Indianapolis Times, Volume 36, Number 256, Indianapolis, Marion County, 7 March 1925 — Page 4

- ■ ——— • ’ ’ \ i*! ' ' : The Indianapolis Times BOY W. HOWARD, President. FELIX F. BRUNER, Editor. WM. A. MAYBORN, Bus. Mgr. Membsr of the Scrlpps-Howaxd Newspaper Alliance • • • Client of the United Press and the NBA Service • ♦ • Member of the Audit Bureau of Circulations. Published dally -except Sunday by Indianapolis Time* Publishing Cos., 214-220 W. Maryland Bt., Indianapolis • * * Subscription Rates: Indianapolis—Ten Cents a Week. Elsewhere—Twelve Cents a Week. • • • PHONE—MA la 8800.

Speak not evil one of another, brethren.—Jas. 4:11. We cannot do evil to others without doing it to ourselves. —Desmahis. WHY A NEW HIGHWAY LAW 1 ? "pri LEAR thinking on the subject of the State highway 'comL> mission has been made almost impossible by efforts of politicians on both sides of the question to becloud the issue. As usual, the interest of the public, which must pay the enormous sum spent annually for roads, is ignored. Instead of discussing the present road law and the proposed Kissinger bill on their merits, interested individuals are engaged in exchanging personalities. The present highway law, like so many other State laws, is not at all bad if it is properly administered. The proposed Kissinger law has bad features not contained in the present law. The solution of the whole problem seems to be a general housecleaning in the highway department and the retention of the present law. But the politicians are so busy calling one another names that this simple and obvious solution of the present difficulty seems never to have occurred to them. That there have been unfortunate occurrences in connection with the operation of the highway department under the present law no one can deny. Whether there has been graft is a question that now remains for the courts to settle. The Marion county grand jury, by returning indictments against highway officials and others, has shut off any discussion that can properly be conducted on this subject. It is not the business of a newspaper to try a criminal case, although some newspapers are making a desperate attempt to do just that. The Kissinger bill, the measure which has stirred up so much heated controversy, provides that the Governor shall appoint anew highway commission and that he shall also appoint the highway director. Under the present laV the commission appoints the director. In this respect the present law is far superior and should be allowed to stand. The whole difficulty in the Statehouse during the last four or five years has not been a matter of law. It has been a matter of personnel Let’s forget politics. Let’s forget legal juggling. Let’s fill the State departments with the best possible men. If this is done the taxpayers will have no complaint. The compliants then will be limited only to politicians and to newspapers and special interests who seek to rule or ruin. And nobody ever takes their complaints very seriously.

. IT’S AS CLEAR AS MUD 1 1 jIP in the air far higher than any aviator has yet succeeded 1C jin going, and begging piteously to be allowed to wait until next December before writing their report, the congressional committee investigating aircraft has shut up shop and gone home in a state of daze. And small wonder. Here is what they found out: That the battleship is supreme. That the airplane is supreme. That the carrier is supreme. That the submarine is supreme. That aerial bombs can sink a battleship. That aerial bombs can’t sink a battleship. That the country is doomed if we don’t have a separate air force. That the country is doomed if we do have a separate air force. That we have the poorest air service in the world. That have the best air service in the world. That we are at the mercy of any foreign power that wants to lick us. That there isn’t a power on earth that can lick us. That we have 1,400 airplanes. That we have 14 airplanes. That we have plenty of planes but no adequate trained pilots. That we have plenty of pilots but no adequate planes. That antiaircraft guns can shoot down any airplane. That anti-aircraft guns are a joke. That Mitchell is right and Weeks is wrong. That Mitchell is wrong and Weeks is right. That Mitchell knows it all and Wilbur knows nothing. That Wilbur knows it all and Mitchell knows nothing. That the special board is wrong and .Sims is right and that . . . Oh, what’s the use! Fifty-nine varieties of experts, each better qualified that the others, and 59 ways to save the Nation, each way the only way. When the probe started, each investigator had the confidence of his own opinion. Now the committee doesn’t know what to think. Even their doubts are hazy. The public throughout the country are pretty much in. the same frame of mind. But people are interested—more so than ip any similar episode in a long time. And they want to know tin tacts. President Coolidge could give his new administration no better start than by naming a commission c¥ civilians of undisputed standing, a board whose findings no one could question, and have them look into the whole matter of national defense—on land and on sea, under the sea and in the air and advise him before Ocagress meets again next fall.

