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McCORMICK MESSENGER, McCORMICK. S. C.. THURSDAY, APRIL 22, 1937 The SUPREME COURT AND HOW IT WORKS Our National Umpire By ROBERT MERRILL T HE Supreme Court of the United States has frequent ly been described as “Our Na tional Umpire.’* This is because its purpose is to keep both the government and the people within the rules as fixed in our fundamental law —the United States Constitu tion. It constitutes a significant factor in our federal government of three co-ordinate branches—the legisla tive, which makes the laws; the executive, which administers the laws; and the judicial, which in terprets the laws. The Supreme court heads the judicial branch. With the other two branches of government, the court was first es tablished by the Constitution a cen tury and a half ago. Like them, it has progressed from a series of temporary quarters in New York and Philadelphia, during the early days of the nation, to an impressive home of its own in Washington. Like them it has played an interesting part in the development of constitu tional government. Protects Citizen’s Rights. Under our Constitution, the Su preme court acts not only to decide certain grave problems of law, but also to protect the individual citizen against any encroachment on his constitutional rights by government. How does this work? Well, for example: When congressmen enact a law and the President signs it, they all may be convinced that it conforms to the Constitution. An individual citizen, however, may with equal honesty believe that it violates some ; right which the Constitution guaran tees to him. “I need,” says the citizen, “an independent decision as to whether this act is the constitutional measure ! t which the congress says it is, or whether, as I think, it is an act that deprives me of a right vital to my welfare and happiness.” In such a situation it is obvious that What the citizen needs is an umpire independent of both congress and president who will decide ths issue with all the impartiality of which men are capable. The Su preme court of the United States is ' such an umpire. Upholds Will of People. > If, for example, the citizen thinks that the act in question deprives him of trial by jury or that it subjects his house to unreasonable search or that it takes his property without due process of law, he may carry his appeal all the way up to the Supreme court of the United States and ask for equal justice under the law. If the court decides that the act conforms to the will of the people as expressed in the Constitution, the citizen’s complaint will be dis missed. If, however, the decision is that the Constitution has been vio lated, the act will not be permitted to prevail against the right of the citizen. This function was recognized by the court in an early opinion deliv ered by Chief Justice John Marshall, which held, in effect, that since the Constitution is the basic law of the nation, any act which conflicts with it is unconstitutional and the courts must so declare. It has been reit erated in various later opinions, and become a frequent subject of debate between supporters and opponents. Neither the citizen who invokes this judicial protection, nor the cir cumstances which occasion it need be particularly important. It cov ers the humblest of men, under all conditions. On one occasion, for instance, con gress passed an act providing that in certain cases a person might be imprisoned at hard labor without having been first indicted by a grand jury. Under this act a man was convicted of an offense and sen tenced to six months in a local work- house at hard labor. His appeal was carried before the Supreme court. The justices found that a constitutional right assured him in the 5th Amendment had been violated. Under its provisions, they pointed out, “when an accused is in danger of an infamous punishment if convicted, he has a right to insist that he be not put upon trial except on the accusation of a grand jury.” Work Applies fo All. In other words the court decided that the act of congress under which the citizen had been sentenced vio lated the rules as fixed by the people in the Constitution and was, there fore, void. This is only one of many cases heard by the Supreme court which did not involve major crimes or prominent persons. But it and oth ers similarly decided did involve constitutional rights, applying not merely to the men concerned but to all ci“zens. That made them im portant enough for our National Um pire to rule upon. Two Firsts The first cotton mill in our coun try was built at Pawtucket on Nar- ragansett bay in 1790. The first shop for the manufacture of ready made clothts was opened in 1825 ir New Bedfoid, Mass Rainy Season Bridge in Guatemala City. Prepared by National Geographic Society, Washington, D. C.