Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 4 February 1938 — Page 16

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The Indianapolis Times |

(A SCRIPPS-HOWARD NEWSPAPER)

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

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PRE—

Give Light and the People Will Find Their Own Way

Member of United Press, Scripps - Howard News= paper Alliance, NEA Service, and. Audit Bu-

reau of Circulations. Rlley 5551

FRIDAY, FEB. 4, 1938

THEIR TIME WASN'T WASTED

[NVITING a thousand little businessmen to a conference in Washington was not a very well-thought-out idea. And many of those who attended seem to think they wasted their time and money. We do not agree with them. There was chaos and conflict. fringe that made too much noise and got too much attention. There was wide divergence of notions about what small business needs. All that was inevitable in a meeting

that brought together people from all parts of the country with no opportunity for previous organization and too little time to think. There were a thousand individuals, each seeing things through the eyes of one little man, and each seeing things differently because they came from different sections, were engaged in different business and had different problems. And perhaps the Administration did them no great kindness by calling them to Washington. But we think their conference served a purpose—or, rather, two purposes.

There was a lunatic

2 ” » » 2 » FIRST, the Administration should be impressed by this demonstration of what a vast and complex thing American business has come to be. And of how completely American business has come to feel that it is dominated by Government.

Multiply the Washington conference by ten or twenty thousand, and you get a picture of small business in this country—a picture of millions of merchants and manufacturers and thousands of lines over 48 states. All of them are worried and perplexed, yet divergent as their interests may seem, they are apparently united in one thought— that their future depends on some thing or many things that Government can do. It is a picture of an enormous machine with millions of cogs, large and small and middle-sized, all geared together so that trouble in one part of the machine affects all the other parts. And those who undertake to regulate and control that machine from Washington ought to realize that their task calls for great patience and caution and humility. ” ” ” ” ” GQECOND, the Administration should be impressed by the fact that out of the confusion a few demands emerged with such unanimity as to represent clearly the voice of small business. Such points as these: That the undistributed-profits tax cripples small business and should be repealed or modified. That small business needs easier credit, wants it from the banks rather than from the Government, and believes the Government can make it possible for the banks to extend more credit. That labor should make peace within its own ranks and that labor unions should accept responsibility for contracts or be made to accept responsibility. That the Government should stop issuing tax-free securities and that Federal and State employees should pay income taxes on the same basis as other citizens. That social security is here to stay, but that the records and reports required of businessmen should be simplified and kept to a minimum. And that the Administration should discourage its speech-making members from attacking business for political purposes. Incidentally, it is notable that most of the little businessmen, excited as some of them got, carefully refrained from abuse of the President and the New Deal. The little businessman may feel that they did not learn much by going to Washington. But we believe they made it possible for the Administration to learn a great deal.

CL ——————————

THE SAFE DRIVER PLAN

FOR years citizens have watched auto traffic deaths mount to alarming “new highs” with the same sort of stoic helplessness felt toward tornadoes, floods and other natural visitations. Comes now the National Bureau of Casualty and Surety Underwriters with a plan that holds promise of reducing the frightful toll of death and injury on the streets and highways. It is called “the safe driver reward plan.” Under this plan, now in operation in 25 states and the District of Columbia, drivers carrying property-damage and injury-liability insurance will be given a cash reward of 15 per cent of the premium if at the end of a year they have caused no loss to their insuring company. Safe drivers: may take the reward in cash or apply it to a renewal of their policies. Participating in the plan are the 32 companies affiliated with the national bureau. A powerful argument for the reward plan is the report just issued by the National Safety Council, showing that 39,700 persons were killed in auto accidents in 1937. That is 1600 more than in 1636 and an “all-time high.” Indeed, it is 300 more than the number of American soldiers killed in action in France in 18 months of our participation in the Great War! The punishment of careless drivers, of course, must not be relaxed. But fear of punishment alone apparently is not a sufficient deterrent. If hope of substantial reward also is neld out to safe drivers it may be that some of the tragedies now written in accident statistics can be prevented.

