Indianapolis Times, Volume 40, Number 193, Indianapolis, Marion County, 2 January 1929 — Page 4
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A Registration Law Let it be hoped that the League of Women Voters will be successful in its efforts to obtain a registration law for the state that will protect the ballot. The women have approached the problem in a manner that must be rather aggravating to the male political boss who has not yet learned that women take their politics seriously. They have the unbelievable thing of having sought the advice of experts on the subject, rather than asking just what effect the law might have on the fortunes of a particular party or a particular faction. The last legislature threw the doors wide open to frauds at the polls when it repealed the registration law and provided no means of checking fraud. That in certain counties of this state such tactics were used is something more than a suspicion. In this particular county, thanks, perhaps, to the fact that exposure of the machine had its lesson and its fears, the frauds were not as extensive as might have been expected. But there are still rotten boroughs. The law proposed by the women is designed to protect the citizen in his right to vote and at the same time see that honest votes are not nullified by ballots cast by repeaters or in the names of fictitious persons. In the drafting of their measure, the women went to men who have studied the problem and who have learned the best, easiest and most workable methods of obtaining these results. They did not go to politicians. They went to students of the subject, professors in colleges, men who have delved into the subject f :om unselfish purposes. That is something new in this state. Usually when election laws are being revamped the bosses try to discover some means by which they can make it as hard as possible for the independent and honest voter to register his wish. They have tried to make it as easy for a machine which desires loot and hard for a citizenry that wants honesty. It will be interesting to see what happens to the law when the legislature begins its consideration. It will be interesting to see what the members who still live in the machine era of politics try to do to a law scientifically and carefully drawn. The women have hit upon the great problem of the state, which, after all, is an honest ballot. There can be no such thing as self-government if the door is left open to corruption aryi crookedness. There can be no real advance if the eleetion machinery is geared up to fraud and not to honesty. The members of the legislature largely will write their own appraisal of themselves in their attitude toward this proposed registration law.
A Woman in the Cabinet? Mrs. Alvin T. Hert of Kentucky is urged by some Republican politicians for the post of secretary of the interior in the Hoover cabinet. Three claims are advanced in her behalf. She is a woman, a southerner, and a faithful party worker. Apart from the obvious fact that Hoover uoes noft need, and probably will resent, attempts of the old guard to pick his official family for him, this Hert campaign raises several important questions. By returning a larger number of women to state legislatures and congress, the voters have demonstrated their confidence in the governmental capacity of women. These electoral choices, however, have been made usually not because the candidate was a woman, but because she was believed to be the better candidate, regardless of sex. Similarly, Hoover may find certain women better fitted for cabinet posts than available men. This would be a welcome development. But it is difficult to believe on the basis of Hoover’s record in choosing administrative associates that he will raise to high office Mrs. Hert, or any other woman or man, as a reward for Republican party service. The country is not so much concerned with the sex or party loyalty of such aspirant as with that person's cabinet qualifications. That is particularly true at this time of the secretaryship of the interior. This is an increasngly vital post because of the enhanced importance of natural resources, hydro-electric power and related matters handled by that official. Furthermore, it is an appointment, over which citizens are peculiarly sensitive because of the recent secretaries of the interior. For his major share in the oil scandals, A. B. Fall has been condemned by the supreme court and the public conscience. Work was guilty of extreme negligence and incompetence, or worse, in renewing an illegal Sinclair oil contract. Now West's fitness Is questioned by the senate, which has not yet confirmed his interim appointment, because of his long legal and financial connection with the Instill interests, upc whose power applications the secretary of interior must pass. The country does not want any more Falls, Works or Wests of either sex. Mrs. Hert apparently is a kindly and conservative lady with an unusually docile record as vice-chair-* man of the Republican national committee. She inherited her husband's extensive creosote business and party position, and has carried on both successfully. Her views on power resources and other interior department matters are largely unknown, because she has been careful not to commit herself. If she has outstanding cabinet qualifications, they are not discernible to party outsiders. Tariff Again The reaction was bound to come. Too many Democrats distrust a high protective tariff to swallow that hoary Republican principle whole without digestive pangs. Perhaps if candidate Smith and Manager Raskob had oeen more successful in the late campaign with their acceptance of Republican tariff, the Democratic discomfort would not have been felt so soon. Anyway, a leader of southern democracy, who was considered a potential presidential candidate last time and may be mentioned again, is reviving the traditional Democratic cry for lower tariff. Representative Cordell Hull of Tennessee denies that high tariffs are the source of present American prosperity, which he attributes to unlimited raw materials and foodstuffs, superior labor power, machinery, and efficiency. High tariffs cripple foreign trade, just at the time whefo our agricultural and industrial problems turn upon export of surpluses, he argues. Hull's leadership is a service to his party and to the country, for, whatever the respective merits of the high and low tariff principles, it is clear that an in- .
