The Wilmington morning star., 1940-01-13
!. LEE CRAVELY
ENTERS CONTEST
FOR GOVERNOR
Continued From Page One)

efficiently used in the construction
and maintenance of roads, then we
should have a corresponding reduc-
ton in the tax on gasoline or Ii
cense tags"
Opposition Qualified
His opposition to the sales tax,
while no less positive, was qua l.
fled blythe assertion that the levy
was an emergency measure and
could not, perhaps, be scuttled
completely until the emergency had
subsidized.
I am opposed to the sales
tax and want to see it abolished"
the platform said. ut is my ear
nest hope that this tax may be
abolished, and to this end I prom
Use my best endeavor without in
any way j%eopardizing the worth
while activities of the state.
II believe that a more rigid COL
lection of taxes, a limitation of the
power of one man to compromise
taxes, and the natural economies
resulting from a businesslike adj
ministration will result in increased
revenue, which probably will en-
able us to reduce the sales tax at
the present time to two per cent,
the direction of its ultimate repeal"
Opposes New Boards
Gravely also went on record as
opposing the creation of new state
boards and commissions, and ex-
pressed hope that some of the ex-
listing boards and commissions
might be abolished or consolidated.
His platform in brief:
l. Principles of business efficien-
cy and economy should be injected
into the government of North
Carolina. The budget must remain
balanced and the debt must be re-
duced.
2. The school system and voca-
tional training must be improved
continually. Teachers salaries
should be increased as revenues
permit. The program of free text
books should be continued.
8. Health programs should be in
tensified.
4. Adequate hospital facilities for
the insane should be provided. All
state hospitals for the insane should
be supervised by one board Of di-
rectors.
5. The highway system, particu-
larly farm-to-market roads, should
be improved constantly. There
should be no diversion Of highway
funds.
6. The state advertising program
should be continued.
Z. Prisons should be m~odernized
and steps should be taken to re-
duce the number of escapes.
8. The state department Of labor,
and the fright to work for fair
wages and in healthful environ
ment" must be maintained.
9. Taxes should not exceed those
of neighboring states. The sales
tax should be reduced and ulti-
mately abolished. No bonds should
be issued except for absolutely
necessary" requirements.
10. Agricultural research should
be continued. Farming generally
should be diversified, and growers
should be made to see the wisdom
of abandoning the money crop
system of agriculture.
II. A pension system should be
Established for state employees.
-. The social security program
should be continued.
Gravely, so years old, was borr
in Danville, Va, his parents NOV
ed to this state when he was foul
months old, and his father, the late
J. y. Gravely, engaged in the to.
bacco warehouse business here ane
founded the China-America Tobacco
company.
The gubernatorial candidate at
tended Randolph Macon college an6
the University of North Carolina
He has served two terms as mayor
of Rocky Mount, resigning in 1925
when he was first elected to the
state senate.
He is a Mason, a Shriner, ano
a member of the Improved Order
of Red Men and the junior Order
UNITED American Mechanics. A
Methodist, he teaches one Of the
largest Sunday school classes in
eastern North Carolina.