Indianapolis Times, Volume 48, Number 4, Indianapolis, Marion County, 16 March 1936 — Page 9

It Seems to Me HEYVPOOD BROUN YORK. March 16.—Perhaps there has been ’ too much criticism of the United States Supreme Court recently. It has distracted public attention from the manifest fallings of the lower courts. New Yorkers have been proud of the good record of welfare legislation in this state, and there ought to be a growing resentment and protest against the decision recently handed down by the

Court of Appeals invalidating the State Minimum Fair Wage Act. It has been held by some contented conservatives, particularly Walter Lippmann, that the Supreme Court is not nearly as reactionary as it seems. The Court, so its friends maintain, is merely suggesting that the Federal government has no right to go ahead more rapidly than the backward states. Child labor can be banned and decent working conditions established if only the public will be patient enough to have these things accomplished bit by bit in the separate locah-

Heywood Broun

ties until such time as there is a united public opinion. When that happy stage is reached the Supreme Court may be expected to say. "Bless you. my children.” and quit throwing laws out the window. tt tt it Rather Cold Comfort IT is not a very comforting theory at best when one looks at the snail-lik? progress most of the states are making in la bo* legislation, and in the light, of the Court of Appeals decision it isn't even true. The argument of the four who invalidated the minimum wage law was that they had no choice in the matter, since the United States Supreme Court had thrown out a similar piece of Federal legislation in 1918. In other words, you can’t have your reforms nationally because the states haven't caught up. and you can t have them locally because the Federal courts lag. Therefore, as far as the legal technicians go, you .just, can't change the social structure by law. These learned gentlemen insist that Ihr world does not move, and even if it does they feel that they are supposed to keep their eyes tightly closed until the parade goes by. With them every day is last Sunday. When uncouth barbarians from the North broke info Rome and invaded the Senate chamber itself the Roman senators sat immobile, and the vandals tiptoed out of the room in awe. believing these patriarchs to be dead and mummified. Chief .Justice Crane pays similar reverential homage to the nine in Washington. If his court voted to sustain a minimum wage act the silent nine might hear about it and ask the reasons for the ruling. In that event if would be hard to shield them from the facts of life. They would have to learn that there has been a crash and a continuing depression and that many millions of men and women are out of work. tt tt it Shocking the Supreme Court SUCH information might come as a great shock to the Supreme Court. Judge Irving Lehman, in a vigorous dissent, maintained that the Supreme Court is viable and that its ears are not forever waxed against the recital of economic necessity. He spoke with pertinence when he said that the employer who pays wages ‘‘less than the cost of healthful living places upon society the burden of paying part of the legitimate costs of the business." The next time I see a. figure of Justice in any marble group I mean to look at her shoes. I wonder why they should be sheathed in lead. Might it not he an excellent idea to strip the judges of their robes and equip them with running pants?

Relief Probe Might Restore Confidence BY' RAYMOND CLAPPER WASHINGTON, March 16.—Public confidence in the administration of Federal relief has declined to a disturbing point. To some here, it seems that President Roosevelt could do much to restore confidence by welcoming a thorough bipartisan inquiry. Whether he will invite this in his forthcoming message is not known. Some of his more zealous advisers are as opposed to an investigation as the Liberty Leaguers are to having their telegrams scru-

tinized by Senator Black. Those in the Administration opposing an investigation say the demand for it springs from political motives. Perhaps so. Undoubtedly Republicans think an investigation will give them campaign fodder. Yet the charges which developed when (he two Democratic Senators in West Virginia fell out are not erased by an investigation of WPA by WPA. Reports of political interference in relief are coming from

