Indianapolis Times, Volume 41, Number 120, Indianapolis, Marion County, 28 September 1929 — Page 4

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Propagandists in Uniform Thanks to testimony of a newspaper correspondent, Drew Pearson, the senate Investigation of efforts to wreck the Geneva disarmament conference will Include American admirals. From this correspondent’s statement it is increasingly clear that the archproagandist Shearer was only the “bass drum’’—as he called himself—for hidden forces of disruptive militarism. Shearer is relatively harmless compared with ship building company officials who confess to hiring him, and the naval clique alleged to have used him. However dumb newspaper men may be In some things, they know propagandists from long experience, and arfe accustomed to spotting poison. Shearer long had been one of the most notorious big navy propagandists operating in Geneva and Washington, and was known as such by the correspondents at the conference. Therefore he was suspected. But his power consisted in his close contact with naval delegates. He had information which the public wanted to know and which the correspondents at times could not get elsewhere. It was their job to glean the facts and to discard the Shearer propaganda. They succeeded pretty well. Shearer’s privileged position with officials, surprisingly little of his propaganda filtered through the cables into the American press. But that, apparently, was not the fault of certain American naval officers. To what extent they tried to prevent a cruiser limitation agreement is for the senate committee to find out. Meanwhile, it is no secret that there are two types of navy and army officers in Washington and elsewhere, one type constantly agitating under cover for a bigger army and navy despite the avowed and official governmental policy of reduction. It will be recalled that several times during the Coolidge administration the propaganda and lobbying inspired by army and navy groups became so vicious that the President had to issue public warning against Attempts of the military to undermine the civil authority of the government. And President Hoover in his disarmament efforts has been faced with the same sort of disloyalty, not to say mutiny, from certain officers, who have forgotten that he is their commander-in-chief. Indeed, the plausible suggestion has been made that the President's reason in part for forcing the Shearer investigation was to put the fear of punishment into commercial and naval interests trying to sink the present cruiser negotiations and projected limitation conference. Obviously an army or naval officer who sincerely believes that Britain or Japan plotting to Invade this country soon, and believes that unlimited armament is the only preparedness against that menace, is sorely tempted to sabotage the official American policy of arms reduction. But, apart from his oath of allegiance, decency should restrain him. If his conscience or patriotism moves him to be a propagandist Instead of an officer, he should resign his commission and hire a hall. The conduct of the two chiei naval delegates at the Geneva conference, Admirals Jones and Long, in contrast to that of certain others, apparently was a model for army and navy men serving under a democratic civil government. They let the constitutional authorities of the civil government determine the policy; they acted as trusted technical advisers. They did not try to usurp the powers of the President, the secretary of state or the senate. They did not use Shearer, the paid agent of the armament makers; neither did they permit him to use them. Others should be made to conform to that high standard of the naval service, or get out.

The Knees of the Male The arbiters of men's fashions seem to have devised a number of radical innovations for the male's garb next summer. It is written, we hear, that anew kind of pants is to make its appearance: a gaudy. Sybaritic affair, somewhat like a pair of basket ball trunks, cut off six inches above the knee, which will leave a lengthy bit of leg exposed to the fresh air. the inclement August rains and the curious public gaze. This, they say. will be much cooler and more comfortable than the present trousers. Very likely that is true. Yet we shudder at the idea, somehow. For. if the horrid truth must be told, the average male knee is not pretty. It is usually knobby, somewhat hirsute, and altogether unprepossessing. Much as we like frankness and comfort, we feel that most men should, out of kindness to the great American public, keep their knees concealed. Holy Smoke The Baltimore conference of the Methodist Episcopal church. South, meeting at Cumberland, devoted many hours of debate to the question ol whether a young minister should be passed as deacon because he refused to promise to give up smoking. A 16-year-old rule of the church, it developed, forebade ministers to smoke. Older members of the clergy—those who wore the cloth at the time the rule was enacted—may smoke as much as they like, and in public. And they do. even the bishop at the conference. The young man. stories said, was of excellent character, and had studied hard for the ministry and demonstrated his ability. Yet an adverse report concerning him was presented. A strange story to read in 1929 A. D. Speed in Farm Relief Alexander Legge. named by President Hoover as JChairman of the federal farm board pointed out to senators who were criticising his officials acts that it had taken congress eight years to pass a farm relief bill, and that his board had been functioning only two months. The confirmation of Legge was being .-considered. * | His point was well-taken. The idea that any man or group of men. even the ugh they have at their disposal *150,000.000, can re .-olutionize the farming industry over night, is grotesque. The farm problem is deep-rooted and complicated. Its solution, if there is to be one, will be a matter of years. Legge left his job as head of the International Harvester Company to take his present post, at the •aroest solicitation of President Hoover. The entire

