Indianapolis Times, Volume 47, Number 267, Indianapolis, Marion County, 16 January 1936 — Page 18

PAGE 18

The Indianapolis Times (A senirrs>no ward NKWSrAriCR) ROT W. HOWARD President LI DWELL DENNY Editor EAKL D. raker Boilneat Manager

Vtve Light and the k Profile Will find Their Own Way

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THURSDAY. JANUARY 18, 1936.

TRAGEDY IN THE AIR nTT is hard to be emotionally sane about a catastrophe of any kind. Wholesale horror makes v.4t hard for us to keep our balance. The crash in Arkansas which killed 17 people I s shocking thing—it will keep many people from fly- ; ;4ng In the future, it will confirm the prophets of L'Tdisaster, it will doubtless bring anew call for closer regulation, and for parachutes for airliners. It may £vcn be made a political matter, r This editorial is no attempt to rationalize away ' the deaths of 17 people as insignificant. We have .Been too many people fly away in airplanes and never come back to say that death in the air is \%ithout significance. And we can not say either, that the sacrifice of is justified by the march of scientific progress. < Who can say whether your life is worth giving up in cause of progress? Nobody but you. ; ' But let us say this, people who ride in airplanes, - or in autos, or wars across streets, know they are taking a chance. And they also know, or can know, the ratio of danger in any of these actions, in comparison with the others. People who ride in airplanes know they may be killed. And they know also that their chances of being killed are becoming less and less as time goes on. The airlines today are being run much better than they were run five years ago. They are being run as a business, whose keynote is safety and efficiency. The airline operators are doing everything in their power to make flying safer. There has been criticsm, both from political sources and inside the industry itself, of the government’s present regulatory set-up. There is dissension and jealousy within the Bureau of Air Commerce. But it is very doubtful if any of this has ever reached out and caused an accident on the airlines. It is our belief that government regulations are thorough. The pilots and all personnel have settled down to a routine of calm work based on experience which a few yea*s ago didn’t exist. There are fewer blue-sky promoters, and more wise and conscientious transportation men now than five years ago. Accidents may continue to happen. But the record chows that the ratio of accidents to miles flown is going steadily down. Perfection, in all things, comes slowly—and never quite arrives. We grieve for the 17 dead. We can not in any way justify their deaths. But if the facts could be known concerning the country’s daily toll of death from accidents of all kinds, it probably would be revealed that many more than 17 die each day with less excuse. THE SCHOOL BOARD’S PROBLEM XJEW, remodeled and enlarged schools are a necessity for Indianapolis. The Board of School Commissioners, wrestling with the problem of financing, in the preliminary sl#ge, deserves the support and expert opinion of all citizens devoted to the city’s good. While construction has been standing still the population has been growing. Unemployment has enlarged the school attendance in the upper grades. The need for more high schools recently was set forth by a committee appointed to study the question. The heavy charge of interest on the school system Is the thing that stands in the way of a long-term policy. But with business improving it is possible to find ways and means of going ahead. Indianapolis public schools have an enviable reputation. Their physical plant should be improved and enlarged so that the children now approaching school age will have their chance. HOOVER, FLETCHER PLEASE NOTE XT7TLD, intemperate spending? Riotous extravagance? Let’s look _.t the figures recently made public by the Bureau of the Budget. Congress has authorized President Roosevelt to 6pend $17,359,558,405 for recovery and relief since he took office in March, 1933. He has spent $10,819,881,696. That leaves six and a half billion dollars authorized but not used by the President. And of the money that has been spent, exactly $7 469,872,833 has been lent on good security or has been invested in capital stock or other securities with a marketable value. There is every reason to believe that it will be returned to the government. That makes the net "spending” to date just $3,350,000,000. Against this sum the United States government has in its stabilization fund and its Treasury working fund about three and a quarter billion dollars, realized as profit from changing the amount of gold in the dollar. • These are facts Is it too much to hope that they will be mentioned during the campaign? ARCHIVES THE Federal government has just completed its $8,750,000 Archives Building, that stands like great and beautiful tomb at the apex where Constitution and Pennsylvania-avs join. It% all nice and air-conditiobed and is proof against fire, theft and flood, but there aren’t enough documents to fill its spacious insides. Why not store it full of some of the political antiquities now being dragged out from the horse-and-buggy era in the form of resolutions, political speeches, legal opinions and bills, and then let the parade go on? A SHOE THAT FITS /\ UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO professor commenting on the Roosevelt radio speech to Congress said that criticism was caused, not by the President breaking precedent and delivering the address in person, but because: "He made the issue a little too clear.” The same criticism might be made of the minority m the AAA case. THE GOOD OLD DAYS T TNIVERSITY OF DENVER anthropologists have Just discovered some 1000 stone tools in Wyoming, indicating the remnants of a camp of prehistoric humans who lived about 400,000 years ago. Doubtless this discovery will stir a wave of nostalgia 4 in the hearts of our political Neanderthalers. Ah, 1 J •

