Indianapolis Times, Volume 39, Number 226, Indianapolis, Marion County, 28 January 1928 — Page 4

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sent P PJ-MOWA.M&

Not a Dry Issue

It is unfortunate that speakers at the AntiSaloon League meetings, with much intemperance of language, made the charge that the contempt charge against Dr. Shumaker was a drive by the Attorney General to destroy their organization. There are issues at stake in his case which are much more important than the question of whether the Wright dry law is divinely inspired and sacred. • The record should be kept straight and contains nothing to substantiate the charges made by the followers of Shumaker. To begin with, three judges of the Supreme Court have decided that the dry leader engaged in an effort to destroy the court, to attempt to dictate its decisions through a policy of misrepresentation, to coerce the members of the court by threats of political enmity. It is no longer the Attorney General who accuses. There can be no contention that the dry leader told the truth about the decisions of the court. His attorneys do not urge any such plea in his behalf. Six leading attorneys of the State, called upon to advise the court, reported that the annual report of Shumaker contained gross misrepresentations of decisions and was calculated to bring the court into disrespect. There is a question as to whether the court had not created a most dangerous precedent. Jn the past, contempt proceedings have only applied to discussions of cases which were pending before the court. The Shumaker report discussed decisions which had been rendered. Improper aud evil as distortion and misrepresentation may be, contempt procedure may he a questionable remedy. But there is now another matter before the court which is even more serious. The dry leader is now charged with having attempted to influence the court through the influence of politicians. The evidence of two United States Senators and the former State chairman of the Kcpublican committee showed that an effort had been made to get action of some sort through an appeal to the political powers. That dry convention istcad of giving itself over to denunciation might profitably have discussed the danger of whispering in the ears of politicians concerning cases before courts. If it is proper to appeal to Senators to secrqtly influence the Supreme Court in behalf of dry leaders, it is proper for bootleggers to also bargain with these same officials for interference in their cases. The security of all law, including the dry laws, rests upon integrity and freedom of courts. There are two questions which should have interested the dry meeting. Did Shumaker tell the truth about the court? Did lie try to secretly influence a court through political Senators? Hoover and Smith The purpose of the Scripps-Howard newspapers in announcing their support of Herbert Hoover for the Republican nomination long in advance of the convention was thoroughly practical and, we believe, in the public interest. Certain that the rank and file of the Republican party wanted a man of the Hoover type and that professional politicians who play politics for their own purposes did not want that kind of a man, it was plain that the chance of bringing about the nomination of the dean Hoover type depended upon bringing public pressure to bear before the delegates were selected—and to prevent, if possible, delegates being hand-picked by the bosses, backed by men of the type of Doheny and Sinclair. It may be remembered that early in 1920 the Scripps-Howard newspapers made the .same kind of campaign for Hoover; and that there was a strong, country-wide sentiment favoring Hoover. At that time, right after the war, we believed that the thing the country did not need was a job of political tinkering, and what the United States, and the world, needed was a big job of financial, industrial and social engineering. Hoover had the constructive engineering mind, rather than the self-seeking, horse-trading political mind. But the politicians won. They got together at midnight and picked one of the senatorial inner circle. All know what happened. Our preference this year for Hoover, as a fit successor to Coolidge, is based on the <fact that he has the constructive mind of an engineer and with his knowledge of world affairs, is splendidly fitted to steer the ship of state through troubled international waters and at the same time do whatever government can do to keep domestic prosperity on an even keel. We are not primarily interested in any political party except as a means to a good end. Our interest in seeing that both parties nominate their best men is because of our desire that the people have a choice between two good men instead of two mediocre politicians. That is, we would like to see a situation where the people and the country will win no matter which party loses. That explains our interest in Hoover as the Republican candidate and Smith as the Democratic candidate; and we have thought aloud in stating frankly that if these two good men should be the nominees we would prefer Hoover, under all the circumstances. Either Hoover or Smith is capable of great lead-*, ership—great enough to carry his party with him in Congress in the event of his election. So far as this paper is concerned, there is no partisan politics in our attitude; it is our conception public service, and to that the Scripps-Howard newspapers are sincerely devoted.

Times (A SCMPPS-HOWARD NEWSPAPER) Owned and published daily (except Sunday) by The Indianapolis Times Publishing Cos.. 214-220 W. Maryland Street, Indianapolis. Ind. Price in Marion County, 2 cents—lo cents a week; elsewhere, 3 cents—l 2 cents a week. BOYD GURLEY. ROY W. HOWARD, FRANK G. MORRISON, Editor. President. Business Manager. IPHONE—MAIN 3500. / SATURDAY, JAN. 28, 1928 Member of United Press, Scripps-Howard Newspaper Alliance, Newspaper Enterprise Association, Newspaper Information Service and Audit Bureau of Circulations. “Give Light and the People Will Find Their Own Way.”— Dante.

