Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 12 May 1937 — Page 13

TET

“Liberal View!

By HARRY ELMER BARNES

NEW YORK, May 12.—Of all the objections raised against the President’s court plan, it seems to ‘me that the: most palpable example of well-meaning folly is the argument that it would create a dangerous precedent for a dictator-President.

In the first place, as it has been pointed out time :

and again, Roosevelt is setting no precedent. Congressional action to determine the size of the Supreme Court is one of the most venerable of all the heritages in our constitutional system. The precedent has been there for generations. Moreover, even if it were true that Roosevelt is setting a precedent in his proposal, he would already have done so whether his plan is adopted or not. His plan has received vast publicity. Any American dictator would remember the occasion. And if he were a dictator Roosevelt's defeat would have no chastening effect. 1 A dictator would not have to fear Congressional opposition. There can be no dictatorship under our system of government. So long as we have representative government Congress can restrain the President if the people wish it to do so. And the Senate can protect the Supreme Court through its veto on appointments to the bench. It is somewhat amusing that those who are raising the cry of dictatorship with respect to the Roosevelt plan are, in fany cases, advocating something far more likely to facilitate dictatorship, namely, an amendment to curb the veto power. of the Court over legislation. If one thinks the Court is’ our chief bulwark against dictatorship the amendment plan would be far more dangerous than the Roosevelt plan.

# 2 2 Dictatorship Implies Destruction

ICTATORSHIP means the suspension of representative government. If set up here it would imply the destruction of our whole constitutional system, which is inseparably connected with the representative system. Congress could be sent home, as Bonaparte dissolved the Directory, or it could become a national . chorus, as is the case with the German Reichstag under "Hitler. It has been argued that we need the Court to protect us against the development of dictatorial tendencies. If one wishes that more than he desires social justice then we might better sit tight on the Court matter. A curbing amendment would lessen the powers of the Court in this field. ” z u

Court Backs Government

ICTATORIAL tendencies come only crises and periods of extreme tension. The air is . then unusually charged with conversation and patriotism, as in war. The Supreme Court has almost always fallen in heartily with the Government in such times, for it has never failed to put its stamp of approval on emergency measures designed to promote conservatism and patriotism. Backing away from the excitement still further, one must always keep in mind that, aside from war, the chief basis for any dictatorial movement in this country will be the breakdown of our economic order. And this cannot be averted unless we can get progressive legislation past the Court. We have our choice between the bogey of dictatorship, raised by our dust-throwing liberals, and the reality of dictatorship which will be upon us in due time if Roosevelt fails.

Mrs. Rooavelrs Day

By ERFANOR ROOSEVELT

EW YORK, Tuesday.—I reached New York City yesterday afternoon and visited two of my family who are temporarily laid up. My mother-in-law says that everyone now knows that she broke two of the bones in.her ankle and therefore has her foot in a plaster cast and cannot be her usual active self. She kept it absolutely secret for a whole week until she was sure her letters explaining the injury was slight would reach both my husband and myself. I doukt very much if he received her letter until after my telegrams reached him saying I had seen her and she seemed extremely well and would prohably profit by the rest. A quiet evening with a friend and much work. This morning I finally had a chance to try on some clothes which I ordered six weeks ago! I meant to have a spring suit to wear when I went West, but something turned up and I never had a chance to try it on. I discovered an old one did quite as well. It’s probably a good thing, for the new suit ought to last me an extra season as its usefulnes$ this spring will be rather short. The gexhibition of schoolwork at the Todhunter School takes place this afternoon and then I am going to see the exhibit which the New York World's Fair Committee has on the first floor of the Empire State Building. There are drawbacks in being so easily recognized. As I hurried along yesterday afternoon, someone stopped me and said: “I will never have another chance to talk to you and I have keen waiting for a long time tc get your consideration of my case. I want a civil service rating and a Government job, but I can’t get it unless I can have one of those Presidential appointments.” I had to explain at some length that the President had no private appointments in the civil service; that he could invite people to serve in his Cabinet «subject to the ratification of Congress and he could dppoint people to various other important offices, also subject to Congress; TEIN, approval,

New Books PUBLIC LIBRARY PRESENTS—

F course you've planned at some time or other to get away from the trials of civilization and try simple life on an island. If you want to know how it’s

