NATIONAL NEWSPAPER
Qmo&ho,
PRESS
f?"" TmM IT
ASSOCIATION
Published t>en Thundi) al Raeford. N.C. 28376
1 19 W. Elwood Avenue
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PALL DICKSON
Publisher ? Editor
SAMC. MORRIS
General Manager
MRS. PAUL DICKSON
Society Editor
MARTY VEGA
Reporter
SUZANNE APLIN
Reporter
Second Class Postage at Raeford, N.C.
THURSDAY, MARCH 24, 1977
Good move on Teamsters' fund
The grizzled union man in the Alabama unemployment office was
not only bitter about being out of a job. He was bitter because he had
heard the day's news about alleged misuse of Teamsters Union
pension funds and he was worried that his own pension might not be
safe.
That was two years ago during one of the recurring waves of such
allegations. Now, under government pressure, the union is taking
welcome steps to ease doubts by placing control of pension
investments in the hands of outside managers.
The case dramatizes the need for all union pension funds to be
managed not only in the interest of the members but in the interest
of the country. For the $1.5 billion or so in the Teamsters' fund is a
relatively small part of the huge and growing total of union welfare
investments. Some indication is given by one expert estimate, called
exaggerated by the unions, that they already own a third of the stock
in America's publicly owned companies.
Clearly such funds must be well and honestly administered, as the
great majority of them are. As they become even bigger, it becomes
increasingly urgent that their weight not be swung to union power
maneuvers or socially destructive investments such as gambling
enterprises or loans to the underworld.
The investigation of the Teamsters' fund provides a salutary
warning. By agreeing to Labor Department and Internal Revenue
Service demands, the fund avoids a lawsuit and regains its
tax-exempt status. A symbolically vivid part of the package is the
resignation from fund trusteeship by four long - timers including
Teamsters Union president Frank Fitzsimmons, who last year
bluntly defied union reformers.
Congress will be watching to see if the Teamsters carry out the
agreement in a satisfactory way. The Labor Department properly
has not waived its right to go to court if it has a case against any
illegal activity.
Through careful government scrutiny, and rigorous self-policing
by all unions, the billions in union welfare funds will be a growing
asset for the nation as well as the union worker. -- Christian Science
Monitor
Boys will be boys
While we were otherwise engaged, the Boy Scouts of America sent
us a "Memo to Editors," advising us that the organization wishes to
be known from now on as Scouting/USA.
Generally, we take the position that people or organizations are
entitled to be called whatever they want to be called. In this instance,
we wish the organization had consulted us first. One purpose of the
change, national headquarters in New Brunswick, N.J., explains, is
to eliminate confusion about identity of the organization. We, who
weren't confused before, are confused now.
For the new nomenclature is, we are told, to be a "communicative
name." Legally, the 67 - year ? old organization will continue to be
called the Boy Scouts of America.
In its memo, the national office explains another purpose: "The
word 'boy' is objectionable to minorities, our young adult (male and
female) leaders and naturally to the young women enrolled in our
coed Exploring program."
Well, now, an adult black male does not want to be called "boy,"
with its racist connotations, and shouldn't be, but a boy of any color
is a boy. It's not a dirty word. We note that the Girl Scouts of
America not only intend to keep their name but tried, to avoid
confusion of another kind, to persuade the Boy Scouts of America to
keep theirs. They don't mind being called girls. That's what they
are.
So we're sending a public memo back to the Boy Scouts of
America. Whoever dreamed up this field trip into the thickets of
confusion wins no merit badge from us. Take another look at your
compass, and turn back. boys. -The Philadelphia Bulletin
Enforce 55-mile limit
Just about everybody concedes the 55 miles per hour speed limit,
passed in the wake of the Arab oil embargo three years ago, has
saved some lives and some gasoline. Just how many and how much is
in dispute.
What is no longer in dispute is that Americans are beginning to
ignore the limit. We're creeping back to pre-embargo rates of speed.
And while studies show we're still driving somewhat slower than
before, anyone who takes to a superhighway and leaves the
speedometer needle at 55 will wonder who else is obeying the legal,
posted limit.
