Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 12 January 1940 — Page 16

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Give Light and the People Wil Find Their Own Way

FRIDAY, JANUARY 12, 1940

SIMPLE AND SOUND

SEVERAL days ago we published a list of adjusted tax rates for cities of more than 250,000 population. Cincinnati showed up with the lowest rate of the entire group

- —$15.98,

Since then a number of people have asked how Cincinnati has achieved such a low rate. Here is a part of the answer: | - Basically it revolves around sound financing and sound government, aw 4 The sound financing has involved a good deal of refinancing at low interest rates, permitting a more rapid reduction of the net debt. In addition the city’s bond program has been laid out on a long-range basis to get the maximum benefit from bond expenditures, while haphazard - bonding schemes are kept at a minimum through the 65 per cent majority required in Ohio. Under its city manager government, Cincinnati gets a high degree of benefit through central purchasing; personnel efficiency has been built up likewise through smooth

~ functioning of civil service and personnel rating, and

Council for some years has had Finance Committee chairmen and members who were literally watchdogs over all appropriation measures. There are other factors that account for part of its ‘happy tax situation, but those listed above are the basic ones. Good government in Cincinnati pays its taxpayers dividends.

PAGE OTTO

HAT has become of that puppet President and Foreign Minister of Finland—Otto Kuusinen? The one who was so solemnly proclaimed back early in December by Messrs. Stalin, Zhdanoff, Voroshilov and Molotov,

- whereupon it was announced that the Finnish people had

overthrown their Government. The former Comrade, who hadn’t been in Finland but once in 20 years, doesn’t seem to be getting his share of the limelight. Maybe he is learning to ski.

THE BUDGET COMMITTEE

HE Senate has passed the Harrison resolution, which ~~ would create a Senate-House committee to make a 60--day study of the budget. Gr, The resolution is now up to the House; specifically, to the House Rules Committee. Its pdssage is by no means certain. House committees are notoriously jealous of their jurisdictions. They look with a bilious eye on anything that “smacks of an attempt to diffuse their authority. : But since under Senator Harrison's plan the joint com-

7s

mittee would be drawn exclusively from the four standing ~.- committees in charge of taxation and revenues, it is hard :_ to see why anybody’s nose should get out of joint. And as ~ we said the other day, as long as the spending committees + function without reference to the activities of the taxing = committees, Congress is in the position of the man whose + right hand doesn’t know what his left hand is up to.

So, we hope the House Rules Committee, and then the House, accept the resolution. And after that we should like

7 to see two other things:

. A JOB FOR CONGRESS 4 > “THIS record as a whole discloses the danger of imposing

1. A resolution to make this joint budget study ah ahnual affair. 2. A resolution to create a similar

joint study of national defense. :

upon a single agency the multiple duties of prosecutor,

3 judge, jury and executioner.” |

So said the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals at Chi-

cago, ‘reversing a National Labor Relations Board order.

- that the Inland Steel Co. recognize the Steel Workers or

_* ganizing Committee (C.1. 0.) as sole bargaining agency fol © its employees. The Court held that the NLRB Examiner who “ conducted hearings upon which the Board’s order was ~*. based was “hostile” to the company. And, incidentally, the . Court ruled that the Board has no authority to order a 1 employer to sign a contract with a union. i

_. We believe that the. danger of multiple duties, pointe out by the Chicago Court, is very real. We know that, i - many cases, the NLRB has used its powers inaisdly of unfairly. But the whole line of Supreme Court decisions ‘seems to us to establish, on highest authority, that the

4" Board's powers—including the power to be unwise and uni fair—were granted to it by Congress and should not be :- taken away from it by judges. |

As Mr. Justice Stone said last week, referring to claims that “peculiar hardships” result from one phase of the Wagner Act, “these are arguments that should be addressed to Congress and not to the courts.” : 5.7 = 2 Bw Beda edo 2. 8 2 A different kind of Labor Board might have made the . present Wagner Act work ‘much better, but the only sure way to remove the danger inherent in multiple duties and to prevent unfair and unwise use of arbitrary powers is to amend the Wagner Act. ; i o Board Member Wiliam M. Leiserson, for whose opinions we have great respect, has just warned industry not “to demand “devitalization” of the Wagner Act. The warn‘ing is timely, though we do not share Mr. Leiserson’s op- = timistic belief that businessmen can avoid all trouble with the NLRB by simply recognizing the right of their em~ployees to organize and bargain collectively, That is no - remedy for the employer whose plant is made a battleground by factions of organized labor fighting for power and union dues, and who finds the Labor Board siding with one

i“ faction.

