Indianapolis Times, Volume 43, Number 24, Indianapolis, Marion County, 8 June 1931 — Page 4

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SCM t f>t> 3- Mow AMD

Probing Utilities The decision of the public service commission to inquire into the financial habits of the group of telephone companies just sold by former Governor Goodrich for several millions will be applauded. True, the inquisitive may wonder why the inquiry was not ordered until after this very powerful figure in the state had disposed of these properties. But what is important is that the things which are alleged against this company are quite as true of every other group of utilities operated under that new device to escape regulation, the holding company. If there is to be an inquiry, why not make it a real one and extend it to the gigantic concerns which serve hundreds of thousands of people. The comparison between electric charges m our large cities and those of Tacoma, for instance, should arouse curiosity. What has this holding company done that most of the others have not? One Step Forward Action of the trustees of De Pauw university in a blanket indorsement of the president, Dr. G. Bromley Oxnam, is much more than a vote of confidence in a man. It is a declaration of scholastic freedom that challenges all the forces of suppression, all the forces of reaction. ' That resolution stands for liberalism In education which led people away from superstition into civilization. It is anew defiance of witch burning. Dr. Oxnam has been the target of these forces since the day he came to the Indiana college and captured the imagination of students and of citizens generally by his brilliant thought and his forwardlooking attitude upon life. Sacrificing nothing of religious tradition, he made it possible for students to think for themselves and, indeed, believed that the real purpose of all education is to teach students to think. Every attack has been based upon misconstruction and misinterpretation of his public addresses. Were there lacking motives of self interest and self seeking on tin part of his critics, the attacks might almost be said to be due to the lack of this power which he encouraged. They might almost seem to come from the parrot minded, and parrots who had been under the tutelage of rather ignorant forces. The trustees can hardly be called radicals in any group of society. Headed by a former high official of the Republican party in its most conservative era, they stand unanimously for that liberty without which there can be no progress either in education or in government. Those who are sometimes fearful of the future may take new hope from this complete indorsement of Oxnam. Practical Suggestions for Legislative Aid Mr. Hoover says we can not legislate ourselves out of our present economic difficulties. The National Unemployment League, headed by such men as Darwin Meserole, S. Parkes Cadman, George Foster Peabody, John A. Ryan and Harry Emerson N Fosdick, think differently. In a pamphlet which they just have broadcast, they propose immediate measures which obviously would go far toward ending unemployment and would at the same time constitute a great national saving. They specify the following federal public works which could be undertaken at once, if congress could be summoned and induced to authorize such action and the necessary expenditures: “1. Highways: 48,000 miles of federal aid highways in every state of the Union (report of United States bureau of public roads, 1930) can given a permanent surface at an expenditure of $1,200,000,000. These roads thus can be completed, and the surface protected, while at the same time employing scores of thousands of men. “2. Grade crossings: 210,000 unprotected railway grade crossings can be eliminated. One-third—7o,ooo —could be wiped out at a cost of approximately $3,500,000. (Both of the above projects could be carried out promptly and with the simplest form of contract.) “3. New highways, reforestation, flood-control projects, river and harbor improvements and public buildings: In these additional fields there are many opportunities for wise, economical and immediate expenditure of public funds. “Public opinion approves such work. “The best economic thought of the nation recently has advocated it. “Why do we hesitate to adopt such a plan? “Surely not because of the cost? The interest on a $3,000,000,000 federal bond issue would be only $120,000,000 a year. The cost to investors and wageearners of the present depression is more than $1,000.000,000 a month —$12,000,000,000 a year." Young Lamont He might spend his life cruising the seven seas in a yacht, his summers in Switzerland, his winters on tho Riviera, and all that sort of tiling. Or if he didn’t like that kind of navigation, he could cruise the 36,000 speakeasies and night clubs that his home city affords. He could devote his days to polo if he chose. Or to golf or horse-racing or roulette, or any of the other occupations that so many rich men’s sons go in for. Instead, we find him hard at work as an Instructor in a university. And this is w r hat he says about the system which would have made it possible for him to have been a playboy. “Whatever its good points, it permits and encourages the exploitation of the many by the few in the name of a cruel and unintelligent God called rugged individualism and worshipped fanatically by Republicans and Democrats alike. “This system concentrates two-thirds of the wealth and one-third of the income in the hands of approximately 10 per cent of the people and provides for the other 90 per cent chiefly on the marvelous theory that enough somehow will trickle down from the top. “It is a system, furthermore, which carries within it unmistakably the germs of another terrible war, in tha form of a high tariff, which is a near-embargo, in unrestrained economic imperialism and struggle for world markets, and an unco-operative policy toward other nations. “Worst of all, perhaps., in a crisis like the present,

