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EDWARD A. YUZIUK - EDITOR G PUBLISHER
CAROLYN R. YUZIUK - ASSOCIATE EDITOR
MISS PATSY BRIGGS - OFFICE MANAGER
FLOYD GEOUGE - PRODUCTION
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PUBLISHED EVERY THURSDAY BY
YANCEY PUBLISHING COMPANY
SECOND CLASS POSTAGE PAID AT BURNS VILLE,N,C.
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 29, 1970 NO. FORTY-FOUR
SUBSCRIPTION RATES $3.00/YEAR
OUT OF COUNTY $5.00/YEAR
SENATOR A
SAM ERVIN g&A
☆ SAYS * iOPi
WASHINGTON - - Congress just before the mid-October
recess passed two major anti-crime bills. These were the Or
ganized Crime Control Act and the Drug Abuse Prevention
and Control Act.
I supported these measures which seek to deal more es -
fectively with two of the most serious problems confronting
our nation; i. e., crime and drug abuse.
The Organized Crime Control Act was initially formula -
ted in the Senate Subcommittee on Criminal Laws and Pro -
cedures, of which Senator John McClellan is Chairman and
of which lam a member. Its major objectives are to cure
defects in the process of gathering evidence against organisd
crime, to limit abuse of pretrial proceedings by defense coun
sel, to extend Federal jurisdiction over syndicated gambling
and corruption, to attack the take-overs of legitimate busi -
nesses by racketeers, and to authorize longer prison terms
for dangerous offenders.
The Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act seeks to unify
and revise the penalty structure of our Federal narcotics laws
and to provide new tools for their enforcement by Federal
agencies. It also expands programs of rehabilitation, treat
ment and drug abuse education. 1 regret that this Act does
authorize so-called "no knock" searches by the police in drug
raids. I offered an amendment to strike this provision, be
cause in my judgment such a provision authorizes unreason -
able searches and seizures which are expressly forbidden by
the Constitution, and puts in jeopardy the traditional Anglo-
Saxon concept that "a man's home is his castle. "
Like most other Americans, I am alarmed about the spread
of crime in our country. But, I think that we must resist the
temptation to simply pass a Federal law which is based upon
an emotional ree ction to rising crime rates and which negates
human experience and basic Constitutional guarantees for all
individuals, both good and bad. Most of the provisions of
these crime laws are good in principle, and yet I found dur
ing my study of them that there is much need to care fully
scrutinize every title to keep this legislation on a. ration al
and Constitutional plane.
One of the problems in dealing with anti-crime bills is
that we are tempted to adopt the most drastic measures to
deal with a particular crime that has been in the news. How
ever, one must recognize in the drafting of such legislat ion
that it is impractical to impose too great a punishment for a
criminal offense for the simple reason that juries will not
convict in cases where people think the accrued: may get ex
cessive punishment. When that occurs, the jury can negate
all of the punishment imposed by statute simply by stretchirg
the doctrine of "reasonable doubt" to an unreasonable degree.
Thus, in Committee and on the Senate floor, I have
sought to see to it that these anti-crime bills are based upon
sound logic and Constitutional doctrine. lam pleased to
say that some of my amendments and suggestions for the im
provement of these bills were accepted, and I regret to say
that others were not.
One of the major anti-crime needs yet to be met by le -
gislation is to have speedy trials in our criminal courts. On
June 9th, I introduced a bill to require trials of Federal cri -
minal cases within 60 days. While there is insufficient time
to secure passage of this bill at the present session, I intend
to press for action upon it at the next session, because I be
lieve it is one of the most effective anti-crime deterrents.
PTA White Elephant Sale
Burnsville PTA will have a
White Elephant Sale at their
annual Harvest Festival, No
vember 13. Such articles as
books, toys, vases, dishes, etc
are needed. Anyone willing to
donate any article contact Mr.
Bob Proffitt, Harvest Festival
Chairman, at 682-2332.
Dear Editors
I have just read the Bill Hess
speech on the Yancey County
schools. It is a thoughtful pre
sentation.
My legal residence is Boca
•Raton, Florida. We love these
mountains and spend six month
of the year in our cottage on
Cattail Creek. My productive
life was given to the education
of our wonderful youngsters. So
the speech struck a responsive
chord in me. It brought to
mind that the U. S. Chamberof
Commerce once fought the im
position of taxes for school pur
poses. The National Educa -
tion Association then published
research figures showing that a
close relationship existed be
tween the educational outlay
. of a community and its econo
mic and social status. After
taking a good look at the sta
tistics, and then verifying them,
the Chamber of Commerce did
an about face.
My own attitude toward
taxes is one of acquiescence..
They do things for me which I
could never do for myself. I
have no fault to find with the
tax levy against our mount a in
cottage, or did, until I read
your publication. Now I have
the feeling that someone, or
some group is "gyping" me of
true value by their handling of
the public school system of this
county.
Respectfully yours
F. Edgar Lane
P. S. Keep up your good work
for the schools... F. E. L.
★
Dear Editor:
As a citizen of YanceyGoun
ty, I have been sitting back
watching the trend of changing
times here. I can say "thank
God" for good ole Yancey ci
tizens. I did not realize when
Meeting Slated
The North Carolina School .