WHY NOT A PLEBISCITE? / T'HE will to power is inherent in human nature *• and in government. That fundamental fact was recognized when our nation was created on a check-and-balance concept. The tendency toward concentration of power was thoroughly understood by the founding lathers. Hence, the principle of three brandies, executive, legislative and judicial—co-ordinate and co-equal. As our history was unfolded there have been times when this, that, or the other branch has pressed for power to the point of unbalance, sometimes executive, sometimes legislative, sometimes judicial. In the emergency of 1933, the weight of power listed sharply in the direction of the executive. As the emergency became less acute, charges of attempted dictatorship began to be heard. Charges that Congress had become a rubber stamp, and so forth. Now the Supreme Court is having its inning and complaints against that arise—talk of judicial autocracy. Later'it may be against the legislative branch. But always, when there is a real or an apparent lack of equilibrium, the American people become alarmed, and with good reason. They are jealous of the power that they have delegated. For the idea of balance is essential to a democracy's survival. But in the basic conception of democracy there is one spot where concentration of power is not dangerous but, on the other hand, is desirable; the original source of all power; not legislative, judicial or executive. That source is the people. From the people democracy gets its life. To them, if the theory of democracy is sound in the first place, it is safe to transmit for final decision any question. We believe that, with all the faults and frailties that characterize human beings as individuals, the people as a whole acting in their composite capacity will come nearer to arriving at absolute right than any other authority; than any individual, legislative body or court. n tt "II7E believe, therefore, that final power should be YY reposed in no other hands than those of the people. And we believe further that in our constitutional democracy if machinery could be devised for a speedy plebiscite on any great public issue that has reached an impasse we would solve the problem of undue concentration of power. We do not presume to suggest how that machinery should be constructed. • That is a job for constitution makers and for law makers. We merely contend that if we are seeking perfection in democratic government, the idea of the people having the last say is sound. Might it not be possible for any question of great national importance to be sent back to the people as a whole after it has arrived at stalemate; such, for example as to AAA or the NRA. Suppose that each of those could be voted on as a separate referendum in the next general election. What would be wrong with that? Wouldn’t that be simpler, more direct, fairer, and more in keeping with the vpry fundamentals of the democratic idea, than any-other way? We consider it self-evident that if you can’t trust the people you can’t trust democracy; equally, we believe that if such issues as those mentioned were passed on by the final power and the veto sustained or overruled there could be no complaint left, in a democracy. We may in all this appear to be groping. We are. But we sincerely believe that we are dealing with an idea that is basic and one which, if it could be practically applied, would solve a governmental difficulty which is becoming more and more puzzling and onerous and hazardous as our society becomes more and more complex. We foresee that the first contention will be that we already have the plebiscite in the constitutional amendment method. Theoretically, yes. Practically, no—in some situations—because of the time element; because the patient dies while you are going for the doctor. A WOMAN’S VIEWPOINT By Mrs. Walter Ferguson nnHE only woman in Canada’s ParliamerA, the Hon. Agnes MacPhail, who has been visiting in this country, has made some pertinent remarks about social service. She says there isn’t much sense to it until we straighten out the economic situation. She’s so right, doesn’t it make you uncomfortable? Probably nine-tenths of all our social evils have their origin in poverty. Men and women, half starved, ridden by the hag Fear, can’t possibly make good homes for their children; while the children who grow up among adults who are frightened into panic at every new political trend are licked before they start. Perhaps the most amusing and tragic of all our efforts can be found in the psychiatric clinics, now established in many communities. Their motive is excellent grained men who have studied the human mind can do unlimited good by helping individuals to understand themselves. But, when a man is told he suffers from worry, he’s not likely to recover unless you remove the cause of his worry, which in these days is generally the lack of a job, or an insufficient salary to support his dependents, or chronic illness for which he can not afford a physician. His case, you see, is too complicated for the psychiatrists to handle. It’s no good going to see the doctor if we can’t buy the medicine he prescribes. * Girls advised to leave home because of emotional tensions have only to ask “Where shall I go?” to put us on the spot. The woman with several babies dragging at her skirts hasn’t a chance to take a rest cure, no matter how many physicians advise it. The Hon. MacPhail has told us the truth. We’ve got the cart before the horse. FROM THE RECORD D EP. SNELL (N. Y.), minority leader of the ■•-Y- House: While you gentlemen over there may call yourselves leaders and pat yourselves on the back that you are great leaders, let me tell you this: You are not even consulted by your own Administration in regard to the program in your own House for which, in the eyes of the American people, you are held responsible. You are not even fooling any one anywhere at this time. If it were not for the fact of your overwhelming, spineless majority which will vote for every order that comes from the White House, you would not even attempt any such procedure.... I am beginning to think that it will take more than his (the President’s) winning smile and pleasant radio voice, even if it is on the air every hour in the day, to explain to the American people the fallacies of the New Deal legislation that he has proposed. Rep. Bankhead (Ala.), majority leader of the House: Mr. Speaker, I thought that possibly the distinguished minority leader would say something that might really call for a reply from this side; but after listening to his partisan and political platitudes, which we expected, and finding nothing in his remarks that has not already been well expressed in the press of the country, I do not think it proper to take ap further the time of the House in undertaking a reply to the somewhat feeble observations made by my distinguished and beloved friend.

