Muncie Post-Democrat, Muncie, Delaware County, 17 October 1930 — Page 1

VOLUME X—NUMBER 39 t

MUNCIE, INDIANA. FRIDAY, OCTOBER 17, 1930.

Price 5 Cents-^-$2.00 a Year

COUNTY CAMPAIGN ENTERS ITS FINAL STAGES

CALLS HOOVER’S ECONOMIC VIEW MUCH BLURRED

Washington, Oct. 17.—In its editorial conupent upon President Hoover’s statements concerning the stabili" o *’->n of industries, contained in ’ '--3 speech before the American Federation of Labor at Boston, the Baltimore Sun, (Ind. Dem.) says that the President is al-

Following speeches by President Hoover and Vice-President Curtis in Ohio, the Cleveland News, a Republican newspaper controlled by descendants, of the late Mark Hanna, came out for the Democratic candidate for United States from that state.

ways persuasive on this theme learner Explodes Longworth’s

when dealing in large generalities “When, however,” The Sun continues, “he deals with the creation of such stabilization out of the actualities of our time, his economic analysis becomes so blurren that one almost is led to wonder whether Mr. Hoover is, perhaps, not more an impressionistic painter than a social scientist.” The Sun uses as an illustration the President’s application of stabilization to the soft coal industry, calling it “an agreeable bit of rhetoric” and asks “but, examined closely, where does it get?- It suggests that there ought to be some competition in the soft coal industry but not too much, and that if the Federal laws are at fault something ought to be done about

them.”

The Sun continues:

“But if trade competition is to be neatly balanced between just enough and not too much, who is going to do the balancing? Certainly the public isn’t consciously going to leave this extremely important control in the hands of coal operators brought into close-

Charge That Senate Coalition Delayed Tariffs. Replying to Speaker Longworth’s charge that the recovery from business depression has been retarded by the delay in passinb the tariff bill, which he charged to the Democratic-Progressive coalition in the Senate, John Garner, Democratic Floor Leader of the House of Representatives, in a public statement, points out that: “Senator Bingham (Rep. Conn.) occupied hours in the discussion of Phillippine independence. “Senator Oddie (Rep. Nev.) devoted a whole day to the hide schedule. “Senator Metcalf (Rep. R. 1.) dealth freely with the wool sched-

ule.

“Senator Goldsborough (Rep. Md ) devoted a day to olive oil conotainers. “Senators Herbert (Rep. R. 1.) took no account of time on the lace schedule. “Senator Cutting (Rep. N. M.) took three days in the discussion of obscene literature, to which Senator Smoot made a long drawnout reply. “Senator Keane (Rep. N. J.) was'

THE MAYOR’S CORNER

knit groups, organized to stabilize ! ibe r^ in . his consumption of time the industry, and Mr. Hoover, ac- in discussing cement.

cording to his reiterated view of the proper relationship between Government and industry, isn’t going to approve a Federal agency to

“Senator Couzens (Rep. Mich.) occupied hours in the discussion

of tourists.

“Senator Howell (Rep. Neb.) al-

take over that work. The net re-i 1 ? w ® d himself a11 , the U ™ e he de - sult of this <iallv into the auestion , sired 011 susar and casein - f,? stabinztnrihe ^oal indSsfry Is' “ Se ” ator Vanderbu^ (Rep-

just about zero so far as any working program is concerned. “The general difficulty that is rather consistently involved in any concrete application of Mr. Hoover’s ideas about economic stabilization is that he is continually trying to go in two directions at the same time. If there is to be price stabilization in any industry -—and price stabilization is the hub of all stabilization—it can be secured only through monopoly or price agreements among producers. But to get the general consuming public to tolerate knowingly such arrangements it is necessary to set up some form of public control. And when that idea is broached Mr. Hoover runs‘like a scared rab-

bit.”

Poverty Again Abolished.—“We know, in fact, that we have opened the door of a new social and economic system by which within our wn borders we shall create the conquest of poverty without exploiting other nations.” — From President Hoover’s Speech at American Legion Convention, Bos-

ton, Oct. 6, 1930.

U. S. Revenue Falls Off, Department Expenses Increase First

Quarter Fiscal Year.

