Editorially Speaking:
The Faith That Is America
(Because of the great
importance of the subject
matter of the following article to the present and
future welfare of every American, we have invited
Myr. Willkie to be guest editor this week. His article
appeared first in the North American Review, was con-
densed later in The Reader's Digest and is published
here with the permission of those magazines.)
By WENDELL L. WILLKIE
Author, Industrialist, and President, Commonwealth And
Southern Corp.
For centuries my ancestors lived in Central Europe.
Some of them were peasants, some artisans, others were
landed proprietors; but all of them through those centuries
had been restricted in their opportunities to the group in
which they were born, and no one of them had ever known
the true meaning of liberty. Those who did not observe the
restrictions under which they were forced to live got into
trouble: one had to flee his native land because he adopted
the religion of his choice; another was ostracized because
he believed in the principles of the French Revolution; and
still another was jailed for expressing his own opinions. In
1848, my father and my grandparents came to America to
escape this repression of individual liberties.
They were led to these shores, as were millions before
and after them, by a special reputation that the United
States has had among nations. This reputation is founded
upon one simple fact: in the United States the plain man has
always had a chance. :
My father and mother were the first generation in their
families to grow up in America.
My father was also a lawyer.
yer.
My mother became a law-
Of course, in Europe my
mother would have found it impossible to practice a profes-
sion; and my father would have found it difficult to get out
of the groove worn by his ancestors.
Furthermore, it would
have been utterly impossible for them to have given their
gix children the education which we received in America. We
went to high school and college.
And with the schooling finished, there were no doors
closed to their children just because they came from a plain
family in a small town. No class distinction, no law inter-
fered with their effort to earn a living in the occupation of
their choice, or to express their opinions as they passed.
In all the long history of their family, these six children
were the first to know from the time they were born, the
blessings of freedom. I don’t want them to be thé last.
This family record is the record of any number of Amer-
ican families.
tical demonstration.
For us the value of freedom has had a prac-
Freedom means, for example, that if
you run a store, you can sell your products to anybody with-
out a government official télling you what the prices must
be; if you are a professor in a university, you don’t have to
alter science or delete history as a bureaucrat prescribes.
If
you own a newspaper you don’t limit your editorial opinions
to what an official censor approves.
If you are a laborer,
you can leave you job when you feel like it for any other
job you prefer; you and your fellow workers can bargain
collectively concerning the conditions of your work. If you
think taxes are too high, you can vote against those officials
you think responsible.
inherent American right to
criticize anybody, anywhere,
at any time.
These are practical applica-
tions of this thing called free-
dom. In this country we take
them for granted — perhaps
too much for granted. But in
more than half the world free-
dom does not exist. The pres-
ent conflict in Europe is peri-
lous to this freedom because in
a modern war people destroy
the very things they say they
are fighting for. It is because we
wish to preserve our free democratic
system that we must remain at
peace. But we cannot remain care-
lessly at peace. If the price of
democracy in ordinary times is
eternal vigilance, in a war period
that vigilance must be doubled.
Beware Of “Emergencies”
We must be careful that, under
the guise of “emergency,” the pow-
ers of government are not so ex-
tended as to impair the vitality of
free enterprise and choke off free
expression of thought. Already we
hear of the need for the government
to control prices, to license Ameri-
can business, to regiment American
employes and employers, to censor
the radio. In a critical time there
is always a temptation to surrender
the responsibilities of a free citizen,
to say to the government: “During
this emergency, you take charge.
You tell us what to do, what to
think.”
If we should yield to this tempta-
tion, the end of our free democratic
system might come as readily in
peace as in war. Once these re-
sponsibilities of citizenship are giv-
en up, they are not readily return-
ed, Government, in its practical
working, consists only of aggrega-
tions of men; and men, having test-
ed power, do not easily surrender
power. We must not be misled be-
cause suggested restrictions are for
humanitarian purposes, for, as ex-
Justice Louis D. Brandeis recently
said:
“Experience should teach us to
be more on our guard to protect
our liberties when the government's
purposes are beneficent . . . The
greatest dangers to liberty lurk in
insidious encroachment by men of
zeal, well-meaning but without un-
derstanding.”
