Sulphur Springs News-Telegram (Sulphur Springs, Tex.), Vol. 101, No. 32, Ed. 1 Wednesday, February 7, 1979 Page: 4 of 28
This newspaper is part of the collection entitled: Hopkins County Area Newspapers and was provided to The Portal to Texas History by the Hopkins County Genealogical Society.
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j 4—THE NEWS-TELEGRAM. Sulphur Springs, Texas, Wednesday, Feb. 7, 1979.
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forum
Jack Anderson
-»«i'
:»1 iu
in our opinion
t*.
Native citizen earns
flowers for living
- Former Dallas County Judge
W. “ Lew” Sterrett, a native of
mo in Hopkins County, is being
nored by having a massive new
vernmental complex named for
dm.
The $56.7 million new jail and
criminal courts buildings in Dallas
have been officially named the Lew
Sterrett Justice Center,
I For a man who has contributed 52
years of h}8 life to good government,
Judge Sterrett richly deserves the
honor and the token of flowers for
the living during his lifetime.
During the 28 years he served as
Dallas County judge, Lew Sterrett
pjroved a tough, fair leader who
Farmers' siege may be
blow that backfires
Angry farmers are besieging
Washington again this week, using
tractors and other large vehicles in an
effort to bring the capital’s already
tangled traffic to a halt.
The object of the demonstrations
is to call attention to depressed prices
prevailing for many farm products
and to encourage the government to
provide relief.
The farmers are gaining a lot of
attention, all right, but it may not be
the kind they want.
People who have to fight rush
hour traffic jams in big cities tend to
Value added tax idea
just one more burden
There is cause for concern over
stories from Washington regarding
increasing congressional interest in
something called a value added tax.
This is a sophisticated version of
a national sales tax that is widely
used in Europe. It is something that
the United States does not need.
Sales taxes serve as a primary
financing vehicle for most state gov-
ernments and for many municipalities
in this country, while the federal gov-
ernment has largely preempted the
income tax field.
Adding a federal sales tax to the
existing levies would increase con-
sumer costs across the board at a time
Sulphur Springs Needs....
•broader Vocational Education
•More Downtown Parking
•Continued Industrial Development
•A More Prosperous Agriculture
•A City-County Health Unit
when inflation already is the nation’s
top problem.
The unusual complexities of the
value added approach also hold the
promise of one more major paper-
work headache for businesses of all
kinds and one more huge bureaucracy
to shuffle the papers and collect the
booty.
The people have been demonstrat-
ing pretty clearly through their bal-
lots that they want less government
and lower taxes.
Merely stirring the mess around
and dressing it up with a fancy new
name isn’t going to get the job done.
•City Beautification
•A Better Airport
•Minimum Housing Standards Code
•Improved Streets & Drainage
•Cooper Reservoir
■ • ,V-; v* »•„ _ • V . ■ /» , /. - *
China wary of Soviets;
tightens border guard
fought to give the area firm direction
as it grew rapidly to become one
of the nation’s top population centers.
Hopkins County citizens—-many
of whom probably have never met
Judge Sterrett—feel strong friend-
ship bonds with him because of his
local connections. They point to him
as an example that high goals still
are available for people who have
ability and direction regardlegg of the
limited economic backgrounds from
which they were launched.
Lew Sterrett Justice Center. That
has a good ring to it. If the people
who operate the complex in the future
emulate Judge Sterrett it too will be
a credit to Dallas County.
WASHINGTON - The se-
cret cables out of China
contain urgent references
to the habits and migra-
tions of the polar bear. The
cables report that the Chi-
nese are keeping a wary
eye on the somber steppes
of Siberia, now glittering
with the heavy snows of
winter, where the great
white beast looms menac-
ingly.
The polar bear, of
course, is the Chinese eu-
phemism for the Soviet
Union. Its slightest stirr-
ings across the border pro-
duce an instant reaction in
Peking.
There have been isolated
incursions into Chinese ter-
ritory by Soviet patrols.