The Indianapolis Tiroes (A SCBirPH-HOWAKIJ JiEWSPAPKB* Owned sml published dally (except Sunday) by Tbe Indianapolis Times Publishing Cos., 214-220 W. Maryland Street, Indianapolis, Ind. Price in Marion County 2 cents—lo cents a week: elsewhere. 3 cent*—l2 cents a week. BOYD GURLEY, ROY W. HOWARD, FRANK G. MORRISON, Editor. President. Business Manager. PHONE—RILEY 3331. ! WEDNESDAY. JAN. 2. 1923. Member of United Press. Seripps Howard Newspaper Alliance. Newspaper Enterprise Association, Newspaper Information Service and Audit Bureau of Circulations. ‘‘Give Light and the People Will Find Their Own Way.”
telligent congressional opposition is needed to restrain the latest drive of the protectionists. American consumers already are paying through the nose to increase profits of no-longer-infant industries. Yet steel, aluminum and other interests are trying to boost their tariff schedules in the proposed special session of congress after inauguration. If the Republican party is committed to general tariff revision upward, it should have told the veters in the November election. On the contrary, Hoover and his party limited themselves in the main to defense of the present industrial schedules and promised to increase agricultural tariffs to close the existing gap between factory and farm products. It is therefore difficult to understand the plans of Representative Tilson and other Republican leaders to capture the proposed special farm relief session of Congress and turn it into an industrial tariff feast. We share the opinion of most economists that increased tariffs on farm products will not solve the agricultural problem, though certainly the farmer has a right to tariff equality with other industries. Since downward revision on factory products is not in sight, the farmers now are grasping at the only alternative in seeking upward revision m farm products. But the plan of Tilson and the high protectionists for a general increase, can result, if successful, only in widening the factory-farm price gap and forcing farmers around to the traditional Democratic solution of a sharp cut in industrial schedules. Meanwhile, two immediate tariff reforms are needed. Senator Norris and other protectionists point out that the tariff commission is degenerating from its original status of an independent agency responsible to congress into little more than the President’s personal board, whose recommendations almost without exception are for increases. The same provision of the tariff law, allowing the. President to change rates up to 50 per cent to equalize production costs, instructs the government to send agents abroad to pry into the books of foreign-com-panies. This provision is not only unenforceable, but has caused much embarrassment. It is absurd to attempt to subject foreigners to inspection which American companies will not permit.
The Threat Whispers (and these happen to be significant), bring the news that an effort will be made in the legislature to repeal the law under which cities of the state may adopt the city manager form of government. The explanation is that Indianapolis showed too great an independence in the last election when it cast a heavy vote for Frank C. Dailey for Governor and Hoover for President, and that the politicians will try revenge by taking away from this city the government for which its citizens voted by so heavy a majority. It sounds reasonable. For it is exactly in line with the habits of thought of those who have disgraced the state while they have controlled it in the past few years. Two years ago the legislature amended the law so as to prevent the people from taking charge of their own affairs. That was done in a futile effort to keep Duvall in office, an effort that failed when Prosecutor Remy and the grand jury got busy and convicted him. The politicians like nothing less than to see the power of patronage and plunder taken from political machines. They know quite as well as do the people that the city manager system has made it rather difficult for the politicians to use the taxes and jobs of cities for partisan purposes. Let it be hoped that no one in any position of responsibility will endeavor to carry out this threat. This city has adopted the city manager system. It is prepared to put it into operation. But it is quite necessary that the friends of this system be alert and watchful when the legislature gets into action.
