Newspapers / The Franklin Times (Louisburg, … / Dec. 23, 1969, edition 1 / Page 2
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ft* LlGov. Pat Taylor's Speech To The Louisbura Lions Club ? f - Several weeks ago I was returning home late one nl^it and heard a radio prop-am that was directed toward the young ; people of America. Many of the things that ware said I impressed me as being constructive and I would like to rfiare some of them with you today. Before doing so, I want to make it absolutely dear that I am not attempting to excuse apr generation for its shortcom ings. There are many things that we have done that we should not have done arid many things that we have not done that we ought to have done long ago. Nonetheless, our generation has had its hands full of problems during my lifetime and I feel that we have something to say to young Americans about how we have handled the problems of our time. We cannot afford to just thinly about the good things we have done because you make no progress in this way. On the other hand, if we doubt or question our society too much, we could lose confidence in it and it might fall apart and we might not know how to put it back together again. With this preface, I think we can say to young Americans we have heerd and reed a great deal lately from young people, about your disillusionment with the world, our society, and our generation. We have been so materialistic, they say, so intent on "making ft" that we have forgotten the reel values of life - love, fairness, peace, and brotherhood. As a result of our greed and timid conformity, we have missed life they say and in the process have left them a mess that can only be righted by destroying it and building better on the ruins. By and large, I am proud of our generation and of how we have built on the foundation left us. I hope you will do as well. You will if you will leaven your zeal with a little humor, your egotism with a little history, and ask why your insistence on universal love seems so often to express itself in hate for those who differ with you. The generations from which you inherit, including mine, have given you a basically sound worlt}; imperfect, full of flaws springing from human imperfections, bait strong, dynamic, and exciting. For us, in many ways, these are indeed the best and worst of times, but the worst is on the surface; the best is underneath, solid and hopefully enduring. It is strange that yours should be the most favored^ generation in history and yet the most dissatisfied, but a sense of self-tragedy has always been common to the young. When I was your age, I recall, we felt rather sorry for ourselves, victimized by depression, called upon to fight in a worldwide war. You say that we are too concerned with profits, but if you think we value too hi^tly the security of material possessions, let me remind you of this: We were born in the af one great conflict, grew up in history's greaTBSt depression, and "graduated in time to fight man's grisliest war. Setting out, we had one thing uppermost in mind? we wanted better, for ourselves and for you, and we have pretty well gotten I I would say to young America, you speek of i we have known it, and not just from visits to Missi?ippi i* Harlem. We remember when the fear of hunger hung heavy in almost every home. We remember the eyes of the homeless, the defeated faces in the bread lines, the soup kitchens, the Okies, the tfiuffling beggars in the streets, the endless parade of tramps at the back door begging for work or food; men with embarrassed eyes, men once able and self-sufficient whose hunger had eaten away their pride. We remember the winter deaths in the slums and sharecroppers' shacks in mountain hollows, deaths from cold and hunger that left infant bodies too weak to stave off < h Delivered here on i * You are angered -- and you tfioutd be - that four par cant of our people are unemployed, and a good number are chronically hungry. You are incensed -- and you should be - because some people in underpriviledged areas have worms, lack medicine, Uye in wretched hovels, and suffer malnutrition. But we remember- when intestinal worms were commonplace among people. We rirqember when 20 per cent of our men were jobless. And wherixFranklin Roosevelt cried that one third of our nation was NMtoused, id-fed, and ill-clothed, we knew he did nyt. exaggerate. The failings of the past do not justify those of today, of course. ^Kut a realistic comparison reveals a continuing progress that I ho>je and believe is not a sump ton of a sick society. \s^ We have been materialistic because we hav* seen too many people suffer to*-* much from material want, -because we remember too many starving children, because we hafcewalked too many miles through too many