i
Mrs. Kenneth Mallory hah re
ifbed to Richmond, after vtstt
ng her parents, Mr. and Mrs.
| B. Ttosfchey. While" - here
In. MWlory and. her mother
pent several days at Carolina
|5» -- ’*■■■- • i
Mias Jessie Moore has re*
urned from an extended visit
o^elatives in Asheville. She
ras accompahied on har return
iy her nephews, James and
glad to know that he has
med from Duke hospital
•and is recovering from his cri
tical illness.
Mr. and Mrs. Erchey Lanier,
Mr. and Mrs. C. T. Fussell,|
with other members of their
family, and Mrs. Lanier’s and
Mrs. Fussell’s mother, spent
the past week at Carolina
Beach.
Miss Dorita Rivenbark, Doug
las and George Rivenbark, of
' foidsboro, are visiting rela-j
fives here.
Mrs. J. A. Teachey spent part
of the past week in Richmond,
where she visited her son, Mar
Jin, who is a student in Shu
ford Barber College.
Mr. and Mrs. .*j. A. Wilson
have purchased the hou.o r< r
merly occupied by Mr. and Mrs.
Joel Barden, it is understood.
They are occupying their new
home. Mr. and Mrs. Carol
Scott have moved into the
house recently occupied by Mr.
-a£d Mrs. Wilson.
Ira Gordon Early, of Thom
asville, who suffered a serious
Carol Cherry, of Asheville.
Friends of W. C. Ward will
nasal hemorrhage while on a
risit her with Hie mother, was
taken from a Wilmington hos
pital Friday. The father, Hen
ry Early, who went to the hos
pital whtt he learned of the
child’s illness, came- by here
srhen the'boy leftthehospitaJ.
The family has retarded to
rhoidasTllle.
Mrs. D. B. Herring, Dallas
Herring, Mrs. C. F. Hawes, and
Mrs. H. S. Johnson visited re
latives in Kenansviile Sunday
afternoon.
Mrs. A. B. Wells had as her
dinner guests on Thursday,
Mrs. Winnie Wells of Chinqua
pin and Miss Katie Murray.
Miss Estelle Fussell, who has
been visiting her parents, Mr.
and Mrs. Henry Fussell, has
returned to Winston - Salem,
where she has a position.
Miss Annie B. Farrior, of
Willard, is Visiting her aunt,
Mrs. A. B. Wells.
Mr. and Mrs. W. P. Farrior,
of Willard, were dinner guests
of Mrs. A. B. Wells on Sunday.
Mr. and Mrs. Stokes Boney,
of Wallace, were recent dinner
guests of Mr. and Mrs. E. G.
Murray.
Little Miss Janet Evans, of
Wallace, was the guest of Miss
Martha Gray Murray last week.
Fred C. Parsons, of Knox
ville, Tenn., was the week-end
guest of his father, C. C. Moore.
A. son, Albert Parsons, who has
been visiting here, returned
with Mr. Parsons to Knoxville.
Randolph Rouse, of Oklaho
ma, is visiting his father, Hal
—IM jftwj -OTtHTOfe’ 1>) -
•* Come in and enjoy our new cooling system and our new
R. C. A. Sound
Wanoca
THEATRE
DON’T FORGET THURSDAY - FRIDAY, AUG., 13-14,
MAX SCHMELING AND JOE LOUIS FIGHT.
NO ADVANCE IN ADMISSION.
PROGRAMME FOR WEEK OF AUGUST 17th, 1936.
iday-Tuesday, Aug. 17-18
A M«t>o-GoldwTn-M>y*r Pfettu*
Comedy: “Airhoppers” — News
Wednesday, Aug. 19, Only
"SPECIAL INVESTIGATOR"
—with—
RICHARD DIX
Thursday-Friday, Aug. 20-21
wn STEPS RIGHT
iNTd VOUR HIARfl
H^’t'feprSnThe' lomdiftie'thrlliom-)1
5t5rl AncTiwait till yotfme him take;
icharming Barbara in hit armtl You’ll
tay ift the ieaton*tieR^ I
bjg excifementl
with
JEAN HERSHOLT
JOSEPH CAIIIIA i
pW.S.VAN DYKE pmhutlo*
Three Musical Shorts
Saturday, Aug. 22
“Silver Spurs*’
—starring—
BUCK JONES
Comedy — Three Stooges in
“The Leather Necker”, and
Rex and Rinty Serial.
