The Pantagraph from Bloomington, Illinois • Page 4

An Assessment Opinion Page CEIjc guiltf kitfitjjfapl) Founded January 14, 1S37 by Jesse W. Fell PublUhed Continuously Strict 1846 LORING MERWIN, President and Publisher DAVIS U. MERWIN, Associate Publisher H. CLAY TATE, Editor CHARLES J. DRIVER, Managing Editor Sense of History Lost in Kennedy Bloominjrton, IUlnolj, Monday, November 25, 19C3 By the Pantograph Oswald Death Rebuke To Sorrowing Nation tat SilWllwl mm 1.4 I the human being, Inviolate of person save through the machinery of law which is designed to protect us all from savagery and to punish the savages.

We cannot join those who say good riddance to Oswald, or who may Justify the action of Jack Ruby. Dallas police may say that the Oswald death "closes the case" of the assassination of President Kennedy. But this man, whose bloody imprint will be left in the pages of history, went to his death still denying the charge against him. What could have been learned from him, we now shall never know. For from such people as Oswald those who shut themselves off from the mainstream of decent society we all must learn why men are drawn or driven to such heinous acts.

Dallas police say he was without accomplices. But his death has sealed hps which might have involved others. Dallas police must assume the blame for Oswald's death. He was their charge. No other prisoner In recent history was of so much consequence.

In no other case would it have been more desirable for a free country to show that its freely enacted laws can protect as well as punish. While we can muster no sadness over the death of Oswald, the manner and form of his end are as great an affront to justice as the President's. President Kennedy had pleaded for a world which accepted the rule of law, rather than the rule of man. His own death jarred the foundations of his efforts. Oswald's death put further cracks in our world image.

Pope Paul VI said In Rome Sunday that President Kennedy1! assassination demonstrates "how great a capacity for hate and evil there li In the world and how great a threat to civil order and peace." The hate and evil were demonstrated In the President's cruel death. The threat to civil order became a livid wound as the accused assassin of President Kennedy was himself Bhot to death within the confines of the Dallas Cily Hall. The shot, from a gun In the hands of a Dallas night club operator, rang out as a sorrowing nation watched a solemn cortege which carried the body of the murdered President from the White House to the Capitol rotunda. As President Kennedy's death pushed us Into the realm of the Incomprehensible, the Impact of the slaying of Lee Harvey Oswald came as a new, crushing lesson that human life, In the eyes of far too many, is cheap Indeed. In lucid moments one's mind dwells upon the shame of the nation.

We could not prevent the death of our President In the streets of Dallas. We did not prevent the death of his believed-assassin in a building dedicated to the rule of law. Are we such a short step up the ladder of civilization that when drums of hate drive men into the streets to take the life of another we are bare of defense? The death of the President and the murder of Oswald strike at the very soul of our democracy. If our nation has stood for anything It has stood for self young, itself always hopeful, believing, and believing that government could change the face of our land and our lives and that America could do more than any country in the world to change the face and the nature of the world itself. HE SHOWED NO signs, even after three years in office, of growing tired, either in body or spirit but the built-in obstacles to practical achievement were and remain prodigious and complex.

He began some new practical courses of government action as with the Peace Corps and the Alliance for Progress; these, perhaps, were more imaginative than his domestio conceptions; in any case, it is in the domestic field that his difficulties were the greatest and progress the slowest. Early on, he showed that his way would be to try to conciliate and persuade the Congress, and to compromise with it where he had to, rather than to try bulldozer tactics. Of his bold actions, his nuclear confrontation with the Soviet Union over Cuba was the. boldest, one of the boldest and most successful acts of statesmanship the history books will ever tell the future about. BUT AT BOTTOM, President Kennedy was a cautious, prudent man.

He liked to have all his ducks in a row before he fired. However vibrant in his political behavior, he was, in his deepest emotional nature, a conservative human being. Rarely, did the people become aware of his deep feelings about anything. When he spoke to the country by radio or television, his head usually ruled his heart. Only in very special circumstances, as on the day of brutal events in Mississippi, did passion rise in his voice as he spoke.

This is why some professional observers said that President Kennedy had opened his mind to us, but not his heart that therefore, politically, he had not captured the heart of the people. If that was so, it is no longer; the heart of the people is with the young President in death; with all of his family. The tears of the country are with them; its hopes are with the new President. By ERIC SEVAREID What was John F. Kennedy? How will he stand in history? As this is written, hours after his death, it is hard even to assemble thoughts, easy to misjudge such a complicated human being.

The first thing about him was his driving intelligence. His mind was always on fire; his reading was prodigious; his memory almost total recall of facts and quotations. A friend of mine once crossed the Atlantic on a liner with the Kennedy family, years ago. She remembered the day 12-year-old Jack was ill in his stateroom; there lay the thin, freckled little boy 12 years old, and reading Churchill's early life, other books scattered about his bed. His was a directed intelligence; he did not waste his energies; he always seemed to know where he was going and he put first things first.

