Wednesday, May 22, 1963

Good Inspection Law Is Possible

It is disappointing that some legislators and a good many citizens of North Carolina will not face up to the fact that a mechanical inspection law for motor vehicles would be an important step in preventing highway accidents in the state.

More than a decade ago the legislature passed a mechanical inspection measure which was poorly drawn and more poorly administered. It was shortlived because of the adverse reaction it caused among citizens of the state.

Because of this, there lingers among some citizens of the state a deep resentment against any mechanical inspection measure. There is the foregone conclusion that ny new mechanical inspection legislation will be as poorly conceived and as poorly administered as the first unsuccessful effort in this direction.

Since repeal of the first mechanical inspection law, many legislators have shied away at the very mention of a new mechanical inspection law. They look on such proposaJjs as political poison, remembering the resentment .toward the first law, and ignoring the protection that a new, workable law

Budget Battle Is Just Aheac.

By WILLIAiM A. SHIRES

MONEY It comes as a shock in some quartei-s that the Omeral Assembly is ha\-ing to wrestle with the matter of balancing the 1963-65 budget and that a budget fight lies just ahead for the la\\Tnakers.

After all the talk about the states rosy fiscal picture, healthy surpluses and growing economy it is difficult for many legislators and others to find the biennial budget has run out of room.

Thus some bitter floor fights are in prospect. These will be to try to find funds for providing administration promised tax relief and bigger salary increases for some 36 000 dissq?-pointed state employes.

These two items tax cuts and salary increases were the principal victims during deliberations of the joint Appropriations subcommittee The reason given is Ihat a line had to be drawm somewhere.

IMPLICATIONS - Significantly. however, these two items contain as much political implication as anything else in the budget.

A great deal is being made of the fact that some tax relief must be afforded by the JDem-ocratic party, to show good faith and, further, to carry out the suggestion of Gov. Terry Sanford in his budget message. Republicans and anti administration Democrats are plugging for even deeper tax cuts.

Secondly, the .state Democratic platform calls for realistic, cost-of-living salary increases for state employes and Democratic chairman Bert Bennett Jr., is on record favoring 10 per cent increases. The joint Appropriations subcommittee has proposed $10 a month increases, above the budget - provided increments, but the politically-po>werful employes bloc calls this unacceptable.

WORRIES The truth in the matter of budget problems is that no one really thought that the 1963 legislature would have not have to worry about money.

It happens every session regardless of the states economic situation. The difference Is degree. Requests for appropriations, bond issues and special funds always exceed anticipated availability and a cutoff point has to be reached.

The 1963-65 revenue estimates have been made, perhaps, stretched. and the cut - off point ^ placed' at about $27 million ^ above the Advisory Budget Com-missions re commendations. This, according to legislar tive leaders and revenue officials, is about as far as it can Ko.

This cut - off point in legislative budget - making was sidestepped at least once in the past during the Hodges ad

ministration when the legislature pegged percentage pay increases for teachers to revenues in excess of budget estimates. This strategem was devised at a time when the state revenue department was under hea\T fire for consistently under-estimating revenue f o r e-casts.

FEWER The broad general statement was made three and a half months ago that there would be fewei fiscal worries confronting this General Assembly.

That statement is true. But AppropriatiOTis committefe spokesmen quickly point out that it did not mean there would be a blank check to cover everybodys needs and requests.

It was based cm the states broader tax base, its growing economy and predictions in February of more than $100 mil. lion in surplus for the 1961-63 biennium.

This enabled the Advisory Budget Commission and the Sanford administration to come up with the most ambitious and far - reaching biennial budget in state liistory, totaling $1.8 billion for the two years.

ADDITIONAL After this was presented, there were immediate reports that even more money might be available. Further revenue estimates gave indications of an even bigger suiTlus.

So the requests for appropriations above the recommendations of the Advisory Budget Commission piied up. and zoomed to a total of more than $100 million additional.

With trimming and cutting by the appropriations subcommittee during its 10 weeks behind closed doors, this amount and the original budget recommendations were whittled to a figure that is $27 million above the budget proposed in February. The revenue department says it believes $27 million more will be available. But that apparently, i.s all.

