Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 17 April 1941 — Page 14

"PAGE 14 The Indianapolis Times

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THURSDAY, APRIL 17, 1941

CONGRESS SHOULD DECIDE CONVOYS JA PMINISTRATION Senators have postponed a showdown on the Tobey resolution which would put Congress on record against American warship convoys for munitions shipments to Britain and other beliigerents.

The Administration leaders, of course, have every right to pick their own time for testing this issue. There seems to be little doubt that the President, as | the Conamander-in-Chief, has the constitutional authority | to order U. S. naval vessels to sail anywhere on the high geas. outside the combat zones which the President himself fixes. Yet the President has publicly declared that convoying means shooting and his Secretary of the Navy is on record as believing that establishment of convoys would be an act no matter how

of war. That being true, the President, desperately he may be urged to do so at some future time, escorts without g the proposition to Longress, Under the Constitution, Congress has the responsibility declaring wars 8 and maimtaming armies. Since establishing & convoy system admittedly would be inevitable, then Congress should have

hether that last fateful step

1 . x . . » > WN > should never consider maugurating warship

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3 "nae LEAN

of raismg likely to make war the responsibility of saving w should be taken. > J - > » PLAY BALL

afternoon that welcome cry was to break he grandstand at Perry Stadium and usher eball season for the Indianapolis Indians. We welcome the season for the game itself, for the rewill give from the pressure of dread world events for the chance it will give the experts to “expert” on! the strategy and tactics of the game. We sometimes wish these davs that we had as many experts on military strategy and tactics as we have in the $randstand on baseball. Fortunately, or unfortunately, depending on your point of view, that isn't the way we grew up. Rut any game that enlists the attention and emotion millions of people is even more salutary in these times han under normal conditions. So we welcome the arrival [ the new season, even though the baseball writers give Indians little chance of finishing in the first division, much less of winning the American Association pennant. But it is always well to remember that the tradition of baseball is that the game is never over until the last man is out. So we'll hope for the best and keep pulling for our Indians to bring us another winning season,

Batter up!

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THAT'S MORE SENSIBLE N the future, says Secretary of the Navy Knox, this country hopes to persuade the British not to bring war- | ships into American harbors in broad daylight, and not to let sailors go ashore with the names of vessels on their hatbands. The British should be easily persuaded if they really want to keep Germany from learning the names, the in-| Juries and the probable stays of their additional warships which Mr. Knox says will be brought to our navy vards for vepairs, Whether it was improper for some newspapers to print the fact that one such ship did arrive recently is a question we're not debating here, though we certainly agree | with Mr. Knox that ineffective liaison work between Britain and the United States was at least partly responsible for | the publicity.

Obviously, since that warship steamed into New York | §

Harbor on a Sunday morning, anchored within sight of hun- | dreds of thousands of people and gave its sailors leave te go all over the city with the vessel's name on their hats, not printing the story didn’t do much good. The agents of Britain's enemy didn’t have to read any newspaper to learn |

*

all about it.

mn

HOPEFUL PROFESSOR

HE so-called civilized world has enjoyed general peace |

for only 227 of the last 3357 years, according to Prof. Walter C. Langsam of Union College at Schenectady, N. Y,, who nevertheless calls himself an optimist concerning the future. {uman relations have made enough general progress in the last 2000 vears, he thinks, to justify a hope that history vet to be written will be less grim. But he'd be surer of that if only more persons in each country would learn to acquire early in life these few simple habits: 1. Tolerance for the views and conditions of others. 2. A tendency to hold or advance strong personal opin- | jons only upon subjects on which one is relatively well informed. 3. A critical ability to differentiate between propaganda | and fact. 4. A willingness to co-operate and compromise with | other people. 5. Recognition of the importance of having a sense of humor. No doubt about it, yet we're bound to say there's! mighty little evidence discernible to us that any of these | good habits are growing in any country just now. Taking | the historian’s long view, however, we don’t find it so diffi- | cult to believe that, assuming the human race permits itself | to survive so long, the next 3357 years will be better than | the last—if only because they could hardly be worse.

YEARS OF DISCRETION F speech be silver and silence golden—and an old saying | avers it is so—then Justice Hughes at ™ may be re- | garded as having reached years of discretion. On the occasion of his birthday the other day, the | learned and venerable judge had only this to say: that he had nothing to say. Justice Hughes is wise in years and in experience, in learning and in life. He proved it on his birthday.

| scribe the “race” of a Turk is even ha

| this country. | have not been Turks in that sense at all.

| first to make iron weapons,

| corruption and weakness,

What of Turkey?

