A/ednesday, May 7, 1969

Full-Time Registration Plan Good

percentage of the countys citizens. ^

In addition to these advantages, the Commissioners are certain to appreciate the fact that the new registration program can be undertaken and sustained for approximately the same cost the county is now putting into its registration system which keeps the books open*only a few days each year.

This proposal by the Board of Elections has been accepted by the Commissioners for consideration when they begin preparing the budget for the year beginning July 1. \Ve would join the Board of Elections in urging the Commissioners to give favorable consideration to this request which is in the interest of the county and all its citizens.

Public Opinion Sides

The proposal that Pitt County institute a fulltime voter registration program should be given favorable consideration when the County Commissioners prepare their budget for the coming fiscal year.

Elections Board Chairman Bruce Koonce, in making the appeal to the City Commissioners this week, pointed out the full-time registration program would cost the county very little more than the present system under which registration books are open for only a short period before each election.

Under the system proposed by the Board of Election, the countys registration books would be open year-round except for the prescribed number of days immediately preceding an election.

Having the countys registration books open on a full-time basis would eliminate any suggestion that the county is not making the fullest possible effort to encourage all eligible voters to get their names on the registration books. The system would increase TST*a1L O

the opportunity citizens have to register and it W itJl W QVV SfiCretOrV

should in fact encourage the registration of a larger " *

Navy Secretary John H. Chafee probably has the preponderance of public opinion on his side in setting aside the recommendation of the Pueblo court of inquiry an^ ordering that no disciplinary action be taken against those involved.

In taking that action, however, the Secretary of the Navy strongly suggests that this nation failed its officers and men in the military rather than the commander of a ship and those responsible for its operations failed their nation.

Throughout the military tradition of this nation, the rul^of thumb has been that those in command were in positions of responsibility. They had the authority to share that responsibility with their subordinates, but they could not escape it. The court of inquiry, in recommending general court martial for Cmdr. Bucher, one of his top officers and that letters of reprimand be issued for the ships executive officer and two of the navys flag officers, followed that tradition of placing responsibility. In overriding the courts recommendation, the Secretary of the Navy said the men involved in the incident already have suffered enough.

Secretary Chafees ruling raises the serious question of who answers for the obvious failures to exercise sound judgment of command such as was exhibited in the Pueblo incident? Has this nation reached the point that such incidents have become everjbodys responsibility and therefore no one is responsible?

Work Piles Up On Leaislators

By WILLIAM A. SHIRES

Reflector Raleigh Bureau

RALEIGH Approximately on schedule, the legislative calendars are becoming lengthy.

For example, last Friday there were 99 bills ready for debate and action on the floors of the House and Senate and Friday sessions traditionally are short. The law

makers ciMivene early and hope to adjourn early in order to go home for the weekend.

Ninety - nine bills on a Friday calendar is something of a record. And it was remarkable that the legislature cut 10 deeply into that calendar.

The House had 26 local bills and 29 public or .statewide bills. The Senate had 33 k>cal bills and 11 public bills.

Senate Working Faster

The Senate has been working faster than the House. On Monday night the House had 14 local and 16 public bills on the calendar while the Senate had only two local bills and five public bills.

Most bills which are carried over from a Friday session are calendared for Tuesday instead of Monday night, especially if there are amendments and further debate is fxpectd.

Short Titles

The daily legislative calendars placed on the m&mbers desks carry only the short titles of the bills along with the number and the name of the principal sponsors.

But from this, any member may refer to his file of printed bills readily available on his desk and follow the explanation of the measure sec

tion by section.

The first bill on the House calendar last Friday was entitled simply, Warrenton Public Schools. Introduced by Rep. John T. Church, it wms a local bill to create a separate scool administrative district for the towm of Warrenton similar to a bill enacted earlier to do the same thing for the town of Scotland Neck in Halifax County. The. measure had passed its second reading in the House a day earlier and wms up for third reading and a roll call vote.

Church described it as a local bill which the people of Warren County had asked in order to strengtbcdithe local school system. There were objections on grounds that it would perpetuate a segregated school system in Warren County but the House voted its approval.

