AV Geeks 7-4-2024

hello everybody this is Skip Alzheimer welcome to the avgeeks lunchtime streaming show where we watch old 16 mm films and um I'm taking the day off but I still wanted to show you some films that were appropriate for the day um Freedom it's all about freedom and um so we've got a ser Ser of films that that talk about Freedom the first one and most important one is a cornet film called our living Declaration of Independence and it talks about the relevancy of the Declaration of Independence um in Modern Times And of course modern times for for this film was I think in the late 40s um but it still applies very much so uh today very much so today holy cow then there's a uh uh film called make mind Freedom which is a little bit about free enterprise but really about freedom and about uh those things that show up in the United States to try to compromise our freedom to try to lure us away from our goals of Freedom again another relevant thing then uh freedom and power which is a uh talks about the wonders of freedom but it's really about the wonders of electricity um which also is something that is what what's great is that as you know many of the films that we watch were made for a very specific time and place but they're all incredibly relevant now uh and finally uh behind the freedom curtain this is about the importance of voting and uh specifically by a company that makes uh voting machines um so this is an ad for voting machines now um again incredibly relevant um these are all amazing films that as you know capture a time and a place um but also uh are super important now they're all still issues they're all still incredibly relevant so there's values that are uh talked about in this film especially the first film that are super super important that um for me feel like this is it this is the basis um the advertising uh with the other films is you know it's ludicrous but again they're they're basing they're advertising on freedom freedom freedom so that's what today is all about hot dogs are great fireworks are great freedom is great so join me in supporting freedom and uh we will see you tomorrow if you like what you saw hit the thumbs up if you didn't like what you saw hit the thumbs up um you can also support us via super thanks on uh YouTube's chat uh also ko-fi.com slav Geeks patreon.com avgeeks those are all wonderful ways to support us but the the other thing that you can do to support us is to support freedom freedom freedom we love you guys and we will see you live tomorrow on Friday take care bye [Music] my name is Ronald Hart I'm editor and publisher of the news I want to report an experience I had a real experience I came out of my office to have a look at our annual Fourth of July parade I always enjoy a parade seems most people do but it was my job to write it up for the paper so I started asking myself questions what's it all about why do we still commemorate the Declaration of Independence what does it mean what does it mean today then I had the idea of calling on Carl hustl the parade had just passed the hustleman home when I arrived Carl had been watching it with his wife Bertha and his daughter marger how are you Grand parade wasn't it well biggest ever and Charles and Philip so handsome oh now father so a man cannot be proud of his own Sons hum we always triy to have our children home for every holiday excuse me Mr Hart but I must start supper the boys will be hungry why certainly you'll stay of course well thank you but I of course you'll stay for supper I'll help if I need you I'll call you stay here and see that father doesn't flatten Mr Hart's ears flatten his ears humbu sit down Rd sit down thank now that then uh uh as you were saying well about this celebration today yes why do we have it do we know what it means or is it possible that our Declaration of Independence is a thing of the past that no longer has any meaning for us no meaning why it has all meaning it means our country our freedom our dignity as men our very life yes Father those are are noble words we use them quite a bit but can we be more specific you be specific it is you have gone to college it is you have teaching school oh perhaps that's why I'm interested in learning more well let's put it this way where would we be today if there had been no Declaration of Independence I know where we would be if we had no Declaration of Independence I was there you know of course that I am an immigrant yes in the Old Country my father was a peasant farmer the land was good the crops were good our friends were good and these friends too were peasants and their parents and their grandparents and their ancestors as far back as anyone knew now the children the children would be peasants and the children children and the grandchildren we were peasants eternally up on the hill there was a castle a grand Castle centuries old and as old as the castle was the name of the family that lived there they were Nobles and the castle was theirs eternally you cannot know what it means to have your life decided for you before you are born and the reason the reason you cannot know is that in 1776 the Declaration of Independence said it was wrong and the Declaration still says that it is wrong will you come inside certain but since your life was so set over there what are you doing here how did you uh break away this is how much the Declaration of Independence means to me I keep it close to me now because once it was so far away hardly more than a dream back in the old country we heard tales about the Declaration of Independence about this land where