Indianapolis Times, Volume 46, Number 121, Indianapolis, Marion County, 29 September 1934 — Page 6

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BATURDAY SEPT 2*. I#J4. MOMENTOUS TOPICS ENATOR ARTHUR ROBINSONS change of front Is interesting. A few weeks ago he was ringing the welkin about the destruction of the Constitution through the insidious agency of the Roosevelt recovery measures. Ha said quite frankly that the good old U. S. A. was “on the road to Moscow.” Then The Times printed his record in the last session of congress. It showed that he had voted for every major piece of recovery legislation without uttering the slightest protest. Then came the California. Mississippi and Maine primaries indicating that uncommunicative person, the average citizen, was not only satisfied with Mr. Roosevelt's program, but wanted more of it. Now Mr. Robinson has turned to two totally different issues: The veterans and Governor McNutt. Just what the senator has ever actually done for our ex-soldiers is still a mystery. We challenge him to point to his name on a single important bill favoring the veterans—or anything else, for that matter. No. the senior senator's record is almost entirely made up of noise. A phonograph in the senate would have helped the veterans about as much. As to his attacks on the state government, they sound a great deal like the remarks of a man who feels he must talk although he actually has nothing to say. Governor McNutt is not standing for re-election this year. He is not an issue in the senatorial campaign. With the nation facing grave national problems it is downright silly for Senator Robinson to go careening about Indiana talking about strictly local issues. What in the world does he think he can do in the United States senate about state prisons? Or the liquor law? Or the “Two Per Cent Club?” Nothing—and he knows it. We really should place the news of the senator's campaign in the "Ho-Hum” department and let it go at that.

THE POWER SURVEY IN its national survey the federal power commission is undertaking a project long overdue. It proposes to separate the wheat of fact from the chaff of propaganda. It hopes to lay before congress and the public a true picture of the nation’s vast power resources and to chart a sane and economically sound course of future development. No industry is so befogged with fiction and half-truth, with fanaticism and self-interest, as the business of making and distributing electricity. A disinterested authority should establish the relative merits of private and public power development, and the actual production and distribution costs under both systems. Do private companies refuse to amortize their debts; do they hide their costs, overpay their executives, play politics with rate-making bodies? Do public plants hide their cost in tax rates? The public should know the relative cheapness and efficiency of hydro-electric power and that developed by steam and Deisel plants. Are we spending too much or too little to harness streams? What of conservation, if we use coal and oil instead of water? We should know' the limits, if any. of the industrial and domestic power markets. It is true, as the Tennessee Valley Authority claims, that the power market so far has not been scratched in America? Is the federal government extravagant or niggardly in spending $267,000,000 toward electrification of the country? We should know the part played by private holding companies in overcharging consumers, and we should find some means of bringing these financial carry-alls under rate regulation along writh their subsidiaries. To what extent, and why. is state regulation breaking dowm? Useful, also, in shedding light on the legal, financial and propaganda aspects of the power industry will be a forthcoming report by the federal trade commission after a seven-year study. It is good news that this able body will ask congress for continuing authority to investigate utilities. The private power companies as well as public systems are interested in answers to most of these questions. According to ViceChairman Basil Manly of the power commission. private companies are co-operating willingly writh the survey. -Prompt and full replies to the questions scheduled will enable us to compile and submit ttf congress,” Manly says, “the most comprehensive and authentic exhibit of our power resources and possibilities ever made in this or any other country." THE WAVERING G. O. P. PARTY platforms are generally interesting. even though the cynical regard them as mere bait for votes. Taking a hint from the Maine election, the Maryland Republican convention conferred Its blessing upon the major purposes and methods of the New Deal Beckoning to antiRitchie Democrats, the platform branded Democratic Governor Ritchie as anti-Roose-velt and hinted that the way to bring the New Deal to Maryland was to elect a Republican Governor. It is not likely that such an experienced vote-getter as Ritchie will accept this Republican definition of the issues. Instead he probably will drape Roosevelt liberalism across his own conservative shoulders. New York Republicans in convention apparently thought more votes can be had by baying at the New Deal. Their resolutions committee brought in a platform which condemned nearly all phases of the New Deal and denounced Democratic Governor Lehman for being too pro-Roosevelt. Rlrvpo the crowd apparently in control of Jhe New York Republican convention sat high

