Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 15 June 1942 — Page 10

PAGE 10 _

The Indianapolis Times

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MONDAY, JUNE 15, 1942

“NOT IMPORTANT” EVEN days late Washington discovered that the Japanese landing on the Aleutian islands, which it had denied, was a fact. Whereupon the naval air chief dismissed it as a Jap “face-saving” action of “no real importance.” Administration spokesmen in the senate joined in the easy assurance that Attu and Kiska islands are “worthless,” and that “army and navy officials say they cannot be used” by the Japs. American readers recall many similar attempts to laugh off the funny Japs, who couldn't fly and couldn't fight, who could be wiped out by the United States in six weeks of war even though most of our force was in the Atlantic. They were so crazy they landed on the northern tip of Luzon, which was of “no importance” because it was far from Manila—but they took the Philippines. They landed in northern Malaya, but it was of “no importance” because they could not get through the jungle to Singapore—until they did.

> ® 2 2 s » ND now, after all the unprecedented success of Japanese landing parties—step by step extending their conquest over the entire southwest Pacific, Burma and much of China—there are still Washington officials who think that enemy occupation of our Aleutian stepping stone on the short route between Japan and the United States has “no importance.” Is the loss of the Attu radio station of no importance? Is the loss of Kiska Harbor—one of the largest in the world—of no importance? If Attu and Kiska are “worthless” for Jap bases, why was the U. S. navy using them as lookout posts? As a matter of fact, Attu-Kiska's great importance was formally recognized by the famous Hepburn navy report which recommended development of those islands as major bases—a recommendation ignored because of Washington's indifference. They are about halfway between the Jap base of Paramushiro and our Dutch Harbor, and even closer to the Russian bases of Petropavlovsk and Commander. As such, they are vital for any American invasion of Japan or any Japanese invasion of Alaska and the United States. = 2 ” = = 2 HE American public need not be alarmed by Jap occupation of Attu and Jap ships in Kiska Harbor if our navy will drive them out quickly, before they have a chance to repeat their other step-by-step invasion successes. But that cannot be done by statements about ‘“face-saving” and “not important.”

SOME KANSAS COMMON SENSE OMMENT on recent notable addresses by Vice President Wallace and Under Secretary of State Welles has fallen into two classifications: Both addresses having to do with “What are we fighting for?” and “After we win, what?” One line of opinion is, let's quit wasting our time talking about peace until we have licked our enemies. The other, almost going into rhapsodies about a quart of milk a day for everybody in the world, the end of imperialism, universal education; in short, the golden rule, signed, sealed, delivered and executed throughout the globe; a globe made over according to our particular heart’s desire. Those commenting in the first classification lean heavily to the cynical. They say the idealistic utterances of Wallace and Welles would mean unrestricted immigration, breaking down of tariff barriers, flooding of our markets with the products of foreign sweatshops; all pointing up to the idea of let's win and then write our own ticket. Against that is directed the contention that such an attitude means nationalism, isolationism, of the same old futile and grisly sort which turned world war I into world

war II in a quarter of a century. » = = 8 2 2

NTO the discussion Alf M. Landon tosses some Kansas common sense. What he said in a speech last night expressed the golden mean, that rare sector so hard to find, between the extremes of unbridled idealism and hopeless cynicism. “In the many discussions of peace,” he said, “we must be mindful not to get the cart before the horse. We do need discussion of the proper foundations and principles of lasting peace. We first need to win the war. “To try and write or discuss a document of details of peace is futile and dangerous. We need to catch the rabbit before stewing it. But we can develop the art of cooking. “The peace will not be our sole devising, for we have partners. But we need discussion and debate on broad principles before we go to the peace isle: 4

= » 2 2 S to the cynical as contrasted with the evangelical

attitude, Landon contributes this: “We must avoid the old-fashioned camp-meeting way of approach. “The hallelujah foreign policy has been disastrous throughout our history. It is based on the smug assumption that all the world likes American ice-cream sodas. Strange as it may seem to most Americans, they don’t. “In all our discussions of the world to be after the war we must never forget the world is peopled with different races, with different customs and ideologies. “To assume that all men want the kind of civilization we ourselves want is to fall into fatal errors. Proposals to reform them in wholesale lots serve only to alienate them from our friendship.” Which, we repeat, makes sense. And, we add our hearty subscription to the school which contends for more rather than less of the business of thinking about where do we go from here, when we win, as win we will. Otherise, if we don’t look ahead, what price victory?

