Indianapolis Times, Volume 46, Number 179, Indianapolis, Marion County, 6 December 1934 — Page 18

PAGE 18

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THURSDAY. DECEMBER . 1934.

A WARNING

A WARNING was issued today by the United States Government. It told the world that the threatened termination of the naval treaty would lead to suspicion, competition and insecurity. Those were the words used by Ambassador Norman H. Davis, chief of the American delegation at the London naval meeting. He would not have spoken without orders from President Roosevelt. He would not have spoken without the incentive of apprehension, the fear of dangers ahead. Since the Washington limitation treaty of 1922, the naval forces of the Pacific have been in balance. Great Britain, the United States, and Japan signed the treaty because each gained thereby security in its own waters. That joint security was bought and paid for by the United States. We scrapped ships which would have made ours the mightiest aggressive navy in the world. We signed away our right to fortify Far Eastern bases. We gave up all that and agreed to equality in security for other nations less rich and less strong than America because our policy was peace. We coveted no foreign soil. We neither envied nor feared our naval neighbors. We were content to sacrifice the superiority of our might for a co-operative peace with those weaker than ourselves. For that we deserve no credit. It was just. It was wise. And we have profited, along with Great Britain and Japan, and along with the world. But now Japan announces that soon she will give two years’ notice to end that treaty of balance and security. The London conversations have failed to dissuade her. Our offer of a substantial all-around reduction of navies within the framework of the treaty has been rejected by Japan. We can not believe that Japan sees the hazards ahead. It is easier to build navies than to pay for them. It is easier to start an armament race than to win or stop it. It is easier to destroy the Pacific balance than to restore it. It is easier to loose suspicion than to tur nit back again into good-will. America’s warning to Japan does not come from one who fears the attack of another. We know that Japan can not desire war with us. We know that she wants peace with us as we want peace wnth her. But w f e also know that the’road of denounced treaties and larger armaments is the old road of danger. Those dangers are too big for Japan or any one nation to control—perhaps too big for the world to control. So it was in the past. And so it may be again if the world turns back to the old road. PROPER METHODS MIKE MORRISSEY in his announcement that overtime parkers, during the Christmas shopping season, will not be subjected to persecution, has taken a step in the right direction. When Chief Morrissey started his drive on double and overtime parkers ten days ago, The Indianapolis Times lauded him. And now this newspaper is as quick to laud his good judgment in permitting the autoists of this city to take the time necessary to prepare for the holidays. No doubt. Chief Morrissey will not stand by if anyone attempts to take undue adadvantage of this temporary relaxation. The Times expects Chief Morrissey to step into any instances of this sort and iron them out immediately. Also, it is not to be understood that the police department will close its eyes to flagrant double parking violations. Double parking on any street is dangerous. It not only involves the chance that property may be damaged, but that loss of life may result. The shoppers, during this season, have the right to expect leniency. But the consistent law violator has no right to expect leniency now or any other time. THE FUTURE GENERATION MORE and more the Importance of the coming generation is being stressed. The present generation is being told that their successors will bear the brunt of another war, New Deal debts and the monetary and physical setbacks of the depression. Many of the children of today seem as happy as before. True, some of them are facing hardships that many of us didn’t dream existed. Others, are. due to the great relief system set up in this nation in the last few years, living better than they would have if they had to depend entirely on the activities of their parents. The Indianapolis Times is repeating its annual Clothe-A-Child campaign. In the years that this community effort has been staged, thousands of children—sorely in need of clothing—have been the recipients of entirely new outfits on Christmas morning. The Clothe-A-Child campaign is a most worthy cause. Not because it is presented by The Times but because it is in the great interest of humanity, this campaign should have the support of every resident of Indianapolis and Marion county. The Times has not stopped with this project. A few days ago a Santa Clause parade was staged. Every child in the city who could be there lined the streets of the downtown area to see the parade. That parade gave them pleasure. Within 48 hours after that. The Times, eo-operating with the Palace theater, brought 450 orphans from Indianapolis orphan homes to the theater for a morning’s entertainment. The children of today are all-important. To neglect any means of providing them, first, with the necessities of life and, secondly* the entertainments and pleasures which

