Indianapolis Times, Volume 46, Number 178, Indianapolis, Marion County, 5 December 1934 — Page 14

PAGE 14

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WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 5. 1934

A YEAR OF REPEAL EPEAL today is a 1-year-old mewling infant, subject to many allmenu, most of them hereditary. The bloodstreams of the preVolstead era and the prohibition period were impure, so why expect repeal to be very healthy on ita first birthday? Americans are not a temperate people. Whether in business, politics, sports, eating or drinking, we are inclined to excesses. But some good may come from an audit of the last year’s gams and losses in liquor temperance. The hip-flask era is waning. Drunkenness is not as ‘ smart” as it was during prohibition. For a gentleman unschooled in legal drinking, the record is not bad. The saloon is back in some states, but it is no worse than the prohibition speakeasy, if as bad. Deets Pickett, of the Methodist Temperance Board, quotes statistics to show that arrests for drunkfnness and drunken driving have increased, but the increase has not been as great as in prohibition years. Hard liquor, always a favorite in America, became even more popular during prohibition. If there has been a drift back toward lighter drinks since repeal, it is not noticeable. Why is the per capita consumption of wine in the United States only one quart a year, compared to a per capita of 32 gallons in sober France?- Grapes are rotting on the vines here, and wineries are glutted with surpluses piled up behind a prohibitive tariff. One obvious cause is the high price of wines. The wine industry can not blame taxes. The federal levy is only 10 cents a gallon on light wines. The beer industry has a better excuse for Its failure to provide again a generous schooner for a nickel. Beer, with a much smaller alcoholic content, pays a federal gallonage tax almost twice as high as light wines. It is not in the interest of temperance to wish a greater consumption of distilled spirits, but good government and revenue require that the spirits sold pass through legal channels. Consumption of legal spirits in the first year of repeal—fifty million gallons—is about one-third the pre-prohibition average. Actual drinking of hard liquor is believed greater instead of less than before prohibition. Bootleggers probably are selling at least two gallons to every one sold by legal dealers. The federal tax of $2 a gallon on hard liquor does not seem exorbitant. But when state taxes and license fees are added, the net result is a decided price advantage for bootleggers. Would it not be wise for the Government—now collecting about half the anticipated liquor revenue—to reduce taxes at least until the bootleggers are driven out? The $5 a gallon tariff, of course, is a ridiculous premium on smuggling. The Government can not easily change popular habits. But it should recognize their existence. GAINING AN INCH there is acclaim of ths Franco-German agreement over the Saar. It is welcomed as removing one of Europe's war dangers. On its face it indicates that France is reconciled to the probability that the territory will vote German in the January plebiscite, and is preventing a bitter dispute over a financial settlement. Certainly thus advance agreement for the settlement of prospective claims connected with the mines and other credits is an example of foresighted diplomacy at its best. Credit goes to the League commission, France and Germany. More important are political causes. Germany promises full guarantees against persecution or reprisal to the entire Saar population. regardless of race, religion or political beliefs. There is a time limit to this, however. believed to be only one year. This limited guarantee does not dispose of the most explosive element in the Saar situation. If Hitler, at the end of a brief period, rules the Saar as ruthlessly as Germany, it will continue as a danger spot in Europe. And. if Hitler is sincere in his persecution of racial minorities, political liberals and laborites in Germany, doubtless he will be tempted to extend that terror to the Saar in the name of Nazi kultur. The Saar problem is essentially the same as the larger German problem. There is not apt to be a lasting and peaceful solution of either under a Nazi dictatorship. HOW FAR TO GO HOW far is a policeman entitled to go when he bumps into a man known to be a desperado, but whom the courts never can seem to touch? Police Commissioner Valentine of New York has the idee that the cop can go just about as far as he likes. He complains that his police have been too polite to racketeers, gunmen, and such like, and he wants to see these gentlemen mussed up a little. The commissioner expressed himself in this rein after watching a man named Harry Strauss brought into a police lineup at headquarters. Strauss has been arrested 18 times in the last seven years, on charges ranging all the way from homicide to possessing narcotics. He never has been convicted of anything, however, and when he was pinched he gave his occupation as a house painter. He came in dressed like a fashion-plate, and it was his sartorial magnificence that exasperated the commissioner. “This man is a paid assassin,” said the commissioner. "Men like him should be marked up and mussed up. Blood should be smeared all over that velvet collar. Instead, he looks as if he had just got out of a barber's chair." Very few persons will quarrel with this idea, In Itself. Unfortunately, when the police set

