davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Chronicle-star combined with the Moss Point advertiser., 1947-01-17
Trouble In Georqia

The fight of Herman Talmadge to capture
the officer of governor in Georgia without
having been voted on by the people is an evil
and dictatorial effort which smacks of
Louisiana politics during the days of Huey
Long, and Germany under Hitler. Governor
Ellis Arnall is On ound democratic grounds
IN refusing to yield the office until the state
Supreme Court rules on the action of the
legislature in throwing the office to Young
Talmadge without a general election. Arnall
believes that the lieutenant-governor-elect,
M. E. Thompson, should be duly inaugurated
as governor. The state supreme court is ex-
pected to deliver a quick ruling in the case.
For those who have lost track of the facts
in this very confused situation, here briefly
is what happened: Gene Talmadge, a typical
old-line demagogue, ran for governor last
summer against a candidate named Car
michael who was backed by Georgia's out
going progressive Governor Arnall. Carmich-
ael got the largest vote in the race, but under
Georgia's peculiar election law Talmadge
was elected because he won more county
unit" votes. Talmadge and his supporters ap-
p%arently knew at the time that he was Ian
g%erously i'll. So they sent out a thousand or so
supporters to cast write-in votes for Tai
madge's son., Herman. who was also his cam
paign manager. Following the elder Tai
madge's death a few weeks ago, the Tai
madge-dominated Legislature met and elect
ed" young Talmadge governor, ignoring the
duly elected Acknowledgements, Thompson.
No honest American can call this proceed
IRE democratic. The people of Georgia did
not vote for Herman Talmadge; as their
governor; they did not, as a matter of fact,
return a majority to his father either. This
is a high handed act by the legislature, a
t%rampling of American traditions and a real
blow at the democratic process.
The Chronicle-star combined with the Moss Point advertiser., 1947-01-17
Poll Tax DeudIine

To the citizens of Jackson county:
If you want to vote in the important
state and county elections next summer,
your poll tax for 1916 must be paid by Janu-
ary 81. Poll tax receipts for two years are
required. To vote in the state and county
1916 must be presented, with the exception of
veterans who were in service during this
period, or citizens who were under q or over
IS during the period.
The poll tax is two dollars a year. Many
people resent having to pay for the privilege
OF voting, but the fact remains that you can
not vote for your elective officials unless
you have these receipts. furthermore, it is
necessary for each citizen to begin to pay for
and collect these receipts at some point in
his career, and even those who have not vet
paid a tax though liable for one should be-
gin going SO Immediately, even though these
individuals will not be eligible to vote in the
1947 elections. The average man wants a
little action for his money" When he realizes
that in the case of the poll tax he doesn't get
any action until two years have gone by, he
often loses interest and doesn't pay at all. So
he never votes. He may talk loud and long
about the rights and privileges of a democ-
racy, but he is not a qualified e%lector, and
let's the running of the government and the
election of his officials go by default to
others.
The greatest threat to a democracy is
the Acknowledgement of the majority of its
citizens and the decay of political interest in
the people. When only a few people can vote.
elections are easily manipulated. And that is
when government of the people, for the
people, by the people," become a joke.
The Chronicle-star combined with the Moss Point advertiser., 1947-01-17

The trash and litter which gathers on the
streets and in the yards of business houses
in the shopping center of Pascagoula presents
a problem in civic enterprise which our
merchants should respond to. A cooperative
enterprise to provide for a regular disposal
service is needed. The city government it
self does not have the funds to provide this
special service for its businessmen, and it is
not likely that the special millage tax which
would be required would be voted by the
citizens at large.
Nor do we believe that the city should
perform this service. These trash piles of
boxes, crates, paper, packing, etc, are created
by the various business houses-including
this newspaper-in the process of carrying
forward their business dealings. And each
has the obligation to clean up his own trash.
The city should no more be asked to do
this free of charge than it should be asked
to send portsrs to clean up our establishments
after a busy day.
On the other hand, it seems to us that the
city has definite authority under a number
of ordinances to require regular and efficient
disposal of this trash, and to proceed against
those who do not comply. Certainly these
piles of paper and boxes are fire hazards, and
their existence is a violation of the fire or
dinance. Many also violate the sanitary code,
becoming sodden, Wondering piles that make
perfect rat-harbors and increase the danger
Of such diseases as typhus. But it is difficult,
and all but impossible, for city authorities to
proceed in such a case when the v~iolators
outnumber the conformers, and when the
violation is not conscious and intentional so
much as a lack of foresight and clear under
Standing of the problem.
The Chronicle-star combined with the Moss Point advertiser., 1947-01-17
Letters
ADVOCATES HOTEL

