The Birmingham News from Birmingham, Alabama • 6

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER II (Mil Tho South i Greateat Newinoper THE BIRMINGHAM NEWS 5 i r. The Coal Jiin The Wanderer ffiu SJmmmjham Nettie STABUIMKO MARCH 14, 188 Abtorb.a THB BIRMINGHAM LEDGKR, April, 110 BV MB MB VAXes BY LIWII I0U.1TT the Allies, thereby paving the wey for ite pertlel-petion ill the wsr on then side when Oermeny gev provocation. The final judgment upon the work ot Grey Is not yet ready to he written end perhaps will not until the flies of the foreign office are made available lo historians generally, aa the filet ot Germany and of Russia already hevs been. What can be said now is that, while stronger men might have foreseen and controlled events more shrewdly then he, few could have applied themselves to ungrateful tasks more earnestly. Hartford Co went.

Entarsd tscsnS-CIssa Mstts ai lHa Birmingham Poitoltlee Undar Acl af Cengraaa March 1, 178 VICTOR H. HANBON, RraaKanl and Rubliahar Rrlnlad Morning, Evaning, a undar, THE BIRMINGHAM hlwl COMPANY. Pro Evanmg, bund. AM NEW COMI Birmingham ipnalo North Pound Avanua al Twanty tacond Btraat New York Day By Day Tha Birmingham Nawa, publlthad avary avanlng a.c.pt Sunday, Tha Birmingham Ago-Harald, pub-Htnad avary morning aocapi Sunday, and Tha Birmingham Nawa. Tha Birmingham Aga-Harald.

rubllahad aach Sunday ara aaen publiahad undar ha awnarahlp and managamanl of Tha Birmingham Nawa and conatituta a oavan-day. twenty-four-hour aarvlca to raadari and advartlaara. All tnrao papara ara numbarad aaparataly to maat raqulramanta of tha Roatofflca Oapatmant. BT IMS, let Tka atrmljjkw Raws by Tka MtXaagkl Hatimnig MEMBER OP THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Tha Aaaociatad Praao la aaclualvaly antitiad ta tha boa for rapublioatlan of all nawa cradltad to It or not olharwiaa cradltad In thla pap ar and aiao tha local nawa publiahad haraln. All righto of publico tlon of apacial diapatehaa alao raaarvad.

SUBSCRIPTION RATES By mall, payaola In advanca. In tha Plrat, Second and Third Poatal Zonaai ONE Vaar SIX Mortha THREE Months ONE Month Bayond Zona Thraa, add Additional pottaga to foreign countrlaa not carrying Domestic rataa on raguaat By Carrier, where carrier delivery le maintained. Evening and Sunday, 20c par waeki Morning and Sunday. 0e per wash! Morning. Evening and Sum day, lie par wash.

By carrier, 6unday. payable In ad' KELLY-SMITH Poralgn Adv. Representatives, New York, Oraybar Bids i Chicago, til VYachar Orlvai Atlanta. Olenn Philadelphia. Atiantio bldg.

i Boston, Waterman Detroit, General Motors Bldg. Phone 3-1121 All Dapartmente Phone 3-1121 All Departments impartial fairri in such a prooseding, and whet is unfair cannot he right We have laws and courts to administer justice, and they are reasonably afflcieni. There is no necessity for so-cslled mob law." Mr. Oden says the court of Judge Lynch' God-ordained." He quota from tha Bible to show that it ia right in the sight of God to lynch a rapist The Bible also sanctions tha burning of witches, but we daresay that even Mr. Oden does not believe in witch-burning.

Thou shall not suffer a witch to live," aays Exodus 22:18, and aa a consequence of that command accredited to God, but long since discredited by common sense and human feeling, many thousands of innocent, helpless unfortunates were burned to death dur ing some of the dark centuries in the world's his tory. No more should common sense and human fealing tolerate lynching on Biblical grounds. Mr. Oden believes also that because the oerly white men in this country "wrought sure and terrible punishment" on tha savage Indians, we Southerners are justified in lynching Negroes. Rut there is no comparison between taking men from the hands of the law to lynch them, and fighting Indians in a pioneer region where there was no organized society and rf law worthy of the name.

At least, the Indians had an opportunity to fight back. The slanders about the studied indifference" of The News to the suffering of a rapist's victim and the mulatto-minded press of Alabama" hardly deserve notice. The sensitivity of any person to such an outrage requires no stressing; in any tragedy of that kind sympathy is taken for granted. And as for the attitude of the Alabama press toward lynching, it is to the eternal credit of the influential newspapers of this state, and of the South, that they have not merely stood virtually united against the practice, but that they have so vigorously championed the cause of law and order and opposed all forms of mob violence. Lynching has never yet curbed any sort of crime.

In the nature of things it cannot, because, being a criminal act itself, it only tends to break down ail law and order. Lynching ia anarchy in action. At one time there were as many as 24 lynchings in Alabama in a single year--in fact, that number in two successive years, 1891 and 1892. Does anyone believe that conditions were improved by those lynchings? Does anyone believe that there was less of crime and outrage in Alabama then than there was, for example, during the 10-year period ending with 1932, when six of the 10 years were free of lynchings, and there was only one lynching in each of the other four? Let all who may be inclined to believe as Mr. Oden believes remember that white men as well as Negroes arc lynched; there were, in fact, many years in this country's history when more white men by far were lynched than Negroes.

