The Mail-Journal, Volume 8, Number 37, Milford, Kosciusko County, 13 October 1971 — Page 9

'JTla.c i, [ PUBLISHED EVERY WEDNESDAY The Milford Mail (Eat 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

National Newspaper Week

There will be no brass bands and parades to signify the event. But, October 10-16 has been designated as National Newspaper Week. This year, 4 the theme of the week will be “Newspapers — Growing With America.’’ During National Newspaper Week, editors must be forgiven if they blow their own horns a bit. For one week, they can offer rebuttal to the cynics who spend the other 51 weeks disagreeing and finding fault with the news or editorial views of the local newspaper. There are thousands of these newspapers in this country, and they stand, as a symbol of the independence of our citizens. Beyond that, they are the one and only regularly printed record of the daily events in the life of a community. A community without a newspaper is little more than a name on a map or a collection of dry statistics in the archives of some courthouse. Newspapers are the breath of life.

Living Up To Doc Welby

There’s such a thing as too good an image. It’s reported that some doctors are annoyed by the popularity of the nation’s most familiar family doctor, Marcus Welby, M.D., who first gained fame as a movie actor named Robert Young. It seems that having watched Doc Welby’s bedside manner on television, his intense empathy with his patients — yea, his willingness to make house calls even —a lot of people are beginning to expect the same sort of impractical behavior from their own doctors. They didn’t get away with that stuff when surly Ben Casey was around.

Lawrence Welk Tells His 'Wunnerful' Story

By DON FREEMAN Coplev News Service HOLLYWOOD - “My earliest dear memory," writes Lawrence Welk, “is of crawling across the floor of our sod farmhouse toward my father, who was smiling and holding out his accordion. And I can still recall the wonder and delight I felt when be let me press my fingers down on the keys, which were romd and shiny like pearl buttons, and squeeze out a few wavering notes!” Thus a paragraph from “Wunnerful, Wuimerful!” the aptly titled autobiography of Lawrence Welk published .under the Prentice Hall imprint. “With Bernice McGeehan," the byline notes, indicating the source of the professionalism in the writing. But the tone, the heartbeat of the book, is pure Welk, man and bandleader, and it is an extraordinarily sound and revealing book which I should like to recommend unreservedly. Frankly, as a guy whose musical preferences lean more to jazz, I didn’t expect to be quite so taken with the Welk story. One is often compelled to issue curbstone judgment on books by flipping through the pages, by absorbing in a curiously inexplicable way the essence of what lies between the covers. Was this just another superficial show business biography to thumb through? Did I really want to read about Lawrence Welk and his accordion? And yet — from the first paragraph I was swept along as Welk tells about himself, at age 5 or 6, in the hayloft trying to construct a musical instrument out of a box and a few strands of horsehair. With almost total recall, Welk remembers bow it was growing up on a North Dakota farm near the town of Strasburg. The Welks were originally from Alsace-

EDITORIALS

Lorraine and Welk himself spoke German with only a smattering of English until he would leave the farm at 21. Welk tells of earning extra money by trapping squirrels and weasels and skunks for a bounty of two cents a tail wrapped in Bull Durham tobacco bags and sent back to the government office. Slowly, he saved sls and sent away for an accordion, which proved a sorry bargain. After only a few weeks of playing, the instrument fell apart. After , another lengthy period, Welk , put together S2O and sent off for another accordion. This one was no bargain, either, and it fell apart after several weeks. “I finally learned my lesson," Weik writes. “I had worked for months, and saved up $35 in order to buy those two accordions, and neither one of them had been any good. It was a dramatic and painful lesson in the value of the kind of quality and craftsmanship my father had always practiced, and I never forgot it” It was about then, when he was 17, that Welk conceived of a plan. If his father would give htm/S4OO to buy a good accordion, he pledged himself to give him the money he earned playing at farm dances and weddings and festivals. Even more important, he vowed to remain on the farm for the next four years. Welk senior agreed. "Music pulled at me continually,” Welk writes. ■ “Everything about it fascinated me. Some nights 1 saddled up my pony and rode several miles to a dance — I loved to dance almost as much as I loved to play — and by the time I galloped home across the dark and silent prairies, it was dawn and time to start the day’s chores. I’d. feed and harness the horses and dean out the stables... but my mind was still on the music, still on the dancing, still dreaming of the tunes from the night

> -. ' V I l ■ Vj pl While we are reminded, during National Newspaper Week, that these newspapers are “Growing With America’’, it is well also to recall that growth without freedom would mean little — and that newspapers are, in the final analysis, the voices of free men.

