Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 11 March 1940 — Page 1

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FORECAST: Mostly cloudy tonight and tomorrow, with occasional : rains tomorrow; Hof ‘much’ chage | in temperature; lowest tonight 25 to 30.

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FINAL

oo aL VOLUME 51--NUMBER, 313

BROWN CLAIMS ‘INTIMIDATION ~ OF WITNESSES

Others File Pleas Attacking WPA Charges; March 28 Tentative Hearing Date.

Arthur V. Brown, Indianapolis banker and one of five persons under Federal indictment on WPA fraud charges, today accused Government agents of intimidating Grand Jury witnesses in an attempt to force them to give false testimony. The allegation was made in a plea in abatement filed in Federal Court today as a move to void the indictment. Similar pleas on behalf of other defendants in the case were filed also.

Claims Witnesses Mistreated

Federal Judge Robert C. Baltzell tentatively set ‘March 28 at 9:30 a. m. for oral hearings on the defendants’ pleas. The defendants are to be arraigned after the court rules on the pleadings. The indictment charges Mr. Brown and the other four defendants with defrauding the Government through illegal diversion of WPA labor and funds from approved projects to work on subdivisions owned by Mr. -Brown and others. Mr. Brown's plea, filed by his attorney, Frank C. Dailey, asserts: 1. That District Attorney Val Nolan made improper references to Mr. Brown during the earlier trial of Carl F. Kortepeter, former WPA co-ordinator, and his father-in-law Gurney G. Derbyshire. 2. That Government agents who worked up the case for the Grand Jury mistreated witnesses and placed them in “fright and panic.”

Charges Rights Violated

3. That the agents violated Mr. Brown's constitutional rights .in that they “pretended to the custodian of the private books and papers” of Mr. Brown that they “had a right to examine said books and papers,” and that some of these books and papers were photographed by the agents and subsequently were subpenaed before the Grand

y. 4. That some of the rules and regulations cited in the indictment as having been violated did not Apply to the case because of certain legal technicalities. , 5. That Mr. Brown and his “counsel have been refused permis-

sion’ to inspect the~WPA - bulletins | TIArY"

and records mentioned in the indietment. 6. That the Grand Jury which returned the indictment was illegally constituted because women were “intentionally and arbitrarily excluded” from its membership.

i Attacks Nolan Query

The plea sets out that during the Kortepeter-Derbyshire trial, District Attorhey Nolan asked a Government witness if “he had also built a road through Arthur V. Brown’s place,” and that later he (Mr. Nolan) told the jurors: “If you will go along with me and return a verdict of guilty against these defendants, I promise you, and I call upon the judge of this Court to bear witness, that I will ask this Court to call a Grand Jury for Jan. 15; that I have some facts now in‘ connection with the work of the Works Progress Administration and I will present same and any other facts I can obtain to that Grand Jury and I will prosecute all persons indicted, be they in high or low places. . . These statements, his plea contends, led the jury and the public to believe Mr. Ndlan’s promise to (Continued on Page Two)

CITY TEMPERATURE . TO REMAIN STABLE

LOCAL TEMPERATURES 6am ...25 10a. m. ... 30 “a.m ...2 11am...32 8am .,, 21 12 (noon)... 34 9am ...2 1pm ...3

Cloudy skies and occasional rains tomorrow were forecast today by the Weather Bureau. There will not be much change in temperature and fhe lowest tonight will be 25.

‘Winter Weather

Again Sweeps East

NEW YORK, March 11 (U. P).— Winter weather struck the ‘East and Northeast again today, bringing temperatures below freezing, high winds, and heavy snowfall. A freak snow storm struck the central part of upper New York state, erippling transportation in Syracuse, Rochester and -neighboring communities and blocking rural

_ roads in Ontario, Herkimer, Ca-

yuga, Cattaraugus, Wyoming, Livingston, Steuben, Allegany, Oneida; Seneca and Onandaga Counties. An airplane rushing a serum from Boston to a girl suffering a rare staphylococcus infection in Corning Hospital was forced down at Rochester. Weather forecasts offered . little hope of relief.

TIMES FEATURES ON INSIDE PAGES

Johnson ..... 10 Clappe® ...... 9|Movies 11 ‘ Comics ...... u Mrs. Ferguson 10 Crossword ... +23 Curious World 5 Btiorials - were 2 ¥Fiynn ....... 3

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‘MONDAY, MARCH

1, 1940

J.-S. Joins Search for Suspect i in Fraud

FDR SILENT ON 30 TERM ‘CUE

Must Call Off ‘Draft’ Today ‘Or Get Delegates; N. H. Votes Tomorrow.

