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TUESDAY, JANUARY 18, 1949
"Soldier, Statesman, Knightly Gentleman”
Lawrence Sullivan Ross, Founder of Aggie Traditions
Let’s Trade It In for a New Model . . .
A restatement of the duties of state
government is needed in Texas accord
ing to Governor Beauford Jester. We
heartily agree with the governor on this
point.
Speaking before a Citizens’ Committee
on Constitutional Revision in Austin last
Thursday, Jester said that perhaps the
states have not been as aggressive and
diligent as they should be in the perform
ance of state duties. It would seem that
the word “perhaps” was superfluous in
this statement, but then one could hardly
expect the governor to cut his own throat.
A little background on the present
Texas constitution will help our under
standing the agitation for an immediate
change- The constitution was written in
1875, only two years after the Reconstruc
tion Period had ended in Texas. The writ
ers were largely persons who had been
subjected to abuse under the carpetbag
reign. Because of their recent experiences
with government they strictly limited the
powers of the administration they organ
ized.
The writers in their antipathy towards
strong government made the 1875 docu
ment so detailed that the most minute
change can only be accomplished by a
constitutional amendment. As a result,
the people of Texas have had to adopt over
100 ammendments, most of them within
the last 25 years.
If our federal constitution can be tak
en as an example, it would seem that a
more general outline of government, one
which would empower the legislature to
fill in the details, would be much more sen
sible. Under a more generally stated docu
ment, the legislative body could make ad
justments in details of operation as they
were needed. This process should be much
more efficient and speedy than our pres
ent set-up.
Although a complete revision of the
constitution appears needed, there are
some parts more decrepit than others. The
long ballot is one of these. Today a voter
must choose about thirty officials every
two years. It is quite evident that having
to consider such a large number prevents
the voter from making a comprehensive
study of the qualifications of all of the
candidates.
A possible solution which has been
suggested is to divide the group into two
sections and thus decide on only half the
present number annually. Perhaps a bet
ter solution among those offered is to
make more of the offices appointive and
in this way the appointer —the governor,
generally—could be held responsible for
more of the administrative work.
Antiquated also is the prescribed court
system. The state bar association has al
ready begun investigations of the so-called
Missouri Court System which is believed
to be the most advanced system in the
country. This investigation is being con
ducted with intentions of making improve
ments in the Texas system on the basis of
the findings.
Yearly cries for aid from such neces
sary institutions as schools, prisops, and
mental hospitals (no inference of similari
ty in functions meant) reveal a need for
an overhauling of the state financial sys
tem- It appears that the county unit of
government needs to be made more self-
sufficient by means of added functions
and duties and powers to carry out re-
sponsibiilties it already has.
All of these conditions substantiate our
feeling that the people of Texas and state
officials should make a complete investi
gation of the situation today and make
any needed improvements in our govern
mental organization.
We are sure that such an investigation
would prove the need for a new constitu
tion.
They Love Singing Commercials
Monaco, one of the world’s dwarf
countries, is most famous for its capital
city’s Monte Carlo Casino. But Monaco,
population somewhere under thirty thou
sand (depending on the social season) has
gone into the radio business.
Behind the front of state ownership,
French capital owns and operates" the
station. To southern Europe in the day
time and the world at night, the station
beams broadcasts unfamiliar but delight
ful to European ears- The only thing that
other European radio stations sell is the'
particular countries’ particular propa
ganda. Radio Diffusion Francais, the BBC
and the Armed Forces Network stations
are all government owned and have no
commercials.
Over Radio Monaco singing commer
cials sell shoe polish, intoxicating bever
ages, laxatives, and anything a sponsor
wishes. Soap is still too scarce for soap
operas, but one sponsor sells shampoo.
Fifty percent of the station’s time is
given to popular music; twenty five per
cent to serious music; ten to news; ten to
drama; and five to sports. The most pop
ular program is a counterpart to our Hit
Parade. Currently “Nature Boy” is the
song choice of Radio Monaco listeners.