In the meantime, as the 23rd annual convention of the American Academy of General Practice got under way in Miami Beach, one of the first orders of business was to vote on a proposed amendment to change the name to The American Academy of Family Physicians. Any guess whose picture is on the cover of the official AAGP program, hands professionally draped in the pockets of his white coat, stethoscope around his neck? Marcus Welby, of course. And Robert Young will be one of the speakers at the convention. Goshen News

before." And so the farm boy became a professional musician, leaving home at 21, a scene described with touching fidelity: “All the rest of the family had returned to their chores but my mother stood out where she could see me as 1 drove down the road ... and whenever I turned around she would withdraw her hands from beneath her white apron and wave both arms in the air. I waved back, until finally I came to a turn in the road. .. and I could see her no more.” There is great humor and nostalgia as Welk re-creates a time and place and the onemghters he would play in places like the Corn Palace in Mitchell, S. D., the Glovera in Grand Island. Neb., the Japanese Gardens in Flandreau, S. D. and King’s Ballroom in Norfolk, Neb. And then, of course, on to the Edgewater Beach Hotel in Chicago and the Aragon Ballroom in Santa Monica and that first telecast on May 2, 1951. It is a fascinating and anecdotal account, an engaging personal history told often as not with a smiling sense of selfdepreciation. Once, when Welk hired another accordion player, the owner of the ballroom was understandably perplexed. “Welk,” he said, "they tell me that this new accordion player plays better than you do!” Welk nodded wisely and replied: “That’s the only kind of musician I hire.” 600-T*ar-old Seed Grew* Into Plant Aseed taken from a6OO-year-old South American rattle necklace has germinated and grown into a plant. The Canna compacts seed was in a necklace taken from a tomb in Argentina. The seed, thought to be the oldest known viable seed, germinated in 1968 and has grown to six feet and flowered, said scientists at Berne University, Switzerland.

'/MOW DO YOU READ THESE TEA LEAVES? o

Know Your Indiana Law By JOHN J. DILLON Attorney at Law

This is a public service aiticle explaining provisions of Indiana law in general terms.

United States Supreme Court

Probably no body of government has so enthralled the scholars and legal researchers as has the United States Supreme Court. The Supreme Court has been able to affect the lives of United States citizens since its initial session on February 1, 1970. With two vacancies presently available to be filled by appointment of the President, renewed interest in the power and history of the Court is evident. Article HI, Section 1 of the United States Constitution establishes the Judicial Department of the United States. This simple section, which contains only 68 words, is the basic foundation upon which all of the great or infamous, or controversial or humane judgments of the Supreme Court have been rendered. The Con-

SPKIAI REPORT FROM WASHINGTON

Nixon Intends To Change The Supreme Court

WASHINGTON — President Nixon has told friends emphatically that he intends to keep his campaign commitment to change the Supreme Court. He will definitely appoint conservative, law-and-order justices to fill the court vacancies. He intends to cite these appointments as evidence that he fulfilled his campaign promises not only to reconstitute the court, but to bring law and order to the nation. He will make the claim that the Supreme Court had to be turned around to change the permissive attitude toward criminals. Ex-President Lyndon Johnson, incidentally. holds Mississippi’s Senator James Eastland largely responsible for creating the Nixon court. In his unpublished memoirs, Johnson tells how he sought to elevate his close friend, former Justice Abe Fortas, to Chief Justice and appoint another crony. Judge Homer Thornberry, to Fortas' seat. Johnson cleared this move with the Southerners in the Senate except for Eastland. Johnson asserts that Eastland held out stubbornly against the move and threatened a last-minute filibuster to block the Fortas-Thornberry nominations. Here is what Johnson says in his unpublished book: “I strongly believed that Eastland had received assurances that if he blocked the Fortas nomination and the Republicans captured the White House a Chief Justice more to his liking would be appointed.” Meanwhile, President Nixon’s changes in the Supreme Court have already brought a shakeup within the inner sanctums. Under farmer Chief Justice Earl Warren, the private sessions were easy and informal. Under Chief Justice Warren Burger, the private sessions have become stilted and formal. First, Burger expresses his opinion, then the other Justices are permitted to speak in turn, according to seniority. Afterward, Burger decides who should write the decisions and issues the assignments on a printed list to each member of the court.

