Indianapolis Times, Volume 41, Number 248, Indianapolis, Marion County, 25 February 1930 — Page 4

PAGE 4

SCRIPPS—HOWARD

Most Deliberate No one can accuse the Governor of the state of being too precipitate in his actions or decisions. If so accused, he would need 3nly to point to the most deliberate manner in which the demand of the last legislature for an investigation of the building of armories under the old regime is being answered. The public will remember that a probe by a committee of the legislature revealed some very disturbing and rather suspicious facts concerning the erection of many state armories. - There was involved a bank and a building company which was owned by the bank and the sale of securities and the saddling of a “moral debt” on the taxpayers for a long term of years. It is true that when the plan was first broached to the then attorney-general, Arthur Gilliom, he gave a decision that there was no power to bind the state for a period longer than two years, but this did not stop the plan of those who found the building of armories a patriotic duty, but a PA\triotic investment. The people pay. Most suspicious was the effort to block any inquiry and indignant and persistent efforts to stop the members of the legislature from pursuing the matter at all. Asa final decision the Governor promised to furnish money from the very generous funds placed at his disposal to employ building experts to discover whether the people received value from securities on which they must pay interest for a long term of years. The state board of accounts was ordered to employ these experts. So far, no inquiry has been made. Now that the effort to dislodge a college president for being mildly pink has failed, the people will want to know whether those armories are efficient. This would seem a good time for the Governor to act. Our Dry Navy at London Among the latest prohibition evils is that which haunts the limping London naval conference. We do not mean the fact that certain dry extremists are all hot and bothered because some of the American delegates may have behaved as embarrassed guests and taken an occasional drink over there. We are thinking, rather, of that dry navy of ours. With the conference beset by all sorts of political storms and nationalistic clashes, and the hopes of the world for a real reduction agreement close to the rocks, the blue-nose breakers increase the danger. It had been assumed that the cowers would have some trouble over battleships, cruisers and submarines, and the European desire for an accompanying political treaty to make the Kellogg pact effective, but small craft has caused no worry in previous conferences. Now the other powers call attention to the fact that our dry navy has grown to such proportions that it could and would be used as a valuable war weapon in even tof hostilities. However the Americans may try to laugh off this argument, it sticks. It is unanswerable. According to the figures being used by the technical committees at London, the American coast guard, instead of being the insignificant force it once was and that similar forces of other nations still ire, consists of the following: Small patrol ships. 219; cutters up to 900 tons each, 16; cruising cutters from 800 to 2.000 tons each, 22, and twenty-five destroyers built for naval purposes. Three new cutters are to be of 2.000 tons each, carrying three five-inch guns, and having a cruising radius of 8.000 miles—a round trip from New York to London, or the distance from San Francisco to Japan and back to Hawaii. Moreover, the coast guard personnel of 2.000 officers and 10,000 men is available for immediate naval service. It is not the fault of the American delegation at <_c: idon that we have this formidable dry navy. Nevertheless, since we have such a thing, there is no use evading the issue. The other powers have a right to count it in as part of our fighting navy for use as subchasers, destroyers and commerce raiders, and we should be willing to sacrifice an equal tonnage in other small naval ships.

A Dubious Memorial Evolutionists will be rebuked by a five million dollar memorial university in Dayton. Tenn.. to be erected by admirers of the late William Jennings Bryan to commemorate the last stand of the Great Commoner. The press notices say: “In the same building where John T. Scopes taught, his biology class the theory of evolution and brought on the anti-evolution trial, the Bryan Memorial university will open for its first term next September with a faculty, each member of which will have affirmed his belief that the Bible is infallibly true. “According to F. E. Robinson, president of the asociation which is raising $5,000,000 to build and endow this university, there will be no letup in conduction of the administration building and it will be ompleted from subscriptions already obtained from friends and admirers of William Jennings Bryan.” It will not be necessary here to take up the question of the wisdom of establishing an institution of higher learning of this sort. There would seem to be plenty of its kind already. But there is a question as to the wisdom of erecting this particular monument to the memory of the famous Democratic leader. Bryan embraced some sterling causes and fought lor them with commendable courage and persistence. These are the things for which he will be remembered by posterity. Bryan will be esteemed for his brave if futile fight ? gainst irresponsible plutocracy. Next would come his battle against imperialism and his crusade for world peace, including particularly his effort to secure arbitration treaties. Finally, one could not overlook his insistence upon logic, honesty and fairness in applying international Itm to the beUgerenia in the World war. _

