Muncie Post-Democrat, Muncie, Delaware County, 26 December 1947 — Page 2

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THE POST-DEMOCRAT Democratic weeKly newspaper representing the Oemocrats of Muncie, Delaware County and the lOth Congressional District. The only Democratic News- • paper in Delaware Countj Entered as second class matter January 15, 1923, r.t the Post Office at Muncie, Indiana, under Act of March 3, 1879. PRICE 5 CENTS—$1.50 A YEAR MRS. GEO. R. DALE, Publisher 916 West Main Street Muncie, Indiana, Friday, December 26, 1947. Will History Repeat in 1948? To a considerable extent, the national Republican political picture of 1948—which the American people are beginning to visualize —bears a striking resemblance to that of 1920. In that year, Republicans were hopeful that they might be able to return to power after years of Democratic sway. Since this hope was shared by most of the leaders, there were many candidates for rhe GOP presidential nomination. Gen. Leonard Wood was one. Frank 0. Lowden and Hiram W. Johnson were others. Nicholas Murray Butler, Warren G. Harding, and still others were in the picture. Eventually there was a deadlock at the convention in Chicago—Wood, Lowden, and Johnson all being unable to obtain a clear majority of the delegates—and Harding of Ohio emerged as the compromise nominee. Already there are as many serious prospects for the Republicans’ 1948 race as there* were for that of 1920. Gov. Dewey of New Yqfk, Sen. Taft of Ohio, Ex-Gov. Stassen of Minnesota, Gov. Warren of California, Ge*i. Dwight D. Eisenhower, and Gen. Douglas MacArthur are the most prominent candidates. Just now the spotlight is focused on thern, yet there are more -or less available dark horses who stand as good a chance today as Harding did in the latter part of 1919. One is Sen. Raymond E. Baldwin of Connecticut, who has been announced as his state’s favorite son, and also has some supporters in the Far West. A second is Gov. Dwight Green of Illinois, who might .conceivably be the Chicago Tribune’s man for first or second place on the ticket in the event that Gen. MacArthur pulls out. A third is Rep. Charles A. Halleck of our own state of Indiana. A fourth is Speaker Joseph W. Martin, Jr., of Massachusetts. A fifth and sixth are the two senators from the same commonwealth—Leverett Saltonstall and Henry Cabot Lodge. The seventh is Sen. Arthur H. Vandenberg 6f Michigan, who says he is not interested. These are individuals of whom the rank and file of the American people hear little right now, but who might eventually get the nod just as Sen. Harding did. The Harding story is now widely known. The man from Marion was weak, and not fit to shoulder the burdens of the Presidency. The Harding scandals were the results. Our nation cannot afford to have a repetition of the Harding era in the days immediately before us, and it behooves the leaders of both major parties to scrutinize the character and ability of its standard-bearer thoroughly—dark horse or no dark horse. So it is that, while Republican hopefuls jockey for position in the presidential derby, the present head of the executive branch apparently can obtain the Democratic nomination without extra effort of any kind.— Journal-Gazette.

The Need for Tax Reform The Committee for Economic Development is highly regarded for its thorough studies and its sound reports. It recently had something to say which ought to be widely read because it makes sense. The committee points out that the United States grew great through private enterprise. Therefore, private enterprise ought to be preserved and given its best chance to work. Three enemies of the system, the report declares, are private monopoly, public monopoly of the kind 'which encroaches on individual activities, and a tax system which prevents the accumulation of risk capital and savings. Profits are held to be the incentive of private enterprise, which they are. Without them nobody could stay in business, and without reasonable profits nobody would care to be in business. Public monopoly is declared to be bad because it denies profits. Private monopoly is bad for the reason that it restricts profits to a few people. Excessive taxes are destructive because they do not permit the building up of risk capital for productive investment and business expansion. The United States will remain prosperous, with reasonable profits widely distributed, with full employment at good wages, only so long as business is permitted to expand. This is primary economics. Yet many people urge programs which, if carried out, stifle initiative and strangle industrial progress. Our country has today a jerry-built tax structure which saps the vitality of business. It needs to be reformed and reconstructed in the interest of the general welfare. If this needed reform is delayed much longer, everybody will suffer—those who depend on profits, and those who depend on wages. Taxation is generally regarded as a dry subject. It is one on which it is hard to focus mass interest. But while we are absorbed in sports, while we discuss the “new look,” and while we debate foreign policy, high and unsound taxes are gradually undermining the foundation of our common prosperity. It is high time we had intelligent action.

THE POST-DEMOCRAT, MUNCIE, IND., FRIDAY, DECEMBER 26, 1947.

