Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 26 November 1940 — Page 14

J. E12 —_— — The Indianapolis Times

(A SCRIPPS-HOWARD NEWSPAPER)

MARK FERREE

ROY W. HOWARD RALPH BURKHOLDER ] Business Manager

President | Editor

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Give Light and the People Will Find Their Own Way TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 1940

MORE ABOUT REAL ESTATE

: APROPOS of Lord Lothian’s statement that England is running out of dollar exchange, which she must have to buy planes and other munitions in this country, we have at hand an interesting pamphlet issued by Mr. Armand Hammer of New York. ; Mr. Hammer points out that in 1917 the United States paid Denmark $25,000,000 for the Virgin Islands—just 133 square miles of territory. : “If we were to assume,” he writes, “that the United States could purchase the islands of Great Britain in the West Indies, the Falkland Islands (off Argentina) and British Honduras, totaling 25,729 square miles, on the basis of the $25,000,000 paid for the 133 square miles on the Virgin Islands the purchase value would be $4,825,000,000.” That does not include British Guiana, with its 89,500 square miles, which on the same standard would be worth $16,750,000,000. Then Mr. Hammer takes up the matter of the British war debt, which exceeds $5,000,000,000. If we had granted England the same debt terms that we accorded to Italy in a settlement 15 years ago, he says, the British debt to us as of 1925 would amount to only $204,000,000—and, as of this year, adding interest at 315 per cent, only $311,000,000. Those figures suggest some interesting possibilities, which Lord Lothian may or may not have explored in his visit with President Roosevelt yesterday afternoon. It may be that the present situation offers us a Godsent opportunity to (1) wipe out the war-debt matter as far as England is concerned, (2) acquire in perpetuity those British outposts in American waters which we need for hemispheric defense, and (3) at the same time provide England with more dollars with which to keep American supplies flowing overseas. It would be a mistake for us to offer to buy the far-off . Falkland Islands. If anybody is to acquire the Falklands from England it should be Argentina. ~ But when it comes to Bermuda, and Jamaica, and the Bahamas, and Trinidad, and all those other British sentries in the Caribbean, their acquisition by the United States would be an enormous advance toward that impregnability which this country and this hemisphere require.

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AMARILLO | OTWITHSTANDING all the sub-sub-zero thermometer

readings on Greenland’s icy mountains or in the neth- |

ermost regions of Antarctica, anyone who has ever lived in the Texas Panhandle will testify that Amarillo is the coldest place on earth. 4 ~ Through the long summers of hot, dry winds, when ey® squint to slits and complexions are sandblown, it may be that blood grows thin among the Panhandle populace, and they are not prepared for what winter brings. Now winter has come again to Amarillo, as always abreast that remorseless wind. We read of city and countryside sheathed in ice, the highways a sKating rink, electricpower and telephone lines down, bus, railroad and airplane traffic stopped. Everything stopped but that wind. And how it blows, over a land which has the contours of a billiard table, each gusty mile colder and faster. Old-timers on the plains tell a story of a sourdough who started out with sled and dogs to discover the North Pole. It was so cold the harness snapped, the sled cracked to pieces, and all the dogs froze to death except one. When the man and surviving dog reached their destination, the dog walked gingerly three times around the North Pole and then leaned against it and shivered and whined. The disgusted sourdough kicked the brute with his boot and said: “You cur, you don’t know what cold is! You'd better be glad you're not in Amarillo tonight!”

WORDS VS. DEEDS

HE Executive Council of the American Federation of Labor has issued a bitter denunciation of Thurman Arnold, Assistant Attorney General, for his use of the Sherman Anti-Trust Law to break up criminal practices long notorious in the building industry. . - The Executive Council called Mr. Arnold’s campaign “the most complete and concentrated legal warfare against labor ever attempted by a government agency in America.” As a matter of fact it is just the opposite. It is a fight to save workers in the building field from a system of collusion through which employers and a minority of union officials have kept prices so high and restrictions so onerous as to stifle building and throw the individual craftsman out of work. The Supreme Court has held that while the Sherman Anti-Trust Law cannot be used to prevent unionization or to interfere with the legitimate activities of unions, labor . organizations are not exempt from its provisions when they enter into illegal combinations that have nothing to do with the basic questions of collective bargaining, Yet the A. F. of L. Executive Council still brazenly declarés that the law “was certainly not intended to apply to labor organizations or to their activities.” The A. F. of L. is on trial at the bar of public opinion. It will not win favor in that court by persisting in its attacks on those who, like Mr. Arnold, are combatting conditions it pretends to deplore. :

