Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 26 April 1937 — Page 10

PAGE 10

The 1

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MONDAY, APRIL 26. 1937

A DEMOCRATIC WAY OUT

HE Senate Judiciary Committee takes the President’s-

.court-packing bill behind closed doors this week, with Administration Senators apparently under orders to accept no compromise. : It is hard to believe that this unyielding strategy will be pursued to the bitter end to which it would inevitably lead. Granting that Mr. Roosevelt has the political strength to push the six-new-judges measure through Congress, he can hardly afford the consequences of such a victory. For the first time since he entered the White House, Mr. Roosevelt finds the execution of one of his policies entirely dependent upon ‘the party steamroller. In every other important matter he has been able to enlist substantial support from the Republican minority. But in this instance, Republicans in Congress are unanimously in opposition. Moreover, a large number of Democrats, who hitherto have faithfully supported every Administration move, have deserted his leadership, while most of those who remain “loyal” do so only for partisan reasons. And repeated polls of public opinion reveal that the rank and file of the people, who until now have been for practically everything the President advised, protest this raid on the Supreme Court. The revolt is not inspired by any liking for the reactionary philosophy which the Court, until lately, pro- * claimed. That philosophy has been overwhelmingly repudiated by Congress and by the people, by Republicans as well as Democrats. And in its last three important decisions the Court itself has discarded that hidebound point of view. - The latest poll of the Institute of Public Opinion indicated that 65 per cent of the people would favor a constitutional amendment requiring compulsory retirement of judges at 70 or 75. But the people do not want that retirentent brought about by any executive-legislative strongarm act—and that is what the President’s plan is. Some observers say the President feels he cannot shelve his plan in favor of another because it would mean a loss of prestige. That, we believe, is nonsense. The truth is the President, because of this plan, already has suffered in loss of prestige and public confidence. And the best possible way, we believe, for him to regain what he has lost is frankly to admit his mistake and try to reunite the liberal forces of the country behind an acceptable alternative. There are several court-reform proposals, any one of which, in our opinion, a majority in Congress will voluntarily support, and a majority of the people will approve. One of these—the one we think best of all—is the plan upon which those two liberal oppositionists, Senators O'Mahoney and Wheeler, have agreed. It would end all one-judge upsets of acts of Congress and legislatures, by an amendment requiring a two-thirds vote of the Supreme Court on constitutional questions. It would accomplish a lasting court reform, and would do so without taking leave of democratic processes, and without creating bitterness and distrust.

KENTUCKY ARMIES OVERNOR CHANDLER of Kentucky has invited all the Kentucky colonels—their number is estimated at 5000 , —to gather in Louisville on May 7, eve of the Derby, for a “julep reception” and banquet. A good time, no doubt, will be had by all. Having planned mobilization of the Kentucky colonels, Governpr Chandler's next military move should be to demobilize that army of 397 deputy sheriffs, one-fourth of whom have criminal records, who are paid by coal operators to carry on warfare against the unionization of miners in Harlan County. : :

“tucky.

A CONSERVATIVE SPEAKS TANLEY BALDWIN, Britain's retiring Prime Minister, is a former suecessful business man. A life-long conservative and a devout follower of things as they are. So when he speaks of the dangers that menace capitalism, as he did to a London gathering of 1000 of the Empire’s richest employers, businessmen will know they-are not listening to a sentimentalist or a soap-hoxer. Mr. Baldwin did not felicitate these men of England on their increasing profits and rosy prospects. Instead, he - pesought them to look to their country’s derelict areas and to promote enterprises in these “black spots” to give the jobless work. Ie preached a statesmanship that meets changing conditions while preserving the character of the people. And he urged them wisely to reduce working hours lest the speed-up “of mechanized industry undermine “the safety of our country and the sanity of our people.” “] see a danger ahead that our people may become mechanized,” he said. “I dread the mass mind.” The increasing tempo of modern industry and modern life is “a danger both to body and soul.” Employers and doctors should study “the effect of speed on the nerves.” Conservative Americans should heed these words of Britain’s stalwart Premier. A true conservative, Mr. Baldwin knows’ that to conserve the system under which his country and ours have prospered and grown great we must above all else conserve its men, women and children, down to the lowliest.

