Editorial
Letters To he Editor
From what we are able to determine, chances
look pretty good that the State Legislature in Albany
may pass a State Aid for Education bill with
the formula of $ 760 per pupil aid.
According to State Senator Edward Speno's office
this would mean a substantial increase over
last years monies based on the $ 660 per pupil
figure. This would mean an increase of $ 850,000
for Farmingdale, one half million dollars for
Plainedge and over one million dollars for Massa-pequa.
The legislature is also working on additional
monies in a high tax aid formula. The amount will
probably be about four million for the state. The
formula has not as yet been worked out.
School budgets this year will probably bring taxpayer
resistance. If the State aid formula were not
raised, to say that it would be catastrophic, would
be putting it mildly.
As We See It
By H i l l a r d P. Boss and
Charles Gerston
This is a first of a series of
articles on candidates for the
school and library boards. We
hope these profiles give the voter
insight to the thoughts and personalities
of the various candidates.
Profile: Paul Tilford. Paul Til-ford
is a tall, distinguished looking
man who projects an air of
friendliness and quiet dignity.
He has lived in MassapequaPark
with his wife and two daughters
for 13 years. He is a graduate of
the University of North Carolina
and served four years in the Navy
during the second World War.
For past 30 years he has been
employed by a large casualty insurance
company. Mr. Tilford
has served on Citizens Advisory
Committees in Farmingdale and
Massapequa Park and was a
member of the Save Our Schools
committee.
What motivates a man to
devote himself to community
affairs?
Tilford, although disturbed by
current dissension, prefers to
contend with criticism and opposition
rather than accept passive
observation. He enjoys board
meetings and looks forward to the
public participation, which he
feels is an essential part of the
meeting.
What are his feelings regarding
the kind of literature
offered today in our libraries?
" The language in literature today,
as well as the material being
published, is quite different
than that of some years ago. If
a library is going to reflect present
day attitudes, it's bound to
contain publications that some
people find offensive."
On the question of ideas as
apart from words, Mr. Tilford
reiterated the dictum of the great
jurist, Oliver Wendell Holmes,
that all new ideas must be tested
in the market place, and therefore
it is the obligation of a public
library to present all kinds
of material for the approval or
disapproval of its patrons.
Concerning hard- core _ p_ oruo-_
Dear Editor,
It is about time that one of
our local papers had the guts
to permit a column to be written
exposing the John Birch Society
and that thing DEBT publishes.
My hat is off to you.
I hope it will continue. I'm
just wondering If the editors
of DEBT who are afraid to make
themselves known will start
pressuring you and deprive the
intelligent residents of Farmingdale
of a well- written
column.
Again, I congratulate you on
allowing Hillard Boss and
Charles Gerston to expose the
lies and give us the true facts.
Fran Sigmon
graphy, which does not meet the
tests laid down by the Supreme
Court, Mr. Tilford admitted that
these works have no place in a
library. However, he did not
feel that this is a problem since
even organizations devoted to
clean literature, such as Operation
Yorkville, feel that such literature
does not find its way
into libraries. This was confirmed
by a conversation between
Tilford and Father Hill, executive
director of the organization.
As chairman of the finance
committee, what do you fores
e e the library tax situation
will be for the coming year?
" When we talk about holding
the line, what we really mean is
keeping the budget down to the
lowest possible point. As far as
the board is concerned, all the
members are dedicated to the
proposition that the budget will
be one which is as low as possible,
and at the same time provide
the necessary services
which we must have if we are
to maintain a decent library."
In view of some of the criticism
of the library trustees,
how do you account for the
fact that only one opposition
candidate has come forth, and
he has not expressed any platform?
" I can only assume the reason
for this is that those who anticipate
running, are not going to
run on the bais of opposition to
present policy. It would seem
that that is a logical inference
to draw since responsible candidates
would want to announce
early to establish their point of
view. With elections only a little
more than a month away, the voting
public is not offered an opportunity
to question the policies
of new candidates."
Could you comment on the
advantages of building a mezzanine
in the South Farming-dale
branch?
" We have to first recognize
that there is a need for additional
space. The cost of mak-
( Continued on Page 12)
Jffarmtiuiualc G) luuu* mvr
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Dear Editor:
Listening to Barry Goldwater
speak at the Farmingdale Agricultural
College, last Thursday,
I realized that our present, home
and abroad, catastrophic situation
would not exist if the voting
public had not been brainwashed
into accepting a doubletalking
politician rather than Mr. Gold-water.
