PAGE FOIB
THE NEWS JOURNAL, RAEFORD, N. C
THURSDAY, DEC. 23rd, 1943
The News-Journal
Hoke County News Hoke County Journal
Est January, 1. 1929 Est May 15, 1911
By Paul Dickson By D. Scott Foole
Consolidated November 1, 1929
'PfSS ASSOCIATION
Published Thursdays At
Raeford, North Carolina
Subscription Rates: $2.00 Per Year In Advance
For Servicemen $1.50 Per Year
DOIGALD COXE. Editor-Mailer
Entered as second-class mail matter at the post
office at Rucfurd, X. C, under Act o March 3, 1870.
Sol;
.ier
Vote
During the meetin;; of the last Lejiislattire ;k--tii
n was t:i';cn to provide machinery for the vot
ing (if soldiers from North Carolina.
Gove rnor J. M. Erou;;Mon seems to be of mind
that the laws then passed are adequate and suf
ficient. However, at this time it would be well
for tin- State Board of Elections and the Attorney
General to study, exhaustively, these laws and
determine if they are adequate. Then should
they be lacking necessary provisions to handle
the soldier vote easily and adequately, a special
session of the General Assembly should be called
to pass such measures as would extend the right
and the opportunity to every voter in the armed
forces to cast his or her ballot in the elections of
1944.
We sincerely hope that this extension of the
absentee ballot law, long a disgrace to North
Carolina, will not be permitted to become the
filthy tool of greedy politicians such as it was be
form reform measures were enacted several
years ago, and we trust that in performing this
duty to our men in service the Governor. Gen
eral Assembly and the Election Board will see
that the scandals of former years are not allowed
to be practiced with soldiers' ballots.
These men and women are fighting for decency
and honesty in government. To deprive them
of the right to ballot for it now will bear hard on
present office holders when the soldiers return
if they are not permitted to vote their convictions
in the coming elections. While these men are
not fully cognizant of the happenings back home,
Ernie Pyie's columns in the past few days shows
that many are not satisfied with the manner in
which things are going.
O
The Rail Strike An Aftermath
No doubt but officials of Secretary Ickes De
partment of Interior felt somewhat contented
over their settlement of the strike difficulties be
tween the miners of John L. Lewis and the nine
operators. They succeeded in getting the men
back to producing coal and the public is paying
the additional costs.
But, we doubt that Mr. Ickes will be given
charge of the battle now raging between leaders
of the railway brotherhoods and their employ
ers. Mr. Ickes was given the right to break down
the bars held in place by the "Little Steel" for
mula, and to prepare the pathway for inflation's
economy-destroying armored force. His giving
in to the coal workers could only have set anoth
er, and this time dangerous precedent, by which
the price set-up was to be governed. For nearly
two years labor had been controlled by the terms
of the "Little Steel" agreement, and strikers had
tough going in their appeals to the War Labor
Board. Nor would John L. Lewis have found it
any easier. But when the matter was taken from
the board's hands and given over to Mr. Ickes,
who knew little and evidently cared less about
the "hold the line" policies, Lewis had an easy
victim for his bullying tactics.
Few believe that the grave threat to our whole
system of railroad transportation would now be
facing this nation if Mr. Ickes had held the line
upon the coal miners. As it is, hardly any con
ference or series of conferences between the rail
road brotherhood leaders and government offi
cials will lead to any other satisfactory settle
ment of the difficulties than an increase in wa
ges for this already Highly paid group of work
men. The handling of the proposed settlements are
discussed by the Charlotte Observer thusly:
While the American public will continue to
hope aid to believ e that there will be m railroad
strike, is rather disconcerting that nothing in
the way or a pori!e settlement has come out of
White Hi.i.je conferences.
Time - is when Mr. Roosevelt had the pover,
the presage and the personal as well as the politi
cal influence to step into a breach of this marni
tude pnrt to bring order out of chaos
But he seems to have lost that magic tjuth and
lost it especially with labor which has been the pe
culiar beneficiary of his sympathetic and partisan
views and policies.
And the New York Herald-Tribune comments
on the piecc-nioal manners of administrative ac
tion: "Mr. Fuicevelt is now paying." it says, "for the
errors, the wastes, the frictions and mistrusts en
gendered throughout his precedent-breaking ca
reer In office. He is paying for the group rivalries
fostered by the New De.il and the grave ttJuMa set
in motion by the breach of the Amen, in tradition
as to Presidential tenure. He is paying now be
cause the framework of national duty and sacri
fice was not er ected squarely and honestly in the
dsys when the national danger was apparent to
all, but was run up in bits and pieces, so that the
structure is still incomplete, still unsymmetriral, .
when the peril stems less urgent".