The next regular session bf Congress must get down to brass tacks on the subject of taxes.—Journal Gazette.

Gov. Dewey and Aid to China Something new has been added to foreignpolicy debate—something new on the highest level, at least. During recent years, Americans have grown accustomed to the sound of Republicans criticizing Democratic national administfations for taking too active a part in world amirs—for “meddling” too much— for being too international-minded. Late last month, however, Gov. Thomas E. Dewey of New York charged that President Truman and Secretary of , State George C. Mafshdll have failed to send adequate assistance to the government of Chiang KaShek in China. Dewey pleaded for aid to Chiba and the fact that he is the most recent GOP presidential nominee and the “man to beat” at the Philadelphia convention adds significance to his demands. In other words, according to Gov. Dewey at least, the United States has participated too little, rather than too much, ip the quest for a solution 6f the Chinese problem. Thus the Messrs. Truman and Marshall, who have been sharply attacked by such members of the opposition as Sen. Robert A. Taft of Ohio for wishing to make too great an outlay for the benefit of Europe, find themselves castigated on theit flank for not loosening American purse-strings to help Generalissimo Chiang. It goes without saying, of course, that the points made by Gov. Dewey in November have been made before and with even greater eloquence. Henry R. Luce, powerful publisher of Time, Life and Fortune, was advocating support of Chiang at a time when Dewey’s views on foreign issues were notably narrow. Still the fact remains that Mr. Luce—for all his power—is merely a gentleman in the magazine business, where as Gov. Dewey ope year from now may be the nation’s President-elect. China is in sad shape, from all reports, and the morale of the Chungking regime seems to have descended to its nadir. It is problematical whether handouts, ot the size proposed by Dewey, and by those who see eye to eye with him, can save the anti-Commuriist Chinese in their extremity. Some experts say that no aid should be sent. Others believe that, if effective assistance is to be given China, the amount would have to be more substantial than the sums which Dewey and Luce give the impression of seeking. In any event, much more will be heard about China in the months before us. It bids fair to grow into a key campaign issue, if Thomas E. Dewey has his way.—JournalGazette. Have Retirement Privileges Been Abused? Not long after it was revealed that Maj.Gen. Bennett E. Meyers had been drawing $550-a-month disability retirement pay, President Truman called for lists of all Army, Navy, and Air Force officers retired on this basis since the end of the war. According to Mr. Truman’s press secretary, the chief executive wants these records “for his information.” Accordng to his top military aide, he desires a “thorough and complete inquiry” by the armed services themselves for the purpose of wiping out “any possible racket.” The Associated Phess tells us that the Army and Air Force, exclusive bf the Navy, retired 28,822 officers on this tax free basis between June 30, 1940, and June 30, 1947. Three hundred and eighty-seven generals were included in this number. More dramatic are the figures released by Rep. Robert F. Sikes, Democrat, of Florida, who pointed out some time ago on the floor of the House of Representatives that no Ibss than 1,283 Regular Army officers were retired for reasons bf physical disability in the period from May 1, 1945, to December 31: 1946. This figure was more than three times as large as that representing dll other Regular ; Army officer retirements during the same period—which was 408. Moreover, in the breakdown of the 1,283 it is observed thdt 305 were general bfficefs (nearly half of them major-generals). Eight hundred thirty-one were full colonels, and the remaining 147 lieutenant-colonels, majors, captains, and first lieutenants. There were no second lieutenants involved. “In the Navy, during the period May 1, 1945, to May 1, 1947,” Rep. Sikes continued, “I am advised that 2,864 were retired for physical disability, and only 732 for all bther reasons. Here the ratio of retirements for physical disability is nearly four to one.” “We’ve had reports of officers,” says Maj.Gen. Harry H. Vaugan, the President’s sbnior aide, “who passed rigid physical examinations tor commissions and promotions and then pleaded disabilities at the close bf the war, in order to receive tax-free disability retirement pay.” Rep. Sikes adds that, whereas in civilian life only 12.1 per cent of males in the 60-64 age group are physically disabled, in the services the number^ of officers retired for this cause runs 75 per cent or more in this and even lower age brackets. Rep. Sikes is gentlemanly and reasonable about the whole thing. “I make no accusations at this time,” he said. “I simply call attention to the facts, for I find them disturbing.” Apparently, President Truman considers them disturbing, too. His insistence on thorough inquiry is certainly justified by the known facts.—Journal Gazette.

