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3axfesott Vragrtss-^rgns
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
4 Plus 4 Equals 8 Years
Probably none of the many
constitutional amendments to be
voted on by Georgians in the
November general election will
attract as much attention, or result
in as much argument, as proposed
constitutional amendment No. 2.
This amendment would change
the present provision in the State’s
constitution which permits a
governor to serve unlimited terms,
so long as they are not successive.
In its place, if the amendment is
adopted, would be a provision that
no governor could ever serve more
than two terms in his lifetime,
although he would be eligible to
serve back-to-back terms, or eight
years, if he could be reelected to
successive terms.
The amendment makes sense
in this corner, based on the
principle that good, electable
governors could be elected to
successive terms, while those
unworthy of reelection could
always be denied a second term.
If past history is any guideline,
such an amendment would not be
abused. Since 1960, three ex
governors have been soundly
defeated in comback attempts.
Of the last four governors to
serve full terms, Ernest Vandiver,
Carl Sanders, Lester Maddox and
Jimmy Carter, the odds would
have been tremendous against any
of the four being elected to a second
term, had they been eligible to
offer.
Traditionally, Georgia govern
ors usually make more enemies
than friends during their four-year
tenure. But a great deal of their
declining popularity sets in during
the third year of their term, when
sides are being chosen and anew
leader is stepping forward to be
anointed.
This, we feel, is the most
conclusive argument for a constitu-
Beware of False Prophets
As usual, the sky gazers,
squirrel tail watchers and cater
pillar counters are predicting all
kinds of dire forecasts for the
coming winter.
All of the way from an early
fall to a white Christmas, to a
blizzard with minus 10 degrees.
We would have more confi
dence in these prognosticators of
doom if some of their pet theories
were a little more believeable.
One, for instance, says his
forecast of an extreme winter is
based on the fact that the squirrels
have started picking nuts in
mid-August and are scurrying
around, packing them away for the
The Political Pot Thickens
There will be something for
everybody in the November
presidential elections. President
Ford and Jimmy Carter for two
main political part'es. Lester
Maddox for the American Indepen
dent Party. Tom Anderson for the
American Party. Roger L. Mac
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tional provision permitting guber
natorial succession. The single four
year term limits a governor’s
popularity, and power, at the most
to a two and one half to three year
span, after which he is treated as a
has-been with all of the attention
being focused on his successor.
No governor, no matter how
well prepared or intentioned his
administration, can put into effect
a complete program in so brief a
time. A five or six year period
before his popularity begins the
ultimate decline would double the
time span he now has in which to
institute new programs and,
hopefully, effect some economies
of operation.
Georgia is one of only eight
states which does not permit
gubernatorial succession. Nineteen
states have provisions allowing two
consecutive terms, and 23 states
permit unlimited succession. De
spite laws in these 42 states which
permit either successive terms, or
unlimited terms, it is difficult to
name a state in which a so-called
political machine has complete
control.
The days of Huey Long, Boss
Crump and Eugene Talmadge are
gone. The electorate is too well
informed, too segmented by racial,
economic and political philosophy
to permit such domination and
power as these men once wielded.
We feel the people of Georgia
should have the opportunity to elect
an electable governor to another
term, as well as the chance to
throw out one not worthy of his
hire.
The amendment has some
powerful backing. Both Governor
Busbee and Lt-Gov. Miller have
endorsed the idea, but seem to
differ on just how much either of
them should back their conscience
with active support.
winter.
Any idiot who ever owned a
pecan tree knows that squirrels
always begin their nut raids in
mid-August, as soon as the nuts are
about two-thirds grown. A green
hull means nothing to a squirrel,
who can shuck it and get down to
the kernel in about two minutes.
Every year, the forecasts come
of an extremely cold winter. Made
often enough, the odds favor the
experts hitting about one out of ten.
Maybe this will be the one. But the
squirrels haven’t told us anything
this year that they don’t say every
year. They love pecans. And they
are hungry.
Bride as a Libertarian and Eugene
McCarthy as an independent.
The political pot may boil a
little higher with the addition of
this foursome, but there is not
enough salt in the whole crew to
add any savor to the quadrennial
stew over the presidency.
THE JACKSON PROGRESS-ARGUS, JACKSON, GEORGIA
The Last
Straw
BY
VINCENT IONES
One of the items that
should rank high on the
agenda of the next Congress
is the question of the Postal
Service and what to do with
this agency that is half
government, half private
business and seemingly
under the control of neither.
