PACE FOUK

THE DAaV^ REFLECTOR, GREENVILLE, N. C

Mondfty, April 17, 1961

legislature Sees Some Progress

Monday, April 17, 1961 . . ' ^ ^ -

iLpn^Range Program Is Indicated

TVi Pitt rountv Board of Education obviously villes corporate limits have expanded into Winteirille

face JadiffLlfant comp katedsftraU^^^^ it seeks school district and aU

Immediate problems faced by school officials in- schools the youngsters will attend, but likewise

volve Greenville, Winterville, Farmville and Arthur matter of school district property values which

school districts. In the future, however^ it is only logi ^ direct bearing on the ability of the district to

cal to expect that new problems will arise concerning school bonds. There is also the question of the

these and other districts within the county. respective school district tax levies designated to fund-

At the moment the Board of Education is in the ing the bonded indebtedness that now e^ts.

process of establishing new boundaries of the Farm- -With the prospect of schoo consolidation in Pitt

ville and Winter\ille school districts in order that these County continuing, it is not unlikely that ail of tne two districts will absorb the area formerly included school districts of the county will be involved m in the Arthur district. The latter district no longer has boundary shifts in future years, ilt is likely also that a school in operation, and the students from the.dis- with further consplidation-particularly at the high trict are attending school in Farmville and Winterville. school level-it will be logical to combine some of Certainly there is no point in having a school district the present districts into larger districte. in which there is no school, and therefore the elimina- jn view of these problems, would it now be wise . tion of the Arthur district is a logical step. for the Pitt County Board of Education to initiate now

, a nositive long-range study of school district align-

.An entirely" different set of circumstances has county with a view to possible needs?

' necessitated the attention now being given to the com- k r

mon boundary of the Wintenille and Greenville school Absorption of the Arthur school district Wm-

districts This has been brought about because Greetr- terville and Farmville districts, and a possible shift of aisiricis. inis boundary between the Winterville and Greenville

districts appear to us only stop-gap measures that may

provide a temporary solution to a temporary problem.

These steps offer no long range solution to the problem

of school district lines which Pitt County will have to

face in the next several years.

A careful projection of school needs in the county as a whole over a long-range period should give an indication of what district alterations will be needed in connection with fulfilling the school needs. Now that the school boards are already involved in making some district changes, it seems a logical moment for them to evaluate future needs and endeavor to formulate a workable long-range program which will eliminate complicated and confusing piece-meal adjustments year-by-year.

Such an approach in the long run would, in our opinion, better serve public education and the interest of all the people of Pitt County.

Just One More Castro Propaganda Assault

Cubas blaming the United States for attacks on Cuban military installations by defecting Cuban air force pilots is another obvious propaganda assault by the Castro regime.

The Cuban assertions that the'"raids were a prelude to an invasion by the United States will, we think, be recognized as hollow charges by the United Nations and by individual nations around the world. Just last week President Kennedy made it plain that the United States would not intervene in Cubas in-trnal affairs. And certainly if the United States undertook a prelude to an invasion of Cuba, it would not sent two or three World War II light bombers for the softening up attacks.

The incident in Cuba is another indication of the unrest among Castros military organization and it may well reflect a decline in Castros popularity throughout the country over which his dictatorship now holds sway. The fact that the bombing' attacks by defecting Cuban pilots came during a week which brought several explosions in Havana suggests a buildup of anti-Castro activities among the Cubans themselves.

Since he came to power, Castro has used the United States for a whipping boy every time he faced adverse circumstances. Saturdays bombings show that Castro intends to continue to place the blame for Cuban troubles upon the United States, regardless of how absurd the charges may be.

.ess Corporate ?roiit Is Shown

What? Tennis At The White House?

Bv LYNN MSBLT,' .* -PROGRESS Feeling iys general among legislators and observers that substantial progress was made last week but not nearly so much as might appear on the surface. Several very Important measures were com-pleted, including reorganization of the C&D and Highway departments, and a lot of local matters were cleared up.

