Never Forget That These Editorials Are The Opinions Of Oho Man, And He May Be Wrong.
On Otar Friend Cletus Brock
as those "sinful souls” who are trying to1
corrupt the children by legalising the
Cletus, In his spasm of righteousness,
has gotten so high up In the air that he
has started doubting the Integrity, intelli
gence and public interest of people who
differ with him. He Is doing his best
—which is pretty good—to hang by the,
thumbs every man, woman and child who
might differ with his strict upbringing,
and continued thinking.
Now we would not attempt to set our
selves up as being as “good” as Cletus,
for we take an occasional drink and do
not feel that a glass of beer corrupts us
In any way. ■ But we do believe that
over the long pull of our life-span that
we, and other “heretics” who differ with
Cletus and his "believers” will stack up
some where near as well morally.
As any reader who has followed to
here must know, we belong to that group
which believes that nothing is bad, but
form. Cletus would call them foolish fa
natics. Hitler was a vegetarian and one
of his ohms for the “Herrenvolk” was a
super-race nourished on herbage alone.
Dp in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania,
there’s a group violently opposed to au
k mobiles. In New Jersey there’s anoth
er group that opposes clothing.
To bring this thing to a close let us
try to point out that If you look the
world over, or even your own neighbor
hood you can find some people who are
opposed to anything you can think of,
and even If you have a fertile imagina
tion.
So, this point: Can this world be leg
islated into a pattern that would please
each and all of these sincere and fanat
ical groups such as Cletus belongs to?
We feel that it cannot. We feel further
that we have spent too much of our en
ergy and too much of our intelligence in
the past generation in abject surrender
to the multitudinous minority groups
that buzz about with their various
“worthy causes.”
Give the majority a Chance!
Maks mine a “Bud.”
The “J. Edgar Hoover” Threat
Firstly, let us make eloquently clear
with the philosophy that so many un
thinking Americans hare fallen Into so
quickly.
The recent “Harry Dexter White” case
illustrates as nearly as possible exactly
what we have in mind. In this affair
both the Democrats and Republicans had
one thing in common: They both were
leaning very heavily on the almost rev
erential regard that is paid to J. Edgar
Hoover and his Federal Bureau of In
vestigation.
Both felt that the public would accept
without question anything that Hoover
supported. What is more; the American
Public WELL accept Hoover and his Ag
ents in just that manner. This is flat
tering to Hoover and hi® men, but it is
dangerous to our fundamental political
principles.
There are many among us today who
would very readily turn this nation into
a “police state’’ if they were assured
-that Hoover and his practices would be
continued. Those “witch hunters” on
every side of the political fence—to the
right or left—who resent and would put
an end to any opposition, loyal or other
wise, would vote quickly to having our
house put “into proper order by J. Ed
gar Hbover.”
Of course, the Germans turned from
the “messy democracy” of the Weimar
Republic to Hitler because he and his
financial backers held out the tempting
bait of stabilization. Mfissolini caught
mocracy is also Its
ness. v‘V ' • ' v>V
To make the pattern, even of perfec
tion, and to attempt to force man’s mind '
and even his body Into that pattern is
nice from the point-of-vtew of those
wanting orderly government but It Is ex
actly opposite from the principles, add
past practices of this, the United States
of America.
Our trains do not run on schedule. But
we may damn the railroads. Our taxes
may be wasted to a degree. But we may
damn those that waste them. True, our
government lacks the drill-field preci
sion of some that have been tried and
found wanting, but when the blue chips
are down our Nation has been able to
rise to the occasion, over and far beyond
the personal prejudices that often mud
dy our political waters In less stormy
times.
Bach of us should do a little soul
searching in this day. Ask yourself if
you have not been one of those who may
have recently said, ‘‘If I had my way,
I’d turn the whole mess over to the BBC
and put every Red on their list on a boat
and send them to Russia.’’
If you have, a more careful analysis of
the thought might reveal to you that
you are among that growing body that
would back us into ode kind of dictator
ship while running away from another.
