Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 22 April 1938 — Page 18

PACES The Indianapolis Times (A SCRIPPS-HOWARD NEWSPAPER)

ROY W. HOWARD LUDWELL DENNY MARK FERREE President Editor

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Ep Rlley 5551

“Give Light and the People Will Find Their Own Way

FRIDAY, APRIL 22, 1938

FIRST THINGS FIRST—PEACE IN INDUSTRY

THIS week has brought reports of strikes and other labor : troubles affecting many industries in many states. Such reports, unwelcome at any time, are doubly disturbing at this time. : President Roosevelt is proposing to prime the pump again, to the extent of four and a half billion dollars. Mere

lending and spending of Government money, as Mr. Roosevelt acknowledges, will accomplish. no permanent good un-

less private money goes to work and private industry becomes: active. . gEniay : CE But widespread labor strife last year was a major factor in halting recovery and starting recession. ‘And if there is widespread labor strife this year it will be a major. obstacle -to a new recovery, pump-priming or no pumppriming. That is a fact which the President recognized in his mepsage to Congress last week, when he urged “sincere - efforts to understand and assist on the part of labor leaders and employers alike,” and when he said:

“Let every labor leader find not how work can be ‘stopped, but how it can be made to proceed smoothly, continuously and fairly.” . , ® = = x 2» 5 NN ©BODY will ever be able to calculate the penalty this country paid in 1937 because so much work was stopped by labor trouble. The Labor Department received official ‘reports of 4740 strikes. A large number of these had nothing to do with wages or working conditions, but were jurisdictional strikes of labor against labor, struggles for power between rival unions and rival leaders. The 4740 strikes involved 1,860,621 workers who lost 24,424,857 man-days of work. But that, of course, was only a fraetion of the total Joss, 5 : : . Plants closed by strikes use no materials and produce no goods.~ Workers made idle by strikes earn no wages to’ spend for goods produced by other workers. As we saw this week, when an automobile body’ plant in, Michigan was closed because it was ‘being picketed in a drive to collect ‘union dues, an automobile plant where there were no pickets was closed because it could get no bodies. When the streetcar ‘men struck in an’ Ohio city, the. downtown merchants ‘reported fewer customers and smaller sales.. And labor trouble, plus fear of more labor trouble, combines with other things to discourage investment in new enterprises and in expansion of established enterprises. ‘We agree with Mr. Roosevelt that “the prospetity of the United: States is of necessity a primary concern of goyernment,” and that in a time of stress, like the present, the Government must take aggressive steps to “protect the economic welfare of all the people in all sectiong and in all. Se a : : But pump-priming is dealing with effects. What is more necessary is to deal with the causes of depression—and among these causes are the outbreaks of labor trouble that ‘have so disrupted American industry. » : : The Roosevelt Administration has done more than any other to promote the cause of labor and protect its right to ‘free organization and collective bargaining. The President deserves great credit for that. But labor’s gains are can‘celed out when strikes stop work, and when the evil consequences of stopped work spread over the country. Labor suffers. Capital suffers. And the general public suffers. s

8 »

- 8 SO Mr. Roosevelt would serve the economic welfare of labor, and of capital, and of “all the people” if he would make a determined, sustained effort to develop a method by which labor and capital might settle at least most of their differences without tearing at each other’s throats and trampling on the public’s rights. During all * the industrial strife of_recent years the Government has not developed such a method. : - How to do it? For one thihg, we believe there are possibilities in a wide extension of the system of conciliation and mediation’ which for many years has preserved peace, without strikes, between the railroads and their employees.’ cia : There may be a better way. This much, we think, is certain: If Mr. Roosevelt would demand peace between capital and labor—and between labor and labor—with as much sustained emphasis as he places on demands for money to prime the pump, he would be heeded. And if he succeeded in stopping industrial warfare, he would carry the country much farther: than Government lending and spending will ever take it toward permanent prosperity.

