PAGE TWO
With the Editor—
An Amazing Thing, This Draft.
Which Way Does 'ihe Road Lead
This draft is an amazing thing.
From th day two years ago when we threw a
ROTC rifle into the air tocelebrate the peace at
Munich the world has come a long way.
In those days prophets and peace-mongers even
told us what road we would travel on the way to
We read the signs and told ourselves that
•
was no road for us.
Today we are traveling along it at full speed,
sure it is the right road and the right direction,
still a bit sorry that it must be so. We are as sin
cere today as we were two years ago. That is the
amazing thing.
We have come a long way since President Roos
evelt 13 months ago on a Sunday night just after
war had broken told the nation it must be neutral
in deed. if not in thought.
Today we are neither, and we are glad of it. For
that change the immediate cause is France. We
had read about little people•and little nations fall
ing under foot and were properly shocked, but it
took France to really jolt us. The tales of fifth
column and sabotage of the political structure only
clarified our own situation, made clearer the road
we have to travel to preserve our way of life.
We have foregone the idea of peace and unin
terrupted continuance of our present way of life.
That we are accepting the draft shows that we
have accepted the crisis. This is important. There
are more steps ahead of us. Taken gradually. they_
will be no harder to traverse than those V,e , have
traversed until now. It is too bad we must waste
the time.
Until we accept war, there are a few steps to
be . traveled. It is a logical step in the series we
have been following. The only preventitive would
be a swift British victory. Prolonged British fight
ing would bring us into the war soon. Immediate
British defeat will restore peace for a time but
capitalism and totalitarianism will not live peace
fully for long in the world that follows.
If we will admit that our way is the weaker and
less desirable we need not fight. We can agree
with Anne Morrow Lindberg that what is now go
ing on in Europe is revolution, that the accumu
lated aspects we have , learned to hate are only the
scum on the surface of the wave, that rather than
waste blood against the inevitable we should
change now and peacefully.
We apparently are not ready to admit these
things. We are willing to. accept preventitive
measures: Destroyers to Britain, bombers to
Britain, and American men into the army. We
are going to defend our way of life. We are arm
ing for defense, still hoping it will keep us out
of war. The Collegian before has taken the poSi
tion that we will not be kept out of the war. It
still holds to that view and it believes that even
war is preferable to premanent and' irrevocable
tGtalitarianism.
The draft is a sign that we are accepting this sit
uation. We are accepting the idea that democracy
is better than Fascism and the difference is worth
fighting for if necessary.
Our next job is to stop being half-hea.i:ted. Since
I 938 we have come a long way, but the road ahead
is still full of toil and sweat and, maybe, blood.
There is one thing to be said for the record. The
Collegian has never advocated immediate armed
intervention in this war. It believes intervention
now would be futile. It has urged, however, that
we take all other steps possible to prepare our
selves to put up the strongest fight possible when
the moment comes at which our aid will count for
something real. This is war-mongering. but it is
also facing the facts.
THE DAILY COLLEGIAN
"For A Better Penn State"
Successor to the Penn State Collegian, established 1904. and
the Free Lance, established 1887
Wednesday Morning, October 16, 1940
Published daily except Sunday and Monday during the
regular College year by the students 'of The Pennsylvania
State College. Entered ns second-claws matter July 5, 1931,
nt the post-ofiit,.. et, State Collegs, Pa., under the act of
Mar, 3, 1873.
Edina:
Adam A. Smt-zer
iktors
'4l ; No.w, EE. Foe, kr '4l : Elitor
rio '4l : ' nagi..l;: Editor
Lay:. '4l : irnon's Editov ---ArilLa L.
leflrran '4l ; Promotion Manager—Edythe B.
Bick.l %It .
Advertising Manager—John H. Thomas '4l; Circulation
Manager—Robert G. Robinson '4l ; Senior Secretary—Ruth
Goldstein '4l Senior Secretary—Leslie H. Lewis '4l.
Editorial and Business Office
313 Old Main Bldg.
Dial 711
Manntring Editor This Issu:.
New.: Editor This Issue
Women's Issue Editor .
Sophomore Acsistvit
13usirs...3 r...7 , ar.a0r
Lawrence S. Dr'....• , ,-.2:- '4l
_ yia~ Glita;
MENEM
- Downtown Office
119-121 South Frazier St.
Dial 4372
_Ralph C. Routsong. Jr.' '4l
__Stanley J. PoKempner '42
________Jeanne C. Stiles '42
Jana.. D. Olkein
A LEAN AND HUNGRY LOOK
111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111M
From what we've been able to glean from the
reports of our spies, this past week-end was not
wpat could be called with justice a Heller. Indeed,
the local gendarmerie informed us that it had re
ceived but one complaint from the outraged cit
izenry. And that merely because of a besotted
.gentleman who fell asleep on a horn button in an
automobile that apparently was not his own.
The Corner reported nothing beyond the ordi
nary, with the possible exception of two students
who, having become enraged at each other, spent
several happy moments throwing food about. Re
sides' man on horseback could add nothing to any
thing. The cab business has lost much of its for
mer romance. We were fairly disappointed at
these indications of a growing sadness on the part
Of one and all. Down hi the Dog4iouse
there was naught of the unusual; Saturday' eve
ning however, our statistician ' has' 'discovered,
more people per square inch were tossed out than
on any previous Sat. Eve. of Alumni Week-end,
fiscal year ending June 1941.