SHAME ON HER NITED PRESS dispatch from Lincoln, Neb: Dr. Joseph H. Powers, 71-year-old University of Nebraska professor, has asked a divorce because his wife was “inordi-

»

nately jealous,” and tied a thread to his bedroom door °

each night so she would know if he stole from the house. If the charge is true, the wife should be ashamed of herself. Roosevelt could tell her that 71-year-old men are more + pettled in their outlook on life and in%heir habits than that.

‘other states have profited in pro-

That would get some really good publicity for Ken- |

Fair Enough By Westbrook Pegler

New York Legislature Tries to Raise $20,000,000, but Still Fails To Tax Race Track Betting.

EW YORK, April 26.—The raw, larcenous gall of some state Legislatures in perpetrating political swindles sometimes covers up such jobs with an appearance of unreality. Tr

A case in point is the current frantic search for some means of raising 20 million dollars in New York State. The Legislature turned down a pro-

posed. increase of 1 cent in the gasoline tax which was counted upon to provide the money, and various alternatives have been suggested, but nobody has insisted on a race track betting tax which would easily cover the lack. Florida, with a gambling business which is only a fraction of the potential New York turnover, raised almost two million dollars in taxes on the pari‘mutuel traffic this winter, much of this being New York money, and Mr. Pegler’ portion. Yet New York has horse racing and the Legislature has now passed a law to legalize dog tracks, and the gambling rights have been turned over to a lot of bookmakers, who form a colony of the political’ and social underworld, as a political concession. It is a good deal as though the State were to parcel out fishing or mining rights in a state preserve to a group of private individuals, for the gambling concession is

state property and could be worked with great profit. °

But the State Legislature, though it legalized race track gambling after many years of nominal illegality, refused to do anything to legalize the pari-mutuel system whereby the public treasury would collect a percentage of every dollar wagered through the ma-

chines. ” 2 ”

GAINST the mutuel system it is urged that the wear and tear on a dollar soon consumes it all. If the tax and the breakage amounts, to say, 10 per cent, the dollar is used up after 10 transactions and

“must be replaced by a dollar of fresh money. This

theory, however, has not diminished the traffic. in Maryland, where the machines have operated {for many years, or in Kentucky, Illinois, Florida or other states. { Bookmakers employ clerical staffs, and their costs of operation run so high that they are bound; to take down at least as much as the State would collect in taxes before they can count on a profit. The proof is seen in the fact that the pari-mutuels consistently pay better odds in the mutuel states than the books pay in New York. I am unable to suggest any explanation of this hesitancy except the obvious interest of political organizations in a method which throws at least $20,000,000 a year of potential taxes into the hands of individuals. : » ” ” HAT privilege was established by law, a generous gift to a select class with notorious underworld connections, and it is protected by the Legislature even at a time when every other class of people, with the

=single exception. of the tax-exempt public employees,

must shower down to compensate the exemption of the gambling racket. 8 The gambling industry, though large, is a furtive and mysterious rogue in the life of the country, much given to bribery and corruption, but even the most conservative .states, including New Hampshire, have thrown up their hands and legalized it in recent years in order to make the underworld pay its share of the cost of Government. :

tous King,

ws Ne Hn a

The Hoosier Forum

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

CALLS FOR BLOW AT COURT'S “DIVINITY” By Ira Polley, Bloomington There is an urgent need for the adoption of the President's Court plan which is noteworthy for .its practicability. In spite of, _or perhaps . because of, the old Guard Republican propaganda, the New Deal's program was over=whelmingly indorsed last November. Nevertheless, the efforts of the present Administration have been seriously hampered by judicial veto. In its endeavor to give actuality to the expressed will of the American people, the New Deal has not been overruled by the Court so much because it was trying to operate beyond the Constitution, but because the conservatives and reactionary oracles have resorted to departure from sound principles to overrule legislative policy in contradiction to their own social, polit-

J ical and economic philosophy.