The Indianapolis Times (A SCRIPPS-HOWAKD NEWSPAPER) Owned and published daily (except Sunday) by The Indianapolis Times Publishing Co., 214-220 West Maryland Street. Indianapolis, Ind. Price in Marion County, 2 cents a copy; elsewhere, 8 cents—delivered by carrier, 12 cents a week. BOYD GURLEY, ROY W. HOWARD, FRANK G. MORRISON, Editor President Business Manager PHONE —Riley 5551 TUESDAY. FEB. 25, 1930. Member of United Press, Scripps-Howard Newspaper Alliance, Newspaper Enterprise Association. Newspaper Information Service and Audit Bureau of Circulations. “Give Light and the People Will Find Their Own Way”

Curbing Our War-Makers

Headlines on the London naval conference have diverted our attention from a bill in Congress which well may achieve more for peace in the western hemisphere than anything which will come out of London. We refer to Senator Wheeler's bill to repeal the act of 1926 which authorized the President of the United States ‘‘to detail officers and enlisted men of the United States army, navy and marine corps to assist the governments of Latin-American republics to military and naval matters.” Under that act, military and naval missions have gone to the larger South American republics and attempted to put the forces of those countries on a better fighting basis. This has meant an increase of armament and larger orders for war materials in the United States to bring about this result. In other cases officers have gone to the lesser Central American republics and drilled the soldiers and constabulary. This has given the United States a firmer grip upon their military forces. In the United States today, we laud the Kellogg pact which ostensibly renounces war. We are sending ambassadors of peace and disarmament to London. It will enhance our reputation as a champion of world peace if, at the same time, we recall our ambassadors of war and armament from Latin-America. Certain it is desirable that we should place the check of congressional consent and debate upon all such action. That would assure publicity and give the friends of pan-American good-will time to rally their forces in case of any proposal of a military or naval mission which might jeopardize the peace of the western world.

Washington Understood In his second message to congress, Washington recommended the establishment of a national military academy. Thomas Jefferson questioned the authority of congress to do this. Reporting their discussion, Jefferson wrote in his journal; “The President said he would not choose to recommend anything against the Constitution, but if he were doubtful, he would report it to congress and let them decide for themselves whether the Constitution authorized it or not.” Obviously, in Washington’s mind, congress was quite capable of deciding questions of constitutionality. This should be interesting to congressmen who permit the supreme court to assert the sole power to do this thing. George Washington knew the word and the intent of the Constitution. He presided over the convention that drafted it. The language quoted was uttered by Washington only five years after the constitutional convention. He probably had fresh in his mind—what congressmen now forget—that the supreme court was created by congress, while congress was created by the Constitution itself. He probably remembered also that in naming the court's powers, the Constitution said it should have appellate jurisdiction, “with such exceptions, and under such regulations, as the congress shall make.” It was not until 1803 that the supreme court undertook to override congress. Chief Justice John Marshall got away with it, but it wasn’t attempted again until 1854—the notorious Dred Scott decision did so much to precipitate the Civil war. Today, of course, congress permits the supreme court to exercise its assumed veto power without complaint. The question frequently is asked: What’s the matter with the supreme court? There’s nothing the matter. It is going strong—stronger year by year. A more persistent question is: What’s the matter with congress? Thomas Edison says most men use only a small part of their brains. Thomas is becoming quite a flatterer in his later years. Health is wealth, but it pays no dividends to the .family doctor. Efforts to “humanize” the submarine in warfare are a little too deep for us.

