Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 16 February 1939 — Page 16

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Chiefs.

~ Scripps - Howard Newspaper Alliance, Service, and Audit Bureau of Circulations.

ARE YOU ‘ABOVE’ POLITICS?

la 1 OE Wn ot

1e Indianapolis Times (A SCRIPPS-HOWARD NEWSPAPER)

ROY W. HOWARD RALPH BURKHOLDER MARK FERREE President Editor . Business Manager

Owned and published Price in Marion Coundaily (except Sunday) by ty. 3 cents a copy: delivThe Indianapolis Times ered by carrier, 12 cents a week.

Mail subscription rates in Indiana, $3 a year; outside of Indiana, ‘65 cents a month.

Member of United Press,

_ Give Light and ths People Will Find Their Own Way

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 1939,

HOMAS MANN, the great German novelist who is in exile at Princeton, N. J., speaks words in the current

Survey Graphic which should be taken to heart by Amer-

icans. Dr. Mann recants his early mistake “of looking down the nose from the intellectual and cultural height at the sphere of political and social action.” It was a mistake which he made along with other German bourgeois intellectuals and it led to their enslavement by Naziism, “the lowest form of the worship of power,” which “threatens the foundations of our Western civilization.” Says Dr. Mann: “Today we know the inhuman horrors of a code where-

"in it is the end of man to be consumed in the state.”

. During the World War Dr. Mann wrote a book, “The Reflections of a Nonpolitical Man.” He is not a “nonpolitical” man today. He has become convinced that politics should be among the first interests of everyone. Dr. Mann says: ; “I came to see that there is no clear dividing line be-

tween the intellectual and the political, that the German |

bourgeoisie had erred in thinking that a man of culture could remain unpolitical; that our culture itself stood in the greater danger wherever and whenever it lacked interest and aptitude for the political.” Let us heed his heartfelt plea. Let us assume the responsibility which the privilege of being an American citizen entails. Let us not think ourselves too good for

_ politics, or politics too difficult for us.

Let us not leave politics to the politicians, for that means to leave our government to them. That way lies

dictatorship. You can let politics alone if you choose—but politics will not let you alone. The question is whether you will dominate politics or be dominated by it. ‘Let each of us, learning a.lesson from Germany, say to himself: “The future of our country and the continuance of our freedom depends on how I do my duty as a citizen.” For, indeed, it does.

LABOR SPEAKS FOR BUSINESS HEN a labor organization urges greater freedom for ' business and industry, that’s news. And good news; for the A. F. of Ls executive council is speaking for the best interests of every American who has a job, or wants a job, when it states such truths as these: That Government relief spending, however necessary

_ as a palliative, is-no cure for unemployment. That expan-

sion of private industry is the only -real solution for that

‘problem. ‘And that “fear, lack of confidence and distrust

in ‘governmental, economic and social procedure” are obstacles to expansion—obstacles which Government should do all it can to remove. ge] : We never have been impressed by the cry, now raised less frequently than it used to be, that Government should “let business alone.” The good of business itself, and of

the whole country, requires Government to function as a

rule-maker and a regulator. William Green says: : “The rules of the game should be made clear and plain, so that when business starts an enterprise no new rules willbe issued requiring adjustment and change.” No human institution, of course, can escape the necessity for adjustment and change. Government cannot, and should not, promise to maintain any given set of rules un-

But, as A. F. of L. President

“altered forever. But when the rules are subject to constant

revision—hasty and unexpected revision to fit newly discovered theories, capricious or vindictive revision, adminis-

trative revision by bureaus which read into laws meanings

not written there by Congress—then business can’t keep its mind on its business, which is to increase production, .mpley more people and create new buying power. The A. F. of L. understands that. We hope Government officials will soon reach the same understanding.

NO NEED FOR HASTE E are thoroughly in sympathy with most of the traffic

recommendations made for Indianapolis recently by the safety division of the International Association of Police

But there is reason to rove slowly on several, particularly the one calling for the replacement of 63 policemen now assigned to school traffic duties with WPA workers. Perhaps the proposed arrangement would work out satisfactorily. We do not know. It is being used in many other cities, however, and the experience of these communities

ought to be a helpful guide for Indianapolis.

