OPEN FORUM
LETTER
To the voters of this County, who
supported me at the primary on
June 6th, 1936, I extend my sincere
gratitude, and wish them to know
that I treasure, very highly, the
expression of their loyal friendship,
notwithstanding the fact that X was
unsuccessful in my endeavor. It is
my firm belief that it is not the
quantity, but the quality and sin
cerity of friendship that really
count.
To the people of Person County
I wish to acknowledge my deep ap
preciation for permitting me to
serve them, for ten years, as their
County Treasurer.
Fearing that I might not again
have an appropriate opportunity to
direct the attention of the people
of this County to certain informa
tion I was able to obtain while starv
ing them in my official capacity,
and also to remind them of some of
their deserving public officials, who
have not received due recognition
for the faithful and diligent service
they have rendered and whose
monetary compensation is no true;
measure of the value of the bene
fits the people of this County have
received under their guidance, from
their hands, and as a result of their
effective work, experience, and
never-failing service*.
With pleasure I commend to you
your County Auditor; your County
Commisslpners; and your County At
torney. I could enumerate, but such
is not appropriate at this time,
many trying hours those men have
lived through and many distressing
obstacles, gravely important to your
general welfare, that they have suc
cessfully overcome in be*half of the j
people of this County. They could
have disclosed the hardships they
were undergoing for you without
just recompense—yes, but they did
not because they are fighters and
have no time to whine; neither do
they thrive on sympathy. It was
their duty they were following and
not a selfish interest —such is the
true test of all good public officials.
I deem it not amiss for me to say
here that without their able and
cooperative counsel and continued
assistance to me during those dark
and trying days of the recent de
pression, when banks everywhere
were failing and the County funds
were in danger, this County like
many other Counties in our State,
might have suffered heavy financial
losses. I invite you to check after
these fellows and note the accuracy
of their work and foresight.
There are many valuable officials
and citizens in our nation who are
busy performing their duties un
noticed by their less diligent fel
iowmen because they do not stop |
to boost themselves, but that does
not mean they do not deserve rec
ognition.
We have right here in our own
town and County valuable officials
and citizens, but they too have been
overlooked, unappreciated, unhon
ared, and have not received due
recognition. Look about you and
seq if you can recognize any of
them. A have, in this article, direct
ed your attention to some—there
are others; find them; and give
them a little word of cheer, appre
ciation, and encouragement. You
might not agree with me, but I be
lieve that such a word to a deserv
ing citizen is worth its weight in
gold.
During one of the, commencement
exercises at our city school the
citizens in this town bade farewell
to their former superintendent and
at thq same time welcomed a new
one. The former was discarded like
an old sloe after having served ably
and well. He must have suffered
many heartaches, and successfully
conquered as many discouraging
obstacles, to have completed, sc
well, his monumental work. His
highest ideal and ambition, before
any of us had ever dreamed about
such an accomplishment, was to
obtain, for the benefit of this town
and community, a new up-to-date
high school budding—well equipped
and adequate to serve the needs of
the children of our town. We now
have that building and it is all that
he would have it be—he laid its
foundation. We now use it and we
arlq proud of it, but have we for
gotten the man who certainly did
his part to make such an accomp
lishment possible. An investigation,
among those few who really knew
him, will prove that at the close of his
last school yepr as our superinten
dent, at the commencement exercise I
have heretofore mentioned which,
incidentally, wiqre conducted in the
new high school building, he would
have left our midst unhonored in
the least for his loyal and faithful
friendship and service to this com
munity if it had not been for the
graduating class of that ysaar, two
or three individuals, and the new
superintendent. The individuals sug
gested that the senior class give a
play and raise sufficient funds to
present his portrait to the Roxboro
high school. One of the seniors de
livered the —following presentation
speech ably written by the new
superintendent:
“Some one has wisely said, ‘all
1 >
■ V. „ .. ..