REASON By FREDERICK LANDIS

lI7E lost a good man when Ambassador Alexander * ’ P. Moore died in Los Angeles, for his engaging personality enabled him to get close to the governments he met as the representative of the United States. After the bright lights of foreign courts his was a lonely finish in the darkened room of a hospital. a a Just as soon as Uncle Sam put a little punch into Chicago’s crime situation. 5,000 undesirables were arrested and 500 crimes solved, which would seem to verify the charge that there has been an alliance between Chicago’s underworld and her official world. a s a But the rest of the country is not infatuated with Chicago’s plan to drive away those she can not convict or deport, since this means passing the buck to other communities. Still this is what other places have always done—threetened to put the offenders in jail unless they left town. a a a IT was rather tough for that Columbus ilnd.) gentleman to ship that fox terrier back to his purchaser at Youngstown, 0., after the poor animal had traveled 400 long miles back to his home. We would have keDt that dog if it had taken our shirt. a a a If you're a fisherman you realize that nothing but the most pressing business could have caused President Hoover to reel in and leave the waters of Florida. a a a Bv going from Miami to Los Angeles, Mr. Coolidge emulates the example of Mr. Brisbane and endeavors to divide the honors equally between Florida and California. a a a IF you axe worrying about matters that don't amount to a rap, just stop and imagine the frame of mine Ole Eielson. who made the long journey from , the United States to Alaska to help the searching i wty seek the body of his son. Lieutenant Carl Ben : Eielson, whose plane crashed in Siberia. a a a The interest which Americans have had in this naval conference has been temporarily eclipsed by the fall in the price of gas. a a a We hope this fellow who is to marry Mussolini’s daughter will have smooth sailing with his mother-in-law. for think what he will be up against with his father-in-law,

THE INDIANAPOLIS TIMES

M. E. Tracy SAYS:

This Generation Has Become Accustomed, to Motion , to Going to Bed in One Place and Waking Up in Another. FRANCE has anew premier. He may survive a week or a cay, but no one is alarmed. People have come to a point where they take change as a matter of course. Seventy-five years ago such an anti-religious crusade as now is going on in Russia would have turned civilization white to the lips, but this generation, though willing to lodge protests, does not regard it too seriously. The reason is perfectly obvious. This generation does not look for much of anything to last. It has : become accustomed to motion, to going to bed in one place and waking up in another. a a a According to the latest estimate, the United Slates now Is worth $360,000,000,000. That is $3,000 per capita, which means nothing, because a few have more, while more have less. Even if it were equally divided it would be almost as meaningless, because $3,000 is not so much these days. Three thousand dollars at 5 per cent would produce $l5O a year What man, woman or child could live on that? ana Keep Money Moving V)ROSPEROUS as we may be, we L have not arrived at a point yet j where we can afford to sit back; and live on the dividends. Even the few who own the most ' of it hesitate to take that chance, j With regard to money, as with j regard to most everything else, we depend on motion. Time was when gold in the toe of a sock was regarded as wealth, but nobody thinks of it that way now. We measure prosperity not by what we have, but by what we can do with it, by the way we can turn it over, make it work and reproduce. a a a The wall of Jericho just has been unearthed. It was constructed three or four thousand years ago, when the goal of human ambition was permanency, and when men rated the value of things by the time they w'ould last. Not only structures, but institutions, were measured by that yardstick. That is one reason why the ancient world failed to progress, why it never crossed the Atlantic ocean or discovered steam. Its philosophy was static to the core. Its ideal government was that which could survive, its ideal faith that which never changed. The ancient world hoarded its maxims in the same way that it hoarded its jewels, frowning on the idea of putting either to work. a a a Ancients Had Wisdom STILL, the ancient world was not without its wisdom. If it built conservatively, it built solidly, and if it discouraged experiment, it left room for art, culture, and the imagination. We can not become a race of nomads and do worth-while things at the same time. If the law of motion has its advantages, it also has its risks. Desirable as it may be to alter and improve the superstructure of civilization, firmness and durability must be recognized as the most essential qualities of its foundation. Basic customs, convictions and beliefs can not be changed over night without confusion. a a a Because of what has been achieved along mechanical lines, people are assuming too much. There still Is a deal of difference between a good automobile and a good human being. We can produce a good automobile in one-tenth of the time that we could twenty years ago, but it takes the child just as long to grow up. Further than that, it takes just as much patience and personal conj tact to acquaint the child with his I privileges and responsibilities. We i have endeavored to short-cut the i process, and, perhaps, that accounts for some of the trouble we seem to be experiencing. a a a Is Science Right? MORE money for education, more for charity, more for uplift, more for reform, than ever before, with overcrowded prisons, a crime wave, and child delinquency on the increase. What is the matter anyway? Have we abandoned some- old ideas that should have been kept, or haven’t we gone far enough with some of the new ones? Scientists, or some of them at least, say that the old theories of morality are all wrong, that mother and dad should substitute psychology : for the slipper, and that the modern ; school, if allowed to function freely | and adequately, would more than j take the place of the old-fashioned home; that we should solve the crime problem through hospitals rather than prisons, and that the alienist would do better as a judge than the lawyer; that Freud is a safer gide than Moses and that ; time has come to replace Chris- ; tianity with a more up-to-date ■ religion. | What do you think? Why are there no snakes in Ireland? This is due to geographical position, isolated as it is from the region in which snakes originated and which they now occupy. A few attempts have been made to introduce harmless species, but as far as the records show none have been established there. This may be due to a lack of proper environment, climate. disease or other abnormal condition. The lag-worm, or legless lizard which superficially looks very much like a snake, is native to Ireland and may account for some of the snake records of that country.

