Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 7 October 1944 — Page 6

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RILEY 8551 = Give Light ond the People Will Find Their Own Woy "REVERSING THE FIELD a football

F ME ROOSEVELT once likened himself to quarterback, and the comparison is rather apt. A good _ quarterback knows when to change the style of play and, if the opposition is closing in on him, he doesn’t hesitate to reverse his field. : In his speech to the Democratic precinct workers \ Thursday night, Mr. Roosevelt did just that, His team- ~ sters’ speech two weeks ago quite frankly was freeswinging, name-calling, wisecracking politicking. His fol- . lowers ate it up. But many independent voters questioned whether the levity was in keeping with the dignity of high office or with the President’s pledge that he would snot campaign “in the usual sense.” So Thursday, Mr. Roosevelt changed his tactics. He spoke this time as the ~ jeader 'of the nation, in temperate and measured terms, ~ with all pointed political implications carefully veiled.

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CONSEQUENTLY, there was much in the speech with which all, regardless of party, could agree. His emphasis on the full exercise of the franchise was sound. The strength of a democracy is measured by the ratio in which its citizens participate in national decisions, not alone on election day but at all times—a fact which the present administration seems to have overlooked in _ its relations with the elected representatives of the people © and in its closed deor policy on foreign affairs. Be that "as it may, we agrée with Mr. Roosevelt that everyone should vote in the coming election and that such restrictions as poll-tax laws should be eliminated. However, we do not agree that those who opposed the federal bob-tailed ballot were seeking to sabotage. the soldiers’ right to vote. They were insisting only that the voting should be conducted according to constitutional mandate, and in a manner that would not be open to later challenge in the courts. Present indications are that a large proportion of the soldiers will vote, not for President alone but for local offices also—and that is due to the action of the states, under Republican as well as Demo-

. cratic leadership. And if it is important that as many of the voters as possible should have a voice in selecting a President, it is equally desirable that as many as pos- ~ gible should have a vote for state executives and legis- * lators. Under the bob-tailed ballot plan, that would not

~ havg been possible.

. MR. ROOSEVELT’S warning that the war is not yet won is both timely and well taken, and certainly Mr. Dewey would be the first to concur in this statement from the President’s speech: ““The land of opportunity’—that's’ what our forei fathers called this country. By God's grace, it must al- . ways be the land of opportunity for the individual citizen— even broader opportunity.” i This has been Mr. Dewey's theme—his thesis that . New Deal regimentation and bureaucratic tyranny are destroying precisely this opportunity. We are sure that "he will welcome a convert to the cause, however belatedly. . Though he may have indorsed some of the features of . the New Deal, Mr. Dewey, it seems, has no monopoly on "the habit of borrowing the doctrines of the opposition. Recognizing by inference the efféctiveness of recent Republican “attacks, Mr. Roosevelt gave assurance that . service men woyld be returned “at the earliest possible . moment consistent with our national safety” and that wartime controls and restrictions will be relaxed “at the © earliest practicable moment.” We welcome those assurances, though they do not square with the public: state- © ments .of some of Mr. Roosevelt's subordinates. Just ~ yesterday, for example, the OWI announced that price controls may be continued for “quite some time.” Does that mean that the administration is ‘talking out of both sides of its mouth?”

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IT IS TRUE, as Mr. Roosevklt pointed out, that laws have been passed ordering prompt return of service personnel and placing limits on the duration of war measures —but the American people in the last four years have seen laws by-passed, ignored, or evaded. There is a law, for example against political contributions by labor unions —but there was also a Mr. Biddle to construe it. And Mr. Roosevelt's argument, “The law- is there, for all Americans to read—and you do not need legal training to understand it” sounds a bit “both-sides-of-the-mouthish” alongside the dictum of his philosophical mentor and supreme court appointee, Justice Frankfurter, who said: : “The notion that, because the words of a statute are ¢ plain, its meaning also is plain is merely pernicious oversimplification.” ; 5 Justice Frankfurter, to be sure, was not running for _ political office when he said that. But he is one of the " men who will interpret the laws whose words Mr. Roosevelt

| STATUS QUO COLUMNIST recently complained that the Gallup,

hi” Roper and other polls are taking all the drama and suspense out of presidential elections with their deadly ac“curacy, We sympathize and offer consolation. Let her (for it was a feminine columnist) read the p esies of the rival campaign big-shots. Sidney Hillhan has already predicted that Mr. Roosevelt will carry laine and Vermont. And we expect momentarily to hear tha “Herbert Brownell has looked up from the crystal ball ind claimed the Solid South for Mr. Dewey.

