Newspaper Page Text
PAGE FOUR
fHE BUTLER HERALD, BUTLER, GEORGIA, AUGUST 15, 1946.
THE BUTLER HERALD
Entered at Postoffice at Butler,
Georgia as Mail Matter of
Second Class.
Chas. Benns Jr., Managing Editor
O. E. Cox, Publisher & Bus. Mgr.
OFFICIAL ORGAN TAYLOR CO.
PUBLISHED EVERY THURSDAY
Average Weekly Circulation
Seventeen Hundred Copies
Established in 1879
Chinese editors do not worry
about typographical errors In fact
they see that a few are left uncor-
j rected, knowing how much satis
faction a reader gets in finding
i them. Any wise editor might re-
) member this when he feels like
I tearing his hair, if he has any,
I when mistakes get into print.
THE COUNTY UNIT SYSTEM, THE
ONLY HOPE OF SMALL
COUNTIES
BY THE BOOTSTRAPS
During the war we all became
familiar with blood banks for hu
mans. Now there are a few for
animals and they're saving valu
able livestock, according to Farm
Journal.
Of course it is needless to point
out that the new automobile tele
phone system which enables a
man to keep constantly in touch
with his wife at home works two
ways.
Recruiting for the army forces is
reported to be going ahead at a
pretty lively rate. Probably a lot
of young fellows have discovered
that being a civilian is a luxury
they cannot afford at this time.
j As the first of the r-less months
is with us and the open season
i for oysters looms up, we find the
| Georgia Department of Public
1 Health quoting on the front page
of its popular bulletin these
classic lines from Lewis Carroll:
“A loaf of bread,"the Walrus said,
“Is what we chiefly need:
Pepper and vinegar besides
Are very good indeed—
Now, if you're ready, Oysters dear
We can begin to feed.”
Money flows into the Southeast
in a swollen stream during tobac
co, peanut, cotton, and truck mar
ket seasons. To those who know
nothing of the costs and hazards
of farming, it seems that farmers
are riding the crest of the high
price wave. While it is true they
are receiving the highest prices
since 1920 for many item s, it is
equally true that the cost of items
the farmer has to buy have risen
just a little faster than prices on
farm products.
A special 3-cent postage stamp
commemorating the centennial an
niversary of the establishment of
the Smithsonian Institution at
Washington, D. C., was issued and
placed on first-day sale in Wash
ington on Aug. 10.
“In two wars we have had allies
who fought and held the enemy
back while we got ready. The
next time, the United States will
be the first to be attacked and we
had better be ready,” warns Gen.
Jonathan Wainwright.
There’s one satisfaction about
shopping for a suit these days.
Y'ou never get confused as to
which one to select—you just take
the only one left on the rack and
hope that a yellow-green can be
dyed a conservative brown.
Autumn Van Den Heuval, a
Hudson Valley farmer, wants to
know what’s the matter with the
world, anyway- He has 80 acres
of sweet corn and a record crop
of blackberries and elderberries
ready for the picking, but can’t
hire anybody, even at $9 a day. k
So he is telling everyone to come
in and help himself—dealers ex
cepted. The same fate came near
befalling the abundant crop of
those luscious Georgia peaches,
while the mellon crop is meeting
the same fate. Whc w'ants to work
while the Government is handing
out the dough?
The explanation a woman re
cently gave a life insurance com
pany for failing to pay her hus
band’s premiums seems reason
able. She wrote: “Please excuse
us, as we cannot pay any more
premiums on Sam. He died last
September.”
The British loan means more to
the long range welfare of South
ern cotton and tobacco farmers
than to any other section of the
American public, according to
Representative Albert Rains of
Gadsden, Ala. “The fate of cotton
in world trade, the price of cotton
in Alabama will' be basically in
fluenced by the British loan. Fifty
per cent of our tobacco export goes
to Britain, 40 per cent of our cot
ton exports goes to Britain. Britain
is our best customer.” But the
world trade is an even more di
rect factor in the Alabama cotton
picture, Rep. Rains believes.
