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Jackson Progress-Argus
PUBLISHED EVERY THURSDAY
J. D. Jones Publisher
Doyle Jones Jr Editor
Vincent Jones Associate Editor
filtered as second-class matter at
the Post Office at Jackson, Ga.
TELEPHONE 4281
OFFICIAL ORGAN BUTTS COUN
TY AND CITY OF JACKSON
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THE PROGRESS-ARGUS’
PLATFORM
1. Modern school facilities to
serve entire county.
t . More street and sidewalk
paving.
3. Imnrovement of county’s pOBt
roads.
4. A modern hospital.
6. Tax exemption for new in
dustries.
6. Countywide Chamber of Com
merce.
7. Concerted effort to attract
tourists.
8. Better recreational facilities.
IT’S THIS WAY
Hy DOYLE .JONES, J r .
For the information of next of kin
v>f Butts county service dead the edi
torial this week will be devoted to a
factual and unbiased story from the
magazine Foreign Service entitled
'“White Ships With Purple Hands”
by C. Lester Walker which discusses
the procedure to be followed in re
turning bodies of overseas service
dead.
“Some day this fall a ship will en
ter San Francisco harbor bearing
fdiOO steel caskets containing the re
mains of 6500 American war dead.
The ship will be white, with a wide
purple band painted the length of her
asides.
She will pass slowly under the
<>lden Gate bridge. Flowers will be
dropped upon her and dirge music
*will sound.
.Long mortuary trains will be wait
ing at the pier. The caskets will be
gMit aboard, purple flags tyill be set
-at each locomotive’s head, the bell
will toll, and the first long train will
--slowly roll away.
Thus will end the first act of what
-wll probably be the greatest pageant
<evar staged by man—America’s war
dead reburial program.
The preliminaries of this project
taave been in operation for some time
•but some of the grimmer facts have
.;yet to be fully explained.
To begin with, the next of kin of
tall our 320,000 war dead now buried
-abroad will be asked, "Do you want
the body disinterred and brought
feome?*’
To the living, the reburial program
inevitably will bring doubts and mis
givings and soul-searchings such as
they have never known before. They
will wonder about many things: were
the bodies of their beloved dead em
balmed before burial? What will be
•done for them for the long journey
home?
The War Department answers
frankly. Almost all were buried
without being embalmed. There are
• undertaking supplies on the bat
tlefield. Time will have changed all
of them. Now little more than bones,
they will in no way look as one re
-njernbered them in life.
Each body will be removed from
e .is* grave, placed on a work table, ex
amined for identification, cleaned,
‘rrvated chemically with a disinfec
and then placed in anew blan
ket, the bones arranged in skeleton
cnemlonnation. The body will then be
carefully wrapped in this blanket,
which is seenrely pinned so there
XNiE be no displacement, then placed
•in the casket and secured by means
f pillows so there wil be no dis
inlacement in transit.
Governor Thompson acted with
sound judgment in refusing to call
an extra session of the legislature.
During the regular session politics
was a favorite pastime .of that body
and as present constituted there is
no reason to believe that any con
structive legislation would be enac
ted. Georgia taxpayers are thus sav
ed a considerable sum.
An optomist is the fellow who be
lieves politics will be adjourned in
Georgia. The game is played year in
and year out and fence-building is
now going on at a steady clip.
Just how many men are needed to
handle publicity for the state of
Georgia is a matter now - arousing
statewide interest.
Farmers will not feel safe about
the cotton crop until it is in the bag.
With open cotton reported in the
county the picking and ginning sea
son should not be far away.
At exercises in Forsyth Monday
sincere tribute was paid to Judge
Ogden Persons who presided over the
Superior courts of the Flint Circuit
for almost twenty-five years.
In the main Governor Thompson
has acted in a maner to win the sup
port of all fair-minded Georgians.
He will be a factor in the 1948 cam
paign.
Hike the pay of coal miners and
that hikes the price of steel and in
turn that boosts the prices of nearly
all commodities. The consumer is the
forgotten man as big business and
labor plays the game to extract the
ultimate dollar.
It is not too much to expect that
barbecues, out during the war years,
will be revived in the 1948 campaign
and a good time will be had by all
voters.
What about identification? That
question is going to harrow many.
Will the body returned surely be
‘‘one’s own boy?”
On that score the next of kin can
rest assured. No remains are named
unless identity is established beyond
a shadow of doubt.
And shall the sorrowing relative
open the casket?
The reburial program has absolute
ly no way to prevent this and evi
dence is unmistakable that some of
the caskets will be opened. An offi
cer of the Quartermaster Depart
ment, addressing a convention of
morticians, pleaded that funeral di
rectors cooperate with the War De
partment “in persuading the fami
lies of the deceased not to open the
casket.”
