Monday, April 22, 1963

Somehow, It Got Twisted Around

That* Our Boy

Old fashioned as it may seem in the light o recent presidential assertions, we cling to the conviction that government operations should depend upon the nations economy for support, not vice versa.

The Presidents assertion that a $5 billion reduction in his proposed budget would mean one million less jobs in the United States by the end of next year came as a shock to us, and we expect to -most other citizens. We are well aware that government operations play a considerable role in the na-

will mean the loss of a million jobs in the coming year, then we have reached the point where the government is supporting the economy, not the economic strength of the nation providing support for the government.

We doubt that position has been reached in the United States.

Members of Congress should not be frightened away from making necessary and wise reductions in proposed spending by assertions that such cuts will result in the loss of a million jobs. They should

tions economy. We are also aware that government careful consideration to the serious future eco-expenditures create millions of jobs in the nation s nomic repercussions that could come from overeconomy. spending at a time when efforts are being made to

But to say that the proposed federal budget stimulate and strengthen the economy through re-cannot be reduced because of the adverse effect +hp tax burden,

it will have upon the economy points to the conclusion that the economy depends upon the government for its strength, not the government upon the time has ranged in the millions. The measure woufd We seriously question the assertion that the nations economy cannot withstand levelif not reducedfederal spending without suffering a severe

recession or a depression. We seriously question that it is necessary for the government to use at this point two-fold pump priming in the form of increased spending and reduced taxes to prevent the loss of a million jobs in the nation during the coming year. ^

If a five per cent reduction in proposed spendingwhich is considerably above the present level

Sanfora s

Draws In

Idea

LeresL

By WILLIAM A. SHIRES RALEIGHLegislative notebook;

Gov. Terry Sanfords suggested plan to remove traffic offenses from criminal law has drawn immediate attention and aroused intense interest in the General Assembly.

Initial reaction Is mixed. Some legislators call it a bold and dramatic idea that merits consideration and actl(m as soon as possible. Other sources doubt that much can be done at this date to implement such a plan in the 1963 session.

Whatever happens, the governors traffic violations idea has given even more impetus to the highway safety prc^ram in the legislature simply by the fact of fresh discussiwi of the problems involved.

PLAN Sanford, himself, in his letter to Traffic Safety Council pesident J.C. Cowan, expressed confidence that the plan is sound and workable and would save many lives and prevent injuries.

A few days before the letter was made public, it is recalled that Senate Highway Safety chairman J.J. (Doggie) Hat-clier told his committee that the day is coming that we find we ve got to control drivers of automobiles by licensing.

This, basically, is what the Sanford plan would do.

It would remove traffic violations from the criminal law and the criminal courts where offenses are punishable by fines and where judges and the legislature have been reluctant to Impose jail sentences.

TEST A demonstration of this reluctance occurred this w^eek when the House Highway Safety committee flatly refused to prescribe mandatory jail sentences of from six months to two years for the third conviction of drunken driving.

The proposal made by Rep. I.e. Crawford of Buncombe County would have amended the present law which provides for a fine of $500 and a discretionary jail term. Crawfords amendment would have thrown out the fine and provided that the jail sentence might not be auspended.

CravTord said it was aimed at people who are continuously driving while intoxicated. Something ought to be done about them.

He said the jail sentence would be a psychological deterrent.

DIFFERENCE - The difference proposed in Sanfoi-ds sug

gested approach boils down to the fact stated by the governor that traffic violations are not (with very few exceptions) criminal in nature.

Such offenses are punishable by fine, and jail sentences are very rare for traffic violations. The solutiwi Sanford proposed is to establish a ti^fic safety code in the law with penalties related to the drivers right to drive. This, Sanford pointed out, is the purpose of the drivers license law and the criminal laws.

There would be no criminal penalties, no fines nor jail sentences, he said. All penalties would deal instead with the drivers license, the privilege to use the roads and high-Ways. This is the real purpose of traffic lawsthe regulation of who uses the highways and how they use them. JUNKETSWith two out-of-Raleigh trips already and with three more such junkets in the next few weeks for the General Assembly and its entourage, there may be some wondering about the cost of such junketing- to the taxpayers.

What does a junket of 300 or 400 miles, to Wilmington or to Elizabeth City, cost the state?

