F'DtTORIA D OPINIOm PAGE "Wc cannot know where \ we are going if we do not know where we have been. by Bruca Barton I ' An Incredulous reaction to State Superintendent Crmlg Ph Blip's footisb foray Into of David ParneB, and am Sometimes the political season brings out the worst in a man, but 1 have never seen or heard of anything in my life as foolish as State School Superintendent Craig Phill ips' recent foray into Robeson County in support of David ParneB, who is in the fight of his life in attempting to wrest the state senator's seat from incumbent Sam R. Noble. Craig Phillips, the State Superintendent of Public In struction, showed up at a r political ptily for David Par-.. neU on June fi in UmWrtnn and publicly ctM. Vtbe chilr dreotof North Carolina need the strong arm of David Parnell in the state senate; I need him." I almost fainted when I heard of his com ments. . Robeson County. thanks to politicians like David Parnell, has five school systems and some of the lowest competen- ' ? cy scores in North Caroiina. Robeson County also receives little expertise or funding from the county or the state. So much for that. The reason Craig Phillips came to Robeson County, as I see it, was to support Parnell because Sam R. Noble at tempted to stop the funding for the eight regional educa tional centers that seemingly are the apple of Phillips' eye. It worked. ParneB and others saved the centers, in spite of the fact that the North Carolina Association of Edu ' cators think they are wasteful and not needed too. I don't mind Phillips or anyone else supporting Par nell. or any one else they want 1 to, I just don't want them to think I am a country rube to be used and manipulated at will. 1 will vote for whomever I want to, in spite of the foolishness of Craig Phillips and Raz Autry, the superin tendent of the Hoke County Schools, who also showed up to sing ParaeU's praises, possibly for the same reason. 1 say this as forcefully as 1 am able to say it: support him for any reason you want to, Mr. Phillips, but do not come to the county I live in and talk to me about how much education needs David Par nell or any other county politician. That is stretching my credulity a little bit more ?ttms be stretched.n;r,r>iRM nj Remember the . Parfton School situation a few years ago when Parnell attempted by a legislative sleight of hand to take Parkton out of the county system and put it in St. Pauls? Besides, as 1 understand it, David Parnefl's children at tend Robeson Pay School in Red Springs- a private school. Please! Craig Phillips, cut out the nonsense. Our citizens will vote for the person they want to vote for in the state senate race, in spite of your foolish assertions to the con trary. Mr. Phillips, you educate the children, as you were elected to do; we'll elect our own politicians, as we are charged to do. And we don't need any help from you in making up our minds. A NOTE: In all my years in the newspaper business, Phillips' intrusion into our election process is the worst example of politics I have ever seen. I hate to be so blunt but, in this instance, Phillips de serves our disdain and mis trust. Uncovers Old Warrants Against Sheriff, Deputy < To the Ed I Ion Open Latter to Al Citizens ? of (bo Stale of lehsasni During the last few days it has come to my attention through the newspaper the problems and troubles at the Sheriff's Department. As we read in the news papers we see that the crime rate in Robeson County has increased, that one of Stone's own Deputies smoked mari juana while on duty, and an elderly man was assaulted by a man who is now a deputy for Sheriff Hubert Stone. I can expect nothing differ ent from this as I am able to remember beck when Hubert Stone himself was a police man. He. one evening stop ped a vehicle with a Black lady driving near Mr. Miller's place. Upon making his ad rqnoes known she tried to speed away while Policeman Stone opened flee. A warrant wae issued #JOW and'there is a record on file hi the Clerk of Court's Office of ,r Robeson County. Upon hearing this Hubert Stone fled the state. He went to Georgia and Florida, and stayed two years. By the time he returned the warrant had eaphed and was no longer any good. The Crime Against the Black Lady Was Never Brought to Justice. Recently many people read in The Robesonian about all the problems in Hubert Stone's Department. We wit nessed an affidavit signed by seven deputies in the Robe sonian. The affidavit stated that a deputy sheriff had smoked marijuana while on duty. Later we read an article in the Robesonian where Deputy Harold Bell said that he was the deputy that was mentioned in the affidavit. On November 14, 1979 a watrraat for arrest' for assault was served on Deputy Harold BeVby Chief Leroy Freeman. This is public information and is on file in the Robeson *>:?*'w\? -J**-"Hr County Clerk's Office. We end by questioning tit fact should the oath of office for Hubert Stone's deputies be changed so as to include ail these unusual activities which take place in the Sheriff's | Department. A.T. McVlckast lasdaud, WC Is your kitchen short on drawer space? Maka "bou quets" of frequently used utensils like serving spoons and spatulas in fart or jugs on the counter tap. ? made to reproduce the notation of dice on paper. PRIMARY ELECTION SETFORJUNE 29 I A NEWS ANALYSIS This has been an interest ing political season, disturbed end shortened by the justice department's mandate that the general assembly redistrict itself to assure representation by all races in North Carolina. The mandate, and the general assembly's reluctant compliance, caused the traditional May primary date to be set back to June 29. In the meantime, little i politicking was done until the date was set, causing the political season to be a relatively brief one. The Sheriffs Knee has