Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 10 February 1940 — Page 8

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dianapolis Times (A SCRIPPS-HOWARD NEWSPAPER) 1

MARK FERKEE Business Manager

The In

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| SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 1940

PEACE—IT'S EVENTUAL

Pon 'T start planning a trip to Europe yet.

~The headlines tell of “peace talks.” But Secretary Hull

emphasizes the tragic word “eventual.”

“* Our diplomats, he says; have commenced informal con-.

versations with neutral governments because of “the evident desire of all neutral nations for the eventual restoration of world peace on a sound and lasting basis for all nations.” And he says these conversations jinvolve no plan or plans.” . President Roosevelt likewise, in announcing that Under Secretary of State Welles is to visit Italy, France, Germany and Great Britain, emphasizes that Mr. Welles’ errand is to seek information, not make propositions. * The truth seems to be that the President and Mr. Hull possess no more hopeful news than the rest of us are getting. “But they are not yielding to a blind ‘and ‘passive pessimism. | ; 5 Y “As Mr. Roosevelt wrote to the Pope in December: “In

these present moments no spiritual leader, no civil leader,

can move forward on a specific plan to terminate destruction

and build anew. Yet the time for that will surely come.”

Therefore, he suggested, “it is well that we encourage a loser association between those in every part of the world +. » who have a common purpose.” i Or as he said to Congress Jan. 3: “At least we can strive with other nations to encourage the-kind of peace that will lighten the troubles of the world, and by so doing help our own nation as well.” 4 : : 1s = 8 | "If there is'any present prospect of peace in Europe, it is well concealed. And yet—German threats. of a “blood bath” for England have not materialized, and British aviafors have not yet substituted bombs for pamphlets. T Western Front is all quiet, and except for Finland and the seas there is no other front. In’spite of expert opinions that spring will see the lid off, there is room for doubt. Nobody wants a war. Even Hitler yearns publicly - for “the blessing of peace.” But he wants to keep what he has won, and the Allies are pledged that he shall not. Is there any escape from that ‘dilemma, or must European civiliza- . tion be impaled upon its horns? : Mr. Welles presumably will seek the answer in Berlin, Rome, Paris and London. In spite of invidious references to the “similar” European prowlings of Col. House before 1917, we can see 10 impropriety or danger in dispatching .a professional diplomat to get first-hand information. For one thing, we have had no Ambassador in Berlin since Hugh Wilson's recall in the fall of ’38, and our ambassadors to London and Paris are now in this country. i - As for the conversations among neutrals, the United . States is justified by self-interest in world peace, entirely aside from any element of altruism, in getting set to cooperate when, as and if the European deadlock shows a sign

-of cracking.

FOR GREATER SAFETY !. HE State. of Indiana has announced that during 1939 a ~& total of 11,502 persons was refused licenses to operate automobiles. “Dangerously unfit” was the official ruling. “These 11,502 were weeded out of a total of 161,724 who took actual driving tests during the year. = So far, so good. But there still remains one shocking weakness in the Indiana drivers’ license law. That is the clause which arbitrarily exempts from driving tests any person who held an Indiana license prior to 1939. All that “was necessary before 1939 was simply to have the 50-cent

fee.

Persons who may come here from another state, say New York, where they have passed rigid tests, are required “to take another test here and then accept a ‘‘beginner’s license.” . | All this, mind you, while thousands of unfit who applied for and received licenses in prior years continue to be involved in minor accidents. Every once in a while these ‘minor accidents turn out to be major ones. Then we simply add another digit to the death toll and say nothing about our driver’s law. oe It is high time Indiana amended its law. The mere fact that some of us paid 50-cent fees back in the years before 1939 should not exempt us. Those of us who can operate automobiles should take a test. This is one reform. that should be labeled a “must” by the 1941 Legislature. | : > fa

