Indianapolis Times, Volume 41, Number 218, Indianapolis, Marion County, 21 January 1930 — Page 4

PAGE 4

gr.. l s€* i ** J - H OW AM.O

An Unfinished Job Conviction of the mayor, police chief and numerous minor officials of one of the Lake county cities is spectacular. The evidence also convicts officials of Lake county and of the federal government of laxity or indifference for a long period of time, to the violations of law and conspiracies for protection of bootleggers. But neither the conviction nor the long indifference of federal officials should blind the public to the big fact that as yet there has been no action against those who prolited by election frauds and who practically overthrew self-government in that district, and perhaps the state, through flagrant frauds. The federal attention to law violation in that county and the whole Calumet district was forced by charges of election frauds. The returns from the election were an open invitation to suspicion that was almost certainty. The number of voters did not compare to census returns, population estimates, the calculations of party leaders. They were much, much too large. Then came revelations and some confessions. It was openly charged, and probably provable, that truck loads of Negroes had been imported from Chicago and taken from precinct to precinct to swell the vote for the machine, state and federal candidates, and especially for those w r ho draw the enormous salaries under a fee system. The investigation demanded by the people of this state who may still care to have more than an illusion that we have a government by the people was of these election activities, not of bootleggers and venal officials who became their partners. That all such corrupt officials should be in jail may be taken for granted. That they would not become corrupt had they had any fear of federal interference is more certain. It is not too much to say that they may have expected protection. Since the fraud charges were brought to federal attention, the inquiry has turned to the Volstead violations. Witnesses who testified to election irregularities have been made uncomfortable. Two of them were suddenly killed by stray bullets. Until there is a complete inquiry, an honest one and efficient one, of the election frauds, the job is unfinished. Let it be hoped that federal agents, prosecutors and others will not find it necessary to take vacations. The statute of limitations is running, and running swiftly. More Medievalism Warden Preston E. Thomas of the state penitentiary at Columbus, 0., objects to painless capital punishment. He criticises a bill Introduced in Massachusetts to drug condemned men before they are strapped in the electric chair. He says: “Capital punishment Is supposed to be a punishment and a deterrent. A doped man could recognize no punishment, and his easy death would certainly not be much of an example to other persons contemplating murder. This would appear to be contrary to all the progress In the doctrine of capital punishment for the last century or more. The trend has been toward devising methods of executing men which would be as painless as possible. This was the great argument for the electric ehair, though recent authorities have held that electrocution may not be as painless as originally believed. In Nevada an absolutely painless method of administering the death penalty has been introduced in the form of .he administration of lethal gas. We had supposed that it was the termination of life in capital punishment which is held to furnish ihe deterrent influence. If there is any deterrent influence in capital punishment as such, it Is supposed to lie in the prospect of the extinction of life and not in the pain which may be inflicted in the process. If any man can be deterred from crime through the prospect of punishment, he probably can be led away by the certainty of losing his life, by however pleasant a process of extinction. But if we want real savagery in capital punishment, let us do away with the relatively painless electric chair and revert to the earlier methods of boiling in oil, drawing and quartering, or breaking on the wheel. The Ship Muddle W ith the shipping board deadlocked on a question of fundamental policy, congress may be compelled to decide whether government-owned vessels are to be sold into a private monopoly or distributed to assure competition. Under the merchant marine act of 1920, the shipping board must dispose of remaining lines as quickly as consistent with development of & strong merchant fleet. Only eighteen lines remain in operation under the board, the rema.nder of the great wartime fleet having been sold to private operators. When bids were received last June on the Black Diamond and Cosmopolitan lines operating to France, and Holland, the board deadlocked on the question of consolidating these lines with others in the North Atlantic service. Eight months’ discussion. negotiation, hearings have not provided a basis of agreement. The demand of the P. W. Chapman group, which last year purchased the United States lines, for exclusive right to carry the American flag in the North Atlantic service is resisted vigorously by shippers and operators interested in equalizing the flow of foreign oommerce in those waters. It is resisted with equal vigor by Postmaster- %

