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Page TWO THE PILOT—Southern Pines, North Carolina THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 1961 ILOT Southern Pines North Carolina "In taking over The Pilot no changes are contenaplated. We will try to keep this a go^ paper. We will try to make a little money for all concerned. Wherever there seems to be an occasion to use our influence for the public good we will try to do it. And we wi treat everybody alike.”—James Boyd, May 23, 1941. Doubtless President Kennedy will be vilified, as others who disagree with them are attacked, by the John Birchers, Minutemen and other groups of the rad ical Right, now that the President has in no uncertain terms rejected these groups’ “counsels of fear and suspicion.” Perhaps the President, like Chief Justice Warren for the Supreme Court, will even be proposed as a candidate fox impeach ment, because of his disagreement. Confidence, Not Suspicion The Birchers cannot claim selective persecution. Before cautioning the nation against the radical Right’s “crusades of suspicion,” at Hollywood Saturday night, the President had, at Seattle last week and, a few weeks ago, at Chapel Hill, warned against left-wing and pacifist ex tremists. ' Like Mr. Kennedy, we have confidence in what he called “the basic good sense and stability of the great American con census”—a quality which, he pointed out, “has always prevailed.” Moreover, as pointed out by James Reston of the New York Times, the radical Right, drawing its support largely from the Right wing of the Republican party and having open to it the bottomless moneybags of Texas oilmen and others, may prove to be a monstrous millstone around the neck of the GOP. n- i, ” “People will listen to the Birchers, writes Reston, “but they won’t neces sarily vote for them.” So if the big cam paign money goes to candidates of the Radical right, who will finance the more liberal GOP candidates? Republicans aligning themselves with the Birch Society are not only abandon ing American “basic good sense and stability,” they are putting the future of their party in peril. Even as developed, by Eisenhower, Nixon and Rockefeller, Republican philosophy is shaky enough without having to have the party make room for adherents who reject most of the principles that were incorporated into last RepuWican platform and which must, if the party is to have any broad appeal, be incorporated into the next platform to be drawn up. Indeed, we can imagine nothing health ier for the Republican party than to hear from one if its top leaders the same sort of denunciation of the radical Right as that voiced by President Kennedy. “Let our patriotism be reflected in the creation of confidence rather than cru sades of suspicion,” said the President. And the vast majoritv of the American people, both Democrats and Republicans, agree. The Most American Holiday We tried to explain to a foreigner what Thanksgiving is and learned a thing or two ourselves about this holiday which, if we may say it with no offense to patriotism, is almost more typically American than the Fourth of July. Numerous nations have days comme morating, like July 4, national indepen dence or some similar political or mili tary achievement. Other nations have re ligious holidays. Other nations have civic and business holidays, like England’s “bank holiday.” Other nations have special times of the year when families get together. Yet America’s Thanksgiving Day wraps up in one package elements of all of these days. To a foreigner—especially one of orderly mind who likes his holidays straight, to to speak—all this is puzzling. To Americans, it’s wonderful. The notion of a day for humble grati tude for hard-won blessings—a religiously directed gratitude—rather than prideful celebration of past achievement or selfish revelry, gives Thanksgiving a sober cast that balances the feasting. Thanksgiving speaks to Americans out of the nation^ non-military, non-po litical past—the past that includes the perilous high adventure of reaching this continent’s shores, the grinding toil and hardship of establishing a foothold, and the deserved rest—for thankfulness and renewal of determination—that could be taken only when the harvest was in and the prospect for success at last seemed bright. We think Americans, even those who came to these shores under far different circumstances than the Pilgrims, still take inspiration from that story which involved no world-shaking event but 4he culmination of a struggle by ordinary people simply to eat and live. The strug gle, the victory and the thanksgiving were repeated again and again as the pioneers moved westward iii the next 200 years. Now we are moving not westward but forward in a struggle not so much against the forces of Nature as against ignorance, poverty