To complete their staff, like all Ameri
can stations, Radio Monaco has a disc
jockey who is fully hep to both American
and European jive. He is, of course, an
authority on the tastes of his listeners.
One fan complained that Harry James’
records' had too many trumpets; other
wise European tastes in popular music
are about the same as in the States.
In all this there is a sort of paradox.
In Monaco, singing commercials and re
quest-reading disc jockeys are a welcome
relief to the usually insipid government
stations’ broadcasts; in our own country,
the demand is rising that singing com
mercials and long request lists be banned
from the radio and replaced by something
less irritating.
Whoever, said it is right; “The grass
IS always greener in the other fellow’s
back yard.”
The Battalion
The Battalion, official newspaper of the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas and the
City of College Station, Texas, is published five times a week and circulated every Monday through
Friday afternoon, except during holidays and examination periods. During the summer The Bat
talion is published tri-weekly on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Subscription rate $4.30 per school
yeai\ Advertising rates furnished on request.
The Associated Press is entitled exclusively to the use for republication of all hews dispatches
credited to it or not otherwise credited in the paper and local news of spontaneous origin publish
ed herein. Rights of republication of all other matter herein are also reserved.
Entered as second-class matter at Post
Office at College Station, Texas, under
the Act of Congress of March 3, 1S70.
Member of
The Associated Press
Represented nationally by National Ad
vertising Service Inc., at New York City,
Chicago, Los Angeles, and San Francisco.
News contributions may be made by telephone (4-5444) or at the editorial office, Room 201,
Goodwin Hall. Classified ads may be placed by telephone (4-5324) or at the Student Activities
Office, Room 209, Goodwin Hall.
KENNETH BOND, TOM CARTER Co-Editors
Louis Morgan Associate Editor
Harvey Cherry, John Singletary Managing Editors
Clark Munroe - Feature Editor
Mrs. Nancy Lytle Women’s Page Editor
Bill Billingsley - Wire Editor
T. Nanney Book Editor
Alfred Johnston Religious Editor
Andy Davis Movie Editor
Alan Curry - Circulation Manager
Kenneth Marak. Sain Lanford, R. Morales,
Frank Welch, C. W. Jennings Staff Cartoonists
Chuck Cabaniss Charles Kirkham Editorial Assistants
Art Howard Sports Editor
Don Engelking Assistant Sports Editor
Bob “Sack” Spoede, Bill Potts, Leon Somer, Frank
Simmen, Andy Matula, Fred Sommers Sports Reporters
Joe Trevino, Hardy Ross Photo Engravers
Dave Coslett, Frank Cushing, Tex Fields, Otto Kunze,
Buddy Luce, Chuck Maiscl, H. C. Michalak, Marvin
Rice, and Eddie Smith Feature Writers
Emil Buujcs, George Charlton. A. C. Gollob, Bruce
Hagee, R. C. Kolbye, Henry Lacour. Carley
Puckitt, Clayton Selph Staff Reporters
Bookworm Reports the Latest
Books Available in Library
The Bookworm reports that the
following new books are available
in Cushing Library. This list is
just part of the shipment.
Fiction
THE SKY IS' RED by Giuseppe
Berto
MELISSA, by Taylor Caldwell
INTRUDER IN THE DUST, by
William Faulkner
APE AND ESSENCE, bq A. L.
Huxley
STORM AND ECHO, by Fred
eric Prokosch
THE YOUNG LIONS, by Irwin
Shaw
SHANNON’S WAY, by A. J.
Cronin
THE CHOCOLATE COBWEB,
by Charlotte Armstrong
ROANOKE HUNDRED, by In-
glis Fletcher
THE FURIES, by Niven Busch
THE WINE OF ASTONISH
MENT, by Martha Gellhorn
THE HOLLOW NEEDLE, by G.
