Indianapolis Times, Volume 42, Number 177, Indianapolis, Marion County, 3 December 1930 — Page 4

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A New Attitude While the change in office of high state officials furnished a spectacular performance for the people, :ho important episode was the brief speech of Chairman Peters of the Democratic state organization, reminding members of the legislature that party pledges should be kept. Here is anew note in government, and one long awaited by .the people, who had become disgusted with political matters very largely because candidates, when victorious, were inclined to forget their campaign utterances. Indeed, it was an epigram of politics that party platforms were something to get into office upon and then to be forgotten. The Democratic state organization apparently fttkes a different view and believes that a pprty platform is a contract with the people, to be kept in all sincerity and in all its terms. Sincerity of the organization was evidenced by the additional fact that it had asked party leaders to aid the incoming legislators to the extent of drafting measures which might serve as a basis of discussion and debate and revision, to meet terms of the party platlorm. This has a far different aspect than the struggle to get jobs and patronage and discover new ways of tapping the public till. A political party which keeps faith with the people not only has a better chance of continuing in power, but may perform the far higher service of restoring faith in political institutions and arousing a wider interest in public affairs. If the people come to believe that party platforms will be translated into laws instead of being transported to waste baskets, ihev will study those platforms and vote w'th more intelligence and greater hope. The Democratic platform pledged numerous reforms. The very humane and economically sound plank for an old-age pension system, fostered by the Eagles lodge for years, an idea born in Indiana and now the law in many other states, must not be forgotten. The real test, of course, will come when the legislature meets. The first gesture is reassuring. It remains for the event to disclose whether the state organization and the legislators will be able to withstand the powerful influences wl*ich will be pitted against some of these platform planks. They will not become laws without a struggle. Secret, emissaries of the house of privilege, against which all are directed, will be busy. If the victorious jmrty can show itself free from such influences, it will do more than has been accomplished in other years. But What If the Habit Spreads? -Mrs. Miller, who gave only a meager outline of her experience, offered to sell her story to newspapermen.” Before the thrill of the news that she was safe had ceased to vibrate, her manager was asking for bids. Lives have been risked in the hunt for her. Gallant fliers had soared through wind and fog and semidarkness. In the search, they had taken chances as great as she had taken, when she started from Havana. The wires had tingled with the accounts of that search. A whole world had grown anxious. The news that she was safe was good news. But the details— they were withheld from the anxious world. For they were for sale. A typical sign of these commercialized times. But what if the commercialization spreads? What if the ones whose custom it has been impulsively to risk their necks in the rescue should begin to put a price on their services, before they take off? Not so good for missing aviatrices. And what if the world gets calloused, not to say suspicious, about these adventures that arc for sale—and ceases to be worried? Not so good either. Out of Their Own Mouths Any open-minded person familiar with the Mooney-Billings miscarriage of justice will share the horror of Justice Langdon over the decision of his six colleagues on the California supreme court recommending against a Billings pardon. “Suspicions, conjectures, unwarranted inferences, irreconcilable inconsistencies, and admitted perjuries are treated as facts” by the majority decision, Justice Langdon charges in his dissenting opinion. He adds that ‘‘it is indefensible, because it appeals to passion and prejudice.” Was ever a more damning indictment brought against a high court of justice than this by one of its own members? You need not be a learned judge like Langdon to recognize the terrible truth of his charges against this misnamed judicial decision, which may keep two innocent men in prison for life. The great black marks of prejudice which disfigure the majority decision are so clear that any layman who looks can not see anything else. These judges are condemned out of their own mouths. Though all the chief witnesses against the men in their unfair trials either are confessed or proved perjurers, including Estelle Smith, two of the majority justices, Richards and Preston, rest their decision largely upon that woman's discredited identification of Billings. But in the same breath that Richards insists that Estelle Smith told the truth, he is forced to qualify: “As nearly as such a voluble, emotional, impressionable person could be expected to tell it.” Justice Richards emphasizes what he considers Billings’ failure to offer “some affirmative showing that he did not in fact commit the crime” of the Preparedness day bombing, fourteen years ago. In other words, Billings is not given the primary right of being judged innocent until proven guilty; he is held guilty until he proves himself innocent. Justice Preston says that the question whether Billings was at the scene of the explosion can be answered "yes” or “no.” but he personally believes ‘ yes.” In other words. Billings is not to be given the benefit of reasonable doubt. * The perfect alibi of the photograph showing Mooney and a clock at about the time of the explosion at a place not near the explosion is dismissed by Justice Preston simply bv the statement: “The alibi is fictitious and worthless.” MacDonald, the witness found last summer by the Scripps-Howard newspapers, told the truth at the trial, says Judge Preston—despite the fact that MacDonald now testifies that he lied. In other words, this judge openly bases his decision on testimony of a witness who, the judge admits, is a confessed perjurer telling two contradictory stories. Justice Slienk joins the majority because he considers that Billings had “a fair and impartial trial.” In ether words, a trial in which all the chief witnlsses

