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Wednesday, June 21, 1961ffHB DAILY REFLECTOR, GREENVILLE, N. C

Wednesday, June 21, 1961

Any Day Now

Wise Step In Deferring Pay Boost

The Senate has killed, and wisely so in our opinion, the proposed contitutional amendments which would have placed in the hands of the legislators matter of setting the salary of members of the Generl Assembly.

dual for loss of personal income which he would otherwise have had had he not been in Raleigh "for several months serving in the legislature.

So far there has been no conclusion* drawn that haf^ gained universal support throughout the state.

Under the proposal, members of the 1963 Gen- For the most part, however, the opinion seems to pre-cral Assembly would have been permitted to set their vail that the compensation of a legislator should be own Claries for their session. Subsequently each ses- sufficiently high so as not to restrict legislative office sion of the legislature would have set the salary of only to the well-to-do, and at the same time the com-members serving in the succeeding session. pensation should not reach the level that would en-

The matter of remuneration for senice in the tice individual to seek membership in the legislature state legislature has long been a matter of concern for the compensatmn m dollars and cents hich the to North Carolina. From time to time there have been job pays. Where the dividing line is between these tuitions concerning not only the salary of legislators, two is often the subject of considerable discussion, but also length of time for which they could draw- At present members of the legislature are paid

their salary during a session, the amount of daily sub- 515 p^r day for a maximum of 120 days, and if the ftinence allowance they could draw, and the travel legislative session extends longer than 120 days, the allowance to which they were entitled. These ques- aiiy pay stops. In addition each legislator receives tions have been discussed against a backdrop of the 512 per day subsistence allowance plus travel pay for matter of the cost to the individual to stay in Raleigh one round-trip weekly from his home to Rleigh. A-during a term of the legislature, whether he should be though the legislature can alter the pay allowance.

reimbursed for actual expenses, or whether the level of pay should be expected to compensate the indivi-

Sanford Is Ful Of Confidence

Bt LYNN NISBET OMinDENT One of Terry Sanfords main assets from ear^ boyhood until now has been mi absolute confidence in himself and in the success of any cam-Iign which he sponsors.

Latest display of such confidence was lus decision to keep the schedule on the trip to Hawaii for the National Governors Conferenceeven though he had failed in his objective to bring about adjournment of the General Assembly before leaving. At his last news conference the GoveriM>r told newsmen he was confident the popular verdict of the people of North Carolina would coincide with his own opinion that the 1961 General Assembly had done more for all the people than any since 1900. and that members who supported the school program and the food tax will have nothing to fear from their constituents in the next election. Early reaction of editorial writers, who generally have pretty accurate understanding of the sentiment in their communities, does not Justify the Governors confidence in the infallibility of his program or the security of its supporters.

DISSENT Numerous dissenting opinions have been voiced. Three have been selected for use here, because they represent the major facets of newspaper influence. The Greensboro Daily News is one of the states leading morning newspapers, with circulation and influence all over. The Hickory Daily Record is (me of the top afternoon newspapers, with cir-culaticm in a smallw areabut In the heart of the heavy voting Piedmont. Julian Scheer. who has spent nearly every day with the Legislature, has a sort of personalized editorial column In the Charlotte News.

Lets take a look at comment ever the weekend in these media;

GLARING O^^nSSIONThe lead editorial in Sundays Greensboro News is titled Glair-tng Omission. While commending the Legislature for its ap? proval of quality education in principle, it notes that the Slate till refuse* to have any part In providing mechanics and per-onnel for enforcement of its longstanding compulsory school attendance act.

The eihtorlal imaise* action in making better provision for the apcclally talented pupil and for Che mentally retarded cttld. The main p(^, however, is that re-fardless <A quality, capability of teachers and validity of curriculum, none of these pay dividends unless the children are brought to school. The current General Assembly followed the of its predecessors in doing nothing to enforce the attendance laws.

MISSES BOAT The lead editorial In Saturday's Hickory Daily Record is captioned Assembly Misses Boat, and a key sentence reads: There are

many who will argue that when the record is toted up, this General Assembly will be placed near the top of the list of those that have ignored the wishes of the people. . .

Principal failures listed are refusal to realign senatorial districts, scuttling most of the traffic safety proposals, and levying a tax on table foods instead of getting the money from other sources.

