Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 18 July 1941 — Page 16

PAGE 16 EE — E—— Whe Indianapolis Times

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Give Light and the People Will Find Their Own Way

FRIDAY, JULY 18, 1941

RILEY 5551

JANGEROUS ECONOMY EL JT is something of a shock to read the two stories written

* by Richard Lewis of The Times staff concerning the |

manner in which the. City Health Department has been’ ‘gutfed by successive economy moves. Repeated economy moves have reduced the City’s sanitary inspection force almost to a point of ineffectiveness. The force is overworked, undermanned and underpaid. The ‘more the city has grown, the more the force has been reduced. Gar That policy cannot go on. Indianapolis can afford to do without a lot of things in an emergency, but safeguardingethe public health is not one of them. A We cannot afford to rely on luck to fight off germs and bad sanitation.

- DECIDE IT ON FACTS

FT'HE controversy over whether drafted men should be held in the Army more than 12 months boils down, we think, to a question that can be stated very simply: Is there an emergency so serious that the national interest would be imperiled by letting the men go? .. If there is, the draft act provides plainly that Congress, should so declare and the men should be kept in service as long as the President believes they are needed. If there is not, the act provides plainly that the men should be relieved from active duty and placed in the Reserve as they: complete their year of training. . Hindsight reveals that it was a mistake to write a 12-month limit into the law. But it is in the 1aw, and so the drafted men—and the Reserve officers now in active service—have both a moral and a legal right to demand release as they reach that limit. Unless, that is, Congress is willing’ to declare that it would imperil the national interest. . ‘We give much weight to the testimony of Gen. Marshall, the Chief of Staff, that there is an emergency which makes it urgently necessary for Congress to issue the specified declaration. Most impressive, also, is Gen. Marshall’s explanation of how the Army’s efficiency will suffer if in the year beginning next November it has to start releasing two-thirds of its enlisted. men (the draftees) and three-fourths of its experienced officers (the Reservists) “and replace them with untrained men and inexperienced officers. Fr = 5 . x 3 : 8s x = '” But what is this emergency of which the General ___speaks? In what way is the present situation “quite different,” as he says, from the situation when the draft act was - passed? te These are points, we believe, on which Congress and the country are entitled to a great deal more information ~ that has been made public. If we are about to be attacked - by an enemy, the enemy certainly knows it. Why, then, can’t the American people be told? We aren’t: arguing for: the publication of any genuine military secrets. But if the Administration and the War Department know of some impending danger- as grave and as imminent as the re- : fore of Gen. Marshall and others would seem to indicate, .~ then we say that the people have a right to know of it, too. + If it is true that releasing the drafted men as they - complete 12 months of training would imperil the national _ interest, that should be demonstrated by evidence—not asserted by opinions. © : If it is demonstrated by facts, we believe that Congress ~ will so declare, that the people will support the declaration, and that the draftees will willingly remain in the service.

5 3

AIRPOWER GETS A BREAK : THE Senate Military Affairs Committee has taken a wise ~~ .-and aggressive step in deciding to hold hearings on the ~~. McCarran bill to create an independent department of mili- . tary aviation. ? he One big lesson of the European war is the awful de- ~ cisiveness of airpower. Another thing demonstrated in this war, and in all other conflicts since the airplane came into general military use, is that generals and admirals ~~ trained in the traditional strategy of land and sea surface ik fighting ‘are seldom able to grasp the potentialities of a striking force that rides the skies. Even when their own military observers in the theaters of war report what actually happens they seem still to cling to their disbelief. ~~ The United States should build the most powerful air force in the world, We doubt that it can be done without first unifying the command. But even if we were wrong in this assumption—even if the claims for the effectiveness of independent airpower were less than half true—still it “would have been unwise for Congressional committees to continue to ignore the growing public insistence on taking steps to make sure that our air defenses are better than . second best. : : . So we think Senator Chandler did a fine thing when he forced the issue. ‘Incidentally, the junior Senator from _ Kentucky, who possesses great vigor and imagination, is one man in Washington about whom the country probably will hear more in the months to come. It is of the essence of democracy that in times of crisis new leaders rise.