—VVNU Service. HEN you enter Guatemala City, you are in the most populous place in all Cen tral America. With a pop ulation of 120,000, including about 6,000 foreigners, Guatemala City is a thriving metropolis of well-paved streets, department stores, luxury shops, cafes, country clubs, busy factories, garages, and modern ho tels. Its motion picture theaters, showing mostly American “talkies” with Spanish subtitles, advertise with big electric signs overhanging the streets in Broadway style. At the capital’s covered central market, the largest in the country, the array of foodstuffs, textiles, utensils, furniture, and other com modities is endless. Its long aisles, and the streets adjoining the mar ket building and cathedral, are al ways jammed with a noisy, restless throng of merchants and buyers. And the odors, strange, spicy and heavy! The fresh scents of vege tables and exotic flowers mingle with the greasy smell of cooking food, the aroma of roasted coffee, and the balmy fragrance of copal incense. Those with weak stomachs may not, like the appearance or odor of freshly slaughtered meat. Nor will they find appetizing the leached corn mash for tortillas; or arma dillos roasted in their shells; or crude brown sugar pressed into dirty blocks and balls. But vis itors are delighted with bright trop ical fruits piled in artistic disar ray. graceful baskets and glazed pottery, and gay textiles woven on primitive hand looms. Guatemalans are proud, and just ly so, of the fine coffee grown in their highlands. Placards in Eng lish and Spanish remind the visitor at every turn that “Guatemala Grows the Best Coffee in the World.” On the days when tourist trains arrive in Guatemala City, the de partment of agriculture holds open house. Small packages of freshly rohsted coffee, wrapped in glazed paper, are presented to each visitor. They are appropriate souvenirs of a nation which is the sixth most im portant coffee grower in the world, being exceeded only by Brazil, Co lombia, the Netherlands Indies, Venezuela and El falvador. The second most important ex port is the banana, grown in the coastal plains bordering the Gulf of Honduras and the Pacific. Airport a Busy Spot. One of the busiest spots today in this busiest of Central American capitals is La Aurora airport. Here the trunk line of the Pan Amer ican Airways from Brownsville, Texas, to Panama connects with a half-dozen local air services to dis tant parts of the republic. Many who do not come to Guate mala City by plane, come by boat, and dock at San Jose, a sleepy little tropical port. Between steamers this “back door” to Guatemala drowses in the shade of tall bread fruit trees and coconut palms, and carries on a desultory commerce with the Indians of the coastal la goons. Its dingy water front, ragged por ters and fishermen, stifling heat, and main street pre-empted by rail road tracks give no promise of the color and activity of Guate mala’s gay, modern capital, high up in the cool central plateau The first part of the 73-mile jour ney to Guatemala City fbllows a gently rising plain, whose black vol canic soil is planted thickly in ba nanas, sugar cane, cotton, cacao, and fruit trees. Guatemala City is nearly a mile above sea level, in the cool and healthful tierra tem- plada, o»* temperate zone, and the train must gain most of this alti tude in the last fifty miles. Not far beyond Palin the line creeps through a narrow valley be tween two towering peaks and comes out on the edge of mountain- rimmed Lake Amatitlon. For sev eral miles the railroad winds along the shore, passing groups of In dian women washing clothes in hot springs at the water’s edge. It is a convenient laundry, for clothes may be boiled in the springs and rinsed in the cold fresh water of the lake without taking a step! The train approaches Guatemala City through verdant suburbs which give way to warehouses and rail road yards, indicating the commer cial activity of this busy Latin American capital. “Winter” Means Rainy Season. From the terminal, taxis whisk visitors over smoothly paved streets to their hotel, frequently a grandi ose structure with a glass-covered patio, mahogany floors and furni ture, and very high ceilings. If one remarks to the clerk that the air seems a trifle chilly, “Yes, the winter is just beginning,” he may reply. “Winter? In the tropics? And in May? He explains that “winter” in Gua temala is the rainy season. May to October, a period of clouds, damp ness, and dismal rains, although, he hastens to add, “part of every day is fair and sunny.” In “summer,” November to April, there is little or no rain, the sun shines through out the day, and the people are healthier and happier. One may be awakened in the morning by the clamor of church bells, the rumble of heavy oxcarts, and the musical chimes of carriages bearing worshipers to early mass. Guatemala City is compactly built. Stand on the roof of one of its modern buildings and you see a clean and pleasant community, most of whose white, blue, pink, and buff-colored houses and shops are one or two stories high. Only a few concrete busintss buildings and stone church towers rise above the prevailing flat, red-tiled roofs. Founded in the year the United States declared its independence, Guatemala City is a comparative youngster among the communities of Latin America. * Several times it has been damaged by earth quakes, and in 1917 almost the en tire city was destroyed. It has lost its Old World air, although it still has many Moorish-type homes with iron-grilled windows and patios aglow with flowers. Fascinating as is Guatemala City, however, it is but a prelude to that native Guatemala which is older in race, culture, and traditions. High in the Sierra Madre west and north of the capital, pure-blooded Indians still dress as did their ancestors, v/orship their old