Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 10 February 1941 — Page 10

ROY W. HOWARD

have proved modern warfare.

The Yodianapolis Ty imes

(A SCRIPPS-HOWARD NEWSPAPER)

President

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«@> RILEY 5551

- Give Light and the People Will Find Their Own Woy

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 1941

READ THE BILL

HE Lend-Lease Bill emerges from the House of Represantatives an improved measure. That body put into

the bill two important amendments:

1. The limitation of $1,300,000,000 on the value of ‘Army and Navy equipment on-hand or already appropriated for, which the President can turn over to belligerent nations (but the sky is the limit on appropriations hereafter made). 2. The provision by which Congress would reserve the right to recapture at any time the legislative powers it delegates to the chief executive, by a simple concurrent resolution of the two houses, not requiring a Presidential signature. Other amendments are just window dressing. For instance, the requirement that the President consult with the Army chief of staff or the chief of naval operations, before disposing of weapons, means nothing. It weakens the prudent requirement of existing law that the responsible ‘Army and Navy officers must “certify” that such weapons

are not essential to our own defense.

Also meaningless is the section stating that the bill It does not prohibit convoys. .Similarly insignificant is the requirement that the President report to Congress every 90 days, for he is author-

does not authorize convoys.

“ized to withhold any information he chooses.

There will be many vital changes in the bill before the

Senate gets through with it—and there should be.

HERE! is a measure which moth adult Americans have read " about and talked about. But few citizens have read the bill and studied the implications of its expansive dele-

gation of powers.

It is commonly thought of as a bill to lend or lease war Under this bill the President can also give away weapons—and not only to - Britain, but to any nation involved in any war anywhere. - He could supply Indo-China with arms to fight Siam, or vice versa. If Bolivia and Peru got into a war, or Colombia and Venezuela, the President could give one neighbor republic the weapons to beat down another neighbor republic. Such a war, we know, is highly unlikely, and even if it did occur we are confident that Mr. Roosevelt would not abuse the But why should Congress pass a law so loosely worded that such an application would even

equipment to Britain.

power in that manner.

be conceivable?

~ Mr. Roosevelt's apparent present intention under this bill is to supply war materials to Britain, Greece and China, for use against Germany, Ttaly and Japan. And apparently a large majority of Americans favor such a program; certainly they do insofar as aiding Britain is concerned. But to do that is it necessary to enact legislation so broad that the President could legally reverse his policy and start supplying weapons to the other side, to use against Britain, hat is, of course, fantasy. But, again, why should Congress pass a law capable of fantastic inter-

Greece and China?

~ pretation?

This YendLeosh Bill is brief—only 1131 words, as

passed by the House.

hope every citizen will read it, discuss it, study it, weigh its possible consequences to our own and future generations, and then give the benefit of their judgment to their Senators and Representatives in Washington, who try to do what |

It is much more.

It is in this newspaper today.

they think the people back home want done.

CHURCHILL'S PROMISE

AST month Winston Churchill said, at Glasgow: “We ||

MARK FERREE Business Manager

We

Fair Ehongh

By Westbrook Pegler

Criticism of Duce Resented by ltalo-Americans, but to Refrain Would Be Unfair to the Other Side.

YORK, Feb. 10.—At a time when the king of kings is chasing the bum of bums out of Abyssinia it is fitting to suggest that the feelings of any Abyssinisns who are among us deserve the

same considersfion as the tender sensibilities of those who insist on regarding themselves as Italians, though Americans, too. Nevertheless, there is still a superstition that to applaud the. Negus and the Greeks and British and-laugh at the-Duce in full flight, is to create disunity in the United States. In Providence, R. I, in fact, an alien settlement giving devotion

ed in excluding from the local American press articles which fail in respect to Mussolini and his vanishing invincibles. Such consideration for a foreign group, loyal .te a potential and more than half-declared enemy of the United States, is elaborate courtesy; to be sure, but, is equally as rude to our Alyssinians, if -any, and our Greeks and British, as it is polite to the Italians. Is there any other country. so. deviled by fears ‘of hurting the feelings of persons who profess to be loyal citizens but, at the same time, resen* and attempt to punish expressions of opinion concerning its enemies? If there are Italians in this country, what rights have they here which Americans in Italy are not accorded? And why should any one in the United States be expected to speak or write kindly or refriin from expressing himself unkindly regarding the Duce, or bum, and the Italian people? Should this country go to war, the Italian people will be the enemy along with Mussolini. : Hi = = I IS persistently argued -that the conduct of the bum’s invincibles on all fronts is not a measure of their soldierly qualities. Aside from the fact

