THURSDAY. SEPTEMBER 6. 1956 ^
Page TWO
Southern Pinei
North Carolina
“In taking over The Pilot no changes are contemplated. t^^re*seems**to be an occa-
paper. We will try to make a little money for all concerned. ^ treat everybody
lion to use our influence for the pubUc good we will try to do it. And we wiU treat everyooay
alike.”—James Boyd, May 23, 1941.
For Reiection Of School Amendment
A .1 r»AmrkPncsat.lOr
The state has been flooded with reams of
propaganda favoring the Pearsall amendment.
These explanations, stemming from the special
office -set up in Raleigh for the Governor’s
Committee for the Public School Amendment,
are specializing in a question and answer type
of presentation that does indeed explain the
machinery of the Pearsall Plan, but mentions
none of the objections that have been made to
it in the press and by outstanding individuals
over the state.
In an effort to inform our readers objective
ly on how the Pearsall Plan for the schcwls
would work, if approved. The Pilot Is printing
as clear an explanation as it can assemble, else
where in today’s paper.
On this page, there is a very brief explana
tion of the School (Pearsall) amendment and
explanations of the other three constitutional
amendments on which citizens will also vote
Saturday.
As we have informed our readers and tor
reasons which have been explained here over
the course of several weeks, we intend to vote
against the school amendment. The other three
amendments appear to be worthy of approval.
We don’t see why any legislator should have
to suffer financially for serving his state at
Raleigh. An expense allowance; of up to $8 .per
day, plus travel compensation, on top of the
$15 per day that legislators already receive,
should make it possible for a representative or
senator at least to break even during the As
sembly’s sessions. Better, it might encourage
men to file for the office who are qualified for
an Assembly post but have been unable to
run or serve because of the financial burden
involved.
One fact that stands out from a study of the
Pearsall Plan is that the machinery of^this plan
does not begin to turn until the resources of
the 1955 Pupil Assignment Act have been bk-
hausted-meaning that if test cases involving
Negro admission to white schools were begun
the day after the Pearsall plan was approved,
as state law, it could be months and even
years before the Pupil Assignment A^ct cases
progressed to a conclusion through tl^ state
and Federal courts. All this before the Pearsa
legislation could be used.
So there is no rush about the matter. North
Carolina will not be without resources in meet
ing the school crisis, if the Pearsall plan is re
jected Saturday. And it would be far better
that it be rejected now by the people of North
Carolina than by the Supreme Court of the
United States years from now.
Widening Pennsylvania Avenue
. ® v,P so fortunately
The widening of Pennsylvania Avenue, from
Bennett St. west to the new thruway, will re
move, we are informed by town hall, most of
the trees on this street. Plans call for widen
ing the street to the width of the avenue as it
now exists between Broad St. and Bennett St.,
including a narrow parkway and a five-foot
sidewalk on each side of the street.
There seems to be no question but that the
widening will have to take place. As the main
entrance to Southern Pines from the thruway,
Pennsylvania Avenue will have to carry a
heavy load of traffic and will also have to
be properly equipped with curb, gutter, storm
sewers and the normal sewer and w^er lines.
The large amount of pedestrian traffic to and
from West Southern Pines means that there
will have to be sidewalks.
Can all this be done without sacrificing the
trees, many of them handsome specimens of
various varieties? The only frank answer to
this, say town officials, is “No.” The trees, most
of them, will have to go.
From time to timie. The Pilot has cast doubts
on the type of progress that is accomplished
at the expense of natural beauties that have
taken a half century or more to produce. 'The
results of such sacrifices often are questionable.
After a complete investigation of the Penn
sylvania Avenue situation, we don’t see how
most of the trees can be saved. We can only
put in a plea for the keeping of any of them
that may be so fortunately situated as to be
savable.
Part,and parcel of the town’s plan for the
street is a replanting program that, after some
years,' will begin to restore the beauty of the
trees along the street. Such a plan should be
carried out. Time passes. Trees grow. Sad that
trees will be taken out, we may get some coni-
pensation in planning wisely now for the fu
ture.
Under the long range tree planting program
advanced as a proposed policy in a recent Citi
zen’s Digest” (see another editorial today), it
is recommended that trees not be planted on
parkways,, between street and sidewalk, but
beyond the sidewalk or on adjoining private
^ We don’t see how this policy could be ef
fectively followed on Pennsylvania Avenu^
and indeed have misgivings about its advisabil
ity on any street. On Pennsylvania Avenue,
there will be cuts for grading that would make
it virtually impossible, we would think, to
plant some sections of the street in the recom-
mended manner.
