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Page TWO THE PILOT—Southern Pines. North Carolina THURSDAY*. JULY 19. 1956 ILOT Southern Pinoe Carolina "In taking over The Pilot no changes are contemplated. We will try to keep tto a good paper. We will try to make a little money for all concerned. Where there seems to be an o^- sion to use our influence for the public good we will try to do it. And we will treat everybody alike.”^—James Boyd, May 23, 1941. ^ School Legislation: Whistling In The Dark Saturday’s press conference at Raleigh, when Governor Hodges and Attorney General Rod- man revealed and commented on the tentative school legislation that will be introduced before next week’s special session of the General As sembly, was one of the saddest occasions we have ever attended. While our apprehension of this sadness may have been exaggerated by our grave doubts as to both the effectiveness and the legality of the proposals, we think even an objective ap praisal of the occasion would ^lave sensed the oppressive atmosphere of gloom that himg in the old House chamber as the Attorney General intoned the fateful words that would make it possible—yes, even easy—^for the people legally to destroy their own schools. Now and then, the Governor, like a nervous nlother at a children’s party that is not going well, broke into smiles and noddings that ,were reflected nowhere that we could see in the as sembled audience. The single Negro in the chamber sat motionless, expressionless and totally unresponsive throughout the conference, as though the proceedings were being conduct ed in a foreign language. Answering questions as to details of the leg islation, the Attorney General was forceful, didactic and occasionally, it seemed to us, pet ulant. The Governor, commenting on the whole program, was expansive, sincere and determin edly optimistic. “Whistling in the dark,” was the comment of one reporter on the Governor’s presentation, as the conference broke up. In his arguments for the proposed legislation that would allow local units to close, schools by a vote of the people and makes it possible to set up private schools for children whose parents don’t want them to attend schools with mem bers of another race, the Governor made a strangely negative appeal. At least, he said in effect, we are NOT mak ing it possible to close the schools state-wide by state action. That will be up to each commu nity. The bills, he said, are “safety valves’’— they DON’T mean we are necessarily going to do these things. He used the word “hope” several times—we hope no schools will have to be closed. We are NOT defying the Supreme Court, he said. The Supreme Court did NOT say that any child has to attend a mixed school. Certain words were not heard at all during the conference: compliance, cooperation, good faith. What was being discussed, one realized as the conference continued, was not how to get some thing done but how NOT to do something. Ex cept to a certain degree in the Governor’s strained, defensive plea for the program, there was no lift, no warmth, no brightness—one might even say no love—in evidence. One felt oneself in the presence of plotters rather than planners. And there was that big blank from which all speculation was averted: what do Negroes, who constitute a quarter of the Gov ernor’s constituents, feel about all this? Does any one know? Does any one care? The sadness of the present outlook emerges as irony, after some reflection. Since May 17, 1954, when the first Supreme Court school segregation decision was announc ed, school administrators and officials on the local level' have suspended almost all action and discussion, pending formulation of policy at the state level. Inquiries from reporters and editors as to progress or planning almost al ways have brought forth the reply that local units of course can’t do much along that line: the State pays teachers and is studying^ the matter, so local action is useless until policy on the State level is known, Now the policy is known and, lo and behold, if the State has not thrown the responsibility back on the local school administrative units! What local units do-now means everything. In effect the State has no policy, except to permit local units to wrestle with their own problems, voting to close or open schools as the case may be. Even the money the State proposes to pro vide to send children of dissenting parents to private schools is admittedly not enough per child and there is every prospect that parents choosing this method of educating their chil- will have to dig down and help foot the biU. So, instead of having their problems answer ed for them on the State level, as they so fond ly hoped, local school unit officials and admin istrators are now saddled with more complex and vexing problems than they had ever dreamed they would have. On reading the pro posed legislation, it takes little imagination to grasp what fantastic conglomerations of elec tions, counter-elections, and economic and po litical pressures might be generated in the local school districts. The irony of the matter is that local school unit administrators, who for the past two years have been so scornful of suggestions for inter racial planning and discussion of segregation problems, now find themselves HAVING to deal with communities that are for the most part unprepared to cope with their responsibil ities, except by following the crude and radical method of closing a school. Since on