THE POST, FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 1939
ship, bathos, hokum and buncome. These are the tools of the poli-
The statesman deals habitually and successfully with real things.
___it is possible for you to get is that. What you really want, therefore,
ER
More Than A Newspaper—A Dynamic Communit Tastitution
“Congress shall make no law . . . abridging the freedom of has y THE POST'S CIVIC PROGRAM
speech or of Press” — The Constitution of the United States. THE D ALL AS POST 1. A modern concrete highway leading from Dallas and con
The Dallas Post is a youthful, liberal, aggressive weekly, dedi necting with the Sulliven Trail of Tunkhannock.
ESTABLISHED 1889 2. A greater development of communi i
cated to the highest ideals of the journalistic tradition and concerned wm 8 P e nity tonsCioushess aoong
primarily with the development of the rich rural-suburban area about A Liberal, Independent Newspaper Published Every Friday residents of Dallas, Trucksville, Shavertown, and Fernbrook.
Dallas. It strives constantly to be more than a newspaper, a com- . Morning At The Dallas Post Plant, Lehman Avenue, 3 Centralization of local fire and police protection.
munity institution. Dallas, Penna., By The Dallas Post, Inc. 4. Sanitary sewage systems for local towns.
Stared id cist at th Post Oliits at Dalle. P 5. Better water service.
Subscription, $2.00 per year, payable in advance. Subscribers i9req 2s soon ie A OS a los By allay 6. A consolidated high school eventually, and better co-operation
who send us changes of address are requested to include both new H VF 3 : G IN between those that now exist.
and old \daresses with the Notice of change. Advertising ales OWARD 4 ST EY a erssr iss senissasrresrsussarinaseran enere gnagey 7 Complete elimination of politics from local school affairs
on request, HowELL E. REES........iciintecicesuoreeressy cvvseeenenn. Managing Editor 2. Construction of more Sidewalks
HAROLD |. PRICE... ...eccvincisivessiiesonsarnnse Mechanical Superintendent
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POLITICIAN VERSUS STATESMEN
Men and women who seek office in this country can be divided
into two general classifications, politicians and statesmen, with the
former predominant. Since Tuesday, voters have known which candi-
dates have survived for the November Election and it is not too early
to apply the politician-statesman test to the nominees who will be
pleading for our support during the next two months.
Tt will not be difficult to recognize the politician. The dictionary
defines him as one who seeks to subserve the interests of a political
party merely. As an afterthought it defines him as one skilled in
political science. The politician can be identified most easily by his|
efforts to purchase the support of particular interests by specific pledg-
es, or, if that is impracticable, by deception. He seeks to attain the
special objects of particular interests and when he discovers what,
rightly or wrongly, the people want, he promises it to them. At his
worst, he deals in half-truths, lies, ambiguities, evasions, calculated
silence, red herrings, unresponsiveness, slogans, catchwords, showman-
tician.
Statesmanship is an impressive word, but it applies to the admin-
istration of the smallest municipal sub-division, as well as the President
of a nation. It is rare, because it is a difficult art. Whereas the poli-
tician stirs up a following, the statesman leads it. The statesman con
verts his constituents from a child-like pursuit of what seems interest
ing to a realistic view of their interests. His job is more difficult than
that of the politician, but when the statesman succeeds, he receives
a kind of support for which the ordinary glib politician can never hope.
The politician says, “I will give you what you want.”
The statesman says, “What you think you want is this. What
is the following.”
The politician, sooner or later, either goes to jail, is tolerated
cynically as a picturesque and amiable scoundrel or retires.
The statesman acquires an eminence impossible to the politician and
a hold that is enduring, because he proposes nothing which turns out
to be a fake.
We think there is little question concerning which of the two
types you prefer to see in office.
Vision BuiLt A HIGHWAY
It was in 1926 that the County Commissioners, who were then
discussing plans to construct a concrete highway from the Courtdale|
line to Trucksville, first put forward the proposal to build a by-pass
which would skirt Luzerne and eliminate the congestion which prevail-
ed on the town’s main street.
In 1931, two years after the fine Trucksville link had been laid,
The Post suggested a conference to discuss a solution to Luzerne’s
traffic problem and Norman Johnstone, secretary of Wyoming Val
Tore NMatne (ys annovaced that 1. fod! Solovked” 4,500 cars PASSING
a point in Luzerne within one hour, a volume of traffic which warrant:
ed consideration. The County Commissioners agreed then to the neces-
sity for some highway improvement in Luzerne but the costs of damages
seemed prohibitive.
The campaign lapsed between 1931 and 1934 and then Wyoming
Valley Motor Club revived it and a group of civic leaders from this
section met with Senator A. J. Sordoni to study the plans and attempt
to solve the problem which would face Luzerne merchants if the new
boulevard were constructed. Through 1935 plans moved slowly
ahead, spurred by Luzerne Council's offer of co-operation and in 1936
the County Controller, for the first time, appropriated money for
estimated damage.
