Indianapolis Times, Volume 47, Number 251, Indianapolis, Marion County, 28 December 1935 — Page 9

ft Seems to Me HEYM BROUN ON A TRAIN. Doe. 28—Unlike the good lady of the song. Judge Otis seemingly does not regret that many are unable to lunch today. His decision in regard to the Wagner Labor Act is a harsh blow co trade unionism. Indeed, the attempt to protect collective bargaining seems the very phase of the measure which irks the learned jurist most. Now. as an old Republican w'heel horse in the Federal District Court it is entirely possible that Merrill E. Otis knows his law. But it is palpable'

that his knowledge of human relations, particularly those between employer and employe, is that of a woefully ignorant man. When I am told not to quarrel with judicial decisions because the only thing at stake is strictly a legal problem I can afford to dissent, since so much extraneous matter is forever being dragged into decisions. I wish it were a common practice for lawyers to leap up and say. “Your honor, I object to your remarks on the ground that they are incompetent and. irrelevant.” Indeed, on occasion it might

Heywood Broun

not be a bad idea to add, ‘ And pretty silly, too.” In the instance of Vlerrill E. Otis, functioning currently in Missouri, there should have been a voice heard when he began to talk about the trade union principle. It would not have been amiss if somebody had said, Sir, with all due deference, may I point out that you either speak from a highly prejudiced position or from the complete ignorance of a backw-ard pupil in a fashionable finishing school?” tt tt tt Muxt Hare Read Speech hi/ Ham er I SUPPOSE anybody who said that in open session could be cited for contempt of court. Fortunately such punishment does not extend beyond the borders of the room where the trial was held; otherwise the jails of America would bulge indeed. I am objecting to the fact that Merrill E. Otis in striking a severe blow at the cause of labor undertook to indicate that he was protecting the worker. Some time or other he must have read one of Mr. Hoover’s speeches on regimentation and muddled it even a little more in his own mind. Specifically, Judge Otis said of the Wagner Labor Act that it deals with an individual employe “as an incompetent.” He was referring to the provision of the statute which undertakes to insure the right of collective bargaining. The teamed jurist continued to speak of the worker and encumber him with punishing aid and comfort. Rejecting what he conceived to be paternalism, Merrill E. Otis offered the cause of labor the loving care of a stepfather. Referring to the individual employe under the Wagner Labor Act, Judge Otis said, “He is the ward of the United States, to be cared for by his guardian even if he were a member of an uncivilized tribe of Indians or a recently emancipated slave.” It might be pertinent to ask the judge just when that emancipation of which he speaks occurred. “It is absurd to say,” the judge continued, “that the refusal of the owner of a flour mill to bargain collectively with his employes directly affects commerce among the states. How does it affect it?” I think the judge need only wait until some rousing strike occurs, and then he will get his answer. tt tt tt What Kind of Warfare Does He Like? AND, speaking of absurdity, is it not ridiculous for the learned jurist to compare organized labor with the uncivilized tribes of Indians? After all, organization is the beginning of wisdom and of civilization. What kind of warfare along the industrial front would Merrill E. Otis prefer? Is the worker, in his conception, better off as a lone Indian and therefore committed to a fierce cutthroat competition with even his companions in any given plant? That might well be sweet for the employer, and. Indeed, the ruling of the judge is an open invitation to big business to thwart not only the growth of unions but to destroy those which are already in existence. The inference to be drawn from his remarks is that there is something ignoble and slavish in the pooling together of common interests on the part of the workers. Curiously enough, this point is not raised w’hen employers band together for mutual benefits.

