EDITORIALS, FEATURES . . .
of orange county
THE NEWS—THURSDAY, MARCH 7, 1963 SEC. II, PAGE 1
It's unfair to take
this from the localities
'■
A bill dropped in the hopper of the North Caro
lina General Assembly last week would repeal the in
tangibles tax on money on deposit in banks and on
hand. ■ . /
This would take away about $3 million a year that
is now rebated to the counties and towns from which
the intangible funds come. The North Carolina Asso
ciation of County Commissioners scores some good
points in protesting the proposal.
„„It would seem proper that the legislator sponsor
ing the bill, Sen. Irwin Belk of Charlotte, consult first
with the county commissioners or the municipalities.
They are the ones that will suffer — not the State of
North Carolina, which will this year have a biennial
surplus in excess of $100 million.
Save paper work . . .
Only aparent reason for the proposed repealer is
that it would save the banks a lot of paper work, and
eliminate a modest tax that has not worked a hardship
on any particular group of citizens.
The expenses of local'governments are constantly
increasing, while their sources of revenue are being held
static because of the natural priorities of the state and
national governments. No alternative is proposed to re
place the intangibles revenue.- It certainly is not fair in
------ light of this to dry up- a- legitimate-and fong-esta’disbed
• lofcal governmental* revenue source.
Due process of law is
Praise to the fates of justice, a significant bit of
progress has been made toward final resolution Of the
.30-months old anti-fluoridation lawsuit against the Un
iversity at Chapel Hill.
The University’s long-a’borning motion for a de
murrer in the suit has been heard and upheld in Or
ange County Superior Court. Naturally a notice of ap
peal from Judge Hamilton Hobgood’s finding was en
tered by the attorney for complainant Manning A. Si
mons. • .
The court gave Mr. Simons’ a1 maximum of 90 days
to perfect his appeal and file it in writing. The attorn
ey commented on this, noting that by the time this
90-day deadline had expired, the filing period for this
sipring’s term of the N. C. Supreme Court would have
passed, thus it would be next fall, at die earlie-t before
his appeal could be heard in the Supreme Court.
Point favors Simons ...
It is more apparent now than ever from the attor
ney’s bald faced admission that there is one key {joint
in the favor of Mr. Simons in this whole controversy,
and that is: DELAY.
The 90 days allowed for perfecting of Mr. Simons’
appeal is not a necessary 90 days, but a maximum length
©je jftetos of ©range Count?
Published F.rery Thursday By
THE NEWS INCORPORATED
Hillsboro, N. C. Chspol Hill, N. C.
Box 647 Box 749
Telephone 968-4444, Chapel Hill; 4101 Hillsboro ..
Entered as Second Class Matter at the Post Office at
Hillsboro, North Carolina, under the Act of
March $, 1879
EDWIN J. HAMLIN ....Publisher
ROLAND GIDUZ ..... Editor
Hillsboro Office -—-N. Churton St
Chapel Hill OffW --811 B. Main St, Carr boro
SUBSCRIPTION RATES <2JO. mm
$175. six mo. (IPsMe N. C.); S3.00. m *ar, outside N. C
Two miles daily would do!
^mmmmm-Wa“ fartymMzt, torn gazette * Daily
of time. It is to Mr. Simons’ interest to delay, so delay
he will. He does not even need to be concerned with
the merits of his appeal so long as the court allows him
such ample and convenient time for delay, By simply
waiting until the Supreme Court’s filing deadline,
Which is within his Orange County Court-allotted ap
peal deadline, he can gain about six months more delay.
May be legal, but ...
All of this is, of course, legal. But it obviously is
not the intent of the court to set up rules which will
prolong die thwartimr of the public interest and the
public health, as it is being so openly and crassly thwart
ed in this instance.
The laudable purpose of due process of law, in this
case, has been corrupted by an excess of personal priv
ilege
Not*: Your own views on tho opinions expressed above are
invited, tf you agree, disagree, or have some additional iniight
on this matter you are invited .to give the public the benefit ot
vour thinking in a "letter to the editor." Please limit these to
300 words.
