Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 2 April 1943 — Page 22

AGE

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oo RILEY 5551

Give Light and the People Rill Find Their Own Woy.

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FRIDAY, APRIL 3, 1048 =~

BACK TO THE STATES

: (GOVERNORS, legislators and other officials of the states

will hold a series of regional conferences this month

to discuss the part they should play in the country’s recon-

struction and development after the war. The first of these meetings begins today in Chicago.

* Others will be held later in New York City, Atlanta and San

~ Francisco. | on We're glad to see the states starting to do some post-

. war planning on their own account, and especially glad to note the spirit in which they approach the task. Their determination, according to Governor O’Conor of Mary7 land, president of the Council of State Governments, is—

+*To plan now. in a definite and specific manner for the _ assumption by the states of those duties and responsibilities,

~ growing out of the war, which should and must be assumed

_ by ithe states if we are to maintain our federal system of ~ democratic government.” : There have been other encouraging signs recently of

8 new self-reliance in various states. Here and there gov-

ernors and legislatures have asserted willingness to tackle

yme of their own problems, instead of looking to Washing-

n for leadership. For a long time the trend has been all the other way. e depression years saw most of the states eagerly unloading responsibilities on the federal government, and the ~ war inevitably has meant further increase of federal activity and power. Some observers, however, believe a healthful reaction is under way. North Carolina’s Governor Broughton, for instance, asserted recently that “public opinion is beginning to question the wisdom of a large and highly centralized government . . . is swinging back to the view that more should be expected of the states and less of the national governmen 39 » : 2 ‘He sensed a great opportunity for the states in a

growing realization by the average citizen that his needs

| cannot be best served by a huge, remote government which

%speaks to him only through questionnaires, taxes, and

~ petty officials who come from other sections and naturally

+ ing farmers and industrial workers—in the war. against |

enough have no lively interest in him.” ; That opportunity, we think, is very real, and we hope the states will make the most of it.

LING FOR JOHN L. I E of the great ironies of these times is the spéctacle of farm bloc leaders working to increase the power of John L. Lewis. They don’t like Mr. Lewis. On the contrary, they consider him a menace. But if they put through their schemes for legislation to boost farm prices, John L. Lewis will most assuredly put through his scheme to smash the Little ‘Steel formula for stabilizing industrial wages. And if he accomplishes that, it will go far toward nominating and ‘electing him the undisputed head of the American labor movement. The farm bloc, we suggest, would do well to take another look at their hand—would be wise to accept President Roosevelt's expected veto of their Bankhead bill and to stop clamoring for enactment of their Pace bill. For these price-raising measures would have results even

. more fortunate than the aggrandizement of Mr. Lewis.

The futile competitive boosting of prices and wages ‘thus started would mean defeat for all Americans—includ-

their deadliest home front enemy, inflation.

LEASED LAND

YA/AR department figures indicate that the army has not "© purchased 12,000,000 acres of land, as had been reported, only 6,000,000 acres. The larger figure represents

territory acquired by transfer, from other federal depart-

ments, of land already owned. X This correction is gratifying. It is easier to believe that the army was forced to purchase 6,000,000 acres than 12,000,00. Nevertheless, the purchased acreage still ex- . ceeds that of New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts or New Jersey; it is greater than the combined areas of Rhode Island, Connecticut and Delaware; it is

In Washington By Peter Edson he

‘WASHINGTON, April 2—Republican Congressmen John Taber of Auburn, N. Y., and J. William Ditter of Ambler, Pa., having taken a poke at the guv'ment’s movie making activities, you might be interested in having an inside look at what has been going on. If you have been to the movies in the* past year, you have seen some of these flickers, but in a . theater. they have a way of sneakon you, making it difficult to tell what is g. i,

ing u > issue, and what is made-in-Holly-

or government wood stuff. Army and navy have their own movie setups. They have commissioned a number of big-shot directors and producers to do their job. John Ford, who directed” “Grapes of Wrath” and others, is a commander and he made the navy’s Technicolor, “Battle of Midway." The army has commissioned over 400 men for photographic work in the signal corps. Darryl Zanuck is a colonel and supervised production of the army's technicolor of the African campaign, “At the Front.” Frank Capra is a leutenant colonel, Hal Roach is a major; and so on.

