Indianapolis Times, Volume 39, Number 245, Indianapolis, Marion County, 20 February 1928 — Page 4

PAGE 4

SCRIPPJ-HOWAMD

“Higher Office” for Ed Jackson ' All limits appear 1o have been east to the *Avinds in the matter of political buffoonery in Indiana. The latest and most atrocious jest is -the word emanating from the vicinity of the ■Statehouse that Ed Jackson may come before the people again, “aspiring to higher office.’’ By a violent convulsion of the frontal lobes of the cerebrum, one might imagine Moran and Mack playing Hamlet in original Black Crow dialect. But by nothing short of an explosion of the mental faculties could one conceive of the people of Indiana voting that Ed Jackson should grace a “higher office.” If you can, just visualize Ed Jackson as a United States Senator, the Vice President or the President of the United States—the only higher offices that come to mind, at first thought. Look at the man, our Governor. Four days out of the prisoner’s dock, escaping conviction of conspiracy to bribe Warren T. McCray by clutching at a legal technicality. lie stood silent in the face of a torrent of damning evidence, content to go free by any means available rather than to rise, face his accusers, and controvert the testimony they presented—if he could. Guiltless legally, but condemned utterly by the court of public opinion, a thunderous chorus of “resign” ringing in his ears —yet his henchmen talk of higher office. And he has not denied it. It is infinitely ludicrous, so ludicrous as to be pathetic. But a joke in worse taste would be difficult to imagine. This is no time for joking, when a State's name is becoming a scoffing and a byword. Ed Jackson’s court jesters can lay aside their motley and be silent. Ed Jackson is through. His gang is through. The Klu-Klux lvlan is through. Do these sorry comedians ever think of anything save their petty political machinations? Do they ever pause for a moment to consider the plight of Indiana, the harm that is being done to the State’s business and industry by the political turmoil and the corruption in government ? Before their eyes, as an object lesson, is the Indianapolis situation —due solely to politics of the rankest sort. No city employ* knows from pay day to pay day, with the certainly that other workers know, when and how he will get his salary checks. Bond buyers look askance at city bond issues, fearing to purchase because of possible litigation over validity of the issues Public improvements are held up —all because politics comes first and the city’s welfare second with those who have voice in municipal rule. And is tlie situation in the State likely to be one to inspire confidence in business and industry contemplating entrance to the State? Give that a thought andsthen talk of Ed Jackson seeking higher office, his gang seeking to control State machinery for another term, and present conditions continuing. It would be a sad commentary on the intelligence of Indiana could even a dozen be found who would view such a ghastly jest in serious light. There is just one thing to which Ed Jackson should aspire. That is, that the news of his resignation be broadcast to every section of the State before nightfall.

An Official Killing If the right to resort to capital punishment is to be exercised by Federal prohibition officers, that right should be defined by Federal Jaw, so that citizens may know just when and how they shall be subjected to official and legal murder. A recent case in Maryland is illuminating. It gives us a line on what is happening to the Bill of Rights and how our supposedly sacred constitutional liberties gradually are fading out. A Federal dry agent shot and killed a Maryland farmer. He was tried in Federal Court with a Federal judge sitting on the bench and a Federal district attorney acting as attorney for the defense. The county attorney from the county of the murdered farmer acted as prosecutor. You might think that the killer would be tried in a court of the State where the murder was committed. But you would think wrong. It may seem queer that murder by a Federal official should be tried in a Federal instead of a State court, but it is legal no matter whether it is right or wrong otherwise. That is because the Federal Courts have said that when Federal agents commit murder they must be tried in a Federal Court; and what the Federal Courts say goes. So when a Federal dry agent killed a Maryland farmer he enjoyed the special privilege of being tried in a Federal Court and defended by a Fedral district attorney, who by virtue of his office is an officer and a part of the court. Ordinarily he would act as prosecutor in cases against the Government, like violating the Volstead act, counterfeiting, smuggling or selling forbidden narcotics, but when an agent of the Government kills a citizen it is something different. Presumably the theory is that his act isn’t a crime against the Government, but rather an act of the Government through one of its agents. Anyhow, this agent was acquitted. He killed the farmer all right enough. That wasn’t disputed. He went to the farmer’s home to search for a still reported operating in that vicinity. lie went without a search warrant. Tm farmer