W SATURDAY NIGHT OWL SHOW
“Three Cheers For Love”
All Star Musical Cast
Also Serial—“Mystery Mountain”
COMING NEXT WEEK—Poor Little
Clipper—Girls Dormitory—36 Hours
Soon—Sing, Baby Sing—Gorgeous
Two big shows every week from m
Rich Girl—China
i^Q Trill rnmivH
es.
Valuation And Htffnestead
iptions
THE FOLLOWING IS THE TEXT OF AN ADDRESS DELIVERED IN ASHEVILLE YESTERDAY
TO THE NOIftTH CAROLINA.. ASSOCIATION OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS AND
COUNTY ‘
rH CAROLINA,, ASSOCIATION OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
ACCOUNTANTS BY DR. JOHN D. ROBINSON, PRESIDENT.
\ ,'U
In the. .Arab place, I wish to express
hy appreciation for the high hon
>r you conferred on the in electing
ne your president, after I had been
i county commissioner for a period
if only throe years. . i
; I have attended every meeting of
the association since 1 became eli
jible for membership, and I cah as
sure you that the contact with the
men who form his group has repaid
me for any financial sacrifices which
i may have made to serve as a coun
ty commissioner.
I desire to call your attention to
the excellent work of Honorable John
L. Skinner, Secretary of this Asso
ciation. His efforts have been un
tiring, and whatever influence we
may have in State affairs is large
ly due to his services.
In 1933, when I first attended a
meeting of the North Carolina Asso
ciation of County Commissioners and
County Accountants, there was a
great deal said about the lack of
power invested in the County
Commissioners, and loss of prestige
due to the fact that their scope of
action was so limited, and at all of
the meetings since that time there
has been more or less of the same
complaint.
So, when you honored me by elect
ing me your president, I decided to
try to get up a brief and compre
hensible outline of the duties, pow
ers, and limit of action of the va
rious county boards under the gen
eral law, court proceedings, and rul
ings of the Attorney General.
At my suggestion, Mr. F. W. Mc
Gowen, County Accountant of Duplin
County, very kindly consented to
make up this brief compend. While
the idea is mine, the work is Mr.
McGowen’s, and we both trust that
it will be beneficial to you and fu
ture boards of county commission
ers of North Carolina.
Many statutes are overlooked, and
in getting up this brief compend, we
overlooked this one, “The Board of
County Commissioners of the several
counties in this state shall author-1
izo the procuring of a North Caroli-|
na flag, to be displayed either on a!
staff Upon the top or draped behind
the Judge’s stand, in each and ev
ery courthouse in the state, and
that the state flag shall be display
ed at each and every term of court
held, and on such other public occa
sions as the commissioners may deem
proper.” (M. C. Sec. 7538).
We believe thajt after careful stu-;
dy of this, and after reading the sec
tions referred to, you will find that
the powers of County Commissioners
are ampl; for them^toattend to their,
duties to the 'besiTinterests of the,
several counties, and that the pre
sent laws and interpretations of.
same are sufficient.
In a brief and perhaps rather dis
connected way, I want to call your!
attention to dome of these- duties,',
and' also, to, the thine* which most t
directly affect good and efficient's
county government.
With the- proposed legislation e*-:i
erupting homesteads one thousand ]
dollars, the, counties of North Caro-',
llna are fating the gravest financial;,
crisis in their history. Even if it ,
were possible to make the tax levy j,
sufficiently high to take care of the!]
Debt Service the Constitutional limit]
o* fifteen cents for the County Fund i.
would still leave the counties un-'(
able to function. I
As an example, being more famil-j
iar with it than any other County,
Duplin County at present has a val-l
nation of a little over fifteen mil-1
lion dollars. This with a tax rate|
of one dollar and forty-five cents on’
the one hundred dollars of property j
in valuation, gives for Debt Service'
$160,500.00, for schools $12,000.00, for
Poor Fund $12,500.00, for Health!
Fund $12,000.00, and for the General I
County Fund $22,500.00 (a 15c levy).j
In checking our various townships,,
we find that the one thousand dollar
homestead exemption will reduce our
total valuation over three million |
UlMiara. iuib ill uui vuun^ will mean j
a loss of $4,500,00 for the Generali
Fund, and there is nowhere for it to 1
come from. Of course the loss of
over $39,000.00 to the Debt Service
and other funds could be raised by
increasing the rate, provided you
could collect it, but past experience
has taught that an inct eased rate
means a decrease in tax collections.
