Indianapolis Times, Volume 47, Number 211, Indianapolis, Marion County, 12 November 1935 — Page 14

PAGE 14

The Indianapolis Times (A SCHirrS-HOWAKD NKWSrATKR) ror W. HOWARD President I.rnWKLI, DENNY Editor >. vltD D. BAKER Business Manager

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TUESDAY. NOVEMBER 12. 1935. GOOD CONSTRUCTION NEWS A N'N'OUNCEMENT of a building program at the University of Notre Dame is about the best construction news Indiana has read for several years. D must bo pleasing especially to the alumni and friends of the university. The Rev. John F. O'Hara has been an energetic president. The three new buildings announced are only part of his plan for modernizing, enlarging and beautifying the plant. These buildings will require enough materials and labor to provide activity in South Bend, where it is needed sorely. It is to be hoped that they will induce other institutional building throughout the state. Another recent Notre Dame project of significance wn ; the construction of an infirmary, the engaging of a full-time physician as director of student health, with thorough examination of all entrants, and a continuous four-year health program for all. This is m line with modern thought and practice. THE DEATH SENTENCE / TPHE holding company battle will be fought all over again at, the next session of Congress. Utility companies will try to have the “death sentence" eliminated from the new act before it becomes effective. A pamphlet just issued by the Committee of Public Utility Executives, now established in perms unit headquarters at Washington, asserts: in the next, few months an enlightened public opinion must determine whether or not this death warrant upon private industry is to be executed. If the function of government is to regulate industry rather than to destroy it or compete with it, then the present Public Utility Act must be modified. Whether tlie act can stand the test of constitutionality is open to serious doubt. ... It remains for the people to demand regulation, not destruction of one of its most vital industries, and to demand that this threat to private ownership and management oi all business be supplanted by a program of fair and reasonable regulation. ’ a a a r I''HE length and bitterness of the fight in the last session, and the closeness of some of the rollcalls, apparently have suggested to utility men that their chances for overthrowing the “death sentence” may be better in Congress than in the courts. They may hope that the imminence of election day will make a difference among Congressmen who look to utilities for campaign contributions. However, to amend the act in any important respect. utilities would have to line up two-thirds of each house of Congress, enough to over-ride a veto. And most of the same men and women who approved the act last session will be sitting next winter. When the battle reopens, the utility men will have an additional disadvantage in the lobby-regu-lating provision of the new act. Before any of them testifies on the subject, or interviews any member of Congress regarding it, he must file with the Securities and Exchange Commission a statement of the foe he is receiving and his expenses. SEC is preparing to start prompt administration of this section of the act, and regulations covering it are almost ready for announcement. They will be in effect well in advance of the session of Congress. Their violation is punishable by SIO,OOO fine or two years’ imprisonment or both.

THE CUP NOT YET FULL in a m 'tor accident of Gilbert A. Elliott Jr. came as distressing news to many men, all over Indiana who know his father and have a genuine affection for him. In 15 years death and illness have been so frequent in the family of Mr. Elliott that the foriitude of this St. Joseph County attorney ha.s been admirable. A man of fine family sentiment, he has borne far much more than comes to the average person in a lifetime. Mr. Elliott is widely known as a lawyer and as a worker for the success of the Republican Party in the state. Young Gilbert was his only son. He was studying law at the time of his death. The father's many friends will grieve for him. RECIPROCAL PPOMISES IN a joint communique, President Roosevelt and A Premier King of Canada say they are in "complete agreement on the objective of a greatly increased flow of trade for the benefit of both countries, and substantial progress has been made toward this end." This will arouse hopes for an effective scaling down of tlie tariff barriers which have destroyed much of the once profitable trade between the United States and Canada. The heads of the two governments deserve encouragement in their difficult undertaking. Trade, like peace, is something which all parties praise—but each with specific reservations. Strange, indeed, it seems that Canada and the United States, lying side by side and boasting comparable living standards, compete freely with each other in the foreign markets of the rest of the world. Yet each attempts as far as possible to reserve to its own producers a monopoly in the exploitation of its own consumers. Some kind of United States-Canadian treaty doubtless will be negotiated. But the fact that tariff-protected special interests have much more political power than the unorganized consumers of the two countries prompts us not to be too hopeful. THE LITTLE FOXES VIEW YORK State by a 3-to-l vote has approved an amendment to its Constitution permitting reform and reorganization of county government. This paves the way for eliminating useless and overlapping offices and saving millions annually to the taxpayers. It is high time other states took such steps. The great smoke raised about the costs of Federal government has obscured governmental waste of much more scandalous proportions at home. Too many local assessors, too many peace officers, too many counties—these are leaks through which pour billions of wasted dollars. President Roosevelt's phrase about the horse-anc!-