The Indianapolis Times (A SCRIPPS-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. PHONE—MAIN 3500. 1 MONDAY. FEB. 20. 1928. Member ol 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.

warned him not to trespass. It may be that the farmer shot first, but the evidence showed that the dry agent was on the farmer's land when the shooting took place. One might think, after reading the Bill of Rights, that so long as the agent had no search warrant, he had no right to invade the farmer’s home or his land, even if he was hunting a still—which he didn't find. Instructing the jury, the Federal judge said thd dry agent had no search warrant, but there was no evidence of trespass, and that the farmer had no right to resist on that ground. So the jury found the dry agent not guilty. Nevertheless, the farmer is still dead and the Bill of Rights is gasping. Ohio and Senator Willis When Senator Willis appointed himself Ohio's favorite son and one candidate for the Republican presidential nomination, he must have had confidence in the popularity of his choice. If his judgment as to his popularity was correct, then there should be no fear on his part that the rank and file of his party would not support him as against any other candidate either in or out of his State. And he should welcome the candidacy of Secretary Hoover as an opportunity to prove to the party nationally that Willis Is more popular in Ohio than even such an outstanding citizen as Herbert Hoover. Getting down off the high plane of statesmanship on which American citizens think their presidential timber should stand, and indulging in a spoils fight, or threats of one, with a local party boss in Cleveland, doesn’t measure up to the standard of statesmanship approved by the American people. The real issue in Ohio is whether the voters of the Republican party shall have opportunity to express their preferences in the matter of presidential candidates, or whether party bosses shall do the thinking and voting for them—whether party power shall come up from the people or be handed down by the bosses. If the voters have opportunity to express . their J preferences and Senator Willis actually is their favor- i ite son and candidate, then he will get the Ohio delegation to the national convention by the free choice of his constituents. If, however, they prefer Hoover, Lowden, Curtis, Dawes or any other Repulbican, their right to such preference can not be disputed. No party squabbling is necessary, even though probable. The Willis Republicans and the Hoover Republicans will be pulling together after the convention. There is no reason for them getting peeved while pulling apart now. Certainly Senator Willis will gain nothing for himself by setting himself up as a political boss and trying to ram his self-selected candidacy down the throats of Ohio Republicans who exercise their rigliL to think somebody else would be a better candidate l for the party nationally. Alphabetical Breakfasts The fact that five Republican and nine Democratic senators attended a recent breakfast at the White House evidently has no political signifiance, and doesn’t indicate that President Coolidge is going Democratic. Looking over the names of the Senators invited, j a proper inference would be that these White House j breakfasts are alphabetical rather than political, j Here are the fourteen pancake immortals: Heflin, ! Shepherd, Smith, Steck, Stephens, Thomas, Tram- : mel, Tydings and Tyson, Democrats, and Sacket, ! Shipstead, Shortridge, Smoot and Steiwer, Repub- ; licans. The S’s seem it. And the fact that Senator Heflin headed the | list would seem to indicate that President Coolidge 1 is entirely impartial as well as non-partisan, and isn't particular in picking his company, so long as the guests are senators. What they may be otherwise doesn’t seem to matter. Trees and Floods The annual meeting of the American Forestry Association in St. Louis this month, will be worth watching. A great many people believe that one of the chief causes of floods in the Mississippi Valley is the deforestation of the land in that part of the country. At the forestry convention will be men who have devoted their lives to studying this question. It will be interesting to await their reports.