The Indianapolis Times (A bCKIITS-HOHAKI) NEWSPAPER) Uwnud and published daily (except Sunday) ty The Indianapolis Times Publishing Cos, 214-22D West Maryland Sireet, Indianapolis. Jod Prire In Marion County. 2 cents a copy: elsewhere. X cents—delivered by carrier. 12 cents a week. BOYD GURLEY. HOY W. HOWARD. FRANK G MOKRISON. Editor President Business Manager ITIONE Hllev fiftftl WEDNESDAY, DEC. 3. 1930. Member of United Press, beripps-Howard Newspaper Alliance, Newspaper Enterprise Association. Newspaper information Service and Audit Bureau of Circulations. “Give Light and the People Will Find Their Own Way.”

are confessed or proved perjurers, a trial now condemned by nine of the ten living jurors and by many dfficials connected with the case, was “a fair and impartial trial.” If the ccurt perversion which victimized Mooney and Billings is accepted as “a fair and impartial trial,” then indeed American justice is dead. We do not believe it. We believe that outraged public opinion yet will reclaim American justice by forcing the release of these men. We call upon Governor Young, the American Bar Association, the Wickersham law enforcement commission and President Hoover to deiend American justice. Hoover’s Report to Congress Those who hoped that the November election results would encourage President Hoover to present a liberal program to congress will be disappointed by his message Tuesday. It contained very little that was positive and less that was liberal. Properly, the President devoted most of his attention to the depressed economic condition of the country and unemployment. He minimized the seriousness, of the situation, and seemed satisfied with the achievement of the federal government in meeting the emergency. He repeated the incomplete and thus misleading government unemployment figures. For instance, he gave the meaningless census figure of 2,500,000 “wholly” out of employment, which does nyt include the large numbers laid off for many months. Unlike the President, we arc far from satisfied with what the federal government has done and is doing. We think the lack of reliable government unemployment statistics—at this late day the government is asking a private insurance company to estimate the extent of unemployment for it—amounts almost to criminal negligence. Similarly, the lack of enough advance plans for emergency federal public works construction is inexcusable. Why the President did not make proposals to congress on these two vital matters, or economic passage of the pending Wagner bills for that purpose, we can not understand. The Hoover public works proposal is good in itself. Kis request for an additional appropriation of $100,000,000 to $150,000,000, bringing the total federal construction program for 1931 to $650,000,000, probably is the limit of practical unemployment relief by this method, considering the unfortunate lack of adequate advance planning. At best, however, the proposed 1931 public building program can not relieve the wholesale suffering this winter. For such relief the President looks to private charity in the cities and Red Cross charity 1 on the farms. That would be simple enough if private charity were adequate, but it is not. Except in a few large or exceptional cities of great wealth, it is clear that local agencies can not cope with their local problems. This is especially true in smaller communities. Because the basis of this depression is national, and because the need is national, some method of direct federal aid to the community relief organizations will have to be found before Christmas—otherwise the suffering will be dangerously acute in many localities. Hoover says “our country today is stronger and j richer in resources, in equipment, in skill, than ever in its history.” That is the final reason why no one must be left to starve this winter. Apart from the economic situation, it had been hoped that the liberal mandate of the November election might swing the President to the support of some of the popular legislation so long blocked by the Republican machine in congress. But he has nothing to say in his message about the anti-injunction bill or the Norris lame duck amendment, and only a noncommittal reference to Muscle Shoals. Those three measures and the Wagner unemployment bills should be passed at this session. They should be passed with the President’s support; but, if necessary, they ought to be passed regardless of the President. “It is always good policy,” as the Papa Salmon told his children, “to look before you leap.” When a poet puts his mind into a poem the result, in the opinion of the weary editor, very often is blank verse.

