PAGE FOUKIHB DAILY REFLECTOiL GREENVILLB, N. C

Monday, May 29, 1961

Monday, May 29, 1961 '

Overshadowed

All Communities Facing Growth

The growth of incorporated communities in Pitt County during the past decade at a rate considerably above that of the county as a whole points up the population shift that has taken place in the county along with the growth. . ,

According to the 1960 census figures, there were six municipalities in Pitt County with a population of more than 1,000 people, and the rate of growth for these communities ranged from 258 per cent for Griffon to 12 per cent for Bethel."* Greenvilles population during" the decade increased by 35 per cent, Farm-villes by 32 per cent, Aydens by 35 per cent and Wintervilles by 63 per cent.

This growth rate in individual towns took place while the population of Pitt County as a whole increased nine per cent during the decade. It means, of course, that there is now almost an equal division in Pitt County between the number of people living in communities with a population of 1,000 or more, and the people living in rural areas or communities with less than 1,000 population. The population of these

Getting Word Of Constituents

Bv LVNN MSBET TAX BEX Legislators left Raleigh for the weekend at home expecting a busy time with con-atituenta. A good many telephone calls and telegrams had come to them at Raleigh protesting committee action in ap* proving the sales tax on food-House and senate finance subcommittees discuKlng issues together but voting separately Thursday night approved a revenue bill which would add some $73 million to receipts estimated from current levies. The big items in the new levies arc designated to raise $50 millicm Inma extending the 3 per cent sales tax on food; nearly $10 million from increasing the sales tax on motor vehicles from 1 per cent to 2 per cent with no nmlt on passenger cars and $120 limit on <^r vehicles: and $3 million by raising the tax on liquor from 10 per cent to 12 per cent.

The schedule iwoposed is acme what <xnplex, ranging from 1 per cent with and witi* out maximum limits up to 12 per cent. The popular idea that the proposed plan is 3 per cent sales tax across the board is far from correct.

It is conceded on all sides that the agreement by subcommittees of bc^ branches will have material psychologic influence on the full committees and the entire General Assembly. It is not conceded, however, that the proposed schedules will be accepted either by the full CMn-mittecs or the membership, Opdnion around the captol is that the Senate, probably wlU go along on iiKist points, but the subcommittee plan faces real opposition in the House. Sentiment on that side is apparently, almost evenb^ dlvkled betwewi S per cent levy on foods and a 4 p ccflt levy on essentially the same items presently covered by the 3 per cent tax.

TIME The time factor supports advocates of the increased levy as contrasted with extended cov^age and diversified rates. Whatever tax bill is enacted will become effective as of July 1. Even the most optimistic legislators do not see much i^iance of enacting the revenue bill before June 10. and most of the members think it wrill be several days later. That would leave only two weeks-for tlw administration staff in the revenue department to clear the decks for collecting the new taxes. The four percenters argue that their plan will not require much chaise In procedure. It would call mainly for multiplying items by four instead of by three a very simple' matter.

The subooramittee recommendation calls f<M- local government units and sundry charitable organizations to pay the sales tax and then make application for refund. It is suggested that will close some loopholes, but it also will require considerable extra bookkeeping. In both State and

local offices. And it will complicate accurate estimates of how much money the State has actually received. Experience with the inciMne withholding plan illustrates that point. Income yield originally reported has been decreased by more than $12 million, and it is estimated that from one and a-half to two million dollars more must be refunded.

The pressure of time works the other way. too. The rush for adjournment by June 17 is on. and attitude of some members is to ride with the subcommittee report, get the bills enacted and go home, leaving the department workers to struggle with administrative details.

One representative summed up that attitude this way; We make the laws, but don't have to enforce them; we levy taxes, but dont have to collect them.

BALANCE Meantime, the Joint appropriatiiHis subcommittee has been meeting every day with provision that newsmen miidit be i*efient, but not permitted to report bow any member voted or what he said. It is known that the appropriations committee has added sev-al million dollars to the aggregate amount recommended by the budfret commission and the Governor, although it cut off a number of specific recommendations. These additional appropriations run head on Into revenue reductions of some nine millions.

