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Entered at Poet Office, Franklin. N. C., as second class matter
Published every Thursday by The Franklin Press
Franklin. N. O. Telephone 24
WEIMAR JONES . .
BOB 8. SLOAN ....
J. P. BRADY
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JULY 12, 1956
Federal Aid To Schools
I
Once more, a federal-aid-to-education bill has
bitten the dust.
Its defeat, in the House last week, must have
been a sore disappointment to the thousands of
patriotic average citizens who favor federal aid.
Perhaps more important, the whole incident surely
must have brought bitter disillusionment to honest
citizens, whatever their views on this controversial
subject, about the standards of intellectual honesty
in our national government.
Take the original bill itself, backed by the ad
ministration. In the field of education, the only pos
sible excuse for federal aid is the fact that some
states have less money and more children, other
states more money and fewer children. The only
sensible way to bridge that gap would be to take
money from the taxes paid by all the people and
give it to those states where the need is most acute.
Yet this bill, like most of the others that have
been seriously considered, would have given federal
aid to all states ! Its backers seemed to assume
that the average citizen hasn't sense enough to
know that money that comes from government is
money that, first, has to come out of his pocket;
that the average citizen is stupid enough to believe
that local and state governments get their money
from his taxes, but that Uncle Sam is Santa Claus.
Now consider the Powell amendment. Introduc
ed bv a Negro congressman fighting for reelection
in a Negro district, it would have withheld federal
aid from states that failed to comply with the "pro
visions" of the Supreme Court's ruling against seg
regation. That amendment was passed by the
House by a vote of 224 to 192. Why either pro
pose or oppose such an amendment? For do not
even the most rabid segregationists agree that,
until it is changed, the Court's decision is law? We
have the spectacle of Congress solemnly declaring
that the law must be obeyed. (It would make just
about as good sense for Congress to write into
every appropriation bill the requirement that the
money appropriated must not be stolen by public
officials!) Incidentally, an interesting sidelight on
the consistency of members of Congress on this
matter was the failure of the majority to accept the
challenge of a Southern Congressman, who sug
gested the House go "all the way" and require all
states to employ a proportionate number of Negro
teachers ? most non-Southern states do not.
A third exhibition of dishonesty was the adopt
ion of the Powell and other amendments, when
everybody knew their adoption would kill the bill.
In other words, the majority of Congressmen were
both for and against federal aid.
This controversy, since it is only the latest in a
long series, seems to suggest we would be wise to
take it for granted there is no real probability of a
workable federal aid-to-education law ? even if
federal aid is either desirable or necessary.
Congratulations!
Congratulations are in order, all around, on the
growth of the Macon County Building and Loan
Association, which recently passed the million
dollar mark in assets.
First of all, of course, to the officers and direc
tors, past and present, for the enthusiasm, the dili
gence, and the sound judgment they have brought
to the direction of the organization. Second, to the
thrift of Macon County people, which made pos
sible the phenomenal development of this coopera
tive association devoted to the upbuilding of Macon
County ; its assets today represent savings averag
ing more than sixty dollars for every man, woman,
and child in the county. Finally, the growth of the
Building and Loan is evidence of the faith of people
here in their own community and of their willing
ness to cooperate toward the building of a better
place to live. Worthy of note, too, is the fact that
most of the Association's funds have been invested
Railroads ?? hard to knock out. In ?
?nauiva attack Now. 14. 1940, lour hundrad
Carman bomban mada 122 hib on British
raitnasatCovanky. But two days lalartfia
Imas wara back in oparation.
.... : ^ J1
American railway troops landmg at Naples Oct 7, 1943
t found rail lines to the North completely demolished by
} the retreating Germans. With the enemy only 15 miles
away, they restored the lines and were running supply
trains up to the front three days later.
During the Battle of the Bulge in Dec 1944,
artillery ammunition (or our forces was
delivered by railroad right to the guns.
in homes, indicating the high premium we in this
county put on home and home-ownership.
Whfen the Association's assets passed the million
dollar mark, it was but a milestone in a growth
that has been consistent since a little group here,
with a starting capital of exactly nothing, launched
the organization, just 34 years ago.
Political Prediction
Here we go, 'way out on a limb, to make a po
litical prediction ? two?of 'em, in fact.
Prediction No. 1 (and it takes little courage to
make this one) : Barring early and unexpected
physical complications, Ike's latest illness will not
change his decision to run for reelection.
No. 2 (and here's where we take our life as a
political prophet in our hands) :? Before November,
Ike will be conducting something closely approach
ing a whistle-stop campaign. The reason? Ike's
health.
We figure it this way: The Democrats are going
to make the most of the health issue. Here is a
man, they'll argue, who'll be 70 before the end of
the next administration, and who has had two
critical illnesses, and of a different nature, in less
than a year.
The President's health, of course, should be an
issue. The people have a right to know, before they
vote, how good or bad it is. Mr. Eisenhower, him
self, in fact, was honest enough to make it an issue,
even before the ileitis operation.
