Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 11 December 1939 — Page 14

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The Indianapolis Times

(A SCRIPPS-HOWARD NEWSPAPER)

MARK FERREE Business Manager

ROY W. HOWARD RALPH BURKHOLDER President

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MONDAY, DECEMBER 11, 1939

MRS. HILTON U. BROWN N I the death of Mrs. Hilton U. Brown at the age of 78. The mother of 10 children, she found time to build a warm and gracious home and to give endless hours to community affairs. Her enthusiasm for cultural development gave her energy to perform a surprising number of tasks. She was one of the organizers and one of the early presidents of the Indianapolis Parent-Teacher Association. She was one of the most potent influences in the growth of Butler University and in the development of many cultural and church organizations. i To Indianapolis as a whole she was a leading citizen. But to Irvington she was even more. She was a warm

and good-hearted friend.

HITLER'S TERRIBLE PLIGHT HE heaviest casualties in this war (or wars) have been among the prophets and experts. Events have moved so rapidly, so strangely, so contrary to pre-conceived notions, as to make forecasting the most perilous of jobs. So we don’t predict Hitler's fall within a year, but merely point out the predicament in which he has involved himself —a predicament so terrible that his past gains may all be wiped out in such a debacle as the world has never

seen. Consider what he has done already:

1. He has brought bolshevism to his own borders,

hemmed himself in to the east, and surrendered his basic

program of a drive for room and resources in that direction. | 2. He has helped turn the Baltic into a Russian lake. | 3. He has placed Russia in a position to drive into the |

Balkans, while taking himself out of that position. 4. He has lost Italy as an active ally and increasingly faces the possibility that she will become an active enemy. Also, for whatever she was worth, he has lost Spain. 5. He has brought himself into war against the sea powers of Great Britain and the land power of France.

7. He has made considerable progress on sea—and, yet, | hig victories there have merely dented Britain's seapower. | headway |

And the British obviously are making steady against both his submarines and magnetic mines, while constructing the greatest tonnage of new vessels in England’s history. 8. He is shut off from imports by sea; his Russian ally has a war of its own to use up its rather doubtful stock of supplies; Russia is in a position to shut off his iron imports from Sweden, and the Scandinavian countries increasingly need their military supplies to strengthen their own defenses. 3 9. Now his exports are cut off, and even the German press admits that exportable commodities are piling up beyond the warehouse capacity of his ports. 10. He has drained the resources and money of his country to build up armaments which are proving inadequate to win the war. 11. The Allies have attained, or will soon attain, parity with him in the air—and behind them lie the vast and growing airplane manufacturing facilities of the United States. 12. He faces discontent among his own people; he has brought into his empire millions of hungry and sullen Poles, he faces sporadic and growing rebellion among the Czechs,

and he has built up other active centers of potential revo-

lution. 13. The wild ambitions of his master, Stalin, may produce war in the Balkans in which Italy and Turkey would be against him or his ally, ‘ 14. The force of world opinion has been turned against him and Russia, and the moral and material strength of the

most productive sections of the world is now on the side

of his enemies.

» » » » » the odds which Hitler faces—odds which he, And there is

» These are himself, has built up against his country.

every indication that his troubles are gaining momentum. No wonder France and Britain make no move to change |

the situation along the Western Front.

DOSTOEIEVSKI RIDES AGAIN ME STALIN'S soldiers of the pen are doing themselves proud, even if their brothers at the front are being embarrassed by the mischievous resistance of the Finns. Says a Moscow dispatch:

“A shocking story of alleged torture of a Soviet scout | Ad- |

is told by I. Shmonin in the army paper Red Star.

vancing Red Army units, he says, found in a village near Petrozavodsk the carbonized body of a scout lying on glow- | ing coals bound with wires. An aged woman, the only re-|

maining inhabitant of the village, sat beside the body and gradually told the story. “ ‘White Guardists beat the soldier wearing the red star with steel rods and prodded him with bayonets, seeking to make him speak, but he refused,” the article says. ‘FinalIv, they stabbed him in the stomach, put out his eyes and threw him into the flames.”