in the councils at Washington through the twelve years preceding 1933, the promises of national reforms on which they propose to wage the state campaign are strange. They want a stronger banking system; presumably somewhat different from the banking system with which the Republican leaders were satisfied up until the collapse of February-March. 1933. They want a stronger federal reserve system, free from politics: presumably different from the system that piped the nation's credit into Wall Street in the Coolidge era. They want to recapture foreign markets for American farm products, but neglect to say whether they still subscribe to the Smoot-Hawlev tariff philosophy that destroyed those markets. They want the people to give the government back to them so they can do many other things they didn't want to do in the twelve years preceding 1933. It is for the voters to decide whether their conversion is too late and too meager. UNIFIED POLICE ACTION Attorney-general cummings has announced his intention to call a conference in December to bring about better co-operation among local, state and federal authorities toward the prevention and detection of crime. Representatives of organizations interested in this work will be invited, and at least the beginning of unified action on the part of local, state and federal authorities may be expected. The effort is highly commendable, if it does nothing more than break up the jealousies and personal distrust that exist among the various crime detecting agencies. Senator Copeland of New York, whose bill would provide for additional department of justice agents to co-operate with local police, put the idea frankly when he told assembled police chiefs at Washington that, “local officers are not always willing to receive federal officers and they (the federal agents) are sometimes looked upon as interlopers.” It is unfortunate that this should be so, for more than once has it been proven that every police division has something it can give toward solution of a crime, and that the surest and quickest means of such solution is unstinting co-operation. The Lindbergh case is an excellent example. How far could the New Jersey state authorities, let us say, have gone with this perplexing problem had they been left alone to solve It? What could the federal agents have done without the aid of the New York and New Jersey officials? And what could we hav; expected from three separate investigating units, each running down clews confined to its own bailiwick in its own private way? Dillinger and his gangsters were run down and cornered in the same way—through cooperation of federal and local authorities toward a common goal. Furthermore, Attorney-General Cummings points out that this sort of co-operation, effective as it is in itself, can produce even more certain results for the common good, if citizens interested themselves more in such work and saw to it that no subversive influences be brought to bear against the work of the criminal authorities. Police departments, he says, should be removed from the “malign and disintegrating activities of partisan politics. “Their efforts should not be frustrated by designing politicians and lawyers who have coritact with the criminal element,” he adds. So that, when all crime detecting agencies are encouraged to work together, it is up to us to see that they do so without interference.

NATIONS IN DEBT PRESENT financial troubles of the League of Nations reflect the sorry plight of an agency on which the world once was asked to depend for peace and good will. According to a repprt by a subcommittee of the league, of more than 30,000,000 gold francs due as this year’s subscriptions, more than 14 000,000 is still to be collected. Out of the fifty-seven member nations, only twelve are listed as having paid their dues in full. Adding the arrears of member nations, from previous years, the league’s finances are behind nearly 37,500,000 gold francs. And until that’s collected, you can hardly blame Senator Borah for insisting that the United States stay aloof from the League of Nations. We've had our experience with World war debts. A CHILD IS BORN A CHILD is bom to Prince Humbert of Italy and there is great jubilation among the people. To be sure, there would have been greater rejoicing had the Crown Princess Marie Jose given birth to a boy, but even a girl is acceptable. The event in itself would seem to mean very little to democratic Americans. The glamour of royalty, to the average person in the United States, is confined to the imagination. and that at times isn't strong enough to cull up any more than casual interest. But there is much firmer foundation for joy among the populace of Italy than the mere fact of the birth, or a people’s love for its hereditary rulers. It's the encouraging news that, in many Italian cities, free birth cradles and clothing will be given to all needy families, in honor of the event! INDIVIDUALISTS IN MEDICINE MEDICAL TIMES, dealer in provocative editorial topics regarding the profession, asks, with a strong implication of an affirmative answer, if unorthodox medical individualism does not serve a useful purpose. We will be explicit. Undoubtedly it does, though the unorthodox individualist, unless he is shrewd and keep 6 the right professional company, is likely to be ostracized and acquire a heavy incrustation of false rumor. "Take, for example,” says Medical Times, “James Graham, the noted charlatan of the eighteenth century—Edinburgh tramed—who in America and England outraged the medical profession by forbidding the unfit to marry; by favoring early sterilization of every type of degenerate or the marriage of such degenerates to superannuated maids or old. dilettante women; by suggesting a special tax on spinsters who had rejected proposals of marriage and a similar tax on bachelors; by proposing that parliament enact triennial or septennial jubilees or matrimonial insolvent acts for the relief of wretched, discordant and barren couples; by urging a better balanced dietary—less beef and more vegetables; by