No real progress was made In state legislative or congressional redistricting. There was a lot of talk, and opinion differs whether it tended to bring divergent ideas closer together or more stubbornly confirmed members in original position^

Almost the same can be said of the court Improvement bills, although there is growing prospect lor some kind of cbmpro-mise In this area. It appears reas<mid>ly certain that changes will be made in the structure of inferior courts tending to more uniformity In all the cwmties of the state. The most vigorous opponents of revamping the entire judicial system, from the Supreme Court down, concede that something must be done at the lower levels.

money Whether the action of the joint appropriations com-rnittee in voting to add the extra $70 million for education, as requested by Governor Sanford, to the master appropriations bill will simplify or further complicate advancement of the money bills is matter of opinion. The remaining $13 million for other purposes in Sanfords additional requests has not been acted upon.

The appropriations committee vote was definitely a significant victory for the Governor. There are those who wonder if in winning this battle he might have Jeopardized prospects of winning the war. That question is based on several developments.

PRX1E1DURE The whole business of the budget has been handled this year in unusual, if not uniMticedented, fashion. The appropriations bill recommended by the Advisory Budget Commission was the biggest in history, more than $100 million above the preceding biennial allocations. For the first time In many years, the Advisory Budget group did not offer at the same time a balancing revenue bill, the assumption being that existing tax schedules would afford the money necessary to meet appropriations.

A few weeks later Governor Banford delivered a special bug-get message in which he requested $83 million additional appropriations and suggested specific tax sources to raise the money. Companion bills were introduced in the House aad Senate effectuating the admia-

istration program. Including extending the 3 per cent sales tax to food and medicine, and a number of other jM^ently exempt items but still leaving many exemptions and fixing I he rate at 1 per cent and 2 per cent on others.

There followed a raft of independent I revenue producing bills and a flock of addiUonal aiH>ropriatioo bills. All of these revenue bills were referred to the finance committee. The addition of the $70 million to the master apiMTjpriation bill came in form of a committee amendment, and has not yet been presented on the floor of the General Assembly. It was adopted by voice vote In the com-^ mittee. estimated by observers to have been at the ratio of about three-to-two, possibly two-to-one. Some who voted for it later said they meant only to get the $70 million item In the bill for consideration along with all the others, and did not necessarily mean they would support the entire bill on final vote.

REVERSE Majority opinion in and out of the Legislature is that the vote represents a fairly positive'commitment of the ap-probriations group, and that it puts the burden on the finance committee to find the' money. That is reversal of iH-ocedure for many years, when the practice has been for the finance committee to determine available funds and let the appropriations boys distribute them as they saw fit.

That is the business-like approach. and the current reversal points up the distinction between essential features of business and of government. Private business exists for profit: government exists to serve the people. The prime duty of the business man is to inventory resource and channel spending within limits. The obligation of government is to Inventory needs for service and as nearly as possible levy taxes to meet them.

Both business and government barrels have bottoms and neither has inexhaustible supply of resources. The difference is one of emphasis. Business emphasizes capital, government emphasizes need. Many people who recognize this clear distinction still contend that there should be more service in business and more business in government. And that is the area in which the current debate rages.

Despite the preponderant favorable vote for the Sanford education appropriation in the committee, there is presently no assurance that the bill as finally reported out will Include the items being considered by the joint committee.

Corps

Value

MJIimH Iwdirti 1.

By GEORGE SOKOLSKY

Citys Silenced Song::

esL

Copyright, 1961, King Features Sjmdicate, Inc.

I4fe in any large city is drab for young people and particularly so for New Yorkers where there seems to be never anywhere to go. That is, to go spontaneously, without pre-arrangement, without the wear of dressing up.

And so. for 17 years, young I>eople have been foregathering in the fountain of Washington Square on a Sunday afternoon to sing folk songs. I do not know who started all this, but it grew so that many came and boy met girl, and mandolins and

guitars were brought along. There was a spirit of gaiety and of belonging, although occasionally there, as anywhere else, a bum came among the sheep, a heroin pusher, m* a homosexual seeking a mate or something like that. Of course, such will be found in any large crowd in New York and one place is as good or bad as another.

For 17 years, these songfests continued and nobody much bothered about it. The Beatniks came with their whiskers and their gals wore long hair and all their faces were grubby

Other Editors Saying The Buildup In Laos

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By RALPH ROBEY

Of all the problems facing this nation none is more serious than the continud downward trend in corporate proflts. This is not because of Its effect upon the income of the approximately fifteen million stockholders. As a matter of fact, dividends have been well maintained as a result of many companies paying out a larger propOTtlon of their earnings. The reason the proflt decline is so important is that net business Income is the mainspring of our economic system, and when it goes down and down it has extremely wide ramifications.

