Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 6 January 1940 — Page 10

NY

The Indianapolis Times

. {A SCRIPPS-HOWARD NEWSPAPER)

MARK FERREE

ROY W. HOWARD RALPH BURKHOLDER Business Manager

Presiden Editor

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| Give Light and the People Will Find Their Own Way

| SATURDAY, JANUARY 8, 1940

DIPLOMATIC NOTE THE E President has nominated James H. R. Cromwell to be United States Minister to Canada. Well, the husband of Doris Duke should be able to afford it.

1 |

AJOBTODO... - : HERE have been numerous tax bills in this Administration. Now Congress is asked to pass another.

Out of these many revisions—some major, some minor, some intended to raise revenue and plug loopholes, others to achieve social objectives through the taxing power— an important fact stands out.

+ It is this: That while in theory ours is a revenue system rooted in the principle of ability to pay. Exemplified by the progressive income tax, the Treasury still gets most of its money from excise taxes, sales taxes, invisible levies on consumer buying power. From the least fair of all taxes.

Our income-tax system is neither just nor consistently productive of revenue. Under it hundreds of thousands of persons who might easily pay income taxes, who might help shoulder this direct burden of financing the Federal Government, escape scotfree. °° r | We beliave the President’s request for: $460,000,000 in new taxes to help pay the national-defense bill should start a just, thorough-going revision of the income-tax system—one that would bring in as taxpayers many thousands who now escape, and impose on those in the middle income brackets a larger, fairer share of the tax load.

Such a revision would be a great monument to realistic fiscal policy, to the Roosevelt Administration and to. the 76th Congress. ; Here s a job to be done. A job that requires only one Political courage, which is anothér way of saying satesmanship.

... AND HOW TO DO IT HERE is much jockeying in Congress on this tax issue. Members are looking for alibis for not meeting it squarely. Political fear of the consequences of a major tax bill in an election year is at the root of most of the trouble.

Fortunately there are those in Congress, including some of the leaders, who see the need for accepting the President’s recommendation.

They, and their frightened fellows as well should make use of the device Senator Harrison has suggested—a joint Congressional study of Federal fiscal policy covering taxes, appropriations, economies, etc. Senator Harrison's plan, if not used for delay or evasion, should focus national attention on the need for revising jhe revenue system.

This is no time for hit-run consideration of fiscal problems. Nor is this the time for applying such a thing as the proposed tax-on-tax,-as an easy way to raise the needed funds. This suggested emergency levy—a flat percentage added to the normalkincome tax, and not a change in the basic rates—is a tax to be carefully avoided. +. The country has had experience with emergency taxes that wer® to have lasted only a year or two. The so-called nuisance taxes, started in 1932, are an example. We've still got gi apparently only a tax earthquake will shake them loose from the revenue system. This is no time to add to the burdens on consumer buying power by levying more sales"taxes. * But this is the time to make our income-tax law fair, to tax those not now paying who can well afford to pay a little, and to make those in the middle income brackets pay * a little more, The way to do this job is to enact such a tax plan as that which Senator La Follette has proposed year after year. stiffen the rates, would take a few dollars apiece from several hundred thousands citizens now exempt, but it would draw the bulk of the additional revenue from persons of comfortable incomes, of $5000 and up. Such a tax would be visible, it would be fair, it would be based on ability to pay—and by bringing more citizens face to face with the tax collector it would add to the popular demand that every tax dollar produce a dollar’s worth of better Government. Congress not only should use this means to raise all the extra defense money which the President requests, but at the same time it should repeal the hidden sales and nuisance taxes and obtain substitute revenue by making the incometax base still broader and the rates still higher.