The Record thinks the congressional redistncting bill was politically unwise and that it will hurt the Democratic party The "raoral (or immoral a.specis of it are brushed off on the grounds that gerrymandcrmg is accepted practice and what weve got now is no wor.se than what weve had for years in that respect.

FAILS SAFETY - Julian Scheer, who thought the court reform bill failed of its mam purposes and that congressional and senatorial redtstrlcting bills constituted travesties on equitable reprosemtation. o^iines m his Saturday column that the biggest failure of the General Assembly has been its faUure to enact highway safety legislation.

PERSONAL FAVORITES

These opinions are colored, of course, by personal attitudes of those expressing them. Governor Sanford put everything he had behind the proposal to get some fifty million dollars more for education. He got it. So for him it was a highly successful Legislature- Motor Vehicles Commissioner Ed Scheldt and others who paramounted highway safety didnt get much, so they cannot be expected to re-gaM the session successful. Certainly those who regarded equitable apportionment of legislative representation at Raleigh and Washington as important have nothmg to be happy about.

And there are rumblings from the ranks of school folks that they arc not as happy as they thought they would be over the increased mtmey available to them. Suggestions have come from all quarters, from the Governors office down to the* small country store, that with this extra money the school folks may be required to deliver better service. Whether that better service is provided must be determined before the accolades for what the General Assembly did for education can be evaluated.

The fact is that it is entirely too early to attempt anything like adequate appraisal of the 1%1 General Assembly.

The Dafly Reflector

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By DON SCHLIENZ

the pay of lawmakers is fixed by the constitution.

It seems to us the wise course to follow in this matter is for a special committee appointed by the Governor to consider the matter of compensation of legislators between now and the next session of the General Assembly, and present at that time recommendations for making whatever adjustments either in salary or allow'ances that appear necessary.

Budget-Writers Came

Through In Good Style

The two-cent increase in the ad valorem tax rate designated by the Pitt County Commissioners for the coming fiscal year is certain to bring criticism fr()m some sources about the county just as every tax increase does.

From the standpoint of holding the tax, rate at a reasonable level, and at the same time providing the services necessary for the continued progress of the county, the Commissioners in our estimation have

done a commendable job with the n^v budget. Com- calendar is taking a

pared with the budget-making efforts at the state beating as vacation-

and federal levels of government for the coming minded people work it over,

fiscal year the Pitt Commissioners even with the t^ S'oMblgin''tend''''.onJT

increasehave found it necessary to increase the tax ^ days later for some

burden far less than other levels of government.

The tax rate increase reflects approximately the same amount that is estimated to be necessary to defray the cost of financing the bond issue for the industrial training school that was approved Saturday bv voters of the county. The former ad valorem tax rate of S1.23 per $100 valuation plus the countys revenue from other sources is estimated by the Commissioners to be sufficient to meet the needs of the county during the current fiscal year.

The budget of sliglitly more than $1.7 million represents a new record for the county, and an in- attributable to

crease of approximately eight per cent or $ld,U spring's reluctant leaving: and more than the total county budget for the fiscal year ending June 30. At the same time the two-cent increase in the ad valorem tax rate represents a hike of only 1.6 per cent while there has been an increase of just under three per cent in the property valuation within the county for tax purposes.

Certainly the citizens of the county would have preferredas would have th commissionersthat no increase in the county-wide tax rate was necessary for the fiscal year that begins July 1. On the other hand, citizens of the county, as well as those upon whose shoulders the responsibility for the local government rests, recognize that the county must keep pace with its growth and that necessary services must be maintained and improved if the county is to achieve the pace of progress that it desires.

Can World Ban Nuclear Tests?

t's That Time, Again

inexpert erasures and fresh date-bracketing.

Things have gotten so far out of hand I can barely locate those little remihtiers denoting paydays.

But Uiis is just another one of the signs of a changing season.

As budding leaf herald the coming of spring, so do marred calendars Pioclaim advent of summer (and vacations).

Even I have posted on the calendar) intent to vacation: but the old zest is strangely lack-

the Incentive to be off and away pends arrival of tropic-like days

and nights when natural discomfort is multiplied by captivity indoors. At any rate, vacation-anticipation on this first day of summer is still at a low point.

The anticipation of new sunburns and unaccustomed exertion that always accompanies summer holidays, is not one to move my flagging spirit.

No gossip of unrestrained fish-catching has yet reached my ears this season, . .and that, my friend, will make me restless.