TEACHING DUCKS TO SWIM

THE WPA, we see, has allotted $85,867 to finance a study of the worth of tourist trade to Florida. Well, that will be nice work for the relief clients who can get it. up! The worth of climate to California, of authors and politicians to Indiana, of oil to Oklahoma and Texas, of steel to pittsburgh, of skyscrapers to New York, of automobiles to Detroit, of beans to Boston, of Government bureaus to Washington. , the possibilities are practically unlimited.

a in =

ered by carrier, 12 cents

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Fair Enough

By Westbrook Pegler

Most Chicagoans Seem to Tolerate The City's Gambling Situation and To Enjoy the Visitors' Surprise.

CHICAGO, Feb. 4.—It hardly needs to be said that in the matters of local government and politics Chicago is an immoral city, but that is a high-sounding generality. It is more graphic to consider a specific ex-

ample which is accepted as the normal thing —the city ordinance to legalize horse-race petting in licensed rooms under a system of permits to cost from $1000 to $5000 a year. This ordinance was passed as

an administration measure of the present Municipal Government on the representation that it would yield about $2,000,000 a year and that the City might as well be realistic, because the horse rooms are operating, anyway, in response to great popular demand. It is now in abeyance, however, on the intervention of the Attorney General of the State, who demands that the corporation coun= sel of the City cite the authority by which the City has the right to license crime. The City and State Administration are political Mr. Pegler enemies, and the temptation to give the State Administration full credit for moral and civic righteousness in attacking the ordinance is easily resisted.

There are said to be about 4000 of these gaming Houses, big and little, doing business illegally. This is one of those round newspaper figures, however, and may be above or below the mark. Public opinion as a whole thinks it is all right and does not seriously object to the idea of legalizing the rooms for a price.

LJ » s

OME of the rooms also have roulette and other table games and would continue to conduct them as side lines if licensed to take bets on the races. These sports would remain illegal, of course.

The question naturally has been raised whether many or most of the roo would fail to buy licenses on the ground of unnecessary expenses, inasmuch as they would still be subject to tribute on their tables and inasmuch as the City Administration professes to pe unable to close them now. This would be no more illegal than their present conduct. In fact, it would be slightly less illegal, for in that case their horse business would violate only a city ordinance, whereas at present it violates a State law.

The answer to that is that the City Administration would bear down hard in order to collect its dues, which is a naive way of saying that the Administration is not bearing down now.

2 ” ”

HE City's defense against the State’s objections to the ordinance is another symptom of the spirit of the community. Avoiding the question of the morality of a system which would legalize thousands of gambling houses, the City contends tha’ the State law against gambling, adopted in 1877, is invalid on the ground that it was not read three times in the Legislature.

And what a field for new WPA projects it opens:

|

But the true beauty of the plan in that provision of the ordinance only persons of good repute may obtain gambling house licenses, the intention being to license thousands ot operators whose present activities are acknowledged to be illegal under the law. Most Chicago people do not take a serious view of the situation, however. They have the gift of tolerance and indifference, and they seem to love their city for its vices and to enjoy the astonishment of strangers.

gleams brightest which holds that

.

1 wholly

defend to the death

disagree

The Hoosier Forum

with what you say, but wil your right to say it—Voltaire.

ASKS INFORMATION ON TITLE HOLDER LAW By Frank Alexander, Gwynneville

I would like to give vent to my feelings in regard to that so much talked of title card holder, a very beautiful little piece of mechanism, designed to take about $250,000 from the motorists of Indiana. I challenge any man or group of men to show where this thing is of any good to us. I believe that at least the majority of people want to be law-abiding and co-operate in the enforcement of any law that is right. They would pe glad to paste the card in the proper place on the windshield, which would answer the purpose more perfectly in that it would do away with the fire hazard and occupy less space and, pest of all, leave the 25 cents in possession of its rightful owner, with which he could pay the tax on five gallons of gas. I think the motorist should know the name of the author of this piece of legislation and its supporters together with the names of the manufacturers of this gadget,

Editor's Note-—The author of the title holder amendment is Senator william B. Janes (D. New Albany). Records show that it was incorporated in one of the Administration bills during the 1937 Legislature when these measures were on Senate second reading. The safety bills previously were passed by the House, and this amendment was concurred in by that body without a record vote. The celluloid title holder is manufactured by the N. Shure & Co, Chicago. It sells for 25 cents, half of which amount goes to the State. According to Governor Townsend this is a taxation measure and the money is to be placed in the State general fund.