Ee La x § 3

Bo = |

CZECHOSLOVAKIA KNOWS : WWEHAT the “new order” in Europe means to the con-. “YY quered: - :

In Czechoslovakia, all Czech schools will be closed at

end of this year and the buildings confiscated. The unisities are closed. The Prague City Library was temarily closed and then reopened. But of its 15,000 books, ,000 had been removed from the shelves by the censors in interim. The Sokol cultural and athletic societies have completely dissolved. = . : It is thus that the Germans elect

to usher in “the new

Mail subscription rates |

Fair Enough

By Westbrook Pegler

Ickes Slams Lindbergh as Friend of

Hitlerism, Yet Himself Champions

The Nazi Type. of ‘Government |

NJEW YORK, July 18—With she ‘major pert of

AN Harold Ickes’ latest tirade against Charles ‘Lindbergh it is impossible to disagree, except on -| grounds of propriety, but that this swollen little man,

authoritarian and -a fighter for his.

himself a greedy: ighte : . own brand of national - socialism,

‘should ‘denounce ‘another as-a Hit-|

lerite ‘is ‘almost beyond under- >

“standing. ‘the reasons given would be ‘utterly confusing ‘but for the fact that he. “himself is a Hitlerian Socialist, which explains everything. =~ . Thus an Ickes, devoted to state control of the lives and property of . the peoplé and the stealthy substi-.

tution of the one-party system un- |:

‘der a pretense of social reform, can swing out into space chattering

.shrilly against another whom he perceives to be sym-

pathetic with the same ideas. He probably sees no in-

consistency in this, for that is the way of the political “malady from which he suffers. : i ' Here we have a powerfu! and self-important ofi-"| ‘cial of our own maturing socialistic dictatorship, cor- |

responding in rank and in some of his official func-

| tions to Josef Goebbels of Germany, inciting himself

to frenzy against another man on the ground that the

‘other mah is friendly to the Nazi regime of Germany. |

I= has worked tirelessly ever since the day when, by some absurd accident, he first obtained his job, to promote in the United States a rough duplicate of the essentials of Hitlerism. . He has suceeded better than most Americans realize. : The raucous little man who obtained his own eco-:

nomic independence by means which he has, for reasons of his own, never discussed from the platform |

has often referred contemptuously to the fortunes of other men. In this case he spoke of Lindbergh as “a man who had gained riches at the hands of the American people.” . But all Americans know that Lindbergh’s fortune was thrust upon him and that he might have had a hundred times as much for the mere taking, Ickes also acquired a fortune by means certainly no more manly than Lindbergh's, but, nevertheless, was thrifty enough to sponge on the American people for two sojourns in a public hospital in which he had no legal right to be and for a vacation fishing trip on a warship whose log for that occasion would reveal evidence that he regards himself as a prince of privilege. These are. trivial items of expense incurred for the personal benefit and economy of Mr, Ickes when compared with the billions that he has delighted to spend toward the destruction by bankruptcy of the American system of government. But the incidents reveal in Ickes gn attitude irresistibly comparable to that of the favored nobilities of the Hitler regime. They show how his thoughts run. : 2 8 8

BE it is when Ickes attacks Lindbergh for associating with Hitlerians and for failing to deplore the brutalities of the foul regime that he reveals most alarmingly that inconsistency which more plainly than any other trait identifies the Bolshevik—Brown or Red. For if Lindbergh has had .any traffic with the Nazis, Ickes, in even more cordial way and in flagrant contempt of the American way, has been guilty of notorious ‘association with the Communists who have been working here for the same objectives. And if Lindbergh has been silent on the atrocities of the Hitler government Ickes has avoided equally tempting opportunities to denounce a regime which, in Russia, far out-scored even Hitler himself in cold ferocity and has killed in two decades more human beings than the American armies have lost in all the wars of the republic from 1776 to the date of these presents, . Perfunctorily, Mr. Ickes said he deplored communism and national socialism equally but that remark does not even expunge his record of open association with Communists and their fellow-travelers. He reserves the right fcr himself to associate with Red Bolsheviks but attacks Lindbergh for associating with the Brown. None of which abates the fact that the regime of which Ickes is so furious a spokesman has been adopting, consistently and insidiously, the national socialism which he, nevertheless, takes frequent occasion to

deplore.

