Muncie Post-Democrat, Muncie, Delaware County, 6 April 1934 — Page 1

THE POST-DEMOCRAT “HEW TO THE BLOCK; LET THE CHIPS FALL WHERE THEY MIGHT.”

TRUTHFUL

VOLUME 14—NUMBER

MUNCIE, INDIANA, FRIDAY, APRIL 6, 1934.

PRICE: TWO CENTS

MUNICIPAL OWNERSHIP IS POPULAR

i

“There leaders.”

are no office hours for

A vaccine has been developed to prevent whooping cough. Rabbits do not travel much; they rarely g e than eighty rods from their regular abode. Ill health is not the only cause for suicide. One of the strongest men in modern times was Thopias Topham, of London. He officially lifted three hogsheads of waterweighing 1,831 pounds. However, one day, Topham got mad at his wife; gave her a beating; and qommitted suicide. The world’s record for depth into the earth’s crust was reached at Kettlehaw Hills, Cal., where an oil well was drilled to a depth of 11,000 feet (two miles and 440 feet).

Mayor Dale States That It Has Been His] ||j|jjy |{[j5§|fl

Careful About Jumping on Bandwagon With Candidates Who Have Their Fingers Crossed-Whispering Starts.

FIGHT JAPAN? IS QUESTION

00 YOU LIKE RECIPES AND FOOD ITEMS?

Father Hennepin discovered coal in 16G9, in what is now Ottawa, 111., and this appears to be the first record of finding coal in America.

For the first time since 1848 the canals in Venice went dry and left the gondolas stranded in the mud.

He is the best dressed dress no one observes.

whose

In the larger cities immunization against diphtheria is approaching perfection. In 1933 only nine died from diptheria in Chicago.

The Pathfinder suggests a “Take Back What You Borrowed Week.”

Romance in the modern marriage tfr-befng- TffpRtred Vnamce.' Mary Astor, film actress, was recently sued by her parents for nonsupport.

American Negroes are organizing in an effort to be set aside in a territory or state of their own. In such a state they would hope to work out their own destiny and be unhampered iby artificial means.

Somebody said that it was a good idea “to keep your eye on the squirrel.” Muncie in on the eve of a municipal election that, will decide the policies of the city government for j four years following thefirst day of January, 1935. For the first time in modern history city primaries will be held on the s n me day that we select candidates for county, township, state and national of-

ficers.

This is due to the law enacted by the 1933 legislature, which extended the time of municipal officers one year and threw all elections in even years and abolishing the law which provided that city elections should be held in odd years. Whether or not this is a wise enactment will depend wholly upon the voters, themselves, and their ability to adapt themselves to this unaccustomed procedure.

Reasons Given Why Conflict May Break Out Real Soon

Ju*3t now we are listening to a babel of tongues in Muncie. Just now we are faced with the

problem of a multitude of candidates for precinct committeemen,

(Continued to Page Four)

The White House in Washington is a pretty white. It ia freshly painted about Easter - time each spring.

Joseph J. Ford, age 102 living near Flat Rock, 111., has signed the government’s hog-corn contract and thereby agreed to cut production on his 156-acre farm.

Perhaps, the youngest grandmother in the United States is Mrs. W. C. Weatbrook, New Ben, North Carolina. She is only .28 years old.

A Chicago women, the. late Mrs. Marion McConnell, left the bulk of her $3,000,000 estate to establish a home for homeless dogs and cats.

Well, it is lucky for the newspapers that the primary election advertiaing is coming in to fill in the space more recently allotted to Dr. Alice Wynekoop. 1 o Newcastle to Hold Big Mass Meeting Prominent Labor Leaders and Mayor Baker, Will Be the Principal Speakers. There will be a mass meeting at Newcastle, in Labor Hall, third floor Union Block (Courier-Times Building), Sunday afterhoon at 2 o’clock. The following speakers are to he present: Mr. Green, chairman Indiana NRA Compliance Board; Mr. Fry, secretary-treas urer, Metal Trades Department, In diana Federation of Labor; H. T. Hamilton, Grand Lodge representative I. A. of M.; also Newcastle’s mayor, Sidney Baker. This is a meeting for all trades Everybody is welcome. It is especially requested that some Muncie people attend the meeting, according to Carl F. Bettner, president of Lodge 1222, Newcastle, Ind. A REAL PAL. Two men were out shooting when suddenly a game warden popped up and demanded to sea their licenses. One immediately took to his heels, and the warden rushed off in pursuit, which con tinned for ten minutes before the man was caught. The latter sur prised his captor by fishing a bunt ing license out of his pocket and presenting it. “Why the dickens did you run when you had a license?” queried the warden. “Well, you see, officer,” was the calm reply, “the other chap had not.”

