PAGE FOUPTHE DAILY REFLECTOR, GREENVILLE, N. C

Tusaday, November 3, 1939

Tuesday, November 3, 1959That Was No Illusion

Honor

Thanks To Aycock-School Conscious

Dedication Sunday of the restored birthplace of the late Charles Brantley Aycock who opened the doors of universal public education in North Carolina should focus the attention of Tar Heels on the problems facing our system today.

It was during his term as governor of North Carolina from 1901 to 1904 that Aycock managed to bring about the establishment of the states system of public education and sell the principle of universal public education to the people of this state. To that principle. North Carolinians have dedicated themselves since that time. They have enjoyed the fruits that have come from the seeds planted by Gov. Aycock.

The Tar Heels of this day constantly express concern about the schools of the state, their needs, their shortcomings, the money it takes to operate them, and even the superior qualities which we see in our system of public education. North Carolinians are concerned about their schools because of their devotion to them. It has often been said, and rightly so we think, that North Carolinians love most their families, their churches and next their public schools.

Certainly, many problems face public education In North Carolina today. There is the shortage of teachers, the shortage of classrooms, the broadening derpands in order to meet the needs of the youngsters. Though the state spends at a commendable rate, it cannot seem to keep pace with the growing population of youngsters. Though local communities build more classrooms year after year, there always are more youngsters than can adequately be accommodated in the classrooms.

neasy Where Patronage Rules

By LYNN NISBET

UNEASY An ancient adage ays Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown. Nobody wears a crow'n in modem North Carolina, and there is no occasion for the big man to worry. He knows he will be out of office come early 1961. A feeling of uneasiness, however, permeates the atmosphere around State Departments. particularly those where patronage is controlled by the Governor.

The Governor of North Carolina traditionally has had tremendous influence on who fills State Jobs in all departments, even tlaose in which the top men are independently elected by the people. The same voters who elect the Governor and Lieutenant Governor also elect eight other executive administrative officers by popular voteAttorney General. Secretan- of State. State Auditor. State Treasurer, Superintendent of Public Instruction, Commissioner of Agriculture, Commissioner of Labor, and Commissioner of Insurance-These elected officials control less than a thousand of the approximate 20,000 full-time State jobs, other than public school teacherswhose employment contracts are with local units, although paid out of State tax moneys.

Big employment is in the Highway Commission, the Motor Vehicles Department. Revenue Department, Wildlife Resources Commission, Conservation and Development, Health (including mental hospitalsi, and other agencies administered by appointees of the Governor. In all State government operations., whether administered by elected or appointed heads, the mployees are under jurisdiction of the appointed Departments of Administration and Personnel. That means that every person who works for the State of North Carolina, from the lowliest janitor to the highest executive, is to considerable degree dependent upon the Governor for his Job.

TENSE One can almost feel and smell the tension in the atmosphere around State offices as the workers are desperately seeking some advance information on who is likely to be the next Governor. This condition algo explains some of the maneuvering gomg on to switch jobs from one department to another in order to obtain better security in tenure. Despite rumors that employees have been fired because they voted wrong, very ie'^ State workers have in the past or will in the future sell" thir votes for a job. But one old timer summer up the general sentiment when he said It dont hurt none to be able to say you

were right from the start.

The fact that present statutes accord continuing status to a number of boards and administrators does not relieve the uneasy feeling among the rank and file workers. They know that the next General Assembly can undo any act of prior sessions and is quite likely to do so at request of the new Governor.

Meantime, State folks are playing their cards close to their vests. It is very difficult to get an expression of favoritism or support for any prospective candidate at this time. Most of the conversations on a note somethin,!: like this; If you hear anything you think I ought to know', please tell me.

The uncnainty is having some, effect on morale. In a few cases there Ls evidence that office workers fear some of their a-ssociates, particularly at higher levels, are giving as much thought to protecting their jobs after 1961 as to doing a good job in 1959.

And that is almost another way of saying that the situation is normal.

TARHEEL CITY An observant State official visitor to Charlotte during the recent C&D board meeting asked a significant question. Have you noticed, he asked, that Charlotte has come back into North.Carolina? He explained that a few years ago the business and political leaders in Charlotte made much of the claim that it was the metropolis of the Carolinas. At one time, he said, it looked like they might take the North out of the postoffice address and just make it read, Charlotte Carolina, USA.

Charlotte is the biggest city in the two states, and bids fair to become one of the biggest in the whole South. It enjoys regional prestige to such degree that the state designation is not necessary for identification. In that respect it Is sort of like Chicago, New' York and San Francisco. North Carolina is proud of the city, with or without the N.C. added to the address.

