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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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Georgia 30233 by The Progress-Argus Printing Cos., Inc. Second Class
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Editorials
What Great Debate?
While President Ford was
paddle-wheeling down the Mississ
ippi and Jimmy Carter was
back-pedaling through California,
the argument continued over
which, if either, of the two won the
first of their so-called great
debates.
Carter, whose basic appeal to
date has been to the working class,
said he was a nuclear physicist and
talked like one. His language was
strained, and strange, and had
little appeal to the working people
of America. He spoke of complex
issues in long, staid sentences that
showed an acquaintance with the
problem but gave little evidence of
eventual solutions.
The President did not come
across any better. Both men were
full of facts and well armed with
instances where the opposing party
had made errors of omission or
commission, but both seemed
woefully unprepared to outline, in
intelligible form, exactly how they
propose to govern this country for
the next four years.
Both men were guilty of gross
misrepresentations. Carter, for
instance, said that there were less
people employed in nonfarm jobs
today than there were when
President Ford took office. This is
not true. In the first two years of
Ford’s service, through August,
1976, nonfarm employment had
increased by 770,000.
President Ford said that
Georgia Governor George Busbee
had testified before a U. S. Senate
subcommittee that the Medicaid
program was a shambles in
Georgia when he took over from
the Carter regime. Busbee has
denied making this statement,
saying his criticism of the
Another Tax That Should Go
The suggestion was made here
some time ago that perhaps the
property tax, as it is now being
unfairly administered in the State
of Georgia, might have served its
time and that possibly other
sources of revenue could replace it
to more equitably distribute the tax
burden.
Other voices have been raised
in defense of such a move, as
witness the lead editorial in
Sunday’s Atlanta Journal-Constitu
tion reproduced on this page.
But as unfair and regressive as
property taxes have become, we
would have to rate the State’s
intangible tax law as even more
worthy of repeal.
The BCABC Is a Winner
Congratulations to members of
the Butts County Association for
Beautification Through Conserva
tion committee for being named
regional winner in the state-wide
contest to determine those com
munities which have done the most
to improve their environment and
natural beauty.
TELEPHONE 775-3107
OFFICIAL ORGAN
BUTTS COUNTY AND
CITY OF JACKSON
Medicaid program was national in
scope and not focused on any
problems peculiar to Georgia.
Carter said that the 52 vetoes
made by Ford in his two years as
president were the most of any
president since the Civil War. That,
also, is not true. The record shows
that Franklin Roosevelt vetoed 635
bills in 12 years and that Harry
Truman vetoed 250 bills in eight
years.
President Ford said that the
tax proposal he wanted which
would increase personal exemption
from $750 to SI,OOO would give the
average family of four another
SI,OOO a year to spend. That is a
falsehood that anyone who ever
filled out an income tax report
could easily catch. The disposable
income, after taxes, to the average
family would range from about
$l4O to S7OO, depending upon the
family’s tax bracket.
Statistics are dull and mean
ingless to the average TV listener.
And they can be used to prove
almost anything, especially when
twisted out of their context.
If we are going to have two
more debates filled with statistical
evidence of the opposing party’s
inability to govern, then we would
suggest that a TV monitor be set up
out of sight of debaters which could
flash an instant True or False to the
viewing public. In that way, both
debaters would be more careful of
their misconstructions and not
attempt to put out erroneous
information to the estimated
audience of 100 million viewers.
It is hoped, however, that the
remaining debates can be devoted
more to substance and less to a
recitation of statistics.
This is a tax on stocks, bonds,
mortgages, money in banks, etc.
that has caused more taxpayers in
the State of Georgia to tell more
lies than any other tax ever
conceived by man. Many taxpay
ers ignore it altogether and the cost
of collection, and enforcement, if it
were enforced fairly, would be
disproportionate to the revenue
received.
Any tax that penalizes the
honest and rewards the dishonest
ought to be repealed. It is a tax
whose time for repeal has come,
awaiting only that legislator
willing to take the lead in
abolishing this senseless tax from
our revenue system.
