Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 3 September 1937 — Page 19

Vagabon: From Indiana — Ernie Pyle Only 15 of Matanuska's 170 Colonists Now Self-Supporting, but All Owe Government From $6000 to $25,000.

ALMER. Alaska. Sept. 3.—It has been two and a half vears since the Matanuska

colonists piled off the train here to start life | Upon Growth and C. I. O.- A.

over. Fifteen of the 170 colonists are self-sup-porting. They have gone over the hump, and don't need to porrow any more from the Gov-

ernment. And the 155 others? Well, they range all the way from farmers almost over the hump. clear down to those who don’t know where the next drink is coming from. Let's see how stand: Income—Consists of whatever they get for their butter, eggs, chickens, pork, beef, vegetables. I have no figures, but it probably runs from $10 to $50 a month. Also whatever they make doing relief work for the corporation. And whatever they make clearing their own land. One man, working like a Trojan, can clear an acre in Mr (Fie 10 days. For this he gets $50 from the Government, but he has to pay it back. Also whatever they make at odd jobs.

the colonists

en,

The Indianapolis Times

Second Section

- FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 1937

Entered as Second-Class Matter Indianapolis,

at Postoffice,

American Labor Reviews Its Gains lit Mark 12-Month Period

State of Debt—Every month the colonist gets a |

bl!

which tells how much he owes the Government. |

The hill includes his original stock, implements, fur- |

and the supplies he has got two vears and a half. barn or land. The colonists’ up to 315.000. The $2000 debts beiong to the people who leaped in and worked day and night. managed well, pinched

and conserved and figured ahead

Nit niture,

on credit for | It doesn’t include his house, | bills run from $2000 |

The $15,000 d=bts belong to those whose eyes were

bigger than their ability.

When vou count in the land and house and barn, the smallest debt will be somewhere around $6000, |

and the largest around $25,000.

Debts to Be Scaled Down

The Payoff—Recently there was a piece in the pa- | pers about a colonist who got mad and left because | he wanted to start paying his debt and the manage- |

ment couldn't even figure out how much he owed. Well, that 1s true, in a way. knows how much the man owed, all right. But

doesn’t know how much it's going to ask him to pay.

The Government | it

For the Government plans to cut down all these |

debts. It $25.000, plus a living. out of these 40-acre tracts.

knows that no farmer could ever scratch |

So thev are trying to figure out a fair basis for |

scaling down the debt. ing out the theoretical earning capacity of each farm. They'll take the quality of the soil, prices for products, cost of provisions—and out of the mixture get a figure on what Vears.

They expect to do it by figur- |

the farm can earn, above expenses, in 30 |

But, the Government feels that it's unfair to figure |

so closely that a colonist would just barely exist while | meeting his payments for the next 30 years, by which |

time he would be ready for the grave. So they'll just cut that figure in half. final item will be, the Government men can’t say yet.

What this |

It may be something like this—if a farmer's total debt | amounts to 312.000. he may be handed a bill for final |

repayment of $3000. an official figure).

Two-Year Plan Is Mapped

Hope for the Future—The colonists all are obsessed |

with a feeling of insecurity. I asked the Government people about this, and as they told it to me, the future of Matanuska Colony 1= ike this: Shortly a two-year plan will go into effect. It will give each colonist who needs it enough workrelief to meet his running expenses. Each colonist will thus be definitely subsidized for two more years. At the end of two wears the Government will step out. The present 125 Government employees will be gone. all Federal supervision will be gone.

My Diary

By Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt

President Clears His Desk, Hoping For Vacation Cruise Free of Care.

H™= PARK, Thursday—Our son, James, arrived last night to take up Mr. Marvin McIntyre's duties, but it is rather a peaceful time for him to do this, since they will all be leaving this afternoon for a days’ cruise. This always means fairly light secretarial duties. The President was busy finishing up all his last-minute pieces of work this morning, so

few

(That's just my guess, and not |

| |

By Willis Thornton

NEA Staff Correspondent

AS

organized labor's millions prepare on Monday to celebrate Labor Day, 1987, they mark the end of a “labor

year” that is certainly one of the most significant Ameri-

ca has ever seen.

