The Fraiffiih Times
Every Twm4?V ? Thorny S?r?.?f AH O* Frffklim CmhI y
Tuesday, December 6, 1966
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LOCAL EDITORIAL COMMENT
About The Boarding Home Sale
The sale of the Boarding Home pro
perty on NC 56 by the Board of County
Commissioners is perhaps one of the
best things to happen to the county in
many years.
The fact that, by this sale, the area
is to gain a new industry is, o.f course,
most important. However, there are
other aspects to this action which per
haps some will overlook.
The State Welfare people have long
condemned the building as being in
adequate by modern standards. The
Commissioners tried unsuccessfully
last year to sell the property. Costly
renovations were needed before the
state was likely to approve its con
tinued use.
The property has already cost the
taxpayer a great deal of money in re
pairs and upkeep. Mr. Rufus Place,
who leased the property and operated
what amounted to a private boarding
home, has done an outstanding job of
caring for the residents there and has
drawn much praise for his efforts.
But, whether the property was sold
because of a new industry or not, the
end to the use of it as a boarding home
had already been spelled.
The end of any long association is
painful. The moving of the residents,
this week and last, was one part of the
action wrtiich touched many. However,
the move is for a short period and those
who wish to do so may return to new and
better quarters. The new home is ex
pected to be completed in the spring
and the joys of homecoming for those
I now moving will more than offset the
sorrow at their leaving.
The new industry which has graced
us by choosing Louisburg as home has
had no part in the Boarding Home ac
tions. They sought a site suitable for
their needs and our local leaders de
cided to offer the Boarding Home pro
perty. The company, in all likelihood,
would not have chosen to locate here
had it not been assured that the pro
perty was to be sold anyway.
The property has served its purpose.
There are those who might contend that
more use could have been gotten out
of the aging building. Perhaps so.
However, if a buyer could have been
found, the property would have been
sold earlier this year. The Commis
sioners had already said so. The county
could not afford to continue to maintain
the home. Mr. Place has reported that
a larger facility was needed to make
such an operation profitable and effi
cient for the operator and to give proper
care for those making use of it.
It seems to us that the relocation
of the residents of the Home, while
painful, is a small price to pay for the
advantages which are sure to come
from fhe action. The elderly people
will be better off when they return to
their new quarters. Friendships will be
renewed and the moving soon forgotten.
Such are the things of which pro
gress is made and Franklin County is
committed to progress. It's the only
way we have to go. All should under
stand this and welcome the new industry
with open arms.
Starting Anew
New county officers were sworn here
Monday. Some are returning to the posts
they already hold. Others are beginning
anew in jobs, which may for a time, be
somewhat strange to them.
All are working today in their res
pective positions because that is the
way the people said they wanted it in the
recent elections.
There may be some changes in some
offices. Improvements will probably
be made in some, although former office
holders did reputable jobs. They say a
new broom always sweeps clean and
some new methods will undoubtedly be
tried. Most will be more enthusiastic
about their new jobs for the next few
weeks than their predecessors.
Ail in all, however, citizens are not
looking for any massive changes in any
quarters. Thefact that some new faces
will be seen in some offices is not ex
pected to change to any great degree,
the complexion of the county govern
ment.
Many will agree, however, that it is
probably .good to make changes occa
sionally. Newcomers are generally
more eager to serve and the people are
apt to benefit from this trait of human
nature.
Those retiring from their positions
are due the thanks of the people for
having served well. Those beginning
new careers in government are due un
derstanding from the public as they be
come adjusted to their new jobs. We
wish them all well.
Banding Together
The news that Franklinton City
Schools and others now under attack by
the U. S. Office of Education, are band
ing together in their efforts to defend
"Ttrerr-teedom of choice plans of com
pliance re good news.
The State of North Carolina has also
entered the picture. Assistant Attorney
General Ralph Moody will speak for the
State in the actions.
It is time that the State and school
units joined together in the common
goal of defending the methods under
which most operate in North Carolina.
The eventual outcome of the proposed
hearings and possible court actions in
volving the- few units now under ques
tion, will seriously affect every school
system in North Carolina and perhaps
the country.
There are many well informed people
who just simply don't believe that the
guidelines as proposed by Commissioner
Howe and the Civil Rights Act as enact
ed by the Congress are the same. The
Commissioner's stated intentions .of
forcing certain percentages of. desegre
gation upon the schools should be chal
, lenged.
