Page TWO
THE PILOT—Soulhern Pines. North Carolina
THURSDAY. AUGUST 30. 1956
ILOT
Southern Pines
North Carolina
•‘In taking over The Pilot no changes are contemplated. We will tpr to keep ®
paper. We will try to make a little money for all concerned. Where feere seenw o y,
sion to use our influence for the public good we will try to do it. And we will trea ry
alike. James Boyd, May 23, 1941.
Pearsall Plan: Lacking In Vision And Leadership
When the Pearsall plan was being considered
by the General Assembly during its recent ses
sion at Raleigh, one observant newsman point
ed out that legislators were receiving very few,
expressions of opinion on the proposals from
their constituents.
Considering that the matter before the As
sembly was so momentous, affecting the entire
school system and, moreover, a matter to which
most people react with no little emotion, why
the state-wide silence? Did it mean, this ob
server speculated, that the people were quietly
pleased with the Pearsall plan and assumed
without further involvement that the Assem
bly was doing what needed to be done? Or did
it mean doubt, puzzlement and lack of under
standing about what was happening?
The news correspondent compared the calm
silence with that which is said to exist in the
eye of a hurricane—^possibly presaging more
disturbances yet to come.
Whatever the silence was or why, it seemed
to worry this astute observer of the North Car
olina scene; and, we gathered from what he
said, it caused some worry among the as
sembled legislators.
The September 8 voting on the enabling con
stitutional amendment that would, if approved,
put the Pearsall legislation into effect, will give
some indication of what the people of the state
think—not only in the outcome of the referen
dum, that is, the numbers for or against the
amendment, but in the numbers voting. If the
people care as much about the schools as they
are said to, the vote will be heavy.
The Pilot urges every registered voter to
express an opinion on the Pearsall amendment.
We have been critical of the school closing and
private schools “expense grant” provisions of
this plan and even more critical of the method
in which it was presented to the people of the
state as the way to “Save Our Schools”—as
though no other method were possible. But we
think it would be a calamity if, at a major
turning point in the history of the ■ state’s
schools, the people did not bother to go to the
polls and express their opinions, whatever
those opinions might be.
Along with others , who have criticized the
Pearsall proposals or who have rejected them
as futile and misleading, we intend to vote
against the amendment. Along with these
others, we believe that there is a sizeable group
Qf people of good will in this state who feel
that some compliance with the Supreme Court
school segregation decision is inevitable and
that therefore the Pearsall legislation, which is
designed to evade that ruling and delay com
pliance, is so much lost motion.
Perhaps it is worse than lost, because the
climate of opinion it creates is negative and
obstructionist. By , placing its seal of whole
hearted approval on a process of evasion, the
State of North Carolina and its top officials
serve to confirm racial attitudes and strengthen
prejudices that will some day nevertheless
have to be modified if the South is to fulfill,
along with the rest of the nation, the destiny
toward which Christian and democratic con
cepts, by their very nature, point.
Why not then, this group of people say, get
on with the job now instead of struggling
through the 10 or 15 years it could take to
prove the unconstitutionality and the ineffec
tiveness of the Pearsall plan?
I There is another, and smaller, group of
people who will vote against the Pearsall plan
amendment because they.think it. does not go
far enough in preserving segregation and be
cause they think the General Assembly should
be given power to close the schools on a state
wide level. Even the piece-meal whittling away
of the public school system authorized by the
Pearsall plan is not enough for this group. They
would, rather than see any segregation barriers
fall in the schools, strike the schools a majestic
blow and do away with them—^like setting fire
to and blowing up a fort that can no longer be
held against the epemy.
However, the segregationist Patriots of
North Carolina have now endorsed the Pearsall
plan and it is doubtful if any extensive opposi
tion will be given it from the extreme segrega-
' tionist position.