Actual War. Shots Not as Clear

SO FAR, there has been no major controversy over service films, though the movie-going public may have noticed that attion shots of actual war aren’t as clear or as closeup as Hollywood has been making in its phony wars of the past, where the set was carefully staged and lighting effects were perfect. 1 . Practically all other government film-making activities are now centered in the bureau of motion pictures of the office of war information. It is this operation which is being eyed by congress now, on suspicion that it is putting out too much Democratic political propaganda, along with war propaganda. Elmer Davis, head of OWI, has taken the rap thus far, as the criticism of OWI has been general and not confined to movies. Real head of the OWI bureau of motion pictures, however, is Lowell Mellett, who is also one of the administrative assistants to the president and film co-ordinator for the government, meaning that his office is the agency through which the film industry has its principal contacts with numerous government agencies. Mellett was head of the old OGR, or office of government reports, until last June, when it was merged with OWL Today, Mellett’s bureau operates on a budget of 1.3 million dollars and has about 140 employees. Its principal places of business are Washington, which is headquarters; New York, which is production center, and Hollywood, which is contact office for the movie industry. ,

Small Time—in Hollywood Figures

FOR THE YEAR ending this June 30, the production end of the outfit will have turned out 93 pictures, 41 of the subjects theatrical, 52 non-theatrical, a distinction which will be explained later. The average government-produced movie runs about eight minutes and costs around $5000 to produce.. The total production budget is approximately $500,000, which is the minimum cost for one average Hollywood full-length feature. A Hollywood super-duper may, of course cost up to 2.5 million dollars, or double the entire government outlay for a year, which gives some idea of the scale of this operation—decidedly small time by Hollywood measurements. In addition to production cost, the government spends $10 a print for 677 copies of each of its theatrical subjects, this being the number required to get maximum distribution in the 17,000 movie houses of the country, 16,000 of which have made pledges to the industry to show government films. The average picture, in fact, is shown in only about 13,000 theaters, but that is still a darn sight more than any industry picture shows. i Anyway, this adds up to a cost of $6700 for prints on every government theatrical picture, or a total of $559,000 for printing costs. The motion picture industry, through its own agencies, handles distribution of these pictures at no cost to the government.

'Non-Theatrical’ Pictures

NON-THEATRICAL pictures - which the govern. ‘ment produces are largely 16-mm. stuff in the nature of educational films made for showing before Rotary, Kiwanis or. Lions, in schools, before labor organizations, parent-teacher groups and similar smaller audiences. i Usually, these films are reductions of standard 35-mm. films made for theatrical distribution, but in the case of 16-mm. films, distribution is handled through some 185 non-profit service outlets which

‘have already been functioning effectively for their

organizations in similar work before. . ‘The government hires no actors for making these films. “Stars” in government movies are usually responsible government ‘officials, making responsible statements to the American people. % The government production unit of about 50 peo-

ple is headed by Sam Spewack, ex-New York World

reporter; author of “Boy Meets Girl” and a successful Hollywood writer who gave up $3000 a week. in Hollywood to work for the government for less than $10-

.000 a year.

The government's Hollywood staff is about 20 people and they, with the Washington administrative headquarters, cost $241,000 a year, which would not keep a film magnate in tax money. 8 # 8

Westbrook Pegler is on vacation.

Bombing Japan By Major Al Williams

| Axis Ammuniti

|By William Philip Simms’

Bod. LE" ny

yor

bs FL Rp 2 a, i had? odo

WASHINGTON, April 2-—-The need for President Roosevelt and Premier Stalin to meet soon and talk things over, either in person ' or through the most exalted proxjes they can name, is daily becoming more imperative. = The axis propaganda machine

“TL AY RY =.

is playing up the theme of “allied dissension.” Dr. Goebbels and his gang are doing their utmost -to ; convince Europe that Russia, Britain and America are split wide open on peace aims; that Russia has openly repudiated the Atlantis Charter; that opinion is divided even in Britain and the United States; and that accordingly the “Red Peril” - is greater than ever. A .