‘But the Wagner Act should not be devitalized. Rather, it should be revitalized. The authority of the NLRB' should . be more clearly defined, to the end that its procedure may fairer and wiser and that the right to bargain collectively

re ?

id be protected without constant industrial turmoil,

TI: will be recalled

Indianapolis Times Fair Enough ~

By Westbrook Pegler vo

Dies Crossed Up His Critics by|

Turning in Excellent Report, but Chagrined Foes Assail Him Anyway.

EW YORK, Jan. 12—The report of the Dies Committee has received much approval, rising in some cases to the pitch of cheers, but some of the standard New Deal package goods dispatches out of Washington have taken a peculiar attitude in their embarrassment. Dies and his committee were expected to turn out a masterpiece of -clumsy absurdity, but he crossed up the propagandists of the

Administration by delivering something that was distinctly major league. | Dies was heckled in his own hearings and harassed constantly in print by a campaign of ridicule, for most of which, it may readily be admitted, he furnished plenty of raw material. But when he unexpectedly delivered a good report he was attacked with fresh vigor, obviously inspired by chagrin, on

the ground that he had not prepared the report |

himself alone. It was also reported—and with such similarity of detail as to suggest a propaganda pipe line—that the more liberal members of the committee made a chump of ‘Mr. Dies one day by proposing that now was the time to name the Communists in the New Deal and that Dies, thus confronted, could not make good. 1 ” ” ” T is immaterial whether Dies himself prepared the report or employed a ghost, and the New Deal propaganda corps should be the last to criticize any man on such grounds in view of the admitted fact that President Roosevelt himself often obtains several drafts of a speech or state paper from members of his political househotd and selects one or a combination of several as the version for which he will take the credit or the blame, |As to his inability to name any Communists in the New Deal, there is more fo be said than merely that he wouldn't or couldn't name names when and if he was challenged or put on the spot. He could no doubt have named many individuals who have all the characteristics of Communists and who, up to the invasion of Poland and Finland by the Russian army, had nothing but praise and excuses for the Stalin Government and little else but abuse and contempt for the American system. : Dies might have developed the fact that, although this Administration has been opposed to Hitlerism from the very beginning, there had always been, until the Russian alliance with Germany, a generous tolerance for communism and Communists. Communism, although indistinguishable from Hitlerism, was a’ meritorious experiment, but Hitlerism was a vile thing.

” ® ” when Dies was investigating Nazi activities he was congratulated by the same press that was to slash at him a little later for using the| same methods on the Communist conspiracy. And it may be pointed out that cn a previous occasion the same propaganda vigorously defended a 100 per cent New Dealer whose methods of investi- - gation had been even more dangerous to civil liberties than those of the Dies Committee. That one would be Senator Black of Alabama. But Senator Black was not run out of public life or even reproved -for his ethics and methods. On the contrary, amid cheers from the New Deal claque, this late backslid member of a night-riding organization was appointed to the United States Supreme Court. : Dies was guilty of much awkward foolishness, but to those who condoned Black's methods of investigation and the deliberate degradation of the Supreme Court intended and achieved by his appointment he owes not even the courtesy of a contemptuous reply.

Inside Indianapolis

‘About Fog and/or Smog 231 Feet Above City . .. You Can Taste It.

