Wednesday, May 24, 1967

Advers Effect Of Tobacco Taxes

It was inevital^le that a bill be introduced in the legislature to place a tax on cigarettes and other tobacco products.

North Carolina, whose economy is heavily dependent upon tobacco and tobacco products, is the only one of 50 states which does not now levy a special tax on tobacco. Not only do other states have special taxes on cigarettes, the federal government taxes it heavily and so do many municipalities and other local government units in many states.

It was inevitable too, we suppose, that the proposal for North Carolinas cigarette tax to come from the states most populous and urbanized county . . . Mecklenburg. Freshman Rep. Phillip J. Baugh who introduced the measure has assened North Carolina is out of step in its tax schedule because it does not tax tobacco products.

Apparently it makes no difference to the Mecklenburg representative that a considerable part of North Carolinas agricultural and industrial economy is associated directly with tobacco and tobacco products. It makes no difference to him that cigarettes

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already have the dubious distinction of oeing the most taxed product in the nation today . . . that taxes on a pack of cigarettes amount to several times what the farmer receives for producing tobacco which make the cigarettes.

It is also apparent that Rep. Baugh and those who join him in urging a special state tax on cigarettes think that North Carolina should not stand alone in resisting the tide of an even heavier burden of taxation on tobacco products.

There have been suggestions in some quarters that punitive taxes be placed on tobacco products in an effort to discourage their use. More alarming than that is the indication that efforts are being made at some levels of government to carry out such suggestions.

Should North Carolina levy a tax on cigarettes, it would ser\^e to encourage other states to increase the already heavy tax they have on tobacco products. It would encourage the federal governmei^ to increase its special tax on tobacco products, and certainly local government units in various parts of the nation would follow suit.

North Carolina may gain several millions in tax revenues by levying a special tax on cigarettes, but in our judgement it would lose considerably more by the adverse effect such a tax would have on the economy of this state in the long run.

We trust the legislature will reject the Mecklenburg proposal that North Carolina adopt a special tobacco tax.

By STACIE SIMS Reflector Raleigh Bureau RALEIGH No re ve n ue bill should be passed un 1 e s s there is a need for revenue. says Rep. William Hill of Wilmington. Hill has introduced a bill to place a tax on tobacco products in North Carolina.

It seems that there is a well founded belief that additional funds are needed to provide the services that the State supported agencies require in the fields of health, education, welfare, correction and other areas, Hill said.

A tax on tobacco products Is a reasonable tax. The tax is only levied upon the consumer and a tax of two cents per package of cigarettes is relatively small, costing a pack a day smoker only $7.30 per year, Hill maintained.

The New Hanover representative feels it is reasonable to assume that the same demand would remain for tobacco products that now exists. Even with the additional tax, this state, along with Washingon, D. C., would still be the lowest taxing state in the Union so far as tobacco products go.

He explained that the tax would not affect the tobacco grower, processor manufacturer, but would rest solely on the ultimate consumer.

The tax would be levied along with the sales tax. Estimated revenues of the bill would be from ten to twelve million dollars per year. This money would be paid into the General Fund of the state to be used as the General Assembly directs.

If this tobacco tax bill were to be favorably received by the General Assembly, the revenue received would not be sufficient to take care of all the critical needs in the state. Hill said.

It would, however, provide from 20 to 24 million doUars during the coming biennium which could be used to alleviate some of the needs of the people of this State.

Hill pointed out that the 19-66 Tax Study Commission thoroughly studied North Carolinas tax laws and recommended the same tax on tobacco products which is pro

posed in the bill now presented to you.

This bill was introduced because of concern that the revenue estimated to be available to the state would sufficient to meet the services to the people said. Having co - sponsored several appropriation bills, he feels some duty to find a source of revenue to finance the appropriations sought. This tax bill is a vehicle to gain at least a portion of the additional revenue needed, he said.

New Teaching

The feasibility of teach i n g morality and ethics in the States public school s y s t em should be considered by a commission to study the present school system, says Rep.

R, D. McMillan of Robeson Countv.

A resolution to create a study commission of the p u blic school system has been introduced by McMillan and Rep. Elton Edwards of Guilford County.

Its high time a study was made, the Robeson County legislator commented, explaining that the last study of the schools was made in 1947, and almost all the recommendations of that commission have already been implemented.

We need to keep ahead and know what the present status of our States system is, he said.

