North Andover High School - Knight Yearbook (North Andover, MA)

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This materialistic feeling was aggravated by the shock and dislocation of two World Wars within one short lifetime. There was a moral lethargy produced by the drain of two world-wide conflicts upon our energies, resources, and emotions. In the next place, the underworld learned how to organize in prohibition days, and a citizenry that was not in sympathy with the Prohibition Act looked on with humor¬ ous unconcern at the orgy of lawlessness, and even grew used to it. Then when prohibition passed away, organized crime, proud and prosperous now, not only tolerated but even accepted by the better elements” of the country, turned its organization to other sources of easy money. Betting took on the magnitude of a national industry, branched out into allied fields of vice, corrupted the law enforcement agencies, and sent its cancerous roots far deeper into the body politic than an almost fatally good-natured public realized. Then came the greatest lesson in civics that this grand country of ours ever got. The Kefauver Committee turned up sensation after sensation. And at last the country is informed and aroused. What can be done to remedy this situation? There must be a complete and continuous knowledge of the conditions and a reawakening of moral sentiments. This is the joint responsibility of church, home, school and any mode of communication such as press, radio and television. There must be a re-dedication of the nation to the old American slogan Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty.” In the eighteenth century, England was eaten with corruption under the reign of Walpole. She pulled herself out of that slough. And what she had done we Americans certainly can do. This vigilance will take, among other forms, the form of voting at every elec¬ tion, voting for the best man regardless of party designation, and, above all, removing promptly any official whose actions show a neglect of or contempt for the common good. Briefly, we are in a period of scandalous corruption because we didn’t care enough about how our government was being run in the first place. Too long have we Americans expected some political magician to waft our troubles away with the flick of a wand. Too long have we placed a childish trust in the mere politician and his theo¬ retical patriotism. It was not this spirit that made this country blossom and bud like the rose. It was not this spirit that struck for independence. It was not this spirit that pro¬ duced our constitution, characterized by the great Lord Acton as the greatest article of government ever struck off by the hand of mortal man.” We need to get back to the old American idea that that government is best which is most watched. But we our¬ selves, individually, must do the watching. We are the captains of our fate We are the masters of our souls.” Barbara Watts 08

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Is thi s the right way to go about judging anyone? It is certainly no way to judge an American, says our Constitution! Our entire system and idea of government is based on the worth and dignity of an individual as a person! It is a very sad thing that in a democracy, where equal rights are granted all, so much intolerance should flourish. We must be made, if necessary, to realize that it is not who we are, but what we do and how faithfully we live up to our duties and responsibility that really determines which of us are true Americans. I would like to tell very briefly about someone who, in my opinion, is an ex¬ cellent example of Americanism at its very best. This man is the widely known states¬ man, Dr. Ralph Bunche, a prominent member of the United Nations and one of the world’s leading scholars in the field of race relations. Dr. Bunche is the grandson of an American slave and he also has some American-Indian blood. Although at a great dis¬ advantage, simply because he was a Negro, he rose magnificently to meet this challenge and to force the world to recognize him for what he is, a brilliant scholar and statesman. It couldn’t have been an easy fight, for many doors were politely but firmly closed in earlier years to the eager, ambitious, hard-working young Negro. His career itself has been on a steady upswing since the day when he gradu¬ ated with highest honors from college. He was the first Negro to hold a really important job with the State Department. After receiving countless awards down through the years, Dr. Bunche joined the U. N. where he indeed has written a brilliant page in its history. Recently his career was crowned when he received the Nobel Peace Prize. Here indeed is a true American who has given a great deal to his country. Of course, most of us are not able to contribute as much to the country as Dr. Bunche has, and actually we need not, to be good Americans. However, each and every one can ask himself these questions, “Am I earnestly trying in every way to be a good citizen, or instead am I taking the easy way out? Am I taking the precious free¬ doms and privileges I possess for granted? Do I even unconsciously tend to discriminate against certain people who are of a different race or religion than I am? If you are guilty of any one of these things, it is entirely up to you to conquer them, and be really worthy of that proud title, American citizen. Margaret Willett Class Essay SHALL WE SURVIVE? While we Americans have been absorbed in our own problems, our worries over the Korean war and the threat of Communism, we have neglected to keep a tight rein on our government and its operation. There are many evidences of corrupt forces operating within our government. The recent senate-crime investigations, for example, brought to light the decay that has crept into our nation and threatened our society. Scandal in government can be traced to the Romans. The great Roman Empire was constantly threatened, as we are, by external forces and survived them all. No, mighty Rome wasn’t crushed by attacks from foreign powers—the Roman Empire crumbled from the corrosion of its own internal decay and corruption. Is that what our great country is facing? We must realize that we can survive in the face of inter¬ national disaster, but cannot survive if our democratic principles and moral standards, decline. Let us examine the causes of this corrupton. When our country was first taking roots, there was too great an emphasis on the material aspects of life, a phe¬ nomenon quite common in a pioneering country like our own where a young and vigorous people were filling a virgin continent, hewing down the forests, breaking the plains and, in general, developing the physical resources. { 17

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Class Oration “WE HAVE CROSSED THE BAY, THE OCEAN LIES AHEAD” As we come to the point in our lives where we have crossed the bay of adoles¬ cence and childhood and we look out on the ocean of life, we pause and reflect upon the past years. In all our years on the bay of childhood, we have had little or no responsibili¬ ties to deter us from our course. Our meals, clothing and shelter were carefully planned for us by our parents. Our schooling for the first twelve grades was planned for us by capable and willing teachers. Our parents very carefully planned our home life for us so that there would not be any hardship on our part. In school, our studies were care¬ fully planned so that they were well-rounded and would insure us of being well-balanced individuals. Our burdens, both at home and at school, were carefully adjusted so that they were not really burdens at all, but rather, pleasurable tasks. Our parents and teachers planned these burdens to fit our capacities, giving more to those who could stand more and lessening the load on those who weren’t able to stand up under it. Now we have crossed the bay. The protecting lulls of our childhood fade away, and the powerful breezes from the high seas whip the sails of our untried craft. The pull of the mighty tides that have surged in from the depths of the ocean rock the decks beneath us. An indescribable thrill, compounded of terror and eagerness to test the great ocean, runs through our frames. Ahead of us, on the ocean, lie the storms of temptation, bewilderment, and discouragement, waiting eagerly to pound upon us unexpectedly. It is only through skillful navigation on our part that we can ride out these storms, for no longer do we have the protecting bay; we are on the ocean, fighting these storms alone. Also on this great ocean of life there are other dangers: the danger of losing our course through carelessness and indifference, the dangers of the sunken reefs of preju¬ dice waiting to rip the planks from beneath us, the danger of being ship-wrecked on the rocks of despair and hopelessness. As we run the gauntlet of these storms and dangers on the open seas, we have the feeling of knowing that a rich reward lies in wait for us, the reward of coming into port. We know that there is but one way to collect this reward, and that is to exercise the skills taught us while we were still in the protection of the friendly bay. Anthony Galvagna { 19 }