Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 31 May 1938 — Page 10

PAGE 10

The Indianapolis Times

(A SCRIPPS-HOWARD NEWSPAPER)

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

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= i= - pe Rlley 5551

Give Light and the People Wil! Find Their Own Way

~ Member of United Press, Scripps - Howard Newspaper Alliance, NEA Service, and Audit Bureau of Circulations.

TUESDAY, MAY 31, 1938

HAGUE’S “OUT” CENE: Hyde Park, London, on a Sunday afternoon. Dotting the acres of that expanse are crowds, little, medium and large. In the center of each is a speaker shouting his pet theme. The issues range from the merits of Rosicrucianism to the Y. M. C. A. Religion, politics, economics, fascism, communism, democracy—what have you in the way of controversy, be it Gandhi or the Sons and *Daughters of I-will-arise. England's Father Divine or Tom Girdler can spout there until his larynx grows limp, and with no one to say him nay. Similarly in Union Square, New York City, or from the rostrum that great and understanding man, Tom Johnson, set up in Cleveland's public square. The idea being that a kettle explodes only if the steam can't get out; that ideas must after all prevail or perish, dependent on their worth or lack therof; and therefore that repression is per se the greatest friend of the crackpot and the greatest foe to democracy, since it makes martyrs of and brings converts to those whose ideas, though cockeyed, become glorified when restrained. Just why Frank Hague, Mayor of Jersey City and vice chairman of the Democratic National Committee, hasn't been able to see his “out” from the predicament he has worked up for himself, we can’t understand—unless it be a case of super-stubbornness or a matter of being just plain dumb. A good-sized space and a simple soapbox, free for all, would solve Hague's problem, let him sleep o’ nights, relieve his Democratic confreres of the discomfiture of his society, and Mr. Roosevelt of the embarrassment of having to look the other way. But Mr. Hague still stands pat. Which makes us wonder once again why his 109 associates on the Democratic National Committee don’t step for-

ward and publicly express themselves in an attempt to |

convince their brother of the error of his ways. For Mr. Hague is piling up a lot of weight, as they say in racing circles, for the Democratic Party in 1940,

President, who by their silence give consent to his highhanded and dictatorial actions.

IT NEEDS EXPLANATION ENATOR BARKLEY, spokesman for the President in

the Senate, is expected to explain the Administration's | attitude toward PWA gifts and loans to cities that want to |

build public power plants. It needs explanation, prompt and clear. The private utilities say they would spend hundreds of millions of dollars to expand and modernize their own plants, if they could borrow the money from private investors. But they say that private investors are afraid to lend them money because of the Government's policy of

plants. So a Senate committee wrote into the big spendinglending bill now before Congress a provision forbidding new

PWA grants and loans for public plants to duplicate and |

compete with existing private plants. We think that provision is too sweeping. But it could be amended so that private utilities that behave themselves would have protection against Government-financed competition, leaving Government help still available to cities that are mistreated by private companies. And such amendments have been proposed. But the Administration is being represented as opposed to any amendment, as unwilling to compromise, money. If that is the Administration's attitude, then we believe it is quite certain that the utility industry can not now undertake a program of expansion and modernization,

borrowing and spending private money and creating private |

And we know of no other great industry that can. The railroads? Their problem is to fight off bankruptey and stay out of Government ownership. The building industry? Even with Government help, private housing is going slowly because too many people are afraid of losing their money and jobs in the new depression. The automobile industry? It will swing into action when buying power but it can’t initiate the revival. n » » = ” » HE utility industry is the one great industry that is solvent, that has an immense lag of expansion, and that

jobs.