1 out to muss people up. they aren't usually very discriminating. Pretty soon it is the minor offender who gets mussed up; then, after a while, some totally Innocent bystander is arrested by mistake and gets rather frightfully mussed up before he can convince the cops that its all a i mistake. For that reason, telling any police department to be brutal is a mistake. The brutality is certain to hit the wrong parties, sooner or later. Nevertheless, we haven’t answered the commissioner when we say this idea is dangerous. We must find some way of taking care of these outlaws, who can be arrested 18 times and yet remain free to follow their own devices. Something pretty shocking must be wrong with our criminal law and our method of administering it when a man can be accused three times of homicide, six times of carrying a gun. and nine times of felonies ranging from grand larceny to assault, without even so much as standing trial before a jury. So long as such conditions obtain, the police are going to be brutal out of sheer exasperation. We never can abolish the third degree until we take a few of the kinks out of our system of handling accused persons after they have been arrested. DIPLOMATIC ERROR MR. BINGHAM, our ambassador in London, says President Roosevelt has power to make “binding and lasting” agreements with the British government, according to The London Sunday Observer. If the ambassador is quoted correctly, he has blundered. Only Congress can make such agreements. Quoting the old epigram that “the American President proposes and Congress disposes,” the ambassador makes the astounding statement that this "no longer holds.” It is as true today as it ever was. In his easy assurance that President Roosevelt, unlike President Wilson and others, can control the Senate s decisions on foreign policy, Mr. Bingham forgets or ignores the fact that President Roosevelt has failed to obtain ratification of the St, Lawrence waterway treaty and of American participation in the World Court. And how can the ambassador forget the war debts dispute with Britain, which could have been settled long ago if the President were free to act? The two chief difficulties of American diplomacy today, as formerly, are the inability of foreign nations to understand the authority of Congress over foreign commitments and, secondly, Congress’ proper jealously of any presidential encroachments on that power. The reported statement of the ambassador will intensify both of those difficulties. With Mr. Bingham’s desire for closer AngloAmerican co-operation for peace and justice in world affairs, this newspaper is in complete accord. But we hope that his method in the future may be less inept. WHY THE ELECTORAL COLLEGE? HAVING persuaded the people of his home state to try a far-reaching reform in substitution of a single-chamber state legislature for the traditional two-chamber body, Senator George W. Norris of Nebraska now is planning to offer a much-needed reform to the nation as a whole. What the Senator proposes to do is simply to abolish the electoral college. His scheme would not break down the state lines, in the final count; but it would make the electoral vote a far more accurate reflection of the popular will, since each state’s votes would be prorated among the candidates on the basis of. their record at the polls. It is hard to think of any very good argument against this reform. The electoral college is not only a cumbersome anachronism; it actually makes it possible for a man to be elected President by a minority of the country’s voters. It is high time the system was changed, and Senator Norris’ plan for changing it looks as good as any. KATHERINE LENROOT PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT has appointed Miss Katherine Lenroot chief of the United States Children's Bureau. There is probably no person better fitted to walk in Grace Abbott's footsteps. She is qualified by education and experience. After sitting at the feet of the great economist, Dr. John R. Commons of the University of Wisconsin, she served for two years with the Wisconsin Industrial Commission. For 20 years she has been with the Children’s Bureau in Washington. Since Miss Abbott’s resignation five months ago she has been acting chief. In this appointment the President and Secretary Perkins forgot politics. Miss Lenroot happens to be the daughter of Judge Irvine L. Lenroot, former conservative Republican Senator. What is important is that she has the necessary ability and vigor for this hard job. 4 Some seven million children under 16 are on relief. Large numbers of these lack proper food, clothing and, homes. Educational standards are far too low in many communities. The depression's fifth winter will bring sickness and death to more children. The new chief is a leading crusader for the permanent outlawry of child labor. With the President and Secretary Perkins, she is urging ratification this winter of the child labor amendment by the remaining 16 states required. May this and many other victories crown her efforts! A snooty apartment hotel in New York advertises, ’‘The character of our clientele is of gitater consideration than the tariff.” Although one should bring on the other. German workers line up for roll call, now, a top sergeant being so much more an effective check on them than a time clock. Another “reorganization” in the New Deal impends. Well, anything to keep the New Deal new. While he's trying to get jobs for others, Emergency Relief Administrator Hopkins Is doing all he can to spoil his job for himself. The United States Chamber of Commerce cites eight signs of improved business, but not a word about hubby's feeling so good, of late. Germany’s arming again is worrying Great Britain. How did the British ever learn about this? 2* f ' i ■■' '