The Editor,
Chroniele-Sta & Advertiser.
Personally, ! want to thank
the citizens Of Paseagoula for
the reception Sunday at the
Recreation Center in connec-
ton with the presentation of
two iron lungs tc the Jackson
County hospital by organized
labor N Jackson county.
l want to draw this conclus-
ion from the manner and meth
cd of raising the funds neces-
sary 70 purchase the lungs.
The same spirit and Will-to-do
will build a good modern hotel
here in Pascagoula. l do not
believe that a more worthwhile
proposition could be undertake
en- than that.
Our business friends come to
see rs on business that neces-
states remaining overnight. F.,
They have to go to Biloxi, Gulf
port or Mobile. Naturally they
get a bad impression.
We have as good climate, as
good beaches, as good fishing,
as good factory sites, and the
best ship channel to be found
along the Gulf Coast anywhere.
Whenever Pascagoula makes
up hef mind that she wants a
hotel ana business. industry.
labor and the people get be-
hind the proposition we will get
the funds just as easy as labor
got the funds for the iron lung.
Then there is another angle.
All the return labor will ever
get from the lungs is the pos
sibiliy of saving some human
life am not discrediting tine
value OF that. If they never
save but one life, it is money
well Invested. The building of
a hotel is an investment that
Will pay dividends, in growth,
IN development and in cash.
Pascagoula is well able to
build a modern hotel. She needs
II. Why not get busy and build
il?
My prediction is that by the
time We are ready to let a con-
tract, building materials will
have reached a reasonable
price.
JUNGLE HENRY
The Chronicle-star combined with the Moss Point advertiser., 1947-01-17

took him a years the build
ing If a five-room home for
his family: Mrs. Smith and
John Holland, Jr,, II, Betty
Lulu, 9, and Howard Cecil, 7.
He had only a hand saw, a
plane and a hammer. The on
ly help was from the children
who handed him tools or nails
or lumber; and from his moth
er who stitched the awnings.
He installed the plumbing,
the hot air heater, built the
kitchen cabinet and built a
septic tank.
Since his blindness, he also
has worked as a commercial
fisherman. He built a boat last
summer. He raises vegetables,
chickens and pigs on a lot back
of his home.
Mrs. Smith is a secretary
with the WAA and so her hus-
band, in addition to the other
things he does. keeps house.
even 10 the cooking.
Smiths present ambition is
to build a shop which could
turn out such things as porch
swings and lawn furniture but
he's handicapped by a lack of
funds and equipment and he's
still learning to use his hands.
Il don't want to establish a
shop for myself alone. There
are % many blind and physi-
cally handicapped who need a
boost I want to help them all
l can. Ny greatest wish is to
be able to have a shop where
l can teach and employ them.
To do this, I'd be willing to
make almost any sacrifice"
The Chronicle-star combined with the Moss Point advertiser., 1947-01-17

when we were on the beach.
Grey mist seemed to close in,
to dissolve the familiar dis
tances, and gave the dav the
quality of loneliness and sill
ence as though sounds were
actually deadened in the heavy
air. Perhaps it was simply be-
cause people stayed in their
houses and few automobiles
were on the road. Visibility
was about a hundred yards.
The sand was wet and grey,
and the fringe of oyster shells
and conch shells looked green
and clammy as though light
had never fallen on them. Per-
hsps time itself had some un-
awakened, silent quality like
this when there was dark
ness on the face of the deep"
Neither darkness nor light,
only the sheltering, lonely
mist.
Suddenly there came the
familiar sound of the Kissing
of a birds wings flying close
overhead, that beautiful soft
whistling sound that pigeons
and gulls make when they
take off and mount into the
wind close by. Looking up we
saw a single gull come plan
ing down the shoreline, fol-
lowing the contours of the
beach in search of food. 1t was
part of the mood, part of Ma
tufe's infallible touch as a set
ter of scenes. For a moment
only the silent bird rode over
head and then was gone into
the grey distance; yet a mo-
ment of inviolable harmony,
of motion, and the sound of
wings, a shape emerging and
returning into the mist.
1t recalled to us a poem of
Ernest Dowson, the pathetic
little Englishman who some
how redeemed a wasted life
by weaving his dreams into
some of the most Wistful
poetry in the language.
DoWson wrote 'Cynara"
which is so often quoted. But
we We're thinking of another
poem, of which the sudden
vision of the gull reminded
us. l have looked it up in the
book and shall quote its few
lines:
They are not long. the weep
ing and the laughter.
Love and desire and hate;
/ think they have nc portion in
us after
We pass the gate.
They are not long. the days
of wine and roses;
Out of a misty dream
Our path emerges Tor a while
and closes
Within a dream"
The Chronicle-star combined with the Moss Point advertiser., 1947-01-17

