Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 26 March 1943 — Page 23

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FRIDAY, MARCH 26, 1043

AUSTRIAN BATTALION

HE army has acted wisely, if a little late, in making fully public the circumstances under which the so-called “Austrian Battalion” has been training at Camp Atterbury, and in granting to every man who wants to léave it a transfer to some other army unit. The “Austrian Battalion,” which appears officially in ‘the records only as the 101st infantry battalion, was sup‘posed to be composed of Austrian refugees eager to fight against the Nazis who swallowed their homeland. It now ‘develops that the unit included not only former Austrians but also Czechs, Germans, Hungarians, Serbs, Slovaks, Ttalians and at least one Canadian. There was something officially very “hush-hush” about the existence of the unit, although, of course, it was no secret to anyone in Indianapolis nor for that matter to anyone else who was even re‘motely interested. Its course was not entirely smooth. For one thing, these young men of different nationalities, religious and racial backgrounds didn’t get along with each other in Camp Atterbury much better than they used to get along. with each other in Europe. Nothing serious, but plenty of arguments and some friction. Then the left wing claque in the eastern cities saw a chance to do sgme further injury to the United States and the American war effort. Irresponsible publications, including communist organs which continue even in wartime to preach anti-American doctrines in this country, turned on the heat. As usual, needless secrecy by the army spawned. fantastic rumors and unfounded accusations. : s & =». a.m. "THERE were stories that the United States was engaging in a Fascist plot ‘to ‘restore the old Austrian empire, that men in the battalion were being forced, against their own wishes, to fight for the Hapsburg dynasty, that Arch-

duke Otto, pretender to the Austrian throne, was coming |-

in person to take command of his “army,” clad in a uniform reminiscent of the Chocolate Soldier, that the troops lived and worked and trained under the imperial flag of Austria. None of those stories was true. Not one of the charges stood up for a moment under the investigation of impartial reporters which the Camp Atterbury command made possible this week. There were no Austrian flags. The men had been told officially they could leave the battalian upon their own request. Archduke Otto had never been in Camp Atterbury, even as a visitor, although his three younger brothers are there in uniform. And the three young Hapsburgs are privates in the United States army—not generals, not even | captains. Perhaps it was a mistake, though certainly not a very serious one, to try to segregate these young refugee soldiers from Europe in-a single army unit. Maybe. they all would have been happier and more useful scattered ‘wherever chance dropped them among the typical young Americans who make up the United States army. But it was no Hapsburg private army and no persecu-. tion of refugees and certainly no Fascist plot , for a postwar Balkan empire. Such fantasies flourish only in the dark. 5 was good| to see the army let the light in on this one.

TOWARD BETTER GOVERNMENT HE rise of the Marion county council to a position of power and influence is one of the most promising developments in the continuing drive for better and saner government, : It is generally conceded that we in Indiana have permitted an archaic governmental system to be’ pyramided to the point where it has become not only cumbersome but downright stupid. What we obviously need—as we have Stated so many times—is a modern metropolitan area government, with all the overlapping and useless functions . completely wiped out. ; ; But that ideal is patently impossible at the moment in the face of a highly organized series of selfish lobbies representing entrenched petty officialdom. : The county council, however, points the way’ to our deliverance. At long last we have succeeded in electing to: office a group of men who desire only to do their duty to the public, who wish to take their posts seriously. They have discovered long-used powers ‘and’ authorities. And in taking this authority, they have already saved the county thousands of dollars and are pointing the way toward a higher and higher grade county government. In short, we are getting back to some of the checks and balances this area so sorely needs. Pd

LOOKING AHEAD J oumiaNa provides an example of the value of sound planning against: the coming of peace. This is in ‘a new ‘housing project at Pineville, designed to accommodate noncommissioned army officers and their families during the war and to be converted into a hospital afterward. Structurally, the fireproof brick and concrete buildings are suitable for either purpose. When the army moves out, the state will purchase the project, knock out partitions and vide wards for 2000 mental patients.

ECAP THOSE TIRES spring rounding the corner and hot weather just ‘ahead, now is the time for every automobile owner to whether any of his tires need recapping. Government s estimate that one out of every four on passenger do need ‘sich attention. There are no formalities. ‘give the order to your tire dealer. Those who are careless run the risk of ‘having their

got into such condition ‘that they cannot be saved at | thus destroyed. |

Price in Marion Coun-|

es World Frontiers By William Philip Simms

WASHINGTON,

could be more foolish at this

stick to a pledge already made. For the allies call a halt while they “argue” over a map Would b a first rate way to lose the war. But, interested envoys here are asking, ‘what

aggrandizement, territorial or other; no jtesitorial changes that do not accord with the freely

