Newspapers / The Franklin Press and … / Oct. 7, 1954, edition 1 / Page 2
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&kt Sitnstklm |mi anir (Ik* Biigitlsn&s Jttarxmmit klmd at Poet Office, mmilii, N. C, M Moond cimm MM fubUiM mi TtuiMi; by Tha PimaElla Pi tm Franklin. X. 0. MghM : , JONB Editor ?OB 8. SLOAN . . . J. P BRADY MBS. EDWARD CRAWFORD ........ CARL r. CABS Mechanical Sujxrll DAVIS H. BUTTON . . . I E- WH1TT1BQTON SUBSCRIPTION RATES Covan ramac Ibeoi Ootwtt > lav $3.00 On* Tni WMtfel l it 8U Moot in 1.79 M MoeUm 1.00 Tbn* Month* 1.00 Your Responsibility, Too We set forth, in this space last week, some of the humbling responsibilities freedom of the press places upon newspapers and other publications. But while the first responsibility for maintain ing this freedom belongs to the press itself, the ulti mate responsibility lies with the people; that is, with you and your neighbor, and his neighbor. For it is you, and the millions of other plain Americans, who must decide whether the press of this nation shall stay free. Nor is that necessarily a far-off decision, one that you may never have to make. For like all other freedoms, freedom of the press always is in danger. And remember! It, also like all the others, is your freedom; the press merely holds it in trust. Freedom of the press, indeed, may be the free dom most in danger. Because a free press stands in the way of many groups ? of selfish interests, of incompetent or corrupt public officials, of those who think they know better what is good for the people than the people themselves, of every would be dictator, big or little. These groups would promptly shackle the press, if they could. And they can. if the time ever conies when you and other Americans lose interest in having a press that is free ? when you no longer are willing to fight to keep it free. Why, you may ask, should you be willing to fight to keep the press free? For the very good reason that it is you who would lose most, should it ever cease to be free. For without free access to information and ideas, on which to base decisions, the people of this coun try could ? and almost certainly would ? be mis led into voting away their other basic American rights ? freedom of religion, freedom of thought, the right to a fair trial by a jury, etc. * * * And how can you meet your share of this respon sibility? We suggest two ways ? and there may be others : First, by openly and loudly protesting at the first small indication of an effort to prevent the ?press from getting and publishing every item of in formation about your government ? local, state, or national. Second, by demanding of the press that it meet its share of the responsibility ; by demanding of it that it keep the public's confidence in press freedom by being a press that deserves to be free. It i,s your freedom the press is exercising, and you have a stake in how it is used or abused ; you owe it to yourself to see to it that the press does its job well. You can help by offering constructive sug gestions ; you can, and you should, offer adverse criticism, too, when that seems warranted. This newspaper sometimes may not always agree with such suggestions and criticisms. It al ways will welcome them, and examine them. Mr. Murray Leaves There is regret, by persons of all faiths and all classes, at the departure of the Rev. C. E. Murray. During his five years as pastor of the Franklin Methodist Church, he was never too busy, never too tired, to answer any call ? to bury the dead, to visit the sick, to work for and with the well and active. Whatever the call, he gave himself cheer fully and generously; especially, he delighted to encourage and give a boost to youth. His service here will be sorely missed. More im portant, because of the influence of his gentle spirit, this is a better community for his having lived btrf. In A Circle? Yesterday" we armed Russia to help beat Germ any. Today we seek to arm Germany to help beat Russia. Tomorrow . . . ? Miss Jess Angel Miss Jess Angel was typically a product of the mountains. Generous but independent, she was quick to do a favor, rarely asked one. Frugal with her words, she Ifed the knack of making each one count. That, perhaps, was the secret of her quick wit ? the ability to cover a situation, accurately and fully, in a word or a phrase. Generally her humor was the pleasant sort ; but on occasion she could cut a stuffed shirt or one overly self-important down to size. That was due to no desire to hurt, but to im patience with what we here once described as "put on". Whether it was herself or others, or a situa tion, she usually saw things exactly as they were. Her genuineness made her fit in so with her sur roundings that many persons must feel as one bare acquaintance phrased it. "Jess Angel was a fixture, a part of Franklin. I just took it "for granted she would always be here, in her little shop uj> town." The C. I. O. is reported discouraged by the re sults of an eight-state survey of public opinion on political issnes. The one obvious general conclusion suggested by the survey is that the voters, in each congressional race, will ignore issues and pick the best man. WeH, what's so discouraging about that? Others' Opinions TAKE HIM AND WELCUM' (Isaac London in Rockingham Post-Dispatch) In my Post-Dispatch file of July 18, 1918 ? 