wealth was plentiful and living was easy these Tales were told for Generations in each generation some men would break their an ient chains of bondage and fight their way into the new world and have you found your plentiful wealth your Easy Living I found no streets paved with gold I have worked hard all my life but I am comfortable I am a free man my children are free here the Conquering Hero hello Sergeant how are you glad to see how's the parade oh fine oh if you ask me Main Street gets longer every year you're my boy hello Mother why could you help hearing them hi Mom well Boys you've come in on a very interesting conversation conversation monologue is more likely please Mrs hustleman this is important to me your husband is helping me to a new understanding of the Declaration of Independence you see oh well I meant only try marching in the parade then you understanding how do you mean a a new understanding I'd always thought of the Declaration as well as a statement of separation from England oh but it's so much more than that well I mean speak up marjerie let us hear what you teach at youngsters in school well if Mr Hart would really be interested in what I have to say certainly be interested well I like to think of the Declaration of Independence as a fourfold document it is as you say first of all a declaration of Separation it begins when in the course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and later declared that these United colonies are and of right ought to be free and independent states that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British crown second it is an appeal to the sympathies of the world the colonists recognized and wrote that a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation third it is a Battle Cry calling upon the men of the colonies to rise up and defend their rights mutually pledging to each other their lives their fortunes and their sacred honor finally as written by Thomas Jefferson it is a brilliant statement of an ancient doctrine of the rights of man we hold the these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights that among these are life liberty and the pursuit of happiness that to secure these rights governments are instituted among men deriving their just powers from the consent of the government thank you you've helped me find the answer to my question she understands excuse us we must look after suffer but please speak loudly we wish not to miss what you say now you speak of a country founded on those principles yes the question is what does it mean today now your daughter's first point was that the Declaration of Independence was a declaration of Separation I grant you that we're all affected by that if we were still subjects of the British crown or even of the British Empire we might all live differently in some ways probably no more differently than our Canadian neighbors live today but no they two might be living quite differently if there had been no Declaration of Independence Al so recall marjerie saying that it was also an appeal to the sympathies of the world it helped bring on the French Revolution it inspired men everywhere to demand their rights in England in South America and look at me did it not reach out across the ocean and transform me from a peasant into a free man and look at my children These Fine boys margerie and the others you know them consider the Priceless Treasure of Freedom that is their Birthright their right yes but also their obligation ah true obligations and duties must always come before rights this was so even with the Declaration of Independence itself the men responsible for it they held a profound sense of Duty to themselves to their families and to their neighbors say Dad yes may I say something but of course really it it's funny but I'm beginning to understand something in the guard they talk about it being our job our duty to guard the heritage of Freedom they tell us our freedom is one in battle and it's taken several Wars to to protect it and the main reason we're in the guard is to be ready to defend it again if we have to so you Phillip are one of today's Minute Men and the Declaration of Independence is still a battlecry and were it not for the Declaration of Independence my boys instead might fight and die so that some king or dictator might extend his tyranny over several million more peasants yeah yeah it kind of makes sense now you know I'm sort of glad I marched in that parade but Freedom or no Freedom my dogs are really barking mine feel great but aren't all these things really summed up in the fourth point Mary made that the Declaration of Independence is a statement of the rights of man you are right son that is why I came to the United States where the Declaration of Independence gave birth to a government whose just powers are derived from the consent of the government a government which assures us our right of life liberty and the pursuit of happiness yeah okay Dad are you happy am I happy I am you can be as I understand the pursuit of happiness it means the right of each individual under law to seek his own highest good according to his own understanding and ability while tolerating and trying to understand the ways of others in doing the same that makes sense and it helps explain this idea that all men are created equal now anybody knows that all men are not born alike take the job I'm on I'm supervising this house building job for Mr Hinman I've got all sorts of men working for me no two of them are alike some are hardworking some are lazy some are smart some are dumb no they aren't born