The Winkler County News (Kermit, Tex.), Vol. 38, No. 56, Ed. 1 Monday, September 30, 1974 Page: 8 of 25
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Page Eight
The Winkler County News, Kermit, Texas
Monday, September 30, 1974 *
% m&Sg&L 1974
ss HI Ml ★
GOLDEN WEST FREE PRESS, INC. KERMIT, TEXAS
109 S. Poplar Telephone 586-2561
Zip Code 79745
Second class Postage Paid at
Kermit, Texas 79745
M. M. Donosky ..............................Publisher
Bill J. Beckham.............Vice-Pres. and General Manager
Phil Parks.............................Managing Editor
Maud Green...................................Editor
Robert Wingrove ;.........................Sports Editor
Jane Inskeep .......................Advertising Manager
Winnie Spikes ................Composition Superintendent
Marie Butts........................ Circulation Manager
Don Cox .......... .....Press and Camera Superintendent
This newspaper is dedicated to the spirit of civic progress; to the
unification of the townspeople in a common purpose for the
betterment of our community; to our churches, schools and
homes, that Kermit shall ever be a good place in which to live
and rear our children. And, above ail, honesty, decency, justice,
tolerance, faith in Almighty God — These shall be our citadel.
Detente, Prelude
For Crisis
The Soviets and Red Chinese are in agreement on the
meaning of detente. They agree that it is exactly the opposite
of what the Kissinger people tell us it means.
“Under conditions of relaxation of tension we are faced
with a crucial task: To make full use of the opportunities
being opened up for a future' offensive . . .” That’s how
Izvestia in its November 27, 1973 issue explained detente.
“The revolutionary people do not at all believe in so-called
lasting peace or a generation of peace. So long as imperialism
exists, revolution and war are inevitable.” That’s how Chou
Hn-laie explained it to visiting Cambodian Communists.
Meaning, until all the world is under Communist control, so
long as freedom exists, there will be war and revolution.
The fact is, the more of this detente, the more we relax,
the more certain and the more devastating for us will be the
'may / BOPPOW A COP OF GOLD-
BP, / MFAH SUGAP?'
Virginia Payette
crisis that will inevitably follow.
To Depress
An Economy
For want of a button, or a cable, or a stamping; these are
the kinds of shortages that now are shutting down production
lines, causing layoffs and plant closings. Manufacturers lacking
this or that part cannot complete the* product. Incomplete
production is stalled all the way back 'down the line. The other
parts and supplies piling up. And all this must be financed,
which is costly, with interest rates over 12 percent. And the
fixed charges must he paid, for plant, equipment, taxes, etc.
Costs increase until production can get going again; but we’re
not loo concerned until those rising costs boost the prices we
must pay for the finished product.
The rnolders can’t make the knobs when they can’t get
plastic compounds. Steel cable makers haven’t the capacity to
keep up with demands. The steel plants can’t make enough
steel.
Traditionally, producers planned ahead and provided
needed increases in productive capacity. But now pollution
abatement, “safety,” beautification and other requirements
make new plants too expensive; nor is there money available
for investments, while profit margins (profits per dollar of
sales) have been falling. So it just doesn’t pay to increase
productive capacity. But it will cost us all in less goods and
higher prices, and in fewer jobs.
We need to untax increased production, remove the costly
obstacles, for the public good.
in« SMALL
BUSINESS
AS HEARD
BY HEARD
Bureaucracy On the Loose
Perhaps a column devoted to
the interests of small and inde-
pendent business should take
the position that Sears-Roebuck
can take care of itself.
* * *
But the Federal Trade Com-
mission is using the giant mar-
keter as a target to establish
new law that would in the long
run be used to persecute the
smaller merchandiser.
* * *
Basically, the FTC argues
that if a low priced, economy
model sewing machine, or any
other article, is advertised,
sales people must not make un-
favorable comparisons between
the low priced model and ad-
vanced higher price models.
* * *
It is strange that the FTC
seeks to write new law, when
in the opinion of many inde-
pendent business people, it has
failed to enforce the laws that it
is required to enforce. For a
long time the NFIB has point-
ed out that it is at least a vio-
lation of the spirit of the Rob-
inson-Patman Act for a manu-
facturer to sell at a lower price
as a private brand while charg-
ing independent dealers a high-
er price for the manufacturer’s
established brand.
* * *
In the Borden canned milk
case the United States Supreme
Court upheld this doctrine vig-
orously pushed for years by
George Burger Sr., senior vice
president of NFIB.
