Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 27 February 1941 — Page 14

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'o@@@9o RILEY 5551

Light and the People Will Find Their Own Way

214 WwW.

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 1941

HE Census Bureau believes that the center of United States population has moved about 30 miles south and slightly west since 1930, and is now near the city of Washington, Ind. Many will be surprised to learn that the center of anything in this country hasn’t moved toward Washing-

ton, D. C.

HITLER'S ROBOTS STIR ANY people who believe that Germany has missed the boat, as far as conquering England is concerned, also find it difficult to picture England conquering Germany. - Winston Churchill, having proved in Africa that the Axis is not invulnerable, assured us that if we give Britain the tools she will finish the job. But, if it turns out that Hitler's war machine is incapable of crossing the English

Channel, how

is England to work the trick in reverse?

The usual answer is threefold: (1) By the long, slow pressure of blockade; (2) By a crushing preponderance of air power, to be achieved with the enormous assistance of America and the Empire; (3) By internal strife in the German-occupied nations, and eventually in Germany itself. Those conditions seem a long way off. The blockade

needs time as

an ally; also, it is a game that two may play.

Airplane production in America is only in the early stages. Even the Empire's productive effort was not called on in a big way until the fall of France put an end to British busi-

ness-as-usual

psychology, and it is still largely formative.

As to internal disorder, the German garrisons are so

Fair ‘Enough

By We stbrook Pegler

That Slouchy, Unkempt Appearance (Of Some of Our Sailor Lads Seems To Be Part of the Anti-Nazi Drive

ASHINGTON, Feb. 27—Civilians who have’

been wisiting the .cantonments of the new

* Army and have seen soldiers and flat-hat sailors on

the streets of cities and towns may have reasonable curiosity as to the customs of the two services which

produce -some of .the effects that are observed in the dress and bearing of the: individual. It is a rule of the Navy that sailors on liberty shall at all times maintain, to the best of their individual ability, the appearance of civilian tourists in service uniforms rather than of alert, disciplined members of a proud and efficient service. To this end it is required that the sailor ashore wear his peajacket unbuttoned and flapping in the wind or fastened with one button at most. Efforis are made also to create a rumpled or slept-in' effect in the clothing, and, although this has been done by hand to date and good results have been had, a machine has recently been invented which will rumaple a suit of blues and the jacket in a few minutes. Owing to the unfortunate jam, or bottleneck, iri the tool-industry, production of these machines has been delayed, but it is hoped to have them ini quantity soon, and meanwhile the handwork is very satisfactory. | i 2 #2 = HE BEARING recommended for members of liberty parties is a round, or humped-shoulder, droop, which is heightened by the placing of the hands in the pockets, and there is maintained on every well-conducted ship and station a box of powder, or dust, of a regulation brand from which, by strict requirement, every sailor, before going ashore, is required to obliterate from his shoes any suggestion that they ever have been shined. Thele arg several brands of patent grease spots for the uniforms, but experiments still are in progress with these, and there is no regulation issue as yet, although the most effective results have been obtained from one brand which creates a remarkably

‘realistic appearance of chop suey spilled down in the

front. In fact, this compound actually does consist of attar of chop suey, blended with foo yung dan

.and| yat gar mein. These stains remain fast for a

long tine, so the product is economical of both effort and money, and this concentrate, therefore, probably will be aclopted. . In both services a problem has arisen in creating the hillbilly or haystack effect in the hair, and it is only right that the difficulties should be known so thal the results may be appreciated. The trouble is that some old, traditional officers of both the Army and the Navy still insist that a short haircut

A Change of Brands?

