Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 14 May 1943 — Page 16

PAGE 16

The Indianapolis Times |

RALPH BURKHOLDER Editor, in U. S. Service

MARK FERRER WALTER LECKRONE Business Manager Editor

(A SCRIPPS-HOWARD NEWSPAPER)

ROY W. HOWARD : President

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«SP RILEY 5551

Give Light and the People Will Find Their Own Way

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FRIDAY, MAY 14, 1943

TAKE TIME TO BE RIGHT

HE labor legislation congress is now undertaking to write should have been written long ago, in calmer times. The need for thoughtful action was apparent. The demand for. it was strong throughout the country, even among many rank-and-file members of unions. But the big labor leaders stubbornly resisted all. proposals to safeguard use of their enormous powers. The president backed them up, insisting that he could handle the labor leaders himself, and congress—or, rather, the senate—let Mr. Roosevelt have his way. So the situation drifted along until John L. Lewis broke out and congress determined to do something in a hurry to safeguard war production from strikes and other disturbances growing out of labor disputes. The senate passed the Connally bill last week, and shortly the house will start debate on a much more comprehensive measure of its own, embodying many features of the Smith anti-strike bill which it passed, 252 to 136, four days before Pearl Harbor. 2

= =

= = ® E think that, in many respects, the present house bill is the better of the two. (Its main provisions are summarized in an article from our Washington bureau on Page 14 today.) \ : Yet there have been no committee hearings on it in its present form, and we believe that the house should study it most carefully, seeking not to meet the labor leaders’ objections—which is impossible, because as usual they object to everything—but to correct any provision that might actually endanger the necessary rights of workers. We favor the proposals to forbid lockouts or strikes in war industries except after 30 days’ written notice and after strikes have been authorized by a secret, governmentsupervised vote of the employees affected ; to require orderly methods of conducting strikes and picketing; to outlaw secondary boycotts, sympathy strikes and jurisdictional strikes affecting war production. We are strong for the requir ement that unions register with the government and report regularly their initiation fees, dues and assessments, limitations -on membership, methods of electing officers, and accurate financial accountings. Union responsibility is absolutely necessary for the protection.of union members, other workers and the public, and lack of it has permitted many gross abuses.

*THE PACIFIC CANNOT WAIT

HE Churchill-Roosevelt conference is planning Pacific strategy, along with other things, according to informed officials. This also is indicated by fhe participation of Marshal Wavell and British air and naval chiefs from India. But the major land offensive against the Japs through Burma, and into China over the Burma road, cannot begin until next fall after the monsoon season. The minor British - offensive in western maritime Burma has failed, and many months would be required to prepare a major drive even if the weather were now favorable. Nevertheless, despite the necessary delay of a big Burma offensive, the Pacific war cannot wait. The Chinese situation is the most desperate of any confronting the allies. If something is not done about it soon, China may be beyond the point of effective aid when we get around to opening the Burma road next winter. And if we lose China as a base, Japan may be able to hold out against us for many years. 2 = = 2 2 = O say that we cannot supply China by air from India is an evasion. We must. The experts on the subject, Gens. Stilwell and Chennault, insist it can be done. Chennault, who has never failed to produce, says that with 500 planes he can drive back the Japs, blast their supply lines and bomb Japanese industrial cities. And the president has just announced we are producing more war planes than the rest of the world combined. Planes must be rushed to China. Planes must go to MacArthur, and to our navy to help take the enemy’s major base at Truk. Planes must go to the Aleutians to bomb the main northern Jap base at Paramushiru, only 800 miles away. If these things are done, and if the Mediterranean is cleared soon as planned—shortening the sea supply route "to the Orient by 5000 miles—Japan can be held until the larger allied offensives of next winter. But even immediate air and naval reinforcements for the Pacific will not restore the morale of the Chinese and of others when they are denied a voice in an allied war council. Fortunately, high representatives of China and Australia are now in this country. Why should not Foreign Ministers Soong and Evatt, President Quezon of the Philippines, Prime Minister King of Canada, and other allied representatives directly involved, be invited to share the Churchill-Roosevelt Pacific decisions? We hope they will be.