David Dietz on Science . Nature Does Well No. 249
A CERTAIN type of sophisticated person loves to criticise nature. No doubt some things in nature could be improved. But a close student of nature only can be awe-struck at its marvels. For example, the typical long bones of the body are hollow. Modem engineering students have found out that the structure which combines the greatest strength with the greatest lightness is a hollow cylinder.
section or bone under MICROSCOPE , SHOWING THE HAVERSIAN SYSTEMS.
development the bone cells develop from the periosteum. The gradual development of the bones in the human body is highly interesting. Tire bones at first are entirely composed of organic material. They are, to use the technical phrase, cartilaginous. As time goes on. the bone cells begin to precipitate calcium .salts and the bone becomes permeated with mineral matter. This hardening process is known as ossification. Complete ossification does not take place until between 20 and 25. Microscopic examination of bone shows a structure like that shown in the accompanying diagram. The little circular structures which make up the bone are known as Haversian systems. The bone cells are in the little spaces between the concentric rings. The bones comprising the skeleton are joined together by ligaments which wrap over from one bone to the next. A thin membrane covers the ends of the bones where they meet. In the joint is a lubricating fluid. The membrane is known as the synovial membrane and the fluid as the synovial fluid. The bone joints are all very delicate and highly important structures. Injuries or infections of them are among the most serious conditions which medical science is called upon to deal with. _____ .
M. E. TRACY SAYS: “Cleaning Up Crime Is a Good Deal Like Cleaning Up a House—You Have to Keep Everlastingly at It”
WOMEN were elected to the legislature in thirty-eight states last November. One hundred forty-five of them now hold seats —fifteen senators and 130 representatives. Sixty-eight were elected for a second term and twelve for a fourth term. In the aggregate, this represents a gain of nineteen over two years ago. Connecticut ranks first in women legislators, with a total of twenty. Ten states have no women in their legislatures, though some of them have had at one time or another. The change of attitude is more significant than such statistics. Whatever else may be said, women have done enough to dissipate resentment at their presence in public service. M(en no longer rave because they have to sit with women, no longer sneer at the prospect as ridiculous. Thirty years ago much of the conversation with regard to women in politics revolved about their supposed “sphere.” You seldom hear the word these days. If women ever had a sphere it has gone the way of the bustle and leg-of-mutton sleeves. tt tt tt Ford’s Optimism HENRY FORD views the new year with optimism. That means something. With a pay roll of $720,000 a day, he cannot afford to gamble too much. When he increases it by SIBO,OOO, as he has announced he will, you can be pretty sure that he believes business is on the upgrade. His call for 30,000 men can be taken as a genuine prophecy. When a man bets to that extent he means it. Besides, Mr. Ford is old enough to know the danger of hunches. He would not be increasing production by 20 per cent, unless he had something to go on better than guess work. If he wants 6,500 more cars a week than he has been making, it is because he knows they can be sold. If the market has increased for Ford cars, it has increased for other things. tt tt a Eternal Youth WE are getting sensation, as well as science, from the New York gathering. One savant wants to see “mental hygiene” substituted for religion, while another rails at the “death tradition.” Everybody is against the “death tradition,” and has been since the first funeral. Nothing lures men like the hope of “eternal youth.” They have praged, fought and supported a multitude of quacks to realize it. Old Ponce De Leon searching for a fountain in Florida was the sixteenth century forerunner of Dr. Veranoff with his monkey glands. From time immemorial men have believed that nature, God or their own ingenuity held the secret of prolonged life on death. When science takes up the idea, it merely borrows a page from the oldest catalogue of faith. Maybe the chemist, the physician, the faith healer, the psychologist can find a way to lengthen the span, but nothing has occurred this far to lift such a proposition beyond the realm of fancy. Though science has made some progress in prolonging the average of life, it has made none in prolonging the maximum. A Roman census of the Campana, taken in the reign of Vespasian, disclosed about the same percentage of centenarians as did a recent census of Massachusetts. If the English chroniclers are to be relieved, no human being now alive has attained the age of “Old Parr,” who eked out his 152 years, without bath tubs, violet rays, antitoxines or gland operations. tt tt Spasms of 'Law' New York is having a great spasm of law