UNCLE MIDAS Sag THE United States Treasury now has 18 billion dollars ~#> worth of monetary ggld, about two-thirds of the world’s total stock. i i ~~ It has bought a billion dollars worth in the last three ; months, more than three billion dollars worth in the last “year, about 11 billion dollars worth since President Roosewelt established the $35-an-ounce price just six years ago. We mention these facts only by way of report on Uncle Sam’s rapid progress toward cornering the world’s gold. We haven't the faintest notion what it will be worth _to him or to anybody ‘after he gets it all. Neither, we increasingly suspect, does the Treasury. . 1

LONG PROMISES cE -“[ VERY man a king” was Huey Long’s slogan. Brother

Earl Long, more conservative, promises if elected to succeed himself as Governor to make every laborer, farmer and small businessman in Louisiana a colonel. ; . “.“It only costs three cents to print one of those certifis which makes you a colonel,” he said in a campaign speech at Minden. stork |

That ought to confirm what seems to be a growirig ric he D1 isis 1 cal

na voters as to how. much poli

_ | confess to the Lindberg: ~ | intended to pursue the

| the United States ever

Fair Enou sh 4

By Westbrook I’egler

Ellis. Parker ‘Risked = Reputation] To Commit Crusl Crime and Should | Not Receive 'osthumous Pardon. |

NTEW YORK, Feb, 10.-Esht thousand friends and neighbors of Ellis 2a‘ker, the celebrated hick

| detective, had signed a pefition for a Presidential

pardon before he died £uniay in the Federal Penitentiary at Lewisburg, Fi. the Groton of the prison system, where he was se: /ing six years for kidnaping and torturing an innoct1t man to compel him to ‘baby murder. It is now _ Inatter, anyway, so that Parker's honor may be r stored posthumously. = This is another of thc e melancholy developments which give rise to des; ir that public officers in 511 be held to a decent rs5ponsibility. Parker was an intelligent man whe citen made boast of his cunning, and the crime ‘cr which he was sent to prison was the more vicic ¢ because he wa & trusted peace officer with a nati ral putation attributable to the enthusiasm and, { may be, the gullibility of metropolitan reporters. oo 8 = : ; ANY another man 7aom Parker himself put away for offenses . lich were trivial by com=

standard of honesty anc

parison is still in prison, ‘iid the proof presented in|

Parker's trial -that he ‘vas a tremendous faker obsessed with an ambitioi io get convictions regardless, and thus swell his leap little record and his vanity, should remind th: courts of New Jersey of more urgent demands on !.eir solicitude. He was.a strutting; 1 ;olicity loving pet of the press who made a specie {7 of picturesquéness, and the very fact that Parker vas convinced of a man’s guilt was equal to at leas: ome strike, if not two, on a defendant in the courts ia which he practiced. But if he would resor! 0 kidhaping and torture to break down one innoce 1: man, intending to send him to the electric chaira 2 sacrifice to his ambition, he may have faked evider: ¢ and extorted confessions from many others before 12 was caught in the act and convicted. ay : 8 8 : HE revelation of Pa :er's cruel perfidy in the _ Lindbergh case was i shock to reporters who in years long past had wv irked with him and carelessly formed a high opi ~fon. of his character. He was not always scrupulo:siy legal in his methods, but that was put down tc the fact that he was not a lawyer but sort of goost: bone hawkshaw who used crude methods to arrive & honest results. When he was convicted his guilt we shown beyond any doubt,

and there were no exter ating circumstarices. Not |

only did he know what he was doing but he left his own jurisdiction to do it. . : In view of all thexfac’s it is plain that Parker deliberately chose to sac. fice his own hgnor, that he suffered no injustice bis, on the contrary, got off much better than some si the dumb, blundering ignoramuses whom he se away for longer terms in much worse prisons, nc that a pardon after death or any other gesture of condonation or forgiveness would be a sneer at he half-forgotten ideal of decency in public office. :

Inside Indianapolis

Hilton U. Briwn, Who Deserves Every Word ii That Big Fat Book.

