North Carolina Newspapers

(Ehe Ifitnnkiin anil Che rtfighlrtttits iitacimiatt Entered at Post Office. Franklin. N. C., as second class matter Published every Thursday by The Franklin Press Franklin. N. C. Telephone 24 WEIMAR JONES Editor BOB S SLOAN . ' . Business Manager J. P. BRADY 1 * Editor utrs BETTY LOU FOUTS . ... Office Manager CARL P. CABE Mechanical Superintendent FRANK A. STARRETTE Shop Superintendent DAVID H. SUTTON Stereotyper CHARLES E. WHITTINOTON i . . . Pressman I SUBSCRIPTION RATES Outsidi; Macon Coontt One Tear $3 00 Blx Months . 1.73 Three Months 1.00 Inside Macon Count* One Year $2.50 Six Months 1.75 Three Months 100 Starts At The Top The painful memory of March 15 remains vivid enough with most taxpayers for comments on taxes still to be timely ? even if no tax bill were pending in Congress. Income tax payment time always brings a strug gle with conscience for some of us, and it is unde niable that many otherwise good citizens resort to strategems that may be legally permissible but are morally indefensible. This newspaper has little pati ence with the man who tries to cheat his govern ment. ? J Most of us believe, though, that "even the devil should be given his due", and in fairness it should be said that dishonesty about taxes doesn't start with the individual, but with government. This dishonesty of government grows out of what appears to be complete failure to distinguish between what is expedient and what is right. The recent debate over federal income tax ex emptions is a good illustration. The reason for ex emptions is the completely just theory that a man should not be taxed until first enough had been allotted to pay for the bare necessities of life. For years, the federal income tax law has assumed that $600 was the minimum on which a person could live decently, and that has been the amount, per person, exempt from income tax. But if $600 was the minimum necessary a few years ago, surely $900 or $1,000 would be an equivalent figure today, what with the great increase in the cost of every lime of living. Everybody knows that a person ? certainly a per son living in a city, without the help of such things as a garden and a cow ? simply cannot live on $600 a year today. Nobody has questioned that. It is only right and just then ? it is only a matter of honesty ? to increase the personal exemption. And nobody questions that. The only argument against increasing the personal exemption from $600 to $700 was that the government cannot spare the rev enue it would thus lose. (Apparently nobody con sidered raising the exemption and then increasing the tax rate on income above the exemption, to make up the loss.) And of course what makes Congress' action in refusing to increase the amount exempt so com pletely dishonest is that it proposes to reduce ex cise taxes on luxuries (such things as fur coats). Again, nobody has defended that, on a basis of right and wrong; the only defense is that it will cost the government less in revenue lost than the exemption raise would. And if the federal government, under a Repub lican administration, is bad, what are we to say about our state government, under a Democratic regime? The state government ? to cjte on|v one Qf manv patent injustices ? refuses to exempt from the state income tax money that has been withheld from the taxpayer's wages. This not only is taxing income paid out as tax ? it is levying tax on money the wage-earner never has even seen ! And does anybody at Raleigh defend this as I right? Of course not! The only defense is "we need the money". The man who rol? a bank might offer the same defense. And Who Is To Say? "A university should have on its faculty mem bers representing as many respectable viewpoints as possible." That statement was made by V ictor S. Bryant, of Durham, members of the executive committee of the University of North Carolina board of trus tees, in a speech in Raleigh last week. Discussing academic freedom, Mr. Bryant vigorously upheld the necessity for the teacher to be Tree, in research, in thought, and in teaching. He added that intellec tual stimulation, and thus progress, results from the clash of conflicting viewpoints, rather than from conformity in thinking. He left unanswered two questions: But Mr. Bryant would confine those viewpoints to "respectable" ones. What is a "respectable" viewpoint? And even more important, WHO is to say which viewpoint is respectable and which is not? The questions are important lor all of us, not just for those on college campuses, because many of to day's generally accepted ideas were considered any thing but "respectable" when they first were voiced. Flat-Headed