buggy age applies with particular force to local governments. County lines were laid out about 100 years ago to cover some 500 square miles, on the average. This gave the farmer a day to ride or drive his horse to and from the county seat over mud roads. Now, with good highways a county could be 2000 square miles in size. The smaller units could be abolished entirely. Prof. Thomas H. Reed, of the University of Michigan. recently pointed to 13,544 units of government in New York State, most of them worse than unnecessary.” Michigan, he said, has 3230 units supporting 42.902 officials, “a vast army of tax-wasters and a veritable battalion of death in resisting local government reform.” In North Carolina 25 per cent of the counties have less than $10,000,000 in assessed valuation, the minimum needed for supporting the simplest county government. In other states the ratio is much higher. President Roosevelt, who as Governor and President has urged the reform of local government, says there are more than 500,000 governmental units in this country. Some people live under 10 layers of government. Three should be sufficient. Counties could be enlarged and could hire countymanagers as the progressive cities do. Useless local governmental units are the little foxes that eat the vines. AMERICA’S PRIMARY PURPOSE IDEALISM and realism were sanely balanced in President Roosevelt's Armistice Day plea for world peace. When he said “the primary purpose of this nation is to avoid being drawn into war,” he was probably expressing the desire of 99 per cent of the people of this country. Yet, he pointed out with due emphasis, we have duties to perfoim in the world community. We must be the good neighbor. We must set an example. We must do all we can to discourage war, both before and after it begins. We must not be guilty of trying to snatch trade advantages at the price of somebody's blood. But, he warned, we must not bury our heads in the sand. “We have either led or performed our full part in every important attempt to limit and to reduce armaments,” he said. Still “it is with disappointment and sorrow that we confess the world's gain thus far has been small . . “Jealousies between nations continue. Armaments increase. National ambitions that disturb the world's peace are thrust forward. Most serious of all, international confidence in the sacredness of international contracts is on the wane.” Asa result “the dangers that confront the future of mankind as a whole are greater to the world, and therefore to us, than the dangers which confront the people of the United States by and in themselves.” Asa people, therefore, w r e face the task, whether we like it or not, of self-protection. The United States, he declared, w’ould never enter into any iace of armaments nor seek to arm herself beyond what is needed for her own defense. And “the measure of that defense,” he explained, “is and will be solely the amount necessary to safeguard us against the armaments of others.” Now, as always, w’e stand eager to disarm with the rest. Tragic and pitiful proofs of the President’s w'ords are only too abundant about us. Despite the lessons of the World War, whose ending he memorialized yesterday, many nations still resort to war as an instrument of national policy. Many still believe that might makes right—or. at least, that the end justifies the means. Ethiopia is merely the latest horrible example. But China is a sort of permanent, and more obvious, one. The earth’s most populous nation, she is among its mu t helpless. Individually perhaps the most peace-minded of all peoples, civil war and foreign invasion seem the everlasting lot of the Chinese. With the President we believe “the overwhelming mass of American citizens are in hearty accord with the basic principles of our government” as he outlined them yesterday. That is to say, we must determine to keep out of war. We must help discourage conflict. But we must not blind ourselves to world conditions as they are. We must not “bury our heads in the sand. ”

