Indianapolis Times, Volume 41, Number 287, Indianapolis, Marion County, 11 April 1930 — Page 6
PAGE 6
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Killing the World Court The world court dispute is being revived In Washington as a result of the Illinois senatorial primary victory of Mrs. Ruth Hanna McCormick on an anticourt platform. Some of the politicians, and not all of them Republican either, are jumping to the conclusion that the Illinois vote against Mrs McCormick’s opponent, the pro-court Senator Deneen, if typical of national sentiment. That seems to be pretty far-fetched. The situation in Chicago, where Mrs. McCormick polled her heaviest vote, is unusual, if not unique. The trick of stirring up anti-British and anti-peace hatred to take the voters’ mind off local corruption and real issues has been worked often oy Big Bill Thompson in Chicago, and theie is no national significance in the fact that it has been worked there again. That this same trick can be worked in many other states is most improbable. It might have succeeded back In the days when the trick was new, but there are many signs that the country as a whole has passed that particular type of hocus-pocus. The real threat to American adherence to the w'orld court is not from the court enemies of the McCormick -Thompson kind nor from the diminishing band of irieconcilables in the senate, but from official friends oi the court, rhey seem utterly lacking in the courage, or even in the interest required to push this issue to successful conclusion. Consider the record of recent Republican administrations. All of the party platforms have affirmed allegiance to the court idea and pledged American acherence. But repeated excuses have been found, or invented, for delay. At last the senate voted for adherence with reservations, which by their very nature required negotiations with the court member nations. But when these nations requested such negotiations, the Coolidge administration refused and washed its hands of the entire matter, with an apparent air of relief and satisfaction. Other nations had accepted all but the fifth reservation, which they wanted explained. Many more months passed before pressure from unoffi< ial American sources induced Coolidge to pet imt others to reopen the question. Root went to Geneva and negotiated his protocol, although he had no official status. Then, belatedly, the administration took partial responsibility for the Root formula, which it in fact secretly had dictated. Finally, Hoover came to the White House under a reaffirmed campaign pledge in favor of the court. That was more than a year ago. More than a year has passed since the jurists’ commission at Geneva accepted the Root-state department protocol. Soon it will be a year since fifty nations, which are court n . mbors, accepted the protocol of American adherence. Hoover formally has accepted that protocol and promised to send it to the senate. And still nothing happens. Month after month passes, the President holds the protocol, and the senate does not even know of its existence officially. Now there is a rumor that the President w r ants to prevent consideration of this long side-tracked Republican pledge until after the November election. ’ Is this true? Mr. Ford as a Dietitian Henry Ford is a great man in his line, but we ran not. hard as we try, see eye to eye with him on this business of diet. Ford wants simple meals —fruit for breakfast, proteins for lunch, and starch for dinner. He seems to come close to the position of those scientists who urge human beings to live solely on concentrated food pellets. Maybe, as he says, this would bring longer life. But what of that? Why seek to live to be 90 if you can never sit down to a breakfast of hot muffins, marmalade, griddle cakes, maple sirup and coffee? What price longevity if things like chicken ala Maryland. hot biscuits, baked Virginia ham. New England clam chowder, and hot mince pie must be left out? Forget it, Mr. Ford! Stick to your flivvers and leave our diet alone. Nature Helps Nature is helping to solve the farm problem. Wheat quotations continue at the higher levels established several days ago and other grain prices have risen in sympathy. What the farm board has failed to accomplish with its millions, the weather has done. Reports of drought in wheat producing areas caused the rise. Also, wheat was purchased for export. The situation no doubt is pleasing to the farm board, which through co-operatives has purchased large quantities of wheat at a figure above present prices, and which expects at the close of the present season to own 100,000,000 bushels. A short crop may solve this year's question of prices, although producers in the drought area may not cheer very loudly. What will happen next year depends on success of the farm board's efforts to curtail acreage. So far there -s little evidence that farmers are responding to this method of farm relief. Jobs Are Real Problem Undoubtedly the