garnered most of the local attention in Robeson County with incumbent Sheriff Hu bert Stone coming under sustained fire by four challen gers, McDuffie Cummings, the Indian town manager for the town of Pembroke; Luther Sanderson, and Jesse Britt, former deputies; and C.A. Brown, Jr., a bondsman. Sheriff Stone has been called on the carpet by his challengers who charge him with the increase in crime, including a number of homi cides which have not been seeming to "be the ffiost serious challenger. Long time Robeson County politicos give Cummings a good chance, especially because of the race factor. Sheriff Stone and Sanderson, Britt and Brown are white. Additionally, Sanderson and Britt are draw ing a lot of the traditional conservative white vote from Stone.The race looks like it might be too dose to call. It is possible that Stone will be bumped off in the primary with the likelihood of a run off being a race between Cum mings and either Sanderson or Britt. Indians and Blacks seem to hold the key to victory in this race. It will be interesting, indeed, to see what happens. The Senate Race is an old fashioned shoot out between incumbent Sam R. Noble and David Parnell. Animosity is real in this race with a considerable amount of it seeming to come from the close relationship between Glenn Maynor, the mayor pro tern for Lumberton and Noble. Maynor toppled the late Hilton Oxendine for Lumber ton City Councilman from the predominately Indian Precinct 1 in 1975. Wounds have never -? healed from this race. Maynor has received the political ire of John Willie Oxendiqe and others for this seeming, to them anyway, affront. Oxen dine, a long time political operative from Saddletree, is siding with Parnell in this race. Maynor. and most of the Indian and Black camp, seems to be siding with Noble. There's more to it than the fact that Maynor beat Oxen dine, of coarse, but that is the starting point of the animosity that seems to be a part of the senate's race between Noble and Parnell, as far as the Indian camp is concerned. We give Noble the edge in this race although many poli tical operatives think it might be too close to call. Parnell seems to have the white conservative vote in hand while Noble is culling his support from liberal whites and Indians Blacks. The senate seat is compris ed of Scotland and Robeson Counties. Who ever wins Robeson County will be the senator. Parnell, who is the senior representative, is giving up his seat to challenge Noble years to 'come in Robe?n County. Instead of the sheflff being the dominant political figure, the state senator is the most powerful office in these parts. Whoever wins will hold the political clout locally for the next two years. The Indians have already won in a sense in this spirited contest between two white conservatives. Both were joc keying in the just completed session of the general assem bly to make sure the Indians were rewarded from the pork barrel allocations which com es with a seat in the General Assembly. Both Parnell and Noble were instrumental in make sure "Strike at t(>e Wind" received $38,000. They even put their heads together and made sure $100,000 was set aside to be used for Indian students in the university system, the only bone of contention being who would allocate the mon ey, the Indian Commission or the UNC Board of Governors. "How sweet it is," noted a local Indian observer. Rep. Charlie Rose is being challenged by Tom Gibson, a very conservative fellow in the 7th Congressional District. Rose, probably the best Con gressman this district has ever sent to Congress, is expected to win this race easily. Public Hearing set . Monday night Re Lumberton Schools Bill The controversial Lumber ton schools road show moves back to Robeson County Monday night to Lumberlon High School where a public hearing will be held in order to finalize the transfer of the Clyburn Pines-Country Gub areas back into the County Schools juristiction from which they were unlawfully taken more than a decade ago. The meeting will be at 7 p.m. and will be held in. the auditorium at Lumberton Senior High School. The public h encouraged to at tend. r ? The fig it eontidorod one of th? MrliMt trw fruitt to bo cultivatod. x D3VI3: Our Most Bastfc. ^ Freedom is THE RIGHT TO CHcUtU By Lew Barton If we were in Ruuu. we would not be allowed to chooae our leaders. Somebody else would make dial choice for us, and we could like it or lump it. But even if we didu't like th*1 choice someone else made for us, we woufttA'l have the right to any so, not publicly, aayfway. In this country, however, each individual has a precious little piece of decision called the vote. And somewhat like a person's viginity, he or she _ can bestow it upon whomever he or she will. Having done that, this person can even go so far as to say it's nobody else's Imbiu who got it. To my way of thinking, a person's vote is just about as personal and sacred as one's virginity. Anyone who cons you out of it is a seducer. And anyone who takes it by intimidation, coersion or threat is a rapist, however cleverly it is done. That's how strongly I feel about that precious little something called the vote. I feel strongly about it because I have reason to. I still remember being "forbidden" to write any more about the Indians by a county official who didn't have sense enough to know he had no such power to forbid any such thing. He remained my enemy until his death because I refused to vote for him. But the way I figured it, the lack of his good will was no great loss. The only thing he knew how to do was obey his political boss. It wasn't the old legally screwed-up system that put Herman Dial in the county seat. He was put there, not because of the old system but in spite of it. He was put there by die people. And that's one of the reasons why I stand by him. I don't believe in throw ing the baby out with the bath water. And I don't believe in ? burning down the ban m order to destroy the rate. He's stood the test of time. He hasn't pressured anybody snd he's still there. I answer to no one but to God, my conscience and my common sense for the way I vote. And my common sense tells me it would be necessary for a rookie commissioner to begin as such and work his way up toward any real influence whereas we already have a seasoned veteran who < has long been trusted with the chairmanship. 