Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 30 September 1939 — Page 10

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SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 1939

HELP! | EAR READER: This is a request that you co-operate in handling this day-by-day problem of a European “censorship. For instance: oes Was the Ark Royal, British airplane carrier, wrecked .by German bombers? Or wasn’t it? The Germans say yes. The British say no. Obviously somebody is lying. We can’t ~know what is the truth. Neither can you. = Project that example to cover all dispatches that filter ‘through the claim and counter claim departments of those “nations which are at war and you have the proposition we are up against, and you, equally with us. Ey : So, be from Missouri and keep your salt shaker handy. ‘Look, along with us, at the source. Remember the while that all is regarded as fair in war, and that lying is a pri“mary part of the equipment, along with guns and planes and tanks and soldiers and sailors. Make your discounts. We will tell you where the tale originates. If it’s’from a . belligerent it is more’ than likely to be colored. : Bear in mind that even a lie is news if it is issued from "an official agency. | But that doesn’t mean it’s anything “more than a lie. it EL We'll tell you where the report comes from. You con-

sider the source, and don’t run out of salt. f YE EDITOR.

SHORT FOR V.P.?. THE Missouri Republican State Committee sent out copies of a resolution calling on Congressman Dewey Short of that state to become a candidate for Vice President. The Hon. Mr. Short proved receptive to the idea. He an“nounced yesterday. . ’ We can remember few statesmen who have become avowed candidates for the Vice Presidency and none who, having deliberately sought that office, has attained it. Usually the aim is higher and the second-place nomination is awarded as a sort of consolation prize. But if Mr. Short wants to run for Vice President, that’s his privilege. If a loud voice and a willingness to use it constantly are necessary qualifications, he has them. There “would be interesting campaign possibilities in a Republican ticket short on one end. We can even think of a slogan— for the Democrats: “They're trying to sell America short!”

-

Ld

END THIS FEUD : ELCOME signs appear that President Roosevelt, at last, may be about to put an end to the silly and dan-

.gerous feud between the two top men in the War Depart--

ment.

<

In other times the fact that Secretary Woodring and ‘Assistant Secretary Johnson can’t get along together was not so serious, and Mr. Roosevelt's characteristic reluctance "to be harsh with members of his official family was more

easily overlooked.

But now, when the undivided energies of the War Department ought to be concentrated on the job of strengthening our national defenses to save this country from the dangers of war, there can be no excuse for permitting Mr. Woodring and Mr. Johnson to continue their quarrel there. Their intense dislike for each other is obvious to outsiders and has been demoralizing to their department for many

months.

We haven't taken sides in the feud, and we don’t intend to take sides. Mr. Woodring is, to put it kindly, not the greatest Secretary of War that ever was. Mr. Johnson's

unconcealed ambition to get the Secretary’s chair for himself is hardly admirable. -- If the President should see fit to demand two resignations, and then to appoint two new men who could forget personalities and work effectively together at one of the most important tasks the War Department has ever faced, “we think the country would consider that a very good way to clean up a very bad mess.

BANKERS AND BOOMS

“THE policies of American banking should be resolutely . directed toward restraining and restricting’ any excessive war boom in trade, industry, agriculture or the securities market.” + We're glad to hear that said, not by critics of the American banking system, but by bankers. It is quoted from the resolutions just adopted at the Seattle convention of the American Bankers Association. ’ A good many people suspect the “big interests” —money ‘and manufacturing—of a hellish desire to make huge profits out of war abroad and even out of war involving the United States. Yet in the last few weeks one important industrialist after another has come forward with strong decla‘rations that this. country must avoid war; and now the organization that speaks for the nation’s bankers affirms _their duty to restrain and restrict any boom that may result from war. | : ; That is, of course, the only sound and safe policy, and well do bankers have reason to know it. Bitter experience has shown that any boom is dangerous and that a war ‘boom is deadly, since the temporary illusion of well-being it creates is certain to be followed by economic collapse, with ‘banks conspicuous among the sufferers. = Call the “big interests” selfish, if you wish. Of course they are. Their self-interest, in the matter of war, is the Same as yours. They aren’t big enough to afford the awful cost of war taxes or the lopsided expansion and the later _ disastrous readjustments that would result from “prosperity” inflated by war business. : i This country is now experiencing a measure of busi--ness recovery. It began, we think, before the outbreak of ~ war in Europe, and its acceleration since has been due to anticipated, rather than to actual, war orders. Our prob-

_lem, as the bankers are wise enough to see, is to keep the |

recovery going, but to keep it under control if war orders do begin to apply artificial shots in the arm, meanwhile

| propaganda from Europe.

a

Fair Enough ~~ By Westbrook Pegler.

