The Mail-Journal, Volume 7, Number 25, Milford, Kosciusko County, 22 July 1970 — Page 17

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PUBLISHED EVERY WEDNESDAY The Milford Mail (E*t 1888) Syracuse-Wawasee Journal (Est 1907) Consolidated Mail-Journal Feb. 15, 1952 DEMOCRATIC ARCHIBALD E" BAUMGARTNER, Editor and Publisher DELLA BAUMGARTNER, Business Manager Box 8 Syracuse, Ind., — 46567 EDITORIALS

Float To Safety

HALF of ail drownings in the United States happen within 20 feet of safety. The Coast Guard estimates that 50 per cent of all Americans cannot swim 50 feet. Even a fair swimmer can stay afloat only so long — often not long enough for help to arrive from shore or boat. How can you keep from drowning? Forget about swimming. Learn to float. Parents should seek instruction for themselves and their children at their local pool, swim club or swimming organization from someone trained in life-saving and swimming techniques. You can learn to float even if you Cannot swim. All it takes is a qualified instructor and sufficiently warm water.

National Farm Safety Week, July 19-25

Accidents can be prevented! But, most of the 116.000 Americans who were killed and the 10.8 million disabled by accident in 1969 failed to realize this simple fact. Farm people shared in these depressing statistics, too — more than 7,000 lives were lost and 600,000 were injured. Accidents cost our nation some $23.5 billion last year, and losses to farm residents accounted for $2 billion of this figure. The tragedy is that nearly all of this could have been avoided. Although heart disease, cancer and strokes claim more lives. 2 out of 3 accident victims are under age 45. In terms of productivity and years trimmed from life expectancy, the seriousness of accidents looms much larger than its rank as the fourth leading cause of death in the U.S.

Congressional Chaff

What’s confusing is that the people who are trying to cose down the colleges are the same ones who are lamenting the lack of educational opportunities in this country. With the campuses in confusion, we just heard the latest “far-out” demonstration is something called “Support Conformity.”

CAPITOL COMMENTS With SENATOR i < VANCE HARTKeB Indiana -

Small Towns Need Environmental Help

The environmental crisis is just as real for small towns and rura> communities as it is for large urban centers. In fact, the consequences are often most severe for the community with 5,500 or fewer citizens According to the Department of Agriculture, 584 such small In-

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not less than five feet deep. The floating method to learn is the face-down technique discovered by the late Fred R. Lanoue when he was still a boy. The object of his system is to keep a person — even though injured or suffering a cramp — afloat not just in a pool but in rough water. He called his method Drqwnproofing and taught it in the Navy during World War 11. One of his pupils — severely burned and with one arm broken after his ship had been torpedoed — stayed afloat for five hours until rescued. Lanoue’s system is based on a simple principle: With a full breath in their lungs, women, children and 99 out of 100 men are lighter than water.

. Even though safety information and protective equipment are readily available to farm people, accidents continue to pose a dangerous problem. To reduce this threat to life, limb and financial solvency, each should, and can, do much more to insure his own safety. Here are some thoughts that might help: Make your homes and farms less hazardous by good planning and housekeeping. Use machinery guards on the job, and wear the personal protective equipment designed to save hands, feet, eyes and head from injury. Conduct your work, play and driving in ways to minimize chance of accident. Then, every week of the year will be SAFETY WEEK on your farm.

With the state of mind of today’s youngsters, they might tell us to pay off the national debt ourselves. Maybe the message is starting to get through to educators — Johnny can’t read, but he sure can riot! The question is — how many job opportunities will there be for students who only earn degrees in rioting?’ LaGrange Standard

thana communities are without needed sewage disposal systems. An additional 382 Indiana towns need public water facilities but cannot afford to build them. The threat of unclean water and the pollution of our rivers and streams will continue until these towns build adequate sewage and public water systems.

