Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 20 November 1940 — Page 10

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RILEY 5551

Give Light and the People Will Find Their Own Way

AY, "WOVEMBER 20, 1940

WEDNES

|

AYS

decided, wisely, to stay on the job. The 191 to 148 against adjournment in this

CONGRESS S

ONGRESS hat House voted: era of hair-trigg The vote was no (credit to 86 members who did not turn up for the rgll-call. Most of these—including 21 who were piously paired against quitting—have already *‘adjourned” individually by simply going home and staying there, leaving the work to their colleagues. But anyway, 1 atter has been settled. And now it is up to the Senate to fish or cut bait on the Walter-Logan bill, with its needed curbs on arbitrary bureaucrats, and on the Smith amendments to the National Labor Relations Act. The use of parliamentary subterfuges to thwart the will of a majority by preventing a Senate vote on these two measures has long| sinc passed the limits of propriety.

T

‘A GREAT DAY FOR THE CIVIL SERVICE "HEY say in Washi ton that a good one-third of the average Congressman’s mail deals with patronage. Letters from jobhunters, from friends of jobhunters, from politicians obliged to jobhunters—and the replies to same. And the officeseekers don’t stop with writing; they cluster in the statesmafi’s outer office, and tag at his heels in the corridors. Well, most o historic step, bot on the Ramspeck around for more y would like to remember; the patronage system i where it survives,|by gi the protection of—and a Some ho fe

Of course, most of

alphabet agencies byt th and this action will in

tenure of all those (ma

f that's all over now. Yesterday, in a h houses of Congress completed action bill. [This bill, which has been kicking ears than Rep. Bob Ramspeck of Georgia er, authorizes the President to abolish ‘most of the Government offices ing the personnel of these offices esponsibility to—the Civil Service.

s are potentially affected.

the employees in the New Deal re through Democratic patronage, effect guarantee indefinitely the be 75 per cent) who can pass a “noncompetitive” test. ? any of these people did help to deliver the vote in ‘their wards back home, and got their jobs that way. We wish they had been appointed for better reasons. But, i. , the procedure of the Ramspeck bill has been accepted as the only practical method of extending the civil service—that is, to take large blocks of patronage appointees and “blanket” them in to the merit system. The hope, and reasonable prospect, is that some day there will be all merit and no politics. Oddly, the loudest isquawker against the Ramspeck bill has been a Democrat, Rep. Jack Nichols of Oklahoma, a blatant champion of the patronage idea. In spite of this gentleman and others, the job has been done, Itisa great day for the merit system. Mr. Ramspeck and Senator Jim Mead and the others who have fought so patiently are due the thanks of a nation that wants its civil servants hired |and promoted on a basis of ability rather than a basis of vote geting.

GOVERNMENT ASSIST IRST reports ascribing political motives to the placing .of 300 employees in the State Health Department under fewer system seem tp have been completely in error. Governor Townsend had no alternative if he wished to continue getting Federal aid [for the department. One Federal agency, the Bureau of Maternal and Child Health, stepped in a4 year ago and informed Indiana authorities that they woul e to place employees in this field under merit ating r lose Federal funds. Shortly thereafter the U.S. Public Health Service suggested similar action for the remainder pf the department, saying it was withholding action |o e 1940 budget unless favorable action was taken. Go or Townsend complied. As a result, one more state department moves under the merit system. |'T is no question that it has long belonged there. In this case, it was accomplished solely through Government pressure, and the question must inevitably rise in the mi of the patronage boys how many other departments 6 subjected to similar pressure in the future.

. TO MINIMIZE STR KES EARS ago the railroad workers, railroad owners and the Government decided that the trains must be kept running. So they worked put a procedure for settling em-ployer-employee disputes under which the right to strike became something to be turned to only as a last resort. By utilizing this machinery of negotiation, mediation and fact-finding study, rai road employees have won numerous wage increases and other concessions without ever, in a single instance; stopping traffic on the rails. *? Profiting by the rai oad industry’s example, the Tennessee Valley Authdrity and the A. F. of L. Council of Construction and Metal Wor] ers, entered into an agreement providing similar mediation facilities and stipulating that there should be no [strikes until all mediation possibilities had first been exhausted. As a kesult, all of TVA’s huge dam-building program has been carried on without a substantial interruption. I. This TVA-A. Fi of L.|contract begins with the words: “The public interest in an undertaking such as the TVA always being paramount . ; .” J There are other undertakings wherein the public interest is likewise paramount—notably the manufacture of weapons for national defense. Why couldn’t a similar mediation procedure be extended to. all lines of defense production? Wouldn't it Be a good idea for the manufacturers of planes, tanks, guns, etc., fo negotiate with their employees a contract which starts off with a declaration that the public interest is paramount, and which sets up facilities for mediation and arbifration, so that there will be no more needless strikes an d stoppages of production? . 1 i

