Muncie Post-Democrat, Muncie, Delaware County, 2 August 1929 — Page 1

THE POST-DEMOCRAT

VOLUME IX—NUMBER 28.

MUNCIE, INDIANA, FRIDAY, AUGUST 2, 1929.

Price 5 Cents—S2.00 a Year

DEMOCRATIC CHAIRMAN

Wilbur Sims, Refusing to Quit Organization!

(feat the democratic ticket. Bob Acker, counterfeit demo-

After Demand Made By All Candidates,

■BT* /rs. trick, “plays ball” openly with the Voices Opposition to Party s Candidate wm*™ da,,. H e . P a,-tid-for Mayor-Matter Will Go Before State ^ ^ Central Committee—Traitors In Employ co -S e c ‘m” T„«ie played ln the

of Unity League Outfit.

“Creamy”

Barnes camp before the primary, serving as connecting link between -salable democrats looking for a handout from the Roberts Hotel

candidate hatchery.

Constable John Cox, feeling strange no doubt in the presence

not even vote a democratic tic net

in the primary election.

John Ciubbins, naturally opposed to the democratic candidate, who promises to break up the paving i trust of which John is such a j prominent stockholder, ran true to

port Dale’s candidacy. I am goifig on the theory that the democrats haven’t got a candidate for mayor this year s'o headquarters will merely forget him and proceed to elect all the rest of the ticket.” Just why lie should be so enthusiastic over the “rest of the ticket” after they had unanimously ordered him out, is hard to fathom. But at any rate Wilbur Sims, who handled money for the Barnes candidacy and hangs around the city hall playing, handy man for the cyty court and police department, and taking orders from George Cromer, has proceeded to read George Dale out of the dem-

ocratic party. Other and better

men have tried that and made the done by these birds they will have

Squad

The Unity League, acting through democrats in name who publicly proclaim their loyalty to the democratic nominee for mayor, is causing its agents to whisper to loyal democrats and independent republicans that ‘‘Dale is making a mistake fighting democrats. He should co-operate with Sims for the sake of harmony.” Voters should pay no attention whatever to such "piffle. It is put out solely for the purpose of dividing democrats. The Post-Democrat is making no fight against democrats. Wilbur Sims and the little coterie of a half dozen or more 1 who are in the conspiracy are just as much a part of the Unity League as George Cromer and

Lon Thornburg.

If there’s any stabbing to be

The Post-Democrat, believing in giving its readers straight facts, would be derelect in its duty did it not explain, at some length, the conspiracy hatched up here by a

few so-called democrats to defeat the democratic city ticket t L jj^ ^penitentTary^ so*often, "Tid

and put,over the Unity League slate in the fall city election. 1 Wilbur Sims, handy man around the city hall, is still doggedly hanging on as democratic city chairman, although the democratic candidates have repeatedly requested him to resign in order that an organization may be effected that

will be loyal to the ticket.

During the primary campaign Mr. Sims kept his pur-!!™' 111 lvhen he a(ld( : d hls ; Ioh , n poses under cover until within a very few days of the elec-j to the bond of a so . ca iiUd political lion. It then suddenly developed that he had no interest treasurer who will never have a in the democratic primary, but was concerned principally in (dime to hold if he expects to get doing everything within his power to insure the nomination j 11 fl °T h e e ^hispe^rin

of Mr. Barnes.

Handled Barnes Money.

As stated before in the Post-°-Democrat Mr. Sims was entrusted with an unknown sum of money which undoubtedly -came from the Hotel Roberts headquarters of the Unity League and which was used by Sims to pay watchers selected by Lon Thornburg, who with Jim Fitch, is the main guardian of

hand picked capdidates.

These watchers were mostly republicans.' Some were democrats by name only who have no inten-t-pn of voting the democrat ticket this fall. All of them received from Sims credentials as “demo-

cratic” watchers.

