Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 8 December 1942 — Page 14

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The Indianapolis Times | ROY W. HOWARD President

RALPH BURKHOLDER Editor, in U. 8, Service MARK FERREE WALTER LECKRONE - . Business Manager Editor

(A SCRIPPS-HOWARD NEWSPAPER)

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Give Light and the People Will Find Their Own Way

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TUESDAY, DECEMBER 8, 1942

WHY COAL IS GOING UP : PRICE ceilings on bituminous coal will be raised if the miners’ work week is lengthened. So says Leon Henderson, adding that studies are in progress to determine how much the price of soft coal must be increased. ; ‘What has the miners’ work week to do with the ceilings on coal? Just this: : The law is that workers shall get time-and-a-half pay for each hour worked above 40 a week. The coal miners’

union, however, has contracts requiring time-and-a-half pay after 35 hours a week. These contracts date from times when the available force of miners could produce all

~ the coal the country needed, and more, in five days a week,

seven hours a day. They were designed to spread work among the largest possible number of miners, and were appropriate to those times. But now there are fewer miners, and the -war has credted a much greater need for coal. So it is proposed that miners work up to six days a week, seven hours a day. They're willing to do it. Their union is willing to let them do it, if time-and-a-half starts after 35 hours. But the’ mine owners contend, and the union agrees, that they can’t

afford to pay premium rates for overtime with price ceil-

ings where they are. Therefore, up with the ceilings. Th: 40-hour-week laws, the 35-hour-week union contracts, « » not forbid longer work weeks. But they either prevent onger work weeks, as has been the case so far in soft co: mining; or they increase production costs which everybd y pays indirectly in higher taxes or directly in higher |’ fices.

5 1

Ee DISC} ARGE FOR WPA oily RES BENT ROOSEVELT'S order for “prompt liquidation | of the works project administration is welcome. It

is obvic 1s that “a national work-relief program is no longer necess: [y.” It has been obvious for many months.

Ec 1ally notable is Mr. Roosevelt's statement that WPA

asked / or its own honorable discharge. Here is an example ‘ of self :acrifice unusual, if not unique, among government

agencics, Fs : Util recently WPA, and the other agencies were created to deal with problems of depression and unemployment, maint: ined a very different attitude. With the conditions that Irad originally justified their existence rapidly being revers«d, they scrambled to take on protective war-function color. Ca They argued that the war effort would be crippled unless they continued to live and to receive appropriations. And tiley got such effective support from the White House that congress had great difficulty in abolishing even one of then, the civilian conservation corps. # » » » ” 2 PER HAPS it will never be possible to strike an entirely fair balance sheet on the performance of WPA. Mr. Roose elt emphasizes the brighter side when he says that it has “added to the national wealth, repaired the wastage of depression, and strengthened the country to bear the burde:is of war.” In its seven years it has employed about 8,000,100 persons, and we think there has always been gener] agreement with the president’s contention that it was hotter for these persons to do “useful work” than to be idi¢ on a dole. : Yet WPA’s record was marred by a great deal of bad planr ing, work that was not useful, wagte, silliness and— in 19°.8—by political abuses which Harry L. Hopkins, then its a: ministrator, made the mistake of attempting tb deny. If ev:r there is a return of the conditions that brought it into | eing, we hope there can be a better method of dealingwith them. ut WPA has atoned for many faults by now admitting that it has become non-essential and inviting its own demise fe it too much to hope that that other survivor of the « epression, the national youth administration, will now folloy suit? Or that Mr. Roosevelt will give the NYA a no le-too-gentle hint to demobilize, thereby beating congres'' to an achievement which the country will hail with

HO’EFUL STEP I E A. F. of L.-C. 1. O. peace conference at Washington as not reunited the two big labor organizations. But it h:3 agreed to establish a joint committee to hear and sett! | jurisdictional differences, or to submit them to decision 3y arbitrators whom President Roosevelt will be asked to nme. : That plan, if it works successfully, will be a long and hope ul step forward. Nothing has done more harm to orge lized labor's cause than the failure to settle internal expense of the ublic. : : ‘Now, how about the A. F. of L. devising some method for -ettling disputes between its own member unions? Juris lictional battles inside the A. F. of L. have been among the 1 lost costly. {