Your Health BY DR. MORRIS FISHBEIN

IT is difficult enough for tne average person’s stomach to digest the fats of the foods that are eaten, as necessary as they are, but sometimes poor cooking can make such digestion even more difficult. Os course, you needn’t be reminded that taking too much fat will cause digestive disturbance. Foods that are excessively fat stay longer in the stomach than do those which are not so fat. When foods are cooked in fat, the fat forms a coating over other foods and thus delays action on these substances of the ferments and enzymes which are necessary to digestion. On top of all this, if fats are overheated in cooking, substances develop that may irritate the lining of the stomach and of the intestines. Dietitians point out that this is not the fault of the food, but of the cook who does not know how to prepare or use fats properly. It is safe to say that as many digestive troubles are caused by bad cooking as by improper foods. The most easily digested fat, next to that of eggs, is that of milk. This is because the fat in -milk is already emulsified, or broken up and held in a suspended state. In addition, milk fat generally contains more vitamin A than any other common food fat. a a a AMONG the common food fats are those of butter. oleomragarine, lard, cottonseed, and other vegetable oils. Butter provides most vitamin A from natural sources in our diets. Certain fish liver oils, as those of halibut or cod. are especially rich in vitamin A and far richer in vitamin D than any natural food substance. Nevertheless, nutritional authorities are convinced that the vitamin D in butter is a factor of real importance for ordinary health. Simply because of these facts, nutritional authorities are likely to look askance at any attempt to substitute artificial substances for the natural fats which have been mentioned. It is interesting to know that the fat of beef contains a fair amount of vitamin A. although it does not provide significant amounts of B. C and D.

Today s Science BY DAVID DIETZ

WITH the choice of Dr. Edward R. Weidlein as president-elect, the American Chemical Society has called one of America's most far-sighted scientists to the task of shaping its policies. Dr. Weidlein. who is director of the Mellon Institute of Industrial Research of Pittsburgh, will serve as president-elect during 1936 and assume the office of president in 1937. Dr. Weidlein sees the future safety and prosperity of the United States in the wise and active prosecution of scientific researches. While he admits that the invention of anew machine or process may cut down the number of men needed to do a particular job, he points out that the advance of science means more jobs instead of fewer jobs in the end. 1 This is because science creates whole new industries. a a a THIS has been the whole philosophy behind the activities of the Mellon Institute where, during the mast discouraging days of the depression, 150 scientists were kept busy working on more than 50 projects. "Scientific research has progressed beyond the point where it is chiefly concerned with the mechanical side of industry and the development of labor-saving machinery." Dr. Weidlein told me on my last visit to Mellon Institute. "The chief concern of scientific research today is the creation of new industries, new products and new uses for old products."

Full Leased Wire Service of the United Press Association.

BRIDGES TO A NEW PROSPERITY

Golden Gate Span Triumph of Artistry, Mattel of Engineering

A mammoth engineering and financing feat is being carried to completion by California in constructing the two largest bridges in the world. How this mighty task is being accomplished is told by Philip J. Sinnot in a series of stories, of which this is the third. BY PHILIP J. SINNOTT CAN FRANCISCO, Dec. 28.—The draughtsmen, engineers, brawny steelworkers, and concrete puddlers, working together on the Golden Gate bridge, are producing a thing of beauty worthy of its unmatched location. Two-toned paint schemes for structures harmonizing with the cliffs on either shore. Gold paint for the huge cables. Modernistic, stepped-back towers of skyscraper style, with transverse bracing eliminated. Design harmony between portals, towers, and plaza, creating anew vertical line effect. Sight-seeing elevators. Use of the towers as a lighthouse. With these and other innovations, the Golden Gate bridge will set anew mark in art for a mammoth engineering project.

Rut simon-pure engineering has won its share of triumphs, too. The engineers are building the world’s longest single-span suspension bridge. They have conquered tide, wind, and open water that many other engineers said couldn’t be beaten. And they gaze up at two towers, each nearly as tall as New York City’s Woolworth Building, from which will hang a span three times the length of the Brooklyn Bridge. a tt tt THIS bridge is being flung square across the narrow entrance to San Francisco Bay known in song and story as the Golden Gate. Running between the two military reservations of the Presidio in San Francisco and Fort Baker, the span connects the city with the fertile Redwood Empire region to the north. The northern of the lofty 746foot towers rises from a rocky base on the Marion County mainland. But the southern tower rises from the Golden Gate itself, 1200 feet off the San Francisco shore, the first bridge tower ever built in the open ocean. Between those towers, held up by two 36 Vi-inch cables, will hang 4200 feet of bridge, the world’s longest span. The single-deck bridge floor, with its six traffic lanes, will be 220 feet above mean high tide, ample clearance for any vessel afloat. A commanding view may be had from the towers, and even from the bridge itself. tt tt tt BUILDING that one pier in 100 feet of ocean water, with a seven-mile-an-hour tide churning in and out of the gate, was a staggering task. Joseph B. Strauss, engineer-builder of more than 500 bridges, met the challenge. After submarine blasting leveled the pier site, a gigantic concrete “fender,” hollow inside, elliptical in shape, and 750 feet in circumference. was built in the channel. Huge steel forms, each fitted to a pattern, were lowered into the swirling waters, where divers, working in complete darkness 100

