Newspapers / The Franklin Press and … / July 30, 1959, edition 1 / Page 2
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Wat fftmKlitt Wft$? <md ?1?p Hi0l|lanhs fflaronian WEIMAR JONES Editorial Page Editor THURSDAY. ILLY 30, 1959 WORKS TWO WAYS Can We Have Both? In its decisions in the last few years, the I*. S. Supreme Court has tended to increase the author ity of the Court and the Federal Government and to defend the' rights of the individual, comments U. S. News <Sr World Report. But aren't those ends ? more authority for the Court and the Federal Government, on the one hand, and more rights for the individual, on the other ? mutually antagonistic? As the central gov ernment becomes stronger and stronger, do not the rights of the individual become less and less rights and more and more mere privileges granted by a benevolent power in Washington? If that; is not true, then the whole theory on which this government was set u,p is wrong. For the basic theory was that the individual could keep his rights only as government remained limit ed ? limited by a carefully spelled-out division of powers; first, as between state and. federal gov ernments, and, second, as between the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of government. If the Court can grant rights by centralizing authority in itself and other federal agencies, then, by the same process, it can take them away. And the more the power is concentrated, the easier that will be Looking Ahead Andrews, our neighbor over in Cherokee County, is the latest town in this area to call on the West ern North Carolina Regional Planning Commis sion for help, as that town seeks to chart its fu ture. One of the first projects it will study is water resources and needs. From its municipal watershed, Andrews now gets an adequate water supply ; but it is looking ahead to future needs. Franklin has problems that could .stand some study; and here's an opportunity to get help with our home work. It's high time, it seems to us, we sought that help. Because the best way to make sure a community has a poor future is to run along without any plans. Fortunately, the reverse also is true: The best way to assure a bright future is to plan it that way. And ik) town has a brighter potential future than th i -> One. No Wonder! Take a look at that list, at the bottom of this page, of crafts, trades, professions', and jobs whose practicers are exempt. from jury duty. ? Take a look. Then ask- yourself: How many of those 40 vocations is there really any necessity to exempt? A presiding judge, those familiar with the courts will recall, has the authority- ? and usually exercises it ? to excuse a citizen called for jury service when serving would work undue ''hardship. But everybody working in these 40 different lines of work is ex empt by law, without reference to hardship, or even convenience. They may be playing golf, taking a nap, or going on a pleasure trip ; just because of their vocations, they are freed of any jury respon sibility. Class legislation? Well, it sounds a little like that. But more important, it helps to explain the cry that the jury system is outmoded. No wonder it doesn't work perfectly! The whole theory is that a jury will be made up of representative citizens. How can it be representative when 40 or 50 or 60 per cent of the citizens are exempt by law? Encouraging There is cause for encouragement in a rccent policy statement of the State Board of Education, the agency with major responsibility for operating North Carolina's _public schools. It is unfortunately true that the statement lumps "teaching" in with "guidance and counseling serv ice, library leadership, and vocational activity" as "essential" ? as though the last three minor things were as important as the one major thing, "teaching". In the past, these secondary things have been so over emphasized that the comment of Dr. Robert M. Hutchins is hardly an exaggeration: "A good way to start finding the money that is needed for education would be to kick out of it the subjects, the activities, and the people that make no contribution to the development of intel lectual power. Such an operation would produce vast sums." It is true, tpo, that the board's statement stresses "teacher training". That is a term that has come into considerable disrepute. Not because it is not worth-while for teachers to know how to teach, but because the schools of education too often have turned out graduates who knew how to teach but knew nothing to teach. But it is highly encouraging to find the board's statement referring to the necessity of "improving ,the quality of education"? in the past, there has been over emphasis on graduating everybody and under-emphasis on teaching somebody. It is encouraging that the statement refers ap provingly to the thousands of laymen who are en gaged, .along with educators, in a .study of the cur riculum ? the time was when such lay activity would have been resented as impertinent interfer ence. It is encouraging to have the board recognize that "a new and changing period" faces the schopls with new problems? the willingness to change is basic to the educational process. And it is encouraging, most of all, perhaps, that the board felt it necessary and desirable to issue a