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Civil War Nears Century Old Mark
By United Press International
Soon the Civil War will be a century old.
It was a war of brother against brother, literally in many cases. Fathers disowned sons, sisters turned brothers' pictures to the wall, all in the name of patriotism.
No man now living fought in the Civil War. But about 4,000,000 men did fight in it, first and last. About half a million of them were killed
ONE SCHOOL HOLDS the cause of the Civil War to be economic. The South was agricultural, the North becoming industrialized. The central money power was in the North, making the North a creditor, the South a debtor. Division was inevitable. So the arguments ran without taking into consideration that more of the North was agricultural than industrialized and that the North owed more to New York money-lenders than the South.
But over the century a truer picture of the conflict has emerged, breaking through the mists of legend and bitterness which burgeoned in the decades after the war and reconstruction. Many historians have concluded that while the war might have been averted by sober and thoughtful men working quietly and without pressure, emotions had raced beyond control of man and the only settlement possible was bloodletting. That was a bloodletting without parallel in American history, greater even than World War II.
EMOTIONALLY the South was better prepared at the start although neither side was ready. The war spirit which had been smoldering for years was fanned by the extremists to a crackling blaze. The Southern army seemed to spring out of the ground, unarmed but enthusiastic.
Not until Fort Sumter was bombarded, did the North show signs of fighting. President Lincoln's call on the state for 75,000 militiamen for three months to put down insurrection was enthusiastically met and more by the Northern states.
Both armies were made up of men and boys who regarded the war as a lark, soon to be over and with glory enough for all.
WASHINGTON POLITICIANS packed picnic lunches and drove their ladies into the Virginia countryside to see the fun to be staged in the Battle of Bull Run.
THIS BLOODLETTING proved only that neither side was ready. It did have a long term effect. For then it began to dawn on the leaders that this was no summertime war, that it must be fought on many a bloody battlefield before victory came to rest on one of the standards. They realized that officers as well as men must be trained in the art of modern war, and that industry must be mobilized, too.
Men and industry — there was where the North was stronger and there was where the margin lay.
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Films Feature Yule
But, he reasoned, "I was married to that woman 25 years and I just didn't think she deserved it."
Two color films will be shown Wednesday at the film series in 5 Bailey Hall at 4 p.m.
So Block sits in Yolo County jail playing solitaire and reading detective novels. Every so often, Judge C. C. McDonald calls him into Superior Court to ask if he's changed his mind.
Husband Prefers Jail
The two films are "A Charles Dickens Christmas" and "Star of Bethlehem."
"Star of Bethlehem" is a German film which tells the Christmas story from the annunciation to the flight into Egypt. This film was photographed in the Bavarian National Museum at Munich which houses a collection of 18th century creches.
He could have paid his wife, Fern, the $750 he owed for alimony and child support. He had enough money then and he has even more today.
Block chose jail and has been there ever since, except for two months after an escape last June.
WOODLAND, CALIF. — (UPI) — Eight years ago, a judge offered Fred Block a simple choice: "Either pay your wife the money you owe her or go to jail."
"No," says Fred, "and I'm never going to."
Friday. Dec. 9, 1960 University Daily Kansan