PROGRESS DIGGING into- an Indian burial mound in western Kentucky, Mrs. Blanche B. King, an ethnologist, has found’ the skeleton of a prehistoric man.surrounded by 625 large beads and five axes of solid copper. = : We smile as we think of the simple savage who must have spent most of his lifetime accumulating that store of

copper from the distant mines near Lake Superior, in order {

to have it withdrawn from use and buried with him. Our wisdom is so much greater than his. What we have gathered from all the world and buried under concrete and steel in the Kentucky hills is:$12,800,000,000 worth of solid gold.

WASIT NOT? =~ has “MARCH was a tough month for the kangaroo rats and . other rodent pests.in New Mexico,” announces an article just received ‘from one of the busy press agents of the Interior Department. Secretary Ickes’ men, it ap-

pears, distributed enough strychnine bait to kill the kanga- |

roo rats, etc., on 130,000 acres of grazing land. Since learned Government experts estimate that 80 kangaroo rats will eat as much forage as a 750-pound. cow" or three sheep, the news from the Interior Department is good news. And yet, the way the press agent starts off his story inspires a certain amount of sympathy for the

Far Evoueh

Business Manager

=

By Westbrook Pegler

An Income Tax Against Government Employees a, Levy on the Treasury? Ridiculous!

YEW YORK, April 22—We will now hear once again the fine-haired constitutional reason why it would be dangerous to our liberties and :the integrity of the states to extend the Federal income tax to the salaries of state, county and municipal employees and the state income taxes to the salaries of Federal employees residing in states which have this tax. ii Mr. Roosevelt himself, who is included among those who have obtained their civilization at a cut rate for many years, has openly indorsed this program. Nobody ever has offered any objection to the proposition that the great army of partial and total deadheads should be compelled to pay in proportion to their income, the same as the rest of us. As Governor of New York and as a member of the Legislature before that, Mr. Roosevelt was not required to pay the Federal income tax on his public pay. As President, at a high salary, plus furnish, he has been

exempt from the New York tax, which would have cost

him about $7580 a year the last six years. 8 8 =

OWEVER, it must be said that Mr. Roosevelt has now taken the stand against the Annie Oakley privilege inherent in public office. He gets a star on his report card for that, but only a silver star. Not a gold one, because the idea never occurred to him. that he, too, had been thumbing his way at the ex-

pense of his fellow citizens until he made his crack

-about taxes being the price that we pay for civiliza= tion and-about some people’s inclination to ride half fare and was brought to a sudden realization that, for much of his adult life, he had been riding his thumb himself. a , In opposition to the Pfesident’s current proposal it is argued that to tax public salaries, drawn out of the public kitty and derived from the taxes of the rest of us, would be to diminish those salaries and impose a Federal tax on the functions of the states and a state tax on the agencies of the Federal Gov=ernment, ” : ; 8 x = ! : | ip would do nothing of the kind. After a public official has drawn his pay the money is his. It is just as. fair game for the tax collector as any other

person’s pay. By the same argument, the income tax

levied on a citizen in private employment, could be regarded as a tax on that citizen’s employer. That is all there isto the objection, It goes back to a Supreme Court decision in 1819, long before the

income tax was thought of, which held that the Fed-

eral Government could not tax the states and vice versa. That principle is not involved in this proposal. It is childish to argue that a tax on a Governor's salary is a tax on the state treasury from which he draws the money. If so, then a tax on John Lewis’ salary of $25,000 a year is a tax on the exempt treasury of the United Mine Workers and, if paid, should be refunded. If so, then a tax on Charlie Schwab's salary and bonuses is a tax on his company which san show that it has already paid all the taxes which it is subjeet to. : But it simply is not so, and if Congress does. not affirm its intention to levy on the salaries of the five millions and more public employees drawing billions in pay, then the income tax is a punishment on private industry and work.

Business

By John T. Flynn :

Those Who Want Cut in Spending

Must Be Prepared for Deflation.

EW YORK. April 22.—Opposition deepens to the President’s spending program. But it begins to look now as if the opponents of the President were prepared to commit the same fatal blunder the President has committed with respect &éo his spending program. The President's primary blunder has been to borrow and spend without taking stock of what that does to the economic system and concerting the necessary measures to protect the economy from the bad effects of the program. . : But just as spending and borrowing create economic by-products, so a cessation of borrowing and spending creates economic by-products. And no statesman can adopt the policy of economy, of ending the spending, without taking account of those by-prodifets. os % Those who advocate a tapering off of the borrowing and spending program must recognize that the effect will be prompt and widespread deflation. That is not necessarily bad provided the artificers of it

realize what they are doing.

