The Durant news. (Durant, Miss.) 1882-1985, 1942-05-28
THROUGH
HAZ E [
E YES
.
BY
Hazel Brsnnon

Capt. John Little, a member of
the executive staff of the Chicago
Herald-American, presented last
Thursday a beautiful plaque to the
rife team at Mississippi State Col
lege. The State College team won
third place in craftsmanship among
forty teams in the fourth corps area
N competition sponsored by William
Randolph Hearst well known pub
Usher. Capt. Little and his charming
wife were personal representatives
of Mr.. Hearst at the Starkville in
stitution.
As Capt. Little said in presenting
the award this is a time when more
than ever we need straight shooters.
The fine group of boys in the State
College ROTC unit looked like AM
erican soldiers-the best soldiers in
the world.
The award was just recognition
of young men who are destined to
go into the armed forces of our
country and play a vital part in its
future history. 1t was fitting that 1t
was made by Capt. Little, a mar
who enlisted as a buck private in
the first World War and ended by
commanding an infantry company.
Straight shooting with guns is not
all we need in the war effort. We
need some straight thinking in
Washington and men who are not
afraid to voice their opinions and
risk public criticism or disfavor. We
need men in Congress who are not
afraid to criticize constructively
when something needs to be done;
congressman who are not SO partisan
they are afraid to admit a mistake
has been made and profit by it,
The main concern of most of our
congressman seems to be getting re-
elected. They appear to be concern
ed with the future of the country
only as it affects their $4,000 jobs,
carrying with them X rationing cards
and possibly pensions in the future.
Congressman have been vehemen.
in their protests against the press
for daring to criticize them for the
pension grab, X rationing cards, and
other sins they've committed. I'm
doubtedly there are cases where
some congressman have been UNI
fairly criticized. Newspapers are run
by men and women and are mott
perfect. But cases of rank unfairness
are rare.
The main trouble with the press is
that it did not criticize enough. We
went to sleep and didn't wake up in
time. Each community clamoring for
more relief, more WPA, more Of
this and more of that did not
look ahead to see where we were
going in our mad effort to spend
ourselves into prosperity. OF
some of our writer's issued warnings
from time to time. For the most part
they were either laughed at or RI
diculed. The press as a whole was
the principal voice c~lammoring for
something out of the public treasury
-. not for itself directly, but
for others.
Now that most of our people are
either depending upon the govern
ment for a living, directly or in
directly, the press itself has gone on
record as favoring a form of sub
sidy from the government.
Various press associations have
passed resolutions stating that the
government should pay for the
space it uses in newspapers just as
it pays for the steel, cotton, wheat,
shoes, clothing and everything else j:
buys.
Of course there is some j~ustifi-
cation for this. Space is all that news
papers have to sell. If the govern
men is going to take up nearly all
the space in a newspaper in telling
the people what they can and cannot
do, etc. it is going to have to pay
for the space. If private business is
driven out of business the newspap-
ers as free institutions will cease to
exist. Unless they are subsidized by
the government as they have been
in many foreign countries they will
cease to function.
Newspapers depend almost en-
tirely upon advertising of business
for existence.
God pity the day when the U. S.
government starts buying the papers
Of this country. When they do our
free press will be gone. The right
to criticize will be gone. The only
thing we will be able to report will
be government-handouts by a high
powered press agent of the govern
mont. Thero arc thousands of them