WAYSIDE Now the observation is made that another $50 million for the biennium would do it would make everybody happy and provide for all the requests the eight million dollar tax relief bill and the $26 million salary increase for state employes, and other programs and increases that had to be chopped.

Some of the cuts by the Ap propriations subcommittee included non - priority items recommended by the governor. Some of the increases a program for mentally retarded children and a space - age science center received top priority and were approved.

Indications then are that the legislative budget fights will be within the figure of $.50 million and will involve mainly what is priority and what is not.

The Da3y Reflector

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could afford the people of the state.

Although this attitude prevails among some members of the legislature, it does not change th fact that North Carolina needs a good mechanical inspection law if it is to bring its highway safety program to the level that is desired. To be sure, a good mechanical inspection law would not remove all of the defective automobiles from North Carolinas highways. The speed laws that are now m effect do not guarantee that all drivers will stey within the speed limit. But we recognize the wis-dom of having speed laws.

It is time for the people of North Carolina to recognize the wisdom of having,a good mechanical inspection law*. It is time too, fo^ more members of the legislature to speak out boldly for this kind of legislation which will be another instrument to help prevent accidents, injuries and the loss of life and property on the highways of the state.

There is little hope that North Carolinas highway safety program can be of the calibre that is needed until the state provides its people with the realistic protection that can result from a sound mechanical inspection program for all motor vehicles.

Penalizing Children With Wait And See'

Where school construction is concerned, there is often an inclination on the part of local government officials to wait and see what some other level of government is going to do about the situation before incurring further financial obligations at the local level.

Talk of possible legislative approval of a major state-wide bond issue in North Carolina holds out the hope that a $100 million in state funds may

be available for public school construction. Whether this amount of state funds will be available will depend not only on legislative action within the ne.xt five months, but whether such a bond issue would be approved ^by voters of the state.

Even if the legislature enacts a measure calling for such a bond issue, it will be many months before the referendum is held and the final answer on the bond issue is given by the voters.

It would be a mistake for local government officials in North Carolina to delay meeting school construction needs until the answer is finally given.

Two years ago there wa.s talk of a similar state bond Issue. At the same time there was before Congress a federal aid to education measure which would have made several billions available for public .ichool construction. The North Carolina legislatuie decided to wait on a state bond issue until it was certain whether the federal money would be available. Many local governments decided to wait on issuing their own bonds to meet existing needs until their knew for sure whether state or federal funds would be available. The state did not issue any school bonds, Congress rejected the federal aid to education proposals, local governmentsafter many months of delayVad to take up again their own plans for local financing of school construction needs.

The result was that many school construction projects were unnecessarily delayed for months, and school needs went unmet while each level of government waited to see if the other would pick up the tab.

School children are the ones who are most severely penalized when such a situation occurs. We tru.st the mistake of two years ago will not be repeated in many localities of North Carolina this year.Campus Library Costs Run Hiah

By HENRY HOWARD

Some Of This & Tha

RULES of fair play beg that you, dear reader, be forewarned of the following, a concoo tion or conglomeration best described as:'

1. A columnists hodge-podge.

Or,

2. Early Monday morning stuff.

Take your pick.

Or quit.

THERES a story to be told about a bootlegger who recently stole through the woods toward his busy still. At his side was his friend, a sharp-nosed Airedale.

While the stealthy pair was yet at an escapy distance, the

mutt tuned up a warning. No question about it. Airedale knew that strangersthe revenooers were close at hand, squatting in the thick underbrush.

Man and friend beat a hot trail through the wood. Out of there thev got. Clean m an Airedales tooth.

One character heard that story immediately raved, raged and railed that any man shoud so defUe mans best friend; then proclaimed;

There oughta be a law against any bootlegger carry

ing his innocent UtUe dog to the

stm.

Well, fv.r the plaintiffs sake, it should be said, 1 suppose, that somebody has already attended to that matter.

Dog or no, any botXlegger caught still-side or en route is hard to convince through bars that theres not a law to cover the situation.

Other Editors Saying... A Stand In Laos

By WINFRED L. GODWIN

Director. Southern Regional FZducation Board

The day may come when university libraries are pushbutton operated, inter-connected by television and stuffed to the gills with microfilmed knowledge changing dally.