After Congress removed
the post office department
from under its paternal wing,
the Post Service was created
with a Board of Governors
directing its activities.
Faced with increasing mail
volume, the need for heavy
capital expenditures to pro
vide the tools of mechani
zation and the operation of
obsolescent facilities, the
Service hasn’t done as poorly
as it has been given credit
for.
At the heart of the matter
is the question, should the
delivery of mail in this
country be operated as a
service of government, or as
a private business?
No one expects the U. S.
Dept, of Agriculture to show
a profit, or to charge a
farmer for the knowledge it
has gained from costly
research, done at the
expense of the taxpayer.
The U. S. Dept, of
Commerce renders countless
services to the business
sector, all free gratis, with
the taxpayer picking up the
tab.
There is no expectation
that the Treasury Dept., or
Health, Education and Wel
fare, or the Defense Depart
ment with its 100-billion-plus
budget, will show a profit in
1977. They all provide
services that the people of
this country deem vital and
they are supported fully with
tax funds.
Doubtless, the founding
fathers of the republic never
envisioned the post office
department as a money
making scheme, or even an
agency that could become
self-sufficient in its opera
tion.
The same basic need
existed in the early days of
the republic as it does
today--Americans need good
mail service to provide for
mass distribution of news
papers, magazines, letters,
circulars, educational mater
ials and other printed matter
that can only be delivered
from one person to another
by a mail delivery system.
The real danger is that
unless the upward revision of
postal rates is stopped, the
communication of informa
tion through the printed
media may soon become a
luxury that cannot be
afforded by those people who
need it most.
Witness the 200-to-500 per
cent increase in subscription
rates to the weekly news
magazine, a great deal of
which was brought on by
escalating postal rates. Daily
and weekly newspapers are
caught in the same vicious
cycle of spiraling mail costs
and. as a result, the public
has to pay more for reading
material that, in the best
interests of the republic, it
should have at the lowest
possible cost.
Congress needs to come to
grips with the matter of an
effective mail delivery ser
vice for this country. And the
rate structure for the
delivery of mail of all classes
should be kept at a
reasonable level to en
courage the dissemination of
information by public jour
nals and private letters. If
there is a deficit, and there
will be, it should be borne by
the taxpayer who bears the
burdens of every other deficit
o! every other government
agency.
Certainly there is need of
reform in the present postal
system. The fat catting needs
to be cut out and the service
shaped up to provide max
imum service at minimum
cost.
The quality of the mail
delivery system has deterio
rated in almost direct
proportion to the rail
transportation decline in this
country. Jackson once had
V Si rol I
Memory Lane
News of 10 Years Ago
Word has been received
from the Oriental Missionary
Society, Inc., of Greenwood,
Indiana, that Rev. and Mrs.
W. Andy Holston have been
accepted for missionary duty
this winter in Brazil. Rev.
Holston is presently pastor of
the Pleasant Grove Congre
gational Methodist Church.
The Jackson Senior 4-H
Club has elected David
Ridgeway, Jr., president
Antoinette Brownlee and
David Cook, vice-presidents;
Julian Wells, secretary;
Perry Ridgeway, reporter,
and Paul Rice, parliamen
tarian.
Paul Collins, a high school
student, is now working part
time at Shields Jewelry.
A group of Jackson
Kiwanians judged a beauty
contest last week at the
Fayette County Fair. Includ
ed were T. E. Robison, Sr.,
Denny O’Neal, Frank Fore
hand, Hugh Glidewell, James
Payne and former Kiwanian
Roy Goff.
Deaths during the week:
Mrs. Craig Parker, 40; Mrs.
Inus Maddox Dodson, 83;
Mrs. Mattie Chapman Mitch
ell, 64; Mrs. Dellie Barkwell
Kent, 42.
News of 20 Years Ago
Supt. D. V. Spencer reports
that school enrollment for the
1956 term is down by 85 from
that of a year ago. The
figures are 2,108 for 1956 and
2,193 for 1955.
Four Jackson youths were
injured in a car-train
collision at the Pepperton
Cotton Mills crossing. In
jured were Teddy L. Parker,
Charles Wells, Dennis Wise,
and Sandra Horton. Johnnie
Horton was not injured.