He Shows No Remorse, Despite Spanking From Billboard for His

EW YORK, Sept. 30—In the current issue of of the Billboard, I am taken to the woodshed

| to expiate aspersions on the professional quality | of that class of entertainment which is discoursed | in night clubs and which is. commonly known as |

variety. 3

all its phases as one. All are show people, including those merry cynics who spin the paddle wheel which,

ten-dollar bill. * What I said about variety or night club performers, however, cannot be refuted by mere indignation, and I return to the controversy with a firm and slightly exasperated contention that these people are sadly inferior to those versatile and self-reliant troopers, the real variety players, who sang and hoofed, gave little one-act dramas, did magic and threw fish to the seals in the theaters. ; ” ” 2 : Toss performers were of the stage and proud to belong and the comedians and singers among them asked no favors from the audience except that, being human, they sometimes might bounce back to take one or two bows in excess of the legitimate demand. i ; If a comedian couldn’t make them laugh he died, but died like a gentleman, whereas it is the habit of the night club comedian, in his evening clothes and with his air of having kindly condescended to leave a merry party at one of the tables, to sulk and insult the customers for failure to respond. ' The variety comedian more often than not worked tn a costume and makeup, and his material, or routine, was worked out and tried out in advance. He might digress, for he was a humorist; not a parrot, and some of his efforts were spontaneous.~ But he wasn’t allowed togget personal with the trade— which is a way that night club comics have of currying favor—and he would have regarded such an appeal as unworthy of anyone who claimed to possess the ability to entertain. He kept his place, but he made the audience keep its place, too. Moreover, the real variety talent, the comedians and singers both, could step out and give, and no matter how big the house or what the crackle of peanut shells upstairs—which sometimes sounded like a major league brush fire—they made themselves heard all over without mechanical help. » 2 ”

ROONERS, or moaners, the males are called now, 4 and the females are known as blues or torch singers—if I am up on the terms. But whether or not I use. the correct professional designations, the fact remains that they moan and.groan, male and female, because they just cannot sing and would strangle if they tried. That is the reason why the night club and radio singing is so mournful and horrid. It is an attempt to make a virtue of incompetence. - > In addition to which it must be put down that without an electrical amplifier this talent is utterly helpless, even in a small room with a low ceiling. In the amusement business, as well as in writing, it is conceded that dirt is no substitute but very often is accepted as a counterfeit for talent, and

‘here again the comparison favors the variety actor

who worked in the theater. He had to operate within the limits of a house rule which read, “keep it clean.”

Business By John T. Flynn

Local and ‘Business Problems Suffer As War Monopolizes Our Thoughts.

{icaen Sept. 30.—One effect of the European war not yet listed is the shadow of it which hangs over every human activity. And nowhere is this more noticeable than in Chicago.

pages of the papers under small headlines, war occupies the screamers on page one. torials are about the war. of Trade you find the members discussing the pos-

outlook for corn and wheat.

about the war.

the possibilities are most serious. . One finds- businessmen wondering what they can

to their duties.

effort to attract attention to themselves. Civiz groups in particular find they have utterly lost the ear and the interest of the community.

Almost Everything Adjourned

Some of this is due to the inherent interest of the war itself. Some of it is due to the effort of propagandists to raise the fears of the American people into supposing that they are in some immediate danger. Everybody was geared to protect himself from But the propaganda has been pouring upon us from America, from the Government itself. We have been told we are in an emergency. Then the President starts a spy scare and hunt. Then he announces that submarines are prowling off our coasts. Then he invokes the old espionage act. People are asked to adjourn politics. The result is they adjourn almost everything. And thus an unhealthy and artificially stimulated war psychology is generated which operates to distract the American people from their own affairs and their own problems. This will be serious unless some power operates to calm the people. What power is there to compete against the Government's power to arouse and frighten them?