¢

Fair Enough

By Westbrook Pegler

NEW YORK, June 15.—Let's see, now, where were we? Oh yes, that Ft. Wayne News Sentinel case and the charge that an editor who accepts informae tion on union affairs from mems= bers of a union for publication as news is guilty of violating the law against the employment of antiunion spies. Well, as I was saying, there is a lot more to that than meets the eye. You sink a pick into that subject and you will turn up one of the greatest deposits of pure skullduggery on the North American continent. Now suppose an American citizen, who is strictly a square guy and no Communist, is shooed into a union in one of those great roundups that the unions conduct right along in their competition for membership, money and political and economic power. He doesn’t want to belong to their union because, let us say, he knows it to be dominated by a little key group of traitorous Communists, whose anti-Ameri-canism is now recognized by Atty. Gen. Francis Biddle, but they surround him and a thousand others in some small city and make him join under a closed shop agreement approved by the federal or state labor board, representing his own government.

Let's Follow It Through

ALL RIGHT THEN, so along comes an editor, or a reporter representing an editor, and gets wind of the Communist goings-on in the union, but he can't get the straight of it because he can’t get into a union meeting. Moreover, the members are afraid to peep because they may be expelled for violating union discipline and thus barred forever from all employment in all unionized occupations, or even killed on their way home. Both of these things have been known to happen, so this reporter that we are talking about gives his solemn promise to this union man that he will not reveal his identity to anyone, including Senator La Follette. That is common newspaper practice, that protection of informants who help in exposing corruption and traitorism, which is part of the duty that a free press assumes to justify its existence and deserve its freedom. I am willing to imagine that our reporter gets a chit from the desk to pay the poor sucker a little something for his risk, although that isn't likely to have been the case in Ft. Wayne and I, personally, have never paid any of my thousands of informants a dime. They have given me information and continue to send in their little individual stories of union persecution and terror, and they do it because they are being pushed around by unioneers whom they never did choose to represent them and, in some cases, because their membership is being exploited by the Communists against their own country.

He'd Better Not Try It

BUT SUPPOSE THE paper pays the informant for his information and, to make it as bad as we can, let's suppose the informant is just a mercenary squealer with no decent motives or loyalty, although his information is important and stands up under investigation. All right, now, is that a violation of law and can the editor be punished? Well, chums, La Follette had better not try it and I don’t think he will, because, if he does instigate a persecution and it sticks, then we will have founded a principle that will protect traitors and criminals from betrayal to the public by the most reliable and productive source of such information. And, thinking of it, by the way, when did L& Follette ever do anything to help the victims of persecution by the unioneers, if it is the legislative branch that they must turn to for publicity, protection and relief? La Follette or Wagner or Norris or Meade or any of them? I am still going strong on this, so be with me again tomorrow.

Editor’s Note: newspaper are their own. of The Indianapolis Times,

The views expressed by columnists in this They are not necessarily those

Frankly Speaking

By Norman E. Isaacs

THERE HAS BEEN considerable criticism of the city administration for its patchwork-quilt job of resurfacing after tearing up the streetcar rails. These complaints have widened in some cases into criticism of the entire task of general street repair. The facts are that Indianapolis streets compare favorably with most other large cities. It is a huge task caring for a highway system as large as ours. By and large, the city does a conscientious and decent job. The criticism heard is not basically against the conditions of our streets, but rather against the red-tape management at city hall. Our city administration is super-sensitive. It starts squealing every time a complaint is made. Our city officials ought to realize that their chief fault is an agonizing slowness to act. Once they get moving they do a pretty goed job.

Quit Climbing Under the Bed!

