Indianapolis Times, Volume 41, Number 163, Indianapolis, Marion County, 18 November 1929 — Page 4

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Utility Mergers , Very soon the public service commission will go through the motions of examining a hundred, more or less, public utilities before giving permission to the Insull interests to throw them into one gigantic company and operate them as a whole. There are some street car lines, an interurban or two, a flock of electric companies. There may be some other utilities in the deal, but for the most part it is an attempt to tie together street car systems which do not pay, and electric companies, which can be made to pay. The utility interests argue that it is economical to operate a large system and that the merger is only for the purpose of squeezing out some water poured in by the promoters of the individual plants. Os course, when the companies are merged, it will be possible for them to buy electricity from the super power system of Insull and eliminate a number of small plants. The same small companies could also buy that electricity if they so desired, so nothing is gained in that direction. It is true that in the last few years street car systems have not been profitable. In most companies the stockholders have lost money. No matter how good the management, companies which lack patronage can not pay. . . The automobile has made inroads. Raising fares only increases the trouble, for that forces more people away from the cai sand into the busses. The prospect is sad—for such companies. But there are constantly increasing uses for electricity. Every invention creates new customers and makes for a larger use. So the plan of marrying a street car company, the impoverished daughter of the utility group, to the husky young electric interest has its advantage for those who own both. The public will be called upon to provide an income for the family as a unit. The rates can be fixed accordingly. The possibility of the public getting protection through public service regulation will Lie tested in this merger application. There is already a grave suspicion that the public is not protected and that about the only use of a commission constituted and controlled as the present one seems to be, is to keep such cities as own their own electric plants from giving their people as cheap service as they could without state interference. If this merger proves burdensome, perhaps the people will decide to kick out the commission and enter upon an era of public ownership rather than “regulation.’ Whose Daughter? United States Attorney Tuttle set out on Nov. 13 to attend a garment workers’ mass meeting in New York City, “to prevent police or any one else from interfering with the constitutional right of assembly," according to the New York Telegram. It so happened that Charlotte Tuttle, daughter of the United States attorney, was billed as a speaker at the meeting, and that various persons had been arrested, by the New York City police, on the previous day, for distributing handbills announcing and advertising the meeting. These persons, after being arrested and taken into custody, were discharged in night court by a magistrate, who said that "the charge of distributing leaflets without a permit had been held unconstitutional several years ago." Nevertheless, they were prevented from distributing their leaflets on the evening of the 12th. Speaking of the leaflet distributions, Tuttle said: “Whoever called upon the police last night to arrest those using their constitutional rights of distributing printed notices as to when and where they would exercise their constitutional right of assembly pursued a very short-sighted course.” Speaking of his daughter, Tuttle told of her experiences at Vassar college, her later experiences in social work, etc. He then said: “I had a long-stand-ing engagement for this evening, but I shall endeavor to get off long enough to hear my daughter and be on hand in case any one attempts to interfere with the right of free speech.” This is all to the good. The New York City representative of the United States government hops to it to see that the constitutional rights of free speech and assembly are not infringed by the New York police or the state police. Very commendable, and quite in line with a certain conception of the true function of a United States attorney! But in this case there is a personal motive involved. He hops when his own daughter happens to be the victim. Within the last few months there have been many cases, on the streets, in halls and elsewhere in the city of New York, where rights of assembly and free speech were interfered with, when the United States attorney has not been personally on hand to see that such rights were respected—and has done nothing to punish infringement of such rights! How come? Does it all depend on whose rights are infringed? Not Serious This Idea The proposal of Representative Sol Bloom that congress take a secret vote on light w'nes and beer is not to be taken seriously. We doubt if Bloom him- * self Is serious. Even the wets will -eject the proposal and there is "™n chance that ft ever will emerge from the house judiciary committee. Bloom professes to believe that In secret congress-

