Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 28 July 1938 — Page 14

PAGE _ — The Indianapolis Times

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Give Light and the People Will Find

THURSDAY, JULY 28, 1938

WARREN C. FAIRBANKS X7ARREN C. FAIRBANKS will be missed very much in Indianapolis. His was all the power of a man of large affairs, which included not only the publication of a great newspaper, but also widely varied political, business and financial activities. But he was so unobtrusive few persons other than those close to him realized the extent of his influence. As a quiet but forceful leader he was noted for his high sense of responsibility. He had a strict code and lived up to it. : : .Journalism has lost an outstanding figure. Those who were privileged to know him well have lost a friend and counselor. : To Mr. Fairbanks’ valued associates on The Indianapolis News and to his family, The Times extends its deep

sympathy. oe .

POLICING THE CAMPAIGN

SENATOR SHEPPARD'S Campaign Expenditures Coms _ mittee is giving some evidence that it means business. The Committee is looking into campaign and WPA activities in Indiana and nine other states. It has one investigator (it should have two dozen) in Kentucky, checking up on charges of coercion of WPA workers for Senator Barkley and coercion of state old-age pensioners for his opponent, Governor Chandler. It is sending an investigator to California to see about charges that Federal employees are being “shaken down” for contributions to Senator McAdoo’s campaign. It has called to the attention of the Postoffice Departnfent evidence of abuse of the franking privilege in the South Dakota campaign. v The latest sensation concerns Tennessee, whence a committee investigator has reported that one crowd is shaking down Federal employees for one candidate for the Senate, and another crowd is levying assessments on state employees for another candidate. “Apparently,” says the committee, speaking of Tennessee, “every scheme and questionable device that can be used in a political contest to raise funds to influence votes and control the election result is in full swing.” ‘And, says the committee, “regardless of which group's candidate triumphs,” and also regardless of what the courts do to punish those guilty of illegal election practices, “there are indications that the Senate may be called upon to consider the probability of excessive money being used in behalf of the victorious candidates.” So saying, the committee dispatched additional investigators to Tennessee. That's rough language, and prompt action. We'll have to wait for results. Can it be that another Newberry or Vare case is in the making We seem to need a really big election scandal every so often to revive public interest in the integrity of the ballot.

GRASPING A STRAW

UPPOSE the so-called Nazi Bund organizations in this country were really serious minority pressure groups, possessing such great power that our Government was required always to reckon with them in domestic and foreign political affairs— Suppose the Bund members were demanding autonomy in the localities where their numbers dominate, and asserting a large measure of independence in respect to, ordinary obligations of United States’ citizenship— . ai And, suppose their demands and assertions were being backed up by Fuehrer Hitler and the Foreign- Office in Berlin, and that the German Navy was patrolling our shores to demonstrate Germany’s determination that we must yield-— ; Then, suppose Britain and France put the bee on us to permit a British statesman to come to the United States and “mediate” the difference between our Government and the Bund minorities. :

What would we do?

Well, the chances are that our Government would tell the local Nazi Bund boys to hush up and obey the laws, serve notice on Germany to back her Navy away from our shores or take the consequences, and tell Britain and France and their “mediator” to take a flying jump ‘into the English Channel. But the United States is a strong world power, isolated and insulated, proudly capable of quelling insurgency from within and repelling invasion from without. In any possible test of arms with Germany, the United States would not need and would not expect the help of Britain or France. : fad vy : Czechoslovakia, however, is not so fortunate. Surrounded by German arms that outnumber her own, her only hope of preserving her sovereignty lies in enlisting ‘the aid . _ of Britain and France or some other friendly world power. But Britain and France, if they can avoid it, don’t want to have to go to war with Germany to defend Czechoslovakia. So for some months now the statesmen of London and Paris have been insisting that the statesmen of Praha go the limit in making concessions to the belligerent Sudeten Germans who live within the Czech borders, hoping thereby to appease Herr Hitler's blustering Reich. And now they have capped their insistence by inducing Czechoslovakia to consent to Lord Runciman of England serving as a mediator between the Czech Governmerit and the Sudeten minority. i

Czechoslovakia’s President Benes and Premier Hodza

are trying to make the best of a desperate situation. ‘In |

accepting this extraordinary mediation procedure they have shown they are not concerned with saving “face.” They have humbled national pride they have bowed to

A

Fair Enough By Westbrook Pegler .. Our Columnist 1s Willing to Accept

The Presidency of New Society for Total Unconcern and Indifference.

