Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 24 March 1937 — Page 8

TTENATECON AY AFA MAYrAL SAnm

WENNRINAY WADA PAGE 8

100m

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

DEPLURES OPPOSITION T0 COURT REFORM By R. 8S. S., Brazil

Recently The Times seems to have lined up with Senators Wheeler, Johnson, Norris and Borah. The paper had appeared to be a champion of democracy that the underprivileged might live more abundant lives, The Times criticized the Supreme Court long and loud for decisions in favor of the overprivileged. but now that the opportunity has been given to change this condition, it is lined up solidly against the change, The court issue is the biggest ever to come before the people of this nation and when a practical, workable plan is offered to make good economic laws possible, instead of offering constructive suggestions, all that is done is to knock the plan. Constitutional amendments would take months, perhaps years. Why wait when the Constitution clearly gives the President the right to do what he proposes with the consent of congress. Are some of the Progressives like the soldier who “lays down his arms and runs away, and hopes to fight another day”? In a recent editorial The Times pointed to the enlargement of the Court as a precedent and dangerous when, as a matter of fact, the Court has been changed seven times to date. This neither destroyed the Constitution nor established a dictator. What vardstick is used by the persons who declare that the nine Court justices—who probably could uot be elected in the event that they ran for office—are more competent to rule the nation than 435 Representatives, 96 Senators and the President? » TOWNSHIP GOVERNMENT HELD VITAL TO NATION By Ralph Ross, Muncie Strong township and county gov=ernments should be maintained, as they are the only guaranty of selfgovernment the American people have. Thomas Jefferson said, “Local self-governments are the bulwark of liberty.” When central authority invades the township and other local governments with decrees from higher up, the individual gives up his personal rights and liberties. The great prohibition amendment was a pure example of this. The people overthrew it not because they wanted liquor, but because it is their inherent right not to be dictated to concerning their personal actions by any central authority. Local self-governments by the people are carried on under their eye and can be controlled by them much better than can an all-power-ful central government located hundreds of miles away and having no real knowledge of local affairs. Local governments must neither be encroached on by national seekers after power-—mno matter what guise they wear-—-nor abdicated by the people to the central government under the promise of better government, The histories of the

» »

past governments of the world make |

this fact stand out in a blaze of flame on the dark background of human history. Central government grown autocratic swells and becomes bloated. Tts walls become thin with corruption and inefficiency and then it collapses amid anarchy and ruin, This problem runs far beyond the surface of present day politics. Tt

reaches down to the very roots of |

popular government

The people must keep their hard- |

won freedom and rights. They will, in spite of men and ambitions or stupid politicians.

5 % % HOPES FOR RETURN OF BLUE EAGLE

By Hiram Lackey

I notice that certain reactionaries are delighted by the application of so-called law and order to sit-down strikers, After President Roosevelt converts our courts into institutions favoring not only law and order but the harmony of justice, these reactionaries should be delighted all the time. May I suggest that reactionaries just be patient until we get a new blue eagle with teeth as well as claws, without a court to clip its wings of justice. This king of birds will scratch one set of claws into the back of the sit-down striker but he will clamp the cther set of claws over the mouth of the employer who defies the National Labor Relations Law. Truly this shall be a new and thrilling experience for American advocates of law and order. on » UNIVERSITY PROFESSOR DEFENDS COURT PLAN By Prof. W. Bittner, Bloomington An open letter to Senator Frederick VanNuys: Permit me, in answer to your mimeographed letter, to give some of the “serious consideration” you invite to the vital {issue of the Supreme Court. I do not approve your position because I believe it

Ss.

tends to support that very “indi- |

rection and subterfuge” you condemn.

likely to lend pious sanction to the

assumption that the constitutional |

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and Progress so |

To “pray God” for the sole | use of the amendment procedure is |

AY PE OR artes Seve A ty ‘ FERRE

| practice of adding Justices to the should be no handicap for giving

Court is sacriligious, and to fix the deluded heart on a millenium in | some far-distant other world. If you really want amendments to redress their balance among the branches of the Government by restricting the Court's legislative usurpations, do you suppose you can get them if the President's very mild proposal is rejected? One other matter you mention | touches me deeply as a student of | sociology, your implication that we (should let justices continue their | “conservative” way because you |seem to consider them the sole or chief protectors of our rights. As a student of law, you are surely aware that the Supreme Court has comparatively seldom and very doubtfully protected the right of free speech and assemblage but has frequently construed the “due process” clause and other clauses to

than personal freedom. Further, there is the obvious fact that those justices who dictate the policies of inaction and futility thereby fail to protect the rights |and welfare of millions of our citi- | zens, [assemble effectively, their [to work and live decently. * ow | CARELESS SUNDAY [| DRIVERS WARNED

