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larksan Vroqrzss-^rgus
J. D. Jones Publisher
(1908-1955
Doyle Jones Jr. Editor and Publisher
(1955-1975)
MRS. MARTHA G. JONES PUBLISHER
VINCENT JONES EDITOR
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Editorials
Laughing From The
Top Side
The Democrats must be
chortling with glee now, having
nominated a popular standard
bearer, and watching the Repub
licans waging a bitter intra-party
fight to see which unlucky
candidate will go to the polling
gallows with the odds two-to-one
against a successful escape from
the political noose.
What a turnabout from the
norm, when it was the Democrats
who customarily managed to insult
each other at their conventions and
occasionally generate party splits
that resulted in inevitable Novem
ber defeats.
Ronald Reagan, the arch
conservative, tried to balance his
ticket and sugar-coat it for the
liberals by tapping Sen. Richard
Schweiker as his running mate.
Reagan evidently believed that
Schweiker could sway some
Eastern delegates in the down-to
the-wire battle for delegates
between the former California
governor and President Ford.
What he may gain in
Pennsylvania, he may well lose in
Mississippi. In politics, as in life, it
often pays to know who your
friends are, and stick with them.
The President, too, is toying
with several potential vice presi
dential aspirants-as apparently
there are some who would like to go
down with the captain on the
sinking ship--but his political savvy
has kept his personal choice
private and left several would-be
losers groping for their chance for
Should Georgia Abandon
The Property Tax Field?
The State of Georgia levies an
ad valorem tax of one-fourth of one
mill on all real property in the
state, this tax to be paid at the
same time and in like manner as
local taxes levied against real
estate.
The state millage is figured
into the local millage and becomes
an indistinguishable part of the
larger tax and is not broken out
until time of collection.
From this pittance of a tax, the
state realizes a paltry sum. But, by
keeping its finger in the pie, the
state exercises tremendous control
over county assessments, and
property taxes, by maintaining
authority to approve, or dis
approve, county digests when they
are submitted.
This authority, which is all out
of proportion to the tax collected,
has resulted in many bitter tax
fights in numerous Georgia
counties when state revenue
officials have arbitrarily forced the
raising of assessments to comply
with a so-called fair and equitable
assessment schedule.
To show how ineffective, and
TELEPHONE 775-3107
OFFICIAL ORGAN
BUTTS COUNTY AND
CITY OF JACKSON
political oblivion.
Chief among his favorites is
rumored to be John Connally, the
suave sophisticate from Texas who
has had some difficulty the last few
years in determining which party
would offer him the best chance of
being elected president. He comes
across too smoothly, like the
Mississippi river-boat gambler of
old, to suit many voters and,
besides the warm, disarming,
believable smile of Jimmy Carter,
his credibility gap would be as wide
as the patented Carter grin.
Watching a political party
wreck itself on the treacherous
shoals of senseless disunity is not a
pretty sight. For years, we saw
the South written out of the
Democratic party at national
conventions, its delegates oc
casionally forced to leave the floor
over bitter and foolish issues that
reasonable men could have
compromised.
America needs two strong
political parties, to keep its system
of checks and balances intact, and
to have a strong and vocal minority
party that will blow the whistle on
any shenanigans that might come
to light.
But we could be witnessing in
Kansas City the demise of the
Republican party. Its passing will
not bring sadness to many Georgia
Democrats who may well feel that
it has outlived its usefulness.
But in the passing of the two
party concept, not in the ending of
the Watergate era, perhaps the
nation may yet come out the loser.
ineffectual, state control of local
property assessment has been, one
need only to look at the variance of
assessments between adjoining
counties. Property valuations
should vary only slightly between
contiguous counties. Which raises
the question, why is the state in the
field at all?
There is no better principle in
government than home rule. Let
the people govern themselves, let
them tax themselves, let them
determine their own property
evaluations and, high and low, it
will affect only the citizens of the
county involved.
To say that Butts countians
could not operate such a system
better than someone in Atlanta is to
admit that either our people are
terriblv dumb or the people in
Atlanta are terribly bright.
We will admit neither. But we
do believe that the tax problems in
Butts County, and in most other
counties of the state, could better
be resolved if the State of Georgia
would take its one-fourth mill and
get its cotton-picking hands off of
our tax digest.