The Indianapolis Times (A SCRIPPH-HOWARD NEWSPAPER) and pnhlihf <1 dally (ex<;ppt Sunday) by The Indianapolis Times Publishing Cos., 214—0 west Maryland Street, Indianapolis, Ind. Price in Marlon County, j cents a copy: elsewhere. 3 cents-delivered by carrier, 12 cents k -week. BOYSTgi HLEY. HOY \V. HOWARD, FRANK G. MORRISON’, FhHtor ' President Business Manager PHONE-Rlley 5551 1 MONDAY, NOV. 18, 1928. Member of United Press. Scrlpps-Hhward Newspaper Alliance. Newspaper Enterprise Assoelation, Newspaper Information .Service and Audit Bureau of Circulations. and the People Will Find Their Own Way”

men would vote differently than in public, because they often go against their own reliefs to satisfy their constituento. If we must lock up congress to get modification of the prohibition act, it would be better to let our era of dry hypocrisy continue. An Example for Britain Withdrawal of Rear Admiral Hilary P. Jones as chief technical adviser to the American delegation to the London naval conference should clear the atmosphere. Jones desired the powers of an independent delegate. That was impossible, for two reasons. Fii'st, it is to be a unified delegation, expressing the policy of the White House. Second, the function of naval officers will be limited to technical advice. It is unfortunate that Jones had to make himself the goat in this needless disagreement over the nature of the delegation, for he is one of the ablest of the American experts. He never has taken advantage of his position to sabotage the civilian authority. Even as a member of the American delegation at the illfated Geneva naval conference, he co-operated loyally with White House and state department policy. But it is important, whether Jones knows it or not, that the men at London with the last word should be civilians. The American and British admirals had their chance at Geneva and failed. Whether they were chiefly responsible for that fiasco is beside the point. It Is true that they were unable to create the spirit of friendly give-and-take sft essential if an international conference is to result in an agreement. An admiral by training and prejudice sees the international situation in naval terms. President Hoover’s civilian delegation should be in position to see beyond the technical to the political, economic, and humanitarian implications of naval reduction. There should be naval experts to advise the delegation, but policy should be determined exclusively by the responsible civilian authorities. Perhaps the most important effect of the Jones incident will be its effect on London. While there never has been much chance that admirals would dictate American policy in the coming conference, there is real danger that the admiralty will dominate British policy, as it dominated the abortive Geneva conference. If there Is to be cruiser reduction, instead of mere limitations, Prime Minister MacDonald first must shake the admiralty out of the seat of power which it long ago usurped. It is to be hoped that he will be inspired by the example of Hoover, who is using the admirals, but not being used by them. An Intellectual Locarno The conferring of an honorary degree upon Albert Einstein by the Sorbonne in Paris and Einstein’s tribute to Briand's efforts in behalf of European reconciliation and world peace are the first real evidence of an intellectual Locarno since July, 1914. In all countries the intellectuals, who should have provided the basis for poise and tolerance, speedily were swept wholesale into the vortex of war passions. Their recovery has been slow. The entente powers have been especially tardy in welcoming the Germans back into the fold of civilization. The great French historians, Alphonse Aulard and Ernest Lavise, refused to stand on the same platform with Hans Delbruck, dean of German historians, and debate the issue of responsibility for the World war. When a presentation volume was planned for the great Belgian, Henry Pirenne, no German historian was invited to contribute, in spite of the preeminent work of German scholars in his field. Only a couple of years back an international congress on the history of medicine declined to allow thp participation of Dr. Karl Sudhoff, the world’s chief authority in the field. Last autumn Count Max Monteglas, the foremost German authority on war guilt, was denied passage across France on his journey to the disarmament conference at Madrid. As long as a spirit vindictiveness permeates intellectual circles, all talk of peace and good will is vain pretense and is belied by the hard facts. The honor bestowed upon Einstein is a gratifying symptom that French intellectuals now recognize that the war Is over.