alike but they're born equal under the law and before God with equality of opportunity now they're not equal in wealth some have more money than others none of them has as much money as the man they're building this house for neither do I for that matter but there's nothing to stop me from making it and I mean to do it you see Mr Hart I went to college and I'm still learning every way I can on the job out of books I'm going to have my own construction company a big one and if it grows too big for this town I'll move to a bigger town I'm going to be somebody well Mr har how's that for the son of an immigrant huh I believe you'll do it too not me one big businessman in the family is enough the only time I'm happy is when I'm working on cars I'm going to be a mechanic but the best in town do you see what Freedom has done for these children of a peasant farmer one a businessman one a mechanic one school teacher and uh and one a bus driver and two more farmers and they own their own Farms suffer is ready you see all equal each free to seek his own highest good according to his own understanding and ability and each free to think his own thoughts I can tell you oh what going to Happ something well that's how I found a new angle for my story on the 4th of July celebration and I found a great deal more I found new meaning in the Declaration of Independence and in our celebration I found living proof that it is not a dead historical document but like the Bible a vital force and a guide to our living today I decided to challenge my readers as I now challenge you what does the Declaration of Independence mean to you how is your life better because of the Declaration of Independence in what ways do you live and act and think only because there is a declaration of independence how is the hope of the entire world brighter because of the Declaration of Independence [Music] [Music] America is many things to many people to a 17-year-old kid it's The Malt Shop on the [Music] corner to Grand Grandpa it's the front porch in the cool of the evening to mother and her family it's church on Sunday morning and to Dad it's his favorite [Music] relaxation it's the Cracker Barrel philosophers in Crabtree corners and it's the tons in Wall Street it's all Races Creeds and religions it's freedom to work at the job you like freedom of speech and to peaceably assemble freedom to own property security from unlawful search or seizure where's your warrant flat foot the right to a speedy and public [Music] trial protection against cruel punishments and excessive [Music] fines the right to vote [Music] and to worship God in your own way it is these freedoms that have made America strong okay okay so we got our freedom but Management's Len up everything labor is at fault it's ruining the country my constituents as your elected representative I can assure you Labor's right Management's right I'm strictly neutral Labor Management politicians boy they can't tell corn from oats hry hurry hurry step right up folks here's the answer to your problems Dr utopia's Sensational new discovery ISM ISM will cure any ailment of the body politic it's terrific it's tremendous once you swallow the contents of this bottle you'll have the Bountiful benefit of higher wages shorter hours and security enormous puppets no strikes remember you're the big boss government control no worry about votes name your own salary bigger crops lower cost why ISM even makes the weather perfect every day and now then because we are introducing this amazing item for the first time in this country it isn't going to cost you one cent all you have to do is sign this little scrap of paper and you get your bottle absolutely free I hereby turn over to ISM Incorporated everything I have including my freedom and the freedom of my children and my children's children in return for which said ISM promises to take care of me forever me pardon me and who are you my good man I'm John Q public oh my fine friend you're just in time to share this generous and gigantic offer sign right here mind if I read it first hurry [Music] up keep your shirts on boys including my freedom freedom well sign away my freedom why this is ridiculous don't be corny brother sure our system of free enterprise isn't perfect but before we throw it away for some imported double talk let's turn the clock back a few years to see what it's done for us for example back in the 1890s Joe does was just a guy who liked to Tinker around his barn some people thought Joe was lazy some even thought he was nuts but one day he had my idea and because he was free to dream his dream and Tinker Joel had a chance to make something of himself in his idea [Music] so of course some people didn't think so much of Joe's idea but that didn't stop him so Joe got some money from Young Aunt Minnie and Uncle Angus and grandpappy and Mr Titus when Joe's friends and relatives used their savings to help him buy tools and property they were capitalists don't flush folks it's nothing to be ashamed of now naturally Joe needed some help so he hired Willie lumpin who was out of work anyway and before long Willie had the knowhow and became skilled labor because Capital Management and labor work together Joe's idea grew it grew and did things even he never dreamed of today the automobile industry provides millions of jobs that never existed before and remember remember this is a story of only one industry there are thousands more scattered all over the United States whose history of development is pretty much the same we've built a country under the American system that sends more