THE STRATOSPHERE VICTORY in tne scientific achievement of Americans A is increased today with the news of the happy landing of Capt. Stevens and Capt. Anderson. Their recording instruments showed they had been farther above the earth's surface than any others who have penetrated the stratosphere. There is a tendency to think of the men in the two defense branches simply as fighting men. But in both Army and Navy there are going on all the time researches as ambitious as any in the universities. The officers must advance constantly in knowledge. They are not permitted to stand still. Nor are the researenes and studies confined to war. The stratosphere expedition may be indirectly related to some future combat, but its scientific results are applicable to the things of peace. A WOMAN’S VIEWPOINT By Mrs. Walter Ferguson 13 ESIDES a black sheep, every sizeable family has a "goat —some member who is imposed on too easily. Perhaps because boys are more likely to rebel at such treatment, most family goats are girls—usually the less personable maid of a group, whose mother, without thinking, has fallen into the habit of making her fetch and carry for her brothers and sisters. All the most disagreeable little tasks about the house are foisted off onto her: she wears the made-overs; listless while others talk; makes little trips upstairs to bring forgotten gloves and handkerchiefs or runs to the kitchen when there's a clamor for lemonade and sandwiches. From an agreeable little girl, praised for her thoughtfulness, she grows into a regular fairytale stepchild, ur family scullery maid, explaining misunderstanding*. soothing injured feelings, and quieting bad tempers. Grown up and married, her mission remains the same. Somebody always is running to her for favors. She has no time of her own, no life of her own. Having become known in the family circle as "an accommodating person,” she is overrun with relatives and friends asking for help during sickness, sorrow and financial distress. Admirable as she may be, she nevertheless is responsible for many of our selfish, whining, no-ac-count individuals—who, after being thoroughly spoiled by her type, go through life expecting everybody to wait on them. Sometimes you see a play or a picture which depicts the rebellion of just such a martyred creature as we have described, and it is almost invariably a success, for we love nothing so much as watching the meek grow mighty. But worms turn oftener than do family goats, who early in life have the spirit knocked out of them and so fall into the habit of enduring wdth sweetness all the slights, impositions and downright domineering visited upon them by their loving but selfish households.

THE INDIANAPOLIS TIMES

Squaring The Circle With McCREADY HUSTON

1 DIDN'T know that my old friends Hugh Barnhart and Jesse Murden had gone into the circus business up at Rochester. I sort of wish they had let me know they were starting a circus for I might have gone in with them. I always have been a little mad on the subject of circuses and if not watched I will go to both performances every time one comes to town. It is difficult for me to imagine a happier state of life than Hugh's—owning both a newspaper and a circus. ft tt tt Thinking of Hugh Barnhart makes me think of his brother Dean, who helps run the newspaper in Goshen. Goshen is a nice place to go. It has the old Alderman Hotel, the only one I know of in which pancakes are served for dessert at dinner. Not a bad idea, either. b a a TTI7TTH pleasure I noted the pres- * * ence in the city the other day of James Eli Watson, the sage of Rushville. To me he always typified the Indiana politician who reached perfection in a time which now seems remote. One of the rowdier papers of the state always referred to him as “Genial Jim Watson, the People's Friend.” Well, he was and is genial; and he was the people's friend in the manner of his day. That manner assumed that a few men in the state knew what was good for the people and felt competent to ladle it out. That the people under this method were rapidly becoming Oliver Twists was not apparent to them. Jim’s geniality, however, was genuine. He was among those the newspaper men liked to be with at conventions, committee meetings and trips. a a a OUR friends on another Indiana newspaper spell the word height “hight” and for a curious reason. The spelling is really a me - morial. The founder had difficulty with his spelling, not an uncommon thing in those days. The composing room would correct his errors. But one thing he insisted upon. Height was “hight”; and when they corrected it he would order them to restore his version of the word. This happened so often that the printers finally gave up and let him have his way. Keeping the tradition is a fine tribute to a great newspaper man and one of the few things that editors do that live after them. a a a THAT reminds me of a story told by another Indiana newspaper man, Sid Whipple of the United Press. It concerns an editor who got down to the office late one morning to be confronted by empty editorial columns which he had no time and no inclination to fill. He had nothing written and nothing in type. So he seized the opposition paper, clipped out a yard or so of editorial, and wrote at the top: "Now what does our esteemed contemporary mean by this?” And used that for his editorial. tt tt tt This rapidly spreading use of saddle horses suggests that some smart operator corner the supply of arnica. a a a 'T - 'HIS football season seems about equally divided between upsets and setups. a a a They must have named the saloon the poor man’s club because it keeps the poor man poor. a a a The Indiana high school basketball season is getting under way and I suppose the writers still will talk ! about the “cage” sport in spite of ! the discontinuance of cages. ONE POINT OF VIEW if the labor-saving ma-■*-y chine were not the cause of the depression, it ought to be abolished, for to work at a dumb machine all day makes us as dumb as the machine. The machine kills the finest i qualities in man—love of home, love iof a garden, love of our country, j love of our leisurely dining, love of ; the charm of conversation, love of ; relaxation, love of freedom, love of j peace, love of art, music, nature, lit - . erature, love of spirtual comfort. | The machine kills everything that is I creative and beautiful within us. The machine makes machines of ! us all. Few of us know anything about real happiness. We work like a maj chine or at a machine all day. When the time clock frees us from i "jail” we bolt down our evening meal and rush out to dance, movies ;or cards. That isn’t happiness. ! That is false fleeting amusement—- | only skin deep. It doesn’t satisfy ; the heart’s craving for peace, coni tentment and the creation of something with our own hands. BUS 'T'O grow something—to build A something—to paint something —to write something—to weave something—to invent something— to compose or play music—to nurse some poor soul back to life—to help someone out of trouble—in short to create something with our mind, our heart and our hands gives real joy that never wears out. The machine kills all of this satisfying happiness by converting us all into robots. (From a letter written by Harry Calkins, public relations counsel for international labor unions, and Frank Finney, New York advertising man.)

