Page TWO
THE PILOT—Southern Pines, Norcti Carolina
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 1964
Southern Pines
“THAT’S MY BOY!”
ILOT
North Carolina
“In taking over The Pilot no changes are amtemplated. We will try to keep this a good
paper. We will try to make a little money for all concerned. Wherever there seems to be
an occasion to use our influence for the piblic good we will try to do it. And we will
treat everybody alike." — James Boyd, May 113. 1941.
A Firm Victory For Auman
Either way the race for the House of
Representatives came out last week,
Moore County would have sent a good
man to Raleigh. However, we are glad it
turned out to be Clyde Auman, Democrat.
We congratulate Auman on a firm
victory, with wins in 12 out of 19 pre
cincts, and we congratulate his Republi
can opponent, Robert S. Ewing, on a good
race well run.
It is a tribute to both men that it was
the kind of race which left no bitterness
behind, no words to unsay nor attitudes
to unmake. They treated the voters
honestly and campaigned sincerely.
With 5999 votes over Ewing’s 5166,
Auman won by 833—considerably fewer
than President Johnson’s majority of 1221
in the county, but many more than Dan
Moore’s 453 in the race for governor.
Precincts for Auman, scattered pretty
much all over the county, included both
the Northern and Southern Pines pre
cincts, the latter being the home precinct
of his opponent. This, should reassure
Auman on his acceptance in this com
munity and the invalidity of the school
merger issue, which some supporters felt
would work against him.
Auman has made it plain that, as a
legislator, he would be interested in up
coming school mergers in the lower part
of the county only insofar as they in
volve all four neighbor districts. South
ern Pines, Pinehurst, West End and
Aberdeen. The voting indicated either
that most residents of this community
agreed with him or that they did not
regard the matter as of sufficient conse
quence to affect their vote.
More important, in our belief, was the
realization that Moore, a traditionally
Democratic county, must speak with a
Democratic voice at Raleigh if it is to be
heard at all. The lot of the Republican
legislator in this Democratic state is a
hard one and he usually winds up frus-
tratingly ineffective. Like it or not, this
is a fact of political life of which the
Republicans will certainly avail them
selves if and when they ever capture the
State.
That the gap in the House race wasn’t
wider is a tribute to Ewing, who in just
nine years of residence here has become
well known and well liked in the county,
with ability proven in many fields.
However, Auman, a native son, through
a lifetime of service and hard work has
helped to build up our Sandhills and our
State, while also building up a towering
confidence in himself.
We cannot close this editorial without
mention of Cliff Blue, this county’s re
presentative in the House for so many
faithful, hard-working years. Since he
gave up his seat to run, and lose, for
lieutenant governor, the people of Moore
have suffered a grievous sense of loss.
We know his friendship with Auman to
be one of close friendship and mutual re
spect, and while both are independent
characters, they are politically congenial.
There will surely be many occasions—
if indeed there haven’t been already—
when Clyde will seek guidance and
counsel from Cliff, to the benefit of all
the people.
Investigation of the county manager
form of government for Moore county is
a step The Pilot has long urged, and the
fact that the Republicans used this as a
campaign issue in Moore during recent
weeks doesn’t change our mind about it
at all.
There is nothing partisan about such a
step, which has meant progress in many
places and could well do so in Moore as
well.
What was partisan was the exploitation
of apparent weakness in our Democratic
form of government, and this, of course,
the “outs” who want to be “in” have a
perfect right to do. Our time of danger
will come when the weaknesses exceed
the strengths, and this could well happen
in a county where the million-and-a-half-
dollar business of government is run in
horse-and-buggy style.
Thirty, 20 and even 10 years past have
meant a lot of changes in local govern
ment, and it takes a specialist today to
know what government’s job is, how it
is to be best performed and how paid for.
One Republican speaker emphasized
that, at the recent League of Municipali
ties meeting at Raleigh, it was stated
that when a county’s budget exceeds $1
million, there is need for the county
manager form.
Moore’s budget has reached this size
and beyond, and the way of government
has hardly changed since well before
World War 2. Yet its business has grown
to such an extent that it can no longer
be efficiently run by five part-time of
ficials (usually these days, only four)
meetings, once a month, with occasional
special meetings.
Citizens come before the board, hat in
hand, seeking service, and outside the
meetings the commissioners are constant
ly approached on a personal basis, so that
much of the time they can hardly get
their own work done. Inherently, a coun
ty commissioner is an amateur at govern-
Time For County Manager?
ment, who has his own living to make.
The sacrifice of time and the pressures
are so great it’s a wonder we can get
anyone good to serve at all.
