Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 29 July 1942 — Page 10

PAGE 10

The Indianapolis Times

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

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p> RILEY 5551

Give Light and the People Will Find Their Own Way

WEDNESDAY, JULY 29, 1942

RUSSIA FIGHTS ON

RUSSIA is in peril. But the situation is not hopeless. Twice before, at Leningrad and Moscow, Russian defenders have rallied at the last moment. There is still a chance that they may be able to repeat these military miracles to save Stalingrad and the Caucasian railroad and pipeline. : There is still hope, because— None of Timoshenko’s armies have been cut off or captured. Their morale is superb. Their air force, augmented by American planes, is still active. ‘The upper hinge of their southern line is still holding at Voronezh. : Thus they are in excellent position for a flank coun-ter-offensive from the north—if they have the machine reserves. That is the big “if.” . Meanwhile, the American people, who have such a big stake in these battles, can only work the harder, confident that President Roosevelt will do all in his power to aid Russia in every way.

DOING IT WITH BOMBERS

N a radio speech addressed to the German people, British Air Marshal Sir Arthur Travers Harris said last night that the crushing British bomber raid on Hamburg this week, and the earlier ones on Cologne and elsewhere, were mere curtain-raisers. Germany, he warned, “will be scourged from end to end by allied air forces.” “Soon we will be coming over every night, every day—rain, flood or snow—we and the Americans.” Thus from high authority comes a promise that the pattern of victory outlined in this newspaper in a series of articles by Thomas L. Stokes (concluded today) is the pattern that is to be used. ” ” ” ” o » AIR MARSHAL HARRIS continued: “In comparison to what it will be like as soon as our own production of bombers comes to flood tide and American production doubles and then redoubles, all that has happened so far will seem very little. “We regret the necessity for this. It is true that your

- defenses inflict losses on our bombers, and your leaders try

to comfort you by telling you our losses are so heavy that we will not be able to go on bombing much, but I tell you our losses are less than 5 per cent of the bombers we send over Germany.” And— - “The first squadrons that are forerunners of a whole air fleet have just arrived in England from the United States. Do you realize what it will mean to you when they bomb Germany also? I just spent eight months in America and I know what’s coming over. “You have no chance!” 8 8 8 8 Bn 8 - LL of which adds to the conviction that there is a rich opportunity, in a massive Anglo-American - bombing offensive, continuous and prolonged. Such a program cannot be executed without a heavy cost in lives. This week’s first Hamburg raid cost the British 29 planes. Figure an average of seven men to a ship, and that is 203 fine young Britons lost, 203 homes in méurning. Thirty-two bombers are missing after a second raid on Hamburg last night. But such losses, even night after night, are relatively small in light of the enormous casualties that would be inevitable in any land invasion attempted as of today. Once the back of the German industrial nad transportation machine is broken by mass bombings, invasion and occupation can be undertaken with infinitely smaller risk.

“ETERNAL VIGILANCE”

T is for no casual purpose that the U. S. supreme court convenes today in extraordinary session, to consider the case of the eight men now being tried by a military commission. The question which the high tribunal will decide involves the functioning of civil courts in wartime, the right of public ttial and due process. There has been nothing quite like it since the issue was drawn in the celebrated case of Ex-parte Milligan in the Civil war period. Milligan was an American citizen, a resident of Indiana. He was tried by a military commission, found guilty of inciting insurrection and giving aid and comfort to the rebellion, and sentenced to be hanged. The case reached the supreme court after the war had ended, and the court then ruled that the right of habeas corpus could not be constitutionally suspended in

territory where the civil courts were open and functioning.

Milligan was released. “The constitution,” said the court, “is a law for rulers and people, equally in war and in peace, and covers with

the shield of its protection all classes of men, at all times and under all circumstances.”

