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FOUR THE BULLETIN OF THE CATHOLIC LAYMEN’S ASSOCIATION OF GEORGIA DECEMBER 8, 1956, Hullrtitt The Spread Of Titoism THIS WORLD OF OURS The Official Organ of the Catholic Laymen’s Association of Georgia, Incorporated JOHN MARKWALTER, Editor 416 Eighth Street, Augusta, Ga. ‘ ASSOCIATION OFFICERS FOR 1955-1956 JOHN M. BRENNAN, Savannah President E. M. HEAGARTY, Wayeross Honorary Vice-President MRS. L. E. MOCK, Albany Vice-President TOM GRIFFIN, Atlanta ^ Vice-President DAMON J. SWANN, Atlanta V. P., Publicity GEORGE GINGELL, Columbus V. P„ Activities NICK CAMEPJO, Macon . r — Secretary JOHN T. BUCKLEY, Augusta Treasurer JOHN MARKWALTER, Augusta Executive Secretary MISS CECILE FERRY, Augusta Financial Secretary ALVIN M. McAULIFFE, Augusta Auditor Vol. 37 Saturday, December 8, 1956. No. 14 Entered as second class matter at the Post Office, Monroe, Georgia, and accepted for mailing at special rate of postage provided by para graph (e) of section 34.40, Postal Laws and Regulations. Member of N.C.W.C. News Service, the Catholic Press Association of the United States, the Georgia Press Association, and the National Editorial Association. Published fortnightly by the Catholic Laymen’s Association of Geor gia, Inc., with the Approbation of the Most Reverend Archbishop- Bishop of Savannah, the Most Reverend Bishop of Atlanta, and the Right Reverend Abbot Ordinary of Belmont. "Baby Doll" The Legion of Decency has condemned the film “Baby Doll” which has recently been released by Hollywood. Else where in this issue of The Bulletin gives an account of the film and the action taken by the Legion. The release of “Baby Doll” at this time of year, when Catholics are renewing their Pledge of the Legion of De cency in churches throughout the land, serves to point up the need of the Pledge and for the Legion. The pledge of the Legion of Decency reads as follows: IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER AND OF THE SON AND OF THE HOLY GHOST. AMEN. I CONDEMN indecent and immoral motion pictures, and those which glorify crime or criminals. I PROMISE to do all that I can to strengthen public opinion against the production of indecent and immoral films, and to unite with all who protest against them. I ACKNOWLEDGE my obligation to form a right con science about pictures that are dangerous to my moral life. As a member of the Legion of Decency, I pledge myself to remain away from them. I promise, further, to stay away altogether from places of amusement which show them as a matter of policy. As we make this pledge, let us fully realize what we are pledging to do. Let us resolve to be good members of the Legion. Particularly let us remember the part of the pledge saying: “I PROMISE. FURTHER, TO STAY AWAY ALTOGETHER FROM PLACES OF AMUSEMENT WHICH SHOW THEM AS A MATTER OF POLICY.” As we do not approve of these bad movies, let our voices be heard in Protest. Meeting In Paris Seen As Of Vital (By- J. J. Gilbert) WASHINGTON—The picture of the world situation is expected to be considerably more definite by Christmas. Whether it will be brighter or darker depends to a large extent upon one meeting, and to a lesser extent upon an other meeting, to be held in the interim. A definite war of nerves is in progress. This is reflected in the fact that newspaper stories and commentaries on the internation al situation are large and numer ous. They seem almost to chal lenge the Christmas advertise ments for attention. All of this points to the fact ;hat the NATO meeting scheduled for Dec. 11 in Paris will be of the utmost importance. Five lays later, India’s Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru is due here to meet President Eisenhower. Neh ru will have talked with Chou Sn-lai, the premier of Red China, past before leaving India, and will On December 11 Importance talk with him again after visiting here. Chou En-lai is presently on a 12-day visiLto India. The NATO meeting, which U.S. Secretary of State John Foster Dulles is expected to attend, holds first interest at the moment. The future of the North Atlantic Trea ty Organization could depend upon it" outcome. The Middle East crisis has put a strain on NATO relations, and the oil shortage in western Eu rope resulting from the blocking of the Suez Canal has greatly in creased this tension. The United States Government took the stand that it could not announce that it would make up the shortage of oil in western Europe until Britain and France stated publicly some schedule for the wtihdrawal of their troops from Egypt. To do so, it was held here, would lose for this country whatever standing it had left with the Arab countries and in other parts of the east. The (Continued on Page 5) A recent article by Walter Lip- pmann, analysing events in east ern Europe and concluding that, in all likelihood, the best for which the Soviet Union can set tle is a form of Titoism in the countries, here tofore under its t i ght control, merits close at tention. From time to time I ha v e had occasion to comment op Ti to and, perhaps less frequently, on what may be called Titoism— i. e., national communism with a greater or a less degree of in dependence of Moscow. Mr Lipp- mann argues that it is to our true interest to have Titoism pre vail in the satellite orbit, and that everything should be done to en courage this tendency. The argument runs somewhat as follows: Titoistic countries can not be used as military bases against the West and, therefore, increase its security. Any altern ative that presents itself is in calculably dangerous. By this— if I understand the statement correctly—Mr. Lippmann means that either Stalinism or a fac simile of it might be imposed: or chaos and spreading revolution might produce a state of anarchy into which West Germany would be pulled—if East Germany were involved. The latter could be come the source of Soviet inter- vention. COGENT REASONING There is a very great deal of cogency in this. We Catholics naturally are primarily and vir tually concerned with the status of our fellow Catholics in Poland, Hungary, Czechoslovakia and the rest of the captive lands. We would like to see the lid removed and a full flowering of traditional Catholic life revived. There is a marked tendency to assume that revolution must necessarily mean the extinction of communism and the. restoration of the kind of institutions that prevailed before. I think it supremely important for us to consider that, in all probability, this is not going to happen