davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Evening star., 1952-05-04
Fifty Years Ago in The Star .

A telegraph story from Philadelphia,
featured on the front page Of the May
l, 1902, issue Of The
Dr.. Moekoy Smith Star said: Before a
Consecroted congregation Of dis
tinguished persons,
many Of them men of exalted rank in
the religious world, the Rev. DR.. Alex
ander Mackay- Smith, pastor Of st.
Johns Church. Washington, was this
afternoon ordained bishop coadjutor Of
the Protestant Episcopal Church in the
Diocese of Pennsylvania. In the audi
torium of the Church Of the Holy Trim
ity, in Rittenhouse square, has been en-
acted many functions dear to the Epis-
copal Church and society of this old
city Of brotherly love. Men Of learning,
men who are noted for their interest
in bettering the world, gathered to do
honor to a man who has been elected
to one Of the highest places in the gift
Of the church. The parishoners OF
st. Johns i. who came from Washing
ton to attest their appreciation Of the
man who had looked after their spiritual
welfare for so long, arrived shortly be-
fore noon" Among the number were
Chief Justice Fuller and Mrs. Fuller,
Surgeon General Rixey, James Lowndes.
George w. Salter, Comdr. and Mrs. F.
A. Miller. Rev. E. S. Dunlap and Rev.
G. Freeland Peter.
The Star on May 3, 1902, reproduced
a speech delivered by President Theodore
Roosevelt before
President Roosevelt a meeting Of the
On the Philippines District of Co
lumbia branch of
the Sons of the American Revolution
the previous evening. It referred par
ticularly to American interests in "the
islands Of the Eastern SEAS" where ''the
Evening star., 1952-05-04
Time for Religion

appreciate the tone of your editorial
on the Supreme Court decision in the
New York case concerning released
time" religious education. You empha-
sized a basic point: that those who are
objecting to religious education in
schools or on school time are not being
coerced. More exploring might be done
to see just what is the motive of these
a negative and destructive cause.
Many Americans need to be reminded
that the Jeffersonian concept Of de-
mocracy. according to which it is
assumed that the common man will
lead good life and will make right
decisions, is based on the wide dis
Semination of the Christian religion.
Without general knowledge and ac-
ceptance of Christianity, there is no
possibility that democracy in the Ameri-
can sense can thrive. Perhaps the lack
of even the bare essentials of Chris
tianity on the part of the last genera
tion Of public school children has much
to do with our present troubles in crime,
divorce, corruption, etc. Instead Of hav-
ing to fight court cases to remove all
religious training from general educa-
tion, we should be seeing to it that the
trend is reversed and every American
child in every school in the land is
given an opportunity to be exposed to
the objective presentation of the facts
OF the Christian religion on which every
one is agreed.
Rev. Horace C. Lukens,
The Vienna (Va.) Presbyterian
Church.
Evening star., 1952-05-04
Spires of the s. Spirit
On Getting On

Don't change-especially II you get
on in the world" is the admonition OF
legal adviser to an utterly unselfsh
and altruistic bride and groom, in the
first act of j. M. Barrie's play, ''The
Will"
Getting on in the world-there is a
phrase which holds the possibility of
peril and tragedy. Getting on" as
many moderns interpret it, proves to be
toboggan to perdition. It suggests
elusive goals which are taunting mir
ages with which those feverishly pursu-
ing never catch up.
Barrie'S story was written to show
that getting-up is not necessarily get
ting on to snything worthwhile. Before
ones eyes as the decades pass, here is
laboratory demonstration as to how
moral fiber can be eaten out by the
attainment of riches.
What does getting on in the world
really mean? The answer to that vital
question reveals life's ruling passion. It
indicates the occupant in the drivers
seat. And life's overall drive is the
paramount factor of destiny. A rather
recent novel, widely read, might have as
its subtitle Getting on in the World"
The principal characters there depicted
have their eyes on some immediate goal
Of attainment, position higher than
the one they hold. With greedy gaze
each looks at q more advantageous re-
lationship which would bring increased
income, social recognition. chance to
live in better part Of the city, and all
the prizes Of opulence. It is plain that
for all involved, to succeed means to
keep on ascending to these beckoning
havens of hearts desire. The story at
tempts no deliberate preachment But
its chapters make crystal clear that the
authors intent Is to give the impress
sion that, while those whose careers are
etched on the pages are pulling them
selves up to higher levels, with each ad-
vance they find a sense Of Illustration
and of unfulhlled satisfactions which
elude them. Crowned with Success"
bent on getting on in the world even
when they have arrived at coveted goals,
If honest with themselves these moderns
would be compelled to make their own
the confession of the writer Of Ecclesi-
astes: "All is vanity and vexation of
spirit
DR.. E. Stanley Jones, speaking to q
great company Of American youth, de-
clared: "You have everything! You are
a much better generation than mine,
more honest. better trained, two inches
taller. You have everything except one
thing-a cause" A young man evident
ly resenting that charge arose at the
Evening star., 1952-05-04
Not to Be GombIed With

