Indianapolis Times, Volume 47, Number 239, Indianapolis, Marion County, 14 December 1935 — Page 10
PAGE 10
The Indianapolis Times l\ BCKIrPB-HOAVAHI> .NEWSPAPER) HOY W. HOWARD I’renUL-nt 1.l OWE LI. DENNY K.jitor
EARL I). BAKER UgpliS Gi'e l.i'j-it and the People Will Find Their Oicn Wap
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SATURDAY. DECEMBER 14 1635
declarations of war jyjORE than two thousand local officers from Indiana counties and townships showed by resolutions at, their convention yesterday that th-y Intend to resist abolition of their jobs and power. They served notice that they intend to use their united lobbying powers on the Legislate to prevent consolidation of local units. They denied that consolidation would reduce taxes and they accuse the state administration of being over-manned. Here we have a declaration of war. One side is on record to defend the status quo, the other is committed to legislation which would change it The sincerity and industry of many of these community officials who are fighting for their jobs can not. be questioned. We know a number of them, who, through the depression, have given faithful and intelligent service out of proportion to their meager salaries. Ino some thousands of local officers have accu: ed the Governor of trying to set up a dictatorship in which there would be no local authority. On the other hand, political scientists in many leading states agree that the local unit should be enlarged in accordance with easy transportation and rapid communication. It will be a hard problem for the General Assembly and one that probably will not be solved without rancor. The situation suggests the need for the gradual introduction of reforms, not a wholesale tearing down. We have obsolete units which should be eliminated and too many public employes who should be looking for private work. STATISTICS? OVERNMENT spending and taxes in this country are bad enough certainly, and there are grounds aplenty for just complaint. Put it is beyond our understanding why an organization such as the United States Chamber of Commerce should, under the pretense of research, use a propaganda brush to paint the picture blacker than it is. Since, as Ben Marsh says, “ingratitude is sharper than a Republican s tooth,’’ we are not surprised when business men complain of government spending to build roads, which are just s 0 many thousands of miles of sale, floor for the automobile industry, nor when they complain of the cost of sewer systems, without which the bathtub manufacturers would be operating on not even a pea-nut-stand volume. But we can hardly let pass unnoticed such a comparison as this. ’ All of the wages of all the salaries of all of the people of the country, who are not on some government pay roll, would defray the present costs of government in the United States for less than 18 months.’’ Especially when we notice that no supporting figures for this statement are given and that, as an afterthought in the same report, the Chamber of Commerce says: “It is to be recognized that a portion of the current expenditures is met by receipts from income-producing enterprises, realization of assets and other sources than taxes and borrowings.” Which should mean, if it means anything, that in its calculation of the tax burden the Chamber of Commerce did not take into consideration the income government receives from business operations such as the postal service, municipal power plants and water systems. Would it not be just as fair to say that the gross operating expenses of the business organizations which contribute to the Chamber of Commerce are a gross drain on society? And then add as an afterthought that of course these businesses do have some income, do employ quite a few people and do perform other worthwhile services? SIGN OF THE TIMES ipLABORATING a press dispatch from Adrian. Mich., Rep. Eari C Michener. who when Congress is in session sits in the House chamber at the Republican leader's table directing most of the criticism of New Deal spending, promised a meeting of Townsendites Thursday night "to work for passage of the Townsend plan at the next session of Congress.” IS IT SUNSHINE? A LL-AMERICA football selections this year show a pronounced veering to the South and the West. The discussions of the various pickers agree that it isn’t so much a matter of coaching any more but a matter of material. As Bernie Bierman of Minnesota stated recently, you must have the cards; and cards, in football, are the players. Some observers contend that the sunshine of the South tends to produce bigger and better football players. We do not agree with this. Outstanding Stanford players who have taken their team to the Rose Bowl twice came from the East and prepared at Kiski, a prep school in Pennsylvania. THE TRAMPING FEET “ A RE we about to hear the tramping feet of thousands of children along the paths that lead to industry's door?’’ asks the National Child Labor Committee in its annual repou. The question, even at this season for childhood joy, is in order. • The report discloses that in September in New York City 1428 permits for full-time