young people to high school and college than all the rest of the world combined why even in the depression our wages bought more food clothing travel and entertainment than the wages of any other people in the world our country has a national income equal to the total National incomes of any other six nation in the world with only 7% of the Earth's we drive 70% of the world's automobiles that's just a sample of the things the capitalistic system has given us in only 160 years before signing up you boys ought to try a little taste of do ism's formula to see what you'd get an exchange for your freedom go ahead try [Music] it you can't do this to me I'll strike the state forbid strikes wait the union hears about this ah yes the union Welcome to our ranks number 13313 [Music] I'll take this case to the Supreme Court the state is the Supreme Court our decision is as follows no more private property no more you the farm vote put a stop to this farmers don't vote anymore what do they do for seed next year you won't have to worry about next year the state will do your planning from now [Music] on we must fight to regain our freedom or everything is lost everything everything is fine everything is fine everything is fine everything is fine everything is fine when anybody preaches disunity tries to pit one of us against the other through class Warfare race hatred or religious intolerance you know that person seeks to Rob us of our freedom and destroy our very lives and we know what to do about it and now gentlemen no violence please don't throw those botles don't throw those botles [Music] go working together to produce an Ever greater abundance of material and spiritual values for all that is the secret of American prosperity [Music] [Music] and [Music] the weather was fine that morning in April the winter had been warm already the blossoms were out and in the fields plowing had begun but the farmers were not at their plows that day they had taken their muskets and formed a line on the Green in the village of Lexington [Music] disperse ye Rebels why don't she lay down your arms and disperse stand your ground don't fire unless fired on but if they mean to have a war let it begin here [Music] the butt of Freedom had been swelling for a long time and on the 19th of April 1775 it burst into bloom at Lexington and conquered in Massachusetts [Music] what were the freedoms these men were fighting for freedom to govern themselves freedom to elect the representatives who would Levy their taxes personal Liberty an air of Freedom would soon nurture a driving urge to build and grow in nearly 200 years since the colonies began there had been settled only a narrow strip along the coast the new United States was a long thin country with an unplumbed continent at her back but then that driving urge came welling up in the heavy air of Freedom it could not be contained beyond the old Frontier there was a world of top soil waiting for the under the rolling bulge of the land laid deep layers of [Music] minerals forests of lumber the people filled their lungs with the air of freedom and went to work to do the job they had the strength of their backs the strength of their backs the muscles of their animals and the force of falling water water power to turn the Grist Mills to run the saws and the Looms from with on and to Califor f it rain all night I so don't cry oh don't cry for [Music] mefor oh don't me I'm going to californ my true finally they discovered new power in water steam power and the continent was spanned by a steel High [Music] Road in just about 100 years they had given the country a new spacious shape we have vanquished the frontier we stand on the Pinnacle of guess a century after Lexington the Sunday orators could get rhetorical about the way things had turned out they thought the job was practically done that pioneering was just about over others suggested that the patent office be closed since everything had already been invented but they were wrong all this time through all this Empire building another kind of pioneering had been going on it began 25 years before the Battle of Lexington and was not concerned with muskets and Ox wagons but with some odds and ends like a salt seller a vinegar Cru a pump handle which belong to one Benjamin Franklin of Philadelphia he was experimenting with a phenomenon he called electric fire and he made his apparatus out of whatever household goods came to [Music] hand everyone knows how he made a silken kite and fluid in a thunderstorm to prove that lightning and electricity were one and the same but he also made the first electric battery he discovered the positive and negative properties of electricity his writings which contained the original language of electricity were translated into German French and Italian was celebrated everywhere as the world's first electrical scientist but the growing struggle for Liberty claimed his attention he laid aside his bottles and jars and turned to the cause of Freedom his pen in editing Jefferson's original words gave the Declaration of Independence its final form down the expanding years here and abroad new experimenters picked up where Franklin had left off these men too were Pioneers thriving on the air of freedom from Samuel Morse inventor of the telegraph tapping out his first message what hath God wrought to another great Pioneer exploring an unknown Frontier amid the well settled surroundings of Meno Park New Jersey Thomas a Edison after more than 6,000 individual experiments had finally developed an incandescent lamp that would burn for 40 hours this arduous