North Carolina Newspapers

The Rocky Mo VOLUME 5, NUMBER 26 X-©©jk if'sk- VS at Wmmm V . . . . . i Relief, Recovery and Reform Ar« I ; Still the Nation's New Three R's The three R's, famous in educa tional circles not so many years ago, have become in this year of grace, 1938, Relief. Recovery and Reform. ' Which Comes First? During President Roosevelt's firsc term of office, there was constant debate as to whether relief and re covery should precede reform. Tho debate continues today, as the nation again faces a severe economic flop, and officials continue to study its - causes, and by investigation, and leg islation to find out why it happened, and how it can be prevented in the future. In 1938 we find some twelve mil lion persons totally unemployed and many more have only part-time em ployment. Business activity has slum ped almost to where it was in 1933, but actually there is a vast differ ence. Then, private charitable resour ces and the funds of state and local comnMmities were practically exhaus ted. There had been no acceptance by tho Federal Government of its responsibility in providing relief for the unemployed. Employment Trends. / Continued unemployment, in spite of all that has been done, is ex plained, in part, by basic economic conditions. According to the Pub ' lie Affairs Committee, official sta tistics show that there were only three-fourths as many jobs in indus try in 1936 as in 1920, although pop ulation increased twenty per cent in tho interval. Since 1929, employment in indus try has decreased one-fifth. In ad dition, there has been retrench ment on many sides, throwing thousands of professional and white collar men out of work, and large numbers of farmers, small trades men and proprietors have been forced into bankruptcy where they are unable to support themselves in their usual occupations. The Spending Policy While the spending policies of the Administration from -1933 thru 1936 had a great deal to do with the measure of recovery which fol lowed, critics point out that once the purchasing power of the Govern ment was cheeked the recovery movement ceased. Advocates of spending, however, declare that it stopped too "abruptly," was pushed too high by the payment of the sol diers' bonus which the President op posed, and that the ground gained was thrown away by over-production and the control of prices in 1937 when the Government was trying to step out of the picture gradually. Road To Recovery? Anti-New Dealers insist that per manent recovery can- be had only through the activity of private in dustry and assert that a chlange in Administration or the adoption of now policies by the present Ad ministration, would point the way toward prosperity. They continual ly demand a "changed attitude" on tho pa.rt of the President, a real "breathing spell" and the restora tion of "confidence." This has been the argument since 1933 behind tho cry "recovery before reform." It was repeatedly asserted that the nation's tax la\ys were largely f responsible- for the upset in busi ness last Fall. Congress was told byjlmany business leaders that if it Vould revise drastically the tax laws, recovery would begin. How ever, the congressional revision of the tax laws, as repeatedly suggest ed, has been followed by nothing to indicate that this was the for mula for curing the troubles of American business. Reform Barriers The idea that the President, in pressing his reforms, has done so at tho cost of recovery is another widely advanced theory for business' troubles. For this reason, there have been repeated efforts to per suade the President to "stimu late confidence." This, it is said, t \ (Please turn to page four) ENROLL MANY FOR CLASS IN LIFE SAVING Classes Arc Instructed At Municipal ( Pool At 12 O'clock And 1 O'clock Dally Two classes in Red Cross life saving are now being taught daily at the municipal swimming pool. Be cause of the large number of appli cants enrolling in the course, the one class begun earlier in the week has been divided and Leon Grimes life saving examiner, has been se cured as an additional instructor, it was announced today by Mickey Bennett, manager of the municipal pool. One of the classes is taught by Mrs. Bettie B. Straub, also a life saving examiner. The staff of the municipal pool assists in the instruc tion of both classes. The 10 day course includes in struction in junior Red Cross life saving, for applicants 12 to 17 years of age, and senior Red Cross life saving, for applicants 17 years of age and older. The instruction is free and the classes are open to the public, it has been announced. Persons 20 years of age and older who wish to take the examiners' course in Red Cross life saving, which will be offered later in the summer, may register now at the office of the municipal pool, the sponsors announced. Requirements are that the candidate be 20 years old ajid of fair swimming ability, it was stated. A Red Cross district examiner from Washington, D. C. will teach the course. Junior members now enrolled in clude the following: C. G. Walton, Tom Dunn, J. D. Price, Frank Wal ler, Jane Gay, Ruth Summerell, Ula Garland, Prances -"Jorsett, Leon Robbins, Irvin Nichols, Verne Shives James Corinth, George Valentine, Howard Turner, Teddy Poplin, Jim my Ricks, Alvin