Polk County Enterprise (Livingston, Tex.), Vol. 101, No. 76, Ed. 1 Sunday, September 18, 1983 Page: 4 of 28
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PAGE 4A-THE FOLK COUNTY ENTERPRISE, SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 18,1983
Editorial
Makes sense
State Capital Highlights
Mattox begins own probe
There was an outburst of righteous anger in
some quarters recently when the American Bar
Association adopted a new rule on the confiden-
tiality of the lawyer-client relationship. The
outrage was unjustified.
Watergate delivered a deep insult to the public
image of lawyers. A president, himself a lawyer,
called on the services of a number of other
lawyers to conduct a secret conspiracy in the
White House to obstruct the administration of
justice, and they almost got away with it.
But, in the end, the president and his men were
all discovered. They paid the penalty. The system
worked. The more reason to beware of overreac-
tion to change the system in the wake of
Watergate.
Crooked lawyers have been and always will be a
problem for the bar and the courts. There are
already well-established ways to discipline them,
not always working as promptly and as certainly
as would be desirable but still effective.
The great majority of lawyers are honest, and
they need the privilege of confidentiality if they
are to do their job. They must have their clients;
trust and confidence. They must have the
privilege to refuse to answer questions about their
private conversations, just as do doctors and
pastors and news reporters.
It was proposed by some state bars that lawyers
would not have to keep any client’s guilty secret,
if a lawyer knew of an ongoing fraud, for example.
That would have been unworkable.
The ABA adopted a rule that requires attorneys
to blow the police whistle whenever they have
good reason to believe a crime of violence is about
to be committed by their client. The rule makes
clear that no lawyer can knowingly connive, as
White House lawyers did, in the commission of a
crime and must resign if he feels his advice is be-
ing used to commit a continuing fraud. But it
neither requires nor permits lawyers to go to the
authorities whenever they think their clients may
intend to pursue a criminal course not involving
“imminent death or substantial bodily harm.”
That ethical compromise is reasonable and
reassuring.
AUSTIN-EmbatUed Texas Attorney
General Jim Mattox, himself the target
of a grand jury investigation, is ap-
parently conducting his own probe of
the panel’s district attorney.
Records revealed last week that Mat-
tox’s top aide has obtained financial
disclosure reports from 1973-78 for then-
State Rep. Ronnie Earle, now the DA
investigating Mattox.
Mattox said the aide, Tom Green
ordered the financial statements on his
own. Green did not comment.
‘‘When somebody’s being in-
vestigated, the first thing they do is in-
vestigate the investigator,” Earle said,
adding he has been the subject of such
close scrutiny since taking office.
An interesting twist to this probe-
counter-probe is that Earle charged
himself last March with failing to file a
disclosure on time, and he fined himself
and paid $212.
His voluntary action came on the
heels of a similar plea and fine by
House Speaker Gib Lewis.
The probe seeks to find whether Mat-
tox properly reported an ‘83 primary
pnmpaign loan. A Seattle bank loan to
Mattox’s brother and sister during that
period is questionable in the jury’s
eyes.
Green appeared before the grand
jury last week, the eighth Mattox staf-
fer to do so, and denied he <
m w w w, -w-J he ordered staff
to rewnarrh the confidentiality of loan
documents under Washington law.
Old Grata
A host of Texas officials, including
Gov. Mark White and West Texas State
Sen. Bill Sims are asking the federal
government to release deteriorating
com stored during the Soviet grain em-
bargo to feed drought-stricken herds.
White said he and Sims may take
some West Texas ranchers to
Washington, D.C. to explain that even if
rains come to parched ranges, it is too
late to help grow gran.
The pair is talking about com that is
unfit for human coosumptifln. Mean-
while, the cost of grain has rtMh
because of the federal payment-in-kind
program which was intended to reduce
By lyndell Williams
crop yield.
Inflation, Votes
The White House has some valid
hopes that the PK program will
stabilize the farm and ranch, and the
g«mUe on releasing the grain is
whether it will subvert the market
price.
Ranchers have been liquidating
herds for some days now, and word
from some is that liquidation is eating
more and more into their equity.
Ever-humorous Texas Agriculture
Commissioner Jim Hightower didn’t
miss any chances to dig at the Reagan
Administration last week: “Reagan’s
idea of a good farm program is Hee
Haw’.”
