Indianapolis Times, Volume 43, Number 274, Indianapolis, Marion County, 25 March 1932 — Page 6

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The Case of Dale The demand of George Dale that the attorney-general of the United States investigate his indictment to determine whether the local district attorney or grand jury has been made the subject of imposition seems reasonable. The treatment of Dale after his arrest suggests a vindictiveness that was in itself suspicious. It was common gossip upon the streets of Muncie that Dale would be kept in jail over the week-end, no matter what bondsmen might be obtained in advance. That rumor became fact after the arrest of Dale, a strong contrast to the treatment afforded those arrested in Anderson on the same day. Dale publicly charges that he is the victim of attacks by those whom he prosecuted for the very crimes he is charged with protecting. He submits to the attorney-general that he has eliminated notorious and costly graft in connection with public contracts and that grafting on public contracts and protection of crime have always been twin evils. Both exist or neither exists in any city. That sounds reasonable. Dale calls attention to his record for economy. He has reduced the tax rate. He has a surplus instead of a deficit so common in other cities. The appeal of Dale has the ring of sincerity. It does not sound like the whine of a guilty man appealing for favors. It is open, not secret. It has the note of outraged citizenship which believes that this government should not be imposed upon or used by vicious elements to destroy effort to serve the public good. The record of the prohibition department in this state has not invited unquestioned confidence. The disappearance of large amounts on repeated occasions of confiscated liquors from the federal building suggests the resale of this liquor for profit or its distribution for political favors. A department that has established such a record might easily lend itself to the sinister purposes of those who are no longer able to pillage the public funds. Something more than the fate of Dale is involved. If innocent men can be forced to the costly process of trial and defense, if mayors who strive to serve the public are to be humiliated and destroyed without reason and by imposition practiced upon any part of the machinery of justice, the people should know it. If Dale is guilty and his charge baseless, an investigation by the attorney-general will fortify its case. If innocent, public confidence in courts can be increased by prompt apology by the government through its chief legal officer. Home to Roost Some years ago the Indianapolis Water Company fought vigorously for a principle that rate making should be on the basis of ‘ reproduction new.” It established that as a legal basis. Translated into common language that meant public utilities, and especially the water company, could collect on a basis that would permit it to pay dividends on a sum equal to the cost of rebuilding the system. It meant that rates did not have any definite relationship to the amount of money invested nor was there any pretense that the rates should safeguard real dollars put to a public use. That was established in the days of high wages for labor, high prices for materials, high valuations on whatever real estate was used by the company. Months ago. The Times suggested that if this was a fair and legal basis in times of high prices, it should be applied in periods of deflation. It suggested that if people were forced to pay on increased valuations in prosperous times, they should be given service on a basis of low valuations in times of depression. Upon that basis the city and the South Side Civic Clubs demanded a reduction of water rates. The valuation of real estate holdings placed on its farm lands for rate purposes is illuminating. Low marsh lands, useful for no other purpose than as a possible future supply of water, are listed at $l5O an acre at a time when the most productive farm lands are selling at SSO an acre and less fertile farms have no sale value at any price. There is no pretense that the company ever paid $l5O an acre for these lands. It might be embarrassing if the company were enticed to show how much it paid for the canal. The claim of the company that its canal is used for industrial sites becomes a ghastly jest when there are idle factories and no demand for new ones. The claim that in the residence sections the canal could be converted into the sites for stately homes and should be valued accordingly for rate purposes loses force when realtors find it impossible to sell sites in any place at any price. What is true of its real estate claims is true also of t.he cost of rebuilding the distributing system, and it must be remembered that this company established the principle that it could charge, not or. what it actually paid for labor, but what it would cost in a labor market that had reached its peak of wages. It is true also of the cost of materials needed for pipes and for machinery. Anything more than a rate fixed upon a fair appraisal of these properties at present values should not be accepted by the people. Those marsh lands must be listed at their present sale value—and that means what they would bring at a sheriff's sale. In this city there was no success in selling any land for taxes. The coat of reproduction should be established on the basis of what It would cost to hire labor in this city at this time. Evidence on that point could be easily obtained from the thousands who are now appealing daily for the chance to work for a basket of groceries. This company established the rule. It is their

