Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 12 April 1938 — Page 11

PAGE 10

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| TUESDAY, APRIL 12, 1938 _

SPRING THAW ; Lone PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT talked to Congressional lead- + ers yesterday about a $1,250,000,000 WPA appropriation for the first seven months of the coming fiscal year. That's a lot of money. But it’s no tremendous increase, since the Government is spending $1,750,000,000 on work : yelief in: 12 months of this fiscal year. : ~The President sent a message to Congress, proposing $300,000,000 in Government loans to railroads for purchase of equipment. That’s a lot of money, too. But the equipment will be security for the loans, and if a long-range solution of the railroad problem is worked out the chance for repayment will be good. : Beyond these points, Mr. Roosevelt said nothing about the reported four-billion-dollar lending-spending pumppriming program. And we think he was wise. Four billion dollars is a whale of a lot of money. But it’s not so big whén compared to the many billions of private capital that are now, for various reasons, frozen. . What the country needs is a great spring thaw to turn the iceberg of private capital into many streams of productive enterprise. That would cost the taxpayers nothing; it would create new wealth and new sources of Government revenue. That would add nothing to the public debt; it would bring nearer the day when the debt can begin to decrease. - That would not put the unemployed on relief jobs at relief wages; it would put them on real jobs at real wages. Mr. Roosevelt, we hope, is going to wait a while before giving the signal for the big pump-priming splurge. Perhaps he sees—as we believe we see—signs that the spring

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Washington By Rodney Dutcher

War Boats Seem to Cost More When Built by Private

ASHINGTON, April 12—Last month a firstclass battleship for the United States Navy was estimated to cost about $70,000,000. Today, according to confidential estimates of naval officers, the cost can be placed somewhere around

| $100,000,000.

The increase is due to the fact that the Navy Department and the Administration now recommend 45,000-ton ships, having abandoned the old 35,000-ton treaty limit.

Industry-—and | Lots of People Are Wondering Why. |

Although many complaints have come from Ad- | PE

profit in other industries, no one here seems to have a clear idea what the profit rate is on battleships.

There have been some curious incidents, however, which indicate that certain critics may be correct

when they say the legally fixed profit limit of 10 per :

cent doesn’t mean anything under certain methods

of accounting. f 7 8 8 2

1.2 year private shipyards bid $49,870,000 and $47,829,000 on two battleships, while Government Navy yards bid $37,265,000 and '$36,789,000. The average difference was $11,827,000. At the present time

t to build the new ships. . i Congressman Sauthoff thinks the difference between what private yards will charge and what Navy

yards would bid will be around $35,000,000 on the three

proposed dreadnaughts, but admits that's only a|

guess. . a Interstate Commerce Commission engineers once discovered that the 1929 cruisers averaged $1,429,000 apiece cheaper when produced by Navy yards, although the Government paid its workers $558,000 per cruiser for annual leaves and holidays, and wages were some 20 per cent higher than in private yards. Taxes and other expenses paid by private yards, but not by Navy yards were listed at about $156,000. ; 2 ” t EANWHILE construction of the merchant marine, vital as a naval auxiliary, is being held up and not only Mr. Roosevelt but’ Joseph P. Kennedy suggested it might be a good idea to have some American merchant marine ships built in private yards. There has been a small movement in Congress, which the Administration conspicuously has failed to support, for expansion of Navy yard facilities to the end that the Government might produce all necessary naval ships in its own yards.

The ICC engineers told the Senate Munitions

e Navy yards are full, and private yards are sure |.

ministration throats against prices and rates of | §

Win Friends and Influence

x

People !—By Tatburt

‘Where Wold Harty Hopkins Be I Every Family Earned Just $1800 ~~ And Paid No Income Tax at All? YX 7ASHINGTON, April 12—Mr. Harry Hopkins has | ¥ already spent more of other people’s money than any other single individual in the history of the world. He wants to continue his record-breaking pace. He says that everybody who can’t find work for himself has a right to have the Federal Govern ment hire him at public expense. He wants Govern ment now to set? up permanent machinery to do this. The states and cities have no obligation—only Uncle 8am. . = It is always hard for me to criticize Harry. Of all the present Administration crew, he is, I think, the most able, devoted, sincere, fearless and unselfish. The statistics supporting his prepared statement to the Senate committee. are almost cynically misleading, but somebody else cooked them up. Harry’s mind does not run to figures. It runs to far horizons, high ideals and experiments noble in motive. : : ” ”® »

yar is fine, but, if this country isn’t to go to ruin, high idealism must somehow be tempered with realism and something must be done to preserve ‘the economic system that made it possible for Mr. Hopkin to spend as much as one billion—much less eight. . 2 : : . Mr. Hopkins has aforetime said that work-relief costs double what direct relief costs and added, “What of it?” In this report, his slicker statistician craftily amends him. Direct relief in New York City, said he, costs $48 per. family of four, The comparative monthly WPA earnings for “large cities” is $60.50. This is boldly misleading. It costs an average of $100 a month to employ a man in’ WPA in New York City, I know because I did it. The whole Hopkins’ creed stems from the “shares our-wealth” heresy. It argues that gross national ins come can be increased by taki man and giving it to another.

