The Courier-Journal from Louisville, Kentucky • Page 6

Editorial Page Staff: RUSSELL BRINEY, Editorial Page Editor A DELE BRANDEIS, MOLLY CLOWKS, WELDON JAMES, JOHN ED PEARCE, WILLIAM PEEPLES, HUGH HAYN1E, Cartoonist TUESDAY, AUGUST 6, 1963. FOUNDED 1826 BAKKY RINUHAM, hilimr ami Publisher MARK ETHRIDGE, I.ISLK BAKER, Chairman of the Board Executive Vice-President The Educational Fight Isn't Over Yet Hum DURING THE PAST WEEK Governor Bert Combs, in an effort to launch a statewide "crusade against ignorance," has set forth a three-phase program to overcome the effects of a half-century of educational neglect and stagnation in Kentucky, Briefly, the program would (1) attack the problem of the state's 225,000 functional illiterates who cannot get or hold jobs for want of basic education; (2) increase efforts at all levels to reduce drop-outs and keep children in school longer, and (3) persuade "every educated Kentuckian" to concern himself with the problems of education and to support the cost of an improved educational system. To accomplish these aims, the Governor proposes remedies that may seem extreme to some people. He would, for example, require illiterates on relief to attend classes in order to qualify for continued relief. It is a method that has been tried with considerable success in Chicago, where a flood of uneducated immigrants, chiefly from the South, has given the city and Cook County a massive corps of unemployables for whom public welfare has become a way of life.

And it hits at the heart of one of Kentucky's most persistent economic problems, for almost two-thirds of Kentucky's chronic unemployed fall within the functional-illiterate category, that is, they have less than a fourth-grade education, and are unable as a result to compete for even the most menial jobs. An even more difficult problem, and one that may eventually require even more radical remedies, is the problem of drop-outs, children who are unable or unwilling to complete high-school. As the Governor pointed out in his address to the graduating class at Eastern State College, "Every day brings home to us more graphically the fact that the Space Age has no place for the ignorant." Yet more than half of the children who begin school in Kentucky do not finish high school, and forty-two percent of those who start high school do not graduate. to home, or given bus fare to nearby schools. The type of classroom afforded them is less important than the type of instructors, most of whom will probably have to be employed and paid by the state.

For the aim here is not the regular education, but the teaching of the rudiments, reading and writing, that will permit the adult student tO'get a job, and perhaps give him an incentive to continue his education on his own. Similarly, it is going to be hard to cut the drop-out rate without a great local effort backed by state appropriations. We may eventually be obliged to require high-school graduation of all those physically and financially able, and to find means of subsidizing those who cannot attend for financial reasons. There are thousands of Kentucky children who fall behind early in their school lives because they do not have clothes to wear in cold weather, or sufficient food for the energy that study requires; we may be forced to give three hot meals a day and free clothes to such children. We may be obliged to tighten punishment of parents who permit or encourage children to leave school before graduation, and to change the law permitting drop-out at sixteen.

Present System Is Costly These could become expensive remedies, but they would be far cheaper than the system we now support, a system that leads to d-generation reliefers" and a massive army of unemployables. As Governor Combs says, "Those who do not know do not earn, but take from the pocket of the earner." In the long run, therefore, solution of the entire educational problem depends on the average citizen and taxpayer, and on his determination and willingness to do whatever must be done to improve the educational standing of the state. The great danger here is that the average Kentuckian, viewing the great effort and progress of the past few years, may feel that the fight is being won. As the Governor has pointed out, there are signs that the people "feel that the effort and progress at the state level has been sufficient that they are beginning to There are many reasons for this financial pressure, lack of progress that makes them feel inferior, pregnancy or marriage, lack of incentive, lack of interest on the part of parents or associates but the results are almost uniformly tragic. Ninety-five percent of the country's juvenile delinquents are drop-outs; so are three-fourths of the inmates at LaGrange Reformatory and 80 percent of those at Eddyville.

