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Show General Urr HUGH S. JOHNSON r Jour: Washington, D. C. COMMUNITY CHESTS In these critical days there is so much hot stuff in war and politics to write columns about that one is tempted to neglect things less dra-r- matic but at least of ,f importance to Amer- ? ica equal to the V clash of empires and ,, i the fall of states. Tne national Com-' Com-' -. - munity Chest drive - '- is now under way all over this country. i It is the most sensi-i sensi-i ble and scientific Ik -JLLlJ method for practical charity ever devel-Hugh devel-Hugh Johnson 0ped. There was a time when this country went drive-crazy. drive-crazy. Well meaning people, whether wheth-er they were simply riding a worthy hobby or backing a far worthier cause, could always drum up a house-to-house gimme campaign, or post pretty girls rattling dime-in-the-slot cans on every street corner. The average American is always willing to give something if he has it. By the old helter-skelter method, meth-od, he couldn't know exactly for what he was giving, how the money would be used, or whether there were not far better uses for his contribution. Also, these "drives" became so frequent that many people peo-ple either were fed up with the constantly con-stantly repeated annoyance of solici- 1 tation, or simply couldn't afford to give any more. The earlier bird got the dough regardless of its merits. The community chest idea was an answer to most of these problems. In many cities it is the only "drive" permitted. In nearly all cities it at least combines in one, all "drives" for the worthiest established charities. chari-ties. It is conducted under the most responsible sponsorships there are. This year both the President and Mr. Willkie will start the effort. The funds collected will be divided by the best-informed authorities among the institutions where they are most needed, and will go the furthest to meet human needs. It 4is, of course, more heart-warming to give directly to some person or group whose suffering you can see, but none of us can give enough to meet all the needs of our neighbors. neigh-bors. None of us separately can judge relative needs. Few of us have the time or training to manage and regulate our giving. For these reasons, indiscriminate giving is always al-ways wasteful and sometimes far from fair. The Community Chest method cures all these faults and shortcomings in the best way. The tremendous sums of public money being expended for relief and charity greatly restrict the flow of gifts, for two reasons. The tax burdens bur-dens necessary to support them reduce re-duce the incomes of potential givers. giv-ers. The billions spent by government govern-ment make some people believe that there is no longer necessity for private pri-vate giving. The fact is that the necessity is greater than ever. Low interest rates have cut the revenue of many endowed charities in half or worse. Public doles can never cover the area of need. Finally, no warmhearted warm-hearted American can ever feel quite satisfied with charity enforced, or to leave his humanitarian impulses im-pulses to acts of congress. If there had been far more voluntary sharing through past years, there would be less regimented sharing today with all the political evils that entails. The demands upon us all are great and the woes of the world will greatly great-ly increase them. It will be well for us to remember that there are still great woes in our own country and that there is nothing in the least selfish in the motto: "Charity begins be-gins at home." NAVAL BASE AFTERMATH The acquisition of naval bases was highly popular. It was said in defense de-fense of the President's method of obtaining them, that if he had consulted con-sulted congress, the deal would not have been permitted. Present evidences evi-dences of popular approval of this result, as far as the bases are concerned, con-cerned, make this conclusion highly doubtful. Be that as it may, there is no doubt on earth that congress would ratify the result today with scarcely a dissenting vote. It should do so. It is of extreme importance. If the only restraint on the executive in dealing with the laws of the Constitution of the United Unit-ed States is the possible unpopularity unpopulari-ty of the result, we have surely succumbed suc-cumbed to what Westbrook Pegler calls the "what-the-hell" philosophy of laws, morals and obligations. Anything Any-thing goes if it succeeds regardless of law or principle. A sovereign nation can do anything any-thing it wants and dares to do. It is answerable to nobody. It can declare de-clare war or it can authorize acts of war without a declaration. In taking such action, it may be breaking break-ing treaties, but, under our Constitution, Constitu-tion, a treaty of the United States is on equal footing with a law of the United States. A duly enacted statute, so far as our municipal law is concerned, can break or repeal any prior treaty, just as it can break or repeal any prior law. |