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FOUR
THE BULLETIN OF THE CATHOLIC LAYMEN'S ASSOCIATION OF GEORGIA
JANUARY 4. 1953.
Site Bulletin
The Official Organ of the Catholic Laymen’s
Association of Georgia, Incorporated
JOHN MARKWALTER, Editor
416 Eighth Street, Augusta, Ga.
Vol. 38 Saturday, January 4, 1958 No. 1G
ASSOCIATION OFFICERS FOR 1955-1956
GEORGE GINGELL. Columbus President
E. M. HEAGARTY, Waycross Honorary Vice-President j
MRS. DAN HARRIS, Macon Vice-President
TOM GRIFFIN, Atlanta _r Vice-President
NICK CAMERIO, Macon Secretary
JOHN T. BUCKLEY, Augusta Treasurer
JOHN MARKWALTER, Augusta Executive Secretary
MISS CECILE FERRY, Augusta Financial Secretary
ALVIN M. McAULIFFE, Augusta Auditor
Entered as second class matter at the Post Office, Monroe, Georgia,
and accepted for mailing at special rate of postage provided by para
graph (e) of section 34.40, Postal Laws and Regulations.
Member of N.C.W.C. News Service, the Catholic Press Association
K the United States, the Georgia Press Association, and the National
Editorial Association-
Published fortnightly by the Catholic Laymen’s Association of Geor
gia, Inc., with the Approbation of the Most Reverend Archbishop-
Bishop of Savannah, the Most Reverend Bishop of Atlanta, and tne
Right Reverend Abbot Ordinary of Belmont.
Wall in cj ton ^jjewiletlcr...
POPE’S CHRISTMAS MESSAGE
MAY BECOME ONE OF MOST
DISCUSSED PRONOUNCEMENTS
(By J. J. Gilbert)
WASHINGTON — The 1957 j
Christmas message of His Holi- j
ness Pope Pius XII could become ;
one of the most discussed of papal
pronouncements.
There has been considerable
comment already, and it has been
generally favorable. Neverthe
less, it is entirely likely that its
greatest impact is yet to come. If j
its plea is heeded, it could become |
the guidepost on the way to real;
peace. If it is ignored, it may be |
cast back in regret for many years
to come.
The address was long, 9.000 j
words, and it fairly bristled with j
thought-provoking passages, j
Commentators have found a wide
variety of points on which to j
write. All agi'eed on the utter j
timeliness of the address given
to a dozen Cardinals in the Vati-!
can on December 22.
The message was delivered
three days before Christmas, that
it might have the widest possible
dissemination. Beamed in many
languages over the powerful new
Vatican Radio over a period of
two days, one secular news agen
cy has already called it “probably
the most widely broadcast mes
sage in history.”
To speak of peace would nat
urally be timely in the world to-
c.av. Blit the Holy Father under-
i cored his appeal with such de
tailed thought that its up-to-the-
minute application must impress
ill who read it.
For instance, calling for a halt
ill the headlong arms race be-
t ween nations, His Holiness said
oven the wealthiest powers “must
.foresee a time in which arms
i pending will “weaken the har-
! lony of the economy.”
At almost the same time it was
i.nnounced that Soviet Russia
would spend $4,500,000,000 in
j cientific research next year, and
! aore than $24,000,000,000 on out-
) ight military expenditures. In
the same days, it was reported
•i ne U. S. Defense Department
would seek another $1,000,000,000
! text year for “missiles and other
i aings.” This was followed by
word that the U. S. defense or
ders in 1958 would total more
i ran $23,000,000,000 — almost 50
percent greater than the total
l ilitary contracts placed in 1957.
. Three days before the Pope
spoke, the authoritative publica
tion “Jane’s Fighting Ships” said 1
in London that Soviet Russia is j
building atomic powered subma
rines capable of carrying 50-ton
ballistic missiles with a range of
1,500 miles.
The day after the Pope spoke,
it was announced that the U. S.
had placed orders for jet bombers
using “exotic” fuels that would
fly three times the speed of
sound.
Within hours, Moscow announc
ed the “successful long distance
non-stop flight “into the strato
sphere of a “colossal” new jet
bomber that flew “higher and
longer” than any other aircraft of
this type.