Townsend Old-Age Pension Plan Assailed by Educator as'Religion' Which Is Based on a 'Simple Faith' in Founder and Not on Facts

(Editor’s Note: The Indianapolis Times, which has printed the views of various authorities both pro and con on the Townsend plan, presents herewith an attack on the plan by Dr. Henry Smith Pritchett, educator, astronomer, mathematician and former president of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.)

BY DR. HENRY S. PRITCHETT QANTA BARBARA, Cal., Dec. 28. —There was something very appealing in the gathering of 2000 adherents of the Townsend plan in Chicago a few weeks ago. It was a company of believers—sincere, earnest, wistful. The assembly resembled those gatherings of adventists that were common in the Middle West 50 years ago, when bands of sincere believers gathered at dawn, on an appointed date, to greet the resurrection morn—that never came. For the Townsend plan is not a plan. It is a religion. It rests on a simple faith in the prophecies of the good Dr. Townsend, who, like many other prophets, brushes aside the plain facts that stand in the way of the realization of his faith. These facts can be stated simply, and they do not require a trained economist to understand them. What we once called horse sense is all that is needed. Under the Townsend plan every 60-year-old man or woman will automatically go on the pension list and receive S2OO a month, or $2400 a year, from ’he government of the United States. As there are about 10*2 million 60-year-olds, these pensions will cost 25 billions of dollars a year, increasing as population rises. This tidy sum has to be paid out of the income of all the people, the payment to be effected by a sales transaction tax that will reach everybody. Every time a housewife buys a loaf of bread or a pound of bacon or a crlico dress she will pay a sales tax to carry the Townsend pensions. Every man. woman and child must contribute to the Townsend pensions in proportion to his annual expenditures. a a NOW the total income of everybody in the United States last year, according to a government report recently issued, was 40 bil-

The Indianapolis Times

feet below the surface, bolted them together in place. Concrete filled the boxes, and the strange-looking ■"well” grew from the bottom to 15 feet above the water. n tt U IN the quiet water within this “well,” workers excavated further and set their concrete pier for the tower, one of the largest masses of concrete man has ever thrown together. Measuring 90 by 185 feet at the base, the pier rises 144 feet. On its top poises the graceful steel south tower of the bridge. The bridge is unique in AmeriCharles A. Beard Is Appointed to Commission Scripps-Howard, Newspaper Alliance WASHINGTON, Dec. 28 —President Roosevelt’s appointment of the jgoted historian, Charles A. Beard, to the commission in charge of the sesquicentennial celebration of the Constitution in 1937 met with approval of liberals today but somewhat dismayed conservatives. Prof. Beard’s concept of the Constitution is that it is a dynamic ’ instrument of government which can be made to meet the needs of modern times, as opposed to the static ancestral masterpiece apostrophized by James M. Beck and other Liberty League lawyers. An inkling of Prof. Beard’s attitude toward the Constitution was contained in a recent article by him in the Virginia Quarterly Review. There he declared that the old conception of “states’ rights” is forever outmoded and warned that “the United States can not go back to 1928 or 1789 any more than a grandfather can recover his boyhood.”

lion dollars. This income is, in the main, in the hands of persons of moderate or small means, living on day wages or monthly salaries. Laboring men will be called on to pay the bulk of the Townsend pensions, because they receive and spend the bulk of the national income. It certainly looks a bit doubtful when the average man is asked to lay down half his income, collected by a sales tax, in order to pay the Townsend pensions! No notice seems to have been taken of the fact that Townsend pensioners would be affected by the Townsend sales tax in quite