Eden's Visit a Good Formula

can and should be taken from him. The visit to this country of Forelgn Minister Anthony Eden suggests an excellent formula. No “final decisions” were arrived at while he was here but, the president suggested, they did manage to reach a large, measure of general agreement on objectives. § aa Something similar. should be tried, as between Washington and Moscow. Otherwise there is no tell.ing how much harm will be done. Even in this country, a teapot tempest is raging over the Atlantic . Charter, what it means, and whether or not President Roosevelt, Prime Minister Churchill and . lin should dare try to discuss it. . All manner of absurd things are being said on the subject, in the press, over the radio and in publieforums. Some eritics are openly scornful of those who believe the| Atlantic Charter means or should mean what it. says. They say it was drawn up by Britain and America, and they imply that Russia is not bound by its terms. They argue that there is nothing “sacrosanct” about it and that Russia must be allowed to write her own ticket, Meanwhile, we should shut up about it, keep . quiet and do nothing lest Russia wash her hands of us. .

Nazis Make the Most of It UNFORTUNATELY, THE problem is not so simple.

The Hoosier Forum

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

The meaning of the Atlantic Charter has already become an issue within the united nations, Kremlin spokesmen have indicated that Russia does not intend to adhere to its principles in Eastern Europe, while Washington .and London, though not so outspoken, continue to give the impression that, . so far as they are concerned, the charter means what it says. And the Nazis are making the most of the

“BIRDS, FLOWERS AND TREES BELONG TO GOD” By Leslie Masters, 839 N. Oakland Reading an. article in today’s paper regarding the pigeons that fly about our city which are God's property. Would you like to see some person pick all the flowers in © city? No. . The same goes for the birds;

they were put here on earth by

God. ‘Does any person hate to let birds have their stale bread? If they do they are selfish in the eyes of\the Almighty. s left in this city are about the only things that can ever remind us that there is a God. If these birds are destroyed I pity the group that gave the order. Birds, flowers and trees belong to God. And he who destroys them may he suffer the consequences made by God. Talking the way some people do I take it they never heard the story of how some orchard growers chased the birds from their orchard and were infested with insects; then they were glad to let the birds stay. « 0 o 2 8 = “BROTHERHOOD OF MAN NOT JUST AROUND CORNER” By Marion Priest, 1406 Castle ave.

It should be interesting to the general public, especially those opposed to labor organizations, to have a little information on labor’s behavior while in long pants. I say, while in long pants, because if these conditions are not better understood in the next few years, labor may have to crawl again. . . « I have at hand, the minutes of a meeting between the management and the union committee, in a certain plant, in which three grievances were answered by management. . . . Of these three, two were granted by management and one was to be checked into. May I suggest here, that had there been no union, these three cases, or two, could not have been brought to light. In some cases, in some plants, management might have listened but in a great many the attitude would have been, this is our plant, you can either work or quit. . « Man is vastly different to any other animal. Instead of adapt-

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

ing himself to suit the world, he changes the world to suit him. ...

But there is one thing wrong with all this. Man rose swiftly, out of the jungle and surpassed all other animals. But ever since man started to conquer nature, there have been individual men, tainted still with the smell of the jungle.

We have them in all walks of life. These men, like beasts, seek to conquer their fellow men. They invented slavery and man fought hundreds of years to overthrow it.

Then they invented feudalism and serfdom. They tried religious wars, and in the middle ages they tried a blackout of science, religion and progressive thinking. Then they tried conquering new lands and plundering the natives and finally they are now trying fascism. I mean some are trying fascism. We hope we won't have to try it. . But the idea is man seems to have inherent in him a desire to take, honestly or dishonestly, more than his share, whether it be money or power. And’ this desire does not confine itself to any one group. It is apartof allof us.... When one group or individual becomes so powerful that he can use his beastly instincts in beating down the masses beneath him I know of only two ways to curb his power. One is government, the other is for the masses to organize against him. . « « When government does not assure the masses their proper protection they automatically unite. They will never forget, “In union there is strength.” : Management, itself, will concede I believe, that there was need for unionism. If it is honest, it will concede that this monstrous, manytenacled, powerful and insolent monstrosity called union was born and bred in poorly-managed and sel-fishly-operated places, of employment throughout the nation, - By the same line of reasoning,

of any size.

with which we reached this conclusion, however, there must be beastly instincts operating in every group

apparent “schism.” The situation, therefore, very much needs clarification. There is no need to quarrel. There is no need, even to “argue over frontiers,” as Mr. Churchill put it. To discuss is not to argue. ;

ALL THIS IS ammunition in Hitler's hands. It.

