Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 9 December 1939 — Page 8

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SATURDAY, DECEMBER 8, 1938

LET MONEY DO YOUR CUSSING

ERY few Americans are neutral in their thoughts regarding the Russo-Finnish war. Almost all of us are disgusted and angry at the Reds’ imperialistic attack and at the preposterous and naive attempts to justify it. : But after all, few Americans would favor organizing a new A. E. F. to rescue Finland. This country is thoroughly unsold on he notion that we can set ourselves up as a policeman for Europe, no matter how badly Europe's gashouse gang may behave, So what to do? The answer is easy. Herbert Hoover has consented to organize a Finnish Relief Fund. It ought to be the easiest job he ever undertook, and one of the most satisfying. If | every American who has spoken up against this latest and baldest piece of international brigandage will now say it | with dollars, Mr. Hoover will soon be in a position to see to it that in spite of bombings and blockades no homeless Finn will be subjected to the ultimate misery of starvation. Next time you are roiling the air with purple phrases about Joe Stalin, remind yourself that Finland can’t eat epithets or wear them. This is a time when money talks louder than cusswords.

MAVERICK AND THE POLL TAX WERE glad that Mayor Maury Maverick of San Antonio was adjudged not guilty of paying the poll taxes of other voters. That hard-hitting, robust, liberal Texan is one of our favorite public officials. A jury having formally declared in court that Mayor | Maverick did not pay those poll taxes, an obvious question is: Who did pay the poll taxes? The evidence is clear that somebody paid, and that the somebody was not any one of the impoverished voters involved, for they had not the wherewithal, But the jury shows a singular lack of curiosity on that point. And when juries and courts are not interested in finding out who violates a certain law, that is a pretty good tip that the law itself is held in contempt. And when public opinion does not support a law, the best remedy is repeal. What, indeed, is more natural than that a people who believe in the principles of democracy should hold in con- | tempt a law which abridges the first right of a sovereign citizen? And especially when the abridgement is based neither upon intellectual nor normal qualifications, but merely upon whether the citizen happens to have a certain amount of money in hig pocket which he can spare on a certain day? [It is an attempt to convert a right into a privilege that may be paid for and enjoyed only by the fortunate. Eating may be called a privilege; it has to be paid for. So, too, sleeping under shelter. But in a democracy suffrage is every citizen's inherent right. And the content of a man's pocketbook is no measure of his citizenship.

RIGHTS—AND OBLIGATIONS

“YA/HAT labor peace,” asked Chief Justice Hughes, “is possible in this country under that construction?” Joseph Padway, chief counsel of the American Federa- | tion of Labor, was before the Supreme Court, arguing that | a minority group of employees has the right to picket an | employer, or to strike, even after a majority group has | been certified by the National Labor Relations Board as the | collective-bargaining agency. | The answer to the Chief Justice's question is, of course, | that no labor peace is possible under Mr. Padway’s construction of the law. As Justice Stone pointed out, the Wagner Act requires an employer to deal exclusively with | the union certified by the Labor Board as the representative | of a majority of his employees. | Well, the Labor Board certifies, say, a C. I. O. union. | The employer, complying with the Wagner Act, tries to deal with that union. But the A. F. of LL. minority—so Mr. Padway contends—can call a strike and picket the employer in an effort to convert employees and make itself the majority. Suppose, then, this effort succeeds and the Labor Board, having held a new election, certifies the A. F. of L. union and the emplover tries to deal with it. The C. 1. O. minority-—still according to Mr. Padway’s view-—can strike and picket. And that can go on forever, or until the employer goes broke or crazy. Arguments like this one of Mr. Padway'’s contribute to a revulsion of public sympathy which, if continued, may | deprive labor of gains under the friendliest national Administration it has ever had.

| that name.

| it doesn’t have the same seal. . .

Liquor Czar

By Bruce Catton

Dr. Wesley A. Sturges Drafts a Code of Fair Practices to Keep The Industry on the Right Path.