Today’s Contract Problem South is declarer at four spades. West opens a diamond. Should the diamond finesse be taken? ♦5 3 2 * KQ J ♦AQ J 4 A8 5 2 *K7 TJ U 984 V8642_ V 10 9 7 5 *lO 6 2 w 3 * K J 10 6 S +K9S Dealer |* Q 9 * A Q J 10 6 V A ♦7 5 3 *A7 4 3 None vul. Opener—4 10. Solution in next issue. 21 Solution to Previous Contract Problem BY YVM. E. M’KENNEY Secretary American Bridse Lcasue IHAVE selected today's hand as one of the most interesting played at the recent national championship tournament in Chicago. Some players might become discouraged with what is known as a bust holding. However, when Charles A. Hall, of Cincinnati, picked this hand up in the team of four championship, he realized that the fewer high cards he held, the more his partner was likely to hold,

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ca in that both its ends stand on United States military reservations, the famous Presidio and Fort Baker, parts of the harbor defense plan. The problem of keeping the Presidio in condition for its functions as headquarters of the Ninth Corps area was solved by a succession of grade separations enabling traffic to approach the bridge without interfering with Presidio activities.

a a a THE financial challenge was met by organizing San Francisco County and five Redwood Empire counties into a Golden Gate Bridge District, authorized by law to build and operate a toll bridge. After small tax assessments to pay preliminary costs, a $35,000,000 bond issue was sold, and the bridge cost held within that figure. Both Army and Navy authorities have been satisfied that the bridge is so built that even its destruction by an invading force would not cripple the Army posts nor would its wreckage bottle up the harbor to stop access to the navy yard facilities within. The lighthouse and reduction In ferry traffic will both be navigation aids, and mobility of the military forces will be increased, an important item in national defense. The catwalks now stretch across the Golden Gate, and steelworkers skip back and forth as the ~ job of cable-spinning takes the strands of wire the length of the bridge in thousands of trips. Traffic should begin to flow in the spring of 1937. Slowly and steadily rises a structure breath-taking in its bold application of advanced engineering to architectural beauty, creating a bridge attuned in design, form, and even color to its unique location.

the same way as any other purchaser of bread, meat and clothing. The Townsend tax will take away half of his $2400. It is at this point that the prophet of the Townsend religion introduces his chief article of faith. Under the terms of the plan every 60-year-old must spend the entire S2OO by the end of the month in which he receives it. For example, the S2OO received Jan. 1 must be spent by Feb. 1. Not a dollar must be left in his hands at the end of the month. This provision furnishes the greatest appeal to selfishness to which our human weaknesses have ever been exposed. The

'BUST HAND' MAKES GAME!

I thought the* bidding was unusually interesting. East's pass of one spade is a trap pass, hoping that North and South will get themselves into trouble. North's opening bid of one spade, of course, is a psychic. South, not knowing this, is justified in jumping to two no trump. When East doubled. Hall in the west decided to bid his lowest fivecard suit, to avoid as many pitfalls as possible. Naturally, when his partner showed no willingness to play the hand at diamonds and went into three spades, West was correct in taking out to four hearts. The Play The play was just as interesting as the bidding. North’s opening lead was the ten of clubs, which was won in dummy with the ace. The ace of spades was cashed and a small spade played and trumped by West with the three of hearts. The next lead was a diamond, which was won in dummy with the ace. Now. declarer played the queen of spades from dummy. South ruffed this trick with the nine of hearts, so West discarded his losing club. South returned the king of clubs, declarer trumping with the four of hearts. A small diamond was ruffed in dummy with the deuce of hearts. At this point declarer had to return a club from dummy, and not a spade. If be played a spade, South would discard the king of diamonds, but when the

INDIANAPOLIS, SATURDAY, DECEMBER 28, 1935

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The majestic single span of the Golden Gate bridge. The top picture, an aerial view, shows how the span will arch across the famous entrance to San Francisco harbor with the bay at the right. The lower picture shows more closely the two towers, each almost as tall as the Woolworth Building, with the giant cables from which the bridge floor will hang. The San Francisco end of the bridge at the Presidio is in the foreground.

swapping of payments between pensioners will be a temptation which few will resist. It will require an army of inspectors to make sure that the endowed brethren are not merely swapping payments. The Townsend plan would become, in practice, the greatest corruptor of American fife ever devised. The chief article of faith in the Townsend credo lies in the assumption that the spending of this money—about 2 billions a month —will, in the languags of the official pamphlet, “create purchasing power so that there may be na-tion-wide prosperity.”

