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ASSOCIATION
Published Every Thursday at Raeford. N.C. 28376
114 W. Elwood Avenue
Subscription Rates In Advance
Per Year - S3.00 6 Months ? M.25 3 Months ? $2.25
PAUL DICKSON
SAMC. MORRIS
MRS. PAUL DICKSON
MARTY VEGA
SUZANNE APLIN
Second Class Postage at Raeford, N.C.
? Publisher Editor
? . General Manager
Society Editor
Reporter
Reporter
THURSDAY. MAY 19, 1977
They loved him in London
President Carter has passed his first diplomatic test abroad with
flying colors. Where there was a certain wariness in Europe about
the new American leader, this appears to have been displaced to a
new respect and even admiration. Mr. Carter clearly impressed
Europeans by his quiet determination, intelligence, and un
pretentious. While the London summit meetings produced
mostly atmosphere and rhetoric, it is fair to say the President ably
reasserted America's leadership of the Western world and laid the
ground for nuts-and-bolts cooperation during his administration.
It is important to know that Mr. Carter has the ability to establish
good working relationships with world leaders and to represent the
United States in forthright, yet flexible manner. His lengthy meeting
with Assad, for instance, brought forth warm words of appreciation
from the Syrian President and helped nudge the Mideast diplomatic
process. He did not manage to patch up the quarrel over Cyprus in
his talks with the leaders of Greece and Turkey, but he apparently
impressed them by his blunt assessment of the problem. He also
managed to smooth over relations with West German Chancellor
Helmut Schmidt, even though some crucial differences of opinion
over nuclear proliferation remain. This is as it should be ? the
capacity to deal with allies on a frank but amiable give - and - take
basis.
Nowhere did Mr. Carter invite more approving ? and deserving
? comment than in his speech to the North Atlantic Treaty
Organization meeting. Europeans were no doubt buoyed to hear the
United States considers the alliance the "heart" of its foreign policy
and intends to make sure it remains strong and united in the face of
growing Soviet military might. Certainly this was a needed and
welcome reaffirmation of Washington's commitment.
It has been plain for some time that NATO needs strengthening.
The alliance is basically in good shape now. But, as Mr. Carter
implied, there is considerable concern about NATO's ability to deter
a Soviet aggression in, say, 10 years' time. In this context, the
President called for what amounts to a thorough overhaul of the
alliance. Defense ministers are asked to come up with
recommendations at the next NATO summit.
Although Washington clearly would like its European partners to
contribute more by way of defense. Mr. Carter diplomatically side ?
stepped this issue on this occasion, noting that the allies' difficult
economic problems "set practical limits" on what they can do. This
tack no doubt pleased them ? as did his call for a "genuine two-way
transatlantic trade in defense equipment."
Indeed much more needs to be done in the standardization of
NATO arms. According to some estimates, waste runs as high as $10
billion a year in the collective NATO nations' budgets due to
nonstandardized weapons. Here will be an early opportunity for
Washington to bring more efficiency to NATO procurements and
give West Germany and other nations a greater share in the arms
production.
In sum, the economic and military goals enuciated by Mr. Carter
and his colleagues are splendid. The right mood of mutual
commitment and cooperation has been established. Now the harder
part ? the nitty gritty of following through without the glare of
summitry and publicity ? begins. ? Christian Science Monitor
Browsing in the files
of The News-Journal
25 years ago
Thursday. May 15. 1952
On Tuesday evening the
elementary school presented their
annual May Festival to a large
audience, estimated to be about 700
persons.
* ? ?
Robbins Mills, Incorporated, of
New York City, this week announced
the election of William P. Saunders,
former executive vice - president, as
president of the firm to succeed
Edward A. Werner.
From Poole's Medley:
The worst feature of ball games
and other sports is the gambling
involved. That is wrong, whether
they win or lose.
? ? ?
From Adenda by the Editor:
Now that we really feel the need
of a vacation, we can't get away, we
have no place to go, no facilities for
getting there, and no money.