The effects of deflation will be not merely economic and industrial but‘ they’ will also be psychological. Deflation means that for the time being prices will slide .down :because purchasing power will be immediately decreased. It means that everywhere there will be a good deal of distress selling, lay-offs. and decline in wages.

Collapse in Farm Prices

It may be that later, as a result of the program, BUTE hy Tas tier i ne ToiE ogra: That at best is an assumption. But we may be sure business will not feel better right away as the first effects ‘of more vigorous deflation are manifest.| And we may be sure business will not start investment at once or that it will be able to make the effects of investment apparent at once. In fact deflation may discourage investment, because it means lowering prices and longtterm investors are not quick to buy on declining markets. : This will be followed by a collapse of farm prices. When that happens .a tremendous howl will go up from the farms—a howl which few Congressmen will be able to resist. . These will be the effects of a deflationary policy and a slackening of Government expenditures will be deflationary. I try to .outline these effects without advocating anything so that we may know just what is going to happen if the spending policy ‘is abandoned. oy Now if we are to do this, those who do it must be prepared to deal with these éffects. And at this point they must make up their minds whether they know how to deal with them. ’ Prin,

Af - af ® oe : A Woman's Viewpoint By Mrs. Walter Ferguson . I™ glad I grew up in an age of romance. There

~ are so many handbooks for bewildered sweethearts, |

husbands and wives these days that love and marriage have become as fixed with rules as a geometry theorem. SEY

Any boy can walk into a shop, buy Anne Fisher's

newest book, “Brides Are Like New Shoes,” and find out how to break in ‘his wife; any girl can do the same and find spread out for her information piles

of books—the very latest coming to my hand is:

“Better Than Beauty,” by Helen Valentine and

Alice Thompson—and ‘learn exactly how to snare, i

capture and hold a husband.

» %

The magazines and newspapers are crammed With

‘such details. We've bored into human behavior, laid

bare the human heart and scraped the very bones of

romance until .the modern scene looks like a huge |

graveyard of dead dreams. Nothing is left but the skeleton of our. romantic illusions. aie ~~ Amid such surrpundings, it's wonderful -to remember the time when little girls cast down their eyes as they passed baxber shops; when, to us, boys were all mysterious : beings - and certainly creatures far beyond the scope of ordinary feminine comprehension. It isn’t the years that have done all this dirty work; it’s thé general urge to turn emotions inside

out and see what makes ‘the wheels of love go round. ‘Women know all about men; men know all about women, The jaded youth of 1938 is wise to every:

feminine trick. And girls of this

with male psychology than

era are more familiar

It's No Such Thing.

The Not-So-Good Earth

" Hed pr 7 “a pa 8 AN En

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— THE INDIANAPOLIS TIMES

You SAVE ‘Ew FACE PLENTY

QUICK

ves-nof

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

SAYS VIEW WAS BLOCKED AT EASTER SERVICES By H. F. M. \

gratulated ourselves that we had a fairly good standing place, near the east loudspeaker at the Circle Easter services. ‘We looked round us and decided that kindliness and good will predominated in all the faces we saw, The Boy Scouts, in an effort to help less fortunately situated, led about a hundred people in from the east and placed them in front of us, so that we could not see the stage quite as well. ' Then, immediately, perhaps 50 of our fellow standers hopped upon the low wall, in front of us—and thus blocked the entire view of several hundred of the rest of us. Naturally, we were all disapinted. The Scouts were perplexed, ut rather helpless. Some of the people complained bitterly, of and to the deaf people upon the wall. But I am sure no one envied them, their better positions, for every one could sense their troubled consciences. Honestly, they were nice people—and they knew, as we all knew that it was momentary thoughtlessness. We, in the darkness, could not see; but we could think as we listened to the beautiful music. Ti 8 8 = JOHNSON’S COLUMN ON POWER CRITICIZED = By Seedy ~ I have often wondered, although I have, been more than w ; take. their authority for granted, just how: near the classification of

wizard these columnists stand. It is supposed that all columnists are

and it is my, opinion that the nearest claim to the title of wizard lies in their unusual ability to leave lying. around . in convenient places loopholes - of ample diameters for

- | emergency. purposes.

