Indianapolis Times, Volume 43, Number 47, Indianapolis, Marion County, 4 July 1931 — Page 4

PAGE 4

SOU P*J •MOWAJiI*

The Principle of ’76 in 1931 We fervently celebrate the Fourth of July from Maine to California, from the Rio Grande to the Kennebec. Patriotic speakers risk high blood pressure in invoking and praising the spirit of the fathers who won our Independence. Cannons boom, rockets glare and firecrackers sputter. A hundred are blinded for life, scores die from lockjaw and hundreds are maimed in ostensibly doing honor to Tom Paine, Thomas Jefferson and the liberty bell. Suppose, however, we put away for a moment the hum of motor cars and motor boats, oratory, noise and bluster and get down to the real principles of ’76. How much do we know about them and how much do we really honor them? Are they as dead as the painting on the walls of a prehistoric cave in southern France? The great representative thinkers of 1776 were Tom Paine and Jefferson. Paine’s “Common Sense” was the chief revolutionary tract. Jefferson's Declaration of Independence was the great political manifesto. The patriots of 1776 were a small group of desperately harried men who adopted the Declaration of Independence to help the campaign for French aid and to prevent the success of the British plan of conciliating the colonists. The principles of ’76 are conveniently assembled in Jefferson’s famous paragraph from the Declaration: “We hold these truths to be self-evident: That all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness; that, to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed; that, whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it, and to institute anew government.” In short, the fathers stood for revolution; human equality before opportunity and the law, the abolition of special privilege; natural rights; the dominion of the people; and the reduction of the powers of government to the lowest point compatible with social well being. How does 1776 fare in 1931? Paine is either forgotten or held in disrepute by respectable persons. Even that great tribune of the people, Roosevelt, called him a dirty little atheist. He would be blacklisted seven times over by the D. A. R. if alive today. Jefferson has come through a little better as the mythical founder of a still extant political party. But many a person is in prison in this country today for mouthing Jefferson’s doctrines, and thousands are being deported for holding similar views. Imagine Jefferson’s welcome before a national organization—the D. A. R.’s—which insisted on muzzling Hamilton Fish. Within the last few months, in the very shadow of Independence Hall and the liberty bell, two little girls were sentenced to ten years in prison for handing pacifist pamphlets to ex-service men. ' What about equality before the law and equality of opportunity? On the one hand we have the due process clause of the fourteenth amendment, the greatest juristic bulwark of special privilege ever constructed by human ingenuity. On the other we find injunction and contempt proceedings against labor, in which a prejudiced judge may act as judge, Investigator, prosecutor and jury, rolled into one, passing on the validity of his own acts. These are only examples, and overlook entirely the disparity in ordinary justice between the man who can hire Max Steuer or Clarence Darrow and the poor defendant who must accept a green or reluctant lawyer appointed by the court. Equality of opportunity is hollow sham in a country where on one end we find 500 men with annual incomes averaging $2,500,000 and on the other some 7,000,000 men out of work altogether with more millions of hungry and ill-clad dependents. Revolution is outlawed. No less than thirty-two states make its advocacy a felony. Even a liberal federal judge has upheld the barring of a reputable magazine from the mails because it uses revolutionary phrases. The D. A. R. blacklisted America’s most popular clergyman because he used the word revolution in an address. Special privilege is rampant in tariffs, utilities, tax favors, injunctions, due process decisions, and the like. Popular sovereignty is a mere form when small cliques of men nominate our rulers and engineer the passage of oppressive amendments and laws. Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness mean little when a man can not get a job, buy a glass of beer or speak out fearlessly in the language of the men who once made tills country a free land. It is the privilege of any one to prefer the spirit of 1931 to the spirit of 1776. But let him not imagine that they are one and the same thing or that we have preserved the heritage of the fathers. If the price of liberty is eternal vigilance, we have slept at the post of duty.

