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^ llii jWmMI# %iiii anb (Elt* ^Rupklsii&f JKarcnmri Published every Thursday by The Franklin Press At Franklin, North Carolina POL. LXIV Number 8 WEIMAR JONS8 bailor BOB 8. SLOAN - - Business Manager Entered at Post Office, Franklin, N. C., as second class matter. Telephone No. 24 SUBSCRIPTION RATES: One Year. Six Months Three Months Single Copy. Obituary notices, cards of thanks, tributes of respect, by individuals, lodges, churches, organizations or societies, wiU be regarded ss advertising and inserted at regular classified advertising rates, &ueh notices will be marked "adv." in compli ance with the postal requirements. $3.00 $1.35 .75 .0? Time To Chang* Strategy COME Southern leaders in congress teamed up ^ recently with northern Republicans in a vain ef fort to restore the oJd house regulation under which the rules committee held the power of life and death over all legislation. The Southerners' motive, of course, was to defeat President Truman's civil rights program by preventing its coming up for a vo.te in the house. Fortunately, the plan failed, for nothing could be more undemocratic ; and th? house may pass the President's measures. If the program should pass in the house, South erners in the senate will seek to defeat it by use oS the filibuster. In short, the single Southern tactic is to keep civil rights legislation from coming to a vote. A lot of Southerners who have little patience with the so-called civil rights legislation are coming to. the conclusion that that is bad strategy. In the first place, it has put the South on the de fensive. We are placed in the position of opposing equal rights for a minority, and of resorting to un democratic methods to keep the Negro in the South in bondage. The question of whether that is true be comes secondary ; that is the position we are placed in. That only adds fuel to the flame or northern fervor. Kach time the South wins by these methods, the lionest non-Southern crusaders become even more zealous; and to the northern demagogue, the situation .presents a perfect issue for catching the Negro vote. The Southerners have held this position so long that the issue has become inflamed, and today there appears little doubt that we are going to have some sort of civil rights legislation. It is in the cards ; if not at this session of congress, then at the next, or the next. A change in strategy is long overdue. The time has come for Southern congressmen to let the civil rights program come to a vote. Most of them, no doubt, are quite honest in be lieving that the proposed laws are wrong, wholly unworkable; and that they will add to, rather than lessen, racial friction. So. they could hardly be ex pected to vote for these measures ; but they can let them come to a vote. What would happen if they did? The first result would be to take the Negro in the South out of the role of a downtrodden martyr. And the South out of the role of an oppressor anil an obstructor of democratic processes. That would tend to restore discussion of the subject to an in tellectual rather than its present emotional level. In the second place, it would completely rob the northern demagogue of his chief issue. Incidental ly, too, if the Southerners want to embarrass the President ? and manv of them do ? they could find no better method. With an election coming up, it is quite possible that the administration would find means to prevent enactment of the program into law ? even the President i,s too good a politician to deliberately forfeit an issue that might give him the balance-of-power Negro vote. The Southerners have repeatedly .sought a cexn promise, and been rebuffed. If they permitted a vote on civil rights, the chances are they would get their compromise. Civil rights advocates, faced with the prospect of an easy victory, would feel a sense af responsibility now absent. Either in this congress or the next, they probably would pass a greatly watered-down program ; if in this congress, almost certainly one that would sound good but mean little. But suppose the who.'e drastic program proposed by the President were enacted? In the long run, that might be the best thing that could happen. For the South either must ac cept a civil rights program or discredit it. And no better way to discredit it ? in fact the only way ? is to enact the President's program and let the country see for itself that it is unworkable. And of course it is. Because, basically, it involve* good will between the races. And you can no more create good will by legislation than you can create personal morality be legislation. By comparison, enforcement of prohibition wm no problem nt all. rr I k ? ElMtlte MtflhinirV rtuMilani CeWttty'i' board of elections will meet at the courthouse toHlorroW to hear the publlfl-On two Questions : Shall there be a new county-wide regis tration of voters? and shall Franklin township be divided into two precincts? Board members report there is opposition to both proposals. Tomorrow the board will hear those who favor and those who oppose them. Whether a new registration is necessary to put the registration books in order fhis newspaper does not claim to. know. But it does know that some thing needs to be done. The registration books should contain the names of all eligible, voters who are enough interested in voting to take the trouble to register ; they should ?not contain the names of those who long since have died or have moved their legal residence to other counties or other states. It should be possible for any citizen to determine at any time who is and who is not registered, and how many qualified voters there are in any precinct or in the county. That ccrtainly is not the case now ; even election officials can only guess at how many of those whose names afe on the registration books are alive and still citi zens of this county. The books ought to be put ? and kept ? in A-l shape. Whatever .steps are necessary to accomplish that end pught to be taken. If it takes a re-regis tratio,n, then lpt'? have 3 re-registration. As to the division