Page TWO
THE PILOT—Southern Pines, North Carolina
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 1965
Southern Pines
ILOT
North Carolina
“In taking over The Pilot no changes are contemplated. 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 public good we will try to do it. And we will
treat everybody alike.” — James Boyd, May 23, 1941.
A Matter for Community Pride
Southern Pines can be proud of its
generosity in giving blood at Tuesday’s
visit of the Red Cross bloodmobile to this
community.
The 152 donors who each gave a pint
of blood exceeded the quota for the visit
(though “quotas” don’t have too much
significance when a blood program is
lagging as it has been in Moore County)
and the number of pints given far ex
ceeded the number that has been custo
mary at visits here.
Red Cross and other blood program
officials have expressed their apprecia
tion to the many volunteers who helped
round up the donors and perform other
chores, including members of the Junior
Woman’s Club and the Does. The work
of Col. John Dibb, the new chairman of
the Mayor’s Committee to promote blood
collections here, was apparent in the
successful collection which was boosted
by a Psychological Warfare “sound truck”
from Fort Bragg, obtained through the
efforts of Colonel Dibb and manned by
military personnel and a local volunteer,
Harry Chatfield.
We hope that a large portion of the
donors were those persons who had
pledged to give, after a friend or relative
had received free Red Cross blood at one
of the county’s two hospitals. There has
been a general, county-wide and shock
ing failure of these persons to make good
on their pledges, for the past several
years. If the tide has turned and there
is wider assumption of responsibility by
members of this group, the community
has reason to be thankful.
The Town And ‘Outside’ Zoning
Southern Pines will do well, as propos
ed at the town council meeting last week,
to ask the General Assembly for a special
act that would give the town zoning
powers outside its city limits—zoning
that could be extended further out from
the limits than the one mile authorized
by the existing state-wide enabling act.
Moore County is now exempt from this
act, as it is from the county zoning act,
and the ending of these exemptions
should be also be sought, for benefit of
other towns in the coimty, and of its rural
areas, but we think the special powers
that would permit Southern Pines to
zone out further than one mile should
also be obtained. Under discussion is an
area that might run out from the town
as much as three miles in some directions.
The interest of Pinehurst in such zon
ing and its willingness to join with South
ern Pines in protecting the area between
the two towns, as well as all the area
around Pinehurst, became apparent
when the matter came up in last week’s
town council meeting here. Such coopera
tion with Pinehurst would be most ad
visable, it seems to us.
The county commissioners have recog
nized the importance of zoning to protect
the area of Sandhills Community Col
lege and, several months ago, indicated
their intention to seek authority to ac
complish this and other county zoning
goals. The proposal discussed by the town
council last week also would seek power
to zone out far enough to include the col
lege area and the airport, and to take in
the territory as far as the Fort Bragg
reservation line on the east side of town.
While we think the county should
seek the zoning power it does not now
have, we like the plan for Southern Pines,
as a town, to be able to control develop
ment of all the area between the town
and the college, as there is certain to be
extensive development in this area. The
new plan whereby the college will run
a sewer line through this area, to link
up with the town’s system and disposal
plant, would be another reason why the
town would do well to have zoning power
in the section between the town and the
college.
The understanding of property owners,
in the wide area that would be affected
around Southern Pines, is essential. Such
property owners would have representa
tion in establishing zoning regulations
which, everywhere, require public hear
ings and otherwise provide for democra
tic procedures.
The fact that the town council well
understands the special needs and inter
ests of the Southern Pines area reinforces
the plan to put the zoning power in the
hands of the town, rather than the coun
ty. The same thought would apply, of
course, to whatever part Pinehurst might
have in the new zoning proposal.
Bad Housing: Whose Responsibility?
A proposal that Southern Pines make
application for federally backed low-rent
housing has stimulated thought on hous
ing problems here, including speculation
on what the town can do to help itself,
with or without a federal project.
As stated previously. The Pilot would
like to see more private builders become
interested in construction of low-cost
housing for rent or sale, believing that
this field has been too hastily rejected
by builders and that it offers more pro
mise of success than might appear.
Various actions and attitudes in other
communities are noted. At Fayetteville,
the Jaycees according to their news bul
letin “are concerned with the large num
ber of long-vacant, deteriorating houses.”
A realtor gave them a house, “now be
yond repair,” to tear down for publicity
purposes in dramatizing their contention.
