Muncie Post-Democrat, Muncie, Delaware County, 16 December 1938 — Page 4
THE POST-DEMOCRAT A Dumormtio weekly newspaper representing the Demorrats of Mnncie, Delaware County and the 10th Congressional District, The only Democratic Newspaper in Delaware County, Entered as second classc matter January 35, 1921, at the Postoffice at Moneie, Indiana, under Act of March 3, 1879. PRICE 5 CENTS—$1.50 A YEAR 223 North Elm Street, Phone 2540 MRS. GEO. R. DALE, Publisher Mnncie, Indiana^ Friday, December 16, 1938.
This From G.O.P. Source The resignation of Attorney-General Cummings did not come as a surprise. It marks the start, in the opinion of a number of Washington experts, of what is likely to be a major cabinet shake-up. Some of the members want to return to private life, largely for economic reasons. It has long been said that Jim Farley planned to leave the cabinet, and was only restrained because party leaders plead with him to keep his job long enough to handle the elections. It is possible he will now resign shortly. Newsweek also names Secretaries Swanson, Perkins, JRoper and Woodring as being among those who may leave Washington, of their own volition. In the meantime, it is the accepted opinion that Solicitor General Jackson will take Mr. Cummings’ place. It is taken for granted in most informed quarters that Harry Hopkins will be tendered a cabinet post before long.
Going Ahead There’s no stopping a good thing—as some recent figures released by the Farm Credit Administration indicate. Continuing their steady climbing out of depression, agricultural marketing cooperatives registered a 14 per cent increase in business volume in the last year. Transactions totaled but slightly less than $2,000,000,000—a rise of 10 per cent over 1936-37. Dairy products, with a value of $686,000,000, led the list, followed by grain. Notable improvement was likewise registered in cotton, fruits and vegetables. /" Bright Outlook We are facing in this country a challenge which all nations are facing. It is the issue between security and freedom. Today nearly half the world lives under some form of dictatorship. Several hundred million people are completely enslaved by their governments. These governments place no importance upon the individual and his work; they place supreme importance upon the state and the efficiency of its organization. These people have given up their liberty for a false security. They have exchanged their freedom for bread which they may not receive. We’ve had ten years of hard times in this country. Yet, at the end of it, we’re still the most prosperous nation in the world. After all, it takes a lot to hold back for long, this great country of ours.
Your War “Keep the fifth man alive!” That is the slogan which is now being employed in a drive to reduce the normally heavy winter automobile accident toll by at least 20 per cent. If the United States can keep up the pace set in the first ten months of the year, the 1938 death toll will be 8,000 less than 1937’s. We are in the midst of the crucial period now. December is always a bad month. And, looking into next year, January, February and March, with snow, ice apd short days, constitute a period of maximum hazard. The organized safety movement has reached a high point of efficiency. The technique of accident reduction has been amazingly perfected. Sporadic, desultory, localized safety campaigns have proven almost worthless. Instead, the safety education movement, supported by the casualty insurance industry through its National Conservation Bureau, state governments and numerous commercial and non-com-mercial groups, is attempting, with a high degree of success to reach every motorist every day. Thus, the safety experts are doing all they can—and they are doing the biggest and best job in their history. The rest—and this is something you can’t repeat too often—is up to the motorist and the pedestrian. The safety workers can offer you advice—but they can’t open your ears and eyes if you insist on being deaf and blind. They can show you the road to safety—but they can’t make you take it. This war is your war. It is being fought to save your life, the lives of your friends and families, your property.' Enlist in it now.