vising the continuous tepid bath and music in the treatment of the insane.” For the 1700s Dr. James Graham certainly was a modern. He foresaw the future and apparently helped create it and went far beyond the present. But if some good member of the Indiana State Medical Association got out and stumped the city for ideas as advanced now as they were then, the eyebrows of most of his cofellows in those institutions would get weary raising themselves in questioning or disapproval. The world might be a more diverting and a physically safer and happier place ultimately to live in if individualists in medicine were encouraged. Liberal Viewpoint BY DR. HARRY ELMER BARNES r | 'HE question of whether Fascism will come A to the United States is one of the most debated issues now before the American public. And it is rightly so, because no more fundamental issue faces our country along with the rest of the western world. One man’s opinion on this may be suspected of bias or prejudice, but a symposium has more significance. One of the best w'hich has yet appeared is that in the current number of the Modem Monthly, contributed ,to by Stuart Chase, Charles A. Beard. Theodofe Dreiser, Norman Thomas, Horace M. Kallen, Waldo Frank and V. F. Calveston. All these men think that Fascism is certainly possible in the United States, though Dr. Kallen has more faith than the others in our libertyloving traditions. These don’t cut much ice with Dr. Beard, who is inclined to think that the materials out of which Fascism is made are unusually numerous and appropriate in the United States. “The middle-class materials for Fascism are present in American society on a larger scale relatively speaking than in Germany or Italy. That millions of Americans can be marshaled under the banner of force and terror seems to be demonstrated by the extraordinary growth of the Ku-Klux Klan a few years ago. “How lightly many American communities regard the principles of democracy, free speech, and free press is demonstrated by numerous labor and race controversies in various parts of the country. “The tinder is here for the flame and it may be touched off in a deepening and spreading social crisis.” tt tt tt NORMAN THOMAS is inclined to discredit the alarm created by the Silver Shirts, Christian Crusaders, and the like, but he does scent a real danger in the existence of such organizations as the American Legion, tohe Reserve Officers’ Association, and the like. He calls attention to the fact that, without any public discussion and with the consent of the President, congress just has given outright 75,000 first-class army rifles to the American Legion. Moreover, he is much more concerned over such symptoms as General Johnson’s conduct at the time of the San Francisco strike. Stuart Chase’s analysis is extremely sensible. He believes that the general economic setup in this country is well adapted to a drift toward Fascism, with little prospect that the disorganized radical groups will be able to head it off. Yet, Mr. Chase finds a number of very definite factors which work against Fascism here: (1) In spite of temporary aberrations, we do have a definite attachment to democratic and parliamentary institutions. (2) The very size of the United States makes a Fascist coup-d etat much more difficult than the smaller European countries. (3) Other nations have a few vital urban centers, control of which gives any group dominion over the whole country, whereas, in the United States there are more than a 100 strategic points spread over 3.000 miles of territory. (4) The United States is economically selfsufficient. (5) The United States emerged from the World war with a superiority rather than an inferiority complex, leaving us with no bitter feeling of resentment. (6) President Roosevelt may be moved by the failure of his moderate program into a sharp sw'ing to the left which would checkmate the whole Fascist movement. a tt tt THERE is one point in Mr. Chase’s analysis which particularly warrants emphasis. That is that while Fascism may try to save capitalism it never can actually do so. The only reason why the western world has any need for going Fascist is the fact that capitalism will not give sufficient purchasing power to the masses. But the latter move is absolutely the only thing which can save the capitalistic system. To expect that capitalism will be more generous and intelligent under Fascism than it is today is sheer absurdity.

