Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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THE NEWBERRY SUN. NEWBERRY. S. C \ Washington Di9GSt Jan Masaryk Took His Life In Protest Against 'Robots' By BAUKHAGE News Analyst and Commentator WASHINGTON—For some time after I heard the tragic news of Jan Masaryk’s suicide, a strange memory haunted me .... I saw—A man and woman alone in a darkened room. They are two of the last three human beings on earth. The rest have been destroyed by an army of automatons—man-created robots. Creatures who have all other human attributes, but no sensitivi ties, no souls. Mechanically-made, the robots are the triumph of the productivity of the machine. But they have revolted and turned against their creators. They now are marching on the last human stronghold. The lights go out, you can hear the rhyth mic tramp, tramp, tramp of their iron feet. There is a crash of glass as they push, in sensitive to pain, through the win dows — two revolv er shots ring out in the dark as the human beings com mit suicide to save themselves from the horrible wrath of the automatons. That, you may remember, was the climax of the play RUR—“Rossums Universal Robots”—written by Karel Kaptk. I was reminded of it because of one of the first deeds of Jan Ma saryk in 1946 when he returned to his native country after the exile imposed on him when Hitler’s robots crushed the first Czech republic. When Masaryk returned, he laid flowers on the grave of Karel Kapek, the great Czech author who wrote that prophetic play, giving us the word “robot” and the warning be hind it. The words comes down from the old Slavic “robota,” servitude. We have accepted the word. We have not heeded the warn ing. The robots, like the Golem of the Hebrew myth, and the Adam of the Psalms “yet being unperfect” be fore a soul was breathed into his substance offer a grim warning to us now. Unhuman beings released today, may re-enact Kapek’s play on a stage, wide as civilization. Day after day come the fright ened echoes from Europe of the fear of war. And yet no people wants it. If you were to write down all the material demands of the diplomats and the rulers of each nation, and put them in the hands of the peoples of the world and tell them: If you want these you must have war, who would pay the price of war? None. None but a robot, without sensitivity, without soul The martyrdom of Jan Masaryk seems to have hurt rather than helped the Communist cause. I spent some time with the former Czecho slovak ambassador to the United States, Juric Slavik, on the eve ning of the day when Masaryk’s sui cide was announced. Slavik believes that Masaryk felt he could serve his country better dead than as a living pris oner, for the ambassador says he was a prisoner. Masaryk, alive, but with every word and gesture filtered through the censorship of the Communist screen, would be come a symbol of the spirit of Czechoslovakia surrendered, en chained, a noble and historic name and all it has s\ood for, be smirched and obliterated. Dead, the name, the spirit, live. The ambassador recalled an epi sode in that epic odyssey which has gone down in military history as JAN MASARYK The name, the spirit, live. one of the marvelous achievements of World War I—the march of the Czechoslovak Legion which fought beside the Allies against the Rus sians, and after the Bolshevists had made their peace with the Germans, fought its way from the Ukraine to Vladivostok, a trek that makes the world’s great marches pale by com parison. Many believe that Masaryk had remained on with the new govern ment as foreign minister, not be cause he accepted as inevitable Communist domination, but be cause he felt he could serve best within the government, working se cretly with democratic elements. He made a cryptic declaration in a speech to the Czech army after the Communist assumption of pow er, in which be said: “Czech and Slovak brothers, I am with you.’* This may have been an indication of his true purpose; to direct the un derground. But something changed his mind about the course he was to pur sue. One must take into consideration the attitude toward self-destruction in a country which had a long tradi tion of martyrdom and underground resistance, and no Catholic back ground. I do not know how much of a mystic Jan Masaryk may have been. But it has been emphasized that only a few hours before his death, he visited his father’s grave with others, to venerate the honored memory. And he remained there, alone, long after the others had gone. Perhaps he felt that he had re ceived, in that lonely vigil, some mystic command, say as Hamlet did after a similar experience: “. . . and thy commandment all alone shall live within the book and volume of my brain, unmix’d with baser matter: yes, by heaven!” • • • Peace Depends On World’s Children Recently I received a pamphlet from the General Brotherhood board containing an article by Gordon All- port, department of social relations at Harvard, entitled: “Guide Lines for Research in International Coop eration.” Allport points out that most in ternational conferences meet in the Credit: United Nations World These United Nations