Tu^ay, february 4/ 1964

Difficult To Take

We find it difficult to believe the inventory tax levied by local govemmenta throughout North Carolina ia a great a deterrent to industrial development as some of the states big-wigs make out it is.

At its winter meeting which opened yesterday In Charlotte, the Commerce and Industry Division of the Board of Conservation and Development renewed its attack on the inventory tax. The division asserted, among other things, that the inventory tax continues to be the leading cause for numerous industries which we feel should come to North Carolina going to other states. Their pitch is, as it has been, that if North Carolinas local governments would do away with the inventory tax, many more new industrial plants.would spring up. ____

While this may be true, the inventory tax cannot be so great a bar to industrial development in the state if one considers the record of North Carolina in recent years. Its industrial development has been moving forward rapidly. If the C and D figures are correct, last year set another record year for plant expansions and new plant being located in North Carolina.

If the inventory tax were as great a handicap to Industrial development as the Commerce and Indus-

Secrecy Began 4 Months .Ago?

By WILLIAM A. SHIRES

SECRECY ~ Did the State Banking Conunisalon, now under fire (or vothig to bold executive sessions, agree privately four months ago to slip behind closed doors during lunch breaks at ostensibly open meetings?

Such action Is recorded In a hitherto withheld portion of the minutes of an unannounced meeting of the Banking Commission last Sept. 11 a meeting reporters did not attend.

A copy of the censored portion, furnished by a conflden-tdal source, v'urperts to show that a devioas lunch break method of meeting in secret was agreed upon unanlmou.sly gs a practical arrangement for discussing matters out of public earshot.

DENIES The commission Chairman. State Treasurer Edwin Gill, emphatically denies that thLs happened.

Gill, who is at odds with the commlsslion over closed meetings, concedes that the lunch break device was proposed and dlscu.s.sed but only as an "alternative to executive sessions.

He says It was not voted upon, not adopted and was never used. It was. GUI says, merely discussed and later rejectr ed.

It was for this reason Gill aays. that he scissored the erroneous material from a copy of the minutes shown to a reporter several weeks after the Sept. 11 meeting.

MINUTES Here la what the withheld portion of the Sept. 11 minutes says;

"After much discussion of a practical arrangement as to treatment of confidential matters, the members unanimously agreed that they would be handled as (oUows; beginning with the next Regular Quarterly Commission Meeting of October 23, 1963: The Commissioner of Banks will give his recommendations on all applications to the members of the Commission at least ten days before the Quarterly meeting which are to be kept confidential; on the day of the meeting, the proponents and opponents of each application w'ould be heard without action being taken by the Commission on any matter; the Chairman would then explain to the people in attendance that the meeting would be recessed for lunch and he would then give the time the meeting would be resumed; a session would be held In the CtHnmissloner of Banks Office directly after lunch with only the members of the Com-mis.slon and the Commissioner of Banks In attendance, at which time an opportunity will

be given for members to freely discuss any aspect of any or all applications presented for action. The meeting would then be resumed in the commission room and each appU-catlon would be acted upon."

OILLGill calls the account contained In this scissored portion of the minutes "a mistake" and "completely erroneous. It should not have been in the minutesIt was not acted upon; certainly it was not adopted and was never used. He said he recognized that a majority of commission members favored executive sessioixs. or at least an opportunity to discuss certain applications and points in private.

Because of this attitude, he said, he proposed po.Lsible alternatives for discussion.

I was not trying to deceive anybody, I was trying to prevent executive sessions, Bill says. The Banking Commission voted unanimously and over Gills public protest last month to adopt a policy of executive or closed sessions.

rejected Gill says I realize now that there are no alternatives. After dlsciLsslon of the lunch break method at the meeting GUI says he and newly-appointed Banking Commissioner F. Shelby CuUom "rejected It."

I caUed Mr. Cullom and told him It was Impossible; that it would not work. We rejected it and It was never used. MEETING GUI sayfithere was no reason for minutes to have been taken of the Sept. 11 meeting. No action was taken. It was just a meeting to discuss the law. As to the lunch break matter, he said, there was no resolution nor agreement.

He explained that the secretary present at the meeting misinterpreted the remarks. Later when a reporter heard about the September meeting GUI produced a copy of the minutes.

When I looked at that section I knew it was In error," he said. He cut It out and quoted at the time as saying he was not making the passage public because what was in there Isn't pertinent to the policy we have adopted; Its not pertinent to the Interpretation of the law. and irrelevant to the situation.

