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Your Award Winning County Newspaper
LOCAL EDITORIAL COMMENT
Welcome Rishel
The sun shines a little brighter
today in Franklin County. The an
nouncement that the J. K. Rishel
Furniture Company has elected to
locate a plant here adds sunshine to
the entire area. Any new industry is
always welcome. One of the stature of
Rishel is doubly so.
The Industrial Development Com
mission and the Directbr plus many
others were instrumental in coaxing
Rishel to locate here. The announce
ment shows that the Commission has
been busily-if quietly--at work.
Additional payrolls will mean' a
Jk
more prosperous economy for our
area. From this all will benefit. But
the other advantages need to be noted
as well. NeW people, new ideas and
jobs to keep our people at home are as
important as any monetary Y'eturns
the location might bring.
Alf together today's announcement
is a most important one. Franklin
people welcome Rishel and stand
ready to aid and assist in any way
they can to make the decision to
locate here pay off.
Welcome Rishel. We're glad to have
you.
Going On To Long
Tobacco may not be a sacred cow
as Governor Bob Scott says, but in
this section of the state, it is a very
important product. It is grossly unfair
when the Governor intimates that
tobacco has not been willing to carry
its fair share of the load. Where, one
might ask, does the Governor think
the millions paid in taxes each year by
the tobacco farmer come from?
A few weeks ago, the Governor's
newly appointed Highway Commis
sion chairman, Mr. Lauch Faircloth of
Clinton, put his foot in his mouth
when he annouriced that he might be
doing something roadwise for the
East. The cry from the Piedmont
could be heard world wide. Governor ..
Scott immediately came to the rescue.
In no uncertain terms, he announced
that Mr. Faircloth did not mean what
he had Said, even if he had said it.
Now, turning to the General As
sembly, the pattern bee owes some
what more distinct. Two Mecklenburg
County representatives in 'the House
have gotten bills into the hopper quite
early for a tax on cigarettes. Maybe
Charlotte doesn't share in the tobacco
problems which plague the East.
But, most observers know this isn't
the case. Mecklenburg has a one-cent
optional sales tax and the county likes
that. It is working very well. Mecklen
burg doesn't want anybody to rock
the boat. It doesn't want a state-wide
sales tax with proceeds going to local
governments. This could affect their
own bonanza. So they send up heavy
smoke signals on a cigarette tax to
cover , the obvious. Mecklenburg has
what no other" county in the state
has -a source of additional revenue.
No one doubts that North Carolina
will need more money if the Scott
programs are to be carried out. But,
some one should take a look at the
motives behind the tobacco tax. It
h should not be designed to protect the
large population centers of the state at
the expense of the Eastern tobacco
growers. This type of thing has been
going on for too long already.
If additional taxes must come,
there is no more equitable way to
raise them than through the sales tax.
In this manner, everybody pays ac
cording to his ability to pay. Tobacco
should not be made a scrapgoat for
Mecklenburg and Forsyth counties,
nor any other special section of the
,, state.
WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING
Children Are The Victims
Mount Olive Tribune
Recently in these columns The
Tribune expressed concern over the
fact that many children in one eastern
North Carolina county were not at
tending school, as required by state
law. Not only were they not in school,
they> were actively participating in
marches and other events seemingly
designed to disrupt the normal routine
of other Citizens.
Why, we asked, had no legal ac
tions been taken to see that parents
sent their children to school, in obedi
ence to the law? < *
Now w? have found at least a
partial answer to the questions: One
reason the State t>f North Carolina has
not pursued a course of action which
required Hyde county parents to keep
their children in school was because
over in Harnett county the ^^te,
through one of its truant officers, and
school officials, are busy prosecuting
one family-Mr. and Mrs. Vernon
McLamb, of Route 2, Dunn, for not
sending their little daughter to school.
McLamb had been warned that if he
did not have his daughter in school by
January 15, legal action would be
taken against him. He didn't, and they
did.
In the meantime Hyde parents are
ignored in their obvious disregard of -
the same law under which the Harnett
county parent is prosecuted. This is
not to minimize the error of Mr. and
Mrs. McLamb, nor to over-emphasize
the errors of parents involved in the
Hyde county school boycott. But the
incidents do serve to illustrate that the
law is not being applied to all our
citizens alike.