They’ll Swell Up and Bust We now see Italy trying to equal or outdo Germany in self exaltation. That is what the new trouble between Italy and France is all about. It is a demonstration of how a poisonous philosophy spreads. When Herr Hitler took the limelight on the Sudeten crisis, Sig. Murrosilni had to struggle to keep a place on the stage. He was forced into a “here I am, too,” role. Seeing Herr Hitler get away w r ith it, Sig. Mussolini could do no more than to take up the same theme. Thus does competition for grandeur grow, among dictators. Hence the recent demonstration in the Italian Chamber of Deputies—the shouts of “Tunisia, Corsica, Savoy!” and the riots of protest which followed in those French provinces. The state of mind is reflected in “Telegrapho,” one of those newspapers which in a dictator nation “reflects” — or else—the official view: “The natural aspirations of Italians include complete control of all persons of Italian race at present under foreign and particularly democratic—control.” Which comment refers to territory under French control for over half a century, the attempted seizure of which probably would do the one thing necessary to unite the French people, chronically engaged in family Tows. “French Cabinet Called As Riots Rage in Colonies'* is indeed a significant headline. The interesting psychological phase is how “one calls t\Yo” when dictators get going, and how the enlargement of the ego which is inherent in dictatoria operation leads to such policies as “complete control of all persons of Italian race at present under foreign—and particularly under democratic—control.” In North, Central and South America, for example, are millions of Italians. Has Mussolini ever heard of the Monroe Doctrine—or, if so, has he forgotten about it? Which question points to a very fundamental weakness in'dictatorships. Having insulated themselves from criticism at home they overlook factors which in a democracy would be drummed jnto them by the repeated hammering of free expression.
THE FDST-DEMOCRAT FTOAT, DECEMBER 16, im.
Lacking that brake, dictatorships speed up, and then speed up some more, and ultimately run themselves over the cliff. With both Herr Hitler and Sig. Mussolini it is merely a matter of time.—Indianapolis Times.
Artful Dodgers Politicians haev side-stepped the quarrels of 'CIO and AF of L as far as possible. But evidently the time has come to take up questions of amendments to the Wagner Act, and corrective measures in the Department of Labor and other official branches of the government that are linked to collective bargaining, strikes and lockouts. The responsibility to the public interest cannot be ignored much longer.
The Swing for Pensions An old-age pension system looks like a political certainty. Under the present method the federal contribution for this is $15 a month, which the states must match. Indications are that Democrats and Republicans will contest for the credit of putting such legislation across.
“Even to the dumb, the halt, and the blind the immutability of the law of cause and effect is sometimes made manifest. I refer of course to the Japanese invasion of South China as a direct consequence of the Munich ‘peace-in-our-time’ agreement. It is now clear that in effect Chamberlain and Daladier sold out not only the Czechoslovakians but the Chinese. “For at least a year the Japanese, to my certain knowledge, were tempted to an invasion of the Hongkong region; they refrained out of fear of British annoyance and retaliation. Separation of Hongkong from its hinterland suffocates British trade in this highly profitable quarter. It also greatly diminishes the strategic value of Hongkong as an imperial base. So for a long time the Japanese did not dare send an expeditionary force to South China. Came Munich: the Japanese knew they had no more to fear. Give an aggressor an inch these days and he takes twenty miles. Thus the Japanese are now fighting in the Hongkong area. “The Chinese may be heroes, but it isn’t pleasant to fight the armored Japanese with bare fists.”—John Gunther.
“Possibly a general war in Europe might break, for a time at least, the power of fascist dictators. I am not sure even of that compensation for its horror and suffering. War in the United States would instantly impose that yoke upon one hundred and thirty million people. It would destroy a great haven of sanity, a potential place of refuge for the oppressed. It would hasten, not check, the penetration of Latin America by fascist ideologies. It would weaken and delay the development of working-class sanctions against both war and fascism “The supreme reason for keeping America out of war is not, however, our own safety. That, also, is an honorable cause. But the supreme reason for peace is the fact that only in an America spared from war can we develop tor ourselves and for mankind the new techniques of conflict against the system which breeds poverty, tyranny, and war, without the wholesale murder, the mass insanity, and bitter frustration which are war’s inescapable heritage.”—Norman Thomas.
That farm hands are as much entitled to the benefits of old-age insurance as factory workers, is a thoroughly tenable proposition and it will not be surprising if the Social Security Board, as is now intimated, as a result of a study of the situation, should recommend the extension ot legislation so as to include millions of persons now exempt.
