Indianapolis Times, Volume 40, Number 173, Indianapolis, Marion County, 10 December 1928 — Page 4

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Government by Guns Trapping and killing of two men who turned bandit and came to a sudden end of a short career in crime brings congratulations to the policemen who fought it out with desperate men. It is always a matter of satisfaction when policemen who are called upon to defend society get the better of such contests with the forces of disorder. It is always a matter of supreme dismay and trepidation when policemen are killed by the enemies of society and escape, undetected. This city has two very recent instances of this kind, in which the murder of officers of the law seemed to have been planned, deliberate and malicious, that have not been solved and the killers, whatever their purposes and motives, are still at large. But the very desperateness with which men, apparently new to crime, fight with police suggests that we are rapidly coming to a government by guns in this country, unless something is done to check impulses of men who work one day and become outlaws the next. There is, of course, some underlying cause which produces crime, just as there are causes which produce decent and orderly citizens. In the recent case, the men knew where money was had on a certain day to cash checks, prepared to steal it and kill if necessary, and were stopped in their crime only because some man who knew of the plans informed the police ana they were able to be on hand and prevent the consummation of the plans. If this tip had not been had, the men would probably have succeeded, perhaps after killing the citizen if he protested against being thus relieved of his wealth. Why will men take these deliberate chances in order to get money? The one reason is that they do it because they believe that they can do it safely and escape punishment. The prosecution of crime is not the sure and certain matter that it is in Canada or Britain. No man commits a crime with any idea that he will suffer for that crime. His first chance in safety lies in shooting his way to liberty if he is detected or if his victim puts up any resistance. If he escapes, he has a chance to elude arrest. If arrested, his chances with the courts would be underwritten, on the basis of statistics at about one chance in three of being convicted. If he has been successful enough to get a large amount of money he can depend on good lawyers. If he belongs to the newly organized groups of criminal gangs, there is a lawyer always ready to defend him employed in advance. # If he is convicted, thei’e is the chance of delay under an appeal by which he can elude the law for months and some times years. Shooting it out is not the best protection of life and property. It would be better if the legal machinery were so changed that sure and swift punishment would follow every capture of a criminal and that there is some increase in the number of captures in proportion to the crimes. f Certain punishment is the only deterrent. Long sentences alone accomplish little. A Great Newspaper Newspapers in all parts c£ the country just now are giving up their own editorial space to extol the merits of the fiftieth anniversary edition of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. And truly it is a remarkable edition. In its 200 pages there appear contributions by leaders of thought In all parts of the world, not merely casual congratulatory messages from the great and near-great, but studied expressions of their views on matters of national and international import. In bound form it would make a compendium of world opinion worth room in the best of libraries. A long cry it is from the little sheet founded by the late Joseph Pulitzer in the Mississippi river metropolis half a century ago. , But to us this unusual and splendid special edition of the Post-Dispatch is somehow much less impressive than the day by day issue of that same newspaper. Given the money and the ambition to do so, any paper should be able on stated occasions to produce a big and notable special edition. It takes more, however, to furnish each day of the week a newspaper of the character and caliber of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Not only does it contrive to be an exponent of the best thought and most disinterested purpose in its own wide middle western territory, but it does the same for the country at large and for the world. Not many newspapers so far removed from the national political capital succeed as does the PostDispatch in impressing their views on the national government; not many, so far from the sea coasts, make their voices heard in foreign lands. A real tribute it is to the men who have made and still are making this St. Louis newspaper to say that despite a bigger, though younger brother—the New York World—close to the seats of the mighty, the Post-Dispatch still receives daily recognition for an identity all its own. ‘ i„ It is a great newspaper in the full meaning of the much misused term. Another Fool Judge Whether birth control is right or wrong has nothing to do with the right or wrong of that Cleveland judge who went outside the law and his authority to impose birth control on a married couple seeking divorce. The judge had a right to grant or refuse tfo grant the decree of divorce, but his authority ended there. That isn’t where he stopped, however. He said tc the helpless victims standing before him: "I shall not allow you to impose any more children upon yourselves and society. I impose on you three years of birth control. Three children in three ye&rs should not be allowed.” Three children may be too many in three years but that is none of the judge’s private, judicial or official business. He had no more right to impose birth control on that or any other married couple for three years, than he had to impose it for ten years or forever. He.had exactly as much right to order them to have a baby every year as he had to order them to have none. What punishment shall be inflicted for a crime or misdemeanor is fixed by law within minimum and maximum limits. When a judge has fixed the punishment in his discretion, as defined by law, that’s the end of his authority to punish. But some judges are not satisfied with the author-

