Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 25 March 1941 — Page 32
PAGE 12
The Indianapolis Times! Fair Enough
(A SCRIPPS-HOWARD NEWSPAPER) ROY W. HOWARD RALPH BURKHOLDER MARK FERREE President Editor Business Manager
Owned and published Price in Marion Coun-
daily (except Sunday) by The Indianapolis Times Publishing Co., 214 W. Maryland St.
a week,
Member of United Press, in Indiana,
Scripps-Howard Newspaper Alliance, NEA Service, and Audit Bureau of Circulations.
cents a month.
Give Light and the People Will Find Their Own Waw
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 26, 1941
MR. GREEN BEGS THE QUESTION
“NAR. GREEN'S letter doesn’t impress me,” says Senator |
George W. Norris of Nebraska. This is not strange. : lifetime fighting the battles of the laboring man, had writ-
ten to William Green asking him, as head of the American Federation of Labor, to do something to stop the un-| conscionable gouging of needy workers who find jobs on | Government defense projects. The Senator cited complaints | of individual workers who had been forced by local unions |
to pay “initiation fees” of $50, $150 and in some instances
$250 for the privilege of working at these temporary jobs. |
Mr. Green's answer was one of alibi and evasion—the
same old line he has been handing out, about how the local | unions are autonomous and the A. F. of L. executive council | At great |
hasn't any power to regulate their practices. length he repeated the arguments which local labor leaders
give to justify stiff initiation fees—that the unions estab- |
lished the high wage scales, that the fees go into local union treasuries and are used to pay sickness, accident and
death benefits, etc.
n u »
because the Government contracts are let on terms (the taxpayers foot the bill) ; and that a vast majority
of workers who are shaken down for “initiation fees” on | these projects never enjoy any benefits from local union |
treasuries, because after a few weeks’ work the cantonment, or whatever the project may be, is completed, and the
workers move on to other communities where they encoun-
ter other gangs of fee collectors. Mr. Green promised that if Senator Norris would turn over to him the several individual complaints of excessive fees, he would appoint an investigator to look into each case and seek redress where injustice had been done. Small wonder the Senator is not impressed. le is trving not
ty, 3 cents a copy; deliv- | ered by carrier, 12 cents |
Mail subscription rates | $3 a year, outside of Indiana, 65 |
RILEY 5351 |
The Senator, who has spent a
| violence,
‘By Westbrook Pegler
Naming Mediators Not the Solution, Law Needed to Curb Labor Abuses And It's Up to Congress to Act
EW YORK, March 26.—The appointment of any super-board of mediators, conciliators or free- | style handshakers for the purpose of checking out- | rageous acts by labor unions is ho more than a po-
| litical stall and cannot cure this dangerous situation. The cure is law, and the devices so far will only emphasize the lack of specific laws to forbid and punish actions which admittedly are a menace to the national safety and which, for more than a year now, have been exposed as an arrogant violation of the rights of American citizens. The United States Congress has no right to wait for President Roosevelt to propose legislation, Congress has its own duties and responsibilities in this perilous problem, and even though the President should strongly indicate an aversion to specific legislation in the field, Congress still has an obligation to override him and, if necessary, to override his veto. The President is not Congress, and he has notions about the correct way of dealing with professional unioneers which certainly condone and tolerate serious abuses. Therefore, he will not take the initiative. I know this is supposed to be a time for compromise and unity, but there is never a time it is either wise or honest to compromise with wrong. The unions are in the wrong, and laws must be passed to repudiate some of the twisted reasoning by which the highest courts have practically absolved certain union leaders from the penalties that rest on other men for certain offenses.
