KILPATRICK
Several hundred of the country’s
most devoted conservatives came to
Washington a few days ago for a
Political Action Conference. They
arrived full of conviction, yet troubled
by doubt. They left the same way. It
was a productive conference, but not a
decisive one.
The conservative’s dilemma will be
understood by every husband or wife
who ever has thought seriously of
separation or divorce. To stay, or to go?
Looking at their relationship with the
Republican party, many conservatives
find the union intolerable. They are
restless, dissatisfied, unhappy. Surely,
they say, there must be more to a
happy marriage than this.
Yet, precisely because they are
conservatives, their political instincts
are at war with anything so dramatic
as divorce. It is part of the conservative
nature to defend the status quo against
precipitous change, to bear the ills we
have rather than fly to others that we
know not of. Idealism says go; tradition
HARRISBURG
With Pennsylvania’s jobless rate
reaching the highest levels in more
than a decade, the legislature’s at-
tention is focusing sharply on ways to
cushion unemployment’s impact.
The general assembly’s new session
had barely begun when legislation was
introduced in both the House and the
Senate to eliminate the waiting week
for state jobless benefits.
Long a target of labor criticism, the
waiting week provision requires that a
person must be out of work at least one
week before drawing unemployment
compensation benefits. After the
person has collected a total of four
week’s jobless benefits, he or she then
receives a check covering the waiting
week.
“The theory behind the waiting week
is that a person who is unemployed
should use his own savings to cover the
period right after he loses his job,”
comments Rep. A.J.Valicenti, chief
sponsor of the House Bill and Chairman
EDITORIAL
ep ——
5
Area residents were looking out their
windows Monday and remembering
“flood”. From the high country, the
_melting snow filled the creeks and
tumbled into the Susquehanna Valley
with a surge, raising water levels and
haunting those who remembered the
losses of 1972.
But there were a few who viewed the
Monday rains with hearts light enough
to suggest a big boat for 1975, perhaps
an ‘“‘ark’ in the event worse came to
worse.
We can imagine the governmental
involvement in the project.
Suppose Noah had to worry about the
kind of structures permitted in his
EDITORIAL
Gain
“For what is a man profited, if he
shall gain the whole world, and lose his
own soul?”
The question rings over and over in
our minds as we witness the final
chapters in the history of the Nixon
-administration. The quote is from a
statement by Jesus. to his disciples as
~ recorded in St. Matthew 16:26 but there
may be no better example in the
nation’s history than the story of the
deaprture of a U.S. President, Vice
President, and three top aides from the
center of world power.
And yet the brokers of power have
frequently come to similar defeat and
disgrace. Other U. S. presidents have
found the “power” quickly snatched
from them by death or other -cir-
cumstance,
and pragmatism cry stay.
Let me state my own position clearly
and without equivocation: I waffle.
Part of me-- usually the dominant part
of me -- is pure southern. Likeminded
conservatives will understand.
Politically, we still stand up for
“Dixie”’. We thrill to cries of secession.
Few things are more appealing that to
fight gallantly, even though the cause
be lost, for virtue, for principle, and for
honor. The bugle’s call is music to our
ears.
Alas, we hear other voices also.
These are the cool voices that say to the
hothead, “Don’t, without the most
impelling necessity, make a fool of
yourself.” Third parties are a exercise
in futility; they tend to attract young
amateurs and old prima donnas; they
exhaust themselves in wordy rhetoric;
they invite self-immolation in the flame
of their passionate zeal. Conservatives,
we are told, can accomplish far more
by working within the Republican party
than by rumping off on their own.
of the House Labor Relations Com-
mittee.
“I disagree with that idea, and I
believe it is in direct conflict with the
purpose of the unemployment com-
pensation program--that is, to assist
those who have lost their jobs through
no fault of their own.
“If a person is out of work because of
economic circumstances beyond his
control, he should be eligible for
assistance right away.”
Valicenti said many workers who are
laid off, even for short term periods,
‘simply can’t afford to go even one
week without a check.
“Inflation and underemployment
have eaten away the savings of many
families, so there often is no cushion for
the individual to fall back on,” he said.
He added that passage of the bill ’)h.
b. 413) would ‘‘get money into the hands
of these people right away. It would
therefore not only help the person who
is out of work, but it would help to boost
Most of the participants in last
week’s conference came to the Hotel
Mayflower in the hope they were
coming to Fort Sumter. They hungered
for a call to political arms. Their
grievances with the Republican party
were palpably painful: Nixon,
Watergate, Rockefeller, inflation,
recession, deficit spending. The wounds
of November were still bleeding.
Ronald Reagan had only to raise his
arm -- he had only to cry “Follow me!”
