Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 10 October 1944 — Page 14

‘The Indianapolis Times PAGE 14 Tuesday, October 10,1944

Give Light ond the People Will Pind Their Own Wey

MR. DEWEY TAKES THE OFFENSIVE

I a political campaign as in a war you don’t win unless you can take the offensive. For three presidential campaigns no one of Mr. Roosevelt's opponents ever got the offensive. It’s different now. Mr. Dewey definitely has it. Whether he can hold it may tell the story of whether we have a fourth term. The offensive began to build up with the Democratic convention, on that presidential train in the railway yards outside Chicago. Coupled with that event had been the patronizing presidential letter which brushed off Mr. Wal»lace; the scuttling of Byrnes for the vice presidency and the Clear-Everything-With-Sidney dictum which .domi‘nated all the convention proceedings. * 8 8 or o ss 5» THAT CHAIRMAN HANNEGAN, now being referred to as Wrong-Way Hannegan, actually got those precise words as his sailing orders has béen denied. But it's beside the point, because, regardléss of phraseology, everything in minutest detail in Chicago literally was cleared with Sidney. Facts speak louder than words. The spectre of a P.A.C-C.1.0, Communist-infiltrated pressure group kidnaping the Democratic party bloomed sorth into public consciousness. It was resented deeply by rival labor unions, and by many of those millions of voters as yet undecided. : ; Then occurred a succession of similar affairs, all trending to the offensive for Mr. Dewey, and the defensive for Mr. Roosevelt. The speech to. the Teamsters, made’ up in about equal parts of abuse and smart-cracks, seemed a clever idea at the time. But Mr. Roosevelt had stuck his neck out, and it became another case of “wait until you try to turn your head.” Mr. Roosevelt had invited a change of pace; a change from a polite and scholarly discussion of the issues by Mr. ‘Dewey, to a fighting comeback from the district attorney. The tempo had been stepped up, and how. #® " ” 3 : » # » THEN THE battle of the Statler, which followed the exuberance of the banquet, in which the Teamsters galvanized the how-are-you-going-to-vote issue with a Midway naval veteran and a commander—that was more of the same. Nor did that impulsively organized party help— the one which took Frank Sinatra, the crooner; Rags Ragland, the comedian, and Toots Shor, the restaurateur, by plane from New York to Washington to “tea” at the White House and to discuss the cosmos with the President. Toots, being a particular embarrassment in light of his trouble with OPA over ration coupons for 23,000 pounds of meat. Following which, Mr. Roosevelt repudiated the Communists, almost simultaneously with the Browder proRoosevelt mass meeting in New York. That was very bad management indeed—for it gave Dewey his cue for last Saturday night's speech. And did he land¢ With such language as— : “Zhis same Earl Browder, now a patriot, who was convicted"as a draft dodger in the last war, convicted again as a perjurer and pardoned by Franklin Roosevelt in time to organize the campaign for his fourth term. The soft disclaimer does come a little late.” So Mr. Dewey is now calling the shots. is his.

‘The offensive

GIVE, AND GIVE GENEROUSLY

HERE are many reasons why the citizens of Indianapolis should give, and give generously, to the United War and Community Fund whose annual campaign starts this week. True, the European phase of the war seems nearly over, but war needs are only beginning. The advance of allied armies has made it possible to send food and supplies directly to many of the occupied nations through agencies connected with the fund. And the need of these | peoples, who have borne more than their share of war's | suffering and sacrifice, is great. They gave their homes, their fortunes, their loved ones in our war—shall we now hear their pleas for the bare necessities of life with a hardened heart? When the war in Europe is over, the fight will go on against Japan. And the men who fight that war will more than ever need the morale-building activities of the U. S. O. —lest they feel that they have been forgotten. The backwash of the war, too, will bring social tensions and problems at home. - The welfare agencies of the city will have a big job, and a vital job, to do, serving the families of service men overseas, saving homes broken by - the toll of war, conserving in a hundred ways the human resources of the next generation. We have been fighting for a better world—your dollars

given to the United War and Community Fund will help to make it so. : J

BASIC ALPHABET

Now that V-1 has been conquered, the allies are pressing on toward V-E Day before the Nazis can bring the promised V-2 and V-8 to bear upon them, And in anticipation of V-E (and of course of the more distant V-J or just plain V-Day) the British have'begun production of V-U (a new victory uniform for the .march through Berlin). Washington's alphabetical symbols are becoming poetively global. | Ad

ir : M1. Ro0SEYELD sa 4M have not sought, I' do not seek, I repudiate the support

of any advocate of communism or any other alien ‘ism’ which would by fair means or fol change our American

