Muncie Post-Democrat, Muncie, Delaware County, 15 April 1932 — Page 1
I
FEARLESS
THE POST-DEMOCRAT “HEW TO THE BLOCK; LET THE CHIPS FALL WHERE THEY MIGHT.”
TRUTHFUL
VOLUME 12—NUMBER 14.
MUNCIE, INDIANA, FRIDAY, APRIL 15, 1932.
PRICE 5 CENTS
Torment
By Helfur Surton
BONUS MONEY IS NOT' “EASY MONEY"
It is to be regretted that some individuals and groups who claim interest in the soldiers of our late war and who are making a fight for the bonus payment at this time, are hurting their can fee by advocating the issuing of fiat money. Even a casual study of rnoney as a basis of business reveals the fact that money backed by nothing more substantial than printing presses brings nothing »but distress to the country issuing it. The history of every country proves this points Governments, have neyer been able to maintain fiat money by laws, or orders, and past experiences should be of some benefit to the present proposers. There is no such thing as “easy!
money” for ■■ vernments—it must! . come from " sockets of the tax- Ollt I )001* Maillfestioil
payers—back ’ by something more substantial than printing presses. In prosperous times there was little'or no talk of the mounting cost of government and eight bil-
wlJ.fl'T ?, f Schools and garden clubs all
incurred by the world war were
paid in the short period of pros- ^ ie col, ntry are joining enthusiastperity from 1922 to 1929. The tiling ically in a movement to plant that has stopped prosperity and flower gardens this spring as part “cheated” the war veteran of his of the celebration in honor of the birth-right is inequitable distrihu-' ,'Goorge Washingtdn Bicentennial. tion of wealth that has caused the This is being clone in several ways, country’s business to stagnate. 1 according to the information diviThe time when the country will Ision of the United States George
ANANIAS, PETER PEPPER GOOD FOR STAR SITUATION
Here, There Everywhere
BICENTENNIAL FLOWER GARDEN
What Year Means to
Americans
he ready to pay its debt to the solVliers is when they are least likely to need it. The patriotic and statesmanlike thing is to furnish it now when it is most needed— but not with make-believe money as some propose. When big business . was seeking a two billion dollar dole there was no talk of balanced budgets or fiat currency. But now that the soldiers are claiming {heir debt, the country is facing disaster. Certainly some effort should be made in behalf of those who offered their all for their country in time of need. SMART TALK IN REAR RANKS. Periods of inflation and deflation are times of social unrest. In both periods workers are compelled to take the brunt of the process. Wages are the last to mount on an increasing trend and are the first to take the fall on the de-clfm+rg-trend. Reserves are set ftp to care for dividends. Soup houses are provided to take care of the workers when orders cease. It is probably because of this unrest that the rank and file of the American labor 'movement are now taking a referendum;^ vote on. unemployment insurance in defiance of their well-fed leaders. , The pro-! gram is.-outlined by these boys in the rear., ranks is rather sta-rfling arid far-reaching. Their program if enacted into law- and made operative wou.ld revolutionize industry. Probably that is what our inefficient industry nee4s. No .doubt many individuals fostecipg. t.his program of tnidmplbymen’t 1 . . insurance are doing'so in the hope that a workable program will 'be made possible and that workers will be raised to-the level of’serfs and at least be maintained when Compelled to stand in kUehess through no fault of their own. V ' O •• ' LARGE GIRTHED SENATOR DECIDES ON NEED. Recentyl thirty-five governors wired Senator Bingham who was in charge of hearings on an unemployment relief bill that no one in their states was starving. And the senator in turn established a new test of need for relief—“starving in the ordinary sense.” But in spite of these amply provided-for governors and this well-fed senator, men, women and children who have gonp through three winters with no .source of income believe they are better qualified to know starvation when they face it. The process is long drawn out and death is not swift. Probably if it was, these amply provided-for folk would not feel so secure in their high places. Senator Bingham’s ideas are revolting. Is it possible that the unemployed are to be actually condemned to death before adequate relief is forthcom-
ing?
