die - journal
frto&uz
PRESS
ASSOCIATION
Published E?erv Thur?da? al Raeford, N.C. 28376
119 W. Elwood Avenue
Subscription Rain la Advance
Per Year ? S8.00 6 Month. ? S4.2S 3 Months ? S2.2S
PAUL DICKSON Publisher- Editor
SAM C. MORRIS General Manager
MRS. PAUL DICKSON Society Editor
MARTY VEGA
SUZANNE APLIN
Second Class Postage at Raeford, N.C.
? Reporter
? Reporter
THURSDAY, MAY 12, 1977
A sad spectacle
We regret that Watergate has again ballooned into the news. The
nation had taken steps toward reforms that would rule out future
such scandals and was putting this episode behind. But Richard
Nixon himself bears responsibility for spotlighting the issue through
his very commercial television appearance.
Since the former President made that decision, therefore, it is
disappointing and saddening that in this first post- resignation
appearance before the American public he did not summon up the
moral courage to admit that he was guilty of obstructing justice while
in the White House. He came so close to such an admission, stating
that "a reasonable person" could call Watergate a cover-up. By
going that last small step, he might finally have won that public and
personal rehabilitation that can only begin with an honest
acknowledgement of wrongdoing.
As it was, the television interview with David Frost disclosed a
man still skillfully side-stepping the substantial evidence of
criminality on the public record. In the process, however, Mr. Nixon
revealed to a greater extent than ever before the weakness of his
defense. Nowhere did this show itself more than in his astonishing
assertion that his motive was "pure political containment" and that
"that's a very different motive from the motive of attempting to cover
up criminal activities of an individual."
That is no defense at all. What, it can be asked, is so pure about
"political containment"? That argument does not distinguish a
corrupt from an incorrupt motive, since political acts can be moral
or immoral. Mr. Nixon thus begs the question. By his definition, any
criminal act in high office could be justified on political grounds.
What did he mean by "political containment"? What innocent
people was he trying to protect? If they were "innocent," why did
they need protection? How could this justify obstructing a criminal
investigation?
Other questions also went unanswered. Who, for instance,
authorized the break-in into the Democratic headquarters? And
why? Does Mr. Nixon see a justification for such an act? And what
were the CIA "shenanigans"?
His British interviewer chose to focus most on intricate details of
the Watergate cover-up but, even so, drew forth other
self-incriminating answers to generalized queries. Thus, Mr. Nixon
justified not "telling the cops" about his aides' involvement out of
supposed humanitarian and personal concern for John Ehrlichman
and H.R. Haldeman, who he said he felt were legally innocent of the
charges against them. If that were the case, why was he not
interested in throwing open the investigation so as to remove the
cloud and prove their innocence?
Mr. Nixon has laid himself open to the charge that he designed his
performance ? for which he will be paid handomely ? to evade the
issues as much as possible and to appeal to public emotion rather
than reason. "I let down our system of government and the dreams
of all these young people that ought to get into government," he said
at one climactic moment.
Such a far from convincing reexamination of Watergate is not
likely to change the minds of these young people. Nor will Mr.
Nixon's culminating words that his mistakes and bad judgments
were "of the heart, rather than the head" and that in the top job the
"head must always rule the heart".
Here, ironically, lies the tragedy. Mr. Nixon had an opportunity to
unburden his heart and let it all come out. Surely then the nation
would respond with compassion. Instead there was still more
political "head" than straight "heart" in what the nation saw on
television this week.
Christian Science Monitor
Browsing in the files
of The News-Journal
25 years ago
Thursday, Maj 8, 1972
Charles A. Hostetler, chairman
of the Hoke County Red Cross
Chapter, announced Wednesday
that the final report of the annual
Red Cross Drive had been com
pleted and the total contribution
was $2019.99.
? ? *
James Lawrence Conoly, 48, died
at his home on Raeford, Route 2,
early Friday morning of a heart
attack.
? ? ?
The Senior Play "Clementine"
will be presented at the Hoke High
school tonight at 8 o'clock.
