Page TWO
——T!!
Southern Pines
North Carolina
“In taking over The Pilot no changes are contemplated. We wiU to keep this a good
paper. We will try to make a little money for all concerned. Where there seems to be an occa-
sion to use our influence for the public good we will try to do it. And we will treat everybody
alike.”—James Boyd, May 23, 1941.
Washin^ton Calling ...
Thumbs Down On Investigating Atrocities
Since the Korean truce, there has been
a reeling in some quarters that a study of
alleged atrocities to\yard UN prisoners
should be made and the facts made public.
Senator McCarthy, doubtless looking upon
this suggestion as a likely opportunity to
acquire bigger and better headlines, has
now announced the formation of a Senate
committee to investigate the treatment of
prisoners by the North Koreans and
Chine.se.
Leaving aside the question of how such
an investigation fits into the pattern of
law-making supposed to govern Congres
sional activities, the doubt remains: what
purpose would it servq? Would it do any
good and might it not do harm ?
That there have been atrocities stands
to reason, or rather to the unreason that
accompanies war and especially war in
which the peoples of some nations take
part. Brutality is a part of life in the more
underpri\dleged, under-developed coun
tries. Where millions starve yearly in fam
ine-ravaged lands, or die in floods or from
cholera and other plagues, where most of
the people live in crowded conditions and
poverty beyond our imagining, there is
a low value on human life. The Asiatic
world is still at a much lower level of civili
zation, materialistically speaking, than the
West. With suffering so wide-spread and
the means to allay it generally lacking,
callousness and brutality are bound to be
ever-present.
It ic routine with most Asiatic nations
to keep prisoners on a near-starvation diet
and give them the most meagre clothing
and shelter. Such treatment is not reserv
ed for an enemy but is the same for all.
It must be realized, too, that Asiatics eat
f.ar less than Westerners: prison rations
for Asiatics often mean death from star
vation for the white races. Orientals are
stoical and fatalistic. They expect suffer
ing and death if they are captured in war.
This is, in fact, one reason why so few of
them surrender in battle.
Ways so deeply ingrained could not be
easily changed. No amount of action taken
by the U. S. Senate dr fulminations in the
UN Assembly would have the least effect.
What then would be gained by the propos
ed investigation?
Greater understanding of the heroism of
our men. Yes, that would result and it
v/ould be a good result. But would it be
good enough to counterbalance the ter
rible suffering which revelation of atroci
ties with all their ghastly details^ would
bring to the families of those still missing ?
We are confident that the men who have
returned would be the first to insist that
nothing be done to make the agony great
er. The imagination, fed on the few stories
that have been released, causes pain
enough; what would be the sense in adding
to it?
All that would result from the proposed
investigation would be more headlines for
McCarthy, added suffering for the desola-^
ted folks at home, and, last and not least,
deeper distrust between peoples who must,
sooner or later, somehow or other, learn
to live in the same world. Surely the times
are precarious enough already without do-
- ing something that will make them worse
especially when it can accomplish no
reasonable good.
Domestic Relations And The Courts
From the press table of courtrooms—
in Moore county and we reckon elsewhere,
too—a reporter gets a disillusioning view
of the great institution of matrimony.
On the civil side of the docket, each
term of Superior court zips off a dozen or
so divorces.
In recorders court, where criminal cases
are tried, an amazingly large part of the
weekly session is consumed with the alter
cations of spouses, ranging from physical
combat between husband and wife or be
tween either of these and the Well-known
third party, to the pitiful abandonment
and non-;iupport cases. ,
Testimony in these cases is usually not
only lengthy but also so confused, contra
dictory and frustrating that we marvel
at the ability of judges to hand down a
decision that will throw some light and
order into them.
Most of the cases involve a man who has
abandoned and is failing to support his
wife and children. At times, in these cases,
it is apparent that the wife is not without
blame in the mess before the court.
The standard solution is a sentence to
the roads for the husband, to be suspended
on payment of so much per week for the
wife and children, usually through the
clerk of court who makes sure the wife
gets the money or that the money is spent
for the children if the wife is irresponsible.
Not infrequently, weeks or months later,
the man is back in court again, charged
with failure to comply with the court’s
order in the first conviction.