and costly Enterprise was supported from the very beginning by still other Pioneers a group of investors who in October 1878 actually formed a company to invent an electric light like all the other accomplishments since Lexington day this one too was nurtured by the atmosphere of freedom and it was destined to expand and multiply our freedoms beyond all imagining here was a light that was to show the way to one of the most significant single developments the world had ever seen the electrification of nearly all human endeavor even after the light would work it was no more than a curiosity unless people could somehow get electricity to use it Edison envisioned a central Generating Station to manufacture electricity and a network of wires to deliver it to customers to bring his dream to life there had to be created in one stroke the whole Foundation of our electrical age generators cables switches junction boxes conduits meters the birth of Modern Electric Power Systems took place in 1882 the dynamos started in the Pearl Street Steam Station in New York City and in the midwest hydroelectric stations had their Beginnings no longer would light heat and power have to originate at the points where they were to be used they could be delivered by wire from Central Power stations for electricity as Benjamin Franklin knew was heat and power as well as light many other Pioneers already saw the power possibilities and they were developing a device called the electric motor here was the strength of men's backs the muscles of their animals and the power of the water wheel in one package now there were companies manufacturing something that no one had ever made and sold before they were manufacturing the most versatile power of all time electric power and delivering it through wires no bigger than your fingers here was courage to build and grow but courage also to back progress up with cash a pioneering Spirit on the part of people every everywhere the bank cashier the harness maker the shoe clerk the school teacher the ordinary everyday people who invested their savings and gave the young power industry strength to expand they the share owners as much as the inventors and Engineers B about a great Revolution when a world that had plotted down the centuries suddenly found out how to use a force that had waited to go to work since before the Daybreak of [Music] history now in one lifespan the future came rushing in like an avalanche here was power unbelievably versatile power titanically muscle power leaping to any task incredibly delicate power responding with instant Precision to the tiny signal hot power melting infusing metals or gently warming a sleeping child magic power soaring through space to link man with man brilliant power lighting the way to a better [Music] world above all here was power for Freedom power to expand existing freedoms power to create new freedoms add new freedom to enjoy contact with the wider world and all it had to offer greater freedom for social contact New Freedom of the mind and a revolutionary new freedom freedom from drudgery with the birth of the electrical age a nation's standard of living surged forward the nerve center of the new way of life is the dispatcher center of the utility that serves your community this is where they root the power where they plot the day's power requirements for everything from making toast or Brewing the morning coffee to running Factory assembly lines and turning on the light over the operating table in the hospital you see the product these men handle can't be stored it has to be manufactured transported and used by customers all in the same [Music] instant the heart of the system the heart of the age your community lives in the generating [Music] plant it is still the old principle of the water mill turn a wheel and produce power power that can be carried by wire hydroelectric plants use falling water to turn the wheels in country where Mountain Lakes can be harnessed but the biggest percentage of United States power comes from superheated Steam driving turbine generators electricity is produced at 13,800 volt Transformers step it up as high as 230,000 or more volts and it speeds over the transmission lines wires connecting the turbine generator with factories stores homes throughout the [Music] [Applause] community happy birthday to you happy birthday to you birthday happy birthday [Music] I'm 75 [Music] today you're get what the same Hill is this it's a reading La for your room Grandpa well isn't that something the first lamp I used to read by burned coal oil were you about my age grandpa just about honey come here I'll show you give me that album that's me would you believe it sue yes little Fred Wilson studied his lessons by the light of a kerosene lamp he didn't know that a new age had already begun at Meno Park that during his lifetime electricity would bring the greatest Revolution that had ever come over the human world Fred was a farm boy there were more people on farms in those days there had to be because living muscle did most of the work of raising food for the country from the days of the Minute Men Who were farmers themselves the biggest percentage of Americans were tilling the soil within a few years Edison's wonderful dynamos would change even [Music] that when Jud Grandpa's oldest son was big enough to help on the place the farm was one of the first in the country to be connected with wires from the local utility and the miraculous power began to help with the [Music] chores John him himself has the farm now and he alone does more work than Grandpa could have