? * ?
Mrs. Flora McNeill Boyce, a
resident of Raeford since 1941, died
at the Confederate Woman's Home in
Fayetteville last Friday afternoon.
c
1 5 years ago
Thursday, May 17, 1962
Advocates of legal control met
Friday night at a local pond for what
was described as a "fish fry and
strategy" meeting.
? * ?
About 75 Hoke prohibitionists
turned out Sunday afternoon for a
well ? advertised rally that featured
Tennessee Baptist preacher, Fred
Dies, director for Alcohol and
Narcotics Education for the United
Tennessee League.
* ? *
County Democrats of the
Executive Committee re - named
Sam Morris as Party chairman in a
meeting held following the biennial
County Convention bst Saturday at
the Courthouse.
? * ?
On March 1 , the State Board of
Education at its meeting increased
the rental fees for use of high school
books from S4.50 to S6.00.
? ? ?
A losing baseball season for the
Bucks concluded Tuesday night
when the Lumberton Pirates downed
the locals 2-0.
Too much fertilizer?
by Marty V?? a
? County Board
Needs Fresh Ideas
County commissioners' meetings
here have always been rather poorly
attended. Generally, there is only a
handful of people present and this
is a great shame. The commission
ers really do like company.
In fact, one of the weighty
matters under discussion Monday
could probably have benefitted
from more people getting in with
fresh ideas.
The commissioners got to talking
about who would be liable if a
citizen was injured while using one
of the county-owned garbge con
tainers. Chairman John Balfour
suggested that a citizen might have
the lid fall down on an arm while
depositing garbage, and who would
be responsible for the broken arm,
the county?
This alarming possibility put
solemn looks on all faces until
Balfour stated later that they
needn't worry too much about it,
since the lids have been broken off
most of the containers, anyway.
This fresh thought brought back
happy faces around the meeting
table, but the commissioners over
looked a number of other danger
ous situations which could result in
serious injuries.
We would like to respectfully
suggest that the commissioners
consider these hazards:
A lady from Dundarrach said a
citizen might back a truck up to a
container to put in his garbage, lose
his balance and fall in himself.
Would the county be responsible?
Another person said a citizen
might slip and fall on a banana
peel, or some other rotting garbage
lying nearby, and injure himself.
Would the county be responsible?
What if a citizen reached in with
his garbage and received a painful
bite on the hand from an enormous
rat who was feeding himself?
Would the county be responsible?
Letter To
The Editor
Dear Editor,
We were recently privileged to
host The Hoke County Marching
Band during their visit to Central
Florida and Walt Disney World.
We would like your entire
community to know what fine
traveling ambassadors the band
members are. Their performance
was superbl! Jimmy James has
done an excellent job in molding a
truly professional organization.
Most impressive, however, was
the way the youngsters conducted
themselves while they were here.
Their conduct, dress, and overall
attitude of friendliness and co
operation was truly outstanding.
Everyone who came in contact with
them was impressed. Many hotel,
restaurant, and attractions em
ployees made it a point to tell us
how much they enjoyed working
with the kids. When they left the
hotel in Orlando, I felt that I was
saying "so long" to 110 new warm
They are, indeed, a credit to
their directors, their school, their
parents, and the entire community.
If these are examples of the leaders
of tomorrow , I, for one, have no
fears concerning the future of our
country.
The Hoke County Band is more
than welcome to Central Florida at
any time.
Sincerely,
SUPER HOLIDAY STUDENT
TOURS
Elmer Cook,
Wu a ?Lil ? i i
/TTCxiocnt
Or what if a citizen deposited a
heavy load of trash, not realizing
that a drunk was sleeping within,
and the weight of the garbage
seriously injured the drunk? Would
the county be responsible?
Or consider the possibility of
dogs congregating around a con
tainer looking for food scraps. If a
citizen was mauled to deatn by a
pack of dogs, would the county be
responsible?
