Pmw Two THE PILOT Published every Friday by THE PILOT, Incorporated. Aberdeen and Southern Pines, N, C. NELSON C. HYDE, Manafting Editor BION H. BUTLER, Editor JAMES BOYD STRUTHERS BURT Contributing' Editors Subscription Rates: One Year $2.00 Six Months — $1.00 Three Months - 50 Address all communications to The PiU)T, Inc., Southern Pines, N. C. Entered at the Postoffice at South ern Pines, N. C., as second-class mail matter. THE PILOT, Southern Pines and Aberdeen, North Carolina Friday, January 5, 1934 THE RIGHT FOOT FOREMOST Nineteen, Thirty-four seems to be starting off with a foot firmly on the ground and a good prospect ahead if the goblins don’t git us at some point not now in evidence. F^om all quar^ ters better reports of business conditions appear to be coming, | .some of them with qualifying re-1 marks, but in a genei’al way with ' an encouraging outlook. The ef- j fort to mark up prices is ap parently succeeding, in fact sue-: ceeding so well that it looks as, if the next kick in this big coun-1 try is going to be that against | the high cost of living we have j heard about so often in the past. | The weak spot about the high ^ cost of living is that it hits rath-' er hard the large number of peo-: pie whose incomes have not been raised by any of the many alpha- bet schemes for raising things. But you can’t raise oranges and, ice cream in the same garden at the same time, so the thing to ^ do is to look with confidence on the thing that points upward. Around the Sandhills the out-! look seems to be encouraging. The visitors appear to be coming , in satisfactory numbers. Busi-1 ness as indicated by mercantile j transactions is favorable. The stores have been pretty full all through the holidays. Men are employed much better than for a while when the country was low er in the dumps, and while the employment is of that character which takes money from one pocket to put in the other, it liv ens things up while it lasts, and | the prophets say that the influ-1 ence will start real business in motion and stimulate things al! l over the country. It is fair to take for truth what the prophets ! say until they are proven false,, for some times even prophets hit, the facts. 1 Th& unsatisfactory phase of ’ the situation is that we ai’e de- j pending too much on what is to ■ be instead of on what is. We are ^ piling up taxes for the future,; which the leaders of the new | thought say will not bother us, | but which we can tell more about' as those taxes are called for in i the days that are ahead. It is a' wise man who tries to live with-; in his income rather than on; what he can borrow, and also it! is a wise man who tries to pay off some of his debts if he can | "feet his fingers on the money | rather than to spend the money ; and hope that he can borrow | more. On general principles it is to ^ be believed that things are im proving and going to improve, although it is well to keep a fin-1 ger on the brakes as we go down the hill and around the turn. We | may meet something that calls j for slowing down. Nineteen,' Thirty-four has a good look to it,! and should be welcomed on that i basis. MONEY ' AND TAXES I Many vague theories regard-; ing money are current the world ' around, but the great delusion ! is that money is wealth. Money' is simply the endorsement by | the government of the person-} al debts of the individual. A ten-1 dollar bill is the assurance that j the government will pay the j bearer the sum indicated. The j government is taken as a respon-; sible endorser for that sum be cause the government has full piratical power to take from any body any thing he has to satis fy the means to pay that ten dollars when it is demanded. The government is permitted to as sess and take from everybody whatsoever it demands until the people unite in successful pro test against such a procedure. Some day that may be done. In fact unless government taxation by nation, state and county show a tendency to consider the tax payer it is possible a protest may be presented that will be effec tive, which may not be a pro test of desire, but the protest of the impossibility of paying the taxes asked. Already the sales of property for taxes, with the failure to realize anything from the many sales, is pointing to a falling down on the part of gov ernment to collect taxes the way some taxing authorities under take. We fondly dream of being a wealthy nation. But much of our wealth is in figures on the sche dule. A great factor in our as sumed wealth is land, but the fact is that land is not worth any more and possibly not as much today as when Columbus discov ered America. We have robbed the land of the forests, the mines of mineral, the soil by ero sion has degenerated, the wild animals that supplied food are gone, and the land is “worth’ more money becausc more peo ple want it. The man who has a hundred acres of land values it largely as a speculative bit of property. Unless some one else wants it it has practically no val ue. It will not afford him more income as fai*m property than it would years ago, for much land will not yield the crops that were harvested in days gone. Land is not money. When taxes are called for they must be met with money. The land owner can not offer some of his land for taxes. He must scramble around to find money to pay taxes on his higher valued land. We must find money to pay taxes on everything taxed. The one has nothing to do with the other. The