Defense Secretary Lovett'S testimony before
Senate Appropriations subcommittee leaves
virtually no room for doubt that Congress as
whole should reverse the recent House action
imposing ceiling of $46 billion on military
spending in fiscal 1858.
The ceiling is something apart from the big
cuts voted by the House in the proposed 1858
budgets of the armed services It covers funds
already appropriated-much of them to pay for
items completed under contracts made in
past fiscal years. In effect, if upheld by the
Senate, the limitation of $46 billion would leave
our military establishment billions of dollars
short of the cash it must have to meet its obli-
cations in the spending year beginning July l.
Expressed in terms of the "hard goods" that
are urgently needed by our armed services, the
limitation-as Mr.. Lovett has warned-would
result in the following major rearmament upsets:
Cd 1t would cut out of the Army's planned build
up, a total of 310O medium tanks and it would
require the closing of two plants making such
tanks. co It would deprive the Air Force of about
5000 modern planes in the Is months beginning
next January, and cause the shutdown of
eight big producing facilities. 60 1t would
postpone by two years the date on which the
Navy is supposed to reach state of satisfactory
readiness. Moreover, combined with other "econ-
omy" actions by the House. it would necesSitate
the demobilization of "a substantial part" of the
Nations 100000 men under arms.
If these points are accurate-and nobody
has yet disputed their accuracy-then Mr.. Lovett
is right in declaring that the House-imposed CELL
ing would put us in the position of cutting off
our right arm to save the cost of one sleeve of
our coat" Indeed according to Controller Cen
eral Lindsay c. Warren, it actually would save
nothing-not even the sleeve or button on it.
On the contrary, far from reducing expendi-
lures, it would merely postpone the day when
payment must be made.
Unless this testimony can be shown to be in
error, the Senate ought certainly to reverse the
House. and then the House should reverse itself.
Otherwise Congress will have to bear full respon-
sibiity for gambling in way that could gravely
imperil our national security in the years i'm
mediately ahead.
Evening star., 1952-05-04
Letters to The Star .

making her charges at a meeting of an
organization called "Protestants and
Other Americans United for Separation
OF Church and State" I take it that
these Protestants are sincere Christians
Affirming belief in God, whose OBJ
Jective is complete separation of Church
and State rather than the complete de-
struction of the Church to which Mrs.
McCollum so nobly aspires. How then
justify as speaker at one of their
meetings woman who admittedly SUBJ
scribeS to the following beliefs contained
IN a pamphlet written by her father,
Arthur G. Cromwell:
Religious worship is chronic di-
sease of the Imagination contracted
in childhood . Religion is born of
1ear. ignorance, and superstition"
Certainly this Is no common ground
on which religious Protestants and dem
ocratic Americans can in conscience
unite.
Perhaps little self-analysis by Mrs.
McCollum may reveal that the root of
her own unbelief is the same that she
ascribes to religious worshippers-"a
chronic disease of the imagination con-
tracted in childhood"
Charles J. Foley, S. ].
Director, Office of University Develop
ment, Georgetown University.
editors note: Mrs. Washti McCollum
Is on record that she is not an atheist
or freethinker, but rather "humanist'
with a belief in a deity.)
Evening star., 1952-05-04