The Indianapolis Times (A SCEIFPS-HOWAKD 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—RII EY 555 L MONDAY. DEC. 10, 1938. 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.”

ity given them by law; they step beyond that and add something that has no legality and may be nothing but the emotions or crude thinking of a fool sitting on the bench as a judge Some day we will find a way to curb the tyrannical conduct of jurists who seem to think that judges, like ancient kings, can do no wrong and that their judgment or even their whim or caprice is the law because they happen to be judges. Prohibition Enforcement Debate on the treasury appropriation bill in the house add the recent hearings on that measure before members of the appropriations committee reveal a growing realization of the ineffectiveness of prohibition enforcement by the federal government. After nine years of the Volstead act; and the expenditure of hugs sums, even opponents of prohibition are willing to concede that present conditions are far from satisfactory. The question of how much money the federal government would require to enforce prohibition to the greatest possible extent is being raised and wets have expressed a willingness to vote for whatever appropriations are needed. This is a hopeful sign. Prohibitionists too frequently have contented themselves with the bland assertion that things were as they should be, and have blinked at facts that were a matter of common knowledge. Representative Crampton of Michigan, an antisaloon league spokesman, said during debates that the federal government coulc not do more than stop smuggling, check leakage of alcohol under federal supervision, and handle the big cases. States and local governments, he said, must do the police work. If this method of enforcement is tried and cooperation of subordinate authorities is not forthcoming, other means for meeting the situation will hive to be devised. It is time we stopped imitating the ostrich, which buries its head in the sand. In Springfield, 111., a bullet struck a cigaret lighter in a man’s pocket and he was saved. It was inevitable that some day one of those things would prove to be of use. What would the people of the International Livestock show have done if suddenly there should have been a shortage of pretty girls to pose for pictures with the horses and cows? Courses in corrective sleep have been prescribed at the University of Texas. Now that the football season ,is over, the students have to pass their time some way. Sweet and soothing flavors are proposed by pharmacists for the medicines that used to make children scowl. Pretty soon father won’t even be able to threaten William with a dose of cod liver oil. President-elect Hoover once w'as hostler at a girls’ school. Wonder if he knows about donkeys, too, and what his first message to congress will say? A ram died the other day after ten years’ service leading 7,000,000 sheep to the slaughtering pens in the Chicago Stock Yards. There are several of that kind left, though, in the Stock Exchange. St. Paul recommended kissing as an expression of Christian brotherhood. But then St. Paul didn’t go to the movies. C. C. Wu is the new minister from China to the United States, replacing Sao-ke Alfred Sze. Just another point to be brought up at the headline writers’ annual banquet. A Chicago policeman is being sued for $50,000 for breach of promise. The trade seems to be shifting and rich men’s sons are having a little competition these days from the wealthy police. On the transit system in New York City, according to a statistician, 3,235,200,000 people ride in a year. The people who ride the subways know that the statistician must have meant in a day.

David Dietz on Science

Astronomy’s Court

No. 229

THE story of the telescope, which began in Europe with Galileo is chiefly an American story today. The world’s greatest telescopes are to be found today in the United States and Canada. I co not mean to imply that the progress of astronomy is chiefly American today. Europe has great astronomers. Foremost in the field are such men as Eddington, Dyson, Jeans, Jeffries and many others. But it is a fact that nowhere in the world can

