JACK RIDER, Publisher
MURIEL RTDfiR, Business Manager
Published Every Thursday by The Lenoir County News Company
Inc.; 403 West Vernon Ave., Kinston, N, a, Phone 6418
Entered as Second Class Matter May 18, (949 at the Post Office
a* Trenton, Nofth Carolina, Under the Act of March 3, 1879.
By Mall In First Zone—$3.00 per year.
Subscription R&tes Payable In Advance
Never Forget That the Editorials in The Journal are
the Op Ini mis of One Man, and He. May Be Wrong.
■V
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Is Profit The Goal?
99
. That question above was asked recently in an editorial in
a local semi-daily paper by its chief keeper of the keys and utilities
expert who has,insistently urged upon the community a plan
for electric power -that would ultimately lead to the end of the
road for the city-owned power plant which today pays 63 per
cent of the folllsfor the entire rest of the city government «after
paying Its own tillls. In asking such a simple question a lament
able lack of understanding Is exhibited on the civic “facts of
life” that even cub reporter* should understand.
If H Is profit to have the finest city in Eastern Carolina, If
it Is profit to have the finest recreation program in the state, if
It is proftl to have a greater percentage of paved streets than
any city in the state, If It is profit to have the finest fire de
partment in the state, if it is profit to have a well-equipped and
outstanding police department, If It is profit to give fast and
efficient service to those who want water and sewer lines,
if it is profit to give every municipal service available to any
community in the state—plus many more—then profit may be
the goal of the City of Kinston’s electric power policy.
Not one cent of the "exhorbitant prices” paid for power in
Kinston is used except for the betterment of the community.
This semi-daily paper, The Kinston Daily Free Press, which has
come from a pauperized and staggering Infancy into wealth and
position while paying these prices for power stands today as the
most valuable newspaper property in Eastern North Carolina
including many in cities which have the cheaper power that its
owner insists is the golden key to civic advance. i
Under the program of improved Kniston t.hn,+. nave
been financed almost totally by the “profits” from this power
plant the town has caught and passed many cities and is still
marching toward even greater successes.
The question arrives finally at rare simple decision: Do the
people of Kinston want to ..
Scott’s Paving Policy
We have largely been a constant critic of Governor Keer
Scott but In our less bitter moments we have been Inclined to
admire the man for his brash spirit which was refreshing in
a sphere largely given to “sweet talk” and the patent language
of the "double talk.” Scott has been a man of extreme con
victions and actions. He has above all kept about him, at most
times, a rough-and-ready sense of humor that has softened many
critics and silenced many opponents.
Nothing In his character, however, Is sufficient explanation
or excuse for his sudden and deliberate decision to spend an
additional $750,000 on the secondary road system of his native
Almance County. He says his county has been neglected under
the 200 million dollar expenditure his administration has made
on the state’s secondary roads. He says if Alamance County does
not get its “Pair” share while he is in office it is not likely
to ever get an “even break.”
Such a statement is a direct and slanderous insult to the
Chairman of the State Highway and Public Works Commission
and to the 10 district highway commissioners who have paid
such abject homage to him throughout his administration. He
says, in effect, to them, “you have not been fair in your allocation
of funds so I must now go over your head to the time of three
quarters of a million dollars and coprect your sins of ommission.”
Some central figures in the government have said that it
- was well within the power of the Governor to make such a
grab. His insult has been swallowed and sanctioned by the very
men he has so bitterly castigated since they have voted “aye”
to his decision to right their wrongs. ^
We have not been in Alamance County since Scott has been
Governor. We do not know If the county has been “wronged” by
his administration. We make no accusations one way or another
on this score. But we do qay there are counties here in Eastern
Carolina, Including Jones, that have not had their fair share
of that 200 million dollar road bond issue. We say they have not
nearly received the allocation promised to them when the' bond
election was being waged. Does that also mean that It is within
the power of the District Highway Commissioner, a native of
Janes County, to reach into the till and snatch out such a hunk
of cash to right the wrongs visited on his county?
W« «asert that the snatch may be legal but surely not pnoraL
A Wasted Reminder
we could save a little space and time by skipping
piece of advice to those who are about to enjoy that
rgalth occasioned by the sale of the tobacco crop. But
I thafwe should remind these tacky thousands of a tew
falls that await them-«ome that are planned for their
-i---------^
Above all don’t carry around a lot of cash. Leave It in the
bank; it’s as safe there up to $10,000 as the Government of the
United States. ,
If you insist on carrying around a heavy roll of hills, don’t
let the wad come into view of anyone, whether friend or enemy.
If you must have “a little wine for the stomach’s sake,”
don’t drive. Half the folks convicted of drunken driving are those
who have just had “one drink or two beers.” •
% If you have to drive, don't drink.
When you go shopping don’t leave packages in your car or
truck unless there is someone there to watch theim.
If you feel like you just have to leave some packages alone
in the car—lock it. That won’t help keep the thief out but it
will slow hhn down considerably.