Butts County’s tax millage
for 1956 was set at 45 and
one-quarter mills, applicable
to a total digest of $2,394,327,
up $120,000 from the 1955
digest.
Alvin Thurston has retired
after 27 years of service in U.
S. Coast Guard.
Harold Wells celebrated
his Bth birthday by inviting
Gary, Larry and Jan
Whitaker and Frankie and
Wayne Lawhon to a birthday
party.
Miss Linda Turner, 11,
daughter of Mr. and Mrs.
Woodrow Turner, of Jackson,
is rehearsing her role as a
dancer in the children’s Civic
Theater production this fall
in Atlanta.
Deaths during the week:
Mrs. Texas Thaxton Bennett,
85.
News of 30 Years Ago
Butts County Commis
sioners by a unanimous vote
discontinued the sale of beer
in the county after December
31, 1946.
The City of Jackson has set
its tax millage at 10 mills and
Butts County has set its rate
at 21 mill for 1946.
A heifer blonging to E. S.
Settle has been destroyed
after exhibiting symptoms of
rabies. Fred Proctor of
High Falls destroyed a cow
eighl passenger trains a day,
most of which picked up or
delivered mail. Now we have
none. The present Postal
Service cannot be faulted
for this cut-back in rail
service.
Public or private? The
Postal Service needs to go
one way or the other. The
guess here is that Congress
reluctantly will take over
again the delivery of mail in
this country and operate it as
a service rather than a
business.
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 1976
suffering from rabies. Mad
foxes are believed to be the
source of the rabies break
out, which is extensive in this
area.
Marvin W. Pope has been
elected sexton and auxiliary
policeman, filling the post
formerly held by W. E.
Watkins, who recently re
signed.
Mr. and Mrs. Howard Jolly
entertained at a delightful
party Monday for the
teachers of the Jackson
school.
Deaths during the week:
M. S. Maddox, 77; Hugh
Cordell Kelly, 31.
News of 40 Years Ago
Three WPA projects are
being carried out in Butts
County. A sewing project
employing 13 women has
been started at Flovilla.
About 10 men are engaged in
eradicating the phony peach
disease, and about 60 men
are working on a road project
from Stark to Route 16 at the
T. E. Watkins place.
A. T. Buttrill and N. A.
Powell will operate the filling
station at McDonough Road
and West Third Street,
recently constructed by B. K.
Carmichael.
The Board of Education
has decreed that caps and
gowns will be worn by the
1937 graduation class.
The Pepperton Mill base
ball team has won the
championship of the Dixie
Industrial League and will
play Barnesville in a pot
season game. Pepperton won
both halves of the split
season.
Mr. and Mrs. George
Thomas Thurston announce
the marriage of their
daughter, Marion Ossie, to S.
G. Morrow of Miami, Fla.
Deaths during the week:
Mrs. J. R. Hammond, 65; W.
Tom Kinard, 81.
News of 50 Years Ago
The Farmers and Mer
chants Bank has sold to Mr.
G. P. Saunders four brick
buildings on Second Street
and the Dr. O. B. Howell
residence on the corner of
College Avenue and Demp
sey Street. The Howell home,
it is stated, will be occupied
by Mr. and Mrs. T. E.
Robison.
The tax rate for Butts
County for 1925 has been set
at 19 mills.
Miss Marion Groover, of
Dixie, Ga., a former English
teacher and librarian here,
has donated a valuable
collection of books to the
local Hawkes Library.
Rev. A. R. Woodson, pastor
of the Jackson and Fellow
ship Presbyterian Churches
since June, 1925, has re
signed to accept a pastorate
in Chelsea, Oklahoma.
Hostesses for the Woman’s
Club meeting in September
will be Mrs. R. P. Newton,
Mrs. L. P. McKibben, Mrs. L.
P. Lester, Mrs. Elwood
Robison, Miss Nettie Rae
Pittmen, and Miss Mary
Newton.
Deaths during the week: D.
Z. Plymale, 79, a member of
Cos. “H”, 3rd. Ga. Reserves,
during the War between the
States.
“Heredity is a theory you
believe in when your child’s
report card is all A’s.” (E.
E. Kenyon)
nbIRAiRRI
By Mrs. Cindy Brown
School has started; the
local stores are sporting Fall
and Winter clothes in their
windows; football games
have begun; and there’s a nip
in the air.