Let them remember that far more lynchings arc committed for other crimes than for rape. And let them remember it has been definitely ascertained that sometimes innocent persons have been the victims of mob violence. When this form of anarchy prevails, it does not matter what may be a mans race or color, what the nature of the crime of which he is suspected, or whether he is guilty or innocent If the viewpoint of Mr. Oden were generally held, no man could count himself safe; we would have a repetition of the injustice and cruelty of the witch-buming era, when the identity of the next victim depended on nothing more than the whim of the mob. As long as people upheld the right to bum witches, thousands of innocent men and women were tortured to death each year and the grand total of victims was a frightful number.

It is only a few years since Alabama was out, raged by a series of brutal floggings. Then there were those who upheld the right to flog. Public opinion arose in indignation, and the right to flog ceased to be a question. Then the flogging vvil disappeared. As long as there are men like Mr.

Oden who uphold the right to lynch, there will be lynchings. We will have no more lynchings in the South when there is no appreciable body of public opinion left which defends the right to lynch. Tha responsibility ot jo lit it. therefore momentous on. For ill mtmbirt' ignorance it tin, tad ptttiontio ignortnet lb worn ot tint; tod it it in primary tub iini lo inform Unit tod.

in tbt aecond plte. lo promot it in ineicapebla social duty the dilfuiion of knowlidg. But in di fluting it. it it not to bo a law-giver; tbit it function ot control which riikt tbt trituiormttion of in tliti Into body of Philiitlnn. ft it to in th bittl.

but above It; to tound th all, but to rfui the command of tbt army. "If in our own timi tucb a body oi mm and womn could lound thtir contribution to tb turn of loclil good would groat beyond moiurt. They would tot tb objective i of human effort; they would eitebliih the standard by which pncticil activity might be entiled. They would not themteive seek to lead mankind into the promised land. But at lent they would poness tom small assurance that ita tenta had been ttruck and that it marched with hopefulness to the highroad" THE excerpt above conclude an article by Harold J.

Lnski in Harper's Magazine for September. titled "The Elite in a Democratic Society -What It It Function? Mr Laski, formerly a lecturer St Harvard and now professor of political ecience at the University of London, sounds a stirring cell to those whose values are "those of tomorrow rather than of to those who would speak "their minds with the one insistent purpose of reminding society not of the petty issues of the moment, but of the direction in which iu feet were set and the significance of that direction." "The Inertia of the Mr. Laski asserts, is the foundation of public wrong. A body of men and women, themeelves independent of "care for wealth or place or authority," according to Mr. Laski.

could "direct through society a stream of tendency which would seek insistently to place first things first" see Mr. Lwki. I assume, has in mind particularly a group whose stature would be equal to a national or even an international influence. But he would not I sure, undervalue the smaller contribution which might be made locally by a few persons of similar devotion, if leaser caliber, whose orbit would be confined to their community. It chances that The Wanderer knows something of the humble aspirstion in the direction espoused by Mr.

Laski of a quite small group here in Alabama. This small group submitted its proposed plan of activity to perhaps a score of others, hoping to enlist their cooperation. The objective, according to the original group, would be to stimulate and keep stimulated the vital concern in governmental problems of the numerous intelllgenL effective citizens who now exert only a casual, intermittent and feeble influence in such Problems. 'Die objective, it was argued, could only 50 attained by making unmistakably clear to these citizens that their own self-interest now requires such an attitude on their part. GovemmcnL if it is teas efficient than business, is only so in the degree that less pressure is brought to bear on it toward a fair return than is brought to bear in commerce If an equivalent pressure can be ex-erted in governmenL then and then only could satisfactory results In public affairs be rightly expected.

The originators in the movement argued that a very considerable percentage of our citizens do realize lhaL as never before, government has a direct bearing on their individual earnings, their peace of mind, their comfort and their happiness. But the isolated, intelligent citizen, aware of this, docs not know where to turn to make his individual contribution toward the improvement of the government effective. Parties bring to his mind doubt whether there is often much difference between them. A party in a campaign or a party in power seems often necessarily committed to a god of expediency ranking higher than the god of public welfare. To deal with this dilemma, the perpetuation of a group which would seek political ends through the espousal and agitation of basic principles was suggested.

A fundamental bond of unity in ultimate objectives would be essential, but equally important must be the preservation of the individuals freedom not to be. in Mr. Laski's phrase, the servant of any save his own insights." The group, it was contended, must avoid being committed finally to any one particular philosophy of government; it must never bind a dissenting minority; its basic purpose must be the clarification and agitation of fundamental principles; it must be a sort of leaven acting within and upon all parties and slowly building toward the only sound hope of progress: the gradual raising of the standard of informed citizenship. Immediate emergencies must be subordinated to the long haul. i maks tome wit stipulations at to tha methods by which whisky is to gold In tha stale which decide to rescind their swr.

laws. Tha dispensary plan used in Canada or the restrictive laws in force in Great Britain might be adjusted so as to make them suitable for our own country. Why Wi Still Have Lynching In The South The Birmingham Newt prints herewith a letter which it is very loath to publish. Ibe writer of the latter not only condones the barbarous crime of lynching, but upholds It, approves It, and even, in effect, demands its practice. We publish the letter only In order to reply to it, first apologising to readers for offending their sensibilities by the injection of so abhorrent a viewpoint and such intemperate and inflammatory language into these columns.

