Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 16 May 1942 — Page 8

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ROY W. HOWARD RALPH BURKHOLDER MARK FERREE Preston ‘Editor Business Manager | Aa SCRIPPS-HOWARD NEWSPAPER) :

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SATURDAY, MAY 16, 1943

a PROTECT MARTINIQUE

HE administration is doing an excellent job in the Mar- ~ tinique negotiations. Admiral Robert’s agreement to

E ‘immobilize his three warships is proof of the skill and

patience ‘with which the president and state department have handled the difficult problem of French relations. ‘But the job is not done. The mere elimination of warships asa threat—when their lack of fuel oil already had ‘reduced their capacity to escape or to fight. on the sea—

is not enough. Wisely, the United States has refused to deal with the

g ‘Laval government on Caribbean issues. But. whether Ad-

‘miral Robert, the high commissioner for. Martinique, .Guadeloupe and French Guiana, will take Hitler-Laval dictation is still a question,

fir For the United States to suffer potential axis hates SO

"near the Panama canal, and so convenient for the submai .rine terror in our home waters, would be absurd.

‘Only American temporary control of their radio and ‘communications facilities, of their 150,000 tons of merchant shipping, of their 100 immobilized planes, of their: shore-

1 . b ‘lines, of their gold, can protect those possessions from mis-

use by Hitler. Such protection ‘is in the interest of the French people no less:than of the United States and other Famerion nations dependent on the Caribbean barrier.

SOUND OF HEART JPON reconsideration, it develops that the American heart is not ‘the impotent, erratic organ we had been led to believe. The draft systém has discovered that a lot of young men rejected for cardiac disorders merely were nervous and excited. Ont of the first two millions examined, a hundred thousand—one out of 20—were rejected for cirdiovaseular de-

ii ficiencies or, if you please, bad hearts. Analysis shows that

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only one out of three had any real pathological cardiac flaw. With the rest, the heart merely wasn’t acting quite as the doctors thought it should. different circumstances show ed that there was no real trouble. + We're not so soft as Hitler thinks. Remember Bataan? Corregidor ? The Coral Sea?

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WHY Y NOR: EXEMPT $500 A HEAD? ih

‘A F RIEND” ‘the-proud but harassed father of six young "= children, offers an'interesting criticism of Secretary Morgenthau’ § proposal to broaden the income-tax base.

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Under the Morgenthau plan, he points out, $900 more

of his income would be subject to tax, but the tax would

apply to only $300 more of the income of a married man

without children to support. Our friend thinks that a wise government should be more considerate of fruitful parents whose incomes must meet pressing ‘demands ranging from diapers to bicycles, clothes and shoes and schoolbooks, not to mention groceries and the doctors’ bills that come with the epidemics of measles, whooping cough, etc. His point seems well taken, and his figures are correct. Mr. Morgenthau proposes to reduce the exemption of

: ~ gingle persons, now $750, to $600; the exemption of married men, now $1500, to $1200; the exemption for each: dependent, now $400, to $300. Thus a childless married

couple would have $300 less taxfree income, while our friend with six children would have the non-taxable portion of his income cut from $3900 to $3000. ” 8 » a> 8 » E'VE long suspected that the man who first figured out the dependent-exemption angle to the income tax was a bachelor. He couldn’t have known much about the cost of feeding, clothing and educating children. Even in the boom twenties, when a married man’s exemption was . $3500, the exemption for a dependent was only $400, and that figure has remained unchallenged as the other exemptions have been reduced. Now, pressed by the need for more revenue, Mz. Morgenthau wants to cut the $400 to $300. We- have never been able to understand the tax philosophy which grants a larger exemption for an adult than for a child. : We think it would be sounder policy for the government to encourage larger families, or “at least not to en- ~ eourage childlessness by a tax premium. As an alternative, ‘why not a flat income exemption

: of $500 for every man, woman and child—$500 for a sin-

~ gle person; $1000 for a married couple, $1500 for a family of three, right up to $4000 exemption for our friend with six children, who doubtless needs every cent of it.