TO INTRODUCE 8 THOUSAND AUTOMOTIVE MEASURES
Approximately 8.000 bills, directly or indirectly affecting the interests of motor car owners and other users of the highway, are expected to be introduced in the forty-four state legislatures which begin regular sessions next year, according to Todd Stoops. “On the basis of past experience,” Mr. Stoops said, “it can be anticipated that about one thousand of these measures will be enacted into law, while the other seven thousand will die in committee or be defeated. “Increases in gasoline taxes probably will be sought in a dozen or so states, either for the purpose of relieving the tax load on real estate or to finance pension plans. At the same time, there will be efforts to reduce present rates or to eliminate so-called ‘emergency’ gas levies. “The fight against diversion will be intensified in many states, and under the leadership of motor clubs efforts will be made for the reduction or elimination of diversion by legislative action or by amendment of state contitutions. Voters in four states—Alabama. California, Michigan • and New Hampshire—have an opportunity to vote on such amendments this fall, while similar amendments are pending further legislative action in Nevada and Indiana. “There will, of course, be the usual flood of crackpot ideas which crop up every legislative session. Examples of this last were bills which would^have required reckless drivers tc7 be whipped at the post and which would have compelled all automobiles to be equipped with license plates that automfitically would drop off when the car hit any object.” o * CARS WITH MECHANICAL SIGNALS WOULD ELIMINATE MANY ACCIDENTS
A proposal to have all new cars sold after January 1, 1940, to be factory equipped with mechanical signal devices showing stop and left and right turns, front and rear, will be presented to the membership if the Hoosier Motor chit for approval as the result of many urgent requests from members. “These' requests,” said Mr. Stoops, “came as a result of fourteen proposals presented to members of the Hoosier Motor club anu the membership vote on the questions will determine the legislative program of the club. One member wrote: “Equip cars with Slow-Right and Left turn indicators front and rear. Factory equipped would not mar the beauty of the car. The traveling public
knows full well that on a cold, rainy, windy, blizzardy day or night the hand signal always will not be given. “I understand that as long as the hand signal laws are on the statute hooks, they must be supported by the club. But I do think they should he modernized. The requirements of that set of regulations date back to the days of the crank starter, touring car, etc. I appreciate that there is still the necessity for hand signals in some situations, such as left turns, intended stops at unexpected places, etc. On the other hand to keep the window of the modern car open and expect, people to give a hand signal for every stop light and every intended slow-down is absurd. As a matter of fact these laws were passed before the modern stop light was a part of the standard equipment of a car. The stop light is so much more conspicuous than a hand signal that it should be substituted in motor regulations. “We all know that the laws are so out of date that they cannot be enforced, or are so ridiculous that thej are ignored by careful and otherwise law-abiding drivers. They are violated and create an attitude of contempt for other laws. Why not include in your most constructive and comprehensive platform the modernization of this set of regulations to make them fit the modern motor car.” Another member writes: “After observing trucks so equipped with mechanical signaling devices approaching an intersection with the driver confident that those in front and in the rear knows his intentions, I am fully of the opinion that automobiles, in which there are many more lives at hazard, should be factory equipped as a protection at all times. The loss of life is too appalling not to equip every car with a device for safety.” o EARLY TREE ORDERS CUT NURSERY STOCK
Early orders for trees to be used in reforestation plantings next spring, have almost exhausted available stocks in the state forest nurseries, Virgil M. Simmons, commissioner of the Department of Conservation, reported today. Fall inventories of the state nurseries showed four and a half million trees available for spring shipment and planting but with more than two hundred orders already on file, hardwood species have almost been exhausted along with some species of conifers. Landowners expecting to secure trees from the state nurseries for spring plantings should get their orders on file at once. In addition to the four and a
Ruth Etting and New Mate
Mr. and Mrs. Myrl Alderman Returning to Los Angeles from Las Vegas, N. M., where they wer« married, Ruth Etting, radio singer, and Myrl Alderman, her pianist, kiss for the benefit of the camera. Miss Etting and Alderman flew to Las Vegas in the midst of the trial of Martin Snyder, former husband of the singer, on charges of attempted murder and kidnaping growing out of the shooting of Alderman last October, The newlyweds said they bore no malice toward Snyder.