To The News it is a shocking and an utterly deplorable thing that this could have been writ ten by any Alabamian, much less by an educated man who has standing and is respected in his community: To the Editor The News: The persistent attempts of The Nawa, through its editorial columns, to arouse sym-, psthy for the vile black rapist by picturing his iiienui sufferings in dreading summary punishment at the hand of outraged white men (dubbed "the and the studied indifference to the hhame and sufferings of his white-woman victim, calls for the severest condemnation of white men who deem protection of virtuous women worthy of ail effort. While The News devotes columns, almost daily, to excoriation of white men who would bring swift and exemplary punishment upon the black beast that commits this intolerable crime against those whom white men hold dearest, there is entire absence of sympathy for the white victims of the brutal Negro's lust and savagery. Nowhere is there to be found a line of regret for the horrible crime, or sympathy for the unfortunate victim und her rela-Uves; nor a single word of warning to the roving black beasts that lie in wait (unrestrained by law) to prey upon weak and defenseless women with an outrage worse than death itself! Instead, we find a coddling commiseration for the black beast that despoils white womanhood: a rejoicing when safety for him Is found behind prison bars, and hitter denunciation for white men who would put a stop to such crimes by removing the cause promptly putting to death the vile black beast that, alone of all race, la prone to commit such outrages against white women. This particular crime is without provocation that may attend uncontrollable anger, and ia inexcusable in the sight of God! Borrow a Bible and find out what God Almighty any about dealing with this particular crime, when committed by one of the woman's own race how much more severely He would condemn the black beast who vioistes a white woman! Turn to the twenty-second chapter of Deuteronomy, and read that God decrees the rapist shall be "stoned to death by the people (not the eiders or judges, corresponding to our courts of law) "the mob," as the mulatto-minded press of Alabama so scathingly describes those avengers, acting under the will of God, to rid the land of the vilest form of pollution possible to imagine! If the press of Alabama, and other Southern states, wilt use half of the editorial space now devoted to sympathy for the Negro rapist to condemnation of that particular crime which incites white men to lynching (as God directs), and the other half to warning the Negro that he must keep hands off the white women of the South, there will be more done to stop lynching than all the hysteria over punishment (miscalled "vengeance) meted out where the law is impotent to protect the weak. Respect between the citizens of a state and its laws should be mutual, reciprocal, and respect should not be demanded for a law which fails to protect the white women of Alabama against the roving black beast that the law is impotent to control.

Yes. lynching must stop; but the way to stop it is to remove the cause! When the skulking Indian savage slew white women and children, their men-folk wrought sure and terrible punishment approved by history. Why should not similar action prevail against the skulking savage Negro beast who imposes worse-than-death upon innocent defenseless white women? When the law restrains these black beasts from roving at will and lying in wait to despoil white women, then it will be time for this law to demand respect from white men. Until the law proves able to protect our white women against attacks from the black beast, it is certain that such cases will continue to be handled in the God-ordained court of Judge Lynch interracial organizations and a mulatto-minded press to the contrary notwithstanding. DEMPS A.

ODEN. Childersburg, Ala. (Copy to Gov. Miller.) Here we have the reason, in the last analysis, why lynchings still take place in the South. It is because such men as Mr.

Demps A. Oden give lynching their sanction. It is because such men as Mr. Oden, occupying positions of influence and respectability in the lives of their communi ties, condohe what should be condemned. NEW YORK Likely no figure in the Manhattan parade has remained so Indelibly the homepeun country Jake as Ewing Galloway.

A tali, gangly Lincolnian type In store suite and during the Winter a Daniel Boone coonsktn cep. he is widely traveled end polished ciusen of the world. He is known where magazines end newspapers are printed by the circled by Ewing Galloway underneath pictures. His boyhood was spent In Henderson. Jty where he was by his own edmts-felon the poorest boy in town.

But his flair for amateur photography so impressed Collier they sent him around the world. Fiftyish. as Time would put IL he is one of the beat amateur tennis players on the local courts. In repose, with his shock of iron gray hair, he ie remindful of the middle-aged squire at Tory Hall whose face records the self-congratulatory despair of one bred to be contemptuous of his own kind. HI one -gull used expressions delight a select coteries of artists and writers who inveigle him now and then -and to their sorrow in the nstional vice of draw poker, Film producers have angled for him to portray backwoods parts.

But he prefers to snap his own pictures. New Yorker like to picture Chinatown to strangers as exciting. It has atmosphere, but in reality Is a dramatic theme howling for a plot, stage that cries for drama. Whenever I have e. corted strangers there, as 1 did today, I try to stirn ulate imagination as thouqh wc were tracking down Fu Manchu.

