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WEIMAR J ONES
Editorial Page Editor
THUKSDAr, JULY 28, I960
Unquoted
At their national conventions, both Democrats
and Republicans have invoked their patron saints.
They have sought to stir enthusiasm by calling
up from the past the nanieS of thcif great. And
they have quoted the words of those great as the
basis for platform planks.
How often the latter has been rationalizing is
indicated by how carefully the words were chosen.
I
The most observant television viewer, for ex
ample, listened in vain for a Democratic delegate
to quote these words of (irover Cleveland:
The lessons of paternalism ought to be unlearned and
the better lesson taught that while the people should
patriotically and cheerfully support their Government, its
(unctions do not include the support of the people.
Let's Keep It So
Bidvvell is one of the last of the tree-shaded
streets in Franklin.
It is bordered by some fine maples that, at some
points, meet above the street, creating a cool and
beautiful shaded passage.
But Bidwell Street, unfortunately, is narrow
much too narrow; one of these days it will have
to be widenen.
What will happen to the trees then? It we fol
low the usual program of the past, they'll be
chopped down and hauled away, and we'll have
in their place a wider bit of hot, ugly asphalt.
Many other towns have gone to great trouble and
expense to save their trees; usually, in the past.
Franklin hasn't been that wise.
When the time comes, Bidwell can be widened,
and still have its trees. Between the street and the
row of trees on the east side, there's a sidewalk.
It would be a simple matter to use the space now
Occupied by the sidewalk to widen the street; then
build a new sidewalk on the other side of the trees.
The new side\Valk, of course, in places would
be much higher than the street. But why not?
That, too, would be pleasant, because it would be
a variation from the usual monotony of street and
sidewalk on identical 'levels.;
Let's keep this one tree-shaded street as. pleas
ant and beautiful as it is now. All that is needed is
a little desire, a little effort.
Takes Our Breath Away
Citing the disadvantages of the small cars that
have come to l>e known as "compacts", Michigan's
highway commissioner comes up wjth one that
takes our breath away: The little cars use less
gasoline.
That is a calamity, he suggests, because it means
a smaller state and federal intake from gasoline
taxes. If enough people should use gas-saving cars,
he predicts, it might be necessary to raise the gas
tax rate.
That, of course, would play hob with the fellow
who insists on driving a big car.
f
Against such a consideration, the conservation of
gasoline, we presume, is of no consequence what
ever.
How'd She Take It?
It's hard for an individual to fight the big cor
porations. such as the electric, telephone, and in
surance companies. Usually, they've got you, com
ing and going. The easy way is just to accept their
rules and go on about your business.
Because that's what most of us do, it's always
refreshing to hear of a man who , stands up on his
hind feet aiid tells 'em off. Such a case is reported
by the Rockingham Post-Dispatch:
When Zeke Tuttle's barn burned, the agent for
the insurance company explained that, under terms
nnlut.. *yr-Q urAiil/l no if nnf liinrr i n
cash, but that the company would build another
barn.
"If that's the way your company does business",
Zeke exploded, "you can just cancel the insurance
on my wife,"
That's tellin' 'em, Zeke.
But just how, we wonder, did Mrs. Zeke take
that ?
Only Disc Jockey Worth While
(Maroa, 111., Prairie Post)
The only disc Jockey we would give a nickel for Is the kind
who can jockey a twelve-foot disc through a twelve-foot gate
Words And Thought?
(Editor's Copy)
Big words do not always convey big thoughts.
A 14-Carat Pip
(Suffolk County, N. Y., News)'
If local parent-teacher groups are looking for a lively sub
ject for discussion we've got one that educators might term
as a 14-carat pip.
Recently a study was made in Madison High School in
Rexburg, Idaho, of the relation between car ownership by
high school students and their grades. The findings:
Not a single straight A student owned- or had access to a
car.
Only 15 per cent of the B students owned or had access
to cars.
Forty one per cent of the C students were regular drivers.
Of the D students, 71 per cent were regular drivers.
Of falling students 83 per cent either owned or had access
to a car.
This study makes it appear that the teen age car owner
or operator might be joy-riding himself right out of an edu
cation. But would a similar study show the same relationship
in Sayville as it does in Rexburg?
OK, P.-T.A., take it away!
No Wonder!
(Hartford, Conn", Courant)
Does it seem that your child is not able to read as early
or as well through modern education methods as in yester
year? Perhaps the answer is that reading has become a much
more intricate process than it used to be.
In Noah Webster's primitive day reading was described by
him as follows: "to take in the sense of language by interpret
ing the characters in which it is expressed."