This is a real pity.
The 55-miles an hour limit is a lifesaver. In 1973, 55,0%
Americans, enough to people a fair sized city, died in highway
accidents. In 1974, after the lowered limit, 46,049 Americans died:
True, some of this was due to fewer miles driven and new patterns of
travel. But three respected studies cited recently by the Comptroller
General of the United States say that between 3,000 and 4,500 of
these lives were saved by the lower speed limit itself. So were between
70,000 and 100.000 serious injuries.
Add the undisputed potential to make massive savings in fuel
imports ? at a personal savings to drivers ? and you have a
compelling case for the 55-mph speed limit.
How do we convince Americans of this? The vast safety and
bureaucratic and automobile lobbies in the United States can help
present the clear evidence. The Comptroller General's recent study is
a good first step.
But ultimately, enforcement is the answer. -The Sunday Bulletin
[Philadelphia]
Here they come . . . give them a blast
of cheese on dark rye*
/'
by Marty Vega
That Other Writer
Ill Winds of March... On the
front page of this newspaper a
writer whose column appears in the
extreme left of the page has given
an account of how he lunched on
St. Patrick's Day. Why he chose
this topic I can't say. and it does
seem inappropriate. After all. it is
last week's news, isn't it?
Although this column is being
written before this writer has had a
chance to read over what this
certain other writer has written,
this writer has a suspicion that the
front-page writer may be painting a
picture and this has made two
individuals in this office uneasy.
Writers should stick to writing
and leave painting to the painters,
no? Particularly if the painting
should convey to the public that
two members of this newspaper s
staff are rather odd. or behave
strangely, or whose choice of
restaurants is difficult to compre
hend. even bizarre.
It doesn't matter a nit just who
these two individuals are who were
written about. The reader needn't
give it a thought. It might do
irreparable harm to these individu
Puppy Creek
Philosopher
Dear editor:
According to an article 1 read
last night in a copy of the News and
Observer which I'd been saving to
start a fire with in my fireplace, you
know, everybody has his favorite
newspaper, some like the News and
Observer, some like the Faxetteville
Observer, but I'm neutral. I've
found both are first rate for starting
a fire and neither is any good if the
kindling is wet. anyway, to get on
with this sentence, according to the
article 1 read Congress is consider
ing a proposal to require people to
insulate their homes.
The purpose is to get a more
efficient use of energy, to make us
efficient whether it's our nature or
not. There are going to be some
problems.
For instance. I know a man who
said he tried to insulate his house
but the wind kept blowing the stuff
out through the cracks in the walls.
Another man said insulation
saves energy all right and the
argument by the government that
insulation will save enough fuel to
pay for itself may be true, but his
house is insulated from top to
bottom and he still can't pay his
fuel bill.
Obviously, homes ought to be
insulated, but Congress is going to
run into some big problems when it
sets out to make everybody do it.
What it's going to cost to set up the
National Insulation Bureau (NIB)
and hire enough people to see that
everybody complies, may cost more
than the insulation itself, although
that won't matter because tax
money, unlike energy, is inex
haustible. It'll make good news,
too. I can see the headline now in
The News-Journal MAN NEAR
RAEFORD CAUGHT LIVING IN
AN UN-INSULATED HOUSE.
It's hard to legislate efficiency,
just as it's hard to legislate moral
ity. In fact, you can't legislate
morality among men. although
immoral men can legislate.
Nonetheless, if we can get every
home in the nation insulated we'll
be on a par with Congress. It's been
insulated for years.
Yours faithfully.
J. A.
als to become objects of ridicule.
Like they might have nervous
breakdowns and have to be put
away. It's not nice to make fun of
people in a crazyhouse. They
deserve compassion.
This writer personally knows the
two and am familiar with the
details of the incident. But I have
made a promise not to speak of it to
spare feelings. That's only right.
More On The Cow... For more
than two weeks we have had a
raging controversy here (all of our
controversies are the raging kind)
over the correct naming of a cow.
