Indianapolis Times, Volume 44, Number 246, Indianapolis, Marion County, 22 February 1933 — Page 10

PAGE 10

The Indianapolis Times (\ S( RIPPS-HOWARD NEWSPAPER) ROT W. HOWARD Prp^id**nt BOYD GURLEY Editor EARL r>. RAKER ........ Business Manager

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Os is Light nnd the. People Will lind Jhrtr Own Hay

WEDNESDAY. FEB 22. 1933

ONE STEP FORWARD After fifteen years of discussion. Indiana tomorrow will join the long list of states which have adopted the old age pension method of caring for its aged men and women. It overthrows the callous system of the poor house established 300 years ago and changed but little since that time. The measure will no longer condemn men and women whose only crimes are age and poverty to the humiliation of the alms house. It means that fche state will permit such men and women to finish their lives in their own homes. In the end, the state will probably find that the new system will be less expensive to the taxpayers. P’or years the Eagles lodge and organized labor have urged such a law. In the beginning, the idea was turned away as a socialistic experiment. It had few' supporters. But with each year sentiment for the measure grew until, two years ago, the legislature passed such a bill only to have it destroyed by a veto read in person to the legislature by Governor Leslie. In the last campaign the victorious party made it a platform pledge. It is a matter of history that the political rivals aid not attack or criticise. No longer was it denounced as socialistic and impractical. The people approved. The new law recognizes the fact that under our present industrial and economic system there will be men and women who reach the unproductive stage of life without savings or means of support. Misfortune in various forms will produce this result. Today, there is but one fate for such people. That is the gray, drab, comfortless life in the poorhouse. £ Tomorrow, the machinery will be put into motion whereby a small pension will be given and the clouds of despair and unhappiness will open just a trifle. The measure as passed by the legislature is written in depression terms. The sum given is small and the age limit for the pensioners is high. The restrictions are difficult. But the glorious fact remains that society and this state recognize a duty and are prepared to meet that obligation upon the high plane of decent treatment, rather than in grudging inhumanity. One more step toward the realization of the brotherhood of man has been taken.

A MISTAKEN METHOD The legislature will make a mistake if it permits Itself to be stampeded into the passing of a sales tax, unless the people are firmly sold on its necessity and the terms of the bill are given the broadest public discussion. To rush through so important a measure as an emergency and as a party measure, can only give the impression that we have government by edict rather than by representation. The business interests of the state are firmly convinced that such a tax will add to the difficulties under which all business is conducted, that it will mean bankruptcy for many small merchants and certainly a curtailment of employment. The merchants are so firmly convinced that the proposed burden is unbearable that on its passage many will unquestionably reduce the number of their employes. The legislature assumed a grave responsibility when it produces such a situation. The farmers of the state, as represented by the Farm Bureau, and the owners of rental property in the cities favor the measure as a means of transferring their own taxes to others. In the end, they must lose, as there will be fewer customers for the farm products and fewer renters for the real estate owners. There was no discussion of such a plan during the past campaign. There has been no change in conditions since November which w'ould justify the imposition of anew .tax policy without a referendum. In the campaign much was said of reducing the cost of government. There was a pledge of income taxes, but nothing of raising the cost of living and reducing employment. The method is mistaken from every point of view. Its collection is Lively to be costly. There is room for evasions and inequalities. The honest citizen is quite likely to be penalized for his honesty. The new administration has the confidence and high hopes of all the citizenry. An appearance of rushing through such important legislation without discussion and under the party lash will do much to destroy that situation. Any new tax arouses protest. To impose it by a show of power is quite likely to bring the most bitter resentment. Until the cost of government has been reduced to the same level that private business has been forced to adopt, new taxes can result only in protest and rebellion.