REASON

THERE'S a tragic case up in Chicago. A young man named Noeth was put in jail for larceny for one year. Then after a while a baby came to his young wife, of all of which the man behind the bars was made aware. tt tt tt Time went on and the baby did not get along very well, possibly because there were hard times around the house. Anyhow, the day arrived when the doctors said the baby would have to have a blood transfusion or die a tt tt When the young father heard es this in his cell at the Cock county jail he asked tt> be permitted to give his blood to his child; he couldn't give anything else, lor he was locked up. So they went to the judge, and he rave permission for the prisoner to be taken to the hospital. tt a tt THE father gave up his blood and then was whisked back to his cell and the child is “getting along as well as could be expected.” But the point of the matter is this—if we were in the place of the Governor of Illinois we believe we would pardo that young fellow. a a a We know nothing of the nature of his crime, but he is net a bandit; he did not try to kill anybody or didn't go prepared to kill anybody in order to take what he did. Tt was larceny, which is destitute of force. e a a Maybe he took something to feed his folks. We don't know about this. A lot cf them have been taking things for this purpose and a lot cf them who have taken turkeys have been shot or sent over the road, while a lot of high-brow crooks still are at large and still going strong. tt tt tt BUT we believe this felloe would make good, if given a chance. Doing a real big job, such as he did when he gave up his blood for his child, would make a man of him, if he has one drop of good stuff under his skin. a a a Maybe he wouldn't have gone wrong if that child had arrived before he slipped. Most of us would be tramps you know, if it were not for the restraining influence of children. a a a They are the stabilizers of government; they are the sartors of society. We hope Governor Emerson gives this man a chance and does it as a Christmas present for the wife and child. f

FREDERICK B LANDIS

THE INDIANAPOLIS TIMES

M. E. Tracy SAYS:

i With Three or Four Million : People Out of Work, the President’s Plea for Only a Hundred Million Dollars | Is Not a Very Heroic Effort at Relief. ONE can not read the President's message without getting a distinct impression that its author was determined to be hopeful at any price and cautious under _any circumstances. Its outstanding weakness is to be found in the obviously inadequate relief measures recommended. Since half a loaf is better than none, we should be thankful that the President has asked an appropriation of from $100,000,000 to $150,006,000 for public works, but— One million dollars, if all of it went for labor, would provide five months’ work for 2,000 men at $4 a day. In these days of machinery, experts, supervision and overhead, 1 only a portion of the money goes for iabor, especially when expended on public works. It would be liberal to rate that portion as high as 50 per cent. One million dollars, therefore, hprdly could be depended on to provide five months’-work for more than 1,000 men, which means that the largest amount President Hoover has recommended —$150,000,000 —would take care of no more than 150.C00. With three or four million out of work, it does not look like a heroic effort at relief. a a a Turn Back to Past HOW much was it we subscribed ■ for the Belgians? How much was it we spent in the campaign for Near East relief? How much was it we appropriated to save Russians on the Danube? How much was it President Wilson asked when we entered the war? Os course, such reminders may have no bearing on the present situation, but average people find it hard to believe they do not. Also, average people find it hard to believe that legislation, particularly the kind that can be translated into dollars and cents, would not help mightily to improve conditions. Average people have been told that fifteen or twenty billion dollars were wiped out in the Wall Street crash, that the drought, the slump in foreign trade, and the letdown in domestic business have cost the farmers an incalculable amount. More than that, average people have been told that the government was trying to work out a policy whereby it would come to their rescue in hard times. Maybe average people have put too much faith in what they have been told, but they certainly expected something of a more forceful and reassuring character. One hundred fifty million dollars to relieve unemployment, when we spent twice that much on wooden ships during the war. when a Wall Street committee is raising $6,000,003 by voluntary subscription, and when ! little backwoods counties are bonding themselves to the limit. an ts Let’s Be More Liberal PRESIDENT HOOVER says the | United States never was richer. ; If that is true, why can’t it afford j to be a little more liberal? At a time when the heads of all great corporations have been asked not to retrench, even though they may have to reduce dividends; when many policemen and firemen are giving up one day’s pay each month; when thousands of ordinary folks are working only two-thirds or one-half time to give their fellows a chance; when farm associations are sending carloads of apples across the country to New York, why should the government of the United States be content with halfhearted efforts? Heaven knows, there is enough to be done without wasting the money, if $1,000,000,000 or even $2,000,000,000 were authorized for public works. We still need hundreds of thousands of miles of roads, not to mention flood control, harbor improvements, postoffices, park development and innumerable other things. It is not as though the cash would be thrown out of the window, or that we would be doing things we do not intend to do anyway. The only question is whether public works should not be steamed up until private industry can get on its feet, and probably at a saving.