this war that Mussolini would need two M. P.’s for every soldier, the fact remains that these persons who have heen advancing to the rear with such irresistible dash are indubitably Italian soldiers. So what does that make the Italians and why should the Italians, alone, of all peoples, be spared appropriate cimment by a people whose form of government, institutions. and character have been vilified by the Italian Government for years? And if we are to concede that Americans may be, in some degree, Italians, too, then it follows that other ericans may be Abyssinian, Greek or British in the same degree and entitled to equal consideration. That heing granted, it was a serious discourtesy to them to refrain from recognizing their remarkable exploits against the bum of bums at the expense of the Italian soldiers.

2 =» =n

HAT, for example, are the feelings of a GreekAmericen, granting for the sake of argument that hyphenism is consistent with American citizenship, when he is asked to pretend that the enemy are not Italian soldiers buf, in the language of the old lynching stories, a.crowd of unidentified men? Our Greek-American friend wants to emit a few cheers for the horne-folk and in doing so he certainly wants to give them full credit for slapping the ears off the most bombastic and ridiculous fourflusher that the world has ever known, who happens to be an Italian, the ruler of the Italian nation and the commander of an Italian army which has been strutting and bragging for 15 years. It does seem that anyone who remains, somehow, loyal to the bum and Italy should be sportsman enough to take it, now that the Abyssinians, those scabby, semi-savage dog-eaters, the Greeks and the craven British have exposed the fraud. But, in any case, anyone.calling himself American wha still persists in being somewhat Italian, cannot erase the fact that those are Italian soldiers who have made this humiliating failure after sO much threatening. and boasting. And one may be sure that if they had won a couple. of these campaigns, nobody would be explaining that, after all, they weren't Italians. Nobody said that when the bum-of bums. took Addis Ababa from the king of kings four years ago.

Business By John T. Flynn

Revolving Fund a Device to Upset Congressional Power of the Purse

EW YORK, Feb. 10 —One of the great fundamental protections of the democratic society against the invasion of its rights by officials is the

“power of the purse.”

The Exeeutive Department, when it wants money, ‘must go to the Congress or the House of Commons and ask for it.

~ don’t require in 1941 large armies from overseas.” Many people quickly inferred that in 1942 or thereafter Mr. Churchill would be calling for such armies. But yesterday, in another of his eloquent reports, the Prime Minister took pains to scotch that reading of his Glasgow

remarks. | He: said Britain wanted material from us, and shipping, but not men—not now, nor next year, nor in any year “Give us the tools,” he said, “and we * will finish the job.” That is a welcome pledge to a nation that is willing and eager to serve as England's arsenal but | decidedly unwilling to sacrifice its manpower save in

he could foresee.

Mr. Chure in did not explain how Britain, without (or even with) another and greater A. E. F. is to win its war

eatest military machine of all time.

sumably he awaits a distant day when British planes will rule the air in numbers as well as in quality, when the cumu-| lative pinch of the blockade will have made its mark on German bellies and German foundries, and when the con- | ered peoples of Europe will deem the risks of revolt less v hideous than hunger and slavery ~ But all that is so far in a speculative future that it is ~ hard to visualize. - For present purposes, England has job enough Hinks to resist the expected invasion and to

year.

|

and hopelessness.

frustrate Hitler's recent boast that he will win the war this

: _ After that—well the assembly lines of America and th : empire will be going full blast. And the British triumphs in and along the Mediterranean—as at. Genoa yesterday-—— at the Axis has no monopoly of the arts of

MAP-MAF ERS’ HEADACHE

SIDELIGHT on the growth of the Federal Goverimeiie A Detroit map company complains that Washington, Dj ~ C., and its suburban area is a headache. So many homes are being built, and so many new streets added, that Wash: “© ington maps must be revised every three years, wheres sions at ve-year intervals are satisfactory for othe}

8. The 1 atest New York City map has 1800 change new m ap of the Washington area will show 2 220 |

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ha

Fv q ok 5: 2h

With their hands thus firmly ‘grasping the power of the purse, the people can curb any executive who, for good or bad reasons, wishes to make himself supreme. In the last decade ‘zs new. instrument has been furnished for destroying this great - protection and an extreme use of this instrument is proposed in the socalled Lend-Lease Bill. This dangerous weapon is -the revolving fund. The executive induces the legislative department, under pressure of some emergency crisis, to set up a revolving fund in the hands of a commission named by the executive, Because he names them, he can control them. And this fund, | having been created, thereafter remains in the hands of the executive and his agents over a long period. Here is the way it works: A hundrd million or a billion or, as has happened, several billion dollars are placed in the hands of this commission. It can use these funds to make loans to states, cities, to corporations, to banks, to foreign nations. If a logan were made to a corporation, a state or a foreign nation by the direct authority of Congress, as soon as the loan is repaid it would go into the general revenues of the Government and could not be used again withous an appropriation by Congress, ©

