The Mail-Journal, Volume 6, Number 51, Milford, Kosciusko County, 21 January 1970 — Page 9
Hie Ihiil L-*/ < ' PUBLISHED EVERY WEDNESDAY The Milford Mail (Eat 1888) Syraeuse-Wawaaee Journal (Eat 1907) i I ' Consolidated Into The MalLJournal Feb. 15, 1962 DEMOCRATIC ARCHIBALD E. BAUMGARTNER, Editor and Publisher It DELLA BAUMGARTNER, Business Manager Box 8 Syracuse, Ind., — 46567
EDITORIALS
About The Newspaper Business
Do you know there were 346 newspapers in the state of Indiana back in 1959. Business back then was looking up and offset was <jn its infancy. The 60’s were an exciting time for the newspaper business which presently ranks 10th in volume of shipment in the top 50 industries in the US and fifth in employment. During the past 10 years weekly papers showed a 73.9 per cent increase in subscriptions and sales receipts and a 61.6 per cent increase in advertising while the daily and Sunday papers showed 32.9 and 57.1 per cent increases. People in the newspaper business have been spending money as well as making it. Capital expenditures for new plants and equipment went from $147 million in 1959 ito $285 million in 1967. Consumption bf newsprint has increased nearly one third in the same 10year period.
Winter Weather
As this is written the thermometer hovers around zero most of the time. Occasionally it gets up to zero but most of the time it is well below that mark. Then, too, we have snow. In this area it is quite abundant and could be easily whipped into a major road blocking situation if sufficient wind starts rolling over the fields. ' But then we have had all this before. We suppose 'it has been worse. Old timers can tell you about such things and give facts and figures. However, we are more dependent now upon highways, electricity, gas and all the modefn gadgets that go to make up living during these days. So it is •easier to denioralize a community now than it was back in the “good old days.” A few cords of stovewood or two or three tons of coal close at hand, and the snow could blow, the snow could drift and home Jife could go on as usual in comfort. But today let a couple wires get tangled up or broken down and all the houses down the street can be without heat—a serious situation in zero weather. So it is trufe that severe winter weather tofiay can be more disastrous
v Congressional Comer: John Brademas Reports From Washington
■ Tel Aviv, Israel
Three of my colleagues in Congress arid I have just arrived here in Tel Aviv to conduct a tenday study of*lsraeli communal settlements, day care centers, schools and colleges, and to hold discussions with Israeli government leaders on the critical situation in the Middle East. During our stay in Israel.’we plan to vikit Israeli educational institutions receiving United Slates funds for early childhood programs .educational research, higher education, and vocational rehabilitation services. We shall also meet with member* of the Education Committee of the Israeli Parliament (the Knesset). stop at the John F Kennedy Memorial in Jerusalem, and, naturally, we want to Visit both the Jewish and Christian holy places of Jerusalem and Bethlehem. In view of the hearings our Subcommittee is now conducting on preschool education and child day care legislation, we will be particularly interested in observing the pioneering work of the Israelis in establishing child day-care centers and other early childhood programs, including those operated by the unique Israeli communal settlement called the kibbutz Israel has long been considered an innovator in child development
However, it hasn’t been all an upward climb as there has been a loss across the country of more than 1,150 weeklies. Indiana had some 245 weeklies in 1950 with about 50 of these closing their doors over the past several years. There are several reasons: When a community no longer qualifies as a sound economic unit the newspaper falls victim; manpower shortages have been hard on backshops; government regulations; increased postal costs; and the general expense of being an employer. The shift to offset has had an effect on many papers with even medium sized dailies being forced to consider conversion. Os 166 newspaper-owned printing plants in the state of Indiana 121 are letterpress with only 45 being offset. However, 159 papers in the state are printed letterpress while 157 are printed offset.