By John WH. Whitney, Elmhurst, Long Island, N. Y.

| Indianapolis seems to be filled on

| Sundays with a class of drivers who |

like to make pedes{rians jump by pouncing on them and applying their | brakes suddenly, or coming up from | behind at a corner and blowing a | blast. | As a lawyer, I would like to warn | such drivers about what can happen

| to them if they ever strike anyone. | Their number can be taken. The pedestrian can limp to the sidewalk, have witnesses call a policeman and call the driver into court. If the driver has a salary it can be attached partly, or if he owns property, the suit is easy. If you value your car, your income or your property, be careful how you approach a crossing, whether the light is against you or not. It may cost your sense of humor many a day of repentence and penance.

» Ww W TERMS PRESENT SYSTEM OF TAXATION UNJUST

By D. S. Goble The injustice of the present tax system as rated by different town[ships is obvious to anyone who | spends a little time studying its application. As an illustration, take two townships located in one of In|diana’s southern counties. The rate |of one is $2, while the rate of the |other is $350. The rate of the |state and county is the same in cach township, the higher rate is | caused by relief tax. | One farm in this high rate town- | ship is assessed at $8000, fixing the | poor relief share at $120 for this | farm. In other words, this man and | his son must deliver 800 dozen eggs las a donaton to the so-called poor | relief of his township. These eggs | cost something to produce and de- | liver, and to concede that they | might be produced for T's cents | would be close-fisted indeed. That |being true, he must produce an- | other 800 dozen to break even, and las yet have not one fried egg for { his breakfast. | Again, if he pays in milk, he | must deliver 6000 pounds of milk | free to his township trustee, to be {exploited as he sees fit—to those | who never expect to milk a cow. | Again 1 am liberal when I say he | must produce another 6000 pounds | of milk to get an even break, at | which time he goes into the red if he enjoys a glass of milk himself. Should he pay in chickens, he must raise 400 as a donation, with another 400 to break even, yet having no fried chicken up to that point, The farmer of which I speak | arises at 4:30 a. m,, long before the | tax-eaters open their eyes. Admitting the destitution of | some persons from whatever cause, | why penalize the thrifty citizen who happens to live in this township? {Does the thrifty citizen living in the $2 township have no responsibility? Has the citizen who pays no taxes but receives aid and relief the right {to vote for and elect a man who | will look kindly on selected unemployment? Does this system smack somewhat of taxation without representation?

» n ~ JUSTICES’ AGE NO HANDICAP, CONTRIBUTOR BELIEVES By H. V. Allison Political propaganda and failure to use good judgment has divided public opinion on the President's | Court plan. The age of T0 years

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ENT NECESSARY LI. 0026

J «

| MAJORITY, HE SAYS. protect corporate interests rather |

pointing out that the method of |

their freedom to speak and | action of the New York State Legis-

freedom |

a just decision. The years of experience should guide justices to a better under standing of legal and social problems. That would be helpful to all

the people. The NRA was an emergency plan for quick relief. The critics attacked its legality and the Supreme Court found it unconstitutional. The Constitution provides that the Senate and House of Representatives shall have legislative powers. It has been respected by all the courts and the people. Was there any talk of a dictator or violating the Constitution until after the Hoover tailspin? The people will always be the dictators of the United States.