Admitted then, that in this sense, columnists are all wizards, and that the quality ‘of their wizardry is judged by the size of the loopholes, “Old Ironpants” stands clear to cop the degree with distinction, his technique plainly testifying to the thoroughly efficient methods of his instructor, Prof. Houdini. oT In his April 16 article, Mr. Johnson deals with the cost of power production in a steam plant versus hydro plant. As a power engineer, I agree with Mr. Johnson in asserting that one kilowatt hour of electrical energy can be produced with less than one ton of coal. I also agree with him that the steam plant is more economical from this

though he failed to give reasons. When the ;cost of the dam across

‘the: Grand Coulee project is converted into.a pile of coal, it-is easy

2

My wife, my little boy and I con- :

oned in tons, then I would be cer-

‘or should I say a safety factor of illing to

| sary. eg

accustomed to being taken fo task,

with “A Taxpayer” who contributed

Evidently their parents do not drive

standpoint than the hydro plant,

the Columbia River at the site of |

to see that the steam plant would

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

be the cheaper as long as the depreciation charges were being applied to the power cost. . I'm in no position to make statements regarding the authenticity of Mr. Johnson's assertion that in former years it required eight tons of coal to produce one kilowatt hour, but considering this plant in which I work, if the amount of coal necessary to produce one kilowatt hour of electrical energy had to be reck-

tain that I had missed my calling. To indicate the magnitude of some of Mr. Johnson’s loopholes, consider his assertion that sufficient progress in design and practice has been made to cut the amount of coal necessary to generate one kilowatt hour, from eight tons to less than one ton. ~ Then please accept this: as authority, that one kilowatt hour is being produced on from seven pounds of coal down to less than two pounds of coal, which, on the basis of the information given by Mr. Johnson, provides a loophole,

from 286 per cent up to more than 1000 per cent larger than is meces-

: 2 #2 =» WANTS GLASS KEPT OUT OF ALLEY By, ‘Another Taxpayer

We who reside in the 1100 block| ‘N. Rural St., and Temple Ave. and

must drive through the alley between these streets to reach our garages, certainly can sympathize

to the Forum recently. Our alley is strewn almost daily with. jagged, broken glass by boys, old enough to know better, who play there.

cars. I have personally, and with much - patience, swept the alley PENITENT By KEN HUGHES

He used the sharpest words “To hurt a heart, But now repents, and wreathes a

prayer ; ‘For the wounded part.

DAILY THOUGHT For the ear trieth words, as the mouth tasteth meat.—Job 34:3.

GOOD word ‘is an easy obliga--A-tion; but not-to speak ill re-

quires only our silence, which costs us nothing—Tillotson. «

clean of glass on five or six occasions, hoping that their supply of bottles to break would eventually be exhausted. But within a day or two the same thing reoccurs, and at the present time it is almost impassable. If the police cars patroling this section were required to .drive through this alley, I'll wager something would be done about the matter in a hurry. : :

® 8 = DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY TERMED CIRCUS By A Democratic Committeeman One circus has left town, but it looks as though there will be a cir-

cus here until after May 2, 1938.|

If you miss your goat look up the Democratic Party. If the Sheriff or some other Democrats don’t have it, then the Republicans, .Communists, Hitlerites or someone else will have claimed possession of it. It looks as though Marion County has gone goat wild instead of hog wild while the Republicans sit back and laugh at the boyish pranks of the would-be leaders of the Democratic Party. : It is time that all of the ward leaders and other would-be leaders were replaced with stanch Democrats that would give service to their communities as well as to the taxpayers. Some in the offices are all right but these ward leaders and especially those who hate been in for years should move otf. If we are to look like goats when incarcerated with a goat then the 24 ward chairmen should be the first and should not make the precinct committeemen the goats. : 2 8 =» READER WANTS WPA MADE PERMANENT By Old at 32 : , The letter in the Forum in reference to women past 30 and their difficulty in getting jobs is’ true. And the man at 30, unless he is a highly skilled mechanic of some kind, also will find it hard to get employment. : : Here in Indianapolis a man of 30 could not possibly be an expert because he has not had enough practical experience. In some lines of work it is possible to be an expert at 30 but in very few. Many manufacturers here prefer young women and some young men . . . only because they can get them to work for less wages than a married man. This is just another