-- to ignite a rebel cause. :
It was not to be. Reagan said
everything they wanted to hear -- ex-
cept for the one thing they wanted most
to hear. Sen. James L. Buckley did not
introduce Reagan as a Lee, or Jackson,
or Beauregard. Buckley described
Reagan as the conservatives’
“Rembrandt,” an allusion that left
them deflated. Clifton White, the old
pro with the Goldwater battle ribbon,
argued against secession. Columnist
Kevin Phillips warned the participants
against the perils of ‘‘overidealism.’”’ In
the state’s economy by increasing the
rate of spending.” Nati
According to state Labor and In-
dustry Department estimates,
elimination of the waiting week would
increase jobless payments by about’
$8million a year. The payments are
made from the state’s unemployment
compensation fund which is financed
mostly by employer contributions and
federal government subsidies.
At the same time Valicenti’s bill was
introduced, the Labor and Industry
Department announced that Penn-
sylvania’s unemployment rate had
reached 7.7 percent, the highest in 14
years. According to Labor Secretary
Paul Smith, the figure translates to
436,000 persons out of work.
The waiting week bill focuses on
those who have been out of work for a
short time. Meanwhile legislation to
help those who have gone without work
for a year or more has been introduced
by Rep. Roland Greenfield.
residential zone? Would he have been
left to drown?
Or suppose his boat required an in-
spection for conformity to federal
standards for passenger vessels. A
wooden craft wouldn’t pass without
special congressional fiat even if
designed by the Almighty himself.
And if you claimed the Almighty was
a “himself”’ and indeed the architect,
yowd have run a foul of equal rights
rulings. Of course the American Civil
Liberties Union would have harrassed
the project throughout it course merely
because of the sectarian implications
and the need to avoid any direct or
indirect public support for such a
project.
Perhaps Noah’s workers would never
the
And time after time, the lesson has
been applied internationally. This year
Haile Selassie, the ‘Lion of Judah’’ and
emporor of Ethiopa, was stripped of
power. Leonid Breshnev seems on the
way out in the Soviet Union, Mao Tse
Tung is rumored to be ineffectual in
China, hampered by illness and age.
There is simply no power in all history
which has not succumbed to the
humanity of defeat, to the limits of his
“‘power’’ and gain.
Except the originator of the quote we
began with. Isn’t it an awesome irony
that the problems of today, social,
political, economic or whatever, seem
to arise when we seem to conflict with
the standards set by that Teacher?
“For what is a man profited...?”
5211 or 825-6848. :
have finished in time for the big flood,
wage and hour limitations having
hampered the construction scif®dule.
Maybe Noah would have been delayed
by a jursidictional dispute with the
adzers against the peggers, or some
such. 3
And then Noah may have become tied
up in a National Labor Relations Board
investigation. After involving con-
siderable time and investment such as
Noah’s legal counsel ( a guy un-
doubtedly named ‘Job’’) the NLRB
discovered they lacked jurisdiction
because each of the builders was
related to the general contractor. Why
that could even happen in 1975.
There would even be a newspaper or
two ready to point out allegations of
“conflict of interest” in the event Noah
did use his sons on the job. And if the
craft were intended for involvement on
interstate waterways, he’d probably
have to comply with Occupational
Safety and Health Act requirements,
list himself as an “Equal Opportunity
Employer’ and fulfill all sorts of other
government requirements.
As a matter of fact, old Noah would
probably have become bogged down in
the beginning, delayed in his attempt to
secure a federal employers number,
A>
VEN
A
the end thay appointed a committee to
make a report. 3
Perhaps this was all that could have
been done, or should have been done.
Plainly, the hostile conservative
presence was not lost on President
Ford. In an interview with the
Washington Star-News, Ford did his
best to defend his own conservative
image. He candidly acknowledged that
without conservative support, the
Republican ticket would have little
chance in 1976. He urged the
disgruntled right to stay with the party.
For the time being, that may be the
sensible course. I am far from certain.
It seems plausible that 122 years ago,
Millard Fillmore was saying to his
disgruntled friends: Stay with the
Whigs. But the Whigs were bankrupt.
They had compromised themselves out
of existence. The party was no longer
an effective mechanism for
electing candidates or promoting ideas.
In the elections of 1854, the newborn
Republicans elected 108 congressman
and 15 senators. Advocates of a new
Republican party had leadership then
Advocates of a new Conservative party
BY REV.CHARLES H. GILBERT
~ It was 63 years ago in September 1912
when I entered Wyoming Seminary, my
introduction to Wyoming Valley. It was
an outstanding journey, a train ride on
the D.L. & W. from Binghamton to
Scranton, then a change to the Nor-
thumberland division. You don’t to to
“Under the present law,” Greenfield
‘said,’ the state provides unem-
ployment benefits up to a maximum of
39 weeks. The Federal government
shares the cost of claims for an ad-
ditional 13 weeks or more when the
unemployment rate exceeds four
percent.
~ ‘“However, in drder to be eligible for
the federal-state supplement, a person
must have been unemployed during the
‘52 week period in which the supplement
was triggered. In effect, there is a one-
year time limit on eligibility for the
federal-state benefits.”
Greenfield says his bill would extend
the period of eligibility to a two year
period, therefore making many more
people eligible for the supplemental
benefits.
