Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 19 May 1944 — Page 18

«@- RILEY 551

Give Light and the People Will Find Their Own Way

severe setback.”

added with biting irony:

They don’t need to bomb ours.” 8 tJ » - . os

parts and products sacrificed by the strikers.

tions of all time.

button.

mal capacity.”

ET Ee

“as the military situation permits.”

tary occupation be held to a minimum.

alone,

sia’s part in those signed.

the alliance is hollow.

THE VANISHING FRONTIER

practiced eye. i

250 OF OUR AIRCRAFT ARE MISSING’

R nearly three weeks some 3300 foremen have been on strike in 14 war plants in the Detroit area, throwing out of work tens of thousands of other employees and sharply curtailing the production of crucfal weapons, notably the great long-range fighter plane, the Mustang. ’ The war labor board directed them to go back to work, but without result. The board finally summoned leaders of the Foremen’s Association of America to a hearing in Washington, where army and navy officers were called in to confront them with the serious effect their spreading walkout was having on the war program. The strike had already lost the army air forces 250 Mustangs, Gen. H. H. Arnold told them, and had dealt his command its “most He warned that a continuation of the strike might enable the luftwaffe, now “reeling under our blows,” to “gain a ‘respite and perhaps recover.” Rear Adm. Ernest M. Pace said production of two crack naval planes, a fighter and a torpedo bomber, was affected. A day earlier, Under Secretary of War Patterson had warned that production not only of the Mustang but of the Flying Fortress and the new Superfortress was imperiled, and he

“We have bombed German aircraft-engine factories.

LEADERS OF the foremen voted unanimously, after the WLB hearing, to call off the strike, but they can hardly “conjure up those 250 missing Mustangs or the many other

Perhaps these gentlemen had real grievances, but surely they were suffering no pain so excruciating that it could not have been reduced by a daily reading of the casualty lists, or by a constant contemplation of the fact that we are on the verge of the most colossal military opera-

Shocking as was this impatient and impulsive strike of foremen against what they deemed the too slow procedure of Washington labor agencies, in reckless capriciousness it was outclassed by an incident at a Chrysler war plant in Detroit. Here two C. I. 0. workers ordered an A. F. of L. driver of a soft-drink truck to get out of the plant. Thereupon the company fired the two men. Other workers then threw three company executives out of the plant, and were fired for it. And then 3000 workers walked out, leaving truck and bomber assemblies to await their pleasure—all because a soft-drink driver wore the “wrong”

And at Flint, Mich., 1400 workers in a Buick aluminum foundry—making aircraft parts—were idle in what the company called a movement to limit production “below nor-

All of which adds up, in our opinion, to one hell of a way to back our armies and fleets on the eve of Armageddon.

WESTERN EUROPE PACTS AND RUSSIA

AFTER long negotiation, and just before the tick of 12, several inter-allied agreements for civil government after liberation have been signed. The nations concerned are Norway, the Netherlands and Belgium. As a rule the allied commander-in-chief, Gen. Eisenhower, will turn over authority to representatives of the governments-in-exile

The advantages of advance agreements are many and obvious. There will be no time later for such negotiations, certainly not on the part of Eisenhower. Only by such clear understandings can the confusion inherent in mili-

Naturally the governments-in-exile, when broadly representative, can deal with their own peoples more effectively than can the civil affairs branches of the British=and American armies. So the principle of these agreements has the merit of efficiency as well as justice—always provided there is absolute recognition that the timing of the transfer 1s purely a military decision, resting with Eisenhower

TWO ASPECTS of this general problem are significant. One is the lack of a French agreement. The other is Rus-

French negotiations are held up while Gen. De Gaulle bargains for more prestige and power, and while he protests the necessary ban on foreign code messages outgoing from London—a censorship only loosely applied to the French. This is another case in which the prize prima donna, by failure to co-operate with the allies when every day counts, jeopardizes the invasion and French liberation. The Norwegian agreement was signed by Russia as well as Britain and the United States, while those of the Netherlands and Belgium were approved by Russia in advance. In respect to Norway it is pointed out that Russia may participate in military operations there. As to the Netherlands and Belgium, even though Russia will have no direct hand in the occupation, it seems to us entirely right and proper that she should have been consulted—otherwise

We must add, however, that it should work both ways. The United States has the same right to share decisions regarding Poland and eastern Europe as that granted to Russia in Italy and western Europe—no more but no less.