The Indianapolis Times (A SCKIRFS-HOU AKD NEW SPAPER) % Owned and published dally <eicept Sunday! by The Indianapolis Times Publishing Cos.. 214-220 W. Maryland Street. !is. Ind. Price In Marion County 2 cents a copy: elsewhere. 3 cent* —delivered by carrier. It cent* a week. BOYD GURLEY. ROY W. HOWARD. FRANK G. MORRISON, Editor. President Business Manager PHONE—Riley MSI , SATURDAY. SEPT 28. 1929. Member of Potted Press, tScrtpps-Howard Newspaper Alliance, Newspaper Enterprise Association, Newspaper Information Service and Audit Bureau of Circulations. “Give Light and the People Will Find Their Own Way”

personnel of the board was selected with the greatest care by the President. The board is proceeding more cautiously than some senators would have it. This, we believe, is what the public and the farmers themselves want. The creation of responsible co-cperative organizations and stabilization corporations will take time. Where such co-operatives now exist, the board has shown a disposition to deal with them. It has insisted, however, that government funds be used with a reasonable regard for safety. The appropriation for farm relief was not a subsidy. The worst thing for farmers that could happen would be hasty and ill-advised action which would bring failure of the program. Business Straws There are increasing signs of a slight slowdown in industrial production. There are no signs of a serious and prolonged business depression. If the country will distinguish between these two things, and not confuse intelligent caution with calamity howling dangers involved in a temporary transition from an exceptionally long period of high prosperity should be mitigated. In addition to the unhealthy stock market and credit situation, these straws are worth watching: “The index of industrial production, which makes allowance for unusual seasonal changes, showed a decline,” according to the August summary of the federal reserve board, issued Thursday. “There was a reduction in the output of iron and steel and copper and a slight decline in the production of automobiles ... as compared with last year (construction) contracts were 5 per cent lower in August.” Steel ingot production trend now is downward in contrast to the upward trend at this time last year, the Iron Age points out. General Motors deliveries last month were 173,884, compared with 187,463 units in August, 1928. Perhaps these straws don’t mean anything. Perhaps they do. Either way, caution is the wise course. So far as the government is concerned, this seems a poor time to pass a higher tariff law, which would cause boycotts of our foreign exports and wipe out that 10 per cent production differential in our present prosperity. Boston Does It Again It is regrettable, but hardly surprising, to read that Boston has banned Eugene O’Neill’s play, “Strange Interlude.” The play was given in New York for many months. It has been given in many other cities, some large and some relatively small. It is presented by an intelligent and sincere organization of theatrical artists, and it is the work of the foremost American dramatist. But Boston would have none of it. Perhaps Boston is only trying to live up to its reputation. It has set considerable of a record for old-maidishness in the last few years, and it may have decided that this record might be forgotten if the official censor were not allowed to display his dumbness once more. It is interesting, though, to reflect that only a few years ago Boston was the center of American culture and liberalism.