railroad must pay taxes today just as ten years ago when it earned much more money, and it must pay in money. The big mill that is shut down must pay taxes and in money, although it is not earning any money and its plant is deteriorating. It is not the amount of the taxes that makes the trouble but the fact that the money must be produc ed and the taxpayer may be de creasing in ability to pay much faster than taxes are increasing. Property value is no basis on which to fix taxes, for property practically has no actual value. And as taxes must be paid in money, property is helpless, for it has money only when it can produce something that will sell for money. Property is not ac- cepteil for taxes. All this being recognized it is not hard to see that the increase of state and national demand for taxes is a grave situation. It is said that th& government is considering six billion of new appropriations for special pui'poses, whic'h means an interest bill annually of $240,000,000 a year in addi tion to our government costs of the present, to say nothing of the enormous burden of paying the principal—if we ever pay it. And tax has to be paid in mon ey, not in property. Property is merely the security, which can be taken if the tax is not paid. The tax conditions of the coun try are extremely grave, much graver than the money problem, for the tax man takes the mon ey, and he will take nothing else except to sell it for money to make taxes. We are certainly piling up an interesting heritage for the generation that will fol low us, if we are able to stag ger through to deliver to the younger generation the load we are now trying to carry. That is the crisis that we are confront ing, and unless we soon realize the magnitude of the danger we will not need to woiTy about money, politics, war in Europe or anything else. It is not merely a diversion. It is a highly technical occupation, so complex in its character that the highest faculties of the hu man mind are essential in its pur suit. The utmost of mathemati cal precision is necessary in de termining the force with which to hit the ball, to deliver the stroke in the direction that will carry the ball on its proper j course, its proper altitude, mak- ! ing allowance for all the vagar ies of movement that the weight and shape and position of the ball may have at the time of the contact of the club, to esti mate the distance to the next hole, and all the other factors that govern the progress of the game. All this computation and action must be spontaneous and immediate. No time is available for deliberation, or needed. The ' golf player is a marvel of quick i mentality and absolute control of all his physical and mental ! faculties. He is one of the most I remarkable machines in exis- {tence, and the man who leads j the field is a mathematical and I physical genius althoug'h he ' probably never suspects the mir- ! acle he works, for his golf con trol is so complete that his per- foiTnance is almost automatic. A golf player like young George Dunlap is a phenomenon in his line, for that swiftly-functioning I brain and its correlating organs are among Nature’s most com plicated mysteries and accom- I plishments. I Men w'ho know golf know it I is not merly an old man’s pas- ; time. It is a most highl.v special- i izcd aTid complex mental and I physical occupation, and the man I who plays the game even fairly ' well possesses a skill and ability that afford an interesting spec ulative study of the creation of the living creature. The play grounds of the Sandhills are |vastly more than a simple amuse- i ment field. They give a scope for the development of character that few people suspect. A skil ful golfer has something under his hat—if he wears a hat. GRAINS OF' SAND The appointment of Henry Morgen- i Christmas time and almost three thau, Jr. as Secretary of the Treas- months from the year. So many of ury in President Roosevelt’s cabinet the old timers held to the old dates, calls to mind last year’s annual ban- I and even now Old Christmas is a quet of the Southern Pines Chamber \ popular holiday in many sections of of Commerce. Of the two principal | this country. Down on the sounds of speakers that night, one has been ^ North Carolina it is said that some named by the President as Ambassa- communities will not have anything dor to Mexico, a son of the other now ^ to do with the new Christmas and honored with the secretaryship of the still have their festival and religious Treasury. ' cei’emonies on January 6. In Lee and As Frank Buchan says, if you want i Chatham counties the observance of to get a big job from Mr. Roosevelt,: the Old Christmas is practiced to you should address the Chamber of! considerable extent. The churches Commerce here. still set apart the sixth of January as Epiphany, a religious date, under Both local banks, the Bank of Pine-; the name of Twelfth day, aside from hurst and the Citizens Bank & Trust j >ts ancient recognition as Old Christ- Company of Southern Pines, have mas. Saturday this year is Epiphany, qualified for membership in the Fed-1 Old Christmas, eral Deposit Insurance Corporation.! immediate vicinity the col- Which means that your deposits with : °red folks who live in the neighbor- either institution, up to $2,500, are, of the heads of James creek and now guaranteed by Uncle Sam. You Rockfish and The Paddock, will hold can safely empty the old sock and services at the colored school house winter open an account now. the Callery road beyond the - .Grover vineyard, Saturday being their ulation of team boosting possibilities at future football games in the state. The staffs of crack ad writers could concentrate on turning out snappy yellg representative of the most pop ular brands of smokes. Think of go ing out to die for old “alma mammy" under the inspiration of such slogans as “they satisfy,” or “they’re toast ed,” or yet that they are “easy on the nerves.” Of course there might be a danger that some rank outsider would spoil the harmony by averingr that “there ain’t a touchdown in r carload.”