The Banking Commission at Its October meeting did, however, put into effect a new procedure whereby It would hear testimony on all applications. then take a luncheon break and vote following lunch.

GUI says firmly, however, that there was no secret meeting In CuUom's office during the lunch break ^ at the October meeting.

II il'I-^Tt

The Daily Reflector

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It Seriously v

try Division makes it appear, it is highly doubeful^ that North Carolina would have had the number of plant expansions within the state it had last year. It is even more doubtful that the state could have enjoyed the record level of economic development the C and D haspointed up in its reports to the people of the state.

Local governments want to do everything in reason to make North Carolina more attractive to industry. But local governments, like the state government, have followed the policy of avoiding, giveaway programs in the way of taxes in an effort to attract new industries. This policy, in our opinion, has proved sound for both the state and local governments, and for new and old industries throughout the state. *

In view of North Carolinas record of industrial growth,,we seriously question the wisdom of the adoption of a tax give-away in the form of repeal of local ilfventory taxes for industries.

Theyll Be Getting Their Moneys Worth

Approximately 800 more season tickets for the East Carolina College Summer Theatre must be sold in Greenville within the next two weeks to transform the summer theatre project from a proposal to a reality.

When college officials proffered the idea of a professional summer theatre here, they pointed out it would be necessary for the cost of the project to be underwritten by advance sales of sea.son tickets by mid-February. Some 3,000 season tickets would' have to be purchased in this section of the state to guarantee the first seasons operation of the summer theatre.

So far, approximately 1,000 of the season tickets have been sold in Greenvile. Other cities and towms in this area, along with Greenville, have reported an enthusiastic response to the sale of these advance tickets. Ticket sales are movirig steadily toward the 3,000 goal. At the same time, the Mid-February deadline for underwriting the project is rapidly approaching.

Establishment of the summer theatre here will offer the people of this part of North Carolina a source of summer entertainment which has not previously been available. In addition to that, it will provide an attraction that in time could draw many ourists into this part T>f the state to view profe.ssional theatre presentations throughout the summer months.

But these and the other benefits which may accrue from the summer theatre will be realized only if the projct is carried out. And that depends upon whether the people of Greenville, Pitt County and surrounding areas purchase sufficient season tickets to a.ssure the financial success of the theatre in its first year of operation.

Those who purchase the $15 season tickets will be getting much more than their moneys worth in the six musical comedies to be presented this year. They will also be helping to establish a new venture which will prove an increasingly important as.set to this area in the years to come.

DeGaulle Looks

Might Endure The Loud Stereo

auies

By ART BUCHWALD

' Panama Canal P roblems

Many people are terribly distressed over the problem of the Panama Canal. Because the Panamanians want their flag to fly with the American flag and because the American high school children In the Panama Canal Zone want the American flag to fly alone. It has been suggested that we build a new canal.

Some of the more indignant American citizens have gone even further and suggested that we fill up the Panama Canal with sand so the Panamanians cant use it once we leave.

There" Is a lot to be said for building a new canal to spite the Panamanians. After all. If it werent for us they w-ould-nt have anything to fly a qag over, and it^*.,a.bout time we allowed our high school students to make foreign policy abroad.

The question Is where can we build it. It has been suggested that we build the new canal in Nicaragua.

As everyone knows, Nicaragua is a very peaceful country

and they would be delighted to have us build a canal there without insisting on the Panamanian flag's flying over it. They w"ould be satisfied just to have the Nicaraguan flag fly instead. This would solve the flag que.stion.

The next problem Is how do you dig a new canal? It has been suggested that you do it with atomic explosions. The trouble is that we have signed a test ban treaty with Russia w'hich prevents us from exploding atomic devices in the open air.

The solution to this problem is to sub contract the canal-dig-ging to the French, who have refused to sign the test ban treaty. The French have been having a lot of trouble with African countries over their tests in the Sahara, so they would probably be delighted to move their tests to the Western hemisphere. Of course they w^ould insist on flying the French flag . over the canal while they were digging, but we could persuade the American

Out For France

Other Editors Saying.,, Talkina The Real Issues

By JAMES MARLOW

WASHINGTON (AP) -French President Charles de Gaulle, like a ma:i descending the mountain with two tablets of stone, for a year has Issued pronouncements saying no to American policy.

He banned the British from the European Common ilar-ket; refused to agree to a nuclear test - ban treaty: advocated neutralization of Southeast Asia; and recognized the sovereignty of Red China.

