Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 22 June 1937 — Page 12

PAGE 12

+. The Indianapolis Times

(A SCRIPPS-HOWARD NEWSPAPER)

ROY W. HOWARD LUDWELL DENNY MARK FERREE President Editor Business Manager

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TUESDAY, JUNE 22, 1937

- SMOKE AND WASTE

TO one expects that Indianapolis ever will be entirely free of smoke. Smoke is one of the concomitant liabilities of industrial civilization. But the community, its factories and its citizens have a selfish interest in reducing to a minimum the black cloud that hangs over the city much of the year. So it is encouraging to see the city’s antismoke campaign get under way months in advance of the next “smoke season.” Webster Clinehens, City Combustion Engineer, and a crew of observers, are planning a 12-month survey of soot fall on which to base stricter enforcement. The ‘Mayor’s Advisory Committee on Smoke Abatement, as part of a drive against flagrant violators, is drafting a new smoke control ordinance. Only a long-range, weli-financed program will get the job done. Extent of the problem is pointed out by Fortune magazine, which quotes estimates that the annual smokefall upon our cities, gathered into a single pile, would create a sloping mountain 1500 feet high; or, spread upon an average city, would bury the streets 21 feet deep. Great buildings in London and Paris, the article continues, have been withered more by sulphurous smoke gases in the past 50 years than by the weather action of all previous centuries. The annual smoke cost to Indianapolis has been figured in the millions; Chicago’s is estimated at 30 million dollars. And doctors, deploring smoke’s effect on health, point out that the death rate in 12 typical smoky cities is 31 per cent higher than in 12 less smoky towns. Unfortunately, most smoke-abatement efforts are aimed only at black smoke, without regard for costly ash or gases, and at industrial smoke, ignoring the fact that domestic smoke makes the air-pollution curve rise in win-

“No one,” Sse “has so far dared in'earnest to trouble the happy wastefulness of the householder.”

2 u 8 # ” ” 1 E article concludes that “any industrialist who can tolerate black smoke belching from his chimney” must either “be a bonehead, or simply be unable to incur the sometimes considerable expense entailed in a several-sided justment between his fuel and firing equipment. . . . k smoke is a sure sign that heat is being wasted. And heat costs money. | “Technically, smoke is reducible almost to nil. Unfortunately there are other problems. Sum them up in one rubber stamp: Human nature. | “Thereunder, place the initial difficulty of rousing a community to action; the further difficulty of keeping up interest; the further, of wangling a full staff and half enough cash for the job. In.the entire U. S. there are not such. Place there the virtual impossibility of keeping track of residential smoke and of rectifying residential firing equipment, fuel and firing methods; all of which are liable to be lousy. And place there the habit plenty of politicians have of diluting civic bureaus with nincompoops.” It is no easy task. But if indianapolis is to be made a better and cleaner place in which to live, if it is to be made more attractive for building, the smoke nuisance must be tackled with every resource the community can command.

STEPHEN FOSTER N a January night of 1864 there died in a charity ward in New York a young man named Stephen Collins Foster. At a Bowery lodging where he had lived and fallen ill were found 38 cents, his worldly wealth, and his last words scribbled on a paper:, “Dear friends and gentle hearts...” The other day this man was honored by his home city of Pittsburgh, which dedicated a $500,000 shrine to him. To this memorial J. K. Lilly Sr. of Indianapolis contributed his fine Foster collection. And Sunday, in Cincinnati, a Foster statue donated by Mr. Lilly was dedicated. “lt is the best of all trades io make songs,” said Hilaire Belloc, “and the second best to sing them.” Stephen Foster made more than 200 songs, among them America’s bestloved—“My Old Kentucky Home,” “Old Folks at Home,” “Old Black Joe,” and other unforgettable melodies. And for years, millions of his countrymen have been doing the second best by singing them. Some day, perhaps when we have become more civilized, we will not wait three-quarters of a century before we honor this “best of all trades.” |

