The Charlotte News

Friday, January 13, 1939

FOUR EDITORIALS

Site Ed. Note: "Between the Acts"--besides being a little interesting for its coincidence in title with that of Virginia Woolf's last novel, published posthumously in 1941, to which we have alluded before as forming oddly some of the basis for our particular initial research, at least that which we did in any dedicated manner, on Cash back in 1991--lays forth Cassandrianly what was to occur in the ensuing seven and a half months, indeed, more generally, what would occur during the ensuing two and a half years to within nine days of Cash's own death, especially as it reaches its last paragraph. The editorial not only provides what Hitler was about to do with respect to Poland, but why--simply put, not only to obtain the crucial Corridor and its controlling Polish trading center at Danzig, but moreover to afford immediate access to the Ukraine and Russia--which of course would not become a hot spot until Operation Barbarossa began, June 22, 1941. Wheat for bread to feed armies. Oil for trucks and tanks and planes to convey from front to front and arm them.

All in good time, my Littles, said he, after all. And then gobbled every single one, almost. That is, until it rained in October and in December the Sleepy Giant awoke from his drowse and joined the Lion and Bear to break the wills of the--Wolf, the Fox and the Tiger.

Yet, as the six, arguably seven, years of smoke cleared, the whole forest then realized that too many of its inhabitants were no more as a result of the long battle over land and resources, and megalomaniacal will to power over all the other animals, all triggered by haranguing appeals to tear-wrenching sentiment, coupled with house-blowing Wolfish force to instill it, and too much among the animals of lending themselves to such appeals without a mental fight, without debate, lulled on the one hand by the hedonism of their times to sleep and by hunger on the other to acquiesce to that sentiment rather than rational thought, such that eventually they became unable and also even afraid to think for themselves, in turn allowing then prejudices regarding minor differences perceived between the animals combined with belief too much in the easy displacement of individual accomplishment by that of unified national accomplishment easily to be exploited to whip more and more emotion and tear-wrenching pride, until, seeing red all around, physical fighting from that feeling was all the animals could do--with the ultimate result that 50 million of the animals were no more.

And so they all got together, did the chiefest animals in the forest, and made a pact to form a place for brokering disputes, and, with Pandora at large, set in motion by the will of the Wolf, and Pandora being for the time incapable of being set back in its box, this brokering table, despite its many critics some of whom believe that divine prophecy warns against it as a harbinger of apocalypse, on at least one occasion saved the world from probable Armageddon between the Giant and the Bear, one such as the world had never seen before, though it had already seen far too many.

And, over the years hence, as walls and boundaries--economic, cultural and physical--slowly dissipated for the time between them, all the little animals of the forest remained relatively quiet, save for an occasional rooster or mangy dog rousting some of the other animals now and again in some of the deeper and less accessible parts of the woods.

Which is why, now, a moderate, as opposed to excessively expensive and altogether impractical, program is once again in order. Impractical because to have its excesses means eventually, for its sustenance, it will demand exercise, as all such programs do by their inherent collective animalistic howl in nature, and that will to howl, as we have seen recently, is the true harbinger for the most disastrous of consequence for the forest.

FDR responded to world events, some thought too slowly, but nevertheless, he only responded. He did not create them by rousting the other animals, as did the Wolf, the Fox and the Tiger. We think his example in this regard is the proper one. Post hoc, ergo propter hoc can be, and usually is, applied to just about every event of consequence, be it good or ill. But the hoc which produces war is the same id carried further which impels a punch to the face. Equip that same id with a gun and whip it enough, and the result is usually death. Moderate equipment, moderate preparedness, reasonable discipline, are far more effective in the long-run in dealing with matters than constant states of alert and so disciplined preparedness as to result in robotic, mechanistic megalomaniacs, incapable of independent thought, that which in fact produced the Wolf.

Thus our lesson today in zoology--with a little marine biology being thrown in by the first editorial.

Nor have we forgotten the snake, which works by stealth subterraneanly in your own backyard, using fear of its deadly poison and hypnotism of its prey as its most potent weapons.

President Roosevelt yesterday very neatly pulled the teeth of opposition to his rearmament plans. The story had gone around that he was going to ask 7,000 new planes for the army, and perhaps 3,000 more for the navy. And it was on that line that the opposition groups had begun to form: the convinced isolationists like Borah, Hi Johnson, and Bennett Clark, and the people, mainly Republicans like Ham Fish, but also including some Democrats with views like that of our columnist, Old Ironpants Johnson, who were preparing to argue that the rearmament scheme was hysterical, that it went far beyond anything that we could reasonably need, and that its real aim was not military protection at all but stampeding the people into unquestioning unity and extravagance behind the New Deal.