But when the International Reading Assn., a group of 4000
experts, met in New York recently they heard a new definition
of reading given by a California psychologist:
"A processing skill of symbolic reasoning sustained by the
interfacilitation of an Intricate hierarchy of substrata factors
that have been mobilized as a psychological working system
r
i
SEEDS THAT
SAVED A COLONY
NOW 19 STATES
GROW TOBACCO
1
VIRGINIA'S NATIVE TOBACCO
WAS UNSALEABLE. JAMESTOWN
PLANTERS WERE DISCOURAGED.
THEN JOHN ROLFE IMPORTED
SEEDS FROM SPANISH TRINIDAD
IN 1612 FROM WHICH GREW
THE SUCCESSFUL VIRGINIA LEAF
vww
AND PROVIDE A LIVELIHOOD
FOR MORE THAN
3 MILLION PEOPLE
IN FARM FAMILIES
TODAY'S " MAKING MACHINES" PRODUCE
20 CIGARETTES A SECOND, WRAPPED
FROM A 4-MILE ROU, ENOUGH FOR
80,000 CIGARETTES
The Greatest Editor Who Ever Lived
By EDWARD J. MEEMAN
Editor. Memphis Press-Scimitar
If I were a carpenter, I would
be proud that Jesus worked at
my trade.
If I were a physician. I would
note how important Jesus held
the healing of the sick, and glory
in my profession.
If I' were a psychologist, I
would study the words of this
great psychologist, who "knew
what was in man" ? he knew
the evil to be banished, the Rood
to be brought out.
If I were a student. I would note
how Jesus, at the age of 12. sought
out the teachers, did not wait for
the teachers to seek him.
If I were a teacher. I would note
how Jesus, himself of little educa
tion, took ignorant and unlearned
men and made them the carriers
of the world's highest knowledge,
the knowledge of the nature of
anil h/tw fn avail nnoetflf Af
His goodness by obeying His laws.
If I were a lawyer, I would
marvel at the most magnificent
extemporaneous defense in his
tory: Jesus, saying to those who
would hare trapped him into
disloyalty to the Romans. "Ren
der unto Caesar the things that
are Caesar's and unto God the
things that are God's." And to
those who would have trapped
him into disloyalty to tradition:
"Re that is without sin among
you east the first stone."
If I were a minister. I would
study the Sermon on the Mount
and emulate it. ( It is not recorded
that Jesus had a manuscript, or
even used notes.)
If I were an organizer, I would
see in Jesus the gretest of or
ganizers, who took 12 ordinary
men, and with these inadequate
instruments, established the be
ginnings of the kingdom of heaven
on earth, which continues to this
Hov
Bat I am an editor, and I see
Jesus as incomparably the creat
es! editor who ever lived.
He found. In two separate places
in the Old Testament, two state
ments.
In Deuteronomy, he found:
"Thou shalt love the Lord thy
God with all thy heart, and with
all thy soul, and with all thy
might."
Turning back to Leviticus, he
found the words: "Thou shalt love
thy neighbor as thyself."
He put them together.
He added the word "mind" be
fore putting them together. What
a stroke of divinely inspired
genius! For our goodness is of no
avail unless we use our reason
As the scholar, the late John
Erskine. said, we have a "moral
duty to be Intelligent." As the man
in the street says, we should "use
the sense God gave us." And so
the words emerged in a form so
?erfect that nothing need h? arid
ed to them to make a statement
of all there Is. or can be. to
religion: ? 'the rest is but elabora
tion. exposition) :
"Thou shalt love the Lord thy
God with all thy heart, and with
all thy soul, and with all thy
mind.
"This is the first and great
commandment.
"And the second is like unto
it. Thou shalt love thy neighbor
as thyself.
"On these two commandments
hang all the law and the proph
ets."
A great editor finds what is
most significant. He adds what is
necessary for completeness. He
arranges the words In the order
that they can best be understood
and valued.
And so. Jesus stands as the
greatest editor who ever lived, the
pattern and example for all edi
tors who may humbly seek to fol
low In hU ' ?
and pressed Into service In accordance with the purpose of
the reader."
You muft admit that It's much easier to take In the seiue
of a language than It Is to sustain symbolic reason by a
process of lnterfacllltatlon of an Intricate hierarchy. No
wonder Johnny has trouble!
Good Question
(Banking)
We all wish for things we don't have, but what else is there
to wiah for?
DO YOU REMEMBER?
Looking Backward Throagh the Files of The Preaa
???
65 YEARS AGO THIS WEEK
(1895)
Remember, we will take wheat on subscriptions.
The bicycle fever has struck Franklin.
Mr. L. H. Enloe is building a new and handsome dwelling
on his farm on Cartoogechaye.
Misses Annie and Irene Weaver, of Weaverville, are visit
ing relatives and friends in this county.
Messrs. J. J. Norton and Will Neville, of Walhalla, came up
last week to see somebody else's sisters.
Mrs. J. L. Robinson is still selling the books used in the
public schools and will have a new supply in this week.