many parts of the country. They will continue to come. It is not enough for the Administration to say that it tries to keep politics out. The question is whether it has been successful in restraining greedy small-fry politicians down the line. A congressional investigation, with able members of both parties actively participating, would serve as the greatest possible bulwark of the Administration in fighting off politicians who are trying to get into the relief trough. a a a IN view- of the Administration’s policy of turning on the light in all corners of the business world, it is difficult to see how Mr. Roosevelt would want to take a stand against similar disclosure of what the government is doing with billions of dollars of relief money. When the utilities complain that their private affairs are being exposed by senatorial investigators. they are told that if they have nothing to hide they should not object. Salary and bonus payments of corporation officials are being made public because the government believes that stockholders are entitled to know the facts. The Senate Lobby Committee insists it should scrutinize all telegrams of lawyers and others suspected of attempting to influence legislation. How much more important therefore is it to know everything about the expenditure of vast sums of public money? a a a THE need for full investigation of governmental expenditures increases as those expenditures increase. In recent years the scope of government payments has multiplied until now, the National Industrial Conference Board reports. 11,120.925 persons are receiving all or part of their income from the Federal government. In the last two years approximately 9.000,000 persons have been added to the list of those receiving varying amounts from the Federal government—more than one-sixth of the available gainful workers in the country. a a a YOU can give Administration officials full credit for doing their best to keep politics out of this expenditure. But politics, like the water that seeps into your cellar, penetrates anywhere government money is. The Administration would have relieved itself of much suspicion by having long ago placed relief under a bipartisan board where opponents of the Administration would have been on guard to prevent abuse* and to incur joint responsibility for any weaknesses. Since that was not done, it would seem that Harry Hopkins, in his battle —and he is making one—to keep politics out of his relief organization, could be assisted in ferreting out political chiselers by a congressional committee in which both parties would be actively represented. t

INDIANAPOLIS, THE CITY OF SMOKE

Soot-Pouring Chimneys Costing Citizens $5,000,000 a Year

Thi* is the first of a series of article on smoke conditions in Indianapolis. 1 has been written after an extended sur vey of the problem.

BY ARCH STEINEL ACT 0R Y fires burn. Long lines storm firms for jobs. Business glows as pay rolls mount. Indianapolis is geared upgrade. —But, riding the "tops” of the city’s prosperity’s train, blackening lungs, damaging textiles, drapes and clothing, is a darkshrouded Frankenstein that costs this city $5,000,000 a year.. The Mephistopheles wasting a city’s money, battering at a people’s health and pocketbook is— SMOKE. You find him on your dining room table, in your laundry bill, on soot-laden windows, clinging to milk bottles and to curtains. Smoke cost Indianapolis $750,000 in extra laundry bills in 1935. Housewives bend wearily over washboards or turn wringers and complain of aching backs and begrimed clothes while outside their own chimneys or the chimney of a neighbor pours soot, sulphur fumes and gases in a medley of destruction and obnoxious odors. nun IN a survey of smoke conditions here I found that Indianapolis is climbing back to the dubious distinction it held in 1928—the fifth dirtiest city in the nation. Investigation reveals that, despite increases in smoke abatement appliances and in education, the increase in factory pay rolls and production has brought increased violations of the Indianapolis Smoke Code. • Leniency of city officials in pursuing a course of education in the depression era rather than enforce the city smoke ordinance has prompted a disregard for air pollution laws. The investigation shows that the State of Indiana could be arrested in Indianapolis for violating the city smoke ordinance. Stacks toss sulphur and ash to the four winds and cost hotels and guests thousands of dollars. But William F Hurd, city building commissioner, and George R. Popp Jr., smoke combustion engineer, say that not one person has been arrested for violation of the city smoke ordinance. tt tt tt THE survey shows that where other cities spend front $15,000 to $50,000 to eradicate smoke evils. $2200 is spent to keep sinus sufferers happier.

