Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 31 October 1939 — Page 12

Page PDF (14.17 MB)

Back to issue view

PAGE 12

The Indianapolis Ti imes

(A SCRIPPS-HOWARD DOIAS

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

Price in Marion County, 3 cents a copy; de ered by carrier, 13 a week,

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

> RILEY 5551

Give Light and the People Will Find Their Own Way

Owned and published daily (except Sunday) by The Indianapolis Times Publishing Co., 214 W. Maryland St.

Member of United Press, Scripps - Howard = News- B= paper Alliance, NEA B= Service, and Audit Bureau of Circulation.

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 31, 1939 ALL QUIET “IN recent days the war correspondents have had to devote most of their time to reporting the absence of real war, and to speculating on when, where and whether big-scale fighting would commence. : If ever there was a time when no news was good | news, this certainly is it. The duller the headlines, the livelier is that thin flame of hope that it is not yet too late to make a peace. The Nazis, while breathing brimstone and professing confidence in their ability to whip the world, have been holding their fire. Perhaps Hitler is thinking of the many great German victories in 1914-18 and their eventual erasure. Or perhaps he is thinking of that other little

corporal, of whom Albert Carr writes in his recent book,"

“Juggernaut” (Viking Press): “He won at Austerlitz and Jena, he broke up Prussia, he humbled Austria again, he did as he wished with Poland, he made a pact of friendship with Russia... he established a continental blockade of British goods; and England was still there, somewhat concerned, somewhat thoughtful, but still there, strong and confident. “And the cost! By 1808, when the map of Europe was Napoleon's plaything, France was once more impoverished. "Taxes were ferocious. The people were growing emotionally stale after the long-drawn-out hysteria of victory. There had been too much death. The men called to the colors were growing younger every year. Glory was all very well, but the price of bread was high. . . . The wealthy were being asked to subscribe and subscribe again to loans to a government whose credit was no better than one man’s luck.” But Napoleon fouglit on, and his reward was Elba and St. Helena. Maybe Hitler is a greater military genius than Bonaparte. Maybe he can win his war in “72 hours” with a crushing air attack. But if he tries that and fails, what then?

SUBVERSIVE

ELL, well and well! Congressman Martin Dies of Texas, head of the investigation of un-American activities, now finds his own name on a list made public in Washington. This is a list of parking-law violators who were dismissed with “warnings.” The District of Columbia is hav.ing a drive against ticket “fixing.” oners have decided—as the Dies Committee did when it gave out the names of Government employees on the roll of the League of Peace and Democracy—to use publicity as a weapon. Unfortunately, we suppose ticket “fixing” for the bene-

-. fit of public-officials must ‘be described as an American

activity. It flourishes ih many cities, *and nowhere more than in Washington. Five other Congressmen are named on the list just issued. Three of them, like most of the private citizens, gave more or less good excuses for their violations, but the charges against Mr. Dies and two others were taken care of by the Chief of Police. But special privilege is un-American, and ticket “fix. ing” is a form of special privilege. A particularly bad form, it seems to us. It creates contempt for law, discourages those who try to enforce it and is grossly unfair to ordinary ‘people who ha¥® no pull. Perhaps Mr, Dies is too busy, what with his labors against the Communists and Nazis, but somebody ought to go after the subversive idea that the men who make the laws can break: them without penalty.

“ALL ULTIMATELY LOSE”

OME| people keep saying that big business wants this country in the war for the sake of huge profits. Yet one business leader after the other has asserted publicly that the net result of war would be not profits, but loss. Latest is Alfred P. Sloan Jr., chairman of General Motors €orp., who, in his quarterly report to stockholders, says: “The belief that war is a profitable enterprise is entirely without any basis of fact.” Transportation is a war essential. - General Motors is one of the largest producers in the field of transportation. It might be supposed, as Mr. Sloan points out, that General Motors would benefit by war. And, indeed, there might be temporary stimulation of activity. But— “It is reasonable to suppose . . . that while there might be gains in some directions, there will be losses in others. ‘On balance, it is problematical whether there will be any gain whatever. And this is entirely aside from- the final deflationary influence on the economy asa whole—the Heces‘sary final accountings. “The destruction of wealth can never, in the last analysis, lead to a better order of things. A lower standard < of living must result. . . . All ultimately lose.” Is there any segment of business, we wonder, that does not recognize that fact?