REASON By FR “ K

IN 1932 the two hundredth anniversary of George Washington's birth will be celebrated at the national capital by a pageant which will last several weeks and depict the progress of the nation, and while this is going on, every city, town and village in the land will give a celebration of its own. a a b In these days of mounting materialism it is not a bad idea to recall that Washington’s service was as unselfish as it was indispensable, for he stipulated when he accepted the command of the revolutionary army, that he was to receive no compensation for his services, and during the darkest hour of that struggle he went down into his own pocket and loaned $40,000 to what seemed to be a dying cause. nan But for him. the revolution would have failed, but for him the Constitution in all probability, would not have been adopted, and but for his national consciousness in the presidency, the young republic would have become a mere appendage of France or England. a a a ~HILE we are preparing to build a monument, * * o Lincoln's mother, it would not be out of place Id one in honor of the mother of Washington, icr she gave her son the strong sense, the great courage, the rugged character and the imperious nature which he later was to pour into a great epoch. And she kept him from going to sea when he was 14 years old, thus saving him for immortality. nan Unlike Nancy Hanks, the mother of Lincoln, who passed away w-hen the future emancipator w r as a little boy, Mary Ball, the mother of Washington lived to see him the builder of a nation and as he steadily rose to fame, she said: “George has been a good boy and I am sure he will do his duty.” ana Up at Evanston, 111., the grownups have invaded the public playgrounds and taken possession of the swings, slides, merry-go-rounds and baseball grounds until the children have been driven out. If this grand march of rejuvenation continues, before long captains of industry will shake rattle boxes while watering the stock, the supreme court of the United States will blow bubbles while hearing cases and Mr. Hoover will send bear stories to congress instead of presidential messages. a a a THE people of Wisconsin heave a sigh of relief now that their legislature finally has adjourned after being in session for nine long months. That's an awfully long time to have to watch that many fellows. ana Tire building of a spite fence up in Royal Oak, Mich., by one neighbor against another reminds us that the world is lots better natured than it used to be when neighborhood fights were always in court. In the old days justices of the peace were always busy with petty criminal actions, but “those days are gone forever.” man According to the American Institute of Steel Construction, it is feasible to put buildings 150 stories high, the same covering entire blocks, the bottom floors to be used for business and the top for residences, each building being a miniature world of its own. This is the kind of proposition that makes a man glad that he has a lifetime date with a country town.

THE INDIANAPOLIS TIMES

M. E. Tracy SAYS:

Sudden Activity Shown in Rothstein Murder Case Probe Is Rather Amazing. T'VISTRICT attorney ban--*-'TON of New York orders George McManus to trial in the Rothstein case. He may have good reasons “for such a sudden and amazing change of attitude. If so, he should take the public into his confidence. Otherwise, the public will be justified in feeling puzzled, if not suspicious. It is to be conceded at the outset that District Attorney Bantor. may have discovered some new evidence which he has not seen fit to announce. Barring that contingency, his activity requires explanation. Without new evidence, he is in the same position he was three, six, or even nine months ago, and has failed to try a man whom he could convict, or now plans to try one whom he can’t. Again barring the contingency of newly discovered evidence, nothing has happened to throw light on the Rothstein case except a little politics. n a Meaning Is Hidden AT first thought it may seem cheap fer the greatest city in America to be devoting so much attention to a murder, but murder, like any other social episode, may have a peculiar meaning. If a bank failure can expose graft, as happened in the City Trust case, why can not a killing reveal crookedness and corruption? It is possible, to be sure, that the people of New York have misconstrued, if not overestimated, the Rothstein case. It is possible that it just was one more homicide, which the police failed to solve, through circumstances over which they had no control, and that the district attorney has been justified in not forcing McManus, or any one else, to trial. On the other hand, there is grounds for suspecting that it was something more. Arnold Rothstein was killed a few days before the national election of last year. He was not only a gambler, but had participated in a very interesting poker game just before the killing occurred. He was not dead when found, but expired in a hospital the second day afterward. While the police appeared unable to learn anything from him during his stay in the hospital, those who wanted him to sign anew will had better luck, though only to see their work spoiled by the death caused considerable furore. This was attributed to his prominent social and political connections. Curiously enough, gossip has held the same thing responsible for failure to find out who killed him.