Ctittimunists Would Prefer To Bluff Strikes and violence in France and Italy, incited by French and Italian Communists —and—through them—by master agitators in the Kremlin, are featured in the headlines these days and give pause to optimists throughout the globe. They make the “cold war” between Soviet Rdssia and the Western World seem considerably warmer than in the recent past. They cause the “war of nerves” to be more jangly than ever, and the concord we seek ever more remote. Yet, possibly, these are merely superficial reactions to a development which Americans should strive- ( to study analytically—instead of giving their eihbtions free play. For, horrible as is the world mess in this year of 1947, only the confirmed pessimist can fail to> see signs that are more encouraging than those immediately following World War I. , At that time, the United States attempted to withdraw from participation in basic international decisions. We made our mistakes in the ’twenties and early ’thirties. England made her full share of them, too. So did France. Indeed, it is difficult to say whether the Lodges and the Hardings, or the Stanley Baldwins, or the Marshal Petains were more to blame. But the upshot was that first Italy, later Japan, and finally Germany were allowed to artn for purposes bf aggression. By failing to face the facts of the early 1920’s, peace-loving peoples and their governments contributed indirectly but surely tb the coining of the Second World War. This time the military potential involved, thanks to such contributions of science as atomic and bacterological warfare, is even larger and more hideous than it was the last time. But no man can fairly say that, in the last year and a half, the spokesmen for decency and freedom have failed to look the dangers in the face—and to take direct, positive action—instead of shying away from the truth. Thus, indeed, the unrest in Italy and France may stem from the Communists’ realizaton that they are wagng a losing fight—that their hand is being forced—and to take direct, positive action—instead of shying away from the truth. Thus, indeed, the unrest in Italy and France, may stem from the Communists’ realization that they are waging a losing fight—that their hand is being forced—and that they must therefore risk an internal showdown now, rather than later. That this is a heartening indication of overall trends can hardly be denied. For Communists would prefer to postpone this showdown until a day when they are even more powerful than at present, meanwhile working quietly and effectively to prepare for the day of reckoning. They would prefer tb bluff now, just as Hitler bluffed before — as the Japs bluffed, and as Mussolini bluffed in the middle 1930’s, when they were all comparatively weak. But, fortunately, the Communists’ bluff has been called—just as the Nazi-Fascist-Jap posturing and the threatening should have been called, and wasn’t. Many American and other lives might have been saved, had we taken the course then which is being taken now. For it is a positive, vigorous course—designed to preserve, promote, and strengthen free enterprise and Christian civilizatian.— Journal Gazette. Coming to Grips With Our Times A historian recently said that most Americans wohld be ashamed to ride through the streets of a city in a 1925-model automobile, but that the same people would proudly defend political opinions which are far more outmoded than the 1925 automobile. Thus do political opinions lag behind mechanical inventions. Thete are plenty of otherwise good citizens who still want to re-fight the Revolutionary War, or the Civil War, or the McKin-iey-Bryan campaign of 1896. They have not prepared their minds to deal with the preseht. For their own welfare and the welfare of their country they ought to come down to date. The problems with which we have to deal today are those of the postwar period following World War II. An ox-cart phychology does not meet the needs of the time. A horse-and-buggy political philosophy will not suffice. We have to come to grips with the facts of 1947, going on 1948. This is the age of fast airplanes, atomic energy, quick communication and bacteriological warfare. Obviously the weapons of war are being developed faster than the political instruments of peace. Americans are not primarily to blame for that. We at least want peace. We have made many sipcere offers of co-operation which have been rejected. It would be foolhardly for the United States to take a posi- . tion which would jeopardize its future security and yet which offered no chance of bringing unity to the world. But most Americans will admit that their political thinking is not as well-informed and as modern as it should be. So many new and strange things have happened that no one person can possibly keep up with them, least of all understand their full implications. In a tirfie of su£h mental confusion, a lot of men and women accept some ready-made ism or fad which is both unsound and dangerous. There is no quick path to a clear-cut com-

prehension of contemporary society. The| best we can do is to try sincerely, and keep trying. We should beware of intellectual traps as we travel along unblazed trails. — Journal Gazette.

What Goes on in Russia?

