Sen. Ervin Blasts Attorney General's
Use Of ffNational Police Force" Here
Local Firm Moves Ahead
One of Louisburg's newest Arms took a step forward here Wednesday when a
trailer-load of record albums arrived here. Pictured above is Robert Preddy, left,
General Manager of Gospel Recorded, Inc. and Bryant Best, local businessman, are
shown unloading portions of the shipment which, when completed, will consist of
1,000 sets of the recorded Bible or 20,000 records. Preddy said that shipment of
the albums to buyers is already underway from the Louisburg office. The firm plans
to expand its sales immediately to other regions of the state and eventually across
the entire country. Tom Bolick, whose radio program "Daily Bible Study" is aired
over station WADA in Shelby, N. C. and whose voice is used on the records, is
shown (inset) on a visit here last week.
More Scott Aids Named
Four more Franklin citizens have
joined the Bob Scott campaign here,
according to an announcement today
by John White, Region Eight Young
People-For Scott Chairman.
Latest to join the Scott forces are
Larry Lindsey, coach of the Youngs
ville State Class A Championship
basketball squad, John Ted Arnold of
County Fair
Opens Sept. 23
The County Fair opens on Monday,
September 23, for a six day run, to
begin its 55th consecutive year of
operation.
Last minute preparations are under
way getting things in order for the
annual show. The exhibit hall will
again feature the agricultural theme
and prizes will be given in hundreds of
categories from homemade foods,
clothing and other agricultural items.
The midway will feature Helman's
Big H. Shows with fun and amusement
for every member of the family. Again
this year the local Jaycees will operate
the bingo booth.
A special matinee is planned for
Wednesday and Saturday of fair week,
which are designated as school days.
Tickets are to be distributed to the
children through the schools.
Dr. Bello
Addresses
Rotary
At the September 5th meeting of
the Louisburg Rotary Club, Dr. Cancio
Bello of the Louisburg College Spanish
department spoke on the Castro take
over of his native country, Cuba. Dr.
Bello was serving as Ambassador to
Chile at the time of Castro's coup and
had previously served as the Cuban
Minister of Education under Batista.
Dr. Bello gave a very informative
talk on the Cuban nation today which
included comments on the bankrupt
Cuban economy, the refugee problem,
police state methods, etc. He also
commented on his own newspaper
background and the failure of the
United States news media to present *
all of the news correctly.
Significantly, he made it quite clear
that the communists seek as their
primary targets rich countries with a
strong middle class society; that the
end result of a communist regime is
that the poor become poorer and the
rich become poor.
Bunn, Pam Lancaster of CenterviUe
and Lorene Y. Conyers of Frankl'n
ton.
AH these people will be precinct
captains in White's division of the
campaign, which embraces five coun
ties. Lindsey, 29, is a graduate of
Pembroke State College and a member
of the Youngsville Baptist Church.
Arnold is a farmer and a graduate of
Bunn High School. He is a Mason and
a member of the Bethlehem Baptist
Church.
Miss Lancaster is a student at Louis
burg College, a member of Phi Beta
Lambda. A graduate of Gold Sand
High School, she is a member of
Centerville Baptist Church. Mrs. Con
yers, whose husband, Jr. Howard Con
yers, is a member of the Democratic
Precinct Committee, is the mother of
one daughter, a secretary by profes
sion and an active member of Pope's
Chapel United Church of Christ.
Youngsville
Lions Hear
Winston
Youngsville ? Mr. F. C. Winston,
Sr., Youngsville Agriculture teacher,
was guest speaker at the Lions Club
meeting held Tuesday night, Septem
ber tenth, at the community house.
Providing interesting commentary, Mr.
Winston showed color slides taken on
the National Study Tour abroad in
which he and his wife participated this
summer. Program chairman for the
evening was Lion L. A. Woodlief.
Lion President Claude Edwards pre
sided at the meeting. School Principal
D. L. Godwin was welcomed as a
guest.
Calender Drive chairman E. J.
Pearce made area assignments to Lions
for the annual fund raising drive to
begin as of this meeting.
White Cane Chairman L. Jervais
Phillips proposed plans for this annual
project. Date for a road block to raise
funds was set for Saturday, September
the twenty-eighth.
Corn Support
The 1968 crops of corn grading
number 2 will be supported at $1.25
p?r bushel. This is one cent higher
than the support rate for 1967. In
order for producers to be eligible for
the above rates, the farm must have
been signed up in the 1968 Feed Grain
Program. Also, the 1968 loan rate on
soybeans will be $2.51.