LIN OLN ON WEALTH “ry; OSPERITY is the fruit of labor; property is desir- : ble; is a positive good in the world. That some should be ri th shows that others may become rich, and hence is ‘just 'meouragement to industry and enterprise . . . Let, not him ho i$ homeless pull down the house of another, but let him abo diligently to build one for himself . . . I take it "that t is best for all to leave each man free to acquire property as fast as he can., Some will get wealthy. I believe in a law to prevent a man from getting rich;

Se

Fair Enough By Westbrook Pegler

NEW YORK, Dec. 8—Years and years ago, when a smooth and amazingly pushful county politician named J A. Farley, was lining up things for his man, Governor Roosevelt of New York,

came on to Brooklyn to attend a rather pretentious prizefight at the ball yard, expecting, one and all, to sit in the first row, as befitted their station, among. the leading bootleggers and men and women about the metropolis. Their leader, the late Tony Cermak, got seats for -himself, and one, in this superior company but the rest of his party, or mob, were offended to find themselves pewed among the lower classes back near the players’ dugout and when Mr. Cermak heard of this hisloyalty was touched and he rose up, himself and one, and declared that he would not sit above his friends and so moved back among them. To Mr. Farley and the American people as it turned out, this was a portentious miscarriage of protocol, for Mr. Cermak controlled a number of votes

man to be wooed and placated at any cost.

Even Sacrifice Almost in Vain

AS THE PRELIMINARIES moved along, Mr. Farley could be seen bustling among the gangsters, grafters and socially prominent brokers and other poseurs up front pleading earnestly with them to be good fellows and give up their seats for his sake, a favor which he would never forget, and, by ringtime for the main event, he had negotiated places for about half of Mr. Cermak’s delegation. Mr. Cermak was & man of stout mind, however, and he refused to come back to the ringside without all, including the least of his friends and Mr. Farley in despair finally. did his best by vacating his own front segt and moving back with Mr. Cermak. Incidentally, Mr. Cermak’s feeling were not entirely cured by this sacrifice for, as. may be remempered, he held out against Mr. Farley's man in that convention until the last minute and only just caught the tailboard of the bandwagon to clamber aboard before it went around the ring for the last time, already almost full.

Who Authorized All This?

is, is that there seems to be a determination among the rulers for whom Mr. Farley sacrificed his own social standard that night to the end that they might

people of other lands in the rearward rows envy and resent us, The Americans, it appears, are to move back among them, vacating the front seats altogether whereupon the flagpole and dugout areas will become ringside sections according to the formula of the man who couldn’t heft his drunken friend out of the gutter and, to show his earnest humanity, lay down beside him. Who authorized all this on behalf of the American people nobody has said specifically and there is nothing at all on the subject in any of the platforms on which the party stood for election nor in any of the speeches by which the votes were won.

The Big Air War

By Richard Mowrer

CAIRO, Dec. 8.—With winter wéather settling over Russia, thus reducing air activity on the eastern front, the biggest air war the Mediterranean has ever seen is in prospect. By their occupation of French North Africa, the United States and Great Britain have transformed the Mediterranean into a major front. The big axis efforts to hold its central Mediterranean bridgehead in Tunisia and reinforce its ground and air forces in that area indicate the enemy’s acknowledgment of this fact and determination not to let the new front get bigger than it is already. Flying conditions in North Africa are better the year round than on probably any other front,

One Cheerful Point at Least

THEN THE axis and presumably the allies are rushing more planes to this theater. Axis bombers have been bombing Bengasi and the allied airdromes in Cyrenaica. On the other hand, the allies, strong in long-distance bombers, have been striking at the enemy’s vital ports in Africa and Italy. The Germans, on the other hand, have a new Messerschmitt fighter in action in this theater: The

' ME-109-G.

The main characteristic of this latest model is that it has an engine which can function satisfactorily on lower grade gasoline than usual. All this engine wants is §8-octane gasoline. This is a technical success far the Germans. But the necessity which compelled the designing of this engine, together with the fact that the axis still has not taken Caucasus oil may be something for the allies to feel cheerful about.

