Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 19 September 1942 — Page 10

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Ep RILEY 5551

Give Light and the People Will Find Their Own Way

Sotions + Howard Newspaper Alliance, NEA Service, and Audit. Bu- . reau of Circulations.

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 1942

A RUSSIA RISKS HER RESERVES [AREAL of Siberian troops on the Volga front has en- : ‘abled Russia to counterattack in force for the first time 4 the fateful siege of Stalingrad. Sh Whether this added strength will be sufficient: to turn Hk the tide nobody knows, but Moscow reports. limited initial 8 iccess in retaking villages on the strategic heights dominating the city. Moreover, it will revive the hopes of the . weary and outnumbered defenders who have held on so ~7long without reinforcement. “A third factor is the weather. If the rains continue, ‘the Nazis will be handicapped in operating their thin com“munications, their mechanized equipment and tanks, and their improvised airfields. : If, as a result of these new advantages, the defendefs ‘can hold out a few days longer, Timoshenko probably will ‘receive many more fresh Siberian troops. In fighting for time, every soldier and civilian in

Stalingrad today must be thinking of the relief of Moscow

last December. For the way in which Stalin held his reserves then until the very last minute, and saved the capital which friend and foe believed doomed, is already the favorite legend of Russians. This time, however, he _ is cutting it even closer—the enemy is actually inside the 5 city at some points. i 8 8's» ® x = | /[HERE is not much secret as to why Stalin has been loath to use his Siberian reserves. He hoped they could be used more effectively in a great Russian offensive— timed with the long-promised allied second front in the West. But Churchill has been unable to produce before 3 the Nazis reached the Volga. That made Stalin cut into . his precious reserves—as precious for the British and "Americans as for Stalin, when they do open a second front. The other reason for keeping those reserves in Siberia, at least for a few weeks, was the danger of Japanese attack. It is generally believed that Japan will invade Siberia if and when Hitler consolidates his position on the Volga. ‘At any rate, Japan is said to have 750,000 of her best troops crouched on the Manchurian-Siberian frontier. 3 So Stalingrad has been reinforced at great risk—both i: to the future second front in western Europe and to Siberia : "DOW. But that is war. Our Russian allies have proved _ again ‘that they have not only the physical courage fo fight, ¥ “but the often. rarer courage to make hold Yecisions i

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PET PROJECTS

HE St. Lawrence seaway project has been near to Presi- ~ dent Roosevelt's heart for many years. "have been thought of its merits in peacetime, if the shipping and especially the power facilities contemplated in this project were available today they would be highly useful to a nation at war. However, Mr. Roosevelt has never been able t get the work started. We think it is admirably open-minded _ of him to say—in this period when it is so coniparatively easy to put through appropriations for anything that can be represented as a contribution to victory—that perhaps this is no time to start the St. Lawrence seaway. As he says, it is debatable whether this project would

r

contribute to victory. Its completion would require three’

years or more. Its building would use large amounts of materials and manpower at a time when the direct war effort is handicapped by shortages of both. To begin work on the seaway now might prolong the war, and unless the war continues into 1946 the seaway would not help to win n it.

EF says: that the question of whether or not to put this project 3 aside for the present is being studied. We need—all of us "to examine all our pet projects in that spirit. The test oof any project, public or private, in these times should be

‘whether it would do more to help or to hinder the Avinning

Cot the war.

| y ARKIOLS RELATIVES

HE relatives of Americans who + were in the Philippines:

have been besieging every possible source for informa“tion whether they still ‘are alive and, if so, where they are ‘ad what is their condition. To these questions there is no answer, because the Jap-

anese have not provided those lists of prisoners-of-war.

swhich humane peoples compile and transmit, through the Red Cross, as speedily and accurately as war conditions will permit. This deliberate restraint emphasizes one difference between Japanese and Occidentals, We wage war to accom- _ plish a purpose, good or bad, and regret the human suffering ~ that becomes inevitable, and try to limit that suffering as uch; as possible. The J apanese wage a war of extermination. To them human suffering is not worthy of considera- : Hon, less from it they obtain sadistic pleasure.

