Newspapers / The Yancey Journal (Burnsville, … / Aug. 27, 1970, edition 1 / Page 2
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I ESTABLISHED 1936 I EDWARD A. YUZIUK - EDITOR S PUBLISHER I CAROLYN R. YUZIUK i. ASSOCIATE EDITOR I MBS PATSY BRIGGS - OFFICE MANAGER | EVERY THURSDAY BY | YANCEY FUBLBHING COMPANY SECOND CLASS POSTAGE PAID AT BURNSVILLE,N,C t I THURSDAY, AUGUST 27, 1970 NUMBER THIRTY-FIVE SUBSCRIPTION RATES $3.00/YEAR OUT OF COUNTY $5.00/YEAR SENATOR 1 SAMJERVM Jsyg^ WASHINGTON The objective of the House-passed Equal Rights Amendment is a worthy one. It is to abolish unfair discriminations which society makes against women in certain areas of life. No one believes more strongly than I that discriminations of this character ought to be abolished, and that they ought to be abolished by law hi every case where they are created by law. Even so, I am convinced that this House-passed Amend - ment is a potentially destructive and self-defeating blunder buss which would invalidate all laws making distinctions be tween men and women, and would plunge society into a constitutional and legal chaos. I say this because the House passed Amendment is shrouded in obscurity, and no one has sufficient prophetic power to predict with accuracy what in terpretation the Supreme Court will place upon it. I share the view of many constitutional scholars that if the Senate should approve the House-passed Amendment and three-fcmths of the states should ratify it, this amendment would be in terpreted to nullify every existing federal and state law making any distinction whatever between men and worn en, and would rob Congress and the legislatures of the 50 states of the legislative power to enact any future laws making any distinctions between men and women, no matter how reason able these laws may be. When one examines the realities of the House - passed Amendment, he finds that it would not bring into being any new laws giving us a discrimination-free society, and those who desire such a society would again have to implore Con gress and the legislatures of the 50 states to enact laws crea - ting the kind of society they seek insofar as such a so c iety can be established by law. It should be noted that rmny just grievances are founded upon discriminations not created by law, and the Equal Rights Amendment would have no effect whatsoever upon them. The issue before the Senate then is not whether society makes unfair discriminations against women, but whether the House-passed Amendment constitutes a sensible approach to their abolition. This raises the question of whether Congress should submit to the states an amendment to the Constitution to deal with this matter, and whether such amendment should permit Congress and the states, acting within their respective jurisdictions, to make reasonable distinctions between the rights and responsibilities of men and women in appropr i ate areas of life. In my judgment, the 14th Amendment's "equal protection clause" properly interpreted is sufficient to abolish all unfair discriminations against women. Nonetheless, I recognize that many do not share my opinion on this point. For this reason last week I introduced an alternative amendment to insure equality of women's rights, but one which would not place upon the Supreme Court the obligation to sail upon the most tumultous constitutional seas without chart or compass in quest of an undefined and unknown port. In brief, my amendment would state that equality cf rights shall not be abridged because of sex. Moreover, it would (1) specifically exempt women from compulsory military service, and (2) allow the passage of any law "reasonably designed to promote the health, safety, pwivacy, education or economic welfare of women, or to enable them to per - form their duties as homemakers or mothers." My amendment has the virtue of recognizing that there are physiological and functional differences between men and women, and in my judgment is more likely to be rati - fied by the states if it pusses the Congress. Legislators, both federal and state, should welcome its apxproach toward chan ging the Constitution in a sensible manner. ■■■ in LW.MWffW I .’ ■ 'I I'll 11 .■i t• • Comments from the Capital’— •■'•A-./j CONFLICTS OF OUR TIMES by Vent Neff Have you heard of the Dust Committee? No, it isn't a house wife's unhappy chore. It is far more distasteful. Prior to the United Mine Workers Union elec tion, hand-picked coal miners were permitted to join the ranks of Dustmen. They were pxrid $65 a day, instead of the $22 they might ordinarily earn down in the coal mines. Compxtratively speaking, "Dusting" is an easy life. The Dustmen's function is to sweep in votes for a particular candidate —by hook or by crook. Their persuasive tactics pxrid off for Tony Boyle, the current UMW president, but not for Joseph Yablonski, who was found mur dered. It is reported that union funds were tapped for the Dust men's exorbitantly high wages. This is money that was clipped from the coal miners' pay enve lopes, supposedly to be put aside for pensions and projects that would benefit the miners. No one can say which of the two candidates Boyle or Ya blonski— would have made a better union president. But I hardly think that money clipped from the miners should have been used to pxry con men excuse me. Dustmen to intimi date or coerce workers into vot ing for a pxnticular candidate. Some miners who didn't yield to the Dustmen's pressure meth ods the first time around were then escorted on gratis "indoctri nation vacations" —pxrid for by union funds, naturally until they were further convinced. When that didn't work, a little money usually did. In brief— union funds were used to buy p>eople. This was given as testimony by the son of the slcrin Yablonski before the Senate Labor Sub committee. In my opinion, it's time to sweep out the