+ .1 10 9 5 4 V 7 ♦QB 5 2 + 10 9 6 + 3 N |* A< 3 87 y 855 43 \w r 6 ♦lO 964 W .. VA Q 2 35 ♦ A +73 Dealer +AJ 5 2 + K 2 V K J 10 9 ♦K J 7 +KQ 8 4 Duplicate—All vul South West North East Pass Pass 1 + Pass 2N. T Pass Pass Double Pass 3 ♦ Double 3 + Double 4 y Pass Pass Double Pass Pass Pass Opening lead — + 10. 21 club was played. South had to follow and West trumped with the five of hearts. A small diamond was led, and ruffed in dummy with the queen of hearts. The eight of spades was returned from dummy, South trumped with the ten of hearts, and declarer discarded a diamond. South returned a heart, which declarer won in dummy with the ace. Now all he had to do was to lead a club or a spade from dummy and there was no way to prevent declarer from making his eight spot of hearts. (Copyright 1935, NEA Service. Inc.),

'T'HERE is something to be said for the proposition that the free spending of money helps trade and hence works for general prosperity. Most health resorts live, to a considerable extent, on the money spent by outsiders who frequent the resort and who bring their money with them. It would not stimulate business at a German Spa, for example, if the money spent by the visitors had been obtained by collecting it first from the people of the town through a sales tax or any other form of taxation! And herein lies the fatal defect in the Townsend plan. It takes away from all the people (including the Townsend pensioners) over half their income, and thus makes it impossible for the 92 per cent of the people not in the Townsend plan to spend any money! If good Dr. Townsend, the apostle of this faith, could get the 25 billions (plus expenses! from some outside source—perhaps the planet Mars—and hand it out to the 10’ 2 million 60-year-olds to spend, his faith would be justified by his works. But there is no way to get the 25 billions, except to take it away from the incomes arising from wages, salaries and interest on investments. Mainly, it would come from those living on wages and salaries—laborers, clerks, college professors, school teachers and all who earn their livelihood by service in one form or another. The Townsend religion is based on a profound fallacy—the assumption that by taking billions away from all the people and giving it a small minority to spend we can bring in prosperity. It is something like another theory with which we are now familiar —to bring in prosperity by going into debt. Townsendism Ls a sincere religion on the part of those who practice it. But sincerity is only one quality which a religion must have. It must not only feel, it must think straight. Neither religion nor economics can endure on a false foundation. The politicians who are flirting with the Townsend plan are playing with fire.

Second Section

Entered as Second-Cla Matfr at Postnffioe, Indianapolis, Ind.

Fair Enough WESTBROOK PEGLER ROME. Dec. 28.—Sometimes it takes a firm effort of will to maintain a straight face when a wellfed Black Shirt politician gets to beating his chest and declaiming about, the success of the Abyssinian campaign and the boundless enthusiasm of the common people for this war. In such moments I have to suspect that the Black Shirt is singing for his supper, because there is nothing bashful about the Fascist regime, and it seems curious to find them so

reticent about the details of the war if it has been going so well. Furthermore, although my acquaintance among the common people necessarily is limited. I have discovered a woman who is almost crazy from worry about her son, who was picked up and shipped away to a God-forsaken, diseased land three months ago and hasn't been heard from since. She doesn’t know whether he is dead or alive, sick or well. And she is afraid to ask too insistently. Mussolini does not publish casualty lists or hospital statistics, and the whereabouts of the sick