Ninety percent of those rejected by Selective Service dropped out be-before high school graduation, so that there is not for these uneducated even the old escape of "joining up." Within a few years these people become our problem adults. Finding ways to reach and teach these people is going to be hard, as the Governor admits. And he is due for disappointment, we fear, if he attempts to reach the unemployable illiterates through the state and community colleges. As Chicago found, this must be a local effort, based on the local schools boards, with financial help from the state. These people must be taught close "More Sit-ins! Featherbedding! Protest Demonstrations! Strikes! I Ask You, What's This Country Coming To?" READERS' POINT OF VIEW Kuchel Presses The Counterattack wage earners of this nation been given relief from this reduced expense through tax reductions? What becomes of this money that is no longer used for foreign aid? That the great bulk of our foreign aid goes to underdeveloped countries is no comfort to us, as we have many underdeveloped areas in our own nation.

Is it your contention that we should be penalized with foreign aid for the rest of our lives? REPUBLICAN SENATOR THOMAS H. KUCHEL of California is striking a blow for public sanity in his counterattack against the "fright peddlers" of the extreme right wing. His speech of May 2 served notice on these purveyors of half-truths and outright lies that they were no longer going to be viewed as a harmless lunatic fringe, but that they are going to be challenged right down the line. for they cannot be reached by reason. "But those upon whom they attempt to prey can be armed with the truth to combat them." And the Senator adds: "We, each single individual among us, Republican, Democrat or independent, have a solemn duty to speak out vigorously against those who sow hate and fear among our people and against our institutions.

For the fantastic charges of the fright-peddlers fall apart when held up to the light of fact and reason." Bravo, Senator! May your tribe increase. chafe at the cost." But the effort at the local level has not matched the state effort. Too many communities are failing to raise taxes or assessments, or approve school bond issues. We are still too near the bottom of the ladder in education. And we can climb out of our difficulties, keep our drop-outs in school and educate our functional illiterates only if, as Governor Combs urges, people "are imbued with a deep and burning concern willing to make the personal and collective effort that is going to be necessary in the years ahead." Politics And The Race1 Issue To the Editor of The Courier-Journal: For the first time in recent Kentucky politics a candidate for Governor is seeking to make the question of integration versus segregation a campaign issue.

It has always been a political issue in states to the south of us. Political demagogues have used it to keep the voters inflamed, and the results have been riots and marching in the streets. Kentucky politicians have always operated on a higher plane. But now Louie B. Nunn is trying to change all that and is apparently planning to conduct a campaign based on prejudice and hate.

I hope that Mr. Breathitt refuses to be drawn into argument with Mr. Nunn over the race problem, an issue which shouldn't be an issue at all. Mayfield, Ky. D.

BURD Juvenile Delinquency Congratulations for the splendid feature articles that appeared in Section 4 of The Courier-Journal July 21. Jim Morrissey surely deserves a lot of praise for his well-defined and exceptionally well-written expose on juvenile deliqu-ency, which involves all of our society. We who deal daily with problems Mr. Morrissey One Block May Show The Way in an article reprinted in this newspaper last Sunday, Senator Kuchel reported that since his May 2 speech, four out of every five of the more than 15,000 persons who have written to him about the "fright peddlers" support his position. But he also reported that he MRS.

JASPER D. WARD Prospect, Ky. HERE ARE MORE HOPEFUL NOTES than disquieting ones in the survey of one block in the changing West End Senator Kuchel so aptly revealed would readily agree with the members of the Juvenile Court Advisory Board in pinpointing the family breakdown as the "root of most evil" in teenage misbehaviors. Teenage girls especially need a stable home environment and a pattern to follow in developing their ideas of what a real home should be. and lawns were integral parts of neighborhoods, when pride of ownership came from long residence and familiarity with the area.

Thus it is heartening but not entirely surprising to find that a majority of white families on the surveyed block would rather keep their homes than sell them; that the Negro neighbors who have moved in are for the most part people of substance and pride. If the West End Community Council can keep this balance of feeling alive, if it can hold off the destructive aims of "block-busters" and forestall slum landlords, it will indeed do a service for Louisville as well as the West End. New Home For Museum Recently I visited the Louisville Free Public Library Museum at Fifth and York. I enjoyed it a lot, but I wonder why in the world Louisville, or someone, with a nucleus of a fine museum to start with, doesn't do something about getting a suitable place to show it. There is a question what to do about the old Presbyterian Seminary at First and Broadway.

It is a beautiful building and deserves to be kept as such, providing a use can be found for it. I am against keeping those old landmarks just as a monument; but where they can be put to a useful purpose, I am all for them. Why cant this building be used to house the museum? There would be room for proper arrangements and workshops and room for expansion. If there is spare room, I have no doubt it could be put to a very good use, or revenue derived from it. neighborhood.