The Indianapolis Times (A SCBIPPS-HOWARI) NEWSPAPER) Owned and pabllhd daily (oxcept Sunday) by The Indianapolis Times Publishing: Cos., 214-22fi West Maryland Street. Indianapolis, I n d. Price in Marion County, 2 ccnta a copy: elsewhere, 3 cents—delivered by carrier, 12 centa a week. BOYD GURLEY. ROY W. HOWARD, FRANK G. MORRISON, Editor President Bnsineas Manager PHONE—IiUey 5551 MONDAY, JTJNE 8. 1931. Member of United Pres*, Seripps-Howard Newspaper Alliance. Newspaper Enterprise Aasoclatlon. Newspaper Information Service and Audit Bureau of Circulations. “Give Light and the People Will Find Their Own Way.”

the master-minds who control this system allow little or nothing to be done to bring security to the masses. “When we ask the master-minds why today more than 6,000,000 American children are suffering from malnutrition, or why more than 6,000,000 unemployed adults walk the streets with lean and hungry looks, the answer is that the reason for there not being enough to eat is that there is too much to eat. I submit that such a system is a veritable wonder of wonders f “After all, a millionaire has only one stomach. Hence, this minority invests its vast surplus of money for the sake of still more profits, recklessly producing and piling up goods which the great majority can not afford to purchase. Now if this is not a stupid and crazy system, what is?” Hardly the language you would expect from the son of a member of the House of Morgan. But, nevertheless, the speaker is none other than Corliss Lamont, whose father is Thomas W. Lamont. The fact will be somewhat of a shock to the many who think that ail those whose views are inclined to be radical come from the ranks of the poor. Victories for Demobilization There have two significant victories recently in the struggle to demobilize our colleges and make military training elective. Attorney-General Mitchell ruled last year that military training is not legally compulsory, even in land-grant colleges. Cornell and Ohio State universities, two of the largest land grant colleges, just have voted to make military training elective. The vote of Cornell was overwhelming against compulsory military training, but at Ohio State the vote was close, being 83-79, Ohio State had the largest R. O. T. C. unit in the country. It contained 3,380 rqen in compulsory courses, cost $200,000 each year and occupied the time of fifty-two instructors. There were 1,850 men in compulsory courses at Cornell, being instructed by forty-two men at a cost of $150,000 yearly. In the last five years, no fewer than twenty-five important educational institutions either have eliminated compulsory military training or have done away with all military training. There is no need of being fanatical, even in a good cause. Probably there is no great evil in having facilities for elective study of military science in any great university, so long as the war system is with us. But the military academy is the only place where such instruction should be made compulsory. The Actual State of Wages There Is much talk about wage cuts right now. The arguments for and against are being set forth with frankness and fervor. Just what are the facts? The May issue of the Monthly Labor Review of the bureau of labor statistics presents some relevant statistics. During January, February an<j March, wage increases were reported which involved 178 employes in five establishments in five industries. The wage increases averaged 5.8 per cent and involved 10 per cent of the employes. In the same period, wage decreases w r ere reported in 175 establishments in thirty-eight industries, affecting 22,500 employes. The wage cuts averaged 10.3 per cent and covered 81 per cent of all employes in the plants involved. The greatest number of cuts occurred in the textile, iron and steel and metal trades. The same publication announced that on April 1 the wages of farm laborers were the lowest that they have been at any time since 1916, standing at 127 per cent of the pre-war average for the five years -1910-1914. Paul Whiteman is said to be the only dance band leader in “Who’s Who." To be sure, he’s a pretty big man. Those Belgian balloonists, pointing to the success of their recent ascension, can say, “It’s in the bag.” A movie-Is like a war; success often depends upon the effectiveness of the “shots." When his actors are hams, says the office sage, a producer hasn’t got a show. Well, anyway, the elevator starter seems to be able to make a go of things.

