Sfte ftotiKlitt Wit$#
and
Highlands HJaroniait
WEIMAR JONES
Editorial Page Editor
THURSDAY. JILY 2. 1959
THOSE (jL'KSTIONS
About The Courthouse
Macon County's courthouse problem raises three
questions :
What can we do." What, that we can do, is the
wise, and desirable thing to do? And how much arc
the taxpayers willing to spend?
If what we legally can do were so little as to
rule out the possibility of building a new court
house, then we'd have only two choices: Either re-,
model the present structure (with the possible con
struction of a small auxiliary building) ; or do noth
ingf
Actually, ..though, what we legally can do is
greater than had generally been thought. State
law provides that a county may issue bonds for
school purposes up to 5 per cent of its tax valu
ation. and an additional 5 per cent for other neces
sary purposes.
That is, in addition to what we owe for schools,
it is Regally possible for Macon County to go in
debt lip to an additional 5 per cent for non-school
purposes. We could is^ue bonds for a new court
house. in other words, provided those bonds did
not push our total debt for non-school purposes
tip beyond 5 per cent of the county's tax valuation.
Our total valuation now is slightly more than
SI 8,000,( XX). Thus we legally may owe, for non
school puri>oscs, ii]) to $">(X),(100.
- ? ? ? ' ? t
Our bonded indebtedness for non-school .pur
poses (see Debt Picture below) is now $286,0(X).
Subtract that figure from the $9(X>,(XX) we legally
may go in debt, and you get the amount of bonds
the law would permit us to issue for a non-schOol
purpose like a courthouse ? $614,(XX).
In short, we probably can build a new court
house. '
But if it, like the present structure, is to be big
enough and sturdy enough and well enough plan
ned to last 70 to 75 years, and if it is to have the
dignity and beauty that it must have, if it is going
to be something we'll be proud of? if it's going to
measure up to those standard!;, it probably would
cost in the neighborhood of $6(X),0(X).
In other words, by going in debt to or nearly
to the limit, we probably can build a new cburt
house.
Whether it is. wise or desirable to put all our
bonded debt eggs in one courthouse basket is an
other question.
HERE'S COUNTY DEBT PICTURE
The county's total bonded indebtedness now
stands at $756,000. (This does not include $29,600
for schools, borrowed from the State Literary
Fond).
Below is a list of the bond issues, divided be
tween school and non-school purposes, with the
years the bonds were issued, the interest rates, and
the amounts of principal remaining unpaid:
School :
1942
1942
195*
195#
19150
3'i%
538,000
14,000
12,000
3H%
5*i%
2' i%
2W%
92,000
314,000
Total for schools
$470,000
Non-School:
1942 3H%
1942 3H%
1942 314%
1942 3'4%
$32,000
12,000
184,000
58,000
Total far non-school purposes $286,000
One Tiny Fact
"See where a prisoner escaped here" . . . "Mercy !
and he's still at large?" . . . "Yes, but they hope to
catch him soon" . . . "Well 'soon' isn't soon
enough. What was he in for?" . . . "Robbery with
firearms, serving 10 to 20 years" . . . "Robbery
with firearms? Go lock that door this instant!
Why, even our lives aren't safe . . ."
Some such conversation must have taken place
ra many Macon County homes last week, prompted
by the news story in The Press about the escape
<of a prisoner from a road gang.
Well, that probably would have been (he gen
eral reaction, except for one tiny fact in the story ? ?"
the prisoner's ape. He is 16.
It was foolish, as well as wrong, for him to try
to escape, of course. He'll get more time for this
infraction of the prison rules.
But go hack to the time you were 16. If, at that
age, you had faced the prospect of 10 to 20 years
in prison, what would you have done when a
chance for escape came?
In a lot of Macon County homes, too, there must
have been another disturbing question, maybe not
asked outloud, maybe seen only dimly, like a gar
ment in the back of a dark closet :
Can we think of nothing more sensible to do
with a 16-year old boy than put him in prison for
10 to 20 years?
'Total Failure'?
