Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 16 July 1936 — Page 17

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NEW YORK, July 16.—Even before the ; beginning of the present political cam-

paign 1 was never moved much to follow

any leader who was presented as ‘a man of plain common sense.” Rather 1 have thought to myself, “Is he really as bad as all that?” and moved over to the other side.

Plain common sense, if defined in any reasonable

way, means a combination of the prejudices, fallacies, emotional limitations and

of plain common sense is “Let well enough alone,” and the -status quo . is invariably accepted as adequate. Plain” common: sense has scoffed not only at every experiment in government but at the innovations of mechanics, science and medicine. Surely no man with plain common sense would have flown with the Wrights at Kittyhawk, and every step of advance in immunization against disease has been compounded out of vision and a dash of daring. Most of the small collection of wisdom which stands in the name of the human race was acquired by enterprise which seemed in its own day utterly fantastic.

» » Sounds Another Note . ALCOLM W. BINGAY seems to have succeeded

. Heywood Broun

William Allen White as official party columnist |

for the Republican National Committee. Seemingly

Bill White wasn't dishing it out thick enough. The |

best he could do was to accuse the President of being a Fascist dictator who moved through the

country surrounded by armed guards in ‘an effort |

to terrorize the population.

Mr. Bingay has changed the party line. He has |

switched the tole of Roosevelt from that of Caligula to a roistering playboy kind of Mark Antony. Speaking of the voters of this country, Malcolm W. Bingay acks rhetorically, “Do they want a man who takes life as a lark, or do they want a man who takes life with tremendous earnestness because he, being cne of them, understands the problems of the common people?” I'd like to ask a couple of questions in return. Why do party propagandists, on.both sides, assume that the average voter is a slightly backward kindergarten pupil? Is that what they mean by “plain common sense”? In the first place, Alf M. Landon has not known privation. I am not holding it against him that he is the well-to-do son of a well-to-do father. These factors would not indicate that it would be impossible for him to understand the problem of the unemployment or to be sympathetic toward a solution. But it is much too late in the day to begin building him log cabins. As for the query. “Do they want a man who takes life as a lark?” that is really getting below the kindergarten level. . v : 8 8» No Time for Hilarity . UT anybody who really thinks that the President of the United States has gone through the pressure and the responsibilities of the last three years in ‘a mood of hilarity is an utter idiot. And if he doesn’t really think it why does he say it? I am a Roosevelt supporter only to the extent that I hope he licks Landon. I have written very harshly of his deeds in certain situations. As an intense partisan of the Farmer-Labor Party I am certain to do-so-agaly. ‘And €ven so I am prepared to award temporarily ‘the gold cup for-the new low of the campaign to Malcolm W. Bingay, official columnist of the Republican National Committee. The suggestion that Franklin D. Roosevelt is

having a Iot of fun playing around with human:

misery is ‘silly. Step up and get your cup, Mr. Bingay. If yeu win it twice more it becomes your permanent possession.

~~ My D BY ELEANOR ROOSEVELT YORK, Wednesday.—Today: I visited the women's division in the national Democratic headquarters, just for the fun of seeing some one else do the organizing and ‘preparation for a campaign. There have been many Democratic national and. state campaigns in which I attended to the details of organization, so that particular kind of work is interesting to me. different departments marshaling their forces. From there I went to the office of my syndicate to talk over the things which are good and bad in this column I write for you, dear readers, every day. It is a grand thing to get the advice and criticism of people who really want to make such things as any of us poor scribes write more useful for the general public. There is just one bit of cheer, however. No matter how much we improve, not every one will ever be pleased, and therefore we may hope that not every one will ever be displeased either. f My daughier and son-in-law and I went to lunch together. For the first time I had time enpugh really to chat about the one exciting piece of family news, 8 new grandson born last night, who will be named Elliott Roosevelt Jr. : Every child in a family is a link with the future, and starts your imagination wandering down the aisles.of possible developments. What will the world be dike when this baby is old enough to earn his living, to take up his responsibilities? It makes one want to live to see the future. Yet, at the same time, it is

the kind of hostage that makes one more willing to

lay down 's arms! After lunch I came back to the office to see Miss Mabel Evans; a gray-haired teacher with fire still in her eyes, bent upen starting a school to educate adults based on the laboratory theory that one must learn by doing. She feels that-all the effort to prevent crime is wasted until, in practice homes, we really show mothers how to build character in their children. Only some one with great determination and belief