both the local and State levels, Ne gro participation in planning has not been widely sought during the past two years, Negro cooperation now will be less freely given. And the experience of communities everywhere is that no real progress is made in meeting school segregation problems until there is close co operation and sincere attempts at mutual un derstanding between whites and Negroes. The proposed policy does nothing to foster such co operation and understanding. At Saturday’s conference and on other oc casions, Governor Hodges has said that critics of the State’s proposed program should give their alternatives and he respectfully recognized the 12-point program advanced by Irving Carlyle, Winston-Salem attorney, as at least presenting a positive alternative. We are much taken with Mr. Carlyle’s obser vations which boil down to the simple convic tion that: “There are more people of good will in North Carolina than we know, and we can only hope that the number is larger than we think, who are willing to live within the law at this critical and difficult time. . . A prompt start (at compliance with the Supreme Court ruling) should be made in all good faith.” Alternatives to the proposed State program must begin, we think, with that simple con viction. The ways and means could be worked out from that point. The 12-item list of ways and means advanced by Mr. Carlyle stresses two suggestions that have been advanced by The Pilot during the past two years; biracial advisory committees at local and State levels; and beginning of integration in the primary grades. An excellent suggestion is that persons of both sexes, from both races, be included on the advisory committees. With women, the- wel fare of children is likely to be put ahead of the oiling of legal machinery. Whatever course is adopted, we feel that inter-racial discussion and attempts at under standing are vital to success. And whatever course is adopted, we must realize that we are still faced by the moral problem which Mr. Carlyle summed up like this: “To live with our consciences, we must be willing to let others live up to the rights given them by law.” Welcome, Jaycees The Pilot congratulates the newly formed Junior Chamber of Commerce and welcomes it to the group of civic clubs already existing in this community. 1 We feel that there is plenty of room in Southern Pines for a club whose membership is limited to younger business and professional men. The Jaycees offer a medium by which the energies and ideas of younger men can be brought out and utilized for the welfare of the town. Everywhere, the Jaycees are known as among the liveliest of civic clubs—as well they might be, with a membership restricted to young men under 36, men who for the most part are beginning their careers in the commu nity and are anxious to prove their abilities and capacities in varied fields of endeavor. As their first project, the Jaycees have, with the acquiescence of the formerly sponsoring Chamber of Commerce, taken over the South ern Pines Golf Carousel, the unique, “package deal” three-course golf tournament which has been held here with real but not spectacular success for the past two years. From what we hear of the Jaycees’ plans, they are going into the Carousel with great en thusiasm and are in the fortunate position of fcieing able to enlist the cooperation of other Jaycee organizations of the State in putting their first big project across. Tournaments for older players have in the past few years brought hundreds of golfers to the Sandhills, so much so that this area is be coming a .kind of center for “Seniors” play and competition. While the Carousel is for all ages, it is likely that the sponsorship of the Jaycees wilTtend to bring here many yoimger players, men and women. This accent on youth will be good for the Sandhills and can be expected to make friends for this area of young people who may return here to visit and play golf for many years in the future. ^ This same accent on youth, of course, is good for the town on the year-round local scene. We are confident the Jaycees will do their share and more for Southern Pines—^having some fun and developing leaders in the process. ON SEUFTSHNESS “A society in which each is willing to sur render only that for which he can see a person al equivalent, is not a society at all; it is a group already in process of dissolution.” —Judge Learned Hand 'i ii Pi my E rt'A-i * o “What’s Happened To The Law of Gravity?” UNDER PROPOSED LEGISLATION Local Option Could Suspend Schools One of the bills to be sub mitted to the General Assem bly at its special session next week, subject to approval of an enablng constitutional amendment by the voters, provides for "local option to suspend operation of p\iblic schools." thereby amending the general statutes relating to education. Excerpts from the tenta tive draft of the bill follow, beginning with the proposed "statement of legislative pol icy and purposes"—a state ment which seems. in its lofty sentiments, to be some- wh^lt contradictory to the radical proposal that would enable "local units" to close one or more of their schools by a simple majority vote in an election to be called on petition of 15 per cent of the voters in the unit: I “The General Assembly of North Carolina recognizes and hereby affirms that knowledge, morality, and adherence to fun damental principles of individual freedom and responsibility are necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind; and