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MRS. PAUL DICKSON R.portw
CHARLES BLACKBURN Report**
CASS IE
Second ChM Po<^ ?' K? (on>"
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 1, 1977
Tax reform can't wait
The Administration is 'until'the^end of this year,
announcement of mon8ths of hearings and debate
Any real reform bill will requ Consequentiy, a tax program
before Congress can act on. J ^ untU ]UsX before the
?*? on taxes 15 to? much to
KerTaid
Sodaf Security" J)* There ^rtT theworet*' possible
- - -
?? ? -
permanent, and it should be J*10?"? Q reluctant business will be
The longer reforms ^^ "Tnd .ile more apprehensive
to invest in expensive new capa c y . .. p ident carter makes
consumers will be abou, the.r future. 0? business
good on his campaign P'0?^. oyer individuals. the continued
'uncertainty will itself be a drag ? <h= "^To'make up its mind.
will not get to work on the Cart P P w,n be mounting
the economy is dragging at that point. rebate that
pressure to push through a masstve tax cut bice t ^ country
the President proposedand?.? a? aUuring election-day
215 hope of real tax reform will go down
the drain. --Busines. W?k
Winners' losses
You'll be happy to learn that even in the
wages of sin sometimes turn o s happened to some of the
magazine has now reP?^ he million-dollar lotteries sponsored by
people who have won big h winners are. by
^rious state governments ^ and. t turns omth ^ -family
and large. a"d c<"?orkerS'
animosity, jealousy, th , y . fear and. in many cases.
?
Browsing in the files
of The News-Joufnql
25 years ago
Thursday, November 27, 1952
Lacy Franklin Clark, 67, post
master of Raeford for a total of over
27 years, died last Thursday after
noon at Moore Memorial Hospital
after an illness of only five days.
? * *
Open season for rabbit, quail
and wild turkeys arrives today and
many people in Hoke County and
elsewhere will spend the Thanks
giving holiday hunting.
? ? *
The Rev. B.P. Robinson retired
Methodist minister and former
pastor of the Raeford Methodist
Church died at his home here at
about 4:30 o'clock Wednesday
afternoon.
* * ?
The toy drive which was con
ducted last Friday night by the
local Lions Club was declared
disappointing by some of the club
officials.
? ? ?
Plans are going apace for the big
Chamber of Commerce Christmas
party here on the afternoon of
December 10, when Santa Claus is
to make his official entry into
Raeford.
* * *
Mr. and Mrs. M.E. Cook have
been notified that their son Airman
1st Gass William M. is on his way
home from Korea.
? ? ?
Mrs. Evelyn Peele was the first
single winner of the Bonus Day
jactpot Saturday since it was
originated two months ago.
<
1 5 years ago
Thunday, November 29, 1962
Services were held Monday
afternoon at Raeford Presbyterian
Church for 67 - year - old Dan J.
Campbell of Raeford, who passed
away Saturday at Moore Memorial
Hospital.
? ? ?
Retired farmer Ralph Hugh
Livingston, 78, died unexpectedly
Saturday morning at his Antioch
home.
* ? ?
Congressman Alton A. Lennon
of Wilmington, now making his
annual visitations throughout the
7th Congressional District, will be
in Hoke on Monday and Tuesday.
* ? *
It's the season for everybody and
his brother to make somebody's all
- something team. And the Bucks,
looking forward to their annual
football banquet this Monday night
are no exception.
? * *
The old gives away to the new
this Monday at 11 a.m. when Clerk
of Court Ed Smith swears in a
contingent of newly elected officials
headed by Sheriff-elect Dave
Barrington.
* * *
Navy Lieutenant William A.
Everett, son of Mr. and Mrs. Tracy
K. Everett of Route 2. Raeford,
became a Navy test pilot Oct. 19
upon graduation from the Naval
Test Pilot School.