Moore, Glenwood Smith, Edgar Williams, John Pop lin, William Bryant, Louise Harper, Jack Robbis, Bobby Adams, Rus sell Proctor, and Julian Hunt. Senior members are as follows: Charles Marshburn, Robert Thomp son, James Suiter, Billy Avera George Fox, Snead Low, Woodall Rose, Robert Grimes, Edward Carter. Doom Seated For Zion City, Seems The gigantic religious colony of. Wilbur Glenn Voliva at Zion City,' 111., which for one-third of a cen-1 tury lias held together as one ot the most ambitious colonization schemes in America is facing almost 1 certain ruin. For the first time since John Alex ander Dowie realized his dream in 1899 of a religious-industrial com munity on the shores of Lake Mich igan, titlo to most of tho land in Zion is about to pass from t*«e name of the church lie founde(R. A ; , '- i Threats of the break-up of the Voliva empire eamo tho past ween; with tho lifting of $50,000 income' tax lien against 2,100 pounds of land in Zion. Frank T. O'Brien, coun sel in bankruptcy for Voliva, Dowie's successor, had tho federal tax lien lifted so the property cau be .sold to satisfy more than sl,- 000,000 in debts to 500 creditors. When the community was found ed at the turn of the century, Dowie had a following of 20,000. He transformed tho marshes and dunes into a 6,600,000-acro subdivision. Un der his magic touch, thriving fac tories sprang up. The bank, tho lace and candy factories, tho far mers and tho town merchants all 1 paid a tenth of their profits as a tithe to the Christian Catholic Apos tolic church in Zion. Dowie turned tho wilderness into a $7,000,000 property. Hundreds of converts were attracted by the mag netic character of his teaching and healing, and his power to arouse I his followers. (Please turn to page four) ROCKY MOUNT, NORTH CARP Honored by University of Miami *-*& '"^ jfiraiaßSßffSlw ■ ' r: ;..: ■ - ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ : ' ' ; '.;•;••'•. ". ;•;,, ; - '' '""" ; / A ■™Pb^B^B^B W vm WUt Receiving the Oonorary degree ol doctor of philanttbopy from Presi dent B. F. Ashe of the University or Miami, Mrs. Grace Eames Doherty also accepted the degree of doctor of science for Her huAand, Col. Henry L. Doherty, wlm was unab!? to attend the university's annual com mencement. No Justification For Gross Sales Tax Now The State Merchants Association at its annual meeting at Blowing Rock, passed a resolution requesting the Gov ernor to use his influence to have the sales tax repealed The resolution described the sales tax as a "crushing and entirely unjustified burden upon the poor class and that it was said to be established as a temporary measure and with a 15 million dollar surplus in the State Treasury there was no longer any need for the poor to be called upon to pay and the merchants to act as collectors of this tax." The Rocky Mount afternoon paper in commentation on the Merchants resolution stated "that this resolution had put the Governor on the spot and proceeded to justify the sales tax by stating that the Federal Government was spending so heavily and was so much in debt that it was very necessary for North Carolina to keep its finances in fine shape." With the free spending that has gone on in North Caro lina for the last few years there has accumulated a 15 mil lion dollar surplus and it will be well remembered that when Governor Gardner went out of ofice he left an 18 million dollar deficit considering the surplus that was in the Treasury when he took hold. NoW' can any economist stand before the people of North Carolina and say that this sales tax is necessary to keep a balanced budget when this deficit of 18 million dollars has been covered and there has accumulated a 15 million dollar surplus besides and nothing has been said about practising economy yet. With each year we see hundreds and hundreds of new offices and jobs created that never existed before. When Govern or Morrison was Governor there was not ever a pardon clerk now there are more than 50 people connected with the pardon office.. This all may be good but I believe that the sales tax which was described by Commissioner of Rev enue, A. J. Maxwell, "as the most successful way ever de vised by human ingenuity to tax poverty." The gross sales tax is a tax on poverty as stated by the Commission er of Revenue. His views have changed since he made this statement, but, nevertheless, the facts have not changed The Governor should recommend that this gross sales tax ebremoved for there is no apparent need for it and the Merchants Association realizing that the Governor was in control of all of the state tax money collecting in North Carolina and naturally this control of this amount would have its effects on the Legislature and therefore very apt ly directed their petition to the Governor rather than the Legislature. ROCKY MOUNT TOBACCO MARKET MAKING PREP ARATION FOR BIG FALL Preparations are now going forward for the opening of the tobacco market in August. Repairs are being made by the warehousemen to the warehouses. We saw a press account of a recent meeting held by the Smithfield Tobacco warehousemen in Smithfield at the Ga briel Johnson Hotel bringing together those interested in the welfare of the market for the purpose of promoting the Smithfield market. They had a fine supper and