Leaf Prices
Drop Slightly
Tobacco prices on the Louisburg
market dipped slightly Tuesday from
Monday's average and figures for Wed
nesday's sales have not been made
available. For the first four days of
sales which began Tuesday of last
week, the local market averaged
$67.98 in selling 1,042,084 pounds for
$708,410.30.
Monday's sales average was $67.94
and Tuesday's average dropped to
$66.01.
On the entire Middle Belt, a large
majority of the grade averages were $1
to $2 per hundred below Tuesday's
levels. Losses were more consistent for
leaf and primings. Lugs and cutters
were unchanged in most instances.
Nondescript has shown erratic fluctua
tions the past few days.
The Middle Belt quality declined
again as sales consisted of larger per
centages of low and poor leaf. Volume
was heavy, but only a few blocked
sales were reported. Gross sales Tues
day totaled 3,777,144 pounds, averag
ing $65.52 per hundred. This was
$1.99 below that of Monday. Growers
placed 19.4 per cent of the sales under
the loan program.
Franklin
Native
Honored
The N. C. Department of Agricul
ture's "Employe of the Month" for
August is John H. Cyrus, in charge of
the agency's tobacco marketing sec
tion.
Commissioner Jim Graham said in
announcing the selection:
"North Carolina's vital tobacco in
dustry requires advice from men who
speak impartially for cooperation, and
who work from a broad knowledge of
the industry. This need is particularly
urgent in these times of change and
challenge.
"Mr. John Cyrus is widely respect
ed for having these qualities. He has
contributed greatly to the search for
more orderly tobacco marketing, and
has provided growers valuable informa
tion on marketing conditions.
"He is particularly commended for
assisting to develop new methods of
packaging and handling looseleaf to
bacco."
A Franklin County native, veteran
of service in the Air Force in World
War II, and N. C. State University
graduate with a degree in agricultural
education, Cyrus joined the NCDA
staff nearly 20 years ago after brief
service as a veterans' instructor and a
voag teacher.
He is married to the former Billie
Marie Watkins, a Raleigh native, and
they have two children.
Farmers
Co-Ops
To Meet
Tom Marshall, Farmers Home Ad
ministration County Supervisor for
Franklin County, announces that there
will be a county-wide Low Income
Farmer Co-Ops Meeting in Louisburg
on Tuesday, September 17, at the
Agricultural building at 2:00 o'clock
P. M.
The purpose of this meeting is (1)
To help farms determine how coopera
tives can best serve their needs. (2) To
determine where sufficient interest ex
ists to establish meaningful coopera
tive enterprises. (3) To acquaint low
income farmers with their responsibili
ties as cooperative members and with
problems incidental to cooperatives'
establishment and successful opera
tion. (4) To inform low-income far
mers how these co-ops can be financ
ed.
Mr. Joseph B. Cash, Economic Op
portunity Specialist, from the State
Office of the Farmers Home Adminis
tration in Raleigh, North Carolina,
accompanied by a representative of
the State Department of Agriculture,
will conduct this meeting. They will be
assisted by Tom Marshall, County
FHA Supervisor.
Any interested farmer in Franklin
County is invited to attend.
N*5rth Carolina Senator Sam J. Ervin blasted the U. S. Attorney General Wednesday for what he termed
"thel deployment of a national police force" in Franklin County during the opening days of school. The U. S.
Department of Justice, in spite of a vigorous protest by the Franklin County Board of Education, sent 15 FBI
agents and two Justice Department attorneys into the county to "observe" the opening on Friday, Monday
and Tuesday.
When the federal officials showed again here Tuesday, the Board, through its attorney Edward F.
iaroorougn, again issueo an uiiiciai
protest and the attorney was directed
to seek the aid of the two North
Carolina Senators, Ervin and B. Eve
rette Jordan, who is out of the
country.
Congressman L. H. Fountain wit
nessed the FBI agents at some of the
schools while on a visit here Monday.
While withholding any public state
ment, he, nevertheless, expressed his
opposition privately on the matter.
In a letter, addressed to U. S.
Attorney General Ramsey Clark Wed
nesday, Senator Ervin said, "While my
office has received assurances on Sep
tember 10 that your employees would
not remain in Louisburg after that
date, I would like to voice strong
disapproval of this type of Department
activity.
"To dispatch a group of federal
officers larger than the local police
force and Sheriff's department to a
small North Carolina county when
things were under control was...
unsettling to the students, school offi
cials and the people in the com
munity".
Senator Ervin continued, "I have
long felt that it was a serious error for
the federal government to rob children
and parents of both races of their
freedom to choose the school they
wish to attend but I feel it compounds
tyranny many times for you to assign
the FBI Jhe job of supervising our
state schools."
"I would expect such conduct in a
police state," the Senator continued,
"but not in a society which is suppos
ed to be free".
