Two
Suffrage For Teenagers?
President Dwight Eisenhower and North Carolina
Democrat Thad Eure have joined the State of Georgia in
believing folks 18 years of age should have the right to
vote. They are joining the ranks of those who argue that
a person old enough to fight is old enough to vote. In
North Carolina there is little agitation for suffrage for
teenagers, but on the Nrtional level, whether for politi
cal gain or not, there is a growing demand that the right
to vote be extended to cover 18-year-olds.
We can’t go along with this movement. We think the
age of 21 is low a-plenty.
In the first place, there is a falacy in the argument
that men old enough to fight should be old enough to voie.
The fighting man in the front rank needs courage, a certain
degree of foolhardiness, and the ability to decide the best
course of action required by the immediate situation. In
voting, a citizen needs to know his responsibility, a sense of
caution, and the ability to decide the best course of ac
tion dictated by conditions which will arise in the future.
Back in 1944 when the late President Franklin Roose
velt was elected for his last term, the editor was doing
his bit for democracy in Italy as a fighting 20-year-old.
Every person in the armed forces below the age of 21 had
to sign a statement to the effect that they had been given
an opportunity to vote if eligible. We remarked then that
we certainly did not feel slighted over not being permitted
to vote. Our opinion remains that 20 years is too young.
But maybe the proposers are correct —18 years-old
folks should be allowed to vote. Then the question arises:
Why not 16-year-olds? How come, if the three-year differ
ence between 18 and 21 is not too much, the two-year
spread between 16 and 18 would be less.
Best we leave the minimum voting age where it is.
Value of a Newspaper
Sometimes merchants, whose advertisements give finan
cial support, harbor the idea that a newspaper is an expen
sive nuisance, costing more than it can ever be worth. But
you find a different view expressed by merchants in com
munities which have no newspaper. This we found when
we talked to a progressive merchant from a neighboring
town this week.
“How can we advertise our town?” he asked. “What
should we do?”
It is a hard question to answer. No one in the town has
any desire to attempt a newspaper—a task which contains
plenty of toil and headaches and discouragingly little finan
cial reward. A printer in a neighboring town had discussed
a newspaper with our friend, but gave up the idea when
one of his newspapers folded for lack of support. Everybody
seems to want a newspaper, but nobody will start one.
We’re not patting The Zebulon Record on the back.
We’re just pointing out to our merchants that the means of
publicizing their businesses is ready and waiting. Zebulon
merchants don’t have to worry about starting a newspaper.
It’s here.
60 Second Sermon
By Fred Dodge
TEXT: “In taking revenge man is but even with his enemy;
in passing it over, he is superior.” Francis Bacon
Little Johnnie had been so naughty that his mother had
given him a good spanking. All that afternoon a desire for
reveqge burned in his little breast.
Finally bedtime came and he knelt to say his evening pray
er. Johnny asked a blessing on each member of his family, ex
cepting one. Then he climbed into bed, turned, looked at his
mother triumphantly and said,
“I s’pose you noticed you wasn’t in it!”
* * *
“Getting even” is a childish practice. Consider all the time
and energy that is spent in planning how to “get even.” Add
to that the unhappiness innocent friends suffer while some
one is concentrating on “getting even.” Is a brief moment of lone
ly triumph worth it? One who spends his or her time in “get
ting even” might a$ well carry a sign reading “I am a child.”
Only a child fails to see that no one cares whether he is “even”
or not. “Getting even” is a lonely task. “Forgiveness” is the
password for joining a really happy throng.
The Zebulon Record
Entered as second class matter June 26, 1925, at the post
office at Zebulon, North Carolina, under the act of March 3, 1879.
Member of the North Carolina Press Association.
Published Tuesday and Friday of each week at Zebulon,
Wake County, North Carolina. Subscription rate: $2.00 a year.
Advertising rates on request.