WASHINGTON. March 16. It looks as if that doughty old Tennessee mountaineer/ Secretary Cordell Hull, at last has met his match in the behind-the-scenes battle over tariff policy which has slit so many throats inside the New Deal. Hull is an uncompromising advocate of reciprocal trade agreements. George Peek, former head of the Federal Export-Import Bank, fought him vigorously, advocated subsidized foreign dumping. In the end Hull got his scalp. Peek resigned. But a few days ago Hull suddenly found himself facing another enemy. This one was Secretary Henry Wallace, who despite Hull’s vehement opposition, had quietly put through exactly the same kind of deal unsuccessfully urged v 'y Peek. Immediately the whole inner circle became embroiled in the hottest scrap in months. tt tt it CAUSE of the scrap is nuts—just plain walnuts. Early in January the Agriculture Department entered into an agreement with the walnut growers. It contracted to subsidize the export of 25.000,000 pounds of nuts at 5 cents a pound. This 5 cents is the difference between the domestic price and the selling figure abroad. This contract was what got Hulls’ dander up. He said it was contrary to his foreign trade policy. But the Agriculture Department tood pat, refused to budge. Finally, the dispute was placed before the Commercial Policy Committee. This is a body set up by the President early in the New Deal to harmonize Administration tariff policies. It is made up of representatives of the State, Agriculture. Treasury and Commerce Departments, the Tariff Commission and several other agencies. Both Hull and Wallace attended the meeting of the Policy Committee. Hull claimed that Wallace and his walnuts would stir up tariff wars with other countries. The United States, he said could not subsidize dumping abroad. He pointed out that the French reciprocal trade agreement, now in the process of negotiation. might be adversely

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The Indianapolis Times

Washington Merry-Go-Round BY DREW PEARSON and ROBERT S. ALLEN

BENNY

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A 50,000,000 bill pu r s annually from the smoke-slacks in the above photo taken from the Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Monument. The view, looking west toward the Statehouse, show's just a few of the city’s stacks that spread disease, send laundry bills soaring, ruin textiles and other properties.

If you’re a stranger to this city then within the next five or seven years your pink lung—if you lived in a clean city—will be dark and mottled from Indianapolis soot. The chimney of the average Indianapolis residence befouls the neighbor's linens and lungs and in puffing out blackness sends dollars out of the flue. A ton of coal that costs $5 actually costs $5.50 for the added 50 cents is wasted fuel. Husbands pondering the cosmetic and cleansing cream bills of their wives need only glance out of office windows to find the answer. My survey shows that $250,000 in art treasures are barricaded behind glass and sometimes not shown to an artistic population because the treasures lie in one of the city’s smoke belts. tt u n A RAIN OF FOURTEEN THOUSAND tons of sulphur is the blight emptied each year on Indianapolis. Weather observers say "smog” —breeder of automobile accidents

effected. Wallace was competing with French nuts. Wallace replied that he did not plan to ship nuts to France. After a bitter debate, the committee sided with Hull. It decided that regardless of where the nuts were shipped, they would dislocate the world market. tt tt tt IT looked as if the nuts were in the soup. But they weren’t. The farm lobby swung into action on Capitol Hill. Overnight, Wallace was swamped with demands from Senators and congressmen that he go through with the nut subsidy. They pointed out that in the AAA amendments passed last year (and not affected by the Supreme Court decision), also in the new farm act, specific provisions authorize moderate export subsidies on agricultural products. This action by Congress, WalGUY LEGION POSTS TO MARK FOUNDING National Commander’s Air Address Is Feature. Indianapolis posts are to celebrate the seventeenth anniversary of the founding of the American Legion Tuesday night. Ray Murphy, national commander, is to address the Legionaires at 10:30 over the WJZ-NBC network as a nationwide feature of the event. Haywood-Barcus Post 55 and Memorial Post 3 are to hold a joint birthday party and ball in the Hoosier Athletic Club. Alex L. Asch is chairman in charge of arrangements. Madden-Nottingham Post 348 is to hold a dance and program in the V. F. W. Hall, 210 E. Ohio-st. Municipal Court Judge Wilfred Bradshaw is to speak. Members of the Emerson and Indianapolis Posts are to hold a combined St. Patrick's day and anniversary at the Emerson Post headquarters, 143 E. Ohio-st. Walter Myers, former speaker of the Indiana House of Representatives and one of the founders of the Legion, is to speak.

