Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 13 December 1941 — Page 8

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

Owned and published & Price Marion Coun4 , 8 cents a copy; @elivou Im STN |e] hd 5

es Publishing 214 WwW. Maryland St Member of United Press, Scripps = Newspaper Alliance, NEA EB Service, and Audit Bu- § reau of Circulations.

Give Light and the People Will Find Ther Own Wap

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 13, 1041

PANTS AND SLEEVES HE war may have caught us with our pants down but let it now find us with our sleeves rolled up!

“HOW CAN I HELP?”

J VERYWHERE Americans are asking the question. With the new sense of unity comes a heightening of the degive to be of service to the nation, to have a personal part in the great effort. One thing you can do at once. Buy the Government's defense savings bonds—war bonds, they are now. Thev are offered in many denominations. The smallest costs $18.75, and in 10 years will increase in value to $25. They may be purchased on easy payments. A defense stamp costs oly a dime. A savings book filled with 187 stamps, plug a nickel, will buy a bond. Begin buying bonds and stamps today. You will help to achieve victory. You will help to prevent inflation. You will help toward your own security, now and in future years.

LET'S START PAYING will be a long, grueling war—and expensive. In the next few years our Government may have to spend more money than in all the 152 years of its history up to now. Let's start at once to pay a larger share of the costs as we fight. The generation that does the fighting always pays heavily, in lives lost, in materials destroyed, in lower living standards. But whatever part of a war's cost is financed by borrowed money has to be paid twice—first, in higher prices for munitions and civilian goods during the war, and again by the taxpayers of future years. And the repayment of borrowed money is with interest. ee 8 =

WE who stay at home and pay money—even if we pay to our fullest capacity—will contribute only a pittance compared to those who leave their homes and jobs and careers and give, or risk, their lives. To contribute less than our full capacity would be unthinkable. Taxes which we might have considered onerous a few days ago should now be regarded as welcome obligations. Treasury and Congressional authorities are preparing to draft a program of all-out taxation. We offer these suggestions:

1 Excess profits. The ideal tax would be made so tight that no individual or corporation could gain one dollar of extra profit as a result of this war,

But there should be no tricks, and no self-defeating rules of bookkeeping such as, for instance, the rule advocated by certain Treasury theorists who would require computation of all profits on the base of original capital invested. That base, applied throughout industry, would close down many of the plants to which we look for weapons. An equitable plan would permit excess profits to be computed either on the base of invested capital or on the earnings of preceding peace years. It might well be backstopped by another law for recapture of all profits in excess of 6 or T per cent of the cost of performing war contracts.

Income taxes. Those already subject to these taxes— single persons with incomes of above $750, and married persong with incomes above $1500—should pay at further increased rates. They comprise, roughly, the economic upper one-third of the population, the part that has most of the ability to pay. The income-tax base should be broadened again, to increase still further the number of taxpayers. The ideal tax would take something directly from the income of every citizen, from each according to his ability to pay— and, in times like these, to the limit of his capacity. Remember the boys in the front lines, fighting at a dollar a day or less.

3 Sales taxes. This newspaper has always regarded these as the worst form of taxation. In normal times, we believed, no Government expenditure could produce enough benefits to offset the damage done by Federal taxation of the people's necessities.

But it is true that sales taxes would raise much revenue, and correspondingly curb the rise in the debt. And the worst tax is a lesser evil than the debt. So, after exhausting the revenue-getting possibilities of the ability-to-pay taxes on excess profits and incomes, we believe Congress should consider sales taxes as an additional source,

HEAD of the all-out tax program there should be a program of all-out economies. The days of surplus workers and surplus goods are gone, or rapidly going, and with them goes whatever excuse there might have heen for pump-priming expenditures. Every available man-hour of labor and every available material resource will be required to win the war. Those needy who cannot work must be cared for. But the time has come to abolish NYA and CCC and WPA and farm subsidies and all other subsidies—to wipe out every Gow ernment activity not absolutely necessary to the nation's security. : Our country is fighting for its life. It can no longer afford to pay men and women to conduct researches into freckle creams and sunburn lotions, to standardize the size of toothpicks or to write books about why Bostonians ea beans and Southerners enjoy barbecues. :

The Government should start its financing of the war

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the invasion of the low countries in 1940. At an average rate of $20 per man, which would be scant, they would seem to have collected $2,000,000 in initiation fees alone, most of which was retained by the locals. These locals have negligible legitimate expenses and I am convinced that almost all those who paid these initiation fees would gladly vote that Treasury to pay for planes, inasmuch as it seems impossible for them to get back their own individual payments, The Carpenters and Electricians also have collected tremendous revenues from men who had no choice but to pay or stay idle and this money, too, was pure gravy, minus some problematical but very small discount for administration expenses.

‘Sweet and Appealing Reason’

OF COURSE, SOME of the unioneers and some sincere citizens outside the union movement

and fast. t you can put it down Shsines big and little. But 1 on the initiation and transhave been collected on the war jobs and ; sure-footed when I know what I am talk ing about. Union income, from whatever source derived, is subject to no tax at all. I hope you will notice that I have not once mentioned goons, extortioners in this piece, the

a spirit of sweet and A haps it would have a better chance of success if it came from someone who would be less likely to be suspected of a to put the affected unions on a but if it is a good idea it needn't n be denounced just because it comes from me.