Certainly no major change of this kind ought to be made until parents are reassured that the substitute plan will protect their children adequately.

DOC CUTS LOOSE ORE nd more medical men have gone in for the psychological as well as the physiological—for the

. mind as well as matter; for inhibitions as well as influenzas.

It is therefore a bit refreshing to see a doctor act on the physician-heal-thyself prineiple ; throw off his inhibitions and be himself; have his own personal fling at practical psychiatry. Dr. Logan Clendenning did exactly that. He performed as all of us at one time or another have yearned to perform. % : Bursting forth with an ax from his Kansas City home, he operated on an air-compression drill. and silenced

‘completely. the rat-a-tat-tat of a WPA sewer excavation.

This rebellion of a doctor's nervous system against the

noise of so-called modern improvement touches a responsive

hord in that whole portion of the human race which has ufféred, ‘as did the doctor, from the attempts of science bite into neighboring cement. ‘The Kansas City doctor, casting off all self-control, just s he guillotined the airline which fed the nerve-wracking drill, coined this one: : : “Why not build your sewers in Omaha?” : For the privilege of unburdening himself of that, the four hours in the jailhouse were but small penalty sWe know he must feel better now, = ~~

it always comes

Fair Enough

Bv Westbrook Pegler

Harping Critics of the Press Don't Say What They'd Substitute, but It Would’ Have to Be Pretty Bad.

EW YORK, Feb. 16—So, after all this discussion,

we come to the question, “What kind of press | would you substitute for the privately owned American .

press?” . Papers operated by political parties would nét.be objective or impartial. We know that from experience and from the nature of political speeches. Politicians never give the opposition credit for any vir-

"| tues, achievements or good intentions or admit faults

or errors in their own ranks. That is just the way of politics. , . So partisan political papers might have good funnies and bridge lessons and all such package goods, but they would be one-sided in ‘both news and editorial opinion. They would be much more one-sided than the most prejudiced of the privately owned papers, because the worst of these sheets make an occasional stab at being fair, and the worst are very few in number. ” #" ” R suppose we had a censored and state-subsidized press such as the Communists and: “axis” nations have and propose for this country. The Communist and “axis” methods are alike, and ~nyone who thinks the American papers are unfair in their treatment of news and their editorial interpretation ought to dig into a pile of that kind of press. They

shoot people for expressing contrary views, or, in Germany, chop their heads off. Or we can have the cat-and-dog type of press that clutters the stands in France and used to Ye seen in Spain and Praha. In Praha commercial presses were rented impartially, and the same press that kicked out a Red paper one hour might tear off a run for a Nazi sheet as the next job. The French press is just terrible; it is notoriously corrupt. French papers live on graft, bribes and subsidies, and reporters and writers, like waiters, get nominal pay and are expected to graft the rest of their living.

“#8 » ”

EZ in this country most editors know what: pressure is and dread it.

threatening boycotts if their interests are not promoted or if their adversaries are given a fair deal. A completely fair man may be ruined by boycotts from all sides, and he is always buttering and placating arrogant spokesmen who ought to be kicked downstairs and told to mind their own business.

I am afraid, though, that the newspaper business in this country is in for a bad time. Mr. Roosevelt and several other New Dealers have a hate on for the American press, and papers are dropping dead here and there in the country right along and are not being replaced. Taxes and costs are high, and if the New Deal ever gets by with a scheme to disallow the deduction of advertising appropriations from the income of big advertisers it will be much worse. They will abandon their advertising or reduce it to such small volume that most of the press will be starved to death. Why they want to kill our press or what they intend to substitute for it they have never told us and I can’t guess, but I can tell you that whatever it is it won't be as good as the press of today. This makes about four in a row on the subject of the press, so tomorrow I will throw in my change of pace—maybe heavy philosophy. Or how about something elfin?

Business

By John T. Flynn

Now Would Be Good Time to Check Where ‘Arms Race Is Heading Us.

