The News and Observer from Raleigh, North Carolina • 4

TriE NEWS AND OBSERVER RALEIGH- kRIDAY NiCiRNiNG JULY 7 1 The British Position Me News and Observer 011111 OLD RELIABLE" Pub Belied Every Day In The Tear By 'ERZ NEWS AND OBSERVER PCBLISRDIG COMPANY oseph Daniels President the gold dollar ended purchase of foreign silver and made mandatory a price of at least 77 cents an ounce for domestic silver There was never any chance for the bill to become a law in that form because its supporters never had any possibility of securing the two-thirds vote in each branch of Congress to override a veto What did happen was that the administration was forced by the circumstances to accept a price of 70 cents for domestic silver So the Republicans find themselves with the power to devalue the dollar still in the hands of the President He also still has the power to purchase foreign silver which they might have been able to take from him And by their direct action he is now forced to pay 70 cents an ounce for silver instead of the price of 64 cents which was paid under the former discretionary power Me whole performance is another example of what may be expected from a group dominated by the philosophy of "anything to beat o' f-----'--' 7' 77710 Sliee--: 4-- "6por-L Le-- -0 '-I--- 'It 4 7 "II- 4----J talk all 010 goe -Ai For I AW A 4-m 000 0 41 se-- r---- 0-' 101 A so Cf 16r '''50 0161it Pr: '111 Ir--6- yerelt lb te" Or Pe koe sfro -04- ausses -411-- i 1 If a' :0 -c: bk A 1 1' 10e: 0" 7 04 WC- oe 0 l' A 1 o- a Ot kove iptt tif der a- rer 4 A- 1-4-1 40w -r '1( et' 4o0" --'w--- ep000 9 41111111111111 400:2 40" der al MAmta we Mr ff 4 Iv Al 1 7 it ik: 114 floAVois me0 111411 Ai' 4 111 i tia I 41 Vr-aplef'w" J-- 4Pc' Everybody's Problem At best there's still a 50 per cent discrepancy between the reduction in the Wake County tax rate which word from the County Commissioners indicate that body thinks may be feasible and the figure of reduction which the Wake County Taxpayers' Association thinks is easily possible The difference is between 6 cents and 12 considerable item Undoubtedly the maximum reduction cannot be accomplished by taking advantage merely of increased property values and the benefit of discharged bond obligations It will require a complete re-examination of county organization and expenditures There is the question for instance about the unfavorable comparison between the relative costs of courthouse offices in Wake County and several other comparable county establishments Are the salaries and expenses of these departments in line with a sane economy? There is the question too about the returns to the county from the profits of the ABC stores of the county The tendency of all agencies of government which maintain themselves out of funds derived from their own operations is always toward excessive overhead and operating expense In the case of the ABC stores It Is observed from time to time that special ABC officers are discharging very largely the duties of law enforcement formerly imposed upon the sheriff's department Is there an overlapping of expense here? Moreover Wake County has on Its hands a vast amount of real estate representing security on which it made private loans The liquidation of these holdings and the discontinuance of the practice of making such investments of county funds has long been suggested by the obvious and excessive liberality of loan practices In other words the situation in Wake County at this time demands a reduction and the maximum reduction obtainable without crippling essential county services This cannot be achieved except by a convincing survey and pruning of all the extravagances and excesses which have grown up in county -7-771d7116'' '7t77: aire "k'-afAmare9er'-- Readers are invited to contribute to this column of discussion Letters should be brief No letter containing more than 300 words and none except over the name of the writer will be accepted for publication The News and Observer reserves the right to cut and condense The People's Forum Washington Drew Pearson and Robert Allen everyone in Eurors worried about Danzig dorft entirely neglect the Mediterranean where l'qussolin! has been doing some quiet maneuverini In order to cash in on the next crisis Confidential reports are that he has moved big guns through his new king dom of Albania to the Greek border arid Is ready to put the squeeze on that small country The reported plan is tc give the Jugoslays their long sought out let to the sea at Salonika while r3znitc slices out other chunks of Greece fct himself How would you like to get a brand new $3000 home for $10? Its no joke It actually happened in Lynchburg Va home of Senator Carter Glass and the Federal Housing Ad ministration is investigating to see that II hasn't happened elsewhere Two ingenious builders Cary Minniclt of Lynchburg and Sears