THE INDIANAPOLIS TIMES

Squaring The Circle With McCREADY HUSTON

■VTOU are sitting in a downtown -*■ restaurant eating your breakfast. You have just read about the crashing of a commercial transport airplane with the deaths of passengers, pilots and stewardess. You look up and see, at a nearby table, a group of three or four in semimilitary dress. There are three young men—somewhere between 25 and 35—and a young woman in a sort of overseas cap and a cape. They are pilots and a stewardess, downed here, and putting in the time for the next leg of the hop. a a a THERE is nothing to be compared to the composure of the air pilot. He has no nerves. He lives in a world apart. Because you have flown with one of this group you push aside your plate, ask the waitress to wing your coffee over, and join up. You leave your newspaper behind because you do not wish to bring up the subject of the disaster. You say, "Hello, Lee, I didn’t know you were on this run.” Lee (it is not his name) gives you a faint smile, a hard hand-shake, and moves his chair so you can crowd in. tt a tt 'T'HEY come downtown from the -*• Indianapolis airport, a quiet, rather reticent, set of men. Usually tall, slender, with a detachment from worldly affairs that is uncanny. My friend Lee is typical. He is a pilot who has flown most of the country’s celebrities to their destinations. He has never had an accident or a bad landing. He has a college education and could go on the ground as an official of his company. But he prefers to stay at the controls. a a a 'T'HERE is a mystery about this , -*■ profession of piloting. The members are comparable to the young men who, 20 years ago, went abroad to drive ambulances. And to the astonishing young Americans who, with no previous knowledge of flying, took lessons and became members of the Lafayette Escadrille. You can read their names on the monument in Paris. Today’s commercial pilots are of the breed. They can not be confined in an office. They would not be content with a safe and sane job. You can tell that by the look in their eyes. a a a "IT7HEN a railroad wreck takes Y ▼ place, the railroad officers, the government, can ascertain what happened and why. Dispatchers, switchmen, maintenance -of - way men, trainmen, can be quizzed and an answer can be found. But when an accident takes place in the sky nobody knows the reason. The pilots and passengers are dead. The only evidence to go by is the wreck. If anybody could tell t' -) true story of why Knute Rockne, Will Rogers, Wiley Post—and how many others—crashed he would have the most valuable piece of writing in prer::-.t-day journalism. a a a T HAVE met many pilots. They are all alike. They are silent, temperate, catlike in their movements, students of weather charts, meticulous in dress and their habits. They do not seem much interested in mundane affairs—the bonus, the election, the AAA, the Hauptmann case. They live in a world of their own. Let any banker, any lawyer, any doctor, any newspaper man, come into contact with t N ese cool young men who fly from Newark to the West coast, find he will immediately feel a proper humility. a a a can not get anything out of them. They come downtown, eat their meals, catch some sleep, study their weather charts, and fly on. American youth at its best. OTHER OPINION • Roosevelt and Columbus [South Bend Tribune] The undertaking of the party in power in setting out to get rid of billions of dollars has added to the greatest deficit any nation has ever known. The Roosevelt