Liberal Viewpoint BY DR. HARRY ELMER BARNES

POLITICAL Power. By Charles Edward Merriam. Whittlesey House. S3. A Guide to Modern Politics. By G. D. H. Cole and Margaret Cole. The Saar Struggle. By Michael T. Flonnsky, MacMillan, 82. Not since the eighteenth century have the political institutions of manned been in such a state of flux as they are today. Monarchy has toppled in most places, democracy is being challenged sharply throughout the world, and dictatorships are rising everywhere. Professor Merriam is one of our most eminent political scientists, and his latest volume is by far his most sweeping excursion into the field of politics. The book is a broad survey of the origins, sources and manifestations of political power. It endeavors to get behind the mere forms of government and to indicate the forces which lie behind all government and the application of public force. He shows that power existed even before the origins of civilization: "The busy ant, the chesty ape, the massive bull, the squealing stallion, the primitive chief, the hoary elders, all had leadership long before systems of philosophy appeared. There was power long before there was a written word for it.” This political power has manifested itself in patriarchal empires, feudalism, national monarchies and democracies. It has been exerted primarily to secure control over the necessities of life or to mediate between those who seek such control. It has built up states, waged wars, exploited the masses and fostered the arts. u u a WHETHER its future will be for good or ill depends upon our intelligence in bringing it under social control and direction: “The next phase may witness the flaming of Fascist revolutions, the armed clash of economic nationalisms, the bursting forth of communisticcapitalistic revolutions and counter revolutions, a world-wide struggle between conflicting racial types or economic interests, seen in the Orient and the Occident. Or it may be characterized by the adroit avoidance of catastrophic collisions and perhaps debacles; and the- slow emergence of jural order in the world as a whole and in the domain of the industrio-political. “It is a long road out of slavery to inanimate nature, out of a slavery to human nature, up to the mastery of the dark and fateful forces around us and within; but the race is on its way. The future belongs to those who fuse intelligence with faith, and who with courage and determination grope their way forward from chance to choice, from blind adaptation to creative evolution.” Mr. Cole is an amazingly prolific, illuminating and suggestive writer. In his latest book, he describes the manifestations of political power as they exist in the leading states of our day. In no other single volume will one get as much useful information on the political institutions and methods of the twentieth century, presented in extremely readable form. The most striking thing which Mr. Cole detects in current political tendencies is the challenge to parliamentarism and self-government as the result of the trend toward dictatorship. He makes it clear that democracy is no gift from the gods. It must rest upon a social system characterized by justice and must have the hearty support of its partisans. tt tt a " r I 'HE day of these free societies is not yet; A and mankind has a hard task to reach them. For they can not be reached until men have set up a framework of social institutions that does,,satisfy the collective sense of justice; and the struggle to establish those institutions still lies mainly before us. "But if that is the sort of society we want—that is, if we really believe in democracy at all —we must be prepared to face that struggle, and to battle with all our might against those bastard claimants who set up against the spontaneity of democracy, the disciplined autocracy of the corporative states. “For democracy does not drive men: it helps them to find their own leaders; and those of us who are Democrats have the task of making a social framework within which the impulses and desires of ordinary people can find abundant plan.” One of the most immediate threats of a clash of political power today lies in the plebiscite which is to be held in the Saar area next month. The history, economic factors and national interests involved are analyzed clearly by Dr. Florinsky. Its rich coal deposits are valuable to both France and Germany, while German nationalism demands its return with as much gusto as French nationalism insisted upon the return of Alsace-Lorraine. But for Hitler’s rise to power in Germany, there would have been little doubt about an overwhelming vote for return to Germany. Now, the outcome is uncertain. If the vote goes against Germany, it may lead to forceful intervention of the Germans, and certainly will provide anew Alsace-Lorraine to menace the peace of Europe and the world. The very existence of the problem is another testimonial to the folly of the peacemakers of 1919.