Dr. Barnes

done, read ESCAPE TO THE TROPICS, by Desmond °

Holdridge (Harcourt). Living in New York on just enough to buy food and shelter and some clothes, with no future prospects, two young museum workers who want to marry decide to search for a better, fuller life. Holdridge finds it in the Virgin Islands. He sends for his fiancee, and they are married for 40 cents and set up housekeeping in “The Shoebox,” an artist's shack on a promontory of St. John’s Island, where there are only seven white people. Living on a small income, they swim and write and read. . The latter part of the book is devoted to Holdridge’s trip up the Marowyne River in Dutch Guinea to learn the truth of the legend that Paul Redfern, missing aviator, is alive in a native village in the interior. Like Peter Fleming in “Brazilian Adventure,” who went on the same mission, Holdridge comes to the conclusion that there is or was a white airman living with the interior tribes, but that the stories of those who claim to have talked with him are false. Like Fleming, too, Hoidridge was forced to give up before he could reach the village in question, but he believes another expedition should be sent. - -4 t-3 n

HE intricate relationships existing among people, Parliament, and King of Great Britain, brought afresh to our minds by the abdication of Edward VIII and the coronation of George VI, form the subject matter of THE KING AND THE IMPERIAL CROWN (Longmans, Green) by A. Berriedale Keith. Long noted for her ability to “muddle through” difficulties and inconsistencies to some workable plan, England has managed to establish a place for her King in a democratic government, where he is bound by precedent, the unwritten constitution, and Parliamentary enactments, yet is not a mere figurehead. Mr. Keith shows how the crown became hereditary. He traces the rise and decline of the idea of the divine right of kings. He explains the obligations of the Prime Minister to the King, and the | limits within which the King may exert his influence, carry out his convictions, and fulfill his duty as interpreter cf the people’s will, This volume covers every phase of the crown's duties and restrictions. Sober, thorough, yet not unenlivened by flashes of humor, it is the work of a Scot who is an authority on the constitution of the British Empire.

Daniel Francis Clancy of Logansport has published & book of his poems called “Rain on the Leaves.”

in social

imes

Er,

second Section

WEDNESDAY, MAY 12, 1937

Entered as Secomd-Class Matter Indianapolis, ‘Ind.

at Postoffice,

4 PAGE 13

BRITAIN CROWNS HER NEW RULERS

Londor Dons Its Soy Best For the Coronation of George VI

. For several weeks preceding the ceremony today, rehearsals of the coronation were held. Here, artillerymen guide their gun horses through lanes of cheering troops to accustom them to the cheers of ths crowds. soldiers are members of the 17th Field Brigade, R. A, and the rehearsal took place at Woolwich Common, Lon-

don.

2. London's East End was ready for the coronation of George VI and Queen Elizabeth. This view shows Stoney Lane, Aldgate, decorated with Union Jacks and bunting.

The

. Rehearsals of the actual coronation service and ceremony also were held. Two of the leading characters in the procedure are shown here. of Canterbury: (Dr. Cosmo Gordon Lang) and right, the Dean of Westminster (Dr. Foxley Norris). dignitaries had just left a rehearsal in Westminster Abbey when this photo was taken.

4, This is the first view Londoners and visitors saw

Left, the Archbishop

The two church

Tilbury, Essex. Capt. Sukuna.

—Acme Photos.

of the coronation annex tc Westminster Abbey. The an--nex was hidden until recently by a high board fence. 5. Delegates from all parts of the British Empire attended the ceremonies in which their new King and Queen were crowned today. Here in smart, albeit skirted, uniforms, are the Fiji Islands delegates, as they arrived in They are Lieut.

_Cakobou (left) and

U. S. GRADE CROSSING FATALITIES DECLINE, BUT INDIANA RATE IS UP

WENTY years ago,, about 10 per cent of all motor vehicle deaths were directly attributable to accidents at railroad grade crossings. In 1935, the proportion had dropped to something less than 4 per cent, and for 1936 it will, in all probability, be about the same when final totals are assembled. Large-scale* grade crossing elimination programs, coupled with modern signal installations, have done much to control the hazard where road and railroad meet except in a handful of Midwestern states, which recorded. more accidents of this type in 1936 than all other sections of the United States combined. The “favorable” national showing in recent years is, of course, purely comparative. Grade crossing smashes continue to take an annual toll of hundreds dead and maimed, but—their numerical trend is downward, while figures for all other types of motor accidents are skyrocketing to new heights. In Indiana, there were 159 grade crossing fatalities in 22736, as compared with 120 in 1935. In 1936, 283 were injured as compared with 302 the year previously. The accidents per 100 crossings last year were 4.25, the study showed.