Cops and the Constitution Possibly that Connecticut judge who fined those Yale students for passing handbills was within the law. Probably they did violate a city ordinance prohibiting the passing out of handbills, literature, etc., although the Judge said they would have been within the law had they merely distributed their handbills on doorsteps instead of handing them to passersby. Anyhow, the size of the fine indicated that the judge didn’t think the boys had committed a serious offense, and the hand of the law as he laid it upon them wasn’t a very heavy or angry one. Nevertheless, one can wonder what the attitude of the police would have been had the handbills advertised a college minstrel show instead of being a defense of striking workmen. For some reason or other policemen in some cities appear to consider all efforts in behalf of striking workmen as peculiarly offensive. In New Jersey, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and other States officers of the law have been known to override the Constitution and the Bill of Rights by preventing free speech and free assembly; and too often the Constitution is even forgotten by some of the judges. If we don’t* happen to like the political theories or economic opinions of workers, especially if they are radical—whatever that is—we seem to be willing to suspend the Bill of Rights and deprive citizens of their constitutional privileges. And The Indianapolis Times recognizes the difference between preventing free speech and free assembly and passing handbills in violation of a city ordinance. What we criticise is the attitude of police and other officers of the law when the heavy band laid on some minor offender becomes a pat on the back for others. Courage of Dr. Butler Dr. Nicholas Murray Butler has political convictions and the courage of ’em. He thinks and isn't afraid to say what he thinks. But. he expects too much when he demands that the politicians of either of the big parties follow his illustrious example. Politicians who devote their lives to that interesting industry are not built like Dr. Butler. They are playing a game in which the main object is to win. Prohibition is still in the experimental stage and nobody knows which way the cat is going to jump. Each of the parties is made up of wets and drys, and politicians are not sure which crowd is in the majority. They may know that sentiment is changing, but they don’t know how much it has changed or when it is safe for them to shift. Even those who are secretly w-et are still afraid of the power of the Anti-Saloon League, and the drys who want to hold onto their political jobs are not quite sure how far the change in sentiment has gone. Anyhow, it is plain enough that politicians, both wet and dry, and in both parties, want to go before the voters this year on other issues than prohibition. And there are others who are willing to wait until there is a further crystallization of sentiment on that issue. They prefer to talk about something else and let Natuie take her course; and it is about time we did discuss other things instead of having all other national problems blanketed by this one disturbing issue. There are not enough Butlers and Borahs in either party to get the parties down to brass tacks on prohibition this year. So we might as well accept the inevitable and keep on hoping. Getting credit where credit is due is no trouble. The rub comes in getting credit when the credit man says credit is overdue. The soft coal industry is hard up. Ford is going to Ireland next summer. Probably he’ll get a ride in the real thing.

A Year for Free Choice

(From the New York Times) The Scripps-Howard chain of newspapers have already announced their presidential preferences. Their twenty-six editors met and, with a unanimity which must have surprised themselves, decided that they were all for Secretary Hoover as the next President. Failing his nomination they found that, with equal and delightful unanimity, they would be for Governor Smith. Asa combination of newspapers often showing enterprise in gathering the news, this syndicate is interesting and far from negligible. Yet its editorial weight is not easily ascertainable, Friends of Mr. Hoover have not been throwing up their hats at this indorsement of his candidacy, as if it settled the whole question. One reason for this may be that these same editors were all for LaFollette in 1924. The electoral result was not startling. Moreover, why the abrupt second choice of Governor Smith, in case Secretary Hoover is not nominated? Is there to be no choice at all between parties as such? Does the whole thing come down to a mere matter of personal liking or disliking? All these early decisions are hurried and inconclusive. They may not be able to abide the test of time and deliberation. There is at present every indication that many newspapers are to follow an independent course in this year’s presidential election, and that they will take their own time about making up their minds. With them it will not be a question of affiliated newspapers under a common ownership, moving as by a common spring. Nor will the merely personal attitude be allowed to control. A man may have the finest private attractions without being really fit to be president. On the other hand, individual defects and even unpleasing qualities may be outweighed by high executive gifts and by a strategic political situation which must be allowed to count for their full value, irrespective of the personal equation. Nor can a really independent and thoughtful newspaper fail to take the matter of political party into the account. It is easy to say glibly that all party distinctions have been obliterated, and that today “Democrat” means nothing distinguishable from “Republican”—except as one may be out of office and wants to get in, while the other is in and wants to stay there. Jt requires no deep reading of our political history, or study of the tendencies of recent years, to show how superficial and misleading this may be. Just at present it may be true that no one burning political issue is emerging to discriminate between the parties, and to create a cause for which one would gladly give all that he has, even if defeated; but such a thing may present itself long before the national conventions are over, and the judicious and independent newspaper will hold itself prepared to make it, if necessary, the dividing line in its choice. In any event it will seek first of all to have all the facts before it, and then form its own deliberate judgment where the highest interest of the whole people lies in the political contest of 1928.