The latest official government figures we have on' corporate profits are for the third quarter of 1959. However we know that the last three months of the year were even worse from the point of view of net earnings, and the decline has continued through the fir.st quarter of this year.

Fortunately the First National City Bank of New Yotk has been collecting profit data far many years and in its monthly bulletin for April gives an extensive tabulaUon. This la based upon the reports of corporations and thus Involves neither guesswork nor estimates.

This current presentation summarizes the record of 3,433 corporations, The net worth of these establishments was $232 billion as of the first of this year and in 1959 their aggregate sales amounted to $307 billion. In other words this is a broad sample and beyond doubt correctly indicates the trend. The bank classifies the reports by Industry, giving the number of companies represented in each, and then divides the groups into seven categories. There is, of course, a wide variation as between industries and also as between the large categories.

Commercial banking showed the greatest Improvement in earning's. In 1960 their profits' were 34 percent above 1959. The largest gain was at the first of the year when interest rates were Relatively high. At the op

posite extreme was air transport. This showed a decline of 74 percent from 1959. In the manufacturing category, 2,034 companies had an over-all decline of 4 percent between 1959 and 1960.

The bank also calculates profits in relation to sales and net worth. In manufacturing, the profit per dollar of sales declined from 5 8 percent In 1959 to 5.4 percent In 1960. During the thirteen years from 1947 to 1959, inclusive, average profit per dollar of sales was 6.3 percent. In terms of this measure, therefore, 1960 was extremely bad.

As related to net worth the drop from 1959 to 1960 was from 9.8 to 9.1 percent. This is for all the companies included in the tabulation. This was the lowest rate since World War II except for 1958, and compares with the 1947-59 average of 11.2 percent.

What has been responsible for this decline of profi|s?

On the one side has been an increase in the cost of production. Wages continue to climb climb more rapidly in "many instances than the output per manhour. And many other costs also have been advancing, in spite of all that management can do to hold them down.

On the other side the American public has come to the conclusion that prices are as high as they should be. and that for many articles prices are too high. For years business was able to recover higher costs by raising prices. That no longer is possible as a general rule A return to Inflation would be the worst possible method for meeting this situation. That would merely pile up more problems for the future. The real cure is lower, not higher, prices. That is not possible unless we ch reduce the cost of production. To do that we need more efficient machinery, and to get these machines our tax-laws must be substantially changed, both as to rates and the method for calculating depreciation.

^ (Henderson Dispatch)

Trouble in the tiny state of Laos in Southeast Asia has not blown over. Par from it. It may get worse before It gets better. Despite the present seeming lull, events are thought to be transpiring behind the scenes.

For one thing, Soviet Russia is reported to be quietly sending in arms and supplies by airlift to the rebel group. This flood is said to have been greatly stepped up In recent da3rs.

All this, too, in the face of frantic efforts to obtain assent of Moscow to a' crease-flre aihd ultimately a conference to settle the issue peaceably. Whatever the agreement, if one should be reached, would stand, of course, only so lf^ as the Communists found it served their purpose. They will not be stopped permanently short of a military showdown, and thats where the real danger lies. It could blossom into a bloody conflict, even as Korea was a decade and more ago.

SEA'TO, the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization, continues to talk of resistance. That means with the aid of Western powers. Including the United States. And that In turn would result in Increased support by the Communists for their forces.

Is Laos, then, to be another contest between the big powers In the background pulling the strings. It rould be exactly that 80 long as Russia feeds material to the rebels and the United States sends guns, planes and

munitions to the Rc^al Laos government.

Hitler and Stalin toughed It out in Spain in the mid-thirties in testing out their modem weapons of that day. In the epd the rightists, meaning the Hitler bloc, triumphed, with the present Dictator Franco winning control of the countrya control which he has held to this day.

Laos of itself ar^d alone Isnt worth the cost and the effort. But Laos is significant because It represents further expansion of Communism, and because if and when Laos topples into the Red orbit It will be' relatively simple for them to move on from there in gobbling up other small states of Southeast Asia. It is to prevent that development that the existing government is being helped by the Western powers. There is by no means assurance that the Communists can be stopped. Fighting In Laos is largely of a jungle character, and natives of that area must be relied upon to do the dirty work. And they are at best none too dependable.

