Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 31 October 1944 — Page 10

@ive Light ond the People Witl Fins heir Own Woy

THREE-YEAR HUSH-HUSH DEARL HARBOR doesn’t appear to be in any desperate danger as of today. Martial law was lifted recently in the Hawaiian islands. And the Jap navy has beén engrossed lately in certain interesting exercises a long way from Honolulu, the major details of which you might get by sending a stamped, self-addressed envelope to Mr. Davy Jones. We see no reason why this country should not now, at least, be given the true story of an event almost three years old. The American battleships wrecked by the Jap planes on Dec. 7, 1941, have been repaired or replaced, and enormously supplemented. The navy has just released details on the new Iowa class of battleships. If this information can be made public, surely there is little of a technical nature in the old but untold story of Pearl Harbor ~ that needs to be hushed up any longer.

ONLY LAST FRIDAY night, at Philadelphia, Mr. Roosevelt was remarking that “we have constantly investigated and publicized our whole management of the war effort.” But the naval court of inquiry and the army board assigned some months agg to ascertain the facts about Pearl Harbor have now submitted their reports to the secretaries of the navy and of war—and have marked these documents “secret” and “top secret.” (Meaning “you can't print it.”) ; Perhaps there are certain details in these reports that might lend a little aid and comfort to the enemy, but it is hard to believe that the bulk of the material could not be made public with full safety and propriety. . Rep. Maas of Minnesota has charged that the President and other high Washington officials had six hours’ advance notice of the time and place chosen by Japan for her attack, and that they failed to get word to Adm. Kimmel and Gen. Short at Pearl Harbor, é Whether there is truth in that, we do not know. But we do feel that if we were in the President's shoes, and the charge were untrue, we would want to have the full story told to the public. Somehow or other, though, our hunch is that the army and navy will not put out anything. Not, anyway, until after Nov. 7, 1944.

CHARLES W. JONES

FEW men in their early forties ever have won the degree of leadership in this community that has been attained by Charles W. Jones, general superintendent of the Wm. H. Block Co. Few men of any age have had so many genuine friendships. Few have been more universally respected. At 41, Mr. Jones was an outstanding success in business. That success was due to his ability and energy, and ‘to a warm, human personality. But his interests were not limited to business contacts, for he was active in almost every movement for the civic betterment of Indianapolis. Quiet and unassuming, he gave his services generously and without fanfare. He was a good citizen, a man you could depend on. With thousands of others who knew him, we are saddened by the death of this young man who already had done much for his city, We are saddened because we have lost a friend and because Iidianapolis has lost one who would have helped to make it a finer community in the years to come,

THE HERALD OF THE DAWN

(CUSTOMERS and employers alike have needed no one to remind them that “there’s a war on” the last couple of years. The fire-me-if-you-don’t-like-it attitude of the help has taken care of that, and there has been considerable doubt at times as to who was working for whom. We suspected that this couldn't last forever, but until we opened a letter that came to our desk yesterday, we didn’t realize that the new day is already dawning. The letter closed with a sentence that is vaguely familiar, though we haven't seen it for goodness knows when. It said: © “I am sorry I can't give you my name as I believe my company would fire me for giving this information.” Better get on with your post-war planning. Normalcy must be just around the corner.

AHEAD OF SCHEDULE

IT may be expected any time now that the Japanese high command will send a message to Gen. MacArthur and Adm. Nimitz, anxiously reminding them of the allied strategists’ decision to beat Hitler first.

_ OF GNATS ... AND CAMELS

WE don’t see why Mr. Truman should be so disturbed | about the charge that he once belonged to the Ku Klux | Klan. By comparison with the Pendergast mob to which he says he owes his whole. political career, the Klan seems quite respectable. - TN

MR. ROOSEVELT SAID—

“THUS it was clear to the framers of our constitution that the greatest possible liberty of self-government must be given to ‘each state, and that any national administration attempting to make all laws for the whole nation, Such as wae Wholly practical in Great Britain, would inev- | Atably result at some future time in a di i a ssolution of the “The preservation of} this “home rule’ by the states is not a ery of jealous onwealths seeking their own dizement at therexpense of sister states. It is a fun. | necessity if we are to remain a ‘truly united

that in 1930, when he's governor of Now |

alc 26 Usual By James Thrasher

. . THE SURPRISING thing about this

place at all (though even that seemed to surprise and impress some of our allies and neighbors at first) but that it is so little dif ferent from all the others. voter must have thought

ent this year. Grave tasks lay ahead, serious issues Were ine volved, many lives were already Jost in this war and many more were at stake, Surely these things would lend the campaign the dignity that it demanded. But they didn’t, and probably because no one, not even the professional politicians,

of electioneering has fastened itself upon us. 80 we succumbed to mass political hypnotism, as is our quadrennial custom. There was some gravity and decorum at the beginning. But the candidates were simply starting up in low gear, and the whole country seemed to feel more natural when they shifted into high. The usual wave of emotionalism, exaggeration and equivocation swept through both parties, and engulfed them. i