The Poor House Public sentiment should force an Immediate change in conditions at the county poor farm, even though a politically minded board of commissioners insists upon using the misfortunes of aged and the decrepit to reward machine proteges. The grand jury declares that the treatment of the inmates at the farm is outrageous and crueL When an inmate, desperately ill with tuberculosis, made the same charges to a grand jury, he was promptly arrested and on the testimony of attendants at the farm, sentenced to -80 days in the penal farm. No charge had been made against him until after he had voiced his protest. Then he was immediately arrested. The time of his alleged offense was previous to his testimony before the grand Jury. It is only a fair deduction that he is on the penal farm for denouncing the cruelties that are practiced in that institution. A poor farm is, by its very nature, barbaric and cruel. It punishes those whose crimes are poverty, old age and sickness with humiliation, disgrace and solitude. It is a relic of the days of Queen Elizabeth. It exists only because we are still cruel and savage and ignorant in our social thinking. Many other states have adopted old age pension laws. That great crusade by the Eagles fraternity has conquered a large share of the territory of this nation. It is gaining national recognition. In this state the legislature passed such a law last winter. The Governor vetoed it, and in his one and only personal appearance before the legislature, read his veto measure. He was in at its death. It is bad enough to continue the system of almshouse care for the poor and the afflicted and the aged. It is worse when these Institutions are brutalized. They are bound to be brutalized in states where old age pension laws are vetoed as being a port of the dole system. Veto measures are sure to encourage savages

The Indianapolis Times (A BCKIPPS-HOWAKD NEWSPAPER) Owned and published dally (except Sunday) by The Indianapolis Times Publishing Cos., 214-220 West Maryland Street. Indianapolis, ind. Price in Marlon County. 2 cents a copy: elsewhere. 3 cents —delivered by carrier. 12 cents a week. BOYD GURLEY, ROY W. HOWARD. FRANK G. MORRISON. Editor President Business Manager PHONE—Riley 5631 SATURDAY. JULY 4. 1931. Member of United Press. Scrippa-Howard Newspaper Alliance. Newspaper Enterprise Association. Newspaper Information Service and Audit Bureau of Circulations. “Give Light and the People Will Find Their Own Way.”

who happen to be at the head of such institutions or employed In them to be more brutal. The only question is whether the people of this county, being officially warned of such brutalities, will stand for political protection for this savagery. One good way of celebrating the anniversary of the Declaration of Independence might be to write a letter to the county commissioners demanding freedom from brutality for the helpless wards of the county. Mis-Out or Come? Crapshooters will be interested in learning that explorers for the University museum have recovered a dice which was in use 5,000 years ago in Mesopotamia, proving that the ancients knew the game. Thus rolling the bones, so often frowned upon, acquires the dignity of antiquity, like archery, battledore and shuttlecock, 'and other sports. But, we fear, there was crooked work on the banks of the Tigris. The numbers on the Mesopotamia dice are arranged so that the five is opposite the four on the cube, and the two is opposite the three. Now every one knows a pair of such dice would never match up to show the lucky seven all around—the two and five should be opposite, and the four and the three. Maj/be some ancient player was palming his dice. Or perhaps some victim threw them away in a game and demanded anew pair. Too bad the scientists can’t tell us.