By LYLE C. WILSON United Press Staff Correspondent

WASHINGTON, March 11. — President Roosevelt must call off the third term draft movement today or be prepared tomorrow to begin accumulating convention dele-

’| gates ‘pledged or favorable to his

renomination. Lacking some word of disavowal from the White House, it appears now that the draft-Roosevelt movement will have a substantial bloc of delegates, well over 200, when the Democratic National Convention meets July 15 in Chicago. The Roosevelt drafters are active

State Deaths. 12

now in nine of 15 Presidential preference primary states for a stake of 288 delegate votes, which is 265 short of the bare majority necessary to nominate. :

N. Hampshire Primary First

First Roosevelt delegaies are scheduled to be elected tomorrow in New Hampshire's preferential primary which may or may not be binding according to the nature of the pledge appearing on the primary ballot. New Hampshire leads off the priHeb: -election in which Mr, Roosevelt is assured of at least some of the states’ 12 convention votes because neither Vice President John N. Garner nor Postmaster General James A. Farley are represented ‘by full slates. Only a light vote is expected. Phere is but slight expectation here that Mr. Roosevelt: will recognize the impending New Hampshire primary with a statement of his 1940 intentions. The fact that he has remained silent so long has convinced some. observers: that Mr. Roosevelt intends to withhold the big news until the Democratic convention meets.

Wisconsin Is Vital Test

There is no real Republican contest in the New Hampshire primary although one delegate is running as pledged to District Attorney Thomas E. Dewey, despite the latter's re fusal to seek New Hampshire support. Other ‘Republican delegates are unpledged. Tomorrow's primary will be followed in ‘three weeks by that in Wisconsin, where full Republican slates are entered in behalf of Mr. Dewey and Senator Arthur H. Vandenberg (R. Mich). It is a vital contest for 6 them, but more so for Mr. Garner, who has entered

lan anti-third ‘term slate of Demo-

cratic delegate candidates. There are two Roosevelt slates which may split the liberal-New Deal-Rogosevelt vote and let Mr. Garner win a midwest head start. The two slates of Roosevelt delegates were entered by opposing ele(Continued on Page Three)

GITY DELAYS ACTION ON E. SIDE BUS LINES

Overflow Crowd at Hearing Divided on Merger.

(Photo, Page Three)

The Works Board today postponed action: for two weeks on a Peoples Motor. Coach Co. petition to consolidate the 21st St. and Ritter Ave. and the 16th St. and Emerson Ave. bus lines after a hearing at City Hall. Approximately 250 ‘East Side residents who would be affected by the

their views on the change. The throng which filled the Works Board chamber and overflowed into the corridor- was divided on the proposal which would replace the two lines ‘with a single line operating east to Arlington Ave. Peoples Motor Coach Co. officials said that they proposed the consolidation to render more frequent service through a single line. The proposal was opposed by Charles C. Whallon, 2614 Brookside Parkway, who presented the Board with a petition signed by 400 residents protesting the suggested mer-

ger. Members of the E. 21st St. Civic League, represented by Glen Hanna, 2172 Kildare Ave. presented a petition of 500 names of residents who favored the change. At: the sug-

gestion of Paul C. Wetter of the In-

dianapolis Council - of Community Civic Clubs, who urged the Board to give the matter careful study before coming to a decision, Board members postponed final action

pending a a two Week's investigation.

transactions.

Ld ® 8

Tucker,

policies.

ters he had written in connection with his transsctions were placed in their hands. While there is vet no criminal charge against the former Oklahoma school teacher and no warrant for his arrest, persons aiding in: the investigation said “a dozen Indiana sheriffs would pick him up on sight.” Income Tax Frobe Hinted The United States’ District Attorney’s office here has not been brought officially into the investigation. There were reports, however, of a pos$ibie’ robe of Tucker’s income taxes. | Tucker, whose legitimate transactions alone brought him as high as $15,000 a year, is believed to have headed west, when he disappeared two weeks ago tomorrow'in a new car. : As reports of counterfeit annuity policies poured in from victims, the Sun Life Assurance Co., for which he was special agent more than 10 years, "offered gufhorities full cooperation in the investigation and search. Left in the wake of Tucker’s flight were not only his victims and the bewildered superintendents of farms in nine counties which he had obtained from victims and which are now attached, but his 22-year-old wife, presumably without finances. The only tangihle property she has in her own name is a half interest in 600 chickens which cannot be turned into cash because of at-. tachment. Avoids North Side Apartment Mrs. Tucker, the former Helen Clair Gatewood of Morristown, Ind.. is near collapse at her husband’s 572-acre farm showplace near Danville which he left owing pay to its superintendent, Richard Hoban. The youthful wife, who returned by plane less than a week ago from her parents’ home in Albuquerque, N. M., ‘at the suggestion of friends who informed her that *“something was wrong,” refused to go to