THE JACKSON PROGRESS-ARGUS, JACKSON, GEORGIA
The Last
Straw
BY
VINCENT JONES
The great American hu
morist. Will Rogers, once
said about the good old days
that the only thing wrong
with them was that they
“never wuz.’’
Perchance they never were
as memory recalls them, for
memory has a tricky
mathematical formula that
always doubles the good and
halves the bad.
The main difference be
tween setting a rabbit box to
catch a rabbit and using Brut
today to catch a girl is that
you had to have the rabbit, or
starve.
The world is still full of
optimists who are always
happy because things are no
worse and pessimists who
are never happy because
things are never quite as bad
as they had predicted.
Nowadays, however, much
pessimism stems from the
certainty that a man can
worry his head off about
things a fool never even
dreamed of fifty years ago.
In the old days one of life’s
necessities was blazing the
trail while today the chief
sport is burning up the road.
Even in personal matters,
the past doesn’t measure up.
Way back then when a fellow
kissed his girl, he tasted only
the girl and not one of the
modern lipstick flavors of
lemon-lime, cinnamon or
tangerine.
In the matter of longevity,
the old-timers had half as
long to get accustomed to a
life twice as simple, while
now we have doubled our life
expectancy and halved our
ability to enjoy life.
There was a time when
more pruning and less
grafting was applied to both
government and fruit trees.
Nowadays, our politicians
come doubly endowed, pos
sessing an obvious gift of gab
while concealing an often
stronger gift of grab.
Economically, though,
there was a wide gap
between the past and the
present. The only thing
wrong with the dime that
would buy as much as the
dollar today was that you
didn’t have it.
One of the great changes
has been in modes of
transportation. For, alas,
many women who in the long
ago would have followed the
straight and narrow have
learned to drive automobiles.
Dress and eating habits
have wrought changes, also.
The girl who was formerly
inclined to be overdeveloped
and overdressed is now
declined unless she is
underdeveloped and over
exposed.
Juvenile delinquency has
flourished of late, either
because woodsheds have
given way to garages, or
more likely because won’t
power is often stronger than
will power.
Religion has changed little,
although people nowadays
often substitute fear of the
atom for fear of God. The
pillars of the Church, and the
nodders, still lean on the
same pews.
And the politicians haven’t
changed much, either. They
are the ones who are willing
to submit their cause to the
will of the people until
defeated when they gripe
about a bloc vote. And you
can’t blame them too much
when you consider the
serious game they play is one
that still has two sides and a
fence.
Is it true that the good ole
days “never wuz”, that they
exist only in memories
dimmed by passing years
and mellowed by time, so
that only the bright and the
beautiful remain, and the
chaff has been mercifully
forgotten?
Perhaps so, but you’ll have
difficulty convincing an old
timer that they weren’t just
as tough and gentle, as
romantic and harsh, as*
violent and safe as his
memory constantly reminds
him.
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A Stroll Down
Memory Lane
News of 10 Years Ago
Carl E. Brack, assistant
county agent in Fulton
County for the past four
years, has been named
County Agent in Butts County
by the Butts County Commis
sioners. He will succeed B. B.
Campbell, who resigned July
Ist after 21 years of service
as a county agent.
Ralph W. Carr, Jr. has
been named executive direct
or of the Upper Ocmulgee
Economic Opportunity Com
mission.
J. C. Penney Company has
presented the Van Deventer
Memorial Scout Foundation
of Jackson a check for SSOO.
Penney’s won SI,OOO in a
merchandising contest and
divided the money between
the local youth organization
and the Griffin Chapter for
Retarded Children.
Tommy Herbert, son of
Mr. and Mrs. Clyde Herbert,
set anew slugging record in
Little League tournament
play, getting six hits in 11 at
bats, including two singles, a
double and three home runs.
Mrs. J. W. Mangham, 93,
won and electric sheet at
Central Georgia EMC’s an
nual meeting, as the eldest
member of the Co-op in
attendance.
News of 20 Years Ago
Mrs. Hilton Cawthon has
been named first prize
winner in a recent wiring and
appliance survey and has
been awarded an electric
range and a set of aluminum
ware.
, Tax Collector H. Wayne
Barnes says the County’s tax
digest for 1956 is up $120,259
over 1955 to a total of
$2,394,327. Public utilities
within are assessed $1,654,
385, giving the County a total
property digest of over
$4,000,000.
