Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 12 August 1940 — Page 8
PAGE 8
The Indianapolis Times
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MONDAY, AUGUST 12, 1940
TO KEEP WAR AWAY
Fair Enough
By Westbrook Pegler
'U. S., Like Norway and Holland, Is Arming to Attack Dear Germany,’ Fictitious Naturalized Nazi Tells Kin
EW YORK, Aug. 12. Hermann Schultz of Chicago, a fictitious character and a member of the German-American National Alliance, writes to his brother, Emil, of Hamburg, Germany as follows: “Heil Hitler!! “Dear Brother: “Knowing something of the sacrifices which you are £0 nobly enduring for the glory of our race, I would be ashamed to be erying under the persecutions which the German minority in the United States are forced to suffer, I am not crying, dear brother, for we are strong, and we shall hold out until the hour of deliv-
"TODAY we own Germany, tomorrow the whole world.” That, from a Hitler marching song, today haunts the Senate of the United States, as the great debate on conscription proceeds. Because of that, drafting of our manpower is being considered. Because of that, 14 billions have been appropriated for the mechanical side of the defense by which we seek to keep out of war, Without that, neither the billions nor the men would | be needed. Were the words merely the boast of a bully we would not be worried. But to back up those words is the frenzied record of conquest—Austria, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Denmark, Norway, Holland, Belgium, France—and England at baw. It is by no process of circumstantial evidence that we | find ourselves in danger. The menace is divect, Hitler Jeers at us. To him we are “degenerate Yankeedom,” a “corrupt democracy,” a jangling instrument of “social and racial tensions” upon which he has announced he will play. “Nations are judged by providence,” Hitler proclaims, “sqecording to the strength of their soldiers, and if they are found wanting they are erased from the book of life.” Because of that, we bestir ourselves. Because of that, s not difficult to understand why today’s Gallup Poll shows two to one throughout the nation in favor of the
every state in the Union recording for it. »
|
draft » u B! I" despite such preponderance of evidence from a testing svstem remarkably accurate on all the public issues has ever dealt with, there are those who believe our ws are exaggerated. They are opposing the selective | vice method of raising manpower. They hold that the The hotter heads among |
|
inteer svstem is sufficient. » draft advocates are wont to call these opponents fifth That is unfair, undemocratic and productive
People don't think |
1sts.
tterness damaging to the nation. 1 they're mad. They just feel. While opposition to adequate preparedness is the nat- | ural vehicle for the Bundists and the Communists and all want to see America weak against the time when | “comes the revolution,” to brand as unpatriotic the many who sincerely object to conscription is just plain bad business and runs counter to the very freedom of expression for the preservation of which we would fight Hitler if we |
4 LO.
Who
SS have So, while favoring selective service as the just and effective way of manning our defense and thereby of keeping us out of war, we want to express here the hope that the name-callers will pipe down. And that goes, too, for those on the other side who label as war monger anyone |
who supports conscription, »
= THE two sides in this controversy we believe are not so | It's a question of method. Hitler is a menace. On that, practically all agree. We should prepare for défense. Little debate about But to what degree? And how? On the money side sentiment was almost unanimous. Those who now oppose conscription voted for the 14 billions. Which shakes the matter down to where it now stands the Senate. Employ the draft? Or rely on volunteers? The selective process, we believe, is so much more effective and so much more equitable that we hope, with all earnestness in the interest of our country which we w to be in peril, that it will be adopted. If ever experience counseled repetition, selective service is indicated now, In World War days the same opposiBut upon application of the selective draft that opposition died. The system was applauded. Never did any legislation prove more of a success. [he very term “selective” implies that every man who may be called will go to the post for which he is best fitted. emotional whipping-up of war spirit which is inherent he raising of volunteers is eliminated. Instead, calm and science take the leadership. Under selective service, adequate training is provided before it is too late. By selection there is no penalty for the poor, no favoritism for the rich. Consideration of family responsibility, health, of adaptability, and of religion | are all in the selective plan. The arguments for it are myriad. Those for the volunteer system are few by comparison. But, about one thing—the main thing—there is no argument. That is, the need for preparation against the
megalomaniac who mouths—"tomorrow the whole world.” = EJ
UST five days from now in Elwood we will hear from the Republican nomitiee his formal views on public issues. Of these issues none is second to that of manpower for President Roosevelt has declared for selective service. We hope Mr. Willkie will take the same strong position that Mr. Roosevelt has taken—and thereby remove this question from the field of partisan politics. We expect Mr. Willkie to speak out on this controversy next Saturday, with the same frankness, forthrightness and common sense he has shown in declaring himself on all the other issues with which he has come to grips.
