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at rut Office. Franklin, N. C, m teeood class
TOL LXVm Number M
Published every Thursday by The Franklin Press
4 At Franklin, North Carolina
Telephone M
WBDIAR JOMM Alitor
8. SLOAN Business Manager
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THURSDAY, JUNE ?, 1953
When It's Too Late
All indications are that the merger of the Nanta
hala National Forest with the Pisgah will become
effective next Wednesday, as scheduled.
There are many facts and factors that argue
strongly against the desirability or even economy
of the move.
Many of the arguments in favor of the merger
are shot through with inconsistency ? to put the
matter mildly.
l\
But nobody in Washington seems to consider it
necessary to defend or even discuss the .proposal,
much less to reconsider the apparently somewhat
hasty decision.
Time alone will tell whether the move is wise.
t
But, unfortunately, if and when the Forest Serv
ice itself recognizes its mistake, the people who
will have suffered, in dollars and in efficiency of
service, will be not the people in Washington, but
Ihose whom they are supposed to serve, the tax
payers.
Faith Falters
In simple, hart-hitting style, President Eisen
hower the other day condemned all "book burn
mg .
While the President, in his extemporaneous re
marks at the Dartmouth College commencement,
named no names and cited no instances, what he
said followed action of the State Department in
"purging" thousands of books from U. S. over
seas libraries. The purge, an apparent result of an
investigation bv Senator McCarthy, sought to
eliminate all controversial books, and included
works by respected present-day conservatives as
well as liberals and radicals. Among the authors
in the latter group eliminated was Thomas Paine,
hero of the American Revolution and friend of
Thomas Jefferson.
In his classic defense of the freedom of the mind,
Mr. Eisenhower said, in part :
"We have got to fight it (Communism) with
something better, not try to conceal the thinking
of our own people.
"They are part of America, and ^ even if they
think ideas that are contrary to ours, their right
to say them, their right to record them and their
right to have them in places where they are acces
sible to others is unquestioned, or it is not Ameri
can.
"Don't join the book burners," the President told
the graduates. "Don't think you are going to con
ceal faults by concealing evidence that they ever
existed. Don't be afraid to go into your library
and read every book.
"As long as any document does not offend your
own ideas of decency, that should be the only cen
sorship. How will we defeat communism unless
; we know what it is, what it teaches and why does
it have such an appeal for men?"
Then, just two days later, the President took
back some of his bold and inspiring words ? and
won the plaudits of Senator McCarthy!
So far as he was "concerned, the President said
in his second statement, the State Department
could go ahead and "bukn" books that advocate
Communism. In explanawon of that comment, he
drew a distinction between books which explain
the nature of CommunismJ and he mentioned the
writings of Marx and Stalin, and those which
openly advocate Communism.
On the surface, that sounds like a sensible dis
tinction.
But would the President argue tha,t Marx and
Stalin did not advocate Communism ? or would he
suggest that, because they perhaps did not advo
cate it openly, their advocacy was less dangerous?
Where would the President draw the line?
Are the writings of dead Communists less dan
gerous than the writings of live ones?
As Mr. Eisenhower so well said, it is not possi
ble to fight Communism unless we understand it.
and we cannot understand it unless we examine it
and the ideas upon which it is based. How, then,
can we understand present-day Communism unless
we .know what present-day Communists advocate?
and how are we to know, if we burn their books.
Far more fundamental than those questions,
however, is the fact that ideas rule the world, and
that no idea ever yet has been destroyed by book
burning. A false idea can be destroyed only by
truth, and there can be no conflict of ideas unless
all ideas are free.
Our entire Western philosophy, indeed, is based
on faith that truth inevitably will vanquish error.
And that faith, if it is honest with itself, demands
that our ideas and the other fellow's be given the
opportunity for a fair contest.
The alarming thing about today's situation is
not that there are Communist books in U. S. li
braries or even that there are Communists among
U. S. citizens. What really endangers America is
that many Americans have lost their faith.
Beneath the antics of McCarthy, and the State
Department's book purge, and the President's par
tial retraction of his magnificent statement at
Dartmouth ? beneath them all is fear.