Looking for Leader

BY BRUCE CATTON

Senator Burton K. Wheeler, the energetic young man from Montana who drove Harry Daugherty out of the cabinet, is discouraged about the American people. The nation, he believes, is helflsh and inert. If Lincoln himself were to appear today, the Senator declares, he could do nothing, because the people would be too indifferent to follow him. It Is hard to blame the Senator for being pessimistic. He courageously made war on corruption in high places, and was rewarded by being indicted on trumped-up charges; nor was there any great outcry of popular indignation over the treatment he received. Yet it is possible to disagree with him. It is true that we seem far more interested in baseball, criminal trials, airplane flights and new flivvers than in our governmental leaders and their problems. But this may not be our fault so much as the fault of our leaders. Asa matter of fact, there is no country on earth where the average man looks so longingly for a capable leader as in America. Our trouble is that too often, of recent years, we have learned that our idols had feet of clay. We have grown somewhat sus-, picious; we have become clever at detecting shams. But let a really great man arise, or even a half-great man, and we are ready to go wherever he asks. This explains, undoubtedly, our tendency to idolize our industrial captains. We look up to men like Ford, Sloan, Farrell and du Pont because we recognize that here, for all their shortcomings, are men who are in their own way genuinely big. They may move in narrow fields, but in those fields they loom large. We are hungry for leaders, and since our politicians so often have failed us we are turning to the business man. The American does not readily lose his capacity for giving himself to great leaders. There is grounded in every heart an inarticulate idealism, shy but ardent, eager to take command if ony there will arise a captain capable of making the right appear. On every battlefield from Lexington to Chateau Thierry there are American bodies to testify to this. Vet a man arise again—a man of genuine greatness, with a call to real service on his lips—and there will be a response to shake the world. America is waiting, now as always. Bet every politician remember it.

TLiE li\ uiAin TIMES

BRIDGE ME ANOTHER (Copyright, 1928, by The Ready Reference Publishing Company) BY W. W. WENTWORTH

(Abbreviations: A—ace: K—king; Q —queen; J —Jack: X—any card lower than 10.) 1— Partner having bid no-trump, what does two of a minor by you indicate? 2 When you hold 3 and three or more others in a suit, what do you lead against bid? 3 When you hold Q X of a suit, what do you lead against bid? THE ANSWERS 1— Weakness. 2 Fourth from top. 3 Q.

Times Readers Voice Views

The name and address ol the authoi must accompany every contribution but on request will not be published. Letters not exceeding 200 word* will receive preference. To the Editor: An article in your Feb. 1, issue on the question of married women working, expresses my sentiments exactly, only I want to add some to it. The question was asked a few weeks ago, over the radio from the Circle Theater, as to what different people’s ideas were (on the cause of the crime wave over the country. Several blamed the newspapers for their publicity and Extra! Extra! screams all over the country. I believe that makes it worse myself. But I believe the mothers of this country have had more to do with it than anything else in the world. Just stop and ask yourself what age these criminals were ten years ago when the war came on? Nine out of ten, they are the ones that were turned loose on the streets at that time, that are in the criminal courts, for all kinds of offences today. If the women had to go out to work at that time, we’ll say very well, but why didn’t they go back to their homes, and let the men have the jobs at better salary, when the war was over. But no, they must keep their places, and If the men got work they had to take jobs at about half what they should have had. They sent their children to school, yes, but how? They came home at noon to lunch, house cold, work half done up, probably table full of dirty dishes, got them a few bites, maybe a sandwich, or handful of crackers and a piece of cheese, and went back down the street to eat it. Same thing when school was out, or not go home at all till dark, play in the streets and alleys, and see and learn many, many things they should not have known, and would not if mother had been home doing her duty. People who are in their homes working and planning to educate their children, then when they get that done, ahd the boy or girl start out to get work, they soon find a large per cent of places are filled with married women. These youngsters are going to have money now days, and you see how they are getting it every day. The mothers have the biggest Job in the world to do and they have to be on the job every minute, day and night, and then they will miss some of their hopes and expectations. I am a mother of a family and I know things are not as I want them to be, but I shudder to think what they might have been if I had been gone from my home every day all these years. An interested reader. MRS. Z W. FEAR. 914 N. Olney St. To the Editor: How comes the farmer wants help? Does the city fellow, that has to work, get any help? Stop in some of the soft drink places, or pool rooms, and see how many ask for 10 or 15 cents with which to get something to eat. CHARLES M. C.RAMMER, 2435 N. New Jersey St. What is heat lightning, and what causes it? It is more or less vivid and extensive flashes of electric light, seen near the horizon, especially at the close of a hot day. It is ascribed to far-off lightning flashes reflected from the higher strata of clouds. Was Edgar Guest born in England or l>etroit? Edgar Guest was born in Birmingham, England, Aug. 20, 1881.