Transportation does not cost the state a denny. Neither does the food. The only cost to the taxpayers is in loss of legislative time, although in accepting such an invitation to junket the legislative leaders take into account the facts and first-hand information that can be obtained. the recreational benefits derived, the fresh outlook and other factors in determing whether such a trip is worthwhile.

Transportation costs are borne by the group which extends the invitation. In most cases, so are the food costs. On the forthcoming junket to Camp Lejeune. however, government regulations forbid free meals at government expense so each legislator, clerk and page will have to pay 65 cents for lunch.

TRAINThe longest junket planned this session will be one next month to Western Carolina College at Cullowhee

Using airplane travel from Raleigh to Asheville had been considered but the most likely mode now is a special train from Raleigh to Sylva and then by bus to the college campus about 10 miles away. The cost of a special train, about $3.000, would be paid by the we.stem North Carolina groups which extended the invitation.

The Daily Reflector

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How Far Will They Go In Interest Of Safety ?

How far is the legislature willing to go in its effort to make the states highways safer foi motorista ?

In part, at least, that question will be answered by the Senates action on the automobile seal belt bill which already has been approved by the House.

A controversial measure, it would require seat belts in automobiles registered in North Carolina.

It would mean that auto owners would be required in the future to purchase seat belts for their autos, and the estimate of the total cost over a period of cost has ranged in the millions. The measure would not assure that the seat belts would be used, but only that they would be installed in the automobile*.

Highway safety statistics show without question'' that use of seat belts in automobiles sharply reduce the number of fatalities and serious injuries resulting from auto accidents. Many safety organfeations and civic groups throughout North Carolina and other states have gone to great lengths to encourage the use of safety belts in motor vehicles. Response from average citizens has been appreciable as indicated by the number of automobiles equipped with these devices.

Senate approval of the seat belt bill would hasten completion of this important safety program ^ork (ap> Who. be-

which already has moved forward rapidly on a jjjg uuddle - aged, would ever voluntary basis. It should be approved by the Senate want to be young again? a. it already has been approved in the House.

The measure would be another important step ble to be served. When youre in making highway travel in North Carolina safer, middleaged you point p(mtifical-It is a positive measure whose merits far outweigh iw'Tu

any disadvantages that have been pointed out by have a slice there. opponents of the bill. Thats the big advantage of

By approving the legislation members of the Senate will show they are anxious to give more than among lifes various possibili-empty lip service to worthwhile efforts to better ties. You learn to prefer dura-protection for the motoring public of the state.

By HAL BOYLE

On Beina Middle-Aaec.

Economic Gains Slowina Down

ble contentments to present dismays.

It is the dream of youth to gadlop toward every goal. It is a satisfacticHi of rrdddle age to appreciate any distance you no longer have to march.

Youth eagerly tries to lift itself up by its bootstraps. Middle age would rather take its shoes off and rest on the sofa.

Youth believes you can mail away a box top with a quarter and youll get something back that will make life greater, happier or better. Middle age prefers to hold (Ml to the quarter.

When the sap flows freely in the ambitious saplings, it tries desperately to climb the sun. When the sap flows slower, the older tree is glad enough to be able to hold up its arms and take the climate as it. comes.

The young dc^ winces in the throes of puppy love. His elder watches the pretty ones go by. sighs reminiscently, and Is grateful that a gay old dog cant be taught new tricks.

In vouth one chases the horizon from dawn to dask. In middle age one goes to bed before midnight comfortably sure that by morning the horizon will still be safely there to admire, no more perilously near than be-

By GEORGE HAGEDORN

It appears that the period of exceptionally rapid economic expansion in Western Europe is gradually drawing to a close. What is anticipated is not a major economic reversal but a slowing down of the spectacular rates of growth which have prevailed in the recent past. It is Instructive to examine the underlying causes of this change and to Inquire Into its probable Impact on the American economy.

European business is now beginning to encounter the same problem which has been restraining growth in this countrya profit squeeze. Labor costs continue to rise at rapid rates. Prices, while still rising, cannot keep up with the cost increases and profits are squeezed in between. Profit opportunities, which provide the incentive for investment and expansion, are becoming less plentiful than they were a whUe back. This Is the principal reason for the expected change In the European economic climate.

For the near future at least it does not seem likely that a serious unemployment situation will develop in Europe. In fact the problem for some time will be one of labor shortages rather than one of creating enough new jobs.