revives,

says it is ready and willing to borrow priyate money and |

start putting it into circulation. Grant that the utility industry's past sins have been great, that what the Government has done to reform that industry has been justified and that the utilities must not be permitted to return to their old ways. But does the Administration want to keep the utility industry down until it becomes too weak to get up again— until it’s in the same fix as the railroads? Or does the Administration want the utility industry to do what it says it can do to promote an economic revival ? If so, there's only one way to proceed. That is to work out a reasonable compromise. Let the Administration tell the utilities exactly what it wants to do and exactly what it wants them to do. Let it drive a bargain and pledge itself to keep to the letter on its side if the utilities keep to the letter on their side. Certainly that is possible. Unless, of course, the Administration’s attitude is no compromise and war to the death. So Senator Barkley’s explanation of the Administration's attitude will be heard with interest. It may mean the difference between the road out of depression and the road deeper in,

He is making a | hypocrite out of every single one of those, including the |

Washington

By Raymond Clapper

Is of

Price

Administration Broadest Kind Into the Steel

ASHINGTON, May 31.—There is a possibility that the Government may look into the steel price situation. Thurman Arnold, head of the antitrust division of the Department of Justice, was somewhat amazed at press accounts of the steel industry's resistance to price reductions and is having the facts assembled. Whether or not any basis is found for action, it is probable that this situation will be given considerable attention in the investigation of monopolistic practices which Congress is expected to authorize shortly. : i Administration representatives will participate in the inquiry and they are making plans for the broadest kind of inquiry into industrial practices affecting

prices and competition. » = »

LTHOUGH it is an old practice for principal steel producers to follow each other closely on prices, some Government authorities were amazed that the industry should, in fixing its new prices for the third quarter, hold them at past levels in face of a drop in production from 90 per cent a year ago to 30 per cent now. Further than that, there was evidence of further raising of barriers against price reductions in the new price schedules which introduced a new breakdown of classifications of steel products. The purpose of this increase in the number of classifications, it was reported, was to stop the price shading which had been practiced by concerns which were giving their customers reductions under cover of some of the vague specifications in the previous price schedules. These new schedules, first adopted a few days ago by Carnegie-Illinois, the leading producing unit of the U. S. Steel Corp. and followed closely by a similar announcement from Bethlehem, with others expected to come along, have created considerable stir in the industrial world and caused Gen. Hugh Johnson to address a warning directly to the industry when he spoke at the meeting of the American Iron and Steel Institute last week.

Planning the Investigation Situation.

* = 8

OM GIRDLER, president of the Iron and Steel Institute, defended the industry's maintenance of its prices, saying that in the previous depression when prices were reduced the result was cutthroat competition which brought wide distress rather than increased sales. Experience has proven time after time, he said, that price reductions for steel in times of falling demand do not stimulate buying. Automobile people use the same argument to defend their sustained prices. The House of Representatives recently has passed a price-maintenance bill for the District of Columbia which brushes aside the antitrust laws for manufacturers who wish to fix prices at which retailers must sell their merchandise. Throughout the economic structure there are a multitude of activities intended to prevent competition and supply-and-demand from affecting prices. Consumers are in many respects left at the mercy of private price-fixing arrangements. Manufacturers needing steel must pay the rice

Y Tw

Business

By John T. Flynn Steel Problem Hints Price System

May Be Real Paradox in Capitalism. |

EW YORK, May 31.—At the banquet of the Iron and Steel Institute a speaker urged the steel men to cut prices, even if that ate up profits, and put some of the high-cost producers out of business. The advice is good advice, but it is all mixed up with another problem which little by little emerges as one of the vital questions in the present economic pictures. This is the problem of bigness. Stated simply, the question is as follows: When prices sink to what might be called their justified market level—which means a low level—the tendency is for high cost enterprisers to go out of business. This in turn sets up another tendency which is toward the concentration of industry into fewer hands —the hands of the most efficient and those with sufficient capital to stand the losses. This latter tendency is not serious in an industry where there are a large number of individual unit producers. The loss of a few ineflicient producers is not felt and the way is open for newcomers to enter the industry. But in an industry where there are only a few units, the departure of anyone makes a very serious increase in the concentration of owner-

| ship. giving and lending its funds to finance competing public |

This leads to two important observations. One is that the law of survival cannot operate in the industries where there are only a few units,

Steel Closed to Newcomers

The other observation is that where there are only a few units in an industry, they are invariably powerful units, as in the steel industry. Because they are few and powerful they can manage to dominate the trade in such a way that it is almost impossible for newcomers to enter the field. It is inconceivable that any newcomer would enter the steel industry today. That source of new investment which always functioned and which originated in the ambition of men to become . independent proprietors is now practically gone in the steel industry. The industry will have new investment when the few big units decide to invest.