The observant citizen quoted says that progress all over North Carolina has been so rapid within the past few years that Charlotte is reciprocating in the of prideful association. He says leaders there recognize that the N.C. label is a bigger asset than th plain Carolina tag. Therefore the Stale Is getting fuller and more cordial cooperation from Charlotte interests in its overall development program, less frequent insistence that the Queen City be given ijpecial treatment in face of the threat that well look southward for cur expansion.

These problems though some of them appear insurmountable at timescan hardly be compared with those faced by Gov. Aycock and his supporters at the turn of the century. The battle which public education continually faces in North Carolina today is small indeed compared with that of the first few decades when the new idea stiil found adamant opponents in all sections of the state.

Even 80, we cannot take our public schools for granted as so often we are prone to do. They cannot operate without the continued and vigilant support of an aroused public. They must have champions not only in Raleigh, not only in the county seat, but in every neighborhood if they are to achieve the calibre the dedicated educatorsand the publicdesire.

Perhaps lecalling obstacles which confronted the father of public education in North Carolina, and also the forcefulness with which he met and overcame these problems may shake the public from, the timidity with which public education is sometimes supported today.

Important Addition To College And State

Out of the $18.9 milliom bond issue for permanent improvements to state institutions of higher learning, East Carolina College will receive $1,490,000 for facilities sorely needed. These additions to the college physical plant, like those for other institutions made possil)Ie by the bond issues, w'ill enable the college to better meet the demands being made upon it.

And like the improvements at other institutions, they are facilities whose needs were recognized by the legislature, but which could not be provided in the regular budget for the current biennium.

Largest single item in the $1,490,000 bond appropriation for ECC is $625,000 which will be used to

defray half the cost of a pew 500-man dormitory on p p-TTMPV TinWAPn the campus. The other hf of the cost of the new nrjiNXVl XlUV'ViY.

dormitory will be handled through a federal loan.

An addition to the Flanagan Building, a class room building, will account for $334,000 of the bond money earmarked for the college. An addition to another classroom building Graham Building will co.^it an e.stimated $78,000 and the conversion of two mens dormitories for use as womens dorms will cost an estimated $117.000.

The facilities which have been added at the college in recent years have necessitated expansion of the campus heating plant, and $189,200 from the bond money is earmarked for that purpose wdth an additional $50,000 earmarked for improvements to the campus electrical system.

These permanent improvements, when they are completed, will enable the college to meet some of the more pressing demands being made upon it. They will not till all the needs of East Carolina College for permanent improvements, but they will prove an important a.s.^et not only to the college, but to the state which the college serves.

V ------

i Damp, Unhappy W eekenc.

More Relaxec. World Today

Once in a while, we have the opportunity to turn everything loose for a day or so and take a trip somewhere for a "restful weekend.

Such was the case a couple of days ago, and we wound up on the campus of the alma mater to eye-witness its gala homecoming activities.

We arrived In high spirits and were impatient to begin cur weekend fling by watching the powerful Tar Heels beat the daylights out of a visiting Tennessee football squad.

We could hardly wait to bask In the warm autumn sun and watch the Heels run wild.

So what happens? It rains cats and dogs; Tennessee turns out to be something of a football giant; and the Tar Heels get drubbed into the soggy turf

by a completely humiliating score!

We had a nice weekend.

Apparently, the story was little different here In town.

Upon returning, we learned that, though the weather might have been slightly less humid, the local Pirates had as much or more trouble than did the "Heels.

Its enough to cause a person to lose faith!

The one bright spot was in Scotland Neck. ' he local high school eleven did okay. The Phantoms played a dandy ball game and helped break through the weekends' heavy overcast (and il was really heavy in Chapel Hill).

Its bad that we have to suffer

from such really trivial occurences.

Likely, many people around the world have much more to worry about than who's going to win a football game. In fact, there are much worse things that might happen.

Of course everybody likes to see their favorite football team win. But if that team persists In losing every Saturday or so, the followers often become immune to defeat.

Some ot the other worry-pro ducing instances might be extremely difficult to immunize against. Those things are of more serious consecinence.

For example: sometimes you might wonder how bright the weekend prospects are for guys like, for instance, Charles Van Doren.

Boy, we think we got troubles!

3oy For

"nsult

By EDDY GILMORE BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP) Ita not a question of too few clothes, aid former Belgian Sen. Leo Schalkens, but of too many.

He referred to Brussels world-famou* statue of a curly-haired little boy being naughty in public.

A member of the Brussels Municipal Council, the Brabant Country Council, and a newspaper editor, Schalkens is proudest of his job as president of an association of the friends of the naughty boy.

We founded the association of his friends five years ago, Schalkens said, and we meet at least twice a month.

One of our greatest problems is the clothes we receive for the undressed boy.

