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Tie Sunday Star-News
Published Every Sunday
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the use for republication of all local news
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news dispatches. ___
SUNDAY, JULY 27, 1947
Star-News Program
State ports with Wilmington favored
in proportion with its resources, to in
clude public terminals, tobacco storage
warehouses, shin repair facilities, near
by sues for heavy industry and 35-foot
Caps Fear river channel.
City auditorium large enough l.o meet
aesds for years to come.
Development, of Southeastern North
Carolina agiiculiural and industrial re
sources through better markets and food
processing, pulp wood production and
factories.
Emphasis on the region’s recreation
advantages and improvement of resort
accommodations.
Improvement of Southeastern North
Carolina s farm-to-market and primary
roads, with a paved highway from Top
sail inlet to Bald Head island.
Continued effort through the City’s In
dustrial Agency to attract more in
dustries.
Proper utilization of Biuethenthal air
port for expanding air service.
Development of Southeastern North
Carolina's health facilities, especially in
counties lacking hospitals, and includ
ing a Negro Health center.
Encouragement of the growth of com
mercial fishing.
Consolidation oi City and County gov
ernments.
_l
GOOD MORNING
The sower soweth (he word.—Mark 4:11.
Sow on in faith!
Sow the good seed! Another after thee
Shall reap. Hast thou not garnered many
fruits
Of other's sowing, whom thou knowest
not?
Canst tell how many struggles, suffer
ings, tears,
Ad unrecorded, unrememberod all,
Have gone "to build up what thou hast of
good? —Harriet List.
Now In The Open
The issue of universal military train
ing is now formally before the Ameri
can people.
Placing it there was the only signi
ficance in the House Armed Service
committee’s approval of the bill to es
tablish compulsory training in peace
time. Coming so late in the session of
Congress, no immediate action was ex
pected.
From tne standpoint oi national ue
fenst, hopes should be that the measure
will be taken up on the House floor
shortly after Congress reconvenes in
January. Today’s prediction of its fate
would be little more than a guess. Com
ing up in A presidential election year,
it is not beneath some members of
either party to put politics over se
curity. Changes in the international
situation will also be influential on the
ultimate treatment it will receive.
But with the measure going on the
calendar, perhaps interest in it, by both
proponents and opponents, will be en
livened. The apathy that has marked
the attitude of practically all certainly
has not been in keeping with the im
portance of the issue. The Congress
men will certainly have a better chance,
while at home, to get the feeling of
the majority. Believing that the greater
nufnber expressing their views will be
for UMT, committee approval of the
legislation is to be looked upon as the
first of many important steps toward
establishing a better state of prepared
ness the United States must have in an
unsettled world.
A Comparision 0/ Ports
It could have happened here.
That is the thought, and a sad one
indeed for advocates of greater com
merce for the Port of Wilmington, ac
companying the recent announcement
that the Port of Charleston has captur
ed 50 to 60 million pounds of Georgia
and Carolina flue-cured tobacco for ex
port to the world’s markets.
The huge consignment, representing
i a tenth of the nation’s 1946 leaf ex
ports, is one of the most luscious traffic
plums plucked by a port in the post
war period. It will release thousands
and thousands of dollars through em
ployment in Charleston, beginning in
!August and continuing for several
months.
Why and how did it get this busi
ness, the largest single movement of
I tobacco through a South Atlantic port?
Believing Cotesworth P. Means, vice
chairman of the South Carolina Ports
authority, to be among those most
qualified to answer, we called him
yesterday. Undoubtedly proud of this
achievement, he readily replied:
”We obtained the tobacco because
we have adequate and modern ter
minals. They are the real key to the
whole situation. Without them, we
wouldn’t havb had a chance.”
Then, briefly, he gave the history
of, the $20,000,000 Port of Embarka
tion, now under the jurisdiction and
management of the South Carolina au
thority. *
The story goes back to 1918.
