The Charlotte News

Saturday, March 22, 1941

FIVE EDITORIALS

Site Ed. Note: "No Draft" brings to mind the matter of draft resistance in this country during the Vietnam War, the war which caused greater, more publicized resistance to the draft than any other in our country's history--though in quieter ways, usually through purchasing substitutes or by skeedaddling, the Civil War certainly spawned much resistance, too, Mark Twain in fact being one of the best known draft resisters of that era when he left his beloved Missisippi River and Missouri and headed west to San Francisco for the purpose.

In a concurring opinion, Justice Douglas wrote words then, quoting heavily from the Koran, which ring poignantly to hory headline stories regarding ineffable acts of terrorism of the last year, stories which in our opinion are scarcely fit for adults, even adults of seasoned sensibilities, to read. (Meanwhile, many complain not about that but rather about offensive language on television and in music and movies, language heard in every gym class from junior high school onward by anyone with ears to hear, and for time immemorial, at least for the time since junior high school gym class came into the curriculum. Shall we therefore ban gym, too?)

The question which inevitably arises from these quotations in Justice Douglas's opinion is whether they, as with any language taken from a religious scripture, are to be taken literally. Or poetically.

Since we cannot read Arabic, except as numerated, we cannot propose to say whether in that language there is a different word for the literal term as opposed to the metaphorical use as above in the second meaning of "behead". But regardless, words as defined literally by dictionaries may be employed by the poet, or scripturalist, in another sense than the literal, to fit contextually the spirit of the whole work in which they appear.

Thus, query whether the promise of paradise in the Koran may be only to those who understand the poetic, rather than to those who take the meaning of that which is written so damnably literally.

We might query further, too, whether if, as it is written in the Koran, jihad is a war between the recognition of monotheisim and polytheisim, then has not that war properly ended by and large long ago, with the decrepitude and relegation to anachronism of Greco-Roman and Viking mythologies, and other such polytheistic views of the universe, largely now obsolete in most world religions.

Is the definition of the one true God, Elohim, Jahweh, Jehovah, Allah, what have you, more a matter of names and slight shades of different meaning than ultimately a matter of substantive dispute as to what "god", as defined alternately as a benevolent or punitive spirit, based on the subject's conduct in life judged ultimately only by that god, truly means?

In the Christian meaning, for instance, God is defined as a unified concept of three distinct spirits, Father, Son and Holy Ghost, nevertheless a monotheistic religious view.

We observe, too, in passing, that it might be wise, rather than to spit in the face of those with whom one does not concur over ancient perceived wrongs in matters of war and death, to sit peacefully instead and discuss the differences of point of view, including different premises in the matter, and the reasons for them, then or now, for better and lasting peace.

Thus, we might guess, it is far less likely that some future poet de guerre in millennia yet to come might have to write woefully of that time far ago, reduced to sand, when man could not hinge to earth his vaunting desire for acquisition, to seat his own single point of view as that enthroned in emotional exultation, rationalizing the irrational, such that then the Tubes Rose and devoured the earth in flame and ash.

But, that's just our view.

And, speaking of sport, congratulations to the Tar Heels for a championship well won as a unified team in 2005, in a non-bloody, innocent contest of will 'n' wisp. Would it were that others would take up the example rather than its bloody, primitive antecedents.

Net an' yahoo!

The All-American Mr. May, sing the truth, scores the points ev'ry time he shoots/ Play' basketball like he invented the game that brought Carolina so much fame/ Then there is Rashad, him too, dances Basketball into the Hoop,/ Makes three-point shots like child's play coup/ The Wills, they shot 27 of fifty-two/ Tar Heels Number One, win almost all, play' just for fun/ Champaign, they wilted at thirty-seven, scared the heck out o' ol' Blue Hea'en/ Manuel, Mr. Defense-man, blocks the ball ev'ry time he can/ Throw down the court to Jawad or Mel/ Other team caused to be felled/ Felton with the Tar Heel team/ Helped knock Illini off the beam/ Win the game with two free throw/ To be the star of the Gateway Show/ Tar Heels Number One, win almost all, play' just for fun/ The one-loss giant wilted for thirty-three/ Scared the heck out of you and we. (Apologies and kudos to Mr. Carmichael for the slight changes to the '57 Kansas City ditty.) And, sing thee, Noel.

One might even say, that with Defense, they be-Headed their opponent--figuratively, that is.

...The Friday Night Fights, brought to you (on Boxing Day) by Gillette, the razor that shaves close every time. The Boxer.