IT CANT BE DONE

BIGELOW plan in Ohio: The.state to give $50 a month fo every single person, and $80 to every married couple, who are over 60 years of age and who don’t work. Ham-and-Eggs plan in California: The state to give $30 a week:to every person over 50 years of age, proyiding he doesn’t work. ’ #® # td » » » : These schemes are seriously submitted to the people ~ of two great states a a time when the Federal Government is straining every effort to enforce the Wage-Hour Act, which requires employers to pay employees a minimum of ($12.60 _a week for 42 hours work, or $54.60 a month for 182 hours work. All wealth is created by production.. No matter how you slicefit, in the final analysis people who don’t work must be supported by people who do work.we'll soon find out hoy ee 2-8 majority of the voters

‘The District Commis- |

Fair Enough

By Westbrook Pegler.

Both Sides Agree Dust Bowlers |

Came to California in Such Numbers No State Could Have Handled Them

AN FRANCISCO, Oct. 31.—In the whole bitter dispute over the wretched state of the fugitives from the Dust Bowl who came to California during the years 1933 to 1937, the two extremes of opinion are able to agree on only one point. That is, this was a huge and historic migration which no state of the American union, no country on earth, however rich, roomy and hospitable, could have made comfortable. . It was an enormous, unexpected descent of poor relations, but Carey McWilliams, Chief of Immigration

and Housifg in the State government, who recently turned out a book on the subject, called “Factories.

in the Field,” says “it has been estimated that 221,000 have entered the state since 1933,” and Roy M. Pike, who operates one of the biggest farms in California and insists that such farming is Wnpioreble, puts the figures at 400,000. » » » "WILLIAMS says they were lured to California so the big farm corporations could have a surplus of labor and toss onto the other taxpayers the expense of supporting them all beyond theismall wages paid a comparatively few. Pike says they came voluntarily at a time when California was having her troubles, and adds that the State-Federal Employment Bureau made a survey to see if evidence could be found of handbills or other advertising matter enticing the blow-out farmers of the Dust Bowl, and tHat nothing was turned up. “Apparently,” he says, “this trek was largely stimulated because these migrants invariably found Federal relief in California was twice or thrice as much as that disbursed in Oklahoma, North Texas, Arizona or Missouri. Thousands of the early comers wrote their relatives to join them’ for this reason.” McWilliams and John Steinbeck in “Grapes of Wrath,” claim large-scale farming is absorbing and driving out the small farmer, and Pike replies that no concern has gone into large farming operations since around 1925. “Ogden Armour came to California,” he writes, “and, after about 15 years, this operation practically wiped out the Armour private fortune. I .am told the loss amounted to nearly 15 millions. . . .”

” #" i

Md AMS warns of fascism, and accuses the Associated Farmers of vigilantism, these being the organized big farms and small or medium-sized private farms which have to hire seasonal help. The Associated Farmers deny that they have acted as. vigilantes, and perhaps they can defy proof that they did in any official sense, but it is a waste of white paper and an affront to intelligence to say individuals belonging to the group haven't strong-armed strikers

‘and ‘organizers. | McWilliams undoubtedly is right about that, but

to the proposition that unions on this coast, as elsewhere, themselves have used vigilante methods to terrorize non-strikers and tie up industries he replies by looking out the window. None of this, however, gets at a solution of the terrible problem of the Dust-Bowl refugees. From the very beginning each side calls the other’s story of the situation a pack of dirty lies, and the fact that other states just dumped their headaches and responsibility onto California is either forgotten or filed away under the heading of deferred business.

Business By John T. Flynn

Plan to Discourage Competition | No Solution Under Our Economy.

EW YORK, Oct. 31.—With everybody thinking and talking about the war, we are tending to lose sight of some important movements going on in the domestic scene—movéments whose ultimate results may turn out to be very serious. Ever since NRA businessmen have been talking about the terrible tragedy involved in so many people failing in certain lines of business. These failures, they say, are due to the fact that there are too many people in these businesses. They think, therefore, that the way to stop the failures is’to stop so many people from going into business. Now comes the shoe industry, one of the most important in the United States, and one of their number makes the pronouncement that “the shoe trade is too easy to enter.” He decries the fact that for $1.98 “a woman can buy, in palatial surroundings, in a top-expense location, with reasonably skilled sales assistance, a shoe the style of which was’ unknown yesterday, is tops today.and will be gone tomorrow.” He then points out that, taking into consideration. the cost of the material, shoes cannot be made for this price and the difference is being made up by the failures of manufacturers and retailers.