Silence Not Justified THE country must not imagine that New York is picking up a murder as the focal point in its municipal campaign out of morbid curiosity or for lack of something better to discuss. While not particularly excited, New York would like to know just why there was so much racket at the outset and so much silence later on. If the racket was justified, the ensuing silence was not. By the same token if the ensuing silence was justified, District Attorney Banton’s sudden awakening leaves a big question mark on the horizon. It is to be conceded that District Attorney Banton may have been irritated by the political sharpshooting of his opponents, but what has that to do with George McManus’ guilt, or the possibility of convicting him? To put it in another way, if justice is the only object, the Rothstein case has nothing to do with politics. Contrasting what has happened during the last eleven months with what has happened during the last few days, it is hard to believe that politics has had nothing to do with the Rothstein case. Putting aside the abrupt dismissal of the late Police Commissioner Warren for failure to unravel it as ancient history, putting aside not only the release of all the witnesses, but of McManus himself on bail and coming down to very recent times, it looks as though politics could be credited with rejuvenating the Rothstein case at least, and as though District Attorney Banton considered the charges of his opponents worthy of attention, if not comment.

Questions and. Answers

Who wrote the lyric poem "Marp^ssa?” Stephen Phillips. It was published by John Lane Company, New York and London, in 1900. The story' is from Greek mythology. Marpessa, being given her choice by Zeus between the god Apollo and the mortal Idas, chose Idas. How many troops were furnished by the state of Maryland to the Federal army during the Civil war? A total of 62,961 men including 50.318 white troops, 8,718 Negro troops and 3,925 sailors and marines. What Is the derivation of the word limousine? The name has been applied in the automobile trade to a certain type of body. There seems to be no connection between it and the French word limousin. which means a coarse mantle, or rough masonry. Why is it easier to swim in salt water than in fresh water? Because salt water is more buoyant and less effort is required to keep afloat. When was Colonel Lindbergh bom, and how old was he when he flew to Paris? He was bom Feb. 4, 1902, and left for Paris by airplane on May 20, 1922. M.

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DAILY HEALTH SERVICE Man Is Different Kind of Machine

BY DR. MORRIS FISHBEIN Editor Journal or the American Medical Association and of Hygeia, the Health Magazine. LAST year debates were held all over the United States by several eminent debaters on the ques - tion as to whether or not man is a machine. The question is answered as well as it can be answered with our modern knowledge of science by Professor C. Judson Herrick in his new book called “Man—The Thinking Machine.” Os course, a human being is not a machine like a loom or a rotary press. If a belt or a cog wheel breaks or any power apparatus, the machine is likely to stop until somebody repairs the damage. The human being is the most complex machine that possibly can be imagined. It has tremendous

The Life Story of Dr. Hugo Eckener BY HUGH ALLEN

CHAPTER X IT was a great day for Friedrichshafen when the word got around in 1923 that Luftschiffbau Zeppelin was to build another airship. Times had been hard in the village since the Bodensee and Nordstern were taken away and the great Zeppelin factories closed for Friedrichshafen had become a Zeppelin town, and the rise and decline of Zeppelin fortunes affected all the inhabitants. Most of the male population of Friedrichshafen had ben employed in one or another of the Zeppelin plants. In the slack post-war days Von Sfemmingen, Eckener, Colsman and tbe others had used their utmost ingenuity to give employment to as many people as possible, trying to hold together the organization. The presses that had been used to make girder parts were diverted to aluminum kitchen utensils. The Maybach plant was building automobiles and motor boat engines, the gear plant was building gears for customers it could find, the PoAdam hangar near Berlin was leased to a film company and here the genius of Reinhardt and others were already at work on novel scenic effects.

ana OFFICERS of the company i ode to work on bicycles. A small white-washed building near the offices was the garage. At each rack was the name of the man to which that space was assigned neatly lettered on the wall—“Eckener,” “Colsman,” “Lehmann,” “Guerr,” and so on. Plain living was the rule. And so there was widespread rejoicing in Friedrichshafen with the news that at last the shops would open up. The men hurried back to their old places, many of them crippled from the war but with a new spring in their step. The ship which was to be built for the American navy, in accordance with Lloyd George's suggestion and the approval of President Harding, was to be no larger than the larg-. est one previously built, which limited its size to 2.500,000 cubic feet, but Dr. Eckener was determined it should be the best ship Zeppelin had vet built.' It was to be called thet ZR-3. There were many conferepces with Duerr, construction head; with Arnstein. designer and chief engineer: with Maybach. The pentup energies of the staff released, all were eager to put into effect the improvements that they had been working out in the draughting room in the four years* of enforced idleness. a a a AT last, in the late summer of 1924. the great ship was ready for delivery to America. As this ship was built C. O. D.. Luftschiffbau’s job was not completed until he had turned the ship over to the American navy at Lakehurst. “Who is going to fly the ship over?” asked Harry Vissering. American representative of the company, curiously during the summer. “I will fly it over myself,” said Eckener simply, “1 will take Lehmann, Fleming

