The sun. [volume] (Newberry, S.C.) 1937-1972, April 07, 1939, Image 7
THE SUN, NEWBERRY, S
CCC at Crossroads on 6th Birthday;
Alternatives: Militarization or Death
S UNDAY I
CHOOL L.(
Least Criticized of All
New Deal Units, Camps
Have Good Record
By JOSEPH W. LaBINE
Franklin Roosevelt had been
President only five days before
he called a select group of
youth leaders into his office.
By April 6, 1933—exactly six
years ago—the Civilian Conser
vation Corps was created as
one of the first New Deal
agencies.
Today, as some 250,000
youths in almost 1,500 camps
celebrate the sixth anniver
sary of their benefaction, CCC
has hit rough waters. By the
time congress adjourns this
least criticized of all Roose
velt agencies may either be sen
tenced to death or changed into a
semi-military army of unemployed
youth.
CCC has done such a good job
that strong New Deal critics like
Henry Link, New York psychologist,
praises it in his “Return to Reli
gion” and “Rediscovery of Man.”
In six years some 2,000,000 boys
have gone through its routine, one-
fourth of them emerging to take
permanent private jobs. Some of
the rest re-enrolled.
Most Recruits Needy.
Here’s how CCC works: Its mem
bership comes almost exclusively
from underprivileged homes—boys
who have left school, can’t get jobs
and need both moral and physical
training. They enroll and leave
the group every three months, so
there is a constant turnover. Last
October, for example, 59,000 new en-
rollees were accepted, averaging
18.6 years of age. (They must be
between 17 and 23).
CCC places these boys in camps,
gives them $30 a month of which
$22 must be sent home to needy par
ents, and teaches them not only the
rudiments of hard work but a lot of
“extra-curricular” activities as
well. Reveille sounds at 6 a. m.
Breakfast comes at 6:20 and inspec
tion at 7:15. By 7:30 they are on
the job, remaining until 4 p. m.
with the exception of an hour off
for lunch. From then until 10 p. m.
there is time for dinner, amuse
ments and recreation. It isn’t a
hard life, nor is there very strict
supervision; certainly CCC enrollees
aren’t nigh well ready for active
army duty, as Civilian Chief Robert
Fechner would have us believe.
The lads get vocational training
during evening hours. They learn
crafts like photography, radio, cab-
feetmaking, leather work, blue
printing and landscaping. But the
training apparently is not very effi
cient because American labor un
ions object to having craftsmen
turned out by CCC to the detriment
of their apprentice system. Mr.
Fechner is an old-time American
Federation of Labor official.
Educational Accomplishments.
But craft or no craft, CCC does
good work. Last year 8,817 illiter
ates learned to read and write, 3,517
finished grammar grades, 634 fin
ished high school and 13 got col
lege diplomas. Almost all the youths
take school work, either by corre
spondence or from part-time resi
dence instructors.
If CCC enrollees range from 17 to
23 and come from underprivileged
homes, they rise from the very stra
tum of youth responsible in 1937 for
13 per cent of our murders, 28 per
cent of our robberies, 42 per cent
of our burglaries, 5l-per cent of our
auto thieves and 21 per cent of our
sex criminals.
Youth camps are not a New Deal
By REV. HAROLD L. LUNDCJUIST.
Dean of the Moody Bible Institute
of Chicago.
© Western Newspaper Union.
Lesson for April 9
Lesson subjects and Scripture texts ae-
lected and copyrighted by International
Council of Religious Education; used by
permission.
PAUL PREACHES THE
RISEN CHRIST
LESSON TEXT—Act* 13:16. 23-31. 38-39:
I Corinthians 15:19-22.
