(Edis Note: This is the se- cond of 20 essays by leading men in the world’s academic community. The writer of this article is professor of American Herein he discusses the de- velopment of the American ex- perience and its applicability to the world today.) by Carl N. Degler will be to the world the chains under which. ..ignorance and supersti- tions had persuaded them to the blessings and security of Indeed, at the beginning of had already proclaimed the American mission ‘when he spoke of Puritan Massachusetts as being ‘a city upon a hill.” Europeans, too, looked to America as the example; parti- transformed itself from a strug- gling agrarian society at the be- ginning of the 19th Century to the most productive industrial- lions of immigrants showed that in thegeyes of Europeans the Und States had become the land of plenty as well as Jef- ferson’s land of freedom. In the 20th Century, especial- ly since World War II, as new nations in Asia and Africa have come into existence and old ones have transformed them- selves, America has continued to be the measure of national success. Even to Communist Nikita Krushcheyv the abun- dance of the United States was the yardstick against which to measure Russian economic achievement. To the newer nations of the world, the United States has even more relevance, for, like them, America was born of re- volution against colonial rule. Lipset | has pointed out, the Unit- was the first new na- To seek to emulate America, however. is not tantamount to doing @kin fact, the experience of the UYiited States was special, if not unique. Its beginning in the New World, for example, where it was free from the res- trictive inheritances from feudalism, set it apart from many other societies that today seek to follow its path. On the other hand, other new countries, for instance those of Latin America. which escaped feudalism, lacked America’s century and a half of self- government, which the accident Moreover, few nations, new or old, have America’s advantages in natural resources and loca- tion ly in the temperate zone. Brazil, Canada and Russia are large countries, replete with sources, but the first is almost entirely in the tropics and the latter two are largely sub-arc- tic. Other extensive countries like China and India suffer from on the land, a situation that cer- tainly places a burden upon eco- nomic growth, but one that has never been a problem for the United States. It is not only the accident of place that sets the United States apart from other nations that aspire to emulate its freedom and abundance. Their timing is off, too. The United States made its great transformation from agriculture to industry during a unique era in the history of the world. The 19th Century was probably freer from the disrup- tions and burdensome costs of large-sgille wars than any per- iod of @@bdern European his- tory. During these years, there- fore, capital and people (labor) from Europe's developing economy flowed with little im- pediment to America. America thus enjoyed ready access to the two factors of pro- duction it lacked while profiting from an expanding market for its farm products. Today, in an age of wars, quotas and cur- rency restrictions, neither capi- tal nor goods nor people move as freely as in the last century, and military needs may eat into a developing nation’s sub- stance. The American experience dif- fers from that of other countries cialist movement. Most indus- trialized societies, even Japan in Asia, have socialistic move- large political parties. In vir- tually all the industrial coun- tries of Europe, for example, the Socialist or Communist Party is either the first or se- cond largest. Indeed, the anomaly of the prime industrial and bourgeois socialist movement has been a fact calling for explanation by socialist writers. - The most recent example is Michael Harrington in his new book ‘‘Socialism.” Does all this, then, add up to saying that the American model is irrelevant to the modern world, that the United States is exceptional and therefore at best misleading for our own others thinking about them- selves? 1 do not think so. The Amiri, being a model to emulate, that does not eliminate the rele- vance of American history to the world. The United States may no longer be the supporter of nationalistic revolutions that it was in Latin America, Greece and Hungary in the early 19th Century, but its society is still a prime source of social innova- tion around the world. It is still the first new nation. The youth culture, like the drug culture, began in the Unit- ed States and has spread to the principal industrial countries of the world. The hippie is now a world phenomenon, not only as a traveling American, but as a young native of Brazil, Holland or France as well. And the less alienated young of Europe, Japan and Latin America also ideas, as the spread of blue Jeans. rock music and univer- sity