H. B. Zabriskie _ Editor
' Mrs. Robert M. Gambill _ Local News Editor
The Alleghany Ti
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| Sparta, N. C., Thursday, Oct. 19, 1939.
A Time For Reason
We don’t know whether a world in
which all human acts were governed by
reason would be a pleasant world to live
in or not. We rather suspect that it might
lack a great many of the elements which
make life, for most people, rather pleas
ant on the whole. A world governed by
pure reason would, perhaps, be rather
monotonous.
We haven’t any doubt, however,
about what the world would be like if
reason were thrown overboard and every
body acted upon emotional impulses. The
only word which can describe such a state
of human affairs is chaos. There could
be no government, no common purpose,
order and discipline would be gone with
the' winds.
The only way a nation can get along
•with its neighbors and the people of the
nation get along with each other is by a
judicious mixture of reason with emotion.
The greatest danger to any nation is to
let the collective emotional impulses of
its people run away with their reason.
That is something to think about, to
keep in mind in times like these. There
is no question whatever that the emotional
sympathies of the American people are
preponderantly with England and France
against Hitler and Stalin.
Out of that emotional tendency may
come such encouragement to those who
hope to profit personally, financially or
politically from war, that forces may be
set in motion to play upon our sympathies
and move us as a people to get into the
war ourselves.
Every American needs more than any
thing today to bring all the power of
reason to the control of thoughts and
acts. For nothing is more certain than
that, if we let our emotions run away
with us and take a hand in the European
struggle, beyond selling supplies to any
buyer who can pay for them and take
them away, we are heading straight for
the ruin of ourselves and our children,
whether the side with which we sympa
thize wins or loses.
Russian Menace Grows
Russia has developed into a first-class
menace all along the eastern Baltic coast
line, with the Northern nations anxiously
watching the efforts of the Soviet to com
pletely dominate the region.
Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia are
virtual vassals of the Red army and Fin
land, it seems, may be compelled to sur
render or resort to warfare which can
only prove disastrous. Sweden is in a
more favorable situation but no man
knows where the Russian Bear will halt
his aggressive march.
The action of Denmark, Norway and
Sweden in presenting identical notes to
Russia, “expecting” nothing to happen to
prevent Finland “independently” main
taining her neutral position indicates grow
ing uneasiness. That the United States
also saw fit to voice its concern emphasizes
the gravity of the situation,
i Germany can hardly view the ap
proach of Russian bases without grave
I trepidation. Even the Nazis know that
the future of Germany is shadowed by
the giant Slav, who seems to.seek a free
hand throughout all Eastern Europe.
Little direct information is available
in the Balkan area, although there are
reports that some demobilization of fron
tier forces has taken place. Yugoslavia,
Hungary and Italy, it is rumored, may
get together to safeguard the peace of
the area. Turkey has steadfastly declined
to give in to Russian pressure and Moscow
has advised Rumania that it has no “hos
tile” intentions.
Italy seems definitely removed from
the German axis. Rome says neutrality
will be the rule during the Winter and
next Spring, unless warmer weather brings
with it an advance into the Balkans by
Germany or Russia. The tie-up between
Russia and Germany has certainly alien
ated Italy from the Nazi camp.
Prom the way the people of Berlin celebrated
when the rumor of an armistice reached them,
we suspect war is not much more popular in Ger
many just now than it is in the United States.—
Winston-Salem Journal.
The Low Down From Hickory Grove
Back yonder around a year ago, everybody
was all worked up about the business of investigat
I ing the fracas down there on the Tennessee River.
And I been thinking about it, from seeing
; an old paper which I run across when I was kinda
| tidying up my desk, before my Susie comes in
| and does it, herself—and I would never know,
I thereafter, where to find anything.
Investigations are great medicine, if you can
choose your own jury. A horse-thief could ask
for nothing nicer—or surer.