# ” ” 8 ” os OME similarities exist in this case. The defendants also are petitioning for a writ of habeas corpus. They also

were captured in a territory apparently not an actual

theater of war. But there are differences. Only two of the eight men are citizens. : ! The high court sitting today may decide that the six enemy aliens landed on our shores from armed enemy vessels are spies, entitled to none of our constitutional guaranties, and that they could have been shot on the spot. They may decide even that the two American citizens involved in the conspiracy are subject tv trial by military court. Or they may hold that the civil courts should take jurisdiction, that the president’s executive order setting up

the military commission is out of line. 74.

not because of the six aliens

This case is important, v because it may determine

two ci involved, but

Fair Enough By Westbrook Pegler

NEW YORK, July 29.—Cape Gris-Nez, France, which occurs in the communiques from time to time as an objective of British bombers, is the point nearest Britain on the English channel from which in August, 1926, a young American girl swam Po Kingsdown, England, most of the way in a storni. Gertrude Ederle, after one previous failure, in which she had been touched on the arm and thus disqualified by her own trainer, was the first woman ever to swim the sleeve. This time, in 1926, she had trained carefully again and it was well she did for shortly after she took to the water a storm came up and she was whipped away almost to the North sea before she caught a tide that helped her to the English beach in the dark. The British must have obliterated the town by now for there was very little of it anyway. There was a summer hotel on the beach patronized mostly by little people from Britain and up the rocky, gullied inland road was the Hotel of the Lighthouse run by. a Belgian veteran of the first war named Henri Blon-

"dieu, who loudly disliked the French.

Trudy and her party stopped at the Hotel of the Lighthouse, notwithstanding its many faults, because she was loyal to the little Belgian for some kindness on her previous visit.

A Mite Down at the Heels"

THE SOUP WAS MADE from grass and weeds gathered along the dunes. Veal, omelettes, bread, beer and cheese were the rest of the fare and the only bathtub was one that Blondieu had bought secondhand in Boulogne and set in a closet on the second floor, not knowing this luxury of the rich required

.| plumbing connections, of which his hotel had none.

If some mad American insisted on a warm bath, Madam Blondieu and the chambermaid would heat water in huge iron vessels on the kitchen range and fetch it upstairs by hand. Madam had an inflamed

appendix but would ice it at night and manage to be |

up and doing around by dawn next morning. She was in terror of the surgeon and would not have it out. There were no lighting facilities, not even lamps, and the people who ran the relatively swanky place on the beach felt wounded that Trudy made her headquarters at Blondieu’s because thus Ishak Helmy, the big, blubbery Egyptian, and several other Saieans and a lot of expense-account reporters were ere. After years of trying for the glory of Egypt, Helmy finally caught a succession of tides in flat weather and ghosted over to England, but Trudy, a kid of 19,

had softened up the channel by defeating it in its meanest mood.

Perhaps Something Did Happen

THEREAFTER IT WAS a pushover for mediocre swimmers, Some of the swims which followed were fakes but that of a young American woman named Corson soon aiter Trudy’s was authentic and took some of the fuzz off Trudy’s peach for she was now no longer the only woman to have done it. ° Along the smooth, wide beach there were several rusting, barnacled hulks which had been run aground, wounded by mines or torpedoed in the first war, and up on the bluff to the west where the beach disappeared and the sea slapped against rocky cliffs, there were old weed-grown concrete trenches, gun pits and machine-gun positions. As late as 1936, Blondieu was still there. His wife had finally been separated from the appendix and could now do a real day’s work and little Robert, a toddler around the bar of the hotel when Trudy camped there, was 12 years old and so, probably was caught up somehow in this war as his old man had been in the first one. This time France was going to be good and ready for the dirty Boche. Down below there was the great Maginot line and that day in 1936 several huge, low vehicles were crawling up the road from Boulogne carrying enormous gun-tubes and the mounts to emplacements on high points which would blast the inavders back. : There were great pieces, surely capable of firing to England, although it was unthinkable that France should ever fire on England. However, under the changed circumstances of the second world war, these guns may have done something of the kind and this could account for the raids of the British bombers on harmless, slovenly, sleepy Cape Gris-Nez,

Frankly Speaking

By Norman E. Isaacs

FROM TIME TO TIME, the affairs of Marion County's Welfare Department have been in the public prints. A good many efforts have been made to get the impression across that an autocratic state machine, dominated by theoretic-minded social workers, has been trying to deprive this county of the right to run its own affairs (a blow at home rule!) and that the state authorities have been trying to entangle the local setup with red tape. .And so on.

