Indianapolis Times, Volume 48, Number 19, Indianapolis, Marion County, 2 April 1936 — Page 17

Liberal Side by HARRY ELMER BARNES (Heywood Broun Is on Vacation.) JN this age of crises and confusion the role of education is an especially vital public question.. No matter what question is being discussed, someone will venture the suggestion that “after all it is a matter of education.’' This is certainly true, but the natural query is "what kind of education?’’ The present type of education will certainly not save the world. Education has been free and general for several generations, but it has neither saved us from economic collapse at home nor from war abroad. Most of those who developed and manipulated the great economic racket that produced the depression were university men. And the majority of those who brought on the calamity of 1014 were well-educated persons. Just why formal education today encourages selfish and short-sighted policies instead of leading mankind out of the wilderness of want and political confusion is mude clear in the courageous book of Prof. Bruce Raup, "Education and Organized Interests in America’’ (Putnams; $2.50). a a a He Urges Independence THE author deals comprehensively with the pressure exerted by special Interests, patriotic societies, military organizations and the like on education, and considers the way in which controversial matters are handled in the schools. Finally, he analyzes the attitude which education should take in the crisis in contemparary civilization. Prof. Raup concludes that if education is to help tho confusion of our era it must assume an independent aggressive role. The introduction of the all-important social studies into the school curriculum, in the effort to prepare pupils for life today, is admirably surveyed by Prof. Rolla M. Tryon in his “The Social Sciences as School Subjects.” (Scribners; $2.50.) In his “Creative Re-cducation” (Putnam; $1), Dr. Frederick Peterson applies a very chaste psychiatry to the problems of education and the reconstruction of character. An ingenious application of psychiatry to social psychology is to be found in Prof. James W. Woodard’s “Reification and Supernaturalism as Factors in Social Rigidity and Social Change.” (Patriot Press; $2.) David'Sherbowsky attempts to broaden the behavioristic psychology of John B. Wasson in his “An Outline of Behaviorology—the Psychology.” (Privately printed; sl.) a a a Fcrgusßon’B Courageous Effort HARVEY FERGUSSON has left the field of fiction to create a realistic and informal body of ethical theory which will guide man amidst the complexities and novelties, of. contemporary life. He has apparently read widely and has made a courageous effort. His “Modern Man: His Belief and Behavior” (Knopf; $2.75) is one oi the most suggestive books in the field of human behavior and social ethics. It is too bad, however, that he devotes so much attention to charlatans like Spengler. Prof. Wendell White of the University of Michigan has written a very useful book on personal relations and character direction in his “The Psychology of Dealing With People” (Macmillan; $2.50). It is based on a sound knoweldge of psychology. Walter B. Pitkin, the author of "Life Begins at Forty,” now tells us in his “Take It Easy” (Simon & Schuster; $1.75) how we may live past 40. How fears may be handled scientifically for the greatest good of the individual and the race is told in Grace Adams’ “Don’t Be Afraid.” (Covici-Friede; $2.)

WPA Given Boost by Work in Flood BY RAYMOND CLAPPER 'IT7'.'iSHINCrTON f April 2.—The recent floods have Vs given WPA a much needed break. The process of extracting anew $1,500,000,000 work-relief appropriation out of Congress promised a few weeks ago to be an extremely painful operation. Between charges of politics and fantastic boondoggling stunts such as the propaganda plays in New York subsidized with relief funds, WPA was in very bad. The attack was coming down on Harry Hopkins like an

avalanche. For a time it looked as though he would have difficulty in getting out from under it. But the Administration is now proudly rounding up the record of WPA performance during the flood crisis and the reconstruction work which followed. In Pennsylvania particularly God has worked in mysterious ways, His wonders to perform. There the critics of work-relief have been extremely articulate. Republican Senator Davis sponsored the resolution which led the Senate recently to authorize an in-