But this TVA whitewash, it has quieted folks
in some parts of the country—and has about
blown over. But in Tennessee, the folks there
are in a different boat—they are wondering about
who is gonna dig up the mazuma to pay their
schoolteachers, etc., since Uncle Samuel moved in.
Sambo pays taxes to nobody—he just collects.
Glamor, the dictionary says, means something
that is artificially glorified!. Also it means
ILLUSION. TVA was no slouch, in its day—on
glamor.
Yours, with the low down,
JO SERRA
Two Sides To Every Question by Lytle Hul]
Possible Results Of This War
It has often, been said that one
of the saddest features of war
is that it demonstrates the in
ability of people to invent a form
of government capable of protect
ing their interests.
Through the ages it has always
been the hop£ that “this war”
will he the last the people will
have to undergo, but as time goes
on wars—instead of becoming
more localized and small in
scope—have grown larger in the
number of men involved and have
become more inclusive geographic
ally.
Every conceivable form of gov
ernment has been attempted :
monarchy, dictatorship, democ
racy; socialism, communism, capi.
talism. Each has flourished dur
ing periods of peace but few have
been capable of maintaining those
periods of peace for more than
a relatively short time.
There is an outstanding ex
ception, to this unnatural condi
tion, which may indicate that it
is not the forms of government
which are at fault so much as the
state of “nationalism,, as it exists
in Europe today, that is: dozens
of separate nations, both large
and small, necessarily selfish and
jealous «f each other, attempting
to live their individual lives be
hind their common boundary lines.
Hus outstanding exception is
the United States of America; a
Vast grouping of geographical
intities with different climates,
tastes, ideas and modes of living;
but having in common one su
preme interest—the central gov
ernment of the United States.
This interest—excepting the four
years of our civil war—has held
them together in peace and har
mony for one hundred and fifty
yean. Theee groups are compos
ed of every nationality, race, col
or and creed on earth.
In some cases almost the ma
jority of a whole state is des
cended from one nationality, yet
how weird even to imagine Min
nesota declaring war upon Louis
iana. But if these two states
were members of the European
family, they would probably show
a Long record of internecine war
fare.
Long before the Great War,
one would frequently hear a
European express his envy of
peaceful America. Since the de
vastating results of that war have
become so prominent as to be
apparent to even the least
thoughtful, “grumblings,” in
European countries, has become a
habit and changes of government
ia frequent occurrence.
The people are beginning to
[awake to the fact that there is
no way, under the present set up,
to stop the eternal warfare to
which they are subjected. In other
days, when these wars were
fought by professional armies, it
didn’t make such a tremendous
i impression and did not greatly af
fect their daily lives. But now
that war has come to mean the
forcible conscription of every
man’s and woman’s life and prop
erty, it has becom© to all the
people a thing of terrible import.
No one knows what the present
war, if fought to a finish, will
bring forth, and this is not in
tended as a prophecy: but it is
not difficult to picture a Europe
so utterly devastated that any
straw will be grasped at by the
despairing people, and that straw
will unfortunately not be “De
mocracy." That word won’t
“sound so good" to them by
then.
Desperate people will be sick
of anything which reminds them
of politicians; they will scream
against any fora of government
except a “people’s government"—
a “proletarian government.*' That
will have a wonderful sound—
The People’s Government! It
has fooled experts.
It fooled the level headed
French, and those same level
heads dropped into the basket
of the guillotine. It fooled the
Russians, and millions of unwill
ing angels have been added to
the pupulation of Heaven since
that “great emancipator,” Mr.
Stalin, became the “people’s gov
ernment’’ of all the Russia’s. And
it will fool the rattled people ot
a desperate, starving, fear-crazed
Europe after they have been pun
ished to the limit of human en
durance by the nitroglycerine of
dictatorship and democracy.
What a picture to contemplate!
All Europe under the iron hand
of some blood-thirsty tyrant who
will call himself “the people’s
government.”