BEG'N YER PARDON SIRDOES THAT" MEAN WE'RE CONSIGNING TRIS TOTHE ASH CAN 4

The Hoosier Forum

THURSDAY, FEB. 27,

Con Johnson

Says—

i

The Call for Sacrifices As If We

Were Actually at War Is Likely To Impede, Not Help, Arms Effort

ASHINGTON, Feb. 27—Tears and blood are the war diet of an embattled people, Nothing was more courageous and appropriate than Winston Churchill’s warning to the British that these were all he had to offer them. There is a rising chorus in our own country that we too should prepare for. this bitter fare. The idea seems to be that the defense program is lag= ging, that our people do not take seriously enough their part in this war and that only by scourging them with scorpions can they be driven to their duty. Mrs. Roose= velt, as one among several, is ree ported to have said that American women should be prepared to get along without aluminum pots and pans and new automobiles. It is true that the defense proe gram is lagging. It is true that we have seen the time, and very well may see it again, when we shall have to learn to do without many things we enjoy, The extent to which that can be done with no great detriment to body or mind is almost unlimited—as all the pioneers knew and as everybody who lived through the World War knows.

But there is no more sense in doing that when it

sweat and

isn’t necessary than there used to be in the old Army

custom of sending out troops on a five-day practice march equipped with only the “emergency” ration to practice them in starvation. They just threw the unpalatable sawdust out on the ground and wen down to the corner and bought hot dogs, or maybe “rustled” a chicken or even a pig. The lag in the defense program isn’t because we

have as yet strained our capacity to manufacture in =

either material, labor or: facilities. It is solely because the flood of orders was suddenly dumped out in a vast undigestible lump. We “planned everything that way”—but we didn’t plan that, We have not yet swung into smooth, able management, organization and co-ordination of the effort. That will come, indeed it is coming much more rapidly now. It is encouraging that a great committee has been formed to study the methods of industrial mobilization in the last war. This is strangely late but it will bear rich fruit. We shall make up for this delay and it isn’t going to require the rationing methods used in a besieged city to do it. That doesn’t mean that where any sacrifice is required that it shall not be ruthlessly demanded and ungrudgingly given, but it does mean that it is both unnecessary and unwise to practice any form of emotional flagellation on our civilian population and economic system just to be in mutual fashion with the less fortunate peoples.

o » ”

powerful and disciplined today as to discourage demonstrations of ill will. But the existence of the ill will is unquestionable. Will Dutchmen forget what Hitler's bombers did to defenseless Rotterdam? Will Poles forget the obliteration of their country and the degradation of its people? Will ‘Frenchmen grow immune to memory, and to pride? Will Czechs and Norwegians and Belgians be reconciled to the

‘swastika?

I wholly disagree with what you say, but will

. . ESOP’'S fabl th hi il is i defend to the death your right to say it.—Voltaire. Rlle of the fox Who lost his 1ail is in

point here. So also is the story of what the drunken Scot on the curb said to the more drunken Scot in the gutter: “I canna help ye oot mon, but I can get doon in the gutter wi ye.” = As B. M. Baruch has so often said: “The essence of modern war policy is to fight the war, win the war and, equally important, to survive the war.” Maintenance of the morale of the civilian populae tion is exactly as important as maintenance of the morale of the military population. Both can survive

around the temples and down the neck is the true military mode and are supported in this by the older noncoms and service barbers. Consequently it has been found necessary to adopt, as regulation equipment, a wool wig copied from that of Harpo Marx, the dumb one in the movie team, which is worn by those whose natural hair is not sufficiently shaggy to pass inspection. They are very strict about this, but the new tradition is growing fast and the wigs soon will he discarded as unnecessary.

FEARS DISCRIMINATION AGAINST MARION COUNTY By Robert Taylor, 623 N. Chester Ave.

It looks as though the Legislature is trying to pull a fast one in the

ownership of property, before the Government tries to collect a tax because of the ownership. For taxing people who haven't made any money is SILLY or absurd, to use the learned term, and it will result ny

(Times readers are invited to express their views in these columns, religious controversies excluded. Make

»

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There are plenty of symptoms to the contrary. Ger‘many has just had to impose martial law in north Holland

to cope with

strikes and riots. Quisling, her fumbling

stooge in Norway, has flopped as an evangel of Naziism among the betrayed and sullen Norwegians. Hungry France, ‘with two million of her men in German -stockades, clings steadfastly to the potent hostages of her fleet and her Af-

‘rican armies—and prays for British victory.