-.cope in the world. All three telescopes are reflectors. Both observatories have a marvelous collection of auxiliary instruments, such as tower solfcr telescopes, pectroscopes, interfermoters and so on. The Lick observatory on Mt. Hamilton has a spleniid equipment, including the famous 36-inch reractor. Asa result of this fine equipment, the Pacific coast las become the supreme court in astronomy. Almost all problems which can be settled by obervational methods eventually find their way to these bservatories of the Pacific coast. The position of the Pacific coast as a supreme ourt will be strengthened when the new 200-inch elescope is built. This will be located on a mountain peak along the coast. The California Institute of Technology will be in charge of the telescope, funds for which are being provided b ythe international education board. This institute, which is at Pasadena, has carried 1 on much co-operative work with the Mt. Wilson observatory. This co-operation is-to continue, for Dr. George Ellery Halle, honorary director of the Mt. Wilson observatory, is chairman of the institute’s committee on the new telescope. The committee has consulted, among others, Ambrose Swasey of Cleveland. The Warner & Swasey Cos. of Cleveland has built many telescopes including the 36-inch refractor at the Lick Observatory, the 72-inch reflector at the Dominion observatory and other telescopes in other parts of the world.

M. E. TRACY SAYS:' “Though Revolutionary in Purpose, the Kellogg Pact Does Not Set Up a Revolutionary System.”

PRESIDENT COOLIDGE receives more than 1,000 messages indorsing the Kellogg pact. They come from all classes of people and represent all shades of opinion. No move to eliminate war has attracted wider or* more favorable interest. Even Mussolini describes it as “sublime.” The strength of the Kellogg pact lies in its simplicity. Ordinary folks not only can understand it, but, what is even more important, can see the possibility of putting it into operation without disrupting the present order. Though revolutionary in purpose, the Kellogg pact does not set up a revolutionary system. There is no super government in the picture, no surrender of national sovereignty, no commitment whereby a country is bound against its will. The basic idea is voluntary co-operation. U tt tt Perfectly Consistent French critics profess to see President Coolidge’s advocacy of the Kellogg pact and appeal for fifteen cruisers as inconsistent. That is not surprising. French critics appeal determined to see something wrong, or inconsistent, with all our foreign policy, no matter what form it takes. In their opinion we seek what is unjust when we ask for naval parity with Great Britain. Great Britain has more possessions to guard, they point out, more coasts to patrol and more seas to cover, wherefore, she ought to have a bigger fleet. The point is, of course, that she would have a bigger fleet, even on the basis of naval partity, because of her merchant marine. According to one authority, Great Britain has 1,200 merchant ships of 3,000 tons or more, while we have only 235. Those ships, or most of them at least, easily could be converted into naval auxiliaries. Besides that, they afford a splendid training school for sailors. To make the case clearer, let us suppose that Great Britain and the United States had navies of the same size, that they went to war and that both navies were wiped out. Under such circumstances. Great Britain would have 1,200 merchant ships left, while we would have left less than one-fifth of that number, with trained sailors in about the same proportion. a a a 'Plot Thickens’ When Arnold Rothstein was shot some weeks ago, it was generally believed that one more gambler, albeit a prominent one, had merely “gotten his.” Quite a bit of racy information was broadcast concerning a poker game which took place back in September, and in which Rothstein w as said to have lost $300,000 or more, though he got away with all the cash in sight by giving verbal I. O. U’s. The impression has prevailed that Rothstein refused to pay when the winners came to collect, and that one of them either killed him, or hired some professional to do so. That impression may be sound, but Rothstein, it appears, was interested in more games than poker. Examination of his private papers put federal authorities on the track of a dope-selling outfit and already has led to the arrest of two men and two women, as well as the capture of $2,000,000 worth of drugs. a a a Crime —More Crime One vice generally leads to another. Where you find a card sharp, you usually find other kinds of crookedness. The same thing is true of graft, even that mild variety of graft which politicians call “honest.” When you find a police force winking at several thousand speakeasies, you can be pretty sure that it is winking at something else. The same convenient inattention to business on the part of law enforcement officers which permits such games as that in which Rothstein sat to go unnoticed can be depended on to make life easier for bootleggers, dope peddlers and even worse offenders in the end. a a a Fines to Help the Poor The Christmas spirit has become a wonderful institution. It has taught all of us how to do more or less collecting. No so illogical either, when you come to think of it. How can one give unless he gets? Comes the city of Detroit with a most unique device. Traffic fines for two days will be donated to the Christmas fund. An able experiment if Santa Claus does not become too hard in his enthusiasm. If he does, Detroit motorists may wonder where their share of the Yuletide complex comes in. There is an element of danger in mixing the administration of justice I with charity collections. What the spirit of gfving gains may be more than offset by what the spirit of fair play loses. Besides, why pick on the motorists? a a a Santa on the Exchange Stocks took a slump Saturday. Experts figure that five or six billion dollars were wiped out. Who knowv but what the Christmas spirit had some part in it? It takes money to shop, whether early or late. A good many people must have discovered that though they had made a lot buying stock, they could not get it without selling the stock. There were expectations to be met—a fur coat for the wife or sweetie; remembrances for moth er, or dad; toys for the kids; somc- | thing on the side for faithful emi ployes; more on the side to make a I social impression; and those ads in | the paper. Who will deny that good old St Nick may have had some part in starting the raid, or that knowledge of what the season called for by way of gifts, compliments and bribes had something to do with the resultant crash?