It wasn't for nothing that some wag, a genera
tion ago, translated the initials of the Tallulah
Falls railroad, T. F., as "Total Failure". In similar
flippant vein, today it would he easy to say of the
proposal that the line he abandoned. "So we won't
have a railroad? Well, what of it? We never have
had one!"
Rut it's not as simple as that. However nearly
total the T. F.'s failure may have been, it is a rail
road. And Macon County and its North Georgia
neighbors need a railroad.
For decades now, the T. F. has been crying
"wolf, wolf". This time, maybe it's the real thing.
If so, it's up to the courts and the Interstate Com
merce Commission to decide what shall be done.
In reaching their decision, we hope they'll con
sider not only the current profit-and-los,s figures,
but also the line's obligation to the area it was sup
posed to serve ? and the full story of how it has
discharged that obligation in the past.
The story does not make pleasant reading. For
it has consistently been a story of the short-chang
ing of the region, and especially Franklin and Ma
con County.
Here are just a few of the highlights:
During its construction, time after time the line
stalled ? and the people of the region did whatever
was necessary to get it started again. When it
finally reached Prentiss, it refused' to come any
farther. Only a court order, as we recall, brought
it the last five miles.
' The original plan was not for a dead-end line.
The plan ? in fact, we believe, the agreement ? was
for the line to go on to Bushnell, to connect with
the Southern Railway. But, by some means, the
T. F. got legal authority to postpone completion
of the line for 99 years! The granting of that 99
vear extension came., as a complete surprise to
everyone but the railroad's officials. They obtain
ed it, that is. before the people and communities
affected had an opportunity to protest. (By .so do
ing, the railroad may have cut its own economic
throat ; with the connection at Bushnell, shipments
between Asheville and Atlanta might have been
routed over its rails.) 1
LETTERS
Tear It Down!
Editor, The Press:
The younger generation should have a greater voice in de
ciding the courthouse question, because they and their chil
dren will use it longest.
A civics class in high school last spring generally concluded
that Franklin needs slum clearance and the first step should
be to remove the present dilapidated courthouse. They added
that a modern courthouse with a modern design should be
constructed in a new location. /
By removing the present county spittoon, these youngsters
said, would also allow the street coming into Main Street op
posite the front of the courthouse to come straight through
the present location of the courthouse to join the street pass
ing beside the Baptist Church. This makes a straight con
nection needing only one red light. It solves a hair-pulling,
complex traffic problem the present generation inherited from
those old town forefathers who either lacked foresight or
didn't care.
Concern was also expressed about the adult delinquency
problem at the courthouse. It was concluded that repulsive
acts by adults such as spitting, loitering, and Uttering the
area and rest rooms with offenslce materials should be elimi
nated. Some said that many of these adults will take up
better conduct and manners In public when a more cultured
or refined courthouse is provided.
It is said that the present courthouse is sturdy. This may
be true because there is enough dried tobacco juice seeped
into the floors and foundation to keep the termites out for
the next hundred years!
Some people hate to see the present wreck be wrecked! But
this is largely because of associated memories and attached
sentiments. Should we let sentiment Influence our decision?
Or, does the fact that somebody's grandfather split tobacco
juice through a certain crack justify spending more money
on it?
There may be a few who advocate a remodeling job but
please allow me to pass on the desires of most of the younger
generation: The only remodeling job that will meet with our
approval is to lift up the top brick, take it to a new location,
(an attractive place with parking room, we have cars now
adays) slide a modern structure underneath, then put the
brick back down.
WILFORD W. CORBIN
Franklin,
Route 5.
Cradle To The Grave
(Manteca, Calif., Bulletin)
These jokes about the state taking care of us from the
"cradle to the grave" aren't quite as funny as they used to be.
There was a bill in the Assembly the other day ? fortun
ately it died in committee ? which would have allowed school
districts to establish nursery schools for children at least
three years old, but not old enough for admission to other
schools of the district.
How's that for a monumental baby-sitting program?