Questions and Answers

Is there an English coin called a groat and what is it worth? The English groat was first coined in 1351, of a value somewhat higher than a penny. The continued debasement of both the penny and the groat left the latter finally worth four pennies. This issue of the groat was discontinued aftei 1662, but a coin worth fourpence was again struck in 1836, and was discontinued in 1856. The name groat has been more familiarly applied in recent times to fourpence as a unit of account. What is the address of the American Medical Association? 535 North Dearborn street, Chicago. Is there much unemployment in the Netherlands? On June 28, 1930, it was estimated that 4.1 per cent of the working population of the Netherlands was wholly unemployed and 1.7 per cent partially unemployed. What is the highest temperature that has been attained? The United States • bureau of standards says that it is about 5.600 degrees centigrade, attained by carbon arc under pressure. At this temperature all matter vaporizes. Who composed the march, “Under the Double Eagle”? Wagner. Where does the Tennessee river rise? It is formed by the confluence of the Holston and the French Broad rivers, 4.5 miles above Knoxville, Tenn. How many autcmobiles, passenger cars and tracks are there in the United States? Latest statistics show 23,121,589 fassenfer cm* and teu tit*.

LAME DUCKS ON PARADE By Geo;.?* Sanford Hofcnes \ Just hear them quae*, they’ve ah limped oac*. J A badly bowed coojref j opjU crovd S j 'JV—^ Os lame ducks on parade. 'vjp. They're tired and tamed, since they were maimed '\/Xj One cold November morning; \\ j. Yet isn’t it odd. they'll cheat the s©d Till springtime comes a*dawn;ng! Politically said, tame ducks are dead. // They know they've been rejected, Is •+ V. * Yet linger Ion?, a ghostly throng jkSK&j&T vT. 9 Os stalcsmcj resurrected. Some day they’ll end, at least amend I * - ! This quamt old Spanish custom, 1 ' // Os sendm? men back ©nee again I When voters no more trust ’em f y'/ f j / ' i / & V''"''

Infants’ Digestive Functions Differ

BY DR. MORRIS FISHBEIN Editor Journal of the American Medical Association and of Hyaeia, the Health Magazine. WHEN the food passes into the stomach, it is digested. The digestive function varies with different infants, and there are certain distinctive features of the digestion of the infant in general as contrasted with that of the grownup. If the grownup took as much cow’s milk in proportion to his weight as does the normal infant, he would be drinking from eight to ten quarts of milk a day, and he would eat from one-half to two pounds of sugar. Because the infant is growing rapidly, it required larger amounts of food in proportion to its weight than does the adult, the digestive function is' constantly at its top speed. The digestive function is sensitive and may be particularly af-

