Newspapers / The Franklin press and … / March 1, 1956, edition 1 / Page 2
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Iflnrnkliit nxt l! Jligklanfrs JKarjmmn Entered at Poet Office. Franklin. N. C.. as second clan matter Published every Thursday by The Franklin Press Franklin. N. C. Telephone 24 WEIMAR JONES Editor BOB 8. SLOAN Business Manager J. p. BRABT News Editor ICRS. ALLEN SILER Society Editor snd Office Manager MRS. MARION BR Y SON Proofread* CARL P. CABE . . Mechanical Superintendent PRANK A. 6TARRETTE Shop Superintendent DAVID H. SUTTON Commercial Printer O. E. CRAWFORD Stereotyper SUBSCRIPTION RATES Outside Macon Cocntt One Year 1800 Six Month* 1.79 Three Moatbs 100 Inside Macon County One Year $2^# Six Months 1.75 Three Mentha 1.09 MARCH 1, 1956 Do It In Town! More power to Mr. Verlon Swafford, the new president of the Franklin Chamber of Commerce, on his appointment of a new committee ? a com munity development and beaut ification committee, for Franklin. i If the idea "catches on", Mr. Swafford will have a highly successful administration, even though he should accomplish nothing else during his term as head of the Chamber of Commerce. Because a clean and beautiful town is just plain good business, from any and every viewpoint ; and right now Franklin is far from clean, and a large part of its beauty is God-given, not man-made. Everybody knows about the remarkable results of the community development program in rural Macon County : they are so remarkable that a few years ago anybody predicting them would have been called a "visionary" ? or worse. Why can't we get the same desirable and re markable results in town? We can! All it will take will be a little' enthusi asm, sparked by competition between areas in town ? and, of course, a bit of "elbow grease". The excellent committee named by Mr. Swafford already is at work. It alone can neither clean up nor beautify the town; that isn't its job. Its as signment is to set up machinery for area competi tion and then generate a little enthusiasm. After that, it will be up to the "communities" in Frank lin. and the people within them. Stupidity, Plus Nothing even approaching" a solution of the dif ficult segregation-integration problem can be reach ed except through calm reasoning, tolerance of others' viewpoints, and most important of all. good will. Surely that is self-evident. Yet what are we bringing to the problem? Emo tion, intolerance, stupidity, and an almost total lack of sense of proportion. Meanwhile, the good will between the races, built up patiently over half a century by members of both races, is fast dis appearing. The bus situation at Montgomery. Ala., illu strates the point. In most Southern cities, whites occupy buses from the front toward the rear, Negroes from the back toward the front. Rut Montgomery's city ordi nance requires a line of demarcation on the bus. As a result, when the Negro section is filled, Ne groes must stand, even though there are vacant seats toward the front; and, if the law is strictly enforced, whites have to stand, though there arc vacant seats in the Negro section. Such a rule seems not only unfair, but silly. Nearly three months ago, a Negro woman took a seat in the white section of a Montgomery bus, and refused to move to the rear; she was haled into court and fined. Since that time, virtually no body, white or colored, appears to have brought any intelligence to the situation. Retaliating, Montgomery Negroes resorted to a weapon of doubtful ethics and even more doubtful wisdom ? a boycott for the buses. Alabama has a law, apparently very loosely ?drawn, forbidding "illegal boycotting". Invoking that law, a grand jury has returned wholesale in dictments of Negroes. Whatever the legal merits of the indictments, Montgomery whites could hardly have found a more effective way to make martyrs of the protesting Negroes. V And now the Negro ministers who lead the boy cott have called mass prayer meetings ? all over where somebody shall sit on a city bus ! It would be ludicrous, if it weren't so tragic. Meanwhile, the executive secretary of the Na tional Association for the Advancement of Colored People, discussing the Montgomery situation, blam ed Southern White Councils and Southern senators for encouraging lawlessness ? ignoring the fact that the situation was precipitated by a Negro's deliberate violation of a law, probably at the insti gation of the N. A. A. C. P. Such inconsistency is typical of the extreme in tegrationists. Because, without exception, when they cite the words of the SuprenTe Court as "the law of the land", they cite only half of what the court said. They shout that segregation is uncon stitutional, but they don't admit, even in a whisper, that the same Supreme Court that outlawed it said with equal clarity and emphasis that its abolition should come gradually. Finally, there is the growing demand for use of federal troops to enforce integration ? surely the ultimate in stupidity! Congratulations Most Macon people feel a community pride in the clean, well kept, up-to-date institution known as Angel Hospital. So The Press is but saying what many local persons undoubtedly feel when it offers congratulations on the hospital's announcement of plans to build a wing for out-patients. (Why hos pitals use that strange term, "out-patients", for per sons who come for treatment but are not admitted to the hospital, probably