Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 16 February 1938 — Page 12

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WEDNESDAY, FEB. 16, 1938:

THROUGH THEIR HATS

‘JT will be the beginning of regimentation of ‘industry in this country . . . the beginning of the’end: of our kind of government.”—Senator Johnson (R. Cal.). | “It is-the best farm bill that has ever been acted on by ‘the American Congress. ¥—Majority Leader Barkley 0, Ky.). : Both Senators were talking about the same piece of legislation. And both, it seems to us, were baling through their hats. : It would be fine if there were no need for the Govern-~ ment to attempt to control farm production. Fine if the farmers could grow. and sell at good prices the biggest crops

their fields will bear. And fine if all the country’s factories.

and mills could run full time, with full payrolls, all year round. But industry controls production, and has to, because uncontrolled production would soon pile up ruinous surpluses. The farmer, who has to buy and sell in the same sort of market as the manufacturer, also faces ruin if production is uncontrolled. The only agency big enough to help the millions of American fagmers control their production, and so avoid starvation prices, is the Government.

“And we think .it is pretty silly to say that the new plan to help the farmers g¢ontrol their production—a plan that

cannot go.into. full effect unless two-thirds of the growers.

of any particular crop vote for it—is going to put agriculture in chains or destroy our kind of Government.

It's equally silly to say that the new farm. hill is the

best bill of its kind ever passed. The old 'AAA was far better. - It worked. It raised the money to pay farmers’ benefits ‘by directing processing taxes on the’ products affected. The country and the farmers probably would be

much better off. today. if the Supreme Court: had not knocked

out the AAA. : “The new farm bill-is not good. It is far "o complicated. It contains many provisions that many ‘farmers are not going to like. It will be mighty hard to administer. It. puts no limit on the cost of the program.” ‘And: provides no method of raising money. But we suppose-President Roosevelt will sign it, for the same reason that most Congressmen voted for it—that nothing better isin sight just now. So there is nothing to do but hope for the best. And insist that whatever turns out to be unworkable, or too costly, or otherwise bad in the new farm bill- shall be corrected

promptly. For, in spite of Senator Barkley, we beifeve Con-

gress can dog etter job than this one. A WRONG IS RIGHTED

N September, 1917, when America was running a'high’

war fever, Prof. William A. Schaper was pursuing an honorable career as head of the University of Minnesota politi-

cal science ‘department. ‘He had won the enmity of some:-of -

the state’s utilities by outspoken criticism of their methods and he had opposed our entry into the war before the declaration. - : . Particularly incensed was Pierce Butler, now a Supreme Court Justice, then the Northwest's leading railroad lawyer and a University of Minnesota regent. Late one afternoon Dr. Schaper was. summoned to a drumhead trial before the regents, roughly grilled by Butler and others and sum-

marily fired as a “pro-German.” s Ostracized, he made a precarious living by selling washing machines and doing other odd jobs until three years ago, when the University of Oklahoma invited him to a chair of finance. All this time friends of academic freedom had been seeking his vindication. Recently Governor.Ben-

“son of Minnesota wrote the regents requesting that the old

stain, be wiped from the teacher’s record. With only one ’ dissent the board made him professor emeritus and voted him $5000 as a salary for the year 1917-18. Here, thanks to a courageous and right-thinking Gov- ~ ernor, is one such story that ended happily. It carries, however, a great lesson, for it shows how easily the fundamentals of a free democracy are disregarded in times of war and fear. In vindicating Dr. Schaper the regents noted with

regret “that periods of national crisis are characterized’ by

widespread loss in social perspective.” Dr. Schaper, like many a lesser figure, was.a war casualty. Those who think we can serve democracy by the sword should remember this story. 1

CHICKEN FEED FOR the enefit of any who are fitercited] in the state of the nation and “whither are we drifting? 7” we reprint from the Congressional Record certain remarks that passed between Rep. Wright Patman, a Texas Democrat, and Rep. Albert J. Engel, a Michigan Republican who had asserted that the Government ought to cut down spending:

MR. PATMAN; “Which appropriation would the gen-

tleman stop first?” © : MR. ENGEL: “The first thing I would do would be to .stop this sending of about 3,000,000,000 pieces of mail

through the Postoffice free from the various departments - of the Government, which cost the Government $220, 000, -

000 during the past four years.” © ME. PATMAN: “Oh, that is merely chicken feed. »

“GREAT MINDS... SAME CHANNEL” pan, HAILING. .the new union contract with Big Steel, John L. Lewis said the signing of the agreement was pre-

ceded by “a series of conversations between Mr. Myron C.