But invariably I find them soon yawning. Chuck" Conners, self-appointed mayor of Chinatown. had a way of nuking the quarter fascinating to tourists. "Chuck" drew a long bow on his rapid-fire comments while serving as guide. To him every broken-down laundrymnn was a hatchet-msn and every low cafe a cut-throat rendezvous.

Into each place he entered he created at atmosphere of something suddenly stopped. The truth is cadgers hoped Chuck" would induce the visitor to buy a round. Anyone's safe in Chinatown. Amelia Earhart continues to express the wholesome vigor of an entire team of giri hockey players. jPerhaps no feminine life in New York is bo intense active.

An early riser, she may play a round golf before going to her office, fly a group of friends to Atlantic City for lunch, and lend her vital personality as a speaker to some celebrity banquet in the evening. Despite her capacity to play, she is richer in serious ideas than most of her generation. And most commendable of all, her small chit of a pancake hat fits her still. The estrangement of Cornelius VanderbilL Jr. with his famiy has ended.

The chief difficulty was the son wanted to become a newspaper man. and despite a bust-up in Miami and California, did. He now visita his parents regularly in Newport and New York after being away any length of time. Mostly he is a bird of passage always on the wing. He was comforted recently when an old taxi driver who used to hack in his father's day remarked: Your father gave his parents about as much to think about as you have.

William Fahnstock. senior head of one of the wealthy and old established brokerage firm a. at 70 takes vocal lessons. He has no operatic or concert ambitions, nor does he even sing in private. It is his quaint method of keeping up spirits.

The elder Rockefeller also likes to warble alone. P. G. Wodehouse ia probably the only writer in America who slips into a dinner jacket for dinner. He is an Englishman, but in following his custom is not putting on the lug.

He noticed on ocean crossings that after a tub, fresh linen and correct dinner clothes he ate more heartily and enjoyed his food more. He kept It up after landing and has forfe years. Left to my own devices in Paris one evening, I top-hatted, full dress suited and ebony-caned myl Iself and dined alone in melancholy splendor in the small room at Ciro's. I had everything from pot-age to pecans and a dusty flagon of vintage wine to wash it down. Later with fresh cigarets I stepped with what I thought was seasoned jauntiness into Rue Danou.

I glanced archly into a mirror waiting a taxi. I was not wearing a necktie that evening. The Remarkable Outcome Of The Commission Ruce Tuesday's run-off primary for the nomination of associate members of the City Commission was one of the most remarkable elections in the history of Birmingham. The commanding vote for W. 0.

Downs was an extraordinary show of strength. Mr. Downs goes into office with a popular approval which was not far short of being practically unanimous. His nomination by so overwhelming a vote was a striking manifestation of public confidence in him. Equally remarkable was the division of the vote between the other three candidates.

Only 404 votes separated the high man of the three, Lewey Robinson, and the low man, John H. Taylor. Mr. Robinson received 8,544 votes; W. E.

Dickson, 8,428, and Mr. Taylor, 8,140. None of the three received a majority, and it is a nice point that has been raised as to whether Mr. Robinson is entitled to the nomination. The run-off primary law makes no provision for such a case.

It may be argued that it is the intent of the law that the two high men in such a case should be declared the winners. Or it may be argued that the law was intended to insure a choice by a majority. If that construction should be placed on it, it would seem that another runoff between Mr. Robinson and Mr. Dickson was in order.

In any case, such was the caliber of all of the contestants, the people of Birmingham seem assured of a competent City Commission, made up of Commission President Jones, Mr. Downs and either Mr. Robinson or Mr. Dickson. A BACK O' SHORTS AYMOND HESTER favorite battery assmz to bo "Spick and Span Anyhow, that's tht ha always looks.

Guess a hotel man hat p.t got lo sprue up, as they say in tha pina tre do-trial Speaking of hotel man, they're as happs a a wildcat promoter with an all-day tucker tats weak. Tha Alabama merchants ara holding thru annual conventual And Is Georg Ballanydar bu Has chairman of tha program committee Gaoire and his umbrella Beuha Him Gump uses a brie1, rase for a pocketbook. MoUon Smith says hit isr turned over and landed bottoms tde up on a recent trip ta his farm near Franklin, Tenn There four parsons in tha car and not one received scratch. Mo Hoc must have had his fingers creust whan tha accident started to happen. Gen Hugh Johnson's newest volume will bear tha title.

"Get. ting Hunk With Hank. Heater and Herbert Hem. mond have relumed from a two-week patrol ait in Florida. Brother Hammond remarks that the Ringlmg Museum at Sarasota was one of the mast ini! rating places they visited Ha alao stales that there is a regular building boom In progrex si Miami Beach.

Grover and Emily Cleveland ns returned from Meridian, Mlaa Anna Williams, rwa yet 10, was telling a joke tha other night, her aunt's beau being one of bar audience. Mldw a tha narrative. Anne turned lo auntie and remarked: "You belter finish IL auntie; you know him waller than I do." A good politician with -a inventive mind could make us all happy by fitting up a formula for painless campaign. see The Wilson Harrises are hack from an extended motor trip to Chicago and Naw York. Kinder felting the Chevrolet of Die land, as it were.