Side hotel. Mrs. Tucker said she never suspected her husband's transactions were other than legitimate until about two weeks ago. At that time, she said, he told her “something has (Continued on Page Three)

1. This sign stands on a Clinton County farm which came into the hands of Charles F. Tucker during his alleged fraudulent insurance It’s still for sale—but not by Tucker. be sold in attachment proceedings. 2. In his supposed flight to the West, the super salesman left his third wife, Helen Claire Gatewood Tucker, apparently penniless. 3. Charles F. Tucker, as he looked five years ago at a time when he ranked at the top of his company’s sales force.

Probe Indicates Insisriince.

Swindle Is Near $400,000

By LEO DAUGHTERY

Postal atthorities today were enlisted in the hunt for Charles F. Indianapolis insurance -agent - who "allegedly swindled at least 17 persons of a sum which may reach $400,000 through counterfeit

—— - Government men entered the. search Yor salesman who became the confidant and adviser of his victims, as let-

the Tucker apartment in a Norih

It eventually will Times Photo.

a &

the suave thrice-married

U.S. SUPREME COURT DENIES HOLT'S PLEA

Dismisses Challenge on State Weight Tax Law.

WASHINGTON, March 11 (U.P). —The Supreme Court today denied the petition of Olin R. Holt, former Mayor of Kokbmo, for review of his conviction on charges of defrauding the Federal Government through misuse of ‘WPA labor and materials. a The Court dismissed the petition of Indianapolis: truck’ drivers, challenging constitutionality of an Indiana motor vehicle weight tax law. The decision, without opinion by the Court, makes final a State high court decision ‘upholding : the law. The Court said. it dismissed the case “for want of. a: - substantial Federal question. » Holt told the Court the Government’s charges connected him with an arrangement whereby George Mix, a City employee, alleged diverted WPA labor to the cleaning and- hauling of used brick, and: then sold the brick in collaboration: with others, to the City. Holt was charged with approving ‘the sales. Holt said ‘in his’ brief ‘that “No connection with the scheme of Mix, the City Clerk and -the others to divert: WPA labor was shown." And certainly no participation: in, or knowledge or even suspicion of “their scheme was shown.”. .. The Seventh - - Circuit .. Court of Appeals upheld “Holt’s: “conviction Nov. 217, 1939. The Court refused to review the case of William _P. _ Buckner; and William J. Gillespie, ‘whose eonviction on mail fraud charges entailed testimony that they conducted a “beauty lobby” of chorus girls to

influence Congressmen on proposed

reward

Philippine railway bond, legislation.

MAGHINE-MAN BALANGE URGED

O'Mahoney Would Reward Employers Giving ‘Advantage to Human Labor.

WASHINGTON, March 11 (U. PJ). Chairman Joseph C. O’Mahoney of the Federal Monopoly Committee: ingroduces. in. the Sepate today a bill des ? men and machines.” He would grant

tax credits to employers who make more than average use of man power .and. tax ;those whose. output is produced by more than. average use of machine power. Senator O'Mahoney said that he was convinced that the only sound solution of current economic problems lay in the restoration of full employment by private employers and that his bill would stimulate private employment since it would employers who provide

jobs. : ; Production Above 1929

He issued a statement -explaining his bill as the C. I. O. an~ nounced in its monthly “economic outlook” that its estimates placed unemployment at 11,936.000 in Jan-~ uary—an increase of 14 per cent over the estimate of 10,469,000 in December. The figure, however, was 3 per cent less than a year ago. Mr. O'Mahoney.cited Federal Reserve Board stastistics showing that the current manufacturing -index is two points above the.pre-depression 1929 index, but that the number of persons . employed has gone: down in the last decade. “This trend cannot be permitted to go on without eventual disaster,” he said. “Recognizing that the standard of living can be. raised and stabilized only by production and “that men and. machines are producers, this bill undertakes: to bring about an alignment’ ‘of men with machities to conquer depression. n

Urges “Labor Credit”

: Senator O'Mahoney said he would ask the House Ways and Means Committee to hold hearings on his bill soon. The ‘proposed tax, tentatively set at 2 per cent by Senator O'Mahoney, would : be levied upon the. “labor differential income” of producers. That income would be computed by

.|deducting from. gross income total

costs of materials and labor. ‘A 7 “labor - differential ¢ credit” agdinst the tax would ‘be allowed employers at the same rate for the total amount paid out in wages. In cases where the labor credit exceeded the tax, the treasury would pay that amount to the. ‘producer.

