Salem State University - Clipper Yearbook

Page 9 text:

Ulu Img STZITPII Evil QBIII' Eihruriuxr IlI?s1J1,II'l'l'iZIfiLlIll1fi5l'I' Eiglp Stzlnharila iirlpfulnras auh iiffirirnrg

Page 11 text:

rvdicbnf it '.5.5l1gl' , . . . . . . . . llu- defeat ol llitler aiul lltrohito was more than a dc-teat ol two leaflersl it was the overtltrow of two perverted philosophies ol' goveriiuu-nt which sought to control aiul circumscrilu- tlu- innate lilu-rties of nu-ii. Similarly, tlu- victory of tlu' l'niteil Nations was more than a victory over tu-rmany aiul Alapaug it was tlu- truunph ul a way ol hte, diverse in national forms, hut ulentical ni suhst:uu'e, which professes tlu- principles ot' Magna Charta and tlu- lk-claration of liulepeiul- ence. Chu- might interposc- to these statenu-nts a pertiiu-ut ohjection ethat National Socialism is nothing more than the progeny of tfommunism, and that Russia was our late ally. llowever cogent this challenge may he, the average .Xnu-rican truly helieves that Xtorld XYar ll was fought to preserve denuufracy :uul to drive all manilestations ot fascism from the face ol the earth. liascism teaches, among other things, that children are the creatures of the state, that their education is the exclusive prerogative of the state, that their lives helong to the service of the state. This vicious theory- is repugnant to divine and natural law, and no civilization projected on it has ever contrihuted in any permanent fashion to the progress and welfare of mankind. XYe know that children are the property of the parents who hegot them, and that other agencies have no more right to usurp the educative function than has a lfidnaper to invade the sanctity of the home. All authority which the state exercises is delegated hy the iiulividual families which compose it. XVe may depu- tize the state to teach children, hut final responsihility rests squarely upon the shoulders of their fathers and mothers. .Xny other concept of responsihility is an infringement of the personal rights of the children, the domestic rights of the parents, and the eternal verities of God. Formal education is not provided in the home simply hecause the ordinary household is incapahle of supplying it. For this reason parents entrust to the state the mental welfare of their sons and daughters, and teachers serve in loco parentuinu with the parents' consent and sanction. Buildings are erected, instruc- tional staffs are maintained, educational opportunities are afforded, not hecause the state is the supreme agency for the training of youth, hut hecause, as a practical matter, families cannot equip and support private schools for the exclusive use of individual groups. If they could, it would he their inalienahle right to do so, and the state might intervene only if the situation presented elements detrimental Io the common good. Xllhatever your horoscope may portend, you seniors should he grateful for your heritage. Your education was not devised hy self-appointed oligarchs. You were not regimentedg you were not cast in identical molds. You were not forced to pledge allegiance to a code of conduct symholized hy the Swastika or the Rising Sun. You have heen trained, rather, under a natural and normal plan hy which schools supplement the work of the home and teachers implement the will of parents. Many hrave men fought and died to safeguard this precious legacy. Let us dedicate ourselves to the proposition that their sacrifices shall not have heen made in vain. .ZAQWKM W.