There is no doubt but that the
proposed amendment is going to pass
and in our eounty it will absolute
ly remove from the tax books ap
proximately 45 percent of the white
taxpayers who own real estate, and
approximately 88 percent of the ne
groes. In the county as a whole,
even if the tax rate was increased
a sufficient amount to offset this
loss, only about 400 people would pay
any more tax than they do at pre
sent, ajid the corporations would
have to pay a large part of that,
provided they would have the money
with which to pay.
It has always seemed fair that
everybody should pay their propor
tionate share of the tax burden, and
if a policy is inaugurated by which
only a few have any part in paying
for government, it is natural to sup
pose that finally only these few who
pay for it would receive any bene
fits.
The only hope we have in this
matter is that the next Legislature
will not put the amendment in
force, and I urge yoor legislative
committee that they watch this ques
tion constantly and do all in their
pewer to inform the various legis
lators correctly about this.
Probably the moit vexing problem i
if Comity Commissioners et this I
ime U the matter of roads. At pre- <
cnt we have no authority over roads i
xcept in an .advisory capacity,, It :
eemfl that the matter of County
toads should be left to local auth- 1
irity. So, I urge you, that you en- i
leavor to get the next General As- i
embly to restore this power to you, <
md give you one cent of the gaso
ine tax to do the work with, and in '
iddition give back to the counties
;he road equipment that was turned
iver to the Highway Commission or
ic equivalent. The matter of county
roads is a constitutional one, and I
loubt the validity of the legislation
taking the power away from the
county commissioners.
If counties have this revenue and
the authority to police properly, l|
believe that with cooperation of the;
State Patrol, road accidents would
become much less frequent.
I further urge and advise that an
other one cent of the gasoline tax be
turned over to the various Boards
of Commissioners on a pro rata bas
is for the purpose of lightning the
burden of taxation for bonded in
debtedness and to allow a certain
proportion of this revenue for the
General County Fund, when it is
needed in order for the county to
properly function.
This would leave four cents of the
gasoline fund to the State Highway
Commission, which, together with
other funds available to them, should
be ample for hard surfacing and
maintenance of the State system of
roads, and would take care of their
Debt Service.
If the State would consent to al
lowing this benefit to the several
counties, it would allow the coun
ties themselves to take better care
of their part of the school system
particularly in the matter of main
tenance of school buildings, and en
larging buildings where necessary.
Every agency where the State and
Counties are so vitally interested
jointly should be handled in such a
way that the counties will have suf
ficient funds to do their part with
| out making the tax burden any
greater.
I Next to finance, the most import
Jant duty of county commissioners is
their care of the poor. Of course,
the unfortunate should always have
our respect and where the case is
worthy, we should do our utmost
to make their lot more comfortable
and minimize their suffering as much
as possible. I believe this is a du
ty that county commissioners as a
whole are delegating too much to
other agencies and net giving the
proper personal attention- they
should. As a result of this, I be
lieve the cost has been excessive
and most of the cost has gone to ov
rhead and very little to the people
bet really need it. I believe that
riten county commissioners of the
leveral counties of North Carollnt
'ully realise this, and i attend to
:heir poor and needy according to
he law, there will be great improve-,
sent of conditions among tbe poor
it much lest cost to the tax pay
;rt. It is all right to have welfare
ifficers, county health officers, and
rarious others to aid in these duties, ^
but the commissioners should ob-'
serve a much stricter control of
their work.
In the matter of tax collections,
I suppose that all counties have a
large delinquent tax list. This is
brought about by n.any reasons. In,
numerous cases the valuations have
been too high and the levy excessive.
It has been largely a custom to make
up a budget and then make the tax
rate and valuations sufficient to take
care of it. As a result of this, in
many instances bonds ha/e had to
be issued not only for permanent
improvements, but for current ex
pense. No county could possibly get
along financially for any length of
time if it increases the public debt
with bonds for current expenses. It
would be just like a merchant pay'
ing off his help monthly with the
goods on his shelves and never sel
ling anything.
No new bonds should e\er be is
sued except for a permanent ’improve
ment which is absolutely necessary.
In order to be able to collect taxes
properly, the valuations must be rea
sonable and the levy low enough for
the tax payer to be willing to pay
his taxes.
