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UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN, LAWRENCE, KANSAS
SUNDAY, MARCH 14, 1943
Extreme Opposition Can Be Expected To President's Social Security Plan
President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's broad social security plan came as a distinct surprise to the American public—a pleasant surprise to the common man, but a much less pleasant surprise to other influential groups.
The plan, which would climax Roosevelt's ten-year crusade to improve the lot of the downtrodden and insecure, will certainly meet serious resistance within the halls of Congress. Odds see to be against its adoption, for a reversion to conservatism has been more than a little evident within those legislative confines during the past several weeks. Even on the day of its announcement newspapers headlined: "Congress Shows No Enthusiasm."
That headline was probably a gross understatement, for a bitter battle can be expected from the Hooverian Republican elements aligned with Southern Democrats, who have proved themselves such unfailing puppets of Northern manufacturers and Southern landholders who dominate Dixie. The George's, the Taft's, and the other conservatives are likely to scream that it is at present essential to turn all our attention toward aiding the man at the battlefield even at the cost of losing for him the gains of the past years on the home front.
Congress can be expected to press two arguments against the measure—both time-worn, but in the past they have proved to have a surprisingly strong appeal for the American mind. They are that (1) the measures would result in the loss of individual initiative; and (2) increased taxation upon those who could ill-afford it would be necessitated by the program.
The loss of initiative is an old argument, for the Americans on top seem eternally to worry about their less fortunate brethren's possible loss of character should they become partially dependent upon the state (and incidentally upon that "upper crust.") They shake their heads in pity for the man who accepts a government check rather than starve, branding him as a parasite. They never stop to wonder what the effects of want and hunger upon character can be.
For an example of the character-building effects of need they have only to look at Germany, where, following the first world war, a shortage of the material needs of life left Germans likewise short of the spiritual needs. Men became a thousand times more easily the prey to the ambitions and brutality of a single faction, than would well-fed men unharried by the fear of future starvation.
Perhaps T. V. Smith, recent lecturer here, had the best answer for those who warn against the "loss of initiative," when he declared that the time has come when this initiative must realize the furtherance of social measures, and must be internalized within us. Self reliance which is present only through necessity is a superficial thing which will desert one, anyway, when the real test comes along.
Taxes must as a necessity be sufficient to support such a program, but the American people would be the gainers in the long run, for the wiping out of social fear and the instilling of confidence in millions of Americans would in the long run increase American efficiency to the point where the added utility would be far greater than the cost. It would
How the people are going to be able to finance a movie, let alone a war, after tomorrow's tax collectors take their toll.
Morality Problem of Lawrence Requires Attention of Community
be comforting to Americans, also, to see their money going into channels from which emerged obvious good after watching their funds for years be poured meaninglessly into Dies Committees, Smith committees, and other organizations which have themselves destroyed what usefullness they may have once had.
Lawrence has growing pains. And those growing pains take strange forms—drunken sailors reeling out of former student hangouts, ten-year-old children holding down man-sized jobs, defense workers living in trailers or cramped apartment houses, junior high school boys and girls roaming the streets at all hours of the night.
To double the population of a town the size of Lawrence in one year is to create problems the community apparently cannot cope with. Floods of defense workers pouring into Lawrence and contingents of sailors, marines, CPT being sent here for training have swollen the population and made congested and inadequate a formerly pleasant community.
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The same changes have occurred all over the country. In larger towns and cities, the influx has been absorbed; there has been room enough for workers to lead their own lives without becoming a burden to the community. On the other hand, in small Lawrence-sized towns, any great number of persons coming in would throw it off balance, make its facilities for housing, shopping, and entertainment in-
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Student Paper of THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS Lawrence, Kansas
EDITORIAL STAFF
2.
Editor-in-chief ... Maurice Barker
Editorial Associates ... Don Keown, Joy Miller,
Matt Heuertz. Jirm Gunn, Florence Brown
NEWS STAFF
Managing Editor ... Virginia Tieman
Sunday Editor ... Joy Miller
Campus editors ... Alan Houghton, Jane
Miner, Clara Lee Oxley
Sports editor ... J. Donald Keown
News Editor ... Florence Brown
Feature Editor ... Lucille Kadel
Picture Editor ... James Gunn
Society Editor ... Phyllis Collier
Rock Chalk Talk
By JIMMY GUNN
By MARY MORRILL, Sunday Columnist
Proving that fire chiefs aren't hep: Carol Stuart, Betty Van Blarcom, and Jean Rose came home one afternoon to find their room of the Delta Gamma house bolted from within. They were stranded with no books, no makeup, no pajamas, no nothing. In a moment of panic, Carol grabbed the phone and asked central to connect her with whichever fire department had the tallest ladder. But not even Carol's plaintive voice could cajole the chief into whipping out to West Hills with a rescue patrol. The girls slept elsewhere in elsewhat, and a locksmith called the next day.
