THE DAILY REFLECTOR.. (SREENVILLE. N. C

WednMd*r> April lljlSei

Wednesday. April 12, 1961

Two Separate, Distinct Programs

How To Register Your Kicks

.pottrth la the series ot edltorisls on the RencwRl and PubUc Housing programs. Ttns edit^al deals ihe mechanics of the esUbltshnaeiit of pubUc housing in the community and how it operates.)

fublic Housing and ^rbn Renewal are two distinctly separate programs

either of which may be

undertaken by a community without the other. Most 44^ communities which have entered into urban renewal Gold?

and town? which have public housing. These communities range m size from Clinton and Morehead City among the smaller cities to Charlotte, the largest city in the state. Altogether these 22 communities have approximately 11,300 Rublic housing units.-lsome dating back to as early as 1940. Among these communi-are AVllson, Tarboro, Kinston, Rocky Mount,

Goldsboro and New Bern in this immediate area.^

Of the 22 North Carolina communities Which pi

------ ^ - ^ 1

destruction of slum areas under an urban renewal pro- public housing but have not undertaken

so^*^blichau^n^^ the* need foY ^ave public housing, only nine also have

.dditional housing brought abnu. b.v the and , Pro^ams

gram.

It is logical to assume, therefore, that unless Greenville proves to be an exception to the rule, some

programs. . , . ,

in the case of urban renewal, a community s

locargovernment has the final say about entering into

a program to provide public housing and also how

public housing will probably be necessary here m units are to be constructed. The first step

order to effectively carry out an urban renewal pro- governing board to establish a local

CC - - - - , r,,, _

gram.

There are in North Carolina today some 22 cities

Good Statistics On Deveippmen

By L\'NN NISBET GROWTH - The public hear-Ins befDre the Serxate lties Committee on Sen. Hoyles bill to change t.he procedure for utility rate making from the fair v-alue* to the original cost base, brought out some very interesting statistics on development in North Carolina-There we re* different interpretations and evaluations of the figures presented, but the figures themselves ^ifere not challenged.

Senator Hoyle thinks progress tor the pw5t two decades would have been faster if this proposed formula had been in effect, and that hia plan affords more in-eentivc for continued growth.

Speaking in opposition to the change, Shearon Harris, an attorney for Carolina Power & Light Company, and Col. William T. Jojm^,, for Southern Bell Telephone A Telegraph Company. cited the record as evidence that the "present fair value* concept is more conducive to pr(*ress.

Here are the growth figures given to the committee;

Harris said thai in the past ten years North Carolina has added $1.585.000.000 in new and expanded industrial plants, which created 220.186* new jobs with an annual payroll of $629.-725.000. The impact <rf this industrial expansion and other factors pilt new demands upon the utilities. Soin the past ten years the electric, gas and telephone companies in North Carolina have added over $1.300.600.-000 to their plant investment. This investment is not included In the industrial plant figures, but is almost as much as all the other industrial development. The utility companies expect growth to continue and contemplate adding a billion dollars more to their capital invest-menta within the next five to eight years.

TELEPHONES Harris was peaking for aU utites in general. with some emphasis on electric and gas companies. Col. Jo3raer wis speaking for all telephone companies, but his figures were taken from Southern Bell records. He noted that while Southern Bell is by aJl odds the biggest company opn^ting in North Carolina, there are 47 other telephone companies serving the state. The statistics quoted by him give a clearer indication of progress in North Carolina than th more general figures used by Harris.

In 1940 26 per cent of the families in North Carolina had telephones. By i960 that percentage had gone up to 71. In 1948 Southern Bell had 160.000 telephones in North Carolina; in 1960 it bad 662.000. In 1940 there were practically no dial phones in this sUte. Last year 99.9 per cent of all Bell phones were dial type. More significant tribute to progress, last year 27 per cent of all Bell phones were D.D^D. Direct Distance

Dialing'. The 1961 goal for that tvpe is 57 per cent, and the i%5 goal 100 per cent.