We thought we had it settled but
now new evidence has been intro
duced. The editors of Oui maga
zine don't agree on Bossie. On page
six of the February issue, under the
Reader's Mail section, a letter
concerning the impregnation of a
cow ran under the heading 'Let's
ask Bessie'.
So we're back where we started,
unless we can successfully shift the
controversy out of the N-J ofFice
and into the Oui office.
(If you want to know about the
impregnation of the cow. read the
magazine. If you want to know
what we were doing with the
magazine, none of your business.)
Serious Stuff. . . To Marty Jones of
Dundarrach. who is said to have
been muttering that his wife Becky
and the rest of us don't do anything
all day but sit around and tell
jokes, it's not so! We talk about
serious stuff a lot. Just last week
Becky came up with an idea for a
complete revision of the tax laws.
The idea was to do away with all
deductions, exemptions, credits,
etc.. and just tax everyone a flat 10
percent of their income. The rich
would have to pay their share and it
would end all of the unfairness
about the current tax structures.
Everyone would pay the same rate
and nobody would have any cause
to complain.
And just to prove that Becky is
not going to go back to her old
joke-telling ways, next week she is
going to come up with a plan for
corporate taxes. Marty. So there.
A recent issue of the Washington
Post contained a very brief story
which carried the astounding news
that the United States is being
given some foreign aid. Hearing of
the winter's bitter cold, citizens of
West Berlin have contributed
$575,000 to help individuals, es
pecially the poor and the old. most
severely hurt by the weather Ameri
ca has suffered.
As the West Berliners put it
when they turned the check over to
the Red Cross, this was a return on
the generosity America showed
them after World War II.
Then, a few pages farther on in
the same newspaper, there ap
peared a guest editorial proposing
we give aid to North Vietnam to
repair the damages of war.
Together, the two articles pose a
question very forcefully. Should
American generosity again come to
the fore - and could we. years from
now. have as good a friend in North
Vietnam as we have now in West
Berlin?
I don't think so. There are
significant differences between the
German situation after World War
II. and Vietnam now.
The American response to Ger
many's plight is legend, and de
serves to be. Such generosity to a
vanquished enemy is surely without
parallel in the history of the world.
That effort paid off. *By acting as
we did. we helped put the axe at the
root of war in Europe for a long
time, and made allies of hated
enemies.
But there are many differences
between that situation and Viet
nam.
Report
To The
People
by Senator Robert Morgan
In Germany after the war. the
people themselves recoiled at the
revealed horrors wrought by their
government, and were ready to
repudiate everything it stood for. In
West Germany there was a willing
ness to build a democratic political
system. Vietnam promises to re
main a willing adversary of what we
stand for.
Germany was beaten. But Hanoi
controls North and South Vietnam,
and we do not hear pleas for help,
but demands for "reparations."
Reconstruction aid in this case
seems to me to be out of the
question.
A separate issue is our ability to
deal with the Hanoi government on
matters of trade and diplomacy. At
this writing, a delegation headed by
Leonard Woodcock is in Vietnam,
to see if there is any possibility of
establising relations. We want
information on our soldiers missing 9
in action. Hanoi is said to want
information our oil companies have
as to possible petroleum deposits in
the South.
But here again, there seems little
room for negotiation. The North
Vietnamese have repeatedly used
the MIA question as a bargaining
chip, and have always reneged on
their promise to reveal the informa
tion we want.
America has shown herself to be
generous, and willing to negotiate
wherever possible. But in this case,
there seems to be little promise our
generosity or our trust would be
well placed. This time, we had
better proceed with a skepticism
sadly appropriate to the case.
CLIFF BLUE . . . iT
People & Issues j
JUDGES -- Editor Sam Ragan of
the Southern Pines Pilot questions
the proposal being made by the
North Carolina Bar Association
and the N.C. JudiciL Council to
abolish the election by the people of
our judges from the district courts
to the State Supreme Court. Editor
Ragan closes his commentary by
saying: "Are legislators willing to
tell the people they don't have
enough sense to select their own
judges."
