Monday, September 25, 1967

Foresight In The Utilities Tie-In

It is interesting to note that in only 13 years Greenville Utilities has gone from generating all of its own electrical power to now generating only two percent of its energy output.

The other 98 percent of the power which Greenville Utilities delivers to its customers is purchased from Virginia Electric and Power Co. through a tie--in which local utilities commissioners so wisely negotiated in 1954.

The commissioners of 18 years ago, saw, as did other communities, that it was rapidly becoming uneconomical to enlarge the local plant sufficiently to handle the needs of a growing city.

At that time millions in bonds had been issued to increase the size of the local generating plant. It was becoming all too clear that the day of the small generating facility was over; that they would become simply too expensive to build and operate.

Return Of N.C. Coast Insurance

By WILLIAM A. SHIRES Reflector Raleigh Bureau RALEIGH A hurricane, tropical storm, a raging noreaster lunges inland from the fickle Atlantic Ocean bringing shrieking winds and waves and threats to life and coastal property.

It is a fairly familiar story along North Carolinas many hundreds of miles of storm-exposed coast, from Wilmington and the Brunswick beaches across the sandy Outer Banks and the tidal sounds, marshes and fishing villages. Qieckered flags are flown and die islanders and beach residents batten down.

A series of these mighty tropical blows capped by a devastating Ash Wednesday Boreaster on the Dare County coast six years ago caused proj^ty damage that reached into untold millions of dollars.

And not only did coastal residents flee and seek safe shelter when the storms ap-

{iroached, insurance compan-es did the sameand refused to come back.

Coverage Is Refused As an aftermath of the Scries of storms from 1953-1962, owners of beach property found their inscrance was cancelled and they cpuld not obtain coverage.

Many insurance companies, obviously, felt that risks on extended coverageprimarily windstorm were too great to assume and refused to write policies on coastal property. If they did agree to Insure, there were complaints that rates were excessive.

Situation Grows Worse In the meantime, the beaches were building back. Damage wrought by hurricanes and storms was repaired and commercial and residential development enjoyed a boom in the states coastal sections.

There was an air of confidence. People were returning and investing in beach property. There were improvements, new facilities, new and

better roads and bridges. The tourist business along the coast was becoming better and better each year.

But a fly in the ointment was the matter of insurance, refusal of companies to insure, high rates, restrictions and the Uke.

Aski ^Assigned Risk*

Burney, a bulky attorney with dark flashing eyes and a bulllike voice, arrived in Raleigh for the 1967 legislative session as a freshman with a beach property insurance bill in his pocket.

In effect, Burneys bill would have required the insurance industry to accept fire and extended coverage insurance on beach and coastal property under an assigned risk system similar to that in effect for automobile liability insureds. The insurance lobby, one of the most powerful in Raleigh, went to work. It opposed'Bur-neys bill and in return, offered a compromise solution-working out a voluntary plan.

Voluntary Plan Proposed

The end result was that Bcrneys compulsory coverage bill was shelved but the legislature ordered a study by its Legislative Research Commission and a report on just what the industry is willing to do.

Meanwhile, the states Insurance Commissioner, Edwin S. Lanier, was directed to present a plan for providing fire and extended coverage insurance for beach property. Lanier held hearings and announced last week he had approved a voluntary plan agreed upon by at least 168 of the licensed insurance companies writing fire and extended coverage insurance in North Carolina.

Plan Is Explained

Under the plan, Lanier explained, an Insurance company has an option of accepting the insurance and issuing a policy, of agreeing to furnish coverage if specified improvements are made, or refusing the application and advising the applicant in writing as to its reasons. Copies of the companys reports will be sent to the Insurance Commissioner along with a statistical breakdown as to amount of insurance written, the number of policies accepted and the number rejected, all of which will be reported to the 1969 General Assembly.

Subsequent events have proven the wisdom of the decision. The favorable cost of purchasing power has made it uneconomical even to operate the equipment that is already there. Consequently the equipment is operated only enough to keep it in good condition. The generators in the plant would handle about 50 percent of the utilities electric load and they could, of course, prove invaluable in the event of a major VEPCO power failure.

But it is obvious that today the generation of electricity will be handled in major facilities such as the large power companies can afford to build.

The cost of delivering power to the customer showed a dramatic decrease last year continuing a steady downward trend.

