Newspapers / The Chowan Herald (Edenton, … / June 23, 1999, edition 1 / Page 4
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OPINIONS /editorials, columns, letters Oath of supremacy to queen was obj ectionable to Carolina Assembly Among the upheavals endured by the colonists in Carolina was that known as Cary’s Rebellion, an era of political turmoil that oc curred between 1704 and . 1711. One of the men at the center of the dispute was John Porter, who lived in eastern Chowan County. Because of the isolation of Carolina, and the lax admin istration of the Lords Propri etors, the colonists in Caro lina had been left alone to worship as they chose. During these years “in early Carolina, the Quakers and Dissenters had great influ ence,” Claiborne T. Smith, Jr., wrote in The Dictionary of North Carolina Biography. . When the Virginia House of Burgesses began to perse cute Quakers in the 1660s, several families migrated south to Carolina. Among the families fined in Virginia for holding Quaker meetings was the family of John Porter, and a father and son by that name moved to Carolina in 1691. The elder man dieddn 1697, and the son, who had been born in 1663 in Lower Norfolk County, Virginia, “assumed a prominent role as a merchant and political figure,” wrote Smith. Porter became attor ney general of Carolina under Governor Jim Harvey in 1694 and served one year. He was a General Court justice and speaker of the Assembly in 1697 and served on the Court of the Admiralty. “In 1704, the Propri etary govern ment decided to establish the Church of England, and require all officeholders to take the oath of Supremacy to Queen Anne,” Smith continued. When members of the Caro lina Assembly refused to take the oath, John Cary, deputy governor of Albemarle, dissolved the Assembly; the next Assembly not only required oaths, but also ex cluded Quakers. John Porter took . the oath, an indication he did not consider himself a Quaker. But an Anglican missionary, John Urmstone, called Porter a “known villain, the son of a Quaker and he one in disguise.” Porter was retained by the Quakers to travel to England to present their grievances to the Lords Proprietors, includ ing complaints about Cary, according to Beth Crabtree in North Carolina Governors. Porter secured the right of Quakers to hold office, and returned with the authority to have Cary replaced by an elected official. But Porter arrived to find that Cary had fled the colony; William Glover had been elected by the existing Council to govern in his stead. Since Glover was “amenable by the Quakers,” Porter did not assert the authority he had been given in England, but simply acquiesced in Glover’s tenure. When Glover, too, began to demand oaths of allegiance, Porter revealed conditions for the election that he had kept secret, and he declared the election of Glover to be illegal. Now Cary returned, joined forces with the Quakers, and deposed Glover, resuming his prior position as deputy governor. Porter, despite his earlier opposition to Cary, served as a member of Cary’s Council from 1708 until 1711, when Edward Hyde, legally appointed governor by the Proprietors, arrived. The Quakers again lost their political clout. See COFFEY Page S-A Edenton HISTORY Mary Ann Coffey Bravo to the state House for refusing to concur with bill Bravo to the state House. Forced to choose between doing the politically expedient and doing what’s right, the House did what wyas right. By a near two-to-one margin, the House refused to concur in a Senate bill that would have severely punished both the youngsters who make school bomb threats and their parents. Seventy-seven representatives took the political risk of recording a vote against a bill aimed at discouraging the rampage of bomb threats being made against North Carolina schools. They did so because the bill in question was aw'ful legislation. The principles behind it are good, but it is potirly w'ritten and conceived. ftiep. Sam Ellis, R-Wake, a right wing cohrtrarian, led the charge and lined up solid Republican support. Ellis was con cerned that the bill had gone through the House Judiciary I Committee and then to the House floor controlled by rules that denied to representatives the powrer to make any changes. House Bill 517 originally called for a study into the computation of the state’s high school dropout rate. It passed the House and went to the Senate. When Senate leaders looked for a w;ay to address the bomb threats that plagued public schools in May, in the wake of the Colorado school killings, they chose HB 517 to amend. The bill was rewritten to address the bomb threats. finder House rules, representatives could accept the Senate version of their bill, or reject it. They couldn’t change it. In short, had the bill been accepted, it would have been the product of only one house. JEIlis argued for rejecting the bill so that a conference committee could work on the many problems House members had identi fied. But supporters, including some of the House’s heaviest hitters, argued that time wars of the essence. The bill had to be law in See O CONNOR On Page S-A Auto franchise regulations raise car prices and limit consumers' choices Carolina BY DR. GARY WOLFRAM A proposal recently passed unanimously by the NC Senate and now under consideration in the House would diminish your liberty, ensure the inefficient use of resources, increase vehicle search costs for consumers, increase automobile prices and generally lll serve the people of North Carolina. The proposal, Senate Bill 420, adds signifi cantly to restrictions on voluntary contracts between automobile manufacturers and car dealers. Existing economics literature makes clear that so-called “dealer franchise laws,” to which this bill would add more than four dozen regulations, are not in the best interest of consumers. Reports from Florida, Tennessee and Texas have all concluded that their state’s dealer franchise laws are unnecessary and result in higher prices to consumers. The published academic literature finds that prices are higher by 6.14 percent to 14.1 percent in states that restrict the ability of manufacturers to establish dealerships, as Senate Bill 420 would do. North Carolina already has one of the toughest sets of dealer franchise laws in the country - a set that increases costs for North Carolina car buyers by close to $1 billion every year. If one assumes annual new car sales in North Carolina of 437,000 (the average of the last three years), an average new ve hicle price of $20,000, and a 10 percent increase in prices due to the existing state regulations on auto franchises (10 percent being the midpoint between the 6 percent and 14 percent range by which such laws increase