Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 18 November 1942 — Page 10
RALPH BURKHOLDER | Editor, in U. 8.. Service |
WALTER LECKRONE Editor
(a scRIPes-HOWARD NEWSPAPER)
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F SCRIP I = WOWARD op» RILEY 5551 ; Give Light and the People Will Find Their Own Way WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 1042
'DDRESSING the ninth National Conference on Labor Legislation here yesterday Secretary of Labor Frances Perkins set up a sturdy defense against the seven-day work week and the common cold. Exactly what she proposes to do about the latter by legislation did not become clear from her remarks, but her
f position on working hours in war time was left in no doubt. ~ She said:
“By the application and extension of the labor stand-
ards set up by law and regulation . . . far more can be added to our production than by suspending all the so-called re-
* strictions contained in labor laws.” Working seven days a week, Miss Perkins contended, is injurious to health, morale, efficiency and production, as no ~doubt it is. : »
s ” 8
OR the secretary’s information, it might here be pointed out that we do not have a seven day, 80-hour work week - =It is Russia where they have that. We do not have a 56-hour work week—it is England . where they have that. : . What we do have is a 43-hour work week in U. S. industry, and the last three hours of that is paid for at extra
ss =
rates as a penalty against the employer—in this case the
taxpayers of the United States. There is only one way to “extend” the labor standards Miss Perkins is talking about—by making the standard work-week still shorter than it is. This idea of increasing war production by doing less work has intriguing possibilities which the speaker did not fully develop. Should we step up production just a little by “extending” our 43-hour week down to 80 hours? Or ‘should we shoot at real mass production by cutting it down to 15 hours work a week? It would be a little discouraging to hear a cabinet of- _ ficer of a nation now in its twelfth-month of a bloody, desperate war for existence make a speech like this except for the one consoling fact that nobody pays much attention to her.
ONE GOOD TERM DESERVES ANOTHER
- - GOVERNOR Schricker has done a fine job of public service in reappointing John L. Niblack as judge of Mu- ~ nicipal Court for a four-year term. Judge John Niblack was praised in all quarters when . he was first appointed. He is one man who has lived up to the things which were said about him, He has many qualifications for the post, not the least _ important of which is the fact that he is, literally, incorruptible. Congratulations, Mr. Governor. And congratulations, Judge Niblack.
: ; { THE GREATEST HOARDER <7 i aly federal government is the chief offender in the waste and hoarding of manpower,” says Senator Byrd . of Virginia, supporting his charge with some preliminary figures. .- The government had 2, 606, 300 civilian eRioyess on ‘Aug. 31 (it has well over 2,700,000 now) ; at the end of the last war it had only 917, 760. Civilian personnel is still increasing at a rate of more than 3000 a day.
The war department alone has 1,200,000 civilian employees, not including soldiers who do clerical work. The navy department, with 500,000 civilian employees, has almost five times as many as in 1918. There were 30 government agencies on Armistice day, 1918; there are 81 now. The agriculture department has 81,645 employees—four times as many as in 1919—plus 100, 000 agricultural committeemen who get government pay. The interior department has 47,497 employees—three times the 1919 number. The commerce department has 24,479—more than twice the 1919 number. There are 100 civilian employees on the government payroll for every 175 men in the armed services. In 1918 the ratio was 100 civilian employees to 450 men in the armed
+ Senator Byrd believes the federal bureaucracy could ~ do better work if it got rid of one-third of its civilian em- : ployees. He asserts that “nothing in all history” compares to the waste and inefficiency in many bureaus today. And e announces that his economy committee is going after detailed evidence which will enable congress to do its duty and curb these abuses. s ~~ More power to him!
EAR ADMIRAL NORMAN SCOTT "D sooner be right in the middle of it than sitting at a desk in Washington,” said Rear Admiral Norman Scott not so many months ago to one of his oldest and glosest Indianapolis friends. Norman Scott got his wish. He got “right into the middle” of the Solomons fighting and Indianapolis late yesrday received the word that this distinguished native ‘had given his life in the battle. He was a man of force and character and charm. His hood here was marked by his athletic ability and he red on both the football and baseball teams at Short- . He was a quarterback at Annapolis. In the first he was on a destroyer which was sunk in the English nne and he led a lifeboat crew which rowed for 38 hours ore it hailed a British cruiser. Scott's Indianapolis relatives and to his.
