The Mail-Journal, Volume 8, Number 41, Milford, Kosciusko County, 10 November 1971 — Page 9

Ilic» If «i I PUBLISHED EVERY WEDNESDAY The Milford Mail (Est. 1888) ;Syracuse-Wawasee 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

Unknown But Honored

We pause just now to pay tribute to America’s Unknown Soldier. He was buried in Arlington National Cemetery on November 11, 1921 — 50 years ago today. He served his country well as many others have done, are going and will continue to do in the future. He is Let's Back Them The majority of the voters in last Tuesday’s town elections in Milford and Syracuse have elected Republican slates to serve us during the coming four years. Those newly elected will take their oath of office on Jahuary 1, 1972. We feel that Democrats and Republicans alike should back those who have been elected. If a townsman does not agree with what the board is doing he has the right 'to and should attend the board’s meetings and voice his opinion. Most boards appreciate hearing from Say It Isn't So One of the most shocking news stories of recent days cited the opinions of two California psychologists that there is nothing in high school and college athletic programs that builds character. The full significance of this study may be brought out as the football season continues, although it may be expected that countless coaches with losing teams will find reason to differ with the conclusions. For generations it has been believed that athletes who tried hard but couldn’t win would still derive something of value from the experience. But now these investigators, who gave an “Athletic Motivation Inventory” test to some 15,000 athletes, claim that those who have success in this field were well-organized and selfdisciplined at the start. They have

Know Your Indiana Law _ Jwm . I" . By JOHN J. DILLON jtfWk Attorney at Law This is a public service aiticle explaining provisions of Indiana law in general terms. . to.

Consumer Protection Division

One of the interesting laws passed by the 1971 Indiana Legislature creates the Division of Consumer Protection within the Office of the Indiana Attorney General. This is a piece of legislation that the writer has advocated for many years. Alt hough many critics of the Act have suggested that it does not give the Attorney General enough power with reference to enforcement. nevertheless it is a tremendous step forward in the area of consumer protection. The main thrust of the Act is that it gives a central place in Indiana for people who feel that they have been improperly treated to make known their position. * The main power given the Consumer Protection Division is to mediate complaints between aggrieved parties. Although this does not sound very forceful, research and experience have indicated that many times a mere hearing of the complaint and pointing out to a seller or a supplier that they are acting improperly brings immediate relief for a consumer The great usefulness of mediation as provided by this Act should, therefore, not be underrated. If mediation fails, the Division is given the power to forward to the appropriate federal or state

EDITORIALS

agency to investigate a complaint and if that agency has enforcement powers, hopefully to commence the necessary action to enforce a remedy far the complaining consumer. The law requires that the complaints be in writing, from a consumer, and concern the broad spectrum of consumer activities such as sales, leases, assignments, repairs or purchases It is required that the consumer relationship must be one of a personal nature and not of a business nature for the Act to apply. U mediation fails and the agency to which the Consumer Protection Division refers the complaint cannot act, then in certain selective cases the Attorney General is empowered to bring certain injunctive actions to prohibit violation of other state laws. Notable in this regard is the new Deceptive Consumer Sales Act which also was passed by the 1971 Legislature and gives the consumer and the Attorney General broad powers to enforce remedies against deceptive sales. This Act also provides that the consumer can bring an action for damages and recover reasonable attorney fees for a deceptive act in a consumer transaction. The important facet of this statute is the fact that

