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Jackson TrngrESs-^rgus
J. D. Jones Publisher
0908 1955)
Doyle Jones Jr. Editor and Publisher
(1955-1975)
MRS. MARTHA G. JONES PUBLISHER
VINCENT JONES EDITOR
OFFICIAL ORGAN BUTTS COUNTY AND CITY OF JACKSON
Published every Thursday at 129 South Mulberry Street, Jackson,
Georgia 30233 by The Progress-Argus Printing Cos., Inc. Second Class
Postage paid at Jackson, Georgia 30233.
Address notice of undeliverable copies and other correspondence
to The Jackson Progress-Argus, P.O. Box 249, Jackson, Georgia 30233.
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Editorials
The National Debt :
A Sober Appraisal
One of the least-read figures on
the financial pages of your daily
newspaper is a small item with a
large impact, the daily recording of
the national public debt.
If you will check it after you
read this it will be much higher but
as of a few days ago it stood at
$670,448,000,000.
Every child born in this
country inherits as his share a
$3,000 debt of the federal
government and, instead of being
paid off as most private debts are,
the debt spiral grows at a much
faster rate than the child’s body.
By the time he reaches maturity
his share of the national debt will
be double or treble what it was at
his birth.
Tax rates are set on, bound to
and indissolubly tied to, govern
ment expenditures and the retire
ment of government debt. There
can be no delivered promise of
substantial reductions in federal
tax rates for so long as the public
debt continues to mount at its
frenzied pace.
Political chicanery may give
tax relief to certain favored groups
but the tax burden will only be
increased on others or we will
continue the present folly of
mortgaging future generations for
today’s fiscal indiscretions.
Unfortunately, the public’s
conception of deficit spending
policies and the meaning of a $670
billion federal debt seems rather
hazy, especially as long as the
government is the “giver” and not
the “taker.”
These misconceptions often
times give vent to alarming
suggestions, such as, why doesn’t
the government declare itself
bankrupt and void its debt? Or, it’s
just a paper debt, anyway, why not
just wipe it out and start all over?
The average American family
has squirreled away over SI,OOO in
Savings Bonds, War Bonds, or
Liberty Bonds as they have been
called. They are instruments of the
U. S. Treasury, redeemable upon
demand in currency and part of the
$670 billion debt of this country.
If you have such Bonds, and
you advocate Uncle Sam reneging
on his debt obligations, then you
must be willing to burn your SI,OOO,
$5,000, $50,000 or whatever amount
you may own of this particular
Treasury series.
The U. S. government doesn’t
owe $670 billion to itself; it owes it
to banks and to wealthy individuals
who buy Treasury bills and notes;
to retirement and pension funds
that seek Treasury obligations for
security reasons, and to the little
fellows like us who bought Savings
Advance Subscription Rates, Tax Included:
TELEPHONE 775-3107
NATIONAL NEWSPAPER
tisocuiißw nniu ins'
fr..Fnsgl NNASUSTAIMNG
l==!S MEMBER ~ 1977
<•' Yr.ir. O a-uf-State ~.57.28
I• >i n ■■. Out-of-Stale $1.16
Bonds out of patriotism and, lately,
for their better yield.
The answer, obviously, lies in
curbing federal expenditures, in
the country living within its income
except under most extenuating
circumstances such as a major
war, and beginning the slow and
painful process of retiring the
mammoth debt that has accumu
lated.
There is no sensible pattern to
federal spending. In 1970, for
instance, at the height of the
Vietnam War, the nation occurred
a deficit of only $2.8 billion and yet
the federal deficit this fiscal year,
with the nation at peace, is
estimated at from S4B -to- S6O
billion.
Not since 1969, when Lyndon
Johnson was leaving office and
Richard Nixon succeeded him, has
there been a federal surplus, and
that of only $3.2 billion.
During the Nixon years, deficit
spending was in vogue, reaching its
zenith in 1972 when the government
spent $23.4 billion more than it took
in.
Under President Ford, the
federal bureaucrats had a holiday,
spending in fiscal year 1976 over
$66.5 billion more than came into
the federal Treasury.
Much of the blame for the
present uncontrolled federal fiscal
policy is often laid at the feet of the
late President Franklin D. Roose
velt and his New Deal. For the first
time, the doctrine was preached
and followed that the federal
government should spend more
money than it took in, to give
people payments, programs and
benefits so that they could
purchase more and, theoretically,
pay more in taxes.
