& \xt $\mnkiin
and
& ire Jiigblanbs JEariJiiian
8econd cUm mall privileges MithoclMd at Franklin, K. O.
PuoUihed every Thursday by The Franklin Frees
Telephone 24
WKDiAB JONES
BOB S SLOAN ....
J. P. BRADY ....
BOLFE NEILL
MBS. ALLEN 8TT..EB . . .
MBS. MARION BRYSON
CABL P. CABE ....
FRANK A. 8TARRETTE . .
CHARLES E. WHITTINGTON
O. E. CRAWFORD . .
DAVID H. SUTTON . . .
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SUBSCRIPTION BATES
Ouium Macon County
Om T ear . ... $3.00
Ski Month* 1.7S
Tim Mooths .... 1.00
Two f?m 5.23
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IMSZDB liAOOV C?tfWTT
One Tear $2J0
Six Months I TS
Three lion the .... IjOO
Two Tears 4.29
Three Teen
Which Do We Want?
While members of the board of education have
made no public statement, it becomes increasingly
clear that they propose to make a change in the
school superintendent.
Why? There must be a reason.
Certain charges are made against the present
superintendent.
It is charged that he is slow to commit himself,
is not always decisive. One or two or three 'in
stances are cited.
It is charged that he sometimes is dilatory about
doing what needs doing. One or two or three in
stances are cited.
It is charged that he has spent school funds un
wisely. One or two or three instances ? all involv
ing small sums ? are cited.
Assuming that the superintendent occasionally
has been guilty of all three, are these things alone
sufficient reason for dismissal? The best way to
answer that question is to ask another :
Does the man live who is not sometimes guilty
of all of these?
* ?* *
Is it reasonable to believe that any superinten
dent would be dismissed on such relatively minor
grounds? And is it reasonable to believe that this
one should be, when these occasional failures and
mistakes are weighed against his record of accom
plishments? Three illustrations of the amazing
school progress here a-re close at hand ? last week's
excellent N. C. E. A. program, which would have
been impossible without a spirit of harmony and
cooperation among the teachers ; the fine school
exhibits in Franklin store windows in recent weeks ;
and the number of Macon County students winning
scholarships ? two within a single week. Things like
that don't just happen; they, and scores of other
similar evidences, are proof of progress.
* * *
These charges against the superintendent are not
the real reasons ? they are merely the reasons
given.
What, then, is the reason?
/
It could be cheap politics. It could he person
alities. It could be any one of half a dozen other
secret and unworthy motives.
But the members of the board of education ?
Chairman Erwin Patton, Charles Sutton, and
George Gibson ? are good men. Until it is proved
otherwise, we take it for granted they want the
best for the schools, want to do what the people
want done. We are inclined to rule out deep-laid
plots.
What reason, then, is there for dismissing the
superintendent? What reason is left, but one?
It costs more money to drive a good car than a
jalopy. It costs more to live in a fine home than a
shack. And it costs more to operate good schools
than poor schools? a lot more. And that brings us
to the only logical explanation. The reason is
money.
There is resentment, possibly an unconscious re
sentment, at the higher cost of good schools.
Coupled with that, perhaps, is fear of the possibil
ity of a higher tax rate. And the county superin
tendent is made the scapegoat for this resentment
and fear.
* * *
Suppose we change superintendents. Suppose we
can find and hire another good man, even a better
man. Coming here under these circumstances, what
would he do? Cut costs, of course.
So the real issue is not the characteristics and
capability of one individual. The real issue is better
schools vs. cheaper schools.
Which do the people of Macon County want?
Unless they make themselves clear on that point ?
make themselves unmistakably and emphatically
clear ? what they are likely to get is not good
schools but cheap schools.
Letters
Could We Have Done Better?
Dear Weimar,
In the last several Issues of your paper there have been **
four articles to which X wish to say a fervent "amen". ri
The first was the editorial which asked If members of the
board of education were sure they could get a better man for *
superintendent.
The second was Mr. Kingsbery's letter, expressing the hope u
that the board members will not be "misled by criticisms b
that are secondary to the main objective". _
The third was Mrs. Bulgin's letter, which listed some of the t<
accomplishments In the schools during Mr. McSwaln's admin
istration. t]
And, finally, Mr. Moss's letter, pointing out that no valid i<
reason has been given for making a change in superinten- 0
dents. a
They all express my opinion exactly. n
Aside from what it may do to the schools. It seems to me
It is unfair to discharge Mr. McSwaln at this date, without ii
some definite and compelling reason. 5
It Isn't an easy thing to be a county superintendent and be ?
expected to please everybody. How many of us could have
done a better job in the face of petty criticisms? How much
have most of us helped him do a better job by giving him our d
full and hearty support? a
(MISS) LAURA M. JONES a
Franklin.
U
Good Water w
(ASheville Citizen) ti
Waters flowing from Western North Carolina's great maun- p
tains have many uses besides being suitable for flowing under
bridges and distilling white lightning. ^
Electric power is generated from mountain rivers and
towns and cities get supplies from protected watersheds.
