The sun. [volume] (Newberry, S.C.) 1937-1972, July 01, 1938, Image 3
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Farm Champions on the Air
By RAYMOND PITCAIRN
C We»*«rn Nempaper Union.
A LL men are created equal.
-TV They are endowed by
their Creator with certain
unalienable rights.
Among these are Life, Lib
erty and the pursuit of Hap
piness.
To secure these rights,
governments are instituted
among men, deriving their
just powers from the consent
of the governed.
When, 162 years ago, the men
who drafted our Declaration of
Independence wrote those words
they startled much of the Old
world with what seemed a new
and revolutionary philosophy of
government.
But it wasn’t altogether new.
It wasn’t altogether unique. It
represented something greater,
something more significant,
something far more dramatic
than mere novelty.
What the Declaration of Inde
pendence had done was to put
into words that were crystal
clear, the hopes and aspirations
that had lived in the hearts of
men since before the dawn of
recorded history.
And what the nation which pro
duced and supported that Dec
laration achieved was to trans
late those ancient hopes and as
pirations into glorious reality.
For freedom is the fruit of
many centuries of labor and con
flict. It was wrought out of the
Oldest dreams of humanity. It
was bought by bloodshed and suf
fering.
No one can say with certainty
what battles were fought, what
forlorn hopes were led in that
age-old struggle during the dawn
of history. But the spark must
have been there or it could not
have glowed so brightly in the
centuries to follow.
Certainly when primitive men
first began to dwell in groups
and formulated laws for their
own rule, one of the burning
questions must have been the is
sue between the powers of gov
ernment and the freedom of the
individual.
Government prerogative and
individual liberty 1 Both were
necessary; the one for order, the
other for freedom. But always
there has persisted the funda
mental urge of the common man
to prevent the first from over
whelming and destroying utterly
the second. And often there have
been men and movements that
gave the demand fresh strength.
We do not know them alL But,
in chronological order, here are
a few of the events which pre
ceded and found inspiring expres
sion in our American Declara
tion of Independence.
Hie Ancient World.
Recorded in the cuneiforms of
ancient Babylonia, archeologists
have found an old, old code of
laws. It is the code of Ham
murabi, remarkable for its clari
ty and practicality. But what
makes it extraordinary in the
minds of historians is the fact
that in that dark period of con
quest and tyranny it defined cei-
tain safeguards and prerogatives
of the common man. It was an
early, a limited, but a definite,
statement in law of certain of his
"unalienable rights.”
Other ancient laws protecting
certain liberties are known,
among them the familiar Mosaic
code of the Bible, but the code of
Hammurabi is perhaps the ear
liest.
Greece and Rome.
Ancient Greece and ancient
Rome, often called cradles of civ
ilization, were also effective cra
dles of freedom.
An early system of direct de
mocracy developed in the city-
state of Athens. While this was
a far cry from the republics of
today, it represented, neverthe
less, a significant stride in the
march toward freedom. There,
for the first time, government
was in the hands of a certain
group of citizens, rather than of
hereditary or appointed mon-
archs.
By the year 594, B. C., Solon,
the Law-Giver, had strengthened
the foundations of Athenian de
mocracy by instituting an early
form of trial by jury. Thus an
other brand was added to the
torch of freedom.
Across the Adriatic sea from
Athens, early Rome rejected the
rule of kings at about the same
period. “Horatius at the Bridge”
was not merely a figure of po
etry. He was a symbol of the Ro
man people’s determination to
defend their democracy from a
possible return of exiled kings.
In the year 490 B. C., Phidip-
pides made a famous run—from
the battlefield of Marathon to the
free city of Athens. But it was
neither his speed nor his endur
ance that made that 26-mile run
famous. It was the fact that he
carried the news of the victory
of the armies of Athenian democ
racy over those of the Persian
tyrant, Darius—a victory which
ended the menace of Oriental
Signing the Declaration of Independence.
despotism to the free states of
Greece.
Two decades later Pericles,
chosen ruler of Athens, intro
duced a written constitution,
granting the right to vote to all
free men. Quickly Greek culture
blossomed, as a result, into its
Golden age.
In Rome, meanwhile, the
Twelve Tables of Law were for
mulated during the year 451 B.