ROOSEVELT SAIp— us have the courage to stop borrowing to meet cong deficits. Stop the deficits. Let us have equal vers: the policy of the Republican leaders and

efore he became Presideiit,

Price in Marion Coun-| ¢ _ ty, 4 cents a copy; delivest

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By Joe Williams -

DETROIT, Oct. 7 Cordell Hull is quite a gent, ] he? As the saying goes in haseball, they can't get him out. I don’t make a point of keeping records on elder statesmen, still 1 can’t remember when the old Tennessee Oak ever dropped a de-

that isn

swinging for a long time, and = p against opposition ranging from “A ™ "sheer crackpot to plain treacher- : ous. Also, there have been times when it looked as if his own manager was trying to give him the business. Yet when the last punch is thrown it's always the veteran battler who walks over to the mike and says: “Hello, Mom. I won easy.”

| First Notable Triumph in London

CHARLES MICHELSON, in his current book, goes back to 1933 with the secretary of state and describes, his first notable triumph as & resolute, independent, forthright character. This was at a little thing called the London Economic Conference. Supposedly the ‘secretary spoke for the White House, but he hadn't been mingling with the claw hammer coats of Downing Street long before one of the original brain trusters, Prof Raymond Moley, popped up; from then on the professor would take charge. This was a subject for the scientific mind. The secretary disposed of this embarrassment with characteristic directness—he simply requested that Mr. Roosevelt make a choice between him and the double dome, and, in due course, the professor was peddling his scholarly peanuts elsewhere. This is one of the remarkable things about the secretary, He seems to be the only big league executive who is able to consistently to take a stand and make it stick. Even the White House, in the end, always manages to come around to his way of thinking, which in itself is enough to establish the secretary as a four-star genius, for the White House record for co-operation, harmony and team play is scarcely complimentary. Whatever the answer, the relationship, considering the scrambled, confused character of the administration, is extraordinary.

Kayos Member of New Deal Varsity

THE SECRETARY'S latest kayo victim is the treasury’s Henry Morgenthau Jr, and this is an im= pressive victim because Morgenthau is a Hyde Park intimate and long a member of the New Deal varsity. You probably read the details of Morgenthau's plan to cut Germany up into small farms and, in effect, reduce the country to a population of potato growers. There must be ways, and most certainly, to chasten and chastise a war-crazed people, but even to the man

sense, It plainly didn’t sound like sense to the secretary, and just precisely what he did about it must be left to speeulation, but the fact remains that within 24 hours the Morgenthau plan was repudiated, and Mr. Roosevelt pointedly announced that control of German industry will be under the guidance of the department of state, which was another way of telling Morgenthau to go back to his tax forms and war bond drives. True, Rooseveltian actions are subject to sudden and sharp revisions, but the Hull record for getting things tlone his way is such that there is reason for optimism. Incidentally, if there’s a champ in Washington, a lot of people are beginning to suspect the . name is Cordell Hull.

World Affairs

By Ludwell Denny

WASHINGTON, Oct. 7T.—Political overtones of the allied campaigns in the Balkans may be even more important than the military. There is an element of competition between the Russians and British in those areas where their desired spheres of influence meet and overlap. Not that the campaigns are without military justification. On the contrary, a collapse of the south wall of Hitler's fortress can hasten German military disintegration and shake German morale. Loss of Romania has denied Hitler his largest remaining oil production. He will lose minerals in Yugoslavia and food sources in Hungary. If the Russians succeed in reaching Belgrade and the key communications center of Nish, mest of the 200,000 Nazi troops in the south will be trapped. But the local political stakes are high for Russia and Britain. Always Britain has shown a special interest in the Balkans because of their relation to the Mediterranean and the Middle East, which are essential links of the British empire. Also traditionally the Balkans have been the goal of Pan-Slavism, particu=larly Bulgaria and Yugoslavia, Stalin's interest in the Balkans and the Dardanelles is obvious. .

