Newspapers / The Franklin Press and … / Jan. 16, 1958, edition 1 / Page 2
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EDITORIAL Questions And Answers When you don't know what else to do, you can always appropriate another billion dollars. That psychology would appear to have been bade of President Eisenhower's request, within hours of the convening of Congress, for the imme diate appropriation of an extra billion for missiles ; and will be back of Congress* sure compliance with the request. It appears that way for this reason : The admin istration plans to spend at most only one-tenth of that billion prior to July 1 ; and that is the begin ning of a new fiscal year, to be provided for in the new budget. In short, there seems to be no imme diate need whatever for nine-tenths of what is asked ; one-tenth of a billion is all that can be used, in that period. Why, then, the big request? Well, a mere 100 million wouldn't have sounded very im pressive, when a fearful public is demanding action. The incident illustrates the growing feeling, in and out of Washington, that all that is necessary to secure adequate national defense is to spend more money. Is it as simple as that? It takes money, of course; lots of money. But what is it that counts ? how much we spend? or what we buy with it? Ultimately, solution of the defense problem de pends primarily on brains and imagination and in itiative. All money can do is to buy those talents; no matter how big the amount, money can't as sure they are used to the best advantage. Is there convincing evidence we haven't had enough monev to buy the best brains and imagina tion and initiative available? Isn't there, instead, an alarmingly large body of evidence that what really has hampered us is such things as red tape, inter-service rivalry, excessive and cumbersome se curity regulations, and lack of a definite sense of direction? Maybe there are good and satisfactory answers to those questions ; it would be reassuring to know there are. But they are questions American citi zens ? whose money it is and whose defense is at stake ? have the right, indeed the dutv^ to ask ? and to have answered, in detail, and with evidence. Respectfully Referred Since the county board of education is respon sible for the county's school buildings, it se^ms only proper that the board should set 11" Arts for the use of the buildings for non-.schno' purposes. And since there is some expense inci*4 n* *r> such use ? for heat, lights, janitor service, etc ? it is log ical for the board to make a small rh.T-"" for use of the buildings. Finally, the schedule or fees seems reasonable. We have no quarrel whatever, there fore, with the board's action last week We were surprised, though,' at what precipitated the action ? a requirement bv the state. The school buildings in this county belong to the people of the ?county. By what right, then, does the state tell us how we may use our own property? we asked. The answer is: The state pays a portion of the cost of heating, lighting, water, etc., and pavs the janitors. That is a tiny fraction of the mnnev Maron County people have invested in the schools. Yet the orders come from Raleigh! We respectfully refer these facts to those who are sure we can have federal aid to education, "without federal control". Add this to your collection of signs on the rear of trucks: TXmt hug me. I'm going steady." ? Chicago Tribune. Interesting Experiment Now, on a few stretches of road, North Carolina motorists may drive 60 miles an hour, legally. In line with permission granted by the last Gen eral Assembly, the State Highway Commission the other day designated a few zones for a 60-mile speed limit. Does the new ruling make sense? Well, this certainly is a two-sided question. It's as plain as the nose on your face that 60 miles is safer in some places than 55 in others. But it would be equally logical to argue that there are areas Where 65 is safer than 60 is in others. Some where we've got to fix a top speed limit ; some where there's a speed that isn't safe on any high way ? as the driver's manual has been careful to get across to all of us. Another question : The state has spent much money and time educating us to .keep within the 55-mile limit, at all times and on all roads. How much of that education is going to be lost, now that exceptions are made? Aren't many motorists, told they are permitted to drive 60 in some areas, going to have a tendency to drive 60 everywhere? . . . just as they now sail through 30-mile zones at 55. It's going to be interesting to see how the ex periment works out. Letters About 'Red Water' Dear Mr. Jones: Could I have just a small space in your paper to express my opinion on the editorial of January 2 ("Solution Over-Due") and on the letter of last week in reply to it. I am not a member of the Town Board, but one of the tax payers of Franklin who wonder if the editorial was "inappro priate, unnecessary, or unjust". But I do agree with it. Did it accomplish anything? I do not have a Ph. D. degree from any college, but I think I have enough common sense to know when water has mud in it. When you have washed clothes and dishes, drunk, and taken baths for three years, you should be well enough in formed and qualified to know what "red water" is. I have a five-year old daughter, and she can see that difference. If anyone wants to be responsible for my water heater, they are more than welcome to drain it and see how much "red water" has settled in the bottom. I could drill a well and solve my water problem (if I had $1,000), but should I have to? I pay town taxes for that con venience. I put new pipe in my house three years past. Has It gotten old and rusty In that time? I wonder sometimes where the salvation of the problem might be ? new wells, new piping, or new atmosphere. A Neighbor to "Old Betsy", WOODROW DOWDLE. Maintain Our System (Albemarle Stanly News and Press) Many people, at home and abroad, have lamented our loss of "prestige" since the failure of the Vanguard to hoist a tiny satellite Into space. The reaction is understandable, in a measure, but we do not feel that It is altogether justified. Certainly It Is not a healthy sign for us to accent that feeling as final fact. In fact, the launching of Sputniks by Russia, coupled with our own failure, may be a great blessing. If It serves to wake us up to the fact that we do not have a comer on scientific ability and knowhow, and to spur us on to new achievements, then It will have been a boon to our nation's welfare. The most Berious aspect of the failure of the first Vanguard is the attitude of gloom and criticism it produced among our leaders and our people generally here at home. When a peo ple "quit", when they no longer believe In themselves, then they have real cause to worry. Others may apparently lose as much faith in us as they like, but we cannot afford to lose faith in ourselves. We have had, and let us believe we still have, the greatest nation on earth. That is because we have lived under a sys tem that made this possible. It Is not because of numbers i of people, other nations have greater population; not because of area, other nations have larger; not because of abundance of raw materials, others have more. It Is because our re sources have been utilized to their fullest possibilities; and these resources have been utilized because we live tinder a system that gives people the courage and the incentive to use them, a system wherein a man can risk and refuse to be frustrated, a system where a man can reap the rewards of his endeavors and shoulder his losses without a whimper. We had better be much more concerned about losing the system by which we attained greatness, about losing our tra ditional way of life, than about losing our "prestige" abroad. It is this system which we must keep if we are to remain great. If we keep it, then loss of "prestige" abroad need give us little concern, and criticism at home will not amount to anything. If we lose It, then It makes no difference. 'PASS A LA W' CENSORSHIP /" ND SENSE? FREEDOM OF CHOICE Morganton News-Herald Whenever parents, the church, and the state (all to do their job In teaching the art of living, the easiest way out seems to be "pass ? law against it." The latest example Is the farce of comic book censorship. First, the Legislature passed Its famous censorship law. The law makers were prodded by parents, teacher*, and church folks. Next the N. C. Sheriff's Associa tion published a blacklist of cer tain comic books and other maga zinea, sent It to all the sheriffs with the suggestion that they be removed from magazine stands, flow comes the real comic opera put According to John L. Goldwater, of New York, head of the Comic Magazine Association of America. 15 of the 20 comic books listed were out of istence before the list was distributed. Most of them had been out of existence for more than a year. Ooldwater said in protesting the list as "outdated, unfair, unreal istic." He went on to talk about the comic book publishers setting up a code authority and efforts to clean up the book on cartoons. But that Is not pertinent to our discussion. What we wanted to get across is that self-appointed censors almost always wind up showing their Ignorance. Burke County was fortunate in that Sheriff Ray A. Sigmon was not one of those who fell for the ban list. He passed it along for "information only," and said he. personally, didn't plan to do any thing about it ? that he was no censor for anyone. In the final analysis, censorship belongs only to the Almighty. After all. He put man here and gave him the one real freedom he has ? freedom of choice. If parents train their children In the recognition of right and wrong and help them to learn to master the difficult task of choos ing right. If the churches teach children to walk with Ood at their shoul der and show them the true way of Christian living ? Joyful ana full of love as a way of life; And If our schools would be sure that they teach children how to read and how to think ? Instead of what to read and think ? then even the most self-righteous bigot would not have an excuse to try to tell others how to live, what to read Because, if these things were taught by those who are responsi ble, there would be no market for the "salacious. Immoral" or ma terial "In poor taste." That Is the answer to lewd or vicious comic books and maga zine* ? not the passage of censor ship laws to try and cover our al most criminal mistakes of the past with our children. 64 But Feel Free To Proceed In All Other Directions' Strictly Personal By WEIMAR JONES BOY VISITS COUNTRY: School was out early that Fri iay afternoon, and soon the boy was eagerly on the way. This veek end In the country had long >een promised, and the days had iragged as he had waited for it. It was seven miles, but he walk id swiftly, expectantly. Each bend n the hard-packed clay road irought a new scene, a renewed sense of adventure. What would >e around the next turn? Sometimes he met a man on lorseback or a couple in a buggy. Occasionally, there was another >n foot, with the invariable, soft spoken "howdy" as he passed. Dftener there was a two-horse wagon, coming toward the town, Heavily loaded with lumber or &nbark. It was the fall of the year, with ;lear skies and bright sunshine. 