The Fr PwW'iM KiUtr A TlwrWtf Times Your Award Winning County Newspaper Tuesday, January 14, 1969 LOCAL EDITORIAL COMMENT : And Eat It, Too J It may be too early to assess the impact of the announcement that a new town is to be established in Warren County. The proposal by Floyd McKissick, formerly of Dur ham, leaves a number of questions Yinanswered, however. McKissick, former head of CORE, a Negro rights organization, says Soul City is to be erected along US-1 just inside the Warren County line frbm Vance County and will eventually _?_contain a population of 18,000 per sons, most pf whom are expected to be Negro. The idea, according to the releases, is to establish a Negro-Downed and operated community. McKissick hopes it will bring Negroes out of the northern ghetto? to the southern rural , countryside, to use his words. Outgoing Agriculture Secretary Orville Freeman was present at the news conference when McKissick made his disclosure. This means the federal government is in to the busi ness knee-deep and this comes as no surprise. Amos Capps, Chairman of the War ren Board of County Commissioners has said that he is "shocked" at the announcement. He knew nothing about it until the announcement was made. Neither, apparently did War ren's Industrial Development Director Frank Reams. And according to reports. Con gressman L. H. Fountain had little knowledge of the planned city. He called Capps to inquire about it. None of this is too surprising to southerners who have watched with a large degree of awe at the things that have gone on in the name of civil rights the past several years. The federal government, in collusion with any organization claiming to represent Negro citizens, has gone bullheaded and head-strong into any program, however costly, just so long as it was backed by a civil rights organization. While McKissick's plan calls for involvement of a number of organiza tions and institutions other than the federal government, there is little doubt, based on past experiences, as to who will pay for Soul City. Nat urally, the University of North Caro lina is included among those already offering assistance. Needless to say, the plan is contra dictory to claims of the past. Boycotts and street marches have plagued War ren County for several years as Ne groes demanded what they called equal rights. Warren schools are faced with total integration this fall as a result of law suits brought on by the Negro organizations. Now, it appears, as Capps so aptly puts it, "They've been trying to get integration for 15 to 20 years and now it looks on the surface as if they are getting segrega tion". , It might be wise to encourage'those living in overcrowded ghettos to' move , out and establish homes elsewhere and r any sincere moves on the part of those trying to better themselves would be welcomed by most. However, the Soul City idea smells of a McKissick propo sal to stir more trouble in Warren County. Local officials have been completely ignored and it is obvious that McKissick planned it this way. Had he and his backers really been interested in helping the Negro, the four plants he claims are interested in locating in Warren would have been encouraged to do so now and not await the dream city. It is impossible'' to build a city made up of all Negroes and to shut it off from the county government or everyday life of the overall county. McKissick's idea emphasizes the fact that many Negroes want their cake and want to eat it too. McKissick would struggle for integration to share in the white community achievements while building a separate community to benefit only the Negro. It isn't going to work and even though the idea is wild enough to excite the federal bureaucrats, humans are still humans. It's tough enough for many ? persons of both races to adjust to today's new thing and to live in , harmony together, in a closeness for eign to both. It is going to be impos sible if such ideas as McKissick's are allowed to take hold. Wise Men Of 1968 Viewpoint by Jeae Helms This is; of course, the season for new - beginnings. In a couple of days we will have a new Governor, and in a couple of weeks a new President. We already have a new year -ushered in. no doubt, with celebrations resulting in new hangovers and perhaps new resolutions of temperance and even prud ence Semantically, we regard it as a sort of symbolic Alpha and Omega, a beginning and an end. Unfortunately, life is not quite that simple -and neither is human responsibility. The flip of a calendar page has never made history, nor caused a dream to come true, nor brought a nightmare to an end. These are achievements wrought only by the con-, tinuing struggle of men. But if the turning of a New Year can provoke in rt#n a psychological yearning to be batter than they have been, then it becomes more than a notch on the yardstick of eternity. It becomes a challenge, an opportunity; a key of wisdom and wbrth iness to unlock that brighter tomorrow. So men joyfully bid farewell to "the