THE JONES COUNTY
NUMBER 12 TRENTON, N. C., THURSDAY, JULY 24, 1969 VOLUME XVD
Senator Sam Ervin Proposing New
Legislation Attacking Pornography
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Congress and the Administra
tion have been laying the ground
work for a broad new attack on
“smut peddling” with particular
emphasis on protecting children
from exposure to the filth mar
terials which are flooding the
mails.
In recent months, I have co
sponsored three measures which
deal with obscenity and partic
ularly the transportation through
the mails of pornographic ma
terials. Anyone who looks at
the magazine stands these days
will find an unbelievable amount
of hard-core pornography for
sale. Not only that, but it is a
rare individual who does not re
ceive through the mails unsolic
ited advertising for erotic pub
lications. I have received' hun
dreds of letters from North Car
olinians protesting the intrus
ion by filth peddlers of their
homes.
I agree with those constituents
who have complained about the
torrent of obscenity which has
been unleashed upon our so
ciety, and feel that Congress
should take reasonable action
under the Constitution to deal
with it. On March 27, 1969, I
cosponsored a measure introduc
ed by Senator Allen to protect
minors against the harmful ef
fects stemming from the sale or
distribution of obscene materials
through the mails by means of
interstate commerce. On May 8,
1969, I cosponsored two Admin
istration bills introduced by Sen
ator Dirksen which deal with ob
) scenity. The Administration
measures prohibit the use of in
terstate facilities, including the
mails, for the transportation of
pornographic materials to min
ors, and prohibit the use of in
terstate facilities including the
mails for transportation of sal
acious advertising.
One might ask how the cur
rent situation wnicn is ununax
ing millons of Americans ever
developed. Part of the problem
relates to what many call our
“permissive” society. Parents,
schools, and churches have fail
ed to exercise control over our
children and the values they ac
quire, as they once did. Sfut
part of the problem stems too
from the 1957 decision of the
Supreme Court in the Roth case.
In effect, that case allegedly
permitted the distribution of
erotic literature which had even
the slightest redeeming social
ideas under its interpretation
of the First Amendment. Subse
quently, in the Redrup case, the
Court announced a slight modi
fication of the Roth rule, when
it said that if any obscenity sta
tute was designed! specifically
to protect juveniles, the Roth
rule would not, of itself, be
ground for declaring the obscen
ity statute invalid.
The current legislative approach
comes within the bounds of the
Redrup doctrine, for it empha
sizes keeping smut away from
children and teenagers.
Any legislation on a subject
which involves the freedom of
speech and the press as weighed
against the individual’s right to
protection against unwanted in
trusions by purveyors of the
filth and smut encounters draft
manship problems. Most Ameri
cans do not want their children
to be subjected to hard - core
pornography that could impair
the ethical fiber of our nation.
Still, Congress must legislate
within the framework of the
Constitution, and a “shotgun”
approach to the problem prob
ably will not stand the test of
the First Amendment, as in
terpreted by the Supreme Court.
Somewhere between freedom
of expression and freedom
against unwanted intrusion of
one’s home, a line should be
drawn. Filthy mail that exploits
sex, masochism, and nudity is
being carried today by the Fed
eral Government, and is being
subsidized by the taxpayers.
‘'Resident” — “occupant” — ad
dressed envelopes which solicit
the purchase of filthy literature
are highly offensive to many
Americans. Congress is ready to
attempt to curb such obscenity.
Annual North Carolina 4-H Congress to
Be Held in Raleigh July 28th-Aug. 1
Some 1,400 Tar Heel 4-H mem
bers, their adult leaders and ex
tension agents will gather in
Raleigh July 28-Aug. 1, for the
1969 North Carolina 4-H Con
gress.
Delegates from the state’s 100
counties will participate in ac
tivities on the North Carolina
State University campus climax
ing another year of project work
for the 4-H’ers.
Dr. T. C. Blalock, state 4-H
leader, said the delegates will
throw their youthful enthus
iasm into a tight schedule of
classes, contests, recreation, fel
lowship, tours and even politick
ing.
Among the featured speakers,
according to Blalock, will be
Dr. H. Brooks Jaimes, dean of
the School of Agriculture and
istration, Washington, D. C.
Life Sciences at NCSU; Dr. Na
omi G. Albanese, dean of the
School of Home Economics at
the University of North Caro
lina at Greensboro; Gov. Robert
W. Scott; and Lee Latham, space
science consultant, National
Aeronautics and Space Admin
Dr. James will speak Monday
night on “Hunger — A War We
BIRTH ANNOUNCEMENT
Mr. and Mrs. George H. Parh
am, Jr., announced the birth
of a son, George Haughtalin
Parham HI, July 14, 1969. Mr.