The law requires that the budget be balanced before the General Assembly adjourns, with estimated tax yield sufficient to meet all recommended appropriations. Appropriations and finance committees have been working independently up to now. and will continue independent operation until both major bills come to the floor of the General Assembly. Then adjustments must be made, either by reducing appria*iatioas or by increasing estimated tax yield.

Not since depression years In the mid thirties has there been as wide variance as Is now indicated between estimated income and recommended outgo. Apfwopriations committee leaders expect to have a final report sometime within the next two weeks. Finance committee leaders put about the same time limit on their final report. Then will come the big tussle between the two groups. Differences can be adjusted in a few days. There is precedent for such quick adjustment. And the cwnmittees may stand firm on their commitments and require two weeks or more for adjustment. There is precedent for that, too.

Which course wlU be followed this year remains to be seen. The point is that agreement reached in finance and appropriations subcommittes does not necessarily mean that there is agreement all along the legislative line.

The DaOy Reflector

INCORPORATED Published Every Afternoon Except Sunday Established 1882 DAVID JULIAN WHICHARD, Publisher

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six municipalities lack ope-half of one per cent being equal to the population of the remainder of the county.

. It is also evident from the figures of the 1960 census that if the growth rate of the individual communities and that of the county hold fairly steady during the current decade, Pitt will find a majority of its population living in towns of 1,000 or more population.

The population shift that tok place in Pitt County from rural areas to communities during the past decade is not unlike the pattern that prevailed in most of the^ nation where there was a general shift from rural areas to larger communities. In Pitt, however, wMth its traditional agricultural economy, the shift represented a more drastic change in the population pattern than was the case for the nation as a whole.

From 1950 to 1960 the combined population of the six Pitt municipalities of over 1,000 population increased by a total of approximately 9,700. During the same period the total population of the county increased by only 5,700, indicating that some 4,000 peonle moved from rural areas of the county into the larger communities during the, decade.

If the trend of the past decade continues, it means that the municipalities of the county must plan to provide for an increasing population in the years ahead.

They must plan for municipal services to care for a larger number of people, for more school classrooms to care for a larger number of children, more employment opportunities to provide livelihopds for these people who are moving into the municipalities.

If the same rate of growth for the municipalia,^ ties continues during the current decade, Greenville will have to provide for a population growth of almost 8,000, Farmville for a growth of more than 1,200.

Ayden for a growth of 1,000, and Winterville for a growth of approximately 900.

The growth of these communities during the current decade will be determined by many factors, but two important factors will be what the communities do to stimulate their own growth, and how good ^ CITV

a job they do of providing facilities to absorb their VjriUKUlb I

population increase.

Oddest Kind O::

''nvestments In

.uroDean Land

Acceatance Of Blackmai..

repAcsei

k. Chl^o,

SENTATIVES

AtlanU. Membar

NATIONAL AOVEETISINO Thomas F. Olarfc Co, Inc, New Yo^k.

Audit Bureau of ClrcnlatioiL

All admUstnf copy must ba raoatvad at least ooa day bafora pubUcatk data. .

By ROGER BABSON

BABSON PARK. Mass.Properly located acreage ahould be the best hedge against inflation. owing to its limited amount and Uie growth In population. I spent two months last fall studying land in Europe (I am making no report now on the Latin and South American countries or Canada ) As there was little interest in tourist travel in Europe during the winter, I have held these notes until now.

IRELAND

THE EMERALD ISLE Owing to Great Britains desire to break up all unproductive estates of available acreage, I know of no bargains in acrece in Englandalthough raw acreage can be purchased in Scotland and Wales. However. I have traveled 900 miles by automobile in Ireland. There are few industries in Ireland due to the lack of natural resources. The pecle are healthy, happy, and willing to work. The youth of Irelandoutside of the few large cities are happy living on farms which they expect to inherit from their parents. As a result, very little of the good farming land is for sale in Ireland, even at high prices. Land which sells in Kansas for $100 per acre cannot be bought in Ireland for less than $400 per acre.