All this leads to this very serious calculation. If

\ the price system is essential as the regulator of the ana |

as determined to defeat any restriction on the use of PWA | ! | cost producers; and if this extinction of the high

| cost producer by the operation of the price system

capitalist system;. if the operation of the price system involves the extinction of the inefficient and high

heads directly toward concentration of ownership and to monopoiy practices and the control of prices by agreement, and if this controi of the svstem through prices becomes impossible in industries where this concentration has taken place, then are we not driven to consider seriouly whether the whole subiect of bigness ought to be re-examined if the present economic system is to be saved? The more it is looked at the more it seems apparent that bigness in industry tends to paralyze the functioning of all the controls of the capitalist system.

A Woman's Viewpoint

By Mrs. Walter Ferguson

I has become fashionable to abuse Hitler, Stalin and Mussolini, although a good deal of such abuse

| comes from individuals who are in character minia-

ture copies of these men. That is to say, if they had the chance they would behave precisely as the dictators do. And I'm not thinking of Hague of New Jersey either, or of any other national notable who may have more power than is good for him. It's the real pigmy Hitlers that come to mind. Every community Is infested with them. It will be amusing for you to pick out those in your own neighborhood. Some are active only in restricted circles, most of them have petty ambitions, and a few cover up their urge to boss under the “public servant” cloak. But all show the same desire to impose their will upon the weak and inferior, to indulge in religious persecution, to oppress women, and they would gladly order the young men out to die for a slogan. Power, even the least little atom of power, is often the headiest wine a man can drink. Individuals with one-cylinder minds are apt to grow dizzy at the first gulp, and several draughts bring into evidence

| the same kind of mulishness and conceit that have

distinguished the worst tyrants of history. As you watch their struttings, their intolerant behavior and the whole asinine egoism of these diminutive despots, you will have to grant that maybe the acting dictators are to be commended for the few restraints they do impose upon themselves. For we all know men who, if they suddenly found themselves in a Fuehrer’s shoes, would go insane with the sense of their own importance--many of them really do so, in their narrower worlds. Hundreds of thousands of them are not democrats at heart, althought they shout in favor of democratic principles. Instead they are atomic bullies, lacking only the opportunity to function in a larger sphere, The individual Hitler is not to be feared so much as the influence of his example upon millions of little men bursting with desire to rule or ruin,

h Bs

THE INDIANAPOLIS TIMES The Banner With a Strange

agreed upon in the industry. | : -

| people's choice one year

TUESDAY, MAY 31, 1938

Device !—By Talbur

ces SSD

The Hoosier Forum

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

SEES LITTLE TRAGEDY IN GREEN'S LOSING HIS CARD

By R. C. William Green, president of the American Federation of Labor, has lost his United Mine Workers Union card but in his case this is not the tragedy it would be to some less prominent coal miner, because Mr. Green had never intended anyway

| to go back to swinging a pick. Union | officials never go back to the mines.