ALFRED GRINDLE THE death of Alfred Grindle at 76 removes a talented craftsman who designed many impressive buildings and beautiful homes in various parts of Indiana. He was recognized as one of the finest architects in the Midwest and he was a member of the exclusive American Institute of Architects. His was a long and extremely busy career since he » arrived in this country more than 50 years ago with his young bride. He never lost his distinguishing trait of “standing up” for personal rights, an attribute, his colleagues recall, that enlivened many a gathering of the architectural: brethren that might otherwise have been on the stodgy side. He had British stubbornness, io, best evidenced years ago when he essayed, to the astonishment of the natives, ‘to build a lake in Brown County, an unheard of thing up to that time. But he “muddled through” to achieve his lake and it proved an adornment to “The Beeches,” his recreated British homestead, now generally recognized as one of the - show places of Brown County. An excellent story teller, lover of music and an accomplished musician, Alfred Grindle will be missed in that large company that admires a man ‘who knows not only how to suggest what should be dgne but how to do it with his

Mail subscription rates ;

outside of Indiana, 65 |» private affair its dealings with the American News- |

This plan, to broaden the income-tax base and.

| aged somehow to keep a job, to earn enough

Fair Enough By Westbrook Pegler

tons Guild Affairs Are Not | Private Business and Should Be Aired |

Along With Other Labor News.

EW YORK, Jan. 6.—The newspaper business has made a mistake in attempting to treat as a

paper Guild. So little has been published in the daily press about the Guild and the progress of the dealings between the Guild and the companies that, practically

speaking, the whole fight, as it must be called, has |

been kept secret. Meanwhile the labor problems of other industries have received their full due of print. I am sure that the Guild itself has not tried to avoid

‘| publicity, so my conclusion is that the publishers have

been the bashful ones. Whatever the reason or excuse, the result has been suppression or censorship of this news, and the newspaper industry has suffered as much as the Guild from its reticence. A full statement of the case from the beginning down to date would have apprised the public of an attempt by some radicals in the Guild leadership and

-| membership, especially in New York, Chicago and

San Francisco, to create a condition in which the

Guild would be empowered to censor the entire Amer- |

ican press. That would be the ultimate effect of a

nation-wide closed shop in the editorial department. |

And no more proof ef the character of the news coverage and: treatment which could be expected under such a tlosed shop can be found than is provided by the Guild:itself in its own weekly organ, The Guild

Reporter, os ” ”

HIS union paper employs ‘all the tricks of the Communist and Nazi press, and newspapermen and women in the membership—even enthusiastic radicals among them—admit that The Guild Reporter is a grievous reproach to any group professing to stand for fair, objective treatment of news.

The Guild Reporter persistently misrepresents is-_

sues and indulges in abuse of individuals who dissent from Guild policies or criticize its officers. Conserva-

tive members find themselves unable to justify or even.

apologize for the publication of such an organ by a group of journalists who claim the right to criticize the publishers of the daily papers for shading or sup-

pressing news.

Hearst, at his worst, was a mode! of correct editor-

fal behavior by comparison with The Guild Reporter, |

whose editors persistently have played into the hands of their opponents, the publishers, by demonstrating that the American press would lose all and gain nothing but shackles if it were placed under Guild

editorial direction through adoption of the closed shop. |

The original purpose of the Guild was to improve

‘the economic condition of editorial employees, but that

purpose has often been subordinated to political aims. ” ” ” N fact, the Guild frequently aggressively has attacked the economic interests of the members by attempting to destroy newspapers which provided employment. As to whether it has been successful in

destroying jobs there may be some argument. Not the worst achievement of the Guild, but one of its bad ones, nevertheless, has been the creation of a spirit of bitterness between newspaper workers themselves. Those who refused to join or joined only under economic pressure and still resisted Guild policies were deemed to have no rights that must be respected, and first-class writers and reporters have been exposed to malicious abuse by unioneers who are not newspaper= men or women at all. 0

Inside Indianapolis Traffic Stickers, the Police—And

A Little Matter of Some Statistics.

OLKS around town have always been prone to make the snap. judgment that traffic stickers can

be. (and are) fixed. We said once or twice that it didn’t look that way lately. Funny part is we've just run

"into some figures that might interest you.