Well, that is Hitlerism, too. Hitler constantly told

the German people that his only purpose in enslaving . them was to make them free. ie #1,

Aviation : By Maj. Al Williams

U. S. Needs All-Out Air Power But Won't Get It Under Present System.

I= IS winged protection and safety for the United States—or none. :

The airpower efficiency of a nation is an index of its Sdaplabiity to cHange, its intelligence and its alertness to realism. Therefore, it appears logically .necessary for a people facing a grave deficiency in this dominant weapon of defense to be concerned first with effecting major reforms in their individual and collective thinking. "The real significance of the capture of Crete by airpower, unassisted by land or sea forces but operating its. own against strong orthodox ‘defense forces, is not even yet appreciated by our Army and Navy leaders. The British Navy accused the Royal Air Force > ‘of failing to co-operate with it in defense of Crete. Gen. Wavell offers a similar alibi for the British Army. Our own Army and Navy leaders. quote these alibis as reasons why this country should not have a separate air force and a separate air command. Reals Ho ‘ Against this refusal to face reality by our admirals and generals is the scheme of the German war machine, with land, sea or air commanders placed in charge of various campaigns according .to whether land, sea or air elements are expected to play the major role. Crete was an experiment. It is now an accomplished project. Unléss we are ready to dream that Crete marked the last advance in air strategy and tactics, we had better be planning to meet | the development of each phase of that startling episode. : iy AE The. present setup will producé no such thing as real fighting American airpower, adequate for’ complete. defense of this country and the entire hemisphere, for years to come if ever. : : : ‘ . 8 #8 x 'RMIES are needed—fully mechanized. Our land A defense should be built around a highly trained

£ A

force of specialists—say 100,000 strong—with infantry {| trained as holding forces and with all that goes ||. -witk: a modern army.

We must build up our Navy, but we should scrap these battleships now building that won't be ready until 1944-45. In spite of what

, the ersatz strategists say about the oceans, the oceans

are still God-given ramparts. -

‘hatred of Lindbergh for'|

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WELL AS DEFENSE,

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® ' he Hoosier Forum I wholly disagree with what you say, but will defend to the death your right to say it.—Voltaire.

REBUKES WHEELER FOR ICELAND DISCLOSURE By C. Masteller, 209 W. 26th St.

Senator Wheeler, some time ago, protested loudly against the risk of a watery grave for our boys. That he was not sincere is proved by his recent ‘warning to Hitler that an Iceland occupation by our Navy was contemplated—and that when our boys were already en route there. The Senator's actions speak so loud we can hear what he says. He did all he could to provide a watery grave for sons of some mothers for whose happiness he has professed such deep concern, and they will not be tricked by him again.

CONTENDS VICE CRUSADE . WAS LONG OVERDUE : By Civiticus, Indianapolis. From news in the press and on the air it would seem that at last Indianapolis’ Rip Van Winkle has awakened to the fact that this “no mean city” for the past few years has been a wide open town for all forms.of law violators. : I venture to say that the Sheriff of Maripn County and his deputies, the Chief of Police, with all members of the City Police, have been fully conversant with the gambling joints. and of the many continuous

aE ?