* * *
But for some strange reason,
the FTC has dropped the ball
and started a witch hunt to
establish new law.
© National Federation of Independent Business
An objective of American
capitalism, before government
started taking a big chunk out
of the national production to
inflate prices, was to provide
everybody with goods and ser-
vices they could afford.
* * *
Obviously, in today’s tax in-
flated economy a $58 sewing
machine is not the finest piece
of equipment available to the
consumer. But to many, it is
either a $58 sewing machine
or no machine.
* * *
But FTC seeks to establish
that a salesman acts illegally to
fully inform that the $58 ma-
chine will not perform in the
same manner as a $150 ma-
chine. Often a customer will
decide she can see her way
clear to afford the extra advan-
tages of a more expensive ma-
chine. In any event, if she buys
the $58 machine, she is under
no illusion of its capabilities.
* * *
FTC, of course, is seeking
to make a case on the h&sis that
the salesmen’s commissions are
a higher priced ma-
the bargain model.
* * *
But any idiot knows that
when a manufacturer produces
what might be termed a strip-
ped down economy model the
margins are short, and the re-
tailer has a limited markup on
which to work.
* * *
The FTC would do well to
enforce the laws it is supposed
to enforce and not try to write
new laws.
more on
chine than
And now for the good news
about the bad times we are
struggling through . . .
(It’s an ill wind and all that,
don’t forget. Unless you work
on Wall Street. And then every
day - seems like - is Friday
the 13th.)
But here and there, if you
work at it, you can find hints
that our current adversity
(parts of it, anyhow) might just
turn out to ,be good for us,
The first thing that comes
to mind is what’s happening on
the highways. Or, to be more
exact, what’s NOT happening.
And that is that people are not
getting killed as fast as
usual.
Traffic deaths hit a 12-year
low over Labor Day, and the
experts say there are two
reasons for this: (1) people
drove four million miles less
than they did last year and (2)
they probably didn’t average
more than 10 miles an hour
over the 55-mile speed limit.
Score one more for
inflation. Families couldn’t
afford to spend the three-day
holiday too far from home;
and the oil crisis (which set fire
to the economy) forced
Congress to legislate lower
speeds to save gas.
There’s an even bigger
bonus in here. In the first seven
months of 1974, automobile
fatalities dropped by a
thousand a month to a rale of
3.4 per 100 million miles
traveled.
That’s the lowest in history
and it means that more than
7,000 people are walking
around now (complaining
about the cost of living) who
wouldn’t even be alive if the
Arabs hadn’t turned greedy.
Then there’s the
supermarket situation. Most
folks are screaming at the
prices they find there, but
nutritionists are not among
them.
Because, as it turns out, the
things that are going up fastest
are the very things that will
eventually kill us off. For what
comfort it’s worth, inflation
may be the saving of us yet.
Take beef. Feed costs so
much our farmers can’t afford
to fatten cattle on grain any
more, so ther’re turning the
critters out to munch on grass.
From now on our steaks will
have less marbling, which
makes them chewier but
reduces the cholesterol, for
which our arteries will thank
us.
The shocking price of sugar
is another plus. And since
Americans have been
consuming an average 102.4
pounds - each - of the sweet
stuff every year, the fact that
it’s supposed to go even higher
can’t be all bad.
Most folks don’t realize how
much sugar there is in all those
boxes, jars and cans they pick
up in grocery stores. It’s a lot;
and that’s one reason the price
tags on those boxes, jars and
cans keep going up.
If they go high enough
customers might stop buying,
which will help their budgets,
hearts, waistlines and blood
pressure.
And you know how doctors
go on about .fried foods.
Hamburgers, french fries,
finger-lickin’ chicken and such.
Well, that problem may be
self-solving, too. Cooking oil
went up a sizzling 60 per cent
last year. And bacon is now
$1.65 a pound. It’s getting so a
body can’),.afford to plug up
the old arteries.
If you’re of a teelotaling
persuasion, here’s some more
good news. That sky-high jump
in sugar is threatening to do
what “revenooers” have been
trying to accomplish for years;
put the moonshiners out of
business.
Seems you can’t whomp up
a batch of kickapoo joy juice
without a mess of sugar. But
now the going price is headed
for $40 per 100-pound sack,
almost four times what it was a
year ago. That means illegal
liquor will soon cost as much
as the legal stuff and it will
hardly pay to break the law.