wr

Fair Enough

By Westbrook Pegler

Claims Unions Assuming a Vested Right to Rule Millions of People Or to Injure Property of Others INF", YORK, Nov. 20—This is ‘the week when

two great rival groups of labor are doing their best to howl down cerfiin fundamental facts and

establish a great power over the people of the United States and much of their property. Some of these unioneers are downright, incorrigible rascals with no discount. Some are Communists who hate the American nation and strive constantly to run the country. Some are dictators in their respective spheres and some are foreigners who have complied with the legal formalities of naturalization but ig not Americans and never will

"Two great conventions are now in progress. The American Fedih eration of Labor ‘is meetiag in New Orleans and the C. I. O. in Atlantic City. There is much talk of a reconciliation between them and the creation of a combined organization. The national government is urging the rivals to unite, and public opinion, which can err, also favors a big, unified labor movement. The danger to the people’s liberty lies in the fact that both of these big unions take it for granted that they have a vested right to gavern millions of citizens or to wipe out the lawful business of good American citizens, all in flagrant disregard of the rights of the victims. ” on 8 AM NOT particularly concerned at the moment with racketeering in the A. F. of L. or Communist conspiracies in the C. I. O. I am dealing with the fundamental faet that these private organizations should be considered as they are and not as tradition and sentiment represent them. If I should form a club of 25 or 50 members in a given neighborhood and call it a labor union, would

you then grant me the right to bar other Americans from their occupations, to sell licenses to work, to tax the members and use their money for private or political purposes. according to my own judgment and, whether by my own whim or by vote of the members, to inflict economic damage or ruin on the owner of a lawful business? Reduced to simple form, that is what some unions are, and these are things which unions do. The national government, with the passive consent of the public, has taken the position that the two big unions are national institutions, having some vague but-strong rights of government. Their bigness doesn’t alter the absolute wrongness of their conduct. ” # ” UNION has a right to persuade citizens by peaceful means to join its ranks and to bargain collectively on their behalf. Failing to reach a bargain with an employer, a union has a right to call out its members and to picket the premises peacefully. It has no right to use violence or other coercion to obtain new members or to exclude from membership

individuals who meet the qualifications and apply for admission. Government authority and a powerful but mistaken popular tradition assist unions in unjust conduct against the rights of individual citizens on the employing side. The issue represented by a picket line almost invariably is one which calls for a careful examination of the facts. Nevertheless, the public is expcted to pass snap judgment on complicated disputes of which it has no knowledge and to assist the union and harm the employer by joining a boycott against the business. The whole concept of unionism needs revision, and the talk which is filling the air and the papers this week ignores this fact and starts with an assumption that certain powers are now established by custom which should be challenged and disallowed.

Business By John T. Flynn

Faulty Reasoning of Spending Bloc.

ACINE, Wis., Nov. 20.—What we may be in for is now clearly revealed in those discussions which have been reported from Washington between two groups of economists on our spending policies. One group is referred to as the New Deal group. It argued that the, war and the defense program is~io be used as a laboratory to prove that a government can produce prosperity by spending borrowed money. Of course we do not need the defense program to prove that. Any individual, any city, any nation can produce for him or itself unbounded prosperity by borrowing money as long as the borrowing holds out. The defense program, however, according to Rexford Tugwell, will show that the spending of 12 billion by the Government will do what the spending of three billion could not do—since about 12 billion of Government spending is essential to create the necessary prosperity. There is very little doubt, as matters now stand, that governments will have to spend a certain amount each year to supplement the outlays of private investors. But when Government spends it must get its spending money by taxes or borrowing. The trouble with this school of “borrowing” economists is that they imagine that Government debts do not matter, that while the Government owes the money, it owes it to its people so that the transaction, so far as its economic effect is concerned, is more or less washed out. : 2 4 ow But if the theory of these gentlemen is adopted and we proceed to borrow and spend 10 or 12 or more billions a year first for defense and later for other things, it will not take long to run the debt up to a hundred billion. And if we go into the war we will do that in a couple of years probably. When we have a debt of a hundred billion the interest eharge will be around three billion a year— for we will not continue to get the low rates of short-term Treasury financing. This will mean that three billion dollars will have to be squeezed out of the hides of the American people in taxes to pay the interest to the bondholders. The fiction that this interest will go back to all the people is of course pure nonsense. It will have to be taken from workers in sales taxes, in invisible excise taxes, in ever-rising and drastic income taxes. And it will pass into the hands of investors. These will include people of wealth, commercial banks, large corporations, savings banks and insurance companies —the latter owned, in theory, by the people. But these funds will not be spent by the peopie but pass into the hands of the surpluses of these giant corporations. 8 And on the very face of things, this policy is good for only a few years. Having borrowed the first hundred billion, will we go on to borrow another hundred billion? Where will it stop? The theory of these New Deal economists is that it will never stop, that it is a good thing and should be continued.