GOLDEN TEXT—But now is Christ risen
from the dead, and become the flrstfruita
of them that slept.—I Corinthians 15:20
From time immemorial man has
stood questioning at the close of life,
somehow feeling that (as Tennyson
expressed it)
ABOVE—Silhouettes of serv
ice, two CCC youths fighting a
forest fire. RIGHT—New en
rollees leaving for camp. There
were 59,000 of these young men
accepted last October but the cur
rent enrollment will be smaller
because CCC is being forced to
retrench.
invention. In 1930 California tried
the scheme, doubtless getting the
idea from the English “hinksey dig
gers” of whom Philosopher John
Ruskin said their two-mile road was
“the worst in three kingdoms.” By
1933 work camps had existed in at
least six European countries for an
average of 10 years; contrary to
popular belief, Germany had them
long before Hitler came to power.
Set Enviable Work Record.
What have they done constructive
ly? As a sample of what CCC costs,
the current fiscal year’s appropria
tion is $350,000,000, and the nation
should expect to get something tan
gible in return. It has. CCC has-,
planted some 1,800,000,000 trees and
built 4,000 fire towers to protect
them. It has strung 75,000 miles of
telephone from lookout post to watch
tower. The country has 132,000 miles
of new roadway and 5,000,000 dams
to chedk erosion. There are count
less new recreation centers and wild
life habitat has been safeguarded
to protect these innocents from the
ravage# of civilization.
CCC has also provided an emer
gency army. Its membership has
done yeoman service in fighting for
est fires, rescue work, flood relief
and rehabilitation after disasters.
The Red Cross recalls how, in the
Mississippi-Ohio floods of January
and February, 1937, more than 22,-
000 enrollees, hundreds of reserve
officers and technical personnel
were rushed to danger points.
Whither CCC? In his budget mes
sage last January the President rec
ommended a slash of $120,000,000 in
the corps’ budget (from $350,000,000
to $230,000,000). This means camps
and personnel must be reduced,
camps from 1,500 to 1,200 and men
from 300,000 to 250,000. This reduc
tion is already under way and the
April, enrollment will be smaller
than usual. Worst of all, CCC will
die naturally on June 30,1940, unless
extended.
Militarized Youth Camps?
Military minded congressmen are
already thinking about this, wonder
ing if CCC can’t be retained and
made an integral part of our de
fense program. This means adop
tion of the plan proposed by Ken
tucky’s Rep. Andrew Jackson May,
which would provide for not less
than two, nor more than five hours
of military training for CCC en
rollees each week. The immediate
result has been a protest, not only
from anti-New Dealers but from
Hitler Inherits Low Birth Rate
In Czech Grab; U. S. Figures Up
MINNEAPOLIS.—Without bache
lor taxes, marriage subsidies, or
baby bonuses, the United States
birth rate has climbed to 17.9 and
approximate equality with Germa
ny’s birth rate, which has fallen
steadily in recent years. Further
more, Germany has now annexed
the two lowest birth rates in Eu
rope, in Austria and Czechoslovakia,
probably pulling the present aver
age for the whole German empire
to a point actually below the cur
rent U. S. rate, according to a study
just completed by Northwestern Na
tional Life Insurance company.
The German birth rate, in spite of
that government’s efforts to promote
marriage and production of chil
dren, fell from 22.1 in 1921-25 to 18.8
in 1937. The 1938 figure is expected
to show a further decline, reflecting
the lowered marriage rate and the
economic straits of the German pop
ulation. The Austrian birth rate
dropped from an average of 22.2 per
thousand of population in the 1921-25
period, to 12.8 for the year 1937;
the Czechoslovakian rate fell in the
same time from 27.1 to 13.3. The
birth rate in the United States de
clined from 22.5 in the 1921-25 pe
riod to a low of 16.5 in 1933, but
recovered to 17.0 in 1937 and then
jumped to 17.9 for the year of 1938,
the highest figure since 1931.
The Italian birth rate, in spite of
Mussolini’s many edicts, declined
from 29.7 in the 1921-25 period to
22.7 as of 1937, still considerably
above the U. S. rate. However, 110
out of every thousand Italian babies
bom in 1937 died in their first year
of life, approximately twice the U.
S. infant mortality of 54.4 per thou
sand. Germany’s infant mortality
figure is almost as favorable as that
of the United States, 64 per thou
sand live births, but the Czecho
slovakian rate is the highest in Eu
rope—122, and the Austrian figure is
93 deaths per thousand.