Capital Capers BY GEORGE ABELL

PLUMP, talkative Mr. Spruille Braden, the wealthy New York business man who tried so hard to become ambassador to Chile, is again buzzing about Washington seeking some kind of a Latin American job. He has, in fact, just found one. After much discussion, the Pan-American Union has named Spruille chairman of the newly organized InterAmerican commercial arbitration commission. Headquarters will be conveniently located in Manhattan so Chairman Braden will not be forced to travel all the way to the capital when he calls a meeting. Temporarily, the indefatigable New Yorker is appeased, but he still is desirous of a bigger and better job somewhere in Latin America. All the Central and South American diplomats in Washington are familiar with Spruille’s tactics. For a matter of many months his face habitually ornamented every cocktail party and formal dinner at the Chilean embassy. Failure to get the Chilean appointment was a blow, but Spruille persisted gallantly and was rewarded by being named a delegate to the Montevideo conference. Since that position paid only $6 a day and normal expenses were about $25 a day, Spruille seemed an ideal choice. It was difficult to find any one who wanted the honor. Diplomats jokingly refer to Spruille as “Mr. Ambassador,” but that gentleman wants to have the title in a very serious way. tt ss ss SECRETARY HENRY WALLACE yesterday explained the sudden dash of Braintruster Rex Tugwell to Europe—a move which caused speculation among officials. Did Mr. Tugwell go to Europe in order to be absent during the autumn campaigning?” he was asked directly,| Painstakingly, Secretary Wallace - pointed out that Tugwell had gone overseas to attend the meeting of the International Institute of Agriculture in Rome. There was some question of expense, and he had almost decided not to go. Then, the American agricultural representative in Rome insisted that Tugwell attend in order to strengthen American representation. Weird stories that have appeared in western newspapers about farmers who have increased earnings by cutting production were branded by Wallace as a "preposterous hoax.” "The writers of these stories.” he said grimly, •’should have a forehead examination.” NOTE —Wallace’s press conferences are becoming the most widely attended in Washingson—if one excepts the President's. Newsmen are seated and an air of camaraderie prevails. Strong Constitution advocates say the record crowd at the World's fair on Constitution day proves loyalty to the document. Maybe so. but as an extra inducement for loyalty, coupons worth *6 were sold for only one. The Dionne quintuplets are to be on exhibition at their private hospital. But they won’t draw the crowds until they learn to tap dance and sing.

THE INDIANAPOLIS TIMES

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The Message Center

(Timet readere are invited to erpreti their views in these oolumnt. Make your letters shirt, so all can have a chance. lAmit them to *SO worde or lessJ 8 8 8 OPPOSES LOW WAGES AS ECONOMIC AID By a Times Reader. A contributor to this department advocates not paying labor more wages, as that discourages capital by reducing profits. He advocates more encouragement to business to make profits. Perhaps every worker should work for 25 cents a day from now on, in order to insure business about 900 per cent profit. No thinking person begrudges a company or an individual a profit as long as it is fair and is not made by taking advantage of those employed. The old order most certainly had a fair trial for many years, while the New Deal has not yet had quite a two-year run. Those who cry loudest against regimentation and the like are those selfish individuals who have too much of everything and hate to think of losing even a small portion of it. Asa noted educator put it, after a trip to Russia:* “What we need in America is a greater love for America, a love great enough to make those of us who have a great deal willing to share a portion of it with others who have not been so fortunate.” 8 8 8 ASSERTS M’NUTT WAS IGNORED By a McNutt Democrat. Being a constant reader of The Times and a booster, could you please tell me why Governor McNutt’s name was not mentioned at the Democratic rally at Tomlinson hall? I sat through the entire meeting and never heard a word about our great Governor. What is the trouble? Is the committee ashamed of him? 8 8 8 ASSERTS BUSINESS CAN RESTORE PROSPERITY Bv Charles F. Rheira. A short time ago I offered work consisting of odd jobs to a man whom I knew had been unemployed for a long time. He refused my offer and when questioned, replied: "Things are different now. If I take the job I will be taken off the relief roll. You know that today only fools and mules work, and even the mules turn their backs to it.” When a country gets in such shape, because of government policy, it is time for the administration to reverse itself. Nothing short of restoring complete confidence can bring back the lost morale of the people, particularly the unemployed. To do this, the government must remove the present restrictions on business, and business will show the government and the people how very easy it is to bring back prosperity. 8 8 8 SMEDLEY D. BUTLER •TUT ON PAN” By Ei-hirtl*. In The Times it was stated that Major-General Smedley D. Butler, “former commander of the United States marine corps,” gave an address at Tomlinson hall, indorsing the veterans’ record of Senator Arthur R. Robinson. I resent the fact that General Butler was referred to as a “former commander of the United Btates marine corpV’ General Butler never was the '‘major-general com-

