Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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PAGE FOUR THE NEWBERRY SUN FRIDAY, MAY 2, 1952 1218 College Street NEWBERRY, S. C. PUBLISHED EVERY FRIDAY By ARMFIELD BROTHERS 'i\.; Entered as second-class matter December 6, 1937, at the Postoffice at Newberry, South Carolina, under the Act of Congress of March 3, 1879. SUBSCRIPTION RATES: In S. C., 3150 per year in advance outside S. C., $2.00 per year in advance. COMMENTS ON MEN AND THINGS By SPECTATOR it. ' r* ... * • Constitution Not Adhered To . The Constitution of the United States is a splendid docu ment and is still read and studied by students of govern ment, but not followed strictly by our leaders of today. That is true, also, in part, of the Constitution of South Carolina. Our State Constitution, however, cannot be regarded as a great document. The Federal Constitution does not suit the moods of our go-getters and fast-movers; they want action, action according to their whims; they want to carry out their own ideas, unhindered by any principle of sound government; the go-getters want action and more action. I can readily understand the spirit of those who are irked by restraints and restrictions. For years I wrestled with a Constitution and I know how tantalizing it is to have one's bright ideas and turbulent emotions thwarted by a Constitution. But a Constitution is the organic law; it is the supreme charter which all departments of govern ment must recognize, respect, and obey. Constitutions deal in great principles of government; they set forth certain rights of citizens which no Congress or Legislature may disregard. A Constitution declares in general what are the functions of certain departments. The great underlying purpose of all American Constitu tions is to reserve to the individual certain rights. In order to do this some guarantees are specifically given to the individual and certain inhibitions specifically indicated as applicable to legislatures, courts and executives. Stern denials of prorogate they are. The right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness is expressly reserved to citizens—during good behavior, of course. The right to acquire, own, and enjoy property in peaceable possession is a fundamental right. Both these rights are being frequently denied to citizens of the United States. The deliberate coddling of certain groups at the expense of others is not merely an act of discrimination in favor of one group but it is an act of harsh discrimination against another group: it gives to one group more than they are entitled to, and in equal measure denies to another group its guaranteed constitu tional rights. Was An Act Of Tyranny The seizure of the steel plants by President Truman is not an act of deliberate aggression against the Presi dents of the steel plants, they are just employees: it is an act of usurpation against a million men and women who own those steel plants. Nothing in the Constitution justifies this act of tyran ny; nothing in the Constitution justifies this favored position of one group over all other citizens. One thing, and one thing only, stands out with the clarity of the noon-day sun: it is that the Truman Administration de liberately, callously betrays the whole nation and our Con stitutional principles because it is in league with one group, and that a minority, to form a steam-roller—or Mace donian phalanx—that this group may assume and enjoy privileges denied to other citizens. Where stands the Congress of the United States? Where stand the Courts? More or less we are all in collusion; we, the citizens, seek unfair advantages; the Congress has surrendered the Constitution because Congressmen are just politicians; and the courts have been recreant be cause they have failed to “preserve, protect and defend the Constitution.” A citizen shall not “be deprived of life, liberty, or pro perty, without due process of law,” says the fifth Amend ment to the Federal Constitution. This is an express restriction on the National Government. Constitutional ly, the seizure by President Truman was an arbitrary act of unbridled despotism; if it can be sustained them no cit izen is immune from the confiscation of his business or his home. “Undermining the Constitution” is a timely book which my Doctor brother has sent me from Anderson. It is a clear exposition of Constitutional principles which we have cherished. One thing I quote from it now: “For two decades no great debate on a Constitutional subject has been heard in either House of Congress.” I think I've been cheated: I once had a course in Con- t stitutional law that required nine hours a week for six months and the reading of ten thousand pages of de cisions. Time utterly wasted, for who cares today? ** The Courts Should Decide . I recall Senator Bailey of Texas in his great arguments over a broad court review in rate cases, as he thundered in debate over Constitutional limitations. No such debates No Place Like Home? today. We are minute men and crave action. Today a Senator declares that Mr. Truman had an “inherent right” to seize property to avert a strike. The Federal (Government should get out, of this strike business and put everybody