A GOOD many. Kentuckians must have choked on their . Juleps when they read that their able and amiable Sen- . ator Alben W. Barkley, having broken his glasses, read ; his Jefferson day dinner menu through a monocle. Not only at, but he held it firmly in place with what seemed to

does not admit, the farmer who sold the and not the auctioneer should have to pay the

3

and Myerstown, Pa. He has drawn up a petition to congress praying for the revision of certain of the price restrictions and pointing out a number of complications which may not have been foreseen when price control was adopted as one means of standing off inflation.

'May Not Realize Full, Fair Value’

MR. DAY points out that under this restriction the wife of a farmer who has died, leaving used equipment, may not realize the full, fair value of their joint estate but must, in practical effect, present to the lucky buyer as a cash gift out of her lawful inheritance the difference between the ceiling price and the price that could-be realized in competitive bidding on the lawn under the old maple tree. The same applies to the sale of her washing machine, electric refrigerator and all the rest of her household equipment and there are other painful ramifications, all tending to deprive the individual citizen of values which ordinarily would be his. In the case in point, as Mr. Day explains the situation, the farmer and his family who were selling out were “people who have deprived themselves of most of the pleasures of life and many of the necessities” and were disposing of the holdings accumulated in a lifetime of toil. The tractors were not bought up in a time of scarcity with intent to exploit the shortage and the need of their neighbors for a profit, but were acquired normally for use on the farm. As an offset against the excess price, in this case, other articles sold for 10 cents or 20 cents on the dollar in proportion to their ceiling value, reckoned by their age, condition and the price they cost the, farmer when he bought them new.

Mr. Day Asks Some Questions IN THE Twin Falls sale, as reported a few days

accept only the highest bid and therefore could not let it go at the ceiling price of $723. Tractors and some other equipment, including household machinery, are covered by ceiling prices even in sales between individuals, but used furniture 1s under price restrictions only if sold at auction or by &_ dealer. Mr. Day has asked his OPA some interesting questions to which, he reports, he has had no answer after a lapse of seven months, For example, he wanted to know if a sale is being held under bankruptcy or foreclosure, do the OPA’s ceiling prices still apply? It is my understanding, upon local inquiry, that they do, without exception and this could mean that property of value quite sufficient to meet the claims against it would have to be sold for less than the judgment. In that case, who is the loser, the one who is being sold out or the one who holds the judgment? And if the defendant is the loser, how does the other person go .about collecting the balance? Can he and must hé sue again, and wouldn't the defendant have a good defense in the fact that he had surrendered property of ample value but that a third party, having no standing in the case, namely the United States government, had interfered to abolish a portion of that value?

‘Taxpayers Suffer a Loss’

ANOTHER COMPLICATION presents itself in the case of the sale or auction of good property, say a quantity of confiscated liquor, by the government, itself, acting under an order of the federal court. The marshal, in that case, is required by law to realize as much as he can for the public treasury, but another agency of the government steps in and stops the bidding at the ceiling price, far short of the potentialprice, and the taxpayers suffer a loss while the individual who buys liquor gets the benefit of the restriction. However, it is the farmer who seems to be the most spectacular victim so far and he is tuning up to an outraged howl in several areas of the country.

We The People

By Ruth Millett:

IF ‘THE government really wants us to eat more and bigger omelets and to go in heavily for pork roasts—it has used the wrong psychology. Uncle Sam came right out and told us there were so many eggs ’ on hand they were a problem and ? for goodness sakes to get busy and eat them up. And OPA “unA rationed” most kinds of meat so i A that we would hurry to the butcher's shop to buy more. But what happens? Why, we, just are not inter=ested. If there's plenty—why get excited?