The Indianapolis Times (A SCKIITH-HOWAKO NEWSPAPER) Owned and published dally (except Sunday) by The Indianapolis Time* Publishing Cos.. 214-220 Weat Maryland Street, Indianapolis, Ind. Price in Marion County. 2 cents a copy: elsewhere. 3 rerun—ddlercd by carrier. 12 cents a week. Mail subscription rates In Indiana. $3 a year: outside of Indiana. (15 cents a month. BOYD GUKLET. ROY W. HOWARD. EARL D. BAKER Editor President Bnslneaa Manager PHONE—Riley 5551 FRIDAY. MARCH 25. 132 Member of United Press Hcrtppt-Howard Newspaper Alliance. Newspaper Enterprise Association. Newspaper Information Service and Audit Bureau of Circulations. “Give Light and the People Will Find Their Own Way.”

rooster. It has come home to roost. The company should not be permitted to escape the results of its own greediness of other days. One Way Out There is one quick, easy and obvious way to balance the federal budget. That is to legalize and tax beer. It is not a question of making a dry country wet. The beer already is being made, sold and consumed. All the millions of dollars which the government has taken from hard-pressed taxpayers and thrown away upon enforcement of an unenforceable law have not stopped the beer traffic. It has bred racketeering and corrupted the nation. And it has robbed the government of revenue. There was a day, not so long ago, when Americans were not concerned with government finances. Times were good, money was easy. But today every taxpayer and every official is worried about the federal deficit. They are seeking a new source of federal revenue which will do the least damage to the consumer and to business revival. The proposed beer tax meets that dire need. It will help the government and the taxpayer out of a hole. It will hurt no one but th* bootlegger and the racketeer. The beer tax amendment to the revenue bill should be put to a vote. Every congressman and senator should be put on record. There are those who say that such a vote would be only a gesture, that the measure could not carry. We are not so sure. Two weeks ago those same party leaders told us that the sales tax could not be defeated. The house, by overwhelming vote, Thursday, disproved the prophecy. Perhaps the house, if given a fair chance, may do the “impossible” again by passing a beer tax. In any event, the issue is clean cut. If the drys insist on making the government increase the deficit by throwing away more millions on so-called enforcement. while depriving the government of its rightful tax revenues from beer now being made, then the drys must take responsibility for imposition of other taxes. We do not believe that other taxes can be levied which are not harmful to business in this crisis. Now that the house properly has raised the income and estate taxes, it may turn back to get the remaining revenue from the Hoover-Mellon excise tax plan on luxuries and semi-luxuries. If congress refuses to tax beer, such a luxury tax may be the only immediately effective alternative. But if automobiles, and radios, and the like are taxed, then the manufacturer and the merchant and the consumer will be squeezed to pay the money which the government refuses to collect from the bootlegger. All the shrill propaganda about the house wrecking the nation by defeating the sales tax is absurd. The Scripps-Howard newspapers and other organizations opposing the sales tax were defending a vital American tradition. Defeat of the sales tax merely confirms and reasserts a fundamental American principle of taxation as cld as the republic. The vote increasing income j and estate taxes merely repeats the action taken during the last national crisis. This victory for common sense having been won, congress now is back where it started when a misguided combine of Democratic and Republican bosses J tried to rush it up a dangerous alley. Having taken the normal American course of i avoiding a general sales tax and utilizing the income ; and inheritance tax to the full, we now can get down to the business of balancing the rest of the budget. After unnecessary military and other federal ex- , penditures have been cut, and after necessary pro- j vision has been made for unemployment relief which no longer can be met by local agencies alone, the government will have to raise additional funds by a tax on beer or a tax on such articles as automobiles. We believe the American people have a choice. j Unless all signs fail, more than two-thirds of the voters favor a beer tax. If the taxpayers speak as loudly in this beer tax j fight as they did in the sales tax battle, perhaps congress again will register the representative will of the voters. Governor Pinchot says the ordinary letter costs the government between 15 and 25 cents. But if you say too much, one can cost a thousand times that. And now the Sino-Japanese war is about to be succeeded by the war over what Japan will get out of it. Two dozen hacksaw blades, but no sawed bars, were found in the Missouri penitentiary. Perhaps the convicts were waiting for business to find that corner!