The Pig Crop A pig survey just concluded by the department of agriculture shows that the spring pig crop is good, being 2.5 per cent greater than last year. Also there is a marked increase in the number of sows kept for fall farrowing. So it is calculated that the fall crop may be a fifth larger than last year. Probably everybody ought to cheer at the prospect of plenty of pork chops and bacon next winter. But consider the poor farmer. He’s getting under $6 for his pigs, the lowest price in a generation. He couldn’t get a decent price for his com, so he turned it into pork, and now the price of that has tobogganed. Os course the farmer should have cut his production of pigs. He has had plenty of advice of this sort from Washington, but we suspect he’ll derive small satisfaction from that. There seems to be no way out except for the farmer to eat his own pigs. Pensions Never Stop The new fiscal year witnesses the passing of the United States pension bureau, which for nearly a century has distributed payments to veterans of our various wars and their widows. The country’s pension system, in fact, antedates the Revolutionary war, but the bureau was not established as a separate agency until 1833. During its life the bureau paid out nearly eight and a half billion dollars to 2,763,000 soldiers or their dependents. The rolls now contain 450,000 names. Twenty-five years ago the number was just under a million. The bureau long was the center of political controversy, particularly in the ’Bos and ’9os, when the men of the Grand Army of the Republic were a powerful political group whose favor was curried by those seeking office. It was natural that successive pension laws liberalized payments. Now the veterans of the World war occupy the center of the stage. General Hines, director of the veterans’ administration, in a recent speech, said approximately a million ex-soldiers and their dependents receive benefits that cost about a billion dollars a year. This is more than 20 per cent of all federal expenditures. During the year two million veterans "bad received bonus loans amounting to nearly $800,000,000. Half a million veterans had filed claims under the new law allowing compensation for non-service connected disabilities. Veterans’ hospitals housed 35,000. There is every evidence that history will repeat and that benefits will grow more liberal as the veterans advance in age and become more powerful politically. The tendency has already become apparent.

REASON *

THE king of Denmark has made Holger Hoiriis a knight of Danebroge for flying the Atlantic. But we wouldn’t fly over the large Volstead exhibit to become any number of knights of Danebroge—whatever that might be. a a a When they make you a knight they tap you on the shoulder. It’s a great deal like being tapped on the shoulder and told that your gas bill is past due. a a a Not content with financing Germany, we are nowthinking of financing South America. Let’s get all the kick we can out of the amiability of our customers while they’re borrowing from us, for they’ll be vituperating the daylights out of us a little later on when we ask them to come across. . a a a BANDITS have invaded golf clubs near Chicago and robbed the- athletes in the dressing rooms. Any day we are expecting to hear that bold, bad men have walked out on a baseball diamond and kidnaped a pitcher before 50,000 Chicago spectators. a * a We are strong for the Declaration of Independence and for George Washington and Thomas Jefferson and John Adams, but we do not rise and salute the flag when children wake us at 6 a. m. by shooting firecrackers one week before the Fourth of July. a a a There’s one thing about these French debates over our plan to have a year’s moratorium on war debts that makes us overflow with laughter and it is the charge that we are a crafty, designing people. Bless your life, in international affairs, the United States is the largest Rube in captivity. a a a NO matter what administration it is, whether it be Republican or Democratic, we never meet up with a band of diplomatic gold brick artists from abroad that we do not lose everything but our B. V. D.’s and our vaccination marks. Unless they have a chaperon, no band of American statesmen should be permitted to go into a huddle with Europeans. a a a As things have developed Lindy is not going to get much fame out of this flight to Japan, for with all the conquering of oceans that is now going on, it’s hard to find any more laurels on the tossing billows. a a a We see where; the President has just helped lay the keel of anew $10,000,000 cruiser. This is what you call wasting money to the tune of the Star-Spangled Banner. The cruiser and the ship are now the ox carts of war. Build airplanes I

THE INDIANAPOLIS TIMES

M. E. Tracy SAYS: Tools Represent Ideas Bom of a Terrific Struggle for Existence, but We Never Think of Them in That Light . NEW YORK, July 4.—ln this day of unexpected discoveries and startling inventions, it is easy to trace the effect of mechanical progress on social, moral and even religious concepts. Average people find little difficulty in understanding how apartment houses, automobiles, broadcasting and other innovations have altered not only their habits, but their views. It is probable that the same thing has been true in other ages. As Carlisle says, man is a tool-using animal. His power to appropriate, adapt and create instruments includes far more than what those instruments enable him to do in a material sense. For one thing, their mere manufacture has greatly increased his ability to think. Toilers Slighted THE idea that civilization is a by-product of abstract dreamers has been emphasized out of all reason. Thoughts translated into creations of wood or metal have received scant credit compared to those expressed in words. Until very recent times history ignored the workaday world. It appears to have been taken for granted that men who toiled could not think, and that the implements by which they lifted themselves out of the jungle, built better houses and made possible a healthier type of life are not to be mentioned in the same breath with the songs they sang.