enforcement. Some 700 “vags,” bums and criminals have been rounded up within the last ten days. Most of them were little worse than driftwood, but quite a number had bad records. Soft hearted folks already are beginning to talk about “police brutality.” The chorus will increase as time goes on. The chief trouble with our attitude toward crime lies in the fact that it consists of one convulsion after another. One year we let cutthroats walk the street; the next we arrest everybody. The real background of this series of raids, which has made Mr. ! Whalen famous, whether it has made New York clean, consists of failure by the police to do what should have been done. Mr. Whalen may have inspired j them with anew conception of duty, ! but he did not point out the men and women to be netted. They were in New York, and had been for quite a while. More than that, the police knew they were in New York and had known it for quite a while. Otherwise, they could not have been located so easily. When you see an everday routine job, take a spurt and result in something spectacular, you can rest assured that somebody has been lying down on it. a tt a Cleaning Up Crime Cleaning up crime in a city is a good deal like cleaning up dirt in a house. You have to keep ever- ■ lastingly at it. If you let it go too | long, you are likely to scrub off | some of the paint when you get j to work. Politics, as practiced in this ! country, has taught us one harmful | lesson.* and that is to depend on j change of administration, rather | than on faithful service. | We are finding it very difficult !to develop civil organizations that j function steadily and continuous; y. I Our interest is centered in getting the job, rather than in seeing it done well,
Nature found that out more than a billion years ago. The insides of the bones are filled with marrow. The marrow is really par tof another system of the body, for the blood cells are manufactured in the marrow. The outside of each bone is covered with a membrane known as the periosteum. In the early stages of bone
THE INDIANAPOLIS TIMES
BY DR. MORRIS FISHBEIN Editor Journal of the American Medical Association and of Hygeia, the Health Magazine. ONE of the most difficult problems confronting physicians is the attempt to diagonse certainly the causes of severe abdominal pains, particularly in infants and children. Most children are unable to give a satisfactory history of their diets, of the onset of their disturbances, of the things that they feel, indeed
of any other facts which the adult can provide and which are exceedingly helpful in determining the cause of the trouble. Correct diag-
IT is safe to say that Mussolini’s ■ commission which has thrown out histories used in Italy’s public schools will see to it that Italian patriots get the credit which is due them. This is not done in the United States, where some histories, written by denatured Americans and which disparage Washington and other immortals, are placed before our children. We should hold another Boston Tea Party and throw overboard every school book which belittles the heroes of the Revolution. n tt a Loyal inhabitants of Boston who contend that them city is the hub of the universe should take drastic action against Professor Shapley, director of Harvard university observatory, who claims that this earth is 47,000 light years away from the center of said universe and light is presumed to travel at the rate of 186,000 miles a second. n tt tt Our inability to abolish Mr. Barleycorn is nothing alongside Soviet Russia’s failure to abolish Santa Claus, the sale of Christmas trees having held up over there despite all opposition. Russia should get Mr. Durant to offer a prize for the way to do it. st a tt Senator-elect Vare of Pennsylvania may be desperately ill as reported, but Senator Jim Reed of •Missouri probably feels that it is a plan to defer the effort to unseat Vare until after March when Reed, his great antagonist, will retire to private life. an The great manufacturers and bankers are not the only people who are confident that 1929 will bring great prosperity. Harry Sinclair’s lawyers are positive about it. n tt Dr. Carey Grayson, president of the Gorgas Memorial Institute at Washington wants the Latin people to join in an effort to stamp but disease, but the Latins will probably decline if this involves anything as revolutionary as taking a bath. a >t tt The inhabitants of the former German islands in the Pacific oceap still wear the “mother hubbards” introduced by our missionaries, which reminds us that if Old Mother Hubbard were with us now she would find that her cupboard is not the only thing that’s bare. tt Spain is introducing the dial telephone system and this should create a strong bond of sympathy between that land and our own. ___ __
The Question Is, Does He Want One?
Abdominal Pains Need Diagnosis
Q. —What is a stye? A.—A style is an infection of one of the glands along the edge of the eyelid. When matter collects, it must be let out, unless it comes out of itself. Bathing with warm water is excellent for hastening this process.
