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VOL. urvn Namber 38
*
Published every Thursday by The Franklin Press
At Franklin, North Carolina
Telephone 24
Bntered at Post Office, Franklin, N. C., as second class matter.
WEIMAR JONES .Editor
BOB 8. SLOAN .....Business Manager
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In Macon County? One Year.
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ance with the postal requirements.
SEPTEMBER 18, 1952
The Time Is Now
As the 1952 tourist season nears its end, The
Press makes hold to offer a couple of suggestions.
They are offered not only to the chambers of
commerce of Highlands and Franklin, but to the
heads of all businesses affected by the arrival and
departure of the tourists ? and what Macon County
business isn't?
Suggestion No. 1. The time to start planning for
next season is NOW. Now, when the possibilities
of tourism are vivid with us ; now when we are
most keenly aware of our individual and commun
ity handicaps and lacks as a tourist center.
Usually we wait until the late spring. Then we
start planning when we should be acting. The result
is hasty planning; plus failure to take full advan
tage of our opportunities during the season, and
often failure to get the most for the dollar we spend
for tourist advertising.
Suggestion No. 2. Any tourist planning should
include ways and means to keep the tourist season
going full blast THROUGH October.
Never do we have more to offer the visitor than
during our glorious autumns. And extension of the
season by two months would spell the difference
between a living ancf real prosperity for the busi
nesses affected by the tourists ? and what business
isn't?
Question Of Freedom
In the 1948 general election, every strictly rural
county in Western North Carolina, save Mitchell,
cast a larger proportion of its eligible vote than the
average in either the state or the nation.
V
In the nation as a whole, according to a county
by-county report prepared by Senator Owen Brew
ster (R., Maine) and printed as a senate document,
only 52 per cent of persons 21 years of age and
older bothered to go to the polls and vote. The
percentage in North Carolina was only 34.
But in rural Western North Carolina (Mitchell
county excepted), the percentages ranged from 55
,in Madison county to 80 in Clay. (Macon, casting
61 per cent, ranked eighth among the 12 predomi
nantly rural counties of the mountain area.)
Pointing out that the report shows Buncombe as
casting only 39 per cent of its possible vote, and
the largely industrial counties of Burke and Ruth
erford only 51 and 45 per cent, respectively, The
Asheville Citizen interestingly .speculates :
Is it true that the larger the population grows the
smaller the vote becomes? It is not true nationally, but
it seems to be a dreary truism locally, in North Caro
lina. The larger counties of Mecklenburg and Guilford
east even (ewer votes proportionately in 1948 than Bun
combe.
If- voting is a mark of good citisenahlp, certainly it is
true that the farther yoc go from urban centers the
closer you come to full citizen participation in the fran
chise. Paradoxically, areas apparently with the least stake .
in government are the most concerned about it. Or is that
because they are more conscientious?
It may be, as The Citizen suggests, that it is a
Our American Civilization
Assuming, of our natural resources, that we can
have our cake and eat it, top".
Severely punishing our children for lying; then
going to the office or the social function and our
selves lying without compunction.
Letting the experts at the state or national level
tell us how to run our schools, our; churches, and
our communities; putting th| blame on local offici ,
aLs when the experts are proved wrong.
matter of conscience. But we suggest ano'ther ex
planation.
As .people are more and more crowded into urban
areas, they progressively Jose, -and become accus
tomed to the loss pi, minor personal freedoms; in
the sparsely populated rural areas, it is possible for
people to hold on to these small personal freedoms.
Furthermore, the people of this mountain area are
traditionally noted as being jealous of their liber
ties.
\V'e suspect that the heavy vote in the rural
counties of the mountain area is a question of free
dom ? a determination to use the freedom of cast
ing a ballot, and to use the ballot as a way of keep
ing other freedoms.
These September mornings, that air air air airish.
? Is progress a mere illusion? Sometimes it seems
so. For example, this year the Democrats in Miss
issippi and Tennessee retired Rep. Rankin and Sen
ator McKellar, only to have the Republicans in
Wisconsin overwhelmingly renominate Senator Mc
Carthy. Quantity-wise, that's a 2-to-l gain.1. But
quality-wise it's nothing to crow over ; because
Rankin and McKellar, at worst, are demagogues,
while McCarthy, at best, is a fool.
? Letters
APPEALS FOR BLOOD
Editor, The Press:
Called to duty from Macon County November 20, 1951, 1 am
in the U. S. Marine Corps, and like it line.
The reason for my writing this letter is to ask the people
back home to help us. win this war.
I have flown over land and sea, but luck has been with me.
