Newspapers / The Franklin Press and … / March 22, 1956, edition 1 / Page 2
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Hit t Sltnnklitt nnb Cite Jlrghlnnits JEnctftuittt Entered at Post Office, Pram kiln. N C.. as second class matter Pui^tlatied every Thursday by The Franklin Press Franklin. N. C. Telephone 24 WEWAH JONBS Editor BOB S. SLOAN Business Manager J. P. BRADY News Editor MBS. ALLEN SfLHR Society Editor and Office Manager MBS. MARION BR Y SON # ? ? Proofreader OAflL p. CABS Mechanical Superintendent ?BANK A. STARBPTTE Shop Superintendent BAVID H. SUTTON Commercial Printer O. E. CRAWFORD ... Stereotyper SUBSCRIPTION BATES Oursnw: Mai'om County One Year $3.00 0U Months ... 1 75 Hxree Months . . 1J0 Inside Macon County One Year $2J0 Six Month* 1.75 Three Months i.00 MARCH 12, 1956 And Not 'Unavoidable' -? Somebody is going to pet killed at an East Main Street intersection. And when it happens, nobody will be able to say it was "unavoidable". Now one of the most hazardous places in town, it could be made relatively safe. All that is needed is a slight change in parking regulations. It is where Derby (the short street that connects Palmer with Main, halfway down the Town Hill) intersects with East Main. And since the only other nearby connecting street, the one that runs beside the post office, is a north to-south one-wax- street, a lot of motorists get from Palmer to Main via Derby. Why is this intersection so dangerous? Two rea sons: (1) The heavy traffic along Main, especially that climbing the hill, goes full speed. (2) It often is impossible to see from Derby into Main ? the driver might almost as well be blindfolded. The reason is that parking spaces along the south side of Main are marked off ? and of course used ? up to within a few feet of Derby, both above and be low the intersection. The solution appears to be simple : Eliminate two or three parking places on each side of Derby ? just enough to enable a driver to see out into the traffic he's entering. The danger is illustrated by the photograph on this page. Note how the car entering Main is faced by a stream of traffic from both directions. Imag ine trying to enter those two streams, when you can see neither! Arrow shows how car, coming down Main, bears down on vehicle coming out of Derby. The picture is not new. The photograph, warning of the danger, first appeared on this page in January, 1955. Since that time, editorial after editorial has pointed out the danger. But the hazard is still there. And the solution is still a simple and easy one. The town board could dispose of the problem in 10 minutes. Matter Of Emphasis It's our guess that most of the argument about segregation-integration stems from a difference in emphasis. Many persons, especially in the South, mistaken ly insist that it doesn't matter what the law is, so long as there is good will between the races. Many others, even more mistakenly, insist that the good will doesn't matter, so long as the law is right. Wait, Mr. Congressman! The scene: Charlotte. The time: Last week. The event: A House Cn-Amcrican Activities ?Committee hearing into alleged Communist activ ities in North Carolina. The chief actors: Committee Chairman Frances E. Walter (I) I'enn.) and a group of uncooperative unci uncommunicative witnesses. Standing on their constitutional right to refuse to testifv about mat ters that might incriminate them, they stubbornly answered the committee's questions with silence. The climax of the drama came when Chairman Walter threatened the witnesses with contempt of Congress, and declared : ?"From the witnesses' refusal to answer questions, ?we have to make deductions and to assume those ?deductions are proper." (That is, that the witnesses must be guilty, as charged, of being Communists.) * * if Wait. Mr. Congressman! Aren't vou wrong about that? Because either you are wrong or both the whole ?tradition of Anglo-Saxon justice and the Ameri can Constitution arc wrong. For is it not fundamental to our whole concept of justice that a man is presumed innocent until proved guilty? And doesn't the Fifth Amendment to the U. S. Constitution specifically provide that "no person . . . shall be compelled ... to be a witness against himself"? That is a good amendment. It is as valid and necessary today as it was when it was written. Without it, a man could be tortured into confessing crimes of which he is innocent. (That happens in Russia every day ; it once was common in Eng > land.) Thus this amendment is a part of the sup port of another fundamental in our idea of justice, that it is better that nine guilty men go free than one innocent suffer. It is understandable that ?Mr. Walter should have been exasperated. It is understandable that Americans generally should be exasperated when Communists, or those we believe to be Commun ists, use our American freedoms as a screen to hide behind. But shall we, in order to convict and punish a few, abolish these freedoms, thus denying them to all the millions of lova! Americans? Congratulations! Macon County's