Flanders position probably
will contribute more than that
of any other senator toward
killing off whatever chance
Aiken's pet project might
have had in the Republican
controlled Congress.
Since he is Aiken's fellow
Vermonter and because he is
tieketed as slightly leftofeen-
ter though not nearly so far
left as Aiken, Flanders would
give opposition to the seaway
The Chronicle-star combined with the Moss Point advertiser., 1947-01-17

penditures within its means as
it is for a public enterprise or
an Individual to do so.
With a national debt APP
preaching $270,00O, DOC, 900 the
nation must either balance its
budget and start retiring this
enormous debt or face the pos
sibility of the loss of conf
dence in the government. Once
that confidence is lost our cur
rency and bonds-all represent
ing the savings of the people
as well as the stability of the
government itself-are gone.
Senator Bilbo
OF all that has happened in
Washington since the new
Congress convened on January
3, possibly nothing has eclips-
ed the interest of Mississippians
more than the event of the re-
fusal of the Senate to permit
Senator Bilbo to take his seat.
Regardless of whether a Missis-
slppian is for or again" Bilbo,
Mississippians in Washington
are generally agreed that the
method used by a Republican
and northern and western Dem
oeratie coalition in denying him
the right to take the oath in
spite of the fact that his Gre
dentials were properly submit
ted by the Governor of Mis-
sissip1i was unfortunate and
improper. Forever, they are
generally agreed that if his right
to a seat was to be questioned
then the proper procedure
would have been to permit him
to take the oath and then hold
a fair AID unbiased trial before
8 competent Serate Committee
which III turn would make its
recommendation to the Senate.
The Chronicle-star combined with the Moss Point advertiser., 1947-01-17

Growing wearied of being
closed in by the bad weather
for so long, we went down to
the beach in the fog the other
day to check a little bit and
see if the old Gulf of Mexico
was still out there. Down to-
ward the west end of the
beach where the point goes
out to the river we walked
around for a while, and it oc-
Cured to us that perhaps some
six months have gone by since
we have been out there.
Now, even in the grey fog,
we had the sense of fresh ex-
perience and rediscovery of
things. The shapes and colors
of the coast, the water, the
red beacons, the sand and
weeds and the small boats
pulled up into the driftwood,
all came back with that sense
of nearly awakened fsmilari-
ty which one feels when he
picks up a good book he has
put aside for a long while. or
when he meets an old friend
or kinsman.
Man grows tired of doing any
thing over too long a period.
His attention begins to wander
like a child's, he turns to other
things. The monotony of per
forming the same task, of look
ing upon the same view, of as
sociating with the same people,
often overcomeS the original
delight of the experience, and
makes it Wearisome, or some
times even repugnant. The
great rhythmic changes like the
weather and the seasons are
a necessary part of life, grand
scene shifting upon the stage
of the world. We are among
those who believe that man
was created to fit the earth,
not earth to fit man. The cy-
Giles of change were here be-
fore WE were; day followed
night, heat followed cold, rain
followed droughts, tides fol-
lowed the moon, for uncount-
ed aeons of time before man
rose from the dust and walk
ed upon the planet. Being
born 70 a changeful earth, we
had the element of restless
ness and y%earning infused in
to the flesh itself. The heart
and the mind have their sea-
sons within us, and man revolv-
es upon an axis of his own.
The gulf is a sea of change,
and in fair weather or foul it
presents a distinctive aspect
from day to day, and by the
hours. We wrote some time
ago of a storm and high tide
which sent waves breaking
over the road, and washed
away piers and boats, leaving
the beach Uttered with the
folsom of a storm tide. This
week the bad weather was all
of a different sort. The storm
winds come from the South,
blowing out of the Caribbean
in the late fall. Now it is win
ter and the direction of the
prevailing winds is reversed.
Cold tides of air come pouring
across the North American
continent from the Polar ice
cap. Along our coast it meets
with the warm moist air of
the Southern seas and chills it
into rain and fog, as ones
moist breath grows foggy in
the winter air.
The wind had died down
The Chronicle-star combined with the Moss Point advertiser., 1947-01-17
SightIess Man
Builds Home
AP N~eWsfeatures