"In England,

Poles and Czechs and Norwegians fly with the R. A. F. In Africa, De Gaulle’s contingents show the Fascists that Frenchmen can still fight.

The seeds of insurrection are sown all over Europe.

If

Hitler should ever lose a half million men, as well he might, .in an abortive invasion of England, all his Gestapo agents rand all his Lavals and Quislings might not be enough to con{trol the fires of revenge that smolder in his empire. : It would be wishful thinking to bank on such a develop-

ment coming

soon. But whenever Churchill becomes mas-

ter of the European air it is not to any A. E. F. that he

“must look to

“finish the job”—but to.those underground

forces behind the enemy’s line, feeding on privation and ‘ grief and shame.

‘THIS TIME, WHY WAIT?

EW buildings at Camp Shelby, Miss.,, have already started to fall apart. Wooden floors are buckling and sagging under the weight of stoves. Wide gaps are opening in wooden walls. Window frames in the commanding gen--eral’s office are curling up, pulling the nails with them. The

cost of camp

construction, originally estimated at $3,000,

+000, has reached $22,500,000. So reports a newspaper correspondent, known i us as thoroughly reliable, who is visiting Ohio guardsmen at this ‘Southern camp where construction work is not yet completed. Similar reports have come from other new Army camps. And similar reports came from many of the Army jumps built in 1917. That time there was Congressional vestigation—several years later—and in 1920 the House "War Expenditures Committee reported that, on construction .of the 16 National Army cantonments alone, the Government had lost 7814 million dollars through "waste, ineffi‘ciency and graft.” This time, why wait? Senator Truman of Missouri is

asking for a

Senate investigation of all national-defense

contracts. It should be voted. If nothing’s wrong, an in-

vestigation can hurt no one.

But if there is crookedness

or waste or favoritism in these billions of dollars’ worth of contracts, the time to expose it is right now—not later on, ‘after all the money has gone.

FEWER FORECLOSURES

VERY person, every family, owning the house and land on which they live have a doubled stake in the country

| they may be

asked to defend. All of us have a:stake in

America, all derive very tangible benefits from our free way ‘of life. But those who actually own a bit of the land itself have a double stake. They are rightly considerad an anchor + of social stability. : : So it is good to note that foreclosures on div homes . have fallen to the lowest level since 1926, a decline of 25

_per cent last

year. There were only four foreclosures per

.1000 city dwellings last year, as compared with 13 in 1933. % So far, so good. Now the problem is to increase by hundreds of thousands the number of people who are able to own their own homes. Increased income, decreased cost of land, building, and financing charges, are all elements in attaining this desirable goal. But recent rises in the cost

of building a

modest home, estimated by the Northwestern

National Life insurance Co. &t several hundred dollars within the last 12 ‘months, are going to hold back that desirable trend toward: widesnread ownership. One of ‘our

” # »

OLDIERS on pass, too, are required to wear their coats unbuttoned, keep their hands in their pockets at| all times and walk with a slouch, and some of the old regulars have been picked up by the M. P.'s for failure to observe one or more of these new requirements. The regulars and certain veteran members of the National Guard have been stubborn, too, or, at any rate, slow to learn the new position of attention, in which the abdomen is thrust prominently to the fore, the head is rolled slowly from side to side, while the left little finger briskly jiggles in the left ear, in three counts. Some of the more up-tosdate units also chew gum at, attention. The modernized “military” manner” of sentries on post is a radical departure from old custom and would drive Gen. Pershing crazy—a fact which certainly dates the old man with his fogey superstitions about enemies slipping up on inattentive sentries-in the guise of salesmen or strangers wanting to know the correct time and conking them over the head. And he would go nuts over the new salute, too, in which the lead is bowed down to meet the rising hand half way. but there, again, you have the contrast between the old and the new. The theory behind all this seems thoroughly sound. The theory is that because the German soldiers and sailors are snappy, close-barbered, neat and always on their toes and the United States is anti-Nazi in all things, the greatest possible contrast should be maintained in these particulars, too.