American Game By Joe Williams

NEW YORK, Oct. 10.—With“out searching for the significance, if any, I'd like to point out that baseball is one of the few American institutions that haven't changed in form or substance in the past several generations. . And baseball is just as much

Big Business, But Not Unionized BASEBALL TODAY is big business, yet is not

beyond its birth pains. : Some years later another effort was made to unionize the players, a more carefully worked out troduced with at least the tacit support There were some recruits, but in remained apathetic. The cona majority of the players are Many, working in factories, during hold union cards. But when it comes baseball unionization they don’t appear to be interested. : Nor can this be interpreted as a manifestation of rapturous affection for -management. To the average player the club owner is a symbol of oppression, a grasping, soulless blood sucker who wouldn't give his own mother the right time. No player ever gets as much as he thinks he’s worth. This accounts for the numerous holdouts you read about. Almost invariably these are satisfactorily, if somewhat noisily, adjusted. The player has no recourse to no board of mediation, no such agency as WLB; he might fight the issue through with the club owner himself and the club owner represents the last word.

g

An Extraordinary Instrument

THE BASEBALL contract is an extraordinary instrument. Under its terms the club owner may grant the player's demands, compromise, sell him or force him into idleness without pay, and there's nothing the player can do about it. Yet under this seemingly barbarous labor system, salaries have risen steadily. At one time Babe Ruth, admittedly an

the United States. Still there have been any number of players and managers in the $20,000-$40,000 brackets, To businessmen in other flelds, harassed by con~ flicting Washington directives, endless union bickerings, strikes called for frivolous reasons, the baseball formula must be something ouf of this world. And they must ask: How do they do it? Part of the answer is that the club owners are careful not to

baseball contract. Nor would they dare. While baseball is operated as a business it is essentially a sport in which the public, by tradition if not by constitutional right, insists on having a voice, amounting, almost, to a veto. Ruth did not get that $80,000 because the owner loved him, rather because the owner knew the fans loved Ruth. In this connection, big business faces an unyielding handicap. People ot don get very emotional about turbine engines and suc

WORLD AFFARS—

Polish Question By William Philip Simms

WASHINGTON, Oct. 10.—The apparent abandonment of Poland and her government to whatever fate her powerful neighbor, Russia, may have in store is almost certain to become a factor in the November elections, Prime Minister Churchill's speech in the house of commons giving Soviet Russia the green light for “the fifth partition of Poland,” as it is being called by Americans of Polish descent, puts President Roosevelt on the spot. A joint committee of the American Polish associations in the East has sent telegrams of bitter protest to the 96 senators here. ‘They state, in part: a “In his speech of Sept. 28, Prime Minister Churchill declared: ‘Territorial changes in the frontier of Poland there will have to be. Russia has the right to our support in this matter. . . . (She is) Entitled to safe frontiers and to have friendly neighbors on her western flank.’ “For ‘the second time this year the British prime minister undertakes, in a unilateral decision, to settle the Polish issue by immediate cessation of a large part of legitimate Polish territory to Russia and by gradual strangulation of the remaining Polish soil through pe medium of what he calls ‘friendly neighbor to ussia.’

Charge Violation of Atlantic Charter

“SINCE Prime Minister Churchill's speech was delivered simultaneously with his return from Quebec, it must be assumed that this fifth partition of Poland was agreed upon by both participants at that conference.” Charging that this “immoral act” is a violation of “all the principles enunciated in the Atlantic Charter, moral law and American tradition,” the committee calls on the senate to reject any “international commitments” to perpetuate it. “In this decisive moment,” the telegrams conclude, “we appeal to you (senators) , .. to repudiate publicly Prime Minister Churchill's attempt to drag America into this immoral conspiracy.” Whether the fate of Poland has any major bearing on the presidential elections—and there are more than a million Polish votes in the United Sta it will certainly influence the outcome when the \senate is called on to ratify the work of Dumbarton . By many, Poland is regarded as the test of the allied war aims as set forth by President Roosevelt and Prime Minister Churchill in the Atlantic Charter.