The Court has violated the sound judicial guides of presuming in favor of the constitutionality of a measure until the contrary is proved beyond all reasonable doubt and of refusing to consider the wisdom of expediency or a legislative act. Those in desperation do not® attempt to justify the Court's attitude but hurry to offer clearly impracticable solutions. These suggestions are self-imposed limitation, legislative enactment, and constitutional amendment, - The expediency of a constitutional amendment is debatable. Certainly to secure more effective and direct action it is not advisable. Less than 5 per cent of the people could bleck an amendment. What is needed is to have the present plan passed and then a very carefully constructed amendment to increase the power of Congress or even to change some of the provisions in Article 3 may be offered for adoption. A blow at the divinity of the Court is needed. # 8a = ATTACKS IDLE GOSSIP. AS DANGEROUS POISON By Frank L. Martino Sr. I am happy that the lot has fallen ‘upon me to help some unfortunate people not to hurt'themselves and others with the unnecessary, freely used words: 1 “Thou shall not bear false wit-

\ ness,” @ solemn conimand which has come thundering down almost from the dawn of civilization. Slander is false witness. Today, when every man or woman is truly a neighbor and when news travels on the wings of lightning, that command: means more than it did in those days when first it was written on tablets of stone. The idea that slander is poison is as old as literature. Juvenal called it “that worst of poisons,” and St.

General Hugh Johnson Says—

Pittsburgh Seems

ITTSBURGH, April 26. — The last time I was in this town of Pittsburgh, it was in a flood— literally up to its eyes. Its industries were paralyzed and, to casual observers, it looked as if it had suffered a crimp from which it could not recover for months. : This time it is different. I have been coming to Pittsburgh for years, and it is no exaggeration to say that on none of these occasions did this town seem so soundly prosperous as now. There may have been greater activity in 1918 and 1929, but it was of an artificial, feverish somewhat crazy kind. That isn’t the tempc of this steady improvement of recovery that is reflected equally on all” charts, in the appearance of the industrial and mercantile sections and in talks with both managements and workers. There is a feeling of confidence disturbed only by the news out of Washington on the Court question and the labor situation. Nl ” ” ”

HE former is largely academic and the latter is calming down. It is quieting largely because of the result of the steel agreement with C. I. O.: The latter result is astonishing. Wage agreements have been quietly negotiated with 86 companies to the apparent satisfaction of both sides. : o ‘Management seems to have been agreeably surprised by their experience with Mr. Philip Murray, both during negotiations and especially afterward. I could have told them about Mr. Murray in the

beginning. I would as soon trade with him on any

Soundly Prosperous, On the Wane Since the Agreement Reached by Steel and C. |. O.

With Labor

(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.)

Bernard wrote, “Slander is a poison which extinguishes charity, both in the slanderer and in the person who listens to it; so-'that a single calumny may prove fatal lo an indefinite number of souls, since it kills not only those who circulate it, but also those who do not reject it.” More often than not, the slander that may bring about a person's ruin begins in gossip that may at first come from nothing worse than idleness. It is one of the greatest evils of the world and springs, generally, from ignorance. We find it chiefly among those who have little to do and no particular object in life. The danger of exaggerated talk besets us all. It is so easy to add a little to something one has heard and with a little added here and there harmless gossip may turn to cruel slander. We must be honest in things we repeat. and careful in all that we say. If our own eyes and. ears deceive. us at times, as we know they do, you may be sure that truth loses much in coming through a dozen eyes and ears. If a thing sounds false, let us believe it false until we find it true. Let us think good of all until investigation proves otherwise, = ” 2

CREDITS JUSTICE HUGHES WITH SAVING COURT By Bull Mooser, Crawfordsville Chief Justice Hughes will go down

in history as our greatest Chief Justice, for there is no doubt that he

MELODY OF SPRING

By MARY P. DENNY

Song of bird at break of dawn, Glint of light across the-lawn. Blue birds singing, Joy bells ringing. All the world is glad today, Flowers are blooming in the way— Bfue bell, violet, daffodil

| Shining by the running rill.

Breath of spring within the air, All the way is bright and fair. Crocus shining heart of gold, Lilies white their light unfold. Joy of life in everything Set to melody of spring.

DAILY THOUGHT

I said in mine heart, Go to now, I will prove thee with mirth, therefore enjoy pleasure: and, behold, this also is vanity.—Ecclesiastes 2:1. :

Sr ——— - OTHING is so credulous as vanity, or so ignorant of what becomes itself.—Shakespeare.