MINDER TO ALIENS

LIENS in Indianapolis who have not already registered ~~ under the Alien Registration Act of 1940 should lose no more time in doing so. : Washington has made plain there will be no extension of the Dec. 26 deadline. Penalty for failure to register is six months in jail or a $1,000 fine, or both. There has been a commendable response to date, but a good many are hoiding off until the usual last moment. Zhe should remember they are dealing with the Federal’ Government in this case—not buying automobile licenses, There will be no second gall. : :

Fair Enough By Westbrook Pegler

Poets and Their Works He Does Indict Their Stuff Is Both Obscure and Trite —In Proof of Which His Own He'll Cite EW YORK, Nov, 26~Not many of my readers

suspect that, in addition to my well-known knack of expressing petty irritation in terms of high-

sounding, moralistic scorn, I possess also an ability |

to create poetry of great confusion and charm. That is my fault, for these months have been crowded with shrill bickering with the New Deal, the gang-

sters of the labor rackets, the fur- |"

riners of the Newspaper Guild and that always-provocative heshrew, Mr. Harold F, Ickes,

Now I feel, however, that I owe |’

it to myself to show something of my esthetic nature, but, as a preliminary, would like to explain

that poetry is a great fake, at|-

once the most pretentious and the least respectable method of literary expression. The poet has a tremendous advantage over) those who write in prose in that he works under no requirements to make any meaning clear. This explains why Kipling and Longfellow, for example, are regarded as hack, or naive, poets and their work doggerel. Thus Mr. George Ade was banging his old gray head against a reinforced concrete artistic absolute when he said that James Whitcomb Riley was “a genuine poet, even if people could understand him.” A brave but futile remonstrance on behalf of an old friend. If it had been true Mr. Ade would not have felt the need to say it, and he said it only because he realized that for all its beauty, Riley’s work never could be ‘certified as poetry because of the very fact that people can un-

derstand it. 8 ” »

OW, I find poetry quite easy and a pleasant relaxation from the toil of standard writing under what might be called straight commission rules. You start with no idea, write in all directions from a point some distance off center, and your work can ask no higher praise than the verdict that it doesn’t seem to

mean anything. For instance:

NIGHT OVER YUGOSLAVIA

Let cravens crawl when the bugles call And war clouds lower near; Let vultures fly in the tumbling sky, What know the brave of fear?

For ’tis the Spartan breed that cries From soul to soul o'er the centuries And all is lost when honor dies | For the hearth-fires burning dear.

So spring to arms ‘mid war’s alarms And curs’d be he who quails, When strong men fight to defend the right And Sharon stalks the vales.

It is man’s way to die in war Undaunted yet, forevermore; What else was valor given for While freedom yet prevails?

” s ”

TARTS nowhere, goes nowhere, means nothing, but resounds in a sort of way. In short, poetry. Or this: Last night, in the storm-wrack down the glade, Where cowslips bloom in the gentle shade, My soul went wandering, sore afraid To drink the wine of fear.

While lightning flashed in the ebon sky, Your hot lips murmured a gentle cry, “My lover,” and I knew ‘twas I, Alone at Cupid’s bier.

And yet from the crucible of time In ecstacy of love sublime The shadows in eerie pantomime They danced in measures drear.

Oh, say, when in the bosky swale The kine are lowing, wan and pale, My love sings sweet as the nightingale, For you are ever near. - :

I could develop this demonstration if I had more space, but there are Mrs. R., the General and Ray to think of, and the desk probably: will cut hell out of it as it is, which, to poetry, fortunately, makes no difference. But I just wanted you to know.

Business

By John T. Flynn

Prices Will Need to Be Controlled— And the Time to Do That Is Now

EW YORK, Nov. 26.—The time to think about controlling prices is now, For already the first phase of the price problem appears. That first phase is the condition of unbalance. When a flood of fresh purchasing power is let loose upon the market it always expresses itself in a few special areas at first. What these are is determined by the special kind of purchasing power that is flooded out. In this case it is war preparation money that is sluiced into the system. The full force of this new purchasing power is ‘as yet, of course, far from felt. So far as Government spending is concerned it is only moderately over what it was last year— only about 60 million more since July 1. But the major effect thus far is from private expenditures by companies that have or will get Government contracts. They are pouring the money out in preparations, in buying raw materials, in producing materials which the Government will pay for later. i Also immense sums are being spent by England here. So that the war money pouring into producers’ hands is far greater than is indicated by Government spending. But under the impact of this, prices begin to rise in certain places. These prices go up while others do not. After a little of this the whole price structure is unbalanced. After that the Government is powerless to take measures to prevent’ those prices that have not risen from going up to meet the other commodities that have had the first rise.

