Newspapers / The Chatham Record (Pittsboro, … / May 16, 1929, edition 1 / Page 4
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PAGE FOUR THE CHATHAM RECORD O. J. PETERSON Editor and Publisher SUBSCRIPTION PRICE: One Year , v $1.50 Six Months 75 THURSDAY, MAY 16, 1929. ■ v _ fifj / iyy* fjy jfn -4/ U(l* .’i The sketch of Mrs. Mabel Willebrandt in last week's Record should have been credl ited to Prof. C. 0. Small of Siler City. $ ; y It is more likely that the special session of Congress will result in higher tariff rates on manufactured goods than in farm relief. Plow points should be raised to a dollar a piece, as the infant steel trust must be suffering when they are re-, tailing at only 70 cents each. . - , ; “I never saw but one French man drunk,” says Julian Harris, noted Georgia editor, speaking of three vifeits to France, and we do not know whether we have seen even one Southerner who does not use sometimes Mr. Harris' double negative in similar phrases. Having let it slip into a recent editorial, we had re newed the fight against it, and that fact made it easy to detect the error of the Georgian. Watch and see if you do not say it that way. , <s> It is to be hoped that the Senators who won for the de benture plan of farm relief in the senate will stand by their guns. Let nothing be done in the name of farm relief unless it means something. However, one good Democrat suggests that it will be better for the Democrats in Congress to help give the farmers the relief (?) offered by the administration bill, and when its futility is proved, the blame will rest up on the party that defeated a real friend of the people. To prevent the passage of any ( farm bill will, in this gentle-, man’s opinion, make it possible for the Republicans to lay the blame upon the Democrats, j That is good politics, but a meatless bone thrown to the j farmers is mighty poor com fort, when it means a wait of, another four years. $ ▼ A BRIGHT LAD. —9 — ! The Record has frequently cited the disadvantages of the regular graded school for the exceptionally bright pupil, and we have an illustration of what such a child can do when he has free course to advance as rapidly as he chooses. John Bunyan Riggsbee was eight the 13th of last December, and was a pupil in a small school in Baldwin township till the school was broken up in a con solidation system last winter, when he started to the Pitts boro school, coming with his father who is auditor and comes from home each morn ing. The lad has not only com pleted the fifth grade, but just for project took a copy of the seventh-grade test questions home with him and worked one subject out at a time. Supt. Thompson graded the papers for the lad, and reported that he had passed the seventh grade examination in all sub jects except English. But this week a story comes out of Leaksville to the effect that a six-year-old lad has fin ished the work of the fourth grade on his own hook before entering school, and enjoys reading encyclopedias and working cross word puzzles. And he has not neglected his play in achieving all this. As the Record has stated often, some children can learn ten times as rapidly as others of good ordinary sense, and the sure way to spoil them forever is to yoke them up with slow coaches and thus make idlers of them. We have thus ac counted for the proverbial no acccuntness of honor men in the earlier days of American colleges, when the bright young fellow was yoked with slow pokes and failed to form habits of persistence and real work. PURSUING THE SUBJECT OF THE | TENDENCY TO MONOPOLY FURTHER Two weeks ago, The Record produced what seems to be conclusive evidence and argu , ment to the effect that, with a continuance of the present tendencies, a very small per -1 centage of the people will in a few years own the sources of wealth of the country, at least such as are purchasable. Since that time, several in ! stances have come to light i which indicate, as one would I already know, that practically j everything is purchasable if the price is large enough. In the same issue of The Rec ord, attention was called to the fact that the stock of the Cen tral Carolina Telephone Com pany had been sold to north ern interests at $175 a share, and that it had been only a few months since the rentals of the telephones had been raised. A more recent revelation re ■ veals that a surprisingly high price had been offered for the stock of a telephone company | with headquarters at Washing ton, N. C., or in that section. ‘ A few days ago the purchase of the stock’ of a Raleigh in surance concern was a matter of competition between two syndicates, and the stock was going at $2lO. For two weeks, the papers have been full of stories of the attempted, and partly successful, efforts of rep resentatives of the Interna tional Power and Paper Com pany to buy newspapers in the strategic cities of the Caro linas. The Greensboro Record was actually bought, The Co lumbia Record, and the two papers of Spartanburg. Ne gotiations for The Greensboro News, The Asheville Times, The Raleigh Times, the Green ville, S. C., papers, and of others were less successful, but it was in two cases at least that the unsatisfactory price rather than an unwillingness to sell presented the purchase. Now an examination of the character of the properties in volved indicates the drift that was pointed out two weeks ago as necessarily the consequence of the accumulation of im mense funds into the hands of individuals or of syndicates. It should be remembered that property was divided, in the article of two weeks ago, into that of permanent sources of wealth, or income, and that of only temporary value, or of a vanishing character. Lands, water power, mines, factories that perpetuate themselves by having deterioration, insur ance, etc., estimated in the cost of the product, above which the practical monopolies can charge a price sufficient to give them any profit seen fit, the basic transportation lines, etc., were