REASON

THE Republican split in the senate reminds many of the party division of 1910, but the dissenters of our day are not to be compared in intellect with their predecessors, for they were as brilliant a band as ever lifted the banner of party revolt. a 0 * You may possibly recall that Dolliver of lowa drove Aldrich of Rhode Island from the senate chamber by his assault the Payne-Aldrich tariff bill, that being the address in which Dolliver characterized Warren of Wyoming as “the greatest shepherd since Abraham." 000 With Dolliver in that insurrection were La Follette, Beveridge, Clapp, Cummins and Bristow, and had Mr. Moses of New Hampshire then adorned the senate and had he catalogued those gladiators as “sons of the wild jackasses," surgeons would still be grafting hide upon his raw form. 00# ONE may be somber if he goes with the crowd, but he must scintillate if he leads a revolution, and our modems sadly fail in this regard, Grundy and then Moses having revealed them as utter strangers to the oratorical rapier and as contented patrons of the meat cleaver. 000 Henry Allen of Kansas and Hiram Johnson of California would be able to help, but they are on the other side of the controversy, though both leaped into the political rodeo as eager broncho busters. The exnlanatlon of their absence from the hosts of roueh house would s°em to be that Johnson Is tired and Allen is ambitious. 000 We have heard a lot of the decline of quality in the senate, but it is just as bad in the house of representatives. There was a time, not so long ago. when the larger house boasted of a dozen members tall enough to kiss the limelight of the world. 000 A comparison of those representatives with ours today must convince one that this disparagement is not the result of the disposition to magnify the past at the expense of the present for the disparity is as obvious as a full moon In June.

FREDERICK By LANDIS

M. E. Tracy SAYS:

For Some Reason, Society Has Chosen to Support Those Whom It Punishes and Destroy the Independence of Those It Would Reform. IN his report for 1928, Just published, Chief Magistrate McAdOo of New York recommends the establishment of a great penal community by the state. Here he would send all those convicted of serious offenses, giving them the benefit of an indeterminate sentence and placing them under constant observation of psychiatrists ad physicians. Here he would establish schools, churches, workshops, and a great farm. Here he would make the incorrigible self-supporting, and provide opportunity for those capable of being reformed to work their way out. N. V. Krylenko, public prosecutor of Soviet Russia, goes even farther. On Jan. 1, he will remove some 30,000 prisoners from Russia’s penal institutions and put them to work in the country. The object is practical, rather than altruistic. Soviet Russia is experiencing great difficulty in establishing cooperative farms. Krylenko believes that the labor of 30,000 prisoners will help. He also believes that their elimination as dependents will help. tt tt tt Strange Course Taken MEN who think logically arrive at about the same conclusions. Though proceeding from different premises, McAdoo and Krylenko hit upon the same solution for the prison problem. One is an American and a capitalist, the other a Russian and a communist. When it comes to crime and the treatment of criminals, however, that make no difference. Society is society, regardless of the form of government it adopts; and what shall be done with those who violate its decrees represents a similar problem. tt tt tt For some inscrutable reason, society has chosen to support those whom At punishes, and destroy the independence of those it would reform. Whether viewed from an economic, scientific or ideal standpoint, the penal system tolerated by civilization is ridiculous. Its maintenance not only represents an unnecessary burden for society, but an unjust burden for the wives and children of convicts, while its character well nigh puts reform out cf the question. tt tt tt Brains Needed Here ADMITTING that criminals should be separated for the sal e of protection, if for no better reason, isn’t there land enough to do this, without placing them behind stone walls and iron bars? And aren’t there brains enough in the world to devise some system whereby they can be surrounded by conditions which approximate normal life? Admitting that reform is possible in many cases, isn’t that the best way to begin? If it is desirable to start normal people in life with the best environment and associations, isn’t it even more desirable for those who have gone wrong? Who supposes that we could take 1 a group of average young people and put them in the average reformatory, without getting bad results? And if that is so, what about young people who are subnormal? St tt It The cost of guarding penal communities hardly would be greater than that of guarding prisons, as Magistrate McAdoo points out, while the life in them would be far more natural. Every year sees thousands of convicts dismissed from our prisons and reformatories. If there is no danger in allowing them to return to society, how could there be danger in allowing them to live in segregated communities while serving their terms? tt it tt Leper Colony Is Proof THE leper colony at Molokai shows what can be done with people whom it is necessary to segregate. Though handicapped by a terrible disease, its people enjoy all the privileges of a small community. Though denied intercourse with the rest of the world, they still have their home life, the wives, husbands and children of lepers being permitted to join them in their exile, if they desire. In this instance, society has protected itself, without caging human beings, without damning them to unnatural existence, without making their restoration impossible. One wonders why society can not do as well by those who have transgressed artificial laws.