The name of the game has
changed but it is still being played
in the same ball park, with the
same blind umpires and the same
sad spectators who sit out in the
bleachers and cry for more.
Georgia Senators Herman
Talmadge and Sam Nunn are
trying to restore some sanity to the
situation by passing a resolution
calling for a constitutional amend
ment that would require the
country to live within its income.
But the mad foxes still go on
chasing the rabbits, throwing good
money at bad programs in the
delusion that every problem and
every ill in society can be solved by
money.
If President Jimmy Carter can
balance the federal budget during
his first term as promised, he will
be entitled to, and receive, an
endorsement term.
THE JACKSON PROGRESS-ARGUS, JACKSON, GEORGIA
The Last
Straw
BY
VINCENT JONES
Pity poor Jimmy Who. The
black cat has been doing an
adagio pattern across his
path the last few days and he
must wonder if the atmos
phere was not more friendly
in the Atlantic depths which
he plumbed in an atomic
submarine recently.
His troubles began when he
sent the First Lady to South
America to get some cheap
coffee but there is no real
assurance that she will
remember his favorite
brand. While making her
selection, she listened to all
kinds of demands from her
hosts, all of whom presented
their wish list to the great
Santa Claus that has moved
his domicile from the North
Pole to the White House.
By the time he could get his
feet on the desk and spin two
classical records, the Intern
al Revenue Service advised
him they were auditing his
1975 federal tax return.
Perhaps he and Billy were
using the wrong make of
farm vehicles on their peanut
plantation. Had they stuck
with Ford, probably their
troubles would be lightened
considerably.
To top it all off, the
administration's champion
insult-hurler, Andy Young,
returns from another of his
whirlwind missions after
managing to castigate this
time both the living and the
dead.
At least five former
presidents were racists, he
said, Lincoln, Kennedy,
Johnson, Nixon and Ford.
Even Old Abe, the Great
Emancipator, who freed the
Negroes from the bonds of
physical slavery. That’s like
charging your own father
with non-support after he has
reared you from a babe to a
master’s degree at age 24.
Trying to understand
Young is like trying to figure
out a prospective father-in
law, who low rates you as an
individual but still permits
you to wed his daughter. You
don’t know whether to curse
him for his poor judgement
or thank him for his great
gift.
The Republicans are howl
ing like banshees, crying for
Young’s scalp and that of
anyone else who tries to hide
his shortcomings under a
peanut hull. Traditionally,
one major party lends a deaf
ear to the platitudes of
another, but this time the
Republicans have public
opinion on their side.
A recent poll showed that
less than 30 per cent of the
voters thought Andrew
Young was doing a good job ’
as U. S. Ambassador to the
United Nations. An expert
poll watcher such as Presi
dent Carter, who takes great
stock in public opinion
testers, cannot ignore such
unpopularity and must move
to counteract it.
After a recent confronta
tion with the President, both
Young and the White House
press said that the Ambassa
dor was in no trouble with the
boss. If he were not in any
trouble, then why deny it?
When he speaks of human
rights, social and political
equality, equal treatment for
all men, then Andy Young is
probably voicing the aspira
tions of literally millions of
oppressed people throughout
the world.
But in this country, where
daily all of us are beginning
to assess our fellow man
more on his worth and less on
his color, the public is tired of
hearing of racists and of
black and white frictions.
That is the reason Andrew
Young’s popularity reading
is so low here, although it
may be much higher abroad
with the developing nations.
Perhaps our people are
trying to tell the President
and the Ambassador, hey,
wait just a minute, we’ve
been through the turbulent
and violent 50’s and 60’s and
we have conquered much of
our racial animosity and
misunderstanding and we
just don’t want to get
involved with somebody
elses. And such a message, if
indeed it is what our people
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A Stroll Down
Memory Lane
NEWS OF 10 YEARS AGO
The Jackson Light Depart
ment has removed the last of
the incandescent light fix
tures and replaced them with
the newer mercury vapor
lamps.
Miss Laurelee Hawkins,
daughter of Mr. and Mrs.
Frank Hawkins of Bergen
field, N. J., has received a
Bachelor of Science degree in
Occupational Therapy. Miss
Hawkins is the granddaugh
ter of Mrs. W. M. Redman.
