Sulphur Springs News-Telegram (Sulphur Springs, Tex.), Vol. 103, No. 113, Ed. 1 Wednesday, May 13, 1981 Page: 4 of 12
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In our opinion
French voters choose
socialist as leader
Socialist Francois Mitterrand’s elec-
tion as praridM* of France brings to
dole an era of center-right govern-
ment It was his third ran for the
presidency and, at the h*gfa*rfng, he
was accorded little chance of victory
over President Valery Giacard d’Esta-
ing and the big find of other coo-
f Mitterrand, the candidate, has pro-
mised profound economic change in
nance. He proposes fob-expanding
programs. He favors naoonalization of
Several large industries, ft wants
tygher corporate taxes.
While the new French president is
making plans for shaking changes at
home, he Ins indicated a continuity as
foreign affairs are concerned.
l%e French voters, it would appear,
have reversed a trend in America. The
election of Mitterand, in effect, dealt a
blow to more conservative viewpoints.
How die outcome of the election will
touch the United States is not dear at
present, although Reagan aides say
that relations could improve, at least
in the short range.
Mitterand’s views as a socialist dif-
fer from Reagan’s, but both are politi-
cians and they may have to com-
promise on points in die interest of the
free world. Truthfully, there are not
wide margins for maneuvering on
either side of the iron curtain. It is a
limited range if defense postures are to
be maintained.
U.S. savings bonds
entering new era
The 55 mph speed limit
The Reagan administration has taken its first, cautions step
toward ahol rating the 55 mph national speed limit, just as the
1910 Republican platform pledged
The step Transportation Secretary Drew Lewis has taken
may not seem like ranch to yon, hot it’s significant. This year
the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration s budget
includes $24 million to help states enforce the 55 mph law In
the budget for fiscal 1912, starting Oct 1. Lewis has eliminat-
ed that $24 million. Most of that money goes to pay state
police overtime. That means states will have a tougher time
holding down speeders.
Yon can make a strong argument for the 55 mph
has conserved 3 billion to 4 billion gallons of gasoline yearly
limit It
and saved an estimated 45.000 lives since 1974
But the counter-argument is the one you're more likely to
bear at the Federal Highway Administration these days It is
that “driver behavior" varies widely nationally, and depends
THE 115. AND YOU
William Steif
on a
short.
on what part of the country you're driving in A motorist
flat, straight, empty stretch of West Texas road, in s
shouldn't be held to the same standard as one winding through
mountains on the heavily traveled Pennsylvania Turnpike
You can also argue that the national speed limit is a sham
and you would probably find FHWA administrator Rav
Barnhart agrees: Though the law has teeth, no state has ever
lost a dime of federal highway funds because of failure to
enforce it. Westerners like Republican State Sen Gifford
McCorkle of Nevada call the law "blackmail": Sen SI
Hayakawa, R-Calif. has introduced a bill to abolish the law:
state legislatures in Colorado. Connecticut. Idaho. Illinois.
Indiana. Mon Una. Nebraska. Nevada. New Mexico. North
Dakota, Oklahoma and Wyoming are pondering bills to scrap
the 55 mph limit.
The 55 mph law, enacted by Congress in January 1974 as a
temporary" oil crisis measure, required all states to estab-
lish the speed limit and directed the transportation secretary
to cut off federal road funds to sUtes that di^i^comp'y^The
' ttaL^fis^wTai^rtate whose proportion of 55 mph-plus
vehicles exceeded 70 percent would lose 5 percent of federal
road funds. In fiscal 1980. no more than 60 percent of vehicles
were permitted to exceed 55 mph; and in the current year,
only 50 percent, with the penalty remaining at 5 percent
The real crunch comes Oct. 1. The proportion of vehicles
permitted to exceed 55 mph drops to 40 percent and the penal-
ty doubles to 10 percent of federal road funds. In fiscal 1983
and thereafter, no more than 30 percent of vehicles may
exceed the limit. The penalty remains at 10 percent.
That sounds like the law has teeth. But it doesn’t. As a Tex-
as state highway commissioner last year, Barnhart saw his
Sate come close to losing federal road funds. A gimmick
called "optional speedometer variability,” which FHWA per-
mits to let the sUtes adjust their compliance certifications,
got Texas off the hook. .