Pardon the Intrusion!

automatic powers of regulation and repair. The human machine is a part of the great system of life. There is order and system in nature which may be called evolution, or which may be credited to some higher power. There is no scientific support for the fatalistic conception of life nor for the belief that everything is or has been in life was predetermined. Many things develop as a result of natural agencies. Professor Herrick wisely points out that a mechanistic conception of life demands first of all a recognition of the meaning of mechanism. The chief function of any mechanism is to control the agents which are a part of its busienss. The human being has the greatest capacity for self-regulation df any mechanism on earth. It even can control the disappearance or

and Von Schiller as my chief officers.” Vissering looked his astonishment! Any one of the three officers was fully competent to take command. Each indeed had flown airships over thousands of miles. Lehman the senior pilot, had piloted close to a thousand flights. And yet the doctor was to fly himself and to take his three best pilots with nim. The America nventured a protest. “It is placing all your eggs in one basket,” he said. “If misfortune should meet the ship on the way across, who would carry on the work? The prudent thing would be to send one of the other pilots over with the ship, to hold sdmething J* reserve.” Dr Eckener arose from his great chair, stared down across the desk at the American “I have full confidence in my ship,” he said “We have put the best of our engieering experience into it No one may say that we ourselves of all people have lack of confidence in our vessel. I shall take the ship across myself.” ON the morning of Oct. 12, 400 men walked the new ship out of the hangar for final weigh-off on the field. The severe test flights over Germany and up into Sweden satisfied Dr. Eckener that Amstein’s calculations as to stresses,

AVrlb TH£“

EIGHT “WITCHES” HANGED • Sept. 28. ON Sept. 28, 1692, eight persons were hanged for alleged witchcraft in Massachusetts, culminating the witchcraft madness at Salem. The people of Massachuetts at the time, like most other Christian people of the seventeenth century, believed in a hideous crime called witchcraft. But for more than sixty years after the founding of the colony, no one ever had been punished, or even convicted of the crime, with three or four exceptions. Then suddenly a wave of witchcraft madness swept the community. Children testified against their own mothers, relative accused relative ano many persons were thrown into prison. Convicted by prejudiced juries and somtimes even without trial, more than a score of alleged “witches” were hanged and 300 others accused. On Sept. 28. 1692, eight persons were hanged, while terror-stricken or pitying people looked on. Some would have rescued them, but they had no leaders. A fortnight later, representatives of the colony assembled to remonstrate against the doings of the witchcraft tribunal. The system of courts was reorganized and, almost as suddenly as they had bqgun. the witchcraft hangings ceased and the public mind again had security and fieedoak

the appearance of Its follower* by scientific genetics. At the same time the human being must respond inevitably to natural processes in its environment. This the human does with his mind, whereas lower species and material objects resound only as the physical changes influence them. Mental acts, Professor Herrick points out, are natural because wc are natural bodies and they are therefore the real determiners of conduct and character. They are part of the biologic machinery regulating and controlling life. Self-control by voluntary effort is an activity of the human body. Self-control can be strengthened and cultivated •by training, just as muscular training in riding a bicycle can be cultivated. Man is a machine, but distinctly and apparently the only thinking machine.