Mauro, Gas Sales
Land Commissioner Garry Mauro,
who two weeto ago ch^ an historic
week he is considering offering a
similar deal to Corpus Christi.
SINCE THE
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Letters to the editor
Mauro expects the San Antonio ar-
rangement to save ratepayers there
about $3.6 million a year, and the Cor-
pus Christi deal could save consumers
thousands of dollars.
As Land Commissioner, Mauro has
the option of taking its royalty
payments for wells on state-owned land
either in cash or in gas. He says he can
make more money for the Permanent
School Fund by selling the gas instead
of taking the cash.
Redistricting
The U.S. Justice Department last
week approved changes in the Texas
state senate district lines passed by
senators in the past session.
The approval almost makes it two
down and one to go in the redistricting
package. Three weeks ago the feds ap-
proved the House (dan, and they still
most rule whether to accept the con-
plan.
However, the senate plan was passed
by the Texas Senate but was never
acted on by the House, and the
Associated Republicans of Texas in-
tended to keep challenging it in the
courts. The plan enhances Hispanics’
chances of winning a senator from the
Valley and from Houston.
The plan must be approved by a;
three-judge federal court which has
jurisdiction over the redistricting
lawsuit.
Coming Session
House Speaker Gib Lewis handed out
committee subject assignments last
week, a hint of issues to come in future
sessions. Among the issues Lewis wants
studied and reported back to the full
Legislature are white-collar crime, the
conversion of dosed military bases to
minimum security prisons, the conver-
sion of irrigated farmland to water-
efficient crops of drylands crops, and
development of wine and grape in-
dustries.
Although rumors surface from time
to time that Gov. Mark White intends to
call a special session before 1984 to
raise teacher salaries, no hard
evidence arises. A blueribbon panel stu-
dying the issue has completed its work,
for one thing, and state revenues
haven’t increased enough to avoid a tax
hike for teacher pay.
If White calls a special session to
raise taxes, he is asking legislators to
vote for new taxes only a few short
months before the ‘84 primary elec-
tions. Some observers believe such a
session Would backfire on White.
Petitioners opposed not as much to harvesting of timber from national forests as to methods
1
To the editor:
The residents and landowners of San
Jacinto and adjacent counties are sign-
ing a petition in protest to the clearcut-
ting of our national forest lands.
We are not opposed to the harvesting
of the timber or any other material
needed for the national economy, but
this method of clearcutting the pine and
a small amount of the hardwood and
leaving the rest to be dozed into piles
with large equipment and then burned
is a needless waste of firewood and it
also destroys the natural habitat and
food-producing trees for most game,
wildlife animals and birds, and the
forest area as we once knew it is no
more.
After the land is stripped of what
timber they want, dozed, cleared and
burned, it is then replanted with small
seedling pines by the use of other large
equipment in about 12-foot-square
plots, in rows six feet apart with seedl-
ings six feet apart on each row. It then
ceases to be a natural national forest
and becomes a pine sapling thicket. A
pine forest in itself cannot sustain
wildlife.
This is a needless waste that we ere
asking to be stopped immediately.
This timber could and should be
select cut and harvested with
machinery that will leave the land a
natural forest for the future genera-
tions and we the signers of this petition
are asking that this be attended to im-
mediately.
We also ask that all gates on all roads
and right-of-ways remain unlocked at
all times so the citizens will have access
to their forest to harvest the wild ber-
ries, wild plums, wild grapes, nuts and
gather dead wood and lighting pine
knots that they have need of from their
forest.
At present a privileged few have a
key and have access to the forest and no
Fundraisers need to coordinate collection times
one else knows what goes on behind
those locked gates.
This is an unfair practice and we are
asking that all citizens have equal
rights through these gates.
We, the signers of this petition, are
asking that this be attended to im-
mediately.
I
Rev. Archie D. Jackson
Star Route Box 625
Coldspring
To the editor:
I was dismayed to see this past Satur-
day that both the Kiwanis and the
volunteers of the Livingston Fire
Department were having fundraising
events. I had heard on the radio that the
VFD would be out collecting needed
funds and was prepared to donate.
When I entered the intersection of Hwy.
190 and Hwy. 59 (business) I thought the
gentlemen with the cans collecting
were firepersons. Not so, their cans
said “66” and were for the local
Kiwanis Club's effort to support public
TV.