Ask The Times Tou <aui get an an ever to any que*tionof fact or Information by writing to The Indianapolis Times Washington Bureau. 1322 New Ycfrk Are., Washington D. C.. inclosing 2 cents in .1 tamps for reply. Medical, legal ana marital advice cannot be given, nor o*n extended research be undertaken. All other questions will receive a pecKnal reply. Unsigned requests cannot tiai—lsdltor' *** t * rß are confldanDld the Elks ever go by any other name? They were originally the “Jolly Corks," and changed their name to the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elka on Feb. 10, 1088. When and where was oil first' discovered In Oklahoma? . About thirty-two years ago at Bartlesville. What was the population of New York City twenty-five years age? The figured for 1900 show the population as 3,487,202. When was the magnetic compass Invented? Hirhe early history of the mag uotla oompass Is unknown. Many writers have stated that it was known to the Chinese before the Christian em. The saltiest definite

reference to it Is oontalned In a work written by Alexander Neckar In the twelfth century, and It was then apparently in use by many navigators. From what Is the quotation, “I am master of my fate, I am the captain of iny soul” taken? From the poem, “Invicfcus,” by W. E. Henley. How old Is Mary Plckford and how long has she been In the movies? She will be 82 years of age April 8, n vxt, and has been anting since she was 5 years of age. When is the article “a" and the article "an” used? “A” is used with words that begin with a consonant and “an” with words that begin with a vowel. Why are State, county, municipal and other bonds of similar nature tax exempt? The Supreme Court has held that from the Federal nature of the Constitution neither the States nor the Federal Government may tax the debt instrumentalities of the other governments. This automatically exempts these bonds.

COUZENS’ THREAT TO LIFT LID GIVES NEW LIFE TO INQUIRY

Committee Will Continue Study of the Revenue Department. Timet Washinoton Bureau, JStt Seto York Avenue. ——l ABHINGTON. March 7. }OH When the Sixty-Eighth Con- ” grass passed from ths scene, that element of the population which abhors investigations united In a great sigh of relief. No Congress In many years has conducted Investigations of suoh far-reaching effect as that which served from 1923 to 35#26. But it Is too early to speak of the investigations as being a thing Os the pjst. In fact, the most Important developments of the Senate's Inquiry Into the Bureau of Internal Revenue are still to come. The Couzens committee, which is conducting this Inquiry, did not die when the 'Sixty-Eighth OongTess signed off. Instead, the Senate authorized the committee to pursue Its embarrassing study of the methods In which Income tax returns are handled. Up to and Including June 1, 1925, the study may continue. Asa result, the month of May promises to be a lively one, for at that time Senator Couzens and his colleagues will present In regular hearings a great part of the evidence they have been gathering during the past year. life Is Extended The Senate granted anew lease of life to the Couzens committee without apparent hesitancy. But behind the scenes the most strenuous efforts were made to kill It. The majority of the members of the Senate were against It. Secretary Mellon and other officials of the Treasury Department declared the committee to be a harmful and "demoralizing" influence. The Senate Committee on Finance opposed the investigation by an overwhelming majority. And yet the authorization for an extension of time went through without a hitch. Why? Simply because Senator Couzens announced to the Republican leaders that unless they permitted him to complete his study, he would stand up in the Senate and relate some of the things his committee has already uncovered. He was prepared to cite case after case In which the Treasury experts connected with the Bureau of Internal Revenue had made “mistakes" In granting tax reductions and rebates running fhto many million dollars. Was Not Bluffing The Republican leaders to their distress that Couzens "had the .goods." He wasn’t bluffing at all. Under these circumstances It seemed to them that the least they could do would be to put off the evil day as long as possible. It Is entirely probable that some of the more scandalous discoveries will never be made public. Senator Couzens as well as Senators King. Democratic, Utah, and Jones, Democratic, New Mexico, have stated they are not interested in exposing scandal for scandal’s sake. Instead, they wish their Investigation to be of constructive value and believe that they can by further research evolve plans which will prevent a recurrence of past errors. But the only reason they are having the opportunity to continue their work is their readiness to “tell a few things.’* Under the resolution passed by ths Senate, the committee may conduct hearings up to June 1, after which date investigators must be withdrawn from the Treasury Department and open hearings abandoned. The work of gathering eviderce Is now expected to continue until early in May, after which there will follow a month of testimony.