The Answer
(Rocky Mountain News)
The right to petition Congress, to buttonhole a congress
man, is unquestioned. But there is no constitutional mandate
requiring a congressman to do more than listen politely. The
answer, then, is not to abolish lobbies, but to elect congress
men with consciences sturdy enough and backbones stiff
enough to resist such pressures.
Unskilled Labor
(Eaton, Colo., Herald)
It frequently happens that the self-made man Is an out
standing example of unskilled labor.
DO YOU REMEMBER?
Looking Backward Through the Files ol The Press
65 TEARS AGO THIS WEEK
(1894) -i
Overshirts at 20 cents at Wright's. Farmers' heavy suspen
ders, 15 cents. ? Adv.
We would like to have some corn on subscriptions. ? The
Press.
A little hail .was seen among the rain Saturday.
The wheat crop is generally good, so far as we can learn.
Rye is excellent.
Mr. R. C. Green killed a fine specimen of Little Egret at
Siler's mill pond last Wednesday. It was perfectly white.
35 YEARS AGO
v (1924)
Misses Helen and Blanche Moore spent a few days with
their mother, Mrs. Wister Moore. They were on their way
from Maryville College, where Blanche graduated this year. ?
Prentiss item.
Mr. and Mrs. Gordon Moore and little daughter returned
Wednesday from Fossil, ore., where they have been making
their home for sonie time.
15 YEARS AGO
(1944)
S/Sgt. James C. Jacobs, son of Mr. and Mrs. Gene L. Jacobs,
who has been stationed overseas for the past 20 months, is
home on a 21-day furlough.
-'5 YEARS AGO
. (1954)
The link of US 23 from Co wee Gap to Dillsboro, under con
struction for several months, will be closed to all traffic for
the next two months.
The temperature here last Sunday rose to 97, with a high
of 94 registered on Saturday, and 92 on Monday.
STRICTLY
PERSONAL
B? WEIMAR JON1S
"You people are upset about
the looks of your courthouse.
Well, It's a thing of beauty com
pared with that old hotel porch
that hangs out over the sidewalk
on downton Main Street. It's about
the first thing a tourist sees when
he comes to Franklin. That porch,
now, really Is a sight . . . and
usually it's full of washings, hung
out to dry. I've seen 'em there on
Sundays! That eyesore wouldn't
be tolerated even in Harlem."
Those are not my words. They
ere the words of a man who spends
part of each year here, and so
one who obviously likes Franklin
and is Interested in it; and. I
thought as I listened, they are the
words of a man who sees things
here more clearly for the very
reason he doesn't see them every
day.
I thanked him for his com
ments.
But. inwardly, I fumed; I al
ways do when my home town is
criticized.
That porch, I thought, has been
there ever since I can remember.
It figured pleasantly in my boy
hood. It was a shelter over the
sidewalk, when it rained. And it
was the gathering place, summer
afternoons, of what seemed to a
smail boy ladies of such beauty
and elegance as to suggest fairy
princesses. I had always thought
of that porch as picturesque. Sub
consciously, I resented what I
had heard.
But the next time I was up
town. I stopped on the opposite
side of the street and took a good
look at something that had met
my eyes often, but which I hadn't
really seen in years. '
That look was not reassuring.
Gone were the fairy-princess
ladies; the porch was deserted.
Gone was the elegance. Gone was
the paint . . . But there, sure .
enough, were the washings hung/
out to dry.
Picturesque?
Well, maybe it was, once. But
not any more.
Then the critic's phrase, "even
in Harlem", came back to me. and
I realized what he meant: Whai
he saw suggested to him the ex
terior of a slum.
* ? ?
Now I'm not one who believes
in sticking to technicalities, just
for the sake of technicalities. I
am not one who would be in favor
of demanding the removal of that
porch solely because it overhangs
the town's sidewalk, solely because
its supporting posts are on town
property. If it added to Franklin's
appearance, if it still were pic- *
turesque, I'd say, don't disturb it.
But the fact that it does over
hang the sidewalk, the fact that
it's supporting posts do stand on
the town property, mean it is
there only through the town's suf
ferance.