Fair Enough | By Westbrook Pegler
NEW YORK, Nov. 18—Let us
waive for the moment the fact |
that the word democracy is mentioned nowhere in either the Declaration of Independence or the
Constitution and _ consider the |
aning of that phase of democracy ‘which Vice President Henry ‘Wallace advocated recently as de‘mocracy between the sexes. He
pointed out that Russia. makes |
great use of the physical, industrial power of women as workers and yearned for a similar condition here, not only in time of war, when
it is necessary to get things done by any hands that
are able to do them, but permanently. Mr. Wallace did not elaborate, but it seems plain that if, as a permanent condition, women are to be used equally with men in the tasks, light and hard, of a great industrial nation such as ours is, then some
substitute must be found for the home.. A woman can- |
not keep the home together, minding and teaching the children, if she and her husband both go swinging off to work together in the morning and she puts in a full day in the factory.
The Subject of Religion
ASSUMING THAT men and women are equal in numbers and equally ‘employed, there would be no American home. It weculd disappear from our scheme of life and a substitute would have to be found. The substitute in Russia has been state institutions, parking lots and checkrooms, in which the young ones are left by the day. Lacking reliable, detailed information we may assume that the Russian government does undertake to keep them out of mischief and probably with fair success and that they are put through courses of education. One of the subjects would be atheism and contempt for religion would be taught. In our country there would be great trouble over this subject of religious teaching in these public institutions. Having no established state religion; and the establishment of such being forbiddén, we would have no agreement on the religion to be taught if we were to permis such teach< ing at all. And there would be many who would insist that
no public institution of ours had any right to concern |
itself at all with religious instruction.
Making It a Word to Be Feared
IT IS NOT merely sentimental to insist that there is no state substitute for the influence of the mother on her children. The state institutions would be not necessarily harsh or cold and they might, indeed, be warmer, brighter and more interesting than the homes of many of their individual little clients, but they would be impersonal in their atmosphere. These would be institution children, ignorant of the influence of motherhood, knowing nothing about ome. Why is it necessary, anyway, that this nation, with its machinery and marvelous productive ability, produce twice as much of everything by doubling the manpower by using all or all but a few women for such work in the great world of the future? Aren't there men enough to-do it or aren’t there men enough, the whole lot of American men, to produce what it takes to run the industries and homes of the country, without closing the homes and calling on the women. And what are we going to do with the surplus, remembering, incidentally, that Mr. Wallace, himself, found that our trouble once was not too little but too much? Democracy has come to have unfamiliar and alarming meanings. Americans came to love the word as meaning personal freedom and justice in the other war, but some of the advocates of the newer and, by most of the people, unsuspected meanings, are making it a word to be feared.
Editor'S* Note: The views expressed by columnists in this newspaper are their own. They are not necessarily those of The Indianapolis Times.
No Controversy? By S. Burton Heath
™
WASHINGTON, Nov. 18.~The two major radio networks stirred up a hornets’ nest when they decided not to permit the consumer co-operative movement to buy time on the air in which to promote their philosophy and program, Originally the networks seemed _& bit uncertain of their reasoning, Columbia explained that it was barring the program to protect the co-operative movement against counter-attacks from powerful opponents who might buy time in which to blast the co-ops. NBC cited a long-standing rule against controversies other than political.
Now the two have got together and agree that the philosophy of consumer co-operation in purchasing is controversial and must not be placed upon the ether waves. In common with many others who have been bred in the democratic tradition, we are shocEed. And our reaction has nothing whatever to do with our attitude toward the co-operative movement.
Is It Time to Reassess the Place of Radio?