art their relaxation, la to neglect the proper elements of building a future generation of real men and women. UNDERSTANDING JAPAN A N interpretation of Japan, largely through intimate sketches of its contemporary leaders, is provided in “Challenge: Behind the Face of Japan,” by Upton Close. Mr. Close presents a stimulating picture of Nippon today, t-**ether with an adequate background against which to measure the aggressive island empire's amazing progress in recent years. “Challenge” leaves little doubt that materially Nippon is the most'progressive nation In the world today. Particularly interesting on this point is a detailed explanation of various inventions by Japanese in the last few years, inventions which deny the legend that the Japanese are copyists, not originators. Fbr Japan the future may be bright and for that reason unhappy for the Western world. But the indicates clearly that “the menace of Japan” exists largely through lack of understanding on the part of the Western world of the problems and philosophy that are Japan's. This book should add substantially to any reader's knowledge of Nippon and to that understanding which is so necessary for peace. Mr. Close predicts war between Japan and the United States. So do many others. And who knows? It may be said, on the basis of the author’s presentation of the Japanese, that if the framers of the Japanese exclusion act of 1924 had known as much about Japan and the Japanese as does Mr. Close, this unfortunate legislation probably would never have been passed aid we would be substantially further from talk of war than we are today. “PAID—MERRY CHRISTMAS!” 'Y r ESTERDAY in the little city of Marshall, A HI., householders received their regular monthly electric light bills with surprise and pleasure, according to the United Press. Stamped across the bill was this unusual notation: “Paid—Merry Christmas!” Officials explained that the electric plant had earned so much in the year that they had decided to give the customers a Christmas “dividend.” Perhaps it should be explained that Marshall owns and operates its own municipal power and light plant. TODAY’S SOCIETY /"'VNE of the minor calamities of the year, little noticed by a needless world, seems to have been the dropping of Elliott Roosevelt, son of the President, from the rolls of the Boston Social Register. There was a time when this would have been a lit of a sensation. A generation ago, or more, society spelled itself with a capital S, and the decrees of the inner circle were matters of importance. One of the stock tales in American folk-lore had to do with the newly rich man whose wife and daughters worked themselves to a frazzle trying to “get into society.” But American society lias changed, along with the rest of the nation. Nobody cares any more who’s in and who isn’t; and the change has not come so much from shifting economic conditions as from the frivolity of the selfelected upper class which has sought to exercise social leadership. “Society,” in any land, is supposed to have responsibilities as well as privileges. It is supposed to represent the best that its country can display in the manner of gracious and cultured living; to provide leadership in statecraft, in the arts, in letters, to set the tone for the rest of the populace. But these are just the points at which our upper class has failed us. Cultured and gracious living? Well, American society in recent years has furnished us with 6ome of the sorriest lawsuits any man could care to read about. After going close to the limit with the Stillman and Rhinelander divorce cases, it handed us a Vanderbilt squabble over custody of a small child. It was so lacking in penetration that a Mike Romanoff could impose on it; it went for any kind of foreign title down to and including the Mdivanis. It made grand opera a social register toy, found itself unable to finance it and finally had to call on the general public for help. It put on a flossy yacht race with the British, and so staged it that its aftermath was remarkably like that of a raw-decision prize fight. For such reasons as these, the word "society” is not as impressive as it used to be. The social historian of the future will find one of the most interesting points about the present era the fact that it had an upper class which failed to perform any of the upper class’ traditional functions. THE STRETCH-OUT 'P'RANK P. DOUGLASS, recent appointee to the Textile Labor Relations Board, predicts early doom of the stretch-out system in the silk, wool and cotton mills. We trust he is right. Those who have watched the many evasions in meeting this problem will be skeptical. Textiles were the first of the big American industries to codify under NRA. While the textile code made industrial history, much of its progresc was nullified by mill owners who added more and more looms to each worker’s task. When the textile workers struck last Labor Day, one of their chief complaints was this stretch-out evil/ And when the Winant Board reported, it provided a plan to care for this problem before Jan. 1. Three Work Assignment Boards —one each for silk, wool and cotton—were to evolve a method for controlling work loads in the country’s five thousand mills and meanwhile to handle stretch-out complaints. These boards have just been named. The general impartial chairman of the three-ply assignment board, William A. Mitchell, is an Agricultural Adjustment Administraton expert in cotton with considerable experience in labor mediation. Until the textile industry, w co-operating with the Government and labor, stops the sweating of workers under the stretch-out it can hope for no permanent peace. Scientists have designated the 7-year-old boy prodigy they discovered in New York as “Ka.” But if you insist on a first name initial. let it be “O.” As conditions still are, perhaps it would be best to let Chicago's sleeping beauty continue to sleep for a while longer.