» #
AS matters stand, by a combination of laws and . decisions, the labor union, which is only a private organization of individuals, claims and, by | public default, enjoys the right to blockade not only
o
| munition factories but private works on the repre- | | sentation of some uncounted and uncertified number | of men that they are aggrieved workers. HE truth, of course, is that the high wages are possible | liberal i leaders to send officers of the Army into plants to i nl
It has been necessary to obtain the permission of individual union
take out and deliver to the soldiers certain tools of war necessary for their training. These agents of these private groups did not grant this permission as a matter of national right. They
| gave it as a special favor, although actually they | gave it because they knew that if they didn’t public |
opinion would smash their power by the same means some unions have used to keep free, willing American workmen away from patriotic works. No, these offenses are not matters for compromise or negotiation. The public and the individual workman, as well as the law-abiding American citizen who operates an industry, have rights which must be recognized in plain words by the law-making body. | The unions have no right to blockade any plant by and rather than placate them in their
| wrongdoing or meet them in the streets with their | own weapons the national Government owes it to the
merely to get justice for the few workers who have com-
plained personally to him, but to stamp out an indefensible |
practice under which unfair tribute has been levied against hundreds of thousands of workers. Mr. Green promised also to put the whole question before the next meeting of the A. F. of L. executive council. On this point, too, the Senator is understandably unimpressed.
For he knows, as everybody else does, that there are
too many William Greens on the A. F. of L. executive |
council—too many well-fed careerists of labor too many
days when it would have hurt them to dig into their pockets Tor $50, $150 or $250 to pay an “initiation fee” for the privilege of working on a temporary job.
WELCOME MOST PLACES
EVEN warships of the United States fleet were given an unprecedented welcome when they arrived in Australia. We believe there are only about three countries wouldn't.
“LONG RANGE THINKING”
people to establish positive restrictions on the conduct of unions. n
ATELY T have been warned thai it is unwise to
oy »
4
rights of others. I am warned by union publications
| that they can boycott all publications which print
revelations of crookedness in union administration and articles disputing the right of unions to riot,
| persecute and conspire against the national safety.
The answer is that if these private organizations are able to get away with that, then our newspapers will have defaulted the duty of a free press. Congress also is being tempted to sell out. duty of initiating and driving through restrictive and
| regulatory legislation does not rest on any particular years removed from the days of calloused hands, from the no : y yo
man in either house. Therefore, each individual may shirk the dangerous and difficult duty 6f getting this task done and no individual can be singled out for punishment. This is a case which calls for personal
| and political force and courage.
It is idle to preach compromise. You don't reason
| with wrong, but punish it or surrender your govern-
! ment and vour liberties.
that
RS. ROOSEVELT, speaking to a church group, has |
offered some advice to the American people. If you
get a pay raise because of the national defense program, | Practice self-dis- |
she urges, lend it to the Government. cipline and keep your living expenses down to the level to which you've been accustomed. Do “long range planning and thinking.” When the emergency ends you can spend
the money you've lent to the Government and so help to |
keep peacetime industries busy.
We hope Mrs. Roosevelet will pardon a personal remi- |
niscence by the writer of this editorial. n In 1917 he was young and recently married and his pay was small. Like all Americans, he was urged tc lend the Government money for the war. So he signed up for a $100 Liberty Bond. Weekly installments were deducted from his pay envelope, and they hurt. But finally all payments were made and the bond was his. For a while. His pay went up a little, but prices of food, rent, clothing and everything else went up a lot. All the self-discipline he could practice wouldn't keep his expenses down. And about the time the war ended he had to sell his bond to a bank for cash to pay his debts. The bank gave him $96.50 for it. He thinks now that little people—little people who got bigger pay raises than he did, and blew them in for silk shirts and thick steaks—may have been partly to blame. But he believes that the Government was much more to blame. Its policies encouraged, and did not control, inflation of prices and inflation of wages.
”
” on
” Mrs. Roosevelt's advice is well meant. But she might well think this subject through a little further. She would find the Government doing less than in 1917-18 to prevent price-wage inflation, much more to promote it. She would find men high in the Government arguing that spending borrowed billions for defense is a fine thing because it’s producing a business boom. And she would find that every boom ever produced by this method has ended in a bust. The people are willing to practice self-discipline. They're willing to pay higher taxes for defense. They believe that increases in their incomes should be used to prevent increase in their public debt. They don’t want to repeat a terrible mistake on a bigger scale. They know, Mrs.
”
Roosevelt, that it is their Government which needs to do |
“long range thinking and planning.”