Similar example: New Mexico last year certified that only
58.4 percent of its vehicles exceeded 55 mph. But the “adjust-
ment" formula had allowed New Mexico a 9 percent varia-
tion. so New Mexico surely was above the 60 percent cutoff
point, and by righU, should have lost federal road funds. It
didn’t
Neither did nine other sUtes: Alabama. Arkansas, Califor-
nia. Missouri, North DakoU, UUh, Vermont and Wisconsin,
which were allowed to use the “adjustment." Other sUtes —
Delaware, Florida, IndUna, Kansas, MinnesoU, Nevada, Ohio,
Wyoming. - were near the cutoff limit last year; this year
they, presumably, will be able to fall back on “optional
speedometer variability .” ,
The question isn’t so much whether or not the 55 mph limit
is sensible bat whether it is a federal problem. In Texas
there’s evidence that someone agrees that 55 mph is a sound
sUndard in many places: Last year Texas police issued
855,032 ciUtions for violating the speed limit That was
exceeded only by California's 983,499 ciUtions. It doubled the
next sUte, Ohio.
The push at the Transportation department now is to get the
feds' noses out of auto speed enforcement. Lewis and
Barnhart appear eager to turn the responsibility back to the
•‘-‘-s. Your opinion — and the opinion of everyone who drives
• — is valuable. Let Ray Barnhart, care of Federal High-
sUtes
a car ^ ____,—-------------------------„
way Administration, Washington, D.C. 20590, know how you
feel.
(NEWSPAPER ENTERPRISE ASSN.)
Onfotanrting UJS. Savina Bonds,
many of Han purchaacd during the
World Warn period, are stUl accruing
interest, and mm at a higher rate, ef-
fective May 1.
Bat there may be some area
i wtth old bonds stacked away
t to earn interests on the 40th
The government recently noted that
30MOOU5. Series E bonds sold in 1941
for fail million at a 25 percent dis-
count now have a value of |122J
mflUon. These bends, wUcfc are matur-
& S? »»CTBte?* to draw interest
But the MxraediHBFiMbecomes tax-
able for owners who cash them in;
however, they may exchange them for
other issues and continue to defer
reporting the accrued interest for
federal income tax purposes.
Under the new Senes EE Savings
Bond program, interest rate will climb
to nine percent, compounded semian-
nually, when held to maturity, for
bonds purchased after Ma?l.
There are other rate increases ap-
plicable to UJS. Savings Bonds and
need to be examined by owners to keep
abreast of the conditions.
The demand for UJS. Savings Bonds
remains fairly strong in this area, as
indicated by periodic reports for
Hopkins County and other counties in
the district. They are a good, safe in-
The Almanac
GEN MAXWELL D. TAYLOR
•A City-County Health Unit
•City Beautification
•Enthusiastic Citizens
•Minimum Housing Standards Code
•Improved Streets A Drainage
Today is Wednesday, May 13,
tfae 133rd day of INI. There are
82 days left in the year.
Today** highlight in history:
On May 13, 1107, the first
permanent English settlement
In America was founded in
Jamestown, Va.
On this date:
In 1109, Napoleon
Bonaparte’s forces captured
Vienna.
to 1SK, the last battle of the
CM1 War took place at Palo
Pinto, Tom.
In 19M, Vice President
Richard Nixon’s limousine was
battered wtth rocks hurled by
antl-U.S. demonstrators in
Caracas, Venezuela.
Tim yean ago: Egypt’s war
minister and five other cabinet
members resigned bringing
sweeping political change to
bat country.
Five years ago: Presidential
candidate Jimmy Carter called
for a voluntary moratorium by
all nations on the purchase or
sale of nuclear fuel enrichment
and reprocessing plants.
Hopes and fears for America’s future
Jock Anderson
'Millionaire Marxist' lived high
while Poland's people struggled
By JACK ANDERSON
^WASHINGTON - One of
Poland’s qniet revolution
was the Maiden that Com-
UMdst Party btyshots were
living like czars while the
people were going hangry
The mart flagrant volup-
“ , was
radio and
before
mmw wrwwwi mmmmw wwJH
m prison awaiting trial for
eorraptioa and if the pro-
seeators aae all the evidence
they have ea ten, the trial
shoald bean eye-popper.
Unlike the comical
commissars b “fHnotcfaka,”
Sacsepanski didn’t have to
travel to Gey Pane to be
bred We a life of hedonistic
He had the poor
to flaant Us stolen
b right b front of the
access to his own slaughter-
house, which apparently
produced prime cuts for him
and other party VIPs.
- Various villas made
avaibble to Szczepanski
included a chalet b Poland’s
most exdasive vacation
area; a 23-room palace that
coat $30,000 a year to main-
tain; a safari residence in
Nairobi; a couple of “love
nest” apartments b Warsaw
and a villa complete with
four live-in prostitutes and a
glass-bottomed swimming
pool
- The people’s radio-TV
mogul had three private
airplanes, a helicopter, sev-
en cars and two yachts. Like
m3 cHpiwiiisi eounierpara
Szczepanski foand the
yachts aa expensive luxury.
