Indianapolis Times, Volume 46, Number 28, Indianapolis, Marion County, 13 June 1934 — Page 14

PAGE 14

The Indianapolis Times (A SCRIPPS-HOWARD NEWSPAPER) ROY W. HOWARD President XALCOTT POWELL Editor EARL D. BAKER ...... Business Manager Phone Riley 5561

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etmten • #**o Give Light and the People Will find Their Own Wap

WEDNESDAY. JUNE 13, 1934.

FOR THE AGED TNCREASE in the maximum old age pension from sls to $25 and reduction of the eligible age limit from 70 to 65 are to be considered this week by the Indiana aerie of the Fraternal Order of Eagles, meeting in Evansville. Members of the Eagles iodges have blazed a trail across the nation in their successful battle to provide for the needy and destitute aged. No section of the long route to success was rougher than the road traveled in Indiana. For years Indiana members of the lodge attempted passage of the pension law in many sessions of the legislature. And for many years each effort was met with rebuff. The maximum pension, as provided in the law finally enacted by the 1933 Democratic legislature, now is sls. That, remember, is the top figure. Some persons will receive as little as $2 a month, depending on the amounts appropriated by county councilmen and commissioners. A campaign for an increased maximum figure would be well founded. The day must come in Indiana and other states when money will not be so hard to get and old people of tfrat new era will stand to benefit. The Times always has supported the old age pension law, believing it is the inherent right of every worthy citizen to be able to look forward to old age without the haunting fear of the poorhouse or poverty on the streets of a great city. We heard a story the other day that went like this: An old couple, during the height of the prosperity era, invested capital in an interna-tionally-known firm. The firm collapsed, leaving them without funds. When the husband became ill, he and his wife went west, hoping to remain indefinitely with relatives and hoping regained health might answer their problem of poverty. But they did not figure that the relatives, too, might be in dire straits. The man’s illness became worse and physicians said he would die in a short time. He wanted to stay with his wife, but lack of finances brought him back to Indiana, 2,000 miles away from her. He found that his relatives neither could afford to bury him nor to send his body back to Indiana. So, to save them the increased debt and to remove himself as a burden to his aged wife, .he made his way back to Indiana where a family burial plot will receive him soon, i He has told his friends: “I am going to die. I couldn’t afford to die away from home so I came back to Indiana.” That is a pitiful story. Some may not be as extreme but there are many with the same tragic basis. In cases like these, old age pensions probably would save lives. At least the guarantee of funds would give any person who had served his or her community properly, the hope of peace in later years. That the nation needs a guarantee for the aged was stressed last week by President Roosevelt in his outline for a greater new deal. “ 1 am looking for a sound means which I can recommend to provide at once for security against several of the great disturbing factors of life—especially those which relate to unemployment and old age,” he said. Coming from .the man who has battled with his people through a period of terrific stress, this surely is an approval that can not be ignored. It will be well for Indiana legislators to think now about better provisions for the aged. The Eagles will demand additional aid and their pleas should be heeded carefully by the legislature of 1935. PROBATION’S GAINS TY EDUCTION of inmates in Indiana penal institutions and reduction of the cost of penal affairs administration are forecast under the new state probation department's functions by no less an authority than Charles L. Chute, New York executive director of the National Probation Association. If those forecasts prove true, no greater advancement ever has been made in Indiana penal activities. Probation found one of its earliest followers in James A. Collins, former judge of the Marion county criminal court. Mr. Collins, in his many years on the bench, was convinced that probation served chiefly to preserve the citizenry from the stigma of prison life and also saved the state money. Naturally with the reduction of inmates, the cost of prison and reformatory administration will drop. There can be no other answer. But far more important than that is the possibility that many young men and women, who might spend years in prison for a first and minor offense, may have the opportunity to make something of themselves. The community suffers when a first offender is given a long term for a minor crime and finds that his mind is occupied more seriously with continuing to thumb his nose at the law than in attempting to become a decent, law-abiding citizen. Former Judge Collins found some cases which turned out badly. The majority, however, were successful, he discovered. Probation always has been a great theory. If, when it operates in Indiana, it will save people and money, no greater reward can be reaped from any social measure. HONORING JEFFERSON WASHINGTON is full of statues and monuments, some animate, some inanimate. Now Representative John J. Boylan is prettf excited about something that every W&shtngtofuan -has known for -years—that