half million trees offered for reforestation of private land, approximately one and a half million trees will he used by the Department of Conservation in reforestation of state properties. o SOUTHERN RESORT STYLES HARK BACK TO THE VICTORIAN ERA
Bathing Suits are frilly, flirtations and utterly beguiling. The modern girl who keeps up to the minute on southern resort styles will disport on Miami sands this season in suits and ensembles that hark back to the Victorian era. Beachwear, like everything else in the current fashion panorama, has gone frilly, feminine and decidedly reminiscent of the days when England’s diminutive and beloved queen set the style pace. Almost without exception the bathing suits and beach ensembles which are being featured in the Miami Baltimore fashion show, sponsored annually by Colonel Henry L. Doheryt for a leading New York charity, are bedecked with feminine frills and furbelows. There are one piece suits of stockingknit wool and rayon, flirtatiously touched off with ruchings around moulded bra tops and shorts. There are crepe and taffeta ensembles with corselet tops and brief gored skirts from beneath which peep ruffled panties. There are even rubber lace patterned frills and rubber flower nosegays for ornamentation. Slack ensembles, unable to follow along in the Victorian swim, are making up for it by setting the pace in color. Even the vivid hues of last season seem almost somber by comparison to the hues which are teamed together this year. Pomegranate red and lemon yellow are a feature combination Biscayne blue joins hands with Gulfstream green in an ensemble consisting of slacks, shirt and bolero jacket. A third fetching alliance is formed by hibiscus pink and violet. And. as the new styles now being introduced will shortly he shown in stores throughout the country, you undoubtedly will find them available in your own city when planning a southern resort wardrobe. CHRISTMAS SALAD From Miami, Fla., comes a recipe for a Christmas salad that is both decorative and delicious. 1 bunch of seedless grapes 1 large Avacado pear .1 package cream cheese 1-2 pint whipping cream 1 medium bottle maraschino cherries Wash the grapes carefully and after separating them from thfe stems cut each in half. Cut the Avacado pear In half, remove seed and peel carefully so as not to disturb the flesh. Mash the cream cheese with a little of the cream, seoson well with salt, pepper and paprika and cover the outside halves of the Avacado with it. Cut the cherries inlialves and save the juice. ^Place the cherries on the pear (the cream cheese will hold them in place) to form a small red Christmas bell. Cover the rest of the pear with the halved grapes. Thrust sprigs of holly tied with red ribbon in the end of the pear. Whip the cream and color red with leh cherry juice. Place the pears on a flat platter, surround with leaves and serve with whipped cream. o JOKE ON PURSE SNATCHER
Cleveland, O.—Mrs. J. I. Wilson lost her purse to a young man in fashionable suburban Cleveland Heights, but the joke was on him. The purse happened to contain only 11 cents.
COSMETICS BLEND WITH THE MODE’S SMARTEST COLOR,S Color harmony is the watchword of smart make-up this season. Like accessories, make-up must harmonize with one’s costume and so intricate has the art of face do become thatv lipsticks, rouges and powders are designed with an eye on costume colors these days. The safest way to be sure that your make-up isd efinitely harmonious with your ensemble is to visit your favorite beautician and talk over with her the colors in your wardrobe. Then, let her suggest the best color of lipstick, rouge, nail varnish and powder for your costume make-up. And don’t think for a moment that you will be able to get by with just one set of cosmetics and still he smartly made up. It isn’t possible this season. One needs at least three complete sets of makeup in one’s beauty kit—two for daytime and one for evening, although two for evening is really better. The violet, cerise, fuchsia and magenta shades require a rather bright red lipstick and nail varnish with a purplish cast. The browns, beiges, rusts, greens and terra cottas call for a rich clear red without a hint of purple. For evening there are two different types of make-up designed to blend with the after dark colors of the current mode. Lipstick, rouge and nail polish for wear with petunia shades, purplish blues or to accent black or white should be rather bright and clear, a red verging on the strawberry. For mauve, purplish blues and the cyclamen shades there is an exciting color very similar to the cyclamen flower. A smart trick of the season is to accent orte’s nail varnish and lipstick with a matching flower, .bit of costume jewelry or an ostrich tip in the hail*. o CHRISTMAS ORANGES
Suggestive of Miami sunshine and warmth are pottery oranges, filled with candied fruit and topped Nvith sprays of artificial orange blossoms, which make a charming and inexpensive Christmas remembrance. SMART BRIDGE COVERS
Bridge table covers are always acceptable Christmas gifts and among the smartest of the new designs are those of rayon satin quilted in a diamond shaped pattern. To be had in gold, blue, green and tan, the covers are luxurious looking, yet modestly priced. FOR COCKY COCKTAILS
A new cocktail set consists of a shaker wih rooster head stopper and a set of six glasses having hens’ heads as stems. The set comes in glass in several colors and would make an amusing gift for the woman who keeps her hospitality equipment up to the minute. ZIPPER °GLOVES
An excellent Christmas gift for a man are the* new gloves which dispense with buttons and clasps and close with a zipper. The gloves are to be had in an excellent quality leather and should be particularly welcome to the commuter. o SMART HOSPITALITY
If you want to increase your popularity with masculine guests have the tops of the tables in your living room thoroughly waxed so that wet glases will not leave rings.The hohstess who can say to her guests, “Oh never mind wet glases, the tables are waxed,” immediately stamps herself as one who has thought of those smaM things which put a guest at ease.