EW YORK, Feb. 16.—The vicious circle of armament economics opens as we stand on the brink of what is called a “national defense” program. Louis Johnson, Assistant Secretary of War, points out that we must be prepared in the air, for instance, for the possibility of an attack. Preparation means an adequate supply of aircraft in existence and the means of producing rapidly and abundantly when the war comes. Therefore he proposes an expenditure

of $300,000,000 in the air force to build approximately 3000 planes. : There are now 16 major aircraft producers and Mr. Johnson points out that these have not been kept uniformly busy during the last five years. : We need these 16 producers in the event of war. But we will not have them unless they can be kept in existence by business. Therefore we must spend millions now to “stabilize employment and utilize idle plang eapacity in our airplane factories,” Mr. Johnson But these 16 major producers are not e must create additional plants by placing ae for war planes. And so, having expanded our plant capacity, we will be told that we must appropriate more millions to “stabilize employment in them” and to keep them alive in case of war.

Others Will Follow Suit

Of course, after we do this, it will be necessary for every other country to do the same—to create more plants and of course to keep. them busy. If we do not we Shall hear about “the great unemployment in the aviation industry,” and of course, the way t S y to remedy that is for this Government and every ro oy L ry government \o The same thing is true of the warship industry. th gun industry, the chemical industry i on. i he built them we must keep them employed; as we keep them employed we give another fillip to the armament race, which in turn necessitates the building of more plants and so on until this country, like Germany and Italy and now gradually England and France. will be fosting upon an armament economy re not s est we ; wich we P crack .up our Sronomie Mr Johnson warns us that in addition to some $110,000,000 for equipping our present army protective force, we must face the “larger expenditure which may conceivably be needed some day to provide g six months’ supply for a quickly recruited ‘First Million.’ ”

is is a good spot to pause and ta i p ake note of where

A Woman's Viewpoint ||

By Mrs. Walter Ferguson °

EV since the Year One, women have envied men —sometimes for one thing, sometimes for another. In spite of the many rights and privileges we now possess, we continue to break the commandment and probably will until Gabriel's trumpet sounds. A long time ago I wished I were a man because I might then dash off to hunt for adventure (that was during the callow days). Later I thought it would be Rua to loaf around beer parlors and be mixed up exciting events su and fires. Now that I've shill — om s Boxe. br find myself thinking of the masculine sex with pity. They seem to be forever getting themselves into Jams, At present, the only two possessions of theirs I

actually covet are their kets an ; Betially poé d their hair—or

It seems to me that half the wear and tear on feminine nerves comes directly from the trouble we endure trying to make change. We buy voluminous purses, guaranteed to hold everything from the lipstick to the kitchen range, and spend most of our leisure moments rummaging in them for lost articles. It must be paradise to carry around with yourself

“all the pockets you need—Ilarge, medium and small

pockets, cute hidden crannies where you can deposit

safely the particular bits of junk you will be needing

for the day. ; : As to hair—there the men seem to be true favor-

ites of the gods. Have you noticed that when the in- |

dividual does have a mop worth calling attention to, in a natural marcel? te hen he is

peeled,

topped with a thin ‘fuzz as.

Groups are forever |

Gen. J ohnson : S ays—

‘Reorganization Bill Was Opposed Because It ‘Was Part of Dangerous Trend, Is His Retort to Mr. Ickes.

EW YORK, Feb. 16.—The principal point in Mr, Ickes’ article in Collier's against certain news papers and columnists—and especially this writer— was that they had opposed the reorganization bill in its original form as leading to a dictatorship and that I had done so “hysterically” with a false implication that such writers as Arthur Krock and Walter Lippmann had not done so at all. : I don’t oppose reorganization of the government.

