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Entered at Post Office Franklin. N. C . as second class matter
Published every Thursday by The Franklin Press
Franklin, N. C. Telephone
Editor
JONES
BOB 3. SLOAN Business Manager
J. P. BRADY News Editor
iiISS BETTY LOU FOUTS Office Manager
CARL P. CABE Mechanical Superintendent
FRANK A STARRETTE Shop Superintendent
DAVID H SUTTON Stereotyp-r
CHARLES E WHITTINGTON Pressman
SUBSCRIPTION RATES
Outside Macon County
One Year $3.00
8lx Months . 1.75
Three Months 1 00
Inside Macon County
One Year $2 50
Six Months I "5
Three Months . . . 4 I ?
Which Way?
Are you for or against the proposed bond issues,
to he voted <>n in Macon and the state's other lOu
counties on Saturday, October 3?
It is not for The Franklin I'ress, or anybody
else, to tell you which way you should vote; that is
a matter for your own mind and conscience.
But we do suggest that this is an important mat
ter, and that you should have convictions, one way
or the other.
Listed below, for your consideration, and your
acceptance or rejection, are some of the reasons
why it seems to us the voters of Macon County, old
and young, Democrat and Republican, town and
rural, rich and poor, white and black, should go to
the polls and put this county resoundingly on rec
ord as favoring the bonds :
1. The $22,000,000 for the state's mental institu
tions is badly needed, to provide more .space and
more and better facilities, that is generally agreed
by both official and private groups that have visit
ed and studied these institutions. If that is correct,
then surely there can be but one answer ; for a peo
ple who won't provide proper care for their kin
and neighbors who are sick in mind either is ignor
ant of real conditions or is too hard-hearted to de
serve to be called Christian? or even civilized.
2. The proof of the need for the $50,000,000 for
schools may be found right here in Macon County.
And we probably are better off than many other
North Carolina counties, because we supplemented
previous state-provided funds with the proceeds of
our own bond issue. Vet we find we are not even
up with the plow: some classrooms are crowded
already, and in some cases children are being
taught in lunchrooms or auditoriums, and even on
stages. And we are going to need more classrooms,
not fewer, in the next few years. The other things
like gymnasiums and lunchrooms and auditoriums
that are missing at some schools could, if necessary,
wait, but the classroom space must be provided.
3. If the state bond issue floes not carry, where
is the money for these additional classrooms in
Macon County to come from? Where, indeed, ex
cept out of Macon County taxes! If the state
doesn't pay for it, we must. And that, almost cer
tainly, will mean an increase in our local, Macon
County tax on property.
4. Issuance of the bonds by the state will mean
no increase in. property taxes ? the state doesn't
co1 ? t any property tax. Furthermore. fi-<"'i: ex
pert- "'.t Raleigh sav. it probab!' won't call lor ah y
'increase in taxes of any kind: that present revenue
will take care of interest and principal paynieirt s
or these bonds.
Not Unusual
bf purchase of the new electric football score
!k ar i f-or Kranklin High School bv a group of oti -
?* i- and sports-minded citizens is commendable'
ar.< t h i - group is due a rousing vote of thanks.
IV ; ' even more commendable is the spirit of c<
operation constantly demonstrated by the people of
this county.
This spirit no longer borders on the un'usual, but
is taken for granted when there is a job to be done.
The new scoreboard is but one in a series of ex
am pi e.s.
Good Sense
It's been a long time since any public figure has
talked such good sense, and put it so siitiplv. as
Federal Judge John J. Parker, of Charlotte, in an
address last week to the National Conference on
Citizenship in Washington.
Judge Parker's words are the answer to those
Who think we can be part slave, part free; that we
fa?ve freedom of religion and of s.peech and of the
press, but restrict it to those who believe or speak
or write our way.
Said the distinguished North Carolina jurist :
"It is easy enough to believe in freedom of relig-i
ion for Episcopalians or Baptists or Presbyterians.
The test is whether we believe in that freedom for
Mohammedans or Buddhists or atheists.
"It is easy enough to believe in free speech for
Republicans and Democrats. The rub comes when
it is applied to Communists and Fascists and oth
ers whose teachings are hostile to our institutions.
"We must never forget that unless speech is free
for everybody, it is free for nobody, that unless it
is free for error, it is not free for truth. The only
limitation^ which may safely be placed upon it are
those which forbid slander, obscenity, and incite
ment to crime."
And to those who think the end justifies the
means, that violation of fundamental principles
may be justified in the interest of a "supposed pub
lic good". Judge i'arker said:
"The answer i- that we shall have fought the
battle against the enemies of freedom in vain if in
the fighting we destroy freedom itself."
? Letters
KERCHOO!