While we have some desire to
be present at the annual session
of the Georgia Press Association
being held this week at Savannah
our enthusiasm is calmed some
what when we look about over the
state and note the many changes
in the personnel of the associa
tion’s membership since our last
attendance just eight seemingly
very short years ago. Some, of
these changes have been caused
by the passing to their Heavenly
Reward of dear friends whose lives
meant, as they did to thousands of
others, so much to us, some by
business changes and others by
retirement. It was June 8-11, 1938
at Swainsboro with outing to Sa
vannah we attended our last
conventions. Amiable Jere
Moore, editor of the Milledgeville
Recorder, established long before
the Civil War and one of Georgia’s
most outstanding newspapers, was
at that time the association’s wise
and able president and still an
active member. It is with a sad
ness of heart that since the
Swainsboro - Savannah session
when W. G. (Billie) Sutlive, a
former president, took us to
Savannah and with the aid of city
•officials showed us a most won
derful time bo*h in the city and
at the beach Mr. Sutlive has
passed to his eward as has also
Hal M. Stanley and Ben H. Hardy,
Executive Secretary and Treasurer
of the Association respectively
each for more than 25 years. We
as Recording Secretary for 24
years are the only one left of the of
ficial family at that time except
Jere Moore. When we add to the
list of those passing in so short a
time the names of W A. Shackel
ford, Uncle Sam Wilkes, Dr. B. H.
Howard and a number of others
we come face to face with the
realization that “no man knoweth
the day nor the hour when the
Son of man cometh”, therefore
how important it is that we be
prepared for that Great Day. Our
best wishes for a profitable con
vention and a most delightful so
cial occasion is extended President
Belmont Dennis, Sec-Treas. Sid
Williams and each and every
member present.
if Sister Carrie Nations made fam
ous by the wielding of her “little
hatchet” in the barrooms of Kan
sas many years ago could read
this item she might take a jail
sentence more complacently. Kan
sas has been made the butt of
many jokes because of its dry
attitude under the leadership of
the late Mrs. Nations.lt is no joke,
however, what Kansas has reaped
as a result of its bone-dry law.
For in Kansas there are: 54 coun
ties without any insane; 54 coun
ties without any feeble-minded;
96 counties without any poor-
house; 53 counties without any
person in jail; 56 counties with
out any representatives in the
state penitentiary.
So often we refer to “those good
old days.” In doing so how many
of us would wish for the price of
groceries and food stuff much of
it grown by our farmers, to sink
to the level we find quoted by a
Butler merchant of former days
Here are a few of the items list
ed: Corn, 50c per bu; meal, 50c
per bu.; bacon, 7c a pound; ham,
20c a pound; shoulders, 6c a
pound; lard, 12 l/2c a pound;
syrup, 40c a gallon; eggs, l()c a
dozen; butter, 12 l/2c a pound;
beef 3c to 5c a pound; potatoes,
40c a bushel; flour, $6.00 a barrel;
coffee, 20c per pound; sugar, 10c
a pound; cheese, 15c per pound.
We are not expecting and certain
ly trust this country will never
come to this again.
Must Americans go through it
again? Is it necessary? It is bad
enough to have another postwar
wave of crime and delinquency to
deal with, but must there be an
other orgy of ghoulish crime re
porting on top of it? The causes
of crime are hard to get at. The
roots go deep and intertwine with
those of all the other social ills.
Everyone should know that the
fight on this front is no mere bat
tle, but one of humanity’s great
est campaigns. But the exploita
tion, in print and otherwise, of
crimes and criminals represents
the conscious acts of usually in
telligent and well-meaning men.
They know what they do. They
can stop.—Christian Science Moni
tor Is it not time—high time—we
Americans were putting on the
brakes?