IT SEEMS TO ME

ENOUGH evidence has been presented already to show that things are very much amiss in the woman’s court of New* York. It would be unfair while the investigation continues to make any estimate as to the precise extent of wrongdoing upon the part of public servants. Naturally, there will be general agreement that all who took bribes from guilty persons or extracted blackmail from innocent prisoners should receive punishment. But I hope that a housecleaning will not stop merely with the conviction of a handful or even a wagonload of grafters. I believe that we never will have intelligent municipal procedure in the vice problem until there is general recognition of the fact that profesisonal reformers are almost as dangerous as the crooks. And I point specifically to the fact that the head of a certain welfare organization made public criticism of the present investigation on the ground that it hampered honest policemen in their work and decreased the number of arrests. nun Good Intentions! OF course, the worthy gentleman who said this was not aware of the slim-slamming which had gone on under his very eyes. When he praised a prosecutor against whom a mass of damaging evidence has been presented he was ignorant of the detail of the work which he and his organization always have stimulated. The fact that practically all the hunters are animated by conscious good intentions does not help matters much. They generally have been ready to indorse stool-pigeon procedure and all the devious stratagems of police and other agents to entrap sinners. The New York community should not be for that system, even if it worked with entire honesty. Even when honest in a legal sense, it is thoroughly unfair and mean spirited. It seems to me that in New York or any other city the individuals who are passionate for the suppression ox vice betray an enthusiasm which does not indicate the completely healthy mind. One need not be a thoroughgoing Freudian to accept the theory that the hunter may grow too keen about the excitement of the chase. a a a A Problem IT would be a bumptious person who would undertake to set forth a dogmatic and precise plan for solution of the various problems which rise out of the fact that human beings are carnal. I am not bumptious enough. Yet I will venture to suggest a few underlying principles for procedure. Every one will agree that complete protection should be given to the unwary. A great deal of fantastic nonsense has been talked about white slavery. We have had poison needle scares and various wild rumors founded on nothing more than communal nightmarishness. This should not blind us to the fact that in certain sections of the city innocent gjirls have from time b&SM iff

- Lame Ducks on Parade

DAILY HEALTH SERVICE

fected by infection, fever, hot weather or pain. Under such circumstances, the digestive capacity may be lowered greatly and the large amount of food required for the developement of the infant will not be available. Whereas the grown-up takes the saliva to help digest starches, the infant does not require salivary digestion. Only after it begins to receive toast, crackers, or cereals does it require particularly the salivary digestice functions. In the stomach the glands provide hydro-chloric acid and the pepsin-rennin ferment. The acid secreted by the stomach of the child is much less than that of the grown-up and it gradually is increased as the child grows older. As has been established by research in the laboratories of physiology, the secretion from the stomach is affected by many sac-

War against any such contingency must be a part of any municipal program in regard to commercialized vice. a a a Against Disease SECOND in importance should be the w r ar against disease. Very few will deny the utility of holding and treating women found to be suffering from dangerous maladies. But I think it may be less than logical to take no count of afflicted males. Even more important would be a general campaign of public education. In doing this we would be returning to the excellent example set during the war. We know that the knowledge given to soldiers and sailors was enormously useful in cutting down the incidence of disease.

Views of Times Readers

Editor Times—l am a subscriber of The Times and like the paper very much, and am well pleased with the election results. I am a dry and regret that the Democrats advocate wet. I was born a Lincoln Republican, but the public record of that party for the last fifty years is so rotten that I always vote

MpCSSSa. isnjHersd±

GILBERT STUART’S BIRTH December 3

ON Dec. 3, 1755, Gilbert Stuart, an early and important American portrait painter, was born near Newport, R. I. He. painted his first portraits when only 13, without benefit of instruction. A friend, recognizing his talents, took him to England to study. Here Stuart met Benjamin West, with whom he lived and worked for four years. Stuart then began portrait painting independently and soon became very successful. Such important personages as George 111, Mrs. Siddons, and Sir Joshua Reynolds sat for him. At the height of his fame he returned to America, his impelling motive being to paint the portrait of George Washington. He painted several, two of which are now in Boston and New York art museums. The list of Stuart’s sitters includes the first five Presidents of the United States, Louis XVI of France, Edward Everett, John Jay and Jacob Astor. Stuart sought in all his paintings to represent character. He died in Boston in 1828 and was elected to the American Hall of Fame in 1900.