We’d be‘for a line of trees along each park-
way. At any rate, we trust that the town will
make known its planting plans for Pennsyl
vania Avenue before work is begun, that it
will seek expert advice and tliat it wp harken
to public opinion which we are confident will
back up a traditional planting scheme for this
major “showcase” entrance to town.
What The Trees Said
Walking along a tree-lined Southern Pines
street the other night, as a soft breeze was rust
ling the summer leaves, we bepn to hear amid
the murmur overhead distinguishable words. It
was a startUng experience;
“They’re talking about us over there in town
hall,” sighed an old sycamore, bending toward
a smaller and obviously more vigorous maple.
“Who?” snapped the little maple, irritated
as the young often are with the lethargy of the
old.
“Don’t be impatient,” replied the old syca
more, “You know we trees don’t deal in names.
We recognize only two kinds of human beings
those who love us and those who dont.
That’s all we heed to know about people. But
that’s what worries me about what they re
saying: I don’t know whether they love us or
not.” »
“Oh don’t worry,” cautioned the maple, soit-
ening. “Of course they love us. Didn’t they
plant us where we are? Don’t they take carp
of us? Even though we’ve had all these opera
tions to keep the wires clear, still I think they
treat us pretty well. At least they never came
along and cut us down in the name of progress
the way the non-tree-lovers have done in many
towns. You know how the birds have com
plained so often about that situation—if we can
believe them and I- guess we can.”
“But this is not just street corner talk,” re
joined the sycamore seriously. “We hear so
many silly conversations down on the sidewalk
there. You’d think human beings would have
something better to do with their time. No,
this is important. They have devoted a whole
issue of ‘The Citizen’s Digest’ to a discussion
of trees. They say we shouldn’t be where we
are on the parkway. They say planting trees on
parkways is a relic of horse and buggy days—
and mighty nice days those were, I might add,
with everybody walking all the time under us
and horses and human beings, too, still real
izing the value of a little shade. Why, the shade
of a tree was the coolest place you could find
in those days and people used to sit and stand
around under us for hours. Well, it’s ail gone
now. .
“They’re saying all kinds of unkind things
about us. We break up the sidewalks, our roots
get in the sewer system, they have to cut us
to keep the wires clear, although I’d like
^Lemme Go—I’ll Leam ’Em! ’
t/.
Crains of Sand
V."
TAR TmF.T.R TO VOTE SATURDAY
4 Proposed Amendments Explained
. . , j..*;-," ,,7/M,h/, that the General 1
Big Difference
Does Virginia place 10 times
more value on highway cleanli
ness than North Carolina? Ap
parently.
In the Tar Heel^ state, you see
signs: “Unlawful t6 throw trash
on highway. Fine up to $50.”
In Virginia, the motorist at first
thinks he’s seeing double. You
see the same sign except the last
line reads, “Fine.up to $500.”
Maybe this is a reflection of the
intensive campaign for highway
beauty waged by Virginia Garden
Clubs and other women’s organi
zations and is a monument to the
advertising slogan that has enter
ed the language: “Never underes
timate the power of a woman.”
While we are all for highway
cleanliness, that $500 does seem
pretty steep—although it probably
would not be imposed except for
the most extreme violation of the
statute.
North Carolina’s $50 top is real
ly more sensible and is no amount
of money to be sneezed at any
day. It seems like! a severe pen
alty until you cross into Virginia
and are shocked to discover that
extra zero on the end of the sign.
Warning
Every once in a while we get
a mimeographed postcard with
a few words of wisdom from a
gentleman in Los Angeles—we
don’t know how' or why. They
just come in occasionally—very
brief, very opinionated, all sign
ed in a flowing script worthy of
a statesman, the kind of signa
ture that should appear along
side elaborate seals at the bottom
of an international treaty or
some such document.
The signature seems to rebel
agains# its threadbare and hum
ble carrier, an ordinary post of
fice two-cent edrd. “You know,”
it seems to say, “I’m really used
to better than this. I just happen
to be riding on this old post card
to point out that I was here , before the
wires were put up. They say children are
likely to run out from behind us and get hurt.
Then there’s all this talk of widening streets
a
“Widening streets!” exclaimed the maple in
alarm. “Why, if they widen this street, that
will be the end of us! We stand right beside the
street!*’
“Ah-ha,” said the old sycamore, “now you’re
catching on, aren’t you? Now you see why I’m
worried. "We don’t know where we stand with
them over at town hall. You know what I
heard a man reading out of ‘The Citizen’s Di
gest?’ Listen to this:
■“ ‘There has been a tendency to cling to this
former pattern of curb side trees as we have
progressed into the automobile age. Now we
find that modern developments have intro
duced certain complications with respect to
the early tree pattern. . .’ There you have it.
