Newspapers / The Transylvania Times (Brevard, … / May 26, 1938, edition 1 / Page 8
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WHO’S NEWS THIS WEEK By LEMUEL F. PARTON NEW YORK.—Meeting Francesco Malipiero at a party in the Roy al Danielli in Venice, soon after the World war, I thought he was one of the most charm Malipiero ing and brilliant, Wat Person and, at the same to Remember time, most cryptic men I had ever seen. There was in uie company another Italian musician, a famous conductor, who was the lion of the evening. I have forgotten his ap pearance and his name, but every thing about Signor Malipiero is viv idly remembered. On the way home in a gondola, I asked the conductor for an apprais al of Signor Malipiero as a musi cian. There was considerable con descension in the reply. Malipiero was gifted but er ratic, it was even hinted that be was “unsound,” in some deeply subversive sense. But my Virgil eagerly agreed that the signor was a most extraordinary hu man personality. As recently as four years ago, a Malipiero opera threw the Royal opera house of Rome into a tumult of howling and cat calls. Mussolini banned it os “inimical to the faith and sound teachings of the new It aly.” But, by this time, Malipiero had become a world-famous musi cian, and he was soon restored to favor. This status is unquestioned as his symphony, “Elegiaca.” was given its first performance “Outlaw ot jn New York, with Music Now John Barbirolli Is Lionized conducting. For many years, criti cal opinion discounted him as some what of an outlaw and disturber. Now it has caught up with him, as it did with Stravinsky and Richard Strauss. Both the “Fire Bird" and “Salome” were met with cat-calls when they were first produced. Critics note some mjsterious “en ervating influence” in Malipiero’s new symphony. It may be an after thought, but the explanation seems clear as I recall my conversation with him. His face saddened and he seemed ten years older when I mentioned the war. For his bailet, “Pantea,” he bad written of “the struggle of a soul hurling itself into the struggle for liberty, only to find oblivion and death.” The war had been to him a tragic and devastating experience. He said ' it had profoundly shaken both his art and his life. Never again would the suave flu encies or banalities ot music have meaning for him. He was impelled to a deeper search. This disillusionment was subli mated in irony. He was suspected of slyly sabotaging Suspected of the grandiose new Sabotage in Italian state. It New Opera w'as in March, H 1934, that his op era, “The Fable of the Exchanged Sons,” with the text by Luigi Piran dello, all but caused a riot in the Royal opera house. So far as I could learn at the time, there was no brash heresy in the work, but, as elaborated by the text, a subtle hint that ultimate truth is forever elusive and supreme power dead sea fruit. That, of course, is dangerous doctrine in a totalitarian state, and it was quick ly and savagely resented. The next day, II Duce forbade another pre sentation. Malipiero is a poet and a mys tic. Of dominant presence, with sharply cut Roman features and hair brushed back in a thick pompadour, he is at the same time extraordinarily gracious, friendly and unassuming. He lives in a quaint stone villa, forty or fifty miles from Venice, centuries old, rambling and tumble down. Cut in the stone door lintel there is a Latin text, “To the ob scene, all things are obscene.” That was his answer to the critics of one of his operas. The art of living engrosses him as much as the art of music and he studiously main Haa Gift for tains a relation Friendahip ship of courtesy, With Av.imala di8nity and friend ly intimacy with the cteatures in his retreat—he has a gift for friendship with animals and thinks that much of the trouble of mankind is due to its insensi tiveness to the subhuman and su perhuman. His music is apt to range into those zones. He was born in Venice in 1882, beginning his violin studies in his sixth year. His father was a politi cal exile and the family was in Germany for many years. Wagner was a crashing strain qf modernity which profoundly affected his work. C Consolidated News Features. WNV Service. Quarrel or Fight “Many a man seems to enjoy a quarrel,” said Uncle Eben, “on de theory dat it’s better dan a fight.” Find Solomon’s Seaport—Kaiser at Wedding ancient seaport used by King Solomon on the Red sea has been unearthed by archeologists iu Pal estine. Photograph shows shallow rooms uncovered by the diggers. 2—Gen. Saturnino Ccdillo. one-time ciose associate of President Cardenas of Mexico, whose activities caused the government to re-enforce its troops a. S<*n Luis Potosi to prevent a revolt. 