Page 2
THE NEBRASKAN
Wednesday, October 21, 1953
EDITORIAL PAGE
Value Of 'Worthless Land'
Plunderers of the federal public lands are
now trying a new line of attack to obtain con
trol of national forestand grazing lands.
Last spring, on the heels of their success
in obtaining passage of the so-called tidelands
legislation, Rep. D'Ewart (R Mont) and Sens.
Butler (R-Neb) and Barrett (R-Wyo) intro
duced bills which, according to the Great
Falls (Mont.) Tribune, "could, in effect, es
tablish property rights to the grazing permits
(in national forests) which could be bought
and sold and which could lead to all of the
rights eventually going to a few large opera
tors." The press and segments of the public pro
tested against the proposed legislation on the
grounds that control by the cattlemen, or by
states, would result in relaxed regulations in
preventing exploitation of timber, erosion of
soil and over-grazing of the grasslands.
This opposition must have been at least
partially successful, for It appears now that
the would-be plunderers have changed their
tactics.
They are no longer hollering, "Give the
federal land back to the states," since the
states have never even claimed ownership
of the lands.
They are not pointing out how much addi
tional revenue states would obtain from leases
on the land, since they already receive from
12 to 50 per cent of receipts from grazing
lands, 374 to 50 per cent of the income from
the mineral receipts and 10 to 40 per cent of
Income from forest reserves. States now re
ceive this revenue without any effort on their
Books And Freedom
A Chicago newsman, Frank Hughes of the
Chicago Tribune, was quoted in a Tuesday
morning radio broadcast to the effect that
Omaha parents should be perturbed about
some of the books he found in one of Omaha's
High Schools.
Hughes' statements were not reported by
the Lincoln papers; we suppose for the rea
son the local editors did not have space to
print such charges without the proper and
heeded backgrounding.
To The Nebraskan, there are two equally
acceptable methods of handling such charges.
1. Do not mention them.
2. Report the charges but, furnish suffi
cient background to put the reader in com
mand of what is actually involved.
....The Nebraskan has chosen the latter
method.
In the four right-hand columns of today's
Nebraskan are listed the comment and
opinion of some of the NU faculty members
who are acquainted with either the books
under attack, the authors of the books under
attack or the issues involved.
The three books mentioned are leftist, ac
cording to Hughes who is himself an author.
The Nebraskan makes no attempt to refute
"or substantiate this statement; but rather we
seek to present the comments of those faculty
members polled in the fields of history, poli
tical science and education.
-
Whenever books or ideas are atacked in a
democracy without keeping in mind that a
democracy cannot exist without free circula
tion of varied concepts, then democracy is
being mocked.
Whenever books or ideas are attacked in a
with intent to nan, suppress or eradicate,
-then democracy itself is in danger. E.D.
Why Have People?
The man of the future, according to many
scientists, will have no hair. Hair's original
function, to provide warmth, is no longer
necessary.
We may not only all be bald, we may have
no toes. The scientists tell us they too will
disappear from disuse.
Thus a horrifying possibility presents itself
In an innocent-looking news item about
"Speed walk."
Speedwalk is a horizontal conveyor belt,
a "moving sidewalk," that will travel much
faster than an escalator. The man who
pioneered the belt conveyor in 1891 believes,
"It is only a question of time until people
will not only ride up and down on escalators
but will glide on level ground . . ."
The day of the walker is already almost
past cars, trains, planes, buses, street cars,
elevators, bicycles, tricycles the list of leg
saving vehicles is seemingly endless. Soon
we may not even have to walk to classes.
Of course, if science develops mechanical
brains to a greater extent, we could elimin
ate thinking along with walking.
Automatic dish-washers, clothes-washers,
and -dryers have made housework almost
completely non-human. Airplanes have
automatic pilots and weapons are automatic
ally fired.
If a machine were invented to oil and re
pair the other machines, people could be
eliminated.
They could pass peacefully out of existence
and leave this man-created madhouse to the
machines. S. H.
part the federal government supplies forest
rangers, fire fighters, conservative teams, etc.