Capital Capers BY GEORGE ABELL

SENOR RAMON PADILLA, secretary of the Spanish Embassy and son of the former royal Ambassador of Spain, Alejandro Padilla, smelled something burning. It was just an hour before a dinner paity planned by Ramon to precede a diplomatic dance. Suddenly the butler rushed in. “Senor! Senor! The soup is on fire!” With a terrible Spanish oath, Ramon rar to the kitchen. A distressed cook frantically wa ’ed a soup spoon above a tureen from which sme ke poured in thick clouds. “Open a window!” cried Ramon. They opened windows and more windows. Still the embassy smelled as if a pole-cat (in Spanish, “gato de mal olor,”) had just strolled through. In desperation, Ramon went to the phone and called up friends. “Hello! What shall I do? The soup Is burned. The embassy is full of odor. What shall I do?” One advised using a disinfectant. Another thought incense would help. A third suggested Ramon burn two boxes of matches to remove the scent. Shortly afterward, guests arrived. Ramon greeted them smilingly. The sensitive nostrils of one lady quivered. “What an exquisite perfume of violets there is in this room!” she remarked. “Yes, delicious,” muttered Ramon, mopping his forehead. NOTE: The chef of Louis XIV fell on his sword when the soup was burned. But today, essence of violets is more helpful. a a a JAPAN'S insistence upon naval parity on a 5-5-5 basis is being amusingly propagandized here by Captain Tamon Yamaguchi, I. J. N„ Naval Attache of the Japanese Embassy. Captain Yamaguchi is an inveterate smoker, and friends often have observed his jubilant expression when he receives a fresh tin of imported cigarets. He passes these cigarets out in large quantities to his British and American colleagues, and they used to wonder why he smiled so broadly each time. Now, the solution has been found. Each pack of the cigarets bears the trade name "5-5-5.” The Philadelphia mint has turned out more than 3.500,000 coins and all they amount to is $i61,101. That’s a letdown you can understand after opening the baby’s bank. Wouldn’t the Republican party like to have a sh.~* of that mysterious chemical which a scientist says can prolong life at least two years!

THE INDIANAPOLIS TIMES

•-XO.UEEG-

A /T /""N j J" l wholly disapprove of what you say and will 1 JL Xl6 IVI IGI* [ defend to the death your right to say it. — Voltaire. J