Our Inner Fight By Victor W. Free

Maj. Alexander P. de Seversky, In “Victory Through Air Power,” and William B. Ziff, in “The Coming Battle of Germany,” both proposed a feasible strategy for the winning of the war with American air power. Now comes William Bradford Huie, a reporter, to present the lessons learned from the battle of Pearl Harbor, Midway, the Coral Sea, the defense of the Philippines and the battle for the Aleutians. “The” Fight for Air Power,” released opportunely with the first anniversary of Fearl Harbor, becomes the mouthpiece for the air generals who want to concentrate our effort in the air, unify our air strength” and fight the war according to a grand strategy based on air power. Huie seeks to focus attention upon “the ancient Gamelins ‘who are responsible for our being caught short at crisis, who have not yet been unhorsed, and wie are still obstructing the efforts of our men-with-vision.”

"The Hour Grows Late!"

HUIE CHARGES that the champions of air power have had and continue to have a titanic struggle against obstryctionists who are ignorant of air power and how to use it, who stubbornly believe in spite of the lessons from the battle fronts, that air power is an auxiliary, not.the prime weapon. In no case does Huie question the sincerity or loyalty of any person or group. His criticism and the criticism of the airmen for whom he speaks is leveled only at military judgment. . Huie outlines the air generals’ strategy for victory and warns: > “The hour grows late , . . air officers still occupy secopflary positions in our military system . . . to fi a war in which the airplane has been proved to be the primary. offensive weapon, we are depending

been trained in the employment of the primary

offensive weapon.”

Won't Someone Teach-Him the Facts of Life?

a party ‘of Chicago Democrats |

to be cast in the impending convention and was al

THE POINT of this parable, if that is what this

be elected, to do the same in the name and at the I wholly disagree with what you say, but will

the United States lest the | : ; : expense of fhe people of Ene WH ‘defend to the death your right to say it.—Voltaire.

for high strategy upon men not one of whom nas 42 BY NE.

=7 ge STUPID! THIS

|S THE WAY TO GET 0

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The Hoosier Forum

“PEOPLE IN WAR WORK ARE SOLDIERS ON HOME FRONT” My Myra Carey Morgan, 6668 Cornell ave. There are several kinds of soldiers in this war. First, the ones in training, the ones at the front| overseas and the defense workers who help speed up production in making things for our fighting men to fight with that we may keep the

peace and freedom of America. It burns me up to read letters from people squawking about letting war workers have extra gas— an A and B card to get plenty of gas. Well, why not? These people in war work are soldiers on the home front. It is a poor time to air the worst side and reveal .the selfishness of your character by griping. We all want the war won.! Mothers. fathers, war workers and| everyone if they wish to help, I am in favor of extra gas for all defense workers. I often wonder if these people who holler the loudest have a son in the service or overseas. Of course they are not working in war work or they wouldn't air their resentment about! gas. Could it be a case of sour, grapes?

” # ” “WE DON'T NEED YOU, NOR DO WE WANT YOUR KIND”, By Mrs. D. A. Waggoner, Indianapolis

I have just finished reading two articles written by two supposed-to-be Americans, about the special privileges given to defense workers. I am a defense worker, trying in my own small way to do what I can to help win this war. I admit it isn’t as much as I would like to be doing, but in times like these, every little bit helps. . .. I pity you poor things who have nothing to do but sit home all day and listen to the radio. My, you surely are abused when you only receive four gallons of gas a week. May I suggest that you get out and get you a worthwhile job instead of sitting around the house and feeling sorry for yourself about getting stung in your gas allotment. And I sure do feel sorry for the poor little housewife who can get up in the morning any time she darn pleases, play bridge every after-

noon, go to teas and fiddle-faddle around the house and has only Mon-

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

troveries excluded.

have a chance. Letters must

be signed)

day night to shop in. My, it must be a terrible strain on her nerves. 1 wonder how she would like to get up at 4:30 every morning, work nine or 10 hours every day, six and seven days a week and still try to keep a house going? Listen, Mr, it’s no fun. As to you going in defense work, brother, we don’t need you, nor want your kind. So you can do us all a favor. and stay away. I would also like to say to the Lukas-Harold employees, “Keep up the good work and don’t let mugs like these get you down.”