? * ?
From Poole's Medley:
When the Confederate forces
wart pawing our place a number of
the soldier* offered their horses for
sale. Mother knew we needed a
horse, but she was afraid the seme
man who sold her a horse would
steal him the same day.
* * ?
R.E. Neeley, county board of
education member, and K.A.
MacDonald went to Raleigh on
Tuesday for a conference with the
school planning division of the
State Department of Public In
struction and the State Insurance
Department.
? ? ?
The Raeford Television Com
pany is open for business in the new
post office building next to the
town hall.
15 years ago
Tharadaj, May 10, 1962
A flurry of opposition showed at
three Democratic precinct meetings
held in Raeford last Saturday, but
when the smoke of battles cleared
away committeemen had been
elected who were favorable to the
continued county chairmanship of
Sam Morris.
A
I hop? I'm not being inscrutable'
Ttw Christian Scwnca Monitor
by Marty Vega
Disgusting Conduct
It has generally been the rennrt
er s creed not to disclose suspected
immoral behavior I ? ? pSS!
ofTiaaK unless the behavior affects
his offiaal duties as an ele??rf
leader. But the statement last week
regardmg the recent suggestion to
tT"s d?? ntoETb ?
immidiX8 " * rep0r,ed
nJ^en. asked his stand on the
rertESms^? thC fund the
thftTe h JJ? rUnci,man reP'ied
but fha? -K formed an opinion
Ihem' would '??k into
cuSs" Of *' d<"" ?e misled by this
guise. Of course this councilman is
would? t?f^i,din8 them' if not
,!?dn.t ^ thinking ahead to
looking them. Is th.I ,?y "y
Puppy Creek
Philosopher
Dear editor:
According to an article I read in
a newspaper the other day. PnS
letterf 1 8rett,ng about 75,000
letters a week from people around
the country. It might be Even moT
istSd^r^ thCmail
thif "'TVay' 1 got to thinking about
f J re.nty " flve ^wand lettm
If each letter averages just 100
words that's 7.500.000 words or
eich ?f 50 000 ??*
fcLsrat-e
somebody else reads the letterTandl
answers Ihem. It's like nine Sto*
SHfhifflf.? ra" the Resident
wnen he held his famous phone - in
a while back. Only about a dozen
7S nnn i g0t t0 talk t0 him- Those
I5'?0 le"ers a week constitute 1
problem for which I have no
^'"tion It's one of those problems
wtlh"^ ?r the Middle &S
which, after you get through stating
further" re t0? Und t0 g0 any
rtaBu' speaking of mail. I under
stand some people are suggesting
efert^f department adopt an
fiSfT. tSySjenV of delivering
carried from" ? bcmg actua,|y
thel^r? ?ne. town to another.
transmitted I*
ckineTDZi Where another ma
wrote ^PI^UCCS/t CXaCtly ,ike y?u
th? i. Sea,s "? A mailman
In . delivers it to the proper
address, as soon as he can ?[
around to it. g
,iifThVySteZn has a few drawbacks
like what about privacy although I
guess clerks could be required to
fir 'he lights when th^
fced.'ng your letter into the trans
mrttmg machine so they couldn't
see what you wrote.
This reminds me of an ex
t^h?H*KdeJ^>t agcnt in a small
telegrims.raPher h'ndled
telegram on his wires for a woman.
im to read It to her*
Yours faithfully,
l.A.
spend taxpayer's dollars?
? ? ?
If you take a drive out in the
county on some hot day, like last
Friday, you better dress like a
mummy or the wheat flies will tear
you up.
If you never heard of wheat flies,
you're not alone. Our friend Robert
Gatlin, who is usually well-versed
on Hoke County matters, claimed
he never heard of such an insect.
He evidently doesn't have about 18
bites the sizes of dimes all over his
body. Well, somebody is misin
formed, as it was told to me by
sincere-looking types at the scene
that IT WAS WHEAT FLIES!
Now, maybe, this was just another
joke to play on Northerners, as it
was perceived some miles later that
there is no wheat growing here!