35 YEARS AGO
(1925)
At their annual meeting last Monday, the Lake Emory
company stockholders reelected Alex Moore, E. S. Hunnicutt,
W. B. McGuire, G. A. Jones, and John Trotter as directors,
and named the following new members of the board: Capt.
L. W. Robert, of Atlanta, Elmer Johnson, Theodore Munday, ?
and Wint Horn.
15 YEARS AGO
(1945)
The county tax rate for 1945-46 has been set by the County
Commissioners at $1.10, the lowest rate in 'many years.
During the first sevenj months of. this. year, only eight mar
riage licenses have been issued to couples marrying in Macon
County, according to Lake V. Shope, register of deeds. Many
Macon couples, however, were married in adjoining counties,
Mr. Shope said
5 YEARS AGO
(1955)
Contractors have been given the go-ahead to complete
Franklin High's gymnasium.
CAN'T BELIEVE ANYTHING !
Those Meddlesome Historians!
. SMITHFIELD HERALD
Meddlesome historians, like the
poor, are destined to be always
with us.
Long ago the meddlesome ones
told us that the cherry tree story
was a concoction of somebody's
imagination and that George
Washington might have actually
told tales that were more than
little white lies.
For some years all North Caro
linians except Charlotteans have
been convinced that the "Mecklen
burg Declaration of Independ
ence" is at least slightly mythical.
Now comes one of these history
fellows debunking that intriguing
North Carolina story about Peter
Stewart Ney.
Tar Heels have known for a
long time that a school teacher
named Peter Stewart Ney. who
lies burled in Rowan County, was
really Marshal Michael Ney, one
of Napoleon's generals. Marshal
Ney was supposed to have been
executed in France for disloyalty
to Louis XVII, but Tar Heel story
tellers know that Ney escaped the
executioner and came to North
Carolina to live.
Professors simply won't leave
well enough alone. One of those
Chapel Hill scholars brings to
light the findings of a New York
lawyer who doubled as an amateur
historian. There is "massive"
evidence, we are told, that
Marshal Ney was undoubtedly
executed in Fiance in 1815 and
never came to North Carolina.
This professor tells us that the
New York researcher found the
baptismal record of Peter Stewart
Ney, which indicated that the
school teacher buried in Rowan
was a native of Scotland.
This is all quite interesting, but
not nearly so interesting as the
story of Marshal Ney's escape
from the executioner. Yet histor
ians will meddle and there seems
to be no defense against them and
their heresies.
Some people actually believe
them, and sooner or later some
historian will have us Smith
fieldians believing the heresy that
Smithfield did not miss becoming
the capital of North Carolina by
one vote.
The old order do changetli. It's
gotten so you can't even believe
what you want to any more.
STRICTLY
PERSONAL
By WEIMAR JONBS
The results of a political poll
taken last week among a small
group gathered In southern
Illinois proved Interesting to me.
I suspect the results may be
significant, too; because It would
be hard to find any group so
small that was so representative
of thinking In the United States.
The occasion was the Inter
national Conference of Weekly
Newspaper Editors; attendance is
by invitation, and. in the past,
the number has been limited to
25. This year's conference drew
one English editor, one from
Canada, and 21 from the United
States.
A variety of factors tended to
make the Americans representative
of this country: As a rule, the
weekly editor is closer to his
readers than the editor of a big
daily; the 21 present came from
14 states, from California to Con
necticut and from Mississippi
north to the Oreat Lakes; the
division between Democrats and
Republicans seemed about even,
and there were at least two Catho
lic editors, as well as members of
most Protestant denominations;
finally, the editors came from
communities ranging from one of
less than a thousand people to
sprawling suburbs of big cities.
Twenty of the 21 U.S. editors at
tending took part in the poll.
Asked for their personal choices
for President, nine said Kennedy,
nine said Nixon, and two wrote in
on the "ballot" the name of Adlai
Stevenson.
Sixteen of the editors, however,
believed Kennedy will carry their
states: only four thought the li
st a tes would vote for Nixon.
And 12 of the 20 thought Ken
nedy will be elected, while eight
thought Nixon will be the next
President.
There was almost unanimous
agreement as to what will be the
outstanding issue in the cam
paign. Seventeen believed it will
be foreign policy.
Thirteen of the 20 thought the
Democratic majority in Congress
will be Increased as a result of
the November election, six thought
it will be decreased, and one ex
pected no change.
Even more interesting, however,
than the poll itself was the at
titude of the editors, as It was
revealed in conversations.
While there ytere. of course, as
many variations of attitude as
there were editors, the atmosphere
was something approaching fatal
istic indifference. In 1952 and
again in 1956, most voters were
whole-hearted In their support
either of Eisenhower or of Steven
son: I found no such feeling at
this conference.