nobody ? even the doc tors themselves ? knows!) The new wing is designed to relieve congestion in the hospital proper, and thus should prove advan tageous to both patients and hospital staff. Pre sumably, it also will make for quicker, better serv ice to the out-patients. Angel Hospital, incidentally, is operated under a somewhat unusual plan. It is owned by Dr. Ed gar Angel ; he leases it to a non-profit corporation ; and the corporation, in turn, employs him as med ical director. The 1 1-man board ? A. B. Slagle is chairman, H. W. Cabe, vice-chairman, and R. S. Jones, secre tary-treasurer ? and Dr. Angel, in his capacity as medical director, deserve congratulations, too, for good business management. For, while most hospitals in the United States have been running in "the red", the Franklin institution has accumulated a surplus during the past IS years that enables it to build a wing that, equipped, will cost $100,000. The board has the funds to do the entire job, even should a Ford grant that is sought fail of approval. In offering felicitations. The Press also takes the liberty of voicing a hope. We hope this small hos pital will not get too big: that it will remain small enough for the patients to continue to be human beings, rather than mere numbers. Macon Native Honored People here may well take pride in an honor that came last week to an Asheville man ? because he is a transplant from Macon to Buncombe. Charles K. Robinson, who was reared at Frank lin's "Dixie Hall", was given national recognition tor "outstanding leadership in the cause of good will". Mr. Robinson, editor of The Asheville Citi zen-Times. was presented a citation from the Na tional Conference of Christians and Jews. The Conference could have found no more worthy recipient of. the honor. For Charles Robin son's life has been devoted to seeking understand ing. Xo milk-toast personality, he has strong con victions and can, when the occasion demands, ex press them forcefully. But back of those convic tions are an utterly fair mind, that reaches a con clusion only after examining every facet of the subject ; a humility that is the basis for all real tolerance; and a kindliness that makes every man his brother. Others' Opinions More Than Likely (Overland Life) The best way to keep up with the Jonses is to take it easy for a while and in a few years you'll meet them coming back. Practical Training (Kansas City Star) Freshman at Harvard, It is alleged, learned how to operate pay telephones with a penny. And we trust this will give pause to those who think our colleges waste time on non essentials. Singings At School (Cherokee Scout) We noted with pleasure that the Third Sunday afternoon Singing Convention of Cherokee County will start holding its singing meetings In the Murphy High School Aodltortam starting Sunday, February 19. We think that was a smart move on the part of the. con vention for the same reason announced by the group. The Murphy school Is centrally located and there is more room in the auditorium to seat the folks who want to attend the meetings. The convention should see a marked Increase in attendance at their monthly meetings now. There are plenty of people in this section who like good singing and who can travel to the school. A lot of those same people found it impossible to travel to the different churches throughout the county when the sing ing meetings were scattered about. 1 Letters What Would Happen? Editor, The Press: An editorial recently published in The Franklin Press called for renewed interest in politics. Now I am just wondering, what would happen if some per son in Macon County, from either political party, were to an nounce his or her candidacy for some position and at the same time pledge to make progress in carrying out the Su preme Court's decision concerning integration? Would some citizens in Macon County be deprived of their right to vote? Would some people resort to the now infamous Citizens Council, or mob rule, and violence? How many people would there be, who call themselves "Christians", talking about "black niggers" and "nigger lovers"? It is my opinion that these are timely questions for people inside 'Macon County during this election year, 1956. I am therefore requesting that the editor discuss them sometime in his usual enlightening manner. J. KENNETH CORBIN. Clemson, S. C. 'Like Being At Home' Editor, The Press: I have been looking over one of your papers that my niece brought me the other day, and reading The Press makes me feel like I was at home. I have been down in this part of the country since Novem ber, 1918, but "home" still is Macon County, and I love every foot of it. All my brothers live there ? Will, Jim, Harley, and Perry; so you see I am a chip off the same old block, and I am proud of It. Speaking of the Swaffords, if Paul, who writes "Swafford's Sayin's", can't get rid of that wall paper he got stuck with, I'll tell him to watch those high-powered salesmen next time. I have been a shut-in for eleven years, but I still enjoy life. And since I am able to ride in a car, I plan to come to Franklin to see my brothers just as soon as the weather gets warm. J. A. SW AFFORD Toccoa, Ga. Integration ? Locally Editor, The Press: If I remember correctly, you have invited discussion of seg regation versus integration. I take this opportunity to par ticipate. First, I want it understood that I have no feeling