Reagan should take cue
from recent Gallup Poll
President Ronald Reagan should take a hint from the most recent
Gallup Poll which shows the American people believe 4-to-l that
too much is being spent on defense and 2-to-l that funds being ear
marked for social programs are too small.
Of course, Mr. Reagan only has to look at the deteriorating con
dition of the nation's schools, cities being held hostage by crime, the
plight of the American farmer, the growing drug epidemic,
lengthening youthful unemployment lines and the survival struggles
of the elderly, to know that his budgetary priorities are out of kilter.
The bottom line on the Reagan budget is allegedly a zero increase
over the previous year, but the spending bill calls for money for
defense to be generated by cutting social programs.
In the face of mounting evidence of defense contracting ripoffs
and continued undisciplined fiscal activities by the military, one has
to question the sanity of the President's proposals.
Perhaps the Gallup Poll will show Mr. Reagan that it is difficult
to convince a nation that we must tighten our belts and pay more
federal taxes for bombs and missiles, when at the same time we must
do without such programs as revenue sharing, housing, WIN,
juvenile justice, endowments for the arts, farm subsidies, Amtrack,
social services block grants, Conrail, social security increases, in
terstate highways, college loans and others.
There is little question that some social programs are excessive
and could stand some cutting. But we believe the ax should fall
evenly throughout the federal budget and reductions should be
made for efficiency.
Before the budget process ends this year, it is hoped that Mr.
Reagan and Congress will heed the recommendations of the Presi
dent's Grace Commission, which found that $424.4 billion in
government spending could be saved in three years by cracking
down on excesses, like the defense department paying $91 for a 3
cent screw and $14.6 billion being spent in erroneous social security
payments.
Cutting social programs is easy. Few people affected by the cuts
will vote. They will only suffer.
Eliminating waste in defense spending and reducing the size of
Congressional benefits is another matter.
If Mr. Reagan wants to be recorded as a great President, then he
should listen to the results of Gallup Poll and cast an incredulous
eye on the advice of those who are being served by his present
posture.
Commission 's position
might raise questions
One has to wonder about the allegiance of the North Carolina
Utilities Commission, when a pubUc staff member implies that he
would question the wisdom of the effort by Hoke County to
establish direct telephone hookups with Fayetteville.
Surely the staff member, whose job it is to look after the interests
of the customers, not the utility companies, does not realize the
economic importance of the direct telephone link with Ft. Bragg
and Cumberland County.
Last week in an interview with The News-Journal, the staff
member quoted Carolina Telephone Company costs figures for the
increased service and suggested that Hoke County's efforts might
be futile.
Despite derregulation of the nation's telephone systems and
separations of local and long distance companies, Carolina
Telephone still maintains control over the lines from Raeford to
Fayetteville.
Currently Carolina Telephone derives the extra revenue from
each long distance call made between Hoke County and the
Cumberland exchanges. It is not the company's immediate benefit
to offer the direct service at no extra charge.
Revenues would be lost, and the company would have to replace
them with higher rates, spokesmen for Carolina Telephone have
said.
We believe, as do most Hoke County residents, that higher rates
quoted by the company and the public staff member would not be
justified, and that in the long run, the change in service would
benefit not only local customers but the utility company also.
Direct telephone service could mean more industry, residents and
businesses moving to Hoke County, which will be more revenue for
the company.
Hoke County is going to have a tough battle to convince Carolina
Telephone of the need and to develop affordable rates.
It is hoped that when this county's case is brought before the
utilities commission, that we have an impartial hearing, and the at
titude expressed last week by the public staff member is not an in
dication of the overall body's feelings.
The News-Journal
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LOUIS H. FOGLEMAN, JR. Publisher
WARREN N. JOHNSTON Editor
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II
Those guys at the
Chamber of Commerce
are preliy. nice. E\/en
vohen X fe.old them X
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Restore tVve depot/ dr we,
\Me.y \*\s\sted "X VaV^e VW\?>
nevo >rvc>?u5eco3\ at> &
Photographs, stories of depot sought
You knew it was coming. Before
you were asked for money the flnt
time. You knew folks would be
asking you to help in the restora
tion of the Raeford Aberdeen &
Rock fish Depot.
The Hoke Historical Associa
tion is asking you to help in a way
that will be fun.
If the restoration is to be what it
says it is - restoring a special old
building - there is a need for facts
about what it was. The depot has
been right there on Main Street all
our lives, or ail the time we've lived
here. What was : happening there
that made it important in the life
of this community?
1 remember it because there was
a wonderful rose garden there
when I was a child. That rose
garden may have existed until
recently, but that is my earliest
memory. 1 know nothing about the
business that went on there.
Information about that business
is needed to document the
historical significance of the depot.
Photographs are especially impor
tant in this documentation. Photos
will actually show events in the life
of the community and how the
depot looked at these times.
I know that in one period of
Hoke development watermelons
were a very important agricultural
product. Tons of watermelons left
Raeford on the AAR. I've heard
stories of people who worked In
melons all riayiifc. (My Pa QtiTand
his family were among them. Un
cle Cecil had a wreck with a melon
truck in Emporia, Va....But that's
another story.)