They come from all over thp w'orld. He now has more than 70 complete uniforms. ;

With a delightful sense of humor, the City Council has collected the uniforms and has them on display in a museum.

These clothes are getting to be a bother, said Schalkens, for the boy stands glorious, unique and unashamed in his plump nakedness. He doesnt need clothes. To clothe him would spoil him, but the world doesnt seem to understand. Uniforms have come from the American Army, the British, the Royal Air Force, the Canadians, and the French Foreign Legion to mention but a few.

The boy has been decorated by numerous nations.

The decorations are on display in the museum too.

Hes been stolen twiceby English soldiers in 1745, and French soldiers two years later.

He is our most famous landmark said Schalkens. Hes to Brussels what the Eifel Tower is to Paris, the Statue of Liberty to New York and Big Ben is to London.

A stream of water plays a big part in the statues daily life.

This dates back from an old legend, said Schalkens, when the young son of a duke climbed into a tree and rudely, but correctly, insulted some foreign troops.

At this splendid insult, the troops of Brussels took heart, rallied and won the day.

; Quote...

"There is an omlnou.s hint in the established fact that average car mileage is declining year by yearfrom 10,290 in 1953 to 9.620 this yearthat the law of diminishing returns can apply to gasoline taxes as well as to any other outsize demand on the family purse.Coates-ville (Pa.) Record.

Other Editors Saying Confusion Compounde

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WASHINGTON (AP) The world-moving toward Christmas 19.59 seems more comfortable than it has in years.

As winter closes in there is an international warm spell again.

The Western Allies, who seemed at sixes and sevens for a while, agreed to meet Dec. 19 as a preliminary to a summit conference.

Premier Nikita Khrushchev, who .sounded irked at not getting to the summit right away, appears satisfied so long as he gets there at all.

President Charles de Gaulle of France chilled the United States and Britain just a few weeks ago by wanting no summit meeting until spring.

There had been a feeling untU then that the Big Four might get together in Geneva in December.

But De Gaulle said this wa too soon, that the Western Allies should first decide on what to say and how far to go before meeting Khrushchev.

This makes sense, even though a delay till spring permits events which could ruin Soviet Western relations.

DeGaulle, strong for preatlge, may have had a couple of per-.;onal reasons for not rushing to the summit.

Both President Eisenhower and British Prime Minister

Harold Macmillan have had recent talks with Khrushchev but De Gaulle has not.

So he will be even with his

partners if he also meets the Soviet Premier, as he now expects to do early next year.

One other thing; before spring and a summit meeting Prance may have produced its first atomic explosion, giving it a sense of equality with the Amerlcan-Brit-ish-Soviet atomic club.

In a major policy speech in Moscow Saturday Khrushchev not only did not sound annoyed over a summit delay but rather pleased that things were looking up.

Perhaps the most important thing he revealed was a standoff attitude on the conflict between India and his partner. Red China.

He backed the Chinese Communists on wanting Formosa but stood neutral on the India-China border shooting.

He has a stake in wanting to keep the Indians friendly.

And, as If anxious to dissociate himself from some future Red Chinese adventure which might cause trouble, Khrushchev pointedly indicated the Soviet Union should not be held responsible for what the Chinese did.

Khrushchev takes full credit for the Soviet Union in making the world seem a little more relaxed and comfortable place to live In. He emphasized the U.S.S.R, had taken the initiative to bring this about.

And he Is pretty much right. The initiative this year belonged to the Soviet union, not the West.

(Greensboro Daily News)

To laymen the growing argument over what Superior Court judges and solicitors are permitted to tell juries in murder cases appears largely an exercise in semantics.

The position of the State Supreme Court, where several decisions have brought confusion, leaves the lower courts in understandable uncertainty. No Superior Court likes to have its decision reversed. Nor does any solicitor wish to leave himself open to criticism by the court from which there is no appeal.

The Daily News has its own qualms about capital punishment. And certainly since the law has been changed to allow a jury's recommendation for mercy in a first degree murder case, there has been a sharp drop in gas chamber executions. To all practical purposes, the death sentence has been all but repealed in North Carolina.

But so long as first degree murder remains a crime punishable by death, it seems to us that the solicitor should have the right to tell the Jury that the state is asking for such a verdict, that such statement should be admissable in questioning of prospective jurors and that the presiding judge should not be circumscribed in what he says from the bench, particularly in his charge to the jury.

We assume that solicitors will ask the death sentence only in cases where they believe that the crime justifies such action

U

on the part of the state. And the more fact that the state asks the death penalty gives no assurance whatever that the jury w'ill bring in such a verdict.

On the other hand, the record indicates that juries are more generally otherwise disposed. It takes a heinous crime indeed and evidence establishing deliberation beyond the shadow of a doubt to get a first degree murder conviction, without jury recommendation for mercy and a mandatory life sentence, anywhere in North Carolina.