Scarce ltems Are in Demand

IT'S MUCH more important, and more fun, too, it seems, to spend money for things that are scarge, hard to get, or just pure luxuries. The government doesn’t have to ask people to buy liquor, or diamond rings, or fur coats, They'll stand in line for those things. Since that is true, and since the government is bound to remember the way, before rationing, people rushed out to buy and hoard everything rumored soon to be scarce—it looks as though government officials ‘would have known better than to say “Buy— there’s plenty” if they really wanted the people to buy. That isn’t wartime philosophy of the American people. V/e've been fed too long on “You'd better buy this while you can get it, because there ig going to be a shortage” to pay attention to any other appeal.

To The Point—

THE GERMANS have discovered that Crimea does not pay.

* . . >

IT'S THE hot weather that makes some men like sipping a high collar better than wearing one, he » * * “MY GREAT excitement was finding the President home,” said Mrs. Roosevelt on her return from Pitts. burgh. Gosh, imagine his excitement at finding her home, : * . . THE HONEYMOON is over when husband and wife become bridge partners. : . Ld * BERRIES, SPREAD out on a plate on the lowest shelf of the refrigerator, will keep best—unti] the kids find em.

k . . . 4 A BEE or not a bee—that's the picnic question. : : ) aes . ?

ago, a farmer bid $1050 for a used tractor, the prop- ! erty of the county, which was required by law to |

Murray, president of the C. 1. O. United Steelworkers, and the official organ of that union recently an. hounced he will continue as & member of the war labor board, but time during C. 1. O. political action com-

it will disseminate “educational material” up to the time of the election.

to .his heart's content, so far as the Hatch act is concerned. There would be no bar, for example, to

"HAVE been warned not to try to travel

The Hoosier Forum

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

“SPIRIT AND LETTER ARE DIFFERENT” By W. G. D., Indianapolis

Self-appointed guardians of our Constitution have been severe in their criticism, charging that the constitution has been set aside by certain governmental policies inaugurated. In the opening remarks of his address to the 74th congress, President Roosevelt said, “we are undergoing a new order of things, yet we progress to it under the framework, in the spirit and intent of the American Constitution.” This significant and important statement by our President brings us to the consideration of another aspect of our Constitution, namely its flexible side. The supreme court of the United States has always served as the

terially to what we call “the unwritten Constitution.”

to the unwritten law? Nearly 2000 years ago, a great teacher speaking to his disciples acknowledged his chief opponents the Pharisees (constitutionalists) as being great lawyers, great judges and upright in their dealings with their fellowman

ness.” Jesus went back behind the

again has invoked the implied

has enlarged and expanded the Constitution so as to meet changes and developments. Just as a grow-

clothes to meet his ever-expanding dimensions. The Constitution has been ‘enlarged to the extent never anticipated by Thomas Jefferson who held strictly to the written Constitution. Our country has undergone

many economic and social trans- different treatment than the 30 se-|

formations and these phenomenal changes have necessitated

of law. The supreme court has always attempted to interpret the Constitution so as to meet these

(Times readers are invited to express their views in these columns, religious controversies excluded, Because of the volume received, let ters should be limited to 250 words. Letters must be signed. Opinions set forth here are those of the writers, and publication in no way implies agreement with those opinions by The Times. The Times assumes no responsibility for the return of manuscripts and cannot enter correspondence regarding them.)