Editor, The Press:
I would like to suggest that you undertake a vigorous and
tireless campaign in your paper to rid Macon County of rag
weed
Countless numbers of people suffer from hay fever due to the
pollen from this weed and many persons leave early because of
its unbounded prevalence in the county. .
Highlands, N. C.
Yours very truly,
T. E BINFORD
J Others' Opinions
DISCRIMINATION
(Waynesville Mountaineer)
Little Mary, five, had been a little resentful of the inclusion
of a baby brother, Johnny, into her family life, two years ago,
and even now spurts of jealously appeared on the scene.
On this beautiful summer day, little Johnny, in search of ad
venture and spurred on by the spirit of curiosity had climbed
up on a table and very promptly and completely, had fallen
off. The damage was slight except that the following day, the
young man had exhibited as fine a pair of ' shiners" as one
could locate, even on a seasoned sinner. Naturally, he was in
ordinately proud of his distinction and reveled in the atten
tion he was attracting. It didn't take Little Mary very long to
adjust a huge chip on her shoulder and a dark scowl on her
face. Finally she could stand it no longer and blazed forth:
"That's right. Give him everything. You never think about me.
I don't see any reason why I can't be blacked-out, too."
SHORT AND SWEET
(Twin City Sentinel)
This one didn't happen in Winston-Salem? no one will
claim that ? but it wasn't too far away.
It seems that when Carey Braxton, the town reprobate,, final
ly died, the relief was general. Carey had been by way of being
the personification of Old Nick. He'd run a bootlegging busi
ness behind his barber shop, could provide odds on the races,
knew where the women -.vers and so on. .Most folks said he
wouldn't be missed.
But if that was the general feeling, there was at least one
exception. Carey's preacher had to preach the f ineral sermon,
and, as it was customary in those days to do a go o3 deal of
extolling the departed, he was stuck preached a lot of
funerals and done a lot of extolling. But what could you say
about Carey?
Wei!, the day approached Ali of Careys folks came into town
from all over, brought a lot of mourning clothes and started
a daily parade into town to exhibit their grief. There were 35
or 40 of them, and the word sot around they'd be expecting a
mighty fine speech from the preacher.
When folks heard about that they decided this would be
one funeral they didn't dare miss. So the whole town turned
out in mass when the day of the funeral finally arrived.
At the cnurch there was a lot of commotion. The casket was
wheeled in and opened and Carey's whole family paraded up
for a final look. So did the others, sotne of them bringing their
children to get one more look at what a really tiad man was
like. Then everyone settled down for a fine sermon.
I
The preacher stood up. He took out his handkerchief and
wiped his face.
"Polks," he began, "we've come here today to bury Carey
Braxton."
Then he wiped some more, and stood silent for a moment, as
he looked down at the casket and then out at the gathering.
Then his hands clutched the lectern a little tighter.
"Polks," he said, "I knew Carey.
"You knew Carey.
"Let's bury him."
OUR DEMOCRACY
* HITCH ?i VISIT"
The old hitching post traditionally svmoclizco
AMERICAN WARMTH AND NCI6HSORUNESS .
IT STOOO JUST OUTSIDE THE HOME f AN INVITATION
POR PRIENDS TO HITCH THEIR HORSE A NO ttUGGY
ANO PASS THE TIME OP OAV.
:
With the automobile today we are able to range
FAR AFIELD FROM THE OLD HITCHING POST.
AMD THE NEIGHBORLINE.SS WHICH IT SYMBOLIZED HAS
ACHIEVED STEADILY BROADER HORIZONS AND MEANING
IN OUR DEMOCRACY.
HAVE WE LOST THE ART OF BLUSHING?
(Simeon Stylites in Christian Century)
The erudite and vivacious columnist of The Churchman. Wil
bur Larremore Caswell, has been gold-digging in the Old Tes
tament and has come up with a beautiful outsize nugget from
Jeremiah 3:12: "They do not know how to blush."
Who said the Bible is out of date? What could be more ter
ribly in date than this observation about people to whom
blushing has become a lost art?
You can take it from there on in. Make your own list of
people who do not know how to blush.
The right answer to the frequent question. "Is my face red?"
is? "Not a bit!"
There are many red or at least pink faces, but the coloring
generally seems to have been put on from the outside, in the
form of rouge and not from the inside, in the form of a blush.
Back in the 19th century ? at least according to the records
from England ? there was too much blushing, as there was too
much fainting among the ladles. That was before Freud made
the blush obsolete.
We are told that some sensitive souls blushed at the exposed
legs of pianos and wished them, decently covered. Many people
did not blush at all over the slaughter of children in mines
and factories, but turned a deep scarlet over the mention of a
baby before it was born. Jeremiah is quite explicit:
"Were they ashamed when they committed abomination?
"No, they we,re not at all ashamed; they did not know how
to blush."