violations of the licensing laws, re-

garding which the excise author-

'|ities seem to have been extremely

complacent, : It is. fairly common knowledge around town that there are a dozen or more “numbers rackets” in operation; hundreds of slot machines in daily use in many of the clubs of our “patriotic” organizations and so-called “fraternal” lodges, churches, etc. : About the best the Sheriff has been able to do was to pick up an odd slot machine or a punch board at some neighborhood drugstore, whereas right in the downtown section it could have been possible to pick up, several dozen of them in one place. Yet neither the Sheriff nor the Chief of Police have made a move to clear up this open, flagrant violation of the laws of the State; violations that have frequently been indulged in by members of the City Police Force while in uniform, ... : Many “clubs” as well as taverns have been violating the excise laws by their Sunday sales to members The peculiar phase of these law defying rackets is that they are being indulged in, and” operated by,

(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.)

some of the organizations whose membership is generally considered to be composed of the City’s better class of men and by organizations of violators operating a commercial proposition under the cloak, and auspices, of “fraternal” and “patriotic” lodges and clubs. ... Not any of our public servants can honestly say that they did not know what has been going on in Indianapolis during the last several years, ‘Their silence has, in part, given consent to the operation of these rackets. It is to be hoped that there may be no undue influence brought to bear on our prosecuting ‘attorney in his efforts to clean up an evil

mitted to grow to full maturity by previous administrations, ® 9 = TAUGHT: TO LOVE U. S. BY IMMIGRANT PARENTS By A. Warren Jacobson, 5812 Primrose Ave. Many hundreds of times I have thought ‘of the words of learning given to me by my father and mother. . They were both born in the little nation of Sweden. Yes, they talked -a great -deal about Sweden. However, to them, - the United States of America was their first love. £0 They drilled into my mind to look upon the Stars and: Stripes as the greatest flag “on earth. Yes, my Swedish parents taught me to respect my Governmerit, obey its laws and to look upon America as the leading nation on earth. During the World War my father was 50 years’ of age. Many, many times he said, “I wish that I had the vitality and ability of my Swedish army. days, so that Uncle Sam could use me.” At his age he was still willing to lay down his life for

‘his adopted nation.

..My father and, mother were most truly. right. This is the best and greatest nation on earth. Every one who lives in this nation should be willing .to die for the principles

that the Red, White and Blue stand

. Build destroyers, fast cruisers, torpedo boats i :

loaded with anti-aircraft guns. Build aircraft car- |

riers, but remember. that: carriers are “stop-gaps” until the 8000 and .10,000-mile c bombers gna flying boats are plentiful enough to patrol all e seas, “i . We Americans must determine ruthlessly to get all-out air rearmament—the United States Air Force. ‘We will never get it unless we free our seamen of the air from those who persist in viewing airpower as an auxiliary—an adjunct of land and sea forces.

So They Say— THE TIME will come when a discouraged army will be pushed back into the sea.—Pearl novelist, on the “Chinese incident.” ’

__ .THAPPEN to be a home guy, ind when I say home.| , _.

apanese | Buck,

Side Glances — By Galbraith

condition in the city that was per-:

for. So said my parents, and I most assuredly agree with them. People who think other flags are better had better leave here and live under the other flags—“Lindy” included. ” ” o WANTS SOMETHING DONE ABOUT DEFENSE STRIKES By Ww, E. H., Indianapolis

