The Skyland post. [volume] (West Jefferson, N.C.) 193?-1988, 1942-02-26
Oddy
AND
1OE11OrrOw
By
Frank Parker Stockridge

u1OSL DIS muCQ OF as LllGY QlQ OF
the bombing OF Hawaii, is the best
example we have been offered
since the war began of how far
we still have go to reach that
much footed unity" which we
are supposed to have today.
It doesn't matter much how any
of us feel about Mrs. Roosevelt's
justification in employing a dan
Ger at $4,000 a year to take charge
of the physical fitness division OF
the Office of Civilian Defense.
That's of minor importance. When
we are spending a few billion dol
lars each month our defense pro-
gram, and when huge depart
ments are being frantically built
up Overnight to try to guard the
interests of all of our citizens,
there will be plenty of wrong de-
cisions which will cost us lot
more than $4,000 a. year.
Maybe Mrs. Roosevelt did give
a friend break. Most of us do
that ourselves once in a while.
But it also isn't unreasonable to
assume that Mrs. Roosevelt was
convinced that Miss CLANCY could
handle the job to which she was
assigned. Personally, I doubt if
such job is necessary. But I
think the blame for all the Juror
about the appointment - all the
publicit it received - should be
mountaineering caused by the
put squarely on the shoulders of
the politicians, the New-Dealer
haters and the scandalmongers
rather than on the busy shoulders
of the wife of the President of
the United States.
UNITY criticism
Even without looking into the
details of Paffaire Mayris, it is ap-
parent that most of the excite
ment about it was cooked up by
the Presidents "ill-wishers."
We have gone far enough in our
slow progress toward unity for all
but the most rabid Roosevelt
haters to realize there is some
thing that smacks of unpatriotism
these days about being too open
in criticism of the President.
Most all of the Roosevelts have
done things which the undoubted-
ly regret. The have all had turn
at receiving unfavorable publ
city. It was only a few months
ago that we were all in a Other
over the captain Jimmy" affair.
What next months Roosevelt
story will be I don't know and
don't care.
But I do know it's not going to
do us one bit of good in trying to
win this war to sit back and criti-
CHE the Roosevelts. Maybe it's an
enjoyable parlor sport, but it's
expensive in both lives and secu-
rity - if we carry it to the point
going to be an expensive one -
where it continues to raise havoc
with the morale which we are
having such difficulty in build
ing.
MUD-SLINGING freedom
This war is between those who
love freedom and those who op-
pose it. Right through the war it
is important that we. hold on to
all of the freedom that we pos
sibly can - which includes the
freedom to criticize.
But we must guard against
criticism that is exaggerated, I'M
true or played up for an Interior
motive.
Undoubtedly the man who en-
joyed the CLANCY affair most was
Adolf Hitler To him it meant that
there was still plenty of wrang-
ling among us. Probably he en-
joyed it almost as much as he
does the stories which indicate
British for not winning more
that some of us are mad at the
battles or about certain English
men being mad at us for trying to
run things too much. To him
those stories mean that our NOR
ale isn't what it might be.
None of these stories is of any
Importance except as examples of
what not to do. Constructive criti-
cism, suggestions for improve
ments and exposure of any major
abuses of power will be welcomed
all through the war. But those of
us who in for name-calling, mud
singing and scandal mongering
aimed at causing unnecessary in
ternal descriptions will soon be-
come about as popular as a labor
as a labor leader who calls a
strike in defense industry.
VOTES ......... SelflShneSS
With politically minded indivi-
duals already using Mrs. Roose-
velt's actions as vote-hunting am
munition, it is hard to see how we
are going to bolster up our unity
n