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Jackson Progress-Argus
PUBLISHED EVERY THURSDAY
J. DOYLE JONES
Editor and Publisher
Entered as second-class matter at
the Post Office at Jackson, Ga.
TELEPHONE NO. 166
OFFICIAL ORGAN BUTTS COUN
TY AND CITY OF JACKSON
SUBSCRIPTION KATES
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Binge Copies Oi
Every governmental official or
board whose duties include the han
dling of public funds should pub
lish at regular intervals an account
ing of it, showing where and how
each dollar was spent. This is be
lieved to be a fundamental princi
ple of Democratic government.
Getting up with the Joneses is
now more trouble than keeping up
with the Joneses.
By the process of elimination it
will soon be hard to find a congress
man who admits he voted for the
pension grab.
Criticism when it is constructive
and wholesome is a good thing.
Some of the present criticism will
get under the tough hides of the
government bureaus.
The government and Red Cross
moved promptly to relieve suffer
ing in storm areas. Increased loans
will be made available to farmers in
the path of the tornado.
There is now considerable moan
ing and groaning among the 1942
crop of income taxpayers. Next
year’s crop will be larger, much
larger, and the moaning and groan
ing will be much louder.
The tourist business in Florida is
nothing to crow over this season,
what with tire rationing and restric
tions on automobile sales. Rut Cali
fornia is having blackouts and may
be the two states can call it even.
The hardy pioneer who arose at
3 a. m. and rang the farm bell to
get the hands off to work now has
a grandson who grumbles like heck
to have to get up at daybreak to
hustle off to his bread and butter
job.
The nation could have saved itself
much grief and costly delays hy
drafting capital, labor and man
power. To allow any classes prefer
ence in a time of national emergen
cy is a weakness, and politics is
probably to blame for that.
There may be a reason for moth
ers getting up before daylight to get
their children off to school before
sunup, but it is not yet apparent.
If mothers ever get the time mon
gers where they want them they are
likely to execute a squeeze play.
There is nothing the matter with
the moral fiber and stamina of the
American public. Delay in war pro
duction is due to big wig capital
and labor chiefs and government
red tape. The rank and file of
Americans are ready to go from
here.
THE AMERICAN’S
CREED
I believe in the United
States of America as a govern
ment of the people, by the
people, for the people whose
just powers are derived from
the consent of the governed;
a democracy in a Republic; a
80verign Nation of many sov
ereign States; a perfect Un
ion, one and inseparable, es
tablished upou those principles
of freedom, equality, justice
and humanity for which Amer
ican patriots sacrificed their
lives and fortunes.
I therefore believe it is my
duty to my Country to love it;
to support its Constitution; to
obey its laws; to respect its
flag; and to defend it against
ail enemies.—rWiHiam Tyler
Pag*.
Take It Or
Leave It
By J. D. JONES
Where do we go from here? That
is a question most people are asking
these days. Reverse after reverse
has followed in the Pacific. Singa
pore has fallen. Powerful German
battleships made a successful dash
through the English blockade in the
North Sea. The picture is dark
enough at the moment. The one
bright spot is the heroic fight Gen
eral MacArthur is making in the
Philippines. The allied nations are
hard pressed on all fronts. Russia
alone is able to make any progress
in beating back the Germans. In
Europe, in Africa and in Asia the
outlook is anything but bright for
the allied cause. America was not
ready for war when Japan struck
on December 7. We must gird our
loins and increase production to the
point where we will have superiority
in the air, on the sea and on land.
Unless the American people are will-
ing to pay the price, to stop wrang
ling over petty issues, to pay and
work and fight as never before, the
nation is in for serious trouble. The
hordes of Japanese don’t care any
thing about our high standard of
living, our social security, our drea
my-eyed reforms. They must be met
with force so vast and overwhelm
ing that they will be forced to pay
for their treachery. In a spirit of
service and sacrifice and loyal pa
triotism let’s cut out the foolishness
and get down to serious business—
before it is too late. The English
speaking people can win the war and
will win the war, but half-hearted
methods are not enough. Let’s have
war, total war, war to the finish—
the kind of war we are paying for.
The soldiers and sailors and Ma
rines, the air force, the coast guard,
the artillery, the ihfantry, the mo
torized divisions—these will fight
just as Americans have always
fought. Provide the leadership and
Americans will answer the question,
where do we go from here.
