Page TWO
THE PILOT—Southern Pines, North Carolina
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 1962
ILOT
‘Wow—Wliere Can We Find Additional
Postal Revenue?”
Southern Pines V North Carolina
“In taking over The Pilot no changes are contemplated. We will try to keep this a good
paper. We will try to make a little money for all concerned. Wherever there seems to be
an occasion 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.
Helping to Save the Blood Program
It is good news that the Jaycees have
taken over sponsorship of the periodic
blood collections made here by the Ameri
can Red Cross unit from Charlotte. With
the energies of this young men’s group
behind the program, it should be more
successful than it has sometimes been in
the past.
Personal solicitation of blood donors
and personal checking to remind donors
to honor their pledges seem to be roads
to success in the blood program. This has
been brought out at district meetings
here of Red Cross blood program chair
man from other communities. It is not
so much that people are unwilling to
give blood, but that they often appear to
need a little nudging. No amount of news
paper publicity, editorials or other ex
hortations will replace the personal touch.
For months, the Moore County blood
program has been in a condition of crisis,
in danger of collapse, as donors over the
county have failed to give as much blood
as the amount provided to the two hos
pitals of the county by the blood center
at Charlotte. Moore County obviously
cannot forever go on depending on the
people of other counties to make up this
deficit.
There have been occasional successful-
collections by the bloodmobile—in each
case the result of an all-out effort in that
particular community to make the visit
a success.
Without the Red Cross program, the
hospitals of Moore County would have to
go back to the hit-or-miss, slow and often
exasperatingly difficult method of track
ing down blood donors as emergencies
arise, a method that throws the responsi
bility of saving lives all too often on a
small group of known, willing donors
who are utterly incapable of carrying the
load by themselves.
It is against this background that the
local Jaycees are setting out to improve
the recoord of Southern Pines in blood
giving, so that this community can swing
its share, and perhaps more, in the cruci
al effort to save the blood program for
Moore County.
The Jaycees are working now to sign
up donors for a collection to be held here
Monday, as told in a front-page news
story. We urge that they be given wide
spread and enthusiastic cooperation
throughout the community by persons
they ask to help and by others who, we
hope, will come forward, without being
asked.
Strength Through Public Understanding
Public understanding, writes James
Reston in his New York Times column
Sunday, is the key to a “process of adjust
ment” that the United States must under
take to maintain its own security and the
security of the free world.
He proposes a nation-wide adult edu-,
cation movement to broaden and deepen
the understanding by millions of Ameri
cans, of “our present economic, social and
political assumptions in relation to the
convulsive, changing facts of the age.”
Study groups, he thinks, should be or
ganized by churches, schools, PTA’s and
service clubs.
Mr. Reston leads into his challenging
suggestion by pointing out that the socie
ty that has “the greatest capacity to ad
just to the scientific, social and political
revolutions of the age” is more likely to
win the cold war than the society with
the biggest weapons- And such an adjust
ment, he maintains, is not possible with
out public understanding.
[igrant Labor: A National Concern
Failure of states to enact adequate
legislation to prevent the exploitation and
to insure the health, safety and welfare
of migrant farm workers no doubt has
been in large part responsible for propos
ed federal legislation in this field.
North Carolnia can be numbered among
the states neglecting the problem. A bill
that would have assured at least a start
in bettering conditions at migrant labor
camps was passed by the House in the
1961 General Assembly and, mysterious
ly, was killed by the Senate—a turn of
events that was deplored by this news
paper at the time.
The State Board of Health and a Com
mittee on Migrants appointed by Gover
nor Sanford kept on plugging during the
summer and fall- A survey of Eastern
Carolina camps found violations of the
sewage code, inadequate water supplies
and no garbage cans or disposal methods,
in many of the facilities. Housing was
found to be inadequate in numerous
camps.
In a report made in October, the State
Board of Health recommended more re
gular visits and inspections and more
contact with crew leaders, growers and
property owners by health department
sanitarians.
The Governor then said he would ask
the Commission on Reorganization of
State Government to draft remedial legis
lation for the 1963 General Assembly.
But will the Assembly act? Is there any
more encouraging prospect of action in
1963 than in 1961?
While the states are dilly-dallying, this
is what has happened in Washington: The
Senate last year passed five bills that
would: require the national registration
of farm labor contractors and crew lead-
rs; outlaw child labor in agriculture; open
broader health and education facilities to
migrant farm workers and their families;
and create a national advisory council to
press for improved protection of this ne
glected section of the labor force.
