Indianapolis Times, Volume 40, Number 207, Indianapolis, Marion County, 17 January 1929 — Page 4

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The Indianapolis Times <A SCRIFPS-HOWAKD NEWSPAPER) Owned sod published dally (except Sunday) by The Indianapolis Times Publishing Cos., 214-220 W. Maryland Street. lndlanapolla, Ind. Price in Marlon County 2 cent*— lo centa a week: elsewhere, 3 cents—l 2 cents a week. BOYD GCRLEt! ROT W. HOWARD" FRANK G. MORRISON. Editor. President. Business Manager. PHONE— RILEY 5681. THURSDAY, JAN. 17. 1929. Member of Cnited Press, Scrlpps Howard Newspaper Alliance, Newspaper Enterprise Association. Newspaper Information Service and Aadit Bureau of Circulations. "Give Light and the People Will Find Their Own Way.”

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Is Economy a Joke? Before the legislature votes to raise an additional five or six millions of dollars each year for the highway department, a most sweeping investigation of the conditions of that department, of the needs of the state, and the ability of the people to pay, should be made. The highway department now spends as much money each year as is spent on all other departments of state government. It spends as much as it costs to run the penal and educational institutions, and to pay its state officials. The increase asked, amounts, in money,* to as much as is raised by general taxation for the general fund of the state. That it is proposed to raise this money by the expedient of increasing license fees or the gasoline tax makes it no less a tax upon the people, already overburdened with taxation. Every farm tractor, every delivery truck, every pleasure automobile will pay tribute. The demand for this money comes from the state highway commission. It is a part of the budget. The law says in specific terms that all department demands shall be filed before October 35. That the demand comes after the legislature has begun its sessions, months late, shows such a disregard for law as to put the legislature upon guard. The legislature will fail in its duty if it accepts the blythe statement of this commission that it needs this much money to carry on a necessary program of good road construction. The state has been carefully prepared for this demand. The newspapers of the state have been filled with advertisements advocating "Good Roads.” With a general demand for good roads and improved highways every one will agree. In that direction lies progress. But it will be well to investigate the source of these advertisements. It may be stated that at least a part, if not all the cost, of this propaganda was paid for by the cement interests which reap huge profits from the sale of materials for these roads. The zeal of these interests may be commendable. Jt may be at least selfish. But the manner in which this campaign has been conducted suggests that therq is a very general purpose to sweep the legislature off its feet, to levy the tax and to take from the people of this state five or six millions of dollars each year, at a time when they can illy afford to pay the price. Before there is any increase of taxation, there should be an inquiry as to the possibility of obtaining the same Results with taxes already levied. Just as a start, the feasibility of a state cement plant, operated by the state, perhaps at the penal farm, should be investigated. If cement, an important factor, can be made by the state itself at a tow cost, perhaps it will not be necessary to burden the people with another huge tax. There are other lines that demand inquiry. .Some states have built their roads with prisoners. That may have a bad sound. It may be the most humane step that can be taken. Very soon, if congress passes a measure now pending, it will be impossible to employ convicts on manufactured goods and the prisons, filled to overflowing and increasing enormously in population, will be filled with idle men, whose idleness would reduce them to madness. Most of all, the legislature 'should investigate the commission and itself determine whether the present system is the best method of road building and control. There is now a commission which meets but seldom and draws but little pay. There is a director who becomes a czar and who, apparently, is not accountable except to the commission. Such meetings as are held are conducted in secrecy. Th*' public gets its sole view of the activities only through bulletins. It is just possible that the expenditure of such an enormous sum, amount to twenty mildons of dollars a year if this tax increase is voted, could be better handled by a highly paid board of experts, constantly on the job, working in plain view of the people at all times. Just as general proposition, the people should demand that there be shown a very definite necessity before the law reaches into their pockets for more money. Governor Leslie has urged a program of economy. Real economy means that necessary work must be done, but done at the lowest cost. , , A plea for economy and a raise in taxation of approximately half the amount of general taxation seems to be & joke. Postpone the Cruiser Program The cruiser bill should not pass at this time. Just one major issue is involved. That is the established American policy of naval limitation through equality with Great Britain. The time may come when that can be achieved only by threats. But that time is not yet. Moat of the talk on both sides confuses the issue. It is impossible for us to accept the pacifist argument that the Kellogg treaty outlaws a larger navy. War Is not made impossible by the treaty, much less (

