Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 27 January 1937 — Page 14

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Y of SS

yo The Indianapolis Times

ROY W. HOWARD President

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SCRIPPS — HOWARD

Give Light and the People Will Find Their Own Way

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 27, 1937

‘WHENCE COME THE FLOODS?

“TDROBABLY no one in Cincinnati or Louisville or Evansville ever heard of Kinzua Creek, which according to the

map meanders along near Dunkle Corners,

Morrison and

Dew Drop, in Pennsylvania, and empties into the Allegheny River and thence into the Ohio. Yet the reason flood waters have taken possession of homes and workshops in Cincinnati and Louisville and Evansville this week is because last week and the week ‘before these same waters did not meander down Kinzua ‘Creek and the thousands of other little streams that comprise the headwaters of the mighty Ohio. : And when the people of Cincinnati and Louisville and Evansville go back to their homes and shops after the floods recede, they will find on the floors and walls and furniture and machinery a muddy deposit of silt, made up of particles which not jong ago were of the top soil of the farmlands which drain into the Kinzua Creek and those thousands of other little headwater streams.

2 8 » ” 2

“y¥ WILL lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help,” reads the 121st Psalm. The people of Cincinnati and Louisville and Evansville and all the other communities along the Ohio and the lower Mississippi might well lift their eyes unto the hills whence

comes their ruin. : More than 200 years ago the first levee was built along

New Orleans’ riverfront.

have been built higher and higher and extended farther and farther up the banks of the lower Mississippi and up the banks of the Ohio. Through two centuries floods have come, washing out and/over those levees, bringing death and dis-

ease to the inh

itants and destruction to their property.

That has been true because when the hard rains come, as they did last week and the week before, water no longer meanders down the thousands of little creek beds in the upper reaches of the Mississippi and Ohio basins, because each new downrush of flood water carries with it another skimming of topsoil, filling up the channels of the Ohio and the Mississippi.

» = ” * =

E had floods in this country, of course, even in the days when ours was a continent of primeval forests and virgin grasslands, and most of the rain was soaked up in the spongy topsoil and filtered down through the topsoil into the underground water tables. But it is safe to say that the surface runoff then was not a fraction of what it is today, because now too much of our land is stripped of trees and grasses and porous topsoil. Nor did the runoff wash: with it a fraction as much of the

soil.

Having no control over the elements, man cannot regulate the wet and dry seasons and cannot eliminate floods. But he can, by observing nature’s laws, diminish the criminal wastage of soil and the destructive violence of floods. Botanists, agriculturists and foresters counsel us to reforest and regrass lands not fit for agriculture, and to farm tillable soil in’ ways that will check the runoff of water

and soil.

Engineers counsel us to build reservoirs in the head~water streams and regulate the flow. We should do plenty of both.

DOCTOR OF CRIME

HE resignation of Sanford Bates as Director of Federal 3 Prisons robs the Government of one of its ablest

servants.

His going, however, is less regrettable than that

of some others of his stature who recently have left public service, since he will continue his work of salvaging humans in a field fertile for his talents. He will become director of the Boys’ Club of America. ) Sanford Bates is not a sentimentalist, but he knows that convicts can be regenerated by intelligent penology. He believes in the unwalled prisons of parole and probation, in education, training and wholesome employment inside prisons and in treating offenders like men rather than like

animals.

In a recent book called “Prisons and Beyond” Mr. Bates gives his formula for meeting America’s staggering crime problem: : A press more devoted to leadership and less to entertainment of its readers and profit; an organized neighbornood movement for social betterment; an educational System that holds character instruction paramount; a spirit of sportsmanship that puts civic duty above personal advantage; a judicial procedure which seeks only to determine truth; an economic order which affords equal opportunity for all; a reincarnated religion which relates itself to the daily life of the people. : “With increasing emphasis in the years that are to come,” he writes, “others more eloquent than I will fling the challenge of crime back to the community that tolerates it and demand its eradication at the source.”

THE WEBSTER DESK

HE I

Democratic tidal wave swept 14 United States Senaors over onto the Republican side of the upper cham-

ber of Congress, but one little island remains—the famous

desk once occupied by Daniel Webster.

This relic falls to

Senator Hale of Maine, one of the two remaining Republican states.

