Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 20 May 1943 — Page 16

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«Ps RILEY 5351

Give Light and the People Will Find Their Oton Way

THURSDAY, MAY 20, 1943

PRISONERS OF WAR

HE proposal of Col. Welton M. Modisette, commander of Camp Atterbury, to make Italian prisoners of war held there available for work on farms reasonably near the cantonment seems likely to be a welcome one to hardpressed Indiana farmers. And it is not likely to meet with

any objections.

When tentative plans for distributing interned Japanese—some of them actually citizens of the United States— to jobs in this area there was instant opposition so serious that the idea was dropped quickly. But the feeling toward Italians is entirely different. Many persons of Italian birth or descent have lived among us for years, and in general they have been friendly, likable, industrious, law abiding residents. Even while we are at war with Italy, there is little real bitterness against Italians, and most of us understand well enough that these soldiers, pushed into a war for which they had no desire at all, do not harbor any evil designs against the United States, and would far rather be tilling Indiana fields than fighting for the grandeur of their be-

draggled Duce.

TINDER international agreements covering wartime practices, which are carried out by all civilized nations, though not by the Japanese nation, prisoners of war may be put to work under conditions that guarantee full protection of their personal rights and safety. It is by no means a new policy of the United States to use war prisoners as farm labor. Thousands of Hessian soldiers eaptured during the American revolution were placed oh American farms as war prisoners, liked America so well that many hundreds of them never returned home after the war, and quite a few prominent families in the eastern states today are descendants of those very Hessians who eame here to fight.

Allied forces in Africa now hold some 175,000 Italian

and German prisoners. How many of them may be sent to the United States never has been announced, but obviously it will be easier to bring them here than to ship food for them to Africa—and for their own welfare as well as for the needs of this country it is better that they be legitimately employed while they are here.

MARS RIDES THE RAILS

EW Americans ave fully aware of the enormous jeb their railroads are doing to help win the war,

Only eivilians who travel much and far get even piecemeal views of the countless troop trains and the 100-125-ear freight trains rushing day and night through the land

to carry men, munitions, machinery and food to the ports, |

camps and plants now concentrated on the effort to make

vietory sure and

Inspiring spectacle of vast and mighty movement — |

speedy.

even when seen only in parts. To get the thrill of the whole, read “Mars Rides the Rails,” the series of articles now appearing in The Indianapolis Times, in which Charles T. Lucey does for the rail-roads-at-war what he did for industry-at-war in his widely hailed “Smashing the Axis” series. After covering 9000 miles of rail lines from coast to coast, Mr, Lucey gives graphic pictures of what railroad workers are doing on trains, in roundhouses and switching yards, in dispatchers’ offices and at executive desks, to move a wartime traffic that breaks all record in volume, including the transportation of nearly 2,000,000 troops each

month,

No American who reads these articles can fail, we think, to be proud of the railroads and of their ability to perform this huge war task with, so far, such relatively gmall disturbance of their regular passenger and freight gervice. Far greater disruption might have been expected.

N°

* ® ®

R should Americans forget that in successfully handling this war job the railroads are giving another

fine example of free private enterprise rising to meet great national emergency in a way to confound theorists half ready to believe that free private enverprise has “had its

day,”

It's a dark future for Americans if ever their govern-

ment undertakes to discourage all undertakings save its own. That will be the time for another kind of undertaker.

AND ATTU IS THE LEAST HE news from the battle for Attu is good—and also

disturbing.

It is good because our forces are continuing to make progress and “Our casualties are much lighter than had been expected.” It is disturbing because so much time and effort are required to capture one of the enemy’s weakest

outposts.

That, of course, should not surprise anyone who recalls the record in the Solomons and New Guinea. We learn in the South Pacific that the Jap fights for keeps, that he can P Bexist with a minimum of food and equipment, that he com- ~~ Thines skill with cunning and daring, that he is capable of a fanatical disregard for his own life, that as long as he has leaders there is practically no limit to his obedience and sacrifice as a soldier. Both American landings, in the north and the south, succeeded ; and after a week of fighting, the enemy’s central mountain stronghold was breached. But the fact that such preponderant American power, focused on a relatively weak enemy position within easy

range

thousand Japs within a tory will require supreme

larger Pagific vi

week,

Sus Syhting

of our bombers, cannot wipe out-—say—two or three

is sufficient proof that the American effort. if sor

.

Army Notes By Dick Thernburg

WASHINGTON, May 20.—Notes from a 6000-mile tour of army camps; training centers and a port of embarkation: The difference between a slit trench and a foxhole: A slit trench is a defense position to be used by troops who expect to be there not more than six hours. A foxhole is both a defensive and offensive position, for protection and for firing. When troops expect to occpy & position for more than six hours they dig foxholes, which are deeper and broader than slit trenches.

a

# = = Group Bombing: When planes bomb in squadrons and groups, only the bombardier on the lead plane aims at the target. The other bombardiers release their bombs when they see his leave his plane and hear his “Bombs away!” over the interplane radio system. In group bombing the planes fly in the pattern which they want the bombs to make on the target. The lead bombardier aims at the near edge of the target. Thus when the other bonibs are thrown, an instant after the first plane’s, they will make a pattern on the target in inverse order to the pattern of the plane formation.