The plunderers are no longer attempting to
meet the argument that control by states and
cattlemen will result in unnecessary waste.
But they have taken a new tact in their
battle to obtain control of the vast federal
public lands.
The new line of attack was clearly shown In
a news article (which certainly should have
been on the editorial page) in the Lincoln
Scnday Journal-Star. One entence said
"Actually most of the federal land is com
paratively worthless territory the remnants
left after settlers took all the good land."
If these lands were worthless, why should
Butler and Co. be so intent upon turning
them over to the states and the cattlemen?
If the lands were worthless, why should the
Journal-Star devote 15 inches to show how
Nebraska would obtain 835,224 acres of land
should it expropriate the federal public do
main? From a dollars-and-cents point of'view,
the receipts of the Forest Service from the
national forests alone totaled $69,720,197.59. in
fiscal year, 1952, according to the Congres
sional Record.
Federal receipts under the mineral leasing
act for the same period amounted to $41,883,
603.61, more than a third of which was paid
to the states.
Worthless land?
It appears that the plunderers of the fed
eral lands are no longer arguing the true
merits of localized control. They have taken
the position that the lands are valueless and
thus hope to reduce public interest and oppo
sition to expropriating . and exploiting the
federal resources.
If these men can convince the public that
it doesn't make any difference what happens
to the public lands, Butler and Co. will have
little difficulty in passing pending legislation
and in grabbing the remainder of the public
domain for lumber and cattle interests. K.R.
Margin Notes
The Spirit Of The Letter .
Dagwood recently had one of the problems
The Nebraskan faces once in a while.
Blondie had embroidered his initials on his
shirt. The office boy asked if they meant
"dumbbell," and Dagwood's boss asked if
they meant "dizzy brain."
The Nebraskan runs into difficulty, it
seems, when using the letters HC and MB.
Do they mean Homecoming and Mortar
Boards or Honorary Commandant and Mili
tary Ball? ,
We can't take the stitches out of our sjiirts,
so our readers will simply have to read the
news stories.
Difference In Approach
Iowa State College students twice shook
their campus over the weekend, asking for
a day off in celebration of a football victory
over Missouri.
Their rioting, "panty raiding" and street
blocking ended with no holiday.
At the University of Nebraska, however,
the president of the Student Council and the
dean of stucTent affairs are reportedly dis
cussing an identical issue calling special
holidays for celebrations, etc.
Wc may not obtain a holiday but at least
the University is willing to discuss the issue
when approached rationally.
Just A Note To Say . . .
Drew Pearson in his Sunday broadcast
told of Sen. McCarthy's (R-Wis) sending
thank-you notes to wedding well-wishers
using franked government envelopes.
Could it be McCarthy's reasoning was since
franked envelopes are restricted (at least
morally) to official business, his marriage
was a political move?
Booming Business
The Lincoln Police Department has report
ed a total of 10,558 arrests during Septem
ber. The jail did such a booming business, al
though most of the arrests were for traffic
violations, that 2,398 meals were served from
the jail kitchen.
Maybe the dorm busboys would like to
transfer.
But Where Does It Lead?
"We finally got around the corner after a
long seige."
That's the way Coach Bill Glassford
summed up Nebraska's victory over Miami
last Saturday in an address before the Quar
terback Club Monday.
Let's hope the corner doesn't lead into a
blind alley.
JIw. ykhfuzzJicwL
firry -third tear '
Member: Associated Collegiate Press Intercollegiate Press
, Advertising representative: National Advertising Service, I PC.
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hr the Boerd at Pahllmtlona, "It u (be iSnrttirrd poMry ' Nrwa Kdltor Tom Woodward
f the &mr4 th publication onrfer tti jttrteriletlon ahall Copy Editor Jen HnrrUon, Marianne llarwra,
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pir.riHI rtmr ie mootb of Anrnat vmrit 7ar by the
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Charge'
Evokes Faculty Comment
. . . Newsman's Statement Questioned
By BRUCE BRTJGMANN
Staff Writer
Frank Hughes, front -page
Chicago Tribune reporter, it
was reported in a Tuesday
morning KFOR radio broadcast,
declared Sunday night that
three radical textbooks "are be
ing recommended by the Omaha
Central school library."