after much discussin it was agreed the best way to help the Smithfield market was that all interested in the Smithfield market should go out over the area which should sell in Smithfield and see and mix with the people. The merchants were asked to spend the Wednesday afternoon in which the • stores were being closed for visiting the farmers out in t-he tobacco area rather than spending their time at a base ball game and at the beach. We believe this same mode of procedure for the promotion of the Johnston County capital mark»t, would be a fine thing for Rocky Mount. Eating among ourselves is a fine thing but the best way to bring tobacco to Rocky Mount is for the Rocky Mount citizens and businessmen to go out over the tobacco area which should sell in Rocky Mount and see the people personally and acquaint them with ad vantages of selling tobacco in Rocky Mount. .INA FRIDAY, JULY 1, 1938 BANKERS SAY FINE CRUISE Retiring President F. P. Spruill Is Elected State Vice-President Of A. B. A. F. P. Spruill, president of the Peo • pies bank and retiring president ef the North Carolina Bankers Asso ciation, was elected North Carolina Vice-president of the American Bank ers Association during the state 's- annual' convention and cruise, returning Roeky Mount •bankers reported. • Millard F. Jones of the Planters bank was elected representatives to the nominating committee of the American Bankers Association at a 1 business meeting during the cruise. He retired as a member of the A. B. A. executive committee, being succeeded by R. E. Kerr, a Char lotte banker. Retiring President Spruill was presented a gift of silver service by the North Carolina Bankers Associa tion' as ho relinquished the office. The. convention cruise to Nassau and Havana, which began June 18 was described by local bankers and guests and out-of-state guests, in cluding New York and Richmond bankers, as "the most successful and enjoyable" convention the associa tion has held. Aboard the criuse ship Reliance, Miss Kate Spruill was awarded a prize for deck tennis and R. Gra ham Dozier, also of Rocky Mount received three prizes for deck sports. SET RECORDS IN FINANCE North Carolina Finishing Biggest Revenue And Expenditures Year j IN History North Carolina, despite the reces sion and a new set of tax weights on the revenue scales, will end tho' 1337-38 fiscal year with record tax collections and a balanced budget, 1 Revenue Commissioner A. J. Max-1 well predicted. Altogether, the State lias spent close to $78,000,000 in the last 12 j months—a record sum nearly double' the expenditures of a decade ago.' The total, however, includes several' million dollars given the State by' the Federal government and road construction and Social Security pay ments. The 1937 General Assembly raised the pay of all public school teach ers and other State employes, to compensate partially for salary slashes during the leanest years of tho depression. The Assembly au thorized Social Security payments to the indigent aged, blind and de pendent children. It appropriated $1,500,000 for free textbooks for children in elementary schools; $2,- 344,000 for permanent improvements at State institutions; $050,000 for] new office building here and $250,- 000 for a State advertising program. The textbooks, new buildings and permanent improvements are being financed through bond issues. Other expenditures are coming, for the most part, out of this year's tax receipts. What accounts for the record re-1 ceipts? The General Assembly increased slightly the personal income tax in tho higher brackets. Income tax collections this fiscal year will ex ceed by several hundred thousand dollars the record of $11,013,081.59, set in 1936-37. The Assembly enacted a State tax on intangibles, which will gross close to $900,000, of which half will be turned over to the counties. Tho State tax on liquor was in creased from three to seven per cent and will set a new record of more than $1,500,000. Although the tax on gasoline was not increased, increased consump tion of the motor fuel will result in record collections of more than $23,000,000. Although the Legislature exempt ed certain basic foods from the three per cent sales tax and re duced the cost of automobilo license tags, the sales tax and the license tax almost will equal the records of $11,325,661.48 and $7,422,723.15, re spectively, set in 1936-37. , Tobacco Farmers Get 53 Percent Of > State Farm Income North Carolina tobacco farmers received a total of $143,115,000 last ear, representing 53 per cent of total farm cash income from all sources, W. H. Rhodes, chief statis tician of the State Department of Agriculture, announces. North Carolina growers led the nation in production and sale of flue-cured tobacco and collected 73 per cent of the total cash income from all flue-cured tobacco types produced in the United States during the calendar year. Tho revised estimate of tobacco production and income for the 19- 37 crop revealed: 1. North Carolina's 1937 crop was j tho largest on record, but brought I ! $26,575,000 less than the 1919 crop. 2. Growers produced 595,530,000 pounds of tobacco in 1937, or an average yield per acre of 884 pounds on 674,000 acres. 3. Acreage devoted to tobacco last year was an increase of 12 per cent over 1936. 