Now, President Kennedy and his Cabi
net Committee on Migratory Labor are
urging the House also to pass the five
bills.
While eager to see North Carolina
enact its own safeguards, we believe
that federal legislation in this field is the
practical, sensible method of solving a
problem that involves many states and a
group of people constantly moving from
.1
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Citizen interest in the affairs of govern
ment at home and abroad, can actually
have, Mr. Reston believes, a profound in
fluence on the strength of the nation. This
is not a revolutionary thesis, but, in a
time when people are so overwhelmed
by the confusions of existence that they
tend to shun, rather than welcome dis
cussion, it is heartening to hear this basic
tenet of democracy proclaimed so strong
ly by so shrewd an obeserver as Mr.
Reston.
Obviously, guidance would be needed
for such community study groups. He
suggests that “factual study guides” be
prepared, perhaps financed by some
foundation, and distributed nation-wide.
Whatever the method, increased public
understanding of the economic, social
and political scene is vital to the United
States. Its importance now reaches be
yond personal information and satisfac
tion into the realm of patriotic duty.
GREENSBORO DAILY NEWS
NOT THE CREATION OF LEFT-WING SPENDTHRIFTS
Welfare Work Linked to Churches
one state to another.
There is little migrant labor used in
this area. The problem is not one of press
ing local concern. Few people anywhere,
even in areas where the migrants work,
see labor camps or know the conditions
therein. Here, these workers—^men, wo
men and children—are even more “out
of sight, out of mind.”
Yet the matter is of concern to Ameri
cans everywhere—Americans who again
and again have backed legislation to con
trol exploitation of hxunan beings in
many occupations. The migrants—unor
ganized, rootless, non-voting—have little
power of persuasion in themselves. That
is w^hy others, no matter where we live,
must speak up for them and back efforts
to make possible a better and safer life
not only for the workers themselves but
for the areas in which they operate.
Compassion Is the Key
The article in adjoining columns, which
traces the origin of public welfare to the
churches’ Christian concern for the suf
fering and the unfortunate, could serve
as a sort of primer or introduction to a
subject that has attracted increasing
nation-wide attention in the past year or
so.
The basic assumption in welfare work
is that the community has a responsibility
for helpless and deprived persons: com
passion is the key emotion involved. And
that emotion must guide all efforts to
manage welfare - programs, whether in
expanding or contracting them. We are
dealing with human beings, not things or
property.
'The failure, in human terms, of the
much-touted revised public welfare pro
gram at Newbergh, N. Y., was strikingly
portrayed Sunday night on a television
broadcast that examined the situation
there ill depth.
Why the failure? It was a slide-rule
operation, not motivated by compassion,
symbolized in a shocking slip of the
tongue when Joseph Mitchell, the city
manager who instigated the program,
speaking off the cuff, said that a certain
group of the welfare clients were “vege
tables.”
Quickly he added, “so to speak,” or
“you might say.” But the word showed
how his mind worked. You don’t talk
about humar, beings, anybody, that way.
By HOWARD W. HOPKIRK
In "Christian Century"
A sizeable number of public
welfare employees are members
of churches and see themselves
as having the same vocation as
ithe men and, women, engaged in
church-sponsored welfare serv
ices. These government workers
have the same compassion toward
those they serve as do the em
ployees of agencies operating un
der religious auspices. Further
more, any student of social wel
fare services can point to the re
ligious origins of much of the
work that later came under the
sponsorship of local, state or fed
eral governments. Hence in tak
ing a stand against social welfare
measures, Senator Barry Gold-
water and his ilk are unwittingly
condemning efforts of saintly peo
ple who fought for establishment
of the Social Security act and laid
the basis under religious auspices
for Aid to Dependent Children.
Two Saints
Two such saints were the Rev.
A. T. Jamison, longtime execu
tive of Connie Maxwell Orphan
age, Greenwood, S. C., and the
Rev. Martin Luther Kessler,who
had a similar post at Thomasville
Baptist Orphanage, Thomasville,
N. C. Both institutions, now un
der different names, continue to
improve their services by means
of institutional cottages, foster
homes and mothers’ aid pro
grams. The successors to these
two pioneers in modern child-
welfare work have been clergy
men, and like Jamison and Kes-
ler they have considered them
selves, particularly in their sup
plementing inadequate A. D. C.
grants, to be working in a kind of
partnership with the welfare de
partments of their states.