OF COURSE the movement is controversial. If it weren't, either there” would be no such movement at all or it would be universally accepted. In that, event there would be no reason for its sponsors to seek time on the air in which to explain and a7sue their theories and practices.
And what of that? Have we reached a stage in which purveyors of information and opinion, licensed by the government to utilize the air whichis common public property, can decide what controversies their listeners shall be privileged to hear, and from which they must be protected? We are fighting today to preserve democracy. If democracy means anything at all, it means the right of the people to hear arguments on every side of every question, to repeat and elaborate them, to decide their merits, and—right or wrong—to act on those decisions. Who are the nabobs of radio to say whether we shall be privileged to hear the co-operators tell their story and then, if opponents choose, to hear the contrary afguments?’ The co-operatives. did not seek something for nothing. They offered to pay for their program just like any advertiser. Their proposed program contained nothing: offensive to good taste, nothing injurious to public morals, nothing harmful to national safety. If radio cannot live up to the fundamental of democracy, then the time may have come to reassess the place of radio in our educational system, .
So They Say—
We shall never fofget the aid America gave Britain
lin its darkest hour—British Foreign Secretary
Anthony Eden. g ® -® ® ; We are resolved to do our best and, while our best does not compare with the might summoned by the United States and Britain, still it is our best. “And he who does his.best owes no one a debt. —Dr. Oswaldo Aranha, Brazilian foreign minister.
ss. ’
Today it is up to the metal industry to producethe |
| metal and fabricate it into armament that will win ty directed
The Hoosier Forum
I wholly disagree with what you say, but will defend to the death your right to say it.—Voltaire.
“CIVIC' THEATER CRITICISM WAS UNCALLED FOR”
By Mrs. William H. Coleman, 1006 ¥ . Meridian st.
Just a line to say I have just re-
turned from Civic Theater and saw the play which your critic gave such a very long article telling all the faults. The young people tried so hard to entertain the people kind enough to come and see them after such an article. I do hope you will hunt the paper up and see if it is fair. I was one of the first persons to take your paper and always liked it because you were: so just and played fair with all subjects. This criticism is uncalled for.
paid and all are trying to do their best. The manager is new . .. and this is his second play. Forgive me, but I do hate to have one find fault uncalled for. ” » » “LABOR HAS NO MORE RIGHT TO SHIRK THAN SOLDIERS” By Rowena Applegate, 223814 Pierson st. In answer to Charles Kern, president, State Building and Construc-
tion Trades Department; Carl Vestal, president, Marion County Building Trades Council; and Roy Creasey, secretary, Marion County Building Trades Council. Every day you can pick up your newspaper and read of heroic deeds and sacrifice of life on the part of our army, navy and marine forces. Are you not aware of the circumstances under which they work? Have you read the stories of Bataan and Corregidor? I know a mother whose 18-year-old boy gave his life Dec. 7, 1941, but she goes about her daily chores, dry eyed and uncomplaining, although she’s lost 70 pounds; and his invalid grandmother has shown such bravery that would put you to shame; on-second thought I think not, for you couldn't have any shame and put into print your letter that was in the Nov. 13th issue of The Times. My: father and brothers belong to the big army of labor but we are at war, and labor has no more right to shirk than our boys have to re-
First, none of these persons are
(Times readers are invited to express their these columns, religious con- . Make
your letters short, so all can.
views in
troveries excluded.