The possibility of having ethics and morality taught in public schools was not included in the resolution creating the study commission. But McMillan said he feels strongly that such a course should be taught

Morality and ethics used to be taught in the home, he said, but it seems that people just dont have time anymore, he said.

The problem, of course, of including these subjects in the public schools, is what standards they would be based on.

Young people need guidance, but they also have a mind of their own, McMillan commented. Morality could not be taught simply by telling the youngsters what is right and wrong with no logical expana-tion.

Dynamite Caps All Around

Accept

Bv JAMES MARLOW

WASHINGTON (AP)Nobody knows what hes looking at except theyre all dynam i t e caps.

While U. S. planes bomb North Vietnam, U.S. troops move into the demilitarized zone to fight North Vietnamese troops, thus bringing American forces closer than ever to the North Vietnamese Border which this country so far has refrained from crossing.

If it ever does cross, Red China may come into the war. But Red China has been cagey about how or when it might move in, which means that with or without an invasion the Chinese may make the war bigger, which could be an international disaster.

Hong Kong, the British colony on Red Chinas doorstep, has had 11 days of anti-British rioting led, police there say, by Communists getting their instructions from Peking. Red China earns almost $1 billion in foreign exchange from Hong Kong with its population of almost four million Chinese.

The strong police force there has been able to battle the mobs which were believed to have been set in motion by the Red Chinese to throttle Nationalist Chinese activity in the colony and shut it off from U.S. servicemen on leave from Vietnam.

Probably because they found benefit in buying other things they need from abroad, until

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tried to rock the British out of , n* a i r

Hong Kong. But as the events By ART BUCHWALD multiply no one can predict whether the mobs will subside or the Red Chinese will intervene.

They have made demands on the British, which the latter show no signs of granting, with threats if the demands are ignored.

For that matter no oneand that includes the Red Chinese themselves seems to know whats going to happen in China itself where the pro-Maoist forces and the anti - Maoist forces have had the country in turmoil for months.

If all this is wrapped in uncertainty, none of it is more uncertain than what lies ahead in the Middle East where Israel and its Arab neighbors have been calling up their reserves, mobilizing as if for war.

The two sides have dangled matches over their gasoline can since the late 1940s when Israel set itself up as an independent state whose existence the Arab world refuses to recognize. A brief war followed the creation of the new Israel.

The United Nations has been j -i

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when Israel attacked Egypt ,

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Club

The meeting of the Common Market Club will come to order. The first subject on the agenda is new members. I have an application here for a John Bull of Great Britain. Charles, you had something to say?

Mes amis, eet iz not for me to creeticize because I do not know ziss Messter Bull too V, .11, but thees iz an exclusive club an we should be vary, vary careful who we should let in.

Well, on the application he gives a little background. He comes from a good family which once had interests all over the world. He has an excellent war record, is highly cultured in the arts and, though hes had some financial reverses in the past, guarantees hell be able to pay his

dues.

Zat may be. But what do we know about his friends? For example, I understand thees Meester Bulls best friend is an American. Do we want somebody in the club who has an American for a friend?

Well, Charles, many of us in the club have a friend who is an American. Just because you dont have any is no reason to keep John Bull out.

Please, gentlemen, I do not want to be how do you say? unreasonable, but there are other things to be considered. I did not wish to bring this up, but did you know that Englishmen eat their cheese after their dessert? Can you imagine what will happen in the kitchen eef thees Bull becomes a member of the club?

It could present problems, but the cook could probably adjust to it.

Alors, he could adjust to it, but I would have to eat in the zame dining room. I could not stand seeing a man having his cheese after his dessert. I dont think that should be sufficient grounds to keep a new member out. Aldo, you wanted to say something?

ART

BUCHWALD

Other Editors Saying

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This Date-40 Years Ago Today

By FOY H. DUNCAN May 24, 1927 Round Of Festivities For Lindbergh In Paris PARIS, May 24 Captain Lindbergh made his second Paris speech at a luncheon given in his honor today by the American Club. It was even greater success than his first, given last night, al-stuck to the same simple style. . . .After holding the spell bound for ten minutes with the modest description of his New York Paris flight, he concluded: I hope I haven't kept you too long and sat down amid a terrific round of applause. . . .

New York To Give Flier A Big Welcome NEW YORK, May 24New Yorks welcome to Slim Lindberg today assumed proportion that might well justify his statement made in Paris when he said he wondered what the New Yorkers will do when he returns. . . .