We need to remember that A.
D. C. was not the creation of left-
wing spendthrifts but rather the
result of the work of hardheaded
yet devout individuals who be
lieved that the welfare clause of
the U. S. Constitution means
what it says. Would Senator
Goldwater like us to return to
the indenture of children, as prac
ticed in the last century in the
U. S. as well as in England? Such
a practice' would spare the re
luctant taxpayer from sharing in
the support of state-federal Social
Security insofar as it benefits
children. Exploiters of the inden
tured could provide the youths
with a free-enterprise opportuni
ty—to work their way out of slav
ery.
Practical, Too
It was before 1930 that I heard
Dr. Kessler make an impassioned
appeal to the clergy and laity of
the North Carolina Baptist Con
vention, asking them to add $2.5,-
000 to the orphanage budget so
that children might live at home
with their widowed or deserted
mothers rather than at the or
phanage. He appealed to their
Christian charity but also to their
practicality. He made quite clear
the fact that the amount of
money required for the care of
two children at the institution
would be enough to support six
children in their own home. So
these Baptist cotton farmers, mill
workers and businessmen joined
their ministerial associates to
raise the sum needed to establish a
mothers’ aid program—one of the
earliest in the U. S. Despite the
A. D. C.’s limitations, were it not
for that program the country
would need two or three times as
many foster homes as now—a big
bill to be paid.
Shocking Shame
A comparison of government wel
fare employees with workers in
church-opefated agencies and in
stitutions seems needed in order
to discourage those inclined to de
pict social workers as impractical
A Statement of Principle
In 1955, the North Carolina
Press Association adopted "A
Statement of Principle" that
received the enthusiastic en
dorsement of the daily and
weekly newspapers of the
state. Printed! by The Pilot at
the time of its adoption and
since reprinted a couple of
times, the statement is given
here again, near the begin
ning of a new year, to inform
readers of the standards of
journalism by which we try
to be guided in our week-to-
week operations. The State
ment follows:
's.
The newspapers of North Caro
lina, conscious of their obliga
tions, and mindful of their own
human imperfections, rededicate
themselves to these principles
which guide a responsible press in
a free society.
I
Freedom of the press exists in
a democracy, not for the power or
profit or pleasure of any indiv
idual, but for the common good.
The right of the people to know
cannot be denied or diminished
without endangering democracy
itself. It is the obligation of the
press to provide accurate, timely
and complete information about
all developments which affect the
people’s political; economic or so
cial well-being. Given the facts,
the people usually will reach wise
decisions.
II
The trusteeship of a free press
is the final responsibility of the
publisher. He may share it, but he
cannot escape it. The good pub
lisher provides the necessary
money and space for adequate
coverage of the essential news
and employs personnel of integ
rity, ability and sound judgment.
He exalts accuracy above other
men and women either too soft
hearted or too hard-boiled. Aicert
B. Southwick in his article “The
Real Welfare Scandal” (see Chris
tian Century for Oct. 11, 1961)
pointed to personnel problems out
of keeping with space-age effi
ciency. He said: “It is a shocking
shame that the great bulk of pub
lic welfare work done in this
country is done by underpaid, ill
trained, grossly overloaded ‘case
workers’ who can make only a
pretense of analyzing the compii-
cated problems that beset their
clients.” This situation would be
much worse were it not for those
who constitute the backbone of
our local welfare agencies. These
are the compassionate, intelligent,
hard-working men and women
who, like teachers and nurses,
choose a vocation in which sal
aries are low but in which they
can administer welfare services
desperately needed.
considerations, and insists upon
prompt, full and even generous
corrections when errors occur.
III
Every citizen deserves the stim
ulus of a strong editorial page, on
which the editor voices his own
well-informed opinion clearly and
forcefully yet willingly provides
space for contrary opinion. The
good editor often takes sides, but
without arrogance or intolerance.
He champions boldly the rights of
the people, sometimes, against
government itself. He provides
leadership, particularly in his
own community. He has a special
responsibility to defend the weak,
to prod the public conscience, and
to speak out against the injustices
of which a majority can some
times be guilty.
IV
The primary function of a news
paper is to report the news. The
good reporter strives constafiily
to find and write the truth. This
task, no matter how difficult, is
his unescapable responsibility.
To be true, a story, together
with its headlines, must be honest.
To be honest, it must be fa\r. To
be fair, it must be accurate and
complete.