By Ludwell Denny

Thousands of Years of Fighting Men Have Contributed to the Sturdy Fibre of Her Survivors.

(Second in a Series)

WW SHINGTON, April 17.—If any country in the world has an uninterrupted tradition of fighting it is Turkey, which Prime Minister Churchill hopes will come to Britain's rescue. Before recorded history, and most of the time since that country has been fought for and fought over as the strategic bridge connecting Ru. rope and Asia. The worlds great conquerors have won and held it, only to lose it to more aggressive invaders, who in turn have used it as the stronghold for wider empires reaching in every direction. As the conquerors rose and fell, they contributed their best war-

riors not only to the dust of Tur-|

key but also to its blood. So for thousands of years the fighting : strains of many armies have mingled to produce the strong survivors of today. Like the United States—though as a battleground, rather than a refuge—Turkey is therefore a melting Pot of most of the early races of mankind. To derder th ticket an American. ny Al least we can say an American is one born in But the most notable Turks usually More often they have come from “the top of the world” in Middle Asia, or from the Balkans.

» » » Se MUSTAFA KEMAL ATATURK, father of the WF Turkish Republic and of Turkish nationalism. was born in Salonika of a Macedonian mother and Albanian father, Of course the Corsican Napoleon became the Emperor of France, the Georgian Stalin he dictator of Russia, and the Austrizn Hitler the ruler of & Pan-Germany. But they fled to an existing nationalism, while Kemal created a Turkish nationalism that had never been before. hat, indeed has been the distinctive nature of this land and its people—while among the oldest Seals of empire it was never in itself a nation or a separate entity like Egypt, Greece, Rome, Spain or Britain. The Ottoman Empire, which dominated the

| world for so many centuries, was based on Turkev

but was not Turkish, It was international. interracial —Islam, the crescent and the sword. Always the sword, even before the crescent. Sumerians, first

The writers of language, the Hittites. the Babylonians and Assyrians, the Greeks and Romans, and many lesser breeds fought back and forth before the early Monloid Turks came out of the East in the 11th century. he Seljuk tribe of Turks from the mountains of Middle Asia fought four wars with the Byzantine Empire of the Greeks before conquering Western Anatolia, and then Jerusalem. These nomad horsemen had taken the fighting religion of Mohammed from the Arabs. Eight Christian crusades in twa centuries instead of driving out the Turk left him stronger.

EANWHILE another Mongol tribe had swept out of the East, under the terrible Genghis Khan Though his successors wiped out the Seliuks. those Khans opened the way for the Ottoman Turks in the 14th century Within & few years the latter conquered all of Asia Minor to the gates of Constantinople Soon they crossed the Dardanelles, fought victoriously through the Balkans, up the Danube to Budapest, and were not stopped until within sight of Vienna Except for the brief interlude of Tamerlane— another Mongoloid hurricane from top of the world whence came the Huns and Turks—the Ottoman Empire ruled until our own dav. Like the Byzantine and other empires that it conquered, it too at long last collapsed of its own But not before it developed a distinctive military technique, which Hitler has now copied and adapted for similar conquests. That Turkish military supremacy for centuries was based on: Elite storm troops, fifth columnists, movement, and superior weapons, NEXT: The New Turkey.

» tha wit

terror, rapid

———— ! (Westbrook Pegler is on vacation)

Business By John T. Flynn

Forced Loan Feature of British Tax Only Adds to After-War Probiems.

EW YORK, April 17—There is an important feaJ ture of the British tax plan that deserves attention. The taxes are enormous. But part of the tax will be, not a tax proper, but an enforced saving. That is, out of every dollar collected by the British Government in this tax scheme a certain part will be credited to the taxpayer as a saving—a “blocked saving,” as it is called. The theory is that when the war is over the citizens who pay these sums will have coming to them from the Government a sum in cash equal to this savings. Of course this may tum out to be pretty illusory. The Government will not hold this sum of money intact. It will spend it And when the war is over the Government will have nothing in money with which to repay this savings portion of the pian. \ To get money to pay it the Government will have to raise further taxes. In other words, it will have to tax those who made the savings in the first place in

| order to pay them back,

Mussolini did something like this several years ago. He enacted a compulsory loan. Every person with an income above )& certain amount—and the level was pretty low —was compelied to lend to the Fascist Government 10 per cent of his capital, If the Government had just taken this 10 per cent as a tax, it would have been called & capital levy Rut the Government took it as a loan. Then it levied a tax on these people at the rate of so much a year to repay the loan. The question now arises: over? And how much will these loans be worth? = = - RITAIN today perhaps the most grievously debt-laden nation in the world. This has come of the British Government's policy of carrying permanent debts. The debt has been growing steadily over the centuries until it is a staggering.sum. With the

1S

| new war debts added to it, it is a sum well beyond

the ability of England to carry. And with these new

| imposts piled on, the debt becomes a complete crusher.