The consequences will not be felt in the environment alone. The absence of sewage and water facilities discourages new industry from moving into an area. These industries are needed if local taxes are to Support good schools and roads and other services. Without these industries, homeowners will pay higher taxes while the quality of education and other services goes dOWTI. The young people will not stay in a town without jobs and industry. They will leave our small communities and go to the large cities. But the cities themselves are already overcrowded. The problem is very 1 serious And it will not be solved without determined action and financial commitment from the federal government One partial solution has been to have the federal government share the cost of new facilities with the towns. Under one program, the government pays an average of 30 per cent of the cost of sewers and water systems for rural communities. But that program has been scandalously underfinanced. Over 400 communities were refused assistance last year because there simply was not enought money Seventy-seven of those towns were Indiana towns. Last week I joined with other Senators to more than double the Nixon Administration's suggested budget for this vital program. That budget has nowbeen raised from 200 to 500 million dollars. But this is only a small step. Until we decide that it is more important to save our communities ’than it is to develop super-sonic planes that only the rich can afford to ride on. these problems will not be solved.

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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.

Parents' Responsibility For Juveniles

In the wake of increasing acts of wanton destruction of private property by juveniles, the Indiana Legislature has seen fit to pass a law which makes the parents responsible to answer in damages for the willful acts of their children. The law provides that any person who has real or personal property damaged can sue the parents of the juvenile who damages property by intentional, willful or malicious acts, is under the age of 18 and is still living with and in the custody of his parents. A person whose property is damaged can recover up to the amount of $750.00. Because much of the destruction done by juveniles is done to schools and other public property, the law specifically

Special Report From Washington

WASHINGTON — Despite their past Democratic habits. President Nixon counts many card-carrying union members as part of his silent majority, and he intends to keep them in the Republican fold, “Labor is more property-minded and less class-conscious that it once was,” he lectured party leaders at a secret White House strategy session. “We cannot take an unreasoning, rigid attitude on labor problems I've found the whole AFL-CIO Council with us on foreign policy On domestic issues, just being fair could help.” “Having Meany on the Domestic Commission is very helpful,” mused George Shultz, puffing on his pipe. Before he was promoted from Labor Secretary to management czar, Shultz used to bring AFLCIO President George Meany through a side door of the White House for private talks with the President. Nodding agreement, Nixon urged the GOP leaders: “Let’s talk about what we have done.” He cited Republican accomplishments in “manpower training, family assistance, workmen’s compensation and foreign policy.” ••The layoff of skilled persons will require very close attention, and the Secretary of Labor will have to point his efforts in the direction of these problems.” suggested Schultz. The President again agreed, adding that Labor Secretary James Hodgson would be available as a campaign speaker to help woo the labor vote. HIGHER UNEMPLOYMENT Then he asked Schultz point blank: “On unemployment, what do you project? (Economist Milton) Friedman guessed 6 per cent. What do you think?” “Insured unemployment—that’s 60 per cent of the total — went up rapidly, then stabilized in early May.” said Shultz. “Much depends on the disposition of people to enter the labor force. My guess is that the earlier rate of entry into the labor force may not be reached again in the next few months.” Then he looked straight at the President and said bluntly: Unemployment may go up some —a little higher perhaps in the fall.” Shultz also warned that “the wage picture is troublesome” but promised that “interest rates are coming down.”

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gives the State of Indiana and its political subdivisions, such as school corporations, the right to sue under the Act. At common law, parents could not be sued for the wrongs of their children, unless the children acted at the direction of their parents. The Indiana Legislature in passing the Act fixing fi» ancial responsibility on the patents of juveniles who damage property was enunciating a policy requiring the closer supervision of the conduct of children by their parents. Although it was thought at the time of passage that this would bring greater direction by parents over their children in regard to property of others, it is pretty evident that as of this writing the statute has not been