What a description of the blushless tribe of racketeers and
lobbyists, the 5 and 25 per cent boys whose stock defense is,
"What I am grafting is just common practice."
There are some citizens who do blugh deeply over the Mc
Carran Immigration Act. There ought to be more. How would
Jesus of Nazareth fare if he tried to come into the United
Sta'es? The quota from Palestine would be filled. He would
not have the minimum funds necessary to be admitted. And
what a field day the investigators would have over His spoken
words!
I could furnish the names of a few publishers who ought to
Indulge In a faint blush. They are winning their nobie fight
to elevate the scribblings found on schoolyard fences up to the
level of literature.
Why not all blush together over the savage slashings pro
posed in Congress on nearly everything that makes for social
welfare in the United States, on educational appropriations and
those for guarding- the national health?
Of course, that leaves more money to hand over to that
noble champion of democracy. Franco. Even so, we still might
blush.
Poetry
Editor
EDITH DEADERICK ERSKINE
Weaverville, North Carolina
FALL
The flaming banners waving high in fall
Flaunt all the final glory of the trees
That from the time of spring's compelling call,
Through buds and leaves of summer lived for these.
The Iruits that glow in every Jewelled hue
Deck trees as ladies for their gala days.
They knowing that the golden hours are few
Wear them delighted till they're laid away.
Fruition's hour is fall, unmeasured joy
Of garnering before the winter's sleep.
And this is happiness without alloy.
Its memories through the night of winter keep
Their vigils. Hope la yearning for the spring
But what a triumph autumn days can bring!
EDITH DEADERICK ERSKINE.
News Making
As ft Looks
To A Maconite <
? By BOB SLOAN
I think the Franklin Fire De
partment deserves a large round
>f applause for their handling
>f the traffic at the football
;ame last Friday night. It was
lard work and a big job well
lone.
The Franklin Lions Club also
ieserves the thanks of the com
nunity, especially the school
patrons, since their handling of
the ticket sales brought in con
siderable revenue for the ath
letic program and the band.
? ? ?
There is considerable writing
and talking now days about the
two bond issues Gov. Umstead
proposes ? one for 50 million to
build additional school buildings
throughout the state and the
ather for 22 million dollars to
Improve and enlarge the state
mental hospitals. The money
(or both purposes is badly
needed. Certainly we here in
Macon County could use money
to enlarge our school facilities,
and certainly we would like to
see adequate facilities provided
for our mentally ill.
a iiu t v< ii^aiu uiiv 14
raised, "Will we get our propor
tionate share?" I think the best
answer to that is that you can
rest assured that a larger pro
portion of the school bond
money will be spent in Macon
County than our proportion of
the state tax income will pay
off. Another thing it will be
very hard for Macon to attempt
to build these buildings from
county funds. State officials
have said that if the income re
mains the same for the state
that this bond issue can be fi
nanced without increasing the
state taxes. I can think of no
reason why any person in Ma
con County would vote against
the bond issues. Just make sure
that we ' all remember to go
vote on October 3. It not oniy
is good business for us, but it
will also help to make for a
better future for our children
with better school facilities now.
Do You
Remember?
(Looking backward through
the files of The Press)
50 YEARS AGO THIS WEEK
Mr. George Franks left Wed
nesday evening to return to the
West after a month's visit to
his father's family. ?
Capt. Jacob Fulmer and son,
of Cherokee county, are visiting
his daughter, Mrs. E. K. Cun
ningham.
We were given a little fore
taste of winter last Thursday
night. Fires and heavier cloth
ing were necessary to comfort.
The thermometer told of 40 de
grees Friday morning, and frost
was seen in low places.
25 YEARS AGO
That the voters of Franklin
have faith in R. M. Mead and
his promises of industrial de
velopment of Franklin was
amply demonstrated here Tues
day when the citizens of Frank
lin voted overwhelmingly to sell
the power plant to Mr. Mead.
We suppose that by the time
the next election rolls around
Macon County will have im
ported some .machine guns.
A former citizen of Macon
has requested that he be buried
in this county. He states that
after his death he wants to
keep on voting.
Miss Ida Moore left Monday
of last week for Atlanta, Ga., %? '
enter the conservatory of music.
10 YEARS AGO
Miss Fannie Mae Sherrill, who
has been employed for some
time in Washington, D. C., is
spending a few days visiting her
mother and sister here.
i
High school seniors have elect
ed the following officers for the
year: Myra Slagle, president;
Bill Raby, vice-president; and
Helen Ramsey, secretary-treas
urer.
' V
Miss Jena V. Frazler has re
turned to Washington, D. C.,
after spending a few days with
her parents. Mr. and Mrs. Van
Frazler, of Franklin, Route
8he la employed with the Fea- '
eral Bureau of Investigation.