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PAGE TWO
THE PILOT, Southern Pines. North Carolina
FRIDAY. AUGUST 27. 1954
His Good Work Lives On In The Community
ruTn-rr-
, . ^ V North Carolina
Southern Pines —
“In taking over The Pilot no changes are contemplated, ^e will S ai Ic
paper. We wiU try to make a little money for all concerne . - everybody
Sion to use our influence for the pubhc good we will try to do it. And we wiU everyo
alike.”—James Boyd, May 23, 1941.
Alfred B. Yeomans
It is doubtful if this town has ever had a
more interested and loyal citizen than Alfred
Yeomans.
This statement may come as a slight surmise
to some, for, with the growth of the town in
these past years there are doubtless a good
many to whom the name of this fine man who
died last week is unfamiliar.
But, even as we write these words, they do
not carry conviction. For the influence of A1
Yeomans—when he was building houses, land
scaping gardens, when he was a member of the
town board, head of the parks committee, pres
ident of the Library, organizer and head cf
the former music association, when, during
those many years of his life here his name
could be found in almost every group engaged
in constructive work—that influence, so strong
and far-reaching, whether in civic or cultural
lines, has continued, we believe, to be keenly
felt. Even when his life became restricted, his
great interest in the people and the affairs of
this town never waned.
It was the influence of a rare personality, a
kind of personality that, one may sadly think,
is growing scarce in this so-called progressive
age. In him were combined the imagination of
the creative artist and a vital, clear-cut power
of thinking that was like a rock in its absolute
integrity. He was honesty itself, forthright at
times to the point of brusqueness, uncompro
mising in his judgments and convictions.
They were convictions strongly liberal in
spirit. Quick to grasp the heart of a matter,
from a practical angle, he was as quick to sense
its implications from the standpomt of human
ity. Injustice or intolerance roused in him a
fiery imagination, while his kindly spirit re
sponded as quickly to human need. Behind that
calm, benign exterior lay a nature sensitive,
imaginative, warmly friendly and deeply—al
most fanatically—democratic.
It was a natxire based on an unyielding opti
mism. Even during recent years, when he was
increasingly restricted by arthritis, this opti
mism never failed 'him. Undoubtedly it was
the source of his amazing fortitude; because
his optimism, lay far deeper than sheer courage.
His attitude toward physical disability was one
of humorous contempt, or boredom. This -v^as
something to be ignored and, of course to be
overcome as soon as possible. Though 84r when
he died, he acted always as if recovery lay
just ahead. He practiced regularly on the violin
and piano, an hour a day on each instrument,
playing always and only the music of the great
classical composers. He read book after book.
Asked once if he would like a television set,
he turned the idea down with decision. “I’ve
looked over some of the programs,” he said.
“I couldn’t waste my time on it.”
There was more than a little of the Greek
Stoic in Alfred Yeomans—so strongly indepen
dent, so intolerant of hypocrisy or weakness.
But there was none of the coldness of those stern
old Greeks. In his love of his home and his
hopes for it, in."The freedom of his political be
liefs, in his deep faith in mankind and his vision
of a world working together, living together, at
peace in all this there was much of the spirit
of the founders of the nation.
But his twinkling eyes and his delight in fun
and laughter, his love of children and his gen
tle charm for them—so .that, lately, his most
constant visitors were the children of the neigh-
hood—his devotion to beauty in music, in na
ture, in his love of the sea, his response to all
that was courageous and fine in life, all this
gave evidence of the wealth of warmth and hu
man sympathy that underlay the character of
Alfred Yeomans and made him beloved by all
. who knew him.
The Public
Speaking
ALFRED B. YEOMANS, who died Tuesday
of last week, is pictured at the left several years
ago when one of the library projects for which
he had worked became a reality and a bookmo
bile was put into service. In the vehicle is Mrs.
Dorothy Avery, county librarian, and at right is
Gordon M. Cameron, chairman of the board of
county commissioners. Mr. Yeomans was a
leader in library promotion and activities for
many years and was the owner of an extensive
personal library. Building in background houses
both local and county libraries.