3ut, being fall, there was that strange autumn haze that gave LISTENING' A Thought for Today (From yeaterday's talk by the editor on The Prow' weekly 8:24 ajn. Wednesday program, "A Thought For Today", over Sta tion WF8C). George Atwell said it: "The art of conversation con sists as much in listening politely, u in talking agreeably." It takes both, that Is . . . but It's the listeners who are rare. Ever notice what happens when you try to tell somebody about your children or grandchildren, or ? God save the mark! ? about your operation? Nine times out of ten, the other fellow Just can't wait ? so he interrupts to tell you about his children or his grand children or his operation. Well, when we talk excessively about our children or grandchil dren, or about our operations, ever, maybe we deserve to be In terrupted. Unfortunately, it's often the same when we're describing an Interesting experience, relating an apt story, commenting on a bit of Information, discussing a new idea. The other fellow is so sure he's had a more interesting expe rience, heard a funnier story, etc., he doesn't even listen to ours, but is Just waiting to use some thing we say as a cue, to introduce what he wants to tell us. Many people have always been like that; probably they always will be. . . . Not you and I, of course. You and I know better. We know It's good manners to be an interested, sympathetic listener; we have observed that all really big people are good listeners; and we are smart enough to realize one of the best ways to learn Is to listen. Or are we? the plled-up mountains a myster ious look. It was late as he breasted the last hilltop, and looked down on the spread-out valley, with wood smoke rising straight up from the houses, and occasionally his nos trils caught the smell of frying meat. As he entered the house, most of the room was in shadow, de spite the last rays of the falling sun slanting through the one win dow. They fell across the figure of an old lady, seated In a rocker, a small, round cheery table beside her. On the table lay an open Bible, spectacles beside it. She hadn't heard him, and he felt a little guilty for having interrupt ed when he saw the movement of her lips; in the old, tired eyes, there was peace. A moment later, having grab bed two tea cakes from the plate ful she held out to him, he was out the door, had bounded across the stile, and was on his way to the barn to see the old gentleman. "Howdy, boy", boomed the hearty voice. "We've been lookin' for you: thought you'd never come. Me and the old woman get lonesome. Nothlfi' like havln' boys and girls around ... 'specially boys", and his blue eyes twinkled, as though he and the boy alone knew what he meant. "You want to milk the heifer, while I try this old dickens, and see if she's gonna hold it up ag'in?" The rhythmic white streams beat loudly at first on the bottom of the tin buckets, then gradually dulled as the buckets began to fill and the foam to form. Had the old man forgotten? the boy kept wondering as he gentled the heifer, "sa-aa-ah". when his head, pressed against her warm side, felt a muscle start to tense. A raised foot would up set the bucket, sitting on the manure and straw-covered dirt floor. Then, as they started toward the house, came reassurance: "See that hickory over there? I've had it seasonin' ever since I saw you last. Tomorrow ? tomor row's Saturday, ain't it? ? tomor row we're goln' to make you that wagon I promised." The boy's heart missed a beat. ? ? ? They always had dinner at 12 o'clock, so the night meal was a cold supper. But first, the old gentlemen piled logs on the fire in the big living-bedroom, with its high poster walnut bed, its many-drawered cherry bureau, and its variety of rockers. "It's getting cold", said the old gentleman, as he admiringly watched the flames shoot up the chimney. "Let's have supper In here. What do you think. Mag gie?" The old lady assented, and soon a small table appeared miracu lously from nowhere, to be set In front of the fire. There were cold biscuits, prop ped up in front of the poker, laid along the hearth for the purpose, toasted to a beautiful brown; Irish potatoes, pulled from the hot ashes; cold lamb and cold chick en; high glasses of milk; and, to spread thick on the biscuits, hon ey and wild strawberry Jam. For dessert, were all the tea cakes the boy could eat, washed down with cold cider, canned last summer. Then, the table cleared and re moved. the old gentleman's com mand: "Now, boy, I want you to take off your shoes and stockings and stretch out on that sheepskin rug and stick your feet out to the Continued on Pace Three ? DO YOU REMEMBER? I? Mn? Backward Threat* the FUee ef The Frees 65 TEARS AGO THIS WEEK (1893) The nearest approach to a regular Western blizzard this section ever witnessed came Saturday evening with the wind from the south and the atmosphere filled with fine snow. Sunday morning the snow was 12 Inches deep. The Tennessee River has been frozen over In places. Monday morning the mercury dipped to 21}4 below zero. Several sleighs were on the streets Monday. Mr. J. O. Slier has added a mill for grinding cow feed to his plant near town. 25 TEARS AGO (IMS) A suggestion that the public library In the Masonic Hall be reopened Is contained In a letter received by The Press from Mrs. Margaret Ordway, who recently moved here from High lands. Macon County Is now supplying the outside world with a new material dug from Its rocky mountainsides. Vermlcullte Is Its technical name, and one of Its uses Is as an Insulation core for the ultra-modern steel houses now being tried out in metropolitan centers. 1* TEARS AGO For the first time In several years, Franklin High School plans to field a baseball team. Craft classes, at the Nonah Craft Center on Cartoogechaye, opened last week under the direction of Miss Frances Barr. For the third consecutive year, the birth rate in Macon County has declined. Last year's total was 416, as compared with 420 for 1940 and 437 for 1945.
The Franklin Press and the Highlands Maconian (Franklin, N.C.)
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Jan. 16, 1958, edition 1
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