One Washington daily, report
ing the Pope’s talk with a “top
head” on page one. carried in the
adjoining column a report that a
leading U. S. weather authority
was somewhat concerned because
Soviet Russia is showing a grow
ing interest in weather control.
It was emphasized that neither
the U. S. nor Soviet Russia has
yet hit upon a way to drastical
ly modify weather or weather
patterns. But it was pointed out
that, if achieved, such control
would be of greater consequence
than nuclear weapons or missiles.
The nation possessing it could
cause a prolonged drought and
destroy the food supply of an
other nation.
Perhaps a half-dozen schemes
have been proposed for influenc
ing weather and climate. These
include control and diversion of
the Gulf Stream, and the artifi
cial melting of ice fields in the
Arctic. Scientists say they sound
far-fetched, but still bear watch
ing. In any event they reflect the
far-ranging character of the race
for supremacy.
These and scores of other con
siderations poinC to the worth
whileness of peace.
“Peace,” the Holy Father said,
“is a good so precious, so pro
ductive, so desirable and so de
sired, that every effort in its
defense ... is well spent.”
The Washington Post stressed
this point of the Pope’s message
in an editorial. “In these days of
missiles and nuclear weapons,”
the paper said, “few men will
need to be reminded that his
is not mere holiday sentiment.”
Hysteria In Indonesia
THIS WORLD OF OURS
(By Richard Patlee)
There are still two articles to
go to complete this cycle of 25 on
Africa. However, I want to open
a parenthesis, as it were, in the
series — to comment briefly on
what seems to me a tragedy, so
symptomatic of
our century,
especially since
1945, that it de
serves special
mention. I re
fer to the out-
bur s t of ir
rational hyster
ia that has
place in Indonesia and that
promises, if not stopped in time,
to bring the whole country to
ruin.
The events that led to this ex
traordinary state of affairs are
fairly well known. For years now
the Djakarta government has de
manded that the Netherlands give
up Dutch New Guinea, or West
Irian as the Indonesians call it.
When the Netherlands proved re
peatedly obdurate the matter was
referred once more to the UN and
its consideration rejected. At this
the Indonesians seem to have
gone into a figurative tail-spin.
We had the extravagant case
of a government calling for a
nationwide strike and doing
everything in its power to harrass
and make wretched the lives of
the more than 50,000 Dutch who
still live and work in Indonesia.
All this for a piece of territory
that can certainly mean absolutely
nothing to vast Indonesia which
has enough islands and people
already to assimilate without
taking on the primitive Papuans.
RUIN PREFERRED
TO COLONIALISM
But the remarkable feature of
this event is the determination of j
a presumedly sane government to ]
bring down the roof about its ears
in the name of a wild and un-
controlable nationalism. There
seems something almost patho
logical in this madness for de
struction, this blindness that ex
cludes all dictates of reason or
common sense. We said the same
thing a few years ago in Iran when
Mossadegh preferred to bring
ruination on his poverty stricken
land rather than allow European
technicians to run the refineries
in Iran.
It is all very well to respect
the will to independence of Asian
and African peoples and hope
that in the course of time they
may achieve a respectable and re
sponsible place in the world. But
it is another thing entirely to
have to put up with this un
reasoning frenzy that assumes
that by throwing tremendous
tantrums, the results are going to
be favorable.
I, personally, have the greatest
sympathy for the former colonial
peoples who are striving to work
out a decent life under indepen
dence. But I find it extremely
, difficult to understand how black-
: mail as a form of policy can really
be accepted. It is happening all
the time and in almost every ex
colonial situation. The Indonesians
are going to get New Guinea by I
ruining thousands of honest Dutch !
employees in their country and
by ruining themselves at the same
time, if need be.
EUROPEANS NOT
ALWAYS WRONG
The Moroccan government has j
just announced that its dispute;
with Spain can be settled easily j
if Spain will give up its ter
ritories in West Africa and then
sit down calmly and work out
the details after the transfer has
become effective. The Yemenites
sent a delegation to London to
insist that all will be well in the
Arabian peninsula if Britain will
simply hand over Aden and get
out. Then, of course, discussion
can take place with no difficulty.
Mr. Nehru has been saying for
years that if Portugal will quit
Goa and go lacking, he will be
delighted to enter a conference
regarding the future of Portu
guese India.