“« ..1F YOU DO” MAURICE CHEVALIER is back in Paris. He is the guy who sang: “It’s a great life if vou don’t weaken It's a great life if vou do.” It was funny in the old days. But we doubt if Frenchmen, since that collapse, are so sure that it is true.
y r
And I will nof listen to the contention that the crookedness of certain unions of the A, F. of L. has been overemphasized.
Business By John T. Flynn
Defense Bonds Good Investment If Held for at Least Five Years
EW YORK, March 26.—The Government is about to call on the people to buy Government bonds to finance the defense program. In other words, the Government is about to ask the people to send it the money to build the innumerable ships, planes, guns, etc.,, which it is producing for itself and for Britain. There is in the savings institutions of the country a vast store of hoarded income. The Government wants to tap this to pay its bills, instead of taxing the people. Three new types of bonds are to be issued and in amounts within the reach of small savers. Probably the type of bond which will be most popular with small income groups will be the “Defense Savings Bonds.” Here is how they will work and what they will vield in way of interest. You can buy one for $18.75. If you hold it for 10 years and cash it. in you get $25. Or vou can buy these bonds in larger denominations. The bond which costs $18.75 and is redeemable in 10 vears at $25 is called a $25 bond. The Government will issue also bonds for $50, $100, $500 and $1000. Therefore, if you buy such a bond and hold it for 10 years, you will have an accumulation of interest amounting to $6.25 on a $25 bond. This is equivalent to three per cent on your money for 10 years. It is, of course, not the same as getting 3 per cent
on your money for 10 years in a savings bank, for the |]
interest is not three per cent compounded. n n
F you buy a bond—say a $100 bond—you will pay $75 for it. But, while it will be redeemable in 10
n
years, you will not have to leave the money there that |
long. You can take it out practically any time during | the 10 years. You can withdraw it in six months or a vear. But you will, of course, get no interest on it. You will not begin to get interest on it until you
have left it with the Government for at least a year | Then you will receive 50 cents interest, |
and a half. which will mean a little less than one per cent.
But, the longer you leave it in the more will be For instance, if you leave your | money in for two years vou will, when vou withdraw it, get your $75 plus a little over one-half per cent |
interest per vear.
interest per year.
If you leave it in three years you will get $75 plus | If you withdraw at the end of five years
1'53 per cent. you will get your $75 plus 1 6-10 per cent.
The interest return, therefore, is not very large for |
those who contemplate withdrawing under five years. If, however, you leave the mony with the Government over five years your interest per year will be from two per cent up to three per cent when you withdraw in 10 years. The yield is not as good as savings bank yield on bonds that remain outstanding for less than five years. After that they become progressively better than | savings bank yields.
WE CANNOT stint and must not falter.—Secretary of State Cordell Hull to the House Appropriations
Committee,
THE MEXICAN people never have omitted sacri- |
fices in preservnig their independence, liberty and greatness.—Maximino Avila Camacho, brother of Mexico's president, *
THE INDIANAPOLIS TIMES
insist too strongly on the reform of unions and | | the adoption of laws compelling them to respect the |
The |
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 26, 1941
The Real Push
|
® The Hoosier Forum I wholly disagree with what you say, but will
defend to the death your right to say it.—Voltaire.
LAUDS EASTER SERVICE HELD AT SOUTHPORT By Howard C. Smith, Route 8, Rox 663
Early on Easter morning a crowd of several thousand people has] !
(gathered for the last three years in| the stadium or in the gymnasium at! Southport High School for one of |
TAKING A SLAM AT | DAYLIGHT SAVING TIME | BY Mrs. Willard G. Gray, 302 N. Stale St. | I have talked to hundreds people regarding “daylight |saving.” Have found only one voung | {man who was for it and he could
not. tell me why. We had our
(Times readers are invited their | these columns, religious conol Make
your letters short, so all can
to express views in
troversies excluded.
