The sun. [volume] (Newberry, S.C.) 1937-1972, June 16, 1944, Image 4
PAGE FIVE
.HE NEWBERRY SUN
FRIDAY, JUNE 16, l»44
1218 College Street
NEWBERRY. SOUTH CAROLINA
O. F. ARMFIELD .
Editor and Publisher
Published Every Friday In The Year
Entered a? second-class matter
December 6, D'Sl, at tht postoffice
at Newberry, South Carolina, under
the Act of Congress of March 3,
SPECTATOR
By SPECTATOR
Well, whats it all about? What s
what about? Everything.
0r
What do you know that is new.
Nothing; it’s all as has been.
But
Old stuff is frequently dressed up
in a new garb and sparkles for a time
like an old man hunting a young
All the political stuff is old
New stuff is coming in—-new Irish
potatoes, beans and all that. And
that’s what makes the mare go.
Six citizens have entered the race
for the seat in the Senate now oc
cupied by “Cotton Ed” Smith. Six
gentlemen have “qualified by P a y?UK
a thousand dollars each and taking
the oath prescribed by the Party.
These Democrats offer their services
to the people and pay $1,000 down
and a lot more for the privilege. That
is too much; a thousand dollars is a
respectable sum of money, too much
for the right to offer oneself for the
public service. It completely bare a
poor man, whatever may be. his abili
ty or his principles. Some of the
ablest men in South Carolina cannot
afford to spend a thousand dollars.
In fact, they haven’t a thousand dol
lars. Democracy defeats itself by
these excessive fees.
The six candidates for the Senate
are the present Senator, E. D. Smith;
the governor, Olin D. Johnston; the
Attorney-General, John M. Daniel;
ex-Congressman John C. Taylor, of
Anderson; A. S. Merrimon, of Sum
ter; Dr. Carl B. Epps, of Sumter.
Some of these gentlemen are clearly
for or against a fourth term for Mr.
Roosevelt, and just as vigorously for
or against the practices and policies
of the New Deal.
We know that Senator Smith is
frankly, boldly and consistently anti-
Roosevelt; equally firm and resolute,
equally vigorous and consistent
against the fourth term a nd the New
Deal is Mr. A. S. Merrimon of Sum
ter. -I cannot speak so definitely of
the others except Dr. Epps of Sum
ter, who is as outspoken for a fourth
term and the New Deal as Messrs.
Smith and Merrimon a re against it.
Governor Johnston has always been
regarded as an enthusiastic supporter
of Mr. Roosevelt; and Mr. Daniel has
been regarded as sympathetic toward
the New Deal.
Ex-Congressman Taylor is not
clearly arrayed against or for the
'■New Deal. In Congress he was an
independent.
I regard all these gentlemen as
I personal friends, though quite ob
viously I cannot agree with all six
•on all points. I say with pleasure
that we have six good men and gooa
citizens, some of them as far apart
as the North and South Poles. But
since ice is found at both Poles it
might be diferent to distinguish one
Pole from the other.
; Perhaps son we may hear all about
i the Princes of Privilege and the Po
litical Pie-Eaters; the Economic
! Royalists and the Coattail-Swingers;
the taxpayers and the tax-eaters.
I Son we shall hear about every kind
j of varmint and varlot known to cam
paign oratory. But that is our
I Democratic process of submitting the
1 issue to the people.
South Carolina enjoys the good
fortune of an independent press
Time after time I have remarked
about this. In some counties of New
jDeal strength the County newspaper
I is found vigorously challenging what
the New Deal does. Sometimes it is
the other way, as in Fairfield, where
a whole-souled and all-out New Deal
1 editor thrives in a sturdy old terri
tory of rock-ribbed Democrats of the
I Wade Hampton, Woodrow Wilson
type of Democracy.