# = » GOOD WORKERS DO NOT NEED

UNIONS, READER SAYS By Pat Hogan, Columbus, Ind.

Frank Moore writing in the Hoosier Forum states that I am behind the times and know little about this thing called “production” and am not aware of the magnificent benefits of the modern union. Now it is a fact that I have never worked in Newcastle, but I have worked at four large factories, and at present I am employed in a factory producing the highestpriced diesel engine in the world —a factory that employs skilled labor of the highest degree. After 30 years of experience as a machinist, inspector, and assistant foreman, I know of no instance when any man did not get what he was worth. But what a man wants and what he is worth are two war=ring, but absolutely different facts. In other words when a man proves his worth, nothing under the sun can prevent him getting his just reward. Herbert Kaufman's pithy business commandment: “Give me

(Times readers are invited to express their 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.)

views in

more than I expect and I'll pay you more than you expect,” can be proven by anyone who is willing to forget his own selfish plans and get down to business. There's no law to force anyone to pay you more than you are worth, none to force you to earn for yourself and the fellow who is not your equal, none to compel you to believe you can get as much as the other fellow if you are not worth it—but this is the gist of the union argument—or as I stated previously an attempt to force someone to buy rotten eggs. Mr. Moore mentions the 50-year | age limit as finis. Fact is I am | at that point now, have been raised | three times in the last year and |am in line for another boost March 1. No thank you, I do not care to contribute $12 or $20 a year to a chest to be used against my interests. Anyhow the unionism noise is not a matter of wages. It is a battle of factions for power. | Wage and hour bait attracts those who destroy themselves. ” ” 2

LACK TERMED BASIC CAUSE OF WAR By C. A. Bradford It appears that the ever increasing struggle for subsistence becomes more complicated. Humanity is weighted down sometimes beyond endurance, because of lack and fear | of the lack of provisions required | to ' sustain the body. Lack is the basic cause of many wars and it has caused man to rise against { man. It is the factor for hoarding | and many times it would be better to use than to hoard. Hoarding has done its share of oo —————

GREETING By JAMES D. ROTH What a pleasant greeting— “Hello there”; 1s often heard at meeting Of folks most anywhere.

Let's learn to say “hello,” A world of mellow tone, To those we come to know; The pleasure is our own.

m— DAILY THOUGHT

Only the Lord give thee wisdom and understanding, and give thee charge concerning Israel, that thou mayest keep the law of the Lord thy God.—I Chronicles 22:12.

W ISDOM is to the mind what health is to the pody.—Roche- ( foucauld.

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good and evil. The fear of chaos due to lack has caused many to withhold from the necessary things of life. Big business by hoarding has created laboratories for the purpose of inventions and of course these inventions have made this mortal life a bit better. However, this would not prevent improvements or progress.

Progress shall ever continue; man shall ever benefit. It is true many are suffering because of improper housing and lack. It is also true many are blessed with the comforts of this life. It is the system we have that creates this condition due to ignorance, because men have not found a better way as yet. Who would dare say that there are not enough provisions to go around. Progress has always come from more, or added wisdom. Man is ever seeking more wisdom, more light. This intelligence is inevitable and man marches on.

When one looks at his needs or to self, he hardly can express gratitude. On the contrary when we look away from his needs and see that which he possesses, he will be more happy and happiness is gratitude. When one eagerly scans the daily papers for hope and assurance, he only finds troubles, wars and rumors of wars, political discord, murders, robberies, and in general, complete unrest. This alone creates fear and remorse. The daily paper is the greatest of all systems which mold thoughts because it reaches the most people. vet it is the public that keeps it going. Therefore it cannof print matter which would cause dissension among its readers. It is obvious that the daily paper cannot print the so= lution for the changing of the mind which is generally called religion. There are too many denominations. Each will become hostile the moment one statement differs from their opinion. However, for peace one must turn from the material to the spiritual.