MONDAY, MARCH 16, 1936

and low vitality—would disappear if the city was smoke-free. Tracing pneumonia deaths in boom years and depression years gives rise to the belief of some physicians that air pollution may be a conspirator in weakening a pneumonia sufferer and retarding the chances for his recovery. The pneumonia survey shows that with the lift of the depression—and increased consumption of fuel by factories and homes—pneumonia has reached record heights. Indianapolis was healthier in 1832 and 1933 than in 1934 and 1936. An Indianapolis laundry which graciously played the “good neighbor” and turned to “city heat” rather than fire its own boilers and purvey smoke now finds itself battling the grime and fumes from the very neighbors it tried to protect. tt tt tt A MAN’S shirt might withstand two years’ washing in a clean city but finds Indianap-

lace was told, gave him full power to proceed with the walnut sub-sidy-regardless of the Commercial Policy Committee. Asa matter of fact, Wallace was informed, the committee was only an advisory body anyway and had absolutely no power to dictate to him. With this powerful backing, Wallace hesitated no longer. On March 10 he issued a departmental order quietly putting the walnut export subsidy into operation. What happens next remains to be seen. Knowing Hull’s bulldog tenacity, insiders predict further repercussions. Probably the final fight will be waged around the President’s desk. tt tt tt MRS. ROOSEVELT'S adoring newspaper girls have now got around to giving her advice on what clothes she should wear. Here is their repartee at a recent press conference: Question —Have you decided what you are going to wear to dinner this evening? Mrs. Roosevelt —I haven’t even thought about it. If it is cold, I think I will wear a velvet dress. Q—Will you wear the prunecolored one? I like that one. Mrs. R—No, I don’t think I will wear that because I wore it the other day. I think I shall wear the one with two colors, purple and red. I think you must be so accustomed to seeing the same dresses that you must get tired describing them. You are always so kind about it. tt tt n COL. JAMES M. JOHNSON, assistant secretary of commerce, was testifying before the Senate Commerce Committee on ship subsidy legislation. He aired his views at length and with much redundancy. Finally Missouri’s outspoken Senator Bennett Clark interrupted him. “Colonel, I understand you are a former highway commissioner in South Carolina?” “That’s right.” “Well, how r does that qualify you as a marine expert?” “Why.” exclaimed Col. Johnson w’ith great dignity, “I can handle a sma’l boat as well as anybody in this room!” (Copyright. 1936. bv United Featur Syndicate. Inc. •

olis grime sufficient to fray cuffs and collars within one year. If you sincerely want a breath of fresh air you stand a better chance by parking at the Indianapolis Union Station or chatting with an engineer of a yard engine. The survey shows that the city has sectors, some in unsuspected places, W’here the sootfall is least likely to run up your laundry bill. If you live in the mile square you never can hope to be anything but a “soot-gulper-inner"; that is, of course, if conditions remain as they are. Sections with frame buildings and poorly fired stoves and furnaces are low in morale and high in juvenile crime. Realty values slide in smoky areas as residents move to cleaner neighborhoods. tt tt tt “'IXT’E’VE talked about polluted VV w’ater and the time has come w’hen we should be thinking and talking about polluted air,” contends Dr. Verne K. Harvey, Indiana director of public health. “Sifting smoke consumers of the city, I found that railroad lines using the terminals here have policed their owm industry to a point where one of the largest users of coal in local yards was able to switch back and forth in the yards without one smoke violation in 1935. “This self-policing has resulted in making roundhouses more livable than kitchenette apartments in many sections of the city.” Complaints of smoke violations have been made against a building in the downtown area that houses offices of a public health organization. A smoke inspector reported to The Times that he watched muggy soot from this

RULE MADE TO BE BROKEN

Today’s Contract Problem South js playing the contract at four spades. West has bid diamonds. Where should the opening lead he won—in dummy or declarer’s hand —and why? ♦Q7 5 3 VA 8 4 ♦K 4 3 A A5 3 * A2 N I* 54 VQIO 3 w c vJ9 5 2 ♦ QJ 10 9 W fc * 6 82 5 * J 10 9 8 A Q 2 Dealer 7 6 A K J 10 8 6 VK 7 6 ♦A 7 5 A K 4 E. and W. vul. Opener—♦ Q Solution in next issue 9