Dry Weather Holds Sway Greenville and vicinity gets only 1.71 inches of rain since May 1st.

J. H. Rose Car Found In Petersburg

The Ford coupe belonging to J. H. Rose, superintendent of the city schools, which was stolen in Raleigh la.st week, was recovered in peter.shurg, Va. Saturday, according to information received by Mr. Rose today. Before abanding the car, the thieves stripped it of everything.

which had seized the Suez Canal, there has been a U. N. peace - keeping force on the (Continued On Page 5)

Strength For Today

By EARL L. DOUGLAS EDUCATION FOR ALL A hundred years ago the idea of universal education was almost unknown. There were few, if any, high schools. The idea that a tax-paying citizen Fad a right to twelve years of public education is a concept that has come only in the last few generations.

Now we are looking to the time when those who have been graduated from High school will be able to go to publicly supported colleges set up as the next step above high school. Thus there will be the possibility of sixteen years of public eduation.

This may appear to be only a vague dream, but we need to keep reminding ourselves that high schools a hundred years ago were practically unknown. Certainly if our citizenry is to be well educated, provision must be made to give young person all the education it is possible for him, or her, to take.

What about mixing education and government together? This is dangerous, of course, but all advancement involves risk. Certainly we are adult enough in our thinking to keep our own government from ruining our educational process. We do not need to pull our punches just because we are afraid of what some regard as a creeping socialism that might involve the domination of school and college.

The normal course would seem to be that within a very few years every child in the country could be guaranteed a college education, or its eipiiv-aleiil, at public e.xpense.

Higher taxes? Yes, but better for education than for a lot of schemes for which public money is always being expended.

Air Force Base)

There is nothing like a taste of combat to make a man out of a youngster.

Commenting on his rec e n t trip to Southeast Asia installations, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. John. P. McConnell said, Our principal asset in a n y war is our people. The superb professionalism and unpretentious modesty which they display makes them appear mature far beyond their years.

Instead of worrying about the relatively few misfits at home, we should talk more about the brave and dedicated youngsters who do the fighting in Southeast Asia. They are the real representatives of our youth.

There has been much said in the past about sending young personnel into a combat zone. Some say that these youngsters dont know what it is all about, or even why they are in Vietnam.

General McConnell had an answer for all the doubters.... They know why they are in Southeast Asia, and they know what is expected of them. They dont need pep talks or

lectures because the enemy is right outside the gate and all over the hills around them. And they know that, if they dont fight the commun i s t s there, they may have to fight them closer to the h o m e-land.

The same youngsters who only last year were making a name for themselves on t h e high school gridiron, or were among the in crowd at the local drugstore, are now making a name for themselves on the far - flung battlefronts of Southeast Asia. They are the ones who carry on their young shoulders the cause of freedom for all mankind.

The next time you read in the newspaper about the misfits in your community and their latest troubles, think twice before you judge all youngsters by those few.

Remember that at this very minute in Southeast Asia there are thousands who have made that transition from youngsters to men.

Those who have learned their lesson will return home to become the leaders of tomorrow.

They grow up fast in a battle zone.

I say whatsa da difference? We shoulda be happy everybody wants to get in. I say if we dont like da guy after he gets in. we tro'A liim out. We werent such great members when we first came in, either.

Kurt, you were going to say something?

Ass you know, gentlemen,

I haf never had great luf in mv heart for the Hinglish. But maybe its better we let Herr Bull in the club so we know what he is doing. Wbo knows, he may even want to buy a Volkswagen.

Charles, your nose is twitching. Did you want to add anything?

Monsieurs, as you all know I am zee most reasonable of men, and if you feel zat you want zis new member in zee club I will do nothing to stop his application.

Thats very decent of you, Charles.

Except, Monsieurs, he must write us a letter tellin'i us why he wants to come into zee dub. An then he must have a physical examination, an then he must say au revoir to his American friend, an then he must crawl on his hands an knees three times around zee clubhouse with a sign on his back that he will eep his mouth shut unless>^e speak to him.

(Continued On Page 5)

halt

A Loaf

By ROWLAND EVANS and ROBERT NOVAK

WARSAW - The Poles, re-nowned as the most ardent lovers of freedom in Communist Eastern Europe, are at -long last accepting a half-inaf of liberty from the ruling Communist apparatus.