representative of all who have given their lives that we might enjoy the freedoms given us by our forefathers so many years ago. May he continue to rest in peace in the years to come and may America continue its fight for freedom that he and all of the others may not have died in vain. townsmen They do, however, like to hear about the good things they do as well as those things some of the townspeople do not agree with. Remember, no matter who is elected no one is going to agree with everything he or she does all of the time and we all make mistakes. That’s the trouble with being human! So, back your town board and if you are not satisfied with the work they do over the coming four years then it’s your right and duty to elect a new board in the next election. You might even try running for office yourself if you think you could do a better job. challenged the idea that competition has intrinsic value. They claim that success comes to those that are “mentally fit, resilient and strong.” That may be, but the individual who goes out into the world today without some preparation to compete will soon find out that something was lacking in his training. With child labor a thing of the past and millions of boys reaching manhood without ever having done a day’s hard labor, the exercise on the athletic field should be sufficient justification in itseK. If the athletes also learn to compete, they should be better fitted for life, or at least to fight for a better seat in the stands as they shift to the spector group at athletic contests. Nevertheless, coaches with losing seasons will always be likely to insist that this is the year they’re building character. — Daily Oklahoman

though no matter how small the damage involved is in reference to the consumer sales, since the consume- can also recover attorney fees for bringing the action. this will be a very powerful weapon against improper sales. The Consumer Protection Division of the Attorney General's Office is also charged with educating consumers. Since this office will be a central agency to call for any information about deceptive sales practices that are going on about the state, it is very probable that a great service to the consumer will be provided when the Division can inform people all over the state of certain fraudulent or deceptive practices that are currently prevalent. It is fairly obvious that this whole Consumer Protection Division will become an important function of the Indiana Attorney General and it is probable that future Legislatures will augment the power of this office. Copyright 1971 by John J. Dillon You And Social Security Q — I found a check from social security issued in 1968. I had forgotten to cash the check Should I cash the check now or is it too late? A — Social security checks are negotiable at any time. You should cash the check Q — I understand that I can earn 12,400 next year and not lose any social security benefits. Is this true? A— No. The amount of earnings is still $1,680 and will remain the same unless the law is changed. Earnings of over $1,680 will mean some or all benefits must be withheld.

i WJrSf O

CONCEIVED IN LIBERTY Massachusetts Bay Colony Thrives In 1771

Revolution and Evolution The Bicentennial Years Nov. 21 through Nov. 27 Editor's Note: This is one of a series of weekly columns recalling events in the history of the nation, and of the world, 200, 150 and 100 years ago. 1771 — Massachusetts Bay Colony was well established in 1771, and Boston was perhaps the most important city and port in the colonies, even though rivaled by Philadelphia, New York and Charleston. Massachusetts in 1620 had been the site of the second permanent settlement in the area of the 13 colonies, with r Jamestown in Virginia as the first in 1607. The more northerly coast had been explored at least as early as 1602, and mapped in 1614 by Capt. John Smith, who had been instrumental in the Jamestown settlement. The name “Massachusetts”

SPECIAL REPORT FROM WASHINGTON

Exploring Idea Os Giving Housewives Pensions

WASHINGTON — Senate Finance Chairman Russell Long, D-La., is exploring the idea of rewarding housewives for their lifelong labor by granting them equal pension rights. Under the present system, a wife shares her husband’s social security and collects survivor's benefits in case of his death. But she is not eligible for old-age pensions in her own right for a lifetime of housework. Only salaried servants can claim social security benefits for housework. Senator Long believes, in principle, that housewives deserve equal recognition for their work. But he is still stumped over how to finance a housewives’ pension plan. One possibility would be to deduct the wife's social security tax from ho- husband’s salary. Another idea would be to require husbands to pay their wives a weekly wage, from which her social security contribution would be deducted. It might also be possible to pay housewives pensions out of the social security funds, as they are now collected, by merely raising the tax across the board. The basic idea, at least, should win the women’s vote. LACKADAISICAL LOBBYING One reason for the stunning Senate defeat of foreign aid was the lackadaisical lobbying to save it. President Nixon's chief lobbyist, Clark MacGregor, took off for a football game. He didn’t even bother to take a straw vote before he left. He engaged in none of the whip cracking, arm twisting ami political dealing that usually goes on in the cloakrooms before a crucial vote. These tactics had been used earlier to defeat the Cooper-Church amendment, which would have limited appropriations in Southeast Asia strictly far the withdrawal of American forces. Such relentless pressure was brought by the White House against the Cooper-Church amendment that it soured many Senators. The Republican dean, Vermont’s Sen. George Aiken, grumped behind closed doors of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that he