Studebaker, commissioner of education in the Department of the Interior. < It is cooler today, but not so cool that you could embrace new ideas with energy! i (Copyright. 1936, by ‘United Feature Syndicate, Inc.)

another health book. The author, the McGovern Gymnasium in New ualified to :

TRI hi 3 E

ot

It is fun to watch the heads of the

Entered as Second:Class Matter

at Postoffice, Indianapolis, Ind.

» ff =

Frazier Hun

9

»

the election in the East. .

money—but 1 don't see “anything else to do but vote for the Democrats as the lesser of two evils.

“You hear bitter complaints on all sides, but the workingman will

just about have to support Roose- -

velt. In spite of everything, I think -he will carry. Connecticut.” { A near-Communist put it to me | this way: “Labor here and every-

where else is seething with dis-: They're scared to death-

content. : ) of fascism and are forced into Roosevelt's camp. “The President doesn’t go near | far enough to: the: left for them, | but he’s the best. of the lot. . . “People on the outside have no | idea how deep this bitterness against the industrialists and

is. Most of this rising temper hasn’t jelled yet, but you watch radicalism grow in this country after the election. “Left-wing Communists are boring from within in the old A.

Hartford Central Union they've ost. got control. This so-called united front is a master political move on the part of the real radicals. i ” ” ”

" HE one thing they don’t want is a return of the Republicans, and it is that threat that forces them fo line up most of their workers on the side of Roosevelt. That's the reason, too,’ they're so bitter against Father Coughlin. They fear he's a Fascist in disguise. 1 can’t see how they can defeat Roosevelt in this state.”

the Hartford Central Union, a stubby, = blue-eyed, tough little Irishman named Lonegran. He had been a building trades organizer for years, and now suddenly he found himself fighting a disciplined, highly organized left group within his own ranks.

aroused. - ANT ap “The WPA does pgy the union rate of wages (with a maximum monthly wage of $93.50 in the building end), but.to: get on the WPA lists a self-respecting workman must impoverish himself and turn pauper,” he spurted out at me. : “It-means that in all thee WPA building jobs the old union men are replaced by contractors who hire scabs and have always mistreated their labor. “We're as bitter as hell about it—but what can we do? I don’t want to vote for the Republicans, and I'm scared Coughlin will end up backing some sort of fascism. “I suppose when it gets down to it I'll be forced to vote for Roosevelt, even if 1 do dislike him. state.” ” » » OME 50 miles from Hartford is v the tool-making center of America — Bridgeport, Oonn. A Landon man, known for years as a fair-minded observer, painted

"BY FRAZIER HUNT = - (Conytight. 1936, NEA Service. Inc.)

“There are a good many things ( ; Roosevelt Administration,” he explained. “We're building an expensive and dangerous bureaucracy in Washington, and a country-wide political machine on public relief

THE old cigarmaker in Hartford, Conn., was a sort of if” “but,” and “in spite of” voter. 1 would say that he represents the conservative craft unionists—ihe man who owns his own little home, and is worried about high taxes and extravagant relief costs. His vote might decide

I don’t like about this

bosses and men with money really

F. of L. unions. Right here in the

I put'ail this up to the head of

He was bewildered, Riteer, and.

It'll sure be close in this

the following picture of the 'po- |

litical and’ economic scene: “The industrial East is boom- ; ing. Bridgeport has a weekly pay roll only a few thousand dollars less than it was: in the fanfastic days of 1929—and larger than if had ever been before or since that time, . “There Le an actual shortage of skilled mechanics. Our relief roll is one-third of what it was at the peak, The whole relief problem is accepted now as something permanent—a new and supple-. mentary relief. It is no longer a

partisan issue.