ASHINGTON, Dee. 8.—The czar of the nation’s distilled liquor industry is a slim, tanned chap who quit being a law professor at Yale in order to come down and try his hand at casting seven devils, more or less, out of the liquor business. Dr. Wesley A. Sturges, executive director of the Distilled Spirits Institute, Ine, has been given wide powers by members of the industry and will have much wider ones if the industry accepts a code of fair prac-

tices he has drawn up for it. On the sixth anniversary of repeal of the 18th amendment, Dr. Sturges is confident that the industry is not only setting its house in order but will keep it in order. “Six years of repeal have, I believe, convinced the distilling industry that it must conduct its affairs in keeping with the desires of informed and impartial

| public opinion,” he says. “I am confident the industry

is ready and willing to make its actions more and more acceptable to the people generally as time goes on.”

HE code he has drawn up, first, aims to reform |

commercial practices in the distilling business: to maintain an open competitive market, end the sys tem of secret rebates and other corner-cutting dodges, and balance the field pretty well between the larger units and the smaller ones. Second, it is designed to get the liquor industry

| out of politics and to avoid even the appearance of | political corruption.

If it succeeds in doing these things, a third goal (it is hoped) will be reached as a matter of course, and the industry will avoid the peril of irritating the voter into bringing about a return of prohibition. “You know, we do business in a gold-fish bowl, in the distilling trade,” says Dr. Sturges. “So when reports go around about excessive sales promotion, which might possibly lead to stimulation of excessive consumption, the public is likely to be skeptical about us. And then there's politics. “I feel that it is neither good business nor good government for us to take part in politics. It's worth our while to tell all of these political fixers and shake« down artists that we're not available for that sort of thing any more.” “ 4 HE code he has drawn up not only sets up standards of performance, but provides for rigid ene

| forcement. Bach member of the industry who signs

the code signs a five-year contract under which he makes himself liable for stiff cash penalties for viola tion of any of the codes provisions. A staff of field men is being set up to investigate compliance. The code now is before an industry committee.

When this committee finishes its study, the code goes |

before the industry. A good guess is that by spring it will be in operation. The things which Dr. Sturges and his group hope to set right range from the too frec-and-easy manner in which a whisky salesman may offer “samples” to the bribery of bartenders and liquor store clerks to push one brand over antther; from excessive advers tising to dollar-day sales; from high-pressure political lobbying to the granting of rebates.

Inside Indianapolis

Why the McNutt Boys Are Working So Hard—=And About Ox Horns.

NE of the reasons the Indiana followers of Paul MeNutt are working so hard for delegates is that they have been given to understand that Presi dent Roosevelt is definitely out of the race in 40. . .. They've also been told that F. D. R. is willing for

| Paul to be the man if he can make it.

All of which has made the Hoosier boys rub their hands and go to work harder than ever. . . . The word for the Paul V. backers is not confident. , , . Its

| cocky.

They do have one thing worrying them, though... .

| And that's a Democratic nominee for Governor. . . .

They keep hemming and hawing over this name and .. « And asking peple to start booms and trial balloons of all sorts. . . . It all adds up to one thing: They don't know what to do,

CE THE TOWNSHIP TRUSTEES' Resolutions Come mittee was in “closed conference” , . . But the door was wide open. . . . The committee was all talking at once. . They wanted the convention taken away from Indianapolis to escape newspaper criticism, . . But the resolution died in the heavy traffic of the trustees out the door. . . . They suddenly discovered there was a newspaperman quietly sitting and looking

on. . . . We've just discovered one of the reasons why the ox has ne responsible place in the modern scheme of transportation. . . . There's a chap in town now with an ox-cart. . . . His motivating power (the ox) had a built-in horn, but the driver admits he's never been able to get him to moo in traffic.