this
have a chance. Letters must
Thanksgiving Day | be signed, but names will be changed. Now there might be (enough people born on April 1st and New Dealers to change Christ- ents, mas Basia and the i of uty. {heavy as initial cost. @ gear 50 much aDoul’ War! I don't believe 1 ev / -l nowadays I don't think we should | 45 napoli policeman avn I lew, especially as I understand that have all that noise on the 4th of shirt, Most police don a fresh shirt NeW features this year will make the July. a : . each day in summer. The new shirt | ceremonial even more colorful than This daylight saving just doesn’t cannot be worn more than two days, | Previously. . (make sense. But who said anything ij summer weather, without be-| The tomb scene, admirably exem(about economy. So why try to save coming odorous. Each man, there-|Plifying against a realistic back- | daylight? | fore, can be expected to pay out at ground the high spirit of the Resurleast $15 monthly for shirt-cleaning | rection of the Christ, is Je high. | alone. light © e ceremqny. Each ele- | The Sheriff has prescribed for nis| Tent of ite Dlomiam-u by tne [force a uniform shirt costing about ture readings prayers—stresses the 22 , Arle 3 —-— - A ’ - a9 % Db SLi TSH ’ $2. New York policemen—a fine theme, the glory of the Resurrec- . : iors looking body of men and better paid tion morn Senator Raymond E. Willis and than Indianapolis police—wear neat THis. obs h m1 Joe Martin have found the work of shirts but reasonable in price. tool Ne EI et ine jour recent. Legislature so praise-| wpy must Indianapolis police > . 4
step . A . ( he > f-together worthy that they are urging other weiter i ; ts | O02 Of the frequent ge . : s n unseasonably hot shirts, rv states to model after it. ; meetings of the ministers of Perr)
And for having heavy cleaning bills, each! ; . the benefit of those who didn't see Shir OE ry aD as moh | Lonashin 20 be Jescher 0 ib the AIS, hime, We are hinkiNgla fair suit of clothes? | churches the church choirs, and the of calling them back to do it all over | The public would like to know | people of the township genera Iv again! |who selected these shirts, and who have given the enterprise enthusias-Out-of-state scouts will doubtless closed the deal for them. be disappointed on learning they are shirts of ordinary materials can be community ceremonial and an ex‘not to witness a repetition of the bought for $8.30, and—two shirts of | pression of the community life, as famous “cutting-the-budget” scene. the material selected should not cost | it js meant to be. However, the procedure of this more than $8.30. [routine is simplicity itself. After| “There's more here than meets { weeks of vain endeavor to produce a |the eye.” What says our Board of SLAMMING THE MAYOR ON |painless tax program to cover the Public Safety? AFFAIRS IN OUR CITY {budget as is, and driven almost to] ” » (distraction by the howls of the CONTENDS WOMEN
| people, you finally resign yourself to . | fate, seize the budget with a firm ALSO MAKE SACRIFICES By Mrs. Fred Wagner, 522 8S. Missouri St.
(grip, and cut it. | This article appeared Saturday, | March. 15. | Talking about only men sacrificing and giving their lives to save Democracy. How about these wives and mothers left at home? “It is no sacrifice to them?” 1 have six children uncer 15 years of age to take care of and help support while my husband and two sons are at Camp Shelby in training and if I stayed in the kitchen I am
withheld on request.) {ances held in Marion County, I feel {that this has been a fine piece of
i iin and. that it deserves to be
In short, the upkeep 1s
$ nn = CUTTING THE BUDGET! IT'S REALLY QUITE SIMPLE
507 N. Main St.
By Claude Braddick, Kokoma, Ind.
» ” ”
n
I would like to point out a few | firsts which Indianapolis enjoys and | which our “do-nothing” Mayor Sul- ” »n
PROTESTS COST OF INEW POLICE SHIRTS iBy 1. G. V., The announcement that summer | police shirts will cost, $8.30 each has {caused a great deal of speculation {as to what sort of shirt and why so| | costly, Inquiry reveals that these {shirts are “tropical worsted” instead {of broadcloth, silk poplin, or other] {attractive but cheaper materials afraid a wouldn't get anywhere and more suitable for summer wear, and|I know there are others in the some equally high. ; that each man is required to order|position. Just who is J. A. VanWey | Indianapolis is the smokiest and ‘a minimum of three. Also, that|and what is he doing for his coun- dirtiest city in the country, not{these expensive shirts do not lend] I know a lot of women who |Withstanding the Mayor's assurance
try? 3 : SAPP themselves to home laundry, but|would like to know and they are not that it is nothing to worry about. must be dry cleaned at a cost of 40
” his rounds of luncheons, teas and | dinners.