KEEP HIM OUT OF THE RANKS

Spoils System and Prison Breaks

By Old Timer. The attempted escape of Charles Makley and Harry Pierpont from the Ohio penitentiary by the toy gun method is another reminder of what the McNutt spoils system has done to Indiana penal institutions. Ohio does not have a spoils system that reaches into state welfare and penal institutions, ruining their efficiency, nor does it have Mr. McNutt, for which it can be thankful and probably is. Forgetful of the fact that Ohio is not Indiana, when Pierpont and Makley attempted to bluff their way out of the Ohio penitentiary, they did not have a group of inexperienced, incompetent political

mandant” of the United States marine corps and had he remained in the corps for another fifty years he never would have been appointed major-general commandant, thanks to the sagacity of such Presidents as Harding, Coolidge, Hoover and Roosevelt, their many aberrations notwithstanding. Since his retirement he has profited by his hobnobbing with the hoi polloi, whereas when I knew him as a superior officer he was looked upon by enlisted men with the same affection as a Russian exile to Siberia must have contemplated Czar Nichols II in far away St. Petersburg. f General Butler’s indorsement of Senator Robinson is another example of his “wisdom.” Indiana must have someone in the United States senate to draw the laughs. General Butler, no doubt, considers the flamboyant Robinson an excellent antidote for the mute, supine Van Nuys. B'B 8 ' ACCUSES ROOSEVELT OF INSINCERITY Bv William S. Ashford. The recent communication to The Times from C. F. Ward, asking why the Republicans did not protest against the New Deal and the action* of President Roosevelt, is typical of what might be expected from a 4-year -old boy. provided, of course, that a 4-year-old boy could write. Certainly a 6-year-old child would be too intelligent to ask such a question. In the first place, neither the Republicans nor any one else had the slightest inkling of what would actually take place. If they had, even the majority of the Democrats would have voted against it. Franklin D. Roosevelt was swept into office by a tidal wave of enthusiasm which was only natural with the opposition party in power in the midst of a world-wide depression. The Democratic platform pledges and Mr. Roosevelt’s own promises were both sound and reassuring. Who could know that the President would not only repudiate the entire Democratic platform and completely ignore his own pre-election promises, but would even attempt to evade the Constitution that he had sworn to preserve and defend? Never before have we had a high official who was so insincere and who so completely disregarded his own promises. There always has been a tradition that every man who has filled the office of President of the United States has been worthy of that office and the honor that was bestowed upon him. That tradition has been rudely shaken. It will require a long time for the presidential office to regain the dignity

1 wholly disapprove of what you say and will 1 defend to the death your right to say it. — Voltaire. J

appointees to contend with. Instead, they faced a squad of experienced and efficient prisonguards who knew what to do and how to do it, and who were not afraid of pistols, real or otherwise. The McNutt spoils system has made Indiana the laughing stock of the nation. No other state has anything to compare with it. Nothing short of our present federal government setup, under the Roosevelt-Brain Trust-Farley regime, can even approach it. It is time that the voters of Indiana awake to the situation and spnd legislators to Indianapolis who will put a stop to the present administration’s tactics.