One is the conclusion of the newly formed West End Community Council that Negro occupancy of houses in formerly white neighborhoods does not necessarily lead to panic buying and selling, nor to instant friction and the creation of slums. The 600 block of Forty-Second Street, from River Park Drive to Broadway, may not be characteristic of all West End streets. It has an unusually high incidence of ownership, only four houses in 64 being rented. It is also one of the pleasantest streets in Louisville, with trees, well-kept lawns and substantial houses built for one-family occupancy. But there are more streets of this type than not in the section north and south of Broadway, beginning a few blocks east.

Their pattern was set in the days when trees received hundreds of letters, "some on fine-quality stationery, reeking with bigotry and hate." He defines the fright-peddler as "the self-appointed savior of our land who finds conspiracy, treason and 'sell-out' in almost every act or pronouncement of government officials here, there and everywhere. The Senator knows whereof he speaks, for this sub-species seems to abound in Southern California. But they are not confined to his native state. They are here, too. Just look around you.

What to do about it? Senator Kuchel doesn't think there is much chance of doing anything about those who are already infected, SENATOR SOAPER Says: SUBURBIA is where the developer bulldozes out all the trees but makes up for it by naming the streets after them. Fern Creek, Ky. H. B. BRIGGS How can a mother teach her children right living and worthwhile pastimes when she leaves them unnecessarily to the care of babysitters? Our schools are doing a great job, but they art not providing adequate courses for our teenagers in how to become good parents.

We teach our youngsters many skills, but give them little preparation for the role most of them assume very soon after they graduate marriage, and all the responsibilities it entails. Our schools definitely need more and better-trained guidance counselors to guide our students along the rocky paths, and rescue them before they become too involved with problems beyond their control. Our youths are wonderful people to work with, but we adults must work hard to channel their aptitudes and interests. We must lead the way and show them how much we really love them and depend on them. Remember, only 3 percent of our young people really are "problem children," according to most statistics.

Let ui talk more about the 97 percent that are doing a tremendous job of being good citizens and good Christians. SISTER ROSE, Superintendent Louisville Maryhurst School A Great Benefactor Of Humanity Unsung (Kill vp Says Zoo Lacks Support So, Mr. J. G. Brown has agreed to give Louisville $1,500,000 for a zoo.

Indeed this is generous, but such a gift will eventually cost each individual of Louisville money through taxation. Although there may be charges for visiting the zoo, plus charges for parking cars, neither Louisville, Jefferson County, nor the entire state of Kentucky can or will support a zoo. The Cincinnati Zoo has gone broke three times; the St. Louis Zoo has had its financial troubles. At various times in the past there have been small zoos in Louisville.

The lack of interest and financial support forced their closing. The presently proposed site is large enough to provide a surrounding 100-foot buffer strip of trees and dense shrubbery to minimize sounds and odors, if the animal section is placed in the middle of the 150 acres. Still, the property owners in that area are due consideration. In fairness to these people, they should at least be compensated with a property-tax reduction. But with the present howl for more taxes, how can any loss be afforded? Of course, Mayor Cowger wants this gift for the city.

He has made every effort to please all concerned. He should be commended instead of criticized. This has been a difficult problem for him. Will this $1,500,000 provide a tax exemption for Mr. Brown? If so, why can't he build two or three schools, which are more needed than a zoo, and still take his exemption? Friendly Dissent By Aon Robertson WASHINGTON In a city littered with statues to American heroes and nobodies, one great benefactor of the human race goes unnoticed and unsung.

This weekend, a cost accountant from New Jersey stood before the benefactor's white, marble likeness in the Capitol building's Statuary Hall. "Dr. John Gorrie," he read aloud off the base. "Who the heck was he?" Dr. Gorrie is credited with inventing air-conditioning.

The tourist had already paid homage to the images of Lincoln and Jefferson in the sticky out-of-doors. He was, without knowing it, grateful to Dr. Gorrie that very minute in the cool, dry halls of Congress. The Capitol, in fact, was one of the first big structures in the United States to receive Dr. Gorrie's boon.