Indianapolis Indianapolis has at the same time, |
States and the lowest average wages. | of one-week's pay for rent? Indianapolis has the highest auto fatality and accident rat: in the] country—and coincidentally, insurance rates for auto protection are
| Indianapolis has the noisiest streets | lin the country, not excluding New| York, Chicago and Philadelphia with | their “els.” | Indianapolis enjoys the poorest] TTI re , . |enforcement of its ordinances and] pha fo RCE SL RTT . [laws of any place I have had ex-| x5: ia a perience. Not quite so high up in| the scale, but worthy mentioned, are the tax (by comparison with what the taxpayers get for their] money) and the epidemic of hold-| ups. PWould it be out of order to suggest that Hizzoner devote less time to his luncheons, teas and dinners’ for window dressing, and devote just a little more to city business? Or is| the Mayor's job a full time job?
FATHER’S VIOLIN
By ANNA E. YOUNG
| When Father takes his violin With magic hand upon the bow 1 only wish that I might share The rapture—that I know. It sings a melody of mirth Then eases down again To just a murmur—soft and sweet A balm—for weary pain. The strain—so vibrant—yet so low So sweetly fills the aire I feel so free from everything Free from all sordid care. When I sit upon my window seat My soul—so filled—within | I breathe so deeply—all the charm Of—Father's violin!
DAILY THOUGHT
For all his judgments were before me: and as for his statutes, I did not depart from them.—Il Samuel 22:23. o n n I find the doing of the will of God leaves me no time for disputing about his plans.—George | MeeDonaig.
SCARS DALE »-
py
COPR. 1941 BY NEA SERVICE, INC. " M. REG. U. 8. PAT. OFF." ~
"Oh, Oh! Here comes a 50-cent tip and a lecture on why don't | get a job where | can amount to something!”
{ it premeated both committee and audience. | the cool, calm courage, logic and fearless frankness | of this American ex-hero in faith in his convictions
| Bloom was the first to stand.
the many beautiful Easter observ-|
{called to the attention of your read- |
: |: livan can boast of when he makes | ;
the highest rentals in the United | :
How do we apply the old vardstick|§
Gen. Johnson Says—
Lindbergh's Sincerity Cannot Be Doubted and His Latest Message
Should Serve as Timely Warning
ASHINGTON, March 26.—I saw and heard Col, Lindbergh testify before Sol Bloom's House Committee on the Lease-Lend Bill. There were all out war men in that tribunal who, at first, felt they
had him as securely tied to the post, in front of the fires, as was ever a 16th century Jesuit Missionary, by any savage Huron or Iroquois tribe of torturers.
He was an Isolationist, far more extreme than most of the rest. He boldly said that he didn’t care which side won in Europe, he hoped neither would. He was interested only in perfecting and preserving the defense strength of the United States, which he bee lieved could. be done if we concentrated that strength on our own defense and did not fritter it away, attempting to conserve the British Empire, It was not hard to hear the whinny of the whet-
| ting knives on the committee rostrum. A very hostile | publicity background had been built up by the defend | Britain committee. | almost gasped at such audacity.
People in the packed audienca When he first started to testify, I thought that he was in for a sort of Torquemada inquisition by the war-minded whirling dervishes in the committee semi-circle with the encouragement of the crowd.
” n ”
OTHING of the kind happened. Ome reason that it did not happen was that the committee chairman, Sol Bloom—who has frequently been criti» cized as what, at West Point, is called a “gallery boner” and in more understandable Americanese wn “‘publicity hound”-——wouldn't let it happen. He was impressed with the statesmanlike necessity, regardless of his own apparent burning conviction, to have this debate proceed, as he said several times, “in order.” I have known Mr. Bloom for years. Under the « weight of these great responsibilities, he rises, Woodrow Wilson once said during the World War, “take an ordinary citizen and subject him to these terrific war pressures and the duty of fateful national decisions and one of two things happens. He grows or he swells.” Sol has grown, majestically.