Let Us Get the Airport First, Then Work Out Details

It is unfortunate that Mr. John H. Small Jr. has attempted to start a controversy over the $60,000 airport bond election. That Mr. Small is carrying around within him a peeve against Mayor Douglas is public knowledge, and it may be that this fact will nullify the more or less pointless objections he has raised.

If Mr. Small didn't want a secondary airport, was opposed to the expenditure of any money at all for aviation facilities, his attitude would be understandable. Since he states, however, that "this is the time to get an airport," it is difficult to see what he aims to accomplish.

The principal purposes to which this money would be put, in the event that the people authorized its expenditure, are:

1. The purchase at a cost of some $15,000, of a tract of land to be made into an airport by the further expenditure of more than $300,000 of Federal funds.

2. The purchase of additional land, if it is needed, for the expansion of the Air Base at the old airport.

Now, the precise manner in which these two airports are to be operated, a question which apparently disturbs Mr. Small so greatly that he would defeat the bond election unless it be answered to his entire satisfaction, is the cart in the case. The horse comes first.

The logical procedure would seem to be to get the airport first and then discuss the details of its operation, such as where to put the refreshment stand. And inasmuch as the defeat of this bond at issue will mean that at least two years must elapse before the Legislature can authorize another election, always with the probability that the $300,000-plus Federal contribution will be no longer available, we consider that the choice of the voters, despite Mr. Small's warnings to the contrary, is open and shut.

Having Wrecked German Hope Once, They May Do It Again

The Germans must have met the Serbs before, and must remember it uneasily. This stubborn people, about whom the storms of the last war began, had much to do with the great break-through on the Eastern front in 1918 and the collapse of Austria--the beginning of the end of the Hun's first attempt at world mastery.

Their determined refusal to submit to Hitler may drive the Yugoslav Government to reconsider its attempt to take the country into the Axis--an attempt engendered by pro-Nazi Croat ministers who imagine that the move will give their people greater power within the state as against the Serbs.

And if it doesn't and the Serbs decide to resist, as they give every indication of doing, the Nazis will face a far more difficult task than that of subduing Rumania. The mountain country is better adapted to defense and guerrilla tactics than most of Rumania. Unlike their close cousins, the Russians, they are powerful and clever fighters.

Internal rebellion would be almost as good from the British viewpoint as if Yugoslavia as a whole defied Hitler. What the British want most is time. And the Nazis will hardly dare attack through Bulgaria until they have first pacified Yugoslavia, else they might be flanked through the Serbian mountains.

Contrast With U.S. May Cause Canada Trouble

In Ottawa, according to the Associated Press, a stormy scene was precipitated in the Canadian House of Commons when George White (Conservative) demanded that Parliament "face the facts and admit that conscription of manpower for service anywhere in the world is the only answer to the present situation."

The debate was over extending the period of conscription for home defense of Canada from 30 days to four months--a measure that passed.

In fact, it is hard to justify the insistence of the Canadian Government on a purely volunteer policy in face of the fact that the United States has already adopted the draft for men between 21 and 35 for a year's service--longer if we should go to war or the emergency justifies it.

The Canadian Defense authorities claim they are getting along all right without the draft. The fact that only 6,000 men are to be called up under the four months provision hardly bears it out.

One reason for the hesitancy is undoubtedly the prickly problem of the French-Canadians who gave the government a bad headache in the last war with their violent resentment, and often even defiance, of the draft.

Nevertheless, with great armies of United States men training, it is going to be increasingly hard for the Canadians to justify their timid policy in the eyes of questioning citizens of this country.

President Neatly Skirts Around Senate's Power

The President has neatly side-stepped Article II, Sec. 2, of the Constitution, which says:

In 1934 Mr. Roosevelt presented to the Senate a treaty with Canada for the harnessing of the St. Lawrence River and opening up of the Lake region to ocean-going navigation. The Senate rejected it.

The President has now signed another treaty with Canada to the same purpose. Only, now he calls it an "agreement for the national defense" by way of bringing it under the extraordinary powers granted him for that purpose. And proposes to get it accepted simply by resolution which requires only a majority and not two-thirds consent.

For all we know, it may or may not be a good thing to develop the St. Lawrence. With the merits of that dispute we are not concerned.

What seems fairly clear is that it has precious little to do with national defense. The project cannot be completed in less than five years, when the present emergency will either be over or the world will be in ruins. And the claim that it is necessary to get power in that region for national defense industries is puerile. The coal deposits of America still exist.

It is clear enough, in short, that it is a scheme to use national defense and its extraordinary powers to put over what could not be put over in the Senate if it were presented for what it really is.

Precisely this kind of tricky maneuvering has done more to breed suspicion of the President than all the Burton Wheelers and all the Republicans.

Framed Edition

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