JOHN KENNEDY'S Intellectuality was perhaps the hallmark of his nature, even more than his youth; the thing that made him different from so many presidents. But few thought of him as an intellectual in the sense of one seeking truth for its own sake; he sought it, in order to act upon it. He was that rare and precious combination, the man of contemplation as well as the man of action. He had a sharp sense of history from his immense reading, and was acutely conscious of what his own place in history might be. In a sense, he lived for that; much of his personal correspondence as President suggested his awareness that those letters would be part of the American archives and story for all time.

HE BROUGHT A new style Into government; he surrounded himself with intellectuals, as did Franklin Roosevelt in his first years; but in his personal style he was more like President Theodore Roosevelt. Like the first Roosevelt, President Kennedy believed in action; he had no patience with those who were tired or skeptical or ideal; no patience with those who could not keep up, mentally or physically. He became, with his young and beautiful wife, the symbol of America as he and most of us like to think of America: It 1 li it A Time To Weep, To Mourn No Need for Larger Boats We weep for the artist and the writer and the poet For he cared about all of us. We weep for the teachers and the pupils; We weep for old people whom he tried to help. We weep for the young people whom he believed in.

We weep for the soldiers and sailors and airmen whom he commanded. We weep for their parents because he saved their children from being destroyed by war. And while we weep we weep for the twisted mind that committed this horrible crime, We weep for all the tortured and warped people who could not accept the decent things he stood for. And we weep for all the hatred and prejudice that fill the hearts of such a small segment of our society. We weep because there is nothing else we can do.

Except curse those who would destroy a man In the hope of destroying all of us. By ART BUCHWALD WASHINGTON We weep for our President who died for his country. We weep for his wife and for his children. We weep for his mother and father and brothers and sisters. We weep for the millions of people who are weeping for him.

We weep for Americans, that this could happen in our country. We weep for the Europeans. And the Africans. And the Asians. And people in every corner of the globe who saw in him a hope for the future and a chance for mankind.

We weep for our children and their children and everyone's children; For he was charting their destinies as he was charting ours. We weep for the Negro who saw In him a chance for a decent life. We weep for the working man for whom he tried to find jobs. Like the swallows at Capistrano, the speedboat question keeps coming back to Lake Eloomington. Those who occupy property along the lake-members of the Lake Bloomington Association apparently will again seek to have the 12 horsepower limit on boat motors lifted by the City Council.

A campaign will not be launched until It Is shown that a majority of the 89 leaseholders who are members of the association favor the rriove. A spokesman for the leaseholders said the organization feels the general public has been deprived of recreation more than the leaseholders. If this is true, it is difficult to explain why leaseholders would consider pressure to eliminate the 12 horsepower limit. To the occasional visitor (non-power boat owner, of course) the lake is a much more pleasant place than when it was criss-crossed with high speed boats. It's a safer place, too.

There can be no disagreement that Lake Bloomington still is not the wonderful community recreation area it could be. But putting the big-noise boats back on the lake isn't the way to increase its value to the public. By the Public Logical Choice Pays Tribute to Colfax. Teacher Yes, It Happened Here President's Assassination Puts Democracy on Trial Worldwide Political Thoughts To Involve Johnson Ever realize how Important the right teacher is in the formative years of youth? Many students have been placed on the right path by the right teacher at the right time. Who can measure the good fomented by Lois Cliilds Craig during her years as a school teacher? An attractive woman, a wise counselor, a pleasant person, Mrs.

Craig was admired by her students. In a rather rough period in the history of our school, she was able to maintain respect and order with a minimum of effort. I speak not for myself alone but for the many students who came hi contact with her. LIONEL CARTER Evanston, 111. Editor, The Pantograph: Did you ever read in the obituary column of a newspaper that someone with whom you had lost track for years had passed away? Someone you regarded highly, yet someone whom the passage of time had pushed far from your immediate circle of friends? Did you ever consider that the world is perhaps a better palce to live because this person was once a part of it? To me, such a person was Lois Childs Craig who passed away on Oct.

29, 1963, in Saltsburg, Pa. She was the wife of William Craig, a graduate of Illinois Wesleyan, mother of three sons, teacher of shorthand, typing, and French in Colfax Community High School 1933-1935. By WILLIAM R. FRYE UnltedNatlons, N.Y.- Shockcd United Nations diplomats are attempting to assess the far reaching impact on world affairs of President Kennedy's death. They feel, in some ways, as they did on a tragic September day in 19G1 when a plane carrying Secretary General Dag there will remain what politicians regard as the necessity of balancing the Democratic ticket.

In the more than three years he has spent as vice president, Johnson has built up a record of advocacy of civil rights and of support for Kennedy's New Frontier program. He has gone so far In this direction many conservatives and most segregationists of the South have turned their backs on him. But Johnson retains strongly placed Dixie friends such as Sens. Richard B. Russell, D-Ga.

and Harry F. Byrd, D-Va. The South plainly is not as averse to the new chief executive as it was to Kennedy. Johnson's major troubles seem to lie where Kennedy had none, in the Northern big city states with heavy electoral votes. Organized labor and the Negroes remain at arms-length By JACK BELL WASHINGTON (AP)-Thrust into the spotlight by the sudden death of his predecessor, President Johnson faces a monumental political task in trying to imprint a favorable image on the voters.