UT in these revolving funds, when the loan is macle and repaid the money comes back to the revolving fund and can be reappropriated by the executive’s commission. These revolving funds are generally set’/up during periods of crisis, but after the crisis passes the President can still use these funds unless Congress -deprives him of them hy repeal, which is difficult since he can block repeal by a vetaq, which in fury requires a two-thirds vote to override. In the Lend-Lease Bill thére is a provision for a revolving furd, and while the President's dictatorial powers may he limited to two years under an amendment proposed in the House, there is no limitation upon the life of the revolving fund. The President can make a loan of a billion dollars

to England. If the loan is repaid 10 years from now |§i

it will go back into the revolving fund and can be reappropriated by a President to create arms and to lend or lease them. : The founders of this Republic, who knew the weak-

ness of executives, put into the Constitution a pro- |[j

vision providing that no: military appropriations could be made for a period longer than two years. How much money would be put into the hands of the President, to be used throughout his Administration. and by his successor, by the use of. this revolving fund jn complete violation of the spirit of the

Constitution, against the idea behind the power of |§#

the purse, against the limitation on military expenditures, can hardly be calculated.

ee Hey Say— in

HITLER expressed what is in the Ge German mind, “or he would oy remain —Dr. Carl J J. Hambro, former “speaker of the ‘Norwegian | Storting.

ah

to the Duce, or bum, has succeed-

that both the ¥rench and British said years before |

. AS HITLER made the Jews his a: 80 We making Hitler :

End of African

Lion Hunt!

The Hoosier Forum

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

|A WORD OF PRAISE

FOR ERNIE PYLE By D. Hughes

In regard to article concerning Ernie Pyle, I feel inclined to say “He’s Tops.” In fact The Times seems so much more interesting “Hoosier Vagabond” and that smiling old face. » Where is the American man or woman—who love adventure—that wouldn't love to be in his shoes? And who could handle it better ‘if they were? #2 8 8

FEARS H. R. 1776 MEANS END OF DEMOCRACY By Jasper Douglas Have our Congressmen and Senators ever ‘read history? Or are they too dumb to get a lesson from the past? Our country is .in far more danger from Roosevelt than from Hitler and more danger from England than from Germany. Bill 1776 if it becomes law will make a Hitler of P. D. R. and be the end of liberty and democracy in the

U. 8.

In the last election the people had to choose between two men with no difference between them. Newspapers refrained from mentioning that there were any other candidates in the field. Men are nomi= nated by the size of their campaign contribution or the string of votes they can control and when millionaires or their puppets are put on the tickets, the masses can choose one or the other and we call that “democracy.” Now, the millionaires who want to make more millions are jittery for fear the war will end before they get all possible profits out of it and they are anxious to get us into it to prolong the agony and having no conscience, would send our best and noblest boys to kill the best and |“ noblest: of another land and to be killed by them. Truly, “the love of money is the root of ALL evil.” ... What if England .wins this war? The “Lease-Lend” Bill is all a sugar coating given the proposed bill to make it go down with the American people. It is well understood that they will never pay us. Roosevelt has been telling England as well as Americans that they are fighting our war, so why should we not GIVE them the tools with which to do it when they are giving the lives of their sons? Win or lose, England is liable to move their headquarters to Canada. We have 3000 miles of northern border on which there is

if I find 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.)

not a fort. Canada has been always a good neighbor, but with the natural inborn hate that the British have for the U. 8S. it may become necessary for us to fortify that border and a war against Canadian England is not impossible.

