Freedom of the press is guaranteed only to those who own one” - A.J. Liebling
My father Bob Wilson took this to heart, and bought one and started his own newspaper, the Prairie Post of Maroa, Illinois in 1958, and ran it until he died in 1972. It never had a circulation of more than 2500 or so, but every week, he would fire off editorials at everyone and everything from local events to the actions of the nations of the world.
He may have been a Quaker peace activist in a Republican district, but his love and support of the farming communities garnered him enough respect that he eventually ran for the U.S. House of Representatives in 1962, though he lost. (He might have tried again, had he not died of an accident while only 49.) Many of his views ring true today. And he might have been willing to change the ones that fell behind the times. Although raised in the casual racism of the 1920s and 1930s, at the age of 15 he took stock of what he was being taught and discarded much of it as being wrong, and lived his life with respect for all.
I decided to transcribe his old editorials (I may make a book for some of my relatives) and every once in a while I will repost one here, as a view of how the world has changed wildly, or remained stubbornly the same.
September 19, 1963
WALLACE IS GUILTY
Albert Boutwell, Mayor of Birmingham, is a man. He wept as he demanded on television the capture and punishment of “the savage animals who perpetrated this dreadful crime.”
He meant the dynamiters who slaughtered four innocent little Negro girls as they studied their Sunday School lesson and wounded 27 more churchgoing people with their insane blast.
George Wallace, Governor of Alabama, is something else. His hate-filled harangues have by their tone encouraged irresponsible elements to go beyond the brutalities of his state troopers and take the law into their own hands.
As Wallace's forces descend on quiet Alabama towns and bar their schoolhouse doors, a chorus of resentment rises from local schoolboards and law officers who recognize that integration cannot be prevented and do not want their streets to become battlefields.
Overruled by Wallace, Police Chief Chris Spurlock of Huntsville declared, “This is a shameful thing; if it isn't clear to the world that our executive head is a sick man, then, by God, none of us is discerning enough to read the facts.”
Is he a sick man? Senator Wayne Morse of Oregon has read into the Congressional Record George Wallace's wartime service record. He served his country; but he was awarded and still receives today an allotment of $20 per month for a 10 percent “psychoneurotic disability.”
We have the greatest of admiration for servicemen who performed feats of valor in wartime, and the deepest of sympathy for those who broke up under the inhuman strains of modern warfare. Is it, however, a mistake to elect to high office a man suffering from a “psychoneurotic disability”?
There are good people in Alabama, and they in the end will bring him dow. “George Wallace”, according to The Birmingham News, “is not 'saving Alabama.' He is... destroying self-government and the education system of this state.”
October 24, 1963
WHICH IS THE CRIME?
We are indebted to the Chicago Daily News for an interesting comparison. The Illinois Public Aid Department, urged on by the Illinois legislature, has just issued orders which will cut the public aid bill as much as $900,000 per month. How did they do it? Children six years old and older on public aid must get along on powdered milk from now on, rather than fresh milk. Their ADC parents must cut their coffee ration by one-third. Fish has been stricken from the reliefer's diet, and macaroni substituted for it. Sweet potatoes were cut out as too expensive, as were prepared cereals, dried peaches and lima beans.
The comparison comes in when the Daily News reporter questions the Director of Public Safety and discovers that prisoners in Illinois penitentiaries – rapists, robbers, murderers, and forgers – are served the best. No powdered milk is used except for a little in cooking. Full pitchers of milk are passed at the prison table. On Friday, there is fish instead of meat for those requesting it. Prepared cereals are served for breakfast. Lima beans and sweet potatoes often appear on the menu. Peaches – not dried, but fresh – are among the varieties of fruit served to help provide the convicts with a wholesome, well-rounded diet.
Of course, it is possible in this great state for an overburdened taxpayer to go hungry if he has broken no laws. A minor crime or two might improve his diet.
Please do not mistake our intentions. We are strongly in favor of feeding imprisoned men a healthy diet. No useful purpose will be served by starving them. It does make a curious comparison, however to discover that lawbreakers eat better than people on relief.
Which is, after all, the greater crime; to rob a bank... or simply to be poor?