36 years ago ? I came across this letter written to the Exemption Board? and it could be just as applicable now in 1954: "Dear United States Army: my husband ast me to write a recommend that he supports his family. He can't read, so don't tell him what I am saying. Just take him. He ain't no good nohow. He ain't done nothin but play the fiddle and drink lemon extract. I was married eight years ago and have seven kids; he don't help support them. Maybe you can get him to tote a gun. He's good at shooting squirrels and eatin.' Take him and welcum. I need his food and the bed for the kids. Don't tell him this but take him." KELLY BENNETT HONORED (O. J. Coffin in Greensboro Dally News) I don't go too strong for This, That or T'other Man, Miss or What-Have-You Of the Year, but I'll subscribe to Kelly E. Bennett of Bryson City as the Pharmacist of This Year, Year Before Last or any reasonable number of Years to Come After. Pharmacy is something he makes a living at; there are any number of other things, such as "Unto These Hills," his own combination of clover and sourwood honey and all-around good neighboring which make him as satisfactory a person as can be found in a long day's journey in a territory in which neigh boring is by instinct Instead of by AAA, Duncan Hines, Hoyle, Jacoby or Goren. And if he gets tired of being first-place pharmacist, he has a couple of daughters who can take over ? and there's a gal over at Haysville who wouldn't know me if she met me at a State Democratic Convention who knows her way about, too. What I'm driving at is to set before you the fact that West ern Carolina prophets are not without honor in their own country. TIME TO WIPE OUT THIS RACKET (Chapel Hill News Leader) One of the lowest forms of insurance rackets in the state will come to an end when the legislature convenes, provided the fight against it by Representative Blue of Aberdeen and others is properly supported. This racket enables health and accident insurance compan ies to cancel policies at will, particularly when persons insured by them are most likely to need the money; that is, in case of severe illness or accident. These cancellations, sad to say, are likely to be entirely legal, in accordance with clauses set forth in the policies but usually concealed in fine type. For example, after paying premiums for years, an Insured person may find he has a heart condition or some other threat ening ailment due to no fault of his own. If his Insurers be long to the racketerlng element now In the health and acci dent "game" and happen to learn of his misfortune, there is nothing in the sort of policy they issue to prevent their can celling it forthwith, leaving the victim without recourse. Meantime persons taking out such policies may protect them selves, first, by doing business only with companies which do not stoop to such practices; and secondly, by carefully reading every clause in policies, particularly those In fine print. One of the worst features of the racket is that the victims are often people who can least afford to lose the money or the protection. IN WOtTH CAKOUM^l KfelS j Carolina num ber over 3,joq They Ifweiri the Great Smoky Mou* vtoirt*. ? Letters ?DIFFERENT THAN' Esteemed Sir: May I express my appreciation of your article, reprinted In The Richmond Dispatch of today, on "Different Than". When you write again, do mention the use of "every" for "ever" and "dove" as the past tense of dive. The latter Is my especial abomination. , . What is to become of our language If all of these horrors are allowed to creep in and become permanent? With thanks and good wishes. Very sincerely, Winchester, Va. MRS. O. O. ULLMAN. September 30, 1954. (EDITOR'S NOTE: The article referred to by Mrs. Ullman, appearing in the Richmond newspaper September 30, was a reprint of a piece in the Strictly Personal column of The Press last April 8. Written in lighter vein, it damned use of "different than", instead of "different from", as "ignorant, ungrammatical, nonsensical". We judge ourselves by what we feel capable of doing, while others judge us by what we have already done. ? Longfellow. STRICTLY PERSONAL By WEIMAR JONES In Atlanta the other day, I had the good fortune to have a few minutes' conversation with an intelligent and informed Mississippi newspaper editor. He first told me about his state's program for attracting industry. The objective, he ex plained, is enough Industry to balance the state's agriculture. Under the plan, bonds are issued by a political subdivision ? a town, township, or county ? and the proceeds are used to build a plant for an Industry that will come into the com munity. The plant is leased to the industry at a nominal ren tal; and the agreement per mits the industry, If It wishes, to buy the property, paying for it over a period of years. In other words, the public credit is lent to the industry as an inducement to get the industry into the community. The program has proved highly successful, he said. I asked if fly-by-nlght con cerns didn't abuse It, by get ting a plant built to Its specifi cations, and then, In a year or two, moving on to another com munity that offered some other kind of inducement; thus leav ing the community with an empty building on Its hands. He said that had not proved a serious problem. The conversation turned to segregation-Integration, and I was particularly Interested In what he said on that, because he obviously is a moderate in his views; "he does not, for ex ample, approve