. PAGK-M
HERALD AND NEWS, Klamalh Falli, Oregoo Wednesday, November 6, 1963
WASHINGTON CALLING
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dibfujcd (paqsi
Facts About The Foe
More and more schools and colleges in
this country are teaching the study of com
munism. The trend is a wise one. We need to
know and understand this complex force
which bulks so large in the world power
struggle.
A point already pretty well made is that
such teaching should not be in the hands
of either amateurs or self-appointed experts
on communism of whom there are many.
Sidney Hook, a New York University
professor who is a genuine expert on this
subject, makes another sturdy argument.
He says you are not teaching the study of
communism when you merely denounce it,
speak generally of its evils, indicate that
only fools could embrace it.
Writing in the New York Times mag
azine, Hook asserts that our study will have
to be much tougher than that if it is to be of
any use to us.
It is very comforting, though hardly
very enlightening, for us to declare com
munism a failure because it cannot solve its
agricultural problems, keeps hundreds of
millions at depression level, suppresses the
liberties of those same peoples.
But that is not exactly the entire story.
And we need to know the whole of it if we
are to gauge and counter the most pow
erful adversary of freedom that has ever
gained foothold on this earth.
Whatever its glaring, awesome failures,
communism is in fact the ruling system for
well over a billion people in the world. Most
may not have consciously chosen it, but that
does not alter the fact that they have it.
The question for us is: "How did it
happen?"
This has been not only a bumper year
for automobile production, it's been a
bumper year for automobile thefts.
No less than 249,368 cars worth
more than $225 million have been stolen
in the first nine months of 1063, reports the
National Automobile Theft Bureau. This is
a 13 per cent increase over the same pe
riod in 1962.
The bureau cites two factors contribut
The Pot
Snobbery is not a very attractive alti
tude of mind. But, unhappily, it is not the
exclusive possession of any narrow econom
ic or social stratum. It turns up every
where. The American workingman is often de
scribed as the salt of the earth, the living
embodiment of the democratic ideal. But
some of his fellows can be every whit as
snobbish as the most highly placed execu
tive traveling in "exclusive" social circles.
Some of these workers would never
consider for a moment trying to understand
the man on the higher economic rung. They
have him all figured out, all decked out in
clear black and while. Their badge of honor
is that they do NOT talk to him any more
than necessary.
Strangely, this kind of snobbery often
saddly distorts religious feelings. Differ
ences there will always he, hut they lose
their value if not steadily underscored by
the Idea of universal brotherhood.
Nor is the great racial struggle free of
this kind of thing.
Negroes want not only belter treatment
but also better understanding and good will
from the white population. Many of them
Rare Art Masterpiece
Few of us ever have folding money in
our pockets long enough to become very
well acquainted with it. And even fewer
people have enough familiarity with money
to have bred contempt for it.
But there's a fellow in Miami, Fla.,
who has complained to his congressman
about the $10 bill. He thinks the obsolete
car in the picture on the back gives Amer
ica a bad image and certiinly docs not con
vey the idea of progress which this nation
Is so proud of.
Actually, the street scene In front of
What is the real history of how commu
nism became established in the Soviet Un
ion, in China, in satellite eastern Europe,
in Cuba?
Unless we can grasp the circumstances,,
the techniques of politics and subversion
which worked in these places, we will really
not know how to combat communism here
and in other free places.
We have also to understand that com
munism's failure is not total. By one of the
great, wrenching shifts of modern times,
the Soviet Union in four decades converted
itself from a peasant agricultural land to
a mighty industrial country competing for
leadership in the space and nuclear fields.
We do not help ourselves when we ig
nore this. How can you combat an enemy
when you do not face up to what he is?
We further cannot blink the truth that
communism, for all its failures, for all the
ideological stresses between Moscow and Pe
king, still exerts an enormous appeal for
millions of underdeveloped peoples around
the globe.
