Words That Will Live For Time Immemorial * * * * *
The world is very different now. For man
holds in his mortal hands the power to abolish all
forms of human poverty and all forms of human
life. And yet the same revolutionary beliefs for
which our forebears fought are still at issue
around the globe—the belief that the rights of
man come not from the generosity of the state,
but from the hand of God.
We dare not forget today that we are the
heirs of that first revolution. Let the word go
forth from this time and place, to friend and foe
alike, that the torch has been passed to a new
generation of Americans—born in this century,
tempered by war, disciplined by a hard and bit
ter peace, proud of our ancient heritage—and
untvilling to witness or permit the slow undoing
of those human rights to which this Nation has
always been committed, and to which we are
committed today at home and around the world.
Let every nation know, whether it wishes us
well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any
burden, meet any hardship, support and friend,
oppose any foe, in order to assure the survival
and the success of liberty.
This much we pledge—and more.
To those old allies whose cultural and
spiritual origins we share, we pledge the loyalty
of faithful friends. United, there is little we can
not do in a host of cooperative ventures. Divided,
there is little tve can do—for we dare not meet a
powerful challenge at odds and split asunder.
To those new States whom we welcome to the
ranks of the free, we pledge our words that one
form of colonial control shall not have passed
away merely to be replaced by a far greater one
—tyranny. We shall not always expect to find
them supporting our view. But we shall always
hope to find them strongly supporting their own
freedom—and to remember that, in the past,
those who foolishly sought power by riding the
back of the tiger ended up inside.
To those peoples in the huts and villages
across the globe struggling to break the bonds of
mass misery, we pledge our best efforts to help
them help themselves, for whatever period is re
quired—not because the Communists may be
doing it, not because we seek their votes, but be
cause it is right. If a free society cannot help the
many who are poor, it cannot save the few who
are rich.
To our sister republics south of our border,
we offer a special pledge—to convert our good
words into good deeds, in a new alliance for pro
gress, to assist free men and free governments in
casting off the chains of poverty. But this peace
ful revolution of hope cannot become the prey of
hostile powers. Let all our neighbors know that
we shall join with them to oppose aggression or
subversion anywhere in the Americas. And let
every other power know that this hemisphere in
tends to remain the master of its own house.
To that world assembly of sovereign states,
the United Nations, our last best hope in an age
where the instruments of war have far outpaced
the instruments of pace, we renew our pledge of
support—to prevent it from becoming merely a
forum for invective—to strengthen its shield of
the new and the weak—and to enlarge the area
in which its writ may run.
Finally, to those nations who would make
themselves our adversary, we offer not a pledge
but a request: that both sides begin anew the
quest for peace, before the dark powers of de
struction unleashed by science engulf all human
ity in planned or accidental self-destruction.
We dare not tempt them with weakness.
For only when our arms are sufficient beyond
doubt can we be certain beyond doubt that they
will never be employed.
But neither can two great and powerful
groups of nations take comfort from our present
course—both sides overburdened by the cost of
modern weapons, both rightly alarmed by the
steady spread of the deadly atom, yet both racing
to alter that uncertain balance of terror that stays
the hand of mankind's final war.
So let us begin anew—remembering on both
sides that civility is not a sign of weakness, and
sincerity is always subject to proof. Let us never
negotiate out of fear. But let us never fear to
negotiate.
Let both sides explore what problems unite
us instead of laboring those problems, which
divide us.
Let both sides, for the first time, formulate
serious and precise proposals for the inspection
and control of arms—and bring the absolute
power to destroy other nations under the absolute
control of all nations.
Let both sides seek to invoke the wonders of
science instead of its terrors. Together let us ex
plore the stars, conquer the deserts, eradicate
disease, tap the ocean depths, and encourage the
arts and commerce.
Let both sides unite to heed in all corners
of the earth the command of Isaiah—to “undo
the heavy burdens and to let the oppressed go
/»»
ree.
And if a beachhead of cooperation may
push back the jungle of suspicion, let both sides
join in creating a new endeavor, not a new balance
of power, but a new world of law, where the
strong are just and the weak secure and the peace
preserved.
All this will not be finished in the first 100
days. Nor will it be finished in the first 1,000
days, nor in the life of this administration, nor
even perhaps in our lifetime on this planet. But
let us begin.
