Indianapolis Times, Volume 48, Number 63, Indianapolis, Marion County, 23 May 1936 — Page 9

It Seems to Me HMDOD BROUN gJTAMFORD, Conn., May 23.—1 t was a pleasant speech which Alfred Mossman Landon made in Attica. He came to this Kansas village of a thousand folk for no political reason, but merely to celebrate the graduation of the son of a lifelong friend. Still the Governor did not undertake to discuss any campaign Issues under ascertainable labels, but spoke Instead In parables. And he toid the story set down In the Bible about Caleb and the Promised Land and the Children of Israel.

As you undoubtedly remember, the messengers came back to say that they had found a land of milk and honey, and Caleb crieu, “Let us go up at once and possess it, for we are well able to overcome it.” And Alfred Mossman Landon went on to say to the boys and girls with shining faces, “But the quitters said, ‘The enemy is too great to be overcome, and there are giants among them.’ The Lsraelites took the word of the

Ueywood Broun

quitters. They turned aside, and for 40 years they wandered in the wilderness and became a lost generation.” a a a A Curious Parable IT seems to me a story most aptly chosen for any graduating class of school or college, and yet it is a most curious parable to come from the lips of a standpat Republican whose every declaration on eco • nomic issues seems to reflect a desire to sit back and, let Nature and the Chamber of Commerce steer the course. Caleb was clearly a radical. He urged his comrades to tackle the problems presented in anew world and to war with them, even though it meant a struggle against the giants. Nevertheless, conservative counsel prevailed. The pilgrims became a lost people for 40 years because they lacked the imagination to deal with a setup which was new to them. They lacked vision to see that anew era was possible to them if only they could agree to abandon their ancient shibboleths. I can not see that Alfred Mossman Landon gave much comfort to any Caleb who may have been in his audience at the graduating exercises in Attica. Instead he warned them not to be swayed by the apostles of change. He mentioned past depressions almost with pride as he said, “After every depression the American people have created higher levels of prosperity and progress. Think of the undreamed new things that have come since the last depression. We have by no means reached the end of that process.” That doesn't sound to me in the least like Caleb, who wanted to go up into the mountains and tackle the giants. On the contrary, A. M. Landon distinctly promised bigger and better depressions. tt u tt Then Always Are Useful TO be sure, he talked of character and of courage. When did any commencement orator ever omit these qualities from his catalogue of the virtues? But the courage of which he spoke was of that sort Which requires the individual to grin and bear it in the hope that something better will somehow or other turn up. Not once did the Governor of Kansas suggest that there could be any scheme of life by which depressions might be ended for all time. Like the sufferings of the Children of Israel, such things were left in the realm of “acts of God.” Persons who look with a high degree of dissatisfaction upon the present state of the nation were called "prophets of despair” and “quitters.” But, obviously, Caleb was not content with that condition in which he found himself when he cried, “Let us go up at once and possess it, for we are well able to overcome it.” Caleb was an agitator.