THE INDIANAPOLIS TIMES

M. E. TRACY, SAYS: “Hoover Married by a Priest! Ye Gods Come On With Your Thunderbolts, Mr. Heflin, and Dash Him to Pieces

What deep, dark plot is this? Hoover married by a priest? Ye Gods! Come on with your thunderbolts Mr. Heflin, and dash him to pieces. Let's take the candidate apart and see what makes him tick, though sparing the woman for the sake of chivalry. n n Interesting Romance One wonders who dug this story up, and why. It was certainly a bit of interesting romance, but where does it fit in a political campaign? More particularly, where does it fit the purpose of those who are trying to spoil Mr. Hoover’s chances? Who will vote one way or the other after reading this story that he would have MPted before? 000 Find Out Everything It goes without saying, that when a man becomes a presidential possibility, everything he ever said or did that can be found out is going ' to be found out. Both friends and foes agree on that, the former attending to all the good things, the latter to all the bad. Quite frequently they make mis- | takes, for what friends regard as good sometimes sickens the public, while what foes regard as bad sometimes causes it to cheer. Buchard. no doubt, supposed he was doing Blaine a good turn when he declared the Democratic party to consist of “rum, romanism and rebellion,” but he elected Cleveland. n u tt Typical of Traditions To average people the Hoover marriage will seem good because of the way it has turned out, and the chances are that they will see nothing but an example of broadmindedness in the fact that a Quaker youth and an Episcopalian maid were glad to have their hands joined by a Catholic priest. | The episode takes on an appeal- ; ing color when you remember that I the youth had just returned from ! Australia, that he was about to emj bark for China, that the maid was j torn by the question of whether to , go with him, or wait, that they ! could not make up their minds un- ! til the last moment and that the ! good old missionary, Father Mestries was the one clergyman available. What could you ask that would be more typical of American traditions and ideals, or that better illustrates the kind of tolerance and liberality for which this country stands? 000 Life of Adventure Herbert Hoover is something of a novelty because, though he has done so much, so little has been written about him. There are plenty of men among us, who have received twice the publicity, with not half as much to back it up. As an administrator of large affairs, an engineer of great ability and a humanitarian, Hoover is ! very well known. | Asa man who has ventured into I far places, who has been around the | world a dozen times, who has transj acted public and private business in Ia score of countries and whose personal career forms such a story as would fascinate everybody, comparatively little is known. 000 Picturesque Career Hoover may not have been born in a log cabin, fought wild Indians or worked out arithmetic on a barn shovel, but his career is as picturesque as that of any man who ever aspired to be President of the United States. He has traveled far, lias seen most of the world, has come in contact with a great variety ol' people, has blazed a trail through queer places and has worked his way up on unfamiliar ground. If the boys think they have more than scratched the surface of his unique personality by digging up such incidents as his advocacy of a Democratic Congress ten years ago, as his living abroad throughout the war, and as his marriage by a priest, they have a surprise of their lives coming to them. 000 Trail of a Real Man If Hoover’s biography ever is told as it ought to be, the American boy is going to have such a piece of pleasant readings as he has not enjoyed for some time. He is going to trail along with a i real man through the wastes of i Australia, up the storm-swept coast of Chili, into the jungle of Burma, across the mysterious plains of China, up the Ural mountains and along rivers that he never heard of. He is going to meet people who think of business as a world-wide affair, who have their offices in London and their minds in South Africa; he is going to see a picture of trade that looks different, and get a glimpse of life that should be informing, as well as interesting. In the midst of it all he is going to behold a solid, steady-going personality, a father who is a pal for his sons, a- husband whose wife is still his sweetheart after thirty years and a citizen who does not find it necessary to break laws. 000 A Normal Past It is not only good for Hoover, but for the American people, to have his past dug up and displayed in every possible detail. It is the kind of a past that will stand inspection, the kind that offers wholesome stimulus to young men. the kind that leaves a good taste in everybody’s mouth. Outside of its adventure and diversity, it is a normal past, such as any American would be proud of, and such as has made this country great.