of Franklin township, here are a few facts: In the 1948 election, 1,804 ballots were cast for President in this precinct. In that election, and every other recent election where there were many races, the election officials had to count all night and far into the ne*t day. In area also, the township is large; It extends from the old Lyle place on the Dillsboro road to the old Lenoir place on the Murphy road, and from Foutstown on the north to the Morrison church on the south. It is big enough, both in area and population, to be divided into four or five rather than just two precincts ; such a division would seem to make reg istration and voting more convenient for the citi zens of the township. We need either a division or a voting machine. One other change, too, ought to ;be made. The polling place or places should be on the ground floor. The courtroom Qf the courthouse not only is inadequate; it is not right "tp expect the elderly or the crippled to climb the courthouse .stairs in order to vote. Can You Vote? It is a citizen's duty and responsibility to vote in every election. That is doubly true of the school bond election February 21. Furthermore, every citizen of this county has a personal interest in the outcome of that election. On the one hand, if the bond proposal is approv ed at the polls, it means that this county will as sume a debt of half a million dollars, and every man woman, arid child in the co.unty will have to con tribute, (directly or indirectly, to repay that debt. On the other hand, if the bonds are defeated, it means that the children of this county must suf fer ? your children, or your grandchildren, or your neighbor's children. It means also that the entire progress of the co.unty will be retarded. The school bond election, therefore, presents an issue in which each one of us has a personal stake. But can you vote in that election? You cannot, unless you are registered. The proposed new county-wide re-registration does not apply to the school bond election. But at every election a lot of folks go to the polls to vote, o.nly to find that their names are not on the regis tration books. Are you sure about yours? The registration books close February 11. But to be safe, don't wait till then. 'Check with" your regis trar, at your polling place, this Saturday ; make sure your name is o.n the books. Wire Tapping Again Again wire-tapping has been given official ap proval. this time by President Truman's attorney general, Mr. McGrath. He and J. Edgar Hoover defend the practice on the grounds that it is employed only in serious cases. The FEH, Mr. Hoover suggests, taps the wires of only the worst criminals ; good citizens are safe. That, it might be remarked, was exactly the argu ment Hitler advanced in defense of some o.f his practices. This is not the first time federal officers have been upheld in their resort to the questionable prac tice of tapping wires to trap those apparently too smart to be trapped otherwise. But to date none o.f those who uphold the practice has been able to answer the argument of Justice Brandeis. In a dissenting opinion, that great defender of American civil liberties had this to say of wire tapping: "It is immaterial that the intrusion was in aid of law enforcement. Experience should teach us to be most on our guard to protect liberty when the gov ernment's purposes are beneficent. "Men born to freedom are naturally alert to repel invasion of their liberty by evil-minded .rulers. The greatest dangers to liberty lurk in insidious en croachment by men af zeal, well-meaning but. with out understanding." ???A TMBUTB TO ~ii?' Senator Frank P. -Graham . By Drew- Pearson (EDITOR'S NOTE: The following character sketch ot Norttt Oaroltai'i Junior V. S. Senator is of spec 1*1 interest here, since Senator Graham will address the annual dinner meeting of the Franklin chamber of Commerce February 25. The article, which appeared hi Pearson's Washington column, Merry -Go Round, January 18, is noteworthy, ta that Vie author of the Merry -Go- Round is much more often critical than commen datory of public officials. The article is reprinted by special per mission of the Bell Syndicate.) WASHINGTON ? A modest little man who looks like a small town hardware merchant has completely won the heart of cynical Capitol Hill In less than a year. He is Frank P. Graham, former president of the University of North Carolina, now Senator from that State. Graham is as friendly and disarming as a puppy, has a lively twinkle In his dark eyes, and has spare gray hair that looks as though he'd just come In from a wind-storm. When Dr. Graham was appointed to the Senate last March, John Brlcker, rlghtwing Republican, raised the clamor that the newcomer was a "radical." Sen. Forrest C. Donnell of Missouri, a conscientious conserva tive, asked his GOT colleague, Wayne Morse, "What kind of a fellow is Graham? You served with him on the War Labor Eoard." To the deeply religious Donnell, Senator Morse replied, "For rest, I have often said you were the most Christian man I know. Frank Graham is the moat Christlike man I know.'' Months later, Donnell remarked to Morse: "Remember what you said about Frank Graham being the most Christlike man you know? Well, I share your opinion. Whenever Senator Graham rises from a Senate desk that almost swollows him? he Is the shortest man on the floor Senators come back from the cloakrooms to listen. This is a tribute few men in Senate history have won. Frank Graham Is not -an orator, in the manner of dramatic Arthur Vandenberg. He speaks In a soft drawl, but he is ab'e to put in simple words the great problems of the day, and point the way clearly to their answers. After his Senate speech on the Atlantic Pact, Republican Sen. Charles Tobey, himself a vivid phrasemaker, remarked in awe:' "FV^nk Graham's speech was the greatest I have ever heard in the Senate. The Senator has given us a pattern, not for my party or his party, but a pattern for America. I commend his State for having given him to us as a Senator." After another Graham talk, Senator Vandenberg said thought fully, "I