The Catholic times. [volume], January 22, 1954, Image 4

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-—THE CATHOLIC TIMES
Fridav. Jan 22. 1954
censorship
In reve
stance. the
feet every
Have the
teeth fron
be resolve
THE
CATHOLIC TIMES
Published Every Week by
The Catholic Times, Inc.
Columbus. Ohio
NOTICE Send All Changes of Address to
P. 0 Box 636 Columbus. Ohio
Executive and Editorial Offices
246 E Town Street. Columbus 15. Ohio
Telephones: ADams 5195 ADams 5196
Address all communications for publication
to P. O Box 636, Columbus 16, Ohio
This Paper Printed by Union Labor
An Unfortunate Opinion
It appears that it will be some time before the
full effect of this week’s decision by the United
States Supreme court on two immoral pictures util
be entirely known.
The decision in itself as it atiects Ohio was clear
cut and simple: The action of Ohio's Film Censor
ship Division which wa sustained by Ohio’s Su
preme Court, in rejecting the crime movie “M
was reversed and the picture may now be shown. What
every one is wondering, and there seems to be at
this time Quite some confusion, is just how will the
High Court's action affect the future of Ohio's movie
Rut wt
Our Part In I he Big Four
Next Monday, the Big four Powers aie going
to meet in Berlin to consider the question of world
peace. It mav well be that this highly important
and grave meeting will mark a det mile stage in
world progress or retrogression.
Many things will he discussed at this meeting,
things that appear to he totally dittcrent and wholly
unrelated hut they are at one in purpose and
Our Life: Mission
have emph
sions
God’s
his in
fem that will af
1 in the future
but those who
uld he appalling,
icle of entertain-
would abuse their new license.
Movies are tar more than a s
ment. They are an educations
They form opinion and mold minds. They incite 1c
houghts. Uncontrolled movie mak
a threat to the individual and
hose who would see
vurlesque house in
because lhes won
thinking men every
I part in furtherin,
ision of this meet in
n ot prayer that Got
e four men in thci
crepted tact nf
hly to prayer,
lei nf execution
fone everything
ievere until the
ily supplication
1 be heard and
to Him- and
Help From Strange Quarters
Holy Mothei
see the Mi
but
We
dividual lives
It was intends
just started th
—and from a
One of th
Communist p,
Central Comrmitt??
very unsuspected source.
le top spokesmen for the Hungarian
iartv in a speech to the Hungarian
insists that Marian Year de
be stopped, and quick. What he fears
mrds is this: that the “cult of Mary
end prevail over the cult of Marx and
Lenin The Holy Father and our Bishops never
had a stranger or more potent hacker than this
Communist official.
We have long been told that the final and more
important battle would be one of the spirit and
that it would not and could not be won with atom
bombs and the other effects of man’s misguided
endeavors. It is gratifying now' to have this con
viction confirmed in the words of the enemy: “The
revival of the faith during the Marian Year will he
more dangerous to Communist rule than a fleet
of superbombers from the capitalist world.”
This realization on the part of the intellectual
leader of Hungary’s Communist government should
be our signal to rededicate ourselves and intensify
our efforts to make this Marian Year the wonder
ful success that Our Holy Father envisioned when
he declared it to the world.
Just Among Ourselves
Passing Commant Considered or Inconsiderate
The •'How” books are a constant delight to the
American people. We are a curious folk, easily in
trigued we like to be told how things are done,
even when we have no intention of doing them.
We therefore eagerly buy up the little gems of prac
tical literature which direct us in the way of per
formance: “How to Grow Mushrooms for the Market
Your Basement “How to Play the Violoncello.”
"How to Live on $56.42 a Month if You Can Get
It,” "How to Build a Plywood-and-Plastic Home.”
It is somehow comforting to realiz.e that, in an
age which is generally addicted to the ponderous
technical phrase, there is still such power in the
simple words, “How to.” Shrewd writers take ad
vantage of this fact. The author of a continuing best
seller was not so uncanny as to label his volume,
“Methods of Establishing Pleasing and Potent Social
Relationships.” A book named so might gather end
less dust on numberless shelves. Rut it sold, and
sells, very briskly indeed under the title, “How to
Make Friends and Influence People.”