The mountain land in the western portion, which is good only for grazing sheep, can be bought for $10 or so per acre, depending upon its accessibility. Lakes and rivers abound in Ireland, which makes U good for pasturing. In fact, the acreage in Ireland may be divided into three group.s; (1) Good farm land in the "Golden Midlands: (2) pasture land with good green grass but with not much depth of soil, which sells for about $150 per acre; and (3) rocky mountain land good only for sure-footed sheep and cattle, but preferably . in the southern part near the ocean.

FRANCE, ITALY, AND OTHER COUNTRIES The above comments as to prices regarding Ireland apply also to France, Switzerland, and Italy. No good acreage is available In Belgium. Holland, or West Germany. Not only is the fertile land there in production, but the farmers control the politics. tariffs, and even prices. Italy, however, la fast becoming an industrial nation with waterpower and other natural resources. U. S. manufacturers .should watch Italy and Switzerland (and also Japan). although these countries now have much unemployment.

Europe has natural resources, including navigable rivers, iron, coal, chemicals, and waterpower. It also has a climate which encourages pecsle to work. Wages are fairly low and there Is no scarcity of labor in most localities. This explains why so many American manufacturers are buying or building plants In Europe. Labor unions exist, but with the exception of those in France, are not now much of a handicap.

WHAT ABOUT SPAIN?

My comments regarding the tiree classes of land in Ireland apply to Spain. Spain has waterpower, both developed and undeveloped. It has ceaJ, oil, and chemicals. Wages are low and the cost of living Is reasonable. Industries are springing up In Spain and the climate is fair, for both workers and tourists. Perhaps as a foreign hedge against inflation I would now advise the purchase of well-lo^ cated laiu^^aln, especially In the sdhuroWlR Madrid, Toledo, ^ Bancelona. and Valencia. Th big real estate profits in Spain will take place In Subur-

I

biawhich i .now Just starting.

Of course, no one should invest in any foreign country without spending a month therein and seeing the land personally. Spain has several different kinds of tw-rain and climatedry and wet, mountainous and fertile, cold and warm. Most of what I say about Spain also applies to Portugal. I advise the southern coastal portion (tf Spain. The west cMttal country is warm in winter and may be compared to our Florida. SouUiwest Barcelona toward Gibraltar thera are several very attractive places- Given the same altitude, tiie temperature should grow warmer as one travels southwest fnwi Barcelona or Madrid. Malaga is supposed to have the best allround climate of any'ci^ in

l^pain. . - -. --------

Let me describe in some detail the area from Barcelona eastward to the French Border where one approaches the French Riviera. One can reach Barcelona by steamship, or plane, or railroad train. Prom Barcelona to the French Border is about 75 miles. One can make the trip In 8 hours by automobile or in (Mie hour by electric train. The first town which interested me was San Pedro. This Is about 20 miles east of Barcelona and has a good beach with medium-priced hotels. The next was Plana on the Sea, which is rapidly developing somewhat like our New York Coney Island. The next point of Interest is Uoret de Mar. These places are old towns with very narrow streets, while the sandy beaches for sunning and bathing are superb. All these places have numerous hotels at all prices.

.A fourth place of interest is Tossa by the Sea. This place is more expensive than the others and now appeals only to gay young people who want to bathe or lie in the sun all day and dance all night! Furthermore. the highway between Lloret and Tossa Is rery winding, wdth over 20 dangerous hairpin turns. Those going rom Barcelona to Tossa or beyond should take the electric railway and avoid these hairpin curves with great high cliffs on one side and 1000-foot drops on the <^her.

WANT LAND TO BUY Now for the final and most Important reason why I think good money could be made ea.st of Barcelona by those who are willing to go there and live for a month and look carefully about. Here are three simple rules to follow; (1) Buy well-drained farm land between the highway and the ocean even if, it is bisected by the electric railway. Insist that your land go down to the ocean. (2> Buy land now cultivated so that the rent which some reliable farmer will pay you will take care of the taxes, (3) Be sure your title Is good, which means buy it through some reliable local banker or resd estate agent. These rules apply to buying land for speculation in all of the above countries.