histpry is the shadow of personali
ty.’ History is replete with the
stories of honors paid and memo
rials established to the memory of
men who have given their lives in
their efforts to achieve fame or
render human service. Marble
shafts and bronze statutes stand in
great numbers as silent though elo
quent reminders of the deeds of the
dead. The marble tomb of the ‘Un
known Soldiers’ draws the atten
tion of thousands to an unidentified
man who may have walked scarce
ly noticed and totally unhjonored
among his fellow men. A word of
commendation, an expression of
praise, a touch of human sympathy,
might have* changed the course of
many a life whose plaudits have
been sung to ears that have ceased
to hear. The fragrance and beauty
of a flower clas[Ved in a lifeless
hand might have brought the hope
and inspiration to a struggling, dis
cou raged soul a few hours before, i
“Tonight we are happy in the]
realization that we have not waited j
until too late to give evidence of
our esteem, our appreciation, our|
love for a man who, through six
teen years of faithful and efficient j
service for us, has proved himself i
a blessing to the boys and girls of
this town and community. Tonight j
we say again in his hearing thatj
we honor him for what he is, that we
praise him for his work well done,
that we cherish the warmth and I
sincerity of his friendship.
“As a token and emblem of our
love and esteem, that his memory
may not die and that his pleasant
countenance may constantly be seen
within these walls, I hereby present [
in behalf of the graduating class
of— to the Roxboro high school
and to its Board of Trustees this]
portrait of our esteemed former!
superintendent, ”
Such a well written, accurate and j
splendid tribute was well deserved, ]
but supported by only a few, it
should have had the hearty endorse
ment of over 5000 voices. How often
and easily we discard, disregard and
forget our closest and most valuable
friends, and however hard they
may try, to please us does not pro
long our forgetfulness. Why is it
that most of us are so diligent and
selfishly alert to accept benefits
made by the labor of our
fellow workers and at the same
time so quick to forget the donor
and so slow to recognize his merit?
The only gift we have is criticism;
the only words we have are cut
ting; the only respect we have ap
parently for those who starve us
best is disrespect—Socrates drank
the hemlock and Christ was curci
fied.
The new superintendent, whom I
!™Y! HURRYII
The Washer That
Combines Hand
v J Gentleness With
Machine Speed
j/jf \\ fl Dainty lingerie or dim, greasy
YkJ \ fy oreralla—a few ondertnings or
i a/ a fully loaded tab Thor's
Jcf 1 J “Gentle Hand** washing action
ft A JE3 quickly and safely restores diem
* $7 to their original spodessness,
1"^ ■mm*m»m without a trace of "wash wear”.
BUY NOW
• Thor's exclusive -Geode Hand*
SAVE • Thor’s Standard Free Rolling
I I Porcelain enamel tab, (aside end
S I 0.00 • H H.p. motor, self tuhrirmring
• g Adjustable legs
I • Locking casters
. .! j Thor’s long Ufa mechanists
Lnmmmmnml • Cogyealeot controls
PHONE FOR FREE HOME TRIAL
Morris & Ledbetter
DEPOT STREET PHONE 243
PERSON COUNTY TIMES ROXBORO, N. C.
I have, mentioned, has now traveled
i j the bitter path of his predecessor,
i Has his’ service, to this community,
! | deserved the same recognition and
i tribute he so willingly, sincerely
■! and appropriately gave to one of
1 ! his fellowmen? Have his services
j and work merited at least one kind
j word? If you do not know, it might
i be worth your whilq to investigate
and find out why he is leaving. If
you are vitally interested, as you
should be, in the welfare, progress,
and success of your town and Coun
ity, censor carqfully, accurately, and
! soberly every citizen that moves in
! and every citizen that moves out.
I Human beings are very cheap these
j days—it’s the dollar that’s so valu
] able. Some day, maybe, we will
j learn that it is human beings who
build communities and not dollars.
