The Lexington advertiser. [volume] (Lexington, Miss.) 1904-1985, 1961-01-05
BY Hazel Brannon Smith

Mississippi has another Linda
to carry our fame to the corners
of the world = lovely Linda Joy
Lackey of Forest, who was
crowned Maid of Cotton for 1861
in Memphis Thursday.
The Forest lass follows Lynda
Mead of Natchez, last years
Miss America, as an ambassador
Of good will from America tt
the world.
The University of Mississippi.
added football fame and prestige
in its fine victory over Rics
of Houston and the Southwest
Conference on January 2 in the
Sugar Bowl.
Our young people r acquit-
ting themselves beautifully every
where.
Let US hope some of our mid
dle-aged and old folks will catch
on and adopt the same kind
of attitude and tactics during
1861.
We need a positive approach,
in the New Year. Too long we
have been negative and fear
full, as a people and as a state.
In New Orleans many bust
ness men are glum and concern
ed about the school Indignation
crisis there = not only because
business is down by about 80
per cent, but because of the
general effects upon the people
of the city.
They are resentful also of the
outside interference which pro
voked the strife. They include
in this the Mississippians who
went down to participate in the
Citizens Councils meeting which
stirred the people to fever pitch
and mob action.
New Orleanians bitterly resent
the whole thing and the stock
of Mississippi has never been
lower there.
1t is impossible to justify
meddling in the internal affairs
Of the City of New Orleans or
the state of Louisiana. if we
believe IN states rights and local
self-government, as we profess
to believe.
We have enough to worry
about in Mississippi without de-
liberately borrowing trouble.
The State Sovereignty Com
mission has over-stepped its
authority in donating funds to
a private organization, the Citi-
zens Councils.
The state constitution of Mis-
sissippi clearly says the state
shall not make contributions to
private organizations.
The fact that the Sovereignty
Commission has voted the sum
of $4,000 per month to the Citi-
zens Councils is bad enough =
had members of the Commission
been open about it and announ-
ced their action to the public,
which is footing the bill for the
Commission, the state and now
the Citizens Councils.
But the decision of the Com
mission to make the donations
to the Councils was taken at
a closed meeting (Which means
the press could not be there to
report it to the people, and was
not publicly announced.
The public is now informed
about the matter only because
an inquiring and enterprising
reporter turned UP evidence of
the donations by checking in the
state auditors office; also the
donations, according to our in
formation. began about six
months ago.
This means the Citizens Coun-
ellis have received to date about
$4,000 in taxpayers money -
they had already received an
outright donation of $4,000 sup
posedly for television and radio
programs.
The overwhelming majority of
the people of Mississippi do not
approve of donations of tax
payers money to Citizens Couil-
ellis or any other private or
g~anization.
Or perhaps under Governor
Ross Barnett the Citizens Coun-
Gill is now an arm of state
government?
At any rate, the resentment,
fear and anger that have been
aroused in the average Missis-
sippian by these donations will
one day rebound to the dis
advantage of those who autho-
rized them in defiance of con-
stitutional authority.
We regret that a Holmes
Countian, State Representative
Wilburn Hooker. an organizer of
the Citizens Council in Holmes
County and a member of its
State Executive Committee. is a
member of the Sovereignty
Commission which authorized
the donations.