PAP FOR THE SPEAKER

TN Washington it is revealed that six war department draftsmen, detached from duty at Ft. Myer for a “secret project,” have actually been engaged in hand-lettering fancy greeting cards from Speaker Sam Rayburn to high school “graduates in his Texas district. On the same day appears an announcement that “draftsmen are specially needed by the United States army

engineers.” Civics classes in the high seosls of Mr. Rayburn’s

constituency should find in this situation food for an in-|an

Fair Enough By Westbrook Pegler

v

LOS ANGELES, ' May 14— James A. Farley, who may be counted among the unchangeable opponents of the fourth term, beyond seduction, beyond purchase and beyond persuasion, made a Mother's day speech at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington cemetery. It was a challenge to the communistic leanings of the New Deal and to the cynicism of many strongly influential men and women with whom he formerly associated in Farley hates fascism and communism with equal fervor. He is one public man who never will permit the Communist party or its fifth columnists in and around the national government to make use of him by inducing him in the causé of “unity” to appear in public under the symbol of the hammer and sickle, which he holds to be as detestable as the swastika. He has observed the frequent public appearances of Mrs. Roosevelt in the company of Joseph Curran, the president of the dangerous, party-line magitime union which is fastening its control on the American merchant marine, and other pro-Communists. He has broken politically with President Roosevelt, Harry Hopkins, Harold Ickes, Felix Frankfurter and other influential personages of the national government,

Farley Quotes a Mother

+ FARLEY'S REASONS for this opposition may be detected in certain excerpts from his Mother’s day

speech. First expressing, in indirect but unmistakable terms, his opinion of President Roosevelt, Mr. Farley used for his purpose the dying words of the mother of Andrew Jackson to her son. “In this world you will have to make your own way. To do that you must have friends. You can make friends by being honest and you can keep them by being steadfast. You must keep in mind that friends worth having will, in the long run, expect as much from you.as they give to you. To forget an obligation or be ungrateful for kindness is a base crime—not merely a fault or a sin but a crime. Men guilty of it must sooner or later suffer the penalty.” Mr. Farley then discussed some conventional but poetic and beautiful thoughts of motherhood and came to this significant passage: “These are thoughts which it should not be necessary to dwell upon and you may well ask why it is desirable to cite testimony to such a well-accepted

truth. Precisely because it is not so well accepted |

as we may blindly believe.

'Alien Spirit Growing’ “WHILE THE overwhelming majority of the mothers of this nation, and of the fathers, too, are busy doing their duty to help crush a system which would make of mothers mere instruments of propagation for military confuest, there are abroad in our midst, groups and individuals who conspire for the success of peculiar brands of philosophy which would make ,a mockery of the values upon which we have bred. “The honest average citizens of this land work hard at home and in shop to make a living and to serve their country. When their day's work is done they quietly and in good faith turn their minds to the peaceful enjoyment of family life. They have little or no time for political activity. Then can only have faith that their efforts and the efforts of their neighbors are expended in behalf of the fundamental principles which they understand to be the essence of our constitutional government. “There seems to be a spirit growing among some in this country that is alien to our institutions. I have an uneasy feeling that the belief is spreading that the people are not capable of governing themselves, that the problems of today are so complex that the citizen must be detached from his own difficulties, The concept of the political elite is growing.”

Rub Off the Oratorical Fuzz

FARLEY HERE discussed a new book, neglecting to mention the title or name the author, as advancing the concept of the political elite. He said the book argued that mankind can be divided into a small group, the “Ruler Type,” and a large class, “The Ruled Type.” From this he proceeded to warn the mothers and, he obviously hoped, the whole country, that the mothers must protect its institutions while their sons are testing its sovereignty. “The enemy,” said he, is “fore and aft,” meaning that while the fighting sons slay Hitlerism in open battle the poeple at home must recognize the presence and the dangerous treachery of the Communist fifth column and the fellow-iravelers who are imposing fragments of Communist thought and governmental practice at home. Rub off the oratorical fuzz and you have here Farley's opinion of the man he personally singled out to be president. It is his challenge to all the patronizing, scheming political cynics and snobs, and all the proponents of communism and other European political schemes in Washington and New York, in the OWI, in the pro-Communist press.and on the air.

We the- Women

By Ruth Millett

HOW ARE you going to handle the problem when your high school age son or daughter is offered a job. after school hours or for the summer months? The high school kid probably can have a job this summer—if he wants it, and the thought of earning money probably will make him want it, all right. The superintendent of public instruction in one midwestern state recently sad that there was probably a job of some sort for every high school boy and girl in the state. If that situation exists in one state it probably exists in most of them. , what are you going to do? Your high school boy's energy is needed; sémeone is willing to pay him to work, and he is anxious to have a job. You don’t quite know what to do, perhaps, because if working means he will earn a lot more money than he has ever handled before, he may be al to man-

age.

Tell Him to Buy Bonds

YOU'VE BEEN reading all the stories about ju- |

venile delinquency and how often “too much money” is blamed for the trouble war-time children get into.: Since everyone's hands are needed to do some kind of work today—you probably won't want to insist that your son or daughter not have any kind of job at But you can have a decided say about the kind of job 1t is. And you should have it understood at the

Start that he money earned, except for a ecriain ne Ey Paci 110 War bouds aved toward goal.