Tools Are Ideas THE value of a thing can best be determined by considering how well we could get along without it. Now, what would happen if we were to suddenly lose all of our tools, especialy those of a commonplace variety, such as axes, scythes, saws, bits, hammers and nails? No one regards them as of very great consequence compared to proverbs, precepts and poetry, but just what would life be like if they were to disappear suddenly. They represent ideas, of course, frequently born of a terriffic struggle for existence, but somehow we never think of them in that light. The chances are that no poem ever cost such mental labor as the production of the first bit, or represented any higher degree of imagination, but somehow'’ we can’t see it that way. Blinded to Framework AN educational system, motheaten with classical culture, socalled, has blinded us to the real framework of human progress. It has caused us to be vastly more interested in ornaments on the roof than in the foundation. There is a widespread belief that a few arts, fine or otherwise, could be depended on to save the world, no matter what occurred. Asa corollary to this belief, artistry has come to be looked upon as confined to a few exclusive fields. The idea of associating it with commerce or mechanics is still repugnant. n tt tt Art and Ability A FEW contend that beauty and utility are inseparable, that perfection in accordance with any one principle leads to perfection in accordance with all others. If such a philosophy has any basis we owe a great deal to those things which have been brought into being and perfected for practical use. Take an ax handle, for instance, a French telephone set, or the body of a modern automobile, and you will see how art has not only combined with utility, but been helped by it. Designers have contributed a great deal, no doubt, but the criticisms and suggestions of those actually using these appliances have contributed far more. tt n u Injustice to Doers IT has been that way since the dawn of consciousness. Men confronted with the actual problem of doing a thing, whether physical, moral or artistic, are mainly responsible for what we know or think we know. By and large, however, these men are unkown. By and large, the spectators who watched from a safe distance, or even gathered their information second-hand and then wrote what they had seen or heard, are given the lion’s share of the credit. By and large, we pay vastly more attention to the record than to what it records. All this has led to an exaltation of tale-tellers and commentators which, no matter how deserving they may be, does a grave injustice to those achievements gave them something to tell or criticise.

Questions and Answers

What are the superstitions concerning the wearing of an amethyst and a garnet? The garnet is supposed to give and preserve health, drive away vain thoughts, and reconcile differences between friends, strengthens the heart and increases riches and honor. An amethyst is supposed to dispel sleep, sharpen the intellect, prevent intoxication, give victory to soldiers and protect from sorcery. What day did Nov. 16, 1912 come on? Saturday. Where was the William H. Block department store located before it moved to the present location? On the south side of Washington street, east of Meridian street. Were any members of the company which went to Africa to film scenes for “Trader Horn” killed? No. Give the cast of the motion picture, “Check and Double Check?” Amos, Freeman F. Gosden; Andy, Charles J. Correll; Jean Blair, Sue Carol; Richard Williams, (.Tharles Morton; Ralph Crawford, Ralf Harolde; John Blair, Edward Martindel; Mrs. Blair, Elinor Crawford, Rita L&Roy; E'ingfish, Russell PowelL

“But, Doc, I’ve Been Taking, Jt for Over a Year”

DAILY HEALTH SERVICE Nose Ailments More General in Men

BY DR. MORRIS FISHBEIN Editor Jonrnal of the American Medical Association and of Hygeia, the Health Magazine. COME years ago the Commission on Medical Education, after studying the cases in the practice of numerous general practitioners, came to the conclusion that 90 per cent of diseases coming to the attention of physicians could be handled by general practitioners with the amount of equipment that could be carried in a handbag. Statistical studies of diseases are important, because they show physicians the kind of work for which they must be prepared. One organization which makes examinations of men and women at periodic intervals recently has compared the rates for disease among men and women as determined by the examination of 12,618 people. The women included workers of all types, housewives, clerks in stores and those serving in the various professions. Many of the conditions from which the women suffer are connected with childbirth. The rates are higher among women