Just Every Day Sense BY MRS. WALTER FERGUSON

ANOTHER commission has finished its job. The war policies board the other day handed its findings to congress. It had been set to the task of discovering how war burdens could be distributed equally among the whole American people. First of all, it might be interesting to note that besides several senators and cabinet members who are automatically exempt from conscription, the commission was made of six cabinet members. Its witnesses included the federal reserve governor, the president of the Baltimore & Ohio railroad, and the chief of staff of the army. Not a plain ordinary private among ’em. And their findings are not those of a plain ordinary private either. The idea of the conscription in war time of every man and every dollar to gain a victory as quickly as possible was rejected by the commission as quickly as possible. “It would be,” they announced, “nothing short of confiscation and socialistic besides, and such a sweeping method of equalization of war burdens would be both unwieldy and unnecessary.” * * * WHILE some of their decisions are excellent, it seems to me that the ideas of these gentlemen about confiscation are a bit vague. In plain terms, they say the taking of a man’s dollars would be confiscation, while the taking of his son would not be. A goodly number of the martial brigade and several ladies of the D. A. R. have written to me with stern unbraiding. They say mv views are childish. What would I do. if a war became a reality and we had to fight it out for the Philippines? To enlighten them. I may say. that I shall cheer on the boys when I see Charlie Schwab of United States Steel marching at the head of a company, when Charles Mitchell, financier, parades with the privates, when Du Pont uses his manufactured powder on the battlefield, and when men like Hiram Johnson and Senator Borah, who prattle about Our Country, go out to defend it In other words. 7. will be for wars when the old men who make them do some of she fighting.

THE INDIANAPOLIS TIMES

1 M: E: Tracy Says:

The United States Has Not Reached Point Where the Defeat of a $500,000,000 Tax Bill Means Bankruptcy or Anything Like It. NEW YORK, March 25.—Gratifying as defeat of the sales tax j may be. no time should be wasted in j applause. The government’s fiscal condition is acute, not because of any fundamental weakness, but bei cause of loose talk and unwise j schemes for its correction. Proponents of the sales tax have | succeeded in nothing so well as in creating the impression of a desperate state of affairs. In their zeal to put this oppressive measure across, they have implied that there was no alternative, that the government must have so much cash by fair means, or foul, that capital was so scarce, or scared as to make the sale of bonds doubti ful, that the deficit was so great as ( to make alO per cent pay cut for federal employes of no consequence. ! Opposition to the sales tax has been characterized as radical, if not I Qommunistic. Those against it have ; been charged with pandering to class consciousness. The campaign in its behalf has been pitched on a scale calculated to frighten timid souls. It has been presented as a child of dire necessity, and its failure has been portrayed as nothing less than a national calamity. tt tt U, S. Not Bankrupt THE tense situation thus developed calls for prompt action. It also calls for a calm attitude toward the problem of adjusting government finances. The United States has not reached a point where the defeat of a five hundred million-dollar tax bill means bankruptcy, or anything like it. Indeed, the United States has not reached a point where it could not reduce running expenses by that amount if it had to. The worst phase of the situation is the dawdling by which it has been permitted to take on the appearance of a crisis. Lack of foresight is at the bottom of this mess. * * tt Economy First! THERE are three ways of meeting such a situation as we face. First, by cutting expenses; second, by judicious borrowing, and, third, levying taxes in proportion to the ability of those who pay. Os these three, taxation should have come last. Before it goes any farther with | tax bills, congress should see what \ i can be done to whittle down ex- | penses. After that, it should see j what can be done to finance the ; government with short-term bonds. When it finally reaches taxation, congress should give some attention |to bootlegging and the various | forms of racketeering which are dij verting hundreds of millions of dollars annually into the channels j of vice and crime. tt tt it Beer Would Help A DISTINGUISHED cle r g yman said the other day that “no nation ever drank itself into prosperity.” Maybe not, but a nation has drunk itself into the grip of gangs, as the last twelve years of American history prove. As long as the American people pay $1,000,000,000 in profits to rum runners, this government will not lack a source of revenue, except as it permits itself to be blinded by a visionary conception of reform. Asa senate subcommittee pointed out last week, 2 cents a pint on beer, without any great increase of the volume we now are consuming, would produce $300,000,000 each year. With that gold mine untapped, why the huiry to exhaust other ct rces of revenue? mum Lesson in Defeat LEADERS of the so-called bipartisan coalition in congress have assumed mistakenly that the status quo must be maintained, that neither the Volstead, act nor the economic lineup should be disturbed, and that their only recourse was to blanket the country with a tax. They closed their eyes to the real meaning of the depression and the organized viciousness which has doubled its effect. They would not admit the necessity of readjustment. Defeat of the sales tax will not have served its full purpose if it fails to enlighten them on both points.