RATIFICATION Two prohibition issues remain, now that congress has sent the repeal amendment to the states for ratification. One issue is that the convention method of ratification be truly representative. The other issue is speed. The most representative method is the popular election of delegates-at-large in which the voter chooses between two clear-cut tickets, one “for repeal” and the other “against repeal.’’ Obviously, any method of representation in which any district receives voting strength out of proportion to its numerical strength will be both inaccurate and unfair as a referendum. This objection, of course, applies equally to the proposal that legislatures Constitute themselves conventions for the purpose of voting on ratification. The whole intent and purpose of the national political parties in writing the convention methpd Into their platforms, and of congress in writing the convention method into the repeal amendment, was to prevent an unrepresentative decision by state bodies elected on questions other than prohibition. Any method other than the straight election of delegates on a clear one-issue ticket for a special

convention will facilitate log rolling and trickery to prevent an honest referendum. There are many reasons for speed. Bu at least three of the reasons call for special emphasis. First, delay will encourage political deals in the states to defeat the popular will. Second, delay will lengthen the period of indecision and spread the chaos of trying to enforce an unenforceable law, more unenforceable now that congress has voted repeal. Third, the government needs the billion dollars and more of annual revenue from liquor taxes—delay in repeal ratification will necessitate higher income and excise taxes, perhaps a general sales tax, which the depressed taxpayers and business can not stand. Speed is practicable. For ratification, favorable action is required by thirty-six states. Os the fortyeight states, the legislatures of all but four will be In session this year. One state—Wyoming—already has provided for a convention. Forty-two legislatures now are in session, and two meet in the spring. But about one-fourth of the legislatures in session adjourn within the next ten days. Thus the decision—as to quick ratification or slow—rests with those legislatures which will have to act now, or wait for another year or two before calling the conventions. Meanwhile, many states are racing to be first to ratify. The large number of Governors and legislatures swinging into action immediately on receipt of news that congress had passed repeal indicates the popular pressure for quick results.

FARLEY’S PATRONAGE National Chairman James Farley sdys that Job holders in the new administration will be picked chiefly on their record of party loyalty. He gives the impression that the real test will be how early in the convention and pre-convention fights the applicant lined up for Roosevelt. / Mr. Farley may be smart in some things, but his memory is nothing to brag about. It was not so long ago that Franklin D. Roosevelt was stumping the country with a plea for patriotism above party loyalties. Even more recently, the Presidentelect was attributing his victory to the votes of Republicans and independents. Is it possible that Chairman Farley was so busy pulling patronage wires during the campaign that he never learned that there are not enough regular Democratic votes in the country to elect a President? Is it possible that he has been so busy since the election fingering the plums that he has not observed the President-elect’s reliance upon such non-Democrats as Senators Norris, Cutting and La Follette? Chairman Farley should know that the interests of Mr. Roosevelt and of the country will be advanced or retarded to the extent that the President wins the co-operation of congress and of non-polit-ical support. Mr. Farley's recent patronage statements have not helped.

EGGS AND ERGS The whole world may go technocratic, but that good old egg factory, the hen, still will defy standardization. Fancy poultrymen have been trying to evolve a flawless layer by the measurement method. Those with the chests, heads and hips of the perfect 36 of henhood were allowed to lay on; those without such dimensions were made to lay off and sent to pot. The United States department of agriculture set out to find if this was the real test of egg efficiency or just a lot of barn yard technocracy. Taking 400 hens, it trap-nested them and measured their bones. It found that “the shape of the body, as indicated by the length of keel and width and depth of body, has been much overemphasized in culling practices.” There is no ‘‘egg-laying type.” Instead, a useful hen will display “early maturity,” good nature, steady habits, and a willingness to work even during the hot summer months. All of w'hich the technocrats doubtless will discover when they come to measure the rest of us bipeds in relation to the ergs w r e can turn out. The French resent the American policy of sending unofficial observers to Europe, says an American economist on his return from abroad. Os course, they’re not growling about the intrusion of some 2,000,000 who w r ent over in T7-TB, as that was more or less official. That legislative proposal to require pedestrians on the highways to carry red lanterns may be a help—until some city driver comes along who never waits for the signal to turn green. Henry Ford says he still believes in high wrages—and so do a lot of folks, even more than before they took their cut. For a family of kingfish, Huey Long and his brothers do a surprising amount of carping.

