The News-Herald from Franklin, Pennsylvania • Page 4

The News-Herald THE PENNSYLVANIA STORY TUESDAY, MARCH 19, 1968 Life-Savers for Elms Vote EDITORIAL By CAROLEE MICHENER By MASON DENISON We have seen it here a tree with one wilted branch is ordered removed because it is dying. The tree has solid wood and the cry goes up among the citizenry "Why wasn't it saved?" But according to the elm experts, it is already beyond saving. The best thing to do is remove it as soon as possible in the hope that the contamination will not spread to other trees. The beetle is recognized as a weak link in the chain of death to the elms, so programs have been set up to eliminate the beetle. DDT came into the pictut.

but it was harmful to wildlife and also dcs only a partial job on saving trees. Mr. Hansel points out that the disease will hit young trees, but these can usually be sprayed the most effectively. When the trees are large it is difficult to conduct a good spray program. Some of the oldest trees in this country are elms, he adds, stating that it has been "survival of the fittest." To Preserve Plant One of the projects emphasized by the elm experts is a need to plant more elm trees and Boy Scouts have been encouraged to work on this project.

Dutch elm disease control ordinances have been urged in communities where elms are prevalent. "To preserve Elms we must plant Elms" is one of the slogans. Pennsylvania, except for the eastern part of the state, has a scattering of elms, not nearly as dense as found in the eastern seaboard New England states, or in Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Michigan. But Franklin has the distinction of two Elm Streets one in the city and the other in Rocky Grove. In addition to the National Audubon Society among the other charter members of the Elm Research organization are Dartmouth College, University of Delaware, University of Notre Dame, Williams College, Wisconsin Arborists Association, the cities of Bridgeport, Elmhurst, 111., Kansas City, St.

Cloud, Utica, N.Y., and Wellesley, plus some professional tree service people including Morrows of Sewickley. 'It is the cancer of the tree world," declares John P. Hansel as he explains the Dutch Elm Disease, which is killing a million elms every year in this country. Mr. Hansel is executive secretary of the Elm Research Institute, which was incorporated in Iowa with Governor Harold E.

Hughes, as honorary chairman, Mr. Hansel, who is not in the tree business as a profession, but rather in the water cooler industry, became interested In finding a solution to the elm disease problem when he became aware of the large numbers of trees that died every year. The result was the formation of Elms Unlimited, which has since joined with the Elm Research Institute with headquarters at 60 West Prospect Waldwick, N. J. "The board of directors of the Elm Research Institute is one of the most distinguished group of tree conservationists ever assembled," declares Mr.

HanseL "Leading research adviser is Curtis May, discoverer of Dutch elm disease in the United States in 1930. Honorary chairman, Governor Hughes, is the first state leader to take up the fight against Dutch elm disease, and he is determined to wage the campaign on a nationwide basis. With this combination of experience and enthusiasm behind it, Elm Research Institute becomes the most important single effort being made to preserve the elm." Bulletin Published Since the spring of 1965 Mr. Hansel has been editor of the Elm Bulletin, which was then put out by Elms Unlimited, and designed to offer authoritative information on the care and preservation of elms. Basically the death knell for elms is laid to a fungus which chokes off the water supply.

Barely visible to the naked eye, the fungus produces vast numbers of microscopic egg-shaped spores embedded in drops of a sticky fluid. The means of transportation of the fungus is a dark brown, hard-shelled beetle about a tenth of an inch long which is known as the elm bark bettle. Its only home is an elm tree and at egg-laying time the female bores into dead or dying wood and lays as many as 100 eggs. When the eggs hatch, the young beetles set out on their own and often carry deadly spores on or in their bodies. They leave the dead wood and head for greener pastures the top branches of a healthy elm.

There they feed on twigs and leaf stems and inadvertently deposit the spores. The spores get into the intricate tubes beneath the bark, producing brown, gumlike substances and literally clog the works the tree's circulation system. A branch at the top of the tree wilts and dies. This is proof enough that the infection is on the move and once it is at that ttage, nothing can stop it. hit targets on what is a view of the Central Highlands in Vietnam.

This is the ultimate in vicarious thrills killing Vietnamese from a hovering helicopter. This is real conditioning for embryo warriors, far more effective than the art of the toy makers. This goes beyond jingoism. It exhibits a lack of conscience. This is an insane Disneyland! Part of a U.