Background of Segregation Decision
Negroes First Came To State 1526,
Now Form 26.8% County Population
Th, Institute of Government at: bv rtates-Imm two
Officials Back Open Meeting Law
nical move by the press to aid reporters in gath-
We note with interest and approval that the
State Association of County Commissioners in
their recent annual convention included among
their legislative recommendations to the 1955
General Assembly restoration of the guarantee
of open commissioners’ meetings.
It has never been exactly clear to us what
happened when this guarantee, which was a
part of the State statutes for many years, was
stricken out in the last General Assembly, ap
parently without the knowledge or concurrence
of many of the legislators. Whatever happened
and for whatever reason, it appears certain
that this fundamental assurance of open meet
ings will be re-written into the law—perhaps
in even more forceful and definite language as
a result of the airing the question of open meet
ings has received in the past two years.
While the press has led the movement to re
store a guarantee of open meetings, both for
county boards and for committees of the Gen
eral Assembly, it must be clearly understood
that this is not simply a professional Or tech-
ering the news.
While access to sources of news is obviously
of pressing and one might say selfish interest
to the press, the guarantee of an open meeting
of public officials is a guarantee to all of the
citizens of whatever governmental unit is in
volved. The press visits meetings of public Of
ficials as the eyes and ears of the people. The
right involved is the people’s right, not simply
the press’s right, and as such calls for the sup
port and interest of the people.
No doubt a recognition of this fact is respon
sible for the action taken by the commissioners
of the state in voting approval of an open meet
ing guarantee to be written into law by the
General Assembly. We commend these officials
for their attitude and urge that the legislators
from Moore County support this and any other
effort made at Raleigh in 1955 to extend or
strengthen the public’s basic right not to be ex
cluded from th* conduct of public business.
The Grand Jury And The County Home
In reporting that the cost of operating the
county home is excessive, in view of the num
ber of persons cared for there, the new grand
jury empanelled at last week’s term of Superior
Court confirms a conviction that has been a
major contention of The Pilot in its investiga
tion of the county home during the past year.
The grand jury’s report did not undertake
to recommend what steps should be taken to
make the county home a more
more serviceable operation, but did recommend
that a member of the board of commissioners
be summoned to appear before the grand jury
to discuss the problem. Details of what should
be done about the county home presumably
would be taken up at such a conference.
In the normal course of events, the next reg
ular session of the grand jury will be at Jan
uary’s term of court for trial Of criminal cases
—and the members of that grand jury will not
be the same persons who rendered last week’s
report. This time lag is unfortunate. We do
not know whether it would have been possible
for the grand jury to have completed its investi
gation of the county home last week, but it
would have been in the public’s interest to
have pushed forward, so that the very strong
influence of the grand jury’s interest in this
matter might have resulted in action months
sooner than may now be the case.
While periodic questioning of members of the
board of commissioners in recent months has
elicited the reply that the board is “continuing
to study” the county home situation, when the
1954-’55 budget was made up in June and Jidy,
the commissioners appropriated no less than
$15,000 for operation of the home in the current
fiscal year which ends June 30, 1955. This
amount is $2,500 more than the $12,500 given
to the county home in the previous fiscal year s
budget estimate. How a $15,000 appropriation
fits into the economy picture remains to be
seen. With two months of the new fiscal year
already nearly gone, there were last week only
seven persons under care or residing at the
county home.
There is a possibility that if the grand jury
is called for a special term of criminal court
this Fall, it might be able to press ahead with
the county home matter. If there is a special
term, we urge that every effort be made by
the grand jury to summon a representative of
the board of commissioners and to make a
recommendation, if they see fit, that will assure
a more economical, not to mention a more hu-
economical and #manitarian, operation of the home.
n completion of the grand jury’s investiga
tion must go over to the January term of court,
the new grand jury at that time is required to
follow through on matters left unsettled in the
report last week.
The people of Moore County can be thankful
that the all-important first step—recognition by
the grand jury that something is wrong with
the county home set-up—^has been taken. It
remains now for this or another grand jury to
complete the investigation conscientiously, re
gardless of delays involved.