vestigation. Pennsylvania is expected to be a close state this year and vindication of WPA is regarded as of greatest importance politically. Already a considerable reversal of sentiment toward WPA is reported in Pennsylvania as a result of flood rehabilitation work. The speed and efficiency shown surprised the sourest critics. More than 50,000 workers and 1000 trucks were thrown into Pittsburgh and suburban communities. Politicians are beginning to predictl there that the services rendered in this emergency, with the whole state looking on may have important political results. Furthermore, the reaction to a genuine floodcontrol program is worrying Republicans. For more than 25 years Pittsburgh has been clamoring vainly for flood relief. Under Roosevelt, however, two dams on the headwaters of the Ohio have been started and nine others are now proposed. Out of the spending which the flood has created, may come a business boom. On the second Saturday after the flood, Pittsburgh automobile firms reported the heaviest sales in weeks. Out of the tremendous help rendered by WPA and the millions to be spent by the Federal government, may come a Democratic boom. In fact, the Democrats are almost persuaded to come out for bigger ana better floods. a a a ITS a cruel destiny that seems to be eyeing Gov. Lowden as a possible Republican keynoter this year, after tricking him out of the White House. Following a spectacular career as Governor of Illinois, Lowden was headed into the White House in 1920. But heelers in Missouri tried to buy convention delegates for nim and it last him the nomination. which went’to the un’ appy Harding. Lowden refused to enter the Harding Cabinet. Four years later he was nominated for Vice President ‘with Coolidge, but refused to accept. Asa private citizen, he advocated the McNary-Haugen farm relief plan, only to have it vetoed by Coolidge and rejected bv Hoover, then adopted in principle under the AAA label by Roosevelt. If he were 10 years younger his nomination this year would be a certainty. Instead he may be offered the chance to sound the keynote openirg a Republican presidential campaign which, a good many observers think, can succeed only with the help of a miracle. Fifteen years of frustration when he might have been President. a a a WTIH slow persistence, the Bell Committee investigating the Townsend plan is building a picture of easy money-grabbing by hypocritical racketeers, some of whom are shown to have had bad records. But the racketeers, who always insisted upon opening all Townsend meetings with prayer and a salute to the flag, have so deluded their victims that thousands will not believe the evidence Mall coming into Washington is full of letters from Townsendites denouncing the investigation. If Chairman Bell expects any thanks for the job he is doing, hell have to look to others than those whose deceiver* he is exposing. •

Throats rasped by choking dost and half-blinded, Frank Houston, reporter, and Ennis Helm, cameraman, made a 1500-mile auto journey to survey the Dust Bowl of the southwest, where the destructive dust storms are already beginning. Houston’s word-picture of the area today, in the first of three stories, puts you on the ground of America's most tragic scene. BY FRANK HOUSTON NEA Service Special Correspondent N. M., April 2. Completing a 1500-mile tour of the Dust Bowl of the Southwest, I have seen the March lion shaking his mane over that stricken area in the first of what may be worse dust storms than the ones which shocked the country last year. . From Amarillo, Tex., westward to Clovis, N. M., then northward into Cblorado, eastward again into Kansas, and down through the Texas and Oklahoma Panhandle, an area larger than all New England, we have seen a stage set for tragedy. Within five days three dust storms were encountered. The land throughout the Dust Bowl is in just the right condition to blow away. Frozen hard throughout the rainless winter, it has now thawed out and pulverized, fine as face powder. The rising March winds have already begun to sweep it away, and there is every reason to expect more disastrous dust storms than those of 1934-35. Already the havoc of this spring’s “dusters” is pitifully evident. To drive through this area today is like moving up to the front line on a battlefield. Here is the skeleton of a horse; there one of a cow; there a dilapidated windmill, an abandoned cultivator, a reaper, half-buried in sand and falling to pieces. Here are fences buried in powdery dunes, and there a deserted and disintegrating farmhouse. The ditches along the highways are filled with rippled silt. It rises in choking clouds with the slightest breeze. a a a IT is like another world, some strange deserted planet in an H. G. Wells fantasy. It is unbelievably barren. No trees, -except an occasional dead one stretching gaunt arms above a scarred, sere trunk. No grass or shrubs except an occasional tumble-weed rolling crazily across the plain. No longer can you see the miles of waving golden grain that used to be. A few gasping farmers cling to their homes and their acres. Around Clovis, N. M., the young peen wheat stands a couple of inches high. The farmers have done what they could. But now they stand about the village stores waiting, apprehensively watching the skies for the dark clouds in the north which show that the dust is flying again. One weatherbeaten old man at Clovis told me: “I’ve plowed wide furrows across my fields, as the government said. If that doesn’t work, and the dust gets at us again like it did last year, I lose a whole square mile of wheat. I’m just here holding my hands and waiting. If we get it down

