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| TheDallasPost
ESTABLISHED 1889 TELEPHONE DALLAS 300
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AT THE DALLAS PosT PLANT
LEHMAN AVENUE, DALLAS, PA.
By THE DaLLAs Post, INC. :
FIOWARD RISLEY ....cccclovsireevierereses aris General Manager
FloweLL REES ....... ; ... Managing Editor
TRUMAN STEWART Mechanical Superintendent
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THE DALLAS POST is a yeuthfur weekly rural-suburban news-
paper, owned, edited and operated by young men interested in the de-
welopment of the great rural-suburban region of Luzerne County and in
¢he attainment of the highest ideals of journalism. THE T is truly
“more than a newspaper, it is a community institution.”
Congress shall make no law ¥ * abridging the freedom of<speech, or
®f Press.—From the first amendment to the Constitution of the United
States.
Subscription, $2.00 Per Year (Payable in Advance).
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fom
A THOUGHT FOR THIS WEEK
One of the best methods of rendering study agree
able is to live with able men, and to suffer all those pangs
of inferiority which the want of knowledge always inflicts. -
SYDNEY SMITH
Convention Post-Mortem
The atmosphere at Cleveland last week was vastly dif-
ferent from the doleful spirit which blanketed the Republi-
ean convention four years ago. Then, even though banks
were crashing like houses of cards and breadlines were
stretching to alarming lengths, the G. O. P. confidently re-
fused to change its complexion and agreed meekly to the
dictates of the traditional leaders. The major accomplish-
ment at this year’s convention was the defeat of the reac-
tionary elements who were largely responsible for the low
spot struck by the Republicans in 1932.
£ Undoubtedly the Republican party is having its biggest,
and perhaps its last chance, this year. If its candidates lose
to Roosevelt again there will be a tremendous demand dur-
ing the next four years for a new major party, made up of
progressive Republicans and disgruntled Democrats. Such a
party might bring about the permanent extinction of the
‘42. O. P.
\ The Republicans selected the best slate available. Gov-
syfoot, as the Old Guard would have him, he seems to be en-
tirely sincere and the forces he leads blow through the Re-
—-gpublican party like a breath of fresh air. Knox is an even
more colorful character. The slate may not be as strong as
it might have been had the G. O. P. followed the suggestion
ito nominate an outstanding young Democrat for vice-presi-
dent but it is certainly an honest one, standing upon its own
merits.
In its new national chairman, John Hamilton, the Re-
publican Party also has a political leader of the new school.
If Hamilton, under Landon’s leadership, can succeed in im-
amediately reorganizing the party, it will have an even
chance to win. Without that reorganization, without a
~ ¢leansing process which will remove the reactionary leader-
ship, it cannot win.
Unfortunately, the platform is not as strong as the
candidates. Had the Republicans listened more attentively
to Governor Landon the party would have had a platform
of which it could well have been proud. As it is the princi-
ples adopted are vague and far from satisfactory to think-
ing voters, It has retained too much of the narrowness of
_ the reactionary elements. :
Perhaps Governor Landon will overcome this weakness
by supplementing the platform with personal pledges which
must do this if he intends to convince the independent vot-
ers, upon whom his victory or defeat depends.
All in all, the hopes for the future of the Republican
Party rest upon Governor Landon. If his progressive ideals
could only permeate the Luzerne County Republican organi-
zation and purge it of the influences which have directed its
activities so long the rebirth of the G. O. P. would be a
reality here, too.
- = Ta
Policies Among The New Dealers
It could be expected that the Democrats would profit
Joy the political example set by their Republican predeces-
sors in Luzerne Caunty but it is disappointing to find that
the professed New Dealers hereabouts are subscribing to
such mean tactics so enthusiastically.
By now there need be little doubt that workers on gov-
ernment projects are paying, in one way or another, for
their jobs. Politics of the rankest kind is permeating relief
projects. President Roosevelt cannot, of course, be held re-
- sponsible for what his supporters in Luzerne County do,
‘but it' seems that the Administration might do something
to cleanse itself of some of the political leeches who are ex-
posing it to public criticism.
