Ed Viewed An Emperor

Hello Folks!! I saw the Emperor of Ethiopia (Halie Selassie) in Austin a couple weeks ago. I happened to be in Austin. I noticed a lot of people lining the street so I followed suit. After quite a wait he came from the Hormel plant.

The Parade was headed by a police car with signals flashing and as the procession entered Main Street the siren sounded. I saw his grand-daughter also. She looked pretty much like any other person from the glimpse I got of her. I was rather surprised that Haile Selassie looked as young as he does. Of course from the pitch of his hat brim to his chin there wasn't much distance, but I was less than 10 feet from him.

It is interesting to recall the recent history of Ethiopia. When Mussolini invaded the country Selassie protested to the League of Nations, but the politicians were too busy playing politics to listen to him. Mussolini ended his life in the typical fashion of all tyrants. Today Haile Selassie injoys the privilege of ruling between 10 and 15 million people. It brings to mind what the Savior said, "The meek shall inherit the earth."

—o—

I think giving is the secret of a successful life. And I think we never reach the point of diminishing returns if we give the proper thing and in the proper time and place. However, I do think indiscriminate giving just for the sake of giving can be a terrible liability. For instance at one time our government was giving anything and everything to Russia without a thought of the consequences. The taxpayer was saddled with heavy burdens of taxes and federal debt to do so. Now we are being saddled with even heavier debts and taxes just to pay for our folly. The same way with dozens of other countries. They get the gifts then turn around and despise us for it.

It works the same way with children. While a proper gift at a proper time will help to show our love toward a child, if those gifts are given too often without the child earning them they almost invariably become selfish and fail to develop character. I have almost forgotten the quotation in "The Vision of Sir Launfall" "It's not what you give but what you share, for the gift without the giver is bare." I think when we learn to give properly we will have gone a long ways toward eliminating wars and bitterness.

A bitter tongue can burn up more people than an incendiary bomb. A winner never quits, a quitter never wins.

—o—

The column I wrote two weeks ago sounded awfully hard-hearted when I read it. I imagine it did to you readers also. It was mostly because I left out one adverb. No wonder the editor gave it such a startling title.

—o—

John Nyenhuis and family were heading for California. They were traveling across the hot Mojave Desert. They saw a tiny speck down the road. As they drew closer the discovered it was a man in a bathing suit. John, the ever courteous, stopped the car to see if he could aid the man. "Yes", the man said, "How far is it to the ocean?" "Oh! about 300 or 400 miles," says John. "My! My! It is a wide beach, isn't it?" exclaimed the man.