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tilts ifinutkmt wssa Published every Thursday by The Franklin Press At Franklin, North Carolina . V Telephone No. 24 VOL. XLIX BLACKBURN W, JOHNSON. Entered at the Post Office, Franklin, SUBSCRIPTION RATES " 0e Year .... Eight Months Six Months . . Single Copy .. Obituary notices, cards of thanks, tributes of respect, by individuals lodges, churches, organizations or societies, will be regarded as adver tising and inserted at regular classified advertising rates. Such notice will be marked "adv." in compliance with tftt-postal regulations. WEEKLY BIBLE THOUGHT For so is the will of God, that with well doing ye may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men. Peter 3:15. LOOKING INTO THE FUTURE A GLOOMY prophecy of the outcome of the New Deal is ventured by Cecil Headrick in a letter to the editor which is printed in another columcron this page. - Although we cannot agree with some of his conclusions, we hasten to welcome Mr. Headrick as a new resident of the county and new contributor to The Press-Maconian. His expressions of- opinion .bearthe unmistakable; tenor of sin cerity without prejudice and the earmarks of honest think ing, which make conversation interesting and controversy friendly. -' ; V i Like Mr. Headrick, we question the ability even of Uncle Sam to lift himself by his bootstraps; , but is this the feat the administration is trying to accomplish? . True, some of the New Deal methods would seem to; indicate an affirm ative answer. Cutting production to raise prices certainly has the outward appearance of an attempt to defy the law of gravity by super-economic gymnastics. But the outcome of the New Deal cannot be prophecied with accuracy on any single phase of its program. The plan is so broad that it is difficult to encompass; but we must look at it as a whole, not piece by piece, if The agricultural adjustment program may in time prove unsuccessful; even the NRA may fail for lack of constitu tional authority or, more likely, for lack of popular support; but there is one thing we can rest assured of : The man at the head of the administration will recognize error" when committed andwill take proper steps to right a wrong. He has plainly stated that he will follow a policy of "bold ex perimentation" and experiment almost always entails some mistakes, for it is a process of trial and error. But trial and error 1s far better than an inert policy of laissez faire. The public, we think, rightly imposes full confidence in Mr. Roosevelt's statement : T "I may take some wrong turnings, and we may have to retrace our steps at times, but if you will trust me and follow me and all keep together, I will lead you out." He does not say that he will lead us to & Utopia, to a fairyland where "the stable-boy is going to rise in the world just like the young prince," as seems to be the impression of Mr. Headrick; he does not promise rewards without ef . fort. In fact, his promises are far less lavish than those of his predecessor, who rashly assured us of a "chicken in every pot and car in every garage." Let us forget the future already has been accomplished enable us the betterjo foresee what" is yet to come. We will not consider the alleviation mem projects empioyingrniuions-oi men,- iur xnis is oniy temporary. Nor will we take into account the rise in com modity prices and the increase in wages. Disregarding these, there have been other accomplishments of lasting character, accomplishments which before 1933 most of us thought would require perhaps a generation, at least a dec ade, to bring about. The worst evils of child labor have been abolished with out the necessity of waiting for adoption of a constitutional amendment to that end. V A vast program of conservation of natural resources for the public good has been undertaken. This, in itself, v however, is not so important as the definite enunciation of a hitherto hazy principle that natural resources are not merely a field for private exploitation. Establishment of the Tennessee Valley Authority al ready has made, the power companies, many of them over flowing with watered stock, realize that they no longer can run things to suit themselves. Power rates already have begun to tumble, although the T. V. A. has not yet had time to apply its "yardstick" of production and distribution costs. . ; , ; A tottering banking system has collapsed and in its place & new financial structure has been reared on a firmer foundation. Banks have been barred from reckless specula tion and deposits have been insured up to $2,500. State rights have been restored and tolerance has re asserted itself through repeal of the Eighteenth Amend ment. More important than all this, however, is the-4evelop-ment of a sincere humanitarian spirit in government and a stronger, finer morale in the governed. All this has been accomplished in less than a year; are we not justified in expecting even greater accomplishments in the future? : . v f Number 5 ...EDITOR AND PUBLISHER N. C. as. second class matter. '$1.50 ..... $1.00 ...... .75 ..... .05 we are to forecast its effects for the time and view what by the New Deal; this will of suffering through govern- LET'S RAISE MULES AND HORSES FJIARMERS on the other side of the Mississippi are mak- ing a lot of money through the nellcnce of southern farmers to raise their own mules and horses. Dealers in the city of Atlanta alone sold 38,064 mules for approximately $4,834,128 during the five months ended January 1. This meant big business for .breeders in the plain states of the middle west. Why shouldn't this busi ness, or at least part of it, stay at home? Farmers in Macon county,' as well asfm other sections of the south, can breed mules successfully, if they, will make up their minds to do it and exercise a little enterprise. In fact, there was a time in the preFord era when Macon county farmers raised a large part of their draft stock. Many of them took a great deal of pride in breeding fine horses. But now practically all our work stock comes from other states. While prices for, mules and horses, already have ad vanced considerably, there are ing to move still higher. It is mobile is driving our four-footed, friends out, of the fields asAvell as off the roads. Regarding the supply and demand situation for work stock, Wayne Horse Association of America, "'Taking the United State producing only about half as many horses and less -than one-third as many mules as we have lost annually for the past five years. "It will not pay to engage purely for market purposes; cated in a section well suited and who is a good judge of stands their care, to raise enough colts for replacement pur poses, so that he can sell each are five to six years old."- Let's carry our "Live-at-Home" program. step further by producing our own work profitable to raise a few extra BREVITIES Always room at the top, and bottom. .,- . - ' Home brew never helped a home-brocKl. - - ' Ballots work reforms better than bullets. 4 ; Holding the chest high means fuller breaths. ; Nothing stands still; life means progress or decay,-: Heads seldom get together until hearts get together. The miser finds pleasureTlrTdenying himself pleasure Children should, never be mealtime.: : : ' Plenty of wheels turning, rubber tired. . The author of "Give me : owned many slaves. "Better is he that ruleth taketh a city. You cannot harm another without harming yourself j or help another without helping yourself. . Mothers have the most responsibility, least apprecia- tion, longest hours, and most heart breaks. To be admired, quit talking about yourself, and give the other fellow a chance to talk about himself. Clippings EUROPE'S RECOVERY BEYOND NEW DEAL STAGE Europe is recovering from the de pression without an NRA. -v How can she do it? "The reason," says Andre M au reus, French author and commenta tor on world affairs, in the Rd- tarian Magazine, "is that this task hasbeen rendered more easy be cause of two factors. First of all, Europe did have ; her New Deal, before America. . European-fihan-" ciers were very, indignant last sum mer, when America had apparently decided on inflation, and it is true that, at that time, Europe was sick of inflation. Why? Because she herself had gone in for inflation on a grand scale a few years before. "There is another reason why countries like France, or even ap parently much less wealthy coun tries, like Spain, can stand the cris is better than the United States. In France, the backbone of the coun try consists of a large number of small farmers, living on their own land, and producing all the food they need, sometimes even the clothes they wear. In good years, Public A PESSIMISTIC PROPHECY I am a newcomer in Macon coun ly. It was toward the end of June last year when Edith and I came winding through Swain county, de lighted at its beauty, only to be completely overwhelmed the next day by the grandeur of the moun tains around Highlands. We had been recommended to this section by a certain Mr. Smil ey who used to teach in Highlands. He, with his wife and eight of his children, now lives and teaches in Bushnell below Bryson City. There may be some readers in Highlands township who recall having gone to school under him. His eldest son is now a librarian at the State University at Chapel Hill. First we were sent to the Flats. indications that-they are, go foolish to think, that the auto Dinsmore, secretary of the says: as a whole, we have been in raising horses or mules but it will pay any farmer lo to raising horses and mules, horses and 4 mules , and under year the work animals that stock. Maybe we will find it head to sell to .our neighbors. BY E. E. F. made sad at bed time or-at 1 but too many of them are - U liberty or give me death" : ' -1: his own spirit than he that the farmers exchange their surplus products with the outside world, and then they buy a dress, a cart, or a bicycle. In bad years, this little agricultural group retires with in itself. Granted that they can sell nothing, it is at least certain that they do not die of hunger. "Still another factor," he contin ues, "which renders the life of Eu ropean