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PAGE TWO
THE PILOT—Soutlern Pines, North Carolina
FRIDAY. APRIL 15. 1955
\
Southern Pines North Carolina
“In taking over The Pilot no changes are contemplated. We wiU try to keep tWs a good
paper. We will try to make a little money for all concerned. Where there seems to be an occa-
Ln 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.
This week marks the end of the period when
candidates for the town council must file in
order to run for election in May.
With Friday evening the deadline, that leaves
just one day mere to go. There are good names
on the list of those who have filed thus far,
names that mean a lot in this down, in its past
and in its present. That these men are offering
to place their time, their talents, and their
efforts at the service of the town speaks well
for this community. Southern Pines people may
feel justifiedly proud in the calibre of those who
are willing to serve as councilmen for the com
ing year.
It is to be hoped, of course, that more names
will be added to the list before Friday night.
And, in this connection, we cannot forbear a
word of encouragement, a little prodding, so
to speak, to those who may be hanging fire.
We have followed the town government of
Southern Pines for, a good many years, now,
and seen it grow land change as the town has
grown and changed. But, though the problems
of the town have increased with the growth of
the community,,-we fedl cpnvinced that, through
the change in system’from a town board to the
council-manager type of government, the job
of governing the town is less rigorous than it
used to be. Where individual members of the
board were under constant fire and harrass-
ment, from citizens coming to them with every
imaginable, and a good many unimaginable, re-
Fil ing Time Ends Today
quests, now things are different. The requests
come directly to the manager, to be settled by
him in a large majority of cases, which fit into
the routine business of town administration.
The council concerns itself almost exclusively
with matters of policy and most of the petty,
time-consuming, exasperating and embarrassing
part of the old job is now eliminated.
In other words, men of ability but whose days
are already over-full, who are yet drawn to this
opportunity to do something for their communi
ty, who see things that need doing and feel the
urge to get in there and help, these potential
candidates, who are still undecided, may feel
a certain amount of assurance that tjiis job is
within their time and strength. Good business
methods have shortened the time that is spent
on it; the elimination of a good deal of politick
ing has smoothed the councilman’s path. The
busy man, we believe, as well as the man who
has more time to spare, can take on this extra
v/ork with the knowledge that he may fulfill
conscientiously his accepted obligations with
out sacrificing his business or knocking himself
out in the process.
That’s what the council-manager system has
done, as well as a whole lot of other things. It
should prove an inducement to those still hesi
tating to take the plunge. We believe the pres
ent council would agree and go so far as to give
the hesitaters a cheer: “Come on in; the waters
fine!”
A Calendar That Runs Downhill
Now Harsch goes on from there to say, what
is also being said by many other as intelligent
Joseph Harsch, special correspondent of The
Christian Science Monitor, presents a calendar
of quotations that makes progressively disturb
ing reading. In their contradictions, in their
deteriorating downward look, they show why
the morale of this country is dropping, why the
fears of war are spreading, why hope has ebb.-
ed. . .
The first is dated October 19, 1954. On that
day, says Harsch, President Eisenhower said
that in this age of atomic weapons ‘‘there is no
longer any alternative to peace.” Years before,
in England he had said: “In the next war, there
will be no victory and no victor.”
In December, NATO commanders were au
thorized by the organization to include atomic
weapons in their plans. In the U. S., the military
budget was sharply cut in the realm of non-
atomic -war-making.
In Jan., 1955, President Eisenhower did not
think that atomic weapons would “normally”
be used “except in lesser hostile actions not
broadened by the intervention of a major ag
gressor’s force.”
On Mar. 8 Secretary Dulles, returning from
the Far East, urging resistance to Red China,
referred to U. S. possession of “weapons of pre
cision which can utterly destroy military tar
gets without endangering unrelated civilian tar
gets.” (To which a good many civilians, and
perhaps even a few of the military may have
said: “Oh yeah?”)
On Mar. 16, President Eisenhower said, ac
cording to Harsch, “Now, in any combat where
these things can be used on strictly military
targets I see no reason why they shouldn’t be
used just exactly as you would a bullet or any
thing else.”
So, it took the President about six months
to decide that there is an alternative to peace
and that it calls for nuclear weapons.
and serious and patriotic men as this one.
notably Adlai Stevenson in his Monday night
speech. . . that there is now a strong presump
tion everywhere that the United States would
fight the Red Chinese with nuclear weapons;
(2) that this fact has been fully exploited in
Soviet propaganda to turn all of Asia against
the West;
(3) that the Western European Powers,
NATO, believe that Peiping would welcome U.