BARRIE S. DAVIS Editor
JAMES M. POTTER, JR Publisher
FICRD L. DAVIS Fifth Wheel
The Zebulon Record
By Eloise Potter
Thursday morning (Jan. 14),
just like every other time The
News' and Observer editorial wri
ter is desperate for something to
gripe about, said publication car
ried a little piece implying that a
ridiculously large number of arm
ories are Ibeing constructed in
North Carolina and, presumably,
in other states as well. There was
a time, long before I saw the light
through personal observation of
Battery A, when I might have
agreed with the poor misguided
fellow; but no more.
In the first place, the writer’s
logic isn’t all sound. He cites the
fact that fifteen new armories
have been authorized in North
Carolina since 1952. Then he as
sumes that the other 47 states have
received the same number of sim
ilar buildings. Finally he computes
their cost at nearly % million
dollars. He never bothers to men
tion that this state was able to
obtain 15 authorizations only be
cause some other states refused to
match government funds—appar
ently because they have enough
armories to serve their units.
Worst of aIL the writer entirely
Sometimes traveling over the
world gives a person a better un
derstanding of other peoples.
Sometimes it doesn’t. Being one of
those favored by Uncle Sam with
an expense-paid tour of Africa and
Europe ten years ago, I haven’t
yet decided whether my experi
ences help or hinder my attempts
toward international understand
ing.
I learned that in many ways
people are the same the world
over. I know plenty of merchants
who don’t hesitate at glossing over
imperfections in their wares when
a sale is to be made. Neither were
the French in Oran above selling
slightly imperfect wine to some
of our brave soldiers, with result
ing upset innards for the Gl’s.
I’ve often wondered just how
much trouble the Arabs could cre
ate if they i*.dlly went about it.
They’re bound to have a mess of
guns and munitions sacked away
someplace, what with right many
well-armed Americans, French,
Germans, Italians, and English
men fighting across their country
side.
Once a half dozen of us intrepid
airmen decided to hike across
the African countryside to get a
close view of the natives. We hap
pened on a small group who seem
ed friendly enough, so pulling out
our government issue phonetic
DeYnocracy Gone to Seed
The word that I would pass on
here had its birth in a country
church a few weeks ago. It came
about in this way: when I walked
into the front door of the church,
a plain, godly countryman was
leading in prayer. Os course I
stopped, hat in my hand, stood
quietly and reverently and tried
to join in the beautiful prayer the
man was making. The feeling of
humble reverence in the 'man’s
soul transmitted itself to the at
mosphere about him as far as his
voice could be heard. My feeling
was, and is now, that that man’s
spirit was a rebuke to those who
would approach our Maker in the
spirit of slapping Him on the
shoulder. In saying this I am re
minded of several things in the
Potter Patter
overlooks the value of the Na
tional Guard to individual towns,
the state, and the country as a
whole. The Guard is the-least ex
pensive way of training and main
taining large numbers of ready
men for the defense of their coun
try on short notice. Much expen
sive equipment is needed to prop
erly carry out the program for
each unit. It would be stupid to
pay men for attending drills
without giving them materials
with which to earn their pay. It
would be equally half-witted to
furnish the materials and then
allow them to be ruined while
stored in inadequate buildings.
Each unit needs an armory just
like every merchant needs a store.
And just like the merchant, the
guard needs adequate facilities for
efficient operation and expansion.
Aside from being ready for act
ive duty with the armed services
in case of an emergency, the
guardsmen are prepared to aid the
local community and state. I sup
pose everyone knows that the gov
ernor can call out the Guard in
case of floods, tornadoes, forest
fires, and other disasters which
threaten lives and property in this
state. Only recently I learned that
Seen and Heard
Arabic dictionary, we attempted
a conversation. “See-had beel chi
or,” we blurted, reading from the
dictionary the words that should
have said “hello.”
“Bonjour,” the Arabs replied,
and so we found our high school
French worked better.
The Arab group was dressed in
filthy rags. The men’s faces would
have been rather handsome ex
cept for decayed teeth. We com
pared their looks with our own,
and we showed up as nattily at
tired Americans.
