Freedom of the press is guaranteed only to those who own one” - A.J. Liebling
My father Bob Wilson took this to heart, and bought one and started his own newspaper, the Prairie Post of Maroa, Illinois in 1958, and ran it until he died in 1972. It never had a circulation of more than 2500 or so, but every week, he would fire off editorials at everyone and everything from local events to the actions of the nations of the world.
He may have been a Quaker peace activist in a Republican district, but his love and support of the farming communities garnered him enough respect that he eventually ran for the U.S. House of Representatives in 1962, though he lost. (He might have tried again, had he not died of an accident while only 49.) Many of his views ring true today. And he might have been willing to change the ones that fell behind the times. Although raised in the casual racism of the 1920s and 1930s, at the age of 15 he took stock of what he was being taught and discarded much of it as being wrong, and lived his life with respect for all.
I decided to transcribe his old editorials (I may make a book for some of my relatives) and every once in a while I will repost one here, as a view of how the world has changed wildly, or remained stubbornly the same.
April 4, 1963
MACON COUNTY JUSTICE
Macon County is famous for many things, most of them commendable. Now it runs the danger of becoming a good place to commit murder, if you prefer not to be convicted of it.
A man admitted on the stand that he shot and killed a deputy sheriff (not in uniform) because “he pulled something out of his pocket and I thought it was a gun.”
The killer's attorneys claimed self-defense, and he was sent out of the courtroom free as a bird. A manslaughter charge would have imprisoned him for several years, but he was charged with murder and the state failed again to secure conviction.
If the reader of this editorial were to drive down to the dance-hall at the north end of Decatur and take a revolver out of his pocket and fire it into the ground, police would appear on all sides. You would be charged, tried, and convicted for (1) carrying a concealed weapon. (2) firing a gun inside the city limits. (3) (if you ran) unlawful flight to avoid prosecution.
Not even these minor charges were brought against the man in question. You would pay a stiff fine for firing that gun into the grass; he fired it into human flesh, and left for Chicago the other day without so much as a slap on the wrist!
We have heard several people declare they had a murder or two in mind, and are glad to know they can go ahead without fear of any unfortunate outcome.
We knew already you can commit murder with an automobile in Macon County, at least if it is west of Route 51. You may apparently feel free to choose your own weapons; .32 calibre revolver? Rolling pin, anyone?
One sardonic note is that this most recent killing may put a damper on the practice of tipping. Don't above all, reach into your pocket to give someone a quarter; he may think you are reaching for a gun and shoot you dead “in self-defense”.
...And your widow, to make a bitter joke, would be left holding the bag. Don't do it; not in Macon County!
April 11, 1963
ALABAMA GOES TO DOGS
More distorted news. Associated Press dispatches from Birmingham, Alabama describe the use of police dogs “to put down a riot”, or “to quell racial violence”.
Look carefully at the story. Twenty-three Negro Americans were demonstrating for their civil rights. They were KNEELING IN PRAYER. Does this sound like misbehavior, riot, or violence?
Armed police ordered this handful of praying Christians to disperse.
Then, according to reports, one of these Negro citizens slashed at one of the police dogs with a knife.
If this be true, why were these savage man-hunting dogs within arm's reach of the people?
The evidence would suggest they had been given the order to attack, and the man was defending himself – if he actually did so.
The dogs, therefore, did not control the violence; they CAUSED the violence.
In Russian, Mr. Krushchev gives equal rights and the vote to people of all colors. Does he do it out of conviction, or simply so he can point the finger at America where they set dogs on Negroes who want to vote?