TTTASHINGTON, April 2.—The ’ ’ ousting of “Co-founder” R. E. Clements from Townsendism has by no means stilled the discord among leaders of the oldsters. Now they are going round and round over the plan of Dr. Francis E. Townsend to put Sheridan Downey, his personal attorney, in Clements’ place. Downey, a follower of Upton Sinclair, was the candidate for Lieutenant Governor on the EPIC slate in 1934. Conservative Townsend leaders are vehemently opposed to Downey’s being elevated to a position of power in the organization. They consider him a “radical.” contend that his succession to Clements’ post would result in “EPIC capturing the Townsend movement and using it for their own socialistic ends.” In opposition to Downey, the Rev. R. J. Wright of Cleveland, Ohio state manager, is threatening to resign from the Townsend board —to which he was elected only a few weeks ago. At the root of the warring are the basically divergent political leanings of the chieftains. Wright and others against Sheridan Downey are Republicans. Downey and the EPIC leaders are Democrats. Their foes fear that if Downey should get into a position of control in the Townsend organization he would swing the movement toward the Democrats or toward some liberal Republican like Senator Bill Borah. Dr. Townsend, personally, is friendly to the Idahoan. Clements, on the other hand, private-

Clapper

fish} ft// MARKET I * V TA^DC^niST

THE FIGHT ON THE DUST DEMON

Writer Views Appalling Ruin in 1500-Mile Southwestern Tour

Washington Merry-Go-Round

BENNY

The Indianapolis Times

♦ . .. ' i

Inside this barn wheat once was stored, and cattle came to eat and drink. Now soil conservation experts from Dalhart, Tex., dig into the fine dust that fills the naked and roofless walls, seeking material for their fight against the dust demon,

here like we did the last two years, it’s all off.” As we moved northward, at Naravisa, N. M., we met our first “duster.” The car quivered in the wind. We could see only a few feet in front of the radiator-cap. The sun disappeared, leaving an eerie half-light. Oncoming cars were only two glowing discs which went by in a swirl of dust. More dust sifted through the closed car windows. We coughed and choked- Soon we were forced into a roadside filling station. a a a TN long conversations, natives did not even mention the dust that had been nearly killing us. “Why, this isn’t any storm,” said a man loafing in a drug store where we went to buy some wash for our smarting eyes. “We could stand worse than this without endangering the row crops. This is just dust settling here from up north.” The dust had settled next day and we proceeded northward. About 25 miles away we came on a farmhouse which told the whole story of the Dust Bowl. It was deserted. The windmill-blades had fallen off, and the drifting sand was piled high in the yard. The stable was covered to the eaves by sand. The storm-cellar was cov-

BY DREW PEARSON and ROBERT S. ALLEN

ly favored Senator Vandenberg. This difference over presidential favorites was one of the important causes of their rupture. a a a ON one of Dr. Townsend’s recent visits to Washington—when the stage was secretly set for evicting “Co-founder” Clements —he took a group of friends to see the stately Lincoln Memorial overlooking the Potomac. As the sightseers stood looking up in awe at the huge statue of the martyr President, Townsend put his hand on the pedestal and said solemnly: “Lincoln freed 4.000,000 Negro slaves and this is what the country did to perpetuate his name. I wonder what they will do for me for freeing 40.000.000 white people from economic slavery?” a a a IT looks as if one of the major legislative efforts of the Congressional session—the Wagner Housing Bill —would get nowhere. It has been bogged down by deadly undercover knifing and general inerita. Senator Wagner, bom in Germany, raised in the tenements of New York, made up his mind to put through Congress anew program for low-cost housing and slum clearance. Long before Congress convened he had his bill ready, delivered radio speeches emphasizing its importance. Then something happened. Weeks passed and Wagner carried his bill in his breast pocket. Made no move to introduce it in Congress.