Dustmen and anyone else responsible for corruption, violence and tyranny in unions. The workers pxry for, and surely deserve, better lead ership than this! Q • • * Note to the leftist Prime Min ister of Sweden: For all of your country's reputedly liberal px>li cies, wasn't the manner in which the Black Ambassador from the United States to Sweden was treated rather a shameful contra diction in principle? How about all the American deserters your country is harboring? And what about Sweden’s offer of S4O mil lion to aid the Vietcong? As any observer of the international scene is aware, arbitrary con duct isn't a new role for Sweden. During World War 11, she prac ticed her "neutrality" by supply ing the Nazis with oil, ball bear ings and other necessary mate rials to use in their war effort letter To The Editor Dear Editor: Enclosed please find my remittance for the next year's subscription of The Yance y Record. I enjoy your paper very much especially during this year when my vacat ion was cancelled due to problem here in Ft. Lauderdale. You might be pleased to note that my subscription,vyhich I pass around to others in the Police Department, has caused one of our Secretarys to pur chase land in the Pensacola area, and others to become in terested. I certainly wish I could be sitting on one of the benches in the Town Square right now just relaxing. Sincerely, Charles E. White Ft. Lauderda l^Fla. against us. As a very actute observer said, "People don't change!" • • • The Mystery of the Flameless Fireman: If he's no longer nec essary on trains since the switch from coal fires to diesel engines, why is he still riding the rails? Just to pxid the pxxyroll in order to keep the labor union's kitty fat and well-fed by having two men pxry dues instead of one? Travel tip to long-haired males: If you value your locks, keep out of Morocco. The border px>lice there shear visitors whose hair is shaggy, unkempt and ridicu lously long. Borderline cases, take your chances! • * * The other side of the coin: The son of a reputed Mafia leader was caught conspiring to melt down silver coins by the FBI. In protest, hundreds of alleged Media "family" members and suppx>rters have marched in front of the FBI building in New York City, night after night. (Are you as weary as I am of all these protests?) Revealing, isn't it, that pseople who would never admit their Mafia ties under question ing are quick to turn up to sup>- port a suspected fellow Mafioso! • • • Caught in its own web: The National Labor Relations Board has consistently ruled in favor of the unions and given short shrift to the compxmy manage ment, and even to the individual worker. But not when it runs into its own labor problems! Staff members of the NLRB Profes sional Association complained to the Civil Service Commission over what they termed "breach of contract" because the NLRB refused to bargain over tempo rary job changes, and flatly made them mandatory. The NLRB officials claimed that they didn't have time to talk. Yet these are the same officials who have impeded many compxmy man agements from making neces sary rapid decisions, resulting in tremendous losses in both profits and good will. It doesn't make sense to me. But neither does the way our country's old-hat labor ! i kiAfe 3 ! If you haven't i with your • agent s i j ! dealing with\ \ j j I our agency | t Z ROBERTS | S INSURANCE AGENCY xS IsrasvilU, N.C. laws are applied to today's mod em working society. Question: If the NLRB's rules don't work even for them, isn't something dras tically wrong with the rules, and the NLRB? • * * Some px>licemen are so proud of beina called "Pigs" that they’ve been sporting badges labelling themselves just that. In their case, the name is qualified by the meaning, "Patriotism, In tegrity, Guts!" • • • It is appxarent that the inces sant and excessive wage de mands of labor are forcing our country to the brink of economic disaster. There is no reason why a worker who produces, let's say, two umbrellas should not be pxrid more than a man who produces only one. But the union that de mands a three-umbrella-salary for a person who is only making one umbrella is actually impx>s ing a higher price per umbrella on you and me. It's a vicious cycle that brings inflation rain ing down on us, along with a shower of endless price increases for all kinds of commodities and services. As David Rockefeller, Chairman of the Board of the Chase Manhattan Corporation, stated, unless industry and labor assume "a more responsible at titude", we may all end up with a lot less. • * • A teacher was arrested for selling drugs to a teen age stu dent outside the school. In this case, isn't it the teacher who needs a good, stiff lesson in morals? • • * The U. S. Supreme Court de livered a staggering blow to the labor leaders and they're infur iated. According to a new ruling, when a union signs a no-strike agreement, it must stick to its guns. While it doesn't mean we'll never suffer another strike, it is, to me, an indication that our courts are taking a firm stand on an important issue. Now, isn't it time for our legislators to hop on the same bandwagon and seek the changes in labor law that our country needs? • • • The super-wisdom of some journalists, especially those at the New York Times, is truly awesome. Just let the Nixon ad ministration take any action whatsoever, and this privileged group has an instant evaluation of the "right" meaning and im portance. Mr. Agnew, please take note. Another pxrint: they criticize everyone else roundly, but they made such a big settle ment with their workers that they were forced to increase the price of the newspxip>er 50%. If that isn't inflationary, what is?
The Yancey Journal (Burnsville, N.C.)
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Aug. 27, 1970, edition 1
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