It was then that the Federal gov
ernment started construction of an
overseas shipping point for World war
I. But the armistice was signed be
fore the facilities were completed the
following year. The extensive installa
tion lay dormant, in fact, reached a
state of “junk,” and in 1936 the City
of Charleston took over the terminals
and effected the lease of a part of them
I to a large industry. But little progress
| was made in either their preservation
| and development and, when World war
II broke out, the government exercised
an old recapture clause. It immediately
went to work to make the property into
one of the best deep-water terminals
in the country. In 1945, the South Caro
lina authority began efforts to acquire
the facilities, now larger than ever be
fore, from the city and industrial con
cern Its claim was based on the sound
contention that principal benefits to be
derived through their use would be
state-wide and not primarily local. Its
general program was copied, to a large
extent, from the one successfully es
tablished Alabama in Mobile in the
early 1920's.
The authority formally came into
possession of the Port of Embarkation
last March without paying a cent and
on a rent-free basis. Its chief responsi
bility is to see that the property will
be, in event of another national em
ergency, returned to the Federal gov
ernment in good condition. By its use,
! —-—
it is being maintained better than |
through any other means.
With the terminals as its ace card,
the authority immediately launched a
development and commerce attraction
program which is fast placing Charles
ton ahead of all other ports on the
South Atlantic coast.
“Within the past eight weeks, we
have obtained eight regular steamship
services,” Mr. Means said in outlining
the port’s accomplishments. These
lines, he added, conect Charleston with
every part df the globe, with exception
of Australia and South America. And,
he continued, efforts to fulfill that
shortcoming are well under way. The
present well-advertised sailings are on
schedules ranging from weekly to
monthly.
Thus, as he pointed out, Charleston
has brought its facilities and service
into excellent justification with its
commerce, actual and potential. That
is the foundation for any port’s suc
cess. And coupled with it is the theory
that success begets success, as exempli
fied so well along the Palmetto city’s
busy waterfront.
Wilmington and Charleston are in
an interesting, but discouraging to us, I
parallel.
The now-idle shipyard here is physi
cally comparable to Eie bustling Port
ot Embarkation there. But efforts to
obtain it from the Federal government,
through the Maritime commission, for
use have met with refusal. Offers by
the North Carolina State Ports au
thority to buy it at a handsome price
have been rejected. Today, a lease ar
rangement for a part of it is being
sought. Meanwhile, its warehouse and
other facilities could, with little con
version, be utilized for storage of to
bacco and other commodities just as
easily as similar structures are being
used in Charleston.
While the Army was most coopera
tive, in fact, anxious for someone to
maintain its Charleston holdings, the
Maritime commission has adopted and
followed an almost opposite policy here.
Even though on a stand-by basis, it is
doubtful if the $20,393,358 shipyard can
be saved from the ravages of the years.
While Wilmington, handicapped by
having this valuable facility withheld
from it, marks t:me, Charleston races
ahead in the competition for traffic
among South Atlantic ports.
Yes, it could have happened here.
But it, meaning the business which
would come from the accommodation
of the port’s share of the Carolinas’
water-borne trade, will not until Wil
mington acquire facilities and steam
ship services comparable to those of
fered by Charleston. The commerce
is naturally going where it can be
handled best. That is a simple rule of
domestic and world trade and no amount
of persuasion can change it. But mod
ern terminals and regular ship sched
ules can.
A Better Highway Record
North Carolina experienced a 47 per
cent decrease in traffic fatalities during
June in comparison with the corres
ponding month last year.
This fine improvement in the high
way death record didn’t just happen.
It was the result of greater atten
tion to two very important factors—
education and law enforcement. Ap
parently the people are becoming more
safety-conscious and are operating their
cars with more consideration for fel
low motorists.
What has prompted that?
Attention to safety laws enacted
during the last General Assembly is an
important contribution. Efforts to
eliminate the unfit from the highways
and a boost in the cost of carelessness
were among the provisions of those
measures. Enlargement of the State
Highway patrol is also another favor
able factor. Admittedly it is impos
sible to legislate safety but sound laws,
■with adequate and capable enforcement
machinery, go a long ways toward mak
ing recklessness mighty costly and un
popular.