This leads us to believe that the more powerful of the two will be uppermost, whether he he right or wrong. This is not good. . So we have an arbitration board on which rests the destiny of millions. And if we still have these beastly instincts in that board where are we? This way of reasoning leads to the inevitable conclusion, that the beastly instinct is the cause of all our troubles, the world over, that if as one body we rose up and together decided that now was a good time to overcome it our trouble would be over. .. . One wrong does not justify another, but as long as all people do not intend to accept the idgaof a brotherhood of man, there is no choice left but to play th¢ game as the more powerful group dictates. When the time comes, that all men realize that mankind can best develop physically, Mentally, morally and spiritually by lving as prothers then unions as well as National Manufacturers associa=tions will have outlived their usefulness. In my opinion, and sincerely, the brotherhood of man is at least 1900 years overdue and I am afraid it isn’t just around the corner. 2 8 = “HOW MANY WANT TO MAKE THAT TRIP BACK?” By Oscar Houston, Ellettsville What is the New Deal? It consists of the laws passed since 1933 in the interest of labor, the Tang old-age assistance and many other laws that héve ond passed to make the lot of the masses easier in our way of life. These are all new ventures in our economic life. They are the New Deal because they are new. But critics and enemies of the New Deal say get rid of all this and let's go back to the gay 20's when millions of farmers went broke. When labor in ‘many instances had to sign a yellow dog contract before they could ‘work for less than a living wage, and if they struck. for better wages strike-breakers were sent to -take their places and the police were ordered to drive the strikers away, which they did with clubs. Labor had no chance. As the law was then, labor had no standing in court. Every law favored

A friendly meeting between Russian and American -

leaders, as the president said about Mr. Eden's visit, should result in a general agreement on objectives. If necessary, they could agree to disagree.

If any of the united nations intends to redraw its

frontiers to suit itself, there is little or nothing that we could do about it. The chances are practically nil that we should go to war to stop it, On the contrary, we and our allies would probably go ‘right on doing our utmost to defeat the axis in the quickest possible time. ai :

We Must Have Assurance i 4

BUT WE WOULD have a better idea of which way 1

we are headed. Save for a few dreamers; I have yet to talk with any informed observer here who does not believe that American collaboration in the poste war world will depend entirely.on what sort of peace we have, ; ’

If,.in American opinion, the peace is just; if the

allies seek no aggrandizement, territorial or other; if territorial changes are made only with the freely expressed consent of the peoples concerned; if the right of all peoples to choose the form of government under which they will live is respected; and if they see to it that the sovereign rights of self-government are restored to those who have been forcibly deprived of them, then American collaboration will almost cer tainly be wholehearted and complete. Otherwise we may well become more isolationist than after the first world war.

Until we have some assurance as to whether or

not the Atlantic Charter is valid or a dead letter, we can do little sound post-war planning.

We the Women

By Ruth Millett

MANY A MAN fis new respect for the job of keeping. In the past, such a chap may have taken his wife's lightly. He imagined that all had to do to get.a me some lamb chops and open a ple of cans. : ¢ He thought the housework itself, simply because his wife had a cleaning woman once a week

who helped her with the heavy work, or bécause in a magnanimous moment he had bought her a wash« ing machine. y ’

Well, now this fellow, used to thinkingof man's

work as the only hard work, can see that a house is no snap.

almost equivalent . ay equl ; He sees that the housekeeper, under’s rationing system, has just about as many deadlines .to meet as a businessman. It takes a desk calendar to keep her straightened out on her closing dates for buying

to that of Maryland.