But at the moment, libraries on most Southern campuses operate pretty much as they did in previous generations except for such innovations as microfilming; open, Instead of closed, stacks; and punch card systems for checking out books.

The cost of technological changes aside, a strong library grows more expensive as graduate and research programs expand. The basic costs Oi books, periodicals, binding, and personnel are formidable and become more so as the knowledge explosion mushrooms.

Many directors of libraries feel that current levels of support are not enough to keep up w'ith demands placed on university libraries today. One has said: The heavy increase in research programs in universL ties is an added pressure on library resources. Contract research has been largely in the area of physical and biological sciences. The acquisition of new

materials and the securing of jounials and academy literature in these fields represent an expensive outlay for those universities not having a strong emphasis in these fields over the years.

Louisiana State Universitys most recent report on 50 leading Southern university libraries shows that library appropriations ranged from a low of one per cent to a high of nine per cent of university budgets.

The American Library Association has recommended that a minimum of five per cent of a colleges general budget be devoted to libraries.

Lrge state universities in the South generally do not meet that recommendation, and several dont even make It halfway. Large private universities do meet the standard, with several going well beyond it. Southern college libraries have been growing faster than ^ those elsewhere, but there are still only six Southern libraries among the nationally select group having more than a million volums.

With but one excepticm these institutions are spending far more than other Southern universities on Increasing their (Continued on Page Seven)

(Christian Science Monitor)

Prince Souvanna Phouma is beginning to fight. This is a splendid sign. The neutralist Premier of Laos is by disposition and choice inclined to the gentle, dignified, conciliatory approach and he now knows that it did not work. The pro-Com-munists took advantage of him. They assaulted their best non-Communist friend.

Prince Souvanna Phouma has therefore changed his tune. And the neutralLst, nonaligned world even'where will see what has happened. We should not fool ourselves that the neutralists are politically blind. Especially since the Chinese advance on India they have been quietly on the alert, deeply distressed that the Communists attacked Prime Minister Nehru who was so friendly that he refused even to fortify his Chinese borders and who backed down-repeatel-ly before he finally stiifened and was struck hard.

Four firm steps taken by the aroused Lao Premier show his new frame of mind.

. He sent two members of the International Control Commission into the Plain of Jars when the third, the Polish member under Soviet discipline, refused. The presence of the commission is credited by the neutralist General Kong Le with making the present truce work thus far.

. He announced his firm Intention to remain in office and see the situation through. Previously he had often threatened to resign when things got thick.

. He requested United States military supplies for the neutralist forces and accepted the

collaboration of Meo tribesmen in the mountains north of the plain whom the United States had trained and armed.

. He restated his conviction that coexistence can be made to work, and rejected partition of the country which would be easier for the big powers but would be much harder on the Laotians themselves.

This all means that the man who leaned toward the pro-Com-munlsts and sternly criticized United States mistakes in an earlier period, has now turned around as a result of being mistreated by the Communists and correctly treated by the United States.

The lesson of this is the lesson the whole world is learning sooner or later that firmness must be added to goodwill and decency in dealing with the Communists.

The second part of the lesson is equally impressive: that neutralists, when they realize where the chief threat to their independence comes from, will take a firm stand against Communist tactics.

Finally, and here we move from the area of established fact into the area of hope; this .stiffening of neutralist fiber appears to impress the Communists very much, whenever it happens. They pull back from devouring a man who stands up against them In the eyes of the world and defends his country, however small it be. Prince Souvanna Phouma Is standing up, in the dignity of his own record of goodwill toward both sides. We hope and begin to believe that the Communists will have to respect him.

SPEAKING of the iUegal liquor traffic, heres an Interesting bit of scuttlebutt;

Some around town say there's a definite correlation between bootleggers and false alarms.

They have it like this:

When the booze-nmners are all wound up to make a haul into town, they simply engineer a false alarm in a strategic spot.

Naturally police cars race with fire engines to the scene.

And the runners slip safely to their rendevouz.

And you thought public servants didnt have tough problems?

HISTORY bugs would be Interested in a turnabout plecs of legislation caught up in tha tallend of the Genial Assemblys mill in Raleigh,

Theyll remember well the significant spot in the American heritage occupied by the famous hue and crj': "No taxation without representation.

