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VOL. LXVn Number 4*
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 S. SLOAN - ?-Business Manager
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ance with the postal requirements.
The Nixon Affair
The Nixon affair has left us with the definite
impression that the young senator is unfit for the
Presidency ? and therefore for the Vice-presidency.
Not because Senator Nixon is corrupt. There was
little concrete evidence of corruption. And, besides,
conscious dishonesty simply does not fit in with
the character and temperament of the Californian,
as they have been revealed in his career as senator,
in his Vice-presidential campaign, and in the crisis
precipitated by revelation that he had accepted a
privately-subscribed expense fund.
It is our impression that he has proved himself
unfit for the Presidency, and therefore for the Vice
presidency, because he has demonstrated woeful
immaturity.
He proved himself immature when he assumed
that a man, .striding across the national stage in
the role of Knight in Shining Armor, could accept
such an unpublicized fund and get away with it
without criticism.
And he showed his immaturity even more em
phatically when he attempted, in his dramatic
speech over television and radio, to give an> "ac
counting". As an emotional appeal, his address ten
days ago was a masterpiece ? but it left unanswer
ed virtually every question raised by revelation that
the fund had been raised and accepted.
Race Relations Here
In its race relations, this community is southing
in the nature of a model, we believe.
Nobody would maintain, of course, that the Ne
gro always gets exact justice in Macon County.
But, for that matter, nobody would maintain that
some other groups in the population always get ex
act justice. Whp would say, for example, that the
school children, white or Negro, got anything ap
proaching justice in the matter of school housing,
until recently? Exact justice, as a matter of fact,
always is an ideal, never quite reached.
Even more important than justice are the rela
tions between groups, racial or otherwise. Because,
if relations are good, something can be, and usual
ly is, done about the justice.
How good the relations between whites and Ne
groes here are, and how they are made good by a
combination of common sense and good will, was
strikingly illustrated at a recent meeting of the
Franklin Rotary club.
This is a segregated community. The overwhelm
ing majority of whites ? and probably a majority of
Negroes also ? believe .social segregation is both
wise and desirable, and should be adhered to.
Yet when Mr. R. S. Jones, as Rotary program
chairman, invited Principal G. L. Hines, pf Frank
lin's Negro school, to speak to the club, he was
present as a dinner guest and seated at the head
table, as any other guest speaker would have been.
That, of course, was as it should have been ; the
point is that there was no eyebrow-raising ? it was
simply taken for granted.
And when Mr. Hines, as requested, talked on the
past and future of Negro education in( Macon
County, he spoke with complete frankness, but
without a trace of bitterness. The atmosphere of
the meeting wag an impersonal effort to get at the
facts, with a view to seeing what could be done
about them. That also was as it should have been,
but it was a refreshing exception- to the highly
It also is true that all work and no pay makes
Jack a dull boy.
emotionalized atmosphere in which such subjects
too often are discussed today.
Here are some of the points raade by the speak
er :
The Negro population of Macon County is on the
decrease, and, as a result, the .school population is
smaller than it was 10 or 20 years ago.
A recpnt survey indicates that the majority of
Macon Negroes who finish high school do not re
main in the county ; "those who learn, leave".
The proportion of Negroes attending school is
on the increase, and the drop-outs are few, but
most Negroes who can, leave this county to attend
school elsewhere; and the chief ambition of a ma
jority of those who remain is to leave Macon Coun
ty at the first opportunity.
Seventy Negro elementary children (grades one
through eight) are taught by three teachers at
Chapel school, while 1 1 attend the consolidated
high school in Svlva.
More than 90 per cent of Macon Negro families
are land-owners, suggesting ? apparently in vain ?
the possibilities the soil offers the Negro here.
The proposed new school building is one step
toward making Macon more attractive to younger
Negroes.
Another was organization of a 4-H club for Ne
gro boys and girls.
Other things that would help are:
A better consolidated high sehool at Sylva.
More financial security through employment.
Better recreational facilities.
The speaker concluded:
"It is my belief that the white citizens of this
county have become aware of this migration and
desire that something be done to curb it. It must
be curbed if Macon County is to be truly American.
For what is America but factories, farms, labor,
management, Catholics, Jews, Protestants, Rotar
ians, Masons, political conventions, red, white, yel
low, and black men? Without the Negro, Macon
cannot be American."
Bouquets
Flowers to the Junior Woman's club and the
Franklin Junior Chamber of Commerce for having
joined the national crusade to get all eligible voters
registered, and all registered voters to the polls in
this election year.
The large number of Americans who do not vote
is a phenomenon that amazes the peoples of other
free lands, and that, at long last, has alarmed our
own leaders/
But even more important than the number who
vote is the character and intelligence back of the
ballot when it is cast, and for that reason the place
to really and permanently improve the situation is
in the education of the youth of the nation.