Therefore, what opposition shows up for the’
plan in the September 8 voting will largely re
flect the opinions of those who feel that the
plan is:
1. Unconstitutional—as expounded by Dr.
Douglas Maggs, professor of law at Duke Uni
versity, at one of the General Assembly s pub
lic hearings during the special session, who
called the plan a means of “subterfuge and co
ercion.”
2. Morally inadequate—as outlined by Paul
Green, Pulitizer Prize-winning Tar Heel play
wright, who said that the Assembly “devised
ways and means of escaping our bounden duty
as citizens in direct contradiction to our demo
cratic faith” and said, “It is only by a patient
and dedicated devotion to the principles on
which our government is built—and which the
United States has recently reminded us of—
that our character as a people shall develop
and our future be filled with joyful prOmise—
a promise not only for ourselves but for the
emerging peoples of Africa, of the Middle East
and of Asia.”
3. Hasty, short-sighted and ill-considered—|
as eloquently explained by Irving Carlyle,
Winston-Salem attorney, who said: “Even
though a majority of the people is opposed to
integration, about which there can be no ques
tion, still it does not follow that a majority
favors the abandonment of our public school
system rather than its preservation through a
gradual compliance with the decisions of the
Supreme Court. . . In the long run, which is
just another term' for perspective, the solution
of our educational problems must take into ac
count a few fundamental principles, as well
as prevailing customs and prejudices. . . Sweep
ing throughout the world. . is a belief in the
dignity of man and the worth of every in
dividual . . That system of government, and
only that system of government, will long en
dure which guarantees under law to every man
the right to achieve human dignity and indiv
idual worth through his own efforts, and edu
cation and religion and democracy are the chief
means to that end. . . Time and not hasty ac
tion will bring the right answer and. . . the
answer. . . will be shaped by the conscience
of man and will be in keeping with his moral
concept of justice under law to all men.”
4. Dangerous and extremist— as seen by R.
Mayne Albright, Raleigh attorney and a former
candidate for Governor, who said, “Let us not
destroy our public schools by removing the
time-honored constitutional safeguards for a
statewide system,” and who believes the “safe
ty valve” of local option on school closings
could become a “time bomb” to destroy the
schools.
Those, then, are four points of view, four
attitudes that, we believe, are shared in whole
or in part by more people in North Carolina
than the Pearsall Plan advocates would have
us believe. September 8 will tell us how many
they are.
While endorsing all these statements or at
titudes of opposition. The Pilot would add an
other which has not -been so widely stressed,
although it has been pointed out before in
these columns: the fact that the plan from the
beginning was concocted without the partici
pation of Negro advisers and, for this reason
and other reasons, has earned the hostility of
Negroes who constitute some 25 per cent of
the state’s population and school enrollment.
Whatever may be thd answer to the problems
posed by the Supreme Court decision, it seems
absurdly futile to seek an answer in a method
that does not, from start to finish, recognize
the aspirations of Negroes and attempt to work
out a solution in a. spirit of mutual cooperation
and respect.
The Pearsall plan, in its whole tone and ap
proach, as well as in its spec^ific legislative de
tails, assigns to the Negro the role of an at
tacker—a creator of “intolerable” situations—
and to the white man the role of rescuer who,
on September .8, is asked to “Save Our
Schools.”
An individual has a right to such an opinion.
But it is unworthy, of the State( of North Caro
lina—which is, after all, the Negroes’ State as
well as the. white man’s State—to ask its citi
zens to endorse, by altering their constitution,
such a shabby and limited view of hxunan re
lationships.
North Carolina, the South, the nation and the
world stand at a moral and intellectual fron
tier in the matter of racial relationships. At
this point, it seems to us, a governmental imit
—no less the State than the United States—
must assume the progressive role of leader and
peacemaker rather than that of a preserver of
the status quo and an endorser of existing hos
tilities. No frontier, geograpl^ical or moral, was
ever opened, no diversely thinking groups of
people were ever united by rejecting aspira
tion, vision and leadership to stand pat on
things as they are—especially if the status quo
is a time of unhappiness, uncertainty and con
flict such as we in North Carolina and the
South are now undergoing.