The Committee has worked
diligently, attacked the problem
areas intelligently and capitalized
on the County’s natural assets and
its warm and wholesome people.
Let us hope that the judges for the
state winners are just as discerning
and appreciative as those at the
regional level.
THE JACKSON PROGRESS-ARGUS. JACKSON. GEORGIA
The Last
Straw
BY
VINCENT JONES
Like the sly villain he is,
ole Jack Frost is poised
alongside some far mount
ain top, awaiting the rapidly
approaching day or night
when he will make his mad
invasion of this last strong
hold of warmth and blow his
colorful breath of death onto
every trembling leaf of
green.
Until he comes and chills
the earth with his blanket of
white, the days of wine and
roses are still with us,
sweeter than ever as the
hands of time tick off their
death watch.
Now, as at no other period
of the year, is the time to be
outdoors. This is the time for
the long walk in the woods.
For the long look into the
future. And for the discern
ing glimpse into the past.
This period of stagnant but
beautiful weather, in which
the welcome warmth of
midday snuggles in between
the chill of dawn and dusk,
finds nature on her best
behavior.
The mornings are intoxi
cating with the clear and
heady air; noondays are
warm and lazy, encouraging
ly pleasant to the industrious
and invitingly temperate to
the slothful; the chill of dusk
falls with equal facility upon
city and country, sending
both the harassed city
dweller and his more
complacent country cousin
home to their firesides.
The once frenzied prepara
tions that accompanied the
season are almost a thing of
the past. The mad rush to
store, hoard and accumulate
the food and fuel necessary
for winter’s hibernation are
no longer a part of our
lifestyle.
Only the squirrel who
depends on his own ingenuity
and resourcefulness for his
food supply is busy in
preparation for the lean
months. Hiding hickory nuts
in every tree hole, burying
them wholesale under leaf
mounds, he goes about his
task of wealth accumulation
and self preservation with a
tenacity and steadfastness
that humans could well
emulate.
Living luxuriantly in a
scientific age, his muscles
softened by the magical
machines that perform his
difficult tasks, man finds in
approaching winter no haz
ards worse than an occa
sional cold and the incon
veniences of foot travel in
wet and miserable weather.
Unlike the squirrel, who
has no collateral for his food
save his own native shrewd
ness, man can mortgage his
incolence in a dozen market
places and secure the
necessities of life to with
stand the rigors of a long
winter.
There are still, along the
country lanes, those homes
whose hearthstones feel the
warmth of the cracking
hickory log, and whose
cellars are full of the
bountiful harvest just gather
ed.
Search as you will, you
can’t expect to find any more
certain sign that fall has
arrived than the first puff of
white smoke from your
neighbor’s chimney.
But for now as the seasons
change their gears, the days
grow steadily shorter, the
nights stretch out, as nature
impatiently prepares her
time bomb to soon explode in
a riot of color.
It’s a wonderful tune to be
out of doors, and out of your
cares for a brief walk into the
dimming sunlight.
October 4-9
| A Stroll Down
Memory Lane |
Vi T
News of 10 Years Ago
Miss Frances Cleveland, of
Locust Grove, was crowned
Miss Industry of 1966 at the
dance ending the Butts
County Jaycees’ Industry
Day. Miss Salli Fletcher, of
Indian Springs, was third
runner up and Miss Cathye
Blue, of Jackson, fourth
runner up in the beauty
contest.
Mayor C. B. Brown, Jr. and
Councilmen C. M. Daniel, Jr.
and W. Otis Ball will not have
opposition in their bids for
re-election.
Gigi Leverette celebrated
her 10th birthday with a
party at the Bonnie Cafe and
had as her guests Lynn
Freeman, Rita Smith, Nita
Cook, Marie DeVore and
Penny Kersey.
Tommy Carmichael, kick
ings specialist at Georgia
Tech, has requested and
received jersey No. 29, the
same number formerly worn
by Pepper Rodgers who was
the idol of Tommy when he
was just a boy.
Deaths during the week:
Norman Elliott Ford.
News of 20 Years Ago
Ann Ewing, of Monroe, has
been named Miss Industry of
1956 in the beauty contest
held in conjunction with the
Butts County Jaycees’ cele
bration of Industry Day.