Solution to Previous Contract Problem BY r WM. E. M’KENNEY Secretary American Bridge League I SUPPOSE you have heard the rule that requires you to w’Ln the first trick in the hand that has two honors. Well, whenever any one tells you that you must always do a certain thing in bridge, very often he is wrong. “Always” and “never” are too farreaching. I once heard a bridge authority say, "Rules of contract are made to be broken.” But it pays to know when to break such rules. Take for example today's hand, which the declarer is playing at seven no trump. With the opening lead of the jack of diamands,

stack pour illegal smoke for 12 minutes. This was a violation of the city smoke code, which permits illegal smoke for but six minutes out of each hour of the day. a tt tt ONE of the weak points of the Indianapolis Smoke Code is that it permits the small householder to spew black soot at wull without fear of arrest or reprimand while industrial plants, stores, and hotels are forced to comply in spirit, as much as possible, with the code. It has been shown that Indiana’s sos coal can be fired properly. without causing large quantities of soot to spread on grass and flower beds to the detriment of vegetation. Do you know the right way to start a fire? You say "paper, kindling, and coal.” Wrong! Change that procedure to the “upside-down’’ method with coal and then paper and kindling and more coal if you’re burning Indiana’s own black diamonds. The survey has disclosed w’hat other cities have done to ban smoke and how Pittsburgh, the socalled “Smoky City,” is losing its nickname. It shows that the Money Mephisto of Indianapolis, in costing a conservative $5,000,000 annually, does this: Destroys property and kills trees and plants. Makes unnecessary washing and cleaning. Soils and depreciates store merchandise and art objects. Drives residents to doctors and increases hospital bills. Sends fuel bills soaring. Next—The Indianapolis smoke bill.

AQJ VAQ9 8 5 3 ♦ K 7 + KQ7 * 7 3 2 1* 10 9 8 6 VJIO 4 2 M c 5 4 *J 10 9 8 w fc V Void *52 S *43 Dealer *9B 64 3 * AK VK 7 6 ♦ AQ 6 5 2 * A J 10 Duplicate—N. and S. vul. South West North East IN. T. Pass 3 V Pass 4 * Pass 4 V Pass SN. T. Pass 7N. T. Pass Opening lead —♦ J o

he knows that the only way he can make his contract is not to lose a heart trick. If he carelessly obeys the rule —always w’in the first trick in the hand with the two top honors—he would play a smal lheart, winning with the queen in dummy, and East would show out. Now it would be impossible to keep from losing a heart trick. There are four hearts out against the declarer. If they are divided 3-1, it is immaterial how he plays the suit. But he must provide against a 4-0 distribution. If the four outstanding hearts are u the East hand, he can not pre\ent the loss of a trick. If all four hearts are in the West hand, however, it is not necessary to lose a heart trick. All he has to do is play the king of hearts and, when East shows out, he can finesse West out of his hearts and make his grand slam. (Copyright. 1936, by NEA Service. Xnc.t

By J. Carver Pusey

Second Section

Fntre<l Seron<l-Cla* Matter at I’ostoflftrp, InrlianapnlU. In<l.

Fair Enough mlm PARIS. March 16.—One of the little gems of American news with which our European friends have amused themselves within the last few days was the exploit of a Cleveland thief who brandished a flask of some white fluid in a courtroom, declaring this to be nitroglycerin, and threatened to blow up the building if the judge didn't turn him loose. At that the learned judga s reputed to have dived out of a window, or some other handy exit, but two skeptical policemen hauled out their pistols and blew the man through. The gallant officers seized the liquid in the flask —it was not

nitroglycerin —and the only casualty was the central figure of an incident which is regarded as characteristic of that lawless land beyond the sea. Probably the charm of the Cleveland incident lies in the fact that it reduced a couple of continents to the compass of a courtroom and millions of words to a few snappy remarks between the defendant and the judge. An inspired crook epitomized the Nazi policy of both Mussolini and Hitler. In a ten-second scene the judge depicted two