" » # 3 \

8S we see a big strike in California in an plane factory for a 50 per cent raise in wages. L So not know anything about the merits of this strike. mands, which means that wages will go up. As they go up in these essential industries, these rises set the pattern and level for industry in these regions and soon there are other wage disputes. Many commodities have risen in price. Corn, for instance, which was 50 cents a year ago, is 64 cents. War products like zinc and lead and quicksilver and various chemicals have gone up steadily. And this will continue as our own vast defense program swings into stride, The Dunn index shows that 25 industrial stocks have risen from 147 to 198. Lumber is climbing under the defense building impact. The commodity index as a whole -shows a price rise from 112.42 to 123 in the last three months, * The longer this continues the more difficult it will be to deal with, And it is difficult to dedl with now because these price increases are very popular wherever they occur. . : t

So They Say—

‘MY OPPOSITION #0 all forms of totalitarianism— Soviet, Nazi, Fascist and Falangist—is based upon my Catholic faith and my political convictions of freedom and democracy.—Don Luigi Sturzo, world-famous Italian opponent of Mussolini, now in America. y ie. .

PERSONALLY, I abomiinate the draft. I want American mothers without drafted sons. But I think this draft is absolutely imperative for the conservation of the American way.—Fannie Hurst,

“

alr-

But it is the forerunner of many such de-|:

. r40 Eas

WE

TUESDAY, NOV. 2%, 1040 Gen. Johnson

{Says—

Our Conduct of Last War Proves Democracy Needn't Go Totalitarian To Combat the Dictator Nations

ASHINGTON, Noy. 26.—It is being id with ine creasing repetition and insistence that a democracy can’t fight a dictatorship without creating a dictatorship in itself. It is not true but, like so much

other sloganeering, things corstantly repeated have a way of getting themselves accepted even without much debate, especially if they have some truth or an appearance of truth. If is true that complete involvement in major war requires ine creased centralized power in government and temporary surrender of some civil right, but what is thus necessary falls far short of a domestic dictatorship. . What this country did in industrial mobilization for our last war was so effective that most warring . nations have copied the general "plan with their own variations— especially Germany. Woodrow Wilson got about what he asked for, but the statutory dictatorial powers ne used were very slender, ‘i : : As far as industry was concerned, the whole structure was built on two powers—one was the power to commandeer factories, the other was to prescribe

4 | “priority lists”—statements of government needs for

The Hoosier Forum

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

PRESCRIBES LIVER PILLS FOR WILLKIE CRITIC By Richard Newhouse, Morristown, Ind. Since we have a good drug store on: nearly every corner why doesn’t Clyde P. Miller take a good dose of liver pills and remove some of the bad taste from his mouth. Sounds like he either lost a State job or an election bet. Anyway the election is over so let’s forget it all—including Clyde P. Miller, » » ” GLOATING A BIT OVER ELECTION PROPHECY By Wm. Lemon nl I made a statement previous to the election that the press had lost its power with the public and the reelection of President Roosevelt

has proved my statement to be true. The masses today do their own thinking, . . . last May I made a statement that Roosevelt was the only winner the Democrats had, that his humanitarian ideas made him an idol of the masses and today he is known the world over as one of our greatest Presidents and his legislation has given the underprivileged a chance to an existence of living like Americans should. The Republicans have never in our history gave labor or the farmer a chance and have always let capital exploit them on the “cross of gold.” » » » FEARS WE'RE BACK ON THE SUCKER LIST By Geo. C. Ramer Well fellow Americans, we appear to be back on the sucker list, and from all -appearances many of us seem to be as simple and gullible as we were back in 1914-1918. Though we were taken for many billions of dollars then, and we swore never again shall it happen, the stage is being set for an encore, only it is set on a grander scale. First it was “Cash & Carry”—and don’t say we weren't warned this would lead to greater entanglements —Borah, Nye and others gave us full warning. Now the cry is more planes, more ships, more finances. Will the Johnson Act go into discard? Probably so. Then the stage is set for us to lose our shirts. If we don’t become more vocal in protest to all this, we

rose “=

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7

por io Ln /

- fo cw

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

are going to deserve the consequences. Is Lord Northcliffe right when he said, as reported in Buor Hamilton’s book: “The American. people look alike, think" alike, dress alike, they are a nation of sheep . . . I: left $150,000,000.00 in America for propaganda purposes, . . . So far as exercising real independerice of judgment and action, with respect to the war, I can think of only one people with whom to compare the Americans, namely the Chinese.” There you are, suckers! Don’t say, we weren't warned.