Farley Slip Spurs East-West Rivalry BY RAYMOND CLAPPER WASHINGTON, May 23.—While the Democrats can scarcely hope to match blunder for blunder with the Republicans—the Grand Old Party already having a half-lap start—Postmaster General Farley has shown that he is not to be considered out of the running. His Grand Rapids (Mich.) speech included a patronizing reference to Landon as “the Governor of a typical prairie state.” The inference conveyed was that for this reason he could hardly be big enough for the presidency. Instead of feeling badly about this sideswipe, the Landon people are grateful to Gen. Farley. “I’ve known people to pray for help and not get a present like that,” one of them says. If Landon is nominated, as he probably will be, Farley’s crack will be plastered on every fence post in the Mississippi Valley, to show what the Democratic national chairman from Tammany’s home town thinks of the Middle West. It gives the Republicans the same thing they had in the Smith campaign—New York’s ignorance about the remainder of the country—to play upon. In this slip, Farley opened up something more fundamental in American politics than mere sectional pride. It dramatizes again the deep misunderstanding and conflict between the East and the Midwest, which has figured in American politics since the Civil War. Easterners are unable to understand why the Middle West doesn’t bow down in reverence when New York is mentioned. They are unable to understand that everywhere in the Middle West there is strong prejudice against Tammany. That to the Middle West New York is the nation's most provincial city. Eastern Roosevelt people never have been able to understand why Senator George Norris, a pro-Roosevelt i Nebraska Democrat, always accompanies his praise of the New Deal with a demand for Farley's resignation. A1 Smith, astute as he was in 1928, never could peg the Middle West. He pitched them wild. His brown derby, a halo on the sidewalks of New York, was to the Middle West merely a funny hat on a comedian. a a a WILLIAM ALLEN WHITE says the Middle West is the old United States—that it is the East which is new. He meant that in the sense that the earlier Americ-m stock—with a strong puritanical strain—was dominant in the Middle West, while in the East more recent immigration was dominant. Foreign observers who study the United States almost always agree that it is in the Middle West that the temper of the country, its ideas, political prejudices, customs, mores, struck their norm. Many Washington newspaper correspondents make it part of their routine to visit the Middle West frequently, feeling that there they are better able to sense the real currents which influence the stream of politics. Basically, the Middle West regards itself as the granary of the nation, as the source of its food. It believes also that it is gypped for its pains and that Wall Street skims off the cream. One of the favorit cartoon patterns in the Middle West is a cow, being fed in the farm belt and milked in Wall Street. The late Champ Clark of Missouri ran for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1912 on the theme song, "They Gotta Quit Kicking My Dog Around.” The Prairie States went for Roosevelt because they thought he was in their corner on all of this. But much of the West’s feeling against the East has less sense behind it—none at all in fact. In part it is merely the farmer’s suspicion that the Big City is a wicked place. He likes to go there once in a while, you understand. But he wouldn’t live in the place iX you save it to he says.

America Goes Electric Amazing Advances in Art of Electrical Engineering for Next 50 Years Seen by Westinghouse President. Fifty yean ago, the Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing Cos. was founded. In an Interview with F. A. Merrick, president of the company, David Dietz, science editor of the Scripps-Ho ward Newspapers, looks forward to the next 50 years in this the last of a series of articles. a a a BY DAVID DIETZ Scripps-Howard Science Editor pROGRESS in fundamental research and engineering understanding is now at such a level as to warrant the prediction—so stated F. A. Merrick, president of the Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing Co.—that advances during the next half century in the electric field will overshadow even the amazing developments of the past 50 years. With these advances, he believes, will come corresponding advances in American life, a finer civilization, a higher standard of living, greater comfort, more leisure and increased national security. Fifty years ago the Westinghouse engineers were just beginning to see the possibilities of electricity. This was still a nation of horse-drawn street cars and coal oil lamps. Gradually this group of brilliant men worked out the methods of generating, distributing and using alternating currents.

Because of them, the great steel towers, like giants on parade, stretch across the countryside, carrying on their shoulders the copper cables that bring alternating current to cities and villages and farms. With the development of alternating current came the possibilities of life as we know it in the twentieth century. Alternating currents made possible our electric lights, electric street cars, electric locomotives, the elevators of our skyscrapers, the electric machinery of our shop and mill. And now, President Merrick looks forward to new triumphs and new marvels. As we talked in his office on the top floor of the main building of the Westinghouse plant in East Pittsburgh, I glanced out the window. I looked down upon a sea of roofs, the great shops of one of the company’s 19 plants. The first catalog of the company listed 13 items for sale. Today its catalog lists hundreds of thousands of items, from electric toasters and flatirons to electric locomotives and hydro-electric generators. Beyond the plant, I noted an imposing building perched upon a hill. This is the Westinghouse laboratory, where a group of the nation’s brilliant scientists are engaged in fundamental research in electrical -atters. It is from them and from the engineers engaged in designing apparatus and guiding p. eduction that Mr. Merrick expects future progress to come. a a a “'T'HERE is no reason to believe A that we have reached the limits of research in electricity or

LET'S EXPLORE YOUR MIND B¥ DR. ALBERT EDWARD WIGGAM

1A VAST number of men would have a much harder time because they would have to support their women in idleness. While there is still a lot of work and drudgery to be done in the home there is very little that creates any form of wealth, as did the old home activities of women when they wove and preserved foods and knitted and made all the family clothes. The employment of women outside the home is a huge, complex problem and there is no one simple answer to it—certainly shooting them all back indoors is not going to be the final best answer. No easy answer to any social problem is ever the right one. a a a 2 FROM 25 to 55 is the main part of a man’s active life and during that period some men are egotistical, asinine, selfish, foolish, expansive and ambitious so