old yeat", and embrace the hope and promise of a new one. They make a mistake, however, if they fall to assess their miscalculations of the past, and if they fail to profit by their errors. Indeed, they merely compound their frustrations If they do not begin a new year with a determination to abide by truths and principles which have endured the tests of time The world was offered a lesson on Christ mas Eve by the astronauts just beginning 1 1 their perilous spin on the far side of the moon. Come to think of It, these were Three Wise Men-just as real yet Just as magnifi cently symbolic as those men of yore, said to have ridden camel-back in pursuit of the revelations of a shining star. - Borman, Lovell and Anders-thelr names ? are now legend; we know them as scientists, as explorers, as courageous men whoHared to Imagine an impossible dream. History will record them well, but history will short change future generations If It falls to capture that dramatic moment juat before Apollo 8 slipped behind the moon on Christmas Eve. The technical transmission of pictures and Information had been completed, and the voice of Frank Borman crackled clearly through space. 'The crew of Apollo 8," Borman said, "has a message for all the people on the good earth." Mission Control, In Houston, hesitated only momentarily, then responded: "Go ahead. Apollo 8." First there came the voice of Frank Borman, then William Anders, then James Lovell. One after another, they began to read: "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. "And the eafth' mtl without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. __ . "And God said. J,et there be light: and there was light. "And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from tfte darkness. "And God called the ImU Day, and the darkness he called Night. . . One can only theorize about the effect o( the words of these men u they slipped into the darkness of the unknown. It should have been a cleansing therapy for all thoughtful men. For with theie three astronauts rode their faith ? their faith that there is a God, and that the universe Is His handiwork. Compare their declaration, if you will, with that of the communist cosmonaut of a few years ago, a young man raised in a society and among men who deny the existence of God. The Russian sneered, and mocked God-saying that he looked out of the window of hla spacecraft and saw no God. The communist. cosmonaut la not alone. There are millions like him who cannot see because they will not sde. Their minds and hearts are harnessed to the mechanical and meaningless existence of humanity without purpoae. There is hope for so long as there are men like Borman, Anders and Lovell. For In their courage, in their dedication, and in their , faith, they Tiavt chown us bow to dream an impossible dream-and make it come true. For they know what happened in the befln nlng-and they know the intended destiny of man. They are, as we say, the Three Wise Men of 1968. K>*" wmTi electoral , C0LLE6E U ?. ? W' a"# I some sort of radical teacher demonstration!' WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING The Decline And Fall Of The Tobacco Industry THE CHAPEL HILL WEEKLY, CHAPEL HILL, N. C. ? / " ? At the tailend of. his ..administration, Governor Dan Moore presented four major study reports, on Economic Development, Higher Education, Public Schoofs, and Highways. ? - So exhaustive were those reports, so pcrceptivc in defining today's needs and so far-sighted in projecting the needs of the future that they might very well constitute the greatest achievement of the Moore administration. Now comes Bob Scott, and he too promises to set great store in planning. He says he wants our children and grandchildren in the year 2000 and beyond to be able to look back and say, they planned well for the future of North Carolina. Taking Governor Scott at his word, we suggest 1 that he acknowledge that the tobacco industry is bound eventually to become a quaint anachronism, on the order of wainwrighting, and begin planning diversification to take*-' up the slack" in North Carolina's economy. ^Before you laligh at the suggestion that the tobacco industry is mortally ill, consider these findings from a study by Business Week In I %8, for the first time since 1964 (when the U.S. Surgeon General's report on the health hazards of smoking was published), the number of cigarettes sold declined, to 526.5 billion from 527.8 billion in 1967. The number of smokers shows an even sharper decline. One expert estimates there are 1.5 million fewer smokers now than a year ago. 