by the nullifying interpretations of foreign governments and the senate. If any American navy is justified, it should equal the British. The administration argument that this cruiser bill does not mean a naval race with Great Britain is equally misleading. Our navy is already supreme except for Great Britain. If Great Britain had accepted our limitation proposals, there would be no cruiser bill today. Anglo-American rivalry is the most regrettable and dangerous element in the present international situation. But that danger can be avoided only by facing the fact, not by disguising it. By disguising the truth regarding increased AngloAmerican economic and naval rivalry, well-meaning officials have produced a mystery out of which certain admirals and senators magnify the danger. Hence the rush to get fifteen new cruisers and an aircraft carrier immediately. Though President Coolidge, in asking the senate to drop the time construction clause from the bill and thus authorize only paper ships for aargaining purposes, admits there is no immediate emergency. The facts are clear. Our government has tried for seven years to persuade Great Britain to grant us cruiser parity. At the Washington arms conference we granted Great Britain capital ship equality, and scrapped our superior tonnage. In return we expected her to grant us cruiser equality and to scrap her superior cruissr tonnage. She refused, and has refused ever since. She even has built more cruisers. She has attempted a virtual alliance with France to limit our cruisers without restricting their own. Therefore, our government, after sharp diplomatic notes and the President’s warning address on Armistice day, now proposes more American cruisers to force Great Britain to accept equality. Whatever name the administration may give it, this a threat. It is so considered abroad. If there is to be a naval race. Great Britain has provoked it. No one honestly can v challenge the right of the United States to build these cruisers. But the question is one of practical result, not of right. A nation can not always preserve the peace by asserting its rights. That we did not provoke the armament race would not make it any less disastrous. America’s definite aim is to further peace and prosperity by prompt naval limitation. Can any one doubt that an agreement secured by friendship would be a better guarantee of lasting peace than one forced by threats, however provoked? The friendly method has not been exhausted. America can afford to be patient a while longer. The Washington naval revision conference will not be held until 1931. Much can happen meanwhile. For the American people want a friendly naval agreement no more earnestly than the British people. Both peoples wish to avoid an armament race. Only the British admiralty stands in the way. The British Liberal party, the Labor party, and many members of the Conservative party, are opposing the admiralty policy. This is one of the principal issues in the present British election campaign. Nothing would play into the hands of the British admiralty so well as passage of our cruiser bill. Nothing would be so certain to defeat the efforts of the British people. Nothing would make so sure an insane armament race. If the admiralty has its way in Great Britain, we will build fifteen cruisers and many more. We have the money and the men. We can beat Great Britain in an armament contest. But D) do net want to beat Great Britain. We want only equality. And we do not want that by threats, if we can get it by friendship. Threats mean future trouble; friendship means future peace. The cruiser program can be postponed without danger to any American interest. And if the British people are given time to act, no competitive building program ever may be necessary. Dietz on Science —■ Shapley Points Way No. 262 ANEW phase of astronomical research was opened up by the paper which Dr. Harlow Shapley, director of the Harvard observatory and one of the world’s most distinguished as.ronomers, presented before the convention of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. The science of astronomy dealt originally with the movements of the planets. The “fixed stars,” as they

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The last two decades has brought forth vast amounts of material about the size, temperature- and motions of the stars—for we no longer think of the stars as fixed. In the last five years, evidence has been accumulated to show beyond a doubt that the distant spiral nebula were other collections of stars like our own galaxy. Shapley has done three things. First, he has shown that our own collection of stars or galaxy exhibits the rotation and the general structure of a spiral. Next he has shown that the distant spirals are themselves organized into systems or groups which he calls galaxies of galaxies or clouds of galaxies. Thirdly, he has shown that there is some evidence for believing that the galaxies of galaxies are themselves organized into super-galaxies of galaxies of galaxies. First astronomers dealt with our solar system as an end in itself. Then they thought of our sun as one of forty billion comprising our galaxy of stars. Now they can deal with our galaxy as a Unit in relation to the other galaxies. For example. Shapley thinks it quite likely that our own galaxy Is part of a galaxy of galaxies which includes the Magellanic clouds, the Andromeda nebula and the nebula known as Messier 33. Further work will probably verify this hypothesis It is interesting that Shupley’s announcement should come just as the California institute of Technology is making plans for a telescope twice the size of the Mfc. Wilson reflector, the world’s largest telescope at present. This new telescope should prove a powerful instrument in following the line of research disclosed by Shapley.