These are interpreted in
Peking as deliberate pro-
vocations - signals that the
polar bear is in an ugly
temper.
Even more significant
was a January visit to the
Chinese-Mongolian border
area by a delegation of
high-ranking Soviet and
Mongolian officials. The
group included the Soviet
commander of the Tr#n§-
Baikal border area, the
Mongolian military border
chief and the Soviet am-
bassador to Mongolia.
Intelligence reports sug-
gest these Soviet border
moves are intended as a
warning to the Chinese not
to tread on Vietnam. After
the Vietnamese invaded
China’s allies in Cambo-
dia, the Chinese began a
build-up on the Vietnamese
border. This has now sur-
passed 100,000 men, sup-
ported by planes and mis-
siles.
At the same time, the
Chinese are goading the
United States to stand up to
the polar bear. Typical
were the recent comments
of Hao Te-ching, president
of China’s Foreign Affairs
Institute. A confidential
cable from Peking quoted
him as saying:
“The polar bear has a
wild ambition to expand
outward and dominate the
world ... He has a big
appetite but lacks
strength. So he invariably
displays one characteris-
tic : he bullies the weak but
fears the tough ..
“In deciding on a policy
toward the polar bear, you
should not be afraid ...
Fear will make you adopt
an appeasement policy
which will lead to serious
consequences.”
Concluded Hao emphati-
cally: “I say the present
international situation is
very tense. Some people
talk of detente. I don’t see
even its shadow. I say get
rid of detente!”
Vice Premier Teng Hsi-
ao-ping continued the bear-
baiting during his historic
U.S. visit. His outspoken
attacks on the Soviet Union
unnerved U.S. diplomats.
What worries them is the
possibility that Chinese
troops might strike Viet-
nam in retaliation for the
Vietnamese blitz of Cam-
bodia.
This might give the Sovi-
ets the impression that
Teng cleared the attack in
Washington and received
U.S. approval. Teng’s ap-
prehensive hosts took
pains, therefore, to empha-
size that an attack on Viet-
nam would embarrass the
develop short tempers under optimum
conditions, and their wrath boils over
toward anyone who is aggravating
their plight.
Making enemies in wholesale num-
bers usually is not a very good way
of winning friends and influencing
people.
The demonstrating farmers un-
doubtedly were well aware of these
influences before they started their
invasion of Washington. They may
have figured they didn’t have much
to lose by making their presence felt
with maximum impact.
SCI
United States.
Footnote to History: The
events that led to U.S.
recognition of China are
still largely classified. One
breakthrough, according
to a State Department doc-
ument, occurred on July 9,
1978. On that date, Vice
Premier Teng Hsiao-ping
held a frank discussion
with a congressional
group, headed by Rep. Les-
ter Wolff, D-N.Y., in
Peking’s Great Hall of the
People.
The following Sept. 19,
China’s top diplomat in the
U.S., Chai Tse-min, cited
this discussion during a
secret conversation with
President Carter. It was
enough of an opening to
begin the normalization
process. From a confiden-
tial transcript, here are the
highlights of that historic
Peking parley.
Teng cheerfully greeted
the visitors from Capitol
Hill. Turning to Wolff,
Teng remarked: “I believe
you have already come
once to China in 1976.”
Wolff acknowledged the
earlier visit.
“You were fortunate at
that time to meet one of the
most notorious persons in
China -- Chang Chun-
chiao,” said Teng wryly,
referring to the vice pre-
mier who was ousted with
the Gang of Four. “Chang
Chun-chiao was such a re-
markable person that the
Gang of Four created a
Chang Chun-chiao theory
to replace Mao Tse-tung
thought.”
Smiling, Wolff replied:
“After having met Chang
Chun-chiao, we never
thought that we would
have the opportunity to
meet you.”
“It is a pity,” said Teng,
“that you are not going to
meet as famous a -person
as Chang Chun-chiao, only
an old soldier. I spent half
of my life in war.”
United Feature Syndicate, Inc.
