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The NEW BERN
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It's time once more to Issue
our annual plea for safe driv
ing and walking during the
Christmas holidays.
Already this year, over thir
teen hundred persons have met
violent death on North Car
olina's streets and highways.
Last year alone, 304 pedes-
trlaiis were killed In our reck
less slaughter of young and old.
Yuletlde shippers, armed
with bundles and concentra
ting on their gift lists can be
an easy prey for motorists
who show little regard for the
rights of pedestrians.
New Bern has quite a few
danger spots, but nraie more
hazardous than the dangerous
situation at Broad and Middle
streets. Only a miracle has
prevented fatalities there. God
help the elderly (and the spry)
who are cheated out of their
legal rl^t to cross by motor
ists.
During the holidays at least,
City Hall can do worse than
place a policeman at this In
tersection to protect thousands
of pedestrians who will take
their life In their hands when
they attempt to cross without
being run over.
Speaking of policemen. It
should be no secret to anyone
that the New Bern police de
partment needs a thorougdi
overhauling, and the earliest
possible appointment ot a per
manent Chief who has the know _
how and gumption to strengthen
morale, and build a force that
will be accorded community
respect.
Whether Preston H. Robin
son should have been relieved of
his duties as Chief of Police
Is a matter that has been ar
gued loud and long. It should
be obvious, however, to feud
ing alderman and everybody
else that there ou^t not to be
any dragging of feet in getting
a good replacement.
It so happens that we had a
lot of respect for Robinson
and the man he succeeded, Jim
Pearsall. Frankly, anyone who
succeeded Pearsall was, In
our opinion, a marked man.
Robinson, we felt at the time,
made a mistake when he ac
cepted the job. Subsequent
events did nothing to alter this
opinion.
As for the five aldermen
now arrayed against each other
as mortal enemies. It so hap
pens that we're on friendly
terms with all of them. Two
of them, on opposite sides of
the fence, are Mirror adver
tisers, so we can hardly be
accused of having an axe to
grind in the matter.
New Bern, like every town,
needs a police department that
merits respect, and if possi
ble outrl^t admiration. Being
a good policeman Isn't the
easiest job In the world, and a
community suffers when It can't
point to Its law enforcement
officers with pride.
Whatever else might be said
against them, local police to
the best of our knowledge have
rarely If ever been guilty of
brutality. We'll go further and
say that most charges of po
lice brutality In other sections
of the nation have been unwar
ranted or exaggerated.
Of the 1,700 complalnst of
police brutally referred to the
Federal Bureau of Investiga
tion beteeen mid-1964 and mid-
1965, only 47 cases were re
ferred to Federal grand juries.
(Continued on page 7) |
YEAR’S END—Autumn’s glory has all but faded
from the sight of man, here in our beloved coast
country. Along somber streams where boats ride at
anchor in the enveloping mist, late NovemW’s chill
winds snatch the last withered foliage from trees
once proud and green. Only Spanish moss remains
suspended from branches now bare. It does little to
dis^l the season’s forlorn mood. And yet Nature’s
requiem for beauty that could not remain with us
always does not close the tomb forever. Beyond the
wintry blasts that lie ahead another April waits to
bring forth its earliest flowers, and as surely as there’s
a God in heaven, birds will sing their songs again.
And, under the sun’s wanning caress, our rivers and
creels will beckon to those who find joy, and peace
of mind and heart, along rippling waters seeking the
sea.—Photo by Billy Benners.