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THE FRANKLIN PRESS and THE HIGHLANDS MACONIAN
THURSDAY. AUGUST , IMS
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Published every Thursday by The Franklin Press
At Franklin, North Carolina
Telephone No. 24
VOL. L Number 32
BLACKBURN W. JOHNSON EDITOR AND PUBLISHER
Entered at the Post Office, Franklin, N. C, as second class matter
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Getting Off Relief
IT IS a healthy sign of the times when jobs become so
plentiful in any part of the country that the relief rolls
can be "purged" of able-bodied men who are now able to
find work. That this condition should have been reached
first in the wheat-growing states is not surprising. South
Dakota began it, by dropping 19,000 heads of families
from the dole, because of the great demand for harvest
workers in the wheat fields. According to reports from
Washington, it is expected that at least 100,000 men who
have been on relief will be dropped from the rolls in the
principal wheat states.
Naturally, some of those are not going to like it. After
a man has been getting money for doing nothing, it is
hard to go back to work, especially if he gets no more
for working than he did for loafing.
The disgruntled few who prefer idleness to work are
already beginning to make a loud noise about the "in
justice" of taking them off relief. Some of the reports
which we have seen in the big city newspapers, especially
in the East, are calculated to give the impression that
practically all of the recipients of relief in the wheat
states are sore because a way has been opened to them
to earn their living instead of subsisting on the public
bounty. We do not believe that is true. We are not
convinced that the moral fiber of the average American
has deteriorated that far.
We can understand the reluctance of a man with a fam
ily to being dropped from relief when he has no assur
ance of getting back on again if his job turns out to be
a temporary one, as jobs in the harvest field necessarily
are. But we understand that Washington has given as
surances that in such cases it will not be such a long and
difficult process to get back on relief as it was to get on
the rolls in the first place.
Sooner or later, the whole relief program must end.
The money and the taxpayers' patience will give out.
We are looking hopefully for a start on all fronts of the
$4,000,000 Work Relief plan. Also, we are looking hope
fully for an important speeding up of the wheels of
private industry.
The situation in the wheat country is, however, en
couraging as far as it goes. Selected.
The Ethiopian Situation
WE are informed by the National Geographic Society
that the proper name of that African kingdom
against which Italy is making threatening gestures is
"Ethiopia." We are glad to get that information. It is
much easier to write "Ethiopia" or pronounce it than to
say "Abyssinia."
Ethiopia is an insignificant little country, inhabited
exclusively by dark-skinned people of several different
racial origins. Officially it is a Christian nation, the re
ligion of the ruling classes being Coptic, which is the old
est surviving Christian sect. Actually the Ethiopians
have many religions, including primitive African Voo
dooism, Mohammedanism and Judaism. The tradition
that the royal family of Ethiopia is directly descended
from King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba, whose visit
to the most famous ruler of the Israelites is described in
the Bible, is firmly believed by the Ethiopians, without
very much evidence to back it up.
Why Mussolini seems bent on making war on Ethiopia
is not quite clear to anybody. The best guess seems to be
that he is facing a popular uprising at home, which threat
ens his dictatorship, and embarxed on his Ethiopian ven
ture to divert the Italian people's minds from their do
mestic troubles.
It is still less clear, from this distance, why England
does not put a stop to Mussolini's warlike gestures by the
simple process of preventing the shipment of Italian sol
diers, munitions and war supplies through the Suez Canal.
The timidity with which European statesmen seem to
be tackling the proglem of preserving the world's peace
suggests that the danger of another general war is more
imminent than we have been led to believe. Everybody
seems to be afraid of everybody else. We are lucky to
be on this side of the Atlantic, and will be luckier still if
we do not get dragged into the coming war. Selected.
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'6 Caleb Johnson
CONGRESS THE
The form of Government set up
by the Constitutional Convention
was a compromise between the
loose alliance under the Articles of
Confederation, and the plan of a
single nation with completely cen
tralized powers. The small States
insisted upon an equal voice with
every other State. . The large
States felt that their wealth, size
and importance entitled them to a
larger voice in the affairs of the
country. These conflicting views
resulted in what historians call the
"Connecticut Compromise."
The colony of Connecticut from
its earliest history had a dual sys
tem of representation in its legis
lature. One house represented the
towns as equal units. The other
house represented all the people as
individuals. This plan became the
basis upon which the Congress of
the United States was set up.
The Constitution provides for
equal representation of all the
States, large and small, in the
Senate, and for representation of
the people in the House of Repre
sentatives, in proportion to the
number of inhabitants.