You wrill soon realize that situations exist for profit which I have not found in the suburbs of any large city in the world. Prom the time you leave San Pedro you will find small farms located all along the line adjoining good residences. I cannot give you prices per acre because equaUy good producing . soil appears to sell at entirely different prices. You must check up on a large number of such farm plots and then buy the cheapest: but insist on the

above three cpnditlons and. of course, get your land iif a good neighborhood with good neighbors This you can do only by living for one month bc^eeft San Pedro and Lloret by the Sea. / ,

/- A'

Copyright, 1961, King Features i^ndicate, Inc.

It if easy to react to an impulse swiftly, compulsively. After all, when the lives of more than 1,200 human* beings are involved, who is to be so sure of himself and his opinions as to oppose anything that anyone can do to help these sufferers of a bruial dictatorship?

Mature thought and calm consideration requires that one consider such a questi<Mi on the basis of eternal principles of right rather than as a result of emotional response to inhumanity. The acceptance of blackmail, called by Castro an in

demnity, is not a rtcogniticMi of moral principles. Whether the Government of the United States responds affirmatively*to blackmail or encourages private citizens to pay for the blackmail, acceptance of the threat of blackmail is immoral and can only lead to further threats of a similar nature.

The United States has long submitted to a kind of blackmail in the form of a suggestion that if we do not givg aid to certain nations, they wiir seek aid from Soviet Russia. Actually, most such countries have accepted aidtantamount to blackmail in many instancesfrom

Other Editors Saying Revised Foreign Aid

(WOson Times)

Vice-President Lyndim Johnson is back from a good will trip to Southeast Asia and the many trouble spots in tiiat part of the world. As is to be expected, he is calling for more money, in one form or another, for South Vietnam, India, Thailand and on down the line.

This newspaper has supported foreign aid, always with the hope that out of our abundance we could aid the so-called im-der-prlvileged nations to help themselves. Now we fear for the consequences if a break is not put on spending. We have received little for the billions we have lavished on the peoples of the budding nations around the globe. And this is where we would expect the greatest success.

Billions have been wasted in the jungles of Laos, while Russia has taken over that nation with a few guns, soldiers and practically no money by com-' parison. In South Viet Nam our position is so shaky that again the millions spent here can be charged off as possibly lost.

In South Korea again we backed the wrong government. And Castro rules Cuba, regardless of the promise to rid this nation of a Communist dominated gov* emment only 90 miles off shore.

Spending is not the answer. More money for foreign aid as such has not proven effective as a detennt to Communism. Our influence in tlM United Nations grows weaker with the increase in membership. This in itself does not speak well of our influence.

Today there are 99 members, more than twice the membership when the U.N. was organized. Most of the new members are

from Africa, and the majority ^ only a few months ^Id. But with the same voting power of this nation. For the Afro-Asian nations h^ the balance of v<^4ng poweif.

This nation pays 32-51 per cent of the United Nation expenses. Soviet Union. 13.62; Britain. 7.78; Prance, 6.40, and the balance divided among the other nations, some paying as low as 04 per cent, amounting, to only a few thousand dollars. Now Russia is refusing to pay its small share in its effort to sabotage the .N. Russia has not paid to maintain the R. supervised truce in any of the nations under UR. mandate. It is another chapter in the USSR plan to drain U.S. resources in an economic war that Rufeia .^says will give Communism the victory.

As if all this is not evidence of the need for revaluation of the foreign aid program, Communist Yugoslavia is to receive another $100 million. Marshall Tito accused America of being the principal source of discord in the world, reaffirmed his support of Moscow and America approves a loan. The reasons given are to improve trade and currency relations.

Yes, Vice-President Johnson is back from his goodwill tour. He is asking for more foreign aid. The President is asking for more money for the same. We are told to be ready for sacrifices.