lift and pressure had been correst, that Duerr’s workmanship had been sturdy and dependable, that the new Maybach cotors could be relied on to carry the ship safely on its long trip across the Atlantic. Four American officers, Captain George W. Steele, Commander M. E. Krause, Commander J. H. Kline Jr., and Major Frank M. Kennedy, were the only passengers. As Steele and later Kline were to command the ship once it passed into American hands the flight would be good training for them. Dr. Eckener at the bridge gave a signal to Von Schiller. “Stand by for weigh-off,” megaphoned Von Schiller. Forty men standing at the hand rails around the control car, 300 men holding to spider web ropes came to attention. While bands blared and hundreds of villagers and visitors from all over Germany cheered and waved frantic farewells, the veteran commander looked out the window, made a final appraisal of the ship’s equilibrium, nodded in satisfaction, called “Hoch, up ship.” ana THE motors idling till now in low murmur, surged into a sudden roar. The ship moved forward, heading into the wind, swung out over Zeppelin village, out over the lake, circled back oer the city, then set its rudders in a westward course. Church bells sent up the final greeting from earth, “Aufwiedersehn. Good Luck.” The flight to America was under way. The dream of the old Count was at last to be realized. The big ship crossed the Atlantic and was landed at Lakehurst on Oct. 15, having traveled 5060 miles in 81 hours. (To Be Continued) NEXT: Four long years of idleness, raising funds and then the Graf Zeppelin.

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SEPT. 28, 1929

SCIENCE By DAVID DIETZ —

Cities Adopting the Manager Form of Goverment Have a Tendency to Select Engineers as Managers. ENGINEERS, having conducted surveys of thousands of thing*, ranging from Arctic oil fields to African diamond mines, are planning to turn their surveying instruments upon themselves. They are planning, according to an announcement of the American Engineering council, to study themselves. The aim of the survey is twofold. It is hoped that it will benefit both the engineers and society as a whole. Earnings will be analyzed, a yardstick will.be applied to the engineer as a professional man, the trends of engineering thought explored, and machinery devised to adjust the relationships of engineers whenever difficulties arise either nationally or locally,” the committea in charge of the survey announce*. ‘Engineers are presumed to be analyzers and planners, and therefore it is logical to believe that by analyzing their own calling they can perform a constructive service both to themselves and to the public,” says Arthur W. Berresford of New York, president of the council. H. C. Morris, retired mining engineer of Washington, D. C., is chairman of the committee which Berresford has appointed to con* duct the survey. an* Hoover THE survey of the engineering profession comes at an opportune time. The nation in general is coming more and more to think in terms of engineering. Many people hold the view that Herbert Hoover’s success as secretary of commerce, and the success which he has enjoyed so far as President, were the result of his engineering training. There has been a tendency in cities adopting the city manager plan of government to seoure engineers as city managers. This general trust in engineers is an inevitable result of the growth of science. People find themselves surrounded today by many new things which they do not understand completely. They find themselves dependent upon the opinions of electrical engineers. radio engineers, transportation engineers, chemical engineers and many others. It is natural, therefore, that they should turn to these same men to solve problems in other fields. Such terms as “civic engineering” and “human engineering,” are creeping into the language, showing the trend of the times. It is a good thihg, therefore, both for the public and the engineers themselves, that they take stock of their own abilities, ideals and responsibilities.

Objectives ONE of the first tasks to be undertaken in the survey will be a classification of the various types of engineers. “There will be classifications into which each type of engineer belongs and a statement of the qualifications requisite to each classification,” the committee announces. “This is particularly needed in the federal government service.” The question of government registration of engineers will also be studied. “Registration of engineers prevails in some twenty states,” the committee says. “This movement has had no guidance on the part of any major fraction of the profession. However, because of existing registration laws, no adequate plan can be projected relating to the economic and professional status of the engineer without giving due consideration to the influences and trends of registration. “Such a survey as is contemplated will not fail to bring to light certain related questions, which will of necessity have to be pursued in some degree to get that breadth of comprehension necessary to an Inclusive judgment and action. “There should be opportunity to set up certain forward-looking and comprehensive objectives for the profession. “It is hoped that major objectives for the profession to endeavor to realize in the years ahead can be set up.”

Daily Thought

For ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace; the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you Into singing, and all the trees of the fields shall clap their handsw—lsaiah 55:12. mum One hour of joy dispels the cares and sufferings of a thousand years. —Baptiste.