War Aid In Past Tense
The Indonesian war is another good
example of the inconsistencies responsi
ble for a good part of the world’s
troubles today.
The United States has denied send
ing arms to the Dutch. Yet, the Royal
Netherlands Marines, now taking the
lead in the fighting in Java, were train
ed in this country at Camps Davis and
Lejeune. While they were preparing,
one with even half an eye on the in
ternational situation had a pretty good
idea of their next assignment.
Whether an individual sides with
the Dutch or the Indonesians depends
greatly on his interpretation 'and at
titude toward the Atlantic charter. But
beyond that principle, it cannot be de
nied that this country has had an in
direct hand in the current warfare. Aid
to a combatant can be either in the
past or present tense. In this case, it
was given to the Dutch at the very
time our government was quite busy
trying to place the early foundation for
permanent universal ^eace.
Around Capitol Square
“The Lost Colony ” Loses Week’s Revenue By Fire
LYNN NISBET
RALEIGH, July 26. Loss ^ of a
week’s revenue by reason of sus
pension of "The Lost Colony," due
to fire damage to the stage, is
tough luck for the sponsoring as
sociation and to the state. T h e
local community, of course, bene
fits more directly from the crowds
attracted by the drama, but it is
easy to see that the whole state
derives benefit from out of state
visitors.
FAR-REACHING. — A license
plate check of cars parked near
the seaside Ihealer on Roanoke
Island during the Iir-t ha f cf Juh
d;seo\ red errs fiom 36 stales,
t ’e District of Columbia. Panama.
Ontario and Quebec. Few were
toted from west of the Mississippi,
| good many from Illinois and
|j»io, with Atlantic ceaboard
■states furnishing most of tne at
tendance. Other coastal and
mountain resort areas report
patronage from wider areas than
many years pa$t. This adds ern
hasis to the established business
principle that the tourist trade is
one of the most valuable “c ash
crops”-for North Carolina.
, COURT. - Busin ess may pick
up considerably during the nex1
three weeks, but presently the Su
preme court docket book indicates
j light fall session. The court will
convene for the fall term on Aug
ust 26 at which time appeals from
the first, 20 and ,2i districts will
be called, Cases may be tiled fo:
hearing on this date up to At gue
12. So far only four cases have
been entered from the first d i s
trict, none from the other two
Activity In superior courts during
the summer has been about
nor^nal. Predictions made some
months ago that litigation in both
Civil and criminal divisions would
show a big increase this year have
not proven true General employ
ment has held up better than had
been predicted and it is axiomatic
that busy people do not have time
to violate the law or engage in
lawsuits with their neighbors.
UNREGISTERED. — The little
book in Secretary of State Thad
PJure’s office in which persons or
organizations seeking to influence
public opinion are required tc reg
iMer . ha« acquired no new names
l.tely, but as the 1918 pohtiej]
campaign begins to show signs of
life there is manifestation of in
terest in that little book. Officials
of the North Carolina, Education
Association we»* (becking the lew,
I
Friday and decided their outfit
would not have to register. Obvi
ously the flurry of interest oc
casioned by NCEA President
Fritz statement of endorsement
for Charles M. Johnson as gover
nor pompted the check-up.
FUTILE. — Although the act is
very specific in its requirements
and description of those wno must
register, it leaves up to the person
or agency itself to determine
whether the act applies. Practical
ly no provision is made for en
forcement. So far the Communhf
Party, tne Allied Church League
NCEA,, the Good Health Assn
afion and various groups concern
e(; with figbtin cancer, promoting
health camps, milk funds, and
what have you, have elected not
tCoottwMsd on Page papfeeaif.