The only ray of long distance
hope, which shines through the
murky gloom of this quite pos
sible outcome of a long and de
structive war, is the chance that
the people, though subjugated,
will have the opportunity in a
few generations, to “breed up”
their manhood—which the last
war and the present one will have
sadly depleted—and eventually
cast aside a tyrannical form of
government for a REAL “peo
ple’s government”; a govemmenl
of the people, for the people and
by the people. A United States
of Europe—and peace on earth
at last!
A hand road to travel for the
next fifty or a hundred years,
and strewn with the corpses of
millions of trusting human be
ings who placed their faith in
their leaders and in the ability
of those leaden to solve the prob
lems with which they are faced
today.
In a World Aflame
vr
■'tigssr
Weekly Washington Merry-Go-Round
(Trad* Mark Registered)
by Drew Pearson and Robert S. Allen
Christmas Island Suddenly Important As U. S. Competes
For Pacific Bases; Fear Nazi May Grab British Claims;
Idea Of Ceding West Indies Revived; W»r Industry
Plan Would Let Business Appointees Buy From Own
Companies; Huge British Gold Output Makes Her
Indifferent To Cash-And-Carry Rules.
Washington—For some years it
has been the regular custom of
newspapermen covering the State
Department to write a story every
Christmas Day about Christmas
Island.
International news usually is
scarce around the holidays, so
newsmen speculate annually on
possible State Department claims
to sovereignty over this little pin
point on the map of the Pacific,
1,500 miles south of Honolulu.
Formerly the State Department
(under Henry L. Stimson) had
no interest whatsoever in Christ
mas Island, so that in order to
get an excuse for writing their
annual story, newsmen actually
inspired geographers outside the
Government to inquire officially
regarding the sovereignty of the
island. For many years it had
been claimed by both England
and! the United States.
The State Department’s laconic
reply in those days was that it
was not interested.
Now, however, the picture sud
denly has changed. The State
Department is saying nothing
about it, but plans secretly have
been made to take over the
island—whether the British like
it or not.
The importance of Christmas
Island is that it is a stepping
stone in the Pacific air route to
New Zealand! and Samoa. Also
it is not far from Palmyra, the
island where the U. S. Navy is
spending about $4,000,000 on an
air base. Christmas Island is bet
ter suited than Palmyra, since it
has a 9-mile inland lagoon which
will require little money to im
prove.
New Importance Of Islands
Chief reason why Christmas
Island was not, developed! instead
of Palmyra is that on the map it
is marked “British.” And the
State Department under Cordell
Hull has been consistent with the
policy under Stimson, and did not
contest the British claim.
It remained for Dr. Ernest
Bruening, chief of the Interior
Department’s Insular Bureau and
recently promoted to be Governor
of Alaska, to make a secret sur
vey of the Pacific islands and
recommend a base on Christmas
Island. The U. S. claim was
grounded upon early discovery by
American whaling vessels.
!The State Department at first
balked, but finally yielded to pres
sure from the Interior and Navy
; Departments. Since then, also, the
State Department has come to
fear that Germany,,if victorious,
may gobble up all British-claimed
islands in the Pacific.
Note—The importance of is
lands as air bases has given new
impetus to the idea that the West
Indies possessions of Great Brit
ain and France might be ceded to
this country for war debts. A
few years ago, this idea was pooh
poohed! with the argument that
the islands were worthless.
Vandenberg Step* Out
Genial Senator Vandenberg of
Michigan has a chauffeur named
Lambert who has been with the
family for many years—so long,
in fact, that he has almost got
into the habit of managing the
Senator’s affairs.
Some time ago, a constituent
from northern Michigan dropped
in to see Vandenberg, and the
Senator invited! him to dinner
and the theatre before catching
a midnight train to Michigan. The
constituent accepted, and Lam
bert was sent to get the theatre
tickets.
After dinner that night, Sena
tor Vandenberg and his guest sat
comfortably over their cigars un
til theatre time, then got into
the Vandenberg limousine.
“Where to?” asked the faith
ful Lambert.
“The theatre,” said Vanden
berg.