Still, they passed up the Shenandoah Valley by not passing up it Tha valley drive is one of tha prettiest in America. Wilson, by the way. is tha only charter member of the lnlra Fratres Club left In the or- Binization. Industry's then song; "Hum. Surrt urn." It tempo must lie faster then th.n of waltz, however.

If you think a coach has in hsvt patience, study the Jobian leanings of a vanity squad for moment. Wa watched JanJi Gillem drilling his Panthers in the art of tack line th other day. No fun to that. One peat husky charges into his buddy while going full strum ahead and his pal' has to tackle him. Those who put op the soft pedal in the spirit of fratemiutimi are soon spotted by the head coach, and the do is doubted as he looks on with a critical eye.

An athlete is just as liable to get injured in a Mum like this as he is in a regular game. Wouldn you hate to be injured and out of the game for several weeks in preliminaries like these Gen. Hugh Johnson would doubtless like to chunk hunks of anthracite at the soft coal boys. The Ham is now wrestling with sn epidemic of mosquitoes. The skeeters work in this manner.

They cruise around yo'ir head in battle formation. Finally one skectei say "What ia this dome-shaped thing we are buzzing around?" Another replies: "I don't know I'll bite. What is it? That's when the fun starts the chief shoveler could only add a akeetcr mashi and a couple of ant-ealers to the fixtures at Nose-To-The-Grindslone he'd be the happiest of wight. Sig Bauer brings us to task for confusing the name of Harvey Bailey with Desperado Kelly. Si says it was Kelly that the croquet players captured and held for officers.

Optimist: The fisherman ho figures a two-ouncc minnow is the equivalent of a three-pound bass. Charlie Pogue sweats that rural natives of Florida who live in the Evergladrz section hunt hogs with dogs and then sell their catch. In other words, an Evergladas porker he-longs to nobody in particular, and if you catch him he's yours. Speaking of catching things, measlei is always "they in a little town. Unless it turns out to be them." Johnny Reb is back in the retail business, deciding that more males want clothes than they do investments.

Ed Scouten says that Paschal Shook, who kidded him about being the victim of a pickpocket at the world fair, took a loss on the hip from a dip" to the tune of 60 bucks while taking in the fair. "I'm just a little over a tenth as big a sucker as Mr. Shook." said Scouten, "as my losses in dollars were held to the early teens." The chief shoveler lias never been affluent enough to tempt a pickpocket. And he has never had a car speedy enough to warrant a warrant charging a violation of the speed limit. A friend of ours just back from Ole Miss voices this prediction: I never saw bigger, better or faster men than Ole Miss boasts.

Tne Old Lady will go much further in a football way this year than she did last- Another friend of ours aays that Huey Long always accompanies a Louisiana football team c-ut of the state for its intersectional battles, and then proceeds to steel the show from the athletes. It Douglas Fairbanks had been a girl, possibly he could have married a title. Walter Winchel! is back on the air. but hasn't said a word about the bold Cheltenham I that Al Jolson presented him with not so far back. The man who is sitting on top of the world had best equip himself with sliding pads.

George Cohan is over 60, but his mind is young enough to cope with the trend for comedv changes. He made quite a hit with his first programs on the air. Cohan Harris used to be the name of his theatrical production company. Harris was Jewish and Cohan was not. Operatives report that draft beer is being sold over the counter tn the Ham at 10 cents per glass.

When repeal comes the alcoholiday will be over. Broadway McDavid takes up the game of golf after a two-year retirement from the links. The genial Joe asserts that something has just got to be done about girth-control. Otherwise he'll nave to grow a set of whiskers and play Santa Claus during the Yule season. College days are upon us and fraternities are taking on the appearances of "rat" traps.

Jane Anne reports that she has several kennels of toy black and tan wire-haired terriers and is ready to market canines in a big way. A wire-haired terrier ought to make a good antenna for a radio set in a pinch. We know of one case where a lightning bug lit on a wire-haired terrier, caused a short circuit and the poor dog was electrocuted. Surprises are coming so thick and fast these days that the exception is about to merge with the rule. What we to know is: Did Bill Hamilton use to rope cons in Jefferson County or somewhere in Texas? Tic old question of how many boys can sit on a bench has been answered for a long time so far as the U.

S. Supreme Court is concerned. It's seven. John McGee, new director of the- Little Theater, tells quite a number of interesting stories in connection with escapades and mishaps on the stage One of the best has to do with a production in a Western town not so many years ago. According to Mr.

McGee, a scfcne in the play called for the hero to dive off a cliff and into a pool of water. Mattress and springs had been placed in the bottom of the pool, and to make the thing more realistic a property man was to oe in the pool and throw a bucket of water out when the hero hit the pool this to represent the splash. At this particular engagement, for some reason or other, the mattress and springs had been left out of the pool. Unmindful of this fact, the hero completed a beautiful jackknife from the cliff and landed with a resounding bump upon the floor of the pool. The property man arose to the occasion, however.