Let the President outline how the additional aid is to be spent. For with all this added spending comes inflation and the weakening of Americas economic position. And there isnt another nation to come to our aid. A hard look at foreign aid is necessary before Americana are asked to make further sacrifices.

both sides. The classical example of such neutrality on the receiving end is, of course, Egypt.

Fidel Castros proposal to exchange more than 1,200 human beings for 500 tractors is an example of Communist bartering which has little to do with humanity; its objective is to force the United States to deal with Cuba, to take off the embargo on American goods. C!astro calls it an indemnity for the invasion and if he gets the tractors, he will have made his point.

As Senator Styles Bridges said:

. .not since the days of Hitler, when the infamous Eich-mann offered to trade on an even basis, one Jew for one truck, .has the civilized world been confronted with such a heinous barter.

Ten hostages have been given one week to raise the money for tractors; at the end of that time they must return to Castros prisons with the assurance of a successful trade or suffer who knows what . mffijfibment i - thanselvec and the hostages for whom they are

dealing.

I ask, how complacent must we get before we do something about this cancer festering at our doorsteps?

It is a hard question to answer. because, after all, we are responsible for the prisoners that Castro holds. It was our own CIA which devised the im-po5^sble plan for the invasion of Cuba. Can we say that we are not responsible? Our Johit Chiefs of Staff conditionally approved of the CIA plan. How can we say that that Is not official?

To reject responsibility and to hide behind the skirts of a private committee is not more commendable than accepting the challenge of blackmail outright. Surely, Mrs. Roosevelt, Dr. Milton Eisenhower and Walter Reuther cannot deliver tractors and bulldozers without a permit from the Administration. Therefore to say that a private effort is not a government operation is to play with words and is Just as undignified as submitting to blackmail. This private committee device does not lessen the humiliation of paying an indemnity.

The country is growing more and more confused over the policy of Washington towards Castro. It would seem as though the fear that Soviet Russia will march into Berlin if we land on Havana has altogether perverted the Administrations policy. Senator Bridges in this same speech in the Senate, ask^: (Continued on Pag# >

By RALPH ROBEY

Of all the amazipg things which have happened in this nation diurix^ the past many' months nothing has been more spectacular than the behavior of stock prices. On the New York Stock Exchange the Dow-Jcmes industrial average has crossed, 700 for the first time in history. (The 1929 high was 381.) And it is now rare to have a day when the total transactions are not above 4.000,000 shaires.

Twice within recent weeks the president of the Exchange, Mr. Keith FunsUm, has issued a public warning against thought, less speculation. But this advice of caution has had no visible af^ct upon the desire and apparent determination of Investors and speculators to continue to buy comm(m stocks.

But the New York Stock Exchange has been mild compar* ed with what has been going on in the new issues of unlisted stocks. Here a security is brought out at an announced priceusually low in terms of dollarsand almost Immediately it doubles, trebles, or more in quoted value. Many of Uieee issues, too, are of brand new companies, which means they have no earnings record and no assured market for their products.

A sound security analyst takes many factors into consideration In his appraisal of a stock. The management of the company is important and o is the market acceptance of the security. And back of all this is the earnings record and the earnings prospect of the company. There are consistent differences between the number of times its earnings a stock will sell for as between induces and as between companies within the same industry. But this is easily^ determined and allowed for.

The general rule used to be that a stock was fairly priced if it was selling for ten times its earnings. At 700 the thirty stocks which make up the Dow Jones industrial average are selling for 22 times their I960 earnings. Some other securities listed on the New York Stock Exchange and the American Exchange, which is the second largest in the country, are selling for 50 and 100 times their earnings. And, of course, there are many companies today operating at a loss whose stocks are bought and sold regularly. In these instances the times-earning ratio is infinite.

One has to search long and hard today to find a respectable company whose stock Is not selling for more than ten times -its earnings. This is just further evidence that the market as a whole la highxfcremely high. ^

Another way to say iis is that at present levels the market has discounted a degree of prosperity and an improvement of business profits that are n(^ in sight, and actually are quite improbable within the next couple of years. But this does not mean * that average stock prices will not go still higher, or conversely that we soon shall see a substantial drop of the market.