further affirms that schools and the means of education ought forever to be encouraged. The value and importance of our pub lic schools is known and ac knowledged by all our people. It is further recognized that our public schools are so intimately related to the customs and feel ings of the people of each com munity that their effective oper ation is impossible except in con formity with community atti tudes. CXir people in each com munity need to have a full and meaningful choice as to whether a public school, which may have some enforced mixing of the races, shall continue to be main tained and supported in that commufiityi It is the purpose of this Act to provide orderly pro cedures, consistent with law, for the effective expression of such choice. In so doing, it is the hope of the General Assembly of North Carolina that all peoples within our State shall respect deeply-felt convictions, and that our public school system shall be continual ly strengthened, improved, and sustained by the support of all our citizens. What A 'Unit' Is “The board of education of any administrative unit may, pursu ant to the provisions of this Ar ticle, suspend the operation of one or more of the public schools under its jurisdiction. For pur poses of this Article, each county and city school administrative unit. . . shall constitute a local option unit; provided, however the board of education of any ad ministrative unit may in lieu thereof, and from timte to time, subdivide the administrative unit into two or more local option units; and provided further, two or more administrative units, in whole or in part, may by agree ment of each respective board of education constitute a local op tion unit. One or more public schools shall be included within the territorial boundaries of each local option imit established.'by the board of education; provided that two or more types of schools may within the discretion of the board of education be included in such local option unit. . , Election Procedure “Any board of education may at any time, by resolution of a majority of the members, call for an election on the question of closing the public schools within a local option unit which is un der that board’s jurisdiction; pro vided, that an election shall be called by the board when a pe tition signed by at least fifteen (15%) of the registered voters re siding within the local option unit is presented to the board re questing such an election. When a majority of the votes cast in such election are in favor of sus pending the opera'^ion of the schools in such local option unit, the board of education shall sus pend the operation of such public schools. Such suspension shall be accomplished in an orderly man.- ner and the board of education phflP take all steps necessary to preserve and protect school prop erty during and after such clos ing. Any child living within a local option unit who Could at tend a public school in such local option unit except for the fact that operation of such school has been suspended under provisions of this Article shall not be en titled as a matter of right to at tend any other public school, but in lieu thereof shall be entitled to an education expense grant. Can Vote To Reopen “Any board of education may at any time, by resolution of a majority of the members, call for an election on the question of re opening the public schools within a local option imit which is un der that board’s jurisdiction;-pro vided, that an election shall be called by the board when a pe tition signed by at least fifteen per cent (15%) of the registered voters residing within the local option unit is presented to the board requesting such an elec tion. When a majority of the votes cast in such election shall be in favor of reopening the pub lic schools in that local option unit, the board of education shall immediately proceed to take all steps necessary to accompUsh such reopening at the earliest practicable date. . T Last week’s GRAINS column i about the Charleston, S, C., ac cent, has inspired ys to consider ation of what miglit be called I Sandhillese. Moore County and the Seindhills I provide a great variety of accents, in view of the fact that this is, comparatively, a recently devel oped section of the State. During the past 50 years, the influx of outsiders, from the North and from other sections of North Caro lina and the South, has introduced so great a variety of accents that any truly “native” method of I speaking is hard to pin down. The second generation of Sand- I hills immigrants provide some un usual accents hereabouts. It is not unusual to hear pure Southern expressions spoken by a voice haying a New England twang. Some people get to saying “Ah” for “I” but don’t say “mah” for my or “pah” for pie. [Two 'Viewpoints A common experience for per- I sons bom in the North who come here to live is to be accused of having a Southern accent when they go North to visit. At the same time, natives here think of these same people as talking like I “Yankees.” What Northerners think is a [Southern accent on the part of ex-Northerners who have been here and go back to visit is, we think, largely a matter of word usage and expressions which are very “catching.” Southern lan guage is generally more pictur esque and expressive than North ern language and a Northerner often finds himself using Southern expressions freely after a stay of a few years here. Then, when he goes back, his friends accuse him of becoming