Entered as Second-Class Matter Indianapolis,

at Postoffice,

Ind.

PRICE THREE CENTS

PROGRESS REPORTED IN 0SCOW PEACE TALKS; 24 HOURS TO TELL STO

FINNS PLAYING BERLIN, ALLIES

AGAINST REDS

Republic Will Kee Keep Hanko,

Says Writer Who Spent 4 Years in Moscow.

The first American correspondent back in this country from the Finnish fighting front, Norman B. Deuel of the United Press, gives in the following dispatch an authoritative report on Finland’s viewpoint on a settlement of the Russo-Finnish War.

By NORMAN B. DEUEL

United Press Staff Correspondent NEW YORK, March 11.—Finland was certain more than six weeks

lago that a Soviet peace proposal

would be made early in March and carefully organized her diplomatic moves to be able to lay down her strongest cards to the Kremlin if a a basis for peace negotiations were found. : Competent

Finnish circles in

-| Stockholm told the writer early in . | February the date of the expected

Soviet. offer and said the only question which prevented immediate peace was the port of Hanko, which dominates the entrance both of the Gulf of Finland and the Gulf of Bothnia. The Finns are determined never to surrender it.

Knows Russia Is Woried

If Scandinavian reports are true that some sort of agreement has been reached, it seems quite likely that Finland will retain Hanko: In spite of the great Soviet military pressure, Finland did not go empty-handed to the conference table and was able to play both Germany and the Allies against Russia.

Finland counted on :Germany to Texercise “her influence’ to}= avoid the possibility of Allied influ-

ence and control of Swedish iron. Germany also wants to free the Soviet for pressure in the Balkins and renew the hope of Soviet economic aid to the Reich. The danger of complete conquest of Finland and domination of Scandinavia by Russia, Finland feels, would be sufficient to bring Allied help in force. She knows that Russia, disillusioned in her blitzkreig, does not want to fight a war in which ihe forces would be more nearly equal Finland knows that if left to fight alone, eventually Russia must win and every ‘Finn feels that would mean ‘the death or exile of their people. She believes she will not be {Continued on Pa on Page Three)

HELP CENSUS ALONG, TOWNSEND URGES

Asks Citizens to Answer All Questions Accurately.

Governor M. Clifford Townsend today urged all Indiana citizens to answer “fully and accurately” all questions asked them by Federal census takers. In an’ official proclamation issued by the Governor, he said the census is one of the oldest and most basic activities of the I'ederal Government, having been provided for in

|the U. 8. Constitution.

“The census is in a position to furnish accurate measurements of the economic and social changes resulting from the stress and strains of the decade now. closing,” the proclamation stated. “I hereby proclaim that it is in the public interest for every person in Indiana to answer fully and accurately the official questions ad-

‘dressed to him by: the census-taker.

“The law stipulates that facts given by any individual. may be used only in the compilation of general statistics and must be kept confidential. They may not be examined by other agencies of government for taxation or enforce-

ment of any law.”

horrible stuff first of all. you received a cookie or a you forget your agony. Today, I shall follow a

aristocracy | sradually makes

Chapter One. You. will remember as a child when you had to take medicine how your mother persuaded you to swallow the And when that had been done, piece of chocolate to makef

similar method. I shall ask.

you to read the following passages, before we. proceed to a discussion of the story democracy, through the ‘ages.

no

“First of all comes a king—a chieftain—a’ man on £ horseback. He is anointed by an aristocracy, a .group o i those who assisted him during his rise to power, “but th

common cause with the rich

people *and ‘ventually they are succeeded by the rich, by the men of business, pretending never so ‘much as to see those whom) ‘they have already ruined—inserting. thei sting (that ix their money) into anybody who i is not. on hi guard against them and Fecovering the

THE STORY OF DEMOCRACY

proposed merger appeared to state|:

By Hendrik Willem van Loon Wusirated by the dwihor

Success

NEW YORK, March 11

against Germany. All information seeping

Neville Chamberlain.

not appealed for such aid.

of Czechoslovakia.

cept the peace terms. Many

eastern fronts.

in Russo- Finnish Negotiations ‘Would Hurt Prestige of Allies; No 2

Pact Yet, Says Tanner. BULLETIN

(U. P.).—No agreement tis

been reached between Russian and Finnish negotiators in | i Moscow, Finnish Foreign Minister V. A. Tanner told the | : United Press by trans-Atlantic telephone from Helsinki today. The Finnish mission still is in Moscow, he said. y