» ” » BRANDS LEND-LEASE BILL POLITICAL BLITZKRIEG By Edward F. Maddox

According to the Gallup Poll 85 per cent of the people of this country favor all sid to England—short of war. Desire to aid England to defend her own territory is widespread. But neither England, the President, Wendell Willkie nor Congress should ask our people to take the great risks to our national welfare, our liberty, our economic and political rights which are demanded of us in the Lend-Lease bill now before Congress. This Lend-Lease bill is a political blitzarieg imposed on our people by invasion fears and war hysteria. It would give the President full control of the lives and property of 130,000,000 Americans. 2 ”n 2 RESENTS COST OF THE THIRD INAUGURAL

By A Lebanon Times Reader ° We had a wonderful day for tRe perpetuation” services at Washingher Lots of pomp and splendor just for a tradition. The Roosevelt family does not care much for our cher-] ished traditions so why didn’t they finish the job by doing away with the inauguration ceremonies. While the world is so topsy-turvy the President and other officials could have been sworn into office without all the expense and show that must be paid for. What a wonderful amount of good the expense would do some poor kid around the corner or could be added to the old-age starvation pension and WPA workers wages. Ye Gods! How we economize on

little things to make a showing.

Side e Glances—By Galbraith

OCOPR. 1944 BY NEA SERVICE, INC. T. M. REQ. U. 8. PAT. OFF.

A fin help you: are! With me preaching good manners, you scat pn taught keeping his guard up—but it.doesn't

SEEKS A REASON FOR LICENSING QUACKS By Inquisitive Recently several persons have written the Forum defending the so-called “drugless” healers—better known as quacks. One can understand the attitude—it really is not so much loyalty to the quacks as a distrust and antipathy for bona fide physicians. It is quite possible

these defenders have been in the hands of regular doctors who have not quite lived up to the Hippocratic oath—and there are some. It would be quite useless, however, for anyone to answer the argument that doctors are jealous of the quacks and therefore seek to have their licenses taken away

- [from them.

Any doctor reading that charge would probably laugh—g little sadly, perhaps, realizing that many people will act against their own best interests and think themselves wise. But don’t we all? But I don’t mean to philosophize about peeple who believe in quacks. What I want to know is how dol these quacks manage to get a state license to leech on the public in the first place? ” » f J PLEADING THE NEED OF A REAL MERIT SYSTEM

By J. H. P.

recently on the State Welfare Department and proposed changes (which most certainly should be made). To call the present so-called Merit System in the Welfare and certain other departments of the present State Government “Merit

System,” is a flagrant misuse of the word “merit.”

two years, I know a little of what these people do to merit their jobs

at this Institution now, but how well I remember (about a year ago) how the so-called “Classification Department” of this penal institution used to come to work in the morning whenever they got ready (anywhere from 8:30 to 9:30), sat in their office all day and smoked their pipes and gossiped, left in the evening from 3:30 to 4:30 (according to what they wanted to do that evening), and then griped all the time for extra clerks, claiming they were a year behind in their work. With all the talk of “Merit System” in State Government, I am wondering if in the future a Merit System will be worked out, and I mean MERIT system. Those proponents of merit system in government of this State would do well to make sure that they are advocating a merit system in fact as well as name, or use some more appropriate word in the place of “merit.”

"WAR IMAGE By OLIVE INEZ DOWNING I watched them as they rolled the

snow, Two little lads of four and five— They built a fort in shape and row. Quite like a mammoth igloo hive.

“4 |And then they made a soldier tall,

Complete he was from head to boot, They decked him out in coat and all And Sadge from grandpa’s soldier

Next day the sun shone out with

and soldier sank to

Soon what remained of childish feat Was slush and water all around.

Would that all war and bombing

raid, The ghastly horror, poignant grief,

'|Could vanish and as quickly tade—

As that child play of make-belief.

DAILY THOUGHT

Ye that walk in all the ways which the Lord your God hath commanded you, that ye may live, and that it may be well with you, and that ye may prolong your days in the land which ye shall ~Deuteronomy 5:33, =

There have been several articles]

Having worked in a certain State] § Institution under this system for] |

and promotions. I am not working] |

MONDAY, FEB. 10, 10413"

~ IGen. Johnson

Says— | An Open Letter fo ‘Wendell Willie Wherein Doubt Is Cast on the Value to U. S. of Trip to England.

: ‘Bostoh, Mass., Feb. 10, Dear Mr. Willkie:

rou got a great reception in England. You got it because an impression had somehow been given, or arose, that you were there as the bringer or forerunner of great gifts—for those tortured souls the greatest gift of all—the injection of your cou=try into their war. It shows great generosity—vicarious generosity = with the blood, tears and treasure of Americans and, if you are not au=_ thorized, a considerable reckless~ ness with British hopes and’ fears. You must know that, while only a small minority opposes such aid to Britain as we can give provided. first; that it will strengthen and. not weaken our own defense and, second; that it will not get us into war. - An overwhelming majority, at least 85 per cent of our people still strongly oppose our - getting into this war. You must know that by whoever had made them, either you or Mr.°Roosevelt, if ‘any such” statements as both of you are making now had been made before election by either alone, the man whomade them would have.lost millions of votes if. ‘not. the race. This is very distressing to some of your new political faith who at great sacrifice, were foremost in your support and to whom, in private, you expressed : convictions against involvement in this war, much

‘stronger than those which you expressed ifn public.