INVESTMENT In 1940 the total investment of^uthem Bell in {ants ' and equipment in North Carolina was $26 million. That rose to $34 million in 1945. to* $147 million in 1955 and to $242 million in 1960.

In each of the past five years Southern Bell has spent about $18 million a year for plants and equipment in North Carolina, and plans call for spending $26 mliOD a year for the next biennium, Meantime, all the other telephone companies operating in this state, including some

housing authority Consisting of five local people. This group is charged with the responsibility for determining whether or not any public housing is needed.,, If the local Housing Authority finds that some public housing is needed in the community, it recommends to the City Council that the city apply to the Public Housing Administration for assistance in financing the number of public housing units specified by the City

Council. ,

If the application is approved, the Federal Housing Administration agrees to guarantee 40-year bonds issued by the local Housing Authority to construct the housing units. In addition, the Federal Housing Administration also agrees to make an annual payment to the local Housing Authority in the amount equal to the difference between the n?t revenue received from the public housing units and the amount due o.ri the bonds. The units are owned by the local Housing Authority and when the bonds are paid in full, the city goyjexiiment may either retain the housing units or dispose oflhem as it sees fit.

The local housing authority is responsible for constructing the units and also for operating the units ^ ^ TAYLOR

when they are completed. It determines within speci- oy hn x .n. j.

fied limits the eligibility of persons to occupy the

.eft It

Up "To

Others

Stradioatc. Inc.'.

known to be indirectly affiated i^ousing units, sets rents on the units and establish with Southern Bell, and some - - _ -------------

wholly independent, have spient and are planning to si>end millions of dollars for plants and equipment at approximately the same ratio as the Bell system Spokesmen for the utilities at the committee hearing suggested that this record does not warrant the charge that North Carolina is behind the times or out of step with respect to regulation of these services.

HISTORIC Some very interesting history was reviewed at the utilities hearing., The fair value concept which all the big utilities now wabt as basis for rate making had as

other rules and regulations governing occupancy of the units.

The local authority also determines the maximum The Rev. H. M. McLamb.

income a family may receive and still be eligible to

rent a public housing unit. There is normally also the ^ minister from

proviso that a family living in a public housing unit another denomination filled in. will not pay more than 20 per cent of its grosg income for rental.

There are general regulations governing the construction and renting of public housing units which include provisions that: for each unit of public housing

constructed by a municipality, one substandard dtvell- ^ - ______

ing in the community must either be brought up to when'l restTTsits loose. And' standard or destroyed; rents for public housing ,must

Notes On This And Tha

The Rev. Tom Davis, a Presbyterian, told the Methodists of an old Negress philosophy of life.

It went:

When I works. I works hard.

when I worries, I goes to sleep.

And the annual pilgrimage of East Carolina College students to the Azelea festival never ceases to fascinate your columnist.

Friday afternoon I saw a car parked on the street with four bermuda clad coeds within. They were soon joined by one male college student who jumped under the wheel. They were off in the direction of Wil-

mingttMi.

Must have been an interesting weekend.

D&51S lOr lalc lUalUIig imu 4L0 r'to.iivxcki. v* v/j. ? r j n ft

one of its earliest champibns the . fee at least 20 per cent less than rents charged for a Pr' itorC Sn\7TriM

late substantial supply of standard housing in the com- IjLIiLUi O .