C. These are the basis of the
whole Roman legal system and
as such have played a large part
in both British and American
law. They were written with the
understanding that Roman citi
zens should have a voice in the
enactment of any additions
which governed their rights and
liberties.
Plato and Aristotle.
Other lasting contributions to
the cause of human liberty were
made in the classic writings of
ancient Greece.
In the year 399 B. C., Plato,
the great Athenian political phi
losopher, published his "Repub
lic,” a dream of a better, more
democratic world. In this imag
ined nation many of the "unali
enable rights of man” were fully
secured. While Mother Earth has
never seen a state modeled com
pletely after Plato’s specifica
tions, the ideas he advocated
have had an enduring influence
on the thoughts of men.
Aristotle, brilliant pupil of Pla
to, and "Father of Political Sci
ence,” published his famous
"PoUtics,” in 332 B. C. This
great work was based on one of
the most thorough studies of ex
isting constitutions and political
systems ever undertaken. No less
than 130 separate constitutions
were studied by Aristotle and his
assistants in compiling it. His
was a notable contribution to the
cause of freedom. He preached
universal education, without
which no democracy can long en
dure, and in association with
which no tyranny can long con
tinue.
The democracy of Greece fell,
largely because of an indiffer
ence on the part of its citizens
toward the affairs of state. In
Rome, the Republic lasted sev
eral centuries longer, before it,
too, became embroiled in petty
quarrels and toppled, as schem
ing demagogues took control.
The Northern Races.
When, early in the Fifth cen
tury, Imperial Rome crashed in
ruins, history wrote finis to one
of the most autocratic periods of
rule on record. And although the
northern Europeans who toppled
that mighty empire were still
barbarians, there blazed ip them
a fierce spirit of independence.
Shortly after the crash of the
Empire, certain of their tribes,
the freedom-loving Angles and
Saxons, invaded Britain. To the
British nation which was to de
velop they brought that urge for
liberty which has become so
dominant a part of the national
character.
And although continental Eu
rope for centuries was trodden
under the heels of minor des
pots, men still read and dreamed
of liberty. Often they fought for
it. That was why, under Charles
Martel, they turned back the Sar
acen invaders, with their tradi
tions of autocratic rule, who had
conquered wherever else they
ranged.
During the Ninth century, Al
fred the Great mounted the
throne of England. Under him
the British became a united peo
ple, with the culture of the free
dom - loving Anglo - Saxons pre
dominating. The justice of Al
fred still remains a great tra
dition in law.
Then in 1066, came the Nor
man invasion, bringing into Al
bion the Roman Code of Laws,
from which our modern law de
veloped.
In the significant year 1101,
Henry I was crowned king of
England, and at his coronation
the charter which bears his name
was promulgated. This contains
most of the "ancient liberties”
whose return the barons sought
at the time of Magna Charta,
and listed many of the "unalien
able rights” which Americans de
manded in 1776.
In many ways 1215 may be con
sidered among the most impor
tant dates in the history of the
struggle for freedom. For it was
in that year that the English
bar*ons forced King John to sign
the Magna Charta, the famous
document which established Eng
lish liberty on a constitutional
foundation, and prevented him
from controlling the liberty and
property of citizens without the
consent of those citizens’ equals.
Less than a century later the
famous Summons to Parliament
of Edward I provided for repre
sentation in parliament of the
clergy, the barons, the knights
and the townspeople, thus estab
lishing the system of full repre
sentation in government—a right
givhich the signers of the Declara
tion were to describe as "formida
ble only to tyrants.”
Two years later, Edward was
again forced to recognize the
rights of the people as against
the powers of the king, by sign
ing the Conflrmatio Chartarum,
which confirmed certain clauses
of the great charter. The cry
against the king was that he lev
ied taxation without the consent
of parliament—a protest echoed
in America in 1776 as “taxation
without representation.”
Meanwhile, in other nations of
Europe the embers of freedom
glowed anew. In Switzerland,
William Tell shot an apple from
the head of his son—a dramatic
incident in the defiance of the lib
erty-loving Swiss to Austrian tyr
anny and of the war which re
sulted in Swiss independence.