SOUR NOTES___
The Gallup Poll
Truman Holds Slight Lea d Over Dewey
In Today’s Presidential ‘Trial Heat’
_ W -—--— " ■■■■—
Survey Shows 51 P. c. for
President, 49 P. c. For
Republican
By GEORGE GALLUP
Director, American Institute
of Public Opinion
PRINCETON, N. J., July
26 — If Thomas E. Dewey
and President Truman were
the opposing candidates in a
presidential election today,
the race would be close, with
Truman leading by a nose.
Pitting the two men against
each other in a presidential “trial
heat,” the Institute finds the fol
lowing results as a mid-July,
roughly a year before the nomi
nating conventions:
“If the presidential election
were being held today and Dewey
were running for president on the
Republican ticket, against Tru
man on the Democratic ticket,
how do you think you would vote?”
Those expressing a choice vote I
as follows:
TRUMAN _ 51%
DEWEY _ _ 49
A total of 10 per cent in the
poll prefer to sit oi: the fence in
dicating no choice between the
two men. With these no opinion
voters included, the poll results
are: 46 per cent for Truman, 44
per cent for Dewey and 10 per
cent undecided.
These results represent a ga:n
foi President Truman in recent
months. Last November when
President Truman's prestige was
at low point and when the re
publicans had just won control of
the House, a similar “trial heat”
found Dewey leading by a sub
stantial margin.
Two observations concerning the
latest poll results seem in order:
I. Any general appraisal of the
political situation today must take
into account at least three fetors
—the basic strength of the Dem
ocratic and Republican parties;
what the country thinks of the
job Truman is doing in the White
House; and how the voters react
to specific candidate possibilities.
All three factors have been
covered repeatedly in Institute
surveys and they all add up to one
thing: Truman arid the Democrats
are in the lead at the moment.
For example, 55 per cent of the
voters say they prefer the Demo
cratic party, nationally, today,
while 45 per cent favor the Re
publicans. Fifty four per cent say
they approve of the way Truman
is handling his job as president.
In terms of two specific candi
dates, Dewey and Truman, 51 per
cent say they prefer Truman.
Of these thre indexes, all nf
which contribute to a rounded
picture of politics today, the sec
ond and the third are highly sen
sitive to daily events and to 1he
activities and speeches of politi
cal personalities. Truman’s popu
larity curve, for example, has
shown wide fluctuations in the
past year, and so have the figures
in “trial heat’ races between
Dewey and Truman.
The first index mentioned above,
party strength, has shown much
more stability, and has in the 12
years’ experience of the Institute
proved a highly accurate gauge of
subsequent voting behavior in
ejections. Whether the Democraiic
Party will continue to hold i*,s lead
during the next year remains io
be seen. While today’s findings are
a general reflection of wnat is
happening today, they are in no
sense a forcast of what will hap
pen in 1948.
2. At a comparable period in
advance of the 1944 presidential
election a “trial heat” betwen
Roosevelt and Dewey found
Dewey trailing. The survey was
conducted in August, 1943 and
showed Roosevelt polling fifty-five
per cent, Dewey 45 per -en:. In
the election Roosevelt won wi t h
approximately 54 per cent.
There are marly “ifs” of course
in any “trial heat” such as to
day’s. For one thing, no one
know* whether Dewey will actu
Ujr b« th* G.O.P, nomine* to
P§|5^
■111P
TRUMAN 51%
DEWEY 49 °/o
UNDEC. 10*
EACH 5YMB0l\^ REPRESENTS 1 *
How Dewey and Truman would run If they were opposing candi
dates in a presidential election held today. Results are from a Gallup
roll presidential “trial heat.”
1948. He is the most popular
choice with the rank and file of
Republican voters, Institute polls
have found, but the selection of
the candidate is strictly up to the
convention delegates.
In today’s survey Dewey draws
his main strength from profes
s:onal and business and white
collar workers, and from voters
in the older age brackets. Con
versely, Truman is strongest with
organized labor, young voters, big
city dwellers, and farmers.
Unattended Birth
By Negro Girl
Is Discovered
SOUTHERN PINES, July 26 —
— Mrs. Worth McLeod, wa'.Unre
worker, today reported that a 17
year-old Negro girl gave birth to
a daughter alone and kept the
baby for four days in a rag-filled
box in a basement.
