Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 23 October 1939 — Page 10

PAGE10 aii

The Indianapolis Times

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N\ Give Light and the People Will Find Their Own Way

MONDAY, OCTOBER 23, 193) ‘A BIG JOB TO BE DONE HEN a man joins the Army he is presumably not averse to a fight. So Col. Philip Fleming can’t complain if he finds, on taking over the Wage-Hour Division in Washington, that he has a wildcat by thestail. We wish him godspeed in taming the cat, but we suspect that before the job is ‘done he’ll have some scars to show | for it. His predecessor, Elmer Andrews, was criticized for enforcing the act too literally—and for not enforcing it enough. He was accused of letting industry committees set wages too high—and too low. He was, in short, in the middle. So Elmer was sent to the showers. And Col. Fleming inherits not only all the old problems, but a swarm of new ones. For tomorrow, under the Wage-Hour Act, the 25-cents-an-hour minimum wage that has prevailed for the last year becomes a 30-cents-an-hour minimum, and the 44-hour . maximum week becomes a 42-hour maximum. - A great many more workers—nearly two million altogether, it is estimated—will be affected by the new standards than were affected by the original step a year ago. That means an enormous enforcement problem. If violators are not brought to book, they can undercut their law-abiding competitors. = If such @aindercutting persists, defiafice of the act will inevitably spread. And the fight to amend the Wage-Hour Act to death—a fight that was barely beaten off in the last Congress—will have an irresistible momentum when it is renewed in January. There is one thing in Col. Fleming's favor, aside from his attested ability as an administrator in the Army Corps of Engineers. That is the rising tide of business prosperity. If that improvement continues, employers who consider $12.60 a week to be a confiscatory wage will hardly have a leg to stand on. There is another thing, too, and this is fundamental. Employers who fear that a long European war may end with the death of democracy overseas, and.with a collateral imperiling of our own American system, may well reflect that the best American defense against alienisms and “ologies is a more decent distribution of the fruits of our economic system. That is a consideration which should challenge Col. Fleming’s ablest efforts, and which should command the cooperation of employers, labor and Congress.

WHAT ABOUT THE FOREIGN LOBBY?

NDICATIONS multiply that we are to be visited by a rapidly increasing number of foreign propagandists eager to sell us a piéce of the European war. Since we have been so successful in quarantining ‘against the hoof and mouth disease, a malady which: afflicts cattle, what about some protective mechanism against a worse malady, affecting human beings? We don’t want to be inhospitable. For those who come will be very charming people, erudite and altogether persuasive. But they will be peddlers nevertheless. Therefore we naturally should be interested in who they represent, who pays their expenses, possible affiliations not visible to the naked eye, and any other data, having to do with the source of the call, that would be pertinent and would help to keep us from being taken .in. . Here’san idea for some lawgiver to work on.

>

ON THE LINDBERGH: FRONT

ERE’S another war that is not ours. And we highly resolve to stay out of it. But maybe there is no reason ~ why we shouldn’t throw in a little comment. We refer to the battle between Col. Lindbergh on the one side and Dorothy Thompson and her Helper, Walter Lippmann, on the other. Lindbergh made a , speech of something less than 2500 ‘words, the summation of which put him on record for an embargo on offensive weapons, unrestricted sale of defen_sive weapons, prohibition of American shipping from danger : zones, and refusal of credit to warring nations. The address ‘was couched in fairly simple English. ~~ Following which, Dorothy and Walter unloosed their erudition. And, believe us, that’s something. To date ‘they have contributed some three times as much verbiage ‘as the original speech contained, and the end, it is announced, is not yet. .. After all, Col. Lindbergh is entitled to speak his mind, this still being a free country. But he is literally being lashed with learning and swamped with brains. How would you, for example, like to: step out on: the

‘rostrum and say we want to stay out of this war and here is how I feel about it, and then suddenly be socked with such .

-a barrage of linguistic shrapnel as.“era Germanica,” “chief theoretician,” “geo-political,” “organic-biological,” “lebensraum,” ‘economic hegemony,” and “Pax-Brittanica.” Yet that is what is happening to Lindbergh, and in the ammunition dump behind the literary coalition, are some 600,000 more words and symbols, The Colonel is up against sexperts. ~~ And so, we say, while we will continue to be neutral, it must be in action, not in ihogght, Our heart goes out ‘to the underdog.