Again the movement died but it was resurrected by Greater Dallas
3
Rotary Club in 1937 and a barrage of letters was forwarded to Har-
~ risburg, urging action.
Luzerne Civic Association came into the cru-
sade and stood with the Dallas civic groups in efforts to have the new
boulevard started. It was in that year that the merchants in Luzerne,
who had feared for the effect of the by-pass upon their business,
agreed to withdraw their opposition with the understanding that Ben-
nett Street and Main Street also would be paved.
Then followed a period of involved legal complications and delays
caused by the unusual situation surrounding the plans. Finally, the
State Highway Department had agreed to pave Main and Bennett
Streets, Wilkes-Barre Railway Corp. had accepted a price for damages
to its right-of-way and Luzerne Borough Council had approved the
plan to abandon street car service after construction of the new roads.
In September, 1938, the 2-year campaign came to realization when
Yeo Construction Co. received the contract for construction.
When the highway is dedicated tomorrow, two thoughts
should be in our minds. First, the Luzerne Boulevard is a mon-
ument to community planning. It is proof that we can achieve
our civic ends when we work together. There were many times during
the last 13 years when the by-pass plan seemed doomed, but loyal co-
operation revived it, again and again, and the determination and vision
of a group of spirited leaders finally has given the dream reality.
The second thought is that we cannot afford to rest on our laurels.
Luzerne deserves an improved Main and Bennett Streets. We need
other new highways here. If we attack our problems in the future with
the same indomitable spirit displayed during the campaign for the
Luzerne boulevard we shall, before long, have many of the other civic
improvements we need.
I have seen men march to the wars, and then
I have watched their homeward tread,
And they brought back bodies of living men,
But their eyes were cold and dead.
So, Buddy, no matter what else the fame,
No matter what else the prize,
I want you to come back through the Flame
With the boy-look still in your eyes!
—EDpMUND VANCE COOKE
3
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ljavie achie
SECOND
THOUGHTS
One man, by fell intent and
demoniac desire, has sheared a
quarter of a century from the pros-
pectus of civilization; and, try
though your scrivener does. to
think of other things, all it means
to him is that he cannot forget the
countenance and confusion of Felix
Wenger as last observed the day
after America of the Stars and
Stripes joined the allied forces of
mutiple banners.
Felix was German from the
square Nordic head set on squat
shoulders all the way down over
beer-barrel torso to the clumsy
feet in square-toed shoes. As Ger-
man as he was, he was as much
peaceful. Your correspondent had
known him as a public relations
man, keen in character analysis,
devoted to his business, able upon
commission to bridge with type
and rhetoric any gap between the
manufacturer who supplied and
the consumer willing to demand.
Extras were being sold on the
city streets. Down the business
thoroughfares the building lines
had become polychromatic with
flag and bunting to signalize the
state of war finally recognized by
the United States under pressure
of unfriendly acts by the minions
of the Kaiser. Army and Navy
had reared their recruiting signs
and the promiSe no longer was.one
that predicated sightseeing around
the world upon the act of joining
up. For the first time since 1898
the call was for patriotism, even
unto the ultimate limit of supreme
sacrifice.
Knots of men had gathered
about the city corners, knots that
had formed out of the tangled
skein of human emotions. And
one little group was suddenly prod-
ded by a sharp recollection of Felix
Wenger. For years he had sat at
a desk over which was hung a pic-
ture of Bismarck, the Iron Chan-
cellor. Why not go around and
see if the print still was there?
The proceeding was brief and
brash. Into the office of Felix
Wenger, with all the bravado of
storm troopers raiding a kinder-
garten, the party strode. Felix
turned to meet them and was con-
founded when no one offered to
take his
framed replica of the determined
features of the Iron Chancellor
was torn from the wall, stomped
upon.
“Don’t hang it up again,” said
the leader of the party. And that
was all.
A quarter of a century has gone
by and with it many a blush of
your correspondent, in memory of
that senseless proceeding. History
has reclaimed its age-old prerog-
ative of repetition. If you had
gone into slumber in 1914 and
waked in September of 1939, you
would not be immediately con-
scious of the lapse of time. Ships
with cargoes of innocent human
beings are being sunk, the same
hostile nations are threatening the
collapse of civilization, America is
once more striving toward a semb-
lance of neutral peace.
Even the names in the news are
largely the same—Roosevelt, Taft,
Borah, Johnson. There is a man
to hate; and what boots it that he
is Corporal Hitler instead of Kaiser
Bill. Searing mental reaction comes
with the fact that those who back
in the second decade of the Twen-
tieth Century were anxious to
fight are now wondering how they
can with honor, save their sons
from the holocaust.
