North Carolina Newspapers

THURSDAY, APRIL 25, 195T Page TWO ■LOT Southern Pines North Carolina “In taking over The Pilot no dianges are contemplated. We try to keep this a g paper. We will try to make a little money for aU concerned. Wherev» toere s^ms to an occasion to use our influence for the piibUc good we will try to do it. And we will treat everybody alike.”—James Boyd, May 23, 1941. — The Council Makes The Choice For the past week the town council, having boiled down the possible solution of the town hall plan to two alternatives, has been engaged in the soul-searching to be expected of sincere public servants in their endeavor to decide what is best in such an important mat ter. In deciding to keep the large council roota! and postpone building of the fire department wing, the council appears to be banking on the idea that the people, who might not feel the urge to vote another bond issue for the for mer, will be forced to do so for the construc tion of the fire department quarters so that the original plan will then be carried out. This is clearly a political approach and it leaves com pletion of the scheme squarely up to the new council. It wiU probably work out, but there is an opportunistic touch here that smacks of the “too smart” school of thought—^not always popular in these parts. The question was: which to keep? The large meeting-room is ample enough to devel op into the mimicipal court considered by many something to be worked for here. The fire department, however, though it costs a lot more, is certainly needed and badly need ed right now. The town must either build a new one or improve the old one. That seems to be the story. It is regrettable that this matter has gone along so dowly that the Council is now work ing against time, with election date looming close. That some of the present members are likely candidates for reelection is irrelevant; the group is in duty boimd to consider their action as the final one of their term' in office, with ail the importance to them, to the town, and to the Coimcil to succeed them which that implies. The Pilot is unalterably opposed to the site chosen for the town haU, a point of view that has certainly not been changed by the beauty of the town park in aU its spring blossoming. It is an anomaly hard to credit that while other progressive towns are tearing down buildings to create parks. Southern Pines should do the reversd and destroy a park ideally situated and of rmusual beauty. For this reason, it is hard to go on record as fav oring the inclusion of the police department and jail and fire department and garage in a building on this site. Yet that is the plan chosen and the plan meets with our approval. Both these facilities are absolutely essential. We must have good police quarters and the jail cells to enable our officers to stay on the job in town instead of continuing the incred ibly wasteful and dangerous proceeding now in force of taking prisoners to Carthage; ouT fire bucks and fine fire force must be ade quately served, either in new quarters or by having their old ones repaired; we must have fireproof storage for the town records, and adequate office space. The Council is to be commended for tooder- ating the original plans and seeking to cut the coat to suit the cloth. This is good econ omy. It is neither good economy nor good sense to destroy such an asset as the town park. As for this finessing of the fire depart ment—or the public—^that’s something else again. Bill Would Protect People of State The Pilot is squarely behind Rep. Clifton Blue’s biU, introduced in the General Assem bly last week, to set up a State board of ex aminers for certifying psychologists. A psychologist, be it noted, is not a doctor of medicine, but is a person skilled in the study of the mind and its workings, normal or abnormal. A psychiatrist, on the other hand, is an M. D. who specializes in the treat ment of mental niness. The bill in Raleigh is concerned with psychologists only. Whether a psychologist works as an advisor to industry, education or institutions, or in the field of personal coimseling, the public is en titled to have the assurance that the person with whom they are dealing is qualified by education and experience to imdertake the fimctions he says he is able to perform. This assurance is what the certifying bill would give. Quacks and imposters would at least have to call themselves something other than “psy chologist” if the bill is enacted into law. ♦ * ★ Evidence of the turmoil into which an un qualified, unskilled and unprincipled person, practicing as a psychologist, can throw his pa tients and many others in his community was offered at a hearing on the bill before the Joint Health Committee of the Legislature last week. This story, as it relates to Southern Pines, is in part familiar to residents of this com- jmiinity through news reports of legal diffi culties in which the psychologist here fin^y tangled himself—resulting in his