Monday, September 5, 1966

When Drivers Create A Weapon

HE MUST WONDER WHY HE EVER TOOK IT UP!

In Pennsylvania the Reading Times recently distinguished itself with a series of articles which revealed that 750 underpowered cars had been purchased by the state for use of the State Patrol.

The newspapers series brought out that the 1966 fnodel cars had been purchased with standard 230 horsepower engines at a cost of more than $1.3 million. The series brought a reversal of policy by the

Cigarette Tax Poorly Receivec.

By WILLIAM A. SHIRES DOOMED If a representative sampling of legisle-tive opinion is correct, a proposal to put a two cents per pack tax on tobacco in North Carolina is doomed.

A check of nearly a score of key legislators indicated sentiment in more than three to one against taxing tobacco. One influential legislative leader predicted flatly, it wont get very far.

Even if Gov. Dan K. Moore endorses a tobacco tax and asks for it in his legislative budget message, which most sources feel is unlikely, the lawmakers felt it would still fact an uphill battle.

WILLIAM

SHIRES

Five years ago, for m e r Gov. Terry Sanford considered asking for a tobac c o tax to raise revenue for his quality education program. But after a nose count in the 1961 General Assembly he abandoned the idea sayi n g we didn't have the votes.

PROGRAM Of cour s e, if the tobacco tax suggested by the states Tax Study Commission is scrapped by the legislature, it puts" almost all of the commissions detailed tax revision program in jeopardy.

This is because the tobacco tax was suggested as an alternate revenue source, something to make up the losses incurred in sev e r a 1 tax-cutting recommendations.

These proposals, including $7.5 million a year slash by allowing tax credits on manufacturers inventories and wiping out many license taxes, add up to $10,350,000 a year.

The proposed tobacco tax would bring in an estimated $10 to $12 million.

NEED Several legislators assessing chances of enacting a tobacco tax said they felt a much stronger case will have to be made for it.

The Tax Commiss i o n Itself didnt recommend this with much enthusiasm, said one. And it didnt make a very convincing argument for need.

Unless it can be shown that it is needed, that it would be applied in areas of great need and nothing else is available, I doubt that it stands much of a chance.

DIVIDED The nine member Tax Study Commission itself was divided sharply on whether to recommend the tobacco tax proposal. A three member minority contended that it is not justified nor necessary.

And the majority report made this statement: It cannot be too strongly emphasized that the Commission is not recommending a tobacco tax as an additional source of revenue but, rather, is re-comihending a shifting of subject of taxation to accomplish a much desired goal. It left little doubt that the much desired goal is a tax break for industry, to make the state more attractive for Industry.

It put the goal this way: To increase per capital income, provide new jobs, raise the standard of living and increase revenue of the state and local governments by increasing the economic base.

AL-TERNATE - It added the observation that the General Assembly may, of course, conclude that a tax on tobacco products is not wise.

If so, it is hoped that it can find funds elsewhere to offset the reductions in revenue that may result from the other recommendations, for the Commission believes them to be sound in and of themselves.

In addition to the tobacco tax, the Tax Study Commission received suggestions and considered a list of alternate additional reven u e sources. These included increasing the state sales tax rate to four per cent statewide, boosting utility franchise taxes from six to seven per cent, imposing luxury taxes on luggage, jewelry, furs and cosmetics at former federal luxury tax rates, upping liquor, beer and wine taxes and increasi n g the gasoline tax by half a cent per gallon.

TIMING Some sources queried said privately they felt the Tax Study Commissions tobacco tax proposal was poorly timed.

It came as the report was required to be filed by Sept. 1in the midst of North Carolinas big leaf tobacco auction season when farmers are worried about prices, production costs, the rising cost of living and overseas markets.

It came too on the heels of an official announcement by Gov. Dan K. Moore that the state has built up a fat $79.6 million surplus in the state treasury in the first year of the biennium. This resulted in the public being puzzled about why any tax ncrease is needed.

state and specifications were changed so that vehicles with larger engines will be purchased in the future.

All this set us to wondering about the old argument of whether highway patrolmen should chase fleeing cars. Such chases wind up in wrecks for the speedsters, the patrolmen or innocent parties.

Then we learned that the Reading Times interviewed troopers about the underpowered cars. All said their cars could not keep pace with high-powered autos on the road today. Some troopers said hot rodders were engaging in wide open races on the highwaysin front of troopersbecause they knew they couldnt be caught.