GOVERNOR TOWNSEND has just bought a table service the same as the one now in the White House. . + . Gold plate and ail. . . . We're told though. that Add two more to newspapermen’s likes. . . . One is B. Edwin Sackett, FBI agent-in-charge here. . . . The other is Edward Everett Horton. . . . He's been sending every play reviewer and dramatic critic in the towns he's played expensive French mufflers. . . . Fabien Sevitzky, the Symphony conductor, gets home every night by 10 p. m. when he can possibly make it. . . . The reason is Amos 'n’ Andy. . . . Believe it or not. we picked up this one from the opposition

A Woman's Viewpoint

By Mrs. Walter Ferguson

A SLOGAN TO STICK

EW YORK'S Mayor LaGuardia wants a catchy slogan for his campaign against the practice of throwing discarded chewing gum on the streets and sidewalks. “Flypaper for flies, but free-wheeling for mankind,” suggests The New York World-Telegram. But that's a trifle long; the need is for something shorter and snappier —as snappy as those chicle bubbles the kids blow, and capable of sticking to the mind as a wad of gum sticks to the heel, reminding sternly at the thoughtless moment, “Don’t park it here!” New York, says the Mayor, spends hundreds of thou sands of dollars to scrape gum deposits from pavements and subway platforms. Throughout the land jaws work relentlessly, day and night, and nobody knows how many million cuds of gluey residue find their way to places where they shouldn't be in the course of a year. We hope Mayor LaGuardia gets that slogan. It will be useful hereabouts, too.

ANY BIDDERS?

A NEWS story reports that Charles J. Whalsn, prominent Republican of Chicago, purchased from the William Randolph Hearst collection for $775 a signed letter of Jan. 10, 1808, in which Thomas Jefferson declined a third term as President. Wonder how much the Republican National Committee would pay for a similar letter signed “Franklin D. Roosevelt,”

{

| KLAHOMA is a word that to some people suggests Indians, two-gun outlaws, fiery crosses, mushroom towns, Grapes of Wrath, Okies. But it is also a land of pioneers in covered wagons, of great grazing herds, of wide wheat fields, oil derricks, skyscrapers, the Will Rogers Memorial--and men like Frank Phillips.

Right this minute Santa Claus is probably a little jealous of Mr. Phillips. Close as it was to Christmas, if the fat old gentleman had dropped into Bartlesville on Nov. 28 he would have got not so much as a glance, | Because Bartlesville, assisted by parts of Texas, Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas, Missouri and most of Oklahoma, was celebrating “Uncle Frank's" birthday—Unecle Frank being the president of the Phillips Petroleum Corp., dispenser of a payroll of millions, art collector, and goodness knows what else, Bartlesville was in a gala mood, because the people have a genuine affection for their No. 1 citizen. To be sure he's made a lot of money, but their esteem springs from a more profound and elemental source. To them he typifies the open-handed, great-hearted, unpretentious West and is a regular fellow who never outgrows his hat. Frank Phillips has not done that; neither has he outgrown his home place nor the friends of his youth. And in the opinion of a true Westerner this is a reason for honoring any man. The most interesting phase of the Phillips birthday party was its American flavor. It had all the earmarks of a barbecue or a Fourth of July picnic or a political convention. In fact it seemed to be a mixture of all three. Swanky in every particular, it managed to remain 100 per cent United States. It was well planned, vet the spirit behind it was spontaneous; it was dignified yet utterly friendly. And the undercurrent, noticeable as a pulse beat, was the sense of gratitude and affection which his workers feel for Frank Phillips. It must be grand to be 66 with such a record of achieve ment, service and generosity behind you,

DI

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THE INDIANAPOLIS TIMES

What's Come Over ‘Those Boys, Anyhow?

| LOVE SRINACH

GONNA EAT EVERY BIT OF

The Hoosier Forum

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

| DEPLORES DISPUTE [IN LABOR'S RANKS ‘By Tom Berling Christmas greetings and best wishes from a member of the A. F. of I. without rank or distinction to the same class of C. I. O. men of Indianapolis. . . . The old men who taught me their | principles of unionism were working for an ideal. They wished to) | better the condition and lives of . workingmen. Today our leaders American form of Soverhment jules make the mistake of fighting each ates us all. I am a firm believer other with bitterness and hatred of that people can do more good for many years’ accumulation. (themselves and for the common You and I would both be better S2USe if thay do for themselves as off if we had a change of leaders ol for the Pia to do who could look at each other with« | AT0¢ ot) : ‘out animosity. or them, and at less cost.