REASON

GOVERNORS PINCHOT and Ritchie are right in their declarations that if these meetings of Governors are to continue they should discuss questions which are worth while. Otherwise, they are mere interstate sewing circles, which have no purpose except to give the Governors and their families a vacation at the expense of the taxpayers. • ♦ u u This recent four-day social function at French Lick would have been just, a pink tea, but for the speeches of Pinchot and Ritchie, all the rest of the program being given over to a discussion of violets, perfumery and the care of young woodpeckers. In addition to tills there was the business of being photographed and trying to climb out from under the avalanche of presents which seemed to amaze the visitors as much as the people of Indiana. a tt tt IT is almost beyond belief that an effort should be made to tell visiting Governors what they should talk about and we are glad that Pinchot and Ritchie upset the ward politicians who sought to muzzle them. But to get back to the beginning, what are these Governors meeting for, except to furnish a vacation for statesmen at public expense? a a a Up in Minnesota a baby died the other day as a result of drinking some lye which had been left in a pan on the back porch. The ease with which people let fatal stuff lie around the house is responsible for many any early voyage over the Great Divide. a a a ALMOST all ot us are guilty of this gross carelessness. We let medicine lie around on tables and bureaus, and but for the harmlessness of much of it the infant mortality rate would be great. When you get rid of the thing for which ycu have taken the medicine, put it out of reach or throw it out. a a a Thf acting Governor of Arkansas just has pardoned his brother, who had been found guiltv of grand larceny'. It's wonderful to be able to keep it all in the family. What’s a little matter of grand larceny between orothers! a a a You’ve heard a lot about rebellions in prisons, out one of the greatest causes of them is the knowledge on the part of convicts that our system of law enforcement is crooked, that many on the outside ■re more guilty than those on inside,

Ry FREDERICK LANDIS

THE INDIANAPOLIS TIMES

M. E. Tracy SAYS:

Europe Is Developing a State j of Mind Auspicious for j Revolution and Chaos. NEW YORK, June B.—According to the American Federation of Labor, unemployment, wage cuts and part time work represented a loss of $2,500,000,000 to the American people during the first three ; months of this year. Since the Empire State building was opened formally in May, nearly j 100,000 persons have paid a dollar ; each for the privilege of viewingj New York from its observation. tower. Apparently it is possible to prove anything by figures, and when J figures fail, we always can fall back on theory. n a a We’re Not the Greatest j SIR OLIVER LODGE celebrates : his 80th birthday by declaring j that the next great scientific step will be the discovery that “man is not the highest being of which we have cognizance, but that there is a multitude of intelligences elsewhere, some more highly endowed than ourselves.” Comforting as such outlook may be, we would better go right on trying to improve man by the slow processes oL'education and hard work. As things now stand, we are in no position to entertain a superior race of beings. Nothing proves this like the inability of our best minds to agree j on most anything. a tt Dangerous War Talk WHILE Sir Oliver Lodge forecasts the advent of a higher spirituality, Sir Arthur Keith not only predicts war, but thinks it would be a good thing. “Nature keeps her human orchard healthy by pruning," asserts Sir Arthur, “and war is her pruning hook.” Wickham Steed, keen English critic, ’writing in the Sunday Times, thinks Sir Arthur should get “immense publicity," especially in those lands where trouble and distress prevail. He also .thinks that Sir Arthur would have done much better to spill his stuff before an audience of steel helmets than a crowd of college students. - It does seem curious that a man of Sir Arthur Keith’s intelligence should glorify war at a moment when the German chancellor is in England trying to preserve peace. Not that England and Germany are in imminent peril of falling out, but that the entire economic and political structure created by the Versailles treaty is threatened with collapse. It all goes back to the miserable reparations deal by which the allies tried to collect loot in the name of justice. With billions of debt hanging over their heads and millions of men under arms, the people of Europe rapidly are contracting a case of nerves. Whether they are in position to wage organized war, they are developing a frame of mind that is auspicious for revolution and chaos. tt tt tt It Is Our Business WE Americans can, of course, dismiss the situaton as none of our business. That is what tried to do In 1914, and look hew it turned out. Our responsibility consists of what we might do to remedy matters. We can not evade it by claiming that we were not in at the start. Neither can we avoid the consequences by pretending that the war debts owed us are not a factor in the general bankruptcy. Senator Borah is right in referring to the revision of war debts as a “horse-trading proposition." We can not tolerate it as a means of increasing armament. Drastic reduction of the military establishments now maintained in Europe should be made the sine qua non of any readjustment. The real question involved is whether we should wait for European nations to make the offer. At present our attitude is wholly negative. a a a We Have Much to Lose HINTING that we might be willing to do thus and so, if European countries showed the proper spirit toward disarmament, gets nowhere. Obvisiously someone must take the lead if civilization is to be extricated from the hopeless tangle of insolvency, depression, bewilderment, and reawakened war hatreds which now threaten it. No country on earth is in such good position to assume leadership as the United States, or has more at stake. We Americans still have a lot to lose, and we ought to think of that phase of it before we continue our dillydallying course too long. Which are the Spanish speaking countries? Spain, Mexico, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Panama, Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, Chile, Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay, Uruguay, Cuba, Dominican Republic and Porto Rico. Spanish is also widely spoken in the Philippines, and is the official language in that country, but since the implantation of American sovereignty the intensive Americanization of the natives and their institutions has produced a generation which may well be classed as English speaking. How many women have successfully flown across the Pacific? Lady Drummond Hay, who flew across the Pacific in the Graf Zeppelin, is the only one. Mildren Doran, who attempted to fly to Hawaii in an airplane, was lost at sea. How many miles of railroad are there in the United States? There are 250,531.63 miles of railroad of all classes. Why does a distant light seem to twinkle? Because of the Interference of dust and other particles in the atmosphere which the rays encounter while traveling toward the eye. When a woman is introduced to a man, should she rise? Not necessarily but it is customary for a young woman to rise when she greets an elderly map.