At Hamlet, recently, the town board
authorized the fire chief to ask the state
fire marshal’s office to send an inspector
to check the “shacks” in a slum area.
“It just scares me to death to see those
flimsy buildings,” said one of the town
commissioners.
The Hamlet board discussed condemn
ing the houses and then questioned where
the people living in them would go. The
only answer reported is a news story
about the meeting was the suggestion
that “some one interested in a long-term
investment could build low-rent housing
to help solve this problem.”
What the Hamlet board will probably
discover, as it has been learned in many
other communities, is that the federal
govermnent is likely to be the only
“some one” to step forward.
Yet, in boring into this problem on
their own initiative, the Hamlet commis
sioners are on the right track, just as the
Jaycees at Fayetteville, where there is
extensive public housing, are right in
wanting to rid the commxmity of hope
lessly dilapidated buildings, simply as a
matter or pride.
Sub-standard dwellings, in any com
munity, belong to somebody. And the
question that arises in the observer’s
mind—especially after learning that two
men recently froze to death in houses
in this immediate area—is how far town
and coimty government should go in re
gulating the condition of structures in
which human beings attempt to live.
Our feeling is that regulation should
be much more extensive than it is.
Crains of Sand
‘sV.-..*
WHAT KIND OF WORLJD ARE WE BUILDING?
Natural Resources Must Be Guarded
Far too much of the sub-standard hous
ing is owned by landlords who perform
only a minimum of maintenance— and
sometimes not even that. As to persons
who own their own homes and make no
attempt to keep them livable—to the
hazard of their family’s health and so,
the health of others—we see no reason
why they cannot be forced to maintain
certain standards, if they can be forced
to pay taxes, and otherwise meet their
obligations to society.
If low-rent public housing were built
in Southern Pines, or eleswhere, it would
presumably draw off from these sub
standard dwellings a certain number of
residents. And then the Jaycees could
tear the houses down.
But our point is this: that eventuality
is not the only answer. Town boards and
the county commissioners would do well
to examine their responsibilities in this
matter, whether or not government pub
lic housing enters the picture.
Senate Changes Tune
It is most gratifying to the press of
North Carolina — and is or should be
gratifying to all citizens of the state —
that the Senate in Raleigh made one of
its first actions, after convening, the
amending of a 1963 rule that barred its
floor to the press and other news media.
We have a notion that the level head
and open mind of Lt. Gov. and Senate
President Bob Scott was not uninfluential
in the Senate’s taking this action. This
bodes well for the coming session which
appears likely to be free of the high
handed, slam-bang leadership of the 1963
Senate President Clarence Stone.
After the 1963 session, it become ap
parent that there was a relationship of
spirit between the public-be-damned at
titude reflected in the press ban and in
such a legislative debacle as the so-called
Speaker Ban Law which was bulldozed
through in the final hours of the General
Assembly without proper debate and
with no opportunity offered for the pub
lic (not even for University officials) to
make their opinions known.
Admitting the press to the floor of the
Senate points the way, we hope, to a
more liberal, rational attitude on the
part of the Senate, generally, in 1965.
Interest in conservation of
natural resources and the
preservation of areas of nat
ural beauty is rising over
North Carolina and over the
nation. An eloquent express-
sion of this concern is the
following article, taken in
part from the "Manual of
Outdoor Conservation Educa
tion," a publication of the
National Audubon Society.
The avfhor is Dr. J. J. Sho-
mon, director of the Society's
Nature Centers Division.
In our swift exploitation of na
ture’s resources, including now
the atom, thoughtful Americans
might well pause for a moment
and ponder the all-important
question: What kind of a world
of the future are we building?
There is some feeling today that
those in the scientific, education
al and professional resource
fields have a very special re
sponsibility here—a responsibility
that involves something more
than technical competence.
In America we are enjoying
the highest living standard of any
nation on earth. No country
rivals us in creature comforts and
conveniences. We have more
homes, radios, television sets,
cars, highways, supermarkets
and gadgets than any other peo
ple. As a result of all this af
fluence, there has been a tend
ency to believe that we are the
best in everything. But times
have changed. Now many per
ceptive people are beginning to
question our superiority and
supremacy in many fields.
How well have we as a nation,
for instance, adjusted our way of
life to the living things of the
earth that feed and clothe us? To
what extent have we safe-guard
ed our fundamental natural re
source base, the source of our
economic strength and spiritual
vigor? A very brief look at the
record will tell us.
