Newspapers / The Franklin Press and … / Feb. 10, 1955, edition 1 / Page 2
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(Dt* Mtnttklitt Tfixtsz nnb Qlh? JKattromtt Entered at Poet Office, Franklin, N. C., as second class matter Published every Thursday by The Franklin Press Franklin. N. C. Telephone 24 FEBRl ARY 10, 1955 He Is Right! All of us make mistakes. Rut not all of us have the courage to admit it when we are wrong. Mr. Claude W. Cabe has. Mr. Cabe was the maker of some rather sweep ing motions passed by the county board of educa tion Saturday. Over the week-end he got more in formation. Monday he issued a statement saying his motions were "based on misinformation and misunderstanding", and that he will move to re scind them at the next board meeting. "I believe most of our difficulties", he added, "have fyeen due to misunderstanding and misin formation, and it is mv feeling that the county board of education and the county superintendent should, and can, work together in the future in harmony." He is right! There is much too .much work to be done for there to be time for petty -fault-finding. Mr. Cabe has struck the right note. More power to him ! A Statement Of Principle The Constitution of the United States guaran tees freedom of the press. That freedom, like anv other, carries wiYh it obligations. What are those obligations ? The newspapers of this state have been asking themselves that question, and last month the North Carolina Press Association adopted a 400 word statement attempting to define the general prin ciples of press responsibility. The statement is the result of months of study and soul-searching discussion by a committee of 15 newspapermen. On the committee, headed by D. Hiden Ramsey, of Asheville, were publishers, edit ors, and reporters, from big and little newspapers in every section of the state. The Franklin Press adopts the statement as its ?own. This newspaper will not always perfectly fulfill the obligations set forth. But it will try. Because the public has an even greater stake in freedom of the press than any newspaperman, the statement is published below. A STATEMENT OF PRINCIPLE The newspapers of North Carolina, conscious of their obligations, and mindful of their own human ' imperfections, rededicate themselves to these prin ciples which guide a responsible press in a free so ciety : I Freedom of the press exists in a democracy, not for the power or profit or pleasure of any individ ual, but for the common good. The right of the people to know cannot be denied or diminished without endangering democracy itself. It is the ob ligation of the press to provide accurate, timely and complete information about all developments which affect the people's political, economic or so cial well-being. Given the facts, the people usually will reach wise decisions. II The trusteeship of a free press is the final re sponsibility of the publisher, lie may share it. but he cannot escape, it. The good publisher provides the necessary money and space for adequate cover age of the essential news and employs personnel of integrity, ability and sound judgment. lie exalts accuracy above every other consideration, and in sists upon prompt, full and even gerterous correc tion when error-- occur. III Kvery citizen deserves the stimulus of a strong i Vorial page, on which the editor voices his own well-informed opinion, clearly and forcefully; yet willing!1, provides -puce for contrary opinion. The ?rood editor often takes sides, but without arro e or intolerance. He champions boldly .the ?i ^hts of the people, sometime'* against government itself. He provides leadership, particularly in his own community. He has a special responsibility to defend ilie weak, to prod the public conscience, and to >peak out against the injustices of which a ma jority can sometimes be guilty. IV The primary function of a newspaper is to re port the news. The good reporter strives constantly to find and write the truth. This task, no matter how difficult, is his unescapable responsibility. To be true, a story, together with its headlines, must be honest. To be honest, it must be fair. To be fair, it must be accurate and complete. Honesty demands objectivity, the submergence of prejudice and personal conviction. Fairness de mands regard for the rights of others. Accuracy demands courage, painstaking care, and perspective to assure a total picture as true as its individual facts. V The final test of every story, every headline, every editorial, every newspaper is: Is it honest? I . 