« « « If Hitler is about ready to pounce upon us as Mr. Roosevelt would have us believe, if conditions are getting so bad that there is talk of increasing the length of the draftees’ time to more than a year, if danger is sg close as to cause the United States to occupy Iceland and a move started to send our boys outside , this hemisphere, then why under the sun does not Mr. Roose~ velt and Congress do:something to stop the strikes which are crippling our defense and holding up vital parts needed by our defense plants? : ” » ” DOUBTS ISOLATIONISTS IN MINORITY IN INDIANA By Mrs. Chas. S,.Ludy, 2423 Park Ave. A recent headline reads, “Isolationists in the Minority, Says Indiana Group.” The article following then quotes officials of an organization called “Indiana Committee for National Defense” as’ stating that all figures are wrong—in reality, the Hoosiers are champing at the bit to follow Knox, et al right over to Europe to get into the brawl. * . This amazing statement follows by one day the publication of the results of the latest national poll on the question of entry into the conflict, which shows an overwhelming majority of 74 per cent of our people still opposed to meddling in the affairs of Europe, in spite ‘of the hysterical warmongering of the statesmen like Mr, Ickes, Senator Pepper, etc, and the clucking and chirping of our bundling dowagers. It is strange, indeed, if Indiana has so far wandered from the national standard—in fact it is so strange that it cannot be swallowed. It is indeed unfortunate that such irresponsible and deliberately misleading statements of propaganda as are contained in this article are permitted to appear in our respectable newspapers. f Such fantastic statements as “Indiana has been misjudged on the basis of the outcry of what we believe is to be a fanatical minority whipped into action by party feeling and race hatred” surely must be recognized as the desperate mouthings of a small group of self-seeking or misguided warmongers. “Fanatical minority” indeed! This “minority” is the segment of 74 per cent of our population who believe that our fight is here in our own land, that our destiny is to make free America strong and impregnable, and that “the path to war is a false path to freedom.”

CHILD PRODIGY

By OLIVE INEZ DOV 'NING

A baby boy of 18 months Sang little songs: with pleasant

glee; : So glibly he could sing the words— A most precocious child was he.

He was a very pretty tot— With deep blue eyes and golden hair; - 4 He chanted the woodpecker song, A smile abeam on face so fair,

And then at Sunday School he sang. Four lines about God’s grace we

see; ‘With pause he closed his repertoire Wil song, “My ‘Jesue Cares For ey

The words were sung with solemn

For this small messenger of God Was quite advanced beyond his years. i ye

DAILY THOUGHT

As for God, his way is perfect; the word of the Lord is tried: he is a buckler to all. them that trust in him.-—II Samuel 22:31. CLOSER is He than thing, and nearer than hands feet

To many eyes they brought the

nson Sve

The | Only Fair Way fo Keep Intact Is for Congress to Declare National. Interest Is Imperiled

ASHINGTON, July 18—The mess created by { \/ ‘the provisions. for only one year’s service by seléctees and others unless Congress shall declare the national interest imperiled, is thicker than you think, Gen. Marshall is absolutely right. Neither these lads, nor the National Guard, nor the Reserye Oceans on aetiye & can permitte go home ‘ without making our Army and our country the Jaughing stock of the world and worse perhaps the football of the world.” The idea of assembling a vast Army of 1,500,000 men, only 10 per cent trained and 15 per cent equipped, and then permitting it to melt in a month like a snowball on a hot stove, is too great a folly to be even debated outside a lunatic asylum. RRA This column called attention to the absurdity of that one-yeat jon while the act ‘was being debated. Several times since, it has accurately pointed to the certain development of this situation. «HIF ) What to do? There are three alternatives. Shall we amend these laws by putting into them arbitrary provisions permitting the President to extend their terms of service, when we well know that if such provisions had heen: proposed when the hills were up in Congress, they would have failed of enactment? ‘Shall we take a proper advantage of a clear provision in most of these statutes requiring -indefinite service when Congress shall declare that the “national interest is imperiled,” and have Congress SO declare? Shall we urge these people voluntarily to agree to indefinite extension of service? 5 8

HOSE people who urge the first course say that T there was no contractual obligation to - these men and that therefore there is no reason why the Government shouldn't simply change the law. It is true that the obligation to military service is not contractual. Legally, this course could be followed. But there is a very good reason why it shouldn't be. There is an element of sharp practice in this kind of abratadabra that would be rotten for morale both in the Army and in the country among the families and friends of these men. It is highly important to . preserve popular confidence in the promises or representations of our own Government at least. It is about the last Government toward which that confidence exists. Up to today, I felt that an appeal to these men by the President, setting forthi frankly the terrible dilemma presented by gross errors in legislation, would result in such an avalanche of voluntary consents, to service for the duration of the emergency that ‘the whole predicament could be avoided. Now I am not so sure. If we tried it and it failed, we would stand shamed before the world. I don’t know whether it would fail or not, but that it is a very great gamble and I have very recently learned that there are some circumstances that raise grave doubts of its success.