Incidentally, nothing is being said,
or done, apparently, about the great
est error of all - the theft of educa
tional opportunities from the children
involved. -- CB.
The Fra^in Times
Established 1870 ? Published Tuesdays & Thursdays by
The Franklin Times. Inc. *
Bickett Blvd. Dial GY6-3283 Loulsburf. N. C.
CLINT FULLER, Managing Editor ELIZABETH JOHNSON, Business Manager
NATIONAL EDITORIAL
Advertising Rates ASSOCIATION ,
Upon Request" 1969
SUBSCRIPTION RATES
In North Carolina: Out of State:
dne Y ear. $4.64. Six Months. $2.83 One Year, $6.50; Six Months,'$4.00
Three Months. $2.08 .. Three Months, $3.80
Entered as second clut mail msttei and polufc paid al the Potl Office at Loulsbuii. N. C. 27549.
'Don't you guys leave anything to imagination any more?
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
? w ?
School Situation Correspondence
To the Editor:
I am enclosing three letters
that could be of interest to
the county and to our
schools.
The letters are self-explan
atory; and I hope that other
interested citizens will join
my efforts and "bombard"
Mr. Hubbard's office with
their views, elaborating on
the fact that too much Fed
eral intervention is no good
for a democratic government
which is supposed to be "for
the people and by the
people"!!
Sincerely,
Lucille M. Romero
President Richard M. Nixon
The White House .
Washington, D. C. 20000
My Dear Mr. President:
When you were Vice-Presi
dent, we lived in Bogota,
Colombia, where my hus
band, Major Paul V. Romero
079058, was advisor to the
Colombian Army. When you
visited Bogota, he was sup
posed to have been your in
terpreter if you had needed
him. Prior to your visit we
viewed film at the U. S. Em
bassy of you and Mrs. Nixon
visiting other countries,
films made by the United
States Information Service.
i On this background, I
hope that I am not being too
presumptuous when I say
that I feel that you are a
friend, the only one that I
feel can help us. And, it is in
this vein, as well as your
being our President, that I
would like to ask you to take
a personal look into my
COUNTY and its educational
problem.
My husband was killed in
Lima, Peru in 1965, At the
Uma. WM ?aoidia?ita( fet ,
the "Conference of American
A rmies, 1965". My five
children and I were living in
the Canal Zone, and upon his
death we returned to my
home. Franklin County,
North Carolina to live. Prob
ably we could "ftjove out" in
order to settle my own
family's problem J>ut I refuse
to do that without doing
what I can that might help
the situation that we have
here.
It seems that if something
Is not done soon, Mr. Presi
dent, our county school
system will be destroyed
the Justice Department and
the NAACP have asked the
court to imprison the mem
bers of our Board of Educa
tion for contempt. What
more can they ask? Since
September our schools are
100% integrated and peace
fully. Classes have been de
partmentalized; divided Into
groups based on the student's
reading ability. I have been
pleased with this system, and
having five children In the
system (2 ,ln higher group, 2
in more or lea medium group
and 1 In low) I believe that
my family could b? called
averafe.
For your Information. I
am enclosing newspapers and
In the following paragraphs I
will attempt to ghre you a
resume up to this point:
Until the U. S. Supreme
Court ruling in 1954, the
Franklin County Board of
Education operated a consti
tutional dual school system.
From 1954 until the Civil
Rights Act of 1964, the coun
ty operated under North
Carolina law-the Pupil As
signment Act.
Under the 1964 Act, the
Board established a plan to
desegregate its school in two
years. The plan was approved
by the Department of Health,
Education and Welfare on
August 31, 1965, with full
agreement between HEW and
the Board to desegregate four
grades in the school year
1965-66; followed by dese
gregating all grades in
1966-67.
With school opening a
week away (1965-66), par
. ents of some thirty children
applied for schools they had
not been attending and with
out adherring to the criteria
for such transfer as set by the
Board in the HEW approved
plan. These Negro pupils
sought to attend grades not
being desegregated. In accor
dance with provisions in the
county plan, the requests
were denied. In December,
1965, these parents, through
the New York office of the
NAACP filed charges of dis
criminat'jpa, against the
Board. They- were joined in
the suit in January, 1966, by
the U. S. Justice Department.
