Decatur Daily Democrat, Volume 61, Number 222, Decatur, Adams County, 20 September 1963 — Page 1

VOL. IXI. NO. 222.

Court To Speed Sales Tax Rule

INDIANAPOLIS (UPD—Governor Welsh said today he probably "would be forced” to call another special session of the 93rd Indiana Legislature in the event a sales tax enacted in a previous special session is ruled unconstitutional . He said if he did v call a special session, he would first Call a special election to fill several vacancies in the 150-membership houses. Welsh, reached as he was enroute home from a ceremony at Mishawaka honoring Indiana Employment Security Division Director Lewis Nicolini, was asked what steps were under consideration if his appeal to the high court from a ruling unconstitutionality were upheld. The governor said “I wouldn’t make any final decision” on what to do until after the court has ruled. But he added “a special session is one possibility. And if there is a special session, there should be a special election. I would want to have a full legislature so there could be no arguments that some areas were not represented.” Special Session “Forced” Welsh said he feared that the state’s financial situation would be in such a condition if the tax were invalidated that “I would be forced” to call the legislators back again. The sales tax measure, which also contains a corporate income tax, was enacted in the dying hours of a 40-day special session last spring. The lawmakers had counted on income from these two taxes to pay for public schools and institutional construction. In addition to the state’s financial problems, Indiana also has another possible crisis in the making. A federal panel of three judges is deliberating on whether or not to order the state to be reapportioned . Private conferences already are under way among the five Indiana Supreme Court judges in an effort to determine the fate of Indiana's two per cent sales tax. The high court has said it will expedite the ruling because of its importance to the future of the state. The tax had been held unconstitutional June 14 by Marion Circuit Judge John Niblack and never became effective. The state has lost an estimated $23 million in revenue as a result and property tax rates throughout the state have been hiked because of a los? of state support to local schools.

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DRIVING AWARD— Mrs. Wilbur C. Tinkham, 510 Stratton Way, receives a $5 check from Chamber of Commerce president Gene Rydell. Mrs. Tinkham was selected as a winner in the courtesy campaign safe driving program currently being conducted by the Decatur Daily Democrat and the Chicago Motor Club after Rydell observed her driving conduct. Rydell followed her as she drove from the Fifth and Monroe streets traffic light to Second street, where she turned right, then stopped to let a pedestrian cross the street. She drove cautiously through the business district, turned right on Jefferson, went around the block and came up Court street, where she slowed lor a truck parked in the street. She then drove to Madison street and pulled into a parking place, then moved up one space so that Rydell would have room to park.

Musical Program Presented Rotary The Rotary club was entertain ed Thursday evening at their regular meeting by a talented trie of musicians who sang and played a group of nine numbers from popular Broadway show hits of past and current seasons. Lyle Cotton, star of a number of musical plays at Fort Wayne’s Franke park, and Audrey Waldron, who recently played the leading role in Decatur’s production of "The Music Man;” sang duets from nine all-time musical-com-edy greats. They were accomanied at the piano by Phyllis Laahr. Otto Beehler was in charge of the program. Lowell Harper, vice president of the organization, presided at the meeting and urged all committee chairmen to turn in their reports so that they be ready for the impending governor’s visit. George Litchfield of the Chamber of Commerce committee,

DECATUR DAILY DEMOCRAT ONLY DAILY NEWSPAPER IN ADAMS COUNTT

The impact of the ruling was evidenced by the crowded Supreme Court room Thursday as the oral’arguments on the constitutionality of the law were held. Governor Welsh through his private attorney, George Zazas, urged the court to reverse enough oi Niblack’s ruling to leave a vzorkable tax in effect. Law Unconstitutional But Lloyd DeWester, attorney for Indiana AFL-CIO President Dallas Sells, who filed the original suit, maintained the law is wholly unconstitutional. Some nine or 10 grounds for invalidity have been brought into the case, including the question of reapportionment. Indiana’s state legislature has not been reapportioned since 1921, but the Supreme Court has not previously had to rule on the question. A lower court decision holding the legislature to be nonexistent because of its failure to reapportion was never appealed to the high court. Former State Sen. Nelson Grills, D-Indianapolis, joined the DeWester and Chief Deputy Atty. Gen. Lloyd Hutchinson! and former Deputy Atty. Gen. Carl Franceschini in attacking the sales tax. Reapportionment Enters Grills during his brief appearance before the judges observed with some glee “the appellee and the appellate both admit the question of reapportionment is before this court.” Franceschini, who represents vending machine interests, said that the sales tax actually was a tax upon purchasing and that it was unconstitutional because “the burden is put on the merchant’s shoulders to pay some one else’s liabilities.” Hutchinson urged the high court to settle all the questions raised. “If this is not done the attorney general’s office will be faced with other suits to determine if there are violations,” he warned. Welsh’s attorney maintained that Indiana could follow the example of Texas and interpret the tax to apply only on transactions on which the retail merchant himself collects the tax. Judge Harold Achor commented to Zazas “I do not have as much confidence in solving the question or taking something without compensation as you-, seem to have. I am concerned where we might be leading ourselves. The federal constitution says you can’t take property without due process of law.”