completely Rebelized or Dixified or whatever you want [to caU it. Characteristics One of the outstanding charac teristics of native Sandhills speech, as shown in the following “dictionary,” is a tendency to make two-syllable words out of one-syllable words and vice versa. Thus, “how” may be spoken “hi ypu,” while “orange” wiU be con tracted to “urnge.” Here is our own dictionary of Sandhillese, subject to correc tions, additions, deletions and rude comments: The Public Speaking Submarines, Guided Missiles Offer New Threat To Nation To The Editor: Let us be factual. That General Twining’s visit to Moscow would result in our learn ing anything of value pertaining to Russia’s Air Force or aircraft .was merely wishful thinking. Now after his “peek” at a few different models of aircraft. Con gressional Committees are insist ing that the General communi cate to them detailed facts: that are unknown to him. The sole motive that the Rus sians could have in extending their invitation to our Air Force Commander and Staff was to have us concentrate our efforts on increasing the number and cost of our aircraft and air de fense and to make us believe that we are vulnerable only to an attack from the air. Why not be realistic and recog nize the fact that both the United States and Soviet Russia can be laid waste by thermonuclear air attacks? 'The deterrent against any one country making such an attack is that the attacking na tion would be immediately rec ognized and become the object of a counter air attack. The military leaders of the world, as history records, always believe that the “next war” will be fought along the same lines as the last war. Our readers failed to heed the statements made by Adolph Hitler in^his world-Wide published “Mein Kampf” as to the type of war that he planned to conduct, and disaster resulted. Following the same costly path, our administrative and military heads can now only visualize an attack from the air. By the con struction of a fleet of hundreds of submarines and by their con centration on perfecting guided missiles, the Russians have pub lished the Soviet “Mein Kampf” which we refuse to ‘h-ead.” In view Of the Russian subma rine activities, it is inconceivable that we have constructed and are continuing to construct 65,000 ton aircraft carriers, over 1,000 feet in length with a beam of over 250 feet,* and which carry crews of over 4,000. What defense have we against an attack made simul taneously against our coast cities by submarine launching missiles with thermonuclear warheads? Such missiles could be launched while the submarines were sub merged. What defensive steps have been taken to prevent the delivery into our harbours of thermonuclear bombs, timed to be simultaneously detonated, in the holds of vessels carrying for eign Hags that have been charter ed by another foreign country? Our complicated legalistic ap proach to disarmament and our multi-billion dollar diplomacy have both been proven' to be failures and by continuing our “give away” program, ' we are proceeding down the economic path laid Out by the Russians. A great part of the cost of the latter useless program should be extended in building an adequate defense against sneak attacks by Bubmarines and to -arrange for inspection of every vessel carry ing a foreign flag for radioactive materials before any such vessel is permitted to approach or enter any of our harbors. E. G. B. KBLEY Southern Pines I pull—The fruit that keeps the doctor away. Wow well—^That portion of a building that supports the roof, and in! which windows and doors are located. Gay you—To proceed, to be on one’s way. Shay you—An exhibition, the movies. Example of usage of these two words: Did you gay you to the shay you last night? Owl—The entirety, everything. By Skit Bowel—A popular win ter indoor sport. Flee you—Past tense of flah. Bud — One of our feathered friends. Example of usage of these two words: The bud flee you to the tree. Stow Were—Place where goods are for sale. House Spittle — Place where most bay buzz are bone. My Youth — What we speak with and eat with. Neigh Use — What we smell with. E Your—What we hem with. Sea Girt—Camels, Luckies, Chesterfields etc. Shiver Lay, Foad, Buke, Pone Tack—^popular makes of cows, otherwise known as automobiles, sometimes abbreviated to Ow Toe. See Dan is the most prefer red body type. Many now have tee you tay yune paint jobs. Free Yute—Such agricultural products as pitches, purrs, I pulls, plooms, strow burrs, dee you burrs, blike burrs, urnges, lay mouns, pond I pulls, churs, gray yups, war meins and can elopes. Dowg—^Bow wow. Kite—Meow. Ho Warse—Neigh. Pay You Nee—A small Ho Wmse. Me Yule—Traditional for plow ing on the farm. Chun—^Lays eggs. Ree Youster—Cock a doodle doo. The PILOT Published Every Thursday by THE PILOT, Incorporated Southern Pines. North Carolina 1941—JAMES BOYD—1944 Katharine Boyd Editor C. Benedict Associate Editor Vance Derby News Editor Dan S. Ray Gen. Mgr. C. G. Council Advertising Mary Scott New:ton Business Bessie Cameron Smith Society Composing Room Lochamy McLean, Dixie B. Ray, Michael Valen, Jasper Swearingen Thomas Mattocks. Subscription Rates: One Year $4. 6 mos. $2; 3 mos. $1 Entered at the Postoffice at South ern Pines, N. C., as second class mail matter Member National Editorial Assn, and N. C. Press Assn.
The Pilot (Southern Pines, N.C.)
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July 19, 1956, edition 1
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