peasants more easy in times of crisis is that almost all of them havemoneysaved. The American farmer had mortgaged his future. On the contrary the French or Italian farmer has made a habit of always having something in reserve for the future. He does not like to have recourse to credit. He does so only when compelled by illness, but never or very rarely in order to buy land. When he buys land, he pays cash for it in bank notes extracted from his 'woolen stock ing.' This is a more cautious meth od, but it is less dangerous to the national economy "Furthermore, the banking system of Europe is older, more conserva tive, more centralized, and is there fore better prepared to weather j financial storm." Opinion We didn't find anything there, but we heard about a piece farther up the road. The attractive thing about this new piece of land was that it had a clear title and the man who wanted to sell a few of his acres was an honest, fair-dealing man. His name is Columbus Vinson. We bought his place back down the Otto-Highlands wagon road below Broadway Gap, a part of the old McCall estate and near the Andrew Wilson place. Last summer we used to sit on the Vinson porch in the evening and talk about business, poiltics, the economic drift and the NRA. The other day he asked, me what I thought the future held in store. 1 wrote back that I would address a letter to The Press and enlarge up- IT PAYS TO CURE j IIC IE SUPPLY OF MEAT HOME erood advice on curing l3 Pr'1 at home is given by J. H. McLeod, extension livestock specialist of the University of Ten nessee, in an article appearing in the current issue of the Southern Cultivator. ' ' Many farmers in Macon county, as well as in other sections of the south, are losing money and living on poor fare because they cure an insufficient supply of meat. There is no EOod reason why this county cannot supply its own pork, but Franklin grocers each year import thousands of pounds of side meat, most of it for sale to rural cus totners. . Mr. McLeod points out that pork can be raised and cured at home 35 per cent cheaper than it can be bought. Continuing, he adds "While there are a large number of fanners who have had splendid success in the butchering and cur ing pork, there are others who have not been entirely satisfied with re suits secured. , "Some people have been disap pointed in the quality of "meat they have obtained. This may be due to the curing or to the type of hogs they have killed. Heavy hogs of ten attract attention in a commun ity for their size and weight, but they do not make the best quality of meat. The choicest hams and meat come from hogs that do not weigh over 200 pounds however, hogs weighing around 250 pounds make nice meat and are very satisfactory because of a larger dressing per centage and for the larger amount of lard obtained. Rapidly grown hogs are more palatable and will Valso keep longer whether fresh or i cured. ' Hogs that are kept off feed (for 15 to 24 hours before slaughter ing, bleed better and produce meat of somewhat better quality. Hogs for slaughter shoujd be handled I qqietly and gently. Beating and l i t-f i cnasmg nogs Deiorc Mauguici ia detrimental to a good 'stick,' and bruises from the licks leave blood spots that have to be trimmed out. on the few predictions which 'I out lined to him. It is a risky business predicting about recovery or depression. It's like predicting about the weather. Who knows how hot next summer will be, or how dry? " But when we observe closely, we seem to discern a similarity after all whn we compare business cy cles, the- ups and downs, with the seasons, winter and summer. Or take the parables of ancient times such as are in the Bible where seven Jean and seven fat years fol low each other. Nowadays we can be sureof this that recovery is getting under way in some quarters, that prices are rising, that business is picking up-all (perhaps) because the gov ernment is putting money into the hands of th.e purchasing public if for no other reason. It is very risky to predict. One can endanger his reputation "play ing with such fire," but I'll take the risk. Everyone has to plan for the future and everyone has to guess. Else, how would a man turn a tra or start up a business or buy a farm ? Before I "predict the future," however, I want to state a few of the things which perplex me as 1 watch the present trends of nation al affairs. The first is the gold hoard. My question is why we every Tom, Ilick-and Harry. oL us had to turn in every little piece of gold we miyht-have -been . saving -even for sentimental reasons and now Con gress has to engage in a bitter fight and the whole country be torn in verbal conflict . in order to get the Reserve banks to release to the government the very gold which wr turned over to them. This I do not understand and I believe it would be hard for anyone to explain. Secondly. I am' concerned about the future of the farmer. It ap pears as if he were "in for" years more of hard sledding, turn he left or turn he right. The road straight ahead was long since blocked. Reasons for concern are