Well, after that look, I wondered
if sufferance, in this case, hasn't
ceased to be a virtue.
MARY ELLEN ALBARES
English As She Is Spoken
In HERTFORD HERALD
What kind of English do you
use? Pretty fair American, with a
trace of slang for spice, heavily
laced with a Southern softness?
Twice recently, I have heard edu
cators advocate a return to the
expressive "folk words" our fore- ,
fathers used ? an English which is
still found in coves and upcountry
of the Appalachians.
Dr. I. O. Oreer, retired from a (
busy career as a Baptist minister
and orphanage superintendent,
has spent his life searching out 1
these last vestiges of a stout Scotch
and Irish heritage, planted like ,
brave trees which survive the ,
mountain ardors.
"You've never lived until you've 1
found a beau who will sldegoddle j
up to you in the moonlight," Dr.
Greer chuckled. He said one of
his Methodist parson friends loved
that word, sidegoddle. What does
it mean? Why, sidegoddle of
course ? like a house on the road 1
sidegoddlln' to the main road.
This flavor of speech is a thing ;
of great price, these days. In the
course of his career, Dr. Oreer 1
said he was once written by one '
of the leading folklore experts of
our country, teaching at Yale
University. The linguist wanted to
know if Dr. Greer had ever heard
NEVER LOW-RATE
THE COMMA!
LONDON, Eng. ? Never under- .
estimate the power of a comma!
Because an English millionaire's
will was improperly punctuated a
judge ruled that the estate of the
deceased should be treated as if
the man had died without making
a will.
The fat* of a fortune of $1,540,
000 hung on a couple of commas.
And because a high court judge
wotfld not decide where the two
commas should have been, the
estate of Canon William Buttle
will be divided up among his
family equally.
The former lawyer turned
clergyman died in 1953 leaving
a large estate that he had built
up by shrewd investment.
But when it came to his will,
he left only confusion. "Its
punctuation is a matter of such
doubt that I really have no idea
what ought to be done," the judge
said. He then ruled on the equal
split.
?OH, SAY CAJY YOU SEE...'
Strange Story Of The Confusion About Our National Anthem
By HARRY C. BAUER
Director, University of Washington
Libraries, in Wilson Library
Bulletin
As a national anthem. "The
Star-Spangled Banner" suffers one
great handicap: it is controversial.
Critical musicians argue that the
extensive range of an octave and a
half presents major difficulties for
choral rendition, but ardent pa
triots insist that the unusual
range gives strength and brilliance
to an already stirring anthem.
The lengthy transcript of con
gressional hearings of the Eighty
fifth Congress on resoluations for
the adoption of a standard version
of the anthem "half conceals, half
discloses" the futility of inserting
words and music in the Statues at
Large. Even though the hearings
were conducted in an orderly
manner, harmony did not prevail.
In fact, witnesses could not even
agree upon the key In which the
immortal verses should be sung.
On March 3, 1931, Congress
legally adopted "The Star
Spangled Banner" as the national
anthem of the United States of
America. The enacting resolution
was so brief and ambiguous, how
ever, that to this day no one
knows precisely what is meant by
the cherished song.
A few years ago. a group of
school children wrote to a Con
gressman for an official copy of
the anthem. Upon inquiry, he dis
covered that there is no official
version. Whereupon, he introduced
a resolution to define exactly what
constitutes "The Star-Spangled
Banner." ,
The Congressman worked too
rapidly in selecting a suitable
version and as a result, his choice
was not a felicitous one. Conse
quently. he had to Introduce a
perfected resolution during the
second session of the Eighty-fifth
Congress. But trouble was already
brewing. In utter disapproval of
the first resolution, many patriotic
groups decided not to support any
legislation at all.
Representatives from the groups
testified that they would coun
tenance "no changes in "The Star
Spangled Banner'." Which "Star
Spangled Banner" they had in
mind is uncertain, and therein
lies the tragedy of indifferent
draftsmanship and preparation of
legislation of any kind.