EW YORK, July 28.—Interviewed in London by

a journalist from The Star, Miss Peggy Hopkins |

Joyce is said to have said: “Everywhere I go they ask me the same two questions—'Are you in love, Peggy?’ and ‘When are you going to marry?’ ” - These be intimate questions, and I hereby. offer to accept the presidency of a great international order

of those who never have asked and never will ask

them—not out of good manners, however, but because we can imagine, in the phrase of Bunker Bean, nothing of less ‘consequence. Noi to trap any members onto the rolls by secret reservations, I openly propose in advance that this society be further committed to a program of vigorous and unflagging ndifference as to whether Miss Greta Garbo has married, intends to marry or doesn’t give a whoop: for Leopold Stokowsky; where and when Charlie Chaplin married Miss Paulette Goddard; whether Miss Lupe Velez remains married to or gets a divorce from Johnny Weissmuller, and whether Mr! Billy Rose, the present husband of Miss Fanny Brice, has any intention or desire to marry any other lady, particularly Miss Eleanor Holm Jarrett, the

: . 8 8 8 : 4 Li prospectus clears up the current, préssing business: of the proposed society, but the program should be left open at one end so that other items may be added as they occur in the romantic life of persons of similar distinction. Someone may

wish to nominate for the official and formal inatten-

tion of our society the affairs of Mr. Tommy Manville, but I, for one, would argue against their adoption on the ground that the roll of those who would rather not hear ‘any more about the love life of this scion is limited only by the roster of the human race. We should, I think, confine’our indifference to live issues, not waste it on the confirmation of conquests already won. 8 o 2 -

FRIEND to whom I explained the purposes df the society expressed eagerness to become one of the founding members and proposed that we add to the list of matters to which we will address our active indifference the question of who is fo play the role of Scarlett O'Hara in “Gone With the Wind.” It later

developed, however, that the lady who is to play this role already had been selected without our having noticed as much, so we decided that this one.also was finished business and need not clutter up our program. We did think, though, that the social activities of the Countess Dorothy Di Frasso of Hollywood, no matter who the Countess might be—and we are sure we do not know—would bear watching and, given a little moze publicity in the gossip columns, might qualify for the full force of our unanimous unconcern. And we would have placed on the tentative list the marrying of that Chicago lady who inherited a patent medicine fortune, except that we could not remember any of her names. This seemed to dispose of her without a contest. Regarding Miss Joyce, whose remarks on love and marriage inspired this idea, the story from London observed that she married first in 1912—a subtle but potent reminder that this inveterate bride has been marrying, off and on, for a quarter of a century. A whole generation has been born and come to manhooa and womanhood since she took her first vows, and we look for a large list of eligibles among this class. ; 3 Assurance is given that anyone wishing to join our society need have no fear that any inside clique will commit the members to the Spanish Loyalists, the New Deal or the C. I. O. or against any or all of these or anything else. We are neither for nor against anybody or anything, for indifference is our invariable policy, and this be our motto—So what?

Business By John T. Flynn

‘Miscellaneous’ Users of Steel Responsible for Upturn in Buying.

N= YORK, July 28.—Nowadays the prophets of business sit down with many tables and charts from many sources and seek to read the- future. But once upon a time the favorite barometer of business was the backlog of the United States Steel Corp.—its weekly report of unfilled orders. > Practically every paper in the United States }rinted that little report—just half a dozen lines—every week. And all investors trusted it. Few if any who used it knew why it was a fairly good forecaster. The reason is known now. And along with that it is known that this is by no means the reliable barometer it was suppcsed to be. : Almost any businessman knows about the economic relation of the capital goods industry to economic recovery or decline. And it was because of the part played by the steel industry in the capital goods industry that this weekly report of unfilled orders for steel was the best available index of future business at that time. : Men still use it. And now the fact that steel operations have risen from 31 to 36 per cent of capacity is hailed as of major significance in appraising the present rise in business. : An examination of the uses to which this new steel production is put is of importance. The three biggest users of steel are the railroads, the agricultural implement people and the building industry. The other use of steel, of course, is called “miscellaneous.”