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General Brown and the interdepartmental committee set up to co-ordinate the expansion program of the privately owned merchant marine. Inability of the board to decide what it wants to do has resulted in presentation of the issue to the White House. President Hoover and Chairman White of the house merchant marine committee have called upon Chairman O'Connor for a report on the situation. The principle of competitive operation of the merchant lines is a fundamental policy of the merchant marine act. So, too, is the principle that the board constantly shall work for an equitable distribution oi traffic as between New York and other ports. When the shipping board finds Itself unable to execute these well-defined policies, congress or the President, or both, should act. Dry Killings and a Referendum Slaying of two federal agents by an alleged bootlegger in West Palm Beach, Fla., adds to the mounting prohibition death list. No one will condone this tragedy. If first reports are accurate, they were acting in line of duty and within the law. Instead of succumbing to the easy temptation of lawless enforcement, the reports state that they waited to make the search until they had obtained and served a warrant. In that, they set an example for their service. To those men, and the agents like them who are risking their lives to enforce in a legal manner an unenforceable law, the public owes respect. In a final sense they are the victims of the foolish legislation which the public allows to stay on the statute books. The same is true of those coast guard men who, within the law, are engaged in the unpopular service of enforcing a hated law. Nothing could be more unjust and unfortunate than the tendency among hotheads to takeout their spite for the law on the officers paid and sworn by the public to enforce that law. Indeed in this, as in all prohibition discussion, there is too much evasion of the public responsibility for the present mess. The coast guard, the prohibition agents, the President did not make the law. Whether it is good or bad. they are sworn to enforce it so long as it remains a law, using only legal enforcement methods. Only the public, through congress, can change the law. That the public is beginning to realize its responsibility is indicated by the news of plans in congress for prohibition modification or repeal. Os these plans, perhaps the most interesting is the Norton resolution introduced in the house Monday for a national referendum for repeal of the eighteenth amendment. Such proposal faces all sorts of objections, including the familiar one of unconstitutionality. Nevertheless, it has much to commend it and deserves the most serious consideration. Obviously such a national referendum would bf fairer than the referendum by states which some drys contemplate as a method of preventing an effective poll of the public will. Every one knows drys could carry twelve small states, the number necessary under a referendum by states, to nullify the vote of the rest of the country. If the drys are sincere in their constant refrain that the country is overwhelmingly in favor of the present law. they should be the first to favor a real national referendum’. If the drys think they can use the power of a dozen prohibition states to maintain this unpopular law indefinitely against the will of a national majority, they only are not mistaken, but they may be driving this country into one of the biggest and most costly demonstrations of mass civil disobedience which the world ever has seen. Despite this, Senator Watson and some Republican leaders favor a referendum by states as a sop to the drys. There is as yet no evidence that President Hoover is lending himself to such a dangerous political ruse. Burglars stole thousands of dollars w r orth of radio sets in a raid on a factory the other day. There is some consolation in that, however: probably people would have bought them and tuned in.

REASON

IN her articles on the experience of a President’s wife. Mrs. Coolidge tells how the entire family must dress formally for supper every night. If this be necessary, we hereby announce that we do not choose to run, for we would rather write a column and eat supper in a horse blanket, than be President and do it in a full dress suit. B B B Her statement that Mr. Coolidge liked to eat in the state dining room reminds us of the time that President Roosevelt took Mark Hanna into it to show him how it had been redecorated. Pointing to the stuffed heads of animals he had put around the room: Roosevelt told where each had come from, whereupon Hanna replied: “That’s all right, but if you're ever succeeded by a vegetarian, he’ll take all those heads down and put up squashes, cabbage and cucumbers." B B B THE most human years the White House ever knew were during the administrations of Garfield and Roosevelt, both of whom had large families, the Garfield boys giving the place a dash of informality which would have shocked royalty when they bathed in the front yard fountain. During Roosevelt's administration almost anything was likely to be done oy the children, to the sidesplitting delight of their distinguished father. They were likely to lead a horse up the grand staircase or bring a goat to dinner. HU* It is strange how books of the same kind come in waves, this thought being occasioned by the fact that all at once three books about former President Andrew Johnson make their appearance, after more than half a century of silence on the subject. BBS ALL of these books make Johnson a hero, which reminds one of the fierce antagonism his conciliatory course toward the southland aroused throughout the north, where he was written down as a traitor by almost all who had fought for the Union. Now, however, he stands forth as having carried out the policy of reconstruction which Lincoln started and would have followed, had he lived. V M M One can not contemplate the horrors of reconstruction without cold chills, but all this would have been avoided had Lincoln lived, for while he, too, would have had to fight Thad Stevens and the other radicals, he could nave won for he had the love of the Union soldiers more than any other man. The south realized this and when southern leaders heard of his assassination, they threw up their hands and prepared for the worst.