S. Army display at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago is this realistic, self-service war studio. In this news photo a 14-year-old boy is aboard the real "Huey" armed helicopter, firing a 7.62 millimeter machine gun at targets on a backdrop. Visitors to the museum are able to test their marksmanship electronically as they (ED NOTE: Milton J. Shapp, nnsnccessful Democratic candidate for Pennsylvania's governorship in 1966, has been one of the most vocal proponents of taxing utilities: in fact it was one of the issues during his campaign.

At his own expense, time and effort he labored vigorously in behalf of taxing utilities during the presently ended Constitutional Convention. His thoughts on the timely subject are expressed in this guest column at the request of Mason Denison.) By MILTON J. SHAPP HARRISBURG Pennsylvania, alone among the fifty states in the nation, exempts public utility companies from paying taxes on their operating property. This favoritism already costs the state's taxpayers at least $150 million annually. This tax exemption exists despite the fact that Pennsylvania's present Constitution 1874 variety specifies five types of real estate that may be granted exemption from local property taxes, and utility property is not mentioned.

(1) The present Constitution authorizes the Legislature to exempt public property used for public purposes from such taxes. The utilities have fought public ownership as socialism. They would be first to deny that they are public property. (2) The Constitution permits exemption of actual places of religious worship. While the utilities have long been treated as a Sacred Cow in Pennsylvania, th electric utilities generating stations have not yet been consecrated.

(3) Places of burial not used or held for private or corporate profit may be exempted from real estate taxes. Perhaps the utilities know where certain bodies are buried; they may have even interred a few along their rights-of-way to win exemption, for thousands of miles of gas pipe lines have officially been designated as manufacturer's machinery and are exempt from all taxes. (4) The present Constitution exempts institutions of purely public charity. Although Pennsylvania's utilities would have consumers believe that they dispense alms, they have yet to prove that they are charitable organizations. Their annual profits, averaging over 16 per cent on revenues after federal and state taxes, hardly permit them to use the term.

(5) Property owned, occupied and used by veterans organizations is eligible for exemption. The utilities massed an army of lobbyists during the recently-ended Constitutional Convention; they have fought many a war for higher rates, but surely they don't qualify for veteran's benefits! The 1956 State Tax Equalization Board report found: "It is interesting to note that neither Constitutional nor statutory provisions exempt real property of the utilities from local taxes. The traditional practice of exempting public utility property from local taxes in Pennsylvania dates back to an early decision of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court in 1825. Pennsylvania is the only state which exempts property of public utilities from local taxation." The Constitutional Convention seemingly has compounded the existing swindle into a large scale robbery. It has adopted fancy 'Con' language requiring the state to rebate utility gross receipt taxes to local communities in lieu of local real estate taxes which would be assessed by local tax districts at the same rates as other property taxes.

In almost all other states forty to be exact gross receipts taxes are imposed on utility revenues, in addition to taxes collected on utility properties. Under the new Con-Con provisions, Penn-sylvania would gain the distinction of being the only state which would subsidize these local taxes on the utilities through rebates from Commonwealth revenues! The Shafer budget for the next fiscal year projects million in revenues from the utility gross receipts tax. If the amendment proposed by the Con-Con is adopted, the state would be required to rebate at least three times that amount. According to the Governor, the state hasn't any $32 million to spare, let alone three times that amount. The result would be either a reduction of at least $32 millionmore likely $150 million in proposed Commonwealth taxes the utility companies should be paying to our communities.

The plot is complex and difficult for the average citizen engrossed in earning his livelihood to follow. But for certain, the "mellerdramer" staged in Harrisburg means higher sales or other taxes for all citizens and businesses except utilities if the plot reaches its climax through voter approval of Con-Con action on April 23rd. It's time for Pennsylvania's Sacred Cow to give some milk That's why I am going to vote NO April 23rd on the Taxation and State Finance Article. I urge all Pennsylvania voters to do likewise. 22 Years Ago Rose by Any Other Name Garbage collectors asked the Mil- It's an apt title.