convictton on a charge of criminal libel and his leaving the town and the state. Impressively added to the testimony of several Southern Pines resi dents—^testimony about the libel case and others equally gihister—was the statement of the chairman of the State Hospitals Board of Control that, while Uving here, this, “psychol ogist” had sent at least four persons to State mental institutions, none of whom was found, on examination by doctors there, to require such treatment. The purported diagnoses by the self-styled psychologist in these cases were found to have been incorrect. The State, said the Hospitals Board head, has neither time nor money to waste on such situations. Nor, we would add, should trust ing individuals who consult a supposedly qualified person, be subjected to such exploita tion, embarrassment and distress. And The Voice Of The Dinosaur Is Heard In Our Land Grains of Sand 'YOU CANT FOOL YOUR CHILDREN' A puzzling factor in the bill’s fate at Raleigh is the fact that the State Medical Society—sup posedly on direction of the American Medical Association’s policy-making headquarters in Chicago—is said to be opposing the Blue bill. As this is written, there has been no public announcement of this opposition, nor was it expressed at the hearing. From persons close to the General Assembly, however, we learn that the opposition exists, that its pressure is being put on legislators and that it may well spell doom for the bill unless legislators dis cover that the proposed law has firm and en thusiastic backing at the grassroots. The State Medical Society undertakes to set policy on legislative and other matters for nearly all the physicians of the state—just as the American Medical Association is said to set a national policy that is followed with remarkable uniformity by State and local medical groups. As we understand the matter at hand, a number of physicians, local and on the state level, who previously gave (and pre sumably in their own convictions stiU give) their approval to the certifying bill have been silenced by the edict of disapproval handed down by the State Society. * * • We have yet to receive a reasonable ex planation of this opposition. We are told sim ply that physicians know best what are the health needs of the state and that doctors fear that the status accorded psychologists by a certifying law would encourage them to practice medicine illegally. The first argument is meaningless, without documentation. The second appears extran eous because the physicians are already well protected by licensing boards and laws gov erning the conduct and standards of their pro fession. A fake psychologist, who is unprincipled to begin with, would be much more likely to at tempt the illegal practice of medicine, we would tliink, than would a genuine psycholo gist who had been screened and approved by the proposed certifying board. Yet, if it opposes this bill, the State Medical Society would seek to perpetuate conditions as they are: anybody, qualified or imquali- fied, .skilled or unskilled, can come into this state today, hang up a Sign “Psychologist” and begin to tamper with the minds, hearts and souls of persons who go to him in good faith for guidance and care. There is no law on the books in this state to stop him. « « The General Assembly is elected to legis late for the people of North Carolina and not for the American Medical Association. So we 'urge that residents of Moore County—who are in a particularly good position to provide the firm and enthusiastic backing that is needed at the grassroots—write their opin ions at once to Rep. H. Clifton Blue, member of the House from Moore County, and to the two state senators from the 12th District of which Moore County is a part: Sen. Henry W. Jordan of Cedar Falls and Sen. J. Benton Thomas of Raeford. Being A Good Parent Takes Time From time to time. The Pilot has printed its own or other newspapers’ comments on the extensive organization or—as some think—over-organization' of life in the United States today. These comments do not refer to organization in the political or economic sense, but rather to the increasing claim that civic groups, clubs, extra-curricular school projects, professional and business groups and such activi ties make on both adults and yoimgstAs. One non-daily newspaper edi tor whose comments were re printed recently in The Pilot came to the conclusion that “there is a limit beyond which it is not wise to go in this matter of organizing and competing for the time of individuals.” The Chapel Hill Weekly picks up where the other editor left off and comes to this conclusion: “Only too often a parent can make his best community contri bution by staying at home with his children.” To Divert Interests This editorial begins by refer ence to shoplifting in stores and thievery in the schools which were said to have reached alarming proportions in Chapel Hill. The editor noted various church and recreation activities that have been introduced in an effort “to divert the interests of the thieves from stealing to play ing.” Then the editorial—with sig nificance for any conommity, it seems to us—continues as fol lows: ance. As they grow older the span can be widened but at all times they need to know that Mama and Daddy ca^re, not in an abstract intellectual way, but in a deep-feeling way, about every thing they do. 