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even that we have reached the point of diminishing returns,” Mr. Merrick told me. “The world’s most eminent scientists agree that there is more to be learned than we now know. “We have every right to feel that in electrical achievement we have only opened a door beyond which we can see a steady advance in the creation of electrical power. “As time goes on I am certain that we will find better ways to generate electricity, more efficient ways of distributing it, and broader applications for its use.” Electrical consumption in the United States passed the two-bil-lion mark for the first time in history when consumption for the week ending Dec. 21, 1935, reached the figure of 2,002,005,000 kilowatthours. Asa result, Westinghouse engineers have predicted a shortage of electric power within a another year. Eventually, they expect production of electricity to reach 40,000,000,000 kilowatt-hours a week. President Merrick sees a guide for the future in the experience of the past. As it developed new products, the company grew and the standard of living in the nation improved |>y reason of these products. “Asa result ol new discoveries and improvements in processes and products, the price of commodities have gone up,” Mr. Merrick said. “The aim of our company, of every intelligent company, is to produce more and better products at a lower cost. In this lies the chief hope for the future. a a a “T BELIEVE that industry can Abe trusted to solve its own problems. At present there is a tendency to feel that industry needs regulation. I believe in a minimum of regulation to prevent obviously bad practices and to

they remain so until they shuffle off, whereas others are unselfish, quiet, cautious, modest and philanthropic, and still others are in between. If we took all the nonsense out of public statements about human nature there wouldn’t be much left, simply because we don’t know very much about it. a a a 3 FAR EASIER to teach a person who. as one woman said of herself, “does not even know which end of the caddie to take hold of.” This is because the old golfer has so much to unlearn. As William J. Reilly points out in his stimulating book* “Straight Thinking’’—and how to do it in business—it is frightfully hard to teach older business men new habits and methods. However, an old dog can leam new tricks if he gets down off his mental high horse.

SATURDAY, MAY 23, 1936

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Gigantic dams with their hydro-electric installations for the generation of power symbolize the growth of the Age of Electricity. Mammoth Westinghouse generators have been installed at Boulder Dam, Coolidge Dam, Morris Dam, Westerville Dam, Shoshone Dam, Saluda Dam and elsewhere.

protect well-intentioned industry from cut-throat competition. If this is done, I believe that industry can be left to solve its own problems. “Greater production means ability to pay better wages and a higher standard of living.” Among the more immediate fields of expansion, Mr. Merrick sees the extension of rural electrification, now well under way, and the development of more efficient and less costly methods of air conditioning. He looks also for the arrival of television in the not too. distant future. Mr. Merrick believes that a rising standard of living will ameliorate many of the present social difficulties. He believes that ipdustrral developments will put more people to work with the passage of time. “It is a mistake to think that the machine throws people out of work,” he says. “It puts them back to work. It does this by developing new industries. The automobile industry is a good case in point. Without the industries which were developed in the last decades, the depression would have been far worse chan it was. “The nation is emerging from the depression by reason of the development of new products. “We may expect many new products in the future. a a a ‘“PROGRESS can be expected in A the electrochemical field, in the metallurgical field, and in the biological field. The advance of science is not easily charted.”

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

WASHINGTON, May 23. Generalissimos of the Republican national convention are having a hard time trying to persuade Gov. Alf Landon to agree—in the event he is nominated—to stage his acceptance speech at the Cleveland convention. The managers are planning a monster political rally as the concluding feature of the convention, with the nominee as the big attraction. Landon is very chilly, however, to the idea of putting in a personal appearance. First, because he thinks the plan apes the Democrats; second, because it would necessitate an air trip, which does not appeal to him. Alf has told the convention directors that he prefers an old-fashioned acceptance ceremony at Topeka. . . . Stewart McDonald, Federal Housing Administrator, has become Washington’s most consistent diner-out. He was surpassed, however, by his predecessor, Jimmy Moffatt. Dining out apparently goes with housing. .. . Chief argument in the PanAmerican Union this week was whether the agenda for the PanAmerican Peace Conference should be drawn up by the Union's 21 governors or by a special committee of 20. In either case, the some diplomats would draw up the agenda. . . . Erudite Ambassador Aranha of Brazil, most inveterate race fan in Washington, never bets on a favorite. At the Kentucky Derby he won SISOO. a a a Said Senator Hiram Johnson on the Senate floor: “I do not drink champagne frequently because of its cost.” a a a Diplomatic circles secretly are seething over the Colombian proposal for an American League of Nations. The plan has been carefully worked out by President Lopez, calls for definition of an aggressor nation, sanctions Against un aggressor, annual as.