Senate Bill 477 makes everybody who votes to absent ballot in North C^ollna general elections residents of the state for income tax purposes.

Thus the turnabout:

No representation without taxa(Mi. either.

TO CAP todays hodge-podge, heres a moment in the life of a college professor to help you understand if some oi them seem gray or grouchy.

The prof had tested his Shakespeare class. That evening. he sat down to grade the papers. The first student told him:

Shakespeare writes real good. His words make you feel like you wa^ there.

Prof had a comment for student:

FQuote

A general show of pride in our country would do us no harm right now. And the best way to generate such honest enthusiasm ... is to see some of it . . , Jackson (Mo.) Pioneer.

Atomic

Riant

Sites

By JOHN CHAMBERLAIN

Copyright, 1963, King Features Syndicate, Inc.

The Consolidated Edison Ctompany of New York prwoses to build a nuclear electric pbw-er plant in the Borough of Queens, across the East River from Manhattan, and a vague shiver goes through people who live In the surrounding neighborhood. In response to the shiver. Majority Leader Eric TrcuUch offers some legislation in the New York City Council that would make it Illegal to build a nuclear plant Inside the metrwolitan limits. The Consolidated Edison Company, making light of the Treulich contentions, counters with a statement that nuclear reactors can be equipped with foolpfoof protection.

Now who Is right hi thia cor>-troversy? The layman, who knows nothing about the bugs that may still exist in atomic safety engineering, is hardly in a posltiwi to make a commen-sr>. True enough, he has the ord of David Lilienthal. first r-hairman of the Atomic Energy Commission, that a nuclear .ant In Queens would be a pos^ ble hazard to life. But Lilienthal himself, though he has considerable general knowledge of atomic problems, la not an atomic engineer.

So far as this columnist can discover, the American engineering community as a whole is loath to say anything wi the subject of atomic plants In populous areas. But there Is one consulting engineer. Adolph J. Ackerman of Madison. Wis., who Is extremely voluble with his criticisms. When the Power Reactor Development Company was seeking an operating permit for a $90 million atomic plant at Lagoona Beach, Mich., which Is quite close to Detroit, Ackerman appeared before the AUxnic Energy Commlssioa Safety and Licenring Board in Gcrmsntown, Md., to protest. That was in January of this year. Since then Mr. Ackerman has been carrying on a crusade to rouse his fellow engineers to what he considers a great potential danger to the American public.

What bothers Mr. Ackerman is that private Insurance company actuaries are not willing to quote risk figures on atomic energy plants. This, says Mr. Ackerman, means that we have determination of safety by government edict, which is not the -same thing as a judgment by informed actuarial procedures.

Inasmuch as private Insurance companies refuse to write full protection against atomic cmtaMrophe, the liability has been shifted to the government under the Price-Anderson indemnity act of 1957. 17118 is an example, says Mr. Ackerman, of establishing the principle of indemnifying the survivor of a disaster rather than preventing the Introduction of a major peril. To bolster his point Mr. Ackerman guotee a fellow engineer, Thaddeus Merriman, as saying;

"The engineers duty does not lie only in saving % maximum of hla clients money. It demands abs(4utely that the public be afforded a maximum then he should not have his project. And what is true in the case of a private client is just as importantly true when the engineer acts for public authority he must still protect the pub-Uc.

Being a layman in these matters, this columnist has no right to offer a pro or con judgment of Mr. Ackermans qualifications. Mr. Ackerman may know m(e, or he may know less, than the engineer adviserg of the Lagoona Beach atomic project in Michigan or the experts of the Consolidated Edi-son Company of New York. But Mr. Ackerman has had sufficient standing in his own profession to get his articles accepted by American Engineer. which Is the publication of the National Society of Professional Engineers. A graduate of the University of Wisconsin, Mj-. Ackerman has directed the design and coostructlim of hydroelectric projects In Brazil. He notes that the Swiss are building an atomic power plant in a remote underground cavern, which he takes to be a vindication of his own ideas about the potential menace of atomic plants above ground in metropolitan areas.

(C<mtinued on Page Seven)

ectric Toothbrush EconomyStrength For Today

By EARL L. DOUGLASS

LOOK ABOUT YOU AND SMILE

Are we ever really lonely?