No branch of politics carries with it as much social security as laborunion politics. Once a union man peels off his overalls and puts on a white collar, he never takes it off again except to send it to the laundry. When the callouses leave his hands, they go forever. In regular politics are the and the next year you are in the ashcan. Law offices the country over are

you

jobholders who had to go back to work. But your labor union official has the system. There is no third-term prejudice. Once elected president

tically a life franchise. Many of our national labor leaders, particularly in the A. P. of lL. haven't worked at hard labor in 30 years. They all hold on and there 1s no room at the top for an ambiticus young fellow. Green hasn't carried a dinner pail for 40 years. John Lewis took off his overalls and became a lakorunion lobbyist 30 years ago.

of the A. F. of L. and a leader of the bitter-end faction against Lewis and the C. 1. O,, is supposed to be a molder, but 35 years ago he had deserted the choking pits. But who can blame them? Anybody would rather be a big shot in

Washington, and have his picture (on the White House steps, than | work for union wages. It's | work if you can get it. 5 » ”

| SAYS ECONOMIC LAWS | MUST BE OBSERVED By E. B. Swinney

Any attempt to make a successful

on other than natural laws is foredoomed to failure as completely as though we tried to carry on chemical experiments without any knowledge of chemistry. And that is why

well meaning

tree when they tell us

cluttered up with former political |

of a labor union, you have prac- |

John | P. Frey, one of the inside old guard |

reconstruction of our economic order

people are barking up the wrong | that our | despotism.—C. Simmons,

(Times readers are invited to express their 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.)

views

economic probltms can be cured by {the Golden Rule. The problem is economic, not ethical, and both are subject to different set of laws. A man who understands the laws [of chemistry, may be a vile sinner, yet an excellent chemist, and so I hold | that if we understand and apply the | economic laws of nature, we can | have a correct social and industrial | order, entirely independent of | whether men are good or bad. Since 1914 this country has enjoyed | the highest degre of material prosperity, also suffered from the deepest depression in our history, and in | both instances without any | difference in human nature. Henry George was the only real | exponent of natural economic laws, {and at this particular time, when | the world is blindly groping for a | solution of our woes, his works will be found highly instructive. | ” ” ” AGREES WITH FLYNN | ON LOW-COST HOUSING | By Puzzied

Mr. John Flynn's column on the the

{ | low-cost housing activities of

CLOUDS By ROBERT 0. LEVELL Clouds are mountains in the sky, { Built in lofty scenes so high; Clean and white as fallen snow, Shining in a height of glow,

nice |

| Heaven is real peaceful there, Near a joy so bright and fair { Pictured in a sky of blue, | God has made so rich and true. | DAILY THOUGHT | And Moses chose able men out { of all Israel, and made them heads over the people, rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens.—Exodus 18:25.

HE kingdom of God is the only monarchy that is free from

| Government seems to me to be | pretty accurate. Our local project is a good example.

| Certainly no one would object to

the Government's providing low- | cost but clean and comfortable liv[ing quarters for unfortunates who | are unable to provide necessities for themselves. However, a check otf a number of the names of the present

reasonable thrift, enable them would seem that they do not neces-

| sarily need electric

dens, etc. i Personally, I

am a single man, | comparatively small income tax but ‘after contributifg to various family | requirements, an electric refrigerator or electric stove is a luxury beyond my means—both as to initial cost and as to operating expense; in fact, we have ice only over weekends in the hot part of the summer. And whatever landscaping or floral effects I have is the result of careful planning and a good deal of manual labor on my part. But I have to pay taxes to provide for other people the luxuries I cannot afford for myself! Sounds screwy.

” ” » : SAYS CAPITALISM'S SURVIVAL DEPENDS ON LOWER PRICES By L. H. Is Congress fooling itself and the the workers? House passage of the Wage and Hour Bill indicates that New Dealers are still attempting to stop the liquidation of our excessive private debt structure which is near 250 billion dollars. Price pegging with Government loans on crops, crop control attempts, loans to insolvent railroads and other institutions, merely postpone the day when liquidation of our excess capital and debt structure will be necessary. Pouring into the relief channel compared to the shrinkage of bank clearings from 1100 billions in 1929 to 350 billions in 1937. Our price structure is out of reach of con- | sumers. It will crash soon in spite

The economic imperative demands that prices must fall to the level of consumers’ buying power. That is the only way capitalism can survive. Investment or debt are worthless if public buying power cannot maintain its value.