It's Sad but True

Entirely aside from the fact that this gives the consumer almost the only break he ever gets, the argument ignores entirely one of the basic elements in the system under which the shoe industry, and every other industry, operates. And the attempt to correct it by keeping newcomers out of the shoe industry, or any other industry, is bad as a whole for the economic system upon whose well-being every industry must depend. Everyone is agreed that the cog that turns the wheel in the capitalist money economy is private investment. And it is equally agreed that until private investment is revived there will be no real recovery

under our system. One of the main sources of new.

investment flows from those who use their savings or borrow mcney to go into business. The failures, cruel as it may seem, obviously contribute to this. It is understandable that an individual or an individual industry, looking at this situation as it affects himself or his industry, feels that something must be done about it and immediately turns to the obvious solution of keeping the industry closed to all save those who can make money out of it. ‘But in doing this for their own industry they are striking a bodyblow at the whole system under which it operates and which they are so cpncerned about preserving.

Woman's Viewpoint

By Mrs. Walter Ferguson IPE is so filled with worries,” said a woman

friend. “If it isn’t one thing it’s another.” She sighed. In fact, we all sighed in unison. Yet there are two days in each week about which we ought never to fret. other is Tomoirow. Yesterday is gone. Every pang of anguish we spend upon it is wasted pain. Actions done cannot be undone; words spoken cannot be recalled. Yesterday may be said to belong only to God. Tomorrow is not yet here. It also belongs to God. If it should hold adversities, they must be met when the moment comes and no amount of present worry will help us to bear them better. To put it tritely, only today is ours, and it is evident that women do not always meet its responsibili= ties well because we are so preoccupied with the af fairs of our Yesterday's and our Tomorrows. The

morning dawns—another little moment of opportun- | ity for us—and it seems a great pity that we use it so | often in weeping for the sorrows of the past or in

dreaming of future happiness,

In the meanwhile, multitudes of jobs need doing. | We rub shoulders with our sort who are starved for little gleam of com-'

smiles and kind words, and for 8 | fort from their fellows. Before us are ten thousand times ten thousand important tasks. Our world to-

day is not a fit place for children and worry will not |

make it better. Only our sincere and intelligent efforts can do that and, in my opinion, nothing will be accomplished worthy | of note unless women are allowed and are willing to co-operate in the effort. And in these efforts the mothers of the land must take part. : Every to say

One of them is Yesterday and the |

THE INDIANAPOLIS TIMES :

It’s All Yours,

TUESDAY, OCT.

Big Boy!

The: Hoosier Forum

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

RECALLS WAR WARNINGS PROVED RIGHT IN PAST By F. K. R. : a Should it not be a reminder to

and discredited in. past wars, for defying public sentiment, have been since their death adjudged “right after all?” Is it not possible that those who meet with opposition today will in future years be considered to have been “right?” And as they have nothing to gain during their lifetimes, is it not the greater proof of loyalty and courage to express their convictions and to ask others at least to “stop, look and: listen?” S ® 2 = URGES RECONSIDERATION OF NEWSSTAND BAN

By Thomas J. Sullivan

I am unfamiliar with the subject matter that led the City Council into effecting legislation directed at the ‘corner newsboy stands. However, I wish to go on record in stating that I believe the City ordinance should be restudied and the humane factor be given more consideration. I appreciate that there are quite a few lusty lunged newsboys who

distract some of the tired businessmen or that some corners may have appeared to be cluttered up with newspapers and magazines and that maybe too much of the walks were being used by the newsboys—but I believe that these minor offenses have been remedied. There also may have been cases where there were promoters establishing several stands and making a fancy living from the efforts of the less fortu-| nate and down-trodden newsboy, but this also could have been controlled. It seems to me that eliminating the roofs of the stands which offered the only shelter the newsboy had for his merchandise and comfort against sun, rain, wind and snow does not appear to justify itseif. I should think that a standardized stand affording shelter if only by a piece of canvas would not be unsightly, nor, if properly placed, effect the sight distance on any of our downtown corners. ’ Let’s make a survey of those who are in the newsstand and paperselling business and if, after we have analyzed these cases and feel that the present City Ordinance is a handicap or works a hardship on these hard-working and ener-

us ‘that’ those who were scoffed at|

may at times have a tendency tol

(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.)

getic salesmen, let's revise: the ordinance to help rather than pen. alize this business. : 2 = 8° SAYS WE'RE TOO TENDER, . OF BRITISH ‘FEELINGS : By M. xX: In response to a suggestion that

the ‘British and French pay their,

war debts by ceding to the United States the islands lying in American waters, Senator Connally said that

it would be cowardly to take advantage of .the Allies in their time of stress. What lovely solicitude, particularly when the French and British have never hesitated to. take such advantage when it was to their selfinterest! . These same British and French have never hesitated to leave us out on a limb or holding the bag when their policy called for it. Nor do the British ever hesitate to tell us where to get off, as in the recent zoning affair. Not only have they added insult to injury when it suited their purposes, but have rammed it down our throats by picturing us as Shylocks

for asking albus 1 a debt, settlement

1and by adding gall in the lectures

of visiting authors and “ambassadors of culture” who never fail to tell us how vulgar, uncultivated and upstart we are—for fat fees. So I don’t think we need be so tender about British feelings in collecting our debts in time of stress, or consider ourselves anything but prudent. Especially since the British {: got so tough about our efforts to dé so in time of peace and prosperity. Considering the anxiety of , the Administration to help the British and French, any move: to supply