* DAILY HEALTH SERVICE Diet May Cause Baby’s Skin Infection

BY DR. MORRIS FISHBEIN Editor Journal of the American Medical Association and of Hysrela. the Health Magazine. ALTHOUGH it was formerly thought that any eruption on the skin of an infant was eczema, specialists in diseases of the skin now have been able to rule out certain complaints that are of definitely infectious or parasitic origin. There remain, however, a large number of cases of eczema in infants due to wrong diets, to sensitivity to various substances, or to similar causes. A child with eczema is extremely uncomfortable because of the itching, crusting and moisture on the skin. In a recent consideration of the subject, Dr. L. W. Hill has given a few directions which will do much to insure comfort. It is desirable to prevent scratching and rubbing, because this only makes the condition worse. Hence

IT SEEMS TO ME

'T'HE play, “Precedent,” will close A shortly, unless it gts support from those who should be interested. And I don’t mean interested in the sense of being tugged by the pull of duty, but interested in the sense that here is a piece which brings back to the theater the excitement fundamentally in the purpose of drama. I can speak freely, for I am one of those who have not gone to see it. Asa sinner, I call on others to repent and attend before it is too late. Like many other people, I hold sincerely to theories which are not wholly fulfilled in my own life. u tt tt Don't Write — rvDR years I have been writing about the fact that the stage dealt with too many things of minor interest. It has been my contention that dramatic criticism, far from being written too rapidly, is written too slowly. I’d like to see the same emotion which surrounds a baseball game or a football game come into the theater. Indeed, a running story flashed over the telegraph wire during a performance would not be a bad idea. In that case the critic could not say after the curtain fell on a mystery play that he knew all along just who committed the murder. He would have to make his prediction, if any, before the solution was evident. I know that “Precedent” is a good play, because all my scouts have brought in reports to that effect. And there were nights when I might have gone, but once there was a bridge game and on another occasion a musical comedy. I gladly will join in with a thousand others to seek absolution by seeing the play before it is too late. As you know, “Precedent” deals with the Mooney and Billings case and acquires its intense dramatic quality by sticking literally to the facts. a a a Time to Atone THE inertia of Americans goes beyond this drama into the great injustice itself. For the most part we are not a mean people or merciless. But we have an extraordinary capacity for forgetting. Asa matter of fact, that is one of the functions which jails fulfill. When some one is committed, rightly or wrongly, he goes into the long silences which do not assail our ears. We may for a moment get together in protest. But once the decision has been rendered, we are inclined to say “Too bad,” and go about some other phase of the complicated life which engulfs us. This can not be excused as a universal human frailty. In other lands memories stretch a little longer. France was able to fight through to eventual justice in the Dreyfus case, even after that tragedy had lived through its day on the first page. In the case of Sacco and Vanzettl, people living thousands of miles away in South America, in France and in Germany were far more stirred than the citizens of New York pr even those of Boston itself. We f&re not much alive to