Tom Sims Says One of the debutantes tells us she either has to go without enough clothes or go without men. Two were Injured In St. Louis When an auto driver thought a girl t looked better Be careful In packing away make the fur fly. The seven wonders of the world In spring are the seven Just start whistling and first thing you know business will be humming. One of our greatest needs is rubber windshields. When a man does take his wife to a show she knows he will brag about it for weeks and weeks. People who live In spring suits should not open milk bottles with their thumbs. What makes people who should be happy but are not madder than those who shouldn't be happy but are? , The straight and narrow path Is plenty wide for its traffic. Nice things about having enemies is you can blame them for the troubles you bring on yourself. Even If yon are on the right track you will get run over if you just sit there. A debutante tells us If she let the men know how much sense she really has It would show she didn’t have much. * And there is such a thing as being too sensible to be too sensible. Sometimes you can learn a lot#>y turning over anew leaf. Some parents worry keeping the kids In clothes and others about keeping the children In autos. Love Is blind. But there is always some friend vrhcf thinks he Is an eye doctor. I (Copyright, 1925, ipBA Berrios,-tna)

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RIGHT HERE IN INDIANA

By GAYLORD NELSON

JUST ANOTHER AUTO ACCIDENT S' m ' ”TIX persons—two women and four children—were killed yesterday at Williamsport, Ind. They were the occupants of an automobile struck by a freight train. It was not a blind, obstructed or unguarded crossing. A watchman on duty tried to avert the tragedy, but was knocked down by the automobile. Blind and to warning the driver of the machine went on —and death swung bis scythe. Railroad officials and public authorities preach crossing conduct campaigns, and devise safes ty measures. Still the fatal crashes occur with relentNELBON less regularity. In the past few weeks people have been shocked by two dramatic disasters—the death of Floyd Collins In Sand cave and the Sullivan mine explosion. Thousands are so vividly impressed by these tragedies with the dangers underground they couldn't be Induced to enter a cave or coal mine. Railroad crossings are potential deathtraps In which lurk all the tragedy of a Sand cave or Sullivan mine. Day after day they collect toll that, by comparison makes underground disasters pale into insignificance. Yet such automobile disasters make little Impression. People read them and continue to drive carelessly over crossings, utterly oblivious to danger and without a thought of caution. Safety devices can’t prevent crossing accidents. The only sure preventive Is In the driver's head. A FIGHT OVER CITY PRIDE Ar“ BILL to quench the flame of the county seat war _J that has long flared in Jennings County Is before the House today. The Senate acted favorably on the measure some days ago. For years Vernon and North Vernon—& mile apart—rival claimants for the courthouse, Jail and hangerson, have fought and lawed. Vernon now possesses these Illustrious monuments; North Vernon craves ’em. Since 1913 two elections to decide the question have been held in the county. One election went against and the other favored removal. Both elections are npw being contested In the courts. To a dispassionate observer nothing seems more ridiculous than a long drawn-ou* feud over a county seat. Yet county seat wars began with the birth of the States, and the results are reflected In the political geography of today. It Isn’t mtrely desire to possess a musty courthouse and ramshackle officeholders that causes these struggles. It’s the glorification of town pride. That's why the battles are always so stubborn. \ Town pride Is a fearful, wonderful and sensitive thing. It may be absurd when heated to 'lncandescence over location of the county seat, but it has changed the map of the continent, built great cities In defiance of logic and natural obstacles. Because of Its accomplishments one must doff the hat to It. SUNDAY REMAINS UNMOLESTED mHE Kissinger “blue Sunday” bill expired In the House Thursday, after a tempestuous legislaltve career. Thus ends another ambitious attempt to make people good by statutory coercion. Probably no other measure before the Legislature has evoked so much heated controversy among the citizenry. 81nners and pious wrote letters to the press, ha-