OLOBe - trotter*

was derived from Algonquin Indian words meaning “near the great hill," an apparent reference to the Blue Hills near Quincy, where the Algonquin Indian confederacy centered. 1821 — Charles Taylor Caldwell, representing Transylvania College library in Lexington, Ky., went to Europe with SIOO,OOO to purchase books. While there, he learned of phrenology, a kind of “science” by which the human cranium was charted, with each section taken to be the center within the brain governing special capabilities, or moral or mental qualities. Returning, Caldwell lectured on the subject in Kentucky and throughout the midwest, and helped make phrenology a topic of popular national interest, with much feeling of “bumps" on the head, with a presumption that they indicated special talents and

didn’t like the White House tactics. Senators were particularly annoyed over White House aide Henry Kissinger’s hard-sell pitch against Cooper-Church. Several retaliated by voting against foreign aid. Administration lobbyists, who had relaxed after the Cooper-Church vote, simply were caught napping. Two of them sitting in the gallery almost turned green with disbelief when they finally realized the vote would go against them. And a stunned President Nixon issued a statement from the White House, calling the foreign aid defeat “highly irresponsible.” JUGGLING STATISTICS Past Presidents have tried to manage the news, but President Nixon is the first to manage statistics. There is evidence that the Nixon Administration has juggled statistics to show the economic outlook, crime rate and Viet Nam casualties in a more favorable light. AFLrCIO boss George Meany had growled that the unemployment statistics are being manipulated. First, briefings on unem- „ pioyment figures were cancelled after Labor Secretary James Hodgson called them “hearteniig" but the Bureau of Labor Statistics described them as “mixed.” Then career men, who had been interpreting economic data, were downgraded. This was followed by ending the special reports on unemployment in the nation’s poorest neighborhoods, where the jobless rate is 10.4 per cent. Unknown to Meany, there was another flap inside the Census Bureau over a report entitled, “Poverty Increases by 1,200,000 in 1970.” The two employees who released the report were reprimanded and given notices of suspension. After second thought, the suspensions were dropped. But to prevent future embarrassments, the White House installed a censor at the Census to sugarcoat the statistics. He is James Berger who, since his arrival, has altered reports to make them conform to the Nixon line. He hasn’t changed actual statistics; he has just made sure they are favorably interpreted. As an example of Berger's han-

characteristics. 1871 — Russian fleet of war vessels arrives in New York harbor with the Grand Duke Alexis, son of Tsar Alexander n, for whom a great public reception was held in New York City ... Augustus Saint-Gaudens, born in Ireland but brought to the United States in infancy, to become known later as America's greatest sculptor, gained his first fame this year for statue of Hiawatha, executed in Rom<L but displayed at Saratoga^ N. Y. He worked later primarily in Cornish, N. H. His work was to include an equestrian statue of Gen. William T. Sherman, now standing at Fifth Avenue and 59th Street in New York; the Puritan, in Springfield, Mass.; and a statue of Abraham Lincoln, in Lincoln Park, Chicago. —Robert Desmond