“Oh, I forgot to tell you,” re
plied Lambert, “I couldn’t get
any good tickets for tonight, so
I got them for tomorrow night.”
War Mobilization
The more you study the War
Department’s Industrial Mobili
zation Plan the more you can re
joice that the vast majority of
Americans are opposed to war.
For the military mindls have bur
ied a lot of jokers in their plan
for taking over industry.
For instance, one set rule of
government is that any high of
ficial must divert himself of ac
tive business interests. Thus the
Justices of the Supreme Court are
supposed to sell any stock they
may own in a business corpor
ation. Members of the Securi
ties and Exchange Commission
either sell their stock or put it
in a strong box.
This principle is recognized in
the Industrial Mobilization Plan—
at first. Title III provides that
no appointee “shall participate
in the determining of any ques
tion affecting his personal inter
ests.” This seemed wise and ap
propriate.
However, in the footnotes at
tached to this paragraph, the
War and Navy Departments over
rule the provision as “too dras
tic” and recommend that it be
set aside. In other words, the
military mindls would entrust pri
vate individuals with the job of
buying supplies for the Govern
ment in wartime, but put no re
striction on dealing with their own
companies.
Long-Tongued Boos
Developing an “apartment” size
turkey is not the only undertak
ing of the Beltsville, Md., farm
yard laboratory operated by the
Agriculture Department near
Washington. Its experiment in
genetics cover the whole range
of farm creatures.
One unadvertlsefl experiment
new in progress is designed to
give honey bees longer tongues
so they can gather more nectar
from the deep corolla tubes of
clover blossoms. Another is aim
ed at transforming the old gray
mare into a streamlined critter
with increased power, endurance
and speed.
Elimination of low-producing
milk cow£ andi the short, fat, un
gainly hog are still other problems
being studied. On both of these,
considerable progress already has
been made. Cows bred at the
research center are giving larg
er quantities and better quality
of milk, while the traditional hog
has been replaced with a slendler
breed which produces hams of
greater market appeal, smaller in
size t.nd higher in content of
lean meat.
The streamlined turkey, inci
dentally, is not yet ready to make
its market debut. Beltsville ex
perts are still keeping it under
wraps to breed! out certain de
fects which developed in the new
type. The new model is a cross
breed of the U. S. wild turkey
with two varieties from Holland
and Australia. It weighs from 10
to 12 pounds—an ideal size for
the modem family—is white in
color and very meaty.
British Gold
Reason for English indifference
to any drastic cash requirements
Congress may enact into the cash
and-carry provision is London’s
strong geld position. In a long
war this may be more important
to England than heir navy.
The British Empire has the
largest gold income in the world.
Last year, out of a total world
output of 89,000,000 ounces, the
Empire’s share was 21,000,000
ounces. Computed at $35 an
ounce, now being paid by the U.
S. Treasury, this meant an in
come of $745,000,000—which is
many times the total gold reserve!
otf Germany.
Present British gold reserve is
estimated by Treasury experts at
around $2,600,000,000. This is
less than the $3,000,000,000 re
serve with which the French en
tered the war. But there is an
important difference between the
two allies. The $3,000,000,000 is
practically all France has in gold;
resources, since its annual output
is negligible, while the British
control the richest gold mines in
the world and can easily increase
their production above last year’s
huge total.
Most British gold comes from
South Africa, which mined 13,
000,000 ounces in 1928. Canada
with 4,000,000 ounces was the
Empire’s second largest producer.
Germany, Italy and Japan pro
duce little gold and can obtain
it only through foreign trade.,
The United States and Russia are
the second andi third largest gold
producers, the American output
havmg been $5,857,000 ounces
last year, an increase of nearly
1,000,000 ounces over 1937.
German Embassy
Members of the staff of the
German Embassy at Washington
are going to be in a tough spot if
Der Fuehrer suddenly orders them
to fly the red and black swastika
over the rambling, old fashioned
brick chancery located on wjiafe
was once a fashionable section of
Massachusetts Avenue. )
For the mast and halyards from
which once floated the proud
eagle of Imperial Germany have
recently been usurped by a com
plex mass of wires and insulators,
which bring in the latest short
wave news from “The Father
land” but render the pole prac
tically useless for flag-waving.