Just Plain Sense BY MRS. WALTER FERGUSON

.TF a woman has four children and one husband, how many children does she have? The answer is five. For every man sometimes is a small boy to his wife. And the best wife is she who never forgets that along with all their other relationships she must never fail to be, in some deeply subtle way, a mother to her husband. Rare, indeed, are the men who do not run to their wives for comfort from the hurts that life gives them, who do not .pour out complaints to the conjugal ear. One and all they are prone to tattle on their own children. How Junior spends money like water—and what is Mother going to do about that?—how Sister seems, all of a sudden, to be running wild; how the baby is disobedient, and little Betty was impudence itself yesterday. Father always goes tb Mother with these slight tales of woe. and seems singularly unable to cope with them on his own account. She must soothe his ruffled feelings and assure him that the children probably will not disgrace the family name, and that they one day will recover from these suddenly developed strange phases through which they seem to be passing. a a a \ ND these smoothings-down of Father often are the most difficult of all Mother's multitudinous tasks. He wants his little petting and coddling just as the children do. And he must have them. Sometimes, although he does not realize it, he is cross because he is jealous. And he pouts and looks just as hurt and feels just as sorry for himself as the 6-year-old lad does when the baby is being shown off for company. Underneath the masculine swagger and pompousness and self-sufficiency of the husband there lurks always the little boy he used to be. And sometimes it is a frightened, timid and wistful little boy, a little boy who hunts through the bewildering mazes of life for the mother he has lost and without whom he can not ever live.

THE INDIANAPOLIS TIMES

It Seems to Me . . . .by Heywood Broun

THE problem of protecting the life of the President of the United States is before us. Many suggestions will be made, and some already have been offered. But of these a number will rest upon wild and unworthy generalizations. Two specific things should engage the attention of legislators and citizens immediately. Joe Zangara, when questioned about the shooting, said: “About two days ago I bought a paper for 5 cents and saw that the Presidentelect w'as coming to Miami. So yesterday I went to a place that had a big front and said, ‘Money to loan’ and bought a gun for SB.” I never have been able to understand why American communities, and particularly urban communities, should be willing to allow the sale of deadly weapons to proceed upon such a casual basis. It seems to me that the unidentified man in any city who seeks to purchase a revolver is a proper object of suspicion. a a a Purchase of Firearms IT is true that the Sullivan law in New r York state has not prevented criminals frfom obtaining weapons. Indeed, this fact often has been used as a basis for argu-

Every Day Religion —— BY DR. JOSEPH FORT NEWTON

TO me Washington remains a mystery, and no one can solve it. It is hardly correct to speak of him as a man of genius, though his old flintlook intellect is more highly rated abroad than at home. But if he was not a genius, he was something better—a still, strong, wise, clear-seeing man, who picked his way amid the intrigues of friends and the trickery of foes, leading his people to victory, peace, and honor. If we are to understand Washington at all, w'e must remember that he w’as distinctly a man of action—a man born to do, to achieve, to lead, not think, to write, to dream; he lived not in ideas or feelings, but in duties and deeds—he did more and said less than any man of his age. There was in him a certain stateliness of soul, a blend of courage, foresight, integrity, and moral authority which won and swayed men. No one would say that he was a military genius of the first rank, though, like Washington of Orange, he could lose every battle and yet win the campaign. He triumphed more by tenacity than by strategy, more by endurance than by adventure. He had not the eloquence of Patrick Henry, the financial wizardry of Hamilton, the legal acumen of Marshall, the political science of Madison, the creative inventiveness of Franklin, or the intellectual curiosity of Jefferson. Yet such was his power that he

1 1 = DAILY HEALTH SERVICE - Youth More Susceptible to ‘T. B.’ BY DR. MORRIS FISHBEIN . .