Thunderous Half-Truths

and onc¥ again officeseekers and their confederates are expending breath, time and money on speeches designed to provide ammunition for voters, who have aiready made up their minds, to use against people: of opposite political beliefs, who have already made up theirs. These speakers, more often than not, are respon-

| sible men and women in high places who would shud-

der at any other time to utter the rash and intemperate statements that issue from their lips today. But no one holds them morally responsible. For, by an accepted self-deception that is strange and subconscious, they and their hearers agree to believe thunderous half-truths and extravagant nonsense until Nov. 7. And thus once more the echoes and the radio waves resound with rhetorie, hyperbole and downright insult. And the candidates are outdone by their supporters who, as usual, circulate rumors which are not only ridiculous but disgraceful, and which could hardly have been planted by even the lowest echelon of professional politics. Wide-eyed and gullible as children, the voters either believe them or dignify them by attempts at serious refutation.

Factory Chimneys Keep Smoking

IN THE MEANTIME, while all this has been going on, factory chimneys have kept on smoking as Roosevelt and Dewey supporters, side by side, have continued to tarn out the tools of war. Meanwhile Germany has been entered and the Philippines have. been invaded, and men have died in battle, and victory has come closer. On Nov. 8 the national political trance will end, the people will rally behind the next President and continue the war as a united nation. The presidential campaign hasn't been pretty. It never is. But even in wartime, it isn't fatal.

WORLD AFFAIRS—

Fate of Poland By William Philip Simms

WASHINGTON, Oct. 31.—Poland, which entered this war against Hitlerism as a‘ sovereign power and an ally of Britain and France, will emerge reduced in size and a virtual protectorate of the Big Three—the United States, Great Britain and the Soviet Union. The Atlantic charter is dead and buried. In his speech before the House of Commons last week; Prime Minister Churchill ended all hope that Russia would change her mind about annexing the eastern half of Poland, or permitting Western Poland to set up & government of its own choice. In all human probability, it is now certain that the Curzon lines—approximately the border fixed by the Berlin-Moscow pact of 1939—will be the new Soviet-Polish frontier. It is equally likely that the Moscow-inspired Lublin committee of Poles will dominate any new Warsaw regime,

Not a Sovereign Government

PREMIER MIKOLAJCZYK and perhaps one or two others of the recognized government in exile, in London, may prove acceptable to the Lublinites. But if so, they will be so surrounded by Communists and fellow-travelers that they could hardly be called free agents. - : Patently such a government would not be sovereign politically. Territorially, the new state will include parts of Germany, hence will be safe only so long as she has military guarantees from outside. Thus she will be dependent on the big powers for her day-to-day security. Without saying it in so many words, Mr» Churchill confirmed that Poland will be “compensated” for territory lost to Russia. She will receive parts of Germany, perhaps up to the Oder. The prime minister said her new frontier “may not entirely coincide or correspond with” her pre-war frontiers, but “it will nevertheless be adequate for the needs of the Polish nation and not inferior in character and quality . . . fo what it had previously possessed. That Germany will eventually attempt to retake her lost territory seems certain. History reveals few cases where this did not happen. Aware of this, Poland“ will naturally insist on guarantees from the Big Three which forced this decision upon her. And this would put the United States definitely and directly in the business of defending a new AlsaceLorraine.

Poles Dumfounded Over Criticism POLES ARE DUMFOUNDED over criticism of

| themselves as “unreasonable,” because they object

to what is happening to their country. They take the position that at the outset of the war; Poland was an ally of Britain and France and a co-signer with Russia of a treaty of non-aggression. Her frontiers and her government were universally recognized. Having fought the axis loyally and unwavers ingly, they see nothing “unreasonable” in rebelling against partition, by their allies as the reward for Poland's suffering and loyalty. Poles with whom I have talked here and in London admit the wisdom, if not the justice, of certain frontier changes. But they want (1) to. leave such problems until after the war, (2) to be allowed to hold free elections, and institute constitutional reforms after liberation, and (3) in the matter of territorial changes, to conform to the letter and spirit of the - Atlantic Charter, the pacts of Moscow and Dumbarton Oaks. The fate of Poland, they hold, is in violation of all these,

So They Say—

wartime presidential | campaign is not that it is taking |

that somehow it would be differ-

realized quite how strongly the traditional manner |

NOW WE ARE once again in the homestretch,

ON NO account dare we ignore the great domestic |

Look ovER | | The OTHER] | "PAIR!

