Newspapers / Jones County Journal (Trenton, … / Aug. 9, 1962, edition 1 / Page 2
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EDITORIALS Never Forget That These Editorials Are The Opinion Of One Man - " And He May Be Wrong The Reading Hour No one who earns all or part of his bread from writing is likely to deny the import ance of reading, but there is a possibility that both writers and educators emphasized the wrong thing; especially in the field of fiction. In an introduction to a collection of short stories one of this era’s most widely read, and most profitable writers, Somerset Mau gham, says it succinctly: “But before'I go on to consider more par ticularly the stories which I am inviting the reader to read, I should like to point out to him that no one is under obligation to read fiction. To read some of the books on the subject that are written for the edifica tion of the young, you would imagine that it was a duty that a man owed, not only to himself, but to society, to read certain nov els. From the seriousness with which the authors of these textbooks treat the psycho logical, political, sociological characteristics of the novels they discuss, you would think that the main object of fiction is1 to impart knowledge. I imagine that these persons adopt this attitude because it adds dignity to studies which they fear many seem a tri fle frivolous. They wish to offer a contribu tion to science no less important than that provided by the biologists who study rats, newts and guinea pigs. It is an attitude which has much gratified the vanity of au thors. They have always had an uneasy feeling that there was something not quite serious in the writing of fiction, and it has been pleasant for them to look upon them selves as scientific workers; and of ,no small importance either, for the field they cultivated was after all nothing less than hnnBUi nature. When they were told that the novel had taken the place of the pulpit; and that it offered the. most convenient means at the present day for the propagation of they were quite ready to assume the thus thrust upon them.” [ Spent some little time in re through the trauma of si Maugham continues: “The artists has a natural facility for creation, and to exer cise his gifts is a delight to him; he creates in order to disembarrass his soul of a bur den that oppressed it and thus gain release. But this is no concern of the layman who reads his poems or looks at his pictures: to the layman art offers solace and relaxation and an escape from the reality of life; and sometimes it enlarges his soul, presents new ideas to his spirit and heartens him to cope with the difficult business of living. If it earn do this its power is so great that the artist thus moves you that you are justified in ascribing genius to him. Genius is race. No artist need be ashamed if he can do no more than offer entertainment. That too has its value.” . - So far as we’re concerned it's a pity that , mora of our current writers can not accept this philosphy. Too many of them-are vic tims of their own press agentry and care fully manicured criticisms which ascribe to their word a far greater cotitent than they possibly could have. In attempting to lard every epithet with sociological overtones, or to draweach char acter as a political prototype the composi tion fails as good reading and becomes prop aganda. And if there is one thing we need less of in the world today it is the propagandist, whether he is trying to sell you dandruff cure or a new form of government. Writers have been taken too seriously, and having been taken seriously many of them have fallen into the mistake of taking themselves toft seriously. This is the most deadly sin the creator of fiction can com mit. Have yoa read a book recently from the best-seller list that did ho more tfean en tertain ? If you have, please recommend it to from the conservative mount he says, quot ing President Kennedy. " ‘Sometime ago I asked each American to consider what he could do for his coun try and I also asked the steel companies. In the past 24 hours we have had their ans wer,' Kennedy cried. This is demagoguery at its Rooseveltian best. Neither Truman or Eisenhower were intelligent enough to rise to this level.” Can you imagine what amount of editorial gall is poured into those few-words? Here is a glib Tennesseean, riding the conservative crest and in one sentence casting into outer darkness the last four presidents oft he na tion. The men Who have occupied the chief executive post for the past 29 years — each and all are waved aside much as the medi cine man tries to push away the worrisome childen who are fouling up his .pitch. Perhaps, it has always been difficult to see clearly what lies near at hand or to under stand that which has passed; and obviously it is impossible to see ahead. But there are some venue fairs, and among these is that nothing con structive is ever accomplished by a com pletely negative attitude. Perhaps, the greatest strength of'world Scialism today is that they have created for emselves the image of “doers”, while those who have stood for democratic capitalism have either1 adopted or had forced upon them the negative roll of “not-doers.” Terrible Toll Last week’s death toll on the highways of Lenoir County was terrible. Nothing we can find to say can possibly carry a new reflection upon this tragic four days that saw eight traffic deaths in Le noir County. Each of us who drives, or even who is a passenger on the highways must do his own reflecting, and none' of us can avoid the feeling that the finger of fate could just as easily point us out. This knowledge certainly imposes upon all of us the continuing responsibility of learning and practicing more each day the life-saving art of defensive driving. On the congested streets and roads of our nation today it is not enough to drive safe ly, to abide by the law and fo extend the courtesies of the road to those we meet or pass. Every second that one is responsible for a motor vehicle he must concentrate not only upon doing what is correct himself but also upon that other person who is NOT driving correctly. This is a . huge responsibility, but unless each driver is willing even anxious,to ac cept this personal responsibility the bad stpry of our highways can get nothing but m JONES JOUR JACK RIDER, Publi Published Every Thursday b; County News Ooria&Mty, it* Vernon Ave., Kinston, N. 23175. Entered as Second Clasf 5, 1949, at the Post Office *t 1 Carolina,, under the Act of l By Mail in First Zone ~ $3 K. Wheeler of Does this describe anybody you know? It fits a great many I know personally, or through their writings. The Jonathan Dan iels, Ralph McGill, Robert Kennedy, Hub ert Humphrey, Paul Douglas, Jacob Javits, Martin Luther King breed — each of whom mumbles the ‘liberal’ litany but believes his own view superior to the law. Which of course makes each and all of them basically an anarchist. The attitude as exemplified by the NAACP and the CORE approach that a law can be ignored,because it is unjust is too absurd in a civilized society to even mention, except that it has been projected by such men who have the ear of the national news media. How can a teen-ager be expected to respect the law when his learned elders spit upon the law, and decide that rule by executive fiat or bureaucratic despotism is preferrable to government by the due process of law. Some examples of this executive tyranny include: Specific employment demands upon all government contractors that are writ ten by civil servants who never have fought the ballot battle for their jobs. The Inter state Commerce Commission exercises this same kind of executive rule by telling bus station operators that busses cannot call at stations that have segregated rest rooms, restaurants br ticket windows. Aside from the racial aspect of such illegal rulings; what would happen if a bus station operator at tempted under the same order to, keep a man out of a woman’s toilet, or the other way around? Admittedly, progress by parliamentary process is slow, but it has the great grace of being sure. Government by law rather than by man is based in the presumption that all government should be by the con sent of the governed. Certainly, the recent past in our nation in the sphere of ra cial integration has NOT been with the consent of the government, but has been government enforced by paratrobp bayonet, economic sanctions, and the petty kinds of tyranny that a faceless bureaucracy can im pose upon individuals who are “without day" in the federal courts which have become a mockery of their historic function because of their subserviance to gutter-type politics. The page from Amercian History when our processes of government were a pawn of the tycoons is indeed a sorry thing tp consider. But today the federal processes of government ~ and most especially the courts and the executive branch of govern ment are just as surely the pawns of the -Jpwer-huhgry racists minorities as their predecessors were servants of the great trusts. The fault, however, does not rest upon the ligarehical illusions of the federal judiciary,
Jones County Journal (Trenton, N.C.)
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Aug. 9, 1962, edition 1
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