Yet, another source claimed they
do exist by that name. So, it is a
.distinct possibility, that at Gatlin's
?advanced age, he was in a momen
tary lapse.
? ? ?
Getting facts straight. ...In this
business, you often times have to
ask figures in the news for their
correct age. This satisfies the
public's curiosity. Since Ken
McNeill is touting himself as
successor to the Democratic party
chairman here, it became necessary
to place a call to Home Food
Market for the required informa
tion.
The answer was that Ken is
around 51 or 52 but I was advised
to "put down 55, anyway". Now, of
course, this wouldn't be the right
thing to do, so the next call was
placed to Ken's home. But I still
failed to get the information as his
maid who answered the phone
declined to summon him becuase
"he was resting".
So the first man was probably on
the right track, after all, only
maybe he meant 65 instead of 55.
Letter To
The Editor
To the Friends of Allen and
Whimsy Lundy:
We would like to thank each and
every one of you for your con
tributions, gifts, kindness and the
graciousness you have given to our
parents for their 50th wedding
anniversary. You have made it
possible for them to truly have a
wonderful year, with a trip to
Hawaii, an opportunity to meet the
celebrated Lawrence Welk, and a
trip to California and so very many
treats that would be too numerous
to put in this letter. None of these
things would have been possible
without your help and contribu
tions.
We would especially like to
thank Mr. Leonard Miller, Mr. &
Mrs. Wayne Morgan of San
Francisco, who were gracious
enough to have our parents as
house guests in that city, Mayor
J.K. McNeill and the City of
Raeford.
'Thank you' teems so very inept
when we owe so much to all of you,
but please know that we will always
be grateful that you gave something
very special to our parents, some
thing that we could never repay.
We thank each and every one for all
you did. To auotc Mother when we
spoke to her in Hawaii, "if Heaven
is anything like this (Hawaii), I'm
ready to go now".
God bless you all.
Louise Nichols
A.J. Lundy Jr.
Bobbie D. Lundy
I
A Code of Official Conduct for
Senators, officers and employees of
the Senate who make $25,000 a
year of more has now been enacted
by the Senate.
1 supported the measure when it
came to the floor of the Senate and
have now been placed on a Select
Committee on Ethics which will
oversee the new code's functioning.
Under the new rules, those who
are covered by them must disclose
their sources of income, their assets
and liabilities and their holdings in
stocks and bonds and real estate.
All of the above must be reported
and made public annually. Here
are some of the other things the
new code does:
--Places a limit of $100 as the
aggregate total of gifts a Sena
tor or employee may receive
during a year from lobbyists.
--Limits the outside income of
any person covered to IS
percent of any individuals sal
ary, and that includes honorar
ium from outside speeches.
-Bans mass mailings at public
expense 60 days or less before a
primary or general election.
-Prohibits foreign travel at pub
lic expense by lame duck
Senators, unless the travel is
agreed to by the Senate by vote,
or is at the request of the
President.
-Restricts Senators and top-level
employees from practicing a
profession while working for
the Senate.
-Eliminates outside office ac
counts.
Any alleged violations of the code
will be brought before the Ethics
Committee, whose members will
have the power to investigate and
levy penalties if any wrong doing is
Report
' %
To The
People ?
by Senator Robert Morgan
found.
One of the most controversial of
the new rules is the one that limits
outside income to 15 percent.
There are some Senators who will
have their incomes cut, because
they make far more than this from
the honorarium paid them from
outside speeches.
Some argued that the rules were
inequitable because there are some
rich members of the Senate who
own large amounts of stocks and
bonds and there is no restriction on
the income from these. I raised one
question on this because I wanted
to know if money made from farm
management was regarded as out
side income, and the Internal
Revenue Service says that it is.
That means that a wealthy Senator
can continue to receive dividends
and interest from stocks and
bonds, but I cannot tell someone
living on my farm where to plan*
potatoes.
Overall, though, it is a strong
code and 1 supported it willingly. It
is regrettable that the passage of
such rules were deemed necessary
in the nation's highest legislative
body, but once in awhile someone
comes along whose activities stray
outside the rules.