stitution left to the Congress of the United States the job of structuring the Court. It is now composed of nine members, appointed by the President, and confirmed by the Senate, who serve for life. This is based upon the constitutional provision that members of the Supreme Court "shall hold their offices during good behavior.” The number of Justices and their duties have varied through the history of our country. The original Court consisted of six members. At various times, it has had eight members and ten members, depending upon the forces moving in Congress and the President in power who had the right to make appointments to the Supreme Court. Because of the political forces that always swirl around the United States Supreme Court and the

philosophy underlying its decisions. Congress has at various times enlarged or reduced the number of sitting Justices to more nearly reflect the political philosophy of the time. In spite of the fact that the Supreme Court is largely a creature of Congress, it has been able steadfastly to maintain a very strong position as the third body of our tripartite form of government. Early in our history, the Supreme Court seized upon Section 2 of Article 111 of the United States Constitution to state that this document established the original jurisdiction of the Supreme Court and that any act passed by Congress in conflict therewith was unconstitutional. In the hallmark case of Marbury vs Madison, the Court early established its power to declare an act of Congress unconstitutional. It was the future implementation of this decision by the Supreme Court that has given it the broad power to shape not only our legal history, but many social changes in our country. In spite of the fact that the United States Supreme Court has been required to face confrontations with both the President of the United States and the Congress of the United States, it has not faired badly in these ordeals. Only one Justice of

HIS BAILIWICK Earl Warren was friendly and folksy, without the slightest pretentions. Warren Burger, with his pompadour white mane combed back and his black robe flowing, is haughty and high-minded. He has taken over the court’s conference room, where the Justices meet to thrash out their decisions, and has made it part of his own office. He has installed a desk for himself in the conference room, so there can be no mistaking that the Associate Justices come to his bailiwick for their secret discussions. Even more ostentatious, he has ordered a gold carpet rolled out for the jurists to cross as they make their way to the bench. Last year, Burger asked Congress to put up SB,OOO for floor polishers. And he asked for $5,000 to give the Chief Justice a budget for entertaining, for the first time in history. Ex-Chief Justice Warren possessed political skills and a gentle, persuasive manner that enabled him to keep peace among the strong personalities on the nation’s highest court. He worked patiently with his colleagues to get unanimous decisions on the great controversies. In contrast, Chief Justice Burger has been getting highly fragmented decisions out of his colleagues. This is public evidence of the bickering and backbiting that has been going on behind the scenes. Critics say the Warren court, because of its liberal decisions, created a permissive atmosphere and encouraged crime and dissent in the country. Critics fear the Burger court will weaken the jury system, restrict press freedoms and curtail civil rights. ECONOMIC PROBLEMS The finance ministers from the world’s impoverished countries are bitter over President Nixon’s latest economic moves. His weakening of the dollar and imposition of a ten per cent import tax was intended to strengthen the U.S. against other industrialized nations. But the effect was also devastating on many of the poor countries.

Congressional Comer: John Brademas Reports From Washington

Nixon's Economic Program: Most Controversial In Congress

As Congress draws nearer adjournment, the pace here in Washington gets faster and more furious. Considering the issues we have faced recently, it is easy to understand why. None has been more talked about, more written about, or more fought over than the President’s economic program. After eighteen months of waiting, I was pleased when the President decided to take action on the economic front to halt rising inflation and to get the unemployed back to work. All of us in Congress hope his program will get the economy moving again. To achieve these goals, the Revenue Bill of 1971 — which embodies that program in modified form — was passed by a voice vote in the House of Representatives on Wednesday. The bill is far-reaching, and is an improvement on the legislation originally sought by President Nixon; but it is still an imperfect bill in many ways. For example, during the next three years under the bill, individual taxpayers will receive tax cuts of $9.7 billion, while corporations will get almost twice that much in tax breaks. A number of organizations sharply criticized the tax package. Here are some of their reasons: Section I of the bill repeals the seven per cent automobile excise tax. This will certainly be helpful; but of course it will be most helpful to those who can afford a new car this year. And, within million unemployed in this country, there are plenty of Americans who can’t.