Questions and Answers

What king had the longest reign in history? Probably Pepi II of the sixth dynasty of ancient Egypt was the oldest monarch, and had the longest reign of any monarch that ever lived. Breasted gives his dates as 2566-2475 B. C. and adds that it is the longest reign in history. According to the Turin Papyrus, he reigned ninety years, while Menetho, who calls him Phiops, states that he reigned 100 years. Wbat monarchs now living lost their thrones as a direct result of the World war? The former Kaiser of Germany, who now lives at Doom, Netherlands, and former Empress Zita of the dual monarchy of Austria and Hung* ry, who now lives at Lequieto, Spain, are the only surviving former sovereigns who lost their thrones as a direct result of the war.

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Child Must Have Sufficient Sleep

BY I)R. MORRIS FISHBEIN Editor Journal of the American Medical Association and of Hygeia, the Health Magazine. IN a consideration of the normal child, Dr. Florence Mateer gives particular attention to the sleep of the phild. If a child does not sleep sufficiently, it uses up the energy that it has and fails to recuperate. The tissues wear out with overuse, daily fatigue changes to chronic fatigue, the nervous system becomes less and less able to meet the daily demands made upon it. The result is disturbance of temperament, irritability, perhaps in the end serious mental defect. The child that has missed its sleep is cross, it cries easily, it loses its appetite, destroys its toys and quarrels with its brothers and sisters and friends. Among the many causes of too little sleep in children are poor nutrition, overexcitement or stimulation from unusual activities indulged in during the day, a bad bed or room

IT SEEMS TO ME By BROUN

I HAVE known Captain Flagg, the airedale, for almost three years and in all that time he never has said a word. But yesterday when I asked him, ‘ Flagg, what do you think of the market?” he put his head back and barked, “The country is fundamentally sound.” Still, I don’t think he made that up himself. I guess he must have heard it somewhere. Nevertheless, the dog was right. If I were a young man and if I had money I should certainly put every penny into buying dividend-paying securities outright. And then I’d put them under triple padlock and never look at any Wall Street news for at least three months. Or maybe a year. m tt tt Traders Timid TRADERS seem to me a fickle and a timid lot. Time was within the memory of even us middleaged ones when everything was going to 300. Now everything is going down to zero. And neither estimate had the roots of likelihood. Much has been said to us by orators on Independence day about the fortitude, courage and cool nerve of the American people under fire. I think that now is the time to shbw it. Far from solemn warnings about the danger of gambling I think there ought to be encouragement for those who have the spunk to take a chance. That everything is going to the bow-wows I doubt gravely and yet even if it is it seems to me more admirable to go down with the bullet holes in front. Since everybody has had his say about the economic present and the economic future of the United States I see no reason why I should be disbarred, even though I can present no credentials to identify myself as an expert. I think I know what caused the great debacle. It is my notion that a just Providence arranged it. tt tt n Life Ironical LIFE, as you may have heard, is a great dramatist and particularly fond of irony. A few months ago every •articulate American had his chest out. Even the most dignified public man could not refrain from indulging in handsprings whenever an occasion for oratory allowed him to be articulate. We were the greatest and the richest country in the world. Prosperity like ours never before had been known in the history of the world. Quite obviously the Americans were God’s chosen people. To be sure, there were countries in Europe where things were not quite so rosy. At this point the orator- would drop the voice an octave or so to register mild pity. But this emotion was expressed only 9S something passing and quite