Liberal Viewpoint BY DR. HARRY ELMER BARNES

THE seeming change of heart on the part of the governing group in American capitalism since Mr. Roosevelt’s rousing victory in the November election has quite naturally and deservedly attracted a great deal of comment. It has vast significance not merely for the destinies of the New Deal but also for the future of our whole social and economic and political system. Upon its outcome will depend the possibility of reviving and perpetuating capitalism in this country, in association with anything like the principles of modem democracy and popular government. If the capitalists desert the Roosevelt bandwagon this time, we shall have before us only 9 last desperate spurt of governmental inflation and spending, to be followed by some sort of dictatorial regimentation. When allowance is made for obvious differences of historical setting and perspective the situation is not unlike that which pertained to the eighteenth century when the Benevolent Despots tried to stave off revolution by carrying through seeping reforms at home designed to eliminate the more wasteful and destructive vestiges of the old feudal orders. Frederick the Great, Catherine II and Joseph of Austria made a determined effort to set their own houses in order. Now, in the terminal stages of capitalism. Mr. Roosevelt is making a comparable effort to save the system of society of our own day. If he is not despotic, at least there can be no doubt of his benevolence. Even enthusiastic well wishers for a revival of capitalistic prosperity may be permitted at least some skepticism about the sincerity of the business ballyhoo in ostensible support of the New Deal. American business had its great chance to co-operate with the President in 1933. nun THE NRA was the child of big business. Only clause 7-A pxisted as a fly in the ointment, and this demanded no more than justice for workers so that their wages would be sufficient to buy the goods turned out by their employers. If big business expected anything more favorable to the employing class, then their expectations exceeded the bounds of reason. It frequently has been said in defense* of the business sabotage of the New Deal from August, 1933. to November, 1934. that uncertainty of the future discouraged business co-operation with the Administration. This argument never has struck me as having a great deal of validity. It was certain that the old ways to which business wished to return were bound to be destructive of the capitalistic system. There was no uncertainty about that. Nor was there any mneertainty that Mr. Roosevelt wished to save capitalism without any more changes than were necessary to accomplish this end. Even his inflationary policies, which usually were brought up in connection with the uncertainty alibi, were bound to be temporarily good for business and finance. They meant higher prices for manufactured goods and arise in the market value of common stock, though bonds might undergo some decline. Only the workers and j&laried classes were likely to be directly injured by inflation, and the business and financial groups were certainly not solicitous about the workers or the white-collar element. The only threat to finance capitalism in the Roosevelt policies was embodied in the Securities and Stock Exchange Acts. But these ask nothing more than that institutionalized gambling should be carried on wiihout the loaded dice of the previous decade. ON the surface at least, it looks as though business hoped to check Mr. Roosevelt at the polls in 1934. But the results of the election showed this to be a futile hope. It even seriously dampened the prospects of administering anv political licking to the Administration in 1936. Therefore, the only possible logic was to crawl on the Administration bandwagon and proclaim a united front. Even now there is little talk among business leaders about the welfare of the whole community. Interest still seems to be centered upon better business and temporarily bigger profits. It is too early, however, fairly to judge the real motives of business in getting behind the President, if it really does co-operate enthusiastically with him. it certainly can save the day for a Considerable period ahead. This will be especially true if the President himself abandons the obstructive concept of scarcity and goes over frankly to an espousal of the economy of abundance. If the full realization of America’s capacity to consume becomes the ideal of the Administration and American business, nothing can stop their joint efforts.

