Page TWO
Confucius Say: ^‘Never Pet Hungry Dog!
Southern Pines
North Carolina
“In taking over The Pilot no changes are co ntemplated. We will try to keep this a good
paper. We will try to make a little money f or all concerned. Wherever there seems to
an occasion to use our influence for the pu blic good we will try to do it. And we will
treat everybody alike.”—James Boyd, Ma y 23, 1941.
Good Citizenship In Action
Tuesday’s approval by Southern Pines
voters of four proposed town bond issues
was a display of good citizenship.
Town officials, who studied the pro
posals carefully and decided to put the
issues before the people, can take results
of the bond election as an endorsement
of their foresight in attempting to meet
vital present and future needs of the com
munity.
The water and sewer bonds, for essenti
al improvement of facilities that affect
each householder, were handsomely en
dorsed, almost four to one. The bonds for
Civil Defense: The Picture Brightens
The new Civil Defense Council appoint
ed by the county commissioners and the
new county CD director, Col. Alfred M.
Koster, are working with commendable
cooperation and speed to provide for
Moore County an up-to-date program that
will be accorded state and federal recogni
tion.
The county will then, happily, be re
moved from the roster of only 20 counties,
of the state’s 100, where an approved pro
gram has not been set up.
The commissioners, in regular session
at Carthage Monday, came through in
fine style with an appropriation to carry
the program through the end of the year
and gave every indication that they in
tend to back up the council and the
director financially and otherwise in the
Toward A Permanent Solution?
President Kennedy’s “road of courage,”
as we called his policy on Cuba, writing
at the height of the crisis, two weeks
later seems also to be a road to peace, at
least so far as the immediate issue of
Soviet offensive weapons in Cuba is con
cerned.
The world has been moved—though no
one can say how far—“back from the
abyss of destruction,” to use the memor
able words of the President’s appeal to
Khrushchev in his talk to the nation that
revealed the course he had chosen and
the perils it involved.
One can hope that the leaders and
people of the two giants who stood re
cently brandishing nuclear weapons
have been so shaken and awed by the ex
perience that there will be renewed vigor
at all levels,, in pursuing the noble aim
that was inextricably linked by the Presi
dent to ending the immediate threat of
war: “. . . to join in an historic effort to
end the perilous arms race and transform
the history of man. . . ”
The withdrawal of Soviet offensive
missiles from Cuba was most assuredly an
end in itself—an action in which the
peace of the world hung in the balance.
Yet with that end attained, only one step
will have been taken toward the great
goal voiced by President Kennedy even
while he stood, so to speak, with his gun
pointed and his finger on the trigger; the
“search for peaceful and permanent
solutions.”
If, having stood at the edge of the abyss,
millions of Americans are inspired anew
to strive for that goal, the central moral
significance of the Cuban crisis will bear
fruit.
All concerned, the leaders and their
people, have now seen with transcendent,
claiity that mankind cannot long sanely
face a continuing existence on that abyss
brink.
We are bold enough to pray that what
has happened in the past two weeks be
not simply an exercise of naked power
but a shuddering first step toward a
“peaceful and permanent solution.”
Something Exciting in the Arts
Tarheels interested in the progress
[eir state must learn with approval
resolution presented to Governor
k:d last week by his newly-appointed
Tittee for a Conservatory of the
Vning Arts. It was unanimously
\y the group to take up with a will
jic he had assigned them and in-
|te to the fullest extent the project
hd. The decision was made to pro-
[ith plans for such an establish-
feasible.
committee is a strong one, there
[reason to believe it will come up
exciting and practicable plan,
ibership includes leaders from all
[the State, among them, we note
^sure, a member from this town.
will not be an easy one and
they are well aware of that
Je will certainly be divisions of
stween those who may favor
sr that one; and of course there
ae gloomy participation by that
phe public which is bound to
whole thing with the same
lidiced vision that defeated the
[bond issue for better schools
iltural needs. But there is no
aeople all over this state are
are and more eager to grow
^r standards in the arts, to-
sensitivity and creativity
|ildren and greater oppor-
^m. Witness the crowds
in our cities when the
lernstein’s orchestra or
ames to town, the de
light with which good theatre and musi
cals is greeted; witness also the strenuous,
often anguished efforts made by PTAs
and parent groups to bring music and
good art teaching into the curriculum of
our schools. As a climax: witness the ex
traordinary success of the North Carolina
Symphony, the “Orchestra on Wheels,”
and its twice yearly tours to crowded con
cert halls.
