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Page TWO THE PILOT—Soulhern Pines. North Carolina THURSDAY, JULY 5. 1956 % ■LOT North Carolina Soulham Pines “In taking over The Riot no changes are contemplated. We will fay to ^ paper. We will try to make a Uttle money tor all concerned. Where ^ ^ sion to use our influence for the public good we will try to do it. And we will ry alike.”^-Janies Boyd, May 23, 1941. Government By Medical Advice It doesn’t often happen that an editor is for tunate enough to have an example of what he has been praising or denouncing fall into his lap in time to form a fine “What-did-I-tell- _you?” editorial comment in the next issue. Too often the reverse is true. But once in a blue moon it happens and that prophetic experience can be savored to the fulL Last week The Pilot published an editorial pointing out some of the reasons why President Eisenhower should not run again. One of the most important was the fact that he must be protected from over-exertion and that, while some of his work-load may be carried by oth ers, there are certain functions which only he can perform. A few days later came the news that, because of his recent operation, it would be impossible for him to receive India’s Prime Minister Nehru. The visit has been indefinitely postponed. A very great deal is at stake in the rela tions between the United States and India. It may be that peace in the East is at stake, even peace in the world. Much had been expects from the Nehru visit It was felt that the two men shared a common feeling for democracy and that Eisenhower’s honesty and sincere per sonality would perhaps convince the Indian leader of the honesty and sincerity of the United States. When the President became iU, it was real ized that he would be imable to carry out such a taxing assignment and it was believed that Secretary Dulles would take / his place. The thought sent cold shivers down the backs of those who have watched with concern the imi- pression Dulles has made in India. It is only necessary to recall the extreme divergence of views on the role of the neutral nation, as ex pressed by the President and his Secretary of State—the latter calUng neutrality “immoral’’— to feel that a meeting between Dulles and Nehru might weU be fatal. It is a relief that a Dulles-Nehru meeting will not take place, but this only throws into sharp er perspective the plight of a nation whose president cannot carry out the full scope of his duties. That this is the sort of thing that is almost boimd to be repeated again and again UTidoT- President Eisenhower hardly needs stressing. There is appended to this tale of prophecy- come-true a strsmge coda. Though the President called off the Nehru visit because of doctors’ or ders, it was announced that he would attend a conference in Panama scheduled for only a few days later. This also might have been foreseen for it is right in line with the many boners tito admin istration has pulled. If such a piece of seeming discourtesy does not end for once and all any hope of friendship with India it will be sur prising. And why was this done? Why is there such odd judgment at the Wlhite House on what is important and what is not? Why, with all thosel public relations experts around, should such a gratuitous insult be handed to one of the world’s great figures? The only answer we can think of is: medical advice. Perhaps the trip to Panama is deemed beneficial; perhaps it is as simple and inexcusable as that. For it is inexcusable and profoun<Uy danger ous that the United States should have govern ment by medical advice. If It Should Happen Here Several years ago, it will probably be recall ed, the town of PeekskiU. in New York state, was the scene of serious civil disturbances. The Communist Party had chosen this area as a likely place to stir up trouble and had planned severed gatherings there, to be addressed by leaders among whom was the Negro singer, Paul Robeson, one of the finest artists this na tion has produced. Looking back on the violence that flared, it was generally conceded that matters had been very badly handled. The authorities more or less lost their heads, or did not have very good heads to start with, as there had been no alert ing of police or training in what they Were to do. Criticism was wide-spread. Among some of the most constructive comments from the press and leading citizens and organizations was a pamphlet issued by Freedom House, the society founded in memory of Wendell WSUkie to forward the principles of freedom, equality, and justice which were the cornerstones of Willkie’s philosophy. The pamphlet was entitled: “Fifteen Rules For Dealing With Communists.” For common sense, wisdom and shrewd psychology this “work-sheet” strikes us as remarkably smmt. Furthermore, though it is directed at dealing with troubles incited by Communists, many of its fifteen rules would apply to almost any sort of civil disturbance. The danger of Communist violence seems to day to be remote, at least for the moment. But there are other issues that carry in them the seeds of civil unrest. Besides, it must always be kept in mind that in every country there are