Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 25 August 1939 — Page 17

FRIDAY, AUGUST 25, 1939

he Indianapolis

SECOND

SECTION

Hoosier Vagabond

OGDEN, Utah, Aug. 25.—It is clear at last—1 should have been a politician. All this time I've had that magnificent gift of being able to lean on both Igides of the fence at once, and never knew it. What brought about this revelation was a column ‘I wrote some weeks ago on John Steinbeck’s best-selling novel, “The Grapes of Wrath.” All I did was just say what I thought—and right back came two letters from readers, one praising me for criticizing the book, the other criticizing me for praising it! If I can confuse people that easily, there is no question about my future. do choose to run in 1940. I Shall stand for Parliament from my native constituency of Bucktown, the Mound Crossroads, Hants, Indiana. And may the vaguest ‘man win. People must be reading “The Grapes of Wrath” aplenty, for that column brought many letters. To-

«day I'm goirg to reprint two of them.

i is a good friend of mine.

One is from a man in the West; one from a woman in the East. Both are around 80. The man The woman and I have mutual friends, though we haven’t met. Their letters show how two good minds can go in exactly opposite

directions. THE MAN'S

“Dear Ernie: Of course I have read your com-

ments on that vile production of Steinbeck’s, ‘The,

Grapes of Wrath,” and you've darn near lost one of your regular following. “The slightest sedation of such foulness as that to which the book is devoted is an insult to decency. . . . 5 2

‘:Favors Its Suppression

. “I hold that it is the duty of the American. press to demand suppression of that book, and yet the American press is aiding in making this collection of “vileness a ‘best seller’ My God, Ernie, what are we

. “coming to when popular reading taste wallows in such ‘nauseous mud?

“T would like to write a review of ‘Grapes’ myself,

: but one result would be an increase in the book's

It Seems to Me

NEW YORK, Aug. 25.—Whatever deep and devious strategy may still lie unrevealed beneath the pact of Russia and the Reich, I do not see how anybody can get away: from the immediate fact that the Soviet has

+ shere and now contributed to the might and menace

of Hitler. I assume that the agreement is not properly described as a mutual indorsement of complete objectives. Acceptance does not precisely imply merit. This is a bargain of so much for so much. Its net result constitutes a threat to all the democracies of the world, including the United States. It has always seemed to —me that the failure of the German Communists to co-operate with the republic made the rise of Hitler possible. I believe that no leader of the party ever made any public admission of that fact, but, by implication, some seemed to say as much. The wholé theory of the popular front appeared to be based on the belief that fascism was a thing so

+ deadly that radicals must make common cause against

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it with liberals and progressives. Fascism is still deadly, but the popular front now becomes extremely difficult, if not impossible. ® Western Europe in Peril

Apologists for Stalin’s bargain may say that in his negotiations with England and France he was not dealing -with leaders who were liberal in any sense. That’s not good engrigh. After all, neither Chamberlain nor Daladier is set for life as the head man in his country. Whatever failures or weaknesses the American progressive may see, or think he sees, in England or France, he should not blink the fact

Washington

WASHINGTON, Aug. 25.—Only pessimism is to be found here. The chances of war are regarded as greater than at any time. To those best informed of the situation in Europe—and there is constant telephonic communication between Washington and the best sources in Europe—hostilities appear barely short of inevitable. The only hope is that Hitler may be less drastic in his demands on Poland than is expected—a remote hope at best.

An authoritative picture of the situation as it stands may be sketched briefly as follows: The Frerich think war is inevitable. Daladier was on the point of calling a general mobilization—except on the Italian front, which is significant— Tuesday. The order is ready and may be sprung at any moment. England has reiterated publicly her intention to fight if Poland is attacked and resists. Chamberlain sent that word ‘also to Hitler personally. It is understood that there is no loophole in that! commitment. Poland has informed other powers that she intends to fight if attacked but will scrupulously refrain from any action that might be construed in the outside world as aggression.

What Will Italy Do?

