r AGE 2
THfc DAILY TAR HEEL. TUESDAY. -MAY 0. 1952
by Barry Farber
The official student publication of the Publications Board of the-University
of North Carolina. Chapel Hill, where it is published daily, except Mon
day, examination ana vacation periods, and during the official summer terms
Entered as second class matter at the post office in Chapel Hill. N. C, under
the net of March. 3, 1S79 Subscription rates; mailed- $4 per year, 1.50 pei
quarter; delivered, $6 and $2.25 per quarter.
Editor
Managing Editor ....
Business Manager .
Significant Action
. As at no other time in history, the United States today is
a stage on which the strengths and weaknesses of a free
society are displayed for the world to see and judge.
The important thing for every American to remember is
that the world not only listens to what we say and we have
some fine and beautiful lines to speak they watch to see
what we do.
Our advertisements name the heroes of our show as free
dom, justice, uncompromising respect for the individual, and
expanding opportunity for. all men. But a performance full
of speech and" devoid of significant action is likely 'to dis
satisfy our audience. "
Such phrases as "human dignity," "equality of opportun
ity," "brotherhood of man," have a resounding ring when we
fling them over the footlights of our shores; but the world
is waiting skeptically to see whether we perform as well as
we speak. ..
bo it is not enough to preach tolerance of the views and
faiths of others. Nor is it enough to be "tolerant." The strik
ing characteristic Of a really free Irian is that he worries about
the freedom of others more than he does about his own. And
while tolerance in itself is a democratic virtue, it is. a passive
one. The requirements of the present drama call for signifi
cant action.; In a free society this action begins only when
each individual assumes responsibility for playing his role
as a free man-to the hilt.
This responsibility demands that each of us be at least as
earnest about the right and freedoms of other people as. we
are of our own." It requires also that we' join with others to
disclose by significant action the living truths or the great
concepts on which bur Republic was founded.
"... . . Direcior-The Ford Foundetion
- Paul G. Hoffman
by Jack
- There seems to lie a reluct
ance on the part of would be
student wrters to exhibit their
handiwork to the. Editors, for
possible ; publication. The Daily
Tar Heel staff is by no means
"sewed up" and all articles sub
mitted ,toiU pnjoy keen scrutini
- zation'. We're crying' for read
able, thought-provoking copy
for cur undernourished pages.
How do you know you can't
xorite? Give it ia try; te need
you. EDITOR. -
The word democracy is so
abstract and bears such vast
implication and depths, of mean
ings that an adequate definition
of the word is, almost impossible
to' find. Most -of us 'realize that
democracy embraces Christian
principles' and advocates' Indivi
dual freedom and rights. Demo
cracy is the will of the people
and the government is that
agency which inf drees, their will.
More and more, derogatory fac
tors are impregnating American
democracy with the result of dis
torting its true principles .and
diminishing its strength.
Regardless of a progressive'in
come tax system the people of
the United States still dwell in
different strati of society. Unity
of the people is further dimini
shed by yarious elements (pres
sure groups, Klu Klux Klan,
Communist, Party, , hundreds eg
"clique" organizations, affiliated
Communist Party groups, socia-r
lism advocators, lobbyist, in
tolerance attitudes, racial pre
judice groups, certain churches,
"glory hunters", racketeers,
jealousy complexes, and ma
terialism that exist by pitting
region against region, church
against church, labor against
management, race against race
and belief against belief. These
elements thrive upon the .igno
rance of the people and their
chlef weapons are hatred and
HUT' l!ii)(vl
JBARIVY FARBEH
ROLFE NEILL
.JIM SCHENCK
Moody
government is side-stepping the
will of the people, by accenuat
ing and extending executive
powers (Truman's recent seizure
Of the steel industry. This is
accomplished "chiefly by mis
interpreting and distorting the
implications of the Constitution.
President Truman claims that
the implied powers of the Pres
ident contained in the Constitu
tion, particularly emergency
; powers, enable him to do any-
thing he, as president, feels "is-
for the good of the people. Such
-an attitude borders upon dicta
j torship i " - -'
- As an economic system demp
v cracy is being over-shadowed
by the infiltration of socialistic
prevaricators in the United
States. These people scream that
the only method of maintaining
the satisfactory welfare of the
people is through the govern-:
; mental installation of collectiv-
istic theories. It is pathetic to
see the number of people, who
fair for ; this i vicious line of,
; socialistic slobbering. United
States economy is supposed to
'be, based on a mixed, capitil
' istic-free-enterprise system, but
individual enterprise is cpnr .