far apart.
that in
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tion was expressed. in
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defense.
TROUBLES HEY are a fairly universal commodity, these days, but to some people they come in unique forms. Fireman Peter Bradley, donning his boots to answer the first fire alarm in five months at Camden, S. C., found that a rat had taken up residence in one of them and raised a family. Lawrence Lepper reports that his henhouse near Ft. Wayne, Ind., has been raided six times recently by a thief who, at each visit, marked on the wall of the building the number of fowls he was taking. ’ And Mrs. Estelle Van Demark, seeking annulment of her marriage at Rochester, N. Y., testified that her husband chewed razor blades, ate glass and sewed buttons on his
| the fate of Norway, Belgium and
erance, but I feel that you should know that we, too, in our way, are fighting the great fight. “The United States, like Poland, Norway, Belgium and the Netherlands, is preparing to attack our dear Germany. Every hour one hears and reads of preparations for war, and it is obvious that these preparations are directed against Germany. Yet, if we do anything to prevent this reckless outrage we are accused of disloyalty, even though we are naturalized Americans and, in our great love for the United States, only want to spare our dear adopted land the terrible and righteous revenge of our Fuehrer, “Heil Hitler! $ =o ® " E are a distinct minority who should have minority rights, and we are organizing to elect to the next American Congress only representatives who promise to respect our rights and resist this evil warmongering which goes on all about us. . . . “For the present we only demand that our adopted country shall cease the calamitous folly of arming and warmongering, knowing that this will eventually exhaust the generous patience of the Fuehrer | . but these people are in a majority, however, and I fear that they will need to be taught a terrible lesson, We have warned them that the Fuehrer will not forgive the cruel inflictions wreaked upon us in order to prevent the creation of a tolerant understanding between the two nations. We tell them that the Fuehrer always comes to the rescue of his minorities and remind them of the awful fate which befell those who per= secuted the Sudeten people and the German minority in Poland. “But they are a clumsy and arrogant lot of swine, with no skill in war and ludicrious arms, and they are defying us in a most disgusting way. Their soldiers are laughable, and they have no national unity whatever. And every effort that we make to unify them on the pattern invented by our dear Fuehrer and extend to them the marvelous benefits of national socialism through our little secret organizations is brutally resisted ® 2 =
“THE INDIANAPOLIS TIMES If Noah Had Been an Isolationist
!