which will stage a horse show at Bellmont park Oct. 13, spoke briefly to the group, asking for monetary help for the event, which will raise funds to be used on Christmas street lighting Through the levying of "fines,” a considerable sum was contributed to the cause. New road signs with the times and meeting places of all Decatur service clubs have been constructed and picture of one of these was shown to the membership. These signs will be placed on all principal highways coming into the city. INDIANA WEATHER Cloudy and cooler tonight. Saturday partly cloudy and cool. Low tonight 55 to 60 north, mid 60s south. High Saturday 66 to 71 north, 74 to 83 south. Sunset today 6:46 p.m. Sunrise Saturday 6:31 a. m. Outlook for Sunday: Partly cloudy and mild except possible showers near Ohio river. Lows from the 50s north to the 60s extreme south. Highs from the 70s north to the 80s extreme south.

Reds Propose Summit Meet Os 18 Lands UNITED NATIONS, N.Y. (UPD Foreign Minister Andrei Gromyko’s proposal for an 18-na-tion summit conference on disarmament in Moscow found generally warm support among UN. delegates today. The delegates awaited Pxesfe dent Kennedy’s address to the General Assembly to learn the administration’s reaction to the proposal, which would mean a Kennedy-Khrushchev meeting in 1964, and to Gromyko’s other statements. Gromyko called for “participation of leading statesmen of the highest level” in the disarmament conference he proposed for the first half of next year. Its members would be the nations represented at the Geneva disarmament talks. “The Soviet government believes that this conference should discuss both the question of general and complete disarmament and separate measure to achieve the further alleviation of international tensions,” he said. U.S. chief delegate Adlal H Stevenson said the speech was “encouraging.” He welcomed Gromyko’s “emphasis on further steps to reduce tensions.” “As usual, Mr. Gromyko claimed all virtues for the Soviet Union and assigned all mistakes to the West,” Stevenson said., “But he vigorously applauded the test ban treaty, which, just a year ago, the Soviet Union vigorously rejected.” Gromyko made these other main points: —West German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer’s government, he charged, “inevitably" would try to disrupt the efforts to ease the cold war. This statement and an attack on Nationalist China were his only polemics agains the West. —The Soviet Union no longer insists that nuclear weapons and their means of delivery be destroyed at the second stage of a gradual disarmament program. He said limited numbers could stay intact "until the completion of * the whole process of general and complete disarmament.” —Moscow will cooperate in establishing denuclearized zones in various areas of the world. • —“lt would be a very good thing” if the United States and Russia agree on banning nuclear weapons from space.

Pleads For Return Os One-Room School FRENCH LICK, Ind. (UPI) - The 300 school board members gathered here for the 14th annual Indiana School Boards Association convention Thursday night heard a plea for the return of the oneroom school. John Shaver, Salina, Kan., school architect, shared the speaker’s platform for the opening of the three-day affair with Dr. Leonard Walsh, head of the School Administration Department of Colorado State College. Both were critical of today’s school buildings and both said "most of the new schools being built to meet the exploding school population are a waste of money in terms of future expansion and most efficient use . Shaver said modern school buildings should be designed to permit the teaching-learning process without impediments by improper acoustics, lighting, temperature and physical barriers. He said a nation-wide study now being conducted indicates proper sound conditions make it possible for different groups to use the same general area, without separating walls. Shaver declared interior walls are a waste of money and tend only to limit the possible uses of a building. He cited one new California school that has successfully conducted four classes in the same large room. Walsh agreed with Shaver about the new school buildings and said generally schoool boards are willing to try new techniques but professional educators habitually drag their feet He advised the board members to throw away class schedules and groupings and was critical of today’s schools for leaving such important topics as communications, citizenship and perception to chance. He said these skills grease the friction set up between person to person relations in modern society and often determine who eventually gets "ahead.”