Thus we have a good example of what would happen if hot rodders and fugitives knew that state troopers could not chase them. It is likely there would be more irresponsible driving and, in sum, more danger to the innoCAint driver on the highway.

The answer then seems to be stiffer penalties for those who envision attempting to outrun an officer. And the penalty for one who kills or injures another while attempting to outrun a law officer should be especially severe. Highway deaths will continue as long as there are automobiles. Most are due to carelessness and in such cases, no one regrets it more than the one who committed the error.

The person who attempts to outrun a patrolman, however, has turned his car into a dangerous weapon and cases of this nature should be dealt with accordingly.

Rehabilitation Center Is Nearer Realization

The states new million dollar Alcoholic Rehabilitation Center to be located in Greenville moved a state closer to reality last week with the visit here of a group of officials who will select the site for the new facility.

It was in late July that the decision was made to locate in Greenville the new center which is to be constructed in the eastern section of the state. The committee is now in the process of selecting a site for the new facility from among several that were proposed in earlier presentations.

Dr. Eugene Hargrove, director of the Department of Mental Health, indicated that the final selection of the site for the new Center probably will come some time next month.

Obviously, it will take some time to transform present plans for the new centers into actual facilities which will serve the people of the state. But each step brings closer the day when the new facilities at Greenville and Asheville will begin rendering their important services to citizens of North Carolina.

Rrunt Is Borne

%rmPouTicAL

jJlpEC)Ni)Ml(2a_

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B/ ART BUCHWALD

.rieres How It HaDpened

The Veterans of Foreign Wars held a parade in New York City last week along Fifth Avenue from five oclock in the afternoon until midnight, and much to their surprise they discovered that, instead of being cheered, many residents complained about the noise.

The VFW, which was holding its convention in Americas leading fun city, read into the complaints an un-American plot and demanded the names of all those who called in.

Commander-in-Chief Andy Borg of Superior, Wisconsin, said every resident of Fifth

Avenue should have been on the sidewalks cheering Tuesday night, instead of being upstairs in their beds, and it was time Paul Revere rode down Fifth Avenue and awakened the country to its greatest danger since 1776.

But it was left to Vice Adm. Leland Lovett (ret.) to provide us with the most telling argument in favor of the late night VFW parade. He told a story that Julia Ward Howe had been awakened by the tramp of Federal troops down Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington during the Civil War.

She did not call city hall,

By Consumers Editors Saymg

By JOHN CHAMBERLAIN York Citv subwav workers Not Enough Time

By JOHN CHAMBERLAIN

Copyright, 1966, King Features Syndicate, Inc.

Today is Labor Day. I think we ought to do away with it and start a new day called Consumers Day. Its not that I have anything against labor (spelled with a small 1). It's only that Labor (capital L) seems to be having a day for itself just about once every month. Enough is enough.

It began at the turn of the year, when Mike Quills New

Strength

York City subway workers had quite a day for themselves. More recently the airline machinists have copped a nice package including a cost-of-living clause. S i Bee prices keep going up, there is no reason that either the subway workers or the machinists, or any other group of working men for ,that matter, should sit and take it on the chin while other people are getting theirs. But the point in that the consumer should get his share of the breaks, too. And, to dramatize his plight, he needs a special day far more than Labor needs it.

Adm. Lovetts statement, so I went down to the Library of Congress to check up on it, and, sure enough, he was right. This is exactly what happened.

Miss Howe was in bed In her apartment overlooking Pennsylvania Avenue, trying to get some sleep, when she hard an Army band beneath her window and the sound of troops marching on the cobblestones.

Her mother, who was trying to sleep in the next room, came in and said This is ridiculous. Im going to the city hall and complain.

Julia reached for a pencil and pad. Wait, Mother, I think I hear something.

ART

BUCHWALD

The Daily Reflector

INCORPORATiO

DAVID JULIAN WHIG1AR0, Chairman Of The board

Published Every Afternoon Except Sunday Established 1882 JOHN S. WHICHARD-DAVID J. WHICHARD Publishers

Entered at Post Office, OrecnvlUe, N. C. as aeoood clasa mall matter

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fc ail *---

For Today

By EARL L. DOUGLASS SPIRITUAL REFRESHMENT

Someone has defined prayer as the experiencing of refreshing ourselves in God.

Prayer consists of petition. It also consists of thanksgiving and praise. But it consists above everything else in a certain experience we have with the Unseen. We may begin to pray with darkness hovering above us and a real burden upon heart and mind, but so often it happens that when we have finished our praying there is real peace in our hearts. Our lives have been refreshed. We actually refreshed ourselves in God.