All this is a far cry from the truth. The truth is'

very simple. Ever since its inception, the Marion County Welfare Department has been a political football. The politicians in this county have fought desperately to keep their hands on the setup. The department has been staffed with both eyes on politics. The entire situation is actually a disgrace. Just words? No. Remember the late Joel Baker? He was the Marion County Welfare director. He was the man who fled to Florida after Wayne Coy was slugged. What was Coy slugged for? Trying to get a merit bill through the legislature that would apply merit rules to Marion county welfare, instead of political.

Decency Going by the Boards

THE SITUATION HASN'T changed a great deal since that day. It’s quieter, more subtle, more scheming, but still the same old political scramble. The board, appointed by Circuit Judge Earl Cox, for the most part has fought constantly with the state-appointed director. The board—or perhaps, it would be more correct to say Judge Cox—has contended constantly that it must have the right to appoint its own director. . One of the most shameful episodes occurred recently when the State Department of Public Welfare turned coward and started to back out of the situation. And so now we have a board gradually moving in to make the Hague touch complete. Frank Symmes is known to be playing ball with the office personnel. Sheriff Al Feeney pouts like a little boy when he doesn’t get his way. W And whatever decency exists in the setup is slowly but surely going by the boards. 5 You can name the finest director in America to run this agency. But it's a 100-to-1 shot that he’ll wind up on the short end as long as the people of this county continue to let the politicos keep control of public welfare. Too bad, isn’t it?

So They Say—

The problem of demobilization is going to be far more difficult than that of mobilization. It is at this point that we may get a great political eruption if we are not careful.—Ernest Bevin, British labor minister. . * % * 2 : I'm 1-A, and if they want me as a person and a body, and they think I can do better service as a sol-

THE INDIANAPOLIS TIMES

“There's Your V for

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

“SHOULD HAVE DISCLOSED HE’S ON STATE PAYROLL” By Carl H. Mote, 5685 Central ave. It seems to me that LeRoy S. Moore of Box 124, Butlerville, who, in The Times of July 18, objected to. my. “unpatriotic outbursts” against the generalissimos of the New Deal would have said something helpful to Times readers if he had disclosed that he is on the state payroll as a clerk in the office of the feeble-minded colony at Butlerville, . . . ” 2 2 “FIGHT PEGLER’S ENEMIES WITH OWN WEAPONS!” By Ann Dobson If the CIO is trying seriously to

suppress Westbrook Pegler’s columns as has been reported, there should be immediate organization

of all who would completely frustrate such bold, presumptuous attempts. } Some time ago one of your readers suggested that Pegler clubs be formed which would give by their very existence some measurable support to a man who seems to fight alone, Petitions often are potent and effective, as for example that which resulted in Browder’s release. 3 Labor unions and the Communist party are well enough organized to roll up a staggering number of signatures. just how they are obtained may be imagined. Their despicable designs to gag any writer must be fought with their own weapons. For the preservation of freedom of the press every reputable newspaper and magazine will fight in Mr. Pegler’s behalf, but such support may be labeled “self-interest” by his tricky enemies. However, the will of the public cannot be challenged by any dictatorial group, and that will should be expressed in unmistakable terms,

(Times I eaders are invited to express their views in these columns, religious conMake your lets s short, so all can

troversiee! excluded.

have a chance. Letters must

ill

be signed)