This is the second of two articles by Dr. Morris Fishbein on the prevention of tuberculosis. * 'T'HAT human beings may contract ard transmit tuberculosis at all ages is pointed out by Dr. E. Bemet, French authority, in a recent survey of the general principles governing the prevention of the disease. And Dr. Bernet emphasizes what most observers now are emphasizing—that young people are more particularly susceptible than are older ones. The two most dangerous periods are early infancy and adolescence. These are the periods when children must be watched most closely for development of symptoms and when everything possible must be done to keep up their nutrition and to see to it that they have plenty of rest and good hygiene,

Making It Hard for Himself

ment for its repeal on the ground that the law-abiding should be armed equally. But I don’t think that even good proof of the law rabiding record of a citizen should be sufficient reason for his possession of a revolver. J regard myself as a mild man and law abiding, under any reasonable construction of the Volstead act, but there have been several occasions when I was much better off without a gun. Granted the possibility of bootleg weapons, I still think that adequate state and federal law' could prevent certain sales which are far too indiscriminate. ‘Another point worth considering is the elimination of needless risk and strain in the case of our Presidents. Everybody knows that Franklin D. Roosevelt is physically courageous, and so I hope that he will not hesitate to abandon the silly practice of public handshaking. It was a public reception of this sort which cost McKinley his life, and even at best I never have been able to understand why a busy national executive should have to go through the gruelling process of saying “Pleased to meet you” to a long line of time wasters. Every now and then I read in

was the acknowledged master of all these men, commanding their confidence and loyalty. ana AT a time when others temporized with shifting prejudice and sectional animosity, Washington gave his voice for a powerful Union. Others doubted; he was sure. The people did not trust Jefferson, much as they admired him—they seldom trust a brilliant, facible mind. Hamilton did not trust the people, on the ground that to be ruled by the majority is to be ruled by ignorance. Had not it been for Washington, who stood above all parties, our republic would have fallen between two stools. All men knew that whoever else might let go of faith, betray the public trust, and sink into selfseeking, that Washington would never do. The secret of his power lay not in the magic of personal magnetism, of which there is no trace, but in the sheer power of character, in which moral integrity and common sense were lifted to the level of genius. No man in history ever did more by virtue of what he w r as. Our nation may alter as time brings new occasions and teaches new duties, but Washington himself will live while humanity treasures worth, his labor a legacy of inspiration to mankind, and his character a consecration to his country. (Copyright, 1933, by United Feature* Syndicate, Inc.)

Editor Journal of the American Medical Aasociation and of Hraeia. the Health Magazine. OF special importance in the prevention of tuberculosis is control of tuberculosis cattle. The germ of tuberculosis of the type which lives in cattle is rather rare as a cause of tuberculosis of the lungs in man, but is exceedingly frequent in tuberculosis of the abdomen, the glands, the bones, and the joints. Milk for children, unless coming from cattle free from tuberculosis, invariably must be pasteurized, and in fact it probably is better to pasteurize all milk for children—at least here there is more certainty of safety. Every effort must be made to stamp out tuberculosis among cattle. This commonly is done by testing cattle for the presence of she disease and then destroying all that are infected, compensat-

some obituary note that Joe Zilch shook hands with six Presidents but I still ask, “What of it?” It is essential that the President of the United States should be accessible to all who have something of importance to say, but as in the case of other executives, some assistants should winnow out the nuts, the cracks and the utter fools. a a a Flaws in Protection NO way ever has been devised to protect national leaders from all risk. None can be. Certainly there is no safety in severe and rigorous measures against dissenting opinion even of the most violent sort. I am very much afraid that the act of a crack-brained man may serve to stimulate regulation against large or even small groups of people who can not justly be held responsible for the act of a lunatic. A local contractor who employed Zangara is quoted as saying, “He was an anarchist, Socialist and Communist.” That covers a great deal of territory. I never have understood how an individual could be any two of those things, let alone ail three. Anarchism itself has many mansions, and any sort of blanket drive against its disciples would include many simple mystics who hold that all organized government and compulsion is wrong. Asa matter of fact, almost everybody’s dim dream of a Utopia is anarchical. Even those who accept restraints do so as a necessary compromise. tt a a Unfair to Communists THE drive against the Communist party may be sharpened, and this, too, will be quite beside the point. In spite of the insistence of Communists upon “direct action,” they have no faith whatsoever in individual acts of terrorism, and any belief in such tactics would win for its proponent immediate expulsion. It is one of the arch heresies of the Communist creed. . It is an unhappy accident that the man w r ho shot at Franklin D. Roosevelt and his companions happened to be of foreign birth. No just generalization can be drawn from that. Insanity and persecution mania do not respect boundaries. The newspapers reported that when the firing began Franklin D. Roosevelt remained entirely calm and self-possessed. I trust that America will follow his excellent example. (Coovrieht. 1933. bv The Times)