A Woman's Viewpoint By Mrs. Walter Ferguson

MARY times as I've been in Denver I had never visited the Mint. Which only goes to show how dumb and uncurious most grownups are. : On my last visit I resolved to mend the matter. After getting a letter of introduction, we mounted the front steps timidly only to meet an unexpectedly warm welcome by the doorman. Two sets of heavy gates were unlocked before we stood in the central corridor: Glancing up inadvertently for an instant, I met the large roving eye of the machine gun guard who occupies a ceiling cubbyhole facing the main entrance and stands ready to open fire, I suppose, on any person making a false move. i Sixty-five million silver dollars done up in sacks as if they were so much sugar! The words may make sense* but the sight of all those bulging bags didn’t. Nor can the mind used to counting pennies digest the spectacle of 300 million dollars’ worth of gold bricks stored in one vault. ; We had the guard’s word for it and there was no point in disputing him. Most of the bricks were dull and appeared worth no more than a brass farthing. Only the ones of pure metal were entrancingly lovely. They glowed with the same soft yellow mother’s freshly-churned butter used to show, and their splendor pricked me to a new awareness of what the words “a golden color” mean. ; : As we left the casting and stamping rooms, I wondered, as every visitor probably does, about the chance of an over-tempted worker making off with an occasional dime. It can’t be done. Sanat All metal is weighed to the one-hundredth part of an ounce. If the merest fraction of shortage is re-

ported the missing splinter must be hunted until it |

turns up. Anyway the mi bored by so much

to the best advantage y straightening out our

Doubtless there’s many hen th

Slams at Night Club Warblers.|.

I understand the Billboard's indignation, for this 1 publication has always viewed the show business in

somehow, never does stop on the number that wins the mother-of-pearl opera glasses wrapped in the |

THE INDIANAPOLIS

| Air Raid!

COME ONTHERE'S ONLY ONE SAFE PLACE AT A TIME LIKE THIS=THE aX FIFTY YARD OOF”

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

RESENTS FAILURE TO SALUTE FLAG By Mrs. W. A. W. : Talking about Americanism —1 was standing in a department store window the other day during a parade. The American flag passed by, not once, but four times. I ob-

‘served from where I stood that not

one man in the throng below took off his hat as the flag went by. What is wrong with us? should get on our knees and thank God that we live in the country

| that the American flag represents.

2 #5 2»

UPHOLDS SELLING OF FOOD TO BELLIGERENTS By Insulationist

In Saturday’s Times “100% Neu-

Wel:

News of the city has been pushed into the inside |: while the The ediIf you go into the Board

sible operations on the Western Front rather than the

Go into a lawyer's office and the firm is talking about the war. And in the courts the jury, when it retires to deliberate on a verdict, begins by talking

This is one thing so vast a show, s0 tremendous an “attraction” does to the life of a community and

do to attract attention to their own affairs and interests again, to get staffs and working forces back

__ One finds politicians wondering whether all their plans must be changed. Some candidates are asking themselves whether it will be worth-while making the

tral” charges that those who favor

the arms embargo are inconsistent in also advocating the sale of foodstuffs on the cash and carry plan.

Perhaps from his view, but not from a humanitarian view. We ought not to sell guns and bombs, indirectly to aid Europeans exterminate each other. It is unworthy of people who pretend to be civilized and Christian.

For that very same reason we should sell footstuffs on a cash and carry basis. As Christians we cannot deny food and sustenance to any who need it after we have protected ourselves from becoming ‘involved in war.

Nor is it entirely inconsistent from a business point of view. Helping to ruin Europe with munitions will in the end ruin our own economy. A desolate, destroyed Europe cannot carry on trade and commerce afterwards. Helping them eat and remain alive will keep our economy .from

being ruined now. We still haven't

corrected the causes of our depression resulting from the last war.

To me the insulationist—or isolationist—stand is the best route we

can take, rocky as it is, between the

devil and the deep blue- sea. We ought not to forget as a nation, as well as individuals, that we should treat enemies as though they’ll one day be our friends. And treat friends with an occasional remirider that they may some day turn enemies. ; » o 8 SEES PERIL TO U. 8S. IF ALLIES LOSE By Lillian Whicker The leading question before the American people today is how to keep out of war ourselves and help

| Hyams,

(Times readers are invited “fo 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 ion request.)

Say : promote the peace of the world. The European war is not a fight over

boundaries as every advanced grade

pupil in this country knows, but to rid the world of the aggression and brutality of Hitlerism, the same that is reaching its tentacles into this continent, and it behooves us to study the effect if the democracies were defeated and the best steps to take for the present.

We will never escape any real danger by any ostrich-like attitude as that assumed by some isolationists. And as for Col. Lindbergh, he was born a little too late to.remember the harrowing time and the incidents that led up to our entrance into the World War. It is a poor time to be talking of the war debts of England and France, for after all they were incurred in fighting a common enemy. in a war that had been going on for three years before our entrance. Who knows what the consequences

would have been to this country

had the Hohenzollerns been victorious?

That was in 1917-18. But for the

present the best move we can make

is the repeal of the arms embargo, for the sooner the democracies have the means of conquering the enemy, the sooner the war will end, the useléss slaughter stop and the chance of our being drawn in lessened. The repeal of the arms embargo is the best way for peace for us.