i
EA Ta A TR SAR PA TY
The Hoosier Forum
' HEY have even put us off the air now, although we only attempted to tell them of the glories | of Hitlerism and to turn them from the head-long folly of their warmongering attempt to arouse the | Fuehrer's anger | “We tell them that it is not necessary for them to become strong, as Hitler will protect America if a rea. | sonable and co-operative attitude is taken. We re- | mind them that he did not harm anvone in Denmark, because Denmark co-operated. We remind them of | the Netherlands, | which fell into the power of the warmongers and prepared to attack Hitler, “But they will not listen, and we can only suffer and await the day, “Till again, dear brother, “Heil Hitler! “Your brother, Hermann™
Inside Indianapolis
Those Public Welfare Figures and How Bookie Patrons Got a Scare
HE State Department of Public Welfare blossomed out with a publicity release the other day heralding: “A total of 15.213 public assistance cases represent. ing a potential year's outlay of $3,755,000 was closed by state and county welfare investigators during the fiscal vear, 1038-40" And on it went, just like that. The point being, of course, to impress Indiana with the fact that
more than 15000 cases were off the books and that almost $4,000.000 was being saved the taxpayers, Only thing that irritated us was the fact that the Welfare Department's publicity department neatly sidestepped the fact that 17,852 new cases were added to the 10lls during the last year. The picture is that last year at the close of business, there were roughly €4,000 cases on the books, this year 66,700. » » » IT HAPPENED AT a certain bookmakers recently: The heat was on and a “spotter” was placed in front of the establishment. He was impressed with the seriousness of the situation and equipped with means to signal the bookmaker in the rear of the building. A few minutes after he took his post, the “spotter” signaled “police coming.” Thirty patrons rushed for the exit. Elbows flew and bruises resulted, One of the bookie's helpers bumped against a window, broke the glass and cut his arm. The place was a wreck. A minute later two men in Salvation Army caps walked by! . » » A GENTLEMAN CALLED up to chide us about that photograph in the paper about the firemen fighting a “nitrogen blaze.” . .. Since the air consists of 80 per cent nitrogen, he said, and 20 per cent oxygen, nitrogen couldn't burn and could we by chance have meant hvdrogen. . . . Meekly, we said yes, that's just what we meant. . . . The Governors rustic fence around his official mansion is being repaired. . . . Shucks, Governor, we were only joshing you. . . . But it does look better.
A Woman's Viewpoint By Mrs. Walter Ferguson
HERE is great jubilation in some quarters because the Equal Rights Amendment got the thumbs down signal at the Democratic National Convention, where there were many women delegates, This is interpreted to mean that the majority of Democratic women believe their sex is not yet qualified to use equal privileges wisely. And so once more we get the soothing syrup. Let the Little Woman subside now until she is better educated and can get a mental grasp upon important issues. Sure! Let her wait until she has the same marvelous mastery of economics and politics that Papa possesses, And Papa. of course, did not acquire this ability by practice; he was endowed with it by his Creator. To be sure, girls, it may take years for the feminine cerebellum to grow convolutions deep enough to match the corrugations in the masculine brain, which brain has created such a snug, peaceful society for us. But keep on trying, my dears. It isn't wise to horn in on Papa's business now, It is running so well, and he seems so capable in its management. “Sweet and sensible, sleek and streamlined of mind and body, interested in their homes and devoted to their nation,” is the way one writer describes the sisters who voted down the amendment. Very pretty compliments they are, too, although they carry the same old meaning, and although they say, in effect, “Don't stick your fingers into our mud pies, girls.” As usual, too, the sentiment finds feminine applauders. For example, Miss Elsie Robinson OK'’s it BY Tung, “The female is not yet ripe for equal rights.” Yet she is ripe for bombs and such things: she Is ripe for conscription, industrial and military, when war comes; she is ripe for any and all sacrifice, just exactly as were all the sweet and sensible women of
| CRITICIZES CHAILLAUX STAND
I wholly disagree with what you say, but wil? defend to the death your right to say it.—Voltaire,
ON LOYALIST CHILDREN By § W R.