. ... .....vrs ro order to be eligible to rent public

whose name and philosophy are

anathema to big businessthe. niuntwj-, vx.v ... ----- ~ . u ^ a t-v

people who now espouse the housing units, persons must be living in substanaara ( )T

idea. As far back as 18^ the housing or be displaced by public action such as urban i i

Supreme Court of the United - - ------------

States approved the fair value renewal. _ ; 4.^ (Charlotte News),

concept as the soundest base for The City governing board enters into an agree- ^ political Science Quarterly

rate-making. The Idea was very, the local Housing Authority to furnish fire article purporting to explore

.and police protection city services S

In the l890s and the I930's. to the public housing units, and also to exempt the demagogues

both major depression periods, housing units from local taxe.s. In lieu of these local Carolina has spawned

dollar values declined and Cham- ... ..---- ---------

pions of the common people insisted on actual or fair value, rather than original cost, as basis for rate making. Utilities protested, because they had invested money upon which the fair value^ concept would not yield adequate return,

But. when inflationary conditions replace depression periods, and original cost might be less than current value, the champions of the people and the utilities both reverse positions.

It was quite obviously the sentiment of the committee that the fair value concept should be maintained.

Motion for an unfavorable report on the Hoyles bill was displaced by a motion to defer action, but when the vote Is taken it will be to maintain the fair value concept.

And lest some people migkf think this matter concerns only the big utilities companies, it should be remembered that it affects every person w'ho uses an electric light, a gas stove, or makes a telephone call, or uses merchandise transported by franchise highway or railroad public carriers. And that means everybody in North Carolina.

Peaceful Strong

Sounc.

The Daily Reflector

INCORPORATED

Published Every Afternoon Except Sunday E.stablished 1882 DAVID JULIAN WHICHARD, Publisher

Entered at Post Office, OreenviUe, N C., as second class mall matter.________

#

SUBSCRIPTION RATES By Carrier (In Towns) * Week 30c

By Carrier (Motor Routes) Week 35c

BY MAIL, Payable In Advance

Greenville Post Office. Pitt County, Robersonvllle. Vanceboro Washington and Chocowlnlty

rhree Months '.............................. 8.7i

Six Months .................................. 7.00

One Year ...... W OO

North Carolina (other than listed above)

Three Months .... 9 4 00

Six Months ................................ 7.50

One Year............ ,.r. 14.00

All Other Oataide North Carolina

Three Months ............................. 425

Six Months .................................. 8.00

Ons Year ...... 1800

property taxes, the Housing Authority agrees to pay since

the city an annual amount not in excess of 10 per "turrmers, the

cent -jof the revenue from shelter rent on the public articles author, Charles o. Ler-

housing units. * would have a much e^-

If, after the initial public housing units are con- mTtMuth?ra"oplni

?tructed there appears to be need for more, each in- foreign affairs,

dividual project mu.st be carried through the same pre- But if Lerches speculations at-liminary steps as the initial project. Each individual are^m^^^

project has to be considered by the city s governing jhey show that on the is-board and mifst receive approval of the citys govern- pe of foreign aid^^^^^

ing board before application is made to construct the

project. per cent of southern representa

tives in Congress opposed the Foreign Assistance Act, as

compared with 21 per cent of all non-southerners. By 1952, southern opposition to foreign aid programs had doubled but was still quite small and well below the national figure. Opposition skyrocketed in the Eisenhower years, however; it hit 58 per cent in 1957, and has hovers ed around 50 per cent ever since. "The South can now claim to be the region most opposed to foreign aid.

Any serious effort to reach concrete explanations is doonir ed to failure. Canvassing the integration upheaval, the new focusing of foreign attention on colored peoples, surveying the shift from King Cottons absolute dependence on foreign trade to late-blooming industrial development which, In part, wants tariff protection; casting back to the Souths line of bona fide rur-iJ demagogues, Lerche arrives inescapably at a package explanation; ^

Isolationism in the South today is part of a package of attitude*. Where you find air iso-

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By JA.MES MARLOW 'WASHINGTON AP) The late Secretary of State John Foster DuUes had a knack for making his critics at home and Communists abroad grit their teeth.

He could convey a sense of violence by the way he used the language.

President Kennedy can say almost the same thingsemphasis on almosti-and yet manage to look peaceful and restrained.

The Kennedy administration is committedas the Eisenhower administration wasto a single, paramount a-s.surance: That

thLs country will not start a war. The policy of both administrations; Keep the Communist world guessing so that it wont know what it will be hit with if it starts aggression.