President Carter has now asked
that all policy making employees in
the Executive Branch be placed
under a somewhat similar code. I
believe that this effort will find
support, both in the Congress and
from the public.
As a member of the new Ethics
Committee, I will do all that I can
to see that the code is lived up to
and not just something that is
presented as window dressing and
forgotten when the next season and
the new fashions come along.
CUFF BLUE...
People & Issues
i
DUAL SYSTEM OF JUSTICE
-- Had a nice talk with 12th District
Court Judge Joseph Dupree of
Raeford a few days ago. In
Fayetteville on May -- The day after
"Law Day, U.S.A." the Hoke jurist
came forth with a suggestion as to
how to delete the "dual system of
justice" in traffic cases and how to
bring into the state treasury some
SI 2 million extra dollars without
raising taxes.
Joe Dupree, a lay, district judge
with a head full of common ? sense
said that in 1975 -- the last year for
which figures are available, there
were 717,208 traffic cases and
403,820 additional criminal cases
filed in North Carolina.
Judge Dupree said 206,167 of the
criminal and traffic cases were
either called and failed to appear,
or dismissed for other reasons by
the District Attorneys. He also said
that about 131,089 of the cases
called and the defendants failed to
show were traffic cases and that
they were dismissed by the District
Attorneys, and instead of fines and
court costs they got only points on
their driving license record.
Had the traffic defendants ap
peared in court and paid an
average fine of S10 each and court
cost of S27 each, a total of $37 per
case, it would have brought into the
state treasury approximately
S4, 850, 293, said the Hoke judge.
Now, two years later, Judge
Dupree after long hours of study
has come up with this suggestion:
Amend the law to provide that a
person's operator's license be taken
up and held by the court for a
period not to exceed 120 days when
given a citation for a traffic offense,
and that he in turn be given a
receipt, which he could operate on,
pending the disposition of his case.
Judge Dupree suggests that
contrary to what people might
Perform a
defying
act.
H&veyoor
Mood
pressure
checked.
American Hp/ul Association
believe, this would not mean that a
person's operator's license be
suspended if he is called and fails to
show in court. However, if the
defendant is called and fails to
appear the second time, his license
suspension would become auto
matic.
Judge Dupree says such a change
in the law would save the taxpayers
in this state in moneys expended
and revenues taken in a con
servative figure of not less than
SI, 000, 000 each month.
Judge Dupree says the most
important aspect of his proposed
change in the law would be to
eliminate a dual system of justice in
our traffic courts. Under our
present system with so many of the
traffic offenders failing to show and
paying no cost or fine, the net result
would be to eliminate the unequal
dual system of government now
practiced in our courts regarding
traffic cases.
We hope the 1977 General ?
Assembly will give due attention
and consideration to Judge
Dupree's proposal which he out
lined and emphasized on "Law *
Dav. U.S.A."
DAVIDSON COLLEGE -While
Davidson College Board of Trust
ees voted 37 to one to alter the
tenure policy of the Presbyterian
institution founded in 1837 to
include non - Christians, we
suspect thousands of rank and file
Presbyterians will now have less
interest in the institution and less
inclination to support the college
where Woodrow Wilson once
studied. Many church members
may ask: "What justification is
there for a protestant Christian
college if non - Christian faculty
members are to be hired and
granted tenure?"
RELIGIOUS TAX EXEMP
TION -? We suspect most
Americans strongly approve of
bonafide churches being exempted
from taxation. However, church
exemption of taxation appears to
have attracted a number of free -
loaders, and possibly phonies. We
understand that the properties of
The Rev. Sun Mvung Moon in New
York and elsewhere, running into
the millions of dollars are tax
exempt.
BUREAUCRACY ?? We hear a
tot of talk about the Federal
bureaucracy in Washington and
how it has grown like topsy. Well,
here at home in recent years it looks
as if municipal, county and state
governments are growing, per
centage ? wise, as fast a* the
Washington bureaucracy!
I