Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 24 July 1943 — Page 10

PAGE 10 The Indianapolis Times

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SATURDAY, JULY 24, 1043

PROGRESS A LTHOUGH the Connally-Smith anti-strike bill had to be passed over the president's veto, it seems that legislation has contributed something to regularizing the administration’s war labor machinery. Anyhow John Lewis’ mine workers union has for the first time formally recognized that the war labor board exists as a legal entity, has petitioned that board to approve the terms of a negotiated wage increase in some Illinois mines, and Mr. Lewis himself has offered to appear personally before the board as a petitioner. During the months Mr. Lewis refused to recognize it, the war labor board existed only as a creation of the executive arm of the government, and apparently the administration wanted no change in its status. But the Connally-Smith bill, among other provisions, gave the board statutory power, including authority to subpena witnesses and compel testimony. That's some progress, for which the executive can thank the legislative arm. Whether Mr. Lewis will go as far as to accept the finding of the WLB, of course, has vet to be determined.

MOSCOW-GERMAN MANIFESTO HE Moscow manifesto of the self-constituted “National Committee of Free Germany” is bad medicine. At best this is an indiscretion on Stalin’s part; at worst, a move toward a Communist-controlled Germany and a separate peace with it. But Americans should not jump to the worst interpretation. As long as Russia is our military ally—doing more to destroy Nazi forces than all other allies combined, as President Roosevelt and Prime Minister Churchill have emphasized—our course of wisdom and self-interest is to postpone judgment, Standing alone the manifesto would be unimportant. | What a few Germans refugees do is not world-shaking. But | their Soviet sponsorship is significant, Though technically the Russian government is not committed, actually the committee could not organize—much less use of the official press and radio—without government inspiration. At a quick glance the manifesto might seem all right. Some of its signers are German Communists, others apparently are not—but they are Russian hostages. It appeals to the Germans to overthrow Hitler and his regime, and proposes a democratic-capitalist rather than a Communist state. It specifies “freedom of speech, press, assembly, conscience and religious beliefs,” as well as “the guaranteed right to labor and to lawfully acquire property,” and the “restoration of property to lawful owners.”

Hh = 5

8 UT many parts of the manifesto don't parse. It says “the troops of England and America are at the gates of Europe,” and the hour of Germany's “collapse is approaching.” That seems to give the western allies somewhat too much credit and the Red army too little, and to be a bit overoptimistic about the speed of the Germany army’s collapse. This is the build-up for a warning that, unless the Germans now form an anti-Nazi government—presumably acceptable to this Moscow national committee—Nazi defeat by foreign armies “will signify the end of our (German) national independence and of our state existence, the dismemberment of our fatherland.” Of course there is no authority whatever for the threat that the allies, after defeating Naziism, intend to destroy Germany and the German people. The Atlantic charter guarantees just treatment to the vanquished peoples. This latest Moscow propaganda to the contrary is likely to make the Germans stick all the closer to Hitler. Actually, the German people hitherto have feared occupation by Russian troops more than they have feared English and American armies. Is this a key to the Moscow appeal ? But the strangest part of the manifesto is the claim of this rump committee to represent the German people: “The national committee has the right, and is obliged in this hour, to speak on behalf of the German people, to speak clearly and firmly, as the gravity of the present moment demands.” That of course is presumptuous nonsense. Only the anti-Nazis in Germany can speak for themselves, and their voice cannot yet be heard outside. ®

HE whole idea of a Moscow-inspired committee repregenting the future Germany is so obviously absurd, we have difficulty believing that Stalin expects it to click. Perhape this is merely an advance play and bargaining point in what the Kremlin considers a diplomatic game of give and take for influence in post-war Germany and Europe. Even so, it is devious and dangerous, making for division instead of unity among the allies. While blaming Stalin for an indiscretion or more, we must admit that the London and Washington governments share some responsibility for the tendency to pull apart on Buropean issues. Allied policy lacks clarity. The long Anglo-American dispute over de Gaulle, and the lack of agreement in certain occupied countries, encourages Stalin

to play a lone hand. None of the allies can afford to play a lone hand, the danger is too preat. If the unconditional surrender and no separate peace pledges mean anything—and we think they mean everything—the major allies must act jointly. That was needed during the inter-allied disputes over Poland, Jugoelavia, France, North Africa. It is absolutely essential now that the Rustians are pushing back the Germans in the east, and Anglo-American forces prepare for continental

invasian.

ty, 4 cents a copy; deliv | ered by carrier, 18 cents |

| wherever they appear to be in danger.

