LOCAL EDITORIAL COMMENT
Times Continue Good Here
A release this week from the
N. C. Department of Revenue
showing sales figures for the
1964-65 fiscal year shows that
Franklin County is continuing to
grow. Indeed, the county has
shown a good increase in sales
for the past twelve months.
Business is good in our county.
While Louisburg, based on
> percentage figures and esti
mates, fell a little short of its
record annual average of 22.5%,
It still registered an extremely
respectful 20% increase over
1963. Business is good in
J_,ouisburg.
The remainder of the county,
based on percentages and esti
mate!*, showed "the greatestgain
in the past year, jumping from
an average annual increase in
sales of 2.06 to a very Impres
sive 17% in 1964-65. Business
is good in all of our county.
This speaks well' for Franklin
County, its merchants and its
people. With continued pros
perity in retail sales, new
buildings and homes, additions
to Loulsburg College, the hospi
tal and a fair tobacco crop
coming up, this progress should
continue.
The community is on the
move. It Is headed forward.
May it continue.
Branch For Governor?
?
1
?Enfield attorney Joe Branch,
legislative aide to Governor
Dan Moore, spoke in, Louis
burg Friday night. The occas
ion was the annual meeting of
the Democratic Women. He
sounded very much like a can
didate, which beairs out some
interesting political observa
tions.
Lt. Gov. Robert Scott is off
and running for the 1968 gub
ernatorial seat. He is a liber
al of the Terry Sanford-Kerr
Scott vintage and he has a great'
deal of support. The Moore
people are aware of these
things and are looking for a
man of their own.
Two names' continue to crop
up in light of this search. One,
Melville Broughton, is the son
of a former governor and at
present, State" Chairman of the
Democratic Party. The other
is Joe Branch.
Broughton's popularity has
faded somewhat, of late. This
Is due, say some political ob-.
servers, because of Broughton's
activities as a lobbyist in the
recent General Assembly.
However, he does hold the party
machinery controls at this
point. Branch, on .the- other
Jhand, has the Governor's ear
unlike any other man In North
Carolina.
In politics, it pays to look
ahead. And, apparently, this
is what the Moore people are
doing. It might be Interesting
to watch for an increase in pub
lic appearances of the conserva
tive neighbor from Enfield. As
one writer puts It, "He doesn't
talk much, but when he does
people will listen because they
know he will have a telling point
to make."
He had several last Friday
night in his speech here. This
could have been the start of Joe
Branch's trip to the Mansion.
WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING
Offers Best Lesson In History
--South Bay Dally Br ms*
Authorship of this little message Is not known,
but It offers the best lesson in history we've
seen in a long time. Entitled "Time Is Running
Out," it goes this way:
"The average age of the world's great civili
zation has been 200 years.
"These nations have progressed through this
sequence:
"From bondage to spiritual faith.
" From spiritual faith to great courage.
"From great courage to liberty.
" From liberty to abundance.
"From abundance to selfishness.
"From selfishness to complacency.
"From complacency to apathy.
"From apathy to dependency.
" From dependency back again into bondage.
"In 11 years, our nation will be 200 years old.
"This cycle is not Inevitable. But, It's up to
you."
Certainly spiritual faith inspired the great
courage whicji enabled our forefathers to break
the bonds which held the people of the land
until they made the historic Declaration of In
dependence. Thus they won liberty.
And they used this liberty to \>ulld a great na
tion, sharing the abundance which only fre^
men, striving In dignity as individuals, cam
achieve: ' ^ ?>
Regretably, selfishness became evident in our
society; abundance, like liberty, came to be ac
cepted as a right and inevitability, and the
next thing we knew, complacency was every- 1
where. '? ;
Complacency Is a state of complete self
satisfaction; Its motto might be "We never had
It so good." But It leads to apfethy, which
Is Indifference, unconcern, an obliviousness to
what may be going on around us.
In this situation, with courage no longer need
ed and abundance taken for granted, it Is only a
short slide Into dependency. Its mottoi "We've
got it coming to us."
That we ar? passing ? and In some respects,
already have passed- -through the steps of com
placency and apathy is evident, because as
we yield more and greater powers to central
government, anTl look to it more and more for
handout support, we are Indeed well into de
pendency, which the unknown author labels as
the next-tq-the-last step.
The last step is, of course, bondage. (
George Orwell figured it would be 1984 before
we \79uld be slaves tv"Rlg Brother," and used
that date as the 'tltl* of a book he published in
1949 Another 11 years will make us 200
years In 1976, beating Orwell by eight
years.
Meanwhile, it would seem to behoove us to
circumvent that last step, If possible, ana the
way would seem to be clear: a return to spiri
tual faith, great courage and liberty. And a
conquering of selfishness, complacency and
apathy.
It's up to us.
NATIONAL EDITORIAL COMMENT
Miracle Of Rain
.Ithough man hqs made amazing
scientific achievements. Nature still
puts on the jjrfttest show on earth
and exhibit** miracles, every day,
^which put man's best efforts to
shame.