Can the Pearsall plan do anything but pre
serve or even increase the unhappiness, uncer
tainty and conflict that now prevail in racial
relationships over the state? Aside from all
other considerations, common sense alone leads
us to reject such a proposal -by voting against
the plan on September 8. Then we should bring
together the boldest and best minds of both
races. On local and state levels, to work out
the school segregation problem in an atmO'
sphere of dignity, respect, and cooperation.
The people, both white and Negroes, need
vision and leadership—the kind Of leadership
that creates unity from diversity, that compro
mises but goes forward, that creates new at
titudes, new understanding.
The unhappy stalemate of racial relations as
they are must be resolved. And the Pearsall
plan, a retrogressive glorification of the status
quo, can’t even begin to do what has to be
done.
“That’s Nice—I’ve Had Quite A Little Party, Too”
An Open Letter to the Governor
i^
.(2
n
To the Editor:
Do you sincerely want to get
North Carolina out of the position
of 43rd of the 48 states? Are you
willing to face,' up to the danger
signals that we are slipping, in
spite of publicity being ground
dut by the Department of Conser
vation and Development in all
their sincerity?
Let’s discard theory and exam
ine facts. For several years, not a
month has passed in which I did
not receive or develop one to three
inquiries or leads of manufactur
ers considering relocating or ex
panding plant facilities into North
Carolina. I have been involved in
the actual movement of a number
of them in recent years.
The state still is getting a new
industry here and there to be sure.
Each one looms large, but in the
aggregate the move is small, rela
tively. The trend is slowing do-wn
noticeably. It is becoming increas
ingly difficult to interest manage
ment to the point of actually com
ing to our state after preUmineiry
studies.
<71
%
They are finding out about the
handicaps imposed by our person
al property tax structure on in
ventory. Any plant with inven
tory on hand on a particular day,
inventory in process, raw materi
als on hand for manufacture, any
finished goods on hand not actual
ly delivered to customers, is sub
ject to tax. In the case of printing,
stationery, office supplies, janitor
supplies, maintenance materials,
and the like, they will have paid
a use tax on them and have to
pay the additional personal prop
erty tax.
It is a great burden to business,
a deterrent to expansion and a
matter of practical harm to North
Carolina.
From The Bertie Ledger-Advance
Nickel Has Fallen To Low Estate
Somebody once said that what
this country needs is a good five
cent cigar. Now the paraphrase
would be “What this country
needs is a nickel that will buy
I something.”
If you- had just one nickel and
I could spend it for just one arti
cle what article would you
choose? Silly question? Maybe
not. If you really set out to see
what your nickel would buy
I you’d be very much surprised.
Everyone knows that the
penny as we know it today is
good only for paying sales tax or
for being put into parking
meters, which is in itself a sort of
tax, but how many have thought
of the plight of the lowly nickel?
How many have considered how
I its value has sunk?
Most self-respecting coin-oper
ated Coke boxes won’t even take
him any more unless he is ac
companied by a penny. Few eat
ing places will accept himi for a
I cup of coffee.
Movies For Dime
Time was when two nickels
would amount to show fare on a
Saturday afternoon and a fellow
could ride the range through a
double feature and, if he could
wheedle another nickel front
some unsuspecting adult, stop at
the corner store and after much
deliberation pick out enough
candy to last him through the
whole episode.
Two nickels wouldn’t get ,a
I youngster to the ticket taker to
day and all the candies he could
buy with one nickel would be
lost in his hollow tooth before he
I got a real taste of it.
A nickel candy bar looks
much the same today as it used
to. The difference is in the pack
aging. Time was when there was
a little paper wrapped around a
lot of chewy candy. Today there
is a lot of paper wrapped around
a thin piece of cardboard which
I is twice as long as the candy bar
itself. A diligent search will tprn
I up the candy bar, though.