Local Bills The list of local bills requiring only a short role call was lengthy. Some of the short titles included:

Election referendum, Lumber ton; Revise charter, Cherry ville; Corporate limits, Fayetteville; Revise Carrb oro Charter; Corporate Limits, Statesville; Amend Chapel HUI Charter.

Twenty two of the 26 local bills (Ml the House calendar had come from the Local Government committee chaired by Rep. Liston Ramsey of Madison County with favorable reports. Three had been amended in committee and in one case the Ramsey com-.mittee wrote a substitute mea- , sure.

On the public or statewide calendar were a number of complex, complicated measures dealing with a wide range of matters.

One, by Rep. Graham Tart, would define the legal status of the student teacher in the public schools and to grant them lawful authority wh e n they are given responsibility for some part of the school program. Previously, a student teachers have been denied legal status in such cases.

Xow, \i lial's Got YOIR Lousy Back Ip?

ART BUCHWALD

The Price Of Grommets

harder Israeli ReDrisals Seen

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By ROWLAND EVANS and ROBERT NOVAK

TEL AVIV - If Egypt persists in commando - style raids against Israels,, dug -in forces along, the east bank of the Suez Canal, many more reprisals (Jeep into the territory of the United Arab Republic are absolutely predicta-

The Israeli general staff, which is probably the ablest in the world today, nas been studying Egypts economic structure for months. Concealed in the bowels of ar^ny headquarters here are precise descriptions of Egyptian targets for surgically - planned hit - and - run raids designed to deeply wound Egypt, just as Israel already has wrecked Egypts two oil refineries, worth $150 million, at the bottom end of the canal in Port Suez.

We hiave discovered the most sensitive parts of thrir an Israeli expert told us coolly, and we will destroy them one by one if they continue attacking us across the canal.

This chilling prospect must be taken exactly at face value. The shelling of those refineries, which processed most oil products consumed by Egypt, was a response to Egypts shelling of the Israeli positions opposite Port Suez. In that shelling, President Nasser gained nothing militarily. What he gained was political the image of an , embattled leader who refuses to countenance the occupation of Egyptian territory.

Now Nasser has enhanced this image - making by permitting his army to conduct small, killing raids across the canal in the dark of night.

At this writing, these raids have cost the Israelis about 10 lives the equivalent of 1,000 American dead.

A quiet debate is now in process in the highest (K)un-cils of the government here and in Jerusalem as to just how far these reprisal raids should go assuming that Egypt continues its own raids. The government has a far better case to retaliate against Egypt than against commando bases in Jordan. The reason is that the United Nations (which is regarded here as hopelessly stacked against Israel) has received official reports from UN observers blaming Egypt for having started the cross - canal fighting.

Thus, barring an unlikely shift by Nasser, the Egyptians front will soon take on more serious characteristics of a hot war. And Israel is convinced she has nothing to lose and everything to gain.

With precise intelligence about every aspect of Egypt probably as much information as the Egyptians themselves possess about their own country Israel will use helicopters, paratroopers, and exotic equipment to attack, .bit by bit, Egypts economic bloodstream. The pattern will be swift, minutely - timed assaults on strategic targets like similar to the daring helicopter raid deep into Egyptian territory last year.

But with all Israels confidence, this course runs a very real risk sammed up in the following question: Can the Soviet Union, which has invested so many hundreds of millions of dollars in Egypt, stand by while its client is systera-

(Continued On Page 6)

WASHINGTON - One of the reasons the Military - Industrial Complex is catching it from everybody is that there seems to be a certain amount of skepticism regarding the price tags they put on our military hardware. Just the other day it was revealed that Lockheed promised to build 120 big air transports for a total cost of $2.9 billion. But now it turns out that the planes are going to cost $5.2 billion. And even for an apathe-

?UDilC

To The Editor,

There is a young man in Pitt County that has been forced to give up one of the most important things in his life, a college degree.

Why? Because the Welfare Department doesnt consider reason, only rules and regulations.

This young mans daddy died when he was 14 years old, leaving him and his mother to finish a grop. He took on a mans load the remainder of that year, which helped him to realize the responsibilities of life early.