: HE vice of that argument is that these incomes are considered before income taxes. The lowest one-third pays no income tax at all. The small per= centage of families on the top side—whatever it is— which really do receive the bulk of national income

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is

=

: 4 3 : ® : The Hoosier Forum 1 wholly disagree with what you say, but will defend to the death your right to say it.—Voliaire.

pay practically all the State and Federal Governments® revenue from private incomes, running, on large in= comes, as high as 91 per cent of all. If every family had the same income-—say $1800—under the present tax structure, the Government would have no revenue from individual income at all, and where would H, Hopkins be? : General Motors’ big Bill Knudsen, lately questioned

by the Byrnes Committee, said to me wistfully: “Why

didn’t they ask me about my iricome?” It had been

g income from ons ° %

TAX ON INCOME FROM GOVERNMENT BONDS URGED By 8. L. H, Before we ask Congress to soak | the untaxed 2,350,000 péople on public payrolls of the state and municipal government, let us ask Congress to apply the income tax to all | income derived from the obligations of Federal and state or local government. Even if the principal is ruled tax exempt, we should nevertheless tax the income from the billions in bonds in the hands of

men to be satisfied with this passive form of entertainment—and education.” Taking Dr. Wiggam’s statement as a premise, and along with it the’ “| premise of the radio people that their programs (consisting mostly

publicized, as I recall—honus plus salaries and fees— - in 1936, at around $400,000. But Federal and state income taxes reduced that to about $125,000. Bill had been earning—for Mr. Hopkins et al, $275,000— which the Federal publicity omitted to mention. Bill continued: “I've been ‘upstairs’ (in the general management big money) four depression years. During that time 1 havent bopt one cent for myself. Every al i penny went either in taxes or to help the JL of cowboy “mournfuls,” screaming Compared to Harry's vast iy — eight murder mysteries, and other bois-| billions of other people’s dough, somehow I like Bill

(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.)

Committee that this would cost only $23,604,000, although that figure would need revision today.

An alternate proposal is to forbid the Navy to

thaw may be setting in on a scale that will make much of the proposed Government spending and lending unnecessary. allocate battleships and cruisers to private yards

# 2 8 : ” ” 8 APPIEST of ‘these signs is Mr. Roosevelt’s own sports- din are within a given percentage of

manlike attitude since defeat of the Reorganization Bill. If that attitude is maintained it will bring better Y, . feeling and renewed confidence throughout the country. | usli ness But there are many other signs. ! "Private home-building, encouraged by the Govern- By John T. Flynn

terous babble) are arranged for per- | Knudsen’s record better. sons with 12-year-old minds, I fell’

to wondering as to what legitimate

VANNUYS® EFFORTS conclusion one should draw from

COMMENDED

ment’s mortgage-guarantee program, is picking up rapidly. Engineering construction awards last month were the highest for any March since 1930. Steel shipments were the largest since November. Sales of new automobiles gained for the first time since July. The President and Congress can do things to encourage the spring thaw of private capital—but starting up the ‘spending-lending pump, making inevitable bigger Government deficits and more unbalanced budgets, may only put the chill of fear into more private capital.

But how about speeding up enactment of the business-

helping tax bill that has passed the Senate? How about reviving that plan for a sensible peace between the Administration and the public utilities: which was to clear the way for them to begin spending $3,600,000,000 on expansion and improvements? How about the President making it clear that he needs and wants the help of honest business ~ and is holding no club behind his back when he asks for it? And then how about business recognizing the fact that this President will be the President for two years and nine . months longer, and resolving to work with him rather than against him? > : :

- HEAR! HEAR! ERE at least is an item of news from abroad that we can all understand, and not only understand but, with few exceptions, approve heartily. Irish Joe Kennedy of Boston has ruled in London that while he is American Ambassador to Great Britain there will be no presentations of debutantes from the United States at the Court of King George and Queen Elizabeth. And young Senator Henry Cabot Lodge, also of Boston, to whom Ambassador Kennedy conveyed word of his ruling in a letter, has replied with applause for a “truly democratic policy.” So——— : . ’ : - Here's to deah old London, : The home of the debutante dodge— Till a Kennedy spoke to a Cabot And got a response from a Lodge.

