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THE FftANKLIN f^RfeSS AN6 THE HIGHLANDS MACONIAN
THURSDAY, DEC. 24, ld36
Ttnh
Published every Thursday by The Franklin Press
At Franklin, North Carolina
Tekphone No. 24
VOL. LI
Number 52
BLACKBURN W. JOHNSON EDITOR AND PUBLISHER
Entered at the Post Office, Franklin, N. C, as second-class matter
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the sensibilities of our readers.
What of “Peace on Earth?”
Qfi earth peace, good
will toward men”
Skeptics scoff at the familiar words—the
angel’s refrain heard by simple Judean shep
herds as they watched their flocks by night. And,
sometimes, even those who would believe are tempt
ed, as they look out upon a distraught world, to
doubt as empty words the promise which accom
panied the Christ Child’s birth.
Is man born to war, as the Italian dictator, Mus
solini, so blatantly declared to his people? Is peace
an unworthy dream, or is death in the service of
Mars man’s most desired end?
Is there nothing but puerile emotionalism, as the-
German Fascists would have us believe, in a re
ligion which teaches “Love thy neighbor as thy
self?”
In war-torn Spain down-trodden masses have
rebelled not only against the State, but against the
Church as well. Here was a Christian country.
What of “peace, good will toward men?”
Other nations which call themselves Christian
are rapidly arming . . . “for defense” is the excuse
in every instance. When will love supplant distrust
—ever ?
Doubt arises on every hand, and a divided world
gives grim testimony for the unbelievers.
But man, deep in his heart, knows that the
Angel’s words ring true. And to support the prom
ise of the Christ Child’s herald there is plenty of
evidence if one will but look.
Peoples whose ancestors were barbarians at the
time the bright star shone over Bethlehem have
come a long ways in two thousand years, which
in the history of man is a brief span indeed. The
teaching of “love thy neighbor” has spread around
the_ world. That man still disregards this teaching
does not weakea its truth one bit. It is steadily
gaining foothold, though at times we seem slow to
learn.
Governments which, though they paid lip service
to Christianity, were in fact founded on opposing
doctrines, are giving way to a new order. Democ
racies which not only teach but practice that all
men are equal in God’s sight” have come to stay.
Downtrodden peoples may overthrow oppressive
governments, by peaceful or warlike means, and
they may set up in their place other governments
which pay little heed to the creed of Christ. But, if
one takes a long view of the history of the past and
the history of the present, he cannot escape the
realization that the principles of Christianity are
coming more and more into practice among the
people of the earth. They may be known through
some other name, even Christ may be denied . . .
but the fact is inescapable that the world, though
it may go through many painful transitions, is
steadily moving toward realization of the angel’s
promise—“ * * * and on earth peace, good will
toward men.”
There is no gainsaying that the spirit of respect
for the rights of others has progressed far since
Joseph and Mary fled with their child before He-
Sverybody
=by A. B. Chapin
§T/^Tll©
XMAS
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rod’s slaughter of the babes of Bethlehem.
There is little doubt that the peoples of the earth
have advanced, slowly but surely, in the art of self
government. And now there are definite signs that
the world is beginning to learn another _ lesson—
that no nation can live to itself. The spirit of for
bearance, forgiveness and cooperation is definitely
gaining, despite some signs to the contrary.
The very fact that the world is impatient for the
fulfillment of the angel’s promise, so impatient that
it sometimes doubts, is itself an unanswerable truth
that “peace on earth” will come to pass.
“O Star beyond all stars, the darkness ;
still
Is slow to comprehend! 0 light of men.
The glare of earth has kept us blind so
long 1
Forgive us as we lit our eyes again
And make us brave to live to the angel’s
song!”
Bruce-
BARTON
they lessen .all printing and type
written sales effort.
Looking at the charts which reg
istered carloads .and trainloads, I
was reminded of a remark my
father made years ago. He said,
“There is no greater contrast be
tween my childhood and the child
hood of my childre,n than the lavish
use of paper. When I was a boy
paper was scarce and expensive.