‘FROM SHIRTSLEEVES TO SHIRTSLEEVES

AFTER four exploits Tommy Manville apparently has ~~ abandoned his program to make every blond a queen, :and has picked for his fifth matrimonial adventure a comely } : brunet. : This latest frenzy in burning up the asbestos fortune | 8

ride across continent for the new sweety-pie, orchids, cham‘and a suite of rooms in the Waldorf-Astoria;

Gaily down the primrose path he goes, redistributing | °

re wealth than Huey Long ever did—and with even worse |

Fair Enough By Westbrook Pegler

Religion, Under Protection of the Constitution, Still Permits Certain Types of Fakers to Prey on Public.

LEVELAND, Oct. 23.—About 25 years ago, the two most reliable ways to make a lot of money with the least effort and ingenuity were to get out a patent medicine or start a religion. A truly miraculous remedy for stomach troubles could be made for a few cents a gallon out of bismuth, rhubarb and tap water and retail at 75 cénts a bottle, and medicine fakers received bushels, literally, of hand-written testimonials from grateful Americans who thought some marvelous discovery had cured among other ills, and joyously reported that they could now eat fried pork without distress. That was truly the golden age. Some of the remedies were pretty good, at that, being made according to old, standard doctors’ formulas, but the Government and many of the newspapers gradually silenced the claims made for most internal medicines, and the ‘field is now pretty well abandoned, although a few rich veins are still paying big profits. 2 8 ‘8 ’ ELIGION, however, is still open to the freest exploitation, and politics has taken the place cf medicine, so there are still #wo fields of opportunity for men and women of the proper genius. They can be worked separately, but it is being shown that they can be combined very effectively under the very special protection of the United States Constitution. There is still a temptation to carry on healing, through faith, incantations and the laying on of hands, but that is likely to be a troublesome sideline and not worth the bother. The law is peculiar about miracleworking in matters of physical jllness, but the Constitution says that Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof. That phrase can be invoked to deter interference with the most dangerous fakery and, in conjunction with the revenue act, seal the accounts of a racketeer against inspection by the income tax department. To interfere with a fraud’) his preaching is to pisserivie him for his religios faith and martyrize

2 » 2

HERE are no people more religious, or, rather, more susceptible to religious nonsense than the Americans, and they have waves or spells in which, baffled by problems and excited by debate, they tend to go crazy in herds. At such times—and this seems to be the beginning of a spell—hot-eyed demagogs come bawling out of the mists of superstition and fear and hypnotize weak souls with strong words. The radio vastly extends their radius. European peoples, Orientals, even savages—all of whom have had more troubles and much more terrible ones—do not respond to such appeals as periodically drug the vaunted common sense .of countless Ameri-

rarily, believing the most infantile. . Hitlerism, with its nonsense about the Aryan race, is a great exception, but the lunacy of those Germans who do subscribe to this madness may be attributed to a far more trying ‘experience, lasting many years, than anything the Americans have suffered. The Italians were ordered to believe themselves Aryan and laughed aloud.

Business By John T. Flynn

Canada as Empire's Arsenal Would

Be Constant Menace to Our Peace.

AILWAUKEE, Oct. 23.—Here in the Northern states near the border one hears talk about Canada and the war. There is much speculation on

-| what Canada will do. ‘The possibilities in this situa-

tion bring to the surface one of the grave threats to peace on this hemisphere. That threat is Canada. There is a widely held belief that England is going to embark on a vast program of industrial and agricultural development in Canada. England has made up her mind, so the story goes, that she cannot depend on the United States for supplies in future wars. The world turmoil, which has been growing in intensity, foreshadows: a long period of international clashes with wars and threats of wars. England looks upon the present state of opinion in the United States as a warning that this country will not continue to be an arsenal and industrial ally of an empire so constantly exposed to attack. Therefore her only hope is to develop industries on a large scale in Canada. This is a plausible expectation. But for the United States the proposal holds a very serious threat. Up to now the Monroe Doctrine has committed us to resist any effort by foreign countries to increase colonies in this hemisphere. We have had no ambition to seize the lands of other powers, and all other American countries have been too weak to have such ambitions. So the problem has been merely one of keeping other powers from coming here to attack smaller nations in this hemisphere.

off to an auspicious start—a $3000 chartered airplane |

Exposing Americas to Attack

But what if some of our American nations take it into their heads to go abroad to attack other countries, either alone or in collaboration with some other nation? Is the United States going to feel itself bound to support such attacks merely because made by an American nation? Obviously not. i But neither Canada nor any other American Governnient can go off to war in Europe without exposing herself to attack. And suppose a European nation attacked by Canada and England makes an attack in turn on Canada. Are we going to be embroiled in the ‘war? If so, we are at the rercy of any wars the English empire and her American branch may get into, without ever being consulted on whether the war should be entered in the first place. The inescapable conclusion is that the presence of a large branch of a great imperial European power on this continent, developed as its war arsenal, is a standing menace to the peace of the United States.