I think Homer Chaillaux of the American Legion stepped over the bounds the other evening when he told the Purple Heart that we ought to shut our doors to children because they came from Spanish Loyalist families. I won't argue with Mr. Chaillaux’ contention that we ought to take care of our own first, Obviously, there is a lot of merit to that viewpoint,
and particularly one who purports] to speak for a great American or-|
children as Communists or Fascists or anything else, That is completely un-American. | I have no truck with communism, but only an adult person can have a political or ideological viewpoint, If were going to argue the thesis of | admitting children, let's do it on! American grounds, not un-American ones. | If the Legion is as big an organ- | ization as I think it is, Mr. Chail-| laux will hasten to correct this one | point. ” ” ” FEARS U. 8S. DRIFTING TOWARD WAR By George H. Healey
The basis of American fear of invasion in the event of German success seems entirely presumptive except as un-neutral acts on our part give Hitler and his staff reason to consider us an enemy, It was very definitely a post-war determination of the United States to stay out of European controversies and this intention has maintained in the hopes of loyal Americans to an overwhelming extent. Gradually as the Neutrality Act passed in time of peace to keep us out of war and modified after the present war started, we have approached nearer and nearer involvement in the present war, First we were made to hate Hitler, who was villified by the same type of propaganda that was used against the Kaiser. This hate well ectablished, the “cash and carry” catch phrase of the altered Neutrality Act soon extended to the extension of credits to the Allies, then the exchange of obsolete war planes and other devices of modern conflict for new planes, and now the same agitators are openly advocating other measures which
”_
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Make your letters short, so all can
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have a chance. Letters must be signed, but names will be withheld on request.)
include furnishing naval vessels to England and conscription military
training. These things will definite- ! But I will challenge any person—/ly put us in the war and there is| WP quickly, put on long pants early,
no use mincing words about it. . . Have we considered the conse-
ganization—when he labels little quences? Who would our enemies hate him for,
be? Possibly Germany and Italy, sia and Japan. These nations total a population of about people, The United States and England have possibly half that many. Possibly we are underestimating the strength of the German allied forces. Does this mean anvthing to us? Have we been sufficiently outraged by anvthing that has happened to warrant so drastic a step as going into a conflict that might mean our annihilation? And where would the war take place? Two truisms are quoted and should have some weight in this crisis, One is "Those whom the gods wish to destroy they first make mad.” Another is “A soft answer turneth away wrath,” It is a time for thought and praver and wisdom and not for snap judgment and ill considered decisions based upon hatred and anger, “© #& &
SEES FALSE ISSUES ENTERING CAMPAIGN By M. E. Clark, Noblesville, Ind
There seems to be so many false issues in this campaign. Some say the issue is a third term. Some say it is the old deal vs. the New Deal, and some resort to mere personalities. All are false issues A false issue js raised for campaign purposes, ahd after election one doesn’t hear any more about it. A real issue has vet to be solved after election, Some object to Mr. Willkie because he was once a Democrat. Since when would that alone disqualify him, Some say his pedigree isn’t good enough to run on the Republican ticket, The fact that he is from old Hamilton County, which is the cradle of the Republican
“A
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bare arms “just to make me nervous.” ’ ’ i
the past who got the same old gush when they asked for justice, = “ a :
mn
Side Glances—By Gal
\ T.M. REQ U. 8. PAT. ©
braith
TEN
"Just think, Tom—of all the millions of girls in the world, you've made me the happiest" »
Party in this state, puts him in position to be a candidate for the Presidency { Everybody in Hamilton County believes in a third term for our county officials, Senators and Rep resentatives, Just because he was born in Elwood doesn't disqualify him, for Elwood is one of the su-| burbs of Noblesville, That is al pretty good sign that he has a lot of good points and therefore will make the Republican Party a pretty | good candidate, | But the real issue as I see it is the fact that he happened to grow
got a good job and have Presi-| {dential ambitions, which you can't | And begin to tell the champ how to play poker with-
Rus- | out showing me anvhody he has 4 | beaten, 385.000.000 | Would sit at the poker table with
I fear for him when he Mussolini, Hitler and Stalin. I fear he would lose his shirt to these sharks. So I am afraid to place my money and my vote against the old tried, true and faithful titleholder | The issue as I see it is experience vs, an amateur $ 4 #8 SAYS WILLKIE WOULD BE WALL ST. PRESIDENT
By George W. Benson, Sullivan |
| Twice in the last month, T have {sent you short contributions, each | eriticizing vou for abandoning your former liberal viewpoint, for attacking President Roosevelt, the people's| champion, and for climbing aboard [the band-wagon for the Girdlers, | Sloans, Fords, Weirs, Morgans and | Rockefellers. You have seen fit (which is your privilege) to “waste basket” my comments while giving regular space to contributors who praise the holding company utility magnate as =a “friend of the toiler.” . . . You are fooling no one hut yourselves, Landon was a synthetic candidate in 1936 and he carried two states, The people bought “gold bricks” when they fell for Harding and Back to Normalev, Keep Cool with Coolidge, and Abolish Poverty] with Hoover, The same crowd of slickers who| sold them the “gold bricks” in 1920, | 24 and '28 are trying desperately to build up Willkie. But vou are overdoing it. We know that Willkie was {the son of a prosperous lawyer in | Elwood, that his father sent him to Culver Military Academy (some[thing which only parents of some wealth could do), that his father sent him to Indiana University and that he has made a conspicuous success as a corporation and holding company lawyer. These are fa¢ts. The people have their choice of taking a man who is fresh from Wail Street, who has the Wall Street viewpoint, who is backed by Wall Street, and who will be a Wall Street President, or taking a man who has earned the enmity of Wall Street. who refuses to accept the Wall Street viewpoint, who is hated by Wall Street and who will continue to be the President of the whole people. . . .