Daily Thought

The blessing of the Lord, it * maketh rich, and he addeth no sorrovT"With it.—Proverbs 10:22. THE soul never grows old. — Longfellow.

ing owners for the loss of the aiurr als. DR. BERNET emphasizes particularly as of importance in controlling the spread of tuberculosis the use of dispensaries in which the disease can be diagnosed in its earliest stages and properly controlled. Experimentation with the method of vaccination against tuberculosis by Calmette has not gone sufficiently far to warrant its general adoption in this country. The most powerful social factors in controlling the disease are housing, nutrition and education. The regular examination of school children and teachers, studies of the nutrition of the school child, and education of those who are infected in methods of preventing the spread of the disease are significant factors.

M.E. Tracy Says: +•—— —•—"—+ ORIENT CRISIS LAID IN OUR LAP

JAPAN and the west are deadlocked: a cold, calculating, aggressive Japan: a romantic, hopeful, half-convinced west. Is this make-believe or the real thing? The breadth and depth of our boasted intelligence clearly is revealed by the fact that we can not tell. A millennium of strife may be hatching, but if so. our best minds are unable to foresee or prevent it.

The big idea is to stop Japan without resorting to force: a logical attitude from the pacifist standpoint, but one which ignores the vagaries of human nature. A rifle shot at some inopportune moment might spoil it all. and in spite of all we have done to discourage the use of arms, there still are many rifles in the hands of ignorant, unscrupulous men. We try to believe that the League of Nations represents an irresistible psychic power, that if it issues acall all nations will hasten to obey and that the moral strength of such movement will be adequate to meet the problem. We try to believe that nothing more than a commercial boycott possibly could be required to put Japan in her place. A beautiful conception, no doubt, but one which has little to back it* up save dreams. U U tt Japan Moves Steadily Toward Goal SINCE the beginning of this rumpus, Japan has moved steadily forward. It may have taken a day or two longer, or cost a few more lives to reach some particular objective than she expected, but on the whole, her plan of campaign seems to have been canned out with smoothness and efficiency. The stand taken by the League of Nations promises little except the almost certain withdrawal of Japan. Realizing this, the league will invite Russia and the United States to “co-operate.” which means that if things come to a showdown those tw r o countries can have the glorious privilege of enforcing the league’s mandate. In this connection, it is just as well to remember that those two countries could have accomplished the same end with far less fuss, by themselves. The trouble is that they were in no position to act in concert. If they had been, it is doubtful if Japan would have adopted such a bold policy. nan Problem Is Back Where It Started IT is only reasonable to suppose that Japan gave full account to th* strained relations existing between Russia and the United Statet and to the fact that neither belonged to the league. , Had we been alert, we would have penetrated her scheme and have taken measures to break it up. Among other things, we would have recognized Russia, putting aside our childish antipathy toward Communism to serve a larger purpose. With the Russian army and American navy to back It up. we could have formulated an Asiatic policy which would have halted Japan in her tracks. We have chosen to be interested in the anti-Rec'l propaganda, to sit on the sidelines and write notes, betting that the League of Nations, which we won't join and which has no physical power to enforce its demands, could do the trick. After all the barnstorming, the league finds itself compelled to toss the problem right back to Russia and the United States, which is right where the problem belonged at the outset.

