Henderson daily dispatch. (Henderson, N.C.) 1914-1995, 1936-03-13

cd as strong hackers of DR.. Ralph w.
Mcdonald for governor, than era
hams inclusion of the sales tax In his
special session agenda.
Four Big Surprises.
Several other things advocated by
Graham, however, have left those who
heard or who have read the spesch
equally surprised, according to COM
ment heard here today. Among these
are:
1. His advocacy Of so per cent re-
duction in the cost of automobile Ii
censes, on the grounds that whatever
revenue would be lost from this cue
would be more than made up by an
increased consumption of gasoline.
g. The recommendation that the
State superintendent of public instruc
ton be made the chairman of the
State School Commission, a post
which Graham now holds as lieute-
nant governor.
3. The recommendation that the
State Highway Patrol be transferred
back to the State Highway and Pub
lie Works Commission and thus be
completely divorced from the Depart
ment of Revenue.
4. The recommendation that an tn
creased proportion of all highway re-
venue be used for maintenance from
now on, especially of the county roads
and that all of the present highway
surplus be expended Immediately on
repairing and maintaining the roads.
Sales Tax Floors Them.
1t had been expected that Graham
would strongly advocate the imme-
date calling of a special session of
the General Assembly for the purpose
of enacting tobacco crop control and
social security legislation, since he
has been consistently pointing to the
need of a special session for these two
purposes for several weeks. But when
Graham included in his special SEES
sion program the restoration of the
sales tax exemptions on essential
foods and On meals, he caused con-
fusion in the ranks of both the Nc
Donald followers as well as of the
supporters Of Clyde r. Hoey and the
present administration, it is agreed
here today. For it is agreed that while
Mcdonald and his followers are plug
ging for the repeal of the sales tax
most Of them do not expect to more
than get the exemptions restored and
the tax removed from meals-and
then, not until the 1887 General AS
sembly meets. And while Hoey has
come out in favor of removing the
sales tax from essential foods-that
is restoring the championship has
not advocated doing this until 1887
Hence, the fact that Graham is ad-
vocating doing all this a year sooner
than Hoey or even Mcdonald has sug-
gested doing it. is causing consider
able CONSERVATION among their fol
lowers.
Views on Education.
The first general subject discussed
by Graham was public education and
the schools. He pointed out that he
was in complete accord with the SEN
timent favoring more adequate pay
for teachers and superintendent, also
for the need Of supplements in the
larger towns and cities, or wherever
the people would vote them, to pro-
vide longer term, more teachers
and a greater diversification of sub
jects. It will be many years before
the state will be able to provide a
nine months term and more teachers
from State funds, with the result that
those cities, towns and communities
which want a longer term, an addi-
tional grade, more teachers ana
courses, must provide these from sup
elemental taxes, Graham said. In or
der to broaden the duties Of the State
superintendent of public instruction
and bring about more effective coop
GRAFTON between the Department of
Public instruction and the State
School Commission, Graham would
have the State superintendent also be
made chairman of the State School
Commission.
More Highway Maintenance.
In his discussion of the State high
way system and it's needs, Graham
maintained that the greatest need was
more adequate maintenance, especial
ly of the secondary and county roads
and urged that greater portion of
highway revenue be devoted to main
tenance from now on. He also cited
figures to show that the revenue from
the gasoline tax has been steadily in
creasing, despite the cut made in the
cost of automobile license tags by the
1886 General Assembly, thus indicat-
ing that the cost of license plates can
be cut at least SO per cent without
reducing the highway revenue. For
Graham believes that lower license
costs will bring more cars out onto
the highways and thus increase the
revenue from the gasoline tax enough
to offset any loss from the reduction
in license tags. He also advocated the
return of the highway patrol as unit
Of the State Highway and Public
Works Commission and the carrying
on of vigorous highway safety cam
paign.
Favors Local Option.
With regard to the liquor situation,
Graham pointed out that since pro-
hibition is now generally conceded to
have been failure, that the next step
is to try to control the liquor business