Inside Story of Dieppe

THE REAL objective of the costly raid on Dieppe was to seize a German Radar (radio detection device which makes possible accurate fire on unseen targets) to see how good it was. From that standpoint the raid was a success. The raiders brought back intact the whole Radar station's equipment, including the operator. The German equipment was inferior to that of the United States and Great Britain. = 8 4 The army's biggest problem is teaching young officers, commissioned and non-commissioned, the habit of leadership, the balance and judgment that officers must have. The men are eager to learn but, said one general, there is no substitute for time. 4 #% 3 ’

The tactical doctrines of armored warfare among the Germans, Americans and British are so similar they might have been written by the same man. The difference is in the application of the principles, not in the principles themselves,

Ammunition for One Day

ARMORED UNIT8 carry sufficient ammunition for one day's fighting without additional supplies being brought up from the rear. Most of our armored vehicles carry 90 rounds. The average fired in the battle of Bi Alamein was 108. # ® =

One general, lately returned from Africa, warned:

cunning and ruthless fighters.” ® = =

At Ft. Knox, where 50,000 men are learning armored warfare, 98 per cent of the men are putting from 12'% per cent to 15 per cent of their pay into war bonds. ® ® =» The U. 8. is experimenting with the idea of acelimating troops on the way to the battle fronts fore the kind of weather they will meet at their destinations. It takes only three days to accustom a physically fit man to desert heat, and that conditioning lasts for 30 days even if he returns to a normal eli= mate immediately after the third day. It takes longer to condition men for the jungles, where humidity is a factor.

Battle Experience Helps Green Men

THE U. 8. also is experimenting with waterproof packing cases so that cargoes can be floated ashore in places where it is difficult to unload big vessels. a Men with battle experience afe being shipped back here to form the nuclei of new outfits. It has been found that such men accelerate the training process of green troops, and give them more confidence. ® = @

Our armored units are equipped with stabilizers to hold their guns farily steady when the vehicles are | moving. But even with the stabilizers, tanks fire from a standing position if possible.

1

‘We the People

i

By Ruth Millett

WHEN JOHNNY, fighting on a foreign front, gets disgusted with some condition in this country, he writes a letter to his wife or mother that nearly burns up the paper it’s written on. “Where do they get that stuff?” he demands. And then he usually adds, “We're going to have something to say about the way the country is run when we get - home.” - Shouldn't those letters stir Johnny's mother or wife to a firm resolve—the determination to act for Johnny in his absence so that his ideas are expressed in America today? It may be some time before Johnny gets home. Looking at it honestly—he may never get home. But Johnny's feelings about his country and how it should be run are usually shared by his wife or mother. Maybe Johnny, risking his neck to save his country, is a little more critical of how it is being run —but fundamentally his ideas are probably much like those of the weman closest to him. So why don't those women do something about their Johnny's ideas? Why don’t they use their power as citizens to make themselves heard?

Women Can Speak Up Now

WHY WAIT for Johnny to come home when someone who shares his ideas is here right now—and could work to put those ideas across?

Women are slow to assume his responsibility for the way their country is run. They know what they think and what they believe in—but the majority of them think somebody else ought to see that those ideas are put into effect. Well, more and more of their men are gone. They are too busy fighting a war to have a say in the way their country is run. They can’t do much now but fume and fret and say, “Wait until the war is over” But their women could do something right new. They could use their votes and their influence and their energy to let their Johnny» have his say. After all, it’s their say, too, but if they won't speak up for themselves, maybe they'll speak up for their men,

To the Point—

CHURCHILL SAYS, “It is no good having only one march aid out.” We love a pavade- lots and lots of parades.

wn i—

THE SEASON approaches when girls will be moonstruck—and then son-struck. * -

PAYING ON the installment plan makes months seem shorter and years longer, g .

. .

“Don’t underrate the Italians. They are well trained, |

The Merry Month of May! oO N

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The Hoosier Forum

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

“PENALTY: 30 DAYS HARD LABOR IN COAL MINE” By H. W. Daacke, 1401 8. State ave. It is a far ery from The Indianapolis Times of years ago when Pulitzer prizes were the order of the day to The Times of today as evinced by the editorial “No Surrender.” The Times of years ago that could call Uncle Sam “The Bully” for some of his unfair dealings with his weaker neighbors to The Times of today that could and is by the very nature of this editorial assisting in forcing the miners and their representatives into an) impasse that will leave them but] little to choose from. And if they] should as a last resort use the only | weapon of defense that they possess, the strike, The Times can rest assured that they have done their bit to bring about such a situation.