Among the many "How books” we find some
that deal with the writing of letters. "How to
Write a Business Letter “How to Write an Effec
tive Appeal How to Keep Up With 5 our Corres
pondence: “How to Compose a Letter of Applica
tion.” From such sapient brochures, and from one
or two more general Programmes of Protocol—or
books of etiquette—ue gather the following direc
tives for the writing of letters.
It is now considered proper to typew'rite any
sort of letter except one that is both personal and
severely' formal. Not long ago, the typewriter was
regarded as a business machine exclusively it was
thought impolite for anyone to attempt social cor
respondence in type Rut now the typewriter is part
of our domestic equipment, and has a place in every'
well-stocked home alongside the radio, the phono
graph and the TV set. not to mention the electric
sew ing mat hine. the gas dryer, the deep freeze, and
the steam dish washer. Rule One. therefore, is this
you may typew'rite your letters. Certain provisions,
however, are required no obvious erasures no su
perimposed le"5F.‘ no battering out of words or
phrases v i s or s.
And while it is still unacceptable practice to
write letters with a pencil,- even an expensive me
chanical pencil with a cigarette lighter cleverly'
concealed in it. it is not considered impolite to do
a letter with a hall point pen. Your ball-point pen
is called a pen. and looks like a pencil, and. until re
cently*. wrote like neither. I he early efforts of ball
pointers seemed to suggest that the writer had used
a blue pencil on papei that was pressed against a
screen door. Rut science advances: the current crop
of ball points are vastly improved instruments w?
hear that they are now capable of drawing and en
dorsing checks validly, always supposing that there
is money in the hank to hack them up.
Rule Two for the letter write requires that he
use good paper, and that paper and envelope be of
the same stock Nor should the paper hear evidence
on its upper edge of having heen ripped from a pad.
Paper dealers will coniei a favor if they discard
the clinging red gum with which they have hereto
fore delighted to weld sheets of paper into the
form of pads. It is possible for a careful practi
tioner to remove one sheet from a red-gummed pad
without bringing along some shreds of the deter
mined adhesive, hut it is not possible for him
to detach a sheet that shall have no rubescent
glow along its edge like the dainty smudge of
lip-stick on a discarded cigarette.
Rule Three for the polite letter-writer is that
the outside and inside address should be both
accurate and complete. If your correspondent has
a title, make sure that you give it accurratcly, and
not (except for the forms Mr., Mrs, and their
plurals) in an abbreviated form. II you are writing
to Doctor Smith, do not address him as Dr. If you
write Father Johnson, call him Father and not Fr.
And you will recall that the term Reverend is
used in the third person only, and with the definite
article. You address the envelope to The Reverend
Samuel Johnson, not to Reverend Samuel Johnson and
you never u*e the form Rev. Nor. in direct address,
io you ev ?r write Den,r Reverend Johnson or twhich
is much w orse) merely Dear Reveresnd. Th? word
Ti'emid ii. always an adjective, never• a noun. You
may write Dear Revert•nd Sir, or Reveirend and dear
Str. or Re» erend and dear Father. It is ungracious
tn show, in your mode of address, direct or indirect,
that you arc not quite sure of the title of the person
to whom you write.
And surely it is worse than impolite to misspell
the name of the person addressed. If you do not
know lor sure how the person spells his name, you
must find out if you cannot possibly find out, you
cannot possibly address him by mail. People are
justifiably "touchy” on this point they resent be
ing misspelled. This resentment extends to the
matter nf the middle initial. If you do not know the
middle initial, you must not supply one at a guess,
even if you have a theory (as some dn) that at
least one-third of all human males have the mid
die initial J.
Rule Four is a requirement to keep business forms
nut nf personal letters. Even business letters arc
vastly improved hv eschewing "advise,” "due to.”
"account of," and “re” Rut such words and phrases
arc wholly inadmissible in personal correspond
ence. Remember, too. that "like" is not a conjunc
tion We cannot sing like the birdies sing, but as
the birdies sinff "Like” is an adjective. And the
word "sure” is also an adjective. It cannot serve
for "surely.”