of Appo mattox were the master minds of the remarkable low-cost housing coup The FHA doesn't think much of their scherro now that it has been discovered but It sure was good gravy while it lasted In June 1938 Minnick and Sears started a small-home development on Pocahentas Street on land owned by the Peep le's National Bank of Lynchburg Soon the Virginia FHA office In Richmond began receiving applications for government-guaranteed mortgages to finance eon struction of houses ranging In price from $3000 to $3500 The application' appeared to be in legal order and were accompanied by the necessary reeelpts showing that the applicant had made the 10 per cent cash down payment required by law In the course of the next 10 months some 40 applications totaling $140000 were received and construction was begun on 30 houses Not in years had Lynchburg enjoyed such a building boom But In May of this year FHA authorities got a rude awakening From a flock of affidavits placed in thetr hands they discovered that the only money some of the applicants had paid down was $10 to cover appraisal fees In other words they hadn't paid a cent on the houses The receipts showing that they had were phoney Greatly agitated Barksdale State FHA director rushed to Lynchburg and went into conference with John Victor president of the People's Bank which hel handled the mortgages What transpired between them is not known but that sante day Sears forked over to FHA $6250 to cover the 10 pee cent deposit on 662500 worth of homes whose mortgages had been insured by the FHA through Victors bank Beyond that no action has been taken The homes are all occupied and pre sumably their occupants are paying their carrying charges Should any get In arrears and the bank foreclose it can can on the FHA under the government guaranteed mortgages to make good the loss Note: FHA' loss record to date tt Infinitesimal Out of more than 40000C guaranteed mortgages totaling over $2000000000 it has had to make good only $204000 Forty indictments 16 recently in Los Angeles have been obtained by FHA against realtors who have violated the law Despite Secretary Perkins airy bellef In an early peace between the AFL and CIO real fact is that there isrft a chance for resumption of the negotiations so long as Congress is in session and th Issue of amending the Labor Relations Act is under consideration The two union camps are at davera point over this and are too busy battling on Capitol Hill to talk amity 'Xs" Perkins is going to have to do a 3ot more than issue cheery statements to get them together New Deal tears over the way the Sen ate stymied the monetary bill and the House overturned the neutrality act bring no sympathy from Insiders Behind-the scenes fact is that the Roosevelt forces largely have themselves to blame for both parliamentary messes Each Is the direct result of incompetent leadership One New Deal-hatirg Senator Carter up the White House on the monetary Issue bill renewing the power of dollar devaluation was introduced in Congress last winter There was plenty of time to get it out of committee before the dead line of June 30 when the old bill expired But the administration failed to put pressure on Glass He is chairman of the Senate Pankirtl subcommittee which handles this kind el' legislation and he pigeon-holed the bill for months It wasn't until the admrustration finally bestirred itself and prodded the House into action that the Senate committee made a move to go over Glass' head By that time it was already too Ire Glass' wily stalling had held up the meas tire so long that by a little additional filibustering his Republican allies could block its passage before the June 31 deadline Had administration leaders called ICA bluff and forced a showdown six weeks earlier they would have avoided the kick in the pants they got It was similar asleep-at-the-switch leadership In the House which hung the Vorys arms embargo amendment on the neutrality bill The first test on the amendment was a division (standing) vote The count showed a 10-vote margin against Vorvq Whereupon the Republicans who under tight and firm leadership have had the maximuni strength on hand Inr ove ry Important ballot this session demante 1 a teller vote On this count the amendment was approved by two votes It Member et The Associated Press The Associated Press exclusively is entitled so the tise for puolication of all the news dispatches credited to it or set otherwise in this paper and also tba local news publishes herein All rights of republication of special dispatches berein also are reserved SUBSCRIPTION PRICES Payable In AdValle Rates by Mail in the Two Carolinas and Virginia 1 Yr SM Ito I Ito Daily and Sun WOO 1410 Daily Only 700 340 Sunday Only 300 173 l325 $080 175 AO 1-00 40 Delivered to7 Carrier 20e Per Week National Advertialag NePrelentativo TIME BRANHAM