The slowdown in grovth will differ from country to country in Us timing and its effects. West Germany, whose grovUh In the 1950s was described as an economic miracle, has already entered the period of slower expansion. Its current growth rate is merely good rather than sensational. France and Italy, which came Into their own periods of rapid growth somewhat later than Germany, will probably also hit the growth slowdown at a later time.

The change to a less exuberant economic climate in Europe will of course have repercussions on the American economy.

Other Editors Saying. 'Decision Months Away

er and a competitor of American business. The net effect on our balance-of-payments position Is difficult to predict. In vestment in Europe by American firms (an outflow of funds) will be reduced. But exports (providing an inflow of funds) will also be restrained.

On the whole, this column believes that the anticipated slowdown in European growth will create additional pressures and difficulties for American business. True, European firms are experiencing cost increases which tend to weaken their competitive position vis a vis the United States. But there is still in many cases a substantial cost differential in their favor. Slackening of growth in their home markets may cause European producers to become more aggressive and more ingenious in seeking foreign outlets.

American exports, especially of capital goods, will not continue to Increase as rapidly as they have in the past. American business will no longer have as many opportunities for profitable participation in European growtheither through direct investment or through cooperative arrangements with local firnis.

These developments are still only a small cloud on the European horizon. But forecasters of the economic weather will be wise to keep their eyes on it.

Quote

T have come to believe that moral forces and certain forces embedded in the soul of America are more important than all of the other issuesfor they lay at the base of their solution. Herbert

(Wilson Times)

How do you feel about the airport situation? Frankly we are confused. We do not share the optimism expressed by N. Jack Maynard. Wilsons city manager, and W. H. Batchelor, city manager of Rocky Mount.

You read in The Daily Times what Mr. Maynard had to say. In a conversation with Mr. Batchelor he expressed the same opinions. In other words the Bureau of Economic Regulation of the Civil Aeronautics Board is giving its findings, but the final decision Is yet to be reached.

From the Bureau of Economic Regulations you go to more briefs and hea^gs which can last another year. In other words we are not nearer the locating of an airport than we were before the announcement.

We are thankful that Wilswi is to have the feeder service to be supplied by South Central Air Lines. You can ride out to the WUson airport and get on the plane and go to Norfolk to make connections to Washington. New York and Atlanta, or to Raleigh and Charlotte and back in the same day. This is going to be a great asset to Wilson and provide convenient feeder air service for this city.

We hear there will be a slightly higher rate than charged by commercial planes but as there are special advantages these must be taken into consideration.

As to the decision of Toddy as the location for the regional

airport we can see Rocky Mount Kinston and Goldsboros serious ogjections. We admit Greenville and Wilson have pre ferred positions in this decision. But Toddy is too far for the service available. The Town Creek location is best suited to the needs of Wilson and Rocky Mount and that is the position the griefs sustain. Then the Piedmont service Is to continue to Goldsboro Kinston ^nd the Rocky Mount Wilson airport.

It is generally accepted that Piedmont service Is all that is to be available, and Piedmont has said the present arrangements suits the company

But there Is more to the airport situation than the decLsion, although this must come first. It has to be built and at great cost. We understand that Greenville has said it is ready to finance the Toddy airport with the expected federal help. Wilson is on record as supporting only the Wilson-Rocky Mount airport to be located at Tovm Creek. The inference being that we are not putting up any money ior a regional airport.

So where are we in the broad objective of supplying better air accommodations? As we see it, the buUding of an airport Is many months away, and before it is decided much can happen.

In all the discussion lets keep out all traces of bitterness and feuding. For we are all Eastern Carolina cities, working for the best for the area as we see it.

fore.

When young, wie feels the urge to frite long and passionate love letters. As age takes its toll, one takes a nostalgic delight in reading someone else's foolish letters in the tabloids while munching a sandwich.

Youth Is a desperate struggle in uncertainty: middle age is a thoughtful yawn of knowledge.

Youth doubts; age knows.

There is no place that youth feels it cant get to. There Is no place that middle age would rather be than here.

Youth argues with the wife; age just turns off the hearing aid and sits back and listens.

The young man wonders if he can ever pile up enough money. The older man feels pretty sure he can't.