2 2 8 N 1917, 1083 motorists died at grade crossings, and 3000 were injured. But — in 1917, the United States had only 4,983,000 registered motor vehicles, which figures out at 8.19 crossing casualties for every 10,000 motor cars. In 1936, the total of crossing victims was 1526 dead and 4669 injured. But—in 1936 there were about 28,000,000 registered motor cars, or 2.21 crossing casualties to every 10,000. From another angle the 1936 total of crossing deaths and injuries was only 51.73 per cent greater than the 1917 total, and the 1936 total of registered motor cars was 461.91 per cent greater than the 1917 total. Grade crossing casualties per 10,"000 registered motor vehicles in the last 20 years have been as follows: 1917, 8.19; 1918, 6.99; 1919, 6.33; 1920, 5.69; 1921, 5.05; 1922, 4.78; 1923, 4.75; 1924, 4.17; 1925, ‘3.86; 1926, 3.83; 1921, 3.48; 1928, 3.42; 1929, 3.18; 1930, 2.60; 1031, 2.29; 1932, 2.11; 1933, 2.01; 1934, 2.17; 1935, 2.24; 1936 (estimated on basis of 28,000,000 cars), 2.21. It will be seen that the decade, 1920-1929 inclusive, showed a sharp and continuous decline of this type of accident as compared with rapidly increasing numbers of motor cars in daily use. During the last seven years the proportion of crossing accidents to registered motor vehicles has fluctuated narrowly between 2.01 and 2.60 per 10,000.

8 2 ”

ATEST compilations by the Interstate Commerce Commission show a slight numerical increase in crossing deaths and injuries in 1936 compared with 1935, this rise being compensated by a larger increase

in the number of automobiles registered throughout the nation. The 1936 total of all crossing casualties was 6195, including 1526 fatal and 4669 nonfatal injuries, against 1935 figures which showed 5887 - casualties, including 1445 ‘deaths and 4442 injuries. As of Dec. 31, 1935, there were 233,220 grade crossings in*the United States, of which 203,205—87.1 per cent—had no special protection other than stationary signs or barriers. Special protection surrounded 30,015 crossings, of which 3883 had gates or watchmen on duty 24 hours a day, 594% had gates or watchmen less than 24 hours a day, 10,168 had both visible and audible automatic signaling devices, 3443 were equipped with audible signals only, and 6572 with visible signals only. Changes in the number of grade crossings in this country have been negligible in the last 10 years, though many have been equipped with more modern traffic safeguards. The safest states in the Union so far as grade crossing accidents are concerned are the heavily populated states along the North Atlantic seaboard. These nine states had only 663 casualties from crossing accidents in 1936, or 10.70 per gcent of the nation’s total.

HE 16 South Atlantic and Midsouth states had 1640 casualties, or 26.47 per cent of the national total, and the 11 Far West states 690 injuries or deaths—11.13 per cent of the national total.

An even dozen Middle West

‘states had more grade crossing ac-

cidents than all other parts of the nation combined, 56.35 per cent of all deaths, and 50.13 per cent of all injuries. And of these 12 states, the commonwealths of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Michigan were by far the most perilous, judging from their accident records. These four states alone accounted for 636 grade crossing deaths, or 41.67 per cent of the national total and 1451 nonfatal injuries, or 31.07 per cent of the national total.

The District of Columbia had the cleanest record in the nation—no deaths charged to grade crossings in two full years, despite the fact that it has 36 such crossings, of which only four are fully protected. Rhode Island had a clean record for grade crossing deaths in 1935 and 1936, but recorded one injury this year and three injuries last, year.

OLD AMERICAN MAID

sota. says Prof. Jenks. in an ancient Minnesota lake bed,

with her skull.

‘

There’s discussion over the age of “Minnesota Girl,” America’s most mysterious young lady, here officially reconstructed and portrayed under the supervision of Prof. A, E. Jenks of the University of MinneShe’s 20,000 years old and the oldest authenticated American, Some other anthropologists say her skeleton, found

is not different from those of the

Sioux Indians who fought the white man. The shell do-dad was found

on ress Idle

in Absence

Of Roosevelt, Clapper Says

By RAYMOND CLAPPER Times Special Writer

ASHINGTON, May 12.—Drift ¥ and lassitude have overcome Washington since President Roosevelt has been away on his fishing trip. Golf, week-end junkets, short routine sessions, and time-killing speeches have marked the laziest session ‘which Senators and Representatives have known since the quiet days of the Coolidge era, when all that a conscientious legislator had to do was to get into the market on the long side and then relax. It was big news when an owl flew into President Coolidge’s bed-

‘room one night, and again when he

made the White House staff save old paper clips and turn in stubs of used pencils to obtain fresh ones. When the President was discovered to be riding an electric horse, that was a sensation.

