The Lexington advertiser., 1951-03-29
THROUGH
HAZE.
EYES
by Hazel Brannon Smith

Wright and Attorney General j.
p. Coleman that I'VE do not want
and will not have our state the
dumping ground for those who
ply their trade and nefarious
schemes on law-abiding and un-
suspecting citizens" is most well
come and will be applauded by
every good citizen of the state.
From statements made at a
press conference by Governor
Wright and signed jointly by At
torney General Coleman, Adju-
tant General William p. Wilson
and Commissioner of Public Sa-
fety T. B. Birdsong it seems that
our top ranking law enforcement
officials have reason to suspect a
segment of the lawless element
throughout the nation may plan
to move into Mississippi shortly
lin fact, it seems certain from
reports that some of the afore-
mentioned element may already
be in the Magnolia State.
Governor Wright and the other
officials have said the entire re-
sources of the state including the
National Guard will be used if
necessary to prevent the rumored
migration of gangsters, mobsters,
gamblers, bootleggers, ct al, into
Mississippi.
Well and good.
But a dispatch written by
Kenneth Toler in the CONNER
cial-Appeal says:
THE warning to the undesir-
sables in Mississippi is not be-
lieved to apply to areas of the
state which have been more or
less wide open for years. These
establishments have been in the
category of home e-owned and
home-operated' and operate on
the Rankin County Gold Coast
across from jackson, the Gulf
Coast and some Mississippi River
counties"
If Mr.. Toler is right in his in
depreciation of the Governors u1-
timatum then we understand that
Mississippi will, in the future, toll
crate only our home grown native
variety of hoodlums outsiders
please 60 away.
Such an idea is ridiculous.
A hoodlum is hoodlum and a
lawbreaker is a lawbreaker--and
1t doesn't make any difference
whether he is born in Mississip-
pi or not.
II we are to hold up Missis-
sippi as a state where only the
pure in heart reside and a place
where gangsters will not be toll
Grated then we had better change
our attitudes toward the two bit
gangsters we've had in our own
state for long, long time.
For years the Mississippi Gulf
Coast has operated wide open
with liquor being sold from the
shelves openly, crap games and
other forms of gambling going on
at numerous places and complete
ly out in the open. Any number
of establishments will take your
bet on any track in the country
and give you quick service on
results.
The Gulf Coast is not the only
place where law is flouted openly,
brazenly and without punishment
Any number of towns in the state
have a system of liquor stores
where licenses are bought and
periodic fines paid in lieu of
taxes.
/ think It ridiculous 10 say we
don't want and won't have any
of the nations lawless element
flocking to Mississippi when the
state already has more than its
share of lawbreakers..
Other states mock our stand on
the liquor question. We're too
pure in heart to legalize liquor
yet we're not SO pure in heart
that we don't collect a ten per
cent black market state tax on
all liquors sold in the state - as
long as we can find the bootlegger
and the invoice to tax him.
The American people have
been shocked at the revelations of
the Kefauver committee crime
probers in this country. They
are stunned to learn of the close
link between the highest office
holders in the land and the low
est type of gangsters. The exist
ing graft, greed and corruption
that is part of national politics
IA this country today is dis
grace to any decent nation.
Yet we, the American people,
are to blame for existing condi-
tions. By our very lack of in
terest in national affairs in some
cases we are responsible for the
men who now hold our highest
offices.
We must take our share of the
blame for the state of affairs of