The war has not changed the
grave domestic questions confront-
ing America; it has just temporarily
diverted our minds from them. For
10 years we have been haunted by
our unemployment problem. Yet
its solution has been in our hands
for some time. During the depres-
sion decade, American industry ac-
cumulated an enormous deficiency
in plants and modern machinery.
To remedy this, industry will need
even more than the present number
of unemployed. Industry will also
need a great deal of additional cap-
ital, and there should be no diffi-
culty in getting this, as soon as the
(Continued on Page 6)
And there is no limitation upon your
POST
SCRIPTS,
Its once-proud brown stone front
smudged by soft coal smoke, its
windows streaked and lonely, its
plate glass stuck with ugly “For
Rent” signs, the old bank building
at Kingston where “King Dan” Ed-
wards ruled his industrial empire
has been sold for $200 . . . and its
destruction puts a period at the end |
of an American story.
The enterprising Mr. Edwards
made his exit from this world about
seven years before we entered the
province lately ruled by him, but we
grew up surrounded by so many
monuments to his enterprise ‘that
he, instead of Rockefeller or Car-
negie or any of the early Mellons,
has always been our favorite post-
Civil War industrial baron,
Mr. Edwards was an up-and-com-
ing Welshman who migrated to this
country just before the Civil War,
determined to learn for himself
about the opportunities supposedly
awaiting ambitious young men in
the new country. Two years after
he set foot on the Battery, he was
superintendent of the iron works
at Danville. The company sent him
to Kingston and before long he was
running Kingston Coal Company
and laying the foundations for his
own feudal system.
—_——
Although his reign was subject to
the greater law of his country,
many of those laws were made by
Mr. Edwards and his associates and
(Continued on Page 8)
Tue Dairas Post
MORE THAN A NEWSPAPER, A COMMUNITY INSTITUTION
Vol. 50
FRIDAY, JANUARY
12, 1940
CIVIC PROGRAM FOR 1940
1. More community spirit in the
Dallas area.
2. A concrete highway from Dallas
to Tunkhannock.
8. Centralization of police and fire
protection.
4, Better fire protection and lower
insurance rates.
No. 2 5. More sidewalks.
TRUCKSVILLE WOMAN AND
HER SISTER DIE WITHIN
TWO HOURS; SAME CAUSE
Mrs. Frank Mazur, 33, Main
Road, Trucksville, died on Mon-
day afternoon in Genera] Hos-
pital at 3:30, two hours after
her sister, Mrs, John Walsh,
Edwardsville, had died at
Homeopathic Hospital. Periton-
itis was the cause of both
deaths.
Mrs. Mazur was admitted to
General Hospital on December
2%. Her sister went to Home-
opathic Hospital last week.
Both were listed as surgical
cases.
Mrs. Mazur is survived by
her husband, her father and
seven brothers and sisters, all
of Larksville.
Ronald Doll
Succeeds Girton
Wins Promotion For His
Fine Work On Faculty
The vacancy caused last week by
the death of Maurice J. Girton, sup-
ervising principal of Dallas Town-
ship schools, was filled on Monday
night when the township board of
directors promoted Ronald Doll, a
member of the faculty, to the prin-
cipal’s office.
Mr. Doll, who is the son of Mr.
and Mrs. H. Stanley Doll of Dallas,
has been teaching at the township
high school for nearly four years.
He was educated at Dallas Borough
schools, Wyoming Seminary and
Columbia University. He received
his M. A. from Columbia in 1936.
At the same meeting the directors
authorized a WPA project to grade
a tract next to the high school and
develop it as a parking lot.
Charter Returned
Under Conditions
Branch 28 Must Respect
|
| be revoked again
Geographical Boundary
Herbert Lahr, chairman of Branch
1 28, American Progressive League,
{ which has been involved in a three-
month controversy with Branch 22,
Kingston Township, over territorial
rights, appeared before the State
Executive Committee at Wilkes-
| surance that his branch’s charter
will be restored if it confines its
activities to Carverton and Franklin
Township.
Robert A. Smalley, executive sec-
retary of the League, made it plain
this week, however, in commenting
on the action, that the charter will
if Mr. Lahr’s
branch tries to meet within the ter-
ritory of the Kingston Township
branch.
Frantz And Machell
Re-elected For 6th Time
Following the annual stockhold-
ers’ meeting on Tuesday, the direc-
tors of First National Bank, Dallas,
elected officers. C. A, Frantz, Dallas
grocer, was re-elected president and
Sterling Machell was re-elected vice-
president. Both Mr. Frantz and Mr.
Machell have been serving continu-
ously since their election to their re-
spective offices in 1933.
Other officers: W. R. Neely,
vice-president; W. B. Jeter, secre-
tary and cashier; Frederick J. Eck,
assistant cashier; R. L. Brickel, A.
C. Devens, C. A, Frantz, H. H. Hill,
W. B. Jeter, Sterling Machell, W. R.
Nedly and Clifford Space, directors.
Rutherford A Candidate
Congressman Albert G. Ruther-
ford has announced his candidacy
for reelection from the 15th Con-
gressional District, which includes
Wyoming County.
OLD-TIME SWAPPING INSTINCT
IS DUE FOR A REVIVAL HERE
The old-fashioned swapping in-
stinct is about to be revived in
Dallas, Shavertown and Luzerne.
This section’s first ‘‘Swap-for-
cash” game will be started in Dal-
las this week, when four business
places will inaugurate one of the
most unusual profit-sharing cam-
paigns ever developed.
Customers at Kuehn’s drug store,
Gregory's haberdashery and bar-
ber shop, Add Woolbert’s Auto Ser-
vice and Richards’ Economy market
will receive “change tickets’, which,
when saved until a sufficient num-
ber is collected, will be exchanged,
for- “letter cards”. Each of these
cards will bear a printed number
and when enough letters have been
accumulated to spell any number
from one to twenty-seven the hold-
er will be entitled to collect that
amount in cash.
Twenty-seven dollars will be the
highest amount that will be paid by
the “cashier”, who will be. at
Kuehn’s drug store. The campaign
is not limited as to time and will
continue as long as public response
warrants.
The fun will come when holders
of letter cards, lacking but one
letter to finish the spelling of a
number, begin swapping unwanted
letter cards in an effort to pro-
cure their needed letter. The cam-
paigns which will be started later
in Luzerne and Shavertown will be
conducted by separate groups of
merchants and the tickets and cards
will not be interchangeable.
| Barre last Saturday and received as-;
Correspondent
HasFirst Sight
01 German Plane
Tells Post Readers Of
England's Christmas;
Novelty Of War Dulled
(By an exchange arrange-
ment, The Post receivesgletters
regularly from Mr. Amps, deal-
ing with domestic details of the
War, Articles prepared by The
Post appear regularly in Mr.
Amps’ newspaper.)
By BASIL E. H. AMPS
EXCLUSIVE Ilford, England
(By Mail) — First, although
this piece will not appear until
after the New Year, I want to
wish the readers of The Post
a Happy New Year.
* Our English holidays did not
vary so much as you might
think from the usual Christ-
mas. A few of the things that
are usually plentiful were not
quite so much in evidence, per-
haps, because of the diversion
to the Forces, sd the fact
that a number of typically
Christmas things have come in the
past from Germany or those coun-
tries now under German sway, but
in general a casual visitor would
notice little to distinguish this
Christmas from any other.
Except for the effect of the black-
about, it was much the same as
ever. The main shopping streets
were crowded during the hours of
daylight and the traders were
to be so much better than they had
anticipated. At the opening of the
war, we dared not think of Christ-
mas. It was almost too much to
hope that there would be any but
essential workers left in our town,
but the continued absence of raids
has had tlie effec 4% bringing back
many thousands of those who left
the town in the first week of hosti-
lities and, though there are still
something like 6,000 children living
in scattered villages in Suffolk and
at least 4,000 homes are vacated,
there are enough of us to keep
the shops busy.
A Childless Christmas
The most tragic aspect of this
Christmas, apart from the losses
that have been suffered as a result
of the war on sea and in the ai,
was to be found in the absence of so
thankful that Christmas turned out!