M. E. TRACY YS: “Isolation Has Ceased to Bea Possibility, if Not a Virtue.”

CLEVELAND, 0., Jan. 17.—The Fan-American road convention in session here indorses a transcontintental highway from Canada to Cape Horn, while the Cleveland Press announced that a local committee, which has been studying the program for several years, will soon present a $140,000,000 plan to build subways, rearrange street car lines and improve bus service. When I Wi'.s in Detroit last week they were discussing a similar project, and just before I left New York a delegation arrived from Moscow to consult American engineers and contractors with regard to one for that city. When I was in Mexico City two years ago the first thing I noticed was a flock of yellow cabs. Science and industry are doing things to us poor mortals that were never done before. Whether for good or ill, they are making us more alike. What is most surprising of all, as we grow more alike, we make faster progress in devising and adopting improvements. ana Passing of isolation JOHN H. CLARK, who resigned from the Ohio supreme court to devote the rest of his life to international peace, tells the Cleveland Club that the people of the United States ought to establish closer connection with other countries. They not only ought to, but they will. They could not avoid It If they tried. Isolation has ceased to be a possibility, if not a virtue. The whole scheme of life is driving us toward nothing 30 rapidly or relentlessly as closer contact with the rest of humanity, whether we will or no. The thought that we can avoid it, or the obligations it Implies, by staying out of the League of Nations, refusing to join the world court, except with reservations or explaining that “we don’t really mann it” when we ratify the Kellogg pact, is sheer nonsense. We became involved in the World war before any of these institutions were established, and we should be involved in another if it occurred, even though we refused to Join them. - U tt tt Mechanical 'Shackles WE are talking a lot of rot about diplomatic isolation as a guarantee against future trouble. Whether we elect to sit at a council table with other nations, we are going to trade with them, travel among them and help to develop an industrial structure which knits our destiny to theirs in a thousand ways. That is the heritage of inventiveness. Mechanical power Is shackling us to every race and country not only by improved means of transportation and communication, but by its increased demand for markets and supplies. We insist on all the privileges and advantages that go with international peace and for that reason, if for no other, we will do what we can to maintain it, whether or not we are definitely committed to do so. n Public Opinion for Peace THE Kellogg pact has not been weakened much by all-the useless talk. The fact that it has been ratified is the one important fact. The Kellogg pact contains only seventy-nine words. They are plain, simple words. No one can misunderstand them. They commit signatory nations to the renouncement of war as a policy and to seek adjustment of disputes by pacific means. The big point is that public opinion is rapidly forcing nations to adopt such a policy, pact or no pact, and is setting the stage for a general coalition against any nation which has the temerity to defy it. That was made clear by what happened in 1914. The movement for international peace really crystalized when the kaiser lost his head. # Benjamin Franklin Ican not let this day pass without paying a word of respect to Benjamin Franklin. He is, and always has been, one of my heroes —a man who could change his mind without seeming fickle and keep his feet on the ground without losing his sense of illusionment. Most of the inventions and discoveries which made Benjamin Franklin famous have become obsolete. His printing press has gone the way of the ox cart, his stove has been scrapped, his musical instruments are forgotten and his kite experiment has lost its thrill, but his attitude, his viewpoint, his method of obtaining and applying knowledge lives on. More than any other American, Benjamin Franklin taught us how to think, and our real appreciation of him is shown by the persistence with which we imitate his mental processes. Benjamin Franklin was not only responsible for much in our institutional development, but what is of vastly greater importance, for much that is in our national character. nan Importance of Thrift TT is quite appropriate that Thrift week should be built around Franklin’s birthday. He is the man who gave the word its modern meaning, who visualized thrift as something more than penny-pinch-ing. Though preaching that “a penny saved is a penny earned,” Franklin earned more than he ever saved. He was not only a tireless worker, but a daring promoter. If he were alive today he would be going in for aviation or radio. It was his nature to forsake beaten paths and pioneer, to have faith In human ingenuity, to believe in novelties, to get as far away as he could from the stereotyped way of doing things. But, and in this lay his genius, he never allowed such a bent to carry him away.