Communists, under party discipline or oper ating on their own, ready to seize any Oppor tunity to make trouble fox' the free nations, ready to seize on any issue—even a purely local issue in a small town—^to foster dissatisfaction, disunity, unrest; to set one man against anoth er, one race against another. We were reminded of the Freedom House pamphlet as we read a few weeks ago of the ‘Civil Rights Schools” being conducted by the FBI for Southern police officers. The schools are designed to explain to policemen the juris diction of the federal government, with empha sis on the protection of civil rights. The Freedom House rules contain much that, adopted as standard procedure by the police and civil authorities, could, we believe, be of great help in keeping the peace and upholding justice in small disturbances as well as in those more violent and widespread. We are reprinting a selection of the “rules” in the belief that Pilot readers will find them interesting reading and well worth pondering. They may be found on page 7. THEY'RE SAYING Foundation For Strength The official American reaction to the con firmed fact that the Russians have the H-bomb was what might have been expected—^the at tempt to play it down, followed by the boast about American progress and finally by a sort of fuzzy murmuring about “the need for great er civilian defense. . . a build-up of perimeter warning services. . . an air-tight system of pro tection. . .” Actually, there is no system of defense which can really protect the coimtry. There is no per imeter warning service which is immune to hu man error 24 hours a day. There, is no air-tight system of protection. There is only a world making its last desper ate attempt to sidestep the knowledge it knows it must ultimately face, which is that there is no way to save civilization unless civilization stops this nonsense and gets down to the hard business of actually doing away with war. This is a very difficult thing to do, of course. It is much easier to build up armaments and drift into conflict and slaughter human beings by the millions. This has always been the easy way out, and it is the method humanity has al ways followed. Now that the ultimate weapons have been placed in the hands of two great powers, however, it reaUy is the way out—right out of existence. If anybody is still interested in existence, some other method will have to be fotmd. It is this instinctive knowledge, perhaps, which accovmts for that widespread “apathy” which so agitates civil defense authorities. They Roman Candles Crains of Sand The Public Speaking worry because nobody gets very excited, not even in Washington or New York, where the chances of survival in event of an attack have presumably dropped to zero overnight. Nobody can quite believe that those who have charge of the bombs will actually be so insane as to destroy the world; a sort of basic commonsense argues against it. Mad as they are, one thinks, they can’t possibly be that mad. If the nation® are to withdraw from this precipice and return to sanity before it is too late, however, some very difficult sacrifices are going to have' to be made. They are not sacri fices involving “greatly increased expenditures for defense,” ‘-heavy restrictions on the civilian population,” “a long period of armed watchful ness.” They are much greater and heavier sacri fices than that. They are the sacrifices involved in restrain ing humian greed, human selfishness, human cupidity and human deceit. These are sacrifices that really are sacrifices, and they will require of the nations and their leaders a forbearance, a patience and a fortitude beyond anything yet demanded of mankind. There is very little real protection left in the world today, and such as it is, it must be based in the last analysis upon the fimdamental in tegrities of the heart and the spirit. Confronted by the weapons of destruction modem technol ogy has devised, armaments, while still needed, will prove inadequate unless they are backed and bolstered by a decency, a goodwill and an adherence to principle which pays more than lip-service to the things which must be done to save the peace. —Washinoton Star Grave Injustice To the Editor: I am a soldier in the United States Army, willingly giving up two years of my life for what I believe to be the greatest nation in the world. . . a nation with the greatest capacity for achieve ment in all history. We must real ize our great potential and con tinue to make progress. ■ It has been with great pride that I have watched this progress being made continually from day to day, yet in one day progress was stopped in North Carolina. You the people me to blame!! Saturday, May 26, you went to the polls to express yourselves in choosing candidates to represent you in government. The results of that election were of great consequence; it proved to me that we are not as intelligent and en lightened as I would have liked to believe; that our progress in the south has been only in ma terial things and not in the im provement of men’s minds. We are still ignorant and narrow minded. I do not pretend to have a great knowledge of politics but it ap pears obvious that