But Dulles used a phrase he seemed to like"massive reUl-iationwhich his critics threw at him for most of his time In the Slate Department.

It has been said this year that the Kennedy administration has scrapped the idea of massive retaliation. Kennedys own statments do not bear this out. He avoided using such a provocative phrase as massive retaliation but st^ld used language which, while it'looks much milder, the Communists can Interpret as meaning retaliation against them may well be massive if they go too far.

Both the Eisenhower and Kennedy administrations have emphasized the need for building up local defenses against attacks which might be short of all-out war, although Kennedy 4 has stressed this more.

But Dulles in his dramatic way added this:

"Local defense will always be important. But there is no local, defense which alone will contain the mighty land power of the Communist world Local defeasn must be -rlnforced by the further deterrent of massive retaliatory power

He made this statement Jan, 13. 1954 It may have sounded big But if it was intended to acare the Communists it didnt.

Wil^xin a few months after he taeed of "massive retaliatory power liie Communists smashed the French in Indochina and took half the country while this cou.-.try aal by doing nothing but Uikinf.

But this i* where Dulles and Kecjiedy sotirMl abke and are saying the same thing.

On Sarch 16. 1954 DuUca said: "to deter aggression it is important to have the flexibty a.nd the facilities which make various responses available. In many cases, any ojien assault by Communist forces could only result In starling a general war.

But the free world must have the means for responslng effectively on a selective basis when it chooses. It mu.st not put itself in the position where the only re.tpons open to It is general war.

Kennedy, in his defense message to Congress March 28, said; "Our defense posture must be both flexible and determined. Any potential aggressor contemplating an attack on any part of the free world with any kind of weapons, conventional or nuclear, mu.st know that our response will be suitable, selective. swift and effective.

We must be able to make deliberate choices in weapons and strategy, shift the tempo of our production and alter the direction of our forces to meet rapidly changing conditions or objectives at very short notice and under any circumstances.

In both those statements the Communists were left guessing as to what kind of retaliation the United Statce would use.

Quote...

"The Communist Party has been sanctioned by the U. S. Supreme- Court as Just another pollikal parly. There is a great need fur the Congressional (Un-amerlcan Activities Committee to .serve as a watchdog for the firedoni and security of the na-tion.^Foley ^ (Alg.) ^onlpoker.

lationist. -you usually also find a states lighter'^ of a particularly rigid and mechanistic sort, a budget-cutter, an opponent of "socialismfrom which he usually ^excludes cotton supports and the depletion allowance and increasingly often a racist who is free with his prophecies of bloodshed. He is usually identified as a Democrat, although he fraternizes easily with the extreme Right wing of the Republicans. .

Thats some package, but the North Carolina delegation which cast ten of twelve votes against foreign aid in 1954, nine in 59 and seven in '60, doesnt fit Into * it.

Hopefully, we suggest that part of the Souths shift toward isolationism may represent nothing more than the honest doubts of troubled men. John Kennedys message proposing fundamental reforms of foreign al(l programs wels an admission that the aid tools that worked so well in Europe have not worked too well in other areas, and not at all in some. Moreover, corrup-tton has been amply proved and weve witnessed the explosion in iraq and Laos of allies supposedly made safe by dollar aid for the free world alliance. The aid concept itself, in other v/ords. has grown vulnerable, and its administration has been throwing nuts and bolts at an alarming rate. The Kennedy ie-form program Is over-due and will for that reason be harder to sell a skeptical Congress.

Its too early to tell how much of the Souths new isolationism is protest and how much Is dogmatic withdrawal. The latter would be short-sighted and dangerous. The former could be helpful in fashioning an aid program to fit opportunities and meet necessities of a nation whose disengagement from the world would lead |o destruction.

On Five Points the jack hammers are at it again this week as Greenville Utilities crews go about the job of extending the downtown underground electrical system.