The Social Security Admin
istration reveals that at the
end of 1966, a total of 1,372
Butts County recipients were
receiving aid in the amount
of $75,704 monthly.
Rev. Don Harp and Hugh
Glidewell, Jr. spoke to the
Jackson Kiwanis on the
Fellowship of Christian Ath
letes’ program.
Linda Jean Parrish,
daughter of Mr. and Mrs.
Eugene A. Parrish, was
capped at the Hall School of
Nursing in Gainesville on
Friday.
The Mimosa Garden Club
held its June luncheon
meeting at the Elder Hotel.
Deaths during the week:
Julian David Swint, 65; Mrs.
Felicia Carter Wise, 88;
Johnny Daniel Long, 14;
James Millard English, 49.
NEWS OF 20 YEARS AGO
The staff of the Jackson
Elementary School honored
its two retiring members,
Miss Annie Lou McCord and
Mrs. A. C. Freeman, with an
outing at Jackson Lake.
A. R. Kimbell was the
lucky winner of an Admiral
refrigerator at Jackson
Hardware Company’s open
house last weekend.
The grand opening of
Polk's Tire and Service Cos.
will be held Thursday,
Friday and Saturday of this
week.
Miss Ann Adams celebrat
ed her llth birthday Satur
day with a hay ride to Indian
Springs and a picnic for 10 of
her friends.
Butts County law officers
have destroyed a large still
about two miles west of
Indian Springs with a
capacity of approximately
1,200 gallons.
First officers to serve the
recently-incorporated Butts
County Chamber of. Com
merce, Inc. were named
Tuesday by the board of
directors and include Vincent
Jones, president; L. C. Webb,
vice president; Richard
Watkins, treasurer, and Miss
Elizabeth McMichael, secre
tary.
Deaths during the week:
Jenous Monroe Maddox, 78.
NEWS OF 30 YEARS AGO
Mrs. L. C. Webb, chair
man, reports that Butts
County has over subscribed
its cancer drive quota by 200
per cent, raising a total of
$305.62.
Gov. M. E. Thompson has
assured a Bibb County
delegation that the portion of
the Jackson-Macon Short
Route in Bibb County will be
paved immediately.
Members of the board of
trustees of the Indian Springs
Holiness Camp Ground are
studying plans for a modern
sewerage system to serve
that immediate area.
Mrs. Myrtle Whittimore, of
Jackson and Boston, Mass.,
will have three of her poems
published in anew 600-page
anthology of American verse
and song.
The Jackson Home Demon
are thinking, would make
sense to many of us.
THURSDAY, JUNE 16. 1977
stration Club was organized
Thursday with Mrs. James
Payne, president; Mrs. Roy
Prosser, vice president; Mrs.
Doyle Jones, Jr., secretary
reporter; and Mrs. R. P.
Harrison, treasurer.
Representatives from all
the garden clubs in the
County joined Thursday in an
all-day pilgrimage to the
beautiful gardens of Mr. and
Mrs. Albert Matthews in
Thomaston.
Deaths during the week:
Mrs. C. L. Thaxton, 36;
Ernest L. Adams, 73.
NEWS OF 40 YEARS AGO
Sidewalk paving from
Carmichael Drug Cos. to the
new post office building on
Mulberry Street was begun
this week.
Mr. V. Weyman Cole,
recently returned to Jackson
from Orlando, Fla., has
purchased the Jackson Mill
ing Company, located in the
Thurston shop building.
The Central Georgia Elec
tricity Membership Corpora
tion has had approved a loan
of $202,000 to construct 202
miles of line to serve 852
farm families.
The County Commission
ers have named as members
of the Butts County Welfare
Board James G. Childs, P. H.
Weaver, John W. Welch, S.
H. Thornton and J. D. Jones.
Another summer dance at
Indian Springs sponsored by.
Spec Brooks, will be held
Wednesday. Lester Dick
son’s Dixie Dames, of
Macon, will provide the
music.
The marriage of Miss
Elizabeth Merritt to Mr.
Candler Webb was an event
of Sunday at the First Baptist
Church.
Deaths during the week:
Mrs. H. C. Pulliam, 22.
NEWS OF 50 YEARS AGO
Robert H. Freeman is a
member of the 1927 graduat
ing class of the University of
Georgia, receiving the de
gree of Bachelor of Science in
Commerce.
Prof. Van Fletcher, super
intendent of Butts County
schools, will teach in the
Sixth District A. & M.
summer school in Barnes
ville.
