THE MARION PROGRESS
PUBLISHED EVERY THURSDAY BY THE
Mcdowell publishing co.
MARION, N. C.
r
TELEPHONE 64
S. E. WHITTEN, Editor and Publisher
ELIZABETH WHITTEN, News Editor
Entered at the Postoffice at Marion, N. C.,
as second class matter
SUBSCRIPTION RATE
One year f. $2.00
Strictly in Advance
A 1
. "North Carolina :
HtISS ASS0CIAT10
V©.
WHO WILL PAY TO FEED THE PEOPLE
The experts who look ahead and attempt
to solve the problems of the world estimate
that the population of the globe, now two bil
lion people, will increase to three billion by
the year 2000.
Facing this great increase in population;
and wondering if proper planning will make!
available sufficient food to support the peo
ple. Dr. Stephen Raushenbush, a consultant
to the U. S. Department of the Interior, says
that there are only three courses open:
(a) To put the world's under-fed popula
tion on "relief" which will cost $85,000,000,
000, by the year 2000, if we include the ex
pected increase of population. If the aid is
stopped, according to Dr. Raushenbush, the
new population will starve.
(b) Aid the new people to establish land
so that they can eat as well as the world's pop
ulation today at a cost of $38,000,000,000, but
-with the understanding that the increased
population will have no way to pay such an
investment.
(c) Help all nations to teed themselves on
a good standard, at an investment of $37,000,
000,000 in food-producing productivity and
additional dollars for industrial expansion.
Under this plan, the expert says, the invest
ment can be repaid and the population of the
world will tend to level off at a little under I
3,000,000,000 people. !
Apparently, if the leading nations of the1
world take none of the three courses, the pop-j
illation of the world will be held down by;
starvation. This is a somewhat somber
thought. One wonders, nevertheless, where
the billions will come from to instigate a pro
gram of worldwide uplift. %
Moreover, it is somewhat difficult to under-:
stand why the populations of certain areas j
have made considerable material progress;
while other peoples, in possession of compar-|
able natural resources, have utterly failed to:
advance it. It is impossible, in this day of;
equality for everybody, to suggest that there j
must be some differences in peoples. The an-;
swer, however, must be found somewhere and i
.somehow or all our relief efforts will repre-j
sent nothing more than the "relief" which j
Dr. Rauchenbush deplores.
ATLANTIC PACT IN EFFECT
The unanimous ratification of the North
Atlantic Treaty makes it effective and brings
the twelve member nations to the basic prin
ciples that an armed attack on one member is
to be regarded as attack upon all.
In proclaiming the treaty in effect Presi
dent Truman called the ratification of the
treaty a momentous occasion "for all peoples
who share a profound desire for stability and
peaceful development."
The Chief Executive said that we seek not
•only to establish freedom from aggression in
the North Atlantic community but to promote
and preserve peace throughout the world.
Moreover, he pointed out that there are sol
emn international engagements binding the
participating nations to settle international
disputes by peaceful means and to refrain
from the use of force against the territory of
any country. He insisted that "no nation need
fear the results" of the cooperation of the
twelve nations that have ratmed the pact.
We regret to chronicle the sad fact that
young America shows no disposition to rush
avidly into the schools of the nation to be edu
cated.
If we help Tito the Reds may get what we
send him; if we don't help him, the Reds will
probably get Tito.
You have heard the story about the man
who tried to borrow money from his friend.
That is all there is to the story.
You may live through 1949 if you continue
to drive carefully and watch out for the other
fellow.
WHAT THE RUSSIAN PEOPLE THINK
It is just as well for the people of the United
States to understand how the people of Russia
feel in regard to the growing tension between
the two countries. When the U. S. Ambassa
dor Alan Kirk called on Prime Minister Stalin
in August, the conference made the front page
in all Soviet papers.
Edmund Stevens, Moscow correspondent of
The Christian Science Monitor, says that the
meeting made an impression among the "Mos
cow public, which is always eager to welcome
any indication of lessening international ten
sion." He added that the emphasis in the West
on the Atlantic Pact and the arms program
and notably the recent European tour of Ame
rican joint chiefs of staff" have caused "deep
est misgivings and suspicions."
The Soviet public, Mr. Stevens reports,
"sees America's rulers as engaged in a frantic
armaments race, as devising as a global mili
tary strategy in which the smaller Western
powers are committed to subservient rules,
and as goading unwilling peoples—including
their own nation—toward a new world catas
trophe." They do not believe that everybody
can impute "to their county bellicose inten
tions and consider the idea "too patently as
burd to warrant even serious consideration."