Parham is assistant County
Agent for Jones County.
Jones Tobacco Having Nutritional
Problems; Calcium May Be Cause ,
Hasty Henrietta
Tuesday Highway Patrolman
R. R. Mason gave Henrietta Al
exander of Durham a ticket at
5:45 p.m. for speeding 73 miles
an hour in a 60-mile zone in the
Wyse Fork Section of Jpne*
County. At 6 p.m. Highway Pa
trolman ■ G. D. Britton put the
whammy on Henrietta near Lit
tle Baltimore west of Kinston
and gave her a ticket for speed
ing 70 miles an hour in a 55
mile zone. If two tickets for
speeding within 15 minutes is
not a North Carolina record it
is accepted as a mighty good
average.
Must Win.” Dr. Albanese will ap
pear on the Tuesday morning
program speaking to the 4-H’ers
on “Achieving Excellence in Ed
ucation.” Governor Scott will
speak Wednesday morning, and
Latham will speak Thursday
morning on “Apollo 11—A Trip
to the Moon.”
Among other highlights of the
week are the Honor Club tap
ping ceremony Monday night,
the Health Pageant Tuesday
night, the Dress Revue Wednes
day night, and the Parade of
Talent Thursday night.
The morning assemblies begin
at 8 a.m. and the evening as
semblies begin at 8 p.m. in Rey
nolds Coliseum. The public is
invited.
Some 30 contests, starting Mon
day afternoon with judging in
livestock and horticultural crops,
will be held throughout the week.
The contestants are winners
from the state’s six Agricultural
Extension districts. The state
winners to be selected during
the week receive awards rang
ing from luggage, watches and
savings bonds to expense-paid
trips to the annual meeting of
the American Institute of Coop
eration at the University of Illi
nois and to National 4-H Con
gress in Chicago.
One of the most spirited events
of the Congress is the campaign
and election of officers. This con
vention-style election will be
held Thursday afternoon.
By J. R. Frank
County Extension Chairman
Much has been said about nu
tritional problems of Jones
County people. Recently tobacco
has joined its human counter
parts. Our office has received
many calls from farmers in the
past 3 weeks whose tobacco has
failed to develop normally in the
top. Leaves thicken, curl under
around the edges, and are dwarf
ed. This usually involves the
top 5 or 6 leaves but in some
cases the top half of the stalk
is involved. Some severely af
fected plants fail to bloom. The
two most often affected varieties
are Coker 254 and Coker 258.
All symptoms point to calcium
deficiency. However, there are
many unanswered questions as
the fact that affected areas do
not necessarily show low cal
cium levels in the soil. Scien
tists, who are working on this
problem at N. C. State Universi
ty, are calling the condition “ap
parent calcium deficiency.” As
soon as more information is un
covered on the problem as to
its cause and as to its prevention
and cure, farmers will be in
formed.
LAND TRANSFERS
The following land transfers
were reported during the past
week in Jones County by regis
ter of deeds Bill Parker.
From Stephanie B. Cowper
to William S. Mills 2 acres in
Tuckahoe township.
From Wilford Philyaw to
James W. and Doris E. Gibson
a tract of land in White Oak
township.
JONES ARREST
Hardy Hall of Dover was ar
rested during the past week in
Jones County and charged with
forgery.
Visitor Drowned
Sunday 64-year-old William G.
Doty of Eugene, Oregon, who
came all the way to Kinston to
visit his daughter-in-law and
granddaughter, Mrs. Eva Cart
er Doty and Caroline Doty, was
drowned while swimming in the
ocean at Bogue in Carteret
County. His body was flown
back to Oregon for funeral ser
services late this week. *
SCHOOL BOND ISSUES IN DEEP TROUBLE NATIONALLY AS WELL AS LOCALLY SURVEY SHOWS
By Jack Rider
Officials of Lenoir County’s
two school districts are suffer
ing a symptom shared by a very
large per cent of their colleagues
in the .nation’s other 20,438
school districts.
There are indications that
their symptoms will grow worse
. . . much worse . . . before they
get any better if they ever do.
This national epidemic might
be called “bonditus” since the
I'
Ut
most painful evidence of it is a
rejection by the “body politic”
of further dosage of school debt.