He refused to dash the bucket of water from the pool on the sound of the "bum! Instead he stuck his head from the surface of the make-believe pool and shouted to the audience: "Believe it or not, it's July, and damned if the lake ain froze over! ANTHEMS DE NATIONALE The Italian craves spaghetti, The Chink must have his rice; The Frenchman wants his aged champagne. The black man wants his dice. The Englishman, tea at five o'clock, From the day that he is bom- -But the thing that pleases Birmingham Is Shelby County corn. DIG EM UP. QUIPS AND QUIBBLINGS BY ROBERT QUILLEN America a Moat Quoted Parajrrapher 1933.

Publiahera Syndicate VOICE OF THE PEOPLE RTprpMionB from rcodAm upon topic of current or general Intorrr are welcomed. Writing ahntjld bo on one tide of the parer only and should not eicoed 300 worda. Anomrnoua communication! will not be printed and letter unaccompanied by self- add reseed, ittmpsd envelope will not be returned The News rvservea the right to shorten letter of excessive length. Maybe it just seems easier to tune out other stations now because they all sound alike. One reason why the killers of policemen seldom die in the chair Ls because they don't live to get there.

The cop Who was afraid he would seem yellow if he pulled his gun too soon is survived by a widow and five children. The circumstantial evidence that convicts many criminals includes the evidence of previous convictions. We re afraid the farmer won get permanent relief until he plows under every third market speculator. And now when the man asks if you'll go along quietly, you can't tell whether he's a cop or a kidnaper. Fable: He died at the home of his poorest son.

but the other children helped pay the funeral expenses. Small-town movies have one advantage. The knee rubber won't risk it where everybody knows him. Americanism: Refusing to retire because leisure makes you bored and lonely; feeling superior to the idler who knows how to enjoy life. The hard job of the NRA is to establish the necessary balance of spare time and spare change.

The pictures always show nudists on their feet, which is easy to understand if you ever got sand-burs in your pants. The Japanese are proud." Yeah, and we remember reading about the proud Spanish don and the proud Prussian. There are but 5,280 feet in a mile, but you seem aware of a lot more in a real hick town movie theater. Still, it better to sacrifice a little for recovery than to sacrifice everything for want of it Vermont villagers slept on while bandits demolished a safe. They probably thought the Joneses were at it again.

Correct this sentence: We added no men," said the boss, but we shortened hours and that will aid recovery." The Federal Problem Of Controlling Liquor Unless some quite unexpected turn upsets the movement toward repeal of the eighteenth amendment, one of the important problems before the next session of G- ress will be the enactment of measures to regulate the liquor traffic in the United States. Thus far no senator or representative has proposed any definite system of control, although several members of Congress have issued statements calculated to show that federal taxes may be lowered considerably as a result of the new income which is to be derived from liquor rev But we shall need to than merely repeal the pri before the whisky problem United States. Much more than taxation is involved. It will be necessary for Congress to draw up some comprehensive plan such as those which are now in force in Sweden, England and Canada. While it is unlikely that any one of the systems being used in one of those countries would suit our needs exactly, our national leaders would do well to give serious study to the English and Swedish methods, Simply turning the matter over bodily to the various state governments might not prove to be the most satisfactory way of managing the liquor traffic.

Under a system of local option, there is always the complicated difficulty of interstate traffic. A number of years ago, when Alabama was dry and Florida was allowing the sale of whisky, it was simple enough to transport alcoholic beverages from such places as Pensacola and Jacksonville into Alabama territory. Just as in the present situation involving the sale of 3.2 per cent beer in Alabama, the citizens of our commonwealth found it quite easy to obtain liquors prohibited by state laws and the revenues from sales in Alabama swelled the treasuries of the cities and states which had legalized, and taxed, whisky, wine and beer. Unless the federal government establishes some general principles covering the whole nation, the laws of the different states will lack uniformity to such an extent as to cause every possible kind of difficulty. Evasions of every sort will be encouraged by the very lack of standardized practices.

It would be preposterous to propose that all the dry states could patrol their borders in order to prevent the inflowing of illegal beverages. Such a plan would turn state lines into police beats until they became similar to the boundary between Texas and Mexico. It is well known that international boundaries, even when they are marked by great rivers and high mountains, cannot be kept inviolate day and night. Certainly not many commonwealths in the United States would be rich enough to attempt such a thing. The very existence of a dry state across the line from a wet state would reproduce the kind of political and police corruption which has been associated with the era of the eighteenth amendment.

What would be gained by one state in saving the money formerly spent for prohibition enforcement would be lost by other states compelled to redouble their forces, provided they made any effort to give validity to their own prohibition laws. This nation has had enough experience with federal liquor laws to realize that such regulations must not be made too broad and sweeping. The federal government perhaps will never again undertake to dictate blanket regulations as to legalizing or prohibiting the sale of alcoholics. But it would seem appropriate for Congress to THOMAS JEFFERSONS RELIGIOUS VIEWS To the Editor The News: Well, well, well! Thomas Jefferson a Deist! Is that not news? And who in the world would have thought iL and what a calamity on humanity that such was the case. And is it not a wonder that the fact of it did not split the world wide open long ago? But let us look at it square in the face.