§ ouT

§ gn pg

OLD CEE FITTING HB SHOP Er

The Hoosier Forum

I wholly disagree with what you say, but will

I have been a subscriber for The Indianapolis Times for more than 25 years, not because it was the biggest. city paper or contained the most news , , . but because of its liberal views, its attitude toward the interests of the people in general During the past 10 years I am quite convinced that this attitude has greatly moved over until today it is often more conservative than the other papers , . , and your editorial has for me just become unreadable. So I think I will just have to “take a walk” and let you pull in the dough on big ads and other considerations from big busi< ness. I am sure I will have company. And before I go, may I point out that a very popular magazine committed hari-kari with an election poll eight years ago. Now, if you can agree with Voltaire as quoted under the Hoosier Forum, please print this letter there. yl » » “GO ON AND GO TO SLEEP” By An American Housewife, Indianapolis This is for the toe-wiggler, Mr. Thurman J. Swan. Your letter to the Forum printed Thursday, Oct. 19, would be screamingly funny if it weren't so tragic. It is just such as you who are going to try to elect again the worst threat to our freedom in all our American history--those of you who can't see any further than your wartime pay check compared to your check of 1932 (which inci dentally was worth twice as much than as it is now). I, too, can’ remember 1932. I was in high school and some of the more important things I learned were: (1) That our constitution was the very foundation of our freedom; (2) that our government was composed of three equal branches to balance each other as a safeguard against any accumulation of power. They are the legis lative (congress), the judicial (supreme court), and the executive (president); (3) that our first Presidents were thinking of their posterity when they established a precedent of two terms, and couldnt have conceived of any American President deliberately seeking a third, and now a fourth, 1 wonder if they're teaching those

defend to the death your right to say it.—Voltaire. I WILL HAVE (Times readers are invited “Traffic affidavits ‘are now typed TO “TARE A WALK" fo express their views in Severs! hs i advanes ot be By W. C. F178, S11 Gram 4, these columns, religious con- |one day in court each week. Bach

troversies 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 responsie bility for the return of manuscripts and cannot enter core respondence regarding them.)

grade school who can give you a very ’comprehensive argument in defense of the Russian system. I know another girl in high school who is almost fanatical in her worship of our “commander-in-chief.” So, go on and go to sleep, Mr. Swan, and I hope when you wake up that you'll wiggle your toes just as happily under a Communist government as you have under our traditional American freedom. Personally, I think I'll feel too cramped to even wiggle my toes,

a 8 8 “PRESS HAS NOT BEEN PACKED” By John Alva Dilworth, 81814 Broadway

The American press may not always be right, but its mistakes are those of the head and not of the heart. It is still the great guardian of freedom and it can be depended upon to keep up the good fight for man's liberty to speak and write, Yes, we still have a free press and that is one of the principals both the Democrat and Republican parties fight to preserve. As yet the press has not been “packed” as were the courts. The people of Indianapolis and Marion county have grown accustomed to looking forward to The Indianapolis Times as a guardian angel to expose, through the free press, improper use of the laws as enacted. Sherwood Blue, Marion county's prosecuting - attorney, said in addresses at a series of precinct meetings in the first ward on Monday night, April 24, 1044, which appeared in the press on April 25, last,

things now. I have a niece in

and I quote, in part, from the press:

Side Glances—By Galbraith

asked me fo marry him!

hig buddies had to vote

the ¢

| in the earth, and multiply

lief that The Times should investigate this statement. If this procedure is illegal, a stop should be put to this practice immediately. This statement by Mr, Blue involves an extremely vital question, does it not? . The question should be brought out if convictions obtained in this manner in the past are constitutional since the officer signing the afdavit did not witness, as the Jaw requires, the violation committed. Also if each officer has a day a week in court, why some defendants, even though they wish to stand trial, are not called to trial for 48 days. If Mr. Blue made this statement for political purposes only, he should be exposed by The Times; for such a public official is deceptive and not fit to hold public office. It is very good, I think, to have it brought to a head, to have it thrashed out thoroughly; for that is the way of a democracy, or, say, a republic. That is the American way. = » .

“HOW DID WE MANAGE BEFORE?

By Only a Resder, Lebanon. I haven't such a good education, but I am not so dumb, Before an election, if , President Roosevelt didn't say “No mother need be afraid I'll send her son to fight on foreign soil,” then I must be partly deaf. How any mother can vote for him at the coming election I can't see, unless she has no one dear to her in this war.