WE RECOGNIZE ANSCHELUSS J AMERICAN recognition of Germany's absorption of Aus- * tria has come as a painful blow to many. But the sad ‘truth is there was no reasonable alternative. Like other Austrian envoys the world over, Minister Edgar Prochnik found it his tragic duty to call at the State Department and notify this Government that Austria had ceased to exist. na sali To have refused to accept such notification would have been silly. If the Austrians themselves bow before the accomplished fact, Americans have no option but to follow suit. “The case of Austria is not on all fours with that of Manchuria. Manchuria was a part of China, and China is

‘Soaking ‘the Rich’ of Oskaloosa ~ Wouldn't Boost Low Incomes Much.

EW YORK, April 12—There are certainly some lessons for the professional saviors in Oskaloosa. That is the town which Fortune Magazine made a study of and which has been already noted here in connection with taxes. But have a look at the way the money flows ‘to the people of this small town. Here is a town with 3054 families. There are 375 families with no cash incomes whatever. Therefore they are left out of the figures about income. Here is the income of the people of this town, arranged by income groups—this tells who gets the money income & that town and what they get: Income No. Families Total Income Over $5000 61 $ 499,624 $2601—$5000° 163 . 571,968 $1561—$2600 416 836,488 $601—$1560 1168 1,181,368 Under $600 871 340,096 Totals 2679 $3,435,539 Now a glance a this table tells you that the great bulk of the income goes to the people who earn from $601 to $5000 a year. - Another thing is clear from this table. The trouble with income in this town is in the first and last groups. It seems a pretty bad thing that in so small a city 871 families should be earning less than $600 a year. : z

On the other hand, at the other end, in that higher bracket group—those who earn over $5000— there does not seem to be any dreadful evidence of predatory rascality. These 61 families earn an average of about $8000 each.

Real Income Must Increase

But it seems a little disturbing that 61 families can earn $499,624 while 871 families all put together can collect only $340,000.

But what do we propose to do about this? Consider these figures. These 871 poor families collect only an average of $378 each. Anyone will admit that any sort of decent system ought to enable them to earn at least $1000. That means they must have another ,$622 "each.- To achieve that much, another $540,000 of money income would have to be produced in that town from somewhere. But if you soaked the “rich”—those getting over $5000—every dollar they collect, and made it available to those at the lower end, you would still not be able to give them $1000 each. ; : Ce And this takes no note whatever of those 375 families who get nothing now. Does it not reveal that

the problem is not merely one of redistributing income, | but of producing more income? And when we speak |

of income remember there are two kinds. The fundamentally important kind is natural income—goods

rand services that-people need. The other is money

income. : You cannot increase real income by increasing money income. You have got to increase both.

A Woman's Viewpoint By Mrs. Walter Ferguson

LESS one has a noble purpose in life, fo be childless at is a tragedy. Many married couples will think these words impertinent, since it is the custom to say it's nobody’s business what we do with our lives. And it isn’t. 0. But not long ago I was one of three long-separat-

very able taxpayers. Congress has that power now under the income tax amendment. :

2 a 8 WPA POLICIES

CRITICIZED By a Taxpayer { _+ I should. like to know why persons -who don’t need help can get on the WPA and their families get pensions—while others can get nothing? I know a man employed by a local concern whose wife and three children receive $55 a month. He won't live with them, but I think he should be compelled to support his family instead of buying a mew car. This man’s father quit a job hauling coal and took a job on a public project making, he says, $1.40 an hour for about three weeks. He now plans to get himself a job driving a scraper on the same project and pay a young man three dollars a day to drive his truck for the coal company. !

father is dead, the mother is sick and there are four children. The authorities refuse to care for these children by placing them in a home. 8 ” 2 SAYS ECONOMIC CONDITIONS HAVE LED TO GAMBLING By A Gambler ‘ Why all this agitation against gambling? Americans today are more or less forced to gamble to gain the necessities of life. They have to gamble to keep up with modern times. It is considered modern and people think nothing of it. However, it should be under Government supervison. When anything is purchased on

whether or not you will be able to pay for it. : E Economic conditions in the past

not get something for nothing does not ring true in modern America. Most lotteries are crooked rackets ‘today, but even so the people like them and will gladly take a chance. ‘+ Americans need motor cars, elec‘tric ice boxes, radios, etc. All of these cost money and how can a

$20 a week?