Maneuver for Position in Italy

THE FIRST maneuvers for position occurred in Italy, Although the British were in on the ground floor, and the Russians were handicapped by having | no troops in the liberation and occupation, Moscow has managed to get at least as much influence as the British with the Badoglio-Savoy conservatives and the coalition cabinet. :

Stalin is said to want a fairly strong post-war Italy to balance British power in the Mediterranean, while London prefers an Italy dependent on Britain. In Yugoslavia the pro-Moscow movement grew so fast that the London Yugoslav government-in-exile, under Churchill pressure, dumped Mihailovich and made a deal with the Communist Tito rather than risk total eclipse. The recent landings of western allied forces in Albania and on the Dalmatian islands and coast were expected to increase British prestige, but much larger Russian forces quickly crossed into western Yugoslavia from Bulgaria and Romania to join up with Tito scouts for the drive to Belgrade.

Britain Has Big Stake in Greece

BRITAIN IS even more interested in Greece, because of Suez and the Middle East. Hitherto it has been assumed that Russia would not challenge Brit. ain’s sphere of influence there, But there has been fighting in Greece between two guerrilla groups, one of which has relations with Tito and Moscow, At the moment there is a truce between the two while they fight the Germans, and the British haye moved into the Peloponnesus and several islands off the Greek coast. From the beginning there have been two dangers

Mediterranean area. The first danger was that it would color Anglo-American military strategy to the extent of making the Balkans, rather than a western front, the main point of attack against Germany. But the Americans insisted on a western front and won. The remainifig danger is that Moscow and London may not be able to keep this rivalry from straining the larger allied unity in the difficult political de-

ternational security organization. Meanwhile the trend seems to be toward a Europe divided into Russian and British spheres of influence, rather than toward the democratic international’ system pledged by the Atlantic Charter and the Hull-Moscow pact.

|To The Point—

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The Hoosier Forum

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

"WHO DO YOU THINK I'tL VOTE FOR?” By F. M. Harreit, Indianapolis Very interesting, this story of Lieut. Dickins of the navy and his companion being beaten up by a bunch of hoodlums in the Hotel Statler in Washington, D. C., the night of the President's speech on Sept. 23. All because he refused to give his political affiliations, or say he was going to vote for his “commander in chief.” We in this country are supposed to vote or think according to our own views. Are the ones in power now so intent on staying in power that they will resort to gangster and gestapo methods? If they cannot smear their way in, or buy their way in, are they going to try to coerce their way in? Why is P. D. R. so against Hitler? Is it because Hitler is stealing his stuff? We might as well call all our boys home ‘and let Hitler have it if we can’t vote for whom we please. : A serviceman wrote that it was getting so a soldier had to voice his intention to vote Democratic in order to get a furlough home. If this is true, it is pretty rotten, don’t you think? When F. D. R. said he was too old to talk out of both sides of his mouth at the same time, he was doing a pretty good job of it right then. He was ta against dictatorship and encouraging it at the same time by chumming around with his “old pal,” and friend of long standing, Dan Tobin and a gang of hoodlums, for who else would pick a fight with a couple of naval officers, veterans of Midway, over a matter like this, I have a son who is a naval officer and I hope if he runs into any of Tobin’s gang he puts them in their place. Who do you think I'll vote for? Who will you vote for? Here's for a “New Deal” and get rid of a “great deal” of the “Old New Deal.” “ ® - “YOU CAN'T AFFORD TO MISS THE BOAT” By a C. 1. O. Member, Anderson, Ind.

Now with election only a few weeks off, I wonder if labor hasn't once again missed the boat. Riding high, wide and handsome on the F. D. R. Democrat party band wagon is the Sidney Hillman,

(Times readers are invited “fo express their views in thesé columns, religious controversies excluded. Because of the volume received, letters 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 responsi bility for the return of manuscripts and cannot enter correspondence regarding them.)