During 1938 all the sticker money was collected through the City Controller's office. The total collected was $22,049.75. Well, that system was continued from Jan. 1st of 1939 to June 9th. In that six-month period a total of $4,22425 was collected through the Controller's office. §tarting on June 10th, the Police Department took matters over. Deputy City Clerks started collecting the money at Police headquarters. In the period from June 10th to Dec. 31st, a total of $29,120 was collected, more than $7000 more than was taken in all of 1938. There’s no moral. We just thought you'd ‘be interested. 2 = ”

THE LAST COUPLE of below-zero mornings has:

succeeded in reducing all-night parking. . . . Drivers have gone scrambling for garages, even several blocks away from their homes. ... . We've just heard from Hollywood that Lum (of & Abner) is a proud papa again. .. . This time it's an eight-pound boy: . . . The other two. were girls. . . . If you feel a draft up your trouser leg when you step off the curb, blame it on the salt. . . . The salt they spread on the streets lowers the temperature. . . . Honest! . ... There is a local couple which drives down to Cincinnati every Tuesday for a bingo game there. . . , Point is, last Tuesday they got caught in the storm on the way home and had to spend the night in some little town. Herbie Lewis’ device for hockey referees is starting to attract national attention. ” 2° 8 : : JANE WITHERS, the 13-year-old movie star who's here this week, is as close to being unspoiled as any kid we've seen from Hollywood. . . . Sheé’s a keen and vivacious youngster off-stage and she can’t sit still . . . Her mother, who travels with Jane, is an intelli. gent woman who has tried hard not to spoil the youngster. .. . Walking down Meridian St. (at Wash=-

-ington) yesterday at zero point were a striking couple.

... She looked to be well under 5 feet in height and maybe about 100 pounds. . . . She had on one of those jaunty cloth coats you see in the spring ads and she was stepping off as if she'd just landed in Miami, ... He was about 6 feet 2 and maybe 200 pounds. . . . He had on the biggest raccoon coat this side of Alaska and he was bundled to the ears. , . And he looked frozen stiff!

A Woman's Viewpoint By Mrs. Walter Ferguson

'M a little proud of myself, I suppose. wouldn’t be, when she can ask the world to step

| up and look at two such boys as mine?”

Although there were fired lines around her brown eyes, those eyés shone with an unquenchable light. She was a small woman but “right pert,” as the country people of my community used to say. Years before, left a widow with two.babies, she had set out to support and bring them up. Now her job was done. I think it could not have been counted: arrogance if she felt the pride of Godship—for in three times seven years she had credted two men.

No need to be sentimental about it, of course. But even to the most practical-minded person her achievement is nothing to be passed lightly by. She happened to be one of the lucky ones, of course, and when I say lucky I mean merely that she man-

to educate her boys and to keep a home for them. A real achievement, if you've ever tried. it. And no banker barricaded behind his millions— even though they were accumulated solely by his wit

—has more right to feel proud than the obscure |

woman who is both father and mother, breadwinner and housekeeper for her children. Surely her heart must chant its Magnificats and surely all honor and praise ought to be given to her by the community and’the nation. One often meets them—these young mothers who are beginning the hard pull, as well as those who have finally made the long haul and, like my brown-eyed friend, stand at the top of the hill. Because of them, T am proud to be a woman. Whether we shall ever do big material things remains to be seen, But

50 long as this kind of courage exists upon our earth,

I am inced that “something’s. right

Who

ney |

__ SATURDAY, JAN. 6, 1940

*' | opening

ld wholly

The Hoosier Forum

disagree with what you say,

defend to the death your right to say it.—Voltaire.