TfTOIRIN Tr~OTN"K

The Rules

1. The idea of letter golf is to change one word to another and do it in par, or a given number of strokes. Thus, to change COW to HEN in three strokes, COW, HOW, HEW, HEN. 2. You can change only one letter at a time. 3. You must have a complete word of common usage for each jump. Slang words and abbreviations don't count. 4. The order of letters can not be changed.

DlAltai I INTG F_A s__LJ3l_L_N A s_xAJl__N Gi s Itlriolnlg-

Jj |"l RlCl

Mohammed, the Prophet, Is Born

MEANWHILE, in the East, another religion was being born. Look at Arabia on the map: It is the great head of a rhinoceros, with its lower jaw at Aden and its nasal tusk at Maskat. A vast irregular triangle, threequarters desert and one-eighth stone, with here and there, on the western coast near the Red Sea, cities struggling to maintain themselves against the sand; towards the north Aleppo and Damascus; towards the the south Median, where Mohammed won his first warriors, and still farther south Mecca, center and goal of the Mohammedan world. Which of us would think that the length of this peninsula is almost fifteen hundred miles, and its greatest breadth-facing the Indian Ocean—almost a thousand: that all the area of Germany and France might be dqubled and yet not equal the size of this Arabia Deserta, this Arabia Petraea (Stony), and this Arabia Felix—this happy Arabia of the fertile south? Over this inhospitable expanse Semitic nomads have wandered for ten thousand years of history, and for countless years lost now from human memory. You may see them today, these Bedouins and these merchants, these handsome sheiks and flying warriors, all mounted on horses as swift as Arab love. They clothe themselves, you think, too warmly for their torrid clime; fold after fold of flowing robes envelops them, covering their heads, i and almost hiding faces darkened to protect themselves against the sun and dirt, playing hide-and-seek with the world. a tt u LOOK at these Bedouins beside / the road; how quietly they move in and out of their camel-hair

Richmond Palladium Another complication in the hectic administration of municipal government in Indianapolis has arisen. An action in the Marion Circuit, Court asks for the appointment of a receiver to take oharge of municipal affairs. One wonders what particular purpose is to be served by the latest move It is inconceivable to think that Indianapolis is bankrupt cither with respect to its finances or the ability of its citizens to manage their municipal affairs. Should this condition actually prevail, Indianapolis doesn’t need a receiver, but a temporary dictator to whip its recalcitrant factions into line. Indianapolis has ousted one mayor. The courts are about to decide whether the present mayor has a right to the office. It also has a city council whose members can hardly qualify as “city fathers” in the sense in which that term sometimes is applied to the legislative branch of a municipal government. The city needs tranquillity and a concerted effort of everyone to eliminate politics and factional feeling in behalf of a sane, honest and efficient administration of its affairs. The backbiting of the city council and the filing of court actions that obstruct rather than clarify the situation are working a hardship on the community. Ft. Wayne Journal-Gazette Announcement has been made by Earl Crawford that he is a candidate for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination. Crawford is a member of the State Highway Commission and is the second of that body to throw his hat in the ring for Governor. Commissioner Hershman announced his candidacy some weeks ago. Asa member of the High Commission, Crawford has become pretty well known over the State, though like Hershman he can * hardly be said to have any such acquaintanceship as some of the other candidates. Crawford was brought to attention in rather sensational fashion three years ago when the Republican organization, Governor Jackson and D. C. Stephenson were at-