on an equal basis, letting them seek justice in the courts. The President has no inherent rights: the duties of the President are set forth: he is not a Sovereign, with the ancient prerogatives of absolute sovereignty as led to the fiction of the Divine Rights of Kings. The President takes this oath: “I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.” Impotent Small Minds Unfortunately Mr. Tfuman did not “execute” the presi dency; he “executed” the Constitution and he executed the people who own the steel mills. Let me clarify this: No President has the authority; and no Court or Congress has the authority, to compel any man to work. It is basic law with us that no man can be compelled to work; and it is equally true that there is no Constitutional authority to seize the steel mills, the pro* perty of the million owners. This whole procedure is a blatant assertion of political interest, masquerading as an Act in the National interest. ' We lack a Calhoun, Clay and Webster: our great Na* tion is today under the important confusion of small minds. This Could Happen Here What has happened to our money? Let's consider a case in France and then apply the reasoning to this coun try. I’m not suggesting ancient history, as when a milk shake sold for five cents, or bananas fifteen cents a dozen, sausage twenty cents a pound and a dish of ham and eggs twenty five cents. Considering the changes in France, I’m reminded that when I was there the franc was worth about seventeen cents in our money. Our Government pegged it. As to the worth of a franc today, consider this: “The franc has lost in excess of 99% per cent of its purchasing value. I recall being in Paris in 1918. I bought a nice din ner for five francs, then the equivalent of an American dollar. I did not get to Paris again until 1947. I took a friend of mine to luncheon. We did not pay 10 or 20 francs for lunch. We paid 3400 francs for the lunch. I wasn't there again until 1949, and had the same lunch. It was a good one, and it wasn’t 3400 francs; it was 4100 francs. I would like you to envision, if you will, a young French man back in 1915. Let us say he was 25 years of age, and he had some concern about the day when he would « be, say, 60 or 61 years of age. So he bought himself an annuity, a paid-up annuity, that would return 1000 francs per month. Back in 1915, 1000 francs per month would have permitted him to live like a prince of Monaco, yet my doctors tell me that a person cannot live on one meal per month, and that is all the 1000 francs would buy to day.” I don’t know how he figures this: the franc is quoted in New York at around four hundred to a dollar. Some Ominous Figures What our Government is doing to us? I offer this in teresting account: “Look at some of the larger nations of the world, those that we think of as being in a perfectly horrible socialistic and financial mess, such countries as Russia, France, Germany and England. As short a time ago as 22 years, the take of earned income by the govern ment in Russia was 29 per cent, less than when we are today. In Germany at that time, the take was 22 per cent, much less than where we are today. In England at that time, it was 21 per cent, and in France it was 21 per cent. I call your attention again to the'fact that we are now at 31 per cent. Based upon the budgets as of July 1 of this year, that take would have to be between 40 and 45 per cent of the earned income of this nation, and I, at least, am not aware of any situation in history where the take has been that large and the economic system has not cracked up.” ashington JUST ANOTHER DAY FOR HER T HE SEIZURE of the steel mills by President Truman set off a barrage of criticism in the United States congress from strictly par tisan sources. And much of the criticism against the President’s action in taking over the mills came from many big sponsors of t radio and television shows. However, one Republican in the Senate, conceded to be the best constitutional lawyer in that bodL took his colleagues to task. He was Senator Wayne Morse, Republican of Oregon. Nobody disputes con stitutional law witi} Senator Morse and gets very far with it. Said Sen ator Morse in part: should like to suggest to those who I have heard today express themselves on constitutional law, whose views in my opinion would be laughed out of any freshman course in constitutional law in any of our law schools, that they will never live so long as to read a de cision of the United States supreme court holding that in this land in time of great national peril, the President of the United States does not have the inherent power under the constitution to protect the safe ty and security of the nation, until Congress gets off its haunches and proceeds to meet its constitutional obligations and performs its duty. *‘Mr. President, I am becoming a little weary of hearing politicians in an election year proceed to at tack the President of the United States because they dislike his par tisanship, when they themselves have yet to take action under the Constitution of the United States as it is their clear duty to take, if they do not like the kind of action the President of the United States is taking in the exercise of his in