I believe that the Ten Commandfant But too: smart ta hate htay ments and the Constitution with

, Siw ithe Bill of Rights outshine anything 1 ; is five iii A Docwal, ever written and handed down to 1040. : (man. I believe that too many : people do not respect either of these

great documents.

Our form of government guarantees equal rights and liberty to ‘By Voice in the Crowd the law abiding. It does not guartow L. V. clai } _|antee social equality, however, and Now . claims that I envyiyha¢ is why I claim that it is not someone, that I am a Fascist, and democratic. I do not believe that inconsistent. It seems that anyone |men who waste wages for drink or who can read newsprint and under. Personal eAsure) gonead of feed: | |ing an ' stands the English language should [the men who respect their obliga‘know better. tions, are social equals. The framers Now for the benefit of those who|of the Constitution did not think do not understand me let me state

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

” 2 ” RETURN TO CONSTITUTION HELD ESSENTIAL

sO either, so we have a republican form of government and not a democracy. I do not believe that the “Machine Age” has any more effect on our Constitution than it has on the Ten Commandments and they are not outmoded. If L. V. thinks that these ideals are “Fascist” he can call me that because no one knows what it means anyway. » » ” SEEKS DEFINITION

OF COMMUNISM By Curious, Bloomington, Ind. To E. F. Maddox: I will not attempt a defense of economic social communism, but hope to shed light on truth. Sir, I accuse you of being not informed in economics. You speak of “lying propaganda” and it seems to me that you are writing words that are cousins of that idea. You say: “Destruction of either of these (England and Germany) nations points toward chaos and communism.” Will you define for me the meaning of communism in words of economic, social and philosophic derivation? Are chaos and communism synonymous? One of the first principles of economic communism is planned economy. Would you like to see our national budget balanced? If so, you favor national planned economy and socialism,

my case. I have lived long enough to see most of our mechanization and | |most of our rackets develop, and es- | |pecially the political rackets. I have| seen America blessed with one of

New Books at the Library

{these changes and cursed with the (other, I am not a wise man, but Ij {know enough to know that Amer- |

icans are not only being fooled, but | gre 33 yas Soo hilarns Spite. a large number of them are fooling 1, ide themselves upon their great

OUNG CHARLIE MASON went

themselves. I do not believe that our|

situation will improve until only these who love America and will uphold its ideals can be elected or remain in office. I do not believe that America will be well again until political practices are driven back into the confines of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. I believe that as we are born individuals and naturally die as individuals, we should be allowed to live as individuals. We are all dif-

ferent fh many respects and the

love and understanding of music and art, hed frowned upon the artistic aspirations of their son. The trip to Paris was a reward, from his father, for renouncing art to enter business.

Charlie's sole acquaintance in Paris, Simon Fenimore, ascetic Communist and potential dictator, takes him to a notorious entertainment house, the Serail, and introduces him to a Russian demi-monde, Princess Olga, When Charlie leaves

Side Glances—By Galbraith

It isn't a crime to be

Sy Lim

ERR nm SE AN i # REY

1 _oove. 1938 av wea semner WET ® nea un, eat OFF. "Why don't you give up Billy's home work and get some sleep?