Joe Bell, Jackson High
assistant coach, has resigned
his position to go with a life
insurance company.
Lee Roy O’Neal has been
elected principal of the
Jackson Elementary School.
Joe Brown, co-owner df
Brown Jewelry & Appliance
Cos., won a 16-ft. freezer at a
recent meeting of Norge
dealers.
Walter T. (Ted) Evans has
been named to the Butts Cos.
Bd. of Registrars.
Deaths during the week:
Grady Redman, 47.
News of 30 Years Ago
Schools in Butts County
will open for the fall term on
Monday, September 9, ac
cording to an announcement
by Supt. F. C. Hearn.
FFA members spending a
week at Jackson Lake under
the supervision of J. M. L.
Comer were 0. B. Colwell,
Wilburn Ridgeway, Jerry
Latham, Jack Knowles,
Ennis O’Neal and Edwin
Williams.
Jackson Jewel Box has
merged with Jackson Hard
ware and the new firm will be
known as the Jackson
Hardware Jewelry Depart
ment.
Georgia’s 125,000 Civil War
veterans have thinned to only
eight survivors on April 1,
1946. Amoung the Confed
erate soldiers still living is J.
S. Gregory, 96, of Indian
Springs.
The young people of
Towaliga community have
organied the Agilawot Club,
with “nothing backward
about us but the name”.
Dolly Barnes was elected
mayor, and Juanita Barnes,
THURSDAY, AUGUST 12, 1976
Thomas Freeman and David
Ridgeway were named coun
cilman.
Deaths during the week:
Paul Sharp.
News of 40 Years Ago
A severe drought, cutting
sharply into production of
vegetables, has delayed
plans for opening the Butts
County Community canning
plant, according to M. L.
Powell, county agent.
Dr. O. B. Howell, chairman
of the Butts Cos. Commission,
will give a radio address over
WSB in the interest of Ed
Rivers, candidate for govern
or.
H. S. Martin exhibited a
small limb containing 35
persimmons.
Fitzhugh Knox & Sons, of
Atlanta, was low bidder for
the new Jackson post office,
with a bid of $52,000.
The wedding of Miss
Elizabeth Patton Edwards,
of Flovilla, to Robert Park
Newton, Jr., of Birmingham,
Ala. was a recent event.
A total of 110 Butts
Countians have filed for
drought relief, according to
Miss Elizabeth Towles of the
Butts County Welfare Dept.
Deaths during the week:
William Moore Barkley, 76;
Mrs. T. J. Thomason, 61.
News of 50 Years Ago
Settle & Robinson has
purchased from the Farmers
and Merchants Bank the
brick building now occupied
by Scarbrough’s Garage,
and the old Coca-Cola plant
in the rear of the city
sub-station.
Harry D. Moore, son of Mr.
and Mrs. T. W. Moore of
Jenkinsburg, has been
named manager of the
Greensboro, N. C. office of
Gulf Refining Company.
B. H. Hodges, prominent
Fincherville resident, is
being urged to run for
chairman of the Butts County
Commissioners.
The store of W. J. Bankston
in Jenkinsburg was robbed
Friday night of shoes and
other merchandise.
Messrs. T. A. Nutt and W.
M. Bond have purchased the
Southern Cotton Oil Com
pany plant in Jackson.
Lynn Thaxton reported the
first open cotton boll on
August 10th.
Deaths during the week:
Thomas E. Redman, 66;
Elisha Mayfield, 74, and Sam
Haislipp, 67.
£
getaway
plan
you can
get away
with.
Getting away from
it all is great.
Untilyougetthebill.
And then you’re
right back at it again.
Well, maybe you’ve
got it all backwards.
The smart thing to
do is to invest steadily
in your getaway plan
before you go.
And the safest way
to do it is by joining
your Payroll Savings
Plan at work.
. stock™
m^menca.
200 years at the same location.
Ftaraußßi
By Mrs. Cindy Brown
HERE AND THERE
Plains, Georgia; Plains,
Georgia; Plains, Georgia
I am getting tired of
hearing about Plains. Why,
“going down to Plains” is
becoming THE THING, sort
of like “flying to Acapulco”
used to be ! I have read a lot
of articles about Plains lately
and all I can say is that I hope
Jimmy wins because Plains
will be used to fame before
much longer and it would be
terrible for plain old Plains to
become that again!
