The Mail-Journal, Volume 6, Number 45, Milford, Kosciusko County, 10 December 1969 — Page 9
The PUBLISHED EVERY WEDNESDAY The Milford Mail (Est 1888) Syracuse-Wawaaee Journal (Eat 1907) Consolidated Into The Mail-Journal Feb 15, 1962 DEMOCRATIC ARCHIBALD E. BAUMGARTNER, Editor and Publisher DELLA BAUMGARTNER, Business Manager Box 8 Syracuse, Ind., — 46567 EDITORIALS
Moon Versus Poor The never-ending fight of various groups for a larger share of the pie of federal spendjhg reached the ultimate inanity with the charge that, “The U. S. spent $24 billion to go to the moon, but Nixon wants to spend only $4 billion to help the poor.” The facts of the “moon'’ versus the poor” controversy, as contained in a late issue of U. S. News & World Report, paint a different picture of tax dollar distribution. The U. S. is currently spending sl9 billion a year in direct aid to the poor from federal, state and local governments. This does not include spending for other services shared by people at all income levels. Nor does it include private charity. By Time To Be Wary Perhaps shopping for the holiday season this winter is part of the fun for some. But it is a time to be wary for all, for it is a period of greatly increased traffic accidents, advises the Chicago Motor Club—AAA. In alerting both drivers and pedestrians to the hazards of the season, Gerald W. Cavanagh, motor club president, points out: “The rush and excitement of shopping, the hazards of frigid winds, driving snow and slippery roads and sidewalks combine to create danger for pedestrians and motorists alike.” To help keep the holiday season safer and happier for all, he recommends following these suggestions: —Be courteous, be cautious, be sure to observe the common sense rules of safe driving and walking. —Always allow yourself extra time to get to and from your destination. —Don’t try to drive and window shop at the same time. Zero Literacy Education is one of the biggest cost items in the lives of all of us. We spend more years going to school than ever before. A college education has become as common as a high school education a few years ago. Yet, in one of the most vital areas—government spending taxes and inflation—our level of literacy is virtually
CAPITOL COMMENTS. With senator * / VANCE HARTKeX k J pi">6iw J ijff Indiana - Alarming Rate Os Auto Accidents
Every 12 minutes, a person in America is being fatally injured in a car crash. One-half of all Americans alive today will at one time in their lives be seriously injured or maybe killed in a car accident. It is important for every American to know that if certain safety standards were imposed on the car manufacturers now, more than half of those same people would be protected from injury, and what is more, their cars would be
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contrast, the $24 billion spent to reach the moon was expended over a period of 10 years — $2.4 billion per year. If the new welfare program as proposed by the Nixon Administration becomes law, total governmental spending for the poor in the United States will increase to $23 billion a year: Aside from the financial arithmetic of moon flights versus government spending for the poor, U. S. space exploration represents the progress of a nation still growing in stature and vitality. All of us, including the poor, are benefactors of this growth. Instead of kicking, we should be proud. We have to progress to take care of the poor. —Don’t pile packages on the front seat of the car where they may topple and distract the driver. —Don’t put packages on the back ledge, either. They might impair rear vision. —Never cross the street in the middle of the block. —Don’t carry so many packages that you can’t see where you’re going. —Take it easy when driving or walking. There’s an extra measure of danger when you become sufficiently hurried and excited as to disregard the basic rules of safety. —ls you plan to take a Christmas tree home in your car, also plan how to keep the branches from interfering with your vision—front, rear and on the sides. If you put the tree in the trunk, close the lid. —Keep all windows and the windshield cleared of dirt, fog, snow and ice—and always keep a window open to avoid carbon monoxide poisoning. zero. There are about as many ideas of what to do about inflation as there are people—all because nowhere in the process of getting educated have we learned that when a government chronically spends more money than it receives in taxes, the result is inflation. —LaGrange Standard
protected, too. Recently, the Senate Commerce Committee of which I am a member held extensive hearings on both auto safety and the high cost of auto repair. During the hearings we saw a filmed demonstration showing what happened when several cars hit a plywood-covered wall at speeds ranging from 5 miles an hour. A man walked along beside the cars to show just how slowly they were going. When the cars
hit the wall, the drivers were thrown forward, the fenders crumpled, doors sprang open, and cost repair estimates ranged up to 800 dollars. Safety devices should be used to prevent this kind of damage. The biggest problem right now is that more money can be made selling pretty cars than safer cars. Cars do not have to look like a Sherman tank in order to be made safer. But they should be designed with safety factors in mind. Our best inventors and designers have been coming up with auto safety devices for the last forty years and they have been completely ignored. The only time their ideas have been used is when Congress demands it. We had to pass a law to make safety belts required equipment. Action must be taken to insure the adequate safety of all American motorists. I recently introduced amendments to the Auto Safety Act that would put teeth into auto safety regulations for the first time. For example, right now the car manufacturers are not even required to repair the defects that are discovered to exist in new models after they leave the factory. One of my amendments would force the car makers to repair these defects at their own expense. Improper auto repair work also contributes to the rising accident rate. We learned at the hearings that one-third and probably more of all the auto repairs done in this country are unsatisfactory. Mechanics should be licensed just like barbers, plumbers, and other skilled professionals. I am sure that the mechanic as well as the public would be happy to meet professional standards. It would mean higher wages for the mechanic and safer service for the public.