But your correspondent has still
the memory of Felix Wenger. He
wonders if there is to be recur-
rence of the un-American assaults
upon neighbors made suspect only
by the accident of racial inheri-
tance. Will it be remembered
that the first Wyoming Valley
man to give his life to the cause
of the A. E. F. was of Germanic
origin? Can it be possible that
good Americans will be reviled by
the curse of “Hun” though they
possess nothing of the Attila com-
plex?
extended hand. The}
Fred M. Kiefer
GIMME A
MATCH
First, we wish to extend a
hearty welcome to the long-await-
ed return of that excellent piece of
writing you find on the front page
Postscripts — and its Daddy —
Howell Rees.
We've been studying the map
of Europe. Not being privy to
the strategic plans of the general
staffs, we submit this as personal
guess work. Follow us on your
map:
The ocean grey-hounds of Bri-
tain drift impassively across the
North Sea and close the western
side of the English Channel. How
complete this blockade of Germany
will be, the future alone can de-
termine. The Hitler government
has submarines inside and outside
of this floating barricade. Their
total strength in U-Boats is, as
nearly as can be stated, about 75
craft. But the German Navy can-
not get out of the Baltic Sea with-
out a clash with England's supe-
rior might, and the possibility of
this happening is extremely doubt-
ful, since it must be an attack by
the German forces.
Should she choose, England can
hardly enter the Baltic to bring on
a sea-fight with Germany. Take
a look at that narrow passage be-
tween Sweden and Denmark, just
45 miles wide, called the Katte-
gat. The Germans have it thor-
oughly mined. They control the
Baltic, therefore they control the
water-route to Poland.
On land the Siegfried Line, run-
ning from Switzerland to Luxem-
bourg, definitely, for the time be-
ing at least, closes out France on
Germany's West, while Italy's
neutrality bars the Alpine passes
in the South, through which the
Allies contemplated, should Musso-
lini have joined Hitler, moving up
to and through the Brenner Pass
to fall on the enemy flank. Oppo-
site the Siegfried and roughly par-
allel along the Rhine Valley stands
the formidable French Maginot
Line. Both of these supreme de-
fenses are as impregnable as forti-
fications can possibly be.
Germany is perhaps a little bet
ter off than her opponents. If
she conquers Poland, and that
seems to be only a matter of weeks,
if not days, her contact with her
paper ally, Russia, is complete. She
will then draw on the Soviet for
grain and munitions. Thus, the
question of starvation and lack of
materials is considerably lessened.
1
Italy remains a great and dan-
gerous enigma. Italy can choose
one of three courses: (1) she can
remain honestly neutral, serving
Germany and the Allies impartial-
ly: (2) she can provide Germany
with foodstuffs and war materials
until such a time as Germany may
get France in a bad spot and then
jump in on Hitler's side. Most
observers believe this will be her
move: (3) she can bargain with
England and France, and in any
such dealing, a demand for a share
in the Suez Canal would crop up
as well as considerations on Tuni-
sia and the island of Corsica with
France and, perhaps, the fortified
British possession of Malta. Italy
is emphatically weak in the Medi-
terranean.
It appears at present that Ger-
many can’t get out and on the
same premise, the Allies can’t get
in. If this condition remains ac-
tual, the second world conflict will
be a war of extinction on non-
combatants, the bombing and burn-
ing of cities behind the lines and
the long wait for a breakdown of
national moral.
Nations have refused to learn a
lesson from 1914. But individuals,
American individuals, can be dif-
ferent about the neighborly rela-
tionship that was senselessly abused
in 1917. Give the German-Amer-
ican his right to enjoy that which
he came here to get—freedom
against the wiles of Wotan, equal
responsibility to the same survival
of sanity ampng the wards of
Uncle Sam. =
FAITH! IT'S WONDERFUL
BE H-MTT SMELL
: 3, SOMETHING
BURNING?
~~
SOME WORTHLESS
PEICE OF
Wy)
, ae Be
i ir
right 1939 Lincoln Newspaper Features,
PROBABLY
Edith Blez
In the midst of all the chaos,
while the radios have been blaring
forth war news, and the bold black
headlines of the newspapers have
been staring at me from every
newsstand, I have been reading a
most unusual book. It is not a
great book and I do not think it
will ever reach the best seller lists
because it is a very simple journal
of two young people who were
willing to give their all to human-
ity. A young married couple, the
mother and father of two growing
girls, who were not afraid to face
any difficulty no matter how in-
surmountable it seemed in the be-
ginning.
The title of the book is “We
didn’t Ask Utopia” and it was
written by Dr. Harry Timbres and
his wife, Rebecca. I haven’t been
able to find out very much about
the Timbres before this adventure
but they were Quakers who had
evidently been interested in relief
work before their marriage. They
must have travelled far afield be-
cause they speak of having been to
India and other far distant places.