Since the primary the activities Of Sims have been no less suspicious than they were before. As treasurer of the democratic city central committee, he named ence Priest, without consulting the candidates,- not one of whom would have favored such a selection.

Treachery!

Priest openly declares that he is opposed to the democratic candidate for mayor, the fact that he o,„ .or-Hvft -Kw “Klux .supporter of *C1 aFeiice Dearth- ni Ttfs fti si campaign probably -having something To do with his disapproval now of a candidate for mayor of the partv for whyh he hopes to net ^ financial agent, under appointment bv Sims. Mr. Sims himseli has openly declared to democrats that he will not support the democratic candidate for rnay^Bi’. His employment as a Barnes aarent before the primary was evidently not only for the preliminary bout, hut for the entire campaign. By some trick nr other he was inserted m the democratic chairmanship through the expert manipulation of George Cromer, who knows a political trick or two, and has the amazing gall to insist that he will stick there to the finish, although the candidates would much prefer that he would move in bodv, as web as snir’t. into tup Hotel Roberts lurking place of the Unity League, where he belongs. How He Explains It. The so-called democratic chairman has made a very ingenious explanation of his idea as to the conduct of the campaign. To a number of prominent democrats he has put it this way. “You see I won’t have to sup-

same kind of a botch of the job

that Wilbur has.

The democratic candidates have

made an appeal to the democratic state central committee to relieve local democracy of the handicap

of a disloyal organization.

The mere fact ^iat Sims makes,

no spovet .of t,g

democratic candidate for mayor should catisC •Tiis removal by the

state committee.

Of course it will rake no difference in the ,final determination of the election whether Sims stays in or gets out, If the state committee should refuse to interfere it will merely mean that the democratic candidates will be put to the trouble and expense of building up a separate organization. With only two or three exceptions the precinct committeemen are loyal. If Sims uses hijs power to remove the loyal committeemen and fill the committee with Unity Leaguers an entire new committee will be selected and a working organization will be built up that will perform the duties of a regular commi|ttee.

Their Slick Trick.

The slick trick engineered by the paving trust and other scared rabbits who fbar the election of Dale as they never feared anything before in their lives ought to open the eyes of tlje voters, democrat and republicans, to the desperation of the bi-partisan gang. The names on the signers of the bond of “Treasurer” Clarence Priest should be enough to prove the bi-partisan conspiracy to de-

THE BURNING ISSUES

The little political debate that is now going on in Muncie is of the dignified, sedate kind, conducted on a high plane, devoid of so-called mud slinging. To prove this we cite the whispers emanating from the Unity League cloister that the editor made Dr. Karl Brown cough up six hundred dollars to keep a story about the Legion out of the Post-Democrat. That’s that. The story circulated during the primary that the democratic candidate for mayor went to jail in Hartford City for stealing a pair of shoes has not been revived but a new one was sprung Wednesday. “S-h-h-h! Don’t tell anybody who told you,” is the way it went, “but I’ve got the word of a party who doesn’t want his name used that Dale was caught asleep and dead drunk in bed with another man’s wife the other night, WITH HIS SHOES ON!” Since the main offense seemed to consist of going to bed with his shoes on the editor wishes to enter a disclaimer. He did not have his shoes on. So that, again, is that. Campaign lies should be nailed on the spot. With his shoes on, indeed! But here’s one that ought to stick to the ribs. He belongs to the Ku Klux Klan. Clarence Priest says so and he ought to know for he made a noble figure himself a few years ago when he roamed the fields in a nightshirt, with a sack over his head. Clarence says he knows the four men that took him in, but wouldn’t put up any money when the candidate offered to bet him $125 he was a liar. And thus the burning issues are discussed. It is enlightening to be a candidate. You find out just what kind of an insect you really are.

to come out in the open and do it from in front. They’re not going' to be given the opportunity to do

it in the back.