Jefferson was only a man as all men are men, with his "views" as all men have their "views, minus any particular cyclonic destructive force over other men to the contrary. The most despicable doctrine extant is that a big man made so by position rather than a superior thinking apparatus, is law and gospel above all others, as low-grade and low-thinking idiots. I will mention two characters only to the reverse to show the fallacy of the tacit or the express assumption to that effect. William E. Gladstone.

of the English Parliament, was not a Deist, but a Christian gentleman of the highest type, with fully as much sense, to say the least of it, as Jefferson ever had. and nobody who knows anything to amount to anything does not know that Christ upheld and sustained the Jewish Old Testament, and that fact could not be gotten rid of without getting rid of Christ, and I am sure that He had as much sense about the matter as Jefferson did, to say the least of it, and was not a narrow-minded religious bigot either. The trouble with these puffers and blowers about things contrary to Christianity proper is they do not know how to differentiate and distinguish between the false and the true relative thereto, and therefore jumble and mess the whole thing up together and hold Christianity proper responsible therefor. We do not have to go outside the lids of the New Testament to find plenty of the kind of religious foolishness so ram-pantingly harped on these days against Christianity, and that fact without doubt verifies the truthfulness of the same. I have Paines complete works, which constitute a cold-blooded, heartless splatter against those who questioned his Deistic views, rather than any meritorious or successful attack on the Bible or Christianity, and it is astonishing therefrom what a goose a man can be when he sets his head to "bust his brains out against the unbustable.

It is a terrible reflection on the Deistic preachment of Jefferson and Paine that after all of the years since their day increase in the sales of the Bible continues with unabated success. There is no doubt but that a great deal of devilment has been done in the name of Christianity, but no truly sensible man will fail to inform himself properly relative thereto and not blame it nor its true followers therefor, and if I cant take such whoopers up in the press and show that they know nothing of Christianity proper, I will agree to hush. Alexander City. Al. W.

R. WHATLEY. I understand the originating group is still hopeful that it will grow in numbers and in influence, though its present stage yet is largely confined to preparatory clarification of its own position. It is not too much to expect that any small group ardently setting out upon this kind of enterprise will trudge onward, no matter how slow the progress, if any. The larger group to whom the few submitted their aspiration, I hear, continued more concerned with insistent immediate problems than with the long view.

But Mr. Laski is not without his comrades of hope in Alabama. GREY OF FALLODOX Seventeen years have elapsed since Viscount Grey, his title new upon him, resigned the office of secretary of state for foreign affairs of Great Britain, having served 11 years. Thereafter he took little part in public life. For a brief four months in 1922 he was ambassador to the United States, and until 1924 he was the leader of the Liberal party in the House of Lords, but aside from occasional appeals in behalf of the League of Nations and of the Liberal party, he spent most of his time in the enjoyment of the woods and the streams on the estate whose name he incorporated into his title.

His major work during his years of retirement was the compilation of the volume of memoirs, Twenty-Five Years." in which he reviewed his part in the momentous events leading up to the war. How great a part it was is readily apparent, despite the modesty that characterizes the narrative, but how creditable it was is still a matter of dispute among historians. A man of greater personal charm probably never sat in the foreign office. Earnest, patient and kindly, he seemed to lack all the wiles traditionally associated with diplomacy. The simplicity of his tastes and the earnestness of his manner inspired a confidence, both at home and abroad, that was perhaps his greatest asset for his post.

Since the war the foreign policy that he shaped for Great Britain during the fateful years between 1905 and 1914 has been much criticized. Some of the criticism was manifestly inspired by the desire to build up a case for the revision of the Treaty of Versailles, notably as regards the guilt of Germany for the war. With the rise of a new militarism in Germany, such criticism is likely to be heard with less frequency. Even so, the belief that once prevailed regarding his great wisdom is not likely to reappear. In the light of the knowledge now available, his policy in many respects seems open to question.

Although no reason exists for believing that Grey was hostilely prejudiced against Germany from the beginning, his sympathy with France was evident, and it led him into commitments the significance of which he apparently did not realize until too late. Until the very end he apparently had persuaded himself that despite the understandings reached with France regarding the course to be taken in the event of war. the freedom of Great Britain was not impaired. Not until the day of reckoning arrived did he realize how completely bound Great Britain was to support France, and his strenuous efforts in the last days of July and the first days of August. 1914.

to prevent the war perhaps reflected his consternation over the situation in which he and the nation suddenly found themselves. Once in the war. Grey showed himself exceptionally resourceful. Through his efforts the secret treaties" were negotiated that brought Italy and eventually Greece into the war on the side of the Allies and his notes in reply to the protests of the United States against the restriction of the freedom of the seas by Great Britain were couched in language that made friends rather than enemies in the United States, and effort in which he enjoyed the perhaps too generous collaboration of the ambassador from the United States, Walter Hines Page. Although Mr.

