Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 4 March 1943 — Page 16

Page PDF (13.29 MB)

Back to issue view

WALTER LECERONE ‘Editor

Pris in: Mason Coun ; ty, 4 cents a copy; deliv}. ered by cartier, 18 cents

a week.

Mail rates in Indiana,

$4 a year; adjoining states, 75 cents a month; others, $1 monthly.

AER i RILEY 5551.

hala il.

* Member of United Press, ‘Scripps » Howard Newspaper Alliance, NEA Service, and Audit Bu_Teau of Circulations.

Give Light and the People Will Find Their Own Way

THURSDAY, MARCH 4, 1943

COUNTY CONTRACTS )

UDGE W. D. BAIN has acted promptly and properly i in "ordering a new grand jury impaneled immediately to _yesume investigation of county contracts. He hés promised the most searching inquiry into the background and con-

‘nections of the individuals chosen to serve. It should be

possible to obtain six jurors of unimpeachable integrity. The first order of business for the new jury might very well be an investigation of ‘the awarding of the contracts that led to: the dismissal of the old jury. - ; There is an unfortunate suspicion abroad in this town that-this probing of county expenditures is fo be just a

§ “whitewash” of politicians. We hope that isn’t true. We

believe it isn’t true. But when county officials hand the foreman of a jury that is investigating them a profitable

& contract right in the midst of the investigation—well, what

does it look like to you?

If Prosecutor Sherwood Blue will begin the new investi- “ gation simply by presenting to the jurors the facts that have been admitted by all parties involved in this deal, and will leave appropriate action en it entirely to the disi cretion of the jurors, it will go a long way toward dispe.ling such suspicions, and toward restoring shaken public confidence in the investigation itself.

COL. DRYSDALE | ;

NEWS of the transfer of ‘Col. ‘Walter S. Drysdale from: command at Ft. Harrison has been received in Indianapolis with a measure of regret civilians rarely feel about the comings or goings of professional army men. In his two and one half years at this post Col. Drysdale has become a part of this community to a degree seldom attained by any military commandant anywhere, and certainly never equalled by his predecessors here. In addition to doing, and doing well, the difficult task of operating the military center at which many thousands of young Americans have had their first contact with the army in which they serve, he has found time, also, to participate in virtually every worth-while enterprise of the civilian community, to aid in war bond sales, to help to success the city’s U. S. 0. drives, and to assist in gearing the civilian effort to war. : All this was of real value to Indianapolis. It was of even more value to the army. The aloofness with which Indianapolis and Ft. Harrison once regarded each other, and the friction so likely to develop between any civilian city and its adjacent military establishment, are gone. As “an interpreter of the army to civilians, alone, Col. Drysdale has been worth more to the high command here than a battalion of “public relations” experts. His new assignment 80. far has not been announced. No doubt, like all good soldiers, he hopes it will be in a . combat zone. But whatever it is, and wherever it may be, Col. Drysdale leaves Indianapolis with. the sincere good

Wishes of this city. "

STRANGLED

W AR MATERIALS, INC., a federal agency, was created oh last August, at the war ‘production board’s request. It was ordered to use government funds in recovering * 5,000,000 tons of heavy steel scrap from old buildings, disused bridges, etc.—stuff too costly to be salvaged by scrap dealers under OPA price ceilings. The steel industry hailed it as the most hopeful effort yet made to Provide large amounts of the most useful type . of scrap.

But WMI'’s first president, J. M. Hopwood, resigned in ~ disgust after two months. He had tried to.do a job, but _ had become a mere “check signer” when officials in the “ WPB objected to his activity. Now WMI’'s second presi- ~ dent, B. C. Moise, has been asked to resign for ging publicly | that the WPB had “completely strangled” his agency and compelled it to “pay government money for the purpose of not getting scrap.” It had been permitted; he said, actually to recover: only 8522 tons of scrap in six months. It is evident that this promising agency has become a dismal failure, and we don’t believe it’s the fault of Mr. Moise or Mr. Hopwood. We think it’s the fault of confusion, jealousy and red tape in the war. production board. Entirely too many government war agencies are working at cross purposes, just as in the case of the WPB and, the yi, and that situation won't be remedied by getting rid of good ‘men who dare to tell the facts. The only remedy for it is better organization at the top, and clearer lines authority and responsibility all the way gown the line.

the Jegisiature opened Jan. 7, leaders of both

s and the governor urged that only MUST

slation—laws necessary for essential operations during war emergency—be considered,