biggest political problem facing the American people is prohibition, but there Is still a bigger problem that will have to be solved with ’ittie help from political government. That's the problem cf unemployment. Not merely the present unemployment. but unemployment at any tlm.e It is more important that the worker have a steady job than that he have a glass of beer. Fortunately, industry itself is tackling this problem seriously. Not generally yet, but so far in isolated instances Some employers in industry appear to have found a way to stabilize jobs in their individual concerns. Others are trying. That's the hopeful thing about it. Those who try hard enough will find a way—and without the aid of political government. The answer will be found in one word—organization. I believe in organization—of both capital and labor. If both employers and employes in an industry really are organized, the industry itself can be organized so that distressful periods of unemployment will be unnecessary. Whatever the business, jobs can be made secure the year around if it is organized. When we try to enforce competition we get low wages and periods of unemployment. The coal industry is a notorious example of the lack of organization. If properly organized it wouldn't be over-
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manned and overmined; and everybody, including the consuming public, would be better off. The miner as well as the company official would have a steady job and draw pay the year around. As it Is now, coal operators don’t quit feeding and bedding their horses and mules when the mines are shut down, but they turn human beings out to grass. A great discovery was made when captains of industry found that high wages and low production cost go together—or can be made to go together. The next orderly step toward industrial efficiency should be stabilization of jobs. Industry itself should do the stabilization job and not leave it to political government. The surest way to keep government out of business is for business to organize and stabilize itself. Obeying an Impulse We don’t know much about T. J. Jeffries, retired Philadelphia broker; but we have a fellow-feeling for liim, for he seems to have yielded to a very widespread human impulse. Mr. Jeffries set out last fall to go to Scotland. But when his ship got there he decided that just riding around on a boat was more fun than anything else he could think of; so, instead of getting off to visit Scotland, he stayed on the boat—and he’s been on it ever since. He has crossed and recrossed the Atlantic and has gone on a trip to the West Indies, and he says that he’s having such a good time that he’ll just stay aboard a while longer. Probably all of us have felt that way at times. To be traveling just for the sake of traveling is a lot of fun. There’s something luxurious, lazy and satisfying about a steamer trip; who hasn’t felt the impulse to stay on and indulge in it for weeks at a time? Oil Conservation Conservation of America’s oil resources has been advocated for many years. There has been overproduction and waste to such extent that exhaustion of supplies is foreseen. And oil is essential to maintain commerce and for national defense. President Coolidge in 1924 appointed an oil conservation board which sought ways and means to restrict output. This board attempted, with no great success, to bring about voluntary measures among oil producers. It urged states and the federal government to do what they could, and recommended "the more intelligent handling of government controlled oil sources on public and Indian lands.” President Hoover, then secretary of commerce, was a member of the board. One of Hoover’s, first official acts as President was to announce a policy of conservation for public lands. Interior Secretary Wilbur thereupon caused more than 5,000 permits for prospecting on public lands to be rejected, and announced that no more applications would be received. About 10 per cent of nation's oil comes from such lands. Western states, wanting to see their oil resources exploited, objected. Applicants for permits took their case to court, and Justice Jennings Bailey of the District of Columbia just has ruled that the President and Wilbur acted without authority. The law, he found, makes it mandatory to issue permits. Thus the first major step In the administration’s conservation policy has been upset. Fortunately, this particular phase of the situation is not difficult to remedy. Congress can amend the phraseology of the leasing law to give the President the power the court says he lacks. This should be done without delay. A prize fighter of some success is named "Gorilla” Jones. Now watch other boxers try to ape him. A New York hotel had new Bibles placed in 450 of its rooms. The Good Book, apparently, has not lost any of its popularity as a souvenir. Taxes are paid in certain parts of China with chickens. Taxpayers in this country often get it in the neck, too.