There can be no question that some relief projects are
mecessary. There is no question that some of the men who
‘head such projects, even in Luzerne County, are of the fin-
Flagrant abuses prevalent in this section.
For every vote that is bought there are two silent votes
waiting for the call of a leader who will place humanity
above politics, patriotism above self-advantage, sportsman-
ship ahead of vengefulness. Some day those silent votes are
going to end the expensive graft of political patronage.
ernor Landon has a splendid record, he has declined to pus-'
will clarify and strengthen the Republican program. He
est type. It is difficult to understand why they permit the
WASHINGTON
LETTER
The National Capital seems to have |
put on its thinking cap. It took it less
than two weeks to catch up with what
the Supreme Court really did when it
invalidated the New York State min-
imum wage law for women. It usually
takes much longer.
A * bw
When the decision was first handed
down, cries of horror went up—from
men called upon by newspapermen to
comment before they had even had a
chance to read the decision, much less
think about it. “Alas!” they cried.
“The Supreme Court says that neither
the federal nor state governments can
function in that field.”
$$ % 3
But now the froth is settling down,
and the thinking has begun. It appears
to the surprise of many, that it was not
the Supreme Court but the Constitu-
tion which created the “no man’s
land.” And the Court, it develops, was
just interpreting the Constitution.
* * *
That discovery surprised some who
went to the trouble to find out why
the Constitution established that “no
man’s land.” Here is what they found
by a brief study of our nation’s his-
tory:
* * *
The United States was founded by a
group of pioneers who had lived under
the oppression of a regime which con-
trolled their every activity. That re-
gime even tried to tell them what they
should think, as well as what they
should and should not do.
LA * ¥
With that in mind, the students
found, the men who established .our
government and wrote our Constitu-
tion sought to establish safeguards
against an all-powerful regime. They
thought they had put those safe-guards
into the original Constitution, which
became effective on March 4, 1789.
* *
But in September of the same year,
the records showed, these men decided
the safeguards were not strong enough.
Congress proposed 10 constitutional
amendments which were ratified and
declared in effect on March 5, 1791.
These protected the rights of freedom
of speech, religion, and the press; of
trial by jury, of private property; of
security from unwarrantable search
and seizure. And the last two amend-
ments said:
-°
ss * =
“The enumeration in the Constitu-
tion, of certain rights, shall not be
construed to deny or disparage others
RETAINED BY THE PEOPLE. The
powers not delegated to the United
States by the Constitution, nor prohi-
bited by it to the states, are reserved
to the states respectively, OR TO
THE PEOPLE.”
® eo *
Thus the Supreme Court simply was
protecting a deliberately created “ev-
ery man’s land”, in which every man’s
freedom was guaranteed.
* * *
The realization of these facts had
several reactions. Representative Pet-
tengill of Indiana, and a number of
others, for instance; advocated that
the Constitution be amended to let the
states control wages and hours. Some
others wanted to give that control to
the federal government.
« * @®
Organized labor representatives had
been among those who cried “Woe is
me!” and who urged a Constitutional
amendment. But upon further thought,
they, too, were not so sure. In fact they
went out of their way to emphasize
that they wanted to “make haste
slowly.” They remembered, among
other things, that once such a thing
was on the statute books, it would be
there to stay; and that while one ad-
ministration might use such a law to
establish a 30-hour-week, another
might use the same authority to fix a
54-hour-week.
* »
A fourth group included Senators
Borah of Idaho and Steiwer of Ore-
gon. They remarked that although the
New York state law was invalidated,
a’ Constitutional amendment should not
be advocated until attempts were made
to present the law in another form. In
other words, they said, there must be
some way of legislating on the subject
of wages and hours without imping-
ing upon the prerogatives preserved
to the people in the Constitution.