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dumb in arithmetic"

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the Serail to go to the Christmas mightnight mass at St. Eustache, the Princess asks permission to accompany him. Thus begins a bizarre but platonic relationship which lasts throughout the five days of Charlie's stay. “Christmas Holiday” (Literary Guild) is W. Somerset Maugham's new novel, and to the many admirers of “Of Human Bondage,” ‘Cakes and Ale,” and “Theatre,” this is sufficient assurance of eminently diverting reading. Charlie discovers that Princess Olga is really Lydia Berger, wife of an extraordinary murderer incarcerated on Devil's Island. The marriage of Lydia and Robert Berger, his crime, and its detection, constitute a mystery story within a story of contrasting social and moral worlds. The young Englishman's quest for relaxation and gaiety becomes a grim jest as through Lydia he is submerged in an atmosphere of sordidness, insecurity, want, and desperate revolutionary menaces to his own “right little, tight little world.” “Christmas Holiday" is, on the surface, a sparkling, melodramatic tale. Underneath is a rich vein of satire and a vibrant concern with the social ills and resulting moral chaos which imperil the ideal of personal freedom and happiness.

EARTH'S BREATH By MAUD COURTNEY WADDELL The earth's breath in spring

Holds excitement of Each growing thing.

Warm earth's summer breath Is richly laden With loveliness,

Comes earth's sad, slow sigh With autumn’s message, “Fear not to die!”

Snow comes from the West, And earth softly breathes, “This is my rest!”

DAILY THOUGHT

For wrath killeth the foolish man, and envy slayeth the silly one.~Job 5:2.

_ A S a moth gnaws a garment, sO doth envy consume & man.—

SATURDAY, DEC. 9, 1939

Gen. Johnson Says—

Dewey Laid Firm Foundation for Campaign in His Excellent Oration, But Now Must Get Down to Cases.

EW YORK CITY, Dec. 9.—Whether or not you hold a brief for Tom Dewey, his Minneapolis speech was a great oration. This column holds no such brief. It believes that statesmanship is a profession, that experience counts in the public interest and that Tom is a tyro. That is unimportant to this piece. Opinions change, and while this one is still far from changed, it would be less than fair to with. hold the kind of comment which that speech deserves,

Many years ago, my uncle, the Princeton historian, Alexander Johnston, published four little books called “American Orations.” It was an attempt to visualize and color the development of American history by collecting the greatest speeches made at our most critical moments by political and other leaders. It gave me my clearest picture of the conflicting opinions that shaped the tourse of this country from the Revolution to my uncle's death in the Eighties. ® » =

HIS may be too hasty, but after a close study of Tom's opener, I think it deserves a place in that collection. I think so, not because the speech said anything new. Maybe I think so because it said much that this column has been trying to say for several years—and has said less well. No-—the real reason is that the speech sought the basic issue in a great conflict of opinion and made it crystal clear. Franklin Roosevelt's best speech was that made before the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco in 1932. It was in large part the work of Adolf Berle but that detracts nothing from the utterance. It laid down Mr. Roosevelt's idea of the New Deal.

With unerring judgment, Mr. Dewey took that for his text and presented the opposing view. The issue Is simply this: Has the capitalist and profits system, which made this country the giant that it is, so far failed that it must be taken apart and put together again by political action, on some theory of far greater governmental regulation and repression, if not govern mental operation? Or is it still virile enough to re store all our former prosperity if we only encourage and permit it to function?

o ” o SHORTCOMINGS and abuses within its structure and practice are admitted by everybody and were emphasized by Mr. Dewey, who gives proper credit to this Administration for its work in this regard. But the greatest question is whether, to cure such abuses, it is necessary to restrict and repress the very incene tives that have made the system work. Many people have said these things before but noe body has said them so simply, illustrated them so graphically, or drawn the issue in fewer words. It laid a beautiful foundation for the presentation of Mr. Dewey's case—if he has a case. Whether he has one or not remains to be seen. It was understood that he was going to discuss the farm problem—one of the prickliest porcupines in the politi. cal menagerie. Very wisely he ducked it. But he can't duck it for long—nor the hot problems of labor, unemployment, relief, taxes, budgets and the foreign. policy. Generalities won't do. Mr. Dewey will need something more than a youthful face, a toothy grin, his present good start and a record for railroading racketeers,