The fall of that same year he and the mother moved in a rented house, with an income of $132.00 per month (Social Security). He and his mother did farm labor to supplement their income and he worked through high school.

When he was old enough he secured public work to finance his education and to meet the necessities of life

As of April 7, 1969 he was informed his income was too much to continue Social Security benefits, which was barely above the allotted amount.

His sister went to the Pitt County Welfare office and asked help for her mother to meet the requirements of

tic taxpayer like myself, that seems like a lot of money.

I was shocked when I read the news, but that was because I have no idea how the military purchasing system works. Fortunately, I have a friend who deals with the government, and he explained it to me.

You shouldnt come to conclusions just because the C-5A transport cost almost twice as much as everyone

rorum

maintaining a home. Assistance was denied because the son is living under her roof.

The only application Welfare would file was Aid to Dependent Children. HE is not a Dependent Child, he is very independent young man. 'Hie only aid that was asked was to help his mother, so he could prepare a future for himself.

In order for this mother to receive Welfare Aid she has two choices: put him out in the street, or live with the guilt she has deprived him of an education and a chance in life-

Her son had been working part time and attending regular day classes at Pitt Tech. For financial reasons he arranged night classes and took on full time employment, but found he could not maintain the physical and mental effort required.

Can we as taxpayers sit back and say there is nothing we can do, or speak up for what is right?

There is something we can do: get on the telephone write anyone that is connected with such an inhuman use of our tax money, and voice our opinions.

Mrs. Harvey Cox, Ayden, N. C.

thought it would. Anyone can make a $2 billion mistake. Nobodys perfect.

I still dont understand it.

T.,et me explain it to you. As you know, we build grom-

ART

BUCHWALD

mets for the military.

Suppose they come to us and say, We understand the Soviets have a new grom-met, so we have to have a new grommet, too. Well, we tell them it wont be any trouble developing a new grommet. As a matter of fact, weve been doing research on new grommets and we already have one on the drawing boards which will make every other grommet obsolete.

So they give us a contract to deliver 1 million grommets to them at 34 cents apiece, plus retooling, costs, advertising, executive bonuses and a fair profit. This brings the groramets up to $1.50 each.

We start with a prototype which has to be tested. Unfortunately, in the tests it turns out that the grommet expands when someone breathes on it. So we send it back to Research and Development. While theyre trying to work the bugs out of it, we have to pay our workers to stand by the production line and this adds to the cost of the grommet. We inform the military the grommets will cost $5.50 each. They approve it, and finally we get what we consider an excellent grommet.

We start production but when we send the first batch

(Continued On Page 6)

Signs Age Is Gaining

By HAL BOYLE

NEW YORK (AP) - Dear Poor Mans Philosopher: _

To my mounting horror I am beginning to suspect that I have reached middle age. Naturally this appalls me. Is there any way for me to tell for sure or not whether I am middle-agec (signed) Terrified

Dear Terrified:

Do not give way completely to your fears. It is no longer considered abnormal or unpatriotic for a person to become middle-aged. It happens to millions of ^ people every year, many of whom continue to live rich and fruitful and meaningful lives.

Whether middle age becomes a d(X)m or merely another rewarding chapter in your destiny depends largely on your own attitude toward it.

But to answer your question specifically, yes, there are number of ways to tell if you have reached middle age. You are probably middle-aged if

You were bom before or during the period when Calvin Cool-idge lived in the White House.

Everybody in the office under 35 addresses you as Mister instead of calling you by your first name.

During the last few years you have started buying shirts with collars a half-size larger.

You take off your shoes more often now to rest your feet.

Unconsciously, you give a sigh every time you are confronted by a staircase.

When you see a full moon, it no longer stirs you to romantic thoughts.

On rainy days you wear rubbers now as well as carry an umbrellathings you never did before.

No matter in which direction the barber combs your hair the bald spot still shows.

No stranger you meet has a completely new face; there is something about one or more of his features that reminds you of someone you once knew.

No matter how much your wife tries to talk you out of it, you still insist that fresh vegetables taste better than frozen vegetables.

