The Mail-Journal, Volume 7, Number 36, Milford, Kosciusko County, 7 October 1970 — Page 9

S ♦ PUBLISHED EVERY WEDNESDAY The Milford Mail (Eat 1888) Syracuse-Wawaace Journal (Eat 1807) Consolidated Into The Mail-Journal Feb. 15, 1982 DEMOCRATIC ARCHIBALD E. BAUMGARTNER, Editor and Publisher DELLA BAUMGARTNER, Business Manager Box 8 Syracuse, Ind., — 46587

Your Right To Know National Newspaper Week is October 4-10 and papers throughout the nation are telling the American people about their right to know. Freedom of the press — the right to know — belongs to the public .. . not to news media. It seems we are living in times when it is popular to attack the press. Public opinion polls tell the story like it is . . . politicians, both candidates and office holders, are allowed to say anything they want about the press and receive applause for their comments. “Newspapers are part of the establishment.” “Newspapers are controlled by eastern liberals.” “The news media disseminates drivel.” Perhaps it is the proper time to review the history of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution and look at current problems and future problems of the press.

Plan Beforehand What To Do About Fire

Best time to consider what to do about a fire is before it happens, says F. R. Willsey, Purdue university extension safety specialist. Giving it thought beforehand is not only a form of prevention but a course of action should the real thing suddenly confront you. Fire claimed 12,100 lives in this nation last year. Os these, over one-third were children. Furthermore, many hundreds of fire victims are still recovering from serious injuries. Fire Prevention Week, October 4-10, brings the reminder that through knowledge and care many destructive fires can be virtually eliminated. Here are some preparedness suggestions: Check condition of heating equipment annually. Make all repairs necessary for safe operation. Check electric wiring for wear and loads. Replace worn and inadequate wiring. Have extinguishers in the right places and check them frequently. Protect them from freezing where necessary.

Know Your Indiana Law By JOHN J. DILLON JVS Attorney at Law Thia is a public service article explaining provisions of Indiana law in general terms.

Telephone Use For Debt Collection

The Federal Communications • Commission is cracking down on the use of the telephone for the collection of debts The Federal Communications Commission has informed all major telephone companies that they must make all their users plainly aware of the many statutes and regulations governing the abusive use of telephones for any purpose The specific action of the Federal Communications Commission is directed at the practice of repeated calls intended to harass a person into paying a debt or threatening action which the caller has no intention of really taking, such as the filing of a lawsuit or the service of legal process This practice erf the busive use of telephones to collect debts has increased with the widespread use of the Wide Area Telephone Service. This service is one in which the user is permitted to lease long distance telephone wires within a state for a given fee each month. The user can then make as many telephone calls as he wishes long distance • within the state or area for the leased cost of the line rather than payir« for each long distance call. This very fine service, which

EDITORIALS

has been a boon to businessmen, has also increased the abusive use of the telephone by collection agencies in attempting to collect bad debts. This enforcement procedure is to be distinguished from the criminal action in Indiana for the use of obscene telephone which I have previously discussed. Those matters are. of course, handled by the prosecutor of the county. The practice which the Federal Communications Commission is talking about is the use of the telephone for calls at odd hours of the day or night, repeated calls, calls to employers threatening garnishment actions and other abusive calls to harass a person into paying a debt To insure that it is widely known that these calls are not permitted, the Federal Communications Commission is requiring each telephone company to inform their users that they may not use their telephones in an abusive and harassing manner to collect debts. This is a prelude to requirement by the Federal Communications Commission that the telephone companies terminate the telephone service of those users who insist on using the telephone contrary to the law and contrary to the regulations of the Federal

Are we about to complete a cycle in this country? Three hundred years ago all printed matter was regulated and licensed. At the beginning of the 70’s —a decade in which we can celebrate 200 years of freedom of information and freedom of the press — we are reading some amazing headlines. Here are some: “All reporters should be licensed.” “Notes and files of newsmen are subpoenaed.” “ABA sets controls on crime news information.” “Vice President Agnew says ‘news media disseminates drivel.’ ” Because of these attacks on the public’s “right to know” newspapers are taking a stand to remind both readers and journalists alike that the First Amendment to the United States Constitution didn’t “come easily” in this country. We should protect it or we may loose this precious freedom.