By immediate past performances of govern
ment officials we cennot expect a satisfact'-.-y
solution to the railway worker's difficulties from
administrative sources, nor has Congress shown
any willingness to legislate any domestic econo
my program that will help stem the tide of la
bor's dissatisfaction.
Perhaps some Congressional action on subsi
dies would take away the chief argument the
railmen have for their strike. Otherwise the po
tential inflationary power of a 30 per cent in
crease in wages for 1,300,000 rail workers will be
loosed upon this nation with its full destructive
power to upset the price control system. And if
this second large group of workers is allowed to
bludgeon its way into greatly increased earnings,
then other unions in other vital industries can be
expected to add further trouble to those of the
wage adjustment bodies.
This strike and the others to come are but an
aftermath to the unwise and unjust increases
allowed the recalcitrant Lewis, and other unor
thodox "adjustments" made by the administration.
OPINIONS and SENTIMENTS
From Other Editors
Over The Moon.
(Charlotte Observer)
With half the world hungry and the other half
fearing it may have to tighten its belt still fur
t'.ur, the cow becomes more valuable than ever.
One blue ribbon roiinal brought a bid of $10,000
at an auction in Wisconsin. That's a far cry from
the bouncing heifer sold in the old days for six
dollars so the family might continue to exist un
til the first bale of cotton was taken to town.
That cow is valued at exactly the same as a
congressman for a year. It is doubtful if there is
any person in the country who would pay from
his private funds that amount for a congressman.
That's more than a general gets. You could buy
a high class executive for the price of that bovine
or a nice house or a swimming pool in Holly
wood. Such a cow! Such a pedigree! She must be
descended from the one that jumped over the
moon. She's going up.
O
Child Psychology Tale
(Manchester Guardian)
An earnest student of child psychology, also a
parent, firmly believed that children should be
given everything they asked for, thinking that if
the Id was early appeased the Ego would develop
properly later. The poor man, faithful to his
theory, tried it on his daughter, who refused her
food at lunch one day. "Well, dear," he said,
"what would you like to eat?" "A worm out of
the garden, please Daddy." -Faithful Daddy
brought a worm out of the garden. "But Daddy,
I wanted it cooked!" The worm was cooked and
served again. "Oh, but Daddy, I want you to
eat half." Daddy, concealing his nausea, swal
lowed half a worm. "Daddy," said the child,
"that's the half I wanted!"
Leadership From Virginia
(New York Herald-Tribune)
The Richmond Times-Dispatch advocates in
an outspoken and calmly reasoned editorial the
repeal of Jim Crow laws for streetcars and buses
in Virginia as "the truly conservative course."
The repeal would be, it says, "the greatest single
step toward better race relationships taken in
any Southern State for decades." The reason
it is deemed conservative is that otherwise Sou
thern Negro leaders, who earnestly desire that
relationship problems be settled in the South it
self by the people who live there, white and
black, will be for'td to surrender to racial
spokesmen "demanding the complete abolition
of all discrimination over night."
The leadership of Virginia, one of the greatest
of Southern States, which itself has nearly one
fourth Negro population, would weigh more in
the South than all outside efforts from whatever
source to force change. And who. cognizant of
the unreal achievement resulting from post-Civil
War attempts to abolish all discrimination by
fiat, can believe that it would not result in more
real achievement?
No critic from the North could state the case
against white do-nothingism better than does
the Times-Dispatch: "The time has come when
the white South must do more than issue pious
statements about loving and understanding the
Negro if it wishes to build a firm foundation for
amicable race relations in this region."
For Virginia to take the first great tradition
breaking step would, indeed, be a heartening
thing.
O
They Remember
(Christian Science Monitor)
We went on a record flight to Poland . . . We
ran out of gas just as we got back to England and
succeeded in making a crash landing. No one
was bruised, scratched, or even shaken up, but
the plane was. The Lord was with us.
An American pilot, Lieut. Gustave S. Holm
strom of Brooklyn, wrote this to his mother after
his twenty-first successful mission over the Eu
ropean Continent. On his twenty-second, his
plane was shot down over Germany, but he is re
ported safe and a prisoner. "The Lord was with
him again," said his motljer. on hearing the news.