A Woman's Viewpoint By Mrs. Walter Ferguson

FeuE hundred and forty-seven years ‘ago this month the weary eyes of Columbus saw a little light flicker in the dark distance—and America was discovered. Since that day hordes of men and women from the older worlds of Europe and Asia have journeyed over the watery trail he blazed. And a

{ very great number came for one reason only—to

escape persecutions and wars. It is to the everlasting glory of America that she gave refuge to millions of oppressed and poor. The United States has long been a symbol of libérty to

and a place of plenty for the starving. And it still is. Daily we are told of the millions more who clamor .to come over here so. they may find peace for their troubled hearts and quiet for nerves shattered by continual threats of war. Their eyes are turned toward the Statue of Liberty. Which is more than can be said for many of our own political and intellectual leaders. They appear to have forgotten America. Some who live east of the Hudson know little, and apparently care less, about that part of their native land lying ‘toward the setting sun. If we are to judge i by the noise they make, they are unconscious of the . existence of the vast prairie states, of the Southy western meadows and mountains, ‘of the inhabitants of the Deep South, of the breath-taking beauty and

fruitfulness of a great Northwest region. : Those miles of forests and fiel * millions of hearts wh ich beat there are of less interest ’ to hen ii the eounizies S ey Jopeatnee fled. metimes one ou to “Ladies and Gentlemen, | Your country lies

em of cancer,’

cans and set them to braying, burning and tempo- |

the downtrodden, a land of hope for the sorrowful

, all those little towns, and the |

them: A turn around, if you please! :

. THE INDIANAPOLIS TIA F ormerly Known as ‘Sick Man of Ene

© rn e—

The Hoosier Forum

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

NO GRAVY FOR RUSSIA IN TURKEY DEAL By Amused. Turkey has finally indicated its desire to swing over to Britain, thereby leaving Russia with whatever giblets she may Bod in the Balkans, 2 # URGES U. S. MOVE TO STOP CONFLICT By Edward F. Maddox : If we people of the United States will only take a common sense attitude toward the war in Europe we can plainly see that neither the British, French nor German people want to fight each other. Another plain fact is that two or three men in each of these nations are going to be responsible for the slaughter of millions of people if this war is not halted. We may read editorials saying “this is not our war” but if it is not stopped by friendly intervention it may, and probably will, be our war in a very short time. Any sensible, reasonable person will admit that fact. If we are not just plain dumb we can see that friendly persuasion to all the belligerents to agree to an armistic is our one safe road to keeping out of the bloody mess. Why forget so soon the old maxim which was so good a few months ago: “There never was a good war nor a bad peace.”

ical period might well save 10 million lives. Who would hesitate? Congress should -delay any move which is calculated to encourage a continuance of a war which none of the nations” peoples who do the actual fighting wants. It would be a great service to the cause of humanity and civilization for President Roosevelt to ask both sides to cease firing that the world may be saved from a cataclysm. I defy anyone to give one good reason to desist from another plea for peace now that all sides are amenable to such an offer.

# n = RADIO BAN HELD BAR TO TOWNSEND PLAN

By Cash and Carry

The new radjo code will sell no more time for propaganda purposes. It prevents the Townsendites from putting on a radio program for their pension plan. So the country is saved this peril. Whoever heard of prosperity coming by people’s having their own

Friendly intervention at this crit-|

“Neutrality” Act permits American

(Times readers are invited. to express their views in these columns, religious con_troversies excluded. Make your letter short, so all can have a chance. Letters must be signed, but names will be . withheld on request.)

money in their pockets to. spend? The radio daily gives this idea the pooh-pooh. Don’t we all know by this time that the only way to an economic prosperity is to consolidate our debts and borrow, borrow, borrow from the Grab Em & Grab ’Em Loan Co.? 8 FF 8 OPPOSES ROOSEVELT AS WAR MEDIATOR By R. Sprunger There are sincere isolationists but isolation solves nothing.

It is queer that many who. urged Roosevelt to turn his back to European affairs now urge him to “stick his nose” into the conflict and act as mediator. The Communazis are also trying to stir up such sentiment. Do they wish a “breathing spell” to gain new strength for a stronger assault on what is left of democracy? It is sheer nonsense to say that mostly those interested in seeing the arms embargo lifted are political leaders with a mess to cover, Europeans who wish to weaken us are so-called idealists. The present

ships to travel in belligerent waters

If they are sunk, how neutral will we be? The cash and carry plan forbids American ships to travel in belligerent waters as well as requiring foreign powers to come and get armaments in their own ships. Neither does it mean that you are “war like”

to favor this plan. sure we won't be drawn into the war, but it seems as if the more certain the victory of the Allies the less the possibility of our becoming involved. Also Chamberlain’s and the Cliveden Sets’ desire to save their ex-

to see dictatorship smashed. This war is not just a war between nations. It ‘goes deeper than that and foolish statements will not explain. Whatever happens in Europe will affect us in some. way and we may as well prepare to cope with any situation that arises.

