Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 14 March 1942 — Page 9

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['he Indianapolis Times R 0Y Ww. HOWARD. RALPH BURKHOLDER ‘MARK FERREE

esident Editor Business Manager (A SCRIPPS-HOWARD NEWSPAPER)

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Give Light and the People Will Find Their Own Way /

SATURDAY, MARCH 14, 1942 x LETS KEEP THE AIRPORT HE future of municipal airport is endangered by v the position being taken by the city council in refusing to consider a 20-year lease with the airlines servicing this city. ‘Aviation has been built in this country by long-range planning. Even now it is quite clear that aviation is going to be one of the major industries of the nation after the war is over. We are going to see a growth in both commercial and civilian flying that will rival anything the motor industry ever points to. But Indianapolis may not be a part of it.

The major cities of America have found nothing wrong

Indeed, New York's Los

with the long-term contract system. contract is a 40-year one! Chicago's is 33 years. Angeles’ is 30 years, with a 10-year renewal clause. ~The city council is taking the position that these cities are all wrong and that the council is all right. We think otherwise.

- MR. BARUCH WAS NOT TOO LATE REPORTS thgt President Roosevelt is now studying a plan for an across-the-board ceiling—on prices, wages and profits—remind us again that there continues to be a lag of about two years in making Bernard M. Baruch a - prophet with honor in his own country. It has been at least that long since Mr. Baruch warned the administration it would run into serious difficulties if it tried to deal separately with prices, wages and profits. His advice was not heeded then, and as Mr. Baruch predicted, the farmers kept demanding higher prices, the labor unions higher wages—and many corporations amassed large profits because the administration and congress delayed in enacting a real war tax measure. The cost of living and the cost of munitions continued in an upward spiral. When the crisis of World War II came, Mr, Baruch warned that the experience of World War I had demon‘strated that industries could be mobilized most effectively . by placing one man in charge of war production and making him responsible for results. But the administration experimented first with the five-man advisory council of national defense, then with the Knudsen-Hilbman OPM, then with Wallace-Nelson SPAB. Finally Donald Nelson was made the production boss—two years late. This week has marked the adoption of another Baruch suggestion—Mr. Nelson’s appointment of industry committees—also two years late. . We say “two years,” but as-a matter of fact all these recommendations were in Mr. Baruch’s report published “more than 20 years ago, when he wound up the affairs of his war industries board. It was much longer than two years ago that Mr. Baruch started pleading with Washington to accumulate stockpiles of tin, rubber, tungsten, chrome and other raw iaterials coming from across the seas. And in 1987, now almost five years ago, Mr. Baruch { went to Europe at the behest of the president, and came back advocating, among other things, a two-ocean navy, armored planes and self-sealing tanks, and taxes to pay the bills, But somehow we doubt that Mr. Baruch gets even a ~ grim satisfaction out of all this belated vindication. “The . consequences of delay have been so tragic.

- THIS IS NOT INDIANA JNDIANA received some rotten publicity yesterday. The WPB’s first- crackdown on a scrap metal dealer was : against one Frank Shumak of Valparaiso. The WPB had ~ wrestled with Shumak, urging him to sell some 100 tons of . scrap to the steel mills which need it so desperately. But - Shumak refused, holding out for more money, even though

the government long ago froze scrap prices. Now the scrap.

has been requisitioned. ; We hasten to tell the world that this is : not typical of Indiana. Scrap dealers all over the state will applaud this action by the WPB. We only hope that MacArthur and his men never hear that it was a Hoosier,

NEW NORTHERN FRONT?

LE southwest Pacific battles and the Russian drive ~~ on the Nazis hold the headlines, and commentators speculate on Hitler plans for a Middle East drive, something important seems to be stirring in the north. Germany has suddenly concentrated most of her fleet off Norway. So far she is unable to use it effectively, be-

cause of unexpected British sea and air strength there.