4
Nor must an adverb stand alone. When the letter
is done and you come to the signing, do not he
content with "Sincerely." nr "Affectionately." Add
the word "yours." is required by the laws nf
speech, and it takes away the suggestion of a quick
hrush-off. Why will a man write "Sincerely," and
sign his name, when he would on no account write a
mere "Truly,” and sign that?
The signature is familiar to the writer, but not
always to the recipient of the letter. Therefore it
must he done carefully, so 'hat the reader of the
letter will know that it comes from Horace Greeley
and not from Evace Hevalloj. Women might always
tn use "Miss" nr “Mrs.” when writing tn people
w'ho do not know them personally. Thus endeth
the day s lesson.
i
IT 4SHIXGTOX LETTER
Reds Still
WASHINGTON A breakdown
of the reasons for the separation
of some 2,200 employes from
Federal jobs since the application
of the Eisenhower administra
tion’s .security program would be
interesting.
It has been announced that
this many workers have left the
Government service under the
security program, and “not more
than 10 per cent" ol them have
been "out and out communists.”
These facts have been given
widespread publicity, and they
seem to have been the subject of
profess Io see in these figures an
argument that the communist
is not as great as many supposed.
This could be. But the two tacts
that have been revealed so far
regarding the operation of the
security program do not war
rant the conclusion.
From what is known, it might
just as well be argued that
“cardcarrying" communists are
extremely difficult to track
down, even in Government cir
cles. or that persons who. wit
tingly or unwittingly, do things
that are of benefit of the Red
cause are just as dangerous as
communist party members.
It should be borne in mind
that people iire separated from
he government service. under
1 he security program, not for
the s e reason that they are com
munist party members, hut be
cause they an» bad security risks.
LDl IS F. Hl DEXZ
Scarcely a month has
ince I wrote of
bility of a new
render by the
Soviet ambi
tions and the
o u nist
line. By Janu
ary 4. this lore
cast had been
confirmed by a
gentleman who
often thinks in
terms of ap
pease ment.
Writing in the
,V. York Her
aid Tribune of
passed
the grave possi
Y alia, a new sur
United States to
that date.
coe Drummond stated: ‘"There
are a number of highly placed,
strongly anti-communist officials
of the State Department who
think that the time may not be
far distant when the United
Stales may find it desirable to
recognize Communist China and
approve her membership in the
United Nations.”
VY’e can discount the expres
sion “strongly anti-communist
officials,” that being a term
which many gentlemen who be
trayed us in China and Korea al
so applied to themselves. In this
crisis, when the very life of the
United States is involved, deeds
are to be considered in prefer
ence to words. And anyone who
favorably considers recognition
of Red China—with the major
blow* that it will he to the secur
ity of this country—is not anti
communist.
U. 5. Suicide
Two hoary arguments are ad
vanced by Mr. Drummond for
this fJYoposed act of suicide by
the United States. The first is
that the Reds have "so ruthless
ly exterminated’ all opposition
that we should recognize their
bloody dictatorship. By that ar
gument, lhe United States will
retreat completely across tha
‘That All May Be One9
o
RCH UNITY
Threaten Government
These are two different things.
The latter is more far-reaching.
A person can be a bad security
risk for a dozen or more reasons.
In addition to membership in
the communist party, he can be
separated from Government serv
ice for any act of sabotage, es
pionage, treason or sedition, or
for conspiring o commit any
such act for continuing and sym
pathetic association with a spy,
saboteur, traitor or revolution
ist for advocating the use of
force or violence to overthrow
the Government of the United
States for intentional and un
authorized disclosure of secur
ity information to any person
for acting to serve the interests
ol another government in pref
erence to the United States for
refusal on the grounds of con
stitutional privilege against self
incrimination to testify before a
congressional committee regard
ing charges of disloyalty or oth
er misconduct.
A person separated from the
Government service for any of
these reasons could conceivably
he serving the communist cause
without formally being a mem
ber of the communist party. So
the tact that "not more than 10
per cent" of those separated from
government service were “out
and out communists” is not too
significant.