NEW HEIGHTS IN MOTOR DESIGN

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

(Time s readers are invited, to express their views in these columns, rclii/ious controversies excluded. Make uour letters short, so all can have a chance. Limit them to 250 words or less. Your letter must be sianed. but names will be Withheld on rcaucst.) aaa DEPLORES TACTICS OF ‘TERROR’ PURVEYORS By Perry Rule, Bringhurst The spinning wheel, ox yoke, wooden mole board plow, and hand reap hook were prime necessities when the national Constitution was written. Boundary lines of states and territories then were far aw'ay and were more difficult to reach than are remote boundary lines of the United States at present. Our mail, telephone, telegraph, Transportation, airplane and radio system has made the citizens of the United States a truly allied people. Those who are able to think reasonably and logically are aware of the fact that our interests are in accord, not conflict, and that which is good for the citizens on one side of the state line is good for the citizens on the other side. Yet the old state rights stuff is being capitalized by purveyors of terror who are going about the : country shouting: “People, do not i trust yourselves! You are much ; dumber than the pet,pie were in the wooden shoe, stone ax, and ox yoke age. You lack common sense, knowledge, and education possessed by the fathers of 1700. You could not know your present-day needs as the fathers of the eighteenth century could foresee them. It is sacrilege to suggest that we should not have 48 separate state unions dele- } gated exclusive rights to legislate on all questions of human rights and social justice. National authority in these matters should be minimized or completely nullified!” Let us have faith in the intelligence of the masses of the Ameri- j can citizens and hope that they I

Questions ■ and Answers

Inclose a 3-cent stamp (or reply when addressing any question ot fact or information to The Indianapolis limes Washington Information Bureau. Legal and medical advice can not be given, nor can extended research be undertaken. Be sure all mail is addressed to The Indianapolis Times Washington Bureau. Frederick 11. Rerby. Direc-. tor. 1013 Thirteenth-sl. N. W'., Washington D. C. Q—Who said. "Truth crushed to earth, shall rise again?” A—The line is from "The Battle Field,” by William Cullen Bryant. Q —What is a lagoon? A —A shallow sound, channel, pond or lake, especially one near or communicating with the sea, as the lagoons of Venice. Q—Where is William and Mary College? A—Williamsburg, Va. Q—How many children has the former Crown Prince of Germany? A—Four sons and two daughters. Q —Which is the largest island in the British West Indies? A—Jamaica. Q—Who was William Frederick Kirk? A—American poet; born 1877, died 1927. Q —Who is called the "Father of the Revolution”? A—Samuel Adams, on account of his leadership in the movement which resulted in the outbreak of the Revolutionary War. Q—-What calendar does Ethiopia use? A—The Julian calendar, but the Egyptian names of the months are also used. The first of Thoth, New Year’s Day, falls on Sept. 11 in our calendar. There Is a deviation of 12 minutes and