Congressman A. Sidney Camp in
his column this week pledges his
opposition to the pension for elected
officers. He says he did not vote
for the bill when it was up for pas
sage, but will vote for its repeal. A
majority of the Georgia delegation
in congress has expressed opposition
to the pension measure. Undoubted
ly there are two sides to the ques
tion. First and foremost now is the
winning of the war. Reforms of
all kinds can wait, for unless the
war is won reforms will not be
needed.
The railroads if they are wise and
provide decent schedules can regain
passenger and freight business now
that the sale of tires is restricted
and no more automobiles can be
sold for the duration. One trouble
with the railroads in recent years
has been their disregard of local
communities. They did not care for
the short haul. Passenger schedules
wore impossible, so far as local com
munities were concerned. They did
cater to the long haul and tourist
travel, but that was small comfort
to Podunk and Punyville who had
to use private cars and busses to
go places. The time is not so re
mote when passenger trains between
Macon and Atlanta were crowded
with people. Often special trains
were operated to accommodate the
throngs on holidays and special oc
casions. Then passenger trains were
taken off, schedules so arranged
that nobody could afford to use
| trains. The war has been a great
| boon to the railroads of the nation.
! Great railroad systems are getting
| back on their feet after lean years.
!If they will provide decent sched
! ules the railroads can still get plen
ty of business. The public needs the
railroads now. Whether the rail
roads need public good will and sup
port remains to be seen.
Moral conditions in and about ar
my camps must be pretty bad, if re-
THE JACKSON PROGRESS-ARGUS, JACKSON, GEORGIA
' ports are to be believed. City offi-
I cials, civic groups and the army are
co-operating to clean up conditions
j around these camps. It is shocking
l to read that such a large percentage
lof drafted men are rejected be
: cause of venereal diseases. That is
a shocking commentary on our
| American way of life, described as
the best in the world. After the
' men are patched up and inducted
into service they are subjected to
further temptations about army
camps. It is charged that prostitutes
ply their trade openly, proving a
real menace to health and efficien
cy. Not only that but liquor is sold
in and about the camps and all sorts
of jook joints thrive. Patriotic men
and women who donated to the Uni
ted Service Organization, to the Red
Cross and other agencies to provide
recreation, books and other forms
of wholesome entertainment are
shocked that such conditions are al
lowed to exist. Maybe the light of i
publicity will be able to correct some
of the evils. Certain it is that there
is room for reform and improve
ment.
The recent Georgia Farm Bureau
Federation in Macon went on record
as favoring the abandonment of the
WPA and CCC during the war.
These government agencies, it was
charged, are in competition with
farm labor. Men employed on these
projects work for only eight hours
a day and are paid more than farm
ers can afford to pay. The Georgia
farmer has never lived who can work
eight hours a day and make a suc
cessful crop. He must work hard
and long hours and strike while the
iron is hot. He is subject to the
whims of the weather, to grass, to
insect pests and other hazards. There
is already a widespread complaint
of the scarcity of farm labor. Farm
ers of the nation are urged, begged
and implored to produce more food
and feed, grow more livestock and
poultry and keep' the national gran
ary full. Farmers will do the job
if they are given credit, tools and
equipment and labor.
The American press is the best
in the world. In the main it speaks
its mind and the light of publicity is
strong enough to curb crooked politi
cians, bring about reforms and stop
waste and graft in high places. The
American public will be saved the
expense of the congressional pension
grab as the result of an aroused
public given the facts by the press.
Chances are there will be less boon
doggling in high circles as a result
of publicity. The country can well
afford to do without artistic danc
ing when taxpayers are paying and
men are dying for liberty and free
dom.
In all probably there will not be
any additional tax legislation until
the year’s elections are over. The
average congressman has his ear to
the ground and is looking and listen
ing. After the elections the taxpay
er will do well to get a firm grip
on his wallet for he is going to be
called on to do some major league
paying.
The Butts county grand jury rec
ommendation that the county com
missioners take steps to stop forest
fires by offering substantial rewards
for the conviction of those malici
ously starting such fires should bring
good results. The state should stop
the indiscriminate waste of its for
est wealth by careless fires.
In some respects our English cou
sins have a better system of govern
ment than this country. Over there
a crisis usually means a cabinet
shakeup, but over here a crisis just
means more explaining when politi
cians run for re-election. In other
words, over here politicians seldom
die and never resign.