We call attention to this report from Mos
cow because it emphasizes the necessity, more
than ever, for the Voice of America and other
agencies at our command to seek to give to the
Russian people a true picture of tie motives
of the United States. Regardless of the view
point of the Soviet public, however, one can
not overlook the fact that the rulers of Rus
sia constitute a small group, with absolute
power and the ability to plunge their country
into an aggressive war regardless of what their
people think.
SPEAKING OF SPUDS
"Thar's gold in them thar potato hills" any
Maine farmer will readily admit. They've been
digging undreamed of wealth out of their po
tato fields in the little New England State—
but it was wealth drawn from the pockets of
consumers and taxpayers.
A Washington Post reporter, digging in
Uncle Sam's potato subsidy patch, has come
up with some surprising details.
Under the 90 per cent parity government
guarantee for potatoes, Aroostok County,
Maine, has become rich. In this county alone
last year the government paid out $65,000,000
equal to $650 for every man, woman and child
living in the county.
One farmer in the county received a govern
ment check for $495,000, another for $426,
000. Altogether 31 farmers got anywhere
from $100,000 to half a million dollars for po
tatoes sold to the Commodity Credit Corpora
tion. Farm incomes ranging from $25,000 to
$100,000 were common. Even the little man
got rich, for there is the case of one farmer
with 30 acres of land bought in 1930 for
$3,000. All but two acres of this holding were
in potatoes, for which the government paid
him $20,000—seven times the cost of his land!
Even the laborers struck gold in Aroostok
last year, pickers' earnings averaging from
$15 to $25 a day.
Although the potato support program in
1948 cost the taxpayers more than a quarter
billion dollars. Because the high parity price
was for U. S. No. 1.— the very best of the crop
—this is what the growers sold the govern
ment and the government in turn sold this
cream of the crop to whiskey distillers, and
what was left was given back to farmers for
hog feed. The consumer paid high prices for
second grade spuds and was taxed to keep
the price high.
The potato bonanza is about over. The new
support price has been fixed at 60 per cent
'of parity, but even so it is estimated that the
program will cost the Treasury from 50 to 100
million dollars this year. But potatoes should
be cheaper—and better.
It is significant that potato growers them
selves, fearful that such, excessive payments
will bring about the collapse of the whole
price support structure, have been cooperating
with members of congress to reduce payments
to more reasonable level.—Statesville Land
mark.
People with what they term "influence"
have infested Washington for more than a
hundred years.
The trouble with asking an older man for
advice is that he will usually take time to give
you some.
People who have nothing important to do
will find time to attend to a number of unim
portant things.
You have never heard a gambler bragging
about the money he lost.
Never argue with friends over a non-essen
tial.
OUR DEMOCRACY —-by Mat
"PADDLE YOUR OWN CANOE!'..
In THE EARLY DAYS OF OUR. DEMOCRACY* THE PIONEER,
OFTEN PUT ESSENTIAL TOOLS AND RATIONS IN A CANOE
AND PROCEEDED UP<RJVERS AND STREAMS, SEARCHING FOR:.
A FARM SITE.,. PADDLING HIS OWN CANOE, HE FOUND
. 4 THE LAND AND TIMBER THAT WOULD PROVIDE HIM AND HIS
A H°ME AND
Today, this expression, in common use since pioneer, days,
STILL SYMBOLIZES INDIVIDUAL INDEPENDENCE AND INITIATIVE..»
IN MODERN USEAGE, IT APPLIES TO THE OPPORTUNITY AND
RE&PONSIBILITy OF THE INDIVIDUAL, THROUGH HIS OWN
FORESIGHT AND EFFORTS, TO PRjOVIDE FO/t THE SECURJTV
AND WELL-BE/NG OF HIMSELF AND HIS FAM/LY.
Looking Backward
From The Progress File*
V? —
"Sometimes it is astonishing how
well an article written several years
ago can apply to conditions today.
Consider the following articles
i which appeared on the editorial page
| of The Progress on—
JULY 13, 1916
TAKING THE HOME PAPER
"Do you know of a person in this
i whole community who would be
I willing to go through life month by
; month and year by year without a
| knowledge of the news features of
the township in which we reside?
i Would you like to be that person?
: It is difficult to convince the aver
age reader of the real value of the
! home paper unless he has at some
time or another been forced to do
without it. Then it is that its value
is brought home to them. Most peo
ple subscribe for the home paper,
read jt, enjoy it, and absorb the
news 'it contain as a matter of
course, giving scarcely a thought to
the vast amount of labor entailed in
the production of the issue. And
yet that issue means a tremendous
concentration of thought and ener
gy and perservance on the part of
both the editor and his entire force
of employes. The work thus repre
sented on an issue of this paper, for
instance, costs the reader less than
.
two cents.