reason why I believe the capitalistic |

profit sytem is on. its last lap.. I think the Government should give every unemployed man who can show he has no- funds and needs work a WPA job. Thousands of persons cannot get on relief or

| WPA because they are staying with

some relative. Make WPA permanent and if times get good these

‘persons can take a private job and

come back to WPA when the busi-

‘ness is over.

LET'S

Tos

EVERAL NEAR-SIGHTED. ER SA 1T15 BECAUSE THEY LEARNED TO Ne Too EARLY. A DAD AND MOTHER—"NO DOUBT THAT'S ITPEAS Tous Exaanto San THE START YOUR OPINION com

JANE AND BUD-"THE DOCTOR EXAMINED A prea mE EAR: D. TEACH

WHENEVER T hear this ques- ture?” ERT hear this gu

in EXPLORE YOUR MIND

S. YESORNO — NG

- | with the age at | to read and, second,

opment of character, and courage to meet the unknown, : ; a a a 2 NOT UNTH they have learned and put into practice the les-

sons ‘ from these misfortunes. As| . | the Scientific American urges, there

have been some good rains in the

‘Dust Bowl and the peoplé may rea-

son that. “it won’t’ happen again” and forget. its great lessons of soil conservation., The same with the floods; earthquakes—and above all else, wars, But as Woodrow Willearn its lessons all over again.

* Bo wel Ta... »

near-sigh

difference, but the near-si

| of the parents explained the whole | matter. Near-sightedness is a pure|1y hereditary trait, due

herited siape of reading early or any, f x

to | ‘the | was not available any sort of

#

__ FRIDAY, APRIL 22, 1938 en. Johnson

We Would Be Better OF if More Leaders in Business and Political

Life ‘Were More Like John Lewis.

ASHINGTON, April 22.—One constant diversion Y ‘in a worried world is unconsciously afforded me by John L. Lewis. I have other friends and some of them are economic royalists. To the extent tha ft is polite, I get everything from raised eyebrows fo raised skunk tails whenever I speak in approval of a ‘man whom I regard as a great popular leader. : I get worse than that in open forums that I frequently conduct. These, while sometimes sprinkled with Communist hecklers, are chiefly middle-class people who have been propagandized into believing that Mr. Lewis is a horned, tailed, sulphurous and personal devil. Nearly always somebody asks, “How about John Lewis?” Lay ~My answer is: “One of the best in public life.” Silence is the mildest thing that draws. But I believe it, after perhaps the most intimate observation under joe. hottest fire that has been afforded any commens Tr : ® 8 = Pity "HE man is in a fight on two fronts—capital and labor—and he is a born fighter. I wish he hadn't done or said many things, but when I ask myself: “What would you have done in a similar spot?” Ihave to confess: “Probably worse. When You are in a fight to the death, you use everything.” - People in industry sometimes expect him to espouse causes which, while he may approve, happen not to aid his major aims. He is just too smart to fritter his force away in diversions. If John had chosen business instead of labor, he might today be a prince of privilege. In negotiations on the coal code, he knew more about a dozen companies than their own presidents did. When a friend of mine had to know about one of them, I sent him to John rather than to any operator. : 8 8 8 T° criticize his actions you should examine his purposes. Maybe you do not believe that come plete industrial unionism is an economic necessity in this age of industrial collectivism. Whether you do or not, you may, as I do, bitterly condemn some of his tactics. But, in either case, you must remember that it is he, and neither you aor I, who is there under the spotlight where the socking will go on, as Jack: Dempsey says, “ ‘Til something drops.” Rough? . Sure he is rough—so is every real scrape per. Using politics, pressure and even violence? Sure —so does his opposition. Dramatic and flamboyant? Sure—his- job requires it. Accepting some alliances with doubtful people? Sure—so did Jackson when he enlisted the pirates. But he can handle them— just like Andy. : I can tell you this. I never asked him in NRA to do a thing against his interest, but which the country needed, that he did not come through instantly, You will never see him do a dishonorable thing, a cowardly thing, or commit an offense against friends

ship, decency or patriotism. We would be better off if more of our leaders in both political and business life were more like John