The noise is nerve wracking for those who work in nearby buildings and the blocked streets are a headache to the motorists, but it is all for progress.

Soon machinery will disappear from the streets, the open ditches will be covered and the street will return to normal.

Eventually the overhead power lines and transformers will be removed from Greenvilles main streets and it will allibe for the good of the city.

And,two blocks away on the other end of Main Street workmen are busy high in the air. They are atop the county courthouse where they are giving the dome of the clock and its sides a new coat of paint.

The workers look rather small as they go aboiit their dangerous work high above the streets. But the clock tower is gradually taking on a shiny new look.

Opinions

in

<Jommuni.m has provided the only case in the history of the United States with which we have attempted to deal by defensive measures. This is not the way in which we buUt our nation. Adm. H. B. Miller, USN, Ret.

Soaring governmental taxation does manage to incite the passion of U.S. citizens but after a few moments of bewildered complaint they walk away from the problem weeping with futility. Lake Geneva (Wis.) Regional News.

' 'There is, as there should be, strong interest in various proposed reforms and changes in the chaotic supportas in the case of the Administrations program or offering certain tax inducements to industry that would result in substantially increased new investment in plants and other physical facilities. Industrial News Review.

By ELMRE BOESSNER

-Hid President Kgpnedy sent

American forcea into Congo or into Uo8 or into Cuba the likelihood is that we should, by now, have atopped the Communist advance somewhere. In-itead, in the Congo, tte main- tenance of peace has been left to the United Nations: in LaM to SEATO, in Cuba, to nobody. The result is a frightful mishmash which may reault in a serious defeat.

During the Eisenhower Admin-istration, American l^^^rship became monymous with inaction, with uncertainty. Thereupon, the British Prime-Minister, Harold Macmillan, aajiumed the role of the honest broker he-

found between thes two governments if the Cold War not to be converted into a fight-ing war. Apparently President Eisenhower found this arrang^ ment satisfactory and Uw Brit, ish pursued a course of delay and negotiation which always started hopefully and ended nowhere. The best example of this sort of futility is the Geneva Disarmament Conference which goes on and on endlessly, producing nothing but mountains of words to which no attention is paid by anybody. It is now in session and hardly rates news leports.

The theory used to be that as long as the antagonisU talked, there was no danger of a fighting war. This theory has proved to be a dud. Whe the talk continues, the Soviet Universal State marches forward not only diplomatically but territorially. If the United Nations could take an anti-Communist attitude, Katanga would be supported, but the United Nations cannot be anti-Communist. At most, it must be neutral, but neutrality, in many instances, means being anti-American: it could mean being pro-Russian. The United Nations therefore is not useful in stopping the Communist advance anywhere. It is not con-, stituted for that purpose.

Had the United States gone into Laos or (hiba alone, it might have been accuse of violating treaties and of diplomats arrogance. Nevertheless, it is raiHdly becoming necessary for the United States, if it asserts leadership, to lead. And a leader does not need a broker. He needs no middleman.

So President Kennedys conference with Prime Minister Macmillan is Isserting a Position that is sound and one which, had we assumed it in 1945, would have saved this country much grief and cost. We asserted leadership that bargained away our *capacity to lead. We attempted to form a ring of alliances which have not actually held up. NATO is weak without a strong Prance, willing to assume full cooperative-tespon-sibility. SEATO is meaningless without the inclusion of Formosa. We have permitted the Soviet sphere of influence in Cuba to jell and we' have lost the respect of Latin American countries because we attempted to put upon them the burden of breaking down Castro in Cuba, whereas they expected us to do it for-them at any cost.

In a word, President Kennedy is breaking with the Containment Policy which has not contained anything and he is asserting the right of direct pego-tiatiobs with any other country without an latermcdiary.* But these are mere words until they are implemented by an assertion - of strength. Sooner or later, the United States must say, Halt! And the day that is said, the challenge must be made good. Great Britain will undoubtedly go along but who else will? That is the primary question that faces President Kennedy and he is arranging to find out.