WHAT ABOUT WEEKDAYS? | OHN E. EDGERTON of Tennessee is probably the last man you'd expect to be out helping Congress pass the Black-Connery Wage-Hour Bill. He's past-president of the National Association|of Manufacturers, present head of the Southern States Industrial Council and a textile factory owner who admits he only lets “the feeling side of life” bother him on Sundays. But in his Congressional committee testimony the other day this churchly man did his share in proving the necessity of a Federal law to put a bottom under wages and a top on hours. “Why,” he said, “I've never thought of paying men on a basis of what they need. 1 don’t inquire into what they need, or think of their standards of living. I pay men for their efficiency.” Mr. Edgerton considered $11 a week a fair and reasonable minimum wage, although during the depression “as a humane thing” he “permitted” a number of mothers and grandmothers to work for $6 a week. Aside from - this little weekday indulgence in altruism he thinks the “feeling life” belongs to church contributions and church work—something to be considered on Sundays. “That's not business.” Mr. Edgerton’s frank self-revelation shocked the committee, as, doubtless, it will many other Americans. They should be grateful, for it showed why social legislation is necessary in this country today. | ; a

THE INDIANAPOLIS TIMES

Under the Hammer and Sickle—By Herblock

Ts XE 4

Could

VB RIL

That Be Opportunity Knocking ?—sy

TUESDAY, JUNE 22, 1937 Talburt

A Rr

Fair Enough By Westbrook Pegler

Lacking First-Hand Knowledge of Boxers' Form, Writer Decides Result Is a Question of Which is the Worst.

HICAGO, Ill, June 22.—Having seen none of the training rites of the lithe, lean bodies involved in tonight's frivolity at Comiskey’s ball yard, your correspondent relies on the judgment of other trained ob-

servers of the fourth estate who got here earlier and studied both the athletes at their toil. From their testimony it appears that it is not a question of which is the better man but which is worse and that if there were any Justice in a cruel world the contest would be called off to spare the customers unnecessary punishment, Jimmy Braddock, the titular heavyweight champion, has lost about 25 per cent of his fights, * hasn't fought in two years, could not clinch his fists for rheumatism a few months ago and is beyond the prime of life for pugilists at 31 and easily hit. Joe Louis, though young and strong and without sufficient imagination to bother his head with thoughts of either victory or . defeat, is delivered to the ring in excellent health but is listless, unskilled beyond certain primitive knacks of boxing, readily accessible to a left jab and a right cross and unambitious.

Louis hits hard but Braddock, though reachable,

x ok on 2% £1

Mr. Pegler

is one who will come off the floor as long as there

is a post or an opponent's leg to climb. Braddock doesn’t hit very hard but does hit often and thus

" might win everything but Vermont and Maine.

-S0 where are we? Well, we are in the lobby of the Morrison Hotel, in a scene faintly reminiscent of the crazy but highly enjoyable mischief and fun 10 years ago when Gene Tunney and Jack Dempsey were fixing to hold their rendezvous with just a little less than $3,000,000 worth of trade and Tex Rickard, that wily one, was promising to make Chicago famous and a better place in which to live. ;

» ” 2 HE Morrison Hotel on Madison St. is the headquarters of Mike Jacobs, the old New York ticket speculator, who is promoting the current outbreak of

an amiable American weakness, The lobby is crowded with men wearing driedapple ears and crumpled noses, some of whom speak in the croupy whisper that comes of excessive dramming but also comes of frequent punching on the Adam’s apple. » ” 8

yee are more journalists than ever, including half a dozen from overseas, come to observe the lithe, lean bodies at war and the absurdest part of it all is that all have been writing that the contest, as such, would not justify more than a dime’s worth of travel and a smalliitem down among the goiter cures and learn-to-he-a-detective ads. Ticket speculators, ticket moochers, gate-crashers, sparring partners and broken-down failures of the prize fight business, small promoters, managers and gamblers throng the lobby and the balcony of the Morrison Hotel and the talk is, “What do you know?” and “He looked lousy yesterday” and “They tell me three to one but no money in sight.” This, friends, is the atmosphere and charm of all heavyweight championship fights. This is what they are made of and it is a joy and a thing to keep men young, so does it matter if the fighters be inferior and the fight itself as art a bust?