Therefore we may assume that devaluation by Britain is inevitable after the war. Either she will nave devaluation or she will just pass out as a serious economic unit. Inflation and devaluation may save her in the end. But that will mean that this socalled loan will turn out to be a tax. The sponsors of the British scheme have talked of a capital levy to pay off these loans, but that is a matter vet to be decided. Of course it is proper to say that all this is without value as argument to England when she faces the possibility of utter defeat at the hands of Germany. That is true. But it still does not alter the] fact that one of the consequences of the war to her, | win or lose, will be economic ruin. And this eco-| nomic ruin may produce some strange characters in| England —some strange messiahs, some queer political movements.

So They Say—

A GENERATION ago the United States missed her

first chance to serve the world in a big way. . . . Our second chance is now with us.—Vice President Wal-

lace. . * NM

all, chewing gum is a form of sculpture. It's uwnpremeditated. —John Sloan, artist,

AFTER

Its easual,

How much can England | collect in taxes to repay these loans when the war is}

THE INDIANAPOLIS TIMES

Underscoring It

i

|

I wholly

The Hoosier Forum

disagree with what you say, but will

defend to the death your right to say it.—Voltaire.

URGES DEFENSE GROUP CHANGE ITS NAME By M. R.. Jamestown, Ind In reply to Forest K. Paul's lett to the Forum I wish to make following statements

IT there is any name changing to

be done I think the which calls itself the Indiana Committee of National Defense had better change its name to the Indiana Committee of National Offense There is no need for a lengthy discussion of why—just look up the two words in the dictionary and some of Mr. Ogle’s articles and vou tl the change is needed.

will see that

committee

asd reaq

= » FORESEES RIPPER FIGHT AS ISSUE IN 1942 By Raymond H he 1942 campaign politics has begun. The kernel of that be over the limitations of the powers of the Legislature. The pivotal office will be that

Stone, 531 E. 36th St,

Indiana

mn

struggle will

¢ oi

| State Attorney General

Many believe that the Legislature has the power to prescribe the machinery through which the Governor shall exercise the executive function of making appointments Very few believe that the Legislature should exercise the power of appointment whether directly or by subterfuge. The commissariat of legislative administration ernment The American of government Is for the executive ta select the persens in charge of choosing employees of the state where such choosing is not in departments whose heads are directly elected by the people Men of merit are more important than a system called merit.

» 2 WARNS AGAINST SLAVISH REGARD FOR HISTORY By Claude Braddick, Kokomo,

Russia is of ov -

form

Ind.

. Mrs. R. G. Levan of East Chicago is undoubtedly brilliant and versed Her con-

in history and literature. clusions are unassailable—by Mr Ogle or anyone else—when

that shooting has always meant war

However, I must join her critics in warning her that a slavish regard for the precedents of history

can lead to disaster. We go on where history leaves off ler, realizing this,

have

er

the

| Street

she states that convoys is the next logical step in our aid to Britain, and that convoys mean shooting, and

10 Hithas coufounded

accidents ean happen and no one be at fault. I am prompted to write this because every morning when school is open I meet quite Mats: [2 few of these children most of TIN them very small. and I should like | can [lo continue to see them, standing up.

(Times readars are invited

to express their views in

y ese coiumns,

religious con-

troversies excluded.

your letters short, so a

ave a chance. Letters must 5»

d TAKING A SLAM AT HAROLD ICKES By Chas. Norris, 1305 Kelly St. By what right has Mr. Harold Ickes to make a statement, “The people know that in truth this war| is our war"? Why is this war our war? Who| started it? Who declared war on who? Harold Ickes forgets that most of |the real American people know that | this war was started by the unjust | Versailles Treaty dominated by Eng-! land which we refused to sign. | And by what right has Mr. Ickes | or any other so-called American |citizen to call Charles Lindbergh and | Gen. Robert E. Wood tools of Hit-| {ler or any other foreign country? | These two Americans are two men | and what they represent is some-| thing this great country should be | proud of. { America First IT think that . i something we should live and die I do not know how the accident for but not on any European soil. happened but my guess is that the If there were a certain few of our little Elliott yoy _ thought he had high and I mean high officials in the light in his favor and stepped inhi country made to keep their into the street just as it changed. mduths shut we might be able to then became too confused to return gtav out of this mess across the! to the sidewalk pond. If they haven't said and] For that signal changes more done too much already. Hitler rapidly at Meridian and Michigan wants to rule Europe, England wants Sts. than any other light I know to rule Europe what difference does jof. I cross there several times each it make? I don't think it is any day and have learned that pedestrian is not very close to the there. . . . when it is in his favor he gS § 8

might just as well wait, for if not, UPHOLDS LABOR’'S FIGHT

it will be ainst hi before he | afer cove Delore 'i€ FOR BETTER CONDITIONS

be signed.)

the sticklers for precedent. Convovs would undoubtedly mean shooting. But whether such shooting! led abruptly to all-out war—i. e., an expeditionary force—would depend upon America’s good sense and emotional control. It has long been apparent to dis- | {cerning persons that this Administration—while earnestly striving to avoid a “shooting” war—is nevertheless determined that Hitler shall not win, and will take whatever steps are necessary to prevent it. Moreover, the nation is rapidly swinging in line behind it. And well it may, for whether this course is wise or not, we have certainly traveled too far along it for any turning back. Why not look at it in that light, Mrs. Levan?

» CLAIMS MICHIGAN ST. LIGHT TRAPS PEDESTRIANS By J. A, Keves,

» »

is

611 Ft. Warne Ave

| Motorists familiar with this cor-|By William Tayler, Box 109, Morgantown, | § Ind. | 38

ner often stop in the pedestrian lane in order to get a good start James R. Meitzler of Attica has across, thus making it more risky found some one to use as a target |

for thos ho are trying to walk ‘ oO 2 Yo wry Hyg besides the unfortunate WPA work- | Quite a few children cross here ers and the old-age assistance pen- | each day and it is a wonder thers sioners, that have been the butt have HO gen rh Hoosen be- of his remarks in the past... . fore a his corner. However, ac-| . i ’ ‘ . cidents seem to run in cycles and| Union labor doesn’t claim what there may be more unléss some- he states, but does claim these thing is done to give both walkers things. If it wasn’t for men havand riders a “break” at this cor- jo the courage to unite and strike ner. ih p t wages, labor would be So much is said about pedestrians [or decen : HLS : . working for a buck a day. Labor

bein 1t but Ss corner d 4 JEINg_ Bb Tawi us a} his comes only wants decent working condi- | tions and decent pay. . | Labor resorts to many tactics, (both fair and unfair to gain its!

|

|

|

point, because they are in a minority among too many people like | Meitzler. I have stated in the Forum on many occasions that I] do not uphold unwarranted strikes. Further I do not uphold one-sided | opinions like Meitzler’s either. | In our country, 4 per cent of the people control the wealth. The other 96 per cent fight among! themselves for the scraps. The un- | fortunate part is that too many | people are deprived of a way to learn a living. Let us not condemn labor for trying to better themselves.

APRIL By VELMA M. FRAME

April is a lady full of whims, Yet so loved her tantrums all beguile. She stamps her foot and showers us with tears, Then lovingly bestows a sunny smile.

| derson as its administrator.

if a of our business what they do over] §

bY nad KY

"I have enough gas to go around the block a couple of times—or should we park right here and discuss things?"

Earth, That sho may have spring array,

every heart, April is a lady, whimsical and gay!

DAILY THOUGHT

And thou shalt return and obey the voice of the Lord, and do all his commandments which I command thee this day.—Deuteronomy 30:8.

supreme powers keeps men

obedience —Burton.

She coaxingly caresses Mother ner lovely

Her breath’s so sweet it quickens

THE fear of some divine and in

|

THURSDAY, APRIL 17, 1941

Gen. Johnson Says—

Leon Henderson the Right Man for Price Control Post Which May Prove Most Important in U. §.

WY Hvar, April 17—The most important and encouraging domestic war development is the creation of the Office of Price Administration and Civilian Supply and the appointment of Leon HenWe shall discuss the second aspect first, because any such move as this is exactly as strong or as weak as the man who runs it. Although this writer brought Mr. Henderson into the controlling government group, this column has sometimes criticized and disagreed with him. Nevertheless for this particular job— and it may be the most important to the nation in the whole Government—the selection could not have been bettered. Mr Henderson is no yes-man. He is absolutely fearless in defending his own opinion regardless of the prestige or position of his adversary. That is exactly why he was selected from an obscure background to be chief of the research division of NRA. He is a good administrator. He knows how to organize and apportion work to subordinates in the manner best suited to get it done quickly. He has the supreme gift which makes Hitler's astonishing performances possible. He knows how to select the best men for particular jobs, reward them if they perform and liquidate them if they don't, He is not jealous of his subordinates and does not appropriate their good work for his own reputation. He gives them full credit. » ” » E is good in industrial conferences because he knows his stuff and relies on argument rather than dogma. Finally, and most important of all, he has been working on this national price-control problem for eight years and accordingly knows more about it than anybody in either Government or industry, and has a better knowledge of where and how to get the controlling facts and figures quickly, So much for that important side. The second side covers policy, authority and method As a policy the necessity for price control is absolute. There is no doubt that increased prices and costs that have already been permitted will add billions of dollars to the cost of defense—more billions than all the increased taxes that have been considered in the wildest dreams can offset. The cost of living has not vet reflected these but it most certainly will, The sensitive index of the Department of Labor shows 37': per cent increase in the price of 28 basic commodities since August, 1939. While these are irregular as among particular commodities, the general inflationary and destructive effect is inewitable and the process has only just begun. As proved by our experience in the World War the whole price situation showd have been taken in hand when the defense effort started. The failure to do so is the most obvious and inexcusable incompetence in the whole industrial mobilization.