One of the more stupid look
ing Arabs indicated he wanted
to look at the automatic pistols
we had strapped to our sides. Af
ter unloading it, Benu Atkood gave
his trusty .45 to the Arab, who pro
ceeded to completely fieldstrip the
weapon in his hands without drop
ping a piece. Casually he reas
sembled the pistol and handed it
back without comment. We took
one look at his cold eyes and saun
tered across the countrywide as
casually as shaking knees would
permit.
Another time we were out bar
tering cigarettes for eggs (stork
eggs, we later discovered). An
Arab with a slight knowledge of
English and an excellent knowl
edge of French inquired which
of us were not married. Then he
attempted to sell the bachelors in
Holy Word: (1) When our Lord
was responding to a request from
His immediate followers for in
structions in the sacred art of pray
ing, His first word after the ad
dress, “Our Father,” was “Hallow
ed by thy name;” (2) When God
spoke to Moses in the burning
bush (Exodus 3), his first word
was “Put off thy shoes from off
thy feet.” In this connection it may
be well to remind my readers
that the Bible is an Eastern book.
In the West we remove our hats
when we go into our places of
worship. In the East they remove
their shoes to show reverence.
Mrs. Browning has this in mind
when she says that every bush
is aflame with the Divine presence,
but only those who take off their
Friday, January 22, 1954
a special signal of the fire siren
will bring the local guardsmen to
gether if they should be needed to
meet an emergency right here
in Zebulon. Isn’t it reassuring to
know that close at hand is a large
group of able-bodied, well-disci
plined men who are trained in first
aid and other emergency meas
ures?
Os course most of you who read
this column already know as I do
that Battery A is a fine group of
men and that the money invested
in an armory for them is money
well spent. Also like me, most of
you are probably looking forward
to seeing all the people of the
community using the armory build
ing for constructive and peaceful
activities.
But our sophisticated big city
editorial writer undoubtedly never
takes time to read the Record;
so he’ll continue to rant and rave
about armory expenditures. Until
someone with more authority and
influence than I possess takes the
trouble to set him straight, we’ll
read what he says, wink at one an
other, and with tongue in cheek
wonder how much of the other
stuff he says would make sense if
we knew the straight of it.
the group his sister for the pal
try sum of $350.00. She was a
wonderful buy, he said, for she
was “brand new—never been
used.”
I wrote home of the episode and
received an airmail letter. “Why
didn’t you buy her and ship her
home?” the home folks demanded.
“Help here is almost impossible
to find and costs more than your
Arab would.”
The stork eggs were delicious, by
the way. They were larger than
hen eggs and tasted about the
same, but we always felt canni
balistic when we ate them.
Our business dealings with the
Arabs came to an unhappy end,
however. One night after we had
rejoiced over trading cigarettes for
six dozen eggs, the citizens of the
Tunisian desert silently invaded
our tent area, slit the ends of three
tents, and appropriated every
thing within reach, leaving with
the loot without waking a soul.
We retaliated by buzzing our
planes low over the Arab sheep
herds, and driving the sheep
through the villages and into the
Arab shacks. We laughed like
everything over the mess the sheep
must have made of the insides of
the Arab huts, only to discover
later that the Arabs and sheep
all live together anyhow and so
the sheep were only going home.
shoes see it. (3) In our Lord’s par
able of the Phaiises and the Pub
lican (Luke 18), the one that went
to his house with the approval
of God resting on him, was the
one who would not so much as lift
up his eyes unto heaven, but kept
smiting (imperfect tense) on his
breast saying, “God be merciful
to me the sinner.”
Much more of the same sort
might be gathered from the Word,
but this is enough. I believe in De
mocracy with all my soul, but
real Democracy places the Holy
God as the center of all life, keeps
Him there, and adjusts every de
tail of life to this elementary and
fundamental fact.
W. R. Cullom
Wake Forest, N. C.