Mr. Minton’s Nomination AN EDITORIAL

THE selection of Sherman Minton as the Democratic candidate for the United States senate is thoroughly sound. He is the strongest man his party could have selected to defeat Arthur Robinson. He is in thorough sympathy with the new deal. He will be a credit to Indiana. Mr. Minton goes before the voters with an intensely practical record of accomplishment. Even the worst enemies of Governor McNutt’s administration admit that his policies on public utilities have been excellent. During Republican administrations the cost of electricity steadily went up. During the brief period in which Governor McNutt has been in office they have come down. The Republican state platform tacitly indorses the McNutt utility policies by its failure to Include any mention of them in its platform. To put it baldly—the users of electricity in this state have been saved about $4,000,000 in annual rates during the last eighteen months. As public counsellor before the public service commission Mr. Minton has been largely responsible for those savings. On this basis alone he earned the senatorial nomination from his party. But Mr. Minton’s qualifications go beyond this. He is not a man of great wealth. He knows what it is to have to scratch for a living. Yet, clever lawyer that he is, he never has permitted himself to become entangled with the forces of special privilege. Unlike many other members of his profession he has not sold out his legal talents to the highest bidder. He may be depended upon by the people of this state to look out for their interests at large rathe# than the interests of any small, self-seeking groups. Mr. Minton is young, without being inex-

amongst all this welter of memorials, there isn’t a single one to Thomas Jefferson. Boylan wants the federal government to spend SIOO,OOO for a pedestal on which some private association may later want to build a memorial to the sage of Monticello. Now you might think SIOO,OOO is small change these days, the way the government is tossing billions about. And yet you might paraphrase Poor Richard, and cay that if you watch the hundred thousands of dollars the billions will take care of themselves. There are lots of things we need more today than SIOO,OOO pedestals. The best memorial we could build for Jefferson today would be for a few million of us to devote just one-tenth the thought, work and zeal to democracy that Jefferson gave to it. TOO DUMB TO SELL MORE than six months ago the United States recognized Russia. More than three months ago, the government’s exportimport bank was organized to facilitate Russian trade. Yet trade has not started to flow. It is time for the millions of jobless Americans to know the reason. It is not the fault of the Soviet Union. The Russians are anxious to buy American machinery, automobiles, farm implements and cotton. But they can trade elsewhere, and are. The Germans, the English, the French and Italians are filling Russian orders. It is not the fault of congress. When congress passed the ill-advised Johnson bill, It recognized a distinct difference between the so-called Russian debt to the United States and the debts owed by the other European countries. It therefore specifically exempted government corporations fijom operation of the “no credit to debtors” rule. The blame lies with the directors of the export-import bank, who, contrary to the implied instructions of congress, take the position that the bank should not deal with the Soviets until the old Kerensky debt is settled. This ridiculous placing of the Kerensky debt in the same pot with other European debts is an old deal trick of diplomacy. It is an obligation of an entirely different character. Negotiations in regard to this debt will continue for many months. Whatever the final solution, the total Kerensky debt is but a trifling sum, compared to the advantages we would gain by healthy trade relations with Russia. Other countries, with more realistic diplomacy, are gaining the jobs and orders that America is losing. Russia is not hurt. The fact that Russia now is equipping her industrial plant with German, English and Italian machinery means that she will continue to buy from those countries, unless we can step in quickly. In normal times, the American people would pay little attention to such diplomatic card shuffling. But; here in the fifteenth month of the new deal, with the business curve headed downward, with millions out of jobs, with factories rusting and warehouses bulging, this is very expensive stupidity. BIG—AND MOVING FAST (From the Memphis Press-Scimitar) TIG objects generally move slowly. This is not true, however, of Tennessee Valley Authority, one of the biggest things in the nation today. In its first year it has saved the electric light consumers of Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia ss,ooo,ooo—but a mere drop in the bucket to what the saving will be when TVA gets well under way. Consumers of electricity in Tupelo, which has TVA power, are being served at rates 50 per cent lower than those they formerly paid. TVA has entered into contract with eleven other municipalities that soon will be reaping benefits given to the Tupelo consumers. These eleven cities are: Knoxville and Pulaski, Tenn.; Armory and Corinth, Miss.; Muscle Shoals, Florence, Sheffield", Athens, Tuscumbia, Decatur and Russellville, Ala. Nine north Mississippi counties will get TVA power Saturday. More than 200 municipalities have applied for TVA and others are making surveys to see what it will cost to distribute this cheap power to its citizens. Memphis is one of the many cities that has participated in the $5,000,000 saving—a saving in lowered rates caused by the shadow of TVA. Memphis has completed plans for a survey preparatory to bringing TVA to Memphis. TVA in a single year has demonstrated that it is one of the biggest forces set in motion in this country for many yeais. And -TVA has-just '-begun.