COMPANY Chicago New York Charlotte Atlanta St Louis Dallas Kansas City Detroit an Francisco Los Angeles Seattle Entered at the Postoffiee at Raleigh North Carolina as Second Class Matter Today 9s Bible Thought BE GUIDED BY DIVINE WISDOM: The law of the Lord is perfect convert-lag the soul the testimony of the Lord 1a sure making wise the 19:7 Morning Tonic Eugene Debi Man haa not yet reached his best He will reach his best until he walks ths upward way aide by side with woman Plato was right in his fancy that man and woman are merelt halves of human: tty each requiring the qualities of the ether in order to attain the highest character Shakespeare understood it when be made his noblest women strong as men and his best men tender as women The hands and breasts that nursed all ''rnen to life are scorned as the forgetful brute proclaims his superior strength and plumes himself so he can subjugate the one who made him what he is Uncle Walt Mason The latest book by Mr Gash has made a killing grand and to the bookstores rush with money in each hand We want this best of Gush's works" s- they cry "imd here's the mon!" And too the sad soul-weary clerks dispense isy the tort The village libra'y's in a stew for all the dames are there they want that else will and they are pulling hair! In street cars the busy mart and in the social crush they talk until they break your heart about that book by Gush And aill the tiresome low brow dubs discuss its the street and women at their culture dubs read extracts and repeat You hear of it from every bore and in the evening's hush you sadly sit before your door and curse the name of Gush And then the talk all dies away as ridden as it rose a new best seller is in sway and Gush turns up his toes If In the bookstore you should look next emottth for Gush's work "We never heard cal such a book" will say the weary clerk Today a book may ))e- a scream that holds the public mind it passes a winter dream and leaves no trace behind Americanism 4 Bishop McGuinness of the Cath olio diocese in Raleigh makes a humanitarian proposal which meets in practical way objections that have raised to the bill now pending Congress for the admission into the United States of 20000 German refugee children The bishop proposes to care for 200 of the children in the Nazareth Orphanage here Coupled with the offer is an intimation that it will followed by like offers from other Catholic institutions and an invitation for orphanages operated by other faiths to open their doors to the extent that their facilities permit It has been contended that there IS no available place in this country for these children Not many offers like that made by Bishop McGuinness wM be required to end this con- tention The appeal of these children of persecuted parents rises above race or creed and the significance of ishop McGuinness' response is that meets that appeal in equal terms Here is Americanism and hu- raanitarianism at their best The Need Is Action Utilities Commissioner Winborne rteports that plans for improving bus station facilities in Raleigh are progressing "slowly but satisfac torily" Unfortunately there is much more available evidence on the first point than on the second Even the snaillike progress to date has now been halted pending the return of one of -the interested attorneys from a to the Pacific Coast on which he has jtist 'embarked After all what is needed is action rather than "progress" Until there As action no amount of "progress" Improve present conditions ewhich are intolerable Only the bus companies profit by delay And if the commissioner is finally required to force action more delay will result from protracted g4 4rAwila-7'4-7: 1 71 4 14' 1ticliie 160- 1 more nearly conforms to the Master's teachings than any platform of any other party that ever asked for the votes of this people In 1892 I cast my first vote and it went to support the Populist party It got a little more than a million vote's but with that poor showing and the general upheaval that had made it possible it put on the statute books some of our best laws Barring the race question there is no difference in the platform of the Communist party of today and the Populist party of 1892 They both stand for justice in government Both seek to make of this tiation a democracy in reality instead of a money controlled oligarchy in fact JAS WRIGHT Henderson REWRITING HISTORY To the Editor: The Rev John Jordan in his family history gives an account of two Englishmen with English wives staying at Fort Croatan in the fall and winter of 1587 and that Annias Dare was the Governor of this fort Fifteen of the 17 married English couples went from Fort Croatan to Friendly Fort as they called their new fort on Occoneechee Mountains built during the winter of 1587 and spring of 1588 Twenty Englishmen who had married Indian girls remained