DAILY HEALTH SERVICE Tooth Pastes Merely Keep Teeth Clean

BY DR. MORRIS FISIIBEIN Editor Journal of the American Medical Association and of Hygeia, the Health Magazine. ONE of the most debatable questions in medicine and dentistry today concerns the exact value of toothpastes, mouth washes, tooth powders and similar mixtures for the health of the mouth and the teeth. Many physicians and dentists are convinced that the most any toothpaste can do is to keep the teeth clean and polished, and that therefore any good soapy preparation that tastes well serves the purpose. However, the preparations available are complex in their formulas and extraordinary in their claims. Some toothpastes are widely advertised because of their alkaline content, since it is urged that alkaline tends to counteract the tendency of the mouth to become acid. It has not, however, been proved thta there is any serious tendency in this direction, nor that an opposite tendency is especially valuable.

IT SEEMS TO ME

TWO New York newspapers have commented editorially on the case of Ruth St. Clair within the last few' days, and, by a coincidence, both articles were headed, “Misplaced Pity.” I do not feel that there Is any such thing as “misplaced pity” at any time. People who use the term obviously think of pity as a sort of grog, and they are fearful lest there should be an insufficient quantity to go all the w'ay round. They feel that it may be exhausted before worthy ones have been served. It appears to these editorial writers that those who spoke up against imprisoning a young shoplifter for life are sentimentalists. I’m a sentii mentalist. I accept the label. ; Those who have compassion merely for worthy unfortunates seem to me niggardly in sympathy. I'm for the deserving and the undeserving, too. Parole Commissioner Maher has reported on the case of Ruth St. Clair, and her record is a bad one. Although her crimes w'ere petty, she erred many times. She disappointed and deceived well-intentioned people who tried to help her. ana A Chance IN a previous column about the case, I spoke of the young woman as a girl who never had had a chance. In a sense, this may seem unwarranted, but I am prepared to stand by it. There is every indication in the record presented by Maher that Ruth St. Clair was slanted in the W'rong direction from the start. Yet, even before the complete case history was made public, I had no other impression. I was, and am, perfectly ready to admit that in this instance, and in many others, reform is a long shot. But concern for lost- sheep is neither silly nor sentimental. It seems that from her earliest childhood, Ruth St. Clair manifested rebellious tendencies against all constraint. I am in receipt of a letter from her cousin, who writes, ‘ Ruth has two brothers and a sister. The boys and the other girl get along very well, without applying to the charities. They are quiet, well-educated, reputable people, whom one can’t conceive as scratching the front page. “You have to go deeper than poverty and illiteracy for a facile explanation. Ruth was incorrigible as far back as I can remember. We are of the same age. She always manifested a distaste for authority. “She was a prey to every temptation. Desire for a thing became an obsession with her. She brooked no restraint, and took more than