easily grasped. We need only bear in mind that the farmer lived under a cloud from 1920 to 1929, while the sun shone on Detroit and Los An geles. With the return of "pros perity" the government hopes to carry the farmer along with the rest of the boys on their road up to the "peak." The government is going to try to carry the farmer along? The plan reads like a fairy talc. The stable boy is going to rise in the world just like the young prince? Indred ible! Can the administration, try as it may, carry the farmer along on an equal basis with the other branches of business? I doubt it, and for many reasons the greatest being, probably, because land values tend to mount faster than farm profits because of the influx of "surplus" money from banking, manufactur ing, and merchandizing sources. Land is sure much safer than stocks and bonds. Therefore it is bid up in price until it has an arti ficial value, a speculative value, so that the farmer who wants to own Tli2 Farmer's Question Box. Timely Questions Answered by N. C. State College Experts Question.: Can I get some forms or blanks for ' keeping records on mv ooultrv flock? Antweri forms tor keeping flock improvement and ' production records are furnished .by the ejc tension Poultrvman at State Col lege to all poultrymen who will acrree to. ; keep, such records and make monthly reports to his office. The records turned in each month are figured at the College and a report made to each cooperator to gether with suggestions as to how to improve the flock. Detailed in formation mav be secured from vour farm -aeent or from C. F. Parrish, State College, Raleigh. Question: Can a farmer sign the corn-hog contract if he does not intend to plant corn or" raise hogs this year? Answer: Yes, provided that corn and hoes were produced on the farm in 1932-33. However, the grower cannot receive payment for any reduction in excess of 30. per cent of the 1932-33 production. The production of hogs may also be cut 1 as much as the. grower sees fit but he will only receive payment tor 25 per cent of the 1932-33 produc tion which claim should be support ed by . sales receipts or by signed statements from persons or agen cies buying, selling, or consigning the hogs. "There are four main reasons why pork spoils on the farm. They are: First, improper bleeding ; second, failure- to get the animal heat out of meat before curing; third, failure to repack meat during the curing process; fourth, failure to cure long enough." his farm and live on it must go in to debt in order to buy the land, a debt which the return from his la bor does not liquidate. Everyone knows the results of false land val ues. It is a plain fact that since the grand "opening up" days of 1870 industry and finance have reserved for themselves the best seats in the theatre and have slowly, but surely, pushed agriculture' into the . end seats and even so far up and out that many must beg today . for "standing room." The administration proposes to do the ordinary business trick, so common among manufacturers and especially among monopolies - and trusts, of cutting production in such a way as to be able to "hold up" the consumer, much as if the whole process were not a systematic, slow, but sure method of killing the goose that lays the golden egg. To that end we have special taxes and the movement to take land out of pro duction, especially the production of certain staple crops. - Except for land which the gov ernment actually buys and rehabili tates by forestration, the whole pro gram is in danger of collapsing within the next two years. The first reason for its demise will be the fact that farmers with out contracts will continue to over load the market, production will be stimulated, - either because of - new land turned over A& the staple-crops or because of the intensification of cultivation on - the - part of "those with government contracts. Further more, American agriculture is gear ed to produce for a much larger market than the demands of home consumption. Now appears the second problem how to increase home consump tion. Alas, we find that the city will not, in the long run, be made a better consumer, . even though more of his purchasing power is di verted toward agricultural products ! Queer as ihat may sound because the city man's inability (in that his purchasing power has been diverted to food products) to keep other in dustries active will throw him into unemployment thus increasing again the number of people who will have to return to agriculture to produce for the dwindling city mar ket! Nor can it be maintained thai what the city man fails to buy of shoes and shirts will be bought by the farmer thus keeping the city workers employed. Whatever sur plus there is for the fanner due to processing taxes is quickly taken up by taxation, interest, higher costs of that which he buys, etc. Fur thermore, the plan will work out to give the farmer the same money for a smaller crop if it works out at all by cutting production, making the increase per bushel greater, but the real income per farm will not rise except where