work were granted to children 14 and 15 years old. compared with only 390 in 1934 From North Carolina comes a report that by the end of August children under 16 were drifting into the textile mil's, in spite of efforts of the state labor department to persuade employers to hire only adults. The Indiana Industrial Board reports "a noticeable increase” in children’s age certificates and in industrial injuries to minors. This past summer the California Assembly passed a resolution urging diligence in enforcing the school code in view of the fact that “child labor in this state exists at an appalling rate.” What a picture in a land where nearly 12 million adults walk the streets in idleness! America resents the curse of child labor and yiows it must be treated nationally. During the brief two years of industrial ethics under the codes,
employers were glad to Join in crushing it. But now that the Schechter decision has pinioned the Federal arm, certain lawless elements among employers, apparently, are swinging back to the practice of hiring chi’dren because their toil can be bought more cheaply. The present situation recalls the sudden upturn in child labor abuses that followed when the Supreme Court’s 5-to-4 decision in the HammerDagenhart case ruled the first Federal child labor law unconstitutional in 1917. "Unless,” warns the child labor committee, “there has been a complete change in human nature we may expect that the return of ‘good times’ will bring an increase in the number of children employed.” Pending before the states is the Child Labor Amendment. Only 24 states Lave ratified. If the Federal government is stopped by the courts from outlawing this disgrace then the states must ’give Congress specific power to act. Only 12 more states are needed. As Phillips Brooks says, a civilization of any country "marches on the feet of its children.’’ Let us stop their march through industry's gates. THE PRICE OF PEACE 'T'HE Anglo-French plan to stop the ItalianEthiopian war by means of a compromise whereby all hands would cede something for the sake of peace has given rise to a tempest of protest. Ethiopia has rejected it while factions in Britain and France, and all the smaller powers of the League of Nations, assail it. If Italy is permitted to get away with any of the territory she has invaded, they charge, it will mean putting a premium on aggression. Unquestionably there is much to be said for this argument. It would, indeed, be a wholesome lesson to marauding nations the world over were the League to go to war with Italy, if need be, and force her to disgorge. But in fairness to Britain and France, there is another side to the picture. It is easy for the rest of us to become indignant. If the League finds it necessary to use force to subdue Mussolini, it is not we who would be the League’s instrument and do its fighting, but France and Britain. And they want no war. We can remind them of ideals abandoned, but they have a perfectly good answer. How about us sharing with them the risks of peace? If a general conflict results, how many ships, how many men and how much money will we contribute? Britain and France would have to bear the brunt. We are not going to help them. Nor are the small nations. Britain and France, therefore, are mortally afraid. So delicately balanced is the peace of Europe and Asia that were Britain to unlimber her guns in the Mediterranean war might sweep the world. The last big war cost more than 37,000,000 casualties. That is more than three times the entire population of Ethiopia. In money it has cost the United States alone between 50 and 60 billion dollars—lo times the worth of the whole African kingdom. And we are still paying, all of us, and will continue to pay, not merely in money but in social unrest and human misery for a century to come. Joseph Caillaux, former French premier, was tried for treason because in the middle of the great war he advocated a negotiated peace. He held that if the war continued to its logical conclusion, it would not only ruin Europe but the world. And he was right. The war did go on and mankind was set back at least five decades. All peace, save a dictated peace, is by compromise. Nobody gets all he wants. The longer the war, the bigger the price all must pay, one way or another. Ethiopia has our utmost sympathy. She comes pretty nearly having the sympathy of the whole world. In fact the world has gone to unprecedented lengths to save her. Nevertheless the fact remains that she and Italy are now at war and unless this war can be stopped, and soon, Europe, Asia and we, ourselves, may be drawn in. Should that happen, the price of peace might be civilization itself. A TRIPLE SUGGESTION SOCIALITE friends of Mrs. Ellen French Vanderbilt Fitzsimons probably are sending her orchids for her public declaration that she will defy the United States government by planting potatoes in the beautiful front lawn of her Newport mansion. Mrs. Fitzsimons is both a Newport society leader and a member of the Republican National Committee. We suggest she go one step further in her farming operatiqns. She could raise a cow. From its stomach