THURSDAY, APRIL 2, 1936

ered with drifts so deep that no one could enter. We peered through a windowpane. It was almost like the frosted glass used in office build-, ings, etched by the flying sand. The farmhouse floor was covered by several inches of fine silt. All furniture had been taken away, but there remained a broken baby buggy, one tattered shoe, a frayed broom sticking up out of the dirt. On the wall a grimy calendar told the story. It displayed the month of April, 1935. That was the month of the worst dust storms in this area when the wheat literally was blown out of the fields. In April, 1935, this farmer gathered up his belongings and trekked away, defeated. a a a IN another abandoned farmhouse, we found the cook-stove oven full of drifted silt as fine as the flour formerly put in it to make bread. In still another, the dust was as deep as two feet on the second floor. When we walked through it, floury dust sifted down through cracks in the floor, filling the rooms below with a choking haze. At still another abandoned place an old auto without wheels and a broken-down wagon stood half-covered in the yard, while the wooden windmill clacked and

"D EASON was that Roosevelt had stepped in and quietly usked him to lay off. The President explained that he wanted a complete study of the housing situation made in order to coordinate different housing activities of the government—PWA, Resettlement, Federal Housing Administration. Placed in charge of this study was Peter Grimm, New York real estate operator, at that time an assistant to young Henry Morgenthau in the Treasury. But Grimm didn’t fit, either in the Treasury or in co-ordinating housing. a a a 'T'HEN, once again, the President stepped in. Once again he intimated that he didn’t want the Wagner bill introduced immediately. He wanted nothing which would prolong the session. So amiable Bob Wagner waited. Meanwhile some of his colleagues got impatient. Schwellenbach, forthright Senator from Washington, had planned a housing bill, but held it out in deference to Wagner. Congressman Ellenbogen of Pittsburgh also had drafted a bill, but marked time waiting for Wagner. Finally Wagner decided to go ahead without presidential blessing. But with Congress heading for adjournment before the June conventions, it is doubtful if any housing bill could pass. (Copyright. 1936. by United Feature Syndicate. Inc.)

flailed wildly. Not a drop of water came from the dry and rusty pipe. It is a picture of desolation that breaks your heart to see. More than half the people of the famous Cimarron County area in Oklahoma have moved away. Yet those who remain continue to hope with a good-natured humor that seems to defy all nature. “All we need is a little rain,” they say.. “Maybe it will come this year.” This half-resigned, half-defiant attitude was well expressed by H. J. Bosworth, proprietor of the Crystal Case at Boise City, Okla. “We don’t even have good dust any more,” he complained. “When this thing started, the dust was pretty coarse. It had. some body to it. But it’s been blowing back and forth so much now that it’s about worn out.” If, as seems likely, this year’s dust storms are worse than last year’s, it will finish large sections of the Dust Bowl for good. NEXT—The Casady family, who still hang on and hope in the Oklahoma Panhandle, tell you

OPENER DECIDES GAME

Today’s Contract Problem On North’s contract of four hearts, the opening spade lead is won with the ace. Now, declarer should give himself two chances to make the hand. What should be the first chance, and what the second, if the first doesn’t succeed? *A 5 3 V AK J 10 7 5 4 J 10 9 *3 N (Blind) W E (Blind) S Dealer A7 6 4 V 8 6 4K Q 6 A AQ7 6 5 N. & S. vul. Opener— A QSolution in next issue. 20