The Olympics are over for
another four years. Being a
sports buff, I will surely miss
seeing Nadia, Bruce Jenner
and all the rest. Methinks,
though, that the Big “O” has
gotten out of hand - too
much commercialism, too
much scandal, too much in
general. That Olympic
Flame in Canada was just
about set off by a “million”
dollar bill. Perhaps the
Russians will put the event
back into its proper perspect
ive - after all, whether you
agree with the Reds or not -
they ain’t exactly stupid!
Jj"j ‘Whatsoever
Things'
BkjPflj By Donald E. Wildmon
SELLING OUT CHEAPLY
Back in 1859 a man by the name of Henry Comstock
found a silver deposit in Virginia, and laid claim to it. Soon
word of his find spread around and other people became
interested in it. Not long after his find he was offered a total of
SII,OOO for the claim.
Comstock took the offer and sold his rights to the claim.
Comstock was to learn in the next thirty years that he sold out
a little prematurely .For during the following thirty years
after he sold, the Comstock claim brought its owners more
than $340,000,000.
We humans have a way of doing that - selling out too
quick. Not taking the time to see the value in things. Willing to
give in, or even give up, too soon.
I’m thinking now of the church and how many people --
like Henry Comstock did with his silver deposit - sell out the
church too quickly. They become a part of the church and
stay with it for a time. Then they begin to de-emphasize the
value of the church and before long they sell out the church
for cheap pleasure, sheer laziness, or some other reason.
Most people who follow this route could have benefitted
greatly from the church if they would have stayed with it.
They could have literally “struck it rich” in the area of daily
living had they not been in such a haste to write the church off
as being near worthless.
I don’t mean to imply that the church doesn’t have its
faults. Of course it does. After all, it is an institution
composed of human beings. And as such, it will always be an
imperfect institution.
But despite its faults -and often even in spite of them -
the church still offers a world of wealth for most individuals.
For it is the church which helps us put things in proper
perspective, lifts up eternal values needed for daily living,
and gives some direction in an often confusing world.
When you are tempted to sell the church short and take
your leave from it, it would do you well to explore what
potential wealth it has for yourself and all mankind. It offers
you fellowship with a group of people who care about you. It
offers guidance and direction for you and your children. It
helps heal hurt, builds brotherhood, fosters faith, encourages
forgiveness, and does a host of other things which help make a
person rich.
So you are disappointed by the church occasionally.
You are also disappointed by your children, but you don’t stop
loving them because of it. So the church isn’t perfect. Are
you? So it occasionally does things you perhaps disagree with.
Your wife does too, but you still love her.
Someone has written: “God sends no churches from
the skies, out of your hearts they must arise.” And it is time.
If we want the wealth the church has to offer us, we must be
willing to work to secure it and not in a big haste to sell it out
for a cheap price.
If Henry Comstock had kept his claim instead of being
in a hurry to sell it out, he could have gotten 30,909 times more
for it. And the same might just be true for you if you will stay
with the church instead of selling it out cheaply.
Letters
The Progress-Argus welcomes letters to the
editor and uses them promptly when space
permits.
There are a few simple ground rules that all
writers are asked to follow:
All letters must be signed and include the
writer’s address.
Letters should be as brief as possible, not
over one page typewritten or two pages when hand
written.
Letters concerning race or religion are not
(acceptable, Neither are letters for or against
political candidates.
Where possible, letters critical of public
officials should include constructive suggestions
for improving the office.
Fall is upon us all. (That’s
my rhyme for the week.) The
fashion scene for ’76 reminds
me of my high school days:
corduroy, pull-over sweat
ers, and real live dresses!
Mother always told me never
to discard old clothes
“They’ll be popular again
before you know it.” Well,
they are and I didn’t. Just
think of all the bluejeans I’d
have now.
My garden has played out
and I have, too. I have
pickled, packed and perspir
ed. I guess come January all
that work will be worthwhile.
Corn wins my award for the
“Pill of Home Canning.” I
don’t know which is worse -
the corn worms or the messy
silks.
And finally, a congratula
tions to all the candidates for
office. This was a long, hot
summer for those who were
campaigning. For some, it’s
over; for some it’s not. Yet
all involved are to be
commended for trying. A
“Peanut” for the winners!