JOHN INGRAM ? With mem
bers of the insurance industry in
North Carolina in the vanguard of
the fight to defeat John Ingram as
State Insurance Commissioner last
year, Ingram won a big victory in
the primary and was third high
man among the Council of State
members in the general election
November 6.
Now efforts are being made to
"de-horn" Commissioner Ingram
in the General Assembly. Some
want to strip him of his rate - ruling
authority. We have observed efforts
of this nature in the past and as a
general thing they backfire against
those pushing the movement.
Should the efforts succeed don't
be surprised to see "Big John"
catapult into a major candidate for
governor come primary time 1980.
The people have spoken pretty loud
and clear in behalf of "Big John,"
who has demonstrated his interest
in reasonable rates for "the
Browsing in the files
of The News-Journal
25 years ago
Thursday, March 20, 1952
At a recent meeting the town
commissioners transferred some
property from the Town of Raeford
to the Board of Education of Hoke
County. The land in question,
located almost directly behind the
Raeford Methodist Church, was
given to the town by the late J.W.
McLauchlin and his wife to be used
as a park and playground.
* * *
The newly organized Jaycees
began their improvment program
last week by preparing two of the
parkways in the North end of Main
Street.
* * ?
From Poole's Medley:
Plowmen used to storm at their
Clow stock - horses, mules or oxen,
ut you could hear them a mile
hollowing Haw, Gee there, Whoa,
Get Up There and the horse, mule
or ox paid but little attention to
them. I am glad that they have quit
it.
* ? *
From Rockfish News:
It's not official, but it does seem
that when a member of the "Sit on
the Nail Kegs Club" gets so
corpulent as to break down the keg
and spill nails all over the floor his
membership should be suspended.
15 years ago
Thursday, March 22, 1962
A petition with more than 800
signatures calling for an ABC
election was toted into the office of
Board of Elections Chairman Col.
W.L. Poole late Wednesday
morning.
? ? *
A slight mixup in Republican
circles this week was occasioned by
the appointment of a Hoke County
Democrat. Willard Shell, as
Republican representative on the
County Board of Elections.
people."
It must be granted that the
insurance industry has a case -- but
just how strong -- many people are
uncertain.
When an automobile is wrecked
and the responsible party for the
wreck has insurance the bills often
are quite high. In the long run it is
the policy - holders who must foot
the bill. Insurance companies are
in business to make money like all
other businesses and the insurance
commissioner is there to see that
both sides get a fair shake, which in
lots of dealings is not always
possible.
Take the energy industry, the gas
and electric companies are
regulated by the State Industrial
Commission and you can see lots of
flak whirling around utility com
mission decisions which could be
the same in case "Big John" is
dehorned and another addition to
bureaucracy is added.
AMENDMENTS ? The pro
posed ERA Amendment to the
U.S. Constitution has been rejected
by the 1977 General Assembly, in a
very close vote in the State Senate.
Two proposed Amendments to
the North Carolina Constitution
will be submitted and both are
controversial, succession by the
governor and veto authority by the
governor.
While North Carolina's approval
of the ERA Amendment to the
U.S. Constitution required only a
majority vote, to submit an
Amendment to the N.C, Con
stitution requires a three ? fifths
vote.
The three - fifths vote required in
both houses of the General As
sembly will make it much harder
for the proponents to get it on the
ballot than if a bare majority were
required.
To submit the proposed A
mendments to the people for their
decision, it will require 72 votes of
the 120 in the House and 30 of the
50 Senate members. In other words
if 21 members of the Senate oppose
an amendment it cannot be
submitted and if 49 of the 120
members of the House are against
an amendment, or do not vote, the
proposed amendment is dead.
Analyzing the succession and
veto proposals in this method, it
looks like Governor Hunt has a
pretty big job cut out for him to
even get the Amendments on the
ballots to say nothing of getting a
favorable vote from the people.
EDUCATION -- Governor Hunt's
proposal that students be required
to meet minimum standards in
"survival skills" such as reading,
writing and mathematics in order
to obtain a high school diploma
seems to be an excellent move to
improve our schools in North
Carolina.
When leaders of the North
(See PEOPLE & ISSUES. Pg. IS)
I