you have done yourselves a grave injustice and deprived yourselves of intellect to represent you that it has taken years to groom and train. I do not mean that Congressmen Deane and Chatham were not in telligent men when you first chose them to represent you. But surely you realize that it took time for these men to “feel” their way around in Washington. Now after having obtained knowledge of the workings of government and political “know-how” that is immeasurable you have sacri ficed all this. I would like to direct a ques tion at you, my fellow citizens. Why did this happen? Are we going to rationalize and say that the incumbent congress men were elected because they most nearly supported your views or are we going to face facts and admit that these men are being put into office because they took advantage of a situa tion and came out as staunch sup porters of the glorious Southern Manifesto? You were willing to let Deane represent you and serve you with a spirit that has proven untiring and faithful to your needs. You sent him to Washington with a job to do and because he performed his job in a manner that he has told you many times he sincerely believed the only course of action for him to follow you have failed to re elect him. The obvious issue was the in famous Southern Manifesto which was bom of ignorance and prejudice The organizers of this document have said that its mer its (if any) are of little value. I can see nothing has been ac complished by drafting such a document. I am Hlerely surprised at the men who did sign it It brings the thought to mind that they feared political death had they failed to go along -with the men who were responsible for its being. I have nothing but admira tion for those who stood up for their beliefs and duty even though they could foresee the re sults that were inevitable. I am shocked, ashamed and dis appointed to learn that you were so willing to make such a sacri fice in order to retain your petty biases and prejudices. May we all not suffer from the ignorance that has lead you to your deci sion. EDWARD N. HARRISON West End. reign, and others to obey, and they soon grow insolent; selected from the rest of mankind, their Tni.nHg are early poisoned by pseudo-importance; and the world they act in differs so ma terially from the world at large that they lose track of its tme in+ATPCtfc When the “old world order type” govern, they are frequent- Urges Preserve Character Gained By Public Schools To the Editor: Here is an opfen letter to the General Assembly: Sirs: It has come to my attention that “members of the General Assembly are reported alnaost unanimously in favor of allowing public schools to close '"in favor of private schools’ when condi tions become intolerable’ ”. Apparently there is a need to point out that there is something in the cause and consequence of America that has drawn to her the attention of all mankind. The world has seen her brave. Her love of liberty; her ardor in sup porting it; the justice of her claims, and the constancy of her fortitude has won her the esteem of the world. Her situation is such, that to whatever point she casts her eyes, past, present or to come new matter arises to convince her that she is right. In her con duct towards her enemy, and her dealings with those she mothers no sense of injustice should be left upon the mind. Untainted with ambition and a stranger to revenge, her progress has been marked by Providence which, in every stage of all conflicts, has blessed America with successes that never could have been at tained without the public schools It is useful to turn to your his tory book and call to mind the times of trouble and the scenes of complicated anguish that are past and gone. Then every ex pense toward education was cheap, compared with the dread of conquest and the misery of the hereditary yoke to old world ideas. To those educated in the Amer ican way, it is needless to expend much time in exposing the folly of so-called hereditary right. If there are any so weak as to be lieve in it, let them^ promiscu ously wor^ip at the shrine of the old world orders—and wel come. Free thinking peoole will neither copy their humility nor disturb their devotion. Any system, as has been prov en, that has the taint of the old world order creates men who look upon themselves as bom to ly the most unfit to lay out laws, as is apparently now the case, ex cept on an hereditary basis. Our freedom-line is fixed. Our freedom-lot is cast. America, the child of fate, has arrived at ma turity. Too great to yield and too noble to insult; superior to misfortune, and generous in suc cess, let us untaintedly preserve the character we have gained through public school education and show the future ages an ex ample of unequalled magnanimi- TOM O’NEIL Southern Pines. Public Well Informed On President’s Illness To the Editor: It appears to this reader that you do the President and his ad visors a grave injustice when you state “that they (the people) rem ember how they were fooled by the White House and the doctors at the time of the heart attack and wonder how much they are being fooled now.” Reference is to your editorial of June 28th en