REASON
Notwithstanding the fact that the commission business has been overdone, the senate should pass the house bill providing for appointment of a commission to study the matter of conscripting the nation’s resources in time of war, for it is infamous to draft boys for dollar a day and let those who stay at home get rich. a tt tt In every war America has waged the patriots have Died and the pirates have waxed fat; this was true even during th* revolutionary struggle, when grafters robbed the half-naked soldiers of Washington, causing that great patriot to say he regretted he could not hang every profiteer throughout the colonies. tt tt a DURING the Civil war, condemned muskets, cotton blankets and rotten food were sold to the government and passed on to the soldiers and when ■ the guilty were caught, they were let go. even the censure of congress which was given to a great offender being later wiped from the records. u tt tt If war actually is necessary to save the nation, then it is equally the concern of every man, woman, and child beneath the flag and if all can not give all they have for the period of the struggle, then we should make no resistance whatever; we should throw a kiss to the invader and invite him to enter and help himself to the mustard. tt tt tt Those who wish to get rich while others are getting killed, those who are unwilling to forego their profits when their country is on fire, are unfit to dwell in a civilized land and the nation that will not handle them with a hand of iron at such a crisis forfeits its right to be preserved. u a WHAT a ghastly trick for government to pass the buck of war to the boys and their fathers and mothers, for government to go into the sitting room of the average citizen, glance over the family circle, then say: "I like the looks of your boys, so I am going to send them out to be shot at for me, but I am too tender hearted to keep those who stay at home from getting rich out of their sacrifice!” tt tt The common fathers and mothers of the world should kick such governmental impudence out of existence; they should refuse to furnish cannon fodder for any war unless every man and every dollar’s worth of property be conscripted for such war. War will never end until the profit is taken out of ltl A.
Rv FREDERICK y LANDIS
THE INDIANAPOLIS TIMES
M. E. Tracy
SAYS:
It Is a Universal Weakness to Regard People as Queer if They Happen to Do Things to Which We Are Not Accustomed. fT'ORD makes eighty-one million; * women, drys, Big Bill Thompson and Little Cicero all find something to rejoice over in Ruth Hanna McCormick’s victory; J. P. Morgan launches his $2,500,000 yacht; Mahatma Gandhi takes to an automobile, in spite of his opposition to the machine age; Philadelphia gets Hog island at one-sixteenth of what it cost the government; a magazine writer discovers that Atlanta, and not New York or Detroit, is "the wettest” town in the United States; Moscow pauses in its five-year program to row over a movie, and congress prepares to go into another investigative huddle with regard to prohibition. tt tt tt Few will begrudge Mr. Ford his profit, since he gambled for it like a sport, closing down his plant for a year, and betting $72,000,000 on a new car, when he might have retired with one of the greatest fortunes ever accumulated. That Is an example that ought to be studied by those who see no pleasure in doing things, and who forever are looking forward to the time when they can quit. ft a a Takes Chances Mahatma gandhi is another old gentleman that prefers to take chances, rather than retire. Thus far he has not been entirely successful, because the British government refuses to call his bluff. He supposed, of course, and so did many other people, that he would be arrested at the first overt act of defiance. Instead, he is being let severely alone, while his sons, advisers, and associates land in jail. Anew kind of strategy this, which goes after the disciples, not the prophet, and the effectiveness of which only time can disclose. tt a a In Russia, where the greatest gamble of all is going on, where a whole nation is experimenting with a scheme of things that comprehends little less than the overthrow of western civilization, they are taking time out to quarrel over a movie. Whatever else may be said of such a curious interruption, it proves that the Communists are much like the rest of us. Neither is that so inconsequential as one might think, since too many outsiders have come to believe that Communism really was changing human nature, and that not only capital, but laughter and tears, were going out of fashion in Russia. a tt a Goes Back to Vanity IT is a universal weakness to regard people as wholly queer if they happen to do, or believe, things to which we are not accustomed. You see it in the attitude of neighbors, when a girl goes wrong; in the anger of a section when some local prejudice is defied; and, above all else, in the v/ay the people of widely separated nations think of one another. It all goes bt ~k to that peculiar trait which we call vanity, and which has been woven as thoroughly into our highbrow writings as into our back fence gossip. We love to dwell on the eccentricities of other folks, which would not be so bad, if we did not make it an excuse for assuming that it proved them fundamentally different. * tt tt tt Balks Peace Move SUCH frame of mind is what balks the peace movement, what makes it popular to sneer at the world court, and what makes it impossible for such a minor effort as the London naval conference to succeed. Since that conference opened, the name of one delegate after another has been paraded as though he, or his associates, were responsible not only for the particular move in question, but for failure or success as a whole. Most of the proposing and talking, however, especially if it were intended for the public, has been done with idea of pleasing the folks back home, tt tt tt It looks now as though the conference would succeed in drawing up some kind of a three-power pact, and that the United States might be able to have naval parity with England at a saving of $3,000,000,000. While the saving of such a vast amount of money makes the conference a good investment, it falls far short of what most people hoped for, and what will have to be accomplished before naval limitation or disarinament means anything.