was profoundly impressed by his grasp of the subject." Despite the praise showered on him, Frank Graham is still a modest, unassuming man with a great affection for pgople. He will spot a friend, a Senator, an elevator boy working his way through college, or a reporter, and trot up to Wfli. "Hey, there," he will say, "got something to talk to you about." Senator Graham Is one of the piost conscientious men in Washington, and a story Is told of how President Roosevelt exploited this. Dr. Graham's university trustees had asked him to resign from the War Labor Board and give all his time to (toe uhlveraity, Graham stayed up all night writing ajid re writing his letter of resignation to the President. ? When he arrived at the White House, Mr. Roosevelt, who had been tipped off, got in the first word. He said, "Frank, what would you think of a man who deserts his nation in time of war? I have a businessman here who wants to resign from the War Production Board and go back to his company?" Later, when Dr. Graham returned to his hotel, a friend asked, "Well, did you resign?" Meekly, Graham drew from his poeket the rumpled but still unopened letter of resignation. Others' Opinions THE FOOTBALL BANQUET Seventy-five miles is a long ways to drive for your supper, but it -was worth it. . . . Our thanks to the Franklin Rotary Club and the ladles who prepared the delicious ham for the invita tion to the annual Franklin High School football banquet last Wednesday evening. . . . Also, to Dr. Edgar Angel for an extra large helping of ice cream in his spacious kitchen following the banquet. ... There's nothing like a large hunk of ice cream and oake as a just before going to sleep snack. . . . And if you don't believe us, ask Coach Carl Snavely. . . . Incidentally, that's the first time we ever saw the dour Dutchman of Chapel Hill shove his plate back with some ice cream still remaining on it. ... If there's one thing Snavely likes better than winning foot ball g.ames it's eating ice cream, but Dr. Angel had his number ? there was Just too much of the luscious cream and not enoogh Snavely appetite. During our short stay In the Macon County metropolis we learned enough to convince us that Franklin High will be a team to contend with on Western North Carolina gridirons very soon. . . . The town is firmly behind Coach Milburn Atkins in his work to give them a winner. . . . They have built him a concrete stadium of 4,000 capacity with the latest type lights, and they are giving him more than just a pat oh the back. . . . Atkins, who not so long ago was quarterbacklng for the Carson Newman (Tenn.) Eagles, has brought the tricky Frosty Holt "T" to Franklin and it is beginning to click. . . . Right now his material is a bit on the small side, but judging from the way the boys were putting away the food they won't be that way very long. ? Red Miller in his Ashevllle Citizen-Times sports column, "Straight Talk". PUBLISHING COURT PROCEEDINGS As always with newspapers, some News-Herald readers are prone to fine objection to publishing the proceedings of the County Recorder's Court. We have been criticized for pub'ishlng them and we have been criticized for not publishing We realize there will be criticism, either way. Proceedings of the court are public information, like the Superior Court. Anyone who desires can go to the records in ' the courthouse and read them. That is Democracy ? our chosen way of lift. The best way to keep your nr-ne out of the court proceed ings is not to get Into court. The News-Herald has nothing to do with who gets into court, trial proceedings, or the ver dict. This newspaper only reports the court proceedings after they have taken place. We do not wish to condemn or con done the behavior of anyone. We only want to report the news as it happens. Another problem that we cannot solve is two or more people in the county having the same name. One is a defendant in court. His name appears in the proceedings. His "name sake" is often ribbed by his friends, even though he is Innocent. The address of each defendant is not given on the war rants. There is no way of telling when a name la published, how many more people in this county have the same name. It might help to check crime or law breaking, If the de fendant knows that his, or her name is going to be published. Other newspapers publish the court proceedings. And The News-Herald will continue to do so. If you do not want your name In the paper, stay out of court.? Morganton News-Herald. Almost everything that la ireat has been done by youth. ?Benjamin Disraeli. &2L j Families In .N. C. Paid $17,684,000 In Life Insurance North Carolina families re ceived $17,684,000 in life Insur ance death benefit payments In the first nine months of this year, compared with $15,315,000 in the corresponding period of last year, the Institute of Life Insurance has reported. The number of policies be coming claims In the f list nine months was 17; 965 which com pares with 15,067 in the corre sponding period of 1948. Louisiana's sugar plantations, after a batt'.e against mosaic and other diseases that began a quarter century ago, are now better than ever and improving year by year. LEGAL ADVERTISING EXECUTOR'S NOTICE Having qualified as executor of Mary Gibson Henry, deceas ed, late of Macon County, N. C., this is to ntolfy all persons having claims against the estate of said deceased to exhibit therm to the undersigned on or before; the 16th day of January, 1951, or this notice will be plead in bar of their recovery. All per~ sons Indebted to said estate will please make Immediate settle ment. This 16th day of January, 1950. FRANK POTTS, Executor. J19 ? 6tp ? F23 To Relieve - Misery 9 {fid 666 M TMUTJ - HUM Htfl HU? We Stock BROWN GUMMED TAPE Three Widths: 1 V2 inch 2 3 Also Outside Gummed 1 Vi wide THE FRANKLIN PRESS Phone 24 "We Shoulder Your Laundry Burdens" None too large or bco small to receive Careful Attention HIGHLANDS CLEANERS AND LAUNDRY PHONE at Highland*, N. C
The Franklin Press and the Highlands Maconian (Franklin, N.C.)
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