Our studies must show us why this is
so, how the appeal is made to register,
what we can do to combat it by exposing it
for the fraud it is.
This last, Hook suggests, can be man
aged only by attacking communism in its
specifics, by revealing its history. Calling it
evil has become a boring generality even to
many who hate it.
Studying communism, then, is a major
education enterprise that deserves the best
of our scholarship and the fullest participa
tion and support of the whole American cit
izenryadult and student alike.
Locking Is The Key
ing to the spread of car thievery popula
tion explosions in both( automobiles and
teenagers, who take eight out of every 10
cars stolen.
Because teen-age theft is usually spur
of" the moment, the bureau says auto own
ers could drastically cut the theft rate by
simply removing their ignition keys and
locking their cars every time they park.
And The Kettle
realize that this is a two-way street. But
large numbers do not. .
While asking much, they too often give
little. They want full understanding of their
problems, but think seldom of white men's
problems.
Warped to its worst aspect, this inverse
snobbery is expressed in the reckless com
ment of an Adam Clayton Powell: "We've
got the white man on the run!"
What multiracial society can long pros
per in which one group has another "on the
run" and wants it that way?
Obviously, too, there is snobbery
among nationality groups. Pride of nation
is natural. But those who live on this soil
as full-fledged citizens arc Americans not
Poles or Italians or Germans.
Snobbery is a barricade. We have no
business trying to erect such barricades in
a society whose hallmark Is its fluidity.
Snobbery does not become democratic
when practiced by a man with a grievance,
real or alleged. It is just as undemocratic
when exhibited by a man in overalls, a Ne
gro, a Catholic as it is when shown by a
corporation president, a white man or a
Protestant.
the Treasury Building was ridiculously in
accurate even when it was engraved in
1929. There are a mere four motor vehicles
and 12 pedestrians in sight. Washington
hi'sn't been that depopulated since the Brit
ish were careless with matches In 1814.
However, as one -Treasury spokesman
commented, the out-of-date ten-spot is "a
symbol of the stability of the American econ
omy." On that controversial note, perhaps it
is best to close the subject.
K If 1 W
W K JV
WASHINGTON WINDOW
Political Platforms Contain
Something For Everybody
By LYLE C. WILSON
United Press International
Sen. Barry Goldwater (R
Ariz.) should be able lo lick
Gov. Nelson A. Rockefeller in
any showdown debate of their
disagreement on what a presi
dential platform should contain.
Rockefeller wants an item
ized platform containing speci
fic promises on such major is
sues as taxes, foreign aid and
civil rights.
Goldwater is against that. The
senator wants a platform con
sisting of a statomont of Repub
lican principles without spelling
out promises to do this, that
and the other thing.
Rockefeller has precedent go
ing for him. It is customary
for the political parties to make
specific promises in their pres
idential platforms. Some of the
Kennedy administration's re
cent trouble with the civil rights
bill in the House Judiciary Com
mittee flowed from Uie ambig
uous specifications of civil
rights action to which the Dem
ocratic Party pledged itself in
the 1'JfiO presidential campaign.
It has been the custom, how
ever, for political parties lo
make specific promises. So,
Rockefeller defends a well es
tablished position in his propos
al that the Republicans do like
wise next year. Only if the plat
form were specific and satis
factory, Rocky said, would he
support Goldwater if the sena
tor were nominated for Presi
dent. The weakness of Rockefeller's
position and the .strength of
Goldwater's opposition is that
platform specifics have b cc n
carried to Uie point of absurd
ity and political dishonesty.
Platforms now arc written to
include something for everyone
vote catchers. The platform
writing committee of any na
tional convention is a pressure
By
Speaking of bridge, as 1 was
yesterday, reminded me that
the most decisive element in
any bridge hand is usually the
opening lead. .More than half
the time, this move determines
the success or failure o a con
tract. The Spanish have a saying.