Point Of No Return
The current emergency March of Dimes
comes at a crisis in the operations of the Na
tional Foundation for Infantile Paralysis.
The Foundation is caring for 67,000 patients
stricken in earlier years, while attempting to
meet the cost of increasing the nation’s supply
of gamma globulin and also tO' finance the
polio vaccine study that may result in the final
victory over the disease.
Even a few years ago, no one thought that
the Foundation’s program would mount to such
a staggering cost. Yet no one thought either
that the possible end to polio would be so near
ly in sight.
Foundation leaders are speaking the unvar
nished truth when they say: “National Foun
dation programB are at a point of no return.
There can be no retreat except at unthinkable
human sacrifice or postponement of polio pre
vention.”
the University of North Carolina.
Chapel HiU, has just issued a 206-
page mimeographed study, with
charts and tables of statistics,
dealing with the decision on
school segregation handed down
by the Supreme Court of the
United States on May 17 of this
year. „
Titled “A Report to the Gover
nor of North Carolina, the study
consists of three parts—1, “The
Background of the Court’s Deci
sion,” prepared by Albert Coates,
director of the Institute; 2, “The
Text of the Court’s Decision”; and
3 “An Analysis of the Legal As
pects of the School Segregation
Decision and Alternates Open to
North Carolina in the Light of
That Decision.”
The report was made at the re
quest of Gov. William B. Um-
Because of the universal inter
est in the Supreme Court decision,
in this area. The Pilot will in the
next few weeks bring to readers
portions of the Institute of Gov
emment report.
The report opens with a short
history of the Negro in North
Carolina, with pertinent facts
about distribution of Negroes in
the state and in the United States
today:
First Came, 1526
Negroes came to North Carolina
in 1526 as slaves with Spanish set
tlers in the Cape Fear region.
They came .with settlers from Vir
ginia into the Albemarle region
during the 1650’s. In the Conces
sions of 1665 the Lords Proprie
tors of the Province of Carolina
encouraged slavery by offering
fifty acres of land to any settler
bringing a Negro slave “above the
age of fourteen years.”
Around eight hundred Negroes
were living in the colony by 1700,
fifteen thousand by 1750; one hun
dred forty thousand by 1800; three
hundred sixty-one thousand by
1860; six hundred twenty-four
thousand by 1900; one million by
1950. ^ ,
Negroes were thirty per cent of
the population by 1775; 29 per
cent by 1800; 36 per cent by 1860;
38 per cent by 1880; 33 per cent
by 1900; 25 per cent by 1950. Thus
the Negro percentage has decreas
ed slowly but steadily for the past
seventy years. Around 361,000 of
North Carolina’s Negroes or 34
per cent, live in urban areas with
a high degree of segregation, and
685,000, or 66 per cent, live in ru
ral areas with a low degree of
(segregation.
26.8 Per Cent Here
The Negro population varies by
counties in North Carolina ^from
ten in Graham county to forty-
nine thousand in Mecklenburg;
from less than one-fifth of one per
cent of the population in Graham
county to-63.9 per cent in North
ampton.
In Moore County, the percen
tage of Negro population is 26.8
per cent, the study shows.
Negroes In the U. S.
The fifteen minion Negro popu
lation in the United States varies
seven in North Dakota to one mil
Hon sixty-two thousand in Geor
gia; from 3-lOOths of 1 per cent of^
the total population in North Da
kota to 45 per cent in Mississippi.
Four and a half miRion Negroes
are scattered over thirty-one
states. Ten and a half million are
concentrated in eleven southern
states, including: Virginia, North
Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia,
Florida, Tennessee, Alabama, Mis
sissippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, and
Texas; six border states, including
Delaware, Maryland, West Vir
ginia, Kentucky, Missouri, and
Oklahoma; and the District of Co
lumbia.
Over four million Negroes in
the northern and western states,
or 93 per cent, live in urban areas
with a high degree of segregation,
and three hundred thousand, or 7
per cent, live in rural areas with a
low degree of segregation.
Many Leave South
The Negro population in the
United States is growing in num
bers and dechning in percentage.