YY may talk a good deal about the fog and/or smog we've been having lately, but you don’t really know what it’s like until youve taken a trip to the top of the Monument. Yesterday afternoon at 3:30 you couldn't see Meridian St. from the glassinclosed platform 231 feet up. . : The fog and/or smog had left the inside of the Monument so wet that the elevator operator felt forced to comment-ds he delivered his passengers at the top: “Don’t drown, boys.” The walls were covered with frost so thick you couldn't dent it. Amid all the drippings was a layer of soot. You not only could feel it, you could taste it. Outside was just a layer of dense mist. Somewhere below a red light was blinking off and on, but you couldn’t read it. But good weather or bad weather, the Monument continues to do business. They've never missed a day on a customer to the top—no matter how bad the weather. Sometimes they've had to wait until 4:30 of an afternoon for someone to show up, but they always have. deh : There’s a record to shoot at. : ” » 2 SIGN IN THE OFFICES of the Gross Income Tax Division: “No Soliciting Or Collecting Allowed.” . . . Breaking their own rules, eh? . .. They had a little mystery in the Claypool Hotel coffee shop yesterday. . . . In the window during early afternoon was a green felt hat bearing a sign “For Sale—30c.” . . . Somebody called up to buy it but it was gone. All they could figure out was that some customer was having his daily fun. . . . Mr. Val Nolan, the D. A, has been in the custom of having his chief assistant, Mr. Howard Caughran, deliver the factual statements to the jury in big Federal Court trials. . . . Then after the defense gets through, Mr. Nolan has been taking the floor to address the jury. . .. Yesterday in the Shideler case, Mr. Caughran did his stint, but the defense attorney, Mr. Julian C. Ryer of Chicago, waived argument. ... . Mr. Nolan looked disappointed. ” ” 8 IF YOU'VE BEEN wondering what they're doing on Washington St. in front of Strauss,’ it was the light company people fixing a steam pipe. . . . It burst during the sub-zero weather last week. . . . The light company couldn't shut off the steam for fear of freezing up some of the big downtown stores. . . . So they had to repair it without breaking service. . . . That’s why it’s taken so long. . . . Mr. Armington, by. the way, has just figured out that there are, as of now, 630,989,107,200 gallons of water in snow and ice over Indiana ready to be melted and run into the streams. . . . Who are we to challenge him?

A Woman's Viewpoint

By Ms. Walter Ferguson

WERE we can Betieve there. are snoopers and |

spies in our country whose aim is to make trouble, it is hard to accept the notion that failure to conform to patriotic gestures is a sign of subversive tendencies. : { The times are propitious for the activi patriots as well as alien enemies, which is important to be remembered. Name-call

ty of fake something has for-

ever been a popular device for those wha use their |

love of country to inflict personal spite on individuals .and groups they dislike, and this system is most popular in totalitarian lands. Records of the last war, should teach us to distrust men and women who are loud in self-praise, because thinking citizens are called upon again t discriminate between the chest-thumping, flag-waying brand of patriotism and the real article, which is less noisy. Now, if ever, is the time to challenge those who come to us with platitudes upon their tongues. A suggestion from a reader for a patriotic| creed for

American women seems suited to the times, and I pass |

it on to you: ° Boa “I am concerned about the condition of my country and resolve to read, study and think about the causes of ‘the troubles it is now experiencing. - “Before voting I resolve to investigate the candi-

layers of misinformation I am bound to hear. “I resolve not to be led by flattery, nor to sell my vote for any price whatever, but to live conscientiously with consideration for all my fellowmen. IT resolve to be tolerant and patient and to clierish the benefits which Democracy has bestowed upon me. With all

my heart I am determined to practice it in my everyday fess. i rah Eo rh Ra

5

dates and issues and to hunt the facts beneath the i

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‘ ’ . ' 3 The Hoosier Forum I wholly disagree with what you say, but will defend to the death your right to say #h.—Voltaire.