THAT'S THE WAY with street repairs. They decide to pave a street. Well, it will take a full six months from that moment until the first pound of concrete is poured. Somebody ought to step in and throw these miles and months of red tape down a sewer and get moving. On removing the rails, they did move swiftly. They got the rails up, patched up—badly—the spots and moved on. But out of it will come considerable good. As soon as they are able to get the materials, they will do a good re-paving job. By the time the summer is over, we probably will be in far better shape than anyone anticipated. The city needs to be a little more vigilant in this type cof work. are places where the pavement has become hot and soft and big busses and trucks have rutted them by sliding to stops. Instead of permitting these spots to fold up like an accordian, the city should move in promptly to iron out the pavements. Or to do anything else that will turn the trick so that we are not continually faced with miles of this sort of thing. The public would understand and co-operate if the city administration would do its full share to: 1. Move with dispatch. 2. Quit running under the bed every time somebody peeps.

So They Say—

Every person in Canterbury would be willing to take this and much worse, in return for such achievements as that of the R. A. F. over Cologne. —William LeFevre, mayor of Canterbury, England.

»

* . * They are trying to make our flesh creep with this talk. —Capt. Naumann, German navy.

Nohing short of utter defeat of the enemy will be

sufficient. Great calls will be made on your strength, |

but I know you will meet them as before with utter disregard in the common cause of achieving victory.

—Gen, Neil Methuen Ritchie, commander Eighth

British army. . ® % lig The corps will tolerate no outa or capricious feminine temperament. You just won't be able to 661 Mad 20d aut, This isn’t going to be a tea party. —Col. Thomas Gimperling, recruiting officer, to WAAC applicants. Set, 10

The Hoosier Forum

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

“DOES ONE LAW VIOLATION JUSTIFY ANOTHER?” By Guy D. Sallee, 5801 Woodside dr. To my fellow citizen, O. B. Beck: You infer there are other state laws being violated and suggest we unite into a citizen's committee to force prosecution. Do law violations justify another citizen to do likewise? For your information, we have a Republican Marion county prosecutor who has more power than the governor, if a violation occurs in Marion county. I suggest you contact Mr, Blue, or go before the grand jury with your evidence. I believe we should follow the law and not the law violators.

” ” 2 “WHAT HAS BRITAIN DONE? HERE ARE SOME FACTS” By Arthur A. W. Grist, 1321 N. Meridian st. I happen to be an “over-age” Britisher who played his part in World War I, and am living here in Indianapolis with my Hoosier wife. We have three sons and one son-in-law serving in the army,

navy and air force, but I, personally have not yet been able to render much service to the cause of the united nations, except to make a few talks to various club groups in Indiana with the sole purpose of clarifying many angles of this global war about which they apparently were not quite clear. For some time past enemy propaganda has had a most confusing effect on the minds of many with whom I have come in contact . . At the outbreak of war, Goebbels gibed at the British. He told their allies and he told Americans and others, then neutral: “The British will fight to the last Frenchman.” Well, what is the British record after two and a half years of war? Who stood firm in Europe against the entire might of the axis for over a year after the fall of France? There was no second front then—no Russian war. Between June and November of 1940 the British people together beat back overblown Goering’s over=-

(Times readers are invited their these columns, religious controversies Make your letters short, so all can Letters must

to express views in

excluded.

have a chance. be signed.)

blown luftwaffe and made invasion impossible at that critical time. After October, 1940, Mussolini's “hand that held the dagger” tweaked it out of France's back and plunged it into the bosom of Greece. The British went into Greece before the Nazis threw in their panzer divisions to rescue their Italian jackals. The British knew it was hopeless. Why did the British do this? Simply because of the overwhelming moral obligation of their gallant allies . . . The British people have not forgotten who gibed at them, nor have they forgotten their own peril and the predicament of the civilized world when the gibers were gibing. The following official figures tell the reason for stout hearts and clear consciences in Britain today. The war effort of the British empire was until Dec. 7, 1941, wholly dependent at home and overseas upon the navy and the merchant service. For example, the armies of the Middle East alone required for sustenance in one period of 12 months, 12,000,000,000 ton-miles of sea transportation. Over 1,000,000 tons of goods and over 30,000 vehicles had to be shipped to this theater of war alone. Thanks to the navy, the enemy’s fleet has been penned up in home waters. British warships have, on the other hand, roamed the Mediterranean at will, not only winning all naval actions in that area and sinking half the convoys to Libya, but bringing their own convoys through in safety. The navies of the allies and the dominions, as well as their air forces, have contributed to the successes of the British navy but the greater burden has naturally fallen upon Great Britain.