To the merchants who usually get stuck at this time of the
year—don’t cadi checks for strangers without thorough inves
tigation. Ignore us and you’ll regret it.
they point
that they have made several
hundred arrests on US 258 in
the past year hut most of them
are made between midnight and
ftayllght when the Marines come
flying back to camp. That's an
I hour at which they iihrdly have
! a if opportunity to see or be seen
j by lawyer Price.
It seems that out of the half
dozen or so people who regularly
read this column that there
should W others who would like
to get some argument off their
chest and hi the public’s, eye.
You can have It anytime you
like and I’ll pay you to write.
The only restriction, as I said be
fore Is that you not write libel
ously.
This is the time of the year
when an of the sweat and doubt
of months of hard labors pays
off in this , put of the world
with a rich harvest of dollars.
This is not* only true of the men
and women—and children, who
sweat in the fields with the to
bacco but is also largely true
of those of us here to town who
more or leascoastalong and try
to stall, off those we owe until
King Tobacco opens his coffers
and passes out his largess. All
of us work throughout the year
but we Just manage to get by
during the rest of the year and
our “luxury money” comes in
during the lush time when the
auctioneer 1s singing his rich
toned song.
In Kinston since September,
1990, we have been living in a
kind of mad industrial swirl
what with all tile dreams of
DuPont and the bulging payrolls
dropping into local cash regis
ters from BtalMng Pleld and the
contract flying school operated
there-by Serv-Air, Inc. But i
is the sobering . time
of us must face, and face for
many years to come, that farm
ing is ,still the big boss, in our
neck of the woods and'at the
top of the farm totem pole is
co'toStowada^lfmonto^st
year more than forty million
dollars were dumped out from
local warehouses for the nearly
eighty million pounds of tobacco
that were sold on the Kinston
market. For weeks cm mid more
than a million dollars per day
were paid out through Kinston
banks for that fabulous nlcotin
ish weed that has such a big
percentage of the people a slave
to it in one form or another.
Last year a friend visited me
and inquired what kept a town
as large as Kinston going in
spite of the fact that there were
no large industrial payrolls In
the town. I replied by pointing
out that tobacco fanners in the
Kinston trading ' area have an
annual payroll of something near
50 million dollars. The size of
this Is better understood when
one realises that the Du Pont
folks estimate that their annual
payroll out at ther plant will not
be too much beyond, five million
bucks per year.
Add to this money received by
the fanners the considerable
payroll paid out to the men and
women who work in local ware
houses and tobacco factories
and you still see what dog’s tall
Is wagging this community.
Some of us have been prone to
forget, or at least minimise, the
everlasting importance of a
sound and stable farm program
under the federal government.
' I, likfe everyone else, get irked,
and frequently, with some of the
red tape that pours out of Wash
ington but on the Whole I’m a
lot more pleased than I am mad
dened. Take for Instance what
the economy of this section
would' have been Hite today If
scientists, largely paid for by
the local government, had not
perfected a strain of tobacco re
sistant' to black shank and'
Granville wilt We would have
ornery as any type we know, taut
let us not forget for one alnnte
thatfhe is the man that brings
home most of the bacon eaten
In this section *rhere our table
is placed. Knowing that this to
bacco tyrant Is the boas should
continually cause us to seek to
add other legs to our economy,
farm and urban. It la fright
eningly dangerous for any area
to depend on Just one crop or
just one industry. Suppose those
scientists had not found a to
bacco strain resistant to black
shank and Granville wilt. Where
would we be today? Let us re
spect old King Tobacco, but let
us work even harder toward a
cash-bearing livestock Industry
In our section coupled with an
ever-expanding industrial com
bine to absorb the labor that Is
being dropped by the way each
year by mechanized farming.
Sgt. John Langston
Gets Bronze Star
With the 7th Infantry Dlv. In
Korea—Sgt. John W. Langston,
whose wife, Mary, lives In Dover,
N. C., was recently awarded the
Bronze Star Medal In Korea.
He was cited for heroism In
action with the 7th Infantry
Division when he probed deep
Into enemy lines and sketched
the positions of enemy artillery.
These sketches were used for a
series of important air strikes.
Sergeant Langston distinguish
ed himself on May 8t|195£ near
Ohichon, Korea.
His citation reads in part:
’ “On May 8, 1952, Sergeant
Langston led a reconnaissance1
patrol into enemy territory with
the mt«plon of observing and
identifying enemy activities'and
locations of artillery emplace
ments which had been firing on
friendly positions.. Aware of the
danger involved in daylight pa
trols,' Sergeant Langston, ac
companied by another member
of the patrol, began to penetrate
deeper into enemy territory.
“Although at any moment
they could have been discov
ered, Sergeant Landston unhesi
tantly moved forward to a po
sition 2000 yards in front of the
patrol’s original position. In this
advanced position, Sergeant
Langston accurately sketched
the position of two previously
unidentified artillery pieces.
“The heroic action of Ser
geant Langston reflects great
credit on himself and the mil
itary service.’*
He also holds the Korean Ser
vice Medal with one campaign
star, UN Service Ribbon and the
CombQ|t. Infantrymen Badge.
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