gods as well as the new, and live their lives al most unaffected by modern civil ization. Until a few years ago, when the government launched an extensive road-building program, travel in the highlands of Guatemala was slow and arduous. Now one may motor from the capital westward to the Mexican border and east to El Sal vador. Motoring Through the Country. Speeding along the floor of the valley, one passes a steady stream of Indians and vehicles bound for the markets of Guatemala City. Stolid, earnest-faced men trot by at a half run, their heads held rigid by a tumpline across the forehead that supports the heavy loads on their backs. For miles, they have been jogging along at this peculiar, forward-falling gait. In cacastes, or wooden frames, they carry goods of all kinds—earthen jars, furniture, bags of grain, or fresh vegetables. Their women hurry along beside or behind them, arms swinging free ly, their burdens on their heads. Sometimes it is a basket of live chickens, a fat roll of clothing, wov en fabrics, or a bundle of firewood. Almost always a baby bobs up and down in a shawl slung across the mother’s back. Each tribe, and almost every vil lage, in the highlands has a distinc tive costume. Designs have not changed in hundreds of years. To those who know the different cos tumes, the Indians of the highlands might be carrying signs around their necks reading, “I am from Solola,” or “I am from Chichicas- tenango,” et cetera. It is regrettable, however, that many of these costumes are disap pearing. Native garb has been re placed by blue denim and cheap imported cotton goods throughout most of El Salvador, and these ma terials are now penetrating Guate mala. Under the harsh treatment of the Indian’s daily toil, such fab rics are quickly reduced to tatters. Unlike the half-naked aborigines of the jungle lowlands, or the itin erant tradesmen and servants of the cities, the Indians of the high lands of Guatemala have main tained a proud semi-independence as farmers, weavers and pottery makers. Conquered but never assimilated, they are aristocrats among the na tive peoples of Cential America, and they are sufficiently well or ganized to make mass petitions to the central government when local conditions demand it. They have had much less contact with other races than Indians elsewhere have had, and are not badly scourged with alcohol. Consequently, tney have retained their self-respect and are neither subservient nor crin^ ing. IMPROVED UNIFORM INTERNATIONAL s L UNDAY chool uesson By REV. HAROLD L. LUNDQUIST. Dean of the Moody Bible Institute of Chicago. © Western Newspaper Union. Lesson for April 25 THE OBEDIENCE OF NOAH LESSON TEXT—Genesis 8:20-22; 9:8-17. GOLDEN TEXT—By faith Noah, being warned of God concerning things not seen as yet, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house. Heb. 11:7. PRIMARY TOPIC—The Meaning of the Rainbow. JUNIOR TOPIC—The Rainbow’s Message. INTERMEDIATE AND SENIOR TOPIC— Following God's Plan. YOUNG PEOPLE AND ADULT TOPIC— Deliverance through Obedience. The “book of beginnings” (Gene sis) has already brought before us the creation of the world, the origin of man, the entrance of sin into the world, and God’s judgment upon that sin. In chapter 4 we find the first murder. Cain, who brought an offering before God which was not acceptable, murdered his brother Abel, whose offering pleased God. Strange it is that man has it in his heart to hate those who expose his sin by their godly life. God does not leave himself with out a witness in the earth. The God-fearing line of Seth appears. There are always those who have not bowed the knee to the Adver sary. Consider the astonishment of Soviet officials at the deep-seated and wide-spread faith in God re vealed in their recent census. But sin again lifts it^ ugly head and ere long God is driven to the necessity of judgment upon man kind. Read the terrific indictment of humanity in Genesis 6:5-7. It is still true that the heart of man apart from God’s grace is “des perately wicked” (Jer. 17:9). Well does a contemporary writer say that even modern “psychology has unveiled the dismal and sinister depths in human nature. Man can no longer flee from reality into the romantic refuge of his own heart; for the human heart has be come a house of horrors in whose murky recesses man cannot erect for his solace either a shrine or a citadel. Man is bad; he is a sin ner. The depths of his meanness are being unveiled in a ghastly way in individual and social life in these times. What a contemporary ring there is about these old biblical judgments on mankind! (Gen. 6:5, 6; Isa. 1:6.) What a tremendous ar raignment of sinful human nature is Paul’s prologue in Romans 1” (Mackay). So God sent a flood upon the earth. It used to be fashionable to doubt the story of the flood, but archaeology has joined hands with geology and history to agree with Scripture. The facts are available; let us use them. “But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord” and prepared an ark at God’s command. Here again it can be demonstrated that the ark was sufficiently large to meet the need of Noah and all his family, with the animals and their food, and with room to spare. It is significant that the proportions of the ark were those of a well-planned boat. God knows how to build, and man does well