than say, sixty years ago. Too, we do not have the individual initiative that we once had. Or do we? Maybe we do but it does not show so much as it once did. It is easier to get on a plane or in the old car and refuse to face the rigors that may come each winter—by going to a warmer climate. We don’t know what they talk about in the warmer climates. With each day being the same as the day before there is little weather conversation surely. Or perhaps there is a certain joy in watching television or listening to the radio to find out what kind of weather they are missing ... they can talk about that, of course, and probably do with much delight. There are never any bad days in the warmer climates. Each person there keeps a chamber of commerce folder in front of him or her and then conforms to its evaluation of the weather. We do not have winters like we used to have with snow and zero weather day in and day out, so they tell us. Anyway, the weather man says that it is going to warm up real soon and we also know that when winter comes spring is sure to follow. Who would want to miss that great transition—winter to spring! LaGrange Standard
Perhaps the most widely discussed programs are those carried out on the kibbutzim, or communal farms, where childraising is the responsibility of the entire community. The newborn children are placed in the farm's children's quarters, and remain there m some instances until they are eleven years old. During this period, parents and children visit with each other two hours a day. There are about 100,000 Israelis living on these communal farms, but only a few hundred people live on each one. The men and women share the work load, and decisions are made by a general assembly consisting of all members. One of the more interesting features of life in the kibbutzim is the relative absence' of competitiveness among children, all of whom are expected to contribute to the good of the entire community and not to assert themselves as individuals seeking their own goals. The kibbutz, which some consider a radical approach to childraising, has produced some rather startling results. Dr. Bruno Bethelheim of the University of Chicago has pointed out that it has nurtured children who do not drop out of school or commit vandalism.
Aside from early childhood programs and other educational programs, we shall of course be discussing the NUddle East situation in generar and recent American proposals toward Israel in particular. Within the last few weeks. Secretary of State William Rogers, in a speech on the Middle East, made major suggestions for a Middle East peace. However, both the Israelis and the Arabs have expressed strong reservations about Secretary Rogers' proposals and have criticized them bitterly. Israel is particularly concerned that the American proposals "prejudice the chances of establishing peace; disregard the essential need to determine secure and agreed borders . . .; affect Israel's sovereign rights and security . . . and contain no actual obligation of the Arab states to put a stop to the hostile activities of the sabotage and terror organizations." The history of cooperation between the United States and Israel makes the present difficulty in relations between the two countries particularly painful. It was President Harry S. Truman who. in 1948, became the first head of state to extend recognition to the young nation when the State of Israel was proclaimed on May 14 of that year Through the years, the American people have extended the hand of friendship again and again when Israel needed aid. Because of the present crisis confronting Israel, members of my subcommittee are particularly anxious to hear the Israeli point of view at first hand. I shall report to the people of the Third District of Indiana on the outcome of our trip when I return near the end of January.
CHARGE!
Know Your Indiana Law By JOHN J. DILLON Attorney at Law
This is a public service article explaining provisions of Indiana law in general terms. '
Emergency And Obscene Phone Calls
Occasionally one reads in the newspaper where a telephone user on a party line refuses to give up the line to permit another person on the line to call the fire department, an ambulance or some other emergency assistance. This type of conduct is not only morally wrong in Indiana, it is illegal. In 1965 the legislature passed a law making it a crime to refuse to yield a party line when requested to do so by any person who wishes to place an emergency call. Such a crime is punishable by a maximum fine of $25.00 and a jail term not to exceed ten days. This was prompted by many tragic cases where persons were trying
Special Report from Washington
WASHINGTON — A promising young navy man has been unceremoniously reassigned from a choice stateside job to duty aboard an aircraft carrier bound for Viet Nam — all because he mistook an over-enthusiastic Good Humor man for a Connecticut state trooper. The events that led to this astonishing overreaction by the navy brass began last August when Petty Officer Mark Hessek, a 28-year-old information officer at the Groton, Conn., submarine base, was driving home from the market with his wife. He saw a car speeding toward him from the opposite direction, hotly pursued by a Good Humor wagon with lights flashing, bell ringing and horn blowing. The car pulled over and the ice cream truck wheeled in behind it. The Good Humor man got out. strode over to the car and began writing what appeared to Hessek and his wife to be a traffic ticket. The performance persuaded Hessek that the ice cream vendor must have been a parttime state trooper. Next day, he mentioned the incident to a friend who worked for United Press International. The UPI sent out a tongue-in-cheek story, which Connecticut State Police Commissioner Leo Mulcahy heard on the radio. Indignantly, he contacted UPI the next morning to demand a retraction, insisting that none of Connecticut's finest doubled as a popsicle peddler. Upon learning the source of the story, he also put through an angry call to Hessek. THREAT OF COURT MARTIAL Within hours, UPI had corrected the error, and Hessek had apologized. But Mulcahy wasn’t satisfied. The commissioner went to Hessek’s commanding officer. Captain Arnold Christiansen, with a demand that Hessek broadcast a full retraction of the whole story. Hessek was summoned to the base legal office and told, under threat of a court martial, that he would have to retract. He explained that the mistaken reference to a trooper already had been corrected and that the rest of the story was true.
