The Franklin Times
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P?bl.ih?d ? A ThWfMU? ? * *?'?.?? All 0? F'*okl.n C*unly
LOCAL EDITORIAL COMMENT
Confusion Over C. 56 Project
Perhaps some confusion has arisen
from the fact that .the County Better
Roads Committee, in approving a priority
list as recommended by the State Highway
Department, overlooked any reference
to N. C. 56 from Louisburg to the Nash
Co. line.
The Committee felt that N. C. 56 is
already set and therefore saw no need to
list it again. The listing was for pri
ma^ road improvements from State Road
Bond money. N. C. 56 is supposed to be
a Federal-aid project with matching funds
from the regular state highway allot
ment.
But, confusion is fast becoming N. C.
56's middle name. There may be pri
mary highways in the state in greater
need of repair, but we doubt it. And this
need has existed for a very long time
The people traveling this stretch have
lived on promises for a long time. It is
natural, when seeing no mention of this
project, they became distrubed
In January, 1963 (that's over three
years ago) Cliff Benson, at that time
Fifth Division Highway Commissioner,
reportedly told County Commissioner
Chairman Norwood E Falukner to expect
' 'relief real soon' ' on Highway 56
In April, 1963, Governor Terry San-'
ford, reportedly sent a release to State\
Senator Wilbur Jolly and Rep James
Speed "indicating the improvements to
N. C. 56 would be given "official ap
JlMal "
. In September 1963, Faulkner was re
PQrtedly told by Benson that "prelimi
nary work on N C. 56 '. "''had gotten
underway."
A right-of-way hearing was held here
in December of 1964; and a letter from
new Highway Commission Chairman Joe
Hunt in October, 1965, assured that the
project would become "a reality."
If there seems to be confusion on N. C.
56, it seems to us to be justified. Per
haps the new Roads Committee can get
the project moving One thing seems
certain: It surely can't delay it and it is
doubtful if it can add any more confusion
to the status of the project.
" Teaches Us To Hope 99
"Not for fame or reward, nor place of
rank,
Not lured by ambition or goaded by ne
cessity,
But in simple obed^ce to duty as they
understood it,
These men suffered all, sacrificed all,
dared all . . . and died.' '
These words, inscribed on the Con
federate Monument in Washington, D. C.
clearly describe the men of the Confe
deracy. Today is. Confederate Memorial
Day.
Once the day was widely acclaimed
throughout the South. Special ceremonies
in honor of the fallen heroes were held.
Today, save a few, the observance goes
almost unnoticed.
But, perhaps it is befitting that we,
who believe in indiviudal freedoms and
constitional government, pause to honor
these brave dead and at the same time to
study events around us.
Many issues have been read' into the
Civil War. Some were real,' some were
not. Then, and even now, there were
traditions, customs and styles in the
South, whieh did hot exist in other sec
tions of the country. Then, as even now,
others were attempting to push their ways
upon the South The men we honor today
resisted that push.
Through them, the South learned
the necessity of presetting the Union,
but they did not leave their decendants
with a lesson of submission. The South,
land of opportunity for all, is not, can
not, and will not become the whipping
boy. This is the heritage left us. The
heritage of individual rights and freedom
exists today in the South, just as they did
100 years ago Perhaps, the other sec
tions of the country will one day be
thankful for rhis.
As General Robert E. Lee put it, "It is
history that teaches us to hope."
Setting The Road Equipment Hassle Straight
It is said that once upon a
time there was a gentlemen
who had the reputation of being
a bit cafeless with the truth
and who was called upon to
introduce the speaker at apoli
tical rally. He possessed only
the barest knowledge of the
speaker's background, a dis
advantage w hich did not prevent
him from launching into a long
and Involved introduction. No
body was more astonished than
the speaker at the details pre
sented in the introduction, part
icularly a statement that the
speaker only recently had made
five million dollars In oil wells
In Oklahoma. ,
As the speaker beftan his ad
V iewpoutit
By JESSE HELMS
dress, he felt compelled to get
a few things straight. "About
that five million dollars,'- he
said, "I think you should know
that It wasn't 'recently'? It
Last Of The Great Spenders
GRASSROOTS OPINION
ISLE, MINN., MESSENGER:
"Our new linotype operator
(my wife) is getting pretty good.
In December she was- just a
novice? now she's setting a gai
ly per hour? a good trick for any
linotype operator. She's getting
so good, I've decided to double
her salary. I can afford it.
Two times nothing? is nothing.
In fact, If she keeps up the
good work, I &may double her
salary again .Jn a couple of
weeks!"
PORt GIBSON, MISS., RE
VEILLE: "It is not hard
hearted to say the reasons some i
people are 'poverty stricken* t
is because they do not want to
work. There is no use beating
around the bush, some people
are plain lazy, and want all they
can get without any effort on
their part. Certainly, help the
real unfortunate, but the indus
trious do not have the obligation
to care for society's drones.