Difficulties

saved the Supreme Court as an American institution. The dispute between the Court and the people could not go on forever. Mr. Hughes is great in that he recognized this situation and sacrificed his pride in accepting defeat, before defeat that would have meant the elimination of the power of the Court to declare laws unconstitutional. The question was raised, “What are "the duties and powers of the Supreme - Court?” Mr. ‘Hughes avoided this question by sacrificing a little of the Court's power. He proved himself a better diplomat and politician than even John Mar-. shall in swinging his Court to this bit of strategy, for he didn't have the kind of Court that Marshall had. . Moreover, no Chief Justice was ever opposed by so much erganized strength on the part of the people. Mr. Hughes whipped his Court into retreating a little in order to take up a position on more tenable ground. He avoided what appeared to be Waterloo and came out victor. He saved the Court—the same one that we had before the battle. Regardless of whether this is a good thing for the nation, we cannot deny that Mr. Hughes is great for having accomplished it. History judges Chief Justices not by what they do for the people, but by what they .do for the Court.

” 2 ”

DOESN'T FEAR ROOSEVELT AS DICTATOR

By John Greene, Lebanon

I'm sure Mabel German would rather see times as they are now than as they were five or six years ago, when 4000 banks were closed, many factories were idle and farmers, together with everyone else, were broke. I know it isn’t time to cry—it's time for rejoicing. - We have the

greatest President the country ever had. If he had wanted to be a dictator he could have been in 1933 when everyone was praying for him to do something. Now that times are better, he is called a dictator. It will take him four more years to get the country out of Republican graft. : Mrs. German speaks of three branches of government. Until recently there was only one branch— the judicial. The Constitution was made for 13 states, but now there are 48. The men who made it never dreamed of a civilization like today’s. : / There will be relief as long as a big-hearted man like Roosevelt is President. I cried more than once in 1931 and 1932. when my family was cold and hungry. I don't want any mere of “Herbie's” prosperity around the corner, and I'm not worrying about a dictator.

Roosevelt's

Mrs.

Friendliness

lt Seems to Me |

By Heywood Broun

'Trial' of Trotsky Conducted By His Friends Is a Odd .Exhibition, Writer Thinks.

EW YORK, April 26.—I am distinctly puzzled by those liberals who strained at the hearings in Moscow and yet blithely swallow the present trial of Trotsky. In regard to the Moscow trial it may be out of order for one who was not present

to make any extended comment. But I heard a long first-hand report last night from a fellow journalist

at the very beginning those vague and ridiculous rumors about some secfet sort of drug or mass hyp= notism and rot of that kind And then some of the members of the small group which sat

around went after my newspaper,

friend quite hard with queries about the possibility of a third degree or pressure being brought by threats concerning relatives or friends. To this line of questioning it

seemed to me that my friend °

Mr. Broun made effective answers. He said

that several of those who stood

trial in Moscow had been in the Tsar's police and:

that under the tortures admittedly practiced then these men did not break down. And, for that matter, the Nazis with their well-known prison methods got no confession from Dimitriofi. I think there is a disposition to forget that the verdict reached in Russia was not found in. any core ner. but no limit was placed upon what the prisoners chose to say when they were called upon for state=ments. Reporters and diplomats from many countries were present, and my particular newspaper friend who

covered the trial at the time did not find himself -

limited by the censorship in the accounts he cabled. 8 r 2

WILL admit that he is undoubtedly expert in the

technique of edging things by even sharp-eyed officials. But last night he sat without any sort of pressure upon him. - His inside story of the trial was just about the same as his outside story. In other words, he felt that there had been a conspiracy and that the defendants were justly convicted. I have heard some criticize the Soviet verdicts on the ground that one of our principles is that no man

shall be convicted upon a confession without some . I am not sure whether or not that is a principle, but I do know that it is by no

supporting testimony.

means the invariable ‘American practice. ” ” ”

UT whether one likes the Soviet judicial system or is repelled by it, it must be admitted that a trial was held in Russia. The “ordeal” to which Mr. Trotsky is being submitted at the present time is no trial at all but merely a fireside chat. Not very much could be expected even if the investigators were of tougher fiber. It is difficult to put pointed and punishing questions to a fellow house guest. . I can think of the names of two or three hard-

boiled newspapermen who might get something out , of the exile. But it must be remembered that Trotsky. .

is no stranger to pressure and that he is in a spot where the line of attack is something he can easily ward off with his left hand. I think that John Dewey is one of the [finest and

most kindly men this country has ever produced, :

but I can think of ten or twenty million others more skilled in the art of cross-examination. Indeed, the whole Mexican farce represents a pitiful attempt to break a wheel upon a butterfly.