4. Producers' tobacco marketed on the warehouse floors of North Car olina during the 1937-1938 season averaged 24.4 cents per pound as compared with 22.9 cents received during tho previous season. Rhodes said the increase in pric es paid for the flue-cured crop last year was "a result of the greatest increase in demands for cigarette (flue-cured) tobacco since the World War and a reduction in demand for most other types.'' FIGURE TOB. DAMAGE IN NASH COUNTY County Agent J. S. Sugg Estimate* $50,000 To $75,000 Loss From Hail Friday Nash county's tobacco crop loss as result of the hail storm last week-end will amount to $50,000 or! $75,000, County Agent J. S. Sugg es-J timated after looking over the dam-j aged sections Monday. About 500 acres of tobacco in Nash suffered a 30 per cent average loss from the hail, the severest of which fell late Friday, the county agent reported. The damage is as much as 200 acres amounted to as much as 75 per cent, Sugg said, and in some places the tobacco ivas totally destroyed. The county agent said Monday af ternoon that the severest hail dam age he. saw was on the farm of Percy Richardson, a negro farmer, who had 15 acres of tobacco totally destroyed. Most of the hai! damage in Nash done by the storm Friday was re ported in a mile-wide area extend ing from near Flood's Chapel east ward along the eastern edgo of Spring Hope to a point two miles east of Castalia. The storm seemed to vary in severity in that area, the county agent reported, causing | more damage in some spots than in I others. ✓ The hail also struck in another j section of Nash near Silver Lake. Colorca in arms a *ir&t umoai £o2>m Harry Powell, elderly Negro ten ant farmer of nearby Edgecombe county was showing folks around Rocky Mount today the first cotton blossom seen here this summer. Powell said the blossom came from a farm owned by Dr. M. L. Stone a nil Walter Bulluck of Rocky Mount located about a half mile east of here. Tho bloom grew on Mexican strain cotton planted April 4, he ad ded. NOTICE Those desiring to subscribe to The Rocky Mount Herald may do so by sending SI.OO with name and ad dress to The Rocky Mount Herald, Rocky Mount, N. Name _ Town State Route No SI.OO PBRTBA* DANIELS OFF TO MEXICO Ambassador Ends 60-Day VuatiM Stay; Accompanied By Mr*. Daniel, Washington, June 25. dor Josephus Daniels returned to kin post at Mexico City today after; a stay in this country of exactly tiK* months, the longest vacation period*, he has spent since assuming list post in 1933. Ho was accompanied by Mrs. Daniels. Mr. and Mis. Daniels came boms especially for the celebration of their golden wedding anniversary on May 2. Mrs. Daniels has remain ed at Raleigh practically the en tire period, but Mr. Daniels has. spent much of the time in Wash ington, confering with President Roosevelt and Stato Department «f --ficials concerning conditions in Mex ico, including the situation created by the action of the Mexican gov ernment in expropriating the prop erty of American and British oil firms several months ago. When Ambassador Daniels' leavj expired on May 19, he was request ed by Secretary of State Corded Hull to remain in this country for further conferences. Ambassador Daniels held the last of several con ferences today with President Roosevelt shortly before taking ft train for Mexico City. The Ambassador declared upon leaving that he hud enjoyed his stay in this country, but maintained his policy of silences as to official matters, saying that any statement about the Mexican situation which might be made would come from the State Department. Newel* Demand* w* £ r y*. '• * y 3 Deplores Republicans' Tendency ta Vote In Democratic Primaries Charlotte, June 25.—Jake F. New ell, state chairman of the Nortii Carolina Republican executive com mittee, today demanded separate registration books fur Democrat®- and Republicans. He issued the statement after writing a letter to P. M. Caudle of High Point, in which he deplored what he said was the tendency of the State's Republicans—especially in Guilford County—to vote in tha Democratic primaries. Newell said that he believed tha State Board of Elections is just a* anxious o bring about clean vot ing conditions as he. "A Republican should be too proud of himself to seek hospitality wlierr he is not wanted," Newell said. "Ha should be too proud of himself to go in company where lie is not* wanted, though he be paid for hi® presence during the day. "The Democratic party is entitled to have a primary controlled by Democrats. The Democratic party should be solely responsible for its nominations and its conduct. "My position is that Republicans going into the Democratic primaries cannot fail to have an evil effect on both tho Democratic party and tho Republican party. "We cannot blame the Democrats for the election of The New Deal administration. There were not enough Democrats to elect it, and Republicans, by their weakness, ar® responsible for putting it in." Pilots to be trained at live fields in use of new device to land air liners despite storms. 4-11 club members who liavo been in the work for a few years a.o in better i hysical condition than new ones, tiiid the home and farm agents of Cleveland County. Tha applies particularly to teeth, eyes, na sal passages and the like.