CLAIMS F. D. R. AND AIDS NOT NEUTRAL By Edward F. Maddox

‘With the special session of Congress, called by President Roosevelt especially for revision of the Neutrality Law, it is high time for the American people to arouse themselves to a better understanding of the situation. The first truth to be learned is that the President and his advisers are not neutral. They wish actively to aid Britain and France with arms, ammunition and airplanes. They are not satisfied to sell raw materials but wish to manufacture bombers, bullets and bombs to place in the hands of nations now at war. That is the antithesis of neutrality. It is as plain a case of taking sides in a war as was ever seen. So why call such action neutrality? If two of your neighbors were fighting and you were determined 6 furnish one of them with guns and ammunition, would you call that neutrality ? $a Mr. Roosevelt wants to help England and France win a war, and Congress has a law on the books designed to keep us out of war. It is not merely a Neutrality Law but an anti-war law, to prevent actions dangerous to our peace and safety. If we don’t want to get into this war, we had better let our Congressmen know that we wish the present Neutrality Law kept on the books. When we start peddling guns, planes and bombs to nations at war, we are taking part in that war. The situation in Europe is not our fault and we. should not be forced into the war by unneutral action.

8 2 2 HE'S HEARD ENOUGH FROM SENATOR BORAH By William Guerin

May I exclaim “How long O Lord, how long,” must we bear with the

bellowing of Borah?

New Books at the Library

«yg FIND a nostalgic pleasure in playing with ideas,” writes a character in “The Wings of the Morning” (Little), by Edward S. gnd in these words the author has succinctly worded a sufficient excuse for a first novel. The book plays with the thought of an order of liberal, clear thinking individuals who, by the principle of non-aggression and the accumulation of the means of subsistence,

Side Glances—By Galbraith

nd

—]

hope to stem the couise of a world which 1s drifting resistlessly into the chaos: of war. Or, at least, to furnish a refuge for those who see only senseless evil in war and, perhaps, to preserve a remnant of civilization from the destruction of conflict. > A policeman, an undertaker, and a doctor, linked together by a series of events which prove only a prelude to the body of the novel, form the nucleus of the group whose purpose is to keep to the middle of the road. The diverse natures constituting this group, the effect of their own problems upon their relations to the peaceful “Order” which they have established, the interplay of ideas and ideals, make this a psychological study as well as a social document. And the feeling of the author for the things of the senses— the notes of the nightingale breaking the silence of the night, the amber glow of a swimmer’s body, the quiet of a house in the dawn—lends it a poetic, sometimes an eerie, quality. The book will prove to be a thought - provoking document, weighted with more than the usual social significance, and the reader will find not a little of what might pass for satire and allegory. It will probably have as many interpretations as it has readers. On one point

all will agree—that it is an inter-

esting accompaniment to paper headlines.

PORT OF PEACE ‘By DOROTHEA ALLANSON

the news-

| Save enclosed by oceans wide,

America shall live for peace. Forgetting war, let the swelling tide ot love, overcome, and all fear cease.

DAILY THOUGHT . But, the world of the Lord en: dureth. forever, ‘And this is the.

foi ol

| ’ ‘Cause for ‘Alarm ls Seen i Repor¥ | Only New Dealers Would Be Named | To Replace War Resources Board. |

TLANTIC CITY, N. J, Sept. 30.—As this column predicted from the very start of the new War Resources Board, it is going to get the gate. The selection of its members was a political blunder. That is no knock at these men or the interests they represent. Their good faith and patriotism are beyond question and the popular distrust of such connections and interest in war is: mostly bunk. But it exists and that can’t be ignored. Quite apart: from these particular connections, the World War ‘proved

that men actively interested in competitive business can’t be given dictatorial war powers over their competitors. ; Hi E . But these are not the rumored reasons for give ing it the ax. One of these is that Louis Johnson, Assistant Secretary of War, surprised the President by announcing these selections. Mebbeso. But in

‘at least one instance—and that. not the least ims.

portant—the first time the appointee. or the public heard of this selection was from Mr. Roosevelt himself. : rates ff 2 = 8 ile SECOND rumored reason for this approaching mass liquidation of industrial kulaks is that Corcoran, Cohen ard Mrs. Perkins objected to anybody of the industrial side having anything to do with any possible war and insisted that New Dealers, and already established permanent New Deal agencies, exercise any extraordinary war powers. I don’t know anything more about that than what I have read .in the newspapers and the gossip I heard at the American Legion convention. .It is so positively and poisonously vicious that—if it is