lintent. The spirit of the law and | the letter of the law are two dif-

What do we mean when we refer ferent things and should always be “IT'S STILL THE

constructed so they will not con{flict with each other. » ” » | “HOW MUCH HAS

'C. L. 0. INVESTED?” By James Meitsler, Attica

insofar as the law was concerned. | There would be no Montgomery common sense basis. Conditions But cautioning his disciples, he said,| Ward and Co. to pay wages to its aren't nearly as bad as many would “Unless your righteousness exceeds workers if it were not for the stock-| have us believe. If the government that of the Pharisees, you will not| holders’ money. How much has the| takes 20 per cent of our earnings know, you will not see, you cannot C. L O. invested? Three years ago | we still have 80 per cent which is enter into the kingdom of righteous- Montgomery Ward had a deficit of ours. We still drive automobiles, Possibly many of the eat three square meals a day in| Cept struck a snag. The British family of nations undamaged by is probably more closely knit now than ever before,

$9,000,000.

law and found something that no C. I. O. membership were drawing, our own homes, scribe or Pharisee was able to find. wages then. In the next three years) enemy bombs, That was the "spirit and intent” with Sewell Avery in charge, that| making into consideration every-| ZS its absolute sovereignty and that its co-operation of the law. The supreme court of deficit changed to a profit of thing, including our shortages on the United States time and time $9,000,000, an $18,000,000 gain. Then | wartain articles, it's still the greatest

comes the C. I. O. and attempts to

powers provisions as embodied in shut down this plant in which it the Constitution, and by so doing it has not a penny invested by force ,, oo; ever knew. By orderly pro-

of massed picketing. And, when | the man whose brains paid wages to {these strikers refuses to sign with

ing boy is given a new suit of them because their majority is

doubtful, President Roosevelt sends |the army to throw him out; and [they even arrest, handcuff and

fingerprint Paul D. Sowell, assist-|

ant manager for detaching a placard so he can read it better. {| American businessmen receive

(dition conspirators. As for the

new stockholders, the army seizes their] adaptations of the administration Plant, as it always does. When did|

the army ever seize union labor | property or arrest union officials? i In Indianapolis, a teamsters’ un-

Side Glances—By Galbraith

This does not, however, apply to those |

ra

| these rabid Roosevelters are receiv-

jon closes down a bakery not because there is a dispute between the bakery and its employees, but because the bakery's truckmen refuse to pay tribute fo the Teamsters union. Yet Dan Tobin, president of all the teamsters, instead of signing contracts with his wage-work-ers, fires them. All over the country labor unions are closing plants essential to war by strikes. These plants pay them wages, They lack

have nothing invested in them. Our President, who threw out the profit-making Avery, inherited his money. Governor of New York, he left the state in debt. President of ‘the United States, in war or peace he spends more than he takes in.| his specialty is debt making. He is| a deficit financier, a red ink expert.

debts for his,

LJ Ld 2

| GREATEST COUNTRY" By Just An Average American

Now that the initial shock of the Ward seizure is over and everybody yelled “dictators” at our government leaders, let's look at the thing on a

| country to live in. We enjoy more | freedom in wartime than any Eu- | cedure, laws creating the WLB and {the President's wartime powers were enacted. We know the ultimate purpose of the WLB is to | settle labor disputes at a time when we can ill afford them. Avery was ousted from his office, {not being hurt in any way except for his feelings. He violated the law and enforcement became necessary. We little people must toe the | mark, so why not Avery and others tlike him? Maybe Ward's didn’t produce war goods but they sold mer- { chandise to people who did, thereby being indirectly engaged in the war effort. They are subject tn wartime conditions like the rest of the nations. No, I'm not a New Dealer cr a Roosevelt man but merely one who wants to see this war over. Roosevelt isn't trying to be a dictator or anything of the sort for these reasons: He wouldn't want to be because he is a free-minded American and has always advocafed principles of freedom. Secondly, he couldn't if he should -even want to be for such a plan could not and would not support him. Anyone who believes contrary to this has little faith in our country. We are on the road to victory and let's not condemn any but those who are obstacles on that road. s ” »

“THEY WILL GO TO ANY LENGTH"

By 1. B. P., Indianapolis Mrs. Walter Haggerty’s letters

of Roosevelt largess and as if she were afraid of losing it. And they will go to any length to protect their t to get something for nothing. If you will dig deep enough you will find that most of

ing some form of Roosevelt charity —at, of course, the anti-New DealDAILY THOUGHTS The fear of the Lord is a founof life—Proverbs 14:27.

they brains to run them and they

being a delegate or taking an active part otherwise in political conventions—so long as the politics] work and the government work did not collide on the | same day.