Over the past two years, there have been fewer political arrests, fewer refusals n( passports for foreign travel, fewer restrictions of a writers right to publish. But this represents no great liberalization by the regime. Rather, intellectuals and dissenters here understand the tacit gr o u n d rules covering just what they can and cannot do and, in a rather un-Polish decision, have prudently decided to obey them.

This represents a major victory for Wladyslaw Gomulka, who wields absolute power over Poland as Communist party boss. Although wide freedom of expression resulted from the 1956 October revolution that put Gomulka in power, it was one reform he never really liked.

Clearly an honest man and a patriot, Gomulka is nevertheless an archetypal Communist dogmatist who is terrified of the written word. Thus, in 1956, Gomulka started stripping away freedom of expression the day after It wai granted. Restrictions continued to mount until about 1961, when the rules were stabilized. What is new today is that nobody is breaking them.

Those rules permit Pol i s h intellectuals and artists remarkable latitude as long as they keep away from politics. Theoretical sociologists and philosophers are not harassed. Abstract art, music, and theater plays by Ionesco and Becket are now playing in Warsaw have no troubL. The state even subsidizes that avant garde theater in Krakow, considered one of t h e most imaginative in Europe.

Moreover, some political criticism is permitted if it mect.s two criteria: (1) it must be indirect and (2) it must be limited to a small audienc?.

Polish officialdom chooses to ignore the indirect social and political criticism contained in tht current hit of the Warsaw stage, Slawomire Mroz e k s Tango. But, we are assured by officials, satire that strong would never be served up on the mass medianewspapers, radio, and especially television. Similarly, university students who mimic Gomulka at the political cabaret in Krakow could never get past the censor onto TV.

Overt criticism of Marxist socialism or the Gomulka regime is absolutely forbidden. Indeed, serious political discussion of any kind is severely censored. The little known but incredible fact is that Communist apparatchiks here have banned the publication m frill of Pope Pauls left-leaning Populorum Progressio. If and when it is published, the circulation will be limited.

The distinction made by th3 regime between political and non - political extends also to permission for foreign travel. Literary figureseven those who signed the famous Letter of 34 protesting government censorship in 19t34 now get passports without much trouble. But more distinctly political figures w' li o are known to oppose the regime are turned down without explanation.

This state of semi - freedom has the pernicious effect <'f self - censorship. Consider the (Continued On Page 5)

Convicts Tips To Store-Owners

By ELMER ROESSNER

Dont try to be a hero! Convict No. 114717 of Michigan writes in the Independent Retailer, published for the Super Value stores. Dont resist a hold up man, the convict writes.

But on the basis of his and fellow prisoners experiences, he offers considerable advice on how to prevent a stickup and what to do if the storekeeper doesnt.

He quotes z(nother inmate, a 15 to 20 year man: Advertising on windows might help business, but if placed in front of the sales eounler or cash re-gi.ster, it is only helping me. No one outside cun see what Is i.s going on inside.

Other Hints

Here are some of ola 114717s other tips:

Dont make it a policy to have only one man open and close your store. The two most dangerous times of the day are the opening and closing hours.

ELMER

ROESSNER

Dont keep more cash in your store than iss necessary.

Dont keep moie cash in your store than is necessary.

Take a different route to the bank each day.

Dont leave your store unlighted over night.

Dont put your safe where it cannot be seen from the street.

Dont leave your store at night until you are sure all doors, windows and other entrances are securely locked.

If held up, keep cool. Give the man or woman anything he wants.

Get a good, clear mental picture of the man, ob.serving what kind of clothes his is wearing, their color, his race, approximate heigh and weight, his accent if any.

If ho is wearing glasses, false moustache and other dis-disguise, try to visualize his

appearance vvillictil llunn Dont Try to lollow liiin

As soon as the tlnel leaves, try to determine wliieli way he went, without following him.

Call nolice immediately; if someone is hurt, ask for an

ambulance first, then give the police the facts they need.

Dont touch anything the robber might have left.

The article al.so advises storekeeper to hide change for $20 so they can keep on making sales after the stickup. Old 114717 seems to be working against his fellow hnisters. Christmas sales to hit New high, survey indicates

The coming Christmas shO!> ping season will break record-;, director of the National Ret il Merchants Associations

Christmas clinic, after a survey of member department stores.

Tlir< e-fourths of tho.se I'C-spnnding expert sale.s Ihi* Christmas to top last season s sales, Gur-Arie reported. Sixty J er cent of the. respondents i.it planning to stress better qpa-lilv nicrchandi.se.