- By JOE ALEX MORRIS United Press Foreign News Editor

The war in Finland may end soon and present the Allied powers with grave new problems in their conflict .

through a censorship “black

out” of dispatches from Scandinavia, Finland and Soviet Russia indicated unofficially that progress had been:made toward peace as a result of negotiations at Moscow. next 24 hours may tell the story. If the negotiations succeed, however, it will be a severe blow to the Allied powers as indicated by a statement in the British House of Commons today by Prime Minister He said that the Allies were ready to aid Finland with all their resources but that Finland had

The

. Report Premier Flying Home

Copenhagen newspapers reported that Finnish Premier Risto Ryti had agreed to much-modified Soviet terms and was flying back to Helsinki to seek Parliamentary approval of a program making territorial concessions to Russia but [saving Finland’s important cities and naval bases. ; The reported terms would provide for a future inter national guarantee of Finnish independence to avoid the fate

These reports remained to be officially confirmed. ' Army’s Attitude Uncertain

There was also the question of whether the Finnish Parliament and especially the Finnish military forces—led by ‘Marshal Baron Carol Gustav von Mannerheim—would ac-

developments in the next 24

hours might interrupt the negotiations which’ have failed even to halt the severe fighting on the Karelian Isthmus and

But if there is to.be a compromise peace in the Far Northern war it was obvious that it must be made now. Otherwise it will be a victor’s peace when one side or the

other is exhausted. On the basis of most dispatches from (Continued on Page Three)

1 welcome peace but that it must be

In Stockholm:

Pact Reached; Red Terms Eased, Scandinavia Hears.

STOCKHOLM, March 11 (U.P). —Scandinavia heard today that an agreement had been reached for ending the war in Finland. Newspapers reported that modified terms for peace had been agreed upon by representatives of Finland and Soviet Russia meeting at the United States Embassy in Moscow. Meanwhile, the war went on, an Army communique at Helsinki today said another 1000 Russians were killed yesterday in fighting at Kollaanjoki, northeast of Lake Ladoga. The communique said that after a heavy artillery barrage the Russians ‘captured an island in the Pitkaeranta Archipelago of Lake

Eight Russian planes were shot down by Finnish fire yesterday and the Russians, the communique sald, bombed several towns. The Copenhagen. newsp spapers Ekstrabladet and Berlingske Aftee navis said the terms for peace ine cluded: 1. A moderation of the Soviet de=mands for Finnish territory on the Karelian Isthmus, north of Lenine grad, which would place the new border approximately on the present fighting line from Taipale to the Gulf of Finland, leaving Viipuri in Finland. 2. An alternative Soviet demand for leasing of the Finnish islands-of

Ladoga.

(Continued on Page Three) : iy

In London:

Allied Offer of Full

‘Ad

Stands, Britain Declares.

LONDON, March 11 (U., P.).— Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain told the House of Commons today that Britain and France had

offered to aid Finland “with all available resources” but that the Finns so far had failed to make a direct appeal for Allied assistance. The Prime Minister's statement, coinciding with . Finnish-Russian peace negotiations at Moscow, generally was interpreted as a tacit admission that the Finnish war was about over. On the other hand, it was by no means certain that the Finns would accept the Russian terms for peace and Parliamentary sources said

that if the negotiations cbllapse the

Allied offer of full assistance would still stand. Asked if the British position was not tantamount to being at war with Russia, the Prime Minister significantly replied: “We have not arrived at that web, » Mr. Chamberlain, who confirmed that the Russians two weeks ago had advanced peace terms which the British refused to pass on fo Finland, apparently e¢larified the Allied position toward: aid to the Finns in an effort to protect British and French prestige and to offset predictions that collapse of the war in Finland would greatly strengthen the German war position by permite (Continued on Page Three)

In Helsinki:

Grim-Faced Finns Want ]

Peace With Honor Oniy.

"By EDWARD W. BEATTIE JR. United Press Staff Correspondent HELSINKI, Finland, March 11.— Grim-faced Finns, knowing at last that peace negotiations are being conducted—and in the enemy capital of Moscow—said today, as they had before, that they would

peace wtih honor. The thoughts of people turned to the soldiers

here

Prog still on

the story may not have been’ told yet. Men on the front, like’ those at home, do not know the final ane swer. The official statement ‘ane nouncing the negotiations was cargful to say that there had been. no decision up to the present.” » (Hints seeped through the tight Helsinki censorship to Scandinavian capitals that it was not at all certain that the peace talks. would