Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 11 December 1941 — Page 3
THURSDAY, DEC. 11, 1941
b. DELAY CRITICISM, MAJ. ELIOT URGES
Japs Want to Know the Answers, Too: Fix Any Blame After War.
By MAJ. GEORGE FIELDING ELIOT Copyright, 1941, by The Indianapolis Times and The New York Tribune, Ine. The American Pacific Fleet faced difficulties from the beginning of the war with Japan. This is mainly due to the withdrawal of some of its ships to meet the responsibilities we had undertaken in the Atlantic. It was necessary to meet these responsibilities, once they had been assumed, The amount of force
required for that purpose was a matter for the judgment of the Presi-|
dent and his naval advisers. It may be said that if the force transferred to the Atlantic included
any of our modern battleships, the responsibility assumed by whoever made the final decision to divide the Battle Force was a very grave one, The results must eventually be tried at the bar of public judgment. | Atlantic to the Pacific by way of the It is the personal opinion of the | Panama Canal. writer that whatever disposition be| It might be sought to effect a made of the lighter craft to meet| junction between those Atlantic changing conditions and needs, the ships and the remainder of the main striking power of the fleet| Pacific fleet, in order to have a ¢onought never to be divided as long as|centrated force which might then there exists a potential enemy in|be able to act effectively against the either ocean possessing a strong|Japanese. battle-line, | To know this would be of vital But the time for examination and | importance to Japan; to know for judgment has not yet arrived; that certain any single fact which would
is the point to be driven home. | tend to make a course on our part!
. Sex, _|likely, could be hardly less im-| The margin of superiority pos portant.
sessed by our original Pacific fieet Enemy Plays for Time
over the total force of the Japanese] navy was not great The Japanese would then seek| How much that margin has been by every means within their power | whittled down by transfers to the to prevent the junction of the two] Atlantic is uncertain, but certainly | parts of the fleet. They would try it had been reduced; perhaps to|to attack one part in detail, with| parity, perhaps below parity. superior force, before the junction] 1 could be effected . w SW : : Japs Want the Answers They would so station their subNow the question is, how much marines as to blow up and perhaps further has our fighting strength| damage one or the other part of in the Pacific been cut by the Jap- | the fleet while bringing superior anese attacks on Pearl Harbor or| forces to bear against the other. wv] Pacific (Done Ho¥ 4 many The Japanese sre playing desperI SU, A 'Wiately for time, heir great anxiety many put out of action for a greater|is to establish themselves securely or less period of time by severe/in the Far East before superior damage? t Efiow i i [aval forces can appear there. | hi e gt Ro A ane € OUENL! To do this, they must take Singa- | n he 1s I a Nike 16 Khow pore and Manila before a superior| a he Japanese n a € % 10W | American fleet (or a superior Anglo1e A i. they B an araly| American-Dutch fleet) can be asbe sure of what they have done, or semhled in Far Eastern waters. left undone. | ii at i The whole course of their future] This Nation Can Win operations, gra curs, Sepends Bay Remember that if the enemy’s bid > 3 aon, an > SIAC {for victory is to be defeated, we with the best information has a must make the most effective postremendous advantage. | sible use of every man and ship and Don’t Divide the Fleet {plane we pPOSSess. The least hamLet us tke & Suppostiion—and pering of our national effort now | ot ie a supposi —and
the least leakage of information, this is not a disguised statement of may be fatal fact—suppose our Pacific fleet has If there is blame to he apporbeen hard hit. tioned for what may have hapIt might then be decided to re- pened at Peari Harbor, then the store the situation, as far as pos- time for that is later when all the gible, by sending ships from the facts can be told.
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By EARL RICHERT ONE HUNDRED and twenty-five years ago today President James Madison affixed his signature to a resolution admitting Indiana to statehood. History records that when news of the event reached the brand-new state capital at Corydon there was great rejoicing—speech-making and celebrating. Today there was speech-making again at Corydon,
but no celebrating.
Governor Schricker and other state officials gathered
at the pioneer capital to observe officially the reaching of the state’s century and a quarter mark.
They recalled Indiana's eventful and productive past and voiced their confidence in the role she will play now in the defense of the nation. Indiana has come a long way since Dec. 11, 1816. Then, the English were the only national enemy. The War of 1812 was just over and a goodly portion of the new state's population of 65,000 had suffered from the war, one way or another,
The English were remote, however, and British-American relations were only a topic for academic discussions. = » 8
THE INDIANS were the real danger. They held approximately two-thirds of the state’s land at that time and most of the citizens feared that new Indian wars might break out. (The Black Hawk war did come a few years later). The strangest thing about those 1816 Hoosiers was that they were practically united politically, They were Jeffersonian Republicans and almost to a man they supported James Monroe for the Presidency in 1316. As might be expected, however, the first state election was a hotly contested battle with the revolving around personalities, Jonathan Jennings, the territory’s representative in Congress, defeated ex-territorial Governor Thomas Posey by a vote of 5211 to 3934, Approximately 75 per cent of the eligible voters turned out to vote in that election and enough that has been the average percentage that has gone to the polls on election days down through the years.