Mary Had a Little Lamb—

Another preparation is sold with the argument that it duplicates normal saliva and that the presence of normal saliva prevents tooth decay. It has been argued that sugar helps to cause decay of the teeth and that food particles between the teeth increase dental caries. The disadvantage associated with food particles and sugar is that these provide mediums on which bacteria grow and that bacterial products are injurious to the teeth. Some toothpastes are sold with the special claim that they kill the germs in the mouth on contact, but most physicians realize that the first mouthful of food or the first breath of air will bring new germs into the mouth. Some toothpastes contain abrasive substances which scratch enamel and this is bad, since anything that makes a scratch or an abrasion may produce a spot in which germs may enter more easily. Another toothpaste is sold with the claim that it contains a substance which digests away food particles and mucus, and another is

an average child’s delight in doing the forbidden thing.” # # # Flying Start NO, it does not seem to me excessive to say that she never had a chance, even though the parole board points to the fact that her record is singularly bad. A competent observer could have said of this child at 8, “Here is a woman who will grow up with a sick soul.” Yet he could have lost his bet. The community might have saved itself time and money and all its pittances for prison fare by stepping in right there. Medical science has much to learn about that ailment we call crime. Psychic adjustments are delicate and difficult, but nobody can tell

ADAMS’ FIRST MINISTRY Feb. 25 ON Feb. 25, 1785, John Adams, second President of the United States, was appointed first minister to England. Adams was one of the political leaders of Massachusetts and an influential member of the second continental congress. He achieved distinction in diplomatic circles when he secured from Holland a loan for the national finances and negotiated terms of peace and commerce with Great Britain. Appointed minister to England, Adams found his post an irksome cne. He believed his service was donig his country no good and returned home after only three years abroad. In the first election under the new Constitution, Adams was elected Vice-President, serving two terms. In 1796, on the refusal of Washington to accept a third term, he was chosen President. Adams died July 4. 1826, on the same day as Thomas Jefferson. John Quincy Adams, sixth President of the United States, was his son.

Daily Thought

Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.—St. John 15:13. a a a It is not true that love makes all things easy; it makes us choose what is difficult.—George Eliot.

sold with the claim that it contains enough of certain antiseptic to sterilize the gums and keep them sterile. The important thing for the average person to remember Is the fact that most of these preparations are kept in the mouth not longer than a few seconds and that any effects which they may accomplish are quite temporary. The exact causes of tooth decay are not known. There is evidence that the lack of certain vitamins in the diet tends to encourage diseases of the gums and tooth decay. There is evidence that insufficient amounts of calcium in the food may be associated with tooth decay in the young. Unquestionably, diseases affecting the mouth, with the presence of bacteria, encourage decay in the adult. Hence, it is advisable to have the mouth clean for this reason. There exists an equally important reason for the regular use of cleansing preparations in the mouth. The person with a dirty mouth and with a bad breath is a social misfit.

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

me that every unruly and incorrigible youngster of 8 surely Is damned to become habitually criminal. Our civilization is a pretty sorry proposition if we are going to sit by and watch the steady march from juvenile delinquency through reform school, jail, and finally a life sentence. e a a Challenge BY now the gap is wider. We didn’t get there soon enough. The fire engines come tearing through our streets at the first alarm. It is the plan of these community servants to quell the blaze before it fairly has begun. Our penology is of a different standard. In this field of activity it is customary to wait until the whole structure is in flames and then, according to a foolish practice, we pour kerosene on the fire, in the form of workhouse or reformatory sentences. Ruth St. Clair has been judged a debtor to society. She will pay the community for her thefts by being locked in a cell for the rest of her natural life. Just what good that will do any of us I do not precisely understand. It would be better to let her pay the debt by serving as a test case for the best which modern psychiatry has to offer. The fact she presents a difficult problem makes it all the more interesting. This is the sort of challenge worth accepting. Surely, no medical man of brilliance wants to move through the world like Primo Camera, tackling only setups! (Copyright. 1930. by The Times)

Times Readers Voice Views

Editor Times—l have a suggestion to offer on the subject of unemployment which I think would be a solution if carried out. Weil, here it goes: If all shop owners who have put women to work to reduce expenses would weed out all the women not compelled to work, that have husbands working, or are able to work, there would be enough jobs for men to put two-thirds of the jobless men to work. Os course, there are some jobs that are feminine by nature, but these jobs should be held by women who have no other source of income. There are hundreds of cases where men are employed making big wages and their wives are working and making almost as much as they are and in positions where some man should be so he could