The present build-up may be Ihe fashioning of another Spain, another Korea; indeed another Congo. The outcome cannot be foreseen as of now. But the situation definitely is fraught with major dangers and threats to the free world. It will be a ml.s-take, and conceivably a tragedy, to underestimate the significance of the straggle now going on in that far comer of the world.

which Is their symbol of revolt but it is better to rebel by not using lipstick than to rebel by throwing bombs. Youth will rebel and these do It by singing folk songs and reciting drab poetry, the kind that depends not upon the depth of thought but upon a sort of onomatopoeia which is hereabouts fashionable, although not as competently done as by Edgar Allan Poe,

And so, of a Sunday, they sang and the poUce were sUent. During most the 17 years, the Commissioner of Parks in New York City was Robert Moses, the great builder. Robert Moses has a sense of humor as well as wit. No one asked his consent for these folks to sing, but he said nothing about it. In a word, he winked his eye at the rule that to do almost anything in a park one needs a permit. Moses believed that parks were for pe<H)le, and if the people wanted to sing, surely it was better for their souls than to move about moodily counting their shekels. So he let them sing.

But now, in New York, there is a new Commissioner of Parks, Newbold Morris, who is tall and handsome and correct in his conduct but whose sense of humor is negative. Whereas Moses could be guilty of a belly-laugh, Morris politely smiles. At any rate, he told the police to stop 'the singing, lest the grass and shrubs suffer. And the Police Commissioner fell in with Morriss plot to silence the singing with the result that the police struck at these young people with clubs and pictures were taken oi it all and now Khrushchev can circulate these pictures all over the Earth showing how the American police club the common people, even the bearded ones, whose only crime is that they want to sing.

If our policy suffers because no one takes us seriously, it is due to just such stupidities, for how can anyone believe that this is a free country, if young . people are not free to sing? Imagine, the nations of Latin America viewing the pictures that appeared on television of cops heroically clubbing singers, who wanted to sing, Roll Out the barrel? Why send the Peace Corps hither and yon if we also send such photographs not of brutality but of stupidity? Is it possble for any one any-(Continued on page five)

By ROGER BABSON BABSON PARK. Mass. - OiA defense againsl World Wgr may not be nuclear missiles or atomic sutmiarlnes but rather something far more revolutionary. I refer to the Peace Corps.

PEACE CORPS DESCRIBED President Kennedy has sent a message to Congress on his proposed Peace Corps suggesting that 1000 young and 'middle-age people be ready to leave by the coming Christmas. Among lo-oj-ects in the exploratory stage are work for surveyors, engineers, and geologists. Expert farmers and those acquainted with the use of Insecticides and fertilizers arc needed. Also in demand are carpenters who will get neighbors together, as in the old days, to ect housM id barns fw one another. The^ad-quartws at Washington tell me it has 25,000 applicants, although a majbrity of these cannot hope to meet the requirements.

CERTAIN REQUIREMENTS r MUST BE MET

The Plan will not be sticce-ful* with non-paid v(dunteers. Whether or not these men and women are obtained by volunteering or by .drafting, they must be under army discipline and subject to the same length of service as those entwing the fighting ranks. They must be carefully screened as to loyalty. personality, and education. They naturally should fluently speak the language of the coun- . try to which they will be sctrt and be well-trained for the character of work in which they will be engaged. Surdy. the Peace Corps Personnel are en-tiUed to the pay of a Second-Lieutenant.

To make this new Peace Army successful. Congress must be prepared to apend as lavishly thereon as It would spend on the development of missiles or any nuclear weapons. This new Army should be taken very seriously and be placed under our U. S. Drtense Dept, with President Kennedy as Commander in Chief. Every nation should be entiUed to the aid of the Peace Corps, although its personnel should be sent Into a nation only at ,the nations request. Whether or not the Peace Corps should or should not be tied up with foreign aid is to

be decided later. _

PEACE CORPS AND DEFENSE DEPARTMENT It is a great mistake to compare the proposed Peace Corps with the Civilian Conservation Corps organized by Franklin Roosevelt to give work to unemployed young men during the depression of the 1930s. In order to be successful the Peace Corps must be carefully selected, organized, trained, and disciplined. It must be treated and financed as if some, entirely new revolutionary weapon had been discovered which we must either adopt or we will be sunk!

