The Chronicle-star combined with the Moss Point advertiser., 1949-12-09


Cheerio. Ava the moo.
Last week | was puzzled by
the British reception of Rus
slams who came to extoll the
supposed virtues of communism.
The visitors were treated with
every courtesy by a people APP
parently Indifferent to the dan
gers inherent in the gospel
preached.
A S%outherner has written me
in evaporation to find out
whether the British are "stup-
idly blind" enough to allow red
infiltration to the point where
it might threaten the very her
itage of freedom and democracy
they are SO proud of.
The answer seems to be that
the average Briton is supreme
lY confident that future change
will follow the evolutionary
path of the past. He believes
that the radical is far less dan
eercus on a platform speaking
his mind than he would be if
driven underground. Where
there is no martYrdom there
will be few converts. he reas.
ons Perhaps if all boils down
TO the fact that the Britisher has
a sublime faith in the system
under which he lives.
Students, professors, and bus
inessmen, regardless of the hue
of their thinking, sooner or later
come around to an expression of
surprise at certain American
habits and customs. To them the
communist trials, mob violence
of whatever sort North or South,
lobbying in the grand Ameri-
can tradition, attacks on aca-
demic freedom, and second class
citizenship for minority groups,
are incomprehensible. One stu
dent told me that he could not
understand why presidential
candidates need vie for the sup
port of a Joe Louis, Bing Cros-
by. or Bette Davis.
On British soil where person.
al freedom approaches reality.
it is difficult for me to explain
why more than half of the
American states have special
oaths for teachers, why a civics
text was recently banned in
Houston because it stated the
obvious truth that 'the United
States has some socialism and a
bit of communism"
The British are extremely DO.
lite and insist that they have
lar too many problems of their
own 10 go meddling into ours.
but they are respectfully curl
Gus regarding a country which
blaiantlY advertizes its democ-
racY TO all the world but does
not allow the vote to a large
part of ifs people.
Several have asked me about
the fiftv-million dollar endow-
ment of a college in Mississippi
which would teach white SUI
premacy and states rights. At
least I have been spared further
attempts to explain that one.
Over here free speech is so
taken for granted that teachers
need not be concerned lest their
views fail to coincide with ma
pority thinking of the moment.
Taylor doesn't appear
to be greatly concerned about
the rumored presence of two
three fellow-travelers on his
faculty at the University of
Aberdeen.
A hard-headed businessman
told me that he understood and
believed in the religion of free
enterprise, but that he found it
hard to reconcile the utteranees
of a people who worship the
American way" while Cover
behind gigantic trade bar
riers.n
And, he inquired. what
about these statistics I see oc-
easionally on the American
economy which. for all its
wealth. hasn't adequately fed
or clothed or housed or even
kept all its people employed?"
Every thinking person knows
that Britain's place in the sun
is a preearious one. It is also
apparent that the Britisher ap-
preaehes his problems with a
maturity of Judgment and lack
of hysteria which are too sell
dom found in the United States.