Back in not-so-merry England,
the peasants, long held in the
bondage of a feudal system, were
being aroused by the eloquence
of John Ball, so-called Mad
Priest of Kent, who preached
concerning the rights and the
natural equality of all men. His
teachings found popular expres
sion in the verse:
“When Adam delved and Eve
span.
Who was then the gentleman?”
John Ball aroused the peas
ants to the revolt of 1381, led by
Wat Tyler. Tyler was slain, and
his revolt collapsed, but feudal
ism which denied the "self-evi
dent” truth that all men are cre
ated equal, soon fell before a
growing spirit of freedom.
The Renaissance.
Thus came the Renaissance,
with its rebirth and refreshening
of knowledge. Men studied his
tory, and learned of the ancient
democracies in which citizens
had had a voice in government.
Men studied geography, and up
set the theory that the world was
flat. One of them sailed from
Spain on a western voyage for
India. Columbus failed to reach
the Orient, but he found some
thing far greater—a New World
which was to become the home
of the freest nation on earth.
In Europe the next hundred
years saw a great surge toward
freedom. In 1499, Switzerland
finally established the repub
lic that still exists—a firm island
of democracy amid the seas of
dictatorship. The Netherlands
rose against Philip II of Spain
in 1567 — a revolt in which the
issues of private ownership as
against monarchial, autocratic
rule were brought to the fore, and
which never really ended until
Holland won complete independ
ence.
The American Adventure.
Now began the great American
adventure in which the love of
freedom of the northern races
was eventually to find eloquent
expression in the Declaration of
Independence. Here, along the
Atlantic coast, numerous settle
ments were established by hardy
groups infused with a love of
personal liberty and a desire to
live according to their own be
liefs.
By 1619, the first American Rep
resentative assembly had been
formed in Virginia, an assembly
in which the lower house was
elected directly by the people.
A year later, off historic Plym
outh rock, was signed the May
flower compact—in "a spirit of
concession and acquiescence”—
by which the Pilgrim fathers
bound themselves to laws to be
mutually enacted under that
compact.
Mutually enacted! In that
phrase lies the spirit of gov
ernment expressed in the Dec
laration of Independence—gov
ernment which “derives its just
powers from the consent of the
governed.”
By 1621 was put into effect the
Virginia constitution, which
again provided for representative
assemblies and drastically limit
ed the powers of the royally-ap
pointed governor.
Across. the Atlantic, mean
while, the English Petition of
Rights appeared in 1628. This
document, among other things,
restricted the Crown from levy
ing taxes without the people’s
consent of imprisoning anyone
without due process of law.
During the year 1648, in which
the treaty of Westphalia recog
nized Holland and Switzerland as
independent republics, the first
written constitution was intro
duced in England by Oliver
CromwelL His republic was
founded on the principle that "the
people are, under God, the orig
inal of all just power; and
the commons of England, in par
liament assembled, being chosen
by the people have the supreme
power.” Unfortunately, the re
public ended in failure in 1660,
but the principles it enunciated
could not be subdued.
BUI of Rights.
In the American Colonies a
notable contribution to freedom’s
cause was the establishment in
1683 of the New York Charter of
Liberties. This guaranteed the
calling of a representative as
sembly at least once every three
years, and contained a Bill of
Rights, including such "unalien
able rights of man” as fair trial
by jury.
Then, under William and Mary,
the English parliament, in 1689,
passed a Bill of Rights which
re-affirmed the principles of the
previous constitution, the Magna
Charta and all other "documents
of freedom.” This decided, once
and for all, in favor of parlia
ment as against the authority of
the Crown.
But no true democracy had yet
been fashioned in England. Par
liament was in control, but mem
bership in that body was, pri
marily, the privilege of the aris
tocratic class. Many brands had
been gathered for the torch of
freedom, but it was not yet com
plete.
To John Locke, who died in
1704, historians credit the pre
sentation of the true theory of
modern democratic government.
Often called the "Father of Mod
ern Democracy,” Locke pub
lished two treatises on civil gov
ernment. These, with the later
writings of Rousseau, exposed
the fallacy of the “divine right
of kings,” and profoundly influ
enced the men who wrote our
Declaration of Independence.
Soon, however, the most auto
cratic of the English kings
mounted the throne, ruling at
home as boldly as he dared, and
subjecting his colonies to prepos
terous demands. George III,
whose history, in the words of
the Declaration of Independence,
was one of “repeated injuries
and usurpations, all having in di
rect object the establishment of
an absolute tyranny,” tried the
patience of the colonists beyond
endurance.