Any charge, of disrupting the war effort by idling the country must be laid at tii2 door of CIO. Even a major war is not enough to obscure the iscile involved. We will not lose at mime what we are fighting for abroad. “If a concrete plan can be formulated, it ould be adopted by the readers; and: thus make the movement ngtion-wide, . . . | i ® J 2 “LET ARM HANDLE ALL THE SPIES AND TRAITORS” By B. R. I., Indianapolis. It amazes me the number’of people who keep saying we have to give these spies tnd traitors and saboteurs the full benefit of American law. a Can't all these people see that these Nazis stand for only one thing, the complete destruction of everything ve stand for and that = ones who are doing ‘ for us to try these i. courts with all the protections ¢f civil law. . I realize | ‘hat -the federal government has to decide how best to handle these things, but I for one, think that (he decision to try such people as fclley in the impartial federal coluifs is wrong. In a time of war th: military ought to take over matter: like this. After all, ‘ve are giving our lives to the miliary to protect. They are the one; who know best what

their ann

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is most dangerous. Let them handle these spies and traitors and saboteurs. I guarantee you that a few army trials and we’ll have darned few spies hanging around. in » 2 WESTBROOK’S A TRAITOR! NO, HE'S A HERO! By An Officer's Mother, The article by Westbrook Pegler about the commissions given navy officers was an outrage. It is a biow to the very foundations of this country. The FBI ought to tell Pegler that the men who are the officers of our great and glorious navy are loyal, brave Americans, who are ready to give their lives. If Pegler was half a man, he'd

be in the navy himself instead of writing such terrible poison.

8 8 #8 By A. C. Quentin, Indianapolis. Bravo for Pegler! His article

about that fake lieutenant commander who somehow, someway reminds me of an individual I once heard of named Walter Winchell was a masterpiece.

And now I notice on the heels of that great piece of satire, a story that one lieutenant commander out on the west coast is being tried on charges of selling navy jobs to handsome movie heroes. But I suppose the Pegler-haters are already at it anyway. Oh well.

2 ” 9 “OH, THAT'S OKAY, WE'VE GOT PRIORITIES!” By An Ex-Cab Patron. Indianapolis. I write this letter to explain why I prefer it to be signed the way I have it.

I had to work late the other night and I waved a cab as I came out on the Circle and told him to take me home (5700 north, about 600 west). It was rather late and he went bouncing along at a rapid rate. When he came to corners he slowed down only a fraction and took the corners with tires screeching. . “That's kind of hard on isn’t it?” I said to the driver. He jerked his head backward and said, “OL, that’s okay. We got priorities!” i ” 3 ”

“TONS OF SCRAP IRON IN OLD FENCES” By J. A. D., Indianapolis.

May I offer the following suggestion to home owners and landlords in regard to the salvage campaign? Throughout our city and no doubt every city in the land there are tons and tons of scrap iron to be had in the 75 to 90 year old fences. In a good many cases the fences have become unsightly and dilapidated and would add much to the appearance of the yards and neighborhoods were they torn down and turned over to the government for war use. They could be replaced, if so desired, with more sightly and much more up-to date hedges, and at a small cost considering the fact that scrap iron will net a certain amount of the cost.

DAILY THOUGHT

And he did evil, because he prepared not his heart to seek the Lord.—II Chronicles 12:14.

~ WE are always striving for things ting th ie

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WEDNESDAY, JULY In Washington By Peter Edson |

WASHINGTON, July 29.—This one is open to argument but the question is whether the U. S. is doing itself more harm than good by spreading broadside the propaganda lies which the axis shorfy wave medicine men concoct and’ hope people will swallow. The way it works now, practically nobody listens to foreign shortwave broadcasts except the people who get paid for it. There's usually so much static that it isn’t fit to listen to and, under good receptive conditions, listening in on Eu ropean stations becomes a once-in-a-while fad, People listen in on Lord Haw Haw and his succession

| of American counterparts now performing over the

German station Debunk, not to be informed but for a good laugh. * Consequently, does it do any good to pick up the mouthings of these cute misinformation specialists, reprint them as government handouts, then broad cast them through the press and over the standard wave radio?