policy statement? it is a recognition of a fact that some professional educators had forgotten, that the public schools are not their property, but belong to the public. A Jew Speaks Out (Shelby Cleveland Times) We hear so much these days about how terrible conditions are in the South, and this seems to be a national phobia from the Hollywood, sex-novel, and New York stage viewpoints, that it is refreshing to behold an honest and enlightened comment debunking much of the propaganda, too often com munist-inspired. In South Carolina the Speaker of the House of Represen tatives is Solomon Blatt, a member of the Jewish faith, and he has offered the nation some words of enlightenment. Said he recently, speaking to the Hebrew Benevolent Society of Charleston: "Not the Negro race, nor any .other race is oppressed in the South Carolina way of life today and I am a living example of the tolerance of the people of this great state." Blatt has been . Speaker of the House in South Carolina for twenty years. - Like James F. Byrnes said, in a recent appearance on the television program Person-To-Person, there are no law suits in the South Carolina schools today and the people are living happily and peacefully side by side. Relations are excellent. Blatt also noted: "We do not have in South Carolina the kind of gangs and mobs and misunderstandings and social conflict and teenage terrorism which prevail in ? the very states from which have come the most abuse of the South. Every race in South Carolina has equal opportunity for hap piness and progress." A wise American statesman once said that there are' good GROWING PAINS MI'S immmiihT) Rama 4 (^?CONNECTICUT MUTUAL Lire INS'JR.V.CL CI. Petty Dictator i This boy walks all over his parents. Since he was a babv, he got what he wanted by showing bad temper. When he is away from home this boy is a model of good conduct. He knows he can't treat others the way he treats his parents . . . not if he wants to be popular. Th<-re is a lot of difference between being hard and rough with children and being firm. This boy doesn't respect his parents because they are too lenient. A quiet, strong atmos phere in this home would work wonders. people, and bad people, In every section of the country. No section of our great, united country should cast aspersions at another, nor is it possible for those thousands of miles away to solve the problems of other sections. No doubt President John Hannah, of Michigan State Uni versity, had this thought In mind in announcing his forth coming resignation from the Civil Rights Commission ? when he said that there were no right answers to some of the problems of our people. It takes people of good will, of which there are many in all sections, to work out differences and make democracy work. Anything Butt Time (Holyoke, Colo., Enterprise) Some people will spend anything on their children but time. Bitterness Lingers (Berthond, Colo., Bulletin) The bitterness of poor quality remains long after the sweet ness of cheap price is forgotten. Sights For Tourists (Changing Times) While you are off on your vacation and marveling at the many picturesque sights, remember that most of them are other tourists. Laughter On The Air Waves (Christian Science 'Monitor) Satire apparently is on its way back Into broadcasting. Sid Caesar, the greatest American mime and parodist since Charlie Chaplin, Is scheduled to do a series of TV shows next fall, Bob and Ray, who Irrepressibly rib stereotyped programing in their own industry, will be filling the radio spot vacated by Edward R. Murrow's evening news broadcast. Sharp-tongued Henry Morgan has a weekly spot on a New York station. And George Gobel and Jack Benny, who never departed from the broadcast scene but were sometimes awash in a sea of Westerns, are to form a strong new alliance by serving alternate weeks In the same TV time spot. In the light of all this activity. It now appears that the epitaphs for broadcast wit which were so widely circulated two years ago were mistaken. When Caesar fell, after his Trendex took a lean and hungry look, the critics could be excused for thinking that the end had come. But now a vigorous new cycle of satire appears to be emerging. We're glad to see a little sharp laughter creeping back Into broad casting. DO YOU REMEMBER? Looking Backward Through the Flies ot The Press 65 YEARS AGO THIS WEEK (1894) Mr. E. H. Franks Monday commenced laying brick on his new store building, to replace the one recently burned. Messrs. J. P. Angel and sons are opening a new tanyard in the eastern part of town, adjoining the Jarrett brick-yard. At the Macon County Democratic convention, Geo. A Jones was nominated by acclamation {or solicitor of this (the 12th) judicial district. The public school tor the Franklin District will open in the school building near the Baptist Church on next Monday, under charge of Rev. J. R. Pendergrass, with Miss Annie Woodfin as assistant. 