Solution to Previous Contract Problem BY W. E. M’KENNEY Secretary American Bridge League IF I were giving private lessons on contract bridge, I would prepare a little sign and put it xight on the table, and it would read: “Count your tricks, especially before playing from dummy or declarer’s hand to the first lead.” While today’s hand is a little odd, it is not difficult, if you will just stop and do a little thinking before carelessly playing to that first trick. When East opens the six of hearts, even though South has bid hearts, it may be difficult for declarer to determine whether that is fourth best or a short suit, as East may have elected to lead through dummy’s strength. The careless declarer might say,

- mm 11u ** **“ * _ i 158| SWHERE DUST iiiiljijjfaMMii STORMEXTENDED NORTHWARD — |^w( - LAST TWO TEARS j VoioH'—ll|j§|u I -rjjjl&H- ! - MO. _ AWtJgjgl^ \ WwAEREms YEARS Is A jjl DUST STORMS CENTFR \

what it means to fight all the forces of nature in the Dust Bowl.

AA J 2 ¥ J 4AQJ 7 5 4 + KS7 AQIO 871 N Lk9 6 ? W E¥Q9 86 3 4 K 8 6 e 43 * QJIO9 | Dealer |* A643 A5 4 3 ¥ AK 10 7 2 4 10 9 2 A 5 2 Rubber—AH vul. South West North East Pass Pass 1 4 Pass 1 V Pass 2 4 Pass 2 ¥ Pass 3N. T. Pass Pas* Pass Opening lead—y 6. 26

“Well, there can’t be any harm in letting it ride up to my jack,” and will play low from dummy. Now, if the jack does win the trick, declarer can not make his contract. What declarer should do is count his tricks before playing from dummy. He has one spade trick, two heart tricks and, to make his contract, he must find West with either the king of diamonds or the ace of clubs. Therefore, he should win the first trick in dummy with the king of hearts and then lead the ten of diamonds, taking the finesse. Os course, when the ten holds, he should cash dummy’s ace of hearts, discarding a small spade from his hand. Another diamond should be played and the queen finessed. Now the rest of the diamonds are cashed, then the ace of spades, and the contract is safe. If the finesse had failed, declarer would have had a diamond re-entry in dummy in which to play up to the king of clubs. (Copyright, 1936, by NEA Service, Ine.)

By J. Carver Pusey

Second Section

Entered m Seronil-CUes Matter at Postoffice. Indianapolla. Ind.

Fair Enough WESMUffi April 2.—The three big individual winners in the Irish Free State Hospitals Sweep have been the promoters, who have taken down profits of almost two million dollars each for conducting 17 draws in five and one-half years. The man who had the bright idea in the first place is Spencer Freeman, an Englishman. .th brother of Sidney Freeman, who conducts tha greatest bookmaking business in the world under the trade name of Duggie Stuart.

Spencer Freeman's surviving partner in the business is Joseph McGrath, an Irish politician and accountant. The third of the original partners, Richard Duggan, a Dublin bookmaker and gambler, is dead, and his share of the earnings goes to his estate. Freeman and Duggan began their partnership before the formation of the Irish Free State with a small lottery known as Duggan s Dublin Sweepstake, operated from Liechtenstein, whi#i is a part of Switzerland. Ireland