One wonders what that old Massachusetts Whig states-

man would do if he sat in that desk, entirely surrounded by

New Dealers. A key might be found in a speech he made in 1846 in which he said:

“Inconsistencies of opinion, arising from changes of

circumstances, are often justifiable.”

Which would not be

a bad guide for the minority party to follow.

“Persons desiring to obtain a license to operate a motor vehicle should ever bear in mind that a privilege is being granted them, not a right.”—Connecticut Motor Vehicle

Depaziment,

Through two centuries levies

“wheel-chairs, if necessary, and bring back what's left

THE INDIANAPOLIS TIMES

“Buy a Ticket, Sir?—By Kirby

NATION - WIDE BALL FOR

PRESIDEN

T ROOSEVELTS:

55 BIRT HDA

MP HELP STA INFANTILE

PARALYS!

WEDNESDAY, JAN. 27, 1937 We Cover the Waterfront !—By Talbust

Eh RT pa AVY ts 0

Fair Enough

By Westbrook Pegler Correspondent Explains Plan for | Organizing the Incurably Ill of All Nations to Do Fighting in Next War. |

| By R. B. R.

NEW YORK, Jan. 27.—The following idea ! needs no introduction beyond a line explaining that it is signed by a resident of Washington, D. C., where the greasy fogs, the generally soggy atmosphere of winter and the moist heat of summer form an ideal

condition for a man in his state:

“Dear Sir—Not being able to sleep because of what's the matter with me, my mind has run on and on over the war and rumors of > war. So, in the still hours, I have suddenly stumbled onto a plan that simply must be presented to the world. “If we are going to have a war, 2 2 ? then let's do an original and effec- 3 : a tive thing and make it really beneficial to man. You yourself Lg | couldn't say what I am about to Et i propose, as it would sound too on heartless—not humane and noble, like the regular war plan. But I : i hi a lunger, wheezing and AL whiffling along, and so I can sa > it, and here is my brain baby: y Mr. Pegler “Ever since wars began the human race has delegated the fighting to the strong, | and the virile. Now I propose to organize all of us | incurables. Don’t argue! I know lungers, and a | lot of us are curable, but what for? Especially if war is to be the lot of the world? ; “Make a sporting proposition of it, by international agreement, all entering the lists on the same basis. Let each malady organize a corps on the basis of its disease. For example, the Lungers’ Legion, the Cancer Corps, the Rhsumatism Raiders. “Special skills could work out a nice coat of arms for each division. A rib X-ray picture for my group. The Angina Division could take over the St. Valentine insignia. Give each group a job appropriate to its infirmity and pit them against each other. I can't walk or run fast, but I can drive, so I propose the tanks for our boys and girls. Sure, the girls are in on

this. * The paralytics could creep in no man's land at night.

” ” ” TT organize all the able-bodied to aid in the -L noncombatant zone behind the armies. Let the Red Cross take us out to battle on stretchers or in

of us. They bring back only what's left as things are now. But under my plan there is no waste of manhood. The able-bodied will raise the food. Keep industries running and reproduce the species. : “Can’t you just see it? One grand world galaxy of Invincible incurables going down in a red flame of glory instead of the dull, sanitary routine we must now follow. “After the battle spray the scene with sheep dip and other disinfectant. thus eliminating disease from the world at one fell swoop and giving us weaklings a Chinaman’s chance for immortality: on the field of horor and valor. ” n n "MSE impertant of all, it is a biological natural. Think of having the virile, strong members of the race left intact to carry on and multiply and pay off the war debts. “I hope you can try this out on the public before a war actually does break out so we can get organized. I will have a lot of working details thought out in the meantime. Please do not use my name. They might make me chief of staff, and I want to be a combat soldier up in the line among my own kind.” Copies will be sent to Benito Mussolini, Gen. Ludendorff and Gen. Robert Lee Builard, who have commented so inspiringly on the ennobling quality of war.

| weather.

| they cannot nmiove on a mcment’s notice. Men today must have available money and a place to go where | | they do not interfere with others’ i rights. | buy food, and must contend with | a hundred petty laws which control | their lives.

| to war to determine which system | shall dominate the earth.

~The Hoosier Forum

I wholly disagree with what you say, but wiil defend to the death your right to say it.—Voltaire.