AN AG LIKELY TO SAN HIS WIFE TO aT] &HoP NINDO 70 LOOK AT SHIRTS 8

16 TO DRAG HIM 50K AT DRESSES?

NION —— YOUR OP! 4

NO, BECAUSE a masculine man is not as profoundly interested in the color and style of his shirts as a woman is in her dresses. They do not mean as much. If they did he would drag her all over the town, A man who is as deeply in-

LET'S EXPLORE YOUR MIND

By DR. ALBERT EDWARD WIGGAM |

TEND

3 oo ILLG OR TO SEPARATE FAMILIES P YOUR OPINION _____

TO UNITE

PE) vom ir,

[e IT WISE TO HAVE~

TWENTY-ONE-AS THE FIXED TIME EVERY ONE TOCOME OF AGE >" YES ORNO_____

terested in the style and color of his shorts and neckties as a woman is in her dresses and accessories is either a hopeless adolescent in love or else of the feminine type of

| mind.

AN EXTENSIVE study by S. N.

chology, often have tended to unite families as a social unit than to divide them. Of course, wills sometimes lead to dissension and separation of fami-

lies, but most of them turn out to be pretty satisfactory to the families concerned. Contrary to popular belief, it is almost impossible to break a will that is drawn properly. ” ” »

WHILE age 21 makes a convenient legal device, W. R. George, founder of the Junior Republic of Freeville, N. Y., and the National Association of Junior Republics, pleads in his book, “The Adult Minor,” that we establish a special “adult minor citizenship” for those “adult minors” — young men and women between 16 and 21 —Wwho have shown interest in community affairs and a sense of social responsibility, He thinks we should recognize that many persons under 21 are capable of taking a responsible part in public affairs and should be granted a limited citizenship. TI heartily agree. All such candidates should be given the WilRughby test of “Emotional MaturYs

of anything the Government does. |

earning a salary on which I pay a |

five billion dollars is a mere trifle |

Britt of the will probated in| New York County, in Social Psy- | showed that wills more |

Gen. Johnson Says—

There Never Was a Time When It

Was More Important for Business To Present lts Case to the Public,

EW YORK CITY, May 31.—I have recently talked to the American Iron and Steel Institute and some of our biggest business big shots in and out of the steel industry. I found a greatly changed attitude, There is very little spirit of resistance to recent trends of Government. It seems to be realized that the moves toward greater political regulation in economic fields is a world-wide popular tendency and that the good old days are gone forever, Gone also is much of the recent hate-Roosevelt fixation. I am not talking now about financiers. I believe that they are still doing their late spring hating with accustomed vigor. But it is not being done any more in big business. This sweetness and light does not bathe little business. I have talked frequently to groups of men in smaller business. As Snow White Roper's con ference with the 700 Dwarfs showed, they are off the reservation. There are your true rebel Roosevelt haters and viewers with alarm, n un oy

1 ET'S hope so. This Government has heen given 4 the power by recent decisions of the Supren Court to do just about what it pleases in regula Industry. If it can practically dictate the operation of 6,000,000 farms, it can dictate the operation of half a million factories. Attacks by business on the Administration are certain to bring reprisals [f there could be a better feeling and attitude on the part of business perhaps what is going to be done to it might be less harsh. The coming antitrust investigation will be hot and hostile. Its purpose will be to discredit big business as much as possible as a prelude to drastic legislation. It will be done by a committee made up of members of both Houses and of the Federal Trade Commission. It is unusual to join a quasi-judicial Commission with a Congressional Committee, but there is a reason. The Commission is the official business witch-finder for Government. But its powers to subpena witnesses and make unreasonable searches and seizures of peo= ple’s papers and books is limited by the Constitution and the Courts. The powers of a Congressional coms mittee to do this are almost unlimited.