General business depression is Stronly reflected in government fiscal affairs. For the first quarter of the current fiscal year, ended September 30, revenues of the Federal Government fell off $145,770,702 compared with the first quarter of the last fiscal year, according to a Treasury statement. In the same quarter, government expenses increased $28,906,114, exclusive of money used for public debt retirement, so that the net loss to the Treasury for July, August and September is $174,676,816Income taxes for the quarter show a drop of $50,987,801; customs (tariff) taxes show a drop of $66,246,232, while th expenses of the various departments have increased over $41,000,000, or almost $14,000,000 a month. The “savings” in general expenditures have been in the reduced amount of interest on the *tWf)lic debt. The Treasury statement shows a sur plus of $52,292,255, but also shows that only $65,000,000 has been applied to debt reduction, whereas, for the first quarter of the previous fiscal year $236,864,950 was applied to that purpose. If the same amount had been used for debt reduction in the current year period, the statement would show a substantial deficit—or more

than $171,000,000.

A special dispatch to the New York Times citing the same figures states that future tax reduction is dependent upon a cut in expenses and the use for current expenses of about $180,000,000 interest payments by foreign governments due during the fiscal year. “The latter step,” says The. Times dispatch, “will mean an abandonment of the policy to which the last three administrations have adhered, that of using such interest payments for debt reductions.”

Mich.) had much to say on lum-

ber.

“Senator Shortridge (Rep. Calif.) treated himself very generously to time in discussing grapes and long staple cotton. “Senator Waterman (Rep. Colo.) consumed a whole day on Cuban importations. “Senator Pine (Rep. Okla.) took two days to debate a proposed oil duty, during which he forced six roll calls. “Senator Smoot (Rep. Utah) and Senator Reed ( Rep. Pa.) were heard many times, especially the former, who spared neither time nor words on the measure, which, as Chairman of the Finance Committee, he was called on to defend.” , Therefore, ML Garner declares Speaker Longsworth’s charge is as baseless as the “agonized attempts of the Administration to plead the baby act when confronted with the universal accusation of failure to deliver and fulfill 1928 campaign pledges.”

The “old guard” of the democratic party of Muncie, that pffrt in fact that opposed the democratic ticket in the last city election, stayed away from the democratic womep’s dinner held Wednesday night in the Y. M. C. A. banquet hall. Bob Parkinson, Billy Finan and all the rest of the Billy William s democrats stayed away, Mary Gubbins, democratic district chairwoman, refused to attend because Mayor Dale was to preside as toastmaster. “Fishy” Shroyer, councilman, (so-called) from the umpty ump yard, wouldn’t go for the same reason. AH the so-called democrats who have been trying to put the hooks in the administration joined the strike. It was practically unanimous. However the word got out that there would be no bad smell at the party. Real democrats don’t like to mingle with counterfeiters, but they do like the comradeship of real democrats. So the real ones simply came out in droves. Over three hundred women and men sat down at the banquet table, the largest political gathering of its kind in the history of the city, regardless of the “strike” engineered by Parkinson and Shroyer. ' The praise goes to Ann Walterhouse, democratic chairwoman and Earl Everett, democratic county chairman, for engineering such a wonderful meeting. The musical entertainers were great, Walter Myers, of Indianapolis, the speaker of the evening, was at his best and Jack Edwards, mayor of Marion, proved that he was mayor by producing a badge as big as a saucer. The big out-pouring at the Y. M. C. A. demonstrates once again that the way to get out a crowd of democrats is to let the world know that the off-side boys will not be there. The Bob Parkinson-Billy Finan crowd themselves put out the word, thus saving the others the trouble, for which thanks are extended. Last year the democratic candidate for mayor refused to allow the gangsters to come to headquarters. The people saw that he was keeping his skirts clean from slime and he was elected easily. There is only a small handful of them left, but the tail is always ambitious to wag the dog. If the democratic candidates want to win they must keep the width of the street between them and the erod'd, that organized to stay away from a democratic picnic.

