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Et. Louis Post-Dispatch 000..!.. 44,-,e4134 ,–..s.4.e,,,; ..-.,:l.v., ……p. ‘ -. …. ..ityv.. 4.,3……… ti, ` :…., l’s. .N .1.-; ..; …. \(,,,,,, I: tt::::-*. ‘s ‘: ..’ A …,,,-u ,,,,,-. , -,-.., … N J ‘ -1′ 1 to It …Pi…” FOOD! THE TEXAS OBSERVER Let those flatter who fear, it is not an American art.JEFFERSON Assets Zoyal to the truth in their heath We like the things Dr. Byron Abernethy of Lubbock had to say recently introducing Senator Yarborough at a meeting of the Parmer County Farmers’ Union in Friona. I lis subject was the kind of men we need in politics, from JP to President. First, he said, a man in public life in the 1960’s must be intelligent. He must comprehend the forces at work, and whither they tend ; he must have a vision of the future ; he must have the imagination to devise methods for achieving the future. “The sixties call for men in public life who will be ‘leaders of great causes,’ not the ‘brokers of little ones’; men who are wiser than they are shrewd,” said Abernethy. Second, he must be religious, moral, and idealistic”his religious convictions must reach beyond piety alone to embrace deep personal commitments concerning what is noble and just and Godly. … His concepts of morality must embrace economic, social, and political morality. … He must have a religious and moral regard for the individual dignity of every human being. He must be a man of great and noble beliefs … who can say with John Adams … ‘There is no choice left but to take the side which appears to be just … trust in Providence for the protection of truth and right.’ ” Third, he must be dedicated to “all of the people, all of the people, all of the time,” impervious to pressures for special privilege from the right or left. Fourth, he must be “a leader in the finest sense, not a follower,” he ReteL ira The say -;nothing rectangular buildings on the corners of the towns on the flat West Texas land do not conceal as much as they describe the way it is done. One never really knows, of course, unless one is in the board meeting or the club room when the decision is reached in the subtle form Such decisions must take : an allusion, an understanding, a pausea new subject. Sitting in a cafe talking about whether democracy is working, good people see someone nearby, say “We’d better be careful a minute,” lose the pace in their minds, fall into a nervous disrepair, waiting for someone to move on. “They can spot a potential trou.ble spot long before anyone else senses it, and they pick out a troublesome person, too, and systematically set about to destroy him.” Published by Texas Observer Co., Ltd. Entered as second-class matter, April 26, 1937, at the Post Office at Austin, Texas, under the Act of March 3, 1879. OCTOBER 30, 1959 Ronnie Dugger Editor and General Manager Sarah Payne, Office Manager Published once a week from Austin, Texas. Delivered postage prepaid $4 per annum. Advertising rates available on request. Extra copies 10c each. Quantity prime available on orders. must have public policies he initiates, defends, and justifies to the people, for we can no longer afford “those so-called leaders with whom we are so familiar, who first try to determine where the people are going, then run to the head of the parade….” Fifth, said Abernethy, “we need courageous fighters … men congenitally incapable of surrender to evil men and evil purposes, even when they must stand alone. The times ahead call for men ready to accept the ostracism of the press and of the so-called ‘respectable’ segments of society if necessary, confident that even if their own times must treat them cruelly, history will eventually do theM justice … The future will be ours, only when men of courage, like Jesus in ancient times and Gandhi in our times, remain loyal to the truth in their hearts in spite of social ostracism, economic pressures, and even bodily harm, which may be the price exacted of them.” Sixth, public men should be humble. “Egocentrics are opportunists … They have to be ignorant to like themselves that well. And in positions of power, egomaniacs are uniformly dangerous. They become ruthless oppressors of opponents, and vicious suppressors of dissent.” Finally, Abernethy would adopt Eric Sevareid’s “rule of the men and the boys”: The boy in politics is one who wants position to be something ; the man wants position to do something. “I find one Texas politician that stands out above all the rest,” Abernethy said, and presented Ralph Yarborough. the …7owrt The persecutions of “the troublesome person” are such an appealing idea for the young liberal en route to his heroics, reticent men fall silent or forget. Those who are paid to serve a large and continuing interest cannot forget and must always be there when the angry reformer, the puzzled citizen, a thoughtful one, rises to ask questions. Then they do their work, and if they must, against him. If it were not for others trying in other small and well-knit towns one wonders how long such constructive rebels could sustain the isolation and suspicion and selfdoubt which assail them. Sometimes they go away from where they used to have their meaning. Sometimes they meet and seeing more in the other’s strength than they can believe in their own they go on daily doing what they can. EDITORIAL and BUSINESS OFFICE: 504 West 24th St., Austin, Texas. Phone GReenwood 7-0746. HOUSTON OFFICE: 1010 Dennis, Mrs. R. D. Randolph. We will serve no group or party but will hew hard to the truth as we find it and the right as we see it. We are dedicated to the whole truth, to human values above all interests, to the rights of man as the foundation of democracy; we will take orders from none but our own conscience, and never will we overlook or misrepresent the truth to serve the interests of the powerful or cater to the ignoble in the human spirit. NEW WAVERLY The story goes that many years ago, when France was dickering with the Arabians, the French brought a delegation of the Arabians to view the wonders of French civilization and power. They were toured and feted all over the landand remained unimpressed. But on the way back to the sea coast the party passed some magnificent waterfalls, whereupon the desert-born Arabians gave way to great astonishment and respect. To them everything was possible to a country with that much water. The parallel story is the recent visit of Mr. K. We invited him. We ran out the red carpet and marshalled all the brass to do him honor on his arrival. We took him to see great sights. He remained unimpressed. Like the n nuoJtort The president of the Texas’ doctors’ union says, in the union magazine this month, that doctors “know” that the aged poor in need of medical protection l”cannot afford various forms of insurance.” This is a considerable admission, even couched on specially padded words like “the indigent.” Having made such a fundamental error admitting a fact so obvious that it seems unreal only as long as nobody talks about itDoctor F. W. Yeager could hardly talk his way out of it. “They are already being cared for by the clinics clear across our state which the doctors are manning without charge,” he explained. Doctors, too, should understand, “No memory of having starred/ Atones for later disregard./ Or keeps the end from beinghard.” But rather than join in a plan for the old they would let them \(lie smothered in the condescensions of charity. two bad boys exchanging insults, “All that you say, you are four times dou ble,” was his attitude. Then, apparently quite by accident, he got a glimpse of our Benson-despised farm surplus and he went wild. FOOD ! Too much food ? Nonsense! Like the countryman viewing the circus camel, “They ain’t no such animal.” His respect for that food was based on the hungry millions of his personal acquaintance. But his respect for an administration which labels gorgeous plenty as a ‘problem’ was not enhanced. He may even have remembered that it was .America’s stored food that came into the war at a critical moment. We forget that. FOOD ! is the name of the 1959 USDA year bookand a pity that every person in this country does not own a copy. It puts food into perspective in our civilization. Next to that I wish that everyone could see Herblock’s cartoon: Around the table with their heads bowed into their hands sit the big boys being told the sad news by the USDA man. “And they say we will have a big corn crop too. _An y ie Liberals should make a note about the railroad brotherhoods’ endorsement of a minimum salary of $2,800 a year for state employees. This year a state minimum wage for all workerswon only 33 votes in the Texas House. Friends of the common man should adopt the expedient of urging the minimum Nvage, as well, in areas where there is a selfish pressure group to assist them. Perhaps if state employees had a minimum \\vage they would nct be so indifferent to the miserable work rates for retail store c!erks, laundry workers, farm workers, and domestic servants.