You used to keep only a small box of aspirin tablets in your desk drawer; now i t contains from three to a half a dozen kinds of medicine.

It is getting harder and harder for you to get eight hours of sleep in a row; you wake up at least once during the night.

At least half the m(*tgage on your house is paid off.

No television comedians make you laugh as hard as you did star on radio, and youd still rather hear Bing Crosby sing than anybody.

You look at the world now through bifocals instead of rose-colored glasses.

Put all these things together and they spell M-I-D-D-L-E A GE. However, the condition is not necessarily terminal. If you screw up your courage and keep breathing regularly, it too will passjust as your youth did.

World Trade Winners, Losers

Strength For Today

PURITANISM ^

There has been a great outcry in recent years ab(Mit Puritanism. If one talks about inflexible moral standards and takes the position that these standards cannot be violated with impunity, then that person is often called a Puritan.

An accusation of this sort is both historically and morally incorrect. The Puritans who landed on our shores were a committed group of men and women determined to worship God after the dictates of their conscience and adhere to

what they believed to be the teachings of the Bible.

'J'here wwe times when this produced 'linlovely characters and precipitated some horrifying results. The witchcraft

trials in Salem were evil and

mistaken, and no one today defends them. But this constituted a very small part of Puritanism. True Puritanism is stern without being narrow. It is demanding without being unjUst Puritans are frequently hard on themselves and hard on others, but let us not pick out isolated and disgusting examples and charge a great movement in history. In an era of violence We are well aware of the fact that we could stand a little more Puritanism in our efforts to get ourselves and the world into satisfactory baF-aiice.

Let us stop calling everything we don t like Puntanisiii and gathering up rocks in the name of progress.

Earl L. Douglass

By ELMER ROESSNER

International trade last year set a blistering pace and the sharp gains scored by industrial nations sparked smaller, but substantial, increases by the developing countries.

World trade in 1968 rose 11 per cent to approximately $240 billion, the secretariat of the General Agre.ment on Tariffs and Trade estimated. This was more than double the increase in the previous year and marked the tenth straight increase since 1958 when exports totaled only $108 billion.

The industrial nations registered a 12 per cent rise, comp:ired with 5.5 per cent the previous year and an average of 9 per cent in the I960 67 period. But the devel-oping natiori.s also did well by scoring a 9 per cent hike as

against 3 per cent in 1967. Their 1968 showing was the best since the Korean war. More Competitive

Exports of manufactured products contributed substantially to the better showing, indicating the developing nations are improving their competitive position in this sector. Petroleum products also gained shaiply while other primary products, particularly foodstuffs, were up only moderately.

During the same period, less favored nations imports increased an estimated 7 per cent, indicating their overall trade deficit was reduced from $2.5 billion to about $1.5 billion. This improvement was largely in those countries which do nut export petrol-eu'ii, their combined trade de-licit falling from $8 billion to $7 billion.

Trends among the develop

ed nations were mixed. Germanys trade surplus, having risen from $2.1 billion in 1966 to $4.4 billion in 1967, edged up another $100 million last year.

The United States showing was very poor. Its <1967 $2.5

billion mefchandise trade

BJOQI

ROBSSNEK

surplus^ turned into a $1.3 bil-lum deficit.

Largest Share These tw'o countries alone increased their imports by almost $1 billion in 1968. This

accounted for more than 40 per cent of the rise in world trade.

The United Kingdoms deficit c(Mitinued to grow, going from $3.3 billion to $3.6 billion in 1968. Italy, on the other hand, did very well by slashing a $1.1 billion deficit two years ago to a mere $30 million. Japan practically eliminated its substantial deficit of $1.2 billion in 1%7.

The Common Market <un-tries as a group .more than \ doubled their $1 billion surplus to $2.1 billion in 1968. The EFTA countries just managed to overcome Great Britains poors, performance and trimmed their deficit $200 million to $6.4 billion.

Underlying the sharp rise in international trade was a 6 per cent increase In volume in world production over 1967 which, in turn was 4 per cent higher than 1966.