FREDERICK By LANDIS

THE INDIANAPOLIS TIMES

M. E. Tracy SAYS:

There Is Evidence That Prosperity, by Inspiring People to Think More of Pleasure, Has Caused a Fall in the Birth Rate. MEASURED bv the yardstick of publicity, London appears rather less interested in the delegates and experts to the naval conference than in the lady stenographers who accompany them. While editorial writers and political editors talk about battleships, the Mediterranean problem, or Russia’s attitude, society editors and feature writers seek out these typewriter queens for pictures and interviews. Thus far the American girls have held the spotlight, not only because of their greater number, but because of their more liberal supply of cash and more attractive clothes. 8 B 9 So tense has th§ situation become, that Andre Tardieu, head of the French delegation, not only has summoned anew battalion of stenographers from Paris, but has ordered them to bring their most up-to-date raiment. Heaven only knows where this latest complication may lead. No matter what kind of a conference is held, or what kind of a situation arises, you can depend on women being in it. 808 Another Scare Flops BUT if the naval conference Is beset with one more difficulty in this respect, it is relieved in another by Russia’s explanation that those ships which entered the Black sea the other day were not making a demonstration to impress the world, but merely seeking repairs because of broken down machinery. Thus another perfectly good story about the machinations of the Soviet goes up in smoke. How many times have we thought we beheld something sinister in the maneuvering of that mystic regime, only to discover that they were made for a most ordinary purpose? n B B The American death rate rose while births fell off in 1928 as compared to 1927, according to a report just issued by Surgeon-General Cumming of the public health service. Not particularly significant, because little reliance is to be placed on what occurs from one year to another. Both the death and birth rates have a surprising tendency to fluctuate over short periods. BBS Birth Rate Slumps THE general tendency of either can be discovered only by taking into account long periods of time. In this connection it is rather startling to recall that, while twen-ty-five babies were born to every 1,000 Americans in 1915, fewer than twenty were born in 1928. During the last thirteen years the birth rate has shown not only a distinct, but a rather steady, decline. Even in that brief period it has decreased by one-fifth. Were the decrease to continue at a similar rate, we should have few births in America by the end of the twentieth century. B B B When it comes to a low birth rate, most every one thinks of France, but America is getting uncomfortably close to her level. In 1926, the last year for which" statistics are available, the birth rate in France was 18.8 per 1,000 inhabitants. In 1928 that of the United States was only 19.7. Incidentally. England, Norway and Sweden show a lower birth rate than France. Italy, on the other hand, shows one that is 33 per cent higher, while Russia’s is more than double. b n a Much Yet to Learn WITHOUT going into detail, such conditions suggest that we still have a lot to learn about the whys and wherefores of the birth rate. Whatever effect the food supply may have on population, it seems to have very little on the production of children, and until very recently the production of children had very little effect on population. Because of poverty, war and disease. the population of many ancient countiles failed to increase, despite an enormous birth rate, w r hile that of some modem countries has grown despite a comparatively low one. b b a Malthus, and those from whom he borrowed, assumed that prosperity would lead to a steady growth of population, but there is evidence that prosperity, by inspiring people to think of their pleasure. may have an opposite effect. At all events, the birth rate has shown a marked tendency to decline among those people who are supposed to be well off, especially since the advent of machinery and mass production.