Never, perhaps, has there been so much talk in America of tolerance. And never has there been such intolerant tolerance. Item : To question that legal control of liquor is the final answer, or to point out that the growing prevalence of drinking constitutes a problem, labels the questioner and pointer as a narrow-minded Puritan ? if not a hypocrite. , Item: To remark that there are basic and often conflicting differences between Catholicism and Protestantism is to brand oneself a bigot. Item: To suggest that the removal of all racial barriers will be followed by racial intermarriage is to put oneself beyond the pale ? such a suggestion is likely to be greeted with the pained silence that is accorded any gross breach of good taste. We are tolerant, that is. of everything but the other fellow's minority and unpopular opinion? and of unpleasant arguments and facts. Perhaps the best way to say that this ostrich like attitude is both foolish and intolerant is to quote the old comment that ".you can be so broad minded vou become flat-headed". Others' Opinions NO PROGRESS HERE (St. Louis Post-Dispatch) Progress in the toy-making industry is incredible; all it hasn't perfected is the unbreakable parent. LITTLE ICE IS NICE (Richmond, (Va.) News-Leader) A little ice is very nice, a touch of snow Is fine; there's nothing really Spartan in a low of twenty-nine. And. we love the open fires that winters always bring ? but, weatherman, old friend, old pal, we're ready now for Spring! Ah, yes, it's time for balmy climes, for grubbing in the dirt. Let's put away the overcoat, get out the open shirt; let's turn our thoughts to baseball teams, to Mantle and to Berra ? let's have a little sunshine in Virginia's Riviera. Japonica. come on-ica! We want to see some posies! We're tired of rubber boots and wraps, and children's runny noses. Down with chills and fuel oil bills, and scarves around the mouth! Richmond isn't Iceland, chum; this is the Sunny South. Forsythia, we missth-ia! We want to see some greenery; A burst or dogwood would improve Virginia's barren scenery. Cross our hearts and hope to die, if wintertime will pass ? we won't object to spade or hoe: We'll even cut the grass! A BOSS HAS GOT A RIGHT TO KICK (Bertie ? Ledger Advance) Events in the past year go to prove that it all depends upon which side of the fence you are on in this matter of folks fir ing other folks. When Truman fired MacArthur and when Scott fired Coltrane it was a heinious situation to plenty folks. Now Elsenhower has booted Manion and Umstead has kicked a lady off the Prison's Advisory Board. We can see little basic difference between the reasoning of Truman, Ike. Scott, or Umstead in any of the cases. The only thing foolish in the sit uation was the way some folks got so heated about the entire thing. If we had to choose between the cases, however, we would still pick Truman and Scott as the men with more cause for their actions. Both booted underlings who were doing their damndest to undermine the program decreed by the chief. The Ike case against Manion and the booting of Mrs. Kate John son by Governor Umstead are cases of folks who were paid to criticize being booted far doing just that. Both Mr. Manion and Mrs. Johnson were serving on commissions the function of which was to study, criticize, and make recommendations ? recommendations that might or might not agree with th^ ideas of the boss. But in all the cases, the boss still had the right ? even the duty? to exercise his booting privilege if he so desired or thought it necessary N. C. NEXT TO THE BOTTOM i Winston-Salem Journal > Tar Heels proud of the educational advancement of their state during the past few decades are taken aback by the re cent announcements by national school authorities that North Carolina ranks 47th among the, states in the number of col lege students per capita. As of the latest census, 42,723 North Carolina residents were enrolled In some college or university. This was equlvaleNt to one college student for every 95 persons. Only South Ckrollna ranked lower In college students per capita, with one student for each M residents. Utah, with one college student for each S3 persons, ranked first In the United States. Statistics show that North Carolina ranked 18th In the total number of resi dents who are college students, 13th in total enrollment In in stitutions of higher learning located within the state, and 29th in the rate of increase in total enrollment this year, as com pared with last year. Figures compiled by Felix A. Grisette of the North Carolina Research Institute disclose that 43,327 students are currently enrolled in the state's 59 colleges and