The FraiMn Times
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LOCAL EDITORIAL COMMENT
I
Work Both Ends
Taxpayers, beware. We are now
entering a period of crisis. These are
the waning days of the Legislature and
in the rush to adjourn strange things
are likely to happen.
Just to mention a few, one may
note this week's actions designed to
make North Carolina a 99 county plus
one state. Mecklenburg, some say,
should be different from the rest.
Witness the actions to increase the
width of buses on the highways. One
spokesman says this should be done
for the convenience of the bus travel
er. Most folks are more interested m
i just getting there safely these days.
And, certainly not finally, the little
gem of naming the squirrel as the
state's official mammal. More are like
ly to come.
Jt has become a tradition in the
General Assembly and the Congress
that waning days are anything-goes
days. And these late hour enactments
are just as -much law as the first bills
passed. They are just as binding on the
population. Unfortunately, they are
not always as wise.
Reliable reports indicate that
Franklin taxpayers are sure to be
taxed with a seven-cent increase for
welfare and preliminary peeks at the
budget show we might get hit with as
much as a 27-cent increase. This is
county. ?
Congress is certain to keep the ten
percent surtax which was imposed
temporarily last year. This with social
security increases, takes quite a chunk
out of the old paycheck for Uncle
Sam.
Already the honorables have tagged
two cents a gallon on gasoline; they're
still talking a cigarette tax and a local
option sales tax among other things.
Even committed to the philosophy
that death and taxes are a certainty,
too much of either one is too much.
And we've long since become con
vinced that both are emirely too
permanent.
It is the people's duty to support
their government and to pay for ser
vices rendered the people by that
government. Few, if any will question
this. However, many a weary taxpayer
has to wonder how things might be if
the honorables in the Legislature and
in the Congress would spend as much
time trimming the excess fat from the
cost of government services as they do
looking for new ways to drain the
taxpayer.
As one legislator said in a speech
recently, "Now gentlemen, I want to
tax your memory". One of his collea
gues, sitting nearby muttered, "Gad,
why didn't I think of that?"
There aren't but a very few things
not now taxed. At the rate they're
going, few will predict but that sooner
or later these, too, will be included.
Disposable income has come to be
known as "take home pay" because
after taxes and deductions, you can't
afford to go any place else and many
is the man who dreamed of earning
the salary he can't live on today.
There are only two ways to meet
today's ever increasing cost-of-gOvern
ment spiral. The lawmakers can cut
away some of the excess fat or they
can, as they seem ready to do, con
tinue to raise taxes.
It would be nice if they would
begin working both ends of this street.
WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING
How Does Your Town Score?
McLean County News, Calhoun, Ky.
Here are 32 virtues of a progressive
community. Students of community
development say that if a community
can honestly answer "yes" to 24 or
mote of these items, then citizens can
take pride in it. And it will make
progress and continue to be a good
place to live and work.
Most high school and college gra
duates stay in town.
The local paper constantly pushes
civic improvements.
There's a place to swim within easy
reach.
Young couples have little trouble
finding a place to live.
The head of your city government
is a "get-things-done" man.
Teachers' salaries are better than
the state average.
There's a library with a good col
lection of new books.
Service clubs and women's organi
zations team up on projects.
A modern hospital is within your
trading area. ,
There's a hotel or motel you would,
enjoy, if you were a visitor.
It's easy to find a parking space in
the business section.
Prompt, reasonable priced ambu
lance service is available.
Streets throughout the community
are well-lighted.
There's as much interest in local as
national elections.
There's an active Parent-Teachers'
Association.
Citizens have a positive outlook
and attitude about their town.
Firemen must take regular training
courses.
There's an annual Clean-Up, Paint
Up, Fix-Up week.
More than half the church congre^
gations are under 40 years of age.
Local speeders pay the same fines
as out-of-towners.
Newcomers quickly feel they're a
part of the town. .
Schools have plenty of room for
students.
All streets are paved and sidewalks
are in good condition. ?
At least one restaurant serves out
standing meals.
It's easy to get volunteers for any
worthwhile project.
There's a livewire Chamber of
Commerce.
There's at least one doctor for each
800 people.
Well-stocked stores keep shoppers
in the town.
There's an ample supply of good
drinking water.
The sewer extension programs keep
pace with new housing. k
Good zoning keeps commercial
firms away from residential areas.
The Fra^l$in Times
EiUblWiad 1870 ? Published Tuesdays ti Thursdays by
The Franklin Times. Inc.
\
Btckrtt Blvd. Dial OY6-3283 Loulsbuif. N. C.
CLINT FULLER, Managing Editor
ELIZABETH JOHNSON, Business Manager
NATIONAL EDITORIAL
Advertising Ratea
Upon Request
m
ASSOCIATION
1909 ?