MONOPOLY PROBERS WILL ings will be used by Lubin, Hend-
SEE CAUSES OF “BOOMS
AND BUSTS”
Stage set for Overhaul of Economic (Machine; Investigation to Determine Why Consumption Lags Production. By Albert H. Jenkins There have been many government probes to expose “bugs” in our economic machine, but, for the first time. Uncle Sam and the American people will soon make a thorough investigation of the machine itself—from firebox and boiler, through piston, gears and lubricating mechanism—to the chute out of which comes the finished product. Called “the biggest and most important investigation in history,” it is already going on behind the scenes in Washington. Public hearings began on December 1, and may continue as long as two years. To pay the cost, Congress appropriated $300,000, almost a record sum for a government probe. Twelve Senators, Congressmen and high government officials, headed by the youthful-looking senior Senator from Wyoming, Joseph C. O’Mahoney, who has tact, scholarship and immense driving power, will conduct the investi-
gation.
They are being aided by an expert staff. Almost all Federal departments and commissions are helping to compile the evidence. A preliminary report will he given to Congress soon after it con-
venes.
‘With all of that going on,” some people may say, “how come I never heard about it?” They have heard about it, but as the “monopoly investigation,” a name which tells j
only part of the story.
More Than “Monopoly Probe” The real nature and purpose of the probe were described a few
erson and Willard Throp, a special economist for the Department of Commerce, to present descriptions of our economic problems, especially unemployment. Then witnesses will be questioned about use and abuse of patents in the automobile industries.—Labor.
CONSERVATIONISTS TO FEED WILDLIFE AGAIN
Letters have been sent to each of Indiana’s 837 conservation clubs urging their participation in the emergency feeding of birds and wild life during the winter months, Virgil M. Simmons, commissioner of the Department of Conservation. said today. Thousands of club members and interested individuals participated in this program
last winter.
Many of the clubs are already establishing feeding stations by building shelters of brush, corn stalks and similar material in areas inhabited by quail, pheasants and other birds. At the same time they are collecting screenings, cracked grain and other food material for use during the winter when, snow and ice cut the birds off from their normal food supply. . This organized emergency feeding program, carried on during the winter months for the past four wears, is one of the factors contributing to the increased number of game birds in Indiana. Persons interested in cooperating in this program can secure suggestions for building shelter feeding stations and caring for birds during the winter by writing to the Division of Fish and Game, State Library Building, Indianajolis.
o
GOVERNMENT BY
PROPAGANDA
first act of every dictator
The
davs aeo in a sneech bv Richard when he seizes power is to supC Patterson? j?.? assf/taS! sec- I»«* ‘he press an.! the ra<l,o. Hjs
retary of commerce, who was appointed by President Roosevelt as
a member of the “Temporary National Economic Committee” which is making the study. “The title ‘monopoly investigation’ is misleading,” Patterson said. “The task before our'committee is far more ambitious that a mere study of monopoly. Our objective is a complete inventory of the nation’s business and financial struc-
ture.