In the Stamp Act congress of
1765, meeting in New York city,
their protests found expression.
The congress drew up a petition
of rights and grievances for
transmission to the English king.
In that document was contained
a list of the “unalienable rights
of man.” But this, too, George
III chose to ignore. He succeed
ed thereby only in uniting the col
onists in a greater insistence
upon these rights.
The Boston Tea Party of 1773
followed. Violently it expressed
the resentment of the country
against taxation without repre
sentation. And from that date
the colonists acted not as 13 in
dependent groups, but as one peo
ple determined to secure free
dom for themselves and their
posterity.
In 1774 the First Continental
congress met in Philadelphia to
discuss further the colonies’
grievances against the king, to
hear that all their petitions for
redress had been ignored, and to
petition the king once more for
restoration of their rights.
Again the king chose to rebuff
his New World subjects.
To the colonists there seemed
but one thing to do—strike for
independence! This was fore
shadowed by the Virginia Bill of
Rights, passed, early in 1776, by
the outraged people of that col
ony. The recourse was revolu
tion.
The Torch Is Lighted.
And so, early in the summer of
1776, the chosen representatives
of the colonists met at historic
Independence hall in Philadel
phia. There this group of free
dom-loving and fearless men
drew up the immortal charter
which America honors on our
greatest national holiday. On
July 4 they proclaimed to the
world, in the Declaration of In
dependence, that the unalienable
rights of men would endure.
Wise and Otherwise
—A—
N O DOUBT the tailor who
asked for cash in advance
had taken his customer’s meas
ure.
Quite small things may keep
you from sleeping at night,
says a doctor. Never mind—
they’ll grow up presently.
Little Buddy wants to know
how far it is ’tween to and fro.
Girls who play with fire don’t
always strike a match.
Many a man has the wclf at
his door because his wife' will
have a silver-fox round her
neck!
When you’re in a jam, it’s
soon spread all over the place.
Paradox: It’s only when a
man comes clean that he spills
the dirt.
A MONG the Champion Farmers
of America who are being fea
tured on Firestone’s series of 26
"Voice of the Farm” programs,
is this representative group of
leading crop growers and stock
raisers. Each program in the se
ries presents a farm champion in
an interview with Everett Mitch
ell, popular farm commentator
who has been heard on the Na
tional Farm and Home Hour for
the last eight years. Each cham
pion tells the fact story of his
climb to championship rating in
his particular branch of farm op
eration.
Top from left—Albert Schroe-
der, pioneer user of rubber trac
tor tires; Sarah-Ann and John To-
lan, champion Aberdeen-Angus
breeders; Darwin Neal, champion
poultry raiser; Paul Fisher,
champion hog producer. Lower
row—L. E. Mathers, champion
Shorthorn breeder; Harry L.
Chadwick, potato champion;
Adolph Pirani, champion cotton
grower; Ralph L. Heilman, cham
pion com grower; Paul Stiefboldt,
plowing champion.
Distinguish by Purity
Distinguish between baseness
and merit, not by descent, but by
purity of life and heart.—Horace.
Buckingham Fountain
The Buckingham Memorial foun
tain is the gift of the late Miss
Kate Buckingham of Chicago, art
patron, in memory of her brother,
Clarence, a former trustee and
benefactor of the Art Institute of
Chicago. The fountain cost $1,000,-
000 and is set in a garden 600 feet
square with three basins rising in
a central pool surrounded by four
minor pools. When in full play
the fountain flows about 5,500 gal
lons of water a minute, one col
umn rising to a height of 75 feet.
It is beautifully illuminated at
night in five different colors.
V
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THE FIRB8TONZ VOICE OF THE FARM
Interviews with the Champion Farmer* of
America; featuring Everett MitchelL Twice
weekly during the noon hour. Consult your local
paper for the station, day, and time of broadcast
TBK VOICR OF FIRBSTONB
Featuring Richard Crooks and Margaret Speaks
and the Firestone Symphony Orchestra, under the
direction of Alfred Wallenstein, Monday evening*
over Nationwide N. B. C. Red Network