As matters stand today, there
is general agreement that Francis
Scott Key wrote an immortal poem
of (our stanzas on Sept. 14, 1814.
and that his words were intended
to be sung to a popular melody
of his day, "To Anacreon in
Heaven."
There is no agreement, however,
as to what constitutes a standard
version of the anthem. If a citizen
writes to a government agency
for the words and music of the
national anthem adopted in 1931.
all that he will learn Is that there
is no approved congressional ver
sion but that there are two bu
reaucratic versions: the one
adopted by the Army and Navy
in 1918 and the one adopted dur
ing the same year by the Bureau
of Education.
The two versions have at least
one thing in common: they are
both faulty. The Office of Educa
tion completely ' 'renounced its
bowdlerized version some time
ago.
There have been repeated at
tempts to suppress the third
stanza of "The Star-Spangled
Banner" lest It offend an ally. As
early as 1912 the National Educa
tion Association unanimously
adopted a version specifically ex
cluding the third stanza.
As for other significant altera
tions, even Stevenson's "Home
Book of Verse" contains the line
"Then conquer we must, for our
cause it is Just" instead of Key's
less assuring "When our cause it
is just."
Stevenson also substituted the
phrase, "now conceals, now dis
closes," in lieu of Key's more
poetic. "Half conceals, half dis
closes." At the congressional hear
ing there was endless quibbling
over minor changes in the verses.
the word gadge. Have you? Robert
Browning uses the word just once
in his poetry ? but the mountain
(oik know It. It is a sharp instru
ment, used to pierce things.
Prom talk, Dr. Greer went to
song ? folk songs and ballads,
the finest music there is. None
of this "hillbilly" stuff, but stories
told in song, handed down from
generation to generation. A folk
singer doesn't have to worry about
whether he can sing or not ? his
Dnly care is to transmit the story
he wants to tell to his listeners. ,
Dr. Greer illustrated his point by /
singing his real mountain version
of "Tom Dula," which you
wouldn't have recognized as the
current "Tom Dooley." Clamor
[rom the audience led to "The Man
That Looks Like Me," with
"Barb'ry Allen," sung as far back
as X662, as an encore.
Up in the mountains, at Ashe
ville I heard another exponent of
the art of plain speech. Dr. Anna
Hawkes. national president of the
American Association of University
Women, makes her home in a wide
spot called Orleans, Vermont. And
she's loaded with stories of Ver
mont speech and manners.
One of her favorites is about
the two old Vermonters, playing
checkers in the country store
which one of them owned. The
telephone in the store began to ,
ring, and ring. Finally one said ?
to the owner, "Why don't you
answer it?" The owner, never
missing a move, shrugged, "I put
that there phone in fer my own
convenience."
Dr. Hawkes says that in Ver
mont they never say that they're
going to "widen" a road ? instead,
they say they're going to widthen
it. Here is an old English word
which conveys not only the idea
of width, but of breadth. That is,
indeed, our trouble in America
these days, according to this
woman who has spent her life in
education: We need to remember
all dimensions, and widthen our
outlook.
Truer words were never spoken.
TOSSING BABY OUT
WITH BATH WATER
Concern for racial attitudes in
books has reached excessive
lengths in a number of cases re
cently ? both on the part of those
who think a book is racially of
fensive to Negroes and also on the
part of those who think a book is
offensive to whites.
There was, for instance, the
case of a children's book, "The
Rabbit's Wedding." This volume
was banned from the open shelves
of public libraries in Alabama be
cause In it a white rabbit marries ?
a black one.
From the opposite point of view,
busybodies have been combing and
condemning children's books for
words or attitudes that might be
termed offensive to Negroes. While
it is true that some word usage
and certain attitudes toward
Negroes have become taboo or out
of style in the past decade or so.
it does seem to us that some of
the conclusions drawn by the do
gooders are ridiculous.
If the people generally don't use
those words or hold those atti
tudes now, what harm is it for a
child to know that they once did?
Certainly, if it means removing a
good' book from circulation, isn't
that throwing out the baby with
the bath water? ? Southern Pines
Pilot.