‘| true—the President qught not to be granted dny

extraordinary war powers. We can’t risk any New Deal war. An outfit which has conducted the craziest and costliest program of experiments in our history, and failed in so many: of them with such disastrous results, has demonstrated no such ability as warrants its exclusive conduct of the tremendously more vital and dangerous experiments and hazards of war. : 8 8 = “3 MERGENCY POWERS” in war mean nothing less than a dictatorship as complete as Hitler's,’ In our case the great argument for them is that they are “temporary.” That is why, in the World War, they were largely withheld from permanent agencies of Government and reposed in such -temporary agencies as the War Industries Board. That. is why it would be a deadly error to put them in any permanent agency today. Government “bureaus and bureaucratic powers, once created, are almost indestructible—especially in an Administration which: believes in constantly increasing and personalizing Federal power. : ! : 1f these rumored reasons are true—they are sp outrageous that the more I think and write about them the more I doubt it—but if they are true, then the talk and announcements about the waning of the anti-business janisariat influence in Government are false. If they are true, then we are more likely

to get into war.

We don’t need a War Industries Board now. But if the time comes when we do need industrial mobilization, let’s put it in the hands of competent people who can get co-operation, and not of inexe perienced and prejudiced Simon Legrees who think they can get it by compulsion. :

Neutrality By Bruce Catton < ; .F. D. R.'s Bill Tightens Isolation Except for Lifting. Arms Embargo.

ASHINGTON, Sept. 30.—The startling fact ; emerging from a comparison of the two meas ures is that the Administration’s proposed revision of the Neutrality Law is a far more stringent “isolationist” measure than the present law—with the single. exception of the arms embargo clause. Labia Under the existing law, for instance, trade in munitions to belligerent nations is prohibited; but trade in other commodities—steel, oil, wheat, raw materials; and manufactured goods of all kinds—can go on freely, and may be carried in American ships. Under the Administration’s proposal, no American vessel may carry any materials whatever to any wearring nation, and no American business firm may: export any materials whatever to any warring nation unless title: to the goods is tugpsterred to the pure: chaser. { oS : Under the present law, Americans may travel to belligerent nations on American® ships. Under the Administration’s proposal, they could not travel to belligerent nations at all on American ships, nor could they ride on anybody else's ships if those ships have. to pass through a “combat area.” or The cash-and-carry section of, the Administration. proposal would restore a feature which the Adminis tration permitted to die last spring. Strictly speaking, . it is not precisely a cash-and-carry section, since it provides for 90-day credits. i

Arms Ban Is Key Issue :

Almost the only point in which the Administration’s proposal would represent a relaxation of the present law, then, is in its clause which would permit the export of arms and munitions. o As a tactical move, this may be of considerable importance in the fight in the Senate. Li Administration leaders are now in a position to say to the isolationists, in effect: . “If youre so anxious to keep the country out of war, why not take our plan? It would keep American ships and American cargoes out of the war zone come. pletely; the present law only keeps munitions out. We could be dragged into war through the torpedoing of American ships carrying wheat or cotton, under the present law; we couldn't, under our plan.” The isolationists, however, have their answer ready for that one: “Okay. Why not keep the arms embargo,; and then take the other features of your plan, and be doubly sure that we're safe?” . What all of this boils down to, of course, is the. fact that the arms embargo is the single important issue at stake. Te

Watching Your Health By Jane Stafford 1

En proof for the fact that diabetic children’ with proper treatment can be just as healthy and active as other children appears in a report. of the successful season just ended at the state-wide camp for diabetie children in Whitaker’s Forest, Cali« fornia. This camp, provided by a number of organizations and friends of the little diabetics, is believed to. be the first state-wide camp of its kind in the coun--try, although a number of other camps for diabetic children have been organized. Six Like campers everywhere, the diabetic campers made overnight pack trips, sleeping in their blankets on the ground and preparing their meals in the open in camp style. The’ only difference between these: and similar trips from other camps is that the young campers gave critical attention to the items and quantities of foods they ate, in keeping with theircondition. > aR Besides the opportunity the camp gave ‘these youngsters to have the kind of vacation many other. children have, it" actually benefited their diabetic. condition. There was a remarkable reduction in the amount of insulin the young diabetics required, re= ports Dr. Mary Olney, of the University of ‘Califore nia Medical School, who was in charge of the camp, The reduction in insulin requirement is attributed to the exercise and diet followed at camp. stink "The children responded so well to the general health conditions prevailing that it was possible to. enlarge the recreation. The two overnight pack trips. art of the enlarged program made possible by;