The American farmer is the man
of the hour and he is being told to
grow more food and feed. After
he grows the products he should be
assured of a fair price. American
farmers are real patriots and there
have been no strikes on farms and
there will be none.
THE LAST STRAW
Bv VINCENT JONES
As we watch daily those things
happening to us that we have been
told could not happen, as the fall
of Singapore, it seems that at times
the world is too much with us and
we lose in desperation and con
fusion the perspective that we must
fight so hard to keep. And yet all
of us know, in each of our hearts,
that we will fight to the last dollar
and to the last man to win a war
whose loss would mean our possible
extermination.
It is in these dark hours when
sorrow and fear shroud our hearts
that we think too much of ourselves
and too little of our children, par
ticularly the small children who may
grow up in a fatherless world.
For it is to our children that we
leave a legacy which, though bought
with our lives, no military monarch
can ever take away. It is a legacy
of silent mountains, of rolling hills,
and sparkling streams. It is the
great outdoors. When we sing “I
love thy rocks and rills, thy woods
and templed hills,” we pay tribute
to it. But only those who have ex
perienced its thrills, who have run
afoul of its dangers, or wondered
at its mysteries can truly appreciate
the outdoors.
Our industrial cities are essential
to our way of life, but love of our
land and home comes with the scent
of pine and the color of maple and
oak leaves in the fall; with the sound
of geese honking in a cold, grey sky
and the splash of a trout as he feels
the sharp hook; with the whirr of
wings as quail zoom for safety in
the forest, and the sight of a dog,
born with a great sense of smell,
holding a covey to the ground. It
is for those things that we fight;
because it is these things and the
right to enjoy them that make Amer
ica the greatest nation in the world.
Every boy born in America should
know and love the great outdoors.
An intimate knowledge of our out
doors fosters many invaluable traits,
such as health, sportsmanship, re
sourcefulness, the ability to handle
guns—a very vital skill at this time
—and a deep appreciation of our
homeland.
The time to train our youth in
its love of the outdoors is when
they are young, much the same as
a trainer would begin to train a
pup at six months or less to point
birds or run rabbits. There is a
striking similarity between a boy
and a pup, anyway; both are eager,
overflowing with energy, happy, and
anxious to please. What counts in
the long run with both is the right
training.
After the boy has been trained
in sportsmanship and taught that a
small fish is nothing to be proud
of, anymore than potshooting a cov
ey of quail on the ground, he will
begin to think in terms of conserva
tion. He will begin to realize that
he cannot shoot the same covey of
birds until all are gone and expect
them to be there next year. He will
learn the importance of the laws of
supply and demand. He will begin
to think in terms of the future and
America needs forethought at this
time more than anything else.
So let us teach our boys all that
we know of the outdoors; how to
make fires in the rain; how to cook
meals in the open; how to cross fast
and treacherous water; how to han
dle guns and rods, horses and boats,
and how to take disappointment and
success. Let us teach them how to
hold ahead of a running rabbit or
how far to lead a swift-flying dove.
Let us teach them these things
and should the time come when they
are to bear arms in the defense of
the country they have learned to
love, they will be equipped mentally
and physically to fight the battles
of war for the minor battles of
sport equip one to fight all the ma
jor battles of life.
Nutrition is a vital part of na
tional defense. The right kind of
foods, properly prepared, will aid
in winning the war.
AMERICA—AWAKE
Out on a tiny island in the Pacific ocean they fought—four
hundred U. S. Marines —twelve planes and courage.
, t
That little island has a prophetic name, men and women of
America. It is—WAKE ISLAND! From those four hundred Ma
rines, many of whom now lie in their graves, comes a call which
should sound and re-echo from Maine to California —from Alaska
to the gulf.
WAKE, AMERICA! WAKE, AMERICA!
We Have Done Our Part—Now Do Yours
What is your answer to that message from the Marines on
Wake Island? Have you lifted a finger to support those men?
Have you bought Defense Bonds with money that really meant
sacrifice? Wake, America! Brave men are dying—for you.
Under War Time Regulations our Banking Hours
Will Be From 9:30 A. M. to 3:30 P. M.
JACKSON NATIONAL BANK
JACKSON, GEORGIA.