to obey his instructions. The rain came, the fountains of the deep were opened, and all the living perished, except those within the ark. What an instructive type of our safety in Christ is the ark! But our lesson concerns primar ily what occurred after Noah came forth from the ark and presented himself before God. I. An Obedient'Man (8:20-22). To come before God with accept able worship, man must come with clean hands. The question is not whether he is brilliant, learned, or of high position. The one thing that counts is obedience. When such a man offers the worship of his heart before God, it goes up to him like a sweet savor. II. A Covenant-Keeping God (9:8- 17). The beautiful rainbow in the cloud became a token of God’s promise, and the visible assurance to “all flesh” that the judgment of the flood will not be repeated. Never again will seed time and harvest, nor any of the orderly processes of nature, fail throughout the whole earth. What a gracious God we have! And what a pity that men presume upon his goodness. Because he “maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust” (Matt. 5:45), men not only forget that he is the giver of all things, but assume that they may sin against him with impunity. Let us remind them that it is the clear teaching of Scripture that “every one of us shall give account of him self to God” (Rom. 14:12).. Well Spent Days Oh, what a glory doth this world put on, for him who with a fervent heart goes forth under the bright and glorious sky, and looks on duties well performed, and days well spent.—Longfellow. Purity of Heart A holy life is the very gate of heaven; but let us always remem ber that holiness does not consist in doing uncommon things, but in do ing everything with purity of heart. -•Cardinal Manning. ««TF YOU’D take a few steps, * Sis, I believe I’d be inspired to answer that question, ‘Did you ever see a dream walking?’. You are nothing less than devastating —truly a menace!” “You meow so sweetly, Connie. I’m a bit suspicious that this little peplum frock of mine has got you catty. Your eyes really aren’t green by rights, you know.” Connie Sews Her Own. “How could you? I think my dress looks as nice on me as yours does on you. Why practical ly all of the girls at the Laf-a-Lot last night wanted to know where I found such a lovely frock. Not one of them guessed that I made it myself. And did I feel elegant when I played Mendelssohn’s Spring Song on Diane’s new baby grand! The girls said I fit into the picture perfectly. I thought if only Dwight could see me now.” “I still say my two-piecer with its piped peplum, cute little but tons and stream-lines is the No. 1 spring outfit in this woman’s town.” Mother Happens Along. “Girls, girls, if your talk were only half as pretty as your frocks you’d be better off. Sometimes I wonder if you wouldn’t be more appropriately titled The Cheek Twins, rather than The Chic Twins.” “Okay, Mother, you win. Let’o change the subject by changing clothes. We’ll put on our cullottes and join you in a round of golf, how’s that? Gee, Mother, you nev er look sweeter than when you’re wearing a casual you-.g two-piece shirt dress. The piaid pique is just the thing for you, too. In fact, Mom, you’re just about tops from any angle.” The Patterns. Pattern 1257 is for sizes 12 to 20 (30 to 40 bust). Size 14 re quires 4% yards of 39-inch ma terial plus 11 yards of ribbon or bias binding. Pattern 1231 is avail able in sizes 14 to 20 (32 to 42 bust). Size 16 requires 4V4 yards of 39-inch material. Pattern 1236 comes in sizes 14 to 20 (32 to 42 bust). Size 16 re quires yards of 39-inch ma terial. New Pattern Book. Send for the Barbara Bell Spring and Summer Pattern Book. Make yourself attractive, The Great Kipling Rudyard Kipling’s devotion to his son is shown in a new anec dote, says the Boston Post. Soon after the death of Second Lieuten ant John Kipling, at the front during the World war, an un known admirer accosted the poet on a road neai Burwash, England. “So you are the great Kipling?” he asked. “No, my son is,” was the reply. practical and becoming clothes, selecting designs from the Bar bara Bell well-planned easy-to- make patterns. Interesting and exclusive fashions for little chil dren and the difficult junior age; slenderizing, well-cut patterns for the mature figure; afternoon dresses for the most particular young women and matrons and other patterns for special occa sions are air to be found in the Barbara Bell Pattern Book. Send 15 cents (in coins} today for your copy. \ Send your order to The Sewing Circle Pattern Dept., Room 1020, 211 W. Wacker Dr., Chicago, 111. Patterns 1£> cents (ip coins) each. €> Bell,Syndicate.—WNU Service. s >' l' ■: 1 ■ & * « KILLS INSECTS ON FLOWERS • FRUITS VEGETABLES & SHRUBS Demand original Mealed bottles, from your dealer lew Be Careful—First Rule No one has the right of way when a life is at stake. PHOTOGRAPHY • PHOTO FINISHING Any size roll film developed and 16 never- fade prints: 2Sc c6in. TROUP'S PHOTO SERVICE, Toccoa, Ge. MM! BEST SOUP I EVER TASTED . . . IT’S PHILLIPS DELICIOUS! Says GEORGE RECTOR AMERICA’S FOREMOST COOKINO AUTHORITY AND MASTER CHEF OF PHILLIPS ^beliciou* South#* SOUPS LISTEN IN Columbia Network Wed.—Thurs.—Fri. Afternoons It30 “DINING WITH GEORGE RECTOR” FamouM Recipe* ... $10 Good Cook In r Award at Every Broadeaec