Why Girls Leave Home

THE STORY OF CIVILIZATION

• Written for The Times by Will Durant

tents, how calmly they follow their herd of goats, whose milk sustains them until they can rob a caravan; and yet beneath this philosophic pace and this majestic calm what passions lie, and what ready violence! Not so long ago these men stole and killed without qualm; and because women were of little use to them except for service which a few might give, they buried many of their female children alive, congratulated themselves when a, daughter died, and locked upon the' birtli of a girl as a visitation from God in punishment for their sins. They married the survivors off at the age of seven or eight, four or five <if they could) to one man; and when a father died, his son inherited his wives as an unavoidable portion of the paternal property. Ssldom have women been so beautiful, and so scorned. In the cities merchants ruled, exchanging the sparse products of the country-side for those of shop and driving clever bargains, and nursing their little hoards. Every town and every tribe lived in a jealous independence, preferring the perils of trade and war to the prose of peaceful industry. The bards who sang before Mohammed came, proudly recorded seventeen hundred tribal wars; even within the tribe civil strife was a routine thing; every man might stir up, at any moment, a war of clan against clan to vindicate the honor of his women or his beard; and the decision of a magistrate seldom satisfied these practitioners of the ready scimitar. Death had no terrors worse than desert life. o a t* NOT even their religion could give them unity. Every tribe had its idols and fetiches: and

What Other Editors Think

tempting to make the Highway Commission the biggest single item of political spoils the State government afforded. Failure to pass the ripper bill of ill-fame, a measure which would have legislated the old commission out of office, the gentle recourse was taken of framing Commissioner Crawford and Highway Director John D. Williams for a railreading to the penitentiary. They were indicted on charges of graft. That the indictment was a

Questions and Answers

You can get an answer to any answerable question of fact or Information by writing to Frederick M. Kerby, Question Editor, The Indianapolis Times, Washington Bureau, 1322 New York Ave., Washington, D. C., enclosing two cents in stamps for reply. Medical and legal advice cannot be given, nor can extended research be made. All other questions will receive a personal reply. Unsigned requests cannot be answered. All leters are confidential. You are cordially invited to make use of this free service as often as you please. EDITOR. Are there many stars that cannot be photographed? The total number of stars it is possible to photograph with long exposures surpasses 100,000,000. There are doubtless many more at such great distances that even the camera will not record them. Who was the construction engineer of Brooklyn bridge and when did he die? John A. Roebling was the chief engineer of construction. He prepared the plans of the structure and began the construction. While engaged in fixing the position of the Brooklyn tower he met with an accident, crushing his foot. He died of lockjaw sixteen days later as the result of the accident. His son, Washington Augustus Roebling, assumed his father’s position and successfully completed the bridge in 1883. What baseball player holds the record in the major leagues for the most hits? Ty Cobb. At the close of the 1926 season he had completed twenty-

where all agreed to worship the omnipotent and übiquitous (if not benevolent) sun, it was with jealousy different ceremonies and myths. Rigid taboos restrained them in every direction, and every night filled their souls with terror of the Jinns or genii that hovered in the air, incalculably ready to help or to destroy. Even the stones of the desert seemed holy; above all the great stone called Kaaba, at Mecca, was surely the embodiment of a god; and pious Arabs came from far places in patient pilgrimage to press their lips upon this sacred rock. Long before Mohammed spoke, Mecca had become the Holy City of the Arab tribes. The prophet Mohammed was born there in 570 A. D., and both his parents were distinguished. Abdallah, his father, “was the most beautiful and modest of the Arabian youth; and in the first night, when he consummated his marriage with Amina, of the noble race of Zahrites, two hundred virgins are said to have expired of jealousy and despair.” (Gibbon). Nevertheless, Abdallah died two months before the birth of his son: perhaps it was the shock of this bereavement that worked through Amina's flesh to make her child compact of nerves and sensitivity, another (as some would have it) in that long list of geniuses who suffered from epilepsy. On the other hand holy legends tell how Amina’s travail was utterly free from pain; only the earth suffered. convulsing itself into earthquakes. uplifting vast seas, and otherwise recording its appreciation of Mohammed’s birth. (To Be Continued) (Copyright. 1928. by Will Durant)

frame-up became clear as time went on and no effort was made to prosecute. The indictments were dismissed a long time ago. Crawford has been a hardworking and capable member of the Highway Board and it is mainly upon his record in that branch of the State service that his candidacy is rested. His entry into the already large field of candidates serves still further to complicate the situation in the primary as concerning the gubernatorial nomination.

two years in the major leagues, during which time he had a total of 3,902 base hits to his credit. To what country did the tank “MARK VIII” used in the World W’ar belong? To Great Britain. What is a hermaphrodite? In biology it is an individual with generative organs of both sexes, as certain mollusks and worms and most plants; a condition rarely occurring in higher animals. What is the meaning of the name Howard? It is of axon origin and means “in the right direction.” On what date will Thanksgiving day fall in 1928? Nov. 29. How can a musty odor be eradicated from a barrel? Try burning a little sulphur in it, then closing the bung and letting it stand for a day. Or scald the barrel with steam and let dry. Why is a tail spin in an airplane almost always fatal? A tail spin usually occurs when the plane is climbing upward and the motor fails, allowing the plane to slip toward the earth, tail first. As it falls it. spins and unless the pilot has plenty of altitude he is unable to right the plane in order to volaplane to earth.