will not be misled by the deliriums of the antiques and that the Federal basic law will from time to time be amended and interpreted in the light of the present-day needs, giving the Federal government more authority to protect and promote the welfare of its citizens. tt tt tt NOT RIGHT PLACE FOR SENSE OF HUMOR By C. N. Cook, New Kensington, Pa. It takes years before a man ran become a locomotive engineer, but almost any one can get a license to drive an auto. The politicians w'ant the license fees and the auto manufacturers want to sell the cars. In some states, like Florida, a driving license isn’t even needed. And now 1 some states are reducing the fees for the plates. In Georgia you can get them for $2, and it has brought thousands of people from other states w'here there is a higher fee. They get the plates by mail. President Roosevelt’s tw ? o young sons own high-priced cars and like to make whoopee in them. The boys have been arrested often, of course, but how may of these up-per-class fiends go to jail? I myself have often wished I could take a shot at some speed maniac who just grazed by me on the wdngs of crazy death and grinned back as if to say: "Where’s your sense of humor?” a a a ASKS FOR HELP FOR MOUNTAINEERS By Mrs. I’oilv Britton. Byron, Clay County, Kentucky. I am a deaconess of the Baptist Church and welfare w'orker for schools and Sunday schools in the ! mountains of Kentucky. We need clothing of all kinds, old or otherwise. People here are desperately in need of everything. We are trying to plan a Christmas for them this year. They never had one and never had even candy. Anything that is sent will surely be appreciated.

25 seconds a year from the true solar time, and one day is lost in each 131 years. Q—Why does Herbert Marshall, the actor, limp? A—Because he has an artificial leg, to replace the leg he lost while serving in the British army in the World War. Q—How did Elberta peaches get their name? A—They were named by Samuel H. Rumph, of Marshallville, Ga., who created them for his wife, Clara Elberta Rumph. Q —Who is Governor of the Farm Credit Administration? A—William I. Myers. Q—Who played the part of Norma Shearer’s mother-in-law in "Strange Interlude"? A—May Robson. Q—How many bushels of wheat does it take to make a barrel of flour? A—About 4.7 bushels, depending upon grade and quality. The yield is 70 to 75 per cent flour and the balance is bran, shorts, etc. Q —Where is Mt. Roosevelt? A—By Act of Congress, June 8, 1934. the name was given to a mountain over 2,000 feet high, on Walden's Ridge in Roane County, Tenn. It is about 75 miles from Norris Dam and 65 miles from Knoxville. Q —What is the correct way to address a physician and his wife? A—Dr. and Mrs. Henry Smith. Q—When was common law marriage abolished in New York? A—April 29. 1933. Q—Who was Susan B. Anthony? A—An American reformer and advocate of woman suffrage. Q —ls Holland another name for the Netherlands? A—Yes.

AMERICAN ATTITUDE IS TERMED HYPOCRITICAL By S. re Cotiis If Britannia rules the waves, they must be waves not of the Mediterranean Sea or Red Sea. But if the British ships have not scared Italy, the “brass” in the Anglo-Saxon makeup has fooled the yes nations (52 of them, count ’em) into being bamboozled. Even our Washington overseers arc agreed on doing what the British have demanded they do. Had England been in Italy’s place, our God-fearing, liberty-loving government would have found some excuse to side with her. Such things happened in the late World War. But Italy is not England; therefore we must act as straight-backed, righteous Christians and make Africa safe for England, like we made the world safe for democracy. Hypocrisy must be catching; All the 50-odd powers bent on applying sanctions are looking for a way of how r they can beat each other and bootleg supplies to Italy at fancy prices. America. I am proud to say, will beat them all on that game. SHARP WORDS BY JOSEPHINE DUKE MOTLEY Reigns silence now’ where once was sound, Majestic, wordless, and profound, Sw'ord tipped and sharp, the words you cast Which poisoned me with grief at last. Not even answer stings my tongue, Harbor of songs once gaily sung. Where once fire flashed is cold instead. Heart can not speak for love is dead. , DAILY THOUGHTS For in death there is no remembrance of thee: in the grave who shall give thee thanks?—Psalms 6:5. T'vEATH has nothing terrible A-' which life ha.s not made so. A faithful Christian life in this world is the best preparation for the next. —Tryon Edwards.