Any so-called headquarters opened by Sims and his co-conspirators will be good place for democrats to stay away from. In due time

' !! ■ ■ : : In*

opened and a strict quarantine will be maintained against spies

and traitors.

They simply can’t get away with

STATE INSISTS THAT DR. SNOOK FED GIRL DRUG

Fight Hinges On Question of Professor Or Co-Ed Be-

ing the Aggressor.

Columbus, O., Aug. 2.—A bitter fight on the question of whether Dr. James H. Snook or his young mistress, Theora Hix, administered the stimulating concoction that was found in the girl’s stomach after she was slain by Snook will be waged on the witness stand in his trial for first-degree murder, the opening statements of counsel revealed yesterday. Confronting the claim of the defense that Dr. Snook’s mind was unbalanced by a narcotic given him secretly by Miss Hix to stimulate his emotions, Prosecutor John J. Chester Jr., in his outline to the jury, declared that the actions imputed to the-girl rightfully belong to Dr. Snook. Centers on Sandwich. About one hour before Miss Hix drove with the former professor to the New York Central rifle range on the night of June 13, when she was killed, she ate a beef sandwich in which the preparation was placed, the prosecutor told the

jurors.

This was determined, he said, by oity chemist C. F. Long’s examination \Of the contents of the girl’s stomach. “The state’s evidence will show” he declared, “that on the night of June 13, Theora Hix refused to go with Dr. Snook to the apartment house where they had been maintaining a room together, but accompained him on the automobile ride to the rifle rang.” While they were riding, the sandwich was procured by Snook and' the professor placed the drug within it. Chester said. Dr. Snook then tried to force his attentions upon her, but was repulsed, the prosecutor said. He became angry and in a struggle struck Miss Hix with a hammer and and cut her

throat.

TRUCK DRIVER HURT

Bluffton, Ind., Aug. 2.—Word was received here Thursday that Fred Ruby of Decatur, truck driver for the Holsum Bread Company, was severely injured while enroute to this city when 4iis truck overturned near Preble.

Getting Direct Action | ■ A representative of the Post-Democrat spent the first part of the week in Battle Creek, Michigan, where the renowned I k, Shumaker is recuperating in a sanitarium, storlnfi up strength that will enable him to come back to Ldiana before the fall elections to take up a collection and tell the voters that all democrat candidates are vet and all republican candidates dry. Battle Creek is a nice town of fifty or sixty thousand inhabitant:;, about the size of Muncie, but there the likeness ends. The citv owns its own waterworks. The water is cold and palatable, being drawn from deep rock wells. Drinking fountains appear at almost every corner in the business district. Water bills are paid every two months, the minimum charge being one dollar for the two months, and owners of average sized modern hemes very rarely pay over the minimum. Thus the home owner receives an ample supply of pure, cold water for six dollars a year and the city is making a good profit from the utility since it numbers among its consumers many cf the large industries of the city and the numerous cereal food factories that abound there. C The city chemist was surorised to know that Muncie own its ”wn waterworks.; “.Water is the one imfspensatne i ecessitvrwd f is strange tfial in this advanced age that a City of the importance of Muncie should not own its own water supply.” Since the rate in Battle Creek is about one-third of that charged here, and the water really quenches thirst instead of heating up the tonsils and leaving a bad taste in one’s mouth, as it does here, the reporter heartily agreed. ’ j There is no paving trust in Battle Creek. The city owns its own gravel pits, buys cement, asphalt and other paving materials on the open market from the lowest bidders, the paving is done by the city and the assessments against abutting property lines are based on the actual cost of construction. Since there is no paving trust there that pays for the privilege of skinning the people, there is no incentive to slight the work. Battle Creek is a city of fine pavements, and the work is done at an amazingly low cost to property owners. The reporter also looked in on the “city sealer” of Battle Creek, whose force of decuties enforces the law on weights and measures and is rigid in its inspection of water, gas and electric light meters. It’s things of that sort which makes us wonder sometimes whether Muncie really realizes some of the things it is missing—things it can have for the asking. Probably Battle Creek has its rotten spots, as well as Muncie. It may be that the reporter just happened to stumble onto a few of its brighter spots. Muncie might profit by comparing itself with other cities of its size and adopting their best features. The editor of the Pest-Democrat will visit a number of cities in this and adjoining states during the next few weeks and publish the result of his research together with recommendations that may be of value in later community endeavor when a progressive administration accepts the burden of responsibility incident to official control.

