Community Civics and Rural Life Part 38

Ask at home: What is "illiteracy"? What is the difference between an "illiterate" and a non-English speaking person?

Debate (or discuss):

RESOLVED, That ALL persons of sound mind in the United States should be required by law to attend school until they are able to speak, read, and write English fluently.

RESOLVED, That the elimination of illiteracy and the teaching of English to foreigners should be left wholly to the states without interference or aid from the national government.

Why are foreigners required to read sections from the Const.i.tution of the United States before they receive their "naturalization"

papers?

What does "knowing how to read" mean?

Debate:

RESOLVED, That no native-born American should be permitted to vote who cannot read intelligently.

What is being done in your community and in your state to eradicate illiteracy and to teach English to foreigners?

THE PRINTING PRESS AND NEWSPAPERS

Next to language itself, the most important invention for the communication of ideas is the art of printing. It made possible the book, the magazine, the newspaper. The writer of this book is enabled to communicate with boys and girls whom he will never see by means of the printed page and the pictures which the book contains. By the same means the ideas of people who lived long ago have been handed down to us, and the ideas of to-day will be pa.s.sed on to later generations. Most wonderful is the modern newspaper, which daily carries into almost every home of the land the important happenings in the world during the preceding twenty- four hours. In cities several editions are printed during the day.

The newspaper enables the merchant to communicate, through advertis.e.m.e.nts, with possible buyers, and the farmer and business man to keep posted regarding crop conditions and market prices.

Most newspapers have special departments for different cla.s.ses of readers--a woman's page, a children's column, a page devoted to sports, another to market conditions. Most of them also have a department in which individuals may ask questions or express their own opinions regarding questions of the day. The "local newspaper," with a circulation that seldom extends far beyond the county in which it is published, is of the greatest value in stimulating a community spirit.

THE RIGHT OF FREE SPEECH

The first amendment to the Const.i.tution of the United States provides that:

Congress shall make no law ... abridging the freedom of speech or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to a.s.semble...

The right of free speech and of a free press is a very sacred one, and its maintenance is one of the chief safeguards of democracy.

It is the means by which PUBLIC OPINION is formed and made known; and public opinion is one of the chief means of control in a democracy. It controls the conduct of individuals, and it controls the actions of government. The representatives and leaders of the people in the government seek constantly to know what public opinion is, and the public press is one of the chief channels through which they may find out. On the other hand, leaders and parties seek to FORM public opinion, to lead the people to think in certain ways and to support certain ideas. The press affords an effective means for doing this.

PROPAGANDA

It is easy to see that both good leaders and bad leaders may thus create public opinion, that both good and bad ideas may be spread through the press. During the war we heard much about German PROPAGANDA. This means that ideas were systematically spread to create a public opinion favorable to the German cause. It was done largely by rumors, springing from no one knows where, and spreading by word of mouth. But it was also accomplished through the newspapers, by news items and stories that appeared to be true and that were published innocently enough in most cases, but that afterward were found to be false.

THE DEVELOMENT OF PUBLIC OPINION

It is not to be supposed that all propaganda is harmful or dangerous. There is propaganda in good causes, or on both sides of a disputed question. By this means public opinion is educated.

When the peace conference at Paris proposed a plan for a League of Nations, it was at once taken up for discussion through the newspapers and magazines. People who believed in the idea organized a campaign of PUBLICITY to support the plan and to create a public opinion for it, while those opposed to it were equally active in their attempt to create a public opinion against it. In this way the people became informed regarding the question, provided they read both sides of the discussion and not one only.

Leaders in the community may conduct propaganda through the newspapers in behalf of better schools, better roads, woman suffrage, prohibition, or any other cause.

The good citizen cannot well get along without the newspaper and magazine. But he needs to keep in mind the fact that news items may be in error, and that the opinions expressed by editors and other writers usually represent the opinions of but a single group of people, which may be large or small, right or wrong. In most cases these writers are sincere, but there is always the chance for error. The intelligent citizen will not base his own opinions and actions solely on what he reads in ONE paper or magazine or book, but will seek to understand ALL sides of a question. He is helped to do this by the great variety of publications available representing every shade of belief, and by the freedom of speech and of the press under our system of government.

THE CONTROL OF FREE SPEECH AND A FREE PRESS

Freedom of speech and of the press does not mean that a citizen may always say anything he pleases in public. At no time has one the right to attack the character of another by false or malicious statements. This const.i.tutes slander, or libel, and may be punished by the courts. In time of war freedom of speech and of the press may be restricted to an extent that would not be tolerated in time of peace, because if absolute freedom were permitted information might be made public that would be helpful to the enemy, and propaganda started that would be dangerous to the public safety. But even in war time, the people of a democracy chafe under restrictions upon free speech and a free press, and it is often a delicate question to determine how far such restriction is justifiable or wise.

Make a report on the invention of the printing press.

Is there more than one "local paper" in your town or county? Do these local papers take the same position in regard to public questions? Do you read more than one?

What is the most influential newspaper in your state (ask at home)? Why is it so influential?

What is the difference between a news story and an editorial?

Ask at home what newspaper editor it was who said, "Go West, young man." Also find out what you can about his influence as an editor.

Examine with care the newspapers you take at home and make a list of their different "departments" or "sections."

What do you first look for in the newspaper when you read it? Ask your father and mother and other members of the family what they first look for.

What is the value of CARTOONS in the newspaper? Do you study them?

Do they convey a story to you? Make a collection of cartoons that you think are particularly good, and explain what each means.

Is any propaganda being conducted now in the newspapers you read?

If so, explain what it is.