Mr. Shmonin is obviously a man to watch. With that |

good & start in this early stage of the game, he should develop into a real champion at atrocity-writing before the Finnish war gets over.

ADVENTURE "1 UCRY baby,” many people will say, as they read of the 6-month-old boy who has been adopted by Mr. and Mrs. Richard K. Mellon of Pittsburgh. The child, whose own parents could not support him, becomes a potential heir to two great fortunes and may be, some day, one of America’s wealthiest men. But perhaps the luckiest people, in this case, are Mr.

and Mrs. Mellon. It is a great adventure, to adopt a baby— | a hazardous adventure, sometimes, involving the possibility |

of disappointment in later years. But many another couple who have taken a small stranger jnto their childless homes ~ can testify that it is a happy adventure, !

DIANAPOLIS has lost one of its greatest women in |

| ‘Mediation

| By Bruce Catton

Chrysler Strike Gives Idea a Boost; | Liberals Protest Anti-Trust Probe; Capper Hires a Hall for Home-Folk

ASHINGTON, Dec. 11.—The important thing about the Chrysler settlement, as some of the Government's labor experts see it, was an unobtrusive little provision that any complaints by the union re- | garding the speed of production schedules are to be | handled like any other grievances.

started the trouble in the first place. manded a voice in determining the speed of operations and the management refused to grant it.

| ment; actually, however, leaders of the Labor De- | partment’s Conciliation Service believe that a for-

be handled successfully. All that the contract says on the matter is that the management will try to be fair in setting production schedules; that in case of complaint an investigation will be made, and that if this does not bring a satisfactory settlement the matter will be handled by an appeal board of two management representatives and two union representatives. In practice, this appeal board would have to call in a fifth person satisfactory to both sides if it could not come to any agreement; and it is expected that

ciliation Service.

vantages of mediation and arbitration than formerly; and while it has not passed beyond the preliminary discussion stage, there is some talk of ex-

are averted or settled.

= » »

that person would probably be a member of the Con- |

Here you can hear mcre talk now about the ad- |

tending and broadening the means by which strikes

THE INDIANAPOLIS TIMES

Bluebeard’s Wife!

It was a row over an alleged “speed-up” that | The union de- |

The point was left a trifle vague in the final settle |

mula was found by which this thorny problem can |

EANWHILE, Assistant Attorney General Thur-

man Arnold's investigation of anti-trust law violations is causing concern among an influential group within the New Deal. They are backing up | the American Federation of Labor in attempts to call | off Mr. Arnold.

| This group's objection is based on the fear that | | prosecuting labor unions under the anti-trust laws

| will in the long run tend to destroy the legislative | safegua | in the last few years. In effect, they fear, it will increase the extent to which individual judges may determine what acts are and are not legal for labor

rds which have been built around labor's rights |

unions—not only in connection with the anti-trust

{ laws, but in other fields. | As a matter of fact, the whole question of whether the unions may be prosecuted under the anti-trust laws undoubtedly will have to be passed on, in the ! end, by the Supreme Court. The law admittedly is

ambiguous.

» »

VERY Senator spends a good part of his time trying to figure out what the folks back home want. Senator Arthur Capper of Kansas has hit upon a direct, fool-proof way to find out: He simply | hires a hall and invites em to tell him. On Dec. 20 he is going to hold the second of his informal farm conferences in Topeka. He got the idea last year; invited any and all | Kansas farmers who had anything on their minds | to come to a public meeting and talk things over. More than 1000 responded. The Senator listened to a solid day of five-minute speeches and felt that he learned a lot. Now he’s going to make this an annual affair.

Inside Indianapolis

Not Even the FBI Knows What's What Inside the Allison Plant.

| HE visit here of high Army and General Motors moguls to look over the new Allison Engineering | plant focuses interest, naturally enough, on the | secrecy which cloaks operations at the West Side | plant. . . . General Motors has nothing to do with | that . . . the Army takes care of things very effectively. William S. Knudsen. president of G. M. C., said | that by the time full-time production was reached, | Allison might be employing more than 2500 people. | « +» Truth of the matter is that Allison in time may | grow to the point where it hires as many as 10,000. | . .. Airplane motors are not the only product. ... There're airplane bearings, as well. Not even the FBI knows anything about Allison.

|... The Army has established a series of guards and i

counter-guards and even employees have quite a time | getting inside. . . . Every worker's fingerprints are on file and before anybody is put on, he has to fill out a questionnaire. . . . All the statements are checked, double checked and triple-checked. ... Even a full | General would have trouble.