Do you realize that in all
reality, Christmas is just
around the corner? Do you
realize that Thanksgiving
turkeys are spending their
last days on earth? Do you
realize that I am getting
older and time is flying?
I thought I would never get
to be sixteen - the magical
age when kids become adults
through driver’s licenses.
Sixteen came and went. Then
I thought I would never get to
be twenty-one. Twenty-one
was as special as a birthday
cake, a diamond ring, a
once-in-a-lifetime happen
ing. The strange thing is,
though, ever since 21 went
by, things have happened too
fast. My children think I’m
old “really old.’’ They ask
me how things were “way
back when.” Why is it that I
have so much to do and so
little time to do it?
Some times I think God
should let all of us live to be a
hundred, then I might
accomplish what I’m sup
posed to get done just for this
week. “Mama, I’ve got a ball
game at 3:00; Mama, I’ve got
‘Whatsoever
• f jP Things’
By Donald E. Wildmon
THE FELLOW WHO FORGOT HIS SERMON
The little village church was crowded. The congregation
was waiting anxiously to hear the message that the speaker
was to bring. It was no ordinary occasion. For a hometown
boy was about to preach his first sermon.
As the young Methodist preacher arose to speak, he gave
evidence of doing some extensive homework for his sermon.
The fact that he was a very educated person was one which
he wished for the people to immediately recognize. For three
weeks the young man had worked on that sermon, making
sure that it was a sermon of the highest intellectual stature.
He was doing pretty good with his sermon, impressing
the people with his brilliant mind, when he happened to use a
very intellectual word to impress the people. One young lady,
sitting on the front row, evidently not able to comprehend
some of the preaching from such an intelligent person,
snickered when the young preacher used the word. In fact,
she hid her face to keep from laughing out loud.
It was a very disturbing experience for the young
preacher. The snickering upset him so much that he forgot
the rest of his sermon. Very badly embarrassed at the
situation, the young man soon admitted to the congregation
that he had forgotten the rest of his sermon. As he headed
toward his seat, a thought ran through his mind. “Well, you
can’t remember your sermon. But isn’t there anything that
Christ has done for you that you can tell them?”
Immediately the young preacher turned and headed
back to the pulpit. And so, for the second time that day, he
proceeded to tell, in a spirit of enthusiasm, of what the
Carpenter of Men had done for him.
After the service was over another young man came up
to the preacher and said he wanted Christ to do the same
thing for him that He had done for the young preacher. And
so the first of countless opportunities to spread the Good
News was opened to the young preacher who had forgotten
his sermon.
I think there is a lesson for us here. Our Creator doesn’t
need someone down here on earth to use their brilliant and
intellectual minds to impress folks. What He wants and needs
is someone with heart enough to simply tell what He has done
for us. For the greatest preaching isn’t to be done through the
brain-as important as that part of the body is to every
minister. The greatest preaching with the most far-reaching
effects comes from the heart-from one who can say, “This I
know God can do, for He has done it for me.”
Being a minister, I believe I need all the education and
study I can get. And I have spent the greater part of my life
pursuing it~and still do. But I have found that what does the
most good is not an intellectual sermon, but a simple sermon
from the heart which folks know to be true.
Perhaps the best thing that ever happened to E. Stanley
Jones-one of America’s greatest ambassadors of goodwill to
India-was that he forgot his first sermon and spoke from,the
heart. And maybe it will happen again-to each of us.
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2()0 years at the same location.
a dental appointment at 3:30;
Mama, don’t forget to buy
my tennis shoes.” Iwould like
to go through one day, just
one whole day, without
anything that had to be done.
My Mama never told me it
would be like this. Now I can
really appreciate how much
she enjoyed a day on her
own. I haven’t yet figured out
how she managed to arrange
for one, though.
DON’T FORGET
Don’t forget my suit’s at
the cleaners,
Don’t forget to buy the
wiener’s.
Don’t forget I need fifty
cents,
Don’t forget the car needs
a rinse.
Don’t forget to wash my
jacket,
Don’t forget my tennis
racket.
Don’t forget to put on the
roast,
Don’t forget and burn the
toast.
Don’t forget to pay the
bills,
Don’t forget the aspirin
pills.
One day I’m going to forget
something, I’ll bet
Thank goodness for my
sake, it ain’t happened yet!