used with the frequency that was anticipated. It should be clearly understood that this law gives the remedy against parents for the willful acts of their children and not the negligent acts of their children. The wrongs must be intentional, willful or gnalicious. It should also be pointed out that the Legislature provided a civil remedy in this instance. That is, if a person is injured by a juvenile, he must bring a private action against the parents of the juvenile to effect a recovery. The county prosecutor will not bring this action. The statute also must be read in the light of the general law of Indiana concerning the responsibility of minors. Minors under 7 years of age are conclusively presumed to be incapable of doing any negligent or criminal act. A minor over 7 years of age. but under 14 .years of age, is presumed to be incapable of doing a negligent or criminal act, but that presumption is rebuttable. In other words, it can be shown that in fact the minor had the capacity and the intention to commit the act. A minor over the age of 14 is presumed capable of doing a negligent or criminal act in Indiana. You must remember that we are discussing the civil responsibility of parents of

“This has got to be translated at some point,” he said, “into a decline in consumer prices.” “It better had,” said the President with a snort. “We can look forward to this fall for evidence that we have gained in the fight on inflation.” Shultz added. “Does unemployment have to be the price of productivity” asked Vice President Spiro Agnew. “A healthy economy is one that keeps absorbing the increase in productivity,” said Shultz “It is necessary for the over all production to go up.” “Where,” asked Agnew, “does the new money come from?” “Pressure has been put on the soft prac- , tices of industry,” replied Shultz. “There have been lay offs. New technology is there to be used, so some are not re-employed. Therefore, we have to rely upon industrial expansion and growth for a pick-up in the labor Tnarket.” What all this backroom talk boils down to is that the Nixon administration will be sympathetic toward labor but will take no dramatic action to hold down unemployment. GREAT RAILROAD CAPER Even in this day of the 50-cent dollar, $750 million is a big bite out of the U.S. Treasury. Yet this is the amount that the Nixon administration tried to wring out of the taxpayers to bail out the nation’s faltering railroads. The full scandal is still buried in a heap of government documents. This column has had access to a few of these documents, some stamped “Strictly Confidential," others marked “For Official Use Only,” which prove that the Nixon administration tried to lead Congress in the great railroad caper. A band of Congressmen, including John Dingell, D-Mich., John Moss, D-Calif., and Brock Adams, D-Wash., have urged House .... Commerce Chairman Harley Staggers, D-W. Va., to put staff investigators on the case. Moss in a talk with my associate Les Whitten referred to the railroad caper as another “Teapot Dome Scandal.” Administration spokesman claimed, for example, that Penn Central's assets were mortgaged to the hilt and that the railroad, * therefore, needed government aid to avoid a

HOOSIER DAY

Indiana Not Immune To Crime Increases

A NATIONAL EMERGENCY exists with the spiraling increase In crime. Indiana is not immune. This column, first of a series, examines the problem and what is being done to solve it. Population of the United States increased 13 per cent in the last nine years. Crime increased 131 per cent. Continuing the increase, the FBI reports 4.5 million serious crimes committed in 1968, a 17 per cent increase over 1967. Indiana is considered law abiding by its citizens. Here are some eye-opening facts. During the first three months of 1970, serious crimes in the nation increased 13 per cent, with Indiana registering an increase of 26.3 per cent. Indiana had 11,828 major crimes such as murder, rape and robbery compared to 9,365 during the same period last year. Indiana has a problem, and we are concerned in what is being done to cope with the situation. On June 19. 1968, Congress passed the Omnibus Crime Control arid Safe Streets Act. It realized crime essentially is a local problem that must be dealt with by state and local governments if it is to be controlled effectively. Stated purpose of the act says: “It is, therefore, the declared policy of the Congress to assist state and local governments in strengthening and improving law enforcement at every level by national assistance.” Congress provided over SIOO million and created the Law Enforcement Assistance Administration (LEAA) to work with states in planning, initiating and funding local action programs. States were required to have an agency to provide an overall plan and to provide some matching funds to share the federal pot. Former Governor Roger D. Branigan, by executive order, minors. Minors who destroy property belonging to others are subject to the jurisdiction of the juvenile court and can be punished as juvenile delinquents, in addition to this civil recovery against their parents. And if an exceedingly serious crime has been committed the juvenile court has authority to waive jurisdiction over the minor and the county prosecutor is then empowered to bring a charge against the minor under our criminal statutes and. if found guilty, the minor can be punished as an adult. Copyright 1970 by John J. Dillon.