perienced, liberal without being radical, sympathetic to the needs of the ordinary man without being mawkishly sentimental. He is not the conventional type of politician. He finds it extremely difficult to kiss babies and slap backs to get votes. He apparently thinks that the old school type of campaigning Is outmoded. He would far rather saw wood than pump wind. Yet, withal, he is easy and approachable. It is unfortunate, we think, that the Marion county delegation at the convention failed to go along with him when it was obvious that they could not nominate Mayor Sullivan, their own candidate. There Is no doubt that Mayor Sullivan would have made an excellent senator, but when it was obvious the party was not going to accept him, his backers should not have acted like spoiled schoolboys. After all, the American system of government is based upon party responsibility. Responsibility Is impossible without leadership and discipline. Marion county leaders should remember that they are merely cogs—important ones, perhaps—but cogs in a state-wide organization. Yesterday’s convention decisively settled where leadership of Indiana Democracy lay. Governor McNutt emerged as the general. His power was challenged and he won. He now has the power and with it goes the responsibility. We believe that Mr. Minton, who is the Governor’s candidate, truly represents the things which the American people have declared they want. His opponent, Senator Arthur Robinson, is, we think, a perfect example of all that the people have repudiated. The choice for Indiana is obvious.

OIL UNION CONTRACT

SIGNING of an agreement between Harry F. Sinclair’s big oil companies and' the. new A. F. of L. industrial union known as the Oil Field, Gas Well and Refinery Workers, is. a step toward labor peace. Here, for the first time, a major oil concern premises to deal with its workers’ union in a contractual relation as an equal. Aside from the coal miners’ contracts this one is among the first to carry out the spirit of NRA’s Section 7.-B, encouraging mutual agreements, on a nation-wide scale. Unlike them it does not, however, provide for the closed shop. The improved wage and working conditions provided for in the agreement are important, but not so important as the peace machinery it sets up. There are, doubtless, troubles ahead for the new union. It has grown in one year from 3,000 to an estimated 90,000 membership. There may be jurisdictional and other disputes. But the agreement is in the direction of orderly labor relations. The astronomer who discovered the planet Pluto has taken a bride. No sooner does a man start star-gazing than he finds a woman beside him. Funny bow the same people who object to brain trusts in Washington would yell if there were a lack of any in their own businesses. Finland has paid in full again, on its debt to the United States. But it has hopes of becoming a first-class nation, too, some day.