“Why does the economic structure need repair?” Patterson continued. “First, let us look at employment. Because it is an accepted American principle today that none of us should starve, it has been necessary to supply Federal aid for those millions of people whom a seriously deflated industrial structure could not support. Lag in Purchasing Power “But the government can’t do that forever. The jobless know it. The government knows it. What is more, the great majority of workers on relief prefer private employmeht. “Mass production has helped to make this country great, but mass production is worthless without wide-spread distribution of the commodities produced. Our lack of purchasing power has nullified efforts to keep consumption in pace with production. “Before atacking these problems we must make full examination of the facts. We must scrutinize the workings of the business mechanism, examine worn cogs, and recommend replacements of those parts that are not working properly or are obsolete.” Headed by O’Mahoney As has been said, the chief of the committee is Senator Joseph C. O’Mahoney (Dem., Wyo.). The vice chairman is Congressman Hatton W. Sumners (Dem., Texas), chairman of the House Judiciary Committee. Other members are Senators William E. Borah (Rep., Idaho) and William H. King (Dem., Utah), Congressmen Edward C. Eicher (Dem.,) Iowa) and Edward H. Rees (Rep., Kans.); William O. Douglas, chairman of the Securities and Exchange' Commission; Garland S. Ferguson, chairman of the Federal Trade Commission; Herman Oliphant, general counsel of the Treasury Department; Isador Lubin, director of the Bureau of Labor Statistics; Thurman Arnold, assistant attorney general of the Department of Justice, and Pat-
the
firs! purpose is to control thought of the people he controls. Ignorance and deception must, succeed fear. That is the reason that Hitler rules In Germany, Mussolini in Italy and Stalin in Russia. After that persecutions are easy. This is the first step toward persecution of minorities. Cruelty and brutality are the children of a con-
trolled press.
This country saw something of this in the past campaign, not a control by government which is dedicated to the preservation of democracy, but the control of the sources of information by that secret government with its billions
of dollars.
Against the great metropolitan press and the chain newspapers, the Roosevelt administration was open to every slander, every weapon of falsehood, every misrepresen-
tation.
For example, they started by spreading the story that the investigation of the Tennessee Valley project would disclose scandals which would make Tea Pot Dome, with its sale of oils needed for the natinbal defense, seem like an 1 innocent prank. But when that investigation by a hostile committee, showed a most remarkable record for efficiency and public service, this was printed in an obscure, position in the newspapers where it could be most easily missed. The same kind of attack was mane upon allegations of political pressure by the WPA, a charge utterly false. The returns showed that many of the workers, tired ot their jobs, turned against the Democratic party. “Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty,” is as true today as ever. It becomes more important today because it is not a suppressed press, but a controlled press that threatens the country. Government by propaganda is a new technique of dictatorships. This country wants neither Hitlers nor Hearsts.
Modernize your home with GAS
terson.
The head of the committee’s staff is Leon Henderson, who directed the research division of NRA and then became, economist for WPA. He has earned a reputation as an able liberal. The government departments and commissions have been at work for several months gathering facts and evidence from their files for the use of the committee. For example, the Federal Trade Commission and Department of Justice are going back over the records of monopoly and price-fixing studies and prosecutions since the Sherman Anti-Trust Act was passed in 1890, nearly 50 years ago. The Securities and Exchange Commsision is studying insurance companies, which, through their enormous investment funds, control railroads and other important industries, the country’s hanking and financial system, interlocking directorates and other Wall Street subjects. The Department of Labor is analyzing the relationships of prices, wages of special interest to wage
earners.
The Federal Communications Commission is to turn over to the committee the results of a radio broadcasting monopoly probe which the FCC began this week. Several of the departments and commissions are paying particular attention to patents as a source of monopoly. # The first three days of the hear-
For Cooking Refrigeration Water Heating House Heating • There's nothing like AUTOMATIC GAS EQUIPMENT • For cooking in the modern manner, with automatic control of Oven Heat, Flexible Top Burner control and Double-Quick Broiling... For silent, dependable refrigeration—at low cost... you need automatic GAS appliances! For vrater that’s always as hot as yon want it...and a house that’s always as warm as you like in cold weather, with nothing to tend... again, you need automatic GAS equipment! VISIT OVX .SHOWROOM TODAY!
CENTRAL INDIANA CAS COMPANY