close Of the address, and said: "But,
DR.. Jones, we have a cauSew The speak
er asked, What Is it?" And the youth
replied, I'VE want to succeed" A news
paper editor who was present remarked,
what magnificent answer" But an
other, who afterward read the account
Of that meeting and the young mans
reply, had different opinion. He COM
mented, with deep conviction: ITO sue
ceed? Oh no! That is not cause great
enough. To succeed in terms of power,
prosperity. notoriety, personal or ma
tlonal achievement, Is not compelling
enough cause to match this day of
destiny for all mankind" And he added:
I'm our acquisitive day. to deny that the
chief end of life is to have power and
to pursue temporal prosperity Is the
greatest OF all possible heresies in
America
Who can doubt that the majority
facing life in our privileged land are
hell bent" for success? Our day runs
right past the red light of warning
waved by Benjamin Franklin in Poor
Richard" when he Sagely observes:
success has ruined many man." Alas,
that too often to "get on in the busi-
ness and industrial world means to ac-
cumulate wealth, however secured and
used; to get on" in sports arenas means
the vicious practice of throwing games
for financial considerations; to "get on"
In government means socialistic schemes
which kill initiative. which scrap thrift
and frugality and seem to assume that
man is just mouth to be fed and that,
to get on to some classics millennium,
all that Is needed is fullness of bread and
shortness of hours. Too often, to "get
on" in politics means skulduggery in
Evening star., 1952-05-04
The Democrats Dilemma

The seemingly strong position which Presi-
dent Truman took at his latest press conference
against being drafted to head the Democratic
presidential ticket points up the quandary in
which the party finds itself.
Coupled with the decision of Adlai Stevenson
not to seek the nomination, position which
some of the party leaders are repeatedly still
trying to reverse, it leaves the organization
Democrats still at a loss for a candidate truly
acceptable to them.
At this point the only Democrat who has
demonstrated popular appeal is Tennessees
Senator Kefauver, a political "lone wolf" who
does not inspire organization enthusiasm.
Presumably, the party thinking as applied to
Senator Kefauver is that, either as nominee or
possibly as President, he would build his own
organization, one that would be marked not
only by many new faces but by the absence OF
many old ones who quite naturally are not
desirous of being shaken out of their established
positions of political influence.
In the face of this situation, the Democratic
trend of the moment is toward a fourishing
crop of "favorite sons" First of these to appear
was Minnesota's Senator Humphrey, who
entered his States primary almost apologetically
and not until he had cleared" his candidacy
with the White House. During the past week
the Senator has allowed, if not encouraged, his
terms The next was Averell Hartman, who
was Launched" at big New York dinner and
who was subsequently promised the convention
support of the szable New York delegation.
And now Connecticut's Senator Mcmahon,
who was first in and then out of the Illinois DEM
ocratic primary, has made formal entry in the
race. The Connecticut Senator let it be known
through his campaign spokesman that he is not
interested in the vice presidential nomination
but, Interestingly enough, there was an implied
admission that his principal concern was to give
the Connecticut delegation "favorite SON. until
such time as it could measure the political winds
and set it's sails to support winner.
None of this sounds like confident political
conduct. For campaign purposes, the Democrats
are currently without real leadership. There are
no signs today that this condition will change at
least before the Republican convention in early
July. The brief period between the two conven-
tions, with the time it allows for resolving the
Democratic intra party confusion, may be vital
to the election prospects of the party which has
been in power since 1888.
Evening star., 1952-05-04
Dr.. Bennett Retires