Negroes are the latest group to enter this county's Rural Community Development Program. We offer our congratulations. To the congratulations on their enterprise, we add best wishes for success. We are sure the entire county would be proud to see the Negro commun ity win first place in this year's competition ? and The Press wouldn't be surprised if it did. "Russia was first with every important discov ery." That's the chorus we've been hearing from the Communists. But they seem a bit tardy with their latest discovery; they're only now finding out that Stalin was a "mad murderer". ? Letters For A Cleaner Town Editor, The Press: I am glad to see from The Press that Franklin is about to get some kind of "face washing". It has needed it for some time. As a former citizen of Macon County, may I offer a few sug gestions ? even though I am not there to U6e my own "elbow grease" for a cleaner Franklin. The first suggestion is that the rusty metal in the junk yards on the Asheville and Bryson City highways be removed from the sides of the highways. Even a clean junk yard along a highway is hardly an enticing sight for tourists. A second suggestion is that the trees along Harrison Avenue be trimmed to a minimum height, to eliminate danger of fall ing trees or limbs in case of a windstorm. They used to be trimmed, so why not continue the practice? W. R. (BOB) RAMSEY Long Beach, Calif. Mixing The Races Editor, The Press: It seems to me that Autherine Lucy, her attorney, Thurgood Marshall, and the N. A. A. C. P. forget that no man or group of men can be trusted safely with unlimited governmental power. God made in the beginning five races. If He had intended them to mix, He might have saved time by mixing colors. It makes me feel ill to think of future children in mixed schools. So much is being said and written about "our democracy", future generations may forget that this nation was set up as a republic, not a democracy. When asked by a citizen, after adoption of the Constitution, what kind of government had been set up, Benjamin Franklin replied: "A republic ? if you can keep it." What if Negroes were slaves once? It got them out of the land of stronger-eats-the-weaker, and slavery was the method of their deliverance. Their forefathers suffered less than those of the white race, who blazed the way to present-day Amer ica, often through rivers of blood. I can appreciate the Negro, but separate. It is time we refreshed our memory about the ConstitutiQn and the first ten amendments. Surely our founding fathers never intended the Supreme Court to be a party to destroying the Constitution and its Bill of Rights; nor would God have separated the colors, had He intended them to be mixed. We should be one great nation, equal under government; but the Negro should desire to keep his skin as God made it. MRS LOUISE RIGGINS Griffin, Ga. (formerly of Franklin). Must Be A Terror (Savannah Morning News) Notice in a restaurant: "Customers who consider our wait resses uncivil should see the manager." Ever see this picture before? If you're a regular reader of The Press, you have! Where is H taken? What's it all about? See editorial, "And Not 'Unavoidable"'. Others' Opinions Joe Blow (Buffalo Center. Iowa, Tribune) Some one remarked that in this life a man must be either the hammer or the anvil. We know a man who seems to be the bellows. A Need For Rest (Chapel Hill News Leader) "She appears to be very calm but her insides are a mess. . . . She needs rest, peace and quiet". The lawyer for Miss Autherine Lucy, Negro student expelled from Alabama University, thus described her condition. The same description might well apply to the condition of the whole public mind in relation to the present stage of the racial segregation issue. Violent emotions are arising and being whipped up by events, by organizations, and by individuals. What is settled now will probably have to be unsettled later. The best remedy for this over -excitation of the public mind would be a period of rest, peace and quiet, to be following by the meeting in every affected locality of joint committees made up of members of both races to become acquainted with each other's needs and to replace hostility with the coopera tion of fair-minded Americans dealing with a difficult situa tion. STRICTLY PERSONAL By WKIMAK JONES On a trip to Raleigh last week, I indulged myself in a rare but always pleasant ex travagance, a visit to the train's dining car. Maybe a meal in a diner gives me a sense of luxury because I know it's going to cost more than I can afford; for who doesn't enjoy being a spend thrift, occasionally! But there are other things, too: The gleaming white table cloths and the big linen napkins; the mir ror-like polish of the silver services; the deferential stew ard, the obsequious waiters; the excellent food (though no bet ter than it should be, at the price i ; the air of leisureliness ? since the passengers can arrive at their destinations no sooner by hurrying, everybody is un hurried; the delight, as late afternoon colors into sunset, and