The young man forgets his health. The older man is always reminded of it by his cli-sea.ses.

Youth can't wait to be hurt; age recoils from pain by remembering days of gladness.

To the young the day Is swift and the .vears seem Iwig. To those older, each day Is a forever but the years fleet by on invisible wings so that after-w-ard he never Is quite sure where they flew.

Who, being middle - aged, would ever want to be young again ?

Only the one who was young before.

Opinions "n Brief

Thought brought on by recent attendance at a press meeting: Freedom of the

press is when newspapermen attend a convention without their wives. Greenville (S.C.) Piedmont.

Man brings nothing into the world and takes nothing with him. so in at least one respect he breaks even. Dubuque (Iowa) Telegraph Herald.

Some of the worlds great-e.st surpluses are furnished by persons who reply more than you really wanted to know when you asked. Riverton (Wyo.) Ranger.

Often you can make him a good husband by making him a good wife.Holbrook (Mass.) Times.

Fifties Were Not Bac

By JOHN CHAMBERLAIN

Copyright. 1963, King Pteatures Syndicate, Inc.

My old Lucepaper colleague, Emmett John Hughes, who served President Elsenhower In the White House and came^ut bewailing the fact that he given the opp<Niunity to be(3Bpe the Arthur Schleslnger Jr., of his day, has recenUy sounded off on the "futility of the Nineteen Fifties. If you missed the point in some of his contoitious magazine articles, you can get it in his controveral I-was-there-but-ignored book called The Ordeal (rf Power.

(hie can appreciate Mr. Hugh ess impatience with a bossllho liked to have every recommien-dati(xi placed on a single sheet of paper (how galling to a writer who likes to expand b i s thoughts), but this business of down-grading the decade of the Fifties makes no sense. The glory of Ike as President wa.s that he permitted government for eight wonderful years to get off the backs of people. He might have done better about foreign policy, though it was no small achievement to keep the Red Chinese from grabbing Que-moy and Matsu as the Island stepping sUxies to Formosa, and he might have spent considerable less money on aimless domestic and fcHeign aid projects. But, generally speaking, Ike had the common sense to realize that people are better <rff If they arent tied to the apron strings of government.

Having some of age In that other much - maligned era which has gone down in history a.s the Roaring Twenties, when Coolidge made the White House a peaceful dormitcMT. I thoroughly enjoyed much of Ides decade. In the Twenties we lived through a little renaissance; the books were good, the popular music was good, the trips to Europe which we could somehow manage on skimpy pay checks were fun. True enough, the moral tone of much that went on in the Twenties wa.s not particularly elevated, but that was due t Prohibition, which was a legacy of a previous busybody era when government thought it might properly aim to tell a man what he might and might not put m hLs stomach. The economic crash that put an end to our pleasure was also a delayed result of the benightedness of governments. for hadnt they crowned a disastrous war in 1919 with a peace that would have caused Mettemich or Bismarck or any other Nineteenth Century statesman to blanch with horror?

I liked Ike's Fifties because they seemed a bit like a itv prise of the Twenties. Businessmen cea.sed to be shellshocked, and as they emerged from the storm cellars they gave us a lot of good things, from good paper back books to stereophon Ic sound.

There were, as one obsener put it, the seven fat years. with a ri.sing standard of living that had the economists rapturous over their new totem, the Gross National Product, or GNP. In the Fifties people got out of their seats in the bleadi-ers and started to have fun ftn their own two feet. New marinas dotted the rivers, lakts and bays as the population went boat-crazy; husbands and wivt took to bowling at ten-thirty at night in order to get plea.sani-ly tired for a restful night s sleep: the skiers turned our mountain regions into happv Tyrols which needed only a fmv yodelers to challenge Europe for the real Me Coy in gemutlich-keit.

This was the lighter side of the Fifties. On the serious side, Ikes decade witnessed a conservative revival that restored a healthy tension to our intellectual life. The liberalism that had been vibrantly challenging in the Thirties had grown calcified; zestful debate had gone out of fashion; and we hd grown increasingly intolerant of any dissent from the shibboleths of the Welfare State. Along with the intolerance went a disgraceful hypocrisy that gave the merest lip service to the virtues of free speech. In Ikes decade this hypocrisy was unmasked, though news of It has yet to reach a few of our more prominent liberal Bourbons.