URGES INITIATION OF SOUND FLOOD CONTROL

There is a great opportunity for the Federal Government to use its highly advertised versatility and ability to initiate some sound flood control to prevent repetition ,of the present horrible disaster, the final results of which have not been seen or felt. Now is the time for officials to be great. Will they throw aside political, financial and social chains and do something vital? | We have a real problem now. Let | the President come down to the! flood territory while the fury is at |

|its height and see raw nature in all | | its power. Where is all the Govern- ; iment money for relief and where |

is Federal aid? How much more the present inhabitants of the river valleys cof the | United States suffer from floods than did their predecessors. The Indians predicted their own | They knew nature and were self-dependent to a great de- | gree. They could move to safety when they chose. The present civilized inhabitants find themselves in a different sit- | uation. They age specialized laborers, living in ghe spot from which |

Men must have places to |

Today, we are “hog tied” by a maze of handicaps. It is seldom that we can leave the beaten path, and when disaster surrounds us we hesitate, not knowing what step to take.. Man today is the most helpless of all the earth’s inhabitants to save himself from the engulfing disaster.

7 u ” AMERICA HELD GUILTY IN WORLD CRISIS By L. L. Patton, Crawfordsville

When one finds himself among a bunch of braggarts quarreling over who is the smartest fellow, the best way to stay out of trouble is to assume an attitude of modesty in presenting one’s claims to merit and an attitude of tolerance in hearing the claims of others. Today, America finds herself among a bunch of braggart nations quarreling over which one has the best politico-economic system, but she is just as immodest and intoierant as the others. Americans, especially the press and so-called patriotic societies, are just as guilty as the Germans, Italians, Russians and English of bringing on the present crisis where the world is on the verge of going

There may be a natural inferiority complex that forces new-born political systems to take a braggart at-

| gardless of the country of its origin, iis worth looking into?

ing the. world, I am { would be no world crisis.

CIVIL WARS IN EUROPE PREDICTED BY WRITER |By Ss. H. L.

many is only one of the factors

I life.

| tent than the will of dictators and

titude toward the rest of the world.

(Times readers are invited to express their views in these columus, religious controversies excluded. Make your letter short, so all can have a chance. Letters must be signed, but names will be withheld on request.)

| |

However, that is no excuse for America to follow their examples in | preaching fear, suspicion and hatred of.all others. If the Governments of Germany, Italy and Russia suit the people of those countries, why can’t we wish those Governments the best of luck? Why must we carry on a battle of antagonism with them? Why can’t our politicians take the attitude that our scientists took years ago—that any new theory, re-

If we had! scientists instead of politicians rul- | sure there

2 2 rn

The great wheat shortage in Ger-

operating in the drama of European

There are irresistible forces working there that are mcre po-

more powerful in the final determination of the future in Europe than all the trappings of war. The real | crisis in Europe revolves around the | form of social organization under |

which life shall be pursued and |

maintained. The old order is breaking up. To | break the gap between the old and | the new, dictators must assume con- | trol over the mechanism of production until the public is ready to accept the new order.

"hut from the rising standards of liv- |

{termine the form of social organi{zation in Europe, despite dictators

| Supreme Court, seem to think that |

! criticism and that the masses owe

is driven to slaughter, restraints

that are valid in time of peace will |

[not prevail. The danger in Europe is not from the strutting dictators,

ing within the borders of Russia. The festering sore is the constantly falling standard in the self-styled superior-race nations. As these standards separate the great psychological factors loosened will de-

and guns. » 2 ” DERIDES VETO POWER OF SUPREME COURT By William Lemon I have noticed that a few of your correspondents, in defending the

these nine gentlemen are above

them respect and should almost worship them. : When such men as Senator Norris criticize them and favor curbing their powers we should wake up, for he is among our most progressive Americans. The idea that a court of nine men has the power to declare a law unconstitutional -after it has been approved by both houses of Congress and signed by the President, makes us the laughing stock of the world... The enemies of the New Deal are always singing the -old songs about dictatorship, yet we now have nine dictators who are as useless to the masses as the mumps. The people have. 531 Representatives and 96 Senators who know

It Seems to Me By Heywood Broun

Sees Nothing Improper in Lewis® Request to President for Aid In Settling Automobile Strike.