Daily Thought

And thinkest thou this, O man, that judgest them which do such things, and doest the same, that thou shalt escape the judgment of God. —Romans 2:3. Make not thyself tije judge o:

tors. It is decreased greatly when there is infection with fever, when there is hot weather, excessive excitemnt, or pain. An undernourished infant has less secretion than one who is fully developed. Foods especially rich in protein increase the amount of gastric secretion. Beef extract has this property. If the child is hungry, the secretion is likely to be more at the time of feeding than if there is no hunger. During infancy the acid of the stomach is enough to prevent the growth of most of the germs that might get into the stomach. It also regulates the movement of the material from the stomach into the intestines and it enables the pepsin that is present to have some action on the food. Protein digestion during infancy is incomplete in the stomach and goes on in the intestines.

lIEYWOOD m BROUN

Is it reasonable that the community should give protection only to those who are about to die? Our duty to citizens hardly ends the moment they cease to be fighters. Intelligent discussion by doctors would be a far more useful subject for hig hchool students than Latin, Greek or algebrai It is more important for a growing boy to understand prophylaxis than plane geometry. This seems self-evident, but it can not be accomplished without a fight. There will be those who say that any form of protection encourages immorality. They will say that the wages of sin should be affliction. That is a stern doctrine, and it would be more logical if the consequences of the affliction ever were limited wholly to the sinner. (Copyright. 1930. bv The Times)

Democratic, as I think their platform has more of Lincoln in it. I am a firm believer in the principle of public ownership of public utilities, government, state and municipal, as the case may be, and I would read The Times with more interest if you would set your feet down on Insull’s neck so tight, in your street railways and light system stories, that he would be so glad to get out of our state that he never would cross the line again. B. LITZENBERGER.

Editor Times—So the charitable organizations of Chicago are shocked at the sign of Scarface A1 Capone’s free soup house? Well, they ought to be. They need to be shocked so hard that they will feed thousands of hungry, homeless unemployed folks so well that they won’t have to accept food from our leading gangster. But there’s so much red hot tape to go through before an honest pauper can obtain a free meal from an organization whose business it is to aid the less fortunate, that he’d almost as soon go hungry as endure the humiliation of answering so many unnecessary questions. I’ll bet Scarface Al’s doughnuts are good ones. I’ll bet the coffee he serves tastes might good this zero weather and the soup? I’ll bet he can buy as good soupbones as any church-going citizen that walks. If the honorable charitable organizations of the Windy City don’t approve of Mr. Capone’s free mess hall, why don’t they show a little competition? Easy done. There ought to be enough wealthy men on Lake Shore drive to put at least one little free lunch stand for the ones who have not even a place to lay their heads at night. If people are starving, out of work, homeless, a place of the type A1 Capone has established takes on the appearance of a God-given thing to them. I'll bet they are served as friends and made to feel welcome when they walk in that free lunch room. A man doesn’t necessarily have to be no good, just because he’s down and out of work, but so many of the good brethren try to make him feel so. Instead of grumbling about the Afc. C^QGi ’• . .

Ideals and opinions expressed in (his 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.