with Annias Dare at Fort Croatan Powha tan the savage Indian chief and his warriors made several attacks on Fort Croatan and killed most of the friendly Indians and many of the Englishmen who had settled among the friendly tribe of Indians Some of these Englishmen with Indian wives had made or built small forts on the rivers and sounds and with a few of the friendly Indians fished and hunted Some of the 50 unmarried Englishmen who accompanied the 15 married couples to Friendly Fort in 1587 married Indian wives and lived among the friendly tribe of Eno Indians and were never bothered by Powhatan's warriors Let each of our readers trace his or her family tree back for 350 years and they will find that many of their ancestors were of the so-called "Lost Colony" Go into many Orange and adjoining county homes and you will find old furniture that no one knows the age of it: scattered over Occoneechee Mountains you will find broken dishware Indian arrowheads and pieces of soapstone pots that are hundreds of years old Yours for a better State nation and world WM JORDAN Mebane Press Library Association Archibald MacLeish poet scholar editor war veteran lawyer and a good many other things but not a trained librarian has been confirmed by the Senate to bead the Library of Congress The vote of 63 to 8 in his favor reflected accurately the small proportions of the controversy One can readily understand why by no means thought the post should have gone to one of their number But sincethe appointment was obviously made in good faith and was not political and since neither the character nor the high intelligence of the candidate was in question there was little ground for general objection It would be easy to name two or three librarians in our own city and a baker's dozen or so outside who could have filled the post admirably It is a reasonably safe bet that these men will be glad to admit as time goes on that a creative writer Is not out of place in the grand old library on Capitol Hill The South Still Loves Roosevelt John Temple Graves II in The Nation It Is safe to say that whoever the Democratic nominee may be the South will vote for him The Democratic party etill Owns this region Garner can count on it as well as Roosevelt Farley as well as Hull Farley would be subjected to an anti-Catholic campaign but prejudice against his religion might be more than offset by the personal friends he has made on his visits here and by his hold on the party organization The fact that the Negro vote in the North and East has been won for the Democratic party In the last two elections and that it may have become more valuable and concession-worthy than the vote of the white man in the South could eventually destroy the South's loyalty to the Democratic party but that eventually Is not yet Once the Democratic nominee Is announced next June he can count on the South But there will be sharp maneuvers and bitter Infighting before the nomination is made Encouraged by the failure of the "purges" in South Carolina and Georgia and by the national rightward trend in the 1938 elections anti-Roosevelt elements are out to make Southern votes at the convention decisive not only against a third-term nomination but against nomination of any New Dealer John Garner is their man They prefer him to Cordell Hull because many of them are industrialists and do not like the tariff-leveling policies of the Secretary of State Lately however there has been much editorial doubt of Garner's ability to get the nomination In spite of his showing in Gallup and other polls belief is vowing that no one who is not at least acceptable to Roosevelt can be named The anti-Roosevelt Charlotte Observer has announced editorially that there Is "no chance for 'Cactus Jack'" at the convention and the Columbia State thinks that "he has a slim chance for the nomination and a much slimmer chance to win if he gets it" since the country's conservative vote will go Republican Next to Roosevelt Garner and Hull are favorites in sample votes throughout the South but Paul McNutt may grow in popularity with those who want Garner but think he can't win Voting restrictions which deny the Southern masses their full voice give the anti-Roosevelt movement an advantage beyond its popular strength in the South In spite of this the popularity of Roosevelt is still so great that he has only to announce for a third term to be sure of nearly every Southern delegation Any other New Dealer will have hard sledding but the President needs only to ask to be given Undoubtedly this situation In the South will be a factor in Ms decision It isn't that the South condones violation of the third-term tradition or is altogether satisfied with the New the price of cotton is an argument against that It is simply that the Southern masses have come to include Roosevelt in their tradition