How pitifully weak and powerless are the people. Powerful interests and lying newspapers tell them daily that their mayor does not favor the cleaning of White River. Some of them believe it. Very few of them know what’s behind all this slogan “Make White River White.” What does the -gang that is promoting the sewer know about sewers and what do they care whether White river & white", red or black? They are looking for easy money, not sanitation. Silly questionnaires appear daily on the last page of the afternoon paper. # Few of the people whose answers appear understand the questions, which are always dishonestly put. A woman chained to an automobile is pulling off a little fake advertising stunt for a local newspaper and the silly stuff is called news. The other newspaper, not to be outdone, has its own particular little sideshow, a woman with a “radio mind,” who reads your thoughts before you think them, i The cheap Elrod, who edited the Kluck Fiery Cross speaks in the court house Thursday night on the constitution. Nobody was there but he is quoted in the public press as giving a wonderful argument against a new constitution. His business in 1923 was to disfranehise the negro, make faces at the synagogue and slander the Irish. One woman comes forward and proves by her own criticism of “Middletown” that the Lynds were right. The city court does not like the mayor and suspends sentences in order to make things tough for the police. That’s bad enough, but newspapers here praise him and call him a good judge. The mayor’s enemies, both those of high and low degree, care little whether the law is enforced. The main thing is to increase his burdens and majke the job as tough for him as possible. Some of these enemies predicted even before he took oTice last January that he would be sent to the penitentiary ir side of ninety days. He has been mayor nine months and is still at large. Somebody is always trying to “get something on him.” They always fail and it is keenly disappointing to them. The majority read between the lines and have faith. I^femmoritv .fumes and> frets and hopes for the worst, What a town!

Democratic Organization Planning Many Speeches and Meetings for the Climax of Campaign—Voters Planning To Continue Sweep of G. 0. P. Officials and Restore Government To the People. Entering into its final stages, the county campaign will be enlivened by several meetings and speeches by candidates and party leaders. Earl Everett, county chairman, and his associates have an active program for the next two weeks of the campaign and Mrs. Ann Walterhouse, the county committee vice chairman, has the women’s division on its toes for the coming election. Party candidates are uniting their efforts in the final drive and will meet in the council chamber at the city hall on Monday night for consideration of the eleventh hour efforts in the campaign. Efforts are being directed against the candidacies of Dorsey Rector and C. N. Davis, the Republican candidates for county commissioner as the elections of these men will put the commissioner’s court in the hands of Billy Williams and the old Republican gang. With the election of Rector and Davis it is declared that Owen Helvie will be put back into the county road superintendent’s office and Sherman Shroyer back as superintendent of the infirmary. The citizens know how Shroyer handled the job once before and the memory of it still burns in their minds. Rector and Davis were obedient deputy road superintendents during the regime of Helvie as county suprintendent and with that crew back in the saddle again it will be too bad for the county. KSSimmRSiiGimr OF THEIR CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS

“No piece of legislation in years has been so pockmarked with greed as this tariff bill (the Hawley-Smoot-Grundy bill-) It lifts the hair and peels the hide off thousands of agricultural consumers and gives them a stone where they askjed for bread.”—William Allen White, famous Republican editor of Kansas.

Postmasters Mobilized For Repub-

lican Campaign.

Senator Alben W. Barkley (Dem. Ky.) has called attention in a public statement to an- order issued by Postmaster General' Brown, which he construes as “both an invitation and a command to Presidential postmasters to get busy in the present campaign.” The order was originally issued on January 3, 1930, and printed in the Postal Bulletin of October 3. After calling attention to the rules and regulations governing the conduct of Presidential postmasters, one of which is that “he must not use his executive authority to influence or coerce those under him,” the order continues: “Presidential Postmasters, however, do have a right to engage to a reasonable extent in political matters, so long as the required time and attention is given to postal duties. Postmasters should, however, bear in mind that a postoffice must not beu sed as political headquarters or for partisan political conferences.” ) Senator Barkley’s statement

further said:

“The mere fact that such an order is issued, which obviously, takes the muzzle off postmasters of the first, second and third class, is evidence that the administration is alarmed at the political situation and is employing this supposedly neutral arm of the public service to help stem the tide that (Continued to Page Two)