NEY YORK, Jan. 27.—I can see nothing improper in the suggestion that President Roosevelt should intervene in the automobile strike. The situation constitutes an industrial crisis and involves directly and indirectly millions of people,

Nor do I see any reason why John I. Lewis should be criticizad for saying in a press conference that he

Workers. PI gave to Mr. Roosevelt in t.campaign was not secicet,

the Democratic candidate because it believed he was more {riendly to labor than was his Republican rival. Franklin Roosevelt's record shows that on many occasions he -has declared for collective bare gaining. That is the issue in Flint. Unfortunately, it has been clc ded somewhat by commentators who have said the G. M. officials were entirely ready to bargain but merely held out against the C. I. O. union as the exclusive bargaining agent. It'is well to remember that if Mr. Martin and Mr, Lewis lose in the present struggle there will be no collective bargaining of any kind in the motor ine dustry this year or for many years to come. : Although there has been a great deal of jockeying back and forth, and although the company statements and union statements seem to be based on a dissimilar view of the facts, both Mr. Sloan and Mr. Lewis could agrze in five seconds as to the nub of the conflict. Mr. Sloan and his associates do not want to deal with any union except a company creation. Mr. Lewis and his associates want to set up a labor union, » ” ”

Mr. Broun

the needs of their constituents and are elected to solve their problems. | Yet, a court of nine, who never |

| get farther irom Washington than | War may | Newport and have no idea what |

hurry the final collapse of the dis- | the farmers and laborers are up

integrating social structure. Long before the next European war is decided by contending national armies there will be civil war within the embattled nations, as it came to Russia before the end of the World | War. ! It will be a civil war between those who have and those who have not. The greatest threat to dictators lies within their countries and not without. As the common herd

TRYST FOR TWO

By HELEN SALITROS

The world sleeps. . . Two shadows In the moonlight— Lovers. : Two stars watch Near the moon— Companions for the night.

DAILY THOUGHT

In your patience possess ye your souls.—Luke 21:19.

He that cam have patience, can have what he will.—Franklin.

against, use their power to favor | Wall Street. We had 12 years of capitalistic | ! misrule and the overwhelming vote | {in protest in our recent eiection | should be proof enough that Frank- | lin D. Roosevelt means business and | {that he did save our country from communism.

> ” ”" " KNOWS REFUGEES FACE TERRIBLE ORDEAL By E. Harold Stolkin { Today, in several states more | than 200,000 persons are victims of | the worst flood disaster in the his- | tory of our country. Peogpie who | have been fortunate to escape the | ravages of a flood cannot possibly |

R. SLOAN hasn't got horns nor is he acting out of some curious perverse villainy. He isn’t really concerned with the question of whether his side or the union side is right from some abstract ethical point of view. It is a test of power, and the stronger side will win. 1 am not saying that no moral values are cone cerned. There is a strength in rightness. But Mr. Sloan may be quite right in one sense of the word in believing that unionization will mean higher labor costs and less profit. ‘ Of course, it is just possible that higher costs come bined with enduring peace might be more profitable in the long run than the expense of spies, tear gas and the cessation of production during strikes.

” n ” T is not easy to get the popular slant on such a question. Most of the avenues of propaganda are

| more open to the employers than to the employees.

I saw a newsreel from Flint the other day, and it was definitely staged to give the impression that practically all the employees were against the strike. The press, particularly in the neighborhood where the strikes are taking place, is more favorable to Mr, Sloan than to Mr. Martin. To whom, then, should John L. Lewis be expected to make his appeal? Put yourself in his place. Forget the talk of his being actuated by some mad ambition of destruction. Whether or not you agree with the tactics or the points of view of Mr. Lewis, it is only fair to admit that he has put in his whole life on one particular side. Is there anything wrong in a labor leader saying, . “you were elected as an advocate of collective bargaining. We look to you to help us in our fight te obtain it”?

General Hugh Johnson Says—

It Is Difficult to Get at the Merits of the Auto Strike, but It Is Clear There Either Must Be Collective Bargaining or None at All.