RRAN GEMENTS between the two governments will

~ make available a supply of Mexican workers to relieve farm labor. shortage Which has been worrying our cotton

The safeguards thrown around the arrangement would

» be ample. Mexicans will be brought in only when

WOFKeEs:« cannot be obtained. They will stay only C

50 Te

Whatever may

There hae been no final decision, but Mr. Roosevelt

Fair Enoug

By ‘Westbrook Pegler

NEW YORK, Sept. 19. — The - present deduction allowed under the internal revenue act for the support of the taxpayer's dependents is $400 per head and it is now proposed to reduce the allowance to $300 and even to as little as $150. All these figures, including the existing rate, are hypocritical and inconsistent with the economic facts of life, and with the professed living standards of the New Deal, and it would be far better to have done with the fake and either abolish the allowance altogether or reduce it to a token figure of $1 just to keep alive, for some future. and honester time, the principle that the support of one individual by another in certain relationships is a human ay, and a public benefit. Nobody ever belived that $400 a year was a reasonable allowance for the support of dependent relatives. The figure is below the standard which. the New Dealers themselves, in their anguish over one-third of the nation, regarded as wretched poverty. Now, with the cost of living risen and likely to rise still more, it is the more dishonest, and a reduction to $300 or $150 would be even more insulting to the People’s intelligence.

"Master Shyster of the Country"

THERE IS NO relationship between the people and the government which has created as much nasty feeling as the operation of the income tax. President Roosevelt once made a memorable speech about deadhead passengers on the ship of state who evaded taxes by clever little schemes having the color of legality. This opened up the subject and it was revealed that the treasury, itself, was the master shyster of the country, skilled in a baffling repertoire of snide tricks and interpretations, and operating under a fixed policy never to give the taxpayer an even break, unless he happened, to be a regional king-maker of the ruling party, such as Ed Kelly of Chicago or Frank Hague of Jersey City. The arbitrary figure of $400 deductible for each dependent is reasonable only in the case of families living modestly, if not in poverty, under one roof.

‘It is not sufficient for the support of an aged parent,

for example, living in his or her own quarters, such as an apartment or dwelling house, and it makes people mad to be told that this sum is considered sufficient for a decent standard for their parents but represents squalor in the case of the relief client, as, of course, it does.

"A Dirty Discrimination" IN THE CASE OF a dependent child the allowance stops at the age of 18 which, in normal times, and again citing the New Deal's own ideas on education and youth, is just the time when the youngster’s costs

go up. In this there has been a dirty discrimination against the person of sufficient talent, diligence and/or

luck to earn a tax-bearing income.

At 18, his kids are deemed to be grown and full educated and able to shift for themselves. But the children of citizens in the sub-taxable brackets are held to be more or less helpless and in need of public assistance for their education to the age of 25. Again, the revenue act has been arbitrarily dishonest, cynical and brutal in disallowing any deduc-

tioh for the support of a grown but wholly dependent |-

relative beyond the age of 18 but short of old age, unless that individual is helpless from illness or other physical affliction. For example, an adult over 18 of sound health who.is .a charge on the income and conscience of a taxpayer because of unemployment is not recognized as a dependent.

Middle Class Gets Worst of It *

COUNTLESS INDIVIDUALS in this situation received full support or assistance from relatives during the long depression but no allowance was made, pre-

-sumably on the theory that their more fortunate kin

should have sent them to the breadline to live at government: expense. It has been a queer idea of our congress, and of the New Deal, that the income taxpayers, a minority but embracing that entire element known as the middle class and the most reliable producers of public revenue, deserve nothing better than the worst of it all the time and needn't be dealt with on terms of ‘common honesty. If we are so hard up that the allowance must be cut to $300 or $150 we ought to abolish the fake entirely. It would be futile to propose that, instead, we turn square, establish a rate consistent with the truth, and extend the allowance field of dependency to include all real dependents.