“In 1932 Roosevelt lost Connecticut by 6527, although Cross, a ‘Democrat, was elected Governor by some 6000 and re-elected in‘ 1934 by 8500. “Two years ago Senator Maloney, Democrat, defeated: the Republican: incumbent by 11,000. But ‘during ' the last year there has been a steady drift away from Roosevelt. I would say that he will be defeated by Landon by from 7500 to 10,000 majority.” ” 2 8 N equally intelligent and honest man on the opposite side of the fence had this to say about Connecticut: - “This state is certainly debatable ground, but the Democrats are beginning to pick up some of the yardage they lost last year. Governor Cross not only has united the party, but has picked up many independent Republicans. “The Republicans are shellshocked in state affairs and it is hard for them to unite on a state ticket—which, in turn, weakens their national strength. “The great boom in Connecticut industry will help Roosevelt. Many. of our factories are = working day and night®* Typewriters, airplanes, auto accessories, small arms, small tools, brass works, all are booming. We're already ahead of 26 and ’27. ;

~“¥ the elections were held to- 2 days Roosevelt would win. What *

happens: four months from now

‘will depend largely on how big *

Landon can be built up personally. I don’t look for Coughlin or the Union Party to cut much ice here. “It looks as if it would be a very close election—with Roosevelt, say 51 per cent against Landon’s 49 per cent.” ss 8 8 VER in the neighboring state of Rhode Island the situation is more or less the same. 3 In 1928 the state, for the first time in its history, went Democratic—giving its four electoral votes to Al Smith by a plurality of 3000. In 1932 Roosevelt carried the state by 31,338 and ‘in the congressional and senatorial elections two years later the Democratic majority was 35,000. Then came the sensational special election of April, 1935; when the Republican, Charles F. Risk, defeated the Democratic nominee for Congress by some 14,000 votes.’

LET'S EXPLORE YOUR MIND

BY DR. ALBERT EDWARD WIGGAM

a aE

WPA job—a factor in election prospects in East-

ern industrial states. This one is

ford, Conn, with a new sewage disposal system. WPA jobs like this $3.450,000 project, into which the

“This was followed almost a year later by the defeat of the Democrats by some 11,000 votes in a special election to consider revising the state constitution.

“All this is most disturbing to Democratic morale,” a Roosevelt sympathizer explained to me in" Providence, “but it is really not as hopeless for the party as. it seems on paper. x “The . Democrats simply let things slide and did not get their vote out... As a matter of fact, neither major party offers a solid front. But for the first time in history the Democrats are in power in the state and can raise money and. look after themselves. “I would say that the tide is beginning to turn again in Roosevelt’s favor. The recent Supreme Court decision against minimum wages helps him materially. “General business conditions are constantly improving. Throughout all New England the class lines are being more and more sharply drawn. Here the Democratic Party has always been the party of the ordinary working people, while the Republican Party has

JOHNSON PRAISES M'C

BY HUGH S. JOHNSON EW YORK, July 16.—The passing of McCarl presents ‘a problem. The law creating his office was a good law, but like all organizational plans, its success depended-on the man named to administer it. It may be trite, but it is true, that a good man can make a bad plan work, but a bad man can’t make the best plan in the world work. McCarl was a good man. His job was to see that the rules and restrictions placed by Congress on the spending of public money were lived up to, and he did it perfectly. Naturally he made enemies, and at times he was the most despised man in Washington. He was called

providing Hart-~

‘enough. “large. ;

” been identified with money. This works in Roosevelt's favor. “But when it all ‘adds up, it still leaves Rhode Island almost equally. balanced. I wouldn't’ bet a nickel on either side.”

