply
line. But other intelligence
sources, particularly the CIA,
have filed reports that dispute
these claims.
Aerial photographs show no
backup of supplies on the
Chinese side of the border.
This indicates the supplies are
flowing freely into North Viet
nam. In addition, say the CIA
reports, Hanoi still finds it
unnecessary to ration food and
fuel.
Meanwhile, civilian casual
ties in at least one region in
South Vietnam are going up
since the South Vietnamese
began to take control of Amer
ican fire power.
A secret report directed to
the U.S. high command in
Vietnam charges that the Sai
gon troops in the Binh Dinh
area indiscriminately called for
American bombing and naval
gun fire. The report says the
South Vietnam commanders
have little regard for the dev
astating effect the bombing
has upon the civilian popula
tion. A U.S. army team has
been sent to investigate.
GROOMING THE
CANDIDATES
The politicians, in this age
of long hair, have become
suddenly hair conscious.
Lyndon Johnson came into
office sporting a plastered
down look reminiscent of the
1930’5. By the time he retired
to Texas, however, his hair
was long in back and creeping
over his ears. He had the
modem “dry look”.
Richard Nixon assumed the
presidency wearing his hair in
the slicked-down style. Soon,
however, his barber got into
tax trouble, and Nixon dump
ed him in favor of a tonsorial
artist more attuned to the
styles of the day.
The new barber, Milton
Pitts, threw out the oils and
goo, clipped the President’s
curly ends, and gave him a
sculptured, razor cut. Pitts
now visits the White House
about once a week to keep the
President’s new “natural
look” in trim.
The Democratic candidate
for President, Senator George
McGovern, frequents a salon
called “Hair, Incorporated,”
located in Washington’s fash
ionable Georgetown section.
McGovern gets the standard
treatment. His hair is sham
pooed, given a "layered” scis
sors cut, and carefully dried
with a hand-held dryer.
He is particularly concerned
about his receding hair line.
His stylist, as a result, makes
r Forsyth
County i
Bank -
Hip hip hooray! Now there’s an all-purpose bank for
everyone ... ours! Look to us to lead the way in modem
banking services. At the unbankly bank we’re always up
to something new. And that’s something to cheer about!
50...
Cheers!
MAl’iSt'N AVtNli AiIStViAM H i.\\* !»»*»
the most of what the Senator
has by applying a hair condi
tioner called “thicken-up.’
WOOING THE ELDERLY
The Nixon Administration’s
wide lead in the polls reflects
the fact that the Republicans
have been making inroads
with traditional Democratic
voters. The South is moving
rapidly toward the GOP and
the ethnic, blue-collar vote
may soon follow. But there is
one traditional Republican
bloc that has been slipping
toward the Democrats.
Republican strategists are
increasingly concerned about
the party’s ability to win the
elderly vote. In the past, sen
ior citizens have always favor
ed the GOP. In 1956, for
example, the party got an
estimated 61 percent of their
votes. But four years ago, the
percentage had slipped to be
low 50 percent.
The reason seems to be that
the aging are acting like other
American minorities. They
have grown militant and are
organizing to make their de
mands heard.
The Republican National
Committee has now prepared a
special manual for all the
party's candidates warning
them not to forget the elderly.
“The unique, special problems
of growing old," in America,
the manual says, “have spark
ed the emergence of the over
sixty generation into a strong
political bloc with the power to
make or break a campaign.”
The manual also points out
that unlike some noisy minori
ties, the elderly always turn
out on election day. Eighty
four percent are registered to
vote and 70 percent vote regu
larly. There are now 20 million
senior citizens. If they swing
heavily toward one party,
their votes could decide the
presidency.
DILEMMA IN YEMEN
The Soviet Union has been
ushered out of Egypt, but
their problems in the Middle
East are far from over. They
are deeply involved in a little
publicized civil war now going
on between North and South
Yemen. And it’s unlikely they
will be able to extricate them
selves without getting burned.
The two Yemens lie at the
tip of the Arab Peninsula
where the Red Sea meets the
Gulf of Aden. A fairly mod
erate government rules North
Yemen, formally known as
the Yemen Arab Republic. But
in South Yemen, otherwise
known as the People’s Demo
cratic Republic of Yemen, a
radical government holds
power.
When the radicals took over
in 1969, after kicking out a
more moderate government,
the Russians began to gaze on
South Yemen with greedy
eyes. For perched at the very
tip of the country lies the
Port of Aden, which was one of
the world’s largest oil bunker
ports when the Suez Canal was
open. It now lies dormant, but
it is a potential bonanza for
whoever controls it if the Suez
re-opens.
So with their eyes fixed on
Aden, the Soviets began
pumping aid and advisors
into South Yemen. Most of
Russia’s Arab allies, however,
are opposed to South Yemen.
The Soviet assistance, there
fore, has weakened their rela
tionships with their other
Arab friends.
But Russia’s real problems
began when the two Yemens
recently began feuding. The
Soviet Union, it seems, also
has advisors in North Yemen.
In the event of war, which
intelligence reports predict is
imminent, the Russians would
be left in the unenviable posi
tion of having their military
experts advising both sides in
the same war.
The Soviets can't lose that
way, but they can’t win either.