Mr. Merrick emphasizes the fact that material things are not the goal of our civilization, but 'he points out that progress is made possible only when there is adequate time for thought. “Compare this country with China,’ he says. “There is no mechanization in China and as a refeult every one is so busy thinking about his next meal chat there is no time left to think about anything else. “Here in America, because of the advances of the machine age, there is time to think of the general good.” Mr. Merrick says that it is a fact that progress in the social sciences has lagged behind the advances in physical science but he thinks that this is due largely to the more complex problems to be met in the social sciences. He thinks, however, that the social sciences are beginning to catch up. “In the field of living, old-fash-ioned advice is still the best in many ways,” he continues. “There is no substitute for character. Wisdom, honesty and courage are the elements of character. We must strive for these.” Mr. Merrick points out that the Westinghouse company has long given thought to its relations with its employes. a a a “'T'ECHNICAL achievement may -I- be the product of one man, but mass concentration of individual achievement requires the

semblies in different American capitals, co-operation with Geneva. Under this plan the Monroe Doctrine would end because Article 21 of the Geneva Covenant which makes a special reservation regarding the Monroe Doctrine, would be abolished. . . . Because of a mixup at Rural Resettlement headquarters in Washington. checks for payment of contractors on the Hightstown (N. J.) project were delayed several weeks. Result: Contractors refused to deliver materials.

GRIN AND BEAR IT

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"You won't have to move, pet—you make a fine hazard for the fourth hole."

co-ordinated efforts of many,” he says. “Harmonious relations between those responsible for formulating plans and those responsible for executing them form the intangible elements of organization. The technical progress of Westinghouse during its 50 years is the result—not the cause—of relations which had woven the fabric of organization prior to the marketing of any of its products.’” The Saturday half-holiday was first introduced in this country by George Westinghouse on June 1, 1881. Early in, its, history the Westinghouse company introduced programs of training and educa; tional co-operation. Approximately 6000 boys have learned a trade in the Westinghouse shops. High school graduates have been prepared for clerical, sales and semi-technical positions. The Westinghouse technical night school has had more than 16,000 students enrolled in its courses in engineering and allied subjects since its founding in 1902. More than 8000 graduates of engineering schools have obtained their first practical experience in the shops of the Westinghouse plants. In 1935 the company organized the Westinghouse order of merit to recognize conspicuous accomplishment in its ranks. Today, with its products in use in every comer of the globe, the company faces the next 50 years with courage and confidence. THE END

Work already far behind schedule, again was stalled. . . . Roosevelt’s Committee on Government Reorganization is trying to get a $40,000 appropriation inserted in the pending Second Deficiency Supply bill. The committee now is financed by relief funds. . . . Lyle T. Alverson, director of the National Emergency Council, declined to use the official car and chauffeur that go with his job. He lent them to Work-Relief Boss Harry Hopkins. (Copyright. 1936, by United Feature Syndicate, Inc.)

by Lichty

Second Section

Entered as Seertnd-Class Matter at Postoffice. Indianapolis. Ind.

Liberal Side by HARRY ELMER BARNES (Westbrook Pegler Is on Vacation.) '’J'HE magazine of the iron and steel masters, The Iron Age, takes a leaf out of agricultural practice as a means of attacking the present proposed tax on corporation surpluses. “The prudent farmer knows that he must conserve the condition of his soil, if he is to prosper. He can not expect to take continually from his fields without giving back to them. That is why vrm coo 1 1 J

you see him plowing back tho sweet clover, the soy beans and the rank rye. “He realizes the necessity of returning to the earth a portion of the profits that he secures from it in the form of those chemical elements that are necessary to avoid depletion and to insure continual abundance of production. “There is food for thought in this for out legislators who are now considering the corporation surplus tax proposal. Industrial fields, like farm acres, must be kept fertile or they will become sterile and improverished. They