Taylor (U. S. Steel chairman) and myself.” And he added:

“The fact that our minds were able to meet on’ questions of principle and policy is a tribute to Mr. Taylor, not |

only as a leader of industry, but as an American devoted t6

the furtherance of rational relationships and national sta- |

ERR

bilit gE suite is 4 \ributa to Mr, Lewis,

Business Manager Price in Marion Coun- ;

Mail subscription rates’

Mr. Taylor, in the spirit of reciprocity, probably thinks | p

Fair Enough

By Westbrook Pegler

Many Chicagoans Cannot That New York City's Government Is Free From Graft, Writer Finds.

HICAGO, Feb. 16.—For a couple of weeks I have been writing in amazement of a

community which honors notorious racketeers and does not believe in taxes and

which never completely audits its books and. carries in its accounts such ambiguous items as xsdollars. These conditions naturally would suggest that Chicago must be pining for reform and praying for a La

Guardia and a Dewey to turn.the rascals out. There is no such feeling, however. -. True, some of the citizens do ask if it possibly can be true that Mayor La Guardia, with his op-

. portunities for. graft, «is strictly

content with his -salary, ‘and if

|. Mr. Dewey, with his power to pro-

tect criminals; isn’t a silent: partner -in some syndicate operating -

: hand books: and slot machines.

They cannot believe that the Little Flower has no relatives or in-laws stuck away in $7000 jobs ~ in the school system according to Mr. Pegler honorable practice in Chicago. And it just stands to reason that he and Mr. Dewey must have kin-folks in the coal business or the insurance and bonding or contracting business and that they are getting theirs in kick-backs on business done with the City or with firms wishing to do business with the local government, ” 2 ” HEY are inquisitive and slightly incredulous, but it does not follow that they would like to adopt the same system. Just as the royal system would be unsuitable for the United States, honest government would be unsuitable to Chicago and irksome to many citizens. ; A few speak vaguely of reform, but only as of something that they have heard of and certainly with no idea that reform ever could happen here. First of all, there is no demand for it except ‘in weary newspaper editorials and in a confused and yearning

- little butcher’s paper magazine called the Beacon.

.Outwardly, at least, Chicago people seem no less comfortable, if they have money, or more miserable if they are poor, than people in like circumstances in

New York. Those who have money, for a fact, are.

happier than their equals in New York because their taxes are nominal by comparison.

ss » =n

HERE is no state income tax nor any likelihood -

of one, and a man with a good home and furniture and the luxuries of the suburbs will send in « personal property tax of $22.50 as a charitable contribution and receive thanks for the same. During a couple of years after the crash thousands of on Bh

-just quit paying their real estate taxes:in protest:

against the assessments, and those Caspar Milquetoasts who thought they ought to pay to play safe lost money they might have withheld. . Ward or precinct leaders have been Known to ‘call arcund at night and advise the citizen that he paid more than his due in taxes and divide the overplus with him. Some of the books are all scratched up with the entries and erasures, some sections of pages have been clipped out, and some whole sheets are missing. It is all very informal, but extremely pleasant, and reform would be a great calamiiy.

Believe

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

CLAIMS ARTILLERY WON BATTLE OF NEW ORLEANS By Thomas E. Arvin, Loogootee Why not advise your writers to check their information? I refer to James Thrasher in his Mr. Moneyhun article in The Times Feb. 9. It would have had no ef-

fect whatever on the battle of New|.

Orleans had the squirrel rifles of Tennessee been loaded as Mr.