S. iise of nuclear weapons and the outbreak of
war for the effect it would have in India and,
even more, in Japan;
(4) that there is nothing the Soviet would like
so weU as to have the U. S. thoroughly embroil
ed in Asia;
(5) that none of this nation’s allies will join
iri such a war;
■ (6) that the U. S. will be fighting alone, and
(7) that, therefore, the use pf nuclear weapons
by the U. Sj in China would achieve what ten
years of Soviet propaganda has failed to
achieve: the splitting of the western alliance.
To which this newspaper adds: we continue
to hold the belief that the President will, de
spite all present evidence to the contrary, re
fuse to capitulate to the warlike advisers in his
party. The danger lies, we believe, in the temr
per of the Nationalist and Red Chinese, both
sides brought to the boiling point by the pro
vocative statements of these same Republican
advisers and the military. Chiang must know
that this is his last chance while, to the inflam
ed nationalism of the Reds, the temptation to
light the big fuse may prove irresistable.
Through vacillation and bungling, the admin
istration has laid the ideal ground for the “in
cident” that would start the war that might
never be stopped.
Child Welfare Worker Needed
Grains of Sand
As the time approaches for making up the
county budget for the next fiscal year starting
July 1, we suggest that the county commis
sioners make a thorough study of the needs of
the Moore Welfare Department.
WeKare Depairtment needs, of course, do not
exist in a vacuum. ’The needs of this department
are in reality the needs of the people of the
county—human needs of the niost basic sort—
food and shelter for mere survival, to begin
with, and other needs that provide primary
necessities in a Christian and compassionate
community.
' Three Welfare Department case workers sire
attempting to administer more than 680 finan
cial assistance cases, not including 300 Or more
children’s cases. In addition, with the superin
tendent of public welfare, they are called on
to help in adoption proceedings and juvenile
court cases. 'They supervise parolees and help
get up three or four “social histories” per month
on persons who are being admitted to State in
stitutions—a task which, like most of their
work, means prolonged interviews and asking
of dozens of questions of families.
A fairly new task for the Welfare Department
is supervision of the county’s seven boarding
homes, including inspections of each of the
homes at least once a month.
On top of all this, the Welfare Department
is called on to check on school truancy cases—
in the absence of any provision by the board
of education for this service. There is. Of course,
no North Carolina law that requires truant of
ficers to be appointed. The job is dumped on
the Welfare Department in many counties,
where it is impossible for any Of the busy case
workers to give it the attention it deserves.
Four Responsible Factors Recognized
"Just A Idttle Advice. .
It was several weeks before
Mrs. J. R. Lynes, vivacious host
ess at the Carolina Hotel in Pine-
hurst, became aware of the fact
that Fred Brindley, retired busi
nessman of Southern Pines, had
composed a reply to her verses.
“At Seventy,” which first appear
ed in this column February 18;
and which assumed a somewhat
patronizing tone toward all males.
And now, as we are told the
ladies often attempt to do, Mrs
Lynes is having the last word-
having seen and reacted to Mr |
Brindley’s reply which was pub
lished in March. Or will it be the
last word? We’ll leave that up to
Mr. Brindley. I
As such a long time has expiic-d'
since the original publication of
Mrs. Lynes’ first contribution and
since Mr. Brindley’s reply, we'll
start at the beginning to refrc-,h
readers’ memories.
Mrs. Lynes first wrote:
I’ve lived my three score yc-.nr^
and ten— |
Should I not know the ways ofj
men? |
I’ve known them brave andj
strong and wise,, |
But never with wide-open eves
They see just what they want to
see;
They want to hold you, yet be
free.
They hear what’s music to thoir
ears;
They want your praise whate'er
their years.
And there’s nothing much that
wa can do.
Unless, of course, be ever true—
God help them' through.
Part Time Farming Is Increasing
1
^4
- V * ^
Then came Mr. Brindley’s re
ply, using exactly the same num
ber of lines:
One-thud (32 9''l) of the farm
in North Carolina are operated'
either as part-time or as lesiden-1
tial farms. In terms of actual ^
numbers this means about 05,000,
out of the approximately 288,000,
the 1950
Hark now, you three score years
and ten
And listen to the ways of men!
They work, they play, they have
their joys.
For after all, they are but boys.
They tell their tales of what
they’ve done
From break of day to set of sun,
They’ll open wide their eyes to
see
Hedy Lamarr in “Ecstasy.”
’Tis plain to all just what they do
So rest content—^we know it’i
true
God helps them through.
Now comes Mrs. Lynes’ last (?)
word:
One way in which the commissioners could
in some degree ease the burden of the Welfare
Department personnel, while at the same time
making an investment in the human resources
of the county, would be to authorize appoint
ment of a child welfare worker to the Moore
department’s staff, in addition to the number of
personnel presently employed.