Paradise Lost!

it seems advisable to tie the wrists and ankles loosely to the sides of the crib with tapes or to use cardboard tubes over the elbows or similar devices which will prevent the child from scratching. An ingenious father of one baby fastened two rods about two feet apart on the head and. foot of the crib and tied to these tapes which controlled the child’s hands and feet in such a way that the tapes would slide back and forth, allowing the child to move its hands and arms, but not permitting it to get at its face and body. Some babies learn to rub with the legs and feet, and it :is necessary in such cases to put a splint between the knees to prevent rubbing. Parents sometimes are disturbed in restraining of the infants. Actually, however, this is not cruel, but exceedingly kind, since it aids the condition greatly. Moreover, after a short time, the baby probably gets

news unless we can catch it on the wing. As far as Mooney and Billings go, there is here in the United States nothing which hangs so heavily over their heads as a vast inertia. And as a preacher once said, “There are in the cosmos only two forces—God and inertia.” We ought to choose sides in this great and eternal controversy. u tt Thy Shall Inherit THERE is, perhaps, some minor excuse for the last free evening which I spent elsewhere. By the time the check had come it was well past 9. And under 1 such circumstances a musical show always seems indicated. If it is possible to arrive in time for no more than the last twenty minutes I generally have been able to catch up with the plot in the case of musicians. And at “Crazy Quilt” there was no plot at all to befuddle the late comer. Phil Baker played the part of Phil Baker, and, next to Hamlet, that is almost my favorite character in the drama. And as for Fannie Brice, I find her far more wild than Ophelia and at least three and one-half times more engrossing. The more I see of the theater, the more I am convinced that there never is just one single avenue for enlisting the interest of an audience. This point came to my mind in watching Phil Baker work in conjunction with Tamara. Phil Baker’s work is fascinating because of his complete surety in method. Tamara, on the contrary, is a comparative newcomer in the theater. There is an emanation of shyness, and that, too, has its appeal. It makes for perfect teamwork to

PERSHING IN ENGLAND June S ON June 8, 1917, General John J. Pershing, who was to command the American expeditionary force on the western front, arrived safely in England with his staff of fifty-three officers and 146 men, including privates and civilian attaches. On landing at Liverpool he gave the following message to the British public: “We are very proud and glad to be the standard bearers of our country in this great war for civilization and to land on British soil. The welcome which we have received is magnificent and deeply appreciated. We hope in time to be playing our part—and we hope it will be a big part—on the western front.” The American commander was received by a British general with a guard of honor and a regimental band, which played the “StarSpangled Banner.” After greetings were concluded at Liverpool, Pershing left for London ijy special train. }

used to restraint and is quite contented.

If a child has an eruption of the skin, wool should not be permitted to come in contact with it. It wears only a light knit night dress and diaper. The room is kept warm and the child is not taken out of bed any more than is necessary. Physicians prescribe various ointments and lotions which do much to control the condition and which soothe the eruption greatly. Os the greatest importance is the control of the diet of an infant with eczema. For those who are sensitive to milk, preparations of soybean flour have been developed which give the child proper nutrition without milk. In cases of diets that are too high in fat or in sugar, it is necessary to control the diet from this point of

pv HEYWOOD BROUN*

throw together on the stage the brash and the bashful. For the revue mpod along Broadway, which is so frequently hard callous, and brittle, there is heed of something juSt a little softer. (Copyright. 1931, by The Times)