In the Courts of justice, there is
| a well established rule that it is
better to acquit ten guilty persons
than to convict one innocent man.
j Can it be said that one good citizen
iis worth ten bad ones? I know of
one citizen who, years ago, escaped
from our boundaries, was branded
• a criminal, and at present is nation
jally and internationally known and
respected. I also have known of
some who have come within our
I folds, highly recommended, but in
j reality didn’t prove out so well. I
! remember one in particular who
j came to our fair little city with
! promise of making it a metropolis in
no time. Some of us believed in
him; cooperated with and supported
him; praised him to the skies and
draped ourselves about him as if he
were a long lost friend. To our
j great disappointment he like some
of the rest didn’t prove out so well.
Sometimes, when it becomes neces
j sary to seek out some one* to per
j form work, of a public nature, in
our home community, it is better
: to call on one whom we know and
] whose ability, time and experience
have proved in preference to plac
ing so much confidence in one w'e
do not know so well. This rule, how
ever, is not the best in every case.
In the presentation speech it was
well quoted that “All history is the
shadow of personality.” Equally
well can it be said that every com
munity, city, or state is also the
shadow of personality. Our own
town and County are the* shadow
of personality. If our town is pros
perous, and its history is replete
with stories of progress, there is
some person or persons who made
*it so. If, howt-yer, our community
is retrogressing, the same rule ap
plies—there is soma person or per
| sons who are making it so. There
! fore, every citizen in a town is con
] iinualiy faced with the vitally im
j portant question: Is our town and
is our County progressing and be
coming a more desirable place in j
which to live, or is it afflicted with
the antithesis?
Spee*king of personalities in a
community, since the dawn of civil
ization, or rather the beginning of
organized efforts of man when the
spirit of individualism merged ihto |
a more fraternal spirit of joint in
terprise, people, unfortunately, have
divided themselves into classes.
“The two orders into which Romu
lus originally divided the Roman
people (note that even in those
early days one man made the di
vision, were composed of patrons
and clients. Each 0 f the qarly lead
ing families or gentes had gathered
about itself numerous servants and
dependents, thus making a commu
nity of lords and vassals. The pa
trons, or lords, wiefe members of
the three tribes, and hence of the
body-politic, while their clients had
nothing whatever to do with the
state except through their private
relation to their lords as vassals. In
the course of time these patrons,
as patricii, came to be called pa
tricians, as distinguished from the
patres or senators. They alone
could make the laws and choose the
king. They were the POPULUS
ROMANUS; and when the Roman
people are spoken of, it is the pa
tricians alone who are designated.
Then there camq into existence a
third class, composed at first, prob
ably of unclassified remnants of
the earliest people, swelling into
great numbers chiqfly through the
conquest of other cities. They were
freed men but not citizens. They
werq unlike the clients in that they
were subject to no lord or patron,
and like them in that they had no
connection with the state. These
were the plebians, the common
people.” •
Today even though our motives
end customs have changed we con
tinue to maintain strong caste bar
riers. In a considerable number of
our cities, towns, and counties, the
citizens are divided into groups,
and in many respects they resemble
the ancient Roman division. Let us
consider briefly the divisions of one
of our modern towns. There is one
group which we call the wealthy
class. The number of this group has
decreased somewhat, how ever,
since the last depression, but even
before the depression this group
composed the smallest number of
all the groups. Being the wealthy
class, as a natural consequence,
makes them the most influential
class of persons in the community.
Do good and true citizens want that
kind of purchased influence? They
KNOCK THE SPOTS
OUT OF YOUR
TIRE COSTS!
HOP OVER
AND SEE THE “T I
TIRE THAT I
DOES IT— nunanl
A big handsome husky
with all these Goodyear
Safety features—
THE GOODYEAR MARGIN
OF SAFETY
THICK, TOUGH, LONG.