Editor Jim Chism in his Pelham
Journal so adequately expresses
our opinion with reference to the
suit brought to set aside the will
of the voters as expressed at the
polls on July 17th we cannot resist
the temptation to give it space in
the Herald although rather
lengthy. Jim first quotes the chair
man of the Savannah League of
Women Voters who asks: “Why
doesn’t the candidate who gets the
most popular votes always win?”
He gives a most satisfactory an-
syer to the lady’s question in the
following:
“Well lady, since you’ve asked
I’ll do my darndest to give it to
you as I see it. It’s the only fair
method arrived at that will give
equal representation to all the
counties in the state, regardless
of their wealth, or whether their
inhabitants belong to a golt or
corn club. It’s the “demo” in dem
ocrat that makes it click. Every
county is a unit—exactly what the
name implies. It is not the num
ber of people in a county that must
be dealt with fairly but the coun
ties which combined, make up the
state. Without it the rural sections
of Georgia, whose good people la
bor in a summer’s sun and a win
ter’s cold to grow sufficient food
to nourish the members of your
city League of Women Voters and
give them strength and nerve
enough to oppose the uni't system,
would not have any more voice in
the state government than piney
woods rooters on the banks of the
Altamaha, and their voting privi- (
leges would mean no more 'than a
Hollywood marriage ceremony. It
is the only one feature left in the
democratic primary that smacks of
the Golden Rule. Without it the
rural sections of Georgia would
not have enough political strength
to raise an umbrella in a rain
storm. The system has made it
possible for the once down-trodden
farmer of the rural counties to let
his needs be known at the voting
places and it has given him
strength, courage and self-respect.
It has made it possible for farmers
to secure tax-free tractor fuel. It
has made it possible for rural
children to attend consolidated
and accredited schools where they
have already been trained to think
and act for themselves and vote
their honest convictions regardless
of high pressure and the attempt
to corrall them like so many
dumb animals. Their force and
leadership is already being felt,
but it has just begun. j
1,1
There is no more logical reason- 1
ing in the argument against the
county unit system than there is
against the Golden Rule. I can
understand how the selfish dwell
ers in the metropolitan areas can
despise it, but even in those sec
tions they who stand for equal
rights and representative govern-]
ment do not oppose the unit sys- j
tern. The federal government itself ]
uses it in presidential elections!
With the popular vote system inj
Georgia it would only mean that'
the political strength of the state 1
would be held in the confines of a
dozen large cities and the people
of the rural counties would be
given no more consideration than
a Holiness preacher at a saloon
keepers convention. I’m not writ
ing a piece for Gene Talmadge;
I’m talking about the system that
elected him to office. If Jimmy
Carmichael or Ed Rivers had been
the winner I would still stick by
my guns. But I am led to believe
if the votes had been reversed, the
group that is howling about it
would have been quite happy over
the w'hole affair. It’s like Gramp
said: “It all depends upon whose
bull that’s being gored.” |
Columbus Enquirer:
Steve Pace is a vastly satisfying
fellow; almost everything he says
tends to re-inforce our faith in him
as one of America’s better Con
gressmen.
Friday evening at the Wells
Dairies barbecue, Mr. Pace seems
to have been in extraordinarily
good form, and to have talked
straight from the shoulder in tell
ing West Georgia and East Ala
bama farmers that their future
“social security” is pretty much up
to them, and that their smartest
course will be to accept and de
velop cooperative methods of
farming and marketing so as to
ensure economical production and
an even flow' of revenue.
The farmer’s social security proo
lem, is of course, the universal
problem of the “self-employed,”
whether they produce milk and
beans and potatoes, or engage in
any line of business- People who
“work for themselves” are simply
not covered, anywhere.
In agriculture, as a matter of
fact, (and the same is true of do
mestic service and many other oc
cupations) it would be difficult to
devise a "social security” plan
based upon tax collections. One
reason is that farmers and house
wives don’t like to “deduct” taxes
or, rather, they wouldn’t like it
Another is the rapid shift of em
ployment in these fields. Still an
other is that cash wages are so
often supplemented by “in kind”
compensation — meals, lodging,
clothing, etc. And how are you
going to “value” such things for
wage-tax purposes?