The Washington Merry-Go-Round

Resulted in Some

To President and Associates in Troubled Puerto Rican Situation.

proposition as with any industrialist I know—not only because of his reasonableness and courtesy, but also because of his absolute dependability in carryIng his contracts to the letter—no matter what it

If all labor leaders were Philip Murray, there would be none of this trouble.

s 8 » . T= Is now a thoroughly unionized town in a fairly unionized state with a labor-minded Governor. A union man for Lieutenant Governor, and ‘a union-minded Legislature. I am told that the whole situation was potentially explosive before the steel agreements. It certainly does not seem so now. Perhaps I am overemphaflzing this but it seems to me to point the basis for a conjecture that this turbulence of sit-down strikes, hostility and danger is on the wane. If only the automobile settlements turn out as well, the disturbed sentiment in the whole country ought to experience the same calming. There is one big fly in the ointment. With all this

activity there is still considerable unemployment. Just -

{rom visual observation, one reason suggests itself— all ‘the institutions seem to be running with insufficient staffs. In the incredible absence of a census, the great research department of the University of Pittsburgh could make a telling contribution. Compute how many dollars of sales per employee there were in the Pittsburgh industries in this month of

1929, 1934 and 1937. It is uy guess that the comve resu Would be shoking. i

parative result

Lyetl

By Drew Pearson and Robert S. Allen ASHINGTON, April 26.—Mrs. Roosevelt is ‘always so anxious to please that her charm sometimes gets the President and his associates into: trouble. : Without knowing it, she has been used by Puerto Rican insurrectionists to help undermine her husband’s own officials in Puerto Rico. What happened was that Mrs. Roosevelt some time ago became acquainted with Luis Munoz Marin, young Puerto Rican political leader, introduced to her by a newspaper correspondent. As time passed, Marin became one of the’ chief fomenters of antiU. S. A. agitation in the island. This agitation has become more and more heated, culminating in the shooting of a parade of Puerto Rican insurrectionists not long ago. :

8 ” 8

BOUT this time, Luis Munoz Marin asked for an- . other interview with Mrs. Roosevelt, and, thanks to the pressure of the newspaper correspondent, who is a close friend of Mrs. Roosevelt, it was granted. Result was that next day Puerto Rican papers featured the news that Mrs. Roosevelt had received one of the leaders of the anti-American movement. The inference was that she favored this leader and opposed Dr. Ernest Gruening, her husband's Director of

- Word has now J

Insular Affairs. : fn n passed to the First Lady to

} &

Note—Impartial observers who have stlidied the Puerto Rican situation believe Dr. Gruening and Gove ernor Winship are doing a good job in a trying situae tion. Most ‘people don't realize it, but Puerto Rican agitators are often as fully armed as Hitler's Brown Shirts. The recent shooting occurred when demonstrators appeared carrying rifles. been given them to parade without rifles, but they

showed up with them. ! #8 =

HERE is more behind the visit of Belgium's Pre=

mier Van Zeeland than the Administration wants

to admit. rh

Questioned about it at a press conference, Roose= . vélt dismissed the matter with. a wave of his hand

and the statement that Van Zeeland was coming over to get an honorary degree from Princeton. Jo! Actually, the Belgian is coming over, in effect, to take up Cordell Hull on his talk about trade confere ences. . Europe so long has been hearing Mr. Hull harp on his thesis that the way to bring about world peace is to better world trade, that it has now d see whether this is real talk or just State Department prattle. > Premier Van Zeeland, a very statesman who got part of his education in the U. S. A., actually is the stooge for the French and British

In making Uns pigHmass * Upon his conversations . ere will depend -largely the proposal holding an= other world economic conference. i : 5

Rather

Embarrassment

Permission had -

ided to. .

competen young

i

{

The Soviet trial method is quite unlike our own,

MONDAY, APRIL 26, 1937 ) Again By Talburt oe |

i ©.