» @ LOBBIES CANCEL WILL OF

By H. L. Dixon The Times has scored again by

ratification by Legislatures is another defective alternative provided by the Constitution, as reflected by the discrepancy in the Gallup poll and the

lature concerning the Child Labor | Amendment. It seems that even the people's representatives cannot always be depended on to execute faithfully the i common will, The pr#ssure of special interests brought to bear by minorities makes a farce of representative government and stultifies the principle of the popular ballot. In this light, the recommendation of ratification by conventions pro- | vided in the proposed O'Mahoney | amendment of 6 to 3 is highly significant. It can easily be inferred that the faction which has heen howling in favor of the amendment | route in the Supreme Court situa- | tion is the same which has blocked | ratification of the Child Labor | Amendment, It has been a contest | between lobbyists of inimical groups. The opponents of political progress and social reform have seized upon every legal loophole and resorted to every ruse at their command to circumvent and defeat the aims of true democratic government. The will of the people is supposed to be supreme, It is, sometimes, Now, we are being assured by one writer that majority rule, the basic principle of democracy, fis often a very dangerous practice. While it is to be conceded that the Supreme Court rendered a great service to American liberty by invalidating the obnoxious legislation against private and religious schools brought about by a postwar antialien, sectarian and racial prejudice, the intelligence of the great American populace ought not to be insulted by comparing its late resounding voice of majority to the mad shouts of these sectional radicals who preached the deceptive a of “100 per cent Americansm.”

” = ” FEARS COURT PROPOSAL'S THREAT TO RIGHTS By James R. Meltzler, Attica

The Fifth and 14th Amendments safeguard the people by denying to state and national governments the power to deprive any person of life, liberty or property without due process of law. Legislatures cannot take away these rights by passing laws, nor can the executive by issuing orders nor bureaus and commissions by publishing rulings. These rights stand in the way of so-called reforms which are mainly laws to compel collective bargaining and minimum hours and wages. These amendments can be repealed by submitting them to the people, or they can be nullified by the tortuous judicial interpretation of a packed and servile court, Discussing scrapping these rights

by amendment, Attorney General Cummings said: “If it affects property rights, the chances of its getting through quickly are practically nil,” Evidently he believes the majority of people will vote to hold on to their liberties and property rights, As evidence of an intent to invade the rights and liberties by unconstitutional methods, we have the NRA, the Guffey Coal Act, the Wagner Labor Relations Act, Senator Galvin’s measure giving employees of eight weeks duration tenure rights and compelling employees to bargain collectively and pay wages based on profits, the Walsh-Healy act, requiring all firms doing more than $10,000 business with the Government to establish a 40-hour week and an eight-hour day and Governor Murphy's disregard of court orders and property rights and his shameless submis sion to Secretary of Labor Perkins’ unguarded remark, “The sit-down strike has not been proved illegal.” As if the seizure by force of one man’s property by others was morally and lawfully right. All these are tendencies toward a court that will overrule the people's constitutional rights and declare that no employer shall be permitted to pay less than $5 for an eighthour day or hire any but union workers, no one shall be allowed to work unless he pays dues to a labor union and then not more than eight hours a day or 40 hours a week, and union labor leaders shall decide hours, conditions. The battle the President is waging against the Supreme Court 4s in reality a war against the property rights and liberties of employers and free labor and in favor of a dictatorship by union labor leaders.

y » » CHARACTER EDUCATION LAW IS PRAISED

By W. S. Hiser, Manual Training High School One of the most important education bills made a law by the recent Yeneral Assembly was House Bill 215, requiring schools to teach character education and citizenship as a regular part of the course of study. It will prove wide-reaching in crime prevention through bringing about better law observance and better law enforcement, It expresses the almost unanimous desire of parents for what they want the schools to do to help their children, It passed the Senate unanimously and the House by a vote of 72 to 9. The Legislators and Governor deserve much credit. The intent and purpose of the law is to make a more effective program of character building. While

no reference is made to the term | character, there is a very definite |

statement to the effect that certain traits, all of which have a bearing on the subject of character education, shall be given attention by both elementary and secondary teachers. Sanford Bates, director of Federal prisons, says: “You won't solve problems of crime by putting people in prison. We must realize, you can protect society better by training than by punishing or depriving.” Clarence Darrow, great criminal lawyer, says: “When a person commits a crime, he does not expect to get caught. That is why punishment never has and never will deter law breakers.” Most crime is committed by boys about 16 years old. The church reaches only one out of four between the ages of 6 and 18. The home has been invaded by other powerful agencies that have narrowed its influence. The State has provided for teaching many things that are no longer a part of home and church training. “Stop crime before it starts. Head off disease before it attacks. The city could better afford to give a child a chance than to pay for courts, lawyers, jails, penitentiaries and electric chairs.”-——Herman Leroy