as they include the Democratic party itself No matter what failures attend his efforts to restore cotton's kingdom no matter how wrong he may be on purges court packings third terms and the like he is their man they believe in his good intentions they suspect his enemies and they will not turn him down even though they may deny him his objectives In the South as elsewhere Roosevelt has won friends with his foreign policy among those who oppose his domestic policies Isolation has its innumerable champions but a region which once sent more than half its cotton and tobacco abroad and hopes to do so which learned through party loyalty to Woodrow Wilson to accept International it easier to believe that peace and prosperity lie in the direction taken by the President in his overtures both as a peacemaker and as a maker of balances in international power politics There is wide conviction in the South at this writing that the Roosevelt policy has stopped the dictators There Is a feeling too that as White House and Hyde Park hosts to George and Elizabeth the President and Mrs Roosevelt were just about perfect The South it may be said is looking right left up down and it still loves Roosevelt FUNERALS ARE A FEW To the Editor: I wonder how many of our taxpayers know that the State of North Carolina 'bears the funeral expenses of members of the Council of State including the justices of the State Supreme Court when those officials die while serving their terms of office? I am confident that lem than one-half of 1 per cent will approve the practice when they find it out There might be some excuse for providing handsome pensions for the judges and other State officials after they have served a comparatively short number of years in the service of the State but I simply cannot think of one reason why the taxpayers of North Carolina should be called upon to pay the burial expenses of officials like the Attorney-General Secretary of State Treasurer Auditor Secretary of Agriculture and the justices of the Supreme Court There might be some excuse for the State bearing the expense of a great state funeral for a Governor who dies in office but his is the only one I realize that anything relating to death is a very delicate subject on which to write but if the State has the impudence to ask the taxpayers to pay the funeral expenses of many elected officials who have been well paid for their services to the State then I will have the temerity to write about it because I thing such a practice is not only unfair to the taxpayers but that it is unjust to other State officials and loyal State employes Whynot treat all alike? While the State is collecting a 3 per cent sales tax from the poor on the things they have to buy to eat and wear and even on the coffins in which they bury their loved ones we find the State has so much money that it pays the funeral expenses of its officials! If that is not going a little too far then I am sadly mstaken ROBIN KING Raleigh CONTEST OF ISSUES To the -Editor: Your issue Sunday July 2 under correspondence of Robert Williams carried some highly informative and interesting information on the contest for Governor of North Carolina in 1940 From this source we learn that Broughton Raleigh lawyer Thomas Cooper mayor of Wilmington A Maxwell Commissioner of Revenue and Willis Smith Raleigh lawyer are definitely in the race Horton Lieutenant Governor of Pittsboro "has been telling friends that he now expects to run" Several dark horses at least two of whom may become formidable candi I The ANOTHER HALT Winston-Salem Journal Judge Hoyle Sink's decision in Issuing an injunction against the High Point dam project emphasizes the long series of legal difficulties into which this mu nicipal project has run within the past two or three years His action postpones for an indefinite period the final showdown on various issues vital and incidental which revolve around the undertaking Apparently the fate of the project does not rest entirely upon the issue whether the State or Federal government has Jurisdiction and control over the Yadkin River although this issue is involved and is dealt with In Judge Sink's ruling It is indicated by his ruling that the high Point authorities still have many serious handicaps to hurdle in order to make their hydroelectric project meet the exact requirements of the State law The Superior Court jurist pointed out that issuance of bonds for the project without a vote of the people would violate Article 5 Section 4 of the State Con Today's Poem AIN'T -TAKDI' CHANCES Got fryini-size chickens a-plenty My peaches is dey An' up in my smoke-'ouse is hangin' A many a shoulder an' ham up my gun bekaze Brudder I ain't takin' nary a chance An' Buck dis-here dog is jes' cravin' A sample uv somebody's pants! You's aimin' to come fo' a visit? You come right along Brudder Mose! (But