Three vitally important things have happened to organized labor within the last 12 months. First, a tidal wave of organization has boosted the total number of organized workers far above any previous level. Second, the labor movement itself has split squarely

down the middle.

And third, the extension of collective bargaining, the development of new strike techniques, and the more active

participation of labor in politics have greatly increased its direct influence

in public affairs. MEMBERSHIP—The American Federation of Labor and the Committee for Industrial Organization probably have more than 3,000.000 members each. Adding in the independent railroad organizations, and the many small independent unions scattered all over the country (the American Federation of Independent Unions alone claims 300,000) it is likely that nearly 7,000,000 workers of a potentially organizable 30,000,000 are organized today. That is roughly 23 per cent. In 1920, when union membership reached its previous high at around 5,000,000, that was only 19 per cent of petential membership, and in 1896, the 450,000 union members were only 9 per cent of their potential. Thus, not only the higher total, but the higher percentage of possible membership, is significant. Further, about 2,000,000 of the gain in membership is made up of men and women never organized before. » » » F. OF L. AND C. 1. O.—The . split of the labor movement into two definitely competing organizations developed only in March, 1937, though the C. I. O. was formed in November, 1935. Throughout the year, tentative efforts to adjust the differences between these organizations have not only failed, but the gulf between them has widened and deepened. The C. I. O., starting out with the avowed purpose of “organizing the unorganized,” has each month swung more deeply into what had been recognized as definite A. F. of L. fields. These growing conflicts resulted in actual street-fighting hetween rival picket

lines, as in certain Cleveland knitting mills which both factions were trying to organize. In the maritime trades, in textiles, in the electrical trades, in the Government service, in oil, aluminum, and a dozen other industries, the two are directly competing for members. Each claims tremendous gains, the A. F. of L. a million more members than it had immediately after the C. I. O. split, the C. I. O. two million more than the original million that left the A. F. of L.

» »

OLITICS—Labor’s first direct national political bid in many years came in the Presidential campaign of late 1936 when labor’s Nonpartisan League, backed by both organized labor factions, worked for Roosevelt's election, and the United Mine Workers and other unions made substantial campaign contributions.

Throughout the summer of 1937, many local labor organizations began operating in local primaries in an effort to secure local administrations favorable to labor. The C. I. O. has been most active in these moves, as much of the A. F. of L. membership still sticks to the Gompers formula of “reward our friends, punish our enemies,” regardless of party. The C. I. O. now includes all the elements to whom direct political action through a labor party is a cardinal principle, and the A. F. of L, attitude toward the Labor Nonpartisan League is cooling in the belief that it is an exclusively C. I. O. organization. The easing out of Senator George L. Berry, A. F. of L. stalwart, as the league's head, lends color to this assumption. John Lewis, C. I. O. leader, disappointed in the degree of Administration support evident at the last session of Congress, has hinted strongly at a pure labor

Ld

party for the future. But labor's g

Science Casts

Old Sol

In Role of Film Star

By Science Service

HE sun, astronomers tell us, is a star. That is a story long known, often told. Even away back in the Middle Ages, the poet Dante spoke of “the sun, and the other stars.” But it has remained for modern science to make the sun a movie star. With Detroit scoring a big beat on Hollywood as impresario of effulgent,; dynamic, colossal supertalent. Several films showing solar events have been shown to scientific audiences in this country, and they have never failed to make these critical spectators sit up straight, excited as children, and burst into applause at the end. Old Sol had to wait even lo r than Lionel Barry-

| more for his chance, but when it

came he showed he could act.

and most powerful instrument of its kind in the world.