3—Ex-Kaiser Wilhelm chats with the bride of his grandson, the former Grand Duchess Kyra, following their marriage at Doom house, Netherlands. Prince Louis Ferdinand, the groom, looks on. __ Menuhin and His Fiancee Yehudi Menuhin, concert violinist, is pictured in London with his bride-to-be, Miss Nola Nicholas of Melbourne, Australia. Miss Nicholas is the daughter of a wealthy Australian drug manufacturer. HORSE AND BUGGY DAYS Mrs. E. Roland Harriman, society irotting enthusiast, is shown aboard the high wheeled sulky which Jay Eye See pulled to a world record of 2:10 back in 1884 as she gave the ancient relic a workout over the track at Goshen, N. Y. Giro Lands Mail on Post Office Roof A new chapter in air mail history was written in Chicago as Pilot Johnny Miller settled to the post office building roof with his autogiro carrying 135 pounds of mail from the Municipal airport. A feature of the pro gram observing the twentieth anniversary of air mail flight, the demonstration showed the practicability of vertical landing and take-offs by means of the autogiro and the attendant saving in time. ACE JUMPING FROG f in ■i—imr—i 'V* r “Zip,” the prize hopping frog of eight-year-old Eddie Robinson of Stockton, Calif., showed plenty of zip at the historic Angels Camp Frog Jumping jubilee in Calaveras county recently when it pounced out 15 feet 10 inches to set a new world’s record. The jubilee honors Mark Twain, who wrote a story about a jumping frog and other figures of the early days in the Mother Lode gold mining section. Toe Shine Boy Does Rushing Business America’s first “Toe Shine Boy” is enterprising young Keoki Kepoo, who does a rushing business of massaging the pedal digits of fair swim* mers at Hawaii’s popular Waikiki beach at Honolulu. Washington.—Almost before its operation is well started, the new federal crop law Crop Law appears to be bog Bobu Down 8big down. From what I hear around the offices of senators and representatives at the Capitol, there is plenty of rebellion against the law which is supposed to plan ag riculture on a scientific basis. In deed, if one reads some of the let ters, the conclusion is inescapable that Secretary Wallace and his “sci entific planners” are going to have more trouble than a one-armed pa per hanger in administering that law. It is difficult to provide a clear analysis of the trouble because of the complex character of the law, the confusion as to what can and can not be done under its provi sions, the varying attitude of the farmers who ore its “beneficiaries” or its “victims," according to their views. The problem of telling what is wrong is made the more difficult because practical people seem to be unable to get anywhere in their ef forts to get the “scientific planners” to recognize human nature as well as the materia] forces that must oe considered in farming. I have talked with a number of Department of Agriculture people; individuals whc are supposed to un derstand the crop control law. They are mo3t convincing; the pen-and ink sketches that they have made leave only the question as to the reaction of human beings. The de partment propaganda surely is suf ficient to smother any criticism. It is formidable. But it, also. leaves that question of human relation ships, wind and weather, to be de termined. Even in that regard, ev ery now and then Secretary Wal lace issues a statement or makes a speech which seems to do away with any possibility of trouble from those influences. in tne meantime, nowever, me cotton growers of the South went into a rebellion about the acreage allotment. They succeeded in get ting, rather in forcing, Secretary Wallace to obtain congressional ac tion allowing for an increase of 2,000,000 acres of production this year. He went after that legislative action as an emergency, and there was plenty of sentiment in congress for it, because as a matter of cold fact there is a very large majority in the house and senate who doubt that the new crop oontrol law is go ing to work. To the request for ad ditional acreage, therefore, there was only a little objection since ad ditional acreage meant an obvious increase in general production with the chance for increased return to the farmers who grow the cotton. Only lately, another tidal wave of rebellion developed. It came from the corn farmers. They had re ceived their allotments of acreage and, like the cotton farmers, they found themselves between the up per and nether millstones. Their rebellion surely lent credence to statements in debate when congress was considering the bill that it con ferred more power on a federal agency than ever ought to be con ferred in a free country, and that there was no possibility of this pow er being exercised wisely since nona knew its scope. The cotton and corn revolt, therefore, would seem to support assertions in the senate that the two chief sponsors of the bill, Senators Pope of Idaho and McGill of Kansas, had no under standing of the measure they were fighting for. At least, the explana tions they made never were able to permeate what I am pleased to re fer to as my brain. m m m The corn protestors made their first concentrated move only recent ly at Macomb, 111., Farmers and the sum and Protest substance of that meeting seems to be that those farmers have had their bellies full of compulsory crop con trol. They called it un-American; they described it as ruinous and pledged united action against its continuation. Of course, no one in Washington can tell exactly how many farmers are in sympathy with the position taken at the Macomb meeting. There are 566 counties in what is designated as the com area. Wheth er there is a large majority against the compulsory, dictatorial type of law, or whether there is only a siz able minority can not now be ac curately stated. It can be stated as a definite fact, however, that farmers do not spend their money to go several hundred miles for a meeting of protest unless