INOTES ON THE PRIMARY

SLow and inefficient as the central counting system has been for the past two years, there is general agreement that it is far more honest than the old precinct counting method. In fact, several candidates owe their nominations to the fact that the ballots ers counted in the open under supervision. - ais 2 8 ®

: LEER ri ® ; One- heartening aspect of the recent primary is the

fact that despite unusually weak lists of legislative candi-

dates, thé voters by and large singled out the strongest men

and women on both tickets. The result is s two fairly well

anced legislative blocs. | Yoho ow : | 2 8 =» And one disheartening spot was the relatively low vote

orded Judge Russell J. Ryan, in his unopposed race on Democratic ticket. He ran far behind the rest of his

‘benefit of the general public is that “when they

Often re-examination under:

the house, but’ was killed in the senate by direction :{.of -the president.

Fair Enough

By Westbrook Pegler

NEW YORK, May 16.—Far be it from me to stir up mischief be{ween two ladies who have neen getting along beautifully for years and years, but I find that Mrs. Frances Perkins, our cherished secretary of labor, and Mrs. Roosevelt. have developeg a very interesting differerice of opinions: and wonder if they would be good. enough to decide publicly ‘which lady is right. © In a recent published contribution to the sum of human wisdom, Mrs. Reosevelt took the position ‘that unions, with their income of more than one thousand million dollars a year, should not be compelled- to

publish audited financial statements and said the |

reason: they are not “anxious” to do so for the

are not well established, this information would inform employers immediately of certain of their weaknesses.”

Mrs. Roosevelt said further that “most of the |

unions that I know publish a report of their financial status to their members and do so in. more accurate and simple form than most business corporations.”

Just a Political Stall ; I WOULD LIKE TO point out the escapes in this

construction. Mrs. Roosevelt does not undertake to |

say that all unions or most of them publish such reports, but says this is done by most unions that she knows. That is a vague. term. Lig

THE INDIANAPOLIS TIMES

The Old Soak!

How many unions does she know? It is my impression that she knows very little about unions and | she may be speaking of, say, only a half-dozen of | them. Nor do we know whether she is speaking of locals or internationals and there is a very important difference. For the international may be reasonably straight and the locals crooked.

I point out also that Mrs. Roosevelt does not’ say unions are weak now, but atempts to suggest that they are weak even with their income of a thousand millions plus, per year. She says “when they are not well established” and so forth, and the whole effect of her answer to a question is a political stall.

Somebody Is Off Base

WELL, WHAT DOES MRS. PERKINS say on the same subject? Addressing the national convention of the A, F. of L. in Seattle last September, Mrs. Perkins said: “The scrupulous account for money, regular independent and public audits of all moneys, including insurance funds, dues, assessments and so forth, should be done voluntarily rather than under compulsion. With the trade union basic right protected by statute, surely no moneys need be expended except as authorized by the membership and for purposes which can be stated in a public accounting without embarrassment.”

Let us go back and run over that part again. Mrs, Perkins calls on the unions to give regular, in- | deepndent, public audits and says the unions are now in such g strong position that their strength, not their weakness, can be stated: publicly without embarrassment. “Whatever secrecy or veil may have been effective in the early days when the unions were struggling to SFvive is certainly no longer effective,” Mrs. Pérkins said. Reading these expressions side by side I feel a suspicion that one or the other of these ladies doesn’t known what she is talking about, or that one or the other is trying to kid the public.

A bill to require such accounting was passed by

This provision, of course, would have been the first encroachment on the most gigantic racket in Amerjoan history.

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These Crackups By Major Al Williams

NEW YORK, May 16.—We are ‘in. a hard war, fighting a welltrained, lean-bellied, hard-boiled outfit. We will eventually lick them. But, until we do, we've got a realistic, bitter- row on our hands. Originally we were the eyegougin’est, ear-bitin’est, and hardest punching free-for-all fighters on this planet. We said we could lick: our weight in wild cats, and we could and did. We have got to get ourselves once again into that same mental state in order to win this war. We have simply got to dispel this swamp mist that we can win merely by mass production and spending more billions. The winning of this war will take men—fighting men, who have fight in their hearts and in every snort. Men who won't have to be led, and who will wear out and wear down any incompetent leader.

We'll Lose Men!