__ THE INDIANAPOLIS TIMES

THE HOOSIER FORUM

wages and working |

RNIN? BI PT Be

Collins, editor, Philadelphia Enquirer, E. C. Hartwell, superintendent of Buffalo, N. Y., public schools, says: “The public school is the one taxsupported institution on which the state relies for the maintenance of vhose standards of character and citizenship, wwithout which the government in a democracy is inevitably a failure. Character building is not an incidental or accidental objective in the work of the schools. It |is its first, chief and most important duty.” » ”" SUPREME COURT STAND REGRETTED By J. H. Yomin Yep, I have read your editorial, | “Read It and Swear,” and I cussed [it out, as vou suggested, and I've {also cussed the attitude of The | Times regarding allowing [preme Court to run the country. Your position in this matter has been a bitter disappointment to every right-thinking man. » ” ” NEW DEAL WAGE POLICY CRITICIZED By Otto N. Moore Recently there has been a drive for increased wages. Industry and labor have co-operated until wages have been materially increased in certain key industries. The steel interests raised wages and almost immediately a price raise in steel was announced.

increase in the economic scheme all along the way. ing to create a while the manufacturers of | have had a monopoly on steel for For this reason, a

| many years.

Li of competitive price cutting.

| controlled by capital, it is only a the Su-

This means that there must be an |

price raise in steel is made without |

But a raise in the price of steel |

| means eventually a raise in price of all commodities and a con-

of bank credit. The duration

of bank credit expansion. This Kind

and this type of bank credit is not

try but rather as munitions in an unnecessary war between labor and

prices without raising values.

to sustained prosperity, domestic tranquility or any of the other objectives of the Constitution,

u ” ”

| DR. BARNES SUGGESTED FOR COURT POST By Pat Hogan, Columbus

the |

sequent increase in the expansion | of

prosperity is determined by the rate |

of prosperity, we know from ex-| perience, has no rainbow at its end | | destruction of civilization, for the needs of trade and indus- |

capital, or other economic specu- | lative activities which tend to raise | not enjoy it, yet the causes of it

| |

a pedestal and plunged into the vroblem of saving this nation from starvation and bankruptcy, which he has done in spite of the Su. | preme Court. That's why his plap | will succeed, | When other justices are appoint ed,.I want to suggest the names of Dr. Harry Elmer Barnes, John I.. Lewis and Senator Ashurst to represent the people,

rw o REGRETS DIVISION IN RANKS OF LABOR

By Temperatus

Unless men are prejudiced or blind, by this time they should have seen the handwriting on the wall. Labor is on the uptrend and waxing stronger, It is only too evident that, though we still have a government, the machinery of which is

question of time until labor will have the throttle in its grasp. And if people are still sane, and if they can still appreciate the better part of a bargain they will stop | butting their heads against a solid | brick wall and realize that if we are | to save any part of the capitalistic system of government it is far better that capital should yield some ground to labor rather than have labor turn into a revolution. Labor is strong and is growing stronger. There is one sad note, though, It is lamentable that labor should split its strength when so much is at stake, But that is another story. However, if labor can pool its efforts, concentrate on saving the capitalistie form of government, take the reins and be fair, there is much to be gained. One thing is certain, however. No matter to which extreme things go,

the center because there are so very | many people that sit in the middle. ” PUBLIC PUSSYFOOTING CONDEMNED By 8. B. Hetrick, Elwood In articles I have read recently | pertaining to peace, comfort, happiness and intellectual and moral development I learn that some very well informed persons fear

n ”

reason for all this confusion here | on earth, Surely the people of the earth do

| never appear on Federal investiga~ Maximum hours, minimum wages | tion reports. Writers on The Times and higher prices which have been | come as near as it is possible for a the New Deal policy may stimulate | newspaper to approach the subject emotions, but they are not the road |

and still survive, The forum is an important part of any newspaper, In the Hoosier Forum recently a|