Theres a month or less before the deadline for whipping up my vacation enthusiasm. Scanning a few brochures of vacation resorts is a good starter: reading a book on How To Make Reluctant Pish Bite, is helpful: Have Fun On $3 A Day is another booktitle that has possibilities. The pamphlet Dont Blister, Just Tan is for the birds. Red-

Other Editors Saying Cost Of Leaving Schoo

NATIONAL ADVEBT181NG REPRESENT ATI VB8 Thomas P Clark Co. Inc., New York, Ctalcafo. Atlanta Membat Audit Bureau of ClrculaJtkm.

advertialni ooDp miMl Im raothwd aS least one day betore puhUeatlaD data.

By JAMES MARLOW WASHINGTON (AP) - Bernard Baruch, representing the United States, made a proposal to the United Nations on June 14, 1946, when this country alone had atomic weapons.

We are here. he said, to make a choice between the quick and the dead. . . -The peoples of the world long for peace and security and in that desire the United States shares ardently and hopefully.

The search of science for the absolute weapon has reached fruition In this country. But she stands ready to proscribe and destroy this Instrument, to lift its use from death to life. If the world will join in a pact^ that end.

Among other things he proposed that any agreement banning the bomb would provide for an inspection system to prevent cheating.

But there was no agreement. Russia went on and developed both the atomic and hydrogen bombs. The United States developed the hydrogen bomb, too. Intime Britain developed a bomb. Prance is working on It- So la Red China.

There was endless talk of outlawing such a weapon. But as the years passed the United States, Russia and Inc time Britain tested their nuclear devices.

Near the end of 1958 the United States had had 135 nuclear explpslons, Russia 55. Britain 21. Scientists began to worry for the future of mankind because of the danger of radiation from fallout.

The world pressured the big powers to cut it out. Then Oct. 31. 1958 became a memorable day not because it was on that day the United States, Britain and Russia met at Geneva to work out agreement to ban teats altogether.

This kind of talk had been going on for years. But it was on Oct. 31, almost three years ago. that the United States voluntarily stoppjsd testing. Four days later, Nov. 3, the Russians, so

far as this country knows, made their last tests.

More talk and no progress. Then on March 21, 1%1, the United States and Russia began talking in Geneva to agree on two things:

1. To ban tests altogether.

2. To work out an inspection system that would prevent cheating. For instance: through underground tests.

The months have gone by and the result is still zero. Just as the two sides have never been able to agree on disarmament, they havent been able to agree on the nuclear test ban.

On this one, Just as on disarmament in general, the United States and Russia could never agree on how to set up a police system that would prevent either side from getting an advantage over the other by trickery.

While the talks on a nuclear test ban were getting nowhere in Geneva. Monday in Washington the United Stotes and Russia began talking about beginning '-talks on disarmament, too.

But events in the past few weeks drenched both kinds of talks in ice water.

On June 4 the Soviets suggested that the twin problems of stopping nuclear tests and disarmament be linked togethsr. On June 15 Premier Khrushchev In his fireside chat to the Russian people had something to say.

But he was vague. He blamed the West for no agreement and said that if the West agreed to complete disarmament, the Soviets would agree to any kind of controls.

But this business of controls has always been a major stumbling block with the Russians.

Yet the Kennedy administration, despite an implied warning about resuming tests 11 the Russians dont agree on inspection system which would prevent them, will have to think hard before going ahead.

The reason: world opinion. The same goes for Um Russians, of course.

(Oberlin, Ohio, Times)

If ever the cards were stacked against the young person without a high school education, they are now and will be in the years ahead. The person who is capable of achieving a high school diploma andfails to do so is drastically handicapping himself for life.

More and more busy employers are weeding through applications by asking the simple question. Are you a high school graduate? If the answer is no. the applicant is through before he begins. The head of the Ohio State Employment Service in Cleveland reported this week that he has 1500 to 2000 jobs he cant fill each month, yet he a^-so has 15,000 persons unemploy*, ed and wanting wprk desperate-' ly. The problem is that most of the 15.000 lack high school diplomas and many employers wont consider them.

Former U.S. Secretary of Labor James P. Mitchell pointed out that the 60s wl bring a sharp Increase in skilled labor requirements and a steady decline in the number of jobs requiring little education and training, Mitchells conclusion; Young people will leed all the schooling and training they hkve the capacity to absorb.

The situation Imposes Important obligations on three sectors of the community.