J

but will

BILL OF RIGHTS AUTHOR QUOTED ON LIBERTY

By Voice in the Crowd

To the gentleman from Spencer who calls me a “hide-bound _re-

actionary” of the “ox cart days,” I}:

quote from George Mason, author of the Bill of Rights. Said Mason, “No government or the blessings of

‘|liberty can be preserved to any

people but by firm adherence to justice, moderation, frugality and virtue and by frequent recurrence to fundamental principles.” Putting an engine in the ox cart hasn’t changed the fundamentals of good government in the least, and I hepe that Americans are reaction-

‘ary enough to re-embrace the vir-

tues set forth by George Mason. # ” ” BETTER UNDERSTANDING HELD GREATEST NEED By W. H. Edwards, Spencer, Ind. The most recent letter by Voice in the Crowd makes it apparent that his: Americanism is sound, although it needs some revision toward a better understanding of the Machine Age.

Others, myself included, speak from experience. Others, myself included, were born in poverty and many ‘of us, unlike V. I. C., have never succeeded in getting any great distance above poverty.

Most of us who are not active in politics deplore the tendency of politics to degenerate into partisan rackets, with politicians seeming to seek party welfare above national welfare. However, it is not politicians alone who tend toward racketeering; we have business racketeering as well, of several types.

There is condemnation hurled at the radicals by the conservatives, condemnation of the conservatives by the radicals, with both condemning the so-called liberals. As an American of colonial descent, nearly 64 years of age, I recognize that we need the conservatives, the liberals and the radicals in our body politic.

The radicals are the pioneers of government exploring the political wilderness for better - pathways of government. The conservatives are needed to counterbalance some of the radical ideas, giving the people a chance to accept or reject the pathways found by the radicals, with better understanding. The word “liberal” has been used so flagrantly by politicians in gen-

(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.)

eral that it has little meaning now,

in a political sense. Yet iit is with

the so-called liberals that we must depend for a common meeting

ground of the three factions. There is one kind of political mind that is not heeded in our political system: The teactionary who thinks and acts with a mind geared to the “good old days” when one-third of the people were too poor to celebrate Christmas, who had not one cent they could spare from their meager supply of money with: which to buy candy and presents for their children: The machine age has brought a need for enlightened thinking on our part; it has brought great responsibilities for both government and business; it has brought suffering to those who have been made

idle by modernized industrial effi-

ciency. But it has glso brought a better living standard to the greater number of the people in this U. S.A. What we need, now, more than all else, is a spirit of co-operation

between business and government, with each realizing its‘ responsibilities to the general welfare, and an equal spirit of co-operation among all in the interest of all, » J » THINKS M’NUTT LOSING GROUND IN TALKS By W. H. Brennen It looks as if Mr. Ickes is in for plenty of trouble and it may be he has been attempting to lead out and get support, but it looks as if he failed. No one seems to go along with him. McNutt did not fight back and even if he is not keeping the lead, it is due to the political talks, or rather talks to politicians.: McNutt made his big gains talking to school people, and he has been falling back ever since he started going to foolish meetings. The people do not care for that kind of stuff for our big leaders. If they like it, all right; the voters don’t have to be for them. McNutt did call Ickes’ hand in a way and Ickes tried to get back at him but he messed it up. It seems the general public does not know what it was all about, for McNutt used generalities and ambiguous terms. . . . Just a few more foolish political meetings and McNutt is out of the race. The general public is tired of politics and wants to bench all

of the men who talk nothing else.

New Books at the Library

ith the confusion and chaos surrounding us, it is comforting to know that the fundamentals of life and art are indestructible and that art, which recognizes no frontiers or creeds and which is so important in the life of any people, has survived through the centuries, in East and West, through war and peace. In “Sculpture Inside and Out” (Norton), Malvina Hoffman has successfully accomplished the difficult undertaking of writing a book that is useful for the serious student of sculpture and both interesting and thought-provoking for the general public. development of sculpture - statue, monument, bas relief,’ [old coin, or