Decatur, Indiana, Friday; September 20,1963.

Steers Rules Hoosiers To Receive Exemptions Under Old Income Law

Kennedy Calls On Red World Bury Cold War

By MERRIMAN SMITH UPI White House Reporter UNITED NATIONS, N.Y. (UPI) President Kennedy today called on the Communist world to bury the cold war and engage the West in “a contest of achievement instead of intimidation.” Speaking before the 18th General Assembly of the United Nations which opened here Tuesday, Kennedy said he welcomed such a contest “between those who envision a monolithic world and those who believe in diversity.” For we believe, said the President .“that truth is stronger than error—and that freedom is more enduring than coercion. And in the contest for a better life, all the world can be the winner.” Kennedy specifically outlined the areas where the Soviet Union arid the United States, together v.’ith their allies could achfeW further agreements, “agreements which spring from our mutual interest in avoiding mutual destruction.” Seeks Space Cooperation Referring to a speech made to the General Assembly Thursday by Soviet Foreign Minister Andrei A. Gromyko in which the Russian proposed an agreement with the United States to bar nuclear weapons from spacecraft, Kennedy urged that negotiators go back to the negotiating table to work out practicable arrangements to this end. In the field of space, Kennedy said, where the United States and Russia have a special capacity, there is room for new cooperation including the possibility of a joint expedition to the moon. Pointing to the fact that by resoluion of the U.N. assembly member nations had foresworn any claims to territorial rights in outer space, Kennedy asked rhetorically why man’s first flight to the moon should be a matter of national competition. “Why,” Kennedy asked, “should the United States and the Soviet Union, in preparing for such expeditions, become involved in immense duplications of research, construction and expenditure? “Surely we should explore whether the scientists and astronauts of our two countries—indeed

Clean Up Area For Horse Show Oct. 13 A number of members of the retail division of the local Chamber of Commerce worked Thursday afternoon cleaning up the racing area at Bellmont Park for the horse show to be sponsored by the retail division next month. A 12-event horse show, with three cash prizes in the adult class and three in the children’s class, will be held at the race grounds at Bellmont Park Sunday, October 13, to raise money for Christmas lights in the retail areas of the city. Ferris Bower, chairman for the event, said this morning that the group of workers cleaned up the grounds for three hours Thursday afternoon, and that the area is now “nice and clean and ready to mow.” According to Bower the mowing will take several evenings and will’ be done by Larry Mankey of Bill Zoss Chevrolet-Buick, with the tractor and mower furnished by the Paul Reidenbach Equipment Co. Work Thursday Working in the "clean-up campaign” yesterday afternoon were the following: Carl Gerber, Gerber Super Market; Bryan Lehman, Schwartz Ford Co.; Mike Kohne,

of all the world—cannot work together in the conquest of space, sending some day in this decade to the moon, not the representative of a single nation, but the representatives of all humanity." Other Agreements Sought Kennedy also said we must continue to seek agreements: —On measures to prevent war by accident or miscalculation. —On safeguards against surprise attack, including observation posts at key points. —On further measures to curb the nuclear arms race, by controlling the transfer of nuclear weapons, fissionable materials to peaceful purposes, and banning underground testing with adequate inspection and enforcement. <—On a freer flow of information and people from East to West ,«nd West to East. / Kennedy emphasized, however, that although these and other new steps toward peaceful cooperation may be possible, most of them would require full consultation with this country’s allies, '‘for their interests are as much involved as our own, and we will never make an agreement at their expense.” Long, Careful Negotiations He added that any such agreements would require long and careful negotiations and a new approach to the cold war—“a desire not to ‘bury’ one's adversary but to compete in a host of peaceful arenas, in ideas, in production, and in service to all humanity.” The President told the hushed assembly that for the first time in 17 years of effort, a specific step had been taken to limit the nuclear arms race. “I-refer of course,” Kennedy said, “to the treaty to ban nuclear tests in the atmosphere, outer space and under water — concluded by the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom and the United States, — and already signed by nearly a hundred countries. It has been hailed by people the world over who are thankful to be free from the fears of nuclear fall-out, and I am confident that on next Tuesday morning at 10:30 o’clock, it will receive the . overwhelming endorsement of the Senate of the United States.”