K
'Jumping Jehoshaphat . . . it's too all-fired purty to shoot'
HOKUM
By Charles Blackburn
Judge Joseph Dupree was in the
Southern Restaurant here last week
long enough to pass around a
quotation that someone had given
him. It was attributed to a judge in
Dodge City who opened court by
saying: "Trot out the wicked and
unfortunate and let the cotillion
begin."
The courtroom is not generally
known as a source of humor, but
during a long and tedious trial, any
scrap of mirth is welcomed as a
feast. A few years ago a defense
attorney was citing cases to support j
his own when he brought out a
Montana case dated 1890. The
prosecutor quipped that his
opponent might as well cite Judge
Roy Bean: "I am the law west of the
Pecos."
Thad Stem, the sage of Oxford,
tells the story about a North
Carolina case in which the prose
cutor identified the defendant as a
"thieving, lying, low-down, red
head s.o.b." When the attorney for
the defense protested this abuse of
his client, the judge studied the
Puppy Creek
Philosopher
Dear editor:
A lot of people, especially
farmers, are criticizing the CIA for
again missing out on its estimate of
the Russian grain crop. It's the
second time it s happened.
A few years ago. you remember.
Russia had a big drouth, was far
short of grain, kept it quiet, and
eased its buyers over here and
bought up huge amounts of the
stuff at low prices before anybody
knew what was happening.
Well, this year the CIA looked
through its spyglass and reported
the Russian grain crop was above
normal. As grain prices conse
quently began falling, the Russians
eased in again and began buying
American grain, on account of
actually their crop was far below
normal. ,
Farmers are saying, why can t
the CIA get an accurate report on
Russia's grain crop? Don t they
know what kind of growing weather
they're having over there?
They just don't understand, as 1
pointed out once before, that the
CIA has been so busy guessing how
many tanks Russia has and open
ing people's mail and trying to
overthrow this or that foreign
government that it hasn't had time
to train any of its agents in Russia
to look out a window and see if it s
raining.
Or take the Brazilian coffee
crop. Last year it was reported that
a killing frost had hit Brazil and
ruined half its coffee trees. Conse
quently the price of coffee shot up
out of sight. But when the supply of
coffee continued ample on grocery
shelves and you could buy all you
wanted if you had the money,
people began wondering just how
bad and widespread that frost
really was.
To this day. nobody has gotten
an accurate answer, because, in
this case, the CIA apparently
hadn't trained any of its agents in
Brazil to read a thermometer.
Stop jumping on the CIA. Ther
mometers cost money. Of course
some people, even without a ther
mometer. can walk outside on a
brisk morning and tell whether or
not there's been a frost, especially if
the sun is glinting off that icy stuff
covering everything in sight.
Yours faithfully.
defendant and remarked: "Well,
he does have red hair."
The Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) seems to be minding
everyone's business these days, but
a recent case put things in perspec
tive. It involved an industry which
the EPA said was letting turpen
tines escape into the atmosphere at
a rate exceeding federal limits.
When a representative of the
agency took the stand, the defense
attorney asked himif he had ever
1 been to the Greilfatnoky Moun
tains. The EPA man said that he
had. Had he ever noticed, parti
cularly in the summertime, the
smoky haze for which the moun
tains are famous? Yes. he had. Did
he know what caused that haze?
No. he couldn't say that he did.
The defense then called a witness
who explained that the haze was
due to a reaction of evergreens to
sunlight, a reaction which caused
them to give off turpentines. To the
chagrin of the EPA, a scientist then
testified that, according to his
measurements, the turpentines
emitted by evergreens in the Smoky
Mountains exceeded federal limits.
While working for another news
paper, I was dozing in Superior
Court one afternoon when a witness
was asked to identify the person
who had sold him some stolen
property. Without any hesitation,
he pointed to a gentleman in the
audience and said with conviction:
"That's him right there on the third
row." The certainty in his eyes and
in his voice made me uncomforta
ble. I was the only one on the third
row.
The prosecutor smiled broadly.
He had wanted to see me behind
bars for some time. The defense
attorney smiled, too. He thought he
saw a client, no matter how poor.