NOMINEE

The Candidate’s Corner (By Geo. R. Dale)

The question has been debated some in Muncie as to just when the municipal campaign should “open up.” One daily newspaper insists that the public should be spared during warm weather and that it would almost be asking too much to express the hope that the candidates shall all keep their mouths shut until three or four weeks before election day, but that that would 1 really be ideal, even if unlikely. The other daily newspaper does not even mention the campaign, having so many other piatters of great moment, national and international, to settle to its own satisfaction, that it is presumably not interested in the question of who will run the government in Muncie for the next four years. It rather irritates me to have people speak of a “political campaign” as being a ipere period of three or four weeks of red fire, oratorical bombast and a mad scrambling among the voters at the eleventh hour in order to persuade them to vote this way or that way, without giving them time for sober reflection.

* * * *

It never occurred to me to run

Muncie in 1922 and immediately the Post-Democrat “took the bull by the horns” and attacked it as an enemy to society and a breeder ot anarchy. Not knowing whether the klan would subdue the government or the government subdue the klan and observing that thousands of our citizens had joined, the da Mies assumed an attitude of discreet neutrality and while the klan was strong and- arrogant, talked about the weather and the tariff, but later, when the klan fell, came nobly to the front and like the dare devils they are, kicked the corpse in fierce abandon.

# * * *

But there are some things going on here that the people know, and have known for years, owing to the frank exposures made by the Post-Democrat, that have not yet arrived at the impeachment or indictment and arrest stage, so from the Muncie daily newspaper standpoint they have not yet become news, although they are discussed in every home in Delaware county and are even known and talked about by the little children of the

community.

The paving trust :s swinging well into its fourth year of hoggish

XU liCVCI 1 M.AU 1 I C U LU lilt; IU I U11 | . .7 ^ for mayor until early this spring, ' t h* evei ’y- It levies tribute on every j,. . lineal foot of real estate in the city

of Muncie. The existence of this

yet it might be said that I have been conducting a ^continuous “political campaign” in Muncie every week in the year for many years. Elections should not be decided solely on the personality of candidates or on issues alone. In selecting a mayor for the city of Muncie there should be a combination of issues and personality that tehould tip the scales one way

or another.

My newspaper, from its first issue in January, 1921, has devoted itself almost exclusively to the discussion of civic problems. It was not and never has been my purpose in discussing these questions to exalt any political party, but to present to my readers con Crete facts concerning their own governmental affairs, ■things that

It has nol been customary ' for Other newspapers here to hurt the feelings of important citizens holding office by publishing things that might be to their discredit. The mere stealing of the free gravel road fund, the existence of a gamblers’ and bootleggers’ trust, a thieving paving monopoly, or a criminal conspiracy among public officials to participate secretly in the profits from public contracts, excites no initial spasms of indignation in the editorial columns of these newspapers. It has bqen left to me to expose these conditions and the dailies j never make mention of them until I things get so rank that there is no

escape.

For instance the truck deal would never have been “news” in these dailies if my newspaper had not finally forced the issue to the point that a reluctant city council was compelled to make a ridiculous rejoinder. Clarence Dearth would have retired from the bench without a .vord of censure or criticism on the part of these newspapers had :t not been that my newspaper put the issue of honest courts so squarely before the public that the legislature had to act and at once Dearth became big news in the Public prints all over America. ' , When I challenged his judicial conduct and went to jail and the convict farm for it in 1923, and began a six year battle in behalf of free spech and a pure judiciary, my case, insofar as it was treated locally by my newspaper contemporaries was merely “another criminal case” ranking along with prosecutions of bootleggers, plain drunks and wife deserters. When the matter assumed the importance of not only national, but international news, the daily newspapers here began to make guarded reference to the real issues involved.

