Carolina Watchman
Published Every Friday
Morning By The
Carolina Watchman Pub. Co.
SALISBURY, NORTH CAROLINA
E. W. G. Huffman—President
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Payable In Advance
One Year_$1-00
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Entered as second-class mail
matter at the postoffice at Sal
isbury, N. C., under the act of
March 3, 1879.
The influence of weekly news
papers on public opinion exceeds
that of all other publications in
the country.—Arthur Brisbane.
POPULATION DATA
(1930 Census)
Salisbury -14,951
Spencer -3,128
E. Spencer_2,098
China Grove-1,25 8
Landis -1,388
Rockwell- 4?4
Granite Quarry_ 507
Cleveland_ 43 5
Faitli _,_ 431
Gold Hill _ 154
(Population Rowan Co. 54,445)
FRIDAY, APRIL 17, 1936.
EVERYBODY PAYS TAXES
How many folks know how
much they contribute coward the
cost of government? It is a safe
bet that few if any, can give the
right answer. But it is certain that
everybody does pay taxes, directly
or indirectly.
If every commodity purchased,
and every bill received for any
thing, could bear on its face a note
stating the amount of the total
charge representing taxes, paid at
one point or another in the process
of production and distribution, it
would not take long for the general
run of people, who imagine that
taxes are paid only by the rich, to
realize that they are carrying a tax
burden even heavier in proportion
to their means.
Taxes have a direct bearing on
wages. The income of every em-j
ployee depends basically on the
earning power of the business thatj
employs him, and on the ability of!
the employer to pay adequate real
wages. "Real” wages are not meas
urable in dollars, but in the com
modities which the current dollar
will buy. When the prices of food,
clothing, rent and the other neces
sities of life g o up by reason of in
creased taxes, the effect is a reduc
tion in the real wages of workers.
The wage-earner pays taxes notj
alone in the prices of the things he j
buys, but in the reduced power ol
his employer to pay him higher
wages.
Une ol the big motor car com
panies reports that its taxes last
year were 21 per cent of its pay
roll. A large railroad systemj
figures that this year’s taxes will]
come to 22 percent of its payroll.
Of course, somebody has to pay for
the cost of government, local,
county, state and national, but
whether it is necessary to pay such
a high price for government is a live
question which more and more peo
ple are asking.
The realization that taxes come
out of everybody’s pockets, in high
er prices and lower wages, is spread
ing. When every man comes to a
full understanding that neither he
nor anybody else escapes taxation,
he is going to begin to find out
just where the tax money goes, who
spends it and for what.
That’s going to be embarrassing
to politicians everywhere.
CRIME AND POLITICS
The activities of the Governor of
New Jersey in the case of Brunc
Hauptmann did not prevent the
execution of the death sentence up
on the murder of Charles A. Lind
bergh, Jr. They did have the ef
fect, however, of stirring the whole
world to sneering and contemptuous
comments upon the administration
of justice in America.
Few fair-minded persons eve:
questioned the justice of Haupt
mann’s conviction. The evideno
against him was overwhelminj
and the testimony on his behalf o:
the flimsiest character. The fair
ness of his trial was affirmed b;
the highest court of New Jersey
and reaffirmed by the Supremi
Court of the United States; thi
State Board of Pardons refused t<
intervene on his behalf. People maj
honestly differ as to whether th<
death penalty is ever justified, bui
it is difficult to imagine an honesi
difference of intelligent opinion or
the question of Hauptmann’s guilt
Why, then, did the Governor oi
New Jersey interfere in so man)
ways which kept Hauptmann fron
paying the consequences of hi:
crime? One of the most ofter
heard answers put forward is thai
Governor Hoffman was actuatec
by political motives, arising fron
factional quarrels in his own state
The close relation between crimt
and politics has long been a na
tional scandal. Crime can never
be stamped out or controlled so
long as politics and politicians have
anything to do with the adminis
tration of justice.
TODAY AND
TOMORROW
—BY—
Fuank Parker Stockbridge
PREPAREDNESS . . . essential
I watched the great Army Day
parade in New York on April 4th.
On the same day I read of Mrs.
Roosevelt christening our Navy’s
newest and biggest air-craft carrier,
the Yorktown. I reflected, with
some satisfaction, that the ultra
pacifists who would stop all efforts
to defend our country against a
foreign foe have not yet killed the
martial spirit of America.
I don’t think we are likely to be
ittacked or invaded by any foreign
nation. But I am sure that, the
world being what it is, we would
be inviting attack if we did not
keep ourselves prepared to resist it.