What will the cost of this vast pro
gram be?
The next of kin, it is calculated,
will pay out to morticians and funer
al directors between 50 and 60 mil
lion dollars. The government expense
will be S7OO per soldier returned,
plus SSO allowance per body if burial
is in a non-governmeht cemetery.
The program will require, the War
Department states, a total of $200,-
000,000.
Those who have attacked the war
dead reburial project (and they are
many) have asked this question fre
quently: “Could not all these vast
sums be used*instead to do good for
the living?”
Unfortunately, our war dead re
burial program does not attempt to
persuade the next of kin that by far
the most appropriate and beautiful
place for a fallen American soldier to
lie is in one of the permanent Amer
ican military cemeteries overseas.
This failing, this lack, is the pro
gram's greatest tragedy. For those
reverently tended cemeteries—over
looking the Pacific or the pictur
esque European countryside—are
just where their buddies would most
wish to sleep for eternity, say thou
sands of men who fought there.
This program will go on for five
years. Only then, it is expected, will
the last grave be opened, the la<t
casket be transported, the last sol
dier, sailor or marine brought home
Only then will all the war dead
i
finally rest in peace.
THE JACKSON PROGRESS-ARGUS, JACKSON, GEORGIA
THE LAST STRAW
By VINCENT JONES
Now that the state is not inflamed
with the biases and prejudices that
go hand in hand with its political em
broilments, it should be a good time
to discuss the press in general and
especially the freedom of the press
which was so bitterly assailed by a
certain clique in last summer’s em
broglio.
At that time Georgia pub
lishers were threatened with the
passage of libel laws which would
propose to disallow the publishing of
truth—as based on past records —in
future political campaigns.
Such an evil attempt to muzzle
a responsible Georgia press failed be
cause the General Assembly was hon
est enough to admit that freedom pf
the press is equally as much a right
to our citizens as it is a right of the
publisher to choose his subject.
A free press is more of a protec
tion for the reader than it is a right
of the publisher. So long as our press
remains free, then so long will the ty
rant’s insidious propaganda be expos
ed to the light of public opinion. The
press is never really free. It’s editors
and its publishers, who strive to be
responsible citizens, are continually
buffeted by the opinions of their
readers and quickly taken to task
should their thinking turn down some
false lane.
Recent developments on Geoi'gia’s
political front surely must result in a
change of heart on the part of that
faction which last summer was such
bitter press haters. The Sid Williams
story, which was bad publicity for
the Georgia Press Association and
even worse for Governor Thompson,
has been played up prominently by
the Georgia press. The Atlanta Jour
nal, the specific target for much
vitriol last summer, has given a
prominence to the story that out
wardly belies its political position in
the past campaign.
This story, and others, have not
added to the popularity of Governor
Thompson. And remember they were
printed by newspapers who suppor
ted him in his fight for the gover
norship and they were edited by men
who flinch at the name Talmadge.
But they were printed. And read
with a public reaction which the ed
itors, in many cases, would rather
have not seen.
We believe that to be freedom of
the press. We believe that to be re
sponsible journalism. We believe that
to be fair play. We believe that to be
an example of the type of journalism
our state has known for years and
which a certain faction last summer
attempted to besmirch in their smear
campaign.
The press has no temptation to be
other than honest in its news inter
pretation or its editorial policies. The
truth was told in the Sid Williams
story. No attempt was made to dis
tort or soft-pedal a story that would
certainly boost the ambitions of a
political enemy and detract from the
lustre of a political friend.
Every editor knows that the press,
first and foremost, is an information
medium and, although its editorial
pages might attempt to correct
certain wrongs and bring about cer
tain reforms, that the average read
er is paying his nickel with the idea
uppermost in his mind of finding out
what is the latest news.
The responsible editor knows then
that history will prove him more of
ten wrong than right in his profound
pronunciations and that he is far less
infallible in his editorials than the
eternal march of civilization which
his news pages record.
A free press. A responsible press.
The two go hand in hand. And we
believe recent stories which have mol
ded public opinion against Governor
Thompson, who has the support and
loyalty of most of the Georgia press,
are irrefutable evidence that Geor
gia enjoys not only a free press but
a responsible and a fair press as well.
SPECULATIONS
AND
OBSERVATIONS
By MADAME ROAMER
In roaming around
We learned that the Jackson folks
are planning a street dance in cele
bration of the completion of the
street paving. Everybody and his
brother will be on hand. How nice
the streets do look. Such an improve
ment over mud and dust . . . We
saw the four Buchanan brothers the
other day—Thornton of Memphis,
Clayton and Joe of Macon and James
of the county seat of Butts. They
came to help their mother, Mrs. C.