PROPOSED SEWAGE DISPOSAL SYSTEM YEARLY MAINTENANCE COST $40,000

Like most of the modern conveniences it isn’t the first cost of the proposed sewage disposal system here alone, but the upkeep. For it has been estimated that the annual maintenance cost of the proposed sewers, sewage treatment and pumping plant for Muncie will reach the $40,000 mark. And it may even reach a higher figure. This means that in addition to the tax levy to pay for bonds issued to pay for the system there must be an additional annual levy of from 6 to 8 cents to maintain the system. ' Councilmen visiting the Dayton, O., municipal waterworks and sewage disposal system found that the annual maintenance cost for Dayton was $239,460 for this year and this figure only covered the three actual operating items. Taking the Dayton figures as a basis the maintenance cost for Muncie would be above the $40,000 mark each year and thereby necessitate a tax levy of from 6 to 8 cents permanently each year in the years to come. * Furthermore, Dayton, so the eleven councilmen found, was paying for its disposal system out of the profits of the water works which has been owned and operated by the municipality there since the founding of that city. Advice of the Dayton officials was to first purchase the waterworks here at Muncie and then think about a sewage disposal system to be paid from waterworks profits. Reports from Dayton on maintenance and operation cost of the sewage disposal system there reveal that its 1930 budget of expenses was $68,143 for maintenance of sewer system, $55,567 for maintenance of sewage pumping station and $115,750 for maintenance of sewage treatment plant bringing the operating total to $239,460. On the population comparison between Dayton and Muncie it can readily be estimated that the maintenance of the proposed system here would reach at least $40,000 annually and perhaps even a somewhat higher figure. Coupled with this annual cost would be the cost of constructing the system. Plans drawn for the Hampton administration called for an expenditure of at least $1,725,000 for the sewer system and disposal plant and so it can be seen that the spending of this tremendous sum should be carefully studied as to its necessity before going” into such an extensive haul on the citizens pocketbooks. There are perhaps many who think that the mere building of the proposed sewer system and disposal plant would end the spending of money for that phase of development here, but as has been pointed out the construction is just the first cost and upkeep will be a year after year item that is bound to increase in total as the years roll past. Any sewage disposal system requires operation and maintenance, they are not automatic and a great deal of study should be given to that situation. Here in Muncie the storm sewers are connected in with the sanitary sewers, and it is very likely that an entire new system of storm sewers will be necessary to take care of the surface water. This item has not been adequately con-

sidered by the propagandists for the immediate building of the proposed sewage disposal system merely upon letters from the state board of health. Throughout this week three representatives of the state board of health have been here in Muncie conducting a survey and the state board’s lack of knowledge of the situation is best evidenced by the fact that the men visited the city engineers office to obtain the location of the various sewers and the general lay of the land. We believe that when the state board of health receives the true data on the situation here they will be somewhat surprised. Their previous communications indicated that Doc King and the board knew to a gnat’s eyebrow the whole situation here, but the appearance of the trio of state board representatives convinced people here that the board had decided to ascertain the facts here before making any more breaks. We hope that the state board of health representatives find the dams which have been placed in the river at inconvenient places which may account for considerable of the slow flow problems. Out at the Kitselman wire mill is one of the dams and the remnants of another are near the Whitely bridge while the largest of the dams can be found midway between the High street and the new Washington street bridges. These dams, especially the one between the High and Washington street bridges retard the flow of the river especially during the summer time when the stream is low. This dam is to enable the storing of water for the Indiana General Service Company and in addition to it the light company dredged the river above and below the High street bridge to create a reservoir intake just east of the south end of the High street bridge. This dam particularly slows the flow of the river for considerable distance each way and this condition must be an important factor in the movement of waste in White River. Just why the Indiana General Service Company should enjoy this special privilege and also the Kitselman plant must be answered by the former administrations which permitted the placing of the dams in -the river. Friends of the Republican state gang and contractor allies who have been ballyhooing the sewage project so loudly might inquire into this feature of the river situation and ascertain some facts which might lessen their enthusiasm to spend the $1,725,000 for the system and saddle the citizens with a fixed expense of at least $40,000 annually for its operation and maintenance. Dayton requires the industries to treat their own waste and if this situation is reached here in Muncie together with the cleaning out of the river to better regulate its flow it would not be surprising but that the situation here would be excellently solved at an expense of a small fraction of the cost of the proposed sewage disposal system and thereby eliminate that tremendous expense and its subsequent annual maintenance levy requiring a 6 to 8 cent tax increase to every taxpayer in the city of Muncie.