Collaborationists Are Fearful

OUTSIDE Polish circles, resentment is perhaps strongest among supporters of the new league of nations now being formed to safeguard the future,peace. Confirmed -isolationists are now so few that o they can be disregarded. What really matters is that many who want the United States to collaborate with other nations to mak doubt that the senate

A ———

pledge this country to the

democracy, That is my Iw,

@

position. It always has been my

exception, was making more than the President of |

abuse the tyrannical powers implicit in the amasing |

the peace secure, seriously

The Hoosier Forum

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

“SHAME ON YOU, MR. ROOSEVELT” By Victor Loehr, Greenfield, Ind. Mr. shame on you. After all of the eulogizing you have received from the press, all the’ praises from the Tafts, Nyes Hoffmans and even Capehart, and {the beautiful expressions concerning you by lesser personalities that haven't gotten into print, and the ones unfit to print. | Even after Mr. Dewey makes a, special trip across the continent and | back for no reason whatsoever except to say nice things about you, what do you do? Well, I'll tell you! what you do. You, of all people, re-| sort to “mud slinging.” In all of our political history no one has ever before “slung mdd.”

(Times readers are invited fo express their views in these 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.)

Now, what have you done? I'll tell you what you've done. Besides| being responsible for the depres- | sion, not being prepared for war, | wanting to be a dictator and the indispensable man, you are now guilty of the erime of introducing “mud slinging” into politics. All I have to say is, “Shame on you.” -— - ¥

“HERE ARE . THE ANSWERS” Bn Mas. Opal P. Seamands, 1301 N. Ches-

Here are the answers te the questions which appeared to be puzzling you in your letter published on Sept. 29, Mr. Burns. We who are critical of Mr. Roosevelt’s Pacific tour are still very much here, We dislike camouflage when used anywhere except upon the battle field. If, as Mr. Roose- | velt says, his trip was an inspec-| tion tour, either he has the audac- | ity to actually believe that he, a| civilian, is qualified to advise our able commanders on matters to which they have devoted years of study, or he had another motive— politics. It is very possible that the tour was made due to both of the above reasons, neither of which | is very complimentary to the in-| telligence of the public which named him President three successive times. There is quite a difference between the President's tour and Mr, Dewey's. Our Republican candidate’s trip is ADMITTEDLY a 'political one. I believe that any

presidential nominee should be granted every {facility for campaigning, provided, of course, the war effort is not permitted to suffer. Not only are the candidates entitled to this but we, the people, are entitled to it. That great American institution, the presi dential campaign, is essential to our way of life. We're fighting right now to preserve it. The soldiervote, too, will be influenced by it, since their opinions are formed largely from the press, the radio, and letters from their friends and relatives. -° : As for your reference to the Republican speeches, I certainly recall a Republican who advocated a two-ocean navy (I don't recall whether this was a speech or a statement to the press.) His name was Mr. Dewey and a Mr. Roosevelt called this suggestion “just plain dumb.” If most of Mr, Dewey's talk is untrue, as you say, then the Democratic Party is placed in a very dubious position because his state ments are supported by quotations from official records and of prominent Democrats within the administration. . There: is no reason for Mr. Dewey to affirm or deny that Mr. Hoover will be his secretary of state. The custom is to announce the presidential Cabinet AFTER the election, not before, Even if this rumor is true, there is no reason to consider it a national calamity. After all, Mr. Hoover was secretary of

Side Glances—By Galbraith

commerce for eight years and President for four years. He certainly should be qualified for the position. Let's hope the people remember on Nov. 7 such things as strikes, Communists, and loss of liberty so we. can have an administration which permits the legislative instead of the executive branch of the government to legislate and which will not permit the highest judicial body in our land to be influenced by the executive branch,

zs 8 = “WHY AIN'T I GOT A JOB?" By Perey Vere, Indianapolis. It is rumored that President Roosevelt does not write his own speeches. Like most rumors, this one is not very definite as to details. Speculation as to who does write them ranges all the way from

Lowell Mellett to Charles Michelson, who said in his memoirs that

maker than anyone around him.

licans delve further into this matter and find out exactly who it is, not for the purpose of exposing him, but to acquire his services for themselves. If this suggestion is followed, don't be surprised if before this campaign is over you hear Mr. Dewey saying, “We have all seen some marvelous stunts in rodeos, but you and I know that a donkey can’t kick off his hind rider every four years without eventually kicking off his front rider, too.” Or maybe this, “The Democratic party doesn’t talk out of both sides of its mouth at once for the very good reason that it has two mouths, one facing North and one facing South, neither of which pays any attention to what the other is saying,” and so on and 80 on, Come to think of it, why ain't I got a job as a ghost writer ~ "w “DON'T BLAME IT ON THE PEOPLE” By A Sailer, Indianapolis. Mr. Martin says, “Get your heads out of the sand.” That is right, wake up to the fact that we need a change. The people are not responsible for the sending of the scrap iron into Japan. The people of Los Angeles and all outlying towns and cities tried to stop the sailing of the vessels carrying scrap iron into Japan. There were strikes over that incident. Police kept law and order over the vessel's decks. We did all we could to them. It was either sail or lose your berth. {I lost my berth. I know that it icould be stopped. The people tried and were reprimanded for it. I know, I was a sailor aboard that ship so don’t blame it on the people. : * = =» “I'LL HELP YOU LOSE YOURSELF” By a Friend of Fala Since President Roosevelt deemed