the United States Supreme Court has ever been impeached, that was Justice Samuel Chase, and he was acquitted upon trial in the United States Senate. After this acquittal, President Jefferson said impeachment of Justices was a farce and probably would not be tried again. History, of course, proved that President Jefferson was correct. For many years now, the number of Justices has remained the same, and it is probable that Congress will not again change the number of sitting Justices. It is also probable that regardless of the cries made against specific decisions of the United States Supreme Court, its place in our scheme erf government is now so secure it will not be tampered with.

Their finance ministers, during the annual meeting in Washington of the International Monetary Fund, complained privately about Nixon’s sweeping action. Many charged bitterly that the real cause of the world economic crisis was the leadership vacuum in Washington. CUTBACK TOO SHARP For two decades the U.S. has been geared to fight two wars at the same time, one in Europe and one in Asia — plus a smaller, limited action elsewhere. President Nixon ordered a cutback from the two-and-a-half war strategy to a one-and-a-half war strategy. This has brought sharp reductions in the size of our military forces. However, the Joint Chiefs of Staff have now warned the President urgently that the cutbacks have been too deep. They have complained that our forces are still strung out, but have been weakened critically. They have urged the President to bolster the armed services or consolidate them quickly. This would mean pulling our troops not only out in Viet Nam, but out of South Korea, Japan and Western Europe. EX-CONVICTS UNION A group of ex-convicts have formed their own union. They hope to go into prisons and bargain for prisoners' rights in the same manner as a trade union. The new prisoners union, however, is led by agitators who seek to turn it into a political action group. They will use prison abuses as the rallying issue. But they intend to agitate, eventually, for shutting down prisons and freeing the inmates. They will claim that most inmates, particularly blacks, are political prisoners and victims of the system. We'have been investigating prison conditions for several months. Our exposes have brought reforms to prisons at Raiford, Fla., and Chillicothe, Ohio. Conditions in many prisons are intolerable. Yet we found no evidence that the inmates are political prisoners. They have been sentenced strictly for criminal offenses.

INVESTMENT CREDIT A second provision of the bill is a permanent seven per cent investment tax credit for machinery and equipment. Many economists have pointed out to the Committee on Ways and Means that, since only 73 per cent of U.S. industrial capacity is now in use, it is not likely that, with sales down, a company will jump in and start buying new equipment for which it has no need. Some experts contend it would be wiser to take direct steps to increase consumer demand, such as temporary tax credits for individuals, or a tax credit to consumers, than to provide $8 billion next year in tax breaks to corporations. TAX CUTS Thirdly, the bill adopts the Administration’s proposal for a speedup of income tax cuts, and raises the personal exemption for 1971 from $650 to $675. A $25 increase in personal exemptions is better than nothing, but not by much. My main regret is that the economic stimulus this country needs was not concentrated more on this type of tax benefit. For example, we might be better off if we increased the personal exemption immediately by SIOO to $750; or if we postponed the increase in Social Security taxes, which most affect lower and middle income taxpayers. As it presently stands, then, the President’s “New Economic Program” will cost the Federal government S7O billion in lost revenues in the next ten years. It remains to be seen whether the effect of these innovations — especially in the year ahead — will be able to curb the inflation and provide the new jobs that are the principal concern of most, Americans. So, it remains to be seen whether Nixon’s New economics is really good economics. MISHAWAKA GAINS While on the subject of the economy, I want to report that our own local economy was given a shot in the arm this week. On Tuesday it was announced that the AM General Corporation will begin to manufacture passenger buses in its Mishawaka plant. The entrance of AM General into the growing commercial bus market is great news for the local economy.

By JACK ANDERSON