Panama City, Fla. - Some
blind people sit on the street
and beg, but not 30-year-old
John II. Smith.
Smith came here five years
ago as superintendent of a
shipyard shipfitting depart
ment but in February, 1913,
an automobile accident cost
him MS sight. Since then he
has done a lot of things.
His latest aehievement-it
The Chronicle-star combined with the Moss Point advertiser., 1947-01-17
= ~'~ --.@auW0z
Mck30M Vllrut W.kh

Could the merchant stav in
business without the laborer
and could the laborer live in a
city without stores?
We don't know, but we do
know that ii has been the case:
that Organized Labor" is con-
sldered a group apart in the
minds Of many Of us. We think
the newspapers and radio COM
mentators have been largely
responsible, together with a few
greedy and ruthless men in the
labor movement who have oc-
casionally put their own selfish
Interests above the interests of
the nation as a whole and con-
sequently of their own MEM
bership.
A big step toward multiplying
that false thinking was eli
NAKED in Pascagoula Sunday
afternoon.
You probably read about it
in the news OF editorial col
umns of this paper-organized
labor's fine and successful cam
paign &c raise funds for two
iron lungs among their mem
bershio in this county. We
have vet TO see a more unself.
ish move on the part of any
group Of citizens.
With last summers infantile
paralysis scare still fresh in
their minds, a group of labor's
leaders here turned their
thoughts to iron lungs-the
marvellous, super-human ma
chimes that literally mean the
difference between life and
death for those whose lungs are
paralvzed or not functioning
for one reason or another.
Something, they believed,
should be done about it. And
with tine vigor that character
lied their efforts as ship build
ers during the war, they went
after the money for not one
but tive iron lungs-one for
children, and one for adults or
children.
Christmas was less than a
month away, but the crafts
at ingalls, were organized, out
side unions and the Interna-
tional Paper Company mills
local unions contacted. And
to make a long story short.
more than the $1,000 needed was
raised in an amazingly short
time and the lungs purchased.
The climax came Sunday af-
ternoon at the Market Street
Recreation Center in Pasca-
goula when the citizens of Moss
Point and Pascagoula officially
recognized the achievement
with a reception for organ
lied labor and their families.
The Pascagoula Moss Point
Chamber of Commerce spon-
sored the affair and high rank
ing officials of both cities and
the county were on hand. The
principal speaker was George
l.. Googe, southern director of
the American Federation of
Labor, VINO declared that or
gained labor in Jackson Coun-
ty had come of age in citi-
.zenship'.
We agree with Mr.. Googe and
rejoice that our county leads
the southland perhaps the ma
tion-in the movement to weld
all groups into ore unit, work
ing for the common good.
Nothing but good can come of
it.
The Chronicle-star combined with the Moss Point advertiser., 1947-01-17
Special to Central Press

Special to Central Press
Washington. - One of the
more spectacular clashes Of the
new Both Congress may devel-
op between two Vermont Re
publican senators, George All
ken and Ralph Flanders.
The fight will materialize
if Aiken gets his st. Lawrence
sesWay proposal as far as the
debate stage Ill the Senate.
FLINDERS has disclosed quiet
" TO colleagues that he will
The Chronicle-star combined with the Moss Point advertiser., 1947-01-17