Washington Bicentennial commission, which is sponsoring the acti-
vity
Many gardeners will plant flowers which will bloom year after year to remind future generations of this great patriotic, nationwide celebration. Back yards and small garden plots will bloom with colonial flowers as an outdoor manifestion of what this year means to Americans. The Department of Agriculture is cooperating whole-heartedly in this movement by preparing lists of flowers and shrubs which w'ere familiar in colonial days. Ivy From Mt. Vernon It is possible to plant ivy at your own home from slips taken at Mount Vernon. Tourists and visitors to this national shrine avail themselves of the opportunity to purchase little pots of ivy at the entrance gate. The experts of the Bicentennial Commission have worked out a series of color combinations. Color combinations will be sent free upone request to-anyone writing to the United States George Washington : -Bicentennial Commission, Washington buildinig, Washington, ix e ’ WALTERMYERS MAKES REMARKS
“NOT OUT OF MY TILL,"
SAY COUNCIL.
There is little doubt now that local taxes for 1933 will reach unprecedented heights because of the system of relief fostered by the, Indiana poor laws. Daily the new!?-! papers dwell on this subject with nothing to offer in its place save work-slips that do nothing but pauperize both the employed and unemployed. If the money is to be spent why not get return on the
“investment?”
If peopel get “help” because they are unemployed and there is work to he done by the city, why not make provision for the hiring of*these people? If the reactionary city council would provide the wherewithal! to employ workers on the streets, parks, playgrounds,, public improvements, there would be fewer on the township roil receiving charity., Their main object tion seems to he that they oppose the idea of workers receiving “money” for services—they approve the work-slip plan—and it takes the burden off the council while they are making their rec-
Utilities Have No More Influence Than Other Ligitimate Business Within the last few days I have learned that certain persons deeply interested in public utilities are opposed to my candidacy. Upon whatever ground that opposition rests, I am prepared to meet it in the open at any time, or place. Public utilities are entitled to a square deal just the same as any other legitimate business as long as they faithfully perform the functions for which they were created. They -are an essential part of our present day life. But they have no right to transform public necessity into private greediness; they have no right to dictate the election of law makers, whether they be members of the'legislature or United
States senators.
If I am elected senator from Indiana, public utilities will receive the same fair treatment at my hands that any other business would receive. But I will not be a public utjlity senator any more than I wool be a railroad senator, an oil senator or a senator representing, any other special interest. I would be the senator of all the people and of all the interests of the State of Indiana and the United
States of America. —o
Washington’s Rules of Civility
ord for a low tax rate in the city. Modesty.
Artificers & Persons of low Degree ought not to use many ceremonies to Lords, or Others of high Degree but Respect and Highly Hcyiour them, and those of high Degree ought to treat them with affibility & Courtesie, without Ar-
rogancy.
In Speaking to men of Quality do not lean nor Look them full in the Face, nor approach too near them at lest Keep a full Pace from them. ^ In visiting the Sick, do not Presently play the Physician it you be not Knowing therein. ' "<*' In writing or Speaking, give to every Person his due Title According to his Degree & the Custom of the Place. Strive not with your Superiors in argument, but always Submit your Judgement to others with
MAYOR’S CORNER
DISASTER FOR THE RAILROADS
Required to Pay TaxesBusses and Trucks
Co Free
It’s funny what a little encouragement will do for per- i
sons of weak intellect.