(Timet readers! are invited to express their vietos in these columns. Hake your tetters short, so alt can have a chance. Limit them to 150 words or less.) a a u EVERY ONE BLAMES HIS NEIGHBOR FOR HARD TIMES By sls-A-Week Capitalist. After five years of depression the people of the United States should be welded together into one group with the purpose of establishing economic security. Instead we find more and more groups pulling in opposition. The Dempcrats and Republicans who have been fair weather friends are bewildered, and point at one another. Frances Perkins, Secretary of Labor, in a current news reel said, “When Congress meets President Roosevelt will ask for unemployment insurance to relieve the terrors of the next depression.” The big leaders who claim to know how to eliminate depressions, already are talking about the next one. The farmer blames the man in the city. The unorganized laboring man accuses the organized laboring man. The Protestant blames the Catholic. The Gentile blames the Jew. The American Legion thinks that the future of the country depends upon their bonus. Their slogan should be “For Bonus, God —and Country!” The little business man blames big business. The advocates of silver blame the monetary system. A farmer in Greenwood, Ind., bewails the fact that the farmer is not receiving enough for milk. He blames the wasteful competitive methods of getting milk from the fanner to the consumer. He wants Socialism and doesn’t realize it. It is a ten-to-one bet that he voted against what he wants. A few conservatives masquerade under the name liberals because they realize that they will have to give in a little to maintain the power which they possess. While the controversy rages the strong arm of .rent, profit and interest, continues to pull in the winnings, until in the mad scramble for money and power the game breaks up. a a a BARBER-BEAUTICIAN SET-UP ATTACKED By a Wall Wisher. I think It Is about time for some one to bring the controversy relative to the sad plight of the beauticians of this state, out in the open. In spite of fourteen years of struggle to place their profession on a legal basis for the protection of both the public and themselves, to bring about better sanitary and ethical practices to prevail, the beauty shop owners have met defeat of a pioneering spirit with anew determination to carry one, that invites admiration of all who know of their efforts. Their cause has been commercialize,.] by organized, unethical politicians whose greed for the dollar dulled their responsibility to the citizenry who voted them into office. At a mass meeting held in Tomlinson Hall, under the sponsorship of the Barbers Union, a movement was set on foot to unionize the beauticians of this state. This movement is potential dynamite and should be left alone. The barbers have been trying to affiliate the beauticians ever since the advent of bobbed hair. They have cast a jealous eye on a rich prize which has always proved elusive. Once unionized under the Amprira%, Feterateon at U&x, Uae

WITH US AGAIN

Railroads Face Tough Battle

By Will H. Craig:. In your paper of Dec. 1, under the heading "Blind Roads,” you ask-what is the matter with the railroads and criticise them for asking for higher rates. An intelligent editor like you ought to know. Don’t you know they are between the devil and the deep blue sea? Don’t you know they are the victims of the demagogs and politicians? Don’t you know they are not free agents like other industries? Don’t you know that their rates are fixed by the Interstate Commerce Commission and their wage scales by the Labor Board? Don’t you know that labor costs 60 per cent of their gross expenditures? Don’t you know that the wage scales were “fixed” by union labor during the war by a threat that if the Government didn’t “come through” all transportation would be tied up? Did not a Congress, fearing the labor vote, restore a small cut in railroad labor wages and add to it a pension, thus imposing nearly a half billion dollars on the debt-ridden and oppressed railroads? And did not The Indianapolis Times editor promote and indorse these measures? beauticians would be subversive to the will of the barbers and take second place, losing their identity and would be licensed as women’s babers. The beauty profession has become a racket in this state due to unethical men getting into the business for paltry artistic standpoint. Women and girls are fleeced out of their limited capital and get nothing for it. Ethical shop owners have for fourteen years been trying to get legislation to remedy this practice. I am a Democrat, a war veteran and have been a beauty shop owner for 10 years, and I worked in two sessions of the Legislature for the beauty bill and know the barber union's method of operation well. I invite constructive criticism. SOME ORGANIZATIONS AID ONLY PROMOTERS By S. C. Stoops. Those prone to work upon the superstition and ignorance of citizens who fail to or can not think reasonably or logically profit greatly by arranging a parent organization and by enlisting such folks at a stated amount a membership. There will come a time when those wise in the art of reaping where they have not sown will cease to impose upon the unaware. Many organizations of this sort have flourished for a time, all to the profit of the promoters. The Farmers Union of the Northwest, of which much was heard for a time, was in this class, but such an organization could not thrive or long endure in a state inhabited by citizens of the educational attainments of those in Indiana. Riots and bloodshed have been instigated and promoted by such organizations in the Northwest, where the citizenry is largely of foreign extraction. * <r * SIMILARITY OF NAMES, ADDRESSES CAUSE DIFFICULTY Bt Claude J. Davi*. Perrv Township Justice of the Pete-Eleet. An article published in your paper Nov. 29 pertaining to a grand jury indictment returned against Cliff Oaw Juste* qf Ui* Peace at