It would be interesting to study
our counties, politically. Luureps
County sems to be strongly for the
New Deal. I wonder. One of its
papers has been frankly critical of
the New Deal at times; while the
other is a stalwart, vigorous and re
sourceful sponsor of real Democracy,
without the tincture of Communism
which flavors the New Deal. Are
the people of Laurens supporters of
the New Deal? Or is the New Deal
in Laurens an office-holders’ and po
litical aggregation ? The most distin-
guished living son of Laurens is not
regarded as a New Dealer or fourth-
termite. I refer to the intrepid edi
tor of The News and Courier, Dr. W.
W. Ball.
Lee County is probably for the
sound Democracy of our fathers; and
there you find a county paper which
speaks its mind freely.
1 have some papers before me, as
I enjoy the weekly (and daily) visits
of the editions. Lancaster, for ex
ample, cast a New Deal vote, though
the Lancaster News has carried the
truth to the brethren regularly. How
can a county with such a paper and
such an old Roman a s T. Y. Williams,
go wrong?
Well, is our Democracy a real
thing; or is it something dished out
by office-holders and other politi
cians? I do not confine the question
to straight-out, old-time, traditional,
Simon-pure Democracy, a s compared
with the New Deal. I wonder wheth
er the will of the people, the real
sentiment of a county, is expressed
by politicians. Do we really speak
through them ? Or do we accept what
they say and go about echoing their
words ?
Charleston is hardly a New Deal
county, considering the rank and
file of her people, city and county.
Even without the steady bombard
ment of the New Deal by the News
and Courier, with every gun from the
giant 16-inchers to the peppery ma
chine rifles, Charleston would not be
a New Deal center. But the Char
leston delegates were all-out New
Dealers. Is that the real Charles
ton? Or is it that the political group
which unblushingly calls itself a
“machine” ?
Greenville and Anderson were
Anti-New Deal at the convention. In
both counties there was strong lead
ership outside of office-holders. Ex
actly the same was true in Newberry.
What I’m wondering about is this:
Are we private citizens Democrats
or New Dealers because of any prin
ciple? Or do the office-holders tell
us what is what? Really, now,
WHAT IS A DEMOCRAT?
Would it not be better to have
County, State (and National) politi
cal conventions composed of men who
are not office-holders, or candidates?
Are we not building a machine with
a Party label?
What is the value of a Party plat
form today? It has no value. What
is the political faith to which we sub
scribe? If you know, you are a wiz
ard, not a mind-reader, for nobody
has anything “in mind.”
This great nation is engaged in
presidential a nd congressional elec
tions without political principles. We
are for or against a man because we
like him or don’t like him—that’s all.
Are principles worth having?
THE NEW CARPETBAGGERS
The big news, of course, is the
landing in France. It must have
been a scene beyond all power of
man to describe, with thousands of
ships, thousands of planes, and tens
of thousands of guns roaring their
awful blasts. It was just what a
writer of Mr. Ghurchill’s skill can
make real and vivid to even unimagi
native minds. Many of us may think
of the power so crushingly concen
trated and the might of all the forces
supporting the initial drive. How
ever, Americans and British homes
are not reflecting on the armaments
of battle; in thousands of homes the
invasion means only the hazard of
battle as it affects one lad or two.
Our people are naturally religious in
time of peril. It may not impress
one as a consistent life of dedica
tion, but in most impressive and fer
vent spirit, our people are prostrat
ing themselves before the God of
love and His Suffering Son.
War with us is not a great excur
sion of knightly enterprise, but a
grim and terrible business of de
fending ourselves and the world
from the blight of arrogant mi"ht
embattled for selfish advantage. No
longer is it a test between small
groups of men who carry on a tra
dition of chivalry; today it is a thing
of sweat and mud and grime; a com
petition of horror and devastation
beyond belief.
We believe in our country and in
the fredom and peace which it sym
bolizes. We repeat with the sin
cerity which may well befit the oc
casion: “Long may our land be bijght
with fredom’s holy light; protect us
by Thy might, Great God, our King.”
The battle for the World
2s
N OW THAT the chips are down ... now
that our tnen are writing decisive
history with tht^r blood . . .