In each case he acknowledged some benefit to Prance. Americans can't consider this a mortal sin by itself, since . they are concerned about benefits to this country.

But he is part of the Western alliance. If there were a lew more De GauUes ther could be no alliance.

His repeated negations have been explained by apologists as the work of a man with a mystical belief In the revival of French greatness. But there has been pettiness In much of what he did, almost hostility.

There can be doubt that much of his mysticism la any more than political and pers(Mi-al immaturity.

There Is immaturity In his obsessive nationalism wh 1 c h would have been more fitting In the 18th Century when Napoleon was emerging and French horizons seemed unlimited.

But Western Eun>e8 nar tlonallsm brought two world wars and cjiaos. To try to restore It as intensely as De Gaulle is doing Is to turn the clock back.

He has given demoraliz e d France stability since he Parted his reign in 1958 reign is not an Inaccurate word, for France now looks more like a monarchy than a republic but there is no assurance the deluge wont follow him.

His personal immaturity Is in his need for grandeur and the trappings of grandeur, in himself and France. He resents what he considers affronts and to maintain his ego retaliates with obstruction, like a child tearing toys.

On Jan; 14, 1963, he arranged for a news conference at such a time and with such a purpose just shortly before the late President John P. Kennedy addressed Congress that he torpedoed the President.

Knndy happily annouced a "new era of interdependence and unity taking shape in Europe which we regard as a welcome pai*tner. . .not a rival. He was thinking of the creation of the European Common Market.

But by ihe time he got the words out De Gaulle already ^

demonstrated how little unity there w'as by announcing he was banning Britain from the market. He said Britain was not a European nati(wri.

This w'as nationalism at its worst. With Britain out of the market, France figured to dominate it, although the market was Intended as one more step toward subordinating nationalism to common interests.

That wasnt all De Gaulle did that day. He rejected Ameri-^can - British proposals for a multilateral NA'TO nuclear force ai-med with Polaris missile - firing submarines.

It that wasn't enough, De Gaulle cast doubt on Aitierl-can willingness to defend France from Russian attack, now that the Soviet Union had missiles which could destroy Arnerlca.

The agreement on the multilateral force had been reached a few weeks before at a meeting between Kennedy and British Prime Mmister Harold Macmillan. De Gaulle may have felt offended by not being Included In the meeting.

On June 25 Kennedy pledged to risk destruction of American cities to . preserve European freedom but two days later De Gaulle's Information minister wanied Europe against trusting its safety to American Indefinitely.

The United States, Brita I n and the Soviet Union on July 25 initialed a nuclear-test ban treaty. Pour days later, De Gaulle said France would not sign and Intended to develop its own nuclear weapon.s.

Then on Aug. 29 although the United States has pump^ billions in aid into South Viet Nam to help the war against the Communist guerrillas of North Viet Nam De Gaulle proposed the two Viet Nams be neutralized with French help. Such a step could wreck the whole Southeast Asia Treaty Organization.

France had been driven out of Viet Nam in 1954, after holding it ^as a colony since the 19th Century. Neutraliza-Uon, with the United States wlthd r a w n might enable Prance to i-ecapture some of its old influence.

Quote

- Any baseball team could use a man who plays every position superbly, never strikes out and never makes an error; but how do you get him to lay down his hot dog and come down out of the grandstand?^. Ness County (Kans.) News.

(Washington Dail.v News)

Why dont the candidates for governor quit jibing at each other and get down to the business of discussing real issues?

That question W'as asked a few days ago, and we suspect that a lot of people tend to overlook talk about issues and remember only that this candidate has charged another candidate with this or that.

One man has been charged with being the handpicked choice of the Sanford admin-istrtion. He has also been charged with siding with Junius Scales convicted communist.

Another candidate has been charged with being the hand-picked choice of the Sam Ervin group of North Carolina. He Is also charged with being a big corporation law'yer and with trying to hold the,' status quo in the fight for prepress in North Carolina.

Still another candidate is being charged with being so conservative that he cannot lead North Carolina In but one direction backwards. He is also being charged with being a man who will excite racial tensions in our - state.

Now' how about equal educational opportunity for every child in North Carolina, be he from Hyde County or Mecklenburg Coimty? How do the candidates feel about this matter?