WORKS HARD FOR LIVING, WPA MAN REPLIES By Indignant, Elwood, Ind. : I enjoy reading The Times, and it has been my favorite newspaper for years, but I cannot understand why you print some of the articles that appear in the Forum from time to time. I recognize the right of free speech, but some people certainly like to abuse the privilege. Mr. Meitzler of Attica, for instance, likes to compare man with lice. I guess he knows what he is talking about, at that . .. Sure, I'm on WPA, and I work as hard for my living as Mr. Meitzler does. : ! » 8 = s BILL OF RIGHTS OFTEN DISTORTED, IS CLAIM By W. H. Edwards, Spencer, Ind. In a previous letter of mine, given space in the Forum, I stated that many people, even many jurists, differ in their interpretation of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. I find no fault with the Bill of Rights, quoted by Voice in the Crowd; but do find that the wording of those above-mentioned documents is often twisted in meaning to fit the ideas of the ones quoting them. Justice, moderation, frugality within reason, virtue and a frequent re-examination of fundamental principles should be adhered to by all of us. A difference arises as to what constitutes exact justice and what is meant by fundamental principles. - Did the authors of the Bill of Rights mean that those holding economic power equal or stronger than - the power of government should dictate how and to what extent the general welfare should be served? Did that author mean that holders of economic power should have the right to dictate policies of government for their own, not the general welfare? That is exactly the program that has been pursued by the grand dukes of finance and business for several decades, and therein resides the cause of our present troubles. - Putting an engine in an ox cart hasn't changed fundamentals, as V. I. C. stated. But why not leave the ox cart with the “Sacred right ofpkings to rule over the people,” and other obsolete notions of the past and listen to the voices that speak clearly from the accumulated

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

knowledge of the present? Why not use the technology brought to us by industrial efficiency, carefully, to fit a modern economic and financial engine into a modern social order? V. I C. stated in a previous letter that he is in business and employs labor. No thinking citizen wants him to suffer business reverses; rather we hope that he and his business will prosper. Taxes don’t rest lightly on any of us, yet some of those who complain of high taxation are the first to propose not absolutely needed projects for their own cities. Now that the economic machine is beginning to hit on all cylinders, it is the patriotic duty of all of us to help push instead of holding back and dragging our feet. 2 » = ml WPA LABOR NOT CHARITY, READER SAYS By Earl P. ; : . . . Who is this James R. Meitzler of Attica, Ind. who has nothing to do but slam some poor WPA worker/or reliefer? Is he a politician or is’ he one of these retired farmers drawing a pension from Uncle Sam for untended land? Perhaps

he is one of those few that sat at

home while the “louse” fought to save his land and country. ... Yes, I am a Democrat and I am on WPA. I would rather work as I am than to expect something for nothing from our Government. . . . I will admit the Finns are brave, courageous people and we are all fond of them. But I say if Mr. Meitzler would rather uphold a foreign nation than to uphold his own people and country, then I think Mr. Meitzler should be deported to that country ...I say charity starts at home. . . .

5 2 * 8 FAVORS RQOSEVELT, SEES ELECTION UNNECESSARY By Subscriber This is in response to the article in the Forum by “Out of Patience.” While I must say I am not listed under any poltical party and have never cast a vote for any candidate, I have been watching the ball roll and the spiders weave since I first began to study “Child's Goodrich History” in the early Nineties. Now since I have passed my 60th milestone I feel I am almost oid ehough to cast my first vote and I am not at all tired speculating, nor have I reached the climax, wait-

ing for a decision from our careful President “to relieve the feverish candidates, waiting to try for their first term.”” With the opinion of the people at large, I, for one, do not see why it is necessary to have an election in November. Why not just say, “We thank you, Mr. President, for keeping this big boat level the past eight years. We are now with you unanimously for another four years of service as Our President of these United States of America!”