Everything is poised waiting for Hitler. The best guess—and it is only a guess—is that he will spring the bad news for Poland, either in the Tannenberg speech Sunday or immediately preceding or following it. No one pretends a guess as to whether he will temper his demands on Poland to avoid war or make

My Day

“HYDE PARK, Thursday.—Days like the present, ;where you pick up a newspaper every day wondering “what you will find and trying to understand what “Aes back of the news you read, require of all educated people disciplined minds and disciplined characters. Blindly to ask for peace is no “help in the present situation, for peace may be bought today at too high a cost in the future. It may be wise to buy it, but you must do so knowing that your objectives are for the future and accept the conditions which are a. part of the price which is paid. None today can afford to allow a prejudice or a. sided point of view to dominate their minds, they must examine every side of a question and must be sure they are not allowing any personal: consierstions to enter into the ultimate standards which they decide to set up for themselves and for their nation. According to the newspapers, by 6 o'clock this evening, ohe man may decide to plunge Europe into war. Undoubtedly he hopes to achieve what he desires without war. The thing which' must appall every citizen in a democracy is the fact that this ;important decision rests with one mari. Z's TI saw a number of people in New York City yes‘terdsy afternoon. I was very much impressed by Miss Rummell, a teacher from Missouri, one of whose "7 puplls has just won &- ‘thousand-dollar essay contest.

By Ernie P yle Educators and mapmakers

circulation, and I hope to see the dirty thing officially censored out of existence.”

THE WOMAN'S

“Dear Mr. Pyle: This has something to do with your criticism of ‘Grapes of Wrath.’ I am nearing my 80th birthday and happen to be one of the original Okies of Oklahoma and therefore claim a right to speak. “My husband made the famous run into Oklahoma at the opening of the Territory. We all agree that John Steinbeck has written the greatest novel of all time, showing the terrible sickening disaster that has overtaken a great slice of our American population. | “I quite agree with you that it seems he went out of his way to place filthy speech into the mouths of his characters; that he overdrew the picture. Even so, was he not justified? “He was writing about the most shameful happenings, endured by no other portion of our Ameriican people. These people we so gaily call Okies, and | through no fault of their own, are forced to suffer all kinds of degradation and soul searing, to say nothing of hunger and unbearable grief . . .

sult in further shifting Europe.

"What a headache.

of the latest war scare.

Sernany this term. He

to stimu

A Symbolic Picture

“Filthy, yes. I threw the book down in shame only’ to pick it up again, to take another look at that won-| derful Joad family bearing the burden of this new world and its new problems. : “Again they were justified in their gutter talk; and living as they were, chagrined, helpless, they harked back to the beginning and spoke thoughts and language from their own subconscious. . . “Then, too, you thought the ending ridiculous, and. so did I. Again I slammed the book down and got up and paced the floor... . . Again I picked up the book and read more carefully. “This was a symbolic picture. It was John Steinbeck’s’ supreme effort to drive home the awful condition of our own America, our own Okies. “Mother Earth whose teeming breasts are ready to burst with fruitfulness, and the man representing the millions of starving men, women and children of America. . . .” Thank you, my two friends. I am in that nice predicament of agreeing with both of you. That's why I'm going into politics and will probably become President.

By Heywood Broun

that here are nations of a governmental philosophy akin to our own. There are those in both France and England who would follow the lead of Hitler in fanning radical and religious prejudice, but they still remain decidedly in the minority. The pact between Russia and the Reich opens up new territory in which Hitler will now have a free hand to sell ‘his wares, both material and spiritual. The tide of fascism has been stepped up. Some have said that England and France are well equipped to keep a corner of Europe safe from the Nazi peril. It would seem to me as if they now are in deadly peril. The whole of western Europe may now be ground beneath the Nazi without our own time.