prices), the amount of money transferred from NC consumers to auto dealers is on the order of $850 million annually. To put it another way, North Carolina’s current auto franchise regulations add about $2,000, on average, to the cost of each new car bought in the state. And the new proposal would raise prices even further. The higher prices would cause lower sales which would translate into fewer job opportu nities in North Carolina and elsewhere. These job opportunities are in dealerships and ancillary services such as maintenance, janitorial services and manufacturing. Also, by limiting manufacturers’ ability to increase the number of auto retail outlets, the bill would make it harder for consumers to find good deals. The greatest cost of SB 490 and the law it amends is the damage they cause to the market system and democracy. By not adhering to a general principle of the role of government in voluntary contacts, the Deal ers and Manufacturers Licensing Law estab lished the general principle that the state government writes contracts between manu facturers and dealers. “Notwithstanding the terms, provisions, or conditions of any fran See BEAT On Page 6-A Army's greatest challenge - dealing with civilian leaders THE CARLISLE BARRACKS, PA - First, let me report that the U.. S. Army has a solid group of young leaders to guide it over the next few years. There is a second part of the report. The Army is going to need that leadership. The times are going to be very challenging—for the Army and its senior officers. They must deal with the changing demands that have come with the end of the Cold War: Budget cuts and reductions in forces. New technology and new weapons. A public expectation that difficult assignments can be without significant casualties. And new challenges of dealing with civilian leadership that sometimes seems to be out of touch with military life. Carlisle is the home of the Army War College and its ten-month course in strategy and senior leadership. The students are the top five percent of the Army’s lieutenant colonels. Most will soon become full colonels and about one in five will soon be a general. The War College’s job is to prepare these officers to take on the enormous responsibil ity that comes with senior military leadership positions. As a part of its program for these prospec tive generals the War College conducts a weeklong national security seminar to which it invites a large and representative group of civilians. This year I got a welcome invita tion. The seminar week has a dual purpose: A serious look at our country’s strategic posi tion and an opportunity for the military officers and the civilians to hear and respond to each other’s views. A better understanding of civilian views is a critical part of the preparation of the military’s senior leadership. Here is why. A bedrock principle of the American military is that the civilian authori ties control. However, adherence to the principle is not automatic, even though it would be a tragedy See MARTIN On Page S-A One on ONE D.G. Martin bn Request POSTMASTER: SEND ADDRESS CHANCES TO: f he Chowan Herald • P.O. Box 207 • f denton, NC 27932 The Chowan Herald (USPS 106-380) Telephone:-(252) 482-4418 PUBLISHED EVERY WEDNESDAY By Cox North Carolina Publications, Inc. Entered as a second-class matter August 30, 1934 at the Post Office of Edenton, North Carolina, under Act of March 3, 1870. E.N. Manning - Publisher Rebecca Bunch..,....Editor Huffqro%...^...3^taff Writer Pam ela Vi rzi.Ad vertising Mgr. Susan Bunch...Office Manager SUBSCRIPTION RATES One Year in Edenton One Year Anywhere Else in No One Year Out of State (except Zone 8 (Zip Codes 21, Subscription Breakdowns Availa 10% Discount Available To Senior Citizens ): $22.95 HERALD MAILBAG More Input Needed Dear Editor: It appears that Chowan Hospital has become the proverbial “Goose that laid the Golden Egg.” This year the county earned over $1.2 million from interest on the nearly $30 million in cash paid for the lease. To put this into per spective, total annual rev enue gained from real estate property taxes for the entire county is not much over $4 million. The County Commissioners have used this windfall to fund technology upgrades for the schools ($250,000 for this year and also the next four), enhanced emergency medi cal service programs, and other capital improvements - all worthy projects I am sure, and all without having to raise the tax rate. But, before the county budget was released there was no public discussion about what projects were being consid ered, and as far as I know, no public input was solicited. This begs the question: what projects were NOT funded and how were spending priorities set? Citizens who are not mem bers of the local Democrat Party elite are unlikely to have any input into this process, but I think that even in a benevolent oligarchy, the people are owed some public explanation about what Golden Egg projects are being'proposed, and what is influencing the priorities being set. I have forwarded these and additional budget concerns in an open letter to the Commis sioners, which may be seen at http://www.geocities.com/ capitolhill/8663/ chowanobserver.html. If others feel the same, I en courage them to tell their commissioners, whose names and addresses are included at the same website. John Sams Tyner Express Yourself Dear Editor: In early March of this year, it was reported in this paper that the Chowan County Board of Commissioners had granted Mediacom a seven year extension, to 2014, to provide cable TV service to Chowan County. On March 31, 1999 the Federal Commu nications Commission an nounced that they would no longer be able to act upon cable television rate in creases, effective that date. Essentially, they open the door for cable companies to raise rates to whatever level they choose. Mediacom informed local customers in their June bill that, effective in July, the basic rate would go up 32% and the family channel rate (which most customers use) would go up 25%. Were the commissioners aware of these rate increases when they granted Mediacom a seven year contract exten sion? Mediacom is taking advan tage of a situation over which local customers have no control. We cannot choose to go to another cable provider. ' With this as an example, what will the rates be in the future? I suggest that every Mediacom customer call Regional Manager Kathy Rea at 800/946-5388 or members of the Chowan County Board of Commissioners and let them know how you feel about this rate increase. George Bradham Edenton >
The Chowan Herald (Edenton, N.C.)
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June 23, 1999, edition 1
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