New Books at the Library

NTIL she was 18 Anna French, now Mrs. Oliver Johnson, declared that she would never marry a minister or a farmer. Then she married a man who was both. “The Making of a Minister's Wife” (Ap-pleton-Century) is her story of the many years during which she has struggled to rear her fAmily and to be a proper “preacher’s wife,” sometimes under very difficult circum

S

|

ide Glances—By Galbrai

stances. th Wp

Effecting a belated and difficult entrance into the ministry, her husband served successfully in a number of small town parishes, suffered a breakdown and struggled slowly back to health. During these years,

she reared four children, lived in 30 different houses, carried on farm duties as well as those of a minister's wife, and, during the later years, added 0 the family income by lecturing and writing. The problenis of this little family are those of any other American family trying to live on a small income, but complicated by the peculiar plac? in the community held by a minister and his family Mrs. Johnson's story is told without literary pretentions — told simply and with dre matic vividness. She offers no thecCogy to the reader, but displays a getline philosophy which she has acquii‘ed during a busy and active life. : The volum¢: is, says one reviewer, “a footnote oo American history; here, in mini; ture, aré the qualities which, multi:lied by tens of thousands of tines, have made the country.”

ODE TO T'sE NORTH WIND By M..RY P. DENNY : Blow, blow, aw, blow Spirit of thefjporth wind Over tree anc-vine and limb. Over winter “’e and cold On a snow s: ot harp of old. Blow, blow, kZ'w, blow January hopes and dreams Far above th: frozen streams. Happiness is “ verywhere Singing, sing \g through the air, On the wings” frost and wind Far above th-7city din. On the shini~ 3 line of time In one grea’~{ar ringing chime.

DAIE)] THOUGHT I have sa 1, Ye are gods; and all. of you ar : children of the most High. But 2 shall die like men, and fall like one of the princes.— Psalms 82:6, 7. -

ive as a conqueror, a

ate; but on

T mee RRS Gen. John

1as a sort of ransom.

| doubtlessly biased source,

| children are a result of this bone-softe=ing. «*

JAN. 12,1940 J SO n - Says—

Millions of Jews and * Catholics in Poland May Be Victims of Cruelest Persecution in History, Reports Hint. /

ASHINGTON, D. C, Jan. 12.—When the Germaiis and Russians marched into Poland there were three and a hZlf million Jews in the German area and several times as many Catholics in both areas. As far as press reports or any information our government has given out are cone cerned, their fate is a mystery. In view of what was happening to Jews and Catholics in Germany and in Nazified Austria, and what the Communists did to the property owners and the Greek Church, this silence suggests terrible things. ~ The absolute quashing of news and truth in the sadistic cruelty under both these inhuman governments possibly explains why our press service watchmen haven't been able to answer: “What of this dreadful night?” But surely our diplomatic and consular reports must have revealed something. This column would be the last to suggest any propaganda to inflame American opinion. But con- - sclously or not, the suppression of truth itself is a kind of propaganda and certainly we don’t want any policy of silence. Silence in favor of this kind of brutality. i ” 2 ”»

DON'T know enough about it to vouch for the Jewish Telegraph Agency. It issues a. kind of mimeographed news service. Under a Copenhagen date line of Dec. 21, it reports the execution of 53 Jews in Warsaw followed by threat of execution of a “thousand Jews on the slightest Jewish provocation.” First the 53 were arrested on a charge of harboring a single Jew who may have shot a Polish Policeman, Then the Jewish community was “fined”. $60,000 After the community had paid, it was informed that the 53 had been executed, They were liquidated in three squads, Number One was forced to dig its own graves. Number two covered them and then dug its own graves. N mber three then dug its own graves and then was told: “Since there are no more Jews to cover you, you will have the honor of being buried by German soldiers.” ~ Paris dispatches tell of the concentration of Polish Jews with property and holding them for ransom, followed by a process of starvation. a "Apart from information from this indignant and stories, or rather ‘rumors, of atrocities that make these pale by comparison are

| seeping through.

#2 x» 2

I cues Catholic Polish landlords in both the Russian and German areas of Poland are reported to have been shot by the hundreds. According to gossip, Tony Biddle’s report as our diplomatic representative in Poland after his flight from Warsaw, related plenty of these horrors. x; Perhaps this column is going off half-cocked. The information on which it is based is unsatisfactory, but on past performances of Hitler and Stalin it is a good guess that something is going on here that has not been equalled in barbaric ferocity since Ghengis Khan marked his conquests from the China Sea to the Danube River with pyramids of skulls. If such is the case, any department of this Government which minimizes or hushes it is going to have to answer for something before the whole tale is told.