” # » “DO YOU THINK THIS IS A WAY TO SAVE RUBBER?” By Mrs. A. B. C. Curtis, 2813 McPherson st.

My husband drives 26 miles a day out to the new Allison plant and lives right here in the city. He got an A card. Other people drive all the way from Spencer, Ind. and get a C and A card both, and then they tell us it is to save rubber. My husband had four riders, but thsy all quit out there long before this started. He could get more, but they want him to drive 15 or 20 miles out of the way to pick them up. Do you think that will have rubber? 2 2 = “IT WAS LIQUOR, WE ARE TOLD THAT BEAT FRANCE” By H. E. Eberhardt, 245 N. Delaware st.

A member of the state tin conservation committee explained to a group in one of our high schools that only the half gallon and larger cans from hotels, restaurants, etc, are used for beer bottle caps, while the small cans saved in homes are used for reclaiming tin. In other words, we householders must save our small cans so that the brewers can have the large ones for bottle caps! So what! Well, that conforms to the brew-

Side Glances—By

Galbraith

13 I JER VILY

s whe

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impossible since the 1 north African, invasion—he kept

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he's

| within the police department, which

ers’ war effort as set forth in the May, 1941, issue of the Brewers’ Digest Magazine: “Here' is a chance for‘ brewers to cultivate a taste for beer in millions of young men’ who will eventually constitute the largest beer-consuming section of our population.” . And it was liquor, we are told, that defeated France.

; s nn 8 “THE POLICE DEPARTMENT SHOULD REWARD MERIT”

By J. Williams, Indianapolis Answering the first little businessman’s inquiry—“What’s wrong with getting a chief from outside,” the answer is obvious and that answer is that the police department from the top to the bottom should be so organized and so conducted on a merit basis as to afford recognition for merit. A police officer who has honorably devoted his life to police work, and possibly risked his life many times in the line of duty, has the right to anticipate that such an appointment may ultimately be his reward. If the Indianapolis police department is not so organized and so conducted, and this was inferred to have been the opinion of the Republican mayor-elect . . . he is now afforded the opportunity to correct

that condition. . . « Voters were led to believe from Republican mayoralty candidates’ statements m a d e repeatedly throughout the campaign that something was wrong with the police department and his pledge was a “cleanup.” This means but one thing—a new board of safety, as well as a new police chief, since, if during. the campaign the newlyelected mayor's statements were correct . . . then a completely new board of safety is necessary, since the old board was either responsible for the conditions of which he complained or were incapable of correcting such conditions. During the absence of the mayorelect from the city recently rumors were given the credence of public print that one of the present board

the minority member of the new board, Believe it or not, that board member is the grandfather of the alleged opposition political machine the mayor-elect asked the voters to sweep from power by his selection, That same board member was the sponsor of the present chief who the mayor has pledged he will not reappoint, and he is also one of the founders of the famed “police school,” and the “intelligence test”

was so effectively used to remove the old-time police officers ‘rom the department. Now the board that removed those veterans from the department, in many instances humiliated them beyond justifiable measure, has asked them to return because the war has created a condition, as the old board says, making it the patriotic duty for those offi-

which they were relieved. It is the obvious duty of the mayor-elect not only to appoint a new chief who he believes will conduct the department with the high standard that he promised, - but likewise a wholly new board of safety pledged fo the duty of making all future police appointments and promotions on merit—a board of safety composed of members who will see that courtesy and respect

DAILY THOUGHT

Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion: for, lo, I come, and I will dwell in the midst of thee, saith the Lord.—Zechariah 2:10.,

members was to be reappointed as :

cers to return to the duties of

Xy

In Washington

By Peter Edson

HSU

WASHINGTON, Dec. 8. — The

point hasn't been emphasized, but

. defeat of the Pepper poll tax bill - was a terrible licking for organized labor, particularly the C. IL O. which for months had keen needling Senator Claude Pepper of Tallahassee, Fla., to get going on this measure. * The labor lob- ‘ byists feel that if Pepper had pushed his bill earlier, it could have cleared congress before the . election. What organized labor had to gain out of the poll tax repeal was the franchising of the Jower paid workers in the eight southern states retaining the poll tax. With more of these low-income people voting, organized labor could do more direct campaigning against the southern conservative, anti-labor congressmen,

The White House Staff, Too!