were called, were thought to be so far away that nothing could be done with them. If you turn back to an astronomy, published so late as 1900, you will find a vast amount of material about the sun and planets and very little about the stars. Within recent years, however, astronomy was extended to the stars.

. TOE INDIANAPOLIS TIMES

* ... And Besides, He’s Used to Waiting!

DAILY HEALTH SERVICE Choosing Your Doctor; A Warning

BY DR. MORRIS FISHBEIN Editor Journal of the American Medical Association and of Hygela, the Health Magazine. IN the United States are fortyeight states with forty-eight different laws regulating the practice of medicine. At one time there were more medical colleges in our country than in all the other countries combined. Conditions have improved, so that today some of our states have laws which would be a protection to the public against incompetent and irresponsible doctors, if the laws were properly enforced. Moreover, practically all the low grade quack medical colleges have been abolished, and the vast majority of those turning out doctors of medicine today graduate a highclass product. The period has been one of evolution. Unquestionably there are men in practice in many states today whose grade of competence is not up to the average. Competence itself is not, however, the only criticism, since a patient might be safer with a doctor rela-,

Reason

FRANK J. LOESCH of Chicago, veteran lawyer of 76 years, could spend the winter bathing in the Florida surf, playing golf and watching the dogs race, if he so desired, but, as head of the crime commission, he stays in Chicago and fights the horrible alliance government and gansters. tt tt tt A magazine story of the life of Bryan states that when he entered politics in Nebraska, he went about with his pockets full of radishes, which he ate constantly. Had he eaten onions instead, he never would have gone far enough to have his life written up. tt tt tt If General Bramwell Booth, head of the Salvation Army, resigns, his sister, Evangeline Booth, now at the head of the American Salvation Army, should be put at the head of the entire organization. She has the fire of a crusader and the dramatic genius of a Bernhardt. a a a One of Rembrandt’s pictures sold the other day for $300,000. Rembrandt would have found such a sum convenient when he was thrown into bankruptcy and his establishment stripped of everything in it, including the table cloth. a a a The United States senate agreed that.the case of Senator-Elect Vare of Pennsylvania should not be decided until he had a chance to appear, and he continues to say he is not well enough to appear, which reminds us of the man who made a will, providing that a son should receive an annuity so long as he attended Columbia university, the result being that the son is now an old man and is still getting the annity because he is still going to Columbia. a a a This fight between Rockefeller and Stewart for control of the Standard Oil Company of Indiana attracts no interest whatever, as it does not promise to reduce the price of gas. ana Senator Jim Reed wanted to know at whose heart the cannon of Bermuda were aimed, the inference being that they were aimed at us, but the fact remains that they can’t shoot far enough to hit us. a a We have just seen the picture of the prize bull of Nebraska and we wUh to say that he Is more distinguished looking than any American statesman of the period. The “Camel Glide*” the latest dance is said to be very soothing, but it was exceedingly irritating to Messrs. Smith and Raskob in the recent campaign. DAILY THOUGHT good to them that love the Lord. —Romans vili: 28. a a a CkNE on God’s side is a majority. f —Wendell Phillips. All things work together for

tively less competent whom he could trust implicitly as a man of repute. One of the greatest life insurance companies of the country has recently issued to all of its policy holders a statement under the title, “Your Friend the Doctor.” It suggests the following questions to be considered in the choice of a physician: 1. Is he liked and trusted by the kind of people whose opinion you respect? 2. Is he a graduate of a recognized medical school that requires at least four years of thorough training? 3. Has he had broad practical experience or training in a firstclass hospital, or both? 4. Does he keep in touch with the most recent scientific discoveries? 5. Does he belong to a local or national association of doctors of medicine? 6. When in doubt, write to your city, county or state department of health, or the secretary of your county medical society.