There’s even a bit of cheer
for the investment counselors.
If they can take the time (and
that’s what they have most of,
right now) the University of
New Mexico is offering a
12-week course in gambling.
Americans now saying we
couldn’t get along without
Kissinger remind me of the
Norwegians who were saying
before War II that they
couldn’t get along without
Quisling.
* * * *
“America’s sickness is
erosion - not of the soil, but
of the morality.”
Tom Anderson
Paul H
News
Human Rites—And Pets
In the face of worldwide human hunger, can we afford to
feed dogs and cats?
You have heard some public suggestions that our pet
population may have to be limited or eliminated, and it you
have a pet you reassured yourself that the suggestion was not
meant to be taken seriously.
Well, the Chicago suburb in which 1 live has already limited
the pet population with an ordinance which decrees no more
than two per family.
So limitation, even eradication of our nation's pet population
is not inconceivable. Before such a notion picks up irresistible
momentum, let’s see if it makes sense.
Around the world there is much hunger and some starvation.
There has been no period in world history when this was not
true. Hunger and starvation arc brought home to us more by
worldwide news media and by the presence in our country of a
multiplicity of organizations with delegations from other
nations.
And we Americans - despite urgent domestic considerations
such as a crop land emergency this year which poses a major
threat to our nation’s precarious economic solvency and tood
shortages and some increasing hunger within the United States
are being pressured to share with other even hungrier nations.
And some of the critics condemn us for buying prepared
food for our dogs and cats “while humans go hungry.”
Television ads lauding the nutritional excellence of pet foods
fuel such fires of resentment against pet owners.
And how does one to whom a pet is tantamount to another
person in the family defend his own rights without sounding
inconsiderate, selfish, cruel?
To those who have never owned a dog or cat, let me try to
explain something. It is true that some animals are cared for
better than some children, but this does not discredit animal
owners — it is an indictment of the neglectful parents.
Indeed, when an animal is mistreated to the extent some
children are mistreated, it becomes a matter of concern to
humane societies and the courts.
Further, very often a dog or cat Fills the emptiness in a
household where a child once was or could not be.
Further, in psychological therapy we have learned that the
presence of a pet - something to be petted - may keep an
individual’s emotionally distressed private world from falling
apart.
But more than any therapeutic justification - more
important than any security consideration - is the precious
privilege which Americans have sought, won and defended to
the death to possess and to do some things “just lor pleasure.”
It may be that some Orwellian future will require that we
take the world into our house and demand that every inch of
earth be plowed and planted in the public flowers.
As most of you probably
know, I was named by my
Senate colleagues to represent
them at a series of conferences
on the national economy
leading up to the President’s
summit conference here in
Washington Sept. 27 and 28.
This past week, I spent one
entire day at the White House
meeting with economists
representing business, labor
and our academic institutions
across the nation at the
opening conference of these
pre-summit meetings. While
there were a variety of
opinions offered, there were a
number of points on which we
found general agreement.
The most important point
which I would like to
emphasize is that the
economists in general agreed
that we do not at this point
face a real full-scale depression.
While there are a myriad of
problems causing our current
economic situation, the United
States economy is hardly
collapsing into chaos, as some
would suggest. I think it
essential that when we talk
about our economy it would
be healthier to stress that there
are 86.3 million Americans, or
94.6 per cent of the available
work force, now gainfully
employed, and on the average
making a higher salary than
ever before. In addition, such
basic industries as steel,
chemicals and paper are
working at full capacity and
producing huge backlogs.
Admittedly, there are weak
spots in our economy. None of
us has to be told that an
economic slump has been
under way since last year. Our
economic growth will be slow
in the immediate future, and
we must face up to the fact
that inflation of around 10 per
cent will be with us for the
remainder of this year, at least.
The current pre-summit
conferences involving every
segment of our national
economy are designed to assist
us in developing some practical
measures we can incorporate to
help cool inflation - an
inflation which is worldwide in
scope.
During the White House
conference last week, there was
general agreement that every
practical effort should be made
to exercise fiscal responsibility
in the federal budget.
Governmental cost increases
compound the financial burden
of the consumer, and do not
increase production. I strongly
support the theory of letting
the individual citizen decide
the degree to which
non-productive price increases
should be imposed. He will cast
his vote in the market place by
the expenditure of his dollar
for goods and services.
The answer is not to be
found in the re-imposition of
wage and price controls. I have
just written a letter to
President Ford emphasizing
that the Congressional intent in
creating the new Council on
Wage and Price Stability was to
establish a forum to monitor
sensitive areas of the economy.