ROFILE of the week: lilton U. Brown Who this week, on his 55th anniv rsary as a member of the Butler University Board of Trustees, received a hand-

some morocco volume con! ining more than 150 let-

ters from friends in appre: ation of his servites. Hilton Brown at 81 is the d an of ‘Indianapolis newspapermen, respected and eloved by the men and women on all the newspap IS." : : He has been secretary-t sasurer of The Indianapolis News for the last 14 : » 15 years. He started at The News in ’81 as a repc ter. A good one, too. He went up through the ra: ks--city editor, assistant managing editor, managing edifor and general manager, He goes to his office «ery day angd he still likes to wander through the city room and chat with the boys. = : : : When Queen Marie lefi America, she wrote that the most polished, most handsome, - most cultured gentleman ‘in all the Unit:d States was Hilton U. Brown of Indianapolis. But she didn’t tell all. He is

| self-effacing. He is a genuine friend of youngsters.

He's as kindly to a, newsbo) or a bootblack as he is to a governor or senator. He's always been fond cf athletics. When he went to Butler (class of ’80) h: played on the baseball team with Henry Kahn (tk: tailor) and the:late Dr. Frank Morrison. He still 108s to attend foothall and baseball games but he wor ; go to basketball games any more because he says ¢ referee at a Butler game angered him so by calling ’» 1 wrong that he couldn’t stand it. ; | # 88

_ ASIDE FROM MR. BRO NN'S Work and his family, the passion of his life as been Butler. His record proves that. He likes t: fly and motor, although he can’t drive. He had an ¢ ectric once and it balked and went through -the gar:ze doors. He nevér tried after that. ¢ A student of ‘the Civil 7ar, he has visited most of the famous battlefields nd always has loved to talk with Civil War vets. Ie has just aboub-every book written on that affai’ Ditto on Russia: As a cub reporter he ct ered the wholesale groceries and wrote a column, ‘The Pea Green Grocer.” He discovered Kin Hubbard, made him his protege. ” ® ®” ONE OF THE MOST illuminating stories about Hilton U. Brown concerns an incident about a quarter of a century ago. He anc several friends started walking: down the Pennsylvania Railroad tracks, contrary to a new rule. fio. ? A youhg watchmdn ran gut and profapely or them off. One of Mr. Brows fone wad eree Vaichman. Sion wa missing 5t dinner table that night. ey found out he'd seer over the Waisman for his friend. : spologiting Yo ’s just one of the many reasons you can’ folks for thinking Hilton Brown 4 ap ¥h Tamme grandest people we've ever ‘ad around here,

a l ia be 5 A Woman's Viewpoint By Mrs. Walter Ferguion \

S his is weliien, repre; ‘nteiives of four million potential citizens are ¢ sen:nl in Washin for Je. American Youth Ct i gon organization has st Ted up a good ds controversy. - It set Mr. Di 3 ar Be Sa of into a flurry, although whe : you meet some of its

| members they seem peaceabl and carry no bombs. |

- Indeed, they are g good eal like your own Ma, Aun oS idgceyed and credulous perhaps, but e crusader’s zee for wh H than 2 he ich we ought all outh movements are 1 thing new. . They h been going on for a long, lor - titne, and each re tion has some fresh and p: sionate quest to follow.

It seems to me a good sig that the youngsters of|

1940 have organized in the :intsrests o of a better interpretation of’ social asl ace and As has been chargel by girls are the dupes of olde. heads, an enterprises are directed by ' zperienced a then less altruistic leaders. One ; not so much inclined to disagree with that as to zy, “And so what?" The average adult isn't sy great shakes when it comes to detecting propagan a. Most of the population over 40 will swallow ar kind of bait the boys higher up cast for their nibi ‘es. \ Certain representatives ¢ the four million with whom I have spoken seem © have clear ideas on certain questions. For exam ‘le, they know that old men make wars for young n :n to fight. They know that war is evil and stup |; they know that it dehumanizes mankind and i the ultimate death of Sonosiger: ov sombliing. oil. ey know som g el: still more impor ; They are the custodians of morrow’s an, fo them bias. Ske & Yin 't is the same as" that psed ¢ fathers, who -y and its wars to find toleranc Jefe te 4 yor

| Confuc

yme that the boys and|

DEM, CONVENTION E TO BE. HELD

IN CHICAGO |

CHICAGO PLACE WHERE

COW

MAYBE DONKEY KICK OVER THIRD TERM PRECEDENT

KICIK OVER LANTERN= BURN Town! 3

BURN

Eh : ° : | The Hoosier Forum | 1 wholly disagree with what you say, but will : defend to the death your right to-say it.—Voltaire.