In the thirties, we had
another doubletalking politician,
FDR, who promised one thing
and delivered the opposite. It
was he who said " Some of my
best friends are Communists''.
And so, the seeds of Atheistic
Communism grew until today we
are reaping a crop of violence
and murder disguised as " Civil
Rights". Our fighting men are
dying in Vietnam, our Naval
ships, U. S. S. Liberty and Pueblo
are strafed or captured. All our
present Administration can think
of is to negotiate. Negotiate with
the oppressors? This is not what
Americanism meant in the past.
Respect and honor are not gained
in this manner. Is freedom worth
fighting and sacrificing for? Can
you imagine if everyone on earth
were allowed to select the country
they would prefer to reside in?
The oppressed would flock to our
shores and accept the most menial
positions just to be outside
the iron and bamboo curtains.
The forthcoming national election
is the time to correct errors of
the past by the election of those
dedicated to America, first and
always.
Francis A. Collins
80 percent of the United States
population are under communist
influence, including Dwight
Eisenhower and former Secretary
of State John Foster Dulles.
In addition, the State Department,
the United Nations, and many
other government organizations
are reported to be under
communist control,, Prominent
political leaders such as former
GOP National Chairman Thurston
Morton, United States
Senate, and House leaders Dirk-son
and Ford and the very respected
conservative leader,
William F. Buckley Jr., have all
rejected the radical thinking of
the John Birch Society.
In reading " The Report of the
John Birch Society 1966" one is
confronted with many paradoxes.
What is the extent of the parallelism
between the John Birch
Society and the Communist
Party? Have all of our recent
ex- presidents and other high
government officials really been
communists or under communist
influence? Why do so many respected
leaders, conservative as
well as liberal, reject the John
Birch Society thinking?
There is no doubt that every
citizen should acquaint himself
with the John Birch Society by
reading such books as " The Report
on the John Birch Society"
as well as " The Blue Book".
An informed citizenry is the only
hope for preserving a truly democratic
society.
Seymour M. Weinstein
Page 4
Dear Editor:
Recent letters in the Observer
have urged readers to investigate
for themselves the pros
and cons of the John Birch Society.
Response to this appeal
undoubtedly accounts for the fact
that one must now sign up on a
reserve waiting list for " The
Blue Book" at the Farmingdale
Public Library. In lieu of " The
Blue Book" there are many other
books which discuss the John
Birch Society. One such book is
entitled, " Report on the John
Birch Society 1966), by Epstein
and Forster. An examination
of this book raises many serious
questions about the John Birch
Society which warrant the attention
of every citizen.
Authors Epstein and Forster
point out the striking resemblance
between the Communist
Party in the United States and the
John Birch Society. For example,
the JBS is an organization composed
of a cell structure with
semi- secret membership, just
as the Communist Party ( i. e.,
the overwhelming majority of
members conceal their membership);
that members get the official
" line" from central headquarters
( i. e., in the JBS they
get it from Founder Welsh via
headquarters in Belmont, Massachusetts);
that they attempt to
gain power by infiltrating respectable
national and local organizations;
and that like the
Communist Party, they generate
• profuse propaganda which they
distribute through their own network
of bookstores. Thus, the
methods, ( although certainly not
the philosophy) for the John Birch
Society, being so similar to those
of the Communist Party, present
a similar threat to the individual
and the community.
Further reading reveals some
controversial assertions that
have been made by the John
Birch Society. For example,
according to the J. B. S, 60 to
Dear Editor:
Twenty five thousand dollars
a year is the rental we pay for
the South Farmingdale Branch
Library. It took three votes to
pass the last budget which was
increased by $ 29,000. Even
after the first defeat, the Library
Board spent $ 900 for ceiling
lights but cut down on services
and went on austerity until
the budget was passed. All
this with $ 38,000 in the fines
and fees account which was not
revealed. If the Library Board
was interested in reducing the
budget and trying to hold the
line on taxes, if could have chosen
to use this money to lower the
budget and not increase it by
$ 29,000.
I believe it is wrong to spend
$ 38,000 of the taxpayers' money
to build a branch library mezzanine.
