Advocate Register_1951-01-26

ADVOCATE REGISTER (Designed to Read) Published by Oliver Smith News Agency (Established 1943 OLIVER E. SMITH, EDITOR Office 1453 N. Williams Ave.-EM. 7266 ATwater 2551, 3411 S. W. First Avenue, Portland 1, Oregon Free from Services of Any Special Interests The News As We See It. The Editorials Are Our Opinions IN MY OPINION RACE LEADERSHIP JEALOUS, FEARFUL, INCOMPETENT- CRITIC Negro leadership suffers from fear, jealousy, incompetence and selfishness, says Benjamin E. Mays, president of More· house college, in an article in a recent Negro Digest. Pointing out that human nature is the same the world over, Dr. Mays emphasizes that what is wrong with Negro leaders is "wrong with the leaders of the other so-called racial groups." He goes on, however, to state that fear seems an especial handicap to many Negro leaders, "particularly fear that they will not be well thought of by their white friends and by white people in general. This makes them cautious and the sad thing is that this fear is imaginary and has no basis in fact. It has been demonstrated again and again that leadership can be both courageous and sane. It can take high ground when a principle is at stake and lose non prestige, but, rather, gain prestige." Jealousy has cut into the ranks of Negro leaders, con– tiues Dr. Mays. "All one leader has to do to gain the enmity of another leader is to succeed and gain public acclaim," he writes. "It has happened among lawyers, physicians, businessmen and educators-and at its worst, among ministers. The lesson is yet to be learned that there is enough light in the sun for all." According to Dr. Mays, Negro leaders who have become socially and economically secure have tended to become com– placent and conservative. "Too, some of our leadership is not well enough informed, and we must be honest and admit that great effort needs to be made to improve (its) intellectual competence." By Fred Shorter Minister of The Church of the People, Seattle, Wash. Editor of The New Religious Frontier WE MUST WIN people as well as battles if we are to stop communism, writes ] ustice William 0. Douglas in Look (]an. 16.) "We have trusted too much of our thinking to the mil– itady." Apparently he wrote this before our defeat in Korea. If that is true when we were winning battles it is ten times true now. The generals don't begin to understand the forces that are in motion in Asia. Douglas, after a trip to the Mid– dle East and Southeast Asia tells in this article (which we hope millions will read) what he thinks must bedone-not to stop these forces but to work with them. In doing that we shall be able to stop the march of communism. We should understand these forces because our nation has a revolutionary birth and history. The forces are social revo– lutionary. The complaints of these people of the Middle East and Asia are as specific as were ours at the time of the war for independence. They are as follows: ( 1) Ownership of land by a few. Money-lending system by which the tenant is kept in debt perpetually. (2) Lack of education. (3) Lack of doctors and hospitals, clinics. (4) Unjust system of taxation. (5) Corrupt government. These are what the common people are interested in. They konw nothing, and care nothing, about Marxism. The Com– munists don't bother them with theories; they support the peoples' demands for social reforms. Unless we help the workers and peasants to get these minimum demands we shall see communism spread. We are interfering with the internal problems of other nations. We should interfere but, in a right way. The trouble is we have tried to prop up corrupt and reactionary governments. We must give direction to the peoples' revolu– ti011.-not try to stop it. We must be clear and honestly dem– ocratic in the application of social reforms. All these things have been said time and again but it is encouraging to have them said by a justice of the United States Supreme Court. Douglas can't very well be dubbed a communist! Although probably some people will pin that label on him. We are proud that he hails from the state of Washington. HAPENINGS IN SALEM ON OBSERVING POLITICIANS By Harley Phelps ] anuary 9, 1950 Most of us are familiar with the general attitude or Repub– lican officials toward their constituents and toward the public at large. Be he judge, legislator or executive the demeanor is the same when a wealthy individual puts in an appearance. Nothing is too good for a tycoon. Or even if he is not so oppulent but is known tocontrol a sizeable block of votes in a precinct or district the official will invaribly overdo the handshaking, hang around and make small talk, crack jokes and laugh loudly. If the visitor wants anything he has but to drop a hint and Mr. Official will break a leg if necessary to help him get it. But let one of the lesser lights in his bailiwick show up and the officeholder figures at once that he wants something and proceeds to make himself scarce. Just hang around the legislative galleries, the ciyt or county court rooms or police headquarters for a while and if you don't get a belly full of the fruits of Republicanism then you have got the kind of stomach and guts to be a politician and should immediately get yourself on the ballot somewhere for the next election. If you can stand this sort of thing without gagging, you are a man, my son. Worse yet is a Democrat who by association with Republi– can bigwigs gets some of their corruption rubbed off on him. This is tragic to the nth degree. In a Republican it is bad enough but when you begin to observe the same thing in a Democrat whom you know to have sprung from a party with and honest, liberal foundation, where then can you turn? It is unfortunate that so few of us have the time, the means and the inclination to frequent the halls of government. The complexities_ of society and the fraitties of genus homo are too much for most politicians. We cannot depend upon cast– ing a vote only. We have to follow through by keeping our fingers on the officials we elect. It brings us back to the main weakness of the system of representative government illust– rated best by the old saying that if you want a thing done well, do it yourself.