Ranchester High School - Rustler Yearbook (Ranchester, WY)

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CLASS PJLAY STUNT NIGHT STUDENT COUNCIL 18

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they came to start a government of their own. They thought it was worth the cost in terms of effort and sacrifice. After the goal was set. people had to fight tor the democracy they established. As they developed their American way of life, they granted full liberty to each one and the only restraint on an individual was when he attempted to limit the liberties of other citizens. In a democracy the people are really the gov- ernment because only in a democracy is the will of the people supreme. As long as the people re- spect this privilege democracy will stand. The more devotion and participation the people give their government the more effective their dem- ocracy can be. The individual citizens have the right to speak and make any change they want if the majority o! the people want it. Thus, the minority, though they must abide by the changes made by the ma- jority. are still active and are guaranteed the rights of free speech, press and assembly. They can continue to educate the people to their way of thinking. Often the ideals of the minority grow into the laws of the majority. Thus, a democracy can take the best of all the ideals from all the factions. In a totalitarian government minorities are forbidden. Therefore, they grow into under- ground channels of propaganda and hate. A dem- ocracy woiks because it invites opinions of all the people. Of course mistakes are made, but in a democracy they can be corrected, and the people are able to profit by their mistakes. In a dictator- ship mistakes are falsely blamed on minorities, or anyone but on the dictatorship themselves. Democracy has never stood for world conquest. The stated aim of democracy is freedom and equal- ity for all peoples within each nation. The will of the various peoples, as expressed through free elections would determine the kind of government that might result for democracy can not be forced upon people. This condition, especialy in coun- tries that have never known political responsibility, causes critics of democracy to say it can never work on an international basis. But we know that the “fruits of democracy ripen slowly’ but their roots grow deep and strong.” Many a democratic achievement seemed fantastic when first initiated— woman suffrage, abolition of slavery, free bargain- ing for labor groups, child labor laws, free schools and many more. The acceptance of these ideals resulted from the will of the people. Is there any reason then, to feel that democracy cannot be the only sane way to permanent peace? All the move- mints for peace in the last century have come from democratic nations—World Court. Hague Tri- bunal. International Law. League of Nations, United Nations and the Five Freedoms. Each is a step to the great goal of democracy. Each has streng- thened the hope for a world confederation in which war will be forever out-lawed as have been many other crimes of man’s slow progress. Democracy's greatest dream—need not be a mere dream if we. as peoples with freedom, tolerance?, and good will in our hearts, are determined to keep on making democracy work even as our nation's founders made it work by uniting together that they might live in freedom and peace. Democracy is the “government of the people, by the people and for the people,” that shall lead the nations of the earth to the “universal brotherhood” in a law observing world. (Representative paper from Ranchester High School submitted to B. P. O. Elks’ national high school essay contest). SWISS NEUTRALITY «Essay submitted to American Society for Friend- ship with Switzerland” in national high school contest) Dale Schilling—10th Grade The great peak of the geography of Switzerland is the Matterhorn—beautiful, majestic and challeng- ing. Likewise, the ideal uppermost in every Swiss heart is the attainable height of national strength —neutrality. As the mountain climbers have braved the dangers of the Matterhorn, so has Switzerland scaled the summit of perpetual neu- trality. Both are treacherous; a gust of wind might cause of avalanche of snow or of dissension. The climbers are brave, experienced and sure of foot, but they must forever be alert. One false step might plunge them to the depths and to de- struction. Nineteen forty-eight marked the centennial anni- versary of the Swiss federal constitution but their democratic system, whose cornerstone is neutrality, had its beginning in the early Middle Ages. The birth of the Swiss nation began with the union of Uri. Schw'yz and Unterwolden. The immediate cause for union was mutual protection of established liberty against the growing power of the Hapsburgs It has been argued that geography has permitted Swiss neutrality. Actually. Switzerland is one of the most strategically located nations in the world as she controls the principal mountain passes and headwaters that are important to trade and military maneuvers of other countries. Further, lack of raw materials, lack of sea coast, and a relatively large population would tend to hinder neutrality. Geography did not save Switzerland from being Europe’s battleground from the time of Caesar through that of Napoleon nor did it spare her from devastations of the endless fighting and ruling of bishops and barons. Switzerland learned by her own experienezs and from stories of her mercenaries that the policy of neutrality was essential to her existence and that any other policy would cause “dissension among the races of her own population.” The violation of this policy following the French Revolution was offset by the guarantee of perpetual neutrality by the Congress of Vienna 1815). During the World Wars Switzerland looked upon the conflicts not as struggles for democracy but as rivalry among nations for control of world trade. Because of her stand. Switzerland was spared the lavages of war and the people observed “a measure of moral restraint that no censorship could have imposed. While the world lived under war-time restraints the Swiss thus preserved democracy it- silf. Swiss writers stress that use of force is a sign of weakness and that a policy based on mili- tarism will eventually fail. Swiss neutrality was the main factor in the League of Nations’ decision to make Geneva the “peace hub of the world.” Only after great delib- eration did Switzerland join and she was granted special guarantees that excused her from enforcing sanctions or admitting foreign troops on her soil. In March. 1947. Switzerland stated she was ready to join the United Nations if she could be excused from any actions that would threaten her traditions cf complete neutrality. In July she made the same reservations in regards to the Paris Conference, and retained the right to keep economic neutrality with the countries not accepting invitations to the conference. Thus neutral Switzerland has been in a position to help many victims of wars. These “soul pre- Continued on Page 29) 17