All Not Lost
However, all is not lost. There
I are always stores in your town
that specialize in small items,
I such as the five and ten cent
stores. They have nickel items,
some amusing and some utilita-
Irian, but few would be the things
[we can’t do without.
As most men do, let’s consider
milady first. She can do nothing
toward making herself lovely
with the aid of just one nickel.
Her choice in the line of cos-
Imetics is absolutely nil.
But, let’s begin and see just
how fdr we can take this beauti
fication thing. She can purchase
la comb with which to comb her
locks, clamps for curling them,
hair clasps and bobby pins for
I keeping them in place, but no
shampoo for washing them.
I What a mess!
I She can buy a manicure stick
for making her fingernails clean-
*er, but no polish to add color.
Believe it or not, that is the
extent of the beautifiers she can
get, and there’s a lot more to be
beautified.
For Nickel, Who Cares?
Children, as usual, are well
taken care of, especially in the
line of school supplies and these
are items they wish they had
never seen. Such things as note
pads, protractors, pencils, pencil
clips, erasers, pencil sharpeners,
and loose-leaf paper can all be
had for a nickel each. They are
not high quality merchandise,
mind you, but for a nickel who
cares. For that matter, to a child
who cares anyway.
Most grownups won’t believe
it but there are even toys on the
market to be had for one nickel.
You couldn’t put a nickel present
over on yoim child for his birth
day, but here’s proof that some
can be found. One can find tiny
plastic cars, balloons, a toy
badge, a small bag of marbles,
caps for shooting in a cap pistol,
and the ever-present BB shot.
Not a very imposing list, but
cheap!
Couldp't Match Eve
Next to cosmetics, the closest
thing to milady’s heart is
clothes. Now just what could she
buy with one nickel that she
would be seen with in public?
You couldn’t match Eve lor
clothing if you depended on the
nickel. A little ribbon maybe, or
a very small and very thin
handkerchief fromi an odd lot
would be about all unless you
had rather try toe plates, heel
taps, shoe laces or a lew buttons.
There are some useful items
to be had for a nickel, such
things as: cookie cutters, glass
coasters, salt shakers, paper
plates, straight pins, pyrex cups,
ash trays, nails, brackets, door
hooks and very small wooden
knobs. Certainly not the most
glamorous list you ever saw, but
useful.
Ever get hungry? Candy is
your best bet if a nickel is all
you have. Candy bars, loose
candy in very small amount,
Life-Savers, chewing gum and
tiny candy hearts make up the
list of edibles.
Who Wants That!
Getting older? Feel yourself
slipping? For one nickel you can
get a rubber crutch tip to stop
your skidding.
Are you the practical joker
type? Here’s a dandy little item:
one plastic egg to be placed in
the hen’s nest to make the old
biddy think she is about to be
come a mother, while all the
time you are devouring her out-
nut along with bacon and coffee.
Some joke!
In one of the stores we did
find two items that seemed to
cteme together everv time we
thought of this subject of the
nickel and its value—a shot
glass, and a half bottle of after
shave lotion (the cap had come
unscrewed and half had spilled
out). We know you can do bet
ter, but not nearly so cheaply.
Squeeze the nickel all you
want. We don’t think the buffalo
will hollow. He hasn’t the
strength!
Grains of Sand
Furthermore, this state possess
es the potential for being one of
the greatest distributing points in
the east due to its geographical lo
cation. The city of Charlotte, for
example, is a great commercial
distributing point now, but could
be a tremendous factor in the dis
tribution of manufactured pro-
ducts on the way to niarkets •
throughout the east if it were not
being held back by the personal
property tax structure. Other
cities such as Greensboro or Ral
eigh could become equally impor
tant.
Statistic
HERE’S a statistic to end all
statistics: New Yorkers, all 8,-
200,000 of them, we are informed
by the Sunday New York Times,
live in the shade of 2,282,000
trees.