Then the senior Tarheel lawmaker
added, "For all practical purposes the
use of such a large number of men
amounts to the deployment of a na
tional police force on your part and I
certainly hope this practice will not be
repeated in other North Carolina
towns."
Sen. Ervin said that he wanted to
assure the Attorney General that
"North Carolina state and local offi
cials have every intention of upholding
the law even if they disagree with it
and I feel that the large number of
Justice Department officials which
you sent to Louisburg, North Carolina
could be more effectively and legitima
tely used in otheil'parts of our nation
fighting organized crime."
Board attorney E. F. Yarborough
and Board Vice Chairman Clint Fuller,
both in touch with Mr. Bob Smith,
Senator Ervin's assistant, expressed
their appreciation for the action taken
by the Senator in behalf of Franklin
County. Senator Jordan's staff also
contacted local officials to determine
if the matter had been resolved, since
the Senator himself is in Peru.
FBI Agents Observe Opening At Louisburg Elementary School
School Attendance Above
80% As Boycott Abandoned
School Attendance, under a federal
court edit to completely desegregate
schools this year, has gained steadily
since the registration of students last
Friday. Superintendent of Schools
Warren Smith reports that at least 80
percent of the students attended
school Wednesday. He added that if
his estimate of students attending pri
vate schools is correct, the percentage
is nearer 87 percent, which exceeds
what was described as normal for this
College
Gets Grant
Louisburg College has been award
ed a grant of $1,800.00 by the S & H
Foundation, sponsored by the Sperry
and Hutchinson Company. The grant,
to provide a lectureship program for
the 1968-69 academic year, is one of
two made to junior colleges by the
foundation this year. The lectureship
theme, "The College's Role in Promot
ing Harmony in Human Relations,"
will be voiced by two nationally
known professors and authors during
the months of September and Octo
ber.
Dr. Ashley Montagu, noted anthro
pologist. and author of more than 20
volumes, will be "The Nature of
Human Relations," and "The Dilemma
of Modern Man." Dr. George Kelsey,
authority on human relations ethics,
from Drew University, and Danforth
Visiting Scholar, will lecture October
28 and 29 on the topics "Christians as
Citizens," and "The College's Role in
Promoting Harmony in Human Rela
tions."
time of year.
Leaders of the County Committee
for the Preservation of the Public
Schools, the organization which advo
cated a boycott of schools earlier, met
for two hours Tuesday night with
representatives of the Board of Educa
tion. Following the session the Com
mittee leaders met with a group of
citizens, estimated at around 100, at
the Justice Fire House. From this
meeting, came the announcement by
Committee Chairman Millard Wester
that the boycott was being discontinu
ed.
Representatives of the Board had
told the group earlier that there were
,no plans to close the schools and gave
the Committee leaders attendance
figures to show that the boycott was
not as effective as the leaders had
planned.
In view of the 70 and 72 percent
attendance figures shown, Wester and
the others decided to recommend the
abandonment of their efforts to have
the schools closed.
Wester thanked the people for their
support of the efforts, according to
repAts. and said that all parents are
now released from their pledge to
withhold their children from school.
He said that while the boycott was a
failure, "it was successful in attracting
nationwide attention to the plight of
the children here in Franklin County
and was successful in bringing Con
gressman L. H. Fountain into the
district to conduct an on the scene
investigation into the situation result
ing from the massive court desegrega
tion order."
He predicted that the people of the
county would further voice "their
dissatisfaction at the polls come No
vember". He stated that the decision
of whether or not to send children to
school was now being left to the
individual parent."
Meanwhile, attendance was up
slightly this morning and for the most
part, regular classroom work was be
gun, There are still a number of white
children who have not yet been enroll
ed but the number has increased con
siderably since last Friday's registra
tion.
College Has
823 Students
Final enrollment figures at Louis
burg College for the fall semester
indicate that 823 students matriculat
ed, an increase of 122 over the pre
vious year. Some of the increase is
attributed to a recently completed
women's dormitory. 562 students are
from the state of North Carolina, 285
of them from six counties: Franklin
96; Wake, 60; Durham, 44; Vance, 40;
Nash, 25; and Warren, 20.
The state of Virginia leads the field
of out-of-state students with 261.
Eleven other states are represented in
the student body, as well as countries
of Malaysia, France, and Iran. Ameri
can students who finished high schools
in Peru, Hong Kong, and England are
also enrolled.
The 182 year old United Methodist
Junior college has 310 students who
are members of the United Methodist
Church. Other denominations and
faiths include Baptist, 276; Presby
terian, 77; Episcopal, 60; Catholic, 31;
Christian, 23, and Lutheran, 13.