” ” ”

Y this clever devise, the Commission can go on a gorgeous fishing expedition through all the files of industry. Nothing can stop this star-chamber in quisition, but it is bound to be a great deal more prejudiced in an atmosphere of hatred and hostility between Government and business than would be the case with a little co-operation, There never was a time when it was more important for business to present its own case to the public

—to “sell” itself, since that hackneyed word seems

unavoidable.

I feel sure from my recent inquiries that there is appearing a real disposition to do this. It may not be a pleasing way but it is the only sensible one,

It Seems to Me By Heywood Broun

Columnist's Political Catechism Is Quite to Point, but Really Has None,

EW YORK, May 31.1 want to begin with some kindergarten questions touching on American political modes and customs. Q—Is the Administration in Washington working for the defeat of Democratic Senators and Represen= tatives who have opposed the President upon vital measures? A—Of course it Q—1Is it true that in many cases the so-called pro=gram of the President is actually an attempt to fulfill the pledges made in the Democratic platform? A—That is correct. Q—Is there anything in the fact that the Administration prefers Democrats who will support its plans rather than Democrats who are in opposition? A—There is nothing novel in that. Every Presi« dent wants to see his friends elected and his focs licked. That is not only politics but human nature. Q—-But I mean have other Presidents exerted any pressure within the party to help one opponent against another? A—Of course they all have, but various types N

is.

tactics and strategy have been employed. Q—But Mr, Roosevelt has stated that he has taken no part in the primaries of the Democratic Party. Wouldn't you call that a prevarication? A—I would prefer to call it horse feathers. It is said for the sake of the record. In this respect Mr, Roosevelt is merely following an ancient custom. All Presidents pretend to be neutral and assert that they love their foes just as much as their friends.

Why Does He Do It This Way?

Q—But don’t you think it was a terrible thing for James Roosevelt, the son of the President. to declare in an impulsive moment for Pepper in the Florida primary? A—Be your age. James Roosevelt had his assignment. strutting his own stuff. Q—And is the same thing true of Ickes’ declara=tion in regard to the Oregon primary and Harry Hopkins’ statement about Killette in Iowa? A—The same thing is true. Q—But why does there have to be all this flub-cdub about it on both sides? Why can't a President openly come out and say, “I think that Mr. So and So, the gentleman from such and such a State, is a representative of reactionary interests, and I hope he gris a terrific trimming from the able young man running against him? A—It would be perfectly logical, and it would save a lot of useless and irrelevant recrmination. Q-—Then why hasn't it ever been done quite openly that way? A—Because it isn't the custom. Q—But I want to know why it isn't the custom? A—Run along, Rollo, and eat that blamed bun you're holding. Papa can't be bothered answering silly questions all afternoon.

Watching Your Health

By Dr. Morris Fishbein

EN BILLION loaves of bread made by profes sional bakers are now eaten every year in the United States. Bread has been called the staff of life. and milk is known as the most nearly perfect food. We use 13 billion quarts of milk along with these 10 billion loaves of bread. Once upon a time bread was just flour and water. Good flour is an excellent food, but in addition to flour and water modern bakery bread includes in many instances milk, yeast, malt, fat, salt and other substances. In some foreign countries after bread is baked in long loaves, it is propped against the door on. the doorstep. Bread is important as an article of diet because it provides carbohydrate for energy. An ordinary slice of white bread provides 65 calories, and if it is cut by a man with a heavy hand, it may be up to 100 calories. The experts estimate that it is possible to walk a mile by the outlay of 75 calories. Bread is, however, something more than just a source of energy, because the mineral salts, the vitamins and the protein that it contains help to make up the total daily consumption of these important constituents in our diets. There are all sorts of strange notions about breaN and particularly about white bread. There is no doubt that whole grain breads provide extra vitamins and mineral salts that are not found in white bread. Whole grain breads also give some roughage, but the average American seems to prefer white bread, and gets the roughage and the extra mineral salts and vitamins from other constituents of a well-balanced diet. Bread is not the perfect food but it does offer an attractive, useful—in faet, well nigh indispensable— portion Of the average diet,

That was no impulsive moment, He was not

A tt