Page Two
Abolish the Electoral College
Even when your cause is just, you had better be sure
the time is ripe before making your play. We don’t know
whether Socrates or Jim Farley said that, but we present
it as a self-evident truth in connection with electoral col
lege reform.
We might go a step further, and suggest that "aboli
tion” is a more appropriate term than "reform,” since a
growing interest in presidential decisions being rendered
by direct popular vote (instead of proportionate electoral
vote) has been apparent since the 1948 national conven
tions.
There has not previously been such a clamor for let
ting the people speak for themselves as has developed this
fall; whether inspired or spontaneous, the clamor is sin
cere. The people presently wish to do away with the obso
lete, undemocratic electoral college and select their presi
dent by direct vote, just as all our other elected officials
are named.
There certainly can be no opposition in North Caro
lina to an amendment providing for such reform. The Re
publican minority would have their votes count as some
thing more than a gesture in the national picture, and the
heavy Democratic majorities in this state would increase
the voice of North Carolina in national policies of the ma
jority party.
The cause is just, and the time is propitious. Let us
hope that our Tar Heel congressmen will take the lead in
this election reform; let us urge them to do so.
Zebulon Has a New Look
The true Christmas spirit, preachers and editors are
fond of saying, comes from within the individual and not
from outward manifestations of the usual types, the "usu
al types” including decorations, Christmas cards, and
enormous quantities of gifts.
But psychologists tell us that external surroundings
affect materially the inner workings of man, and we con
clude that the "usual type” of Christmas atmosphere helps
us to arrive at that inward state so much desired by the
press and clergy.
Hence we can enjoy without even an occasional twitch
of conscience the Christmas decorations in our home town.
*
Zebulon has never been prettier in December. The homes
—thanks to Mr. Edison and the Carolina Power & Light
Company are aglow with colored lights, and the ever
greens in local yards are far more beautiful than the com
poser of "Tannenbaum” ever dreamed a tree could be.
Merchants hereabouts have taken pains with their store
windows as never before, and their labor is justified by
the close inspection of hundreds of persons who pass our
store windows by with a casual glance eleven months of
the year.
All in all, Zebulon has managed to achieve a Yuletide
appearance, and we are proud and happy to see it.
The Farmer Needs a Friend
American farmers are already beginning to appreciate
what their election of a Democratic president and congress,
pledged to retain price supports for farm products, will
mean to them. Many farm commodities have already slip
ped below the support price, and many farmers would now
be bankrupt had it not been for the guaranteed bases.
The blow that might have proved crippling without a
price support plan have largely come this year. A com
parison of top prices this year with current averages in
dicates the terrific impact of a buyer’s market on agri
culture.
Product 1948 High Current
Wheat, bushel $ 3.07 $ 2.34
Potatoes, 100 lbs. 5.00 3.25
Hogs, 100 lbs. 31.20 22.75
Corn, bushel 2.81 1.45
Compare those drops with prices of the steel from
which farm machinery is made, the coal farmers burn, the
other products they must have to live.
Product 1948 Low Current
Brick, 1,000 $27.50 $33.00
Steel, ton 45.00 58.24
Coal, ton 13.70 15.10
Electric refrigerators 228.00 240.00
With price trends like these, the farmer needs
above all a government friendly to agricultural interests —
the big manufacturing interests are doing all right already.
The Zebulon Record
■''' ‘'' . "* ' ‘
Sunday School Lesson
Next Sunday we study apocalyp
tic literature in the Bible; that is,
we study literature of prophecy as
given in the New Testament.
Apocalyptic literature abounds
in the era covered by the Old Test
ament, but little of it is considered
sufficiently inspired to be included
in the Bible. Why then is the Rev
elation of St. John considered di
vinely inspired?
There are three good reasons for
believing St. John was under di
vine influence when he chronicled
his revelation on the island of Pat
mos, to which he had been exiled
because of his devotion to the
spread of Christianity.
The first reason concerns the
question of why God permits evil
co befall the faithful, the age-old
question of why rain should fall
alike upon the just and the unjust.
John tells us that God permits per
secution of his followers in order
that they may work out their own
destiny. A practical secular appli
cation of this principle is the
training of troops for battle. Some
troops are injured in maneuvers,
but when they enter battle, they
are trained—and lives are saved.
Farm Home Hints
By Ruth Current
Don’t spend too much on mac
aroni, spaghetti, white rice, grits,
and corn meal. They are poor in
minerals and vitamins. We might
cut down on these foods and use
more whole wheat products, en
riched grain products, otameal,
soybean products, and fresh fruits
and vegetable. Variety is the spice
of good eating.
Buy carefully. Look before you
buy; compare prices of different
foods of the same type. Some foods
are cheaper- if brought in large
quantities. Tomato and citrus fruit
juices and evaporated milk cost
less per serving if you buy them
in large size cans.