Jesus laid tremendous emphasis on the importance of prayer. Christian leaders through Hie centuries have done the same. And this emphasis is indeed essential. A ChristJHii is not just one who believes certain things about Christ, or is a member of a certain church, or who pays his dues regularly and stands resoluttly for the Chriitian way of life. A Christian is one who has a certain experience with God. This experience means that frequently his dejection is turned into peace. His unhappiness is turned into joy. His heaviness o heart is turned into something that almost border upon supernatural vision.

We neglect the most important privilege in the Christian experience when we neglect prayer, and we never understand prayers until we realize that it is more than just seeking for something and giving thanks it is the matter of having a comforting, inspiring, and peaceful experience with the presence of God in heart and mind.

We can and sliould refresh ourselves m Gud.

G CHAMBERLAIN

When the theory of the wage-price guidelines was evolved, there wasnt much en-tion of the consumer beyond a few meaningless p i e t ies. Old Henry Ford, who knew how the American system WHS supposed to work, used in insist that productivity improvements should be shared equally between the capitalist, the working man and the customer. According 1 y, when Henry Ford first introduced the $5 day wage, he cut the price of his car and promised more profits (from volume) to his stockholders. Some of the stockholders didn't believe in his promises, so he paid them off out of the profits they might have continued to share. (The Ford Foundation eventually benefited.) The Ford system worked its magic for just about a quarter of a century. But after World War II it was celebrated more in the breach than in the observance.

Backtracking from the Fords formula, we had the cost-push Fifties, in which the fruits of productivity were split between labor and the corporations, with the consumer either paying more or settling for what he had been shelling out all along. Steel, wage settlements were followed by steel price rises until President John F. Kennedy finally blew his top. Automobile wages and profits went up together, but the price of the cyr remained relatively stationary.

(Continued On Page 6)

(Concord Tribune)

It may come as a shock to those of us who are, well, more relaxed (would you believe lazy?), but it seems there are men whose chief worry is that there isnt enough time in 24 hours for them to work as hard as they want to work.

So they are resorting to all sorts of weird tricks to eliminate wasted minutes.

The Wall Street Journal has made an exhaustive study of these inexhaustible executives. And the things they think of!

One young tycoon, for example, found that visitors to his office tended to admire some fine paintings which adorned the wall. Their comments and his replies consumed precious moments that could have been devoted to hard business. So his off ice is now as barren of art as a cell in the county jailperhaps even barrer, if the county prisoner has a flair for earthy sketches.

. mother super-hustler has a telephone and a secretary in his car. En route to appointments, he dictates and phones, phones and dictates. When he gets where hes going, the secretary scrounges a spare typewriter and transcribes t he

mobile musings of her boss and think of the production push!

Another resourcef a 1 exec has eliminated that lost moment which sometimes creeps in when a busy businessman is traveling by air. This tireless toiler grabs the first seat behind the cockpittoo close to the movie screen for anyone to see.

This keeps away the drones who want to fritter away their time and their careers by watching the inflight movie. For, of course, they dont sit by our worker, ::nd perhaps distract him with silly conversation.

You wonder how far this passion for production can go. Will the day come when Harry Hardwork realizes that his family is cutting into his creative output by saying hello to him when he gets home, and solves the problem by bolting into his study and having dinner sent in?

Such dedication to duty is admirable, in a gruesome sort of way, but how about the guys health?

Anyone that energetic undoubtedly believes that hard work never killed anybody.

Maybe not. But we sluggards like to believe that it can keep a man from really living.

I should hope you would. No one can sleep around here. Mine eyeshave seen the glory of the coming of the Lord, Julia started to sing.

Are you sick, child? her mother said anxiously.

He was trampling down the vinyard where the grapes of wrath are are . . oh mother, what rhymes with Lord?

Bored, gored, ford, hoard, stored.

Thats it. Now lets see. He has loosed the fearf ul lightning of His terrible swift

. . . give me a word that rhymes with stored.

How about sword?

Ill leave it until I can think of something better. Julias mother said angrily, They just seem to be marching on. Im going to call the police.

Marching on? Of course, why didnt I think of it. His truth keeps marching on. Now I need a chorus.

Why dont you stop that sily songwriting and worry about your poor old mother. I cant help it. There is (Continued On Page 6)

i urn i o

Church

By THEODORE A. EDIGER

MIAMI, Fla. (AP) - Cuban refugees, streaming into Miami at the rate of 4,000 monthly, are increasingly turning to churches for help in getting a foothol^ on life in exile.