And as the issue becomes hotter and hotter, the
people are going to want physical evidence of Ike's
fitness; they are going to demand to see him in
person ? and they're going to be doubtful, if they
can't. Thus the Republican high command, which
has been assuring both Ike and the nation that a
few television appearances will be enough to assure
his reelection, will more and more tend to shuttle
the President from one end of the nation to the
other.
* * *
What will that do to the President's health?
We, of course, don't know the answer; not even
the doctors do.
What we do know is we'd hate to have the re
sponsibility somebody's going to have to shoulder,
should the strain prove too great.
'Don't You Dare'
"Junior, eat your spinach!"
For decades, that unwelcome command at U. S.
dinner tables has brought protests, tears, and
plain sulking from American children.
Well, maybe Junior was right; maybe he knew
better ? at least, as to this particular item of
food +- what was good for him than his parents.
For two physicians at the University of North
Carolina recently revealed that gall stones are
caused by oxalic acid, and that spinach is a major
source of that stone-producing acid.
The announcement was made at a medical meet
ing, but the word is likely to get around generally ;
and if it does, we predict the contribution result
ing from the doctors' study will be far greater to
dinner-time harmony than to me-dical knowledge.
Now, though, human nature being what it is,
parents may create a great childish longing for
spinach, by reversing the old command :
"Junior, don't you dare eat that spinach!"
Every dog has a lot of sense unless he belongs to a neigh
bor.
Others' Opinions
(Opinions expressed In this space are not necessarily those
__ of The Press. Editorials selected for reprinting here. In fact, _
are chosen with a view to presenting a variety of viewpoints.
They are, that is. Just what the caption says ? OTHERS*
Opinions.)
Progress: Zero
(Englewood, Colo., Herald)
In 1903 there were 468 fireworks deaths In the United States.
Last year there was only one. Quite a record of progress.
Back in 1903 a rather ridiculous looking machine was just
sputtering into being. Last year that machine ? evolving from
the ungainly horseless carriage into the sleek and powerful
modern automobile ? claimed 407 lives during the Fourth of
July holiday.
Thus the net gain 'in our efforts to avoid holiday self-de
struction seems to be about zero.
Cost Of Our Standard Of Living
(Ashley Montagu in The Saturday Review)
"No man can survive as an Island entire of himself. No man
wants to be an island. But every human being wants and
needs to replenish his resources for being social by having a
room of his own, as It were, a sanctuary to which he can re
tire and in which he can be alone with himself, undisturbed
by the rumors and alarums of the outside world ... In the
United States we have achieved the highest standard of liv
ing in the world? but it is seldom, if ever, added, it is at the
highest cost of ulcers, mental breakdowns, homicide, violent
crime, juvenile delinquency, alcoholic, and drug addiction
rates, in the entire world."
The Damyankee
(Sanford Herald)
/
In a little exploration of the word "Yankee", the Chicago
Tribune notes that the designation is given all Americans by
persons in other lands; that to a Southerner a Northerner
Is a Yankee; that Northerners say Yankees are from New
England states; that people in New England say it is the
Vermonters who are Yankee; and that Vermonters reply a
Yankee is just someone who eats pie for breakfast.
The Tribune fails (perhaps out of sensitiveness) to examine
"Damyankee," a word formerly heard often in these parts.
What is a Damyankee?
You may have your own definition. We have ours. To us a
Damyankee is a motorist with license plate of Pennsylvania or
New York or Connecticut or New Hampshire or any other
Northern state, but probably New Jersey, streaking up or
down U. S. Highway 1 at 80 miles an hour, contemptuous of
all the land separating home and Florida, and prepared to
denounce as a racketeer the Highway Patrolman who may
arrest him and save his neck.
And, oh yes. He wears his shirt-tail outside his pants.
They Can Have Him
(Greensboro Daily News)
If teen-agers want Elvis Presley, they'll get him, says Tom
my Dorsey, the sentimental gentleman of swing.
Mr. Dorsey, who has seen them come and go, from the
Black Bottom to Rock 'n' Roll, is right. If the teen-agers
want that hip-wiggling, blue-suede-shoe-shod, guitar-strum
ming hillbilly singer, they can have him.
Presley, presently pulling down $40,000 a week, belongs to
the neolithic age of musical curiosities, along with the grin
ning pianist Llberace (what ever became of him?), who have
a mysterious but unsettling effect on women.
Recently exploring the paleolithic era of musical crazes we
unearthed this yellowing clipping from the Richmond Times
Dispatch, entitled "Whinnying For Frankfe":
"Shrieks, sighs and whinnies may be expected to greet Frank
Sinatra, when the swooner-crooner sings "Old Man River" and
'other numbers tomorrow night in the Hollywood Bowl. . . .
"A foretaste of what is to come was nau when, the boy
from Hackensack barged off the train at Pasadena en route
to his engagement. He was practically mobbed, and it must
be conceded that among those who yelled and ululated a wel
come were not only gals in their teens, but *gray-halred ma
trons' as well, according to the veracious Associated Press.