Business By John T. Flynn

We Could Help World. by Trading Gold for Metals We Must Import.

EW YORK, Feb. 27.—There is something we can do for the world and for ourselves when this war ‘is cver, and even sooner, if we wish to begin to think in terms of American interests. This thing that we can do grows out of two problems. One is the world’s gold problem; the other is our 2wn problem with reference to certain essential materials. I need mention merely two—tin and man- . ganese. : There are other such materials. Some of them are quite small in amount but very important in manufacture, such as certain metallic alloys. We are a very rich nation, but there are a few things —chiefly metals and some vegetable products—which we have to get from abroad. This is our problem. ‘We no longer produce any very important part of the world’s annual gold output, but we do get practically all the gold that is produced. We do this because of our favorable trade balance, because this is a safe place for it and chiefly because of our gold purchasing plan,

» 8 ”

\HE world has been denuded of gold. And because it has, certain nations, chiefly Germany, have been driven to barter in international trade. ‘not: think this is as serious for us as it is for the nations that use it. It is merely a clumsy substitute for: a free exchange system. And if any of these countries had gold they would very soon drop the barter which seems to terrify us so much. Aside from that, they are desperately in need of gold. We nave most of the gold. It is buried in vaults, very much as it is buried in the mine before we extract it, If we were to set about swapping off some ‘of this gold for things like: manganese and tin—and some other essentials—we would do ourselves a service and the world, too, for we would get some things we need far more than we need gold, and other na‘tions would get the means of stabilizing and strengthening their financial positions. We have already done something about manganese, creating a stock pile and even encouraging produce tion sources in this continent. We have built up a stock pile of manganese which is good for perhaps 15 months. But these are purely temporary and crisis arrangements. We could create here literally huge mines of manganese and tin and other alloys as effectively as if we possessed natural mines. All we would have to do would be to deprive ourselves of a stock pile of gold which does us more

“harm than good and which other countries need in

the most serious manner,’ ;

So They Say—

| THIZ DEFENSE of our country remains primarily the responsibility of the United States.—Manuel Quezon, president, the Philippine Commonwealth. ; . . yr :

Eut one problem which vexes the world is gold..

I do |

reapportioning of Indiana's Congressional districts. Marion County,

with a 1940 population of 461,000,

is to have but one seat, although its population is 35 per cent larger than Lake County (293,000), which also will have one seat. What kind of equal representation is this?

Marion County is entitled by population to one and one-half seats. If we finally obtain but one, we also can raise the revolutionary cry, “Taxation without representation is tyranny!” o ” o

FARM EDITOR SERVES WARNING ON LEGISLATURE By Edmond C. Foust, Editor, The Hoosier Farmer.

Now that legislators have their mania for introducing bills curbed, they will have time to figure out their past seven weeks of reducing revenue, increasing expenses at the same time, and keeping the state budget balanced. When this is done the man on the flying trapeze will look like an invalid in comparison. Cutting the auto license fee and repealing the tire tax would reduce highway funds several million dollars. Then the Legislature proposes to send back 5% million dollars to cities and counties, while defense demands more adequate roads; 4% million dollars would be sliced from the gross income tax and 30 per cent increase in pensions is advocated. Free text books and 1% million increase is urged for state educational institutions. Certainly both could stand aside for another two years under existing conditions. Additional courts and increased pay for judges along with a dozen bills asking perscnal aid for those hurt while performing public service has placed the present legislators as subjects for ridicule. Upward of 1000 bills have been introduced and soon the legislators can go home and beat their chests while saying, “I tried.” It would seem that men from the everyday walks of life could analyze more accurately the desires of the voters and those who campaigned to lower the cost of government are headed for a “heap of explaining” about the middle of March when they go home. Sufficient time remains for them to redeem them-

your letters short, so all can have a chance. Letters must be signed, but names will be withheld on request.)