And so, because it is starting at the real starting
place, an especially big bouquet to the Franklin
Lions club, for its essay contest among Macon
County high school students on the subject,, "Why
Vote?"
? Letters
'LIKE A LETTER*
Dear Sir:
Just a few words along with my check for renewal of my
subscription to The Press. I really enjoy It so much and miss
it when it is a few days late. My Eastern friends enjoy read
ing it, too, since The Press is almost like a letter from some
one you know. So keep up the good work and keep The Press
rolling out this way.
Would also like to invite any one who lives anywhere near
us to come and see us any time.Of course I mean Former
Macon County people. I really get homesick for some one I
know to talk about ole' North Garolina.
Hope to be seeing all the folks in Franklin In a year or two.
Sincerely,
Lockeford, Calif. MRS. JOHN McKINDLEY
FREEDOM OF SPEECH AND THE SCHOOLS
Dear Mr. Jones:
Here are some of my views on a recent editorial of yours
dealing with problems that confront us in our schools here In
this community.
i
You say there was nothing hopeless about the crowd that
gathered at the courthouse to work things out to the best ad
vantage of their children. From the discussions and particular
ly the one on "free speech" (here I refer to a remark made
or presumably made by a teacher to a parent), I gather that
things are worse than hopeless. When you have to instill fear
Into the minds of people to subject their will to any govern
I
ing board, then It's time to remember that In only a brief
two centuries we have developed a nation -of freedom -loving
people who like to discuss issues of Importance without being
told what to say or when to say It. In other words, we don't
like to be pushed around.
My idea would be to knock down the wall that separates
the classroom from the community, thus encouraging meetings
between parents, non-parents, and teachers, giving them an
opportunity to discuss what they like and what they don't
like about the schools and what they want done about It. The
way things are now, I suppose a teacher would be afraid of
losing her job if seen speaking to a parent. In order for a
teacher to take part in community affairs, he or she must
visit parent/ as a matter of course, rub elbows with leading
citizens on boards and committees, and be allowed the "free
dom of speech". Only in this way can a teacher better under
stand a child, for in these meetings she has ample opportun
ity to know the family background. Many children feel that
they don't "belong" or that what they learn will never be of
use to them; this, no doubt, is due to some element In the
home life of the child. In many instances the child who is
prone to "skip" school or drop out of school at an early age
is sick, just as sick as the child who is running a high fever;
he is sick emotionally.
Here is our biggest challenge, that of making every child, of
equal intelligence, feel that he "belongs", is wanted, and is
really missed when he fails to attend class or tries to "drop
out". Any educator who is well informed on community af
fairs and the home life of each child is better prepared to
meet this challenge.
The idea of "belonging" can also apply to a community. Any
citizen who is made to feel that he is a part of a community
and is allowed to take part in it's activities by being permitted
to help form any changes that may be necessary for the bet
terment of the community is much more likely to "play ball"
with our governing boards. If this had been the case in this
community, there would have been no meeting of angry pro
test but rather the protesting committee would have been
eager and willing to pitch in and help facilitate the change
that was taking place. Better schools and better community
school relations will certainly result when citizens are given
the opportunity to help with matters pertaining to their
schools.
When we can make everyone, the student in a school or an
adult in a community, feel that he "belongs", then there will
be no cries of angry protest but rather a group devoting all
their energies toward the things that will benefit us most.
Then and only then can we truthfully say that things are no
longer hopeless.
(MR8.) IASCA E. HORSLEY
Franklin, N. C.
Others' Opinions
DEAD-EYE BILL
(Roy Thompson in Winston-Salem Journal-Sentinel)
Bill Ray, Sentinel photographer, has made a lot of good
shots in his day.
But he made one recently that he hasn't talked much about.
There was a commotion in the henhouse, and Bill, armed
with a .32, found that a cat was up to some monkey business.
He stalked the cat and finally cornered him.
Bill took careful aim and fired. The cat fled. Two chickens
dropped dead.
THE GENIUS
(Zebulon Record)
i Whenever I read of the aptitude tests which claim to show
exactly the work a person is best suited to do, I think of Jack
Potter's trip to New York where he spent a couple of days soon
after his discharge from the Army being examined and having
? his aptitudes measured. After hours and hours of tests, he was
called in for a report. "We've never had but one other person,
Potter was told, "who rated so high in so many different fields."
"Is that good," Potter asked.
"We don't know," was the answer. "That man turned out to
be a drunkard."
STRICTLY
PERSONAL
" By WEIMAR JONES
It often happens that a news
paper gets In the worst trouble
when it Is most innocent.