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to get through a party line with an emergency call but the parties talking refused to yield the telephone line. An “emergency” call to a hair dresser is not" an emergency. An emergency is defined in the Act to mean a situation in which property or human life is in jeopardy and the prompt summoning of aid is essential. Persons who obtain the use of a telephone line by falsely alleging the existence of an emergency are subject to the same penalties as those who wrongfully refuse to yield a party line to an emergency call. It is also a crime to make obscene telephone calls. This crime
is punishable by a maximum fine of $500.00 and a jail term not to exceed six months. Included in the Act making obscene telephone calls a crime, is a section which makes it a crime to make repeated telephone calls few the purpose of annoying, molesting or harassing another person or his family. It carries the same penalties as obscene telephone calls. If you receive an obscene call the best thing to do is to say nothing and hang up at once. This will usually discourage such a caller since he gets his rather strange “kick” from your responses. If the calls persist, contact the telephone company. The telephone companies are developing some rather sophisticated equipment which can quickly trace such calls. With the aid of this equipment the telephone company can be of great help in putting an end to improper telephone calls. In any modem society the telephone is one of the most useful tools. It must be used with courtesy and it must not be used illegally. For this reason the Indiana legislature has put these two laws on the books.
Hessek added that his part in the incident had occurred while he was off duty and that it had nothing to do with the navy. Nevertheless, for the next three days, Hessek was threatened and browbeated by his superiors until he finally agreed to go on the air with a retraction which the base command solemnly prepared. > Afterwards, he thought the incident was closed. But Captain Christiansen had only begun. ~ A few days later, he fired off a private letter to Mulcahy promising to have Hessek transferred. The captain then sent a private memo to the Chief of Naval Personnel in Washington urging not only that Hessek be transferred, but that he be given ‘‘arduous sea duty.” SPECIAL REPORT The memo said Hessek's performance as a naval information officer had been “grossly inadequate.” Until the ice cream incident, however, Hessek’s record as an information officer had been outstanding. The last report on him filed prior to the incident said his ability was “unsurpassed.” To buttress the request for Hessek’s reassignment, the base command prepared a special interim report on Hessek giving him extremely poor grades across the board. Even Hessek’s appearance, previously described as “impressive,” was now rated only as “passable.” The report was so implausibly bad that the Bureau of Naval Personnel became skeptical about it, and Hessek’s superiors later changed it, giving him somewhat higher marks. When the time came for Hessek’s regular performance report to be made, his immediate superior recommended very high marks. But this recommendation was overruled by the base command. Extremely low grades were entered in his service record. Then, in December, Hessek received orders transferring him to the USS America, which is expected to depart for Viet Nam Because of the silly ice cream affair, a young man’s naval career has been seriously damaged.
FROM WASHINGTON
A RETORT TO THE PEOPLE OF INDIANA FROM V. $. SENATOR BIRCH BATH
Record Os A Decade
WASHINGTON, DC., (Special) — Historians and political analysts have been categorizing the decade of the 60’s as a time of violence, of frenetic change, of confusion. And indeed, in many ways, it was. But in looking back on those ten crowded years, we should not forget the many solid accomplishments they yielded—accomplishments that will have an effect far beyond the 60’s. Particularly in Washington, at the seat of our national government, it was an action-packed decade. Congress, controlled by the Democratic Party throughout the 60’s, and working with a Democratic President for eight of those ten years, passed hundreds of measures aimed at a better America. It was a time of tremendous ‘ strides in attacking the problems of our cities and in bringing health services, education, nutrition and equal opportunity to millions of our citizens. We might do well to remind ourselves of some of the highlights of our domestic legislative achievements during the 60’s. IN THE CITIES: —Direct federal outlays for housing, and community development throughout the country quadrupled to more than $3 billion a year. At least $200,000,000 a year was going to Indiana alone by the end of the decade. —Two million families received F.H.A. home improvement loans totalling more than $3 billion. —The Safe Streets and Crime Control Act, which I helped draft, granted $63 million to cities and states to strengthen police and law enforcement programs. More than $1 million went to Indiana. IN EDUCATION: —The Vocational Education Act of 1963, which I co-sponsored, enabled millions of youths and adults to learn new skills and become more useful citizens. Included in that were some 450,000 Hoosiers. —The Higher Education Act of 1965 and the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, which I co-sponsored, provided loans and grants for construction of classrooms and other facilities. Under these laws, Indiana has received almost S2OO million for public schools, school libraries, supplementaryeducation centers, college facilities, and student loans and scholarships.