Reason
DAILY HEALTH SERVICE
nosis may mean all the difference between life and death. Recently Dr. A. H. Southam has listed some of the causes of acute abdominal pain in children, the list being an indication of the importance of early scientific medical attention in such cases. Acute appendicitis is the most common emergency in which there is sudden, severe pain in the abdomen. Usually the condition begins with severe pain localized over the appendix region, with nausea, vomiting and high fever. ( In occasional instances the appendix may be in an unusual position, the pressure may not be sufficient to produce the fever, the child may not react with nausea and vomiting, and then diagnosis becomes difficult. In many cases parents are much too ready to give large doses of castor oil, with the result that the irritation of the bowel produces a rupture of the appendix and makes the condition far more serious. In some cases severe infection of the lung may produce nerve stimu-
Wi§ sW ■ -
By Frederick LANDIS
IT puts a crimp in the silver screen heroism of Mr. Tom Mix to read that he has been brought into court for alleged failure to pay monthly alimony for the benefit of his little girl.
Common Bridge Errors AND HOW TO CORRECT THEM
. FAILURE TO UTILIZE HOLD-UP North (Dummy)— 4 6 5 VA42 O K 10 7 6 4 45 33 West— EastLeads 4 K t ‘ ast South (Declarer)— 4A 4 3 10 6 OAJ62 4AK Q 4
The Bidding—South bids one notrump and all pass. Deciding the Play—West leads king of spades. Should Declarer take this trick? How should he plan his campaign? The Error —Declarer takes with the ace of spades. The Correct Method—Declarer observes that he is certain of making the following tricks: One in spades, two in diamonds, one in hearts and three in clubs, or a total of seven tricks. Game may, however, he made by preventing East from leading spades after the third round. This is accomplished by the holdup. Declarer does not take the ace of spades until the third round,
Daily Thought
What will ye? shall I come to you with a rod, or in love, and in the spirit of meekness? —I Cor. 4:21. nun LOVE is but another name for that inscrutable presence by which the soul is connected with humanity.—Simms,
lations which are reflected downward over the abdomen, so that pneumonia may give the symptoms of appendicitis. Other conditions which occur and which are particularly difficult are acute obstructions of the bowels due sometimes to worms or irritations, but in the vast majority of cases in infants due to pushing in of one part of the bowel into another, exactly as one turns a sock inside out. ,In this case the symptoms are sudden, with periodic attacks and screaming. The child may lie quietly between attacks, but the attacks themselves are so severe as to produce a terrific reaction. Here also a scientific diagnosis is of the utmost importance for the saving of life. The parent who wants to be safe will take no chances when the child complains of severe abdnominal pain. A scientific diagnosis made early will give mental relief to the family if the condition is merely too much dessert, and save the child’s life if it is something more serious.
ANOTHER TEA PARTY A BLOW AT * BOSTON mm* RUSSIA AND DURANT
THE inmates of our penitentiaries will indorse enthusiastically the insistence of the members of the American Society for the Advancement of Science that there is no such thing as sin. Governor Small of Illinois, who recently pardoned five murderers evidently holds the same opinion.
Senator Curtis announces that he will not abandon the American people by resigning his seat in the United States senate and such a sacrifice answers the cynic who holds that patriotism is dead,
;y w. W. WENTWORTI
thus exhausting East of all spades. Thereafter Declarer plays the suits in* the following order: (1) Diamonds. (2) Clubs. (3) Hearts. In playing the diamond suit, every finesse Is taken toward East, so that West never obtains the lead until game has been made. The club suit is thereafter played, and in all probability four tricks are made therefrom. The Principle—The holdup should be exercised whenever opponent can thereby be prevented from throwing the lead to the strong hand. f Copyright. 1928. Ready Reference Publishing Company)
This Date in U. S. History
Jan. 2 1776—Colonial flag first raised. 1788—Georgia ratified the constitution; the fourth state to do so. 1911 —Postal savings banks opened. Who played the part of Rudolph Rassendyll in the motion picture, “The Prisoner of Zenda?’’ Lewis Stone. Have the Riffs stopped fighting in Morocco? The Riffian war in Morocco ended May 26, 1926, with the surrender of the Riffian leader Abd-el-Krim to the French. When was the German Republic founded? Do women and men both have the suffrage? The present German Republic was established Nov. 9, 1918. The Constitution was adopted July 31, 1919, by the National Assembly at Weimar, and promulgated Aug. 11, 1919. Men and women, 20 years of age. have the right to vote. What is the most northern town in Europe? Hammerfest, Norway.
.JAN. 2, 1029
Idem* an tg opinions ex-, pressed in thl# column sre those of one of Am erics'# most Interesttnx writers and sre presented without record to their screemerit with the editorial attitude of this paper. The Editor.
