Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 28 February 1941 — Page 22

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| Publishing Co, 3214 W.

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ROY W. HOWARD | President -

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PAGE 20

The Indianapolis Times : (A SCRIPPS-HOWARD NEWSPAPER) : i RALPH BURKHOLDER ~~ MARK -FERREE

Editor Business Manager

Owned and. published daily (except Sunday) by The . Indianapolis Times a ‘week,

Mail subscription rates in Indiana, $3 a year; outside of Indiana; 65 cents a month. .

Maryland St.

Memler of United Press, Scripps*Roward Newspaper Alliance, NEA Service, and Audit .Bu-. reau of Circulations,

ALFoNsoXm ©. oo : FEN years after going into exile, and a few weeks after © renouncing his claim to the Spanish throne in favor of his son Juan, Alfonso XIII is dead. ; HE . History will acknowledge his personal courage and his devotion to what he considered to be the true interests of. Spain. But it must conclude that he was a failure, and on a colossal scale. SE He was neither wise nor strong enough to hold his people together. From his exile he looked on while one of the bitterest and bloodiest of civil wars—whose instigators he supported—convulsed his country. And as he died, the exhausted and literally hungry people of Spain did not know at what hour their unhappy land might be overrun by German troops, Gibraltar-bound.

. WHAT HAPPENED TO AIR SAFETY?

F it had happened. some years ago, the shocking air-line = tragedy near Atlanta would have been no less shocking, but it might more easily have been regarded as an unavoidable occurrence in a hazardous business. * For 17 months preceding last July there was no serious accident on any United States air line. Not one passenger was even slightly injured. On July 1 the Civil Aeronautics Authority ceased to be an independent agency and was transferred to the Department of Commerce, and the also independent Air Safety Board was abolished. These changes, made in the name of efficiency, were opposed by many pilots and other authorities who charged that they might increase politics in commercial aviation and decrease safety. oe : : : It may be mere coincidence that in eight months since these changes were made there have been five air-line disasters, killing more than 50 persons. The Eastern ‘Air Lines’ Georgia crash is the second in the history of that company, and its first in four years. ‘Laymen cannot now pretend to know why this chain of disasters has followed a record-breaking period of complete safety. They do know that no ordinary investigation will suffice. They want to know what factors, or combination of factors, ‘are to blame. Was the shift of Bureaus at Washington a tragic mistake? Has demand for military planes deprived the commercial lines of equipment needed to carry more passengers safely ? These questions must be answered, so convincingly that the correctness of the answers cannot fairly be challenged. : : :

* IS “UNCLE IVAN” TROUBLED? 2 : QTALIN may have things figured out to his own satisfac- ~ tion, but we can’t help suspecting him of.pacing the Kremlin floor these winter nights.

.._ A year ago last August, Stalin precipitated the Euro- | pean war when out of a blue sky, in the midst of negotia-

tions with a British and French mission, he signed up with ‘Hitler. The German conquest of Poland followed, with Russia helping herself to the eastern half. ; Then Stalin “liberated”—from themselves—the three Baltic states, and ‘after a humiliating war had his will in Finland. Later he picked up a slice of intimidated Rumania. So far so good. But what next? Hitler, having taken over Rumania by easy stages, is now sifting an army into Bulgaria. : Stalin appears to be content to let Germany infiltrate the whole Balkan peninsula—to within striking distance of the Dardanelles and the Near East. In the meantime he connives at thwarting the British blockade by shipments and transshipments of war commodities to Germany, and he directs his converts and hirelings in England, America and elsewhere to play the Asis’ game. What is he driving at? Does he think that Hitler, who prior to their marriage of cojveniénce had called the Commies everything in the calendar of vituperation, would, after beating England; -gettle'down to be a good neighbor of Russia, forgetting his avowed cupidity toward the Ukraine’s wheat and the Caucausus’ oil? hand Or is the truth sim yesterday in his arficle in The Times—that Stalin is too weak to do anything but acquiesce as the Nazis/proceed with his encirclement ? ELS Ta wsdl TR al

INVESTIGATING DEFENSE DOLLARS

QOON or late there is bound to be a full-fledged investi-

"gation of defense spending. Contracts totaling around 15 billion dollars have already been placed, and billions more

i : Sei 9 . are to come. The law of ayerages in human nature being

i what it is, some waste; inefficiency and even crookedness

5 g

are bound to be involved. And they ought to be exposed

i and corrected while the trail is warm.