How do the candidates feel about the road program of North Carolina? How do they feel about the tax picture In

North Carolina? How do they, feel about the utilities problem in North Carolina? How do they feel about the plight of the fanner in North Carolina, particularly in reference to tobacco? How do they feel about medical care? How do they feel about the fight for greater industrial development? How do they feel about court reforms?

Yes, there are a lot of questions which could be asked. Frankly, on several of the questions listed above, som or all of the candidates have spoken out on. They have not stated their position on all of them, but somehow when personalities get into the campaign people tend to overlook or forget the. issues being discussed and look only at the charges being hurled.

The campaign has a long way to go yet. The primary is still about four months away, and^ a lot of issues will be discussed in the meantime and a lot of charges will be made that have not yet been made.

There are many issues to be discussed, and the candidate who fails to discuss them fully and frankly could lose a lot of votes in North Carolina, We have many problems, some of them with no easy answers, and full attention should be given to them.

This campaign seems to offer us a heated chapter in the political history of North Car-olhia.

high school students that it was only a temporary measure.

All right# so Its now agreed upon. We will finance the ca-* nal in Nicaragua providing the French dig it. Once the canal is jbuilt, we will work out a zone on either side of it which we will call the Nicaraguan Canal Zone. This zone will be resisted to Americans and sei-vants working for their families.

The zone will pay the Nicaraguans who work on the canal a salary commensurate with their ovm living standard, and the Americans will be paid on a scale equal to what they would make in the United States.

In this way there wouldnt be any friction between the two.

In Americans w'ould have their own schools, their owm PXs, Their own movies, and their own golf courses, each with its own flag pole. A provision would be written in the treaty that only the American flag could fly from these poles, which would satisfy most of the zones teenagers.

There is always the possibility that the Nicaraguan students, urged on by Castro supporters, might start trouble in the zone.

If this happens then we have no choice. Well close up the Nicaraguan canal and start digging one in Mexico.

Opinions '"n Brie:

Those wlio become frustrated by the enormity of government should consider these words of Abraham Lincoln: Tlie people of the United States are the rightful masters of both Congres.ses and the courts, not to overthrow the Constitution but to overthrow men who pervert the Constitution. And the ballot is the proper instrument. Chattanooga News-Free Press.

It Is reported that some wximen are allergic to mink coats. Now if you can just get a doctor on your side.Chicago Tribune.

The average man owes his wife a lot, especially if he married her for money. Johason City (Tenn. Press-Chronicle.

"Maybe man really does love his wife as much as he does his dog, but you never heard of his whistling around the neighborhood half the night trying to get her to come home.Cochran (Ga.) Journal.

: Result.

JOHN CHAMBERLAIN

Copyright, 1964, King Features Syndicate, Inc.

Before the Republican Presi-denti primary is over in New Hampshire on March 10, the . males among our political as- * plrants may be pardoned for thinking that they have been caught in the crossfire of a James Thurber war between men and women. And it could turn out that the women have the heavier artillery.

Up to very recently, the struggle for the New Hampshire Republican convention delegates was between three candidates, Goldwater, Rockefellen and Henry Cabot Lodge. But every member of this trio will have to reckon with the distaff aide before he is through.

The case of Rockefeller is the most obvious. His charming bride "Happy makes a good impression at New Hampshire gatherings, but one does not need to labor the point that the "church element, which would have gone for Rockefeller before his divorce, is not jrushing to his side. And it 1 the women among the "church element the so - called "rolling pin vote who keep the men in line.

With Barry Goldwater, It Is a case of having to fight Maines Senator Margaret Case Smith, whose particular appeal in New Hampshire Is that she checks out as a conservative in terms that the Down Easters understand. In Washington, D, C., Mrs. Smith Is known as a "moderate, But her "moderation, when translated into pocketbook language, hits the right conservative note in a region that makes It living out of lack of expense." .

"Maggie offended the extreme right wing when she made her declaration of conscience speech against the late Senator Joseph McCarthy. But the McCarthy issue has been forgotten in 1964 in the Northeast save by a few diehards. On every bread-and-butter issue Mrs. Smith has something to offer the "North of Boston countryside that is calculated to catch Yankees. She stands for both a tax cut and cuts in government spending; she is for scaling down foreign aid; she has never believed in trade with Communist dictator-nations like Yugoslavia; she sees no sense in selling wheat to Khrushchev. And she brings all this home to her northeastern neighbors by complaining about (Hir national policy of letting grain go abroad at subsidized prices when local poultrymen have to pay a high price for feed grains because of political price supports.

