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ESTABLEHF.D 1936
EDWARD A. YUZIUK - EDITOR G PUBLISHER ' ~
. " O' ..
CAROLYN R. YUZIUK - ASSOCIATE EDITOR
ARCHE BALLEW - PHOTOGRAPHER G PRESSMAN
MBS PATSY BRIGGS - OFFICE MANAGER
PUBLISHED EVERY THURSDAY BY
YANCEY PUBLISHING COMPANY
SECOND CLASS POSTAGE PAID AT BURNSVELLE,N,C.
THURSDAY, APRIL 9, 1970 NUMBER FIFTEEN ’
SUBSCRIPTION RATES $3. 00/YEAR
OUT OF COUNTY $5.00/YEAR
SENATOR k
SAM IRVIN
WASHINGTON—The House-passed District of Columbia
omnibus crime bill is a paradox of good and bad pxovis ions
aimed at curbing rising crime rates and reorganizing the much
lamented court system in the Nation's Capital.
The truth of the matter is that the bill as it now goes to a
Senate-House Conference is full of provisions added at the
request of the Department of Justice which are an affront to
basic constitutional principles. I say this in spite of the fact
that I am a great believer in the enforcement of the law and
control of crime. Even so, Ido not believe that we ought to
sacrifice fundamental rights in the name of law enforcement.
If we adhere to such a flouting of basic rights, the law be -
comes contemptible in the eyes of most Americans.
Last September, the Senate passed sensible legislation to
reform the District of Columbia court system and its processes
so that individuals alleged to have committed crimes would
undergo a speedy trial with the certainty of punishment, if
found guilty. The measure then went to the House where it
languished until recently, when it tacked on a number of pro
visions that I consider to be outrageous deprivations of indi -
vidua 1 liberties.
A glaring illustration of these changes in the Senate-passed
bill is the so-called "no knock" provision which thwarts the
ancient maxim that "every maii home is his castle" and per
mits a District of Columbia officer to break and enter the door
of any dwelling without giving the occupant any notice of
his presence or purpose if a warrant merely authorizes him to
do so. This provision is far more stringent as written in the
omnibus crime bill than the unwarranted "no-knock" provi -
sion which the Senate passed in February in the drug control
hill.
"No knock" provisions, in my judgement, not only uproot
a cherished precedent in individual rights, but tend to bring
the law into disrepute and endanger the lives of the officers
engaged in obtaining such entry.
The House-passed bill also contains a preventive detention
provision which contravenes the sth, 6th, and Bth Amend -
ments. Preventive detention has been outlawed in this coun
try ever since our Nation became a Republic. a
1789 federal statute allowed defendants in federal custody to
have bail in non-capital cases. Traditionally, this "right-to
bail" has been granted so that defendants could prepare for
trial and because we have rejected the idea that individuals
should be imprisoned prior to a verdict of guilty on the theory
that they might commit some crime in the future.
The House bill also would rob juveniles accused of crimes
of certain basic protections under the "due process" clause of
the Constitution. It would provide for the transfer of certain
juvenile cases to non-juvenile courts, and once a juvenile
was tried under this provision, he would thereafter be denied
the right to again be tried in juvenile court even though he
was found "not guilty" in the first instance.
Among its other objectionable provisions, the House bill
fixes mandatory sentences for three-time offenders who com
mit certain crimes in the District of Col. umbia. Such a de
fendant would automatically receive a life sentence without
benefit of a federal parole or probation in less than twenty
years. The better practice, ittfeems to me, is to permitthe
trial judge to fit the punishment to the individual and hs crimot
I am hopeful that Senate-House conferees will eliminate
these features from the much-needed court reorganization le
gislation. Otherwise, yve may do far more harm than good
with this bill.
strstiglrt y taxis:
By Tom Anderson
EDITORS WHO SUGARCOAT THE PELL
One night recently 1 made a speech in Phila
delphia before a large crowd in a suburban
theatre. Midway in the speech a policeman
rushed down the aisle and ran up to the
podium rnd told me that the police depart
ment had just received a telephone call saying
that the theatre had been time-bombed. The
bomb was scheduled to go off in seven minutes.
I announced the news, and requested the audi
ence to disperse quickly. Most obliged in an
orderly fashion—a few kooks cried “no! no!”
and went limp. A “lie-in!" I bade them good
night and left. It was bitter cold outside. A
thousand or so people milled around outside
as police and firemen searched the building
for an hour. No bomb. The crowd went back
in. I doubt that as many as five people left.
We finished the program.
The Philadelphia Enquirer had a reporter at
the speech, before, during and after the bomb
scare. I talked with him before and after the
speech, but not one'tine about the event ap
peared in the Enquirer. Suppose the bomb
threat had been at a “Black Ppwer” meeting in
Mississippi!
sfdafaf
NBC has a new gimmick for creating news
and newsbeats. The network picks a panel of
news men to crouch around a table on Mon
day morning and tell viewers what the news
is going to be the next week. (I don’t think
telling it before it happens has been tried—
except at elections —since the Japs bombed
Pearl Harbor.)