But there was another reason that you could see as It was
—like the Jesuit at the Iroquois stake. When he left the stand, the largely hostile audi« ence and the overwhelmingly hostile political com=mittee spontaneously stood in silent tribute—and Sol It was a great tribute to “Slim,” but it was almost as great a tribute to the committee and the usual American way of looking at
things.
” ” »
OW Lindbergh has taken a similar stand in a long “Letter to Americans” and Colliers’ which apparently doesn’t agree with much of it, in a spirit similar to that of Mr. Bloom's committee, has pub- | lished it. It is important to read it. I too disagree | with some, but far from all, of its conclusions. But I first met this clear-eved American when he was a kid, i flying the mail between Chicago and Kansas City. I knew his father before him. He has no flair or ap- | parent wish for popularity and no sense at all for | favorable publicity, He is simply sincere. | In every act of his life, through more than one epochal national and international incident, he has shown a rarely-equalled calm, deliberate intelligence | and fearlessness—and unexampled fortitude—that, | in his prominence, are not merely personal, but | national assets. He has nothing to gain and a great | deal to lose by his attitude. He is seeking no public | or private preferment and, by his present stand, is bravely courting the reverse of either, : I don't see how anybody can read his “letter” without a conviction that it is time and past time for all of us not only to “stop, look and listen,” but to begin to question the high-power propaganda which is whipping us into one of our greatest dangers—high time to try to stop the current sheep-herding of our | legislature into a headlong hysterical stampede toward an abyss. |
A Woman's Viewpoint
|
Four neat| (jc support, so that it is truly a|
| By Mrs. Walter Ferguson
RIDGE-PLAYING women come in for a lot of cussing which they do not always deserve. There's one thing to be said for them—they have one objective and they stick to it. When they decide to
BY ee Schneider, 504 W. Dr., Woodruff play bridge, they play bridge, and, boy, how they play!
It might be a swell idea if the non-players would take a lesson from their vim, determination, concentration and persistence. Imagine, if you can, what could happen if the clubwomen of the country would select one cause 3 : and work at it so well, There'd be ; 3 a mild social revolution. Sticking to one thing at a time is good business, no matter what your project may be, but you can't meke the average club worker see it that way. She just loves to spread herself around and isn't happy unless she's taken on several hundred jobs.
At home, if she decides to bake a cake, she wouldn't think of starting in by counting the silver, but in her club program that's the usual process. She's a regular jumping bean when it comes to action, and moves from one cause to another with the utmost ease as well as a clear conscience,
Yet sticking to one thing not only gets a job done but, in very many cases, it quickens the social conscience of the worker and broadens her vision. To be specific, I shall mention a group with whose activ= ity I am well acquainted. Four women started it. They began by getting milk for a few undernourished babies, The movement grew and flourished—and today a very much enlarged organization supplies hundreds of their city’s children with milk, They have succeeded so well because they stuck to one objective. And, in the course of their enter= prise, they have come to a couple of significant conclusions: that too many babies are born in the lowest income bracket, and that incompetents and irresponsibles are breeding too fast. And they have begun to realize that they would be accomplishing a great deal more if there were some way they could supply the mothers with proper care during pregnancy, They are convinced that, only when mothers are well fed, wiil we be doing an intelligent job of taking care of the nation's children,
The views expressed hy columnisis in this They are not necessarily those
Fditor's Note: newspaper are their own, of The Indianapolis Times,
Questions and Answers
(The Indianapolis Times Service Bureau will answer any question of fact or information, not involving extensive re. 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 Service Bureau, 1013 Thirteenth St., Washington, D. C.).
Q—Is saccharin the sweetest substance known?p
A—Peryllartine is the sweetest substance, being about 2000 times sweeter than sugar. Saccharin is only about 500 times sweeter than sugar. Q—Are American flags flown at night over the White House and other Government buildings in Washington? A--The flag Is flown over the White House from sunrise to sunset when the President is in Washing ton. The only buildings over which it is flown officially night and day is the Capitol, House of Representatives and Senate Office Buildings,
% %
¥ Y