Do they love us or not?
“Over on another page the man read: ‘The
City Government does not enjoy removing
trees when a street has to be widened. Tree
removal runs up the cost of street widening
considerably. . .’ And it seems, too, that they
are recommending that ‘existing plantings of
trees between the sidewalk and the street not
be replaced after they die or have been remov
ed.’ ”
“Does make you wonder, doesn’t it?,” the
maple mused.
“Oh yes, another thing,” the sycamore point
ed out. “They say that we block the street
lights and make the streets dark and dangerous
at night.”
“You mean to say,” replied the maple, “that
people don’t walk the streets at night any
more enjoying the flickering shadows cast by
our leaves near street lights or mysterious and
welcome dark places where boys and girls
pause happily while walking home from the
movies?”
“Why, you know nobody walks to the movies
any more,” grunted the sycamore. “What do
they care?”
“Well, I’m still hopeful,” spoke up the maple
in a brighter tone, “I still think we have a lot
of friends in Southern Pines.”
The breeze died down then and the talk
above us faded away.
In addition to the Special
Session School (Pearsall Plan)
amendment, which has claimed
the center of attention, ■voters of
North Carolina will express pro
and con opinions Saturday on
three other constitutional
amendments.
A referendum on these three
was authorized by the 1955 Gen
eral Assembly. Normally, voting
on them would take place at the
General Election in November,
but since the school amendment
was to coitie before the people in.
a special election on September
8, the other three amendments
were placed on the ballot.
Here are brief explanations of
all four of the amendments, for
the information of persons who
will go to the polls Saturday. (A
more detailed .explanation of the
entire Pearsall Plan for the pub-<
lie schools—^which includes legis
lation already passed by the
General Assembly as well as the
bills that would be put into ef
fect by a favorable vote on the
amendment—appears elsewhere
in today’s Pilot):
SCHOOL AMENDMENT
"To authorize the General
Assembly to provide educa
tion expense grants ^ and to
enact laws under which local
communities can vote to sus
pend operation of some or
all of the public schools in a
given locality."
The effect of this amendment
would be to permit the General
Assembly to enact legislation
which would:
(1) Permit a child to receive
an expense grant for attendance
at a private, nonsectarian school
if the child were assigned,
against the wishes of his parent
or guardian, tp a public school
attended by a child of another
race, and if the child could not
be assigned to a different public
school in which the races were
not mixed; and
(2) Permit a local community
to suspend operation of any one
or all of the public schools in
that community by a majority
vote of those voting on the ques
tion of suspension.
Under the proposed ainend-
ment, the present constitutional
requirement of a general and
uniform system of public schools
is retained, and the operation of
schools may be suspended only
by vote of the people; and if the
operation of a school is suspend
ed, the pupils affected thereby
would be entitled to an educa
tion expense grant to pay ex
penses in attending a private,
nonsectarian school.
REGULAR SESSION
AMENDMENTS
Number 1
'To increase the maximum
number of days for whit*
members of the General As-
semWy may receive compen
sation and to authorize the
General Assembly to provide
subsistence and travel allo-w-
ance for members engaged in
legislative duties
The effect of this amendment
would be to make possible two
changes in compensation to be
received by members of the Gen
eral Assembly. One change ef
fected by the amendment would
be that members might be com
pensated for a maximum of 120
days instead of 90.
The other change which would
be brought about by this amend
ment is that a constitutionally
acceptable law could be enacted
providing for the payment of
subsistence and travel allowance
to members of the General As
sembly while engaged in legis
lative duties. The allowances
could not exceed those establish
ed for members of State boards
and commissions generally.
These amounts are set by each
Legislature in its Appropriations
Bill.
As an example, the Appropria
tions Bill of the 1955 General As
sembly provided for State board
and commission members, for
subsistence, actual amount ex
pended not in excess of $8.00 per
day, and ior transportation by
nersonally owned automobile,
seven cents per mile, and lor bus,
rail, or other public conveyance,
the actual fare.
This proposed amendment
would rewrite the section on pay
of the General Assembly to con
tinue the compensation at $15
per day for legislators and $20
per day lor presiding officers. It
also authories such compensation
for not exceeding 25 days if a
Special Session of the Assembly
is called. This is a change, as is
the provision for subsistence and
travel allowances.
would be that the General As
sembly could convene approxi
mately one month later than
usual. The 1955 General Assem
bly passed a law which extended
the final date for the filing of
income tax returns from March
today.’'