JJ* T 9s9£ Y f WORLD WAR \ ANNIVERSARY °7> h&M GERMANS TAKE BAPAUME March 25

ON March 25, 1918, hard-pressed British troops were forced to evacuate Bapaume, Nesle, and Guiscard„ as dozens of fresh German divisions were thrown into the lines in an effort to smash communications between the British and French armies. German officials claimed the capture of more than 3,000 prisoners and much equipment at Bapaume. German news agencies announced that the Fifth British army was demoralized completely and was being taken from the front. Three French divisions were thrown into a gap between the French and British lines and held on to their positions despite massed assaults of German shock troops. Losses in the great battle being waged in Picardy were running into many thousands daily. General Pershing announced that two regiments of American troops had taken position on the Picardy battle front. They were the first American troops to engage in a major conflict in the World war.

Daily Thought

For dost thon art and unto dust shalt thon return. Genesis 3:19. Death robs the rich and relieves the poor.—J. L. Basford.

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DAILY HEALTH SERVICE Death Rate Lowering Is Shown

BY DR. MORRIS FISHBEIN Editor Journal of the American Medical Association and of Hygeia, the Health Magazine. FURTHER cheering news for persons more than 65 years old may be found in a recent bulletin of the city of New York department of health, which shows that death rates for 1930 are lower in every classification than they were in 1900. Another fact brought out in the same bulletin shows that the percentage of persons more than 65 years old has increased every ten years since 1910. For example, in 1900, 2.79 per cent of the population was more than 65; in 1910, 2.84 per cent; in 1920, 3.11 per cent, and in 1930, 3.83 per cent. From these figures it will be noted that the percentage gain between 1920 anti 1930 was more than twice as great as the percentage gain from 1900 to 1920. To go more deeply into the clas-

IT SEEMS TO ME

THERE came in the morning mail one of the most remarkable campaign documents it ever has been my privilege to receive. The heading is neutral enough and merely says, “Because of business conditions, we ask you to read this.” Later it develops that the friendly little chat is sponsored by the Garner for President Club. The club suggests that “the yardstick of common sense should be laid down alongside any man who offers himself for election to office, and only those who come nearest measuring up to that yardstick we should support.” But in getting down to precise specifications the Garnerites are a good deal less than tactful in presenting the claims of their candidate. For instance, they want a man “with the courage of his convictions. . . . His yea, yea. His nay, nay.” tt u u Shrinking, Shrieking Silence NOW, it is entirely possible that certain issues have been introduced before congress and that concerning these John Nance Garner spoke up with a firm voice. But concerning the very contentious problem of prohibition nothing has come from him but an ear-splitting silence. Even his loudest shout in the days to come could hardly thunder with the shrillness of his silence. The “yea” of honest John Garner means “yea,” and there is as much to be said for his “nay,” but his friends ought to be observant enough to note the even greater eloquence of his “not voting.” William Randolph Hearst, the po-

Growing of Roses Do you know the happy adventure of growing roses In your home garden? Success with roses is not hard for the amateur if a few rules are followed. Os recent years nearly everybody who pretends to have any sort of a garden, has from one to a score or more of rose bushes. Whether you already grow roses, or whether you never have, and want to start, our Washington Bureau has ready for you a comprehensive, but simply worded bulletin, written by a practical rose grower with years of experience, that will give all the information you need for success. If you want your table and your living rooms filled with beautiful roses this year, fill out the coupon below and send for this bulletin—and start the happy adventure. CLIP COUPON HERE Dept. 172, Washington Bureau, The Indianapolis Times, 1322 New York Avenue, Washington, D. C. I want a copy of the bulletin ROSE GARDENS, and enclose herewith 5 cents in coin, or loose, uncancelled. United States postage stamps, to cover return postage and hadling costs: NAME §T. and NO CITY STATE I am a reader of The Indianapolis Times.