It is time that county commission
ers realize that their services are a
necessity, and that they should have
adequate compensation for the work
they do. While every county should
endeavor to operate as economically
as possible, still every necessary of
ficer should have sufficient compen
sation for his services. If any office
of the county is not worth what it
costs it should be abolished. In order
to have efficiency in government, as
i.’ private business, the people that
do the work must be paid for same.
After all, we, as commissioners are
just the representatives of the peo
ple of our counties, and we should
strive to the best of our ability to
give them good government, and at
a price they are willing to pay.
We are about the only one of the
early agencies of direct government
left to the people. Our duties and
obligations are large. We are poor
ly paid and our services seldom ap
preciated, but if we have been care
ful to attend to these duties as ee
I conomically as possible and in ac
cordance with the statutes, we will
have the personal satisfaction of a
I noble work well done.
lie Rouse.
Mrs. A. L. Brown, the wife
of a former local Baptist pas
tor, with her children, Misses
Edith, Myrtle, and Lulu Brown,
Little Miss Martha G. and Bob
bie Brown, visited friends here
during the week-end. The
family resides in Benson.
L. James Teachey was the
guest of relatives in Morehead
the past week.
Mr. and Mrs. Adrain Teach
ey, Mrs. Tommie Neal, and
Miss Margaret Teachey, of
Richmond, Va., were week-end
guests of their parents, Mr. and
Mrs. E. M. Teachey.
Miss Dorris Cubbege, of Sa
vannah, Ga., is the guest of
Mrs. J. M. Jerome. On Thurs
day they visited a Wilmington
beach.
Mrs. J. H. Fussell has re
turned from an extended visit
to Goldsboro, where she has
been the guest of her sister,
Mrs. I. L Parker.
Mrs. I. J. Johnson has re
turned from a visit to her mo-1
bher, Mrs. Jacob Baron, in
Scotland Neck. i
Magnolia
■ • i
Dr. Lesie Campbell, of Camp
sell College, Buies Creek, was
in town Wednesday. I
Jack Rouse, Carl Tucker and
Futon Bradshaw, of C. C. C.
spent the week-end with their
parents.
Alsa Gavin returned Sunday
morning from Summer School
at Wake Forest. He will leave
Tuesday to work at Pineland
College a few weeks.
Miss Mary Emily King, of
Duke Hospital and Miss Doro
thy King of Wilmington, are
visiting their parents, Mr. and
Mrs. G. B. King.
Mr. and Mrs. Vaughn Wood
and his mother, of Burlington,
spent Friday and Friday night
with Mrs. Wood’s aunt, Miss
Ella Hall, and Miss Hall re
turned with them and will
make her home with Mr. and
Mrs. Wood. She has many
friends here whose best wishes
go with her, and will miss her.
Mr. and Mrs. Paul Pate are
moving in her house this week.
Mrs. Tom Wilson and two
children, of Fort Bragg, visit
ed her parents, Mr. and Mrs
J. H. Baker last week.
Guests of Mr. and Mrs. C. C.
Peterson last week were their
daughters, Miss Verona West,
of Durham, and Mrs. Cicero
Mudd, her husband and three
children of Rockingham.
| Mr. Roberson, cashier of the
new bank at Rose Hill was in
. town Wednesday afternoon.
Sunday morning at the Bap
tist church, the Girls Auxiliary
began the obervance of “Tocus
Week.” They wore green and
white badges, and marched in
from their class room after the
lesson and sang the G. A.
Hymn, “We’ve a story to tell
to the nations.” Miss Mary
King, a former president, gave
the Star Ideals. After Sunday
School they held their regular
meeting, led by the presdent,
Miss Alline Wilson.
The Sunbeams met at the
same hour and Florence Eliza
beth Horne assisted in leading.
Mrs. W. L. Johnson and baby
girl, Janet, of Rose Hill, are
visiting her sister, Mrs. J. A.
Smith.
Mr. and Mrs. Willard John
son, who were recently mar
ried, returned from their wed
ding trip Friday night and are
at home at his fathers, Mr.
Oscar Johnson.
Miss Elizabeth (Tucker enter
tained her young friends Fri
day night for the celebration
of her sixteenth birthday. She
received many nice gifts. Lem
onade and sandwiches were ser
ved. Out-of-town guests were
Miss Alma Wells, Messrs. Her
man Peterson, Lewis Moore,
and Frank Bland, of Harrells
Store, and Miss Melrose Sut
ton, of Kinston.
Mrs. Sallie Wells and Miss
Alline Peterson, of Harrells
Store, visited Mrs. Clara Gavin
Friday night.
