Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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V, > PAGE FOUR We Have Cluttered Up Living With Non- Essentials Spectator Thinks Thanksgiving again! A yaar ago Spectator gratefully said that, apart from all the blessings vouchsafed by Jehovah, to us individually, it was rea son enough for thanksgiving that we are Americans. And if it seemed so in 1939, how much greater the thank fulness should be today! Some of us have enjoyed health and strength; and have been spared great afflictions and disastrous losses. Even if the crops haven’t been something to brag about there is food aplenty for e\ery man, woman, and child, white and colored, within our State, and throughout the nation. As we have brought nothing into the world and can carry nothing out, so the means of subsistence, just plain food and clothing, are the basic needs of our ordinary life, and beyond that all is “velvet.” It would be helpful to think over the richness and variety of our scale cf living; also it would be worthwhile to write a list of all we have and use, and to take note of the things we could do without. It would be helpful, above all else, to think over the essentials of life and observe how we have cluttered up our living with useless stuff. Some peo ple are anxious over physical health; perhaps some are concerned over spir itual health- others mav be most wor ried over social aspirations, recogni tion. or engagements: marv give their most anxious thought to clothing and food; now and then the anxietv is for a car. S°e how the trifles of life be set ps! The tovs and baubles are not the real coin of the realm: what we shall eat. or wherewithal shall we be clothed is not important enough to dominate an immortal soul. We ought to he thankful as Ameri cans not merelv for the abundance of the things we possess, for thffy are merelv incidents: but for freedom of spirit, freedom of worship, freedom of speech freedom of citizenship, free dom of aspiration, freedom to come and go, freedom to earn and enioy. America is not so much a land striv. ing for a national income of ninety billion dollars; nor Indeed a nation of fabulous resources; all those things are secondarv: our supreme aim must be to preserve and enlarge our spiritual heritage remembering that righteousness exalteth a nation. I fear we may grow tired of having “defense” talked all the time. I can understand that billions of dollars and millions of men can constitute vital ^actors in defence, as soon as the bil lions are converted into munitions and millions are trained to fight. But ev ery fellow who pons up swells with importance and talks about defence. I read an advertisement some days ago about like this: “Eat our food; it is your first line of defence.” Per haps that is true, but it is also true that some meals make men fighting mad, and to that extent, may be use ful to develop aggressiveness. I was with a man in a restaurant in another State, years ago, and saw him so an gry over bad coffee that he would have thrashed Hitler and Mussolini to gether if a second cup had been brought to him. I know another man who, after drinking one cup of coffee in a restaurant, will ask for a third of a cup. If by chance a half cup is brought he grows angry, dashes out, pulling his hair. His day is spoiled. So there is no telling about defens ive and offensive training offered. I have a “sneaking idea” that creeps out sometimes that an army fed on collards would eat the Germans alive, Italians, too, garlic and all. After being fed on collards I think they’d eat anything. Every year I urge our people “to take thier county paper.” I don’t know why it should be necessary to urge any one to do this; it seems such an obvious thing to do. I receive many county papers, and I enjoy many of them; but even aside from the enjoy ment, how can you keep up with your County unless you read your paper? Something else: have you sons and daughters, sisters and brothers who have moved to another County?^ Of course if they moved from Oconee to Bamberg they should read Brother Hitt’s solid paper; but Brother Brab ham of Walhalla gets out a newsy pa per, too; so they should keep in touch with Oconee by reading that paper, also. By the way, is not Brother Brab ham of Walhalla a son of Bamberg? How did Sny man of that good name get away from the low country? Spectator, though he writes a lot of stuff, gets as tired writing letters as his correspondents get tired of reading them. So he*has adopted a lazy man’s policy of sending the old County paper to seven of his kinfolk. One goes to Florida; another to Pennsylvania, and others make their visits to Clarendon. Edgefield and Anderson Counties— seven in all and they cost Spectator real money. In fact he sold oats to pay for the renewals. There used to be eight papers, but one former re cipient has gone where no paper can follow. Through the County paper all retain an interest in the friends and acquaintances of years ago. And say, what about the Austrian Winter Peas and Soil