Lewis. 5

It Seems to Me

By Heywood Broun

The Testimony of Jackie Coogan's Mother Makes Her Week's Heroine.

EW YORK, ‘April 22.—When discussion of child labor was rife, a terrific howl went up from Hollywood. The guardians of the motion picture industry asked piteously what was to become of the little lads and lassies of the screen. And the spokesmen from the lots grew tearful as they explained how Hollywood looked after the material and spiritual welfare of the little ones entrusted to its tender care. And yet, even the most eloquent of the advocates of jobs for children could not muster as many tears as those shed on the witness stand by Jackie Coogan’s mother. it x : Both in well-authenticated reports, in myths and in legends, the world is rich in stories of those who have put aside self-interest for the sake of the rising generation. Indeed, this trait has been celebrated in the famous saying, “Fireman, save my child.” And yet in all the long history of impulsive pare ents, few if any have been called upon to make such a sacrifice as came up in the life of Lillian Coogan. She had to decide whether to hold or give money which is said to run into millions. Should she assume the burden herself or pass the grave and possibly crippling responsibility over to immature shoulders which might sag under the heavy load? All the testi< mony seems to show that Lillian Coogan never hesie tated. She saw her duty and she performed it. Like the rest of us, she is only human, and it is natural that she wept when called upon in open court to tell the story. Women are not prone to boast, and Jackie Coogan’s mother may well have preferred “to keep her secret in the home circle.

Hard on Fingernails

. “I love my boy,” she cried. “I've tried to make a man of him.” All authors agree that vast wealth may be enervating. And many a father has done much to see that his son should go to his own university and become a graduate of the College of Hard Knocks. . The army of silver spoon removers is a noble band, but necessarily not numerous. Mrs. Lillian Coogan should be breveted a colonel. “Is it your position that. Jackie’s fortune belongs to you?” a lawyer asked. In simple pride Mrs. Coogan replied, “I believe that’s the law.” And in that answer the heroine of the week stands revealed not only as one ready to sacrifice herself - for the sake of her son, but also as a citizen determined to defend the Constitution of California. For Jackie Coogan there lies ahead the delightful life of a trouper. He can know the joys of vicissitudes. The open road lies before him. All this gay adventure Lillian Coogan has put aside, She must sit home and clip coupons. And I'm told that giltedge Wonds can raise perfect havoc with your fingers nails. t im :

Watchi ng Your Health |

By Dr. Morris Fishbein. oh A TOW that the measles epidemic seems to have well nigh run its course, reports are beginning to come of rather generalized outbreaks of scarlet fever. The cause of this condition seems to be defi= nitely established as a streptococcus infection, a germ that grows in : people are frequently confused by the idea that ‘ there are several different kinds of scarlet fever, some. of which are milder than others. Nevertheiess, no matter how mild scarlet fever seems to be, it is ale

ways a dangerous h 2 : Usually scarlet fever appears any time from three to five days, but sometimes as Iong as seven days, after the person has been exposed to ‘gupther" case Before we knew the cause of scarlet fever; there test by which it could whether or t the exposed person “disease. Neither was there available of prevention or specific treat known as the Dick test which is available for detor= mining whether or not a child that is exposed will Widespread use this test indicates that about one-half of all children are naturally immune to

scarlet fever. 7 a "The medical profession is not yet convinced that it is: worth while to inoculate .all children 3 scarlet fever as they are inoculated against diphe theria. It is believe ~haweyer, thai In times of serie When a child fs likely ;to be ex

to be of