'This cl9se associa tion, much like holding a tree straight to enable it to grow that way, develops a two-way or three-way confidence. Each knows that the unit is important and that any problems can be discussed. The child naturally tells of his encounters of the day and the parent can give the nec essary guidance. With a feeling of love and understanding, al most no child steals. It is a fortunate child who has two interested parents, but even if a father refuses to accept the responsibility, the mother must and can assxune it. It will be harder than if she had help, but many mothers bridge the gap left by men who think that civic work is more important than their children. Civic workers who neglect their children may be fooling themselves into thinking that community work is more impor tant and they may even fool the people who give them awards for their service, but they rarely fool their children. Only too often a parent can make his best com- mimity contribution by staying at home with his children. Could Be Worse When the vagaries of the news-' paper business begin to get us down, we now have a new source . of comfort, a letter written by a “ Tennessee man to his Congress man: “Recently married, expecting,, just moved into new home and broke. I do not know anything about an3rthing. Neither does my wife.” ' Question: what was the Con gressman supposed to do about it? Maybe the deeper comfort is derived not from comparison of W our sad lot with the man in Ten nessee but rather -with the Con gressman. Playing It Safe Speaking of newspaper prob lems, we are overwhelmed by the humility of a colleague in week ly journalism at the beginning of the year: “I hereby apologize for all mistakes made in writing the ^ news last year and for the ones I undoubtedly wiU make this year. If your name is misspelled . or misused, just let me know and I’ll try to do better.” We’U bet, however, that the man whose name is misspelled in August will not remember that the apology was already made in January. And wouldn’t this reporter feel ^ siUy, having apologized, if he ac tually got through the year with out making a mistake? ‘Wasted Bath . . , „ That horrible word, “mistake, brings up something that hap pened Saturday. Somehow, in the caption for our photo of the Episcopal Boys Choir in last week’s Pilot, a choir practice scheduled for Saturday ^ afternoon at 4 o’clock was an nounced as an Easter Even serv- ice. Most of the boys in the chofr convinced their parents that it was only a final choir practice before the big day in church on Easter. They came in play clothes, as usual lor such rehear- sals* But one lad, accompanied by ^ his mother garbed in Spring finery, arrived aU scrubbed u^ Outside the church, the truth was learned. It wasn’t a service- only a practice session. The boy turned on his mother then in bitter accusation and boundless regret: “You see. And you made me take a BATH!” The bather’s regret is no great- || er thdh ours for having made the Pressure On Play Space Growing FaUnre of Mind and Conscience Las^ year, 40,000 men, womfen and children were killed in traffic accidents in the United States— 2,200 more than in 1955. There were 2,368,000 injuries in traffic acci dents—^210,000 more than in 1965. Almost 80 per cent of the accidents occur red on dry roads in clear weather. More than 81 per cent of the casualties re sulted from driver error. Last week-end, on a nearby highway, the lives of three children were snuffed out in what appears to be a wholly avoidable acci dent. Those children would be alive if mind and conscience had not failed to function. If we cannot learn "to ride the highways with alert mind and conscience sensitive to the awesome responsibility of driving—the responsibility for life and death—we should tear up our driver’s licenses and stay home. Can sensible people come to any other con clusion? All sudh efforts indicate re sponsibility on the part of the promoters of the ideas and as such are good. But, in the final analysis, the problem of law breaking children must be met in the home. Not only is it impor tant that parents re-evaluate themselves as individuals that their example may be followed; they must re-evaluate themselves as parents. The question, "’‘Am I a good parent?” may well be ask ed. The questioner may be a good doctor, a good merchant, a good Jaycee, a good civic worker, a good newspaperman, a good church worker, a good League of Women Voter, a good Jimior Service League worker, a good bridge player, a. good Scout worker, a good neighbor, a good housekeeper, or even a good wife or husband. That