.DEC. 3, 1930

SCIENCE -BY DAVID DIETZ—-

Smithsonian Institution Report Is Far From Being Dry and Dusty Volume. “'T'HE annual report of the S: ithsonian Institution." undoubtedly sounds to the cars of most readers like something which would be just a bit dull. Perhaps the title In full sounds even a bit worse—“ Annual report of the board of regents of the Smithsonian Institution showing the operations. expenditures and condition of the institution for the year ending June 30, 1929.” Yet this writer is going to recommend that report—which just has been published—as a fascinating volume for all readers interested in the problems of modern science. Tire reason is that the Smithsonian Institution each year does a very wise, thoughtful, and fine thing. It uses the 100 or so pages of formal report as a kite to which it attaches a most interesting tail of some 700 pages This tail, which is labeled the “General Appendix,” consists of a selection of articles from the scientific journals of the whole world, chosen because they deal with the most important phases of recent scientific development in language which is intelligible to the average layman. At $2, the annual report of the Smithsonian Institution, is a real bargain. (This writer, who has a file of them going back to 1920, is convinced of that.) it a tt Sir James Jeans AMONG the interesting papers published in the new Smithsonian report is one by Sir James Jeans, president of the Royal Astronomical Society and secretary of the Royal Society. Jeans is one of the foremost students of the problem of cosmogony, the problem of the nature and structure of the universe. Both the beginning and the end of the universe are discussed by Jeans in a paper on the physics of the universe. He finds that the most fundamental physical process in the universe as a whole appears to be the spontanous dissolution of atoms into radiation, such as we see taking place in radium. But whereas the earth's mass diminishes by radiation less than an ounce in a minute, that of the sun diminishes by the enormous sum of 250,000,000 tons a minute, or about 650 times the flow of water over Niagara Falls. And many stars lose mass even more rapidly; some of them at the rate of 200,000,000 Niagaras. By a series of subtle steps, Jeans comes to the concluson that the final state of the universe will be one in which every atom of matter which is capable of so doing has dissolved away into radiation. Thus, in the end, “empty” space will be far emptier then than now. ‘'The end of the road,” says Jeans, “is more easily discerned than its beginning. The atoms which are annihilating themselves to provide the light and heat of the stars clearly can not have existed as atoms from all time; they must have begun to exist at some time not infinitely remote, and this leads us to contemplate a definite event, or series of events, or continuous process, of creation of matter.” tt U tt Problem of Life THREE specialists in different fields attack a problem perhaps more fundamental to man than Jeans’ fundamental physical process, and that is the enigma of life, and what distinguishes it from inanimate matter. A physicist, Paul H. Heyl of the United States bureau of standards, argues the case for the mecnanists and affrms his belief that the secret cf life will be found to be an internal factor within the atom, “something deeper and more fundamental than molecules or atoms,” but still not something ex'ernaland separate from the essence of the atom, not the “vital force” of the vitalists, which is conceived of as some force outside of human experience. In short, he asserts his belief that the difference between life and nonlife will prove to be one of degree and not of kind. A second authority, the English physical chemist, F. G. Donnan, comes to the same general conclusion. He WTites, “should, indeed, anew form of energy, ‘a vitalistic nervous energy,’ be discovered, it will be no shadowy vital impulse, but an addition to our knowledge of character permitting of exact measurement and of exact expression by means of mathematical equations.” In apparent opposition to the physical scientists, an English pathologist, A. E. Boycott, states his conviction that the attempt to “explain life by chemisry and physics has completely failed.” But, Boycott rejects, also, vitalism in the sense of mysticism, and goes on to suggest “that instead of dividing the world into two distinct categories (living and nonliving) wc should regard it as being made up of-one series of units with properties which differ more in degree than in kind.” they ought to shut their lips tight and feel ashamed to think*it isn’t they who established the place. Here in Indianapolis we haven't even as charitable a gangster as Mr. Capone, so it’s up to our less fortunate citizens to depend on local charity or go hungry, lodges excepted. So many writers have commented on the war memorial. It's small comfort now that zero weather is here, just a well-cemented stone sandwich, perched on acres of land that sold for three or four times its true value. Divide the cost of that memorial plaza equally among Indiana’s soldiers and it would be enough to make each one and his dependents comfortable through the winter at least. Our statesmen wonder why and where crooks and gangsters originate. They wonder what causes the rebellious spirit. Just this, such kindness as shown by A1 Capone, and such narrow-minded, foolhardy expenditure of public funds as this state made in building the war memorial plaza. If Indiana is so grateful to her heroic dead and living soldiers, let her sing their praises with food for the living and those left ijehind by the dead heroes. CONSTANT READER.