Side Glances—By Galbraith |

She traces the

portrait. bust—from its origin (probably brought about by the need of man for a third dimension and the subconscious desire for something to touch and feel all around). The author emphasizes that art is timeless, that no country exists without its inevitable record in art, and that something vital always remains from its various periods and phases. It is for us to develop a scale of values, look for the reflection of beauty, form, and cosmic power, and decide what art can stand the test of time. She feels it is deplorable that, having eyes, we should see so little, and advocates tHat children be taught to use their senses and faculties and observe the constantly changing world and continue the thrill of discovery when they are adults. The artist, she says, must record the spiritual history of his time, and his work must. be a reflection of himself and his ear. He must study life itself, using nature, man, and the world as materials. To achieve this, the author points out that he must learn his job thoroughly, must know drawing, anatomy, and modeling. She goes further and gives materials, processes, and specific directions for executing various types of sculpture. This comprehensive book should serve, as Miss Hoffman hopes, as a

‘trustworthy guide in the search to

“find a way in the wonderland of

‘lart.”

CURLY SMOKE By JAMES D. ROTH From a red tile on a mossy roof, The curling smoke ascends. What stronger then could hold aloof? “Toward it, his way he wends.

Ah, yes—“by the side of the road,” Is a house of faith and love, Where folks of worth are in abode, Their house a treasured cove.

No lights from a golden chandelier Shine from its ceiling dome. But peace and understanding clear, Unite—and call it “home.”

"DAILY THOUGHT

Beloved, think it nob strange .concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto Jou] Peter

| 4:12.

E are always it in the forge, or on the anvil; by trials God is

® [shaping us for higher things.—H. W.| ¢

Gen. Johnson

Says—

President's Plea for Unity Didn't Sound Like Those Earlier, Fiery Attacks on the Economic Royalists,

ASHINGTON, Jan. 6—What has become of the

militant leader who, on. the eve of the 1936 elections, said of the “forces of reaction” that in his first Administration, they had met their match and

in his second, they would meet their master? Who

was it' who frequently distinguished between the haves and the have nots—the ill-fed, the ill-clad and ill-housed and comfortable gentlemen in well stocked clubs—the “Tories,” “Copperheads,” “Modern Lord Macaulay's,” “Economic Royalists” and “Southern Feudalists?” It is| hard to believe that it is the same authority in stat smanship who could write: “The national ‘unity is, in a very real and deep sense, i funda-

mental safeguard of all democracy. Doctrines which

set group against group, faith against faith, race against race, class against class, fanning the fires of hatred in men too despondent, too desperate to think for themselves, were used as rabble-rousing ‘slogans on which dictators could rise to power. d once in power they could saddle their tyrannies on whole nations+-" Of course, President Roosevelt is the author of both of these conflicting phrases and id The latter direct quotation from his speech at the 1944

verbatim from the mouths of many Sriied of his earlier Pires TneTudine Hus ig.

M. But has he? " His earlier flaying of the “haves” and in of the “have-nots” was with an effect, purpose, of creating or increasing a politi

| ROOSEVELT, oe well nie any other man, hag

This was not exactly the Democratic Party which It was the small New

Deal group which, like the cuckoo, had laid |its eggs -

had resorted to such tactics.

in the nest of the. Democratic Party, Their philosophy was that there is a fa greater number of voters who have less than those who have more, and that they can be solidified into one party, regardless of old lines, by suggesting if not actually promising to “share.our wealth” by. the|leveling down process of taking it away from the “have-mores” and giving it to those who have less. ; ” ” 8 5 ? HE farmers as a group, the unemployed to an extent all workers as a group

beliefs into the New Deal Party by su special privileges to be taken hy taxes or

the Treasury to those who have less. There is not the slightest doubt that the theory, that it was put into practice and that it waorked—at a cost of 20 billions. It necessarily aud automatically set “class <against class” an against group.” Moreover, in order to sell if quickly and thoroughly it was necessary to fan “the fires. of hatred in men too despondent, too desperate to think for themselves by rabble-rousing slogans’ —he nce the old strategy expressed in the first paragraph of this column and now condemned by its own author in the quoted paragraph from Mr. Roosevelt's speech.

