WedrHisdiy, Novembtf , 196

lection Interest' Showed At Polls

Those citizens who went to the polls yesterday In Pitt County have the satisfaction of knowing they participated with other Americans in the record vote across the country.

For Pitt County it was also another record which saw more than 22,000 voters go to the polls in the countys 26 precincts. There were lines at times at some voting places, and waiting to cast a ballot took more time than many citizens would have liked. It is a tribute to those voters, however, that they w^ere willing to take the time and suffer the inconvenience in order to have their vote counted in the election.

In the primaries last spring and again in the genera I election yesterday, voters of Pitt County have responded admirably to the appeal to participate in government at the grass roots level by holnincr to elect officials. Even those who voted for candidates who were not winners when the final

Individualists

votes were tallied have helped strengthen the government by the very fact that they expressed their opinion which dissented from that of l^e mapority./

There have been times in the past in^Ritt County and in North Carolina when the turnout of voters was disappointingly light. There have been times when voting across the nation attracted fewer people to the polls than most expected. Yesterday, fortunately, was not one Of those days.

In Pitt County^ the new registration was a factor in the high percentage of registered voters going to the polls. More than that, however, was the high interest in political and governmental affairs which has been indicated throughout this year on the part of local citizens.

The election is over and most of the issues have been decided at the ballot boxes. But there remains the need for continued high interest in political and governmental affairs as we move into new administrations both on the state and federal levels. If the interest which was shown in the election yesterday is contnued through the next four years, it cannot ; help but make for better government on both the federal and state levels.

D

..n i?UDllC LIJG jhg Most .Elaborate,

Expensive Campaign

(Editors note: Thf follow-lowing di^atch was written and distributed prior to the outcome of Tuesdays gen-ral elections.)

By WILUAM A. SHIRES

RALEIGH - Pobbcal campaign notebook:

Robert Walter Scott of Haw River proved himself during the long political campaign of 1968 to be his own man, an individualist, in public life.

And in a somewhat differ-it way, so did Scotts Re-

fSublican opponent for the governorship, James C. (Jim) Gardner of Rocky Mount.

Despite charges and count-tr-charges, criticism, dismay and pressures from within and without, these two young men-relatively newcomers to the political scene-conductr ed separate, individua 11 y-orienled campaigns. They paid less attention to party label, party affiliation and party ticket than many old-line politicians liked. But "they did so without bolting or deserting either their national, state or local party ticket nor offending other f their party candidates.

It boiled down simply, in North Carolina, to a head-on struggle and everyone else had to hang on.

Contrasts Drawn Contrasts between the prin-eipals, Scott and Gardner, were drawn as the campaign |M*ogressed and tiiey came more and more under public tcruUny.

If anything, Scott is known among close associates for firmness, toughness and square-jawed determinati chi. Gardner is known of his fir, quickness to grasp issues a^ his competitive spi-' fit

Both of course presented wide-ranging programs and proposals and stated the i r

positions in detail during the seven month campaign, and they sparred at each other hoping to land a telling blow.

Here too there were similarities. Gardner sought to portray Scott as part of a machine political o^gan^ zalion the Raleigh machine. He meant, apparently, the states E^mocra-tic party which usually suffers from more splinters than Gardners Republicans. Scott forces retaliated by charging Gardner with starting a fat at club which would have special access to the governors office through $1,000 or more political contributions.

Charges Flung

Gardner came back with charges that the machine was raising money for the Scott campaign at dinners at the governors mansion, and that state employes were being coerced into making poli-were routine denials.

Ihe Republican candidate hit hard on the theme of time for a change. He cited statistics showing low-ranking in per pupil school expenditures, per capita income, crime rates. Scott promised a program to as -sure progress and said he would not make promises he could not reasonably ekpect to fulfill. Scott said Gardner would be both inexperienced and ineffective. Scott pointed at Gardners record of absenteeism from Congress since his election in 1966.

NattoBal Tickets Gardner Jabbed at Scott for refusing to be closely identified with or to campaign for the Democratic presidential nominee, Hubert Humphrey. Scott forces pointed to Gardners own switch I n g around before, during and after the Republican convention in Miami Beach.