11 Bitter Years By William Philip Simms

"WASHINGTON, Sept. 19.—Today is the 11th anniversary of the real beginning of the second world war. It was on Sept. 18-19, 1931, that Japan’s military clique started the ball rolling by dynamiting the track of the Jap-owned South Manchuria railway, near Mukden. The explosion did scarcely $75 worth of damage but, by blaming it on the Chinese, the Jap militarists had as good an excuse as any for action. But here was the significant thing: The Jap army did not immediately go barging ahead all over the map. After occupying Mukden and some strategic points along the railway line, Tokyo announced that Japan’s intentions were strictly limited. In other words, Japan was plainly afraid she might get into trouble with the great powers. She stopped to wait and see what would happen. Nothing did. So the Japs advanced another step and stopped again to wait and see.

.

The Hemming and Hawing \

PRESIDENT HOOVER and Secretary Stimson were increasingly anxious. They agreed that the time had come to invoke the nine-power treaty, and: our fleet,

whicn had been holding maneuvers off the west coast, was ordered to remain at Hawaii. - Stimson got Sir John Simon, the British foreign minister, on the trans-Atlantic phone and asked him to join in calling Nippon to terms under the nines power treaty. Stimson suggested that if the Japs were allowed to get away with it, the consequences might be unimaginable. :* We would have to face a new era of aggression if not a second world war. Sir John hesitated.” Stimson rang him up again the next day. Still Sir John hemmed and hawed. In the days that followed, Stimson phoned him a

-| third and fourth time, but the British remained so

noncommittal that the idea finally had to be dropped. If Britain—most interested of the great powers —refused to go along, it was .useless to sound out the others. ~The Jap war clique, of course, had been following this play-by-play with the utmost attention. Now they saw an unmistakably green light,

Yes, today is an anniversary the democracies would

ry well to: ‘remember.

x

_ Seventy per cent of all new employees coming In women. They come from all walks of life—H. E. | Gus, Dougias airerat suc manager

SZ aauRT

The Hoosier Forum

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

“WHY NOT GIVE OLD WATER TANK TO SCRAP DRIVE?” 1428 W. Ohio st. . Since this government is so great-

By James E. Watson,

ly in need of scrap iron and has|

asked everybody to scrape up all

‘|they can, why doesn’t the P. & E.

railroad give the government that old and rusted water tank .that stands at the old deserted roundkouse at the 1300 block W, Washington st.? This tower is of no value to the railroad as they have moved. I

would be very glad to see the war|

get this tank for the war effort. ” # ” “MEN WHO RUN STREETCARS EXPECT DECENT TREATMENT” By Mrs. M. P., Indianapolis

I, for one, think it is high time something was said in defense of the Indianapolis Railways, its operators and its maintenance men. It seems there are quite a few people in Indianpolis who can do nothing but criticize our transportation system even though it concerns incidents which involve someone else. Most of the complaints that come pouring in through the papers concern instances where some protecting soul sees a streetcar operator abuse some cripple or old person who has a tongue of his own to tell about it if he feels it is that important. I wish some of these same people who keep repeating “The Indianapolis transportation system is terrible and something should be done about it” had to ride the streetcars in Chicago or the subway in New York for a while. Those streetcars wait for no one. You either get there and get on or you don’t go. Haven't the people in Indianapolis ever heard of a schedule? These operators have one and they have to make it. Théir jobs depend on it. There are any number of people who never make any move to ring the bell until the car pulls up

(Times readers are invited to express their views in these columns, religious conexcluded. Make your letters short, so all can

troversies

have a chance. Letters must

be signed.)

to the corner where they want off and then they get mad because the operator won't wait until they push through a crowded car to the door. Would you do it if you were in his place at a time when every minute counts? . .. The operators take insults and hateful remarks in a far greater number than they dish them out. A lot of people feel that after they have paid their fare it gives them the go-ahead signal to take out on the driver everything they have it in for about the whole system. . All the way from “Why don't they put more cars on this line?” to “I don’t see why you can’t stop at this corner” even though it isn't a scheduled stop. People even get on and quote rules to the men who have driven trolleys .and streetcars for 15 years. How do‘they know the rules? They don’t carry. a rule book or even have access to one. =’ : If a trolley has an accident, no matter how trivial, it must be reported, but regardless of how crowded a car may be, if the operator turns around and tries to get someone to sign an accident witness card for him it seems funny that almost everyone seemed to be looking ‘the other way and didn’t see what happened. That is only an example of the kind of co-operation the operators get from passengers and yet passengers expect these men to go on day after day and treat them as if they deserved special kind of courtesy.

