PAGE TWO
THE FRANKLIN PRESS mad THE HIGHLANDS MACON IAN
THURSDAY, FEB. 21, 1135
Published every Thursday by The Franklin Press
At Franklin, North Carolina
Telephone No. 24
VOL. XLIX
Number 8
BLACKBURN W. JOHNSON .....EDITOR AND PUBLISHER
Entered at the Post Office, Franklin, N. C, as second class matter
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The Little Man and the Codes
WE note that the tobacco code hik at last been adopt
ed. We don't know what difference it is going to
make in the price of cigarettes, if any. For that matter,
we are not quite clear just what difference the codes in
general have made or are likely to make.
There are certain things in which it is reasonably easy
to determine what "fair practice" consists of. It certain
ly is not fair practice to make a profit by paying wages
below what the same workers could earn somewhere else,
or by compelling them to work longer hours than do oth
er businesses in the same line. But we have never been
able to see it as unfair practice for the man who has
special advantages of location, facilities or access to raw
materials, to profit by those advantages.
The small business man who lives in the rear of or
over his shop, for example, and perhaps owns the proper
ty, ought not to be compelled to charge for his product
as much as the big industry in the same line that has a
heavy overhead burden of interest, taxes and rent. The
most that the little fellow can do will make no appreciable
dent in the big fellow's earnings, but if the big fellow
can fix it so that the little fellow will have to charge out
of all proportion to his expenses, then it won't be long
before the little man is put out of business. We hear
complaints about the hardships they work on small busi
ness men in many lines. -In
coal mining, oil production, steel making, perhaps
a number of other industries in which there is no ma
terial difference in the product, it may be all right to
fix prices by means of a code. It would take a standing
army ten times as big as the largest force America ever
turned loose on the liquor bootleggers, to police the entire
business and industrial system of the nation.
THROUGH
CAPITAL
KEYHOLES
BY BESS H1NTON SILVER
A Brave Woman Rewarded
llfE take off our hat to Mrs. Irene Davis of Green-
V ville, Alabama. We pass our especial compliments
to the citizens of her community who were so under
standing as to recognize in her an example of the funda
mental American qualities.
They gave her a silver cup, a couple of weeks ago, on
which was engraved the sentiment that Irene Davis is
one of Alabama's greatest women. She didn't lead any
campaign to abolish anything, or run for public office,
or win a prize in a beauty contest, or any of the other
things that so many women do to bring themselves no
toriety, if not approval.
Nobody ever heard of Irene Davis, outside of her own
neighbors, a year ago. Only the relief workers knew that
she was a widow with three children and a lot of debts.
She didn't ask for any "relief" except a chance to dig her
own subsistence and that of her children out of the
ground. So she was fixed up with an eight-acre piece of
land, with a tumble-down house on it, and went to it.
Relief Administration provided seed, feed, fertilizer, gro
ceries and clothing on the chance that she could, pay for
them out of what she got off the little farm. She bor
rowed a mule from a neighbor to do her plowing. Rather,
she rented the mule by the day, for every day the mule
worked she or her 14-year-old boy worked for the mule's
owner.
In the story-books, that sort of determination always
wins. There are a lot of folks these days who have the
idea that patience, industry, thrift and the old-fashioned
virtues don't pay any more. They do pay, and they paid
in Mrs. Davis' case. Besides a living for herself and
family, she got enough out of the soil the first season to
pay off the advances made by the relief administration
and leave something over. And when the story of her
achievement got around, the citizens of Greenville and
other parts of the State got together and gave her that
silver cup.
To us there is the strongest kind of an inspiration in
Mrs. Davis' feat. So long as that spirit of independence,
of willingness to face hardship and toil rather than to be
a burden upon the community continues to exist, even in
a small degree, among American women, we have no fear
for the nation which their sons and daughters will inherit.
AUTO TAGS
It's now recognized as a fore
gone conclusion that automobile li
cense tags are going to be cheaper
when you decorate the mahogany
of the State Revenue Department
next January. The Joint roads
committee of House and Senate
have already agreed upon reducing
the rate per hundredweight from
55 cents to 40 cents with a mini
mum tag costing $9 instead of
$12.50. By the time you read this
the bill may have become law by
passage through the General As
sembly.
LOW DOWN-
News is seeping down from
Washington that the AAA is not
so hot for legislation controlling
the production of potatoes. Tar
Heels , and other representatives of
potato-producing States put the
bee on the AAA boys but it now
appears that Secretary Wallace's
crowd put one over on the potato
men. They drafted a bill that bids
fair to classify many potato farm
ers as criminals if they violate
technical provisions of the act.
Congressman Lindsay Warren has
promised to look after North Caro
lina potato men with the proper
amendments before the bill be
comes law.
MODERN STEP
With old-age pensions and un
employment insurance as well as
other social - security legislation
coming along to relieve old-fashion
ed county homes of much of their
burden, State Senator Julian Alls
brook, of Halifax, thinks it might
be a good plan to turn over the
county home buildings to the care
of neglected children. Many coun
ties in North Carolina have mod
t i t dt
em Duuuings constructed as poor
houses that will be vacant if the
aged and unemployed are supported
by government money. Senator
Allsbrook is considering introduc
ing proper legislation to carry out
his idea.
NOT SO FAST-
People who would divert highway
taxes to the support of various
and sundry causes are not getting
along so well with the present
General Assembly. Probably that
is because manv members live on
secondary roads that have created
a financial surplus by a mainten
ance deficit. At any rate the Lee
islature lost no time appropriating
$3,000,000 for immediate repair and
improvement of roads of the State.
NEEDED-
The federal government is Bet
ting ready to spend about four bil
lion dollars in relief work in co
operation with the 48 states. But
the states must set up machinery
to conform with federal regula
tions before sharing in the bene
fits. So far North Carolina has
done nothing to get in line for its
share in this gigantic Droerram.
It's time he boys in the Legisla
ture were up and doing.
TUBERCULOSIS
There has been some doubt about
whether the State should enlarge
the present tubercular hospital in
the Sand Hills or construct a new
unit in the mountain section of the
State. During debate on the mat
ter it was brought out that no pri
vate tubercular sanitorium in the
world is as large as the present
State unit. It wa$ also established
that some patients recover in one
climate and lose ground in another.
As a result it now appears that if
anything is done it probably will
be authorization for construction
of a new hospital for the treatment
of tuberculosis.
A SNAG
The McDonald-Lumpkin anti-sales
tax bloc was getting along swim
mingly until the question of taxing
individuals making over $1,000 an
nually was reached. That class
being rather large and already pay
ing numerous taxes, considerable
noise was raised. The final out
come is still uncertain. If you earn
more than $1,000 gross income per
year and do not pay schedule B.
license taxes it might be well to
look into the matter.
DICTATORS
Representatives Tarn C. Bowie, of
Ashe, and United States Page, of
Bladen, have been called "dictators"
since the introduction of several
measures that other legislators say
would put them m absolute politic
al control in their respective coun
ties. Mr. Bowie has been more
successful than Mr. Paee in eettinsr
his bills enacted into law but both
have experienced difficulties in
steering their propositions through
tne Legislature.
LOBBYISTS
Raleigh was a bit shv on lobby
ists before the introduction of the
McDonald-Lumpkin plan as a sub
stitute for the sales tax. But the
number of gentle persuaders picked
up immediately thereafter. And
the boys are settling down with
their own opinion that tax matters
will not be settled until the gavels
tall on sine die adjournment of the
1935 Legislature.
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