Norwood High School - Tiot Yearbook (Norwood, MA)

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14 YEAR BOOK the power of the Pressg in another country there is a movement to give the Press more freedom. lt remains to be seen whether the Press will retain the freedom and the privileges which it has hitherto enjoyed. ln this respect very much depends upon its own be- havior. The Press itself must try to reform the chief faults which are now weakening its prestige. The fourth estate must learn to be less arrogant. Writers have to dis- continue breaking good reputations by employing slander as a means to defeat their opponents. The publishers must cease being so tyrannical over their own employees, No axe should be held n GRADUATION over the head of the editor or writer in order to induce him to write what the publisher wants. The publishers have to become less greedy. They fought the N. R. A. like wolves because it would have interfered with their exploitation of children. The owners of the big newspaper chains maintain lobbies in Washington to protect their own interests. Laborers, farmers, and political lib- eralists do not believe that they will ever get fair play from the Press. The Press has continually scorned all rules of the game. It is only for its own good that the Press should try to remedy these basic reasons for its waning power. Einari Kinnunen '37 Song and laughter, Students and clowns, We surrender all For mortar-boards and gowns! Days we've spent here ln moderate content, Laboring at studies With firm intent. Blue skies above, Dank earth below, Nothing to spur us, just on we go. Now we leave s With looks of scorn, Part We must For Time marches on! To Juniors and Sophies With smiles and tears, We wish good luck ln the coming years, Dorothy McDermott ' 3 7

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CLASS OF 1937 a certain candidate, that candidate can reach a greater number of people through the mediums of the radio and the motion pictures, As a matter of fact, both parties spent more money for radio time than for newspaper space in the last election. Of course, the Re- publicans did not have to buy l-learst's or Knox's editorial space. Recently, a bill has been introduced before the French Chamber of Depu- ties to overcome this very same evil. What appeared to be honest-to- goodness news was really propaganda of some political party which had bought the space. lt was proposed that newspapers be required to keep books for government inspection, so that there would be a list available, showing the sources of revenue of the paper. It is hoped that this plan will also clear up the scandal about the munitions firms buying space in the news col- umns and the editorial pages. ln fact, all sorts of bugs were crawling into the pages of the French press-even pro-Cermanist propaganda. This new curb on the French press while it would not hurt the freedom of the Press, would put to an end such 'gross slander as made Salengero commit suicide by making writers liable for slanderous writing. Little as we would like to turn any grayer the hair on the heads of those grizzled, old publishers, who are now hovering around the eighties, we can- not refrain from wondering aloud how anybody fbe he even a newspaper editorj would have audacity to claim to be the sole instigator who caused our country to enter into War with Spain! Even the French munitions makers try I3 to keep their war propaganda a secret! One of the chief faults of these editors who feel the patriotic blood stirring in their veins is in the inconsis- tency of their attitude. I quote the famous Horace C:reeley's words, which he uttered in a flaming editorial, just before the hrst battle at Ball Run, Cn to Richmond! What were his words, however, after the first defeat to the North? The power of the Press is also wan- ing in our law-making houses. No longer does Congress feel itself obliged to pass legislation which the publishers are trying to push through. Time and again, laws have been passed fwith no evidence of public opposition, which the Press has strongly protested. Per- haps our Congressmen have discovered that the Press no longer represents the will of the people. The public, in truth, has very little opinion, Only a very small minority of our population puts itself to any effort in thinking over the words that the editorials hurl at them. This is at- tested by the words of a leading jour- nalist and editor. Tremendous as the power of the printed word is supposed to be in directing the course of events, this editor has found that the words have to be of a rankling nature. The words have to be deeply prejudiced to something that directly hurts the people, whether it be religion, class distinction, jobs, pension, or a privilege of the people. The power of the Press is teetering on a delicate balance. Some assert that it is waning: others maintain that it is as strong as it always has been. ln one country there is a movement to curb

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CLASS OF 1937 I5 Q WAR CRISES IN EUROPE TODAY While industrial peace is settling over the United States, preparations for a gigantic conflict are going ahead rapidly in Europe and Asia. The English pro- gram calls for domination of the air with 7,000 planes, as well as an en- larged navy, which will control the seas. Russia is supposed to have the most powerful army in the worldg Ger- many is subordinating almost every- thing to armaments, and France is staggering under immense war expendi- ures. japan is still under the domination of military leaders and ltaly is prepar- build up all branches of the service. The policy of the United States will be and air squadrons as any other nation. The war to end wars appears now as vvar to extend War, as the armament ing to to make us as strong in ships race has begun again, For several years Europe has been marching from crisis to crisis, precisely as it did in the period between the affair of Tangier and the assassination of Serajevo, Thus the cre- ation of a new German army and navy shattered the peace of Versailles by a gesture as brusque as the landing of the Kaiser in Tangier in l905. Again in l934 the murder of the Austrian chancellor, Dollfuss, by a group of Nazi conspirators, precipitated a crisis as acute as that of Bosnia in l908. ln I935 the ltalian-Ethiopian war, brought about a situation as tense as that arising from the Agadir affair in I9I l. Finally, the current year has seen the development of the Spanish crisis, out of which it is evident there may, at any moinent, arise an incident as fatal to peace as the crime of Serajevo in I9 l 4. The Spanish revolt has caused more alarm in England and France than the ltalian crisis. Despite the fact that, at one time, war between England and ltaly appeared more than a possibility, it was, at all times, possible to settle the dispute. But, there is no possibility of any settlement of the Spanish revolu- tion. Either the Communists or the Fascists must win. The overshadowing issue is not na- tional, but international. ln the stormy sl-:ies of Spain are traced the crude out- lines of a contest-not for one country --, but for the mastery of Europe. For the first time the Fascist powers have been seen moving together. For the first time the shadow of two lnter- nationales instead of one, appears on the horizon, Hitherto Fascism has been the apo- theosis of nationalism. Mussolini has played a lone hand, with no further aim than the interests and aggrandize- ment of ltaly. Hitler has followed the same course in Germany. The policy of the dictators has been antagonistic rather than cooperative. Fascist ltaly blocked Nazi Germany in Austria, and during the 'Ethiopian campaign ltaly received no help from Germany beyond a frigid neutrality. ln Spain, however, though both signed hands-off agreements to prevent others from aiding the Madrid gov- ernment, they act as Fascist states in open sympathies with the insurgents. This solidarity is more striking than that of France and Russia on the other side because it is a new portent, the sign of a line-up never seen before.