Quietly on April 80, DR.. Hugh H. Bennett,
father of the soil conservation movement in
America, retired from Government service. The
record shows that he was employed originally in
the Bureau of Soils in 1903 His 40 years of labor
for conservation already are legend in the an
mails of the Department of Agriculture. He set
an example which hundreds of his younger con-
temporares are proud to strive to follow. His in
fuence has spread to the farthermost quarters
of the globe.
Only relatively, then, can it be said that DR..
Bennett has quit. Such leader could not aban-
don his cause arbitrarily The law may obige him
to give up his official place to junior. Custom
may suggest that at II the time has come for him
to rest But the habit of his life contradicts these
notions. Instead of spending Is hours day at a
desk or an experimental station or travelling over
terrain designated for special agronomical study,
he will cultivate his own six acres near Falls
Church, keep up his private correspondence with
fellow agrarians, read the books he has accumu-
lated against future season of enforced leisure,
occasionally make journey simply for pleasure.
That will be retirement enough for DR.. Bennett.
Meanwhile, the campaign against erosion is
to go forward as he planned it. His pupils will
push the fight wherever there is need or oppor-
tunity for it, He still will be available for consul
tation. America might do worse than express it's
gratitude in the words of Dean Swift's "Gullivers
Travels wherein it appears: "And he gave it for
his opinion :. that whoever could make two
of corn, or two blades of grass, to grow upon
a spot of ground where only one grew before,
would deserve better of mankind, and do more
essential service to his country, than the whole
race Of politicians put together"
Evening star., 1952-05-04
Not All 'Lobbyinu' Is Evil

In reversing the contempt conviction of Dr.
Edward A. Rumely, the Court of Appeals has
drawn common sense distinction between
lobbying of the buttonholing variety and efforts
to influence Congress by pressure of public
opinion. There were no charges and no evidence
that DR.. Rumely or his Committee for Constitu-
tional Government ever engaged in buttonholing
tactics at the Capitol in their efforts to restore"
constitutional government. The evidence showed
only that he and his committee sold and
distributed thousands of books, pamphlets and
articles designed to arouse support in and out
OF Congress for the committees aims. This
procedure, the appellate court held by 2-to-1
vote, lis not an evil; it is good healthy essence
of the democratic process"
DR.. Rumely was indicted for contempt of
Congress after he had refused to give the old
House Lobby Investigating Committee the names
and addresses of all organizations or persons who
had bought $500 or more worth of books from
his organization. He had offered the House
committee full access to all other records, but
he challenged the authority of the committee
''to require of a publisher the names of the
people who buy his products" The District
Court convicted him of contempt. The appeals
court not only reversed the conviction but
ordered the indictment dismissed.
Appellate Judge Barrett Prettyman, speaking
David L. Bazelon dissenting), declared the First
Amendment protects Dr. Rumely from infringe
ment Of his right to publish and distribute
writings freely and "to petition the Government
for redress of grievances" To require DR..
Rumely to reveal the names of purchasers of
books or other writings, the court said, is "a
realistic interference with the publication and
sale of those writings" There was no suggestion,
1t was pointed out, that any of the writings
constitutes any public danger, clear or other
wise, present or otherwise"
eff it be true" the court commented, "that
those who today would influence legislation turn
from the buttonholes of the legislators to the
forum of public opinion for support, great good
in the cause of representative government has
been done The evil to be dealt with is at the
buttonhole, not in the arena of public discussion,
whether that discussion be oral or written, over
the air or on printed pages. These are basic
principles Of our concept of government. If we
ever agree that modern mechanical devices and
modern mass interest in public affairs have
destroyed the validity of those principles, we
will have lost parts of the foundation of the
Constitution"
That is sound doctrine that needs to be
emphasized in these days of ever-expanding
Federal authority.
Evening star., 1952-05-04
The Presidents Emergency Powers