listed as permanent sources of wealth, or income. But, under modern conditions of life, franchises of public utilities create monopolies of such things as telephone sys tems, while the immense ad vantages of the thoroughly es tablished newspaper in a com munity make successful com petition practically out of the question, especially when the field is not large enough to support competing papers. In surance companies, with their established clientile, fall into a similar category* Now, recall that the pur chases mentioned above were of newspapers, telephone sys tems, and an insurance com pany. If The Asheville Times had not been considered prac tically as a monopoly, the en voys of the International Power and Paper Company would not have offered $600,000 for the property, but would have pro ceeded to set up an opposition paper; similarly in the case of The Greensboro News. But apart from the securing of a property of permanent and in creasing value in the purchase of a newspaper in a strategic city, two other motives are ad vanced, that of securing con sumers of the paper output of the I. P. & P. Co., and that of possessing the chief means of forming public opinion in a considerable area, particularly 1 i with regard to matters pertain i ing to power interests, j In the case of the telephone j companies, the idea was to se j cure a property of permanent ;, income-producing character, in ■ \ which increased capitalization >’could be made as the needs of .' the area demanded without danger of annihilation of val i ues by free competition. The ■ notion of increasing percentage of earnings may be disregard ; ed. For these far-seeing capi talists see that it is only a mat ter of a short time before such properties, that is, permanent sources of wealth or income, will be gobbled up by interests that will not so easily be in ; duced to sell, even at prices that surprise, as did the offer for the stock of the eastern N. C. telephone company. In the same category may be listed the comparatively recent sales, at astonishing prices, of certain North Carolina municipal pow er, light, and water plants. Likewise, established insurance companies are considered, at the present time, as practically eternal sources of income. But of that in a later discussion. The point is this: There are certain properties that are either impossible to supplant or most difficult tq complete with* these are the prop erties that are now being gob bled up. When all water powers are developed, when the public utilities are monop olized, when the basic trans portation lines are in perma nent tenure, when the mines and oil properties are likewise held by multimillionaire inter ests, also the great newspaper properties, the radio privileges, then there will be no, or little, possibility of competition in those fields. Permanent values will be in the hands of a few, and even though it is said that the stock in these great syndi cates is diffused among the people, in the course of time the pressure for outlets of the money accumulating in the hands of the great lords of cap ital will cause them to offer such prices for the stock held by the poorer owners that the monopoly may be expected to become complete. At present, with the increas ing yields from smaller areas of land, the fight for possession of lands not begun,, save in cities, wtrere the promise of eternal rentals, put such prop erties into the preferred class. Likewise, no syndicates are hastening to buy up cotton mills or other factories which are readily duplicated. In those fields competition is easy and may become ruinous. Even now a portion of the cotton mill properties might be razed to the advantage of the indus try. However, when the mas tery of the sources of wealth , has become so complete and the completition in trade and transportation so fierce that few can win new capital to erect cotton mills, for instance, then the holders of them will have properties of the pre ferred class. Thus , it is seen, that the battle for the permanent sources of wealth is already in progress, and that from the limitation of the number of them in certain fields, the fight is more nearly won than one might think. And while the area off land is so great that a monopoly at present would be of no advantage, the field is not neglected, for it is not merely in outright purchase that a hold is secured upon the income from lands. Mortgages and land bonds are reaching into the pockets of the nominal holders of lands and wresting from them rentals as surely as the feudal lords of old harass ed them from the serfs. It would be surprising to know what percentage of the land owners of Chatham county, for instance, is paying tribute to the capitalists, great and small. Indeed, it would be no difficult matter to count the families in Pittsboro that are paying rent for homes or places of busi ness, or interest on mortgages. Moreover, it has been pointed out already that the number of farm tenants in North Caro lina is steadily increasing. These pay tribute to the nomi nal landlord, while the latter pays, in tens of thousands of cases, tribute to the bond-hold ler or mortgagee, and thus j arises again the tribute to the I sovereign—this time the money 1 kings and princelings. I We thought of writing upon the probable effects of the monopolization of the sources of wealth, and seeing whether the apparently inevitable ; promises to be as disastrous as THE CHATHAM RECORD. PITTSBORO, N. C first thought would suggest. But this article has been taken • up with further eivdences of the inevitability of such posses • sion by the few, and with the manner in which the posses -1 sion is proceeding and the rea sons for the immediate trends for the securing of certain kinds of property. And here we may refer to the fact that it has not been long since the stock of the Carolina Power and Light Company was taken over by a larger syndicate of l capital. In brief, those prop erties which form practical monopolies and