Hughes was quoted in the
broadcast as saying "the first
honest pro-American textbooks
I've seen in 25 years" cannot be
found enough.
Speaking, before, an. Omaha
Ad-Sell group, Hughes cited
"Amer'ean Government and
Politics," by Charles Beard;
"American Government," by
Frank Magruder, and "Ameri
can Government," by Frederick
llaskins.
The KFOR broadcast did not
mention any of the "pro-American"
textbooks.
In his Sunday speech, Hughes
was reported to have said,
"Don't take my word for what
is being done go and see for
yourselves."
(Hughes was reportedly in
Omaha two weeks earlier at the
Freedom Convention. , Radio
commentator Fulton Lewis Jr.
also attended.)
Interviewing several NU fac
ulty members, The Nebraskan
was able to obtain the following
comments concerning the three
books, their authors and criti
cism Cf books in general:
James L. Sellers, professor of
history and chairman of the
history department, had himself
used many of Magruder's ear
lier editions and as far as he
could see, "there was nothing
in the least subversive or rad
ical about them."
Speaking as a personal friend
of author Charles Beard, John
P. Senning, professor of politi
cal science, stated that he was
chairman of a board that ex
amined secondary textbooks, two
of which were earlier editions
of the ones in question, and
found nothing whatsoever of a
radical nature.
Continuing, Senning declared,
"I have found that certain au
thors who are prone to criticiz
ing often will delete a certain
sentence or' fragment out of
context on alleged views and
twist it to represent the author's
line of thinking
Acquainted with a few of
Beard's earlier editions and a
friend of Beard's father, Nor
man Hill, professor of political
science, seemed to think that
"nothing was amiss" 1 and the
writings were quite free of radi
calism. '
Aligning himself with the
others, Sellers also said he could
find nothing -that smacked of
radicalism in any of his contacts
with the disputed works.
Disapproving of the means
Hughes was employing to gain
his end, Sellers was reminded of
Abe Lincoln who said somethirtg
to the effect that "a man is godd
enough to govern himself, but I
haven't found one good enough
to govern others."
"I am opposed to the idea of
thought control by any self-constituted
authority," said Robert
K. Sakai, instructor of history,
who along with Jack W. Rodgers,
assistant professor of political
science, had had little contact
with the material in dispute but
felt that the condemnation was
not justified.
A. C. Breckenridge, associate
professor of political science and
chairman of the department of
political science felt that "re
moving all controversial -and
radical material from the book
shelves would leave the libraries
of the country quite bare."
Speaking of Frederick Has-
kin's book, Royce Knapp. profes
sor of secondary education, re.
called that the work was "mora
of a compendium or referenc
handbook than a textbook." Ma
gruder's text, he thought, was a
generally conservative-type book,
but noted that it had been taken
out of the Chicago school sys
tem mainly because of news
paper pressure. yw
Summarizing Hughes' stanoJ
for vigilant patriotism, Knapp
added, "It certainly is nothing
new for the Chicago Tribune to
criticize books, government,
pclicy or anything else of signifi
cance that has happened in th
20th Century."
Little Man On Campus ... By Bibler The Student Speaking
LITTLE MAN on campus
by Dick Bibler
PONT FORSET- I
MUST HAVE IT BACK,
.CLASS
1 MY BRIEFCASE! I'VE LOST if
IT I'VE A STUDENT HERE J II
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1 fUjANYTHlNG THIS IN TIME -IF THIS 66(3 JT N I
1TklMPOKTANT IS VVOCTH S IN Trf SAME CONDITION . A I
THE CHALLENGE
Soil For Citizenship
University Community
(This is the sixth in a weekly This is the reason why a unl-
series of articles treating the
problems, issues and challenges
of the day as viewed by represen
tatives of various fields of en
deavor.) By ROYCE H. KNAPP
Professor of Secondary Education
Many people are asking whether
a university community can help
to develop effective, citizens for
a free society. I must admit a
prejudice in this matter because
I believe a university education
is a foundation stone for building
good civic behavior. '
It is true that a university is
primarily an intellectual arena,
a place where minds are filled
and exercised, but it is more than
this. It is a learning community
where youth tries itself upon the
persistent problems of mankind,
and has the right to realize Pla
to's admonition to be a specta
tor of all time and all existence.