rebellions = demonstrates. One of the reasons for the youth culture, of course, is the an expansion that derives from the American past. The idea that the masses should be edu- cated at public expense was first put into practice in'Ameri- ca in the years before the Civil tury the idea was extended first to the high school and then to the college and university. On that latest level it is an idea still new: in Europe, but the French universities and the ex- pansion of British provincial universities make clear that the American view is at work. The industrialized nations are influenced by American ideas and practices in their economic development, too. The methods and technology of modern American industry, particular- ly the computer, have trans- formed the European and Japanese economies. Indeed, J. J. Servan-Schreiber’s best sell- er of a couple of years ago, ‘The American Challenge,” is a com- pendium of the ways in which Europe has been threatened when it has not been transform- ed by American business me- thods and style. Furthermore, it is worth remembering that although the growth economy of America was an early and egregious pol- luter of the environment, the movement to improve the en- vironment has gone farther and influenced political parties more in this country than in any other major industrial nation. But these specific examples of the way in which the history and development of the United States affect the modern world are even more important for what they represent than for att what they are in themselves. For behind them stand certain American values that have moved out to influence the world. And the greatest of these is equality. This concept runs through the history of the United States like a golden thread. It is perfectly true that Americans have not consistently practiced equality, either individually or as a na- tion, and they probably never will. But the historical move- ment of the nation has clearly been to maximize equality. Moreover, the fact that Blacks, for example, who have never constituted more than 12 percent of the population, can obtain civil rights laws and bring about changes in social practices by appealing to the principle reveals that the prin- ciple is working, even if not con- sistently. Equality is now a dominant idea in the world. For the mod- ern world has repudiated. na- tional forms of subordination like colonialism as well as indi- vidual forms like anti-Semi- tism, racism and sexism; the exemplification of the principle in America has been an impor- tant part of that rise to domin- ance. As an idea equality is not sim- ple. It includes more, for exam- ple, than equality: before the law, which the French Revolu- tion proclaimed, just as it goes beyond equality of opportunity, of which Lincoln spoke when he asked that the burden of slavery be lifted from Blacks. It includes the idea that each person is equal in the sight of God. At its best, this third as- pect of equality asserts that all men are equally precious; at its worst, as the Frenchman Toc- queville observed some 140 years ago, it declares that no man’s opinion is any better than his neighbor’s, and hence the principle becomes a basis for social conformity. For by what right dare I stand out against my neighbor’s views? Socially, this third form of equality de- nies not only class distinctions but authority as well. Who has the right to rule when all men are equal? The erosion of tradi- tional authority in the world to- day began with the idea of equality of worth, which Euro- pean visitors encountered in the early years of the American Re- public. The spread of equality to Europe and to Japan is as much a part of ‘*‘Americanization’’ as the automobile and Coca-Cola. Other nations may be unable to follow the political or econo- mic path of the United States, but they are certainly being shaken by the idea that ‘‘all men are created equal.” And to that extent the history and For The low. Record N, 1. Ayes 282. Noes 131. Agreed to. Ayes 143. Noes 268. Rejected. Nays 210. Rejected. ment rejected, Oct. 4. Passed. The Northern Luzerne County Health Planning Coalition will sponsor a public meeting Oct. 17, at 7 p.m., in the King’s Col- lege Library Auditorium, Jack- son and North Main, Wilkes- Barre. The meeting will con- cern emergency health ser- vices, and it is part of the effort of the Health and Hospital Plan- eastern Pennsylvania in public education. for emergency medi- cal services. In conjunction with: Emer- gency Medical Service Public Education Week, HHPC is using the media and other means to make the public aware of emergency medical services (EMS), - with updated infor- mation. The meeting at King's College will have a 20-minute film, ‘Before the Emergency’ Newspaper essay. wel Ren ik which depicts a modern EMS system in operation. The film has been provided for use by the Center for the Study of Emer- gency Medical, Services. A