Perhaps illusions that those days are coming back, or at least a longing for them, have sapped the vitality of Congress. Or it may be only a severe case of spring fever. The rule is to put off until tomorrow

what could be done today. The tendency is to let down and take it easy. Friends of Roosevelt say that when he gets back to town he will shake everything up and get action. That is the way he operates. He lets business drift for a while and then he steps in. So, we are told, when Roosevelt gets back he will crack down on Congress and you'll ‘see things happen.

2 2 »®

HAT makes good drama, but it does raise some disturbing questions. Has the New Deal shot its bolt? Has it reached the point where it can be kept going only with the help of Roosevelt's motive power? Is Congress just taking a breathing spell or has it cooled off and definitely lost its enthusiasm?

‘cept under strongest White House

pressure. And the White House has run low on plans to press. It must wait until next winter before proposing to deal with revision of the antitrust: laws because it has not yet evolved a policy. “Does the Administration leadership consist solely of President Roosevelt? Congress is balking, saying it won't do this or that. Such assertiveness as exists is on the negative side. Has Roosevelt failed to develop enough enthusiastic leadership in Congress so that it will carry on without his constant prodding? It begins to look that way when leadlers stand around and say they can’t do anything until Roosevelt comes back and tells them what he

{1 wants.

” 8 2

HE picture that appears in the fifth year of the New Deal is of a President who has voiced - the objectives and hopes of the country

so sympathetically that it supports him overwhelmingly on election day and then forgets about him. From then on everything is left to Roosevelt personally. Roosevelt operates personally. . He projects his court reorganization plan without prior consultation with House and Senate leaders. Even now, in face of strong opposition in Congress, his leaders must wait upon him to find out what they must do with regard to compromises, or to pressing for a vote. In this, as in everything else, they have taken a passive attitude, and have become completely dependent upon the White House. Roosevelt's description of himself as the quarterback is less apt than formerly because the team has gone to pieces. On the Administration side, the New Deal has become almost a one-man show. The President is surrounded with a .Jfew minor persons who serve as his contact men and who race | around Washington between the White House and the Capitol cartying his orders when he has any. His liaison is weak and Congress has sunk into a let-George-do-it mood. This trend of affairs is apparent to everyone in. Washington and is causing no little concern among some who want to see the New Deal become more than a mere skin rash. Because if this trend continues, one of two things is likely to result. Either the New Deal is doomed to be washed out like marks on the sand after the retirement of Roosevelt in 1940, with the city bosses and their machines recapturing control of the Democratic Party from the New Dealers, or else the cry will go up that Roosevelt must take a ‘third term to save the New Deal. One

result would be just about as bad as the other.

HEARD IN CONGRESS

ENATOR WAGNER (D., N. Y,, replying to Senator Vandenberg’s charges of waste and exploitation in relief)—We heard these matters discussed so frequently during the campaign that surely both the Senator and I have tired of them, but I think he ought to substantiate the serious charges he now makes. . . . The Senator will remember that Mr. Knox in his campaign speeches™. . . predicted that the moment Mr. Roosevelt should be elected the country would collapse. The Senator from Michigan has generously put off the collapse for a year or two. . . . The only result of the appeal of the Senator and his party was that the President was overwhelmingly re-elected. , ys 4 Ee ga i PE

Felt ‘Henry Esmond’ Too Short

Our Town

I BELIEVE people were more contented when I was a boy. They stayed at home more than they do now. What’s more, they stayed at home for exactly the same reason that they leave home nowadays. I don’t know whether it’s fair to say thaf people

nowadays are discontented because they don't stay at home, but I'll bet it’s pretty close to the truth. Anyway, people used to have a lot of} fun staying

at home, and it had more to do { with their happiness than you think. I'm sure of it ‘because when you get right down to it, a contented person is one who gets fun out of living. And certainly, nobody has invented anything better than the home as a place to do the living.

Of course, I'm talking about the kind of home all of us had when we were kids-2the kind with the truck garden back of the house, and the chicken yard, and the pear tree and the room with the bookcase full of books. Especially the big books because, looking back as I am today, I dan’t think of anything that contributed more to our contentment than the reading of the big books.

Maybe you don’t know. it, but when I was a boy, we read books for the fun of it. As a matter of fact, the fun of reading was measured by the bulk of the book—the bigger the book, the more fun we had reading it. Indeed, I remember the fun cof reading big books so well that I still entertain a notion, fool ish as it may appear, that a book has to be big to be good. And I'm just as sure that it has to be ‘big to be great. It takes a lot of pages, for instance, to tell everye thing there is to know about a boy like David Cope

perfield. And about a man like Henry Esmond, too, for that matter.