7 Yesterday, we were treated to the unique exhibition of | to the senate to high-pressure for their favorite con

expense. ‘money for ® legilators,

|Fair Enough

Editor, In U. 8. Service

[By Westbrook Pegler

| NEW YORK, March 4—Any further remarks shout the need

continent and of more weapons, | explosives and food in Russia and China should be addressed not to the American people, who have

to say in such matters, |

nothing . but to the White House, Washington. Josef ‘Stalin's speaking is and heartening

tough, practical HobAe.. he is, in effect, always threatening to take Adolf Hitler into a locked room, in person, when he

| catches up with him, and pull him apart by hand

and when this war is done, if Hitler hasn’t cut his

own throat or hopped off his mountain, the little tough guy probably will asange: sume: persans) and

His talks are good for us. He makes good his |

threats and he doesn’t talk nonsense.

Mme. Chiang Kai-shek takes a pretty picture, also |

makes a good speech, is said fo speak Americanese with a soft magnolia drawl. She is welcome and very popular here and, in a manner of speaking, she can help herself to whatever we have that her people need to fight the Japanese. '

President Has Full Power

BUT BOTH of these rulers—I think it is- correct to speak of Mme. Chiang Kai-shek as & ruler— certainly know that the American people have given President Roosevelt full power to allocate our equipment and food as he thinks best. Our people don’t know how much stuff we have sent to Russia or anywhere else. Last summer, when the Communists here and in London were hollering for a second fron@and Charlie Chaplin ‘and Orson Welles, those night-club commandoes of the Hollywood front, were demanding that American men walk up some continental beach through mniachine-gun fire, none of. our people at home and few of our soldiers had the faintest suspicion that the expedition tq North Africa was being organized. That seems to go for Wendell Willkie, too, who

.certainly gave a brilliant performance in the role

of a dumb one. :

See Mr. Harry Hopkins

IF IT IS tools and/or food that Stalin and Mme. Chiang Kai-shek want, the person to see is Harry Hopkins, also residing at the White House. He has it all under his hand, having been deputized by President Roosevelt to handle all such matters. He has never been stingy with the American people’s possessions and money and if he has .on hand enough of what the Russians and Chinese need, after our qwn fighters have been taken care of, he can be relied on to take it out of the arsenal of democracy #nd send it along.

‘Mme. Chiang has been very nice about it all

but there have been: times when Stalin has seemed a little impatient, not to say contemptuous, and that doesn’t do anyone any good. ‘How would he like it if President Roosevelt should get up some Sunday night and point out .to the American people that, after all, Stalin isn’t doing, never has done, and hasn't promised to do anything at all for the United States but has fought only for Russia and didn't fight a lick until Hitler attacked

Candor Might Split Allies

HE WOULD BURN UP and any such candor from the American president in response to suggestions that we have been dogging it might break up thé united nations. But none of our big men ever speaks

that way. They and our people are always cheering:

for Russia. President Roosevelt will never say it, but Mr. Stalin certainly knows that one important reason why we haven’t been able to do more for him and a reason, therefore, why some incalculable number of Russian soldiers and civilians have been slaughtered, is that his Communists in the United States did their worst to prevent the production of machine tools, weapons

and everything else that he has needed, during & |

period of almost two years. If he wants to call them home and execute them for this that will be all right with the people of the United States because they are a traitorous, treacherous, evil lot and they belong to him. In the matter of war goods, all complaints as to quantity, quality or tardy. delivery should be addressed to the management, in writing, and not to the help by radio.

In Washington

By Peter Edson

WASHINGTON, March 4-—It would be fun some time if, for an experiment, all the members of congress could be relieved of their duties and assigned to run the top government alphabet agencies and bureaus in the executive department, while at the same time all .the head bureaucrats in Washington could be relieved of their administrative duties and elected or asigned to congress to take over the: savwmasing functions of government. A humble guess whispered from this obscure cor-

ner of the paper is that the net result of such a

colossal job-swap would be like a weather prediction

of: “No change; continuing unsettled conditions with

frequent thunderstorms.” - Picture if you can the kind of turmoil you might have if Senator Cotton Ed Smith of Lynchburg, S.C. were secretary of agriculture, demanding farm price increases: if Senator John H. Bankhead II of Jasper, Ala, were secretary of war, reducing the size of the Sy a Og A ne the African front; if Rep. Paul J. , Tex., were war manpower commissioner, drafting every skilled mechanic in the

(1) brothers under the skin and @ only human

all. So when one species tries to blame its ills on

other, it is largely a waste of breath.

Consider the Case of Mr. Byrnes _

CONSIDER THE CASE of ex-Justice James Byrnes, the director of stabilization.

of a second front on the European |

Byrnes was a senator before he stepped down from : the supreme court bench to become a bureaucrat. At | ‘he was made stabilization director, a great

The Hoosier Forum

I wholly disagree with what you say, but will de fend to the death your Tight to say ih— V oltaire.

“WHAT BROUGHT ON THIS TURN OF EVENTS?” By Mrs. Chester Brown, 1587 E. Southern Ve.

The news from Washington before the freeze of canned goods was: “Be a good American, don’t hoard. You only aid the enemy.” T followed instructions. Scarcely bought enough to run the family until March 1. i Well, did I read anything in the papers telling how nice the good Americans were who didn’t hoard, and did they say they would take the coupons from the hoarders? Oh, no! They came out in bold print and with matchless gall announced how much better off the hoarders were. ' The unpatriotic hoarder turned out to be the fairhaired boy who is our uncle's favorite. I wonder what brought on this turn of events? Could it be that some of the lawmakers in Washington are hoarders and want to have all the luck and keep their £oupons also? 8 ® 2 “TIME AND A HALF FOR THIS, CAPTAIN?” | By James R. Meitzler, Attica Earl P. Sparks points to what seems to him an inconsistency, of Rickenbacker’'s demanding labor work 48 hours per week without pay and one-half for the eight hours, while at the same time opposing a limitation on salaries at $25,000 as a limitation on incentive. Now the employer pays the salary, whatever it may be, freely. because | the employes produces enough goods to earn that salary. But the cvertime pay and one-half is paid under coercion of law and is unearned. For example: Mr. Sparks works 40 hours at $1 per hour and produces 10 gadgets per hour at a labor cost of 10 cents per gadget. He then works eight more hours overtims at $1.50 per hour producing 10 gadgets at a labor cost of 15 cents! per gadget. If he had produced 15 gadgets per hour he would have earned the

8 To Voice In a Crowd: +

(T ime TE are invited to * express their = views in these columns, religious controversies excludecl. Because of the valume received; letters must be limited to 250 . words. Letters ~ must be + signed.) :

extra 50 ‘cents per hour. It would then have been an incentive to producing more work per hour. Ag it is, it is just & penalty on the, employer’ for ‘asking his “men ‘to work more than 40 hours per week instead of hiring more men, Such was the intention of the law and all the quibbling of the unions can-| not make it anything else. = . Capt. William J. McKerman, U.S. M. C. in an article in the Saturday Evening Post of Feb. 20 under the title “The Battle of Bloody Hi’ says: this: “At 3:30 we “had our first meal of the day. . . . The men had had practically no sleep for the last 48 hours (notice 48 hours), so we decided to let thera turn in. « «. Around 6:30 in the evening, there were evidences of a renewal of the}. conflict. .s « So we went up the slope on the jungle side of the road, loaded down like pack animals. ‘I suppose we get time and a half for this, huh, captain?’ one of the boys said as he went by in the darkness.” 8 8 8 “THERE ARE BOOKS IN LIBRARY” By Mrs. Carroll Collins, Indianapolis

More than 40 years ago two eminent historians, Adame and Sumner, said: © Wola ad In the last di centuries: ‘the laboring population has risen from a condition of serfdom to ‘a state of political freedom. In this struggle for economic, equality the vic-|

tories have been wan by the. wage ‘When they did not. pursue their

interest. they lost their interest. When they Jalied 0 demand. Weir,

Side Glances—By Galbraith _

full reward, they failed to receive their full geward. “Always. and ‘everywhere the salvation of the working class Jhas

lreen collective action, and while

the wage system remains, their progress will continue to depend upon collective action.” “Authentic Bourbons of our time”

{know this to be true, and wish to

clestroy the unions. There are many more books in the public library. he a ; “FIGHTING BECAUSE HE 1.OVES HIS FAMILY” iy Mrs: V. L. Jones, 181¢ Barth ave. About six months ago my hushand joined the navy. He is a second ' class petty officer. We have four children ranging in ages from 1. to 17 years old and we are very proud of what he is doing to defend his country.. He left us well proyrided for. I do not have to go to work—I have a job taking care of so|lny children, If Uncle Sam calls on me % work Tm ready, but here’s what I want 10' say: So many children say nasty things about my husband to my :hildren ‘about their daddy joining ithe navy and I figure these chiliiren have heard tha’ said by their parents or they wouldn't ' have thought of such things. If that be the cas2 I hope they read this. They can rest assured