SUBSCRIPTION RATES
In North Carotin*: Out of State:
Om Yaw, $4.64 ; Six Montha. $2.83 One Yaar, $6.50; Six Montha, $4.00
Time Montha, $2.06 ' Three Mentha, $3.50
Extend aa second dan mall matter and postal* paid at the Past Office at Loulsburg, N. C. 27549.
'They could be next . .
"Z-SOV ifeiCrtC
Pajly vjcw?
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Kennedy's Leadership
Is Marred By Ambition
The (Asheboro, N. C.) Courier-Tribune
THE LOYAL opposition as
exemplified by Senate leaders
Mike Mansfield (D-Mon.) and
Everett Dirksen (R-IU.) oper
ates on a lower plane where
Senator Ted Kennedy is con
cerned.
Perhaps it's just the Ken
nedy nature to be pugnacious.
More likely he's taken seri
ously the family mission urged
on by a zealous chorus
of militant leftists who see in
the youngest son an opportu
nity to alow the nation's drift
toward moderation under
Richard Nixon.
All the familiar faces joined
In the hue and cry against the
administration's soft - ped
aled anti - ballistic missile
(ABM) system, assisted by
the customary ham - handed
ness of the military industry
which tends to take itself too
seriously.
(The men in uniform vary
tn popularity ? held in low
esteem after World War II, in
the latter stages of both the
Korean and Vietnam wars.
Remember all the hoop-la ov
er our "Green Berets" ?
surely the younger Kennedy
can recall his brother John's
Infatuation with this romantic
knight's corps?)
Unfortunately the polls sug
gested the public, if not the
U. S. Senate, favored ABM.
That left Sen. Kennedy out
on a limb from which he neat
ly scuttled down.
Leadership' against ABM
spells political hazard which
might survive to haunt an
ambitious man in the ad
vanced stages of his career.
This the senator wasn't will
ing to chance. Of late, he has
abandoned front ranks of the
anti-ABM movement to oth
ers more willing to take the
risk (I.e. with no further poli
tical ambitions).
The senator since has
helped swell ranks of the Sen
ate doves.
Whoa, now! Who opened
this Vietnam Pandora's box!
If we recall, it was the lata
President Kennedy who
beefed up our military "ad
visors" to Saigon from a few
hundred to about 15,000. It was
just a short hop, skip and
jump for his successor to py
ramid our involvement from
this into the hundreds of thou
sands, which he did much
against his 1964 campaign
promises.
(Remember when they
laughed at Barry Goldwater
for suggesting we "defoliate"
the jungle to fight the Viet
Cong ? then U. S. chemical
warfare experts did just that
in 1965 after Lyndon Johnson
broke all bis promises?)
(Remember tqo that the
late Sen. Robert Kennedy
numbered himself among the
hawks from the beginning of
the senior Kennedy's presi
dency, as Indeed most of the
nation by then seemed to be
to some extent.)
(Remember too that it w;s
brother Robert who admitted
John Kennedy had been
wrong in committing U. S.
forces to Vietnam, but this
was long after the American
public had soured on the war
effort. Robert said he changed
his mind. Has Edward Kenne
dy changed his mind too?
Where did he stand during
the Kennedy reign?)
Now the newest Senate
whip suggests American pre
occupation with outer space
should accept a back seat to
inner space, that is, matters
of poverty, the ghettos, mili
tant demands, racial discrim
ination ? the whole "guilt
complex" bag of the liberals
buried in a nest of domestic
pork-barrels.
In short, the moon-or-bust
mania needs to stop right
there. Satisfy man's curiosity
by making a lunar touch
down, then pack NASA's toys
up and divert the govern
ment's muscle to more earth
ly matters. The Russians can
have Venus, we'll opt for Har
lem and Watts instead.
(Remember, it was John
Kennedy who first put Ameri
cans into a crash lunar expe
ditionary craze. Sputnik had
jarred the U. S. and "catch
up" was the administration's
popular phrase.)
Mow, the surviving Kenne
dy says that's enough of that.
The swerving preoccupa
tions of the Kennedys have
been legendary. Had Robert
Kennedy returned unscathed
from California, been elected
to the presidency and then
proposed foreign aid to the
moon, brother Edward would
probably dutifully tagged
? along.
Expediency. It has served
the Kennedys well, with due
respect to their memory as
public servants and unques
tionably as patriots.
It's only that the youngest
son isn't wearing too well
with us as leader of the ad
ministration's loyal opposi
tion.
Reflecting on the relation
ship between Senate leaders
Lyndon Johnson, Dirksen and
Mansfield with their respec
tive presidents it appears that
the traditional accord has de
generated into partisan bick
ering which could, in time,
bring government to some
thing of a stalemate.
Accomplishment
the joy OF ACCOMPLISHMENT springs from the knowledge
that whatever needs to be done? can be done. This is
especially true where such confidence is based on the
spiritual fact that intelligence or Mind is limitless . . . and
all-inclusive.
