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PROGRESSIVE
LIBERAL INDEPENDENT
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CAPITAL AWAITS
COURTRUUNGS
Fate of New Deal Agen
cies, NRA and TV A,
Hangs In Balance
WASHINGTON, March (Spe
cialThe Supreme Court of the
United States is once more the
center of interest here, because of
the highly important cases which
are either now before it or on
their swift way to it. Upon the
Supreme Court's decisions will de
pend the fate of NRA and of so
many of its provisions, as well as
some of the other things which
the Administration has undertaken,
that there is a decided tendency
both in Congress and in the Exec
utive branch of the Federal Gov
ernment to mark time until the
Court has acted. A large part of
Mr. Roosevelt's New Deal is, in
effect, on trial.
The case which the Supreme
Court now has under consideration
is that of a southern lumber com
pany which refused to recognize
NRA or any part of it, and set up
as its defense that the National
Industrial Recovery Act was un
constitutional. The Federal Dis
trict Court held that the lumber
company was right, and the Gov
ernment appealed.
A decision in this case is expect
ed in the course of a few weeks.
It may or it may not settle all of
the questions which are raised in
the three other important eases
which have been decided against
the Government in the past couple
of weeks, by lower Federal courts.
Three Other CaM
One of those is the Kentucky
coal-mine case, in which the mme-j
owners denied the right of the i
Federal Government to regulate the j
wage scale or the hours of labor.
The District court ruled in favor
of the mine-owners.
Another is the decision in the
Weirton Steel Company case that
the Government has no power to
regulate manufacturing, under the
interstate commerce clause of the
Constitution. The Administration's
contention is that anything which
is manufactured comes under Fed
eral jurisdiction if it is to be sld
across state lines. The district
court ruled that "commerce" does
not include manufacturing; it also
ruled that the famous "7a" section
of NRA the collective bargaining
clause, had not been violated by
the establishment of a company
union in the Weirton steel plant.
The third case which is being ap
pealed by the Government is of
even broader scope. It is the rul
ing of Judge Grubb in the Federal
District Court of Alabama that the
Tennessee Valley Authority, nor
any other arm of the Federal Gov
ernment, has no right to compete
with private business. The TVA
has been busy making contracts to
sell power from the Government
dams on the Tennessee River, in
several states. Judge Grubb ruled
that it had no right to build dams
except to improve navigation, and
could generate power only as an
incident to that right. This ruling,
if upheld by the Supreme Court,
would put an end to President
Roosevelt's "yardstick" plan, of
making the cost of power generat
ed by the TVA a measaure by
which to control electric rates
everywhere.
Washington Surmises
Lawyers here who usually guess
pretty closely how the Supreme
Court will decide think that its de
cisions in these cases will put a
pretty tight curb on NRA and
TVA. There is a decidedly jittery
feeling apparent in Administration
circles, especially among the ardent
voung reformers who have had a
hand in shaping thees projects and
"selling" them to the nation.
The fact seems to be that Mr.
Roosevelt is trying to consolidate
his position for the Presidential
election of 1936, and to regain
Death Investigated
"
PINEHUB8T, N. 0. . . . Above
Is a recent informal photo of Mrs.
JL Bradley Davidson, Jr., heiress to
the Statler hotel fortune, whose
death from monoxide gas is the
garage of her home here is being
closely investigated.
Stars Win
Local Basketball Team
Beats H axle wood
Overcoming a lead of 16-to-0 in
the first quarter, the Franklin All
Stars defeated the Hazlewood tan
nery basketball team at Waynes -ville
Friday night by the final
score of 29 to 26. For the first
two periods it looked as if the
game would be an easy win for
Hazlewood, but the Franklin boys
snapped out of it to win by 3
points.
Rogers starred at guard for the
local quint. He seemed to be all
over the court at one time. Bryson
played an excellent game as for
ward, scoring 16 points, while Dal
ton, Fouts and Rickman all played
a good defensive game.
Summerrow and Queen were out
standing performers for the Hazle
wood team.
The line-up:
Franklin (29). .Pos.. Hazlewood (26)
Dal ton (5) F Swangium (6)
Bryson (16) F. .Summerrow (12)
Fouts (2) C Hilmick (2)
Rogers (4) G Wyatt ..
Rickman (2) ...G Queen (6)
Subs. Franklin : Sheffield.
Legion Meets Monday;
Bonus To Be Discussed
The Macon county post of the
American Legion is scheduled to
hold a regular meeting at 7:30,
o'clock Monday night, March 18, in
the court house. A. R. Higdon,'
adjutant of the post, urged that
all members of the legion and all
other ex-service men attend, as the
bonus will be discussed.