The Good Book says man shall
live by the sweat of his brow,
and we haven't read in the Bible
where any Great Society has to
take care of him."
NASHVILLE, ARK., NEWS:
"More than words, the migra
tion to Australia speaks of pro
test 'against the Great Society
and politicians. . . .Fifty years
ago-, it would ha vrteen unthink
able that as many as 4,000'citi
zens would be fleeting from
America to make a new home.
It's happening today. . . .Free
dom from the bureaucrats and
from oppressive bigt-govern
ment is getting harder to find,
backed now into a corner of
the Paclf\c."
Monsters In Ocean Depths Are Stranger Than Legend
: \
Washington? Real "sea mon- i
sters" are even weirder than
the fanciful beasts of old sail- <
ors' yarns.
The most Imaginative old tar
might hesitate to claim that he
had seen a creature with arms
35 feet long. Yet the giant
squid has such tentacles and a
19-foot body to go with lt
more than 50 feet of writhing
sea monster.
Living deep In the ocean, the
giant squid Is almost never
seen alive, the National Geo
graphic says. An occasional
dead speclman is cast jap on a
beach or remains are found in
stomachs of deep-diving sperm
whales.
Fish Live In Dark
Fish that live thousands of
feet deep In the ocean must
adapt to living In the dark.
Plants cannot develop In the
Inky blackness, so the fish must
eat either plant and ahlmal re
mains that sift down from
above--or each other*
The creatures of the deep are
armed with ferocious teeth to
enable them to make the most
The Fraqjjgin Times
iif art<y chance encounter with
tl\eir scarce prey. The Jaws
oT sofne disengage, allowing
them to engulf a dinner larger
than the diner.
Mates as welf as food are
scarce.- The male angler fish
solves both problems when it
finds a female. He fastens his
Jaws to her body and remains
attached for life,
The male's Jaws and tongue
gradually fuse with the tissues
of ^he female. When the two
blood streams Join, the male
no longer needs to feed. It
then remains a parasitic dwarf,
doing nothing but fertilize the
female's eggs as they emerge.
Some fish carry biological
lamps on the end of stalks or
along the sides of their bodies.
The pale glow, which can be
flanked oji and" off, acts as a
lure to potential mates or food.
Millions of Yfears of Ooze
The bottom of the ocean is
covered by layers of various
oozes, which have accumulated
In places for eons. To avoid
sinking into the soft mud, many
animals walk on stilts. Crusta
ceans have enormously long
legs, and fish have developed
great extensions of their fins.
The vast pressure at great
depths seemp.tp* have little in
fluence on the animals living
there. Since water fills their
body cavities, the force inside
and outside of their bodies is
equal.
Man's knowledge of the ocean
bottom Is still meager, but one
mystery recently was cleared
up. Certain colled tracks had
appeared In many pictures of
the ocean floor, but no one knew
what made them . In 1965 scien
tlsts announced they had photo
graphed the unknown animal: a i
three-foot long enteropneust, or |
acorn worm, that feeds on the j
bottom oozes. >
Sea life exists In what might >
seem a most unlikely place: |
under the Ross Ice Shelf In Ant
arctica. The invertebrates dis
covered there apparently feed >
on material Washed under the '
Ice .shelf* from ocean waters
elsewhere.
(Sfe
PPPi/ AfoEp'GV
S*? ^ <%&- i
i Social- I
\ 5ECUK ITV \
;v, mzi- ^ j i
Fttling 65 t?n't enough ? you must be 65/*"
! ? ' ' ;|
. .,,,, , Th* 'n"rn*"onal T?mtt.r
was 20 years ago. And ltj
wasn't in Oklahoma? it was In
Texas. And It wasn't in oil
wells? it was in raising cattle.
And it wasn't five million
it was five thousand. And it(
wasn't I? it was my brother.
And he didn't make it? he lost
it."
The speaker paused for aj
moment, and added: "Other-;
wise," he said, "the gentlemen]
who introduced me had his facts!
straight."
If ever a carload of garbled:
information has been unloaded
on the public, some of the
state's major newspapers did it
last week with a series of mis
leading news stories' implying
that state officials were engag
ed in some highpriced hanky
panky in the purchase of sever
al hundred thousand dollars
worth of heavy highway con
struction machinery. For days
on end, the press waved a
smear brush in every direc-.
tion. No doubt some readers
gained the Impression that a
brazen bit of political payola
was in progress.
As this station's news de
partment reported on Friday
night, however, there isn't a
word of truth to it. Still, this
should be an instructive episode
for Governor Dan Moore and
the men he has chosen to as
sist him in the operation of the
state government. Not only
must .they perform their re
sponsibilities In complete
honesty; they must keep their
lines of communication open
and free from any short-cir
cuits by newspapers which op
posed Moore's candidacy so
vigorously In 1964.