universities, including Junior colleges, an increase of 3.67 per cent over the enroll ment for 1952-53. This percentage of increase was consider ably lower than the national rate of 4.80. Fourteen Delaware leading the field with 51.7 per cent. It is encouraging to know that a state which had only 200 students in public high schools in 1902 had 42,723 students en rolled in college in 1954. The difference between these figures suggests the magnitude of the progress which has been made in North Carolina education during the past half century. But the per capita figures on college enrollment deny us the right to be either boastful or complacent. They Indicate that North Carolina still has a long way to go before It reaches sight of the top rung in the education ladder. ? Letters OUR AMBASSADORS Dear Editor: ^ I receive^ your notice tonight about my subscription but you did not say how much It is to a service person. I feel pretty sure that you wrote me last year that it was ($2.00) two dol lars a year to those in the government service so I am enclos ing the $2.00 and surely hope that this is right; most business places give the service (oiks a discount and we are serving your country we are your ambassadors from your town and county. And you need lots and lots and then some more to keep the army and other government services as large as they should be; its getting critical, so many are leaving the service because of such low salaries and high cost of living, but please believe me without a big army, air force, and navy we would sure be in a much worse fix than this country is in at the present, every branch of the service should be several times as large as it is .right today, as you can see each day how the war situation is looking it isn't good or any nearer peace, I am afraid. So you folks on the outside should be good to your government service folks, wherever they are and whenever you can. and remember that we are your direct representatives from your own home town and county even though we do feel so homeless at times when we are so far away in the services, I can speak from experiences as I have had about eight long years overseas, serving you in many different countries in far away places, that is anything but like home, but I am glad to serve my country and my government and my people in any way I can. Anywhere and at anytime, if it will help us to pre serve peace and have a free and beautiful country in the future like we have had in the past, if you have seen the war-torn and destroyed countries then you surely know what I mean, to try to keep our beloved America tree. With best wishes for your success. I am most sincerely. Fort Benning, Ga. SGT. MARETTA R. MUNDAY STRICTLY PERSONAL By WEIMAR JONES CHAPEL HILL ? Two items in the 50 Years Ago section of last week's "Do You Remember?" must have brought up, out of the depths of memory, a lot of pictures of the long-gone past for old timers. One told of The Press moving into the east side of the Hig gins Building. (That must have been the space now occupied by Sanders' cafe.) Where did it move from? I wondered as I read the item. It seems to me I remember ? or maybe I just remember hearing someone say ? that The Press at one time was housed on the second floor of the old Johns ton Building (the West Main Street structure now occupied by Mashburn's Grocery, Caro lina Music Company, and West's Florist i . Was it there, before the move into the Hlggins Building? I cannot remember for sure. I believe my first recollection of being in The Press office was after the move into the Hlggins Building. And when we publish ed, a year or two ago, an old cut made at the time, the pic ture showing the old oil street lamp, on a post, ouside, I re called very clearly just how the street along there looked then, street lamps and all. (What a poor excuse those old street lamps were! As I remember, what they chiefly did was to give enough light for ominous shadows to be cast, shadows that sent cold chills down the spines of little boys out after dark.) I clearly remember calling on Burton Lyle, while he was edit or of the paper during its Hlg gins Building days, and if I am not mistaken. It still was hous ed there. In the middle 1920's, when Major S. A. Harris was the editor. Other editors i recall include Mr. Curtis (wasn't he "Mayor" Curtis?), his son. Will Curtis, Harley Lyle (brother of Burton), and M. D. Billings, though I be lieve Mr. Billings had the paper for a relatively short time. (Among more recent editors, of course, were Major Harris, Lyles Harris, Blackburn Johnson, and his mother, Mrs. Cantey John son.) The older Mr. Curtis I re member only vaguely. Rather tall