Administration has been likened to Columbus when he set sail on his voyage to the newworld. His trip was government financed. When he started he did not know where he was going, when he arrived he did not know where he was and when he got back he cculd not tell any one where he had been. Far from strengthening themselves in the confidence of the public the bureaucrats wasting the resources of the nation are convincing the voters that the sooner their authority is terminated the better it will be for all. a a a On the Supreme Court [New York Dally News] If the Supreme Court can use the “general welfare” clause to kill legislation which Congress thought was for the general welfare, it can kill any kind of legislation under that clause. It can sink the Navy, stop flood control and forest conservation, kill off Federal relief—whenever five of the nine old gentlemen come to the opinion that any of these things is cofitrary to the general welfare. Some check must be placed on this court. We can not trust ourselves and our country to these men’s naked self-restraint. It is evident that we shall soon have to place some other restraint upon them than that of their own wilL

The Hoosier Forum

(Times readers are invited to exptess their views in these columns, religious controversies excluded. Make vour letter i short, so all can have a chance. Limit them to 250 words or less. Your letter must be sinned , but names will be withheld on reaucst.) a a a RECALLS HISTORY IN HIS ARGUMENT By T. N. T. In 1862, at the request of the steel, coal and coke interests, Congress passed the Alien Contract Labor Law, giving power to the above named interests to go into southern Europe and enter into a contract with pauper labor. The aliens were compelled to repay passage, live in company houses, purchase necessities in firm-owned stores at a price the owners saw fit to charge. The reason, as set out by the owners, was that the man power of the nation was engaged in the War of the Rebellion to preserve the Union, and that it was necessary to employ alien labor in order to make the things that were needed so that the soldiers could successfully put down the rebellion. If their story was correct, would it not be correct to suppose that when the war was over in 1866, and the soldiers released, the law should have been repealed? But not so, for the law didn’t die until 1884, 22 years later. f I am bringing this page of history to your mind to combat the story being spread by Chambers of Commerce, newspapers, putty statesmen and pliable personalities that the proper way to bring prosperity is to let capitalists conduct their affairs unrestrained. Since this theory demands a positive denial let’s see what has been done to combat it. a a a GIVES THANKS FOR FEARLESS LEADER By Jacob A. Layton We are now looking for a goodly supply of common sense at the head of our government; and let us appreciate efforts of a few that are being made to establish us again on solid footing. Give us good, dependable and absolute safe medium of exchange, and above all things, honest government. Today, as never before, the eyes of America are turned toward Washington, where President Roosevelt guards the destiny of a nation, every individual who loves justice and believes in America upliftment looks with seriousness upon the present state of affairs and pledges allegiance to America’s leaders. They need the support of every American citizen and it is the duty of every man and woman to cooperate. A house divided against itself