cold mornings to worVlong hours at low pay and return home at night to parents with ffcar and worry in their eyes.' We determined it would not happen to you, ttot you would have vitamins and orange juice and milk, warn* clothes, a comfortable home, and good schools and a running start at life. > J Because of it, you are the biggest, tallest, healthiest, brightest, and handsomest generation to inhabit this I arid, and perhaps the world. You are going to live longer, suffer sickness less often, work fewer hours, learn more, see more of the world's grandeur, and have more choice of your life's undertaking than any generation before. ? I would say. to young Americans, you cry out agaihst the injustices suffered by Negroes - and you rfiould. But we remember when a Negro lynching made news only when it was public... We are now told that we should share the guilt of forebears responsible for their enslavement, and make reparations for their mistreatment. This may or may not be a valid premise, but on a more realistic basis, look at what our generation hat achieved for equal justice: Negroes vote, hold offices from city halls to Cong-ess, to a seat on the Supreme Court of the United States; wear lab smocks and police uniforms. They share sch&tt* and colleges, perks, playgrounds, swimming pools, and all other public accommodations. They are busi ness, political, and professional leaders, dominate sports, and are prominent in the entertainment world. If your generation can make as much progress toward racial equality in the next 20 years as we have made in the past 20, you should be able to solve what we call the racial problem. But it is not a problem to be taken lightly... I would say to young America - You speak with commend able concern of economic injustice. But we remember when children worked in sweatshops, when miners attempting to organize were shot, when striking steel workers were beaten down by police. We remember the county poorhouse, the chain gang, the hell of the insane asylum. Consider how far we have come, as well as how far we have to go. A recent article in a magazine had this to say to our youth: "You say we are greedy, possession-mad. Let me say this for my^generation: Never has a people given more generously of its blood, effort, or material. We fought a far bloodier war than Viet Nam to save the world from an unspeakable tyranny, and we then gave our weelth in rich meesure to heel the wounds not only of friend but of foe. No people in all of the world's history have been so generous. , m "Never has this nation taxed itself so t)eayily-,^Oj^v{i its ? . ( 1 December 9. 1969 disadvantaged - its poor, sick, aged, and helpless - a second chance at a decent life. Welfare has become a way of life, perhaps too much so. "We have given you a healthier world than we found. You no longer need fear epidemics of flu, typhus, diphtheria, smallpox, scarlet fever. We have banirtied the nightman of polk). We are closing TB wards daily. Rickets and worms are rare. Childbirth is no longer feered. Improving safety laws protect the health of industrial workers. "We have thrown open the doors of museums and concert to9Is where once only the rich entered. We have given you antibioltics, television, air conditioning, and transistors...We are writing new meaning into conservation, trying to stop the erosion of our soil, the pollution of our air and water, setting aside land for public enjoyment, learning to work with the forces of nature to presurve threatened life'forms... "It is in the field of social relationships that we, like all before us, have fallen shortest of the goal. We have developed weapons that can end all life and you #iould nci lament this; nuclear power can be made to serve man as well as destroy him^and the questing mind cannot be asked to draw back from knowledge because it may prove dangerous. But even ' with the threat of annihilation hanging over us, we have not found an alternative to war. Perhaps you can perfect the social mechanism so tnHall men may, without the threat of force, pursue their course wj which we will no longer need laws or police to enforce them, or armies to prevent men of qne belief from trespassing against others, though the violence with which you protest sometimesVaite doubts that you will. You must learn to hate injustice AithoiKhating the unjuct, to hate war without hating those wKo resort to it. "Which brings us to one of the m^st sensitive of your protests - the war in Viet Nam. It probably hthe number one source of discontent in the body politic. "I think that any factual assessment of Viet Nam will show how decently we got into this situation. Many of you say that it will go down in history as a bloody mistake (though any thinking person knows that history's verdict is