Last Sunday night the police broke up a dance and put j the proprietor of the dance hall and two of his assistants I
in jail. , j Ninoeon-thirty-one, according to a It happened that the two assistants have been run- railroad Sjpokesihan, was the most ning errands for the Federal agents who have been here for disastrous year in the rails’ history, months trying to “get something on” the mayor. 1,1 , lhn face of that, their taxes agThe proprietor of the dance hall was also a witness be- sr ^ a,0(l about . f0llr ! Hn0! \ 1110 SUI '‘ fore the rederal grand jury that returned the indictments, amounted to $2.65 for every man, T|ie proprietor of the place and the two young men w<j«an and child in the " entire had the very wrong idea that having hobnobbed with em- ooijTuvy. Federal taxes, which are ployes of the United States that ttiey could perform as they fyZZ. TJTZhJr^“h<u pleased in Muncie. all; other forms of railroad taxes It has been an established police regulation in Muncie wei-e higher. The tax collector absince I became mayor that there shall be no public dances in $ 7 .- 30 out of p very hundred Muncie on Sunday and this police order was respected and I-hi a pi^porfio 0 n S o!| f V record ' h< HrS obeyed by all of the dance hall proprietors until Sunday be- ; ' on the other hand, we have made fore last when The “Bide-a-Wee Inn broke over the rule the railroads one of our foremost and put on a dance. | taxpayers, and on the other, we
. 'have allowed competing forms ot
Th two young Federal stool pigeons were working be- transport, regulated and taxed to a hind the counter, dispensing refreshments. jfar lesser degree, to unfairly obtain Police entered the place and ordered the dance stopped once^wen^to'uie 0 raiis. h '"we have but the proprietor said he wanted a “show down,” and the paralleled the railroad tracks with police being undecided how far they could go, did not molest fine highways, partly built at raiithem further iroid expense, and along these T , o, . ,, , , , highways roll the trucks and buses Last Sunday night the same thing was attempted and ovor whlcll the interstate Comthe arrests followed, without warrants, City Judge Mann merce commission has no authorhaving refused to issue them. i( y- Tln - inland waterways float Later in the night in a conference with Judge Mann, the lnnmh government
latter Jtold me that when he refused the warrants he thought Sunday dances were permitted here, and that his
reason Tor refusing the warrant was that he thought my ra -' rom1s an ‘ <loqmed to faiirure. purpose was merely to penalize three government witnesses lhere 1S no otl,ei vvay out - 16 K “
and that it would look bad fob me if it were done.
I explained to the judge that such a procedure was far from my purpose and told him that Sunday dancing in public places had been prohibited since I became mayor, and that the dance put on at the Bide-a-Wee Inn was a challenge
to local authority that I could not ignore.
With that explanation Judge Mann was at once convinced that it was not my purpose to intimidate Federal
witnesses.
Later 'he was quoted incorrectly in 1 the Indianai^oljs News in a dispatch wired to the News by its local c®EjieKpondent, Wilbur Sutton, as announcing that my ^rcki^for the arrest of the dance outfit was merely a “gesturjr’^d^get back at government witnesses. . U ^ He may have said that before he became aware that no public dances are allowed in Muqcie, but he certainly said no such thing when he was informed to the contrary. The Star and the Press are both aware of the fact that Sunday dacing is taboo in Muncie, yet in their news stories of this event they have colored them to make it appear that I have invoked the “blue law” to soak three men who helped secure my indictment. i There seems to be no doubt but that the two young men who have been acting as errand boys for Federal agents, deliberately advised the proprietor of the dance hall to violate the Sunday dance order, with the expectation of being arrested, in order that my anticipated action would
Councilman Bob Parkinson and Three Others Say Nothing Can Be Done About Releasing the $40,000 Now Tied Up in Court Proceedings—They Know Better. NOW AFTER SCALPOF CONTROLLER
According to a newspaper report. Professor Goosepasture, principal of a township high school in an adjoining state, had a narrow escape from death a few days ago and is to he congratulated on his miraculous escape. It seems, from the account we have read, that workmen had removed an old toilet building in order to make room for a new school building, and had carelessly left the old pit open, although it was over ten feet deep and completely filled, and when Professor Goosepasture, Avho is nearsighted, passed that way he ■accidenltly dost his balance and fell into the pit and all that saved him was a plank which was laid across the walls and which the workmen had failed to remove, and to which he clung until rescued by passersby. It is fortunate indeed that his cries 'were heard, as he would no doubt have been been interred.