Who should do the investigating? Both the House and

the Senate have proposals pending for special committees.

. The upshot is likely to be a two-ring show, with the generals

and the admirals traipsing from one wing of the Capitol

to the other, warming over for one group the testimony they have served up to the other. | It seems to us the logical procedure would be to create "a joint Senate-and-House committee, including (but by no means. confined to) leading members of the Military and Naval Affairs Committees and of the subcommittees on military and naval appropriations. It ought also to include members who have not been associated with the standing defense committees; particularly members experienced in the arts of extracting and collating evidence. a aE ~ Such a committee, equipped with an adequate staff, could serve as a clearing house for all the complaints and gr evances and whispers arising out of defense spending. nd it ought to remain in existence for the duration of the ergency—ready to check at once wherever the need is

nt, and to recommend corrective measures promptly |

| Xl,

oe . ————— | Fair Enoug

Price in Marion Coun= | ty, 3 cents a copy; deliv= |: ered by. carrier, 12 cents | .

| ing military informiation received from.statesmen who

- be observed at a glance in the radical papers that live

native to the American kind of

; ply—as Leland Stowe. suggested.

Er my ——

By. Westbrook ‘Pegler

Recent Chiding. of the Publishers

“XX 7ASHINGTON, Feb. 28.—Now that everyone else has said a little.say about President Roosevelt's recent chiding of the newspaper publishers for print-

a seal of confidence, I will neatly dispose of ‘the matter as follows: - Newspaper . publishers are not censors. but editors,» and, with the exception of a’ few brash :advenaturers, there. is-no more patriotic group of men:in the country, nor any group with a stronger motive

“may have violated

talism, which is the only system

that tolerates and affords a living |

for a free press. . The publishers are, as a group, no less wise tor: honest than the members of the two professions which * President Roosevelt himself has adorned, namely, the law, in which he operated ‘as a Wall Street attorney, and politics, in which he collaborated with Hague of Jersey City, Kelly of Chicago, Pendergast of Kansas Utly and the political heirs of Huey | P. Long in Louisiana, il 8.» rae RESIDENT ROOSEVELT has consistently .indi- : cated hostility to the American kind of press, while utilizing it for his political purposes; and the persistency of his campaign to discredit this kind of press naturally prompts consderation. of the- alternative. gon We all know in our business that, in numbers the American daily press is declining as a consequence of ing revenue to the radio. ; The radio is subject to strict Government control and may be effectively pressed to discourage propaganda ‘platters for the Administration, but has no editorial | character and never, of its own ‘initiative, would dare expose Jimmy Roosevelt’s insurance connections or scrutinize Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt's political activities. : Editorially, radio is a blank and a servile thing which in foreign lands has been used to enslave people, whereas even the worst enemies of the American’ press unwittingly give the publishers credit for great:

for opposing the Roosevelt Administration, For cers: tainly, if the press were servile, the publishers would have tried to placate the New Deal, knowing its great’ power and | vindictiveness, instead of antagonizing it. At this moment, too, some publishers, right: or wrong, are taking s great risk in opposing the dictatorial bill, whose best friends admit that it is a dictatorship bill, because they are being denounced as

where the Administration is strong. ” f J 2

HE Administration can, and will not hesitate to throw its support to papers which: support the bill by methods more subtle than you could imagine and a good, patriotic, ethical publisher may be placed under a boycott for the attitude which, in the long run, may prove to have been highly patriotic. But the only alternative to the free American press is the subsidized press, which never is honest, as may

.on secret contributions from mysterious sources, ‘or the Hitler-Stalin-Mussolini-Franco kind of : press,’ which suppresses all contrary opinion and all news unfavorable to the regime. There is no other alter-