★ PRINCIPLE No. 9 To safeguard and <transmit to posterity the principles of Justice,

Sensational reports of bank runs and panic consumer buying in the Soviet Union have the whole outside world wondering. Is the Russian controlled economy as stable as the masters of the Kremlin would like to have us believe? Is the U.S.S.R. headed for runaway inflation? Do the people behind the iron curtain lack confidence in their Government in spite of the propaganda which is fed to them daily by press and radio? The Americah correspondents in Moscow are tinder the strictest censorship and probably would not be permitted to report the facts, no matter how true they may be. The United States State Department must believe the reports because it has broadcast them on the official “Voice of America” radio in 23 different languages. It is usually true that Russian propaganda accuses us of doing the very things that they are doing. Since they have been putting out the story all over Europe that the United States is headed for an economic and financial crash, it may be that Stalin and his associates saw trouble coming in their own country and have tried to offset it with the story that the same thing was about to happen to us. Even the iron curtain cannot long conceal the truth about the set-up in Russia. The facts eventually leak out. We are well aware of our own difficult problems and sometimes we are prtpne to overlook the fact that Russia has her own. She has just gone through a long, hard war, in which much of her territory was overrun and much of her industry was damaged or destroyed. She has only a fraction of the industrial capacity which the United States alone has. How could she escape the impact of postwar problems when every other nation is perplexed by them? Russia has been spreading herself rather thin for a number of years. The Communists are not miracle men. We have seen that socialism in England, which we know well, has not produced any magic. It would be only a natural thing if there were serious trouble behind the iron curtain. ; Of course, it is not wise to indulge 'in wishful thinking. Our government must get the cold facts and try to figure the true implication of them. Our State Department should neither over-estimate nor underestimate the Soviet Union.—Journal Gazette.

Intellectual Hunger in Europe

Freedom, and Democracy.

—From the Preamble to the Constitution of The American Legioi

The American Legion youth program is a bulwark of strength to those who would have posterity share in the blessings of the free America that we inherited from the founding fathers.

We are living at a very significant time in America’s history. It is a period of war for survival, a period of transition, a period of consolidation, a period of, clarification concerning national and international problems. We have received these blessings of liberty from the previous generations that have made our Nation what it is. It is now our opportunity and responsibility to

so impress the meaning and value i of these American principles! upon the minds of our people i that they will be not only safe-! guarded but transmitted to pos-j terity clearer and stronger and '; more meaningful than we re-, ceived them. This is the heritage of our gen- ] eration. The youth of today and the unborn millions of Americans of the future depend upon us.

man snan not live Dy Dread alone/ 7 The United States is making a mistake if it thinks that all_ of the hunger in Europe can be cured by food and mohey. There is an intellectual hunger on the continent which only this country can satisfy. Pat Frank of the Overseas News Agency writes of “an unparalleled eagerness for every crumb of knowledge of American life and culture.” The people of Europe have just passed through many hard and trying years. They have had little time and energy to produce a cultural life of their own since 1938. Some of their best writers and artists had to flee for their lives before the conquering Nazis. Others were in the military services of their countries. “Top minds” have been prisoners of war or inmates of concentration camps. The Government could well afford tb spend more money to tell the story of American culture and American life abroad. In addition to that, such private institutions as the Rockefeller and Carnegie Foundations might well take a hand in helping to feed the hungry minds of Europe, not with slanted propaganda but with real knowledge. For the true story of America is ’almost unbelievably fascinating for those who are not already familiar with it. Such knowledge of life in the world’s greatest democracy would offset the Russian propaganda and tend to steady the keel bf European thinking. We cannot afford to lose the battle of ideas.—Journal Gazette.

Sail For "Paradise On Earth”

t SEATTLE, WASM.—(Soundphoto)—Marvin Norstedt, (left) and *0,™ * er , a, : e sailin £ for their “Paradise on Earth”. They paid $3, 4 02 for their boat Despy, which left them $14 to start the trip to tmy Tabiteuea Island (Gilbert’s) on which Maier was shipwrecked dming the war. They carry a cargo of bibles and plan to repay the islanders kindness to Maier by bringing them teachings from thtf

Olin Miller Is Baffled Olin Miller, the paragrapher, is a humorist who can sum up a situation in a nutshell. < He writes : “Congress has been in session several weeks and we have not written our Congressman, setting forth what action Congress should take. For the first time, we don’t know what to tell him.” There are many other citizens in the same fix as Mr. Miller. They don’t know what to tell Congress to do. Just about every remedy which ife proposed runs headlong into another set of nullifying facts. The cure for inflation is hard to find. It is like walking into a “house of mirrors” at an amusement park. You think your way is clear and you bump your head against a mirror. You back away and start in another direction, only to be stopped by another mirror. You can make no progress, nor did you know the mirrors were there until they stopped you. Perhaps the best thing that Olin Miller or anybody else can tell Congress is to stop playing politics and try with all its might to find a fool-proof, scientific solution for our economic troubles. Such a solution will never be found unless all the facts are taken into consideration.—Journal Gazette.

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