Those who would cover up Communism, those
who would jail every man whose ideas are un
orthodox, those who would burn every controver
sial book, are afraid ? not merely afraid of Com
munism, but afraid that truth and freedom no
longer are to be trusted.
Others' Opinions
DIPLOMACY
(The Wall Street Journal)
The plump, fortyish lady fumed at her portrait photographer.
"Whatever happened to your skill, your art, your technique?"
she demanded. "The last portrait you made of me was beauti
ful, exquisite."
REPORT ON ASIA
(Smithfieid Herald)
For generations America has looked toward Europe rather
than Asia. We have studied the languages, the culture and the
literature of England, France, Germany, Spain, and Italy, while
we remain ignorant of China, Japan, India and the rest of the
Orient. But today in the cold war that exists between America
and Russia, great decisions are being made in Asia. And to
morrow the issue of war or peace may be settled in Asia
rather than in Europe.
Justice William O. Douglas, a distinguished American Jurist
and a far-seeing Democratic leader, realizes the importance of
Asia. He has travelled during the past several years to most of
the countries of Asia and has brought back to his fellow Amer
icans a significant report. In one book, "Beyond the High
Himalayas," he told what was happening in Central Asia. His
latest book, "North from Malaya," is a report from Malaya,
Indo-China, Burma, the Philippines, Formosa and Korea. Here
is the gist of his advice to his fellow countrymen:
Our intervention in Korea was a sound political measure, for
if the North Koreans had been allowed to be victorious there
would have been other violent eruptions in Asia and the
Communist power would have been extended over vital areas.
Peace in Korea can come only through a basic political
settlement with China.
If peace is secured in Korea and if the Communist govern
ment of China proves its ability to govern China without seri
ous domestic resistance, then Red China should be admitted to
the United Nations. "If we want to have a world organization,
then it should be representative of the world as it is."
Formosa should not be surrendered to the Communists but
maintained as an independent regime. On the other hand,
American commitment to help Chiang Kai-shek free the main
land of China "would be the most reckless venture in inter
national politics we have ever known."
I
In Vietnam (Indo-China), we must realize that "the only
government that can save V.'etnam from Communism is an
anti-French government."
As for Red China, "the lonjf-range strategy must be to pry
China loose from the Soviets#
Throughout Asia we shouhr encourage the self-determination
of peoples and not insist uKn tying the nations of Asia to us
with military strings. /!
We should encourage tie development of a Pacific Union or
In 1952, 8,650 pedestrian* were killed and 265,000
hurt. Only YOU can prevent traffic accident >1
Asian League within the framework of the United Nations
"as a genuine third force for the promotion of democratic in
fluences in the region" rather than insist that the nations of
Asia take sides in the cold war between Russia and the United
States.
In conclusion, Justice Douglas says: "The present-day strug
gle is for the balance of political powe'r in the world. That
struggle can be won only by ideas. And there are no more
potent ideas at work in all the world than America's standards
of freedom, justice, and equality. The Communist creed is
cheap and tawdry by comparison."
SENATOR SMITH AT ELON \
(Winston-Salem Journal)
I
Some of the things that Senator Willis Smith said in a com
mencement address at Elon College have disquieting implica
tions. He suggested that all who advocate government "plan
ning" are "spendthrifts." He indicated that anyone who dis-\
agrees with him just doesn't know the facts. Worse still, he as
much as said that anyone who opposes the McCarran-Walters
Immigration Act is following the lead of the Communist Daily
Worker.
Now it is true that "planning" has accumulated some bad
connotations. It has become synonymous in many minds with
the spending and high-tax programs of the New Deal. It is a
term which has become associated with Socialist government,
and in that sense all of us, along with Senator Smith, well
may shy away from planners.
Yet, there is nothing wrong with planning, in itself, indeed,
it would be foolish for the government to fail to plan for
spending the vast sums of money that it collects from the tax
payers. Every proposed expenditure should be carefully ex
amined as to the need for it, and spent, once approved, ac
cording to a carefully laid plan.
+
When he got around to the McCarran-Walters Act, the Sen
ator said that opposition to it "had its origin in the official
Communist newspaper in America, The Daily Worker." He add
ed that many other newspapers unwittingly joined in the at
tacks on the law and said that the editorial writers and col
umnists who opposed it "clearly demonstrated that they had
nothing whatsoever about the intent or necessity of the law."