If you are a rural resident, always keep cistern (and stock pond) safely full for fire fighting. Make sure water suplies are accessible. Know how to call the fire department. Keep the number at the telephone. Prepare a home fire evacuation plan for your family and drill each member in the procedure. It is wise to have an alternative plan in case the unexpected develops. Pick an outside assembly point where the family will meet for “checking" purposes. Be sure everyone understands that the house should not be re-entered. Plan ahead from where to call the fire department should it become necessary to use an outside telephone. If you have a two-story dwelling, think through in advance how children should evacuate these quarters in case the stairway is blocked. Remember, when a fire occurs suddenly, fiew people think clearly, unless previously trained in the procedure to follow.

Communications Commission. This is based upon the Federal Communications Commission’s power over telephone companies which permit their users to use their telephones in a manner reasonably expected to frighten, abuse or harass another. The telephone is a wonderful instrument for the conduct of business and our highly complicated society could not function without its use. However, the law requires that it be used in a proper manner and any person who does not follow the law can have his telephone service discontinued. It should be remembered that I am not referring to a legitimate and proper telephone call pointing out that a debt is owed, and asking the debtor to pay it It is the repeated and harassing tactics of call after call designed to coerce the debtor into paying the debt that is prohibited by law and by regulation of the Federal Communications Commission. Any person who becomes the subject of harassing and intimidating telephone calls, and repeated threats from collection agencies concerning bad debts should report the same to their telephone company. If no relief is forthcoming from your telephone company, then you should report the same to the Federal Communications Commission, Washington, D. C. Copyright 1970 by John J. Dillon If the press is not free, if speech is not independent and untrammeled, if the mind is shackled or made impotent through fear, it makes no difference under what form of government you live, you are a subject and not a citizen. —U.S. Senator William E. Borah.

Blondie ZT/AND, TOOTSIE, ) YOU KNOW, BLONDIE A < DID YOU 7 THIS FREEDOM OF / ( HEAR THE V INFORMATION THING < I LATEST J CAN BE CARRIED TOO ) \ GOSSIP r-f FAR, EVEN IF IT IS A ) ( ABOUT... ) I THEME OF NATIONAL < V z \ newspaper y A WEEK* ■ l jKlr / I I 1,11 — ■ j - T x Kb AMERICAN NEWSPAPERS--200 YEARS OF FREEDOM - - I77O»TO 1970,

Congressional Corner: John Brademos Reports From Washington

Our Prisoners In Viet Nam

From time to time the House erf Representatives and the Senate meet together for a joint session on some special occassion. We hear the President’s State of the Union address in joint session, and we gather in joint session occassionally to hear some great speaker like Carl Sandburg or a visiting leader like French President Pompideau. Last week Congress met in joint session for a grimmer reason, to hear Cd. Frank Borman, the astronaut, report on his attempt to talk to the North Vietnamese about the treatment of our prisoners of war held in North Viet Nam. 376 American flyers languish in North Vietnamese jails. Twentyone of them are from Indiana.

SPECIAL REPORT FROM WASHINGTON

Report Is Precise, Consistent, Unequivocal

WASHINGTON — Vice President Spiro Agnew, shooting from the hip out in South Dakota, has opened fire on the Presidential Report on Campus Unrest. He called the report “imprecise, contradictory and equivocal." Apparently the Vice President attacked the report without bothering to read it For responsible officials who have studied the report insist that it is precise, consistent and unequivocal. The Commission was deeply alarmed over the widening gap between college students and their elders. On the one hand, the Commission found that students listening to a Presidential speech jeered every word. On the other hand, middle-aged parents, pillars of decency in the communities, told Commission investigators angrily that the National Guard should have killed more students at Kent State university. The Commission s grave conclusion was that student alienation must be healed or the dangerous polarization in the U.S. could bring near-civil war. President Nixon was so concerned about the problem that he asked one of his most respected advisers, Pennsylvania’s former governor William Scranton, to head the Commission. Scranton has an autographed photo of the President inscribed “to Bill Scranton, a toubleshooter who is perfectly willing to take on trouble." The President also appointed to the Commission people from diverse backgrounds, from a college student to an Air Force general. They were so shaken by the findings * that they voted unanimously for the report Scranton also made a personal appeal to the President to read the report. Nixon promised to read it carefully after his return from the Mediterranean. It will be interesting to see whether the President, after reading the repot, agrees with the Vice President, who did not read It. UNREPORTED DRAMA There was unreported drama in the Mediterranean at the height of the Middle

