Newspapers / Jones County Journal (Trenton, … / Oct. 12, 1967, edition 1 / Page 1
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NUMBER 24 TRENTON, N. C., THURSDAY, OCTOBER 12, 1967 VOLUME XIX King Nicotine Sits Uncomfortably on His Throne His Imperial Nicotinish Majesty Tobacco still is monarch of Tobaccoland USA but his crown sits less securely on his tall, worried head today than at anytime in his 50-year reign. King Cotton was sent into exile at the turn of the century, and since this King Nicotine has ruled in good years and in bad, but now his subjects are restless. Outside threats are being made, and the future is less certain than ever before in his tenure. Stories on the front page and on page five spell out in some detail, and with some guess ing what the future may hold for His Majesty. Recorder Clears Two-Week Backlog in Last Friday Session; Many Appeals Judge Joe Becton held a lengthy session of Recorder’s Court Friday, October 6, due to a backlog of cases that had ac cumulated from the previous week while Superior Court was in session. Four persons were found not guilty on charges of assault and assault with a deadly weapon that stemmed from a scrap in a juke and beer joint on the Ellis Lake Road. Charged with assault with a deadly, weapon were brothers Tyrod and Theodore Smith of Star Route, Maysville, and charg ed with assault were brothers John Emanuel Jones and Wil liam Earl 'Jones also of Star Route, Maysville. The Jones boys had previous records for assault. Judge Becton found the Jones and Smith boys not guilty be cause the victim of the assault, Raymond Hatchell, started the affray by calling the boys names and cursing them. Three cases of persons passing worthless checks came before the Court. W. Bryan Hargett of Route 2, Richlands, who passed a check for $2,092.14, requested a jury trial in Superior Court. Hargett, whose case has been continued by Judge Becton since August, has civil suits in the ap proximate amount of $100,000 against him, and ,is currently under extradition proceedings to South Carolina for worthless checks there. Ivey R. Metts of Belgrade was found guilty of passing a worth less check and was sentenced to jail for 30 days to work the pub lic roads; sentence suspended on condition he pay restitution and costs. ! James W. Bryant of Pollocks ville was found guilty of passing a worthless check and ordered to make restitution and costs. Judge Becton was also lenient on the reckless driving cases brought before him. Bobby Hans ley of Maysville, charged with reckless driving and failure to obey a stop sign was found guil ty on the reckless driving charge and made to pay a $10 fine and costs. Freddie Alton Spence, 24, of James City, New Bern, charged with reckless driving, received a prayer for judgment continued on payment of costs. Douglas Hooks, 26, of Route 1 Pollocksville who was charged with reckless driving and leav ing the scene of an accident,'had his case dismissed for failure of the plaintiff to appear. Another case dismissed by Judge Becton was that of James Ray Moore of Poilocksville charged with non-support and temporary larceny. Both Moore and the plaintiff failed to ap pear. Cleo N. Franklin, 20, of Route 1, Poilocksville was found guilty of failing to make a safe turn. Franklin appealed his case to Superior Court and bond was set at $100. There were two cases of driv ing under the influence: David L. Barfield, 26, of Route 1 Tren ton requested a jury trial in Su perior Court and bond was set at $100. Elii$ Joseph Roberts, 30, also of Route 1 Trenton, was found guilty of driving under the in fluence and sentenced to 60 days in jail to work the public roads; sentence suspended on condition he pay a $100 fine and costs. In an unusual action, Milton Barber of Maysville, who was charged with assault on a fe male, had the warrant against him withdrawn and court costs paid by the plaintiff. Defendants waiving appear ance and paying fines and court costs were: Sp/4 Davie Hickman, 29, of Dover, $26 for speeding 70 mph in a 60 mph zone, Ralph W. Mallard Jr., 29, of Route 1 Trenton, $13 for violation of the inspection laws, John Andrew Thomas, 65-year-old man of Maysville, $29 for driving a truck without a chauffeur’s li cense, and Aulander Barfield, 40, of Route 1 Trenton, $29.50 for driving without a driver’s license. Four Arrests in Jones County Jones County Sheriff W. Brown Yates reports the follow ing arrests during the past week: Dale Harrington Tyndall, 23, of 111 S. Independent