Here and There
Museum Is Town Asset
"It's things like this that bring a community together," Annie
Pearl Brantley, president of the Spring Hope Historical Association
was quoted as saying in the March 31 edition of the Spring Hope En
terprise.
Ms. Brantley was speaking of the location of the Spring Hope
Museum on a triangle of land made available by the Spring Hope
Board of Commissioners.
According to the news account, last fall it seemed as though the
town's museum would have to share space with the library in an old
depot. But the historical association had an abandoned old house
donated for use as a museum.
As the house was moved to its new location, a stream of cars
began to go by, with occupants taking a look at the new museum
facility.
"It's going to be like this all day," Mrs. Brantley aid. "Once the
word geis out arounu town, just about everybody is going to want to
ride by and see it."
She said the historical association plans to display rotating
exhibits, with the exhibits probably changing every three months or
so.
Spring Hope has learned what Warrenton has not, and that is the
value of a museum which could be a big drawing card for visitors.
Warrenton's legacy is just as rich as Spring Hope's. We simply lack
the will to get a museum project under way here.
Speaking of things of historical significance, I am indebted to Mrs.
Margaret Comer of Warrenton for providing me with a paper which
details the founding of the Town of Warrenton.
Mrs. Comer's document shows that the General Assembly in 1779
created a commission to find a place suitable for a county seat.
"Under the direction of William Christmas, a surveyor, the com
mission selected a well drained site for the new county seat to be
named Warrenton. Christmas laid off the land and the commission
sold lots at $50 each. In order to have the town grow, purchasers
were required to build permanent dwellings on these lots within a
certain amount of time or lose their lots," Mrs. Comer's document
relates.
Today, when half-acre lots on Lake Gaston are selling for $50,000,
it seems incredible that a town lot could be had for $50. However, a
person probably had to work a year in the Eighteenth Century to af
ford a lot; today, lakefront lots are perhaps being bought by families
with an annual income of at least $50,000.
Sam Ragan, respected editor of The Pilot in Southern Pines, noted
in a recent edition that "it's nothing short of ridiculous for the
federal government to serve hard liquor to any and everyone and not
let a single paying passenger smoke one little cigarette."
An acquaintance who formerly practiced law in Charlotte was
recalling a trip to Europe recently. He said partners in his law firm
had given him a fool-proof modern camera just before he began his
trip, telling him that they did not want him to fail when it came time
to record his visit on film.
"They called it a Phd. camera," he said. "The Phd. stood for 'push
here, dummy.' "
? - I
Pictured here are two of the actors in UNC-G's Theatre for Young
People in a scene from "Reasons To Be Cheerful" during a perform
ance at Marlam Boyd Elementary School last week. The cast's per
formances at all six elementary schools last week were sponsored
by Warren County Schools Cultural Arts Program and funded with
a Grassroots Grant through the North Carolina Arts Council, a state
agency. (Community Schools Photo by Mary Hunter)
Letter To
The Editor
A Legacy Of Debt
To The Editor:
Concerning the bond issue to be
voted on in May, I am not in a
position to understand or voice an
opinion on the true need (or same.
However, I have coped with fi
nancial problems since the time
of President Hoover. I learned
early ui life about such words of
wisdom as, "a penny saved is a
penny earned" and "a fool and
his money are soon parted." I
would like to offer one viewpoint
concerning economic sanity in
the county.
Like most persons around here,
I was born poor, but I was taught
the advantages of saving for the
future. At about age 30, 1 bought
a farm ?mostly with borrowed
money? and tried to make a liv
ing by farming it. Here I began
to realize the problems of being
poor and became determined to
do something about it. I didn't
like to pay interest, so with the
help of a thrifty wife, we paid that
debt as soon as possible. Since
that time, things have been
easier for me, but I sympathize
with persons who have never
been taught to get out of the
revolving debt habit and the high
interest rates that go with it.
It has been said that poor peo
ple are pushing the bond issue as
a means of breaking out of the
poverty cycle. Actually, the en
tire capital improvement pro
gram is more favored by the rich
than by the poor. Big business,
which includes big banking, is
really the advocate. Both are con
stantly trying to sell on credit or
to loan monev? both for the pur
pose of collecting interest.
Actually, the whole public
finance system is quite unfair to
the poor and even to persons of
moderate means. Correctly
stated, the poor pay a greater
proportion of sales tax on their in
come. But, that is nothing com
pared to what property tax does.
A person may buy a house and
pay down only 10 percent on it. He
then owns only 10 percent, but he
pays tax on 100 percent. The
lender actually owns 90 percent,
but pays no tax.
With regard to education, the
struggle lies not in the quantity of
buildings, but rather in what is
being taught. Not nearly enough
attention is being given to the
values of individual economics,
personal health and the "golden
rule." Until these three are bet
ter attended to, we will need on
ly another courtroom and a
larger jail.
Under present proposals to bor
row money, we will have to pay
back double what we get. I hate
paying all that interest! But, even
more, I think it greatly unfair for
our generation to leave a legacy
of debt for generations to come.
If we think it necessary to spend,
for whatever reason, then let us
also be willing to pay for it as we
go.
We have a choice! We can bor
row $14 million and subsequent
ly pay back $28 million or we can
pay as we go and get it all for
half-price. Doesn't the latter op
tion make more sense?
WILLIAM A BENDER
Rt. 2, Norlina
ELECT
WELDON C.
"CHIP"
CAPPS, JR.