Capital Capers BY GEORGE ABELL

THE government of Bolivia collapsed amid an outbreak of revolutionary proportions. Friends here feared for the future of popular Minister Finot of Bolivia. Often, when a government falls, the envoys of that government in foreign countries lose their jobs. In the midst of uncertainty, arrived a cable from La Paz, signed by the secretary of state. Addressed to Envoy Finot, the message read: “The president of the republic desires me to express his complete confidence and appreciation of y m and of your staff.” Minister Finot, delighted, folded up the missive and bowed to young Enrique de Lozada, only other member of the legation. “Ah, staff!” he murmured appreciatively. NOTE—A distinguished writer (his child's history of Bolivia and his book about the Chaco are widely read in Latin America) Minister Finot also is a collector of 'ancient swords, spears, daggers and medieval firearms. A Bolivian luncheon of thanksgiving followed the presidential dispatch from La Paz. m u MRS. GLORIA VANDERBILT has been attracting much sympathy and attention in diplomatic circles during her brief visit in the capital. There is no question that diplomats commiserate entirely with Mrs. Vanderbilt in her fight to win her daughter. Gloria, from the custody of Mrs. Whitney. Many of the envoys are personal friends. Others admire Mrs. Vanderbilt’s poise and her facility with foreign languages. Both she and her sister, Mrs. Ben Thaw, were guests at a diplomatic dinner the other evening, and later Mrs. Thaw went to - dance in honor of the retiring minister of G.: ce and Mme. Charalambos Simopoulos. Mrs. Vanderbilt, however, did not accent the dance invitation. explaining that she has been through such an ordeal lately that she has little desire for gayety. What many persons do not realize is that Mrs. Vanderbilt and Mrs. Thaw are related to a sister of Don Jorge Matte, former finance minister of Chile, who used to visit at the Chilean Embassy here. This sister later became the wife of Don Miguel Cruchaga, now Minister of Foreign Affairs of Chile and former ambassador to Washington. Perhaps this explains in part the beautiful Spanish spoken by both sisters. Mrs. Thaw also amazed diplomatic friends by carrying on a long conversation in Norwegian with the wife of a foreign envoy. The government has sanctioned a scale of minimum prices for bees, so you’ll get stung only when a bad bee bites you. A Cambridge professor says he caught an electric impulse from a man’s brain. But that's nothing new. How often have you been shocked by what came from other people’s brains?

THE INDIANAPOLIS TIMES

MAHOMET GOES TO THE MOUNTAIN!

rpl IV If j T l wholly disapprove cf what you say and will 1 110 IVleSSage \*>olT LOIT L defend to the death your right to say it. — Voltaire. J *

('limes readers are mvtiea to express their views in these columns. Make your letters short, so all can have a chance. .Limit them to £SO words or lessJ u a a SELFISH PROMOTERS SHOULD BE HALTED BY FARMERS By Mike Rhye, Delphi. When the farmer's problems become difficult the professional organizers recognize that anew field is open for their endeavors and they go forth selling membership in their new organization which they give an appealing name. The inducements are promises of laws that are both unreasonable and unconstitutional. An example of this is the FrazierLemke bill which would have canceled 50 per cent of all the farm mortgage indebtedness. This bill, if enacted and signed by the President, would have been useless and would have become no law because of its constitutionality, which was conceded by all prominent jurists. The Frazer Lemke bill enacted providing a moratorium of all mortgage contracts and substituting a moratorium favorable to the mortgagee has been declared unconstitutional, but those bills serve the purpose of the farmer organization promoters and extracted many thousands of dollars from the already over-burdened farmer’s pockets. The farmers should have a sane and reasonable legislative program, but it should not be handled by selfish nocturnal crack-pot promoters. a tt a INDUSTRIALISTS CAN NOT CUT EARNINGS TO ZERO By H. C. A. In his criticism of my letter regarding Father Coughlin's plans S. E. M. presents a series of questions worthy of a lengthy debate, but I will have to be brief. I do know the plans of the National Union for Social Justice and I do know history. My knowledge of the Roman Catholic Church, however, is limited to what light history, books, newspapers and conversations with Catholics throw upon the subject. Most churches are opposed traditionally to all progress,, not only in ihe form of government, but also in science. The church has much to learn from the history of the great Dinosaurus whose bones now are exhibited in museums. That animal was extinguished because it could not adapt itself to changes. The church will go the same way if it continues its reactionary policies. The teachings of Christ, however, will not only live on, but grow and gain importance with each reform. : until they find their ultimate ex- i pression in the establishment of whe' Socialist state. Father Coughlin evidently is aware of the critical situation in l which the church finds itself. He! seems to realize that the people, under the leadership of Jesus are J beginning to march away from the church, and that something must be done about it. Now, Fascism could not be incompatible with the tenets of the Catholic Church because the Pope •nd his Italian clergy are on the best terms with Mussolini, champion of Fascism. I do not mean to say, that Father Coughlin consciously works towards the Fascist state, but his movement will end up in Fascism whether he likes it or not. Anybody with some knowledge of human nature should realize that it can not be expected of the industrialists that they voluntarily pay labor as much as possible, and charge as little as possible for the products of labor, thus reducing their own profits to the vanishing point. But there is only a small step to making that thing compulsory, which means Fascism. But it happens to be so, that even