Honesty and Dishonesty (By the Mayor) ' Otto Sellers'aTteiuTed the sewer meetlnf irt the council chamber Monday night and as usual he wanted to know what makes the wheels go ’round. One thing I like about Otto is his sincerity and honesty, whether he is for or against anything. II he is for anything he is for it all over; if he is against it he stands right up and tells you so. That’s worth a whole lot. When such fellows as Roy Friedly and Clell Maple start their vocal organs percolating, one cannot help but recognize the false notes. Whether Otto is with me or against me, I know he has no selfish thought in his heart. He honestly has the well being of his community at heart, whether he is right or wrong in his conclusions. He “put me on” in his remarks, and admitted frankly that the engineering contract didn’t suit him. His reasons were rather hazy, but his opposition could not be misunderstood. 1 “I read in George’s paper last week that it would be a calamity if the government’s offer was turned down. If so,” said he “it wouldnt be our first calamity. We have had just one calamity here after another, isnt that so George?” “You’re right, Otto, you’ve got me for mayor, as a major calamity.” And I let it go at that. “Yes,” he followed, “and you all remember a few years ago when we voted on a similar project, the park district, which would have cost us a great sum and it was voted down by a tremendous majority.” “And who defeated that project, Otto?” I asked. “You did,” was his terse answer. The project he •referred to was entirely different. It proposed a park district as a separate taxing unit, and contemplated unlimited purchase of “park” lands as far out as three miles from the city limits. The Post-Democrat bitterly opposed this project, and as Mr. Sellers stated, it was turned down decisively at the polls. Then a sanitary district was proposed to finance, by taxation, a sewer and disposal plant. This would have meant a saparate taxing unit. This newspaper ' opposed that, and would oppose it now. Otto was entirely wrong in comparing the two projects, and the citizen who asked me why I had changed my views, was misled and misinformed when he asked me that question. If Otto had stopped to think he would not have made the comparison, and the gentlemen who inferentially charged me with being a turn-coat, would have withheld his criticism. The citizens who sensed something wrong with the engineering contract should have made their criticisms more specific. If there has been any graft or crookedness in the proceedings, up to date, it would please me to hear the charge. I have been in close touch with every step taken and would therefore welcome any information that would support the vague intimation that “something must be wrong.” Otto opposes on general principles, but I know that he would not charge the mayor and the board of works with wrong-doing. Most of the others who kicked are against it because they are on the outside looking in. They don’t want anybody but their pet crowd to have charge of this great project, made possible by the President’s recovery plan.

Washington diplomatic circles are busy weighing persistent reports that Japan and Russia are preparing for war. The next two months will bring the answer to whether the impending conflict is to be launched this spring. A careful forecast of the pros and cons of the situation has h en prepared by Miles W. Vaughn, for many years newspaper correspondent in Japan and Eastern Asia, who find exactly six pros and the same number of cons. The logic of the situation, he sums up, points away from war,—“but,” he adds, “war itself is not logical and facts are

not always important.”

At the present time, 600 Soviet airplanes are massed on the eastern frontier, and across the frozen surface of the Amur rival armies snarl at each other—300,00»' Russians' against 75,000 Japanese.

telling her exactly what you think abo^t them—good or bad. Tell also F which of the recipes you like best! Women who read other publications are doing the same as you

ins agamst fD.uuu Japanese.. and some of the recipes receiving Will the spring thaw bring war? w ui i flt er he fea-

Many think that it must. Mr.