Bdltor’s Note: The views expressed by columnists in this newspaper are their own. They are not necessarily these of The Indianapolis Times

Made in The US.A.

By Ruth Finney

‘WASHINGTON, Dec. 13.-—-The bombs that fell on Honolulu were made of metals sent from the United States. This country has ben supplying Japan with the raw materials of war for many years. Our exports of war goods to Japan actually increased after the invasion of China began. In 1987 this country supplied |

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The Hoosier Forum

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

“PLEASE URGE EVERYONE TO DISPLAY THE FLAG” By Mrs. Fred Darby, E. Toh St While riding downtown just now

England say, You are at

made me think. Please urge everyone to display our red, white and blue. Let's keep our colors flying. ® =® =» SUPPORTS VIEWS ON ANIMAL GIFTS

By C. W. Harrison May I add to the entreaty of Scholl White not to put live animals or birds under the unrestricted care of young children for they have not the reliability or sense of responsibility to be trusted with such control.

I myself was always a lover of animals and when I was a child my elder brother gave me a pet rabbit, a little red and white doe. For a time I was absorbed in my pet, but later with the heedless thoughtless ness of the very young, I forgot all about her and left her and a litter of young ones that she had produced in a loft where they were kept without food or water until they all died of starvation. It has been a painful memory ever since and I say with all the emphasis. that. I can command, Don't leave helpless or confined creatures under the control of young children without constant supervision. , 2 o . WARS AREN'T FOUGHT IN STYLE OF 1918

By Donald P. Brahm It is hard to understand how the

The Japanese navy sent an aire

(Times readers are invited to express their views in these columns, religious conexcluded. Make your letters short, so all can Letters must

troversies

have a chance.

be signed)

craft carrier to within striking dis tance of Pearl Harbor without being observed. Wars are not fought today in 1918 style; suprise is the first strategy in the book of the year 1941. ” » . ‘IT'S NOT ONLY JAP BOMBS BUT JAP BULBS, TOO’ By Geraldine Ashley Japan, which is bombing us with bombs, is also bombing. us with bulbs. This may sound funny but it's very serious. I've noticed that many things, particularly Christmas tree light bulbs, have “Made in Japan” printed on them. And every time we buy these, we have contributed toward bombs that will blast our own ships and our own shores. Besides, these Jap bulbs, are presumably as most of their other merchandise made by cheap Coolie labor, are inferior, I know, because I bought some last year before wakeing up to the Jap menace. Believe me, I'm sticking to the “Made in U. 8 A” stuff now on. It's patriotic—and it's economical!

” ” » ‘SCHOOLS NEED TO TRAIN MASSES TO THINK CLEARLY’ By D. W. Blakeslee

Nagiism is a philosophy. It is not a movement of capitalists. The Nazi program calls for a complete social reorganization all over the world; it seeks to destroy democracy, all civil liberties, all labor unions; it makes schools into propaganda prisons, eliminates religion, political action; minorities are tortured, murdered and enslaved; science is harnessed to war. Those who have eyes can see it. In the United States there are

‘thousands of Fascist, Nazi and

Communist-minded people. Many

Side Glances==By Galbraith

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of them use the word American in their organization names; each claims to be patriotic. All have poured their putrid streams of antidemocratic filth and loathsome intolerance into the ears and eyes of the people continuously. Because a few things they say are true, many foolish people lost hope in democracy which is their only hope for bringing about social readjustments. Our nation is paying heavily for the failure of our schools to train thousands to think clearly and to think for themselves. Too many of us who are older are mental slaves of those in high places; many who are able to think, including high school teachers, have been afraid to say what they think for fear-of loss of the means whereby they live. Many teachers do not know how to think, otherwise how could Communists have gained control of some of their organizations? Scientific thinking is hard to do when one is not trained in it while young; it is so easy for teachers and older people to follow someone's philosophy. As long as Fascism exists 'anywhere, the philosophy is a menace to democracy.

» 8 ” LAUDS SUGGESTION OF GIFTS TO SERVICE MEN By Rev. Ray Vern Maple, 524 Leon St. I was very much impressed by the lotter of Mr. John A. Bonsett in last Saturday's Times regarding sending Christmas gifts to the boys in the camps who may not have any Christmas at home or from home. I have a son, Warren Maple, in the Army. His mother is dead and due to limited financial circumstances at home he will have practically no Christmas from home. He is stationed near Riverside, Cal. and although he can get a 16 days furlough for Christmas, the distance is so great that he cannot possibly afford the expense of the trip home. So he will have no Christmas at home. . ..

» » » LINDBERGH, OUR DEFENSE, AND THE BLAME CY By Theodore Reyman The statement is credited to Charles A. Lindberg: “Our own defenses and our own military position have already been neglected too long.” He failed to state that it was the isolationist, pacifist, mind our own business, advocates who now see the error of their commitments.