Employes can also he separ
ated as bad security risks for be
havior and activities indicating
they are untrustworthy: fnr falsi
Information From Mao Tse-Tung
world, immorally approving each
act of aggression by the Krem
lin. the more “effective and ruth
less" it becomes. The second ar
gument is as stupid as the first,
consisting in the idea that “Com
munist China wants to achieve
its independence of the Soviet
Union. No folly could be worse
than this illusion.
Even the most meager knowl
edge ot communist history will
record the position of the Com
munist Party of China as next in
standing to that of the "mother
Party” of Soviet Russia itself.
Every communist document that
comes to hand confirms the de
votion of Mao Tse-tung and his
followers to the Kremlin. There
has just been issued by the thou
sands of copies, here in the Unit
ed States, a new essay by Mao
Tse-tung, On Contradiction. It is
dedicated to lhe affirmation of
“the Marxist-ljeninist theory of
social revolution,” and to the as
sertion that “the triumph of the
Soviet Union” confirms tn life
the “truth* of what Marx, En
gels, Lenin, and Stalin wrote.
Red Solidarity
This work is not only being
studied carefully by American
communists as a means to in
crease their own devotion to the
Kremlin by reading Mao Tse
tung s words. It is also a means
by which the Chinese Red leader
conveys to the Sialinites here
and throughout the world an un
derstanding of Red China’s firm
solidarity with the Kremlin. Be
yond all that, it is specifically
prepared to teach the Chinese
communists and those serving
them in Red China how to carry
out a flexible policy and yet re
main loyal to Moscow. The “flex
ibility” of Moscow itself ig the
majot example guiding their
course.
It remains a sad feature of
our times that too many "prac­
J*
_—_
w
V
4
tication: for the excessive use of
alcohol, drug addiction or sexual
perversion, or for insanity or
serious nervous disorders. These
grounds are included on the the
ory that, subjected to pressure,
such a person might he moved
to act against the best interests
of national security.
In view of the propaganda use
that might he made of round fig
ures given out in this connec
tion. it might be well to know’
how many employes are seperated
for what might roughly be called
the “subversive" group of activi
ties. and those who are separat
ed because of personal charac
teristics. U ntil more is revealed
than has so far been marie public,
not too much can he concluded
regarding the nature of the dan
ger we face.
Bernard M. Shanley, special
counsel to President Eisenhower,
said he has received a number of
protests from newsmen over
their unsuccessful efforts to get
a breakdow n on the 2,200 figure.
He said he would do everything
he could to help in this matter,
but that he thought the big trou
ble was that it is almost impos
sible to get a breakdown by spe
cific reasons for the separation
of an employee from Govern
ment service. He cited one FBI
report where an employee was
shown to be a security risk on
three separate grounds-—that he
panion of known communists and
was a user of narcotics, a com
a “crook.”
tical” leaders in the United
States have little or no concep
tion of what the communists are
saying to each other. They are
never briefed on important com
munist documents, such as this
latest and vital work by Mao Tse
tung. They proceed to blunder
into traps laid for them by the
Kremlin without any idea of
where they are going. So much
is this the case that Mr. John
Carter Vincent, who admitted in
his testimony before the Mc-Car
ran Sub-Committee that he had
Jed former Vice-President Henry
A. Wallace to a position favor
ably to the Chinese Communists,
was officially exonerated on his
plea of ignorance. In other
words, it was apparently consid
ered a merit that Mr. Vincent
swore he had Jiever familiarized
tumself with any statement or
idea of the communists, whose
cause he was favoring.
If that concept still prevails in
the State Department as Mr.
Drummond, a friend of the State
Department, indicates that it
does—then we are in a bad way
indeed. It would be necessary
only for some leading person in
that department to study Mao
Tse-tung‘s latest booklet of
course with some knowledge of
communist philosophy and meth
ods—to make certain that any
hope that Communist China will
break with Soviet Russia is
worse than infantile. That false
hojje is preparing the scene in
which not thousands but hun
dreds of thousands of American
young men will be needlessly
sacrificed.
Is it not time that all Amer
ican statesmen come to under
stand this? A flood of letters to
our Congressmen and Senators
against any further consideration
of Red Chinese recognition might
help certain gentlemen to be
come more intelligent.
in our opinion
Inquiry Corner
------------------Father Healey-.........— ..—..
Q. WAen and where did the
Stations of the Cross originate?