'Since there are at least 3 million more people, of smoking age in the country, this\ also shows that the proportion of smokers has dropped again, as it has in each of the past 10 years. In that decade the ... proportion of women smokers increased to about one-third of all women, while the proportion of men smoking dropped from SS to 40 per cent. The decline in smoking is taking place fastest among teenagers. The National Clearing House of Smoking and Heaith reports that only 3 per cent of high school students expect to take up smoking in the next five years, while 91 per cent are aware of a connection between smoking and health. The awareness of a connection between smoking and health in time will become active concern. And that can only mean even more marked declines in cigarette consumption. .There is hardly any chagce that the Federal government, the Federal Trade Commission in particular, will retreat from its hard stand on tobacco products, or permit the industry to minimize the danger. What this means for the tobacco industry is clear. The only question is how long it can remain vital while riding the decline. What the fall of the tobacco indistry will mean to Notth Carolina is equally clear. The most pressing question is whether we are willing to accept the inevitable and prepare for it. The Governor who has the foresight and the courage to tell the people of this State what is going to happen and how the future must be faced-the one who does that instead of grQveling before the tobacco interests and pretending that all will always be^well will be branded as an alarmist, a fool, or worse. But chances are that' someone reaHy-will be able to look back in the y?far 2000 or beyond and say, he had vision and planned well for the future of North Carolina, or at least tried to. - The Ffa^in Times Established 1870 - Published Tuesdays & Thursdays by The Franklin Times, Inc. *' Blckett Blvd. Dial OY6-3283 Louisburg, N. C. CLINT FULLER, Managing Editor ELIZABETH JOHNSON, Business Manager NATIONAL EDITORIAL Advertising Rate* ^ ASSOCIATION Upon Request WB J SUBSCRIPTION RATES In North Ckrotlna: . Out of State: One Year. $4.64; Six Montha, $2:83 One Yaar, $6.50; Six Months, 14.00 Three Months, 12.06 Three Months, (3.50 Entered u second class miil matter and postage paid itThe ft?t Office st Loubbutg. N. C. 27549 "COME ) TO THINK ^ OF IT..." by frank count You. of course, ain't going to believe this and it's going to be your loss. Everybody believes in something and UFO's are as good as fairy tales. V We heard this noise out in our back yard the other night and out we go to m vestigate" It's dark as pitch and naturally the light bulb was burned out on the back porch ... it al ways is. except in the daytime. It always works good when the sun shines. "Hello, Any body out here", we asked, hop ing there wasn't. "Yes", came a wee sqeaky voice. Sounded like sandpaper rubbing on a coconut shred der. "Well, who are you", we asked. "Come out and show yourself', we added. "Where am I", asked the voice. "You're in Frank's back yard", we said, thinking it was one of our many practical joke friends. "I can see you. My you look unusual", the voice said. "You look a mite unusual, yourself", we said as our eyes got use to the darkness and began to pick up a small vision which appeared mightly green to us. "Where did you get that costume", we asked. "This ain't Halloween. Come on in the house and pull it off. I'm curious to see who you are", we joked. "I'm from another planet", the thing said. "Nonsense", 1 said. "You can't be. That expert committee that investigated all the UFO's said you fellows are 10,000 years away.-tiome, now pull off that rig and let's go inside. I'm freezing out here." "You are cold out here? I do not understand. I am very warm. Do you earth people often get cold this easily?" "You dang tootin. And we earth people have about had your little joke. Now come on in where it's warm or take off, who ever and what ever you are. I'm going inside." "Please, sir. Do not leave. I cannot allow you to leave. You have seen me and you must not tell that you have seen me." "Look, friend. I seen you alright. Now come back when you get sober and we'll talk about it." vYou do not understand. I must take a sample of earth life back with me to my home planet. We ate making a study of earth people and I will not pass my grade unless I get a sample. I must take you back with me. You are a likeness of all earth people, are you not?" That one kinda stunned me for a minute. "Yeah, I guess I'm pretty much like other people. Yeah, I guess you could say that. Never thought of it that way before," I said, feeling kinda proud to be like other people. "I'll tell you what", I propositioned. "If you want somebody to take off to another planet. I've got just the one She's like all the earth people and she gets cold in July. She'd make a real good subject to study. You won't ever figure her out. but she'll make a good subject. I'll get her for you. Hey, little woman. Come out here." "This here is one of my friends, playing like he's from another planet. He wajits to take you away to study. I told - him you'd go. So go. Play along with him. I want to find out who he is. Zoom .? . the thing took off with the little woman. There may not be such a thing as UFO's . . . but I sure hope there is. I r . 'Presidents come, and presidents go . . . FBI o*??ctoa J. EOfifttt HOOVER.