bid for the eight electoral

the President was a better phraseNow I suggest that the Repub-|

"| ment of his own,

then, yesterday, participated in

of other nationalities here, the governor's supporters appeared vastly encouraged.

Receives Pledges of Support

;

vote-for-Dewey job thromghout the local unions, and Mr. Blizzard and his wil take to the stump.

Three Major Challenges Face F. D. R. THREE MAJOR challenges of the Charleston

charge that “the New Deal is developing its own form of corporate state.” The President's first opportunity to reply to Mr, Dewey as far as the present schedule shows, would be at his appearance before the Foreign Policy association in New York Oct. 18. But it is unlikely thas in this he would go beyond answering criticisms of administration handling of foreign affairs.

IN WASHINGTON—

Lunatic Fringes By Peter Edson

was Teddy Roosevelt or. somebody of that era who gave the name of “The Lunatic Fringe” to the vari. gated hangers-on who constantly clutter the political scene minority parties and movements, This year’s disclosures by senate

political campaign the lunatio fringe, is more flourishing than i§ has ever been before. “Not that any of the stirrere uppers called in for questioning have been lunatics, Far from it, Individually they are smart operators, subtle in their approach, convinced of their own right« ness, cextain that they alone have the one particular brand of 100 proof Americanism that will save the country from whatever ails it. Lump all these self« appointed leaders together, however, and they still constitute political trimmings that can best be classi« fied by the generic term of the lunatic fringe on the tapestry of American life.

44's Crop a Record One

THIS LUNATIC FRINGE is: changed from one quadrennium to the next. Since the first world war there have been the Prohibitionists, the Liberty Leaguers, the Townsendites, the Coughlinites, the various flapping wings of the Social party, the Amer« ican Labor party, the Farmer-Laborites, the Progressives, the America Firsters and the Communists, Bus this year’s parade beats anything seen yet. Three years out of four, many of these outfits are among the large number of things that 99 per cent of the people pay no attention to. Come leap year and election year, however, and they somehow get magnified out of all proportion to their real unimportance, The senate campaign expenditures committee, seeking to find out just how much a presidential elec tion costs, where the money comes from and where it goes, will have its probes dissecting all manner of For the great penchant of the American with a pet theory on what's wrong withithe country is to join some organization to fix it. And if he cans find a cause that will fit his own ideas he will start a move-

Why Get So Excited?

ceelebration of Polish groups and met representatives

it in many of avoiding seems also most Ameri course of th been concerr In the eye Americans failure to 1 ment as th Prance, in ahead. The for this. Fren

France is the French © the element Divisions an ple matters, £0 beyond t German col even deeper fighting soc forms, snd munism. around the day, Collaborati also and ‘he of vested int the attitude assumed im found when tried that m their cases « Franco-Gern which, accor France anc longer at wi Receog

As suppor they cite Un of the Vic American po given great | collaborators cuity to tho Franee of il Vested ints to the Unit to protect th reforms the | ing to inst

~_munists like influence to

communism intervention. There is a French, Brit suggest that of the Unite France are provisional g der to justi position to C There is many Ameri Dwight D. and its civil conducted skill, act an affairs, Was a policy wh trous and that Eisenho

Coprright, 1944, and The C)

DR. WEI COUNT

Dr. Edith been teachin psychology a! extension sc years, has be gist for the of mental hy Dr. Weissk gree from th and has don field of rese She is the on the resul mans and A human want. tal problems to various ot

Wha: McN

Scripps-How WASHIN( than four y 22,305,000 ve vice presid States. No the both— 52, in New day, and Se Nary of Ore Feb, 25. Mr. Willk days after Smith, who feat for the 16 years.

WHAT M if the Repu been. electec a subject of terest. But if tr and had di office of Pr filled by Mr state, while president v

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President a Jan. 20, 194

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