"The first step is half the d i s
tance." whose truth we do not
fully appreciate, t have found
it to be true even in so subjec
tive a process as writing a dai
ly column. To write the first
sentence is much harder than
writing all the rest of it
If my "opening lead" is right,
then whatever follows is smooth
and well-proportioned; hardly a
word needs to be changed or a
sentence restructured. If t h e
opening sentence is poor, it is
easier for me to throw it away
and start another topic than to
proceed from a maladroit lead
The importance of getting otf
to a good start w ith a child, lor
instance, can hardly be ovcrei.
timaled. The first year is by tar
tlie most important yet many,
if not most, people wrongly be
lieve that a baby is simply a
lump of protoplasm which does
not need serious and tactful at
tention I beyond changing and
feeding) until it can stand up
and babble a few words.
A wrong start, by its very na
ture, keeps getting more and
more awry, and each day it
becomes increasingly dilficull to
correct Uie curve. Once a boy.
for example, becomes tagged as
a "delinquent." his tendency is
to become more so not neces
sarily because of his nature, but
because his treatment by others
sett up a vicious tacit of mis
trust and resentment. Only he
roic el torts ion both tides) can
erase the initial impression his
conduct has made.
Equally, in our relationship
with a new person, if we get
off on the wrong foot, things can
group lobbyist's paradise. i
Suppose the spokesman for
the NAACP and other Negro
organizations appears before
the committee to proclaim ag
gressively that there are mil
lions of Negro voters in k e y
states and that they want U.S.
Senate rules changed to pre
sent filibusters.
Most of the politicians seeking
tlie presidential nomination are
pretty sure then to endorse the
proposition and denounce fili
busters. They do that to win
delegate votes in the convention
and Negro votes in the election.
They endorse and denounce
even if they know they can't
make good on their promises.
Language satisfactory to NAA
OP goes into the platform.
That happened at the 1960
Democratic National Conven
tion. Such things occur also
among the Republicans. And
such things are giving plat
forms, politicians and political
conventions a bad name. The
name is for political dishonesty.
So long as nominating conven
tions write specific political
promises into their party plat
forms, just so long w ill tins bad
name prevail. Moreover, these
specific platforms compound
political scaluwaggery by induc
ing the habit of political dis
honesty. Phoney- platforms
make con men of politicians.
Confronted with campaign
promises after on election, they
have been known to brush them
off as mere campaign oratory.
In such an environment there
thrive in Washington the little
scandals, tlte little messes, the
mis-use of official stationery to
arm-twist political donations.
Why blame Senate Democrat
ic Clerk Bobby Baker for ad
justing himself to the es
tablished political environment?
The rotten apple is buried
deep in the nominating conven
tion barrel.
STRICTLY
PERSONAL
SYDNEY J. HARRIS
only go from bad to worse. How
often have we found, however,
after not seeing sucli a person
for a long time and Uien re
mcoling. that wo were wrong in
our first impressions, and it is
possible to be friends. Making
an utterly new start is the only
way out.
We commonly think of t h e
"beginning" as just a point in
time, from which developments
proceed in regular movements;
this is a wrong conception. The
beginning includes the end. con
tains the seed of its own future,
and is thus more crucial than
any other part of the event.
Anvone who remembers, as a
BERRY'S WORLD
"Wbot Jo YOU think 1 think tbout challenging the
Coin A'oirr to m touch foot bill gmt"
PIP
(Mi
By MARQL'IS CHILDS
WASHINGTON The strate
gy of the Southern segregation
ists in their war against the
Kennedys and the North is not
to be discounted. The goal is to
hold change to a bare minimum
in the conviction that Northern
ers will themselves be alienated
by the tactics of Negro leaders
who seek by public demon
strations to make their case.