While some of those in at
tendance had determined whom
they would support, and why.
there was a marked absence of
enthusiasm. (Remember the
empty seats Kennedy addressed
when he made his acceptance
speech?) And more .than one ex-?
pressed the view that there is
little choice between the two
candidates ? that, in any case,
we'll get a third-rate man for
President
One man summed up his feeling
this way: "I would not go so far as
to say neither candidate has a
conviction, but I would say that
the one over-powering conviction
of each is that he wants to be
President ? and is willing to pay
whatever the price may be."
Another, commenting on the
platforms, remarked: "One thing
we 'know about the Republican
platform: the Republican dele
gates will try, but they can't pos
sibly out-promise the Democrats." ?
My conclusion, after talking
with most of the editors attending,
was that, if the election were
held tomorrow, the vote might be
the lighest in decades, so deep is
the cynicism about the two parties
and their candidates, and so gen
eral is the feeling that, grave as
is the danger in which this nation
now finds itself, it really doesn't
greatly matter which way the
election goes.
It is not an encouraging con
clusion.
Nomad's Land
CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR
Nomads are on the move again.
Not on the silky wastes of the
desert. Not to the tinkling sounds
that Orient-minded composers
write into caravan music. Not to
the romantic calls of camel
drivers.
Doubtless there is or was such
a coming and going along the
golden road to Samarkand. But
the nomads now making a stir do
so to sounds like. "Hey, Ma, the
truck's here," as the big van backs
onto Its haunches against the
curb.
Between now and September
apartment house leases run out.
Home sweet home may be any
where from the next floor up to
the next block or even several
cities away.
One of the most moving things
about American family life Is the
furniture. If all the furniture that
has been moved from place to
place in the United States were
laid end to end its owners would
still not have completed their
search for the biggest picture win
dow.
Anywhere they can rig up a tele
vision antenna is home sweet
home to some of them. But others
like to know there is a laundro
mat around the corner, and a car
wash maybe ? all this and a
delicatessen, too. The pavement is
always smoother on the other fel
low's street.
If a rural stay-at-home raises a
quaint eyebrow at the proceedings,
he will be asked what's so un
American about It. The man from
Illinois came from Kentucky, too,
didn't he?
MODERN INVENTIONS
Which Would You Miss Least?
GEORGE BEASLEY in Monroe Journal
It's a pity that more residents
cannot keep their comparative
youth and yet span the gap of
living conditions 50 years ago and
now.
BuilMn comfort, automatically
operated, is taken for granted to
day when just a few years ago
even inside plumbing was reserved
for the affluent.
The question occurs : What in
novation of modern times would
you retain in preference to all
others? It is not easy to answer,
since most Of them have vital
rdles.
Personally, but by no means
professionally, since it is the news
gatherer's right arm. I would
forego the telephone; largely be
cause I can't remember dial num
bers and can't forget the earlier
days when the ring of the phon*
usually meant an emergency.
Next, I would give up television
for its general lack of imagina
tion, its' repetition, its constant
gnawing at stale jokes and frayed
themes.
Automatic auto gears I could
also do without because they give
me a feeling of inferiority based
on the conclusion that I am too
lazy or too stupid to change them
myself.
But the creature comforts are
something else again, and I
wouldn't know where to begin to
eliminate.
Louis Graves, who Writes too in
frequently now, had this inter
esting comment on the subject in
a recent issue of the Chapel Hill
Weekly;
"Among all discoveries and In
ventions, taking In devices and ar
ranegments around the home, all
little ,IUil
as well as the most incompre
hensible achievements of science,
what would it make you most un
happy to be compelled to give,
up? Using for convenience one ?
word, invention, to embrace all ?
these things how much if at all
do you think Invention has in
creased human happiness?
"Such questions were the topic
of conversation at a recent gath
ering. Many differences of opinion
were expressed, but on one point
there was absolute unanimity: the
world would be a lot better off
if atomic power had never been
discovered.
"Another unanimous vote was
that, of all inventions that affect
people's everyday life, the one
that it would be most hateful to
have to do without, was modern
plumbing. Electric lights, tele-'
phones, furnace heat, window
screens, artificial cooling ? all
these are well liked, but two or
three voices declared that the
world would be a happier place
if theer were no airplanes. Just
think ? in that case a large part
of the danger from atomic bombs
would be eliminated. Somebody
broke in with this Joy-killing re
mark: 'But atom warfare doesn't
depend on planes: bombs can now
be flown as missiles.'
"I have gone on a good ma#y
trips by air and have enjoyed
them, and like that better than
any other way of traveling but I
believe the world would be happier
if the airplane had never been
Invented. Think of all the lives f
that would have been saved, and
I have in mind not only those
lost in accidents but the intention
al slaughter and destruction In
war. It Is certainly very doubtful
if all this is counterbalanced by