ON THE EXTINCTION OF THE VENETIAN REPUBLIC

Once did She hold the gorgeous East in fee, And was the safeguard of the West; the worth of Venice did not fall below her birth, Venice, the eldest child of liberty. . Sle Vas 4 Jaigen city bright and

And when she took unto herself

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ts table ethis Be sure and don't mantion that lf eg a set and. practiced every night . .. ie three weeks!” ¢ ti

|Gen. Johnson

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WASHINGTON, Dec. 13.—I realize that price control is a dry ' subject, but I am going to keep harping on it at the risk of boring my readers until I am licked. I sincerely believe that price sfability is vital to the effective mobilization of our resources. Recently I discussed the ade visability of setting up a price fixing board representative of the great demand agencies, consumer . supply, Army, Navy, Maritime Commission, and perhaps Treasury and Lend-Lease, Such a board should insure an appreciation of the important inter-relationship of price and supply, The original bill authorized the President to buy and sell any commodity “upon such terms as he shall deem necessary to obtain the maximum neces shry production of marginal or high-cost- producers, or to prevent price increases inconsistent with the

| purposes of this act.” ‘The House bill restricts the

power to buy ‘and sell in order to “obtain the proe duction of marginal or high-cost producers.”

Two Points Are Involved

TWO POINTS ARE Lere involved, whether. the power is adequate and what is the appropriate agency to exercise such power. Some power is clearly ree quired. Whenever prices are fixed a highly probable result is that some possible additi output must be foregone. This is a simple co ence’ of the fact that output varies with costs. . . We In some instances the possible addition to output is negligible. In other cases it may be large but une important. But, in a complex system such as ours, there are many instances where a significant addition to output can be made at a higher cost. In still other instances a small but crucially important addition to the military program may be made. In many cases it is unwise to fix a price high enough to bring out maximum output which would merely result in windfall gains to many producers. This procedure was on occasion followed in the World War. The result in the case of steel was a price high enough to cover Bethlehem, which was than a high cost producer—mainly because of the cost of its ore supplies—and considerably higher than was necese sary for other producers. : The present bill provides ample authority for such cases. In the Bethlehem case the Government could have bought and delivered the ore and thus avoided the necessity of fixing a special price for the steel produced by Bethlehem. The current bill should provide for such cases. Whether it does so or not only lawyers can determine.

Easy Thus to Socialize Industry

SUPPOSE THE GOVERNMENT wished to buy up the entire supply of some material at a fixed price and after taking the amount necessary for defense, sell the residual for what it would bring. In many cases this would provide a convenient method of pre venting profiteering without introducing elaborate and cumbersome rationing by allocation. Such ppwer should be provided if it does not already exist. J It is doubtful whether the more general power to buy and sell in order to prevent price increases incone sistent with the objectives of the bill, is either desirable or necessary. Of course, the reason Congress may have eliminated this power ds the ease with which it could have been abused to completely social ize industry. Whether the power to buy and sell should rest in this or that agency is an open question, An agency set up to fix prices certainly would not be appropriate for this type of work. The RFC defense corporations and the procurement services appear to be the logical agencies. It appears to me, however, that Jesse Jones’ corporations and the procurement services have shown a reluctance to buy high-cost output, because it looks “bad” on the books. Perhaps a proper solution is to have the price administration decide when and how much to buy and to have the existing agencies carry out the decision.

Supply & Demand By John W. Love |

WASHINGTON, Dec. 13.—Une til the Government gets a better

future flow of vital materials from the Far East, severe reductions will be applied to all the civilian industries using them. That appears to mean practically all metal industries. The new wave of factory shute downs thus caused, it is disclosed, will be utilized to turn over still more of these plants to armament manufacture, The emphasis is now definitely swinging to such conversion. Though a number of new plants are yet: to be erected, the transformation of existing works is to be the main order of expansion in arms production for winter and spring. Certainties of heavy disemployment in any cire cumstances for intervals of weeks to months, plus an imperative need for every tool which can be utilized, are ending the long argument over whether planes and tanks should be turned out in revamped old plants or in specially designed new ones. ; For these reasons, members of the automobil industry here would not be surprised to see the mane ufacture of passenger cars cease altogether by if not sooner. Rationing of new cars is expected in say vet with buyers required to have priority ckets.

Time Needed to Open Mines

MAKERS OF CARS have been notified they could produce 102,000 passenger models next February, or a little more than a fifth of last February's output, but the order temporarily stopping the sale of tires ab retail impressed them more. , This order is expected to be followed by others which would husband the strategic metals derived from Chinese, East Indian and Philippine sources, Though all of these except tin can be obtained from American or nearby sources, time is needed to open new mines and enlarge’ others, and the risks are regarded as too great to permit chances to be taken until the whole story is known. } Orders similar to that applied to tires. would ree main in effect either until the naval situation cleared somewhat or the Government determined the assured American supply. Out of the present uncertainties may come a centralized importing agency under RFC management, Government take-overs of warehouse space for storing the materials it is about to acquire, and gene

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