Awaits Upturn in Construction

A look at the present use of steel buying has not appeared, because at this season the farm implement companies usually shut down for several weeks. Of course steel for the building industry awaits the upturn of construction which has not yet occurred. The 4 per cent rise which has taken®place has been in “miscellaneous” steel uses—the industries

which use steel for all sorts of purposes, mostly in

consumers goods. ~ It is wise, therefore, to appraise the rise in th

steel rate for what it is, as we look over the omens to

decide whether business and the stock market are going to go up. It is usual for miscellaneous users of steel to come into the market at this period. It is also usual for many large producers to slow down in August. As the market, therefore, churns forward and as business remains more or less static, it becomes clearer that a full measure of the true energy of the present market swing will not be possible until‘ August is pretty well out of the way. Noontetoae

A Woman's Viewpoint By Mrs. Walter Ferguson 2 :

HE young man who is possessed of delicate sen-

sibilities. must suffer great strain and embar-

rassment if he atfends the movies or if curiosity lures him info ‘an occasional reading of the woman’s sec-

tions of our daily papers. Both credit him with as

much personality as a canned shrimp. Although he is held up to the attention .of the girls as the greatest of All Prize Packages, a melted tallow candle is blessed with mere spine. » rtf I often wonder how the men sit through some of our Grade B screen productions, which invariably show them as dupes of designing foils for the superior attainments of -the ladies.

Nor are they treated with much more consideration | 3

on the woman’s page, where every . recipe, every beauty hint, every domestic suggestion, is based on the theory-that the smart one always gets her man. There are certain sure-fire : which the wily maid can tra sure-fires which will keep he is caught.

man. Schools and colleges have set up

swimmer.

females, ‘or. as

tic male is woman's prey and the a husband, and other | faithful to her. once |

Thousands: of experts are busy ferreting out new and clever ways for a maid ‘to get a hoi! her

LP(

|A New Band for the Old Stet

eine el mr i

ANY

SEES LITTLE HELP FOR FARMERS IN AAA By A. J. McKinnon In regard to Dr. Howard R. Tol

ican agriculture the best means lo obtain equality of income and high standards of living, it seems ta me he would have a hard time to prove

50 per cent will object to the new AAA program. Since this farm act became law it has caused great dissension in many sections of the country, has been amended many times, and still is dangerously restrictive and inadequate.

of Minnesota warned his constitu-

per cent in the Northwest and predicted, along with several-of his associates, that a revoit in that re-

gress will be forced to throw out ifs allotments. He has offered still another amendment recently which is rejected by Secretary Wallace and his department, who still cling to the determination of acreage. The American farmers are beginning to wake up. . ” » 2 DEPLORES DELAYS ON’ WEST SIDE SPAN By Harold A. Wilson ; During the past week, I have ha several occasions to pass the new bridge at Eagle Creek and W. Washington St., which is now under construction. During the first part of the week it seemed that everything was going along nicely and suddenly one day whom did I see but sonfe person walking back and forth with a sign saying, “This place is unfair to organized labor.” We hear a lot about the various agencies of the Government squandering the people’s money and the labor organizations are «doing their share of the shouting. The West Side has waited

because of numerous reasons it has resulted in several deaths.

ganization to gain an objective try to stop work on an important life saving job like this? = 2 8 2 THINKS POETRY ATTACK ACCOMPLISHED PURPOSE By Smiley Fowler yr Ld It was a happy day for Indiana poets when you printed my recent

of discrimination in selecting the verse you publish. That complaint immediately brought them one stout champion, whose identity was too modestly concealed under the initials “R. FP.” The -writing fraternity has a hero to crown. But

ley’'s statement recently in The Times that the AAA offers Amer-

it. The facts are that more than

Congressman August H. Andérsen’ ents that production will be cut &0.

gion will be so severe that Con-

a long time for this new bridge and |: been delayed. These delays have | Now please why sheuld any ors|

letter mildly chiding you for lack:

(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.)

how can anyone hang a laurel wreath on a pair ef initials? Had it not been for my petulant outburst, R. F. would still be hiding ‘his syntactical light under a bushel. Or her light. Or their light, if it required more than one person to think up that reckless defense of bucolic prosody.: Even then R. F. might not have been shaken out of his complacency had I not descended into the vernacular and

reason I am not going to quarrel with him over his little grammatical slip in saying “The correct words should be” instead of “would be.” R. F. agreed with me that some of the stuff wasn't so hot, but he applauded acceptance of the whole mine-run output, as later did “S. F.,” both holding to the dictum that charity should cover a multitude of punk poetry. Well, I have been on both the sending and receiving ends. I am familiar with the rejectionslip nausea, also the regret-to-hurt feeling. So, to be quite honest about it, I am delighted that sev-

fense of the poejs and the editorial staff. : Best of all is R. M. L., whose whimsical humor lights up the dark spots. Surely, Mr. Editor, it is worth the price (in column space) of the whole controversy. And how the poetry has improved! : Let me cite “My Baby” by Velma M. Frame (Times, July 20), an excellent example of what newspaper