It was clear that both gubernatorial candidates felt it might b damaging to.^ become glued to their partys presidential tickets in such an uncertain situation. The uncertainty in North Carolina was heightened by the indication of dissatisfaction with both Humphrey and Nixon, and a strong leaning toward George C. Wallace.

While many questions may be raised about the 1968 political campaign, few will question the fact it was the most elaborate and most expensive in history.

This was true on the national level, and there can be no doubt it was true so far as North Carolinas gubernatorial campaign was concerned.

Although there are federal regulations supposedly putting a ceiling on campaign expenses, and .similar regulations in many states, these mean nothing when the heat of the campaign rises. There is a real question of whether such regulations mean anything even in the pre-campaign planning when budgets are being prepared.

It is a good guess that in every hard-fought political contest n the country both the winners and the losers in yesterdays election find their campaign budgets in the red today. It is also a good guess that with few exceptions the hard-fought campaigns far exceeded in expenses the limits set by federal or state laws.

Little is likely to be done to correct the situation simply because too few candidats considr it more important to abide bv the camnaign exnense laws than to win the offices theyre running for.

nknown, But For The Mail

System

Strong

ART BUCHWALD

The Publics Business

By HAL BOYLE

NEW YORK (AP) - Things a columnist might never know if he didnt open his mail:

The United States has become literally a nation on wheels. Some 80 per cent of its families now own automobiles.

The next time your know-it-all neighbor starts showing off his knowledge, ask him

The Daily Reflector

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MEMBKR or ASSOOATEll PRM Tbt Associated Press is exclusively enotled u> ose for pubh. catloo iD oews disiotebaa credited ta tt or ool f^ranaa credited to this paaer and alao the local oews publlahed hereto. AS rlsbts tt puhUcatkos tt ipaolal diapatcDaa here art aiaa waured.

immCD PBB88 INTERNATIONAl,

if he can name three animals that dont have gall bladders. The odds are ^ to 1 that he wont think of the ri^t onesdeer, elk and moose.

Prosperity note: For the executive who likes to keep in instant touch with businiess ihatters, there is now available a portable radio telephone he can tote in his attache case. The price? A mere $2,160or one can be rented for $49.50 a month.

Do you suffer regularly from eyelid flutter? Psychiatric studies show this sym

ptom is common among maniac - depressive patients. In your case, however, it is probably just a sign that you suffer from insomnia and arent getting enough sleep.

Quotable notables: The fundamental defeat of fathers is that they Want their children to be a credit to thee. Bertrand Russell.

Cow juice: Every time you drink a glass of milk it gives you enough energy to walk a mile or dance an hour or climb 196 steps or play cards for hours.

Ever vronder why birds avoid eating Monarch butterflies? Scientists wondered, too. Now theyve found out. The Iwdies of the butterflies contain certain heart poisons, called cardenolides, wh i c h made them noxious and indigestible to feathered Ufe.

Alcohol and trains dont mix safely. A study of 94 persons killed in train accidents found that 30 per cent of the drivers, and 64 per cent of the pedestrians over 15, had been drinking.

Heres why many employers prefer hiring men rather than women: the average woman office worker sticks with the job only half as long as her male counterpart.

If you want to do something to help conserve the (Contimied On Page I)

WASHINGTON - Of all the events of 1968, none has had more of an effect on the American peole than the marriage of Jackie Kemiedy to Greek zillionaire Aristotle Onassis. People who had no opinion on the Vietnam ese war, the crisis of the cities or the youth revolution all had something to say about Mrs. Kennedys nuptials.

It seems to me that what Jackie Kennedy didnt realize was that she was the property ,of the American people and, therefore, that she had no right to choose a husband on her own. If Mrs. Kennedy

wanted to get married again, she should have informed tite American public of this, either on the Johnny Carson show or the Bell Telephone Hour, and let the American people choose a husband for her.

Once she made her intentions known, a special Republican and Democratic convention would have been called and candidates would have been nominated for her to marry.

After the nominations, each candidate would have campaigned for Jackies hand. They would have explained

what they would do for Jackie as a husband, where they would live and how th e y would raise Jackies children.