It Seems to Me

By Heywood Broun

Mr. La Guardia Means Well in Gum Fight, but Should Go Much Farther,

EW YORK, Dec. 9.—~Fiorello: La Guardia seldom N pussyfoots, but it does not seem to me that he has shot the wad in his gallant campaign against abandoned gum. The inveterate chewer who discards his cud in public places, as if he were tossing aside a withered violet or an old love, cannot be ¢ajoled. And if I may switch the gender there is nothing to be gained from here by a logical or a kind approach. The Little Flower has been in other fights for civic betterment, and some of them were equally momentous. At his furious best Fiorello has scorned argumentation and has crammed his policies down the throat of each recalcitrant. This he must do again as he rides out to slay the dragon with the wagging jaw. And at the very beginning there is need for broadening the base of the campaign. It will not be enough merely to indict those who do not retain. A girl may chew and chew with come plete fidelity to the original package and still be listed as a public enemy. Specifically, I call upon His Honor not only to castigate those whose care~ lessness glues the casual traveler to park benches but also to express his moral indignation against those who snap with their gum while watching love scenes in motion picture palaces. The transition from the silent days to the talkies has largely spared us those who read the captions aloud, but these disturbers of dramatic traffic have been replaced by a vast army who sound-range and punctuate each film story by making a clicking noise with their favorite flavor whenever danger threatens the heroine or romance flies in through the window,

A Tribute to Cagney

Only the other day I sat in a neighborhood house beside an otherwise attractive young person who prace tically orchestrated the entire eight reels by her oral manipulation of the pepsin. In one particularly exciting scene the G-men were pursuing the bank robbers. The pace of the chase grew faster and faster, and the young lady met each challenge by accelerating the beat. She may not have been in tune with the infinite, but each time the G-men stepped on the gas she made sympathetic and syne chronized noises. Before the big crash she was chewing at a flat rate of 135 miles an hour. A shot from the automatic of the hero rang out and the bandit chieftain bit the dust. The rest, to my surprise, was silence. I thought my little friend had been frozen into silence by the. grim specter of death. My interpretation was not: correct. In a somewhat muffled whisper to her com-'. panion the young person said, “I swallowed my gum." In the presence of true art she had paid the greatest tribute within her capacity. I trust thre Mr. Cagney will hear about it.

Watching Your Health

By Jane Stafford

A WARNING to protect children from contact with tuberculous adults has recently been issued by Dr. Fairfax Hall of New Rochelle, N. Y. . Tuberculosis, as you know, is caused by a germ. Unpasteurized milk from tuberculous cows used to be an important source of tuberculosis among children. Within recent years, however, this danger has been greatly reduced, partly by efforts to eradicate tuber. culosis from dairy cattle, and partly by the increase in pasteurization of milk. The person with lung tuberculosis, which used to be called consumption, may spread the tuberculosis germs in the sputum he coughs up, or in the tiny droplets of moisture exhaled in sneezing, coughing, or even with his breath. |. Such patients can be taught how to protect others from these germs, but even so, health authorities be= lieve that children should not be exposed to tubers culous patients until the latter have progressed far enough in their “cure” so that they are no longer spreading germs. Members of the family,

teachers, governesses,

‘nurses, maids and any other persons with whom the

child may come in frequent close contact, such as boarders or roomers, are a danger if they have tuber culosis. Frequently the tuberculosis is not suspected, which makes the danger worse. For example, an older member of the family may have what is mistaken for chronic bronchitis or asthma, but which is actually tuberculosis. Dr. Hall, in his report to the American Medical Association, points out that parents should not only look after the health of members of the family, but should insist on periodic health examinations .of nurses and servants, to make sure they are not tuberculous. This will also help to protect the servants, because if they have tuberculosis, the earlier it is discovered the better are their chances of being

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