It is a practical Impossibility ;
to straighten out quickly all of j
the twisted statements publish
ed last week. Even the selec
tion of a place to start is dif
ficult enough. Most important
of all the aspects, however, is
the fact that the specifications
for the heavy equipment to be
purchased were drafted by
career employees of the high
way department who, by reason
of training and experience, best
know the performance stan
dards which highway equipment
must meet. They know the
horsepower the engines must
possess; they know the weight,
the size and the structure that
(scrapers and bulldozers and
other items of equipment must
have to do the Jobs ot main
tenance and construction^
roads and highways. These
are professional, not P01"1"1'
Judgments - - Judgments which
neither the press nor even the
Department of Administration
possesses. And, In any ?
contrary to reports, no ^equip
ment company was favored. Nor
was any excluded. Competition
was not limited In any *ay.
The suggestion that Raleigh
businessman A. E. Finley was
supposed to be the beneflclan
of "rigged" specifications Is
absurd' and an Insult to a cm
zen whose contributions to the
progress of his communltyand
State have earned for hlta a
place of honor and respect.
Moreover, Mr. Flnley Is re
tired, and owns only a small
minority Interest In the com
pany he once headed. If anyone
is' 'to accuse Mr. Flnley, Im
plicitly or otherwise, surely
Mr Flnley is entitled to a
forthright accusation rather
than t* . subjected to hlt-and
I run innuendo. v
It is perhaps significant that
the first suggestions of" rigged
specifications" were voiced by
I a reporter who once wrote edl
iS for THE NEWS AND
I OBSERVER and who, In 1964,
served as a publicity man for
the gvibernatlonal candidate de
teated by Dan K. Moore In the
I Democratic Primary runoff that
i ye\,h. finally, the highway de
! partmenfs, career employees
the men who prepared the speci
fications for the equipment
which the state proposes to buy
?have been consistent for many
years In their Judgments about
the" performance needed from
such equipment. They deserve
praise instead of unfounded sus
picion. They have remained
constant during the administra
tions of Governors Cherry,
Scott, Umstead, Hodges, San
ford and now, Dan Moore. They
obviously couldn't care 1<jss who
sells the equipment they re
commend, Just so it meets the
standards of durability and per
formance. And that attitude,
tt seems to us, serves the
public interest well.
It would also serve the public
interest if the press would get
Its facts straight.
?PoucA
Enclosed is a copy of the letter we are planning to send to
the various Heads .of State. Is there a law of any kind against
directing a letter to the head of state of a communist nation?
M. S.
Los Angeles,
Cal.
Dear Mr S. :
Arty citizen of this Country is free to write to whomever he
pleases at home or abroad. The Department of State, accord
ingly, would neither approve nor disapprove of your correspon
dence with Hpads of State of communist countries. We do,
however, feel obliged to point out that correspondence between
citizens of the United States and communist countries is
subject tQ use as a vehicle for the dissemination of communist
propaganda. ?
1 have noticed various reports of Increased effort of the United
Nations In recent weeks in advance possible negotiations with
Hanoi and Peking. To expedite matters it would be interesting
and possibly fruitful to have a committee of UN members,
friendly and acceptable to Peking, to diplomatically offer as
'bait" to Red China, the possibility that oyr country might
approve her admission to the UN if Red China adopted a more
conciliatory policy. Undoubtedly North Viet Nam would quickly
start negotiations if Red China suggested Such proceedings.
s. nV
Brooklyn, N. Y.
Dear Mr. N. : \ .
We agree that a change of attitude on the part of the Chinese
Communists could make possible a peaceful solution to the
situation In Viet Nam. However, It seems, unrealistic to believe
that the prospect of admission to the United Nations would in any
way prompt such a change In attitude. It might on the contrary
convince Pelplng that Its militant policy Is achieving results
and should be continued and Intensified. Moreover, the Chines*
Communists have heaped abuse upon the UN, Insist upon -exten
sive changes In It, and could be counted upon to seek to control
the organization or paralyze Its capacity to function If they
were seated. ? \
We also believe that UN membership cannot be considered
'bait." To quote from Ambassador Stevenson, admission of
the Chines* Communists to the UN would be a step which,
"once taken, Is irreversible. We cannot try It and then give
It up If It falls to work. Given the extraordinary and forbidding
difficulty of expulsion under the Charter, we must assume that,
once In our midst, the Peking representatives would stayf
for better or for worse."
Finally and of fundamental Importance, as you know, th* United
States recognizes the Government of the Republic of China and
strongly supports its position in International organisations such
as th* United Nations. The Chinese Communists demand, as a
j'condltlon for their Joining the UN, that the OcveTfnment of the
Republic ot China , be expelled. P*lplng has r*lt*rat*d this
condition through Its controlled press, official spokesman, and
government statements. II
Under these circumstances, th* opposition of th* US to th*
admission of the Chinese Communists to the UN, tar from being
"face saving" on our part, is a consequence of the behavior
and the demands of the Chines* Communists. Th*lr present
[ aggressive attitude toward Vl*t-Nam. Is another cas* In support
[of this opposition. ( . , ' |