With all respect to the President,!.

whoever he may be, I think Mrs.! William Shipp has made quite a statement in saying F. D. R. will] go down in history as the greatest! leader of all time. What puzzles me is how we managed our government before we found him. He is the grea leader we have ever had in spen money, experimenting and tmying out projects that cost millions of dollars and some of them are of very little use to the people, in dabbling in little affairs of the nation, instead of trying to get the war over with. . , . # 8 8 “SELF-RESPECT DEMANDS IT” By E. 8. Barber, Indianapolis What this town needs is a good independent newspaper. Time was when I thought we had one, and 1 was proud to be one of its readers. (By the way, have been sharing it with three neighbors.) Mr. Editor, I have tried to swallow your about-face, your slavish truckling to a corrupt political machine, your dishonest. efforts to make it appear that the people are going in droves to the reactionary party, your vulgar Talburt cartoons, but the limit is reached by tonight's hideous caricature. It does seem that even a Republican would gag at such a revolting picture, If your bread and butter demands that you continue to show such horrors as that and its predecessors, 1, for one, shall not pay to be so offended. : ; Am sorry to desert my nice’ little paper boy, but self-respect demands it. ;

3 An be forth uit: an m : : there-

Ho says that as jo as bo and | rey

the national government. Wisconsin was a pattern foe

the New Deal in many ways.

| Significant Test for Labor A SIGNIFICANT political fest for Michigan 1 ia”

the presiden If President Roosevelt should carry Michigan #§ will be because of the intense activity of the C. LO)

Political Action Committee which has done perhaps the best job of registration of any unit in the

A few weeks ago Michigan generally safely in the Republican column. It to its traditional Republicanism ago, but very insecurely, for Wendell by only 7000 votes,

awhile it seemed destined

i E

i ii

remain Republican, "And it may yet, of course.

But a big cloud of doubt, ominously regarded

Republicans, was thrown up when new

Wayne county, in which -Detroit is Jocal

g : {

registrations

: :

i 2 §

i dd pl Ing

ship has virtually disappeared. There is friction bee tween the organisation and the Political Action Come mittee which is running its own show, and almost the whole show. Both the Democratic state chairman, Walter Averill, and the national committeeman, Cyril Bevan, are new in these positions, The C. 1. O. domi nated the state Democratic convention,

Same Tiond Noted Elsewhere

LABOR HAS encroached upon the Democratis

party in Michigan to a greater degree ent in other industrial is noted elsewhere. This lation as to the future of the party country does not seem ripe yet for a ever will-and certathly any attempt Democratic party a labor party will be

states, though the nationally labor party—if i$

than is appar= same trend specie . The

to stoutly resisted,

as it is now, by the old-line leadership still entrenched

in the South and in the big cities of East.

the North and

Labor has earned its right to partnership. If Presie dent Roosevelt is re-elected, it undoubtedly will make its claims. Whether this will result in some compro mise that will satisfy old-line leaders, or whether the party will fall apart because of antagonisms already manifest and bring new political alignments, remains

to be seen. But something in seen in its most advanced stage in

IN WASHINGTON A eo. 0 . 7 Initiative By G. B. Parker

WASHINGTON,

more ingenuity.

teresting is happening, and it 8 Michigan,

Oct. 31.-"The

grift” as O. Henry called it is getting tougher and tougher. Raising the dough requires more and

But this is still a land of indie vidual initiative, imagination and enterprise. So obstacles are overe come. The latest big idea is the One Thousand club. In this connection it is intere esting to review a book by Charles Michelson. The cover page identi«

fles him as the unofficial “ghost” to the Democratie

party. He describes thusly some of

the difficulties

of the recent past in garnering the kale:

“Meanwhile the Hatch act had come

along to

plague us with its various restrictions, prohibitions,

and limitations.

It took all the ingenuity of the

strategy board to evade these. Big contributions and loans now had to be made to state organisations op else be attributed to individual names in amounts not in excess of $5000. We had to vary the processes for our hundred-dollar Wasihngton, Jefterson op

Jackson day dinners,

‘Some States Held Out on Us'

“IT HAD BEEN the practice to charge amount for a ticiket, though- the actual dinner less than 10, it being understood that the excess to our treasury. Smaller dinners of the were held in many cities, and usually, means invariably, the net proceeds came alteration was to invite to our banquet contributed $100—~which produced the same but brought us within the law. Sad to re

states held out .on us part or all proceeds.

“Then the convention-book expedient to. The souvenir volume for national was an old institution. The book had tively modest affair peddled out for a some similar small change. We elabora got out an impressive tome with full-page and ments. Corporations may not contribute organizations, but there is no bar to their advertising their products in any publication they choose. : guaranteeing a circulation of’ & hundred > with pleasurable results. We got $2500 a page for SmeLof ga More.

edition, 86 for the clothbound, and $100 for the : eo ery

of She righ

tions, histories by eminent writers,

we were able to fix a high rate,

0 of which wag ton

§ i

: 281

Hi Sv:

£ :

Es i

(191) TIES, Ww 5 200, now

(84) BELTS, now ....

(61 PRS.) SU were 1.00

large ssa

80-IN. ROPE and pink, v STERLIN * gold finish, were 100 .

J e—— FRI