ASHINGTON, Jan. 27.—Getting the merits of the automotive strike is a headache. In simpler times, when you wanted a blacksmith to fix your plow he named ga price and you and he dickered a while and made a deal. Even if you were a village factory baron with a fixed set of hours and wages—*“take it or leave it, if you don’t like this job you can go elsewhere,” that wasn’t so sour. There were plenty of other places to work—an average of one employer to about 10 workmen and not, as here, three principal employers to 500,000 workmen. In the complexity and bigness of modern industrial operations, no individual workman can possibly bargain for himself for his work and pay. Either there

must be collective bargaining o ini SL g or no bargaining at all—

# 2, 2

B- a furs gro mass and machine producers 0 per cent of a principal i an intricate organization of Dry, Sch ¥ Ia highly specialized workers, in which the future of all Is centered, the old “if you don’t like it go elsewhere,” becomes Just a cynical taunt. There must either be some dickering, or labor is under the recruit-drill sergeant. If there is anybody in this country who is not for collective bargaining, he hasn’t “the nerve to say so. All the political parties, all employers’

Babagiaiiony and both sides in this strike have declared

Why, then, is tere all this trouble, and why do

not all the millions of workers in the country rush

to join labor unions?

Bluntly, the answer is, first—most employers have not sincerely, or more than sullenly, tive bargaining. Second, the age-old fear of the boss and loss of the job is still apparent in the minds of

workers. ” & n

ART of this is unconscious, but it is the heart of

the problem. You get it from the employers’ “Nobody but me is going to run my plant. My work-

- ONDON, Jan. 4 affairs policy British nation: 1. To build up

accepted collec-

Parliament until

By Drew Pearson

quickly as possible. : : 2. To use every possible diplomatic trick and

maneuver to stave off European war until that re-

armament program is completed. Rearmament has been ballyhooed in the press a=d

Britain Foreign Policy Is to

The Washington Merry-Go-Round

Build Up Big Air Force, Army and Navy

And to Stave Off European War Until Rearmament Is Completed.

27.—Two aims of Britain's foreign are uppermost in the minds of the

a huge air force, Navy and Army as

the man on the street in Great

ers are perfectly satisfied with their company union. Never will T talk about my employees’ affairs to anybody but my employees.” You can’t miss the “fear of the job” complex in personal contact with workers or, lacking that, from the single resounding fact that, although it is so clearly their only salvation, not 7 per cent of workers are organized. Labor leaders—licked in their crusading efforts by the pervading fear and power of the job and the boss—desperately reach for any weapon—violence, intimidation, illegal occupation. politics, government— even threatened revolution. Why will a man delight in shrewd bargaining for a carload of material or 100 horsepower of electrical energy, boasting of his “trading” ability—and yet, with fierce emotion, resent as insulting oppression a suggestion to bargain for 1000 man-hours of lahor for the same purpose? ra iia ; i AR

| nearly two years before they are finished.

Pritain will swear to you that it is going ahead full m. Sea the foreign military attaches know better, especially the Germans, against whom the program is aimed. British Cabinet members know it, too, but are not shouting it from the house-tops. z 8 as EAL fact is that the rearmament program has bogged down. The air program, considered the most important of all, is far behind schedule. British factories are not turning out planes fast enough, and British air strength is still only one-half of Germany's. The naval program so far has consisted of keeping old ships which had been scheduled for the scrap heap. No new ones have been built. The keels of two battleships have been laid, but it will be |

The Army is in worst shape of all. Most: serious handicap is lack of recruits. There are very few. Army intelligence reports that veterans of the World War are an important factor in discouraging recruiting. ” = 2 APT. ANTHONY EDEN, British Foreign Minister, is an ardent pacifist. Strange also is the fact that many other pacifists sit in the Cabinet responsible for Britain’s rearmament program. Among them are: 3 War Minister Duff Cooper . . . such a devout hater of war that he objects to being called “Captain,” a rank he won in France. Maj. Walter Elliott, Minister of Agriculture , . . who actually circulated an office memo asking that he not be called “Major.” Capt. Ormsby-Gore, Minister of Colonies . . other World War veteran. Pacifism is just as rampant outside high government circles. Bishop Shephard, a radio preacher, re= cently asked for voluntary pledges against war, re= ceived three million. Significant also was Viscount Cecil's ballot on the League of Nations prior to the ‘Abyssinian crisis, which got 11,000,000 votes for the League of Nations as ‘an instrument of peace. ~ ; Yet. Englawd is preparing for war. And pacifist Cabinet members are leading the preparation.

. an=

See