Meanwhile any display of swas.
tikas in the national Capital is
extremely unpopular, and even a
local auctioneer who for years
used the emblem as a trade mark,
has removed it from the red flag
which marks his scene of oper
ation.
Plans for construction of a new
German Embassy to replace the
present chancery, which is one
of the clcest diplomatic establish
ments at Washington, have been
indefinitely sidetracked by the war
and strained relations between the
two corn tries.
Note—The Germans will not
move into the Polish Embassy a»
long as Mr. Hull still recognizee
Poland.
Merry-Go-Round
The final straw that caused the
President to replace Wage-Hour
Administrator Elmer Andrews was
his last-minute request for an ad
ditional $4,000,000 at the last
session. Andrews originally ask
ed for only $3,500,000, and when
he came back with a total request
of $7,500,000, Roosevelt blew up
and decided to get rid of him. . .
Flyingest official in, the Govern
ment is able National Youth Ad
ministrator Aubrey Williams. Tak
ing advantage of a 15 per cent
discount given by airlines to of
ficials on public business, Williams
travels almost entirely by plane.
. . . It is just one row after an
other in the National Labor Re
lations Board. Latest ruckus was
the axing of Maurice Howard,
able young NLRB trial examiner
in Los Angeles, by Chief Exam
iner George Pratt, relative by
marriage of William Leiserson,
recently appointed Board mem
ber. California laborites heated
ly protested the move, but it was
warmly approved by the anti
union Associated Farmers. . . Best
informed man of what is going
on in the Senate is not a Sena
tor. He is quiet-spoken Leslie
Biffle, Secretary to the Majority,
who can tell you—iif he wants to
•—how every Senator will vote. A
fishing enthusiast, Biffle’s great
pride is a 69-pound, 7-foot sail
fish he caught near Miami.
(Copyright, 1939, by
United Feature Syndicate, Inc.)
___ • v
"■ inn,-—
DOCTOR
lfW.E. ADCmmUGH/tD
TOYS
Children are the family jewels
—the blossoms of humanity. The
great atheist, Robert Ingersoll,
said, “The laugh of a little child
will make the holiest day more
sacred still,” while Bacon re
marked “Children sweeten lab
ours, make life happier and miti
gate the remembrance of death.”
Primitive people loved their off
spring as much as the parent o>f
today, and it was to add to their
comfort and happiness that toys
were made to amuse them.
The life of babies since the
dawn of time to the present has
varied but little. No matter what
pestilence stalked through the -
land; no'matter if wars took their
tolls of lives; or if famine or
depression came to nations, child
ren always had toys.
Necklaces of seeds, sea-shells,
or polished stones, through which
a hole ha-a been drilled, were
strung upon the sinews of some
animal and placed about the neck
and arms of the babies, and were
undoubtedly the first toys known
to mankind.
Then came the rattle, fashioned
first out of a gourd, in which tjhe
seeds had beer, dried and later
for children of royalty they were
iraJc of ivory.
Animals of clay, inside of which
pebbles were placed, to make a
noise, came next. Specimens of
these early toys have been found
in caves and ruins, dating back
thousands off years before Christ.
The Egyptians were perhaps
the first to make dolls. The
earlier ones, dating 3,000 B. C.,
were made of carved wood, paint
ed with wigs of human hair.
Even Eskimo babies had dolls
carved of whalebone and the
Negro bushman’s little ones in
darkest Africa were not denied
the pleasure of these diminutive
mannikins.
The early Aztecs and the Chu
mus, who lived in Peru, 26,000
B. C., made dolls of baked clay,
but the Greeks and early Romans
developed the doll industry to a
new high, when they manufactur
ed them, so that their arms and
legs moved and their eyes opened
and dosed.
(turn to page 3, please)