The terse and oft-quoted state
ment of Descartes, "I think, there
fore I am," ought also to apply to
university youth; thes are the
best years for fulfillment of man
hood and womanhood in the' sense
of personal intellectual indepen
dence. There have always been critics
of university youth and universi
ties in general. I think this is a
good omen. If a university were
unsettling no minds, little educa
tion would be taking place. The'
college professor uses the chief
tool that he has, intellectual stim
ulation, to quicken and to inspirit
minds with a search for truth and
meaning.
Of course, this often causes
young minds to become lost in
the woods. Finding the way out
may be considered a major ele
ment in the process of education.
A professor cannot be a preacher.
Perhaps his principle business is
that of emulating Socrates by
serving as a midwife to whatever
ideas students may give birth. If
we really want a university com
munity to produce competent cit
izens, we must hold fast to the
right to examine critically the
ideas of all mankind. This re
quires freedom. ,
University
Bulletin Board
WEDNESDAY
.Alpha Kappa Psi Luncheon,
noon, Chamber Commerce Build
ing. Bridge Lessons, 5 p.m., Room
316, Union.
Pre-Orchesls Meeting, 5 p. m.,
Grant Memorial.
Builders Mass Meetlnr, 7 p.m..
Room 315, Union.
Dancing Lessons, 7:30 p.m., Ag
Union. i
THURSDAY
Psl Chi Organizational Meeting
and Coffee Hour, 4 p.m., 224 SS.
Vocational Ag Asso elation
Meeting, 7:30 p.m., 303, Ag Hall.
Ag. Economics Club Meeting,
Room 306, Dairy Industry.
versity community must resist
all attempts at dogmatic control
of thought no matter what their
sources. Justice Oliver Wendell
Holmes once declared that we
must defend free thought; "not
free thought for those who agree
with us, but freedom of thought
for thought we hate."
Most of the students now in
habiting this campus have about
a half century of life ahead of
them. They will be our doctors,
lawyers, teachers, . ministers,
school board members, business
men, and community leaders un
til the year 2000. Undoubtedly,
there are present today some fu
ture governors, senators, con
gressmen, and mayors.
Our courses ought to make them
informed, reflective civic leaders.
Their studies in history, political
science, literature, and science
can give them understandings and
courage to solve the problems of
their day. This makes it highly
desirable that we teach youth
how to learn from the past so
that they may live effectively to
day and in the future. It does not
mean living in tht; past.
The skill and knowledge requi
site for professional life whether
law, dentistry, teaching, phar
macy, or medicine, or in any other
field can, in a university, be
closely integrated with an under
standing of one's social duties and
responsibilities. Dr. Isaiah Bow
man once told his entering fresh
men at Johns Hopkins, "No man
can enjoy the privileges of edu
catjon and thereafter with a clear
conscience break his contract
with society. To respect that con
tract is to be mature, to streng
then it is to be a good citizen, to
do more than your share under it
is to be noble."
To me, this means that all
learning and knowledge are tools
for good living. Few are destined
to become great scholars or to
make startling contributions to
science. All are destined to be
come a part of free society, and
all will have duties and respon
sibilities in that society. Happy
indeed will be the man or woman
who can integrate his or her per
sonal ambitions and talents with
the problems and tasks of society.
Until- some better institution is
formed, and I see none in the
making at the middle of the twen
tieth century in America, the uni
versity remains the prime insti
tution for accomplishing this task.