® 8 8 CONTENDS JOBLESS HAVE THEMSELVES TO BLAME By James R. Meitzler, Attica, Ind.

Ernest Morton, General Secretary of the Workers Alliance, speaking of the unemployed, “They have for 10 years been denied the right to employ their physical and mental talents to the end that they might achieve an American standard of living which is a direct violation of all civil rights.”

Now men can employ themselves. Millions do, from billionaires on down to popcorn vendors. But there is nothing in law or life to guarantee success, profit, or an American standard of living. Men can work for hire. To do’ so they must be able to furnish something an emplcyer can use at a wage an employer can pay. But neither life nor law provide ability. The Constitution guarantees certain rights, freedom of religion but not priests, churches or idols. You pay for your own. Freedom of speech; you provide the tongue. The right to work but not opportunity, ability, or wage. Least of all a standard of living. That is up to you. Who denies the unemployed their rights? Not their fellow citizens.

Neither you nor I owe any man a job.. Not the taxpayers. We sup-

Side Glances—By Galbraith

"So you worked in a beauty parlor, eh? = Well, you're just the guy we al's horsel” |

port them. They themselves are the parties at fault. Before they achieve an American standard they must produce the means to exchange for it. - . ” ” M CONTENDS PEOPLE BECOMING SELF-EDUCATED By Mrs. M. H. 1 wonder if Voice in the Crowd can understand that lots of people do think deeper than the skin, but it is not logical thinking or practical, either. Most of it is sentimental thinking, whch does no one any practical good. You just listen to Clyde F. Miller. He tells’ it to you like it is. Only I can not think that Willkie is selfambitious. He is hired by his pals, wth whom he is all bound up. He is impetuous and gets all wound up in his speech making of course, but what lawyer can't? % It is accepted there are two classes in the country, THéy are the workers and the financiers. Striving and living on the one hand and greed and jealousy on the other. The great American press—we . learned about that, too, when radio came in. We people are becoming self-edu-cated so that we are able to figure things out for ourselves in a prac-

And about the 1917 war, informed people know big business sold America to the war, ‘That was a

be pulled on F. D, R. ” » ” ; DEMANDS EARLY REPEAL OF THE GOLD CLAUSE = . By E. ER. Egan :

To lay the specter of inflation and dictatorship . . . although reputable economists see no danger at present, the gold clause in the currency act should be repealed at once, It has served the purpose for which it was enacted and is a inr drance both in business and international commerce, , . . oi If it is repealed with a reservation of the amount required for currency issue . , , it would stimulate business both at home and abroad. The buying of gold would depend upon future developments. ! It should be made plain at once among other taxes that a retail tax would be imposed to finance armament and general Government expense, Another phase of war preparation and war relief is the lifting of the restriction of production. The purpose of this policy has long been antedated and accented by the war. As a supporter of the Administration, these suggestions are submitted with all confidence, but with a reservation of the urgency of the moment, Preparation all along the line should be of the first consideration, which would be of as much interest to domestic policies as armament and foreign.

‘LASSES

By JAMES D, ROTH The sorghum man now takes his

stand, Beside his sparking fire, And ladles syrup—pan to pan, As it bubbles high and higher.

A happy jovial soul is he, This man of sweet content; As he stokes the flame with wood so

free, Sweet way of life is meant.

Just see.

And every morning as I sip Of new-born life and health, ; I love the sorghum's sluggist drip, And its maker's friendly wealth, ————————————

DAILY THOUGHT

But he, knowing their thoughts, said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and a house divided against a house falleth.—Luke 11:17,

MEN'S HEARTS ought not to be set against one another, but set with

“only —Carlyle,

against evil

Cd Rnb SL

tical way instead of being a tool] j for the heads of that 22,000,000. 3

fast one which cost Wilson his| health and life, but no fast one will|

the products of industry which the Administration decided must be filled before any other orders. Commandeering differed very little from the peacetime power of eminent domain—if the government needs a property and the owner is unwilling to sell, the Administration takes it over and the courts determine what is “just compensation.”

ou »