and prestige it has lost in the past year and a half. Now, Mr. Ward, if your question is not sufficiently answered, please refer to "Smilin’ Through,” page 22 of the Saturday Evening Post, issue of Sept. 22, 1934. 8 8 8 EXPLAINS STATEMENTS ABOUT RELIEF WORK By Sherman Lons. My letter which appeared in The Message Center Sept. 19. concerning skilled workmen on relief, was intended as my final statement on the matter, but since some readers have the wrong conception of some of the comments sad because of the fact that some of my points were not explicitly expressed, I am obliged to clarify the letter. When I referred to the new school on Traub avenue, mentioning sec-ond-hand material, I didn't mean that the building material had been used before. Neither was I insinuating that the authorities were guilty of fraud or extravagance in the use of funds allotted for this or any other project or that there had been dissension between the workers and foremen, though this seemed to be the understanding derived by some of the readers. It is obvious that there has been strict co-operation between the workers and foremen at the school, and other projects for that matter, and this is precisely what I had attempted to exemplify; that the carpenter tools as well as the men had surely reached a possible state of decline, due to a long period of unemployment and yet in the face of every handicap, they are responsible for the existence of a modern building. 8 8 8 WORKING WIFE IN MOOD TO THROW BRICKS By a Reader. I have long read The Indianapolis Times and admired the spirit expressed by its editorial staff. Some of the viewpoints taken by it, I mpst admit, are not in accord with my own, but all in all, it is the most satisfactory newspaper in this or any other city that I ever have read. In the same breath that I commend The Times, I should like to condemn “The Man on the Street,” who appears during the noon hour daily in front of the Circle theater. I happened to be passing by one day and stopped to hear a certain broadcast concerning “whether or not married women should be allowed to work and whether or not it is true that so many married women being employed has helped to bring about the economic condition through which we have been and are still passing. Naturally,

.SEPT. 29, 1931

being an employed married woman, I was much interested. However, when I saw the types who were picked fiom the crowd to answer questions of the broadcast conductor, I was just amused and then very angry. Tittering old maids, hard-boiled middle-aged "girls,” who, no doubt, were holding good jobs at the same time being kept by some sanctimonious business man—well, I suppose they earn their money; matronly women with nothing to do but come downtown to spend their husbands money; dirty-looking laborers or bums who haven’t any way of knowing all the problems confronting an employed married woman, who works from necessity and not choice in order to keep from becoming just another divorcee, and hard-boiled “girls.” The broadcast was conducted in such a manner that the answer would be obvious and all for a glass of beer. Well, a civilization has been betrayed for less. In the name of everything that in respectable why pick on the married women? There are thousands of girls in this city living with parents who are well able to provide the best of everything for them, even girls with very wealthy families, holding the best of jobs and nothing is ever said about that. But a married woman who tries to have a respectable home, keep the same decent standard of living she always has been accustomed to,.even though she may have a husband who, because of the late disruption, works not at all or only part time, she is to be condemned by those persons who have nothing to do but make trouble for somebody else. It makes me want to throw bricks, and I hope I don’t happen to be around if another broadcast such as that one is conducted. BELIEVES REPUBLICANS VETERANS’ BEST BET Bv Arthur G. Gresham. Sherman Minton feels called upon to say that he is for the soldier bonus and just compensation to the nation’s disabled veterans “providing Mr. Roosevelt does not object.” That is the same story Senator Van Nuys put out; the same story the national and state Democratic committees put out in the last and in other campaigns. Experience, however, is the best teacher and the veterans know from experience that promises coming from Democratic candidates mean very little. There are 140,000 World war veterans in Indiana and each one is good for from two to five’ votes. Every one of the 140,000, if he gives himself and his comrades consideration. will vote a straight Republican ticket. Send men like Robinson, Wilmeth and Scott to Washington, and then, and then only, will the veterans receive justice. ‘MY LITTLE WORLD’ BY M. C. W. He went away io college today— There seems no more to say. The rooms are so empty and so still— My throat aches, my eyes fill. % He is still my baby, just grown tall— My little world—my aIL