Governor Clifford Walker
has appointed Sam A.
Nunn, well known attorney
of Perry, to succeed the late
Judge T. E. Patterson on the
Prison Commission.
Friends of William Jamer
son will be interested to know
that he was one of two
students at the state Univer
sity selected by a committee
of theatrical people to train
for the movies. It is said that
the features of these two boys
are almost the exact counter
part of those of the late
Rudolph Valentino and they
were invited to go at once to
the studios near Los Angeles.
Mrs. El wood Robison was
hostess to the Garden Club at
its June meeting. Mrs. Victor
Carmichael was program
chairman and Mrs. Hugh
Mallet, Mrs. George Head
and Mrs. David Settle all
read interesting papers.
Miss Joe Varner celebrat
ed her 90th birthday Friday.
She was born June 17, 1837
near Monticello in Jasper
County but has been a
resident of Indian Springs for
almost 80 years.
Pen Mightier?
On at least one occasion,
the pen has proved mightier
than the sword. Scholars
believe that Julius Caesar
was stabbed to death with
the pointed metal styluses
that Roman senators used to
write on waxed slates.
B ‘Whatsoever
Things'
By Donald E. Wildmon
INTEGRITY
During the Korean War, a very well-known American
general by the name of Dean was captured by the
communists. In a Korean town by the name of Chong-ju,
General Dean was told by the communists that he had a few
minutes in which he could write a farewell note to his family.
General Dean figured that he had about thirty minutes, at the
most, before he would be taken out and shot.
In such a situation, no man would waste words. General
Dean did not waste words. In his letter to his family, very
short, he had one sentence that told the whole of his
character. The sentence was directed to General Dean's son.
Here's what he wrote: “Tell Bill the word is integrity.”
The most important word this father could find to pass
along to his son spoke so much. Not popularity, or success, or
fame, or happiness —but integrity. How desperately our
world needs that—integrity.
Integrity means a man is true to himself and to His
Maker. Integrity means a man puts truth above all else. He is
not willing to sell his manhood for a few dollars, or a cheap
thrill. No! He sets his standards high and they will not come
down.
A man can afford to lose his position, his income, his
prestige. These things are dispensable, they can be replaced.
But not his integrity. A man can live with truth—though it be
difficult and trying. But no man can live with a lie and
remain a man—in the highest and truest sense of the word.
We are tempted today to compromise our values, to call
a little wrong nearly right. But one cannot do it without losing
that which is most important to him—his integrity. A man
must stand for the truth even if it means a loss of job, or
prestige, or scorn and rejection by those who call him friend.
“Tell Bill the word is integrity.” Yes, that is the word.
How very much we need to hear it, believe it, live by it. Not
success. Not popularity. Not position. But integrity! The
word means uprightness. That’s the way the Creator
intended that mankind should walk—upright. Not only in
physical structure, but more precisely in his spiritual and
moral structure. We are not only to live with truth, but we are
to live by it.
What the world needs today is not more men of wealth.
Not even more men of wisdom. What the world needs today is
more men of integrity, men who are willing to plant their feet
solidly on the truth and refuse to budge when faced by the
temptations of the world. Yes, we need men, big men, men of
solid character, men who will not compromise with less than
truth, men who will not retreat from the best they know.
“The word.is integrity.” Please pass the word.
OfctM/
June 8,1977
To The Citizens of
Butts County
We, the undersigned mem
bers of the Butts County
Recreation Authority Com
mission, do hereby present
this letter to the editor to
inform the citizens of Butts
County that the Board of
Commission has resigned in
its entirety. It is with regret
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By Ruth Bryant
ODE TO GREEN TREES
Do you remember when
Your limbs were dark and dead
Clothed in their garments red?
Now trees are green again!
Do you remember when
Your limbs were white with snow
Not very long ago?
Now trees are green again!
Do you remember when
Your limbs were almost bare
But tiny leaves were there?
Now trees are green again!
<). Changing Mortals, when
You're clothed in garments new
Let happiness greet you.
For trees are green again!
that the Boaru feels that it
cannot function properly
under the present operating
conditions as set forth by the
present City and County
officials.
Joseph Davis
J. H. Brown, Sr.
Bailey Crockarell
Ernest Battle
Loy T. Hutcheson
Harold E. McMichael
Freddie R. Dodson
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