FUTURE By VERNE 8S. MOORE Their father had built a ramshackle tent Out under the old beech tree, The older one was scarcely eight, And the vounger one just three, But his little feet beat a quick tatoo As down the drive they went. And their mother’s heart beat a glad tatoo As she stood and watched from the gate, For she’saw not boys, and tree, and tent But the fine strong men they are be
to As they laughed and played in the ,ramshackle tent Out under the old beech tree,
DAILY THOUGHT
And the Lord sent flery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died.—Numbers 21:6.
THE SEEDS of our punishment are sown at the same time we com-
multigraphed [ more gratefully | The draft of 1917 was fair and it was popular, | all you need for the American public,
| sional committee on the present plan | selected, T\have a date long ago engaged in the West,
mit the sin.—Hesiod.
MONDAY, AUG. 12, 1940
Gen. Johnson Says—
Draft, if Patterned After That Of 1917 Will Be Fair, and That Is All the American Public Will Ask
EW YORK, Aug. 12-If the Selective Service Bill passes Congress, every man within the age limits finally decided upon will have to go to the polling place in the voting precinct where he usually registers for election, There he will be asked a few very simple questions about hig age, occupation, citizenship, residence, ete, He will be registered on a roll of in. habitants of that district, He will be given a registra« tion card showing that he has performed that duty. Registration is not very important of itself, except for protection of the registrant, It creates no privileges and imposes no obligations, Yet, during the World War, it created the first great problem. In my own state of OKlahoma, especially among Indians, and in some Southern hillbilly sections it was regarded as sinister and some of the boys left the reservation to avoid it. Instead of sending deputy sheriffs and U. 8. Marshalls, we asked missionaries and preachers to go out to explain that it was a measure for their own protection. After the registration, which discloses the whole number of men in each community from whom soldiers are to be selected, the next step Is “classification,” “« ¥
HIS means a determination by local boards suge gested by the Governors of each state and aps pointed by the President. These boards decide on those who can best go with” the least disturbance to family, economic or educational relationships. In 1917 it was suggested to me that these boards would be under such pressure of politics and favoritjsm that the whole draft would be a scandal, My defense of the system was that by reason of the great lottery in Washington that determined the order of each man's calling which was so arranged that no local influence could guide it—if Mrs, Jones' hoy or husband came up for examination as No. 258 (the first number drawn in the draft) and Mrs, 8mith's relative was No. 259, that board could practice no favoritism without accounting to Mrs, Smith, And so it proved, So will it prove today, I had the most satisfaction in answering the high« est personality in Washington who had sent me a note saying, “please exempt Private S."” "© 4 &
N reply, I wrote, “Dear Mrs, W.: There is no authority in Washington or on earth who can exempt Private 8. except the local board of his neighbors who know best whether he should be exempted.” I wrote a letter to Congressmen to the same effect, Tt was a million times. No letter was ever received by Washington legislators. That's
1 have been asked to comment before a Congres= On the day
If the two can be adjusted, I will be glad to attend, In at least one newspaper column and in my information from the War Department it is provided that the new director of Selective Service shall be this writer because he had that job in 1917. It then elevated him {rom the subaitern ranks to that of Brigadier-General. Of course, I will do whatever my Government asks, but wauldn't it be better to give another voung man a chance? Whoever it may be, I promise my services in any capacity that will do him any good, 5
Business
By John T. Flynn
War Junta Warned Public Is Now Aware of Defense Bottlenecks