But some are not as lucky as x have been, and you good people
back in Franklin, my home town, can help save your own
husbands', brothers', sons' and nephews' lives by giving blood
to the Red Cross bloodmobile.
By giving a pint of your blood, you may save a life, and
bring some boy back home.
PFC. CLIFTON B. MORGAN
Cherry Point, N. C.
THE WHY OF THE MICA PROGRAM
Dear Mr. Jones:
Your recent editorial, "Doesn't Make Sense," concerning the
price of domestically produced mica as compared with Indian
mica, as well as the* thought it might be better to leave our
American reserves untouched now and available for a future
emergency, presents indeed a novel viewpoint not at all like
your usual logical thinking.
The principal cost of producing and preparing mica is labor.
If our government is paying domestic mica producers two to
three times Indian prices for certain grades under the mica
program, I submit that those prices are not extortionate based
on the difference in labor costs and the standards of living
between American and Indian labor. Quite possibly they do
not go far enough.
\
What is actually happening is that our government is pay
ing a subsidy to certain of its citizens and organizations inter
ested ' in the mining and preparation of the highest quality
mica which it needs and without which the producers could
not operate. Now, if it was a tariff designed to accomplish the
same purpose, only the end user of the product would have to
pay for this naturally higher American production cost; as it
is, every citizen, including the mica miner and his labor, is
taxed directly or indirectly to provide this subsidy. However,
that Is the basic nature of any subsidy program. I think we
must acknowledge In the absence of any evidence to the con
trary that there exists a basic and critical need for the pres
ent mica program or our government would not have estab
lished ft.
Your thought which really Intrigues me Is the Idea of hold
ing our own mines In reserve. I take It for granted you en
dorse the idea or you would not have published the quotatlon
without comment. All of the political economy I ever learned
In or out of school had as one of its basic fundamentals the
development of the nation's natural resources by that nation's
citizens for the good of the nation and for their own use and
benefit and, if there was any surplus, then for the betterment
of the rest of the world.
Why stop your thought with mica? Our oil reserves are
variously estimated at about twenty years, based on the present
production rate. World oil, particularly from the Middle East,
Is substantially lower priced than our American production.
Paraphrasing your quotation, "Are we trying to make sure that
there will be plenty of oil in Iran for the Russians, if and when
they take over that country?" Why don't we leave our own
oil locked up underground until we can't buy oil from any
one else? Fundamentally, its Just as logical as your suggestion
about mica. Of course, we would be dealing in billions of bar
rels of oil instead of only a few million pounds of mica.
We could go on at length In a similar vein. Our richest iron
ore deposits have in the main already been worked out and
now we are tackling the processing of the poorer ores. But
Lahrador, Brazil and Venzuela have tremendously rich iron ore
deposits. Why shouldn't we hold our own reserves and live off
?Staff Photo by J. r. Brady
BEFORE and AFTER ? There's quite a contrast between the old and the new look in mail
boxes in this county; from the old, rusty, boxes, roosting on a single plank, to gleaming white
and stately uniform boxes that point out a community as a progressive one. Thus far in Macon
County, only two communities have made the switch to the eye-catching uniform boxes ? Holly
Springs and Carson, both of them entered in the Western North Carolina Rural Community De
velopment' contest. These two progressive communities are showing the way; how many will fol
low their lead?
of the other fellow's fat? If we couldn't get all of our require
ments, at least we could get a substantial portion.
Why don't we shut down North Carolina's tungsten mine and
save its ore for an emergency? Or perhaps this is right now
the emergency and our government is interested in again
establishing and building up a domestic mica industry.
I do not make the above suggestions in any spirit of face
tiousness. I believe the time to develop * domestic sources of
any critically short materialsjls while there is still time to ac
complish a constructive end at a reasonable cost based on
American labor rates rather than on practically slave labor
rates. During this mica development period our government
will buy a few million pounds of mica produced In different
sections of the United States at fair American prices. I don't
know of any mica miners who anticipate getting rich, al
though the time will never come when all mica properties
will produce at exactly the same cost. Hence ethe richer prop
erty will always enjoy a financial advantage over its less for
tunate neighbor.
The Import of your editorial strikes in so many different
directions and at such sensitive economic factors that It ap
pears to me the editorial Itself "Doesn't Make Sense,," rather
than the mica program which It attacks.
I am afraid this letter may be too lengthy for you to publish.
I am sure you understand It is written in all friendliness. We
are arguing about critical economic factors over which neither
of us is in position to exert any control. But I submit that
you should be very positive of your facts on a subject like this
before suggesting in effect we invent or emhrace any new
"isms."
My deepest respects and best wishes to you.