>» 8» ATTACKS OPPOSITION TO CHILD LABOR MEASURE

By William Lemon

To criticise or call the child labor amendment dictatorial legislation is nothing more than sheer ignorance, unless you are a shareholder in certain southern mills and profit by cheap child labor. And if you are that type of an employer, America has outlived you, and has no place for you. This also applies to those who deny the rights of labor to organize and bargain collectively. Nooseyelt’s enemies place him in the dictator class, simply because he is for justice for the underdog. In the past, labor suffered under capitalistic dictators, protected by previous Republican administra= tions, yet the mud slingers would have us turn back the clock of civ ilization and return to industrial slavery.

Gen. Johnson Says—

Despite the Influences to Cast

This Nation Into a Uniform Mold, No Dictatorship Would Work Here.

ASHINGTON, Feb, 4.—Mr. James Truslow Adams published a striking argument in the New York Times magazine two weeks ago. Many commentators, including this one, have said that this country

never needs to fear a dictatorship because of its inbred tradition of democratic self-government. They have insisted that the despotic governments of today, like Russia, Germany, Poland and Italy, never did have self-government, do not understand it, and that all, to a greater or less extent, al ways have been goose-stepped by some variety of an all highest. Mr. Adams’ point is that, while it is true that the generations which settled this country were largely of the Anglo-Saxon. selfgoverning type, vast additions of a different blood and breed from the despotic countries have thinned out the old pioneer stock until it no longer dominates, Crowding of multitudes into cities tends to regiment life and make it uniform. The wiping out of old frontiers has restricted old freedoms. The net conclusion seems to be that these*changed conditions make us exactly as apt for one-man government as any other nation. There is ng doubt that the trend has been exacts ly as Mr. Adams describes it. He might have borne down even a little harder on the effect of radio, movies, magazines of national circulation and one unitary national market to cast the whole country into one uniform mold.

Hugh Johnson

» ” ” B with all that, I still believe no dictatorship would work here and I still think the reason 18 that this people trained and used to self-government could not be persuaded to give it up. Our melting-pot population votes. The second generation generally understands what makes the

clock of Government click and their share in it as well as their fellows of pioneer stock. It is not so much in the blood as in the training, The first gen= eration of dictator trained immigrants is thinning out and few more are being added. Nobody who had experience training troops in the world War is much disturbed by any fear that our

system doesn’t digest and make Americans out of a second generation Buropean stock. The draft was a faithful cross-section sample of what we have here. ” » HAT type was the same thing I saw strain through West Point and the old Army for 20 years—not taking at all to the wooden-soldier kind of formal discipline, highly skeptical of all forms of hokum, on the surface cynically hard-boiled but underneath ale most sloppily sentimental—humorous, enthusiastic, cheeky, brave. You can fool stuff like that—part of the time. You can sloganeer them along in gusts of enthusiasm-— temporarily. But it is the worst material in the world

on which to attempt the goose-stepping, heiling, pos= turing, sheep-herding, bunk and ballyhoo that must go with any attempt to take away their right to a say in their own government or to tell them just what they can or cannot do. .

Business—By Joh

Economist Sees No

EW YORK, Feb. 4—The end of the year is the usual time for judging business. And it is invariably a bad time. The temperature which retail business runs and the chill which normally comes over other areas of business at that time throws the general picture somewhat out of kilter and makes a sound appraisal difficult. Tt is always better to wait until at least a month after the holidays before putting much trust in one’s estimates.

Of course at the turn of the year all the reviews are putting as bright a face on things as possible, forecasting rapidly rising indices and better times ahead. Looking back and ahead from here the picture now seems about as follows: First of all, as to the four months of the year. The charts published by most newspapers and financial journals either exaggerated or minimized the facts; mostly they exagge= rated the decline. Business declined heavily and 1t would be folly to attempt to hide that. But most of the charts are based chiefly on production figures. And while production did decline heavily, retail trade did not. So now we may say that the decline began around April, became seriously accelerated in August and went down severely,

generally pictured.