Questions and Answers

Inclose a 3-cent stamp for reply when addressing any question of fact or information to The Indianapolis Times Home Service Bureau, 1013 Thirteenthst, N. W.. Washington, D. C. Legal and medical advice can not be given, nor can extended research be nndertaken. Q—Name the largest vessels in the Swedish Navy. A—Gustaf V, Drottning Victoria and Sverige have a standard displacement of 7010 tons each, and for armament, four 11-inch guns, eight 6-inch guns, four 3-inch anti-air-craft guns, and a speed of 22.5 knots. Q —Give the name and address of the head of the International Nudist Conference? A—Dr. Ilsley Boone, 330 W. 42d-st, New York City. Q—What is arithmomania? A—A mental compulsion or habit of counting things. Q —What is the capital of the Orange Free State in the Union of South Africa? A—Bloemfontein; about 750 miles from Cape Town. Q—Where it> Antofagasta? A—lt is a province and also a

HOLD ON!

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

shall surely fall. Let us cease petty bickering and get together in unity. There is nothing we can not achieve if we strive hard enough. Thank God for raising in our midst a fearless leader with such wisdom'- and keen sense of vision. Responding in hearty support let us give President Roosevelt and his co-workers loyalty. a a a ASSAILS COURT FOR AAA DECISION By George Goff What is this country coming to if it is going to stand by and let 9 old men, whose brains have gone haywire and who hold prejudice against the common people, repeal laws designated for the benefit of the common people? Os course, if the Court is going to be consistant it will repeal all other laws which benefit the common man, including the labo£ law, work relief law, social securities law, etc. Why did the six judges say “no” to the AAA? Because they were connected with corporations before they became Supreme Court judges. They had those big corportaions’ interest at heart. It is a shame to think that 9 men can shape the destinies of 120,000,000 people. a a a PLEASED BY EDITORIAL ON TARIFF, AAA By L. L. Needier, Director, Insurance and Organization, Indiana Farm Bureau, Inc. Your editorial “Tariff and AAA” in The Times of Jan 13 was refreshing. Such expressions are so seldom found in the metropolitan press that your editorial seems like a bubbling spring of pure water in a parched dessert. I think it deserves, for its independence and its fairness, an expression of thanks from those who have battled against difficult odds to place agriculture on an even basis with industry. Please permit me to express my personal gratitude for this, as well as other editorial comments, that you have made from time to time. More power to your pen. a a a COMPARES AIMS OF PAST, PRESENT GROUPS By R. L. Morgan In the light of the recent records of our two old political parties and in the light of the history of the two major parties (Whig and Democratic) prior to the Civil War, it is gratifying to learn that Dr. Townsend has decided to defy the financial powers and political bosses and put over his plan through anew independent force. Undoubtedly, this is a wise and timely decision on

seaport in northern Chile. The seaport is on the Bay of Morena, 85 miles south of Cobija. Q —Can aliens who entered the United States illegally after June, 1921, have their residence here legalized for purposes of naturalization? A—No. If they want to Rpply for naturalization they must leave the United States and re-enter legally. Q —Who played the role of Boris in “The Big Broadcast of 1936?” A—Akim Tamiroff. Q —What is the smallest breed of dogs? A—The Mexican Chihuahua. The usual weight is from two to four pounds, but some specimens weigh under two pounds. Some are so small that they can stand on the palm of a hand. Q —Why is the English Channel difficult to swim? A—lt is only about 21 miles wide at the narrowest point, but the cold water, strong tides and general roughness make swimming difficult. Q—What is the date of Mardi Gras in New Orleans hi 1936? ▲—Tuesday, Feb. and