Lloyd George has only lately declared that the war might have been terminated earlier but for the polidy that Grey pursued during it. he must be accredited with doing much to keep the good will of the United States on the side of Men like Mr. Oden would hardly be found participating in a lynching mob themselves. But the knowledge that such men approve of this brutal and hideous practice spurs the actual lynchers on, and at the same time inevitably lessens the effectiveness of law in the effort to prevent this crime or to bring the guilty ones to justice after a lynching has been committed; for public opinion must stand solidly behind a law if it is to be observed and enforced. There are many men in Alabama like Mr.

Oden and that is why The News believes that some good may come from exposing his viewpoint, as unpleasant as it is to do so, and meeting it with a reasoned appeal to intelligence and civilized decency. It is true that men like Mr. Oden are greatly in the minority in Alabama and in other Southern states; but numerically they are many, and their influence is felt. If it were not for the fact that a small body of public opinion supports them in their slinking, dastardly acts, mobs would not dare to defy the law and commit their crimes against society. Mr.

Oden defends the right to lynch. That is an astounding thing. Yet it is because some men hold that it is right to lynch, even though they would not stoop to it themselves, that others, more ignorant and more bestial, believing them, go forth and kill. What right has any group of men to lynch any man, in a civilized society governed by laws? Most people will readily deny that there is any right to lynch, and will require no proof. But let us examine the question from several standpoints.

If lynching were right, could we not expect, on a question so simple and clear-cut, to find a majority public opinion supporting that view? Yet all the evidence will show that the majority opinion holds that lynching is wrong. For example, in all the states, legislatures representative of the popular will have enacted laws proclaiming lynching a crime and providing for its. punishment. Grand juries, likewise representative of the public, act whenever they can to bring lynchers to justice, and strongly condemn the practice in any case. No legislature or no grand jury could be found a majority of whose members would uphold lynching.

Again, the press, reflecting public opinion, is practically a unit in denouncing lynchings, wherever they occur. There can be no doubt that the majority public opinion everywhere in this country opposes lynching; it is only a small minority opinion that upholds it, and a still smaller minority that practices it. What right has any mob to take the law. into its own hands, and act as prosecutor, jury, judge and executioner all in one? There could be no 25 YEARS AGO TODAY As Recorded In The Files Of The Birmingham News Of This Date Sunday No paper issued. RIPPLING RHYMES BV WALT MASON Copsrlfht, 1933, by Gmrga Matthew Adame PLPILS OF WILLIAM JAMES A bond between Franklin D.

Roosevelt, president of the United States, and Miss Gertrude Stein, the author, is disclosed in her autobiography, which has recently been published under the characteristic guise of an Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas. They were both pupils of William James, the Harvard psychologist and philosopher. The president was recently said by Mr. Moley to have been inspired in part at least by Dr.

James' famous essay calling for A Moral Equivalent for War" in working cut the plan for the Civilian Conservation Corps. What Miss Stein learned from the great pragmatist is not disclosed in the autobiography. She does relate, however, that she once wrote at the top of an examination paper: Dear Prof. James, I am so sorry, but I do not feel bit like an examination paper in philosophy today." She explains that she had been up late the night before to hear an opera. Dr.

James apparently understood her disinclination to explore the outer limits of human thought and not only sent her a sympathetic note by mail, but gave her the highest mark in the class Perhaps he would have understood her Tender Buttons," too, and on the same principle have given her credit for not doing what she did not feel like doing, that is, writing what was expected. Hartford CouranL AT THE CLEANER'S E'VE been taken to the cleaner, all of a the high and low; chastened now is our demeanor. as we journey to and fro; we hate felt misfortune's switches, we have fallen in th ditches, and no man Can show the riches that he had five years ago. We've been taken to the clean all the delegates in sight; your misfortunes are no keener than the woes of t'other wight; every go has had his losses, and financial double-crosses, tili. forsaking all his josses, he disturbed with wails the night.

But the clouded skies are clearing, says the jrophet, in his den. and that better day is nean ong desired by stricken men; pretty soon we, have our chances, as prosperity advances, to er- gage in merry dances and to sing and smile agar very gent has been a student of the hole in which he's mired, and he says he will be prudent who: the blamed old slump is fired; once when al! tht world was sunny he was blowing in his with a recklessness most funny now such conduct makes him tired. We've been taken to the cleaner we have lost our bottom buck, and we live on mildewed wiener where we once had mallard duck but we ll make a better showing when the wear1 slump is going, and our wisdom will be glowing, in the mire we won't be stuck. THIRTY-SIX YEARS Today George Truett begins his thirty-seventh year as pastor of the First Baptist Church. His people rejoice with him.

But when you speak of George Truetts people, of course, you can stop with Baptists only you include all Dallas. Indeed, you cant stop there; there is no telling where you can stop, unless you can measure the periphery of a long life spent in loving and serving humanity the world around. From jail cells to cathedral altars. from cottage beds of pain to counting house desks of high command, from little children at play to councils of state and nation, thousands know George Truett and are remembered by him in his daily walk and work and prayer. The farther he travels toward the setting sun the longer and the kindlier is the shadow that he casts over the hearts of men.

Dallas Morning News,.