Neither Germany, with its few remaining big ships, nor Britain with her increased naval demands in the Atlantic, the Mediterranean and the Indian ocean, has sent a fleet north for fun or for rest. Both must think that is a

/ There are other signs, too. President Roosevelt has st created a new naval command in British waters and Admiral Stark, former chief of naval operations, in ge. An A. E. F. has moved into England, which is ady overcrowded with idle troops; and the A. E. F. in hern Ireland has been reinforced. British “commando” and air raids are being stepped up. : It Britain is not getting ready for a northern offensive is fooling Hitler, who obviously fears one.

“SLOWDOWN” THERE LCATRAZ, where the federal government keeps its toughest prisoners, might be the last place you'd iook iotism.. Yet Warden Johnson reports this incident: ‘War has brought a heavily increased load for the prison dry, where convicts do washing for the army transport ,and the men have agreed to work on their holidays. day one prisoner sugge ted a , “slowdown strike,”

ce in Marion CounPH delive |

Facing The Japs 4

By Leland Stowe

he was a general. d uniform, which all his Chinese Suldiets Wear, with no insignia or sign of rank 'S : and he wore the same never have guessed. that

“This is what is the most im said, his forefinger moving back and 1 outlines of India. “The Germans m mitted to come through this way; ihe 3 never be allowed to go across here. Germans and Japanese cannot a up in we shall surely defeat them both.” “This is England's job”—indicating the fringe ¢ German-occupied western Europe and northern Africa. “This is Russia’s”—pointing to the Soviet’s present western front, “This is ‘America’s’— lines from Hawaii and Alaska straight to Japan. “Here is China's job”—the general's hand swept in a circle around Indo-Ching, Thailand, Malay and Burma, leav~ ing no doubt about what he believed China’s millions of soldiers were capable of doing overland against Jap-held territories.

"It Can Be Done This Year!"

“BUT,” I ASKED, “with the Japanese controlling virtually all of the South sea islands, how can they best be defeated?” The geneéral’s wonderfully expressive fingers darted down again upon the bull’s-eye of Tokyo. “Let American bombers strike Tokyo from here and from here—Hawaii and Dutch Harbor—we must hit the Japanese at home; must wipe out their bases of supply. Once that has been done, all their forces in Indo-China, Thailand, Malaya, the Netherlands East Indies and other islands will be doomed. We must simply cut off the Jap army from Japan.” “And how long do you think it will take to defeat Japan?” The general looked me straight in the eyes and replied deliberately: “I think it may possibly be done this year. That depends chiefly on airplanes from America. It can be done.”

"They Eat Too Much

COMING FROM A little wisp of a man of five feet, three, this inner strength speaks with peculiar force. In thousands of dirty, barefooted, or slippershod Chinese soldiers, we have felt the same thing— the powerful spiritual fortress of Chinese resistance. “But what about the Japanese soldiers?” “They are not as brave as people think,” the general replied. “They fight very hard—when they have the advantage in guns and airplanes. When they do not have more and better weapons, the Japanese are not especially brave. Our soldiers have better hearts. I know.” / “And the Jap officers?” “Jap officers are too ambitious,” he said. Then, with a smile: “They try to eat too much. They have reached the dangerous stage because things have gone to well. Now they think they can eat everything. Soon they will have to swallow a purgative. It is bound to happen, For us it is very good.”

Westbrook Pegler is on Vacation

Rebuilding Men

By A. T. Steele

MOSCOW, March 14.—Providing new hands, new feet and new vocations for soldiers who have lost their extremities from frostbite and wounds is the function of a unique institution I visited today on the outskirts of Moscow. One hundred and one men, and a girl—she a 17-year-old guerrilla whose left arm was destroyed in the explosion of a mine—are patients at this little hospital. Every

one of them will leave the institution, sooner or later,

with artificial substitutes for the parts of their bodies they have lost. ' This human reconstruction is fing. on in many hospitals throughout the Soviet Union, in which tens of thousands of wounded soldiers are receiving attention and treatment which, as far as I have been able to see, is uniformly sanitary, efficient and up to date.