The Hoosier Forum

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

ASKS LAW TO STOP STRIKE SYMPATHIZERS By E. F. Maddox

The Times editorial “Labor Fights Labor” was a friendly warning for which honest workers should be thankful and heedful. Labor’s appeal for sympathy from the general public will fall on deaf ears if racketeering, rioting and interfering with the mails and necessities such as power, light and water are not stopped. The American people are not going to be bulldozed into submission, or appeased by wheedling propaganda, or deprived of their civil rights by an agitated body of organized workers who defy court orders when

asked to comply with legal require-

ments. And who is quicker to rush into court and demand their Constitutional rights, and civil liberties than the leaders of these same unions? Who is louder in their protests against outside interference in strikes than these same labor leaders, and who are the “sympathizers” we read about in every strike demonstration and riot that takes place? If companies are prohibited from using strike breakers, unions should be denied the aid of sympathizers. Outsiders should be barred from strikes. Since it is legal to strike and picket “in a peaceable manner,” all strikers should wear union buttons and be prohibited from carrying weapons of any description. Every act of violence should be punished and every sympathizer should be arrested for illegal interference in a strike. % 8 #

CLEVELAND LABOR OFFICIAL ASKS COMPROMISE

By John McClellan, Seecretary-Treasurer, Labor’s Non-Partisan League, Cuyahoga County, Cleveland

- These days are of far-reaching importance in their bearing on what the future history of America may ‘be. For the first time we have in the White House a man who is not tied up to any one class, but is sincerely desirous of such changes in laws as will insure fair play for both rich and poor. The rank and file of voters will turn out and vote en masse every four years and vote according -to their convictions, but cannot find time during the term to do things that will give real meaning to their vote, or encouragement to the man they have placed in high executive position. In the labor movement at this critical time we are threatened with what may be a permanent split. The American Federation of Labor has done much for all of us and naturally we must and will be loyal, but cannot resist the thought that compromise earnestly sought by leaders of both factions could bring peace. In the meantime, to those organizations or individuals who are wavering, let me remind them that the index to what may happen in the future, taking the

long view, is to glance at past rec-

General Hugh Johnson Says—

Administration's Djsavowal of Robinson's Relief Bill Compromise Just Another Example of the Rough-Shod Tactics Goading Senate to Revolt.

ASHINGTON, June 22. — Hoping not only to save a little dough but also to retake some of the lost control of Congress over appropriations, Senator Byrnes proposed that every state or city where WPA money is to be spent, put up $4 for every $6 Mr. Hopkins gives it. Mr. Hopkins said, “No.” The White House echoed, “No, no, no!” But same Senators are getting increasingly hard of hearing. It is a tempest in a teapot because the President is authorized to waive the rule.

The gossip is that Senate Democratic Leader Robinson proposed to the Administration a compromise of 25 per cent, instead of 40 per cent, and thought it was apptoved by supreme authority. Accordingly he presented it in his official party capacity. To his utter astonishment, the President was re-

ported in the press to have said he had never seen Senator Robinson's proposal. Worse still, Senator

Barkley, announcing that he was speaking on the Ad-.

ministration’s orders, - vigorously opposed Senator Robinson's proposal. The whole event seems almost incredible in the light of all the circumstances— which are as follows: # os 8

ENATOR ROBINSON js the Senate choice for the vacaney on the Supreme Court. That the President desires te give the impression that he will be appointed is plain from several conversations he has held diseussing a “successor te Senator Robinson” as

(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.)

ords. In the past any district of the American . Mine Workers # which chose anti-Lewis officers was reorganized with provisional officers, without privilege of elections until the international board (Mr. Lewis) saw fit to restore order. A large percentage of the districts are still under Lewis provisional officials. At the last American Mine Workers’ Convention in 1936, 221 local unions presented resolutions demanding restoration of democracy to be told by Lewis appointees that the international board was afraid that granting autonomy. to those provisional districts might result in creation of internal political turmoll... .. There are seven million aliens here in America; a goodly percentage of those are. in the big industries. With all due respect to Lewis for realizing that the time was ripe for organizing the big industries, let me remind his followers that the hope of America lies in intelligent politi-

THE MOUNTAIN STREAM By OTTO KRAMER Troubled waters roar past towering crag; Great loosened rocks begin to sag;

Tall pines look down from towering peaks,

Where turbulent river with havoc reeks, Carrying debris in its boiling foam, Robbing the banks of dark, rich loam. 3 Majestic mountains in grandeur rise, Great lofty peaks rear’d ’gainst the skies; Here carefree forest creatures tread To the whirling, rushing river bed, As if to enhance this lovely scene The sun has lent a blood-red sheen..