Also without legislative promo
tion, the U. S. marriage rate is the
highest in the world, averaging in
excess of 10 per thousand of popula
tion per year for the past several
years. Meanwhile Germany’s mar
riage rate had shrunk from 11.1 in
1934 to 9.1 in 1937; the Austrian
rate is 6.5 per thousand, the Czecho
slovakian 8.3. The Italian rate is
8.6, having climbed from 6.7 in 1935.
Of the two major European de
mocracies, the United Kingdom
shows a drop in birth rate from
20.4 for the 1921-25 period to 15.3 in
1937—which represents a halt in the
decline, as the rate for 1936 was
15.3 also. France’s birth rate de
clined from 19.3 in the 1921-25 period
to 15 in 1936 and to 14.7 in 1937.
what are jokingly referred to as the
“tabbies”—pacifists.
You can paint a horrible picture
of this militarized CCC’s potentiali
ties, if you let your imagination run
away. You can see several million
unemployed youths saved from hun
ger and privation, who would rally
’round the banner of the man who’s
responsible for it. You can see a
political army, if you wish, armed,
trained and disciplined but feeling
greater loyalty to a political clique
than to the nation itself. But CCC’s
militarization can 4>e safeguarded
against such evilt.
Dangerous? Perhaps, but maybe
it’s even more dangerous to contem
plate American youth’s fate without
some agency to keep idle minds out
of mischief. CCC’s 1936-39 budget
of $350,000,000 is far smaller than
our annual national crime bill,
which approximates $15,000,000,000,
Gossip Proves
Boon to Nazi
Propagandists
The highly efficient system that
keeps Nazi Germany’s hierarchy in
formed on public opinion is merely
a magnification of over-the-fence
gossip. Under Propaganda Minister
Dr. Joseph Goebbels, who has fol
lowed Adolf Hitler loyally from the
first, the Nazi government gets just
as accurate a cross section of pub
lic opinion as the American public
gets from its polls.
It is Herr Goebbels’ job to weigh
this opinion, find it wanting and act
to remedy the situa
tion. All told he has
2,000,000 government
employees serving
him daily as gossip
mongers, and be
yond these are the
storm troopers and
other organizations
who consider it a
sacred duty to keep
higher-ups informed.
How effective the
system is can be
Goebbels shown by the una
nimity of pro-Hitler sentiment, which
rose from 98.79 per cent in 1936—
which Der Fuehrer occupied the
Rhineland—to 99.028 per cent when
he accomplished anschluss with Aus
tria last year.
At the base of this information
system is the “block” leader whose
job is to care for approximately 50
German families. He preaches the
Nazi gospel, tries to convert the un
believing and makes himself family
counsellor. There are some 400,000
of these block leaders, who have
little difficulty getting information
from apartment janitors, porters,
servants and “friends” of the fami
lies he observes.
Block leaders are responsible to
“cell” leaders, of whom there are
70,000, each with about six blocks
under his supervision. Step by step
the information climbs upward un
til it reaches Herr Goebbels, and
eventually Hitler himself.
Adding to this complex informa
tion system are 767,000 of the labor
front, 50,000 political leaders, 290,-
000 concerned with the relief fund,
88,000 agricultural workers, 95,000
in the women’s auxiliary and sev
eral miscellaneous groups.
C Western Newspaper Union.
Thou wilt not leave us In the dust;
Thou madest man. he knows not why;
He thinks he was not made to die:
And thou hast made him: thou art just.
But nowhere in nature was there
writ‘"i the assurance that death did
not end all. In fact it was not until
Christ won His victory over death
that there was any real certainty
that there was life beyond the
grave.
Christianity is the only faith that
rests upon the resurrection of its
founder. Other religions point with
pride to the monuments at the
graves of their founders. Christi
anity alone presents an empty tomb.
Since only God can give life and
Jesus by His own power raised Him-
seb’ from the dead, we have the
right to the glorious claim that
Christianity is the one true faith—
a victorious living faith.
Resurrection truth
I. Makes the Preacher Bold (v.
16).