The candidates would have bought television time lo let the public know where they stood, not only on the mar-

ART

BUCUWALD

Other Editors Say The Public Excluded

Strength For Today

(Kannapolis Independent)

After all the ballyhoo in Congress over the years on the subject of closed sessions and the publics right to know what its legislators are doing the 90th Congress just ended chalked up the highest record of closed door sessions in the last 15 years.

Statistics compiled by Congressional Quarterly reveal an amazing lack of concern on the part of members of both House and Senate for the rights of their constituents to know what public business is being transacfeti^ and how their representatives are expressing themselves on it.

Forty - three per cent of the 3,800 reported meetings of all committees were held behind closed doors. Actually, the number of secret meetings was even higher. The Senate Select Committee on Standards and Conduct conducted all its meetings behind closed do(HS, smd refused to say how many there were.

Under rules currently in effect, executive or dosed door sessions are supposed to be resorted to only when matters

of national security are involved. But there is no effective way of enforcing this guideline, except public opinion.

But it certainly is dubious that 53 per cent of the House Agriculture Commi 11 e es meetings would have involved discussions of national security or 52 per cent of the Senate Judiciary (fommit-tees. Even for the House Foreign Affairs Committee, which conceivably could touch on security matters occasionally a 58 per cent secrecy record is too much.

Perhaps the most fantastic record of all, however, was achieved by the House Appropriations Committee. Every <Mie of its 322 meetings was closed to the public. It had no difficulties, under those circumstances disusing of $144 billion in puolic funds.

For all of its breast - beating about public information, the 90th compiled a miserable record. Is it too much to ask the 91st Congress, which convenes in January, to do considerably better?

riage, bit also on the public issues Of the day.

They also would have traveled across the nation so that Americans could see them in the flesh and decide for themselves which candidate would be the best mate for the former First Lady,

Not only would the nublii, have listened to the platform of the men it thought were suitable for Jackies hand, but people would also have decided the complicated questicms of religion, age and nationality of the husband - to be.

Since they had so much at stake, the public would have taken far more intere.st in this campaign than they have in the presidential election.

The climax of the race for Jackies husband would have been a nationally televised debate between the candidates, so the electorate could see fw itself how each man would behave under pressure.

Finally, on Election Day, Americans from all walks of life would have gwie to the polls and voted for the per-scm they wanted to stand at Jackies side.

In case neither candidate got a majority of the electoral votes, then the House of Representatives would have cbo-(Continued On Page 9)

.nougn

By JOHN CUNNIFF

NEW YORK (AP) Despite the troubles and problems facing this nation, there is reassurance in the projections of experts that enough strength lies inherent in the American economy to make solutions p(;sible.

It is altogether another matter as to whether these resources are used constructively. But they are there; the analysts say, and they do offer hopes that jobs can be provided, pollution controlled, and inferior education and such can be improved.

Now, following month on month of pre-election examination of all that is wrong with the nation, days in which the defects were so dramatized that the troubles seemed without end, a little healthy iijdul-gence in hope is permissible.

To give some idea of how the economic projectiwis sound, listen first to this long-range view from a publication of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce:

Untold wealth will be the rule rather than the exception fw tomorrows families. Families presently earning $8,000 will realize annual paychecks exceeding $25,000 measured in todays dollars by the year 2000.

The important phrase is measured in todays dollars. As surely as we have inflation today well have it from timej to time in the next 30 years or so. Taking inflation into consideration, this $25,000 may be even higher.

It is this reshaping of the pyramid that offers so much hope for the disadvantaged. Each year Americas middle bulges more; each year more Americans ascend into the relative affluence of the middle class.

This upward mobility is possible primarily because of the energetic growth of the American economy, which now produces about $850 billion worth of goods and services a year, and to-growing at better than 4 per cent.

Th^ Joint Elconomic Committer of CoTgres forces a possible Gross National Product of ,$1.3 trillion by 1975 if unemployment can be brought down to 3 per cent from the present rate of a bit more than 3.5 per cent.

In a study released early last year. Called U.S. Economic Growth to 1975: Potential and Problems, the com-, mittee staff stated that ^sent growth rates would give federal government revenues of $277 billion a year, or^a 122 per cent increase In 10 years.