To mention the Symphony is to recall
the words of its director. Dr. Benjamin
F. Swalin, here not long ago, on the need
for the Symphony to find a real “home.”
The idea was ecnoed somewhat in a
News and Observer editorial of a few
days ago in which it was suggested that
if the state orchestra could be incorporat
ed into the new conservatory scheme, it
could probably be transformed into a
permanent organization and eventually
draw more and more for its players on
those North Carolinians who would be
students and graduates of the home Con
servatory of Music.
The possibilities in this direction are
exciting, while the vision of a North
Carolina School of Music, foremost in the
South and attracting students from every
state, brings a real thrill. It is hoped that
both the local angle and the vision will
be pushed—if you can push a vision—to
the utmost. As the editorial was probably
from the typewriter of Editor Sam Ragan,
president of the Raleigh Music Associa
tion and a member of the Conservatory
Committee, it seems altogether likely that
the push will be made. The harder the
better, Mr. Editor Ragan!
the library, and for the West Southern
Pines swimming pool, although involving
smaller amounts of money, were not
nearly so strongly supported, but never
theless carried, showing that numerous
citizens are magnanimous enough to vote
for community services from which they
themselves may not directly benefit.
All in all, the bond election was a good
positive showing, demonstrating faith in
the town and its future development—a
development that would have been handi
capped and hamstrung in several im
portant ways had not the bonds been
approved.
V
t?* i -
yj
future. Details of the commissioners’
action and other aspects of the program
are reported in a news story elsewhere
in today’s Pilot.
It may be premature, before people
have even been told what they can or
should do to help the CD project, to point
out that the citizenry of Moore County
holds the key to success in the program
to be developed and that public accept
ance and enthusiasm will be essential.
It was a dull person indeed who was
not chilled by the Cuba crisis into a reali
zation of how ill-prepared for disaster
we apparently are, as communities and
as individuals.
It is good to know that sensible, vig
orous people are now working hard to
change this picture.
r * ^
y-
n
♦
V f ^ ..tv,
KEPT COMMUNICATIONS OPEN
UN Eased Way In Cuban Crisis
By JOSEPH C. HARSCH
Special Correspondenl
The Christian Science Monitor
(Reprinted by permission)
Not knowing whether the Cuba
venture was promoted inside
Moscow by Soviet Premier Ni
kita S. Khrushchev against warn
ings from others or by others
against warnings from Mr.
Khrushchev, the West cannot yet
know which element inside the
Soviet political system will be
damaged by the failure of the
venture. )
It is conceivable that failure in
Cuba will plunge Moscow into
one of those introspective periods
w^hich alternate down through
Russian history with periods of
aggressive expansionalism. It is
equally conceivable that the en
tire Soviet hierarchy is imbued
with a burning urge for revenge
which will produce an unpleas
ant surprise for the Wost in some
other place—most plausibly in
Berlin.
While the West waits for events
to disclose the sequel, it can use
fully be noted that the Cuban
story involved successful use of
the institution of the United Na
tions as a device for easing the
way to the solution of the crisis,
once elements of the solution
were visible.
Two Theories
There always have been two
theories about the proper role of
the UN. What might be called the
“millennial” school of opinion has
seen and promoted the UN as the
institution which ultimately
should make and keep th.e peace
and become a sort of world feder
ation or super state.
Another school of thought has
held out a more modest role for
the UN. Members of this second
grouo have seen it not as a future
super state but as a useful device
to the nations in speeding such
solutions or settlements as the
great powers are ready to make
THE PASSING
From Raleigh News and Observer
For some time amateur orni
thologists have warned of the in
creasing paucity of bluebirds.