Roosevelt so heartily dislikes. So in advocating and defending, as I do, the American kind of press I am mindful of not only my job and the interests of the owner but of the freedom which must and always does vanish when conditions arise which finally make it impdssible for the press to continue as a private enterprise. The day the privately owned press disappears you will goosestep and pretend, at least, to like it or. vanish into a concentration camp. . : teu

Editor's Note: The views expressed by columnists in this newspaper are their own. Thev are not necessarily those of The Indian:polis Times. Nt

Business By John T. Flynn i Markets Already Lost, - Wallace's | Warning to Farmers Seems Futile

EW YORK, Feb. 28.—Henry Wallace, now Vice President, has spoken his piece to the farmers to bring them along in the war drive. The bogy he holds out before them is the loss of their foreign markets when the war is over and totalitarianism takes possession of the world. He put particular emphasis on the - cotton farmer, whose foreign markets he said would be de- .| Stroyed. . .. : "First of all, it is a fairly safe bet that no matter what Hitler does he will never do as much to destroy the foreign markets of the American farmer as Henry Wallace has done. As a matter of fact, Mr. Wallace told the farmers, when he started in to tave them as Secretary of Agriculture that they had to make up their minds to curtail their crops on the theory that their foreign markets were gone. He did more than any other man to induce the farmers, themselves, to throw away their foreign markets, He proceeded to apply a group of policies designed to raise farm prices above the world levels in the world market. The foreign market for cotton had certainly suffered severely. Br. Mr. Wallace: managed, by his price policies, to ruin most of what was left of it. If there is any foreign market left for the American grain and cotton farmer, certainly it is not Mr. Wallace's fault. #8. 2 - HE draws a picture of how Hitler will go to the Argentine and offer the farmers there a price for their wheat and if the Argentine isn’t satisfied he will threaten to buy from the United States. Mr. Wallace seems to be afraid that we to sell some wheat that way. His theory is that there will be only one buyer for the products of South America and that will be. Hitler. Or, at least, he insists that the dictator countries will be the only buyers for South America’s products, “in Of course ‘there are some of her products that North, America buys. As for those we do not want, the dictator countries have been for a good while the only buyers. There will not be much change there. There has been no place for South America to sell certain of her products save- to Germany, Italy and Japan. : Mr, Wallace, having succeeded in ruining the foreign market for our own farm products, is now collaborating with British propagandists to ruin the foreign rnarkets of South America. Does: he imagine he is rendering a service to American Hemisphere unity by this policy? ; ria

So They Say—

1 AM ®ROUD of my German blood. But T hate |’

‘aggression and tyranny.—Wendell Willkie, former G. O. P, presidential Candidate, :

WHEN WE (Mussolini) and Hitler) shake hands

Adolf Hitler of Germany. : * *

it is the handshake of men of honor.—Chancellor .|- |

have ft» be understood.—Prof. emeritus,

Fisher, Yale,

Ld * *

PIGEON FANCIERS are funny ;people—they will

give us birds they wouldn't sell to’ anyone, else.—Mas- |

ter Sergeant C. A. Poutre,"U. 8. Army. Sig Corps. * » »

A Defense of the American Press 1 By Way of Rejoinder to F. D. R.'s |

for preserving the American. nas‘|. tion ‘as ‘a’ republic, under capi= |

appeasers and an American Cliveden set, and this is | dangerous propaganda against them in communities |

. | develop

press which President {

might be able

WE CAN PREVENT inflation, but the ‘danger will} Irving

___ THE INDIANAPOLIS TIMES

FRIDAY, FEB. 28,

rising costs, including taxes and the loss of advertis- | Js

moral and financial courage when they denounce it" ;

. "You'll Have to Wait a Bit, Bud

The Hoosier Forum { wholly disagree with what you say, but will defend to the death your right to say it.—Voltaire.

DESTRUCTIVE USE OF SCIENCE DRAWS REBUKE By Charles L. Blume, 2245 Brookside Ave.