Doctor Who Has Brought 3,000 Babies
i
RESINS SEVENTH TERM
out and the number of uniforms
C. A. Frantz
who was re-elected pres-
ident of the First National Bank
i of Dallas at its annual meeting
on Tuesday. Mr. Frantz was first
named president in 1933 and has
been re-elected each year since.
Chills Promised
InPTA Thriller
Well-Known Local Cast
In Mystery Next Week
A cast of well-known local per-
(sons, under professional direction,
will appear in “Mystery at Mid-
night”, a three-act comedy which
will be presented in Dallas Borough
High School, Thursday and Friday,
January 18 and 19, at 8 under
auspices of the Dallas Borough Par-
ent-Teacher Association.
The cast of charactewa includes
A]
many of the children from their
homes. Well over half a million
had Christmas in strange surround-
ings. Everything possible was done!
for them, and most of them were |
happy enough. I know several par-
ents who have their children away
from them and they didn’t look for-
ward to the holidays at all. They
were able ‘to visit the children af-
ter Christmas, but the preparations |
this year consisted mostly of shop-
ping and mailing parcels.
As a matter of fact, if it were
not for the gas-masks on every
shoulder and the sandbagged air-
raid shelters and the uniforms we
| should scarcely be aware of war
at all. This, of course, is partly due
to the fact that we have now got
quite used to our environment,
which, four months, ago, would
have seemed like a nightmare. It
is amazing how natural everything
that happens seems to be.
About three weeks ago, on a
Monday morning, I was going down
the stairs leading from our office
to the street. I heard three dull
thuds as I went down but thought
nothing of them as we are on a
heavily-trafficked street.
Plane Dodges Anti-Aircraft
When I got out I saw someone
looking up into the sky, and looked
up casually as well to see five puffs
of white smoke hanging round an
aeroplane that was flying at a tre-
mendous height. I watched the
plane out of sight and saw several
other shell-bursts near it. It was
the first sight I had ever had of
active warfare, but it seemed a
matter of little moment and after-
wards, as I thought about it, I was
shocked to discover how natural it
seemed to be that aeroplanes should
have death hurled at them in that
way.
And yet, at the same time, it
seemed ridiculous that that little
silver speck up there should have
come in enmity over the North
Sea to carry out some work, what-
ever it was, designed to harm the
people beneath.
My other contacts with the war
are second hand, except in-so-far as
they are concerned with the Home
Defence services. The other even-
ing I went to interview the wife
of one of the men who was a prison-
er on the Graf Spee and was landed
at Montevideo. This man was Chief
Ralph Rood as Judge Rollins; Deoi-
ty Niemeyer as Sally Grant; Jerry
Sullivan, Prof. Rockbottom; Mrs.
Nelson Shaver, Elvira Nosegay;
Clarence LaBar, Tom Foster; Joseph
Jewell, Ralph Norris; Mrs. G. K.
Swartz, Bonnie Baker; Evan Brace,
Detective Briggs; Clyde Veitch, Jack
Murphy; Mrs. Laverne Race, Mrs.
Halloway; Velma Herring, Sara; El-
wood McCarty, stranger.
There will also be three choruses,
which will appear in the musical
numbers, singing and dancing.
Mrs. Frank Ferry, president of the
Parent-Teacher Association, has an-
nounced that a prize of $2 will be
awarded to the high school boy or
girl who turns in the most money
from the sale of tickets.
Dallas Learns To Liked
Wednesday Closing
The custom of closing stores on
Wednesday afternoon, inaugurated
in Dallas this summer, has met with
favor among most people, a response
which has led merchants to agree to
continue the practice indefinitely.
Dallas Firemen Meet
Dr. Henry M. Laing Fire Company
of Dallas will have a regular meet-
ing tonight at the hose house on
Mill Street. A committee appointed
to discuss some plan for a benefit
show will make its report.