has very little to do with the question, “Am I a good parent?” In fact, if a per son devotes much time to these many good ends, he may well not have time to be a good parent. Too often these activities prevent his being a parent except in the biological and economic sense. Like Holding Tree Children need minute to min ute and later hour to hour guid- Fast-growing demands of aU kinds on our public and private ' lands and forests, coupled with in creased leisure and transportation improvements, pose the question: Where will 220 million Americans play in ’75? To find out, western senators and congressmen headed by Sena tor Anderson (D) of New Mexico, and Representative Aspinall (D) of Colorado, with an assist from Representative Saylor (R) of Pennsylvania, want a three-year study of projected needs and jw- tentials of recreational facilities in our great outdoors in 1975 and 2000 . . . Since 1946, recreation visits to Rocky Mountain national forests climbed from 2 million to 7 mil lion, and in the nation from 18 million to 45 million. Another 10 miUion visitors were registered last year at western recreational areas developed by the reclama tion bureau. State parks recorded 183 million visits. By 1966, when the Public Af fairs Institute estimates total out door recreational demands will have jumped by 75 percent, the national parks expect 80 million visitors. Hence, Mission 66 to ex pand park facilities, and Opera tion Outdoors to double national forest accommodations. Despite the increasing numbers of posted signs going up against the nation’s 25 million anglers, there are indications private in dustry and landowners also are awakening to the growing need of the modem day world to “get away from it aU.” Weyerhaeuser Timber Co. has opened its 2.5 mil lion acres in Washington and Ore gon to recreational uses, and buUt 11 public parks on its timber hold ings. Today 85 pet. of the nation’s hunting. No. 2 sport, is done on private lands. Still, swelling populations con tinue to place ever-heavier bur dens on all lands. Every mUe of superhighway we build takes 36 acres out of other uses. This constant -crowding, multi plying uses and growing pressures on our outdoor facilities testify convincingly to the need and mer it of the Anderson-Aspinall study proposals. —^Denver Post. error. It Pays The codfish lays ten thousand eggs, , ^ The homely hen but one; The codfish never cackles To tell you what she’s done. And so we scorn the codfish ^ While the humble hen we prize, fP Which only goes to show you That it pays to advertize! The Public Speaking Rain Gear •-North AndilSouth Save Park’s Beauty To the Editor: , As I sat by the swings in the pi Park this week, looking toward Broad Street, my eyes feasted on the beauty of the pink dogwoods and white ones against the dark background of magnolia and evergreen trees, and I wondered if this might be perhaps the last Spring we could enjoy this beau ty, if buildings should replace it. It is sad indeed to feel that any of it may have to be sacri- p ficed, when we, who love it, and love Southern Pines because of it, will all be the poorer on ac count of the growth of the town. Let us hope our Park may be spared all its beauty. LOUISE M. HAYNES Southern i Pines The PILOT (From, The Saiiiford Herald) Up North, men dress for the weather. In Boston, for instance one will see merchant or lawyer or salesnian hurrying through the drizzle and slush in neatly buttoned, well-cut storm coat, lightweight overshoes, and hat of hard felt. He is likely to carry a black umbrella, perhaps with silver-topped handle, of tough fabric so thin tiiat when folded the thing resembles a walking stick* Here, though, we regard any change for worse in the weather as an emergency. Hardly a man seems to own a raincoat; he de pends upon a garment of syn thetic rubber and uncertain ori gin, likely split and patched with scotch tape, that hangs from sea son to season on the office hat- rack. If the mercury slips below top coat temperature, he can be de pended upon to dig out a moth- eaten relic of Army days and drape it over his shoidders as an extra garment—^refusing to dis cover that it no longer will but- . ton about him'. He has owned no overshoes since he lost a pair in the sixth grade cloak closet. As for hat— well, have you ever studied the collection of caps, toboggans and hoods that show up with each precipitation, even the extended ones? A Southerner’s rain gear may be evidence that he expects his weather to be clear and mild. On the other hand, it may reflect a desire to bre^ away from civ ilization’s props and battle nature on ^ven terms. Whatever the an swer, he has no good excuse for the cold that <^gs him these wet days. 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 Advertping Mary Scott Newton Business '0 Bessie Cameron Smith Society Composing Room Lochamy McLean, Dixie B. Ray, Mif-hapl 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 H Member National Editorial Assn, and N. C. Press Assn.