—Lexington Dispatch. PINEBLUFF Mr. and Mrs. N. M. Wells spent the Christmas holidays in Hume, N. Y. Mr. and Mrs. J. W. Pickier of New York City recently visited Miss Paul ine Little. From here they flew in their plane to Macon, Georgia. Mr. and Mrs. E. M. Swan and daughter, Lucie, of Sherburne, N. Y., have returned to their home here for Banking Commissioner Gurney Hood P»-°b«bly be an interest- A. Williams of occupying Mrs. says North Carolina banks are now in ing event if some of the Northera vis- the soundest condition they have been!^*'.'’® in since the World War. By the way, have you been arrested I yet for wearing 1933 license plates? j Fifteen hundred tardy motorists were I nabbed the first day of January. Mr. and Mrs. H. Utica, N. Y., are Jannaris’ home. Word was received here recently of the death of Miss Della Whitley in a hospital in Greensboro. Miss Whit- Counterfeit greenbacks are reported been sick only a few days and with the program. plentiful throughout the state. It’s long since many of us have seen any it’ll be difficult not to get stung. j Decorative floats for the Dogwood 1 festivi.. arade here in April were [ suggest ? . at the Chamber of Com- mert-e luncheon on Tuesday. I “But how can you have floats in a ! dry state,” the board’s madwag in- I quii od. From the State Press NEW FOOTBALL ERA The other day when it was publish ed that a wealthy sportsman whose I fortune is invested in the business of pro- making cigarettes was very much in- her sudden death came as a shock to her many friends here. Mr. and Mrs- C. 0. Newell attended the funeral which was held at her home near El- lerbe. William H. Rorke of Grammercy Park, N. Y., is spending several weeks, at the Linwood. Mr. and Mrs. C. L. Warner of Nor ristown, Pa., are spending the win ter at their home in Pinebluff. Mr. and Mrs. Frank Krug of Long Branch, N. J„ have returned to Pine bluff for the winter. Mr. and Mr.s. C. 0. Newell and Mr. Coleman attended the Epworth League Convention in Walkertown. Mr. and Mrs. Hugh Hurton of Fay etteville and Mr. and Mrs. Zeb Bur ton of Hillsboro ‘ recently visited with their aunt, Mrs. W. D. Shannon. Charles Ue Yoe of Friendship, N. GARLANDS FOR THE VICTOR Flowers ill the pathway of the man who ac'hieves takes the form of a dinner at the Pine- j,urst Country Club for the young golfer who has added during the week another credit to his rec ord. George Dunlap, jr., a boy whose rearing has in winter in cluded his winter home at Pine- hurst, inclined to golf in his early days. He played the game persistently and reached the championship of the amateurs of the United States. He played the game and won the esteem of the followers of ^he game. Did you ever think about golf ? AT THE DOGWOOD FESTIVAL i I From time to time comes evi- , dence of interest in the propos- ' ed dogwood festival to be held in April in the Sandhills, a let ter this week from Rev. W. A. Cooper, pastor of the African Methodist church in Charlotte submitting a list of oil paintings that he expects to show' during I that time. Mr. Cooper, former pastor in a colored church in Southern Pines, has gained much of a reputation as a painter, his productions having been exhib ited in New York and other lar- 'ger places, and with muc’h ap- , probation. He has included in {his probable colledtion here a I score of pictures including “The iNew Negro,” “The Old Cook,” I “The Slave and His Hope,” and j “The Shoeshine Boy,” a negro ; of the streets in Charlotte. His work is all life studies, present ing the actual negro life and in dividuals as he sees his subjects. , His exhibit at Southern Pines and Pinehurst a couple of years I ago attracted much attention. I Mr. Cooper while in Southern Pines as pastor of a congregation of colored people made friends ' with the white folks as w’ell, and he should be received with much j enthusiasm for he is perhaps the I most able exponent of the life of his people that this section has had in such close contact. His work with his congregation in singing their own intere.sting , music interested many of the : Northern visitors, as well as the 1 older residents, for Mr. Cooper i appreciated the merit of the Ne- i gro music and encouraged its f use extensively. He was influen- I tial in stimulating an intensive ; musical inclination not only in j the church work but also in the j commoner life of his folks. He I will be a big factor in the old ^ slave reunion that is scheduled j with the Dogwood Festival, for his standing with the colored folks as well as with the whites is such that he will have the help and encouragement of everybody. An interesting custom still vails in some sections of the Deep terested in getting the “right” foot- River c.'untry as well as elsewhere in ball coach for one of the big lol- North Carolina, and to some extent leges of the state an inter