Cordially yours,
R. G. LICHTENSTEIN
Franklin, N. C.,
September 12* 1952. -
Others' Opinions
STYLES CHANGE IN TOURISTS, TOO
(Waynesville Mountaineer)
A careful study of what the traveling public is seeking will
be of material benefit to those In the tourist business ? styles
and taste change in this business just as in fashions, although
not as often, but fust as steady.
TOURISTS WANT SOMETHING TO DO
(Sylva Herald)
Exactly what would you do if you were a summer visitor and
In Sylva for a week?
If Sylva is ever to get its rightful share of the tourists and
the "summer" money, it is going to have to get busy. If one
of us goes on a vacation and takes his family, he expects to
go where he will be entertained.
CONSOLIDATED SCHOOLS AND THE CHILD
(Hertford County Herald)
The struggles of a number of smaller high schools to pre
serve .their Identity is understandable. In such communities,
the life centers around the school and the church and to re
Oonttnaed On Page Three? V
STRICTLY :
PERSONAL
, By WEIMAR JONES
I
No objective observer at last
Wednesday night's called meet
ing of the county' board of ed
ucation ? and I was there purely
as an observer ? could have fail
ed to go away without some
very distinct Impressions.
Here an some of my strict
ly personal ones.
First of all, thepe was a feel
ing of deep sympathy with the
members of the protesting dele
gations, who obviously were
honest in their feeling that
their children were not getting
the best possible In school ad
vantages. But sympathy, too
with the equally honest school
officials, who found themselves
caught In a tangle of school bui
routes, teacher loads, and class
room capacities.
Then there was the Impres
sion that, no matter how un
fortunate the controversies that
culminated in the meeting,
the presence of the protesters
was a healthy sign. To realize
just how much progress it rep
resented in public interest in
Oontinned on Fagr Three?
News Making
As It Looks
To A Maconite
? By BOB SLOAN
Looks like travel from here
to Sylva will be difficult for the
next year or so. The present
.road project which is about to
begin .will have the road torn
up this year. By next year they
will either be reworking the re
mainder of the road or that
portion of the road will be so
badly in need of repair that It
will be impassable. However, If
the difficult travel Is caused by
road construction we should not
grumble. Just remember that
any change or progress causes
discomfort as well as bringing
benefits.
? * ?
Looking at the political pic
ture lor the November election,
It still looks topsy turvy to me.
From what I had read in the
papers, I understood that Stev
enson was the politician and
Elsenhower the layman who
would remain aloof from poli
tics. To me, now, it looks the
other way around.
Locally there doesn't seem to
be the interest in politics that
there is in other parts of the
?country. It may be caused by
the fact that we have very few
local races with only the state
Continued On Pace Three?
Do You
Remember?
(Looking backward through
the files of The Press)
50 YEARS AGO THIS WEEK
Capt. W P. Moore, of Clay
county, popularly known as
"Irish Billy", called by The
Press office Friday and told
us of passing the home of
"Uncle Johnny Moore" near
Aquone Thursday and stopping
to see the old gentleman. He
found him in the field pulling
fodder, although his age is 93,
he having been born in 18C9.
Mr. W. O. Roberts, the tent
photographer, has a gun that
Is somewhat of a -novelty here.
It Is a* double-barreled shot
gun, but he has a rifled tube
just the size to fit inside one
of the shot-gun barrels, which
when in place converts that
barrel Into a rifle of 32 calibre.
It is a fine piece of workman
ship.
25 YEARS AGO
The Senior class held a meet
ing Monday afternoon and
elected the following people for
office: Martha Pearl Cunning
ham, president; Philip Newman, 1
vice-president; Mattit Wilkes,
secretary; and Mary Enloe,
treasurer. (School News, Frank
lin High).
Visitors to Franklin and Ma
con county, who a?e about to
return to their homes In the
lowlands, will miss the finest
part of the year. The fall
' months, it is true are beauti
ful everywhere, but In the
mountains they are magnifi
cent.
On Friday afternoon, at 2
( o'clock, the mercury registered
88 in the shade at the Bank of
' Franklin. The thermometer was
placed in the sun at the same
hour and went to 121, before
[ being taken inside for fear the
, sun's rays would break it.
1 10 YEARS AGO
Miss Kathryn Neal is now at
Cecil's Business college, Ashe
ville. Miss Emogene Hall, of
Kyle, Emma Jane May, of Fiats,
; and Dorothy Hardin, of Top
; ton, accompanied her. (Aquone).
The Fouts-Rowland reunion
was held at the home of Mr.
and Mrs. G. I. Fouts Sunday.
A large crowd attended.