= = ”

TALKING ABOUT buildings brings up the Coli- | seum. . , . William E. Russ, chain-smoking half of | Russ & Harrison, Architects, says it took 60 days to complete the 8-inch-thick book of blueprints. . And 42 draftsmen working steadily. ... Mr. doesn't have any precise statistics on Radio City, he thinks the auditorium of the Coliseum is ‘a bit larger.” . . . We've just learned that Indianapolis taxis don't use any anti-freeze. . . . They just put a | cover on the radiators and operate the cabs day and night. . . . Overheard on a N. Illinois St. ecarline be- | tween two telephone operators: “That 1602 makes } me SO mad. She told me the other day ‘I don't believe that line's busy—I think you're just saving that so I can't talk to them.” Some day I'm going to go home and call her up and bawl her out.”

” = =

ONE OFFICE in the Federal Building already has | mistletoe hanging over the door. . . . But there's nary i a man in the office. . . . It's the Closing Department of FHA. ... The room number is 460-A.... One well-known local politician is talking heresy. ... He says that an office-holder just can't play politics and do his job. ... Don’t let ’em hear you at any of those three big buildings. . . . Business note: One of the cutest signs in town is the one over the Rene Bakery on the Circle. . . . You know, the one of the fat little chef, waving a stick. . . . The traffic flag on the Circle is now white. . . . Brand new, too.

A Woman's Viewpoint

By Mrs. Walter Ferguson

HAT'S his wife like?” The question invariably

comes up when a famous man is under discus- | And marriage being such an intimate and im- |

sion. portant relationship, it seems well worth the asking.

Therefore, when I found myself the other day on | the crowded streets of Bartlesville, Okla., where thou- |

sands of homefolk and visitors were celebrating the

| birthday of Frank Phillips, one of the richest and |

| most generous men in the United States, the first instinct was a desire to write a story about his wife, Like him, she has character. Dressed for the occasion in a cloudy gray gown heavily beaded in silver, and wearing magnificent orchids, she presented at intervals the customary picture of a handsome matron presiding over a mansion. At other moments, her snow-white hair and gentle movements brought the loving-grandmother side of her nature to the surface. But wait for a direct view of her face, and then those snappy black eyes call to mind a series of dominant feminine personalities, the kind of women who have exerted influence upon men and history. You can see that not all is “sweetness and light” behind those eyes. For Jane Gibson Phillips is a many-sided personality. According to her friends—and if she has enemies, I did not meet them—she is both a courageous and resourceful woman, Married 43 years she has been able to rise to every occasion of her remarkable life. Being the daughter of a well-to-do Iowa banker, she has never known real

instantly that if the cards had fallen against him she would have been standing at his side just the same. When I tell you that ev calls her “Aunt

Jane,” ‘nufl said.

Russ ‘must not descend. Above that base | Russia seriously and try to secure |

poverty but has always been ready to take a chance with her adventurous mate, in the greatest of all gam- | bling games--oil. Looking at her closely, you know |

SOMETHING TELLS ME ) OUGHT TO BE OUT RIGGING UP GROUNDS FOR DIVORCE RIGHT NOW

TACT ae.

MONDAY, DEC. 11, 1939

The Hoosier Forum

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

DROPS REMINDER OF EMMERT'S CANDIDACY By Shelby County Reader We people of Shelby County ap|preciated your front page story of

{Bill E. Jenner's coming out for Governor which ran in the Nov. 30 is|sue of your paper. { We think very much of Mr. Jenner and are very proud to have him

(Mr. Pegler’s regular column will appear tomorrow). for a fine young Republican, but | {we also think a lot of the Shelby |

| County candidate, Judge James A. | Emmert In your story telling of {all the other candidates who will be out in 1940, you did not mention the ‘name of Judge James A. Emmert. We trust that since this has been brought to your attention you will not make this error again.