So They Say—

GOLLY, I'VE BEEN, on the receiving end for so long that it will be a great thrill to do a lot of giving for a change.—Alice Marble, tennis champion, on turning pro. 3 * » %® ALL THE DICTATORSHIPS arose from democracies that didn’t have the guts to rule—Max Lerner, Williams College professor. - w * THE CITIZENS OF Mexico have many ties with the people of the United States, not the least of which is a passionate belief in democracy.—Vice Presidentelect Henry A. Wallace. ; * * i EMPLOYERS SHOULD treat applicants for jobs and employees in line for promotion in the manner that they normally would if there had been no con-

scription bill passed. —W. P, Edmunds, Cleveland industrial relations manager, : :

U. S. Debt Not Like Other Debt Is |

THE INDIANAPOLIS TIMES Another Old Greek Ruin!

The Hoosier Forum

1 wholly disagree with what you say, but will defend to the death your right to say it.—Voltaire.

PROTESTS REMOVAL OF OFFICER AT MARKET By “One Who Patronizes the City Market” I would like to register a protest through the Forum of the taking away of the officer at the entrance of the City Market Parking Garage. The traffic was pretty orderly until the officer was taken away. There are a great number of private business people in the market who pay rent to the City of Indianapolis and the flow of machines can only be controlled by an officer outside to see that every driver keeps his place. One man cannot watch both the inside and outside. n ” HOOVER INCONSISTENT ON FOOD PLEA, IS CHARGE By An American Herbert Hoover's address before a Vassar College audience in which he pleads for Americans to feed the 15 million starving citizens of five European countries sounds rather

Marines with fixed bayonets to quiet their cries for bread as he did in ’32 when the starving World War veterans asked his aid? I am of the opinion his plea would have more effect if everyone could forget that disgraceful un-American act. Who paid for the radio time in this effort to mold public opinion?

28 LAMBASTING THE PRESS FOR BACKING WILLKIE

By Mrs. Barnes Holding It will be appreciated if you will give your readers my views on the following: A majority of the American voting public on Nov. 5 knocked a majority of daily newspapers off their editorial soapboxes for the third time in eight years. In 1932 about 60 per cent of the daily press opposed Roosevelt and he was elected. Four years ago 64 per cent vowed he should not: return to the White House, and the voters went ahead and renewed his lease. In this election more than 77 per cent of the papers swore he'd ruin the country, but he came back once more. Our Tory publishers would do well to sit down and study this trend of increasing editorial ineffectiveness. Having a hundred thousand, or a million, or 10 million dollars, and a newspaper may make a man

inconsistent. Why doesn’t he sug- ¥ gest that this country send the

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

a Tory publisher but it doesn’t make him an editor. Instead of seeking to force his personal opinions and those of wealthy friends upon the public, he might spend some time finding out what the public really | wants and really needs from its; Government. The sour tone of some of the editorial comments upon the Roosevelt victory is a strong indication that' most publishers haven't learned anything from their latest failure to convince a majority of the people. Most of them have made it plain that they will keep up the same reactionary refrain we have heard for ears. ‘ If they do, they will find fewer and fewer listeners. Maybe former Liberty Leaguers like that tune, but to most of us it's a headache.” ” ” ”

THANKSGIVING AND THE LOW-INCOME GROUPS By Mr. B. Frank “Taking Give Out’ of Thanksgiving”: There will be many poor families right here in the city who are depending on 16 and 18-dollar a week jobs—and there are plenty they cannot afford to. There are very few rentals under the 18-dollar minimum, so there goes one week's pay. Families cannot thrive under a 6-dollar a week allowance for groceries, so again, after it is figured up on the average of four weeks and four days to a month, there goes almost one week and a half of a week’s pay. That leaves a balance of one week and a half for insurance, clothes, school needs, coal, furniture payments, and transportatign, etc. There's practically nothing left when one gets done figuring. A wage earner of the earning power I have mentioned deesn’t get to keep his pay very long afier he receives it. There isn't an opportunity for him to save anything for a “rainy day.” When the “rainy

day” occurrs, he’s down and out, and goes into debt. After he re-

—

gallos | ] ¢

Side Glances—By Galbraith

“I thought

Va

gown | was lgoking at

I _, 2COPR. 1940 BY NEA SERVICE, INC., T. M. REG. U. 8. PAT. OFF.