Rustic Virgil, Suave Horace Friends

HORACE is different than rustic Virgil; he is a man of the world, though he comes to Rome from a farm, and is the son of a slave who has worked his way to freedom. His father has stinted to give him an education in the capital; and there we find him, after many adventures in Italy and Greece. He falls in love with Virgil, and says of him that “Nature never made a fairer soul;” hearing which, Virgil introduces him to his rich friend Maecenas, minister and adviser of Augustus; suddenly the impoverished poet is affluent, and

They Say

Ft. Wayne Journal-Gazette. (Democrat) Over the State is going a pamphlet whereof the author is E. S. Neal, editor of the Noblesville Ledger and vice-president, of the Indiana Republican Editorial association. The pamphlet, sent to all Republican newspapers in Indiana to be reprinted, has for its title the broad interrogatory, “What Kind of a Man Has a Right to Be Governor of a State?’’ It need scarcely be said that the Neal brochure is a defense of Governor Ed Jackson. The broadcasting of this pamphlet almost on the very eve of Governor Jackson’s appearance for trial under indictments charging felony has a singular aspect. By the end of a fortnight the criminal court of Marion county will be in the midst of the task of procuring a jury to try Governor Jackson. We do not venture to say that this clear prospect has any place in the motives which inspired the Neal brochure, but it can be said that if anybody had conceived the design of trying to influence public opinion upon the eve of the governor’s trial that would seem to be the most plausible means of doing it. The Neal pamphlet says that “charges have been made against Governor Ed Jackson by political enemies who could not control his appointments or otherwise dictate the policies of his office.” Just why the governor’s “political enemies” should expect to do that the pamphlet does pot state. In general it is not expected of the political enemies of a governor or other officials. It may be that the allusion is to D. C. Stephenon. though it may include also the members of the last Marion county grand jury who indicted Governor Jackson. The conclusions reached by the Neal circular is an acquittal ex curia. The trial jury in the Marion criminal court will also render a verdict. Shelbyville Republican The Scripps-Howard newspapers, of which The Indianapolis Times is one, announce that they are for Hoover for president; that they will support him for the nomination; support him if he is nominated but in case of his defeat for the nomination that they will support A1 Smith. It is well for Republicans, at least, to know that it is this string of newspapers that have been backing the cry for “political corruption in Indiana,” spreading sensational news to all corners of this country. If it could be fully established, it is probably true that these newspapers had control of the Stephenson black boxes up to the time they were revealed at a Sunday school picnic down in southern Indiana. If these newspapers can dictate the nomination of Hoover they are for him, if not then they are for Smith, extremes that can never be spanned. The Republican party would be better off without the support of these newspapers.

The Cats Out of the Bag

THE STORY OF CIVILIZATION

Written for The Times by Will Durant

owns a pretty farm out in Sabine hills. And now all the resources of the Latin tongue are sought out and exploited by the new poet to the full; every phrase of novel tang and rich significance leaps out upon the page; every metre ever used in Italy or Greece is tried and moulded into compact loveliness. Here again is classic art: polished and subtle, leisurely and restrained; no rhetoric, and no raising of the voice; everything is moderate in Horace, even the Epicurean joie de vivre; ‘ Ask not tomorrow’s secret. Treat As gains each dav that dawns for vou; Nor grudge my boy to dalliance sweet. Nor to the dance. tl-;e season due. While crabbc i age ke?ps far awav. Your prime let manly sports amuse, And whispers low when fading day The twilight hour of tryst renews. For silvery laughter at corner list. That hiding girl betrays, nor scorn To win the pledge of love from wrist Or coyly clinging finger torn.” “Carpe diem,” he tells us—“snatch the day,” and pine not for the morrow; soon the night will come, when delight will be no more; ‘Alas, how swiftly. Postumus, O Postumus, The years slip by. nor all our piety Keeps wrinkles back, or stops relentless age. Or cheats indomitable death!” IT is a fluent world, he thinks, in which nothing is quite certain, or quite good; and yet. in the'chaos of it one thing shines forth as everywhere beautiful and strong; and that is the just man, standing his ground against every peril and every doubt. . "No nofte of crowds commanding to base things. No stern imperious despot's countenance. No wild west wind uplifting mighty seas,. No potent hand of thundering Jove himself Can shake the spirit just and high respited; Let all the world come crashing on his head; The ruins strike, they cannot make him dread." We pass reluctantly from these poets; they are the very flower of