Ironical that the mind of man en-. ‘dowed by Deity’ with so much, can _ creative science toward prolonging life: with added comforts, should turn that science toward destruction ana miseries—then brag of being ‘civilized’ when referring to savages who do their killing more directly but on a less wholesale scale. - i When minds blindly follow a dominating mind perverted with visions of false grandeur into an orgy of destruction they destroy themselves. For we see the ruins of dead civilizations all through this world that never learned that God is only with those who use His gifts to create. : 2-8 8 CONTENDS ‘FAIR TRADE’ BILLS RAISE PRICES

By Rose Gordon Levan J I.notice in The Times that Dr. Wicks, pastor emeritus of the First Unitarian Church, indorses a bill designed ‘to. prevent unfair liquor trade practices as a “temperance measure.” His argument is that cut

| prices of liquor stimulate consump- | tion.

..I wish to point out, however, that temperance .measures should come from other measures or sources. This bill, although called “fair trade legislation” is a thinly disguised attempt to fix prices legally. In hear-

ings on the liquor industry before

the Temporary National Economic Committee it. was shown that such “fair trade” legislation not only kept. dealers from . cutting prices and fairly competing with other dealers, but artificially raised prices beyond. what. they would have been normally. By doing so the liquor dealers and the liquor industry piled up dividends far beyond what businessmen in other lines make with a comparable amount of energy expended. It seems people will drink anyway. (The profits on liquor are enormous.) : Now I have no quarrel with persons or organizations’ working for temperance measures, but in addition to raising prices artificially for liquor, this bill would pave the way for other such attempts. We already have “fair trade” acts for the drug industry—and I know that prices for drug items have been increased for consumers. The Federal Trade Commission is now conducting a study of the effect of these “fair trade” laws. The results have not been released yet, but

(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 withheid on request.)

the indications are that consumers have been getting a very short end of these “fair trade” acts. Now if this bill for controlling prices of liquor is passed, the Grocers and Meat Dealers Association of Indiana -will have a better chance for passing their pet—a bill to eliminate the “loss leader advertising,” ‘a plan for fixing prices for groceries and meats. And that will

| hit. us despite that lovely bit of

propaganda they have been dishing out to the effect that “it will make no difference: to the consumer.” Those of us who have watched the effect of these measures in other fields and in other states can cite proof to the contrary, And who knows how many other dealer associations will try to do the same? If it is right for the liquor industry; it ought to be right for others. One would wish that Dr. Wicks were also something of an economist—for he'd never have indorsed it-then. : #4 8

DEFENDS TEXTBOOKS USED IN OUR SCHOOLS

By Warren A. Benedict Jr., 2919 Madison According to an item in your Feb. 24 issue, the National Association of Manufacturers hired some educators who studied our textbooks and accordingly reported that the social science texts are generally “on a very low level,” “give a critical attitude that is destructive in its influence” and: “play down what this country has. accomplished and placed the emphasis on defects.” * The N. A. M. is noted for its Tory viewpoint. Its business is, frankly, to fight most of our social reforms, which it of ‘course has a constitutional right to do. When, however, it invades our field of education .and attempts to tell us what texts we must or must not use, it's time to call its hand. A text, in order to be adopted in our schools, must be written by a recognized authority in his field, and passed on by various boards of education expert at passing judgment on suitable text matter. Our

Side Glances=—By Galbraith

school system is generally. recog-

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onl A i os eh

nized as the best in the world. To so criticize our texts is to attack our whole educational system. Let the N. A. M. squawk to its heart’s content about our social reforms, but let it keep its hands off our textbooks. In company with most Americans, I'm trusting our educational system generally for its fairness, intelligence and Americanism. : ® o ” THINKS HITLER PLEASED

BY FILIBUSTER THREAT By Edw. E. Conway, Seymour, Ind. As a liberty loving and long-suf-fering American. we wish to enter a protest against the un-American filibuster in Congress against the Lend and Lease Bill that is being threatened by Wheeler, Nye & Co. If Wheeler has anything new to say, for land sakes let him say it, for it seems the votes are getting fewer all the time. He has said and done enough now if Hitler doesn’t see that he is rewarded he (Hitler) must be a “cheap skate.” It might be well to test, quite frequently, the prospect for a vote so as not to waste too much in time and salaries of those who have to listen to stuff that is not free and only by extreme liberality could be called an argument. Harangue is better.