In the continuing absence of a truant officer
paid with funds for education, a child welfare
worker could in this field make more progress
with the truancy problem than can overworked
department personnel under present circum
stances—but trusmey would be only one of the
many problems in which a trained person could
help underprivileged children in this county.
Let no one think that the need does not ex
ist. There are dozens and dozens of children in
Moore County who are leading a marginal exis
tence, physically, spiritually and morally, by
reason of poverty, ignorance and Other handi
caps of the way of life into which they have
been born.
Because the State Welfare department views
attention to children as of supreme importance,
this county could receive the services of a train
ed child welfsire 'werker free of cost, except for
transportation allowance, for the first year in
which such a person worked in the county. Suc
ceeding years would require that a salary for
the worker be budgeted. This offers the county
a chance to ease into the addition of such a
worker without too radical an increase in the
welfare budget.
Will the doors of opportunity be opened in
some measure for these underprivileged chil
dren? The county commissioners have it in
their power to answer the question.
Just a little advice from me, to
Mr. Brindley on ‘‘Ecstasy”—
He who answered my verses free
is someone I’d really like to see.
For I like a man who talks back
to me.
Though it’s true, alas, I’m most
seventy-five.
On good repartee I can always
thrive
As in fact I am stiU very much
aUve.
So, old or young, whatever you
are.
Keep gaiety ever your guiding
star. . .
That spirit, my boy, will carry
you far.
But if you’d be both safe and free
And .still not miss any glamour to
see
Keep the brakes firm on your
Ecstasy.
Good For the Girls
A news story that made good
(The following article, des-
ciibing a sociological dcvcl-
oprrerit that is evident in
Mooie County, as elsewhere
in the State, was written by
Selz C Mayo fv-r “Research
and Faiming,” a North Caro
lina State College Publica
tion 1
I
out of the appri
farms enuirerated in
Census of Agriculture. 1
These units are noncommercial]
by definition and such farms, on,
the average, contribute very little'
to the market place even though
they may contribute a great deal
to the larder of the specific fam
ily concerned.
Distribution in State
Part-time and residential farms
are not simply a part of the sub
urban development. They are not,
in other words, merely associated
with the larger cities and towns
of the state. The table shows this
fact in convincing fashion. These
data demonstrate with equal clar
ity the tremendously wide distri
bution and variations of intensity
of part-time farming in North
Carolina.
In Greene County, for example,
only 6.4 per cent of all farms are
classified as part-time and resi
dential. At the. other extreme is
Swain where 90.1 per cent are so
designated.
The Coastal Plains counties
have low proportions of part-time
farming. The very high gross
sales value of tobacco probably
accounts for this picture. The
Piedmont and a few Tidewater
counties occupy, in the main, an
intermediate position. Finally, the
proportion of farms so classified
is highest in the mountain coun
ties.
The relative position of the
three major regions may not
change during the next few years
but the number and proportion-of
part-time farms will very likely
continue to increase. This is es
pecially likely for the Coastal
Plains counties. Concerted efforts
'■A?-
Industry And Agriculture
A new look in rural living—a mixed agricultural and industrial
economy—is evident in Moore County, North Carolina and the
South. Above: the Jones, Inc., textile plant at Vass. Below: tall
tobacco in a Moore County field. More members of farm families
are working in industry, creating a new way oi life in rural areas.
reading recently, we know oi^to develop and attract industries
readers will agree, was the one
about the fire at the Lawson In
stitute in West Southern Pines,
where the girls in the dormitory
acted as fire fighters till the de
partment got there.
Frank Kaylor, veteran fire
fighter, had high praise for the
teen-agers and their teacher. It
was a mighty rare thing, said Mr.
Kaylor, to find things so in hand
when he got to a fire.
Seems when the building was
built there had been trouble get
ting plumbing fixtures, and a spi
got with- threads, like a regular
hose bib, had been substituted in
the bathroom for the ordinary tub
spigot. When the fire started in
the room next that bathroom,
somebody remembered that im
portant fact. The girls ran for the
garden hose, brought it in, quickly
threaded it onto the bath spigot,
and had the stream playing on the
fire before you could say “Jack
Robinson.”
Another thing: the day bed in
the room caught fire. Said Mr.
Kaylor: “A lot of people would
have tried to put it out with wa-
into these covmties may change
this picture radically during the
coming years.
N. C. About Average
North Carolina is just about an
average state in respect to part-
time or residential farming, since
31.1 per cent of the farms are so
classified in the nation. Among
the states, North Carolina ranks
25th. Ohio ranks 24th and Mary
land ranks 26th.