First, high school students are obligated to think for themselvesto realize that it is their future lives they are toying with

when the temptation to quit school arises.

Secondly, parents must play a part in keeping their children in school for as long as possible. OHS Principal Paul New'ell, commenting on the school dropout problem, said that some students quit for lack of encouragement or interest at home. On the other hand, parents who continually press their children for a better showing may drive them out of school. Parents have a big responsibiUty in preventing school dropouts, and it is not an easy obligation to dischiu-ge.

The third set of shoulders upon which responsibility must rest heavily is that of the schools themselves (and ultimately, the School Board and all citizens). Teaching the marginal student and guiding (which may involve pushing, pulling, cajoling, threatening. enticing) him through high school requires special techniques and great patience. To try to force a marginal student Into a certain academic mold and to abandon him if he doesnt fit is to do the student great disservice. If we are trying to draw out the best each student has in him, specific programs for slow learners and the manually oriented must be designed. Principal Newells hope that thfe future wUl bring interesti^ir abUity in the academic portion of the curriculum and a trade school on a county-wide basis for those without should be made more than a hope.

heads, or former red-heads, always get cooked.

One within-the-family inspirer of lets-go-on-a-vacation has been singularly nonaggressive this spring. His waking words no school' today indicate his day is largely sufficient. But only yesterday there was some offhand discussion of adding to a sea-shell collection, acquiring some more coral, fishing, a recollection of adventure on a tnp to the coast. . .it adds up; he has something brewing.

The youngest lives from one holiday to the next. Fortunately for her, every day is a holiday. But when she learns (the spirit of vacation is contagious) that something akin to circus day and the county fair and Christmas and Birthdays and going swimming, . .are all wrapped up into one package and called a vacation, there wl be no resisting.

In past years the writer has pontificated that nothing restores the juices of life like unto a change from the day scene, a change from the habit of routine. A vacation should be required, not permitted, of all who labor that they may be fled with a freshness and vigor and alertness that multiplies their value to society.

And since I never say such things without exploring the subject. fully, those past vacations must have been all theyre cracked up to be.

Comes the first of July, there will be some straining at the bit.

Wanta bet?

Opinions In Brief

A citizen Is a man who demands better roads, bigger schools, a new post officeand lower taxes.Nashville South-ers Lumberman.

An oldtimer is one who can remember when all members of the family had breakfast at the -same time."Greensboro (Oa.) Herald-Joumal.

One thing is certa shorter workweek camadf be paid for without hufting the economy except by increasing production efficiency, so that we can produce in a shorter period what we now produce In forty hours."Industrial News Review.

To sin by silence when they should protest makes cowards out of men.Abraham Lincoln.

By GEORGE E. SOKOLSKY Copyright^ 1961, King Features.

Syndicate. Inc.

Professor Robert Triffin of Yale writes with wisdom on how to go broke. Of course, it is not essential to go broke. This is moat often avoidable, but vsome set out to do it without much thought of the aftermath. There are even those who enjoy going broke, spending their way through life until nothing is left for them but to make a touch.

So the learned professor does an essay on the subject with apt applications to what ha* happened and is happening to the American dollar because of the improvident spending of our money. Professor Triffin says: There are two ways to go broke; a slow one and arfasF one. The slow way is to go on, year after year, spending more money than you earn. But if you are rich to begin with, you won t go broke very fast that way. You wUl pay for your overspending by depleting your bank balance and other assets and by getting loans from people who trust your capacity to re-i>ay them later.

A much faster way to go ^ broke is to finance too much "'of your overspending by shortterm tMwrowing. Even if you stop overspending, you may then still run into serious trouble if your lOUs are suddenly presented to you for repayment at a time when your bank balance has fallen too low to cover them.

If you still have other, longer* term assets in sufficient amount, you W1 remain perfectly solvent, but you will be confronted. nevertheless, with what is called a Uquidlty crisis.

The term, Uquidity crisis. might be translated into the simple word, tight. Man^ of us have been tight, or to put it another way, short of cash. Wh^n A nation gets to be short of cash, it can. of course, print more paper money. It can go on printing money until its money is worthless.

Professor Triffin makes the point:

We have, over the past decade, spent, lent, and given away about $20 biUion more than we earned and-covered the difference by cash payments in gold ($6 bUlion) and also by short-term lOUs ($14 biUion), which foreign cential banks, private banks, and individuals were, until recently, quite glad to invest in. since the dollar w'as regardeti as safer than any other currency, and even, for the time being, as safe as gold itself.