that would wake him up—now bring on that expensive

11-20

this voice and articulation; 22,000,000

covers there's an extra burden of

| into the Army, Navy and air force. the point where it could work no longer without war

20; 1940

_ WEDNESDAY, NOV. Gen. Johnson

. + . |

Says—

Prosperity Based Solely on War Sure to Upset Our Economy Unless Proper Safeguards Are Set Up Now

ASHINGTON, Nov. 20.—As all current trade statistics show, due largely to the defense program, the gigantic American economic system is swinging inte-an upward surge of consumption, production and employment. As those statistics do not show, we ain't seen nothin’ yet. Neither the mere = appropriation of Federal money, nor even the letting of contracts produces these results. They come from the actual out-pour-ing of money in payment by the Government for goods delivered, or by contractors in preparing to produce those goods. This process has scarcely start ed. Yet it has already resulted im a vast re-employment, not merely in the war industries, but in all industries to which the increased pay rolls trickle down to supply all those human wants so long deferred. As this column has tried to show from studies of our experience in the World War and the experience in other countries, this 1s a snowball-rolling-down-hill process. We have started it. There are ways— not of stopping it—but of regulating and controlling it. If it isn't regulated and controlled it could create explosive disaster. : Let's skip that for a moment. The point to make just now is that, judging from results of meager spending to date, by next summer, American business —all of it—will be running at the highest rate: it has ever known. Beyond that, and depending on the course of war, which no man can foresee, the sky is the limit. So what? ” 2 »

ET me quote from a U. P. dispatch, a recent colloquy between Robert Garner, a banker, and Rex Tugwell, the Administration “spend” enthusiast. “Garner: If the Administration knows how to create employment why hasn't it done so in the past eight years? . “Tugwell: It always required from 12 to 15 billion dollars of Government spending a year to do the job, not two or three billions. fet 4 “Interruption by Thurman Arnold: Do you mean that from an economic point of view, it's a grand war “Tugwell: Yes, if we don't get into it.” In other words, this necessary but hectic war extravagance was our only way out. It was Hitler's way out—absorbed his unemployed by the forced draft of vast industrial rearmament, labor battalions and It worked to

—“export or die, conquer or die.” For a century it was truly said: “The principle business of Prussia is war.” But modern war is no longer good business. It costs too much in capital

paying those debts. It is the same | when short time occurs. A worker of the type 1 have | mentioned does not welcome holi- | days for holidays shorten bis week, and do the same to his pay check. If there is any give to Thanksgiving, | then there are a lot of people who | are not on the receiving end of | that give. I don’t want any of that old | “soft-soaping” in reply to this letter, for words of consolation are | not the money which is required | for real relief of worry and the | practical things that are needed to | remain alive. | of those low paying jobs; and others that don't pay as much—| who will not be able to celebrate Thanksgiving Day as it should be | celebrated for the very reason that

| |

‘ ” » TIRED OF SLURS TOSSED AT WILLKIE By M. R. S., Indianapolis I am tired of reading letters in The Hoosier Forum referring to Mr. Willkie as Windy and the slurring remarks made about the quality of

of us recognized the difference between an honest man stating his hopest opinions to the best of his ability and a man who was trained by the best tutors and the finest schools, at no saving the expense.

their misdemeanors. are political jobs which is just an-

cause he talked plain language and

couldn't find fault with what he said they try to ridicule the way he said it. More speeches by Mr. Willkie is what this country meeds to bring us back to earth. Speeches, without all the Harvard accents and big words we can’t remember long enough to look up in the dictionary. They sound promising and, later, are “Broken Promises.” = » » TAKING A POT SHOT AT NEW DEALER'S WAR CRY By J. B. P. Daniel Francis Clancy suggests that the anti-New Dealers be sent to war. If the New Dealers expect to win the war that is what will have to be done, for the anti-New Dealers are the only ones who have done any straight shooting for the past eight years. I've stuck around and watched things for over half a century and I've never seen such a

exhibition of quantity vs. quality as I saw on Nov. 5.