New York and Mem- waukee city council for a more dignified phis, both of which recently weathered A newly adopted ordinance now sanitation workers' strikes, are well-aware identifies them as "combustible truck load- of just how combustible such truck load ers can be. THE WASHINGTON MERRY-GO-ROUND Wants Crack At LBJ TO CATCH WATER HOLE WITH TAISHT UDES rooTi iPniAo out By DREW PEARSON STRICTLY PERSONAL Facts and Feelings By SYDNEY HARRIS tificates by Gen. Louis B. Her-shey, director of the National Selective Service System, in recognition of long and faiihful service. ways directed at the subject, and is an expression of a sense of inferiority and inadequacy; thus, also envy is more widespread, more crimes of passion are committed out of jealousy, because it is a crippling blow to one's ego-ideal.

Most of us think of "freedom" as the freedom to do something but nearly everyone possesses such freedom; a much rarer and harder "freedom" in the emotional area is the freedom to cease when satiated, as the alcoholic cannot cease drinking, the libertine cannot cease chasing, the acquisitor cannot cease amassing, the punisher cannot cease chastising, but go to their deaths enslaved by the insatiable. There are, in isolation, virtually no "normal" or "neurotic" impulses, feelings or acts; there are only impulses, feelings and acts that are inappropriate in a given context or situation and we are still far from agreeing on what is "appropriate" in many cases. (It is well to remember that "normal" makes a better adjective than a noun.) Whether children think well of themselvesperhaps the most important ingredient for later success has little to do with looks, size, social position or income level, and almost wholly upon early con-cern and communication and respect from the parents. Far more people are fired from jobs because of interpersonal difficulties than because of technical incompetence. In the decade between 1960 and 1970, fewer than half our youth will have completed high school; of this enormous dropout group, only a small percentage will have left because of intellectual deficienciesthe vast majority drop out because of emotional instability.

Contrary to belief, higher economic status does not help solve personal problems: Of the 20,000 suicides a year in this country, far more are committed by educated middle-and upper-class persons than by the lowest economic groups. What makes the whole field of the emotions so much harder to control in our lives than to grasp from a textbook is the basic postulate that it is impossible to understand others unless we understand ourselves, and we cannot understand ourselves unless we understand others, Perhaps as much as 90 per cent of what we call "lack of physical energy" is really lack of "psychological energy" In that no physical, organic cause can be found for lack of energy in most cases. While envy is always directed at the object that Is, the other man's job, wealth, wife, or looks jealousy is al- MARCn 19, 1946 A son was bom Monday night to Mr. and Mrs. John B.

Cour-son, 207 Pacific at the Franklin Hospital. The Ford Motor Co. announced it would continue producing current models until after Jan. 1, 1947, to prevent production losses usually involved in a model changeover. Miss Doris Engstrom, William Jones, Burke Dorworth and Robert C.

Mong will accompany Mr. and Mrs. Robert E. Mong to Pittsburgh this evening to attend the concert of the Pittsburgh Symphony orchestn. Miss Elizabeth M.

Swyers and Miss Mary Scandlon, clerks of Venango County Selective Service Board No. 1, and Miss Ruth Parker, clerk of the No. 2 Board have been awarded cer 44 YEARS AGO-March 19, 1924 John Duke will give a piano recital in the First Presbyterian Chapel on March 28, under the auspices of the Monday Evening Musical Society. At the ago of 21, Mr. Duke has a record of many successful concert engagements and is one of America's best pianists.

John N. Mark has been nominated for the post of grand warden of the Grand Lodge of Odd Fellows of Pennsylvania. The Misses Cclia and Carrie Bacharach leave tomorrow by automobile for Baltimore, Md. dared to defy the admirals and speak out for a Navy outcast. Alexander had charged that Lt.

Com. Marc Amheiter had been given a raw deal by his superiors, who stripped him of command without a formal hearing and refused hh request for a court martial. In tetaliation, Admiral Moorer took the command of the New Jersey away from Capt. Alexander and transferred him lo an obscure job in Boston. This has resulted in a crucirl delay in getting the battleship in fighting trip.

She should be ready for her sea tests now, but the Alexander controversy ha3 set the schedule back a month. It will now be the middle of the summer before the USS New Jersey finally reaches Vietnam. Capital Chaff George Wallace is trying to induce Ezra Taft Benso: Secretary of Agriculture under Ei-i-nhower, whose son is a top John Birchite, to be his running mate in Wallace's third party race for the Presidency. House Ways and Means Chairman Wilbur Mills has promised early consideration probably within the next month of a bill offered by Congress-nan Lester Wolff of New York, calling upon the United States to require France to be. gin paying up its World War I war debt.