need a plowing back of a portion of the dollar crops that come from them. Research, modernization, replacement, development must continue, if our industrial soil is to be kept from becoming barren and depleted. tt tt u Dollars Are Fertilizer /"\UR industrial fertilizers are not sweet clover and rye, but dollar profits. These have been plowed back by provident manufacturers in the past to conserve industrial fertility. Abandoned plants, like abandoned farms, are the result of an improvement policy which neglects to do this. “If unwise legislation should deprive us of the possibility of thus plowing profits back into our industrial fields, the time may come when the soil of production and employment will be depleted. If this should happen, Uncle Samr will have to spend billions to restore our producing power, just as he is spending hundreds of millions to restore our barren acres ”* I shall not concern myself here with the wisdom or folly of the proposal to tax corporation surpluses But the defense of plowing back any large amount of corporation earnings into surpluses does raise an issue of prime importance for those who wish to rehabilitate the capitalistic system. We need more plowing back, but not the kind advocated in this editorial. It was the fact that we had !ooa m^ h ? thlS Which hel P ed on the collapse of 1929. Too large a proportion of corporate earnings went into profits to swell the fortunes of the few or to be invested in new capital plant which was not needed We prepared to produce more goods at a time when the people could not buy those which were produced. The type of plowing back which we need is the diversion of corporate earnings in such a manner as to Provide steady employment for workers, higher higher salaries and a square deal for the farmers. tt tt a Purchasing Power Is, Too TNDUSTRIAL capitalism rests upon the theory that we must sell a large volume of goods at reasonable prices in order to earn any profits. It is perfectly obvious that goods can not be sold in this manner unless the masses have the purchasing power to buy them. High and well sustained purchasing power is the only effective fertilizer of sound business. It will only be possible to prevent the recurrence of the disaster of 1929 if our corporations not only become alive to the necessity of plowing back income, but also come to recognize the only tvpe of plowing back which may help them on their feet once more and keep them there.

New Books THE PUBLIC LIBRARY PRESENTS TTAY fever sufferers, attention! The ragweed A A season is approaching; with it the promise of countless sneezes! One American in every 50 has hay fever. A successful year in the ragweed family produces a million tons of pollen, scattered hundreds of miles by winds. The history and criminal record of this miserable plant and that of other pollen-bearing weeds, grasses, and trees is traced by Orin C. Durham in YOUR lIAY FEVER (Bobbs-Merrill; $2). Much recent success in the treatment of the disease is due to the author’s work in pollen experimentation. Authoritative and humorous in style, the book gives a fascinating history of the long fight of science against this strange disease. Methods efficacious in treating it are described. The victim of pollen tests can now look toward the future with some equanimity. Hay fever is retreating. a a a TF you don’t like advertising and don’t believe in A publicity, don’t read John Caples’ latest book, ADVERTISING FOR IMMEDIATE SALES (Harper’s; $3). But for those who regard advertising as one of the most remarkable developments of anew world, here is every type of modern advertising appeal and every up-to-the-minute advertising method, from the testimonial to the telephone, from the premium to the radio, from the allure of price to the thrill of the contest. The creator of this lively, informative, and practical book speaks from years of experience with two of New York City's largest advertising firms and is already author of a recognized text, “Tested Advertising Methods.” a a a IT is easy, when speaking of contemporary poetry, to “lass that off.” Babette Deutsch, in THIS MODERN POETRY (Norton; $2.75) helps us to do something at once more difficult and more interesting—to understand it, whether we like it or not. She moves with singular ease among the poets of today and their spiritual ancestors. Neither their strangeness nor their reputation awes her. Nor is she frightened of any break with tradition. A poet herself and completely at home in her field, she traces the currents of today, showing their kinship to the movements of the past and relating them to the doubt and unrest of the present. Her book is not only for the reader who knows his poets, but also for him who is curious to learn what it is all about! 𝇢𝇢 𝇢𝇢 𝇢𝇢 NINE buckets of blood! For those who like their nine buckets neatly and wittily packaged, Edmond L. Pearson is the man, and the book is MORE STUDIES IN MURDER (Smith & Haas; $2,50). Of the 30 murderers and murderesses he describes Mr. Pearson says; “Looking into the histories of the peculiar people who are described herein, it has taxed my ability to discover what they did. I leave it to writers of supernatural power, whether called clairvoyance, psychoanalysis, graphology, os any other form of big-medicine, to find out what these people thought.” As you may judge by the title, there is a preceding book, “Studies in Murder." It is just as good as this one.

P v|: **# | Dr. Barnes