Seventeen-year-old Classie May
W'atson feared her foster mother
would make her leave .home if
she discovered the child, Mrs.
McLeod said. The girl went about
her work and snecked downstairs
to feed the baby canned milk.
The girl fled with the baby to
a neighbor’s house when it was
found, Mrs. McLeod said. Doctors
reported that the child -was in
good health.
CATHOLICS EL '
GETTI R AS HEAD
Other Officers Reelected
At Annual Meeting In
Belmont Abbey
CHARLOTTE, July 26—George
L. Gettier of Charlotte was re
elected president of the North
Carolina Catholic laymen's re
treat association at its meeting
which closed recently in Belmont,
it has been announced.
The retreat, sixteenth annual
meeting to be held was in Bel
mont Abbey, under the direction
of the Most Reverened Vincent S.
Watters, bishop of the diocese of
Raleigh.
Other officers also were elect
ed to succeed themselves for the
new year as follows: M. Leo
Lacy of Charlotte, vice president
for the western district; L. V.
O’Callaghan of Southern Pines,
vice preident for the eastern dis
trict; Bernard A. Lewis of York,
S. C., vice president at large;
Fred C. Ray of Charlotte, secre
tary; Leo A. Heifer of Gastonia,
historian.
About 80 percent of all mileage
piled up by motor vehicles on U S.
highways is for passenger automo
biles.
Behind Thejj^.
Gen. Wedemeyer
Facing Big /0j
By DeWitt MacKE\/n?
AP Foreign Affairs \n' f* ,
President Truniai \ ' 1
special envoy, Lt. Gen in'™
C. Wedemeyer, has ?
action on his old stamn’^
grounds in China to ta-i-v ‘*
a fact-finding missio
is calculated to provide \v‘;U1
ingtbn with material to/,
overhauling of its policy 0f
assistance for this important
but war-battered member*
the Big Five
Without waiting to \, . , ,
the general we know
finding this vast nu . ',/*
worse condition pole.,;.
nomically and iniiita
ever has seen r, befor
millions of its bajf-b \
are hungry unto dear e
is fantastic and the ec
the country is wreck; ,
tjonalist government
is trying to ride a wh:i.^4*
lne civil war ;s producing
spread and bloody fight,na G’„„
eralissimo Chiang Ku
fresh offensive to try ;n de ve
a knock-out blow • :il,
armies finds the Conn; ...
only holding their own but on ihe
initiative generally,
ciiuria and great reaches of : i,
ern China largely in ,1,
And Nanking says t lai th,
nese Reds are receiving ,
the Russians.
As one surveys this ■ ar^
the elements waich are
ing to it, there would see : j,,
only one way out for C y,,
shek and his govem.n •
is this:
1. To fling ei ough
force against the ( n
armies to cripple them a
them down, aad then
2. To do a thorough job w
cleaning in the Nanki :g
ment, and inaugurate ■ 3
reforms attraclive emmu.
back that portion of me i
population w h i c !. r, >
Nanking to chase Come , . t
rainbows.
Of these two esscm m -
obviously presents ai
which may be m sw : m
The financing of an , 1. aw
bv Chiang’s armies agm -ire
Chinese Communis s wo oa
into countless bill.mis of s,
a sum which would stagger
imagination of tne only i. n
the world capable of promo ;
—the United States. No:
would there be the hug. >:,
expenditures, but meamiiw' •;,»
economic machine oi ;:ie a :rv
would have to be kept run:.: g
full tilt.
Such an operation m-gu; • v
last for years and the •ei;t_-,.-nae
would be problematical, t
are intangibles i n volv. I T:
most. important of
whether Nanking has the > .1 • in
formation in saying that Ait. •
is backing the Chinese Re.R li
Russia is giving such as.
the situation looks grim indeed.