Neglect of Soil
First of all, the total soil re
source picture in this country re
mains disconcerting, in spite of
much soil conservation progress
and what seems to be a tempor
ary problem of over-production.
Because of neglect we are losing
each year to erosion by water and
wind many million tons of nu
trient-bearing topsoil, and much
subsoil. In addition, we are mud
dying our nation’s streams and
rivers, and silting our reservoirs,
riverbeds, deltas, bays.
On our water front we are
making notable progress, yet we
face serious water shortages in
many areas of the country.
Our water problems are vast,
and revolve around those of
quantity, quality, distribution
and proper water use responsibil
ity. Each day in this country we
make use of more than 200 billion
gallons of fresh water. This is
roughly some 1,200 gallons per
person per day. This is equal to
about one-eighth of the total
yield of our nation’s rivers and
underground water sources. By
the year 2000 our water needs are
expected to rise three-fold. Mean
while, each hour we continue
to pour raw sewage and indus
trial wastes into our nation’s
watercourses, endangering hu
man health, weakening or killing
plant and animal life. So serious
is the problem that many of our
once most notable rivers are now
nothing more than open sewers.
The forest supply of the nation,
while more adequate than the
supply of some of the other nat
ural resources, is far from what
it should be. After more than 50
years of scientific forest manage
ment, we continue a heavy drain
on our better saw-timber. What’s
more, we bum too many forest
acres, each year, continue to mis
manage forests, particularly
small private woodlands, and
lose vast forest acreages to in
sects and disease.
Dwindling Wildlife
'The situation concerning our
wildlife resources is not encour
aging from several standpoints,
except for a number of species
such as deer and antelope. Dur
ing the past two centuries Amer
ica has lost to extinction 20
species of wild mammals and
birds. Another 57 species of wild
birds and mammals have been
dangerously depleted; so have 15
species of important fishes. Over-
exploitation of animal numbers
and destruction of food and cover
are the main reasons for the
dwindling wildlife supply.
As far as our mineral resources
are concerned, these, too, are
rapidly being depleted, endanger
ing our very survival. According
to the President’s Materials Pol
icy Commission report, which
many regard as a sound midcen
tury appraisal of resources, our
nation’s reserves in fossil fuels
and in iron and other metals
have reached a dangerously low
level.
Today it is becoming increas
ingly clear that as a people we
need spiritual vigor as well as
physical vitality. We are begin
ning to see that man cannot live
by bread and gadgets alone. His
body may yearn for satisfaction
of certain biological needs and
comforts, but when these are
satisfied, momentarily, and the
mind is free for the reasoning
and creative promess, there re
mains something else. There is
still the eternal search for spirit
ual achievement, peace of soul.
Man needs the esthetic in life
to feed his being or he is soon
dead. He needs the beauty of
lands and waters, to have his
heart stirred by wild creatures
and wild places. He needs the
exhilaration of fresh air in his
nostrils, the clear vision of un
spoiled wilderness lands before
him. Man’s need for a sense of
balance and order and for things
in their proper places in the en
vironment constitutes one of the
strongest reasons for conserva
tion.
More Brains, Less Brawn
Within a few short generations
we in America have changed our
way of life appreciably. Our fore
bears largely used their hands
and muscles to make a living.
Today most earn their liveli
hood with their brains aided by
push buttons and computers di
rected from swivel chairs, only
to come home to a night of pas
sive entertainment and physical
inactivity. No wonder the Amer
ican people are consuming, ac
cording to a Congressional sub
committee report, some $280 mil
lion worth of tranquilizers each
year.
Juvenile delinquency is an in
creasingly serious problem. The
nation’s crime rate is up four
times that of the rate of popula
tion growth.
One of the more difficult prob
lems we face today is the resolu
tion of conflicting uses of natur
al resources. Can necessary ex
ploitation of resources co-exist
with preservation of some natural
areas? Must all areas yield to
crass commercialism? Just as
there are essential values in hav
ing steel and paper mills, are
there not also essential values in
having natural lands or semi
wild areas?
Conflict of Interests
The present fight over bill
board advertisement on the in
terstate highways system is one
example of this conflict of in
terests. Another example is the
struggle for open space and wild
erness preservation. Another is
the current fight to preserve the
remaining redwood stands in
California. Still another is the
intense competition that is de
veloping over the uses of water
and water areas.