she could make some genuine tripe. A WOMAN’S VIEWPOINT By Mrs. Walter Ferguson T>ARENTS can think more ways to worry about their children! Yesterday I happened to be in the company of two, who were upset by different apprehensions. ' Elizabeth, the 17-year-cld daughter of Mrs. Jones, wasn't making good grades in school and seemed to have her mind too much on dates and dancing. Her mother was conjuring up about one dozen disasters per minute which were certain to overtake the girl because of her disregard for the serious side of life. Mrs. Brown’s fears took an opposite tack. Her FYances was too studious; always sitting around with her nose in a book; taking no interest whatever in boys; she didn't even care about clothes. As you may have guessed, Mrs. Brown harbored social ambitions for her Frances, while Mrs. Jones gazed longingly toward a distinguished scholastic career for Elizabeth. That’s the way it usually goes. A careful survey of mothers convinces me that most of us are like that. Never content to accept our children as they are, we must always be making them over according to some unnatural pattern cut according to our fancy. Indeed, one of the hardest things in life is to take a long look at somebody you love—as you love your child. Yet if mothers did that oftener, perhaps we might understand that it is not possible to change a sit-by-the-flre into an aggressive social leader. The effort may even have disastrous consequences. The Martha type can never be a Mary, and whj on earth should she, since the world must have both kinds of women? Frivolous Elizabeth Jones, young, happ careless of serious matters, will probably grow into a fine woman, marry well and bring up decent children, while Frances Brown, who loves the studious occupations and exists most of the time in a dream world, need be none the less happy in a life of tho intellect. There are three criteria of a stomach that Is up to its job; a mind free from fog, an abdomen free from discomfort, and a sleep free from dreams.—Dr. T. Wingate Todd, Cleveland. The way to learn how to do a thing better Is to study how it has been done before. That’s the *ay tc study history— by noting evolutionary processes. T
THE INDIANAPOLIS TIMES
Squaring The Circle With McCREADY HUSTON
to being Indiana's most successful popular writer of the new generation one would prefer to be her father, which is what George Weymouth is. The author is Margaret Weymouth Jackson, i who lives on a farm over at Spen- i cer and writes short stories and serials for the magazines of large circulation. George was editor of “Farm Life” j and it was in his magazine that I Margie Jackson got her start. He is now associate editor of the “Indiana Farmer’s Guide,” published in Huntington, but he does his work in Indianapolis. tt tt a George Weymouth may win the ribbon for Indiana authorship fatherdom because his son Fred’s wife, Martha, is beginning to appear in the magazines. Margie has the secret of success. She steadfastly refused for a number of years to go to New York at the request of her agent and make personal appearances before her editors. She had a notion that the mental picture they had of her, in refeding and buying her stories, was a much more valuable trade asset than an accross-the-desk acquaintance. She was more than 100 per cent right. Except Tarkington, Margie probably has marketed more fiction than any current Hoosier writer. u u tt George, her father, is one of the brightest minds in Indiana agriculture. He goes back to the days of Opie Reed, in Chicago, and has all the charm and wisdom of men of that time. I suspect that much of Margie’s good sense in the writing business stems from George. While many of her contemporaries flamed for a while and then flickered out she goes along like Old Man River. She writes a good story about people she knows, stays close to the soil and is not interested in the bright lights. u u The traffic policemen may have their faults but they also have much provocation. The other evening at Illinois and Market, a decrepit machine, a regular junker, was first in line at the intersection. The light was and the engine of the antique was chugging away labcwiously while traffic was piling up behind. It was in the midst of the home-going traffic rush. The policeman was blowing his whistle but the man at the helm of the wreck just sat there. He was blind or deaf or just unconcerned. Finally, the policeman walked over to him and shouted: “Do I have to write you a letter?” The weary old machine got under way. tt tt u From the Port O’ Poets Press at Greencastle comes a slim volume of verse written by Ean Boyd Heiney and called “The Dreamer and Other Rhymes.” One thing that distinguishes the'book is the foreword in which the author states that his reason for writing is that he likes to see his name in print. Such frankness is refreshing. We’ve read most of the verses in Mr. Heiney’s book and liked some of them. But what we’d like to know te where he got his name. Is Ean something he thought up or really a name with a nativity? OTHER OPINION Button, Button [Hammond Times] You may remembmer the old game, "Button, Button, Who's