» =

T is really a double tower, with a large air space between the outer wall and the inner shaft. This air space serves the double purpose of giving room for a staircase to the top and acting as head insulation; for it is important to keep inside temperature as even as possible. At the top there is an arrangement of two inclined mirrors that follow the sun, catch its light and shoot it down the length of the tower, to the observing and photographic apparatus below. A complicated apparatus with the name of spectroheliokinematograph makes the pictures. Magnification is so great that pictures are usually made of only

»

|

ng 2d

ER a

E calic Eo

Y LEGIStATION

INVES 71G3

TROOPS CALLED LITTLE Steer” STRIKES.

WAGNER ACT uPHELD | — : &/ IG STEEL" RECOGNIZES j NIONS™

Ui

SI-DOWN STRIKES SPREAD OVER U.S.

CM. STRIKE SETT1ED

8Y MEDIATION

position in politics is as cloudy as the general party situation. Only one thing is made clear by the activities of the last 12 months: whatever that position is, it will be a stronger and more positive influence than has been seen since the Knights of Labor.

2 ”

TRIKES—The year opened with a sit-down strike in the farflung plants of the General Motors Corp. engineered by the United Auto Workers, a union taken over from the. A. F. of L. and rejuvenated by the C. I. O. The sudden effectiveness of the new form of strike launched a wave of discussion of its legality and implications that has not yet subsided. A similar strike at Chrysler followed, both terminated by signed agreements with the U. AW. Then early in March, came the sudden decision of the -U. S. Steel Corp. to sign a contract with Lewis’ C. I. O. steel union, the Amalgamated Association of Iron, Steel and Tin Workers. Early in June a strike against

»

The Labor Parade

three “independent” steel companies was begun and bitterly carried on along orthodox lines for more than a month before failure was generally conceded, though the strike has not yet been officially called off. Mass picketing was followed by widespread violence and the death of some 24 men in conflict with police, strikebreakers, or “back-to-work” employees. A citizens’ vigilante movement, begun in Michigan during the motor strikes, added to at Hershey, Pa., in a chocolate strike, and climaxed during the steel strike, combined with National Guard activities to enable workers to filter back to their jobs. Probably a million dollars was spent by the C. I. O. in this unsuccessful maneuver.

” ” ”

EGISLATIVE—Specific labor legislation was meager, in=cluding principally the GuffeyVinson Bituminous Coal Act providing a commission to regulate that industry, and the railway retirement amendments, which cover 1,500,000 men with a pension

ATE wo, WN LABOR DisPUTEL,

sy IF

system generally conceded io be a model. Michigan attempted to set down a code of strike rules in an act allowed to lapse by Governor Murphy without signature.

The Wagner Labor Relations Act was upheld by the U. 8. Supreme Court, but efforts to amend its procedure and that of the Labor Relations Board were defeated. A tremendous amount of work was done by the board in ameliorating labor disputes, with more than 3000 cases closed between October, 1935, and June, 1937, Of these, 731 were withdrawn, 364 lapsed for lack of evidence, 1745 were amicably settled and 382 were given hearings. Between July, 1936 and July, 1937, a total of 62 elections were held on petition of A. F. of L. unions and 20 on petitions of C. I. O. unions. Labor history was written at dizzy speed throughout the last vear, and Labor Day will find organized labor looking forward to further stirring and historic progress in the year to come.

Diesel Vs. Steam Subject of Dispute As Railways Strive to Please Public

By E. R. R.

ASHINGTON, Sept. 3—Rail- |

way passenger travel, dropping in 1933 to the

1

after! lowest |

builders of these units at present assert that “the Diesel-electric is definitely out of the experimental state.” They add, however, that it is not out of the improvement

rather sharply, to reform their fuel purchasing practices. An investigation by the Interstate Commerce Commission in 1933 showed that many railroads, in order to obtain

PAGE 19 |

Ind.