, stantly losing freedom because
of restrictions imposed by the
government and pressure from
labor unions. Although the re
strictions and limitations placed
upon management today 'make It
impossible far a man to rim his'.
; business as he sees fit, they
(restrictions and limitations) .are
usually necessitated by national
circumstances and justified by'
the rights of labor. Still, the
situation has the appearance of
a dilemma inasmuch as there
is a perpetual struggle for labor
management appeasement.
Socially, politically and econ
omically, there exists today a
gradual disintegration of democ
racy in America and inches
by David Alexander
Film Fare
FROM THE NOVEL, IN A
BUSH: This little phrase from
the credits' of a foreign film
caused a few snickers at he
special showing of "Rasho-Mon"
last Friday evening. I felt that
this might be the night for a
very few practical jokers to ruin
a film for everyone else but
as usual, I was - wrong The
audience , viewed the film with
not a little interest, and came
out feeling as I did, that "Rasho
Mon" is a different type of film.
Distributed through R. K. O.
Radio Pictures, the film has,
among other virtues, won quite -a
number of top film awards. It
was first named the "best pic
ture on the world' at the Venice
Film Festival, and only more
recently won the award given
by the Academy of Arts and
Sciences, as the 'best foreign
film of 1951.' Quite simply made, .
. the Japanese film features' ap
proximately six actors, and has
two outdoor settings. The camera
' photographed the action- quite J
swiftly at times, but action was
well-thought out and . coord ir ,
. nated. . - . .:., .' .
I'm not certain' that - I com
pletely understood what the pro
ducers were trying to do, but
that is my fault. I will; hot go r
so far out on a limb as'td say
that everyone will enjoy seeing '
. this film, but I will say that you
will find it difficult, and ; these
- days, that is saying quite a lot.
I have a feeling that the: musics
a type of bolero, is not the music
which accompanied the original
Japanese version, however,; that
doesn't detract from the; (film.' .
I especially liked ' the manner
in which the American titles
were put into the film. They
- were quite easy to read, and
came slowly enough to allow the
spectator to fully read them.
"Rasho-Mon" opens today at
the Varsity Theater for a re
gular two day run.
TOP RATE STAGE FARE: I
caught the matinee performance
of "The Moon is Blue" in Ral
eigh on Saturday, and found it '
to be every bit as fine as the
Broadway . version. t Was quite
surprised to find that the male
lead plays one of Helen Hayes
sons in the forthcoming film,
"My Son John." The theater
was almost empty for the mati
nee, and I could not help
wondering how well it would
have done had it played here in
Chapel Hill. "Don Juan in Hell"
did very nicely here last spring,
perhaps we could get some
other. . stage attraction here ;
which would do just as well.
Webster's definition of a phoe
, nix:, ,.. . the "only bird of its
kind said to cremate, itself, and ;
then to rise again . -from its own :
ashes--the emblem of immorta-
lity." , ,.;,.;(v,,; ' :
At Embry University, Ga., the
t literary magazine Phoenix, ap-
J pears to have burned itself out. '
. More than; 100 theology stu
dents have signed a petition in
protest of the "low level humor'
published in Phoenix, and there
is a drive on to suspend the
publication. ;
Whether or not the magazine
will be able to rise again is stall
in doubt, At the1 Very least, all
contents will be subjected to a
pre-publication check. - ;
. Pnoenbr ha? the fiiort of th
Off C'ampus
PERSONALLY
, Not long ago I spent a pleas
ant evening with a childhood
friend - of mine who' Had f just
been released from the Ohio
State Penitentiary. (I'll call
him Alex. I promised I wouldn't
mention . his real name but
many of you have probably
read of his escapades In 'Gang
Buster Comics and his pictures
have been displayed in some of
our finest post offices.)
. This column is no whitewash.