panel discussion will follow the film, moderated by John J. Stalma. EMS coordinator for HHPC. Members of the panel are: Lt. Col. Nicholas Souchik of the Luzerne County Com- munications Network; Dr. Philip Seroska, emergency room physician at the Wilkes- Barre General Hospital; and Homer Spencer, president of the Public Ambulance Service of Wilkes-Barre. The panel will discuss the present state of EMS and the future alternatives possible. The public is invited to attend. Police Warn Viewers On Fall Foliage Tours Col. James D. Barger, com- missioner of the Pennsylvania State Police, issued a plea this week for motorists to use extra caution on the highways during the month of October. Many motorists will be traveling throughout the Commonwealth to view the colorful fall foliage. Col. Barger said, *‘The beauty of Pennsylvania's countryside tracts thousands of tourists cach year. However, all too often the driver spoils this beauty by focusing his attention on the scenery rather than on his driving. An operator of a vehicle who attempts to enjoy the scenery while driving is a serious hazard to everyone. The State Police urge all motorists to plan on stopping at scenic lookouts or other places where the driver can park completely off the highway. thus allowing him and his family to enjoy Pennsylvania's fall foliage A ik Forty Years Ago 1933 : A boyish ‘‘prank’’ almost de- railed a Dallas trolley car. Quick action of motorman Wil- liam Hufford prevented an acci- tie across the tracks at Birch Grove. Coming down the hill at a good clip, Mr. Hufford hit his brakes and stopped after nudg- ing the tie. Pinchot-Fine organization was under fire in Wyoming County. Unemployed claim gross injustices. Ace Hoffman, owner of the Plantation Club, Harveys Lake, was acquitted by Judge McLean of selling beer on Sunday. Pro- secutor couldn’t prove the stuff contained more than one half percent alcohol. Kingston Township approved new system of paying taxes by installments. Burgess Anderson said Dallas should own its own water com- pany. Council said it shouldn’t, exceptas a lastresort. Same old hassle about quantity and qual- ity, as 40 years ago. Five independent tickets in the county insured a tight elec- tion. : Sarah Woolbert, approaching 90, died. Arthur Lee, employed at Dal- las Post, picked up an English newspaper and found an item saying 8,000 Wilkes-Barre min- ers had fled for their lives ahead of mine flood-waters. He won- dered where he’d been while it was going on. Wilkes-Barre citi- zens also wondered how - the story originated. The Post invited local busi- upswing in economic condi- tions, to write to the paper. The Dallas Post went on re- cord with these goals—a free library, more sidewalks, con- solidation of schools, a modern highway to Tunkhannock, ade- quate water supply, sewage dis- posal action, and better com- munity relations between Dal- las, Trucksville and Shaver- town. Thirty Years Ago 2X 1943 Prolonged, drought was ge- Rustlings sponsible for acute water short- age throughout Pennsylvania. Brisk business in bootleg gasoline ration stamps. One customer filed a complaint on having been gyped with a cigar box filled with newspaper clip- pings instead of coupons. Cost $1,200. 3 Huntsville Christian Church observed its Centennial. Many employes of Noxen Tannery feared a shortage of green hides. Some resigned to work in defense plants. Eleanor Kirkendall Atkins suffered a fatal heart attack in the Comerford Theater lobby. Her husband, Herbert, was owner of Craftsman Engravers. Heard from the Outpost: L. E. Newhart, England; Lawrence Ide, North Africa; Charles War- den, Texas; Shreveport; Robert Dennis, Fort Eustis; Ralph Antrim, paratrooper; Richard Williams, North Africa; Marjorie Dar- row, naval hospital, and Phillip Cease, Amherst. It was the coldest Oct. 6 in 43 years—two degrees below zero. Mr. and Mrs. Humphrey Owen celebrated their 54th wed- ding anniversary- Posters urged, ‘‘Join the Waves, It’s a Woman’s War too.” Bob Pritchard, Bob Beck, Bob Considine and Bob Covey bumped into each other at Camp Edwards. Died: Clarence Spencer, 60, Idetown; Jean Detrick, 21, Fernbrook, and Hannah Jones, 82, Huntsville. Twenty Years Ago 1953 The Eck trio, Fred, Dorothy and Fred Jr., made the front page as participants in the Back Mountain Community Concert. The new Dodge at Richard- son’s had something new—pow- er steering. Bloomsburg Mill was instal- ling 120 draper looms. Five townships discussed school merger at a special meeting of Dallas, Franklin, Lake-Noxen, and Monroe. Harry Schooley was sworn in as a member of the Dallas-Frank- lin school hoard, appointed. to replace Floyd Chamberlain who resigned. Trucksville poultry shop was entered by thieves for the 10th time. A lege Misericordia. Died: Jestie Schoonover, 89, Centermoreland; J. Calvin Birch, 76, Broadway; Grave H. C. Van Dyke, Tunkhannock. Ten Years Ago 1963 George Cave appointed new