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VOLUME
1
THE PILO
m
NUMBER
52
Devoted to the Upbuilding of Vass and Its Surroimding Country
SUBSCRIPTION $2.00
VASS, N. C., FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 1921
PRICE FIVE CENTS
OPPOSES EXPENSIVE BUILDING
The Court House Question
To find out the attitude of the com
missioners on the subject of a new
court house The Pilot asked Mr. Mc-
Lauchlin, of the board, what the com
missioners had in mind regarding a
new building. He said that they had
gone over every phase of it rather
fully, and were not decided as to
what should be done. He doubted the
wisdom of trying to repair the old
building unless it can be done for less
money than he thinks likely, and he
is not favorable to a costly building
that would run up to $150,000. But
he hopes that by using judgment in
the adoption of a plan a good build
ing, thoroughly fitted for the purpose,
can be put up for not less than $75,
000 and possibly more, but not to ex
ceed $100,000. He favors a new lo
cation if a new building is put up,
and says that three or four sites have
been under discussion. But nothing
will be done until the next meeting
of the board, and he does not care
to predict what will be done then, as
he says the matter is still one of
doubt. He thinks the court will in
sist that some steps must be taken to
make the present building safe or
provide a new one, and is glad to
hear the opinion of the people, and
will try to decide to the best of his
ability when the time comes to cast
a vote on the subject. Personally he
does not incline to a building built for
show, but to one that is strictly prac
tical and economical. But Mr. Mc-
Lauchlin says it will not be a very
big load on the people to build a
court house that would cost $75,000.
The interest on that money is $4,500
a year, or about 25 cents for each in
habitant of the county, a sum that
will not be felt very severely by any
one. He says now is probably as
good a time to build as we are likely
to see, for he believes materal is about
as low as it is apt to be.
THANKSGIVING DINNER AT
HOTEL VASS
SOUPS
Chicken a la Royale
Beef Boullion
Queen Olives Lettuce Hearts
Celery Sweet Mixed Pickles
ENTREES
Asparagus Tips on Toast
Boiled Ham and Spinach
Apple Fritters, Sauce Ecumante
ROAST
Native Turkey, Cranberry Sauce
Prime Ribs of Beef au jus
NA
Mashed Potatoes, Mashed Turnip
Candied Sweet Potatoes Squash
Creamed Cauliflower
Corn Bread ‘ Hot Rolls
DESSERT
Steamed Plum Pudding, Hard Salice
Mince Pie Pumpkin Pie Apple Pie
Frozen Pudding
Assorted Cakes Mix^ Nuts Raisins
Apples Oranges Bananas
Cheese and Crackers
Tea. Coifee Cocoa Milk
Whether to build a new court
house or repair the old one is a
topic that is interesting a good
many of the people of the county,
and as far as The Pilot has heard
the expression of sentiment the
advocates of repairing the old
)uilding appear to have shown
the strong hand. When men
ike John R. McQueen, J. R. Page,
eonard Tufts, J. L. Phillips and
others of their standing in the
county, say emphatically that
they are against a movement to
spend a hundred to a hundred
and fifty thousand dollars in a
new court house, it is evident
there is a reason for looking into
the subject fully. John McQueen
is a man who is known to be un
selfish in his work for the coun-
y. He has been identified with
■oad and school work for so long
that he is looked upon as a
patron saint of Moore county
welfare. He argues that a much
smaller sum of money would
make the old building good
enough for any uses, and he has
had considerable knowledge of
buildings and usee.— -
It is possible the county needs
a new court house, sind it is
possible it can get along with re
modeling the old one. The courts
have instructed the commission
ers to make some change that
will increase the safety and the
convenience of the present build
ing, so action must be taken. But
while a costly new building would
be nice the advocates of repair
ing the old building point to the
cost, and to the many calls for
money, while the taxpayers are
protesting against the tax that
is already paid.
We may as well all recognize
that the day of small taxes and
small public facilities has gone
past. We are asking for more
improved roads, more school
houses, more of everything that
the community must provide,
and we cannot get away from the
necessity of paying for those
things. If we want more we
must pay more. If we want to
pay less we must be content to
have less. If we want a big new
court house the commissioners
must be empowered to gather in
more taxes, and on that funda
mental point of taxation all thei=je
public expenditures turn. It is
impossible to go backward in the
matter of schools, and it not
likely we are soon to let up on
road construction. But a few
days ago a bond issue of §100
000 was sold for road purposes
and we have to consider that
both as to the annual interest of
$6,000, and a provision for the
sinking fund to redeem the
bonds.