Te 8 08 AGREE§ WITH SHAW ON BRITISH EMPIRE

By R. Says George Bernard Shaw in a news report: “I favor negotiations from a commonsense viewpoint. But a philosopher or God might hold that as the World War was well worth while because it got rid of the German, Austrian, Turkish and Russian Empires, this one might be worth while if it got rid of the British Emire.” p Perhaps G. B. S. has something there. So long as one nation isable to exploit an empire, other nations will jealously fight for the same

loaded with so-called “contraband.”

“right. ”

New Books at the Library

BOOK for the “must read” list of every North American is John Whitaker's “Americas to the South” (Macmillan). Mr. Whitaker realizes that many of us, if asked to draw a map of South America, would find that we didn’t even know upon which coasts all of the several countries lie; and his book is designed for those of us who want to learn more about . our southern neighbors. . The introductory chapter discusses

the Monroe Doctrine and the Lima

Side Glances—By Galbraith

Conference of 1938 in terms intelligible to the layman. It became increasingly evident at Lima, says Mr. Whitaker, that the welfare and defense of the Western Hemisphere are problems requiring the co-opera-tion of the United States and the 20 Latin American republics. Do the Latin Americans understand this and are they willing to extend us their friendship, respect, and co-operation?

goes to -the individual countries, Peru Bolivia, Chile, Argentina, Brazil, and: Mexico, sketching briefly

| their historical backgrounds, telling |something of the people who in-le(

habit them, how they live and what problems and aspirations animate them. He observes that the “good neighbor” policy of the United States has been successful to a large degree in removing old feelings of fear and hostility, and suggests for the future an American foreign policy embracing “repulse of any attack upon an American republic as an attack upon our own mainland,” creation of a board of national strategy, construction of the Nicaragudan Canal, furtherance of trade relations, and the establishment of an American League of Nations,

ODE OF OCTOBER By MARY P. DENNY October, October, October,

' | Shining in the light,

All the year in flight All the flowers of spring - All summer birds that sing And Autumn leaves of day -

Jewels of the dawn Shining on the lawn In the sparkling light - Of the October way, - October, October, October,

fl Month that we remember.

DAILY THOUGHT

We can not be}

ploiting empires is not to be con- : fused with true democracy’s desire |

For the answers Mr. Whitaker |

at the rooming house or even. the :poli

OCT. 23, 1939.

; MONDA {Gen Johnson

| Says— -.

Critics Wrong in Saying Lindbergh ; Attacked Canada, but Question He Raised Is One That U. S. Must Solve, !

ASHINGTON, Oct. 23.—Poor Lindy. They're pannifig him in London. Our pro-British, prowar pundits aré panning him at home. Dorothy Thompson is writing a series of his naziness and Wal< ter Lippmann is trampling him in column after column—elephantine jolts of pontifical ponderosity. It is too bad that a public character cannot express a view without being smeared—not for ‘that, but for what somebody else might guess his motive to be. But anybody who gets down into the arena of dally public

| debate should expect that.

Lindy’s friends must regret that he was persuaded’ to step from his hero’s niche to discuss a dangerous and delicate subject for which he is not especially equipped. That he is not especially equipped is no bar. Neither are his critics especially equipped. In the main they are emoting. But they are equipped for a continuing. smear—and he isn’t. They are skilled in defending themselves—and he isn’t. I wish Lingy | had stayed on his pedestal. ® ” ”»

TT First Lady also has a right to say anything she pleases. Her “My Day”—as a diary of the life of a woman in the most interesting position in this country was, I think, one of the best of all columns. She is perfectly justified in changing it into a column of debatable opinion. But, just like Lindy, when she does that, she gets down into the sawdust, sweat and bloody noses of this more or less intellectual shin-kicking. I regret that this most gracious lady couldn’t stay in her ivory tower, Lindy expressed his views ineptly. There is no. ground whatever for the build-up that he threatened Canada or adopted the insupportable nonsense heard. in the Senate, that we should take this opportunity of England’s agony to filch British possessions “in America. Canada will never have anything -but friendship to expect from this country.