EW YORK, Aug. 12-The junta that is putting a hasty conscription hill over on the country is now busy-and with some prospect of success—in an attempt to induce Congress to commit an act of war against Germany. Congress had better take a good look at some grim facts. I'he public has heard a lot about the billions for defense. And in the last week or two it has begun to hear about the slowness with which these billions can be translated into weapons. But the full and bald facts about this are not fully realized. On the day the President announced that we would produce 50,000 planes, I wrote that this plane program faced the bottleneck of the machine tool industry, I talked to men familiar with that industry and learned of the disturbing facts. Now the country is learning how serious that bottleneck is. But it has vet to get all the facts, because those familiar with them are keeping the country in the dark. Here are some facts that have been collected by responsible men whose business it is to know about such things. An airplane or gun or tank factory building can be put up quickly enough. It is only a shell, But you cannot make guns or planes or tanks in it until you fill it with machines. And you cannot build the machines unless you have machine tools with which to do it. And you have to have machine tools to build machine tools. And we haven't got these machine tools. That has been more or less evident already.
Lack Skilled Mechanics
What has not been made clear is that you cannot make machine tools, and you cannot operate them, and vou cannot operate the tools they produce, unless you have highly skilled mechanics We have deliberately, for years, kept down the number of skilled mechanics in order to keep the labor pool small and as part of the general program of keeping production down and keeping prices and profits up. Now see what we need in the way of skilled tool engineers and mechanics. A survey has been made by competent engineers eager to aid the Government, and it reveals this startling fact: We need 100000 tool engineers and 500,000 skilled mechanics, Oh, very well! We'll just get them—train them. But it takes eight years to make a skilled tool engineer, and at least {wo years to make a skilled mechanic. What is the conclusion of the engineers who made this survey? It is that no training program can produce these men for the present, What is being done about it? Literally nothing.
Watching Your Health
By Jane Stafford
ATE summer and early fall vacations or week-end outings are often spoiled by the chigger, also known as the red harvest mite, Contrary to popular belief. and unlike the itch mite, the chigger does not burrow under the skin but merely pierces it as deeply as possible with its pointed mandibular claws. | Once anchored, it hangs on quietly and begins a process nf liquefying the skin. .If it is not removed, it finally drops off filled up, not with blood, but with fatty, predigested tissue juice. The actusl bite is seldom noticed and the first sign that tells you you have been attacked by chiggers is the skin irritation and blister. The intense itching which causes all the discomfort is due to a substance which the chigger injects into the skin to dissolve it. Flowers of sulphur will help protect you against chiggers, the U. 8. Public Health Service advises, If vou have to go into fields of tall grass or weeds, or wherever there is heavy undergrowth, apply flowers of sulphur liberally to stockings and underclothing. If you have been exposed to chiggers, apply a thick lather of soap all over the body as soon as pos=sible and let it remain on for 10 minutes or longer before washing it off. Then apply a second soapy lather and finally rinse thoroughly with clear water, Kerosene or 95% alcohol will kill the chigger mites and some persons use one or the other of these, but either may prove irritating to some skins, so proceed with caution if you use them. If chiggers are numerous in the locality, they ean be routed, one authority says, by prolonged efforts in the line of removing weeds and underbrush, keeping the grass cut short, and carefully spraying the vege= tion with sulphur by means of a dust gun or dust blower, :