Thurtdayi May 25, 1961

Thursday, May 25, 1961

City Council Has Raised Doubts

As a result of the failure of the City Council to g^ive approval for an application for funds with which the Greehvflle Housing Authority might carry out its study of local housing needs, there arises the serio^ question of whether a majority of the governing body of the city intends to carry out the will of the people of Greenville as expressed in the referendum on public housing and urban renewal.

Is it to be assumed from their actions Tuesday night that Mayor Charles King, Councilman Ford McGowan and Councilman James W. Lee want to prevent the Housing Authority from making a study of the housing needs of Greenville? Is it to be assumed that these three officials are reluctant to carry out the will of the people as expressed in the referendum on public housing and urban renewal? Will there be an effort to kill these programs approved by the voters by delaying them to death?

It is our sincere hope that the answer to these

ttle Hope Of , !Vfeeting Date

By LYNN NISBET PROGRESS - The target date for sine die adjoumment of the 1961 General Aascmbly a-aa set eometime ago for June 17just three weeks from now. It is doubted that the leaders who are talking up that date have^aay real hope o meetinc St.

Notlcealde progress has been made during the past ten dajrs toward agreement in committees on major issues. The joint ap> projHlations subcommittee has tentatively apiroved a large part of the proposed approiH^ tioQs budget allocations and has added several million dollars to the original budget bill, including nearly all of Governor Sanfords $70 milUcm school en-rkfament program.

House and Senate finance sub> committees, meeting destwrate-ly. have tentatively approved a lew tax schedules including . the 3 per cent sales tax on

table foods, (approved by Uie

Senate only) but not the proposed tax on prescription medicine, farm seeds, fertilizer and livestock feed. Elimination of these items from Senate approval and no actioo by the

House group reduced the es-

timsted revenue yield by about $9 million.

There is substantial support in the House group for the 4 per cent sales tax on approximately the same items now covered by the 3 per cent levy. Final action has not been taken on proposals for soft drink and tobacco taxes. The situation appears to be about this: T1 joint appropriations subcommittee has made considerable progress toward determining what should be spent for what purposes. The subcommittee may be able to report to the full committee sometime next week before June 1.

The Senate finance suboommlt-' tec an the Hbiise fifiahc subcommittee each has made progress, but along difiere routes- Not only must the subcommittees report to their parent full groups, but the recommendations of the two must be coordinated before full flot* consideration.

QUESTION Since the tp-imopiiatioDs group has added several mUlions to the original spending proposals, and the finance groups have reduced proposed sources, there is serious question whether the progress* In each of the segments really adds up to genuine progress toward final solutioQ.

Some oldtlmers see ghosts of 1931 and 1933 stalking the committee rooms. Those were the record-breaking marathon see-aions, when appropriations and finance sections in both branches were at variance, and when conference committee reports between the two houses were approved one day and the approval rescinded next day-Conditions are not nearly so desperate now at either local or state level as they were in the depression yeara. The basic Issues are very similar. A major

facet Is the degree of response bility of State and local governments with Federal aid involved now to far greater extent than it was 30 years ago. Prior to advent of the New Deal in 1933 the problem of matching Federal dollars was of roiaD consequence. Now it is a major consideration in education, health, highways and welfare.

Time was when the North Carolina Legislature was concerned only wiUi efforts to meet the needs of the citizens with approprlatiocs from State levied taxes. Now almost half of the highway fund and a large part of educaUon, health and welfare appropriations are determined by requirements to meet Federal Regulations. That means the fate of bills now pending in the Congress may have controlling influence on action by our General Assembly. For that reason there is disposition to wait for congressional action before enacting State laws.

SALES TAX There is growing opposition to the proposal of Governor Sanford that the sales tax levy be extended to cover purchases by city and county governments. This plan would necessitate increased tax levies by local units, which get most of their revenue from ad valorem taxes. The effect would be the same as if the State levied a property tax; and for nearly 30 years North Carolina-has boasted it levied no tax on property for State purposes.

Although essentially State officers. members of the General Assembly are elected by the voters in their home counties or districts. They feel primary obligation to their home bailiwick constitutents. They are reluctant to vote for a State revenue bill that will In effect raise the local advalorem tax raiean increase .over which the county commilsroTrs would have no control.