and injustice. For our accom plishments we can be thankful, not for getting that when the Pilgrims rested and feasted, it was also to reaffirm their determination to move aheacj with the tasks at hand. Warning for Drivers The most effective action a good citizen can take to support the State Highway Patrol’s current special program of en forcement and education in the problem of alcohol and driving is not to drive after drinking. The whole horror of highway accidents involving drinking drivers—and half the fatal accidents of the nation involve such a driver—could be ended like waking from a nightmare if everybody refused to operate an automobile after drinking. The Highway Patrol has some startling information on the subject. A person who has had two drinks is twice as likely to have an accident as someone who is cold sober, the Patrol says. The likelihood of mishap rises as drinks are consumed, so that six drinks—a quantity that is not un heard of at even decorous cocktail par ties—make a driver 10 times more liable to' accidents than one who has had no alcohol. Anybody who has been around the courts has heard defendant after defen dant testify righteously that (before the traffic accident or his arrest for drunken driving or the fight he had got into) he had drunk “only a few beers” or “only a couple of shots of whiskey.” But it is obvious to all that without that “only” he probably would not be where he is. It is a pity that drinkers confident of their great ability to imbide and stay out of trouble can not be subjected to some of these courtroom object lessons. Civic, religious and educational organi zations will be asked in the coming weeks to give their cooperation to the Highway Patrol’s campaign. Over the holiday sea son—a time of increased drinking and also of increased traffic dangers—the campaign takes on added significance. The Patrol means business in this effort against drunken driving. The wise driver will heed the warning. It may save him from being arrested—and it could save his life. Good News on the Shelter Problem The “leadership, advice and coordinat ed guidance” which a Pilot editorial last week found desperately needed in the matter of fallout shelters across the nation appears to be forthcoming, with a clear statement of federal policy expect ed within a few weeks. Plans call for distribution of 60 million copies of a new federal Civil Defense booklet now being prepared by the new CD organization operating from the Pentagon. There is a possibility that pub lication of the booklet will be coordinated with a television talk by the President. Such a statement by the chief executive would be invaluable, not only in focusing attention on Civil Defense, but also in promoting the national morale which, ultimately, is the nation’s primary de fense—civil and military. Preliminary reports on the new pro gram indicate that the emphasis will be on neighborhood and public building ‘‘Fil-sl Of All-I Am NOT Swimming!’' Grains of Sand How They Foiled Securily It s&ams two bold adventurers among our more distinguished citizens decided to drive over and take in President Kennedy’s re cent visit to Fort Bragg, They were pleased to find there was little fuss as they near ed the Post and they were speed ed through the security check points with hardly time even to change gears. “Younts and Madi- gan,” they would say, “Covering the President’s visit for WEEB-” And the MPs would say “Pass?”' and then they’d pass. They pass ed no less than seven security checks on the way in. And didn’t they have a big time! Saw everything, did every thing and ended up meeting the President himself. And then some busybody said: “How d’you fellers get here?” ‘‘Just came,” they said. “Didn’t anybody stop you?” “Well . . . in a way. . “Let’s ‘just see your passes,” came next. And of course there weren’t any passes. And then there was a hullaba loo. But nothing much came of it except plenty of language, of one sort or another. Actually, tbsre were others in the same fix. The President’s visit had been such a last minute affair that nobody had much chance to get ready for it. Including apparently, the far- famed U. S. Security. Our two heroes returned in tri umph, claiming it was their fine honest faces that got them in. Okay, okay. ^ How's That? What was that prize the man won who" lived entirely on Met- reoai? The Nobelly Prize. MURDER PHANTASIES CREATE PESSIMISM Hope, Work, Daring Called For (From The North Carolina Catholic) If our television horse operas and crime spectaculars abused horses or dogs as cruelly as they smash men’s faces, the TV indus try would have long since been lynched. There’s the irony of the hour. Deeply aroused over abuse of ani mals, and heavily emotional over capital punishment, we at the same time act blithely detached when it