Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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p THE WATEREE MESSENGER ,( Published Every Tuesday By f CHARLES W. BIRCHMORE, Proprietor . i ? i i J ^ . - " ? Entered as Second Class Matter at the Postoffice at Camden, South Carolina' L, ; r__ : - Subscription $1.50 a Year in Advance . ? , ' ? Tuesday, March 22, 1932 p-*? r - ' IS THE JUDGE MIGHTIER THAN THE CONSTI TUTION; IS THE CREATED GREATER THAN THE CREATOR? Last week, Judge M. M. Mann, holding court in Green ' ville decided that the newspapers of that city should not bo allowed to print the Presentment of the Greenville County Grand Jury, although that document, which re fers to county matters, was ordered spread upon the public records of the court. ? The Greenville Observer felt a I'lear conviction of its duty to give to the people of Greenville county this pre sentment,, and it had the courage to publish it in full, issuing an extra edition to do so. The Observer deserves the thanks of every citizen in this fair land of ours in being willing to test out the sacred right of the freedom of ^ the press guaranteed by state and national constitutions. ^ Judge Mann violated his own order when he rave pub lication in the clerk's office. He said: "I will pass an order assembling the final present ment of the grand jury, together with the motion and the exhibits, which I authorize and direct to be attached thereto, to be assembled as a single document and spread upon the minutes of the Court, but not published in the newspapers." We would like to cite His Honor to Article 1, of the Constitution of the United States which clearly staes: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establish ment of religion; or prohibiting the fret? exercise thereof; OR ABRIDGING THE FREEDOM OF SPEECH OR OF THE PRESS; or the right of the people peaceably to assembly, and- to petition the government for a redress of grievance." Our hats are off to The Observer. May Greenville's two dailies join in this fight with every newspaper in ? the State. It will be interesting to note by what rule, rhyme or reason Jud??e Mann can justify his order for suppression. A GREAT AMERICAN PASSES The death of George Eastman by his own hand came as a shocking surprise to everyone in the United States. He had been regarded as almost as much of a perma nenoy in our national life as was Mr. Edison for so ? many years. Few men had ever done so much for their fellow-men, to make the world happier and to bring new beauty into life. He gave away more than $75,000,000 in his life time, to found schools and endow universities and es pecially to cultivate the popular taste in music. He was not himself a musician, but was a devotee of music and maintained at his own expense a mapnificent public music hall and a symphony orchestra in his home city of Rochester. It might be said of Mr. Eastman that he brought p new art, amateur photography; into being. Before he began making dry plates photography was a difficult and cumbersome task. He followed the dry plate with the flexible celluloid film, and then brought out the first foolproof camera for amateurs, relieving the ordinary person from the need of learning the technique of de veloping and printing. There is no doubt that this in vention alone has brought more real enjoyment and hap piness into human lives than almost any other one in vention of our times. Who does not treasure the home made photographs of those who have passed on, of the v children when they were little, of themselves as they ?were when they were young>? It was a shocking end to a useful life that he should have killed himself; yet it is easier to understand than Borne other suicides have been. Mir. Eastman never married aid had not a single near relative living. Aftor a full and active life ? at 75^ie was on a big-game hunt ing expedition in Africa and brought back the head of an elephant which he shot ? dt was a strain beyond en durance to drr > on in ill-health and feel that thei-e was nothing left i.. life to live for. So he wrote a note:"To ?ny fjrlends; My work is done. Why wait?" and sent a ? bullet through his heart* Instead of a sales tax to cover the governmental de ficit, why not tax female beauty and leave every woman .'