In our hands, my fellow citizens, more than
in mine, will rest the final success or failure of
our course. Since this country was founded, each
generation of Americans has been summoned to
give testimony to its national loyalty. The graves
of young Americans who answered the call to
service are found around the globe.
Now the trumpet summons us again—not as
a call to bear arms, though arms we need; not as
a call to battle, though embattled we are; but
a call to bear the burden of a long twilight
struggle, year in, and year out, “rejoicing in hope,
patient in tribulation”—a struggle against the
common enemies of man: tyranny, poverty, dis
ease, and tvar itself.
Can we forge against these enemies a grand
and global alliance. North and South, East and
West, that can assure a more fruitful life for all
mankind? Will you join in that historic effort?
In the long history of the world, only a few
generations have been granted the role of defend
ing freedom in its hour of maximum danger. I
do not shrink from this responsibility—I welcome
it. I do not believe that any of us would exchange
places with any other people or any other genera
tion. The energy, the faith, the devotion which
we bring to this endeavor will light our country
and all who serve it—and the glow from that
fire can truly light the world.
And so, my fellow Americans, ask not what
your country can do for you: Ask what you can
do for your country.
My fellow citizens of the world: Ask not
what America will do for you, but what together
we can do for the freedom of man.
Fin'illy, ivhether you are citizens of America
or citizens of the world, ask of us the same high
standards of strength and sacrifice which we ask
of you. With a good conscience our only sure re
ward, with history the final judge of our deeds,
let as go forth to lead the land we love, asking
His blessing and His help, but knowing that here
on earth God's work must truly be our oivn.
—THE INAl CriiAL ADDRF.SS OF JOHN F.
KFNXEnV. JAM AliY 20, 1Q61.
☆ ☆ ☆
On the Death of John F. Kennedy
Wliat madness, when one man presumes to
take the life of another! What madness manifold,
when any man so confuses an idea, a concept, a
purpose with the person of another, that he de
stroys that person; destroys him in the grand
delusion of having destroyed that purpose with
which he was identified!
It matters little to me now what you may
have thought of John F. Kennedy: his person
ality, his religion, his political philosophy. But it
matters to me greatly that you not begin to share
the same kind of grand delusion which must have
intoxicated the mind of the man who destroyed
him.
I do not pray for John Kennedy. His spirit
rests in the hands of God. But 1 do pray for any
of us who may hegin to suppose that a fatal hlow
has been delt to that cause, for which the funeral
orators will say John Kennedy died. History will
record that the only gain was the compounding
of our national guilt. May it add the footnote;
It brought some toward repentance.
— Read By Dr. Hargus Taylor, college
chaplain, at a faculty meeting on the day
President Kennedy was assassinated. The
meeting adjourned after prayer by Presi
dent Whitaker.
The Chowanian Staff
&
Student Editors
I DAVID PHILLIPS JIMMY LEE ^
j Associate Editors
I JANET FLINN JEFF SULLIVAN
1 Sports Editors |.
f BILL ROLLINS HAROLD LANDIS
^ News Reporters
I RONNIE HALL ELAINE RAWLS
I CHARLES STEVENS ELLIOTT SWINDELL |
Photographers 1
BOBBY HAYES ALLEN BASNIGHT ^
I PAT SHUFFLER JAMES BOUGHAN |;
i Circulation Managers ^
I ROBERT SYKES DAVID CAVE I
I ELBERT ARLEDGE RICHARD MORRIS
E Artists
!FAYE JONES DEAN BARNES
Faculty Editors ;
JOHN McSWEENEY WILLIAM B. SOWELL
HERMAN W. GATEWOOD
: i m
Published monthly by the students of Chowan College, Murfrees
boro, N. C., a standard junior college controlled by the North Caro
lina Baptist State Convention and founded in 1848. Printed, de
signed and edited by the students and faculty of the School of
3raphic Arts at Chowan College. Changes of address notices should
ae sent to The Chowanian, Chowan College, Murfreesboro, N. C.
Second class postage paid at Murfreesboro, North Carolina
VOLUME 12 . DECEMBER, 1963 . NUMBER 3
THE CHOWANIAN