selves, for but few bills actually affecting the budget have passed. Let us hope they regain a sense of duty, do some sound thinking, leave the laws about where they are and go home. If that is done, the public will be relieved of 61 days suspense and consider the $160,000 spent a good investment. 8. 8 8 : OPPOSES TAXES UNLESS PROPERTY SHOWS PROFIT By Wilils M. Rexford, 2107 N. Delaware St. Property taxation is based on the theory that anyone who is capable of buying, inheriting, or otherwise acquiring any kind of property, will be capable of paying taxes on it. The theory is that property is useful in the production of income or enjoyment, and that because it is useful, persons will be willing to pay a tax for the privilege of wusing it. Anyone with only a little experience in the world, however, can see that “this antiquated theory is absurd, or silly, to use the common term. For there are persons who own property from which the greatest. commercial genius could never make one cent, property which nature never intended for commercialization. Consider for a moment the intellectual property, commonly called knowledge, which is possessed. by scholars and literary artists, photographers and musicians, and other talented persons. Are they taxed for their learning, even when they make no commercial use of it? No. They are taxed for the ability to commercialize, if they do use their knowledge for money-making purposes. For all the reasons I have stated in this letter, it is obvious that the Government needs to prove that a person has made money from the

Side Glances=—By Galbraith

J

“1 know what

- | COPR. 1941 BY NEA SERWICE. INC. T. M. REG. U. 8. PAT. OFF.

{Thank God for nature’s’beauty

making people miserable. » " » ‘URGING AN INCREASE IN OLD-AGE PENSIONS By William Kelley, 2102 N. Rural St. It seems strange that our lammaking body can find ways and means of raising money for political reasons, such as raising salaries for political officeholders and Judges who already receive large salaries. Also to raise the pay of teachers who have very good jobs and some who have husbands with good jobs. Our Federal Government can find ways to raise money to grant pensions of five to 20 thousand for Federal judges and ex-Presidents’ widows for life. The chances are that every cent of these pensions are deposited in banks for the heirs to spend. But when you speak of granting the aged and infirm who could not get a job under any circumstances on account of being old a $40 pension for a month, then some of

would be ‘taken out that the old folks want to wreck the State and Government financially.

thousand but I do get the large sum of $18 a month. The reason I don’t get $20 or $22 is because I have children who have all they can do to take care of their own families. Out of this I am supPosed to pay house rent, gas, light and water and if I get two meals a day that would be 62 meals and what I have left over I can use for pleasure. Of course I get $75 for funeral expenses. That is to buy a lot, a casket, pay the undertaker and what is left out of that the court can decide which one of my heirs can have. The State and Government have always found ways and means to carry every other experiment forward so why not the oldage pension?

» ” ” COMING TO THE RESCUE OF THE POLITICIANS By Claude Braddick, Kokomo, Ind. Senator LaFollette says Mr. Willkie’s admission that some of his utterances of last summer were merely “campaign oratory” automatically disqualifies him for further political usefulness. Gave me quite a start at first. We couldn’t very well disqualify all our politicians at once, without first breaking in some new ones. Then it occurred to me suddenly what

the Senator obviously meant. It wasn’t the making of -such- statements that disqualified Mr. Willkie; it was the confessing of them.

THANK GOD FOR THEE

By VINA RETTOP Thank God for a friend sincere, Who see’s in you but good, Who understands shortcomings, Wouldn't change. ‘you if he could.

Thank God for a land of freedom, For spring and summer, too.

For a sky of azure blue.