To have faith in oneself is important in every line of en
deavor, for it establishes courage when courage is most
needed . . . while at the same time it dissipates any nega
tive approach that looks for . . . and sees . . . failure at
every turn by admitting "it can't be done." (
To succeed in any accomplishment, therefore, one must
have faith in himself, and in others ... for if one's objec
tive is worth reaching for? it is worth striving for . . . even
though the road be Hough and troubled, or seemingly
blocked. Actually, it is at this testing point that victory is
won or lost . where the weak in spirit drop out, and the
strong march on.
.Shakespeare said, "There is neither good nor bad but
thinking makes it so." And this truism has been proved
through the ages by men who dared to throw off the
shackles of ignorance and limitation by changing the "I
can't" to "I car*" The degree of accomplishment is no( as
important as the accomplishmenHtself ? and to the extent
that one is able to replace the "negative" with the "posi
tive"? to that extent will success be hi*.
WALTER B KATZENBER&ER
SCAN MAGAZINE
COME
f T0
THINK
OF IT..."
' by
frank count
I ain't much when it comes to going to sad events like
weddings and graduations. But, when your neighbor's youngin
is gonna do something you gotta go. I seen more ball games
and piano playings than Carter's got whatever it is Carter's got,
all because of George and Myrtle. You remember George and
Myrtle. They're my quarreling neighbors. My drinking neigh
bors live further down the road.
Well, their little Mabeline graduated. I aint never going to
understand why nor how. but she did and 1 seen her when she
done it. And 11 setting in that not
school house with a tight^ollar and
shoes to match ain't being neigh
borly then I'm gonna be a isolation
ist. (In case you're wondering, I got
that from the President's speech. I
had to look up the spelling, though.
He didn't spell it. He just said it and
I ain't sure either one of us knows
what it means.)
1 always have said that rolKs are
the curiouest things. I always have
said that. Take George and Myrtle
(and I wish somebody would), they worked twelve years . . .
fourteen really cause Mabeline ain't the smartest youngin I've
ever seen. She ain't the prettiest either. But them folks worked
all them years just gitting little Mabeline to the graduating
point and what did they do? They set there and cried. Now, I
ask you, ain't that the silliest thing you ever seen?
Me? I laughed. I knowed now she'd be leaving the
neighborhood. And I know one neighbor that ain't gonna miss
her neither. Well, I gotta admit, I might miss her some. Like
when you got the itch. It feels so good when yQu scratch it,
naturally you miss it some when it's gone. And the itch is what
little Mabeline is like.
But I reckon I'd have to say i was kinda proud of her at
that. Most of her was covered with all that gowns and caps and
stuff. She looked about as good as I'd ever seen her . . . what
of her I could see, that is. It ain't every day old Frank gets a
chance to see his neighbor graduate. Fact is, it ain't ever day
that old Frank gets to see anybody graduate.
I can remember when folks in my neighborhood didn't
know there was any kind of diploma except a high school one.
And them few kids that got one of them was often called on
to do surgery when anybody got hurt or was having a baby.
They was the smart ones alright. I remember one boy fresh out
of high school wore his gown for seven days so's everybody
would know he was better 'n the rest of the neighborhood. He
never did give back the cap.
One thing about them gowns. They're democratic. I'll say
that for them. Everybody looks pretty much alike in them.
You shore can't tell whether they're wearing a $30 suit or a
pair of overalls under them things. And the same things goes
for girls. Course can't many folks tell what girls is wearing
under these days anyway. ,
But there I set acting like I understood everything the
bright young kids was saying as they made their speeches.
They done right well. Most of them talked with some kinds
yankee brogue. They said w-a-s instead of wuz and they said
s-e-v-e-n instead of saidben but I follow d most of what they
said. Man 1 didn't, know there was so many challenges hiding
out there in the future. Made a fellow onder if he wants to
get there. Then there was a heap of tai about problems and
facing the future with courage and mar " .1 hear to tell you
after hearing all them speakers, if you ain't got a heap of
courage, you'd best forget the whole thing cause thtere ain't a
whole lot a good up there ahead according to them folks doing
all that fancy talking. It pretty near scared the daylights out of
me and I know it hit them youngins hard. They wont in no
hurry to march out of the building and I didn't blame them. I
was scared to go home myself.
But when it was all over, I watched them two boys helping
dear little well-educated Mabeline up the aisle. She always did
faint easy. Specially if there was boys around. Never did quite
understand that. Boys seem to have a adverse effect on
Mabeline.
I finally found out what 1 went for. How did Mabeline do
it. How did that precious little bothersome youngin graduate?
George finally told me. Myrtle and the school prinicpal was
third cousins and like I always have said, blood is thicker than
water. Everybody's but mine that is. Mine is water.
Don't be a fault-finding grouch; when you feel like finding
fault with somebody or something stop for a moment and
think; there is very apt to be something wrong within your
self. Don't permit yourself to show temper, and always
remember that when you are in the right you can afford to
keep your temper, and when you are in the wrong you
cannot afford to lose it. ? J. J. Reynolds
77/ Drink To Thatf