County Residents Need Aid

By a Times Reader. As time for the Legislature to meet draws near, rural people begin to wonder if they will have to give up their Township Trustee and township boundary lines. Often you can hear a group discussing this question. Much has been said and done to remove the trustees, but because they are so close to the people and know their needs so well, it has been impossible to shake them. Stop a moment and reason with yourself and see how it would work to give these trustees and their advisory boards the work of the County Commissioners and Council and the attendance officer. The trustee is quite familiar with duties of the above named offices. Take old age pension and poor relief. He is closer' to the applicants than the commissioner

such a drastic stop would not be able to save capitalism in this country. There no longer is room for profits in the planning of our economic future. The relationship between Fascism and Socialism is the same as that between fire and water. Yet, Father Coughlin’s criticism of the capitalistic system is identical with that of Norman Thomas. But when it comes to the remedy their ways part. Father Coughlin wants a reformed capitalism. You may as well try to make wars more ladylike, than try to reform a system based upon legalized robbery. Norman Thomas and his Socialists want production fc* use only, eliminating profits in any form. The latter plan will work, the former will not. nan CITY FIRE FIGHTERS LAUDED FOR BRAVERY. By Jimmy Cafouros. It may be that I am wrong. I do not know the exact statistics. Yet it seems to me that not so long ago when I crawled on the floor, and played soldier with some colored tiles and a "shooter” I used to hear the fire sirens and bejls continuously. No day passed but what I did not run to the window to see the snorting fire trucks go rushing by. Somehow, things seem a bit different nowadays. Fires seem to be outstanding by their rareness. Apparently, such drives as fire prevention and accident prevention are gleaning their harvest. But I may be wrong. Well, today I saw a fire. And it was a beauty, too. There was such an abundance of smoke that I had one deuce of a time spotting the fire. Fortunately, I arrived about the same time as the fire fighters. And. of course I saw the whole operation. The fire truck hardly had pulled up when the firemen had abandoned ship and were toting a long hose up the alley to the fire. I looked down the street and the same hose they were carrying was connected up to a hydrant about a full city block away. The speed, the dexterity, and the time efficiency of the fire ’.ads surprised me. Well, I ran back to the fire. They all seemed to know where to go, where to find what they wanted. which window to break, which door to unhinge and all the other tricks of the trade. Seeing this was like seeing a welldritfed miniature army. They displayed initiative and originality but at the same obedience seemed to be their chief characteristic. And speaking of courage, I was shown plenty of samples. It takes a courageous man—and he must be tricky too—to stick his head into a window out of which smoke is pouring thick and fast. It

and as to the attendance officers duties he is again nearer the good of the child. The council is only an advisory board. The people will vote when there is an election of Township Trustees, but when there is no township election you can not get out the vote. There are but three commissioners and two can rule, where if the job were turned over to the trustees of the county ten or twelve men would act on questions. The trustees could have their meetings at the county seat each month same as the commissioners and being from every township they would be better informed of the needs of their people than any other group. We need to consolidate. but to keep as close as we can to the people of the county, not take everything away from them and centralize it in the county seat.

