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THE MAROON TIGER
Page 3
from the hard times are the young. Not only have they
lost their money and found the door of opportunity locked
and barred to them, but they have had the door of the
little white cottage, just built for two for which they had
planned and saved so long, suddenly shut in their faces
by the scarcity of jobs and the consequent inability to fill
the larder and supply bread and cheese to go along with
the kisses.
It does not seem fair that the blight of disaster should
have fallen on sweethearts. Love and its fulfillment should
not be dependent on the state of business, but everything
in this sordid old world has a price tag on it, and matri
mony is not exempt from the universal law. It has to be
financed. Rent must be paid, food bought, all the me
chanics of living that are so- expensive must go on, and
the practical, modern youth knows better than to believe
in the old fairy tale that two can live as cheaply as one.
\nd so thousands upon thousands of young couples
have had to defer their wedding day until a more aus
picious time. Thousands of girls have shed bitter tears
on the piles of doilies and monogrammed guest towels
as they turned the key in their hope chest. Thousands of
tense-faced boys, with the look in their eyes boys wore
when they went over the top in France, have set them
selves to the grim task of carrying on, though a waiting
mdefiniteness makes the heart sick.
Let no one undervalue the suffering and the unhappi
ness this has entailed, for the heart can starve for want
or the bread of love just as much as the body can starve
tor the want of food. The soul can freeze for want of
companionship just as much as the body freezes for the
want of warm clothes and fire. And there have been
tragedies of separation that were as bitter as death to the
lovers who were torn apart.
But the great majority of young people whose mar
riages have been postponed by the depression have re
fused to take the easiest way out of their dilemma. They
have been true to their ideals. They have kept their love
clean, a bright and shining ideal. They have shown the
courage of heroes, the self-abnegation of saints. They
have kept faith with right, and the spirit they have shown
has forever redeemed the younger generation in the sight
of all thinking people.
In fact, the younger people need no message of cheer,
but it should comfort them to know that their reward is
sure. These hard times will not always last, and their
wedding day will surely dawn and when it does, what a
wedding day it will be. Their love has been tried out in
the fire of affliction and has had all its dross burned away
until it is as pure as gold. They have seen each other
tested out and they know how true and fine they are.
They will have the certainty that there will be none of
the disillusions of matrimony for them, and that the
romance that has endured through these dolorous times
will last forever.
OPEN LETTER TO THE EDITOR
(Editor’s Note: The writer criticizes an article which
appeared in the previous issue of the “Maroon Tiger”, and
in addition suggests that we students examine ourselves a
bit—not a bad idea.)
To the Editor:
After reading Mr. I. Sleep Around’s article, I wish to
criticize several unpremeditated statements.
In the first place, any person who cannot see the action
carried on about his campus must truly be a sleeper. He
must have the brain of an idiot if he cannot conceive the
beauty and intellectual abilities shown by the prominent
speakers and the programs set before us students. I
imagine he considers the campus dull because the girls do
not saunter in and out of the classrooms, or maybe he
would rather see “Rooms for Rent” signs placed upon
both dormitories. If he needs this kind of inspiration to
succeed in college, he should drop out.
He made an atrocious mistake when he criticized the
college hymn, “Dear Old Morehouse”. I was highly in
spired when I first heard this hymn. It gave me an even
greater thrill than the one I received when I heard
Bryant’s “Excelsior.” It aroused a spirit to achieve
greater heights—as I feel it has done to other loyal More
house students. Alas, I weep when I conceive of the cor
rosion that has taken place in his mind. Even the lowest,
rattle brained grasshopper would not have made such a
statement without due deliberation. No sane person
would doubt the authenticity of Mr. Harreld and Mr.
James, the latter a Morehouse graduate.
The only truth which I have gathered from the article
and found to be true was the criticism on a certain Bible
instructor. I have sat through a whole class period and
have seen him throw it away on a question which none
of the students could answer. He stayed upon that ques
tion the entire period and at the end of it told the students
to go home and ask their parents for the answer.
If more time were spent by the teachers in trying to
make their classes more interesting, I am sure that they
would get more response from the students, and really
enjoy the work more for themselves. If you do not believe
this, ask several science and English teachers and see if
they have the lack of discipline and interest in their classes
as you have in yours. This refers mainly to the teachers
who teach freshmen.
In closing I would like to suggest that we students crit
icize ourselves more closely, because we must realize that
we have to live our own lives, and to do this decently we
must store away all the useful knowledge possible. The
teachers have gotten theirs and are trying to pass it on to
us in a more simplified form, although some don’t try very
hard. U. Tryit.
P. S.—As one freshman to another.
THE RETREATING LEADER
By William A. Allen, ’37
(Editor’s Note: The writer has put Dr. Dubois under
“fire” for his recent attitude toward segregation. It’s
stimulating.)
Nothing has caused so much comment in the Negro
press in years as has the changed attitude of Dr. W. E. B.
DuBois on the question of segregation. After having
fought valiantly for a quarter of a century to help break
down the bar of race discrimination, and to win for
colored Americans the full enjoyment of rights and privi
leges, Dr. DuBois has now lost courage, and now contends
that the Negro’s duty is to make the most of segregation
and turn it to his economic advanage. He has hung up
his armor and has surrendered to the enemy of his cause.
How came the breaking down of long continued emotions,
so long as the bulwark of his mental occupation? Has he
become a convert of the other point of view?
It is regrettable that so formidable a character in the