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Entered at Post Office, Franklin, N. C.. u second class matter
Published every Thursday by The Franklin Press
Franklin, N. O. Telephone 24
VDMAR JONES , Editor
BOB 8. SLOAN Advertising Manager
j. f. BRADY News Editor-Photographer
MBS. ALLEN 8ILER Society Editor-Office Manager
MBS. MARION BRYSON Proofreader
fi*nr P. CABE Operator-Machinist
frank A. starrette Compositor
O. B. CRAWFORD Stereotyper
CHARLES E. whtttington Pnmmmn
DAVID H. SUTTON Commercial Printer
SUBSCRIPTION RATES
Ocrrsnc Macon County
Om T ear
Mb Mont ha .
Ttrac Months
TWO Years .
flaw Tears
. $3.00
. . . 1.75
. . . 1.00
5.25
. . . 7.50
INSIDE MACON V/OulVTY
One Year ...... $2 M
Six Months 1.79
Three Months .... 1.00
Two Years 4-25
Three Yean 6.00
JULY 19, 1956
What Is Our Goal?
For this newspaper to try to tell the General As
sembly, as it .prepares to wrestle with the difficult
problem of race and public education, just what
specific measure should be adopted ? to do that
would be gross presumption.
It is not presumptuous, though, for a newspaper
or any citizen, to suggest to public officials how
the problem should be approached. And we believe
most thoughtful citizens, if they could talk to their
legislators, would offer substantially these general
suggestions : f
1. The Legislature should not be in too great a
hurry to accept the program .proposed. It may be,
as it has been described, "the best we can do under
the circumstances" ; but it should not be adopted
until the legislators have convinced themselves no
better program is possible.
2. Toward that end, there should be full, free,
open debate. Moreover, the public hearings to be
held on this legislation should be utilized to the
best possible, advantage. Instead of being mere
gestures, they should be the vehicle for bringing
out every shade of opinion ; and each opinion
should be examined with open minds.
3. What is our long-range goal, gradual integra
tion or continued segregation? When that ques
tion was asked at a press conference last week, the
answer was, the decision is left to individual com
munities, the state has no policy on segregation.
Well, it's time it had a policy ;?time the state pro
vided some leadership in determining where we are
heading; and time the people were told plainly
what are the state's ultimate aims.
4. Finally, if we are determined to retain segre
gation, there seem only two roads to that goal,
evasion or defiance. And if that hard choice must
be made, we hope it will be the latter. For evasion
is essentially dishonest, and so tends to destroy the
character of the evader. Defiance of constituted
authority, on the other hand, when the citizen is
convinced the authority is wrong, at least has the
virtues of candor and courage. It is, too, in the
best American tradition ; without it, there never
could have been a free America.
Let's Name The Babies
For the town development program, Franklin is
divided into five zones. And how are those' zones
designated? By numbers: Zone 1, Zone 2, etc.
That is about the least satisfactory of all ways to
designate areas. To illustrate: Ask yourself,
"Where is Zone 3?" If you can answer promptly,
you are the exception; the chances are half the
people who live in that zone don't know its num
ber.
And it's important that we be able to identify
the zones, because the success of this promising
project will depend largely, on competition. And
who can get steamed up about competing with
Zone 3 or 4 or 5, if they don't even know where
those zones are?
Let's give the babies names. Here's how that
would help: Few of us know instantly which is
Zone 1, but everybo.lv would know if we called it
"the Fast Franklin Zone".
All five could be identified by their directions.
Better still, we could use a little imagination and
give them Indian names, or name them for some
well known landmarks, or in some other method.
But by all means, let's name them! Nothing
means so little to so nianv as mere numbers.
Trail never witness a more exciting and unpredictable
than the human.
? Decorah (la.) Public -Opinion
Federal Aid To Schools
ii
For this session of Congress, federal aid to edu
cation seems dead. But the question remains:
Should congress appropriate funds to be distribut
ed among the states for the construction and/or
operation of the schools?
That question boils down to two others:
(a) is federal aid to education desirable?
(b) is it necessary?
There seems general agreement that it isn't de
sirable if there is any danger of federal control.