We used it with almost painful
frugality. AVe wrote on both sides
of every sheet. We saved old en
velopes for memoranda. The idea
of making a few scratches on a
dean white sheet and tossing it
into the waste basket would have
seemed almost sacreligious.”
He added that paper was so
scarce in Abraham Lincoln’s boy
hood that tlie future president
worked his arithmetic problems ou
the back of a vvooden shovel and
then carefully scraped off the pen
cil marks to provide a clean sur
face for the next night’s work.
The return of prosperity so far
as paper is concerned, has been
realized. W^e all have all we need
at prices that are very cheap, and
it was good to see those charts.
Real business prosperity is not
handed down from on high.^ It
springs up out of millions of minds
all figuring out and disseminating
ideas by the use of paper.
(Copyright, K. F. S.)
HATS OFF TO
MINISTERS’ SONS
Three years ago a little New
England school sent three boys to
one of the big eastern universities,
and this last year all three of them
were elected to Phi Beta Kappa,
the honorary scholarship fraternity.
This is an amazing record. .1 wrote
to the headmaster to congratulate
him. In answering my note he said:
“Our boys have made a very sat
isfactory record in all of the col
leges, but these three have been
outstanding. All three are sons of
ministers and come from families
without means.”
Subtract the sons of ministers
from the history of the world and
you would leave a mighty vacancy.
Here are a few examples:
Cleveland, Clay, Buchanan, Ar
thur, among statesmen. (In the
presidential election of 1916 both
the candidates, Wilson and Hughes,
were preachers’ sons.) Cecil
Rhodes and Harriman, financiers;
Agassiz,, Jenner, Linnaeus, scient
ists; Sir Joshua Reynolds among
the artists, and Sir Christopher
Wrenn, the architect; Hallam,
Froude, Sloane, Parkman to repre
sent the historians; Tennyson, Ben
Johnson, Cowper, Goldsfnith, Addi
son, Matthew Arnold; Emerson,
aird a multitude of other poets and
writers.
Preachers’ sons have good books,
they hear good conversation, they
spend their childhood in an atmos
phere of idealism. If the church did.
nothing in a community but sup
port a preacher and so enable himi,
to raise a family, it would justify
all its cost.
One other advantage the preach
er’s son has is that he has to-
work, he has to save, he has to-
live frugally. When it comes to-
raising the right kind of children,,
money seems to be about the last
thing that counts.
WATCH THE
PAPER SCALE
I recently attended a meeting of
men interested in the manufac.ture
of paper. Charts were exhibited to
show the trend of the business
since 1929. They were very interest
ing.
They were interesting because
there is probably no better Index
of general business activity than
the consumption of white paper.
When business is slow men write
fewer letters; they make fewer
memoranda; they set down fewer
plans; they prepare fewer Jjooiklets;
Shurbbery Needs
Careful Pruning
Since shrubs renew themselves
by .new growth from the base of
the plant, it is necessary that home
gardeners plan a regular pruning
schedule to keep their shrubbery
attractive. .
If not attended' to, shrubs wilj
become thick, ragged, diseased, and
unsightly, says Glenn O. Randall,
floriculturist at State college. In
most cases this practice is not due
to carelessness but to a lack of
knowledge of how to prune .and
care for shrubs.
A common mistake made at time
of planting, points out Randall, is
that of not pruning the tops to off
set the roots which were lost when
the plants were dug in the nursery.
The top should be reduced to aibout
one-third when the plant is set.
In the early stages of develop
ment one of the main objects of
pruning is to promote .a
growth, Randall declares. This wiH
have the effect of producing ^
well-shaped plant. _ ,
To produce a great profusion oj
bfoom in flowering shrubs, ol
caines should be thinned out an
thiose stems left should be prune
sliightly. The plants should never
be- sheared back so that all canes
are cut at the same height, the
flo,riculturist points out.