The book begins with the Doctor's
letters to his wife. Letters written
from the Soviet government to do
malaria prevention work in a gov-
ernment hospital.
Dr. Timbres went through all
sorts of red tape and long periods
of endless waiting to secure a pass-
port which would permit him to
/stay in Russia. for at least six
months. It took him from June
until August to convince the So-
viet government that he was in
earnest, and that he wished to
bring his wife and two children to
live under the Soviet regime. After
months of what seemed like hope-
less waiting the tireless young Doc-
tor was able to write to his anxious
wife the glad news that it was safe
for her to begin her journey to
Russia where they planned to live
and work as Russians.
The second half of the book is
Rebecca's daily journal. Her hus-
band had warned her that it would
be necessary for her to bring as
many articles of clothing as she
could conveniently pack, and small
cooking utensils as well as small
pieces of furniture as the most of
such things was out of their reach
in Russia. Can you imagine a wo-
man having courage enough to be-
gin such a journey? Rebecca's ex-
periences in getting into Russia
would have discouraged a less
courageous woman but she took
everything in its stride and the
children were so eager to see their
father and their new home noth-
ing else mattered. The doctor had
waited so long and under such
trying circumstances to see his fam-
THE SENTIMENTAL SIDE
ily, when they did finally arrive
and he saw them get off the train,
it was like taking part in a dream
he hoped might come true!
It was some time before they
were able to get into the residence
which had been promised them and
in the meantime, they had to live
in what was termed a guest home.
It consisted of two rooms with no
door but an archway between.
Taking a bath was practically im-
possible. The village provided a
public bath but the door was in
full view of the door which opened
into a public hall. The Timbres
decided to pass up the public bath
and take their baths with all. the
water a soup bowl could hold!
It was almost impossible to pur-
chase the very simplest household
utensils, so one morning before
daylight the Timbres decided to
journey to the nearest city to do
some necessary shopping. They
walked six miles through deep mud
to the train and when they did
reach the train, it was so crowded
Their shopping tour was cut short
because the prices were so out
rageous. Candy was three dollars
a pound. Milk was forty to fifty
cents a quart. Butter was almost
two dollars a pound and eggs were
from twelve to fifteen cents each
They managed to locate a baby’s
bath tub and they felt that their
shopping tour was a great success
because it was the only private
bathtub in the entire neighborhood.
When the children learned that
they had to go to the first grade
in school, they were not so anxious
to begin the school work. The
Timbres were very anxious for the
children to attend school under
the Soviet regime because they
felt that the children would learn
the much needed lesson of equality.
It took several weeks for the chil
dren to accustom themselves to the
strange language and the still
long before they were taking part
just as eagerly as they did at home.
As usual, when I get started tell-
ing you about a really good book,
I never seem to have enough space
to tell you all I should about it.
But I do think you would enjoy
“We Didn't Ask Utopia,” not
only because it tells a vivid and en-
lightening story of Soviet Russia
but because it tells the story of
the Timbres, a brave young couple
who dared to face hardship in a
strange country. They were anx-
ious to further their work and they
knew that the doctor would be
happier and accomplish more if his
family lived in the same commun-
ity.
they had to stand all the way. |
stranger faces, but it wasn’t very |
FULL SPEED
RHEAD
Make up your mind that this
season will be the best that you
have ever had. Getting started
may seem a little hard, but plunge
right in and you will soon become
used to the new routine and begin
to like it.
I always hate to hear of a boy
or girl who has good ability and
might do excellent work if he
would only put his mind on it. The
old moral of the rabbit and the
hare often holds true in real life.
The person who sticks right to
business and keeps on going, even
though it be ever so slow, will
often outstrip a more brilliant per-
son in a race. The person to
whom the work comes easy will be
tempted to loiter and waste time
because he mistakenly thinks that
the other person will never catch
up, anyway.
Whatever your status, snap out
of careless habits and get busy.
Surprise the folks who think they
know how far you will go. If you
can surprise yourself at the same
time, that will be so much better.
You never know what you can do
until you have done it; and, furth-
ermore, new power will develop
tomorrow from the strength of to-
day.
So long until next week.
—AUNT CAL
THE LOW DOWN FROM
| HICKORY GROVE
I been kinda brushin’ up on
gold. It don’t look just on
the up and up, the way they
been doing this sleight-of-hand
business there in Old Bazoo
City.
By a simple twist of the
wrist they make gold worth
one thing today and maybe
something else next week.
And if a person was to sit
up all night for a month—
wracking his brain — he
Couldn’t think up anything
that would upset confidence
quicker than this kind of shen-
nanigans.
If anybody should happen
to read this piece that I am
writing about gold, and if he
knows what the idea is in
burying all of it down there
in Kentucky, I wish he would
drop me a mote. I am up a
stump.
Yours, with the low down,
JO SERRA.
v
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