Sometimes he is given a second chance
to “catch up on his payments” according
to a schedule the judge lays down, then to
continue payments in a certain aniount,
based on his ability to pay.
Sometimes, the failure to comply ap
pears so gross and inexcusable, with so
little outlook for compliance, that the man
is sent to the roads. This is likely to put
the wife and family on the welfare rolls
which means that every taxpa.yer in the
county is contributing to their support.
More and more we have been led to the
conclusion that these cases should not be
tried in the weekly criminal recorders
court. They take up a vast amount of the
court’s time. Solomon himself could not be
expected to straighten out the tangled sit
uations in many of these cases. And the
court has at its disposal no skilled profes
sional advisor who might be called upon
to help these confused and wretched fam
ilies gain some measure of the understand
ing and self-knowledge that alone can
bring a permanent solution, if there be
one, to tlreir dilemmas.
Large cities have domestic relations
courts where such cases are handled so
that they will not clog the machinery of
the regular courts and so that special ad
vice and counseling will be available for the
people involved.
It may be that a county the size of
Moore could not afford to have such a
court, but The Pilot would like to see a
studv made of the matter with a serious
view to somehow providing a better meth
od of handling domestic relations cases.
It might be possible for the court to
hold another day’s session, using the same
persoimel, but having present a domestic
relations specialist, psychologist or ad
visor. Perhaps such a person could serve
several counties. Or maybe a domestic re
lations court could be organized separate
ly from recorders court and could se^e
more than one county, with the financing
shared.
From our obseiwation. Judge J. Vance
Rowe in Moore County recorders court
handles domestic relations cases commeiid-
ably and is well known for his good advice
to the parties involved. Week after week,
in the Monday court. Judge Rowe talks
good sense to the hostile, rebellious hus
bands and wives who come before him in
one predicament or another. He is especial
ly solicitous as to the welfare of children
and makes every effort he can to see that
children, the innocent victims in these
cases, are provided for as well as the situ
ation will permit.
We have no fault to find with Judge
Rowe’s handling of these cases, but we be
lieve he should be relieved of this necessity
or else be given more time and more help.
Last week’s terrible Hoke County case,
in which a father beat his wife to death in
the presence of their five children, points
up the need for more adequate handling of
domestic i*elations cases.
This man, according to a news item from
Raeford, had recently returned from a
term on the roads to which he had been
sent for an assault on his wife. It was
noted that the recorders court judge, in
sentencing him to the roads, had recom
mended a mental examination, hut, sdys
the news item, it is doubtful that this was
done.
Whether it was done or not, it is clear
that this man needed mental counseling, if
not prolonged treatment. If the case had
come up in a domestic relations court, a
skilled advisor might have detected the
personality flaw that eventually drove this
man to murder and might have seen that
he received the proper attention.
WASHINGTON. — The average
taxpayer is hardly concerned with
how much of the cost of the oper
ation of his yacht he can write off
as a business expense on his in
come tax return.
But for a small
and select group
at the top of the
business pyra
mid, ' the re
marks made by
Commissioner of
Internal Rev
enue T. Cole
man Andrews at
the American
Bar Association convention in
Boston had an ominous meaning,
i Andrews told the lawyers he
was instructing his tax agents to
review the tax returns of all large
taxpayers who deducted generous
amounts for “entertainment.” The
entertainment allowance in the
income tax law accounts for some
of the freehanded spending of the
post-war boom.
The mink coats passed out in
return for favors and deducted as
business expense were peanuts in
comparison to the high, wide and
handsome deductions listed i in
some tax returns. In many in
stances, Andrews learned after he
took over in the Bureau of Inter
nal Revenue, the whole cost of
operating yachts and smaller
pleasure craft were deducted as
business expense. Similarly, the
cost of maintaining expensive
beach houses in Florida and fish
ing camps in Maine were written
off as entertainment.
The deductions are made for
the most part on corporation in
come tax returns. Thereby the
tax paid the government is reduc
ed and the yacht or the pleasure
dome by the sea is available for
any uses the management decides
to put it to.
This is just the point that An
drews has ordered his agents to
explore. Where large deductions
are made, they have been in
structed to ask who was enter-
^ tained and why. Proof will be
required that customers capable of
bringing the company business
commensurate with such lavish
spending were actually guests on
the yacht or at the luxury house.