The Hoosier Forum

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

“HATS OFF TO GREATEST AMERICAN REPORTER”

By May Kennedy, Box 1443 Hats off to the greatest American reporter, Ernie Pyle. Each day I have followed Ernie in the war. I have laughed and chuckled with him over amusing incidents and I have cried over others. Every American should read his articles; surely no one could read and not know what war is and how bravely our boys have faced the front lines, never once complaining, asking for nothing but that they might be victorious that the folks back home might continue to live in a free land. If any man has loved his fellow man it is Ernie and the boys over there who are giving their lives that we may live in the land of the free.

8 82 2» “LET’S NOT LEAVE IT TO THE POLITICIANS” By Thomas D. McGee, 3749 Central ave.

If the people are to have a voice in the world peace program, if public opinion is to be considered in determining the post-war pact, then public opinion should be weli informed betimes, in order that it may act wisely in this emergency.

A world peace to be lasting and worth-while should be a people's peace. Covenants of politicians, however solemnly made, however unctuously pronounced, are somehow not reassuring. And it’s all one whether the politician hails from Downing st. or the senate halls in Washington, or from the old first ward in Chicago . .. Hamlet's definition still holds good; a politician is “one who would circumvent God.” Public discussion and debate should be encouraged, not frowned on. The many questions incident to world peace should be carefully examined. Expert diagnosis of the causes of the world war and the social unrest that preceded the outbreak should be made, and the results duly publicized so that we may avoid the mistakes of the past. Maybe it will be found that the new gods set up in our materialistic

(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.)

age, the great god of “efficiency and exploitation,” and the lesser deities of “hustle and bustle” and “dollar accumulation” and “get there” are one and all false gods. Obviously they are impotent to save our civilization from self-destruction. Maybe we should dethrone these pagan gods and go back to the God of our fathers. Maybe we should dig up and dust off some of our forgotten medieval concepts (contemptuously thrown into the ash heap by humanism and the other isms) concerning the true nature of man, his rights and duties toward God and his neighbor. Maybe, as has been suggested in some high quarters, the trouble with the world is not economic or political,” but intellectual and moral. But let's not leave it to the politicians, ® = 8 “CEILING PRICE SHOWS

LACK OF UNDERSTANDING”

‘By R. C. L., Indianapolis

The ignorance of the bureaucrats presently in power as to the real nature and benefits of unrestrained trade under a capitalistic system and of the true values and benefifs of open competition under the system is appalling. There are thousands of examples of this ignorance. As I read the papers, picking one at random, I find that the bureaucrats are preparing to put a ceiling price on the sale of used automobiles, the stated reasons being that due to the gradual exhaustion of the supply of new cars, the competition for used cars will drive prices up and work a hardship on the purchasers of such cars, some of whom are defense workers who must have automobiles for use in transporta-

Side Glances—By Galbraith

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ef

tion to essential jobs. The situation is correctly stated but the use of ceiling price as the corrective measure is a clear example of the lack of understanding of the correction that would come about through natural laws that are allowed to work through free enterprise. First, it is obvious that if a low, rigid price ceiling is set on second hand cars the owners of such cars will tend to keep their cars rather than sell them and accept ceiling prices. This, as any straight thinking nonbureaucrat can see, will defeat the very purpose for which the ceilings are proposed. Second, every energy that can be expended toward sopping up the surplus earnings iri the hands of defense workers is being expended by the same bureaucrats, Price fixing on second hand cars and its resulting freezing of them in the

hands of their owners will shut out |

one outlet for the absorption of these surplus funds. Third, the minute price fixing on second hand automobiles is put into effect, it means that all cars will sell at the top ceiling price and that no money will be spent by dealers in putting these cars into first class condition. The result will be a rapid deterioration of all cars that are sold with its resultant waste in valuable assets that it is so vitally necessary to hoard, faced as we are with an all-out war of uncertain length. Fourth, such a ruling would take the last bit of blood out of the already anemic independent automobile dealers who have already been bled almost to the point of death. If these thousands of dealers are forced completely out of business, along with the thousands of other small businesses that are being forced out by our war economy, America will be faced with a country composed of nothing from the small corporations and who are able tc withstand the shock of bureaucratic control. The result will be state socialism. ” ” o “UNABLE TO GET RELEASE TO TAKE ANOTHER JOB” By A. 8., Indianapolis The other day a friend and I quit cur job which is 50 cents an hour, and went out to gel a better job. The place we went to ran an