seems that they all took turns and each stood it as long as he could then gave way to another. A banker is risking his life from bandits now and then, steeplejacks play checkers and solitaire nowadays. But a fireman's life is a lil'e of constant danger, and thrills, and b, uises and duckings. ana LIVING ON HALF IS NEW SETUP. By H. V. Allison. Seeing the crowd on the downtown streets Nov. 30 makes one believe it is time to discard the old slogan “depression,” and say we are well on the road to good times. The New Deal has not had time enough to remove all the evils that got us on the rocks. A great deal of the trouble now existing is nothing to the New Deal but a home affair. A woman stated in the Message Center that her family required S7O a week to live the way they desired and now they have to get by on $5.25 a week. The chances are the time is past for easy money, but it is time to practice economy. Will Roger* says he found we can get by on one-half of what we think we can. It is good time to try the plan. The New Deal has been a boon to many worthy families in the cities and rural districts. The calamity howler fails to see where we are today and where we were two years ago. There is much to be done yet. The liquor question is a perplexing problem, with wives and mothers working to support the family and the husbands using their wages for week-end drunks. This surpasses the old saloons days by far. The saloonkeepers had a list of names of the drunkards and it made it hard for him to get a drink when he was sober. The New Deal has the free thinking people back of it, and will have a clear track for the donkey in the next race. ana READER'S LETTERS DRAW FIRE OF CRITICISM By a Rcadec. Concerning Jimmy Cafouros’ letters in the Message Center it has come to my attention that quite frequently Jimmy breaks into this column with- letters concerning some mighty fine topics. The manner in which he presents his ideas is quite '-unique. As I see it his manner is to say as little as possible about the subject in discussion and to meander across the face of his essay with a great many meaningless words. This eccentric way in presenting material reminds me of a stream trying to accomplish the impossible of flowing up hill. His endeavors produce as much. My advice to Jimmy is to restrain his flying pencil and along with

DEC. 6, 193*

the commendable trait of staying with the purpose in mind to also brake” his eloquence to aid him in gaining this ultimate end. As I understand The Times is a •working mans" paper, and a good one, I ask permission to suggest that you write work ng man’s news in a working man’s way. a a * WIDOWS ALSO ARE IN NEED OF EMPLOYMENT , Bv a Widow in l)itres;. I am a widow with a child of 13 in high school. I am jobless and have been for more than two years. It seems that men and women who are married obtain work from the Government. They seem to think that if you are a widow and only have one child, you should be able to live. But I, a widow, disagree. The soldiers want bonus, the old want pensions, and the widows want work.

So They Say

We’re substituting brains for names.—Ben Hecht, author, making his own film. Hauptmann was not a lone wolf.—. District Attorney Samuel J. Foley of New York. If a baseball player has the needed physique, a mind that will concentrate, and the right amount of courage, he’ll become a hitter.— Rogers Hornsby, St. Louis Browns’ manager. •Legal censorship of films should be abolished. It has done more ’tq encourage lascivious films than any other agency under the sun.—Father James E. Kelly, Albany, . Y. It is difficult, not to say Impossible, that peace can endure between peoples and states if national egotism rather than pure patriotism prevails.—Pope Pius XI. We are heading for anew age of democratic leisure which will produce an American culture.—Prof. Harry Overstreet of the College of the City of New York. When a dollar may mean any>< thing at all—or nothing—an egg is always an egg.—Raquel Torres, movie star. I am not afraid of my record— Mrs. Gloria Vanderbilt.

Daily Thought

And who knoweth whether he shall be a wise man or a fool? yet shall he have rule over all my labor wherein I have labored, and where in have shewed myself wise under the sun. This is also vanity# —Ecclesiastes, 2:19. NO abilities, however splendid, can command success without intense labor and persevering application—A. T. Stewart.

Turning Away

BY HARRIETT SCOTT OLINICH I can not bear this death again. . I can not face this funeral. I can not stand the mournful note The blackbirds weep into their call, • I can not face the lonely nests * That dot the limbs of naked trees. I can not bear the noisy wind That cuts blue patterns as it flees. * i can not bear the wincing sky. I can not bear the shriek of sound. I can not bey the dying iev ju