The Chronicle star the Moss Point advertiser., 1950-01-27
Letters
FROM ONE CHRISTOPHER
TO ANOTHER -.

As members OF a committee
appointed by veteran
"GRASSHOPPERS" to ans
wer the editorial published in
the January goth issue of the
Chronicle-Sta under the head
ing "All of US aren't Grasshop-
pers," we would like to take
exception to your attitude on
the question of whether the
people of this state should be
permitted to express by their
voSc whether they favor the
granting of a state bonus to
the veterans Of the State of
Mississippi.
Before writing this ARTICLE"
we interviewed the author of
this editorial" and found
him to be a pleasant spoken
young veteran of the Pacific
Theatre, who firmly advised
us that the editorial was his
fixed opinion. and represented
his unalterable viewpoint. On
further inquiry we were amaz-
ed to learn, and we are sure
that the general public is en-
titled to know, that the same
author of this editorial" had
already accepted a state bonus
check from our sister state of
Louisiana, of which he is a
native, despite his fixed views,
and we understand that ne
cashed his bonus check with
great speed and glee, his exact
statement on that point being
81 would have been a sap if I
hadn't" Yet he now editorially
says "our conscience prompts
us to raise a protest against
the MISSISSIPPI State bon
US"
1t appears that the author of
the editorial. in view of the
facts. has an extremely elastic
conscience. and we regret to
observe that such hypocrisy is
typical of the anti bonus Choir
US. The only veterans we have
found that would deny their
comrades such compensation
a the State may sec fit to give
either don't need the money. or
like the author of the editorial.
already have gotten theirs or
! else are sincere souls who have
been deluded by propaganda
! from the vapid pen of Fred
Sullens.
We feel that the people of
this state have the right to vote
on the question of whether the
veteran is entitled to compen-
sation for his war time losses.
! There is nothing either grasp
ing or shocking about such an
attitude. A majority of the
states have already so done,
= and more are about to follow,
Why must Mississippi always
come behind, like a pigs tail,
when any suggestion is made
that would benefit the average
citizen?
Ii is also rather startling to
note how soon after the wal
the veteran has become, in the
opinion of the author of the
editorial, a grasping grasshop-
per, a eontemptuous term for
those who would play and eat,
but toll not. Had these senti-
ments been expressed at the
height of the battle the author,
despite his veteran status,
would have been condemned as
a communist. facist, or of like
ilk. We feel that in justice. to
the public that editorial writ
ers who condemn the idea OF
permitting the people of this
state to vote on the question OF
the state bonus should, when
they speak for others. disclose
their silent principals. and
should not seek by s~ubterfuge
to sell a bill of goods without
revealing that they themselves
backed up to the same cash
box without wincing.
The author of the editorial
himself a confessed grasshop-
per, additionally turns out te
be a chameleon, and the COM
bination of insect and reptile
is no more paradoxical than
his argument. We feel that the
people of the State of Missis,
Sippi, veteran and non veteran
alike, will by their vote answer
the innuendo contained in the
editorial of January 10th.
Karl Wiesenburg
Louis A. Frederic
BARLEY F. German