Many a daring fighting man who exposes him
self to extreme dangers does so after trusting
himself to the Almighty. Roy Davenport, skip
per on an American .submarine, prays daily, his
shipmates sav. His exploits are legendary
around Pearl I 'arbor.
Laughing, rollicking fighters in uniform may
maintain an outward devil-may-care attitude,
but these same men in r. any instances are secret
ly ntrengtened because of their reliance on God.
Hundreds of them remember those words of the
Ninety-first Psalm. "Because thou hast made the
Lord . . . thy habitation; there shall no evil be
fall thee."
By Paul 1ailo0
Rele.iaed by Wratprn Newspaper ITr.ton.
ADDED EVIDENCE
OF POLITICAL SWING
WASHINGTON.-Most interesting
and perhaps most significant chnnge
in the last election did not show it
self until the detailed final returns
came in. Now a month has r.-:cd
and an intelligent analysis is nos-
sih'e:
The Democrats m: on!v failed to
get their usual strong lr.bor nin-.ir-itus,
hut their r,iv Negro nn.'er th s
as well.
Symptoms of a -hitnfcrvrr in ti e
country at hare were cler.rly r:
gestod in the scattered samp'e vot
ing of those two clas.? groups to v. i.k ii
the n."t,aiuil administration has ;.;
piuicc! so conspicuously with special
k n:1er:-hip.
In Harlem, the iiopuh'Vnrm iietu
nlly won a plurality in the 2'st as
sembly district (all rJorrro). Li low
er west Har'em (lilth district),
which is also Negro, the Democrat
ic poll was only 700 votes more than
the Republican, out of 8,500 cast.
Some attribute this almost even
split in Harlem to the fact that a
Negro candidate was running to be
a city court justice (he won).
PHILADELPHIA RACE
But the same symptoms were evi
dent also in Philadelphia where
there is no counterpart of the Tam
many Democratic machine which
has run Harlem. There, the Repub
licans won the Negro 30th ward by
1,500 (during the New Deal, it has
been Democratic by 1,500), the sev
enth ward by 2,500 (usually Demo
cratic by 3.000), also the 44th, 20th,
22nd, and 47th wards and this was
against Bill Bullitt, the President's
friend, for whom Mrs. Rooseveit ap
peared on the platform.
This changeover i.i the Negro vote
was suggested in advance by some
Negro educators and leaders and
some Negro newspapers taking the
position, at a religious convention
and otherwise, that further support
of the administration was not war
ranted. Labor leaders, on the other hand,
just could not hold their people Dem
ocratic, with CIO support, the AFL
official, who ran for governor un
successfully in New Jersey, was able
to pull the full labor vote only in
Camden county (shipyards, CIO).
UNION STRONGHOLD
Elsewhere in union strongholds
through the thickly industrialized
sections of the state, Reoubliean
Walter Edge got the majorities (ex
cepting only Boss Hague's district).
Thus the changeover showed even
in the case of a candidate who had
CIO. AFL, the national administra
tion and the Jersey City machine.
Such detailed evidence, on top of
the already noticed decline in power
of the American Labor party in New
York, the San Francisco mayoralty
result, Detroit and Kentucky, obvi
ously confirm a notional la"bor split-
voie.
LESS THAN NINETY DAYS?
A man whom I believe is the best
judge in the stock market does not
believe the Nazis can last more than
60 to 90 days more, and I would not
doubt but what his guess might
prove correct. I know of a manager
of a Fifth avenue hotel who has been
receiving letters from people asking
reservations, for a victory parade
which has not even been scheduled
or considered. That kind of guess
ing costs less mqney than the stock
market and is more indefinite.
It is true that some officials will
speak of a costly campaign of in
vasion -to come in J944, but they gen
erally also mention "decisive
events" which they say are at hand.
They are likewise on sound military
ground, even if events make them
seem unreasonable. A general nat
urally must measure war prospects
upon his own plans rather than in
unexpected capitulation of an en
emy. .
REPUBLICAN LINE-I P
Mr. Willkie said in Wisconsin that
Governor Dewey could not run be
cause he promised. This is true, yet
practically all the ranking men of
politics in both parties in the East
currently consider Dewey as almost
a certain nominee.
Their reasoning is not hard to fol
low. Ohio's Governor Bricker is
new officially out seeking delegates,
as predicted. The Favorite Son
movement (of which Mr. Willkie
also complained) is spreading
through the West from the eastern
Republican centers previously cited
in this column. The lion's share of
the South (old Taft frllawiiig) is gen
erally attributed to Bricker.
