Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, May 26, 1994 TAG: 9405270073
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-16 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
In both news stories, the standard threat of the companies' moving their entire multimillion-dollar investment in plant and people was mentioned.
Sam Moore Furniture Industries recently began construction of a 40,000 square-foot addition to its Bedford plant. This expansion will result in at least 50 additional jobs. Sam Moore isn't foreign-owned; our work force has grown steadily over the past 20 years without layoffs or downsizings; we've expanded our facilities 11 times without ever asking for state taxpayers' funds; and we have never threatened to move if we didn't receive special tax breaks, which ultimately are paid for by higher taxes on taxpayers.
Foreign corporations didn't help pay for any of our expansions and we shouldn't be asked to pay for theirs. Somehow this whole procedure seems very unfair to Virginia's existing industry and its taxpayers.
JOHN K. BOARDMAN
President
Sam Moore Furniture Industries
BEDFORD
Nominate North to re-elect Robb
I'VE watched the Republican Party divide in two with Oliver North's decision to run for senator. Actually, it first started with Sen. John Warner's refusal to endorse Mike Farris for lieutenant governor in 1993. Warner is again amidst controversy for his statement labeling North as ``unsuitable to serve in the Senate.'' The ultraconservative right wing that's trying to take control of the GOP wants Warner, the most popular Republican in the history of the state, ousted. Warner is joined by Colin Powell in criticizing North. Even Ronald Reagan, the symbol of ultraconservatism, has spoken out against North.
Actually, North is a good representative of Virginia's Republican Party. Neither his followers nor his party can reach a consensus. Regarding his Iran-Contra involvement, some say he didn't lie; some say he lied ``honorably;'' some say he lied only slightly; and others say he was only following orders. Shouldn't he have challenged what he thought was wrong? Wouldn't you rather have a person who questions authority in Washington and defends our best interests? His military record may be praiseworthy, but it doesn't make him worthy of representing us.
As a 14-year-old, I'm glad I can't vote. As a Democrat, I've gained some respect for Warner. People say members of Congress should vote and speak their conscience, yet when Warner does this, people want his head on a stick. Despite Warner's refusal to endorse any puppet the GOP puts up, North will probably get the nomination. Good. A respectable candidate would pose a threat to Robb's re-election.
ERIK ONYETT
ROANOKE
The camel's nose is under the tent
BENSON'S political cartoon on the May 11 Opinion page was quite humorous, except the label on the man with his fingers in his ears was incorrect. Its label should have read ``press.'' Sorry, but you shot yourself in the foot with your contradiction. You recently reported the crime rate has actually dropped. In the cartoon, a newspaper in question carries the headline, ``Gun Murders on Rise,'' and the blaring TV is saying ``Gangs outgun police.'' Police have semiautomatic and automatic assault weapons, between which you seemingly cannot distinguish.
I used to think the National Rifle Association was paranoid for its carping about government taking away our guns like Hitler did in 1938. Then, the NRA said, you'll be at the mercy of government. Now that the proverbial camel has its nose in the tent and the present administration is attempting to suspend part of the Constitution, I'm beginning to change my mind. I'm now an NRA member in order to defend my own rights.
I'm willing to allow you your prejudices, but I balk at your self-righteous arrogance in trying to force mine into oblivion. It's the media who have their fingers in their ears. The First Amendment could be next. Then the ``assault weapon'' of the power of the press would be extinct. Think about it!
BEN HILLMAN
DALEVILLE
Japanese atrocities can't be denied
REGARDING Justice Minister Shigeto Nagano's denial of Japanese atrocities in China (May 5 Associated Press article, ``Japanese official denies World War II aggression''):
He's wrong. I'm an American with a ``white Russian'' mother and a U.S. Marine father. I was born in Shanghai in 1929 and lived there until 1946.
I heard my parents and grandparents expressing shock about the atrocities of ``the rape of Nanking '' in 1937. We who lived in the Hongkew section of Shanghai were forced to flee into the International Sector, with the Japanese forcing us out. We lost all our possessions. I saw the criminality of the Japanese against defenseless Chinese citizens. Shortly, we were refugees to Hong Kong and then Manila. We left under gunboat fire, scared to death, but returned in 1938-'39.
On Dec. 8, 1941, we became civilian POWs, and all our possessions were confiscated. I still have my red armband with a letter ``A'' (American). I went to prison at age 12, and was proud to be one of eight Americans amongst 850-950 British friends and families.
Japan attacked China and Manchuria for the purpose of expansion. Atrocities by the Japanese in China-Manchuria and Southeast Asia abounded horribly.
My stepfather, an Englishman and former assistant chief of police of S'hai, had to stay in Singapore after the war to help investigate and prosecute Japanese war criminals. We went to England.
For those of an ignorant mind regarding the Holocaust of the Jews, my English uncle of the Royal Army investigated German war crimes. In both cases, I saw hundreds of photos. They were worse than horrible.
ROBERT R. FINDLEY
ROANOKE
What are the costs of the job program?
REGARDING Ruth Zimmer Hendrick's May 11 letter to the editor, ``A welfare reform that's working'':
I have some questions about the city of Roanoke's Department of Social Services' Employment Services program, TRADE.
Hendrick said, ``at any given time our staff work with approximately 1,400 citizens.'' At what cost to the taxpayer? What size staff does this require?
She stated, ``Employers receive a subsidy during the worker's training period, and Employment Services provides support to help the individual get on his or her feet and into a secure financial position.'' How much do we subsidize the employer? What support are we responsible for?
Hendrick said, ``More than 75 percent of workers placed in TRADE positions during the past five years have remained self-sufficient and haven't returned to the AFDC rolls.'' This is wonderful if she doesn't mean three of four people. At what cost per individual were these people placed?
She also said ``the program is too severely underfunded to be maximally successful.'' Before I'm ready to pay more, I'd like to know what it has already cost me.
CARLA WEBB
ROANOKE
Book's appeal isn't only to railroad buffs
I WAS disappointed in Lynn Eckman's review of Jim Murphy's ``Across America on an Emigrant Train'' on the April 24 book page. I offer your readers an alternate review.
This book received the Jefferson Cup Award for 1994, given by a committee designated by the Children's and Young Adult Round Table, a division of the Virginia Library Association. To promote reading of books about America's past, this award honors books written for young people in the areas of U.S. history, historical fiction and biography.
Eckman's summary is excellent. However, the committee felt that instead of appealing only to railroad fans, the book made railroad lore interesting and accessible to the uninitiated as well. The award citation praised Murphy's skillful interspersing of Stevenson's commentaries with a general history of the growth of the transcontinental railroad and the emigrant experience. It said, ``Murphy's abundant use of period photographs, engravings, and lithographs greatly enhances the readable and absorbing text.''
This book was also named ``Best Book of the Year'' by the School Library Journal. It has a starred review in Kirkus, and has received several other commendations.
FRIEDA F. BOSTIAN
Member, 1994 Jefferson Cup Committee
BLACKSBURG
by CNB