Barnabas and Paul had been set
apart by the Holy Spirit and by the
Church for missionary work, and on
their first journey had reached Anti
och in Pisidia. In the synagogue on
the Sabbath day they were asked to
speak to the people. Paul arose in
holy boldness and called upon them
to hearken to him. What is the im
portant message which gives this
preacher such assurance? The res
urrection of Jesus Christ. It is true
that the sermon he gives presents
much other information as fit log
ically and tactfully leads up to its
high point, but that point is the
resurrection and the redemption
which it assures.
n. Makes the Gospel Clear (w.
23-31, 38, 39).
Reviewing Israel's history, Paul
declares inar ox tJie ox u«viu
God had “according to his promise
raised unto Israel a Saviour,
Jesus,” but that they slew Him.
Now, if that were the end, we would
indeed be “of all men most mis
erable” (I Cor. 15:19). Our hopes of
salvation, with lyael’s hopes, were
bound up in Christ. But a dead
Christ could save no one, not even
Himself. We must have a living
Christ. Had Paul’s message stopped
there it would have been a hollow
mockery. But wait, what is it we
read? “God raised him from the
dead” (v. 30). Blessed truth! Glo
rious foundation for the proclama
tion *of the gospel so aptly epito
mized in the words of verses 38 and
39. Now it is clear that we have a
victorious, living Saviour and a gos
pel to preach that is the “power of
God unto salvation to everyone that
believeth” (Rom. 1:16).
III. Makes the Future Certain (I
Cor. 15:19-22).
Man comes to the years of matur
ity and suddenly faces the shocking
fact that the life to which he gives
so much, for which he labors and
sacrifices, is but for a brief span of
years, perhaps at the most “three
score years and ten, and if by rea
son of strength they be fourscore
years, yet is their strength labor
and sorrow” (Ps. 90:10). He sees
that friends and loved ones must
part at the grave. Is this the end?
The answer to that question comes
to us today from the empty tomb in
the garden through the words of
Paul. Listen to their majesty—re
joice in their beauty and assurance:
“But now is Christ risen from the
dead.” Hallelujah) And that’s not
all, He has “become the first fruits
of them that slept” (v. 20), which
means that all those who are asleep
in Jesus will be brought forth in
due season.
The resurrection of Jesus trans
formed the grave (as a friend of
mine expresses it) from a dark hole
in the ground where hope ends, to a
highway, going down, it is true,
through the valley of the shadow,
but lighted by the victory of Jesus
over death, and bordered on both
sides by Easter lilies. Thus is
“brought to pass the saying that is
written, Death is swallowed up in
victory”—a victory that makes us
“steadfast, unmoveable, always
abounding m the work of the Lord”
(I Cor. 15:54, 58). It is Easter. Christ
is risen) Let us rejoice)
God’s Garden
God Almighty first planted a gar
den; and indeed it is the purest of
human pleasures. It is the greatest
refreshment to the spirits of man,
without which buildings and palaces
are but gross handiworks; and a
man shall ever see that, when ages
grow to civility and elegancy men
come to built stately sooner than to
garden finely, as if gardening were
the greater perfection. — Francis
Bacon.
Prepared by National Geographic Society,
Washington. D. C.—WNU Service.
Belgium might well adopt as
its nickname “Little Europe
One finds here, in the land’s to 1
pography, crops, racial mix
tures and multiplicity of indus
tries, a laboratory model or
microcosm of the western por
tion of the continent.
To be sure, fhere is no Mont
Blanc, but the Ardennes hills
on a white winter’s day offer
a satisfactory small substi
tute. Neither the Meuse, the
Sambre, nor the Lys could
masquerade as a Danube or a
Rhine, but m proportion to the gen
eral architecture of the country
they seem most convincing moving-
water*.
The mind and eye of the sojourn
er subtly adapt themselves to the
fact that distances and heights here
are all on' a scaled-down basis. The
same phenomenon is often experi
enced at a marionette show—thg
observer finds himself really believ
ing that the miniature scene is life-
size.