done with a dozen Hired Hands volume production through electric power has freed America from the soil more people can go to work producing Goods because it takes less people working on farms to supply food for themselves and the rest of the nation it is freedom to industrialize an agricultural country that change had already begun to take place when Bill Wilson Grandpa's youngest son left the farm as a young man to work in the factory in town when he got his first job industry was not yet fully converted to the new Power he spent his days in a jungle of steam-driven line shafts but before long they had made the switch to electric power and cumbersome blind shafts were replaced by individual Motors on each machine bill has seen the great progress made through electric power now there is less effort and more pay greater production and better working conditions both Jud and Bill to say nothing of grandpa had a tough time staying in school they had to go to work at an early age but Jimmy Bill's son will not only finish high school he expects to go to college and the school he attends is a far cry from the one his dad went to it's a different world than Grandpa and you as a boy the change has reached Way Beyond the home farm and school business and commerce too have been streamlined by electric power June is perhaps Grandpa's favorite has electricity to speed her work at the bank when she goes home from work she rides on a silent gliding trolley bus almost to her own door the house is much the same shape as the houses the Minute Men lived in but the door leads to a different way of life here light heat and energy to help with the housework come in by wire electric powers performing other unseen jobs the water faucets are connected with a modern electrically operated Water Treatment Plant the garbage dispose all to an electrically operated sewage plant the amazing part of it all is the fact that the electric power they use in their home costs less than it did when Bill and Ella were married back in 1920 all in a man's lifetime Electric power has changed the world but what about the world that Fred Wilson's granddaughter will see the World of Tomorrow Tomorrow will bring Innovations like the heat pump which electrically Heats your house in Winter and cools it in summer even in Winter there is always heat in the air the soil and the water below ground level during the cold months the heat pump withdraws warmth from outside to heat your home in summer it operates much like your electric refrigerator withdrawing and expelling heat from the inside air to provide cooling comfort and what of atomic energy chances are there will never be a handy home siiz Atomic Pile in your basement but experiments are already underway that point to Atomic power plants like this the intense heat generated in an atomic pile produces steam to drive a battery of turbine generators thus the mysterious force of nuclear fion is converted into the familiar flexible electric power beyond atomic energy there is another Limitless undeveloped source of power the energy in sunlight falling on the US daily is more than enough to supply all our requirements for food heat and light to power our transportation and Manufacturing to today we use sunlight stored in coal once lush green vegetation or the force of falling water whose cycle is motivated by the Sun but locked in every growing plant is a mysterious process known as photosynthesis Nature's Way of turning light into chemical energy science is patiently unlocking the secrets of photosynthesis and we may well see an era wherein solar energy like atomic energy may be put to work as electric power but there are electrical Innovations long past the experimental stage look already it is tomorrow welcome to an electrical home of the future A New Concept for living whose elements are all practical possibilities now come in here is a living room with no wasted space for centuries the fireplace has been the center of Attraction so here we have Incorporated the Modern Age point of Interest the television set this room like the rest of the house is light conditioned carefully planned lighting based on research and installed with a relay operated remote control wiring system this inexpensive system permits starting breakfast coffee by pressing a bedside [Music] switch turning off the radio with a switch near the telephone lights can be turned on ahead and turned off behind you as you walk through the rooms just off the living room is the electric kitchen organized to save steps time and energy the combination soda fountain and snack bar adjoins the electric laundry where clothes can be washed rinsed dried and [Music] ironed Incorporated in the snack bar is the electric sink with a disposal and dishwasher here is greater freedom from drudgery than ever before indoor weather of this new world home is provided by the heat pump a concept of living for the future yes but all components of this dream home are being manufactured today tomorrow they can be part of your home too but for us the wonders of tomorrow and the way of life we have achieved depend on freedom to build and grow on the personal Liberty that inspired the men of Lexington but now our freedoms are threatened by forces that would crush our liberties and tyrannize the minds of men against these forces we have the weapons of Freedom courage faith and the creative spirit and we have the tool that built our way of life productivity America with only 6% of the world's population produces over 40% of the world's Goods how can such a small percentage of the world's people