We Cannot Be Indifferent

That cannot be a matter of indifference to us. And what I fear most of all is there may be a fresh drive hete at home by the forces of reaction against all groups and individuals which are enlisted for the furtherance of progress. There is a tendency to leap aboard band-wagons, even though oceans intervene. If there were a mill of logic through which every slo-

gan and catchword must pass before it gained currency, some. of the old cries would now be outmoded... The familiar charge that Franklin D. Roosevelt and all supporters of the New Deal were secret or unconscious agents of the Kremlin was always ridiculous. It now becomes palpably preposterous. America has extended no hand of fellowship or even offered barter to the Nazi. And we will not. It seems to me that Russia has chosen isolation at a point of peak crisis in the world. We must not do the same in spite of the example set by the left and loud precepts of the spokesmen of the right wing. We want no Hitler or Stalin. We will build a new world without let or hindrance by any one of the dic-

By MILTON BRONNER tators.

NEA Service Staff Correspondent

NDON, Aug. 25.—“Little Hit-||

LO. ler” they call him. heil him. They hail him. They doff

By Raymond Clapper work when it is announced he is going to speak. They cheer him when

them more severe. Something may depend upon Italy | he makes faces. at the Poles, the| §

in this connection. With Italy at his side and Russia |gpito d h. neutralized, Hitler outranks easily British and French ions snd he Tren co Albert Fors-

manpower. ter, “Big” Hitler's lieutenant in For the moment we are concerned with numerous | charge of the Danzig Nazi party. mechanics that would be necessary immediately upon| “Little Hitler” is well applied. Not the outbreak of war—fiscal and exchange arrange-|that he looks like Hitler. Unlike ments, rescue of stranded nationals in Europe, pro-|Hitler, Goebbels and other darktection at home against sabotage, and: the thousand | haired “Aryans,” fair-haired, blueand one problems which catastrophe in Europe would |eyed Forst:r really looks the “ideal” raise. Executive orders covering all of this have been| Nordic type” preached by Der Fuehdrafted and everything will be ready for instant pro-|rer with such fervor. But he is not mulgation the moment it becomes necessary. Mr.|tall as the Germans are romanticalRoosevelt will call Congress at once if war breaks, |ly depicted in Nazi books and paintpossibly before. ings. In fact, he is short and squat and paunchy—he likes the good things of the table. . But he is a Bavarian and so he has an accent Austrian-born ler.

. 2 nn . ; Administration Policy Unchanged

On broad neutrality policy, the Administration’s attitude remains as it was during the session of Con-

Danzig’s No. Is Called ‘Little Hitler’

Every Danziger does also. They their caps to him. They stop their] §

very much like the| As much as|

gress. A renewed attempt would be made to repeal the arms embargo. Although the Moscow-Berlin deal radically - alters the shape of things in Europe, it apparently has not affected the Administration’s attitude, namely that this country should take steps short of war to aid Great Britain and France. Only a sharp reaction from the country to the contrary could prevent the Administration from going forward on this line.

possible, he has under-studied his idol. He walks like Hitler, talks like Hitler, tries to aot like Hitler. He has even learned to scowl like Hitler. Forster is 37, and like so many of Hitler's leaders and favorites, .comes from Bavaria. He had a minor government post there and soon joined the Nazi Party. For his zeal Hitler made him a “gauleiter”

As the Administration sees it, Russia’s defection from the Allies makes our assistance to England and France more urgent. But the reasoning has shifted slightly. Hitherto it was argued this course was necessary to prevent war. If war breaks it will be argued that this course still is necessary for our own national interest—that the victory of Germany over England would be in the long run a dangerous thing for us.

—3a district leader. Favorite With Hitler

He came to greatest prominence when Hermann Rauschning deserted the Nazi Party. Rauschning’s defection caused Hitler to determine upon a new deal—a rougher deal for Danzig. Arthur Greiser was made President of the Senate and Forster, to his intense delight, was sent to that city to become the local Nazi boss. Ever since then, he has commuted between Danzig and Berchtesgaden where he always seems to be able to get the ear of the Nazi god. And

By Eleanor Roosevelt

She has sold an article on education to one of the magazines with a wide circulation and her ideas on

education are interesting. She. believes that discipline each time he comes back and makes day.