Another 400 are listed as missing in action. We do not know whether they are alive or dead. For hundreds of families it must be a daily torture wondering whether every again they will hear from a father or son or husband. Both we and the North Vietnamese are signatories of the 1949 Geneva Convention which lays out the rights of prisoners of war. On both sides the prisoners have the right to make contact with fellow prisoners and their families. The capture of prisoners of war must, by international law, tell their homeland their names and conditions. The ill and badly wounded must be returned home. We have made every attempt

to assure North Vietnamese prisoners of decent treatment. Only last spring over 60 North Vietnamese wounded were returned to their homeland as is called for in the Geneva accord. The North Vietnamese have not done the same for our men in their capture. They have denied our men contact with their families and have refused to supply our government with a list of the men alive and in their hands. In many cases they have kept Americans in solitary confinement with no distraction but English language Communist propaganda. This is the clearest possible example of the undeniable violation of the Genava accords, of the rules of war and of international law. With over 400 other Congressmen I have written to Premier Pham Van Dong telling him that all Americans, no matter their feelings about the war, are revolted by the North Vietnamese illegal treatment of our prisoners We have appealed to his sense of humanity to treat prisoners in accordance with recognized international law. So far, we have had no answer. No, nor have the North Vietnamese deigned to talk to Col. Borman, the President’s envoy.

East crisis. The Soviet navy pulled into position in the crisis area before the U.S. 6th Fleet was able to move up. However, the 6th Fleet ignored the presence of the Soviets and also deployed carriers and cruisers in the critical area. Soviet ships immediately pulled in closer but carefully restricted their activities to surveillance. Vice Admiral Isaac Kidd, the 6th Fleet Commander, reported to President Nixon that the fleet was prepared militarily for action in the Middle East. At no time did the President consider using these forces, however, except possibly for rescuing American citizen. SECRET SESSIONS Secret truce negotiations have been resumed in Paris. Our chief negotiator. David Bruce, has been meeting North Viet Nam’s negotiator, Xuan Thuy, in the Paris suburbs The secret sessions are held alternately in suburban homes rented by the Americans and the North Vitnamese In order to avoid attracting attention, the negotiators drive to the meeting places in unmarked cars and disembark inside the garage which connects directly with the house Bruce has argued at the secret sessions that the North Vietnamese will get a better settlement now while the Americans remain in Viet Nam. After the American pullout from battle zones, Bruce said, the U.S. will lose its influence over the Saigon government. Thereafter, the truce terms will have to decided by the Saigon leaders who are much tougher than the Americans. The North Vietnamese have shown no sign, so far, that Bruce’s argument is sinking in. CHINESE ARMS Intelligence reports claim that the Palestinian guerrillas receive most of their arms from Communist China. The supplies are delivered by sea to the Persian Gulf port of Basra, then up river to Bagdad. The