1st it fair? I Is it accurate? To the end that they can more frequently answer these questions in the affirmative, the newspapers of North Carolina adopt this statement of principle. Great Of Heart (CONTRIBUTED) Genius emenates from the processes of the brain. Greatness, heralded or obscure, arises from the nobleness of the heart. Langdon Cheves was recently killed in an auto mobile accident, cut off, as many would say, in the prime of his life, at the height of his usefulness. An executive of Daniel Construction Company, of our neighboring' town of Greenville, S. C, he never set foot, so far as we know, on Macon County soil. Perhaps there is no resident of Macon County who knew him personally, and very few who even knew of him. But he knew something of Macon County and had an interest in its young people. That is shown by the fact that every year, for a number of years before his passing, unsolicited by anyone, and unknown to anv except its three trustees, he made an investment in the youth of Macon County by contributing to a well known educational loan fund, the Macon County Memorial Loan Fund, set apart as a memorial to "the men of Macon County who made the supreme sacrifice in the Great World War." This fund has assisted almost two score young men and women from Macon County in securing a higher education, and will continue to do so through the years, since its principal is untouched, and the fund is thus perpetual. Langdon Cheves played an important part in building this fund, and incidentally, building the youth of Macon County. He asked for neither applause nor thanks in so doing, being satisfied with the knowledge that he was making a perpetual investment in worth while youth. He could have paid Macon County no higher tribute than selecting the youth of this particular area. The thing he did is known to few, and may, in the passing years, be forgotten entirely. But its ef fect will always last ? > Langdon Cheves will al ways have an investment in the youth of Macon County, a monument to the greatness of his heart. Congratulations The Press undoubtedly voices the feeling of most of its readers when it extends congratulations to Mr. Edwin T. (Ed) Williams on his selection as Macon County's 1954 "Young Man of the Year". The mere listing of Mr. Williams' labors for his community is enough to show why he was chosen. And of course back of all effective public service is the thing that makes it effective, the spirit of self lessness. Congratulations are due, too, to the other seven nominated for the Javcees' Distinguished Servicc Award. It is no small honor to be citcd as one of only eight young men, in a county of 16,000, who have done most for their community. Felicitations, then, to Messrs. Jack Angel, Bryan TIatchett. J. L. Hill, G. A. Jones, Jr., Harry Kinsland, X. Weaver Shope, and Gilmer TTenson. ' And all who know Mr. Troop U. Callahan will rejoice that, in bis selection as "Buss of the Year", his consistent ptiblic-spiritedncss and generosity ? of his time and energy as well' as money ? have at last received the recognition they so long have de served. Unanswered Question Every member of the North Carolina General Assembly would be quick to say he tries to carry (?ut the wishes of his constituents. But not one of those who favor legislative sec recy has answered this question: What const itnent asked you to legislate in sec ret? ? and why? He Ain't Seen Nothin' Yet The world has come to a sorry pass! This part of the world, in particular. If you doubt it, just turn to last week's Press. Right there it is. And on the front page, too! A screaming headline: "He saw it!" The "he", of course, refers to the groundhog. And the time he is alleged to have seen his shadow is February 2.t Bosh ! He ain't seen nothin' yet. And he won't ? till February 14. That's Groundhog Day, as every in telligent person hereabouts ought to know. It is true they celebrate February 2 in New Eng land and other furrin' parts. Poor things, they don't know no better ! But who is in . position to really know about these things? Why, we moun taineers, of course. Because isn't Groundhog Day an old English holiday? And haven't we the purest Anglo-Saxon blood in the world right here in the mountains? And we do know! No ; that's wrong. We did know. Alas ! we seem to have forgotten now. In justice to the news editor, who wrote the piece, he has two good excuses. First of all, he's grown up in a decadent period when most of the means of communication are in the hands of damn yankees iVi New York and other big cities; all his life he's had February 2 shouted at him from newspaper front pages. Second, like any good re porter, he inquired : "Which is the damnyankee Groundhog Day and which is our mountainwhite Groundhog Day?" The answer he got was: "February 2 is THE DAY." And who gave hivn that answer? (We hang our editorial head in shame: but honest confession is good for the soul.) None other than the editor of The Press ! ? a man raised in these parts, and one who's been around long enough to know better. The world has come to a sorry pass, indeed ! for we here in the mountains don't know even when Groundhog Day is. And here's the clincher to my argument : Did YOU protest against the error? You didn't. Nobody did ! ? Letters LIKES EDITORIAL PAGE Dear Mr. Jones: It was with considerable pleasure that I read of the hdnor that recently came to The Press and to you. My knowledge of journalism is meager, but I have always believed that the caliber of a paper is revealed through its editorial policy and on its editorial page. It makes me prouder than ever to be a citizen of Franklin and to know that our local paper has been chosen as having the best editorial page of any in its class in the state. I greatly appreciated two editorials In the Issue of January 27. They coincide with the beliefs and the stand of many Protestant Christians. I refer to the editorials concerning Uni versal Military Training and to the State-wide