Well, the Fifties, like the Twenties, are now a nostalgic memory. But nobody Is going to call them futile in my presence without getting a tart rejoinder of twasnt so.

Effects Of Stee..

Erice

hikes

Hoover.

btrength hor ioday

By EARL I,. DOUGI.ASS OUR BEST FOOT

We should always strive to make a good appearance. This may sound like vanity or the coun.sel one finds in features and articles dealing with glamor, but there is nothing wrong in putting our best foot forward provided we do so honestly and without in the least harming anyone else.

A slovenly, dirty, unkempt man Is an insult to the twentieth century. A frowzy woman who pays no attention to her personal appearance or her clothes should be looked upon ^not only with aversion but with suspicion. It is naturai for women to love beautiful things, to take pleasure in jewelry and good clothes. When a woman docs not do so. there is some-

By ELMER ROESSNER The effects of the steel price rise will dominate the future of business for many weeks ahead. Look for these consequences: Tougher labor attitudes; Up to this time. David J. McDon-thing basicaUy the matter with aid and his United Steelwork-

her. Either her mind or her character is out of whack somewhere perhaps both.

So let us always put our best foot forward provided It does not cost more than we can afford to spend, or does not Interfere with something better. There are better things in the world than outward appearance, but outward appearance has its Importance also. The great noble man who goes about looking like a tramp is a deluded person. Most of the time he Is just too lazy to keep himself looking trim. The woman who does not look her be.st at all times is cheating the world out of beauty and good cheer.

So wash up. dress up. and step out with the realization that God wants all of us to be at our best at all timea.

ers have advanced conciliatory attitudes toward Big Steel and, under the reopening of wages permitted soon under the two-year steel contract, were expected to take any adjustments in fringe benefits rather than cash.

But the rise in steel prices will influence the rank and file as weU as leaders. If the steel companies can get a rise in prices with the implied blessings of John F. Kennedy, then union workers will Insist on a rise in wages.

The steel companies again were childishly inept in announcing their plans to raise prices. First, they took the anniversary of Roger Bloughs messed up attempt to raise U. S. Steel prices for their first aonouncement, a coincidence

sure to remind the public and politicians of that fiasco.

Second, the price raises were announced in rapid sequence, sure to convince the public that the Increases were the result of a price-fixing conspiracy, even though they were not

Third, these great executives of American business announced the increases before the renegotiation of the workers contracts - a timing that even an office boy would have warned against. If done after the negotiations of the reopened contract, the public, business and the Federal Administration would have assumed that the price rises were an inevitable consequence of labor concesions. But as the timing was. it looked as if steel was so deterrriined to grab more money that it did not reckon with wages.

WHY NOW?

This timing suggests another que.stlon; Why did steel companies raise prices now If tougher labor demands will require another raise very shortly?

Higher auto, appliance pric

es; A big factor in keeping steel mills busy In recent months has been the demand for new autos. But the steel price rise will Increase auto prices, tending to slow down car sales and steel demand. Therefore the steel price hike will tend to slow down steel sales, if not all business.

In addition, the higher price of steel is certain to increase the price of appliances and metal housewares. As the- industry has so long been telling the public, Nothing is made without steel. And when steel goes up, so does everything else.

Aid to competitors: By Increasing the price of steel, the big companies are giving a wider margin to aluminum and plastic companies, which have steadily been nibbling away at steels share of the market. Expect sales and profits of aluminum and plastic companies to increase.

Aid to foreign exporters: Here .steel prices in the U. S. will make the American market more attractive to foreign pro

ducers, who have already captured a profitable share of the U. S, Market.

Possible investigation: De

mands for a Congressional- investigation are rising and, whfle such a probe is not likely to roll back steel prices, it will cost the steel companies much in time, counsel fees and public image.

OLD PROMOTER PROPOSES AWARDS FOR PRODUCTS Business is being treated unfairly. the Old Promc^r db-clared today. There are Oscars for movie actors, Emmys for television shows and Pulitzer prizes for jtwmallsts. Why not prizes for business products?

Such as?' I such-ased.

Why not an award for the best canned beans? he replied. Or a prize for Jar of BlsmarCk herring? Or a statue for the best chill powder blend.

I agree the idea was good and observed that the last award would undoubtedly be the Pedro.I.

f/