Got the Button”? The person who got the “button” was the goat. A modem craze of “button, button” has been going on of late years in the special and class tax movement. One of the first and biggest “buttons” was sewed onto motorists when the gas tax went like a case of measles from coast to coast. The insurance industry has come in for its turn wiih various special taxes. The electric companies have them. There are special food and other taxes and many laws and proposals on up to the “share the wealth” plan which is just another class tax idea. The chain stores are in for it now in many states with special class taxes on them, levied or proposed. The trouble is that there are plenty of “buttons” to go around. Politicians’ pockets are just full of them and they would rip them off I their clothes, if necessary. Mavbe'you haven't been passed a “button” yet with a class tax on your business, but you may get one any day. Think it over the next time a tax is proposed that will hit only the other fellow. n u On Resolution Writers [Editorial, New York Daily News.] In any meeting, Right or Left, the men with the most positive ideas i and the loudest mouths write the 1 resolutions which are finally adopted as the sense of the whole gathering. So the resolutions are almost always more bumingly one-sided and biased than are most of the men who voted to adopt them.
OVER THE HILL TO WORK
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The Hoosier Forum I wholly disapprove of what you say-—and will defend to the death your right to say it. — VoHaire.
(Times readers are united to express their views in these columns, religious controversies excluded. Make your letters short, so all can have a chance. Limit them to 250 words or less. Your letter must he signed, but names will be withheld on reouest.) tt tt tt CAN ENGLAND KEEP CONTROL IF BOYCOTT FAILS? By John Kennedy Dear old John Bull, who set about some 20 years ago to make the world he now dominates sare for democracy, suddenly has been awakened to the fact that he also has made that world an ideal place for dictators and their radical nationalism. So he now gathers to those sacred halls of peace at Geneva his chosen delegates from those favorite weak puppet nations, many of whom owe their mythical sovereignty to the unholy Versailles Treaty which also gave John Bull direct control and economic domination over the larger part of the valuable virgin territory of the world. And today he calls upon these puppet princes of peace, some 50 in all, to vote economic sanctions against Mussolini and his nation simply because Italy was forced to use the brutal methods of war to gain enough virgin territory that they might not starve to death for the want of natural resources, which John Bull continues to hog for the benefit of those profit-mad capitalists who run his social setup. But if John Bull’s boycott fails, and armed conflict follows, w'ill those puppets stay within the fold? How long would it take Hitler to unfurl his Swastika flag on that battle field that he might regain a lost empire? a tt tt lOWAN ADDS VOICE TO TOWNSEND PLEA By John C. Nevine, Cedar Rapids, lowa I am located in lowa for a while but still read The Times as it seems to me I get more real news out of The Times than any other paper. Conditions in lowa are about the same as in Indiana. I suppose it is the same in every state. It looks as if the New Deal is a flop; billions of dollars spent in the last three years' and no permanent relief in sight. There are thousands of people who have kept off relief by living up their life savings who are being compelled to join the relief ranks now. The relief rolls increased 534 in lowa alone in October, bringing the total m to 35.003. There are two plans the government has not tried that would bring relief quickly: Soak the Rich and the Townsend Plan. There are very few people who wish to see any one soaked so why not try the Townsend Plan. The enforced circulation of money will restore employment and consequently the buying power. That is all our country needs. It is a simple but logical solution advocated by the
Questions and Answers
Inclose a 3-cent stamp for reply when addressing any question of fact or information to The Indianapolis Times 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 M. Kerbv, Director, 1013 Thirteentb-st, N. W.. Washington. D. C. Q —What was the value of farm propertv in the United States in 1910, 1920 and 1930? A—l9lo, $40,991,449,000; 1920, $77,923,652.000; 1930. $57,245,544,000. Q —What is the total national wealth of the United States? A—The estimate for 1932 was $247,300,000,000. Q —What is the record size for a nen’s egg? A —What is believed to be the largest hen’s egg cams into the possession of the Poultry Department of the Oregon Agricultural College. It weighed 11 ounces and measured 84 by 11 inches in circumference, five times the pircumference of an ordinary egg. It was about 44 inches long, or twice as long as the