aided by actual bonuses from the government.' And, once the city has recovered i a bit. it will become jealous watch ing Uncle Sam play Santa Claus to the farmer by special processing taxation, and pressure will be brought. , upon" the government to discontinue "subsidizing" the farm 5 c::r.c:: c:.:zz 1:1 gullies TX) get the best results from L check dams in gullies, tops of dams should be low enough in the middle and high enough at the ends to carry the runoff water after heavy rains without overflowing gully banks or washingsoil around ends of dams, say engineers of the United States Department of Agri culture. , If dams are too higlv the carry ing capacities of gullies are reduced and water overflows their banks and washes'around the .ends of the dams, and can form new gullies down the slopes parallel to the old ones. . Where dams are. watertight the ends should extend far enough into the gully banks to prevent water seeping around the dams and washing away the sides oL gullies. Foundations of dams should ex--tend far enough below the bottoms of the gullies so that , hydraulic pressure will not force the water under the dams, to undermine and destroy them. The floorsaLgullies should be paved at the lower sides of the dams for sufficient length and width to prevent any erosion or undermining of the dams by wat er dropping over the crests. ; Dams are built in gullies to cause their filling with sediment carried by runoff water and to check soil erosion. When gullies in pasture lands eliminate danger of accidents 1 to grazing animals. ' - Temporary dams usually are made of materials found on farms, ouch as . stakes, brush, straw, logs and loose rock. Woven wire is also used. Most temporary dams are porous wnen tirst built, but the spaces gradually fill with trash' and soil brought down by the' water. Caldwell county : farmers paid $1,477.75 for enough red raspberry , plants to plant 118 acres of land. , In Yadkin county, 94 wheat grow ers have received rental payments of $2,490.20 for reducing the acre age this winter. .-' ; ""'"' er. Then he will be back where he f . f e t f.i . ; . t . was snunieu on into ; e upper balconies, while protection and sub sidies ana loans will continue tor tranasportation, commerce, manu facturing and finance. Furthermore, with this extr land , ' i t t i . . wmcn ne no longer plants in cotton or wheat, the farmer will raise his demand for autos, tractors, fer- tilizer, gasoline and freight ear thereby reducing employment in the cities and diminishing his own mar ket for better-priced vegetables, x i litis, uli i it a auu - uiuci . uiwiulis such as lumber for houses and buildings. The end result will be that tht farmer will become mores, self-sufficient, the demands for commercial products will decline, the cities will lose.: their only . market rjd the farmer in turn will lose 'Kir market and there will be a general 'migra tion back to the land end back to the subsistance level. - This letter is only , a taste of the great problem which the govern-. ment faces, the problem of Balanc ing the city with the country how? to maintain this enormout city civ ilization, built up tinder f rivlege and favortism with no real consumers for its mass production, or for iu expanded agricultural facilities. There is an abundance being pro duced everywhere, but tht devices for distribution should be" enlarged. ra ttier - tli-in - 4k - nt'iflw -fsum . rvf .... ...ua ..... Vllll.llg VIWffH V- production all along the line in w--der to raise prices and make it fcar der than ever to distribute 1 """ And now to predict. I predict a rise in farm prices Between now and the coming of summer, and then, if the government discon tinues its huge relief and emergency expenditures, as it says it wilL. or even to only a partial extent of what it says it will, down will come the prices just when the crop is ready for harvest, and the country will find itself slipping again. Furthermore, good as this emer gency money is, it only postpones the day the day when it will not be distributed any longer a day which everyone dreads. , True enough, we do not despair. . In fact we put our hands into thev t. i . . i . . . siau-urtK ami get wnat we can out before the bag is empty! But the more we get, the harder will be the later re-adjustment after our specu-' . lativc "dive." But to manv of us; jit is not speculations at all; it is' just learning over again the oldest lesson of the human rack, to store food for the winter and for the; rainy day. . Sincerely, Cecil Headrick.. Rainbow Springs J. W. Stanley went to Brysoiv City one day last week to attend', court. A. W. Agee left last week for the eastern part of this state on business. S. M. Wolfe, of Asheville, was in' town on an inspection tour through' our plant last week. r Mr. and Mrs. Troy Sheffield and Miss Edith Tittle motored over to Hayesville for a pleasant drive last Sunday.
The Franklin Press and the Highlands Maconian (Franklin, N.C.)
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Feb. 1, 1934, edition 1
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