Read labels—they have an edu
cational value. They list all ma
terials used to make the packaged
food and tell how much the pack
age holds. Sometimes surprising
and interesting information is
tucked away in fine print. Remem
ber that a package which looks
large may hold less than one that
looks smaller. The weight is what
counts.
Through Lial by evil, we are
hardened to the effort of remain
ing true to Christ throughout our
lives.
The second great theme of the
Revelation is that good shall ulti
mately triumph over evil. The
victory of evil is always a fleeting
or superficial event, we are told,
and if we maintain our faith, our
own triumph shall be certain.
Finally the chief prophet of the
New Testament, in the sense of
foretelling future events, tells us
what happens to the faithful dead:
John declares that they receive
their reward in heaven.
All in all, John John’s message
is that if we are to have a success
ful life, we must keep our faith.
Strangely enough, this is exactly
what twentieth century psychia
trists tell us.
The most pitiful sight in this
world is not that of a person ber
eaved of a loved one, but that of a
person bereft of faith and hope.
Let us maintain faith in our future,
physical and spiritual, by works
that will nurture the trust in our
fate so necessary to profitable
Christian living.
Hot Spiced Cider: 4 inches
stick cinnamon, 6 whole cloves, a
dash of nutmeg, sugar if desired,
1 gallon of cider, 4 tablespoons
butter, 1 onnge sliced. Tie spices
in bag and place in kettle of cold
cider and bring to boil. Sweeten
the morning before stirring. Dried
16 cups.
Ironing hint: Starching will cut
the ironing time in half. It means
that dresses, skirts, shirts, and
blouses stay cleaner longer, shed
dirt and dust more easily and keep
that crisp look TWO days instead
of one.
Do you always eat breakfast?
You need breakfast if you expect
to do your best work and be bub
bling over with energy for the
day’s work. Prepare slow cooking
cereals the night before, cover with
a thin film of water, and reheat in
the morning before stirrin. Dried
fruit juices may be bottled, stop
pered, and stored in the refrigera
tor.
A merry Christmas to you all.
Friday, December 24, 1948
Seen and Heard
Zebulon farmers are really being
hard put to save their meat this
fall, with all the recent unseason
ably warm weather. The freezer
locker plant, we are told, is full of
meat, and hundreds of pounds of
pork are being lost hereabouts.
Os course all this warm weather
is saving us a lot of money in
heating costs, but we’d rather pay
a little more out for oil and have
the cold weather necessary to save
meat. (Not that we’re asking for
anything quite so cold as last
winter.)
Pat Farmer says that pancakes
are like love: if they grow cold,
no amount of sirup can revive
their appeal.
One of our local farmers be
lieves in giving help to indigent
transients, but he believes also in
getting something in return. “It’s
the principle of the thing,” he says.
The other day a tramp ap
proached him in his backyard and
said, “Mister, will you give me
something to eat?”
“See” that pile of wood over
there?” asked our farmer friend.
“No.”
“Why, I saw you see it.”
“Well,” the tramp said as he
started out of the farmyard, “may
be you saw me see it, but you
won’t see me saw it!”
Vance Brown says that the rea
son people are patient with poli
ticians is that they don’t know
what to do either.
Chief of Police Willie B. Hop
kins says that “Highpoekets” is the
first colored man he ever saw not
afraid to climb the water tank.
“Highpoekets” mentioned climb
ing the tank with the painters the
other day, and Willie B. thought
the worker was joking. But when
he needed him, “Highpoekets” was
atop the tank, grinning like a
’possum.
Carver Seawell sent us another
twin banana week before last. It
seems that twins just naturally
gravitate to Carver—banana twins,
that is.
Mr. Willie Moss brought us a
couple of over-sized turnips the
other day. At least they looked
over-sized to us.
But Mr. Moss says they are just
average for his crop this year. A
check showed they weighed eight
pounds each. They were good, too.
Farm Futures
Farmers’ cash receipts from
marketings during 1948 will total
slightly larger than last year, ac
cording to present estimates.
California has a wider variety
of agricutural production than any
other state.
The “drink more milk” idea
which made progress during the
war, is holding its gains and be
coming established as a good habit,
says the U. S. Department of Ag
riculture.
Three rats will eat as much grain |
as two laying hens.
Durocs are the leading swine
breed in the United States.
First aid kits are essential
equipment on every farm, say
specialists of the U. S. Department
of Agriculture. Such kits need not
be expensive. They may be made
up at home.
American farmers broke all fer
tilizer consumption records again
in 1947 for the ninth consecutive
year.
The Zebulon Record
Ferd Davis Editor
Barrie Davis Publisher
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