SIDE GLANCES By George Clark

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“You suffer too much with your patients, Doc. If you ever have a tooth filled you’ll find there’s nothing to it.”

NOV. 12, 1035

Washington Merry-Go-Round

BY DREW PEARSON and ROBERT S. ALLEN. TTTASHINGTON. Nov. 12. Out VV of the bungled spending of the $4,800,000,000 comes one ray of sunshine. The much-ballyhooed $200,000,000 road building program is making progress. This is no particular fault of the Administration. It is the result of disdain for red tape on the part of one man—Thomas H. MacDonald, head of the Bureau of Public Roads. After the National Emergency Council emitted a great fanfare of publicity last summer over the mere fact that $15,000,000 of highway money had been granted Michigan and Alabama, a deep silence descended on the road program. Repeated inquiries regarding the status of other state road projects were met with evasion or outright admission that nothing was moving. Finally, publicity agents of the Emergency Council became uneasy. They learned that several newsmen were digging into reasons for the delay. Hurriedly the NEC agents started an investigation of their own. What they uncovered was startling. Somewhere in the maze of complicated work-relief machinery the road program had been lost. Nobody could find it. There ensued a hectic hunt that finally brought them to the door of a committee, consisting of F. A. Silcox, Chief Forester, Mayor LaGuardia of New York, and Morris L. Cooke, head of the Rural Electrification Administration. 4 aaa ' I ’HE President had appointed this A group io pass on Ihe road projects. and it had functioned so quietly that even the NEC publicity agents were scooped. But, while the committee had been deliberating, Road Bureau Chief MacDonald had been functioning just as quietly and much more efficiently. He had taken advantage of a provision he had inserted in the administrative regulations, which empowered his bureau to proceed with a “reasonable amount” of highway work solely on the advice of its district engineers. Slashing his way through red tape barriers, he had distributed $118,009,000 to 31 states out of the $200,000,000 earmarked for roads. When the breathless NEC searchers finally struggled through the labyrinth and got down to Mr. MacDonald. they demanded to know why he had sought no formal approval for his allocations. “Say!” he shot bark. “I couldn't be bothered with all this paper work. Our job is to build roads and that is what we are doing. If you want a press statement, get it tip yourselves.” aaa BEHIND the closed doors of their inner councils, the big utility barons are giving anew twist to Hamlet’s ancient dilemma—To be or not to be! In spite of the Baltimore decision against the Holding Company Act, they still face the question of registering with the Securities and Exchange Commission by Dec. 1. On this issue the utilities split. One faction of Old Guard diehards stormily demands a united front defiance of the government. Leaders are Thomas N. McCarter, head of the Edison Electric Institute and president of Public Service of New Jersey, and John Zimmerman' of United Gas Improvement of Philadelphia. They insist that the utilities thumb their noses at the law, which remains on the books despite the decision, and challenge the Administration to do something about it. Another group, chiefly the giant New England Power Association and the Morgan-controlled NiagaraHudson Cos., opposes such an incorrigible stand. aaa AT a secret meeting in New York the two groups locked horns in an all-day wrangle over the issue. H. Hobart Porter, president of the American Water Works and Electric Cos., also dean of the utility industry. grimly warned the Old Guarders that their attitude w'ould provoke further official and public antagonism. “The utility industry,” the veteran utility magnate warned, “can’t afford to defy the government and public opinion. It is time we began courting good-will.” (Copyright. 10.1S. bv United Feaiur* Syndicate. Inc.i