Moneyhun says they were loaded in )

the picture. It reminds me of the local reporter who took a half column to welcome the first red bird of spring, (said bird is a year-around resident), or the reporter who classified a Cooper’s hawk as a half-

grown hawk because he ‘thought it |.

too small to be flying around in February. The battle of New Orleans was won by.the men behind the can-

mon. Infact, that is the’ only Place | 3

where we’ excelled the British in‘the War of 1812. Teddy Roosevelt, in his “Winning of the West” says, “Again the rifles rang out and Pakenham, leader of the British, fell dead.” He implies that he was

killed by a rifle bullet, but Paken{ham was killed by grape shot.

Henry-Adams was a historian, not a Herodotus. Consult his history of the United States to see how many squirrel rifles were even in the hands of Jackson’s men. (Some 400). These men of General Coffee’s force were not in the battle. According to Mr. Thrasher they sure did some shooting.

By Frank Moneyhun Augustus C. Buell in his “History of Andrew Jackson” (Bickers & Son, London, 1904) says the official report of British casualties at the Battle of New Orleans puts the number at 3326; of which the British Medical Director said: “Of the total number about 3000 were struck by small bullets ‘the American sharpshooters used in their rifles; the rest by the missiles of artillery or by the ounce balls used in the regulation muskets.” | Certain historians have asserted that artillery played an important part. The - evidence collected . by Buell shows this to be in error. It is even of record that Jackson ordered

the first British advance, in order to allow the smoke to clear; and, in the modern phrase, to “let somebody shoot that could:shoot.” ? iN PRIVATE OWNERSHIP OF UTILITIES DEFENDED By Voice in the Crowd

"C. J. Johnson’s article in the Forum relative to electric costs is a

sincere, well-put and well-meaning |

statement. However, so many articles appear in the Forum in favor of operation by the political units, and seldom, if ever, is there

Business—By John T. Flynn

Political Campaign May Take Up Issue of Land-Grabbing in i Yorn As Soon as Investigation Ordered by the Legislature Is Completed.

in an extra thousand? If it was a tract of a thousand acres, what difference if the grant carried an

usTIN, Tex., Feb. 16. ~The old issye--land—that was the real reason why the republic of Texas rose against Mexico and fought for her independence,

is rising again to excite the population down here.

This time it’s the work of a highly unpopular critter known as the “vacancy hunter,” who is found along that ever-troublous trail of oil, who is causing

all the trouble.

- ‘And as Texas winds up- for her coming State cam-

paign this issue, along with ‘old-age pensions and the. ‘ rising tide of State expenditures, give shape to the

fight. is practically’ no limit to the ‘capacity of oil and land

1 to produce new and. unique Schemes for land-grabling experts.

: 2 » » i EXAS, y ike other states, Somiog fresh into T nationhood; owned al her land. ‘The

to sell if. These grants were

Tarmers. Ant in D. Waking them: hich

(Times readers are invited to express their- views in these columns, religious controversies excluded. Make your letter short, so all can have a chance. Latters must be signed, but names will be withheld on request.)

much dissenting comment. All of us would have a better idea of the America we wish to pass on to our children’s children if both sides were presented. If the City of Indianapolis were to own the electric utility, the first thing that would disappoint Mr. Johnson would be that the rates Would not be reduced. The gas rates were not reduced when the City took over the operation of that utility. The next thing that Mr. Johnson would note is that as a tax paying unit the electric utility would be removed from the tax lists, and a little

‘more tax would be added to every-

one’s assessment to replace the hundreds of thousands of dollars now paid by ‘the present well-managed, efficiently operated concern. I am not acquainted with any employees of the Power & Light Co. I do know, however, that hundreds of these people have built up seniority and security in this institution which is publicly, if not municipally owned. Ask any of these employees if he would welcome a change to municipal ownership of their jobs.

SOMEONE'S DAY

By ANNA E. YOUNG Deep in our, hearts—we are all of

us g We hold beautiful deeds of charm} We {heen to say the. thing that

Ne ape which causes Harm.

But often time now—you and I— ‘The thing we mean to say Is handled—oh so differently In such a human,’ clumsy way,

thought - We meant to do or ay, cis We have bungled—oh-—so terribly And—ruined—someone’s dayl’

- DAILY THOUGHT So let all thine enemies perish,

. O Lord: but let them that love

him be as the sun when he goeth forth in his ‘might. And the land had rest forty years~Judges 5:31.