gion Post 672. $5,000. sidents waged war against in- equity of taxes. Lake-Lehman School Board officially passed a resolution protesting the banning of pray- ers in schools. Dallas Borough PTA petition- ed council to provide crossing guards. - Dr. Lester Jordan was named ‘Citizen of the Year” by local service clubs. Trucksville schools forced to buy bottled water. Dallas board to contact water company. Back Mountain cancer drive termed a success with total con- Dallas toppled Forty Fort, 20- 7, and Lake-Lehman Knights beat Northwest, 14-0. Births: Cheryl Lynn, daugh- ter of Mr. and Mrs. Spencer Holmgren, Noxen; Eric Jay, son of Mr. and Mrs. George Rambus, Dallas; Joel, son of Mr. and Mrs. Jack Field, Dallas and Sandra, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Glace. Died: John Jensen, Dallas; Boyd Cragle, Harveys Lake; Edith Gay, Trucksville; Madge Swepston, Dallas and Julia Youlls, Lehman. Supermarkets featured pork butts. 27 cents a pound; del monico steaks. $1.39 a pound; whiting. two pounds cents: barbecued chicken, 49 cents a pound; celery 10 cents a bunch, and a 50-pound hag of potatoes; $1.19. ; by Russ Williams Rustlings predicts that newspaper coverage of wed- dings will soon include a com- plete description of the groom’s outfit. Not because of any women’s liberation caused backlash movement, but because of the variety of attire men are now wearing to the altar. Bridegroom’s don’t look like pallbearers, or pallbearees, anymore. (The groom wore a stunning black velvet jacket over a white silk shirt with lantern sleeves. The shirt was trimmed in front and at the cuffs with ruffles of imported Belgium lace. Red and white patent leather shoes with three-inch heels set off trousers of...) Some look like Peter Genaro dancers. Rustlings predicts that 20 years from now ‘‘America-Love It or Leave It” stickers will be worth ‘at least as much as Mickey Mouse wristwatches and Captain America comic books. Some day the civil rights thing will be straightened out enough that towels, plates, pictures and the like, depicting little “‘darkies eatin’ der watey- melon’’ will be considered humorous antiques of a more foolish era. Rustlings predicts that in the near future a 55-year old woman, a former tennis star, will make a lot of money by challenging Rod Laver or Ar- thur Ash to a crocheting tourna- ment. ; ‘ Rustlings predicts that “wheat stalk’’ pennies (as com- pared to ‘Lincoln Memorial’ pennies) will soon be as scarce as “Buffalo” nickels, ‘‘Liberty Head” dimes, ‘‘Standing Liberty’’ quarters, and good five-cent cigars. Rustlings predicts that in the year 2060 an MTR (mental tele- pathy radio) news announcer Fine Arts Calendar 11-13—Theatre, King’s College, 8 p.m. 16—Seminar, King’s College, 8 p.m. p.m. 10:30 a.m. $:30 p.m. Host Inn, Wilkes-Barre. 22—Lecture, Wilkes College, 8 p.m. , Dr. Albert Ellis, p.m. Kingston, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. 28-29—Film Series, Misericordia, 7:30 p.m. will report that “The price of food went up 156 percent in the last week, edging out a record that was set in December, 1973. Rustlings predicts that that MTR announcer will be cough- ing when he gives the weather report—*‘Better put an extra. filter in the old APM (air purifying mask) if you're going that pollution * with a knife charcoal grey to pitch black. The forecast for tommorrow is...clearing, with grey to light filter weather tomorrow folks! So hang in there!” Rustlings predicts that fat white wall tires, skinny ties, fat belts for women, and skinny belts for men will all be in and out of style at least three times before the MTR announcer gives the weather report. Rustlings , predicts that freezers and rare old meats will take the place of wine-cellars and rare old vintage bottles. (South Dakota filet mignon ’72...ah, yes, a very good year.) Rustlings predicts that just as police officers enforce auto- mobile speedlimits to protect the driver, and others, patrol- men will soon be carrying rulers, enforcing a six-inch heel-height limit for the pro- tection of the stylish pedestrian, and others. . Unfavorable weather conditions, wind or ice, would probably necessitate en- forcement of even lower shoe height limits. Rustlings predicts that the next major civil rights move- ments will be for the cause of the advertising man. Thousands of grey-flanned-suited, brief- case-carrying men with mid- ear-length sideburns will pro- test being categorized as single- minded and complain about being stereotyped, by carrying protest signs with catchy slogans, as they pop pills for their ulcers. Their movement will be nicknamed “Ad Lib’. The movement will later be joined by thousands of grey- flanneled, brief-cased accoun- tants. No change will be neces- sitated in the movement nick- Rustlings “predicts that ac- won't find that last prediction, very foray. z BTS a CRBS Se FET nc J
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers