Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 27 March 1941 — Page 16

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The Indianapolis Times

(A SCRIPPS-HOWARD NEWSPAPER) ROY W. HOWARD RALPH BURKHOLDER MARK FERREE President Business Manager

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THURSDAY, MARCH 27, 1941

NOBODY PROFITS BUT HITLER HE violent strike of Bethlehem Steel Corp. workers, threatening a delay in hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of defense orders, is a perfect example of labor relations at their very worst. Both sides—company and union—are to blame, the union chiefly for its violent tactics. But this is a defense strike in which we feel that a major portion of the blame rests on the company. Labor policies of the Bethlehem company have been notoriously archaic and often brutal. President Eugene Grace has repeatedly avoided meeting committees of the Steel Workers Organizing Committee. Bethlehem’s Employees Representation Plan was held by the Labor Board

to be a company union, whereupon an appeal was carried |

to the Federal Courts.

With this appeal pending, an election of officers of the | The |

“E. R. P.” was called, to be held on company property. fact that it was to be held there lends validity to the charge that the organization is not an independent union, and is in itself a violation of the Wagner act. The calling of an election under such conditions during these dangerous times was an invitation for trouble.

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On the other hand, the election of officers of an organization which has been legally disestablished was no menace to the C. I. O. union now on strike. Had the Labor Board's decision been upheld in court, neither the officers nor their organization could function. The strikers refused to wait until that question could be settled in orderly, legal fashion —but their impatience is not unnatural, since the Labor Board's decision was made in August, 1939. The S. W. 0. C. has never petitioned for an election to prove that it represents a majority of Bethlehem workers, although, technically, there is no obligation to do so until

the company challenges its bargaining rights—which hasn't | been done because the company has never permitted bar- |

gaining. The trouble is that technicalities have prevailed over fairness, patience, tolerance and patriotism. Now violence is weakening the strong position of the strikers, who are dealing with one of the most hard-boiled employers in the nation, and one which has seemed to be courting trouble. And now, to make matters worse, the new National De-

Mail subscription rates | $3 a year, |

Fair Enough

By Westbrook Pegler

After Tossing Out the Crooks, A. F. of L. Would Help Labor by Reforming Its Own Press Relations

EW YORK, March 27.—Now, if I were given the task of cleaning house in the American Federation of Labor the second thing I would do, after throwing out the crooks who infest many of the local and international unions and bouncing gangster George Browne out of the executive council, would be to go pe the official press of the organization This press, with few exceptions, has become a controlled voice by which men who have sins and errors to hide are able to raise

union bosses use them to protect and promote themselves. But it is the A. F. of L. itself which stands in the worst need

press. At present the workers in the A. F. of L. unions

ington to do their public relations work.

in this country since Ferdinand Pecora had Wall Street in the grease. n HIS public relations job is one of the most difdicult in the United States today, and, as one who has had some experience in the newspaper busi-

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and frank facing of facts more than ghosted speeches and abusive press handouts.

INDIANAPOLIS TIMES

THURSDAY, MARCH 27, 1941

The Great Battlefield

of a public relations man and a wise, courageous |

ness, I can say that the task calls for wise counsel |

has been giving William Green very bad advice on |

public relations in the last couple of vears

relations counsel, for otherwise Mr. Pearl's The mistake was made ahout two

public Job wouldn't exist.

A. F. of L. was badly poisoned by a corrupt condition which had been allowed to run for decades and was now dangerous to the very life of the organization. But what counsel did Mr, Green follow then. if he took any counsel at all? Why,

had been guilty of honest neglect but would try to clean up Mr. Green first tried the old, pompous, bulldozing tactics which had worked so well for vears

Ing.” In other words,

anyone who tried

was an enemy of labor.

counselor would have taken a leaf out of the book

advising the Rockefeller family to come clean and

turn square. Io year Mr. Green issued a series of articles in which he undertook to turn aside the revelations of criminality more by abusing the accuser than by denying the allegations. Mr. Pearl tells me he did not exactly ghost this copy but that he did “look It over,” which means to me that at least he should have checked the facts for accuracy. But Mr. Green was allowed to say that the accuser (meaning me) was a member of a C. I. O. union, which was probably false, and that he did not know of the criminal past of George Scalise until he saw it in these dispatches, whereas, in fact, he had indorsed Scalise's appeal for a pardon long before the record was printed here, That is the sort of public relations work which

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Ob- | viously, the A. F. of L. recognizes its own need of |

vears ago when, suddenly, it was revealed that the |

instead of ad- | mitting the facts and announcing that the A. F. of L. |

and, when these failed, raised the cry of “labor bait- | to drag | the crooks off the necks of the rank and file members

Mr. Green got off on that track, and he hasn't | been able to untrack himself since, whereas a wise {

of Tvy Lee, who startled the world vears back by |

are paying a good salary to Philip Pearl of Wash- |} How well | & he has done his task for them may be judged by the | fact that the A. F. of L. has had in the last couple | of years about the worst press that has been had | |

And someone certainly | SE

POSE FS sh a er

The Hoosier Forum

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

| STREETS NEGLECTED, [oe TELLS WORKS BOARD | By George Schultz, 515 S. New Jersey Nt Board of Works: I don't see why the city

| Wi |chinery on the market today.

authori- | ties do not keep the streets cleaner th all the labor and modern ma} Any |

or all the streets need better atten-|

[tion than they are getting | With the dirt piled against jeurb and the dust blowing [does, someone ought to see | these streets are cleaned The civic centers also shoul« {better attention. Dirt—dirt where—with =0 many people unem-

the | it | that DE ’ " RXR PS | will not suffer anv more abuse than SEES DAYLIGHT SAVINGS 1 have! everve-

(Times readers ars invited

ia express their views in

these columns, religious con-

troversies excluded. fake

vour letters shor}, so all can

have a chance. Letters must }

ve signed, but names will be

\ with

held on reaue t.)

Sunday-—a day set aside by

Eternal Mandate from the Ruler

| |

| American financed add | swiftest

Gen. Johnson Says—

Though 859, of Our People Don't

Want War, There Seems to Be Little Chance We Will Avoid Involvement

ASHINGTON, March 27.—In spite of all that has happened to push this country closer to war the most recent polls of public opinion for what - ever they are worth, show little if anv increase in the willingness of our people to go to war. The per centage is still 83 per cent to 853 per cent opposed, which is about what it has been for a vear. Yet a similar poll among Washington correspondents, policy making Federal officials and cers tainly among Army and Navy offi cials would, in the apinion of most observers, show a majority opinion in at least that percentage that we will be in the shooting front of this war before the summer is out and perhaps much sooner. Of course no such holl could or should be taken, except perhaps among the newspaper men. To that extent, the latter statement is a guess. But il is a good guess. When afier talking with dozens of such people, you can find nobodv of a contrary opinion and nobody who knows of any important contrary opinion, it is a pretty sure sign that people of any different belief, are few and far between, ” HIS is a very remarkable situation, probably withe out precedent. It has been almost an axiom in the past that you can't take a democracy inte a w against the will of large segments of its people or that if it could be done, it ought not to he because of the weakness of disunity. This principle seems to have little bearing today. The saying is: “Oh, theyll come along. They did in 1917 when the country had just voted for Wilson because he kept us out of war and when, at the beginning, certainly half of the people didn't want war.’ That is also a good guess, although it is nothing more than a guess. But Mr. Roosevelt has shown more ability to direct popular opinion than any leader we ever had and the past and probable future sequence of events has all led or points in the direction of war, There is good ground for believing that the present Presidential vacation is to take decisions and placa action in quiet surroundings for the crisis in world affairs that certainly lies hot more than 60 davs ahead ~the tightening blockade of Britain and the possible assault across the channel, Hitler's decision ahout the

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done

{ Balkans, Japan's decision in the Pacific, and Russia

as to Turkey and the Dardanelles, Never was there a more anxious moment In the question of ocean convoys hy our Naw to Britain lies the surest, path toward war for us. The logic of tha convoy proposal is hard to beat. This vast armament, in our hands is valuable for our own defense. In

. British hands it aids in our defense. At the bottom ee stringent measures against all| of the Atlantic it aids nobody but the Nazis. Are we [strikes. It is about time for labor leaders

spending billions for Hitler to sink? {to wake up to the fact that we, as a ination of people, are dedicated to |

” n I [the task of helping our friends stop| a nk Vittow a Fhervennon But if he 18 the most ruthless war machine this| Ts Soy oy Sapo. What do we do? Some |vorld has ever known, and that a in gi Oh. we don't need to go we're not going to be tolerant to- | hig at Re ins of B JON x ort vessels any {wards any organization within our i Wei, 0 war Wheh he Japs destroyed S. S. Panay. There isn't much in that he

| the U land that seeks to curb our plans. ! d . plans. Japs claimed that was an accident and indemnified flag, sink

| the loss. If the Germans fire on oul part of our Navy and kill our sailors, it won't be an | accident and can't be disavowed, That overwhelming majority against war will begin to fade out Even if it doesn't, there is another unaveidalbla

is true that it remains to be seen how much he

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HANDICAP TO FARMERS [By B. M. Tyler, 4158 College Ave

I oppose daylight time for the| angle

If we attempt to crash the blockade by sink

fense Mediation Board is unable to attempt a settlement until Secretary of Labor Frances Perkins—who has been notoriously unsuccessful in handling steel disputes—invites

Who admit

the Universe is us who will

trouble and

of there that

war| 1

| Ing German naval ships or aircraft, Germany can't | ignore that any more than we could. She would ale have to declare war on us—and ‘hen

of | most certainly are| the 85 per cent would vanish. We would be fighting

| ployed. Give somebody authority to [see that the streets are cleaned and [then see to it that they clean them There should be more and small-

the rank and file of the A. F. of L. are getting for their money. For the rest of it they are getting a weekly column by Mr. Pearl available to all the little

following reasons: We are in the east

among not edge

and

in these days of

it to do so. Nothing seems to work right in the Bethlehem case— except from Hitler's point of view,

IT’S POSSIBLE, PEG RAISING our regular Army officers for their honor and efficiency, Westbrook Regler says: “Yet, patriotic as they are and honest to a spectacular degree by comparison with politicians, they couldn't give good government under a free system, because in that case they would have to enter politics. . . . “Possibly 1 contradict myself in wishing that our public politicians were as honest as the regular officers and admitting that the officers themselves couldn't be that honest if they had to cope with politics. Perhaps so, but I would be willing to settle for just a trace of that honesty in public affairs.” You don't have to settle for anything short of the Army brand of honesty and efliciency in our civil government, Peg. We are, step hy step, trying to establish merit systems and efficiency in one department of civil government after another, As it is done, the morale of officials protected by such merit systems will come ever nearer to that of the U. S. Army officers. We can go the whole wav, until a career in civil government is as safe and honorable as that of

papers of various unions in which he ignores charges and facts to defend Green's prestige and his own Job of abusing the accuser. I don't believe the rank ang file of the AF ofl are fooled by this. Ivy Lee was no friend or hero of mine, but he made a discovery that has been used with marvelous results ever since His method was an open confession and a pious resolve, and the A. F. of L. ean find no better formula.

Business By John T. Flynn U. S. Treasury Wise in Financing

EW YORK, March 27.—There is no doubt that the only sound way for the Government to horrow money is from its citizens instead of from the banks, Therefore the decision of the Treasury to issue bonds for sale to the people is a wise one. The only truly sound way ts finance a defense program is by taxes. But we cannot expect politicians to do so unpopular a thing as that when there is any other makeshift they can use. And the favorite makeshift, of course, is to borrow the money — borrow the money, spend it on wages, goods, profits, create great prosperity which will last as long as the borrowing lasts, and then hand the bil] on to the next generation.

in public relations |

{er sprinklers to wash the streets, and oftener. The police should have to take notice of this dirt. | [Call their attention to it.

speech, the and freedom us preserve ftions to the {General Assembly

press them. yovernor and Members

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| GOOD FRIDAY HOLIDAY |

ACTION DRAWS PRAISE for

Defense by Selling Bonds to Public. |

{ proper

Secretary,

By Frank C. Schneider, of Holy

favette Deanery Union Men, Lafavette, Ind.

a Name

their ability to sense this need in|!

our age.

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The citizens of Indiana and the THINKS PUBLIC OPINION

nave greatly admired the action of the various religious denominations of the Indianapolis area in promoting the observance of Good Friday Many who have had

nation at large

the good for-|the

MAY CURB LABOR UNIONS By W. H. Edwards, R. R. 2, Much criticism is being made by the public of this country against sabotaging strikes now being

Spencer, Ind

tune to witness the solemn mani- made against companies holding de|festation of man's reaction to the|fense contracts, and that criticism (memory of the greatest sacrifice of |is growing fast.

all times were profoundly impressed

There has been much said and

‘with the Good Friday public events written about the Bill of Rights and

‘ual re-enactment of Calvary in In- about the thousands of workers who!

in the Hoosier Capital

its protection of workers against

However, many of our people are {heir being forced to work at forced not permitted to witness this spirit- 1abor; but nothing is said or written

|dianapolis, 50, for this specific rea- have been forced to join unions | son, the Lafayette Deanery Union against their will and wish, in order (of Holy Name men requested Rep. to have and hold a job

| |

Howard R. Hiestand to introduce Good Friday Bill No. 86 in lower house, and Senator Black same in the upper house, so tha all people might properly observe Good Friday in their own communities.

the Rights protect the only?

Does the provisions of the Bill of the labor unions Or should the provisions of

our American people should more Central Standard Time often thank God for liberties of | therefore ahead of sun time now.

religious | and petition Him to help|train would

Congratula-| standard Time. the |

by bus or

use Central |

travel to

who have

2. Those

3. Agriculture, the hackbone of all

ndustry, cannot employ labor withu

out a loss of time with Daylight

Time as vegetables, hay and other |

crops cannot be worked until the sun has had time to dry the dew regardless of what time the clock says. As agriculture feeds all of us

a “defensive” war and opposition would be treason No, we were in every aspect of the war except the shooting part when the Lease-Lend Bill was enacted in the form in which it passed. The next and last step into bloody war is inevitable. It is only a gues tion of timing and arranging the developing drama to get the maximum of popular support,

tr AN

A Woman's Viewpoint

' By Mrs. Walter Ferguson

it doesn't seem right to force any-|

thing deterimental to their ests, after

with

work and hefore

day's merchants

their our

attend shows. 4. Young America, not only young

inter- | They like to come in town | trade | they | maker. [close their business places and Ww) sions, tackle this one

girls and boys, but many married |

couples stay out late in warm weather or until it gets cool enough to sleep well. They like to stay in bed as late as possible to enjoy the best time of day to sleep vance time will rob them of one hour's rest, the best hour of the time we all can spend in bed,

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the Bill of Rights be a protection TERMS REV. CARRICK to all citizens alike in their freedom | no GPAGANDA VICTIM

of choice and action?

[House 80 to 5, in the Senate 38|—or the Bill of Rights will be as to 4, and was subsequently signed extinct as the dodo.

Those two | The bill was passed in the!questions must be settled—and soon

By James E. Hawkins, 3720 N.

sylvania St, No. 31, After reading over two of the Rev. |

The ad- |

Penn-

Thomas Mann swindler, and ax a history club discusYoull of

author, savs cheat and a to be known for vou It's a honey that a large numbei women disagree with

HE exiled German Adolf Hitler is a therefore has no right you need material ladies, too, and Mann Even though every effort to and to dislodge the German dics tator from Europe, we shall probs ably live to see our grandchildren studying his exploits in heir school histories and thinking of him as a great man. The fact that a man works evil doesn’t necessarily ban him from the ats tention of the educators And, because the men most of our histories and because the male mind is

find, men Mr hending nazii=m

We ale diseredit

vite

particularly susceptible to this sort of glorification, it is news when one of Thomas qualities denounces it.

Mann's intellectual

But if the costs of s ; oe “ of defense and many years, labor Daniel H. Carrick’s socalled “ser-! = gQurely we need a new definition for greatness,

our Army officers. Then our government will be clean and efficient, and our elections will not be corrupted by the influence of political job holders.

When government officials have been taken out of poli- : { mercial banks the operations wil! create enormous

tics, and our citizens have put themselves into politics by

assuming all the responsibilities of running elections, then |

our democracy will work in all respects.

LAREDO ERUPTS JLAREDO wants a band. Laredo is being “robbed and ignored.” Laredo has notified Washington that Laredo would like to have some Government similar But merely polite, courteous, and “we might add ladylike.”

No band.

to other towns.”

material results.

The band, if obtained, would be played in Ft. McIntosh, | which is right at Laredo, and when such notables as Vice |

President Henry Wallace come again, as did Henry on his recent trip down Mexico way, there would be music suitable to the occasion, no less impressive than that which blares south of the border. Furthermore, it is the desire of Laredo that sporting and social affairs in keeping with Laredo's position as a gateway to a neighbor republic should be financed by the Federal Treasury. All this is set forth in an advertisement signed hy Wil liam Prescott Allen, publisher of The Laredo Times, a fighting editor who demands for his commuhity what he thinks is its due. Laredo is an important spot. It is a main entrance to Mexico. Its cause may be completely just. But with all the billions that are being bandied about, Laredo has much competition. Not a crossroads or a hamlet or a town or city in the nation but is hungry for its place in the sun. A Cripple Creek is blooming somewhere with every dawn. But still there are those who aren't getting theirs. Hence, the complaints — perfectly human complaints — ahout the polite, courteous, not to say ladylike but nonetheless impractical, responses that are being received from those who back in Washington wield the purse strings.

of European wars is to be raised

Laredo is being “dealt out in the New Deal.” |

attention along “practical lines, | the answers received are | RX Me [| The Treasury, after assuring Congress some months

No |

[ up.

| by borrowing instead of taxes, the only proper way to

| do it is by borrowing the money directly from the

| people instead of selling the bonds to commercial

banks. If the Government's bonds are sold to the com

deposits at the banks and lead to inflation. But if they are sold to private individuals this will cause no increase in bank deposits. It is a measure, therefore, to ret money for the defense and European war program without stimulating inflation. A wise provision in the defense savings bonds issue will be that the bonds cannot be used as collateral at the banks. In the last war vast quantities of bonds were sold to the people who borrowed the money at

by Governor Schricker. Gf all religious matters,

Good unions grew

Throughout in strength because

[Friday is less subject to controver-| public opinion favored the principle |

| Jews

sies than any other,

We hold Protestants and Gentiles,

tianity from and

all

It represents of workers being paid as high a (the keystone in the arch of Chris- wage as possible, under the best |argument, indorsements conditions Catholics, |could provide. because unions, many of them at least, are|logic, convinced he is right

the national

But now,

economy | Roosevelts” labor | seems without

mons of hate,” T was amazed at the psychological fanaticism of his denouncing

Communists, regard to fact Iron-

as he

(this is a piece of legislation of the being led to believe that the world | ically, that is the way the minds of

{highest type and will not be re-!is their oyster. |pealed under our present form of is discarded by the rabid unionists, selves, and they will see public sentiment force | fanatics governments to| hate”

the banks to pay for them, which had the same inflationary effect as if the Government had done so itself. |

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HERE ix one feature of the plan which, it is to be hoped, will be employed with sober discretion.

ago that it would engage in no ballyhoo to sell the bonds, now plans to do that very'thing It is all very well for the Government to make a proper sales effort to sell its bonds. But, human nature heing what it is, and knowing the Government to be what it is, we can be pretty sure that the Treasury Department will be turned into a gigantic

propaganda machine for whooping up the war spirit. |

Once this sale begins the various committees to get

America entangled in the war can close up shop and | go home, for the Government will take over their jobs | and spend hundreds of dollars where the committee

spent dollars.

Booths at street corners, outside movie houses. in |

picture America's dire plight from Hitler, will be set

In other words, under the guise of selling bonds the Treasury will spread and intensify ang magnify the war scare, not only to sell bonds, but to induce the people to follow the Government in any war adventures it may be contemplating. It is seriously hoped that the bond-selling effort will not be abused in this way.

So They Say—

THERE is no reason, with the people we have, with the facilities we have, and with the raw material we

| halls, schools, factories, with speakers and stunts to |

Theatrical performances will be interrupted as | speakers harangue the audiences to subseribe.

have, for any shortages in the necessities of life — |

Harriet FElliott, consumer representative,

Couneil, » THE PROGRAM is a tremendous thing. It is so big that you have to say “We need all, of everything, that we can possibly make’ Donald M. Nelson,

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defense purchaser,

Defense |

Government,

This solemn day of recollection state and national

Side Glances=By Galb

raith

" ' ls Now we'll do that dance over once more=and this ime

without

* the punching!”

Unless that belief | the

1 |

thempolitical

Communists, other such The “sermons construction,

official

work, read in like

| |

“the |

or |

of |

“Mein Kampf.” They are filled with |

fantastic, unqualified and self contradictions.

Like too many Americans, he has | % fallen for the propaganda of polit-| RICA

statements | , ; | Which should not surprise us in the least

ical conservatives who cannot stand | seeing the New Deal function effi-|

ciently. New Deal “communistic.” Every thinking person admits that capitalism, the opposite of communism has its bad points. The New Deal simply has eliminated some of the worst of these from American capitalism. It has taken action to make this country a better place for its people to live in, The United States is still very definitely capitalistic. The New Deal is designed to make it stay that way,

MARCH RADIO By MARY P. DENNY

I hear the radio of March. A gloria from the shining sky, Where low spring clouds are passing by. The patter of the falling rain, Singing away in silver strain, The crow of cock from steeple high, The whirr of wing where wild birds fly. All life's astir with voice of spring, All nature on a harp doth sing. The loud crescendo of the storm, Lifting the spring to anthem high, In clash of thunder out of sky, In one great mighty radio line, In glory and in power sublime,

DAILY THOUGHT

Therefore I will give thanks unto thee, O Lord, among the heathen, and I will sing praises unto thy name. -—II Samue] 22:50.

I AM GLAD that he thanks God wr anything.--Samuel Johnson,

Their outlet is to brand the

Surely we should be sufficiently concerned with tha difference between good and evil to teach our children to distinguish between them What are the qualities which lend greatnes men? Many people argue that, because Hitler has changed the course of human events, he deserves a place in the universal Hall of Fame. It was this kind of reasoning that set Alexander and Julius Caesar and Napoleon Bonaparte in their high niches, and probably it accounts for the false values by which s0 many of us are deluded For generations small boys have read and heard of the destructionists with rapt attention: they have admired, worshipped and finally emulated (hem,

toy

we continue to worship as the ruthless, the strong and the evil, we can expect to have Hitlers messing up our nice world, The fixation upon power is universal and deplorable, many

And just as long as

No matter how evilly it is used, there are always who will mistake it for greatness Who are the truly great men of history? Don't vou think it's time we decided the question and gave our children some helpful, instead of so much harme

ful, inspiration?

Fditor's Note: The views expressed by columnists ir this

newspaper are their own, They are not necessarily those

of The Indianapolis Times,

‘Questions and Answers

(The Indianapolis Times Service Burean will answer any question of fact or information, not involving extensive ree Write your questions clearly, sign name and address, Medical or legal advice Washington Service D.C).

search. inclose a three-cent postage stamp cannot he given. Address The Times Bureau, 1013 Thirteenth St, Washington. Q-—-Did any clergymen sign the Declaration of Independence? A—One-~John Witherspoon of New Jersey. He was born in Scotland where he was pastor of several Presbyterian churches, In 1768, eight years before the Declaration of Independence was signed, he emigrated to America to become president of the College of New Jersey, afterward named Princeton University, Q--~Why were wooden Indians used as designating symbols by tobacconists? A-~Tobacco was native and peculiar to the New World and its use was adopted from the Indians, cone sequently it was natural to use an image of the aboriginal American as the symbol of tobacco Q—In labor relations, do the terms “stretch-out” and “speed-up” have the same meaning? A-No,; “stretch-out” refers to increasing the work quota of employees, usually by increasing the number of operations to be performed, or of machines to be watched. ‘“Speed-up refers to quickening the pace of operations performed by employees, usually through

stepping up the speed of machines they attend.