Hearts and Flowers “His Highness, Sir Cupid, is pleased to invite Your presence at eight on St. Valentine's night." Our Washington Bureau has ready for you a copy of its bulletin on VALENTINE PARTIES, containing many suggestions for invitations, decorations, games and refreshments for a Valentine party. If you are planning such a party you will want a copy of this bulletin. Fill out the coupon below and send for it. CLIP COUPON HERE VALENTINE PARTY EDITOR, Washington Bureau, The Indianapolis Times. ,1322 New York avenue, Washington. D. C. I want a copy of the bulletin VALENTINE PARTIES, and inclose herewith 5 cents in coin, or loose, uncanceled United States postage stamps to cover postage and handling costs: NAME STREET AND NUMBER CITY STATE I am a reader of The Indianapolis Times. <Code No.)

|||| AMEEHDMEffT \

E — Children Born With Feet Defects

BY DR. MORRIS FISHBEIN Editor Journal of the American Medical Association and of Hvaeia, the Health Masrarine. DURING the World war it was estimated that from 30 to 40 per cent of all men examined had potential or actual disabilities resulting from fiat or weak feet. It has been reported that 19 per cent of a large number of children from 3 to 6 years of age w r ere flatfooted. Among the causes of flat feet in children the experts include muscle weakness, improper shoes, disease, overweight and congenital malformations. Until recent years little attention was paid to flat feet among children., unless the deformity was) so obvious or the pain so great that the matter came prominently to the attention of the parents. Dr. H. C. Schunn recently ex-; amined 200 newborn infants and found 29 per cent of the suffering from flat feet. The most marked 1

IT SEEMS TO ME

'T'HERE has been sharp criticism -*■ of the pope’s encyclical on education in several New York papers. Editorial writers are often timid about dealing with theological themes, but in this case there has been recognition of the fact that the subjects brought up are not essentially religious matters. And there should be wider recognition of this fact, because it will be an excelfent thing if it is possible to And opposition to some of the pope’s theories among American Catholics. I believe I am right in saying that in secular matters the pope speaks with authority, but not with finality, for the members of his congregations. For instance, the pontiff is worried by the fact that Italian women are appearing in public gymnastic drills. He asks for due regard for “Christian modesty." According to various pictures here, the sport costume of the Italian girls is nothing more radical than the traditional and familiar blouse and bloomers. Speaking at this distance, I mean both in faith and miles, it is difficult for me to understand just why the pope should find this shocking. It is merely a matter of custom. There was agitation in American when bloomers were introduced, but after the novelty wore off nobody seriously maintained that public morals had been in any way impaired. . B B • 'May Be Wrong THERE is no reason why a girl may not wear bloomers while participating in a basketball game and still retain her modesty and

The Tail That Wags the Dog

signs were either turning inward of the heel or outward of the foot and a tendency to toe in or walk pigeon-toed. If fiat feet are very pronounced, the child may stand with his toes turned outward. The inner border cf the soles is seen in walking and the outer border of the heels. Children with fiat feet tire easily, complain of pain after shot walks and want to be carried. The feet of small children never should be pressed into shoes. The child should not be forced to walk too soon, nor should it be taken for long walks without opportunity to rest. Experts in otheopedic surgery advise that the feet be inspected by a competent examiner at birth, at 6 months, at 1 year, 2 years, 3 years and 4 years of age and at 14 years of age. During the period of most rapid growth changes take place in the feet and it is desirable that the

her standing in the Catholic church. I think that even very devout members of that body will admit that the pope could be wrong about bloomers. Chiefly, criticism has been directed against the encyclical on account of its plea that Catholic parents send their sons and daughters to Catholic schools. This is called “an attack on the American public school system," and I have received a dumber of letters in which I am accused of cowardice for not launching a bitter attack upon the pope. “You’re always ready enough to take a slap at anything Protestant,” is the drift of these messages. But I can’t get excited about this portion of the encyclical. In the first place, it enunciates no new theory. Every pope, as far back as I can remember, has always favored the parochial schools. I think that this is unfortunate. It would be a fine thing to have a public school system which was universal for all American children, but it is nonsense to say that the attitude of the Catholic church is the only barrier. Indeed, I’m in no position to raise an outcry about this, since I have never sent my own son to public school.