It is not surrender on the part of Uncle 8am to make every effort, even to the extent of nullifying the Little Steel formula, to give the, miners and their duly elected representatives a square deal. There have been a few isolated cases recently where the line was broken |

why not do likewise in the miners’ case, the most underpaid of all| groups of labor? , , . Your expression, “false leadership,” is harsh and I doubt if it can be successfully sustained in the eyes of the American public, when they know the full facts of the | case, which they cannot and do not get through the press, radio or pulpit of today. “Beetle-browed John” as he has been labeled by some of the, should I say, notorious big men of the present time, was intelligent enough to evolve and develop industrial unionism as against craft unionism | for the benefit of humanity in general and the lowly worker in particular, as no other man living today can claim credit for. And the miners can and will be loyal to their chief and continue to give allegiance to their country as they

(under -privileged men, 'hovels and working for a pittance | Deal goal seemed to be a “benevo-

have in the past.

The Times of yesteryear, if pub- Poor work and they lost money.

(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.)

lished today, would expose the sabotage of big men of the country, while The Times of today makes no

Good management, they got a profit. The law gave none a privilege. If any got a privilege it was given by God or nature, whichever you

| ernment payroll | summed up in a Churchill paraphrase in Col. Charles

prefer, who gave some men better] brains than others, Or like the servants in the parable, some make) better use of the talents given them. The lady compares the miners to sheep, the stockholders to wolves. If the wolves had not risked losing their money in coal, the sheep would not be getting $1 an hour, $1.50 for overtime. Lewis, instead of trying to buy presidents and congressmen with

mention of it in editorials or news items. . «+ My penalty, if within my power, for the party or parties that wrote this editorial would be 30 days’ hard labor in a coal mine. Voltaire says: etc, ete.

» » “LET LEWIS BUY A COAL MINE”

{mine and operate it and see how

political contributions, buy a coal

| much the miners get. v¥. ® 8 “TALK PLAIN, BUDDY! THE ISSUE IS TOO VITAL” By Edward F. Maddox, Indianapolis For some mighty important editorials The Times deserves much |

By James RB. Meitzier, Attica

A lady contributor to the Forum|

describes the owners of coal mines

|as privileged persons, living in'line to get the facts home to the

beautiful mansions; her father, a

to equalize wages and living costs | company engineer, as a privileged | First, one good editorial sought and it did not cause inflation, 80 , iver saving his money and buying to inform us that the New Dealers

stock in the mines; the miners as

living in (her word) of $4 to $5 a day. That $4 or $5 a day does not look | so small to a rural-minded farmer who has worked many a day for $1, when he hired out and sometimes) for less when he worked for himself. . + +

credit, but my opinion is that much | plainer and much stronger language is going to have to be laid on the

| American people. had at last begun showing where

they are heading fer, and the editorial writer stated that the New

If they want more, let|

lent fascism” or ‘national socialism.” ‘That's short, or long, for Hitlerism! Now, I have a book written by Samuel B. Pettingill which says:

Our Hoosiers By Daniel M. Kidney

&

WASHINGTON, May 20H Former Governor M. Clifford Townsend is billed for a speech to the tobacco growers at Dane ville, Va, this week and his title is given as “chief of production of the war food administration.” Now the question being asked here is, “Is he?” For last week Food Adminis trator Chester C. Davis announced that Roy F. Hendrickson, head of the old food distribution administration, would be his deputy in charge of the distribution branch and President J. B. Hutson, of the Commodity Credit Corp., deputy in charge of food production, ; Mr. Townsend had been named to the food pros. duction job when Secretary of Agriculture Claude R. Wickard was the war food administrator. At the same time Mr, Hendrickson had been named dis«' tribution chief,

Townsend Draws a Blank

NOW IT turns out that Mr. Hendrickson got ree named by the new boss and Mr. Townsend drew a blank, , When it was pointed out to Mr. Davis that ne already had Mr. Townsend in the post to which he’ assigned Mr. Hutson, he reportedly said: . “I am not interested in titles in this organization only in results.” Mr. Townsend supposedly gave the time-tested . Will Rogers answer to an inquiry regarding his status: » “All I know is what I read in the papers.” The agriculture department press service explainedit something like this: : “Don’t worry about Governor Townsend. He still is on the payroll at the same old price and will ree: main there as everyone else does. Secretary Wickardmanages to find enough to do in departmental mate ters, so that he doesn't interfere with Mr, Davis rune ning the food show. “If Townsend doesn't find enough work to keep him busy here in Washington he may take a field assignment.” .