great telescopes be found to match the marvelous instruments of the Pacific coast. The Mt. Wilson observatory has the 100-inch and the 60-inch telescopes, the largest and the third largest in the world. The Dominion Astrophysical observatory in Canada has the 72-inch telescope, the second largest tele-

THE INDIANAPOLIS TIMES

BY DR. MORRIS FISHBEIN Editor Journal of the American Medical Association and of Ilygeia. the Health Magazine. IN its special report submitted to the minister of health of Great Britain, the British Medical Association has qualified noises as pleasant or unpleasant; loud or soft; offensive or inoffensive. The effects of noise vary with their quality, rhythm and duration. The report classified as an un-

necessary noise and as a public nuisance any noise made at times of the day or night when it was most likely to be disturbing; any

UR newspapers should not V-/ high-hat France for refusing to let us extradite Blackmer, oil fugitive, for while the refusal was based on one of those judicial sleight-of-hand performances which harm society more than a thousand crimes, it was no more abhorrent to fundamental right than our own acquittal of Sinclair, Doheny and Stewart, Blackmer’s loving pals. a a a In view of our demonstrated inability to stand against a powerful offender equipped with batteries of eighteen-inch legal guns, it is poor strategy to persist in farcical endeavors to enforce the idea that all men are equal before our laws. The net result of such repeated failures is bad, the flickering resentment of the people fading into a sense of helplessness. a a a The only way to challenge the insolent presumption that the mighty can do no wrong is to concede it for awhile. Let public prosecutors refuse to proceed against powerful offenders and tell the people that it is useless, that punishment for crime is only for the little. If this formal confession of the impotence of American society were made a dozen times it would rattle the dry bones of the Democracy and there might be heard the rumbling of a social volcano which would bring judges and juries to their senses! a a a If Allan Ryan ever wears that set of white pearl studs and reflects that they are all his multi-million aire father left him, it will be very hard for him to keep his shirt on. a a a Judge Sullivan of Chicago very properly rebuked a jury which ac quitted a man charged with murder, against whom there was strong circumstantial evidence, and who did not take the witness stand. Any man. accused of any crime who does not deny his guilt should get the limit. a a a Congress has been in session a whole week, yet Tom Heflin has not saved the country!

And as the toes of the feet were part of iron and part of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong and partly broken.—Daniel 2:42. a a a WEAKNESSS ineffectually seeks to disguise itself, like a drunken man trying to show how sober he is.—Bovee.

New Kind of ‘Christmas Saving Club’ Is Needed

S p ——P— ■

Human Efficiency Red need by Noises

Question —Should a wound caused by a dog bite’be cauterized? Answer —Cauterization of a dog bite with fuming nitric acid is sometimes used to kill the virus, but should not be depended on to prevent rabies. In every case the Pasteur treatment should be used, particularly if an investigation of the dog’s head reveals rabies in the animal.