EEB. 25, 1930

SCIENCE BY DAVID DIETZ

1 Life Viewed as Impossibility on Mercury; Venus MaiJ ‘ Have Inhabitants. ONE side of the planet Mercury probably is red-hot, while the* 1 other is as cold as it is possible for anything in the universe to get. Tiffs is the strange situation brought to light by measurements of its surface temperature by Dr. S 8.-< Nicholson and Dr. Edison Pettit of the Mt. Wilson observatory. “Our observations show that the surface temperature on Mercury directly under the sun's rays—that is. at the point where it is noon o:L Mercury—is 790 degrees Fahrenheit,” Dr. Pettit said. “This is the melting point of the metal zinc. “If there were any tin. lead, or zinc on Mercury at the spot where this temperature obtains, they would . exist only in the molten form.'' These observations give Mercury a still more novel position among the planets revolving around the sun than it formerly possessed: There are eight planets revolving arcund the sun of which, of course, our earth is one. '• Mercury is the smallest of the eight, the closest to the sun and the one which possesses the most eccentric orbit, that is, the one whose orbit is most flattened or dir torted from the shape of a circle. a a a Crescent DUE to the fact that Mercury is closer to the sun than the earth we do not always see all its lighted side from the earth. Consequently, in the telescope, Mercury appears go through phases like the moon. When it is a crescent, it means that part of the lighted side and part of the dark side are turned toward the earth. ' > “A measure of the temperature at the crescent phase gives an average of 260 degrees,” Dr. Pettit says. “We are convinced from this rapid decline in the temperature measurement that the theory that Mercury always keeps the same face turned toward the sun, just as the moon always keeps the same face toward the earth, is correct. “We believe, therefore, while the*' face toward the sun may be red-hot. the temperature of the other face is that of the so called absolute zero, that is, the temperature of empty space or 459 degrees Fahrenheit bellow zero. “We are also convinced that there* is no atmopsehe upon Mercury. “It goes without saying that life as we know it would be impossibly on Mercury.” Dr. Pettit and Dr. Nicholson made their measurements of the temperature of Mercury with a device known as the thermocouple. This* consists of a juncture of two different metals within a vacuum cell. This cell Is placed at the end of a telescope and the image of the planet focused upon it. This heats 1 the juncture and generates an electric current of less than a billionth of an ampere. A delicate ammeter measures this current and the temperature of the planet is calculated from it. The two scientists also have measured the temperature of Mars and Venus and come to the conclusion that conditions which would support, life are more likly to exist on Venus than on Mars. a a a Venus “r\UR study of Venus indicates ‘<f V-/ temperature of 15 degrees below zero on the planet Venus,” Dr. Pettit says. “But we know from direct observations of the planet with the telescope that we never see the sur-* face of the planet Venus. “The planet is covered with thick layer of clouds. Occasionally we see darker spots which rhay be mountain tops poking through when the clouds are a little thinner. < “Therefore, the temperature which we measure on Venus is the temperature of the upper side of the clouds. Furthermore, we get the same temperature readings for all parts of Venus, whether we measure the side of Venus where it is day or night. “Consequently our temperature reading must be for what is knowm as the isothermal layer, that is the layer of the atmosphere where the temperature is the same all over. “Our earth has such a layer. It is seven miles above the surface of the earth. Its temperature is 67 degrees below zero, or four times as cold as the temperature we get from what is evidently the same sort of layer on Venus, “This makes things look pretty good for Venus. Os course we can not say with certainty what temperature on the surface of Venusmight be.“But since Venus Is clouded, the temperature must be high enough at least to permit the existence cf water vapor in the sky. “It is also of Interest to point out that Venus is about the same size as our earth, having a diameter# just a little smaller than that of our earth. “So while it is impossible to make any positive statement about life on # Venus, it is not unreasonable to say that if any planet is inhabited, it probably is Venus.”

feed and clothe his family Instead of letting them go hungry. - I know just how this situation Is, as I am out of work and have been for quite some time. I have a family to keep and am having a pretty tough time of it. I write this because I feel it would help some if it could be in print before the shop owners and big manufacturers’ eyes. I know that most men, even those who are working, have the same opinion as I. I don’t suppose this will get any further than the basket. A JOBLESS MAN.^I Where did Lincoln and Douglas J hold their debates? -j| The seven debates occurred in 13531 in the following Illinois cities: Ot* tawa,-Aug. 21; Freeport, Aug. 27 JB Jonesboro, Sept. 15; Charlestotißj Sept. 18; Galesburg. Oct. 7; QulncSP Oct. 13,