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NAPOLEON’S ABDICATION April 11
ON April 11. 1814, Napoleon Bonaparte, emperor of France, abdicated his throne after the allied armies of England, Germany, Prussia and Austria seized Paris. Although he previously had conquered the important nations of Europe, Napoleon now was sent into retirement as ruler of the little island of Elba in the Mediterranean. He was there only ten months when he decided to resume his campaigning. Accompanied by COO soldiers of the Old Guard, Napoleon entered Paris, dethroned the king, and re-established himself once more upon the throne. He defeated the Prussians at Flanders, but ultimately suffered an overwhelming defeat at the hands of the English at Waterloo. He was sent as a prisoner to the Island of St. Helena to live in a residence specially prepared for him. It was here that he wrote several able and interesting works relating to his eventful career.
The Spring Song—With Variations!
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IT SEEMS TO ME
WALTER WINCHELL'S “whoopee” has found a haven now in Funk & Wagnall’s new standard dictionary. I’m all for lexicographers keeping up with living language and so I applaud this new member in the fellowship of phrases. To be sure the learned often are able to find in their researches that this afternoon’s current slang has its roots in antiquity or is at the very least a creation to be found some few centuries back. So it is with "whoopee.” Frank H. Vizetelly, the big word and definition man, cites the fact that in a fifteenth century manuscript one of Henry the Eighth’s chaplains is pictured as giving vent to, "whoope aloud and thou shalt hear him blow his horn . . .” It will be observed that the spelling has been slightly altered through the ages, but the spirit remains intact. If Bluff King Hal was the first monarch to find "whoopee” on the lips of his countrymen, it must also be said for him that it was also in his heart and that he did much to promote it. No Walter Winchell of the day would have had the slightest trouble in filling a whole column with the names of girls about whom the king was “that way.” ■ tt tt a Crashes the Gate AND to another brother in the bonds of respectable usage I
Readers of the Times Voice Views
Editor Times—l was agreeably pleased and deeply impressed by the good spirit, sportsmanlike attitude, and fair play, manifested by the clean sports-loving public and newspapers of Indianapolis, and in fact throughout the entire state, in the recent high school basketball championship events, and especially in reference to the performances of the colored boys. I am a Negro, and a former world champion athlete for years. I experienced this same spirit (#• fair play by the press and public. As far as I can learn, sporting history ! does not record a single instance where colored athletes who measured up to the records or excelled : the performances of one of the dominant group in athletic games, ■ where permitted to compete, failed to get due credit and full praise, whenever merited. All fair-minded lovers of clean sports wish to see the b;t man win, regardless of color. Now what I want to know is, why does this splendid spirit of fair play end so abruptly with sports? Why is it not practiced in other walks of life, where our group is concerned? We want no special favors, or advantages, over other groups in the great game of life; we ask only an equal opportunity to win on our merits, in other words, just an even break. A fair field and no favor, that’s the right spirit, A square* deal and fair play to win on your merit. A fair field and no favor that’s what we plead, A square deal in sports knows neither color nor creed. A fair field and no favor, well, who couldn’t win, A square deal and no prejudice because of one’s skin, A fair field and no favor is all that we ask— A square deal and fair play regardless the task. MAJOR TAYLOR. Editor Times—A letter signed by “A Reader” appeared in a recent issue of your paper, in which neither the undersigned nor the company he represents as called by name, but were described so particularly that there could be no doubt as to their identity. Passing the personalities injected into the article, with which I am not concerning myself, it appears “A Reader” took particular exception to an advertisement of the Polar lea and Fuel Company in the "Help Wanted” column of an Indianapolis newspaper, in which male help Detween the ages of 24 and 35 was asked for. The criticism was made that the Polar company was discriminating against men above the age of 35. This is only another of those instances. which unfortunately are far too common, where public comment is made and final judgment rendered by the commentator before
HEYWOOD by BROUN