I submit that this type of thing
is ridiculous, undignified and
completely intolerable in any
thing like a reasonably well or
ganized international society. We
have simply got to get away from
the idea that Asians and Africans
are always, inevitably right
simply because they are Asians
and Africans and that the Euro
pean is wrong simply because he
is a European. We are fast coming
to the point when to be a Euro
pean is to be something degraded
and obscene and the quicker
liquidated the better.
I suppose the upshot of the
scandal in Indonesia will be that,
when absolute chaos faces the
country and Dutch interests have
been effectively curtailed, if not
destroyed, then the Indonesian
government will expect enormous
aid from somewhere to bail the
country out. Perhaps there is
nothing to be done about it all,
but we are certainly paying for
the sentiment so long dominant
in this country that anything
smacking of colonialism is wrong
and that national independence,
now and under all conditions, is
the ideal.
1958 Will Be Time Of Grave Crisis
THE BACKDROP
By JOHN C. O’BRIEN
It is the custom of our political
and business leaders at this time
of the year to peer into the crystal
ball and attempt to project the
I course of events for the coming
year.
In more
serene times,
this has been a
harmless and
often pleasant
excercise in the
art of prophecy.
It has been pos
sible in the past
to predict with
confidence that the new year
would be more prosperous if not
happier, than the year that had
ended.
Business would be brisker, em
ployment higher, income more
plentiful. We would be able to
buy more automobiles, more tele
vision sets, more household appli
ances, more of all those aids to
comfortable living that we like
to think made our nation great
and the American way of life
superior to all others.
But, as we approach the begin
ning of 1958, the future does not
appear so reassuring. The crystal
ball is cloudier than unual, and
even those trends and events that
do seem likely to eventuate are
gravely disconcerting.
COMPLACENCY SHAKEN
We have been living in a state
of smug complacency, confident
that the threat of a devastating
war was receding. Was this not,
in fact, what our leaders had been
telling us. We could, we thought,
sit back, reduce our military
spending, lower our taxes and en
joy the booming prosperity that
seemed to have no end or prospect
of diminution.
But during the past year our
complacency was rudely shaken
by irrefutable evidence that we
were not as secure as we thought
we were.
Suddenly we discovered that
we were falling behind the Soviet
Union in the race to keep military
capabilities in balance. By send
ing up their man-made satellites,
the Russians proved to the world
that they had forged ahead of the
free world in the arms race. We
were confronted with the sicken
ing realization that the Russians
did have the capacity to wipe out
cities with nuclear weapons.
Yet, even now we seem re
luctant to face up to the realities
of our situation. In fact, we are
not fully informed as to just how
frightening those realities are.
Our political leaders have seen
fit to keep us in the dark. They
have withheld an appraisal of our
posture in- relation to the Soviet
Union prepared by a committee of
leaders in business, finance,
science and the military art under
| the direction of H. Rowan Gaither,
| Jr., a former head of the Ford
Foundation.
For weeks the Senate Sub
committee of Preparedness has
been trying desperately to get a
look at the Gaither report. But
the Administration persists in
classifying it “top secret”. The
: only concession the Executive
branch has indicated it is willing
to make the Subcommittee is to
provide a bowlerized version.
As is usually the case, however,
when government attempts to
conceal unpleasant facts from the
American people, some of the bad
news has leaked out. And if the
Gaither committee’s findings are
valid — there is no reason to
question them, because they were
made by some of the soberest
minds in the nation — the new
year, far from being brighter than
the one just drawn to a close is
certain to be a time of grave
crisis for us and for all free peo
ple.
It will be a time when we must
decide whether to put our securi
ty ahead of our hedonistic hopes
for another year of soft living.
For, so the committee tells us,
if we are to bring our defense
strength into balance with the
offensive strength of the Russians
and counter the communist
world-wide offensive on the eco
nomic front, we must tighten our
belts and accept some of the
austerities we usually associate
only with war.
We must, unless we are willing
to disregard the warning of the
experts, vastly increase our
spending for military defense and
make some provision for the pro
tection of our people from radio
active fallout in the event of an
attack. This will mean not more
money to spend on creature com
forts but higher taxes to insure
our security.
A grim outlook, yes. But not
one that need deter us from ex
changing our usual greetings for
(Continued on Page Five)
