Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 11 March 1942 — Page 14

Page PDF (12.67 MB)

Back to issue view

_ wonder whether congress

~ with half their usual

ployees riding around

to know what the folks

I must be wonderirig

E) But Bey Jao of them } A knows it.’

If we give up sugar and autos, they ask, can’t the

' agriculture department give up some of its pamphlets?

If we ride less and can’t the agriculture

walk more, without complaining, epartment bureaucrats get along amount of Pullman-car farming? Are congressmen who fight proposals to scale down such expenditures working for the people? Or are they “working for. the bureaus and the blocs? Don’t they know.that we can’t shoot Japs with pamphlets; that we can’t beat Hitler by sending government £emeb ‘conventions ? If sentiment here in Indianapolis is typical, a lot of “men in congress would be surprised, and far from pleased, back home are thinking. . . « s : . 2 =»

‘to teach 25 million

‘ money.

_ in sundry government to buy bullets.

“lift urge at this that. our tax be used to buy some ammunition or some

; THE way Mr. Wille

: | terests,”

ABOUT TENPINS AND TAXES

E’RE relieved to héar the office of civilian defense announce that Jack M. Willem, the man who is supposed ericans how to “roll their way to physical fitness,” is not; actually on the OCD pay roll. In lieu of a salary, jt seems, Mr. Willem has been given the resounding title of ‘Honorary National Co-ordinator of

- Bowling.”

On the assumption that titles don’t cost the govern-

| ment anything, we repeat that we're relieved.

For this is income-tax week. And after some hours

1 of tortuous arithmetic/ we have finally computed thestax

we owe the government out of our last year’s income. It’s a sizable slice of our purse, but it’s not much And if it were used to pay even part of a salary to Mr. Willem, or any one of thousands of others engaged pondoggles, none of it would be left

Maybe we're obsti ate, and slightly lacking in the upin history, but we’d much prefer

Ey we'd rather it be handled by providing Gen. Mac-

“Arthur with what he needs to bowl over the enemy on the Bataan peninsula. | ” # #” ® ” # became the honorary national coordinator of bowling is interesting. - The “bowling inmeaning the bowling-alley owners and equipment manufacturers, met in Chicago and nominated him for that exalted post—which looks like another pressure group trying to make|a “good thing” out of the war. Even if he gets 10 salary, there will be some expense in secretarial help, ‘don’t want any of our tax money spent for that either. Bowling is a fine sport and recreation for civilians who

+like it. Eurythmic dancing may be, too—we wouldn't know.

| The Jack Willems .- country better by

$ b ¢ K £

i taxes in.

“But it shouldn’t be necessary to create a new government

project and a new bureaucracy every time someone has a bright idea on how the people should employ their leisure. d Mayris Chaneys will serve their

STRIKES

volving 175,000 workers. That audience grants the nominal importance to.both

5 AN audience of 180 shillion sits in on the war labor board’s

fact finding he on the “little steel” dispute inides of “union security” and a $1 a day

wage increase. But above all that audience demands that

“not one of ‘those 175,000 workers lose one hour's work.

pledged: No lockouts.

days lost in strikes jon army war orde for the first 26 days|of February.

After Japan struck, labor pledged: No strikes; industry

Yet unofficial department statistics indicate man-

will total 32,700

Those 180 million don’t like that. They want a “little steel” dispute settled quickly and clearly. They want a definite government labor policy that will

ew flow of wasted man-days.

They want labor to live up to its pledge: No strikes. They want industry to honor its promise: No lockouts.

They want employe and employer to realize this is war |

million are coming to know this them-

} stening the a when Jap forces may be treed for a hern drive. | It is no secret {o anyone, much less to Tokyo, ‘that ; is the mos exposed and least. Protected Invasion

oint on this Tt is too late n

hent,. to repeat or “bemoan the tragic ste navy for years neglected the northern

waiivAlushs, defnse, triangle, nSespife |

ice space and letterheads—and we |

taying on the outside and paying

timate consumers of news—meaning you all—may have your under standing and appreciation of censorship all

all gummed up by fear of k

a thing you might call propaganda, consumption.

commanders that much more difficult and it brea up the morale of the enemy submarine crews. This experience stems from the last war when German crews finally refused to go to sea.* The riews policy on sinkings is now under review, however, and may be changed in some way, such as permitting the announcement of submarine sinkings a week after they

Army and navy communiques, the day to day news reports of the actual war developments are, as a mat-

ter of fach; free from any propaganda control. The |

communiques are written by a colonel for the army and a commander for the navy. They clear their information with each other, information which comes in once or twice a day from commanders in the several theaters of operations. Two or three hours after the reports are in, they have been decoded, rewritten, passed by the general and admiral in charge of press, and issued. °