have a chance. Letters must
be signed)-
fuse to fight on certain days or after hours of duty. I want to give a direct quote from the letter received’ by the above mentioned mother from the captain of the ship on ‘which ‘her son lost his life: “As commanding officer of the U. S. S. Utah on which ship your brave son gave his life for our country on Dec. 7, 1941, I wish to extend to you my personal and official deep sympathy. May it always be a comfort to you to know that he died a hero. Well knowing that his life was in great peril he remained at his post of duty until it was too late to save himself. Captain James M. Steele, : U. S. N” Any words of mine would be su-
perfluous. : #” ” ”
“LIQUOR BIGGEST DETRIMENT TO WINNING OF THE WAR”
By Sergt. Russell Allen, Ft. Benjamin Harrison
I am an enlisted man stationed at Ft. Harrison. Please let me express my opinion on the liquor question. The liquor industry is the greatest detriment to the winning of the war today. Better had the people engaged in it be idle than engaged in something to lower the morale and standards of the citizens of the United States. If the millions back of the liquor business the past two years had been back of the war effort the war would be nearing a close. A corporal from the fort here speaks of “it being a real hardship to have to sneak off to some boot-
Side Glances—By Galbraith
legger up an alley and pay - two]
prices.” Stop and think! You don’t have to do it: Leave the stuff alone as it affects you three ways, morally, physically and financially. “A drink or two won’t hurt you,” they say. But it does because it leads to worse. We read every day of the auto accidents, fights and brawls and many other things directly caused by drinking. In cloging, may I say to ‘the clubwomen and temperance leaders, keep up the good work you are doing. . You are on the Fgh path and it’s the only one.
#8 8 8 “IS THIS WHY WE FIGHT... . THIS SECOND WORLD WAR?” By A. H. Berman, 2841 N. Delaware st. Headline:. Darlan is appointed civil administrator for North Africa. The pattern of victory is unfoldng. nr As we retake each invaded coun‘try we reward the local Quisling with an appointment as civil ad-
ministrator but ignore the elements who have risked their very lives in
fighting the Nazis, underground or|!
in exile, Is this why we dre fighting in the second world war? So that we may prepare the ground for fighting the third, the fourth, and so on, every 20 years? » » ” “WHAT'S STORY TO ARMY
SPECIALIST CORPS THING?” By A Curious One, Indianapolis The real inside story of what happened to the army specialist
‘corps experiment has yet to be told.
Until it is, one. cannot be blamed for suspeeting that the basic trouble
‘was the army jealousy of any uni-
formed war agency not wholly under its control. We are sorry. .% = = : ‘BARLEYCORN SHICKLEGRUBER IGNORANT OF THE FACTS
By Paul Hollingsworth, Sunnyside Sanatorium,
After the war is won, the peace and security of the world of tomorrow will be in the hands of the children of today. Their environ-
: ment, education, and fortitude will
depend primarily upon the foresight and guidance of their parents. The child’s mind has not developed to the point where they can be trusted to make decisions for themselves. Their ignorance
of facts and inability to grasp them is responsible for this. They think not so much .of tomorrow but live in their own happy-go-lucky world
of today. Danger is more of aj:
word to them than a reality. I am sure that you have seen mother place matches, sharp knives, poison, etc, as far from the reach of a child as possible. If she didn’t do this, the child may through ignorance suffer dire consequences from the misuse of them. If these objects were not necessary or helpful to the upkeep of the house, the logical step would be to throw them
out.
The present liquor trafic is neither necessary nor helpful to the upkeep and welfare of this nation. It is sad that Barleycorn Shicklegruber is still ignorant to the facts! b: about the beautifully decorated }-
| |bottle. . . .
DAILY THOUGHT 4
Mashington
By Peter Edson
WASHINGTON, Nov. 18. — Joe Curran, two-fisted president of the National Maritime union, has just recently repeated his charges that ships carrying war . supplies from U. S. East coast - “ports to the battle fronts were be-
ing lost because they were badly i
loaded, and that brings up a few
bits of background on this situation which aren't too well known, but should be. oo Curran first made these charges last April. He printed them in his union’s newspaper, The Pilot, and he came down to Washingtin from New York and . spread them before the house committee on merchant marine and fisheries. At that time he listed eight ships which he ‘charged had been loaded badly, and
there is no evidence that there have been other cases.
of the kind since. Proof on the, eight cases is difficult to establish, All eight of the ships Curran listed did run into trouble after they left U. S.. ports. One was tor- © pedoed and -one has been given up for lost. Several ran intc storms. One had mechanical breakdown. One went aground. Two did have to come ‘back to” port and be reloaded.