Why would it not be appropriate] ; —and cheaper too—to gather up a]:

few self-chosen but disappointed

ungrateful

ministration, then throw in a few conceited aviators drunk with their own importance and let the expedition spend the next few weeks in an enforced “vacation” in the neighborhood of Salonika. In this way they might get a first-hand taste of Hitler's methods and might learn to appreciate to some extent at least the blessing of living in the land of the free. They might see something to admire in the Greeks who have not suffered from the jitters lest they oTend Adolf Hitler.

» » » DISPUTES PASTOR ON COMMUNISM CHARGE By Lettie Sawyer, Greencastle, Ind. If the Rev. D. H. Carrick hasn't a better understanding of his Bible than he has of communism, I pity his congregation. The man or woman who accuses the Roosevelts of communism is

.|lacking in good common sense.

Without F.-D. R. we might have drifted into it, for soup kitchens are the fostering places of communism. If the New Deal under F. D. R. is communism, how is it thén that you can say what you have and get away with it? | - You don’t know what communism is. - People here preach about it, try to enlist others to aid in fostering it but you don’t see them wanting to go live it. When their agents are about to be deported they do everything in their power]

to keep from leaving the freedom |

of the good old U. S. A. So Mr. Preacher, you'd do better to tend to your preaching if you have a congregation. For if it was communism you were living under, you wouldn't have either.

CRICKET By MARY WARD

When I have grown oid, I shall place my chair In a corner where The .sun keeps out the cold.

And songs that are sun Year after year : Will re-echo here, And you will still be young.

When I am old, chagrin. . Shall play no part with me; -Attuned to peace I'll be And the cricket's violin. DAILY THOUGHT Blessed are ye-that hunger now:

-- | for ye shall be filled.—Luke 6:21.

and grouchy ex-candidates for the|: Presidency along with some very|j columnists who have|3} been shown high honor by the Ad-|}

Gen. Johnson: Says—

Before Shutting Down ‘Peac Industries, Priorities Board |

fn Duty to Explore Other Poss

VV ASHINGTON, Feb. 28.—There is a. rt Washington that we are going to have to making electric: washing machines and later cal refrigerators because of the aluminuni ‘shorts This is sald to be becauge of the pric rities of. di ery that will have to be g certain munitions industrie They must not be held" A lack of anything, ‘if, as’ and.’ they need it. But in granting: priority the OPM or. the “Priors ity Board has a much

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ligation than just channeling.the |

entire outflow of ‘a-strategic mae terial to Factory A or Factory B:

at its demand—especially: if: the effect is to close up -a ‘normal n=

‘dustry employing many: people. rt of

RR A priogity order should govern - not only quantity of: deliveryuibut: time of delivery. It is up to the Government wontrel to get the strategic material to the user ‘exactly: as it is needed. But it is also up to that control ih xa«. tioning a scant supply to see to it’ that there: isimo hoarding and no ordering far in advance of time ‘of use. Ne The very first thing that should be dene: inthe application of drastic rationing .is to explore every stock pile in this country. Nothing of this:sortihas been done. It could he worked on a rough, random’ check through the insurance companies. It’ could bs done more thoroughly and accurately by a naire dragnet. Leon Henderson would know how: to do it better than anybody I know—and get’ the ane

has

swer in the quickest way. Fe Th Lf

AoE activity for which Government: control is responsible before it moves to urinecessary upsets and deprivations is to set up a unit to explore the possibilities of conservation and substitution, * Chromium steel cooking utensils beat aluminuni & mile. Maybe there is a shortage there, but I havent: heard of it. Glass, of ‘which there is no sh ze, can be used in place of tin, and some of the substitutes even for metal kitchenware. Red paint can be used for zinc, and so on through a J list. Manufacturers, themselves, will do some of this, ‘but since Government is soon to begin calling humbers for this dance, it is distinctly up to Government 4o' move into this “priority” business on all fronts. It must be a true administration of priority in time as’ well as quantity, regarding preservation of our: civil structure in regulating the flow of materials; price" control to any extent necessary, prevention of indus-' trial as well as governmental hoarding; insuring that conservation of existing supplies and sources f. supply is applied to reasonable limits, eliminating