members don’t quarrel. Can you guess the country to which these children of members of the United Na tions staff belong? glare of cameras, microphones and bald heads, and that it is time to concentrate our efforts on the chil dren. In teaching children about the peoples of the world. Allport says the tendency is to accentuate the DIFFERENCES. He says: “The American child learns with horror about head hunters, about infanticide; and he learns to laugh at the Dutch who clop in wooden shoes, and at the quaint observances of Easter among adherents to the Orthodox faith. The implication of inferiority is a usual by-product of our present method of teaching cultural and national dif ferences, Less dramatic, but far sounder, would be the teaching of the common considerations of justice and morality that are identical over vast areas of the earth. Practices that may SEEM to differ drama tically often indicate common as pirations and common values. The prayer wheels of Tibet and the si lent Quaker meeting have virtually identical functional significance; so too the initiation rites of the Pawnee and the American high school com mencement. Little effort has been made. All port claims, to search for the com mon ground of mankind—and he suggests that the United Nations prepare an encyclopedia of the uni formities and similarities in the oe- liefs, practices and aspirations of all peoples—an encyclopedia which would serve as a reference guide for innumerable aspects of world policy for years to come. Allport thinks that a study of the common peoples of the world un doubtedly would reveal that more Important to them than boundaries and national aspirations are mat ters of self-respect, pride, food, shelter, marriage and the wel fare of their children. Yes, as I said earlier, ask the peo ples of the world to vote between capture of territory, acquisition of ports or oil fields at the price of war—and there would be no ques tion of their choice. MATCHED CHURCH .. . Robert Buchignani of Corona, N. Y., paralyzed from the waist down, spent five months building com- p 1 e t e 1 y furnished miniature church of matchsticks. He didn’t count matches. DETAINED . . . Mme. Irene Jo- Uot-Curie, Nobel prize-winning physicist and daughter of the discoverer of radium, was de tained by U.S. immigration of ficials upon her arrival in New York but released a few hours later. She is connected with the Joint Anti-Fascist Refugee com mittee, labeled as subversive by Justice department. MUSIC . . . James Caesar Pe- trillo, president of American Federation of Musicians, was first participating musician under agreement between AFM and radio networks which provides that television will feature “live” music. ' VICTIM . . . Tiny victim of am munition dump explosion at Tsingtao, China, is carried from blasted building by U.S. navy hospital corpsman. Two hundred Chinese died in the explosion and approximately 800 more were injured, many seriously. PRESIDENTIAL TIMBER The race to be Mister Harassment or the Worrying Man, otherwise known as President of the United States, is on. Everybody is coming Into the ring at the drop of a hat, so to speak. The stewards may have to divide it into two heats to pre vent overcrowding and piling up in the stretch. • Gen. Douglas MacArthur is will ing to go to the post. He is quite a mar^ George Washington threw a dollar across the Rappahannock but MacArthur threw a brass hat across the Pacific ocean. • General MacArthur offers him self to the Republicans if they In sist and it sounds a little like a reiteration of his famous state ment, “I shall return.” Anybody who can wind up ruling Japan after Corregidor is not to be dis counted no matter how long or difficult the road. ALL GOING OUT, NOTHING COMING IN ... It looks like a lot of coal, but this stockpile of the Clairton by-products coke plant at Pittsburgh was dwindling at an. alarming rate as John L. Lewis’ soft coal miners continued their strike for $100-a-month pensions. Steel company officials were not committing themselves as to how long their plants could run on present stockpiles. TRYING IT ON FOR SIZE . . . America’s girl scouts are broad minded. They believe that even a baby can do something to help the destitute people of the world. Currently, the girl scouts are engaged in assembling clothing kits to go to children in Europe and Asia. This Toledo, Ohio troop borrowed its leader’s baby to model the baby garments they made as their contribution to the effort to make a million garments during 1948. FOUR-FOOTED LOBBYIST FOR, ERP . . s Proponents of the Marshall plan for European recovery have pressed even a donkey (symbol of the Democratic party) into service as a lobbyist for the program. The donkey is shown lumbering up the steps of the capitol bearing a sign advocating the sending of draft animals to Europe as part of the plan. President Truman made the an nouncement that he would like four years more of trials and tribulations the same day MacArthur’s word came from Tokyo. In the last cou ple of years Harry has been through more fighting than Douglas. * Messrs. Dewey, Taft, Stassen, Vandenburg and other GOP hopefuls took the entry of General MacArthur