You Begin to Catch On—
BUT WHEN IT comes to pinning down all these” :
disasters to the one cause of bad loading, not even the insurance companies can definitely fix the blame. Giving Curran the benefit of a doubt and admitting all his charges are true, you should take into,’ consideration that these are eight cases out of perhaps thousands. So you begin to look elsewhere for reasons and you_" run into some interesting factors, the most amazing of which is merely another chapter in the warfare
between the A, F. of L. and the C. I. O. pi gpells out :
about like this: Curran’s union is a union of seamen—the men who
affiliated with the C. I. O.
The men who load the ships which Curran’s sail-__ :
ors operate, however, belong to the International Longshoremen’s ‘union headed by Joseph P. ‘Ryan.
This union is affiliated with the A. F. of L., ‘and Just
about now you begin to catch on.
The Pot and the Kettle
THIS IS THE WAY the situation lines up at all Atlantic coast and Gulf ports where ships are loaded - By A. F. of L. Jongshoremen and sailed by C. 1. O, sailors. On the Pacific coast, the situation is just reversed, At Western ports, C. I. O. longshoremen in Harry Bridges’ International Longshoremen’s and Ware= ’ housemen’s union, load the ships, while A. F. of L.’ sailors in the Seafarers’ International Union of North America man the ship. It is to break up the A. F. of L. domination of the © Eastern ports’ waterfrent that the C. IL 0, National Maeritime union might be genuinely interested in spreading dirt about the way ships are loaded. From a strictly impartial point of view, there
probably isn’t anything which the Joe Curran Mari- =
time union men could say about the Joe Ryan Longshoremen’s association which wouldn’t be the truth. The Ryan union has been called a racket by ex= | perts and in many languages. The record is jong,
but in all this talk there is a good bit of the pot call- y
ing the kettle black and you can cast the characters , either way you want te.
The Alrihge
By Major Al Williams -
-
NEW YORK, 5. 18 —Ameri<
can airmen piloting American planes are threading thelr cotirses all over a world that has become dwarfed to “hour dimensions.” The Air Age is really here. It * seems only a few years ago—and it was—when bankers listened to airmen tell of the possibility of carrying others besides themselves, between the cities of this coun--try. “Interesting—but, oh, no, not for me,” was a banker's usual conclusion. Almost every day I meet young pilots who have returned here to ferry new planes to distant destinations. One would think the oceans were: ponds to Behr ‘ these lads. Increasing the Flight Range AIRPOWER IS breaking away from dependence... upon the slow, uncertain surface ships so vulnerable to submarines and air attacks. - It's common knowledge that great multi-motored ; planes can carry fuel enough to fly the oceans. The .. big technical job has been {o provide: the smaller. combat plane with sufficient flight range to reach any one-of the far-flung combat fronts on its own. It’s no longer a secret that small planes designedt , to carry small bombs can carry gas. tanks, streamlined and fitted to the plane in place of the ‘bombs. . "There's nothing new in this idea. We had under slung gas tanks in our old Curtiss “Havi’ fighters 20 years ago. Each increase in the flight range ‘of all pA planes prings us nearer to that startling day when. airpower will be able to take off from one continent kx _ in fleets composed of all the various.types of military ; planes together with cargo planes carrying fuel, lubricants, bombs, ammunition, food and all the other equipment that the fleet and its personnel will need to 80. into battle upon uTival.
We the Women
By Ruth Millett
MOST MEN look — when their wives start talking’ “about their husbands’ draft status,’
even though all the wife says 1s,
“Thank goodness, -they haven't! taken MY husband yet.” { Though when the talk gets” started most wives say more than® that. They take stands. They say, for instance, “I don’t think" the army ought to take married: men.” Or, they point out reasons. why their Husbands shouldn't be tak up’ old ailments SH] \sey uke 4 Foust man dock It an invalid. But: no matter what they say, they usually end by making their husbands look & little bit silly. fo 3%
It s None of Hor Busines oss
9
actually sail the ships and to whom all credit is due | for having done an heroic job. Curran’s union is™ -
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