Our Town

By Anton Scherrer

New-Fangled Horseless Carriage Had Its 'Doubting Thomases' Back In 1896 Among the Men of Capital,

OU’VE probably heard everything there

is to hear about automobiles, unless maybe its the story Alex Vonnegut tells, It’s the same story the late Alfred D. Potts used to tell back in 1915. Well, in that case,

you're going to hear it again. There's no stopping me today. The story starts with the dawn of the horseless carriage, somewhere around 1896, let's say. A group of local capitalists—“royal economists,” they would be called today, says Mr, Vonnegut—had come together to consider the possibility of discarding the horse as a pulling power, and replacing it with the propelling power of a gasoline engine. It was all very sketchy, but the general notion back of the idea was to tuck an engine in the body of a buggy, and press a button, or something. Nobody knew just how, but, in spite of that, it looked like a million-dollar idea. Enthusiasm ran high when one member of the group—an Indianapolis man known for his caution and sagacity—warned his colleagues not to get too excited about it. What about the horse? he asked, Hadn't the horse performed every function satise factorily? Of course, it had, Moreover, how would it be possible to build a gasoline engine which would be able to move a buggy over roads that were neither graded nor equipped with rails like those provided for locomotives?

Wonders About Gasoline

That was just the start of his speech, however, When he got into the middle of it, he wanted to know how to find the gasoline when the reservoir ran dry. It would be very annoying, he said. And supe pose something went wrong with the engine—what then? Had any kind of engine ever been built that did not require careful attention and supervision of a competent engineer? Certainly everybody knew, or ought to know by this time, that a locomotive has to go to a roundhouse after a run of 15 hours. What sort of sales could be hoped for, he asked, if this product could be of interest only to expert mechanics and engineers? You could hardly expect to convert a hundred thousand people into persons who would be willing to acquire such knowledge, much less induce them to buy the thing. (The fantastio figure of 100,000 was one introduced by a preceding speaker.)

Mr. Scherrer

How Could a Woman ...? His final argument, however, almost, broke up the meeting. As a matter of fact, it delayed organizae tion of the company for quite a while, and no won der, because this was what the royal economist of 1896 wanted to know: How in the world could a woman ever drive a horseless carriage? Mr. Vonnegut always ends his story with aske ing: “And what is the moral of the tale?” He al« ways answers the question himself, too. “It's the same that Galileo suggested when he had to swear that the earth floes not move, ‘And yet she moves,’

he whispered.” “And how!” said Mr. Vonnegut, the last time he

told the story.

A Woman's View By Mrs. Walter Ferguson

Los Angeles Got Its Start in Dirty, But Picturesque, Old Olvera St.

N JACATION NOTES—Why is it that dirty, untidy places are /invariably picturesque? The ancient Town Square ahd block-long Olvera St. in old Los Angeles are all three. There the city had its beginnings © It is hard to imagine now what it must have looked like on that day in 1818 when Don Francisco Avila

a portion of the sun's edge, tosshow the prominences, sunspots, and other phenomena of the sun's furiously active surface. Sizes and velocities of these solar storms and eruptions are truly titanic. What Mr. McMath calls “surges”—sudden unwellings of solar material without actual eruption—have been caught by the camera rising to a height of more than 43,000 miles, with a velocity of 125 miles per second. Another type of outburst, first photographed when it was about 68,000 miles high, climbed to a height of approximately 83,000 miles in a minute and a half, at a velocity of the order of 190 miles a second.