Arch-Plotters Think They See Chance to Completely Change City Administration —When Can is Turned Loose, Rats Will Hunt Hole—Be There With Club.
j A stout woman wedged her way' into a crowded bus the other day and seemed to have much trouble in extracting her car fare from a tight fitting jacket, until finally a gentleman sitting beside her said: “Let ]\ie pay your fare, madam.” She indignantly refused and the jgenleman said: “My only reason i for wanting to do so is, that you have unbuttoned my suspenders I three times in trying to get to
subsidized transport.
Unless immediate steps are taki to correct this condition, the
iindustry is the greatest single employer and purchaser of supplies in the country and if it goes into bankruptcy, the public will be the
principal sufferer. ,
Intelligence, fairness and our own ^elfish interests- demand the formulation of a regulatory; policy that will apply equitably to all
forms of transportation; BARRETT LAW
ASSESSMENTS
(BY GEO. R. DALE)
I think it is highly necessary that the public be inform- yopr pocketbook ed as to the exact status of the gasoline tax war, poor re- 7 „ ~—
lip-f Federal indictments and the firemen^ iudorment ** enso o ai&oth&i flood and it is
’ ^ eaeia l 1 inClKimeni ' b ’ J ™ memen s luugment. necessary to get on board an ark, The daily newspapers of Muncie have been misinform- there win be no trouble in finding
ing you about these matters, as well as other matters in con- a pile of gravel to land on, protroversy in Muncie. Jvided, of course, the navigator is
They would have you believe that I am a stubborn, ignor- ™, lth the geography of ant, no-account poor white trash who broke into the mayor’s j c e ' QUU
office by mistake and that it is my innate perversity, and re-! Phil Hanna, a banker of Illinois, fusal to take advice from Wilbur Sutton, Phiz Harrold and has requested permission to hang Plug Walburn that has tied up the gasoline fund and J ^ uttl Jm ! d - -f- 11 of which goes to caused confusion in Muncie j! how Just what a ba aher will do causea contusion m Muncie. . . , ’for money. We wonder if he is re-
My friends, they know better, but they are lying to you lated to Mark ($) Hanna? on the theory that you are totally dumb. There were two protests in the People’s Forum of the Elect ric leak locators and water
Muncie Star Friday morning over the signatures of Muncie !f ak dete ctors are now on the marcitizens, concerning other matters that were to the point, i the ai f K , of . the f e J in *
nr-iV t r-v • i XT. ol jstruments it Is possible to find a William L. Davis, a war veteran accuses the star of leak in either an electric or water
untruthfulness when it stated editorially that the American jiine in a few minutes, if someone
would invent an instrument that would; find sequestered and intangible ^property, so that the same could be plased on the tax duplicate of Muncie, fewer people would be complaining about their
taxes being so high.
About 60 Per Cent Reduction in Improvement
Prices.
Mr. Elmer Richey, a former township trustee*tvho made-an excellen’t record, fakes exception ,to the Star’s atthek on the •township
trustee, system.
Mr, Richey,, very , much to the point, compares the township trustee system to the frightful expen-
During the years from 1926 to ditures of the Muncie city school 1930, there was an increase of Bar- hoard system, a system to which rett Law accounts of more than ^e Star takes no, exceptions.
discussing affairs of the city con-
Lqgiori was to be congratulated for “opposing the soldiers’ bonus/’ gMfejjiiife: Mr, Davis remarks that such a statement “borders on the absurd.” He was very mild. He should have said that Ananias and Peter Pepper have come to life to collaborate in editing the Star. You who read the Bible, know all about Ananias, who holds the world’s record for all time as the prince of pre-
varicators.
, The shade of Peter Pepper is floating in space with no place to. light. The devil kicked him out of hell for lying and Saint Peter won’t have him, so the wraith of Peter Pepper qualifies superbly for a position of the Star editorial
staff.