and spare, as I recall, with a white goatee; very dignified; and, if memory serves, usually wearing one of those cruely-to man-or-beast affairs known as a "standing" collar. The Press probably never had a more colorful, or youthful, editor than Harley Lyle. At ap proximately - 19, he shook a wicked pen. I am sure he never had to worry about circulation. It tpust be exaggerated, but the mental picture I have is of people standing in line, on press day, to get a copy of the paper ? just to see what he had said this week. And I never remem ber hearing any complaint about his letting his customers down; he always had something to say. though sometimes it wasn't entirely palatable. I remember hearing Mr. Bill ings tell the story of the trouble he got into once, a trouble that is typical of newspapering,* of whatever era. In writing an ac count of a young people's party, he had a list of those present, but wasn't quite sure he had all the names. To play safe, he ended the list with the phrase "and others". Continued On Paice Five ? News Making As It Looks To A Maconite ? By BOB SLOAN One other word about the re cent tax bUl passed by the House of Representatives and then on to better things. A glance at the record of de bate preceding the passage of this bill shows that the mala cry raised by those who ware opposed to the passage of an amendment which would hare Increased the exemptions was that the proponents of Increas ed exemptions were playing po litics. I Just wonder how these same people would describe these two little items. Four of the nine Democrats who voted against raising ex emptions are from Texas. At this time Texas is one of the two states being considered for the location of an Air Force Officers school similar to West Point and Annapolis, by the government. It will be Interest ing to see If the school does go there. Maybe no promises were made but any fair minded per son must admit that it is rath er strange that over half of those who broke from their par ty's stand should come from the same state. 1 can I gvi> over uur nepmicu tatlve, George Shuford, letting us down. However, this may have had some bearing on the matter. Just prior to the time the vote was called, Mr. Shu ford had lunch with Robert Haines, wealthy North Carolina banker. Also present at the lunch were Rep. Thurmond Chatham and Rep. Charles Jonas, the only other two men from this state to vote against the measure. ? * ? There doesn't seem to bj much political activity on the local level yet. Since we are to elect a full slate of officers on the county ticket there is plen ty of opportunity far those who would like to get their feet wet It is an interesting experience that every citizen should try at least once. ? ? ? You hear about this road and that road, but what about an all weather road to Nanta hala. The road was promised, but what does the State High way Commission plan to do about its promise? I don't think the local Chamber of Commerce could take a much better proj ect than to try to see that the state lives up to its word. We need the road and the people of Nantahala would like to have it. Do You Remember? (Looking backward t brooch the files of The Pram) 50 YEARS AGO THIS WEEK The tall Cartoogechayite was in town Saturday. He doesn't like for us to put his name in the paper, and we won't. Lee and Nick Allman, sons of Mr. W. C. Allman. who have been in Alabama for the last few years, arrived last Wednes day on a two weeks' visit to their parents. There are many cases of grip in this section that keep our doctors busy these days. There was a slight excitement on East Main Street about 3 o'clock Monday evening when it was thought Mr. Henry Robert son's house was on fire. It turned out to be soot burning in the chimney. 25 TEARS AGO The new well is close to $3, 000 deep. While cleaning up the town It might be well for the city fathers to take steps to clean up the daddy and mamma mud holes. And since no one else will say so, here goes: Amen. A California turtle returned home after an absence of 39 years. It had probably been trying to break a Florida beach speed record. Talkies Coming: The Macon Theatre has announced that on next Tuesday it will present a six-act singing and talking film and a feature picture with synchronized music. 10 YEARS AC.O A group of soldiers who were en route from maneuvers in Tennessee to Camp Jackson, passed through Franklin la.it Friday afternoon, stopping for a good steak dinner at the .< Tavern and for friendly chaU ( with a number of ciitzens. A home demonstration club has been organized in the Shortoff section by Mrs. W. C.' Nail, assistant home demon stration agent (Highlands Highlights).