In any case, and whatever the
reasons, Congress has not extend
ed social Security into such fields;
maybe it will come some day,
maybe not. But at the moment it
looks doubtful.
Meanwhile, the “security” of the
self-employed, and of those who
work for them, depends upon the
qverall soundness of agricultural
and household economies. If reve
nue is consistent and ample, “se
curity” is automatic. But if the
cash is “spotty,” so is job tenure.
We believe Mr. Pace is wholly
right when he says that the co
operative formula is the best for
mula for anybody in agriculture;
it reduces production costs by
making modern machinery and
methods available even to the lit
tle fellow; it sustains revenue by
marketing produce in volume, at
the time and place where highest
prices are being paid.
Such dairying organizations as
Wells and Kennett operate
have brought cooperative enter
prise to a high peak of develop
ment in Georgia, but—a great
deal of work and planning still
needs to be done not only in dairy
ing but in every other agrarian,
pursuit. I
With such folks as Steve Pace]
to lead aggressively and intelli
gently, a better and more prosper
ous Georgia may not be far off.
ADDING UP CONGRESS'
BOX SCORE
The 79th Congress nas adjourn
ed. Adding up the box score is, for
the moment, the great journalistic!
sport. It is more than a pastime, I
however. The complexion of and!
the mandates to the 80th Congress 1
should bear some relationship to
the way the 79th’s card balances
out.
Few, if any, Congress in recent
times have been so pulled and
hauled and excoriated—especially
in the last year. It is only fair to
begin, therefore, by pointing out
that few, if any, Congress in all
American history have enacted
legislation of such extraordinary
importance and such great prom
ise.
This Congress voted the United
States into the United Nations,
and followed that by approving
some of the indispensable steps to
make that membership mean
something: the financing of
UNRRA, the Bretton Woods pact,
the British Loan, and acceptance
of the World Court. It has set up
an atomic control plan, which
seems to be workable and en
lightened, and which, we hope,
will lessen fears and suspicions in
other lands. It has provided for
the stockpiling of materials essen
tial to the national economy just
in case trouble anywhere cut off
America from supplies.
In the domestic field, two ac
complishments stand out which
may some day be marked as mon
umental: First, the Full Employ
ment Act, which for the first time,
recognizes the tremendous role of
the Government in the Nation’s
economy, and honestly and forth
rightly commits it to the task of
maintaining high-level stability;
and second, the several acts reor
ganizing Federal administrative
departments, and “streamlining”!
Congress itself. The last, while
still far from complete, represents
a degree of self-reform by Con
gress which greatly exceeded ex
pectations.
In the outs and errors columns,
the entries are not pretty. Many of
them show up Congress at its
worst: timidity in the face of an
election year, shameless working
of both sides of the street, pa
rochial outlook, and calculations to
vocal, well-organized pressure
groups-
The departing Congress revived
OPA to satisfy consumers, but
weakened it to please certain pro
ducers. It extended Selective Serv
ice to escape full responsibility for
a disintegration of the armed
forces, but capitulated to the
clamor to get the boys home and
to exempt everyone possible from
actually serving. It enacted a
“strike curb” code during the rail
and coal crisies, which the Presi
dent vetoed, but failed to under
take a second and more sober ap
proach aimed at industrial peace.
It gave in to the silver lobby and
boosted the subsidy on silver; it
was persuaded by the oil lobby
and tried to short-circuit the Su
preme Court by renouncing all
Federal claim to off-shore oil—an
attempt which the President prop
erly vetoed. The list is longer, but
that is enough.
Perhaps the greatest failure of
the 79th Congress lay in the
breakdown of party responsibility,
and consequently of co-operation
with the Executive. The blame is
less chargeable to Congress than
to the system as it is, and to the
extraordinary strains to which the
sudden end of war subjected it.