Barry Goldwater, no doubt, can match Mrs. Smith on the foregoing list of items. But she is shrewder than Barry in a Downeast Maine sense when it comes to taking a stand on the more grandiose issues. She wouldnt sell T'VA, for it might commit her to a policy that would keep her from supporting the Maine Passama-quoddy dam project if and when it comes to a vote.

She wouldnt quit the UN as of 1964 but if the Afro-Aslan bloc ever manages to dominate UN policy she suggest that the big nations of the West would be Justified In getting out.

With Rockefeller fighting an uphill battle against the church-going women, and Goldwater conservatism being undercut by the Yankee pocketbook conservatism of Mrs. Smith, it might be thought that Henry Cabot Lodge would benefit from the resulting Donnybrook. But the supporters of Lodge also have a woman to reckon with She is Marguerite Higgins, a journalist who knows as much as any man in her profession about digging for the roots of a story. Miss Higgins wrote an article about'Henry Cabot Lodges role in * "unleashing the Vietnamese generals against the Diem government for the January 6 Issue of the Catholic magazine "America." When Senator Thomas Dodd of Connecticut read the article, he hit the ceiling and called for a Senatorial investigation of Miss Higgins charges. According to Miss Higgins, who bottonholed practically everybody of importance in South Vietnam on the subject. Lodge, in cahoots with Roger HUsman and Averell Harriman of the (Continued On Page 5)

17

Newspaper Ad Got^25,000 Loan

B ELMER ROESSNER So you need $25,000 for a new business? No security?

Put an ad in a newspaper. George J. Di Matteo did.

He got 32 answers. He also got the $25,000.

D1 Matteo, an Inventor, an association organizer and a promoter. was struck by an idea? America is full of inventors, confused Inventors, Invent o r s who want manufacturers but who dont know what to do. He visualized a place at the New York Worlds Pair where inventors from all over the United States and foreign'countries, too. could exhibit and demonstrate their inventions, hoping to Interest a giant corporation. SO HE ADVERTISED Di Matteo had enough savings for office space and preliminary action, but he calculated he needed $25,0h0 more to get his show to the fair. So he wrote a newspaper advertisement, six Inches over two columns, headlined. I WANT TO BORROW $25.(X)0

UNSECURED. Two - year note, better than average inter e s t rate. Interest paid quarterly.

The ad went on; There is an unusually unique business project behind the ad which I feel is certain to be a great contribution. But It will die simply because men have simply lost the unique ability of betting on men. . . .

His 32nd response was from busybody Elmer Roessner asking, Whats this all about? But one of his other answers came from an Indu.strialist who Invited him to lunch, heard his plan, and wrote him a check for $25,000.

A few of the letters were from cranks. One sent a check for $25.000 made out to God. Some w'ere curiosity seek e r s. Some were Job seekers. Some were from lawyers with clients with money to invest. But one was for real, and thats all Di Matteo needed.

WHATS WITH THE MONEY?

Di Matteo. a lean fellow with a shock of jet black hair.

leaned back In his chair in his office in Forest Hills, N. Y. and told me his plan,

I have taken over the city hall in the Belgian Village at the Pair, he said. In it I am going to display the works of inventors. For $150 for the first season and $125 for the sec(Hid, an inventor can have his creation displayed, he can make a reasonable number of demonstrations and he can pass out literature."

Di Matteo grinned. "There have been many plans to expose Inventions, but this one, as far as I know, is the only one that does nc^ require royalties or commissions. An Inventor can show his product and sign a million - dollar contract, but we wont get a penny above the entrance fee.

DI Matteo ht placed a few-one - column, two - Inch ads In some news and trademag-^ azlnes, and has written letters to many trade associations.

, These have been bringing In about 100 letters of inquiry a

day, Including some from the largest corporations in America. He estimates he has space to display 7,500 inventions, but the Patent Office, which is cooperating with him, led him to beUeve that he may have as many as 25,000 applications.

He has recruited an eminent board of advisors. Including Dr. Morse DellPlain, Welsbach president, and Dr. James Bender, director of business administration, Adelphia College.

DONT 'TRY TO SELL PURPLE-COLORED BREAD

The Importance of color In product has been dramatically shown by Macmillan R 1 n g-Free Oil Co, A year ago It introduced a clear plastic undei> coating for cars.

Autoista hung back. Clear undercoating? Undercoating, many said, should be black as it always was. So this year Macmillan dajicened and thickened Its gook. Doing quite well with it, too.