The judge, ordinarily solemn, in
toned from the bench: "Young
man, I think you may reply in the
words of the late W.C. Fields: Th?y
had me, but it wai for the wrong
offense."
11*
For years. Social Security recipi
ents who want to earn an extra
income have suffered a penalty,
and 1 have worked during this
session of Congress to have that
penalty removed.
Senator Barry Goldwater and I
introduced an amendment during
consideration of the Social Security
financing bill, and, while we were
not able to get the penalty removed,
we did manage to soften it consid
erably.
Under current law, a person
getting Social Security must pass a
"means test" on outside earned
income. For every two dollars
earned above S3.000, a dollar of
Social Security benefit is lost.
What is particularly unfair about
this is that there is no such means
test for "unearned" income. For
those fortunate enough to be
getting stock dividends, rent, other
return on investments, or a large
pension, there is no penalty. Only
those who go out and get a job are
made to suffer.
This is contrary to my idea of
what Social Security should be, and
contrary to the philosophy on which
the system was founded. Social
Security was never meant to retire
on. Rather, it was to be a
supplemental income, and clearly it
can be used to back up pensions,
and whatever return a person can
make on his life savings. It hardly
seems fair to deny a person the
right to a Social Security benefit ?
toward which he has contributed all
his working life ? because the
income it supplements happens to
be the result of a part-time job, and
not divic?nds.
Too often, people willing and
Report
To Tin
People .
by Senator Robert Morgan
able to have a retirement job find it
is just not worth it. when they
consider the loss of Social Security
income.
The amendment Senator Gold- .
water and 1 introduced would have
phased out the means test by 1982.
And since we believe the Social
Security system should be self-sup
porting. we proposed a small
increase in the tax to finance the
additional benefits. The increase in
tax will be one-twentieth of one
percent. ?
The amendment ran into opposi
tion from those who argued that the
wealthy would benefit. It is far
more likely that those who want to
earn a small extra income will be
the beneficiaries, and that the
wealthy who keep on working will
be a small minority.
However, the opposition was
strong enough to force compro
mise. The Senate agreed to abolish
the means test for those 70 and
older, beginning four years hence.
Before that, the earnings limitation
will be increased in stages -? to
$4,500 next year, to Sb.000 in 1979,
and by the same percentage as
average wages after that.
That isn't the end of the story?
however. The House of Representa
tives passed an amendment almost
identical to our original proposal,
and the Senate and House versions
will have to be reconciled in
conference.
Therefore, there is still a good
possibility an even better revision of
the means test will be forthcoming.
For those who have been dis
couraged from seeking a retirement
job because of the means test, that
should be very good news.
im
CLIFF BLUE...
People & Issues
imiiiniMitimiiimimiiiimiiiiiini
T.B. HOSPITALS.. .A task force
appointed by Dr. Sarah Morrow,
Secretary of the State Dept. of
Human Resources has visited two
of three T.B. Sanatoriums in North
Carolina -? the Western Hospital at
Black Mountain and the N.C.
Sanatorium at McCain in Hoke
County. The Eastern Sanatorium
at Wilson will be visited on
December 16.
In the 1977 session of the
General Assembly a suggestion was
made by a subcommittee that the
Eastern and Western hospitals be
closed - with all the services
consolidated at McCain. Another
proposal recommended the closing
of the N.C. Hospital at McCain.
Well, this is the purpose of the
visits and public hearings. Check
ing into the usefulness of these
institutions has its roots in "base
budgeting" which is quite sound.
However, many feel that the end
result will be that each of the three
former T.B. institutions will be
found to be serving a good purpose,
although not to the extent as in
years past when the treatment for
tuberculosis required several
months instead of a few weeks.
Our feeling is that the services of
these hospitals could well expand
into other health fields since the
Law For Living
By Howard L. Oleck
Professor of Law
Wake Forest University
Child Becomes "Adult"
at Eighteen
Definition of what is "a minor"
was changed by North Carolina's
statutes (Chapter 48A) in 1971.