GROWTH 1921 $29,231,610.92 1923 $33,373,130.91 1925 $41,320,993.09 1927 * $45,682,848.25

Rome and the rest is merely the soil in which they grew. After the turbulence of civil war, after the chaos of political victory and defeat, after the shouts of brutal masses watching gladiators being gored to death, these men, seeking in the comradeship of mellowed mindS some refuge from the barbarism of the times, and carving as if in white marble their tenderly polished verse, carry down to us, along with Lucretius and the living temples of dead gods, all that is beautiful in ancient Rome. It does not matter much that the once great empire passed away; it does not matter much that its garland of cities faded back into the undistinguished hinterland: Plutarch and Tacitus preserved the memory of Roman ger.ius, and Virgil and Horace engraved immortally the fairer jjements of Roman life. If we have them we have Rome. “Precious minims!” Walt Whitman calls these winnowed treasures of the past: “arrived safely, as from voyages over wide century-stretching seas ... all the best experience of humanity, folded, saved, freighted to us here. Some of these tiny ships we call Old and New Testaments, Homer, Aeschylus, Plato, Juvenal, etc. “Precious minims! I think, if we were forced to choose, rather than have you, and the likes of you, and what belongs to and has grown out of you, blotted and gone, we could better afford, appalling as that would be. to lose all actual ships, this day fastened by wharf, or floating on wave, and see them, will all their cargoes, scuttled and sent to the bottom!” (Copyright, 1927, by Will Durant) (To Be Continued)

Leadership implies Qrowth... Growth <• implies Service

Woe Fletcher American National Bank v largest Plank in Indiana with which is affiliated the Fletcher American Company Southeast Cornet Market and Pennsylvania Streets

JAN. 28, 1928

Times Readers Voice Views

The name and address of the author must accompany every contribution, but on request will not be published. Letters not exceeding 200 words wiU receive preference. To the Editor: I am interested in your editorials* and was especially interested in the one headed “A Call for Thinkers.” Arthur Brisbane asserts that there is not a second rate or even a third rate poet now living. "Asa man thinketh so is he.” Mr. Brisbane ia not a thinker. He is only making known what he fancies when he makes such assertions. “Distance lends enchantment” to him and the present is only common everyday stuff not worth thinking about. So he doesn’t think. Yes, Mr. Editor, a poet’s advice is a panacea for the ills of life. I am the greatest poet on earth, for I think so. However, I am liberal enough to co-ordinate honors with j any one else who stands in rhythm with the basic principles of life rather than with those things thati make for a temporary advantage toward one individual or a select! group of individuals. It is embarrassing for me to be tolerant with those who misinterpret Darwin’a scientific treatises, to accommodate* their own views on the origin of life, and I feel no more consideration for those who willfully draw upon the scriptures for nothingunore than to support an untenable religious creed or doctrine. It is evident that such individuals are prompted by a selfish motive rather than by a spiritual inspiration to awaken people to the glories and beauties of a pure life. A man or woman who has reached middle age, and has not discovered that deceit and craftiness bring death to contentment and happiness, is to be pitied rather than punished. No normal person will deny facts which are proven by incidents and experiments in the material world. These are only object lessons to lead, us on to the abstract or spiritual truths and there is no more reason why any sane mortal should remain in the kindergarten after maturity than there is for a butterfly to remain in the pupa stage after its wings have developed. “I think” Indianapolis is the chosen city from which the long expected spiritual revelation is to be broadcasted. I think so. Let us all think so and make it the “paramount issue,” then the “new deal” will surely materialize. PETER E. GRIMES. 4934 Broadway. To the Editor: Many automobile accidents happen because, when blinded by approaching lights one is often unable to judge his position on the road with respect to the ditch or the oncoming car. This is true of the fogs to which Indiana is subject, also. Other States have on their paved roads white lines painted in the . exact center of the pavement, broad enough and fresh enough to be seen under any conditions. This guide will eliminate 95 per cent of such accidents above mentioned, because if both drivers judge their course by this line there is no fear of their going off the road—they know that reasonably close to this line they are safe, and, consequently, have no temptation to crowd each other. Wisconsin is an example of this safeguard. If The Times can give this plan j the publicity and support necessary | for its adoption I believe it would ! be the means of saving many lives and much property damage. E. M. WEESNER. 314 N. Tenth St. How much money was spent for j the maintenance of public schools in the United States in 1890 and in 1925? In 1890 the total expenditure was $140,506,000. In 1925 it was $1,946.097.000. The figures are taken from the report of the National Industrial Conference Board published in September, 1927, What Is absolute zero. The point at which bodies on the i earth are entirely devoid of heat.