*\to r*te her own charms? , ia,ve just lOatned why we have so many "scrupu ibitionists and we found the solution in our | , You know there are only three scruples to a ; that's why so mftny perhaps object to taking *. - JDJQicupsing the essential and purifying qualities of cold ^wat&y a temperance lecturer said: "When the world 'become BO corrupt that the Ix>rd could do nothing arifrlt, He was obliged to give it a thorough sousing in But his argument does not appeal to the j3f)f}rt Wl&, Greenvillians, Columbian^ and Charleston ians, they know that this water killed every darn critter on face of the earth. During these depressing and oppressing time?, about th* tywi way to keep on good tevn* with creditors is to pvy them, you think so ? mM :'v 7 ? - There seems to be s^lhuch filth <n this old country, a Competition Wallow with hogs in the mire would be in teresting, If not too shocking to the hogs ? '* VS. ; " ? ?" ' ^ It Is ttae that women are willing to saoriflce more than taea. What man Would be willing to dye to become a i'- ? THIS LAWLESS COUNTRY I ?? **r ^ I / '? \* ? C, I It is not to be wondered at that tha press of Europe points to the Lindbergh kidnapping alt proof that the United States is. the most lawless nation in the world. We are. There iB no doubt about that. There is no other country pretending to civilization in which the machinery of the law is 90 inefficient to protect the in dividual, in which people generally hold the law in dis respect. It is a disgrace to the United States that Col. Lind 'bergh should have felt it necessary to call, not on the constituted police authorities but upon acknowledged "underworld" characters to lead the search for his baby. W? do not blame Col. Lindbergh; any father in his case would do whatever he could, regardless of the law, to get his little boy back safely. But it is an amazing confess ion of impotence on the part of the police of New Jersey and of the country at large that kidnapping can be car ried on without fear of punishment, as so' many recent instances have proved. . Perhaps the public indignation arising from this dra matic disclosure of the failure of our law-enforcement and protective machinery may result in an anti-crime wave which will wipe out the shameful reputation our nation has earned by public indifference to crime. Per haps we may see citizens taking the law into their own hands, as in the old Vigilante days in San Francisco, and hanging racketeers and pangsters from the most convenient lamposts. Perhaps. And then, perhaps, nobody will do anything much a bout it. That is more likely, in view of our past history I in such matters. Prosperity may be just around the corner, but from where we are standing it is as dark as the inside of a bull frog's belly and sounds just as doleful. BI-ENNIAL SESSIONS The Massachusetts Grange has voted unanimously that machinery be set in motion in that state for a popular vote on tho issue of bi-ennial sessions. Massa chusetts is one of five states in which South Carolina is to be found, whose legislative body meets every year, the others being: Rhode Island, New York and New Jersey. The legislatures of 42 states meet once in two years, while the legislature of Alabama meets every four years. The people of the Bay state cannot be more concerned over having legislation enacted to bring about bi-ennial sessions than the people of this state. Several times the state electorate has ratified at the polls legisla tion that would bring that consummation about, only to have their wish denied. At the present session there is little likelihood of any action being taken. All meas ures relative to this change in the existing law having been referred to a committee to study gravely and care fully, which is a polite way of putting the issue to sleep. ? Spartanburg Journal. WHEN? The seventh day becomes the eighteenth. How close to good and normal hearts became the" long agonies of the young mother. My lovely living Boy, My hope? my hap, my love, my life, my joy. Gone. Stolen by friends, for money. Perhaps alive, perhaps dead. Seized from his crib, taken from amid toys and comforts, stolen away in the night, when ill. Exposed, for days on day, to what? We should rub our eyes and come wully awake. Is this horror fully true? Is it true that the highbred Anne Morrow Lindbergh must appeal to strangers ? through that early oh-so-rendinr> cry of anguish ? that her child might be fed as he should be during his illness? Yes, it is true. Not only is it true in the one case up on which all the world focuses, but it is true in many cases. Kidnapping is the most atrocious among the numbers of rackets which the corruptions due jto crime conditions in general have visited upon the United States. Detroit alone has rocoi-d enough to esta/blish the fact. ? The reproach contains inextinguishable stains upon the social estate. We must not forget. There is call for arousals to do battle on all fronts that these intole rable condition# may end forever. ^Everybody today knows what is chiefly responsible for them. SOUND TAX REDUCTION There is room, and plenty of it, for sound tax reduct ion by government. But in some quarters there seem* to be a misunderstanding of the question. Nothing must be done that will in any way imperil the legitimate operation of government,, or cause it to fail in meeting its liabilities. If that should happen, the in evitable result would be panic ? and there is n6 telling where it would end. It is manifestly impossible for government to cut costs to the degree of manufacturing