McGroarty Social Security Bill, The government is not asked to advance any huge sums to guarantee the old-age annuities under the McGroarty bill. Neither does it give something for nothing. The transaction tax earns all the necessary funds on the pay as you go plan. As for the ones who are afraid of the 2 per cent tax, if things go on a while longer like they have been, they and their children and grandchildren will be paying more than that. There is one sure thing, the Townsend Plan will not make things any worse. ' ASSERTS LAND POLICY NEEDS REVISION By E. B. Swinney, Los Angeles Land gambling is a most alluring game during prosperous periods because it holds out hope of quick and large returns. This was particularly noticeable during the war, when land values advanced by leaps and bounds. The tremendous demand for food supplies and other labor products reflected in a corresponding dema'nd for land the use of which was necessary to the production of these things. The country became land crazy. The boom grew like a snowball, affecting all kinds of land, unti! values became inflated beyond the ability of labor and capital to carry on. Then followed the crash, causing losses of billions in real estate and mortgage investments. Business became paralyzed, factories shut down and millions were thrown out of employment. This condition has continued for more than five years while land values gradually have been receding to a level where labor and capital can once more resume operations on a profitable basis. The wheels of industry again are beginning to turn, and we now have started on a ride for another fall, as rents and land prices have started on the upgrade. Our present land policy is our greatest economic affliction. It needs revising along the lines suggested by Henry George, for we shall never enjoy real or permanent prosperity until we have eliminated gambling and racketeering in the natural resources. SAYS SECURITY BILL DOESN’T GO FAR ENOUGH Bv Gleen W. Sharkey It is very apparent that the Townsend Old-Age Revolving Pension Plan will be much more of a problem at the coming session of Congress than it was at the last. Every congressman knows that he is going to have to give it real consideration and that thousands of his constituents will demand an unevasive answer as to his stand on this question. There yet are those who look upon this Townsend Pension Plan as too fkntastic for serious thought. These same individuals would not be
average hen’s egg. It was laid by a singlecomb Rhode Island Red owned by S. T. White of Corvallis, Ore. Q—How much was expended on public school education in the United States in 1933, 1934, and 1935? A—The National Education Association estimates the total expenditures for public school education in 1933 as $1,889,659,000; in 1934 as $1,799,306,000; and the probable amount for 1935 as $1,842,581,000. Q —Where and when was “Pretty Boy” Floyd, who was associated with the Dillinger gang, killed? Was he married? A—He was shot and killed on p farm about 7 miles north of Eas'. Liverpool, 0., Oct. 23, 1934. He was married twice. His first wife divorced him and his second wife left him, taking their small son with her. Q—Where was the movie, “The Call of the Wild,” produced. A—ln Hollywood, except for location scenes made V\r Mount Baker, Wash. w ' £
capable of giving any real information about the plan or any facts connected with it. It is not exactly prudent for one of this kind to denounce a plan which has been declared sound and workable by such a prominent economist as Roger Babson. There are reasons for the feeling that it would be too good to be true, but never could there be a sincere objection to it if it will do what is claimed. Instead of denouncing something good just because it seems too good, why not investigate the facts and help humanity toward a goal we all must admit is to be desired? Too many have the idea that the S2OO a month is strictly a pension to old folk. This is not the case. This S2OO is for them to use in a distribution plan that will create employment, larger sales, and a continuous turnover in financial channels. It is the tax idea connected with it that looms as a scarecrow to the uninformed. This plan will, of course, require a 2 per cent transaction tax to start it working, and then as it progresses the volume of increased business will make it possible to reduce this tax, as well as other taxes. This will be brought about by the abolition of county and state institutions for the care of the aged. The morale of millions of Americans will be raised to a degree unknown, because of the security that will be theirs in old age. The social security measure passed last session of Congress is nothing more than an insult to the American people. It may be a gesture in the right direction, but that is all it is. Just a gesture. “SAIL BOATS” BY MAUD COURTNEY WADDELL Fioating virgins in white Youthfully slim, oh—so prim, Whose partner is the ardent wind, Lightly you glide and smooth Both graceful you bend and sway; I see young lovely maidens In swift joy tripping away To dance in their happiness On the gallant arms of love, While roving clouds above Roll on to disappear Though you sail by sans fear. DAILY THOUGHTS The ungodly are not so; but are like the chaff which the wind drlveth away.—Psalms i, 4.