at once. If anti-commu nism comes too fast or too im- petously, the danger of Soviet intervention by armed might, re gardless of world opinion, be comes that much greater. Person ally I have no sympathy what ever for Tito, Titoism or any of its works, and cordially dislike the brutal regime that flourishes in Belgrade. However, if it comes to a showdown, it is probably true to assert, as does Mr. Lippmann, that a break with Sovietism and a move toward nationalism may be the best thing for the time being. . It might be better in the final analysis for the process to take place as it has in Poland, rather than through bloody revolt as in Hungary. Once a movement away from Moscow takes place, it can be pushed and developed further and further, whereas something done in the desperation of the moment can and does bring down the entire might of the Soviet Union on a nation. DANGEROUS ASSUMPTION The argument that TITOISM is a good thing as a transition might hold water to a limited degree. But to hold that Titoism ' is a satisfactory thing on any perma nent basis seems to me a danger ous assumption inded. Commu nism has always suffered from the fact that it was tied to the Soviet Union and demanded un questioning obedience to Moscow. It was hard .to harness commu nism and nationalism because if one were a communist and fol lowed the Moscow line, it was difficult to be 100 per cent de voted to one’s own country. Inevitably a conflict arose be tween the two loyalties. Since the Soviet Union demanded no thing short of treason in oi'der to be a proper communist, the whole thing came hard to a great many people. But if, on the other hand, communism takes on a national coloration and becomes acclimated, so to speak, to each national situation, the danger can be infinitely greater—even in the long run—than if still Soviet- dominated. There are many to whom the social and economic aspects of Marxism are acceptable if one could get rid of the shadow of the Kremlin. With national rampant on a fantastic scale in the world, it is easy to understand how Ti toism could make a potent ap peal to the Arab lands, the emerg ing nationalities in Africa, and to the underpriviledged of Asia. The reconciliation of Marxism and na tionalism — which the Soviet Union has never quite managed to bring off—could perhaps raise up a specter that would be more terrifying even than the Russian- dominated brand to which we are accustomed. Happy Christmas THE BACKDROP By JOHN C. O’BRIEN We are all looking forward, of course, to the festivities of the Christmas and New Year holiday seasons. These can be the hap piest days of the year if we do not lose sight of their true mean ing. But they can also be the saddest if we turn them into pagan festivals. And they could be days of trag edy if it should turn out that we should be among the hun dreds of casualties in the- traffic disasters that mar the celebra tions of these great feasts. Before every major holiday we are warned against reckless driving. Yet the warnings go un heeded. The toll of the dead, the maimed and the injured contin ues to mount year after year. During the recent Thanksgiving festivities, for example, the slaughter on the highways exceed ed the worst expectations of the National Safety Council. A Unit ed Press survey accounted for 139 persons killed, to say nothing of the thousands of injured. NOT DISINTERESTED OBSERVERS In anticipation of another ho locaust on the nation’s highways this year-end, the Grand Lodge of Fraternal Order of Police, through its secretary, John J. Ouinn, has asked this column to publish its suggestions for mak ing this coming holiday season one of joy and gladness instead of one of pain and mourning. The nation’s police are not the disinterested official investigat ors of highway tragedies that we are sometime prone to think they are. They would rather see those who celebrate Christmas and New Year eves get home safely than hand them tickets for traffic vio lations—or cart them off to a morgue or a hospital. “The 40,000 police officers in communities across the nation who are members of the Fratern al Order of Police will welcome your support,” said Quinn in his letter to the writer. PERSONAL KNOWLEDGE “Last year,” Quinn reminds us, “a record 609 persons were kill ed in auto accidents during the three-day Christmas week end; 345 during New Year’s. Thous ands more were injured. This year, four-day celebrations are in prospect for both holidays. With auto fatalities eight per cent ahead of last year, the toll un doubtedly will be much greater. "“This grisly Yuletide of auto deaths must be turned back—and it can be, with the help of edi torial leaders, who have done so much in the past for highway safety.” Between now and the holiday season w" snail be hearing warn ings against reckless driving from all sides. But none of those who will be exhorting' us can speak with more personal knowledge of the causes of holiday automo bile accidents than the police who patrol our highways. Well should we mark what they have to tell us. DANGEROUS EXPERIMENT As most of us know—as well as the police—one of the major causes of holiday traffic disasters is what Quinn calls “the danger ous experiment of mixing alco hol with gasoline.” Much of the p r e-Christmas imbibing takes place at so-called “office” parties. They usually start out innocently enough in mid-afternoon, but-all too often those who over-induige at such functions never live to see the sunrise of a Christmas Day. The FOP are too experienced in the failings of human nature to suggest that celebrators of the two year-end holidays refrain entirely from the cup that cheers. But Quinn does have a wise sug gestion for those who celebrate not wisely but too well. “If you are tempted,” he writes, “to try the dangerous experiment of mixing alcohol and gasoline, get someone else to drive you home.” He might have added that it would be more prudent, if you have celebrated excessively, to leave the car in a garage or a parking lot and go home in a taxicab. FESTIVITY FATIGUE Over -indulgence, however, as Quinn reminds us, is not the only cause of road disasters. Christmas parties are wont to run late, and a major cause of early morning accidents is “festivity fatigue”. This year, Quinn informs US; the FOP are concentrating on this cause in their year-end safe ty drive. “We are suggesting—stay alert, stay alive, make it coffee' when you drive. This is a sound rec ommendation because the physi ological and psychological effects (Continued on Page 5)