IT SEEMS TO ME by h ™ d

I SEE where Theodore Dreiser has been the butt of a rather heated controversy in F. P. A.’s “Coning Tower’’ in the Herald Tribune. My colleague, Frank Adams, seems to have expressed the opinion in an earlier column that Dreiser’s failure to conform to certain standards of writing siiows a lack of good taste. Many of his readers, on the other hand, have the feeling that a split infinitive here and there has nothing to do with the case so long as the writer pens the truth as he sees it. a a a Referee Needed THERE is much to be said for both sides. If a story is absorbing to such a degree that I am projected into the book and my own physical suroundings melt into a wraithlike background its construction becomes less than secondary. I am for the moment unaware of grammatical errors, faulty punctuation and the like. Or if I do notice some glaring mistake I might say to myself: “Oh, well, that is pretty bad, but what’s the difference? The story is good, and this man knows what he’s talking about.’’ I imagine that this is so with most people who read for pleasure.. And, to be sure, except in the case of required reading for students or savants, reading should be classed as an amusement. I was never in sympathy with the theory that we should read bobks only for the knowledge to be gleaned or the moral lesson to be learned. There are many who feel that way about shows. A musical comedy or a revue is considered a scandalous waste of time and money. It must be that we have not yet lived down that old puritanical prejudice against the lighter things in life. Evidently to live righteously is to groan and sweat during our youth. And when we are old enough to reap the rewards of unremitting toil we will have lost our taste for the glitter and froth and laughter. a a a For the Elite BUT getting back to our literary discussion, I want to say a word for the stylists. I have read many books that had very little to offer in, the way of a plot. Asa matter of fact, in some cases they might just as well have remained unwritten so far as the stories themselves were concerned. Yet I have found them absorbing in a different way. There is an almost sensuous pleasure to be had from the music of cadenced words and the rhythm and sweep of perfectly constructed sentences. You can close your eyes and imagine you are listening to RimskyKorsakoff’s “Scheherazade” or a Chopin waltz. One gets the effect of floating on a sea of beautiful sound. And at the end there is no problem to puzzle over—just a fleeting memory of rhythmic and scintillating beauty. I imagine that a gourmet gets much the same effect from a perfect meal. mam Blundering, Sincere DREISER, of course, does not fit. into this category. But he does, or did. belong in that class that knows how to tell a story. Contrary to popular conviction#

than among men for functional murmurs of the heart, neuritis, nervousness and abnormal reflexes. Women have varicose veins more frequently than do men and also valvular lesions of the heart and enlargement of the heart. On the other hand, the only conditions in which there is a definite excess in the rate for men are deflected septums in the nose, thickening or hardening of the arteries, defecfcvie hearing, frequent colds, and pyorrhea. Just why men should have nose and throat troubles so much more than women is of great interest, but the reason is not clear. When the figures for housewives were studied in relation to all of the women, it is found that they suffer more frequently from some conditions than do women in general. Since housewives are married to a far greater extent than are other women workers, the explanation lies in the fact that the conditions concerned definitely are associated with childbirth. Women have far more disturbances of the thyroid than do men. They complain much more of ten-

he attained his peak at the beginning of 1 his writing career. As I have said before, “Sister Carrie” and “Jennie Gerhardt” were for me the best things he ever did. It is too bad that Dreiser did not achieve fame at an earlier age, before the drab monotony of poverty had a chance to seep into his bones. In the days when he was considered shocking and his books were barred from respectable homes and libraries it was considered quite smart by the sophisticates to like him. Now, such is the fleeting quality of fame, people of discernment refuse to recognize him as one of our great writers. St tt tt Food for the Soul HIS social life has suffered accordingly. Evidently an ego starved too long can not freely ad-