is one of the things which education should teach us, speeches in which he prémises his and I am inclined to agree with her. liege: subjects that Hitler will soon After the Hobby-Lobby broadcast last night, which see to it that their city is incorI particularly enjoyed, because I. was so interested in|porated within the Reich where it all the hobbyists, I said goodby with real regret to the|belongs. various people uo Yup he Deven They have been ' London Duel Never Proven so very kind me tha as been a pleasure spend three Wednesday evenings with them. ne side of Jus ings bo Carman, We drove ourselves back to Hyde Park, leaving the|to London in July of last year. He chauffeur with another car to pick up little Frank-|made a great mystery of his object, lin III at the station this morning to bring him to|but while in London managed to Hyde Park. He is now a year old and full of life and{see a great many members of Parapparently enjoyed his drive up and the trip down liament. from Campobello Island. He is now ensconced in the} Last March some of the London big house awaiting the arrival of his father and|papers printed a sensational story mother, who are sailing down the coast, and I am|which was never authenticated. going over to see to make sure that all is well. - According to this yarn, there was I sank into bed last night with a feeling of great|great jealously between Forster and luxury. The city had been hot and not very attrac-|Greiser. It culminated in such words tive, so to lie with the moon shining down on {being used that a challenge to aj porch and find two blankets a pleasant cov ,|duel was issued. The yarn had it seemed good beyond measure. Our purple loose-strife|that pistols were the weapons chosen

is almost gone, but it is fading very beautifully, givingland that Greiser, an expert shot,

the green grass across our little pond a lovely rosylhad seriously wounded Forster in tinge. We humans should take lessons from natureithe stomach. and fade as gracefully. Perhaps we cling too much| What makes the story dubious to the years of full bloom. If you fade gracefully,|is that a man thus shot in thejroad you may be just as attractive. Or locse-strife. cer-|stomach rarely survives and Fortainly is. ; -orating

“| Senate.

fof Indianapolis Branch 8; Lawrence

eagerly study reports from abroad as Adolf Hitler prepares for still another

dramatic climax in his "war of nerves" which may re-

of boundaries in turbulent

Top: E. A. Peterson, president of the George F. Cram . Co., Indianapolis, one of the nation's largest mapmakers, studies possible changes on a .

What a headache. won today, a new riddle fomarrow,’ ' sums up his idea

obe map. A finesse

Lower: D. T. Weir and Virgil Stinobau h, assistant superinfendents of schools, pencil iy map on the basis of the latest news bulletins. Stinebaugh says the fifth and sixth grades are to study

e changes on the Mr.

possib

finds that these crises serve

ate interest among the pupils.

1 Leader

Albert Forster . . Danzig’s “Little Hitler.”

with plenty of lung power. The other fact that makes the yarn doubtful is that Forster is a favorite of Hitler's. Any part§ man who hurt him would have felt Hitler's wrath. And Greiser is still actively functioning as head of the.

CITY PIGKED FOR 41 ‘POSTAL CONVENTION

Indianapolis has been selected for the National Association of Postal Supervisors’ biennial convention in 1941, the Indianapolis Convention and ‘Publicity Bureau announced to-

The Indiana delegation » attending [this week’s convention in Boston procured the next meeting for this city, the bureau stated. Delegates included Roy C. Martin, president

L. Cook, secretary; Edgar F. Brown, Bert F. Déery and John T. Larner, Auxiliary delegates included Mesdames Martin, Brown, Cock, Deery and Larner, and Mrs. John Schuto|man.

delegation from Gov ford Townsend, Mayor Sullivan and Postmas Seidensticker.

FOUND DEAD iN Thuck|

POR! ~The" of - Melvin" Roby, 35 year-old nn was found in his truck in a cornfield near Bryant)

‘Officials

qa H doit

through a into the field. Mr

13000 TO VISIT

Danzig |of the meeting.

Invitations were Sonvyeyed, L by the ;

y Ind., Av. 25 awe). bi

said the the position of the| machine indicated 1; hed left the| 2 I rw] Mn

Times Photos.

CAMP AT FORT

Parade and Sports Events Arranged for Tomorrow

At C. M. T, C.