Robins Down in Brown

the languid winter lingers in the path of coming W spring And we shiver in the sunshine when we know the birds should sing, There is nothing melts the madness from a surly frosty frown, Like the lilting, lambent music of The Robins Down in Brown. SHE city songbird’s music is marred by shrieks and squeals, From the jangled bells and whistles and the hum of busy wheels, But there’s no discordant noise that can ever dim or drown The mystic, magic music of The Robbins Down in Brown. pri HAVE heard the birds of France and the orioles of Spain, , ij But there seems to be a hazy, lazy halt in the refrain— While at daybreak in the summer, though the rain be pouring down, It does not stop the music of The Robins Down in Brown. mDO not strive for power and I do not long for wealth; I only seek a share of God’s blessings and good health, And I would not take a kingdom with a jeweled kingly crown And be denied the music of The Robins Down in Brown. S WOULD eulogize good singers, as I love their glorious songs, And with piety in giving praise, wherever praise belongs, I listen in deep silence tj greet singers of renown But my SOUL joins in the Binging with The Robins Down in Brown. _ /;j ?. / 4 TOM QHNOUN. I Bordeaux. Frano*.

ranged legislators and signed bales of petitions In denunciation and support of the measure. In its original form, the bill forcibly pinned wings on the population. Even shaving on Sunday or dabbing a bit of rouge on the cheek would come dangerously near Its provisions. However, before Its death, amendments had plucked most of the feathers from Its wings and made It lnocuous. No doubt many activities that • flourish on Sunday could well be discontinued, and are unnecessary. But from the days of the early Puritans, attempts to enforce by rigorous statutes Sunday observance have been made without success. Such statutes only made public nuisances of themselves; they didn’t increase piety. Each Individual has his own Ideas as to what constitutes proper or* improper observance of the day. Who can say whether his Ideas are right or wrong? FJrobably the Legislature did well to leave the matter of punishment for breaking the Sabbath to a higher power than Indiana courts. INDIANAPOLISAND THE NEW COURT |pp IHE Indianapolis municipal I I court bill submitting a *— —J municipal court with four judges and broader powers for the present city court —has passed both branches of the Legislature. In 1924, according to the recent report of Judge Wllmeth, city court handled 30.329 cases. As the statisticians would phrase it. nearly one c\< r . of eleven of the Inhabitants of Indianapolis said “good morning, judge” some time during the year. That Is, if there were no repeaters. Yet even that bulky grist was less than the previous year when 82,295 caseß faced the city magistrate. When Justice must hurry through that number of cases during a year It Is not astonishing that she occasionally gets breathless and gestures wildly. No Judge, no matter how well disposed, can gtve to each individual case the attention and deliberation the facts may warrant. Because of the limited power, and the sketchy manner in which It must handle cases to keep from being swamped, appeals from city court flood the higher Judicial realms. It Is largely responsible for congestion of the whole temple of justice from cellar to attic. A municipal court, with adequate powers and personnel, will do much to relieve that congestion and dignify the temple. It will put the administration cf petty* justice on a firm foundation Instead of quicksand.

Hoosier Briefs

IN auto accident found Miss Etta Rothgeb of Decatur a fcn.i i cousin. A Bluff ton newspaper carried an account of It and H. W. Rothgeb of that city read it. Rothgeb had given up Miss Rothgeb for dead, after years of Inquiry. A buzz-saw cut two ribs of Peter Klopfensteln of Berne In two. His condition Is serious. Alpha Gamma Delta Sorority led In scholarship averages for the past semester at De Pauw University. rpriOLLOWI NG an appeal by a I x I r *p reßcntat,v ® °* th ® city ■ * 1 band, members of the La Porte Chamber of Commerce pledged $490 In ten minutes to assure public concerts next summer. The city has already appropriated $1,200. Oreensburg police say Howard Perkins tried to play Legislator. He beat a bill—a board bill, they charge. Marlon Association of Commerce is agitating for anew gymnasium to cost $65,000.