'So Little for So Much’

THAT WOULD probably mean that he would go to work on his farm bureau colleagues—perhaps to try and corral them back into the New Deal fold. They have been a primary factor in pushing the congressional farm bloc away from administration’ agricultural policies. This matter of the administration knowing only

addition and never subtracting, so far as the gove is concerned, was sardonically

Sweeny’s new book, “Moment of Truth.” Writing about Washington, the colonel said: “Never in the history of bureaucracy have so many done so little for so much.”

Army Fireworks B

.

y Peter Edson FT. BLISS, Tex, May 20. Twenty some miles from El Paso on what is known as the Camp Hueco firing range of the big Ht, Bliss military reservation, the army anti-aircraft artillery traine ing forces put on what are haps the most spectacular Fourth of July fireworks exhibitions ever seen, whenever they conduct night firing practice. Co % There are batteries of giant searchlights to pick up the targets in the clear night air, and from eight different firing positions, bate teries of every known anti-aircraft weapon send up magnificent showers of tracer bullets to arc across the sky and, sometimes, hit the radio-controlled, miniature plane which is the target. When a direct hit is scored and the little yellow winged, red fuselaged pilotless target plane is dis= abled, a parachute is released and the model plane floats gently to earth, where its works may be picked up and salvaged. Among the guns in the firing are the .30 and .50caliber machine guns, 37-mm. and the new 40-mm. American Bofors anti-aircraft guns, and finally the big 90-mm. anti-aircraft batteries with their coms plicated range finding and fire direction apparatus which will keep a number of guns on the target, firing them automatically and leaving for the gun crews only the work of reloading.

| Gunners Work in the Dark

ALL THIS anti-aircraft training is concluded with

| “The danger today is something else. | night firing, in which the crews must perform every

“Privilege, an exemption, im-'It is creeping collectivism. . . . It| operation without the aid of light. So familiar mush munity, peculiar right, advantage,’ will move under the smoke-screen they be with their guns that they can service the

or prerogative given by law. this lady's father used his brains to become an engineer, received more wages because he earned more, | risked his savings buying stock in| the mine and so earned still more. | Likewise, the big stockholders risked | their earnings in the land, ma-| chinery and wages and used their brains to manage their investment.

Side Glances—By Galbraith

goal. That goal is national social-| ism.” | Now I want to absolutely disagree with both of these gentlemen and state plainly that I think they are) both wrong about the kind of social- | ism which the New Dealers are at-| tempting to force on the people of] these United States. I am certain that the New Dealers are . . .| socialists like Joe Stalin's favorite | band—communism! But since there isn't much difference between red bolshevism and brown boleshevism —what the—? Let all patriotic Americans unite to drive these socialist schemers from the temple of American democracy—now! We agree that the New Deal is a socialist deal, so let's deal it out! Now to explain another Times editorial—"“Reunion en Route,” April 30th, The editor says that no sooner was the president back in Washington than he announced his interest in another of Mrs. Roosevelt's pet projects—'"this time a plan to draft all young men and young women for a year’s compulsory service to the government in peacetime as well as wartime.” The editor says further that the idea is in “operation in Germany” and highly thought of in (Communist circles) though he didn’t use the word “Communist!” Talk plain, buddy! The issue is too vital to side-step! If you dumb clucks don't believe the White House is interested in a plan to communize our American youth, read “Prohibiting Poverty,” a plan Mrs, F. D. R. sponsored to communize our children!

DAILY THOUGHTS

If a man vow a vow unto the Lord, or swear an oath to bind his soul with a bend, he shall not break his word, he shall do according to all that prpceedeth out of his mouth,—~Numbers 30:2.

OATH, an oath, T have an oath

Ne A be LA

» Now, of laudable ‘objectives’ to its hidden| cup in pitch darkness and without the aid of even an

occasional flashlight beam, which might give away their positions while putting the guns in readiness

for firing. Where the searchlights go through their drill picking up night bombers, 40 of the big lamps, rang’ ing five feet and more in diameter, throw their beams 10 miles into the night sky. As the lights may be widely spaced over several miles of ground, when this spectacle is viewed from a distance, it gives the impression of a tremendous Japanese flag pattern, the rays of light converging in a blinding glare on the tiny plane caught in center of this web of light. a The beams then extend up and beyond, seemin to reach half way to the zenith, and filling a huge sector of the horizon with a light display that moves as the plane moves, rivaling the show of an surors borealis. il Then, when you face about to watch the antle aircraft firing, there is an equally spectacular show, Other searchlights have caught the targets to be fired on. Now it is a luminous “sock” towed across the sky behind a plane that is piloted, Next it be one of these model pilotiess weighing 125 pounds and with only a 13-foot wing launched from a catapult, powered by a gasoline engine, controlled entirely from the ie by radijo. ie we Fire at Minute Targets % IT CLIMBS 1000 feet ‘or more, and then, whe It has reached a height at which its small ¢ 7 give the proportions of a larger plane at greater al