1r m r m i M m M B JE. m SEEMS TO ME * By HEY WOOD BROUN
DR. HARVEY EMERSON FOSDICK, writing on “The Christian Ministry” in the Atlantic, finds several things amiss with organized evangelical religion, but he adds: “Say what evil one may about the churches, they still are the reservoirs of moral enthusiasm and serious ethical interests to a degree not true of any other institution.” I dissent. In America the newspaper has become a far more effective ethical and moral instrument than the church. In the last twenty years the churches have had little to do with progressive movements in this country. Prohibition is almost the lone achievement of evangelical Christianity. Even if this reform is half as beneficial as its adherents maintain, the chores accomplished by the churches would still seem somewhat slim. Moreover, it is not unfair to add that newspaper aid has not been inconsiderable in the prohibition movement, although some of the most influential journals are uncompromisingly wet. The greatest failure of organized Christianity has been in the matter of world peace. Only a handful of ministers stood out against the war, and neither the League, the World Court nor the Kellogg pact has been much aided by the churchmen. tt tt tt Zest of the Job BUT, of course, Dr. Fosdick was not confining his dictum to capacity for leadership. Kis generalization was based upon the belief that ministers are, on the whole, our most public-spirited citizens; And that I would also deny. The average minister does not begin to take his job as seriously as does the average newspaper man. Moreover, the ethics of journalism hagpens to be upon a much higher plane. I will gladly contribute $5 to any pastor who can prove to my satisfaction that he has worked as hard or done as much good for this country as H. L. Mencken. There Is no accident in the fact that so many sermons are preached about the Sage of Baltimore during the course of any year. All these discourses are derogatory. Men of the cloth realize th&t Henry is working the same side of the street and doing a better job. The average minister is probably at base just as good human material as the garden run of reporters. If he falls lower in the moral scale the fault is not his own, but that of the conditions under which he labors. tt tt tt The Roving Reporter, 1 THERE is far more possibility of movement in doubtedly there are papers fully as subservient to their advertisers as are the churches to the richer deacons, but the reporter can leap about from one job to another with an ease denied to the preacher. The press of America is largely conservative, but the conservatism is red radicalism compared to the standpat atmosphere of American churches. Consider, for instance, the late Frank Crane. Dr. Crane at an important - moment in his life had to decide whether he would conform to dogma which he did not believe or quit the ministry. With great courage he threw up his job. In course of time he became one of the most influential and successful of columnists. His power as a syndicated feature writer was vastly greater than that which he exercised while he wore a twisted collar. Nobody, I trust, will deny that thfl entrai ce requirements of journalism, are higher than those exacted byfchflf ministry. The minister does not have to keep up with new developments like a doctor, a lawyer or an editorial writer. All too often his appointment is for good behavior. For such irrelevant things as immorality and high jinx he may be set down, but he can easily get away with offenses much more serious. For instance, I have never heard of a case in which a minister was dismissed for downright stupidity.
Valley Vacations SOME such concession should bo granted to the preacher. He is asked to live up on a plane which provides atmosphere so Tariffed! that he can not get sufficient oxygen to maintain his vigor. Years after his death the biographers began to study the life of Henry Ward Beecher. Some of (these investigators felt that they had good reason to believe that there was fire ns well as smoke in the accusations made against him. And these conclusions weVe trumpeted about as if to show that Beecher was a monster who should have been expelled from his ptr '1 I can’t see that. If Beecher sis. this is too bad, but I do not see his •*. nsgressions have in any m invalid ted his message. The Plymouth church would { $ been insane indeed if it had M missed a brilliant and insp. leader because of human weak I suppose the closest newsy equivalent to the preacher is | daily columnist, but the job t*. i greater opportunities than - , ' pulpit. A clergyman’s task is to pro the love of God and the logman. But even the most s£ must have their Sunday roor when the tides of rather slack. On such occasion it should tM||| privilege of the preacher to pites all-America football team or d|;... ;A the proper stance for a long shot. After such a digressio|| could come back upon the follw|f| Sunday with renewed fervor to the heart of sinners. I rather think the clerical % is a mistake. It doesn’t ‘ r ’ wearer room to nod. (Copyright, 1928. for The TUQfljm:.