Part of the Tragedy

By M. E. TRACY mT Is part of the tragedy, and by no means the least tragic part. that every modem earthquake should be succeeded by a blast of pseudoscientific hot air. If the prophesying only came before, Instead of afterward, we could afford to have more faith in It. But it doesn’t. Not a peep, until the shake-up occurs, and then what a clamor! Who was there to tell us of an approaching tremor throughout the eastern section of this country before last Saturday? Who was there to warn us that ttye fifty or sixty-year period was up, and that we would better keep the water low In gold-fish bowls? There was nobody. The temblor was preceded by nothing so distinct as a profound silence on the part of our alleged scientists. But listen to them now—one crowd crying "Beware!” while another hollers “All’s welir* People of a susceptible frame of mind are going to be worried for the

Protecting Our Shareholders

(One of a aeries of messages on the subject of public service) TT THEN invested in Interstate PubYY lie Service Company 7% Prior Lien Shares your money is safe. It is guarded by the earning power of 18 electric generating plants, 11 gas works, 11 water works and 173 miles of electric railway. But the above forms only part of your protection. The day and night needs of our 85,000 retail customers; the ever-growing demands of industries and homes in 129 communities; the future requirements of 220,000 people in the great territory we serve! These are the foundations of this essential business. They spell saiety for our shareholders. Here is a state-regulated enterprise with which you are in touch, day and night, all your life. Practically without competition, it serves diversified industries. Service is sold for cash. Earnings continue in good times and dull times. Our 7% Prior Lien Shares are SIOO each, cash or $lO monthly per share; 7% interest allowed on payments. Dividends payable every three months at the rate of $7 yearly per share. Write, ’phone or call for particulars. 41 Before You Invest—lnvestigate**

Interstate Tublic Service Company General Offices: Wild Building, 129 E. Market St. ~ INDIANAPOLIS

Right at the Start of the Trip

next six months, not over the earthquake, but by this unnecessary uproar of supposing, surmising and imagining. It Is all right for the boys to investigate and study, but why make such a public fuss about It, until they are sure of something? At present, they can do no more than guess. They are not agreed as to the cause of location of this particular earthquake, much less as to the time of likelihood of a recurrence. None of us knows what Is inside this old ball, and until somebody finds out, we are going to have a hard time telling why, when or where Its crust will rumple up. We believe that things are pretty hot underneath, but we don’t know. We believe there are faults In the ocean bed—places where the crust Is actually cracked —and that the movement of these loosened surfaces by, over or under each other, causes the disturbance. But we never can tell when one is ready to flap, or. grind. We don’t know what or how much

power there is to move them, or what resistance they offer. Let’s go on with the study, but lay off the theorizing, especially If It la of an alarmist nature. Keepin’ln Trim By HAL COCHRAN Stick out your chest, man, and hold up your head, and walk till you're weary of limb. Don’t let your muscles and system go dead, but keep your old carcass In trim. Seems to me folks are too lazy, these days. They don’t move around like they should. All the old get-up gets down In a daze. It’s a fact you could change, if you would. Too many things are right handy to ride: our street cars, our autos and such. Hence the ambition for walking has died, and we’re not exercising so much. Maybe you’ll answer, “Aw, shucks, what’s the diff. Just walkln’s too tiresome to do.” Wait tiil your joints and your muscles get stiff—then you’ll know what I’m sayln’ is true. : Next time you’d ride, just try* walkin’ instead! A tonic you never can beat. Stick our your chest, man, and hold up your head and give your whole system a treat.

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Subject to any mortgage and other indebtedness oi the Company, the Prior Lien Stock has claim on the property and eaminge ol tha Company senior to ail (he other Preferred and Common Stock oi the Company.