T was not the use of these powers, but their existence and the threat of them that enabled the Government to ‘get what it wanted. In almost all cases, a mere request with no threat or use of power was” all that was needed. In time of war, in this country nearly all of business is eager to do its part. But as in all such community efforts, there is always a little “chiseling fringe” of slackers who try tp take advantage of the burdens borne by their more unwilling competition. Both to make the combined effort effective and to protect the patriotic from the greedy, it is advisable sometimes to get tough with this gentry. In the World War, one great but misguided manufacturer blustered and said: “I won't.” B. M. Baruch, who was making the “request,” didn’t answer directly. He simply reached for the telephone and let his visitor hear his directions on the subject of priorities which, in 24 hours, would have cut those great plants ‘off from any possible supply of fuel, power and railroad transportation. It was enough. Not only did it change “I won't” to “I will” in 10 minutes time, but that old roughneck became one of the most enthusiastic supporters. of the war program and turned in one of the best and quickest jobs in difficult production in the whole war effort.

#” » s

XCEPT for the railroads and a telegraph company, which rested on a different basis, outright commandeering was used only once. That statement once before made. in this column has been challenged. It is correct. ‘The case was that of the Smith & Wesson Manufacturing Co. for refusal to accept an award of the National War Labor Board. There was no press censorship except the willingness of the entire press voluntarily to comply with suggestions of the Administration. There was a tight control of exports, as there is now. Food supply was pretty thoroughly regulated by a control of profits rather than of prices and of a licensing system governing distribution. That was as near as this country came to dictatorship in the greatest military and industrial effort ever made up to that time. It is as near as is necessary now.

“"

A Woman's Viewpoint ‘By Mrs. Walter Ferguson

MHIS November, even more than usual, the press has deluged you with editorials thanking God for America.. Preachers, teachers, radio commentators, have reminded you how lucky you are. Yet the very fact that it seems necessary to reiterate the obvious is roof enough that many Amer--.lcamg are afraid and restive, According to the mail that comes to this desk, even the women are going cynical, and a cynical woman is an abnormal ;figure on the American scene. ; So maybe we ought 4o sit down with ourselves and figure : out what's the matter with our morale. Speaking from the feminine angle, it is not so perfect as our nail polish nor as well preserved as our permanents. ! How much gratitude do we feel in our hearts? Not half enough, I can tell you. Most of us Aren't thankful for what we have because were led with a desire to get more than we need— and more and ever more, We have no fun or pleasure out of today because Wwe are apprehensive about tomorrow. And some of us are quite sure we have stumbled onto the end of the world. Pooh? Any good workable philosophy of living ¥ refutes the notion. And of course, each one has to make her own. Neither the Federal Government nor any lesser boss can give it to us. The great Goethe set it down in a few simple words a long time ago: “What each day needs, that shalt thou ask. “Bach day will set its proper task.” Life for most of us is a straight, plain business of doing the best we can with what we have, and of fighting down the tendency to be unjust, intolerant and undemocratic in our daily dealing with others. Not one of us alone can set the world to rights, but each can sweep her own heart clean of filth and rubbish and fear. Useless us live as nearly as we can in today, remembering that yesterday is but a dream and tomor~

row only a vision,

Watching Your Health

By Jane Stafford = 2 HE famous family of sulfa drugs, sulfanilamide, T sulfapyridine, sulfathiazol and others, now proms= ise to bring relief to some asthma sufferers, Dramatic results with sulfanilamide treatment of asthma patients have been reported by Dr. Clarence K, Weil and Dr. Henry J. Climo, of Montgomery, Ala, In case a patient so sick that he had to be in the hos= pital showed marked improvement within 24 hours after the first dose of siifaniiamide and was able to leave the hospital within three days. " The are~not cure-alls for asthma, The patients who got relief from these drugs were those whose asthma was either caused by or made worse by acute respiratory infections—colds, coughs and the like. The drugs relieve the infection in such cases and in so doing relieve ny symptoms, Results of the treatment are most dramatic, Dr. Weil reported recently to the Southern Medical Association, in the severe type of asthma called status asthmaticus. Patients with this condition, he explained, have such severe attacks of asthma that even large doses of adrenalin, given as often as 13 and. 15 times a day, fail to give relief. As a rule, asthmatics get relief from ephedrine taken by mouth or in severe attacks from an injection of adrenalin. In the very severe cases, many patients have to be put into hospitals where they stay in rooms kept free from all dust and are put on diets from which have beer removed the foods to which they are sensitive. Very often sedatives are given or inhalations of oxy. gen or oxygen with helium, : aie rw “Despite all these measures, there are patients who remain in the hospital for two, three or even four weeks before relief is obtained and even th not entirely over their asthma,” Dr. It was in this type of asthma gave Li

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