30,000 Unpaid Volunteers
To Help Explain Income Tax
What a pleasant surprise to
learn that the good citizens of
Hopkins County, which hap-
pens to include my mother and
father-in-law, had obtained the
services of ex-Dallas County
Sheriff Clarence Jones. Sheriff
Tittle is to be highly com-
mended for recognizing the
rare opportunity of adding a
man of Mr. Jones’ vast talent to
a small county sheriff’s
department and for quickly
acting accordingly.
During Mr. Jones’ tenure as
sheriff of Dallas County, I
worked in Dallas as an in-
Jones praised
surance fraud investigator. I
became well acquainted with
Mr. Jones’ department and
found both he and his em-
ployees ever ready to help
place wrong-doers behind bars
where they belong.
A hand full of politicians
attempted a smear campaign
against Mr. Jones, but quickly
melted back into the woodwork
when they were unable to prove
even one, single dishonest act
on Mr. Jones’ part.
Congratulations to all you good
Hopkins County folks.
Bob E. Rice
Plano, Texas
The Almanac
i
Looking at national needs
t By Martha Angle and Robert Walters
WASHINGTON (NEA) - Members of Congress, like
retail sales personnel, are expected to pretend that the
constituent-customer is always right. But it ain’t necessar-
ily so.
All too often, John Q. Public is likely to be passionate in
his opinions but parochial in his outlook. His interests and
his perspective are shaped by his own experience. He may
acknowledge the possibility that people elsewhere in the
country — not to mention the world .— have problems
different from his own, but he doesn't much care.
His one question for his congressman is “What have you
done for me lately?”
IN WASHINGTON
Martha Angle and
Robert Walters
Unfortunately for the nation as a whole, entirely too
many members of Congress — especially in the House —
now spend the bulk of their time trying to answer that
question to the satisfaction of enough constituents to insure
a return ticket to Washington at the next election.
They use most if not all their official allowance to hire
“caseworkers" to track ’down constituent Social Security
water
they whip off a
questionnaire soliciting constituent opinions on how they
should vote. They scour the mail, race home every
weekend and “vote the district.”
They become, in other words, “Mr. Fix-its” for the
people in their own districts, not national legislators
balancing the interests of all Americans, as the Founding
Fathers originally intended.
“I'm afraid we’re getting too many people in Congress
whose sole aim is to get re-elected,” conceded Rep. Paul
Simon, D-Ill., one of the most effective and conscientious
members of the House.
Simon, now serving his third term from the 24th District
in southern Illinois, has felt the pressures so many of his
colleagues succumb to. But he has quietly resisted them.
I>ast fall, for instance, one newspaper in his district
endorsed Simon for re-election but grumped about his
“straying towards world politics,” suggesting his average
constituent "believes there are more than enough prob-
lems in Southern Illinois to keep a legislator busy.”
Instead of apologizing for his service as a U.S. delegate
to the United Nations, or for his work on problems of world
hunger, Simon carefully and patiently wrote a column for
all the newspapers in his district explaining why the rest of
the world matters to Southern Illinois.
He reminded his constituents, many of whom live in
rural areas, that one out of two acres under cultivation in
Illinois produces food for export to other countries; that in
the southern third of the state, some 15,600 jobs are directly
related to manufacturing export goods; that inflation is
affected by the unfavorable U.S. balance of trade with
other countries; that world hunger contributes to interna-
tional tensions.
It wasn’t the first such column that Simon, a former
newspaper publisher, has written for his constituents. And
it won't be the last. He is one congressman who takes his
leadership responsibilities seriously, and that includes the
responsibility to educate his constituents.
Nor is Siipon alone. There are other members of the
House and Senate equally disturbed by the tide of
parochialism, single-interest politics and “me-first” rhe-
toric now washing over Capitol Hill.
They are by no means indifferent to the needs and wishes
of their own constituents. On. the contrary, most are
assiduous in performing casework and pursuing federal
largesse for their districts. But they do not stop there.
The best members of Congress .acknowledge their
responsibility to look beyond the borders of their own
districts, their own states, to the problems and needs of the
nation as a whole.