of enmity for the colored people; I have hired Negroes, worked with them and eaten with them. However, I am definitely opposed to integration. If, as is stated in the Declaration of Indepen dence, we are all entitled to "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness", is the white race's happiness not just as impor tant as that of the colored? If anyone wants to favor integration for reasons of economy, it might be mentioned that it would be cheaper to do away with separate rest rooms in all public buildings. Of course school buses could go too! Now to get down to a strictly local level, where it directly concerns all of us. Does anyone really believe that the few colored pupils we have would be happier to be taken out of their new school and scattered out in ours? Would the teach ers be happy to lose their jobs? No! But can you imagine a board of education or school superintendent trying to place a colored teacher over white students? If any pupils did attend, can you picture the colored teacher punishing a white pupil? This is not an argument in regard to supposed superiority or inferiority of the races. As a matter of fact, I believe a check would show that in Macon county a larger percentage of colored \iave work than do the whites. My contention is that integration will not be a success. Tra dition just cannot and will not be torn down overnight. While the N. A. A. C. P. may not be subversive, in that it does not conspire to overthrow the government, it is certainly disrupt ing a way of life. As an after-thought, I wonder how many of the proponents of integration have invited a colored person to their church and vice-versa? CHARLES J. FERGUSON Franklin. (EDITOR'S NOTE: What the editor (in his Strictly Person al column in the February 16 issue) had in mind was a meet ing of interested citizens to discuss this problem, as suggested by the R?v. S. B. Moss. Letters discussing this or any other public matter, however, always are welcome.) VIEWS By BOB SLOAN Many are the lines that have been written to depict the pic ture of ease and contentment that is the life of the editor of a weekly newspaper. However, 11k* the rose, there are thorns. I do , not fill such a position, but by being the writer of one small column that appears on the ed itorial page, I received a prick from one of the thorns that are constantly jabbing into the flesh of said editor. This men ace is the problem of writing copy for the editorial page which must be done the Friday before the paper is published on Wednesday , without having something happen to complete ly change the picture before th? reader gets the paper. Such a thing happened to ate this past week. Last TTiursday, I wrote my column. In it, I said, that a complete financial statement on thj schools was one of the things we needed, before the people of the county would vote a tax increase for the schools. In last week's paper was a news story which contained a statement from Holland Mc Swain giving a reasonably com plete financial picture of the school operation. So I might as well have saved the space for some other purpose. s Perhaps, this week someone will come up with a method of getting better tax collections, the other needed item, I men tioned last week. It could be that the only pur pose this week's writing will serve will be to call attention and emphasize the financial statement which was In last week's paper. We should all study it carefully, I think. It makes the point clear that more money is needed (or the schools. One problem that people could concern themselves with is where and how is the best place and way to get this mon ey. And this, it seems to me, goes back to the point of how can we get better collection of taxes due our county? Maybe the PTA groups could get all their members to pledge to keep their taxes paid up to date in the interest of better schooie. Do You Remember? (Looking backward through the files of The Press) 50 YEARS AGO THIS WEBK The Rev. and Mrs. J. A. Deal has gone to Florida to remain till spring comes again. The court house has been undergoing some repairs and re painting. The lumber is on the ground for reflooring and re pairing the iron bridge. Mr. J. Pierson and son, Por ter Pierson, and daughter. Lake Pierson, and niece, Ella Pierson, of Highlands, after a visit to relatives at Andrews and Weav erville, spent Thursday night in town on their way homeward bound. 25 YEARS .AGO The Franklin Rotary Club will be the guests of Mr. Agee, manager of the Ritter Lumber Company plant at Rainbow Springs, at a dinner tonight at the company's clubhouse. Miss Jessie Higdon, of Higdon ville, has been initiated into the Alpha Phi Sigma National honorary scholastic fraternity at Western Carolina Teachers College. Prof. T. G. Harbison and Mr. Frank B. Cook, of Highlands, visited Franklin Monday. 10 YEARS AGO Miss Louise Burnette, Gra ham County assistant home demonstration agent, of Rob binsvllle, and Miss Gladys Bur nette, of Brevard, spent the week-end here with their par ents, Mr. and Mrs. J. D. Bur nette. ? Highlands item. Mr. and Mrs. Frank Henry, Jr., and son, Frank, III, and Mr. and Mrs. J. Ward Long and daughter, Jane, have returned to their homes after spending a week in Florida. H. D. Corbln, who is on the staff of Delta Air Lines in Asheville, spent the week-end in Franklin.
March 1, 1956, edition 1
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