CHERISH THE DREAM By F. F. MACDONALD ‘Forbear to shatter the fragile © drean :

0 Nurtured so tenderly, ‘What though its eerie loveliness Is ‘but a roseate gleam? It has charmed the hours of dull drab days With its glamorous inner glow; Pity only that heart, when dreams must fade, That ne'er knew dream-strewn ways! )

DAILY THOUGHT

Woe to him that buildeth a _ town with blood, and establisheth a city by iniquity.—Habakkuk 2:12. : , TOTHING is politically right which is morally wrong. Daniel O'Connell. :

come up with an “ain’t.”’ For that’

eral critics have come to the .de-.

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

ha

poetry may be. And Virginia Potter, whose verse always has merit, makes a clever comeback. 8 ” 2 LETTER ENCOURAGES CRESTFALLEN POET By Daniel Fpancis Clancy . It was with great relief that I read the recent contribution by R. M. L. Mr. L. writes that he feels many poets were hurt by the neglect of Mr. Fowler to mention their names. And then Mr. L., continuing with an example, asks—what about me? Ah, that’s just what I had

been wondering! Rather sadly I have been realling

discussions of “the art of versifica-

tion and the technicalities of poetry,” noting the mention of the numerous glittering personalities involved—excepting (alas!) myself.

And forlornly folding my paper each |-

.evening, I have idly strolled out into my’ garden, slowly puffed my - pipe, kicked a pebble with my toe, and slouched down on the white bench, feng a literary leper, a banished But now all is again bright.

»® ” 8 RETURN OF PRIMARY ASKED BY READER By N. G. t The writer often differs with VanNuys but he certainly agrees with ‘him on the point that the primary should be returned. An observation of our state conventions should prove this point. Several years ago our politicians, not statesmen, carried through a campaign to abolish the state primary. Mr. John Public was sleepy, ‘as usual, and awakened to find that

he could no. longer vote his party choice for Senator and Governor, and that both major parties had pledged the repeal of the entire state primary. The public, awakened and suspicious, strongly objected, and the successful Democratic Party wisely forgot its platform pledge. The Democratic convention in the Coliseum was a perfect example of convention machine politics. - The old steam roller with Lieut. McHale at the wheel silenced every opposing voice—but one. Over 2000 handpicked delegates had nothing to do but swelter in the heat and yell when instructed. Would anyone dare to say that they picked the candidates? In fact, what was Supposed to have been a nominating

show to boom the Presidency of Paul V. McNutt. The primary may have its weak points—most things do—but certainly it is a credit to the convention. All those who oppose machine rule should demand its return. The full primary should be restored and the party of liberal democracy should do it—but there is little chance as long as the McNutt machine dominates the party.

LET'S EXPLORE YOUR MIND

By DB. ALBERT EDWARD WIGGAM-

MARJORIE HILLIS, brilliant author of “Live Alone and Like It,” thinks most emphatically that this notion is false. Girls who take youth as a stage in life's unfolding and build their habits and ideas for Jutime happiness are the ones who

: GouETmuzs it is

Gen. Johnson Says— _TVA Probe Needs a Searcher After

Truth Who Can Sift Facts From _ Bunk Like a Mechanical Thrasher.

ETHANY BEACH, Del, July 28—If there was ever a subject on which the people of the United States were entitled to the light, it is TVA. It is already plain that all they are likely to get is a gob of

.

' gloomy darkness.

_ Wita at least a smattering of engineering education—the sanie elementary West Point course of the

‘Army Engineers, I tried, after considerable study, to

write something about TVA. I had also the advantage

of two years’ work on hydrology. That was far from Making me expert, but at least I wasn't a complete

The net result of my columnar examination was complete, frustration. I hastily dropped the subject. If you examine it on the Lilienthal figures, you can come to the conclusion that TVA is a great gift. If you .take either Arthur Mdfgan’s or Wendell Willke’s approach, you will come out with a c¢onviction that TVA is the most socialistic hokum ever perpetrated under the guise of pseudo-scientific patter. ” # .