businesses, which can adjust overhead to demand for their products. W'hat government can do is to eliminate waste, dupli cation of effort, the general inefficiency prevalent in many departments. Doing this would improve, rather than damage, the operation of government ? and it would bo a boon to the taxpayer, who is already strug gling under severe burdens. THEY MAY CEASE TO BE PATIENT The men who sit in Washington, in Congress and in tho executive departments have their attention fixed up on the cominjt Presidential campaign. They expect to get campaign contributions from the rich, and they are refusing to place this, year's heavy tax burden on wealthy shoulders. They pretend extreme suffering does not exist. But if enough people grow angry in their privation and misery neither the well to do nor the party politi cians can benefit from this solicitude for wealth. If money and government misjmlge the point at which the poor consumers and small merchants, will cease to be patient and passive, dire consequences may follow. If they are able to judge this point accurately, if they impose a new tax on the man with barely enough to live and drive merchants out of business, and no trouble oc curs, will the law-abiding American pepole fail to show resentment, even at tho polls? Wtfll citizens permit their decency, their capacity, to endure suffering in the i interest of orderly, established society to be Imposed oir| to this extent? Congress should consider this/ matter well before it len'ies revenues for the comin# year. ? New York World Telegram, r . i J !TiJ In the Shadow of the Terror ? ^ ? ? By Albert T. Reid t OPEN MIND AND THICK SlvlN Coming to work Monday morning, with a heart full of peace and good will, I found two letters on my desk. , "Sir: I long have been a reader of1 your pieces., but your last editorial was the best you ever have written. I have cut it out and am going to frame it and hang it in my office." The other letter referred to the same identical editorial: "Sir.' Much of the time I have a ?greed with you, but after reading your last week's effusion I bid you farewell. Such a bunch of boloney!" Being naturally a sensitive person, I suffered from criticism in my early days. Once, when an article of mine contained a blunder for which the ed itoiyreceived caustic letter, I felt so aick I stayed in bed all one day. But as time went on I deyelopea a i philosophy as to criticism and &o, it seems to me, must every man who is going to get anything done. - The first article in that philosophy is that you can't please everybody, and that much criticism, /-pod or bad, is entirely uninformed. You like blondes, and I like bru nettes; you like fiction,, I like biogra phy; you like Eugene O'Neil, I like Ed Wynn. No one can satisfy us both. Anyon who tries it will be colorless and futile. Second, one can not be guided too much by the public because the pub lic is so changeable. Every public character of any influence ha9 been popular at some time in his career and unpopular at others. Wellington, after the battle of Waterloo, was wor shipped by the English pecple almost as a god. A few years later he had to put iron shutters on his windows to keep these same people from throwing cobble stones through the glass. ? Third, criticism is good for us. We need it, no matter how well meaning or careful we may be. One time when John Morley was being severely handled by the English press Glad stone said to h+m: "Take it from mo ? that to endure tramplinr on with pa tience and self-control is no bad ele ment in the preparation of a man for walking firmly and successfully in the path of great public duty. Be sure that discipline is full of bless ings." finally, and in the last analysis a man has to do his best and go for j ward. A famous old English school I master had this motto, of which I am fond: "Never explain, never retract, never apologize. Get it done and l?t them howl." vc'o readers, send me as many let ters as you think I need. I try to keep an open mind. And a thick skin. Shrewd Annoyance "A oo'iit ritcil man," said HI JIo, the h:i;:o iif Chinatown, "will sometimes I ?i . r Jo he IcritaU'rf by small an in v :! !i' i\< !si the 1 1 ? ? | > ;? that ?nvj will r. i'i; to al'.iict ii'.m with greater ! ??; '.V.; Star, j i CHILD need REGULATING? | CASTORIA WILL DO ITI When your child needs regulating, remember this: the organs of babies and children are delicate. Little bowels must be gently urged ? never forced. That's why Castoria is used by so many doctors and mothers. It is specially made for children's ail ments; contains no harsh, harmful drugs, no narcotics. You can safely give it to young infants for colic pains. Yet it is an equally effective regulator for older children. The next time your child has a little cold or fever, or a digestive upset, give him the help of Castoria, the children's own remedy. Genuine Cas ria al ways has the name: CAS TO Rl A