Views of Times Readers

Editor Times—lt is very gratifying to know that we have a few people left in our great country who dare to ask for a few things which rightly belong to them. While I do not care to support or have any part in a parade or demonstration of the so-called “Russian Reds,” those who see red are not always the “Reds.” It certainly does not speak well for any police force or any one else to abuse and pummel and even literally ride over citizens with a horse, just because they have taken the liberty that God

P% c T

THE “4TH” IN FRANCE July 4 THE Fourth of July, 1917, was celebrated enthusiastically throughout France. In Paris the chief feature of interest was presence of a battalion of United States troops which was about to leave for the front. Everywhere the Stars and Stripes were flung from public buildings, hotels, residences, cars, cabs and carts. In the chapel before the Tomb of Napoleon, General Pershing received American flags and banners from the hands of President Poincare. The enthusiasm of the vast crowds which lined the walks reached its highest pitch when General Pershing escorted by by President Poincare, Marshal Joffre. and other French dignitaries, renewed the lines of the Americans drawn up in square formations. Cheering broke out anew when the American band struck up the “Marseillaise,” and again when the French band played “The StarSpangled Banner,” and Pershing received the flags from the president. “Vivent les Americalns! Vive Pershing! Vivent les Etats Unis’.” shouted over and over by the crowd, greeted the American standard bearers. - **

derness in the region of the gall bladder and appendix. So far as the age at which disease occurs is concerned, the ages in both groups seem to be the same. Sex differences in the occurrence of various diseases are factors which interest physicians greatly, particularly in the matter of making a diagnosis. There was a time when certain diseases were limited, almost exclusively to men, even those that did not affect itssues or organs peculiarly masculine. Since women have come to a large extent out of the home and into industry and into similar politically active positions, they begin to show disturbances which formerly were limited almost wholly to men. In the past the life expectancy of women was in general greater than that of man at any given age, and among people living to 100 years of age there usually would be more women than men. Equality of effort and associated therewith equality of ' exposure makes it likely that in the future this distinction will not maintain.

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

just itself to new ways. In his effort to keep himself before the public he has don-e little more than make himself slightly ridiculous. In taking up the cudgels for the down-trodden he has fallen into that class known as “parlor Bolsheviks.” And as “parlor Socialists” were once the butt of bitter and ironic spoofing, so now is the “parlor Bolshevik” in a similar position. He is too radical for the respectable citizenry and too conservative for the reds. He belongs nowhere and walks alone most of the time. Dreiser, much against his wishes, has fallen into that class of writers who may not be slapped. I think he liked it better when he could stand toe to too and slug and take his chances. (Copyright. 1331. by The Times)

gave us and ask for that or a part of that which truly is theirs. What right has a citizen got any more? It would have been different if those men who recently vis? ited your fair city in orderly manner had been armed or had shown some sign of violence. It must be understood that there is no red organization in Marion, and at no time have our citizens been anything but truly American in every way. Truly our men were only workers, but who dare to challenge us for being such? We don’t choose to be beggars, but ask only for a chance to earn a decent, honest living. While the officers and mayor of our city did not care to receive the “Reds” with open arms, they are at least broadminded enough to treat them with courtesy. The only thing red about me is the blood in my body, and I want to preserve that to see the time when we can all be democratic enough to do justice to our fellow-men. W. C. BREWER. 1816 Marion avenue, Marion, Ind.

Canning and Preserving From now on, throughout the summer, when fresh fruits *r>d vegetables are plentiful, Mrs. Frugal Housewife will do her canning and preserving. Our Washington Bureau has ready for you a packet of four of its comprehensive bulletins. They are: 1. Home Canning 3. Jams and Conserves 2, Putting Up Catsups and Relishes 4. Jelly Making at Home If you want this packet of bulletins, fill out the qoupon below and mail as directed. CLJP COUPON HERE Department B-l, Washington Bureau, The Indianapolis Times, 1322 New York avenue, Washington, D. C. I want the packet of four bulletins on canning, preserving and jelly making and inclose herewith 15 cents in coin, or loose, uncanceled United States postage stamps to cover return postage and handling costs. Name * Street and No City... . State..... lam a reader of The Indianapolis Times. (Code No,), * .