” » ”

VEN now the Government is uncertain as to whether it shall put a ceiling over all prices or attempt to deal with a few prices separately. The World War proved beyond question that the latter

| way is like trying to cure smallpox by rubbing lard on the sores.

Every price is 8 composite of all costs and prices. You can't keep the general price index down and let some prices sky-rocket as they will. You can't ask one seller to keep his prices down and let the sellers whose prices make his costs raise their prices to him without control. You can't let the prices of things go up and keep the wage or labor even. On the other hand, you can't constantly increase the wage of labor and keep the price of the articles produced by labor down. : 1f that vicious circle isn't cut it will result in unending strikes and shortages. If this situation is not handled it is going to cosh this country more than the war effort itself——billions of dollars a year—20, 30, 40 or even 50 billions a year. It will mean at the best, explosive inflation and intolerable burdens of taxation on the backs of future generations and at the worst national bankruptcy and impotency for defense. : If Mr. Henderson has no sufficient statutory power to handle this, and it is doubtful that he has, it should be given him at once. In ho field is this Administration called upon for more courage and realism.

i s—

‘A Woman's Viewpoint

By Mrs. Walter Ferguson

bv those

LICE PAUL. whose name is beloved who prize freedom, landed recently in New York with cheering news. “Women everywhere ' she says, ‘are conscious that they must take a more important part in world affairs.” : It's high time, too. Nor is it posisble any longer to evade the heavy sense of responsibility for what goes on. Certainly every female capable of the feeblest thought knows now that men need our help in keeping the world in order. Without us. they have achieved almost total chaos, and whatever the results of feminine interference may be, they couldn't be worse than present conditions, Win, lose, or draw, we've got a big share in these “dates with destiny.” It's our world they're so busily smashing. And vou can be sure we'll be called upon to work in its rehabilitation, so we may as well resolve to keep our hands in the business. For it IS our business. Whatever happens in national or international arenas affects women quite as much as it affects men—and no male creature is smart enough to think up a good argument against that statement. Out of the last World War surged strange new notions of feminine activity. Women were released from long bondage in many parts of the globe. They unveiled themselves in Turkev and took off their footbindings in China. In Russia they

RRR

began to

| learn their ABCs, and remote East Indian villages

were swept periodically by vagrant breezes of the new freedoms. In Japan, in Germany, in the Scandinavian countries, women organized for study. And let us not forget that England's women fought and starved and went to vrison for their political rights, while here in the United States all sorts of privileges were handed out to us. It was as if some [airy godmother Had appeared, bearing gifts. Starry eved we took and tasted them. But our enjoyment was never diminished by any real sense of obligation. We had not yet learned that Liberty, too, has its price and can be possessed only by those who are willing to pay for it. Now. at last, conditions remind us how heavily involved we are in men's political plans. Our lovely planet is ravaged once more by their destructiveness. And while women everywhere are helping with the fighting, they are pondering long thoughts in their hearts. When armies move, our aid is always demanded. Will it be welcomed as eagerly when the time for making peace comes? If not, our {reedom

is an empty glory.

Editor's Note: The views expressed by colamnists 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, not involving extensive research. Write your questions clearly, sign name and address, inclose a three-cent postage stamp. Medical or legal advice eannet be given. Address The Times Washington Service Bureau, 1013 Thirteenth St, Washington, D. C.).

Q—Who founded the city of St. Augustine, Fla.? A—St. Augustine was settled in 1565 by Spaniards under Pedro Menendez de Aviles, but the place had ° been visited as early as 1512 by Ponce de Leon. Q—Did the feudal system have any lasting effect

| on English and American law?

A—The principles of the system form the basis i of English and American law in regard to real prope erty.