The midland journal., 1946-08-02
lZOOXZYC
WE AAkAD
q BY GEORGE S. BENSON
PresideHf--HardiHg College
4 Searry. ArkaKsas
Guns and Such

Revolutions come from abuses of
power, not from the normal use of
it. I am not talking about wars in
particular. All kinds of revolution
ary developments fit themselves into
much the same pattern. 1t would be
hard to find better illustration than
the one presented by Americas be-
Wildering canon of statutes on the
subject of firearms-their possession
and use.
Guns are violent. They make men
formidable. They add to the force
of people who own and understand
them. In some states, citizens walk
unmolested in the street wearing
side arms. In other states, any res
ident must buy permit if he wants
to keep his great-grandfather
Revolutionary flintlock" at home
in glass case. The difference is
no political whimsy.
Matter Of Abuse
1t would take a big book to tell
why guns are prohibited in some sec
tions and winked at in others If
the whole story were told, however, it
would add up to this: Wherever the
right to own arms has been abused,
an indignant public sentiment has
Welled up demanding laws against
them, enacted and enforced. With
out popular approval it is hard to
enforce any law, wise or otherwise.
A few days ago l wrote predic-
ton that the American people some
day would rise up and enact laws
requiring compulsory arbitration of
labor disputes. Since penned those
lines l have been in several states
and talked with men who are close
to the public pulse. Almost all of
them share my fears as we'll as my
slender hope that compulsory arbi-
tration never comes.
Need Never Happen
OutlaWing strikes, threat plain
to see, would be an unnecessary
calamity. No detail of human free
dom should be sacrificed to anything
but public safety. Strikes, like guns,
have their uses. If outlawed, all
working people (not unions only) will
suffer a setback; lose the gains of
many toilsome years. If 1 might ad-
wise Labor, would say, "Clean your
gun and put it away" Don't make
such action necessary.
Civilization has made progress at
times by force of arms. Just SO, a
large group of people have made
wholesome advances by force of the
power to strike Being disarmed
would weaken them, and they are
likely to be disarmed because the
public is weary of violence. The war
is over and peace has problems that
can't be solved by rafting sabers
or carrying banners in torch parades.
Hear Henry Wallace
Writing about pressure groups in
his recent book, $50 Million Jobs"
Secretary Wallace said: "Any one
group can, for time, get a larger
share of the national income but it
doesn't work when all try it at the
same time. Sooner or later the pres
sure game will blow up in our faces.
This is . practical arithmetic.
Unless we learn it, our future is
black indeed
Elsewhere he wrote: "In labor
management cooperation lies the
very hope of :. jobs. With mutual
understanding between labor and
management, in the difficult years
ahead, we stand our best chance of
getting good wages for labor, good
prices for the farmer, stable profits
for business men and higher stand
ard of living for those who need it
most" Henry Wallace is friend Of
Labor, but he foresees danger.