Not many people realize that

Side Glances=By Galbraith

‘|streetcar = operators have nothing

| there are conditions’ to prevent ceér-

in our own case—there are so many .| before we lash out so. bitterly to-

| bling about us, who are we to sit at

place without’ a few folks trom

Yoice of the Lard thy God~—Deu-

whatsoever to do with how many cars ‘are run on each line. ‘They only try to run their own cars and with transportation as heavy as it is that is job enough. Few of the men ever talk back, mainly because they are not allowéd to, not because they wouldn't like. to. They are capable and efficient and if they aren't courteous any more the people have only themselves to blame. The men who run the city streetcars and busses give up all their holidays, all their Saturdays and Sundays and work late at night the year round, not just through the emergency. They are public: servants and they realize it. ,They expect no pay except their. salary other than to be treated as human beings. Not continually insulted and criticized, please.

. on.» “WHO ARE WE TO GRUMBLE ABOUT HOME STATES?”

There ° creeping into the Forum that is so out of place I can no longer re-

sist a protest. This eternal quarreling and petty jealousies — this quibbling about Indiana being a dumping ground for Kentucky and Tennessee, this lambasting . the paper itself because of a few misspelled words is so small and of no consequence at all in such times as we now live. There are so many things going on that are of major importance why can’t these chronic knockers and bellyachers find something worth while to do? Being a native born Hoosier, I know our type—generally speaking, we're a conceited lot, we're all right because by gosh we think we are. We're just a little resentful of outsiders that are smart endugh to come in our own home town and land a better job than we ourselves could obtain. We're a darn nice lot, ‘of soreheads, satisfied with nothing. We’ know that our country grew up somehow without the aid of real estate agents, price ceilings and without million dollar land developments. Many of our grandparents’ homes weren't even floored the first year or uo. I try to judge a man by his conduct and general intelligence, his attitude toward his fellowmen, and not by the worldly goods he Hhas| laid by. No one lives in filth, dis-| order or poverty from choicé--often

tain people from.’having Bll ‘they can apparently afford, the support of others, illness, buying more than their share of war bonds as fs true

things for us to try to understand about the lives and ways of others

ward them in print for the ‘whole town to laugh out... With our democratic world ¢rumhome and grumble: about race,

creed, or color or home states? , Heaven would be an awfully dull

DAILY. THOUGHT

come on. thee, and overtake thee, | if thou shalt hearken unto the

teronomy 28:2.

By Margaret Stearns Reese, Indianapolis is -.a certain something |}

And all these blessings shall |

~

Bs Hy Ries MOSCOW, ita only

t a ‘Mos= 4

cow you shiver ‘when you crawl out of bed mornings; you often blow on ‘your fingers trying to warm them up while typing, and | already you wear an overcoat most of the time—if you're such b a fortunate mortal as to j 58 one.. What do you think life will’ be like for 3,000,000 Muscovites by January? Of course, that’s hardly a fair question. For how can anyone who hasn't experienced a Russian or Arctic winter begin to imagine what Russia's second winter under wartime conditions will be like. I've had one wartime winter in the Scandinavian coun«

'| tries, but food was relatively plentiful there then, and

most of the houses were heated. That was the coldest winter in more than 60 years in Finland, but I'd rather have five such ina row than endure the next six months in Russia: . From November until late April, 85. or 90 per cent | of the people in Moscow Wwili have to live im badly heated houses. Vast. numbers of them will have to sleep in their clothes for weeks on end.