would extend the hand of fellowship. Under the "K’s” there stands nascent and unashamed—kibitzer.” To be sure there is the qualifying bracketed label (Jewish slang). Still, kibitzer, slang or not, has the use of the clubhouse. Dr. Vizetelly defines the word as follows: "One who meddles with other people’s affairs; specif., a person who although not player, makes suggestions and gives gratuitous advice to card-players.” This seems to me an excellent definition, but in the next edition of the dictionary I suggest that he add some sentence illustrating the use of the word such as "The stakes are never high enough for the kibitzers—old Thanatopsis Club saying.” As I remember Harpo Marx, the silent actor, was the father of kibitzer. With kibitzer recognized, it seems to me that a campaign should be started for the admission of the word’s own first cousin—dorbitzer. To be sure the dorbitzer is lower in the scale. A kibitzer may speak now and again to players in the game, but this is forbidden the dorbitzer. The best he can do is to speak to a kibitzer, in the hope that he will forward the message. In this way he hopes to be able to call the dealer s attention to the fact that it might be a good idea to
full knowledge is had of all facts. It is a well-established fact the Polar company has an, unusually large number of men in its employ whose ages range from 50 to 75 years, several of whom, have been continuously employed more than twenty-five years. For many years the Polar cornpan has provided life and sick benefit insurance to all its employes, the expense of which is borne by the company. In this connection it might interest “A Reader’ to know that we are informed by the life insurance company carrying this insurance that the premium rate paid by the Polar company is the highest of any group insurance in this city, because of the large percentage of Polar employes being of advanced age. Referring, particularly, to the "Help Wanted” advertisement with which "A Reader” found fault, it so happens a previous group of men had been selected for the very reason that they were of mature age and experienced. The younger men, employed later, were used to supplement and assist the first group of older men. iTiis is entirely beside the obvious
j fellowship of] / Daiitj / Lenten Devotion
Friday, April 11 THE SHEPHERD LIFE Read John 10:7-16. Memory verse: “I am the good shepherd.” (John 10:11.) MEDITATION Jesus spoke of himself as a shepherd. The Psalmist spoke of God as a shepherd. Ezekiel spoke of men and women as shepherds. They were to care for other people. “Ye, my sheep, the sheep of my pasture, are men.” Matthew Arnold spoke of his father as a shepherd. In his “Rugby Chapel” he pens a portrait of the man who led so many other men to life: "Thou would’st not alone Be saved, my father! Alone Conquer and come to the goal, Leaving the rest in the wild; Still thou tumedst, and still Beckonedst the trembler, and still Gavest the weary they hand. Therefore to thee it was given Many to save with thyself; And, at the end of thy day, O faithful shepherd! to come Bringing thy sheep in thy hand. PRAYER Give us courage, confidence, and a love that watches over, cares for and comforts all thy creatures, great and small, for thy love's sake. Amen.
ideals and opinions expressed n this column are those of jne of America's most Interesting writers and are presented without regard to their agreement or disagreement with the editorial attitude of this naoer. —The Editor. v
split the pair of jacks and draw to the flush. The kibitzer sits directly behind some player or players, but this, too, is denied the dorbitzer. He sits behind the kibitizer. If a kibitizer dies or goes home, the nearest dorbitzer immediately becomes qualified to take his place. But, of course, this is rather academic. Kibitzers never die or go home. tt tt u Dark Horse THE fight, if one develops, against the confirmation of Judge Parker’s appointment to the supreme couft bench will follow lines rather different than those which marked the debate about Charles E. Hughes. The advocates of Hughes contented themselves chiefly with letting the charges go unanswered and pointing out the various notable events in the career of the distinguished New Yorker. Not even the most bitter opponent of Hughes denied his conspicuous ability. But in the case of Judge Parker his friends have been endeavoring to convince the dissenters that he never did the things cited against him, or held the views attributed him or any others either. Judge Parker is the darkest horse named for the supreme court within the memory of man. (Copyright. 1930, by The Time*)
fact that unemployed men between the ages of 25 and 35, particularly at this time, are as much in need of work, and no less deserving of employment, than older men. However, for the further information of "A Reader,” I would say that the Polar company never has dismissed an employe because of his age. Neither are nor youth has ever been considered in applicants for employment, except in occasional instances where an older man, or a younger man appeared to be best fitted for the particular duty to be performed. Might I be permitted to suggest to "A Reader” that had he made some effort to talk to either old or young employes of the Polar company, who have been employers of local help in this community for thirty-five years, he probably would not have written his communication. HENRY L. DITHMER. President Polar Ice and Fuel Company.