Side Glances=By Galbraith

Take the washboard spots. These |

Apart from recent Far Eastern operations, the forces of the United Kingdom have sunk 86 per cent of German and Italian surface vessels so far destroyed, sunk or captured 89 per cent of all enemy merchant ships put out of action, and sunk 94 per cent of the enemy submarines destroyed by the allies. The British army has fought 11 campaigns in all: Norway, the Low Countries, France, East Africa, North Africa, Greece, Crete, Syria, Iraq, Persia and Malaya, not to mention =the present conflicts in Burma and Libya. In Norway and France it suffered defeat, although the enemy failed to trap the British army at Dunkirk. In Greece, the army not only inflicted heavy casualties, but imposed delays which disorganized the whole strategic time-table of the Germans at a highly critical moment. Thus it defeated the German movement in 1941 towards Cyprus, Syria, Iraq, Egypt and the Suez Canal. In East Africa and Ethiopia its triumphs have been remarkable. Some 500,000 enemy troops with a corresponding amount of war material, were put out of action there. The R. A. PF. in Britain has had, of course, welcome help in men and machines from the dominions and the allies, and from the United States even before they entered the war. The United Kingdom has, however, reasonable cause for pride in that 89 per cent of her aircraft, 72 per cent of the air crews and 98 per cent of the ground personnel, which have won victories over and around Britain, are products and citizens of the United Kingdom itself, and overseas 75 per cent of the aircraft, 83 per cent.of the air crews and 99 per cent of the ground personnel are from the United Kingdom. That pride is no less because the United Kingdom personnel suffered 75 per cent of all casualties incurred by the R. A. F., and the dominions and allied squadrons serving with it. . . . I think the above facts answer the question, - “What has Great Britain done?”

CALLS WALLACE PLAN “FLIGHT OF FANCY” By C. W. M. Here is a bit in the “First du Pont” by Gerald W. Johnson, August 1941 Harpers, that is worth quoting: “The truth is that Turgot made the fundamental error that was made by the brain trust of a later day . . . he innocently assumed that government is a science, and that the economic system is a machine . « . he did not stay in office long enough to learn that government is an art, one of the subdivisions of the art of dramaturgy, and that the national economy is an organism, a product ‘of growth, not of construction. Hence the application of the scientific method was hopeless in his case, as it has been hopeless ever since. ...” This is a simple answer to Henry Wallace's recent flight of fancy into a dream world which , centuries hence could be, but not super-im-posed by the crass mechanics of hurried purchasing power.

DAILY THOUGHT

Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time.—I Peter 5:6.

GOD HATH sworn to lift on high

Who sinks himself by true humility. Keble. :

— MONDAY, JUNE 15, In Washington By Peter Edson

WASHINGTON, June 15—The old song of “How You Goin’ to Keep 'Em Down On the Farm?” is now complicated further by the old saw, “What Will You Use for Money?” On the cne hand, Paul V, Mc-

Nutt’s War Manpower Commission

issues a couple of fancy directives, one to the farm security admin istration telling FSA to increase the number of mobile labor camps in order to make available enough farm labor to achieve the “Food for Victory” objective; the second directive to FSA and the office of defense transpore tation to assure adequate transportation facilities to move migrant agricultural workers. On the other hand, FSA comes back with the word that it has no money to increase its mobile labor camps, and CDT makes it unanimous by saying that it has no money to move the wopkers, even if FSA had camps to put them in. So, if anything gets done in the immediate future, it seems the money will have to come out of that good old reliable kitty, the president’s emergency fund, The policy committee of the war manpower come mission has passed a resolution to impress on congress and the bureau of the budget the necessity for allo= cating funds for these migratory farm laborers, bus resolutions aren't exactly folding money, yet.