of Mississippi's plan to abolish the public schools as a way to avoid the mixing of white and Negro children. I wondered if most of the ob jection comes from a noisy min ority, chiefly politicians. "Is the average man really much In terested?" I asked him. "You bet he is!" and he gave instance after Instance to prove the point. "The people of Mississippi simply are not going to have white and Negro children going to school together", he added; "not, at least, In the foresee able future". Then he quoted the president of a Negro college in Mississippi and outlined what may be the solution, as far as that state is concerned. The Negro educator, described by my editor friend as "one of the wisest men in the state", said in substance : "The Supreme Court decision outlawing segregation was hail ed by Negroes everywhere. Any Negro who says he wants a law upholding segregation is a liar; he just Isn't telling you how he really feels. "But once there is no law requiring segregation, most of the Negroes are going to prefer to go to their own schools. They know it is to their own ad vantage". And he cited, among other things, the present plight of the Negro teacher In states that do not have segregation, and what would happen to the Negro teacher In the South if the all-Negro schools were abolished. I suggested that there still would be some Negroes - who would want to go to the white schools, perhaps a tiny minor ity. "We are counting on the overwhelming majority of Ne groes who do not want integra tion to take care of that", he explained. "They will put pres sure on the minority to con form ? In the Interest of the Negro race." News Making As It Looks To A Maconite A building boom U undfr way in Franklin this Fall. In addition to portion of the school building program on which contracts have already been let and the town hall for which bonds have teen voted, there is considerable private building. Both Lee Wood and Ftaojc Duncan plan to construct mo tor court!. . Mr. Duncan has already start ed the construction of his en terprise, located on the south west side of town at the Junc tion of u. a 84 and 23. Surrey work is being done on ttie Wood's project, located on the northeast aide of town It the junction of XT. 8. M And V. & 9. In addition to this at least one large private home Is be ing constructed. If yon have a little patch wdrk carpentry you want to get done, looks like you had better do It your self because the hammer and nails men are going to be herd to find this fall and winter. ? ? ? Since I do not know all the facts as to attendance and en rollment I can not give a fully competent verdict as to the Board of education's decision as to the part of the buildlnc program they would complete first. However. I would like to compliment the group in that It appears that they were guid ed by a policy of principal rather than just acceding to the first pressure group that reach ed. them. They evidently de cided to build all the needed classrooms before they added what might be called accessory construction. For laying down a policy and sticking to it, they are to be complimented. This Is not as easy as It sounds with this group and that one pull ing and tugging at you, nor has It always been the case In the past. Have you ever stopped to think of the many things In the way of improvements in our community that have been made possible largely by donations of the merchants of Franklin. The concrete seats at the Franklin athletic field, uniforms and in struments for the band, the high prices local farm boys have received for their fat calves, money for the Boy and Girl Scouts, improvements to numerous churches throughout Macon County, all these have been either wholly or partly financed by the donations of Franklin merchants, in view of the way they support the com munity don't you think it would be fair if we supported them instead of some out of town merchant. Think about that the next time you reach for a mail order catalogue or plan a trip out of town to do your shop ping. Do You Remember? (Looking backward through the files of The Press) 50 TEARS AGO THIS WEEK Chestnuts are beginning to appear on our market. Misses Maude and Pearl Barn ard left Monday for the State Normal College, at Greensboro, N. C. After a rest of a few weeks in railroad work, things have begun to move. This week Capt. Berry is extending the telegraph line to Clayton. The construc tion train has been moving the timber to build the Scotch Creek trestle. ? Quoted from The Clayton Tribune. 25 TEARS AGO "Investigate Macon County, heart of a natural empire ripe for development" ? Slogan over top of Press banner. The Macon County chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy this week reelect ed officers as follows: Mrs. George Slagle, president; Mrs. T. J. Johnston, vice-president; Miss Lily Rankin, secretary; Miss Nora Leach, treasurer; Mrs. W. C. Cunningham, reg istrar; and Mrs. Tom Slagle, historian. It TEARS AGO The Macon County United' War Fund campaign will get under way next Monday to raise the county's quota of $7,000, John M. Archer, county chair man, said today. Mrs. Annie L. Westbrook was elected president of the Satulah club at the September meet ings?Highlands Item.
The Franklin Press and the Highlands Maconian (Franklin, N.C.)
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Oct. 7, 1954, edition 1
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