Nothing can be gained
in a rear-guard battle
• It is certainly understandable why the patrons of
Aycook. and Caldwell schools in northern Orange Coun
ty oppose the consolidation of these units into the new
Orange junior and senior high schools.
Their - local community schools have been good ed
ucational institutions. The schools are *an important
part of their community life. These are organizations
in. which they take a great deal of commendable pride.
It is much more convenient, too, if the schools are left
where they are, rather than being closed down for the
new set-ups in Hillsboro.
But at the same time, all parents, pupils, and all
citizens of Orange County must remember that the in
terests of the best possible education for the children of
this space, age is the paramount issue — and is a far, far
more important matter of cencern than pride, retro
spect, and individual convenience.
Gain from discussion . . .
There is much to be gained by a discussion of how
to best bring about and carry on the schools under the
pending consolidation. There is nothing to be gained
and much to be lost in a rear-guard battle against it.
In this week postponing a decision on the final con
solidation, the County Board seems to realize this. Soon
er or later — and it will be better, if sooner — all of the
people concerned should realize it, too.
Education cannot be
given |o the children
Thanks to Gov. Sanford for his much-needed fill
ing in of a blank spot in the quality education picture
by his speech to school children h£re last week.
The ^Governor has led the way to provide improv
ed school facilities, a better curriculum, and better pay
for school teachers. Chapel Hill parents, too have been
in the forefront of this movement on the local scene.
(Editorials Continued on Page mj
Newwn*» Notepad
Again you see
officer's life
not 'appy lot
Time and again, in viewing
the many built-in pitfalls of the
life of a law enforcement offi
cer, The Newsman is reminded
of the well - known Gilbert and
Sullivan line that “A policeman’s
life is not an ’appy lot.”
Take now-the-lawsuit brought
against the Town of Chapel Hill
and two of its policemen this
past weekend over a post - foot
ball game riot last fall. The po
licemen pitched the UNC stud
ent - complainant over a wire
fence around' the Kenan Stadium
playing field, according to the
$10,000 lawsuit. The aggrieved
student pleads to the court that
in the resulting fall his jaw was
broken, he was hospitalized, and .
has suffered permanent injuries.
The allegations put the police
in an unfavorable public light
now, a number of months after
the incident that occurred last
Sept. 22.
Can't challenge .
Not having been a witness to
the incident, this reporter can
not from first - hand knowledge
challenge its truth. But there
was quite another version of
what happened, according to of
ficial reports given immediate
ly afterwards. — «
The fact is that the aggriev
ed student was first restrain
ed as he had his arm drawn
back and was preparing to
strike from behind one of the
policemen he's now suing.
He was reported fey witnesses
to Jiave been in “a very intoxi
cated condition” and to have
sustained the jaw injury before
he was ever taken into police
custody. And finally, when
"pitched” or “placed" over the
fence (about 30 inehes high at
that time) he landed on his
feet, according to official re
ports, then stumbled and fell
forward onto the ground, rath
er than into a set of bleachers,
as alleged. . _
The outgrowth of this is a
$10,000 lawsuit — for which the
Town of Chapel Hill is insured.
But the police patrolmen—mcd
estly-paid public servants, .find
that for their own "protection
they have to hire their owji at
torney privately; all of this as
a consequence of doing what
they felt was simply their hired
duty to maintain order and
break up a riot.
Trade on Dixie Classic
From darkest Raleigh:
The talk around the hack cor
ridors of darkest Raleigh nowa
days is that the pressure for
restoration of the Dixie Classic
basketball tournament will be
put on during this session of
the General 'Assembly.
The pressure putters purport
edly would press via legislators
swapping certain things the Un
iversity wants very badly in re
turn for a renewal of the Clas
sic by the University adminis- "
tration. The University wants
much higher appropriations, a
fully - financed student union
library building at Chapel Hill,
and statutory definition, among
its major requests.
All of this seems logically
available as desired, insofar
as resources and reasons go.
But they still require a cer
tain number of votes.
If certain key Assemblymen
who are interested in getting
back the Dixie Classic wanted
(See NOTEPAD, next pageJ