FIGHTERS WILL produce their own leaders. We are going to lose men—Ilots of men—in the air, on the ground and at sea. Who ever heard of fighte ing a major war without losing. men? Take this air rearmament of the nation. Of course there are crack-ups. No matter who trains fledgling combat airmen, or how they are trained, there are going to be crack-ups. In spite of the critical pressure, our army and navy services have done a grand job in keeping the crack-ups tc the present low level.

But, if we are going to lick hell cut of the world, we are gcing to accept crack-ups. If we stuff our young combat airmen with safety nonsense, we'll ruin them. We must give them all they are getting: now in fine, educational programs and tell them to tear the sky to pieces. And, instead of yapping about crackups, we should be crying. for Mad Dog Squadrons. For 20 years'I have flown wide-open—on my wits. I have wearied those who predicted my crack-up all through these years. Life is like a poker game, play the cards as if you have to win and must never lose— and youll lose your shirt. Play them cagey—but wide-open—and you'll always win.

So They Say—

Now that the United States is in the war, we exiled Europeans aré more conscious than ever of our duties toward this great country which is giving us ‘hospitality, and we want to co-operate with all our power in her struggle for victory.—Jacques Martain, French philosophies.

Many ings are worth saving for the world-to-be after the final defeat of fascism, but none are more precious than the lives of those who first fought Hitler.—Dr,- Frank Kingdon, chairman of interngtional rescue and relief committee.

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The longer the German people allow Hitler to lead them to destruction, the greater will be their responsibility for the damage Hitler has heaped upon

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SATURDAY, MAY. 16, "1942

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

“WHY MUST WE PAY $3 FOR A BIRTH CERTIFICATE?” By An Old Subscriber, Indianapolis

Why has no one kicked about the birth certificate racket? Many court records have been lost on account of fires and through careless handling of vital statistics. Now if a man tries to get work he must have a birth certificate and must pay a fee of $3 to: the cowrt at Indianapolis to get one made. The court at Richmond, Ind. only charges $1. A man that has several dependents does not have $3 to plank down for a certificate. It seems to me that an ex-service man with honorable discharge certificate showing dates of enlistment and battle engagements overseas

should be able to get a job in any

factory doing government work without a birth certificate. What's your opinion? ” ” » “MALAN WOULD DISFRANCHISE MANY RELIGIOUS GROUPS” By R. D. C,, Indianapolis My congratulations for your splendid editorial concerning Mr. Malan’s efforts to force religious education into the public schools. As one deeply interested in religious affairs I have been pained this last year to watch Mr. Malan’s almost indecent insistence on this _program. Do you iY: though, that when Mr. Malan formed his committee about a year ago that four of the eight members of this group were officers o\ members of the Council on Religious Educaticn, an organization already comunitted to his program, and that no member was invited to represent either the Indianapolis Church Federation or the Indianapolis Ministerial association? I have checked into these statements and they are completely true. As nearly as I can ascertain, the facts are that almost all ministers ahd church officials favor some sort of character education in public

(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.)

schools, but a great many of them object ‘to any form of straight religious education which: would, in cffect, disfranchise many a religious group. Take, for instance, the problem of say a Catholic child in a Protestant community. The Malan plan, as I get it, would force ‘this child to be taught the dogma of the particular teacher handling the class. Again, I congratulate The Times on its forthright stand. Your position is in behalf of all churches, Protestant, Catholic, Jewish. It is as completely democratic as Mr. Malan’s is undemocratic. :

» tJ t J “WHY IS THIS PINBALL RACKET TOLERATED?”