It was, of course, too much to give away: so the dollar depreciated in value. We were not conscious of this in the United States because we did not go -hungry here. The country was rich. The people were well off. We have a high standard of living. Nevertheless, economics walked its harsh way without regard to human enthusiasms and the result was that our gold supply began to disappear. As a short-cut solution some bankers proposed that we withdraw the small gold protection that the American dollar has a ridiculous proposa.1 w'hich would not have been made by those great men of Wall Street w'ho rejected PopulLsm and free sver and other attempts to cheapen the American dollar.

Those who believe in cheap money suffer from the aberration that the more money you have the richer you are. This is only true if the money has value. If, for instance, a currency stands at, let us say, 288 to the dollar, it means that a fellow who has $100s worth of it has 28,800 of that currency. Looking at it, 28,800 is more than 100 but is it worth more?

I can remember when $25 a week was very good pay for a secretary who could take stenography, spell, add a colnmn of figures, and say, Good Morning, politely. A girl who can do all that today might command $100 or more a week, but ^ she getting more? The likelihood, adding taxes, social security. and the high cost of living is that she is getting less. The same is true of all wage earn-era; their nominal wages go up but It is in money that 4s worth less.

Money is nothing to fool about and politician* have a way of covering up errors by doing the wrong thing grandiloquently But it Is our money and we need (Continued on page five)

Two

nterDretations

..o

3e Hoc.

By ELMER ROESSNEB There is an interesting bit of statistry in the June 15 Issue of The Machinist, published by the International Association of Machinists, and edited by Gordon H. Cole, a distinguished labor journalist.

Mr. Cole, in a page - one spread, states:

Over the past four years, industrial production in the United States has increased by 9 per cent. The Federal Reserve Board index of factory production has risen from 146 to 159 over the four-year period. Over the same period, the Labor Department index of factory payrolls has declined from 162 to 159.2.

True, average earnings of factory workers have increased from $81.99 to $91.34 over the four years. But the number of production and maintenance workers has declined from 12.-949,000 to 11.413,000. And the average factory workweek has shrunk from 39.8 hours to 39 2 hours*

This means that fewer and fewer American wage earners are producing more and more goods in American factories. It means that productivity has been rising faster than wages It surely does.

EDITORIAL VIEW In an editorial. The Machinist comments, The chart shows that there is no basis in fact for worrying about rising wage rates. On the contrary, with production steadily increasing, there is room this year for a legitimate wage increase. Wages are not pushing prices, they are lagging behind

Mr. Gordon wfites about legitimate wage increases. It Is refreshing to find a labor editor implymg there is another kind.

But some others might draw a different conclusion from the same statistics.

They seem to Indicate that because the average earnings of factory workers have Increased from about $82 to more than a week over four years.

employers have been forced to greater automation.

If a company profited on a wage scale of $82 a week, it would have little incentive to Invest capital funds In automatic equipment. But as the IMA and other unions pushed wages higher. it had the choice of making less profits. Increasing prices, increasing automation, oe reducing staffs.

A NEW KIND or SPIRAL

Probably all companies did a lite bit of each. But, since the Machinist calculates that production rose 9 per cent whe payrolls decreased 2 per cent over the same period, they must have concentrated on the last two alternatives.

A few years ago many commentators were deeply conce^ ed about the wage-price spiral." Prom the statistical evidence, it appeared employers were granting wage increases with little resistance, simply adding the Increase to prices of their products. These rises increased the cost of living, causing labor unions to demand high

er wages, which resulted In higher prices, which caused new damands for higher wages and so on ad infinitum.

But the statistics on which Mr. Cole plays a spotlight may indicate another kind of apiral.

They suggest that higher wages lead to more automation; more automation leads to more productivity in terms of man-hours per unit of manufacture: which means that there is more room for a legitimate wage Increase. This, inturn, would lead to higher productivity, which would lead to more room for legitimate wage increase and so on ad infinitum.

MORE TOURISTS VISIT THAILAND The Thai government reported that in the last travel year, 81,339 tourists visited the country. some undoubtedly looking for Slam. Thats an Increase of 23.1 per cent in a year. The next figures wUl probably be larger, because they will include Vice President Lyndon Johnson and his entourage.