I do not think we are ever likely
to engage in a war of aggression,
but I can easily imagine a situation
developing such as developed twen
ty years ago, in which this country
might again feel, as we did then, an
almost unanimous compulsion to go
to war to preserve our national
rights and liberties.
PATRIOTISM-ours
I got a thrill out of the Army Day
parade, not so much from the splen
dor of the uniforms and the music
of the bands, as from the companies
and battalions of boys, members of
various cadet corps, who marched
behind the flags. They were giv
ing visible proof that the spirit of
patriotism still lives.
I hope none of those boys is
ever called upon to kill an enemy.
I hope none of them is ever killed
in war. But I hope that if the oc
casion ever comes again when the
people of America have to resort to
the crude implements of bloodshed
to reaffirm their devotion to the
greatest of all spiritual concepts,
the concept of ordered liberty for
every human being, these boys will
feel, as the men of America have
felt from the beginnings of our
nation, that life without liberty is
unendurable, death preferable to
submission to any form of com
pulsion that would restrict any
man’s liberty to order his own life.
Jj- Jk sk
IDEALS .... the first
The greatest danger of America
that I see is the danger that we
are losing sight of the ideals upon
which our nation was founded and
in the pursuit of which we have
grown to greatness. And first
among those ideals I would list the
ideal of personal liberty of thought,
speed and action.
I see signs all around that sug
gest that great groups of Americans
no longer cherish those liberties,
and that other groups are definitely
bent on destroying them.
There is more to patriotism than
being ready to go to war. It seems
to me that any man who does not
do whatever lies in his power, to
challenge any attempt, either from
within or without his country’s
boundaries, to curtail any of his or
other people’s legitimate liberties, is
not much of a patriot.
Unless we stand up for our liber
ties, and refuse to surrender them,
it won’t be long before we have no
liberty left worth fighting for.
iy >y »
VALUES .... change
The most striking change in the
thinking of Americans in recent
years has been the shifting of
standards of value. The emphasis
is more upon material values, less
upon real values.
Real values are not measurable
in dollars. "What shall it profit a
man if he gain the whole world and
lose his own soul?” It is utter non
sense to talk of liberty as if it had
only such value as can be compen
sated for in money. It is worse than
nonsense, it is stupid, almost crimi
nal folly, to teach the young that
success consists in making money.
The secret of success lies in learn
ing how to live with one’s self.
I meet many young folks who
seem, by their words and acts, to
have been taught that the world
owes them a living. They think
that happiness comes only from the
possession and use of the things
money can buy. Nothing is falser
I than that.
«• >y >y
We hear much these days aboui
| security. Security for the aged, se
curity for the wage-worker, se
j curity for the farmer. I don’t heai
j much about security for the man 01
woman who doesn’t ask any helf
except to be left free to do as h<
pleases with his own possessions.
The talk is all of economic se
curity. Some day we are going t<
wake up to the fact that there is nc
such thing; certainly not at an)
price most of us can afford to pay
We hear that out forefather
came to America in search of se
curity. The security they soughi
was security from interference wit!
their liberty of thought, of speed
and of choosing their own way ol
living. They did not come here t(
gain economic security at the cos
of liberty, but to gain liberty ii
order t© take a chance at buildinj
their own economic security.
That took courage. Only brav
men and women took such chance
as did the pioneers of America.
wonder, at times, whether that ole
| strain of courage to take long
chances for the sake of liberty ha:
vanished.
| PICAYUNES
FAST AND LOOSE
An old darky approached tht
; minister cautiously and very lightly
tapped his shoulder.
"Parson, suh,” he said. 'Al
wants you all to pray for me. Ah’:
. in a bad way, suh.”
"Well. Rastus, what’s wronj
with you?”
"Suh, Ah’s got a floating kidney
, Ah has, suh.”
"But Rastus,” replied the minis
ter, "I can’t pray for physica;
things like that; I only pray foi
spiritual things.”
"You all can’t pray for a float
ing kidney? Then how come you all
prayed last Sunday for the loose
livers?”
KNOWLEDGE
Autionecr: "What am I offered
for this beautiful bust of Robert
Burns?”
Min in crowd: "That ain’t Burns;
that’s Shakespeare.”
Auctioneer, "Well, folks, the
joke’s on me. That shows what I
know about the Bible.”
QUITE DIFFERENT
The banker was questioning the
negro applicant for a chauffeur’s
job.