Fear of Political Status Cause of Project’s Delay

Employment of Hundreds of Men Put in Jeopardy Because “City Dads” Had Not the “Guts” to Brave a Possible Loss of a Few Votes in Primaries—Pitiful Example of “Cold Feet.” The intercepting sewers and disposal plant project, which has received so much attention in the City of Muncie for the past several months and for which a federal loan has been allocated with which to make it possible to construct such a sewage treatment works this year and furnish employment to hundreds of Muncie idle workmen, was tabled by the common council last Monday night at its regular April meeting. Although the council chambers were packed to overflowing with citizens of Muncie and speeches were made both pro and con on the sewer question, the councflment remained fearful of their political ambitions and refused to take action upon the authorizing ordinance. John Dyer, member of the Indiana Public Works Administration board, and one very active in assisting to get the federal grant and loan for Muncie, made an appeal before the council in favor of the project in order that men may be shifted from poor relief rolls to honest payrolls and and aid the national government in its Recovery

Here, 1 here. Everywhere Frank W. Lahrey.

f

Chance to Get Recipe Book—Write For It.

For some time we have been furnishing our women readers with food stories and recipes by Betty Barclay, whose material has appeared in over 3,000 publications ami who is at present the woman’s page editor for a number of month-

ly magazine.

Miss Barcley wants to know whether you like these stories and recipes. We also want to know about this for it is our desire to feature such material if our women want it but to eliminate it if

they do not care for it.

We are printing some of the latest recipes by Miss Barclay. Try the^e out and write her a letter

Vaughn, who has been following at first hand the intricacies of Oriental politics, gives his reasons for a somewhat opposite view in Gollijer’s Weekly: Reasons Ana Plenty “Why should the two greatest powers in the Orient risk their very existence in a bloody test which would leave both of them crippled? There are pleifty of rea-

sons.

“First is the Chinese Eastern Railway. Russia has fought to retain control of it in the past. She may fight to regain it. “Second is the Amur River, where the armies face each other. | “Third is the fundamental for- 1 eign policy of each country—policies which are aimed at domination of Asia. “Fourth—and a very important reason it is—Japan has not yet convinced the world that her army is under the control of her govern-

ment.

“Fifth is the perennial quarrel between Muscovites and the descendants of the tribesmen of Yamato for exploitation of the rich fishing areas off Kamchatka. “Sixth is a broad conflict in civilization—in fundamental be-

liefs.”

Also Other Reasons But there are just as good reasons to believe neither power wants, or will risk, a major struggle. They include: “First, the Emperor of Japan. “Second, the General Staff of the Imperial Japanese Army, which has its hands very full in Manchuria. “Third, the Unite.d Slates of America. “Fourth, the aggressive opinion of the Japanese people. “Fifth, the peculiar commercial position of -both nations. “Sixth, the fact that the time is not ripe for either country to strike.” Mr. Vaughn adds that the question of war or no-war depends to a considerable extent on the attitude of the Japanese war lords, who are to a considerabL extent independent, of Tokio.

the most votes will later be fea-

tured specially.

In order to make this more interesting, Miss Barclay offers a recii® booklet containing over 100 recipes to each woman writing in.

Ati.'i,* .A ytrm-^etTer to MihSP- Betty " project to be "constructed at a

Barclay, in care of this publication and we shall see that it is forwarded. If you like material of this kind be sure to send us a postal at least. We are really anxious to

know.

Statistics

program.

Louis Guippel, engineer for the State Board of Health, also spoke in favor of Muncie constructing the sgwage treatment works since HttiJK&s now' possible for such a

great savings to the citizens of Muncie and as well furnish employment to several hundred men, who have been idle during months

of the economical depression. The state board of health encourages the project because the pollution of Whtie river as it is now 1 is injurious to health and sanitation ‘fa efi i f ies" Ttdfi "b'n ly' in ""Mu ffPTe bu t for miles of territory surrounding Muncie and along the river. Mayor Dale and the city admin(Continued to Page Two)