Daily Thought
For the wages of sin is death. —Romans 6:23. tt a tt Sin is essentially a departure from God.—Luther.
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APRIL 11, 19301
SCIENCE
BY DAVID DIETZ
Captain Robert Scott’s Last Journey to the Antarctic Ranks High as an Heroic Exploit. FOR heroism and for tragedy, few records in the story of mankind equal that of Captain Robert Falcon Scott's last journey to the Antarctic. The expedition attained its objective, but Scott and four of his men, Wilson, the scientific director of the expedition; Oates, the transport officer; Bowers and Evans, gave up their lives. These men, after incredible hardships, reached the south pole only to find that Amundsen, the Norwegian explorer, had gotten there four weeks ahead of them. And then they started on the cruel return journey, a journey which none of them finished. The story of that return journey up to a few days before his death was told by Scott in his diary. It is one of the great epics of mankind. The expedition set sail from New Zealand on Nov. 26. 1910. The ship, the Terra Nova, was almost sunk by furious gales which were experienced in the Antarctic waters. For three weeks, dense drift-ice held back the ship. Scott found It impossible to land at Cape Crozier as he had planned and finally anchored at Cape Evans In MacMurdo sound. Here he left one group of men who planned to make geological surveys. tt tt tt Cold SCOTT then sailed on to King Edward VII Land where at the Bay of Whales he met Captain Roald Amundsen, who had arrived on the Fram. Scott carried ponies, as Shackleton had done on liis expedition. It will be recalled that Scott had lost faith in dogs on his first expedition, when his dogs sickened and died. Amundsen, however, carried dogs and it will be remembered that the ease with which he made his dash to and from the south pole was due in large part to the efficiency of his dog-teams. Scott went on to a point 100 miles south of Ross Island, where he established a camp. Considerable scientific work was carried on during the winter. Temperatures under 60 degrees below zero, Fahrenheit, were common and once the mercury fell to 77 below. On Oct. 31, 1911—it was then the Antarctic “summer”—Scott started out on his darii for the pole, his last journey. He had a journey of 900 miles to make to reach the pole. In addition to ponies, he had two motor sledges. These, however, did not prove very useful. The ponies pulled the sleds to the foot of the Beardmore Glacier, but from then on the sleds were pulled by the men themselves, Scott used the same plan which Peary had used in reaching the north pole, starting out with a large group of men who turned back one by one as the supplies were consumed. They also placed food depots along the way so that they could draw upon them during the return journey. tt * tt Disaster THE first supporting party turned back at latitude 81 degrees. A little past 87 degrees, the last supporting party turned back. Scott then was 145 miles from the pole. The date was Jan. 4, 1912. By Jan. 8, Scott had passed Shackleton’s "farthest south.” The traveling, however, was extremely difficult and their rate of progress at times was no more than a mile an hour. On Jan. 16 they found the cairn of rocks and the Norwegian flag left by Amundsen and they knew that they had been thwarted in their ambition to be first at the south pole. On Jan. 17 they built their own cairn and put up the British flag. They took a photograph of it and then started on the heart-breaking journey home. On Feb. 7, Evans sustained a concussion of the brain in a bad fall. He had been the strongest man of the party. Ten days later he died. That same night, Oates, who had been suffering severely from the cold and frost-bite, walked away into the blizzard. He gave up his own life in the hope that his companions might get back safely without him. The temperature now was 40 below zero. On March 19, the three remaining men made their last camp. A blizzard made it impossible for them to move on. The last entry in Scott’s diary was dated March 29. Seven months later, their frozen bodies were found by a search party.