Liquor Refer endum. Both of these issues pose challenges to our basic human freedoms. As a denomination, The Methodist Churchy has consistently opposed U. M. T. and the liquor traffic, whether the latter was legal or illegal. The referendum would be desirable. Your clear and stimulating editorials help to present the basic issue involved in each of these matters. I appreciate the spirit in which you have presented them. No doubt editors are human, too. That is why I thought you might like this word of praise. Sincerely yours Franklin. REV. S. B. MOSS. January 31, 1955. THE SCOUT PROGRAM Dear Mr. Jones: February 8 was the forty-fifth anniversary of the Boy Scout movement in America. I don't believe some people know much about this program. I am writing in hope that what I say will help give a better understanding of Scouting and will there fore give more boys a helping hand. In Scouting: Boys Learn Which Way to Go. I am talking about boys and the Boy Scout program. ? It all started at the turn of the century in South Africa. General Robert S. Baden-Powell, the commander of the British troops in that area, discovered his men didn't know how to take care of themselves in the iungle. The fact was they didn't know North from South. He wrote a book "Aid to Scouts". This book became the foundation for the Boy Scout movement. Scouting came to America and was chartered, February 8, ? Continued on Page 3 News Making As It Looks To A Maconite ? By BOB 8LOA.N ' The most recent Issue of The Mountain Echo, Franklin High School newspaper, was publish ed this week. We think that it is a very creditable work. Two students, Norman Smith, editor, news writer, and advertising salesman for the paper, and Tommy Gnuse, sports editor, did most all the work of getting the copy ready for this ten page publication. They did it with little or no help from their journalism teacher. Con sidering that this paper con tained 58 advertisements, 19 news stories (we did not count the feature items) two full pages of sports, two editorials, we feel that that is a lot of work. Congratulations to all who contributed to this fine high school paper, but particularly to Norman and Tommy, for we know that they did a lion's share of the work. ? ? ? My coffee-drinking, joke cracking colleague, J. p. Brady, deserves a pat on the back, a bouquet, or some other token of recognition of a good job well begun. About two months ago, John became aware of the fact that this was the year that the Town of Franklin would be one hundred years old. He said that he thought we should have a centennial celebration. General ly such things die at that stage of the game. I}ut already Brady, assisted chiefly by Holland Mc Swain, "Uncle Charley" Ramsey, Sam Gibson, and Carl Tysinger, has a full scale centennial pro gram in the making, it prom ises to be something that the people of Franklin will get more fun out of than anything we have done around here in a long time. * * ? When I first heard that Lee Wood was going to fill In the Mashburn pasture, (which lies on the north side of highway U. S. 23 on the east side of the Little Tennessee river) and build a motor court there, I thought that he was undertak ing too big a job. He now has that filled some five or ten feet higher than the road and graded. It is one of the most desirable and best located sites I have seen for a motor court. It took a lot of nerve to back that undertaking. Congratula tions, Lee. It Is your turn to laugh at some of us skeptics. Henry Mashburn nas done a similar job on the opposite side of the road, although It Is not on quite as large a scale. The enterprise and nerve of these two men has turned some land that was practically worthless into good valuable property. Before I leave this subject, I would like to add that I was Impressed with the way Frank lin Construction Company real ly stuck with the job of mov ing the dirt for the filling of these two lots during one of the roughest winters we have had. Do You Remember? (Looking backward through the files of The Press) 50 YEARS AGO THIS WEEK Mrs. Lelia Allison returned home last week after several months' absence in Tennessee and Washington City. Mr. Kope Elias and Frank Curtis left Saturday on a trip to Hayesville to be gone several days. John S. Trotter, I. J. Ashe, and E. B. Angel left last Wednesday with 13 head of mules for the southern markets. 25 YEARS .J.GO Mr. and Mrs. W. McCoy l?t last week for Florida fo: : lirse weeks' visit. 0 YEARS A' O Five Western North ,Ca " -Uiu Teacher's College student ? ar." playing in "Skin of our Troth" by Thornton Wil:'er, which is beir." produced by Western Carolina Plnyers in the pollen- auditorium at Cullowhee Wednesday evening. February 21. They arc Ida Mae Dowdle. daughter of Mr. and Mrs M. L. Dowdle, Maxie Wright, daughter of Mrs. Helen Wilson, Frank Murray, son of Mr. Frank Murray. Sr.. Clayton Ramsey, son of Mr. and Mrs. A. L. Ramsey, and Mary Raby, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. J. M. Raby. Mrs. Elsie Tarry has returned from St. Augustine, Fla.. where she has been visiting Miss Valerie Dougall for the past two weeks. ? Highlands item.
The Franklin Press and the Highlands Maconian (Franklin, N.C.)
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