I'm not going to tell you that
Alex is a misguided playboy,
basically honest, with a kind
heart and a burning desire to
"go straight." He's rotten to the
eore. He was never neglected as
a child, jealous of his rich class
mates, or persecuted by an un
fair society. He's just a common
crook:
Alex and I were classmates in
,the first grade. Every day he
came to school with a dirty face,
grimy britches, turtle-neck jer
sey, a pair ' of - brass - knuckles
autographed by Bugsy ; Siegle,
and a paper bag full of dead
ynice or whatever else he man
aged to swipe along the way.
When . the academic routine
v grew too . boring for Alex, he
used to light up a cigarette and
blow smoke into the faces of
the surrounding cherubs. He'd
grab the first child, who cough
ed arid threaten to gouge out his
"eyeballs and play marbles with
them. Then, when the teacher
rah down the hall to 'fetch the
principal, Alex would take the
floor and entertain the class
with a running account of what
went on' Wednesday in Juvenile
Court. .
He was our "boss," "chief,"
gciiciaiiiiinu, tali u. mui, xil
dignant parents complained to
the School Board that their off
spring refused to bathe, study,
or dress up, nice since Alex gave
them "the word." During recess
he lised to hold profanity semi-'
nars in the washroom. He
taught me every dirty word I
know. Once he tried to : sell the
principal on the idea of tear gas
drills and vacations on Dillin
ger's birthday.- - ' "
Years passed : and young Alex
continued to follow in his fath-
er's fingerprints. He built up his
undersized physique by liftirig
wallets and" he was stealing cars
before the rest of lis" could even
drive. He became a legend not
because the youth of our town
admired larceny, but ; because
his alibis : were always s o
fraught with imaginuity. -
. . Once, when he was accused
of breaking into a cafe, he told
the judge he 'was merely wait
ing for a bus and accidentally
. stumbled against the window
pane, smashed it, went inside to
leave his name and address, and
was in the cash register looking
for a pencil when the cops, nab
bed him. Another time, when he
was caught-with a crowbar try
ing to jimmy open the side door
of a church," he protested he was
Phly "looking for a place to
pray."
! Alex used to beg" the boys to
get dates and go . up to City
Court in time for his matinee
appearances. He was every bit
as proud of his court perform
ances as an amateur golfer
would be of a low 10 on a rainy
Emory Wheel weekly,, which de
clares itself "opposed to any
plan of supervision . . While
the intentions of the supervisors
might be entirely honorable,
:we think such control would be
Unworkable and potentially daa-
day. I remember one time a
local merchant accused Alex f
snatching his '37 Pontine on a
Friday night and, although cir
cumstantial evidence was stack
ed against him, Alex was ac
quitted. He placidly ' explained
to the judge that he couldn't
possibly have filched the auto
because he was in High Point
that night robbing a drug store.
I didn't see Alex for ten
years, but I knew iny luck
couldn't hold out. One sunny
afternoon last week I unlocked
the office and there was Alex,
sitting in the easy chair reading
one of my old editorals on the
honor system. For three hours
we discussed old friends and
, who they married and how they
were making a living. Accord
ing to Alex there are no busi
nesses o r professions o n 1 y
"rackets." -He said that Peggy
' was in the nursing racket, Leon
was in the banking racket, Sally
t he Bendix Self-Laundry
racket, and Teddy was plan
ning to go into the drive-in
' movie racket. (He said he never
figured I would end up'iri the
newspaper racket.)
He took me to dinner at Dan
zigers and then frankly admit
ted he was driving northward
to try to make a dishonest doll
ax in one Qf our larger cities. I
was afraid to ask him where he
got the car. Before he left he
gave me a few tips on how to
"wingjam" combination locks,
steal pianos, make ; typewriters
"thief proof", and use Hungar
ian pennies in juke boxes, tele
phones, and pay toilets.
I asked him if he had any
w message for the youth of Amer
ica and he flashed a saccharine
sneer the revealed his corroded
character and derisive contempt
for law and order.- .
"Yeah," he 'syruped.- "Teil
.them crime don't pay, but the
hours are pretty good and you
can pick your; own' locale." ' '' ""
Then we shook' hands and he
- disappeared in the direction of
the slimy, twisted ! alleys of the
underworld. : v ' . " : '
t i :!
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