which are of such character as to assure a perpetual income, even if at a low rate, are now the objects of the desires of the far-seeing capitalists and promoters. Later will come an article upon the expected result of the completion of the monop oly of the sources of wealth. But here it may be suggested that those who hold property of the kind described as a per manent source of wealth, would do well to think several times before they sell it, except in case of lands, which will not be monopolized for quite a number of years, as the supply so far exceeds the cTerfffilid, which is really growing less year by year as acre produc tion increases. If the owners of the Grenesboro News had sold their property, which they might be willing to do with the idea that they could invest the proceeds and be independent, they would find that they would have to reinvest in some thing of less monopolistic and permanent value or pay a premium, as they would have been paid for the News, for values in the same class of properties or securities. It is probable that the spurge in stocks in Wall Street has not been altogether a speculative craze. It is possible that a considerable number of people are awaking to the fact that there is a limit to properties which may be assumed to be of permanent income value. $ Some folks hold the theory that the more names in a county paper the more popu lar. If the theory is correct, such papers as the Sampson Independent, the Graham Messenger, etc., should grow in immediate popularity, for they have names of big and little of their county citizens in the list of land tax advertise ments. <s> The average college girl thinks that her college is very fortunate in hav ing so much beauty in one of its dormitories. DR. J. C. MANN the well-known EYESIGHT SPECIALIST will be at Dr. Farrell’s Office PITTSBORO, TUESDAY, April 23 at Dr. Thomas’ Office SILER CITY, THURSDAY, April 25 ( I ~ 1 OUR REPAIR WORK IS GUARANTEED We will fix any kind of car for you, but this is the . natural place to bring your Chevrolet. LET US DEMONSTRATE THE CHEVROLET NEW SIX. IT IS SOME CAR. ! THE CHATHAM CHEVROLET COMPANY Pittsboro, N. C. R. H. Mills, Manager I _ L ' - ! Mi I*************** ! * Bell’s News Notes * ROUTE No. 3, APEX. —Memorial day was observed at Ebenezer Metho dist church, Saturday, May 11. Many people assembled at the church for the occasion. The choir rendered many beautiful selections. Rev. Mr. Edwards, former pastor of the church, spoke in the forenoon, taking as his text Acts 16:31: And they said, “Be lieve on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.” ’ Dinner was served and everybody was 1 invited to partake of its delicious con tents. The graves were decorated with beautiful flowers. In the afternoon the memorials of the deceased of the past year, having connections with the church, were read, namely, Lucille Holt, infant, Mrs. Mary Matthews, Mrs. Frank Mc- Coy, Dr. C. G. Upchurch, Mr, Hunter and Mr. Puryear. Rev. Walter Farrar made a short talk, also Mr. David Mann. The whole affair proved to be an inspira tion to those present. • Mr. and Mrs. Hugh Holleman and little son, Billy, of Pittsboro, spent Sunday with the former’s parents, Mr. and Mrs, F. M. Holleman. Mr. and Mrs. J. A. Medlin and daughter, Mr. and Mrs. S. E, Bryant and children. Mr. and Mrs. John Branch, Mr. Slater and Misses Over ton and Zenobia Branch were the guests of Mr. James W, Goodwin and family Sunday. Uncle Tom Harris and daughter, Bessie, (colored) were buried at colored church last Wednesday. It is a rare thing for two to die in one family the same day. But we must always be con scious of the great power of God. For many years Uncle Tom was a resident of this community, but for late years he has made his home in Durham. $ Some people mistake going to church for religion. MAKE YOUR MONEY WORK FOR YOU The reason some people seem so prosperous under all conditions is often because they have money at work for them. They have saved a reasonable portion of their earnings and placed it in the bank on interest. They are then assured of a certain definite income every year. You have to work for your money. Then make your money work for you. Two dollars per week placed in a savings account every year for ten years will amount with interest to over $1,300.00. Can you not save two dollars per week? We pay 4 per cent interest and compound the interest quarterly. We would be pleased to have you open an account with us. THE BANK OF MONCURE MONCURE, N. C. A PLEASED DEPOSITOR The depositor has a right to expect his bank to return his money, on demand, or pay it to some one else on his order. Is he justified in that belief? He; CERTAINLY IS. That’s the one big aim of our Bank—to safeguard the funds entrusted to our care. We are ready at all times to pay our depositors in full, to justify the confidence re posed in this old, reliable Bank, and at the same time give our patrons the benefit of our modern banking facilities. BANK OF PITTSBORO PITTSBORO, N. €. THURSDAY, MAY 16, 1929. Four men met in a lawyer’s office last week to settle an argument over a piece of land, and three of them were killed. This shows you the danger of meeting in a lawyer’s office. A DOZEN" different things mi,' cause a headache, but there’s just one thing you need ever do to get relief. Bayer Aspirin is an absolute antidote for such pain* Keep it at the office. Have it handy in the home. Those subject to fre quent or sudden headaches should carry Bayer Aspirin in the pocket tin. Uptil you have used it for head aches, colds, neuralgia, etc., youVcr no idea how Bayer Aspirin can help. It means quick, complete relief to millions of men and women who use it every year. And it does not depress the heart. Aspirin Aspirin is the trade mark of Bayer Manufacture of Monoaceticacidester of Salicylicacid
The Chatham Record (Pittsboro, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
May 16, 1929, edition 1
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