KEEP THE TOWN CLEAN
"A clean town attracts attention
whenever and wherever it is seen.
A dirty one catches the public eye
in less time. When the streets and
| alleys and yards and vacant lots in
I a town are clean and sanitary it
bespeaks a like condition on the part
of 'residents with regard to their
personal habits.
"If each person in this town would
use just a little more energy and
thought.fulness we could make this
one of the cleanest spots in the
country and our reputation would
grow apace. Not only would we ben
! efit thusly, but the health of the
I community would be vastly improv
! ed and the physical capacity of the
j people would be greatly increased.
A clean man works with pleasure
and with a definite object in view.
Generally he gets there. The dirty
one labors from necessity only, has
no ambition, and is the black eye
that kills the town in the eyes of
other people. Keep the town clean.
"The merchants doing the busi
ness in Marion are those who are go
ing after it. Letting the people know
through the columns of the newspa
epr what they have to offer. Adver
tising is no longer an experiment—
it is a absolute necessity in all lines
of,business. If you don't believe ad
vertising will help ,just place an
ad in The Progress."
*At the rate of $1.00 a year for
subscription.
Read The Progress for local and
current events.
■ ■
TALL TALES
By ELIZABETH WHITTEN
■ a
As I was leaving a store last week
a woman held the door open for me
and walked out behind me. Glanc
ing at the lingerie in the display
window, I said, "Pretty, isn't it?"
Imagine my surprise when I look
ed up to find the woman had gone
in the opposite direction and 1 was
addressing a strange man!
An FBI agent walked into a Mar
ion office last week and presented
a picture to the woman at the desk.
"Can you erive me any informa
tion on him?"
"Tough looking guy, isn't he?"
She commented.
A moment later it dawned—the
picture was one of the man him
self.
When a man entered a Marion
shop last week the lady in charge
| thought he was one of the salesmen,
•who usually called on her.
"I don't want to buy anything and:
I don't even have time to talk to
i day," she called to him.
i How do you suppose she felt when
she saw that he was a stranger and!
prospective customer?
i _________________________
i
! The Progress '
Wants Names j
Of Students I
The Progress wants the name of
i every McDowell county student who
, plans to attend college this fall. Al
: though we try to obtain a complete
and accurate list every year, some
times an oversight does occur. We
will appreciate a note or phone call
telling us the name of the student,
. college he or she plans to attend
and the date^the student will enter
college. Phone Mrs. Clyde Cannon at
434-M during the week or at 64
Wednesday mornings or write a note
i to The Progress.
i *
j The number of chicks produced
' by North Carolina commercial
hatcheries in July was 13 per cent
more than the total produces during
July,' 1948.
| During the fiscal year ended June
: 30, North Carolina farmers used
1,724,823 tons of commercial fer
tilizer.
NOTICE
RULANE
i
\
Customers
! CALL
4-M
! MARION
For Diay Calls
CALL
250-L
I MARION, N. C.
Nights,. Week-ends
and Holidays
: Rulane Gas Co.
! Marion, N. C.
I
$3495 Superfan
AT NO
CHARGf
f
YOURS AS A OJFT FOR THE EARLY
PURCHASE OF ANY AUTOMATIC
SUPBtfLAMC SPACE HEATER OR FLOOR
FURNACE SELLING FOR OVER $99.99.
Keeps you cool in summer.
Gives you forced air warmth •
in winter. Fits under heater
and saves you up to 25%
on fuel bills.
liilliDDIIWIHili
famous Suaerjlame heaters
No Other Heaters Have The Amazing "Fuel-Saver
GIVE YOU MORE lOt YOUR MONEY!
MORE COMFORT. Circulates heat
through entire house from ceil
ing to floor level! No fire tend
ing. No dust. No ashes.
MORE HEAT. Only SUPER
FLAME has the "Fuel-Saver".
Increases radiating surface
100%, decreases chimney loss
40%. Saves up to on fuel
costs . . . sometimes more!
MORE EFFICIENT. SUPER
FLAME patented burner burns
cleaner, more efficiently. Saves
fuel, yet gives more heat!
SUPERFAN
SAFE1
No Dangerou*
Fan Blades
LIMITED OFFER . ^SEt US TODAYU . . EASY TERMS
Johnson Electric Co.
128 South. Main St.. Phone 144