SI HOPE INCHEST

Congressional Comer: John Brademas Reports From Washington

House Votes On Wide Variety Os Measures

Last week was an extraordinarily busy one on Capitol Hill with the House of Representatives voting on a wide variety of measures. In the House we passed bills to provide temporary insurance to •credit unions, treatment to narcotic addicts in prisms and a moratorium on the killing of whales. We also passed an important bill to modernize the Federal Farm Credit System. But unquestionably the most important legislation which the House approved last week was a major Omnibus Education bill covering a wide spectrum of educational activities in the United States. The vote on final passage of the bill was overwhelming, 332 to 38. But that lopsided vote does not reveal how controversial and difficult were many of the issues with which the House was so long and so late wrestling. Indeed the House met until after two o’clock in the morning last Friday in order to complete action on the Omnibus Education measure. Next week I shall report on the most controversial feature of*the bill which provided $1.5 billion for school desegregation. At this point, however. I should like to bring you up to date on two parts of the bill in which I had a particular interest — higher education and educational research. NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF EDUCATION I was especially pleased that the House approved by a substantial margin — nearly sixty votes — my own bill to establish a National Institute of Education. This measure, which was proposed by President Nixon in March of 1970. would create a new Institute in the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare for the purpose of supporting research and development at every level of American education, preschool through post-graduate. The Institute is aimed chiefly at supporting research into new and better ways of teaching and learning, and getting the results into American classrooms. As President Nixon said in proposing the measure last year, “research and development in education has never received enough support to assure reform

diwork, a rough draft of an article about poverty was smuggled to us from Census Bureau files. All references to “poverty” were taken out. The poor are now known as people of “low income." Census Director George Brown was so proud of his semantics that he recommended it for the entire government. In a private letter to the White House, Brown wrote: “It would seem that the term ‘low income’ is more appropriate than the term ‘poverty’ and should be adopted for all federal publications.” The Nixon Administration also wanted to show a drop in crime, which was difficult, since the FBl’s figures showed an alarming increase in crime. But Attorney General John Mitchell simply rewrote the FBl’s handouts. Like Berger, Mitchell didn’t change any figures; he merely juggled them around. With deceptive mathematics, he was able to show a slight decrease in the rate that crime has been soaring. He put the emphasis on this to give the false impression that our streets are now safer. HEADLINES AND FOOTNOTES Soviet Espionage — The Soviets have been concentrating more effort lately upon industrial espionage. They are alarmed over the technological advantage that the U.S., Japan and West Germany have gained over non-military Soviet industry. One reason for this, apparently, is that Soviet military plants operate under such strict secrecy that they dion’t share their discoveries with industrial plants. Cancer Device — While cancer fighters are seeking ways to decrease the tar and nicotine . in cigarettes, Philip Morris had patented a device that would boost the nicotine content of their tobacco. The process not only would increase the nicotine in low-nicotine tobacco but would guarantee to pass the nicotine on to the smoker. At Philip Morris, research director Dr. Helmut Wakeham explained that his company doesn’t intend to use the new nicotine device at present but doesn’t want to be caught short V a ncotine fad develops in the future.

and progress for those who teach and those who learn.” Indeed, although we spend 10 per cent of our defense budget and 5 per cent of our health budget on research and development, we earmark less than one-third of l per cent of our S7O billion annual education expenditure for research, innovation and planned renewal. I am hopeful that when we go to conference with the Senate that the result will be approved of what can be a landmark advance in our effort to lift the quality of American education. ASSISTANCE FOR HIGHER EDUCATION The other part of the bill which was hotly debated on the House floor last week was a measure to provide new forms of assistance for colleges and universities in the United States. In addition to extending and amending a number of programs of Federal assistance to students — the National Defense Student Loan Program, the Educational Opportunity Grant Program, the Guaranteed Student Loan Program, and the College WorkStudy Program — the Higher Education bill approved by the House last week establishes two new programs of aid to institutions. Os the funds appropriated, two-thirds would go directly to colleges and universities on an across-the-board basis, while the other onethird would be distributed based on the number of students receiving loans or scholarships. FARM CREDIT ACT The House also passed last week a major bill, representing over three years of effort, to modernize the Federal Farm Credit System. That system includes twelve Federal Land Banks, 700 Federal Land Bank Associations, thirteen banks for cooperatives, and 440 Production Credit Associations. The effect of the bill would be to expand available credit in rural areas. For the first time the Federal Land Banks and Production Credit Associations will be allowed to make non-farm housing loans in rural areas which are defined as communities of fewer than 2500 inhabitants.

By JACK ANDERSON