This fear is now corroborated of
ficially by the current issue of
‘•'Audubon Field Notes” which
says bluebirds on the Atlantic
Seaboard are down to 20 per cent
of normal. Severe winter storms
and insecticides are blamed pri
marily for the approaching ex
tinction of “the bird of happi
ness.” Too, Tar Heel observers
know the predatory house spar
row has a diabolical talent for
usurping the nests of the gentle
bluebirds.
Of course, in light of today’s
issues, the death of the bluebird
may seem but a feather in a
storm, a wayward picayune that
will not prompt a meeting of a
subcommittee, if even of a scout
troop. But on the moon, in orbit,
in health, poverty, sickness or
and are capable of reaching.
In the Cuba crisis, the UN did
not play any role in reaching the
outlines of a possible resolution. It
did play three parts in the drama
as follows:
1. It acted as a post office for
such mutual communications as
the principles chose to have. The
moment was too tense for them to
communicate directly to each
other. They could address commu
nications at each other through
UN Acting Secretary-General U
Thant.
2. It provided an opportunity or
excuse for keeping the line of
communication opon. An appeal
from the Secretary-General be
comes, under such circumstances,
a face-saving device particularly
useful to the side most in need of
saving face, in this case the So
viets.
3. It provided the machinery for
implementing the agreed settle
ment. In this case Mr. Khrush
chev announced that he would
withdraw his missiles and allow
the UN to inspect and verify the
withdrawals. He never could
have agreed to direct and overt
United States inspection, although
well understanding that Wash
ington, of course, will do its own
extraofficial verification.
These three functions played
their part not in bringing the
crisis to a settlement, but in pro
viding the machinery whereby
the settlement could be arranged,
recorded, and executed. The 'UN
had no physical power, but it did
provide useful services. It acted,
in effect, not as a world state but
as a world utility.
Humble Role
To the millennialists the role of
general utility is too humble and
insufficient. This humble role is,
I think, insufficiently appreciated.
The great powers must have a
neutral meeting place, a common
post office, a general facility for
face saving and for executing dif
ficult settlements when such set
tlements have been achieved.
The role may appear to be un
important and unworth all the
cumbersome machinery of the
United Nations. If it did not
exist, it would have to be invent
ed.
What Is An Education ?
(From an interview with
William B. Aycock, chancel
lor of the University of North
Carolina, as quoted in the
Chapel HUl Weekly.)
“ ... An education is, in a
broad sense, everything that hap
pens to a person—the personal
contacts he makes, the things he
does, the experiences he has,
everything that happens to him
all contribute to his education.
“On a formal basis, an educa
tion is of course acquiring know
ledge and the tools with which to
handle yourself in the world.
“But at the same time I think
an education is also a matter of
moral training. If a man has the
tools, and of course he has to
OF BLUEBIRDS
wealth, man has to have certain
basic symbols, tiny entities that
give perennial vibrance and per
tinence to life’s luminous mani
festations.
The little bluebird has seemed
at times to carry the whole of a
white or green or crimson crea
tion upon its delicate wings. Its
song is short to the ear but long
on calling up the tender graces of
gentle hours. The bluebird stands
for youth and innocence, for hap
piness and gaiety when these de
lights are effortless. The bluebird
has been the symbol of man’s un
ruffled and unsullied dreams. It
has se>3med to represent man’s
best and gentlest portions. It is
not so mighty as an eagle, but it
relates to man’s profound urgen
cies the way that one hour in
April seems to outweigh the sum
total of a month in deepest win
ter.
have tools to carry on his, pro
fession, he can put them to dan
gerous uses. If a man is going to
be a gangster he’d be a much bet
ter gangster if he studied law.
For some kinds of gangstering.
Or if he’s going to be an embez
zler if he knew accounting. Part
of an education is learning to
put knowledge to safe uses.
“And education is training the
mind, the intellect. I think part
of it is learning to recognize the
significance of what you do. A
person’s outlook is important;
what he plans to do with his
knowledge and training, and his
understanding of what he does.
“I think an educated man is
one who goes into every situation
and determines the facts.
“He’si a man who is interested in
finding out the truth. He can
think rationally. He’s a man who
understands his relationships
with another man, and a man
who understands his relationships
with men, with the society in
which he lives. He has learned to
be tolerant of other people’s
views and thinking. That doesn’t
mean he has to agree with every
thing. . .”