CALLS MACHINES AS NECESSARY AS AIR

By Reader : I disagree with R. S. in his article of Jan. 31 on modern machines. Modern machines are as necessary to our times as the air we breathe. The machine isn’t our trouble; it is the way it is used. : Mechanical and scientific

turer has used the machine to reduce the price of labor. Labor should have a fair return from the machine age—short hours and wages to buy the products of machines and mas production, .thereby advancing the standard of living. Labor is the market of the U. S., but the manufacturer must realize it is up to him to protect his own market. ? : Balance scientific and mechanical achievements with labor. If the manufacturer will not give labor its rightful share of profits from the machine, then the government should tax all labor saving machinery to pay for relief. 2. '2 » SEES PROPAGANDA IN POLISH ATROCITIES

By William T. Millenholz Seldom does his public give an editor credit for being human and thus subject to error. More seldom does an editor give his public credit for having even the first beginnings of intelligence. Anent the editorial concerning

was timely and thought-provoking in its intent and, I thought, reeked of the cld Belgian atrocity stories of 16 and ’17, it also laid bare the fallacy. of an unbiased editorial column. Isn’t it true that during the Loyalist regime in Spain there were emanated from the same Vatican details of ‘acts committed against all religion in general and against priests and nuns of the same Catholic Church in particular, beside which the Polish atrocity reports paled as a light bulb in the noonday sun? Why so markedly quiet then and so¢ Galahad-ish now? Why favor one policy then and another now? Death, be it in Spain or in Poland, is just as horrifying and final, and favoritism makes it none _the less atrocious. : Could it be that the press is like

_advancement were meant to be a Ser-)’ vice to mankind. But the manufac |

Coughlin and the Vatican, while it}

(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.)

a dog being wagged by a tail of ex-

ternal biased pressure? Could it be ‘that the old forces of European

propaganda are moving the ‘pens

‘which feed the eyes of a trusting ‘public? Yours is a sacred respon-

sibility — that of molding public opinion—a trust that 1s as Yar reaching as feathers released in a gale and: quite as hard to regain. Don’t shirk that responsibility. Incidentally, I am neither an upholder of communistic nor Nazi principles, but deeply interested in America for the Americans. 8 2 8 DOUBTS RELIEF LINKED

| WITH “CHRISTIAN IDEALS”

By Claude Braddick, Kokomo, Ind. A WPA foreman, calling himself J. W., says I failed to mention “Christian ideals” in my letter of Jan. 17. And that is quite true. But it wasn’t because I do not believe in them. It was because I happened

ernment relief, and government relief is in no way connected with the subject of “Christian ideals.” He may have noted, also, that I pointedly avoided reference to the price of eggs in China and the sewage disposal problem in Timbuktu. I wish I could shout from the housetops that a man can be a Christian, and a good Christian at that, without favoring wholesale government relief, th® Townsend Plan, or any other “gimme” proposition. True; Christienity teaches it is better to give than receive. But that applies only to free-will offerings— to those who give from heartfelt compassion in obedience to Christian precepts. Is the government blessed for taking from one to give to another? Is the grumbling taxpayer blessed for giving bécause he must? Of course not. The notion that WPA has any religious significance is far-fetched and absurd. A man on WPA is not being helped; he is merely being pre-

personal initiative—his innate desire: to stand on his own feet—then far from being helped, he is actually being injured. The only real help that any man can give you is a chance to help yourself. And the best way to get that help is to exhibit yourself to the world engaged, against whatever odds, in trying to help

yourself, -

New Books at the Library

UT is it genuine? That, of course, is the first question one wants settled when looking at antique furniture, old glass, or first editions. . Some of the items in the famous Ashley Library of Thomas James Wise, English collector and bibliographer, were forgeries, and, amazingly, forged by the collector himself. In 1934 the book world was gtartled by “An Enquiry into the Nature of Certain Nineteenth Century Pamphlets”, by two London booksellers, John Carter and Gra-

Side Glances—By Galbraith

ham Pollard. Now in “Forging

ry

; réligious freedom and| 3 to keep that

‘usual items.