Some people fail to recognize the
miracles which occur every day.
A farmer, with a hundred acres of
planted crops, must have, of all
things, a plentiful supply of water.
If he receives a rainfall of one inch,
which often occurs during the plant
ing season, Nature has dropped
2,714,300 gallons of water on his
crops. And Nature can accomplish
this in just-a few minutes.
Scientists, who attempt to compute
the tremendous forces- involved in
such an operation- as a heavy rain,
are constantly amazed at the power
of Nature and the ease and gentle
ness which she usually does her job.
If the reader will think about it, he
too will be constantly amazed at the
miracles which take place about him
every day, which are accepted as
common-place occurrences.
The Franklin Times
< i?TF\ t
? , * ? * t,
Established 1870 Published Tuesdays 4 Thursday^
The Franklin Times, Inc.
Blckett Blvd. DU1 GY 6-3283 LOJH$BURG, N. C.
CLINT FULLER, Managing Editor
ELIZABETH JOHNSON, Business Manager
NATIONAL |_OtTO?l_Al
Advertising Rates Upon Request
r
, ^ SUBSCRIPTION RATES
In North Carolina: OutofSUte:
One Year,- **.64; SI* Months, IZiBJ- Single Copy 10$ ?>?, y#1I.( $5.50; Six Months, *4.00
Three Month*, ?2.0? Three Months, ?3 SO
Entered as second class mall matter and postage paid at the Post Office at
Loulsburg, N C. 27549,
? 1
Decisions, Decisions, Decisions...
SOUTH
VIET
) nAm
Vie?>pQuil
Did We Have To Spill The Milk?
By JESSE HELMS
Crying over spilled milk Is
m exceedingly futile exercise,
jut there Is much to be said
tor bearing In mind that It was
jnnecessary (or the milk to have
seen spilled In the first place.
It Is Interesting to note that
North Carolina's twoU. S.Sena
tors split In their votes on the
so-called "Medicare" bill
which Lyndon Johnson rammed
through the Congress. Senator
B. Everett Jordan voted for the
bill; Senator Sam J. Ervln,
Jr., voted against it.
Senator Ervln performed a
useful service the other day
when he arose In the Senate
to make a matter of record
some reasons why the Ameri
can people will one day have
cause to regret that the Con
gress rubberstamped Presi
dent Johnson's "Medicare"
proposal.
Senator Ervln addressed
himself purely to the practi
calities of the matter. Only
by indirection did he refer to
the obvious socialistic Impli
cations of a piece of legisla
tion that will tax the poor to
pay portions of the medical
expenses of well-to-do citi
zens.
Let the record be clear from
the outset: Senator Ervln sup
ports the idea that the govern
ment should make sure that,
medical attention is available to
all citizens unable to provide
it for themselves. It may come
as a surprise to some, however,
that only 2.6 per cent of the
elderly American people are
unable to take care of their
medical expenses . It Is Sena
tor Ervln's contention that the
Congress, by special legisla
tion, could ' easily have taken
care of this small minority of
citizens.
The Senator's breakdown of
the over-65 population has not
been challenged. He stated that
47.6 per cent of the elderly have
Blue Pross Insurance; Z9.3 per
cent take care of their medical
expenses' by other forms of ln
?urapce ,or cash. The Kerr
Mills plan took care of another
20.5 per cent, leaving only the
2.6 per cent to which the Sena
tor referred.
Senator Ervln wonders if the
American people realize that
the over-all Social Security
program has been impaired by
the enactment of President
Johnson's "Medicare" legis
lation. "Under the new medi
care bill and existing laws/'
he told the Senate, "the new
social security tax will ulti
mately rise to a total of 11.5
per cent of the first $6,600 of
earnings of each American
worker." This assumes, he
said, that there will be no
further lnflati6n jind no in
(latlon and no Increase in the
cost of hospital and medical
service ? a false assumption,
the Senator logically believes.
"This means In plain Eng
11st," he continued, "that each
Job In America paying gross
earnings of $6,600 a year will
contribute to the Federal' Gov
ernment, In social security tax
es alone, $759 annually. .
And even that will not be
enough to finance the program,
Senator Ervln said. He told
the Senate: . .the advocates
of the Medicare bill now admit
what 1 lave long contended ar*}.
they have\long denied; tha^Yio
adequate health prdgrafrf can
be tied solely to the social
security system." . In the first
year of Its operation, It will
be necessary to add $1.Z "Bil
lion from other tax sources to
make the bill workable.
Senator Ervln said that he
finds It difficult to believe that
young people, once they realize
what "Medicare" is costing
them, will be willing to support
a program that will yield them
no benefits until, as the Senator
put It, "they have spent their
youth and their fhlddle Uge and
become elderly persons."