The Investment Bankers’ As
sociation, which sniffers along
with school officials in this
spreading disease, reports that
of 177 school bond issues pre
sented to the voters in May of
this year 96 were rejected and
only 81 were accepted by the
“body politic”. And, what’s
worse the 96 rejections involv
ed 66.7 per cent of the total
amount of money being asked.
in Lenoir County officials of
the two school systems have
been “studying” for more than
two years now their “needs” but
until now they have not been
able to convince just five voters
that there is a pressing need
for what they jointly arp pro
posing. Those five voters who
have remained unconvinced, of
coufse, are the board of coun
ty commissioners, whose respon
sibility includes the calling of
bond issue elections and super
vision of school budgets.
An assortment of delaying tac
tics has been used so far by
the commission. They have ask
ed for feasibility studies on the
merger of the two systems^ and
they have also recently 'begun
to scrutinize such things as
dropping enrollments in both
school systems at a time when
school officials are saying they
just simply have to have more
classroom space.
Admittedly, school officials are
saying this rather limply. The
last time the Kinston School
Board spoke on the subject it
spoke by a thin margin of four
to-three -in favor of the need.
Of course, the ultimate ans
wer rests with the voters and
all across the nation in growing
numbers this ultimate voice is
saying “No " to increasing school
bond debt
Surveys indicate that there
is no angle reason for this sud
den new reluctance. Since World
War Two the voters have sad
dled themselves with bullions
of dollars of additional debt
in the name of education, but
now the worm that pays is turn
ing, and sharply.
Educators range from frantic
to mildly upset on the subject.
Some point to actual “bank
ruptcy” of school systems, as
was seen last school year in
Youngstown, Ohio, where schools
closed because operating funds
were exhausted. Others view this
anti-education attitude as a tem
porary reflection of voter resist
ance to a lot of things, and that
education occupying such a dom
inant budgetary position is na
turally the first and worst suf
ferer.
High interest rates, ridiculous
ly high building costs, unreason
able demands by educators
themselves, racial overtones
and a small but rapidly expand
ing turn to private schools are
listed — not necessarily in that
order as the major sources of
taxpayer discontent.
Since capital outlay expendi
tures for schools — except
very small ones — have to be
approved by the voters this is
one of the first targets hit when
the taxpayer begins looking for
something to shoot down in an j
effort to retain control over a 1
larger per cent of his earnings, 1
In many school districts the <
problem is aggravated by sud- I
den shifts in the tax base. Shifts
which have seen highly taxed in
dividuals and businesses moving f
out of one area in whi<?h the i
population is rapidly expanding <
by an influx of low-tax-paying i
'
types of individuals and busines
ses and moving into new school
districts where everything has
to be practically done from
scratch.
Even in tiny Lenoir County
this trend is noticeable and it’s
growing as more and more fine
domes and businesses are pack
ing up and moving beyond city
snd school district tax jurisdic
tions.
When operations such as J.
E. Bohannon Tobacco Company,
i major operation of Samsons
Shirt Company, Poole Buick
Company, W. H. Jones Motors
snd smaller businesses move
>utside the Kinston Graded
School District the impact on
the tax base is considerable, and
taxes either must be increased
>n those remaining in the dis
trict or budget cuts become nec
essary.
In Kinston the construction of
wo major shopping centers in
he city limits (and the school
iistrict) have offset the loss of
these several businesses men
ioned above as well as the loss
>f dozens of homes that have
>een mowed down by the wid
ning of streets and urban blight
However, the net effect is the
same: More people living in rur
d areas, aide to use and enjoy
dty conveniences without tmaik
ng the direct tax payment ser
vices conveniences demand. They
ultimately must pay as prices
of the items they buy in the
taxed area are moved upward
to cover rising taxation.
In the South in general and
in the Kinston area in particu
lar the racial issue has an emo
tional bearing on the curtail
ment of the previously unlimit
ed support the voters had lav
ished on public schools.
In Kinston something in the
order of a thousand children
who a few years ago would
nave been in public schools have
now been withdrawn and sent
to private schools at home and
at considerable distances. The
parents of these children are
the most affluent and most in
fluential people in the commu
nity. . .not only in Kinston but
in every other school district.
So long as this group included
just a very few families at. the
very top of the economic ladder
there was little restlessness on
the subject of paying taxes to
support public schools and pay
ing high fees for their children
to attend private schools. But
as the number of parents rapid
ly expands the volume of com
plaints increases geometrically*
_ This is a problem the major
cities have suffered for a long
time —- more than 50 years, and
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