I think it is vitally necessary. But I do oppose a common practice of this Administration to use a vital necessity—such as those raised by the depression, as the war danger and the need for Federal reorganization—to inject a subtle revolution of either the politi« cal or economic systems guaranteed by the Constitue-

‘| tion of the United States—at least without a frank

posing of the issue in a Constitutional amendment. I supported this Administration in 1936 at least as vigorously and effectively as did Mr. Ickes. But neither the country nor I was informed that it had up its sleeve, to be sprung, as a “mandate,” after the election, any sueh silent revolution in both those sys=

.tems as was proposed, piece-by-piece, in the remark | able series of “must” legislation prepared by the firm of Corcoran & Cohen and sent to Congress to rubber

stamp in the first half of 1937. . 8 8 = T reorganization bill was only part of it. You could not look at that with the rest of it without seeing that, like the timber of Abraham -Lincoln’s barn, all the pieces fitted together to make a pattern, That pattern was not dictatorship in the European

| sense but it slyly approached as near to that as, in ex=

treme imagination, could be proposed to the American people without a revolt. As a matter of fact, it did cause a revolt in our constitutional and democratic sense and it is precisely that revolt about which howl.

'| ing Harold is now speaking.

Those pieces were the judicial reorganization plan

‘| which most authorities agree was intended to submit - 'l the courts to far greater executive control than they

~The Hoosier Forum

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

OPPOSES PLAYGROUND NEAR ASPHALT PLANT By Mary Smith A week ago the Park Board in answer to a petition from residents of the South Side, mainly those living in and near the vicinity of School 12, asking for a playground for their children near this school, designated a plot of ground near the Indianapolis Asphalt Plant on S. West St. : At the same time a beautiful plot

of ground to be known as the Benjamin Harrison Park was allotted the North Side. Inasmuch as the South Side residents pay taxes and perhaps have some ambition as to the future of their children, I think it is most unfair. It savors too much of being relegated to the dump heap. / I should like to enumerate several very unfavorable features the South Side children have to face ghould this become a permanent order: : : The proposed playground is on a heavily traveled highway and is not protected by traffic officers. It is just across from White River which is a very dangerous hazard. It is bounded on two sides by railroad yards. It is near part of the sanitation plant. The South Side is supposed to be very grateful to this most generous Park Board, but this is definitely. not what they anticipated for their children when they petitioned for an adequate playground. This plot of ground is near no community. ” The City Administration should remember that the South Side as well as the North, casts its votes every four years and if it possesses any pride whatsoever will vote for someone who isn’t so partial to the North Side. 2 » ”

URGES CERTIFIED RELIEFERS AS PROJECT BOSSES By Kenneth M. Farthing, Kennard Why is a noncertified man (one: not on relief) valuable to the Works Progress Administration? Why is it he does not have to go back into private employment when he is called; and when a certified man and a noncertified employee are working ‘side by side on the same job, why is it the certified man makes $63.36 a month and the noncertified worker gets $90? ‘There are men vorking in this program who have spent their lives digging ditches, laying sewers, buijld-

kinds: of work which is being done on the Works Progress Administration. And there are. men in this

ing roads and doing practically all{, 22:1

(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.)

either loafing, working in an office or idling. Now this group does not even know how to start the construction of a sewer, road, ditch or building of any kind, and yet they are holding down good-salaried supervising positions. On every project you will find a few men who have done this work all their lives. Their supervisor finds -it out and from then on every time he comes up against something he knows nothing about, he calls on the laborer for advice. The remedy is that all certified men be filed as to their respective trades. Then when a sewer project starts, take the men who have been active in sewer construction prior to WPA employment, give them an examination, and select the best man. Then you not only have a certified supervisor but a man who knows his business. ? # = 8 THINKS TOWNSEND PLAN WOULD END POVERTY By a Farmer, Crawfordsville We see so many claims that this or that will ruin the country. Our country seems already to have been

ruined. If there had not been something wrong when Mr. Hoover

QUEEN OF HEARTS By DOROTHY BUERGER

In kindergarten, pretty babes Don’t have to carry books— For even little, lisping boys Appreciate good looks!

Helen of Troy made history— Merely scintillating! And Cleopatra did well— Simply migrating.

But Mary Sunshine reigns su.preme— Gai Sweetheart of the masses! A warm embrace , . . one lingering kiss oes . ‘Another snowman passes!