Either the Social Security Sys
tem will be destroyed, he said,
or "the United States will be
converted Into a virtual welfare
state... What the establishment
of such a welfare state will
ultimately cost In dollars, in
the_ character of our people, and
In the nature of the United
States as a country, nobody,
knows," Senator Ervln ob
served.
But Senator Ervln can take
comfort In the fact that he did
not vote to spill the milk. It
is too bad that his colleague
from North Carolina in the
Senate, Br Everett Jordan,
threw principle to the winds
and yielded to the pressures
from the White House. On this
trucial i^sue, our state's rep
resentation in the Senate was
only half safe.
GRASSROOTS
OPINION
Columnist Max Freedman
writes: "The uproar In Con
gress over reapportionment is
the visible and dramatic proof
that the minority on the Supreme'
Court was right In its for^tfw
lngs that serious nrfwlems
would be created by/tne court's
decision. Withjwlavailing l(Jglc
and legal scholarship, Justice
Frankfurter (now retired) and
Justlae^Harlan led the opposi
tton'on the court to the Judicial
?Settlement of these reap
portionment problems. . . .They
foresay the new problems that
would arise once the court be
gan to work In these political
thicket?. Other members of
the court, and large sections
of public opinion, began to see
the wisdom of these forebodings
when *a majority of the justices
later ruled that both branches
of a state legislature must have
their membership determined
by population."
? * *
Railroad efforts M a" recent
military training exercise have
been described by the Com
mander of the Defense Traffic
Management .Service .as an
"outstanding example of team
work" between the industry and
the Department of Defense. The
"Desert Strike" maneuvers
saw the heaviest movement of
troops and material since World
War n.
Erroneous folk beliefs about
plants need to be corrected to
?Vow Have Mj Prrmi??ion to frtticlre'
liofiW]
Si "come
THINK
OF IT..."
J
by
frank count
What with the federal' government spending all that money to
eliminate poverty, unemployment, old age, 'sickness,, commu
nism, hangnails, dope peddling, junk piles, electric bills, rent,
dirty water, dirty air and empty cartons on the grocery shelves...
it appears that they would make some investigation and spend
some money to protect the citizens from one of the real dangers
now confronting us all
It's gotten so a body can hardly move without being threatened
by a ferocious animal This is the year of the tiger There's
one in your tank... or, at least that^s what they say... and we've
seen the tail hanging out There's one in the boot of your
car... if you're driving a particular make There are tiger
paws alLover your tires... gripping the road... holding you back...
so It'll take more in your tank Sounds for the world to us
that there is a conspiracy afoot
Then, of course, there is the surf-board riding... fish feeding
tiger that hangs around in your cereal box. .?* growling an3- pur
ring. ..arid now, they've got one dressed "like a pretty girl
stretched out on a couch selling hair cream It talks like
a girl, too... when he says , ^Sick 'em". We didn't even know
tigers used hair cream
There sure ought to be something done to develop a tiger
resistant spray or something like that..>.^And we are sure that
if someone will send this idea t6 Washington... Congress will
get right on it They've liked most of our other problems iiv^
the last few months... and they'd just love to have something
else to spend money on. ..and we can hardly think of._any project
that would be mere appealing to them than this one Conifk. -
to think of j^t...it has afbout as much merit as most of the things
they've been doing.
prevent accidental poisonings,
according to an article by Shir
ley Baughraan CPLeary which
appears in an American Medi
cal Association publication. She
warns that there are no safe
tests for poisonous plants; that
what , birds and animals may
safely eat is not necessarily
harmless to man; that heating
and cooking do not always de
stroy the poison ? It depends
on the poison and some of the
most deadly are unaffected, and
there is probably no locality
that has no poisonous plants.
? * ?
Winston Churchill once said:
"If you will not fight for right
when. . .your victory will be
sure and not too costly; you may
come to the moment when you
will have to fight with all the
odds against you and only a
precarious chance of survtvla."
* * *
The Exchange magazine,
which is published by the New
York Stock Exchange, reports
that Americans never had so
much leisure time and never
have worked harder filling It.
It adds that those who harbor
tinges of guilt over time idled
away in their favorite pastime
can take solace In the fact that
the recreation industry "Is a
key growth factor In the U. S.
economy." Early In this cen
tury two and a half cents of
every consumer dollar went for
^recreation, apart from vacation
travel; now the figure is about
five and a half cents.
Approximately .one third of
the nation's population is en
rolled in the various
plans. Included are more tlmi
5.3 million people ov^r *65.
All In A Day s Work
A street clf^ter was fired
for day-drejHfiing ? he couldn't
keep hte/mind in the gutter.
-U. Sr S, F. D. Roosevelt.
ANNOUNCING THf BEST PRICES
IN TOWN ON UNICO OIL FILTERS
COMPLETE LINE OF BATTERIES -
TIRES ? OIL - GREASE FOR FARM USE
FKJfl DIRT AND SlUOOC .
INCRCASC
ENGINE LIFE/.)
LOUISBURG
FCX SERVICE
"B1CKETT BLVD. LOUISBURG,, N. C.