collapse. Yet a loan application, dated June 16, 1970, lists securities totaling $87.1 million as “free and clear” of liens. Despite these resources, some banks refused to cash the salary checks of Penn Central employees. Congressman Dingell told us he regarded this as an attempt by the banks to pressure Congress into providing the bail-out money. There is also evidence that the taxpayers’ millions would have been used largely to bail out the banks, whose loans to the railroad were in danger. An examination by this column of Securities and Exchange records shows that 18 directors of Penn Central and its major subsidiaries have interlocks with banks deeply involved in the Penn Central loan deal. LINKS TO OFFICIALS Among the banks is Chase Manhattan, which used to employ Treasury Undersecretary Paul Volcker. Other banks in the deal have strong ties througn tamiiy or former business alliances with President Nixon, Attorney General John Mitchell, Treasury Secretary David Kennedy, White House advisor Peter Flanigan and former Nixon law partner Randolph Guthrie. Whether this spider web of corporate and cabinet links is innocent or not, the administration neglected to make them public before pressuring Congress for the $750 million. The chief pressuring job was assigned to Transportation Secretary John Volpe, who tried to ram the $750 million authorization through the House Commerce Committee in 30 minutes. Congressman Moss got so furious at Rep. Sam Friedel, D-Md., the acting chairman, for trying to speed up the proceedings that Moss told Friedel he could pound his “gavel until hell freezes over.” Moss said he was still ’ determined to bring out the facts. Dingell has now learned from his own sleuthing that the Interstate Commerce Commission, which is supposed to regulate •> the railroads, has no real plans to prevent another debacle like the Penn Central case. The ICC didn’t even bother to find out whether Penn Central yas “spinning off” profitable properties, so it could throw the unprofitable operations into bankruptcy. Despite this failure, the ICC heartily joined the administration in the abortive attempt to hustle the $750 million deal through Congress

By FRANK WHITE

created the Indiana Criminal Justice Planning Agency (CJPA). The 1969 General Assembly formalized the Agency in a bill signed in March, 1969. Governor Edgar D. Whitcomb named William T. Sharp, presiding judge of Marion County Municipal Courts, as chairman of the CJPA Commission, a job he still holds. Arthur K. Ratz, the first executive director, resigned October 1, 1969. He was replaced by Robert L. Deßard, on a leave as assistant to the vice president of Ball State university. Ratz served until April 1,- 1970. Whitcomb then named Batesville a|torney William W. Greenman to the post. Judge Sharp served interim appointments between directors in a dual capacity while chairman of the commission. This made four directors in the fifteen month life of the agency. We interviewed judge Sharp, director Greenman and studied many pamphlets and _ booklets on the agency to determine what is being done in Indiana. Judge Sharp commented: “There have been mistakes. We have not been without errors in selection of personnel and in approach. This has all been done in a very dramatically short period of time. The fact that we are off and moving is a ray of great hope.” Sharp continued: "I think that it is significant that Indiana didn’t even get its law’ signed by the Governor until the middle of March, 1969. At that time there never had been a structure on a statewide basis that was comprehensive and included all units of government and the private sector concerned with the administration of justice. The fact remains that at this point we have met two deadlines for the submission of comprehensive plans. Both Indiana plans received high praise from the justice department. We have organized the state into eight regions, complete with regional directors and boards of directors and staff.” So far money has not been a problem. Federal grants to Indiana for fiscal 1969 of $613,785, coupled with $355,790.50 matching state and local funds provided close to a million dollars. The overall comprehensive law enforcement plan for the state, just approved by LEAA of the Department of Justice, will pro vide $3,687,162 in addition to $87,738 given the state earlier. Combined with the $2,850,000 state and local funds available, over $7 million will be spent in Indiana

By JACK ANDERSON