Although the Presidents seizure powers have
been challenged in the steel crisis, there can be
no doubt as to his virtually unlimited authority
to act in an atomic emergency He would not
have to invoke any inherent" powers in such
crisis. Congress has given him unprecedented
powers to seize and use private property of all
descriptions deemed necessary-when and
enemy A-bombs begin falling on this country.
This extraordinary authority is contained
In Public Law 920, otherwise known as the
Federal Civil Defense Act of 1885, Title III of
that act says that either the President or Con-
gress can declare civil defense emergency if
an attack on the United States has occurred or
is considered to be imminent. During such an
emergency the Civil Defense Administrator.
acting for the President may procure by con-
0emnatlon or otherUtSe, construct, lease, trans
port, store maintain, renovate or distribute
materials and facilities for civil Defense with the
right to take immediate possession thereof" and
without regard to the limitation of any existing
law" The act defines materials" as including
raw materials, supplies, medicines, equipment,
component parts and technical information and
processes necessary for civil defense" Facilities"
include buildings, shelters, utilities and land"
Another section clothes the Government with
complete immunity from suit for damages to
property or injuries to persons arising from
emergency exercise OF these powers.
The seizures of property are subjected to
later proceedings in the courts to decide Just
compensation for supplies or facilities taken over
by the Government The owners have three
years within which to negotiate for compensation
or to seek redress in the Court of Claims Au-
thority for resale of seized properties to the
original owners also is provided.
The emergency authority" section of the
act will become void on June 80, 1854 unless
Congress should specify otherwise
Evening star., 1952-05-04
By Frederick Brown Harris
Minister, Foundry Methodist Church:
Chaplain. United States Senate.

the coming election and treachery to
the next generation.
William James long ago proclaimed:
"The squalid cash interpretations put
upon the word success is our national
disease" The patient has grown worse
since those words were uttered. They
are illustrated by the biography of a
fnancier OF whom it was said: Life to
him was just one huge stock exchange
and his fellow creatures only so many
share-selling. share buying bipedS. To
him. dividends meant everything" But
he did get on.
However, the steps by which the
worlds greatest have gotten up and on
have never been gold-plated. Who ever
thinks Of how much money Shakespeare
made? When he heard Of the death of
John Calvin, Pope Plus w declared that
that "heretic's" strength lay In the fact
that money never had the slightest
charm for him. That is the eulogy that
can be truthfully uttered regarding those
who have meant most in humanity's long
trek from darkness to light.
DR.. Albert Schweitzer honored under
all skies, whom many appraise as prob
ably the greatest man now living, left
all to gain all. To leave what he did
IN personal advantage and fame so that
he could be where he is now would not
seem to many people to be getting on"
at all. But he has found abounding Joy
and durable satisfactions as. linking
arms with Paul, the pauper, he has kept
his eyes on the prize of his high calling,
as he presses on. Listen, as this famous
scholar, organist and doctor says: 1--WE
must all be prepared to find that life
trleS TO take from us our belief in the
good and the true and our enthusiasm
Tor them. But we need not surrender
them. If all of us could become
what we were at IA, what a different
place the world would bel" And then
he adds that the great secret of
abiding success is to go through life as
man who never gets used up. That
means we must never give ourselves to
the selfish things that transfigure and
transform our own personalities and,
through our devotion, help to heal the
open sores of the world.
Oliver Wendell Holmes whispers the
secret OF getting on in the world" as
ne sings Of the more stately mansions"
"LeaUe thy lo1O-Daulted past!
Let each new temple. nobler than the
last,
Shut thee from heauen Nth a dome
more cast,
TIL thou at length art free,
Leaning thine out-grown shell by Hte's
unresting sea-"
Evening star., 1952-05-04
Mrs. McCoIIum's Position

Mrs. Vashti McCollum's attack on
the Legion of Decency that appeared
in The Star April "a is, in a sense,
rather amusing. Fancy a professed
atheist posing as competent theolo-
gian. and then contending that "the
objections made by the Legion of De-
cency (to certain moving pictures) were
based entirely on theological grounds"
Furthermore, if there is no God, as Mrs.
McCollum maintains, then the Legion
of Decency could have based its OBJ
jections on theological grounds. No
God, no theological grounds, no the
illogical relationship to the objectional
movies!
However, there is one real and obvious
theological objection to Mrs. McCollums
Evening star., 1952-05-04
Speaking of Frantic

Mr.. Truman, addressing the National Civil
Service League, resorted to precisely the same
tactics which he imputed to critics of Federal
workers.
He was objecting to the collective smearing
of men and women who work for the Govern
ment. There is no doubt that the great
majority of these people are honest, sincere and
competent The thieves in Mr.. Trumans official
house are relatively few in number.
It is not true, however, that the Republicans,
en- masse, have been smearing the Federal
workers. That has been the dirty work of a
few Republicans. But the President indicts
them all.
He lashes out at "the opposition" at "they,"