UT there is a puzzling situation here. Canada didn’t make it. We did.. We say we must and will defend the Western Hemisphere against any ate tack or encroachment from the rest of the world— Europe or Asia. O. K. Ninety per cent of our people are for that. We can control that so far as our: own country is concerned. But suppose, as has now happened, one of our most powerful and good neighbors attacks a country of the Eastern Hemisphere— what do we do when the counter-attack comes? The Monroe Doctrine wasn’t a one-way street. It. merely expressed Jefferson’s earlier “maxim”—“Neverto entangle” ourselves in the broils of Europe—never to suffer Europe to intermeddle with cis-Atlantic affairs.” How can we do that if our neighbors don’t

do it? We must either give it up or admit that, if

any other American country from Cape Horn to the North Pole declares war, with or without our consent —for or against our interest—we have got to fight it." That was the question Lindy put. The LippmannThompson smear of him hasn’t answered it. It is a national question of pretty nearly first ‘magnitude. We had better get the answer quick. We stand today~ in an absolutely absurd, indefensible and deadly dane" gerous position.

It Seems to Me

By. Heywood Broun

New Definition of Peace in Order: After Lindbergh and Lundeen Talks.

EW YORK, Oct. 23.—I think it may be well to, have the word “peace” sent back. to the garage

for reconditioning and a general overhauling. of late it-haé been employed in spots where it is entirely out of line. For instance, pacifist groups have applauded Col. Lindbergh for his second radio address. I have heard it referred to as a great plea for peace. ' And

that is very strange because to many it seems one of the most militaristic speeches ever made by a prominent American. _ How can it be denied that Lindbergh has brought up the not particularly veiled threat of force and com= pulsion on the part of the United States against our ‘Canadian neighbors? Far from limiting the scope. of. the present conflict, the words of the neutral pilot’ would suggest that we, too, should embark upon impoate adventure and .grab While the grabbing is g00 Senator Lundeen was a little more crude, but: in precisely the same tradition, when he advocated the seizure of the West Indian islands. It would be too Kindly to say that both men were careless and didn’t know what they were talking about.. And even if stupidity were advanced as‘ a defense. two men with two speeches have done incalculable: damage to. peaceful relations in this hemisphere.

Hardly a Practical Joke . .

People who call themselves pacifists say, quite properly, that we should not send our young men abroad to die in a foreign war. Well and good.” But: why should they grow ecstatic at the dim hint that" it might be possible to make an arrangement whereby hostilities could be shoved under our very doors like: the morning paper? They say the Colonel is a practical joker, but I do not think he intended to be facetious on this occasion. Even the Colonel would hardly time his: jest so unpropitiously. No, this is a flank afgack upon a nation now in trouble. It is not a wheeze: IMobody denies that the Colonel ‘has a right to admire whatever political system he chooses as long as he does not try to impose those views on others. For instance, I think it would be unfortunate for him to carry his radio argument to its next logical step and urge the ‘United States to demand that Canada cede us a corridor to Alaska. In fact, I think-it is’ unfortunate for Lindbergh to talk at. all. I liked hiny better when he shunned publicity. And it was a very good -aviator who years ago aid, down excellent advice for fliers. It was Wilbur. Wright, I believe, who said, “Some birds can: talk and others can fly. It is a mistake to try to do boa

Waiching Your Health. By Jane Stafford

N these days of frequent travel, many a person: has found himself ‘sick Jn a strange city or town,

needing a physician’s care, but with little or no idea

of where to find one. Large: hotels frequently have a resident physician but the smaller ones usually do not, nor do tourist camps nor rooming houses. In such a situation, you can .call. the local medical society, which will furnish you with the names and. telephone numbers of a number of its members, but in an emergency, you. .do not feel like making a choice. If it is late at night, the medical society office may be closed. If there is time, you might wire or telephone: your own doctor at home and ask him to recommend a doctor in the town where you are. You are likely to feel more confidence in a doctor your own physie cian recommends than in one you pick at random from the telephone directory ‘or a medical society list, but the delay and cost of such. a ‘procedure may make it inadvisable. - Another plan is to ask. the: hotel clerk, landlady. ceman: on the street for the name. of: the leading hospital in the town. Then call the hospital and ask.for' the chief of staff. (If you ask the hospital merely for a physician, the hospital, like the medical sqoiety, probably will give you a list of names.) When you get the chief of staff, you can tell him the situation and ask him if he will come to see id If he cannot. do this himself, he ‘will send his assistant on someone in whom he has confidence. ay Your concern over getting a physician has probe

‘ably been heightened by reading or hearing horrible tales about people who got. sick away from home | a Sek into she hands of quacks or of apparently ,

Seo i, i ou vant the ore that: ‘are you want neares| sented)