” ” % TALKED to a Republican business man in the same city of Providence. “It’ll ‘be close in this state,” he explained, “but I'd say Landon has a “slight edge. He looks to me like a splendid candidate, but I'm afraid his dry reputation will not help his popularity here in the East. But we’ll do our best to counteract that. “I doubt if Coughlin ard his third party will. nave much influence here. Of course, in a close race, ‘he. might turn the scales, because most of his following will be pulled. from Roosevelt. But here in New England we're pretty well tied ‘up to the two-party ea.” u

» » ”» 4 O review this New England political situation for a moment: , : £ Three : states — Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont — are

, out-and-out: Lgndon.

a

an obstructionist, a supreme bureaucrat, and the insolence of office incarnate. Without exception, the

authors of these tantrums were trying to get away with something in defiance .or avoidance of laws they

- were sworn to execute.

In two immense experiences— NRA and WPA in New York City— involving the spending of hundreds of millions, I never once tangled with Mr. McCarl. On the contrary, in the WPA Chinese puzzle, the Controller General worked without sleep all one night to get me clearance on enormous expenditures, with which neither he nor I were in personal sympathy. The secret of relations with the

Pension Convention Reminiscent of Camp Meeting of Old Days

BY THOMAS L. STOKES Times Special Writer

LEVELAND, July 16.—Ten thou-

sand or more souls from farms

and small towns are gathered in

Cleveland's great convention hall looking for the millenium. Here are comfortable, motherly women fanning themselves placidly, their sleek husbands at their sides. But the majority are weazened, hard-bitten men and women, their burned faces ¢reased with the worry of hot winds which sear their fields; floods, which sweep away their crops; debts perpetually .due. They

may develop before the week is over. : Dr. Townsend himself is party to

an anti-Roosevelt movement which

developed at the opening session to alarm other leaders who are Democrats first and Townsendites sécond, particularly from the Pacific Coast. 2 = 2 “HE doctor’s speech might have been written by Ogden L. Mills. He denounced virtually: everything in the Roosevelt calendar and. accused the President of “a deliberate, Machiavellian, planned attempt to discredit and totally wreck the American principle of government.”

t Sees Election Tossup in Connecticut, Rhode Island |

Federal government is putting $800,000, employ . thousands of men. Some believe the government is spending too much on these jobs; some say not But to people of both views, they‘ loom

v Rhode Island and Connecticut dre apparently even-money bets, ‘with a very slight Landon edge in Rhode ‘Island. : Roosevelt, in mid-July, has a 5 per cent advantage-in Massachusetts. =

In 1932 Roosevelt. won Massachusetts’ 17 electoral - votes, and Rhode Island’s four votes—a total of 21 of New England’s 41 votes. (Hoover, it will be remembered, carried only six -states, with a total .of 59 electoral votes out of

531.)

If in November Roosevelt carries only Massachusetts, and lpses the rémaining five New ‘England states, he will have 17 electoral votes out of 41. It is significant to note that New York alone has: 47 electoral votes, and Pennsylvania 36. It might well be said that New England is impressive and comforting, ‘but, except in the closest of elections, hardly a deciding factor.

Next—THe odds, are against Jandon capturing :. ~ State. =

great “Cee-Gee” was to go to him with a problem before the compli-

‘cations began and say, “I've got to

get such an such a result—how can I do it in conformity with the statute?” He never failed to respond to that with all he had to give... The people - who bloodied their headt butting them into the stone wall of his integrity were those who went ahead “regardless,” hoping to bluff or bamboozle him with a fait accompli.

” Ed Ed

HE problem is to replace him. Of all the candidates I have heatd mentioned, none will serve to do more than make his office a rubber stamp—complacent yes-man of

‘the New Dispensation.’

McCarl wants to help Harry Byrd reorganize the government for economy. The offer ought to be accepted. MecCarl is, I think, wrong about having emergency stop-gap organizations absorbed into permsgnent departments. I doubt if he is especially fitted to make recommendations on organizational policy. But he knows more channels of automatic waste and -extravagance than any man in Washington. Senator Byrd's own efficiency and saving, and his demonstrated vim and guts, will attend to the policy part. -However, after all the Senator's work on blue-printing a reorganization is done, the principle demonstrated by McCarl’s good service will remain—no matter how: i seems, it can succeed only if i ministrators are capable. - The prospect of getting that kind of service in government seems sadly remote.