St., Kinston, charged by arresting officer R. R. Mason with being drunk on the public highways. Floyd Roy Wade, of 26-P Si mon Bright Apartments, Kin ston, charged by R. R. Mason with driving under the in fluence. Odell Chance, 42, of New Bern, charged by State Trooper B. 0. Mercer with being drunk on the highways. And, John Wheeler Lockley, 48, of Maysville who was charg ed by Deputy Sheriff Milton Ar thur with public drunkenness and possession of non-tax-paid whiskey. TOBACCO FARMERS FACING BANKRUPTCY UNLESS LABOR PROBLEM IS SOLVED (Perhaps it is stretching the facts to declare “Tobacco Farm ers Facing Bankruptcy Unless Labor Problem is Solved”, but there are more tobacco farmers who will agree than disagree with this statement. There are many reasons why this is true, or so nearly true as to be frightening to those who get their grits and gravy from this fabulous weed, and here in the heart of Tobaccoland, USA, this includes a very large part of the population. In the past 25 years every agricultural commodity except tobacco has been mechanised to the point , where only a fraction of the labor previously reguir ed Isne&Jed to produce a crop — and generally a better crop than was produced before with more labor. Man-hours per 100 bushels of com have fiOlen in the 193540 eriod from 106 to 11. Man-hours per 100 bushels of wheat in the same period fell from 67 to 11. Man-hours per ton of hay fell from 9.1 to 3.1. Man-hours per ton of Irish potatoes fell from 20 to 5. Man-hours per bale of cotton fell from 209 to 48. Man-hours per 100 pounds of milk fell from 3.4 to 1.03. Man-hours per 100 pounds of beef fell from 4.2 to 2.7. Man-hours per 100 pounds of hogs fell from 3.2 to 2.1. Man-hours per 100 laying hens fen from 172 to 105. Man-hours per 100 eggs pro duced feU from 1.7 to 0.6. Man-hours per 100 pounds of broilers produced feU from 9 to 4.5..f- ■ Man-hours per 100 pounds of turkeys produced fell from 23.7 to 2.8. But man-hours per acre of to bacco increased from 415 Ini 1985' to 493 in I960. For a long time the tobacco iMAHl m farmer could bridge this gap oi increasing labor costs by i n creasing per-acre yield (from a national average of 886 pounds per acre in 1935 to 1880 pounds per acre in 1960). This increased yield dropped the man-hours per 100 pounds of tobacco from 47 hours in ‘35 to 26 hours in ’60. But now tobacco is allotted by pounds, eliminating this escape by increasing per acre yields, and this year the final hammer thpt has knocked John Henry Tobacco in the head is the extension of minimum wage laws to cover an increasingly large per cent of those who work in tobacco. And at any price good labor is no longer available for the hot, nasty job of putting in green tobacco. ' In this.same period production has gained in all other fields of agriculture. Cord yield per acre has risenfroto 26.1 to 61.9 bush els per acre, wheat from 13.2 to 25.4 bushels. Hay from 1.24 to 1.75 tons per acre. Cotton from 226 pounds to 475 pounds per acre. Milk per cow from 4,401 pounds to 7,400 pounds per year. Eggs from 100 to 180 per year per hen. Now tobacco is trapped be tween a frozen production factor and an ever-increasing cost of production factor. Taxes of eVery kind, cost of every machine, ingredient and labor used to produce tobacco are moving steadily upward. The price of tobacco has mov ed up, but nothing to compare vyith the prices of all those things used to produce tobacco. Farm prices have not hit 100 per cent of parity in a single year since ,1950. Real estate taxes on farms jumped from $40l million in 1940 to $1,546 million in 1964 — almost a 400 per cent in crease. Total income from tobacco to the farmer only rose from $1, 061 million in 1950 to $1,186 million in 1965. Tobacco as a per cent of the gross national farm income for this period fell from 3.7 per cent to 3 per cent. All of these sad statistics are well known to those who are seriously concerned about the immediate future of the tobacco farmer. These statistics are merely a recitation of the problem. What are the solutions to these problems? Solutions? Bulk curing is considered by many to foe like handing a drowning man a brick. Forcing an expenditure that runs into thousands of dollars onto a business that is already nearing the breaking point is . not con sidered by many to be a solu (Continuod on page 8) mm
Jones County Journal (Trenton, N.C.)
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Oct. 12, 1967, edition 1
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