by no means in yet), but I am convinced we made our decision with the best of motives and that we remain in Viet Nam not for pride nor profit, as so many young profess to believe, but because we have yet to find a way to terminate our involvement without endangering both the people and the principles we want to defend. And to infer sin in our decision indicates a misunder standing of both government and man... "You protest that the government lies, conceals, and compromises. But ideels alone are often an inadequate vessel for the rough trip through the rapids of international politics. And since neither Moscow, nor Peking, or Hanoi are run by holy men (and I might add that Washington is not run by men of omnipotence^ survival sometimes requires compromise with full candor. Atkogvernments are run by human beings, as are the newspapers and great corporations you sometimes regard so bitterly. "You say that you have been dumped into a world you never made. Frankly, I cannot recall a generation having been . given the privilege of choosing the shape of the world into which it was born... f , "You insist we have given you a rotten system. It is not rottj|h and we have not given it to you. No generation gives power to the next. You will grow into it and live in it, regardless of us. You will control its production and wealth a* rapidly as your talents enable you to fight your way to 1 ? The FrafiJsMii Times *? r? A ThvU?, feffini AN Of PfMkMn Cwty Your Award Winning County Newspaper LOCAL EDITORIAL COMMENT ? t Itp Christmas ^ M At this time of the year, most of us turn our thoughts to the truly impor tant things in our livw-God, home and family. In so doing, we close our , minds to the everyday problems and events ' or a brief period, other things are forgotten and we rejoice in the closeness of loved ones. Whatever problems we have can wait It is time out for the day to day criticisms of our fellows. It is a season of good cheer and hearty greetings. It is mankind at his very best. It is during these days that we look for those in need. It is at this time that we freely consider the' other fellow. It is now that we feel for him. It is a time of renewing faith. Of taking count. A time to pause and to ponder. It is a time for excitement among the young and pleasure teethe old. It is a time to remember! Loved ones are recalled from Christmases past and part of the joy shared then is remem bered now. It is a sad season. It is a glad season. It is a season of love. It is Christmas. If only it lasted the year round. WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING Is There A Santa Claus? The Nevw Reporter, Whiteville, N. C. This it the season to recall again the ^famous . . Is there a Santa Cltfut?" letter written by eight year old Virginia O'Hanlon Douglas. The time for publishing the letter again, as has been done many times over every year since it was written to the Ney York Sun in 1897, is particu1 lar appropriate because Mrs. Douglas, nearing her 80th birthday, is in a Hudson, N. Y. hospital suffering from a heart condition. Here is her letter in part: "Some of my little friends say there if no Santa," she wrote. "Pap says, 'If you see it in the Sun, it's so.' Please tell me the truth, is there a Santa Claus?" The letter brought a celebrated reply on the editorial page of the old Sun during the holiday season of 1897, and the editorial has been pub lished year after year all over the world. s , . "Virginia, your little friends are wrong . . They do not believe except what they see. They think that noth ing can be which is not comprehen sible by their little minds . . "Yes, Virginia, there, is a Santa Claus. He exists as certaihly as love and generosity and, devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas, how dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Clausl I t would be as dreary as if there were no Virginia*." From All Of Us - To All Of You J7t's Christmas, and we're so glad to chime in with our own good wishes to you, your family and friends. y^ACiXx^J OAA^U) Ctx^AuJUU^ * ?, .. fltcknr, iSkQ ? Th# Management and Stiff of THE FRANKLIN TIMES ? I control. You will become its political leaders and set its policies as rapidly as you can convince people that your judgment is sound and your policies preferable... "Believe me. I am glad to see your anger at discovering want and injustice. It speaks of something good in you. It will spur you, I hope, to make changes. "You say the schoolboofc view J>1 America is false, that democracy, equality, brotherhood, liberty, and justice for all are myths. You are wrong. They are the ideals, the goals, the vision put before us by the men who started ail this. Is our democracy less than a reality because some abuse its privi leges? Are the ideals of