'Measuring Party To Be
Held at Louisa Chapel
A "measuring party" for the ben
efit of Louisa Chapel will be given
by the Ladies Aid Society of the
church at 8 o'clock Saturday night,
March 23, in the Patton school
house, according to an announce
ment received by The Press-Ma-conian.
some of the ground he lost by
reason of giving the social reform
ers and radicals too much leeway.
He is much more concerned with
economic recovery than with so
cial reform, just now; for it is
becoming increasingly clear that it
is to the conservatives and the
liberal-conservatives that he must
look for nis main support in 1936.
FRANKLIN. N. C, THURSDAY, MARCH
S. D. ALEXANDER
TO AIDSLOAN
Appointed Assistant Coun
ty Farm Demonstra
tion Agent
S. D. Alexander, of Swannanoa,
a graduate of North Carolina State
college in the class of '34, arrived
here last week to assume his duties
as assistant farm demonstration
agent for Macon county.
Mr. Alexander was assigned to
this post by the Tennessee Valley
Authority, which has undertaken a
vast farm improvement program in
the' western North Carolina counties
in the tributary area of the Tennes
see river. The principal object of
"the TVA in undertaking this pro
gram is to check soil erosion by
encouraging the use of cover crops,
better farming methods and wood
land management. Mr. Alexander
has had valuable experience in this
field of work as a member of the
soil erosion service stationed at
High Point, where large scale ex
periments in preventing erosion
have been under way.
Mr. Alexander's salary will be
paid by the Tennessee Valley Au
thority. He will make his head
quarters in the office of F. S.
Sloan, county farm agent, in the
courthouse, and will assist Mr.
Sloan in his activities.
The TVA program was scheduled
to be outlined by Mr. Sloan and
Mr. Alexander at three community
meetings in the county this week.
They spoke "Wednesday at Otto
and wree slated to appear at 2
o'clock Thursday afternoon at the
Cowee school and at 2 o'clock
Friday afternoon at the Cartooge
chaye Baptist church.
Will Collins, 48,
Dies at Home of Father
Will Collins, 48, of Iotla, died
about 2:30 o'clock Thursday morn
ing of an infection thought to have
been caused by a silver plate that
had been placed in his skull some
years ago.
Collins lived in the state of
Washington for several years and
while on a construction job there
received a fractured skull in an ac
cident. He has made his home
with his father, J. B. Collins, in
the Iotla community for about three
years. He is survived by his fath
er, stepmother; a brother, Ed Col
lins, of Portland, Ore., and several
nieces and nephews.
Funeral services are to be held
Friday morning at 11 o'clock in
the Iotla Methodist church with
the Rev. B. F. Lefler in charge.
Jesse M. Roland, 79,
Dies on Burningtown
Jesse M. Roland, who would
have been 80 years old on March
20, died at his home in the Burn
ingtown section of the county on
March 6. He is survived by two
daughters, Miss Sally Roland and
Mrs. Belle Holbrooks; six grand
children ; two brothers, J. D. and
W. R. Roland, of Franklin. The
funeral was held at the Burning
town Baptist church, of which Mr.
Roland was a member.
Lecture on Cancer
To Be Given at Waynesville
Dr. James, of Hamlet, wilj lecture
on cancer at 7:30 o'clock Tuesday
night, March 19, in the courthouse
at Waynesville.
Bride, 24, and Groom, 60,
Walk 24 Miles To Wed
After walking 12 miles from
their homes in the Leatherman
community, Elsie Shepherd, 24,
and William Patty Flowers, 60,
were married last Thursday in
the office of C. Tom Bryson,
register of deeds. After the
ceremony, which was perform
ed by Magistrate Sam J. Mur
ray, the couple trudged back
home.
14, 1935
Oliver Wendell Holmes
rm mm
WASHINGTON . . . Here is a
favorite photograph of Oliver Wen
dell Holmes, former associate jus
tice of the U. S. Supreme Court,
who died in Washington on March
6. He retired from the bench in 1932.
ROCK CRUSHER
TO BESET UP
Will Provide Stone for
Surfacing County
Roads
Roy Plemmons, of Andrews, dis
trict state highway maintenance
engineer, was here this week mak
ing arrangements to set up a
large rock crusher at Riverside to
crush stone .for surfacing rural
roads in this county.
The crusher, formerly located at
Highlands, but more recently used
in Clay county, it is understood,
will be taken to the quarry site at
Riverside the latter part of this
week or early next week. It has
a capacity of 40 to 45 tons of
crushed stone an hour.