By Chuck (Let's Chuck the Pinball Machines) and Associates, Indianapolis

~ Once more I write you regarding the pinball machine racket. Under

‘date of Jan. 23d you ran the first

edition of this crusade. With local and federal officials preaching saving and wise spending, with the requirement of an exchange of tooth paste and shaving tubes for new ones, with sugar rationed, and the immediate prospect of further rationing, we still have a wide open, unrationed; unrestricted pinball machine racket. Does it make sense? Even in New York City, where we ‘are accustomed to hear of rackets being tolerated, the lid has been clamped down on the pinball machine racket. I have seen the repair men working on the machines (to tighten them up after a hit) and there looks to me like you would only have to add tubes to have a complete send-

Side Glances=By Galbraith

the worldi—British Foreign Minister Anthony Eden. |} FZ:

ing or receiving set for our armed forces. Why such a waste of valuable scarce: materials? And the balls. Wouldn't it ‘be much better if they were going out of the business end of a service man’s gun instead of robbing the people? The pinball machifies are not a fair gamble but most certainly are a gambling game, like marked cards or loaded dice. They are robbing people of much needed money for other more important things. The| signs, “For Amusement Only,” gre a farce, and every member of the law enforcement agencies of this city and county from the chief of police and sheriff on down know it. Why is it allowed to continue?

Our city sleuths have been able|

to close all the bingo games (the pastime for our dear old ladies) whether they were run in private homes, clubs, etc. Yet the pinball machine racket continues to flourish in almost every public place. Is there a reason the pinball ma-

chine racket is not molested by the ‘law enforcement agencies? If so,

what is the reason? I would like (and many others like myself) to have you, Mr. Editor, to print following this item, the slot machine ordinance or law which covers the pinball machines. And we <nvite the support of all the people of Indianapolis to support this crusade to close this filthy pinball machine racket. Our slogan: Instead of the nickels to put out " the lights, Let's buy defense stamps to win our big fight.’ We'll quit shooting the balls up the groove with a snap, And give ‘em to the “Yanks” for a shot at the Japs. » ” » INDIA DESERVES PLACE AMONG FREE NATIONS By A. R. J. Congratulations’ on your thoughtprovoking editorial by Raymond Clapper, “Concerning Victory.” It is becoming increasingly clear. that the real theater of war lies—not in Europe, but in Asia. The crux of} the problems in World War II lie in the complex situations now exist-

' ling in India and China, and in the - | laissez-faire imperialistic policy that * {for 180 years, in the case of India

at least, has kept some 400,000,000

{people in political and economic

bondage. While ‘our sympathy is torn for the “slave-masses” in Europe under Hitler, Mussolini and other hateful axis powers, we may no longer shut our eyes to the implications in the recent crisis in India. : For too long we have entertained an errorieous concept of the picture in Asia. India is the real crux cof the problem; her 400,000,000 people exploited and lacking national spirit

{ (such as China has shown) have

been a cancer in the heart of civilization. Let us clean up our own back yard before we venture forth

into new projects. India’s fight for]. national unity and freedom: from

the imperialistic yoke deserves our support; the same spirit is stirring in her people as stirred in the farm-

* |er-patriots in America in 1776.

India has ‘shown by her valiant

|fight since 1919 that. she deserves

a place in the councils of free nations. ‘Let us assist her to stand in her full stature.

DAILY THOUGHT Better is the poor that walkéth

i s LITE 12

In Washington

By Peter Edson ;

WASHINGTON, May 16—You : might as well get reconciled to the idea that from here on in every day is going to be Lent as far as ‘your giving up something is concerned. For handy referénte here is a list of some of the things you. have thus far been asked to cut down on, and why. It’s the way that is important, so to make this list different, the why is put first and the effect on you follows. "To Provide the smokeless powder for 47 more rifle cartridges to shoot at Japs, you are asked to do with- ° out a pound of sugar, the sugar making the alcohol to make the smokeless gunpowder for the cartridges. Because a fully loaded flying fortress uses as much gasoline in an hour as the family auto does in six months, and because the army needs all the tankers it can get to carry gasoline to the overseas forces, motorists in some areas have been asked to cut down en gas consumption. Because there’s enough steel used in the making of one new automobile to make 26 heavy machine guns, you will have to get along with whatever auto you have or can buy second handed, and there will be no more new-cars for the duration.

Tires . . . Typewriters . . . Cuffs gi

BECAUSE ONE BOMBER tire has as much rubber in it as seven auto tires, you must ride on whatever you now have. Because more metal, more labor ‘and more machine hours go into the making of one typewriter than go into the making of one Garand automatic #ifle; you must pound the keys of whatever typewriter you how have. Because the cuffs on 21 pairs of paiite have enough wool in them to make one army uniform, men must go through the war cuffless. Because it take the silk of 100 pairs of silk stock ings to make one parachute for.a paratrooper, your favorite legs must go bare, or sheathed in ungiam. orized cotton or rayon. Because the solder and alloys in a medium tank require as much tin as it takes to pack 10,000 cans of food, the less important kinds of canned goods will have to be put in bottles.