was then subject to the British laws forbidding lottenes. The Liechtenstein Dublin Sweep was a penny ante promotion, but the other cantons of Switzerland grew jealous and demanded the right to conduct lotteries of their own. The upshot was that the Swiss government abolished the Liechtenstein Sweep, about the time that southern Ireland became the Free State with a national law permitting* charity hospitals to conduct sweepstakes. a a a So They Moved to Ireland inREEMAN and Duggan moved to Ireland, where they took in McGrath as a partner. Duggan was the typical Irish sporting man and fixer. McGrath has served in the Irish government, and the personal prestige of the two Irishmen was an important asset. Duggan, moreover, scratched together half a million dollars to guarantee the first sweep, which was based on the November handicap of 1930. When Freeman and Duggan transferred their business to Dublin they discovered that each 'hospital had the right to conduct its own sweep. If they had done this the 50 sweeps would have killed off one another. So five or six hospitals were induced to pool their rights in the first sweep of the series and divided about $650,000. Others were thus enticed into the pool, which now includes all the important free and semi -charity hospitals in the Free State. Freeman, McGrath and Duggan’s estate divide among them about 2)4 per cent of the gross receipts, and have split $5,836 000 on an original stake of $500,000. Still, under the law, they would have been entitled to 7 per cent or more than $16,000,000. ’ a a a Seems to Be Honest 0 N the whole> the swee P appears to be scrupulously conducted by comparison with a hundred or more notoriously crooked English football pools. After the hospitals had divided about $21,000,000 the trustees began to scrap among themselves over the division of the money, some of which had been spent hurriedly and not too intelligently Eamon De Valera then intervened and dammed up* subsequent accruals pending a survey of the legitimate needs of the individual hospitals, releasing only a small trickle of money for urgent requirements. He also imposed a government tax of 25 per cent of the gross. Notwithstanding this tax and the new British law prohibiting mention of the Sweep in the newspapers of England, Scotland and Wales, the hospitals fund stored up in the Dublin banks has continued to grow. It is now $25,000,000. The money can be released whenever the commission decides how much each hospital deserves. The hospitals’ total share, including the $21,000,000 spent before De Valera sequestered the money, had been $46,000,000. Nevertheless, the hospital authorities estimate that they will need $15,000,000 more to complete their program. Meanwhile De Valera has gone to Zurich, Switzerland, for an eye operation.

Gen. Johnson Says—

WASHINGTON, April 2.—Nicholas Murray Butler came back from a tour of 13 states with about the same impression that I got from a tour of 43 states: (1) That people—except for professional politicos—are not thinking in terms of party label; (2) that thought is radical, reactionary, or middle-of-the-road, with the vast bulk in the latter category; (3) that people think Franklin Roosevelt has sincerely tried, but distrust his associates—except Cordell Hull; (4) that the general thought is that the Republicans have produced no statesmanship except criticism and no candidate worthy of support. I am sure that is a correct diagnosis. But it is not the judgment of the Republican high command. The gossip is that Ogden Mills believes "We can beat Roosevelt with a yellow dog and we might as well have one we can whistle to.” The same sources say that Hoover is silently plugging for Dickinson, thinking that if Dick sat in the chair, Herbert would really be President. Otherwise talk is that Borah will kill off Landon and vice versa, and Vandenberg will walk in as a compromise. Dr. Butler is right. The President would be many times stronger if it were not for some of hi* associates. Without attempting to explain it, the fact is that never in my time have I heard of four people in American life more generally disapproved of, if not despised, than Tugwell, Hopkins, Ickes and Perkins. I don”; agree with this. I can think of at least four mor j likely targets. In Hopkins’ and Perkins’ cases, it .s without rhyme or reason. But it is true and it will oe Roosevelt's greatest election handicap, (Copyright, 1936, by United Feature Syndicate, Inc.)

Times Books

COMMITTING a murder seems to be one of th§ easiest of all tricks. It’s getting along with yourself after the murder is committed that takes doing. This great thought comes to me after reading Joanna Cannan’s excellent novel, “Frightened Angels” (Harpers; $2). Miss Cannan tells about a little mouse of an English schoolmaster, who is hazed by his pupils, bullied by his fellow-masters, ground down by poverty and, in general, pushed around by the fates until his pent-up resentment boils over and he batters out the brains of his pet enemy with a cricket bat. MUM BUT his spirit is uneasy. At first he is haunted by fear that the murder will be traced to him. Then, when that passes, he begins to be afraid that it won’t. So, at last, he confesses; and no one will believe him! And in the end the author—seemingly unable to think of anything better—kills him by having him fall off a cliff, thus putting a rather weak ending on an intelligent and constantly interesting novel. (By Bruce Cation.) 4

Westbrook Pegler