My ‘And now there's laughter in the

Ahead” (Putnam) Wilfred Partifigton reveals further light on the strange career of the perpetrator of those pamphlets. Wise was prompted to the frauds by his experiments in reprinting for the Shelley and Browning Societies, when he made arrangements for faesimile reproductions of first editions of those authors. His printers became accustomed fo predating title pages, contributing to the ease with which forgery and.piracy were continued, for many years, with only a few lurking suspicions that all the rarities in his Library were not what their proud owner claimed. Partington believes that the underlying motive of the frauds was gain (Wise had great commercial ability and foresight), to which was added the desire’ for renown through the “discovery” of these un-

It proved to be the so-called “Reading 1847” edition of Eliza-

beth Barrett Browning's “Sonnets” eventually led. to Wise’s|

which downfall. By many tests it was

much later than the date on the title page would indicate. Among others, quite as spurious, were some

|by Kipling, Ruskin, Stevenson,

Swinburne, and Tennyson. The rare book world waited in vain till his

.| death in 1937 for Wise's refutation |

3f the charges against him.

PENITENCE : By JAMES D. ROTH I love Happy Hollow town Where I can rest and drown My ills and grudges of the years With sparkling joyous tears. ;

Back to nature for a calm; To mq a healing balm. in penitent

rs are spent moods,

DAILY THOUGHT

to be writing on the subject of gov-|

served. And if he loses any of his}

shown to have been manufactured |

f

Gen. Johnson

Says— Conventions Big Business ; tot

Many Cities Which Make 'Specia Efforts to Attract the Large Ones.

ness” is a major American industry. The city of Cleveland alone estimated a take of many millions. from its last year's average of 350,000 delegates to various conventions. It is an ideal convention city’ because ‘it is centrally located, has ample facilities

| for housing, amusing and otherwise taking care of

the visiting firemen. : This inflow of money is all pure gravy to a'con_vention city.. It increases jobs, sales and other intake for a large part of the population by filtering through the hotels, stores and other services to the individuals who work at selling, serving

and very active department to procure and serve its convention trade. ee ee Practically all of business and professional service is organized into trade or other organizations. Labor is increasingly organized in unious. Each one of these has several conventions—sometimes one for each state and areatall leading up to the greal annual national potlatch of its group. I know of no compilation of the dollars thus put into circulation, but it must be close to a billion. : ss" 8 Li PAT of it, especially in such semi-social groups “as the American Legion; is just a mass production charivari. But the conventions are .both neces= sary and advisable. © We don’t want “politicaly controlled collectivism in our economic life, but, whether we like it or not, we have a lot of voluntary. private collectivism. Since industry is largely organized in layers of manufacturing groups, labor and merchandising have to be also. : ME : These organizations study major trends of everything that affects them and present only the statistical blue-prints to guide their members. - They watch legislation. Above all, the conventions them= selves assemble from every part of the country and from every school of so-called thought, specialists who come to talk—and boy do they .do it. I don’t: know of any place or occasion where a columnist can get a better cross-section of group opinion: than in a typical trade association or labor union convention. gn #88 Te Sire S F course, the political conventions make, history and affect the fate of the nation. ‘The selection of New York City in 1924 split and almost ruined the Democratic Party. If Tammany -hoogdlums couldn't have Al Smith they were out to ruin McAdoo, which they did with a constant chant of “erl-erl-erl”’ from the galleries. Lah aa There was no doubt from the beginning that Chicago would get. the: Democratic convention this year. Mr. Roosevelt, freely admitting his addiction to “hunches.” told friends long ago: that it couldn’ be San Francisco, because that is where he was disastrously nominal) for Vice President in 1920. It - couldn’t be Philadelphia, because he doesn’t believe in consecutive plays on the same .card, ‘It must be Chicago, because that is where he got his chance in 1932. It is the same system of choice used by taxi-drivers and bell-hops in playing policy . or numbers—but Hitler uses it and ‘so did Napoleon,

that their ends were shaped by some. divinity. . |

Payroll Taxes = By Bruce Catton + a

Many Claim Levy : Hardship and Lower Rate May Be Asked Soon.