Certainly all nations Including Russia wl be free to organize similar Peace Corps. I understand that Charles deGaulle is much interested. This development creates an entirely new and apparently overlooked situation. Would It be good or bad for the movement to have different Peace Corps of other nations working within a single naUon such as one of the Latin Nations of Central and South America, including Cuba? -Frankly, no one now knows. The whole idea is so new with euch far reaching possibilities and dangers. If several nations idan to ircnd Peace corps to a foreign country, surely the mwnbers of each wiU be able to talk with each other since they can speak the language of the countnr to which they are sent. If both men and women are accepted this makes a further complication.

WOULD CHINA SEND OUT PEACE CORPS?

Studying thin whole idea with its ramifications, it may result in doing inore to bring the nations together than has even the United Nations. There are about one hundred separate nations now in the United Nations Organization. Imagine only a small proportion of these one hundred nations sending out (Continued on Page a)

Political Sweet Tooth Looming

By ELMER ROESSNER

America may develop a political sweet tooth. Congress has passed legislation enabling the Administration to bar Cuban sugar again. Now that Congress has been assured that other nations can more than make up the loss of Cuban sugar, efforts will be made to win their friendship <and placate their lobbyists) by Increasing other na-tions*' sugar allotments.

The whole sugar question may be reopened and. eventually. Americans may be called upon to enjoy more sugar.

MORE PREDICTIONS

Here are other look-aheads in

business: ,

Expect a new savings drive.

Savings accumulations of Americans are slowing down, largely because so many people are using savings to speculate in tne stock market. Savings Institutions are worried and may can on the government to take steps to encourage more sav-ings.

Declines in savings would threaten the amount available for home-building and plant expansion, critically needed now to help the economy squirm out of the recession.

More steel rises:: Steel produc-* tion began to increase even before au^> makers started to in

crease assemblies. Now that auto manufacturers are returning to the steel market, some sharp upturns in production may be expected.

Earlier 1962 cars: Each year new auto models seem to come out earlier: this year will be no exception. The possibility of a strike Sept. 1 is causing manufacturers to accelerate progress on 1962 cars. If new models should come out just before a strike, and the public couldnt get orders filled for a while, it might make the 1962 models more desirable than usual.

Plentiful soybeans: Support

prices on soybeans, fixed at $2.30 a bushel, may encourage overproduction of the bean. While the price is lower than previous peaks, modern farming methods make it attractively profitable. Farmers have shown intentions of planting 8.9 per cent more land in soybeans than last year, and fertilizers and other assistants could make the crop even larger.

AIR CUTS OPPOSED

Air freight cuts opposed: Domestic airlines are planning to oppose vigorously plans to eliminate minimum air cargo rates. Their big argument is that there are no handsome profits being made, and that cuts in would benefit on

ly a few airlines with special situations.

Less unemployment: Preliminary reports indicate that employment is increasing even more thap the seasonal changes might expect. Activity in autos, appUinces, steel and construction indicates more men are being called back than is usual for mid-April.

New rubber: A new synthetic rubber is said to be the closest tiling yet to natural rubber. R Is now going into production in Texas, and will make the Western nations more independent of the Red-threatened Malayan rubber crop than ever before. Our independence of Asian rubber may make Communist forces less eager to continue the sweep southward from China.

FOREIGN COMPETITION TOUGH ON AIRLINES

Americas International airlines are losing ground in the competitive race with foreign

counterparts for transatlantic

and global passenger traffic.

Steelways, official publication of American Iron and Steel Institute, reports that Americas privately owned airlines are

finding it increasingly difficult to operate profitably against competitors who are subsidized by their governmenU.

It noted that even the amaO-est countries want an international airline whether or not It can make it pay. It pointed out that other countries feel an International airline is good advertising for their Industries. They are wling to pay for this advejcitelng in the form of subsidias if necessary.

These figures reflect their growth: by mid-1960 more than 70 foreign airlines held Civil Aeronautic Bureau permits for operations to the United States. In 1949, there were but 31,

OLD PROMOTER HAS PRESEASON MORAL Im ahead of the season,** the Old Prwnoter said today, but 1 have a good point. Last summer I hopped into a taxi and found it was air conditioned,

Must have cost a loti I said to the driver. He grinned. Cost nothing. I put the conditioner in at the start of summer. I didnt have any sign advertising the air conditioning. But people who hailed me felt realized and felt good. Tips paid for the equipment in three months.

But my biggest gains resulted from the fact that I felt good. I kept pushing while other cabbies were pulled up In front of taverns to cool off, and 1 doubled my income. "