BY' HOMER P. RAINEY President of Franklin College There are three reasons why the voters should remove the national Republican party from power. In the first place, it has been in power so long that it has come to think and feel that it has an inherent right to rulership. The result is that party leaders have become arrogant and defy sound principles of good government and are robbing the masses ot their constitutional rights. It is directing the political state for self-aggrandize-ment. Through long periods of control it has built up the most vicious systems of special privilege that any democratic society has ever known. Special privilege is the meat upon which monopolies, mergers and trusts feed, and the great masses of society are the victims of their profiteering under the benevolent protection of a paternalistic government. To what end have lobbyists invaded the floor of Congress, and why do senatorial candidates spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to secure their nominations? Through its grants of special privilege and exploitation of the many for the benefit of the few, it has poured tremendous wealth into the laps of a chosen few, and placed untold burdens upon the great majority of the taxpayers. The farmers have sought through the last three Republican administrations to get some governmental relief from their plight. But the struggle has all been in vain. Every measure they have asked for has been denied them, and the present administration is now telling them that they must raise only for home consumption and must not seek foreign markets for their products. The last three Republican administrations have virtually turned the State Department into a solicitor’s office for world markets for a selected few of the giant (not infant) corporations, but have turned a deaf ear to the pleadings of labor and the farmers. Such inconsistency and discrimination are unjust, and strikes at the very foundation of our institutions. Both wheat and cotton are now selling bjelow the cost of production. Farm mortgages are increasing at an alarming rate, and many farmers are not able to pay the interest on loans made them by the Federal farm loan banks. In the second place, it has virtually removed government from the hands of popular control and placed sovereign power in the hands of irresponsible bureaus and governmental agents who lie under a constant temptation to corruption and tyranny. The decline of character in the Roman empire was brought about inevitably by the government seeing to it that ordinary people had nothing to do with it. The Republican party is most effectively doing the same thing, and hence we have the greatest political apathy on the part of our citizens that our country has ever known. The best and

most intelligent citizens have become cynical and have withdrawn from active participation, saying “What’s the use?” In the third place, the party in power in the state and nation has allowed to develop some of the blackest political corruption ever known to our history, and for that corruption it has never answered to the people. The Democratic partjTshould be given an opportunity to serve the citizens of the state of Indiana since Republican administrations for the last sixteen years have failed miserably to meet two great needs. In the first place, they have not only given no relief to overburdened taxpayers, but have allowed these burdens to increase tremendously, even to the point of confiscation of property and the destruction of the tax base. In the second place, they have allowed to develop the worst school finance situation of any state in the Union and are offering no constructive program as relief. It is my belief that needed governmental reform can not be had from the party in power. It is imperative that a change be made to the Democratic party, which is committed to a liberal policy of government for the benefit of all.

The Questionnaire Tell it to Delbert the Spring Poet.

Question, “Which would you rather do or go fishin’ and have you quit licking your mother-in-law?” Answers. Faithful Reader: “Yes, I was always in favor of that. Absolutely. Positively. It wasn’t fair to Fair. Regular Subscriber: “No, I am not quite sure whether the sewer is to go in the river or the river in the sewer and I agree with you always, no matter what you say.” Old Timer. “Sure, that’s what I always said. Bacon wrote it, not Shakespeare.” Tax Payer: “There are arguments on both sides. I agree with all of them.” Hottair Merchant: “Oh, most decidely not. Einstein is not, as you Intimate, a clothing dealer. As to the second part of your question, I do think that prohibition is a failure, or a success, whichever suits you.” Lonely Virtue: “Never, never I would almsot rather walk home if it wuzzent raining and besides the price of sugar is NOT going up for you kin still buy a quarter’s worth for two bits.” o — A coin minted by the Ottoman empire at Constantinople in 1255 was recently found on a farm near Savannah, Ga.