On February 24, 1966, the
District Court denied the
plaintiffs plea for an injunc
tion and ruled the Board had
acted in good faith.
On July 27, 1966, the
District Court upheld the
county'i Freedom of Choice
plan.
On August 18, 1967, the
District Court killed the Free
Am , Choice plan Denies
Stty. Appealed to Fourth Cir
cuit.
On April 9, 1968, Fourth
Circuit upheld lower court
and affirmed the decision. A
re-hearing was filed and later
denied.
The Board operated the
schools in full compliance
with the directions of the
courts.
In 1968, a hearing on the
Board's proposed plan for
total integration of the
schools. The District Court
ruled that it had ordered not
a. plan, but action for the
1968-69 school term. This
was directly contrary to the
written wording of the order
of August 17, 1967.
The Justice Department,
the NAACP and the Board
were ordered to present
plans. Court selected the Jus
tice Department plan and
ordered full and total inte
gration of all schools. Efforts
by the Board to show that
the far-reaching order and the
shortage of time before sche
duled school opening' was not
In the interest of sound edu
cation fell on deaf ears.
The District would not
allow a defense wltneta- a rec
ognized expert on school or
ganization to be heard Dto
trict denied a stay. Fourth
Circuit denied a slay and later
affirmed the ruling herauae
the Board had complied, it
said the question was moot.
Overcrowding, teachers
out of field, a ratio of near
60-40 Negro, and the aband
onment of the school system
by some 700 students had
played havoc with a once
sound educational system.
Even though fully and
totally integrated-accom
plished in nine days-the Jus
tice Department and the
NAACP now claim the sys
tem is not being operated to
their liking and have asked
the court to imprison the
Board of Education for con
tempt.
The charges arfi denied by
the Board and have been la
beled a form of harrassment.
Since January, 1965, when
the Civil Rights Act took
effect, the Board of Educa
tion has had very little time
to work toward the better
ment of the school system.
Teachers, by the score, have
resigned. Children by the
hundreds have enrolled in pri
v a t e schools, disrupting
homes and bringing hardships
to those who can ill afford
the expense of private
schools.
The question of segregated
schools has long been settled
here in Franklin County. It
has been accepted. However,
the continued efforts on the
part of the Justice Depart
ment to take over total con
trol of the schools has caused
a stir unlike any ever witness
ed in thii county.
WITHOUT ONE SINGLE
VISIT TO ANY ONE OF
THE MANY SCHOOLS IN
THE SYSTB^I, the federal
government has listened to
some unknown disgruntled
citizen and condemned a duly
elected Board and threatened
said Board with imprison
ment. The five members of
the Board and the Superin
tendent of Sctvools are men
of outstanding character. All
six served with distinction in
World War II. One Bo?rd
member and the Superinten
dent hive been chosen "Man
of the Year"; the Board attor
ney and one Board member
have been honored as "Tar
heel of the Week" and all are
devoted citizens, working to
better their communities.
These are the men the
Justice Department wants
jailed because some irrespon
sible citizens have a beef al
though no effort has been
made to determine the vali
dity of the complaint.
We are integrated, students
and parents have accepted it
....what else can be expected
of our School BoardP?? If
you would just stop and take
a personal look at our pro
blems at this moment, it
could avert this same type of
harrassment to other school
boards by the Justice Depart
ment and NAACP. We need
to be heard! !
Maybe . our small county
isn't | "drop in the bucket"
compared to the whole area
of the United States, but we
are proud to be a part of
America, and we feel that our
children and their education
will have far-reaching affects
on the future of our country
.their education is at
"COME
Jr T?
TH,NK
r
OF IT..."
* by
frank count
I went to that there tournament last week. I ain't figured
why yet. but when 1 got in that long line of cars and couldn't
get out that's where I ended up. Next thing I k no wed 1 was
being shoved against a window and the man was saying how
many? "How many?" I asked. "How many does it look like",
I said pointing to me. * ^
Well he gimma a ticket after awhile. 'Course 1 had to give
him all the money 1 had to get it. But. you only live once . . so
I decided to go on in and see
' what all the fuss was about.
No sooner had I found me a
seat than I run smack dab into
trouble. There I was . . . mind
ing my own business . . . study
ing on how got there . . .
puffing a way at my little
cigar . . . when this big ole man
come up and said. "Can't you
read?".