Roger Willets, of Winnabow,
and Talmage Page, of Roseboro
spent Sunday with Alsa Gavin.
Mr. and Mrs. Worth Potter,
of Hamlet, are visiting her fa
ther, Mr. Tom Batts.
Miss Maude Bradshaw be
came the bride of Mr. Shelton
Batts Mach 22nd in Bennetts
ville, S.C., but it was not known
until Sunday. She had remain
ed with her parents, Mr. and
Mrs. Marvin Bradshaw, and he
had remained in i the home of
his father, Mr. fPom Batts. The
(young couple has many friends
who extend best wishes.
Mr. and Mrs. L. Guy and
Miss Cora Rivenbark, of War
saw, spent Sunday with Mr.
and Mrs. O. L. Ezzell.
Rev. J. H. Barnes preached
at Oak Vale, rural Baptist;
church Sunday afternoon from!
the subject “The Still Small
Voice.” The sermon deeply I
impressed the large congrega
1 tion present. He has promised
'to supply as Pastor for a few
* months or till definite plans
! can be made for regular pas
tor.
Miss Lucille Hollingsworth]
returned Tuesday from Mars!
1 Hill and went immediately to
Kenansville where she is tak-'
1 ing charge of Murphy Kenne
I dy’s office while he is on vaca
tion.
Mrs. Jethro Manly and three
children, of Stanton, Va., who
ire spending the Summer
tier brother, Mr. Peal
spent several days .last
with her sister, Mrs. J.
Blanchard, of Burgavtr.
Bible School Closed . . ,
The Daily Vacation Bible
School at the Methodist church,
inder the direction pf, Jlr. Jar
vis, closed Inrt Tuesday night.
Songs by the Primaries were
well sung. The Junior gave
in Scripture and song the birth
and childhood of Jesus. Scrip
ture readings were by Florence
Elizabeth Horne, Ester Baker,
Georgiana Edwards, Lessie
Merritt, Mattie Bell Register,
and Mary Helen Brown.
Mrs. Walters told the storyt
of the members of Jesus’ fam
ily, and of the nature, occupa- -
tion and development of Jesus ’
in his boyhood. Faye Pope held
the program poster. Robert
Sanderson recited with globe.
Intermediates gave interest
ing information. Lela Tucker
told how and when the Metho
dist church was founded. Oui
da Lucas gave history of the
beginning of the local Metho
dist church and on up to date
with names of all the pastors.
Analee Matthis, Norwood
Baker, Felton Rouse, and Ray
Smith gave a playlet.
The exhibit of work done by
pupils included a book of inter
esting pictures including those
of all the churches in town; a
book of scenes in Palestine,
| prepared by Juniors; a book of
special scenes of Georgiana Ed
wards on the life of Christ; andi
a book “Let’s See Jesus,” by
Florence E. Horne, Ruth Sand
erson and France! Barden,
j Two miniature buildings
! were exhibited. A house in-'
I Palestine with outside etair
! way and “Elisha’s room” on top
made by Robert and Ruth San
! derson, assisted by their sister,
I Miss Elizabeth, who was oner
| of the faculty, was a fine piece
| of work, and the Magnolia Me
thodist church and grounds
made by Miss Louise Sander
son, primary teacher, was an.'
exact model.
Streets
Do you know how many
hlocka of paved streets thprp
are ip your community? Under
the Works Progress Adminis—
1 tration good citizens, who oth
erwise would have been useless
idle, have built 100,000 blocks
of city streets and alleys.
1 _U no -LUh 111
FOR UP TO THE MINUTE SERVICE, VISIT
GU
SERVICE
Corner Main and Raleigh Sts., WALLACE, N. C.
GULF PRODUCTS - WASHING - POLISHING
GREASING
Trained Operators Modern Equipment
-1 ii'j':_SiJ-lt; V : V/_n:i?t_wmHrf rt+a_ou__mi
Why Gulf is the Gas for August
"C’MON IN, rCILAS, and cool off!”
Most days are hot in August. Gaso
line must be refined specially for this
weather. If it isn’t, part of the fuel
goes out the exhaust unburned,
wasted , . . and you don’t get the
mileage you should. Use That Good
Gulf Gasoline in August. It’s refinery
adjusted for summer weather—“Kept
in Step with the Calendar”—*// of it
goes to work, none of it goes to waste.
i
4 5 b
W W&fcr
«'%%fSSZ,