_FEB. 20, 1928

M. E, TRACY SAYS: “Twenty-Five Thousand Persons Were Killed by Automobiles in This Country Last Year; That Is About the Same Number Poisonous Snakes Killed in India.'’

Airplanes fly above Macon, Ga., cutting capers to thrill a noon-day crowd. It is the southeastern air derby, | and many a skilled pilot rides the j wind. ! Death rides with one, but who guesses as much, or guessing it, who cares? a What Will Happen Next? , One of the floating specks a mile and a half up suddenly is enveloped by a little white cloud. The crowd cramps its neck and strains its eyes to see what may happen next. I The speck emerges from the bottom of the clouds, which is queer, and comes straight down, which is queerer. The crowd does not know that the two occupants of an airplane have been killed by the premature explosion of a bomb they were tryI ing to release, but it does know something is wrong. It moves out of line, but not far enough to spoil its view. Four persons linger long enough to be caught in the crash, one of them giving his life to the still whirring propeller. a a a Curiosity and Science The crowd gathers around the wreckage, jamming, jostling, press- | ing to get every grewsome detail. An overloaded sidewalk above the basement of a drug store collapses, I and six more persons are injured, though none seriously. It is all very typical of this “strenuous life”—curiosity walkinghand in hand with science; man's most primitive trait proving it can get him into trouble quite as easily as his latest achievement. a u a Children of Habit One could weep over such Incidents with very little encouragement, and that is what some people do. They are children of habit. Time was when all people wept over such incidents—wept, grieved and got nowhere. Whatever else may be said of this age, it wastes little time whining. Not that it lacks human sympathy, but that it believes intelligence offers a much more effective way of expressing human sympathy than tears. It is a good bet that several Inventors already have taken up the task of devising something to prevent the premature explosion of aeriai bombs. * a an Sacrifices of Progress Twenty-five thousand people were killed by automobiles in this country last year. That is about the same number poisonous snakes killed in India. The people of India mourn over their loss quite as much as we over ours. But they do not make as much effort to remedy it. The difference is that while we endure sacrifices so long as they seem to represent progress, the people of India are willing to endure them even though they are worthless and wasteful. Speaking of automobiles, the announcement of General Motors that it had just closed the best year in its history was followed almost immediately by a bearish raid on Wall Street. It is absurd to suppose that these two incidents had any connection with each other, which makes the latter all the more significant. Evidently, quite a few speculators are in a selling mood, no matter what the reports of even the greatest corporations show. a a Wall Street Excited This is the third or fourth time within recent weeks that trading in Wall Street has approached the rate of one million shares an hour and that there has been a general decline of the market. If some particular stock, or group of stocks, had been singled out, or If the thing had occurred only once, it might be dismissed as a freak, but it is becoming too frequent and is taking in too much territory for such a view. u a Stock Selling Raids These recurrent selling raids suggest that quite a few financiers feel we have gone about far enough with boost and inflation, and that even though there may not be an overdose of water, the cash reserve is being whittled down to a dangerous point. Though due in some degree to a perfectly normal reaction, it is not unreasonable to suspect that considerable of the selling has been forced by the calling of loans. Instead of accepting such action as cause for alarm, the public should regard it as a sensible measure of precaution. tt tt u World Competition The United States is entering an era of keen competition in foreign trade which is bound to effect her domestic trade. It would be little less than a calamity if she were caught short on cash, or carrying securities at too small a margin, which amounts to the same thing at the outset. Those business men who want to tighten up until we are sure of our values and reserves merely are looking ahead. Very few of them believe the country is in danger, or that financial conditions are basically unsound. Their idea merely is to bo prepared.