About 6,000,000 Americans trudge uncaring past his statue every year. They would have raised soggy handkerchiefs in salute had they only known. In Florida, one week each August is dedicated to him, but it passes with few observances other than sighs of relief. Dr. Gorrie was a Florida physician who found i practical way to refrigerate the air indoors before dying a disgusted, unappreciated man in 1855.

He also invented an ice-making machine. At the time, he was written off as follows by a New York City newspaper: "A crank down In Florida thinks he can make Ice as good as Almighty God." The ew Who Knmc Among the few people who have any idea who Gorrie was are Senator George A. Smathers of Florida, Representative Claude Pepper of the same state, and Floyd Kirby, the Capitol's chief guide. "In this kind of weather we're very grateful to Dr. Gorrie," said Kirby.

Smathers batted a thousand when questioned on Gorrie's identity. "Was he the fella who invented ice?" he responded. After some thought, he even remembered the town that the good doctor called home Apalachicola, Fla. "Air-conditioning haj meant everything to us," Louisville MISS VERNA HUNDLEY Concurring with the very complimentary letter Mrs. Harriet Weller wrote in The Courier-Journal July 25 concerning another name for Twelve Mile Island that things of importance should be named for living people if possible I disagree with her choice of names, however.

Island" was suggested.) In the first place, the president of the Ohio River Sand Company, which owns the island, has already stated that river people will always know the island as Twelve Mile Island, and I think that name should be left the way it is. However, if any name is chosen for a county park, I think the "grand old man" of river safety, who gave his boat, gasoline, oil, time and energy for years and years of conscientous patrolling of the river as a volunteer, should have the park named for him Foster H. Embry. The Red Cross has already established a safe-boating award as the Embry Memorial, awarded through the summer season to the safest boatman in the area. This man of all men should be honored with the name of the proposed park.

Louisville E. W. "WHIT" CRAIK Invitation From Nigeria As a young Nigerian who is highly interested to know more about the other races, I would like a pen-pal friend writing and discussing current affairs. My hobbies are stamp collecting, reading, footballing, exchanging gifts, etc. I would like to hear from anyone who really wants a pen paL My address Is 3A Brimoh-Igbo Street, Lagos, Nigeria.

On Foreign Aid Your editorial July 22 defending foreign aid made several good points, which it immediately lost when both sides of the picture were examined. Regardless of how or where foreign-aid funds are spent, the fact is not eliminated that wage earners of this country foot th bills. You emphasized that foreign aid was no longer "handouts," that 60 percent of the assistance for this year will be in the form of loans repayable in American dollars. What happens to the other 40 percent? I see no bargain for us in foreign aid because several of our industrial competitors of Western Europe are now devoting a higher proportion of their national product to foreign aid than we are. The fact is our foreign aid put them in position to do so.

And furthermore, they haven't had an 18-year dose of it as we have. If, as you stated, Industrialized nations have been weaned away from foreign aid, why haven't He used his first room-chilling device sometime between 1838 and 1844. The principle was to force air over ice packed into a basin hung from the ceiling. Later, he Installed the world's first system of mechanical air-conditioning in the wards of the U. S.

Marine Hospital at Apalachicola. In 1914, the State of Florida gave a statue of Gorrie, by the sculptor Adrian Pillars, to Statuary Hall. One of the speakers on dedication day suggested that in the future, the "hot collars" of Congressmen would be cooled by ihe doctor's invention. This did not happen until 1935. Another spoke words that could be echoed today: "His accomplishments and inventions are the sources of untold comfort a boon to humanity and a blessing to mankind." Copjrrtfht, 1M, Th Nw York TlmM Mwt mrlo said the Senator.

"We didn't used to have any summer tourist season in Florida." Pepper, formerly a Senator, knows much more about Gorrie. Almost a quarter-century ago, he inserted a long eulogy about him in the Congressional Record. And only the other day, the Journal of the American Medical Association made him a little better known with an article on his life and important accomplishments. Dr. Gorrie is believed to have been born on the island of Nevis in the West Indies about 1802 and to have been taken by his parents to South Carolina in 1803.

He received his medical degree from the College of Physicians and Surgeons of the Western District of the State of New York and then settled in Florida. Malaria and yellow fever were rife in the region. Gorrie, torn by the sight of fevered patients tossing in hot rooms, was moved to invent some way of bringing down their temperatures by cooling their environment. Lagos, Nigeria OLUWOLE BELLO.