Already some economists
are suggesting that the new
Council can issue wage and
price guidelines for various
sectors of the economy. This is
not what the Council was
created to do. Should it take
such a direction, the next step
would be to use the legislation
as a vehicle to encourage
mandatory controls. It is my
firm belief that the controls of
last year helped create
shortages and dislocations of
products which only fed the
Fires of inflation.
I now believe that the price
bubble brought on by the
controls of a year ago is nearly
behind us. Our economy is
experiencing a period of
adjustment to the free market
mechanism, and if left free to
operate, it will equate supply
and demand and return a sense
of equilibrium to the market
place.
Our White House session of
this past week developed
several short-term suggestions
which I feel will be most
helpful. It was stressed that
there is a need for an all-out
campaign by both business and
labor to increase productivity.
After all, we cannot spend
more than we produce and
hope to hold prices down.
There were suggestions for
more incentives for
investments to increase our
“For all have sinned, and
come short of the glory of
God” (Romans 3:23). Men to-
day scoff at sin. But sin is
real; it is universal; and it is
personal. Although all have
sinned, not all are guilty of
the same sins. Isaiah says
(53:6), “All we like sheep
have gone astray.” Then he
adds, “We have turned every
one to his own way.”
Thank God the verse does
not end there. Guilty though
we be, we may have freedom
from the penalty of our guilt
through Jesus Christ on Whom
God “hath laid the iniquity of
us all.” In other words, Jesus
Christ was our Substitute. The
“wages of sin is death” (Romans
6:23). But “as sin hath
reigned unto death, even so
might grace reign through
righteousness unto eternal life
by Jesus Christ our Lord”
(Romans 5:21). Peter explains
that Christ bore “our sins in
his own body on the tree, that
we, being dead to sins, should
live unto righteousness: by
whose stripes ye were healed”
(I Peters 2:24). This is a
productive capacity to meet
the world demand for goods.
And, while I am on the subject
of the economic session, I wish
to commend Professor Jackson
Grayson, dean of the Southern
Methodist University School of
Business, for his contribution
to that session.
One other very essential
point is the fact that we must
put our own inflationary
problems in a global context. I
have recently returned from
Europe where I discussed the
international economic
problems with finance
ministers from several Western
European nations. It was most
obvious in Europe that in
addition to the “demand-pull”
inflation the world has been
experiencing, the enormous
increase in the price of energy
over a short period of time has
added a critical “cost-push”
factor. Except for West
Germany, the rate of inflation
is much higher in Western
Europe than in the United
States. Like us, they are
experiencing the problem of
agricultural surpluses that have
lowered payments to farmers
while inflation has increased
prices on the market.
Our inflationary problems
must be dealt with collectively
by the major industrial nations
of the world. We are not facing
these problems alone. We
cannot cure all of them alone.
If you believe that what
you don’t know can't hurt
you, it could explain why you„
don’t want to know what the
Communists are up to.
quotation from Isaiah who said
that “he was wounded for our
transgressions, he was bruised
for our iniquities: the chastise-
ment of our peace was upon
him; and with his stripes we
are healed” (53:5).
In Romans 10:13, Paul says
that “whosoever shall call up- *
on the name of the Lord shall
be saved.” The problem to-
day is that not many people
have guilt-consciousness before
God; and, therefore, they do
not call on Him. John says
(1:12), “But as many as re-
ceived him, to them gave he
power to become the sons of
God, even to them that believe
on his name.” Paul asks, “How
then shall they call on him in
whom they have not believed?
And how shall they believe in
him of whom they have not
heard ? And how shall they
hear without a preacher?”
Then he explains, “So then
faith cometh by hearing, and
hearing by the word of God,”
and exclaims, “How beautiful
are the feet of them that
preach the gospel of peace ...”
(Romans 10:14, 15, 17).
Released, by the Gospel Fellowship Association
3 LOOK HT
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BY DB. BOB JONES
BOB JONES University
GREENVILLE, SOUTH CAROLINA 29S14
The Oil Patch by Gordon Bankston
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Red Do You Think You Can Handle This lob? You Put The
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Parks, Phil. The Winkler County News (Kermit, Tex.), Vol. 38, No. 56, Ed. 1 Monday, September 30, 1974, newspaper, September 30, 1974; Kermit, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1034847/m1/8/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Winkler County Library.