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m By Frederick LANDIS

SPAIN and Italy both claim Columbus, but both were equally enthusiastic in giving him the air when, hungry, impoverished and dejected, he wandered from court to court, seeking enough money to finance his expedition.

Common Bridge Errors AND HOW TO CORRECT THEM

-BY W. W. WENTWORTH-

19. SURRENDERING CONTROL OF TRUMP SUIT North (Dummy)—> *943 10 097 5 2 4KQ JH West— . Leads * K EastSouth (Declarer)—- * 6 (JAKQJ2 0A 8 4 * 10 5 3 2 The Bidding—South bids one heart: West bids one spade. North bids two clubs. East passes. South bids two hearts and all pass. Deciding the Play—West leads king of spades and then ace of spades. Declarer wins the second trick with 2 of hearts. He now* seeks to establish his clubs before drawing trumps. East wins the third trick with acp of clubs and leads a spade. What card should Declarer now play? The Error —Declarer trumps with jack of hearts. The Correct Method—Declarer refuses to trump and discards a losing diamond. Opponents are then reasonably sure to lead another spade and Declarer discards another losing diamond. No matter what card opponents now lead, game is assured.

This Date in U. S. History

January 17 1706—Birthday of Benjamin Franklin. 1849—First telegram sent from Chicago received in Milwaukee. 10.10—Statehood bills passed by New Mexico and Arizona,

7. A specialist is a man who, in adidtion to a regular doctor’s training, has spent several years studying one branch of medicine or one organ of the body. Asa rule it is best not to go to a specialist until you have seen a regular doctor for a general examination. He can tell whether or not you need a specialist and advise you as to the best one to consult. Furthermore, the policy holder is warned to beware of five types of doctors who are likely to be quacks. These are: 1. The doctor who advertises his methods of “cures” in newspapers or gives out handbills. 2. The doctor who posts big advertising signboards outside his office. 3. The doctor who claims he can cure serious disease quickly and easily. 4. The traveling doctor who moves from town to town. 5. The doctor or group of doctors who have discovered some new “cure” that other physicians do not know about. No great discovery of science is kept secret, m

CUT ICE FOR UNCLE tt tt 9 BRYAN A$D ONIONS THE CAMEL GLIDE

A MERICAN statesmen, intent on holding their jobs, find it hard to understand the point of view of Premier Poincare of France, who resigned, but was induced to stay in the public service. nan That was real drama when the convicts of the Texas prison united in praying for the recovery of their warden and then presented him with a loving cup. If the world had treated them as well as the warden did, some of them would not have gone behind the bars.

If Declarer had trumped the fourth trick, he would have endangered game as he could not have exhausted opponents of trumps which must be divided at least four and three. The Principles—As a rule it is in ■ advisable to permit the strong hand to be forced. (Copyright. 1829, Ready Reference Publishing Cos.)

Times Readers Voice Views

The name and address ol the author must accompany every contribution but on request will not be published Letters not exeeedine 200 word* will receive oreference Editor Times—A friend has sent me a copy of the Times of Jan. 4, in which you discuss a theme which once, was a dominant one before the people, as you say, in “What Is Whisky?” I have read this article with much interest. It carries me back to the old days when I was fighting for purity in fermented and distilled beverages. I was interested in the testimony before the committee in regard to whisky, which I gave at that time. I am extremely sorry that a very few people have such a degraded taste and such a thirst for intoxicants that they have to drink socalled whisky made by bootleggers, which may contain violent and deadly poisons. I am glad your memory runs back to those days and with such accuracy as to repeat some of the testimony I used in favor of genuine whisky, brandy and rum instead of the so-called rectified article. I never could understand even in those days why “crooked” whisky should be called “rectified” whisky. DR. HARVEY W. WILEY, -

.JAN. 17,1929

T/n •• 4 a r M l opinion* exB B pressed In tbit B B column ore jß*. JE )feoe of one of Amsrles’s SEEMS ETfr TOME ment with the * * editorial stilBy IIEYWOOD JJ^ 0 * th “ BROUN The Editor.