If there ever was a time—per
haps short of the dark days fol
lowing Pearl Harbor—when the
Nation needed teamwork in its
Government, this has been it. But
there rarely has been a period
more likely to fracture party sol
idarity into conservative-liberal,
national-local, consumer-producer]
employer-worker, internationalist-
nationalist cleavages.
Relief and reaction from war
tensions and regimentations, pent-
up wants, war profits vs. war
wages, a pressure wider than a
political slogan, to “get back to
normalcy,” a determination, equal
ly strong, not to lose war gains
these and all their ramifications
know no party lines.
Perhaps we should say the
wonder is that this Congress did
as well after all; that while it did
not exemplify the best in America,
it probably reflected fairly ac
curately the state of the Nation
during these trying two years
which spanned the end of fighting
but not the beginning of peace.
The general strike called in
Mexico as a protest against the
high cost of living makes us think
the Mexicans have been borrowing
sorrie of our logic. Wasn’t it a
United States idea that wages
should be raised without increas
ing prices?
Monday afternoon, while it was
raining, a little tot appearing to
be about two years old, was
trudging alongbehind his mother.
To speed him along the street she
grabbed his hand causing the
child to drop his ice cream cone.
Down the street he went, bawling
and looking back at the scene of
the wreckage. In the years that lie
out ahead that kid may see fire,
famine and all forms of disaster,
but the worst has already hap
pened. He has been immunized.-—
Thomasville, Ala., Times.
A LIVING MEMORIAL FOR
OUR HEROES
TAYLOR COUNTY TAX LEVY
FOR THE YEAR 1946
It is a common trait of man
kind to withhold just tribute un
til a person passes. It is somewhat
like sending flowers to a funeral.
In today’s Atlanta Constitution
Ralph McGill pays to Robert
Strickland, Atlanta banker and
civic leader, as fine a tribute as
we ever read. But it was on his
passing. How good Mr- Strickland
would have felt had he been able
to read that tribute while he was
living.—Elberton Star. All this is
quite true. The longer we live and
more public service we render it is
with the thought of bringing some
sunshine and happiness into the
lives of as many people as pos
sible each day and every week.
There are too many people who
hardly ever have anything good to
say about others, thus assuming
the wisdom of knowing what is or
ought to be in every branch of hu
man relations. The sum of the
world’s welfare could be struck
between those who think that the
one worse off than they are.
Anyway the county unit system
is with us; it’s here to stay, and
all the condemnation from the
Savannah League of Women Vot-
ers and editorials will have no
more effect on its health and dur
ability than they had on the out
come of the recent campaign. Dur- j
ing the old days (and I can re-'
member them) when a candidate
could send a voter a package of
garden seed and a circular letter,
it was sufficient to win a voter's
everlasting support and influence.
But things have changed since
you and I were young, Maggie.
"Time marches on!”
Y'esterday—Aug. 14th—was “Vic
tory Day.” It was on that day one
year ago World War II ended. It
is that day we shall remember as
the culmination of a terrible
struggle which took the lives of
many of our own boys from Tay
lor county.
These lives helped preserve the
freedom of our country, and our
everlasting gratitude is theirs. We
owe them more than we can ever.
show.
However, it seems fitting that
some kind of memorial should be
placed in Taylor county in memory
of these boys. Most monuments
are of stone, but would it not be
more fitting to have a living
memorial, such as a park or
scenic drive? Something with life
would seem more of a symbol of
what the boys fought and died for
in the war-
Some counties established living
memorials after the other World t
War, and these are a source of,
satisfaction wherever they are.]
One such memorial is the long,
rows of crepe myrtle trees which j
line several miles of the highway:
near Marshallville. ]
The Herald hereby goes on rec-j
ord as favoring a living memorial ]
for Taylor county’s World War II
veterans.
Here is a thumbnail sketch
handed us by a friend of an editor
taking a vacation. But we hope it
will prove the exception this time
for the whole gang meeting this
week in Savannah: “Runs around
in circles preparing for vacation.