Capital Capers BY GEORGE ABELL

TALLER than the average American and quite amazingly tall for a Japanese is President Konoye, powerful president of the house of peers of Japan, who lunched the other afternoon at the White House as the guest of President Roosevelt. The prince has had small opportunity, to wear anything except formal clothes since his arrival. A big dinner Thursday evening at the embassy—a luncheon Friday—more dinners—and a reception at the embassy yesterday , . . these are a few of the events in his honor. His grace appeared at the White House luncheon smilingly radiant and towering above Japanese Ambassador Saito in a silk hat which added eight inches to his height. It was a stag luncheon, with Prince Konoye in the place of honor, beaming at President Roosevelt and Secretary of State Hull, amid an array of pink roses, pink delphinium and ferns. n u PRINCE KONOYE brought his “brain trust” with him to Washington. In his wake as he stepped off the train came a little, rotund gentleman (as diminutive as the prince is tall). He was introduced as Professor Royama, instructor at the Imperial university i Tokio, a student of American politics and a close friend of Konoye, There is also an interpreter, Mr. Tamohiko IJshiba, but sometimes Prince Konoye manages to answer questions in English without help either from Professor Royama or Ushiba. He speaks English—not fluently, but sufficiently well. Two more friends and a valet complete the retinue. n n tt AT the station to meet his grace were Ambassador Saito, the Japanese embassy staff, newspaper men, and photographers. The first thing one noted was his surprising height. The second was his geniality. He answered all questions. What is his favorite sport? Golf, of course. His teeth flashed in responsive smile. He loves golf and has played it everywhere. He hopes to be able to play some here. Konoye’s son is even a better player than his father. He’s so good in fact that this summer he enters the intercollegiate tournament at Greenwich. In the fall he enters Princeton. “Why are you here?” was the first question fired at Konoye as he detrained. His teeth flashed. He replied (speaking very slowly and precisely): “I am here to make a few official friends unofficially.” nun TTTHILE Senator Arthur Capper of Kansas is YV seen at dances and receptions, Speaker Rainey at nearly all the official parties and formal dinners, Senator Millard Tydings of Maryland at Georgetown supper parties and Senator King of Utah at garden parties—other senators are found dining al fresco. Noted on the Shoreham terrace at dinner last evening, each at a separate .table, were the following solons: Senator Hugo Black of Alabama, appropriately dressed in black; Senator Ellison (Cotton Ed) Smith, in a gray suit and looking intensely pleased with life (perhaps with the patronage recently accorded him by the administration); Senator Royal S. Copeland, the New York legislator, in dark blue and adorned with his inevitable red carnation; Senator Frederic C. Walcottof Connecticut, in light brown, and Senator Metcalf, in dark blue. White flannels were worn by none of them, nor light linens—Huey Long remaining the senator most fond of this spring-like attire. But Huey seldom appears on terraces or at garden

. THE INDIANAPOLIS TIMES

cfpk 1 wholly disa w rove °f what y° u sa v and wdl 1 •1 lit/ IVX

(Times readers are invited to express their views in these columns. Make your letters short, so all car, have a chance. Limit them to £SO words or less.) EXPLANATION GIVEN FOR RELIEF CENTER By J. E. R. Do you know that in the city of Indianapolis is a home for so-called "homeless men” that is run by the government and state combined, where those aids are working on the average of about 700 men a day for the sum of 50 cents a week? Does this come under Roosevelt’s recovery plan? These men- are stationed at 112 East Wabash street and 309 East Ohio street. This is taking work from 700 men in Indianapolis w'ho could be working on these jobs. Civil works administration men were laid off and these men are taking their places for the sum of 50 cents a week. That is worse than the old slave days. It is about time that the people of this city know about it. I never have seen a write-up about it yet in any paper. Do you, or the- public, think that this is fair to 1 the working men of this city, or is it even fair to the men fit these homes who do this work for the small sum that they receive? I w f ould like to see some comment on this in your paper in the near future. * Editor’s Note—The home referred to is operated by the transient bureau. These men, transients, are given food and lodgings with 50 cents a week for spending money, and are , given light work to keep them occupied, state officials said. They explained that the work done by the transients is work for which no appropriation has been or would be made, and that the improvements otherwise would not be made. a ; y SUGGESTS FENCES AROUND GARDENS By J. L. Why don’t owners of gardens put fences around their prize vegetables and stop squawking about dogs running through them? It is evident that G. R. R. is no great fancier of canine, who occupy the position of ‘‘man’s best friend.” Perhaps if the bearer of these initials would stop worrying about his or her garden long enough to enjoy the love and faithfulness of a dog, he or she might have a different idea. I advocate following the advice of a subscriber, namely to put a pan of water in the back yard and thus eliminate the mad dog and the dog catcher. a tt tt CAPITALISTIC PRESS GIVEN LAMBASTING By Jack Dolan Asa subscriber to your paper I w 7 ould like space to take issue with an editorial of June 5 stating a group of Communists booed a lone Civil war veteran in a. Memorial day parade. Whatever else we can accuse the capitalist press of, we must hand it to you for your consistency in inconsistencies. We might accept this as fact if we had not seen the press forced to back up on a million lies it told about Communist Russia and compelled to admit today it is the best governed country of all time. The millions of starving humanity must get a great kick out of reading the articles of your faithful army of high powered columnists who are assigned to the task of mingling with aristocracy, forced to travel, attend socials and feasts of all -kinds, -spor-ts -of -every •description,