tiUedi “Presideint Eisenhower Should Not Run.” This would seem an extraor dinary statement and one that could have been evoked only by the ultimate in partisan preju dice. To most of us the frankness with which the public was kept informed was both refreshing and something unique in public relations having to do with pres idential illnesses. Compare this with the case of Grover Cleveland. When his doc tors decided on a throat operation they sneaked him onto a river boat, in the dead of • night, and while steaming up the Hudson the operation was performed. The public knew nothing of this until days later. The explanation given for this secrecy, at the time, was that it was necessary for the pro tection of the stock market. Or, compare the case of Wood- row Wilson when, for months, he was kept isolated in the White House and no information regard ing his mental or physical health was allowed to get to the public, or even to the Government itself, until after the Ctongress threaten ed to take action. And; as for Roosevelt, the story of a dying President elected for a fourth term, is recent history. Surely the final paragrajph of your editorial must have been written with tongue in cheek. E. W. BUSH, D. O Southern Pines Bhalceepeare 1956 You catch a sort of glimpse of relativity. when you prowl through Shakespeare. So many times you’d think he was living and talking right gpw. ^ Thought how hot it was the other day, (now we just wonder how THAT came into our head!) and, a few minutes later, as we were looking up something else, we plunked on this: Henry IV talking: ‘Pray that our armies join not ib a hot day; for, by the Lord, I take but two shirts out with me, and mean not to sweat extraor . dinarily.” At that, though, Shakespeare wasn’t writing about The South USA—or he’d have specified ten instead of two. Here’s another that rings a bell in tune with our times: Henry IV, too. “When we mean to build. We first survey the plot, then draw the model; . And when we see the figure of the house Then we must rate the cost of the erection. . .” and then as a rule, WE quit, Mr. Will. How ’bout you? Veep For Scenery Harper’s editor, John Fischer, is a character. He has written a piece in the Jady number that ( only a character could write. It is in the “Editor’s Easy Chair” part of the magazine and is called by the antic title: “Run ning Barefoot Through a Hayloft Full of Ten Dollar Bills.” It’s about the Great Founda tions and its terribly funny about them. Mr. Fischer says the Foun dations and their Funds are set up all wrong—“with a lot of vice , presidents in charge of large wooly abstractions, such as World Peace, Adiilt Education and In ternational Understanding. No body,” he says, “could have any fun with assignments like that.” HIS fund, he says, will go in for more stimulating projects. We won’t spoil this hilarious article for the many readers it should get by quoting any more, except for one paragraph which rang such a dingdong guffaw of a bell that we can’t resist it. If Pilot editorial readers discern in it some slight likeness to past pages, we shall swoon with pride. Here goes with Mr. Fischer and a bit from his Foundation Fund: We shall have a vice president in charge of scenery. His job will be to make the country look less messy. “He will offer a $50 bo^mty to anyone who chops down a road side billboard. Whenever one of these public-spirited citizens is caught in the act, the Fund will pay his fine and court costs. “He wiU buy up the ugliest building in every city over 50,000 in population , raze it, and plant the liberated ground in syca mores. “He will supply hot-rod cars and baseball bats to gangs of juvenile delinquents, and pay them to bust up every Bar-B-Q Drive-in and Bideawee Tourist (tourt on Route 66. This will dis courage eyesores and keep the boys off the streets. “He will maintain a skyscraper full of criminal lawyers to defend arsonists and any impulsive soul who happens to kill a slum land lord in a fit of well-justified rage. As Veblen once noted: the two essentials of progress are fires and funerals. “But won’t Congress run us ragged with Investigations? No, sir. Our charter provides that the first time a Congressman lays a hand on us we shall give all our remaining inoney to the rival candidate in his district, and then go out of business. We fear no fevil.” Lucky Harper’s Magazine to have such a character for its ed itor! Not to mention such a grand writer. The PILOT Published Every Thursdiy by THE PILOT. Incorporated Soulhern Pines, North Carolina 1941—JAMES BOYD—1944 Katharine Boyd Editor C. Benedict Associate Editor Vance Derby News Editor Dan S. Ray Gen. Mgr. C. G. Council Advertising Mary Scott New;ton Business Bessie Cameron Smith Society Composing Room Lochamy McLean, Dixie B. Ray, Michael Valen, Ja^er Swearingen Thomas l^ttocks. Subscription Rates: One Year $4. 6 mos. $2: 3 mos. $1 Entered at the Postoffice at South ern Pines, N. C., as second class mail matter Member National Editorial Assn and N. C. Press Assn.
The Pilot (Southern Pines, N.C.)
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July 5, 1956, edition 1
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