I’m not speaking for or against public
TV, but I bet that a lot of people who
were going to donate to the VFD were
fooled as was I. It’s hard to believe that
Livingston has grown so large that we
lose track of which group is soliciting
for funds and end up with two important
groups asking for funds on the same
I sincerely hope the firemen got the
necessary financial assistance to con-
tinue their great work.
Lew Vail
P.O.Box 434
Onalaska
Reader urges clean-up of eyesore for festival
To the editor:
Everyone is aware that the Polk
County Foikiife Festival is coming up in
• one month. The people in Livingston
work hard in preparing for this once a
year event. I think it is a shame that an
old burned budding located in a promi-
nent place detracts from the decora-
tions that so many people have worked
so hard to create.
The building I am referring to is
located on West Church Street (Hwy.
190 West), across from the historic
Jonas Davis log cabin and the train.
On Saturday, Sept- 10, 1983, several
Polk County citizens worked extremely
hard to complete the chimney for the
cabin, yet the beautiful site of this log
cabin with a clay chimney is marred by
the presence of this building. Not only is
this building an eyesore, it is also a
hazard to the public. My questions fare:
“Why doesn’t the owner take cane of
this problem? What can the citizens of
Polk County do to remedy this pro-
blem?”
_rj this letter will motivate so-
meone to act and take care of this mat-
ter before the Foikiife Festival.
|
Kathy Stuckey
Route 6 Box 138
Livingston
ALVIN HOLLEY, PUBLISHER
Entered as Second-Class Matter at the Post Office at Livingston, Texas
77361 under the Act of Congress of March 3, 1897.
EDITORIAL DEPARTMENT
Barbara White, Editor
Grace Holman, Family Editor
Beatrice Hall, Special Correspondent
Van Thomas, Sports Editor
Greg Peak, Area News Editor
Don Hendrix, Special Sections Editor
Linda Farber, Darkroom Technician
Paul Fortney, Reporter
PRODUCTION DEPARTMENT
•1983 Cofky !*•*• S** 1""0*
-row
"&L Patient dissatisfied with policy
1 j stSBPtt SSfS
Mfee Sims, Production Supervisor,
Adrian Dunn, David Holley, Paul Holley,
Beamon Goodwin, Jimmie Morris, Ricky Taylor
I have yet to receive an answer from
anyone regarding one simple question.
Why, when a Medicare patient who
finds it necessary to go to the emergen-
cy room of this hospital do they, the
are not admitted. “What check, what
kind of check?’ ”
I have a strong gut feeling that most
of the questions fielded were pre-set
ones, not too many from callers, as pro-
mised. Although Dr. Shukan was the on-
ly m.mb.r FOR, tewaa unable to give
' I asked this same question at the
Tuesday night (Sept. 6) meeting being bragging about for the past three years
held at the city hall and all that I was
Hilda Sylestine, Debbie Gay, Otoe Wyatt, Eve Bowen
CIRCULATION DEPARTMENT
Felicia Fiscal, Debbie Redd,
Elizabeth Villarreal, Emma Robles
ADVERTISING DEPARTMENT
ifiKESSSRS.
Kathy Jordan, Mary Jo Watson, Patty Hankard
BOOKKEEPING DEPARTMENT
received was, “I will check on it” Ibis
came from Robert Finch. This same
question was also asked the morning of
the debate. Although I had dialed the
number given for questions, I had to
caB four times before that question was
asked, and then It was so far out of com
text, no wonder (the moderator) was
unable to ask any of the panelmembers
for an answer. If you do not have a
I am still waiting for the question to
be answered, mainly because I have
first hand knowledge that private
hospitals do accept Medicare patients,
without having to pay cash, or write a
check.
Diane HoOey
SUBSCRIPTION RATB8 - $I8J» per yew, >i cwmty, $UJ> par year, eut
of county. $UJS per year, mt of state. PuMHied eemkweekly, Sunday
and Thanday at M Tyhr St to Uringrion, Texaa by the Polk County
cay person,
be gladly eo
Jeaa K. Brown
111 Hudmaa Drive
ration which may appear hi this newspaper wu
befag brought to the attention of the pubthber.
fa eokumu an thooe of the writer aad not
aeeiseariy thooo of thfa aewspaper.
Optaieao exproMed Is editerlali are 1
J
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White, Barbara. Polk County Enterprise (Livingston, Tex.), Vol. 101, No. 76, Ed. 1 Sunday, September 18, 1983, newspaper, September 18, 1983; Livingston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth788930/m1/4/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Livingston Municipal Library.