have been forcibly deprived of them,” and other things besides. = Axis Gets "Ammunition’ IF ALL the united nations were sincere when they adhered to the charter, if they were not guilty of one of the most cynical acts in modern history, there is no room for argument. Europe’s pre-war frontiers will be left as they were until victory. Then all legitimate and necessary changes can be discussed and decided upon in acrordance with the pro‘cedure prescribed. : Nothing could help Hitler more than to do otherwise. Dr. Goebbels has long been telling the little

will lose both their territory and their sovereignty to the Bolsheviks; that allied victory would mean Russian domination of Europe. It was for this reason that Moscow's openly announced intention to annex the three Baltic republics and parts of Poland, Finland and other areas became such high-powered ammunition for the Hitlerites. All they had do—and they did not neglect the opportunity—was to say “we told you sol”

Handicap to Collaboration

IT IS HAVING harmful effect as far away as Spain and Portugal. Franco, of course, is Fascistminded and his axis-purchased press is violently proGerman. The Spanish people have been overwhelmingly anxious to remain neutral; and so has Franco. But if Hitler can convince Franco that the Bolsheviks will get him if he doesn’t throw in his lot with the axis, Franco is apt: to do so. Thus, while nearly everyone admits that “to argue about frontiers” would be “foolish,” some of the best posted diplomats here contend that for any ally to announce it intends to enlarge its frontiers, charter or no charter, is worse than foolish. It brands the allied war aims as insincere, and handicaps those now frying to make plans for postwar collaboration.

Alternative May Be Isolation

defense of frontiers imposed by one nation in disregard of others. I have yet to talk with a single member of congress or other informed official who believes they would. . However: foolish it may be, therefore, to discuss frontiers, the alternative to some better agreement regarding frontiers than exists at this time may be American isolation—at least from Europe. If the allies are afraid to bring up the sutfiect now, with some such basic clarification in view, it will sound like a confession of dangerous strains within—strains arising from a misunderstanding regarding the meaning of the very first vague outline

of the united nations peace aims.

EJ 2 # Westbrook Pegler is on vacation.

Sock First By Major Al Williams

NEW YORK, March 26—We are in a tough war with Japan. To start with, we had decided to fight it with a greater number of warships, which would blast enemy warships out of the water and thus pave the way for gigantic landing parties of troops. We originally planned to use air forces and airpower, but in a strictly auxiliary capacity. Pearl Harbor settled that one for us. But out of Pearl Harbor we must have developed a negative psychology, a tendency to watch what the other fellows were trying to do and then do it better by using more of the tools they were using.

Kenny Gets. in First Punch

WHEN HITLER doesn’t show up for one of his] engagements or rather where we thought he would be, immediately we go into a dither, wondering “Where's Hitler?” “Is Hitler sick, dead, canned: by his generals?”—and so on into the night. Then the Japs begin to congregate along the line of islands north of Australia, and immediately there is a hubbub as to whether the Japs are massing men and equipment for defense or for an invasion of Australia. What are the other fellows going to do? American ‘air forces under Gen. George Kenny (who is running MacArthur's air war in the South Pacific) have made up their minds that the congregation of Jap forces in their end of the ball yard was enough information for them to start socking, and sock they did, a whole Jap convoy.

Good Old Yank Principle

THE SIGNIFICANCE of smashing this Jap convoy is that nothing dares dream of moving safely, much less effectively, in any ocean unless it has control of the air over that ocean. The Japs didn’t have air control or our American bombers and torpedo air units would never have been

She aif FU Val do simost atything, with, your Stier orces Control of the air almost always means that you ¢an empoly your heavy bombardment units to do

enemy seaforces. : Evidently we are reverting to the good old Amer=

later.

asked anyone.’ He fired at every feather without waiting to see what was attached to it. -

To. the Point—

ANYWAY, ste than we can chew.

change from a 50-cen cent piece these days. » Ga

While White House, state depatt- | ment and Capitol hill are ‘inclined | to agree with Prime Minister Churchill when he says “nothing |

there really to” “argue” about? Under the Atlantic | WSa¥ charter the allies have agreed that there will be “no aE

wishes of the peoples concerned; restoration ‘of the | sovereign rights and self-government to’ those who

countries that, if they don't stick to the axis, they |

AMERICANS ARE not likely to fight and die in:

seen between an “argument” and an agreement to | Bs

© WASHINGTON, March 26- | Biggest stake in any dispute be tween two rival labor organizations over which shall represent : and protect the ‘workers is control ~ over the dues, and in these boom _ ing times when almost every work= > an BAS to join's lle wad pay _ dues before he can get a job, the fake i fportent money and the |. root of much evil. © 2 Take, for example, this Oregon shipbuilding case of Henry J. Kaiser's, hearings on

; which are scheduled to resume soon in Portland, be-*

* - | fore the national labor relations board. -

The basis of the entire ES Rr oh lon trate ary will get. dues of the 80,000 or more employees this stuff about protecting rights of workers in free

selection. of representatives of their own choosing is ~

just so much gossamer.

and

The simple fact is that the A. F. of L. got thers

first, has waxed lousy r on dues collected, wi the natural result that the‘C. I. O. marine and —_. builders’ union would like to. see a piece of that change in its own coffers. From this stark and ugly truth, however, it should not be imagined that right and virtue in this case .

\ | are entirely on thé side of the federation. For the

The Hoosier Forum

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

“SOMETHING GOOD COMES FROM EVERY WAR” By Ray Henricks, 2005 S. East st. I read recently where military police were going to take lessons in directing traffic from our traffic officers. It should ‘be reprinted and read —our traffic officers are going to take lessons from the soldiers. Why you could actually tell that 8 soldier was waving you on or signaling stop. Our police merely wave. Whether at you, some passing blonde, or just for exercise, is one of the thrills of driving. ‘These soldiers do a snappy right face. Our police just stagger a little and wave some more. Some-

‘ Ithing good comes from every war

1 Buess. : 2 ” 8.

“ONE OF US IS WRONG AND TAIN'T ME” By H. W. Daacke, 1404 S. State st.

Re Voice in the Crowd. + +.» « I can only quote from the sayings of the homespun philosopher: “Sure one of us is wrong and | tain’t me.” When I used the word. conclusive, it was in reference to the original bone of contention as to whether or not unions contributed to the development of society in as far as better wages, shorter hours and better working conditions were concerned. And up-to-date, I have had no reply from you on hat particular point. If you are laboring under the delusion that joining a union removes the right to private judgment, you should join and get your information direct from its source instead of from propaganda put out: by those that aim to benefit by lower wages and longer hours. It certainly gets under tle hide of employers and their supporters, since the ‘right of collective bargaining has put the quietus. on their former methods of breaking unions, namely, the black-1ist and the hired thug. Wrong again. Unionism and Americanism are identical in makeup, objective and democratic management. So if you love your country, there is no reason why you should not credit unions with the

same. They are both striving to

(Times readers are invited to express their views in these columns, religious controversies excluded. Because of the volume received, letters must be limited to 250 words. Letters must be signed.)

better the conditions under which society must operate, they are both democratically managed and they are both rotten to the core with graft and autocracy. Point out to me anything in the unions that is objectional to you and I will show you as much or

"even more. that is objectionable to

me in present day Americanism. And to make it more emphatic, I will cite you a condition definitely American, so deplorable that even barbarians don’t praciice it.

2 8 8 “LET s WIN WAR, THEN . ASK FOR A RAISE”

| By Harry B. Demaree, Dublin

Patriotism, a wonderful word, a still more wonderful thing if practiced as it should be. Whenever I hear the word I always think of Patrick Henry, “Give me liberty or give me death,” or of George Washington at Valley Forge, and those other great men of the revolutionary days. Those men were not thinking of raising their salaries or of preying on the purchasing public so that they could become millionaires. You pick up your daily newspaper and you.read of the terrible sacrifices our boys are making, with “too little and too late,” trying with what they have to save this country

‘| from defeat. And you read of the call of the|

Red Cross and you are urged. to buy victory bonds to the limit, and then you also read that our wonderful legislature granted themselves an increase of $5 per day for “expenses.” ... It has often been suggested that our state legislature would do their constituents more service if they were to stay at home and leave the state run on the laws that we already have without adding more and more laws, some of

able to get at those convoy vessels. If you control |

all that needs to be done in the way of destroying ||

ican principle of socking first and debating about it || Ole Danl Boone never telephoned back or |}

theres litle danger of biting oft more |.

tricity. BT 3

KNOWING OUR fliers, it's no pussle ‘as to how || | theyve heen able 10 Taid the Reich Just s ridatet ||

Side ‘Glances—By Galbraith

| his “do nothing,”

them that are never put into use and many more that are a detriment to society when they are put into force. I believe, now that we are in the midst of the greatest war we have ever faced, that our lawmakers could have managed to get along with their present stipend and that they should have waited until the poor taxpayer is out frcm

‘lunder this great burden of the war

before asking for additional “expense” money. 'Let us work to win the war and after that ask for a ralse in salaries and “expenses.” WM a “TAXPAYER FEELS A DEGREE OF SECURITY” By otis Snyder; - 3761 N. Meridian st. I read with a great deal of interest the item -in your paper expressing Sheriff Otto Petit’s views on gambling. The ‘sheriff appears to

| be the only sensible official elected.