Mr. Scherrer

” 2 ” *

DON'T know how the rest of you felt re it the time, but big as the book was, the “His f Henry Esmond,” appeared much too short the st time I read it. I had a feeling that Mr. Thackeray was holding out on me, because certainly there was a lot more to tell about Mr. Esmond.

I learned better when I tackled it the second time, because in the second reading I caught the lovely tenderness of the story. In the third reading, which wasn’t so very long ago, I caught the sustaining spirit that ennobles the tale—the spirit of proud paradn and unquestioning renunciation.

3 ” ” Three Reddings Necessary

AYBE my dullness didn't let me capture the whole story at one reading, but I don’t think so. Anyway, I like to believe that “Henry Esmond” is so big that it takes three i three different periods of life—to get the whole: Rh If I don't stop rambling I never Will get to the point of today’s piece. What I really want to say is that I can't help noticing that big books are coming back again. Why even the Pulitzer people are finding it out. It’s a good thing, too. At any rate, “G-ne W-th the W-nd” kept an awful lot of I apolis people indoors this winter. Maybe people are learning our old trick of how to be happy without leaving" home.

A Woman's Vi By MRS. WALTER FERGUSON HE technique .of public speaking is always changing, but unfortunately many of our speakers haven't found that qut. Very often those who consider themselves world wonders proceed ace cording to rulés-laid down for 19th So orators, The result can be guessed. Take, for example, the little matter. s “getting in touch with your audience,” as it is called. The idea is to obtain the at jon of everyone present, and according to an exc t- little tract put out by the Speakers Institute hicago, this may be done by touching upon somé sentiment common to all, “a compliment go the town or audience, or a humorous story ne will fit the occasion, or the mention of a reyered) name.” In our experience—and it has been a bitter one— the average speaker Juses the first and second methe ods combined, and we wish he wouldn't. Fulsome compliments are bad enough, but he treads upon dangerous ground indeed when he begins with a funny story. In the old days, audiences were not always familiar with the latest thing in humor or wise-cracks. Any stale bit about mothers-in-law or bossy wives, or a tale in Negro dialect, would make the country yokels howl with delight. Jokes fetched in by the city slickers, even though they were as old as Father Time, could stir gales of laughter. But the ether sizzles these days with smart cracks from every radio broadcasting station; Hollywood turns out hundreds of movies featuring the last-min-ute gags; even the newspapers and magazines have a pretty general circulation, so that the remotest rural community expects any lecturer's story to be at least half as fresh as its own eggs. bet for the speaker who wants to make a surefire hit is to avoid the funny story entirely, unless he’s able to make one up out of his own head. About the best rule we can think of far the people ° who make speeches is this: Have something to say, say it, and sit down.

Your Health

By DR. MORRIS FISHBEIN

Editor. American Medical Assn. Journal N the prevention of rheumatic fever, attention must be given to improving the general health of children. : The child should lead a quiet, restful life. must have plenty of rest and recreation. Fatigue and exhaustion interfere with a child's digestion, and leave him prey to infection. For chil= dren who are exceedingly nervous and who tire easily, a rest period of a half hour before and after meals is recommended. Damp, wet clothing always should be removed from

a child. when he comes indoors, and he should always wear enough clothing to insure warmth. There should be plenty of fresh air in his sleeping quarters, but this air should not be damp or irritating, Children who suffer from sinus diseases or other dise turbances of the nose and throat sometimes are harmed by parents’ over-enthusiasm in the matter of providing fresh air. If a child has a diet with plenty of milk, buttegw, eggs, leafy green vegetables, fruits, cod liver oil, and other foods providing adequate amounts of protein,

, carbohydrate, fat, mineral salts and vitamins his nue

trition will be satisfactory. If the youngster has a tendency to be persistently underweight, if he eats without appetite, and if his digestion is constantly disturbed, he is more likely to become a victim of heart disease than otherwise. Particularly .important is prompt attention to every. cold and sore throat. Childrep-who suffer constantly from sore throats or infections of the nose and sinuses should be carefully watched by a physician and, it possible, should be moved to\a warm climate so they may have a better opportunity for complete recovery, The doctor can determine, after the child has res covered, how much damage has been done to his heart, Day by day he will have to regulate the amount of exercise and of work that the child may do, so his heart may not be subjected to overstrain and over-

work.

The safest -