35 YEAR.S AGO (1924) Henry Yonce will complete his contract on the road from Valley River Gap, at the Cherokee County line, to the Morgan Cut this week. Mayor R. D. Sisk and Messrs. S. L. Rogers, W. B. McGuire, and T. J. Johnston went to Andrews Tuesday to look over the new power plant that is being built by that city with a bond issue. A similar step Is being contemplated for our town. 15 YEARS AGO (1944) Macon County, as usual, exceeded its quota, this time more than doubling it, in the Fifth War Loan Drive, it was an nounced by H. W. Cabe and Gilmer A. Jones, co-chairmen. The county's quota was $188,000. The Macon County Republican convention Saturday nomi nated Robert Fulton as candidate for representative. , 5 YEARS AGO (1954) The second annual Macon County Folk Festival will open tonight at the Franklin Stadium. Letting of the contract for construction of a new $512,000 highway, via Wayah Gap, Into the Nantahala community, is set for September 7. FEW JURORS LEFT Persons In 40 Different Types Of Work Are Now Exempt HENR Y BELK in Greensboro Daily Newt If this keeps up lorife enough there will not be left anyone to serve as jurors. Attorney General Malcolm Sea well brought up short an audience of Ooldsboro businessmen with the statement that there are now under law 40 trades, crafts, professions, or jobs which are specifically exempt from juror service. The current General Assembly has seen the introduction of new measures to add others to this list. Every session has the same thing Our courts are no stronger than the jury system ? and the quality of the juries which can be seated from the eligible names in the Jury list. Here is a list, prepared by At torney General Seawell, upon re quest, of exemptions from jurj duty under present statutes: Dentists Chiropractors Practicing physicians Regularly licensed pilots Ministers of the Gospel Millers of grist mills Active members of fire companies fJorth Carolina state board of ficers Employee of State Hospitals for the Insane Officers of State Hospitals for the Insane Licensed druggists Telegraph operators, both of rail road and telegraph companies Undertakers who are funeral di rectors Train dispatchers Locomotive engineers In active service Conductors in active service United States railway postal , clerks Rural free delivery mail clerks Funeral directors Embalmers Members of National Ouard who perform duties < Printers Linotype , operators Naval militia Confederate veterans Brakemen Officers Reserve Corps Enlisted Reserve Corps Naval Reserve Radio broadcast technicians Announcers Optometrists Civil Air Patrol Registered nurses Practical nurses Practicing attorneys Members of volunteer fire de partments Firemen Members of armed forces Women who have specified duties at home. f STRICTLY PERSONAL By WEIMAR JONI8 It may be there is as much humor in today's conversational exchanges as was true in the past, and possibly the quality of modern humor is as high as In another period. But, to me, there is an agelessness about some of the old mountain stories that sets them apart. No matter how often they are told, they always are good for a laugh. I was speaking, in this space a couple of weeks ago. of how valid is the Bibical maxim that a soft answer turns away wrath. Well, I think it's equally true that the unexpected answer can con found the wrathful. The perfect example of that is the story of the Macon County man, back in the days when any self-respecting man was expected to fight when called a certain vile term. But this man refused to adopt the orthodox view of how he should react to that term. When his long-time enemy shouted at him, on a crowded Franklin Main Street: "You are a blankety-blank so and-so!" the old man replied mildly : "Well, my friend, that is a mat ter of opinion." It is that unexpectedness, that element of surprise. I suppose, that is the basis of most genuine humor; it is characteristic, cer- ' tainly, of the old mountain re torts. There is the ancient one. for example, about the Franklin-Dills- ? boro hack driver, back in the time before there were either automo- 1 biles or roads worthy of the name. . One terribly cold winter morning. ' his only passenger on the trip to . Dillsboro was a minister; and the driver was surprised when the J minister accepted an invitation to share his bottle, as "a defense against the cold". He was more sur- | prised at the minister's alacrity ' in accepting a second invitation. And he was downright shocked when, later on, the minister didn't 1 even wait for an invitation. At their destination, the min ister said goodbye, with the pious comment; "I'll see you in heaven". To which the driver, raising one skeptical eyebrow, replied: "Don't you fool me, preacher! Then there was a comment of Franklin's celebrated Negro, Walt Scruggs. When a local man re ceived word of the sudden death of his brother, there was general suspicion that his grief was some what assuaged by the knowledgei the brother's death would increass his own inheritance. Walt concurred in that sus picion, and sought to document it with this report: "He didn't keer ; he didn't keer a tall. I was thar when he got the tilegram, and he never cracked a smile". I particularly like the one about the squelch administertd to my father ? one that left him speech less, because it was administered in complete innocence. It also has to do with a minister, one who was quite naive about such practi cal matters as farming. The minister's cow pasture ad joined our field of rye, and the minister was careless about keep- , ing the fence repaired. The result was. his cow regularly got into the rye