Brudder be sho you comes whistlin' An' whistlin1 a chune dat we KNOWS! EDITH EARNSHAW Wake Forest dates are mentioned Former Lieutenant Governor Fountain who was a candidate for Governor in 1932 is among the dark horses and while your correspondent did not specifically include Dr Ralph McDonald in this category yet reference to Dr McDonald's "close race" against Governor Hoey may again arouse gubernatorial interest in him We hope the contest now not quite a year off will be one of issues and not of men North Carolina as pointed out by Dr McDonald is far behind many other States in educational progress and has the iniquitous sales tax which puts the tax burden on poverty instead of on wealth where it belongs The year 1d40 will offer an opportunity to elect a libet41 Governor and General Assembly We can then take our place with more progressive States by repealing the sales tax putting the homestead tax amendment into effect and march on to advanced educational progress JOHN PALMER Warrenton COMMUNIST PLATFORM To the Editor No political party of our time Is being more scathingly slandered by a majority of the pressof our country than the Communist party Of course I know right well why that is true but for this article I will pretend I do not and say that all this lambasting of the Communist party caused me to read again the latest platform of that party Then I read again the greatest and best sermon ever preached on earth and found it coincided with that platform and that moved me to believe that if everyone lived up to the Communist platform we would be exactly what Jesus was trying to teach us to be when He preached here on earth It seems to me this platform Spirit of The stitution He also ruled that the city has no right to condemn land belonging to Yadkin County for the purpose of creating a reservoir for the dam and that the city by its agreement to operate the plant subject to the control of the Federal Power Commission cannot lawfully divest the State of its jurisdiction control and regulatory powers over the Yadkin River If the State Supreme Court affirms the ruling of Judge Sink the reaction of High Point authorities is conjectural However an effort may be made to place the case before the 'United States Supreme Court for the purpose of settling the issue of State or Federal jurisdiction and other points of law concerning this and similar municipal utilities projects Thus out of the High Point case may develop an important precedent to govern like undertakings in the future LIBRARIAN MaeLEISII New York Times- Despite the opposition of the American Anything To Beat Roosevelt The fight in Congress over the monetary bill has been properly settled The emergency powers granted to the President in 1933 because of the domestic crisis are needed even more in these times of troubled international relations These powers have been extended from time to time as a routine matter and there was little reason to believe that they would not be extended again this year That would have occurred as a matter of course if the Republicans in the Senate had not formed a strange coalition by one of the most complete abandonments of principle of which spokesmen for a major party in this country have ever been guilty The Roosevelt administration desired the continuance of four powers One of these concerns the stabilization fund Even the Republicans offered little opposition to the continuance of this power Another concerns the power to devalue the gold dollar That power has not been used since the valuation was fixed at 59 cents in 1934 The other- two powers concerned silver One was the discretionary power to fix the price of domestic silver The other was the identical power for foreign silver Unlike the power to devalue the dollar the discretionary powers in regard to purchase of silver had been constantly used prices being changed from time to time in accordance with changing conditions When the monetary bill was presented to Congress the Treasury was paying 84 cents an ounce for domestic silver and 42 cents an ounce for foreign silver In accordance with the traditions of their party Republicans generally opposed the power to devalue the dollar and were even more violently opposed to payment of a premium on silver In the House the administration won out on all four points Had each been fought out in the Senate on its Merits there would probably have been the same result with perhaps one exception There was more sentiment in the Senate against continuance of the power to purchase foreign silver than against any of the other' thiee Republican Senators and ultra conservative Democrats saw fit to join the group of Western Democrats who care more for higher domestic silver prices than for anything else The unnatural coalition forced amendments to the House bill I which ended the power to devalue 0 ki A.