‘|these allies by contributing ammunition to make it a bigger and better holocaust is sure to get us| | tangled: in+that. unholy sérap.

But if Senator Connally ‘thinks hel has something that merits support, |. let him cut out the emotionalism and confine himsef to the facts. Let’ him show us how the sending, of arms will benefit us, not only now, but in the generations to come. And never mind the tears for the British. This war is as much or more of - their making : than Hitler’'s. And it's ‘not our war, ‘

2 # * THINKS RUTH JUDD HAD TOO MANY PRIVILEGES By C. F. Lafferty ‘The story of Ruth Judd’s Whers ties and privileges reeks with .the possibilities of paid political ‘graft. The report ‘of her attending - the

‘theater in. Phoenix will probably

never be confirmed for the authorities’ sake. She should be apprehended as soon as possible, but’at| the same time her escape should

give them a severe headache for a while, 24

New Books at the oy

’

WELVE articles by. front-line foreign war correspondents, whose names and backgrounds count heavily in all foreign news services, make up the volume edited by Wilfred Hindle and entitled “We Were There” (Putnam). Here are the experiences. of George Steer ‘in Addis Ababa during the last ‘hours of

Haile Selassie’s reign, of Alexander Henderson during the historic. days.

of the Munich pact, of Karl Robson who was “with Eranco in Spain,” of O. D. Gallagher during the time when the Japanese Emperor “first

Side Glances—By Galbraith

too ‘| That T was (cleansed of all my sin-

| began to defend Jipinese e indepénd- ;

‘ence on Chinese soil.” These are the stories of the men behind the ‘by-lines, of their difficulties - in getting news ‘under the censorship’ of war times, of the

scoops they made because Tick had|

placed them strategically when the news began to pop. These. meh give us ‘apt analyses of situations : closely bound .. to . the] ‘events of yesterday and. today. We. see here the sort of propaganda to which. correspondents are subjected, designed to réuse their sympathy for one cause or another, so that they will hasten. to convert their. reading public through their columns n the newspapers at home.

press, ‘and how: ‘they. hover ready. to

| pounce upon. the - correspongent,

often because ‘he has-been too in-

| telligent to assimilate their propa-

ganda and has succeeded in hitting upon .something too close to the truth for. their comfort. These. articles are R xtellent; examples of disciplined reporting, restrained and objective’ in style, :

ABLUTION By MAIDA LEAH STECKELMAN

Seeking God in the deep of night, I found Him in the silver light Of a gross white moon ...a hedvenly That messed the lilies with her kiss’ oo Each stalk apart and plainly seen Stood drenched and dripping, sweetly clean .'. . = “0, God,” I prayed, “wipe clean my slate, Erase this futile Jast mistake” oie

My soul was Iresh.and fragrant,

ning, To: face - the Dawn oe © “and New Beginning! ©» Be

DAILY THOUGHT

_ Whoso stoppeth’ his ears at the cry -of the poor, he also shall cry : himself, ‘Proverbs 2118.

‘| of this new business can be classifi

| duction to support it.

peace-time production.

i] We sée how thoroughly the au-|- ' | thorities recognize the power of the

‘And then .. . quite-suddenly; I knew |-

Gen. Johnson Says-

Business oon Are Taki Attitude Toward Industrial - Unwise Expansion Seems LU

ITTSBURGH, Oct. 31 ~Business for plants is booming in both Detroit and The upward push hasn’é been felt as much chants and such services as insurance—but it takes the pay énvelopes some time to be and to clear ‘old debts. Talk with industrialists doesn’t vale as” ' orders. But some of it is undoubtedly influ that cause. The mere fact that enough § expeck.a boom is bound to cause one. We will be the heirs to. the curtailed ¢ of warring nations in many neutral nations. Ca ‘war business is increasing and Canada needs ok While we have: fe direct munitions to ship abroad except airp

I ie a ea Les.