About-Face in the Making

TODAY, FSA HAS 95 migratory labor camps on its books—45 permanent, 43 mobile and six being set up, It has made surveys to indicate where 150 additional camps might be located. The bureau of the budget recommended that for the year beginning July 1, $3.5 million be given to FSA for migratory labor camps. The house in revolt against FSA, completely eliminated the item. The senate restored it, but put a limit of $1.4 million on the amount to be spent for camps. If the ceiling stays at that level, FSA will not only be unable to open additional camps, but’ will have to close down over half of the 95 camps now running. If that happens, listen to the farmers yell and watch congress do a magnificent about-face to set up these maligned Okie camps once more. The situation is even more binding for ODT. Although it got this directive from the manpower coma= mission on May 21, ODT hasn’t done anything about the situation for the simple reason that it couldn't, To expect ODT to step into every rural coms munity where there is a farm labor shortage and mobilize transportation to haul farm labor around is too much.

Yessir, It's Just Buck-Passing

FSA ADMINISTRATOR C. B. Baldwin has testle fied that there are thousands and thousands of farm laborers available if they can be moved where they are needed. Recruiting of farm labor has been haphazard, Baldwin asserts, and the resulting waste of mane power on the agricultural front has beep costly. Somehow, the gasoline and rubber and transportation situation will have to be rationalized to meet the issue. Department of agriculture field men report some tendency on the part of farmers to reduce the acreage of some crops needad in the Food for Victory program because they fear a shortage of farm hands, ‘That kind of panic might be serious. The points this issue emphasizes are two. First, solving this farm labor shortage, where 1% exists, is a local problem. Second, government by directive, where one agency tells another to go do something it hasn't the power or authority to do, ‘is simply glorified buck passing and if the war manpower commission thinks it can solve its problem, admittedly one of the toughest assignments in the war effort, that way, it is doomed to complete failure.

A Woman's Viewpoint By Mrs. Walter Ferguson

YOU'LL. REMEMBER It was Cecil Brown, the noted commen= tator and correspondent, who ad=vocated that we'd better stick to pessimism for the duration. He believes every wave of cheer sweeping the country is axis-in-spired propaganda. Now if we followed Mr. Brown's advice, gloom would be the watche word. We must be bloodthirsty, > hot for vengeance, bitter about reprisals; in short, because the enemy is evrything vile and foul and beastly, we should remake ourselves in their likeness. I object. I don’t want to work to get myself into the frame of mind that distinguishes Hitler's hench= men. I hate their work, but the real battles of this war will not be won by the haters. It takes something more than evil emotional hysteria to gain victories that are worth the trouble of getting. I hotly resent the efforts currently made by certain groups to whip every American into the same thought patterns. It will be an evil day for us when we all succumb to the idea that unity means acquiescence.

The War Aims of the U. S. A.

BESIDES, SOME people do better with optimism for a companion. It is a national trait, bred into our bones. We've always done things in a light-hearted way, and are not conditioned by nature to grim moots, Our heritage is not of hopelessness.

We are a buoyant people and have unlimited faith in our own power to overcome difficulties. When this kind of ebullience of spirit departs from us, we shall no longer be Americans in the old meaning of the title. Abraham Lincoln’s recipe for winning a war suits me better and seems to exceed in wisdom that of the modern Brown school, that would have us believe our thinking is controlled from Berlin by Hitler's gestapo, The words “with malice toward none, with charity for all” are even more inspirational today than when another war-weary president spoke them to his cone fused people. Graven as they are on America’s heart, they should stand forever as an expression of all war aims of the U. S. A.

Questions and Answers

(The Indianapolis Times Service Bureau will answer any question of fact or information, not involving extensive ree search. Write your question clearly, sign name and address, inclose a three-cent postage stamp. Medical or legal adviee cannot be given. Address The Times Washington Service Bureau, 1013 Thirteenth St., Washington, D. C.)

. Q—Please give a brief biography of the radie singer, “Singin’ Sam.” . A—Harry Frankel, known as “Singin’ Sam,” was born in Danville, Ky., and reared in Richmond, Ind. At the age of 17 he was featured with J. A. Coburn’s Greater Minstrels as the “boy basso.” He made his radio debut about 1930 at a Cincinnati broadcasting studio, and shortly afterward began broadcasting over a network as “Singin’ Sam.” He married Helen

| (Smiles) Davis, in Richmond, Ind.

Q—Give the title of the selection played through= out the photoplay, "Woman of the Yaar

A