A. In the fifth century. St. Pe
tromus erected a number of
chapels in St. Stephen's monas
tery at Bologna modeled on the
chief shrines of Jerusalem. In
the fifteenth century Blessed Al
varez. on his return from the Ho
ly Land built a number of chap
els in the Dominican friary of
Cordova with lhe scenes of the
Passion depicted. The Francis
cans adopted the practice in It
aly about 1350 and for a long
time they were the only ones
who could lawfully erect Sta
tions in churches. The erection
of Stations in churches as we
have them today did not become
widespread until the close of the
seventeenth century when spe
cial indulgences were granted by
Pope Innocent XL
Q. Has Jonas actually swal
lowed by a whale? Is it possible?
A. The Binie aoes not say that
it was a whale, but a great fish.
There are sharks and sperm
whales in the Mediterranean
capable of swallowing a body
larger than a man’s, St. Augus
tine. speaking of the incredulity
of the pagans of his day regard
ing Jonas, said: “I find it very
astonishing that he sets down the
incident about Jonas as incred
ible, unless perchance he thinks
it easier for a dead man to be
raised from the tomb than for a
living man to be preserved in
the great belly of a beast.”
Christ refers to it as a fact when
He says. “For even as Jonas was
in the belly of the fish three
days and three nights .” (Mat
thew 12:40) (For further details
see "Jonas” page 669ff. in “Cath
olic Commentary on Holy Scrip
ture”).
Q. May one attend a spirit
istic seance out of curiosity?
A. No. Spiritism, or spiritual
ism as it is commonly called,
has been condemned by the Cath
olic Church many times. It is
forbidden to be present even
"simply looking on. even though
one tacitly or expressly protests
that he does not wish to have
anything to do with evil spir
its.” (Holy Office. April 24. 1917)
It was condemned in the Old
Testament and its practice is su
perstitious and unnec e s s a y.
(Deuteronomy 18:10 Exodus
22:18)
Q. Do ice have accounts of any
women prophets in the Pible?
A. There are several women
who might be honored hy this
title. Mary, the sister of Moses
(Exodus. 15), Debbora. who acted
as judge for the Tribes of Isra-
OX SIG OR HIGGEXS
Guaranteed Wage
A widely syndicated column
ist who periodically advertises
his record as a successful pro
pl.et in the field of labor poli-
lies recently
predicted that
within the
near future
several top of-'
ficials of the la
bor movement
would publicly
take a stand
against the
u a a n eed
Annual wage.
Maybe so, but
the odds are
against it at the present time..
It wouldn't be the “political”
thing to do.
This is not to deny that many
labor leaders are indifferent, if
not actually opposed, to the
Guaranteed Annual Wage. Some
think it impractical: others re
gard it as undesirable in prin
ciple.
There is something to be said
for the first point of view. At
present the Guaranteed Annual
Wage may be impractical in the
sense that, even with the best
of good will on the part of labor
and management, certain indus
tries would find it practically
impossible so to stabilize their
operations as to make it possible
to provide a reasonable guaran
tee of work and wages for the
majority of their employees. To
say this is a far cry, however,
from saying that th? Guaran
teed Annual Wage is undesirable
in principle.
Completion or Planning?
To say that the Guaranteed An
nual Wage is undesirable in prin
ciple is to imply that the im
personal law of free competition,
rather than intelligent human
planning, should he the guiding
principle of economic life. This
is almost the equivalent of say
ing that economic life is essent
ially amoral, incapable of being
regulated by intelligent applica
tion of the moral law.
The next logical step would
be to argue that, instead of
working for the Guaranteed An
nual Wage, labor and manage
ment ought to concentrate on im
provements in our unemployment
compensation laws. This, it seems
to us. is a dangerous form of de
featism. It tends to hand over to
government a responsibility
which belongs primarily to labor
and management cooperating
with one another within the sys
tem of private enterprise. Im
provements in unemployment
compensation and other phases
of social security are admitted
ly very desirable and long over
due. hut th? burden of provid
ing economic security falls pri­
el (Judges, 4), and Holda (4
Kings. 22) are mentioned in the
Old Testament. In the New Tes
tament we have the holy woman,
Anna, daughter of Phanuel
(Luke, 2) who qualifies for the
title of prophetess.