'lad in the paper saying that they

were wanting help. We could not go and get a job at this place, as the place we formerly worked refused to give us our working papers, which is a new law thought up by McNutt. The place that we could have gotten on was closer to our home and paid mere money. We then went to the U. 8. employment office to see if they could get us our release papers, They said we weren't fired from the job and we would have to keep it. They also said that low wages were no excuse to quit a job. I don’t understand this as a lot| of places are paying $23 a week and a lot of other places are paying $35 to $40 a week. The fellow makes $23 a week can’t get his and clothing any cheaper than g man who makes $35 or $40. . When a man or woman ¢ that they have to stay then this is no longer a

try. DAILY THOUGHTS

© Lord God of Isel, thete 1s 0

Our Hoasiers |

By Daniel M. Kidney -

WASHINGTON, May 14.—Sens . tor Raymond E. Willis’ office an= > :ounced that he is due back here from a fortnight in Indiana on Saturday. Should the senate vote on the revised Ruml tax bill in the interim, he will have missed the roll call. That has become almost habitual with hime For the Hoosier Republican senator missed the tax bill roll calls in 1941 and 1942, which. are the only two other years he has been there. When he left for his home in Angola this time it looked as though the senate was in the doldrums and not due for any action for at least two weeks. But that proved to be wrong prognostication. The coal strike crisis caused Senator Tom Cone nally /D. Tex.) to dust off his property seizure bill and obtain prompt passage for it as an anti-strike measure. And Senator Francis Maloney (D. Conn.) brought up for debate and ‘final passage his bill creating an office nf civilian supply.

Willis Planning Speech?

BOTH DEAL vitally with the conduct of the war on the domestic scene. The Connally bill is an effort" to make wartime strikes a crime and the Maloney bill takes the matter of civilian supply away from WPB Director Donald Nelson and gives it the indee pendent status enjoyed by the armed services. Senator Willis’ Democratic colleague, Senator Fred erick VanNuys, voted with the majority for passags of both measures, each of which won through a bi= partisan coalition. How Senator Willis would have voted is not known, since he merely was marked absent, Even if he misses the tax bill, the G. O. P. senator will land in the midst of the impending debate on reciprocal trade agreements in the senate. He reportedly is preparing an old-fashioned Republican high-tarifft speech against extension of the trade agreements act. The outstanding authority on this tactic is former Senator James BE. Watson, one-time Republican majority floor leader, who has made high tariff speeches in every city, town and hamlet in Indiana. He likely would be glad to turn his data for such ade dresses over to the junior senator at this time.

Gates Coming to Washington

ON MONDAY, May 24, Senator Willis has an important political conference scheduled here. Ralph Gates, Republican state chairman, is coming to Wash ington to confer with him and the nine Republican congressmen from Indiana. Nature ‘of the conference has not been disclosed here, but everyone knows that Mr. Gates would like to enlist their whole-hearted backing for his candi dacy for the Republican nomination for governor next year, And nearly every one of the house members will be carrying lightning rods and hoping Mr. Gates will pledge him state organization support for the U. 8, senatorial nomination. But as Irvin Cobh cnce reported at the Chicage Republican convention which finally nominated President Harding: “Many a dark horse wakes up to find he is only4 a gelding.”

In Washington

By Peter Edson

WASHINGTON, May 14-T¢ was at Ft. Oglethorpe, Ga. Four thousand WAACs passed in review, and not a slip showed. The seams of their 69-cent government issue hose were all straight— straighter, in all honesty, than their ranks. It was an all-WAAC band, even to the cute little number who care ried the big bass drum, even to the color bearer and the color guard, and to First Officer Aloise Shimkus of Worcester, Mass., an exdesigner who has just graduated from the command school in Pt. Leavenworth, if you please, She sang out her “Officers, front and center—March!” in a voice that all could hear on the 40-acre parade ground. A leathery old colonel of cavalry, Hobart B. Brown of the old regular army, booted and spurred, wearing service. medals that showed he had chased Villa in Mexico, and a croix de guerre with palm in France, took the salute. He used to train M. P.s to be tough in the provost marshal school here. He used to be considered hard-boiled himself Now he commands the post which is the 3d WAAC training center, just over the Georgia line, south of Chaftanooga.

Recruiting Falls Off

COL. BROWN now beams with pride over his softe boiled WAACs. He thinks they're wonderful. They think he's an old dear. There you have an idea qf what’s happening to what they used to call, “this man’s army.” It's this woman's army now, here at Oglethorpe, at any rate. For some reason or other, recruiting of the WAACSs has fallen off lately, and the army brass hats want something done about it. The first fine flush of enthusiasm with which the first volunteers enlisted | hasn’t followed through.

A recruiting campaign is to be launched soon to build the 60,000 force to the authorized 150,000, but the real demand for WAACs is closer to 375,000, There's a bill before congress now to increase the force to that number and make it a part of the regular army, instead of just an auxiliary. The WAACs have found 120 army jobs they can do—from cooking and baking to driving a truck. The WAAC Cs claim they do these jobs better than men can do them, and they learn to do them faster. The dope

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