Government revenues would, in fact, rise more than t e GNP the report noted, because more Americans are expected by 1975 to be in the higher income tax brackets.

'The projections also call for an even faster increase in the revenues of local governments which now are .hard pressed to find money for the great urban problems of jobs, education, housing, transporla-tion and pollution control.

Assuming 3 per cent unemployment, state and local receipts would rise to $817 billion, an increase of 163 ptr cent in 10 years. Even at 4 oer cent iinemplciyment a rise of 134 per cent is possible, the study showed.

Now the problems of America wont be solved by an amount of money, but a good start can be made on the tril-lion-dollar jdb^ of relMlildjng cities, the $25-billion job of reducing pollution and the huge job of eliminating poverty.

AdvertUliif rates and deadlines availabls upoo requeto Member Auat Bureau or OrcuiaUoo.

By EARL L. DOUGLASS A GROWING MENACE

Regardless of the attitude one may take toward drinking everyone is ready to admit that the drinking problem has become a seri o a s one for our country. The overwhelming majority of our people (toink, and while most drinking is moderate, there is a sufficient amount of immoderate drinking to create the problem of alcoholism and so - called problem drinking. When we^ lize that practically a hun-\ drcd and fifty are killed on our highways every day and that in the case of one half of these liquw is believed in some way to enter in, the problem assumes gigantic proportions,

To say that in fifty per cent of the highway fatalities drinking in some way enters in does not mean that fifty per cent of the people killed

on any one day wer% killed by drunken drivers. Maybe the person vdio was killed had been drinking and m e t the fatal accident through his inability to get out of the way. Maybe the revelry on the back seat distracted the drivers attenti(Hi. Hiere is plenty of drunken driving, but it is not true that all of the highway fatalities in which liquor is involved are the result of drunken driving. Liquor appears to be a factor in some form or other but not the only cause of highway deaths. But it is a serious factor indeed.

Every person has to decide for himself or herself whether or not drinking is wrong. No one can decide that for another person. Without passing judgment on others, a considerable number of us, however, believe that the be.st way to handle the drinking problem is to let the stuff alone.

Only 80 Complaints Received?

By ELMER ROESSNER The new National Commission on Product Safety has opened its files and disclosed that since its organization several months ago received only 80 complaints from the 200 million Americans.

At first blush it might seem that American products are almost completely safe and that such organizations as Consumo's Union or even the Product Safety Commission itself are a waste of money.

But the real reason is that tile commission is work i n g almost in secrecy and that a large part of the government doesnt even know it exists.

I telephoned tiie New York office of the Department of Commerce, which surely should be working closely with the commission, and neitiier its information office or its secretarys office knew the

commission existed.

I phoned the general government informatiwi of the General Services Administration and was told that no such commission was listed in their 1968-69 directory and that nobody there had ever heard of it. It suggested that I call the Department of (fommerce.

Most Kicks Electrical

Of those who had complaints and found out where to register them, most concerned electrical hazards. It seems impossible that only so few people have a bad word for dangerous applia n c e s. With a little time, a reporter standing in front of an elec-tical repair shop ught to find 80 persons who have complaints about shorts, sparks, bums, tingles and 'other unexpected jolts from electric appliances.

In fact, I think I alone have been zapped by at least 80 different appliances.

Of course, it is also possible that people injured by hazardous products have been advised by attorneys to

save this fact for a jury.

Id guess that since the commission was created-there have been more than 80 damage suits filed against manufacturers of al-

eged hazardous producto. Complaint Texture Poer

Of the 80 complaints, some were not even addressed to the commission, but were forwarded by Btty Furness, President Johnsons advisor on consumer affairs. O t h ers seemed to be crank or unwarranted complaints. Out woman complained of a short circuit after seven years of using an appliance which may not be so unwarranted after all. Should the public expect to be electrocuted after using a toaster for seven years? Another oocnpla i n ed that a pot handle broke off after it was subjected to high heat

The commissipn pointed out that none of tha complaints had been verified.

The basjc trouble appears that the commission and consumer:^ are out .of touch.