Thank God for grace and wisdom, For faith and hope supreme, For a dog to look up at you And a place to sit and dream.

DAILY THOUGHT

And they took him, and killed him, and cast'him out of the vineyard.—Mark 12:8.

the lJawmakers who promised the old | § folks before the election that they| are of, now cry| i

I don’t receive 20 thousand or five

NOR 18 there any. ne any] law more just, han that he’ Bas plotied death|

severe deprivation but neither is fostered by unfair,

unnecessary and blundering deprivation. It is of the -

utmost importance to our surviving the war and having the dominant voice for good at the end of it, that we do not disrupt our production machinery any further than is necessary for maximum war production, With wise and intelligent management that reed not be very far. It is the equal of the productive machinery of all the rest of the world. Business as usual? Certainly not, but because it can’t be maintained as usual is no excuse for ime pairing or even wrecking it to the extent of ona ounce or one inch further than necessary. If ‘we do, it will be a clearer conviction of inept management of our industrial war effort than any delay yet suffered.

A Woman's Viewpoint.

By Mrs. Walter Ferguson

HE First Lady, with true feminine foresight, says we should begin to think of the futuire by studying ways and means to keep up production when the country returns to a peace-time economy. You bet we should! And it’s rather alarming to observe our reluctance to do it, We've got a swell start on another .

war binge, and it is sure to end ¥ in the same old way if we don’t

use our heads to prevent the cole lapse. : It seems to me that a very large part of our national defense now depends upon how intellie gently we prepare—not for war, for anyone can do that—but for peace. It is after the wars are over that the real courage of a people is made manifest. Then comes the crucial test, for we must be ready to meet revolution, poverty and disillusion ment.

There’s been a good deal of talk lately about the urge which impels Hitler on his ruthless way. Exe perts assure us that, having set in motion a huge war machine, he can’t stop it. He must go on and on and on, because he is in the power of something stronger than his own will. While we analyze this malady in the German nation it would be sensible to ask ourselves and our leaders a question. Can we stop either, once we have committed ourselves to a total war program? Unless human nature has changed miraculously, the answer is no. A strong military machine set over us will be just as dangerous as war machines are anywhere else on earth. It will devour our substance and gradually destroy the rights labor has struggled so long to gbe tain. Worse still, it will undermine democracy by substituting for individualism the right of the state backed by the military powers. Of course this will

not come about because of malicious intent or politi=

cal conniving. It will simply happen as it happens

everywhere else. Militarism is like a cancer. democratic life cells while we are unaware, and whe its presence is discovered the patient may be at death’s door. The majority of Americans agree that war preparations-are now necessary. We can there fore only pray God.we shall have enough common sense left when the emergency is over to abandon the notion of saving democracy by using the Wslitate ian recipe. Every dictatorship is created and tained by an army.

Editor's Note: The views expressed by columnists in this newspaper are their own. They are not necessarily those

of The Indianapolis Times,

‘Questions and Answers

(The Indianapolis Times Service Bureau will answer any question of fact or information, mot involving extensive ree .search. Write your questions clearly, sign name and address, inclose a three-cent postage stamp. Medical or legal advice

cannot be given. Address The Times Washington Servis if

Bureau, 1013 Thirteenth Btw fash Washington, ‘D. C.).

Q—Please state Benjamin Franklin's definition |

of a hundred per cent American.

It eats into the

A—“A one hundred per cent American is one who

puts his duty to his country above his selfish and who'is more anxious that his children and his children’s children may live in justice and liberty vails, than for any profit that he. may make for

cheating.” ; is the grave of Gaston Doumergy

. Q—Whe former ent of France?

A—He died June 18, 1937, and was buried in he

family vault at Aigues-Vives, France.

Q—Who was in command of the American forces at the attack and surrender of Santiago’ Cuba in 1898? , A—Gen. William Rufus Shafer. Q—To what exert floes the numbet of &

ir yr ) the" average are al

If during his own life by