King's Business - 1954-08

WORLD IEWSGRAMS

James O. Henry, M.A., Editor, Associate prof, of History, Biola Bible College

the idea of legalized addiction, but only one, Thailand, now allows this practice. Soviet Grafter The newspaper Literary Gazette said recently that Mohammed Dav- ronkhodzhayev, who calls himself the “ closest surviving descendant of Mo­ hammed” had wangled a soft job on the Soviet government payroll. Not only is he drawing a weekly stipend from the state but he has arranged to be employed as a guard at the ancient Moslem of Hadji Akharar, just outside Samarkand, where streams of Moslem believers come to offer gifts. “He lives like a pig in clover,” said the Gazette. “He re­ ceives his pay from the State and people are duped into making him gifts so as not to offend him.” This account of graft hardly fits the So­ viet propaganda concerning the su­ periority of State Socialism over de­ mocracy and capitalism. According to their teaching capitalism alone is responsible for graft. Since they have eliminated capitalism a logical ques­ tion might be, why have they not eliminated graft? The answer is ob­ vious, sin represented by graft, is a condition of the heart, not the result of an economic system. Modern Education Dr. Robert Hutchins, former presi­ dent and chancellor of the University of Chicago and since 1949 associate director of the Ford Foundation, de­ clared in a recent speech that in his opinion, “ the American people did not believe in education.” He said that “ people wanted a program of accommodations and were not concerned with cultural values in their demands on education sys­ tem.” He asserted that, “ as presently constituted, the American system has no future.” “At the age of six,” he said, “ the child becomes a nuisance and the people want a course of edu­ cation that will take the child off the family’s hands.” Dr. Hutchins said, “Our primary

schools are good, but we begin to go wrong at the secondary level.” He deplored the system of electives, say­ ing, “ the courses should be left in the hands of school officials.” He derided particularly vocation classes, with jibes at courses in cosmetology and embalming. Crime Record Crime in the U.S., said the Federal Bureau of Investigation, rose 6 per cent in 1953 over the 1952 figures. The list of major crimes committed in the U.S. last year totaled 2,159,080, the highest on record. Robberies, up 8.5 per cent, accounted for the larg­ est single increase; murders, however, were fewer, dropping 1.2 per cent. Other significant figures noted by the FBI: Crime in the U.S. is increasing faster than population. Estimated population increase since 1950: 5 per cent. Major-crime increase: 20 per cent. What will another 4 years bring? Finder of Cheop’ s Ship Tells Story Kamal El-Malakh, the Egyptian archaeologist who recently discovered the tomb of King Cheops of Egypt, said, “ It was my good fortune to be­ come the first human being in nearly 5,000 years to look upon the solar ship of the night which Pharaoh Cheops built to take him on an eter­ nal voyage through the heavens with the sun.” Cheops believed that the spirit image of the ship, hewn into the immovable rock of the desert, could rise in ghostly fashion from the fixed position of its material form and carry his soul in the company of the immortals journeying with the sun-god Ra. He ordered architects, stone cutters, carpenters and priests to build and furnish the ship for his eternal health and happiness. Then h(j sealed it in preparation for his journey to heaven. Man has always sought to enter heaven by his own means. “There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end there­ of are the ways of death.”

Cocktails Top Capital Diet Washington has become the cock­ tail capital of the world, and here are some interesting facts about it. “Not counting parties in private homes, the hotel people estimated there are 78,000 cocktail parties a year. Total consumption of hard liquor in the District of Columbia, at parties and otherwise, is about 4,- 000,000 gallons a year.” The taxes alone are over $4,000,000. “Parties are given for, and by, important peo­ ple and unimportant people who want to feel important.” “ If a man put his mind to it in Washington he could become an alcoholic on free liquor by just prowling the year around.” And that is just what hap­ pens to many people in Washington. Legal Narcotics Urged, Dr. Hubert S. Howe, a medical doctor, recently recommended legal prescriptions for dope addicts to com­ bat the crime connected with addic­ tion. The idea of the Dr. is “ to make narcotics available to addicts in mini­ mum doses from a few selected physi­ cians at low prices.” This, according to Dr. Howe, who was formerly clini­ cal professor of neurology at the Col­ lege of Physicians and Surgeons of Columbia University, “would wipe out the criminal black market in narcotics, help cure addicts and bring the entire flow of narcotics under Federal and State control.” He said he believed that the estimate of the Federal Narcotics Commissioner, Har­ ry J. Anslinger, that there were 50,- 000 addicts in the United States, was “ very conservative.” The bureau has estimated that the underworld rev­ enue from the sale of narcotics in this country amounts to $275,000,000 a year. Opposed to the “ legalized addiction” is Harry J. Anslinger, nar­ cotics commissioner, who said that the idea “would not be considered seri­ ously by anyone who understands the narcotics control problem.” He point­ ed out that virtually every country in the world has experimented with

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THE KING'S BUSINESS

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