St Thomas More High School - Utopian Yearbook (Philadelphia, PA)

Page 65 text:

On this basis and on the basis of the capacity of each candidate, the people voted. Many things may be said during a campaign which are ques- tionable, but the people finally have the oppor- tunity to evaluate any issue involved and express their opinion on it by selecting the candidate of their particular choice. It is this primarily that makes America the land of freedom that it is. One important fact that helped to heal the temporary split made during the campaign was the way both candidates pledged themselves to do all in their power to help to make America a better country, without regard to political alliliations. Governor Stevenson, in his conced- ing speech, made the people of the United States realize that America still has a great statesman on whom she may later depend to serve her. General Eisenhower likewise showed the nation that being the victor is almost asdistressing a job as being the vanquished. He realized acutely the difficult road ahead of him, and his fore- most desire was to unite the difference of opin- ion between both political parties on domestic issues in order that he might pursue a united program on international issues for the good of the United States as a member of the family of nations. Two other important considerations stood out prominently in the election campaign of 1952. The first was the variety of trustworthy political leaders throughout the country who supported either candidate, the second was the matter of governmental transition that would take place should the Republican Party be given the reins of government. Would these leaders join hands and support the new admin- istration? How would the change of adminis- tration affect the national political economy? Concerning the political leaders, it is for them to decide which must come first-the good of their party or the good of the Country as a whole. That the national good must come first was evidenced by the way in which the second consideration-the transition of governmental change-was treated. To make the transfer of government more effective, the incumbent Dem- ocratic Administration, led by former President Truman, did all in its power to make it the most orderly change, many believe, that ever took THE CHELSEA REVIEW . place in our history. But it had to be so! It had to be in order that we, as a nation, might stand united, in the eyes of a questioning and watchful world, against the ever-present threat of the increasing danger of Communist tyranny. For it is clear beyond doubt, that Divine Providence has cloaked over the broad shoulders of our Country the toga of leadership. It is our re- sponsibility as a nation, therefore, to prove our- selves worthy of that awesome dignity. Thus we must stand united, Americans all. No patriotic American, conscious of our en- forced position in world alfairs, can afford to have an anti feeling, especially at this crucial moment in our Nationis history, against the new party in control, at least, not until it has had the opportunity to prove itself to be the worthy guardian of the rights of the people at home and abroad. lf it does not, then we shall be able eventually to censure the party in power in the approved American way, and go on, united nonetheless as before. No thinking citizen can close his eyes to the fact that thc main obstacle in the troublesome days ahead is the evil of Communism, which threatens the very survival of the human race. Communism has no regard for the freedoms that we hold dear, nor does it have any regard for the Chris- tian concept that the state is the servant of the people, instead, it holds that freedom belongs only to the state, and that people, in turn, exist only for the state. We all hope sincerely that the new administration will continue to further the ends of the Christian concept of democratic freedom. It can and it will, but only with the full and intelligent support of a people who are determined never to accept anything less than complete freedom, no matter how great the responsibilities of such freedom are. The saying: United we stand, divided we fall,', may have all the earmarks of a cliche to the modern mind. But cliche or not, the fact is that united we must stand, lest in division we contribute to the fall of the most highly dedi- cated nation the world has ever known, a nation that has dedicated herself to the ideal of ma- turing a free people-free to live, free to speak, free to worship, with a dignity and purpose that reHects the Divine Intelligence working in us all. .61

Page 64 text:

POLl'l'lU A D PATRIUTI M OW THAT the smoke of the recent presi- dential campaign is dissolved, we can see whether it has left any scars that might disfigure the future of national progress. The people heard each of the candidates give his reasons why he believed he should be elected, and, as always, the people had the last say. Yes, the people spoke, and a record vote was cast. They elected Dwight D. Eisenhower, President of the United States. They gave their approval for the transference of the government into the hands of the Republican Party for the next four years. Certainly, all arguments and accusations, which are so characteristic of American cam- paigns, should have ended on the night of the election. Those who voted for the Democratic nominee, Governor Adlai Stevenson, should be resigned to the will of the majority of the people. Freedom to elect public officials is one of our great heritages. If we do not support and go along with the party in power, but op- pose it merely for the sake of opposition, not for the good that will benefit our country, we are cheapening this priceless heritage. The result of furthering such an attitude is had govern- ment, for this evil can affect the members of Congress, who, although they owe particular allegiance to their constituents, have the more special duty to protect the interests of all the people. If opposition members of Congress challenge the party in power just for the sake of opposition, thereby hoping to please dis- gruntled constituents, then we cannot expect to have an efficient government. Both people and Country suffer as a consequence. Politics has a two-fold purpose: one is to conduct an efficient government, the other, to inspire a greater love of Country and to strength- en the principles on which our Country was founded. Political parties are the means by which elected representatives of the people can carry out these two purposes in their name. In Communist countries, however, only one polit- 60 . BY RICHARD O'MALLEY, '53 ical party is in power, the Communist Party. When the people in these countries go to vote, they may cast a vote for one unopposed candi- date, or possibly several of the same party, for each ofiice. Yet the Communist governments insist that they have free elections, and that their leaders have been elected by a unanimous vote of the people. It is hardly necessary to say that they fail to mention that the people had no choice, that they were compelled to vote as directed. The Communists' vocabulary does not include the word choice. Choice means the best or preferable part, the word part, with reference to choice, postulates the existence of another-part. Communism ad- mits but one party, therefore, it automatically rules out any idea of choice, Where there is no choice, there can be no-freedom of selection. The advantage in having a two-party system, such as ours, is that if one party sees a mistake that the other party is making, it brings this fact to the attention of the peopleg and the people, in turn, can judge the mistake for what it is worth and decide in the next election whether that party should remain in power. In this way, free people have a system that com- mands a more efiicient government, a govern- ment that is truly -- of the people, by the people, and for the peopleng in a word, a gov- ernment by choice, and, therefore, a free government. In the recent presidential campaign, each major party made various accusations, some of which were true and some of which, doubtless, were false. Each of the presidential candidates was new in the field of national politics. Thus, General Eisenhower was entirely new to poli- tics, and Governor Stevenson had been elected to public office only once before, as Governor of the State of Illinois. Either candidate might have lost the campaign because of the record of his party. Each record was brought before the people for them to decide upon, each record was reviewed and exposed to public scrutiny. . THE CHELSEA REVIEW