1 can't see the good sense of throwing all that away and beginning all over again at the bottom. There is no substitute for experience. 1 know we have good raw material. And the opportunity to develop that younger talent will come. But so long as s batter hits homeruns and has an impressive record for hits, why throw him out of the game? In this country, the law of the land guarantees you the right of a scant ballot. When you go inside that booth, you can vote for anyone you want to. And the only way anyone will realy know who you voted for is if you choose to teD him. It's against die law to inter fere with anyone's right to secrecy. I've declared my choice openly. But I did that by choice. You don't even have to tell anyone who you're going to vote for, not unless you want to. Be assured that your rights of free choice are so impor tant, U.S. Marshalls are available for their protection, if need be. And Federal courts are ready to prosecute viola tions. I would advise anyone to report any threats connect ed with your vote. Like your virginity once did, your vote belongs to you and nobody else. m W?? ^Against 4 Veer Term Dear Editor It is an outrage! A four year term for members of the General As sembly is self-serving and will not benefit the citizens of this state. Our electoral system was designed for the protec tion and safeguard of our citizens not for the conveni ence of the candidates. Senator Sam Ervin, Jr. recently stated: "I believe that a four year term would destroy the ability of the people to rule and would substitute the rule of politici ans. A four year term would be a great mistake and I would urge all North Carolini ans to vote AGAINST Amend ment 1." The State Democratic Party and the State Republican Party are officially on record against Amendment 1 and are urging voters of this state to vote against four year terms for member of the strongest General Assembly in the nation. In the only state in the nation without veto power for the Governor and in the only state in the nation without a provision for recall for mem bers of the General Assembly, it is absolutely essential that we keep the General Assem bly on a short lease and that leash is our present two year term. Our primary check against bad legislation and legislative excesses are the voters of this great state being allowed to utilize their right to vote every two years at die ballot box. I would urge all of the voters of this state to vote AGAINST a four year term. Vote AGAINST Amend ment 1 on Tuesday, June 29th. Sincerely, TMUGUumic Chairman Keep the Two Year t-' ; ?! i Deputy has served time in jail says Reader To the Editor: An Open Letter for the Citizens of Robeson County: Recently I read in the newspaper an article that stated the crime rate in Robeson County has increas ed in the last four years. With this in mind, the thought came to me that you have to have your own house in order before you can hope to correct any particular problem. I am speaking directly to and about Sheriff Hubert Stone. Right now he has employed as a deputy sheriff an indivi dual who has served time in Stone's own county jail. Now you tell me how Hubert Stone can expect to decrease the crime rate in Robeson County when his own house or department is not in order? You ask me how I know these facts? Well, I am the 68 year old victim whose rights were violated in 1979 by this now 30 year old deputy sheriff, Don ald Phillips who served time in the Robeson County jail. I am the reason, certainly not by my own choosing, that his now deputy sheriff had to be put behind bars. i urge the public to take notice of this letter and search thier hearts and come to their own conclusions. Horace H. Rosier >'r~- - ? "IT'S TIME FOR A CHANGE" ELECT Lairy T. Brooks YOUR COUNTY COMMISSIONER Maxton-Pembroke Smiths ? Experience in Government e Extensive Business Experience e Masters Degree In Administration e Concerned Parent: The Only Candidate With Children (4) In The Local Schools LARRY T. BROOKS AMD FAMLY DJZAKTH, BKVY, ULA ANNK, AVOtY A LARRY, ? * San*. *qultabl* r*li*f for our long-sulfertng taxpayirt. Th* Rob**on tax rat* I* an overly high 0.S2 whil* th* state a**rag* is only 0.70 p*r hundord dollar valuation. * Aggressive r*cruitm*nt of quality, high-paying industry. Th* Rob*son un*mploym*nt rat* has long h**n th* high*st in th* t*n-county Cap* F*ar Region. f* Ensuring that our district g*ts its fair shar* of county moni*s. W*st*rn Roh**on has gon* lacking whil* outsid* int*r*sts have received special tr*atm*nt. * Equal funding for our district's r*scu* squads and volunteer fir* departments. * Op*n. responsive. effective government. Honest answers to straight-forward questions. Fair treatment for all citlsens. Th* same rules should apply to veryon*. Ho favorites. * Th* highest priority for public education. Over the last 18 years local support for public education has decreased from 60 percent to only 32 percent of our county budgetary outlay and is still dropping though the state average is well over 60 percent. We can no longer afford th* 'luxury** of five separate and unnecessary local school systems. Vots for and Elect LARRY T. BROOKS, County Commissioner PAID PDA BY SUPPOBTERi Of LAB BY T. 1 BOOKS BROOKS FOR COUWTY COMMBSlOllER ft