and injured is a mystery. So far as people know hospital cases are not being cared for in Italv and the silence regarding the health of 250.000 men who were shipped 3000 miles from home is more difficult to bear because Abyssinia has been described as a land of leprosy, malaria and quaint tropical diseases which cause elephantine swellings and kill white men overnight. tt tt tt Just A one of Their Business 'T'HERE have been rumors of many Italians killed ~~ or in .i ur(, d in motor transport accidents along tne mountain roaos and of hospital ships coming back through the Suez Canal. But apparently the patients never reached Italy, and inquisitive people get out their maps and speculate as to whether Mussolini has set up his hospitals on one or more of the ink-dotted islands in the Aegean. Not even military observers of foreign nations have been permitted to look at the war. It. does not follow' that an army which is doing a good job would be glad to expose its secrets to military observers of other nations, but it certainly does follow that an army which is doing a bad job would prefer not to reveal its mistakes. The letum of Marshal de Bono under conditions W'hich had the appearance of deliberate humiliation casts doubt on his success as a commander-in-chief He was smuggled home, and Marshal Badoglio went out to relieve him. Mussolini couldn’t afford to bust De Bono, because that would jar the people’s confidence. The marshal is a regular army man. but a Black Shirt and one of the four w'ho led the march on Rome. After that he was the head man of the secret police. The prestige of the Black Shirt militia was involved in his performance as commander-in-chief. tt tt tt The Duce Gets a Break T> ADOGLIO is not a Black Shirt, and one of his -D first orders after he reached Asmara was to stop the personal ballyhoo for Mussolini's two boys, Vittorio and Bruno, and his son-in-law, Count Ciano. Badoglio’s order proved to be a lucky break for Mussolini's family, because a few days later the Italians bombed a hospital at Dessye. Under the new system it was consistent to ignore names entirely. But there is reason to believe they were not involved, because the flight covered 900 kilometers at a high altitude and called for expert pilots. The officers of the regular army have to take an oath to Mussolini as well as to the king, but they are primarily for the king, who is a soldier himself and respected as such. The Black Shirt militia is a separate organization, but some of its officers, like De Bono, came from the regular army. The militia is primarily for Mussolini. The prestige of the militia undoubtedly has suffered by the withdrawal of their man from the post of command-er-in-chief and the substitution of a king’s man.

Times Books

PHILIP GIBBS, -who is a reporter of more than ordinary acuteness, has been wandering about his native island trying to find out whether England still stands where she did; and in “England Speaks,** •Doubleday, Doran and Cos., $3), he reports that there is a good deal of life in the old girl yet, although she has fallen on villainously hard times. His book is made up of innumerable conversations—with cabinet members and men on the dole, with jobless shipyard workers and coal miners, with panhandlers on the London streets and tillers of the fat English soil, with cigaret girls and policemen and night watchmen and collegians and every other kind of person imaginable; and from these talks Mr. Gibbs has drawn sundry conclusions about the state of the nation. an tt THE English, he remarks, frequently act in a very un-English way. They are unemotional and reserved, but at King George’s jubilee they turned loose a veritable flood of sentiment; they are discordant and full of diverse fancies, but in the recent League of Nations crisis they have shown an amazing solidity and unanimity; and as individuals they have not, after all, changed much since Shakespeare's time.’ He makes full mention of England's troubles. Trade is bad, shipping Ls bad. mining is bad. the end of the dole is not in sight. Yet he finds his Englishmen are not discouraged. They still thank God they live in a free country, and they carry a big stick for any one who wants them to live otherwise; and their character is still a good bet to bring survival, and revival, in a world uncommonly full of difficulties.

Literary Notes

When V. F Calverton was editor for Long Smith, he signed a contract with Walter Liggett for a book to be called "Press for Sale.” Several chapters were finished at the time of his murder and one of them will appear in the next issue of the Modem Monthly. a a a H. L. Shapiro, curator of physical anthropology at the Museum of Natural History, has completed a book on Pitcairn Island, from where he has just returned. He calls it “The Heritage of the Bounty.” Simon & Schuster will publish it. . . . The other Pitcairn Island books are all still selling. Last week Little. Brown reprinted 5000 each of “Mutiny on the Bounty,” “Men Against the Sea” and “Pitcairn's Island.” This w j as the second printing since Dec. 1 for all three titles. This is the fourth season for “Mutiny on the Bounty” and second for the other two. The total printings are 160.000 for “Mutiny on the Bounty;” 55.000 "Men Against the Sea” and 54,000 “Pitcairn’s Island.” ana William C. White, author of “These Russians” and “Made in Russia.” is writing a series of biographies called “Makers of the Revolution.” The first volume, on Lenin, will be published by Harrison Smith <fc Robert Haas in the spring. It will be followed by others at six-month intervals, dealing with Trotsky, Kerensky and Litvinov. a a a John Steinbeck’s novel “In Dubious Battle,” which Covici Friede will publish in January, has a California locale, like his previous novpls, but this one is of a serious nature. It is a drama on the attempt of the migratory workers in California’s fruit country to organize and of their defeat by vigilantes.

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Westbrook Pegler