Side Glances—By Galbraith om— , the employer. Ne When Wall Street had more power in Washington than all the

NEW YORK, April 2.—Despite > the fact that our gallant forces

WHAT JEFFERSON BELIEVED—IV To tune up our minds to take part in the bicentennial

celebration of Thomas Jefferson’s birth, let us recall |

‘a few more of his statements on the subject of government: “Governments derive their just powers from the con-

of the governed.”— (Declaration of Independence).

“Free government is founded in jealousy, and not in confidence; it is jealousy, and not confidence, which prescribes limited constitutions, to bind down those whom we are obliged to trust with power.”— (Kentucky Resolutions).

KITCHEN FATS

~HE nation’s housewives are still falling down on one of their most important and yet easiest contributions to fhe war. They were turning in—even before meat rationing scarcely a third of the kitchen fat needed for making

plosives,

Close to 17,000,000 pounds a monthi—about two ounces person—is needed. Housewives have b¢en producing less n 6,000,000 pounds—around three-fourths of an ounce

[XED METAPHOR FOR MARCH THE as bait to feather their own nests.” i ) D. MI] (D.

have in the past seen efforts made to put over

nefarious schemes, in which the proponents have used | Asiatic continent. :

have kicked the Japs out of

Guadalcanal and portions of New |

Guinea, we must remember that these victories were obtained on the outer rim of the vast defense

cordon set up by Japan-—and | thousands of miles from Japan

proper. Westward beyond that rim of Jap island defenses lie the stra-

tegic positions we must win to really hurt Japan.

Japan has not rested since Pearl Harbor. It is a !

foregone conclusion that the greatest shipping prob-

lem she has faced during this period has been to {:

transport men, women and families from the homeland to the rich territorial prizes she won nearer the Asiatic continent. :

Japs Aware of Danger

‘WE CAN TALK about forcing the Burma road, and what not, but the blowoff for the Pacific war is

bound to come far to the north in Vladivostok and |

Manchuria. Furthermore, the Japs are just as aware as we are of the critical danger to which they are ex=

posed in bombing attacks that could be launched from |

Vladivostok against the heart of Japan proper.

If we had adequate air bases in China—and the | aerial or other means of supplying these bases—the |

job of smashing Japan proper could be done from

China. Two air raids or 200 raids won't do the job. |

Possibly 2000 raids would make a big dent. i But when you ere thinking in such terms you are thinking also in terms of gigantic transportation facilities and implemented lines of comm that just do not exist for us in China or anywhere on the

No, the blowup-will have to come from and westward,

territory at Viadivost

Soviet-held: le can onl

“Z ‘Gi

RA TIRITTE RSM

p——— on pt \

"Let our cry be 'On to Tokyo and Yokohama 1 #4 f] A VIS )

Japs will

masses combined, our capital was the center . . . for the satellites of big business. No consideration was ever given to the underprivi-

leged labor, the aged or the eco-|

canned goods, sugar, coffee, gasoline—ete. A New Respect

FURTHERMORE, he can’t go on blithely thinking

of the New Deal?

the New Deal.

tion will tell. DAILY THOUGHT

nomic welfare of the masses in general. Yes, all this was constitutional

result of years of refusal on the part of government to counsel or

Is this what the critics want to to when they demand the

I wonder how many will want to make that trip back. Next elec-

that all his wife does when she gets a meal on table is open a few cans, When she opens a now it is an occasion. ; je And he knows he can no longer say grandly she gets in a tight jam with relatives coming nounced and a child coming down with knows-what, “Call in Mrs. Jones to help . few days and try and take it easy.” Jones has quit “working out” to take fense plant. ‘Then, too, he now sees the keeper poring over garden books at night whether she should put up two or quarts of canned fruits and vegetables,

a job in

That would be inevitable in the| on even him that the summer isn't going to of any social program to take the place of the New Deal, . up to the present hasn't been ‘attempted by the enemies of

vacation for the little woman—what withsgardening and canning added to all her other jobs. Yes, men are developing a new respect for ‘mamma's job. But then so is mamma. She hasn't Belt So necessary to her family or so important in. her e. i i

To the Point—"

AN OHIO MAN was fined $2 | for an hour. . Maybe the folks

gi X