This Is Life in Moscow—

LIVING IN MOSCOW, I'm reminded again and again how little hardship I've experienced, even in three years as a war correspondent. What do you and I know about indoor temperatures of 20 below zero? Have we ever slept, six, eight or 10 together, on the floor of one tiny room, because only the heat ot close= packed human bodies could keep everyone from fregzs ing? Supposing you and I had to do this for thgee or four months without one night of relief? ‘Suppdsing you are lucky enough to have monthly ration of

22/5 pounds of meat, lard or eggs, and 13/5 pounds 4

of fish per month and 3/5 of a pound of ;sugar plus one pound of bread a day. That's what the Moscow office worker, at best, will have to live on, usually in unheated rooms at 30 or more below zero this winter. : Old people, housewives and children, of course, will have much less than this amount df food monthly.” Most civilians must survive as best they can and the remarkable Russian physique will be te only safeguard of many millions of people. :

"My Feet Are Cold as 1 Write"

OF COURSE most Amerigans can buy winter clothes and fine blankets—and also unlimited medical supplies to ward off influenza and pneumonia. Here, a pair of new shoes is an absolute luxury. Most peo ple’s shoes are worn very thin and cannot be resoled, Millions of felt boots have -gone to the army—there are very few left for civilians, With heavy ‘woolen socks, my feet are cold as I write in my room. Millions of people in Russia do not possess one pag of woolen socks like mine. Here in Moscow there has been practically no sume mer this year. Only six or seven really warm days— fearful cheating by nature, after last winter's toll of cold and misery. Now winter's fingers are already closing down again. By mid-October, snow must be expected, and by Nov. 1, Sreeaity weather will have set in ruthlessly: What will you and T ever know about Niman fortitude? What do we know about ‘patriotism and sacrifice? The Russians look this coming winter in the face, They know. They've known for a long time now. And soon it will be back once more. .. . But you? Oh, yes. Another helping of ham and eggs, plea, And T'lI take cream in my coffee.

Pely Edson is on vacation. 2,

A Woman’ S Viewpoint By Mrs. Walter Ferguson = °

THE PERSON WHO proposed that our fighters for democracy should go ‘untrained into’ battle ‘would instantly be classed as an ignoramus or a nut. . Qur good sense tells us that boys sent inte the field armed with nothing but guns would get whipped. . Guns are essential, but knowledge of how to use them is equally ime portant to self protection or vice

tory. : BV Training also is necessary for our industrial fight« ers. Newcomers are offered special lessons ih the practices of whatever trade they enter; Uncle Sam is teacher as well as boss. No department store em-« ploys raw recruits without giving them a few weeks of instruction in salesmanship #nd business conduct, How, then, do you account for inertia about traine ing for our other solders—the voters who also are eXe pected to defend democracy where it usually is. most easily lost, on the home front.

"Our Weapon Is the Ballot"

(

NOBODY. SEEMS TO think a man who runs for ¢

office needs any education in statesmanship, and we take it for granted that adults at 21 will be endowed by Heaven with some special wisdom which will make them alert citizens. Yet every great republic in the past, when fallen upon evil days, has been destroyed because of the ignorance which prompts people to abandon. the rights of citizenship through neglect or the smug self confidence that makes them think it is ime possible to lose them. : These are dark and dreadful days for us—in ‘one sense. only. 'In another, they are aglow with’ the light of a new dawn. For people are increasingly ‘aware of the danger of inertia on every front. The voters of the United States are soldiers, too, [and must be as ready to defend democracy as the | boys who fight for It with guns. Our only weapon is the’ pallot. It's not an effective weapon unless we take the trouble to learn to use it as intelligently as we can. Citizenship training should always be cone sidered a pagrioe duty; 1 is. now a Patriglie: n Editor's Netei The views expressed fy. “aot : newspaper ‘sre their “own. ' They ‘are moj ‘necessarily 4 of ig Indianapolis Thao ¢ 3

Quesiions and Answe rs

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cic 1 i Arnis clove Go year: While rig i Cue] aslo La prs ru me to the United § S I .

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