= ■-" gripyri, Save U. S. Resources —BY DAVID DIETZ =l

HOW the United States department of the interior, aided by the counsel and services of distinguished scientists, is working to conserve the natural resources of the nation, is told by Dr. Ray Lyman Wilbur, secretary of the department. Among bureaus of the department concerned in this work are the national park service, the general land office, and the bureau of reclamation. “The national park service does conservation work in a double sense,” he says. “Wild life of decreasing species is preserved. “The big trees in the scenic valleys of California, the geysers and mountains and wild life of the Yellow r stone, the peaks and glaciers of Glacier national park and the wonders of Arizona’s Grand Canyon all are rendered available to our people by this bureau’s work. “But this kind of conservation is but a means of the real objective of the park service, which is the recreation and education and health of our people. “We are in the midst of the rounding out of the national park system. Three million Americans each year visit our parks. “These parks are the happiest

Questions and Answers Q—Give the home address of Norman Thomas, Socialist candidate for President? A—2o6 East Eighteenth street, New York City. Q—What was the date of the Boston Tea Party? A—Dec. 16, 1773. Q —Does the United States impose export duties on any commodities or manufactures? A—No. Q—Has Mahatma Gandhi ever visited the United States? A—No. Q—Where was Adolphe Menjou, the actor, born? A— Pittsburgh. His father was French and his mother Irish. Q—How can the sex of guinea fowl be distinguished? A—lt is difficult to distinguish between the sexes, but the males have a larger helmet and wattles and a coarser head. They also can be distinguished by their cry, which in the females resembles •‘buckwheat, buckwheat,” and is decidedly different from the one syllable shriek of the male. Q—What country leads in the ; production of flaxseed? A—Argentina. Q—ls July 4 a bank holiday in all states? A—Yes. Q—ls Iceland of volcanic origin? A—Yes. Q—Can hens eggs be produced synthetically? A—No. Q—Name the heaviest metal? A—Osmium. Q —How much does mercury weigh to the cubic foot? A—About 847 pounds. Q—Name the national flower of Egypt? A—Lotus. Q—What is papyrus? A—A reed that grows abundantly in Egypt, from which the earliest paper was made by weaving strips of papyrus crosswise. Q—How much forest land does the United States government own? A—lt owns 157,502,793 acres, or 246,098 square miles.

FEB. 22, 1033

TRACY

contact points between our people and their government; both gain by it. “W constantly are building up its scientific staff. A corps of naturalists always is present to make lessons of the parks available to the visitor.” a a a Many Problems Faced THE general land office is faced with many problems requiring scientific solution, Dr. Wilbur continues. “This office is the agency of the government which has supervised the carving of the public domain into individual homes.” he explains. “Its activities have kept pace with the frontier while settlers overflowed into state after state. “The usual action of the federal government has been to distribute land resources into private hands as fairly and rapidly as possible. Certain artificial conceptions such as that of the acre, have been used in dividing up our continent just as we'have divided up our cities into town lots of arbitrary size and shape. This has been done largely regardless of quality of soil, amount of vegetation, water supply, climate, or those other factors upon which all values of the soil, in so far as the habitation of human beings is concerned, depend. “Unfortunately, congress never has given the general land office or the states adequate authority to protect the public domain from overgrazing and abuse. About 170,000,000 acres remain, most of it valuable principally as a source of water and for grazing. “Few of our people realize the destructive effects on the water supply of our valleys which may come from overgrazing and fires in distant mountain country.” a a a Balance of Nature WREN vegetation Is uprooted by animals or burned by fires, the balance of forces which nature has built up through millions of years is destroyed, D. Wilbur tells us. “Rains, instead of soaking into vegetation and surface soil, run down barren slopes,” he says, wash away the surfaces, carry It as silt into rivers and fill reservoirs, and form disastrous floods instead of permanent streams. “The growing value of the soil is lost, homes are washed away in distant valleys where the smoke of the forest fires never is seen and the grazing animals are encountered only as mutton chops and roast beef.”

So They Say

Mr. President, there are no conceivable circumstances, under which, in the senate, there would be less debate. —Senator Henry F. Ashurst <Dem„ Ariz.). Civilization is the history of surmounted difficulties. President Herbert Hoover. Somehow Christian people must find ways to be in earnest about moral questions and at the same time to keep an easy attitude toward and give free operation to other people’s minds—Dr. Winifred Ernest Garrison, history editor of the Chrisflan Century. It would seem that the senate has a case of jitters—Senator M. M. Logan (Dem., Ky.). They (high-salaried coaches) make heroes out of the boys with the bull necks and neglect the students who've really studied.— State Representative D. S. Collins of Alfalfa county, Oklahoma.