” ” 2 SOME of them should have been warned by your, reasons for this reticence expressed to them— that you had to get “in” to be effective, that you could not go “too strong” on your beliefs without antagonizing the great New York metropolitan press, daily, weekly and monthly. Some of them shuddered and vigorously expressed their views to you orally and in writing, but they were such crusaders for you that they regarded your timidity as an ill-considered statement in the throes of a hot contest. by a really fear. less idol who could not have feet of clay. Just. okie.

hicks and local yokels is what they. turned out-to be...

They trusted blindly. But the poor boobs helped elevate you. and would

have elected you if, in the hands of the influences

you feared; you had not turned out .to be such a com-" plete nullity of independent thought and courage in. your addresses to what you called the "Amurricun’ peepul.” Now you have availed yourself of that eles.

| vation to go to England and “see for yourself.” Now

you are home to report to those “peepul.” Report what? You were given the soundest and most experienced advice on how to make that’ reper effective—that you should take engineers and military, naval and economic experts; that you should find or the precise danger to England, just what she né that we can send, just how well she can defend ri whether or not our contributions wiil be, as were ours to France, a donation to Hitler, or whether there’ is* some chance that they can help to stop him,

8 8 = Ea

ID you do that? You did not.: You took a" banker and a publicity expert. Did you explore that harsh practical end of our problem and Eng: ‘land’s? It is the only end worth while. No. You: explored the emotional end—the terrific distress, the splendid fortitude, the unquenchable courage. You. wept, deplored, applauded. So do we all. These people are of our blood. We are torn for them with an anguish of spirit and elated. in an apex of admiration. We don’t need any peptalk about that. We, too, have a problem—deadly as death. It cannot be sanely solved by abandoning cold reason for emotion however high. Are you bringing any contributions to the sombre processes of thoughts It appears to be a matter of extreme doubt. ‘The'in~ dications are that you came b to help emote through Congress a "bill giving one man, ‘and us, responsibility for the conduct and outcome of" ‘this war at a risk of both the political’and economic institutions of the United States. © A measure for: which, if you had uttered such support before last: November, you would not have carried g single state. These ballyhoo antics do not “represent 22,000,000 American voters.” They only misrepresent the zealots who sacrificed greatly to nominate you and many of the 22 million who tried to elect you. Hugh 8, Johnson.

A Woman's Viewpoint By Mrs. Walter: Ferguson

r

MONG recent visitors from England is Phyllis Bentley, novelist, ' Her platform performance is excellent, too, for she describes in an unemotional ‘manner one day in the life of an ordinary British citizen. The account -is a saga of civilian courage which warms the heart. I found it easy to understand her ‘statement. that the British hausewife bears the bitterest brunt of ms war. “The home woman must: praes | tice rigid economy,” says Miss. Bentley, “since food rationin 15. general. Her budgef grows s mer every. day and she is ‘often asked to house strange children evacuated from other parts of the * country.” We c¢an only guess what other” demands are being made upcn.her phvaial, mental and moral courage, ‘but we “know # they must be tremendous. As I listened, I wondered whether, af'er this evi-" dence of indominitable feminine vilor, English men will ever again have the audacity: to deny English’ women equal political and economic rights? ‘That remains to be see, of course. Sad as her situation is, however, the British houses - wife enjoys one immense compensation for all her woes—by government edict her family is ordered to stay home at night. The blackout is responsible, and every citizen not engaged in some form of military or Home Guard duty holes in at dark and stays in until dawn, unless routed out by bombs. | Imagine what that custom would do to the mona’ and morals of any population! Fancy how the nerves would be soothed and braced, and how the jitterbug mania might vanish after weeks of such a What wouldn't it mean to women to have the fame ily at home every evening? For, bombings, ' the group might achieve a new and sweeter ty. !. Mother wouldn't have to worry Abou oid kids off to fall into bad compan : auto accident, Father would mot not Be etposed: te turnal temptations. : f And these things are as ~unnervisg to th woman as falling bombs. ite) ; plain the high quality of: astounded the world. An : in myself, and feeling that the rican . gerously neglects I ike to thinkisp,