Schools are different from such things as roads
and public health. Education, by its very nature,
requires the maximum "of freedom, and freeflom
means diversity. Furthermore, to be effective, there
must be some control of the schools at the local
level, to insure the local interest and support so
essential in such a three-way human situation, in
volving children, parents, and teachers.
So the most enthusiastic proponents of federal
aid qualify their support ; "federal aid without fed
eral control", they say. Isn't that a contradiction
in terms? Surely any appropriation bill providing
federal aid to schools should carry the provision
that the funds must be used for education; yet
that itself is control. The question is not whether,
with federal aid, we would have control ; the only
question is, how much ?
If the bill recently defeated is typical, we'd have
a lot. For it placed stout strings, tightly tied
around the money, in the hands of both the
U. S. Commissioner of Education and the Depart
ment of Labor. And even if it ever were possible
to get a bill through giving aid without control,
who can say that later Congresses ? after the states
had adjusted their economies to federal aid ? would
not write in more and more control provisions?
Recent history provides two examples of what
state government control can do to the schools;
and if a state government can engage in thought
control, why is it so improbable that sometime the
federal government might? In the cases of the
states, it was possible for those demanding free
dom of the mind tp flee Louisiana and Georgia,. but
where would we flee, once any form of thought
control was nation-wide?
* * *
Is federal aid necessary? It would be "nice";
Macon County, for example, would find it mighty
pleasant to get a few hundred thousand dollars
from the federal government, and there are plenty
of places where we could spend it to advantage.
But we have to look no farther than Macon
County to get the answer to the question: Is it
reallv necessarv?
/
In the past decade, this county has spent a mil
lion and a half dollars for new school facilities.
We are still crowded, we still need more facilities ;
but the casual reading of any article about school
facilities, nation-wide, suggests that we are far bet
ter off, in this respect, than the average county
over the country. And while it has taken effort and
some sacrifice, it has been done without real hard
ship to anybody.
It is true that approximately a third of the mil
lion and a half spent here was in the form of state
aid, our share of the money raised by sale of state
bonds. That, however, hardly proves the necessity
for federal aid ; for North Carolina itself is one of
the so-called "needy" states ? near the top in pro
portion of children and near the bottom in per cap
ital income.
In other words, one of the poorer counties in one
of the poorer states has lifted itself well above the
national level; so long as that is possible, federal
aid is not a necessity.
The situation suggests, on the other hand, that
poor schools result not so much from a lack of
financial ability to do better, but lack of desire.
? Letters
Protests Against School Situation
Editor, The Press:
The last link of the Wayah Road Is to be paved, and It Is
coming In close by the school. We have been a long time
waiting for it; and we are proud we are going to get it at
last.
On the rther hand, we are all very sorry to see our school
get In the mess It Is in. In the last school, we had the best
group of teachers we have ever had, but just before school
closed the superintendent fired part of them, and most of
the rest quit. Mrs. Sursavage was one of those fired.
I was one of a delegation of four that went before Supt.
McSwain. We took a petition signed by 148 citizens and pa
trons of the Nantahalas, asking that Mrs. Sursavage be kept,
but he ignored the petition.
*
Mr. McSwain promised us he would stand by whatever the
local school committee did, but he did not do It. All the evi
dence we have indicates there was no basis for discharging
her. From what we can learn, it was nothing but politics ?
,ln Andrews, where she lives.
All the high school students also signed a petition that she
be kept; now several have said they are going to quit school.
This school is hurt and hurt badly. I am sorry we did not
take that petition before the County Board of Education; I
am sure it would have acted on it.
J. R. SHIELDS
Nantahala, N. C.
(EDITOR'S NOTE: It has been the long-time policy of The
Press, when a public official is attacked, to give him the op
portunity to reply, in the same issue of the newspaper. In
line with that policy, Mr. McSwaln was shown Mr. Shields'
letter, and made the statement that follows.)
"Although I dislike newspaper controversy, the information
contained in the letter from Mr. Shields is so misleading I
think an explanation is in order. The statement that I fired a
part of the school teachers at Nantahala School is absolutely
untrue. Under the school law, the local school committee, upon
recommendation by the principal either fires or elects school
teachers. With respect to the Nantahala School, I made no
recommendation to the committee or to the principal as to
whether or not any of the teachers should be dismissed or re
hired.