There can be no halfway measures
for us.
The greatest battle in the history of
the world must be matched by
the greatest war loan in the his
tory of the world.
That’s what Uncle Sam says
... the same Uncle Sam for whom
your brothers and sweethearts
and husbands are fighting and dying this
very minute.
They, in the front lines, are throwing
in everything they have.
We, behind the lines, must do the
same.
Remember, this is the battle for the
WORLD. Out world. And we’ve got to
win it. That’s why Uncle Sam
expects every dollar, like every
soldier, to do its duty.
• Put this Fifth War Loan over
. . . buy more War Bonds than
you think you canl
gacttieJ/fae*/- BUY MORE THAW BEFORE
Sponsored By Oakland Mill
A friend in New York, F. J. Nitcht,
general sales manager of the King
Features Syndicate, sends us a re
vealing article on the South’s trou
bles, written by George Sokolsky, a
New Yorker, and columnist of Syn
dicate.
Coming from a New Yorker it is
significant. In fact, it is one of the
clearest statements of the problem
by a student of affaire we have sgen.
_It follows:
The South is about to experience
its major political revolution since
the civil war. The 1 Carpetbaggers
are marching again. Southerners
blinded by civil war loyalties, narcot
ized by the patronage and subsidies
of the administartion in Washington
do not quite understand what is hap
pening to them. But the situation is
clear: The carpetbaggers are coming
down from New York with millions
of dollars in their pockets to conquer
the South, to buy, corrupt, intimidate
and take over the politics of the
South.
Sidney Hillman’s CIO Political Ac
tion Committee is wisely and effec
tively organizing for the control of
Congress. This group does not have
enough votes to elect any one to any
thing, but it has money and it is us
ing the money to do the job. The
ijouth is easy-going for them because
all the candidates have to be Demo
crats and have to speak seemingly
well of the New Dealers, particularly
|of the President and his entourage.
That makes it pleasant for the Demo
crat supported by Sidney Hillman.
When the opposition attacks, he
swears fealty to FDR and proves his
regularity not to the Democratic par
ty but to the New Deel by exhibit
ing his CIO Political Action Commit
tee indorsement.
As a New Yorker, I can have no
direct interest in the internal politics
of any Southern State, but as an
American, I hate to see the carpet
baggers on the march again. It makes
no sense not to grasp the situation:
Southerners are not going to be rul
ed by Sidney Hillman and the CIO
Political Action Committee. South
erners are not going to be managed
in their local affairs by Northeyn-
ers or for that matter by any q t-
siders. The South believes in State
rights in spite of the fact that the
Democratic party has deserted Jef
fersonian principles for the most in
tensified centralized administration
this country has ever known. The
South is not going to take it on the
chin very much longer. And therein
lies the danger to America. We don’t
need that kind of internal strife now.
In the little book, “Why Pay
Taxes,” David Cushman Coyle, back
in 1937, showed that the New Deal
disliked local self-government. Here
is a typical paragraph on the sub
ject:
“Don’t use up all your vitamins
worrying about the wastes of Wash
ington. The experts who have stud
ied plans for reorganization in the
Federal Government figure the pos
sible^ savings at only l to S per cent.
Washington, with all its faults, is
generally cleaner than a good many
cities and States, and less inefficient.
But take a look at your local affairs.
There is the big waste, and you can
do something about it personally, if
it means anything to you.”
A few pages later on he says:
“One of our pressing needs is to
get rid of two-thirds of our local
governments, and renovate the rest,
so, that they will be visible to the
average citizen.”
Many of Coyle’s ideas come home
to roost soner or later ,and this one
about local governments is making
itself known in this campaign of the
CIO Political Action Committee. This
organization is raising a fund among
CIO union members to be used in
many States to deprive the citizens
of the privilege of selecting their
own Congressmen. This organiza
tion of Hillman’s supported in New
York by the Communist party, the
national spearhead of the fourth
term, is out to defeat Congressmen
who have proved obnoxious to the
communists and the Inner Circle in
the White House. The CIO Political
Action Committee uses money as
vote-getting bait—and, of course,
there is always a fall guy who sells
out his neighbors and his country
for the aid that Hillman provides.