herent power. *T repeat, I hope when a Repub lican president occupies the White House—and I trust it will be in No vember 1952—he will not fold his hands and fail to act when the boys in Korea are about to be jeopar dized by failure on the part of the steel unions and a group of steel companies to keep the steel mills of America rolling. * 4 . . . Until the supreme court hands down a decision—and such opinion would be the first of its kind in all our history—that all tbr dicta that have appeared in the dt cisions to date are not applicable —I shall continue to say that it L. the duty and the responsibility o! the President of the United States in an hour of great crisis to proceed * by executive action to protect the security of the nation.” * • • Some of the steel mill executive, have told the American people tha the President’s action was unprece dented, when the fact is that sucl Presidents as Andrew Jackson. Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lin coln, Theodore Roosevelt, Wood- row Wilson and Franklin D. Roose velt took like actions—and no court would uphold an injunction against their authority. • • • Finally Senator Joseph McCarthj has been brought to censure by his own colleagues in his assault on in dividual and personal liberty and the very integrity of his govern ment. The senator from Wisconsin attacked the motives and intent of five of his colleagues by charging that members of the senate-sub committee investigating his fitness to serve as a member of the United States senate were “stealing tens of thousands of dollars” and "pick ing the pockets of the taxpayers” in their investigation of him. Re sult was Senator McCarthy was slapped down by a vote of 60 to 0 in a Senate vote of confidence in the investigating committee and au thorizing the committee to proceed with its investigation. Senator Gillette of Iowa, chair man of the committee, a rather meek individual, reflected the bit terness which McCarthy has stirred up when he declared that in his entire public life he had never been subjected to “more vicious, vile and vindictive insinuations” against himself. Senator A. S. Mike Mon- roney of Oklahoma, who cut his eye-teeth in politics as a newspaper reporter, declared McCarthy’s at tack would “destroy the very pow er, integrity and dignity of govern ment.” IKieCarnegie ★ ■AUTHOR UF ' HO* TO 3T0P WORRYING AND START LIVINt r * •» . • « No Father To Foot Bills •PHIS .STORY of Robert C. Sasena, Cleveland, Ohio, is for the boy who is entering college ... or even high school. When Robert graduated from high school, his father, like most American fathers, could see his dreams come true in that his son was now ready to go to college. But to Robert college was a series of dances, football games, lots jf pretty girls, sport coats, and bow ties. His dad liscussed with him the seriousness of life and pointed out what in his opinion he would accom plish by spending the next four years in further aducation. Just as many other inexperienced young boys, Robert let those words of wisdom go in one aar and out the other. You can well imagine the difficulties he encountered scholastically. He says ic and the Dean became very well acquainted! Carnegie The following March he received a phone call from home informing him that his father had just met with a vers serious accident. He left school and went home. Within a week his father passed away and Robert was left with an older brother and his mother. He took a job in a foundry as a laborer, and a few months of hard work made him realize that possibly fathei did have something in trying to offer him the advantages of col lege training. He still retained the fear that he was not given the mental ability to master the work in college, but he decided that there was only one way for him to find out whether he was capa ble of getting a college education. If he could do this on a part-time basis, going to school at night, he could fight his fear and would be able to determine whether he was actually able to cope with such advanced educa tion. With this thought in mind, he took a freshman course in col lege mathematics and much to his surprise he was able with a little work to pass this course without any difficulties. He took' another course in freshman chemistry, and again he passed with a rating well above average. He then felt he had sufficient confid ence in his ability to pass any course offered in college. With this confidence and deep desire to obtain a college degree, he left his job as a laborer in a foundry and enrolled in a day college with confidence. He achieved his father’s ambition for him, but he is telling this to forestall if possible the great waste of a young man’s time and a father’s money that occur when a freshman doesn’t realize how fortunate he is to have a father to foot his college hhi« Test Your Intelligence Score 10 points for each correct answer in the first six questions: 1. A mustang is a: —feline animal —horse —buffalo —bird 2. The largest of the Great Lakes is Lake: —Superior —Erie —Huron —Ontario 3. The Parthenon is in: —England —Albania —Spain —Greece 4. The author of the Canterbury Tales was: —Shakespeare —Lord Byron —^Chaucer —Southey 5. A Baedeker is: —an arch supporter —a guide book —a boat —an exotic dish 6. Thomas Jefferson founded a university in: —South Carolina —Massachusetts —Virginia —North Carolina 7. Listed below are four islands or island groups and opposite them, mixed up, the countries which own them. Match them, scoring 10 points for each correct answer. (A) Corsica —Britain (B) Zanzibar —Portugal (C) Azores —United States (D) Aleutians —France Total your points. A score of 0-20 is poor; 30-60, average; 70-80, superior; 90-100. very superior. (Answers On Page Six) Grandmother, on a winter’s day, milked the cows, and fed them hay, slopped the hogs, saddled the mule, and got the children off to school; did a washing, mopped the floors, washed the windows, and did some- chores; cook ed a dish of home-dried fruit, pressed her husband’s Sun day suit, swept the parlor, made the bed, baked a dozen loaves of bread, split some firewood and lugged in, enough to fill the kitchen bin; cleaned the lamps and put in oil, stewed some apples she thought would spoil; churned the butter, baked a cake, then exclaimed, “For heaven’s sake, the calves have got out of the pen”—went out and chased them in again; gathered the eggs and locked the stable, back to the house and set the table; cooked a supper that was delicious, and afterward washed up all the dishes; fed the cat and sprinkled the clothes, mended a basketful of hose; then opened the organ and began to play, “When you come to the end of a perfect day.”—Parts Pups SEEKS OFFICE 42 YEARS Buster Rowe, Saluda’s perennial candidate* has again! tossed his battered hat into the political ring. For 42 years he has sought to be elected to some office. It doesn’t seem to make much difference to Buster what office he holds for he has offered for everything from sub-commissioner to the State Senate, which latter office he seeks this year for the second time. Buster dearly loves campaigning and defeat leaves no bitterness in his soul. He seems to be out for the title of most defeated candidate. In addition to his political prowess (or lack of it) Buster has other accomplishments. At 64 years of age he is the daddy of 20 children and he is a pretty good farmer too. A man who can father 20 children and still have time every two years for a political race has something few of we mortals enjoy. Such a spirit de serves to be rewarded and we hope Saluda will get around to seeing that Buster is properly honored with some office. No hurry, of course. Anytime within the next 25 years or sol EDITORS AND PUBLISHERS The Spectator should know that the editor of a news paper and the publisher are often two different critters, but apparently he doesn’t when he refers to the editor of the Anderson Independent, as “one of South Carolina’s most eminently successful men.” Mr. Wilton Hall, the publisher of the Independent is without a doubt a man of worth-while proportions. He has built what I con sider the best newspaper in South Carolina under cir cumstances which would have stalled a less brave spirit. But the editor of the Independent is Mr. Hembree and I don’t think the Spectator's lavish adjectives exactly ply here. Hembree is a good newspaper man; he’s more than that, he's a brilliant newspaper man, but an “eminent” one, as there are not enough of that in South Carolina journalism to make a comparison, of which is for but one purpose: a little dig at the voluble Spectator. DIFFICULT TO DIGEST Each year at about this time, we as a nation of drivers and pedestrians find out from a Hartford in surance company how we fared in the previous year. The Travelers annual book of street and highway ac cident data has just been published and we learn with dismay that almost two million of us were casualties in 1951. Specifically, 37,100 persons were killed and 1,962,6Q0 injured in auto accidents last year. The enormity of this toll is difficult to digest. Out of all context, a total of two million broken bodies from any cause is beyond description. For a sharper focus on two million deaths and injuries, think of them in terms of one or two at a time in accidents on roads in every corner of the country. More to the point, think of them in terms of your own circumstances. Think of them when you drive or walk. THE LUCKY BEE! “A bee gets more fun out of a single iris than a human being can get out of a vast herbaceous border. The bee drags its feet in the flower, rolls in it, takes a bath in it, swigs the nectar out of it, and revels in the sound of its own voice while doing so, just as we sing in our resonant bathrooms.”—Robertson Davies. AT LEAST GROTESQUE! 'This business of nourishing the soil seems gro tesque. It’s hard enough to feed the family, let along throwing away good money on feeding land. Our idea about soil is that it ought to feed itself.”—Christopher Morley. MORE SPECIFICALLY Further identification should be made of the pretty yard spoken of here last week as being in Wells Park. Specifical ly it is the home of Dr. and Mrs. J. E. Nichols at the coi* ner of College and Pope. How much Doc. contribute, after his pill rolling job at the Newberry Drug company is in question but a great big portion of credit is due some one in that house for a lot of work, but most of all, for a lot of gardening know-how.