nomic structure is an. intricate pattern. either depress or advance any big deps

| without affecting many. others in the same

» » » OME inventories are increasing faster: sumption and that is not a good sign. Bi ‘wait until these increased payrolls begin to affec sumption. There is an excellent chance of ance before long. y The early’ 1933 boom was killed by too : ulation on the extént of a recovery too lon held. People went price-and-profit destroyed the recovery hefore it ‘had wg adjust itself and clutch. Theré are a good many indications that r thing will happen this time. Far from welcc

| war boom iri the sense of a great output of muni ‘| every industrialist I' have talked with. is

shun ‘it as he would the plague.

proportions without requiring a .vast plant e sion of facilities which would not be very

® =» 2

MERICAN industry. is also pretty well

against the poison of high prices. Ten years of

for relief from eating away not only their incomes

| but their capital dnd the very existence of their, busi §

ness under private management. - The charge ‘that war production and war ‘loans drew America into the World War was nev than "a fragmentary truth. Of: course, ‘whole country welcomes good business rather than . ‘bhad— from whatever cause. But not this time from the § cause of war. No groups in the United States are *| more hostile to: a war caused boom than ‘those who would superficially seem to be most apt to | from

Both are close enough to the experiences of the World War to understand them fully. They don’t want that kind of boom, for the purely selfish reason, among other high ones, that they know it-would shortly bring ‘them nothing but disaster—losses, Vempioymenty higher taxes and greater. Insecurity. . :

It Seems to Me

By Heywood Broun

Theater Booming, but Minos o First Nighters Have Not Improved.

MIRE A

look alive after a somewhat punishing sumiier, Kaufman and Hart have a hit, and all the critics 'éx= cept one, like Saroyan. Helen Hayes has folk stahding in the back, even though the reviewers were a little lukewarm. Everything improves along Broadway | ~ cept the manners of first-nighters. i Miss Hayes was particularly handics 7 ped ‘in h : opening, because she is a very impo all the important people came to see tone ‘She is ‘a trouper and can “take it, but first ‘act late comers looking for the seq drowned out the actors.’ There were a few

the apron of the: theater.: The police the autograph hunters and the assorted away from the entrance. Boiling in oil ‘shade too severe, but, at least, there sh reprimand or some punishing kind of

‘Those Hollywood Stars

Im all for even-handed justice, and 1 should be extended. to drunks and vagrants and all first offenders. But. au i lecting, either in person or by mail, is the step. in a misspent career. The young pe indulge in it are not wholly to blame. . of the evil lies in Hollywood. Even the star must answer her fan mail, send out p and scrawl a name -or a starfish on the pietur cording to her ability. And her excuse is; it to my public.” "At the door of the itieater the lady fro wood” makes a pretty show of petulance wh waylaid by one of the fiends. But usually be prevailed upon to -sign—which blocks the walk and holds up honest. householders: whe ‘are upon seeing the drama. : Each one of them behaves as if a first tht a legitimate’ show constituted a sort of personal pearance for herself. She is rubbing elbows wit dear, ‘dear’ public all the way to her seat, whie has generally approached from the off aisle. A she moves along in triumph she does imi mn gives out: birdecalls.. Possibly it would - be more fair to 0 sirens rather than the suckers. Let the. queen, whatever her name may be, receive mons and be instructed that -.as long as: sh in New York she is to be forbidden to sign. but checks and. telegrams back - home money. We must: teach these interlopers their foget out of ‘the hair. of the Am

Watching Your He e2

By Jane Stafford

"ORE and more physicians are coming} . that worry is a prime factor in cau

‘ach ulcers and that even after the pati

covered, a new source of acute worry recurrence of the ulcer, sometimes with s .ing. > 5th . : Life histories of 53 stomach ulcer pati recently by. two English physicians sho every case a crisis in business, loss of I

severe: illness of a close relative or sim la

situation occurred a few days before the taken sick with a bleeding or perforating, i some cases the patients had. ‘ulcer fi fore, but in others; such as ship’s ¢

:ing over the lack of skilled engineering -ship due to rearmament, the patien

an ulcer or even indigestion before, The physical connection between a and feelings, such as worry, and the Wi

{| stomach where the ulcer : forms is not

to medical Scientists. They know stimulation of one part of the brain animals affects the activity of .the an

.Worry may provide ‘the same stimulus

of a man’s br: Patients wi h stomach ulcer teed help, of course. They sls, li a it 8 Hiemseiyse by learning to relax : , they are not the type to wh

but shall not’ be heard — | rela

depression have ground the lesson home that it is production and not high price or high profit that can | keep them solvent and prevent the burden of taxation Eu

it at the outset—labor and industrial management. #&

EW’ YORK, Oct. 31:~The theater is beginning ta