Southern Congressmen and Senators
who caught on to this crowd long ago
are the ones hit hardest now.
After the civil war the carpetbag
gers were Republicans; now they are
CIO and communist New Dealers who
go by the name of Democrats. There’s
lots of trouble a-brewing in all that
name twisting.—Columbus (Miss.)
Commercial Dispatch.
WHITMIRE POSTAL EXAMS ARE
LISTED
the National Maritime union.
The boys' youth was cited, and
comparison was made with the case
of Ernest Feltwell, Paris Island
white boy, who has been sentenced
in federal court to serve 20 years for
a rape slaying. It was charged that
the Stinney case was “railroaded”
through the court, while Feltwell
was given every protection possible
without regard for time or expense.
COTTON CEILING PLAN
DEFENDED
Dixie Democrats Charge OPA Div
ided on Program By Bankhead
Washington, June 8—The Civil
Service commission announced today
that it will receive applications un
til June 13 for candidates for the
postmastership at Whitmire, New
berry county, S. C. The position
pays $2,400 annually and will be
supplemented by $300 per year,
which has been authorized by Con
gress a s a temporary increase, mak
ing the total annual salary $2,700.
The examination will be held at
Whitmire about June 28.
EXECUTION OF NEGRO BOY IS
PROTESTED
Charleston, June 8—The scheduled
execution June 16 of George Stinney,
14-year-old negro boy of Alcolu, con
victed of the slaying of a white girl,
is being protested by four Charleston
organizations of ministers and trades
unions.
Both white and negro ministerial
unions of the city have asked Gov
ernor Johnston to commute the
sentence to life imprisonment. Last
night members cf the CIO Tobacco
Workers union here followed suit in
a unanimous resolution, and a simi
lar resolution was adopted today by
Washington, June 8—^Southern
democrats challenged in the Senate
today assertions of President Roose
velt and other administration spokes
men that the Bankhead cotton amend
ment to the price control bill would
prove inflationary.
Senator Eastland (D-Miss) de
clared officials within the Office of
Price administration are themselves
divided on that point.
“The fuss,” he said, “is between
practical men who know the cot
ton business and some professors
from Harvard university.”
Eastland said the O'PA textile
branch “repudiates the charges the
amendment is inflationary.”
The amendment by Senator Bank-
head (D-Ala$ would/ require OPA
to adjust cotton textile ceilings to
reflect a .parity price for raw cot
ton, manufacturing costs and a
“reasonable profit” for millers.
Price Administrator Chester Bowles
has held it would mean raising tex
tile ceilings generally, probably an
average of five per cent, and would
cost consumers about $350,000,000
annually.
But Eastland and Bankhead as
serted that OPA has all the au
thority it needs to reduce some ceil
ings to offset raises in others.
They held that OPA also ' could
prevent pyramiding of cotton pro
cessors ana distributors’ profits af
ter the textiles leave the mills, say
ing that would eliminate most of
the predicted rise in consumer costs.
Bankhead said his “primary ob
ject” was to raise the market price
of cotton to the farmers. He said
it had been about a cent a pound
below parity for two years, a loss
of 40,000,000 to producers.
Senator Maloney (D-Conn), con
demning the Bankhead .proposal,
said a better way to raise the cot
ton price would be to boost the gov
ernment loan rate from 90 to 100
per cent of parity. Senator Mur
dock (D-Utah), another opponent of
the Bankhead plan, had earlier an
nounced he would offer such a sub
stitute proposal.
Senator Murdock expressed the
view that President Roosevelt would
veto the bill, to extend the stabili
zation act for 18 months beyond
June 30, if the Bankhead amend
ment gets through Congress.
His patriotism is written in
Yours is written on every Bond you buy
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Yeur patriotism is written on
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