Trainees at the Citizens Military Training Camp at Ft. Harrison prepared to be hosts to approximately 3000 visitors tomorrow. Activities today were to be confined to drill and athletic events in the afternoon. At 9 a. m. tomorrow the C. M. T. C. candidates will march in a parade under command of senior C. M. T. C. officers. The parade is to be followed by baseball games in the morning and a formal guard mount at 2:15 o'clock in the afternoon. Tent pitching and first aid competition will be held for the visitors following the guard mount. The C. M. T. C. trainees will begin their final week in the August camp on Monday. TOWNSENDITES TO MEET Townsend Willing Workers Club 25 is to meet tomorrow at 7:30 p. m. at McClain’s Hall, State St. and Hoyt Ave. The Indiana Ramblers of Townsend Club 25 will furnish instrumental and vocal music and the Youth Committee will have charge

TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE

1—Name the capital of the Republic of Latvia. 2—How many ounces are in a Troy pound? 3—In which country is William C. Bullitt the United States Ambassador? . 4—-On which continent is the Congo River? 5—Who was voted the most val‘uable player in the '‘American League for 1938? 8—Name the first Secretary: of

stitution of the. United States.

Inelose: ‘a 3-cent: stamp oo reply when Ea 5 to: e ana) es Wash Bureau,

Local Mapmaker in

A Dither Again!

By Joe: Collier

THIS is a story of how the public: schools, city’ s largest users ‘of maps, deal with the wiggling boundary lines

of Europe.

It is a story, also, of how the Georie F. Cram Co., city’s largest manufacturers of maps, wrestles with recurrent crises and how they both outsmart, to some extent, the gentlemen of Europe who change them.”

Contrary to what one who reads the wire secounts of

changing European boundaries may believe, the public . .

schools find recurrent erises over there to be of some aid in the teaching of history, current events and geography.

They provide a sort of a dotible=) J

feature tang to these studies, Vir= gil Stinebaugh, assistant superintendent, said. Fifth and sixth grades this year will study Germany. The publicity attached to new moves of Hitler will provide a. stimulus outside the classroom for the study and perhaps cause a number of pupils to get more out of the course than they otherwise would.

ss 2 8 F course, he said, the maps in their geography and history books are not up-to-date but show Austria and other countries that no longer exist. But this will be dealt with through a new type of wall map with a surface that can be marked with crayons to change the boundaries as they are changed, and erased if the coups don’t quite come off. As for the George F. Cram Co., E. A. Peterson, president, says

that the constant changes are ine deed a headache for the globe department, but his company manue factures surfaces which can be marked without injury. The globes, most of them, are not so fixed. So he tries hard to anticipate what will happen and set up the plates for new editions before it actually happens.

UR months ago it was officially announced that Slovakia would maintain its ine dependence under a German protectorate

At that time new plates were being made for a new edition of maps, and Mr. Peterson decided that he would indicate Slovakia as a part of Germany on them. He did. The globes were printed. Three days ago, with the globes on the market long since, headlines screamed that Germany had taken Slovakia and that Mr. Peterson’s finesse had won. Next day Hitler went on the march again—and now where is the mapmaker? Some one ought to invent a map with ball-bearing border lines.

the Treasury under the Cons 5:

ington Service = 1013 13th st. N. Ww. Washing Legal :

Boy, 8, Falls in Creek, Drowns

VANSVILLE, Ind. Aug. 25 (U. P.). — Eight-year-old Bert Wirth, son of Mr. and Mrs, Clyde Wirth, drowned late yesterday in Pigeon Creek when he lost his balance while walking along the bank and fell in. Several young companions attempted to pull him out of the water, which was not over his head, but failed to do so quickly enough to save the boy’s life. It

.was believed he struck his head

as he fell and was unable to scramble out.

Bverydoy Moyies=By Wortman

FT, WAYNE STARTS SEWAGE PLANT WORK

Times Special FT. WAYNE, Ind. Aug. 25.—Excavation for a $1,197,708 sewage treatment plant has been started here. Construction will require about 10 months. City Council and PWA officials recently approved the contract which had been awarded to Charles R. Wermuth & Sons, Inc, by the Works Board. “Bids on plumbing and heating estimated to cost $30,000 will be re=ceived Sept. 12.