Newspapers / Jones County Journal (Trenton, … / Oct. 24, 1963, edition 1 / Page 2
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1 Don't See Any Candidate I Can't Support!' EDITORIALS Never Forget That These Editorials Are The Opinion Of One Man . - • —■ --— And He May Be Wrong The Federal Plan The majority-plus-one anarchists who operate the majority of North Carolina's ma jor newspapers are Unanimously opposed to ithe proposed amendment to the North Caro lina Constitution which would give the state one house of the general assembly based on population and the other house based on political units. They argue that there is no similarity be tween counties as:.political units of the state, and the 50 states being political units of the nation. This is too absurd to dwell at any great length upon. They also claim that each vote ought to have just as much force as another vote; (this is where they occupy the position of anarchy that is the inevitable fruit of this “democratic” approach to government. If the federal congress were to be con stituted along the lines they claim to be just for North Carolina it would only require nine states to muster over half the nation’s population. This would then permit these nine states to dictate taxes—and every other facet of government for the other 41 states. In North Carolina 20 counties have a ma jority of the state's population. If North Carolina follows the illogic of these who op pose the “Little Federal Plan” we ultimately will wind up with such a small handfull of counties in our state in complete control of both houses of the general assembly. We argue that there is far less danger in a legislative system that permits 51 counties —spread over every part of the state—to have a majority in just one house of the general assembly than to have just 20 coun ties, mostly concentrated in the Piedmont, controlling both houses of the assembly. The majority-plus-one proponents ap parently prefer a legislative situation in which just 20 counties—four in East Caro lina, one in West Carolina—and the other 15 in Central Carolina could completely rule the roost. Let’s hope this illogic does not prevail. One More Step Herald-Tribune columnist, Art Buchwald, recently knocked out a few words in sup port of more TV commercials, rather than less as some unimaginative FCC clod sug gested. We agree with Buchwald. The best writ ers, and the best music are now in commer cials. Art complains that for years he has been waiting for one of those soap ad girls to climb out of the tub, but at just about the time one moves to the edge of his chair off goes the commercial, and as he says, "‘You , find yourself staring at ‘Wagon Train’ and . some dirty old ranch hand eating beans with his fingers.” Buchwald says no recent prize fight could match an exhibition between the parents of the kids who were given the wrong kind of toothpaste and tfee parents of the kids who had “25 per cent less cavities”. But we never have a commercial loqg enough to take a look at the kids | Then there are the seashore, mountain top and springtime scenes with the beautiful babe sucking on a cigaret and looking into her man’s eyes with that dee-doqble-dare glint, which ends before the clinch an<f sud denly Dr. Kildare is paring » bunion. And these “unrehearsed” panels who are sitting around talking about the kind of soap they wash dishes with. There never was a quiz show any more certainly fixed than these hoaxes. Can you imagine what could happen if one of these wCre allowed to play out its hand. ' 1 For pure drama, beautiful music, comedy there is Ettle on TV today to compare with the commercials. The sudden headache cure i* more thrill ing than an astronaut take off. , The sudden end to "BO” is a greater scien tific marvel than a Polaris Yes, the future of TV li less commercials. And we fess there is little writing in i compare with the ads. ■ 'n-vrWli',-!; Today we look back upon the exercise irt morality called "Prohibition” and laugh at such things as "Bathtub Gin”, “Near Beer”, "Revenooers”, the old still in the hill, and we tend to forget how corrupting"this effort to legislate morals really was. ' The bought cop, the general contempt for alf law, the politicians who staggered to their desks to vote “Dry”, the agonizing deaths from bootleg poison, the debasing sneak drinking, the filthy “Blind Tigers”, the growth of organised crime around a na tion's thirst that would not he quenched by even so terrible a forte as the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union—the most in temperate bunch of wenches ever known. Today the political effort is being spent on equalizing the white and negro citizens of this country irt court, school, cafes, busses and even in toilets. And caught up in this .frenzied hurricane of do-goodness one can only be glad that Carrie Nations and Martin Luther Kings do not occupy the center of ‘he comic Stage at the same time. Nature, and politics have the saving grace "flict mere mortals with too many ,uu, phenomena at one time. Ten years from now one, if he survives the frustrations of this era, will look fcjtck with,some wonder on such sights, as Presi dents fawning before backwater preachers with the morals of a rutting goat and the intellect of a drunk pig. .We’ll laugh at the supreme court’s backside kissing stnd politi cal venality. Wonder what we’ll be feeding our ulcers on then? Is This Justice? Monday the United States Supreme Court agreed to hear arguments that two Lenoir County negroes were