To what extent are newspaper and magazine advertis.e.m.e.nts useful in your home?

POST-OFFICES AND POST-ROADS

Congress was given power by the Const.i.tution "to establish post- offices and post-roads." There had been a postal service in the colonies before the Revolution. During the Revolution Benjamin Franklin was made Postmaster General, and he made the service as effective as it could well be made under the conditions that existed in those times. The plan that he devised was continued after the Const.i.tution was adopted. In those days mails were sent from New York to Boston and to Philadelphia two or three times a week. They were carried on horseback or by stage and by boat.

Sometimes a month was consumed by a trip that can now be made in a half-day. Postage cost from six cents to twenty-five cents for each letter, according to the distance it was carried, and had to be paid in cash in advance. Postage stamps were not introduced until 1847. Often mail was allowed to acc.u.mulate until there was enough to pay for the trip. The isolation of a remote rural community can well be imagined where the difficulties of communication were so great, and where the scarcity of money made postage an important item.

RURAL MAIL ROUTES

In 1918 there were 54,345 post-offices in the United States managed by the Post-Office Department at Was.h.i.+ngton, besides nearly 600 in the Philippines managed by the war Department, and a few in the Panama Ca.n.a.l Zone. Of the 3030 counties in the United States, 3008 had rural mail routes aggregating more than a million miles in extent, serving more than 6 million families, and costing for operation more than 53 million dollars. This cost, however amounts to only about $1.90 for each person served, or a little more than one cent for each piece of mail handled. The aim is to make the postal service pay for itself, and in 1918 the receipts exceeded the expenditures by more than 60 million dollars.

SPECIAL SERVICES OF THE POST-OFFICE DEPARTMENT

The Post-Office Department not only provides for the transportation of ordinary mail, but through its post-offices it sells money orders for the transmission of money safely through the mails; it operates the parcel post by which merchandise may be transported, including farm produce of many kinds; it administers the postal savings system. One of the interesting divisions of the Post-Office Department is the Division of Dead Letters, to which is returned all mail that fails to reach its destination. In 1918 there were returned to the Dead-Letter Division 14,451,953 pieces of mail. In these "dead letters" there were drafts, checks, money orders, and loose money, amounting to $4,194,839.68. The failure of this mail to reach its proper destination is due in very large measure to carelessness in addressing and to failure to place on the envelope or package a return address. A great deal of loss and inconvenience could be avoided, and much labor and expense saved for the postal service, if every one would see that every piece of mail sent out is properly addressed and stamped, and has a return address in the upper left-hand corner.

TRANSPORTATION OF THE MAILS

The efficiency of the postal service depends very largely upon the means of transportation, from steams.h.i.+p and railway lines down to the country roads. Nothing else, perhaps, has stimulated the improvement of roads so much as the rural mail service. It is the power granted by the Const.i.tution to Congress to establish POST- roads that enables the Federal government to aid the states in road improvement. The development of fast mail trains and the introduction of motor-truck service have been important steps in the improvement of the postal service in city and country. The latest development is the transportation of mail by airplane. An aerial mail route between Was.h.i.+ngton, D. C., and New York City was established May 15, 1918, and a round trip daily is now made over this route, regardless of weather conditions. The flying time from Was.h.i.+ngton to New York, with a stop at Philadelphia, averages two hours and thirty minutes, or one half the time of the fastest trains. The Post-Office Department is planning an extensive airplane mail service from the Atlantic to the Pacific, with various side lines; also to the West Indies, Panama, and South America. The routes are partially worked out, and trial trips have been made in some cases, as between New York and Chicago.

THE TELEGRAPH

We need only mention the important part played by the telegraph, the submarine cable, and RADIO-COMMUNICATION, in binding together our nation and the world as a whole. Without them the modern newspaper, with its daily news from every corner of the globe, would be impossible, our cooperation in the great World War would have been extremely difficult, and the President probably would not have left the United States to partic.i.p.ate in the peace negotiations at Paris. Although the first telegraph line in the United States was owned and operated by the government as a part of the postal service, the telegraph service of the country has since been in the hands of private corporations; except that during the war the Post-Office Department took over the management of the telegraph and the telephone, as the Railroad Administration took over the transportation lines.

THE TELEPHONE

As this chapter is being written, word has come that the Secretary of the Navy has talked by WIRELESS TELEPHONE with the President of the United States while the latter was 800 miles out at sea on his return from France. At the close of the war American aviators were talking with one another from airplane to airplane, and receiving orders from the ground, by wireless telephone. These instances suggest new possibilities of communication in the near future.

Already the ordinary telephone has practically made over our community life in many particulars. We can hardly estimate its value in business and home life, in the city or on the farm. There are about 8000 rural telephone systems in the United States serving the homes of two million farmers. In 1912, out of seven hundred and eighteen telephone systems in North Carolina, about six hundred and fifty were country telephone systems owned and operated privately by groups of farmers. These included about 20,000 telephones and used approximately 35,000 miles of wire.

SERVICE OF THE RURAL TELEPHONE To call a neighbor and ask for the exchange of labor on certain work, as thres.h.i.+ng, haying, etc., is only the work of a moment. To have a definite answer immediately is often worth much. To be able to 'phone the village storekeeper, who runs a country delivery, and ask that supplies be sent out is a great convenience to the housewife. To 'phone the implement dealer and learn whether he has needed repairs in stock and, if so, to have them sent out on the next trolley car, if not to ask him to telegraph the factory to forward them immediately by express, is a saving of time that often amounts to a large saving when the planting or harvesting of crops is delayed because of needed repairs.