Of course the cost of producing power has been coming down for the power companies, too, and the municipalities hope to share in this by requesting decreases in the wholesale rates.

All of this should mean lower rates for the Greenville Utilities customer and indeed, he has seen rate reductions in recent yars.

Electric power costs are coming down and even though the monthly bill might be going up because of increased consumption, it is nevertheless a better bargain every year.

Progress Being Made In Improving Airport

Step by step progress is being made on bringing the Pitt-Greenville airport up to the standards which the new Airport Authority has set in its long-range sights.

The Federal Communications Commission has given its approval for the non-directional radio navigation beacon that has been purchased for the airport. This is the last hurdle prior to actual installation of the new navigation aid which will greatly enhance the usability of the airport, particularly in bad weather.

Within the past year a number of significant improvements have been made at Pitt-Greenville airport. For these, the old Airport Commission, the new Airport Authority and the governing boards of Greenville and Pitt County are to be commended.

The Authority should continue to receive enthusiastic support from the governing boards and from citizens of the county as it seeks to effect other needed improvements. The airport continues to increase in importance to the county and its municipalities. It is essential that it be brought into top condition and maintained so.

Giving The Big City A Chance

j Nixon

i> Policy

The ^Recognition of China

By ART BUCHWALD

Answer To ABM System

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By DAN CUFF

NEW YORK (AP) - On coming from the sticks to the big city:

Where the teachers play hookey instead of the kids.

Where the tables and chairs in the sidewalk cafe are chained to the wall to prevent the patrons and passers-by from walking off with them.

Where the air can get thick and yellow and where everything costs too much.

My immigrant forefathers strove mightify to leave this place. But I come back.

Strength For Today

By EARL L. DOUGLAS CODES

Christ was crucified between two thieves. They had all broken the law. Christ had broken the law because his teachings were immeasurably above the teachings of prevailing codes. The thieves had broken the law because their actions had been below prevai-nlig requirements.

What is the prevailing requirement today according to the teachings of the Bible, the experience of the race the dictates of common sense? The essence of the code which operates among right-thinking people everywhere is first of all characterized by sincerity. The accepted code also involves thoughtfulness f(n* others. It requires that we never injure anyone knowingly, and if we injure them unJcnowingly then the injury is to be reversed and righted.

All of which means that whether we are religious, skeptical or just plain indifferent about the things for which religion stands, we nevertheless operate under a common code of decent and thoughtful principals which demands that we keep our own lives free from evil and accept our responsibility with reference to others. Some people are persecuted because they operate above the common level of the worlds righteousnes. Others are prosecuted because they operate below the accepted standards of decency, sincerity and kindliness. The scene of Calvary, with its three crosses, comes down to teach us lessons today. There was Jesus, so far above the morals of this timeand of all timethat the world put him to death. There were the two thieves whose conduct was so harmful to society that society gave them the extreme punishment.

Theres no place in Manhattan for the middle class, they

We need to observe and ponder.

say. Go to Queens, they advise. Only the rich and the poor can live in Manhattan.

Motheri-in-law lives 20 miles out and hasnt visited the city in 15 years. Wouldnt go there on a bet she says.

But I believe theres a place for us.

All my life Ive been fed the adventure and romance of life in the city, where everything happens first, where they never roll up the sidewalks, where all the exciting people live. But now they tell me it's impossible to live here.

The policeman on the street says: you looking for an apartment in this neighborhood? Dont do it. They raise dogs around here, not kids.

The neighborho()d I choose, they tell me later is the junkie capital of the world.

My car is broken into three times the first week For trouble, they get one beat-up baby stoller.

Apartment hunting, my wife kept asking: Js the neighborhood safe? The standard answer, spoken almost with the pride of someone living up to a reputation: No place in New York is safe:

How to develop that tough, alienated character that helps the New Yorker survive? How to say no to the old lady who asks you to carry* her heavy bundle up the subway stairs and then sticks you with carrying it five blocks? How do turn your back on the blind and crippled Negro beggar, scm of the city, who moves haltingly fiu-ough the swaying and screaming subway car seeking coins for his paper cup?

How to intimidate the apartment building superintendent who wont come to fix your broken doorbell, your pilot light, your dripping faucet?