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Meatless Tuesdays don't have to be dull: Imagine the feeling of several ATO's at dinner the other night when they found a gold fish swimming around in the pitcher of water from which they had been drinking. Bob Martindale looked sickest when the discovery was made. He had just finished three glasses. Martindale is being broadminded about the whole thing, however. With a bygones-are-bygones attitude he has now adopted the unfortunate fish. The scaly one's freshman sponsor, alone, is scheduled to suffer.
Crime doesn't pay: Fred Humphreys, Sig Alph, got tired of having his clothes tied in knots every commando period, so one day this week he locked up every last bit of clothing belonging to Dick Rosberg (the enemy) and made off with the locker key. As a result Rosberg was forced to walk across campus and straight into the Kappa house (where he waits tables) sans everything but one abbreviated pair of shorts. Sailors weren't alone in their whistled approval of the leg art thereby displayed.
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--tion were symbols that each one thought they had in their hearts.
Mr. Disney, here's your woman: Comes the time when hill authorities give an award for the best Bugs Bunny imitation, Mary Ann Gray, Delta Gamma, will be in the money. Mary Ann's success lies chiefly in her great ability to chomp carrots. When she combines this talent with an occasional "What's cooking, Doc?" and a distinctive movement of the ears, Bugs himself gets confused.
Flypaper, bad pennies, and what have you: Try as she will, Marquita McKenzie, Gamma Phi, still can't throw off the nickname, "Battery Charger," issued to her at the Sigma Chi defense plant party. The appellation originated in the fertile mind of date Bob Adams.
That was a year ago. Now in 1943, the glamour and the glitter has worn a bit thin, and some places expose ugliness and sordidness. Now, in one particular situation in our very midst, democracy and cooperation seem lacking. Some of us are shuting our eyes and minds to the problems concerning the Navy. The sailors in training here, who are fighting for us, who did not ask to come among us, are in need of hospitable entertainment.
What's The Answer?
A year ago in Lawrence, V for Victory signs were painted and posted on windows and doors. Families told other families about their men in the armed services. College women wore military pins on their sweaters and jackets. People were eager to do their part to help in bringing about an Allied victory; they were wishing that they could directly participate in the cause. Democracy, sacrifice, cooperation were symbols that each one thought they had in their hearts.
Liberty to the sailor means finding some sort of relaxation or entertainment—the best he can—downtown. No recreation center is provided for them; there is no socially approved method by which he can become acquainted with those of the opposite sex. A few attempts have been made to have private parties for them, but the result was unsatisfactory.
Chief Petty Officer George Gath-
Sailors Need Entertainment Coeds Seek Answer
BY LUCILLE KADEL
"What can be done?" "Does anyone have any suggestions?" "What are the opinions about the situation?" These questions were presented to various people. The representative answers are as follows.
SU E C C
ings of the Machinest Mates Training School said that "as many mili-
A sailor of the training school expressed his attitude saying, "The people seem to forget that we did not ask to come here. We're not in this war for ourselves, not to win it just for ourselves, but for them and all others who believe in liberty and democracy."
Gladys Hawkins, College senior, said, "Kansas State has a well organized USO center. Why shouldn't KU do the same? The sailors need some sort of entertainment. Perhaps the WSGA could take the problem up as a project." Student: See Need
ings of the Machinest Mab Training School said that "as many military men as there are in this place, a USO or some sort of university entertainment is definitely needed. Dances or parties on Saturday night by the University would be a great aid. If the defense workers can receive accommodations, the military men should, too."
Students See Need
Lillian Logan, freshman in the School of Fine Arts, said, "I definitely believe that the sailors need something done for them. There isn't any place for them to go. Just what is to be done, I don't know."
Pat Bowman, College junior, said,
"The sailor - student relationship
here on the Hill is certainly any-
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