Thanks to the one-party sys
tem prevailing in most of the
South and to seniority, their
representatives in Congress are
strategically placed to delay
and obstruct civil rights legis
lation. The odds at the moment
are probably against passage of
a civil rights bill at this ses
sion. While Northern bickering
and bungling have something to
do with it, if this is the out
come the Southern bloc can
take a big share of the credit.
The deepest of the Deep
South is Mississippi and there,
as this reporter observed re
cently, the effort is to keep the
struggle on a cold war basis.
The visitor is told that every
thing is fine. If it weren't for a .
few outside agitators there
would be no trouble at all.
Gov. Ross Barnett says Mis
sissippi's industrial develop
ment is moving right ahead. If
figure? provided by the Depart
ment of Commerce in Wash
ington show that other Southern
states are making faster prog
ress, then those figures are
wrong and Mississippi's figures
are right.
Under a system of commu
nity bond issues plants are built
with public funds, the key
handed to an incoming industri
alist who pays a form of rent
that services Uie bonds and
then after a period of years he
owns the plant. A right-to-work
law incorporated in the state
constitution keeps union influ
ence down and wages corres
pondingly low. Claude Ramsay,
state head of the AFL-CIO.
calls this a kind of "socialism
for the rich."
Resisters and nonconformists
are squeezed out. At the begin
ning of last year 28 younger
Methodist ministers signed a
statement calling for freedom
of tlie pulpit and for public
schools to remain open if they
were integrated. Only 12 are
left in the state and one more,
is soon to go.
Recently six teams of Metho
dist ministers from Illinois were
joined by Negroes in Jackson,
the capital, and they sought to
join in Sunday worship. Three
teams were arrested, law en
forcement officers entering (he
EDSON
New
Bv PETER EDSON
WASHINGTON iNEA) - A
new kind of advocate for pas
sage of a strong civil rights bill
by Congress has appeared on
the capital scene.
He is Jerome Smith, a 24-year-old
Negro from New Orleans,
who is field secretary and or
ganizer for CORE the Commit
tee on Racial Equality and the
National Association for Ad
vancement of Colored People.
He was one of the original
freedom riders in tlie South. He
has been arrested 12 or 13
child, getting off to a poor start
i either inside or outside the
classroom) in a new school will
vividly recall how difficult it
is to establish an equilibrium af
ter the first wrong step has been
taken. We can recover from late
catastrophe more easily than
from earlv failure.
Mississippi Languishes
churches in two instances to
carry out tlie arrest, according
to the ministers. They were held
in jail under S1.000 bond. Fed
eral Judge William H. Cox, an
appointee of the Kennedy Ad
ministration, said:
"You came here locking for
trouble and you found it."
The University of Mississippi
at Oxford is now 100 per cent
while with the dismissal of
Cleve McDowell, a Negro law
student, who was found to be
carrying a pistol. Up to 20 per
cent of the faculty have left
since the riots over the admis
sion of James Meredith. One of
those leaving was the distin
guished dean of the law school,
Robert J. Farley.
The cold war can turn hot.
The murder of Medgar Evers in
Jackson in June removed an
outstanding leader of the Na
tional Association for the Ad
vancement of Colored People
whom many consider irreplace
able. No one has been prosecut
ed for that murder.
The visitor is told of threats
and intimidation contributing to
fear and suspicion seldom re
flected on the deliberately calm
outer surface. When Ralph
Bunche c a m e to Jackson on
United Nations Day. which Gov
ernor Barnett has refused to
recognize, he spoke at a small
Negro institution. Tougaloo Col
lege. For whites to attend that
meeting in the college hall ap
parently took courage.
'Frankly I'm Pooped . . . Why Don't
You Take A Break. . .!'
IN WASHINGTON
Negro' Is
times, he says, imprisoned
three months in Mississippi and
a month in Louisiana for breach
of the peace.
Young Smith is appearing in
Washington under the sponsor
ship of the Leadership Confer
ence on Civil Rights.
This is a federation of fij
church, labor union and Negro
organizations which have pooled
efforts to lobby tor stronger
legislation than the moderate
Kennedy bill.