If the owner or the manage
ment got most of the benefit, then
the company will be called on to
pay taxes on the amount deduct
ed. The use of private airplanes
by companies and individuals and
deducted as a business expense
will also be looked into. Andrews
has been informed that at many
of the more plushy winter and
summer resorts private airfields
are lined each week end with
company planes.
What puts this new drive in a
somewhat ironic light is the fact
that the Truman Administration,
supposedly concerned with the
lot of the common man, appar
ently did not challenge these gen
erous deductions. Andrews, if he
really follows through on the pol
icy he has announced, will step
on some sensitive Republican
toes, including those of generous
donors to the party. He has said
bluntly that this makes not the
slightest difference. If he cannot
administer the law impartially,
then he will get out.
How much actual increase in
revenue can come from a sterner'
scrutiny of expense deductions,
the Bureau cannot say. The law
says “ordinary and necessary”
costs can be taken off when fig
uring net income. To this the
courts have added the term
“reasonable.”
Andrews intends to examine
another area equally touchy. That
is the reported practice of the
kickback, often by way of an ex
pense allowance. Excessive
amounts for expenses are granted
to salesmen and purchasing
agents with the understanding
that part of this is personal in
come which they do not report on
their tax returns. A course of in
struction for revenue agents has
been worked out to help them dig
this up. The amount realized by
the Treasury could be substantial.
Consideration is being given in
the Bureau of Internal Revenue to
repommending that Congress
amend the law covering deduc
tions. In connection with enter
tainment written off the taxpayer
^ould be required to list the per
sons entertained. More important,
the amendment under considera
tion would forbid unexplained
lump sum deductions paid out to
unnamed individuals. Congres
sional investigations have shown
that such sums have gone to fix-
Schedule of the Mcore County
bookmobile for the week, Octo
ber 12-16, has been announced as
follows:
Monday—Routh’s service sta
tion, Hy. 1 north, 1:15; Cameron:
post office,'2:45 to 3; Mrs. John
ers and wire pullers.
Commissioner Andrews had ah-
tagonized one set of lawyers be
fore he made his Bar Association
remarks. He has put through a de
centralization cl the Bureau to
make it possible for a citizen in
Salt Lake City or Seattle to set
tle his tax controversy with the
Government in one of the Bu
reau’s seven regional offices with
out the matter being carried all
the way to 'Washington.
But protests have come to An
drews from the capital’s host of
tax lawyers who fear they will
be deprived of part of their prac
tice. That was apparently behind
the statement of Representative
DeWitt Hyde, newly-elected Re
publican from nearby Maryland,
who complained wistfully that
economy was all well and good
but Commissioner Andrews had
gone much too far in lopping off
1,000 employees of the Bureau in
■Washington.
Certainly the Bureau- was an
ideal place for a clean start. For
a decade it had been riddled with
politics and favoritism.
(Copyright, 1953, by UFSyn. Inc.)
A. Phillips’ home (community
stop), 3 to 3:30; out Red Hill
church road with home stops, 3:30
to 4; Lakeview, '$:30 to 5.
Tuesday—^Murdocksville, 2 to
3:30; Colonial Heights, 4 to 4:45.
Wednesday—Davis school, 1
p. m., Westmoore School, 1:15 to ^ll
2; Mrs. Lonnie Brewer’s home,
2:30; Baldwin’s store, 2:45.
Thursday—Carthage , Library,
11:30 to 12:30; White Hill route
with stops at Davis service sta
tion, Wesley Thomas S. S.; around
Lamm’s Grove church and in
White Hill section. 1:30 to 5.
Friday—Robbins Library, 11:30
to 2:30; out Biscoe highway with
home stops, 2:30 to 3:30; Bethle- ^
hem route, 3:30 to 4:30.
FOR RESULTS USE THE PI
LOT’S CIASSIFIED COLUMNS
Teleph(»ie
2-6161
Powell
Funeral Home
D. A. BLUE. Jr.
Southern Pines
24-Hour Ambulance Service
ADEN SCHOOL OF D ANCE
Old VFW Clubroom
Ballet :
N. E. Broad St» Straka Bldg.
»
Tap : Acrobatic
Ballroom
Registration for Fall classes. Phone 2-7024 or write
MARTHA ADEN, Box 476 — Southern Pines
The People Can Rule Wisely
Only If They Are Informed
The past week, October 1-8 has
been observed throughout the na
tion as National Newspaper Week
during which newspapers, large
and small, have explained and re
affirmed the responsibilities of a
free press in a democratic coun
try.