THE TELEPHONE rang in the modulated, genteel, yet definitely firm tone that a well-protocoled telephone should ring in a state department office. The official picked up the receiver and gave his narne, “This is the White House calling,” the official heard a feminine, secretarial voice saying. “How do you spell ‘Francisco Franco'?” . . . The trouble with re

porters is that they have no sense of reverence. As one group of Washington correspondents sat waiting for .a cabinet officer to make his appearance fori a press conference, a reporter was heard to remark wearily, “Well, come on! Bring him in and prop him up.”

Vive La Vichy Radio! FOR THE first week or so of the African campaign of occupation, a lot of officials in Washington were depending on radio Vichy in Occupied France for detailed news of what was going on. American rg dio communication from Africa was limited to pre= vent giveaways. But the Vichy radia kept going full blast all the time, and was amazingly accurate, as later checkups

revealed. But to show in what detail a campaign of this kind must be planned, it can be told now that among the specialized personnel which went in with ths forces of occupation were enough French-speaking ras dio announcers to take over the Moroccan and Als gerian broadcasting stations. . They were all prepared with a line of counters propaganda to win the natives over to the allied side,

Battle of Sexes By Fred W. Perkins

WASHINGTON, Dec. 8—This war has produced another “battle of the sexes.” The issue is whether women physicians should be given army and navy commissions on \ equa! terms with men. . To date, the women have been licked, .even though Mrs, Roosevelt is on their side. ritics of army-navy procedure say that| women physicians, if commise sioned, could release many medt- | sal officers from desk jobs for service with troops or | | eets. Secretary Stimson hes just given the army's an- | swer to this argument. . “A woman doctor,” he said, “by remaining at home can perform a valuable service by relieving a male | physician who has been called to service with the military forces. There are abundant opportunities at present, both in civil communities and industry, for the utilization of female physicians.” Back of his statement may be discerned the off- | the-record remarks of army medical officers’ that | most women physicians ‘‘are gynecologists or ob= | stetricians, and nobody has heard yet of a baby born | on a battlefield.” : .

They Want Complete Recogntion

THIS IS vigorously combated by one advocate of women doctors for active war service. The United States, she says, “is the only major united nations country which has not accorded this recognition to its women doctors. Canada, Britain, Russia and China all have women doctors in their armed forces. They have dispensed with such out dated foolishness as ‘There’s no place for them to sleep,’ ‘They can't take it,’. ‘Suppose they outranked a man?’, ete. ; “There are at least 50 women specialists in war- | time medicine the army medical corps needs. But | Surgeon Gen, James C. Magee, of the army, has refused all offers.” Women physicians have been commissioned with the army’s WAACs and the navy’s WAVES, but what, they are campaigning for is a complete recognition their usefulness on the fronts where men are fighting, If they don’t get it, says their spokesman, “the ime plications are not pleasant. It's the! opening wedge to putting women doctors back where they were a half century ago—sitting.on the steps trying to get an | education.” *

Editor's Note: The views expressed by columnists in this A newspaper are. their own, They are hot necessarily those of The Indianapolis Times.

We. the Women

By Ruth Millett

TO THE AVERAGE parent “juvenile delinquency” is a term used to describe the trouble other people’s children get into. . That is why it is so easy for parents to read that the whole country has been struck by a wave , of juvenile delinquency—and not . get really disturbed about it. In Jacksonville, Fla., the police A. have given notice that they mean | to enforce that city’s ‘Service men and civilian males have been that if their dates are under 16 they must get them home by 10 p. m. ! “ 2 “If you're not sure how old your date is,” the men have been told, ‘better make her produce her birth ‘ certificate.” : A town or city curfew, if it is actually enforced could help to cut down juvenile delinquency. It would help keep young girls off the streets at night when their parents won't bother to do it themselves. 2

Advantage of Curfew

AND IT WOULD help the parents who 6o try but who find it difficult to make their own n get

warned

The song of

—— 3