Smith's assignment is to call
on congressmen to let them see
what a young Negro leader
looks like, how he talks, what
he is thinking. But he says he
has been having trouble seeing
anyone. Congressmen are so
busy.
He is a tall, slender, clean-cut
young Nosrn. He wears blue
denims, a blue cotton shirt open
at the collar and tieless to
show a clean white cotton un
dershirt. "This is the uniform of the
cotton fields," he says simply.
"I'm part of the cheap labor of
tlie South."
He has worked on the docks
and helped his father, who is
an auto body repairman in New
Orleans. They have trained him almost
too well. His phrases are too
S. lib from repetition. His vocabu
lary and English are good, but
he uses too many bis words.
His sincerity and devotion, how
ever, come through.
It is not pleasant to hear
what he has to say. and it may
be more shocking to read. But
it is worth hearing and reading
because it brings you right up
against what the Negro mass
es in America are being told
by their own people in this pe
riod of internal strife and con
fusion. "I'm appalled by the contro
versy over the civil rights bill."
he begins. "When government
has a conflict within itself, it
has forgotten about the country
and the people. The Negro win
lose faith in his government if
thiiogoes on.
"It's suicide to think that the
The chaplain of Tougaloo is a
young white Methodist minister,
the Rev. Edw in King. A iMis
sissippian soucated in the
North, he was assisted to a
parish in Vicksburg and then
ejected for his racial views.
Tougaloo is integrated, with
seven white students attending.
The Reverend King is run
ning as lieutenant governor
with tlie NAAOP leader, Aaron
Henry, of Clarksdale in a write
in campaign to show what the
Negro strength would be if Ne
groes were allowed to vote. This
might be described as an act
of ultimate defiance of the
white majority. King speaks
quietly of the threatening tele
phone calls and other acts of
intimidation directed against
him.
The price of conformity can
be high. The Illinois Methodists
reported they could find no Mis
sissippi Methodist willing to go
to the jail to administer com
munion to the ministers held
there. Finally two Catholic
priests took the elements of
communion to the jail for use
by the ministers.
Are Northern whites being
alienated by Negro tactics. Lt.
Gov. Paul Johnson, the tradi
tionalist Democrat running for
governor, says he has had 65,000
letters from every part of the
North sympathizing with the
segregationist stand. Time, if
one accepts this view, is on the
side of the resisters.
Impatient
President's bill will suffice for
the Negro in Alabama, Mis
sissippi and Louisiana. What
was good yesterday is not good
enough for today. All America
must go for broke to make sure
we gel a broad bill.
"I don't believe the President
understands the passion of the
people in the street. My free
dom does not reside in Presi
dent Kennedy but ill myself.
He's not after what I'm after.
My concern is not whether the
President gets re-elected.
"I put thumbs down on mod
eration. I can't think in terms
of moderation while police beat
us over the head and dogs rip
up real flesh. But I'm plain
enough to know- that bitterness
won't help. I must use my en
ergies to bring about creative
change.
"I am nonviolent. But that
doesn't represent the attitude
of the masses of people in the
country.
"Nonviolence is not a con
slant thing. This is not consist
ent with human nature. They
will finally react out of sheer
frustration. The mood of the
world is bringing about change.
"Everv Negro in America is
active. This is nothing new. It
fuu been going on since the
first Negroes came to America
in chains."
Almanac
Bv United Press International
Today is Wednesday. Nov. 6,
the 310th day of 1963 with 55 to
follow.
The moon is approaching it
last quarter. The evening stars
are Jupiter and Saturn.
On this day in history:
In IMO. Abraham Lincoln was
elected President of the United
States.
In ldfiS, the first formal inter
collegiate football game was
played between Princeton and
Rutgers at New Brunswick,
N. J.
In 1900. William McKinley
wu elected President on the
Republican ticket.