It does mean however, that everyone ^ould go over his holdings with a view of eliminating those which he believes are selling for more than they are basically woi th in terms of earnings prospects and fundamental stability. It no longer is wise to try to get that last dollar of. profit, and certainly this is not the time to be trading on margin. The wise policy is to build up a bit of cash because the market is not going to continue to advance indefinitely. Technical reactions, at least, are inevitable, and since anything up to 10 per cent is considered a technical reaction a drop of 70 points could occur at any time.

No one today anticipates a wide-open tH*eak in the market, for the simple reason that no one can see a development which could cause it. But too much confidence must not be placed In this viewpoint. Psychology plays an important part in the buying and selling of stocks, and one can never be sure what may happen to change general optimism into quite deep pessimism. In a word, this is the time for caution.

SteD Less Than Nationaliaztion

By ELMER ROE^NER

Senator Warren G. Magnuson (D., Wash.) may be headed toward an Interesting conclusion. During a hearing by the Senate Coninterce Ck)mmittee, of which he is chairman, the Senator said:

"If we dont build up our common carrier system. . .we are going to find so much trouble . .that the next step is. . .nationalization.

Nationalization is probably not the next step and, as the Senator jolly well knows, the public wont stand for It. But there is another step that may be acceptable. In fact, it may be necessary to take that step to put the United States on a sound defensive basis.

The trouble with the American transportation systemin an economy based on competition is that competition is not so much between competitors as it is between kinds of transportation.

INDUSTRY-WIDE

COMPETITION

Time was when one rayroad competed with another. The Central and the Pennsy. for exam

ple, were in a titantic struggle for passenger and freight between New York and (^icago-

But today, railroads are not competing with one another, but with bus lines, truckers, ships and barges, and planes.

The immediate issue largely concerns piggyback transportation. Railroads, having lost con-slderable cargo to truckJfcrs. have come back with a system, whereby trucks bring trailers to* raUheads and flatcars take them across country to points where other trucks take the trailers to destinations.

Shippers like the idea because, while short hauls are more economical by truck, long hauls are cheaper by rail. But the Teamsters Union doesnt like it, because members are losing jobs when trailers are carried from Chicago to Sacramento. or Los Angeles to New York, by piggyback. The Teamsters would much prefer that members of the Railroad Brotherhoods lose'jobs.

POSSIBLE SOLUTION

Thus the present situation pits union against union as well as industry against industry.

One of the reasons for this state of affairs is that Federal laws discourage, and in some cases prohibit, companies from engaging in various forma of transportation.

In changing that theory of government regulaUoh may be the answer to Senator Magnuson's problem.

If law and theory could be changed, transportation companies might develop to utUlze aU means of moving passengers and freight. A single company i^ght operate buses, trains and planes to move people from one place to another with maximum comfort. efficiency and speed and minimum cost. It might operate trucks, ships and barges, freight trains and planesand perhaps even other devicesto get goods from one point to another.

CompeUUon could be assured by licensing as many companies as desired. Among the advantages;

AU transport companies could be placed onder regulation of one government body. Ckjntrol is now divided - among the Civil Aeronautics Board, the Federal Aviation Commission, the Inter

state Commerce Commission and several other agencies.

It would promot economy by encouraging the elimination of duplicate - facilities. For instance, some communities are now served by branch bus, rail and pleme lines, all losing money.

And most important of aU, it would give the country a number of unified systems to move men and material from place to place in event of wax.

WEST GERMANY NOW SERVICING ITSELF

Sfelf-service food markets aie spreading in West Germany. A total of 2,378 were established in 1960 alone, an increase of 32 per cent over 1959 and making a total of almost 23,000.

Of these, about 75 per cent are (grated by Independent owners, 16 per cent by department stores and 9 per cent UY cpnsumer cooperatives.

Self-service has led to expansion of the frozen food market. Deep freezers are being Used by more than 40,000 retailers and Lhe numbdr is expected to go to 100.000 by 1963.