Erosion? Now as to the social gains we hear so much about. Chiefest among them appears to be the Wage-Hour law. Does it help the workers? Yes, some of them, some of the raik and file; but as to the ambitious, the energetic, the resourceful—how about them? Well, a vigorous young fellow wishing to make hay while the sun shines—he just can’t make any hay. When his time is up he must skedaddle and head out, though he is still full of pep and eager to work. Oh, he might stay for time and a half, but who can pay three dollars a day for two dollars’ work? So that aspiring young man must take his time off and plan how and where to spend his money; not how to earn more. But there is something more serious about it, I think. We have called into military service young men, some of whom, at least, may have worked un der the Wage and Hour law. Military service does not recognize hours, of course; but at least in providing to house these men, we ought to have no let up; a roof and some degree of comfort should be provided speedily. That is the least we should do. But see how it pans out: The Wage-Hour men in civil life, drawing the wages as carpenters, can’t work beyond a few hours, unless given time and a half. So comes a holiday and the con tractors stop building shelter for the soldiers because they can’t afford dou ble pay, as must be paid on holidays. So the soldier suffers double cold because the contractor can’t pay dou ble wages. And what does labor gain? If the contractor shuts down, nothing. So, then, it is double time or nothing. And what about the soldiers shivering in the cold? Verily these social gains do rise to plague us. Why do we make life so soft for those of us at home? We enjoy quiet, peace, home comforts and our usual routine of living. Men called to camp suffer privations even under the best of camn conditions. In time of war. in the field of operations, whether at the front or with the source of sup ply, privations, discomforts, hardships are a part of one’s militarv expenence and are accented cheerfully by all rear soldiers; but why not make con ditions as comfortable ar possible in our own country while we have the means and the time. Here we stand before our people, talking about social gains and letting so-called social gains stand squarely in the way of the soldiers’ health and comfort. Isn’t it a piece of folly that we talk about, and boast of wage and hour laws, when building camps for our boys; or when making munitions? We tell hundreds of thousands of men to leave their jobs and their pay and to submit to the discipline of the ar my and the possible engagement in military defence, while at the same time we pamper those of us at home already living soft, easy lives, by mak ing life easier. Boiled down our policy seems to be: double discomfort for the soldiers, double freezing, or double wages for civilians on holidays. And, let me repeat, those who did not work got nothing that day. For them it was double pay or nothing. And should the taxpayers be asked to pay double prices for double pay? Winston Churchill is said to have re marked once when some workers pro tested about their pay, in time of war, “Well, gentlemen, if you are dissatis fied with present conditions, we could use you in the army and let you try that awhile.” A nation drafting hundreds of thou sands of men and yet pampering those at home presents itself before us as suffering from a singular confusion of thought and misdirection of purpose. A QUICK SALE Johnston Herald. Saturday, Louis T. Murray of Co lumbia telephoned Dr. L. S. Maxwell to ask if he had a bird dog for sale. Mack described the dog and made a price. In about forty minutes, Mr. Murray was at the Maxwell home, saying he had come for the dog. The transaction was completed, and Mr. Murray, with his newly acquired dog, flew back to Columbia. The point of this story, however, is that the visi tor was surprised that “ a town as big as'Johnston” had no landing field. He had landed in a field, nearly a mile from the home he intended to visit. When he returned to his plane, quite a crowd of men and boys had gather ed to look it over. PLANES FOR BRITISH Ulster patriots, remaining true to the British empire, contributed more than 77,000 pounds for the purchase of Spitfire planes for the Royal Air Force up to October 12th, according to word from Belfast. Fifteen Spitfires have already been purchased, and others will be bought as additional money is contributed. This amount is over and above the regular contributions made by Ulster to the war eayse, which have been met willingly by the Irish patriots. The movement to purchase spitfires was started by the Belfast Telegraph. “Did you order baked salmon, sir” asked the waiter. “Let me see,” replied the patient and very hungry diner, "I put it down in my memorandum book, some where.” » v THE NEWBERRY SUN ukioaY. NOVEMBER 22, FREE! ☆ 32-Pc. DINNER SET With SELLERS CABINETS During this Sale! ☆26-Pc.SILVERWARE SET Given with SELLERS Breakfast Sets! 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