The advocates of a new cour
louse say the old one cannot be
epaired in satisfactory manner.
The men who are against the ex
pense of a new building say it
can. Different plans have been
proposed for repairing the old
building, and the backers of that
plan argue that if a contract is
et for repairing the old struc
ture at say thirty thousand dol-
ars the contract will get it done
^or that money and the plan will
be thoroughly understood be-
ore the work begins, and
whether it will be suitable for
:he demands of the courts and
:he county work will be known
before the work is awarded.
The Pilot does not assume to
mow which is the better plan,
3ut it does think the commis
sioners will make no mistake in
istening with patience to the
arguments of the men on both
sides, for it is one of the basic
principles of democratic govern
ment that the people are right.
No measure can survive that is
not backed by popular approval,
and no movement can die that
has the backing of the people.
Sometimes the people appear to
have the wrong end of the stick,
but instead of flying in the face
of popular demand it is far bet
ter to either undertake to win
the people or to accept their ver
dict, for in the long run they
will be found right.
This is not a question of a
new court house or a repaired
court house or any court house,
but solely a question of taxation.
Never were the people of this
country taxed as they are now.
To be sure never were they get
ting so much for their taxes, and
never have they got so much for
the money in any way as they
get now from their taxes. But
it is wise to consider how far
tax paying can go. Once before
the United States had an epidem
ic of good roads, building, and
the thing swept the country.
Roads were projected, bonds is
sued by townships, counties and
states in sheafs, and if any man
thinks that repudiation of state
bonds was a habit that origin
ated or had its highest develop
ment in the South he can with
profit turn to the repudiatec
bonds of a number of the north
ern states that went broke on
the road boom of some eighty
years ago when the Nationa
Pike from Washington to St
Louis set the fashion. We have
to pay taxes more freely now
than ever because we are the
wealthiest nation in the world
and wealthier now than any oth
er nation has ever been. But
never yet was a spending epoch
that did not have to put oik the
• (Continued on page 4)
RED CROSS REPORT
V
-Southern
Atlanta, Ga., Nov. 17.-
3ivision Headquarters of the Ameri
can Red Cross sees a veritable tri
umph of the Red Cross cause in Dixie
as a result of reports from every sec
tion of the Division on the results of
early Roll Call activity.
The South, these reports indicate,
is keenly alive to the importance of
the peace time program of the or
ganization, and the response to the ap
peal of The Greatest Mother is be-
ieved ample assurance that the work
now being attempted will be carried
on throughout the coming year and
possibly extended so that every com
munity in the Division will feel and
enow its benefits.
This has been made possible solely
through the whole-hearted co-opera
tion of people in every walk of life
throughout the section. Big business
las recognized the benefits that ac
crue to it from participation in Red
Cross activity and the response has
)een generous, and organized labor
las been no less quick to grasp the
opportunity to aid a cause that is one
of the prime factors in our national
life in adding strength and force to
the masses.
- In fact, practically every labor lead
er in the South has not only enrolled
himself as a Red Cross member, but
has given his enthusiastic endorse
ment of the Red Cross program.
The doctrine of Red Cross service
has been preached from hundreds of
evangelical pulpits in the South, and
at the same time it has been made the
subject of endorsement from prelate
and priest, in church and in syna
gogue.
In fact, the co-operation has been
as widespread as the cause to which
it is given. As a result Division
Headquarters officials predict that de
spite the uncertainties of the times,
the South will smash all its records
for response to the annual appeal of
this great national organization.
BAT” MASTERSON
J
The death of W. R. (“Bat’^> Master-
son in New York recently takes away
a picturesque figure who helped make
history in the Kansas territ'.;ry back
in the early eighties, and whose name
has long been familiar to many V’ass
residents. Unlike most of the other
characters who frequented that
trembled section of other days, “Bat’*
Masterson allied himself on the side
of law and order. He kept the poace
even if keeping the peace required
the drawing of a gun, and the use of
it. “Bat” conquored and consolidated
his gains on the side of law and order,
and then went to New York City. He
died as sporting editor of a big paper
there, and- “with his boots on.” His
life story, properly written, would be
a story of the days when red-blooded
men conquored the wilderness so that
millions in the future might find peace
and pro8|>trity therein.