MAY 3, 1988
For
Warren County
Board Of Education
District V
Please Vote To Make Your Voice Heard. We Need All Fac
tions Of Warren County To Unite Behind Our Schools In A
Common Effort For Our Students.
paid ran av committe to iuct ?wloon c. xmrt- CAm. ?.
First In A 3-Part Series
Who Sets Goals Of Public Policy?.
By CHARLES P. HAYWOOD
I am deeply grateful to those
who have read my previous ar
ticles and taken time to share
your comments with the editor
of this newspaper; the more so,
because I am a layman,
unqualified in the field of Jour
nalism. I comfort myself with
the reflection that we are all
laymen for most of our time,
especially in a field so close to
our concern as the public issues
of decision and action. It is as
laymen, not as academicians,
that we make our most daring
speculations. So it is not inap
propriate that it should be a
layman who invites you to pur
sue a speculation that will take
us beyond the boundaries of the
known, even beyond the scope of
our present conceptual ap
paratus, but not beyond the
challenges of practical life.
I ask what sets the goals of
public policy in Warren County.
I do not ask how the public
chooses the policy makers, for
manifestly that choice is only
one element in a manifold
process. When we open our eyes
to the scene around us, we find
nebulous goals vaguely set.
Policies are being implemented;
institutions are in action with all
of the historical momentum of
the horse and buggy days. This
dynamic configuration is
resistant to the modern reality.
So the most obvious answer to
my question springs to mind at
once. History sets the goals of
public policy in Warren County.
Progressive thinking influences
them no more and no less than
there is a willingness to sever
the umbilical cord of history.
The process of interaction and
mutual adaptation that we call
history is an obscure though
familiar mystery. Looking into
the future we see a widening
vista of possibilities. Tomorrow
is almost committed, but next
year, ten, twenty years hence,
what might be possible? Yet,
when we look into the past, the
vista seems too narrow from
past to present. We see a thin
line of actualities detaching it
self from all that might have
been, and those who will
someday look back over what is
now the uncommitted future will
Cool Slays Cool
The Arctic Shield is a clear
plastic strip that fits inside a re
frigerator to prevent the loss of
cold air. When the refrigerator
door is opened, the clear curtain
lets you take your time to see
what's inside without letting cold
airescapc. From Miro Products
Inc., 6513 W. Pershing Road,
Stickney,IL60402.
CONGRATULATIONS
To The Winners
In Our Recent
Gift Certificate
Drawing
First Prize
$50 Certificate
Rosco Cheek
Rt. 2, Warrenton
Second Prize
$25 Certificate
Tracey Grlssom
Rt. 1, Norilna
Third Prize
110 Certificate
Carol Henderson
Rt. 2, Norilna
HAITHCOCK
ELECTRONICS
South Main St.
Wamnton, N.C.
see the same. Of all that com
petes for realization, only a tiny
fraction is realized and in the
process excludes a host of alter
natives. The external enigma of
history is: "Why, from all these
possibilities did these, rather
than any of the others come to
birth?" Somewhere in the an
swer to that question lies, among
many other things, the scope and
meaning of human initiative.
Among the forces that make
history, one of the most obvious
is human need. Some would say
that needs set the goals of public
policy. New needs emerge and
evoke the measures that will
satisfy them. At any moment,
with a more or less significant
time lag, the goals of public
policy reflect the dominant
needs of the power structure.
This statement is not so simple
as it looks. The needs that evoke
response are those which are
recognized as needs by the
power structure and this process
of recognition has odd features.
This county accepts some con
ditions of living that in other
epochs would have moved slaves
to rebel? such as standing in line
for a public handout of honey
and meal on one hand? and on
the other hand having no public
policy with goals and objectives
for economic development and
full employment. How are they
resolved, these conflicts be
tween needs fighting for satisfac
tion? Are they resolved by
human choice? And, if so, by
what criteria?
Whatever the criteria its
limitations are manifold not only
by money and technical skill but
also by the area of space and th
span of time to plan and profi
from past experience, whic.
goes far to determine how th
technics can provide focus fo
future objectives. And a par
from these direct limitations
each authority is limited by it
own current activity, and th?
habit of placing something at thi
focus of attention implies th<
habit of leaving other things ii
the periphery.
So let us add another to our lis
of goal setters. Ideology sets th<
goals of public policy.
Needs, technics, ideologies
these are the names for aspects
dimly in my understanding of th<
mutually adaptive process calle<
history of the "it takes time" syn
drome in Warren County. Bu
among these interacting forces is
one, unique and clearly iden
tified? our human selves; either
passive observers or willing par
ticipants dynamically charged
to contribute to the forces for
positive change. We must
determine our own role if we are
to shape the analysis of what
sets the goals of public policy in
Warren County.
Next week the governors of
behavior will be the topic of the
second segment of this three
segment article.
The author, a professional
social worker who now lives in
Los Angeles, Calif., Is a former
director of the Warren County
Department of Social Services.
He Is the son of the late Dr. and
Mrs. Thomas Haywood of
Warrenton.
Vote For
And Elect
ROY PAT
ROBERTSON
Register Of Deeds
Warren County
Democratic Primary
May 3. 1988
20 Years Experience In Banking, 18 Years Ex
perience In Real Estate, Lifetime Resident Of
Warren County
YOUR VOTE & SUPPORT WILL BE APPRECIATED
PAID POLITICAL ADVERTISEMENT