Page 66 text:

'Q E SHI W7 BY ALEX DE ANGELIS, '53 AR OFF in a mid-Western railroad office, a tired, old man had just heard the crushing news that his years of faithful service had come to an end. His boss had broken the news as kindly as he could. Pop', Mullin thanked him and tried to smile. Lifting his battered hat from the big mahogany desk, he bade farewell to his fellow-workers, and reso- lutely left the office. His feet were leaden as he went down familiar steps that suddenly seemed strange and unfriendly. Pop made his way through the small town, downcast and dejected, hardly noticing those who called out the Hi, 'Pop,' that always made him so happy. The dreaded news had clouded his mind. He had hoped that somehow -somehow-they wouldn't tell him to go. If it weren't for the loud whistle of the Rawlings Express, he might have walked right past his respectable little shanty, which looked even more pathetic because of the few weedish look- ing flowers Pop had coaxed to grow about it. The cabin belonged to the railroad. As he stood there with his eyes Exed on his home, he could not help recalling the first time he entered it, years before. They might have been lonely years, but they weren't. His mind raced back to the time he Hrst started. It was during the depression years of the early thirties. He had considered himself rather fortlmate in getting this job. He liked the workg he liked to see great gargantuan trains stop as he flagged them down. He did his work well, so well that The Michigan and West- ern held on to him. But now a new mechan- ical-device-age had arrived, and the company didn't need him or his kind any longer. The boss had given him one night to get his belongings together. He would have to leave. The shack was to be destroyed. Progress knew no mercy. The old had to make way for the anew. He would be provided for. A pension - yes, quite ample. But what pension can satisfy the spirit taken out of a man's heart? Old Pop Mullin felt very old for the first time in his long life. 62. xk x Very old -- very old - his heart-beats ,. -1 seemed to say in agreement. i L He slowly opened the door to his shack, and there in a glance he saw his neatly kept quarters of not more than 100 square feet. A bed, a closet, a wash- '. . 1 . 43 1 Us X S X X. x .L x -Q Ny X5 X, X XX xX . X 5 X . ,xg XZX X- X rl 3 .-f y r X',. fv XX 'Qi .x ' bt- sxf lu X' S? K. -Lg - , s f if A if ' I basin, a stove, and a cherished picture of the Sacred Heart had been his home for all these long years. Pop took off his heavy, gray jacket and stumbled to his bed and stretched out on it. He thought this would be a good time to thinkg to think about his long past, about his uncertain future. He recalled all his hardships misfortunes, calamities, he thought of his happy moments, too, even though they were very few and numbered. He would have even tried to figure out where he would go from here, if he had not suddenly fallen asleep from sheer ex- 4P'4 ' '. -Y. M 1 ,, ' Es-sit - ' 'T I , jg. u, '35,P. 91, ,T . l vp, 34:39 .' if 4, 421: .,f'f??'1rN?f'-7' agar? .fi11- 0,1 , 4. 5, - . ff? J' 1'-gn ,SN fit- TQ- 'r 13' .J 5-1.v.r5, . . ,tag-:, -7-1 4, -1-fav, , I' u-,11.'vl'A' - ,.- . -.M f , -ig, A s ,fix .41 I M haustion. Old Pop Mullin dreamt a terrifying dream this night. He dreamt a dying man's dreamg a dream of Heaven, of God, the angels, of what it would be like, far up there in the skies. He dreamt of good and evil, of trains, and whistles. He dreamt, yes, even of his death and the moment of it. It seemed that he was drifting back, back to the time of a long winter's night, the time of that terrible blizzard of a snowstorm of a couple of years ago. He had buttoned his overcoat and gone outside to see if the 12:50 Express was coming. He walked up the tracks a few feet and stopped dead. What was this? He couldn't be- lieve his eyes - a large oil truck with a big red INFLAMMABLE sign on its body. The huge truck was stranded on the railroad tracks. Doubtless the driver had run out of gas and had gone to fetch some more, thought Pop Mullin. But what happens if the 12:50 Express arrives before the truck driver returns? The hands on his old pocket watch were drawing close to 12:45, and in five minutes the Express was due. His first thought prompted him to run towards the neighboring gas station, but just then he halted, remembering that it would take . THE CHELSEA REVIEW ll? 'Wil 'lilllll v