they are being badly damaged. Communists and other radicals would go dashing anywhere to hold a protest meeting, but farmers are not built that way. So the Macomb meeting must be taken seriously. It must be given additional weight as well because it followed on the heels of heated pro tests from the cotton growers. As to the number of farmers rep resented in the Macomb meeting; that is to say, the farms and farm ers represented by that protest, it might be enlightening to quote here the published statement of Claude R. Wickard. Mr. Wickard is a di visional AAA director and one of the really close advisors to Secre tary Wallace. Said Mr. Wickard: “Complaints have come against the com allotments as high as 1,100 from one county.” Obviously there could not be that many complaints from more ihan a limited number of counties. But even if there are only half that num ber of protests from any considera ble number of counties, the repre sentatives and senators who voted for that legislation are bound to get plenty of kicks in the pants next November. And the plight of those members of the house and sena^> appears to be made v/orse by the statement attributed to the Depart* i ment of Agriculture by Represent ative Aridresen of Minnesota. Ap parently, Mr. Anaresen had been getting baskets full of kicks about the acreage allotments and went to the department to find oui the facts. He returned to tell his colleagues on the floor of the house: "The administration (AAA) will not yield an inch. 'Die allotments have been made according to law and the farmers can take them or leave them.” In that statement, it seems to me, there is unbounded arrogance and Mr. Andresen did the country a service when he repeated it to the house of representatives. It is an attitude of the dictator, of the worst sort of regimentation and It bears out the very thing which Senator Eorsh of Idaho predicted would hap pen when he opposed the legislation. Senetor Borah’s blast in the debate was, of course, branded as the criti cism of a Republican, and it was his colleague, Serator Pope, the Ida ho New Dealer, who was rumjmg about the country last year asJfhe thief member of a committee of senators which was drumming up C sentiment for the legislation before the extra session of congress called last November. , By way of prediction, 1 think there can be no doubt that the wheat fawners will find themselves , shocked, instead of their wheat, when they get their acreage allot ments later. They will find that the law is compulsory, not one of free co-operation as advertised when the bill was being debated in congress. « t * What is the reason for these con ditions? Why is there rebellion among the farm Wny the 6rs when, accord Rebellion ? ing to Secretary Wallace, there was a great majority for applica tion of the crop control provisions? Frankly, I believe there are sev eral factors to be considered as hav ing influenced the passage and sub sequent application of the compul sory regimentation. In the first instance, it is quite apparent now that many represent atives and senators were subjecd|d to red hot steam from professiuwl farm lobbyists, from Secretary Wal lace and his lobbyists and from the minority of farmers who wanted something, anything, that would cause the government to pay them money. That belief is predicated upon a knowledge that the vast ma jority of the farmers are too busy with their own affairs to be active in politics. The legislators thought they were doing what the farmers wanted them to do. In the second place, there surely was much misrepresentation about the legislation. At all times and on all occasions, Secretary Wallace and those who were seeking to put over the legislation vigorously , stressed the statement that the pro visions of the plan were voluntary. There was to be no compulsion in ( it; the farmers themselves were to decide; the department here in Washington would do exactly what the farmers wanted. All of which is very well and good, except that the farmers were not informed how much pressure could be exerted to make them volunteer. They either had to “volunteer” or find they could market none of their product without being penalized. what is the result going to Der Congress soon will be quitting for the year, and there is no liklihood of any amendment that will alter tb* situation—unless something int^f venes to keep congress in session far into the summer months. The only thing to look forward to, then, is the result of the fall elections. If the revolt that is represented by the protests of the cotton and com farmers is widespread, it will show up in the votes at election time. Those who fought so hard for it in congress will meet trouble in pri maries and in the election as well. To me, however, there is an added significance. These protests reveal a growing sentiment among farm ers, a resentment, against ha>Ag the federal government bureauflWt# run the farms from Washington. C Western Newspaper Union. Puerto Rieo a Flower Garden The tropical island of Puerto Rico is a veritable flower, with 3,353 va rieties of brilliantly colored flower* growing, on. its mountains and coastal plains, V
The Transylvania Times (Brevard, N.C.)
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May 26, 1938, edition 1
8
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