The state highway commission
will supply a foreman for the quar
ry, J. A. Ordway, but the laborers
will be selected from county relief
rolls. Mr. Plemmons has request
ed Miss Rachel Davis, county re
lief administrator, to furnish him a
list of 50 men from which he will
select the necessary number for
working at the quarry. Miss Davis
said the men would be notified to
be prepared to start work Monday
morning.
It has not been announced how
many miles of roads will be sur
faced, but it is thought likely that
stone will be placed on 20 miles or
more, as the highway commission
follows a policy of not installing a
crusher for supplying stone for
shorter lengths. It is reported that
the Clark's Chapel road will be
one of the first to be surfaced.
No announcement has been made
of what other roads will be sur
faced, but it is understood that
the highway commission has offer
ed to supply the Town of Franklin
with crushed stone for surfacing
town streets if the town will haul
the stone and provide a foreman
for the work. Relief help is avail
able for spreading the stone.
Township Tax Listers
Are Appointed
The board of county commission
ers has appointed township tax list
ers for 1935 as follows:
Franklin, Frank R. Leach; Mill
shoal, L. A. Berry; Ellijay, Bill
Bryson; Sugarfork, Mrs. F. E.
Mashburn; Highlands, F. A. Ed
wards; Flats, Roy Dryman; Smith's
Bridge, W. E. Mozely; Cartooge
chaye, Ben Lenoir; Nantahala, Jim
Shields; Burningtown, Robert Par
rish; and Cowee, W. H. Dalton.
Tax-listing is to start promptly
on April 1, it has been announced
by C. Tom Bryson, register of
deeds and supervisor of tax listing.
$1.50 PER YEAR
NEGRO FOILS
MESCAPE
Alleged Bandits Put in
Cage After Attempted
Break Is Thwarted
John and Walter McDonald, al
leged filling station bandits, were
foiled in an attempted break from
the Macon county jail Saturday af
ternoon by a barely legible note of
warning scrawled on a scrap of
paper by a negro prisoner, David
Littlejohn, and tossed out of his
cell window to a small daughter of
the jailor.
The McDonalds had succeeded in
prizing open the iron grill door of
their cell on the second floor of
the jail and had armed themselves
with a heavy piece of timber used
for a door bar. They were waiting
for someone to open the iron trap
door at the head of the stairs lead
ing to the first floor, prepared to
make a desperate dash for freedom,
when the negro, occupying another
cell on the second floor, made his
warning.
Seeing Cassie Dills, second daugh
ter of Jailor John Dills, seated in
a car in front of the jail, the negro
whistled softly to her and then
dropped a small piece of tablet
paper out of the window. She
picked it up and after glancing at
the almost unintelligible words scrib
bled upon it she ran as fast as she
could to the office of Sheriff A
B. Slagle in the courthouse, where
she expected to find her father.
The note read:
"Dick. Don't come up here.
They've broken into the hall and
will hit you over the head with a
plank."
The little girl knew what that
meant. The "Dick" referred to El
der (Dick) Cabe, assistant jailor,
who usually carries wood and food
to the prisoners. Cassie knew also
that the negro meant it was the
McDonalds who had broken from
their cell into the second floor
hallway, for there were no other
prisoners on the second floor. She
could picture the two desperate men
standing at the head of the stair
way ready to club the first person
who unsuspectingly unlocked and
pushed open the iron trap door.
At the sheriff's office Cassie
didn't find her father, but she gave
the note to Mr. Slagle and he
hastened to the jail. He called to
the McDonalds to get in a cell,
warning that he was armed and
would shoot if they did not obey.
But they did obey, as meekly as
lambs.
The jailor, who arrived shortly,
put them in one of the safe-keeping
cells, constructed of heavy iron
bars, from which escape is im
possible without the use of hack
saws.
The two men are awaiting trial
at the April term of superior court
charged with holding up Bill Pen
land, manager of the Shell auto
service station at the intersection
of the Highlands and Dillsboro
highways, at the point of a pistol
and robbing him of approximately
$40. The robbery occurred early in
the afternoon of Saturday, Febru
ary 9, and the McDonalds were
arrested a few hours later near
Scaly on the Highlands-Dillard
road.
NegTO Rewarded
Littlejohn, the negro who foiled
the jail break, is held for trial on
a charge of stealing an overcoat
from another negro, "Uncle" Matt
Ray. Littlejohn, who said he was
from Asheville, had an opportunity
to escape from jail some weeks ago,
but chose to remain.
After thwarting the escape Sat
urday Sheriff Slagle had some
warm clothing bought for the negro,
who hitherto had been only sparse
ly clothed. He also said he would
recommend kind treatment of him
when he comes up for trial on a
charge of larceny. The negro not
only prevented an escape but also
very likely saved somebody from
receiving a cracked skull.