The coastland times. [volume] (Mnateo [i.e. Manteo], N.C.) 1947-1959, 1958-12-19

Agriculture Department when he
was named to the Commission.
He'd worked in the department UNI
der Kerr Scott for IL years. Also,
he had gained experience in mar
keting and transportation along
the Eastern Seaboard during the
summers to supplement his income
when he was school teacher in
the depression years.
II brought some knowledge of
transportation with me when l
came to the Commission and had
to get the other, the law and ac-
counting procedures, so l studied
and learned" Westcott said.
His forte as a commissioner has
been the knowledge he has gained
in accounting and the extremely
complex matter of fixing rate
bases, upon which the utilities
profits are fixed by the Commits
sion.
| Westcott was born on Roanoke
Island on April Is, 1906, the son
of George Thomas and Odessa Til
llett Westcott. He attended both
elementary and high school at
Manteo and received his B. S. de-
gree from North Carolina State
College here in 1928.
| At State, Westcott went in for
singing. He was president of the
Glee Club and member of quar-
tet directed by the late P. W..
Daddy Price, longtime music
teacher and a well-known person
atty on the campus.
Teacher and Coach
He taught science and coached
at Washington Collegiate Institute
in Washington, N. c., and in the
City school system of the Beaufort
County capital until 1886, when he
took a position with the Agricul-
ture Department as a marketing
specialist.
! He had helped prepare himself
/ for the marketing job by spending
his summers working for the Fed
eral- State Inspection Services. In
1913, he succeeded the late Randall
B. Etheridge as director of mar
kets Tor the department.
AS Etheridge's successor, he
pushed a program to aid the small
farmer in the belief that it was
the small-scale operator, not the
big one, who would encounter
trouble finding an outlet for his
output.
Seeing a need back then for a
program that currently is getting
much emphasis, Westcott promoted
a cooperative program whereby
merchants of the State were urged
to improve the display of North
Carolina farm produce.
Expert ON Loan
On numerous occasions during
his career as a marketing special
list, Westcott was loaned" to the
U. S. Secretary of Agriculture in
various. federal marketing, trans
portation and diversion programs.
In 1941, he served as president of
the Inspectors Association of
America.
Westcott is a Methodist, serving
on the HAYES Barton Church'S
official board, and a devotee of all
sports, particularly golf Che shoots
in the low 80s) and hunting. He is
former Lion and member of the
Rotary Club.
Westcott married the former
Helen Rankin of Gastonia on
March 81, 1912. They now live at
3O46 Granville Drive, Raleigh, with
their two children, 15-year-old
Helen and Robert T. Westcott, 8.
The new Utilities Commission
chairman says the Commission
"has grave responsibilities" and he
is well aware that "many of it's
decisions are susceptive to unpopu-
lar reception"
He sees the problem this way:
"On the one hand, it has the duty
Of Getting the public against
excessive utility costs; on the
other hand, strong and financially
healthy utility systems capable of
meeting the service demands made
upon them are essential to the
welfare of our homes, businesses
and industries"
He sees the Commissions duty
in this light: "By careful adher-