The newest plan for utilization of fine Western North Car- ?
olina water is the Greenville, S. C., watershed project that
embraces more than 16,000 acres and includes construction
of a big dam.
Though the land is In South Carolina, waters from North
Carolina flow down to and across it. It will all add up to a
good mountain drinking water ? the finest there is ? for the
people of Greenville. It's worth the cost!
South Carolinians came to Western North Carolina In the b
early days to escape the oppressive heat of summer. And j]
they have been coming ever since, for they appreciate the
mountain scenery, the cool and invigorating air and the fine J
water. v
So for Greenville, the quality of our water is no new dis- p
covery. They know a good thing when they drink it.
A REPUBLICAN VIEW
HOW TO CAPTURE THE HOUSE AND SENATE NEXT YEAR]
New York Herald Tribune
The Republican National Com
mittee, under the stimulus of
it* new chairman, Meade Al
corn, has begun none too soon
IU preparations to elect a Re
publican Congress in the fall of
IMS.
There is every merit In the
plan to conduct a series of reg
ional conferences throughout
the country during the next
two months to bestir Initiative
and strengthen the organization
to try to give President Elsen
hower a Congress controlled by
his own party during the last
two year* of his second term.
It Is logical and proper that
Mr. Elsenhower should indorse
and support this end with all
the prestige of his office. The
effective is not small-minded
parttaanshlp; the objective is
the nost effective functioning
af the two-party system where -
lw asm party, when It Is In
?harp* at both the executive
?at legislative branches, is
made wholly accountable be
cause It is wholly responsible.
We welcome the force and
vigor with which Mr. Alcorn Is
takings hold of his Job. He Is
making an excellent beginning.
But we are only candid in say
ing that this Is no more than
a beginning because the galva
nizing and strengthening of the
nation-wide Republican organi
zation is dealing only Incident
ally with what will need to be
done to bring a Republican
Congress into being.
Let us not cover over the fact
that the Republican organiza
tion and the Republican cam
paign were Just as vigorous as
the Democratic organization
and campaign? or more so ? In
1954 and In 1956. Yet the Dem
ocrats took Congress in 1954,
after Mr. Eisenhower had been
in office only two years, and
again In 1956 when the Presi
dent was drawing a majority of i
9,750,000 votes to his second- ]
term candidacy. i
The diagnosis of what went i
wrong In the past two Con- i
gresslonal elections will have to
go deeper than the matter of
mere organization and cam
paign ? and so will the cure.
As the voters have twice dem
onstrated, they will not auto
matically elect a Republican
House and Senate because they
are electing a Republican Presi
dent, however popular. They
will only elect a Republican
House and Senate when It Is
evident that by so doing they
will be clearly strengthening
the support for the legislative
programs of the President they
overwhelmingly Indorse.
The key to Republican success
at the polls In 1058 Is not In
the hands of the Republican
campaign managers, however
dedicated and effective they
may be. The key to success in
electing a Republican Congress
is In the hands of the Repub
lican leaders And members of
Congress. They wlU be Judged
by the genuine and sustained
support they give the President
and will, we are convinced, be
rewarded accordingly.
Thus the real battleground
for control of Congress In 1958 f
will not be at the polls; It will
be in Congress Itself. And the
test will be rank-and-file sup
port of the President's respect
ed leadership.
We are not talking about Old
Republicans or New Republicans
or Old-New Republicans. We
are talking about all Republic
ans. Every significant item in
the Elsenhower legislative pro
gram?aid to education, high
way construction, civil rights,
farm relief, mutual-security aid,
etc. ? is explicitly set . forth in
the 1956 Republican national
platform. Every Republican
member of Congress is explicitly
committed to fufllll that plat
form. Its half-hearted, half
way support can only mean an
other half-hearted, half-way
success next year. '
The Republican party's bat
tle to win the House and Sen
ate can never be won at the
polls until It U first won In
Congress itself. 11
"He's Still Over A Barrel? fir A Manner Of Speaking"
STRICTLY 7
Personal
? By WEIMAR JONES
I had occasion, the other day,
) go to Ashevllle, and prefer
sd to go by bus.
Well, It Is possible to go from
ranklin to Ashevllle by bus;
ut the trip could hardly be
Lade more inconvenient and
ninvlting. Truth is, It would
e easier to go somewhere else
-Atlanta or Knoxville or Bris
>1, Va. ? to start!
You can leave here at 5:55 In
tie morning ? and get there
>ng before stores and offices
pen; or you can leave at 10:25
t night ? and get there after
ildnight. ? ,
Since the morning bus orlg
lates here, why it leaves at
:55 instead of 6:55 or 7:55 is
ne of the mysteries of modern
ransportation.
And it would be a present
ay miracle If the busses, oper
ting on such a schedule, made
profit in this area.
It looks like one of two things
i true:
Either the Queen City Trail
rays management is too stupid
a realize it cannot operate
>rofitably when it gives such
oor service.