This is a careless and a sweeping statement. The Senator is
saying that the only informed position is his own, and that
anyone who takes a different position is following the Com
munist line.
President Truman opposed the McCarr an -Walters Act. In
fact he vetoed it. Would the Senator say that the former
President didn't know what was in the act or that he was fol
lowing the Communist line? President Eisenhower has called
for revision of the act to eliminate the discriminatory features
to which former President Truman objected. Would the Sena
tor say that President Elsenhower doesn't know what he Is
talking about or that he is following the Communist line?
The same questions apply to many individuals and newspapers
critical of the act.
Communism is a grave threat to the principles which we in
this country hold dear. But we do our own cause no good
when we suggest that anyone who happens to agree with a
position that coincides with a position which the Communists
currently are taking Is by that token wittingly or unwittingly
aiding and abetting the Communist cause. When we get into
that frame of mind, we begin to decide Issues not on their
merits, but by the way the Communists want them decided.
All the Communists have to do Is to take a stand directly op
posite to what they really want. Automatically they achieve
their true objective, because the proper course for us to take,
by this theory, is the one opposite to that which the Com
munists advocate.
I ?
Senator Smith strongly believes that the McCarraif-Walters
Act Is a good law, and he undoubtedly has what he considers
excellent reasons for his belief. Yet he is doing his own cause
no good, by indicating that those who take a different view
are either Ignoramuses or d 51 pes of the (^pmmunlsts, or both.
dopes of the Ctommu
r i\
state ' eSiployees^
his opponent, Char!!
with his own henchmer
ever, Umstead's tactics aid
this line have been so muij
more extreme that perhaps ;
pie will forget Scott. For some
reason, however, the newspapers '
do not seem to be giving play
to the present governor's re
moval of department heads that
they did to Scott's action par
ticularly in the editorial space.
Willis Smith will have one
big thing against him in a
Democratic primary. Many par
ty members will not be able
forget the fact Senator
could not find the time or
inclination last fall to
the standard bearer ofj
party, Adlai Stevenson,
national election. Par
ers such as Everett
state chairman of th
cratic party, may try t
this over, but many D
throughout the state
forget. Secondly, an
tion of the voting d
North Carolina's JunlcJ
will show that he w
the Republican pa
times than most
men gc
barred.
the files
50 YEARS AGO TdpH
"Nancy", the big Indian1"""
squaw, who for twenty-ftve or
thirty years was cook and
housekeeper for Uncle Shade
Stallcup before his death, was
here visiting Mr. W. R. Stall
cup's family for several days
last week. Her home is in
Cherokee County.
Miss Edna Jacobs, of Annis
ton, Ala., aged 12 years, arrived
Thursday evening on a sum
mer's visit to relatives here.
She left Anniston and came via
Rome, Knoxvllle, and Asheville,
and made the trip in 23'A hours
to Franklin.
25 YEARS AGO
In this modern day of care
and many means of transpor
tation one rarely sees such a
sight as did the people of Tus
quitfcee last Thursday after
noon when four girls and a
boy dressed in hiking clothes
passed with haversacks swung
across their shoulders. Their
astonishment wa? .greater, how
ever, when they were told that
the party had hiked from
Franklin since ten o'clock. The
girls were Elizabeth and Hlkttle
Slagle, Carolyn and Frances ^
Nolen, and their brother, Hor
ace Nolen, all of Franklin.
WANT a FIVE DOLLAR
GOLD PIECE FREE? The Idle
Hour Theatre will give one
away every night next week.
Adv.
Mr. J. E. Rice has Just re
turned from a trip to his form
er home in Louisiana. He re
ports the weather down there
almost unbearable and was ex
ceedingly glad to get back to
the mountains.
1* YEARS AGO
Flames of undetermined orig
in completely destroyed the
Iotla Methodist Church, about
four miles north of Franklin,
and all of the church fixtures
Saturday morning.
Joe Ashear left Tuesday for
Atlanta, Ga.f on a business trip
"to buy merchandise If it can
be bought."