Newspapers / The New Bern Mirror … / March 29, 1968, edition 1 / Page 1
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It the population explosion continues around the world,New Bern might end up being a big town one of these days. After all, people have got to go some where, and the shores of the Neuse and Trent are not with out appeal. Humans are reproducing at a rate that challenges the best efforts of rabbits and (uiinea pigs. During this one year, we are told, the world's growth will equal the combined popu lations of France and Spain. To put it another way, every 39 days enough people are added to the earth's Inhabitants to fill a city the size of New York. You hear a lot of talk about the hawks and the doves in our current military predicament, but maybe along the way we ought to include the stork in our bird watching. “Family planning'' is being attempted in 30 countries, but the results are discourii^ng. India, for example, is expect ed to double its population of 500 million within the next 27 years, if the present trend con tinues. Brazil, where the government frowns on birth control, is in frightening econo mic shape. The Ironic fact isn't that a lot more people are being torn, but a lot less people are dying. In ca.se of India, modern civile izatlon has reduced the death rate frcnn 48.6 per 1,000 iwpu- lation in 1921 to 36.3 in 1931, • 27.4 in 1951, and only 16 in 1966. By comparison, India's 49.2 birthrate per 1,000 population in 1921 has decreased to 41. This rediictloii, it is easy to see, can't begin to offset the much greater lowering of the deatli rate. Such is the plight of a country where famine is no stranger. If all this omnious, consider the fact that El Salvador has a birthrate of 47 and a death rate of 10.8. Tlien there's Mex- lci, south of our border, with a birthrate in the 40's .and a death rate of only 10.4. We can't give you any figures on China, or Vietnam, and for your peace of mind, if you've got any left, that may be a blessing. F'rom the tone of this column, a first-time reader of The Mir ror might get the notion that we would like to see babies out lawed. An assumption of the sort wouldn't be in keeping with our incurable habit of ^ving photographs of children top priority on our front page. While we're on the subject of kids, pity those Secret Service men at the White House if Bob by Kennedy is elected Presi dent. Keeping that many ju veniles under constant surveil- ance will be a nightmare, andit is to be hoped the furnishings remain intact. Heaven help the rose garden. The miracle of spring never ceases to amaze us. As these lines are being written, we've spotted a butterfly hovering near our doorstep where snow and ice mingled a short time ago. And along the curb, a flow ering plum tree that burst into bloom with the suddeness of a Jack-in-the-box is waving its branches to the fitful rhythm of a late March breeze. April, this editor's favorite month, is Just around the cor- (Contlnued on page 8) ttnw Scru-fllrawn (Sainaa ]publU Sibnu]) The NEW BERN miBLISHID WHir* IN THi •#?r VOLUME 11 NEW BERN, N. C., FRIDAY, MARCH 29, 1968 NUMBER 1 LION’S SHARE — Florence Banff’s prize poodle, Paddy, used to have wonderful dreams in which he found himself the exclusive owner of the biggest bone that's ever been. Now that the dreams are a reality, he is obviously awed by the immensity of it all. How, he ponders, can one small dog do justice to the feast set Wore him? Incidentally, the huge bone is for real. Florence latched onto it at a supermarket where the butcher was cooperative, and the resulting picture was subsequently selected for hanging at the latest gathering of the North Carolina I^ofessional Photographers Association. There’s a moral in Paddy’s K redicament. Too many of us wish for things far eyond our needs, and when our desires are Mfilled we find we’ve bitten off more than we can chew, or in Paddy’s case crunch. Whatever you do, don’t be greedy.
The New Bern Mirror (New Bern, N.C.)
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March 29, 1968, edition 1
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