Kohne Drug Co.; Bill Snyder, Budget Loan; Bob Shraluka, Decatur Democrat; Tom Sefton, Gillig & Doan; Tom Weis, Tom Weis Men’s Wear; George Litchfield, Pioneer Restaurants; Carl and David Braun, Npw York Life Insurance; John Rawlinson. Western Auto; Kay Boch, Kiddie Shop; and Bower. • Paul' Strickler of Adams County Trailer Sales furnished a pick-up truck for the workers, and Bob Eiting of Decatur Equipment Co. furnished a flat-bottom truck. Chibs Invited More than 100 horse clubs and groups will be invited to attend and more than 200 horses are expected to compete? Prizes of S2O, $lO and $5 will be awarded in the adult classes, and prizes of $lO, $5- and $3 will be awarded in the children’s classes. Litchfield is in charge of securing advertisements for the program, and Mrs. Boch is in charge of arrangements for the, food tent. The show will include a kids’ pleasure class, open stake race, stock horse class, western pleasure, flag race, one-quarter mile race, Appaloosa costume show, etc. Entry fees will be $2 for aaults and $1 for children, and $2 for the pony race. Kenneth Secaur and Ed Gerbers will help set up the show.

INDIANAPOLIS (UPD — Atty. Gen. Edwin K. Steers ruled today that Hoosier taxpayers should receive a SSOO exemption on earnings for the first half of 1963 under terms of the old gross income tax law. Steers’ ruling, one of three alternatives, means the state can receive about $lO million more than it would if the full SI,OOO annual exemption applied to the six-month period up to July 1 when a new tax law enacted by the 1963 Legislature became effective. I It also meant the state will receive about $lO million less than it would if Steers had ruled there should he no exemption for the first half of the year under the old law. While Steers ruled on a prorated basis for the exemption under the old law, taxpayers will get exemptions for the full year under terms of the new adjusted gross income tax law which became effective in mid-year. This would amount to $2,500 for an average family of four in which only the husband is employed. The opinion had been awaited by the Indiana Department, of Revenue, where officials were divided on whether or not the taxpayers should be allowed the full SI,OOO plus the exemption under the new law, or should get a SSOO exemption or none at all under the old law. Steers said the 1933 law clearly states the exemption should be prorated in the cases of people who dd not live in the state for the full 12 months. He said by administrative interpretation through the years, the revenue department had gone ahead giving the full SI,OOO exemption, even though the individual taxpayer moved out of state auring the year. He said, however, the department abided by the law and prorated cases of estates of persons who died between tax dates. Had the most liberal interpretation of the department of revenue employes been accepted, the state stood to lose as much as $lO million dollars. “I wish to emphasize,” Steers said in the opinion, “that the adjusted gross income tax act of 1963 was not presented to my office for an examination as to constitutionality prior to its approval by the governor on April 20, 1963, nor since that time.” “Furthermore, this opinion has been confined to answering the questions presented, and thus, is not to be construed as having considered the constitutionality of the act, or of any sections or provisions thereof.” There has been wide speculation that a suit will be filed shortly testing the constitutionality of the adjusted gross income tax Steers currently is on record as believing the 2 per cent sales tax, which also was part of the 1963 legislative tax package, is not constitutional. Commissioner James C. Courtney of the Department of Revenue, who requested the opinion, asked whether or not a wife should be considered as a dependent under the law. Such an interpretation would have given an extra SSOO exemption for a non-working wife. Steers concluded that because the state law is tied into the federal tax law. a wife “has been excluded from the definition of the term dependent under the federal act." Steers said “the universal rule of statutory construction is that provisions concerning exemption are to be strictly cohstrued so as not to enlarge the scope of the exemption beyond that clearly intended by the legislature." “If the. SSOO minimum proviso were construed as applicable to the case of individual returns,” he added, "such might have the effect of increasing the SI,OOO exemption to $1,500. And if this were claimed by each spouse filing an individual return, the . cumulative exemption would amount to $3,000.” ■ As it is, the exemptions, as set by the law and interpreted by Steers, gives the taxpayer a SI,OOO exemption and an unemployed spouse an exemption of SSOO. Each dependent has an exemption of SSOO. Deputy Revenue Commissioner Robert Hale said (Continued on Page Two)

Mediators Named In Racial Trouble

WASHINGTON (UPD — President Kennedy counted today on two personal representatives to help restore., racial peace in Birmingham, Ala. He ruled out sending federal troops to the strife-torn city. The President named the two special mediators Thursday shortly before he met with seven Negro leaders and appealed for “restraint and responsibility” by all citizens of Alabama. Kennedy also agreed to meet Monday with five white civic leaders from Birmingham, at the request of Mayor Albert Boutwell. to receive their report on what is being done to restore racial harmony. Selected by the President to try to bring white and Negro community leaders together in Birmingham were former Army Secretary Kenneth C. Royall and former West Point football coach Earl H. Blaik. Royall and Blaik received immediate pledges of cooperation from both Boutwell and the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., leader of the Negro delegation who met I with Kennedy. The two Presidential appointees will go to Birmingham in a few days. King planned to meet today with Justice Department officials to