W. Buchanan, celebrate her birthday
on August first. “Many Happy Re
turns” to Mrs. Buchanan . . . Have
you ever seen a daily newspaper
just four inches, or two columns
wide and seven inches long? Well,
the Tryon, N. C. Bulletin is just that
size. Both the reading matter and
the advertisements are gotten up in
unique style. Dr. R. L. Hammond
sent friends copies of this little pa
per while he was in Saluda, not so
far away . . . Clem Towles Wilson,
grandson of our Mrs. C. A. Towles,
has been in the Navy several years
and is now stationed on the Taconic.
He reports that there are just nine
Wilsons on his ship and it is a job
to keep the mail straight. Clem says
‘the leters always gravitate to the
other Wilson” . . . How we do miss
the Congressional Record now since
Congress has adjourned. At least it
was something to get out of your
mail box. It kept the box from look
ing like ‘‘Susie Locket’s Pocket.
Nothing but the bottom in it” . . .
Doug McMichael of Jacksonville, ten
year old son of the Warren McMich
aels, is spending awhile with his
grandfather, Joe McMichael. Every
where Mr. McMichael goes Doug is
just a step behind, calling to his
grandfather, “Pa Mac, what is this
and how come that and how did this
happen.” There are so many “Pa
Macs” and they come so fast until
some of the household almost think
they hear guineas with their call of
Pot Rack . . . We hear that Lt. Ben
jamin Stuart Head, of the U. S.
Navy, has resigned his commission—
and it has been accepted. When he
is released he expects to enter busi
ness with his father-in-law, Mr. R.
J. Teetor of Cadillac, Michigan. It
is the Teetor Malleable Iron Foun
dry Company. We predict a splendid
business career for Stuart . . . Con
gratulations to the R. J. Carmichaels
on their fiftieth wedding anniversary.
Here’s hoping they’ll celebrate their
diamond anniversary.
Scrapings From
Hard Scrabble
dear editer,
The cittie farthers done started
to cumplain bout they aint got enuf
tax money to run Hard Scrabble fer
the next yeer. Say tKey is got teer
have some more money from some
wher er other. Say they is likely ter
take off everybody what is on the
welfair and not give em any more
monney. They aint bin gittin much
nohow but evy little bit helps. They
has called a meetin uf the counsell
and see what can be done. Coarse
they will raise taxes. Thats all they
ever does. They alius holler wolf and
all the citizzens come er runnin and
say they are willin fer the raise.
Anything to keep old Hard Scrabble
goin. We is pleezed ter have er
school and a few T other things w*hat
the taxpayers money provides. We
will wait and see how the meetin
comes out and then I’ll report it to
your paper.
So long,
Susie Stuckey
Soil Building Will Build
Up Your Bank Account
Are you interested in increasing the crop
yield on your farm?
It can be done! Soil conservation records
prove that Central Georgia farmers who
follow a complete soil conservation pro
gram are producing more crops per acre.
Conservation farming will pay. you per
manent dividends in:
More Income Today!
Future Security for you and your family.
Conservation of our nation’s greatest re
source—the land upon which we live.
Start now to build up your bank balance by building
up your soil —develop a sound, balanced farming
and soil conservation program on your farm.
JACKSON NATIONAL BANK
JACKSON, GEORGIA
Member Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
Protect Your
Investment
To protect your investment in labor, seed and
fertilizer it is necessary to wage an active fight
against the boll weevil. The destructive pest can be
controlled best by making an early start. With cot
ton prices relatively high it wil pay you to fight the
boll weevil by methods proved to be effective.
We stock and sell
CALCIUM ARSENATE
MOP-N-MIX
It will be advisable to get your needs early and
make every effort to grow a good cotton crop.
NUTT & BOND
JACKSON, GEORGIA
The pastor of the Baptist church
in Mcßae where the Talmadge fam
ily worshipped has been asked for
his resignation. He quits with his
head up and the respect of the na
tion.
- V -o' -V v
Spinning mills require cotton in lots of 100 bales of
the same grade and staple.
Since bales from the same farm even grown in the
same field often are not of the same grade and
staple, it is necessary that they be sorted and grouped
before marketing.
Providing the necessary concentration point where
"bales of a feather” are brought together is one of the
essential services your cotton warehouse contributes
to the orderly and economical marketing of America’s
major agricultural crop.
rsfMinnr, Livestock and Poultry
JgjJSllSlfe FEEDS
FARMER’S UNION
WAREHOUSE
THURSDAY, AUGUST 7, 1947
Georgia has many widely noted
camp grounds and the season for
camp meeting is here. Chances are
the attendance this year will set a
new record.
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