point in half a century, has taken a | promising upturn. New trains and | improved service have caught the | public fancy, and passenger revenues seem likely again to become an im- |, : portant part of total railroad reve- | BE WH oa Hues. cu | road transportation in this country” In the Nineties, passenger reve-| ang can and will meet any comnues accounted for more than 25 peting form of motiv~ power. Railper cent of the total income of the | yoad operators, in general, appear railroads. But the private automo-|to agree with them, for 10 times bile and highway bus service cut in| more steam locomotives were on ruinously after 1920—until passen-|order on June 1, 1937, than. Dieselger revenues have amounted, in the | glectrics. last few years, to only about 10 per y ww cent of total railway revenues. URING the period when the During the half century preceding Emergency Transportation the depression many railway mana-| Act was in effect, Joseph B. Eastgers and directors showed a sur-|man, Co-ordinator of Transportation, called upon the railroads,

he might start with a clean slate and the feeling that the next few davs were going to be as carefree as events of the world at large will allow. On the way tc the picnic which Mrs. Scheider and I were attending yesterday. my car suddenly began heating up to the danger point. and when I switched off the ignition, the engine continued to run. So in Danbury, Conn., IT had to go to a garage and spend 40 minutes getting the car put in order 1 was distressed about the people who were waiting to lead us to our destination, and finally the gentleman owning the garage drove me out to our prearranged meeting place. The others went on and Mrs. George Bye, who is always kindness itself, came back with me to the garage and waited until the car was ready to proceed, so we should not lose our way. I don’t know of anything more uncomfortable than to keep a great many people waiting, particularly when they are hungry. But everyone was patience itself. Mr. and Mrs. George Waldo. our hosts, have a fascinating old house. The walls are paneled with great, wide. old boards; the beams are hand-hewn, and the big old-fashioned fireplace with the oven back of it would he a jov on an autumn dav. Yesterday was too warm to contemplate a fire with equanimity. We all sat around and listened to the records of the now famous softball games which Lowell Thomas inaugurated. The view at the back of the house is charming and soothing to the spirit, neither too closed-in nor Loo expansive. On the way home I stopped in Poughkeepsie to do some shopping. Some time afterward we had | reached the cottage and I was starting to go through | the mail when Mrs. Scheider, who has a good memory, | suddenly burst in to announce that I had forgotten to file my column! I climbed back into the car and | drove to Poughkeepsie, thinking back to the many | ! |

stage and that even better and more powerful internal-combus-tion locomotives may be expected. Steam-locomotive builders assert

zn = » HE films of dramatic events on the sun are products of the only studio in the world equipped to take motion pictures of sun, moon and stars—the McMath-Hulbert Observatory of the University of Michigan, located at Lake Angelus near Detroit. This observatory was built bv three prominent Detroiters, F. C. McMath, R. R. McMath, manufacturers, and Judge H. S. Hulbert. It was subsequently deeded over to the University of Michigan, with R. R. McMath retaining the directorship. Newest addition to the equipment of the McMath-Hulbert Observatory is a 50-foot tower telescope, largest

had completed his elegant new home, a short distance from the grassy plaza where the few inhabitants must have spent their leisure hours when California

special favors in freight tonnage, paid higher-than-market prices for coal-—in effect subsidizing coal mines on their lines. It recommended that, since fuel expense, next to payroll, is the greatest item of operating costs, the practice be discontinued immediately. The railroads have not altered greatly their system of coal purchasing, however, and it is contended by manufacturers of Diesel-electrics (which burn oil, similar to household furnace fuel) that the vigorous defense of the steam locomotive on the part of railroad men is principally by those whose lines operate through coalmining areas.

was young. To the right is the church, which was standing before Washington made his trip across the Delaware, It formed the nucleus of what is now the third largest

city in the country. The visitor who fails to see Olvera St. misses the most fascinating part of Los Angeles. Here one actually can taste the flavor of the past weighted with its noble traditions. The air is heavily laden with the aroma from dogs, cats, parrots, babies, fruit, wine, Spanish cookery, and men and women in cramped quarters. Our attention was diverted to the din in the plaza across the wav. It was Sunday afternoon and the benches were filled with loafers. Women chattered, babies whined, and the whir of dove’s wings made a perpetual soft murmuring. Religious services were in progress. Here a white woman shrieked of the wrath of her God. A few feet beyond her, a Negro woman shouted hosannas. Next a family group took turns praying, singing, preaching in English and Spanish sinfiers were harangued in English and Spanish. Preachers and congregation were a motley crew, Their religion, like their food, is scarce and of a poor quality,