Vandenberg By Bruce Catton

Senator's Record on Farm Measures Likely to Appeal to Rural Voters,

ASHINGTON, Jan. 12.—Look for a challenging discussion of the farm problem when Senator Vandenberg speaks at the Lincoln’s birthday rally in St. Paul Feb. 10. ! : Few people realize it, but Vandenberg on his voting record could run like a house afire in the Farm Belt. In the 73d Congress he voted. for a cost-of-production farm bill and for the Frazier-Lemke Farm Bankruptey Bill. ‘ In the 74th, he voted for the Connolly “export bounty” and export debenture plans, and proposed an amendment to the latter providing for an embargo on imports of all farm products affected by the export debenture. In the 75th Congress he supported the McAdoo amendment to the ever-normal granary bill, which would have set up a farm surplus corporation to store and dispose of farm surpluses and would have directed the Secretary of Agriculture to determine an annual cost of production price for farm products. On the farm angle, Vandenberg’s Lincoln’s birth day speech will serve notice on the East that he is solidly in the farmer’s corner. pe ® » 2

Mind-Changing Department

Keep a few grains of salt handy for the day to-day stories telling how F. D. R. favors this, that or the other man as his successor. These stories are only temporarily true, so to speak; all schedules subject to change without notice. Trick is to.let the adherents of a given candidate spread the crown-prince story without denying it, for a while; then to shut it off and let someone else have a turn. First, McNutt was publicized as the fairhaired boy. Then Ickes blew that one up, and now Hull is getting the play. Week after next it is as likely as not to be someone else. - Point to remember is that until F. D. R. names his choice publicly, he can always change his mind— and probably will. Advantage of the stunt is that it gives each man a chance to send up a trial balloon and see how the public reacts to it. Beyond that, it means nothing. I: mid ” »

The Hull Trade Pacts

Some of the most high-powered politics of recent years is going to be seen in connection with the Administration’s drive to get the Hull reciprocal trade agreements law extended this winter. Hull's suddenly blossoming Presidential boom

aces with ‘both Roosevelt and Farley. Latest report is that AAA ‘men in the Farm Belt are working nobly to develop a “grass roots reaction’ in favor of the program. : a

Watching Your Health By Jane Stafford :

== sunless days of winter are the ones in which it is particularly important that babies and -sman children should ‘get cod liver oil or its equivalent in vitamin D, the sunshine vitamin. ~~ Rn This is the vitamin that prevents rickets. It is called the sunshine vitamin, because the ultraviolet rays of the sun are able to make this vitamin in the ‘body. Children who, live in Southern regions, where there is abundant sunlight all year around, usually do not get rickets, even without taking cod liver oil, if they play outdoors in the sunshine all day. In North ern countries, there is not much suplight in winter, and the cold weather makes it difficult for children, or adults, to get what ultraviolet rays there are di

: ‘rectly on their skin,

Without. vitamin D, the body does not properly utilize the mineral elements, calcium and phosphorus. These are needed for bone building, udherwise the bones become soft and bend. The bow-legs of

Vitamin D, unlike other vitamins, Is not one Which

you can count on foods supplying, unless they have

‘been specially treated. Cod liver oil and liver oils, especially halibut liver oil, are se: rich in this vitamin, but few people except: Eskimos and Scandinavians make a practice of eating fish liver regularly. Egg yolk is a relatively good source of vitamin D. Other fats have just a little,"and most other foods have only fraces of vitamin D.: ‘Within recent years scientists have discovered ways of augmenting the amount in some foods, such as milk and bread. They also have been able to isolate the pure vitamin. This pure vitamin D is extremely potent 8 as

r fish y

One ounce of it is said to be enough to. daily

he| able in

dose for over 1,000,000 children. It is. 81 value in curing rickets, and it is°also use renting

stands or falls on the outcome of this fight; Hull is ,%