DAILY THOUGHT

But Jesus perceived ‘their wickedness; and said, Why tempt ye me, ye hypocrites?-Matthew 118. 2

T is one thing to be tempted, another thing to fall.—Shake-

program who have spent their lives

_|people or nation.

|Spain, admittedly communistic, was

was President, the Democrats would never have been elected. : To my way of thinking, our great poverty-stricken masses are the cause of all business failures. Poverty never created anything but more poverty. It is a burden to any

The Townsend Plan will increase business, while poverty will decrease it. I say the Townsend Plan will not ruin the country but will keep us from ruin. It will cost nothing because it will create more than it: costs. I see where it is stated that strikes cost the worker and business millions of dollars. Poverty is costing us more. 8.8 ” THINKS SPAIN NOT FALLEN BUT RISEN By Patrick J. Fisher : When our forefathers revolted against the tyranny of his Britannic Majesty, they began a tradition of liberty and freedom which the American people. have followed and respected ever since. Yet when the people of Spain attempt to bring about the same freedom and liberty, it is called “The Fall of a Nation,” This caption above the map of Spain in the Feb. 9 issue of The Times is tne of the most erroneous distortions of history ever printed. If the people of Russia should revolt against the abuses of dictatorship, so that they could enjoy their naturel right of freedom, would that be the fall of a-nation? If they should rid themselves of purges, secret police and concentration camps, would that be the fall

of a nation I say it would not. The Loyalist’ Government in

becoming more and more an exact parallel of the despotic dictatorship of Russia. : When Spain freed its political prisoners and returned to parents the control and education of their children, it was a reborning—the dawning of a new era in a Spain that has been fully awakened to the vigilance necessary to keep a democracy. It knows that a nation that is not alert can very easily lose its democracy by a relentless boring from within. This new era is definitely the rise df a nation. Ss 8 2 ” FAVORS ROBOT THINKERS FOR CONGRESSMEN By Daniel Francis Olancy, Logansport

Times, headline: “Robot ‘Thinker’ Aids Power Hunt.” They'd make

speare.

practical gifts to Congressmen, too.

WHICH HAS A STRONGER WISH TO PUNISH A PERSON OF WHOM THEY HUMILIATE 2558 Nex OR

“HTS. matter has been studied

a

1 bya Spanish psychologist, Dr. Emil Jus and the results, pre-

of [pffairs. The way they like best to

LET'S EXPLORE YOUR MIND

By DR. ALBERT EDWARD WIGGAM—

Sana metLrn OPINIONS Cl MEN

2 DOING RIGHT? YOUR OPINION —

to punish a rival—especially one who has intruded into their love

|» YES, and it is one of the

_|one could have his full share of

- | parks, schools, art, music, libraries, | etc.; where every one could be fitted.

them one grand and glorious feeling.

2 t J ” } best tests of a well-balanced temperament. The {feeling of being right is one of the strongest props one can have to uphold his good opinion of himself when others are against him. The mome:t he loses this good opinion of himniself—well, then he

{begins to feel he may be wrong}

after all. But as long as he is so sure he is right that he feels right about himself ha doesn’t give much of 2 hoot whetlzer school keeps or no uk

_ YES, I thiric so. Tet me picture what I think would be a perfect social order—a nation where every

our public treasures—good roads

by education and vocational tests to the work he loved best and could therefore do the best; where every one could feel he labored not for himself alone or for his family or country alone—hut where he would labor in the free air of hope and y for civilization, for pos-