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Know Your Indiana Law - t&Ks ' By JOHN J. DILLON JVflk Attorney at Law This is a public service article explaining provisions of Indiana law in general terms.
Tax Savings For Small Businesses
Many small businesses today still operate as proprietorships or partnerships because the owners do not realize they can incorporate and still have the advantage of simplicity. Some people still envision a corporation as a giant enterprise with a complicated business structure. The fact is, under today’s very favorable tax laws, small corporations can operate as favorably as any other business firm and still limit the liability of the owners.
Special Report from Washington
WASHINGTON — This column has been shown a stack of documents, many of them classified, which prove beyond any doubt that the U. S. command has striven to prevent atrocities in Viet Nam while Hanoi has actually encouraged their commission. There is overwhelming evidence that the communists have used murder and massacre, as a matter of policy, to eliminate political opponents and terrorize the population. The Americans, in contrast, have issued strict orders against cold-blooded killings and have brought pressure to stop their South Vietnamese allies from violating the Geneva code. Also, the U. S. openly investigates its own atrocities, whereas Hanoi has tried to justify communist war crimes. Yet the American outrages, such as the Green Beret murder and the Songmy massacre, are Mown up in the world press, while worse Communist atrocities are scarcely noticed. This column's investigation of the nasty Songmy massacre raises the possibility, at least, that the accused mass murderer, Lt. William Calley, Jr., may be more of a scapegoat than an ogre. From sources close to the investigation, we have obtained facts about the nightmarish incident that would seem to mitigate the charges against him. Unimpeachable sources swear, for example, that orders to wipe out the village did not come from Calley but from higher up. In order to save American lives, the U. S. always devastates enemy positions with firepower before sending in manpower. Accordingly, the hamlet which was a Viet Cong stronghold, nicknamed Pinkville, was declared a free fire zone and was
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Stockholders of some corporations can enjoy the advantages of doing business as a corporation without the usual disadvantages of double taxation of profits, under special provisions of the United States income tax law and the State of Indiana adjusted gross income tax act. Many individual businessmen and partnerships who would prefer to operate their businesses as a corporation do not do so because of the tax disadvantages.
Ordinarily, corporations pay federal and state income taxes on their profits, and the stockholders, in turn, pay taxes on the same profits distributed to them as dividends. However, corporations which meet certain tests may “pass through” their regular business profits to their stockholders for tax purposes and eliminate a tax payment on the profits by the corporation. This portion of the federal income tax law is called “Subchapter S.” It is used annually by many small business corporations to save taxes. To qualify, a corporation must have only one class of stock owned by no more than ten shareholders who are individuals or estates. All shareholders must be residents or citizens of the United States. Certain affiliated groups of corporations are disqualified. All shareholders of the corporation must consent, since the profits of the corporation will be reported by them on their individual income tax returns.
battered by artillery. Then helicopter gunships raked it with a deadly hailstorm of machinegun fire. Finally the troops poured in with guns blazing. South Vietnamese irregulars also participated in the exercise and did some of the shooting. They were responsible, too, for the misinformation about the big Viet Con concentration at Songmy. Secret interrogations by army investigators implicate at least 25 men in the indiscriminate shooting. 1 VIET CONG MASSACRES Not long after the Songmy massacre, both the United States and South Viet Nam issued detailed complaints to the Red Cross about communist atrocities in Viet Nam. During the Tet offensive, the complaints charged, hundreds of victims were selected in advance, then murdered in cold blood. The families of many South Vietnamese officials in Saigon were sought out at their homes and systematically shot. The province chief of Kien Hoa lost huswife and four children in this manner. The families of the commanders of the South Vietnamese 7th and 9th divisions narrowly escaped a similar fate by being away from home. The Viet Cong massacred six American missionaries, including three women, who had been running a leprosarium at Ban Me Thuet. The North Vietnamese executed five Americans, four of them civilians, in Hue. The victims’ hands were tied behind their backs and two of the bodies were mutilated. The Viet Cong booby-trapped the gate to a schoolyard in Phuoc Tuy province during the lunch hour. When the children returned to school after lunch, the bomb
Congressional Comer: John Brademas Reports From Washington
The Viet Nam war was at the top of the Congressional agenda last week. On December 2 I joined 332 of my colleagues in the House in voting for a resolution endorsing “efforts to negotiate a just peace in Viet Nam” and calling for “free elections open to all South Vietnamese and supervised by an impartial international body.” The Viet Nam resolution also requests the President to continue to press the government of North Vietnam to abide by the Geneva convention of 1949 on the treatment of prisoners of war. The strong bipartisan vote in the House emphasizes the widespread support which exists in Congress and in the nation at large for the goal of a negotiated peace in Viet Nam. Unfortunately, no hearings were held on the Viet Nam resolution by the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and as a result, a considerable degree of confusion and uncertainty surrounded the meeting of the resolution. Many members of the House however who voted for