"Whether these matrons will Join tomorrow night In the
whoops and flapdoodle which have become the Invariable ac
companiment of Sinatra's soulful warbling, remains to be
seen. There has been nothing like It, as far as we can re
call. The young girls in bobby-socks who sit with glazed eyes
on the front row, mooning through binoculars at Frankle 20
feet away, and yelling, "Take me, here I am," when he croons
"It Can't Be Wrong," are something new among the social
phenomena of the jitter-bug age."
Further research Into the Neolithic Age of Blng Crosby and
Rudy Vallee will doubtlessly reveal equally interesting ac
counts of didoes cut by flappers of the roaring '20's and the
depression kids of the early '30's.
But for today the surly, baby-faced Elvis Presley is king.
And he's got them rocking and rolling In the aisles.
Poetry
Editor
EDITH DEADERICK ERSKIN*
WeaTervllle, North Carolina
SELF SUFFICIENCY
Said the flower to the weed,
"You're an unwanted elf."
Said the weed to the flower,
"I can care for myself."
REV. HOMER CASTO
Weavervllle, N. C.
Soil Bank Forms
Available Here
At A. ?. C. Office
Agreement forms for the new
Soil Bank Acreage Reserve Pro
gram are now available to farm
ers at the Macon County Agricul
tural Stabilization and Conserva
tion office in the Agricultural
Building.
They must be signed not later
than July 20 if the farmer wishes
to take part in the acreage reserve
during the 1956 crop year, accord
ing to ASC Chairman Carl Mor
gan.
The soil bank is a new feature
of the national farm program
authorized under the farm bill re
cently enacted. Its objective is
to encourage farmers to reduce
crop acreages and thus help over
come farm surpluses that are de
pressing the market.
Of particular concern in this
area at this time is the acreage
reserve program for tobacco. Even
though 1956 tobacco planting is
well advanced, producers can
make adjustments and earn soil
bank payments this year, Mr. Mor
gan said. He emphasized, how
ever, that no farmer should at
tempt to comply without check
ing at the county office and sign
ing an official agreement with the
Department of Agriculture. Under
the acreage reserve feature of the
soil bank, the farmer earns pay
ments by reducing his tobacco
acreage below his acreage allot
ment and holding these acres out
of production. The amount placed
in reserve is up to the farmer
within certain limitations. For the
purpose of computing future al
lotments, the farmer will receive
credit for this reserve acreage just
as though tobacco had been grown
on it.
In future years, land will be
placed in the acreage reserve in
advance of the planting season
and will not be planted to a crop.
For this year only, Mr. Morgan
said, a farmer may participate by
not harvesting acres which suf
fered from weather damage or by
plowing under or clipping a por
tion of his tobacco acreage not
later than July 31. This is a spe
cial provision for 1956.
"The 1956 Acreage Reserve pro
gram is Jn many respects a spe
cial one with provisions to meet
the time limitations this season,"
Mr. Morgan said. "That is why
farmers should come to the coun
ty office just as soon as possible
to discuss the program and see
how they can participate in this
nation-wide attack on surpluses
and at the same time benefit
themselves."
Do You
Remember?
(Looking backward through
the files of The Press)
50 YEARS AGO THIS WEEK
The Fourth of July passed off
very pleasantly at Highlands.
About noon on school house hill,
In charge of Corporals Peyton
and Hyatt Crunkleton, the na
tional salute of 47 guns was
fired with dynamite. ? Highlands
item. /
The colored population had a
big picnic on the Fourth at St.
Cyprian's and every Negro about
town attended. Several wagon
loads of railroad Negroes came
down to enjoy the holiday.
The Fourth of July celebra
tion for the benefit of the pub
lic library netted $127.00, after
deducting all expenses, which
was a pretty good sum and will
be of great benefit to the li
brary.
25 YEARS AGO
Mr. and Mrs. Gaston Curtis
returned Tuesday from Port
land, Oreg., where they have
been living for the past two
years.
Mr. and Mrs. Frank Henry,
of Brevard, were week-end
guests here of Mrs. Charlie
Grindstaff.
Messrs. Charles, Fred, and
Henry Sadler, of Greenville, S.
C., formerly of Highlands, were
visitors here Sunday. ? High
lands item.
10 YEARS AGO
Titus Parrish, of Detroit,
Mich., spent the past week with
his parents, Mr. and Mrs. E. H.
Parris, at their home on
Franklin, Route 3.
Mr. and Mrs. E. F. Waterbury,
of Herkimer, N. Y., were recent
guests of Mrs. Hylda Shepherd
and her mother, Mrs. J. B. Stal
cup, at their home on Iotla
Street.
Mrs. J. A. Massey, of Jack
sonville, Fla., former assistant
postmaster here, arrived Satur
day for a visit with her par
ents, Mr. and Mrs. J. E. Potts,
at Fatrview Inn. ? Highlands
item.