Something to Watch

THE ONE government agency which has potentialities for propagandizing news for domestic consumption is the Office of Facts and Figures, and it must work largely by remote control in shaping the policies of other agencies handing out war information. OFF’s announced policy is to give the American people a true picture of the war effort. If it sticks to that policy, well and good. War and navy depariment and the office ‘of censorship are tied in with OFF’s interdepartmental committee on war information, but the OFF confrol over the services policy on news is negligible, and the office of censorship is steering miles away from anything that resembles propaganda. of censorship may have to order some news withheld, but it won’t color what news is given out. Far more to be feared than any potential propa-

gandizing of the war news is another development

of recent date. This is the so-called war secrets bill prepared by the department of justice and now before the judiciary committees of the house and senate. The bill would provide a $5000 fine or two-year imprisonment for anyone furnishing or publishing “any file, instrument, letter, memorandum, ‘book,

pamphlet, picture plan, record or other writing in the

custody of the United States,” which any government official had declared secret.

Under the bill, any government official could make

a record of graft, label it “secret” and prevent its publication. The proposed law is not anything to worry about yet, as congress will probably ‘tear it to pieces.

But it is something to ‘watch, if you're interested in’

getting any kind of an accurate picture of what this war is all about.

Westbrook Pegler is on Vacation

Aviation By Maj. Al Williams

NO MATTER what course France may choose for the future, she has learned her airpower lesson for which she paid so dearly in blood and world standing. Today, out of the welter and chaos, and before much else was attempted, France has consolidated her government agencies controll-

France now has a secretariat of state for air. Under this system there are: (a) a civil cabinet and (B) a military cabinet (both for air, of course); (e) a civil and military cabinet of seven members; (d) a section' for special problems and (e) a budget sec on, Thisusroup: contevis the Whole qf Fremsh vias on

Under the air staff (command) are the personnel,

1 sure We Gan clean ip this business ‘we did io orton Trea w. Stan, un i with

The Hoosier Forum

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

“WHAT ABOUT US WHO WORK AT NIGHTS?” By A Defense Worker, Indianapolis The Indianapolis: Street Railways have been asking their shopping passengers to ride between the rush hours. They ask this so that they may give safer and quicker trans-

portation to the defense workers.

That's fine. But I wonder if the Indianapolis Street Railways are aware of the fact that defense work

‘'goes on through the night? I hap-

pen to be working nights in a defense plant and at the time I get off, the transportation is so poor it takes me at least two hours fo get home. I also live in the city. I know of cases where other workers get off at even more ungodly hours and have even a harder time getting home. It seems to me the night workers are just as important as the day workers. Why can’t something be done about this? ” ” »n “FARMERS NOT DEMANDING SPECIAL PRIVILEGES” By Mrs. Bertha J. Randall, Noblesville Your editorial of Feb. 27, entitled “Blo¢s Against the U. S. A.” should not go unanswered. Agriculture is not “trying to put its intérests ahead of the whole U. 8” “demanding special advaritage above the interest of the whole coun The farmer is asked to do his best to feed a hungry world in spite of 8 rubber shortage, inadequate farm machinery and repairs, and an acute shortage of labor owing to high wages being paid by industry, his sons leaving for the army and| a his wife and daughters doing de- [loc fense work. To his everlasting credit, he is cheerfully responding to the call of his country as he has always done in an emergency. These 50 farmers who refused their compen-

sation check as their “war time|o

duty to their country” ‘have surely forgotten what their Triple-A stands for.

1. A conservation ‘of our soil and ;

& {natural resources, not only for ourselves, but for future generations. 2. Storage of surpluses that provide plenty of food in ‘times of scarcity both for our own countries

Nor is it}.

(Times readers are invited to express their views in these columns, religious conMake

your letters short, so all can

troversies excluded.

have a -chance. Letters must be sighed.)

‘and our allies, and also provides for a more orderly marketing which

prevents speculation in foods. 3. An equality of price between things the farmer must sell and things he must buy. ’ Are these provisions “against the best interests of our country?” These 50 farmers have surely forgotten the “pit from which they were digged” in the depression which followed the first world war. Their advisors are undoutedly food speculators whose hardest job these cold mornings is“ to get the milk bottle off the front porch. The Triple-A has not only suffered a ‘major depression, two droughts and a supreme court decision but must now suffer from disloyalty within.

na “YES, THE FARMERS SURE

»| HAVE BEEN FOOLED”

By H. W. Daacke, 736 §. Noble st. “It would seem farmers have been fooled.” Yes, they sure have, for. if they had moved to Texas, nature would have provided three

Side Glances By Galbraith

R11 | wake up.