Board Association Meeting
will be held in Charlotte on
November 13 and 14. Dr.
Craig Phillips will be the key
note speaker. James McCon -
nell, Westinghouse Learning
Corporation will be the Ban
quet Speaker. Dr. Amos Ab
rams will present his address
at the Saturday Morning Break
fast, November 14.
Members of the Yancey Co.
Board of Education attending
will LE. Clevenger, A. F.
Blankenship, Albert Edwards
and Landrum Wilson.
B Os E Meeting
Members of the Yancey
County Board of Education and
County Commissioners met in
an informal conference Satur
day and discussed ways and
means of financing sac i 1 ity
needs for the schools.
Under present budget con
ditions additional funds are rot
available for any major alter
ations of school plants.
The Commissioners and Edu
cation Board will meet with
the Local Government Com -
mission in Raleigh,
Letters To The Editor
I was going to school in Burns
ville High that the day would
come that the people here
would come together in our
county and fight for better
schools for the children. I think
that day is just around the cor
ner. I also didn't realize at
the time I was going to school
here that the squabbles in dif
ferent sections of the county
were not hurting the older ge
neration, but hurting us, as
school kids, instead.
I was gone from the county
for some 12 years. Then I took
my children out of real good
schools and returned to the
people and home that I love.
All three of my children are
in school at Burnsville, and the
oldest, Kathy 9, is in fourth
grade and goes to class in the
basement of the old Agricul -
tural Building.
But I believe, with all my
heart, that in the hands of
the people of Yancey County
they will soon be in schools
we will all be proud of. Poli
tics is out. This is just com
mon horse sense that Yancey
Countians are blessed with...
Let's not grow long hair and
march, but get together and
The Federal Government has recently spent more than a
million dollars in a two-year study of pornography. The
residential Commission on Obscenity and Violence has ren
dered its verdict: Pornography and obscenity are good, not
injurious. That’s probably what Walter Jenkins told the boys
at the “Y.” Since President Johnson appointed all but one of
the 18-member commission, it is reasonable to believe a
majority of them are probably obscene themselves.
The Commission said: “The Commission is of the view
that it is exceedingly unwise to attempt to legislate individual
moral values and standards.”
It would be exceedingly wise for citizens to once again legis
late such things on the local level, imposing such proven
effective remedies as public whipping posts, tar and feathers,
and jail. The morality breakdown is worldwide, all per
vading, overwhelming. But that is no reason to accept it.
“First we abhor, then we endure, finally we embrace.” We
become what we condone.
Believe it or not, 1 can still remember how embarrassed I
was when I came out in my first topless bathing suit. But
modesty, male and female, is almost obliterated. Most of the
women today want to show everything, either blatantly or
in a now-you-see-it-now-you-don’t technique. “If you’ve got
it, show it,” is the attitude today. Reminds me of the woman
who didn’t have it, explaining why she wouldn’t dream of
walking topless on the beach. “The first guy I’d meet would
probably stop me and say, ‘Hi buddy, got a match?’ ”
Our best recourse is to the Congress. Maybe a majority
.of them are decent. Many are not. There are several homo
sexuals and more than several notorious philanderers in Con
gress. And Teddy Kennedy (“Greater love hath no man
than this, that he laid down his friends for his life”). But a
majority of our Senators and Congressmen could doubtless be
prevailed upon—with proper pressure from home—to pass an
anti-obscenity bill. Senator Dirksen introduced one (5.1077)
shortly before his death. We can’t depend on the Supreme
Court. It may improve somewhat under Burger, but one of
its own members (as well as the Governor of a Southern
state) reportedly has one of the nation’s “outstanding”
pornographic collections.
Obscenity and pornography, and in fact all censorship,
should J>e “local option.” What’s obscene in New York—
and most of it is—would doubtless be obscene anywhere. But
what’s obscene in the town of Happy Valley, probably would
not be obscene in New York. I was in “Fun City” recently,
unhappily, after an absence of a couple of years. Up and
down Lexington and other avenues, in downtown Manhattan,
arc magazines and newspapers displayed depicting every con
ceivable, and some inconceivable, kind of sex, natural and
unnatural. Some of these newstands are on the public side
walks, where any little seven-year-old girl, walking by,
couldn't avoid seeing the vilest pictures imaginable. In Happy
Valley, the news vendor would not merely lose his license;
he’d probably lose a few teeth, too.—American Way Features
JV®)
Str*oLiglT-t Y t&SDZ.
By Tom Anderson
WE BECOME WHAT WE CONDONE
have better schools. Not for
you and I who have a1 r e ady
missed the boat, but for our
children.
I know from experience that
they will appreciate this more
than anything we can do for
them when they take that big
step into the world.
Donald N. Banks
Amberjack Restaurant
★
Dear Editor:
I'd like to thank each per
son who visited and helped my
mother, Mrs. Maclj Blanken -
ship. She fell 3 months ago
and fractured her back and was
confined to bed for several
days. Because of friends and
neighbors like these, her days
seemed brighter and not so long.
I'd like to thank Sheriff Ke
rmit Banks especially for eech
visit. He is a very busy man,
I'm sure, yet he takes time to
visit the sick like his father
used to do.
Thank you all so very much
and God Bless you for all your
kindness.
Mrs. Cleo Fox
Winston-Salem