(Die Slntnklm ^ress attfr Migitlanhs ^acmtian Entered at Post Office. Franklin. N. C.. ae eecond claaa matter Publlahed every Thursday by The Franklin Preaa Franklin, N C. Telephone 24 WEMAH JONES . . . BOB 8 SLOAN .... J. P. BRADY HISS BETTY LOU POUTS . OARL P CABE .... FRANK A STARRETTB . . DAVID H. SUTTON . . . CHARLES E WHTTTINOTON Editor Bualneaa Manager Newa Editor . Office Manager Mechanical Superintendent . Shop Superintendent Stereotype r Presaman SUBSCRIPTION RATES i/um us MAiun L/Ourti One Tear $3.00 Six Months 1.73 Three liontha 1.00 1NSIH BUtUfl UUUIITI One Year $2.40 Six Month* 1.75 Three lion the 1.00 Now Who's To Blame? To quote the Clayton (Ga.) Tribune, the AAA Motor Club of Georgia has slapped a "not recom mended" tag,on US 23 and has branded the rough mountain route through Georgia as "a bad way to go-" The Tribune calls US 23 the "life-line of the tourist trade flowing through Rabun County". This, The Press feels, calls for some expansion ? US 23 also is the life-line of Macon County, whose highways are now hacked to pieces by new high way projects. Until this new construction (Frank lin to Dillsboro and US 64 to Highlands) is com pleted Macon is depending entirely on US 23 to bring its tourists. So, the Georgia motor club is putting the "evil eye", not only on Rabun County, but on Macon as well. And, according to the Tribune, the blame for the whole situation seems to be in North Carolina: "Originally, word spread that the entire stretch of new highway from Clayton (Ga.) to North Car olina would be completed in the year of 1954. as -agreed upon by North Carolina. "'However, informed sources say North Carolina will be unable to finish their road program, and ibis has been delaying the action by Georgia." It is a well-known fact that Highway Conunis sioneV Harry F. Buchanan in June of last year "borrowed" the $450,000 allocation for a new link of US 23 from Franklin south to the Georgia state line and is using the allocation to "speed up" the completion of a 9.42-tnile link of US 23 from Cowee Gap to Dillsboro in Jackson County. Even so, The Press submits that the present highway from Franklin to the Georgia state line, although obsolete by today's standards, still is ade quate to handle the flow of tourist traffic and when compared with some in other states is in ex cellent condition. The flimsiness of Georgia's alibi suggests that the blame should be elsewhere. Blessing In Disguise There is something in the Rible to the effect that all things work together for good, and many ob servant people have been amazed at how often that proves true; how what seem disasters at the time prove blessings, in the long run. That easily could be the case about the destruc tion by fire of the old Franklin high school build ing. f There is grave doubt as to whether that building ever would have been entirely satisfactory, for any purpose. But so long as it stood, many persons ? possibly including school officials in Raleigh ? would have felt it .should be used, rather than put ting up a new building. The debate could have gone on and on for years, with nothing done. Now the debate is ended for us! To turn this misfortune into good fortune will require some effort, perhaps some sacrifice; but the destruction of the old building paves the way for the whole community to get behind a program for an adequate' auditorium, to serve the school, Frank lin, and the county. The "whole community" back ing such a project should, and almost surely will, includc all Macon County. Exit McCarthy It is our guess that Senator Joseph R. McCarthy is on the way to oblivion.' It would not be surpris ing if his name disappeared from the front pages within the next year, a general nelghborlineas ('"Hi is is a country of joiners. ... It U no wonder that group discussion is an American phenomenon. The American is unwilling to be left alone. If, by mischance, he is forced to solitariness, on goes the radio or the television"); (3) ultimate anxiety "(There is an underlying uneasiness of mind respecting the meaning of life and the outcome of individual existence. ... It is partly due to the fact of international responsibility. It is ultimately due to the certainty of death. Therefore this aver age American often has a sence of futility, of transience, and of personal insignificance."). ' Dr. Cleland's analysis of Americans was charitable and came from an understanding heart; he was transmitting in kinder words the message recently delivered by James Marquand's "Point of No Return" and Arthur Miller's "Death Of A Sales man". The American, as we have known him from the fron tier days through Sinclair Lewis's Babitry and Fortune Maga zine's series on "How To Be An Executive's Wife", is supreme ly the salesman and the builder. He found a virgin continent and made it an empire; he was the natural-born salesman and he sold his product because it was a good one? which the world respects, admires and envies. Abroad the U. S. still means steel mills, automobiles, fountain pens, superior plumb ing and fabulous material comforts; most of the world wants these things, but like the U. S. it does not always remember that gadgets are not enough. America's automobiles were made to go 90 miles an hour on the road to the country club, not the road to eternity; the salesmanship prize, the big pro motion are worthy goals only when they are not primary goals; the end product of human existence is not a high standard of living but a high standard of character; the aim of the national budget may be solvency, but the aim of the human life must be service ? to something lareer than self All this Dr. Cleland is saying as Marquand and Miller have been saying recently and as Sinclair Lewis and others said earlier. For the paradox of America is, indeed, its pragmatic assurance coupled with its ultimate anxiety. And the trouble is, as Dr. Cleland sees it, "an underlying uneasiness of mind respecting the meaning of life and the outcome of individual existence" even in the midst of material opulence beyond the imagination of nine-tenths of the world. This philosophy does not deny that America has tremen dous power, but it does express doubt about whether America knows how to use its power wisely and well. It does not sati rize Babbitry as harshly as Lewis or expose it as bleakly as "Death Of A Salesman", but it does make the