C. 1. O,, supposed to be non-partisan organization. Just what could be labor’s plans if the Dewey-Bricker ticket should come in? Now the laboring man who sat by his radio while Dewey was making his speeches on the West coast is wondering if Dewey plans for labor aren’t a lot brighter than any that the F. D. R. Democratic party has ever put into action the last 12 years they have been in power. How the Hillman C. I O. Political Action Committee felt about Dewey speeches we wonder. Here is a man

criticism now offering labor more

them in 12 long years. Now will labor go to the polls this November and remembering that all the F. D. R. Democrats have given them has been a lot of

wages. Now he has done derful job of seeing stay frozen while he and let the cost of living 46 per cent. Also, backed by the C. I. O. congress passed; all were the house or in commtitees they reached the house. For over two years now C. has tried to break the Little formula and to get a mauch needed raise. Now they shoved us around here and till now that election is

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matter of days away, F. D.

Side Glances—By Galbraith

“All I'm looking for is a stenographer—i know v they pay more at

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for whom they have had nothing but than the Democrats have given

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his Democrats can’t wait to break the little steel formula. It will be

{done in October to sweeten up the

voter and keep the great Democrat . yvolling. - For myself, I am a member of a . I. O. union, also a strong worker for ©. 1. O. But we can’t keep going on just one break every four years. Wake up, labor, you ¢an’t afford to miss the boat this time.

no buying power.

ures available. Surely we should learn by experi-

ence. As for individual states controling unemployment, old-age pensions, free medical care and social security —we should know better than that from the experiences of Europe. Do we want passports and different currency for our states? ° Must the youth that have flown all over the world be hampered by state-lines? Has any group or corporation the right to ruin our streams? When Kansas dust hovers over Washington, D. C. is it anybody's business.

Will we be foolish enough to lose the start we have made for a better, safer, more productive country?

‘| LET'S NOT GAMBLE

WITH THEIR LIVES” By Muriel Sweigart, Indisnspelis The Terre Haute train wreck will remain long in many memories as

ts cruelty to the brave fighting men who were supposedly “safely home.”

oar used. : However, there is another step I think should certainly be taken to

against amateurs this time. They felt in Governor Dewey and his board of strategy a sure, professional touch. The tactics which brought his nomination were evidence of this, Futher proof came in Gove ernor Dewey's organization of the 26 Republican gove ernors, all the head of effective state machines, into &

Strategists Took a Second Look

“THAT MADE the Democrats sit up; Here was &

fighting fellow, ready to slug at close range with Mr,

strategists dent's re-election. The smaller the vote, the better are Republican chances. Democrats learned that les-

Sought to Take Curse Off P. A. C.

THE PRESIDENT sought to rally elements which can contribute to a large vote in two ways.

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In Washington

By Peter Edson

WASHINGTON, Oct. 7—Dane ger that the United States is heading into a period of unmaneageable farm surpluses is being played down in Washington as the same kind of a scare thas

on chasing power of the country. As soon as people got. mare money to spend, they started buying more

Demand for farm products has been greater than the supply, all through the war. Bureau of agricule tural economics, in its last “demand and price” re-

general business situation after end of the war in

Farmers All Set for Two Years

ONE THING certain is that the farmer himself doesn’t have to worry about farm surpluses for two full calendar years after the declared end of the war. The reason is that the government has assured farme ers 90 per cent of parity loans or better on 166 farm products considered essential to the war effort. In establishing these support prices, congress took the line that it was necessary to give the farmers

sufficient incentive to produce all this stuff and te ,

make sure that the bottom would not drop out of the market when the war was over, as it did in 1919, causing the financial ruin of hundreds of thousands farmers. to what the government will use for money in joans at these support prices for two years’ the end of the war, there will have to be addi appropriations when lend-lease and military end. But as congress has already authorized this expenditure, few people have any doubt that there will be the necessary appropria ed, even if the cost goes to a couple of billion dollars a year. :

Surpluses and Stockpiles Are Something Else

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