In another family I know, the

payments it is a gamble as to|

10 years have induced people to | gamble. The old adage that you can

person have all of them on $15 or

By Lyle Meissner It seems to me that the people of Indiana could well afford to support Senator VanNuys for re-elec-tion. His attitude and efforts to defeat the Supreme Court reorganizaton bill might indicate that he can be of service to both: the people of Indiana and the rest of us. ; ie Mig iy a SEEKS SPECIAL POLICEMEN ! By an Indignmant Citizen of The vicinity at the intersections of Massachusetts . Ave, Noble and St. Clair Sts. is in need of special policemen. The area of which I speak embraces several taverns, some of which are responsible and some not. Brawls occur in the streets and on the sidewalks. It is not only the rough element that finds the corner a necessity. Three grocery stores, two drug stores and a neighborhood theater attract decent people with their families and children. All people have the right to live the way they want to, but law and order should be respected. s a = READER UNABLE TO DRAW CONCLUSIONS ABOUT RADIO By L. E. B. a Speaking of listeners-in to radio programs in his column of last Monday, Dr. Albert Wiggam stated: “Wonten seem more inclined than,

A CHILD . BY ROBERT O. LEVELL A gentle look is seen, Revealed so meek and mild . When two eyes brightly beam, The kind face of a child.

DAILY THOUGHT "He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength.—Isaiah °

40:29. : .

XX7HAT is strength, without a double share of wisdom?— Milton. :

these premises.

nearly so bad as they're painted! En # 8 8 VANNUYS TRUE DEMOCRAT, READER DECLARES : By James R. Meitzler, Attia

his conscience and the peoples rights.

cratic machine had been friendly

courage.

Senator VanNuys has

perishes. the powers of Congress.

control him. s 8 = PHONE CO. POLICY PUZZLES READER By M. J.

is laying off men and cutting wages,

than a living wage.

LET'S EXPLORE YOUR MIND

You must draw your own conclusion, and should you happen to ‘draw the legitimate one, you should remember that the girls are not

Senator VanNuys is a true Democrat. He saw the difference be{ween blindly taking orders from a ‘| boss, even though that boss were a President, following the dictates of

It took nerve to stand against all the power and patronage of the President even if the state Demo-

| But with that machine dominated by his enemies, it took superlative

given whole-hearted support to all Administration policies except those in violation of true democracy. A democratic government can exist only when these three functions are free and separate. When either the executive, the legislative or the judicial function rules all three, democracy

Senator VanNuys helpéd defgat the Court packing bill which would have given the Chief Executive control over the judiciary. He fought the Reorganization Bill which would enable that same executive to usurp

This is the excuse but not the ‘reason for which the McNutt-Mc-Hale-Townsend 2 per cent gadget machine seeks to get a better Democrat thin themselves out of the party. The reason is they cannot

I wonder why the Bell Telephone Company asks for higher rates and

when heretofore they have needed ‘all and haven't paid much more

It Seems to Me By Heywood Broun

A Traveler Nearly Gets Poked for His Remark About Harry Hopkins.

EW YORK, April 12.—Many weeks ago I made a columnar announcement that 4 had resolved never again to participate in public brawls which involved slugging people and getting slugged. i And yet recently I almost broke my rule. It was in the smoking compartment of a train coming from Washington. A man in a custom-made gray suit with pink stripes—a one hundred and fiffy dollar outfit with two pairs of pants, if I ever saw one—was talk= '| ing about Harry Hopkins. gd : “I see by the papers,” remarked the man with the well-cut clothes, “that Mr. Hopkins, the WPA Administrator, is basking in the sun of Miami. I wish I could go to Miami, but these taxes make it impossible.” : My instinct, and a sound one, was to punch him right in the nose without ahy explanation or warning. I had seen Hopkins in Florida, and I knew that he had gone through deep and tragic personal tribulation. I also knew that he himself had been put back into circulation after a severe session with the ‘Mayos in Rochester, Minn. If ever anybody had a right to sit under the sun and try to find his own legs under him it was this same Harry Hopkins. But while I was brooding over the problem of whether to punch or not to punch I lost my oppor tunity. The train stopped ‘at Wilmington, and the stranger in the gray and pink suit gathered together his five suitcases and got off. "1 hear that Hopkins is himself again, and I am glad, for in my books he stands as one of the most useful and earnest of all living Americans. I am not in a position expound his economic or political

he is himself articulate.