MILEAGE
BLOWOUT PROTECTION
IN EVERY PLY
A Prize Value made pos
sible by the largest tire
sales in the world. If you
want to save money
safely, come here!
o. * RwfcUr*
SELLING #J ||P
NOW AS VJI ||J|
LOW AS 7IVV
City Service Station
Haase! Long Wyatt Monk
are the people who have the big
gest homes, the biggest and best
automobiles; do less constructive
work and make more noise than all
the rest. All they seek to do is to
make profits and make sure that
they get all the praise and honor
for every step of progress the com
munity makes; and to use their
wealth and false influence to see
that every really important insti
tution and official place in the vil
lage comes under their exclusive
jurisdiction. They are the POPU
LUS ROMANUS, patricians, pa
trons, or lords—the body-politic.
“They make all the laws" and when
the community or town, in which
they live, is spoken of, “it is the
patricians alone who are designat
ed.” They slightly makte one think
of Stalin’s Russia, Hitler’s Ger
many, and Mussolini’s Italy.
There is a second group usually
found in most communities and
easily recognized by their parsitic
characteristics. They flit wildly
from pillar to post—first on one
side of a controversy and then on
the other. They are the ones “you
can’t put your finger on.” The num
ber of this group is somewhat larg
er than the wealthy group. It has
to be larger because they are the
servants of wealth. They are the
vassals, the clients, and have noth
ing whatever to do with the State,
except through their master’s in
structions, and likewise have no in
terest for the* community and its
general welfare except such merit
orious things as might by chance
fall across their path on their jour
ney to raise tHqmselves higher in
the estimation of their masters and
“I ENJOY THAT FEELING OF WELL-BEING-”
GEORGE REIS, Gold- I _
Cup winner. ’T smoke Rgr
Camels,” he says, "enjoy RNB
that feeling of well-being.” v
mwm*' mMMM
;i: : V ■ ’’ “CAMELS HELP my di
U gestion, cheer me up,” says
MissTrac is Lander,cashier.
CRMClsSlortKipr Tohtccea!
j nPJk
7 „
iwcmember how you felt back X/7 / 1V
there in 1917 and 'lB when L j V. -\
you stood rigidly (yet ill at i i J
ease) and waited to learn \ \ J
whether or not it would be \ \ f
Sunday K. P. for you? Sure \\_-A
you do! WELL— | —\
■Another
Inspection .
Awaits You/
[SKa # '
■ .M
--and if you fail to pass this time you won’t gat by with peeling
spuds on Sunday - - - NO SIR! So before that Bonus money is
spent see that the desires of your “officer in charge” are met.
Have that Electric Range or Water Heatar installed, or present
her with an Electric Refrigerator.
*
%
Our “No-Extra-Dost”
Electricity Plan
■WHAM and tha new CHKAP rates make complete
Egfe. \. JaStrilcetton I fSil ecoft&nj. TnvßufaU!
• CAROLINA
i NrcfrT7 power * li«ht
. * COMPANY . _
THURSDAY, JUNE 25TH, 1936
in “their private relation to their
lords as vassals.” You will usual
ly find this group regularly employ
ed in the privatq business of the
masters and also serve their lords
as errand boys and henchmen in
questions and negotiations of a
public nature; but always their ef
forts, howqver spent, or for a sel
fish and private gain for themselves
and their masters. Their biggest day
is election day, for it is at this time
that they exhibit most notoriously
the object of their affection, and
prove to their superiors that they
are and have been loyal servants.
It’s funny about this group and pa
thetic too—they are not allowed to
speak or think for themselves, their
daily job is to speak the master’s
voice and think the master’s
thoughts—that is, so far as the mas
ter will let them know about what
he is thinking. These slaves of
money and master are all eyes and
ears and go about doing whatever
selfish work their servitude might
call them to, stealthily snooping,
and whenever they see or hear of
one or more of the third group
(when such things happen it is us
ually promulgated in the third
group,) whom I shall later describe,
doing some constructive work, un
(Continued on Back Page)
o
Pasquotank Irish potato growers
report best prices since 1927 with
the potatoes selling around $5 to $6
a barrel.
o
* Advertise In The
Person County Times