Runs around in circles taking va
cation. Runs around in circles af
ter taking vacation. Eats shrimp
and French fries; finds sand in
everything from sheets to tooth
paste; sleeps on beds stuffed with
rocks; mops perspiration; strives to
keep children from falling before
waves and husband from falling
for beach beauties; wonders why
anybody ever leaves home. Wears
self out getting ready; wears self
out enjoying vacation; and will
now spend the next six months at
hard labor in order to do it all over
again."
We appreciate the comment by
Bruce Wilder in the Columbus En
quirer to this item clipped from
the editorial columns of the Her
ald which read: “Some people find
life like a vaudeville show. Y’ou
think the next act will be little
better, but it isn’t.” Bruce brings
out the point intended more clear
ly than did we in the following:
“That’s pretty nearly true, al
though careful planners usually
improve their lot from day to day.
A French philosopher said, “There
are no happy lives, only happy
days.” But the way to beat that
one is to make each day pay off in
satisfaction. A person who in-1
dulges in simple pleasures, who
delights to see the sun after rain, |
who cherishes simple acts of
neighborliness, and thrills to the
accomplishments of others knows
how to turn happy days into a.
happy life.” 1
IN REGULAR COMMISSIONERS' SESSION
* BUTLER, GA.. AUGUST 6, 1946.
GEORGIA—TAYLOR COUNTY:
It being the duty of the Commissioners of Roads and Revenues of
Taylor County, Georgia, to levy a sufficient amount of taxes to meet
the current expenses of the County for the vear 1946 from the creneral
property of the County, and the Digest of the County shows a total
value of property, of $1,514,850-00, less exemptions of $S42 505 00-
leaving a net balance of $672,350.00.
It is therefore ordered by the Commissioners of Roads and Reve
nues of said Taylor County, Georgia, that the total rate for the year
3946 be assessed at .017 (Seventeen) Mills or one and seven-tenths
(1 7/10) of one per cent of all property in said County subject to tax
ation under the laws of the State of Georgia. The same to be ap
portioned as follows:
1. To pay sheriffs, jailors, or other officers’ ees thatf
may be a legal charge to be paid by the County 2 Mills
2. To pay coroners all fees that may be due them by
the County for holding inquests 1/8 Mill
3. To pay expenses of of the County for bailiffs at
Court, non-resident witnesses in criminal cases,
4. To pay jurors a per diem compensation 1 Mill
fuel, stationery, etc. x Mill
5. To pay expenses incurred in supporting the poor
of the County, Public Health and otherwise pro
vided by law __ 2 Mills
6. To pay other lawful charges against the County 1 5/8 Mill
7. To pay salary & expenses of Tax Commissioner 1 1/2 Mill
8 To pay $1,000.00 ob Bond issue payable through
Fulton National Bank, dut Jan. 1, 1947, and
interest on the unpaid balance 1 1/4 Mill
9. To pay salary of County Agent as provided by
law 1/2 Mill
10. For maintenance f county roads and to purchase
new equipment 6 Mills
It is further ordered that Five (5) Mills be levied for the
bonded indebtedness of Butler School District.
It is further ordered that a County-wide Tax of Fifteen (15)
Mills be levied for school purposes as provided by law under
the New Constitution and requested by the County Board of
Education.
Section XII
Paragraph 1. Taxation by Counties for Education.
The fiscal authority of the several counties shall levy a
tax for the support and maintenance of education of not less
than five mills nor greater than fifteen mills (as recom
mended by the County Board of Education) upon the dollar
of all taxable property in the County located outside inde
pendent school systems
It is further ordered that the Tax Commissioner collect the above
teaxes for the various purposes after allowing exemptions as pre
scribed by law and pay them over to the proper authority.
Respectfully submitted,
L P. ANTHONY, Clerk.
Read, approved and ordered signed and published in The Butler
Herald this the 6th day of August, 1946.
J. RAN COOPER, Chairman,
Wm. M. BROWN, Member,
A. S. JAMES, Member.