DAILY THOUGHT

And, behold, they brought to him a man sick of the palsy, lying on a bed: and Jesus seeing their faith said unto the sick of the palsy: Son, be of good cheer; thy sins be forgiven thee.—Matthew" 9:2.

AITH in an all-seeing and personal God elevates the soul, and purifies the emotions.—Juan Valera. »

cal and co-operative action by cleancut men and women of all political parties, such as the movement that placed Roosevelt in the White House, and not in labor party or anything emphasizing class differences. Public opinion today backs Roosevelt’s efforts to obtain maximum hour laws by 58 per cent and 61 per cent in favor of minimum wage laws. * Reunite labor and keep this good opinion of the public for ou objectives! -

” ” Ed SLUM PROJECTS’ RENT TOO HIGH, HE FEARS By J. K. T. What is the good of “eradicating” slums, if the new houses you build

are too expensive to be occupied by ||

the people you built them for? Major rehousing projects under“taken by the Federal Government are at last nearing completion in Cleveland, and the rent scales have been announced. In the cheaper of the two projects, rents begin at $12.75 a month for two-room apartments, and go up to $22.44 a month for six rooms. In addition, charges for heat, water and electricity will be collected with the rent. These charges will range from about $5.35 to $8 a month. } As ordinary rents go. those scales are moderate enough; but they are not moderate for the typical slum dweller. Indeed, the reason that we have slums is simply. the fact that there are a great many people who cannot for the life of them pay rates as high as those indicated above. If we really plan to abolish slums, we must provide new housing at prices that slum-dwellers can afford to pay. : ” 2 2

BELIEVES DISCONTENT

IN RUSSIA WIDE By K. L. M. Probably it won't be possible for us in America to know just what is happening in Russia until some time after it has actually happened; but on the face of things some profound wave of discontent must be surging across that country these days. How else is one to interpret the recurring executions, the mass arrests, the dismissals of thousands of once-trusted Communists and the ynexplained ruthlessness of the widespread program of repression? It will be almost impossible to pass an intelligent judgment until all the returns are in, and the returns are coming in very slowly. But one must admit that according to all indications the Stalin Government is meeting progressively greater difficulties in keeping the masses contented.

Whether the discontent is with communism as such or with Stalin's peculiar brand of despotism, no one can say at this distance; but that such discontent does exist in a nation-wide and menacing form it is impossible to doubt.

It Seems to Me By Heywood Broun

Public Officials Advised to Spend Time in Train Smoking Rooms’ Where Traveling Public Bares Soul.

NEW YORK, June 22.—For a long time [ have felt that all public officials should spend part of their time in traveling on trains and talking to people in smoking come partments. Unfortunately it is pretty tough

to get much good conversation in a day coach. I do not refer, of lcourse, to any lack of mate= rial but merely to the fact that the physical setu .- is not conducive to vocal exchange. : : It may even be part of a rail=’ road plot to preserve the status quo that difficulties are placed in the way of coach passengers facing each otner. Minds cannot meet readily when you are come pelled to lean forward and talk over the other fellow’s shoulder or he must strain hi: back and neck in order to say something to the man behind him. But, for that matter, not all the Pullman setups are ideal. AS a professional fomenter .of railroad conversation I have sat in with some good sessions in club cars, lounges and even ‘recreation cars,” though in . the latter the music by the Hawaiians is a handicap. ” 8 os ' JD UT the hest spot of all is the old-fashioned smoke= ing compartment at the end of a parlor-car— the one labeled “Men.” Here two, three or more may gather in almost complete privacy, with only infre-. quent interruptions from the hand washers. It was in such a session that a young man remarked to Henry Mencken—the Henry Mencken—' ‘Are you by any chance connected with the newspaper business in any way?” 2 - - In such sessions I have heard every conceivable - subject discussed from the C. I. O. to the immortality of the soul. Confidences gush out in the most amazing way. Not long ago I met a young man in a smoking compartment who told me 11 and a half minutes after we met all about his divorce. He admitted quite frankly that in a moment of petulance he “socked her in the eye.”