OT father or mother has loved you as God has, for it was that you might be happy He gave His only Son.—Longfellow.

one battery to cease firing before And the beautiful deed Or lovely 3

You might be surprised at their expression of loyalty to what they

have helped to build.

The security and seniority rights of these employees would no longer be safe even if they paid a 2 per cent assessment, and they would not even have a ‘social security card. Maintaining the social status of these employees is a very important precedent to all of those that labor.

Electricity, as all of the things ‘we use, has cost what is natural because it must be produced and it must be distributed. Of all of the things we buy, however, we probably get most for the money when we buy electricity and use it. On the other hand, the heaviest cost we pay, both in business and private life, is taxes. By far the most heart-breaking obstacle to a fuller

life for everyone is the terrible toll

demanded of every individual's income by visible and invisible taxes.

Not in our lifetime will we see

lower taxes, but there is still time to consider long and carefully be- |

fore we add to the tax burden of those who will follow us. Public operation means more taxes. More taxes mean enslavement. Those of us who were born before the World War inherited a free country. Let's try to polish up the old heirloom before we pass it on to the next folks, and pass it on a. little bit better than it was when we inherited it.

EDITOR'S NOTE—V. I. C.’s charity contribution has been deposited in the 1938 Clothe-A-Child fund.

” ® 8 DISAGREES WITH JOHNSON ON VETERANS’ PENSION By & Reader, Brazil There are some misstatements in

Hugh Johnson’s article in The].

Times about -$22 per mouth for widows of World War veterans. He says there was: no difference

went, to war to risk his life at $1 per day. When a man leaves his job and family, takes a year-or two in Army life, then returns, it takes a long" time to .regain his- stride and place in civilian life. - The ' General; ‘who was a profes: sional soldier at big pay: and living

the World War?

I'am a farmer and pay soeial ;

security costs .to .which I am not

eligible for benefits. I am also one-of |

the three million ex-soldiers who pay heavy taxes and receive no pension whatever. But I do certainly not begrudge a soldier widow $22 per month.

floor show.

Gen Johnson

Says— ~~ 'Ay Tank Ay Go. Home" Was Bost

Line Ever Spoken. by Greta Garbo; Tariff :Urged “on Alien Performers.

VVASHINGTON; Feb. 16.—I stopped in “at my friend George Riley’s Hotel New Yorker on my way to a train and I saw his The feature is ice. skating— “figure skating”—ice acrobatics and ice-

dancing. It is dangerously done of a postage stamp rink by a: bunch of talented and “highly personable kids—all Americans and mostly, as. might be expected, from the northern states of the Middle

West. Mr, Riley in his modest mickish manner is doing as much to glorify the American girl as Mr. Ziegfeld ever dreamed. In some | fiostances, he has just as good material for glorification — among them being “the last of the Ziegfelds”—a . legally = authenticated " number of Flo’s own family. There was something ‘patriotic in the great Ziegfeld’s sticking to - American girls to glorify—just as Mr. Riley does—and I speak even Hugh Johnson more from an economic than a sentimental viewpoint. . The best of these kids get 75 bucks a week. “The

. graceful Sonja Henie was reported to me by Mr. Riley

as having taken 10,000 smackers, in one night. Unless she stays and becomes a citizen that will go back to Norway. Other authorities tell me that that isn’t the half of it—that Sonja is taking in just now more than any American, in similar endeavor, is using as a basis for paying 73 per cent in income tax. a SW ea T seems a shame to- be saying anything unkind about the personification of grace in that fluttering little form of Sonja Henie. - But when you take a look at what other countries do about our traveling troupers, who aspire.to take out, any dough from this country, you can’t be kind. . You—an aiien—try to take a job in England, France or Germany that could be held .down. by a citizen’ and sce what you get. You don’t get. relief

‘and you don’t get th b, * between. the man left at home at ang. you 8 ® job. 1haven's yerifiediis, bus

part-time wages and the man.who |:

people who ought to know tell me that even the crews of some foreign ships can’t draw pay .in- an American port because: they might. spend a nickel here. ' Yet, counting the bootlegged ones, we are probably supporting 3,000,000 aliens in jobs or on relief, and when you include some special highly per