quiet point that America will not find peace of soul until it puts first things first. For we stand in the shadow of great empires of the past which could not stand up under prosperity. Nothing succeeds like success; but nothing corrupts like power. Will America survive her astounding prosperity which Charles Darwin i grandson of the great scientist) said in 1952, is an "unusual" phenomenon in the 20th Century? Is Amer ica changing and maturing under the stress of new conditions? Will our "ultimate anxiety" give way to serenity of convic tion? These questions- will be answered by the historians of an other era when they put their fingers on the pulse of the 20th Century as brilliantly as Dr. Cleland did at Durham last week. POPfrV MWH DEADSTOCK KRSK1NC J WeaverriUe, North Carolina COMMENT \ > Pride goes up and Pride falls down As well as laughing humans Who stub their toes and break their skulls? And never a light illumines. So why should we be high and proud And gather ecstatic tattle Or complimentary sighs and ohs ? From man's effusive prattle? M LENA MEARLE SHTJIX. STRICTLY PERSONAL CHAPEL HILL ? Spring comes early down here. To a moun taineer, it seems incredible how early. It begins to feel and smell like spring In January, and by early February, you know spring is on the way. By this time, Spring is at its height, and what a beautiful place Chapel Hill is in the spring. I am not the one qualified even to try to describe it, but Just how pretty it is, it seems to me, is suggested by the story in William Meade Prince's book about this University town, "The Southern Part of Heaven". Meade tells how, in the old days, one of the well known village figures was about to die and the equally well known and beloved Presbyterian minister called on him. In the course of the conver sation, the sick man asked the minister: * "So you think I will go to heaven". "Yes", was the reply, "I think you will." Then, after a long pause: Another long pause, coding with the reply: "I think It must be a good deal like Chapel Hill in the spring." ? ? ? A recent letter from our daughter-in-law, In New York with the baby en route to join our son In Europe, told about the number of servicemen's wives and children being "pro cessed" for the trip to Join their husbands (and fathers) In Eu rope, and some of the odd things she observed. Notable was this one: One mother with two sets of triplets, all six children mere Infants! ? * ? When I told that to friends here, a lady (who was reared in Haywood County i remarked it reminded her of the rare ex pression a little mountain girl had for the idea of something being plenty, or ample. The child would say it was "a God's lavish". So, said our friend who for Continued On Page Eleven ? News Making As It Looks To A Maconite ? By BOB SLOAJV Rep. George M. Shuford, (root our congressional district voted wrong last Thursday. Further more be let down the people who chose him to represent them In Congress. When Rep. Shuford voted against a bill sponsored by members of his own party which would raise the Individual exemption for each taxpayer and dependent from $600 to $700 and would knock out of the tax bill a cut In the Ulx on dividends from corporation stock, he must have had a lapse in memory. He must have forgotten the people he represents and the traditional stand of the party in which he claims membership and? tram whose members he asks for loyalty in a general election. Rep. Shuford was wrong be cause traditionally the Demo cratic Party has been the champion of the masses and the working man. It has ex pounded the economic theory that If the purchasing power of the working people is kept high our economy will have a sound foundation to rest on. This has been contrary to the Republican theory that if industry is given sufficient encouragement by tax and tariff benefits that Industry will prosper and eventually a sufficient amount will "trickle down" to the common everyday working people. If Rep. Shuford is aware of the fact that production and consumption are the two wheels of the economic cart in which we all ride he does not seem to realize that today the consump - tion wheel has been deflated more than the production side In fact, a glance at the nation's warehouses will quickly show that the production tire seems ? to be suffering from too much pressure. Certainly increasing the amount of purchasing pow er so that everyone has a little would do more to increase the nation's ability to purchase consumer goods than reducing the tax on stock dividends. The extra money these people gain by this tax benefit will most likely be used only to purchase more stocks since for the most part people are inclined to pur chase the things they need in the consumer goods line before they start investing in stocks. On the other hand had the personal exemption been raised for everyone, many people would have been able to purchase- con'- < sumer goods which they want Continued On Page Eleven ? r Do You Remember? (LnUii taekMu* hw gfc the files of The Pna) M TEARS AfiOi THIS. KCKK The Press Is making arrange ments to move to the HJggins. building next week, and will oc cupy the ground) floor on the east side; Last night at 10 o'tHoct. lightning- struck and tore to pieces the' large locust tree in the back yard of Mr. W R. Johnston's house on the corner near the Potts shop. Mr. WSl Watkins has gone back to. Washington, after spending soaae ttne at home. ? TEAKS AGO Mr. I. C. MeOee, recently of AshevOle. is now manager of the local A ft P store, succeed ing In this position. Mr. Ralph BrvUey. Nobody reads editorials, some say. But Just bawl somebody out In one and see what hap pens. Wonder how many farmers in , Macon County are plowing over $100,000 worth of minerals to grow 50 bushels of corn? Last November the people of Macon County were determined to have a change. They got It. At nearly every move they have lumped out of the frying pan into the fire. Now they will just have to sizzle. 10 YEARS AGO Major Gregg Cherry, of Gas tonia, candidate for the demo cratic gubernatorial nomination, for governor of North Carolina, paid a brief visit to Franklin last Tuesday. Alex Arnold has accepted position on the Franklin post I office staff. Mr. and Mrs. Harold Sloan i will leave Saturday to attend I the graduating recital of their * daughter. Miss Dorothy Sloan, , on Monday evening.