OW as to the future. Businessmen are confl4 NX dently saying business will pick up by spring. Some say it will be in the last half of the year. This may be true, But certainly there is no sign which justifies any one in believing this,

i 2

decline in business in the last,

but not quite as severely as’

now -

n T. Flynn

Sign to Justify Predicting Early Downward Trend Might Be Checked by an Effort to Reduce

The curve of business moves under two impulses—impulses which come from the condition of the consumers goods industries and impulses which come from production in the capithe alternative, from Gov= ernment spending of borrowed funds). is responsible for the small

production and sales in

tai goods industries (or, in The former

downs in the curve. rising, it goes up, then

This is why,

same way as it goes down.

E may look, therefore, for these minor rising and

but the general drift is down and will continue to be down until existing in-

falling movements, now,

fluences are superseded by others. sign of those others now. The only thing unbalanced Government budgets. deficits will prices may ming thing which can slow it up, would be a instead of marching on utterly futile advice, ence to get pri

succeed, even if it tried, is another matter. But

it can that is the one big contribution recovery.

down a little, then higher and so on with interruptions at intervals until the peak is

reached. This is also the reason why it behaves the

in sight is a possible resumption of

not do the trick. A collapse in building help things on that front the decline or at least slowing it up. even check it, perhaps, heroic effort py business to lower ashington with #& business used its powerful influces down, it could help a lot. Whether

Business Rise: Prices.

separate

ups and when business is

weighing-in. They tell m

And there is no program notes

go completely

But just slight wire.

and aid in stemOne other which didn’t do prices. If, lot of

and lighting.

it can make to

me how to catch a cold within 1 am out of luck. This ment to meet the largest gorilla in owner is a Yale man, and he

Yale from elephants’

I’ seems a good idea, have only just taken the sb well with it. generation steps in, most adroit of New York's theatrical designers, is to streamline the circus and give it

I assume that Gargantua the Great «y” and appear in a blue when the meeting between

According to Heywood

He's a Bit Worried Over an Engagement to Meet the Largest Gorilla

In Captivity, Especially Since the

Feb. 4 —Unless somebody can tell the next few hours afternoon I have an engagecaptivity. His

won't take no for an

answer. The gorilla is called Gargantua the Great. He Is

a little less than 6 feet tall, tage in height, but Gargantau also has the reach on me. Comp urements will not be

and so I have an advanweighs 450 pounds and lete comparative meas= made public until just after the

ters ago he was majoring in fine arts at New Haven.

Indeed, Prof. William for the new circus, which is about to

Lyon Phelps is going to do the

trunks to slack

» w because John Ringling’s kin show back from the banks, So now the younger and Charlie Le Maire, one of the

a continuity in color

will get his football sweater. In fact, columnist and gorilla was

Broun—

Ape ls Owned by a Yale Man.

first arranged I had hoped that possibly the big fellow would turn out merely to be Century Milstead, the old tackle, rigged up in a disguise. John Ringling North assured me this was just a Cambridge canard, and he insists that I go right into the cage with Gargantau and shake hands. «Occasionally he takes a fancy to people,” said Mr. North cheerfully. But then he added less encourages | ingly, “This is the nature of an experiment. Gare gantua has never met a Harvard man. It will be interesting to see how he reacts.”

OR all his strength the gorilla is a pushover for a microbe. If you have even a slight cold Mr. North won't let you get near the cage. As soon as this saving hope was reported to me I began to cough violently. I used to be an actor once.

However, John Ringling North, in addition to being a Yale man and a circus man, is a Florida booster. “I'm afraid this is the beginning of a slight cold,” 1 suggested. «Catch a cold in Sarasota?” North. “Why, that's impossible. You just swallowed your Scotch the wrong way. But I'm afraid we haven’ got time for another. If you want to see Gargantua at his best we should start now. And one other thing I forgot to teil you. He's a strict teetotaler, and the other evening he reached through the bars and tore the shirt oft a visitor because the depraved sightseer happened to have sipped a Martini. with his luncheon. Finish your highball and let’s get going.”

¥ Ape yah LRT

said John Ringling