Seeks to Prevent Coercion

officials and employees in political campaigns. The officials and employees specifically exempted from penalties for political activity are (1) the President and the vice president; (2) persons whose compensation is paid from the. appropriation for the office of the President; (3) heads and assistant heads of executive departments; (4) officers appointed by the President, with confirmation by the senate, and who determine department policies. . The fourth class of exemptions does not apply members of the war labor board because their ape pointments are not subject to senate confirmation. The war labor board has 12 regional organizations in which members serve intermittently, and other wartime agencies have similar plans of operation.

Course of Empire

|Avery earns $100,000 by making! By William Philip Simms interpreter of the Constitution; and [changes and at the same time save | profits for his stockholders, Roose- b by its decisions, it has added ma- the Constitution in its spirit and |velt draws $75000 a year creating

LONDON, May 19.~In . the commonwealth prime ministers’ conference just ended, no imperfal bloc, political or economic, was organized, nor is one in the make« ing, against the United States or the rest of the world. Instead, the premiers will re turn home more impressed than ever with the fact that not only do their national self-interests vary considerably, but that indi. vidually and collectively their security and prosperity depend in large measure on their relations with the rest of the nations. This does not mean that the commonwealth con-

#8 po

because more completely than ever before each real

is 100 per cent voluntary.

War Alters Outlook of Empire

THE WAR, however, has influenced the conference greatly. It has materially altered the outlook of the whole British Empire. Hereafter, as a top-flight English statesman said, the United Kingdom would be up against it in world crises without the help of the Dominions. Formerly the empire was defended by Britain, but today Britain can no longer defend herself without the aid of the empire. But, as a Dominion official observed, what is true of Britain is equally true of the British empire as a whole. It can no longer defend itself without outside help. It is too big, too far flung. It embraces onequarter of the habitable globe and contains a quarter of the earth's population. Yet its “fighting” population is considerably smaller than that of the United States. India despite her 390 million inhabitants was not able to stop the Jape short of her frontiers. Although a continent in itself, Australia could not by herself or even with empire aid keep the enemy at a distance.

Canada Takes Realistic View

THESE ARE some of the reasons why no exclusive bloc was formed here. They underlie the realism of Canada’s Prime Minister MacKenzie King whose in= fluence throughout the conference was unmistakable. Although he stood for empire understanding, he alsa insisted on dominjon and empire collaboration within a bigger organization, a world league which not only would include the United States, Russia, China and the British commonwealth, but ‘all other peace-loving nations as well. : Next week Prime Minister Churchill *and Foreign Ministér Eden will speak on foreign affairs: in the house of commons. What they say promises to be of exceptional importance. Some weeks ago when the house attempted to force a foreign policy debate on Mr. Churchill he declined, saying that before British policy could be discussed intelligently he would have

where the British empire stands on the post-war

world. And whgn we do, it probably will be in line with the above.

a

So They Say—

IF WE can jointly agree upon the pattern of the future peace, that pattern will stand. If we fail to agree, there will be no fu 3 y . . » WHEN A MAN comes home not want “his t' happens refusing

to find his wife's family in the ho to too many husbands.—British

£28

Laman

an minist: reconciliation Marshal Josi ed today Subasic. wh this month f at the reques to replace Di prime ministe government ¢ Gen. Draja not be retain reliable sourc Yugoslav q ehange in th move to estal able to Broz planned by ti

WAR CO TO DE

Bruce Thot

War Correspo “Commandostional Suyre: Federation L

Monday at 8 anapolis Athl Mr. Thoma mando raid he was an representative of his conw question, “WI land” and ti Holcomb, w! speaker in D tal in bring Carrier of th servatory of I mittee chair

- Germ