Today’s message from Los An
geles: “A deduction—^Unless the
Chinese population stops risirig
soon, in a few years we are go
ing to be engaged in a war try
ing tP stop them from overrun
ning Europe, looking for living
I room.” 4k
That’s all, followed by the dis
tinguished signature and address.
The card IS mimeographed, so
obviously the sender gets out a
number of them-we suspect
sends them to all newspapers m
the country or a selection of
" By convening a month later, j newspapers in each state,
the Assembly can be in session A fascinating occupation, send-
long enough to consider this vital ing out such cards. Suppose one
matter after the estimates are in, of the sender’s predictions ever ^
without having to continue in did come true? What satisfac-
session for an unfiecessary length tion it would be to say: “I wam-
of time. This amendment would ed every newspaper in the coun-
also authorize the General As- try about that five years ago—
sembly to fix the most appropri- and they all ignored my predic
ate dav for its meeting. [tion.”
It would be wonderful to write
like that—a sentence at a time,
a potential audience of millions,
nobody to give you an argument
—and a chance to inscribe, again
ate day for its meeting.
Number 3
"To authorize a married
woman; to execute a power
of attorney conferred by her
husband.'
Number 2
"To change the dates for
the convening of the General
Assembly from January to
February.''
The effect of this amendment
Sfe^ect of this amendment and again, that beautiful signa- i
ine eiicci. , tore. Our guess is that the sender
would be that whe jg a hapoy man.
band is required to be away from
home or where he might be un- . . . ,
available to execute a deed for she’ll be crossing streets, play-
various reasons, he could give to ing along the way, frolicking
his wife a written instrument around the school,
authorizing her to sign and ac- I hoped I was preparing her
knowledge deeds for hiiriv He when I threw in some advice
would be able to authorize his about the safe way to do these
wife to sign his name not only to things—in answering her ques-
deeds of land belonging to her, tions about all the wonders of
but also to land owned by them the first grade,
jointly or by the husband alone. you know and you can
Stated simply, the amendment watch out' for her. You can watch
would allow in this State a com- for her as she plays on the way
mon practice that is now allowed L]^ome from school, and you can
in every state of the Union with caution when you see her
one exception. ready to cross the street.
As to each of the four amend- you can be ready to stoo_ if
ments, the voter will be asked to gj^g should dash out from behind
vote FOR or AGAINST the pro-jg parked car or follow a rollin'?
posal. Voting is separate for each Lgff fhe street.* If _ you re-
of the four. Each may be aPProv- to^gj^her how dear she is to me
ed or disapproved apart from the yg^.p ^rive slowly through every
others. | school zone.
Sincerelv.
BILL CROWELL
iDent. of Motor Vehicles
Raleigh, N. C.
The Public Speaking
Ejcpresses Appreciation
To the Editor:
Please accept my deep appreci
ation for that very nice tribute
■ which you copied from, the Mo
tion Picture Herald.
It was most gracious of you.
And, incidentally. Southern
Pines got some publicity on that
article, as The Motion Picture
Herald has practically a hundred
per cent circulation throughout
the United States and Canada, as
well as England.
Most sincerely,
CHARLES W. PICQUET
Southern Pines
Who Started Segregation?
•To The Editor:
There has been much said for
and against segregation. Now let
me ask a sensible question and
then answer it with an undeni
able and truthful answer.
Question: Who started segrega
tion and when?
Answer: Almighty God, when
He made the different races and
segregated them in different sec
tions of the world, as He wanted
them then and always.
God’s laws are greater than all
the laws of the land. How can
anyone love, honor and obey God
and do away with His segrega
tion?
The PILOT
Published Every Thursday by
THE PILOT, Incorporated
Southern Pines, North Carolina
1941 JAMES BOYD—1944
I Katharine Boyd -- Editor
w L McDonald c. Benedict Associate Editor
Carthage ’ Vance Derby News Etotor
,C. G. Council Advertismg
Ooen Letter To Drivers Mary Scott Newton Business
Dear Driver: Bessie Cameron Smith Society
You don’t know my little Composing .Room
daughter Debby who is just six U ochamy McLean, Dixie B. Ray,
and has started her first year of Michael Valen, Jasper Swearingen
srhool. 1 Thomas Mattocks^
You haven’t seen how she can _ . , „ naiea^
!^L-„!"^M/.rr.n^1^TotohfS $4. 6 mos. $2; 3 mos. S_1
wisdom. No, you couldn’t Entered at the Postoffice at South-
her or love her as I do—^that s pines, N. C., as second class
why it seems strange that I have j^aii matter
to trust her very life to you! PHitorial Assn
Yes, to you-because ^s she Member Nationa^Editori^ Assn
marches off to school regularly! and N. C. Pr