If you count all the r '. for Will
kie, it will bis only e,ou:i Vi tie up
ine convention teny.-.- if
venting Bricker ur a f
from getting a r.i: jir:.
eastern leaders, tint r.v
certainly will be i '
can upset this oh'-ifji li
winning a maionly if ; i
by tying up with Hie Fa
whom he aircJy recogr.i7cs as
against hirr Ho has everything a
candidate needs, including financial
and publishing support. But it can
be readily seen that Dewey can win
against Kim without campaigning.
of
oy p-e-'
tan
: t;e
ow y
-Hlki
iy by
ies er
'2 Sons
JR OWN corjamtrmty, like the rest
oUherarid, has been shaken Dy tne
nflder of guns. This thunder echoes
faffffffl-ffrir rm "p ce more celebrate
thebutnoi tne rrmcc vi i
v Yet this newspaper sees no irony m
WevScWof war aitcKthe message
hope that is Gmistmis ,
ror itus ine cv.crwsiniK itvt"- "
. . i V i f I,'n, Tlnr hnnp
makes insucn a vitai iorce m uuimvu. .!.
is one of Anever encling period of "Peaceon Earth?
While it is true.thkthcolumns oftliis paper
since last Ghristmahavel bcclvJominated bythe
effects of the war lords bn ouNnormal way i)f
livjng-weknovx thathc peace-loving "little"
men of goodwill far outnumber the eyil.
These "little" people ire theXcitizensf this
.-ommunitvmd other communities like itxAnd
if wns for those same "littltX' pcopleVthat Christ
r"nn intn flue irnr u
So Christmas belongs to them andvnot to
those who plunge the world int9 darknes
Let this true spirit of Christmas dominate
vrmr rhinlrinor ;inrl vnu ran S3V tO all VOUT
friends as we now say to you-
POOLE'S MEDLEY
! of warfare.
B I). SCOTT POOLE
Cold weat'r.cr kills insets, and
"fallows" the soil to a great extent,
but cold increases the suffering of
people in war torn countries, who
have no fuel, and no food, or but little
at best.
The Chinese with American airmen
have driven the Japs out of the
world's greatest rice bowl: Had the
Japs been stopped at Hong Kong, and
Luzon, the war would have been shor
tened. The Japs have had a g od por
tion of the world's most productive
lands. However, Japs will enjoy
their riches but a short time.
Our country has never been a
landgrabber. It was said Julius Cca
zar left every country he conquered
I under a better government than they
: had before. That might have been
I easy to say at that period of the
I World's history.
I The Russians have a democracy
I ... . .u.. Tl..un,aiil
jwurom naming it unu.
' to have made wonderful progress dur
; ing the past twenty-five years. Of
j course it wiil take them years to get
i over this war. That country has suf
! fereJ awfully in every way, except
! ill morale.
The newspapers have criticised the
train crews involved in that railroad
wreck on the A. C. L. for not signal
ing and stopping the oncoming train
that ran through the wrecked train.
But trainmen say their signals were
made, but were ineffective because of
weather conditions.
Airmen desire six months to stop
the German's and that would save the
life of many men, if it can be done.
Th-t fighting now going on in Italy is
v: v -instructive of lives of the men
on I,,...- sides. I would be glad to
learn that the War Department is to
give the airmen all the time they ask.
That bombing pro;ess is destructive
and not so expensive as other means
It looks now like the railr ad bro
thcrhoo is will strike, or get the ad
vance in pay they demand. I do not
know conditions the reasons for their
attitude, but I for one, would not vote
to strike at a time like this, no matter
what their reas ns for the course they
are taking. Later these matters may
be adjusted.
The world is prejudiced against
capitaiisT, corporations, syndicates,
all organizations under which capital
I does business. I see n reason why
( men canrot be brothers, whether em
ployer or employe. This world's
wealth is not particularly helpful to
either class if the sordid world
wealth is the only measure r,f worth
considered.
This should be a better world, a
world purified by fire, after this nolo,
canst ceases to explode. There is a
(Continued on page eight)
OUR DEMOCRACY-
by Mat
THIS YEAR, say it with WAR. BONDS.
-TO HELP CREATE A BETTER WORLD
FOR 7HM TO COME HOME TO.
-3 HELP SECURE PACE Ohf AR7H."