liberty and justice for all less-inspiring, less worthy, less believable because we, being human, fall short of them?" I do not think so. I believe in the Democratic process as being fallible and imperfect but I believe that at the greatest moment in the American past Americans have had an image of what free men working together could make of human life Next to our religion, I believe it is the best blueprint ever devised for society, il ask you to takeour shortcomings and our problem* and not consider them to be insurmountable burdens but as invitations to accomplishment in the years to come. If you will do this, you will be standing before a Rotary Club 2S years from today asking your children to do the same thing that I ask you to do today. NOTE: The most of this speech came from an article by John Ed Pearce in the Louisville Courier-Journal & Times Magazine. 'COME TO THINK OF IT . ."I by frank count It aint likely to ever happen, but tf I was Simla Ctaus, this'd be a happy old world. I'd bring everybody what they needed moat-whether they wanted it or not. I'd give Spiro Agnes hia own television station and if I was feeling generous, I might throw in his own newspaper. And I'd give Richard Nixon one of the games where you toca the dice, and make your decisions. It'd give him something to do and he might throw 'em so's he could really git us together again. 1 I'd give Hugh Scott all the integrated schools he could ever want' and I'd put them all in Pennsyvania where be could aee them real good. I'd stick a Clement Hayns worth doll In Abe Fortas' stocking, so's he'd have some thing be could feel sorry for. . I'd stick a Abe Fortas doll in ' Clement Haynsworth's stock ing for the same reason. I'd draft Ted Kennedy so's he'd know what he's talking about. I think I'd put him in the infantry so's he wouldn't have to keep asking the ex perta about foot soldiering. I'd give John Lindaey New York. But I'd let all the folks who wanted to move to Brooklyn before I done it. I'd give Duke Terry San ford (oops, somebody done beat me to It). Well that kihjuiu uui me saving mm lor Carolina. I guess they II just have to -settle iat Howard Fuller. I'm plum sorry to disappoint that Newt and Observer editor, but there aint but one Howard Fuller and I think Carolina deserves him moat. And nobody got to. tell me that leaves a empty stocking with the Episcopalians. Maybe I can ghre them that News and Observer editor. The only thing about that editor Is though, he done suffered so much lately, he ought to git something he wapts His whole Christmas done been mint. Somebody shot at somebody's houae In Wake Oounty-and everybody who reads hta newspaper knows that kind of thing can't happen nowhere ; In Franklin County. It must a come as a terrible blow to him. Maybe IH leave a George Wallace sticker under his tree. I think if 1 can git by that new wall and If the celling don't fan on me, II leave Bob Scott some of my bills. He got all the money and it's got to go somewherea. It might make his Christmas merry knowing he got some place for it to go. 1 might git him to help me deliver all the preaenta. He wont need no pillow on his stomache, but I might not be able to find a suit his size. ?. And if I can git them together I might git a Russian Roulette gun for Robert Morgan, Pat Taylor, Lauch Fairdoth and Skipper Bowles and Mel Broughton. They could all play and the o? what's left could run without any opposition Trouble with that is, with my luck, my man would g li shot. And you know I wouldn't forget all them characters here at home. I'd have to give the Sheriff a little hat-a white one a 'course. I'd gtt Ralph a loud sport coat. Them he wears dont show up so good against the Christmas decoration. I aint shore what I'm gonna give Alex. He got everything he needa. I might M C. T. do the selecting. He knows Alex "bout as good as anybody. Now If I can find somebody knows C. T. I aint quite sure about Norwood, Buck, Brooks and them others. I been thinking about leaving them some chicken* but somebody keeps saying they'd rather have eom* air condition ed. Chickens is easier to tote around and besides I aint bean able to find no alt conditioners. ft There la a whole heap more folks I'd take can ofy-lf I waa Santa CUua. There wouldn't be a child in the world what didn't gtt exactly what he or *e wanted. And I'd give their mamas and daddies what they needed to (it It with, too. I'd bring the world peace and I'd have folks be kind to each other and I'd do away with parking ticket*. But, I aint Santa Oeus. so all I can do Is just say Merry Chrietmas, everydobody . Remember aid Frank
The Franklin Times (Louisburg, N.C.)
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Dec. 23, 1969, edition 1
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