• NEWSPAPER ENTERPRISE ASSN. I
By The Associated Press
Today is Wednesday, Feb. 7,
the 38th day of 1979. There are
327 days left in the year.
Today’s highlight in history:
On this date in 1945,
President Franklin Roosevelt,
British Prime Minister Winston
Churchill and Soviet Premier
Joseph Stalin were meeting at
Yalta on the Black Sea to shape
the postrwar future.
On this date:
In 1778, Daniel Boone and 27
other pioneers were captured
by Indians at Blue Lick, Ky.
In 1812, the English author,
Charles Dickens, was bom in
Portsmouth, England.
In 1904, a fire virtually wiped
out downtown Baltimore.
Berry's World
O.ltn by NEA. Inc
\nd over here, our satellite photo shows
ore mud slides in California. ”
EDITOR’S NOTE - Follow-
ing is the third in a series of
five articles entitled “Coping
With Your Income Tax.” They
were written to help taxpayers
prepare their 1978 tax returns.
By R. GREGORY NOKES
Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) - Thou-
sands of volunteers will help re-
tired and low-income people
with their tax returns this year,
while the Internal Revenue
Service will give advice to mil-
lions of other taxpayers.
The IRS has trained 30,000
persons to staff booths and li-
braries, schools, fire stations
and other public buildings to
help out people with special
needs.
These unpaid volunteers will
also go to nursing homes, hos-
pitals and retirement commu-
nities from January through
April. They will concentrate on
helping with problems that
frequently arise for elderly and
low-income taxpayers.
For example, many low-in-
come persons are unaware they
may be eligible for the earned
income credit, a cash payment
of up to $400 for poor working
families. It may be available to
families earning less than $8,-
000 a year even if they had no
taxes withheld.
A special problem for the el-
derly is confusion over the vari-
ety of regulations concerning
income from pensions, life in-
surance payments and other
annuities. The formula for com-
puting a retirement tax credit
for some people can be difficult
to comphrehend.
Although the tax booklets
that are sent with the tax
forms include instructions on
treatment of such things as
pension income and the earned
income credit, the IRS knows
that many people want help
with their computations or have
questions that are not clearly
answered in the written instruc-
tions.
The IRS last year answered
more than 17 million phone in-
quiries, 38,000 letters and
helped more than 6 million
people who sought help in IRS
offices.
Toll-free numbers for the IRS
are included in the tax instruc-
tions mailed out to taxpayers.
Most taxpayers should have re-
ceived their tax forms in the
mail by the end of the year.
&4im,
VM
IRS
But tax forms and instructions
are also available at most
banks and post offices.
The IRS is providing special
information for people whose
primary language is not Eng-
lish. It publishes instruction
booklets in Spanish, although it
has no plans to publish the
forms in Spanish.
Information is also available
from professional tax preparers
— at a fee, of course. They
processed returns for about 42
percent of taxpayers last year.
But the IRS is trying to make
its forms simple enough that
most taxpayers can figure it out
for themselves.
The wording of the instruc-
tions and tax forms this year
has been simplified so they are
understandable to someone
with an eighth grade education.
The IRS reported that there
were fewer errors last year be-
cause more people were able to
use the 1040A short form.
The short form can be used if
the taxpayer had only wages,
salaries, tips and other employ-
ee compensation and not more
than $400 in interest or $400 in
dividends.
Total income for the short
form must be $20,000 or less, or
$40,000 or less if the taxpayer is
married and filing jointly.
The long form is required if
the taxpayer itemizes deduc-
tions. Taxpayers who claim the
new credits for insulation and
other energy-saving measures
must use the long form.
The government estimates
that about 96 percent of tax-
payers can compute their taxes
from the tax tables that accom-
pany the forms.
,/r-
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Keys, Clarke. Sulphur Springs News-Telegram (Sulphur Springs, Tex.), Vol. 101, No. 32, Ed. 1 Wednesday, February 7, 1979, newspaper, February 7, 1979; Sulphur Springs, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth824796/m1/4/: accessed April 26, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Hopkins County Genealogical Society.