Jimmie Lee Tyson, wanted
in connection with the
murder of his wife, Annie
Kate Tyson, has been
captured by FBI agents in
Jacksonville, Fla. and is now
lodged in the Butts County
jail.
Donnie Caston made the
Atlanta Constitution’s Prep
Honor Roll for his great
60-yard TD run against
Manchester which gave
Jackson a 6-6 tie.
Hurricane Flossy dumped
6.75 inches of rain on Butts
County in the 60-hour period
from 6 p.m. Sunday to 6 a.m.
Wednesday.
Official state tally in the
governor’s race showed
Herman Talmadge with
620,492 votes to 122,152 for M.
E. Thompson. Talmadge
carried every county in the
state.
Deaths during the week: H.
Y. Coleman, 73; James
Drayton Brownlee, 82; Harry
B. Byars, Sr., 47; Mrs. Lou
Freeman, 87.
News of 30 Years Ago
Governor Eugene Tal
madge named the following
as delegates to the state
Democratic convention in
Macon; Rev. J. B. Stodghill,
Paul Tyler, J. S. Ball, G. D.
Head, B. B. Garland, J. D.
Pope, J. H. Rooks, T. W.
Moore, Dan Hoard, Elbert
Mullis, Spencer Johnson,
Paul Maddox, Dr. R. L.
Hammond, O. E. Smith, John
L. Coleman.
Bobby Hammond, in egg
marketing, and Charles
Samuel Sims, in exterior
paint demonstration, will
represent Butts County at the
Southeastern Fair competi
tion in Atlanta Oct. l-4th.
Harold Fletcher has been
named manager of the Big
Star store in Elberton and
will move his family there in
the near future.
Mrs. John L. Coleman
honored her grandmother,
Mrs. H. C. Letson, of
Covington, with a family
reunion upon the occasion of
Mrs. Letson’s 81st birthday.
Deaths during the week:
Mrs. Hattie Louise Hancock,
69.
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 1976
News of 40 Years Ago
U. S. Senator Richard B.
Russell, Jr. will speak at the
4-H Club Fair on October Bth.
E. H. Pace has announced
the sale of Pace Bus Line and
the franchise between Jack
son and Atlanta to Grey
hound Lines.
Late planted cotton in
Butts County is being
damaged severely by cater
pillars, according to reports
from growers.
Fire destroyed the home of
Mr. and Mrs. A. M. Pace, of
the Cedar Rock community,
on Friday afternoon of last
week.
Miss Olga Hammond and
Miss Marion Minter spent the
weekend at Bessie Tift with
Miss Lucy Minter who is a
student there.
Deaths during the week:
Miss Maude Bankston.
News of 50 Years Ago
The Hawkes Children’s
Library in Jackson has
recently added 350 volumes
to its collection, according to
O. A. Pound, chairman of the
board of trustees.
Members of the Jackson
Kiwanis Club have pledged
their support to the Harvest
Festival scheduled for this
fall.
Macedonia Baptist Church
will observe its centennial on
Saturday, October 9th.
A branch of the Atlanta
Business College will open in
Jackson within the next few
days, according to Mr. A. T.
Persons, representative.
Kinard Pecan Nursery, S.
B. Kinard, proprietor, ad
vertised Stuart and Schley
pecan trees from 60 cents to
SI.OO each.
The contract for the paving
of the Jackson and Indian
Springs highway will be
awarded on November Ist.
EVERYONE reads
the WANTS ADS
£lje Mania Journal
* AND *
THE ATLANTA CONSTITUTION
SEPTEMBER 26, 1976
Property Taxes
PROPERTY TAXES have been con
troversial here for a number of
years.
There has been revaluation and the
reassessing of property at fair market
value.
This has worked injustices. Farm
and residential property has been
revalued at boom prices. Farmers
near urban areas have been driven out
of business as their lands have been
taxed so highly fair return from farm
ing operations is impossible. Heirs to
farms have had to sell in order to
meet inheritance taxes.