issues
strangely
Governor Schricker
William Henry Harrison was the first governor of the Indiana Territory. He took office in 1800, having resigned from his position in Congress as the first delegate from the Northwest Territory. After serving as Indiana's territorial governor, he became the Com-mander-in-Chief of United States forces In the West during the war of 1812, sb & POLITICAL DIVISION did not come in the state until eight years later when James Quincy Adams, Henry Clay and Andrew Jackson sought the Presidency. Political discussions centered on two questions—the policy of the national government on public land and internal improvements, There was little real debate on either issue as practically all the new citizens believed that the Federal Government should not strict in foreclosing on land for which the new settlers often found themselves ‘unable to pay and that there should be extensive internal improvements
be too
THE INDIANAPOLIS TIMES
125th Anniversary of Indiana's Statehoo
The delegates elected to draw up the Indiana Constitution set some sort of a record for Indiana political bodies. They met In Corydon on June 10, 1816, and it took them only 18 days to turn out a Constitution. The weather was hot and the hotel accommodations were. insufficient so consequently they got right down to business. They copied largely from the constitutions of the United States, Ohio and Kentucky. a '% 2 THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY was started out with practically all governmental powers—a situation which has changed considerably through the years, The Governor had only a suspensive veto which could be overcome by a majority of each House. He appointed a few officers, principally judges, by and with the advice and approval of the Senate. He could be absent from kis post for days at a time and he received only $1000 per year. Today the Governor gets $8000 annually in salary and $8000 for upkeep of the mansion. Salaries of other state officers in 1816 wouldn’t even pay hotel rent for but more than a few months now, The Secretary of State, State Auditor and State Treasurer received $400 annually: the Supreme Court judges drew $700 per year and the members of the General Assembly were paid $2 for each day in which they were in session. The Secretary of State now draws $6500; the auditor and treasurer, $7500 respectively; Supreme Court judges, $10,000, and legislators, $10 per day. ” » 2
THE LEGISLATURE in those early days appointed the Secretary of State, State Auditor, State Treasurer, the two U. S. Senators and all the Circuit Court judges. It designated new roads and streets, chartered municipal and private corporations, fixed rates of service, impeached justices of the peace and granted divorces among other things. One of the most interesting laws passed was a poor relief act directing county commissioners to appoint “two overseers of the poor” in each township to look after the “worthy paupers.” They looked after them by auctioning the paupers off to the lowest bidder—the person who would care for them at the smallest cost to the county. Children of the poor and or-
ALA
William Henry Harrison
phans were bound out as apprentices under another early legislative act, the boys until 21 and the girls until 18. . Vagrants, so decreed by the court, were sold out to the highest bidder, the proceeds of their work, if any, going to their dependents and the balance going to the vagrant after he had served out his nine months indenture. Probably the most difficult problem in Indiana in those days was how to get from one place to another, ” ” » THERE WERE NO railroads. no canals, no pikes and all the rivers with the exception of the Ohie
d Is Observed
Jonathon Jennings
were obstructed by fallen trees and sand bars. Stage coach lines were not established until a few years later, About the only “traffic” fatalities in those days were mail carriers who often would get drowned when swimming their horses across some flooded stream. “Franked” Congressional docu= ments were one of the paramount worries of postal officials in those days too and there was often such a quantity of it that it clogged the mails. The moral of all this: You can see in some ways Indiana has changed a lot and in other ways not a bit in 125 years,
PAGE 3 ACCIDENTS CUT OUTPUT IN U. S:
340 Million Man Days Are Lost in Nine Months, Survey Shows.
CHICAGO. Dec. 11 (U, Pes Twenty battleships, 200 destroyers and 1000 heavy hombers could bs built with the production time lost through accidents to American’ workers in the first nine months of this year, the National Safety Coun= cil said today. The Council said 340,000,000 mans days of production time were lost in the period through accidents te workers on and off the job, 55,000,000 of them from temporary disabilities alone, Of 35,900 workers killed accidents ally in that period 13,900 died from injuries received at work and 22,000 lost their lives in off-the-job acti dents. President Roosevelt called upon the Council recently to lead a nae tion-wide campaign against accie dents. “Now that the United States is a® war,” said Col. John Stilwell, Coun cil President, “it is more than ever necessary to prevent this waste of the nation’s resources. Accidents delay our day of triumph.”
CHAILLAUX TO TALK ON 5TH COLUMNISTS
Subversive and fifth column ace tivities will be discussed by Homer I.. Chaillaux, national Americanism director of the American Legion, at a meeting of Southport Ladge 270, F. and A. M,, at 7:30 p. m. tomorrow, Members of the Craft Club of the lodge and their wives will have dine ner preceding the meeting. Afe rangements are in charge of John B. Swords, worshipful master; Leon H. Roquet, senior warden; John A, Whalen, past master, and Delberh Waymore. The past master’s degrees will ba conferred on Mr, Roquet, who is master-elect, at 8 p. m. today. The ceremonies will be conducted by Elmer BE. Houze, past master.
CULVER BANDSMEN TO ATTEND DINNER
Times Special CULVER, Dec. 11. — The Culver Military Academy drum and bugle corps and color guard will take part in the program of the Indiana So= ciety’s 30th annual dinner in Chis cago Saturday. The drum and bugle section is made up of 16 members of the band. Stephen ¥. Buchanan, 28 E. 46th St, Indianapolis, is a member of the drum and bugle corps.