But 3,000 planes is a very reasonable request. It obviously is too small a force to justify the fears of the isolationists that the Administration is planning "foreign aggression." And too small, too, to lend color to the Ham Fish school of thought. The latter, indeed, was never worthy of respect among sensible men, for it began by assuming that the President is a scoundrel. Obviously Mr. Roosevelt does hope that the rearmament program will help business; so does everybody else for that matter. And it is not improbable that he is cannily aware of its value in diverting attention from unpleasant facts at home. But plainly the first consideration in his mind is precisely what he says it is: national defense.

The ten-cent taxis have certainly reformed. According to Dick Young's interesting "Reporter On Assignment" in yesterday's paper, not a single claim or suit has been filed against the bonding fund since the cabs came back on the streets last July. The report went on to say, furthermore, that--

That's just fine. We always have maintained, even while cussing out the ten-centers for abomination and an unholy nuisance, that there was a need for the service they rendered and that they ought to be allowed to do business provided they did it right and could guarantee their public liability, which is great. Apparently they are now doing business in the right way, and perhaps some insurance company could be induced to insure them. Indeed, it is highly important that this be done, for they are virtually uninsured now, with only $11,400 covering 53 cabs. One good messy accident could wipe out that fund, and, besides, it figures only $215 a cab. Most of us who carry liability insurance would never think of taking out less than $5,000-$10,000 per vehicle, and our probability of mischance is not nearly so great.

Site Ed. Note: Indeed, had there been a virtual embargo through high tuition costs on Yankees, why then many of those great hoopers, Glamack, Rosenbluth, Brennan, Kearns, Quigg, Larese, Moe, Shaffer, Brown, Cunningham, Lewis, Miller, Grubar, Scott, Fogler, Wuycik, Chamberlain, and others, (some who even majored in Portuguese), might never have been induced by the prospect of having fellow Yankees around them, to come south. And all of that revenue to the University from these pursuits every season, stimulated by this past, might be other places.

NYU?

No, silly, Duke.

So whenever you look to the stars in the blue heaven, thank them for them damn Yankees of yore--and the NYC playgrounds, which, we are told, inspired many a youngster in the towns and villages of the South also to hoop shoot on a nearby playground, failing the existence of which, to throw up a 4x4 post and attach a piece of plywood and a rim of some sort to it on the nearest handy plot, and attempt to perform, while listening in their heads, to time their hands and feet, to some really good magically mysterious music of their time, all in varying degrees of wizardry and magicianship, likewise balletics.

And, for our money, it remains the best bargain in education in all the land.

The prompt and vociferous protest of the Budget Commission's recommended $50 increase in tuition fees at the three branches of the University ($45 at State College) has brought out an interesting sidelight. Thus the Associated Press yesterday:

Several hundred nothing! Not by our definition of several. Registrar Dr. Tommy Wilson reported only a few days ago that of a student body of 3,500 at Chapel Hill, 1,023, or nearly a third, were out-of-staters. And where do you suppose most of these students come from? From neighboring states like South Carolina and Virginia? Nope. Last year the South Carolinians at the University at Chapel Hill were 70. The largest number of out-of-state students was from New York, with 298. Next was New Jersey with 128.

It would be a great mistake and do much harm to the University if the Legislature placed an embargo on Yankees, but it would be a greater mistake if provision is not made to admit North Carolinians first and to raise tuition fees for outsiders to approximately what tuition costs.

It is impossible for anyone to be sure, of course; but it is probable that the business now taking place in Rome is merely a little curtain play between the acts of the major European drama which is entitled "Lord Hitler Has His Way." If war comes this year, it is not likely to come from the Italian situation as it stands now. What is going to happen seems pretty clearly indicated by the very vociferousness and emphasis with which Daladier and his cohorts have been announcing that France will fight before she gives up an inch of territory.

Mussolini probably has never had in mind officially to demand French territory at the present time. What he wants is certain concessions, including probably recognition of Franco.

And for the granting of all these things, the stage is plainly set. France won't be asked to give up any territory. Mr. Bumble will be able to say that the Italian demands look quite reasonable to him, and Daladier will be enabled to grant them easily, because of the great relief of the French people in having escaped territorial demands and the prospect of immediate war. Indeed, we shall probably see this business of yielding to Mussolini presented exactly as the yielding to Hitler at Munich was presented--another great victory for peace.

Moreover, once Mussolini gets these things and particularly the recognition of Franco, he will probably remain quiet for a while. For the business of finally conquering Spain and turning it into an Italo-German state will require considerable time and all his energies.

The real danger to peace probably lies in the East--and most immediately in Poland.

From the tone of the German kept press, it is quite clear that Adolf Hitler means this year to try to revive the conditions of the Brest-Litovsk treaty by re-creating the Ukrainian Republic, as a nominally free state which will actually be the vassal of Germany.

***

The great part of this Ukraine lies in Russia--embracing a territory nearly as large as Germany and including 32,000,000 people. But there are about seven million Ukrainians in Poland and half a million in Ruthenia. These peoples are the so-called Little Russians, who speak a different language from that of the Great Russians. They have often rebelled against Moscow since they first came under its domination in the nineteenth century. And the harshness with which the Soviet regime put down the objection among these people to collectivist farming resulted in a famine which is said to have cost two million lives. Add the bitterness born of that to the old separatist sentiment, and it is plain that Hitler has grounds for hoping to stir up a rebellion against Moscow.