Into World Is Honored By Legion
Award For Distinguished Service To Community
Given To Dr. H. A. Brown By Daddow-Isaacs Post
The Distinguished Service Certificate of the State Depart-
ment of the American Legion, the highest honor conferred upon
non-Legionnaires, was awarded to Dr. Harry A. Brown of Leh-
man last night at a ceremony conducted in Lehman Methodist
| Church by Daddow-Isaacs Post, No. 672, American Legion.
Dr. Brown was chosen for the award because, during 34
years of practice in Lehman, he has quietly personified the
highest ideals of his profes-
sion. Most of his countless
kind deeds and sympathetic
gestures have been cloaked in
his own modesty, but the files
of the committee which nom-
inated him above other candi-
dates for the award are filled
with evidences of his human-
ity and generosity.
The certificate was presented to
Dr. Brown by Senator Robert M.
Miller of Kingston, a member of
Black Diamond Post, No. 395, Amer-
ican Legion. Commander John H.
Thomas of Daddow-Isaacs Post pre-
sided. The speakers, all of whom
paid tribute to the unique character
of the country doctor, were District
Commander Fred Bachman, Hazle-
ton; Michael] Markowitz, past com-
mander of Swoyersville Post, and
Rev. C. Duane Butler, pastor of
Lehman Methodist Church.
Mrs. James R. Oliver of Dallas
sang several lovely selections, ac-
companied by Mrs. William Baker,
and the orchestra from the Dallas
Methodist Church played.
Has Practiced 35 Years
Dr. Brown, a native of Lehman,
began to practice in the Green Ridge
section of Scranton, upon his grad-
uation from the Medico-Chirurgical
College of Philadelphia.
later he came back to Lehman and
since then he has served his neigh-
bors, often travelling a considerable
distance, sometimes in dangerous
weather, to answer a call. He has
been the physician at more than
3,000 births.
* Aside from giving new life to the
tradition of the country practition-
er, Dr. Brown has achieved an en-
viable reputation among his fellow
physicians. He is a member of the
staff of the Nesbitt Memorial Hos-
pital and the retiring president of
the Staff Association. He is also a
director of the First National Bank
of Kingston.
The unique certificate he received
last night is owned by but a few
people. The award is made only af-
ter careful study, and must be ap-
proved by the State Department.
No more than one certificate can be |
awarded by anv post in one year,
but many posts never find a civic
figure worthy of the honor, and so
the awards are unusual. Last night’s
was the first Daddow-Isaacs Post
has made. Senator A. J. Sordoni of
Harvey’s Lake and Miss Margaret
Elliott of the American Red Cross
are two of the few who have re-
ceived Certificates from other Lu-
zerne County posts.
Dr. Brown was nominated for the
award by a committee which had as
members Arthur H. Brown, Paul B.
Shaver and Paul Winter.
Kehrli Warns Dog-owners
Of License Deadline
A warning to people in this sec-
tion to secure licenses for their
dogs or face prosecution was issued
this week by Fred Kehrli, Jr., of
Factoryville, State dog law investi-
gator, making his first trip of the
year here.
Any person who has a dog over
six months old must secure a 1940
license. Licenses are on sale at the
County Treasurer's office. Last year
21,190 licenses were sold in Luzerne
County, an increase of about 2,000
over the preceding year.
Any farmers whose livestock or
poultry is killed by dogs can secure
adjustment by writing Mr. Kehrli at
Factoryville.
Score another “scoop” for The
Post’s “good neighbor” policy.
As a gesture of appreciation, The
Post today is offering to its sub-
scribers an almost incredible bar-
gain in culture—a five-volume “His-
tory of the World”, a credit to any
library shelf, for 98c. It sounds
crazy, but it's true!
The books, bound in blue and
stamped with red and gilt, contain
more than 1,700 pages, cover 3,000
years of history, contain informa-
tion on more than 1,100 subjects,
are indexed and profusely illus-
trated and have been revised to
1937.