Ficrmous ad of which would seem to Indicate that the claims of progress toward adjournment may be based on very tenuous premise. Many observers also doubt that as much progress has been made In the congresskmal redistricting matter as surftoe reports would Indicate. The fact is that several members have signed two or more bills with different district arrangements. The committees have ai^;x>ached tentative agreement on one point that the Incumbent Republican congressman wiU be placed In a district with a sitting Democrat. Adjustments must be made all along the line to effect that objective, and in districts where RepiRilican opposition is not a problem there are mai|y factors of relative county strength in primaries.

Consensus among experienced observers, in and out of the Legislature, Is that the General Assembly can adjourn In mid-June by just quitting but that decent solution of many of the proUemg caimot be a^ileved within that time.

questions will be No!

It may be that one or all three of these officials will subsequently alter the position he took at Tuesday nights meeting and approve this step which must be taken before planning on the programs can proceed.

Even so, the delay in approving the application for funds with which the Housing Authority can carry out its study is, in our opinion, inexcusable.

The matters of public housing and urban renewal have been discussed thoroughly in Greenville since January when Mayor King, who was then a council-%, man, offered the motion tKat the issues be submitted to the people for a vote. If the months between January and May 2 did not provide sufficient time for consideration of these issues by the men who now sit on the citys governing boqrd, certainly the three weeks since these men knew they were elected to office should have provided the opportunity for considering the question. * '

The Housing Authority has asked that it be allowed to carry out the duties which were imposed upon it after the vote of the people in the May 2 ref-> erendum..X:firtamly.-iha citizens of Greenviile---and. we assume the governing boardswant whatever recommendations the Housing Authority subsequently makes to the City Council to be bsed on careful consideration and study of housing conditions in Greenville. Obviously this cannot be done if a majority of the governing board stands a$. a roadblock between the Housing Authority and the funds it needs to carry out its study.

The citizens of Greenville did what was asked of them when they turned out in record numbers to express their opinions on the issues of public housing and urbap renewal, both of which wefi approved in the referendum.

A majority of the members of the present governing body, if not all of them, said prior to the election they intended to be guided by the will of the people. It is now up to the Mayor and the Councilmen to fulfill that obligation, and to do so without further gy PATRICIA MOORE

unnecessary delay.

Like It Govmt

Or Not, U.S. Is In Picture

The Rebel Scores Again

tive attitude that it has gained in recent year.

This is an attitude perhap exemplified in the Rebel itself. which has truly devoted itself to a creative movement not only at East Carolina Col-

coUege.

Russells articles have appeared in North Carolina newspapers and he is a noted biographer and retired instructor of creative writing at the university.

Artwork illustrating a timely

Publication of the spring Rebel" by East Carolina College atudenta again bring forth an outstanding interview with President Kennedys endorsement of the private an outstanding North Carolinian.

effort to accept Castros offer to exchange 1,200 o ...... ________

his prisoners for American tractors puts the govern- interviews of such a high lege, but in the eastern part of

ment into the overall exchange picture and in effect caliber for the entire 1960-61 the state which supports, this

makes it a party to bowing to Castros blackmail de- year.

Phlllipa Russell of the um-

manas. , ,, ^ versity of North Carolina ha

Although the President stated clearly that the direct answers to direct

United States government would not be a party to the questions. The interviewers negotiations, the fact that the President has urged citizens as individuals to contribute to the fund to pro- integration in the South and this piece "oiT the Civil"* War en,

vide Castro with tractors in exchange for the prison- states part; statu of the east- -No Time for Generals, CSA

ers is likely to be a^d lent Z

official participatibn by the government.^ It is a situa nuy pgrt of the state, the artist, and he used drawings

tion which mav enhance American prestige and cause Russell gave optimistic answers, as hi tool of illustration,

considerable embarrassment to the Cuban dictator. He encburaged the coUege to A section in the magatne on

At the same time it is a situation that could result in

a lowering of American prestige because this country ^ ^ i t-i

again has taken the dollar approach to finding a solu- I OTl ITTTl

tion to an international problem. * LAJsyilw A wA L>iA

We seriously question the wisdom of the position Editor,

taken by the President in this matter. By suggesting Eiched * copy of letter that the American people pay the blackmail that l recently seat to Mayor Charles

Castro has asked in return for his prisoners a danger- numerth?

0U8 precedent may have been set. It may well en- ^ital importance to

courage other dictators to try the same tactics to soak a considerable segment of the

Uncle Sam or the American public for materials which Oreenyiiie population, and since

this country can produce.

to the increasing use of welded sculpture, which has already been appearing at both college and Greenville Art Center ex-_ come

Sample

Of Our System

By GEORGE E. SOKOLSKY Copyright. lOSi, 1^ features Syndicate, Inc.