There is a school whim
that the Chinese Comma1
aren’t the same brand as the i! s
sians—that the ce'estials .re ,,
d.scontented agrarian--. A.
ter of fet General Chou Iv "
one of the top Ciiinese C.mirmi
nists, told me in 1943 a! Ch
king that there was no m ice
between M o scow and Cn <;
Communism. However, then- a.e
many observers who thii k
wise, and they don’t over ... "»
fact that the late D. S:;::
sen, father of the Chinese i'•pub
lic, called in several Hu:
Communists as advisers an r
tne formation of a Comnu
party. resulted. It do.
much imagination to bciieve
Chinese Communism and P ®
Communism aren't far apa
In any event, our Uncle S m
certainly will be faced '
mountainous dccu-on if Gc ■-<
Wedemeyer ultimately should re
port that the two conditio - -d
forth above must be me :! t ■ a
is to be save from Con..:. ..
and put on her feet
FWA Grants Aid
For Asheville,
Biltmore School
WASHINGTON July 20 -
The Federal Works Agent;
allocated 2,400 square
classroom buildings to
Asheville-Biltmore college,
ville, to handle its expan
roilment of 350 ex serv.e
150 non-veterans.
Federal Works Admi
Philip B. Fleming s< id
was .°o crowded that it ’ '
lizing a basement for a ./
laboratory. The veterans
ment had jumped from -•
the fall of 1945 to the P
total of 350. __,_.
In New York With Lait
These Horse-And-Bookie Bays
By JACK LAIT
Nasty charges are being
bandied in the office of the D. A.
and before a Grand Jury, having
to do with payoffs to the dicks
by bookmakers. . .Anyone who
doesn't think the wager-takers are
kicking in copiously is naive. . .
The turnover is tremendous . .
Figures so far named are chicken
feed.
Every detective in every bor
ough knows that if he should “col
lar” a bookmaker he’d wind up
picking stickers out of his “har
ness,” somewhere out so far it
would take him two days every
day to get to his station. . .Only
plainclothesmen deal with book
makers. . .These are policemen,
out of uniform, ahsigned to dis
trict stations. They work under
the captains of those spots and
answer to them.
No bookmaker can live without
telepnones. . .No bookmaker can
use a telephone without the phone
company knowing of it. . .There
is an undercover tieup whereby
police know almost instantly when
a line Is used in such traffic. . .
That means a quick and sudden
visit from a plainclothesman.
The charge now shocking the
city (for the thousandth time) is
that bet-merchant shave to cough
up. . .$1,500 a month each, it is
alleged. . .1 say some come
across with that sum a week. . .
$4,000 a month is commonplace.
• • -Not all pay the same, but,
like more legal income rax. the
graft is scaled to income brackets.
The grcss take is partitioned on
up the line. . .It’s in the millions.
. . .Top city officials, who live
on their salaries, know all about
it, but can’t stop it. . .If they
did, the system would be rolling
again in a week.
The bookmakers, themselves,
want it that way. . .They can
well afford the handout. . .They
get protection — and not in qu.>
tationmarks. . .Being in an un
lawful, yes. criminal, racket, they
are prey to every extortionist and
shakedown operator. . . Against
that the cops see they get im
munity. . .And, as it is, the per
centage layers know just how
II
(rmich they'll have to -
| the top.”
Every time I pubh-'i
of item, I get a polite -
the office of the Pok
sioner. . .Would I be kind
to divulge the sources o:
ments? . . .1 am a
guy, but I must declii
only because I hope
further information, but
don’t wan! a lot of :
knocked off.
In a burg as big and
as New York. million
cross one another ever,
. . .Many who have ; ' ■ '
each other know the int ’> ^
erts of tach other's a” '; ,i.f;
The minister and the r‘v
may have the same b<"
yer, broker, accountan
er, golf-partner—even
law. ,
The story I had n
four greyhounds wh
Texas oilman of hunc .... 1
sands of dollars wi' 'L0:d;
dice has never gone ever
n0 official complaint JS
(Continued on Page 1 ur'ffn