Franklinton City Schools alone could
? mutter the money nor the influence
to successfully fight a battle, which
indeed is a fight for the life of local
school systems. The fact that the State
and other school units have joined the
fight and will collectively plan their
route of resistance is as it should be.
The federal government is big and the
Johnson afriinistration and Mr. Howe
apparently are even larger. It is well
Franklinton face them with as much
strength as possible.
We belieye Franklinton and the others
are right in their compliance. We do not
believe a few systems in this state
should be singled out and forced to go
to the expense and trouble of fighting
what apparently is some radical ideas
of the Commissioner.
We are familiar with the Franklinton
situation. Freedom of choice, to us is
all the law requires. We are convinced
that this freedom exists in Franklinton.
Any efforts to tear down this system
should be opposed with everything we
in Franklin County can muster. The
fact, that the State of North Carolina
seems willing to do fight, is indeed a
bright ray of light shining on what we
believe will be ultimate victory over the
dictates of Commissioner Howe.
/
WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING
Should Be Loudly Protested
The Nashville Graphic
The State Highway Commis
sion did not improve its public
image or its reputation for fair
ness with the recent disclosure
that funds earmarked for repair
ing and relocating U. S. 64 from
Zebulon to Nashville have been
diverted to road projects for the
Research Triangle.
The report is that U. S. 64
improvements,_Hflorig with se
veral other road projects, will
be postponed "during this ad
ministration" because available
funds are needed to build the
Research Triangle roads.
This means we must wait at
least another two years-and
possibly much longer -before
the Highway Commission takes
another look at the deferred
?They Didn't Say Nuthin' About Brou>n-Jugging
?/ +*
? Unnd Of Harold Howe
The Harrassing Hand u
1,1 W ' BY JESSE HELMS
\
It was too much to hope, we suppose,
with the November elections behind
us, that we should not now begin again
to feel the harrasslng hand at Harold
Howe, the dictatorial U. S. Commis
sioner of Education. But one fondly
remembers the serenity of the final
weeks of the political season, when
Mr. Howe was no doubt ordered by the
White House to drop from sight and
sound until the storm blew over. For
weeks on end, nothing was heard from
Mm. There was blessed peacefulneas
In the schools that should hare con
tinued forever.
This past week, however, Mr. Howe
The
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?merged from his hideout. Down from
Washington came word that proceed
ings had begun to cut off federal funds
to three North Carolina school sys
tems which had committed the sin,
In Harold Howe's view, of giving
parents and students the freedom of
choice In selecting schools.
Freedom, In Harold Howe's vo
cabulary, Is something to be rolled
around the tongue in principle but to
be spat out and forgotten in practice
Freedom Is for the birds, not for
school children or their parents. Chil
dren will go to school where Harold
Howe chooses, by federal direction
and dictation, or the federal purse
will be snapped shut. In name only Is
the man Commissioner of Education.
In practice he Is Commissioner of
Integration. * ,
Except, that Is, in the case of his
own school -age child. When Mr. Howe
first went to Washington, his son was
enrolled In one of the District of
Columbia's Integrated public schools
where enrollment was S3 per cent
white, 47 per cent Negro. But the
child didn't remain long In that school.
Massive Integration Is for other chil
dren, not Harold Wve's. Today, the
Howe child Is enrolled In the exclu
sive Taft School for Boys at Water
town, Connecticut, where the tuition
Is $2,780 a year!
Thanks to the taxpayers, Mr. Howe
can afford to send his own child to a
private school costing $t,7S0 per year
In tuition. He can exercise hla free
dom of choice. But this week he moved
to deny freedom of choice to countless
hundreds of students In Hyde County,
Lenoir County and Frankllnton. In the
double standards of Harold Howe, It Is
quite all light tor him to accept the
tax money of parents who are forced to
contribute to hla own tat federal sa
lary, and to withdraw his own child
from an Integrated public school In
fkvor of an exclusive, expensive pri
vate school.