H. Coxe
Non-Fiction
CHAPLIN, LAST OF THE
CLOWNS, by Parker Tyler
MAIN STREET MERCHANT;
THE STORY OF THE J. C. PEN
NEY COMPANY, by Norman Bea
sley
THE WHIMSEY REPORT; OR
SEX ISN’T EVERYTHING, by
Parke Cummings
RECORDS FOR THE MIL
LIONS, by Paul Whiteman
FAMILY CIRCLE, Cornelia Otis
Skinner
HATE, HOPE AND HIGH EX
PLOSIVES, A REPORT ON THE
MIDDLE EAST, by George Field
ing Eliot
ZULU WOMAN; HER AUTO
BIOGRAPHY, by Christina Sibiya
WESTWARD HA!, by S. J.
Perelman
AN APPROVED HISTORY OF
THE OLYMPIC GAMES, by W.
M. Henry
TOWARD AN UNKNOWN
STATION, Allan Lyon
TOLSTOY AS I KNEW HIM,
by T. A. Kuzminskaia
‘ I’LL NEVER GO BACK; A RED
ARMY OFFICER TALKS, by Mik
hail Koriakov
Between the Bookends
Irving Stone’s Novel Shows
Different Picture of Debs
By Herman C. Gollob
ADVERSARY IN THE HOUSE
By Irving Stone; Doubleday &
Co., 1947.
As far back as I can remember,
the name Eugene V. Debs has been
one to link with ignominy. Car
loads of vituperation have been
heaped upon this notorious labor
leader who incurred the hate of so
many while striving to better the
cause of the laboring class.
At last a distinguished author,
Irvin Stone, has stepped up with
a biographical novel that will be
interpreted perhaps as “radical”
by those who have scanned the
pages of their history books and
remember Debs as the founder and
leader of the Socialist Party, and
the man who served a jail sentence
on the charge of contempt of court
in the Pullman case. For this is a
sympathetic presentation of Debs:
champion of the working man,
sensitive, intelligent, tirelessly un
selfish, a man who endured an in
exorable grind for the sake of a
thankless task which made him
one of the most controversial and
scorned figures of the twentieth
century.
In Adversary In The House, Ir
ving Stone has once more display
ed the literary finesse which has
made him a high priest in the
literary house of worship. This is
not Stone’s first venture into the
biographical field. He has also ad
apted into novel form the lives of
Jack London, Clarence Darrow, and
Vincent van Gogh.
Official Notices
Agricultural School
All agricultural students who had com
pleted 64 hours or more of work at’ the
beginning of the current semester must
have their degree plans completed before
registration. Assignment cards will not
be approved at registration unless accom
panied by the student’s copy of his degree
plan. Students who have not completed
these plans should contact the head of
their major department immediately.
CHAS. N. SHEPARDSON
Dean of Agriculture
The emotional contagion which
Stone injects into each of his char
acters is remarkable and admir
able. They become real, ialive,
downright human. Gloria Weston;
Deb’s childhood sweetheart, fresh, • •
vibrant, understanding, who real
ized that she would be of only sec
ondary importance in Gene’s busy
unhappy life which was dominated
by his unquenchable desire to help
his fellow workers; Kate Metzel,
cool, possessed, dominating, a wo
man whose character was almost
the direct antithesis of Gene’s, but
who married him and became his
“adversary in the house”; Theo,
Gene’s brother, doggedly loyal,
who was Gene’s only source of
companionship during the most try
ing periods of his life.
These and the rest of Stone’s
characters become part of us—we
love with them, hate with them,
laugh with them, and cry with
them.
And a most unusual feature of
Adversary In The House is the fact
that it is a clean book from cover
to cover. Stone seems to be one of
the few authors who do not have
to appeal to the “goatish disposi
tions” of the reading public to
make his novels best sellers. His
loves scenes are void of sex, seduc
tion, and lust, remaining neverthe
less tender and memorable.