Analysis of Misinformation

THE FEDERAL communications commission’s fore eign broadcast monitoring service now listens in on and records all these enemy radio stations. The trane script of all these words is run through a duplicating machine daily, and the gathered sheets make a book half an inch thick. It would take three or four hours to read it if any busy little government official had that much time. So a digest is made which can be read in half an hour of so, and nobady has that much time, either. ‘ It is probably necessary that all this recording be done, just for whatever clews may be picked ui from the axis-controlled mouthpieces. So in various U. S. government departments men are assigned to study these reports and pick out the items that may be of interest to their chiefs, whether they be generals, co-ordinators, or assorted assistant secretaries. - The foreign radio being notorious for its inaccuracies and deliberate lies, these studies make the most complete analysis of misinformation ever made by man.

A Chance Worth Taking

THE TRUTH IS that all this business merely dabbles on the edges of psychological warfare, which is an intriguing name but is still most woefully underestimated and misunderstood. To all too many people, psychological warfare means only propaganda via short wave radio. There's a lot more to it than that, bu! most of it comes in the realm of hush-hush military information. . One extremely useful purpose of the foreign short wave analysis is in feeding back accurate information to the underground movements in occupied or neutral countries. ~ When an axis lie can be nailed down and the truth about any given situation be fed back into the cone quered country by short wave radio, then it thay do some good if it can be picked up and circulated through underground movements. That’s a long-shot chance, but may be worth taking. -

A Woman's Viewpoint By Mrs. Walter Ferguson

~ “WHAT DO YOU think about drafting our 18-year-old boys?" asks a reader whose letter has been neglected for weeks. Franke ly, I've been too much a coward to face the question. The 18-year-olds will be drafteed eventually, We all know that.. But I'd feel better about it if our, statesmen had the bravery to do it before Nov. 3d. - I hate these hesitation waltzes the people are being asked to dance. Most American fathers and mothers deplore the fact that, like Hitler, we must mark for death our youngest and fairest. I sincerely believe that military men and politicians feel the same. But that's the way wars are fought and the only way they can be won today, or so I am told by martial experts. Speaking as the mother of an 18-year-old, I could stand to see these youngsters inducted into the armed service, ready to do or die for country, ready to fling themselves into the mine-infested seas, or vault into the bomb-filled skies, because I know they are lads of dauntless and adventurous spirit and will realize they are fighting for something worth while—human freedom. .

Let's End This Political Trickery!

- BUT WHAT I CAN'T bear is the use of these boys for political purposes. I resent from the bottom of my soul the tendency to play politics with a war that exacts the blood of children. . Furthermore, it seems to me that so long as any. organized group in the nation has the power to slow up the war effort in order to get more money, and so long as any lawmaker exists who is willing to put off legislative action sorely needed today in order to further his own or his party’s political fortunes, and so long as men can buy commissions with cash or pull or anything else, the youngsters who have not yet finished their educations should not be sent out to fight. ; When all these evil things have been stopped— and when adults who call upon the young to die actually put their country’s welfare above all else— then we can send the cream of our kind to share in the all-out war effort. As yet it does not seem to be an all-out effort.

facing death, it’s time to call a halt to political trickery. And if, as we are now assured, certain harsh measures we must eventually face are put off until after election day, there’s going to be lasting resente ment and bitterness in the hearts of many men and women,

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

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 advice cannot be given. Address The Times Washington Service Bureau, 1013 Thirteenth St., Washington, D. C.)

Q—Have any of the furniture factories been cone verted to war production? : A—Makers of furniture are producing wooden aire planes and gliders, used for training purposes, and a variety of other war items, including bulkheads for ships, wooden lockers and shelving, Metal furniture factories produce ammunition boxes, tail and wing assemblies for airplanes, rear fin struts and seating y equipment for planes, tanks and ships. They also’ continue to make metal furniture needed for the armed services. :

Q—Can cats see better at night than in daylight? .

A—No animal can see better in the dark than in the light. Cats can see better than human beings in

sensitive to the ultra-violet rays of the spectrum and the pupils are capable of great expansion, thus ade mitting all the light available, But cats cannot see in absolute darkness. With the assistance of its whiske 5 foo a cab :

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With older boys and men dying and younger ones _.

partial darkness, as at dusk, because their eyes arg 4

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