Certainly we often appear to be. Sometimes we are overwhelmed by the dismal feeling that we are completely alone in the world, that nobody cares anything about us, that there is not a single soul that looks to us for guidance or a single hand - that is extended to us imploring helpfulness.

All this is illusion. We never need to be l(Miely even though we are in the midst of a great city or an illimitable wilderness. First of all. if we only think about it, there are many people who feel as lonely as we do and who would be cheered Indeed if we struck up a friendship with them. Again we can be sure that if we feel ourselves to be without friends it is

j

J

because our memory Is poor and our arithmetic even poorer. It is amazing how frlen(Uy the world really is if we set about being friendly ourselves.

Above everything else, however, we find friendship and comfort in the deep recesses of our own lives. Do we have happy thoughts or dismal? Do we keep turning over in our minds the injuries we feel we have received or do we smile to ourselves over the good times we have had here, and there and the blessings we have had in fellowship with this friend or that?

Be a good friend to yourself and the world will hasten to make itself friendly to you. There Is happiness round about us if we will reach out and get it light if we will lift our faces and let it shine up(m us.

By ELMER ROESSNEB

We are living in an electric toothbrush economy.

We have too many unemployed.

Yet those who are employed are buying electric toothbrushes.

Electric toothbrushes axe one of the least essential products in America. There is scarcely a living critter who is not strong enough to brush his own teeth. Yet the swing is strongly to electric fang polishers.

People, to a large extent, are buying electric toothbrushes simply because they do not know what to do with their money,.

Of course, they buy other things: autos with so many extras that some are never used; electric can openers; bungalows at $45,000; electric carving knives, motor boats and so on. A battery . powerOd b a c k-scratcher may be on the way to market this very minute. ABUNDANCE, AFFLUENCE

This electric toothbrush economy has a curious basis.

A large part of our earners, and they Include salaried per-scNis as well as wage earners.

the Administration, is to In-are getting more expendable income than they or others in their class ever before received.

Many of them are getting so much they dont know what to do with it. They Invest in stocks and bonds, in fancy clothes, and in all those luxury gadgets and electric toothbrashes.

This is a consequence of the fact that they have gained such high Incomes.

But the fact that U%v have gained these Incomes has also created our unemployment problem.

EFFECTS ON EMPLOYMENT

Now it is true that luxury industries have- created some employment. There are men raising blonde mink and making electric toothbrushes who might otherwise be out of work.

But the luxury industries are a consequence, not a cause, of our ciirious economy.

As unions push their salaries higher and higher, and as ex-ecu^es keep on increasing their salves, automation becomes more attrw:tlve. And as automation Increases, mors men art

put out of work.

Management Is adding automation very fast. And the vendors of automation are the salesmen and engineers who point out that every 10 per cent In pay increases makes automar tion 10 per cent cheaper.

What we are devel<Ing In this country are two distinct groups in the labor force. TWAIN RARELY MEET

One group is the affluwit: tl^e union members and executives who have been able to push their Incomes so high that they do not know what to spend the surplus for. except electric toothbrushes and similar luxuries.

The other group cwisists of those who have been disemployed because of automation. Some have gtme to woric for new luxury industries but, as government figures show, there is a solid mass who are still out (rf work.

Now the situation is getting curiouser and curiouser.

The big idea at the moment, advanced by labor leaders an(l crease They do net pnh

pose a further rise to hourly rates. That will come anyhow. What Is being talked up Is higher pay for overtime, perhaps double pay for every hour after 40 each week.

The theory is that employers could not afford -pay for the 41st hour, hehce the proposal would spread the work. But up to a certain point, it would be cheaper to pay double - time for a few hours than to hire a second man, especially since the costs of adding another m a a are so high. They Involve additional bookkeeping, new withholding and Social Security mon. ey to handle, new workmens <XMnpensati(xi accounts new hospitallzaticm and medical levies, new insurance set-ups, and so (H).

One good guess is that top stead of hiring additional men, many employers will turn to more aut<Hnation. Thus the proposal could result to more, not less, unemployment.

Thus the proposed remedy for unemployment Is not unliko the hair of the dog that bit the economy to the first place.