Recovery By Bruce Catton

Reforrp Likely to -Be Sideracked " To Give Business Right of | Way.

ASHINGTON, Jan. 6.—Everybody whnts to know how business is going to be in 1940. Of course nobody knows for sure. + : : But for once, economists both inside and outside the government are almost united on this: The rise in business which marked the last quarter of 1939 is not likely to collapse in 1937 style, but hold ite ground generally through 1940. : : There are reasons for this. have 80

Never before

many diverse elements focused every thought and -

effort on making a solid business advance. ' Put the Administration’s desires on the‘ lowest level and say that it wants better business so it can be re-elected. But it still wants it—and badly. In 1940 recovery is pretty sure to get the call over reform. Let’s sort out a few straws, and see how the wind blows: : Here is Assistant Attorney General Thurman Arnold predicting a flock of indictments within six months in the building trades. No such political risk of offending hoth organized labor and organized business is taken except by deliberate decision that it is even more important to break the lorig-stagnant jam in the building industry. Here is Secretary Morgenthau demanding e and a reduced regular budget. Remember that even if the regular budget is greatly reduced, thus “appeasing’” business which has been demanding it, military spending will probably: overbalance it, though creating little opposition. Point is, the effect on bhusis ness is much the same—the money circulates, whether released through the regular or the military Stopeock,

Economy ls Encouraged Here are administration officials from the Presi

conomy

‘dent down actually trying to stop the “gentle rain of The thought is to make an

checks” to armen a al to economy showing and encour y CAD come out of hiding. ay 5 Private investment has not yet shown a single sign of life. Some encouragement is at last being recognized as necessary. Hence the stand-pat on social security, the down-holding on socialized medi« cine plans, the impending changes in membership of the National Labor Relations Board. Here is a Treasury officially requesting the U. 8, Chamber of Commerce to propose changes in the tax structure, and here is the chamber proposing changes not so much aimed at reducing the amount of the tex burden as arranging the’ burden 80 hat it chafes business’ shoulders a little less. .

In short, here you have “business appeasemient® 3

in prospect for 1940, though’ you:don’t: hear the phrase much these days. All of which looks oper for 1940 prosperity.

Watching Your Health

By Jane Stafford : ag

A SoMuON cause of indigestion is eating a heavy eal when tired. Another is eating when exci or worried or otherwise upset emotionally. Scientists have learned the effect of emotional dise turbance on digestion by watching with X-rays the digestive processes of animals. A meal containing barium, which is opaque, makes it possible to see the motion of the digestive tract. Watching the digestion of a cat in this way, scientists found that when the cat’s fur was stroked the wrong way, the mo«

‘| tion of the intestinal tract stopped. The same thing

was observed in a dog that was excited by seeing a cat. - Not only the motion of the stomach and intestina# tract is stopped, but the flow of digestive juices is also stopped. This does not show up in the X-ray exami« nation but has been discovered by other tests.

. If, figuratively speaking, your fur is stroked the wrong way while you are eating, the same thing is likely to happen in your digestive tract. Fatigue may ‘also lessen the efficiency of your digestive system, .. -

The remedy or preventive of such a conditiop iz zop omission of a meal but changing the conditions cy ‘which the meal is eaten. If you are tired, it would be wise to get a short rest’before eating. Sedentary

workers, tired from a long session at their desks, may find it more helpful to move about and stretch their.

limbs a bit before sitting down to a meal. . It is better Jos to est 8 heavy née] when re Instead, try a m arm m crackers are b one authority for such times. Sgeseted y - By ‘all means try to forget your worries or. anger while you are eating. If you cannot them en=~ tirely, try not to inflict them on your family or friends at meal time. It has been suggested that the reason

why indigestion “runs in families“ may ‘be because such families make a habit of using meal time for

of Congress could have been taken almost,

right to change his mind—if he has changed

v I A SHI sop is 0