So those of you who feel the
“radical” blood teeming in your
undisciplined veins may slip into
the nearest book store, purchase
Adversary In The House, surrep
titiously return it home, and, in the
wee hours of the morning, when
the more “reactionary” among us
are fast asleep, read an account
of Eugene V. Debs that you won’t
find in your history books.
SWISS PARCEL POST HELD UP
BERN, Switzerland—hP)— Par
cel post from Switzerland to the
Russian zone of Germany and all
sectors of Berlin has been sus
pended indefinitely as a result of
“transport difficulties,” the Swiss
post office says.
PALACE
Bryan 2‘8879
Tues. - Wed. - Thurs.
Fri. - Sat.
'starring
Lana Turner
Gene Kelly
June Allyson 1
Van Heflin "Angela Lansbury g
Frank Morgan • Vincent Price • Keenan Wynn
Mn Sutton • Gig Voiing ■ ROBERT ARMEY ’
DixecteltfyfiEORfiE SIDNEY ♦ Produced by PANDRO S. BERjqil • a metro.goidwynomYE?piou*" 1
Sticking My Neck Out
Rain Soaked, MoonDrenched
Flag Not An Enviable Thing
By BILL BILLINGSLEY
During these false-spring days
the front view of the Academic
Building is a rather inspiring sight.
Students scurry in and out of the
stolid old main building, the sun
shines brilliantly on the green
grass, and the colors on the old-
area flag pole
flutter in the
breeze.
Then comes
the night. N o
longer do the
students go in
and out of the
Academic Build
ing; the sun
goes down and
the moon rises,
but the flag still
flutters on the
flag pole.
This is—to be blunt about it—
a sad situation. Here we are, with
the leading military school in the
Southwest, possessor of one of
the Army’s highest military effi
ciency ratings; with a Student
body made up of people who should
have unlimited pride in our na
tional emblem; and we treat our
flag in the school’s most visited
area like a neglected bed sheet on
a laundry rack.
This column doesn’t suggest an
armed squad to raise and lower
the flag. We don’t even suggest
having the minimum military cere
mony of a flag detail.
But we do suggest that some
regularly appointed person or
group sees that the flag is raised
and lowered in a respectful man
ner and not left hanging out all
night to share the top of the flag
pole with barber shop signs, “Beat
Slippery Rock” banners, and other
flotsam and jetsam that frequent
ly works its way to the' top of the
class of ’39’s gift.
We have a full complement of
non-commissioned army regulars
on the campus and some 3,000
military cadets who are familiar
with courtesies toward the flag.
Does it seem too unreasonable or
overburdening to have a regularly
listed two or three man cadet de
tail, headed by an enlisted army
regular, to attend the flag daily?
Free Laundry Service Offered
For Week at Aggie Radio Shop
By GEORGE CHARLTON
Laundry problems can be solved
the easy way for those who go to
the Aggie Radio and Appliance
Company at North Gate before
next Thursday.
An offer was extended by the
company to do anyone’s laundry in
the store’s new Westinghouse laun
dromat washer and dryer for dem
onstration until next Thursday
night. At that time the store will
have completed its first week of
business.
Last Wednesday night the com
pany held its “grand opening” in
an openhouse sort of atmosphere
where people could meander in and
out of the store, look freely over
the displayed stock, and get a good
look at the fancy interior.
Persons attending the opening
found a modern-like store with a
huge glass plate window, a color
ful decorated show room, and a
few products and equipment com
paratively new to this area. Walls
of the store are green, and rugs
are gray.
Four sound proof record booths
decorated with lime colored up
holstery on walls and geats are off
from the main show room; two of
them are open, and two closed-in
with glass. The acoustics of the
open booths are such that a person
can stand ten feet away from the
record player and not hear the
record. If he moves in a few feet
closer, he can clearly hear the
record.
A radio console room, decorated
as the modern living room should
be, includes among its other stock
a Westinghouse television set.