If the watermelon shipping was
an important segment in the life of
the depot, we must find photos,
newspaper stories, letters, old bills
Kay
Thomas
Looking On
of sale, or we must establish some
oral history, from credible sources,
that will supplement the informa
tion that's available.
In your family album you may
have. ? photo of Ugcfe Whoever
leaving on an important trip from
the depot. That might just be the
photo that shows how the depot
looked in 1918. The daily existence
of the train and the part it played
in the lives of people is known to
be significant. To show that to
committees who make decisions
about historical markers and
Environmental issues need balance
By John Sledge
N.C. Farm Bureau Federation
Environmental concerns are
constantly in the limelight . . . and
justifiably so. Every rational
human being realizes that we must
maintain a life-sustaining planet.
That is fundamental.
We'd like to point out, however,
that rational people understand
that there must be a balance be
tween the totally pure concept and
the necessity of using some things
that may contaminate the environ
ment.
Farmers, for example, use
pesticides and herbicides. So far,
there's no alternative if they con
tinue to produce the food and fiber
that sustains human life. There
may, however, be a scientific solu
tion.
Significant research is being
done to develop plants that are in
sect and disease resistant. Such a
break-through would reduce the
need for chemicals. It's even possi
blc that such plants would require
no pesticides and herbicides.
Greater emphasis on many
research projects could speed the
day when we will be rid of exhaust
fumes, factory smoke, acid rain . .
. and, yes, agricultural chemicals,
too. Working toward that goal
seems to be more rational than
protesting the way things are now.
We all want to protect our
planet Earth. At this point, it's all
we have.
registers of historical places is an
essential step in putting this
building back into service for the
community.
If the building is to be restored,
the renovation cannot be simply a
new coat of paint and some carpet.
There must be research which ?
shows that the building was the site
of community activitiy that was
significant, and there must be an
attempt to return it to its ap
pearance at that time.
Now, go look for that photo in
Grandma's tritak of her brother
going off to the Great War. When
you And it, leave a message at The
News-Journal with a name and^
number.
Warren Johnston and the Hoke
Historical Association want to
hear from you.
Pecan trail brings back
youth
As I was walking to work the other day, I noticed a pecan smash
ed on the sidewalk. It led to a trail of smashed pecans.
"This is the work of misspent youth," I said to myself. "They
should hang the little ruffian by his toes."
I imagined the youth jumping into the air, and making a noise
like a bomb whistling from the belly of a B-29 followed by a throaty
explosion as both feet landed squarely on the pecan smashing it to a
little yellow and brown pulp.
"The target's destroyed, sir," he probably cracked into his hand,
held over his mouth as a microphone, like a bombardier would have
reported to the pilot.
I used to play a similar game when I was young. I smashed burned
out light bulbs against a brick wall, allowing the glass to shower
down on a company of toy soldiers camped at the base.
The bulbs made a nice "pop" as they hit the wall, and with the
sound effects I added, it made a convincing destruction of the
enemy below. At least I thought so.
When I could not scrounge enough bulbs out of the garbage can
to complete the mission, sometimes I would steal into the house and
remove new ones from where my father kept them stored.
"I could have sworn we had more light bulbs than this," my
father would say, discovering the shortage. I never confessed. 1
feared the sting of "the belt."
As I walked along the sidewalk on my way to work, the number
of smashed pecans grew and so did my intolerance of the waste.
"Someone should tell this Idd how good pecans are to eat," I
thought.
I remembered the time my mother . roasted a pan of salted pecans
in butter, and how they smelled when she brought them to us as my
friend and I "camped out" in the back yard.
"Hey, we're supposed to be roughing it," we told her. It was our
Warren Johnston
he Puppy Papers
first campout. It was important to be authentic. We were six.
After some coaxing, we accepted the pecans. We relished them as
we sat around the flashlight, covered with a red cloth to simulate
fire, and made up cowboy stories. j
Once it got really dark, my parents came out and suggested we
finish the night in the "bunk house," particularly since my dog,
who had been playing the rote of a herd of cattle, had already gone
to sleep and needed no more supervision.
We didn't want to go. "What? Leave this fine tent, this glowing
campfire and this great star-filled night? Not on your life," we
argued.
The argument did not hold up and before long we were dragging
our sleeping bags across the yard and grumbling into the house. .
"I'll never treat my children like this," I swore to my parents,
vowing that when 1 grew up, I would not forget what it was like to
be a kid. i
It was obvious as I walked along to work that I had forgotten
what U was like to enjoy those callow days of childhood.
Ahead on the sidewalk was a fat, unmolested pecan. It was a
prize which would have been cherished by any maven of nuts.
Por an instant, I thought of retrieving it to enjoy with my morn
ing coffee, but I changed my mind.
I jumped into the air, made a whistling sound and landed both (
feet on the pecan with a throaty explosion, and then I went to work .