the resolution, including myself, made clear that in doing so we in no way regarded our vote as a blank check giving advance approval of future decisions on Viet Nam. Many of us also proposed efforts to reduce the level of violence in Viet Nam and to broaden the political base of the Saigon government. We also called for the immediate designation of a high level replacement for retiring negotiator Henry Cabot Lodge, the principal United States representative at the Paris talks. HUNGER IN AMERICA The past week was also the occasion of the White House Conference on Food, Nutrition and Health. This Conference brought people-,together from all over the country—governnmental officials, experts in the fields of health and ] nutrition and even some of the nation’s hungry and undernourished poor—to draft i recommendations for action to ; end the plight of hunger on ’ America. i Last May President Nixon ] informed Congress that “the < moment is at hand to put an end I to hunger in America itself for all ] times.” ; So lam glad to note that in his ; keynote address opening the <
exploded, killing two and wounding four. It is a common Viet Cong tactic to use civilians as shields during their attacks and to mount the attacks from hospitals, schools and houses of worship, which the Americans are reluctant to fire upon. In December, 1967, the Viet Cong surged into the Montagnard village of Dak Son near the Cambodian border, scorching the huts with flamethrowers and heaving hand grenades indiscriminately. More than 200 noncombatants, 70 per cent of them women and children, were killed. The Viet Cong abducted another 400 villagers as forced laborers. Perhaps the most shocking war crimes were uncovered in Hue while the Communists held the ancient city during the Tet offensive. “Despite the intense fighting in the city,” declares a State Department document, “cadres equipped with lists of names and addresses on clipboards went about arresting and executing Vietnamese and foreigners who were of significance in the community. Often their wives and children were executed with them.” A confidential State Department telegram, dated May 6, 1968, gave this preliminary report of what the U. S. forces found after driving the North Vietnamese out of Hue: “More than 1,000 people were executed by the NVA (North Vietnamese) and Viet Cong in the Hue area during the communist Tet offensive. The victims were found in 19 separate mass grave sites. Many had been shot, some beheaded. A number of bodies showed signs of mutilation. “Most were found with hands bound behind their backs. Almost half of the victims were found in conditions indicating , they had
War In Viet Nam
conference the President reaffirmed this pledge by reiterating his support for the goal of eliminating hunger in America and by promising serious consideration of the actions proposed by those attending the conference. . I hope very much that the White House Conference will help translate the President’s words into action. SOCIAL SECURITY INCREASE I was most pleased by the unanimous action by the House Ways and Means Committee on December 2 in approving a 15 per cent across-the-board increase in Social Security benefits to go into effect next January 1. Earlier this year I cosponsored a bill calling for a 15 per cent increase. The Nixon Administration had requested a hike of only 10 per cent. At a meeting with President Nixon at the White House last spring for the signing of the Older Americans Act Amendments, I told President Nixon that I strongly supported a 15 per cent increase in Social Security. The unanimous vote by the Ways and Means Committee for the 15 per cent figure indicates that most Republicans will join the Democrats to support the higher figure. The increase will help protect Social Security beneficiaries from the effect of inflation, which has been eroding their means of livelihood at an annual rate of almost 5 per cent in recent years. DRUG ABUSE EDUCATION Finally, I ‘noted with some interest that President Nixon met a few days ago with some of the Nation’s governors to tell them that drug addiction has become a national problem requiring a nation-wide program of education if we are to combat this great danger. Earlier this year, during hearings on the Drug Abuse Education Act before the Education Subcommittee which I chair, spokesmen for the Administration opposed the bill which I and 83 other Congressmen had sponsored. The Drug Abuse Education Act, eventually passed by the House by a unanimous vote, will develop programs for our elementary and secondary schools to educate our young people on the dangers of drug abuse.
By JACK ANDERSON
been buried alive. Many were found bound together in groups of 10 to 15, eyes open, with dirt or cloth in their mouths.” Murders and massacres appear to have been committed by both sides. The only difference is that that the U. S. command has issued strict orders against coldblooded killing and investigates its own violations. Hanoi has encouraged its troops to murder anti-communists in cold blood and has publicly justified this policy. The United States is now expected to invite an international impartial body to investigate atrocities by both sides. CIA CUTBACKS The spies that cavort on our television screens—some performing fabulous feats, others bungling through slapstick adventures—are not as satirical as they seem. They have their counterparts in real life, for the James Bond industry is every bit as fantastic as the TV script writers have portrayed it. The cloak-and-dagger crowd gets involved in some unbelievable situations, sometimes hilarious, more often deadly grim. The Central Intelligence Agency, the most lampooned of all spy outfits, deals in operations so secret that its wastepaper and typewriter ribbons are classified. Yet it receives more publicity than government agencies that advertise. As a result and as part of President Nixon’s economy program, he will cut down on CIA manpower. He will justify the reduction by citing the scientific devices that have made our oldfashioned spies almost obsolete. We have listening devices so sensitive, for example, that they can pick up indoor conversations by recording the window vibrations.