Member Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
f OBSERVATIONS
AND
SPECULATIONS
By MADAME ROAMER
In roaming around:
We found out that eggs were 75c
apiece. That’s the price Tenella
‘McMichael has set. Says the un
stinting care she gives to her chick
ens makes eggs worth that much.
At that price we couldn’t figure up
a dozen. It would b'e almost as
staggering as the national debt.
. . . . Billy Wright has a foot
ball autographed by all the Georgia
football players, including the
idolized Frankie Sinkwich. We
doubt if there is very much real
playing with that ball. It is too
highly prized by Billy to take any
chances having the names erased. .
Saturday afternoon —Feb. 7—the
strong wind bending low the boughs
of the magnolia trees close by, when
we said Au Revoir to the sweet spirit
of our life-long friend, Exie Ham
Rice. Hers was a beautiful charac
ter and she put up a valiant fight
to live but as she told her loved ones
“I just couldn’t make it.” The mem
ory of her unselfish life will help
us to be better Christians. . . . ; .
News from Vera Edwards is that
she is now in Kansas City, Mo.,
where she is accompanist for an or
chestra. She was in New York for
some time, but is glad to be in an
inland city just now, she writes. .
. . . . There is a lot of differ
ence between 21 dollars a month
our soldier boys get and the $5,000
per year recommended for Marvin
and Melvyn. We learn they are to en
tertain children during air raids.
Our children haven’t any air-raid
shelters to be entertained in. Their
salaries for a few months might build
one in a small town or city. But
through it all we must remember,
“C’est la guerre,” and war is all
Sherman said it was. . . . OLD
STUFF: ‘‘Bobby, did you see San
ta Claus last night?” “No, ma’am,
I didn’t, it was too dark, but I
heard what he said w'hen he knocked
his toe against the bed post.”
LOOKING BACKWARD
THROUGH THE FILES
News of 30 Years Ago
J. A. King of Lexington located
in Jackson for the practice of law.
J. H. Mills announced as a can
didate for representative and Judge
J. H. Ham for ordinary.
Representing their firms in the
New York markets were L. P. Les-
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 1942
ter and J. H. Carmichael of Car
michael-Mallet Cos., R. N. Etheridge
of Etheridge, Smith & Cos., and W.
T. Powers of the Jackson Mercan
tile Cos.
J. Threatt Moore announced as a
candidate for ordinary.
The Mercer Glee Club appeared
at the Jackson school auditorium
Monday night.
The Matrons Club was organized
at a meeting at the home of Mrs.
W. L. Nutt.
The ladies of the Presbyterian
church were to serve dinner at the
courthouse Monday and Tuesday of
court week and announced the mens
(how did they do it?) as soup, three
meats, three vegetables, salad, pic
kles, dessert, coffee, milk, bread and
butter—all for 50 cents.
New* of 20 Year* Ago
The Kiwanis club started a move
ment to employ a marketing agent
for Butts county.
John W. Benson, 60, died Satur
day at his home near Lamar’s Mill.
Several Butts county farmers
were installing silos.
The $150,000 road and bridge
bond issue was defeated by 29 votes.
“The Birth of a Nation” was
booked for February 25 at the Jack
son theatre.
J. H. Mills was elected state pres
ident of the Farmers Union and A.
J. Fleming, secretary and treasurer.
Bert Kinard, student at G. M. A.
at College Park, spent the weekend
at home.
News of 10 Years Ago
Six candidates qualified for con
gress in the Sixth District to suc
ceed Sam Rutherford, deceased, as
follows: Carlton Mobley, Forsyth;
J. J. Flynt, Griffin; Harvey Kenne
dy, Barnesville; Mrs. W. O. Kinney,
J. A. Giles and J. Eric Binford, Ma
con.
Lilies in full bloom were exhib
ited at this office by Mrs. L. D.
Singley, an evidence of the warm
winter.
The February grand jury urged
economy in county affairs and rec
ommended that the office of tax
receiver and collector be combined
at a salary of $1,500 per year, that
the county treasurer be paid a sal
ary of S6OO per year.
Wilson Caston and J. L. Lockhart
announced for coroner.
A deodara was planted on the
Jackson school grounds in honor of
R. I. Knox, a former superintendent.
The farmer is still getting too
much advice, so much in fact that
he is confused. What the Ameri
can farmer needs is enough capital
to operate and a fair deal for thcV
products of his toil. Give the farm
er that and he will attend to the
food and feed problem.