comes to murder or may hem on the screen. Perhaps we are aware that it is all make-be lieve. Or again perhaps TV offers^ an escape valve for built-up sad-' istic and masochistic tensions. Ever since tfie Fall, those seem ingly perverse drives have moti vated humanity. Possibly the Eichmann trial'and the history of Red pogroms and purges further scarred modern man’s conscience. That might rig some explana tion for TV fare, but what about the current obsession with mass murder figures? Civil Defense lit erature and their speakers dis cuss thermonuclear murder in millions. As if guessing at the number of oak leaves that will fall next week, they say: Within 5,000 square miles of blastout so many millions will be cremated; another several million will be hopelessly crippled and blinded. They are talking about human persons. As Johns Hopkins psychiatrist Frank said last week, this is shockingly psychotic. Even plain unadulterated na turalists and humanists must qua- .ver and suffer at the very thought of such human suffering and hor ror! Christians who believe in hu man dignity founded on sonship and brotherhood with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit must blanch and quail at the mere mention of such ghoulish and astronomical mui^er figures. By now one should expect a gigantic wave of human indigna tion, a mammoth backing of the United Nations and every and any social structure dedicated to maintaining peace and eventual ly banning once and for all any nuclear weapons. By some perversion the actual result upon many Americans of these mass murder phantasies is to numb them into cynical pessi mism. And pessimism is the very negation of Christian hope and daring, Christian optimism and hard work. Peace and disarma ment are achievements of men who hope, and hoping, work like very angels of God to vanquish evil. Fatalism and black, bleak nihilism are not things of light and of the spirit. revel in dour, foreboding cynic ism, for those who snee'r at UN efforts, at government and pri vate conferences at whatever level, and who at the same time refuse to acquaint themselves with the issues, merely resign ing themselves to blast and fall out shelters. . . we call to mind the mpral area of social justice. One is forbidden lightly or weightily, to share in creating so- ‘ cial phobia, distrust, cynicism. Every calamitous, gloom-laden action or word has its collective impact on the climate of thought and hope and willingness to work. Knowingly to share in dis mal, pessimistic war-mongering ^for that is what it comes to—is to contribute to the moral climate Unfortunate It was unfor.tunate that the day one of our leading papers- carried the announcement of Governor Rockefeller’s approaching di vorce the news story happened to land right near another Rocke feller item. This one was headed: “Gover nor Rockefeller Looks To ’The Future.” Kne-w His Stuff To those who currently seem to , of the community. . . BOWLES SAYS. ON RETURN FROM EUROPE ‘Let’s Not Hit the Wrong Target!’ At. the end of the tour of the North Carolina Symphony, a sort of poll was conducted among some of the larger schools, ask ing the children to write in their ideas about the orchestra and, especially, to teU which one of the 60 or 70 selections of music they liked the best. The choice bf favorite piece came as quite a surprise. It was Bach’s “Little Fugue in G.” Some of the children wrote let ters to Dr. Swalin. One boy wrote about the Little Fugue: “It’s swell! 'rtiat Bach sure knevr what he was doing when he wrote that Little Fugue.” Said Chester Bowles, back from a world-wide journey and his first sight of The 'Wall built by the Soviets and East Germans: “This is an act of desperation. The Communist leaders have made it clear to the world that the only way they can keep their people in is to lock them in.” The assistant secretary of state returned with stern words for those who, in their attempts to combat communism, may, he be lieves, endanger the national ef fort. “Let us be careful,” he says, “not to hit the wrong target.” Bowles singled out lor special comment certain isolationists who would, apparently, have the United States retire from world affairs . To this group he attribu ted the following ideas: “Instead of strengthening our alliances, they propose that we abandon our commitment to any nation which is reluctant to ac cept in full our interpretation of shelters, -with local groups cooperating for organization and planning for survi val. We hope that this will be the case and that provision will be made, through federal financial aid (combined with state and local assistance) to assure protection to the millions who have no resources for providing their own shelters or are un able to take preventive measures because they live in rental property, or for other reasons. A