Sometimes they face problems which
seem alrpost insurmountable, such as
those of up-to-date law enforcement, gar
bage disposal and school mergers which
have recently plagued our board. A
county manager would assemble pertin
ent information on such problems, and
their solutions, with recommendation—
or most often he would just follow policy
as set by the board in regular session,
letting no problem arise. He would in
most cases know what could or could not
be done and how much it would cost.
We believe it would be a healthy move
for the commissioners to study the possi
bility of a change, and it should be done
before changes are forced on them, as
could well happen. The new form, if and
when adopted, would start off best under
the board’s own auspices.
This situation was faced in Southern
Pines in 1953, when many citizens felt
the town had outgrown its old modified-
commissioner form of government. Four
of the five town board members, how
ever, resisted change and the issue be
come political (though not partisan).
Considerable bitterness was engendered
before the vote was held, ushering in the
council-manager form. After the initial
shakedown even the most rigid opponents
were for it, and it was never seriously
suggested that the town turn back the
clock. Once the bottleneck was thrown
off, the town entered on its period of
greatest progress.
We sincerely believe the commissioners
would be doing best for themselves and
the county if they were to look into the
county manager form, seek advice of the
League of Municipalities and their col
leagues of the State’s more progressive
counties, then if the change should be
indicated, themselves open up the way.
The preeminence of the Sandhills as a
spot for important people to relax and
play was well exemplified this weekend,
when three governors, a couple of for
mer governors and several others of simi
lar high levels vacationed here following
the rigors of the recent campaign.
Anybody who considers this an “old
folks’ resort,” should have had a look at
Governor Sanford’s golfing party, which
zestfully tasted the pleasures of the Mid
Pines and Country Club of North Car
olina courses during a four - day stay.
These included the brilliant young Gov
ernor Hoff of Vermont, only 40, whose
star is rising fast in the political world;
Governor Peabody of Massachusetts—a
lame duck at present but, at 44, far from
“washed up”—and former Governor
Fritz Hollings of South Carolina, hand
some, energetic, and young Governor
Sanford, too, while in the sunset of his
administration is still in his forties, with
most of his future undoubtedly still
ahead.
With these dashing, handsome and
amiable young men—as merry as a bunch
'HE SCARED THE WORLD'
TRB Has a Last Look at The Campaign
Happy Place
of collegians on a lark—were their ladies,
all charm, slim figures and good looks, a
new breed of “governor’s lady” even as
their husbands mark a new breed of
chief executive.
Also relaxing at Mid Pines were John
Bailey, the broadly smiling—and why
not?—national Democratic chairman, and
Frank Lausche, Pennsylvania’s former
governor and senator.
Any and all of these well merited the red
carpet treatment, but of course they came
to get away from all that, and the green
carpet which unrolled before them as
they golfed was more to their liking. We
are happy the Sandhills turned on its
loveliest fall weather for them. With the
emergence of the post-campaign vacation
as a fairly new, and probably nationwide,
phenomenon, it is likely we can look for
ward to more and more of such interest
ing, newsworthy and most welcome
guests.
Of course we realize that a large part
of our charm down here was that, if the
phone rang, it wasn’t for them. Governor-
Elect Dan Moore, we observe, vacationed
in Puerto Rico.
(Reprinted by permission otf
The New Republic)
The Wasted Year
Lyndon Johnson is the first
man in history to be elected for
defending the 20th Century. We
have a stake in him, and hope he
does well, and are going to watch
him sharply. Normally we feel
this is the Republicans’ job, but
there aren’t too many of them
left, and they are going to be
busy for awhile, anyway, moder
ates and Goldwaterites, blaming
each other. We think each of
them is right.
Why did moderates permit a
patently unsuitable man like
Barry to be nominated? He scar
ed the whole world. It was a
derelictiom of responsibility.
And why did even conservatives
of the truculent type think they
could elect a candidate whose
clock goes tock-tick? But it is
useless arguing with them.
Normally in America there are
two parties, a party of Hope, and
a party of Memory; a party of in
novation, and a party of conso
lation. And so in election year
the Future debates the Present.
But in this wasted year the Pres
ent debated the Past.
If there is one thing that the
campaign proved to us it is that
the old, motheaten Halloween
bogey of “government bigness”
doesn’t really scare Americans
anymore, if it ever did. You can
see the candle through the
pumpkin eyes too clearly. The
American economy isn’t going to
drop “Capitalism,” and it isn’t
going “Socialist;” it is going to be
a Mixed Economy, as it is now
and as most of the Western
world is. It will continue to judge
each proposal—whether TVA or
Medicare—on its merits, and not
by some scary (and often self-
serving) label or epithet. In fact,
we think the United States, by
and large and most of the time, is
mildly liberal — not enough so,
perhaps, to satisfy us, but basic-
ly progressive for all that. It
doesn’t want the clock shoved
ahead and it doesn’t want it
turned back; it does want the
hands of the clock to keep mov
ing forward.