‘fumed specimens, it Is costing plenty—we with 10

millions unemployed and: running WPA’ theaters and

‘orchestras to support. A surplus of numbers and Biccolo. players. i

* i » : 4 > rF we Yad to have this kind of service and couldn’ ‘supply it ourselves, it might wash. But the Amer Joan, figures in George Riley’s figure skating seemed to me to stack up with the best. Some little freckled East Side Mick apparently ‘beat out Freddie: ‘BarthoIomew in a boy's big leading part. ‘Fm glad. = ° “Ay tank ay go: home” was the best line Greta ‘Garbo ever spoke. ‘Tallullah Bankhead has her backed

. off the boards playing an - exotic somnolent: slinker,

and Talullah is as American as the. Senste and House of Representatives. = | There ought to. be either. a high tariff on ‘em or ‘an export embargo on the dough they take. Ni

fe : i

| According to Heywood Broun

He Was Assured Four Years Ago That Sonja Henie Had No Need of A Herd of Elephants or a Symphony Orchestra: to Pack the Garden.

Here is the story, which seems to prove. that there ¢ came the busy land-grabber.

additional hundred or fifty? The farmers went in and took possession of the lands they supposed they were getting, built farms, the years went by, farms were subdivided and a great agricultural State grew up on these lands. The additional lands thrown in in so many: grants didn’t snake any great difference,

¥ . ® »

HEN came oil. -And then came oil on. many of. those tracts which had been thrown in. Then

He began having surveys made; and to discover that Farnfer A and Farmer B had no title to many acres he was sup‘posed to possess. They found in between farms large

; Juices, of land, She ’hundreds of; ‘acres. and those _ acres bursting ‘with oil : t

4 s I

IAMI, Feb. 16.—Sonje Henie is here with her own: ice ‘and her manager, Mike Jacobs. Of course, it is Miss Henie who does the skating, but in this case the manager is important. At any rate, Mr. Jacobs did have the acumen to recognize Miss Henie’s value as an entertainer long before she went to Hollywood. This I know, because four years ago I was ying to Garden with the help of Jacobs and Bill Farnsworth.

first-rate cause. But Jacobs dissented. “You. ‘shouldn’t get fighting ‘racket even if it it is for a charity,” said the austere president of the Twentieth Century Sporting Club. * “I'll give you something, be class and % » ® 8 ®doita

STOLE a. line once uttered by Bernard Shaw. and

» and also exciting enou

~ “I've got a skater,” said think 1 can get her.” ‘The su

yourself: mixed up with the 73

replied, “Mr. Jacobs, you seem to be interested :} only in art, while I, by a strong coincidence, am in- | terested only in money. What have you got which | | ds, high class and dignified q -| t6 fill the Garden?” :

“I'm talking about Sonja. ‘Henle. She can pack the Garden all by herself. She's in Norway now, but she’s got a date to appear here in about a month in an. amateur skating ballet. at’s the only hitch. “Col. Kilpatrick may net want her fo appear in a show of her own before the Yast? That's your job. Go and try to get his per-

plied.

wil I pt and failed ‘completely.

"The Colonel said, logically ‘enough, that it would

The notion in my mind was, naturally enough, that oar the: ‘edge off the ballet if Sonja made a Trevigus

: Mike and Bill could dig up a couple of second-rate | appe: fighters who could be thrown into the ring to help 3 fi aE 4

nce. : wo : - : tose. {2

ATKE JACOBS was disappointed when I brought "him the bad news. “It looks as if we were licked,

Heywood,” he said.

“But there is one chance. rm cable to Miss Henie,

| and: ask her if she wants’ ‘to turn professional. That - would bar her gutomatically from the Ice Ballet. But

I'm afraid one isn’t much .chance. I don’t think Sanja Henie is rich. enough to be able to afford giving. | up gy amateur status 53 Mika was right, and we didn’t have the show. . induced the Norwegian, girl 2

sii to gr ia oy