The Big Shot

sification of New York’s population by ages, the chart shows that persons from 35 to 64 amounted to 33.8 per cent of the total population in 1930, as compared with 27.5 per cent in 1930. These figures show more clearly than ever that science and medicine must concern themselves more than ever with health for those past middle age in life. Declining death rates for older persons show that progress is being made, but the decline for adults still is far below the decline for the younger groups. For example, the death rate for children between 5 and 9 now is less than half the 1900 rate for both boys and girls, while the rate for adults between 60 and 64 has declined approximately 8 per cent. The difference in some of the older groups, while still substantial, is somewhat less. One interesting thing to note is

litical pygmalion of the shy rustic, has noted the reticence of his candidate and sought to explain it in a recent interview. Mr. Hearst said that in all probability Garner did not want to be tagged as either a wet or dry, and accordingly had availed himself of the Speaker’s privilege of not voting. It is an explanation more logical than inspiring. I did not myself assume that John Nance Garner had refrained from committing himself because he wished to be Queen of the May. Asa receptive candidate for the presidential nomination he realizes better than his sponsors that “yea” and “nay” constitute an inadequate vocabulary for any one who wishes to draw support from all factions of the Democratic party. You can’t get along without “Don’t ask me that” and “I have nothing to say at this time” and “maybe” and “perhaps.” These and many other forms of verbal guard and party are part of the equipment of any one who wants to go down the winding road which leads from pussyfooter to President. tt tt a Off on the Wrong Tack IF I were publicity director for Mr. Garner I would abandon the type of press agentry which has been applied to his campaign. His well wishers have been fond of stressing his ruggedness of character. They would have us look at him as he stands upon the rostrum, gavel in hand. “How like an eagle is Honest Jack!” they exclaim, nudging the

that death rates for females in New York are lower in every age classification than for men. This is true of the group between 25 and 29, which was the only one to show an advantage for the men in 1920. After 45, the difference between death rates for men and women becomes more pronounced. These figures, while showing little not already generally accepted as truths, show that actual facts bear witness to progress man has made in preserving life, and indicate that further progress may be expected. Much work, of course, remains to be done with the older classifications. But the work has been started, at least, and a drop in this group similar to the one already accomplished in the infant groups would mean many more years of life for millions of people.

T)V HEYWOOD BROUN

! passerby to call his attention to | the extraordinary resemblance. But I there is always the risk of confusion in these fugitive suggestions linking clouds or statesmen to dumb animals. “By the mass, and ’tis like a camel indeed.” “Methinks it is like a weasel.” “It is backed like a weasel.” an a The Speaker’s Softer Side RATHER than bid for the easy acquiescence of some party Polonius to whom Honest Jack might be sold as eagle, antelope or avenging lion, I should prefer to stress his humility. Here is the Timid Soul—the Caspar Milquetoast of the political arena. Even in the White House he hardly could bother anybody much. Very few would know that he was there, and certainly, as he came up the backstairs in his stocking feet and democratic way, there would be no clatter to speak of. It is an old and ancient tradition that the White House becomes more homelike when it is filled with the patter of little politicians’ feet. Even the shoes of Herbert Hoover will not pinch the toes of John Nance Garner. But I wonder why the club wishes the voter to measure him with a yardstick? Wouldn’t a footrule do? (Copyright. 1932. bv The Times)

People’s Voice

Editor Times—Senator Watson states that ‘‘on account of the fact ! that our government faces a deficit of three billion dollars, the Amerij can Legion has decided not to ask for additional bonus.” I wish to inform the public that the American Legion has asked for ; full payment of the “bonus” in ! Senator Watson’s state, and furthermore 95 per cent of all veterans have asked for payment. We have been hearing Father ! Coughlin speak on the radio every j Sunday and he has explained all facte and details regarding the bonus payment, and also Congress- , man Wright Patman of Texas in | his speeches and articles in the Plain Talk magazine has explr _ncd all facts concerning bonus payment. I think Senator Watson is trying to “pass the buck.” Anyway, bigger and better headlines are not going I to help balance the budget, and | bigger and better riots and killings are not going to feed the millions of unemployed. Most of the banks are closed in your state, and bilS lions have been sent to Europe. You know these things, but we are not going to be killed or paid off with jokes. What does the senator expect a jobless, hungry veteran : to do—stand in a breadline while ! the government that owes him talks of deficits and hands him a lot of ,bunk about prosperity just around : the comer, while at the same time I this government is eating up the , other half of his bonus rtd ap- j

Ideals and opinions expressed in this column are those oi one of America’s most interesting writers and are presented withoat regard to their agreement or disagreement with the editorial attitude of this paper.—The Editor.