{my husband is only doing his duty

lor his country, fighting for his family, and if he lives to come back

} home to us we can be proud of him,

knowing he went and did his bit toward winning the war, He is fighting because he 'loves his family like lots of fathers I know of. We don't 1ieed any sympathy from anyone. We get along fine. . « . I would like to add that ke fought in world war L ; He just wants to help keep the Japs from our country so his children won't have to live under them. This isn't meant to be a nasty letter. ‘I figured this was the only Way 1a Sel people sight on things, : == MORE WORK-DAYS LOST

| THROUGH ACCIDENTS” | By Leon Fisher, Indianapolis

Acting ‘Governor Joan Lee emith|

cc of ‘Texas deserves a medal for going 4 | |lo the trouble of ascertaining the

truth abofit the Toss of production| |

' game isn't oer until the last is “out.” That rule goes for as well as for baseball. I don't lite the nt placence wit) which the Nazis treating the r withdrawal © he Russian front. They: are : g a ‘master bluff they are about to collapse. I have been particularly: ous as jo the absence of. :

¥ ] : : * During each of the Nazi major operations have heen greeted with the emphasis they placed on the part played by their powerful air forces. Since this retreat began, the usual menticn accorded the L

| Tatts happened o the Nat: air Tome Where 1 Where is

What's happened to the Naz! air force

Jt and what is it doing? Air Thrust at England Doubted

NEITHER THE NAZIS nor any other outfit has ‘heen able to do much in this war without airpower. "There is a happy chance that tlie Nazis may be fresh out of aviation fuel. But ‘nat is only a chance which doesn’t seem to be confirmed by evidence. Is the Nazi wind up in the belief that: 8 “major invasion of Western Europe is imminent because a Washington spokesman (Senator Byrnes) A desig- ; nated 1943 as “the year? Is the Nazi air force poised for a major thrust in North Africa or a desperate crack at Gibraltar? I don’t share the belief expressed in some quarters that the Nazi air force will launch another a re sir thrust at England proper, ard I never could sha the enthusiasm for the North African project major drive for the invasion of Europe. I cannot get those high and impassible Al : of my mind, and neither can anyone else who has seen them or flown over them.

Cooking Up New Drive?

I CAN SEE the military value of the North Atviean 5 expedition. The real invasion, however: wits launched from another angle. First, because no nation yet is enemy low with the required clouds supported by the required facilities, Second, it is the air forces which open up, soften

1 up, and dislocate the enemy back areas for the ads

vance of the land armies, It will be the land armies which will put the’ finishing toucles to licking Hitler. And since it is inconceivable to picture massive land arses march. | .ing over the Alps, it seems like a foregone conclusion that the land invasion of Europe must be launched from another direction. It is my suspicion that the Nazis are oiling” up their air force to offset the exp:cted major invasion, or they are cooking up a drive against the African expedition. Leasf likely is a possible drive against Gibraltar. ; :

Army Doctors By David Diss

CLEVELAND: March 4— hi ‘jean troops, ‘whether at home oF on the front. have: nearly three times a3 many doctors per: thous and ‘men as tio: the ;troops. of the axis, according to Dr. Emerson Crosby Kelly, associate professor of Surgery at Albany Medieal ool=.

S résant plans’ are to provide one doctor for every 1500 civilians: in the United States. England has one doctor for every 2700 persons. ‘But our armed forces, Dr. Kelly said, have about eight doctors per 1000 men. The axis, according fo best available in« formation, has only three doctors per 1000 men. 3 Dr. Kell emphasized the fact that the army medical idiom is fully aware o’ the importance of eatly treatment for the wounded Every soldier going into batile is supplied ‘with field dressings and an envelope con one of the sulfanilamide drugs in both powder and pill His instructions are to dust the powder in" wound and otherwise dress it as best he can and to take the tablets. Meanwhile, first aid men endea to reach him at the earliest possible. moment render whatever aid can he given him in the fleld and to get him back to a medical station, i

Trained in Best Methods

apply dressings and bandages while under fire, give. morphine injections if the wound is painful, and do whatever else can be done . at the moment. % Army stretcher . Kelly contintied, trdined in the bes fethod. of hendling and moving men suffering from various kinis of wounds. quickly as possible the wounded :nan is moved to an aid post. Here a casualty card is attache his’ person, showing the general nature of the and the time of the occurence. From the aid post, where medical men ¢ to deal with emergencies, the ! stretcher or am fication station. Here shock: is treated wi of blood p and other emergencies ar ‘The more seriously injured go immec nearby hospital, ‘often a mobile field . mediate 8 Sperstivs treatmer t.