It Is the hypocrisy of the man that
offends us moat. The reoord clearly
demonstrates that he Intend* to look
after himself first, then play h*V&c
with the lives of others In a political
chess game that threatens .the de
structlon of public education In vast
areas of the South. When Terry San
ford brought Harold Howe to North
Carolina, the exchange of corres
pondence between Ssnford and Howe
reflects the demands that Howe made
of- -and granted by- -the then Gov
ernor Sanford. There was to be a sa
lary of $27,000 plus expense allow
ances and other possible fringe bene
fits which, had Mr. Howe stayed In
North Carolina long enough, would
have amounted to about $40,000 per
year.
We have no particular complaint
about Mr. Howe's personal demands
In Hte way of compensation. U any
complaint Is to be registered, it
should be directed at Terry San
ford's extravagance. What nags us
about Mr. Howe Is his pious pre
tense that he la performing a ser
vice tor education. The man la a de
structive force, and nothing elae.
B remains to be seen what will
happen to Hyde and Lenoir Counties
and to the Town of Frankllnton. But
one thing la certain: The rest of North
Carolina should not stand Idly by while
Hkrold llbwe's federal boom la
lowered on these three helpless school
systems.
For freedom of choice Is the offi
cial school policy of North Carolina.
This state's Superintendent of Public
Instruction, Dr. Charles F. Carroll,
has defended the North Carolina policy
courageously and with great states
manship. Now Is no time for this
state, or any of Its officials, or Its
people, to retreat. The three pre
sently-designated targeta of Harold
Howe's wrath deserve all the assis
tance and aupport that an aroused
people can offer, if we fall to put up
now, we will have no choice "tout to
ahut up later when resumed federal
tyranny begins to rain down again upon
all of us.
This would be a wonderful
i world, with millions of nice
people, If men and women
wouid learn to mind their own
bualneaa.
projects.
Postponement of other road
needs in deference to those of
the Research Triangle will prob
ably be blamed on the cutbaqk
of the federal roadbuilding funds
announced last week. It ap
pears fairly obvious, however,
that pressure and politics were
the principal factors which
brought about the change in
plans and the switch of funds.
It's the same old familiar
story. "The wheel that
squeaks the loudest is the one
that gets the grease."
There is justification for
some loud squeaking about the
postponement of the badly-need
ed U. S. 64 project.
The squeaking should come
from the Nash County commis
sioners and from town boards,
civic clubs and other organiza
tions in Nashville, Spring Hope
and Rocky Mount.
Politics and pressure, of
course, should not be the basis
for appropriating road money
or for switching funds from one
project to another, but if this is
the way the game is played,
these are the tactics that must
be used.
And where is the protesting
voice, incidentally, of our own
Fourth Division Highway Com
missioner, who stated unequivo
cally just a few weeks ago that
there had been no change in
plans for improving U. S. 64?
We are not opposed to new
roads for the growing Research
Triangle, but the money to build
them should not come from funds
already promised for U.' S. 64
and other projects.
Another
Federal
Threat
The Lincoln Times - News
This country's economy has
been subjected to increasing
inflationary pressure in the past
few years. With a booming
economy and a war effort going
on, plus countless Great Society
programs costing billions, grow
ing scarcity of raw materials,
labor, plant and equipment have
brought higher prices in many
things.
The same pressures have
brought higher prices for food.
Yet it is still a fact that in the
United States consumers spend
a smaller share of total income
for food than anywhere else in
the world.
However, efforts are being
made against advertising, the
very thing that helps assure
lower prices. A merchant uses
advertising to promote his Dusi
ness and, the merchant who has
successfully promoted his busi
ness and built his volume is
clearly in a better position to
offer lower prices and to hold
the price line-thereby becoming
even more successful than his
out-promoted competitor vtfiose
volume has fallen below his real
capacity.
Low prices are themselves
simply one form of promotion
and even low prices have to be
advertised. However, the Fed
eral Trade Commission is open
ing an attack on advertising,
another dangerous threat of
extension "of Federal authority
on the American economy.
The Federal agency says
that big companies should not
be permitted to spend so much
on advertising because it puts
small companies at a disadvant
age. But, it should be noted
that today's big companies were
once small companies. Adver
tising, plus the quality of their
product and good management
made them big.
The most important benefic
iary today of advertising is the
American public. Through ad
vertising he can compare pro
ducts and markets. Without
advertising he would not have
the knowledge of where the best
place was to shop.
It all adds up to the fact
that the Federal government's
bureaucrats are looking fur a
new means of getting control of
American business <