Pass the Dish Around ;

Mr. Hopkins: is set down in the public mind eas a reformer, which is accurate enough. He happens to be the kind of reformer who appeals to me, for he has made the nice adjustment of holding to a true concern about the luckless withqut taking on any holy attitude. ; i . - It has always been my contention that an acute social consciousness can be developed without going _through the preliminary process of pulling a hair shirt over your own ears. Harry Hopkins works as. long hours as any public servant in America. And be Plays hard, too, during brief respites away from. he Jo . : ! 5 It seems to me that Harry Hopkins is one of the engaging leaders who are stimulated by their own capacity for enjoyment. And when he has a good time ‘the not illogical thought comes to him, “If this is fun for me why wouldn't it be & good idea to pass ' the dish around to everybody? hr

Watching Your Health

Fascist, Red, Communist, fining their acts and proposals? (2)

here to the following rules he can pretty well tell whether ‘he is be- . | ing fed propaganda or not. (1) Does the speaker or writer frequently call his opponents names, such as pacifist; slacker, chiseler, etc., instead of de=

By Dr. Morris Fishbein MONG the gases used in the. World War for, . asphyxiating, people, chlorine, phosgene and chloropicrin are included, and phosgene is most ime portant. Phosgene is a gas which, at ordinary tems perature, smells like musty hay. Chlorine is a come monly known gas, yellowish green in color, which is

philosophy. He does not need an interpreter, becausq -

far more irritating than phosgene. Chloropicrin is more deadly than chlorine, but not quite as deadly as phosgene. in Eg i

Does he use glittering generalities to describe himself and his opinions {such as virtue, liberty, social justice,

ed friends meeting again for tea and reminiscences. . The oldest of us, whose snow-white hair spoke eloquently of the years that had passed over her head,

still an independent state with its own envoys in every capital of the world. Should China see fit to recognize the

independence of Manchukuo, that would be another accomplished fact which we would have to recognize.

LET'S SETTLE IT 9 IS the Child: Labor Amendment alive or dead? : ~~ Kansas courts have ruled that it is alive. Kentucky courts have ruled that it is dead. Fortunately, the U. S. . Supreme Court has agreed to take jurisdiction in the Kansas case. ; oh a : The: amendment has been before the; states for 14 years. The high Court in a prohibition case declared that geven years is not an unreasonable life-span for a constitutional amendment. Is 14 years, then, unreasonable or not? ._ . So:far 28 states have ratified, and eight more ratifications are necessary to amend. #

, justice to those tens of thousands of child

gu Wakes are I ed, there should be

official

has seven children. In what seems to me now like another age, they tumbled happily about her house and she mothered them well. Today she rests com= fortably in their respect and love. Her face holds a deep contentment, There is nothing restless or un-

satisfied about her. Her experiences, bitter though | some of them were, have enriched and glorified her. | The other woman has led a carefree, rather grass- |

hopperish life, taken excellent care of her person, and is a lovely, charming individual and a devoted wife; Yet that day she said to me as we were leaving: “I'd give anything if I had had children. Every year I. realize more and more how necessary they are to our old age. It is dreadful to feel loneliness creeping up on you. I wish I had listened to Mother about that.” Loving her as I did, I wished she had too, for she is a swell person and would have made a fine mother herself. The young seldom listen to the old, however, and often live to regret it. ey

Having children may be a nuisance and a worry,

Nd Ss” |democracy, etc.? (3) Does he claim

CAN THE MERAGE RE DER to be the

2 :

trodden

cording

but more dreadful than anything is for a wife to of her life knowing that

124 COUNTRY HUSBAND, ac- man is expected to be able to take

oops

matter

’ - [der typical

: my. ak

“plain people,” “labor,” the “downmasses,” ete.? (4) Does he claim to be the Band Wagon and to represent the nation or some noble institution, as a whole? These are ‘excellent rules to follow just now. on 2 8 :

3 THE DOCTOR had not studied

the - show that cataract tg io there are a nuinber of types of cataract and “be handed down pretty

Some, types »_the kind which (un-

~ |skip a generation; other types seem | |to be “recessive”—the kind that| als

It was customary to blow these gases upon the troops. They were then inhaled and caused terrific damage in the lungs, which came on some hours after the exposure. Fluid pours into the lung, the walls of the bronchial tubes become inflamed, antl ed. The blood vessels are allo

guardian of the

“the cells’ are destroy: | go injured that the blood in them coagulates. A Righ concentration of these gases may produce immedia - death. ¥ en x : If the person is tided Sues the acute widiiitn of obstruction o e lungs Tecover, . course, the moment the lung’is involved and the breathing of afr is interfered with, the patient turns blue. ‘If he survives jhe Lig attack, Le MAY svatusly become seriously inflammatio ungs associa with vomiting, abdominal pains, shortness oF resi, breeth, disturbances of the ear and the circulation; and m:ny other sri PRE pining guts there re ; a 1 to 3 5, WBete ale In hie

Many studi is distinctly in

seem to tions)

nave it |