OTHER EDITORS »Ay
WRAL-TV VIEWPOINT
The Real Lesson of Alabama
It scarcely seems necessary
to comment that no rational
mind could have been prompt
ed, by any set of circumstances,
to pull the trigger of the gun
that killed the Detroit woman
in Alabama. Among civilized
people any man who presumes
to ordain himself as judge, jury
and executioner is not merely
an enemy of society, but a fool
as well.
There is more to it than that
— cause and effect, for one
thing. This regrettable incident
cries out for questions to be
answered, foremost among them
the matter of who should share
the broad responsibility for the
woman’s death. And this is
where the pious finger-pointing
begins.
No less a figure than Presi
dent Johnson himself chose to
dismiss the matter by laying
it at the doorsteps of the Ku
Klux Klan. This may have been
a comfortably easy decision for
the President, and it may have
been astute politics. But it,is
hardly the right medicine for a
sick country.
There is no reason to ques
tion the FBI’s identification of
the four Alabama men it arrest
ed as being members of the
Klan. We shall set aside the
matter of whether the men —
if they are guilty of the murder
er — were acting as Klansmen
or as individuals. The larger
question, and America may as
well face it, is why and how
did the rage of these men be
come so great as to prompt
them to commit such an out
rage. Let Lyndon Johnson and
Hubert Humphrey and Martin
Luther King, and all the rest,
probe their own consciences.
Can it be honestly said that
there was no deliberate provo
cation of violence in Alabama?.
What was the point of it all?
Who engineered it? Who smil
ed at defiance of the law on
one side, while complaining
about it on the other?
The trouble with ariarchy —
disregard for the law — is that
it never travels a one-way street.
The assignment of blame in Al
abama, like the argument about
whether it was the chicken or
the egg that came first, can be
as old as the question of slav
ery or as recent as Martin Luth
er King’s refusal to obey a fed
eral court order. But even those
are not the big questions in Ala
bama today, nor in much of the
rest of the nation. The question
is whether the dignity and in
tegrity of government have now
been so diminished that govern
ment is concerned with and obe
dient to the cause that assem
bles the largest crowd. If so,
we had better prepare to live
with anarchy for a long while.
Even Eric Severeid, who has
long been an admirer of loud,
flamboyant civil rights demon
strations, expressed concern the
other night. He described the
white people of Montgomery as
“conquered people,” hardly con
cealing his amusement at the
fact that they Stayed indoors
and away from downtown when
Martin Luther King’s hordes
moved in. But Mr. Severeid was
disturbed at the threats and
the taunts of the civil rights
leaders. He mentioned one of
Winston Churchill’s ringing
phrases — “in victory, magna
nimity — and Mr. Severeid ex
pressed the hope that Dr. King’s
forces would henceforth prac
tice this. Then he finished the
Churchill phrase — “in defeat,
defiance” — and cautioned the
conquered people of the South
not to be defiant.
Hours later, after there had
been no magnanimity,, there
was defiance — defiance in the
form of an anger-crazed mind
that sought satisfaction with a
high-powered rifle. It is a bless
ing that only one incident oc
curred.
It is not an easy thing, of
course,^ for a politician. to call
off a mob and thus silence its
provocations. It seems far sim
pler, as Pontius Pilate sought to
demonstrate, to let the mob
have its way. But mobs feed on
weakness. Over the weekend, it
was disclosed that Martin Lu
ther King now proposes to join
forces with labor unions through
out the land to promote work
stoppages. This, too, will.be done
in the name of “non-violence.”
And after that, what?
Let us hope, however, that
the political fling is through,
and that the frolic is over. The
Detriot woman died a need
less death, participating in a
senseless performance. Cracking
down on the Ku Klux Klan, how
ever justified that may turn out
to be, will be a case of treating
the symptom and ignoring the
disease. Unless we henceforth
declare war on anarchy by any
body, we may as well brace our
selves to see it practiced by ev
erybody.
That is the real lesson of Ala
bama.
Peers and Picasso
The Lord Chancellor took his
seat on the Woolsack at three
o’clock.
Lady Summerskill asked the
Government how they justified,
in the present state of the na
tional economy, the spending
of £60,000 ($168,000) on the
fabrication of Picasso called
“The Three Dancers.”
Lord Bowden, Minister of State
for Education and Science. —
The trustees of the Tate Gal
lery have entire discretion con
cerning the purchase of works
of art from the money which
has been allocated to them.
Lady Summerskill — As the
Treasury make a large contri
bution to these galleries, should
they not keep a more watchful
eye on the one or two individ
uals who, guided solely by their
own idiosyncrasies, choose these
pictures? (Cheers).
Lord Bowden. — This is
a matter which will excite great
interest and controversy, but
when the Government have ap
pointed, as they have, eminent
and distinguished artists to ad
vise them about methods of dis
posing of the funds allocated to
them, they can do no other than
trust their judgment. The last
thing the Government should
engage in is an analysis of the
present state of the market in
works of art.
The budget which the Tate
has is about £110,000 ($308,000)
a year, and the only thing we
can do is to leave the trustees
to spend it to the best of their
discretion. We shall have to be
content with such results as
they achieve.
Lord Stuart of Findhorn. —
Has the Minister any knowl
edge to date of how many
Friends of the Tate Gallery have
now ceased to be friends?
(Laughter.)
Lady Summerskill. — If today
Picasso doodled and put h i s
name to it would it not com
mand a large sum from some
pesudo-intellectual snob?
Lord Bowden. — I agree. I
forget who it was who defined
a highbrow as a man who looks
at a sausage and thinks of Pi
casso. (Laughter) — From a par
liamentary report in The Lon
don Times.
DECIDE TO APPEAL
Tuesday William Keys and
Early Dawson of Vanceboro
route 1 pled guilty to attempt
ing to fradulently obtain a driv
ing license and Recorder Buck
Wooten gave each four months
in prison, at which point they
decided to retain counsel and
file appeal to superior court.
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