The city can get you down. They told me back m the sticks it would by like this. TO TOP IT OFF, A WISE New York billy goat at the Central Park Zoo butted jne in the rear.

And yet, we have not surrendered the myth. We have found a comfortable apartment rent-controlled by the city, situated a block from a romantic Chinese restaurant that never closes.

The ottier day, brooding over a $5 ticket for a lousy few minutes overtime at the meter, I watched from the apartment window a late summer thunder-storm move in low across the Hudson River. The great buildings of downtown Manhattan were blotted (Continued On Page 5)

WASHINGTONIt now appears the United States is going to build an entiballastic missile system. For the thin size system its going to cost $3.5 to $5 billion; the thick one, which the military is opting for, will cost $30 billion.

When the news broke, my friend Cruxraan called me and said, Why do we have to spend $5 billion to build an antibaUistic msale system?

Because, Cruxman,** I said, the Russians are building one and we have to have everything the Russians have.

How do we know theyre building one? Ouxman demanded.

Because they said they were building one, I repliecl, trying to be patient.

Yeah, well how come if we dont believe the Russians on anything else we believe them when they say theyre

Other E(ditors Saying The Promised Roac.

(Washington Daily News)

For as long as we can remember, promises have been made that Highway 17 would be four-laned.

Highway 17 represents about 250 miles of North-South coastal highway connecting Virginia and South Carolina through North Carolina.

In every political campaign in recent years promises have been made that Highway 17 would have its day. This is the most promised road in North Carolina today, and yet it remains just thatpromised but not performed.

This Norm-South through route means a great deal to Coastal North CMXilina. As we watch the traffic on this road, we cannot help but wonder how much is being taken off of it because it is not four-lan^ How much business are ' our own far Eastern North Carolina people losing each year because of unfilled promises and a two-lane road? It has to be in the millions of dollars.

We have pointed out many times that Eastern North Carolina is victim of no East-West four-lane highways East of Zebulon. Yet one can get on a four-lane road just West of

Zebulon and ride to the Tennessee border on a four-lane highway.

. Here in our own area of North Carolinathe far East we have neither North-South nor East-West four-lane roads. A four-laned 17 or comparable thoroughfare is long past due. We have a right to expect it. We want action not just promises.

While the ever present population base in a given area is to be considered, and we do not have the heavy concentration of population, that base alone should not all inclusive. How many people travel a road and how many people will travel a better road are guides which are very important, too. After all, people from populous areas travel our highways here, and we have the feeling that once they are here, insofar as highways are cwicerned, they so often conclude that we shall not return until something is done about improving and four-laning those roads.

We dare say right now that if a four-lane North-South artery can be realized, the traffic count on it would be tremendous within a year.

building an antisystem ballistic missle?

You mean an antiballistic youve got to understand that we would rather not spend the money, but were being forced into it.

All right. What aftxAit this? Suppose we announce were building a system missile antiballistic, or whatever the hell you call it, and we stick up a bunch of old curtain rods and obsolete TV antennas and say, This to our defense, Boris, so dont go shooting any of your ICBMs toward North America.

ART

BUCHWALD

Its a good idea, Cruxman, but you forget one thingthe credibility gap. Its all right to lie to our own people, but we cant very well lie to the Soviet Uinion.

How are they going to know were lying? Cruxman shouted. As a matter of facrt, how do we know they aint lying?

Have you forgotljen the spirit of Glassboro so soon? I asked.

Yeah, well lets just suppose, he said, that they announced they were building their antiballistic system missile just so we would go ahead and spend $10 to $30 billion on ours.

Now suppose, after we get it built, the Russkies say, Ha, ha, youve wasted all that money because we dont have an antiballistic missile system. As a matter of fact, not only dont we have such (Continued On Page 5)

By ROWLAND EVANS and ROBERT NOVAK

WASHINGTON Close advisers, inside and outside his staff, nre imploring Richard M. Nixon to adopt a softer line on Vietnamand do it soonif he hopes to be elected President,

They arc urging him not only to take a less warlike stance on Vietnam but to shift his canjpaign emphasis from foreign affairs to domestic problems, accommodating the countrys inward - looking mood. If the change is not made, warn these advisers, Nixon not only would be a decided disadvantage against Lyndon B. Johnson next year but might well be deprived of the Republican nomination.