\ YOUNG reporter for a New -**■ New York morning paper came back to his boss with a story, but added that he would like to be excused from writing it. He admitted that he had obtained the information by pretending that he was not a newspaper man and said that the whole thing seemed to him an unwarranted prying into the private affairs of an individual. The city editor met these misgivings in a large way. He lapsed into eloquence. “My boy,” he said, “when you’ve been in the newspaper business as long as I have yov will realize that it’s a good deal fil e war. We're on one s’, de and the public on the other. “News is always guarded. You must think of yourself as a soldier and learn to obey orders without question.” And so the young reporter wrote the story. If there is truly a war between press and public I’m likely to be shot for sedition, because it seems to me that a free people must be more powerful than its newspapers. The general public has a right to define terms upon which it will deal with reporters. There should be citadels of privacy into which no news gatherer is allowed to penetrate. a a a Places of the Heart 'Tpo be sure, these fortresses ought to be few in number. I am aware that grafting politicians and dishonest business men have often availed themselves of a righteous air and a blustering, “That’s none of your business,” to shut off wholly legitimate interrogations. I am thinking of things more properly personal. To be specific I have in mind right now the case of Babe Ruth. When first tackled by reporters Ruth gave out the following statement: “I have not lived with my wife for three years. In that period I have only seen her a few times. I have done everything to comply with her wishes. Her death is a great shock to me. That is all I wish to say.” If Ruth wrote that himself, unaided, he is a person of great natural tact and no little skill In selfexpression. It seems to me not only dignified, but complete. The papers should be satisfied with that and respect the wish of the ball player. But they haven’t been. Granted that the public would be interested in such information I still don’t see by what right any reporter presses a demand that Ruth tell all. When any person of prominence gets married the papers should pounce upon the happening and give it full display. Nothing of record can fairly be denied to the press. But a man’s intentions are private property. If the mere will to marry, divorce or end it all constitutes news where shall the wood pulp be found upon which to print all these fantasies? , If newspapers insist upon sending out young men and ordering each one to follow his nose down every rat hqje, some noses are going to be nipped. Sooner or later the public must fight a Verdun battle for its right of privacy and make good the slogan “They shall not pass.” tt tt tt Tinkle of the Phone onHE fact that no citizen possesses X private life, to speak of, can not be blamed wholly upon the newspapers. Any home ceases to be a castle a few minutes after the telephone is installed. If some unwelcome person knocks at your door It is possible to make faces through the window and refuse him entrance. But there is an imperative quality in the ring of the telephone bell. Sooner or later science will provie some system of signals by which the householder, upon hearing the shrill buzz, may look up and notice that this is accompanied by >the flashing of a red light. According to the code this will indicate that a pest is on the other end of the line and the ring can be disregarded. Without some such indication it is practically impossible not to answer- Out of the little black disc almost anything may come. It may be an inheritance, a catastrophe or a still small voice saying, "Can’t wt be friends again?” Os course, it is much more likely to be somebody braying, “You’ve never heard of me, but my name is Legion—Sam Legion and Bill Higgins told me to give you a ring the first time I was in New York. You* know Bill. Good old Bill. The salt of the earth, as we say in Chicago. I thought you might like to hear that his wife's got influenza.” ana Heads I Win IAM NOT suggesting that man can live alone without a telephone. It is an integral part of the new civilization. Probably human character ha* been vastly influenced by this method of communication. I rather think that people were more fortright before the coming of the telephone. And more truthful. Even a tyro can manage to lie along a wire. Somebody should get out statistics to show Just how much divorce has been influenced since it became to stand in a booth and say to another person twenty miles away, “I’m sorry’, but I won’t be home to dinner.” To a large extent the telephone is the weapon of the fearful and the frustrated. Good news is carried in person. When the tidings are not so good one usually calls up upon the phone. Moreover these disembodied contracts furnish the ashes and ember* of romance. In the beginning one loves and at the end he telephones. (Copyright. 1829. tor Tfe* maSS)