ITHER case proves itself—on the figures of its own advocates—to mathematical certainty. Fig«

ures don’t lie but liars figure—and in this case some

body is lying. Yet a conclusion must be reached. TVA is no mere incident in the regular stride of Government. It is a socialistic experiment of the widest possible im« plications. If the whole country is, as this Administration proposes, to be divided up into “seven TVAs,"” it could be a step toward substitution of seven economic and political Federal provinces for the present 48 states. Without condemning that idea—for which there is much argument—we ought to know the truth

- about it in advance. :

There is only one way on earth to get that truth—

"an honest searching investigation by a Congressional

committee. No such committee ever moves under its own joint steam. Its success depends on some hard. boiled searcher after truth who can bore through armor plate and sift fact from bunk like a mechanical thrasher. It needs men like Tom Walsh (with Paul Anderson prompting him), or Ferdinand Pecora, -or Hugo Black (also plus Paul Anderson), or Bob La Follette on his own power. . / 2 = =

the chairman, sometimes the counsel—hbut always it is somebody reveling in his job. In this case—nothing doing. : The truth here is far more important than the fate of any man—-eitlier Morgan, Lilienthal, Senator Norris or Francis Biddle. In the very technical complexities of the subject there is a peculiar condition of public helplessness and a consequently added burden of public responsibility in the investigation to do an honest job. For a real question here is: “Does this vast experiment tend to prove that it would be better to scrap’ the Wapitalist system and local self-goverr-ment in favor of the systems of Germany, Italy and Russia?” : a he For justice’s sake, let's have a fair and searching inquiry and not a white-washing expedition. And, for the sake of their own repute as Americans, may ihe investigators stop varnishing and begin investi gating

Ap

It Seems to Me By Heywood Broun Hp Lewis Isn't First Author to Ste

Into a Role and Get Away With It,

EW YORK, July 28—I could not tear myself away from staying home with a good hook -in order to catch Sinclair Lewis in Cohasset, Mass. Mr. Lewis ceased to be my favorite author when he turned violently conservative a few years ago, but he still might be my favorite actor. One never knows. -. The critics seem to have been impressed by the new star’s performance in his own dramatic version: of “It Cant Happen Here” But they were not justified in the note of surprise which crept into their

reviews. - }It is not a new thing for a writing man to step into a role and get away with it. Even dramatic critics are not without histrionic ability. : . A good many years ago the dramatic critics of New York grew restive under the taunts of aggrieved players. Mr. Alexander Woollcott was conspicuously under fire. In reviewing a musical comedy he men« tioned the fact that the soprano was prone to flat. In a public rebuttal the young lady said. "“I'd like to see Mr. Woollcott sing that role.” The reviewer refused to take up this challenge, but he did organize his associates and gave a show called “The No Sirrhee.” which ran for one performance. That was all it was expected to run, and many managers said it was among the finest entertainments they had ever witnessed. > ’ 5 I can still rémember- my lines. I was forced by the manuscript to say that I had gone up to see the Yankees play, and that in the fourth inning the Bos« ton Red Sox had made nine hits and seven #uns off Jack Quinn, and that he then réminded me of & certain New York hotel. And when the straight man accommodatingly replied, “What hotel?” it was my painful duty to reply. “All-Gone-Quinn” ( uin), Shaw Has Shown Them ~~ Si. Crazed with success from this one triumph, I-magé ~some further forays into the theater, but they were not altogether happy. However, certain other members of the troupe who began as mere writing men went on to fame and fortune. This was the show which first revealed the acting ability of Bob -Benchley. ‘George Kaufman was another first starter, and als though he is better known as a playwright than & player, his own performance did much to enliven

convention proved to be just a big : “Once in a Lifetime.” :

George Bernard Shaw has just attained his 82d birthday, and the chances are now that he ‘will never make a professional debut. Actors who have been rehearsed by him say that he is the finest director in England. and that he shows marked acting us in indicating how he wants a line read or a bit of business performed. And so I see no reason why Sinclair Lewis should not go on acting and acting. In fact, I'm in favor of it. And if he gives up acting I hope he will collect postage stamps. Indeed, any occupation or hobby will be a worthy one if it keeps him from writing another book like “The Prodigal Parents.”

Watching Your Health

By Dr. Morris Fishbein

Quice the recognition of the powerful effects of

J sulfanilamide—most widély heralded of all cure rent contributions to the treatment of disease—the drug has been tested in a great many different kinds of cases, some of which were formerly resistant to all sorts of treatment, o ee “the conditions which have been giving

Among the great concern to the medical profession, as far as concerns treatment, is ARduiant ring 4