The Convention was a unit in
agreeing that all power to direct
and regulate the affairs of the
country should reside in this rtp
rcsentative organization, the Con
gress. Section 1 of Article I of the
Constitution reads: "All legislative
powers herein granted shall be
vested in a Congress of the United
States, which shall consist of a
Senate and House of Representa
tives." That provision of the Constitu
tion has never been altered. It
has recently been brought to the
front of public discussion through
the decision of the Supreme Court
that certain acts of the 73rd Con
gress were unconstitutional because
they run contrary to this first and
fundamental provision of the Con
stitution as drafted in 1787. Con
gress cannot delegate to the Exec
utive, or to anybody else, the
power to enact laws or to issue
regulations having the force of law
unless it puts clear and definite
limitations upon the regulative au
thority.
Members of the House of Repre
sentatives, elected directly by i
vote of the people, must be at least
25 years old, and be inhabitants of
the state in which they are elect
ed. There is no constitutional re
quirement for dividing states into
of the
SUPREME POWER
districts, or for members to live
in the districts they represent. That
is something for each state to de
termine. In New York, several
members live outside of their dis
tricts. In Missouri there are no
Congressional districts. The 13
representatives are elected at large
by the voters of the whole state.
Senators must be 30 years old and
residents of their States.
As the body originally closes to
the people, the House of Rpre-
sentatives was given in the , Con
stitution the exclusive right to orig
inate bills for raising revenue.
The insistence of the smaller
States brought about another re
striction upon Congress; it forbade
the levying of any direct tax ex
cept in proportion to population.
This was later changed by the income-tax
amendment, which be
came effective March I, 1913. That
is the only exception to the rule
established in the original Consti
tution, intended to provide that di
rect taxes levied by the Federal
Government shall bear equally up
m all citizens.
The Senators, as the direct rep
resentatives of State governments,
were to be chosen by the legisla
tures of the States. That prevailed
until 1913, when an amendment was
ratified providing for the popular
elections of Senators as well as
Representatives. A still later
amendment, the twentieth, ratified
in 1933, changed the date upon
which the terms of office of Sena
tors and Representatives begin,
from the 4th of March to the 3rd
i)f January, and fixed that date for
the annual meeting of Congress,
instead of the first Monday in
December, as originally provided
in the Constitution.
(Next week: What Congre May
And May Not Do)
Cunninghams and
Campbells Meet Sunday
The Cunningham-Campbell fami
ly reunion will be held Sunday,
August 18, at the home of John
F. Cunningham.
Tourists are finding the scenery
more beautiful than ever this year
because many states have caused
the removal of thousands of high
way signs which were either ob
jectionable as traffic hazards or
spoiled the attractive natural scenery.
RICKMAN CLAN
HAS REUNION
Approximately 150 relatives and
friends attended the Rickman re
union held at the home of Robert
Rickman at West's Mill Sunday.
This reunion is held annually in
memory of the late Rev. Marrett
Rickman, a pioneer Baptist min
ister, who was among the first to
settle in the Cowee Valley.
Talks were made by John D.
Sitton and the Rev. R. F. May
berry, both of Sylva. John E.
Rickman, historian, gave some facts
about the earlier settlers of the
Rickman clan. R. R. Rickman had
an old family Bible, the names
written with an old goose-quill
pen, dating back to 1770.
Resolutions of respect were read
for Albert Rickman of Iotla and
Wiley DeHart, of Swain county,
by Frank L Murray.
After a bountiful picnic dinner
spread in the pine grove, the
crowd re-assembled for a number
of old-time hymns, and the follow
ing officers were elected for the
coming year: president, Samuel J.
Murray; vice-president, Tom Rick
man; historian, John E. Rickman;
and secretary, Mrs. Frank I. Mur
ray. E. O. Rickman. Robert Rick
man, and Sloan Rickman were'
placed on Jhe meeting committee.
FROM the FILES
of
THE PRESS
TEN YEARS AGO
Angel's Hospital announces the
installation of an X-Ray machine.
Electricity from the new Lake
Emory dam will be given Franklin
citizens about October, it was pre
dicted. The Idle Hour theatre recently
purchased 700 opera chairs for the
comfort of the patrons.
Franklin's Big Tabernacle for
the Truitt-McConnel meeting, seat
ing 4,000, has been completed.
Over 70,000 visitors are expected
in town during the ten days of the
meeting.
THIRTY YEARS AGO
The Higgins business block has
been repainted and pencilled.
George Conley was in Franklin
for a short visit.
Bishop Warren A. Candler was
scheduled to preach at one of the
local camp-meetings.
Population of Franklin listed at
335.
M. D. Billings, superintendent of
schools, announced the opening of
the fall term' of Franklin High
School August 28.