JULY 4, 1931

SCIENCE BY DAVID DIETZ—*—The Mechanical Cow Still Appears to Be Far in th% Future. r T'HE notion of a mechanical cow, once attributed to Henry Ford, is brought forward again, this time : by Dr. E. A. White of Chicago. Dr. White expressed his views at tho twenty-fifth annual meeting of the American Society of Agricultural Engineers at lowa State college. Like Ford, Dr. White looks upon the cow as an inefficient machine for production of food. Dr. 'White looks to synthetic chemistry to replace the cow*. It is a dream similar to that which other chemists have had. Many look forward to the day when synthetic chemistry shall abolish all factories, utilizing sunlight directly to feed mankind. But let. us hear from Dr. White on the subject of the cow before we discuss these ideas. He says: “Look at all the work required. Why should the human race be compelled to feed, clean, and milk cows twice daily, 365 days a year, to obtain fats, minerals and vitamins? “The engineer is interested in a better way, and therefore will join hands with the chemist in the production and utilization of vegetable fats. There is every reason to believe that ten jyears hence, butter will be facing much more intense competition than is the case today.” * ts n Eating Alfalfa DR. WHITE goes on to say: : “The agricultural practices which would follow such a train of developments are, of course, tremendous. Crops would be developed for the fats which they contain. Why, these chemists yet may have us eating alfalfa! “We engineers hold no brief for the cow or the hog, the cotton plant or vegetable oils, but we axe fundamentally interested in seeing the human race properly fed, clothed and housed at a low over-all cost.” Now, then, whaUshall we say of the possibility of synthetic chemistry supplanting the cow? In all probability It will some day do it. But the big question is, when? Unquestionably, the chemist has worked many wonders to date. By syntheis, that is, the putting together of various chemical elements,.. he has built compounds which never existed before. Asa sample of the chemist’s art, let us turn to what he has been able * to do with skim milk, a product, incidentally, which he would not have, if the cow was abolished. The chemist separates the casein from the skim milk. Out of casein, he has succeeded in making glues, paints, coatings for paper and casein plastics. Articles made from the plastics include buttons, beads, combs, fountain pens, imitation ivory, and hundreds of similar objects. The chemist has succeeded in making gasoline from coal. He has achieved all sorts of wonders. But any chemist will admit that the problem of providing a product to take the place of milk still is beyond the knowledge of science. 8 tt 8 Mystery of Vitamins VITAMINS will help to illustrate the point. Until a few years ago, dietitians talked of carbo- , hydrates, fats, and proteins, and thought that they were telling the whole story. Then vitamins were discovered. . . There still is much to be learned about vitamins. The chemical composition of vitamins requires much study. There is no reason to suppose that all the vitamins in exist- ” ence have been discovered. Slowly, however, progress is be- • ing made. One, therefore, should not be too much of a pessimist. : A noted physicist once wrote a ’ paper to prove why the trans-At- * lantic cable never would carry messages. A famous American astron- . omer wrote a paper to prove why ' the airplane never could be a sue- • cess. But the cables carry messages under the ocean today and airplanes fly over it. Some new discovery suddenly may accelerate progress in the field - of synthetic chemistry at an un- .. dreamed-of rate. That sort of thing r may happen. But at the present moment, farmers will do well not to sell their ' cows. The cow may be inefficient. It may be a lot of work to feed the cow, to clean the cow, and to milk the cow. Perhaps no one would be happier . to get rid of the cow than would t the farmer. But the mechanical cow seems - still a long ways off. *

Daily Thought

It is an honor for a man to cease from strife; but every fool will be meddling.—Proverbs 20:3. Ah, how happy would many lives be if Individuals troubled themselves as little about other people’s affairs as about their own.—Lichtenberg. What Is the debt of the United States to foreign countries on account of the World war? The United States does not have any war debts to foreign countries.