Mr. Broun

> #" ” ” LTHOUGH I have developed a pretty good teche nique for geiting a conversation started, I will admit that I am. not precisely the sort of person to inspire the giving of confidences. I don't know what it is about me, but some people seem to get the feeling that I may get off at the next station and put the information on a national hookup. These suspicions are wholly unfounded. Surely I have not departed from discretion in mentioning the young man who was divorced because he socked his wife in the eyé. He could be any one of a milg lion Pullman travelers. : As a matter of fact, the traveling pubiic is much more free in talking about personal matters ‘than about public ones. At the drop of a cigaret ash the average traveler will tell you all about the little woman, the kids and the first mortgage. He may even begin to talk about his church and his religious views. On the other hand, one of the quickest ways to frighten a prospect in a smoking car is to begin * with any definite question about politics. If your new found friend is a Democrat he may be willing to mention it after he has been warmed up a little. But I have.found that practically no

Republicans will admit it.

The Washington Merry-Go-Round

Wagner's High Hopes for Housing Bill Dashed as Session Nears Close; Court Plan Foes' Steering Body Held Move to Keep Burke From Limelight. °

Inwardly burning with opposition toward. many tactics of the third New Deal, Senator Robinson has loyally eaten his own smoke. His display of selfsacrifice in supporting the President has been little short of marvelous.

But what reward? As Senate leader he stands repudiated by the Administration and repudiated by a swift flank move which in one stroke advances, as candidate for majority leader, Alben Barkley “ueber alles” and obliquely suggests a sufficient accusation of lack of New Deal enterprise to withhold from Joe the Supreme Court judgeship.

o ” =

T isn’t the first time the Senator has been coaxed

out on a limb to have it sawed off back of him. The clearest previous case of that was the sudden White House shift on soak-the-rich taxation after Joe, on the! strength of official high-command conferences, had announced 2 different policy. How long can the Administration go on kicking this gang around without splitting the Democratic Party into fierger political factions than exist anywhere? Outraged loyalty—slaps in the face of faith and devotion—there is a limit and the Democracy is close to it. ‘ It is madness. The Senate Democracy will select its own leader. If another than Robinson is nominated to the Court, I n confirmed, There some 00d. inCongre

By Drew Pearson and Robert S. Allen

ASHINGTON, June 22.—Behind-the-scenes developments indicate that Senator Wagner's long-pending low-cost housing bill is again headed for the waste basket. Since 1934 the tenacious New York liberal has been trying to put through legislation for a great Government-subsidized program of slum clearance and modern housing for low-salaried workers. In each session of Congress he has started out with high hopes of success, only to wind up in the ditch. This year prospects appeared particularly bright. The President had repeatedly pledged housing legislation during his re-election campaign, and Wagner had made many changes in his hill to meet previous objections. At long last victory seemed in sight. The financial experts of the Treasury, who have been Wagner's most persistent and effective foes, raised new ubjections and the President apparently did not read into his electioneering promises what Wagner saw in them. When Wagner came to him for Administration backing for his measure, the President ducked the issue by suggesting that he first work out a compromise with the Treasury. That was equivalent to asking him to perform a miracle. Meanwhile the Treasury has secretly submitted to the President a scheme of its own, under which the Wagner measure would be junked and the Public

Works Administration given a slight increase, in |

power so that it could somewhat expand its ho

HE seven-man “steering committee,” set up by A Senate foes of the President’s Court bill to direct their floor battle against it, is an unusual parliamentary device. There were two reasons behind the action: First was the desire to head off the vaunting ambi= tion of Senator Burke to be the generalissimo of the Court bill opposition. The Nebraskan had acted as “front man” during the Judiciary Committee hearings, had worked hard and tirelessly. He felt he was entitled to lead the fight on thé Senate floor. i But the other opposition leaders didn’t consider him big enough for the job, All were agreed they needed an abler and more tried leader, but the problem was whom to pick and how to shelve Burke without offending him. The steering committee device solves the problem.

A s ” 8 s Fea NECONDLY, none of Burke's colleagues wanted J to take the political risk of being the Ne. 1 apposition chief. 7 : | Behind their buoyancy, some of the antis privately are jittery about their split with Roosevelt, and chary about stieking their necks out farther than they ~have to. So orn the theory that in “numbers there is safety” they resorted to the committee scheme, which at the same time enabled them to elbow Burke out of the limelight without sending him

a sulk. | : Li