produce so much here is one important reason every worker has at his command an invisible Battalion who are they listen a 1 horsepower motor can do the muscle work of 17 men in 1940 the average American worker had four horsepower of electrical energy or the equivalent of nearly 70 invisible workers at his command by 1950 10 short years later this number had more than doubled there were on the job with him over 150 unseen workers and the ranks of these invisible battalions keep growing with this productivity we can add to our freedoms and defend them for the future the challenge is clear we must keep building our productivity to strengthen Freedom at home and Vault The Tyranny abroad if we are now able to multiply the efforts of every Workman 150 times with only 8 horsepower of electric power why not still more horsepower why not 200 300 500 invisible workers on the job as the Minutemen laid down their plows and took up their guns at the first alarm we too must guard for ourselves and for future Generations the Liberties that enabled us to build and grow today freedom and power are woven together the invisible battalions of electric power turn out autos and airplanes household goods and guided missiles to preserve our freedoms for the greater world world to come but we are not a nation of Destroyers we are Builders Builders of new freedoms and more power for a new age we stand on the edge of that new age even now and the pioneering Spirit flowering in the air of Freedom will dream and build new ways to put electric power to work then in time we may come to know that the men of Lexington set off a chain reaction burining down the years to make this world a Freer World For All Mankind [Music] [Music] I'm Michael R Jackson Courier dispatch I'm on my way to the grand opening of what I consider to be the greatest show on Earth first time it's played our County but we think when the curtain closes tonight this will be quite a different place to live I had a little something to do with it that is a man I wrote about in a series of news stories did my Beats the county courthouse and if you know anything about County cour houses well that's democracy Showplace I don't have any free press passes for you but you can get good seats if your credentials say USA that probably gives it away but we announce without apology this is going to be a flag waving production if that be naive let the sophisticates make the most of it if there had been more of it lately this show would play to standing room only however there are plenty of seats but it's curtain [Music] time he's not necessarily the star in this particular show like to say is but wouldn't be quite true in this case the stage of this show is that voting machine right there and the theme getting them installed in this Cy it didn't just happen you see you can legislate yourself all the laws you want about the right to vote but whether you actually have an active electorate or not comes down like everything else of consequence to a matter of action on the part of a very few men and what kind of arrangements they make in your community it may be some other official like your councilman in ours it's the County Commissioners who carry the assignment of seeing that there is a way and a means for every American to run his country between 6:00 a.m. and 6: p.m. on that first Tuesday in November now although voting machines are over 60 years old and are already being used by about half the voters in America our commissioners still had to sell the idea here a lot of work but they felt worth doing they got me on their team to do my series of Articles when commissioner Miller told me about the ease and speed and economy of voting with machines over paper ballots when the voter is properly qualified the attending election official admits him to the machine Mr citizen moves the operating lever to the right which unlocks the machine and locks out the world for the first time the secret ballot is really secret and there are over 19 and 1 half centuries that I know of invested in achieving just that the voter selects his candidates by turning down the voting pointers directly above the names of his candidate candidates then he records and counts his own vote by returning the operating handle to the left that's all there is to it he does not hand any papers to any human beings his vote is made and cast Untouched by other human hands or minds and that's a long step up from tyranny the ballot is right at the voter's eye level easily read and all officers and all candidates are at the same eye level no candidate suffers by being placed in an unfavorable position the commissioner won over service clubs all over the county whenever he addressed them by reminding them of the large number of Voters who are disenfranchised every year at the paper ballot type polls by making mistakes busy people often by habit make check marks on the ballot in states where X's are required they might as well have stayed home that vote is a no vote doesn't count illegal other voters find that at the last minute they have accidentally voted for the wrong man or they changed their mind don't lady uh-uh it doesn't count or you know election pencils good try sir but this ballot will be thrown out or in the multiple choice offices errors are frequent she's entitled to choose five state representatives but she's marked six this is a no vote simple mistakes yes but out of every thousand people some hurried some nervous some uninformed how many do you think do it perfectly the commissioner figured there's some excuse for being disenfranchised by