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Show Use Normal Means Editor: As a Californian whose home is ten miles from Watts, I was interested in John Bernhardt's article in last Thusday's Chronicle concerning poverty in America. I am not a student at the U. and consequently am not familiar with the flavor of Mr. Bernhardt's other columns (assuming he writes regularly). It is therefore impossible for me to judge his intentions in writing such an article. Nevertheless, it seems that only two alternative interpretations of his article are available to the objective reader: Either Mr. Bernhardt wants to shock the reader into realization and thus action, or he is advocating change by violence. Hopeless Pessimism If his intention is the former, then the article is well-meaning, although al-though in all probability not "well-doing" since it seems hopelessly . wrought with pessimism. But if his intention is the latter, then such journalism is worse than the slum conditions he deprecates. Better men than he and I have given their lives to establish and preserve the constitutional system existing in America today. Abraham Lincoln said, "Let every man remember that to violate the law is to trample on the blood of his father and to tear the charter of his own and his childrens' liberty." Any acts of violence vio-lence in opposition to the laws of our land are only the fruits of shortsighted short-sighted purposes and perverted ethics. The good that some men hope to obtain through violence is a delusion. It is a false dream for a man to cry for justice with his lips while committing acts of gross injustice with his hands. Sustain Laws Regardless of the lamentable state of affairs existing in aspects of America's social and economic conditions, the only reasonable alternative for men to pursue is to sustain the laws. Any change deemed necessary must come through lawful means, for violence will only end in national suicide. Dick Cardall |