BOA^iEraHej^

STONEWALL JACKSON Jan, 21 ON Jan. 21. 1824, Thomas Jonathan (Stonewall) Jackson, famous Confederate general, was born In Clarksburg in western Virginia, now West Virginia. At an early age Jackson was left to the care of an uncle, a farmer and miller, under whom he was r ained in business methods and received some opportunities for study. When only 18. Jackson became sheriff of the county, and soon after was admitted to West Point, where he graduated in 1846. After distinguishing himself in many battles of the Civil war during which he won the title of Stonewall, Jackson was wounded severely and died from the effects on Mav 10. 18C3. Today also is the anniversary of settlement, by the United States of the French government’s claim against the Panama Canal Company and Colombia for $1,600,000. On Jan. 21, 1927, grand opera was introduced over radio, when ’ Faust” was broadcast through twentyseven stations. And on Jan. 21, 1919, Nevada ratified the prohibition amendment.

shoes be accommodated to these changes. People overweight develop fiat feet under the strain of the excessive load. As overweight, boys and girls reach 14 years of age. they sometimes have glandular disturbrances which requires correction. Numerous exercises have been described for the correction of flat feet. Among the best are those which involve walking with the weight on the outer borders of the feet, standing barefoot with the feet parallel and throwing the weight on the outer bordeis. rising on the toes and tilting the weight to the outer borders and then coming down. These exercises may be done ten to twenty-five times each. Other exercises involve ballet dancing, which may be begun at the age of 4 or 5 years, swimming, roller skating and ice skating, provided that suitable shoes are worn for all occasions.

B HEYWOOD BROUN

The Constitution

MOREOVER, although their status is not official in many cases, hundreds of Protestant high schools and colleges exist in the United ' States. The supreme court itself ; ruled out an Oregon law which I would have made the public school j the only recognized medium of education which limited the parents ; choice of school or college. ; It is, therefore, unfair to say that | the pope is attacking an American institution. I think that all of us are in the same boat and that all of us are wrong. Possibly It is worth noting that a great many Catholic children do go to the public schools, and will continue to do so. encyclical or no. The point in the pope’s mesage most open to criticism is his attitude upon sex education for the young. He said: “Very widespread is the error of those who, with dangerous presumptuousness and with ugly words promote so-called sexual education falsely believing that they can forearm youths against the dangers of the senses with purely natural means, such as foolhardy inaction and preventive instruction, or, worse still, by exposing them early in life to temptations in order to accustom them, as they say, and harden their hearts against those dangers. a an Err Gravely THEY err gravely in no* recognizing the Innate fraility of human nature and also in neglecting the experience which warns us that sins against morality are not so much the result of intellectual unpreparedness as of a weak will exposed to temptation and unsupported by grace."

Ac a writer in the current Nation has wisely said, “When one prays to be guarded against some certain temptation, he is not necessarily fatally handicapped because he happens to have some knowledge of the nature of that temptation." It may be that one of the reasons which led me to feel that the article in the Nation w’as shrewd is the fact that I wrote it. iConvriirht. 1930. b<’ The Tlme*>

Daily Thought

Saying with a loud voice. Fear God. and give glory to Him; for the hour of His judgment is come; and worship Him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of water—Revelations 14:7. a a a And what greater calamity can fall upon a nation than the loss of worship? —Emerson.