i » ” ” EXPLAINS PROVISIONS {OF BARBER LAW ‘By Clyde P. Miller

In a letter recently written to The Times criticising the 1939 barber law, a very evident misconception of |its provisions seems responsible for the criticism. This letter asserted | that the law had fixed a price of 50 cents for hair cutting and followed | with the complaint that capable | barbers and inefficient barbers were required to charge the same prices, | thus eliminating competition. Anyone taking the trouble to read {the new law will find that the law does not eliminate competition at all. It does not require barbers to charge any particular price for any- | thing they do. It does not fix 50 | cents as a price for a haircut. Nor {dpes it authorize the State Barber | Board to do any of these things. What the law does do is authorize {the Barber Board, when petitioned by 80 per cent of all barbers of any given community, to approve a base | below which prices for barber work

barbers may charge whatever they please, at any place they please and as many different prices as they please.

The essential and legitimate pur- |

| pose of this law also is lost sight of by saying that it is designed to raise prices for inefficient barbers. Such barbers will be less benefited by it than others. They know this {and therefore are its worst critics. | They seek to cater to patrons no |more particular than themselves jand who are willing to forego | cleanliness and efficiency for a price differential. . . . Competition will be based on efficiency, as it should be, not on the starving ability of barbers, whose average earnings throughout the country, have been around $9 a week. ...

be signed, but names will be | withheld on request.)

views

WARNS AGAINST UNION {OF EASTERN POWERS

| (By H. C. A. Sometimes I wonder if the West|ern policy toward the Soviet Union {is not more a result of sentiment (than of intelligence. The attempts [to isolate Russia from Europe ought to result in a closer understanding

jdangerous situation, but I must ad-|

OPPOSES RE-ELECTION

| nomination subject to next May's

mit that there is not much hope of stopping the Western powers on their road to self-extermination. ,.. » » ”

OF REP. LARRABEE By L. W.

I understand that Rep. Larrabee | of the 11th Congressional District has started his campaign for re-

primary election. So let us take a look at his record as onc of the common herd and we will find him an enemy of labor.

| He voted to reduce WPA wages | {by $2.80 a month—a cut from 50 | cents to 44 cents an hour or from 120 hours a month to 130 hours for | the same salary. He voted against the Townsend |

between the U.S. 8. R. and the East.| 0]q-Age Pension Plan, which shows |

But on the other hand such a development can hardly be a desirable thing. Suppose Mr. Chamber|lain succeeds in forming a coalition |of Russia, China, Japan and the (coming Federation of Indian Re- | publics! | America, at least, should be careful about any indirect encourage- | ment of such a coalition. The] population of these countries would | only number about one billion people, that’s all. If the Western world does everything possible to make the Russians feel that co-operation is out of the question, it will follow as a logical consequence that all those who have an ax to grind against Europe would welcome Russian leadership in a death struggle with the Western powers. What would happen to everything? Such a situation can hardly be what Chamberlain wants, but still it is such a situation they are working overtime to establish. And we are helping them all we can. Would it not be better to take

her co-operation? I think the ‘question is worth considering. It | may not be too late to remedy this

| POINTS TO IRONY IN

‘he is an advocate of the ancient] poorhouse system. If we wish to eliminate radicalism | in our country, we must first elim-| inate officials who cater to the capitalistic parasitec And if we] want decent homes and education | for our children and living like] human beings, we must send repre- | sentatives to Washington who represent us and not Wall Street.

u ”

MEXICAN OIL SEIZURES By Claude Braddick, Kokomo, Ind.

Mexico seem to have gained the impression that Uncle Sam is just a nice old gentleman who wouldn't harm a fly. A soft touch, really. Her Supreme Court, by a vote of 3 to 1, has upheld Mexico's action in seizing American oil properties. And to make the picture even more ironic, she now has some 1,500,000 barrels of gasoline—ftaken from these same wells and awaiting a world market—on which she is piously paying storage in Houston, Tex.! Sure. Mexico is that | trustful of big-hearted Uncle Sam!