Among all this decoration is the
stock—radios, electric toasters,
wafle makers, electric lamps, elec
tric razors, juice mats, ice crush
ers, Hoover units, refrigerators,
records, electric clocks, freezing
units, electric stoves and gas
stoves.
One bar-like booth is devoteif en
tirely to selling records, albums,
needles, and stands. Albums every
where from “Boogie Woogie” by
Freddie Slack to “Bugs Bunny
Stories For Children” are sold.
Classic albums of symphonies with
unspellable titles by artists with
unpronouncable names are also in
cluded at the “bar.” /
v
Horticuturists To
Offer New Courses
The Department of Horticulture
announced today that four new
courses in vegetable crops will be
offered during the next. year.
According to Dr. G. W. Adriance
head of the department, this move
now makes it possible for a stu
dent to specialize in one of three
fields of horticulture: vegetable
crops, pomology, or food process
ing.
Two of the new courses will be
offered next semester. They are
Horticulture 322, Spring and Sum
mer Vegetables, 3 credits; and
Horticulture 434, Grading, Pack
ing and Shipping Vegetables, 3
credits. H. C. Mohr, Assistant Pro
fessor of Horticulture, will teach
both courses.
Horticulture 321, Fall and Win
ter Vegetables, and Horticulture
432, Structure and Classification
of Vegetables, will be offered for
the first time next fall semester,
Adriance said.
The first courses in fruit pro
duction and in fruit and vegetable
processing, Horticulture 319 and
Horticulture 312, will also be of
fered in the spring semester of
1949, for the benefit of students
who may desire to begin work in
either field, Adriance added.
This minute respect to the flag
may seem like a minor detail. Phy
sically it is. Morally and emotion
ally it is not.
Others seeing our current dis
interest in the flag must be poorly
impressed. We, who owe so much
to what our flag represents, should
not be too proud of the attitude
either.
Granting that they had a few
more difficulties, we should ait
least try to keep up with the five
Marines who stormed up Suribachi
with the gas-pipe flagstaff in their
hands.
Even they didn’t leave their flag
out all night.
of (Ehis
“Seek those things which are
above, where Christ sitteth on the
right, hand of God.” Col. 3:1b.
Amid a flood of newspaper head
lines about international and na- ;
tional trouble, of wars and near
wars, of strikes, and murders,
modern man becomes discouraged
when he asks himself, “How is the
outlook?” But with only one direct
look at God he may reply, “The
outlook is dark bu the uplook is
wonderful.” There is a need for
each of us to look up and out until
we see God.
Tues. & Wed.
^Angel
ON THE
JiHAlOl
GEORGE BRENUVERA RALSTON
AflERNE’GORSTANJE
A REPUBLIC PICTURE
One Day Only
TUESDAY
iPresenting the World's Greatest^
Array of Musical Artists |
TODAY & WED.
FIRST RUN BRYAN - COLLEGE
—Features Start—
1:35 - 3:15 - 5:00 - 6:40 - 8:20
10:00
ROBERT
MITCHUM
BARBARA
BEL GEDDES
ROBERT
PRESTON
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Plus Special Showing of the
A&M vs. Rice Football Game
of 1940
See Kimbrough, Pugh, Robnett
Thomason in Action
—Also —
CARTOON — NEWS
Thurs. - Fri. - Sat.
Wallace Beery
Warner Baxter
Mickey Rooney
—in—
“Slave Ship”
A Re-release
Plus Showing of the
A&M vs. Rice Football Game
of 1940
ALSO — CARTOON - NEWS
See . . .
ART HARNDEN
A. & M. Student
—in—
THE OLYMPIC
GAMES
Coming —
to
GUOIN HALL
THREE DAYS
Starting Tomorrow
For the first time—tn Safer by TECHNICOLOR! *
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ny»
A J. Arthur RANK PRESENTATION
AN EAGLE LION FILMS RELEASE
Advance Tickets On Sale at Guion
Hall and Student Activities Office.
Reserve Your Seat TODAY