According to the author of “The
Negro and the Schools,” published
in 1954:
More than one miUion Ne
groes left the South between
1940 and 1950. The region’s
gain in Negro population was
less than 150,000, the smallest
since the World War 1 decade,
while outside the South the
Negro population rose by two
million. Most of the non-
Southem increases were re
corded in seven states—Illi
nois, Ohio, and Michigan in
the midwest; New York, New
Jersey, and Pennsylvania in
the northeast; California on
the west coast; and the Dis
trict Of ^Columbia. In 1900
one one^ American Negro in
eight lived outside the South,
but by 1950 the proportion
had risen to three in eight
and the ratio was still increas
ing.
In the South this trend was
reversed, and the Negro be
came numericaUy less impor
tant. Between the turn of the
century and 1950, the increase
of white population in the
South stood at 18 milUon, ten
times the Negro increase. But
between 1940 and 1950, the
white increase of 4.5 miUion
was 33 times as great as the
Negro gain.
EXTREMES TO BE AVOIDED
For A Peaceful Integration
(From The Smithfield Herald)
Many are the unanswered ques
tions as North Carolina begins
to study the school problem crea
ted by the anti-segregation deci
sion of the U. S. Supreme Court.
But the state’s leadership seems
to have reached one definite con
clusion. We are going to preserve
the public school system in North
Carolina. Among responsible cit
izens there is no talk of resisting
integration otr white and Negro
schools by abolishment of public
education.
Thomas J. Pearsall, chairman
of the 19-member advisory com
mittee appointed by Governor
Umstead to map a course of ac
tion under the Court’s ruling, de
clared at the comtaiittee’s first
meeting in Raleigh Wednesday,
“The problem has to be met so
the public school system can be
preserved.”
Governor Umstead talked of
establishing “a policy and a pro
gram which win. preserve the
State public school system by
having the support of the people.”
The official attitude so far is
good, though the major tests of
wisdom are still to come.
The people of the state can
contribute much to the solution
of the school problem if they
avoid wishful or unrealistic
thinking and face realities.
It is wishful thinking to regard
Letter To Clark
To the Editor:
The following is an open letter,
the third cf a series, to the Hon.
Lloyd T. Clark, Mayor of South
ern Pines.
Mr. Mayor:
Recollections, reflections, ru
mors or what have you, about our
so-called whiskey or A. B. C.
Store;
Some time before we had a
whiskey store a widely known
citizen got the idea that such a
store would be a good thing for
our town. Quietly he sought and
obtained the approval and prom
ised aid fromi our Governor. A
resolution or “something” was to
be made on a certa^ day. A
tentative board was formed in
Southern Pines to receive the
“glad tidings” from Raleigh.
However, according to the story
told me by the man with the
original * idea, the politicians
heard of the “coming event” ^d
took control of the tentative
beard, leaving him not the chair
man he wanted to be, nor even a
member of the board itself. He
was out in the cold and all alone.
When he learned, about 11:00 p.
m., that he had been ehminated
from the board he immediately
telephoned the Governor and re
lated what had happened. There
after, our dreams for lower taxes
from the whiskey store profits
were “gone with the wind.”
Later, arrangements were made
for our town to have an A. B. C.
store but the total profits went,
of all places to Wilson Coimty!
This was, according to our widely
known citizen, a “staggering”
blow to the politicia’ns here but
they did not give up the ship.
Finally arrangements were made
which gave Moore County, and
not Wilson County, aU the prof
its from our very own whiskey
stor€.
As a pacifier, the Moore Coun
ty A. B. C. Board continued to
rent the old Maze Building, own
ed by our town, for about $125.00
per month, the only revenue the
town received plus the possible
services of its night watchman to
answer our police telephone. This,
we were informed, was a most
“generous gesture” on the part
of the A. B. C. Beard for our
town’s protection.
Now let us take a look at the
record. According to the press,
Moore County received from the
A. B. C. stores during the last fis
cal year approximately $180,000,
more than half of which came
from our own A. B. C. store. How
much of this mioney did we, get?
Believe it or not $841.00! This as
of April 1st, 1954. Yep, $841.00.