In his turn, he has every reason to exert himself to come by the possession of this country. For it is the richest part of Russia, supplying one-fifth of all the country's wheat, one-third of its barley, 65 per cent of its coal (the Donats Basin, in the extreme southeast of the territory, contains the greatest anthracite reserve on earth), 65 per cent of its iron, 50 per cent of its manufactured steel, and 65 per cent of its farm machinery, besides cattle, lumber, cotton, and oil.

And to make the case perfect, he even has his ready-made excuse. In the Ukraine proper, there are about a thousand localities in which the descendants of German immigrants of the eighteenth and nineteenth-century live--to the number of about half a million.

But now, if you look at a map, you'll see that Adolf's natural route to the Ukraine lies straight across the Polish plains. He can, indeed, go by way of Rumania, but that means a difficult mountain road.

Moreover, it is perfectly certain that Russia will never submit to the loss of this territory without a fight. And that being so, it is plainly up to Adolf to bring Poland to heel, to turn her into such a puppet state as Czechoslovakia now is, as the first step in his march. But Poland shows every sign of being quite unwilling to submit to such a fate. She has already publicly renewed her defensive alliance with Soviet Russia, and entered into a trade pact with that country by way of emphasizing her unwillingness to become Hitler's satellite. And so far as the evidence goes, Hitler was unable to scare Dr. Beck out of that position in the conversations that took place last week.

***

But Adolf, of course, is not going to be stymied so easily. And so it is eminently probable that before long we shall see him beginning to raise up an uproar about the Polish Corridor and the treatment of Germans in Poland. And when he does, war may very well be the result. For not only are France and Russia bound to defend Poland, but also the prospect of Germany's controlling the enormous resources of the Ukraine is too frightening to all the Western powers to make it likely that they will submit to another Munich.

And, what's more, señor y señora o señorita, a year later came forth a long player with some grooves on it, also called to mind by the piece, not to mention by some of the above, too.

So, with those reasons for its inclusion thus imparted, here 'tis:

Did Buffalo Bill Once Drive Stage In Lincoln County?

Col. Warren A. Fair, Lincoln Times

Lincolnton used to be on the main line of travel from the South, and Southwest, to Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, and New York. From New Orleans travelers journeyed up the Mississippi River by boat to Memphis, Tenn., thence by stage coach to Atlanta, Ga., to Greenville, S. C., to Spartanburg, to Lincolnton, on past Vesuvius Furnace--one mile up Anderson's Creek from the William A. Graham place--to Beatties Ford, on to Salisbury, Danville, Charlottesville, Va., to Washington D.C.

At that time--1835 to 1860--Beatties Ford was quite a prosperous community. In that vicinity lived the Burtons, Hoyles, Conners, Wheelers, Bynums, Shipps, Brevards, Grahams, Johnstons, and many other distinguished families. Old Unity Presbyterian Church was the "meeting house" for this fine and cultured civilization. Senators and Congressmen from the South passed through here on their way to and from the capital of the nation. Catawba Springs, in Lincoln County, was quite a resort, with an elaborate hotel and much gaiety. This was a favorite stop-over point with the families of the Senators and Congressmen, wearied by the journey to and from Washington.

***

William Michal Summey, grandfather of Grover Summey, when quite a young man, drove one of the stages from Lincolnton to Salisbury. A young man named Bill Cody drove the other coach between these two points and they usually met at Catawba Springs.

As the railroads were built the business of the stage coach lines began to fall off and some years before the War Between the States broke out the Lincolnton-Salisbury line fell into financial difficulties.

The last trip Michal Summey made as stage coach driver he met Bill Cody a few miles beyond Beatties Ford. They pulled up on the side of the road for a chat and an exchange of information. Cody informed Summey that "the company is busted and the sheriff in Salisbury is seizing all the line's property." "Turn around, Mike and drive your team out of this country," was Cody's advice to Summey. He told Summey he was going West with his coach and six horses and "to hell with the sheriff and the company too!" The last Summey saw of Cody and his six-horse team he was headed towards Lincolnton and going at a fast trot.

Summey drove on to Salisbury with his coach and six horses and upon arrival there the sheriff of Rowan County promptly took charge of the coach and teams and Summey was "out of a job."

There is a tradition that the late Col. William E. Cody--Buffalo Bill--was, in his younger years, a stage coach driver in North Carolina, and it is well known that he was a stage coach driver in the beginning of his career in the wild and woolly West.

Can any of you older citizens throw any light on just who the Bill Cody of the Lincolnton-Salisbury stage coach line really was? There are a number of Cody's living now in Lincoln County. Are any of them kin to Buffalo Bill Cody?

Framed Edition

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