"In regard to Mrs. Sursavage, the committee at their first
meeting reelected her. Later the committee held another meet
ing, on May 14, at which time they went on record as asking
the County Board of Education not to approve the election of
Mrs. Sursavage. This action was taken after receiving some
information from the new principal, who had been employed
to succeed Mr. Pipes, who had voluntarily resigned.
"Later, members of the committee stated that they did not
believe a school principal should be required to take a teacher
in whom he did not have confidence.
"From what I have heard about Mr. Shields, I believe he is
a fair-minded person and, on the basis of this, I will state
that if he had received the same information that I have
received from school teachers who have taught in the Nanta
hala School for the past four or five years, he would never
have written the letter."
'Transition'
(New York Herald Tribune)
A social system, whatever Ills may be Imbedded In it, can
not be struck down overnight without a kind of chaos that
must be avoided. The Supreme Court recognized this practical
fact; it did not call for Immediate desegregation in the
schools, but a "transition to a racially non-discriminatory
school system".
KUFOK'l t'KVM MOSCOW
Many Sweeping Changes In Soviet Russia - Do They Mean Reform?
Edmund Stevens In Christian Science Monitor
(EDITOR'S NOTE: The fol
lowing dispatch to the Mon
itor Vas written by that news
paper's Moscow correspond
ent.)
In the general astronomic in
crease in volume of cultural ex
changes and travel to and
from the Soviet Union is per
haps one of the most striking
features of the "new line."
Apart from statesmen, Moscow
currently welcomes an endless
procession of visitors from
many lands and of every con
ceivable category.
VlPs and nonetlties, with in
termediate gradations ? natural
scientists, musicians, artists,
writers, journalists, business
men, tourists, students, dilet
tantes, and an infinite variety
of delegates and delegations ?
have crossed the Iron Curtain
border.
Picking at random the copy
of Pravda for June 6, one finds
on the same page the following
items:
Members of the Brazilian Par
liament arrive in Stalingrad;
the secretary-general of the In
terparliamentary Union leaves
Moscow; triumph of Soviet pi
anists in the Brussels Interna
tional competition; an interna
tional soccer meet; Turkish
soccer players take off for Mos
cow; American singer Jan
Peerce arrives in Moscow; and
a long article on the improve
ment of Soviet-Argentine rela
tions.
The practical effect of all
this activity has been to reduce
International tension to the
lowest postwar point.
It is a far cry from the Stalin
days, when contacts with the
outside world were literally cut
to the bone.
Nevertheless, official Ameri
can opinion apparently is re
luctant to accept any of this
evidence as meeting the re
quirements of Mr. Elsenhower's
previously cited stricture.
American spokesmen have tend
ed to discount each Soviet
"deed" and to cast doubts on
its motivation, usually on the
grounds that It furnished the
Soviets' own interest ? the infer
ence being that the United
States would consider the Sovl
ets "sincere" only If they went
against their own Interests.
By the same token, much is
made of the fact that the Sovi
et leaders still proclaim their
faith in the ultimate triumph
of communism, with the para
doxical implication that Ameri
cans will believe the Soviet
leaders only when they cease
believing in themselves.
The men who head the Soviet
regime do not dissemble their
conviction that their economic
and political order Is superior
and better attuned to modern
technology than private enter
prise, and therefore in the long
run Is destined to prevail. But ?
and this but is of immense Im
portance ? during and since the
20th party congress they have
repeatedly stressed that war
can be avoided and that com
petition between the two rival
systems should take the form
of peaceful coexistence, with
no time limit involved.
If the people of the West are
likewise confident of the super
iority of their way of life, It Is
felt by some observers that they
Should be ready to accept the
challenge without qualms while
stipulating certain ground rules
for the contest.
Instead, clear-cut official dis
cussion of the terms of coex
istence has so far been avoided
In the West, and the five prin
ciples of coexistence set forth
at the Asian-African conference
at Bandung, Indonesia, last
year, have been largely Ignored.