Would Henry Ford or any other industry of the country stand for the oppressions imposed on the railroads by our Government? Another handicap to railroads is the competition of trucks and busses. Railroads build and maintain their lines. They are the biggest taxpayers in the country. On the other hand, the nation and the states have spent billions of dollars for paved roads for free use of trucks and busses. I live on Road 32 that passes through Noblesville. I would estimate that there is more freight passing over this road in trucks than is hauled by the Nickel Plate Railroad. Taking all the paved roads in Hamilton county, it is a safe bet that two or three times as much freight is hauled in trucks as over the three railroads that pass through the county and are assessed for taxation at $1,111,045 in Hamilton County alone. For how much are the trucks assessed? Here, Mr. Editor, are some of the things the matter with the railroads. What have you done or can you do to put them on their feet? Would you take a railroad as a gift if you had to meet all the handicaps that confront them? Beech Grove, charging him with blackmail, has caused a lot of misunderstanding among the people of Beech Grove and Perry Township. Mr. Davids is justice of Franklin Township and lives in Beech Grove and I am justice-elect of Perry Township and live in Beech Grove, so people who don’t know me personally are holding this act against me. As I am innocent of this I will ask you to please write an article explaining this situation. During the primary this same man was involved in a mixup and when you wrote it up you gave his name as C. Davis, Justice of Peace, Beech Grove, and this article cost me a lot of votes, so I think it is time to straighten this out before something else happens. Do the - best you can by this and I will appreciate it. n an STATE, NATIONAL VICTORY 18 AID TO M’NUTT By Perry Rule. The G. O. P. strategists choose to make a simultaneous attack on the national and state New Deals, placing Gov. Paul V. McNutt as the target center, bringing out their big Berthas and other heavy and light artillery, using them to discredit both the state and national Administrations. The election results show that they did neither as both the state and national Administrations stand fully vindicated. It is the consensus that it was poor strategy to attack the state setup in the past campaign. As matters now stand Gov. McNutt is intrenched more safely than at any time during his public career and another fronted attack two

Daily Thought

Then Peter opened his mouth and said. Os a truth, I perceive that God is no respecter of persons —The Acts, 10:34. KING and their subjects, masters and slaves, find a common level in two places, at the foot of Ua* stats ABd la the jw.-fCoitea

DEC. 5, 1934

years hence on the Governor will be treated generally with lofty scorn and fall on deaf ears. The attack on the Governor and his vindication has served to block all opposition to him within his party’s ranks and the Governor now has become the party’s hero and is recognized as national material. Henceforth efforts put forth again by those versed in the art of exciting tumult only will serve to popularize the progressively growing popularity of Gov. McNutt in this and other states. a a a PROTESTS USE OF WORD RAT’ IN DILLINGER CASE By A Times Reader. So you call John Dillinger a rat. John never was known to rob a poor man and was kind-hearted. Why don’t you call the great Insull a rat? He is alleged to have robbed the people, used the mails to defraud, and yet his attorney tried to make the people believe he is a poor man. Now, w'hy didn’t (hey give him the same as they did Dillinger? Oh, no, just another case of a rich man in court. I dare you to print this. If Insull wasn't guilty, why did he run away? a u a A Federal Jury has acquitted Samuel Insull. This is a matter of record. The Times prints your letter in order to give your views to other readers, not because you dare The Times to publish the letter.

So They Say

One of the wisest steps Britain ever took was in 1931, when she left the gold standard. —General Jan C. Smuts, South African statesman. Subjectively Americans may think they are reconstructing society, but objectively the present basis of society is being preserved.—Joseph Stalin, Soviet leader. The present machine age is turning its attention now to meeting artistic needs of today.—Ernest Elmo Calkins, writer. I will tell my son how nice the French people are.—Mrs. James Roosevelt, mother of the President, returning from France. President Roosevelt is getting more like Huey P. Long every day. If he continues, we ll be just like Siamese twins.—Senator Huey P. Long of Louisiana.

SIXTEEN

BY VIRGINIA Love came knocking at my door He had these things to sell: A heart of brilliant ruby hue Encased in understanding. Kisses fresh as morning dew And labeled this: ••Demanding.” Two hands, a name, a future fair, A waiting fireside light. “Dear lady, please to buy my wares And make the future bright!” I shook my head, my heart said no, “I’ve years of life to lead Before I let this heart go And pay you any heed. Come 'round again a later time I will not turn away. But a sample of your kisses, love, It all 111 take today.”