Smaller than the state of Mary
land, but with a population of more
than eight million, Belgium stands
out as Europe’s most densely peo
pled country. It is divided into nine
provinces: West and East Flan-,
ders, Kainaut, Brabant,—Antwerp,.
Namur, Liege, Limbourg, and Lux
embourg—which must not be con
fused with that other Luxembourg,
the little independent Grand Duchy.
Too Small for Aviators.
The longest straightaway stretch
within Belgium’s borders is a mere
170 miles. With seven-league boots
you could cross it in eight steps.
Student flyers at the military air
ports complain that, with the mod
ern high-speed aircraft, they cannot
get properly under way in any
direction without the annoyance of
zooming over a frontier and the pos
sibility of earning a scolding from
a neighboring government.
The Flanders plain is broken at
Brussels into rolling hills. Nature
was not content that the future capi
tal should lie spread out on an un
inspiring level. Like Rome, it was
built on seven hills. There were
seven founding families. And in the
heyday of its walled splendor the
city boasted of seven gates.
Along the top of an eminence runs
the Rue Royale, Brussels’ Fifth ave
nue, affording a sweeping view of
the lower town. In order that this
outlook might not be obstructed in
the vicinity of the Royal palace, a
regulation has long existed that at
this point no building could be erect
ed higher than the street level.
This has brought into being one of
the world’s unique architectural
oddities, the new Palais des Beaux
Arts, center of Brussels’ musical
and artistic life. This labyrinthine
structure clings like a giant wasp
to the side of the hill, all at a level
below the line of the Rue Royale—
a Rockefeller Center in reverse.
Many Cities in One.
Greater Brussels, with 900,000 in
habitants, comprises 15 contiguous
suburbs or communes, each hav
ing its own burgomaster and munic
ipal organization. Only recently
has there been co-operation among
them, though they formed in reality
one city. Great was the confusion
before teamwork was agreed upon.
The Ardennes district, represent
ing almost one-fourth of Belgium’s
area, consists principally of richly
forested ridge and valley.
The great percentage of the trees
are beech, with dwarf oak running
a close second. The twigs of these
trees in late winter take on a pinky-
azure tint which imparts an effect
of fairyland unreality to the sharply
broken hill contours. Pines have
been transplanted from the Scandi
navian countries.
During many generations the Ar
dennes district sank to a point of
almost negative crop production. In
recent years, however, thanks to
scientific chemical treatment of the
soil, the fertility of the land has
been enormously increased. Oats
and potatoes are the principal
crops.
Near Rochefort are the Grottoes
of Han, which need only a P. T.
Barnum to give them rank as world
wonders. At some period when the
earth' was young, they were hol
ding Leopold and his mother.
Queen Elisabeth, leave the large
columned rotunda, a memorial
to King Albert, funds for which
came from small subscriptions to
which every Belgian war veteran
contributed. The memorial is
built on the site of the advance
post which defended the last tiny
strip of Belgium not invaded
during the World war.
lowed out by the River Lesse, which
here disappears and wanders under
ground. It is estimated that it takes
the water of the river 12 hours to
complete its subterranean course.
Wool Industry Centers Here.
Excellent hunting and fishing are
to be had in the Ardennes. Many
sportsmen who live in Brussels and
Antwerp have their shootihg pre
serves in this region. Grottoes,
game, ham, horses, vacationists,
and werewolf legends are not, how
ever, the only resources of the Ar
dennes. The great center of the
wool industry is near by in the
Vesdre valley, yrtth Verviers hold
ing first place.
When English competition killed
the Flemish cloth industry, by an
anomaly of fortune the business
Like the Chicken, We—
TT BEGINS to look as tUbugh
* maybe we humans are second
cousins to the chickens when it
comes to crossing the road.
Of 7,250 pedestrians killed dur
ing 1937 in traffic accidents that
occurred in cities, says the Na
tional Safety council, in its 1938
edition of “Accident Facts,” 85 per
cent were struck while crossing
the road.