After all, the court is concerned primarily with the administration of Justice under the law. In line with that obligation the presiding jurist should be allowed to tell the Jury that while the state is pressing for the death sentence, the Jury has any number of avenues open to it, ranging all the way from what the state asks to acquittal. By the same token a solicitor may be convinced that the only way he can get a mandatory life sentence;- which would keep a convicted murderer out of circulation, is to press for the death penalty and leave the rest, as the statute obviously intends, to the jury.

Fiist of all the Supreme Court, whose latest batch of decisions compounds confusion, should try to make up its collective mind as to what the law really says and get lower court judges, solicitors and justice itself off the hook.

Strength For Today- Santa Singed By Steel Walkout

By EARL L. DOUGLASS IT NEVER FELL

There Is a balm in Gilead.

To heal the sin-sick oul.

So the choir sang at the

morning service, and when we came out of church the little boy in the party inquired: What kind of a bomb was it in Gilead? Was it an atomic bomh?'Y,

No little boy In any other

century or generation would have asked such a question. He might not have known w'hat the balm of Gilead wi. but he would have brushed that aside as an adult knowledge of no interest to kids. But this youngster could hardly wait until we left the church. He had been hearing not only a great deal abou atomic and hydrogen bombs but also about fall-out and communist subversion.

We wonder sometimes whether we are going to get through this period of world disturbance on an even keel and with a .sane mind. The sword of Damocles suspended by a hair l.s nothing compared with atomic pa^^lbilltles controlled by godless men. Yet

we have this for our comfort. People In the past have lived in mortal jeopardy regarding Indians, barbarians, bandits, and sundry Invaders. And the race has survived. Furthermore, tOe race has improved. Balm or bombVe will get through somehow. It is well to remember that the sword of Damocles never fell.

By ELMER ROESSNER

The steel strike didnt shoot Santa Claus. But it has singed his beard.

The holiday retail market will be confused this year. Many shoppers will be confronted with goods they don't want. Many wont find the things they do want. Total sales may be even lower than predicted a few days ago. when it was predicted that they wont retch the $21.2 billion mark set last December.

Even 1 striker* troop back to work within a matter of hours, there will be many shortages of goods this season.

If everj steelworker were to return t' his job in the next 10 minutes, not a bit of steel can be produced to go Into Chrlst-mus gifts this year.

THE INEVITABLE* LAG

It would. take two weeks to get the mills operating again; It will take more time to pro-riiK:e steel, to reduce it to usable shapes, to transport ,,it tcf

manufacturing plants, to convert it into parts, to assemble products, to ship them to warehouses and to get them to retailers shelves.

The first post-strike ingot cannot become part of, an electric iron before January or even later.

So there will be shortages of items made of steeland may include autos. Fur-.hinting w'ives may do better than Caddy-wishmg girl*.

Dormeyer has notified wholesalers that it is allocating appliances and power tools as of today. General Electric says allocation of consumer products seems certain. Revere Copper and Brass has"&ht production of its cooking utensil line. Casco is shutting down it* steam iron and thermal massager soon.

All because of the shortage oF iteel.

The end of the strike would start the flow of some hoarded .steel Manufacturers would dip more^ heavily into thcii reserv-

glft

that

es. But It is doubtful if draining of the pipelines can materially help the situation.

NATLRE ABHORS A VACLL.M

Meanwhile, manufacturers of plastics and soft goods have been stepping up plastic production as metal operations have been slowed by scant supplies.

Furs, books, gowns, leather goods, foods. Jewelry and other nonferrous gift item* will get heavier promotion this year t* other manufacturers try to make the sales durable goods manufacturers cant.

But therell be a depressing haze, suggestive of the smoke from Santas singed beard.

Total employment has been dragged down by the strike. Even If everybody 1* bjck to work before breakfast, those who have struck or who have been laid off have accumulated debt* to think about before budgeting for Christmas. Reports from town* and cities around the country indicate lo.sscs by small ' merchants and noninduslrlal

workers, as well as industrial employees. Even steel stockholders will have less Christruas spending money this season, Judging from reports.

As is usual in such situations, there will be counteractions by merchants. They will step up promotions of things they have to sell; they will Intensify advertts-ing in areas least affected by the strike.

Attracted by bargain* that develop in such situation*, many consumer* will come happily charging In. But the net will be a far less happy and prosperous C^istmas season than it could have been.

RADIOESE IS A WONDERFUL LANGUAGE

A radio commercial atya a certain aspirin i* used by more mothers than all other aspirin* combined. Lets see, now: There must be 200 different aspirin*. So the advertised brand must be used by at least 201 mothers, if ilic English is correct.