Before that time a person under the
age of 21 years was deemed to be a
minor, ordinarily. This new age
limit is the rule throughout the
nation.
Now the age that ends "minor"
status is 18 years. That means that
the special legal rules that are
meant to protect children come to
an end. At this age the person
becomes entitled to manage his or
her own affairs and to be entitled to
such civic rights as voting for public
officials.
The other side of the picture is
the duty owed by another person to
the newly "matured" person. The
person legally obliged to support
his or her minor children no longer
has this obligation, generally
speaking. But a 1975 North Caro
lina case (Ramsey v. Todd, 25 N.C.
App. 605) made it clear that the
obligation does not necessarily end
as to a child who is insolvent, not
married, and either physically or
mentally unable to earn a living.
Where there have been prior
court proceedings, such as a
divorce or separation, the court
order that the parent shall support
the child until he or she "reaches
majority" or is otherwise "emanci
pated," now means until age 18,
not 21. And "emancipated" means
generally that the young person
becomes independently self -
supporting; usually also living
apart from the parents.
Of course a parent may agree, by
way of contact, to support a child
after emancipation or after the
child becomes 18 years old. So, too,
a parent may have agreed in court
proceedings to support a child past
the age of majority; and if this
agreement is broken the court may
punish the parent by contempt
proceedings.
A minor (below 18) usually is not
bound by contracts he or she
entered into, unless the contract is
for necessities, such as food and
shelter. Thus, if a minor buys a
mink coat, though born in and
living in modest financial cir
cumstances. the seller probably
cannot force the minor to go
through with the deal. Or a
purchase of a car that the minor
does not need may be disowned
before 18 or within a reasonable
time after reaching that age.
We still tend to be protective
towards children, even in this era of
widespread worry about the high
percentage of crimes being com
mitted by minors.
T.B. treatment requires much less ,
time than heretofore.
Also, if one. two or all the T.B.
sanatoriums were closed, state
taxes would not be reduced by a
thin dime!
Bureaucrats in Raleigh would
have a dozen places to use the
savings which would hardly be as
beneficial to the taxpayers as are
the three institutions in their
present field of lung and kindred
ailments.
After the "Task Force" com
pletes its investigation and reports
to the General Assembly, with so
many voters and taxpayers feeling
quite kindly towards these institu
tions. we doubt that the legislators
will dare close the doors of any of
the three.
SENATE RACE. ..New Bern
lawyer Reginald Frazier says he
plans to enter the race of the
Democratic nomination for the
United States Senate in 1978.
Frazier is the first black man to
announce his intentions of running
for the U.S. Senate in 1978. He ran
for lieutenant governor in 1972 and
was low man in the Held of five,
receiving 43,228 votes out of a total
of 753,392. Frazier says he thinks
he will get about 15 per cent of the
vote, and feels he will have a chance
to become "a power broker" in the
second primary. The question is:
Who will be hurt most in the first
primary? McNeill Smith and Joe
Felment are regarded as the more
liberal of the group, and it could be
one of the two.
LAURINBURG ... Laurinburg
not only has the distinction of being
the hometown of Saint Andrews
College, but it is also the home of
the Chairman of the Wake Forest
Board of Trustees -- James W.
Mason; and the birthplace of Dr.
Lacy H. Caple, now of Lexington,
who is chairman of the Board of
Trustees of A and T State Univer
sity in Greensboro.
CANDIDATE vs PRESIDENT
...It is rather hard to rationalize
some of Jimmy Carter's statements
as a candidate for President and his
10- month record in the White
House. While criticizing the huge
Federal bureaucracy as a candi
date, in his early days as President
he was going to reduce the White
House staff by 35 per cent -- from
485 to 3 1 5. So far reports indicate a
reduction of only eight! Also, his
record would indicate that inflation
has been fanned since he took up
residence in the White House. Soon
after becoming President he *
approved staff raises in the White
House of up to 25 per cent. Now
there has been added another 7.05
r cent increase for most of the
hite House staff.
Who was it who said: "What you
do speaks so loud I can't hear what
vou sav."
?