To equip one of them he
allegedly diverted $10,090
that was supposed to have
bought medicine for a health
- Next to the disgraced
official’s office, invest iga
tors ancoverod 900 cassettes
1 pornographic films, some
f them featuring Polish
and top aides, who had
waxed fat on huge cash
“bonuses,” have been dis-
missed and placed under
hour arrest
The closely held party
record of Szczepanski s
transgressions has been
authenticated by knowledge-
able diplomatic sources and
is in UJS. intelligence fibs.
How much of the lurid evi-
dence will be brought out at
his trial is not clear. The
magnitude of his thievery
may simply be too embar-
rassing for public exposure,
even by a reform govern-
ment that hopes to persuade
the Polish people it is con-
scientiously trying to clean
house.
SNUBBING STROM: The
federal probe into the slay-
ings of black children in
Atlanta has developed politi-
cal overtones, and Sen.
Strom Thurmond, R-S.C.,
isn’t happy about it.
Thurmond was genuinely
concerned shoot the mur-
ders and was among the
first on Capitol Hill to push
for federal aid in the
marathon investigation. Bat
Thurmond is privately
miffed: He feels that Atlanta
Peter Rodino, D-N.J., as leg-
islators who had helped the
city in its attempt to crack
the case.
HALL OF HEROES: Cour-
age has no age limits. Here
are three Americans, old
and young, who risked their
lives to save others. I wel-
come them into this
column’s Hall of Heroes:
-- Sam Washington was 76
when he happened upon the
flaming wreckage of an
overturned automobile in
Prospect Heights, 111. He
first dragged Betty Krug to
safety and then, despite
painful burns, went back and
helped to rescue her 77-
year-old husband, Fred.
- Joanne Betts was only
14 when she gave her life to
save a 9-year-old girl from a
savage attack in an Omaha
park. Seeing the child
stabbed with a steel arrow-
head by a 15-year-old boy,
Joanne unhesitatingly
leaped on his back, enabling
the 9-year-old to escape.
When rescuers arrived, they
found Joanne dead of stab
Gen. Maxwell D. Taylor
discusses U.S. politics, the
press and the nation 's future in
this second of two excerpts
from an American Heritage
interview by Robert S.
Gallagher.
Yea have stated that yea
merry mere about civilian
leaders who are overly
impressed by their own self-
importance overriding mili-
tary judgments than you are
with aay pousible military
challenge to civilian authori-
ty.
. 4 hope I didn’t say it quite
that way. Let me put it this
way: Certainly not since the
Civil War has there been any
identifiable military candi-
date for the man on horse-
back.
I might say, parenthetical-
ly, that you can t find an offi-
cer in the Army today who
even knows how to get on a
horse.
I think civilians would gen-
erally be amazed at how loyal
the military is to the principle
of civilian control and bow
shocked they are when any
suggestion is raised to the
contrary.
On the other hand, our dem-
ocratic system, the rotation of
administrations — which
political party doesn’t matter
— and the rotation of the key
people involved in national
security makes the first year
of any new administration a
time of great danger for the
republic
ment is
complex, and it has wheels
and gears and throttles to
make it go. A new gang comes
in and doesn’t know where to
put in the fuel or how to put
on the brakes.
And furthermore, these
people don’t have experienced
secretaries who have the tele-
phone numbers of the people
who do know.
It’s a terrible time, a very
dangerous period. I think the
Bay of Pigs is perhaps the
most recent and most dramat-
ic indication of what ton hap-
pen when a new administra-
tion comes in.
Yaa have ________
yean that this Batten is not
on
*4
mm
“CIVILIANS WOULD GENERALLY be amaxed at how
loyal the military is to the principle of civilian control and
bow shocked they ore when any suggestion is raised to the
cow truly,” says retired Gen. Maywell Taylor. This photo-
graph was take* as Taylor, then the Army’s chief of staff,
called la 195$ for a five-year, $15 billion modernization
program for his service.
machinery of govern-
tremendonsly
skillful enough in the manipu-
lation of all toe components of
its vast power. Is the United
States making any progress
along these lines?
Not very much. We have let
our military strength decline
and have done nothing to
improve our diplomatic skill
to mobilize our vast economic
power in support of our
national interest.
power or the president may
get contrary advice from his
experts. For a time we’ve
been restrained by the mem-
ory of Vietnam. So we give
the impression of the shackled
giant we read about.
Have yoa ever been tempt-
ed to ran for public office?
Never. That’s just not my
bacon. Nevertheless, I would
say that the greatest need in
*■**«• * gi taicai liCTU m
Why do yon believe Ameri- the country is good men who
ins are reluctant” to me are willing to get into politics,
eir power? A great weakness today is
cam
their power?