have ever known. Another piece was the original Wages and Hours Bill which, with punitive tazation, proposed an arbitrary goose-stepping of industry. There was also the “seven TVA's” proposal which at least tended in the direction of substituting seven Federal provinces for the 48 states. The insistence on continued lump-sum appropriations is now far more clearly recognized as a device to purge and subjugate Congress. ey = 8 tJ ” AS part of all this, and much more of the same came the reorganization bill. It is not generally recognized that, by a clever twist, that bill gave the President power to amend all previous organizational legislation of Congress that could be checked by Congress only by a two-thirds majority vote. He was empowered to shift both function and organization and unless Congress by law failed to approve, the shift would stand. But if the President vetoed any disapproval it could not be effective without a twothirds vote. This was plainly revolutionary. So also was the power proposed for the President over all the partly judicial, partly legislative commissions. More debatable was the proposed abolition of the office of Controller General, which has the duty of seeing to it that money appropriated shall be spent for the purpose decreed and for no other purpose. Less debatable was the scheme to put civil service under political (Presidential) control. i I opposed the reorganization bill as a frend toward one-man government. That is what the general Secretary of the Interior now calls hysterical. If it is, so is the Constitution.

It Seems to Me By Heywood Broun Mexico Land of Beauty With: Ample Room for Test of Vital Experiment.

. AREDO, Mexico, Feb. 16. —There are two Laredos, and I hope I will not seem unpatriotic if I express a preference for the Mexican side of this border town. In Texas you must get your liquor by the bottle, while just across the Rio Grande there are pleasant bars and restaurants which serve cabrito. Cabrito is a goat, supposedly on the young side. 3 : But the finest thing about Laredo is the road to Monterrey. Here is the motorist’s dream of heaven. For most of the 150 miles the highway stretches as straight as a banjo string in tune. But as a relief there lies midway a little chain of 5000-foof moun= tains, with a winding road calculated to curl your hair. : I know of nothing more lovely than this sparse, flat country with its sudden dark mountains playing all kinds of shadow pranks with the bright sunlight. And in the vast peace of expanse and far horizon the tourist may well find one disquieting thought. I kept thinking to myself, “Why wasn't I born a cameraman or a painter?” : There is a close collaboration between the country . and its people. Aside from political and economic problems one must feel that Mexico belongs to the Mexicans, because they fit so superbly into the scene, both in the fields and in the cities.

Like Part of Scenery

Like the mountains, which seem forbidding at a distance, the Mexican is milder when you come close to him. Indeed, unless you meet him face to face it is difficult to get any inkling of his expression, for in one respect ~ chasm is fixed between the peon and the land he loves. Even the sunniest day is too cold for the Mexican. After a sharp morning the sun climbed high, and it must have been 70 degrees or more by noon on that road from Monterrey. Yet each goatherder, shepherd, ‘farmer or cowboy had his blanket wrapped tight across his chin as if he were a hardy trapper facing the icy blasts of 40 below zero. ; | What was in the heart of the men we talked to I cannot tell. Their manners were perfect. I think it went even deeper. Right at our doorstep a vital experiment is being made in the creation of a new world. Mexico is trying to put into practice that fraternity of which Jefferson spoke. It is a good place in which to make the effort. ; | This is a land in which there remains plenty of elbow room. Upon such broad acres and under such a high ceiling there should be space for the full play of opinion and of conscience. , Le

By Dr. Morris Fishbein 5 Wi have many methods of measuring what is

Y normal in relationship: to the: physical side of the human body. A rormal temperature we know is 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit as recorded on an ordinary thermometer. If the temperature is considerably above or below this figure, we know that the tem) ture is abnormal and that there is a fever or that the body heat is not being maintained as it should be. We know that there is a normal number of red blood cells and that any time there is a million more ¢. or a million less per cubic centimeter than the. the condition may demand some investigation. We know that the body has a normal intake and output of fluid. If this becomes excessive or too greatly diminished, the situation demands : serious inyestigation. ~~ : sie Roe Nea = In other words, there are standards ment which are accurate for most of the’ functions of the human body. . However, the have been exceedingly disturbed by the determining exactly. what is ‘a normal of us realize that we ourselves are normal are inclined to suggest that most other people r sent variations from the normal—at least under sj cial circumstances. TE We are able to describe a normal mind more ‘by what it does not-do, than by what | The person with a normal mind does not normal fears. Sd en ‘All of us have emotions such as anger, sympathy. The person with a normal emotions, but: his yeactions are within limi i i i

are’ con reasonable. In other words, vei or Se

SiI1U Ui]