Reason

Daily Thought

DAILY HEALTH SERVICE

noise that was loud, screeching, strident or discordant, and any noise that was discontinuous and unrhythmic. Perhaps some of the Wagnerian music might fit into such classification, but it was obviously not included under the definition. Human Adaptability A healthy person is capable of adapting himself to all sorts of peculiar influences, but invariably such adaptation brings about a certain amount of wear and tear on the nervous system. Investigators have found a definite relationship of unnecessary noises to loss of personal and industrial efficiency. Most noises occurring in industry are rhythmical, uniform and continuous; they do not involve sudden changes of quality, pitch or intensity, nor occur so suddenly as to startle the hearer. Street noises are entirely different than noises taking place in industry. The sudden unexpected screech of a motor horn, the rattle of a wagon loaded with milk cans, or the explosions of a motorcycle exhaust are bound to irritate the nervous system.

By Frederick LANDIS

AS Canada holds immune from continued extradition her thirty booze manufacturers, indicted for conspiring to smuggle liquor 'into the United States, and as she fondly dreams of future profits, growing out of the continued violation of our law, we wonder if she ever recalls how she looked to us to save her from the kaiser back in the days when Germany was all but supreme a a a Lady Astor ran a great risk of infuriating John Bull when she wore that red dress in the British House of Commons.

BY FABYAN MATHEY There are no trumps, and South has the lead. North and South must win three of the five tricks, against a perfect defense. S—J H—J. 10-3-2 o—None C— None l NORTH H-None £ h 9 ”"’ 0 : 9 I l S=9 4 C-None SOUTH S—K-5 H—K-Q O—A C—None aa LAY out the cards on a table, as shown in the diagram, and study the situation. See if you can find a method of play that will net North and South three of the five tricks. The solution is printed herewith.

The Solution

LIKE the puzzle of the preceding day. this also deals with entries. In this case, however, defensive rather than offensive bridge is involved. There is only one purpose here, but It is a vfy nwwapr purpose.

These differ entirely from the rhythmical noises of the uniform hum of traffic on a distant business street. The ordinary citizen needs a certain amount of undisturbed sleep. Hence it was determined that any noise from 11 p. m. to 6 a. m., which is capable of being prevented or lessened, ought to be included in the classification of unneccccary noise. The needs of the healthful individual are emphasized in the case of sickness. People who are nervous or who suffer from insomnia may be driven almost to the point of distraction by ’ irritating and useless noises at night. In its consideration of the subject, the British Medical Association classified among preventable noises the following: Inefficiently silenced motor vehicles. Warning instruments carried on motor vehicles; particularly strident horns, klaxons and electric hooters. Barking dogs. Cries and bells of street vendors. Careless handling of milk cans. Noises on railways. It suggests control by law of some of these noises and education of the public in the control of noise.

LET THE MIGHTY GO a a a APPLE SAUCE AND ART a a a KEEPING HIS SHIRT ON

HOLBEIN’S small portrait of King Edward IV has been sold to anew Yorker for $250,000, but if it had been a better picture by a struggling young artist, it would hardly have sold for the price of a breakfast. Apple sauce goes with art, even better than with pork chops. One evening some art critics went to the home of a gentleman, who first covering the artist’s name, invited their attention to two of his landscapes. They gazed with growing admiration and ascribed them to certain giants of the brush and w r ere speechless when they read the artist's name, for they had known him and he had lived and died unacclaimed. Some day some drum major of the procession of appreciation will “discover” this artist and he will take his place among the tardily crowned in the hall of fame and financial heavy weights will pay dearly for his wares.

Your opponent’s re-entry must be taken out before he can establish his long suit. South leads his five of spades, which West takes with the ace. South wins the return of a diamond. and has little difficulty in taking a trick each in hearts and spades. The only satisfactory opening lead is the low spade. If a‘ heart had ben opened. East would have won with the ace. A diamond would have then been returned, and with West’s ace of spades for re-entry, North and South would have been held to two tricks. If the king of spades had been opened—an * obviously bad lead— East would have won a heart trick and two spade tricks. Had the ace of diamonds been opened North and South would have won that trick alone. Choose your leads with an eye to the future. It helps. Where did the custom of leaving calling cards originate? In the latter part of the seventeenth century the visiting card, , i now' known, came into existence. Artists of the eighteenth century devoted themselves ,to designing elaborate visiting cards. Ornate cards were common but in less elaborate form, until the close of the nineteenth century. Today ornate cards are considered exceedingly poor A

.DEC. 10, 1928

Prohibition, in Eyes of Congress.