I have heard many others,
besides myself, who think it is
wrong to waste the taxpayers'
money to build this mezzanine in
a building we do not own. So
far the only argument I have
heard for building this mezzanine
is we need shelf space ($ 38,-
000 for shelf space).
Does this look like the Library
Board is trying to submit a hold
the line budget?
Since I have been bringing up
this issue as an interested taxpayer
at the Library meetings,
one of the Board members has
recommended that in the future,
monies collected should be used
to lower library taxes. I should
hope so. Use this money to hold
the line on taxes now.
Dominick Aiello
Dear Editor,
On reading young Mr. Gorton's
outpouring in the Observer of
March 28. I considered writing
a reply to his amazing utterance.
I decided to first read the rest
of the paper.
The column " As We See It,"
by Mr. Boss and Mr. Gerston,
should silence the young man
more completely and - may we
hope - permanently than anything
I can add.
Helen W. Meyer
Dear Editor:
When Pope Paul VI addressed
the United Nations and pleaded
for eternal peace, he spoke as
a real man of God. American
clergymen seem to be less idealistic,
except for the few who have
always had the courage to espouse
pacifism. The others are
silent or declare themselves in
opposition only to particular
wars; and paradoxically, clerical
critics of Vietnam go to great
lengths indeed to prove that they
are not pacifists.
Absolute pacifism may be impractical,
but there is no reason
for any clergyman to assert that
it is undesirable. Undeniably
practical, however, is the kind of
pacifism which would try to prevent
wars. Not even this kind is
believed in by anti- Vietnam
clerics; it can be demonstrated;
but I, a layman, have always
practiced it.
For example, I protested our
getting involved in Vietnam in
the first place in an effort to
help French colonialism survive
a little longer. This I can prove;
but no clergyman whom I have
asked about his record has been
able to do better than to evade
the question of why he did not
speak out when peace, at any
price, would have been a better
bargain for America and when the
cause, in my opinion, was morally
inferior to that of giving the Republic
of Vietnam an opportunity
to live.
It is an easy rationalization,
much utilized by Senator Robert
Kennedy, to concede- now that mistakes
were made 20, 15, or even
five years ago with the full concurrence
of those who protest
today. Their admission fails to
answer many questions. Why did
they concur? K they made mistakes
then, are they making none
this time? Will their proposals
produce exactly the promised
results and nothing worse? What
alternative courses will they propose
if it turns out that they have
been wrong again? A politican
can answer a question different
from the one he is asked. No
honest clergyman needs to do
that.
Next to calling him a pacifist,
implying that he is un- American
offends an anti- Vietnam cleric
most; but what else can one say
about him if he irresponsibly lets
our country slide into a war, then
urges that we quit, regardless of
the consequences, and frighten -
ingly intimates at the same time
that American boys will fight
again in a war of his choosing?
Eugene T. Doyle
Dear Editor:
During my nine years of service
on the Farmingdale School
Board every vote which I have
cast and every opinion which I
have expressed is a matter of
public record. I feel that the
record speaks for itself. Nevertheless
I am obliged to comment
on statements which have appeared
in a mailing recently sent
to selected district residents by
an anonymous group calling itself
DEBT. The obligation a-rises
from the nature of the
issue involved rather than the references
made to me.
By way of background we should
know that the Commissioner of
Education has under consideration
a petition submitted by residents
of the Wyandanch School
District. This petition seeks the
dissolution of that district since
its enrollment consists almost
entirely of Negro children. It
requests that the students be
assigned to six other school districts.
One of the districts
named is Farmingdale - which is
located farther from Wyandanch
than the other five districts involved.
The Farmingdale School Board
by unanimous vote took certain
steps in an effort to ensure
that we would be consulted before
any decision was made which
would affect our district.
The Nassau - Suffolk School
Boards Association circulated a
ballot to its member boards requesting
a Yes or No vote on a
lengthy proposition opposing the
dissolution of the Wyandanch district
and requiring that a referendum
be held in each school
district involved. Because of the
action already taken by our board
and because of the poor timing
and the confusing language of
the ballot, the Farmingdale Board
decided not to participate.
The publication DEBT implies
something sinister about our non-participation
in the poll. However
fewer than one third of the
school boards actually cast a ballot.
We are told that 77% of the
boards voting were opposed to
dissolving the Wyandanch district.
We are not told that this
((. Continued on I* age 12)
FarmingdgJe ( OBSERVER, Ihuredqy, April 4#( , JSfo8