In urban areas and fast growing
counties property has been reassessed
so that many owners of homes, vacant
lands and investment properties have
found it expedient to sell.
This is an old tax reaching back
when real property was one of the
few forms of wealth. Today? It is
easier, and in view of rising property
fiJiraiißßi
By Mrs. Cindy Brown
REASONS FOR LIVING
To be able to kiss a child good
night.
To be able to smell a Rose.
To be able to read a book.
To be able to have a friend.
To be able to be a friend.
To be able to enjoy a warm
fire.
To be able to enjoy a good
talk.
To be able to listen.
To be able to pray.
To be able to eat a favorite
food.
To be able to eat with a
friend.
To be able to love.
To be able to solve a
problem.
IBBR
j&r mi
THANK GOD FOR HUMOR
Humor. We hardly ever think of that in religious terms, do
we? In fact, the idea that humor has anything to do with the
real issues of life was so far removed from the mind of Mark
Twain that he wrote: “The secret source of humor itself is
not joy but sorrow. There is no humor in heaven.”
We must remember that Mr. Clements was an agnostic.
And when God really doesn’t matter it is very difficult to
relate humor to life.
The truth of the matter is that humor is one of God’s
greatest gifts to man. Humor makes us laugh, and there
is something good in even a laugh. “Think of what would
happen to us,” wrote Thomas L. Masson, “if there were no
humorists; life would be one long Congressional Record.”
And that, my friend, would make life dull indeed.
Man is the only animal which has the ability to laugh.
Surely there must be some hidden wisdom in that fact! When
God placed man above all the other creatures, He instilled in
him this emotion. One is led to believe that this gift to man
was only another expression of God’s love for man.
If we could read the Gospels in an unbiased manner we
would discover that Jesus had a great sense of humor. The
theologian and writer Elton Trueblood was so much
impressed by the humor of Christ that he wrote a book about
it.
Every gift God has given to us has been given for us to use.
We should not misuse it, nor abuse it. And certainly we
shouldn’t neglect it.
It is good medicine for us to laugh occasionally. It is even
better medicine for us to laugh at ourself occasionally. What
a world of good it does! And what tragic results await those
who cannot laugh at themselves. Indeed, life must be
extremely difficult for them. The ability to laugh at oneself
puts oil in the motor. Without it, the friction of life would wear
us out in a hurry.
Thomas Carlyle was right when he wrote: “True humor
springs not more from the head than from the heart; it is not
contempt, its essence is love. ” You would be surprised to find
that the ability to truly laugh and the ability to love are
closely tied together.
What about God’s sense of humor? Dean William R. Inge
had something to say about that. “I have never understood
why it should be considered derogatory to the Creator to
suppose that he has a sense of humor.” As sure as God
sometimes cries because of us, He often laughs because of us
also.
Never neglect this wonderful gift which God has given us
- this gift of humor. Accept the gift and use it. You will be
much the richer because of it!
taxes, smarter to put your money in
intangibles than land.
There were two stories last week to
show the hardship property taxes
work on people. One concerned a
group of citizen in a small New York
town which had itself ordained as
ministers in one of those new
churches to call attention to its plight
by reminding authorities that property
of religious and educational organiza
tions frequently is exempt.
The other was closer, in Douglas
County, which has been tom by suits
and political strife due to tax assess
ments. Judge Dan Winn told the grand
jury that other forms of public reve
nue should be sought, property taxes
being high and expensive to collect.
There have been suggestions that
this tax be abolished altogether and
another system instituted. At the rate
property taxes are rising and with the
outlook good they will so continue,
this suggestion must be taken seri
ously.
To be able to have good luck.
To be able to be courageous
when bad luck befalls you.
To be able to give a gift.
To be able to receive a gift.
To be able to pat a puppy’s
head.
To be able to wipe a child’s
tear.
To be able to fall"in love.
To be able to feel sunshine on
your face.
To be able to feel raindrops
on your face.
To be able enjoy a good joke.
To be able to make a
decision.
To be able to see prayers
answered.
To be able to be free.
‘Whatsoever
Things’
By Donald E. Wirdmon