Looking through a 0^'neral Motor report. I find that in 1960, thl compafty had 595,151 employee and 830,873 shareholders. The capitalist system, as it has developed in the United States, is undoubtedly best described by these figures. The widespread o^crship of American Industnr is characterized by widespread and diffuse public participation in ownership. Similarly, the size of the per-sonnel, over half a million Inthis one company, represents an annual pajTOll of $3,487,000,000 out of a total sales of $12.735,000,-000. The dividends on common and i>referred stock amounted to $577.000.000 and $381.000.000 of the net income was retained for use in Ihe business.

In a word. American capitalism, as experienced by General Motors, our largest producing firm, ^ows a widespread distribution of ownership, actually larger than the number of employees; it show% that the workers get aboul 25 per cent of the total gross Income; that wages are about six times as large as dividends. Ownership therefore is not of an exploitive but rath of a co-operative character.

As one looks at the structural organization of 4^ business, ownership is distant from management which Is Inevltahle in an organization which has roughly 800,000 shareholders. TJlat means that ownership tends to be functionally a banking process. The owners do not participate in any x^ase of the industrys activities except that once a year, at an annual meeting, a stockholder rises to ask a question and is answered. While in practice the stockholders are called owners, actually their relationship to the business has be-more in the nature of

hibits.

Rounding out its program for spring, the Rebel" included just enough, but not too much, poetry, several book reviews and short stories.

Not to be overlooked is an essay on Immigrants in WiUa Gathers Prairie Novels" by Elizabeth Pasti, which compares with an essay on William Faulkners works by Junius Grimes in a past issue.

Again, the nicest feature about the student magazine is that it represents a high caliber of student work by the students themselves. The latter quality is not often enough found in student publications some of which attempt to become literary magazines alone without reference to or regard for the student ability and mental atmosphere.

r

iiming t Actionists

the Mayor is requested to answer such questions, I would appreciate It if you would print this letter in your Open Forum" column.

ror

The Da3y Reflector

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By JAMES MARIXIW WASHINGTON (AP)-Negro-es efforts to end segregation in the South through direct but passive actionsuch as silns and bus rides by Negroes and white sympathizerraises a haunting question.

Would this country be closer to total desegregation if a quarter century ago Negroes had begun their present tactics Instead of deciding on the long, slow road through the courts?

Back In the 1930s the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People Instead of direct action, began a fight, step by painful step Uu^ugh the courts to have segregation declared unconstitutional.

Before ever trying to get the court to outlaw public school segregation, a truly explosive area, the NAACP fought to get schools on the higher levels desegregated through court action.

As long ago as 1946 the court outlawed segregation on interstate buses, although you might not think so in view of the white mob riots last week in Alabama over buses carrying so-called "freedom riders of whites and Negroes.

The NAACs crowning achievement was the Supreme Courts May 17, 1954 decision against public school segregation. All the courts previous anti-segregation rulings didnt have the Impact of this.

Out of it flowed the bitterest Southern whits antagonism, the determination to make a last-ditch fight in defiance of the court, the Little Rock riots of 1957 and. as an end product, the Alabama riots last wesk.

Negroes became more confident of breaking down all the Southern segregatioD barriers with the government now compelled to intervene, even with federal troope. to back up the authority of the court.

Bit by bit the NAACP lost its role as the almost exclusive champion and spokesman for Negroes. Other Negro groups came into existence determined to fight faster and more directly against all forms of desegregation. '

This is particularly true among Southern Negro students who took the non-violent but sUU direct action of picketing .and ait-Uls. The first big example of

the new policy came about six years ago in Montgomery. Ala.

There Negroes put an economic squeeze on the white-dominat* ed city by boycotting the buses. New Negro leaders, operating outside the NAACP emerged, like the Rev. Martin Luther lUng who led the bus boycott.

But the original question still remains: Would Negroes have moved faster toward desegregt- tion if they had chosen the direct action road 25 years ago instead of the slower course taken by the NAACP? This writer thinks no.

For this reason: The ^y-chological climate wasnt rlgbt. Neither were the circumstances.

1. Africa was still a collection of European colonies. Only in recent years have African Negroes begun to assert themselves and gain independence. This gave encouragement to Negroes everywhere to fight directly for their rights.