Community Fund's Budget Increased

The 1963 Decatur Community Fund drive budget was set at $28,993 at a special meeting of the fund's board of directors Thursday night at the Citizens Telephone Co. building. The new budget total represents a 13.65 per Cent increase over last year's figure of $25,510, and means that this year's drive will have to bring in an extra $3,483. Drive chairman Gene Rydell held a meeting of the fund-raising project's division chairmen last night and announced the new budget figure to them. He pointed out that the higher goal would make it necessary for each chairman and his solicitors to work that much harder and that, in effect, they would have to try to perstiade all donors to give 13.65 per cent more than they did last year in order to meet the new quota. During the next week the 17 division chairmen will each pick several captains to assist him in the drive. The captains will, in turn, enlist several solocitors. Each solicitor will have only a small number of people to contact and thus will have ample time to make the necessary calls. The same ten organizations which were included in last year’s Community Fund filed budget requests for this year. They are: American Field Service, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, Salvation .Army, U. S. 0., Mental Health, Youth and Community Center, Red Cross, Crippled Children, Little League and Pony League. Increase Youth Funds Most of the increase in this year's budget is centered around organizations which deal In youth services. The local chapter of the American Field Service, which supplies the annual foreign exchange student for Decatur and sends one Decatur student abroad each summer, has requested funds to provide exchange students for both Decatur high schools. The chapter was requested to do this by the national office of the American Field Service. The Boy Scouts requested a 24 per cent increase and the Girl Scouts requested a 33 per cent increase in their funds. Both of the increases were requested to make possible the addition of setiouslyneeded qualified professional help. Rydell pointed out that this help must be college-educated and must

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discuss the Birmingham situation."• After the 70-minute session with Kennedy Thursday, King told newsmen the President said he Would not resort to use of troops while new steps were being taken by local and federal authorities. The Negro leaders, who had urged that federal troops be sent to the city, indicated th a t they were satisfied with the Presidents decision to try a different approach. After the meeting, Kennedy issued a statement saying that Sunday's bombing of a Negro church that killed four girls had raised tensions in Birmingham. He asked Alabama citizens to cooperate to avoid further bloodshed while efforts were made to apprehend the bombers. The President said the FBI and local police were making "massive efforts" to catch the dynamiters. King, summarizing the meeting with Kennedy, said the Negro leaders "assured the President of our unswerving commitment to non-violence.” » “We had a very good conference with the President,” King said. “He made it clear to us that the federal government would not stand idly by and allow the citizenship rights of Negroes to be trampled over.”

have the same qualifications as high school teachers. The increase will help the area councils of the two organizations to raise the salaries of professional employes to the same level as those of high school teachers. The salaries are presently below that level and it is difficult for the two organizations to obtain qualified personnel. The Crippled Children's society requested a S6OO increase, in its budget because of expenses which will be incurred in instituting another special summer instruction course like the speech and hearing clinic and in transporting several crippled children to Indianapolis for treatment. The kick-off breakfast for the fund drive is scheduled for Monday, Oct. 7 at the Community Center. All division chairmen, captains and solicitors will attend the breakfast and will receive the receipt forms and other materials they will need at that time. Several division chairmen attending the meeting pointed out that there are frequently rural residents who wish to donate to the fund and do not know whom to contact. To alleviate this situation it was decided to make the Citizens Telephone building the collection point for those rural and residential donors who wish to contribute even though they are not contacted by any of the solicitors. Rydell closed the meeting of the division chairmen by thanking them for their attendance and voicing the wish that their efforts in the drive would be successful. Will Show Disease Resistant Soybeans New, disease resistant soybeans will be shown and discussed at two farm stops Tuesday at 4 and 5:30 p. m., according to Leo Seltenright, county extension agent. Marvin Swearingen, extension agronomist, will demonstrate and explain the root rot resistance of the new Harosey, Hawkeye, Lindrin, and Shelby soybeans. The 4 p. m. meeting is on the Robert Miller farm just west of the Fleming pond, 3V4 miles north of Decatur; the operator is Winfred Gerke. The 5:30 p. m. meeting is on the Elmer Rich farm three miles west of Coppess Corner on road 124.