‘NOW MAYBE BABY WILL GET SHOES!’

By Hiram Lackey Letters condemning reformers have appeared in The Message Center. This abhorrence of moralists deserves attention. The significance of these letters lies in the fact that their scorn and sarcasm is representative of our American attitude of contempt for reformers. To reply that men who speak the truth and condemn evil are always unpopular is not the just or adequate answer which these letters deserve. Probably, the lovers of goodness can deal most intelligently with this cynicism by the use of neglected sympathy and honesty. For example, just how much am I to blame for the just odium surrounding the word reformer. How greatly has my bigotry, intolerance, fanaticism, prejudice and hypocrisy added to this hatred of moralists? Can I see both side of a question? For example, can I appreciate the grace, music, rhythm, beauty and gayety of dancing, or is my mind so much dirtier than the minds of dancers that I can only see bodies in contact? But with your mind as pure as that of an angel, how can you realize the dangers that dancing holds for passionate young people? Would you make an ideal reformer to guide youth? Are both eyes on one side of our heads? and frequently compelled to indulge in whoopee parties all to prove to the innocent world that all would be well if it were not for the Communists. “Men so abysmally ignorant of American psychology can never convert many Americans,” the editorial stated. They also are ignorant enough to believe the people of this country are not poor because the country is poor, or that it does not take twelve years to determine the result of an experiment; that the hundreds of millions of dollars appropriated for so-called relief projects are being consumed in the form of nice salaries for the chosen few. That has a strong odor of politics and the discarded factory workers are not getting it. They believe the housing proposition alone would keep' everybody busy for a generation if all were as comfortably housed as editors; and if editors were sincere, officials could not be corrupt. tt tt u TRAFFIC SYSTEM OF CITY CONDEMNED By Clarence K. Throe As one who, in the normal course of business and social pursuits, finds it necessary to drive an automobile on city streets, may I venture to inquire whoe fiendish ingenuity is behind the system of traffic signals in the city of Indianapolis? In most of the larger metropolitan centers of the country, it has been realized that the best safeguard against jammd thoroughfares is a steady flow of traffic. Here it seems that the greatest ambition of the city fathers is not to expedite traffic, but insure its remaining forever bogged in a mire of motors on some street. You come to a stop for a red light and after a lengthy pause it shifts and you proceed to the next crossing where the green light turns to red before you have shifted into high gear after your preceding stop. And so it goes. Why not some type of stagger system or co-ordinated •traffic -light -system?.