Or it is purposely giving such
loor service with a view to be
VIEWS
? By BOB SLOAN
I have always been a firm
leliever in my product, news
laper advertising, but I don't
lelieve that I have ever appre
:iated quite how good it is. One
act picked up at a recent ad
?ertising clinic shows me how
;ood It is on a comparative
>asis. Advertisers invest more
noney in Newspapers than in
Magazines, Radio. TV, and Out
door combined. That is certaln
y a great vote of confidence
rom the businessmen of Amer
ca for my product, thank you.
* ?
Here in Franklin we are
[reatly concerned about the
outing of traffic. We are in
Uned to think that any by
>asslng of 'the town by traffic
rould practically ruin us. I
lave always agreed with this.
Jut a trip to eastern North
Carolina makes me wonder. As
oon as you leave the moun
alns, town after town Is by
tassed There would be a great
lue and cry from these towns
f their business had been dam
iged as much as I thought It
trould. But this cry has not
>een forth coming. We Should
alk to these people and find
>ut what their experience has
teen.
* * ?
text week will be our clean-up
reek. Remember if you are ln
ereated In making Franklin
nown all over the country as
town that Is outstanding for
ts cleanliness, LET'S WORK,
rEXT WEEK. If we show peo
le that Franklin can be clean -
d up, I believe that will go> a
?ng way towards seeing that
> stays clean.
ing able to show such a loss It
will have a good argument
when It asks ? as it undoubt- 1
edly will ? for permission to
discontinue one or both of
these Franklin busses.
We respectfully suggest to the 1
State Utilities Commission that
the first Is good reason for can
celling the company's franchise.
And the second Is an even
better reason.
After ail, there still are people
who are too old or too blind or
too sick or too poor to drive an
automobile. Such people, in Ma
con County, are wholly depen
dent on busses. And one of the
first duties of government ?
Including the Utilities Commis
sion ? is to protect the weak.
? ? ?
I was Interested to learn, in ,
a historical book I've been read
ing, about mealtimes in the
Deep South, in antebellum
days.
The work day started at 0 in
the morning. Breakfast was at
9. (What they ate before doing
three hours' work is not ex
plained.) At noon, they had
lunch. Dinner came at 4. And
sometime during the evening,
they had supper. Four meals a .
day.
What Interested me even
more, though, was the length
'of the work day. It lasted from
6 to 3, with time out for lunch.
In other words, even the slaves
In the deep South had an eight
hour day, a century ago. Fur
thermore, everybody. Including
slaves, took a full week's vaca
tion at Christmas.
That reminded me that, when
I was a boy, the work day in
Franklin was from 7 In the
morning till 6 at night, with
time out for dinner at noon.
That is to say, the work day
had increased from 8 to 10
hours. ?
Incidentally, the pay scale in
Franklin for a 10-hour day was
50 cents. (Try to hire some
body, today, for a single hour
at that rate!)
Today, of course, we have an
eight-hour day and a five-day
week. I sometimes wonder,
though) considering such things
as tension and production
schedules If we don't do more
work In a week now than the
slaves did a hundred years ago.
Does it take more and more
work to earn a living? If so,
are we, in this particular field,
making progress in reverse?
* ? ?
It's the little things that
count.
I was reminded of that again
the other night when Mrs. Jones
and I had the good fortune to
be guests at a meeting of the
Higdonville Rural Community
Development Organization, held
at the home of Mr. and Mrs.
Ted Higdon.
I was impressed to learn a
little of the accomplishments of
this, the smallest organized
community in the county (in
the entire community, there are
Just 43 families). I was interest
ed in their mail boxes; in a
land of red clay, what could
make better sense than to paint
the posts brick red, so they
wouldn't look dirty after the
first rain? I felt sure that
their enthusiasm, sparked by
that of their president, Mrs.
Ann Berry, would take them
far.
But it was none of these
things we remembered when we
got back home that night. In
? Continued on Pare 3
DO YOU REMEMBER?
Looking Backward Through the Files of The Press
65 YEARS AGO THIS WEEK
(1892) i
A party of three Indians passed through our community
Friday. Old settlers say It looks like the old times to see the
red man and his red blanket. ? Aquone item.
George D. Garland returned from Texas last week to his
home In Smlthbrldge Township. He had been in the Lone Star
state for several months.
The Rer. R. B. Shelton left Monday on a trip to Haywood
County.
25 TEARS AGO
(1932)
Upwards of 1,000 persons marveled at the new V-8 Ford on
display at Jolnes Motor and Traator Company Tuesday. With
twice as many cylinders as before, you wouldn't know it's a
Ford. '
The Ashevllle Presbytery voted 27-17 Wednesday afternoon
to close the Maxwell Farm Home for Boys, near Franklin, at
the end of the present public school session.
Elizabeth Polndexter and Fred Eaton won the United
Daughters of the Confederacy essay contest en General Lee's
surrender.
It TEARS AGO
The election of a county school superintendent was defer
red until April 23 by the new Board of Education.
James McCall was elected to succeed Lester Arnold as gov
ernor of the local lodge of the Loyal Order of the Mooae last
week.
J. Steve Potts and James O. Beale have announced their
candidacies In the race tor mayor, Mar ? ? Highlands Item.