Fair Enough

By Westbrook Pegler

NEW YORK, July 24 —Assuming, as all Americans and most Italians and more and more Germans do, that the united nations will win the war, what plans can Americans make to win the peace, as the saying goes, and prolong the interval between this one and the next? The very idea of a United States of the world is offensive for the reasons which were given in the old debates on the late League of Nations, reasons which, incidentally, the American people as well as the more nationalistic politicians or statesmen, incorsed. In the United States of the world this country would sit with Russia, whose system is just as antagonistic to everything American as Hitler's national socialism and. because our sort of freedom is limited to a relatively small area, we and those who think as we do would be vastly outnumbered by nations accustomed to dictatorship of one kind or another. Who would police Germany for the period of penance and reform? At a glance it seems inevitable that Russia would have a strong hand in the work and that the United States and Great Britain also intend to have armies and teachers on the ground. But Russia certainly would not promote the four freedoms, nor any of them, for they have never existed in Russia.

Our Position Would Be Weak

SOMEWHERE A sharp line would seem to be necessary between the Russian and the American and British zones of influence and, while the Russians, of course, could keep their troops and commissars on duty indefinitely, under compulsion, the Americans and British undoubtedly would - want to be brought home and returned to civil life and the pecple at home would back them up. What would be done about Czechoslovakia and Jugoslavia? It is not necessary to speculate on fine details of these problems to foresee that our country would be in a weak position not only because of the distance and the cost to the American workers at home, but because a mighty Russia would be right on top of the situation. Would Italy get back her African empire and if so why, and if not, would it be given to Great Britain? And again, if so why, if we mean what we say today? What would be the voting basis in the United States of the world or any other world organization of nations and would the vote of a puppet in some backward land be equal to the vote of the United States of America? And, if some decision for war

were to be carried by such a vote, would the Ameri- | can people abide by the rule of a rigged majority |

and send armies to enforce against a third party a decision in which they had neither part nor heart?

Armed Might ls Alternative

MERELY TO CONJURE any of a hundred such possibilities is to answer no. But what is the alternative then? Woodrow Wilson stated it in his dying appeals for his League of Nations. It is a long period of armed might. It is universal compulsory military service and a burden of expense which would keep the American standard of living even lower than it is today and a national readiness at all times to defend American interests It probably means alliances, too, but alliances in which the United States would have an influence proportionate to her size and wealth and her own estimate of her rightness in any cause, and would drop all pretense to be the great, loving defender of abstract justice everywhere in the world. That is a gloomy alternative, to be sure, but it is a gloomy situation in which the world finds itself and, at any rate, by this decision, the United States could at least pick her own wars and enemies and not be dealt in on wars or policing expeditions against total strangers who, in the opinion of the American people, were more sinned against than sinning.

Always Rescuing Others

WE ARE, in a way of speaking, strangers in this world, home bodies with a passion for touring and a naive enthusiasm for quaintness in other peoples, and suckers for hard luck stories. We have a low boiling point and a weakness for convincing ourselves when we go to war that we are not doing this for our own interests, to save our own national life, but to rescue others from the clutches of villains who are always dragging them into dark alleys with indecent intent. Now, the United States is mature and powerful and a nation to be consulted, not ignored: mollified. not threatened. If we must stay armed, anyway, as

we must in order to be influential in any world union |

of nations, the cost and the risk would be no greater if we remained independent than if we joined the vigilantes of the world as a volunteer, pledged to answer all alarms. There is no danger that a strong, independent United States would go bullying as Germany and Japan have done and so take on unnecessary wars for their own sake, but a United States bound by the decisions of a majority of nations could be called out again and again to fight over the pathway between two blades of grass.