Or what if a citizen was looking
for a News-Journal issue and went
looking in a garbage container for a
copy. Think of the dangers he
might be exposing himself to.
Would the county be responsible?
(Space will be provided here at
no charge for the next four weeks
for responses from the commis
sioners.)
Puppy Creek
Philosopher
Dear editor:
It isn't an earth-shaking problem
but then very few prolems are ?
television reporters and headline
writers just make them sound that
way ? but over the years I've
noticed a problem Presidents have
when they emerge from an airplane
and plunge into the crowd shaking
hanas with the people.
Everybody moves in eagerly with
hands out-stretched hoping to be
able to tell their friends they shook
hands with a President, but only
about two per cent get to touch
him. The rest are left holding out
their hands fruitlessly.
There's a remedy for this prob
lem. Have you ever seen a small boy
walking along a picket fence with a
stick in his hand, rattling each
picket as he goes?
That's the answer. One of the
planes accompanying a President
should be equipped with a big roll
of picket fence. Before the Presi
dent steps out of his plane, the
fence is un-rolled and the people
told to line up behind it, eacn with
one hand stuck through at about
waist high.
The President then emerges and
strides rapidly down the fence, his
right had gliding over each out
stretched hand as he passes. This
way he gets to touch at least 50
times more hands than the old
disorganized, crowd-around-him
way, and it makes a lot less noise
than a boy with a stick.
To avoid foul-ups where the
crowd is longer than the fence, the
Pentagon should always determine
in advance the amount of fence
needed for a given airport by
computerizing the population of
the place, the type of weather
expected, and the estimated pop
ularity of the President in that area.
I'd suggest the Pentagon not use
the computer its been using to tell
us how many guided missiles
Russia has or how big her grain
crop will be.
Yours faithfully,
J.A.
There are definite signs that the
nation's economy is recovering and
unemployment, although still
unacceptably high, is coming down -
slowly but steadily.
The problem of inflation,
however, continues to plague the
country and the rate at which the
costs of goods and services went up
during the first three months of the
year was frightening. Unless inflation
slows down during the remainder of
the year, we shall be facing rises in
the cost of living in excess of 10
percent.
Because I am terribly worried
about inflation, I have voted during
the past several days against measures
that would increase government
spending, thereby making the next
year's deficit larger, and raising the
interest costs the nation must pay.
I did not favor the SSO tax rebate.
Had it passed, more than $8.6 billion
would have been added to the
national debt. That would have been
borrowed money and the tax payers
would have had to give their rebate
back, with interest.
For the same reason, 1 announced
against the Si 9.8 billion "economic
stimulus appropriation" bill,
although I would like to have
supported the portion which would
have allocated $4 billion to finance
local public works projects and
created some jobs. Finally, I
announced against the Concurrent
Budget Resolution which carried a
deficit tag of S63.6 billion.
Already, in 1977, the nation will
pay $38 billion in interest on our
national debt. In 1978, the interest
costs will be $43 billion, and if we
keep on, by 1982, interest costs
alone will exceed billion. We simply
have to stop somewhere!
Report
To The
People
by Senator Robert Morgan
Because I believe we must call a
halt to these ever increasing deficits,
I have co - sponsored a resolution in
the Senate which would call for an
amendment to the Constitution that
would provide that the national
budget must be balanced each year,
just as our State Constitution
mandates that the North Carolina
budget be free of a deficit.
The resolution proposes an
amendment to provide for a balanced
budget within four years of
ratification, and to require that five
percent of the national debt be paid
off each year after that, so that by
the end of the 20th century the
nation would be completely out of
debt.
The resolution provides for
suspending these conditions if a
national emergency arises, but it
would have to be a real emergency
and designated as such by a three -
fourths vote of the Congress. ?
The interest provides for
suspending these conditions if a
national emergency arises, but it
would have to be a real emergency
and designated as such by a three - *
fourths vote of the Congress.