his part—one that will ultimately result in winning the war for economic and financial freedom. I agree with Rev. Coughlin that before we can get any kind of a worthwhile old-age security law adopted and fairly tried out we must first drive the moneychangers frem the temple and out of Washington. But I disagree with him as to the means to accomplish the end. To do what we are driving at we must adopt and follow the same course of strategy and political expediency that Lincoln wisely adopted and successfully pursued to abolish slavery. In other words, I believe we Townsenclites and Coughlinites and all of the other “ites” stand exactly and parallelly where the Abolitionists stood prior to the birth of the Republican Party. They honestly wanted to break the legal chains which bound four million black slaves to their masters, we earnestly desire to perform the more difficult task of breaking the economic and financial shackles which bind ninety million white slaves to their plutocratic masters. LINES TO AN OLD MAN BY JOSEPHINE DUKE MOTLEY (Driving west on Road 40 past the Hancock County Home.) I saw him look toward the setting sun From a poorhouse yard when the day was done. Beyond the fence by which be stood, A graveyard fringed a nearby wood. What marvel that one who had known such fate As life beyond a poorhouse gate Could still find hope and faith divine To look past the grave for the sun to shine. DAILY THOUGHTS The stranger did not lodge in the street; but I opened my doors to the traveler.—Job xxxi,- 32. I IKE many other virtues, hospi- -* tality is practiced, in its perfection, by the poor. If the rich did their share, how the woes vs this world would be lightened.—Mrs. C. M. Kirkland.

SIDE GLANCES By George Clark

“Yes, Mrs. Meekly, 1 hav^always been my husband’s tf&L”

-JAN. 16, 1936

Your... Health By DR. MORRIS FISHBEIN

EACH vitamin picks out a special portion of the body for the good it can do. Vitamin A was concerned vith the tissue of the eye, and that part of vitamin B which I a-ready have described was concerned with the nervous system and the muscles of the intestines. Now vitamin C picks out the capillaries, or smallest blood vessels. Shortage of vitamin C is reflected quite promptly in bleeding from the membranes of the body. Its deficiency results also in damage to the teeth and in changes in the bones. Our knowledge of deficiencies of this vitamin is among the oldest information we have on deficiency diseases. In the eighteenth century, British sailors found that something in the diet was necessary to prevent scurvy. Back in 1769. Dr. James Lind noticed that sailors became tired and pale, that large black and blue spots appeared on their bodies, that their gums would bleed, anti their joints become painful when they sailed on long voyages and failed to get fresh food for a long time. It was not until 1912, however, that proof was definitely forthcoming that vitamin C in fresh fruits and fresh vegetables was the substance necessary to prevent appearance of scurvy. a a a NOW vitamin C has been isolated in pure form and is available in tablets and in concentrates. In its pure form, it is an acid substance which has been given the name ascorbic acid. It has also been called hexuronic acid, and there are other names for it, such as cebione and cevitamic acid. This substance has now been developed in pure form from paprika, which is the substance in nature found to be the richest source -of vitamin C. It also comes from fresh fruits, such as oranges and lemons, from cabbage, and finally it has been developed synthetically by chemists. Vitamin C is a delicate vitamin. It is destroyed to some extent "by drying, but particularly by heat in an open vessel where oxygen can qet at it. If the vessel happens to lie copper, it is destroyed more quickly. Commercial canning does not, however, injure the content of vitamin C in fresh fruits and vegetables, because commercial canning is usually done in thin vessels and in a vacuum, so that oxygenIs not present in amounts largj enough to damage the vitamin. r

TODAY’S SCIENCE BY DAVID DIETZ

IN a number of important laboratories, both in this country and abroad, scientists are hard at work, striving for a goal which they are certain can never be reached. That goal is the absolute zero in temperature. It is 273.1 degrees below zero upon the centigrade scale, the one in common use in scientific laboratories. Upon the familiar Fahrenheit scale it is 459 degrees below zero. Scientists already have approached to within less than one degree of absolute zero. In fact they have traveled the 273 degrees upon the centigrade scale, leaving only the .1 of a degree. They hope some day to get lower than this but there are theoretical reasons why absolute zero can not be reached. To understand why, we must understand the nature of heat. Heat is the unordered motion of the molecules and atoms constituting a body. The greater their random motions, the greater the heat. That is why when you heat a piece of iron, for example, it turns first into a liquid and then into a gas. a a a LIQUID air can, be prepared by compressing air and then permitting it to expand. The expansion cools the air and the apparatus is so designed as to take advantage of this cooling until finally a portion of the air reaches so low a temperature that it liquefies. The temperature of liquid air is about 192 degrees below zero, centigrade. By using liquid air to cool cornpressed hydrogen, a similar scheme can be worked and liquid hydrogen obtained. This has a temperature of 253 degrees below zero, centigrade.