Henderson daily dispatch., 1937-03-10

development of the Shenandoah
ana Great Smoky Mountains National
Parks, connected by a great 5OO-mile
highway which will be perhaps the
outstanding scenic route of the world
is more evidence of the determined
drive to give to all our people a broad
er and more enjoyable life. These
acres of natural beauties and scenic
wonders, reserved for the public in a
country which has shown too little re-
gard for preserving it's soil, it's forests
and its streams, is a fresh reminder
that we must not only utilize the re-
sources that are ours, but must guard
carefully these resources for future
generations
Creation of these two great Nation
al Parks on land that is not carved
from the public domain, as was the
case in the West, but purchased by a
combination of public and private in
terests gives new hope that we of to-
day appreciate our responsibility.
They are hopeful signs in our ma
tional life, signs that our people are
beginning again to want something
more than is offered in the toll and
routine of this mass-production age
They are also signs that we are be-
coming conscious of the fact that be-
cause men have the happy faculty of
gathering to themselves large sums
of money and great power, it does not
mean that they are wise leaders or
that their PHILOSOPHERS are sound. Our
new dreams are not the products of
individuals. They come from the
hearts of our millions.
There is no more fitting time to re-
call that since the days the Indians
roamed the hills and valleys that will
soon resound to the purr of motor
cars, the screech of horns and voices
of happy people, we have been writing
new chapters in a history of a great
struggle--the conflict between the
rights of the people and the Lord
Proprletors of wealth. The effort of
today to guard carefully and preserve
the preeminent rights of the people is
fresh hope that gains have been made.
The preparations we are making for
a new future for the South as a
mecca for vacationing millions clearly
indicates that we must meet the shin
ing motor age with ideals that are in
accord with thed ay-not attempt to
meet it with wagon-road ideals, how
ever proud we may be of the part
they played in our early history.
For untold years there has been
constant struggle between the three
branches of our government-the leg
islative, the executive and the judicial
branches. The responsibility of the
legislative branch is to interpret the
will of the people in writing the laws
that affect their social and economic
welfare; the responsibility of the exc
cutive branch is to faithfully execute,
not dictate, those laws, and the judi
cial branch is charged with seeing
that the rights of our people are not
infringed by the laws paced on the
statute books.
We have come to look upon our
courts as the last resort of the people.
They should ever be that. They should
never be the first resort of private in
terests seeking to circumvent the
rights of the majority of our citizens.
If Congress fails to correctly inter-
pref the legislative will of our people,
they have a medium for the quick re-
moval of faithless public servants.
There is some merit in the argu-
ment that the Constitution provides
for amendments and that this is the
proper course for meeting new con-
ditions. However, we must not be I'M
mindful that this process is slow. IN
der it a few states can delay and post
pone the desires of the people in
greater number Of states. The child
labor amendment is an example.
While every one knows that the child
labor problem-profit at the expense
of unfortunate children of tender
years-is a blot on our whole national
existence, we have had a proposed