“This plan is going to help those who
need assistance most, the long-term
unemployed,” Greenfield said. “Many
of them are now ruled ineligible
because of the brief time limit.”
confused by his filing of IRS form 941’s
every quarter, and on the phone con-
stantly answering calls from em-
ployment agencies ready to supply him
with all the help he needed.
Even if the ark had been completed in
time, the selection of passengers would
have ruined any attempt at a successful
voyage. A draft lottery would be
established to designate the passengers
for the boat. Noah’s sons and daughters
would have had to wait for blood tests to
claim their spouses and probably been
subject to a pre-cruise physical by
NASA physicians.
The ark would have had to consider a
balance of minorities aboard to assure
full representation. Age discrimination
could have become a factor since most
of Noah’s passengers were from the
generation of his offspring. The
animals would likely have been delayed
by Department of Agriculture testing
and quarantine programs.
We doubt that the boat would ever
have made it to Mt. Ararat. The dove
would probably succumb to a U. S.
Army anti-starling crusade or the olive
branch would contain an illegal
pesticide.
The only thing a 1975 Noah could hope
for would be an early rainbow.
gi
ay, Dm
Kingston that way anymore. A one-
horse wagon driven by a student picked
up baggage and took it to the school. It
was unloaded by students who carried
luggage to the rooms in the dormitory,”
first, second, third, fourth floors.
My diaries did not commence until
January: 1913, so I have no written
rocrod of those day-by-day doings and
studies that were to make many ad-
justments and chnages in my ways of
thinking. My memory is quite vivid of
the newness of the sights so different in
a mining region from the greenery of
New York State rural villages. But the
very significance of the signs of mining
at work linked well with one of may
favorite subjects of study, geology.
Recently Catherine joined the
Wymoing Historical and Geological
Society, and the very word in that title
suggested to me the class at Wymoing
Seminary where we studied an in-
troduction to geology, and giology was
an tintoduction to the structure of the
valley itself. On field trips Professor
Traxler explained what we saw of the
layer upon layer of rocks as they out-
in available locations for
study.
We hled some of our class sessions,
for instance, up in the Luzerne gorge,
and picked up pieces of Pocono Red
sandstone, and of gray sandstone. It
was explained that these layers once
were soft mud, and the pressures of
time and upheavals of earth one layer
upon another. We could only imagine
how much pressure and millions of
years could account for the impressions
of tiny fossils: Bringing our attention to
the matter of timing drew. us away
from the six-day period of creation as
being anything other than a poetic
representation of creative mind
compressing age-long processes into
the grasp of the reader of epics like
this.
On another trip we were on the other
side of the valley and noted these same
orders of rock outcropping, and in both
cases the layers were tipped to slant
down under and across the valley to the
simlar outcroppings: At the lower end
is Tilbury Knob at West Nanticoke.
That knob informs us of what has to
happen when old Susquehanna gets
loaded too full for comfort.
It just can’t take all it is carrying
through too narrow confines; it must
back up into whatever space is
available, whether a broad valley or
tributaties not already overcrowded.
As I have often said either to myself or
to whomsoever it may concern: “You,
Olovely river, are not all to be blamed
for flood waters you seem compelled to
dump along your banks (our homes,
our factories, our roadways, please
don’t suggest our sewer systems, if
any!). We must recall the little purling
brooks that feed you with but spoonsful
most of the time, until you can take no
more, for tiny rivulets could take no
more trickles, and have no experience
other tahn dumping it all downhill!”
No one will overlook Campbell’s
Ledge (he may over look from it!)
which seems to guard the entrance into
the valley from the north and west at
Coxton, known to all Lehigh Valley
railroaders for its round house and
exchange area, yards in which tons and
tons of coal were switched from one
switch to another until 0 be
mage into a train a mile or so long and
headed up into the no-coal country.
Some 60 years ago I took a trolley
ride up to West Pittston, corssed the
bridge to North Main Street Pittston,
and then followed until a left hand turn
took me over to the foot of Campbell’s
Ledge. Some giant must have taken
those rock layers and bent them across
his knee and held them there util they
were ready to stay bent as if some
gigantic arthritis pains frbade any
straightening. I went up to the top of
that ledge, I don’t remember just how,
but I have snap shots I took of Coxton
Yards way off down there. -
You could not hire me to try that trip
again, for I don’t do those things any
more! It was good to see how our river
of many crooked ways was guarded
and guided by rock ledges on both
sides. It just had to turn seuth at that
point, for beyond that it could only
wander back and forth, ‘meandering’
it is called when the ramp x river
and not just a tired man or a*uriosity-
driven child.
Back-in 1913 when Billy Sunday was
holding tabernacle campaigns in the
valley, he was quoted as saying in
response to the geological pronoun-
cements about the movements of the
Susquehanna river back and forth in its
land-carving processes we were than
studying: “The Susquehanna River is
just where the Creator put it!”
But Billy Sunday coule not have said
that in the summer of 1972! And ap-
parently many times before. The river
moves -- and if you try to put some rock
or building or graveyard in its way, the
river must move on! So our minds, our
thinking moves on.
About
LE 1
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