In Surprisingly Good Spirits

UNQUESTIONABLY, THE Soviet Union is taking good care of its wounded fighters. They receive full pay during the period of invalidism and those unable to return to the army are taught vocations commensurate with their abilities and physical condition at social insurance schools in various cities of the country. Crippled war veterans are able to work at guaranteed jobs after discharge. In addition to salaries, in their new positions they receive pensions proportionate to the severity of their injuries. Considering the grievous nature of their injuries, the men were in surprisingly good spirits. Some, with feet or hands gone, ‘proclaimed with undoubted sincerity their ‘desire to return to the front and did not

seem to realize the‘ utter possibility of realizing their |.

wish, The Russians. are producing artificial limbs at about one-tenth of the cost of American makes. The war necessitates the most rapid possible rehabilitation of wounded men with the result that a number of new methods have lieen introduced. Ordinarily, for example, it is six or eight months before an artificial leg can be fitted to an amputated stump. Here, this problem is solved by fitting in a temporary limb within a few weeks and later replacing it.

ily News, Inc,

So They Say—

It might shake the confidence of the people in the disinterestedness of the draft boards if we permit candidates for office and local politicians to sit on draft boards—Rep. Clarence Hancock, New York Re

publican, advocating application of Hateh ‘act to se-

Jeetive service board members,

If the present system of voluntary censorship of |

press and radio proves a failure, dark hours may be ahead for free speech in the United Statesy-Penson ship Director Byron Price. » Woo : This fight against inflation is not fought with bullets or with bombs, but it is equally vital.—President

&opT 1EYOV THIS oLD GREY H

, qUST EAD

gun SPARE mz (RAZY. Quit

The Hoosier Forum

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

“I AM FED UP WITH ELEANOR’S COLUMN” By W. B. Paul, 3551 Washington bivd. « + « I am getting pretty well fed up on your “My Day” column. If Eleanor was not the presidents wife, of course, you would not publish 1t. This is not just my opinion, but also that of hundreds of your readers. You had as well run a column by Hitler or the Duce—they would also attract attention. I realize a newspaper cannot please everyone, but enough is enough. ” : J ” “KEEP REPRINTING YOUR WAKE-UP EDITORIAL” By Paul 8. Remington, Franklin, Ind. I have before me a copy of The Times beaxing your reprinted editorial “Wake Up, America—It's Late!” I wish to "take this means of thanking you for the publishing of this great editorial again. I have clipped the one that appeared in The Times last Thursday, and pasted it on the wall. I realize that this space on your front page is an extremely valuable and costly contribution, but I believe the results would justify your printing this entire editorial each and every day in the same place on the front page of The Times. It should cause a multitude of com-placent-mindled people to snap out of their lethargy and fully realize

1just what the editorial says.

” ” tJ “I'M GETTING TIRED OF THE CHAIR-WARMERS” By Floyd L. Scott, Martinsville I, a taxpayer, am getting tired of being taxed, taxed every time you turn around. We have nothing here but a bunch of chair warmers drawing a salary of $25 to $30 a week, sitting doing nothing. Send out every day or so for ice cream to eat. They never do two hours work in any one day. ‘This public welfare association is put here for the people but is not getting any

(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 signed.)

results in old-age assistance or will not put any effort to -investigate your case whatever it may be. The state is paying out every month something like $250,000 for payrolls for chair warmers. We've got to stop all of this. ‘Why not appoint the trustee of each county with an investigator? He will fulfill all the requirements needed for this work.

tf J ” ” ® “AUTO SITUATION RESULT OF UNPARDONABLE BUNGLING” By W. A. Benedict Jr., 2919 Madison ave. It is one thing to say the American public can do without tires (and hence their automobiles). It is another to face the results. Our whole industrial economy is geared to rapid, efficient and economical transportation of men and materials. Countless millions, many engaged in vital production work, simply cannot get to work by bus or street car, and live from 10 to 30 or more miles from their work.