New Books Today

HE rapidly growing literature of the labor spy contributes to the picture of 1937 man in 1937 civilization. It may seem outlandish a century hence, but now it is tragic and vital. The only great contribution is the printed steno= graphic transcript of the La Follette Civil Liberties

Committee, of which 11 volumes have so far been produced. But only the research man and the student have the time or opportunity to get at the volumes. For the rest of us, Clinch Calkins in SPY OVERHEAD (Harcourt Brace) has produced a running story of the major disclosures, peppered and bul« warked by generous quotations from the record of the Senate Committee, and by interpretive analysis. Miss Calkins knows that the labor spy is vicious and tragic but she has wisely avoided an emotional approach or a display of rancor. Incidentally, she did a remarkable job of converting new material into a readable book which includes most of the La Fol« lette Committee high moments up to the investigation of the Memorial Day rioting at Chicagn. The book pays tribute to the effectiveness of the Senate Committee in convicting the spy system out of the mouths of hostile witnesses. It also does an important job in emphasizing the fine drama of the inquiry, a “good theater” quality which probably has only been appreciated so far by the hewspapermen and Oe nesses who were so lucky as to be pres-

A

prising indifference to public demands for improved passenger service. The famous remark attributed to William H. Vanderbilt, “The public be damned,” was made with reference to competition given his railroad, the New York Central, by the Pennsylvania's “luxury trains,” put into service in 1887. Not until receiverships and financial distress were general did railway operators begin to perk up and use inventive genius to capture their rightful | share of the travel business of the | country. |

Side Glances

ew

= = ”

HE Emergency Railroad Transportation Act and loans by the Public Works Administration helped some of the roads to improve their service and buy new streamlined trains which aroused public interest in travel'by rail. Air conditioning, ! which had been adopted by a few | lines about 1930, became general. Coaches were made more comfortable, and the personnel on passenger trains became much more attentive to the comfort and convenience of travelers. Among the new devices that have stirred public interest is the new Diesel-electric locomotive, which demonstrated that trains could be run clear across the continent at high speeds without changing engines, and with spectacularly low fuel costs. The rise of the Diesel has spurred builders of steam locomotives to great improvements in their engines. They have lengthened greatly the “cruising range,” and made possible higher speeds and other improvements in passenger | service. The introduction of the new type of motor power almost iImmediately created a controversy.

times I have told my children that it is well to be forced to suffer some consequences of your forgetfulness, because it helps ycu to be more thoughtful in the future. But I was taking my own medicine just about as philosophically as the children used to do! An old friend, Emily Sloane, the Countess De La Grange, whose husband is an official of the French Government, spent the night with us, and it was a pleasure to see her. She is very charming and very interesting.

Walter O'Keefe—

HE Duke and Duchess of Windsor seem to be enjoying life these days. Wally is writing a book, and the Duke, whom she playfully nicknamed “Bovsy,” is taking on weight. It’s hard to realizes that the fellow who was formerly known as the best-dressed man in the world will hereafter set the mode for stylish stouts. Meanwhile, his brother George is losing weight | running to the Japanese and Chinese embassies with notes of protest. After all that's been written and ‘said about her, it’s great to know that we can get the real story now from Wally herself. The Duke, of course, is forbidden to write anything, but I imagine he probably made a couple of suggestions for the book— especially about the Archbishop of Canterbury. | How about calling it “Boysy Meegg Girlsy”2

National Safety Council. When passing other cars in traffic be absolutely sure that you can do so without endangering your life or the lives of others. Allow a wide margin for safety. Be certain that if any other cars are coming in your direction you have more than enough time to get around the car in front, even if the other cars should increase their speed greatly. And do not, under-any SlrouIS gave, pass fon ills orp ves,

_COPR. 1937-8Y NEA

SERVICE, TRG M. REG. U.S. F