II this column has a purpose,
other than keeping us busy
each Friday and frequently on
Weekends, we would say that it
is u poor but Sincere contri-
button toward better under
standing among the various
sections of the county and the
different segments of our popu-
lation.
That is why we devote most
of the space allotted to us to
the seven hundred square miles
or so outside of the county's
three cities, because we honest
ly believe that the development
Of our rural areas has been too
long ignored for the best inter
est of all of us.
Just as a family gets along
better financially if all its
members understand the COM
mon detectives, we believe it
necessary that the residents of
a county-or any other unit of
people-combine their efforts
and resources for the common
good.
And in this connection, anoth-
er group in the county-and a
very important group-had un-
til recently been considered a
separate unit with aims and OBJ
jeetives somehow different from
those of the rest of us.
We refer to organized" la
Dor in Jackson County, that
group of men who belong to va
rious locals of the American
Federation of Labor here.
We think the organized"
part of the title important for
a number of reasons, for nine
ty-nine percent of us perform
labor of one sort or another.
The mother and housewife Ger
tainly should be listed among
laborers and probably feels one
of the most down trodden when
she looks at the basket of dir
ty clothes IN Monday mornings.
A benk clerk burning the
midnight oil on books that re-
fuse to balance must feel like
a labofer of the first water, and
pounding this typewriter week
in and week out can not be ex-
aetly elassed as ehild's play.
And all of our lives are in
terWoven like the strands of 4
works to make money for the
housewife who buys at the
stores. The stores advertise in
the newspaper and borrow from
the bank, creating the jobs of
the bank teller and the news
paper man who serve the car
penter in the bank and provide
his newspaper, And all of our
lives are part Of the endless
circle of life on this earth that
begins for all of us alike at
birth and must end for all of
us at the grave.
And inside the large circle of
life as a whole are the smaller
cycles of days and weeks and
years and decades, Our moth
ers brought us into the world
and gave us life and an I'M
dertaker will bury us all when
the spirit has left the body.
And inbetween the two points
we will ever be dependent upon
each other and there is no es-
Gaping the inevitable fact.
Why then should one group
be set apart in our thinking?
Are We not all a part of the
community, the county, the
state, the nation. the worldo
The Chronicle-star combined with the Moss Point advertiser., 1947-01-17
The Budget

Among other things, the Pres
ident emphasized the balanc-
ing of the nations budget. And
while he did not go as far as
some members of Congress IN
both sides of the aisle would
like to have seen him go, he
did recommend in no uncertain
terms he necessity of this goal.
In our opinion it is unthink-
able hat the nations budget
should not be balanced with
in the next fiscal year for all
must admit that if we cannot
balance the national budget IN
a year when we have the
greatest national income and
the greatest prosperity the
country has ever witnessed
it is foolish to talk about bal
ancin5 the budget in years of
recession or depression. More
over, it is elementary to point
out that it is just rs essential
for the nation to keep its ex-
The Chronicle-star combined with the Moss Point advertiser., 1947-01-17

something to capitalize on by
his position.
Despite his objection to the
seaway, Flanders has said that
he would favor it so far as pow
er goes if the project could
pay ITS way. He would still
object to the idea, however, on
the grounds that il would throw
thousands of New England rail
road employees out of jobs.
An unexpected result of the
Republican victory in the No
vember elections is the change
in the plans for Secretary of
State Byrnes.
The statesman who has spent
a great deal of his time away
from Washington in attending
International conferences now
finds That for strategical rea-
sons he had better stick a little
closer to his office.
THAI was one reason why the
coming Moscow conference to
draft a peace treaty for Ger
many was put off until March
10, Pressure to keep Byrnes in
Washington might delay the
conference even beyond that
date.
This pressure also win prob
ably preclude Byrnes' going
to Rio de Janeiro for the Amer
lean foreign ministers confer
enee if Brazil calls the meet
ing in the meantime.
Byrnes' trouble is the unpre-
dietability of the new Congress.
He feels that, despite the bi-
partisan nature of American
foreign policy, some more trou-
blesome senators may kick the
agreement around
Moreover, there are the es-
sential appropriations and Byr-
mes vii want to be on hand
The Chronicle-star combined with the Moss Point advertiser., 1947-01-17

fight his fellow Vermonter's
seaway plan on both power and
transportation grounds. Fland-
ers has let it be known that
he is opposed to the project be-
cause he does not believe in
Subsidized power"