Gosh, Mr. Mayor, why in the
name of something or other did
you not take a “stand” with the
A. B. C. Board for the benefit of
our taxpayers, telling the Board
that our citizens are tired of get
ting only “the crumbs from their
banquet table”?
Let us see what you did do in
speed. The end of segregation is j jjehalf to show the leadership
not likely to come in any coin- L^pected from our mayor. With-
munity faster than most of the public discussion it appears
people of the community are ableLj^^^ you grabbed at the insignifi-
to adjust themselves, psychologi-Lj^ut ,“take-it-or-leave-it” 10 per
cally, to acceptance of the new ^g^t offered by the Board, like a
way of life. I drowning man would a straw!
The problem of integration will with this total lack of leader-
vary from! community to commu- Lj^jp manifested by you, it is be-
nity, from county to county, fromhjg.y.g^ you should resign as our
state to state. Where the Negro Ljjgyoj. and do it now.
population is large, the pace of 1 a. r. McDANIEL
integration will not be fast. In|gouthem Pines
areas where there are few Ne
groes, the end of segregation can I Letter To MayOT Clark
be accojnphshed • immediately Lpo The Editor:
without much difficulty. Enclosed is an open letter to
For example, in a mountain ^j^g Honorable L. T. Clark, Mayor
county of North Carolina where gf Southern Pines:
there are fewer than 100 Negro Mayor;
children in school, the changeover rpj^g citizens of Southern Pines
will not likely be accompanied Lj^.^g endured this hot weather
by tension and delicate situations, j jong enough.
In Johnston County, where the! when you took yotir oath of of-
Negro population is between 20Ljgg^ ygu assumed responsibility,
and 25 per cent of the total popu- .^bether you reaMze it or not, for
lation, the problem will Le kbg .^yeUare and well-being of the
troublesome as it will be to the LjHzens of the community. Now
east of us, where there are coun-this weather. That’s all
ties with more Negroes thanUj^^ proof I need. You should re-
whites. sign.
Looking at North Carolina as a INDIGNANT
whole, we may wisely conclude
that .“gradualism” must be the|
answer to the question of ap
proach. But we must make surel
that our “gradualism” does not!
mean “stallingism.” To plead for
time only with the purpose of I
stalling and avoiding compliance
with the Supreme Court ruling U^tbarine Boyd Editor
The PILOT
Published Every Friday by
the pilot. Incorporated
Southern Pines, North Carolina
1941—JAMES BOYD—1944
ROAD COURTESY
CAN SAVE LIVES
Courteous driving saves Uves,
says the State Department of
Motor Vehicles. Courtesy on the
highway means sharing the road,
allowing ample clearance when
passing, yielding the right of
way, giving proper signals for
turns, dimming headlights, and
respecting traffic laurs.
the Supreme Court decision as a
meaningless gesture of good.will . .
toward the Negro and to assume will surely be to invite a wave News Editor
that somehow we can find “legal” of court cases and to increase the g^y Qen. Mgr.
ways to keep our segregated!tension between the races. The ^ ^ Advertising
school systemi intact. Make no ’extremism of the stallers is to beU^g^y g^^^^ Newton Business
mistake about it, the Supreme avoided as much as the Bessie Cameron Smith Society
Court decision is the law of the ism of those who would force an Composing Room
land. The end of segregation is abrupt ending to ^gregation. McLean, Dixie B. Ray,
The Supreme Court in May Swearingen
coming.
It is unrealistic thinking to an
ticipate an abrupt ending of seg
regation, and an immediate in
tegration of white and Negro
schools in every community of
the South. Make no mistake about
this: Laws and court ruUngs can
chart new courses, but they can’t
force the people to go racing
down those courses at break-neck
wise enough to refrain from im
mediate issuance of decrees fori Subscription Rates:
enforcement of its segregation! year $4. 6 mos. $2: 3 mos. $1
decision. The Court, we may
reasonably conclude, will con-J Entered at the Postoffico at South-
tinue to be wise enough to rec-jern Pines, H. C„ as second dais
ognize the necessity for a peace-j mdl matter
ful transition to an unsegregated I—— „
„ho.. to .he ™.hods o.
a sincere graduaUsm.