great nations. France and Britain, and the policemen on their own responsibility took shocking liberties with the scenario to provide a happy ending not written in the book. Perhaps on examination you will note the resemblance. tt tt tt On a Rig Time Scale MUSSOLINI broke the law and was indicted by the Geneva Grand Jury. There wasn’t much that could be said on his side, beyond the claim that Great Britain, as a reformed crook, was unfit to pass judgment on any one. and the defense was almost entirely composed of vituperation against one of the judges. Thus they had not one thief, but a nation of 44,000.000 in the dock and a crime to consider beside which the total scores of A1 Capone. John Dillinger and all their merry men hardly deserve to be rated as a two-dollar stickup. At this stage of the proceedings Mussolini, the inspiration of Italy and the model of Italian youth, threatened to blow up no mere country courthouse but the entire community of white civilization. He had submarines and hornets, both in great numbers, and he had, moreover, a thousand air pilots calling themselves The Desperadoes, who were ready to dive onto the decks of the British fleet and blow it up if the court presumed to censure it. At that the black and yellow subjects of the British Empire would wiggle loose, France would attack Italy, Germany would jump France, the Balkans would join the fight and Japan would take advantage of the confusion to seize the whole Orient, thus involving the United States. tt tt tt Then Hitter Cut Loose AND with his successful example it was no wonder that Hitler used substantially the same bottle in a similar scene before the bar a few days ago and with every reason to anticipate substantially the same results. Hitler, in fact, went a little further than Mussolini and the Cleveland criminal, for he not only demanded vindication but hopped up on the bench and had begun to hold court himself. He shows a generous attitude toward the complaining witness and is willing to grant a parole, but at the first sign of impudence will throw that bottle and blow everything to hell. In America, when a man is taken for a ride, it is a job of rugged individualism and not a state enterprise. as in Italy and Germany. And when mobs fall out and begin to shoot, the principals are undesirables of no social or official standing. The European mobs, on the other hand, are composed of rival groups of army officers and statesmen who are constantly standing their opponents against the wall in a manner which makes the Valentine's Day massacre in Chicago seem too sordid and paltry for comparison. So it goes in the old world, where American criminality is a never-failing source of amusement, a Lilliputian village trying to imitate the giants of murder, burglary and pillage.

Gen. Johnson Says—

WASHINGTON, March 16.—The proposed impost on undistributed corporate earnings is not a tax. It is an Ogpu use of the taxing power to force a political policy of distributing all earnings. Good or bad, it is a revolutionary change made with little study or debate. The Treasury estimates of undistributed earnings are, as usual, bunk. But the real question is the wisdom of this plan. Few corporations can pay out all their earnings in cash without borrowing. In no single year from 1926 to 1930 did the combined balance sheet of all corporations show cash even equal to current payables. Surplus is rarely carried in cash. Such a requirement would impair the working capital of a great majority of corporation. If corporations had to distribute all earnings to stockholders how would long-time corporate debts ever be paid? The whole theory of corporate financing of fixed assets is that they will be paid for out of earnings. a a a DEVELOPMENT of new and experimental industries, such as are necessary to absorb technological unemployment, must be financed out of earnings. SEC wouldn’t permit a bond issue for such a wild-cat purpose. Under this law, Henry Ford would still be a tinker and even if he had somehow got started, the bankers would have had him long ere this. No Horatio Alger story of industrial development would have been possible under the rule—not even Dick Whittington and his cat. If this had long been law, the whole of American industry would have been bankrupt in the past six years—an unplumbed tragedy of unemployment. The breathing spell promised Roy Howard is over. This is just the next step in the Hot Dog plan to run industry “for use and not for profit.” i Copyright. 1938, by United Feature Syndicate. Ine.

Times Books

PAUL DE KRUIF has written many books about the great miracles of medical science; but never has he written as honestly, as wisely, or as significantly as in his newest book, “Why Keep Them Alive?” His earlier books were fine examples of vivid reporting. This book is alight with the cold fury of a man who has looked upon wrong and who can not be still until the wrong is set right. What, asks Mr. de Kruif. is the use of having scientists find new ways to defeat death—when poverty forces people to go on dying in the same old ways? Why find ways to conquer diphtheria, tuberculous meningitis, or rheumatic heart disease, when thousands upon thousands of children will go on dying of those dreadful maladies each year because their parents can not afford to have them cared for? a a a WHY trouble to learn about vitamins, calories and balanced diets, when millions of children must continue to go underfed? Why. in short, measure the amount of good that our medical miracle-workers can do by the amount that can be paid for? It is a fine, indignant and Intelligent book that Mr. de Kruif has written. tßy Bruce Cat ton.)

Westbrook Pcgler