—¢ Editorials + Letters To The Editor - Comment = Discussion
THE GREAT AMERICAN KNIFE-THROWER
“Pe Zz zzz 22
he
7
Rives
- Matthews
Mr. Matthews Reflects Upon The Lack Of
Originality Among Those To Whom Origin-
ality Is A Prime Requirement; Notes On A
Want Ad.
AN EDITOR I know needed an assis-
tant. So he advertised for a Young
Writer. To his horror, he discovered
there are 1500 unemployed Young
Writers hereabouts.
wR
Manfully he attempted the grim task
of reading 1500 letters begging for a
chance to work for him. The hand-
written ones he soon found were too
much for his eyes. So most of these
®
were never read. So, too, were the
over long letters, and the badly typed
letters, and the ones that listed under
ability to think: “I am a graduate of
Philips Andover and Yale University.”
After the first hundred or so, my
friend gave up, sent out an SOS to an
employment agency and within two
days he had just the man he wanted.
Never again, says he( will he advertise
for an employe. It takes too much time
to find grain in chaff.
# wm x
Yet good jobs continue to be ad-
vertised in the Times, and some people
must continue to qualify for them with
skillfully worded letters of application.
Unfortunately I've never seen such
successful letters. I wish I had. But I
have seen 1500 unsuccessful letters.
They were written, mind you, by peo-
ple who claim to be Young Writers. I
have these letters before me, and I
quote some of them here, not in a spirit
of ridicule, but to show, by the mis-
takes of others, some of the pitfalls
the job-hunter-by-mail can avoid.
$ 8 e
(1) I am answering your advertise~
ment offering an unusual opportunity
to an aspiring young writer in the hope
that you will grant me an interview.
To write you my qualifications and
ambitions would seem in cold type like
a very bad case of inflated ego. | am
a college graduate and feel that [ am
qualified to meet your demands. The
long hours and the salary are second-
ary to an opportunity that will permit
me to gratify my only desire, that of
entering the writing field.
= =x =
(2) Now that you have received
and rejected thousands of replies to
your advertisement in today’s Times,
here is one that will awaken you—if
you are alert enough. The confidence
with which I answer is not so much
due to a need for the position, but is
inspired by its almost miraculous simi-
larity to the kind of position I should
describe if I were asked what kind of
employment I desired.
x =
*
(3) Rather than ponder endlessly
over the stacks of manuscript'l have,
I'll copy out a little from this mom-
ing’s work: He took up her hand hang-
ing loosely at her side. It lay limp and
cold in his. He let it fall again. He
tried to look in her eyes and put into
his impossible to voice apologies, re-
grets, explanations. It wouldn't do.
She appeared frozen, so strongly hurt
that placation seemed impossible. He
could not remain still. He walked
about. He felt a terrible irritation,
searching for some vocalization. His
body, his throat, was tight. Inside an
sut-thrusting force that tugged at the
nerves for not having outlet. It was
amazingly uncomfortable, this thing.
It was like being pressed down under
water and struggling to reach the sur-
face and be able to breathe, and he
pushed down, and struggle, and he
kept down, and yearn for the air.
(4) Twenty dollars worth of sheep-
skin, a year ago last June, set most of
us so agog we expected every local
publisher to fire their editors and send
for us. But we quickly got the idea
that it wouldn’t do to sit around and
wait; so we folded the sheepskin, with
Columbia’s and the Columbia School
of Journalism’s best names on it, and
proceeded to bang into every news-
paper and magazine office from Ban-
gor to Roanoke.
ss 5 &
(5) Your advertisement stresses
ability—and that’s what I have! If
you knew me well, and I hope you will
sometime soon, you would know that
my statements are backed up by proof
(in this case the opinion of experts at
columbia University) and that I am
frank and sincere. And what innate
gualities could bt %more* helpful in
writing? Why, none at all!