Texas is the only southern state
in which the proportion of part-
time farms is lower than that for
N. C.
Factors in Development
Some part-time and subsistence
farming have been parts of the
meeting in Raleigh. The talks
were on juvenile delinquency and
were made by a highway patrol
man and a sheriff. Both these
law enforcement officers said the
major blame for juvenile court
problems lies with the family.
Said the patrolman, according
to Miss Flora: “If the parents
i V t would just keep their children off
ter, but these girls didnt. y night, there’d be a
carried the thing outdoore. ^at , trouble. They have no
was exactly the right thing to do s over them and let them
“They surely kept their heads , ^ .
the fireman said: ^ They did the .
right things and they did them
fast and nobody got panicky.
Those girls and their teachers did
a nice job.”
Home Life and Delinquency
In her report to the county com
missioners at last week’s meeting
of the board. Miss Flora McDon
ald, Home Demonstration agent,
told about speeches she had heard
recently at an adult education
Said the sheriff: “The main
thing that brings these young peo
ple into court is bad homes. They
have no decent home life; no one
to look up to; no one to help them
with their problems. There’s
where the main trouble lies.”
Earlier, Miss Flora told of 20
Home Demonstration clubs hold
ing meetings addressed by their
own members on home life and
the training of children.
onial days. However, it is largely
true that only a few decades ago
urban and city life on the one
hand and rural and farmi life on
the other were poles apart and
represented a fundamental divi
sion in American life. Now, how
ever, part-time and residential as
defined are simply points on a
continuum and represent blends
of urban and rural life.
With these simple historical
facts in mind, it is possible to look
at the factors which have made
possible the present magnitude
of this agricultural phenomenon.
Four such factors, really sets of
factors, are readily recognizable
and are briefly enumerated be
low:
(1) Historical factors which are
recognized in terms of a continu
ation of the cultural heritage con
ditions of the past. Some families
and some communities have for
generations past combined agri
culture with other occupations.
At the same time, in some areas
agricultural production for sub
sistence rather than for the mar
ket place continues to be the pat
tern of life.
(2) Developments in industry.
For well-known reasons it be
came possible to shift some indus
tries out to the hinterlands and
away from water transportation
and water power. Then too, mass
production techniques made it
possible for the worker to actual
ly work fewer and fewer hours
per day. Many such workers put
some of their extra hours into
small scale agriculture.
(3) Developments associated
with the automobile (including
busses, etc.) and all-weather
roads which have made possible
the spanning of greater distances.
(4) Longer life expectancy and
the development of retirement
systems for both public and pri
vate employees. In later years
many persons find it necessary to
contract their work activities and
eventually fall into the part-time'
farming category. Retirement sys
tems make it possible (or neces
sary) for many to leave their reg
ular employment while still quite
active. They turn to part-time
‘ farming for recreation as well as
a means of increasing the family
larder.
Definitions
Farms in the 1950 Census were
classified on an economic basis
as commercial and other. The
latter group of farms, with which
this study deals, were subclassi
fied into two main categories: (1)
part-time, and (2) residential.
Part-time farms were defined
provided the farm operator re
ported (1) 100 or more days of
work off the farm in 1949, or (2) ^
the non farm income received by “
him and members of his family
was greater than the value of
farm products sold.”
Residential farms were de
fined as “all farms except ab
normal farms with a total value
of sales of farm products of less
than $250.” In 1950 there were
28,371 part-time, 66,460 residen
tial and 132 abnormal farms.
Recall that in the 1950 Census
a farm was defined as “places of
3 -or more acres—if the value of
agricultural products in 1949,
exclusive of home gardens,
amounted to $150 or more.
Places of less than 3 acres were
iqounted as farms lonly if the
value of sales of agricultural
products in 1949 amounted to
$150 or more.” .
These are obviously very strin- ^
gent definitions which means that
the large number of such farms
in the state is even more remark
able. In other words, the farms
classified as part-time and resi
dential represent an irreducible
minimum for practical purposes.
For example, there were 41,846
additional farms classified as
commercial farms even though
the gross sales amounted to less
than $l,2O0 per farm. Such farms W'
were classified as commercial
simply because the total value of
sales from such farms was great
er than faihily income from non
farm sources and the operator
worked less than 100 days off the
farm. These farms plus the part-
time and residential farms ac
counted for 136,809 or 57.4 per
cent of the 288.508 farms enum
erated in the 1950 Census.
The PILOT
Published Every Friday by
THE PILOT, Incorporated
Southern Pines, North Carolina
1941—JAMES BOYD—1944
Katharine Boyd Editor
C. Benedict News Editor
Dan S. Ray Gen. Mgr. gk
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Entered at the Postoffice at South
ern Pines, N. C., as second class ^
mail matter ^
as “Farms with a value of sales of! Member National Editorial Assn,
farm products of $250 to $1,199—' and N. C. Press Assn.