About 2,900 persons were injured
fatally while crossing a street
somewhere BETWEEN intersec
tions. Approximately 3,260 met
their death at intersections. Either
they were crossing the intersec
tion with the traffic signal, against
the signal, diagonally, or were
crossing an intersection at which
there was no traffic signal. Dead
ly and tragic work at the cross
roads)
iUICK
MOTES
Canaries and pigeons are sold
at the Sunday bird market in
front of Brussels? town hall.
continued to thrive around Verviers.
The secret of this region’s salva
tion was the water of the Vesdre
and the Gileppe rivers. A peculiar
ly soft water is required for wash
ing wool; these streams alone pos
sessed that quality.
The last official census of produc
tion in this industry shows a total
of 285 enterprises.
Additional industries represented
in eastern Belgium are the paper
mills of Malmedy and the chocolate
factories, boot and shoe and leather-
producing plants of Verviers.
Leather is a patriarch among the
trades; tanning pits dating from
Roman times have been found here.
Europe’s Busiest Man.
One of the busiest men in Europe
is the port lieutenant at Antwerp—
an amazing fellow, busy in four
different languages at onca. Never
hurried or confused, he spends his
day at a battery of phones receiving
reports of the myriad ships and
barges.
Ten thousand seagoing vessels
call yearly, handling a total of twen
ty million tons of merchandise. In
addition are 50,000 river craft
Antwerp is the outlet for Bel
gium’s heavy industry, its mining
and agricultural products. North
ern France, Alsace-Lorraine, the
Rhineland, Westphalia, and Central
Europe employ this gateway for a
goodly percentage of their world
commerce. Two hundred and forty
shipping lines enter Antwerp.
Sea gulls, lilting down the wind
currents above the gray harbor’s
traffic-churned waters, mew and
jeer at the torn shreds of carillon-
jingle blown across from the noble
Gothic tower of nearby Notre Dame
cathedraL
A GUARANTEE
: Slid 1 will
and prosperous America.”—V.
lator Josiah IT. Bailey.
They won't BELIZV1
...it's CASTOR OH
Good old reliable castor oil. a house,
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all the Impurities, which, in the past,
made castor oil so objectionable,
leaving Kellogg's Perfected Tasteless
Castor Oil odorless, tasteless. EASY
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pendable. Get a bottle oi Kellogg's
Perfected today for general family
use. Demand genuine Kellogg's Por- >
fected — accept no so^alled "taste
less" substitute. Sold at all drug
stares in 3 Vi os. refinery-sealed
bottles—only 25c a bottle. Approved
by Good Housekeeping Bureau.
Misplaced Pride
To be proud of learning is th»
greatest ignorance.—Jeremy Tay
lor.
How Women
in Their 40’$ -I
Can Attract Men
Here's (ood advice for a woman durine bar
«h»nr> (usually from 88 to 81). wholsers
shell lose bar appeal to men. who worries
about hot Osahes, loss at ]
Get more fresh sir,
and moody sp<
sir, 8 hra. sleep and if yew
l resistance, thus helps (iv* more
to enjoy life and assist -l—t-y
jittery nerves and disturbing symptoms that
of Ufa. WXUi
WNU—7
14—39
Of a Kind
The sincere alone can recognize
sincerity.—Carlyle.
Watch Youk
Kidneys/
Help Them Cleanse the Blood
of Harmful Body Waste
Your kidneys are constantly (Uterine
waste matter from the blood stream. But
kidneys sometimes lac in their work—de
not act as Nature intended—faU to re-
mom Impurities that, if retained, may
potaon the system and upaat tbs whale
ooay machinery.
Symptoms may he naninc baekachm
persistent headache, attacks of dizziness,
fettinf up nifhts, sweUinc. pufllnese
under the eyes—a feeline of
anxiety and lorn of pep and atreneth.
Other signs of kidney or biadderdial
> order may be burning, scanty or toe
frequent urination.
There ‘
. shouldbe no doubt that prompt
treatment ie wiser than neglect. Use
Dooa’s Pills. IW* have been win nine
new friends for mote than forty yean.
They have a nation-wide reputation.
Are recommended by grateful people the
country over. Aik soar ueigkoarl
Doans Pills