The forthcoming visit of Chancellor Konrad Adenauer to Washington wiD answer the question as to West Germany's position. The visit of President Kennedy to President de Gaulle will involve more'difficult problems.

^President de Gaulle of France not only seeks to support the West but to restore the greatness of Prance. Historically Prance has been the leader of continental Europe since, at (Continuad on Pafa I)

Installmen

o ,

See Decline

By ELMER ROESSNER Instalment indebtedness has been declining a Wt this year.

Part, of course, is due to the recession. People without jobs dontor cantcommit themselves to a series of instalment payments. ^ _

But part is due to a slightly higher rate of paying off. In February, for example, consumers repaid $3.759.000.000, compared with $3.716.000.000 in February, I960which had one extra day

The total is still high. Americans went Into March owing $42,264.000,000 on instalment payments and $11.838.000.000 In single payment loans, eharfe accounts and service credit, which inolDdes credit cards-This raises several questions: 1..I5 the total owed dangerously high? . u

2. Is the total credit a brake

on recovery?

To the first question, credit grantera' have long been arguing that the Indebtedness of the American family is well within reason; that the ratio between debt and income is lower than it has been in past periods, and ti^t credit sales keep factories

turning and men employed.

On the other hand, there has been a sharp rise in personal bankruptcies. In the year ended June 30, 1960, there was a new high of 110.034 bankruptcies of which 94.414 were personal bankruptcies. In addition, there were 13.599 personal debt extension plans approved by the courts. Most observers agree that a large part of these bankruptcies were due in whole or part to overextension of instalment or other credit.

The second question draws 'equally diverse answers.

IT MOVES GOODS

Some credit grantera say that the way to get...out of any r^ cession is to buy more on credit. That is everybody today had to have the full price of a car or TV set before buying, sales would squeak to a halt. On the other -hand., if everybody went out and bought 10 per cent more on instalment plan.s, the consiun-er fdtods factories would move into overdrive.

But others make this point; Consumer credit is expensive and if people were not paying .so much in instalment charges, they would have more to spend

for

. goods.

Most Instalment plans charge from 12 to 16 per cent for credit. The nominal rate may be 8 to 8 per cenf, but because the buyer makes monthly payments, his average loan is only half the initial loan, and the effective rate of interest is double the nominal rate. And some revolving rate of Interest is double the nominal rate. And some revolving credit' plans, by charging 1*4 per cent a month, are getting 18 per cent a year.

A HEAVY PRICE

The total consumer credit outstanding at the beginning of March was $54 billion. If the average rate of Interest and other credit charges is 12e.per cent actually, it is probably more the public would be paying $6-5 billion a year for the privilege of paying later. But if the public were on a cash basis, it could buy half a billion dollars more of goods a month, it would seem.

In fact.'however. It Is not that simple. The half-billlon the American public pays for the fun, oL paying later does not disappear; it pa.sses to bankers, lei -ing agencies and their em

ployees, accountants, bad-debt collectors, lawyers and others Involved in the truly big bi$si-ness of credit. And these people use it to buy goods and ac" vicesoften on the Instalment plan themselves!

However, there is one notable dislocation; Money paid as interest is deductible in computing income taxes. If Americans are paying $6.5 billion a year for interest on consumer Indebtedness, and if the top bracket of the average credit buyer is no more than 25 per cent, then the- American credit spree is costing the government $1.6 billion a yeaf in income taxes.

THREE NEW LEAFLETS FOR SMALL BUSINESS

The Small Business Administration has published three new management aidt" for $mall manufacturers: Titles are:

Management Planning for Sound Growth. Getting the Most from Yeur Furchating Dollar" and Cash Maaagetnent in Small Plants. Si^ your Uxes are paying for them, yog might as well write for fr copies to the SBA. Washington 25. D. C i t