Tif E : #4]

the rest ‘would go back to work again.” Consistent? Was the gentleman from Olney st. afraid to include the lawyers with the poli-

|ticians as I did?

And I challenge the same. gentleman from Olney st. to show where in my contribution on Feb. 24 or in any article previous to that date that I denied the farmer, even by implication, his just proportion in the field of production toward maintaining society. If he will read the previous articles leading up to Feb. 24, he won’ be so far in the dark himself, and nasty insinuations of ignorance, without substantiation, be in his vocabulary. » “ ” “UNIONS ARE TAKING CARE

OF THE OLDER MEN”

By D. M. Reece, New Castle I wish to compliment H. E. Marshall on his article in the March 3 Times. He mentions the trained mechanics, ‘40 to 60 years of age, who are out of work, while the corner soda jerker and the neighbor grocery clerk are working in defense

plants. This is costly, both in time and money; but he is having a pipedream about these boys joining and getting their jobs through the union.

management has been for seniority. Through seniority rules the .union is able to take care of its men and

to reason that this man has worked at his job for some time. it’s the union’s job to take care of its men and remember that the clerk can not belong to any union but a salesman’s union. The clerk would have seniority only at clerking. Now it seems to me that I have seen a tendency on the part of defense plants to hire trainees at a low rate of pay rather than hire man at slightly i It also seems that these trainees make good men for the company till they get wise and organize. : About Mr. Marshall's ability to handle “Ma” Perkins’ job, I suggest that he study the labor situation a little more before he applies for it. His statements show that he is hardly competent to handle it now.

8 8 ¥

| “WAKE-UP UP-AMERICA HIT

NAIL ON THE HEAD” By H. D. Davis, Indianapelis Your editorial of March 5, “Wake Up, America—It’s Late!” hits the nail right on the head. Certainly this editorial should be boxed on the front page of every newspaper in the United States, and kept there daily until we all

|*wno URGES RELIGIOUS

if i

Eds §

iy Fiest

i :

<5 ;

FE LR

would not|:

The union's biggest fight with{"

if a man has seniority it stands|-

Goodby to the Tin Cans.

MOST OF THE changes in packaging trace to the loss of our main sources of tin, Collapse of Java doubtless will bring new restrictions. In tin, almost

we have, a supply of a year or more. Cans may still be made, but tinned cans are sharply regulated, in one of the most weirdly assorted lists of limitations ever to issue from a bureau. A few meats may be canned in larger’ quantities than ever, other meats only 25 ‘per cent of the 1940 rate, And so on down the lst through prdducts which musn’t be canned in tin at sil Me “The object apparently is to forde out. of cans everything for which there are alternative ways of packing, or which the housewife can process herelf 3 and depending on how rapidly the SHS can he

Suni Are Smiling

glass, but ‘some of them are

"% umber Sd hotties mom

glass companies know

to take care of their old customers, a- ot of of whom would be out of luck if they couldnt get glass.Among. usis-uf glass are paint compyties, for part of their line. There's another and smaller migration of the can users into jars. Probably seme will land in the old fashioned crock before they are through. Many concerns are turning from cans to- phper boxes, either the folding type or the setup. I know of competing manufacturers in a rather narrow field, one going to a paper box, the other to a jar.” A few packers are likely to return from‘cans to kegs, retracing a. shift of years ago. Cooperage manufacturers, hearing Ohio's sauerkraut makers ‘wail at being cut down to half their 1940 pack in ‘tin,

. - The coopers have suffered long under the competition of steel barrels and beer cans, but their day redawns for the duration,

A Woman's: Viewpoint By Mrs Walter Ferguson -

THE DAY AFTER Pearl Harbor 60 sewing units were started + inthe District of Columbia, and there are now 474, with new ones forming every week. & My friend, Mrs, G. B. Parker. . at wiese -hxme I am a visitor’ opens her house each Friday and serves a light lunch to a group of women who work from 10 to 4

It's easy to visuslize the swift growth of the movement elsewhere. There dre approximately 3740 chapters in the .United States, which means ‘that miore mon ied Gross umber 10 milion ‘To Hats the Junior Red Cross numbers. 10 millions: = a

An Excellent Soldier

THE SPURT AFTER Pearl Harbor probably will die down, according to , but thefe is bound to-be & Steady amount of ‘effort which-can be counted upont to do a’ job Whose importance canilot be com-

2 A and girls were paid only the amount given ‘to “un skilled laborers, their contribution would amount to

as much as in rubber, we must rely largely on what 3