Urges for Reformers

What have I done to make goodness attractive? Reformers, let’s make this solution personal. The problem of “missing the mark” is still with us, regardless of whether we call it sin or animalism. History assures us that man has tried evil and as a source of happiness it has failed. I have tried it, and I know that it fails. All of us have thorns in the flesh. In the spot where I am weak, you may be exceedingly strong. Is there a wiser or more beautiful way than for the lovers of goodness to welcome the help of each other? People are willing to do right if they can but be conviced that goodness pays. Here is the work of the missionary lovers of goodness and truth. Remembering the fraility of man and the infancy of our civilization, may we strive to be just in our criticism of our numerous reformers. In the light of the Master’s holy presence, who is not more or less a hypocrite? What is finer and more worthwhile than the unstained life? Why weaken the human powers that make for the spotless life? Today, for very obvious reasons, the most intelligent liberals are emphasizing the worth and beauty of the old reformer’s granite-like qualities of character. MORE DISCUSSION OF DOGS AND WATER By A Subscriber I shall try to make myself more clearly understood in whA I believe to be a blessing to humanity, and to dumb beasts as well. Another writer in The Message Center said that he has known a dog with rabies to swim a river. The dog may never have suffered from lack of water. It -is the thirst crazed dog that goes into convulsions at the sight of water. A tongue dried to the ends of its roots has good reason to be paralyzed and a parched throat no doubt has difficulty in swallowing. Autopsy may prove a dog to be mad the day after it has been bitten or scratched by some rabid animal, yet?, not until the ninth day will there be any outward sign of rabies. I am heartily in favor of vaccination and every other precaution against rabies. tt n tt BANKER’S LOT NOT BED OF ROSES By Charles M. Bell Many of us often wish we were bankers so we could have opportunities to be “in” on good things. But I am not sure that the banker’s position is so enviable. For every “good thing” that crosses his desk, probably eleven “lemons” pass over too. Any one who has the sagacity to analyze twelve propositions and put his finger on the one good one is entitled to some reward. The man who thinks this is easy has never invested much money. The most difficult job in this world is to invest money safely and productively in enterprises in which one is not an active executive officer. I grant the banker his right to a mahogany desk, a thick carpet and a hard crust. He needs them. If his crust wasn’t hard he wouldn’t have either the desk or the carpet •very loag.

-JUNE 13, 1934

ANOTHER FOE OF NUDISM By Times Reader. To “Merely Intelligent”: “And, behold, God made for Adam and his wife coats of skins and clothed them.” Genesis 3:21. God is all intelligent, not merely so, and if He saw fit to clothe man, even if man was created in His image, don’t you think He and all wise purpose in it and knew what He was doing? It profits us to follow God in His acts rather than follow our own ways, which lead to sin, or do you cast God and His way behind your back? * Man after his fall in the Garden of Eden, God clothed, and we’d better stay clothed. The eighteenth chapter of Leviticus deals with uncovering nakedness and God declared it was wickedness and all wickedness will be punished as God’s word will stand forever, and wed better take heed to it. Jesus, with the purest of minds and who knew no sin, wore clothing while here on earth and was seep, still wearing a garment, after He arose from the dead. Read Revelations 1:13. He is the pattern for us ail and following Him we can’t go wrong. u tt HE’S SKINNY AND OPPOSES NUDISM By Anglo-Saxon After reading the letter of “Merely Intelligent” in The Message Center of June 9, I wish to say the letter should have been signed “Merely Dumb.” Those who wish to run around in the nude should do so in the privacy of their homes or the old family bath tub. Plenty of fun for them with no harm to public morals. I don’t want to run around in the raw myself for I am too skinny and I am very certain that I don’t believe in any of my female relatives appearing ala mother Eve. Those who believe in nudism should buy a one-way ticket to the Sandwich islands.

MY BOOKS

BY EFFIE L. WORKMAN They quietly stand Side by side, in a row, Dressed in various colored gowns; Red and blue, yellow and green, Here and there, a dignified brown. They never speak Unless I ask And then—what tales they tell. You would never believe that the yellow one Could weave a mystery spell. If my mood is low, One dressed in red Seems to slip into my hands And before I know it, my spirit is free, Soaring high over distant lands. The brown can relate A story of love, Tha# brings hot tears to your eyes. They are all such understanding friends. In silence, their wisdom lies. Dressed in gay array, They patiently wait Side by side upon the shelf, These books of mine, to which j turn i , When I. grow weary of “myself.*