"Are you married?” the banker
asked.
"Nawsah, boss,” replied the ap
plicant, "nowsah. Ah makes mah
own livin’.”
"CAN YOU SPARE IT?”
The latest parrot story tells of
this particular parrot that had
spent most of its life in the palatial
home of a millionaire. On one un
fortunate day this parrot was sold
to a miser.
The miser took the bird to his
dingy furnished room. The bird
paraded around the shabby room in
complete disgust. This was the
most depressing spot he had ever
visited. There was an old bed in
a corner, a broken chair, and a loaf
of stale bread on a table—and that
was all.
Finally, the miser walked over to
the parrot. He tried to be sociable.
"Polly wanna cracker?” he be
gan.
The parrot shrugged haughtily.
"Can you spare it?” he sneered.
SERVED HIM RIGHT
During the rush hour in a down
town cafeteria a meek little man
left his seat at the crowded table to
get a second cup of coffee. When
he returned he found a great hulk
ing brute in his place.
"No,” growled the bigger man
in response to the timid request.
"I won’t give you this seat until I
am through eating.’
"Very well,” agreed the smaller
man, 'but I don’t suppose you
would mind giving me my slab of
pie you’re sitting on?”
WPA AGAIN
A man from Kansas was looking
into the depths of the Grand Cany
on. "Do you know”, said the
guide, "it took millions of years for
this great abyss to be carved out?”
The man from Kansas was tre
mendously impressed. "You don”t
tell me,” he commented. "Why I
didn’t know this was a government
job.”
THE TRUTH OF IT
A British journalist who is do
ing a series of contemporary Am
erican humorists for a London
newspaper, was interviewing Harry
Flershfield.
"What,” the British whatted,
"are the two biggest problems in
America today?”
"Outlaws and in-laws.”
PROPER IMPROVEMENT
This is a tale of the Scot who
marched into the doctor’s office.
"Doctor”, he yodeled, "I’ve got
trouble with my eyesight. I’m
always seeing quarter pieces in front
of my eyes.”
The doctor nodded gravely and
examined the patient. Then ht
walked to his desk.
"You needn’t worry any longer,”
he asserted, "I’ll fix your complaint
for you.”
He handed the Scot a prescrip
tion, told him to have it filled, and
use it with an eyedropper three
times daily.
A week later, the Scotchman re
turned.
1 "Well,” questioned the doctor
: "how’s your eyesight now?”
i "Swell!” boomed the Scotchman
; "Your stuff worked wonders
Now I keep seeing half dollars ir
• front of my eyes!”
I #Buy In "Greater Salisbury”.
jWE HAVE heard this actually
!| * * *
HAPPPENED IN this county no
sf *
, THREE MONTHS ago, but we
«• » ■■■'
ARE NOT going tc mention an;
* * *
: NAMES. A certain farmer and
HIS NEW hired hand were passinj
THROUGH A stable when a
* »> «•
i MULE SUDDENLY let out with
BOTH FEET, caught the farmer
« * *
IN THE seat of the pants, and
»> Jb
SMASHED HIM up against the
» » !t
WALL. THE hired hand grew
»
PALE AS he helped the farmer t<
«■ » »
HIS FEET. "Gosh”, he cried.
"WiHtAT A bad*mule!” The
FARMER. MOANED a bit. "I
* »
DON’T KNOW,” he moaned.
K «• *
"HE CLIPS me that way every
* * *
MORNING.” THE hired hand
LOOKED AT The mule. "Why
* * *
DON’T YOU beat the hide off
THAT DANGED mule?” he asked.
"NOTHING*DOING”, objected
THE FARMER.* "That’s liable to
* * *
MAKE HIM nasty and mean.”
* * »
I THANK YOU.
TICKLISH MOMENTS-byA.B.ch,pi„
THIS WEEK IN
WASHINGTON
(Continued from page One)
Opposition policies, which in the
normal political course of things
would have developed in debates in
the two Houses of Congress.
It is pointed out that too many
of the Republicans of both Houses,
of long service, have contented
themselves with destructive criti
cisms and vitriolic abuse. Senator
Vendenberg, however, has lately
been making what Republicans re
gard as constructive political issues.
Senator Vandenberg’s latest
move, which is regarded as probably
furnishing good campaign material
for the Republicans, was his reso
lution calling on the Secretary of
Agriculture for a complete report
of all sums over $10,000 paid to
agricultural interests under the
AAA.