(Copyright, 1936. by United {Copyright Syndicate, Inc.)

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Feature:

| NJEW YORK, July 16.—They had to resort

~~ “to the old reliable fear psychology to redeem their own shiftlessness, ‘but the

5 American Olympic ‘committee at -last came

up with sufficient money to send abroad the ‘largest American team of all. The trouble

comniittee should have taken the |i games away from Germany as soon |i it became obvious that the Nazis had no understanding of the mean-

League of Nations and = the boys compromised their ideals to avoid one row, a course which inevitably . caused another.

Neither Germany nor Italy is fit

“| to run an Olympic show nowadays,

for - sport ‘in both countries - is Westbrook Peglee definitely intended to fatten athletes : for slaughter in war. Consequently, ‘their -athletes, steamed up by their hysterical press, make sport. in a warlike spirit against enemies, not sporting oppo= nents. The Italians, in particular, under Mussolini, are rotten losers. ; Ph ~ 8 » »

Nazis and Negroes

T is hard to believe, but their papers once threats ened to block a League of Nations loan to the Ause trian government because an Austrian soccer team had had the effrontery to fetch the Italian team a swift kick in the pants in a big international game, This isn’t sport in the Olympic meaning of the word and the games should have been suspended this year, as they were during the war, to let’ the warring ath« letes cool out and study the ethics! of civilized sportse men. 5 The Nazis face a delicate problem in the track and field events where the Hitler youth doubtless will be defeated numerous times by a group of American Negro boys. When Max Schmeling came over to fight Joe Louis, Hitler, Goebbels and the rest disowned him and his undertaking until he had won. It was then discovered that he had been fighting for Hitler and the Nazi philosophy after all and had proved the racial supremacy of the Hitler youth. It was explained, too, that a Hitler youth naturally couid not be beaten by . a Negro. : Just as a friendly suggestion to an embarrassed wonder-man, however, Hitler might consider the words of the Southern coach whose runners spent a whole afternoon trailing Negro runners at a big meet in Franklin Field some years ago and said that night over a soothing crock of hootch that it sho’ did look like ‘down home to see his white boys chasing those Negro boys. out there.

” » » Boondoggling in Sports T= American squad could have been reduced by

about 70 members without injustice, for almost a third of the members are mere boondogglers, The

team ingiudes 21 naseball players, whosg performance

Will be just a demonstration, not an Olympic compe= tition; a field handball team of 15° members, 10 - weight-lifters, (10 canoeists or canoers and a field hockey team .of 15. ; ; Baseball is not an international game and even in its native land is so highly professionalized that ‘the amateurs are not even consulted on amendments’ ‘to the rules or the composition of the standard field. Field handball is a native Nazi sport almost unknown in this country except to a small hyphenated group, and weight-lifting is not a sport but a peculiarity, “There is a®time and place for ‘everything, including courtship, and canoeing distinctly calls for a girl, moonlight, white pants and seclusion. . The field hockey team also seems a bit of a luxury, Our squat-tag team will feel slighted.

Merry-Go-Round

BY DREW PEARSON AND ROBERT S. ALLEN ASHINGTON, July 16.— William Washington Howes, the new acting Postmaster General, has a glad-hand mounted on ball bearings, and he has back-slapped his way right into the Cabinet. There is no place where he does not feel”at home, or where he does not make you feel at home. But he is at his best in an old-fashioned political gather~ ing. There, no one can out-glad-hand him, not even James Aloysius Farley, whose ornate walnut-paneled

and a black, thick pompadour. Shorter than Jim Farley, Bill weighs about 250 pounds. oh He excels Farley in one respect—having three double chins against Big Jim’s two. Bill began training for his present career while a “student at the University of Minnesota, where he was a great rallier of class spirit. If the boys and girls on the campus were ‘a little lukewarm about getting out to root for good old Minnesota, Bill Howes was