Raincoats . . . Metal Toys . . . Phonographs

BECAUSE THE RUBBER in a raincoat equals the

rubber in a gas mask, youll have to do without that new raincoat.

Because there’s enough zinc in a 3%-pound toy

locomotive to make the carburetor on a jeep, your

children will have to play with spools instead “of new - metal toys. Because there is as much plastic in the cowling of a pursuit ship as there is in 40 average phonographs, you are asked to keep happy with the old music box. Because there's as much steel in the tail assembly of one 2000-pound bomb as there is in 12,000 razor blades, you might go back to shaving with your old straight. edge, or grind the stropper harder and make the blades last longer. Or grow a Paul Bunyan. Because all the wool needed to clothe and equip a soldier for a year is equal to the wool in 25 pairs of blankets, patch those old blankets you have and make ’em do. That gives you an idea, though it's just a beginning. It skips over some 400 items made of iron and steel which you’d normally expect to find in the stores. There's enough steel in a set of golf clubs to make one machine gun and enough steel in a washing machine to make six machine guns, and so on, You can get along without them all right, if you just stop to think WHY.

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A Woman's Viewpoint By Mrs. Walter Ferguson

. OF NOTHING at all, I hope the future will bring about some reforms in the statue industry. During my recent sojourn in Washington I was struck once again by the multiplicity of bronze figures which dot. the city, all of them in uncomfortable ate titudes. They are so erect one gets - backache looking at them, they sit astride rearing NY and seem in imminent danger of a humiliating and injurious descent. Even the grandest of them, French’s Abraham Lincoln, sits in a stiff hard chair, the like of which he probably never chose in his lifetime, Every big city boasts just about the same kind of sculpture. And, since the last war, thousands of little towns have erected bronze figures in memory of local heroés, and youll invariably find the doughboy in the act of sticking his foe’s. bosom with a bayonet or’ in some other anguished position. He is never just a plain, likeable American boy, of the kind we all know. He is a hero doing his stuff, and, while we love heroes in history books,

L we never enjoy liivng with them unless they drop

their roles.

They'd Wear Better

ANYWAY, THIS LEADS Up to a Hibtientous dia covery of mine. There is a comfortable-looking statue in the U. 8. A, the only one I ever saw, and . it shall not go unheralded by me. It is the figure of Washington Duke at the ene trance to the grounds of the Women's college at Durham, N. C, and it is a most relaxing bit. of art, Mt. Duke js doing nothing astonishing or Leroic. He ge 19 simply sitting in a big leather arm chair, the kind they used to enjoy in Victorian days, and looking av if he had just finished a big Sunday dinner. : The pose, the man, and especially the chair with tufted old leather reproduced in a masterly way, tells the story of an epoch. It commemorates the Business Man of the Big Barbecue Era, and since he played a major part in the making of our America he deserves such commemoration. If we must go on creating stone and bronze 1 mone strosities, I wish we could have more men and women in easy chairs, They'd wear better. : Editor's Note: The Ves. spe expressed by ‘columnists: in this. newspaper are their own. They are not Sospfy: those "of The isuapolty Times. . i

Chussiions and ‘Answers

(The Indianapolis Times Service Bureau will answer “shy ; + question of fact or information, mot invelving extensive fee search. Write your question clearly, sign name and address, inclose a three-cemt postage stamp. Medical or legal advice cannot be given. Address The Times Washington Servic ‘Bureau, vi Thirteenth ty, Washington, D. 0.) Vie

| x pin, he: Q—Is Australia dependent chiefly on rural induse tries or is it a manufacturing country? ol ‘A—Its industries are essentially ‘rifal, th

manufacturing has expanded considerably in years, The chief rural induszies ars thoes ais

sugar cane. @-How. long are new) recruits of tne’ army trained before they are sent into etii A~The training lasts ppr

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