2. The United States, seeklqg to lead the non-Communlst world, is made self-conscious every time there Is an anti-Negro outburst in this country.

3. The Supreme Court dMls-lons against segregation have split Southerners thinking, even of those wjio may favor segregation but realize there can be only anarchy U the courte rulings are ignored or violated.

4. The courts ruling, eomiof one at a time over years, have conditioned both the country and the South into realization that segregation bad to end.

5. The court Itself, more than 60 years ago, had approvbd aeg-regatlon and consldeiwd it coo-, stitutional so long as segregated Negroes got treatment equal to that given whites. They did not, of course.

But with the Supreme Court on the side of segregatioa, Negroes were handcuffed. Any demonstrations could have been suppressed on the ground they were violating state segregation laws. The government could have done little or nothing to help, until the Supreme Court reversed Itself.

6. Now the situation la different. With the court throwing out various Southern segrefatlon laws, the federal government can back up Negroes proteeUng segregation, as it did in lattle Rock

1 and on the buses.

Dear Mayor King:

Many people (citizens and voters of Greenville) supported you in your recent campaign because you oppased urban renewal. I think that you will agree that you would not have been elected absent such support. Since urban renewal was also approved in the same election, this poses certain questions. For example, will you accept 'urban renewal without qualification? Or will you stand by your campaign promoses? Promises that won your election.

'The answers to these difficult questions are vital to many of your constituents. For irreparable injury will assuredly result to some of your supporters if you permit the Housing Authority to file the loan application for federal funds. Even conceding that a federally-supported, Integrated housing project represents progress (and if federal funds are involved such housing units will be integrated)are you convinced that the injury to existing persons does not overbalance such progress? Another example, Im a widow. Ive lived in my house over 40 years. I understand that

it will be ripped down, among ethers, to buUd a park. Even if we disregard the sentimental value, there is evidence that I will not receive enough money to house me in a comparable .manner. Further, I presently receive small income on some houses I manage for my daughter. Again, it is my understanding that these houses will also be ripped down (to build a park). Without such Income, I cant make ends meet. Even with such rentals it is difficult. How do you handle situations like these, Mr. Mayor? What plans, if any, do you have for your senior citizens who will be dispossessed by such idealistic schemes? Will you shrug your shoulders (as many in Greenville seem to be doing) and say this is the price of progress? My financial position is not unique. There are others in a similar position. We need answers to these questions. Only you can provide them. Take a public stand on this matter now, one way or the other. Print that stand in the newspaper before your supporters are injured, not after. If its desirable to rip down tht Uvas o pcopla to put up parks, isnt It equaUy desirable to borrow the necessary money to build attractive homes (not "units") for the displaced senior citizens?

Di view of the importance to all these questions. I am forwarding a copy of this letter to the "Daily Reflector with a request that they print it in the Open Forum column. I await your reply.

Sincerely yours.

Mrs. J. B. Smith, Sr.

''n Brief

The crowds of rioters who rose to the bait dangled by freedom riders were landing giant flows full on their own face. They walked Into a carefully laid trap, triggering flash bulbs; they posed for Herblock cartoons mocking the South." Richmond News Leader.

"We never even heard of a rabbit that was superstitious enough to carry the left hind foot of a man, Worcest (Mass.) Telegram.

Slums are unsightly, costly and a community menace;that application is not confined to residential areas. Downtown distracts, with Greensboro no exception, are sick; and unless some drastic action is taken deterioration may put them beyond redemption. Greensboro Daily News.

Public Forum

To the Editor,

I have a painting of a row of shanties enUtled "OREENVILLB 1961. Perhaps our Honorable Mayor King would like the title changed to "GREENVILLE, 1963?

Sincerely,

Donna Tabar

banking; the stockholder providing capital to management for the conduct of the business and having an increasingly smaller voice in either policy or practice.

As a matter of experience, ownership generally is not concern-^ much with the details of the operation^ of a business provided that a profit is earned or the enterprise shows the prospect of growth. If the owner finda it profitable or convenient he moves out of one enterprise into another. The business is in the hands of management which nowadays comes out of the work force of the organization.