2. Bayh-Lines IS FROM WASHINGTON IMJ A REPORT TO THE PEOPLE OP INDIANA FROM U. S. SENATOR BIRCH BATH

Less Than 10% Os Introduced Bills In Congress Become Law

WASHINGTON — Between 15,000 and 20,000 bills are introduced in each Congress. Yet only about 1,000 of these — less than 10 per cent — become law. What hurdles must a bill overcome before it is made into law? After a bill is drafted and phrased in correct legal form it is introduced. A Senator may introduce a bill when he is recognized by the presiding officer during a routine business session. A Representative merely drops a copy of his bill into a basket, known as the "hopper,” at the Speaker's desk. The bill is then given a number, prefaced by “HR.” if originating in the House and by “S” if originating in the Senate. It then is printed and referred to an appropriate committee. As I explained in my previous column, the committee then examines the bill, usually over a period of months. If the bill is reported out of committee favorably, it then is placed on the “calendar” to be considered by the full House or Senate. Before the full House can consider the bill, however, it normally must clear the Rules Committee first. The Rules Committee channels major bills to the floor, or by a majority vote of its members, can delay or kill a bill. There are a few devices for forcing a bill out of the Rules Committee, but these are seldom used and even less often effective. On August 10, however, one of these devices — the “discharge petition” — was used to force the Equal Rights for W'omen Amendment to a vote in the House. The Rules Committee also dictates priorities and procedures on the floor of the House. There is no equivalent committee in the Senate, but the schedule of debate on major legislation is determined by the Majority Police Committee. Debate in the House may be limited and confined to the subject at hand, but there is not such limitation in the Senate, except for the possibility of cloture. This is a seldom-used device, whereby two-thirds of the Senators present vote an end to debate. This is occasionally invoked when a group of Senators employ the filibuster — prolonged, time-consuming talk, designed to delay or prevent a vote on a particular bill. In both the House and Senate, a quorum — more than half the

Iraqis have cooperated with the Palestinians to deliver the weapons across the desert to the guerrillas. At the outbreak of heavy fighting in Jordan, the guerrillas used up almost half of their ammunition during their first day. King Hussein’s troops also moved to cut the desert supply line. The Palestinians pleaded with both the Syrians and the Iraqis to help keep the supply line open. This was the reason, apparently, that the Syrians sent tanks across the border. Their first objective was to prevent Jordanian troops from disrupting the flow of Chinese supplies. Meanwhile, administration officials are privately taking credit for the pullback of Syrian tanks from Jordan. President Nixon sent the Kremlin a stiff note warning that the Syrian invasion of Jordan could lead to grave consequences. Pentagon strategists say privately, however, that our stern note probably wasn’t nearly as effective as the massing of Israeli tanks on the Syrian border. Iraeli actions apparently have more effect than our words. RETURNING HIJACKERS The Swiss Embassy quietly arranged the return of Robert Labadie, the first hijacker who has been returned by Cuba to the United States. Cubans are concerned over the hijacked airliners that keep landing in Havana and fear they would be blamed in case the innocent passengers were endangered. Most of the hijackers are also misfits, criminals and psychotics whom the Cubans don’t want. However, a few of the hijackers have been Cuban agents in need of a quick escape from Latin American countries. Now that the ice has been broken, State Department officials expect Cuba will start returning more hijackers — but strictly on a selective basis.

members of the chamber — must technically be present to transact business. However, regardless of how many members are present, a quorum customarily is assumed to be present until the assumption is challenged on the floor and a roll call is demanded. Thus, it is not uncommon to see only a few Senators or Congressmen discussing a bill on the floor. The House now uses four types of votes — the voice vote; the division vote, with members rising for or against the measure; the teller vote, by which members simply file down the aisles and are counted by tellers as being for or against the measure; and the roll call vote, which publicly establishes the individual member’s vote. In the near future, however, the House may have only three types of votes. Critics have opposed the teller vote for many years, since it permits Congressmen to avoid being recorded as for or against a measure. Just recently, the House voted to abolish this secret form of voting, but action is still pending on the bill in the Senate. The Senate uses only the roll call vote, the voice vote, and a form of voting known as “unanimous consent,” whereby a measure is assumed to pass only if a member voices his or her objection. All votes on bills require a simple majority, except those on impeachment and<on overriding a presidential veto, which require a two-thirds majority. Either the House or Senate by a simple majority vote can return a bill to committee for further study." When either the House or Senate passes a bill first, it immediately sends it to the other chamber. There it receives similar treatment in committee and on the floor. Serious disagreements are usually settled in a conference committee, composed of members of whichever House and Senate committees originally handles the legislation. In attempting to reach a compromise, the conferees may alter the bill from the form in which it was passed by their chamber, but not so that it includes a provision which was absent from both bills. Once agreement is reached by the conferees, the two chambers vote on the compromise bill, and if the final version is approved, it is then sent to the President to be signed into law.

By JACK ANDERSON