It works like this: the pseudointellectual
Hugh Dawns (sic) switches from his New
York studio to Washington where some of
NBC’s “expert” commentators are standing by
to report on three branches of government
happenings. One from the White House “beat”
tells what the news from there will be this
week; another “authority” from the Pentagon
reports the news to come in space and military
actions; and still another hack rattles off what
Congress is going to do on Capitol Hill.
The moderator starts by asking each of
them, “What’s going to happen (in your area)
this week?” And so they beat the other net
works to the punch right there on the spot.
Neat? (And then I suppose each commentator
out to make sure he pictures it the
right way when it does happen.)
Although this may seem to open the door for
some more of Vice President Agnew’s biting
comments—and even to offer itself as proof of
some of his earlier accusations about managed
news —it nevertheless gives NBC some news
scoops.
When you get right down to it there is no
reason why the networks can’t report one week
just as well as the next. What the hell? Fic
tion is fiction ain't it? And you don’t have to
hold fiction to wait for any deadline.
If, as the Vice President has so cunningly
pointed out, “a tiny and closed fraternity of
privileged men” do in fact manufacture and
Japanese Election Shows U.S. Bond
Few elections are cOnduc -
ted anywhere - much less won
on the issue of friendship for
the United States.
But this was the issue in
Japan, where Premier Eisaku
Sato is celebrating a victory
far beyond expectations and
acknowledging closer ties to
the U. S. The Liberal Demo
cratic party (which is really
the conservative party) won
288 seats in the House of Re
presentatives against an expeo
ted bag of 275 seats.
The victory assures Mr.Sa
to, who recently visited Pre -
sident Nixon, a stable majori
BILL KENNED Ys
4
IT # S NETWORK NEWS BEFORE THE ACT
ty over the next three or four
years. Much can come to
pass in that time.
Japan has a fantastic growth
rate. From 1950 to 1960 its
annual average increase of
real Gross National Product was
over 9%, and from 1960 to
1967 over 10%. In 1967 it hit
13. 3%.
This compares with rates
for the U.S. of 3. 2% in 1950-
1960 and 4. 8% from 1960 to
1967. Thus in 1968 Japan
could count itself the third
richest power in the world.
Os its own GNP Japan spoids
only about 1% on defense; the
■L
Mr JVv
.flflß JH
Aside from integrity, possibly the most im
portant ingredient for an editorial page is for
the editor to own 51% of his paper—and
100% would be a lot better. The writers who
write in vague generalities, who sugarcoat the
pill, who shield the public from the bitter or
distasteful or obscene truth, are not protecting
the public but themselves, or their publishers.
Truth can prevail only in any open market
place of ideas, opinions and facts.
In spite of all this, “free speech” is still en
joyed in this country more than almost any
where else in the world. For instance, recently
Senator Eugene McCarthy (aspirant to the
Presidency, of all things!) said this to an
audience in New Brunswick, N. J.: “I think
history would see nothing wrong if Nixon does
preside over the first military defeat of this
country but would regard it instead as a
measure of great statesmanship.”
If I were a horseman, I’d be inclined to use
a crop on McCarthy for this treasonous state
ment. But on second thought, a crop is used
on the front end of a horse.—American Way
Features
dole out the news, what’s the point in waiting
until it happens? This new way, the news
makers pawns in Washington get a better
chance to see that it comes out that way.
If they know the news ahead of time they can
step right out and perform without the usual
fear of embarrassing or crossing up the net
work “elite.”
The news-flow-control system in the United
States, including the men behind the men be
hind the typewriters along with the robots
whose sardonic smiles greet the nation daily
from out of the idiot box, is by far the most
powerful propaganda complex in the world —
far more effective than the recognized govern
ment-managed news from Russia. The victims
here think they are getting the truth. And it
is wider reaching: While the Russians censor
and limit the releases going out from there,
U.S. news is beamed around the globe, mas
queraded as the “voice” of the Free World.
Mr. Agnew said plainly—for those who
would listen—that he does not advocate gov
ernment censorship. The only reason I agree
is that I know we couldn’t trust the politicians
and bureaucrats who would be in charge of it.
There are some government actions, however,
that the citizens could and should advocate.
It wouldn’t be a complete answer—things
seldom are in a genuinely free society—but it
would certainly give a blood transfusion to
“freedom of the press” if the government
would simply break up the news media mon
opoly, known by other names as networks and
wire services. There is every precedent and
excuse for it; and if it does not happen, our
lifelines to truth are broken. And it was the
truth that made us free in the first place.—
American Way Features
U.S. ,9%. While Japan does
maintain 230,000 men under
arms and has a small but ef
ficient navy and a modem air
force, the commitment is mi
nimal.
For a nation which only
last year celebrated the cen
tennial of its modem erajspan
has come a long way, though
stumbling at times. No one
will forget the perfidy of Ffearl
Harbor, but then no one shoiil
forget Japan's modem const! -
tution which if it endures
make other Pearl Harbors im
possible. trf
- Miami Herald