New Books at the Library

| OLLECTING colonies of live | ants would not, on first thought, seem to be a very exciting pastime; but when the ants are mammoth in size and poisonous and the hunting ground is the South American jungle, the prospect brightens. Paul A. Zahl organized and conducted just such an expedition and

Side Glances—By Galbraith

12.0

"My wife was the best cike baker in the world until we were able to hire a cook, and now she's afraid to go into her own kitchen."

| World”

writes about it in “To the Lost (Knopf). The author received the initial inspiration for this and other treks into the jungle while still an undergraduate student in Harvard. After years of waiting and planning, his dreams were realized, and he found himself with G. T. Chislett, an experienced gold and diamond prospector, ready to attempt the well-nigh impossible and scale the summit of Mt. Roraima in British Guiana, made famous by Conan Doyle in his fantastic tale of “The Lost World.” The Zahl expedition was made | by airplane and by Indian safari. | The party not only brought back [live specimens of Paraponera ants | for study purposes, but discovered | waterfalls a quarter of a mile high, encountered Indian tribes who said they had never seen white men, land 1 violent death several times, |

and learned to appreciate the beau- | | ties as well as the dangers of the {deep jungle, | To succeed in penetrating into | [virgin territory is indeed an achieve- | | ment worthy of note, and to be able | {as well to write about it in clear and at times inspired prose is a! really rare accomplishment. This book should appeal to lovers of travel stories as such, to students of natural science, and to those who appreciate a good tale well told.

FRAGMENT OF TWILIGHT By VINIA BERRY The new moon sends a ray Of yellow light— Across the barren fields Showing Summer's flight.

The corn shocks row on row Stand gloomy and remote— The curtain fell at dusk And Autumn spread her coat!

DAILY THOUGHT

Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.—St. John 15:13.

OVE gives itself; it is not 4 bought.—Longtellow,

Gen. Johnson Says—

A Suggestion for Mr. Dewey— Subsidy on Consumption in U. S, Worth Trying as Farm Solution

ASHINGTON, D. C, Dec. 11.—Mr. Dewey is taking advice about the farm problem. He will

need it. At one time Al Smith had the 1928 election in the bag. He made a speech at Omaha in which he promised ‘farm relief”—which Mr. Hoover refused to do. That speech swept the prairies. It was made after consultation with George Peek and others. Buf Al had made other utterances before consulting with anybody who knew this problem. In one he had suggested that perhaps its solution was “a chain of farms”—like chain stores. : Senator Borah, who thought he had an agreement with Mr. Hoover to revise the tariff in favor of the farmer—and who was later disillusioned by the atro= cious Hawley-Smoot tariff —sharpened his snickersnes and went after Al at Minneapolis. That single speech destroyed Al's chances and elected Mr. Hoover—just as Senators Borah and Johnson in a single series of speeches gave national opinion an about-face on the League of Nations, » » nu

T= plight of agriculture has been a national probe lem since 1921, Attempts to solve it have devel oped an enormous literature and almost a special technical language of its own. Mr. Dewey will have to think fast—and hard. The Department of Agriculture under Mr. Wallace has tried a little of nearly every dose that anyone has prescribed—destruction of price-depressing surplus by killing pigs and plowing under cotton—loans to finance the withholding of surplus from the market—export subsidies—restriction of planting—the purchase of surplus to give it away or sell at less than the market price—and some forms of outright subsidy. Nothing has worked to give to farm prices anything like their pre-war “parity” with the prices of

things farmers buy. T= only thing that hasn't been tried is to let price and production go absolutely free and to make up for the difference between farm and industrial prices on the domestic market by an outright subsidy on American consumption—but not on export surplus— financed by a processing tax. If the object is, for exe ample, dollar wheat, 10-cent cotton and 75-cent corn, what does the consumers’ pocketbook care whether it pays that price through Mr. Wallace's billion-dollar antics to jimmy up the price by creating artificial shortage or whether he pays it part in price and part in processing tax—which is just a soft word for “sales

” » #

| tax”?

It would not make a cent’s worth of difference to

| that pocketbook, but it would make a great deal of | difference to the country and the farmer.