We the People By Ruth Millett

“ROCMS — For army couples with babies.” You read it right, And it's no misprint. It's one woman's answer to the ‘no children” rule that is keeping so many service families apart these days. The woman, whose name certainly should be set in caps, is MRS. JENNIE HUTCHINSON, and her home, with its rooms for army couples with babies, is in Tallahassee, Fla. Mrs. Hutchinson used only six words to express her idea of democracy. She could have used more. 8he could have said, “I believe in the right of young people to marry and have families—even in war time.

Owe More Than Coffee

“I BELIEVE that we owe the young men who are fighting this war more than a few free doughnuts, a few cups of coffee, and a lot of fine-sounding words. I believe we are so indebted to them that we should treat them and their families with consideration. “I believe that in wartime neighborliness must be national. That it is important to show a neighbor's interest and concern for the young mother and baby who are a thousand miles away from home. “I believe that families should stay together as long as possible, I believe that it is important for a man to be able to watch his baby grow and change and develop.” But she said it the way a service man would appreciate it. She said “Rooms—for army couples with babies.’

To the Point—

WHEN A MAN lets money go to his head it touches his soft spot. » . *

THE GE man gets 112 letters a year, ace

cording to post office figures. Not if he pays his bills.

THE INDIANAPOLIS TIMES

*

SATURDAY, JULY 24, 1943

Booby Trap on the Home Front!

I

The Hoosier Forum

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

“A GOOD CHANCE FOR CITY TO BE BOMBED” By R. B,, Indianapolis

This is in reply to the article sent in by another reader recently concerning the question of why we must have blackouts. Ag long as there is a country that we must fight, there is a very good chance for our city to be bombed. We have many war plants here and if they were able to knock out one of our plants it would be quite a feather in their cap. Of

course, it would have to be a suicide

(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.)

“GROWING PLANTS NEED CAPILLARY WATER” By J. F. Hoover, Batesville

crew, but we have seen what has| As a gardener, with more than 50 happened other places and know years’ experience, just allow me to the enemy would not hesitate to | tell the readers of The Times, the

do it. | I admit the signals that we have are very confusing, for even some | of us air raid wardens, but as long | as we continue the practice of hav-| ing blackouts we will be sure that) in case of an air raid we will be prepared and casualty and property iamage will be at a minimum. So remember, we will be bombed if the war is to be a long one and practice makes perfect!

§ 48 “LET'S NOT COAX NOR DEMAND A FOURTH TERM” By Ed Snyder, 89 8. linois st.

Let's not be selfish by urging, coaxing and demanding that our beloved president make another ef- | fort for the exalted position which

he holds. Seeking another term with its uncertainties would add another burden to his shoulders. . If he would desire to retire he could do so with honor, leaving the place vacant for someone who has not gone through the harrowing experiences of the past. With this knowledge, he would be much sought after. Many would flock to him for advice. Why not establish an office of his own with suitable remuneration? This would relieve the strain on the nervous system, a vacation in itself. Let's not urge, coax nor demand a fourth term. By so doing we show gue appreciation. Don't let's be selfsh.

|

Victory Gardeners’ Weekly Almanat sounds a bit like one new gardener telling another how to grow a garden. Mr. Irwin says applying water is the only sure way of having adequate moisture for maximum yield. O. K, Mr. Irwin, that means you are all set for a big lot of gravitational water, which leaves to me the choice of capillary water, which is the only water plants can thrive on. Allow me to explain why capillary water is the only means by which a plant can ever exist. Listen, capillary water exists in the form of their films around the soil particles, and in the spaces between them. Each separate particle is surrounded by its own film, while larger films build the separate particles together in granules. Since the particles of a given weight of soil of fine texture present a larger surface area than the par ticles of a soil of coarse texture, it is evident that the finer the soil, the greater the amount of capillary water required to make up the films. It is the capillary water of the soil that plants use in their growth. Their root tips come in contact with the water films surrounding the soil particles and drink this water in. One of the first requisites of a productive soil is its ability to act as a reservoir for a large amount of capillary water, | , . ‘ I shall watch the gardeners almanac, hoping Mr. Irwin will be able to show me where gravitational

Side Glances—By Galbraith

"It's wasting money, Mother—taking sirtging to improve my talking

voice, and degeing so I'll walk gracefully! | can

pic

that up in the movies!"

water ever did anything except bake the top soil, therefore shutting off air from the roots, causing them to suffer, and finally die, for want of oxygen, There are many tricks in gardening to learn through a period of more than 50 years, and nature of soil, and plant alike, control the whole works. You just can't change

nature. , . .