Ideals and opinions espressrri in this column are those ot one of America's most interesting writers and are presented without resard to tbeir agreement or disagreement with the editorial attitude o' this paper.—The Editor.

lAN. 21, 1930

SCIENCE —By DAVID DIETZ

Scientists Fed That Question of Man's Origin Is Far From Being Settled. THE time is not yet here when we can settle the question of man's origin." That, statement was made in an interview by Dr. Ales Hrdiicka, famous anthropologist of the Smithsonian Institution, at the Des Moines meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He made it in commenting upon the address of Dr. Henry Fairfield Osborn, president of the American Museum of Natural History. Dr. Osborn stated that there was conclusive proof that mankind was at least a million years old. that the ancestor of man was a “dawn man,’’ and not an "apejpian." The layman will do well to accept Dr. Hrdlicka's dictum, since it represents the feeling of the great body of scientists. The whole situation is well summed up by Dr. Berrit S. Miller Jr., of the United States National Museum, in the annual report of the Smithsonian Institution. He points out that there are only two specimens upon which the entire present discussion is founded. One is the socalled Java man or Pithecanthropus, a skull, two teeth and a thigh bone, found at Trinil, Java. The other is the socalled Filtdown man or Eoanthropus, nine fragments of a skull, a jawbone with two teeth, another tooth, and nasal bones, found at Piltdown, Sussex, England. Bttß Fragmentary DR. MILLER then proceeds to summarize the opinions of famous anthropologists about these tw r o fossils. He shows that there are fifteen important points upon which they differ with regard to Java man and twenty points upon which they disagree with regard to Piltdown man. What conclusion is the layman to draw from such a controversy among experts? Dr. Miller writes: “We should not hesitate to confess that in place of demonstrable links between man and other mammals we now possess nothing more than some fossils so fragmentary that they are susceptible of being interpreted either as such links -'t as something else." He hastens to add. however: “Superficial or prejudiced readers might regard this confession as having an important bearing on the subject of organic evolution in general and of man’s origin in particular; but no conclusion could be more unjustified. “The idea that all existing plants and animals are derived through some process of orderly change from kinds now extinct is supported by an array of facts too great and too well established to be weakened by doubts cast on alleged family records of any one creature." In this connection, it is important to remember that those who are opposed to the theory of evolution are unjustified n they jump to the conclusion that Dr. Osborn is on their side. A reading of Dr. Osborn's paper ! will show that he is a thorough going evolutionist. He differs with i other anthropologists over the quesj tion of mans origin only in details, not In principle. BBS Fossils THE generally accepted theory of man’s origin among scientists might be stated briefly as the belief that man and the ape had a common ancestor, a creature which some writers have chosen to designate as an “ape-man." Professor Osborn's theory is that man’s immediate ancestor was a “dawn man,” while the ape sprang from other ancestors. He puts the common ancestor of the two lines back about 20.000,000 years or more. In other words, Professor Osborn would make man and the ape twentieth cousins instead oi first cousins. It goes without saying that there are many anti-evolutionists who will find Professor Osborn's theory no mere satisfactory than that of the other anthropologists. A stand taken by such writers as Sir Bertram C. A. Windle is that no “missing links” have been lound and that one ever will be found, because, in the opinion of these writers, they do not exist. Dr. Miller sums up the three points of view on missing links as follows: “L Missing links can not be expected to exist. “2. Missing links have been found: beliefs that they have not arise from ignorance. “3. Missing links have not been found: beliefs that they have arisen frQm misconception." Dr. Miller concludes by saying that only the finding of more fossils can settle the argument.

Times Readers Voice Views

Editor Times—There is no denying the truth that there is much unemployment in Indianapolis. In many families both husband atA wife are working, but in others rather husband nor wife nor perhap* children has employment. Stores, schoolrooms, offices and factories have hundreds of married women m them whose husbands are making good money. A woman in my square teaches school, yet her husband makes SIOO a week. Other good unmarried school teachers can not find schools, though they need employment to obtain the necessities of life for themselves and those dependiing on them. Can’t a law be made to equalize this somewhat: of course, making exceptions for women whose husbands are invalids, etc.? And If there is no city or state law, can’t school boards and corporations and stores make rulings to that effect for those they employ? As it is. race suicide and other forms of selfishness are being encouraged and the home is being destroyed. OLD-FASHIONED MOTHER.