Theme of the observance,
“Freedom of Information,” and
its slogan, “An Informed Press
Means An Informed People,” have
drawn comments from a number
of distinguished persons, inclu
ding H. V. Kaltenborn, news anal
yst and commentator who wrote
for National Newspaper Week the
following observations on secrecy
in government and suppression of
information:
TERMITES!
Do You Have Them?
CALL US ANYTIME FOR A FREE INSPECTION
AND ESTIMATE
What's Going On
If you want to know what’s gojng on in
North Carolina, the best spurce of infor
mation is the small town newspaper. The
weeklies, the semi-weeklies, and the small
dailies that come from county-seat towns
all about the State have the grass roots
flavor and they mirror the life of their
communities as no other medium, or dis
seminator of news and information, does.
The big dailies tell you about the big news,
and the Dig shots, but if you really want
to know what the folks are doing, what
they are thinking, the progress the towns
and the counties are making, go and read
the small town local newspaper.
—The Laurinburg Exchange
By and large secrecy has pro
duced more harm than revelation.
Suppression has always been
mere dangerous than unbridled
expression. Therefore, since it is
impossible to preserve an exact
balance between what should be
censored and what can be told, let
us always err on the side of free
expression.
In a democracy the people rule.
They can only rule wisely if they
are fully informed. Half know
ledge can be just as dangerous
as complete ignorance. Most ef
forts to keep people from know
ing result in their getting to know
what isn’t so. The truth can
make us free but misinformation
binds us to falsehood.
All of which should teach us to
accept wholeheartedly this year’s
National Newspaper 'Week slogan:
“An informed press means an in
formed people.”
Living with Communism in an
atomic age has made us a bit too
fearful for our own good. Fear
is always a bad counsellor. It
helps produce what it seeks to
avoid. A press that tells all, pre
sents a far more accurate picture
of the world we live in than a
press that selects what someone
thinks it is good for us to know.
Facing things as they are is
the first step in changing them
for the better. Revelation must
precede reform. Telling us about
what is wrong is the mission of a
free press in a free country. The
exposure of evil is the most direct
public service which the press has
performed for our people since
the first American editor went to
jail because he dared to tell the
truth.
No one knows better than I that
isolated press organs sometimes
excuse license in the name of
freedom. But here again occa
sional excess is less harmful than
habitual timidity.
Those newspapers which some
times overstep the bounds of good
taste or fair play usually do more
to keep people informed about
malfeasance and corruption than
those which do no wrong because
they are too little concerned
about doing good. There is no ap
peal to the human heart in self-
righteous virtuous neutrality. The
Good Book says: “Blow ye het or
cold—for him that is lukewarm
will I spew out of mine mouth.”
"Which means that a newspaper
ought to have definite policies
and opinions which should be ex
pressed freely and forcefully. If
the; organ of opinion also does its
duty in providing full informa
tion it helps create the sound pub
lic opinion that is the driving
force of successful democratic
government. Which is tantamount
to Sfiying once again that “an
informed press means an inform
ed people.”
Recently we have suppressed
too many atomic facts, burned
too many “dangerous” books and
identified too many soft-headed
sentimentalists with Communism.
We have kept from the American
public a large area of imporlant
information about atomic energy
developments that have long been
known to our enemies. We have
regarded as harmful the reading
of books which are essential to
an understanding of Communism.
Do we honestly believe that to
know Communism is to love it?
We sometimes act as though we
do. And because a man is so fool
ish as to take Communist theory
at face value wit'nout rcalting it
to Communist practice, does he
constitute so great a danger to
the rest of us that he must be
harrassed and ostracized?
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Box 381 Southern Pines Phone 2-7898
The PILOT
Published Every Friday by
THE PILOT, Incorporated
Southern Pines. North Carolina
1941—JAMES BOYD—1944
Katharine Boyd Editor
C. Benedict News Editor
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