” " s

“OCD WORKERS

DESERVE CREDIT” By R. M., Indianapolis My dear Percy Vere: Your recent article on how best to educate the citizenry of Indianapolis and warn the public in event of a real air raid suggests that you haven't devoted much time in receiving instructions to take care of yourself or assist your neighbors in an event this ‘remote possibility” should occur. The best minds in the United States do not “discount the possibility.” They, whom we feel know, would not make the bold suggestion as you have made; how, therefore, can you—an average Mr, Citizen— consider your guess to be correct? The duty of the people of the United States in this time of war is to obey the request of the national government where the possibility of a disaster may arise. A raid, my friend, would seriously affect the war effort, the morale of the people, and would heap critjcism unnecessarily upon the leaders of our country. Didn't “dear old England” start air raid prechutions some time back in 1034? The results of England's warden and auxiliary services will go down in history; through their efforts a solid, determined group of people were organized to meet the enemy wherever he struck, In spite of the fact that one In every five homes was damaged, the people of England were able to raise their thumbs in a sign of determination to carry on to victory. However, the experiences of England in air raids are given to us to ease the pain and agony of a raid when such may occur. The army orders blackouts, They take careful checks of the OCD. They may order more blackouts— maybe for longer, much longer periods than they have in the past. I must say, this surprise dimout and blackout, if it were such a failure as you say, is the city of Indianapolis ready for an air raid? The answer is no, emphatically NO! OCD is an organization of volunteers organized for the purpose of protecting and aiding all people in the event of an emergency. Should those who feel no further tests or instructions are necessary have the right to determine the welfare of the people? Do you think for the benefit of a few half-heart-ed compliances the work of the OCD should be dropped, and we should disregard our national leaders because through their great knowledge are able to see the possibilities whereby we could be the center of Japanese or Nazi attention? Let's do our duty and get behind the OOD and develop a determined citizenry that the enemy will find SO well organized that any raid they make or attempt to make will be a complete failure, Let's not induce people to lull themselves into a false sense of security and have a repetition of Pearl Harbor in Indianapolis. Let's give credit to the many thousands who have already volunteered their time and effort to the OCD-—they really deserve credit, don’t you think? They need you, 80 why not report to 136 N. Pennsylvania st, fill out a card, attend a class, and then tell your friends

ow neighbors the efforts that are being made to protect them,

Willkie and G.O.P.

By Thomas L. Stokes

WASHINGTON, July 24—~How Wendell L. Willkie continues to annoy the established G.O.P, overlords was illustrated at the eastern organization meeting of the Republican post-war policy association, so-called. The association itself has been an irritant for old-line G. O. P. leaders ever since it first saw the light of day some months ago in Chicago and began to peep lustily about the necessity of the Republican party getting away from Isolationism, It was looked upon then as a sort of gadfly buzzing about the G. O. P. elephant, but it did not fly away at the swish of the tail. Instead, it began to grow and become more irritating until, in self-defense, the Republican regulars appointed a post-war policy come mittee of their own, numbering 48 members drawn from the national committee and from congress.

Committee Packed Against Willkie

THIS OFFICIAL committee was obviously packed against the more progressive elements of the party, poth on domestic and foreign policy, and obviously, also, against Mr. Willkie, Very few of his friends were included. This did not stop the annoying Chicago organiza tion. ‘To the contrary, it extended itself into the east, drummed up a big meeting in New York and ate tracted some important party figures in that area, ine cluding governors. Friends of Mr. Willkie were predominant in the New York meeting and, as if in defiance, the associa= tion virtually unveiled itself as a mechanism to proe mote Mr, Willkie's nomination in 1944. Chairman Harrison E. Spangler of the Republican national committee replied today to a telegram from Deneen A. Watson, founder and chairman of the Chie cago organization, asking an audience for a commite tee delegated by the New York meeting. The come mittee intends to urge upon the national chairman that he have his own committee adopt its program for post-war international collaboration, The national chairman replied: “Your wire of the 20th just received. The latch string at Republican headquarters is always out to all who desire to be helpful in our common cause of service to our country. “Will be delighted to see your committee at 4 o'clock p. m. either Monday, the 26th, or Tuesday, the 27th. Previous engagements will occupy my time une til then.”