They wouldn't be priced out of our export markets. The American consumer wouldn't be taxed otherwise to maintain an artificial price on a surplus he can never consume, ’ This is not an ideal solution. There is none. But the principle of “farm relief” by subsidies of one form or another has been grafted into our economy and it isn’t coming out. No Presidential candidate. who omits it can be elected.

It Seems to Me

By Heywood Broun

Dies Warned That Attacks on F. D. R. Make Communists Happy.

N= YORK, Dec. 11.--Unless Martin Dies is very wise he may find that unwittingly he is being used by the American left wing. I think no one will deny that he and his associates are innocent meme bers of the most recent united front of the Come munists. But already the brains and bellies of the committee are close to the range of Browder's trans mission belt, which is designed to bring about the quick transition. The Communists, among many others, do not like Martin, but he can serve a useful purpose. In the hate stakes he no longer rates as a bet for straight or even show. Since the shift in the party line Franklin Delano Roosevelt has become Public Enemy No. 1, not only in Russia but among Soviet followers in America, This is a return to an earlier policy in the United States. Throughout the days of NRA, Mr. Roosevelt was the favorite target of the radical cartoonists. And now again the chief object of revolutionary propagandists is to discredit the New Deal, its leader and all progressive, liberal and even slightly heretical radical forces. Accordingly, whenever Martin Dies goes on the air or gets on a platform to assail the President the fervent though silent support of the Com munists goes with him.

The Well-Fed Don’t Rebel

Revolutions come out of bitter discontent and abe ject misery. People seldom commit themselves to the barricades when the curve of living standards is on the rise. To be specific, America would offer a much more fertile field for the sudden overturn of the democratic form of government if relief were none existent or utterly inadequate. A cut in support of the unemployed is a much more eloquent argument for sudden change than any oration ever made by even the most eloquent radical orator. Communists in America would probably say that this was unfair, and they could point to the various drives they have made against relief cuts, both national and local. And vet, for all that, the line of logic is against them, Tough government creates more dissenters than any leadership which is bent upon amelioration. Public Enemy No. 2 on the left-wing list (and she might even be No. 1) is Eleanor Roosevelt. Hers is a woman who has captured the imagination of many millions of workers, particularly in the low-paid industries. But Mrs. Roosevelt is not a Marxist. She is a progressive and not a revolutionist, and so she, too, must be scaled down by the left wing for the sake of their own philosophy. And so when Dies toils to move public opinion against either Public Enemy No. 1 or No. 2 he may hear, if he keeps his ear to the ground, a rumble of cordial approval from the left.

Watching Your Health

By Jane Stafford

HE joy of Christmas giving is unfortunately too often spoiled by the sacrifices of health and comfort endured in pre-Christmas shopping. Aching feet and backs, general fatigue, colds, sometimes ine digestion and even serious injury incurred while dashe ing recklessly through crowded streets and shops ars the price some of us pay in addition to the price tag on the gifts. All this discomfort and health danger can be avoided without foregoing any of the fun and excite~ ment. All you need to do, says one health official, is. to plan your days and nights for personal efficiency. The nights, he says, come first, Most adults need eight hours of sleep the year around. This season is no exception. You can make a good start for your shopping expeditions by getting to bed early the night before. A sensible breakfast, to supply you with sufficient energy for your day of hiking through stores, is advised. So are well-fitting shoes, with heels neither too high nor too low. Remember that short stockings and heels run-over at the edges can cause much foot misery. Since the weather is temperamental at this season, one should dress for it. Best plan, probably, is to wear light-weight undergarments and dress or suit, with a warm outer coat. A wise precaution is to take off the coat, and overshoes if wet weather makes them necessary, while you are in crowded hot stores, Otherwise you are likely to get overheated, and get ting overheated and then going suddenly out inte cold air may give cold germs lurking in your nose and throat a chance to start trouble, Save yourself all the fatigue you can. It will probe ably be better for your health if you can relax, ine stead of fretting and fuming during the minutes yoy must wait for elevators or salespeople. Relax, toa, while you eat lunch, and try to eat slowly. It may be easier to do this if you eat lunch in two sections, one sec early before the noon hour rush and ane

other later in the