"Well ... if its any of yore
business I'd say I'm a pretty
good reader. Finished the
fourth grade and got a certifi
cate to prove it at home." He
got redjn the face. I could tell
I got to him with that little
dilly. Some folks just can't
stand fpr nobpdy else to have a
education. I didn't say it to
him, but I was thinking I bet
he didn't git that high in
school.
"You can't smoke in here,
buddy," he said. "Well now", I
said, "Whose gonna stop me?"
I ought'n said" that. I could tell
vhe didn't likei that little dilly
not one bit. He got red in the face and he studdered something
which I didn't quite catch. Guess it was best 1 didn't.
I finally stomped out my cigar . . . btrt-it^won't that I was
afraid or nothing. He won't no teacher. He di3rfThave no right
to yell at me in front of all them people. I didn't catajf he was
bigger'n me. He didn't scare me none. I put the thing out ,
because of that big gun he was a wearing and that blacfr jack
he was a toting. I'm here to tell you . . . they got some mighty
big safety patrol at that school and I ain't overly fond of them
blue uniforms them kids wear. And besides they're kinda big
for their ages.
I got propped up. I put my feet on the bench in front of me
and I was ready for the main show. A bunch of half dressed
youngins was running up and down and jumping and yelling
chasing after a rubber ball but I didn't pay no attention to all
that mess. I kept waiting for the show to start:
Two old men wearing prison stripes kept trying to chase
them off the floor. I guessed they was trying to clear the place
for the show. They kept blowing little whistles . . and the
youngins would stop and they'd all walk to the other end of
the thing and one would git to show off. He'd stand there all
by hisself and throw that ball up in the air. One time one them
hit a little fish net somebody had hung up to dry. That sure is
a curious place to dry fish nets.
By then one of the heavy weight women decided to sit on
my propped up feet. She must a bought, two tickets. She took
up two seats. I couldn't git my feet up fast enough and the
little bitty man with her give me a hard look. I couldn't help it
if he couldn't keep his woman off my feet. .
After awhile I got tired of all the waiting and left. Never did
see the show. But them youngins kept yelling and running and
jumping and chasing that rubber ball. I could tell some of
them didn't want it after they got it. They kept throwing to
somebody else. One of them threw it at me sitting way up
there in the stands I don't think it was anything personal. I
didn't even know the boy. <
4
I'm going back one night hffore loQg. I'm still curious as to
what happened to the show.
stake.
Sincerely,
Lucille M. Romero
Mrs. Lucille M. Romero
Route 3, Mitchville
Louisburg, North Carolina
Dear Mrs. Romero:
I applaud your efforts!
And, of course, I wish you
every success and pledge my
support in every proper way.
It was thoughtful of you
to make available to me a
copy of your letter to Presi
dent Nixon. As you may
know, I have visited in the
Franklin County schools and
am fully aware of the aerioui
problems confronting school
officials. I shall continue in
the future as I have in the
past to cooperate with them
In every way I can.
Here U one place where
the Nixon Administration can
demonstrate quickly and
clearly its attitude toward
control of local affairs. I hope
other concerned citizens will
likewise express their views to
the White House. Ill do all I
can.
With kindest regards and
best wishes, I am
Sincerely,
L, H. Fountain ?
Dear Mrs. Romero:
President Nixon asked me
to thank you and to reply to
your letter of January 30,
1969. in which you discussed
the Franklin County desegre
gation situation.
As you indicated, Franklin
County is desegregating under
a Federal court order. There
fore, complaints regarding
this matter fall within the
primary jurisdiction of the U.
S. Department of Justice.
In view of the above, your
letter is being forwarded to
M r. Maceo W, Hubbard,
Chief, Eastern S?ctlon, Civil
Rights Division. Department
of Justice, Washington, D. C?
20530, for reply to you.
Sincerely yours,
Lloyd R. Henderson
Education Branch Chief
Office for Civil Rights
Talks And Deaths
Saigon, South Vietnam - It
w as reported that about
8,000 United States service
men were killed In South
Vietnam while Americans and
Vietnamese were talking In
Paris about ways to get the
peace talks started. Talks be
gan May 13> 1968
I