deprived of their con stitutional rights because negroes were syste matically barred from jury duty in the coun ity where they committed and confessed an extremely brutal robbery and murder. Is this justice? We hope that no American would deny a single defendant at the bar of justice any .tangible defense. But is the fact that a jury had no members of a particular race, parti cular religion, particular political persuasion a sufficient ground for freeing men whoi have confessed, freely and in open court to the most brutal of crimes? Of course, in the first instance the issue raised by defense counsel for these confessed murderers is NOT true, but even presuming it were true; can the absence or presence of any group at time of trial be offered as either an excuse or an extenuation for the criminals ? Justice is perhaps correctly proclaimed to be blind, but must it also be stupid ? The Need Is Clear The need is clear for a community college in Lenoir County, but there is doubt about the desire of the people in the county for such a school Faced with increasing taxes in every direc tion more and more of us are .making the mistake of slashing, or resisting those taxes closest to us, and accepting as inevitable the heavy hand. layed on our pocketbooks by Raleigh and Washington. We believe that when and . if the people of tenoir County learn the facts, and the figures about a community college they will not only be willing, but will be anxious to support thiSk logical step as well as the con solidation of the county’s school systems and the scattered, tiny rural high schools, which along with the need for an institution of higher learning are the pressing needs of this community in the sphere of education. Published Every Thursday by The Lenoir County News Company, Inc., 403 West Vernon Ave, Kinston, N. C., Phone JA 3 375. Entered as Second- Class Matter May JACK RIDER Although there’s not much danger of any thing being done any time soon it is Of some importance to note that the South Atlantic Division Office of the Army Corps of Engineers has recommended construction of a $14,900,000 dam across Neuse River at Cherry Point to protect the areas above that dam from hurricane flood waters. There are a great many qualifications kf this recommendation, including that some “responsible state agency” must agree to put up about $4,450,000 of this total cost and assume maintenance of the dam once it’s built. Actually it is not a dam that’s being rec ommended, but a barrier reef that would extend some 10,400 feet, leaving an open 18 foot channel of some 350 feet for the passage of shipping, and flow of the river. The reasoning behind this project is that when heavy northeast storms sweep Pamlico Sound they pile water up into the, lower reaches of Neuse River and as that water pours upstream in the narrow confines around Hew Bern serious damage results, with threat to life as well as property. Prope>ty owners and residents below this proposed barrier reef argued at the time the proposal was made that holding the water back would make flooding more serious in Pamlico and Carteret counties which flank the lower reaches of the Neuse. But the boys with the slide rules figured that the volume of water held back from, the narrow areas of die Neuse above Cherry Point would be inconsequential in the wide reaches from Cherry Point to 'the sound. They said the amount of water that would add feet to the upper Neuse level would only add inches to the lower areas. Being a hydrographic engineer, who holds a PA degree from Grainger High School I feel compelled to note that there are other considerations than just those in the time of flood. Closing—or so nearly closing a two mile wide river and confining the ebb and flow of tide, and freshets to passage in such a small channel would result in several things: First, and most likely it would make that upper section of the river into a huge cesspool, where so little movement of the water would tend to have a stagnating harm. Granted that such a harrier reef might be used as a highway with a drawbridge con necting Pamlico and Carteret counties there is a very "strong possibility- that it would not stand the test of nature, neither from the outpouring of fresh water from the Upper Neuse, nor in the reverse inpouring of Hur ricane swept waters from the huge expanse of Pamlico Sound. Believe me, I do not doubt the ability of mortal man to hinder or even to help the forces of nature, but there is to my mind a (limit beyond which money ought not to be spent in this efort. It’s rather like putting a man on the moon. It’s a good trick, and perhaps possible, and this Neuse River bar rier reef is surely possible from an engineer ing point oi view, but is it worth What it will cost initially and over the-years? Closing a two-mile wide river is a big job and it willcost big money. Much bigger money than this original estimate, and to justify suchbig money being taken from the taxpayers .there ought to be a very big and pressing need for such a project. In my 46 years New Bem has been severely hit only twice by hurricane caused floods. This is bad, and I hope it does not happen again, but is trying to prevent this worth even what, this estimate is fixed at? Especially when there are features of this; prove to be far more a early speculation has taken tion. ■ 'f.
Jones County Journal (Trenton, N.C.)
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Oct. 24, 1963, edition 1
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