Far from welcoming the trend
away from the cold war, some
Western quarters seem more
alarmed than ever over the ap
parent success of Soviet efforts
to win friends and influence
people in newly liberated col
onial countries through econom
ic and technical aid, compared
with the setbacks sustained by
Western efforts to involve these
same countries In political and
military commitments.
Perhaps the major obstacle
to understanding of what Is
happening In the Soviet Union
is adherence to fixed Ideas and
static concepts. Westerners oft
en overlook the underlying dy
namism of Soviet society which
has been evolving steadily ever
Continued on Pace Three ?
VIEWS
By
BOB SLOAN
In the Steel Strike now go
ing on most people expect the
same old pattern to be follow
ed. Several weeks of negotiation
will be followed by a settlement
In which Labor will receive
most of the benefits for which
they have been asking. The
companies will then raise the
price of steel to take care of
the Increased labor cost with a
little extra profit added in. The
manufacturer, who buys the
steel, and all the various mid
dlemen who handle the product,
add to the price enough to
cover the increase in cost plus
a little extra profit. Thus, quite
a bit will be added to the price of
articles containing steel by the
time it reaches the ultimate
consumer. The Irony of all this
is that the price added to the
articles, because of the strike
may take more away in the end
for the working men in steel
than the benefits he thought he
got at the conference table. Of
course, leaders of labor, will try
to make him believe that he
received considerable benefit,
but the fact remains that if
there is a wage increase in a
basic industry like steel a round
of price' increases will follow
and I believe that practically
always the price increases will
more than take care of the wage
cost.
Another thought too. Think
of all the people who don't
work In the steel Industry and
haven't received a wage in
crease yet. They will have to
pay more for many many arti
cles, yet, their income remains
the same.
Perhaps it should be a law be
fore a company can grant a
wage increase they should grant
a similar reduction in the price
of the commodity they are sell
ing.
I am no economist, but I am
pushed harder to make ends
meet than ever in my life on
what I once thought would be
a fine salary. I think that may
be what has happened is that
on so many items the profit
has been increased "just a lit
tle" to take care of an even
smaller pay raise that we poor
devils are caught in the mid
dle.
Do You
Remember?
I Looking: backward through
the files of The Press)
50 YEARS AGO THIS WEEK
Miss Hannah Lee Hughes, of
Greenville, S. C., arrived Friday
for a visit of five or six weeks
to her aunt, Mrs. A. L. Leach.
The first sound of the whistle
of the work train on the Tallu
lah Falls Railway, so far as we
have learned, heard in Frank
lin, was on last Saturday, July
14, 1905, when it was wafted
on the south winds Into the
Press office.
The Slier family meeting will
be held this year at the home
of Mr. Henry Slagle, and they
hope the friends frojn far and
near will be present. They will
meet on the first Thursday In
August instead of the first
Wednesday, as heretofore.
25 YEARS AGO
The Rev. Raymond McCarty,
of Highlands, the Rev. J. A.
Flanagan and the Rev. S. R.
Crockett, of Franklin, motored
to Asheville to attend Presby
tery, which met there recently.
Mr. and Mrs. J. H. Young, of
Portland, Oreg., arrived in
Franklin last week for an in
definite stay with .Mrs. Young's
parents, Mr. and Mrs. C. T.
Blaine.
Mr. W. L. Hurst, of Toccoa,
Ga? spent Sunday here with
his mother, Mrs. Ivalee Hurst,
at her home on Harrison
Avenue.
Mrs. W. A. Rogers and little
daughter, Betty, left last Wed
nesday for Canton, Ohio, where
she will visit her sister, who is
seriously ill.
10 YEARS AGO
Mr. and Mrs. John C. Fergu
son, of Franklin, Route 4, left
Tuesday f?r a two weeks' trip
to Washington, D. C., .Camden,
N. J., and Philadelphia, Pa., to
visit relatives and friends.
William T. Russell, a native
of Franklin, who has made his
home in Klngsport, Tenn., for
the past 30 years, is here for a
10-day visit with his uncle,
George Mashburn.