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A REVIEW OF THE BASKETBALL SEASON The Ranchester Rustlers enjoyed a reasonably successful basketball season this year, winning twenty of the thirty games they played. They played their first game of the season at the Clearmont tournament on Decem- ber 10th. In the first round they defeated Buffalo 29 to 14. This win moved them nto the semi-finals against Clearmont in what was probably the best game of the tour- nament. Clearmont had to come from behind in the last quarter to take a 23 to 17 vic- tory. In the consolation play the Rustlers topped Arvada 26 to 10 and moved on to take third place as they breezed by Dayton 38 to 17. The Rustlers corraled the Big Horn Rams as thev took their first conference game 26 to 21. In their next game the Rustlers (and I doubt if many people thought they deserved the name after this game) went down to their most humiliating defeat of the year. An inspired Dayton team led by Jimmy Mock defeated them in a one-sided game 39 to 27. The Alumni showed the Rustlers a few new tricks when they took a 30 to 26 decision from them during Christmas vacation. The Rustlers started off on the wrong foot in their first game of the New Year by letting the Clearmont Panthers claw through their defenses to take a 32 to 28 victory in a game that had everyone biting their nails. H’m, seems to me Ranchester’s not doing so well, lost four out of eight so far. Well, maybe they'll do better in the next paragraph. The Rustlers had to come from behind to topple the Dayton Elks at Dayton on the 12th of January. Going into the fourth quarter Dayton led 30 to 25 but the Rustlers managed to score 11 points in the last quarter, while holding the Elks scoreless. Arvada was the Rustlers' next victim, leaving the floor on the short end of a 40 to 26 count. The Busby Indians came down to try the Rustlers on January 18th. Things went along smoothly during the first quarter for the Rustlers as they piled up a 22 to 2 lead. The Indians had had a sly smile on their faces all this time and during a time out Bobby Lyman was heard to exclaim. “I think those darn Indians are just fooling around.” Everybody laughed and someone patted him on the back and reassured him the game was in the bag. About this time Busby opened up, and with the aid of some tricky pass- ing and fancy shooting scalped the Rustlers 48 to 45. On the 21st of January, the Rustlers turned in what was probably their best per- formance of the year, when they skinned the strong Upton Bobcat team 44 to 26. Ran- chester controlled the ball throughout the entire game; they worked their plays with near perfection and rarely missed a shot. The Rustlers branded the Rozet Mustangs with a 36 to 22 defeat for their next victory. Then taking a three-day trip through Rozet. Upton and Moorcroft, again corraled the Mustangs with a 39 to 12 victory. The next night they lost a heartbreaker to Upton 27 to 26; although the game was rough, very few fouls were called. In the last game of the trip the Moorcroft Wolves were roped and tied down with a 38 to 19 defeat. The Rustlers traveled to Big Horn on the 1st of February and after a hard fight penned the Rams up for the night 36 to 26. Hulett had the misfortune of meeting the Rustlers in a bad mood and suffered a 44 to 23 defeat. This marked the eighth conference win for Ranchester. For their next game the team traveled into Montana to meet Lodge Grass. Playing without the aid of Dale Schilling, regular forward, and not having any teamwork, they went down to defeat by the lop-sided score of 40 to 21. The Moorcroft Wolves were next to fall before the Rustlers' attack, on the 11th of February, by a score of 44 to 17. The Lodge Grass Indians came skulking out of Montana with tomahawks in hand and returned with a 36 to 31 victory a few days after the Moorcroft game. On the 18th of February, one of the largest crowds ever to witness a basketball game here saw the Clearmont Panthers earn a 43 to 39 victory from the Rustlers. The game was one of the hardest fought of the season and the result was ever in doubt until the final gun sounded. In their last conference game of the season the Rustlers downed an improved Arvada team by a score of 14 to 32. Then in their final game before the district tournament the Rustlers topped the Sheridan Colts with a 42 to 41 victory. 19