MARCH 2S, 1932

SCIENCE BY DAVID DIETZ

Life of Petroleum. Supply Is Question Puzzling Engineers and Industrial Leaders. /"'VNE of the mast puzzling quesj tions facing the world of engineering and industry is that of the i petroleum supply. How long will the world's petroleum supply hold out? j There are various estimates and no estimate seems to hold good for j very long. | Every time anew oil field comes I in or an old one gives out. the situation changes. In recent years, the situation has been changed greatly by the perfection of the “cracking process,” which made it possible to extract more gasoline from petroleum by breaking up or cracking the heavy hydrocarbons and thus turning them into gasoline. Practically all authorities, however, feel certain that the day will arrive when the world will run out I of petroleum. That is why, for example, there is so much interest in various pro--1 cesses for manufacturing gasoline from coal. That is also the reason why it Is so important to conserve the world's supply of gasoline. This important question will be discussed in a symposium on “Chemical Engineering Processes in the Oil Industry” during the convention of the American Chemical Society in New Orleans from March 28 to April 1. Dr. R. T. Haslam of New York, vice-president of the,Standard Oil Development Company, will preside. mum Better Refining OIL conservation has been helped by improvements in refining, according to Dr. Haslam. "While the automobile of a decade ago consumed approximately sixtyone barrels of crude oil annually, in recent years the motor car, with more speed and power, requires only forty-one barrels, due to the ever improving methods of refining,” Dr. Haslam says. “Otherwise, the increased per- ; formance of motor cars would call for a proportionate increase in the demand for oil. “To accomplish this conservation in petroleum, one of the greatest ! contributions of the petroleum I technologist to the nation, the in- ' dustry has been forced to produce more gasoline from each barrel of crude oil and make it of a higher anti-knock value to meet the demands of better automobiles for a better fuel. “Stabilization of gasoline, making for greater ease of motor car operation in localities experiencing extreme high and low temperatures, ; consists in adjusting the volatility of the fuel. “This stabilization is achieved by i saving the lighter, more volatile ! parts of gasoline, from season to season, and adding them as required to make the finishecrproduct fit exactly the demands imposed I upon it.” a a u Many Varieties THE petroleum technologist can turn out many kinds of gaso- | line today, Dr. Haslam says. "A gasoline has been made which ; under ordinary conditions will burn only with a wick as kerosene docs, but which in spite of this is satisfactory under many conditions as an automobile fuel,” he says. "On the other end of the scale are the aviation gasolines, which burn rapidly under almost any conditions. “The first is satisfactory in tractors and special automobile enj gines in warm climates in summer, but in extremely cold weather a gasoline more like aviation fuel I must be used if satisfactory operation is to be secured. The difference in the two is largely in the proportion of highly volatile constituents left in the fuel. "The separation and handling of these materials so that they may be added to the fuel at will, making the finished gasoline fit exactly the need for it, has been a major problem of chemical engineering now solved successfully.” Lubricating oils, he adds, are also “affected by cold, and many of them become solid or nearly so at low temperatures. "However, it is necessary to handle them at all temperatures and to have them retain their valuable properties even in cold weather.” propriating millions of dollars for a noble experiment called prohibition and employing gangsters to enforce the law? The ex-service man docs nbt need to wait until 1945 for his tombstone bonus to convice a lot of big, fat politicians, who.have lived on the fat of the land, that he is patriotic. If patriotism means that a World war veteran should stand in a soup line while a lot of politicians clip him of the other half of his bonus, and grant moratoriums to his former enemies, then you can say that 95 per cent of the ex-service men are unpatriotic because they want the rest of the tombstone bonus now. We are not willing to trade the bonus for a political lame duck 3 per cent near beer, as was promised at the Detroit convention. We ask you to vote for the payment of that bonus, and we wish you to bear in mind that not one penny of the taxpayers’ money has been used to pay the soldiers’ bonus Senator Watson, don’t try to pass the buck. JIM KENNEDY. Shelbyville, Ind. Editor Times—lt seems that the person who signed Taxpayer to a letter in The Times of Friday, March 11, should live in a small town. Wake up, old timer, I have been over the United States and in all cities, and Indianapolis has one of the best police forces, and is ranked third. The people who know where bootleggers and criminals are should turn their information over to the police chief. He is no fortune teller. Go to some other city a while, then come back and appreciate Indianapolis and its police department. ANOTHER TAXPAYER. What department of the navy has to do with expenditures? The bureau of supplies and accounts. By how much has the railroad mileage of the United States increased since 1880? In 1880 it was 93,263 miles; In 1930, 261,000 miles.