THE happiness of the wicked passes away like a torrent.— Racine.
SIDE GLANCES By George Clark
“I’m afraid we’re letting her get the upper hand.”
JDEC. 14, 1935
Washington Merry-Go-Round
BY DREW PEARSON and ROBERT S. ALLEN. WASHINGTON, Dec. 14—Ten years ago the funding of the European war debts was hailed as a great triumph of the HardingCoolidge Administrations. Today, one day before the next Dec. 15 installment is due, the only real memento of the war debt—other than Finnish payments—is a table in the Treasury Department. Mr. Mellon had it carefully inscribed with little silver plaques giving the dates when each debt agreement was signed. It was one of his prize possessions. . . , , Mr. Morgenthau, his successor, has relegated it to his Treasury lunchroom, where he uses it 3s a dining table. . . . The figures are too long to be given here, but a check on European armament expenditures will show that in most cases the ex-allies have spent far more on the next war than they owe the United Sattes on the last. . . . There has been some talk ffi State Department circles of a move to create a scholarship fund out of Finnish debt payments to educate Finnish students in the United States. The idea is permanently to strengthen the bond of friendship between the United States and the only nation which paid its bills; also to show American appreciation for that payment. tt o tt politicos have a U compromise formula on the bonus which they are urging on the President. By it they hope to persuade him to reverse his stand and thus not alienate the veterans’ vote. The compromise is to defer bonus payment until July 1, 1937. This would assure the veterans of early funds, but would not pile the cost on the 1936 (campaign year) budget. . . . The most beautiful photograph of Mrs. Roosevelt hangs over the door in the Lincoln study. It faces the President as he sits at his desk. . . . Important White House caller this week was Sam Hahn. West Coast attorney for Mae West, Jean Harlow and other celebrities. Also an executive of the Scripps League of Newspapers (published in Washington, Idaho, Oregon, California, Texas and Utah), Hahn assured Roosevelt of their support in the coming campaign. ... In press conferences, Mrs. Roosevelt usually refers to the President as ‘‘my husband.” . . . Benefits of the Social Security Act apply only to industrial workers. Geographically this takes in a relatively small part of the country. Seventy-five per cent of the workers affected are crowded into 200 counties. Although this localizes the new commission’s task, the act still wall require a tremendous organization. tt tt a AMERICAN anti-war organizations are planning a nationwide peace poll similar to the one held early this year in England. The British ballot relied up more than 11,000,000 votes against war and for the League of Nations. It has had a most important influence on British foreign policy. Sponsors of the American poll plan to mold public sentiment behind a greatly strengthened neutrality act at the coming session. . . . Big bald Jim Farley has a unique gift from the President. It is a picture of Jim as star first baseman of the Haverstraw, N. Y., baseball team, with a full head of hair. The picture bears the folinscription: “Presented to Jim Farley in memory of his hair, Franklin D. Roosevelt.” u tt tt THE police force of the Supreme Court finally has prevailed on news photographers to give up their practice of taking “candid camera” shots of the justices from the protection of a building in the rear of the court. The camera men. equipped with long-range lenses, used this strategy for weeks. . . . As the court’s new . home was originally constructed, its elevators could not descend to the ground floor. This has now been corrected by enlarging the elevator wells. . . . Three auto thieves have been nabbed in recent weeks trying to make away with cars of sightseers parked in the neighborhood of the court building. . . . Visitors to the Supreme Court’s glistening white marble structure now average around 2000 daily, approximately 30 per cent of school children. . . . Capt. Phil Crook, chief of the court’s police force, has received several thousand letters from sightseers thanking him and his men for their courtesy. (Copyright. 1935. by United Featur* Syndicate. Ine.i