The 50-year-old debt H'jw amounts to close to $7 billion. Chairman Mills strongly favors the Wolff bill, as do nrra than 160 House members, bo-cause of De Gaulle's anti-U S. conduct and his attempt to undermine the American dollar. Pat Jennings, clerk of the House of Representatives, is under fire from House members because of his Napoleonic tactics and the way he has been pushing around patronage employees in Congress. Jennings recently held a "loyalty" meeting of underlings in which he threatened to fire anyone who talked against him.

He also conducts a so-called "leper colony" in a subterranean dungeon of the Longworth building, where several employees, due to be fired at the end of this session of Congress, sort old books and records. Jennings has even forbidden a telephone to be installed in the "leper colony" for personal calls. on the fruits of victory of another man? There are also some political skeletons in the Kennedy closet which Johnson supporters may rattle when the nome calling starts. One of them is the fact that Johnson relied entirely on Kennedy Cabinet members in carrying out policy in Vietnam. It was Dean RusK, Secretary of State, inherited from the Ken-neHv dynasty; Robert McNa.

mara, Secretary of Defense, in. herited from Kennedy: and advisers McGeorge Bundy and Wralt Rostow, also Kennedy holdovers, who guided and formulated the Johnson war plicy in Vietnam. Another skeleton is the fact that it was the late President Kennedy who definitely got the United States committed in Vietnam in September and who as a Senator made speeches urging that the United States actively fight in Vietnam. Prior to September 1961 the United States had kept only 1,000 troops in South Vietnam, ostensibly as "military advisers." Kennedy, stung over his Bay of Pigs fiasco in Cuba and his unsuccessful meeting with Premier Khrushchev in Vienna, and wanting to recoup his prestige, decided to send 18,000 American troops into South Vietnam. This was the beginning of the worst diplomatic and military blunder we have made in this century.

We have been getting in deeper ever since. These skeletons are sure to be rattled if Bobby Kennedy gets into a political slugging match with President Johnson. The Republicans are already beginning to lick their chops in anticipation. Navy Vengeance The Navy, by nutting vengeance ahead of Vietnam, has delayed the recommissioning of the USS New Jersey to be the world's only battleship in service. Navy officers in Vietnam have pleaded that the battleship's big guns are urgently needed to bombard North Vietnamese positions which are out of the range of smaller ships.

But Admiral Thomas Moorer, Chief of Naval Operations, thought it was more important to discipline the New Jersey's skipper, Capt Richard Alexander, who WASHINGTON Two of Bob-by Kennedy's good friends, his brother Teddy and JFK's close adviser, Ted Sorenson, both advised him against trying to do the unprecedented by denying an incumbent President the right to run for re-election. Never before has either party refused to let a President occupying the White House the right to run again, as Bobby now proposes to do with LBJ, However, two factors appear-ed to be more persuasive with Bobby than Sorenson or brother Ted. One was the advice of younger members of his staff; second, the belief that he might not get another crack at the Presidency. If Johnson were defeated by the Republicans and the New Hampshire result convinced Bobby that he would be then it would probably be another eight, possibly twelve or even sixteen years, before a Democrat would have another real chance. Bobby didn't want to wait that long.

In eight to twelve years it would be brother Teddy's turn to make a bid for the White House. What Bobby and youthful friends apparently discounted was the possibility that a Da tile between him. Gene McCarthy, and the President would so em-litter the Democratic party that the only winner would be Richard Nixon. If the Kennedy millions, backed by such party bosses as California Speaker Jess Unruh, succeed in crushing the poorly financed, youth sponsored peace campaign of Sen. Gene McCarthy, the anti Kennedy resentment will become intense.

Already it's bitter on the part of the youngsters who marched, rang door bells, and licked stamps to put McCarthy across in New Hampshire. Most of them onetime boosters of Bobby's, they now want to know whether family wealth and the Kennedy name should come in to snatch victory away from the man who proved the road to peace in New Hampshire. The Kennedy Crown Does Bobby, they ask, feel that wearing the Kennedy crown gives him the right to cash in BERRY'S WORLD THE NEWS-HERALD Consolidation of TOAVKLTN EVENING NEWS, Established rt. IS, 17t. JAMES B.

BORLAND, nd Uit VENANGO DAILY HERALD. Established Sept. 6. 1900 Consolidated May S. 11.

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Pa. I'M NEA, lac "But if wo DO nominate Rocky, what about cur 'DEATH wistrr.