YET I GIVE THANKS By JANE SIGLER

I thank Thee, Lord, but not for power, \ To others I must bow; And not for gold, Each day I earn my bread by sweat of brow; Nor yet for lands, I have no plot of ground to call my own; And not for fame, Beyond this neighborhood I unknown. .

For strength to work from dawn to setting sun; For time to rest, Untroubled sleep is mine when day is done; For this—my home—' There’s no more humble place along the street; For friends and folks . . . Lord, these are things that make my life complete.

DAILY THOUGHT

Behold, the righteous shall be recompensed in the earth; much more the wicked and the sinner. —Proverbs 11:31.

IT IS THE AMENDS of a short and troublesome life, that doing

| industrial war work are already apparent.

. +. They won't give Willkie credit | for trying to show them the ‘light’|} because they prefer darkness to hide | §

They don't want jobs unless they | | other form of Public Charity. Be- |}

told them truths they didn’t like to | § hear and because in honesty they

investment to leave any room for revenue. It destroys too much of the conquest to make the game worth

the candle. Aion prosper ‘when their labors create production for their use and the instruments of greater production. War production is not for use but for destruction and for creating instruments of still more destruction. It may bring momentary in-

o o u

| dustrial activity and employment, but that blows a

bubble the very existence of which depends wholly on greater wars or the threat of them. If peace came tomorrow the whole economy of Germany would collapse in greater unemployment, bankruptcy and desperation than her people have ever known. If, without proper wisdom in controls and regulation of our war effort, we gear up our industrial machine in complete dependence on the continuance of war, we shall be in exactly the same position. Signs of panic carelessness and lack of foresight that disastrously attended our 1917 and 1918 I believe that it is possible to keep these dangers in control and that this Administration is competent to do it— but not on any such philosophy as the above quota-

| tion, correctly or not, attributed to Dr. Tugwell. It

is simply Hitler's philosophy edited incompetently.

A Woman's Viewpoint By Mrs. Walter Ferguson

OING back to college is always fun for an old grad. and even if it isn’t your own college you still get the sense of time turned backward. At a recent vocational conference for women at Ohio State university the feeling was both strong and pleasant. Really, the professors’ ought to be very intelligent; they have such wonderful opportunities to learn from the young. So many interesting things happened it's hard to sort them out and select the best. Probably the most vivid memory of the event for me is the tace and voice of the girl who rose at the evening forum discussion on “Marriage and Gainful Occupation for Women” to announce: ; “My mother has worked ever since I can remember. I can't see that having a job ever made her a less competent mother. Her children are all self-reliant, and I can tell ‘you another thing: We're just as proud of her as we can be.” That put a quietus on some of the best-prepared material on the other side of the argument. Altogether the discussions dealing with working marired women were sprightly and exactly as heated as is usually the case. u" But when that young girl’s voice soared out in indignation through the room I thought, “Why are we older women up here trying to tell these youngsters what to do. That's the feeling I have when I am around crowds of young people for any length of time. “We are proud of our mother.” Isn't that something for a woman to treasure? It ought to be a sweet morsel for all those who are obliged to work and who may sometimes be troubled by the thought that their families are neglected. I came away from that particular conference once more convinced that we can’t regulate other people's lives according to rules. For every woman the problem of marriage and gainful occupation must remain a personal problem.

Watching Your Health By Jane Stafford rr

ETTER health for America is the fortunate byproduct of the training of the new draft army foreseen by health authorities of the Metropolitan Life Insurance Co. Many of the young men themselves will benefit from better food, more physical exercise and more regular living habits, it is pointed out. Judging from World War army figures, the obese may benefit by losing some of the extra weight that is likely otherwise to put undue strain on their hearts, and the underweight will gain the pounds they may need for better health. The medical care which the men in training camps will receive is another type of health benefit to be expected. Of direct benefit to them and of indirect benefit to all of us will be the extensive vaccination against smallpox. Men who have never been vaccinated will have the benefit of this protection against a loathsome and sometimes fatal disease. The risk of the disease spreading to the general public will be. less when more people are vaccinated and thus res. moved from the ranks of those who could get thei disease and spread it. Men who come from area§% where vaccination against smallpox is not compulsory, * or where there is effective agitation against it, may, through the Army routine, learn the value of vaccis. nation and later be advocates of vaccination in their home communities. The medical examination of the men before they are accepted for service will reveal in many case§ impairments to health which had previously beer undiagnosed or untreated. Whether or not these merk. are accepted for Army training, the discovery ang

good, suffering ill, entitles man to a

yesterday afternoon,”

-

longer and better. —Penn.

correction of such defects will be of distinct value a