' To attempt to put the country

1back on a horse and buggy basis

would be to waste untold billions of man-hours which are so important just now. Besides, we couldn't get the horses, buggies, wagons and bicycles even if we could use them, The whole situation represents unpardonable bungling, especially on the part of that political secretary of commerce, Jesse (Bottleneck) Jones. Even a mediocre hack should have foreseen the situation

enough to have encouraged vast

Side Glances=By Galbraith

—Roman 138.

stores of crude rubber, even from Brazil at much higher prices, and the development of: substitutes and the synthetic product. ' Wise rationing of tires, lower speed limits, forced retreading and proper care could probably, with little inconvenience, reduce our needs by half. If Jones and Henderson can’t handle the matter they should be replaced with men who can. : ee» “THE COLORED MAN WILL HELP WIN THIS WAR”

By Fred J. Hord, Franklin. . » Our thoughts are now turned to war and it strikes me very forci-

deadly peril. Japan is trying to array the darker races against the white man and openly boasting that she will drive him out of Asia. She is winning temporary vietories, too, with some assistance from the brown race, but the idea I want to drop is that the black race of America is begging for a greater opportunity to fight, with a devotion for his country that no foreigner can approach and none can excel. The hand of a black

assassin has never been seen in the history of America. \ True, the colored man’s status is not what it should be, but our close observation has noted gradual improvement since emancipation to the present. Westbrook Pegler recently stated the case very clearly in The Times and we might add that, so far as the American colored man is concerned, you can depend upon him in this terrible crisis, He is now with Gen. MacArthur. : This is the greatest Christian nation in the world, and with all her faults we ‘love her still, white and colored. God still rules and we have faith in Him. The colored man trusts his white friends for an eventual solution of his problem hietewa problem which one day will be solved, not by the sword, but by education and Christianity; solved in justice, solved in honor, solved in righteousness, but solved. The colored man is going to help you in this war crisis—he was at Pearl Harbor. You can count on his unquestioned loyalty, a devotion so deep, a fighting spirit so thoroughly aroused and with such sincerity that you will be impressed. We will help you win this greatest of all wars—or report to God the reason why. My father was in the Civil War, a son was a volunteer in the last world war and a member of the fifth generation of our family, a grandson, is registered and await-

‘ling induction now. Four sons are

also registered now, three with dependents, but all may be called before this is over.

” » ” “HOPE YOU KEEP POUNDING IT INTO THEM” By Jack Verner, Arlington Hotel, Richmond A word to thank you for your splendid article, “Wake Up, America,” which should do plenty to arouse lethargic Americans. We are framing it to hang in our lobby and

put-int all the hotel rooms. Hope you keep pounding it into

DAILY THOUGHT

Owe no man anything, but to love another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law.

bly that beneath its surface is a|

will have a few hundred printed to

Gen. Johnson

Says—

WASHINGTON, March 14. The story continues to circulate in Washington that a manpower board is to be set up in WPB. It is said that the long fight between Miss Perkins, Paul McNutt and Sidney Hillman over the office of czar of manpower will end in a victory for Hillman. To all this is added a conjecture that the power will be added to draft men for labor as well as arms, as Mrs, Roosevelt has urged. In the fullness of such unequaled powers, Mr, Hillman’s would be the sole agency through which industry could hire workers. He would create priorities among factories as to which should have first choice of workers. He could transfer workers from one employer to another and establish regulations under which selective service must issue blanket exe emptions for whole classes of workers and the very

| héart of the principle on which the draft system

has won popular support would be cut away. If Mrs. Roosevelt's “draft us all” plan part of the law we shall have here a complete Nazi ° pattern of forced ‘labor.

Calling Him ‘Impartial’ a Joke

NO IMPORTANT DELAYS in war-production have been traced to labor shortage, although several have been traced to labor<union strikes—chiefly by the C. I. O, of which Mr. Hillman is No 2 man. On the president's over-all labor board three repe resent ‘labor, three represent industry and three, ine cluding the presidént himself, are listed as “impare tial” representing the public. One of the latter is Mr. Hillman. To call him “impartial” is a joke. He is as zealous a C. I. O. partisan as could be found in the United States. To turn war-time manpower problems of the U. 8. over to a hoard dominated by Mr. Hillman would be to deliver the male population of the United States, organized or unorganized, military or non-military, over not merely to organized labdr but to one of the warring factions of organized labor. If Mr. Hillman is to have ‘the exclusive say as to

| what individuals a factory can employ, whether it

is engaged in war work or not, what chance has a man to get a job anywhere, if he is not a member of a union? We already know that, in. many cases, he can’t get a job in war work now without paying charges that are sometimes exorbitant for a union; card and the mere privilege of working.