UN-SOCIAL SECURITY is a stocky man of 47 who worked as a lumberjack, coal miner, machinist and carpenter until 1967 when great spasms of pain toppled him every time be sneezed or moved suddenly. Doctors diagnosed it as chronic disc injury. Starling, who was appalled at the thought of welfare, swallowed his pride and accepted welfare payments until his Social Security began. A working man from the time he was 17, he was now a cripple. Social Security eventually began paying him $275.90 a month because he has a wife and three children, the youngest seven months old. Last May, Workmen’s Compensation gave him a lump sum settlement. After t his lawyer got $1,250 and doctors took their bite, it was down to $8,200. Starling figured he deserved the money, since he had done useful work all his life and had paid his way. So he used the $8,200 to put a payment down on a house and to buy a used pickup. Then Social Security broke the back that up to then had only been crippled. Because of the Workmen’s Compensation, it cut his total payments to only $53.30 a month until the $8,200 is “worked off” his Social Security. For the law says Workmen’s Compensation must be deducted from Social Security. Some eight thousand other Americans, who were injured while working, are in a similar situation. And although 15 bills are now in the Congressional hoppers, nothing is being done to move them along. Now, Starling is being forced to sell the pickup and the house. His baby needs milk. His back needs surgery. Still, he told this column from his home in Redding, Calif., he is “humiliated” at the idea of welfare, or bankruptcy. * Somewhere among the billions of dollars for pork barrels and gun barrels, the legislators have forgotten Americans like Starling who still believe that the “dignity of labor” and “staying out of bankruptcy” are part of the national dream.
IN HUMAN RIGHTS: —The Civil Rights Act of 1964, the most comprehensive human rights measure since the Emancipation Proclamation, prohibited discrimination or differential treatment in jobs, public accommodations, transportation and governmentsupported programs. —The Voting Rights Act of 1965 enabled registration of Negro voters to increase 118 per cent in Southern states. My Senate colleagues and I are now fighting to prevent this law from being mutilated. IN THE ECONOMIC MARKET: —The Manpower Development and Training Act helped some 1.5 million Americans prepare for good jobs, 30,000 Hoosiers among them. —The Economic Opportunity Act enabled more than six million Americans to advance above the poverty line. It reached about 230,000 people in Indiana. —The sweeping new Tax Reform Act, which I supported, will provide substantial relief for low and middle income taxpayers. It was passed as a dramatic end to the decade. IN HEALTH AND WELFARE: —lncreased social security benefits and the Medicare program permitted more than 20 million elderly Americans, including 629,000 Hoosiers, to live longer, healthier lives. —The federally-assisted Medicaid program permitted more than 3 million men, women, and children of low income to receive better health care. -The Food Stamp Program improved the diets of more than 3 million needy Americans, several thousand in Indiana. IN RURAL AMERICA: —Hundreds of millions of dollars have been spent for water and sewage facilities, serving more than three million Americans in small towns. In the two bills enacted by Congress since I came to the Senate, Indiana has been authorized more than S2OO million in new projects. —More than 5.5 million rural citizens benefit ted from Farmers Home Administration programs Approximately 20,000 of them' were in Indiana'. IN THE ENVIRONMENT: —A series of Federal Water Pollution Control Acts and Clean. Air Acts, two of which I helped \ draft, began the long-overdue attempt to solve this country’s pollution problems. These, of course, are just some of the accomplishments of our national government in the 6O’s„
By JACK ANDERSON