For at least a month, The Post
will publish each week one “Good
(Continued on Page 8)
Will Coupon”. To get a set of these
SCOOP! POST OFFERS READERS |
‘GOOD WILL BARGAIN’ ON BOOKS
books at the 98c price, it will be!
necessary for the
clip three
from any three issues of The Post,
These coupons, with 98¢c (or $1.98
if the DeLuxe Edition is ordered)
will bring the set by mail. That's
all there is . . . nothing to sell,
nothing to write, no contest of any
kind, nothing except the three cou-
pons and the 98c.
subscriber to
Since the offer will last only un- |
til the supply of books is exhausted,
it is advisable to mail immediately
the reservation order which appears
in the advertisement on Page 3. It
entails no obligation and will assure
you that a set is being saved for
you.
A year]
“Good Will Coupons” :
Women Will Aid
In Job Drive
In This Section
Mrs. Kuehn Is Chairman;
County Leader To Speak
Here On Monday Night
A group of women’s organ-
ization from the Dallas area
enlisted in Governor Arthur H.
James’ Mobilization Crusade
this week, determined to help
in halting the vicious down-
ward unemployment cycle in
Pennsylvania. Mrs. G. A. A.
Kuehn of Dallas was selected
to head the women’s division
in this section.
An organization meeting
was held on Tuesday afternoon
in the offices of the State Em-
| ployment Service in Wilkes-
| Barre, when key members of
{the local committee received
{ instructions and the signal to
“begin hiring”. These women will
serve as liaison officers between
unemployed and potential em-
ployers in this section.
Mrs. Kuehn has announced the
following representatives from wo-
men’s organizations who will co-
operate in the Mobilization Cam-
paign: Mrs. Edna Whitesell, Dallas
| Junior Women’s Club; Mrs. Alex
Groblewski, Nesbitt Memorial Hos-
pital Auxiliary; Mrs. H. J. Disque,
American Legion Auxiliary; Mrs.
Frank Ferry, Dallas Borough Par-
ent-Teacher Association; Mrs Earl
Weidner, W. C. T. U.; Mrs. Ada
Lewis, Order of Eastern Star; Mrs.
Charles Stookey, Daughters of
America; Mrs. Richard Templin, Dr.
| Henry M. Laing Fire Co. Auxiliary;
Mrs. Alice Fiske, Jesse A. Brickel
Sunday school class; Mrs. Wesley
Himmler, Ladies’ Aid Society.
County Leader To Speak
The opening gun in the women’s
campaign will be fired at Dallas
Borough High School on Monday
night when Mrs. Charles S. Wil=
liams, chairman of the women’s
division for Luzerne County, will
; address local volunteers and mem-
! bers of the Dallas Borough Parent-
| Teacher Association. Mrs. Williams
will answer ‘questions following her
talk.
Already groups in other parts of
| the county have attacked the pro-
| blem of finding jobs for some of
| the county’s 24,000 unemployed.
| Governor James launched the Job
Mobilization Campaign when it be-
came apparent that the tremendous
i burden of relief—which cost the
| State $122 000,000 last year—was
| crippling mdsetiy. IIo gupge
i that industry increase its pay rolls,
| so its tax rolls could be decreased.
The volunteers in the Mobiliza-
| tion Campaign will contact prospec-
| tive employers, searching for jobs.
| When openings are discovered, the
State Employment Service will re-
commend applicants from its rolls.
i
|
| Dallas Council To Study
| Tentative Budget Monday
The council of Dallas Borough will
meet on Monday night to receive a
report from the finance committee,
| of which Joseph MacVeigh is chair-
{man. The committee met last Sat-
,urday afternoon and compiled a
| tentatiye budget, which will be pre-
sented’ on Monday night for coun-
| cil’s approval.
| (CUT THIS OUT)
History Or Tue WORLD
Good Will Coupon
| For a limited time, The
|| Post will send to any sub-
scriber who ‘mails or
brings three of these cou-
ll pons and 98¢c to The Post
a five-volume “History
of the World”, as illus-
trated in an advertise-
ment tn this issue. If you
wish to have a set reserv-
ed in your name send in
{|| the Reservation Order
ill from the advertisement.
No obligation, of course,
but it will assure you that
a set is being saved for
you. Do mot send this
coupon in until you have
two others. This offer is
made only to paid-up
subscribers.
Name... ci cot
Address
City
meressecccssccncsccssnessaen
~—