IT DOESN’T PAY. It doesn’t pay to worry Or give up in despair, When there’s so much of gladness For you to freely share. It doesn’t pa yto grumble If things seem to go wrong; Better drown your disappointment In a cheerful burst of song. It doesn’t pay to dawdle When there’s urgent work to do; A clear and noble purpose Will inspire the best in you. It doesn’t pay to sorrow Over chances missed and gone, For however black the midnight There will surely come the.dawn. —Grenville Kleiser. o It will eoon he the time of year when all those who want to be known as charitable, and who like to see their charitable deeds recorded in the press, to bundle up their w'orn out winter underwear and pass them on to the poor, so that they will have something they can’t wear next winter. There is no charity in giving a poor man a pair of w'orn out suspenders, unless you give him something to hang on

them.

The total balance in all funds of the civil City of Muncie on April 1st amounted to $20,133.89 according to the monthly report of City Contoller Lester E. Holloway. This total is made up of the remaining available cash in the general fund of $8,784.75, the park fund surplus of $4,920.16, the balance in the gasoline tax fund amounting to $3,906.74, -the city planning fund, $943.48, and the sinking fund, $1,578.76. The receipts ito the general fund for the month of March amounted to $30,940.06, of w'hich $30,000 was due to a temporary loan authorized for the general fund. The balance at the beginning of March in the general fund was $2,7t4.09. The disbursements from this fund during last month amounted to $24,859.40. The park fund receipts for March were $2.10 and the balance on March 1, amounted to $8,281.96. The disbursements from this fund during the month totalled $3,363.90. The gasoline tax fund received no funds during the month but the balance on March 1 amounted to $5,821.29. The expenditures made from this fund during the month of March totalled $1,914.55. The sinking fund received $10,040.31 from the sale of refunding bonds on March 1, and paid out from the fund during last month Lor the redemption of city bonded indebtedness a total of $10,292.50. The city planning fund had no receipts and no disbursements which left, the remaining balance at $943.48. The gasoline lax fund of the city was reimbursed to the extent of $13,162.16 on April 4. This amount was the portion distributed to the City of Muncie from the state from its three months collections and quarterly distribution. This fund can only be used for street and highway repairs and maintenance. o A QUICK CHANGE. A man somewhat under the influence of good-tfellowtehip attempted to pass through the revolving door of a restaurant. Each time he entered he made the complete round and found himself in the street again. After several unsuccessful attempts he sat down on the pavement to work things

out.

A moment later a young man walked rapidly up the street and went in. The door went round and a young woman came out. The inebriate was puzzled. “What gets me,” he remarged, “is what the devil he did with his clothes.”

Yes We Had No Dillinger Reporters are pretty hard up for news when it becomes necessary to put over a Dillinger story of the sort that appeared on the first page of the Star Thursday morning. In the first place Mae West stories have been backed off the board by the omnipotent, omnipresent Candy Gun Johnny and reporters should always qualify their typewriter delusions about Dillinger by a closing sentence—“Believe it or not, with the accent on the not.” _ According to the veracious chronicler the wooden gun hero was seen on two different occasions, during the past week hanging around the police station. The names of those who saw Dillinger were undisclosed, but we are assured that they are both “reliable” citizens and reliable with the accent on the lie, we would say, if such persons really exist. One of them, we are told, distinctly saw Johnny sneer in the broad general direction of the city hall. When Johnny sneers, he sneers, and that’s that. If the bandit should happen to read the fearsome story, his awful sneer would no doubt change to a giggle, for when he giggles, he giggles, and he’s fearsome whether he giggles or sneers. It is of little moment that at the exact time that he was seen sneering at the Muncie police, he was seen sneering in nineteen different states and two hundred and forty-seven cities, towns, hamlets and water tank stops, not to mention innumerable filling stations, county school houses, thickets and swamps and one reliable person, who does not care to have his name mentioned, took a photograph of the demon desperado while he was sneering at a drove of frightened sheep in Montana. It wasn’t even a good story for April 5th, although it might have stood the acid test on the first day of the month. Dillinger has become a famous outlaw, with ten thousand press agents busily at work day and night, writing fables about him that in the years to come will grow and grow until the luster of Robin Hood will be dimmed to a mere phosphorescent glow, comparable to a lighting bug doing a tail spin in competition with a comet that reaches from Arkansas to Alaska. Space writing is all right in its way, but the lazy reporter, who described something that didn’t happen could have spent his time just as well and could ha^e killed just as much space by locating Johnny in Anderson and had him making snoots at the Anderson police. Now we’ve got it. Home pride; boost your town; rah, rah; eat ’em up Muncie; who’s afraid of the big bad bandit? That ’s the way they talk when George Bull or some other guy'with a wad gives a ton of brick to a school house. But a police force that fears neither man, devil nor Tom Walker is picked out as the victims of the side splitting sneer story. It’s bad business.