It’s hard to say. You can be
reluctant for a lot of reasons.
You can be reluctant
because you’re averse to using
power in principle or because
you don’t know how to use
Berry's World
- Janet Helen McGowan
was also 14 when she braved
an inferno to reacne two
neighbors in their three-sto-
' building in
While her
ASF
- Bacsepenski and his fel-
low libertine* hi the media _ _
reriad so from the exertions Mayor Maynard Jackson neighbors intheir
at health spaa with sauna han’t properly acfcnowl- 7 •Putina. bt
hath* and masseaam - at edged dtoMtttor's help, Kearney, NJ $
state expense. which included lendi*. nether led her
ate* werereportedly caught
00 escape from Poland in
which included sending
i of Ms staff to offer
ty from thstr
first-floor
V1
apartment, the flacky teen-
■Stoke to jet Thomas and
Catharine free an the third
fieri Their ears pa route
MfleBleu. M Janet and the
Kracs jreped thari way To a
wMdew, man fireman raw
iTuMrgfnT- ,
-- O---- " kVUHJf U
that the best of America won’t
seek public service.
There’s a bad aronffa cur-
rently associated with govern-
ment of all sorts. It’s a very
difficult life you obviously
lead here in Washington.
There’s the high cost of
divesting financial interests.
Then there is the fear of being
pilloried publicly as the result
of leaks to the press or expo-
sure by means of the Freedom
of Information act. There are
many reasons.
Yen have seemed quite crit-
ril ef what yoa consider
biased reporting, aot just
agaiast the military bat
ajptast government in gener
Yea, but let me make this
distinction. During World War
U, I would aay that relations
with the pram on the Western
front were vary good. I think
Ike showed fowl judgment in
taking members of the pram
into his confidence on some
jttng^Md never got really
Yoa had the foaling the
prow wm with you They roc-
°iMaed it wm their war jmt
m ranch m it was oars.
to Vtetnum, that chaamd
thou*. We had seme who
W9W ^2riw n0u Ml MflNNT®
what was ping * but rather
to try to mate events hanuan
JxsztxB
Km pummel bus on No
news pages, or were not sup-
posed to and generally didn’t.
Then, on the editorial page,
the newspaper used its power
to influence opinions and
events.
b
That is thoroughly reput-
able, thoroughly understand-
able, thoroughly defensible.
But now almost every
reporter feels be has to be an
investigative reporter uncov-
ering the skulduggery of offi-
cials, and he’s against them.
Doesn’t the press have a
legal obligation to serve as an
inofficial watchdog on
government?
I don’t know that that’s in
the Constitution.
I think that the exposure of
rascals and incompetents is
one of the results that should
come out of good reporting.
The factual reporting of
events also allows the public
to judge the quality of their
elected or appointed officials.
You can’t argue those points.
But in the case of Vietnam
it was really a question of
motivation. There were
reporters in Saigon who boast-
ed openly that they were
going to get (General Paul)
Harkins, for instance. They
were opposed to the way he
carried out government poli-
cy.
I often said when I was U.S.
ambassador there that 1 was
fighting on four fronts: one
against the Viet Cong, one
against Hanoi, one against
Washington and the fourth
against the media.
One consequence of Viet-
nam that is still in the news is
the shift to an all-volunteer
service.
The Joint Chiefs never con-
curred in it. It reached the
military in the Pentagon as a
dosed decision. Their part
was only to implement it.
From the first it had and
still has a fatal flaw. You
can’t support active opera-
tions solely by volunteers.
Long casualty lists have a
way of turning away volun-
teers.
Are yoa still optimistic
about the nation’s fature?
I’m optimistic because we
have the means, we have the
resources, we have the people,
if we can get them in the right
place with the right motiva-
tion.
I do think our political sys-
tem is getting more and more
vulnerable, at least in terms
of its inability to handle very
complex problems. We don't
talk much about it, but Con-
$ross it the moat changed
Institution that affects our
governmental activity.
The domineering old dicta-
tors who ran committees are
gone. Sure, they ware arro-
i*nt, but they did maintain
order and they did get results.
H you could rat six or seven
of those old congressional
toadars together in the White
House and they agreed on
•pmething, the nraMaant knew
De yea ever weeder
*
. •< forarameet it
“■ro* »d goal it will i
•■■'V
■jytoah.
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Keys, Clarke. Sulphur Springs News-Telegram (Sulphur Springs, Tex.), Vol. 103, No. 113, Ed. 1 Wednesday, May 13, 1981, newspaper, May 13, 1981; Sulphur Springs, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth816724/m1/4/: accessed June 15, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Hopkins County Genealogical Society.