iL Fd

” s »

"0 sufficient efforts, such as confidential polls of commanders, have been made to explore this possibility thoroughly, but I have no doubt that Gen. Marshall has good reasons for his reluctance to try it, even if he hesitates to state them. If that is so'and the volunteer alternative is out, why not use the third method and, in faithful compliance with the terms of the original statutes have Congress frankly declare that the “national interest is imperiled” which would automatically make extended service not only, legal, but fair and just. If Congress doesn’t think that our interest is imperiled, why are we spending all these billions and why did we pass the Lease-Lend Bill? Of course, the answer is that Congress is afraid that such an action would invoke other totalitarian powers in the President which it is not yet ready to grant. That is all paper bugaboo. Congress, by the words of its text, spud limit the effects of its declaration in any way it chose. ; However you look at it, this is a hell of a mess from which we must escape, but why can't we escape in the only frank, courageous and horest way that seems open? Editor's Note: The views expressed by columnists in this newspaper are their own, They are not necessarily of The Indianapolis Times. : ;

The Mailman'’s Pay By Ruth Finney it :

WN J ASHINGTON, July 18.—The eyes of 147153 postal employees will be turned toward the House of Representatives next Wednesday when that body considers the Longevity Pay Bill. The bill provides the wage increases they have heen waiting for 13 years. : When the calendar is called the committee on postoffices and post roads will bring up the pay bill: ‘It probably will pass, because 121 members. of the House testified in favor of it when it was pending in committee, A favorable report was made several days ago. ; . At present postoffice clerks and letter carriers start work at $1700 a year and each year for five years they get a $100 raise until they have reached $2100. There the raises stop. The pending bill proposes that at the end of 10 years another $100 raise shall be granted, and another at the end of 15 years. This would raise maximum pay in the department to $2300. The Postoffice Department has opposed the bill on account of the cost,'which it estimated for the first year at $25,163,000. This estimate ‘was based, however, on an earlier proposal which would have provided $100 r ‘every five years until a maximum of $2600 had been' reached. The House committee estimates that the cost of its somewhat curtailed bill would be $20,000,000 the first year, : Pays schedules for postal employees have not been revised since 1928, and no general revision is proposed now, but advocates of the longevity bill feel some additional reward should be provided. “The purpose,” said the House committee report, “is to give the postal employees designated therein a reward for longevity of service as is now the practice in many other departments of the Government, and which is done to a large extent in private industry. “Under the prevailing system the compensation of these employees is frozen after five years and though they may continue in the service with the highest degree of efficiency and loyalty to the d ent and their Government for 10, 20 or 30 years yet under

Questions and Answers wells tive Sines Servos Biteah ell saree way search, Write your questions clearly, sign name snd address, inclose a three-cent postage stamp, Medical or legal advice

cannot be given. Address The Times Washington Seiviee Bureau, 1013 Thirteenth St., Washington, D, C.)

; from what cause qid Sir James di

and Dick A-—Stewart, 6 feet 2% inches; Powell, 6 O’Brien, 5 feet. 11 inches; Bogart, 5 feet 10% : Raft and Hope, 5 feet 10 inches; Crosby, 5 feet 9 inches; Cagney, 5 feet 8 inches; Lupino, 5 feet 6 inches; Sheridan and Lamour, 5 feet 5 inches; Durbin, 5 feet

. 4 inches; Marshall, 5 feet 3 inches, and Faye, 5 feet

2 :inches. . : ; Grow long does it take to build a modern battle-

_ A—Under normal conditions, about 3% to 4 years.

-eonditions favorable, | probably be aut two years, which wy