The new bill proposed by Senator Hiram Johnson, by which our foreign relations are debarred from borrowing money in the United States until they have made at least some effort to pay their debts, may, in time, have its effect among those creditors of ours who borrowed from us when they were in need, and who now are laughing at lbs because we were so liberal. To us it looks like a poor business policy to loan money to the Soviet government in order that they may buy from us materials or merchandise for which, in all probability, they have no intention of ever repaying. If business can only be improved by this government loaning foreign countries money with which to buy our goods, then it would seem to us that it would be better that the government gave he money to the men in business instead of giving to those whom we once trusted, but who have betrayed our trust.

It is always an easy matter for any windy divine or sensational pulpit-pounder, of the publicity seeking variety, to arise in almost any sizeable town or city and to point out certain persons whose conduct is properly subject to reproach or certain places whose management is not conducted according to all of the Ten Commandmente. t That part of the program is easy enough; but when it comes to actually enforcing the laws in such a manner as to compel every individual in a fairly large town, to adhere strictly to the state and national laws and the Ten Commandments, as well as to the city ordinances and the Golden Rule, for 365 days in each year, that is an entirely different matter, being easier said than done. Wise and tolerant ' clergymen recognize this fact and govern themselves accordingly, being slow to blame the town officials for the general “cussedness” of humanity.

Money lenders, as a rule, cannot thrive unless money is scarce among the people. It is obvious that they must have a crop of potential borrowers, in order to do business. Few citizens really understand the workings of our involved and indirect system of issuing currency and it is not generally realized that the privilege of issuing currency has been “farmed out” by the government, to a select group of bankers. Instead of printing its own money to pay the expenses of government, Uncle Sam sells tax free bonds—the same as a note, bearing four per cent interest, which are purchased by the large banks. The proceeds from the sale of these bonds, together with the tax money, are used to run the government. Bankers then take these same bonds to the United States Treasury, as security, and are granted the privilege of issuing as much or as little currency as they deem convenient for the needs of their various localities. In this manner the bankers control the amount of money in circulation. Since the money invested in government bonds is not taxable, yields four per cent interest, and also serves as security for the new currency issued by the banks, it can be readily understood why the banker is opposed to having the government withdraw this privilege and issue the currency direct from Washington. No doubt numerous paunchy banking Shoguns, could cheerfully poison Arthur Brisbane for advocating the return of this “farmed out” currency concession to Washington, where it belongs. Numerous manufacturers and merchants, who have long been subjected to a tyrannical banking control, have a different opinion about the matter.

Governor McNutt is being unmercifully pilloried by the public and the press and, rightly or not, is being held responsible for the numerous prison escapes and other disorders which intermittently break out in our state penitentiaries. And to add to the general burden of grief and goe, along comes the governor’s secretary, one Pleas Greenlee, and enters into a bitter newspaper controversy with A1 Feeney, who is supposed to be in charge of the state police. That man Greenlee seems to be a “jonah” to the governor, and state politicians claim that the secretary’s tactless manner of handling patronage matters, as well as his poor judgment in choosing prison personnal, have caused most of the grief which plagues the state executive and threatens his political future. Doubtless there exists some basis for the above mentioned reports, as it is obvious to the merest political tyro that the voluntary assumption of entire responsibility to the various district organizations, was little less than idiotic. And it seems to have been Mr. Greenlee’s pet idea to place himself in the role of sole patronage dispenser.