I got into that kind of trouble
last spring.
I had the pleasure of attend
ing a community supper spon
sored by the Cullasaja Parent
Teacher association. I had a
good time, and I said so in the
paper. But I wasn't satisfied to
stop with that. I said a lot
more.
But let a piece that appeared
in The Press iast May 1 tell
the story:
"A fortnight ago The Press
commented on how refreshing
ly different a recent P. T. A.
sponsored supper at the Culla
saja school was. It was non
benefit, non-charge, non-for
mal; the womenfolks in the
community prepared and
brought a delicious supper to
the school, and the people of
the community gathered for the
meal, talked Informally, and
then sang some songs. We said
It was a pleasant, community
unifying, worth-while affair;
that the idea was so good and
so new, the supper ought to be
come an annual affair. Between
the-lines, perhaps, we suggest
ed that other schools follow
the Cullasaja example.
"And what happened?
"We heard from Cullasaja's
neighbor, the school at Otto!
"Because the idea, it seems,
wasn't new" at all. It's already
an annual event with the Otto
P. T. A.; they've been doing it
for four years! And The .Press
had never mentioned the Otto
suppers!
"We plead guilty. But to para
phrase Will Rogers, all we put
in the paper is what somebody
tells us. And all these years Ot
Oontinued On Page Three?
News Making
As It Looks
To A Maconite
? By BOB SIX) AN
In the coming election It
seems that the answer to who
Is going to win resolves itself
to this: "Does the American de
sire to elect a man, who has
earnestly set about the task of
probing the vital problems fac
ing our survival as the great
nation we are and constructing
specific suggestions or do we
desire to elect a public military
hero who is proving himself to
have a most attractive person
ality, but who has yet to face
up and say what he would do
on a single problem. Stevenson
has told the American public
his ideas about the problems
facing us today. Eisenhower has
made a lot of speeches and has
said that he would defeat Rus
sia and at the same time weak
en our military strength. Well,
In this country the majority
have their way. My main hope
is that before we go to polls to
vote that we know where the
men stand on the main issues
and that the votes, sometimes
before they go up to commit
one o f the most important acts
they are called on to perform,
take a few minutes and study
about which candidate has of
fered the best solution in their
opinion to the problems that
face us today. Let's not go to
the polls knowing only that
both candidates are against sin,
and then vote on the flash of
a grin or the rememberance of
a Joke told by one in a speech.
One other thought that has
come to me about this election
is that the Union support seems
about equally divided between
the two nominees. The CIO and
the AFL have endorsed Mr.
Stevenson and the American
Medical Association and the
American Dental Association
members for the most part will
be found working for Eisen
hower.
? * ?
Soon the most delightful time
for the year for an outing will
be here. The combination of fall
weather plus the sharp touch
In the air provides the finest
tonic nature has to offer. I
think that we should all try to
consume some of> this. Let's
dont let the tourist have it all.
On second thought, however the
supply Is unlimited so just be
sure to drink up a little ? it's
good for the soul.
I
Do You
Remember?
(Looking backward through
the file* of The Press)
50 YEARS AGO THIS WEEK
Oscar Moore is at home frojn
Ashevllle for a few days' visit.
Mr. R. T. Sisk has moved ^lis
shoe shop into the room occu
pied by W. A. McConnell's harn
ess shop.
Uncle Bill MtKee came back
Saturday. His drove of jugs
came too. The jugs were load
ed. So was Uncle Bill. He was
loaded with jugs. The jugs were
loaded with cider. It was good
cider too, as we can safely tes
tify.
One way to make people hap
py is to visit them and they
will be happy when you leave.
25 TEARS AGO
Misses Stella and Edna Wil
son spent last week with their
grandmother, Mrs. H. C. Wil
son. (Broadway Locals).
Editor L. P. Cross, of the
Clayton Tribune, and Mrs.
Cross were visitors to Franklin
last Saturday.
Mr. Fred Carpenter and two
sisters, of Canton, spent the
week-end with Mr. and Mrs.
John Dalrymple. (Cartooge
chaye Items).
? 10 TEARS AGO
Miss Elizabeth McGuire, who
spent several days last week
with her mother, Mrs. W. B.
McGuire, has returned to Fay
etteville, where she holds a sec
retarial position with the war
department at Pope Field, the
air port near Fort Bragg.
Elsie May Brendle, of Frank
lin, Route 4, niece of R. D.
Brendle, has completed the
government course in radio at
Charlotte and will socn be
placed in a position as radio
operator.
Frank B. Cook has been ap
pointed chief air raid warden
of the recently organized High
lands Civil Defense Council.