field. At last, reluctantly, my father went to see the minister, to pro test. "Brother So-and-So", he said, "your cow keeps getting into my rye field". To which the minister replied in alarm: "Why. Brother Jones! ... do you reckon it'll hurt her?" And you'll go far and look long before you find such complete frankness as that of the old moun- j taineer who was trying to sell a worthless bit of mountain land to a young, previously gullible "furri ner" as a rich mica mine. The young man was generally known to have bought many similar worthless properties, in the belief they'd make him rich. He'd been stung time after time, and everybody knew it. But this time he was wise. Even he saw there was no mica there. And so he said, indignantly: "Do you take' me for a fool?" "Well", was the reply, "that's the talk!" RENA B. LASSITER Language Is Changing in SMITH FIELD HERALD The other day I sat down near our TV, which was on for the benefit of some other members of our family. Busy with some sew ing, I hardly glanced .at the screen. But my ears caught a bit of what was being said. Some man was interviewing children. And the question propounded each in turn was: "If you had the power, what changes would you make in your parents?" One youngster respond ed with: "I would make them talk in the language of teen-agers." Parents have no doubt wished that their teen-agers would talk in the language of grown-ups. But who would have thought that a wish in reverse lurked in the souls of some teen-agers. A columnist recently noted that English is a changing language and that the purpose of speech is to be understood as accurately as possible. That being so, no doubt some of the new meanings now given to old words used by in ventive youth will eventually find a permanent place in the English vocabulary. In years to come it may be perfectly intelligible to everyone to say: Mary has John so snowed he is hardly conscious of what he is doing. (In case you don't know, "snowed" in teen-age lingo means "madly in love.") Apropos of words, a recent con versation in which several were taking part comes to mind. One of the group posed the question: How many of you know all six meanings of the little, four-letter word "must"? We all knew it was an auxiliary verb denoting obliga tion and we knew it had come to be used as a noun meaning that wtiich one is compelled to do. But none of us knew the other four definitions. The propounder of the question had looked the word up in the dictionary and found these other definitions: (1) mustiness, (2) new wine, (3) musk or hair powder, and (4) sexual excitement of elephants. In closing these comments about words, I must express my agree ment with Simeon Stylites, a columnist in the Christian Cen tury, concerning the use of "Rev erend". This writer says he has been fighting for fifty years, with out making a dent, what he thinks is an Improper use of this word. Yet not only newspapers that ought to know better but even churches will announce that "Rev. Smith will preach." If the preacher's initials (or his first name) are not known, at least one could say "the Rev. Mr. Smith." For "reverend" is an ad jective and not a noun title. We can't get around the fact that the English language is con tinually changing, and it could well happen that the wish of the teen-ager on TV might in part come true. DOESN'T WAIT FOR ANSWER He's a real nice guy. Every tima he comes up to bat, he asks me about my family. But before I can answer, he's on third base. ? Joe Garagiola. former major league catcher, speaking of Sam Musial. ANOTHER ADVANCE The Latest In Pens CLEVELAND TIMES (Shelby) Those who remember the won derful advent of the pen which wrote under water will be inter ested in the latest innovation in ball-point pens. A recent an nouncement said that a new pen had been marketed in West Ger . many which glowed in the dark. The manufacturer, according to the report, noted that all those persons who had midnight in spirations could use the pen to jot them down. The implictlon, as we get it, is that the pen will either be worn in one's pajamas, or be nearby, THAT'S A RIGHT SMART OF CASH How much is a billion dollars? Well, It's a pile of $1000 bills? 111 feet higher than the Washington monument! <? Eaton (Colo.) Herald. for writing in the dark, when ever this sport Is a temptation. And while we do not attempt to stand in the way of progress, or set back civilization, we suggest that the prospects for this in novation are somewhat similar to those for the pen which wrote under water. We need not elaborate on that statement other than to say that the reader might Judge for him self or herself the success of those earlier fountain pens by noticing the huge number of people who have begun to do their writing under water. It seems highly probable that a pen which wrote under water, and with a light, en abling the owner to use it In a dark pool, for example, would be the perfect solution to the problem. Such a pen would be a wonder ful possession for all those wh? own swimming pools and wh- like to write letters under water at night. ,
The Franklin Press and the Highlands Maconian (Franklin, N.C.)
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July 30, 1959, edition 1
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