Consistency, Thou Art A Jewel, Indeed
The writer of this column makes no
Inhuman pretense of consistency; for he
Hfces to feel himself reasonable enough
to have his mind changed from time
to time by new facts. But) there are
Journalistic circles In which a premium
price is placed upon that most Illusive
As. a case In point we offer for your
casual consideration Life's attitude to
ward the late and recently disenterred
Truman Administration. life, at the
price of an ambassadorship and other
(rood and valuable considerations. ><*<*
mered full many a nail Into the cof
fin of this gone-but-not-forsotten era of
the Pair DeaL
And not the jbst of the materials
Ed Johnson says Foster Gurley didn’t
think this story mi tunny one Mt:
seems a man walked Into an automobile
dealer’s showroom trailing a cord behind
him. Bald, “I ^ant to.trade for a new
car.” The salesman very politely replied,
“Yes sir, and what do you have to trade
in?” The man pulled In the rope and
said, "This billy goat,” which was found
to be on the other end. . The salesman,
said, “Yes sir. We’ll allow you $695.”
We etill think that the Un-American
Committee in Congress ought to examine
the “Un-Americanness” of convicting a
dead man of treason, and espionage on
the testimony of admitted traitors. If
this practice is accepted as correct then
half of the battle of the Russians is won,
for we have taken one huge step in the
not-so-distant direction of that kind of
dictatorship which we seek to avoid.
two words: Yalta and Potsdam, at least
the Life Line was consistent, and as we
see it, to a fault.
But let us turn another page in the
Life of our Times and see what is on the
other side, and at exceedingly high space
formal: Sir Winston B. Churchill.
Now we love “Winnie,” perhaps not
as lucratively at Life-Hme-Portune, but
with a heart as pure, and for reasons
less promotion-wise. But try as we may,
we cannot stretch our international tent
to the point where it can at one and
the same time cover Life’s attitude, to
ward Churchill and the recent Truipan
Administration.
Holy Water is sprayed about the Life
editorial offices before and after each
mention of Truman and Acheson, yet
those same delicate little fingers which
pound out curses by the ream over the
Truman-Acheson-Rooaevelt “surrenders
at Yalta and Potsdam” turn and face
reverentially to the east and to Sir
Winston and eulogize this last Gibraltar
of Conservatism with adjectives form
erly reserved for Calvin Ooolldge and
Mark Hanna.
So, if we are mixed up in this muddled
little world, we are not alone. Life is
right there with us, with pictures. Say
ing that Roosevelt and Truman and
Acheson were wrong as a $3 bill and
that “Winnie, Good Old Winnie” was
calling his shots in every pocket and was
right in every “shot since the Boer War.
Which is rather like saying, “We
agree with what you are saying but if
your friends repeat it; it’s a damned
lie.”
--j—$fer*
.. A ■
JONES JOURNAL
v JACK EIDER, Publisher
MURIEL RISER, Business Manager
Published Every Thursday by The Lenoir
County News Company, Inc., 403 West
Vernon, Ave., Kinston, N. C., Phone 5415.
Entered as Seeond Class Matter May S,
1048. at the Poet Office at ’Renton.
North mulw of
March t, 1870.
And looking to
during which
often find mi
I did, or wtTdi
to fill op our
at times am*]
Of course, I have taken a lot of riding
from pale and aneimc begetters of bogns
such as Marion and Tom Parrott, not to
mention Wheeler Kennedy, and in the six
years I had just about gotten used to
all of this kind of good-natured ribbing.
But now I have passed through that
“Unseen Portal” and have added a boy
to the family. I’m happy, of course,
for a lot of reasons: Happy that Muriel
is getting along fine. Happy that Wilbur
Jackson Rider, Jr.,, is a fine healthy spe
cimen with an appetite- comparable to
his “pappy.”
1 suppose that if each of
the entire truth about “W
boy” it would be more beeai
ity in us that wants «||
for the Atom*
Washington in
i job. Ed; the
Daddy (John
Bruce, who works
flee, and Ed, who
Energy Commission In
some kind of a/securll
oldest, has three daughters, Bruce, the
youngest, has two daughters and up until
last week my two daughters made seven
grandchildren that Daddy has and not
a boy in the whole crowd. Now that Is
taken care of so this braneh of the Rider
Family Is good for at least one more gen
eration which may worry the hell out of
some of my “friends" that would like
to get rid of me and scatter salt over
my “holdings.”
But aside from the vanity that is in
each of us and causes us to want our
“name” to go on after we have gone on
there are other aspects of that natural
desire of a father to have a son. Al
though you certainly cannot possibly
love a s(m any more than I love my two
girls, I think it irrefutable that a father
and son can have a relationship that is
all but impossible between father and
daughter. The same factor, of mane.
makes every woman want to hove a
daughter. <=
It is obvious that a man cannot have
a “man-to-man” conversation with .his
daughter. And although some men try
to make “boys" out of their daughters,
taking them hunting, fishing and such
like-tm^r ■
act fintdlj
ter gets b
tiwj.