Evening star., 1959-12-25

ment-humbly and sincerely
talking to his friends and
fellow-workers. Here indeed
was God-loving American
democracy in action. And
the crowd liStened-atten-
lively and understandingly.
Then came the Lords Prayer
by the whole assemblage.
Again I looked around. Every
head was bowed in reverence
every voice responding in
the prayer.
There they stood. crowding
full the big auditorium.
Young aid old, Protestant
and Catholic. jew and Cen
tile. colored and white, Re-
publican and Democrat. all
concentrated in a fervent
prayer expressing their I'M
faltering faith in God AL
mighty, in America and in
each other. One could feel
the powerful spirit of to-
getherness pulsing from their
hearts and one could sense
that in hearts such as these
rests the true and mighty
strength of America. I wish
ed that Nikita Khrushchev
could have been there to
feel the electric power and
confident strength of that
tremendous force which
comes only from the hearts
Of free men and women COM
pletely dedicated to God, to
liberty and justice, and to
each other.
Charles KreSS,
Former Mayor, Bingham
ton, N. Y.
x =
Once again the Yuletide
cheer Of thousands of Mary
landers is dampened by the
dread realization that the
intrepid Maryland Border
Patrol is again on its annual
bootleg prevention kick, dia-
bolically lurking at points of
vantage, poised to pounce
upon the hapleSs person who
dares to attempt to import
more than his legal ration of
D. c. booze into Maryland.
But I need not fear this
evil, for foresight has been
with me! Beginning in early
summer I would frequently,
and ever so cunningly, carry
from D. c. bottles of booze
(only one at a time, of
courSe) across the border,
knowing how slight were the
chances that I would be ap-
pretended twice in the same
month. Had I been, however,
my wife would have been pre-
pared to do my bootlegging
until she too had been cap
tured with her legal quota;
then, any number of sympa-
thetic friends and neighbors
would have been available
for call to duty. BY that time
the month would have been
ended and I could have be-
gun again. Oh. how clever
were my methods in stocking
up for this, the bibulouS
season.!
Now, in the tradition Of
the proverbial ant, 1 may
luXuriate in the pleasant at
moSphere of Yuletide cheer
that emanateS from my we'll
stocked bar, where I sar-
donically smirk in the self
satisfaction derived from
having once more foiled the
border patrol; there I lift my
glass in a silent toast to the
hundreds of unknown Mary
land confreres who certainly
must have discovered how
childishly simple a matter it
is to mock the laughable
pretenseS of these ineff-
caceouS supernumerarieS!
The point of this parable:
For goodness sake, can't the
State of Maryland contrive a
more dignified and less stupid
way of wasting the taxpayers
money than by maintaining
this silly border patrol? All
it really accomplishes is a
ridiculously empty threat to
countless Maryland residents
who, in the simple interest
of economy, will continue to
purchase all their alcoholic
needs in D. c., at cheap D. c.
prices. Unfortunately, a few
individuals, because of ig-
norance of Maryland's quix-
otic liquor embargo, are
grabbed by Maryland'S border
"sleuths" and find them
selves made the scapegoats of
their neighborhoods through
front-page publication of
their one peccadillo.
r. U. Mrunner.