Mr. Johnson, who is now Pres
ident in his own right, strikes us
as an intricate, complex figure;
many men wrapped in one, layer
on layer, like an onion. He is ob
sequious and imperious by turn,
sensitive, garrulous and gregari
ous. Sometimes he is hard to
take. He indulges in shameless
sentimentality and occasionally
rises, if we may say so, above
good taste. His mobile face and
manner make him look like a
kind of parody of the stage poli
tician with Foxy Grandpa eyes.
He is easy to denigrate and many
Republicans do, who are now
picking themselves up off the
ground.
Mr. Johnson is also, we think,
one of the supreme masters of
the terribly difficult art of par
liamentary control and consensus
achievement. And what is an
American political party any
way, but a collection of coalition
minorities hunting for a consen
sus? The President has a capac
ity for finding common ground
that is almost hypnotic. His ver
satility and repertoire are enor
mous. He can range from the
noisy, hyperfhyroid “y’all come
to the speakin’ ” appeal to out
door masses, to the solemn, low-
spoken earnestness of his final
TV talk to the nation before the
election, which we thought one of
the most effective political talks
we ever heard. Mr. Johnson, in
short, seems to us after long and
patient observation to have
many qualities of greatness, and
now it remains to be seen
whether he has greatness itself.
Liberal Senators
One good thing in the election
is how well the liberal Demo
cratic Senators of the class of
1958 and thereafter did. As point
ed out by the National Commit
tee for an Effective Congress, a
lot of them were opposed by
Goldwaterites. A year ago it was
widely asserted that the whole
batch was doomed. ^ Instead, in
the Johnson landslide, they are
mostly back again, starting sec-
on terms. They include men like
Burdick, North Dakota; Yarbor
ough, Texas; Moss, Utah; Mc
Gee, Wyoming; Hartke, Indiana;
and others. It is in the second six-
The Public
Speaking
TIME FOR PLANS
To the Editor
The coming of the next admin
istration in Raleigh and the con
vening of the new legislature
make the next several months
an excellent time for counties
and individual communities to
review plans and programs for
their future growth and progress.
Schools, roads, parks and rec
reation areas, new industries,
zoning, public service facilities
—these and many other subjects
will be affected by state policy
and by new legislation.
I hope that your newspaper
can encourage local discussion of
such matters so that we may
work together with desirable
goals in mind.
It is an honor to be going to
Raleigh as a State Senator for
Harnett, Hoke, Lee, Moore and
Randolph counties and I assure
you of my best efforts for prog
ress and good government.
Sincerely yours,
VOIT GILMORE
State Senator-elect
18th District.
Southern Pines
SHIP AHOY
To the Editor:
To paraphrase a certain well-
known United States Senator:
Sometimes I think this country
would be better off if we could
just saw off Alabama, Mississippi,
Louisiana, South Carolina, and
Georgia and let them float out
to sea.
Happily, my home precinct -
Pinedene - which also gave the
Senator a majority, does not
border on any large body of
water; otherwise, I’m certain
some kind soul would suggest a
similar fate for it, and for me.
Sincerely,
RUSSELL E. POWELL
year service that committee
seniority really starts. Give them
a few more years and they will
be a new power in the nation.
Classic Bungle
We don’t want to carp. But the
Goldwater campaign was, by all
odds, the classic example of bun
gled politics in our lifetime. The
press leaned backward, trying
not to be judged unfair to Re
publicans, so that many points in
the parade of errors went unem
phasized. But consider: Barry
praised brinkmanship to the
German periodical Der Spiegel
even before he was nominated;
hailed extremism in his accept
ance speech; picked as running-
mate unknown Representative
Miller, N. Y., who proved a dis
aster; demoted professionals in
favor of amateurs in the nation
al organization; began explain
ing and defending right from the
the start; denounced the Su
preme Court; attacked TVA in
Tennessee, pensions in Florida,
and the anti-poverty program in
Appalachia; welcomed aboard
that Jonah, Strom Thurmond;
took the clergy to task; and—
poor chap—even violated un
written canons of good sports
manship by delaying congratula
tions after he was defeated. This
was either a man who actually
courted defeat, or one with a tin
ear to the tacit consents , of
American politics.
And now President Johnson
has two years of power before
the next election. He will prob
ably enjoy more prestige end
freedom to initiate now than at
any other time in first or second
terms. Will he use it? Ike
wouldn’t. Will he reconsider
frozen policies toward Red
China, Vietnam, de Gaulle? Will
he push social amelioration
measures in Congress? This is it,
the now or never, the critical
time.