Honesty demands objectivity,
the submergence of prejudice
and personal conviction. Accu
racy demands courage, painstak
ing care, and perspective to as
sure a total picture as true as its
individual facts.
V
The final test of every story,
every headline, every editorial,
every newspaper is:
Is it honest? Is it fair? Is it ac
curate?
To the end that they can more
frequently answer these ques
tions in the affirmative, the news
papers of North Carolina adopt
this statement of principle.
Crains of Sand
Rain Come Friday?
What? Pray for rain when we’re
still slopping around from the last
drizzle?
Hold on, now! There are times
to pray for rain and times not
to: and one of the times TO is on
February 2.
It’s Groundhog Day, that’s why.
On that day, as the first whisp
of morning breeze stirs the
branches and the gleam of dawn
creeps over the sky, the Ground
hog opens one eye from his win
ter’s sleep. Something in the turn
of the year, a high call, too high
for human ears, too strange for
human understanding, has pene
trated his slow mind sunk in deep
sleep. He yawns, he twists, he
scratches at last year’s itching by
last year’s flea; with exhaustive
effort he stretches. Then in his
narrow burrow he manages a
shake or two and creeps up to the
door.
What lies outside? He could go w
for a wander; on the other hand,
why not, instead creep back to
his cozy nest? With a sigh he
considers his yearly task. It’s a
shuddery experience to open that
door and go out; It’s the begin
ning of all sorts of tiresome
things: grubbing around for food,
eating bugs, nasty things, till the
succulents start coming up; then
there’s that exhausting Spring
ahead when he has to start car
eering round after some saucy,
irritating would - be-possessive
girl friend, and the fighting with
other equally exasperated males.
Life calling him to work again.
But wait: there’s still a chance
to go back for that second lazy
snooze. He stands rigid by the
door, listening. Is that the patter
of rain drops? Or only some tire
some squirrel scattering his
messy acorn-cups about. But,
could it be rain? Could this be
his lucky day? If he opens that
door will it be to feel the cool
refreshment of trickling raindrops
on his questing nose? Or, instead,
will the dawnlight tempt him to
step out, to take just one little
wander? He knows what will hap
pen if he does: he’ll scuttle out to
the old flat watching place; h's
eyes, still fuzzy with sleep, will
blink in the blaze of sunlight and
then, horribily black, there in
front of him will squat that fig
ure, that shadow. He’ll jump and
it will jump, too, and then he’ll
turn and make it for his burrow.
With his heart pattering wildly
he’U dive down his tunnel, and
then—here he is safely home in
his vyarm, stuffy, furry bed.
Home with honor, too, duty car
ried out to the full.
“Ho-hum” he’ll say, “Now I’m
going to sleep for forty days.
Goodnight, Everybody!”
As he stands at the door won
dering which it will be, does it
ever cross his mind to wonder
why on earth he should have
been selected for this extraordin
ary, exacting job?
You hate to think it, but is it
because he’s the only creature
'dim-witted enough to be scared
of his own shadow?
A gloomy writer, Thomas Car
lyle, didn’t allow the Groundhog
such dubious prominence. He
thought there were a good many
folks in the same box, though
without the Groundhog’s baro
metric eminence. Said Carlyle:
“Always there is a black spot in
our sunshine; it is the shadow of
ourselves.”’
Taps or Twists
Here’s a date to waken the
memories of the “aging,” (as if
we aren’t all “aging!”) On Febru
ary 4 an endurance contest, for
enduring the dance called the
Charleston, was won by some
gent who Charlestoned for 22
hours and 30 minutes. That was
in 1926. Wonder how many twists
he could have twisted in that
time?
The PILOT
Published Every Thursday by
THE PILOT, Incorporated
Southern Pines. North Carolina
1941—JAMES BOYD—1944
Subscription Rates
Moore County
One Year $4.00
Outside Moore County
One Year $5.00
Second-class Postage paid at
Southern Pines, N. C.
Katharine Boyd Editor
C. Benedict Associate Editor
Dan S. Ray Gen. Mgr.
C. G. Council Advertising
Mary Scott Newton Business
Maiy Evelyn de Nissoff Society
Composing Room
Dixie B. Ray, Michael Valen,
'Thomas Mattocks, J. E. Pate, Sr.,
Charles Weatherspoon and John
E. Lewis.
Member National Editorial Assn,
and N. C. Press Assn.