In many respects, American capitalism functions differently from European capitalism, the American enterprise providing a smaller return on an investment, leaving large amounts of earnings within the business for expansion. davelopment. acquisition and maazoh. All the-^prcsidents . of General Motors, since its organization in 1908, have come out of the work force, except Pierre S- Du Pont who represented new ownership. He Arne In when the company was in danger of bankruptcy and the Du Fonts made a heavy investment to save the company. He served for three years and was succeeded by Alfred P. Sloan, Jr., who came out of the sales force of the l^att Roller Bearings Company, a eubsidiary.

This has been characteristie of American Industry. Very few eons have succeeded to the positions of their progenitors. In the automobile business, the Fords are exceptional; in the steel business such succession is equally rare. In most enterprises, it does not happen at all.. In family enterprises, it is expected that members of the founding family will succeed each other but that is not so in large corporate enterprises. The rise of men to authority out of the ranks, gives to corporate organization Incentives which were unexpected in the early development of this type of enterprise.

It is the very bigness of mo6 ern business which provides oi^ portunity for men to rise, because what is bought and paid for is experience, not a family tree or a propitious marriage. Experience, knowledge, competence is sought wherever It may exist and is given wide range when it is found.

In fact, in recent years. It has become so difficult to find sat^ Isfaetory managerial ability that a syatem of stock options meaning, partieipation In owj> (Continued on page six)

Retail Sales Are Little Improved

By ELMER ROESSNEB

Retail sales, usually considered a prime index of busineas coDditi<ms. made no Imsg gain In Biaroh compared with a year ago. declined in April and have not improved much so far in May.

Total sales in March, according to Census Bureau figures, were S per cent above those in March. I960. However, after adjustment for "seasonal variations and trading day differences," there was no gain.

RetaU sales In AprU were 5 per cent under sales in April, 1960. after seasonal and trading-day aj^ustments. Census report-

Sales in May will not be totaled for another month. However. the figures for department stores, which are calculated weekly, show a somewhat upsy-downay ptoture for the first half of the month.

SEEMING CONTRADICTION

Yet total personal income during both March and April, even after seasonal adjustments, showed higher levels than A year earlier.

a table of income, rates In biUtons of

Here is at annual dollars:

1961 I960

March .......... 409.6 897.0

April ............ 410J 4014

Thats a puzzlement Income up around $10 billion a month at annual rates, or almost $1 billion a month. Yet in actuals, sales were up $0.6 billion In March and $1.7 blUion down in April, compared with a year ago.

Leet those figuree confuse you: sales in March. 1960, were $17.4 billion and in March, 1961. were $184 billion, a gain of $0.6 billion. However, after the figurea were adjusted for seasonal variations, they were $18.8 bilUon and $18J bUUon, a tiny gain.

REASONS There are eeveral reasons for the phenomenon that income has been going up while salee havent. Among them:

Spring weather in most parts of the country has slowed sales. Snow and later rain has kept many customers, with green money in their pink fiats, away

from stores. This has had great effect on auto sales, one of the b^est elements of retailing. Who wants to have a new car rained on? Auto sales, which were $8 8 billion In April, 1960, were $8.1, billion in April, 1961.

People are nervous. The fact that thm*e was a recession in the latter part-of i960 and the early part of 1961. Most people oould not understand why it happened. They were puBded, aggravated, confused. This generated a suspicion that carried over wha incomee began to rise. There was a feeling that the mysterious *they" might stage another recession, and many were in-ollncd to hang on to money.

Stock speculation drainedand is continuing to drain off a growing ahare of peraooal income. There is a madness now for growth stocks, for low price shares, for warrants. for whispered tips, for hunches, for chiU-bean dreams. The money that oould be spe^ at Macys is often being spejA at Funstons.

Thirty years a8o people ^ nuld call up a bootlegger anr: av Joe sent me. Today theli r.r

are calling* up broken and tot, "Ptorpont sent me."

the facts of this period are shaken down, checked and analysed, probably about a year from now. it will probatfly be found that while penKwal income waa up and oonaumer spending was down, some of the (tifferenoe went into savlnge accounts, bonds and mortgage paymente, but a lot of it went into stocks.

AT LAIT, SOMEBODY SAVES MONEY ON MlSSaES

There's good news for tax-ptyen today. A new telemetry system his sharply out the cost of mlisiles. A telemetry system oonslsts of the gadgets needed to get signali from mis-elles back to earth. .

A new deviee, by Epsco. Inc., reads radio signals from low level souroes without prior amplification. Ground stations, with an elaborate unscramUing device. oan pick up messages over 196 Channels from Titan n missiles that will no longer need costly, weighty amplifying systems. '