We Moderns

DAILY HEALTH SERVICE.

for sleeping purposes, and the failure to establish proper sleeping habits. Dr. Mateer points out that it is not necessarily advisable that the child’s toys and games, its aquarium with the gold fish, its animal pets, and indeed all of its accessories to life be put in one room. Sometimes the child finds It difficult to sleep merely because these things which interest it most are in its immediate surroundings. Parents far too frequently decorate the nursery and physicians not infrequently decorate the walls of hospitals devoted to children with stimulating pictures which excite the imagination and which are far more likely to disturb rest than to aid it. A child may find difficulty in falling asleep, as Dr. Mateer points out, because the paper *on the wall shows Jack tumbling down hill with no place to land or a cow t jumping over the moon with every intention of landing on Miss Muffet. The human being is frequently kept awake by overstimulation of

incidental. Indeed, Europe’s posterity was lugged in merely as a sort of background to heighten our own enjoyment of national plentitude. Even the most obscure speaker was ready to help out Europe. With advice, of course. These aliens were informed that they would be wise to pattern themselves after us. Why couldn’t they learn to eat cake? First and foremost, the impoverished peasants were informed of the moral obligations resting upon them to pay us in full for the war debts. Although the richest country in the world, we took no shame in being just a shade pressing in our demands for even more gold. tt tt Advice for All IF that advice were sound and sincerely intended, I think we ought to be willing to apply it to ourselves. That the tragedies of the recent slump are far-reaching and often infinitely pitiful, I have no doubt. When a blatherskite like Borah speaks as if Wall Street were a purely local enterprise, having nothing on earth to do with the general prosperity of the country, he betrays the fact that he is an isolationist in economics as well as politics. Like Brookhart, Senator Borah is

-iqOAVrl5 TlHiE'” Vipp/MIV

PANAMA CANAL TREATY November 18. ON Nov. 18, 1903, the United States concluded a treaty with the republic of Panama for the right to construct and control a canal connecting the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. The compensation granted to Panama for the concession was $10,000,000 in gold coin on the exchange of ratification, and $250,000 annually, beginning nine years after ratification. The United States also guaranteed the independence of Panama, which had severed connections with the republic of Colombia a short time before. Pursuant to other terms of the treaty, the United States proceeded with negotiations for purchase of the French Panama Canal Company, which had already started work on a canal. The United States previously had agreed to purchase the property and franchises of the company for $40,000,000. The canal was completed early in 1914 and commercial traffic was inaugurated Aug. 15 of that year. Actual total cost of construction was $305,148,000.

such senses as sight or hearing. An overexcitable child may be kept awake by light pouring into its room through cracks in the window shade or by the noise of a rattling window or door. Unusual, irregular, interesting or exciting noises will prevent the child from falling asleep, where as the constant playing of jazz or other music on the radio may not disturb it at all, if that is the regular procedure in the family. Children are especially sensitive to the temperature of the room and may be unable to sleep well because the room is too warm or too cold, because the covers are too heavy or too light, and for similar reasons. Most important of all in relation to the child’s sleep is the establishment of regular schedule of living and of rest. If the child’s sleeping habits have been bad and it is necessary to correct them, suitable rewards or incentives may be established to induce the child to co-operate in the method.