that fades into soothing dusk, of watching the country side slide by, as you look out the wide windows (railway din ers had "picture windows" long before they were dreamed of for homes i. The first thing I noted, after the steward had seated me, was the presence of a Negro couple, directly across the aisle. I had read. I am sure, several years ago. about the opening of din ers to Negroes; but this was my first time to experience it. I be lieve it would be exaggeration to say my reaction was one of shock, but there was a distinct sense of surprise. That lasted, though, only a moment or two. I wondered: Do those two feel self-conscious? And I stud ied them out of the corner of my eye. I got no definite an swer to the question, of course. I could not help being Impress ed, however, by their good man ners. They were unobtrusive, quiet, soft-spoken; courteous to each other. That impression was heightened by the contrast, when they left the car and four young business men, obviously prosperous, were seated at the same table. Because of too much liquor, or too little home training, or maybe both, the white group was loud-mouthed, demanding, considerate of no body. They seemed convinced their money could and would buy anything they wanted; and they were determined that everybody should know it. The incident recalled what a wise man wrote, more than fifteen years ago: "Good manners spring from well-wishing; they are funda mental as truth and much more useful . . . Insolence is not safe for anybody, anywhere, at any time . . . The Southern Negro has the most beautiful manners in the world . . . (but) the Ne gro is losing his most valuable weapon of defense, his good manners". Examining my own reactions ? first admiration, then dis gust ? to the contrast in man ners, I realized as never before how true it is that good man ners are the best weapon of de fense, for anybody . . . and I hoped the Negro would not lose that weapon. * * ? Another thing I noted was a metal-and-glass sort of curtain, screening off one end of the car. I suspected (and later the steward confirmed the suspic ion) that this end of the car was for Negro customers, back in the "separate but equal" days. One side of this screened-off area was now used by the stew ard for his desk, cash register, etc. On the other side was a table for four, now occupied by a party of white persons. Mean while, the Negro customers were seated in the main dining room. Nobody seemed to object, to ? Continued on Pate 3 VIEWS By BOB SLOAN . j Roaring, driving industry, teeming cities, tali smokestacks are symbols to many of this great country called America. But to me the small farm with a home, some livestock, and a few out buildings, perhaps, not too tidy and lacking in paint, is a better symbol of the heart of what has made our country great. One of the products of this small farm in .many cases has been character. Today, I am greatly disturbed for fear that we are going to lose this institution which has, I think, been so vital to the growth of our country, and to the development of what I like to think of as the true spirit of Americanism. I will always be lieve that to have a great coun try a certain number of us must have our hands in the dirt ? be tillers of the soil. These, small farms are going to be swallowed up by the grow ing demand for efficiency in the production of .material things. Continued on Page Three ? Do You Remember? (Looking backward through the files of The Pre?) SO YEARS AGO THIS WEEK A new telephone switchboard arrived Thursday and will be put In operation as early as possible. It is built for 200 con nections and cost nearly $500. Hon. James H. Cathey, of Sylva, was here a short while Thursday. Mr. W. A. McConnell, of Mt. Airy, Ga., was in this county all last week. He is having the old Hall dwelling at West's Mill repaired and put in good shape. It is the old homestead where Mrs. McConnell was raised. 25 YEARS AGO Joseph Ashear, who has been in the mercantile business in Franklin for 20 years, has mov ed into his modern, spacious brick building oh Main Street, next to Sloan Brothers Grocery on the Trotter corner. Saturday he will formally open his new store. Miss Katherine Siler spent the week-end here with friends, returning to Western Carolina Teachers College at Cullowhee Sunday. Mrs. W. L. McCoy, after spending the winter months at her home in Miami, Fla., re turned to her home in Frank lin last Monday. ~10 YEARS AGO Mr. and Mrs. E. A. Burt, Jr., and their son, George, returned this week from a visit with Mrs. Burt's relatives In Dallas, Tex., making the trip between Dallas and Atlanta by plane - Highlands item. Misses Lillian and Dorothy Jones spent last week In At lanta, visiting their uncle, J. Lowry Jacobs, and Mrs. Jacobs. Mr. and Mrs. A. R. Higdon are spending two weeks In Wlriter Haven and other points In Florida.
The Franklin Press and the Highlands Maconian (Franklin, N.C.)
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March 22, 1956, edition 1
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