As our gentle reader will probably have heard,
one of Life Magazine's gentlemen was roaming
about the town this past Saturday. Taking pic
tures of a Mr. Jefferies and cohorts. When Life's
man, a photographer by trade, discovered tliat
there was also a first class Pep Rally there for the
shooting. Ridge Riley with the hairtrigger judg
ment so common among his ilk, immediately tele
graphed Life magazine for permission to get sev
eral shots of the event.
That was in the 'afternoon. So, comes 7:30 and.
Life wires our boy permission. That is to say the
wire arrived in State College at the aforemention
ed hour. The photographer received the wire at
Rec Hall at ten minutes after eight. Post Mer
idian. Which, being translated into simple mathe
matics. means that it must have taken some forty
minutes for the wire to get from Allen street up
to Rec Hall. Sort of an all-time record for some
thing or other. Perhaps this is but another bit of
hand-writing on the wall. Perhaps we Americans
are getting soft. At least the telegraph boys
aren't showing the way towards the better life.
No pun intended.
We have this from a friend of ours. Its veracity
is questionable. But Leyden, son of Leyden got rid
of his jewelry by the simple process of giving it to
Jackie Reese. Any denials will be given full ap
plication. But we don't expect any denials. _ .
Some one would do well to take the latest at
tempt at a ROTC band and slug it gently but
firmly behind the left ear. The band's rendition
of the Star Spangled banner, during the last pa
rade was nothing if not sad. We offer the sugges
tion purely in the spirit of aesthetic purity,
STATIONERY
College and
Fraternity Seal
•
STATIONERY
Name and Address
or Monogram
STATIONERY
Sx Pc for Men
a nd. Viose!
Finest Crake Papers
Moderately Priced
THE COLLEGE BOOK 'STORE
129 W. BEAVER
THE DAILY COLLEGIAN
—Cassius
Nibbling
Al The News
J. GORDON FAY
Whispering
Thus far the 1940 Presidential
campaign has been marked •by
more than the usual mud-slinging,
with both candidates being the
recipients of plenty of the moisten
ed dirt, but the latest low blow
takes the prize. We refer to the
"smear Willkie" whispering cam- -
paign in which. the Republican
nominee is called a "tool of
Hitler."
It
.seems doubtful that such a
campaign would issue from Mr.
Wilikie's opposition. A hint as to
the source from which such state
ments might emanate may be
found in Edmond Taylor's recent
article, "Yes, We Have Fifth Col
umnists," in "America."
Mr. Taylor says, "Whispering
111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111
CAMPUS CALENDAR
1111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111
Meeting of the Deutscher Verin
at 7 p. m., Hugh Beaver Room, Old
Main.
Freshman Independent meeting
at 7 p. in. in room 405 Old Main.
Freshman women have received
permission from WSGA Senate to
attend.
Tryouts for upperclassmen in
terested iri debate to be held at
7 p. m.'in room 8 Liberal Arts.
Community Service Committee
meets in Philotes room at rp. m.
with Jean. Weaver presiding.
Student Faculty Relations Com-,
mittee meets in the Penn State in
China room, Old Main, 7 p. m.
WRA second Open House in
White Hall from 7 to 9:30 p. m.
tonight.
Soph Hop committee meeting,
318 Old Main,.7:3o p. m. •
Cwen meeting in WSGA' room,
White - Hall at 7:30 p. in.
Iota: Sigma Pi open house for
women in chemistry, 8 p. m.
Meeting of the business candi
dates 'and staff members of the
Penn State Farmer in room 308
Old Main at 7:30 p. m.
No Druid meeting as scheduled
today.
CINEMANIA
Mickey Rooney and Judy Gar
land' provide music with laughs in
"atrike Up the Band," musical
romance, coining to the Cathaum
Theatre on Wednesday, Thursday
and Friday..
Aided by June Preisser and oth
er juvenile players, Mickey and
Judy organize . a swing band in
high school. Their adVentures
range from staging a comical trav
esty on old time playS to winning
Paul Whitman's prize.
Song favorites-in the picture in
clude, "Nobody," "Our Love Af
fair" and Gershwin's "Strike Up
the Band."
Row feu can q.el
feum , COLLEGE SEAL ...
on your choice
8 useful artic
$lO
and a box top from'
a package of
MARLIN BLADES
Made of high speed surgi
cal steel, scientifically
sharpened and honed ....
finest blades money can
buy—or your money back!
Double edge-20 for 25c.
Single edge-15 for 250.
Mail tr bill and a box top
(single or double-edge) THEArint FIREARMS CO.
to Marlin today! 17 EAST 42nd STREET, NEW YORK
WEDNESDAt, OCTOBER 16, 1940
campaigns which blacken a lead
er's 'character create a doubt which
is deadly to morale . . . Anyone
who spreads such rumors - (un
knowingly) helps the Fifth Col
umn."
Reading farther in the "whis;
pering campaign" pamphlet dis
tributed by a shadowy ,organiza
tion, "the Guardians of the Repub
lic," one finds the following state
ment: "Today, Nazi agents in the
United States are saying that Wen
dell L. Willkie, if elected President
of the United States, will be the
focal point around which the 18,-
000,000 Americans of German de
scent will be organized into a spe
cific group whose ties of blood and
fate are with Nazi Germany."
If such a plot is in existence,
the writer of this column would
like to stick his neck*out to the
extent of saying that Adolf Hitler
has a considerable factor of error
in his Calculations, both in regard
to cooperation from Mr. Willkie,
Mr. Roosevelt or any other Amer
ican in -the public eye, and in re
from a Pennsylvanian of German
descent.
r o rin
Opposite Old Main - State College
tte
,ague
Book
Mean
(ny