Ideals and opinions expressed in this column are those of one of America’s most interesting writers, and are presented without re-ard to their agreement or disagreement with the editorial attitude of this paper.—The Editor.

pretty much limited to that small world which lies immediately at the end of his nose. It seems to me that in all likelihood we are going to be much less blatantly prosperous for the next year or so. We have had our fling, and if on the whole we enjoyed ourselves, regrets might well be a little less poignant. Asa rich nation, we were vulgar and blatant. This should be a time of atonement. I hope we all will be able to take reverses with more dignity than we took success. (Copyright, 1929, bv The Times)

Daily Thought

Better is a dry morsel, and quietness therewith, than an house full of sacrifices with strife.— Proverbs 17:1. tt tt tt Happiness is in taste and not in things; and it is by having what we love that we are happy, not by having what others find agreeable.— Rochefoucauld. Who is the apostolic delegate to the United States from the Vatican and what is his address? Archbishop Pietro FumasoniBiondi. His address is 1800 Biltmore street, Washington, D. C.

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SCIENCE By DAVID DIETZ

Scientific Men Wonder If There Is Connection Between the Mysterious Cosmic Rays and the Life Phenomena. IS there a connection between the mysterious cosmic rays and the phenomena of life? This is a question which is capturing the imagination of many men of science. The existence of these rays were confirmed a few years ago by Dr. R„ A. Millikin, famous physicist of Pasadena, Cal., and Nobel prize winner. His experiments demonstrated that these rays, a thousand times shorter than the most penetrating rays of radium, continuously were bombarding the earth from outer space. The cosmic rays are so penetrating that they will pass directly through thick lead screens which are perfect bars to X-rays or the rays of radium. , This means, therefore, that at every minute of the day and night these cosmic rays, entering the earth’s atmosphere from outer space, are passing through and through the bodies of all living creatures. I first heard the suggestion that there might be some connection between life and cosmic rays made by Professor Michael Pupin, famous Inventor and professor at Columbia university. Professor Pupin hazarded the guess that some day experiments might show that the energy of life came from the cosmic rays. tt tt a Life-Giving PHYSIOLOGISTS, of course, have shown the direct connection between the energy of living creatures and the food which they consume. In general, there is no mystery here. But this process, known technically as metabolism, does not tell the whole story. A good example is the case of the vitamines. Apparently, the living organism does not function properly without them. One theory is that the vitamines are little storehouses of energy needed to make the larger process of metabolism complete. They are like triggers which set off a gun. The organization of the cells which compose living organisms is extremely complicated. The fine structure, it is felt, proceeds to a point far beyond the power of the most powerful microscope and into the realm of the atom itself. Perhaps here there are minute processes which make possible the more apparent functions of the cell and make possible the ordinary and observed phenomena of life. It is here that Professor Pupin felt the cosmic rays played their role. A somewhat similar suggestion has come recently from Sir James Jeans, famous British astronomer and secretary of the Royal society. But Professor Jeans does not know whether the cosmic rays are helpless or harmful. He simply raises the speculation that perhaps they are necessary to life and that perhaps they are the lethal factor which introduces the downward half of the life cycle, ushering in senility and death. tt it a Cancer THE most recent guess about cosmic rays is made by Dr. John Joly, writing in The Forum magazine. Dr. Joly suggests that an increase in cancer may be due to a falling off in the intensity of cosmic rays. According to our best knowledge today, cancer is a condition in which the cells of the body begin to grow wild. Apparently, some restraining influence is suddenly lifted and the cells grow all out of proportion to their normal state. Apparently, Dr. Joly thinks that in some way the cosmic rays act as an influence to retain cell growth, and that lessening of such influence would result in an increase of wild growth or cancer. While this theory is interesting, the reader must exercise caution. First of all, I am not sure that there is any proof of an actual increase in cancer or any of the diseases which attack people in later life, such as heart disease. The advance of medicine has cut down the infantile deaths and the deaths in early life from contagious diseases. Since more people live to old age, there is bound to be an I increase in the diseases of old age. Secondly, I do not believe that sufficient "evidence has been accumulated about the cosmic rays to say whether their intensity is increasing or decreasing.