The ,southern Baptist Convention, long one of the most active in helping refugges, has announced a nationwide campaign for increased contributions of clothing, food and other items.

The Roman Catholic Hispanic Center reported that since refugees began arriving in 1959, it has spent more than $2 million aiding them. The center, directed by the Rev. Frederick Wass, has issued garments to 92,000 refugees; food to 76,000, and provided medical care for nearly 100,000.

Refugee centers also art maintained by Methodist, Episcopal, Presbyterian and other churches.

The government-operated Cuban Refugee Center reported that only 11,000 persons one of every 10 exiles in the Miami area receive federal aid. Four years ago nearly 70,990 were on the assistance rolls.

At the Southern Baptist Hispanic Center, directed by thi Rev. Hubert Hert, refugees receive a welcome kit containing such items as razors, tooth brushes and paste, and wash cloth.'^. They also get their pick of available clothing, along with Cuban-type food, an(i sometimes furniture and electrical appliances.

German Perez, who dispe.nses the contributions to fellow refugees at the Baptist center, said: Packages already are coming in nearly every day, and it is going to increase. They come from Southern Baptist congregations throughout the United States. The largest number have come from Georgia. Florida ranks second, and Virginia third.

During the first six months this year, before start of the new campaign, 5,665 articles of clothing, 232 welcome kits, 37 pieces of furniture and 255 Bibles or New Testaments were issued to refugees, Perez said. Food was given to 258 families. Assistance in resettling in cities other than Miami was provided for 406 Cubans.

Recently a couple with two boys arrived, Perez said. We paid their rent here until we could get them resettled. In a few days they will leave to start a new life in Laurel, Md. The father is a radio and television repair expert but does not speak English.

Opiniona In Brief

FDR Jr. is seeking the Democratic nomination for governor of New York. Hed better be careful; his father got the job and look where he ended up. Knoxville (Tenn.) News-Sentinel.

Folks who write Letters to the Editor and refuse to sign their names are like the man who offers to hold your coat while you fight.Gastonia (N.C.) Gazette.

Home is where a man goes when hes tired of being nice to everybody. New Glarus (Wis.) Post.

New Car Dealers Feel Saueeze

By ELMER ROESSNER

New car dealers are in a great, big squeeze.

There are dangers of wildcat strikes disrupting the flo\y of new cars. In f a ct, auto manufacturers are speeding up production of the 1967 models to beat such strikes as the United Aulowork e rs proposed to reopen existing contracts for higher wages.

But the dealers are finding it more difficult to finance new cars. Int e r e s t rate are high are rising, and banks are increasingly reluctant to see their money tied up in lots full of new cars, especially since they are not sure that demand will hold up.

Cause for this is the latest Department of Commerce report on consumers buying intention. As of July, Commerce found, fewer consumers planned to buy new cars. However, more planned to buy used cars. The rea

son may be that consumers are holding off until the 1968 models, with all the new safety devices, are available.

ELMER

ROESSNER

IMMEDIATE CONSEQUENCES

One result may be that prices on the new cars will not be as high as originally intended. Price is one hing manufacturers have been silent about, although it has generally been supposed that prices will be slightly above last years levels, with the boost coming in prices for extra equipment.

Now the manufacturers, always realists, may be tak

ing a new look at pncinj schedules, and the increases may be far gentler than expected.

Another result will be a stronger-lhan-ever advertising campaign for the new models. The auto industry has never been one to accept reverses complacently. If there is any reluctance to buy, the public will bet the full treatment: space and time advertising, contests, exhibitions, and whoop-de-do no end.

Another problem facing auto dealers in the rise in costs of financing both new and used cars. Not only are banks pushing up rates on auto loans, but the captive finance companies of the auto manufacturers have already shoved costs up a notch. WHENCE THENMONEY?

The tightness ^ the costliness of borrowed mon e y may force many consumers to settle for smaller, cheaper cars. It may, perhaps, boost

sales of the low-priced importa.

Furthermore, another increase in the rediscount rate by the Federal Reserve System would push the cost of auto loans even higher. A half percentage point in the rediscount rate would make auto loans a full percentage point higher for best credit risks, and more for these without top credit rating.

The housing situation is not much more cheerful. Congress has voted to give the Federal National Mortgage Association (Fanny Mac) $4.-76 billion with which to buy mortgages from banks and savings and loan associations.

'This will give those institutions that much more money to lend for new homes. But while this will make money more plentiful, it will not bring down thei nterest rate on mortgages, and this block to new construct i o n will remain.