with a show of minimum concern but no race is ever made any easier by traffic congestion at the post. * General Ike, the Abilene Bear cat, announced that he would not be a candidate and added that he did not see anything in the situa tion which required a military man to make a general headquarters of tb« White House. Plainly MacAr thur’s reply to this is, "Sez you!” . Democratic politicians are insist ing that if they could get Truman to step out and get Ike to ride the don key it wouldn’t make any difference If the Republicans ran MacArthur, Doolittle, Bradley, Spatz, Nimitz and Halsey all on one ticket. * Could it come to pass that, with General MacArthur seeing an excuse for a military man camping on the Potomac, General Eisenhower might be prevailed upon to change his mind? We shall see what we shall see, as the fellow said as he looked into the wrong end of a telescope. Bift we hope the campaign will be recognizable as a political contest and not a major military event. • • • Elmer Twitchell is close to a fortune. He is thinking of sign ing up to supply the United Na tions with loopholes. The demand for smaller ones is especially high. Special Delivery Dear Uncle Sam: This is a follow up to my recent letter asking if you didn’t think it time you snapped out of that self destructive trance in the drug-store window and started acting as if you were hep to the fact that Kremlin workers for your liquidation are just about the most efficient, wideawake, high-powered 24-hours-a-day shift or ganization in the land. — • — * . Sure, the people are asleep at the switch. Sure, they are hard to arouse. Yeah, I know 85 per cent of all Americans are so busy playing pinball machines, writing limericks for radio prizes, ap plauding the wrong people In news reels and trying to get a new se dan that the 15 per cent hard at work to Sovietize America are having it easy. • What we need are demonstrations in every town and city for the pres ervation of America, and in ’em there should be the spirit of the old- time Fourth of July meetings, with the brass bands playing “Yankee Doodle” and the eyes of the people lighted up with gratitude for the. great blessing of living in the great est country on earth. GARDENIA TIME ... Down South in Cypress Gardens, Fla., Alice Mooty gathers fragrant white gardenias. Here Ameri ca’s Gardenia Festival is held every year when acres of the flowers bloom. SPRING IS HERE—FLOODS, TOO . . . More than 2,000 acres of valuable farm land were inundated by heavy rains and melting ice and snow throughout the Rock river area near Moline, HI. Property damage was extensive and spring planting was delayed, keeping fertile fields out of production until they were dried np. Americans are good joiners and good organizers. Once aroused they are tough babies and nobody’s fools. How about a national campaign to get them as hard-working, alert and vigorous in preserving the country as the Moscow agents are for feed ing it to the crows? I’m just ask. ing. Yours still wondering, Elmer. • • • CAN YOU REMEMBER— Away back when a man wasn’t afraid to make more money? * • • The shoe industry predicts a drop from $1 to $3 in the price of shoes this year. Oh for the days when we could afford them on both feet! • * « Truman Says He Will Rim. Head line. . Might be a good idea to develop the hook slide, too. • • • Eamon de Valera was in New York and the city, of course, gave him the green light. Washington War Jitters O FFICIAL WASHINGTON GIVES ALL the appearances of having a bad case of war jitters or else planning a deliberate show of mili tary activity in order to outbluff the Russians. Telegrams have been sent to large groups of reserve officers to be ready in case of trouble. No one aas been called officially, but many have been warned that they may be called. In addition, army representatives aave visited certain key factories »nd Inquired about plans for rapid conversion of their plants in case of trouble. The army has been espe cially interested in cement factories, pointing out that it may be neces sary to do a lot of underground con- itruction. Behind this, war chiefs admit, have been some ominous moves by the Russian army, which has now concentrated heavy reinforcements either in Russian-occupied Germany or else near the German border. There is no way of knowing just what this means. It may mean that the Russians are pre pared to move into Western Eu rope in retaliation for the West ern alliance and the U. S.