Rival Organization Grows

THE COMMITTEE can cool its heels for a a bit. But the rival organization is going right ahead, It is growing into a national organization, under Mr, Watson's direction, with a mountain states and a Pacific coast states unit under way to supplement its eastern and midwestern branches, Its sponsors are convinced that the Republican party can win in 1944 if it adopts a forward-looking policy of international co-operation, thus removing that issue from the campaign, and thereby attracting many independent Democrats who do not like the New Deal, but who would not support isolationism. That's somewhat Mr. Willkie's theory, and the most recent Gallup poll shows that he outranks other possible Republican candidates in support among ine dependent and middle-of-the-road Democrats who are considering a switch in 1944,

In Washington

By Peter Edson

WASHINGTON, July 24 -- Most people who come to Washe ington on a visit, if they play the course right down the middle and stay out of the rough, will seldom get off of a dog-leg that rung from the Union station on Cap= itol Hill, west of the Lincoln me= morial, then north up Rock Creek park or turning off at the White House, northwest on Connecticut ave. as far as the Shoreham and Wardman Park hotels. In that area, approximately, you have all of Washington that is good golfing— broad vistas, wide avenues, acres of sprawling gov ernment buildings, well-kept greens except when the crab grass is dead, monuments, memorials, malls, and marble palaces. A Not all of Washington that is beautiful is in this area. There are good side trips to the airport or the national cathedral or Mount Vernon or out around the embassies. But by and large, once you stray oute side the accepted haunts for strangers and tourists you run into the other side of Washington, the dirty side of Washington, the Washington of vice and crime and insanitation and slums. Under the crowding of wartime conditions, this other side of Washington has been gradually grows ing worse until today it is nothing short of a nae tional scandal.

Restaurants Blacklisted

OTHER CITIES get their dirt from manufacturing anid industry. Washington has practically none, for the smoke of the navy yard and the bureau of stande ards isnt enough to cloud the sun or provide one cine der per thousand eyes. Washington is clean that way, It gets its physical dirt, like its political dirt, more

subtly. : Nearly a fourth of Washington's restaurants were recently black-listed by the health department of the District of Columbia for persistent violations of sanie

tary regulations. A congressional subcommittee on the District of Columbia did get excited enough to make an investie gation of sanitary conditions in the city. It took them three months and they found that everything which could be wrong, was. Overcrowding, substandard living conditions, danger of epidemics, increase in malaria and meningitis, inadequate garbage collection and disposal, 900 houses with outdoor privies not con< nected to sewers, 74 out of 231 families studied shown to be living in deplorable conditions with 8 per cent having no running water, 22 per cent no inside toilet facilities, 53 per cent cooking on coal or kerisene stoves, 65 per cent without furnace heat. Rats overrun large sections of the city, and typhus germs have been found in a few. Over 6000 premises entered wera found to be rat infested and the occupants given ine structions on how to kill them, ‘

Crime Wave on Increase

SUMMING it all up, 50 per cent of the population of the District of Columbia was reported to be living in slum conditions. This portion of the population lives in an area slightly larger than three square miles, which contains approximately 40 per cent of the deficient dwellings in the district. On top of this, the fair city on the Potomac has’ discovered it has a crime wave. A scathing report. from the Washington Oriminal Justice association ree ports 5400 crimes in 1042, 3600 of which were unsolved, Of the 1300 adult and 800 juvenile arrests, there were less than 700 convictions. Juvenile delinquency cases. are running at the rate of 450 a day. In the past year there were 2300 burglarivs, 1000 robberies, 542 assaults’ and 60 murders, ; Prostitution is rampant, Washington “being one of the worst cities in the country from the viewpoint of street soliciting,” according to the ‘ie :

report, : This 4s the Washington which the visitors don't»