“To illustrate what I’m saying
—this is the law training coming
out in me now—suppose you and
I go into a situation and investi
gate the facts. 'We both make
every effort to find out the facts,
and we both find Out the same
set of facts. I arrived at a con
clusion, and you arrive at a dif
ferent conclusion, but we tolerate
each other’s conclusions. We don’t
agree, but we understand the oth
er point of view.
“The thing I don’t like is the
person who arrives at a conclusion
without first determining the
facts. . . ”
Ye Olde Engeland
Last week, according to The
Times, the City of London made
its annual payment to tie Queen’s
rent collector.
You’d think it ,jnight be the
other way round, in this age of
modern royalty, With Queen
Elizabeth being dunned for the
rent of Buckingham: Palace, but
it isn’t. England sticks to the old
ways in the old days when roy
alty was Royalty. So ihe City paid
the Queen, and still does, ever
since the first payment Was made
back in the 13th century.
Even with all the changes there
have been since then, nobody has
raised the rent on the kings and
queens of England.
It remains the same, namely:
one hatchet, one billhook, six
horseshoes, (large) with nails (61)
in them. That’s what they got 600
years ago and that’s what Queen
Elizabeth II got last week.
Which Reminds. . .
There was a tale brought back
from Trinity College, Cambridge,
some years ago, that was also
hung on an old English custom.
It seems two undergraduates,
newly come to Trinity and doubt
less looking for trouble, were en
tertaining themselves one day
mulling over old Trinity records
in the library. They were perus
ing some of the ancient college
reculations when they came
across an item that caused them
to prick up their ears. The inter
esting item was an old rule which
allowed a farmer to pasture his
cow on the square of green grass
that formed the center of Trinity
Great Court, most hallowed part
of the ancient building. Even the
charge for such pasturage was
noted: one shilling sixpence a
day.
It struck the young men that
here was a chance'to have a little
fun with the authorities.
They preceded to scour the
countryside and finally found an
elderly cow whose owner reluc
tantly agreed to hire her out for
a few days. That night the two
maneuvered the cow through
back ways, prodded her into the
court and tied her firmly to a
stake driven into the center of
the velvety lawn. Then they re
tired into their room and waited.
Great was the astonishment of
the inhabitants of Trinity next
morning when the sight of the
cow peacefully cropping met then-
eyes; great was the glee and an
ticipation of the pair who were
waiting crouched behind their
curtained window, ready to sail
forth with the rule book to prove
their case when Official Trinity
should bear down upon them.
But . . .nothing happened. The
cow remained there all day; they
carried her water even fetched
a little hay; still nothing happen
ed.
It was the same the next day
and the next. But early on the
fourth day, a Saturday, an envel
ope addressed to the two arrived
in the mail. Inside ti was a bill
that read:
“For pasturage one cow three
days: 4.06.”
That Fixed Him
Trollope’s Dean is giving his
newly-married daughter a word
of advice on how to handle her
husband.
Dean. “If he says a cross word
or two, now and then, just let it
go by. You should not always
suppose that words mean what
they seem to mean. I knew a man
who used to tell his wife every
so often that he wished she were
dead.”
Daughter Mary: “Good heav
ens, papa!”
Dean: “'Whenever he said it
she just put a little magnesia into
his beer. And things went on as
comfortably as could be.”
The PILOT
Published Every Thursday by
THE PILOT, Incorporated
Southern Pines, North Carolina
1941—JAMES BOYD—1944
Katharine Boyd Editor
C. Benedict Associate Editor
Dan S. Ray Gen. Mgr.
C. G. Council Advertising
Bessie C. Smith Advertising
Mary Scott Newton Business
Mary Evelyn de Nissoff Society
Composing Room
Dixie B. Ray, Michael 'Yalen,
Thomas Mattocks, J. E. Pate, Sr.,
Charles Weatherspoon and John
E. Lewis.
Subscription Rates
Moore County
One Year $4.00
Outside Moore County
One Year $5.00
Second-class Postage paid at
Southern Pines, N. C.
Member National Editorial Assn,
and N. C. Press Assn.