Questions and Answers

Please tell me something about the life of Edward MacDowell, the American composer? He was born in New York, Dec. 18, 1861. He had a varied education in music, first under SpanishAmerican teachers, and then in Europe, at Paris, Stuttgart, Wiesbaden and Weimar where he was chiefly influenced by Joachim, Raff and Liszt. In 1884 he married Marion Nevins of New York. He returned to America in 1888, and settled in Boston until 1896, when he was made professor of music at Columbia university. New York. This post he resigned in 1904, and in 1905 overwork and insomnia resulted in a complete cerebral collapse. He died Jan. 24, 1903. What is the difference between a polecat and a skunk? Polecat is another term for the American skunk. Is there any animal or vegetable life on the moon? The moon is a dead world, and has no atmosphere, moisture, plant or animal life.

a-9 °- I

fn *h!. d . ot>,n,on * ewessed Ith"1 th " column are those of America’s most interesting writers and are urn. lTritL W Jl b ° Ut thel; j ? r . , ij * a irreement with the editorial attitude of this oancr.—The Editor.

-JUNE 8, 1931

SCIENCE BY DAVID DIETZ

The Real Source of the Earth's W eather Is the Sun. THE sun, source of the earth's light and heat, also 1s the real source of the earth’s weather. Just how the sun influences the weather is understood only in the vaguest and general sort of way. Much study is to be done before the details are cleared up. Dr. C. G. Abbot, secretary of the Smithsonian institution, beileves that the sun’s heat fluctuates from day .to day and that this has an important bearing upon the fluctuations of the weather. There is also some reason for thinking that the sun spot cycle influences the weather. But the sun spot influence, whatever it is, is so complicated, or at least so hidden or masked, that no one can be sure what it is. There is no question, however, about the fact that our weather begins with the sun. Unequal heating of the earth's atmosphere by the sun, due principally to the tilt of the earth on its axis, causes the air at different places to havf* a different density. This starts a general circulation of the earth's atmosphere. This general circulation is, in turn, modified by the rotation of the earth upon its axis. It also is modified by local circulation set up by the fact that the absorption and radiation of heat is different over the continents than it is over the oceans. a a a Equator and Poles THE general circulation of the atmosphere is set up by the difference in temperature between the earth’s equator and poles. Because of the heating at the equatorial region, the air here becomes warm, and therefore less dense. This causes a continual rise >f warm air in the equatorial region. This column of warm air rises to a height of about six miles. The air in the equatorial regions is very humid, because much of this part of the earth’s surface is water. Consequently the ascending air carries up vast quantities of water vapor. But as the air rises, it is cooled by expansion and hence the water vapor is returned to earth in the torrential rains of the tropics. At high altitudes, the air flows to the north and south. Cooling, due to expansion, also increases the density and causes the air to begin to descend again. It reaches the earth’s surface again at about latitude 30 degrees north and south. From there it flows again, along the earth’s surface toward the equator. The general circulation of the air therefore is as follows: The air rises vertically at the equator. The rising column splits in two, part flowing north and part south. The two currents descend toward the earth again, reaching the surface at about 30 degrees north and south. From these two regions, it returns toward the equator. This return of the air, plus the earth’s rotation, are the causes of the trade winds. a a a Cause of Cyclones THE entire world-wide circulation of the atmosphere is not yet understood. Data slowly is being accumulated, however, to show certain kifids of weather in one part of the globe are followed by certain types in other parts. The earth's rotation has a tremendous effect upon winds, and therefore upon the weather. Because of the earth’s rotation, winds in the northern hemisphere always tend to turn to the right. A wind which begins in the north and is headed directly south, will, after a bit, turn into a northeast wind. A west wind in the same way will turn into a northwest wind. Similarly, in the southern hemisphere, the tendency is for all winds to turn to the left. This tendency of the air to turn to the right or left is the cause of cyclones. Thus in the northern hemisphere, air will begin to flow from all directions into a low pressure area. 3ut because of the tendency of the winds to swing to the right, the great mass of air flowing into a low-pressure area soon is in rotation around the center of the low pressure area. This great whirling motion of the air constitutes a cyclone. In the northern hemisphere, the motion of the cyclone always is contrary to that of the hands of the clock. In the southern hemisphere, it always is clockwise.

Daily Thought

For I will declare mine iniquity: I will be sorry for my sin.—Psalm 38: 18. Illusion is brief, but repentance is long.—Schiller.