Note: Few people noticed that
one passage of the Warren Re
port showed that all those in
volved in the hate-advertise
ment, “Welcome, Mr. Kennedy”
that appeared in the Dallas
Morning News on the late Pres
ident’s arrival, were members of
the John Birch Society.
Grains of Sand
HISTORIC MILESTONE
The recent election was a mile
stone for education in North
Carolina. It was just four years
ago exactly that the election of
Terry Sanford ushered in an era
of unprecedented progress in Tar
Heel education.
The progress has been almost
staggering. Salaries have been in
creased, special schools have been
established, thousands of new
teachers have been added, the
future of higher education has
been charted, a community col
lege system has opened the d'oor
for thousands who might never
have had a chance.
All in four years.
Looking back, the phrase out
of one of the national party plat
forms seems appropriate:
“Let us continue.”
—GLENN KEEVER
(in North Carolina Education)
A Hot Race
It was a fine fair day and the
British fans were out in full
force. Standing at the rail of the
paddock were tw6 magestic fig
ures seldom lacking when there
was a big race on. One was the
Lord Chancellor of Britain and
the other no less a personage
than Scotland’s Duke of Argyle.
The Duke sported his kilts of the
hunting Campbell tartan.
The two portly gentlemen
standing there were casting a
keen eye on the horses being
walked about. Over in the cor
ner they spotted the favorite
and, standing beside his head,
his trainer, a character we’ll call
O’Connell. The sharp eyes of the
two fans focussed on the pair.
“My word!” said His Grace,
“what’s O’Connell up to?”
“Come on!” said his friend,
“We’d best get over there at
once.” And they strode fiercely
across the paddock.
“What’s this?” said' the Duke.
“O’ConneU, what are you feed
ing that horse? If you are doping
him—” and the Duke glared his
most ferocious glare.
“Ah, sure, now, your Grace,”
said O'Connell, “it’s not a thing
I am feeding him, just a bit of a
lemon drop to ease the dust out
of his throat. See?” and he held
out what certainly looked like a
lemon di'op. “He’s very fond of
lemon drops this horse is” said
O’Connell.
Still the two looked at him.
O’Connell reached into his pock
et and came out with a little box.
“And would you gentlemen have
one?” he said, and held out the
box. Solemnly each man, inclu
ding the trainer, took a lemon
drop and Their Graces thanked
O’Connell and strolled back to
their places by the fence, suck
ing on their sourballs, quite hap-
py-
Soon the bugle blew and
O’Connell, leading the favorite,
started for the gate where he was
joined by a friend.
“And is he going to run to
day?” asked the friend. “D’ye
think he has a good chance,
Mike?”
“Good chance is it!” said Mike
O’Connell, “Sure there won’t be
a thing on the track that can
beat this horse today.” He hesi
tated, “Only perhaps it might be
the Lord Chancellor and the
Duke of Argyle and myself would
be able to catch him.”
Murder, Anyone?
Clyde Council, Pilot advertis
ing man, had it -really rough
last week. And on his wedding
anniversary, too. And from his
wife (My goodness!)
There she was, working in the
kitchen to get everything ready
for the party that evening. And
Clyde was helping, just helping.
You know: with this and that.
All of a sudden she turns on
him with this crusher:
“Dear,” she says, “why don’t
you just run out in the yard and
play?”
Dr. Winklepoppins
One of the Trib’s many readers
sends them this pertinent mes
sage:
To The Herald-Tribune:
In my book, Barry Goldwater
is a combination of Dr. Strange-
love. Rip Van Winkle, and Mary
Poppins—quite a guy but some
how not my idea of what the
President of the United States
should be. (Signed) Minard
Hamilton.
How about substituting The
Mad Hatter for Miss Poppins?
Taxi Talk
Taxi-driver talk is generally
spicy, often funny, seldom pris
sy. So the McElvcires, riding
away from the movie “Tom
Jones,” which they had enjoyed
enormously, were tickled with
their taxi conversation.
To start with: the driver an
nounced he took in the new for
eign films, and had been to see
“Tom Jones.”
“How did you like it?” asked
the riders.
The driver shook his head. It
had good spots, he admitted but
“on the whole, I found it pretty
debaucherous.”
THE PILOT
Published Every Thursday by
THE PILOT, Incorporated
Southern Pines, North Carolina
1941—JAMES BOYD—1944
Katharine Boyd
C. Benedict
John C. Ray
C, G. Council
Bessie C. Smith
Mary Scott Newton
Gloria Fisher
Editor
Associate Editor
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