tyranny or war or fear no yes it can happen here but not for well-intentioned mistakes not in this age of the voting machine which cannot make a check mark instead of an X which does let you change your mind by simply pushing the pointer back up which has no pencil to break or paper to tear which will not let you vote for more than you're allowed the pointer will not turn turn if you've cast all your votes questions and issues if any are placed up here on the top of the ballot the pointers are marked yes and no or for and against the machine won't let you spoil your ballot by voting both ways and when you're satisfied with your vote a new privilege awaits you you will register and count your own vote by returning this handle walk away knowing your ballot cannot be disqualified thrown out nor miscounted it's already counted the moment you leave nor can the machine make a mistake first off it cannot be opened except by a key after saing the machine which halts all voting on that machine for the day it looks complex but it's not a complex mechanical action it looks so because of the large number of voting units in it but actually each voting assembly has a straight mechanical linkage and a rugged action like this and of course voting machines are not a new idea many new functions have been added of course but basically they're 12 years older than the automobile 1892 their use has steadily increased until last year in 35 States in territory of Hawaii about half of our American voters voted by Machine why why well newspapers went after answers so did the commissioner and the first answer was it's so fast and so easy just three simple steps first move the red operating handle to the right second select your candidates third throw the handle to the left to count and record your own vote why else machine boting [Music] absolute secret bity we've had no trouble about that in this County but we don't want any either the Commissioners understood about fear that it's a very very subtle thing this voter's opinion is in the machine not on any piece of paper which passes from hand to hand why else voting machines the automatic voting machine absolutely eliminates the disenfranchisement which comes from mistakes ballot mutilations checks instead of x's erasers are voting for too many candidates on machines every vote that's cast is counted the count is mechanically accurate and of course of interest to me and well7 million others I guess is the fact that immediately after the last voter the election results are available these counters cannot be exposed during the voting day exposure automatically locks the machine against further voting but once opened the result is available right now my paper can get the results which means the people and the candidates and the radio and TV stations can get the results hours earlier just read the figures off the counters to the recorders then check the recorded figures back against the counters announce the results in 5 to 10 minutes how about the good old days well counting was a 5H hour job if things went smoothly [Music] if not [Music] well then it was 5 days but the mechanical counters cannot get tired cannot get cranky cannot forget why voting machines well money voting machines vote more people much faster therefore you can consolidate your precincts sometimes even two for one Cuts in half your need for hard to finded election workers Madison Wisconsin for example eliminated 170 election workers and multiply 170 by a day's pay and you see what kind of savings we're talking about plus the counting takes a quarter of an hour as oppos to 3 to 6 hours fewer people fewer hours equals fewer dollars not always of course but in our type count yes then take your printing costs paper ballots require at least one ballot for every voter voting machines one printed ballot per machine and of course save just one old style countywide recount and your machines are nearly home free but money wasn't chiefly on the commissioner's mind something else the man who took the lead in it is a seasoned professional career politician realistic tough even unemotional but that's why he knew that democracy as an idea and a practice had to compete in this County like every everything else for the respect and attention of our people who are pressing the clock hard every day it has to compete against speed and motion regrettably even against America's second cup of coffee everything else in the county competes hard for the citizens increasingly valuable time our churches were modernizing with parking lots he could get into faster our marketplaces were automating to compete for his time and his dollar our schools modernized to command his respect and his tax dollar the tools which our average citizen uses every day in his job of work has become fantastically automatic and fast as industry moves to automation and even his home life is automatic modern but the one place where the average citizen participated in the political system which made it all possible no change democracy is the foundation the heart of that democracy is the polls which were still being run in our County the way they were when we held Inauguration Day on March the 4th so the new president would have three months to ride his horse to Washington the driving question on the commissioner's mind can democracy compete with its right hand tied to a Hitching Post [Music] his answer in our county is what I consider The Greatest Show on Earth it's bringing out the people as the commissioner likes to say we've really become one of the freedom curtain counties [Music] the [Music]