SS 8 3
(6) I adorn myself with the name
Writer. The basis for this lies in the
innumerable compositions which have
flowed from my pen. Articles on mark-
eting and management, austere and
packed by statistics and research, or
the opposite extreme, creative work of
the most intense emotional outbursts.
a = ow
(7) It has occurred to me that an
enterprising magazine could use a
person of my caliber.
Cd
(8) While at college I earned var-
sity letters in both football and bas-
ketball, thereby developing stamina
sufficient to qualify me for long hours
and strenuous work. My newspaper
work at college consisted of reporting
on athletic events and writing a col-
umn.
3 3 »
(9) I am taking the responsibility
of writing you, due to the fact that my
son is at present in town regarding an-
other position. He is twenty-one, with
fine record, and can give you good re-
ferences. He graduated from Tenafly
High two years ago, but, due to eco-
nomic conditions, was not fortunate
enough to go to college. He has been
in a bank for twe years working all
kinds of hours, uncomplaining, but,
seeing no future, decided to quit two
weeks ago. A menclosing some articles
written by him, and one from the
schol paper. The writing is not so
beautiful but were scribbled in off mo-~
ments. He will not be pleased at my
answering your-ad, but under the ex-
isting circumstances, believe it is un-
derstandable. Hoping to hear from
you, Truly Yours......
* » *
(10) Unfortunately, or perhaps it
may be fortunate, I cannot offer any
college degree, I am only a high school
“ graduate. My age is twenty-three years
and I am a Protestant.
* % %
(11) Gentlemen or Ladies, (no pre-
ference), a young man a year above
your age limitation, physically and
mentally far above average, is answer-
ing your advertisement which appeared
in this morning’s Times. He has had a
varied business training ranging down
the scale from associate editor of a
weekly trade publication to that of a
gardener. Changing business fortunes,
due solely to the economic depression,
rather sharpen an innate alertness, it
might be added. He has always stood
firmly on his own feet and has done
all his own thinking which, per se,
makes it the most rational of all. Hard
work and long hours would be quite |
welcome to him as he has Faousuly 2 Mod,
encountered these twin bugabears i
his business travels.
* *
(12) May I state at the outset that
[ am a youth 24 yrs. of age? And now
for my application. As an application
I know it to be unorthodox. But why
be conventional when I know that to
state truly by capabilities I must be
otherwise. First I shall say whether I
have any love for writing. I think so.
The word “writer” vibrates with a cer-
tain life for me. Writing and authers
have interested me ever since I started
reading. When I was a boy I used to
select stories by the author’s
rather than by the title as most de
when immature. The different maga-
zines, especially those devoted to au-
thorship, have caused my appreciation
of writing to rise incessantly. I like the
New York Times and revel in its icon-~
oclastic editorials. I like its book re-
views, its presentation of the news, and
I think that journalism is a great pro-
fession. Why shouldn’t I? Kipling, one
of my favorites, was a journalist. None
can deny the prolificness of his work.
Besides reading the Times for complete
news of the world I find it conserva-
tive, yet decidedly out-spoken. The
Herald-Traveler, in Boston, is also
quite forward in its editorials, and who
*
could forget Hearst's Boston Amerie
can? I like to read novels. I respect”
and stand more in awe of an author
than I do a President, a Dictator, a
King or a Fascist leader.
* * *
THIS MONTH the colleges will turn
out thousands more of them. Many of
them will have degrees in journalism.
All of them will face the world bright-
eyed, full of hope, and then will clut«
ter up the Monday morning mails, an-
swering Help Wanted ads. Little do
they know what competition lies ahead.
A Motorist's Prayer
Grant me a steady hand and watchful eye,
That no man shall be hurt when I pass by.
Though gavest life, and I pray no act of mine
May take away or mar that gift of thine.
Shelter those, dear Lord, who bear me company,
From the evils of fire and all calamity.
Teach me to use my car for others’ need,
Nor miss through love of speed
The beauties of thy world; that thus I may.
With joy and courtesy go my way.
name,