It Comes Close to Slavery

IF LOCAL BOARDS, without either political or union bias, are no longer to say what individuals can best be spared to march with the colors without the consent of Mr. Hillman’s board, we shall have turned the recruitment of the army also over to organized labor. Mr. Hillman has long urged that the fact of labor leadership shall be a sufficient cause for deferment. He finally put that over, If he gets away with the new one, un niembership may soon become neces sary for deferment even of a man with dependents. It could be a draft for the unions and not for the government. The direct draft of labor—forcing a man to take a job where and when and for whatever employer may be selected by Mr. Hillman--comes very close to the supreme court's definition of slavery under our Constitution—enforced employment for a private master not in punishment for crime.

Editor's Note: The views expressed by columnists in this newspaper are their own. They are not necessarily those of The Indianapolis Times,

A Woman's Viewpoint By Mrs. Walter Ferguson

THERE'S ONE THING to be said for Washington: It’s full of hick- folks. The diplomatic set, the cave dwellers and the F. F. V.’s are strictly in the minority. Although the society editors still dispense stories about swank and grandeur, the country boys and girls have really taken over. Especially the girls. Reading statistics about. women’s numerical superiority, it’s hard to ime agine what it means until you stroll down a Wash« ington street at shopping time, or watch the exodus from certain government buildings at day’s end. When you belong to the feminine persuasion youre self, the sight may cause your pride to expand but it is also definitely depression. Your heart turns over at the thought of a world dominated by skirts, Oné wonders what the men think as they inch their way through encircling layers of femininity.

Oh, That Male Ego!

SOMETIMES YOU WILL surprise a Bicker. of resentment in the masculine eye, yet it’s entirely possible. that these overwhelming masses of the gentler sex only serve to inflate the male ego, which, after all, inflates mighty easy. Every state pours out its citizens and the human streams converge upon the District of Columbia from every direction until it’s a marvel she doesn’t bust her seams. As a matter of fact, she does. . The tidal waves of government workers run over into all the surrounding territory for living quarters. Houseboats

.on the Potomac are in demand; rented, their possess .ors. can sublease each bunk to job holders who can

afford nothing nearer or better. : The forks of the creek seem well represented, It looks as if Zeb and Buck had dropped their plow handles and come running. Within the circuit of one afternoon's walk many bewildered girls shabby suitcases can be seen, come here no doubt to make their fortunes. : The confusion is unbelievable. Yet there can be sensed also an undercurrent of determination and power like a strong pulse. It’s comforting to feel its rhythm because sometimes the faces of those hicktown folks haunt you. They wear such a homesick look.

Questions and Answers

(The Indianapolis Times Service Bureau will answer any question of fact or information, met involving extensive re search. Write your question clearly. sign mame and sddress, inclose a three-cent postage stamp. Medical or legal advice cannot be given, Address The Times Washington Service Bureau. 1018 Thirteenth St.. Washington. D. O.)

SEE aay, sates wav; ves 1:8 building at present? A—The reported number of ships building as Dec. 9, 1941 was: 15 battleships, 11 aircraft 54 cruisers, 191 destroyers, 73 submarines, Q—Is silver used in the manufactiire of guns? A—Silver. alloy, about 90 per cent silver and. 10 per cent. copper, is used in the recoil mechanism of certain types of heavy guns. ‘Q=How much radium is there in the world? A—The amount is believed to be slightly. “mare than one pound. _@—When the metal in an wuto body 1s damaged and stretched in an accident, how is it repaired? A en iow tosh It sopiied lo around the h

i of about % inch