WASHINGTON, Feb. 10.—Demand for modifica= tion of the State-Federal unemployment insure

‘ance system will almost certainly be made before this Congress adjourns. : i yn

Ta

‘by the 3 per cent payroll tax, and from which benefits are paid, has grown rapidly. It has increased by 35 per cent since benefit payments began. Although payments ran to $200,000,000 during the last six months of 1939, the fund took in $400,000,000 during the same period and stands now at approximately a billion and a half. : eh On the other hand, there is good evidence to show that a number of small business firms are having great difficulty meeting the tax, and that it is proving onerous enough to generate a substantial demand that the load be lightened. The U. S. Chamber of Commerce has received many protests. A few samples: miphes al Er - A Middle-Westernh widow wlio runs a small manu= facturing business established by her ‘husband, em= ploying about a ; end of the year when she came to balance her books, she -found that what she had paid in employment tax was just three times what she had left for herself as net profit. A : : Sn

his firm’paid and found that his payroll tax was ths biggest single item.

‘even his real estate taxes. : Claim Expansion Prevented

Of the thousand-odd members of the Chamber who replied to a questionnaire asking if they were making

capital inves‘ment in new plant or in modernization this year, a large sa said they were not—bes cause the payroll tax was making it impossible. . Ope’ point of complaint is the “merit rating” system, now in effect in Wisconsin and soon to be set up in most other states. by which. a firm may win a substantial reduction in its payroll tax it its record shows that it seldom discharges a worker. : “In a quiz about the wage-hour law, a number of employers reported that they could not hire tem= porary workers in rush seasons, because letting them go would spoil that merit; record; instead, they preferred to pay time and one-half for overtime.” "~~

By Jane Stafford :

EAD noises—ringing or roaring or whistling in.the ears, as they aré often desgribed—can be caused by so many different conditions that the person seeking relief from them needs the help of experts. Both the family physician and an otologist, that is, a-phy-

be consulted. ; : x % a “You can immediately disregard any: advertised cures for head noises,” states Dr, Douglas Macfarlan, of Philadelphia, in advice recently issued to members “I have never yet found one with any merit,” he declares. “Nor is there any mechanical’ apparatus, such as vibrators or noise producers, which will help.” Stubborn as the condition is; there are many cases, Dr. Macfarlan says, in which, after careful and patient search, the cause and a cure for the condition have been found. s ast : : » Pe Lik EE a The condition miay be caused by decayed or abcessed teeth, diseased. tonsils, infected sinuses or chronic infections in-any part of thé. body, neuritis in certain nerves of the head, tumors, syphilis and head injuries. Tobacco may aggravate the condition. Ringing in the ears and a stuffed feeling in them may occur during an attack of influenza or a bad cold. . Certain medicines, of which quinine is the most notorious example, may cause or aggravate the condition. Bromides, barbiturates (the new sleeping medicines) salicylates used for. rheumatism, and man; patent medicines for eolds, neuritis, headacl matism. and “blood building” may affect doctoring yo i when siclan is

CC ovaLAmD, O., Feb. 10.—The “convention busi--

or producing. For this reason, nearly every important ¢ity has an established’

‘Caesar and nearly all other great leaders who believed

On the one hand, the trust fund which is financed

dozen workers, wrote that at the -

An Eastern businessman totaled all of the taxes

It ran to 26 per cent of his total tax bill, topping

Watch Your Health =~

siclan specializing in the treatment of the ears, should

of the American Society for the Hard of Hearing. ot ?.

rages SRI SE J EE RE ER TRE I SR SE

EET aa