It is assumed, but merely as
sumed, mind you, that Mr. Moses,
the good and kind boss of every
thing beautiful in New York,
was responsible for the count,
though the Times gives credit to
the Park Department.
The trees—47,000 of them are
sycamores—are causing no end
of worry to the some 272 pruners
the city hires to care for them.
Just not enough time for the
pruners to get around to look
after each tree and givq it the in
dividual care that New Yorkers
think is necessary.
To further complicate things
not statistically, although there’s
a bit (?) of a statistic here—the
' Park Department is thinking
about hitting the taxpayers up
for some $800,000 to get rid of
some of the older trees.
Shades of the Ginkgo! (that,
we, and the Times, can inform
you, is also a favorite tree in the
Big City, best for coping with
the gasoline and soot that New
Yorkers life with and despise so
much) maybe the Park Depart
ment should come, to Southern
Pines and take a look-see at the
way we treat our trees. Must be
more than two or three million
in Southern Pines, counting the
pesky “blackjacks.”
WE don’t need any 272 prun-
"ers. WE don’t need $800,000 to
tear down any trees.
Anyone care to make a count
. . . fairly accurate?
North Carolina has played os
trich long enough. AU the prop
aganda and advertising ^e can
pour out will create interest dnly,
to be found wasted after Indus- ^
trialists who go through, the pro- ^
cesses of sound investigation come
face to face with the special tax
hurdle. Our state government has
claimed for years to be doing all
it can to help the people. The re
sult of all. that effort is the fact
that we are 43rd of the 48. Is that
success?
There is one sound, sure answer
to the situation if you are genuine
in your pronouncements and will- ^
ing to face it. The State of North ^
Carolina must be declared a Free
Port, and the personal property
taxe eliminated.
The PILOT
Published Every Thursday by
THE PILOT, Incorporated
Southern Pines, North Carolina
1941-JAMES BOYD—1944
Katharine Boyd Editor
C. Benedict Associate Editor
Vance Derby News Editor
Dan S. Ray Gen. Mgr.
C. G. Council Advertising
Mary Scott New;ton Business
Bessie Cameron Smith Society
Composing Room
Lochamy McLean, Dixie B. Ray,
Michael Valen, Jasper Swearingen
Thomas Mattocks.
Subscription Rates:
One Year $4. 6 mos. $2: 3 mos. $1
Entered at the Postoffice at South
ern Pines, N. C., as second class
mail matter
Member National Editorial Assn
and N. C. Press Assn.
As a free port, warehouses will
spring up all over the state giving
a big lilt to employement. Mer
chandise in transit to ultimate
markets and stored in such ware
houses until actually sold or de
livered would be free of that nui
sance tax which costs more than ^
it provides. North Carolina manu
facturers could transfer finished
products to such storage, also, free
of the burden of taxation for, the
privilege of having produced it.
Do you realize it costs almost as
much in labor to take an inven
tory in process of a hosiery mill
or furniture factory as the amount
of the tax?
You heard the clarion call in the
Chicago convention of “How long, ||
America?” That call belongs right
at home—How long North Caro
lina, must we wait to have this
state throw out a petty tax struc
ture in return for greater prosper
ity for its people? How long must
we stay in 43rd place because of
a lack of boldness and vision?
How long. North Carolina, imtil
we can tell the producers all over
the United States that here is the
place into which to ship finished
products on the way to market as
the best distributing point east of
the Mississippi?
How long before a manufactur
er can locate in North Carolina
without that nuisance tax and the
cost of taking the inventory, and
instead can put that money into
the employment of additional per
sonnel?
Finally, how long North Caro-
lina, before officialdom becomes ^
interested in the knowledge and
experience of those of its citizens
who do not have political connec
tions or aspirations? Let’s make
North Carolina a Free Port and
let’s get rid of that personal prop
erty tax knowing that the amount
of tax money lost will be more
than made up by the income tax
from the greater employment
which will result.
MARK JAY KING, Jr.
Southern Pines.