Representative louis c. CRAMTON, Michigan The federal obligation (in prohibition enforcement) primarily is to take care of those things of a federal nature. For instance, to stop smuggling on the borders, and we have done that pretty well on the oceans through the increase of the coast guard; also, to stop the unlawful division of alcohol issued under permits for use in industry. a a a Representative Ralph F. Lozier, Missouri—The time has come for the national government to discharge the responsibility which it assumed when the American people committed to it the enforcement of the eighteenth amendment of the constitution. That law never has had a fair trial. Its pretended enforcement has never been in friendly hands. Its pretended enforcement has been so half-hearted, sporadic, insincere, and inefficient that prohibition has in reality not had a fair trial in the United States. a a a Representative Adolph J. Sabath, Illinois—Now, I have traveled quite a bit, and I know that there is no enforcement of the prohibition laws in the small towns, in the villages through the country . In any place I would stop, whether it would be in my own state or in the state of Michigan or any state in the west or south, I could obtain all the beverages and all the drinks I possibly could wish for. During these visits I made inquiries as to enforcement, and invariably I would be informed that the prohibition law is being looked upon as a joke. Yes, here and there we hear about indictments. a a a Representative Loring M. Black, Jr.. New York—Let us look the facts in the face. It is quite evident on this prohibition question that we have reached a stalemate. The drys won’t stop hoping and the wets won’t stop drinking. The United States is spending about $30,000,000 a year to please the drys and to make liquor more expensive for the wets. This money is of little effect in enforcement and amounts to an indirect subsidy to bootleggers. Doctor Doran testified that for federal enforcement we should need $300,000,000 a year and federal police courts. I suggest to the drys that they back him up on this, unless they would be called nullificationists. a tt a Representative Fiorello H. La Guardia. New York —Now, champion of the drys, here is an opportunity to stand up and be counted or else forever refrain from taking a drink. If you are going to be for enforcement, stand up and vote for the necessary funds to employ the men required to stop the flood of liquor coming over the borders, from the Pacific coast, from the Atlantic coast, and send prohibition agents into such regions as the gentleman from Missouri says exists in his state, where there are only four counties that have prohibition agents, and send an army into the city of Detroit, the nation’s funnel, where millions of gallons pour in from across the- border.

Questions and Answers

You can get an answer to any answerable question o f fact or Information by writing to Frederick M. Kerbv Question Editor The Indianapolis Times' Washington Bureau. 1322 New York Ave., wthington D C.. Inclosing 3 cents 1 stamps for reply. Medical and legal advice cannot be given, nor can extended research be made. All ether questions will rective a personal reply, nsigned requests cannot be answered. All letters are confidential You are cordially Invited to make use of this service. Why do men tip their hats? The heavily armed and armored knight of the middle ages raised the visor of his helmet only when he knew he was among friends. If he took off his helmet it indicated com- . plete trust in the assembly. He felt that he needed no protection. Thujs raising the hat as a sign of courtesy is a relic of the days of chivalry The fact that men raise their hats to women more frequently than the members of their own sex is due to the intensifying of social forms between the sexes. What is the correct use of “neither” and “either?” Neither is used with nor; either with or. These are co-ordinate con- * junctions and must connect coordinate clauses. Each is accompanied by a singular nominative and must be followed by a singular verb. The following is correct: “Neither he nor I was there.” Are eggs nutritious and easily digestible? They are valuable on account of their large protein and fat content. Although lacking in carbohydrates, they furnish material for building up the muscles and provide heat and energy to the body. Asa ru’e eggs are easily and completely digested. How is Lobster la New burg made? Put a pinch of baking soda in a pint of cream and ada the beaten yolks of three eggs. Cook until thickened. To this add a pint of lobster meat, seasoned with salt and pepper and stir until smoking hot. Serve in patty shells or on buttered toast.

This Date in U. S. History

December 10 1672—Monthly postal system began between New York and Boston. 1778 —John Jay elected president c-f congress. 1817—Mississippi admitted to the Union. 1862 —Congress voted to admit West Virginia. 1877—1n Wyoming women were authorized to vote and hold office.