Q. Is it correct to call all reg
ular clergy “Order'’ or “Mis
sionary' priests? What do the
abbreviations O.C.R., O.C.D. and
O.F.M. stand for?
A. Strictly speaking, neither
term is correct if used for all
associations of religious. Canon
Law and Catholic Custom sanc
tion the use of “Order” for a
religious association in which
solemn vows are taken, and the
title of “Congregation” is gen
erally given to others which have
simple vows. In general the more
ancient associations of religious
have title as Orders, such as the
Benedictines, Dominicans and
Franciscans. "Missionary” priests
■would not seem an apt title to
cover religious groups which are
primarily engaged in activities
other than Foreign or Home Mis
sions. O.C.R. stands for Order
of Cistercians Reformed (Trap
pists) O.C.D. for Order of Dis
eased Carmelites O.F.M. for Or
der of Friars Minor, or Fran
ciscans.
Q. Was not the “possessed
boy” of Mark 9:13-28 simply an
epileptic?
A. The symptoms of the boy's
illness certainly resembled those
of epilepsy, but he was also pos
sessed by the devil. From
Christ's own words. “Thou deaf
and dumb, spirit. I command
thee, go out of him and enter
him no more” (9:24), it. is clear
that at least part of the cause
was the presence of an evil spir
it. The cure would have been
miraculous anyhow, but anyone
who believes that Christ is God
and the Bible the w*ord of God
must believe everything in it.
Those who try to explain away
the actions of the devil, includ
ing diabolical possession, do not
accept the plain teaching of the
inspired word of God.
Q. What was the nature of
the so-called Apostle Spoons?
A. The Apostle Spoons consist
ed of a set of thirteen spoons,
usually of silver, with figures of
Our Lord and the Apostles on
the handle ends. Instead of Ju
das they usually represented St
Paul or St. Matthias. They were
commonly given as baptismal
gifts in the fifteenth and six
teenth centuries.
Send questions tn Father Ed
ward F. Healey, The Inquiry Cor
ner, The Catholic Times, Box
696 Cnlumbus (Tfi) Ohio.
marily upon labor and manage
ment and only secondarily upon
the government. Unemployment
compensation, in.other words, is
a supplement to. not a substitute
for, the Guaranteed Annual
Wage.
Ironically enough, many of
those who regard the Guaranteed
Annual Wage as undesirable in
principle like to think of them
selves as friends of private en
terprise and opponents of stat
ism. In reality, however, they
may be unwittingly preparing
the way for more and more gov
ernmental intervention in eco
nomic life. To the degree that
economic life is left to the tender
mercy of impersonal economic
laws, to that degree—especially
in our own day and age—can we
look for a corresponding in
crease in government interven
tion. The demand for economic
security is on the increase. It
cannot and will not be ignored
by and modern government. If se
curity is not provided by the pri
vate enterprise system by
means of voluntary labor-man
amement cooperation on an in
dustry-wide and national basis—
it will be provided in one way
or another by government.
Amoral Theory
Those labor leaders who con
sciously or unconsciously sub
scribe to the amoral theory that
the impersonal rule of free com
petition rather than intelligent
human planning should be the
guiding principle of economic
life would do well to study the
conclusions of a non-Catholic bus
iness economist. Dr. Joseph L.
Snider of Harvard University's
Graduate School of Business Ad
ministration. Dr. Snider, whose
1947 publication, The Guarantee
of Work and Wages, is one of
best things ever written on the
subject of the Guaranteed An
nual Wage, is a hard-headed eco
nomist, the very antithesis of a
utopian theorist. He. is however,
more than a technical economist.
He is essentially a moralist in
the good sense of the word.
Technical economic, procedures,
he says, are admittedly import
ant. but morality is even more
important.
“By no means all the promis
ing procedures for accomplish
ing business stability,” he writes,
“are economic or political in
character. There are important
moral elements also. In fact, it
is no exaggeration state that
the more pressing need is for a
strengthening of certain moral
qualities rather than greater ec
onomic or political insight.”
To which Catholic economists,
labor leaders and employers
ought to be prepared to say
Amea.