Indeed, thou^ he is front-runner for that nomination, Nixons position on Vietnam is more rigid than any of hi* potential rivals. Even Govern-nor Ronald Reagan of California, whose demands for faster military escalation make him far more of a hawk than Nixon, leaves himself more room for maneuvei'. In demanding that the U. S. either win the war or clear out of Vietnam, Reagan has a withdrawal loophole; Nixon has built himself no such escape mechanism.

Nixons initial reaction to this advice:deep interest but skepticism and reluctance. For one thing, to concentrate on domestic affairs would mean abandonment of his carefully cultivated reputation (enha;ed by this years globe-trotting and writings about International problems) as a foreign policy expert.

Nor, as a faithful apostle of John Foster Dulless global anti-(3ommunism, can Nixon easily bring himself to acquiesce in abandoning South Vietnam. To advisers who counsel a softer line, Nixon admonishes them that he alone among the Republican Presidential hopefuHs is a world figure whose statements might exert substantive influence. For Nixon to suggest a Vietnamese withdrawal, he reasons, might encourage Hanoi.

Moreover, Nixons incura-able habit of public self-analysis makes a change all the more difficult. In numerous on-the-record interviews, he sticks to the hard line on Vietnam and concedes that he may be swimming against the tide of changing Republican opinion on Vietnam.

The account of one such interview, by David S. Broder In the Washington Post, has been reproduced by Nixon headquarters in Washington and dispatched to everybody on his long mailiog list. But some of his advisers privately feel that the :&-oder interview, favorable to Nixon though it is, should be hidden rather than distributed because it further hardens Nix- ons position.

Despite all this, Nixon, may yet change his line, so imposing are his advisers arguments.

As he concedes, Nixon is no longer in the main stream of Republican sentiment. Even among notoriously hawkish House Republican, there is growing private criticism of the super-escalation policy of the House Republican leadership.

Furthermore, a Nixon shift on, Vietnam would fit snugly into his new strategy of wooing the Rublican left as the <mly viable alternative to Reagan. Only the question of Vietnam now separates Nixon (Continued On Page 5)

Higher Interest Rates Are Seen

By ELMER ROESSNER

Higher interest rates lie ahead. Reasons:

The governments enormous deficit spending in the current fiscal year, from $20 billion to $30 billion, will add competition for available money, forcing up the interest rate.

Because of growing inflation, lenders will demand higher rates to offset their losses from the decl i n i n g value of the dollar.

The business commumty has been conditioned for an increase. At a panel discussion by the New York Savings Bank Association, lea d i n g bankers were almost unanimous in predicting higher rates. Other prominent bankers and economists have been making similar statements.

The tax surcharge, which mi=!ht slow d3wn inllation and hence relieve the upward pres

sure on interest rates, does not now seem likely this year.

Ford Strike Effects To Spread Here are more look-aheads in business:

4

ELMER

ROESSNER

Strike effect to w(Nsen; The consequences of the Ford strike will hit nard in the coming week. Some suppliers who have been holding staffs together in hopes of a quick settlement will increase their layoffs. Merchants serving Ford and suppliers workers,

who have been granting easy credit in hope of a quick end, will begin to feel the pinch.

The price parade marches on: Price increases will continue. There will be fresh rises in copper; stocks are running low because of the strike despite some government statements to the contrary. Nickel prices have started up and this will cause a rise in the price of steels made stainless by the addition of nickel. Purchasing agents report shortages of castings, silver, electrical equipment, bearings and sulphur.

Slump in industry; September industrial production will total less than August, when there was a sharp rise. The Ford and copper strikes, and the cutback in Texas oil production with the easing of the Middle East oil situation, are reducing total production.

Going: The Dime Cuppa Java Ten-cent cups of coffee will vanish: Despite the drop in the price of coffee beans, the clme cup of brew will soon disappe^. Vending machines are being changed over to 15-cent takes; many restaurants are booating prices from 10 cents to 15, 20, 25 and even 40 cents a cup. Higher costs of labor in making coffee and servicing machines is the reason.

Leyeling-off of retail salesi Despite the sharp rise of consumer income in August retail sales will not spurt ahead much. The effect of strikes will slow down the faH upturn. In addition to losses of auto and copper strikers* incomes, walkouts have cut incomes of teachers *nd oth* ers and have made many families uneasy about the threats of more strikes.