* * * *

The Post-Democrat dug into the | story of Owen Helvie’s escapade ;, t Elwood and gave exclusive accounts of the drunken exploit of the road superintendent, who still holds his job in defiance of public

opinion.

With the help*of/John Cox, who had the courago/to make formal complaint against Helvie, the Post Democrat succeeded in forcing Helvie to an impeachment trial before the county commissioners and he was convicted of the very things the Post-Democrat had ac-

cused him of.

It will'be recalled that while the Post-Democrat was discussing the Helvie case, from week to week prior to the filing of the formal charges, the daily newspapers leaving had the same opportunities to secure the facts as the PostDemocrat did, never published a word about it, but when' it finally

impudent monopoly, fostered by the present city administration, is known to all, yet not one word against it has ever appeared in a daily, newspaper in the city of

Muncie.

Only once was the gamblers’ trust ever mentione by any other newspaper than the Post-Demo-crat.. The Star once came out with a fierce editorial and then closed up like a clam, and has since remained silent, although the gamblers are running full blast, and are thoroughly organized to support the Unity League candidate for mayor. — If the people here had been compelled to rely upon the daily newspapers they would haye remained iu, (hiJ-U m of the font \ r^. spfracy that'has be<*h in existence [for years and is in existence today to rob the citizens of Delaware county through fraudulent gravel dipping contracts.

* ■* * *

These things have not yet been brought to public notice through deserved prosecutions, although their exposure by this newspaper has excited the indignation of all decent minded citizens. Later, when the finish comes, the daily newspapers here, that assume the responsibility of molding the sentiment of the community, will at last be forced to rehash the details that have already been supplied by a newspaper that believes in the proverbial ounce of preven-

tion. .

It will be recalled, no doubt, that with each exposure made by this newspaper, the cry went up from those who were exposed and later driyen from public life, that “It’s all politics.” When the Post-Democrat exposed a horrible condition at the county infirmary several years ago, former Judge Dearth declared it was “all politics,” when he removed an entire board of charities that sought to investigate. When this newspaper exposed the rotten truck deal, the city attorney said it was “all politics’’ and the city council, forced into action, ordered the money paid back, yet, to save its face, passed a resolution declaring that the exposure was made by ‘‘those seeking to discredit the republican city administration. So, my “campaign,’ politcal if they want to call it that, has been waged for many years, incessantly, wito no reward and plenty of “grief,* whether a political campaign was in progress or not.

* * * *

Somehow or other I feel that my nomination for mayor by the democrats of Muncie, was not the fruit of any particular endeavor of mine during the few weeks of what might be desig-naed as the “primary campaign,” but by a campaign” that has been waged by me for years, without regard to season Mnd witjiout stopping to consider whether the weather was hot or cold, whether it rained or snowed or the sun shown or was under a cloud, or whether I was in jail or out of jail, but always considering the fact the people ar Q entitled to know the eternal and \ everlasting truth about their own

public affairs.

Unless I am much mistaken as to public sentiment here my election next November will come about much in the same manner. Without casting any reflections whatever on the character, citizenship or hopes of the Unity League aspirant, his election, surrunded and chaperoned as he is by the harpies who have deceived and defrauded you, would be noihing

~ ~ ~ w ^ ^ ^ ^ UC HU filing became a .matter of public record, !r lort of a ghastly tragedy, and an it was regarded as being a matter invitation on the part of the vot

fit to print.

The Ku Klux

Klan disrupted

ers for four years more o*' the

(Continued to Page Two)

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