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Show The Right Of Way By RUTH TAYLOR The other day I stood at a busy New York street cornir. Traffic was speeding by. It seemed like one of those hopeless snaxls reminiscent of pre-gas rationing days. Suddenly I ,saw a little child - at the curb all alone. I started forward to pull him back when the policeman saw him. He raised his hand and all traffic stopped while that little child crossed safely to his school on the other side of the street. That is democracy where a little lit-tle child has the right of way! The strength of democratic government gov-ernment is that it is forward look- ing. Not only are all people alike in the eyes of the, law, but all children are alike, to be protected, protect-ed, to be free from want and fear, to be tenderly cared for, to be counted neither as rich nor poor, Black nor White, Jew, Cacholic nor Protestant but just as child- , ren, the hope of the nation, the future of the world. Only, in a free land are the rights of the child respected. And only where all children are safe is any child safe. Our boys are not giving their lives for the safety of the things they have had, but for the safety of their children and their children child-ren to be, that they may live and grow strong into worthwhile manhood man-hood and womanhood. Recently the editor of the Swan ton Courier, up in the rock-ribbed rock-ribbed state of Vermont, "wrote me: "To preach the doctrine of democracy is something that can never be lacking in inspiration. Democracy is not only the American Am-erican way of life, but must be the world way of life, or there will be. no life for anybody. We will have to return to the law of the jungle if we do not put into practise our preaching of democracy. democ-racy. Our words must reduce themselves to action. This is really the test." He was right. Democracy must prevail if the children of the future fu-ture are to have their chance. We are fighting now for that. We are winning the fight overseas, but we still have a fight to win at home to translate our ideals into action. We can do so if we think less of ourselves and more of those to follow, if we try to correct those things in our society which we condemn prejudice, cUscrmiination, group thinking. We give the children child-ren of our nation the right of way on our streets. Let us give them the right of way in our hearts by building for them a brave new world of brotherhood into which they may enter equipped equip-ped to, in turn, build a better world for their children and their children's children. |