, The prevarications of the Press are so crude that the ghosts of these two celebrated liars refuse to associate with Mr. Sutton, who is sometimes referred to as- “Delbert, the Spring Poet.
troller’s
said:
office. Continuing, he
‘get me in bad” with the government.
Inasmuch as practically all of the government’s wit- wei^'on thrdupiicatVhooks about nesses before the United States grand jury are convicted eighteen thousand .separate accriminals, and potential law breakers, it would be absurd counts , ami at the beginning of to expect that the fact of their testifying renders them im- tMTIwemymime from the processes of the law m Muncie. ^ eight thousand.
If that were the case Plug Walburn could start up his gambling house and demand government protection if I or-
Cost Almost Doubled
( “Taking into consideration the
dered his arrest and Hershel Rose, one of the young men j^eTon^ the arrested Sunday night, could keep right on contributing to j cost, to the Barrett Law taxpayers, the delinquency of children and if my police should arrest'was almost doubled in four years, him on that charge, and secure his conviction as they didi T ^ lay , . ll ° T>( ^' jle ' vb 9 own pvopj last September, he would expect help from the United mafic^are paying^or the folly States attorney. •. Of the wild orgy of improvements I am not going to permit a total breakdown of police ! umler the Hampton board of authority in Muncie merely because I have been indicted tlie Dale a.iminthrough perjury on a Federal charge. istration had decided to build the As long as I am mayor of Muncie I propose to invoke intercepting sewer and disposal
plant, and had it constructed by
the authority vested in me as chief executive officer here, and there are not enough perjured crooks or mistaken Federal agencies in existence to deter me from such a course of
procedure.
It was with considerable amusement that I noted one
40 cens on each $100. This amount, in connection with all the other tatfes the people have to pay, would
of the Federal stool pigeons, Fred^Bolinger, issued a “state- owner s' 1 into 0 bank rup tcy tS pioptl<y
fully misrepresent the township trustees and misquote tlie sentiments of the Veterans of the World’s War, do you think they would hesitate to tell you a lot of little white lies about the city ad-
ministration?
Both of these newspapers have finally maneuvered themselves into the editorial position of hold-
tors’ trust. You are told by Dorothy Rix Sutton that I have a whirligig in my head, that my cranium revolves like a gyro-top, and that I am therefore incapable of clear thinking. It may be that I have a whirligig and even conceding that my head does go ’round and ’round like a gyro-top, it is at least my head and whirling or not, it is going to do my thinking for me, instead of a delegation of foes of hhnest government. If . I had taken the advice of Phiz and Dorothy Dix the old grafting gang of police would still be protecting Plug Walburn and Billy Finan. The city would have been sad-
Cavafry Officer—Sergeant Rooney, take my ho*fc9 out and have
him shod.
Sergeant Rooney.—-Yis, Sorr. Cavalry Officer.—(two hours later) Sergeant Rooney, did you have my shore shod, as I told you? Sergeant Rooney.—Whoy, Why, Sorr, Oi—Oi thought ye sed shot! The smartest man in the Republican party sihe^ Abraham Lincoln is Calvin Coolidge, -who didn’t choose to rtin. Cal didn’t say much, in fact he never does, but he had sense enough to know that things were not like they used to be, so he turned the business over to Hoover, who seemt to* be getting all the credit for the present depression. It’s a good thing he didn’t turn it over to A1 Smith, for if AT had been elected the Democrats would have had to discover another country and move out and ,us Republicans would have seen to it that they did, even though we had to furnish the mov-
ing vans..
ing the mayor responsible for all,(Bed with a debt of a quarter of a of the acts of the mayor’s personal j million dollars for an airport that
and political enemies
I am .accused of embroiling the city in litigation, when as a matter of fact the scores of lawsuits against the city that now clutter the . courts were instituted by bitter enemies of the administration. It is impossihie for me to control the impulses of any citizen of Muncie. Anyone may start a lawsuit. Lawbreakers, encouraged by the editorial attitude of these two disloyal newspapers, are constantly
the sanitary district scheme? The tlie P 0 "' 8 for »festin B city taxes would have Increased Crooked co „ tractorSi
there would be dancing at the Bide-a-Wee Inn next Sunday, “as usual.” / That would rather seem to b.e another challenge, and
I cheerfully meet it.