Secretary Wallace demurred at
first, on the plea that he could not
divert his clerical force to the com
pilation of the figures desired, but
later, with quite good grace, an
nounced that he would furnish the
figures as soon as possible, and in
the meantime gave the facts about
some of the very large payments.
THOSE A.A.A. PAYMENTS
One Florida sugar corporation
got more than one million dollars
in AAA checks; a large cotton
plantation operator got $123,747 in
one year and a large corporation
engaged in hog farming received
$157,000. A Puerto Rican sugar
producing company got $961,064
and a Hawaiian sugar concern has
a credit of $1,022,037.
Accompanying these frank dis
closures, Secretary Wallace pointed
out that it would have been impos
sible to inaugurate measures to aid
the small producers if the large
scale farming operators had not
been included under the AAA.
Nevertheless, the Republicans are
saying that the effect of these dis
closures upon the small farmer
whose checks ran to only a few
hundred dollars will be politically
to the ads antage of the Opposition.
Whether this is true or not re
mains to be seen; but this and othei
recent aggressive tactics on th<
part of Senator Vandenberg have
resulted in his being much more
seriously considered as a Presiden
tial candidate than at any previous
time. The belief that he was Sena
tor Borah’s real choice seems tc
have been dispelled. It is now the
belief of the shrewd political com
mentators here that if Mr. Hoovei
and Col. Knox put their united
strength behind Vandenberg he can
be nominated, in spite of the
strength of Governor Landon’s del
egation.
PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT SETS
FORTH QUALITIES OF YOUTH
IN BALTIMORE SPEECH MON.
(Continued from page one)
duced average hours. The sugges
tion was made to limit "active
working wages at both ends,” and
give jobs to those between 18 and
65 years of age.
There cannot be too many Am
ericans thinking about the future
of America. Our country richly
endowed in body, mind and spirit
still has need of many things. But
I am certain that one of its chief
needs today is the releasing and the
enlistment of the spirit of youth.
Do not underestimate the sig
nificance of that spirit. Yesterday
Christendom celebrated Easter—the
anniversary of the resurrection of
our Lord who, at the beginning of
his ministry was 30 years of age
and at his death was only 3 3.
Christianity began with youth and,
through the last two thousand years,
the spirit of youth repeatedly has
revitalized it.
I have used the words 'the
qualities of youth.” Be wise
enough and tolerant enough, you.
■ who are young in years, to remem
jber that millions of older people
have kept and propose to keep these
qualities of youth. You ought to
thank God tonight if, regardless of
your years, you are young enough
in spirit to dream dreams and see
visions—dreams and visions about
a greater and a finer America that
is to be; if you are young enough
in spirit to believe that poverty
jean be greatly lessened; that the
.disgrace of involuntary unemploy -
jment can be wiped out; that class
hatreds can be done away with;
that peace at home and abroad can
be maintained; and that one day a
generation may possess this land,
iblessed beyond anything we know,
with those things—material and
spiritual—that make man’s life
abundant. If that is the fashion
of your dreaming than I say: "Hold
fast to your dream. America reeds
•. »»
It.
GREETED BY F. D. R.
Washington—Delegates to the
34th annual health conference were
received at the White House by
President Roosevelt. The delega
tion included representatives from
all states and territories and was
headed by Surgeon General Thomas
Parran, Jr.
HOLD WOMAN IN SLAYING
Westminister. Md. — John T.
Loots, 40, was beaten to death and
authorities issued a warrant accus
ing his sister-in-law of killing him
with a flatiron. State’s Attorney
George N. Fringer said he was told
Mrs. Katherine Loots, 3 5, struck her
brother-in-law with a flatiron be
cause he had attacked her husband.
Charles A. Loots with a blackjack.
j ^>INCE WIMMEN TOOK
i T'WEARIN1 THESE LITTLE
HATS WE AIN'T READ O'
NO WORE HAT-PIN
HOMICIDES.
* |
We are Writing Special
WINDSTORM INSURANCE
ON FARM PROPERTY
Pilot Insurance & Realty Co.
E. H. HARRISON, Pres, and Tree .
Office at the Public Square in Salisoury
Mutual Shares I
Earn 6% On Weekly or Monthly Installments I
Dividend Bearing Shares Pay 5 Per Cent I
Quarterly—We Pay the Taxes I
—SERIES NOW OPEN— I
Member of Federal Home Loan Bank |
Mutual Building & Loan Association I
109 WEST INNES ST. PHONE 256 ||
ROSS M. SIGMON, President C. RAY SLOOP, Sec. & Treas. ||