Everyone knows that gambling can never be completely eliminated and that it is humanly impossible to accomplish this as a law enforcement official. . The sheriff has assured the taxpayers that he will not permit any

organized gambling and welcomes]

any knowledge of same; He condemns spasmodic raids as he realizes that this is not effective as a consistent drive against law violators. Gambling interests probably realize that Mr. Petit will not condone their actions and that convictions in court can be expected if he finds it necessary to make arrests. The taxpayer feels a certain degree of security with a man of this type in office. 8 2 ” “DUMB CHICKS JUST BEGINNING TO CHIRP” By Harry J. Gasper, 908 E. 11th st.

_ Well, Mr. Maddox, I see where you say you have been trying to point out for the past 10 years that the New Deal was leading us to socialism. Just how many more years will it take you to get wise to yourself? If any form of help for the underdog means socialismy then call it what you may. And then maybe you can spend the next 10 years pointing out to us where. Harding and his Teapot Dome, Coolidge and Hoover and his chicken in every pot, McCray and are you blushing, Ed Jackson and

{the Ku=Klux Klan and Leslie and

his $75,000 statehouse cleaning were

| leading us to.

Maybe not socialism, but you will

|have to admit it was not any too lh { pretty a picture when this New Deal|

was born. You see, Ed, some of us

so-called dumb chicks as you: call] 1

a omp Atterbury

Anthem” was {00 good to pase | 1 without, a few words of ¢

‘record of what the A. F. of L. boilermakers’ locals in.

the Kaiser yards have done with their booty makes. one of the snarly chapfers in the tangled story of labor union finance.

Growth of Boilermakers =.

PRINCIPALLY, this is the story of Tommy Ray, a Brooklyn boy who learned his trade in the east and

then was a tramp boilermaker working here, there hw and everywhere, moving from place to place, bragging /:"

a little about how we would soldier on the job to get

himself fired when troubled by the itch of the roving foot. : - He came eventually to the Northwest, where he rose in the labor movement, became secretary and No. 1 man in the boilermakers’ local, and a good one at that. As an organizer of 500 or so men, he won confidence of employees and employers alike, = : who called on Tommy Ray whenever they wanted

more men or a new contract. R

Suddenly, hére came the war effort and ship« building began to boom. Henry Kaiser started his revolutionary construction methods. He looked at a ship and saw that it was largely work with steel ’ plates. What more natural than it be built by boilers makers, since there weren't enough skilled and eXe perienced shipbuflders about? - Kaiser sent for To!

to supply the labor. One of his stunts was a mass

y Ray, and Tommy agreed :

meeting in a Portland ball park, at which he ree

cruited nome 10,000 Pofenlisl Rollermakers and ghip-. builders.

$1,165,000 a Year i in Dues BEFORE TOMMY RAY or anyone else realized

it, his union had 55,000 members, and the union 8.

closed shop contract with the Kaiser yards, To work in a Kaiser yard, a boilermaker has to join the union ‘within 30 days from the time he is hired. If a man gets three months behind in his dues, the union can ask the company to fire the man, and the company has to do it. Dues of a boilermaker in Tommy's union run frnm

$250 to $3.25 a month, depending on the skill 1nd J»

the particular job. Take the smaller figure. [For ° 55,000 members, that means a dues collection: of $137,500 a menth, or $1,650,000 a year. The money isn’t all gravy. Every union member gets fhgurance, with double idemnity if he is killed or permanently disabled on the job, and there are .

other benefits. Funds are audited regularly, and so

far there has been no proof that Tommy himself or any of the union officials has made a killing, or . that there is anything crooked, although the books are not open to the public. But it is still more money than the union has ever handled or dreamed of and it burns a hole in: the bank. Tommy needs an office’ building, where his 100 office employees can keep track of insurance, eme ployment, dues. So he puts up'a marble palace cost< ing $2500, complete with Suditorium, ‘bowling ley « and . *

Cyn

1000 of 55,000 Vote

ON OPENING NIGHT, Tommy invited his ems ployer friends for a big celebration, but he neglected to invite the union members, many of whom found : they couldn’t even get: in their headquarters. Under pressure, the bar was closed—to be converted into a: ladies’ rest room—but there is still plenty of resents ment from members. io - Comes time for election, and a rival slate of cane didates appears to oppose Tommy Ray's crowd,» Tommy himself is re-elected secretary, but he is the ¢ only one of the old gang to stay in office To indicate how disgusted or disinterested the rank and file membership considers these goings on, it should be mentioned that only 1000 of 55,000 Chi payers took trouble to vote. Tommy decided to cone test the election as illegal, and took the case to court, : That's Where it is now. 3 Bey *

NE Ad

We the Women

By Ruth Millet

THERE 18 a ih, of who, the day her son or her hus band gets into uniform, starts . looking around with a critical eye at all the other young men in a town and starts wondering out loud why they aren’t in. =