There may be dancing next Sunday night in the Bide-a-Wee Inn, but it will only be for a few minutes. If the management takes issue as to who is running Muncie, some-
body will go to jail.
If I am head of the local government the promoters of the dance will go to jail. If the proprietor of the Bide-a-Wee Inn is in chief authority it will be me that is locked up. This may afford a good opportunity for Muncie people to determine who is mayor, if they have any doubt. Local daily newspapers are condemning me for break(Continued to Page Two)
Vote of Thanks Due
“It is evident, from the above, that all property owners and citizens of MUncie, owe Mayor Dale a vote of thanks for the favor he rendered in curtailing Barrett Law improvements, by cutting the price to about 60 per cent of the Hampton prices, and telling Dr. King to keep liis nose out of our own “pet
sewer.”
Now it appears that most of the hoarded money is in large bills. It’s usually the grand that hide out in times like these. You can tell when hard times are due. It’s just before the big hoys begin to steal public buildings.
who bled
Muncie no more needs than does a
doer needs seven tails.
The gamblers, bootleggers and cheating contractors, who were sent to limbo and now retaliate by attempting to send me to fed-.
The Bunghole Center Debating Society will meet on next Tuesday evening, at which time they will debate the question, “Resolved, that the country would be better off if there were fewer Baby Grands and more Grand Babies The meeting will be for ladies only.
Miss May Peasley has recently been appointed as a missionary to China and will leave September first for that far off country.
. . ,. . Too bad. Looks like the first of eral prison would still be picking Sept e mbe r will be the last of May.
your pockets.
The city Avould have been broke, instead of being in the best financial position of any city of its size
in the middle west.
The tax rate would have been increased instead of decreased. The bonded indebtedness, instead of being the lowest in the
you in the past; but are to bleed modern history of Muncie, would
you no more, have added their five cents’ worth to litigation. Unfaithful city employes, dis-
have been the highest and you would be paying staggering assessments for a three million dollar
charged for the good of the ser- sewer and untold tribute to banks vice, encouraged by the political!in the way of interest on bonds machine I have destroyed and.and borrowed money, their newspaper protagonists, have Muncie was on the rocks finan-
no trouble in securing cheap law-
years to sue the city.
Firemen, discharged for cause, are given judgment amounting to thirty thousand dollars and the council, through Boh Parkinson,
daily and morally when I became mayor a little over two years ago, yet no complaints had been registered by the newspapers whose editors are now trying by their filthy Bes to force a return to the
agent for the wrecking crew and slime, the filth, the bribery and employe of the Star, refuses to j thievery of the four-year adminis-
appropriate funds to appeal, and advises that the city pay aycmce.
Both newspapers and the council have, without success, attempted for over two years to force the mayor to authorize the illegal payment of $60,000 in ’’certificates of indebtedness to the contrac-
tration that preceded mine.
You are told that it is my “obstinacy” that prevents the spending
of the gasoline tax fund.
Councilman Bob Parkinson, a Star employe, and three other councilmen brought the suit that
(Continued to Page Two)
There is always room at the top, because many of those who get there go to sleep and roll off.
Charity & Co., the old reliable firm, are the only ones working full time. All other industrial firms seems to have slowed won.
Charley Morrow says: “Not more than half the dura Bes they tell about the Irish are true.”
British Cup Team Members Selected \ London, April 15.— (UP)—The British women’s golf team which will meet the United States team in International matches at Wentworth, Surrey, May 21, was chosen yesterday with Joyce Wethered, thrice British women’s champion, as captain. Other players chosen were Enid Wilson, Wanda Morgan, Diana Fishwick, Molly Gourlay, Elsie Corlett, D. Park, Mrs. J. B. Watson.
^ MB*