If politics were adjourned while a mourning nation prepared to bury John F. Kennedy, it inevitably will be resumed once Johnson has grasped firmly the wheel of the presidency. For the months are short before the Democratic National Convention meets next August. Johnson, the first Texan to become president, is the logical choice for the nomination. Only if he stumbles badly could he be confronted with any serious challenge.

Beyond the Democratic convention, however, lies the critical November verdict of a people who if popularity polls mean anything were well satisfied with the operations of a personable young president It will be the task of Johnson, who has served In the relative obscurity of the vice president's role, to make his own mark. Whatever success the new President has in this endeavor, with the new President. It is his ob to leave them little chance oppose him. victimized by political assassination? No one said so out loud, but It is a safe bet that a shudder went through many delegations from Latin, Middle Eastern, Asian and perhaps even Soviet-bloc countries when word of the Dallas tragedy reached here. "There but for the grace of God.

was the reaction which seemed to be written on many faces. How Time Flies By Wlthtrt Library Stiff 25 Years Ago Nov. 25, 1938 The Home Sweet Home Rescue Mission served some 750 free Thanksgiving dinners within a three and a half hour period yesterday. Will Shelper, head of the mission expressed appreciation for the community help that made the dinners possible for hundreds who otherwise would have had no holiday fare. 50 Years Ago Nov.

25, Public spirited citizens of the east side of Bloomington have called a mass meeting of all citizens interested in the possible purchase of "Villa Marie" for use as a public playground and park for residents in that part of the city. 75 Years Ago 25, 1888 Yesterday morning occurred the dedicatory services of the First Baptist Church which for some weeks have been looked forward to with feelings of great interest by most of the citizens of our city. The sermon was by Rev. G. W.

Northrup, D. L. L. president of the Baptist Theological Seminary, Chicago. 100 Years Ago Nov.

25, lWJ-It is decided that the Thanksgiving services appointed at the second Presbyterian church tomorrow shall be held Instead at Phoenix Hall. Mr. Andrus will preach. The musical services will be performed by the entire Musical Convention, conducted by Prof. Fargo.

We trust the exercises will draw a full to moderating the tensions they produce. A session of the 11 nation U.N. Security Council on racial discrimination In South Africa Is due soon, though it has been postponed from the Nov. 25 date originally set. There is immense diplomatic pressure on the United States and Britain to crack down on South Africa.

African delegates have shown little interest in a Scandinavian effort to give the whites in South Africa a safe and graceful way to back down nor have the whites Indicated they would ever back down under any circumstances. 2. President Charles de Gaulle of France now may emerge as an even more towering and influential figure in the western alliance. It was Mr. Kennedy who stood between him and this role.

The contest between the two men was more Intense and more far-reaching than the publio generally realized. JOHNSON IS of de Gaulle's generation, but he is not considered to be a match for the French president in many other fields. Time, of course, will pass judgment on this question. At stake are some of the most fundamental problems of the mid-century: how to deal with the Soviet Union, how to construct the military and economic future of Europe, what the shape of the Atlantic community is to be. Britain has what probably is a lame-duck cabinet.

New and relatively untried governments are groping their way in West Germany and Italy. Now a new President takes over in Washington. The question being asked Is: Must the western alliance fall apart for lack of strong leader-, ship, or alternatively be drawn" apart by a France which is nationalistic and which conceives of the partnership more or less In 18th and 19th century terms? 3. WHAT IS THE future of representative government In areas where it still is not deeply rooted if even the United States, the world's most stable and mature democracy, can be As a part of this, Johnson obviously will be looking around for a vice-presidential running mate with appeal in the heavily populated states. Hammarskjold crashed in Southern Rhodesia.

Both men commanded great respect here. Many thought the U.N. could not recover from the blow of Hammarskjold's death with anything like Its earlier vigor. There is' skepticism here now that as President, Lyndon B. Johnson will be able to lead the western alliance with Mr.

Kennedy's skill and forcef illness. The U.N. did, however, rise out of its shock and dismay to act even more vigorously than Hammarskjold had envisaged. Thant of Burma soon demonstrated that Hammarskjold great as he was had not, after all, been Irreplaceable. U.N.

DIPLOMATS hope Washington will have a similar experience. Some point out that when Harry S. Truman succeeded to the presidency, private comments about him were as unflattering as some being voiced about Jolinson today; but they agree Truman proved to be one of the country's strongest presidents. Searching for some of the deeper implications, U.N. diplomats offered these comments 1.

There is a disturbing climate of hatred, violence and irrational emotion in some parts of the United States, a climate inconsistent with efficient functioning of representative democracy. It is stirred by such issues as civil rights, Cuba, Russia, the U.N. and foreign aid. On all of these, Mr. Kennedy took" a forthright stand.

The U.N., too, feels many of these pressures. Most of these struggles above all the struggle for racial equality are world-wide. A growing number of diplomats are concerned that too little thought is being given 7i OFF THE RECORD "Now that you've bawled him out for being stupid make your mark so lie can take it back to school." John F. Kennedy-A Nation Mourns.