-Brit- ish-French plan for a separate control of the Ruhr. Or it may merely mean that the Russians are shifting their troops around in order to intimidate the Ital ians on the eve of the election and also to scare the United States. It is considered unlikely that Russia really wants war now, so it may well be that the Russian troop maneuvers are a bluff. In any event, U. S. war chiefs, having been caught napping at Pearl Harbor, are taking no chances again. To this end, only a few U. S. troops are being left in Germany. Large U. S. forces there might tempt the Russians to deliver a crippling blow and execute a Dun kirk. Should Moscow not be bluffing and suddenly advance through Germany, plans are all set for the U. S. army to high-tail it across the continent and on to England. • • • Navy Sponsors Tours THE ARMY AND NAVY are supposed to be united now, but the navy has started imitating the army in a drive to win friends and influence taxpayers. Every few months a group of prominent educators, editors and industrialists is invited to attend a 10-day school and learn all about the navy. They are taken behind the scenes at a big naval base, given a front row seat to the navy in action, even awarded di plomas after the course is com pleted. It’s an indirect lobbying plan somewhat similar to the army’s system of flying civilians to Fort Knox to view the trial military training school. This lobbying re cently was censured severely hy congress. The navy’s next course for civil ians opens at the Pensacola naval air station, with 60 educators, edi tors and businessmen invited. “These men will come from near by southern states and will pay all their own expenses,” explained Capt. A. Macondray, officer in charge of the project. When pinned down, however MaconJray admitted that three men have been invited to fly all the way from Alaska in naval planes, and that several others are also traveling at government expense. “But,” insisted Macondray, “they will have to pay for their own meals.” Truman Blasts Pearson THE PRESIDENT of the United States was blazing mad and shoot ing from the hip when Democratic Chairman Howard McGrath and Executive Director Gael Sullivan went in to see him. They had ex pected to have a quiet talk over political conditions and warn Mr. Truman of growing revolt Inside the party. But they never had a chance. Once inside the door, Mr. Tru man said he was fed up with the lack of loyalty by certain party leaders. He blamed the southern revolt on Senator Byrd of Virginia and described Byrd as the "finest Re publican in the Democratic party.” Mr. Truman also leveled a blast at the “no-good columnist Drew Pearson" and congratulated Mc Grath for having issued a state ment denying a Pearson report that he, McGrath, would Uke to resign as national chairman. McGrath had intended talking to Mr. Truman about a vice-presi dential running mate, and planned to suggest Sen. Lister Hill of Ala bama. He thought a southerner on the ticket would win back the South, and that Hill also would be liberal enough to suit the North. Knocked off base by the vehe mence of the President’s tirade, how ever, McGrath forgot all about men tioning Hill’s name. UtCameral Congress Under its constitution, Chile han a bi-cameral congress elected di rectly by the people, as is the presi dent. The latter has somewhat the same power as the president of the United States.”' Heavy Talkers Latest statistics show that the United States has more than 22 tele phones for every 100 inhabitants, compared to 2.2 telephones per 100 inhabitants in the world as a whole. New York Leads New York City has more tele phones than any city in the world, with a total of 2,218,000. This com pares with 1,290,000 in all of South America. Grandma SPEARIN'... ABE LUKINS says, the best was to break a bad habit is to drop it. $5 paid Mu. L. D. Cut. Putaibns, W. Vs* dm ITS SIMPLE as two and two makln’ four. If you want a mar garine that’s fine fer the table, then look fer the package that says "Table-Grade.” Yep, Nu- Maid Is Table-Grade Margarine made 'specially fer the table. It's so good tastin’. • dm THE MOST wore-out man coma nightfall is a loafer. He’s so busy doin’ nothin’ all day, there ain't time to stop and rest.* dm LAND SAKES! Good tastin’ pies and cakes don’t just grow that way. They call for good tasty shortnin’. And tasty shortnin’ of course, means Nu-Mald Marga rine, Table-Grade. dm will be paid upon publica tion to the first contributor of each accepted saying or idea for “Grandma Speakin’.” Address Nu-Maid Margarine, Cincinnati 2, Ohio. MOD-MAD© Table-Grade MARGARINE orit use Harsh Laxatives M/s heaMifu/ way- The juice of a lemon in a glass of water, when taken first thing on aris ing, is all that most people need to insure prompt, normal elimination. No more harsh laxatives that irritate the digestive tract and impair nutri tion ! Lemon in water is good for you? Generations of Americans have taken lemons for health—and generations of doctors have recommended them. They are rich in vitamin C; supply valuable amounts of Bi and P. They alkalinize; aid digestion. Not too sharp or tour, lemon in water has a refreshing tang —clears the mouth, wakes you up. It’s not a purgative — simply helps your sys tem regulate itself. Try it 10 days. USf CALIFORNIA SUNKIST LtMON% Pullorum clean N. H. Red, Barred Cross and Sex-Link Cockerels $6.00 per 100. Pullets $15.00 per 100. Straight run $10.00 per 100. ED’S CHICKS Manchester, N. H. STOP UGHTNING DAMAGE rK? “National Quality” Systems Prevent Llsrhtnlnr Stroke from Occurring. Write for FREE Booklet “*• Lightning Protection Worth ProvIdtagF* NAT’AL UGHTNING PROTECTION C0.%'££3 GENUINE FORD REBUILT EXCHANGE MOTORS 85-90 HP-V8 $103.00 95-100 HP-V8 $110.00 and your old motor. <OU Pump and heads $3.00 extra) See your Ford Dealer or WRITE—WIRE—PHONE RANDALL# * BLAKELY INC. Ford Engine Rebnildere. Griffin, Ga. - • Phene SMB