| preacher vented his pent-up rage |

| against

Russia, communism and

| socialism, when there is, in reality, |

| no such

thing as a communistic |

| government, unless it is some iso- | | lated tribe, . |

As the Supreme Court issue gath- |

ask himself: stitution created? Aside from the multitudinous the-

ers heat, let every thinking person |

Why was the Con- | v | slurs at Russia,

ories and bogs of legal dogma, above |

| the din of politicians who would

| nomie royalty, discounting

opinion of copperhead journalism expressed by the Sullivans, Lipp-

| remains that the Constitution was | framed for the general welfare. | derstand that. It does not require a legal mind. Indeed, the mind becomes so preserved in legal technicalities that it loses its grip on common sense and justice. As it exists, the Court is a dictator of the most dangerous type. In 5-to-4 decisions we have a dictator who assumes that his wisdom is superior to 500 legislators chosen by the people, and he is there for life. By junking all the New Deal measures, the Court has given us taxation and starvation without representation and it has hurled a vicious insult at the geratest President of all time. Lincoln was a great man because he was one of the common people even

experience, Roosevelt, is

greater because he descend

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{ warp it to fit the desires of eco-| the |

| to apologize.

Why don’t such people take a whack at Hitler or Mussolini? It's safe to talk about and throw | but when a man | here speaks the truth about Hitler or Mussolini, our Government has

| > # % LEGALITY OF SIT-DOWN

| STRIKES UPHELD

| sit-down | Any grade school pupil can un- | Seems so worried about? | down strike is not illegal. The right

legal |

; : | By Milton Siegel | mans and small fry, the simple fact | 8

who understood their problems by |

ed from |

What is there so bad about these | strikes that everybody | The sit-

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Additional Letters From Readers, Page 18.

to strike has been fixed by Amer ican law, and the sit-down strike is as legal as the walkout. Indeed,

the two go together and are applied |

together, Laws against trespass, carried over from a dead past, were clearly never intended to be applied against sit-down strikers. Such jaws were intended to prohibit entry of vandals and thiéves. Sitdown strikers have no desire to destroy or carry away property. They, in most cases, protect property of the company, and they are just as anxious to get back to work as uwnyone is to have them do so. Industrial America knows that labor has discovered a powerful weapon in the sit-down strike. This type of strike is a notice that im-posed-upon working people are more intelligent and courageous and that they intend to get a just share of the wealth they produce. The sit-down strike is here to stay and industry will do well to come to terms with it. In the near future American courts will follow the mandate of labor and conclude that the sitdown strike is legal and that all labor asks is decent treatment en-

forced through collective bargain-

ing, h uw =

PRISON DUNGEONS REPORTED SIMILAR

By a Reader

If anything ever got under my in Tennessee

skin, it was the recent article The Times about the prison dungeon, or torture chamber Why all the fuss? it outright there must

as it is called. Persons called barism and said something to

grand jury investigation,

16-vear-old boy I was

hole--a dungeon or torture chamber

it might be called.

1 was in the hole twice,

bar= be |

the monkey theory | “RIDING COMFORT”

after all, and there was to be a |

| TRAINOR About eight years ago I was do- |

the | ing my bit in the Federal Peniten- |

but they |tiary at Atlanta, that is, if you could | S {x 5 yut they |tiary at Atlanta, Wb is, if you co d = R } N

do not come right out and tell the | oq} two years’ sentence a “bit” for | lucky enough to visit what we called the |

and | there's very little difference between!

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 24, 1037

the pit I was in and the Tennessee chamber I read about, Now, while the Tennessee prison is being investigated, I think it | would be a good idea to investigate all the prisons. ” n HITLER-LA GUARDIA AFFAIR NAZI RUSE, WRITER HINTS By B,C, Within the

”

last several weeks, Adolf Hitler has come at two croppers. He threw in sponge after a long battle with high church officials; and he was presented an ultimatum by Germany's | financial brass hats, who declared { that unless more of the nation's res sources were devoted to trade and less to armaments, wholesale disase ter was imminent. It was shortly afterward that, seizing upon an unfortunate states | ment from America, Hitler's pers sonal news organ brewed a great pot of trouble. To divert the minds of their people from domestic troubles, dictators frequently resort to the device of hurling loud accusations at other countries, So I wonder if Nazi ine dignance over the American inci dent was really sincere, or merely a ruse to keep Germans from suspects ing, perhaps, that their leader slipping.

least

the

is ” TURTLE LETTER RIDICULED By George Baar I recently read George head-twister about turtles. I'll bet the doughnut that when article in The Time swelled so much he his hat on,

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