The conservation problem that
we face is largely one of human
resources, or social resources, and
not so much one of natural re
sources management. It is a prob
lem of human resolution rather
than one of mere economics or
manpower. Somehow we must
want to do more as a people than
we are doing now. The science
and technology to raise our na
tion to a high and sustained nat
ural resources level are available
to us. So are the means. Lacking
seems to be the motivation. Here
is where the emergence of a per
vasive ecological conscience
within the American people can
provide the motivating force that
is needed to get the conservation
job done.
Nobler Purpose
To talk of an outdoor philoso
phy may appear to some as use
less sentimentality. But the ques
tion arises, is sentiment as pow
erless as it may seem to guide a
nation toward a nobler purpose?
Modern conservation, to many,
demands something more than
money and men. It demands an
appreciation for intangibles. It
demands a special feeling for the
earth, for beauty and order and
for all things that share life with
us. The late Aldo Leopold had
this in mind when he talked
about a land ethic. Dr. Albert
Schweitzer, in his philosophy,
speaks of reverence for life and
compassion for all living things.
Joseph Wood Krutch also makes
the observation that witiiout sen
timentality conservation alone is
hardly enough.
Inside General 'Assembly
State Senator Voit Gilmore of
Southern Pines has seat No. 27
in the Senate Chamber at Ra
leigh.
Moore County Rep. T. Clyde
Auman of West End has seat No.
90 in the House Chamber.
Seats in the Senate are placed
in three concentric semi-circles^—
somewhat longer than semi
circles, really, extending about
two thirds of the way toward
what would be a full circle, with
the Senate President’s rostrum
facing the open end of the circle.
There are 50 senators (49 Demo
crats and one Republican) and 52
seats, leaving two seats vacant at
the left, forward, corner of the
chamber.
In the House, on the other
hand, seats are placed on the
square in a rectangular arrange
ment—six rows of 10 double
desks, a total of 120 seats. They
are arranged in three rows on
each side of a wide center aisle.
'There are 120 members of the
House (106 Democrats and 14 Re
publicans), but seat No. 120, in
the extreme back right comer of
the chamber, is empty. Why? Be
cause Rep. H. P. Taylor, Jr., of
Anson County is Speaker of the
House and sits up front, facing
the others, where Moore County’s
H. Clifton Blue was stationed
two years ago.
Persons visiting the House and
Senate can spot the two Moore
County legislators, as follows:
Senator Gilmore’s seat No. 27,
is third from the front in the
farthest outside ring of desks, at
the extreme right, as you stand
in the back of the chamber, look
ing toward the front, that is, to
ward Lt. Gov. Robert Scott, the
president of the Senate and pre
siding officer.
Rep. Auman’s desk No. 90 di
rectly adjoins the wide center
aisle, on the left, in the third
row of desks from the back of
the chamber.
'The 18th District’s (Moore, Lee,
Harnett, Hoke and Randolph
Counties) other senator, Robert
Morgan of Lillington in Harnett
County, is president pro tern of
the Senate and has seat No 2,
which is the second from the
front, in the inner circle, on the
the right, viewed from the back
of the chamber.
The foregoing information is
not gleaned from an on-the-spot
study of the matter, we are forced
in all honesty to confess, but
from a brochure compiled .and
issued by the amazing Mr. Thad
Eure, Secretary of State, who
likes nothing better than to mar
shal a lot of complicated infor
mation into an orderly, useful
presentation.
Along with the brochure, Mr.
Eure compiled a fact sheet that
gives something of the history
of the General Assembly (this is
the 126th to be convened) the
oldest member (75), youngest
member (29), duplication of
names (two in the Senate are du
plicated and 11 in the House)
and other information, such as
the fact that there are six women
in the 1965 General Assembly—
five in the House and one in the
Senate. This, Mr. Eure notes, is a
record.
Gilmore Column
This week marks publication
in The Pilot of the second “Ra
leigh Report” column written for
us (and for other newspapers of
the 18th District) by Senator Gil
more.
A feature we like about the
column is that the senator, in
commenting on some of the is
sues coming up in the 1965 Gen
eral Assembly, invites readers to
submit their opinions on propos
ed legislation or on other matters
pertinent to the 1965 session.
Too often, citizens sit back and
complain about “politicians”
without lifting a finger to niake
their opinions known to legisla
tors and thereby help guide the
lawmakers’ thinking. The Sena
tor is giving everybody a chance
to speak up.
THE PILOT
Published Every Thursday by
THE PILOT, Incorporafed
Southern Pines, North Carolina
1941-JAMES BOYD—1944
Katharine Boyd Editor
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