glass

and exposing all possibility of substitution in the use

of materials and the discovery of new sources of material, A ® 8 Jian Hh PracTicalLy nothing has been done along lines. Simple dogmatic priority is very effective, but, without assuming full responsibility for -these. other safeguards, it is a sort of “easiest: way". that: may lead to some very unpleasant aftermaths of re~ crimination and bitter resentment. a : ~ I have been so roundly. criticized for even referring to World War expcrience in these matters that I am getting gun shy. I don’t know to what I could better refer, but since it irritates the customers I am trying to restrain myself. BE Excuse it, please, but when I hear this sh 3 hullabaloo and recall that in the World War. we were. supplying not only England and also France, Russia: and the rest with about half our present capacity, in an active war on all fronts that was daily pi multiples of the supplies. we are now asking for, 8% at the same time expanding our shipbuilding capagit; 10 times in less than a year till it was greater than that of all the world combined, some of .these {ill-. considered statements about shortage and .half-way measures give me a slight migraine. BE

Sd 7 20h Maps A Woman's - Viewpoint

By Mrs. Walter Ferguson ~~ 0."

wy tly Tap raha

~ cw od Dimer iF A DVOCATES of the Lease-Lend Bill have dane, =

democracy no good by accusing their: nents of obstructing national defense. This has -gene. on, both by open charges and by innuendo. .:: :.,« s%:s Yet I believe time will prove the antis were true patriots. The notion of giving the President carte blanche :with. 8 ‘our supplies seems to me: lien :to.

the: democratic ideal, ang -whats; 4

ever happens in, the future we shall probably realize that: the sle-§ bate over this important. measuref has ‘been as healthy as: it was vigorous. : al

At least one fact is apparent, A *,

very large number of citizens disapproved of the bill in its original form. Their disapproval has been openly and boldly expressed, and’ for courage in speaking: their minds, they have been insulted and berated by many men whose past records have already proved’ to be rubber stamps. Tro SRR The dangers surrounding the bill have been: out. Congress and the President, as well as Br

3.00.

do not want to become involved ini the Europehn’ wear:

may be distasteful. : a Does anybody imagine we might not have he already if these so-called “obstructors” had’ ‘ke silent? Knowing human nature as we do, and cially political human nature, we can be sure bate has acted as a restraint upon the tend hotheads to act first and think afterward. °° Everyone, even those Senators who now hintabo possible declarations of war, realize that we stant

¥ The fact is plain and blunt, even though to some it |

3 statesmen, know that the pecple of the ‘United States: *

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question- t) 2h |

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rox

this {

the brink of serious dangers and that a step in tk b a

wrong direction may lose us all the benefits, mater; and social, which it has taken us centuries’ to" gair The forces of the Administration ‘are howe: enough to do as they please, but I think“it proba will not please them to drag us over the brin aad for this one reason—that the opponents '6f the bil’ have insisted upon having their say about it. **: ff The real patriots of this day are. those men’ % women who think first of America, and "who want: to" know where they are going when they get the‘order: to move. : “rhe Nana

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Questions and Ans wers

(The Indianapolis Times Service. Buresu will an) Cay i) question of fact or information, nos involving e x nel “poe .search. Write your questions clearly, sign name aud: ive inclose a three-cent postage stamp. Medical or. ls \ cannot be given. Address The Times Washington Service Bureau, 1018 Thirteenth St., Washington, D. Oi). 4 mith.

Q—Is there anything in the Selective Service indicating that “a registrant who marties after draft law was passed, shall be considered. si the eyes of his draft board?” «LAG A—No; the classification of married men’

entirely on the decisions of the local draft _ @Q—What important electrical “device

from the study of a frog's leg? = a

A—The Sonvulsive J mustules movems in a skinned frog en the nerve accidentally touched by an electrically: led to Luigi Galvani’s discovery is a chemical method for pradugin rent. The modern-day storage -batl Rg this ec. ir ~How many stars do: bri generals, lieutenant generls and full g U.8 Army wear? = VF oT x A—Brigadier general, one oa i general, | Hares a : How many designs of JeffersoiTive have been used by the United States ming A—Only one. - The rumors &E design of the coin are false. ‘ ment has not chatiged the not intend to do so. 5 designed

So -