The interest we are paying on the
present national debt is larger than
the appropriation for any
department in the government
except the funds voted for National
Defense and for Health, Education
and Welfare.
We need to - we must - put our
financial affairs in order.
I think that the people understand
this and I believe that they would
support a Constitutional Amendment
if Congress should give them the ?
right to express their feelings at the
polls.
CLIFF BLUE .. . I
People & Issues *
A
SPECULATION - 1 attended a
meeting in Raleigh an evening last
week in which the governor,
lieutenant governor, speaker of the
house and most members of the
General Assembly were present,
and as usual politics was discussed.
I was approached by one of the
"honorables" - one I would
consider in the "moderate to
liberal" category. This member,
who preferred not to be named, but
would likely respond if you asked
him, said that he had seriously
studied the several candidates
being mentioned for the Demo
cratic nomination for the U.S.
Senate, and that he had come to
the conclusion that not one of
those now being mentioned could
defeat Senator Helms in the general
election. He pointed out that to
defeat Helms, the Democratic
candidate would have to draw
considerable support from the
Democrats who voted for Helms in
1972, and he did not feel that any
of those mentioned could likely do
so.
This "honorable," by the way,
had not supported Jimmy Green for
lieutenant governor in either the
first or second primary, but he was
now of the opinion that Jimmy
Green, if nominated, would have
an excellent chance to win the
Helms senate seat.
Personally, I had not thought of
Green as a candidate for the U.S.
Senate before. But in one statement
in particular, I know the "honor
able." was right. If a Democrat is
to unseat Senator Helms, the
candidate must be able to overcome
the 117,955 lead Helms had over
Nick Galifianakis in 1972 when
Helms had 795,248 votes to
677,293 for Galifianakis.
SOCIAL SECURITY ? The
Social Security fund is in danger at
the present rate of payments and
President Carter has called upon
Congress to raise the limit on
salaries on which the social security
tax must be paid, and also dipping
into the general fund for addiional
billions of dollars. In our opinion
the two greatest peace ? time
measures sponsored by the late
President rranklin D. Roosevelt
were Federal Deposit Insurance for
banks and Social Security for our
senior citizens. As much as we
WCt m
rejoice in seeing Social Security stay
abreast with inflation, we hope that
the straw that broke the camel's
back will never be the fate with
Social Security.
With people living much longer
today than was the case when
Social Security was adopted in
1935, we think that instead of a
hefty hike in social security taxes
that the beginning age for Social
Security payments might be upped
from 65 to 67 years, and then
enable the recipients to make as
much as they could earn without
reducing their social security pay
ments.
EXTENDING TERMS? -- We
hear talk about extending the terms
of office for congressmen, state
legislators, town commissioners,
etc.
We can't believe such a move is
in the interest of democracy or good
government. In recent years we
have more and more "patriots
willing to serve" to quote the late
Governor Gregg Cherry. Most
people will likely see through this
"extending terms" talk as "self -
serving" and the legislators them
selves should balk at such pro
posals. If the official is doing a
good job, the candidate will have
little trouble winning renomination
and election, and if the office -
holder is not doing an acceptable
job, the people should not have to
wait two extra years for relief!
VIETNAM -- We spent several
years in Vietnam, about as long as
it took our forefathers to win
independence from Great Britain,
but lost the war, in which millions
still feel we had no more business
than Russia had in Cuba in 1962.
Now, Vietnam is wanting the
U.S. to help rebuild the country
where we gave thousands of lives
and billions of dollars in a war in
which we were told was vital to
democracy.
OUR LADIES -- Step by step
our ladies are moving ahead. We
note that Jo Ann Parker is now
among the growing list of women
who are heading units of govern
ment, having been named chair
man of the Randloph County
Board of Education. In adjoining
Moore County Lou Frye has served
for several years as the very capable
and popular chairman of the
Moore County Board of Education.
Doubling up can
cuKyour commut
ing expenses in
? half as well as
' saving our Nation's
energy. It can also
make that daily
drive twice *s nice.