Yes, I believe a university
community is an excellent soil in
which citizens can grow. A uni
versity is a source of information,
ideas, beauty, and truth. It is also
a community where love, sympa
thy, kindness, mercy, and toler
ance are nutured.
I believe that Jacques Barzun
gave to' college teachers suffi
cient cause for humility and de
votion when, after discussing he
role of the college teacher in
teaching democracy or citizenship,
he concluded, "They come, not
from a course, but from a teacher,
not from a curriculum, but from
a human soul."
Hey, Ar ready
By JERRY SHARPNACK
Dear Sam:
Well, it's Wednesday again.
Orange-green Wednesday as you
always used to call it (ha, ha).
What did you mean by that,
anyway? You are always ask
ing me what's going on at the
old Alma Mater, so here goes
(ha, ha).
Monday I was kneeling at an
Andrews Hall water fountain .
when I felt someone staring at
me and I looked around and
right at eye level (that was
about three feet at the time)
here is this little man looking
into my hazel eyes which are
surrounded by a rather hand
some face. That was pretty
funny a guy that short, you
know.
But I didn't want to embar
rass him as he was realy funny
looking being that short, and
all. So I stayed on my knees
so he wouldn't feel not right
Qhkkl&A.
By CHICK TAYLOR
Staff Writer
A psychiatrist was questioning
a patient and "asked: "What
would you
say would be
the difference
between a
little boy and
a dwarf?"
The patient
thought for a
while and
said: "Well
there might
be a lot of difference."
"What for instance?", asked
the psychiatrist, encouragingly.
"Well," replied the patient,
"the dwarf might be a girl."
.
Suitor "Sir, I have an attach
ment for your daughter."
Father "Young man, when
my daughter needs, accessories,
I'll buy them for her myself."
Mike: ::So you believe in so
cialism now."
Joe: "I sure do. I'd divide up
everything equal."
Mike: "You mean that if you ,
had two horses, you would give
me one?"
Joe: "Of course I would."
Mike: "And two pigs?"
Joe: "You go to the devil. You
know darn well I got two pigs."
because I was so much taller
(if I stood up, I mean).
I thought I would be nice to
the little feller. "Hello, little
man," I said friendlily-like. 1
guess I must have offended him
somehow, because he kicked
me in the stomach. But he
smiled so I began talking with
him.
"What do you do?" I asked. '
"I push old ladies down
stairs," he said. Well, Sam, I
didn't know quite how to act
at that. Finally, I said, "Why?"
"I hate 'em, you dumb
schlonk," he said.
"Oh," I said.
It was right then the carillon
started to play something, and
since I had a class I had toiJN
leave the little man with the''
unusual occupation.
I got clear over to the Soc.
Building before I remembered
I was still on my knees (ha, ha).
Well, I was just about to go
inside when this naked girl
passes me (except for a pair of
red socks with an "N" on them).
You can never learn if you don't
ask, I always say.
"Why are you naked, girl," I
asked, "except for a pair of red ,
socks with an "N" on them?"
"I don't like blue socks, you
dumb schlonk," she said.
She made me feel so foolish
for asking. Sometimes I think
I am so smart, but somebody
like that just makes me look
ridiculous. Oh, yes, she was
carrying a basket and so I had
to ask what was in it.
She said It was full of moner
for the A.U.F. and wu to go.
partly, for poor, under-clothed
children. Also, there was some
body's right arm lying in tha
basket, but I didn't want to pry
into her business anymore than
I already had, and she looked,
huffy, kind of, then.
There is a big discussion on
campus now on if the carillon
tower's sounds are uncontrolled
mechanically or if there is a
human person that can play
like that every day. Also, some-j
body said there was a plot to'
blow up the carillon tower, but
I am afraid to let myself be
lieve it.
Well, here I am rambling and
rambling on about myself. I
am kind of conceited, I guess
(ha, ha).
How about you, Sam? You
all right? Well, see you around,
huh?
Pal Jerry
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ibmtD UNOf AUTHORITY Of TH! COCA-COU COMPANY it
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