Courageous Editor (From The New York Times,) By the time they reach their eighty-fourth birthday, most men are content to stop fighting. Not so Thomas M. Storke, editor and publisher of The Santa Barbara (Calif.) News«Press, who is still busy living his conviction that no force in a community is so ef- fecti-ve as a resolute editor. The Civil Defense program, if present ed to the nation as an integral part of the defense of freedom and the dignity of man, could be the coordinating force not only for saving our skins (which is not necessarily a noble purpose) .but for in spiring the enthusiasm and energy of Americans in a great unselfish effort for the protection of all. ' Let us hear no more about guns at the doors of fallout shelters. From now oh, let a sign, “Welcome,” be nailed there. The Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard Univer sity has just chosen him as win ner of the 1961 Lauterbach Award for outstanding achieve ment in the protection of civil lib erties. Mr. Storke’s newpaper was the first to pierce the secre cy that surrounded the activities conducted by the John Birch So ciety in the name of anti-com munism. His concept of commu nity responsibility did not stop with publishing details of the so ciety’s teachings and pressure tactics. Mr. Storke felt it was import ant to make known, through a signed editorial, how much he abhorred the campaign of “hate and vilification” the organization was waging against national and local leaders who failed to meet its twisted standards of patriot ism. Unworried by the business and social prominence of many of the society’s members in his own city, he emphasized that the poor est way to combat communism was to “throw democratic prin ciples and methods into the ash- can and adopt the techniques of the Communists themselves,” With the Pied Pipers of the ex treme Right multiplying their ap peals in Southern California and elsewhere, Mr. Storke’s brand of Americanism is more urgently needed than ever. We wish him many years of continued service in the cause of freedom. world affairs. “Instead of strengthening the United Nations, they propose-that we withdraw, unless its members agree to become a subservient arm of American foreign policy. “Instead of seeking adjust ments within our own economy which will help expand interna tional trade, they would have us raise our tariffs to shut out those foreign goods which compete with American products, no mat ter how costly and inefficient our domestic production may be. “Instead of working positively through our Federal Government to strengthen our national de fense, to improve our schools and our highways, to help create greater opportunities for all of our people, they would have us slash our Federal budget to the bone. “Instead of seeking through a sensitive balance of military firmness and patient negotiation to reduce ‘cold war’ tensions and to find some honorable basis of avoiding war, they would have us break relations with every na tion that opposes us. “Instead of applying our sur plus foods and a tiny fraction of our great wealth to help the un derdeveloped non - Communist nations secure the same freedom of choice which allowed us to build our own great country, they would have us cut off for eign assistance.” Such actions, Mr. Bowles said, run contrary to the lessons of American history and would con stitute “total abdication of our re sponsibility as a world power.” A Reader Speaks There is no frigate like a book To take us lands away. Nor any coursers like a page Of prancing poetry. This traverse may the poorest take Without oppress of toll; How frugal is the 'chariot That bears the human soul! —Emily Dickinson So That's Why 'Why do bees hum? Because they don’t know the words. Okay. Doc? Can’t resist stealing this one, from a recent Tradewinds, Sat. Review: Suggested slogan for the Am. Dental Association: “Nothing dentured, nothing gained.” The PILOT Published Every Thursday by THE PILOT. Incorporated Southern Pines. North Carolina 1941—JAMES BOYD—1944 VITAL QUESTION "For perhaps the first time in history reflective men have had to grapple with the pacifists' question: Can na- ' tional interests and human values really be served by waging a war with atomic and hydrogen weapons?" —N. Y. Times column of non pacifist James Reston. Member National Editorial Assn and N. C. Press Assn. . Katharine Boyd Editor C. Benedict Associate Editor Dan S. Ray Gen. Mgr. C. G. Council Advertising Mary Scott Newton Business Mary Evelyn de Nissoff Society Composing Room Dixie B. Ray, Michael 'Valen, Thomas Mattocks and James E. Pate. Subscription Rates Moore County * One Year $4.00 Outside Moore County One Year $5.00 Second-class Postage paid at Southern Pines, N. C.
The Pilot (Southern Pines, N.C.)
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