Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 15 January 1945 — Page 10

GE 10 Monday, January 15, 1945

"(A SCRIPPS-HOWARD NEWSPAPER)

per Alliance, NEA ServToe and Audit Bureau of §§

w Give Light and the People Will Find Their Own Wdy

. BRING. BACK THE PRIMARY THE people of Indiana have an important stake in the | movement to bring back the direct primary as a means | of nominating party : governor and other state offices. 0 3 showdown by a bi no ; into’ the current general Assembly. Indiana has tried both the convent primary system.

HENRY W. MANZ

WALTER LECKRONE Editor : Business Manager

Price in Marion Coun- ~ ty,-5 cents a copy, deliv ered by carrier, 20 cents a ek : : Mail rates in Indiana, , $5 a year; all other states, U. S. possessions, Canada and Mexico, 87 cents a , ~month.

RILEY 5551

candidates for United States genator, That issue will be brought

by a bill:now being drafted for introduction

REFLECTIONS—

Not So Different

By -James Thrasher

600 year-round residents of Fishers island who want to secede

with Connecticut—not from malice or distoyalty, just for convenjence. ‘It seems that the island a . legally a part—of the town of * Southold, Long Island. But be- < . 4 tween them lies some 25 miles of Long Island Sound. The Fishers Island-Long Island ferry runs only four months.a year, During the other eight a Fishers islander with business at the town hall or court house must ferry to New London, Conn, take a train down to New York: and another ome out to Southhold—a distance of 200 miles, one Way. So the Fishers islanders would like to become Connecticut citizens, since New London is only eight

| miles away and there is year-round ferry service.

They have petitioned Connecticut's Governor Raymond E. Baldwin to that effect, and he has passed the request along to New York's Governor Thomas E. Dewéy in a very polite letter. y

jon system and the Neither is’ perfect, but we believe on |

the basis of practical experience that the primary comes |

closer to the ideal of popular governmen

in our democratic. system. ) have a direct voice in the selection of their office-holders,

t which is inherent the people

Under this plan,

and we are firmly convinced that the best government is | that which is closest and most responsive to the people.

OPPONENTS of the primary argue that it gives undu

power to pressure groups, a state convention knows

even more powerfully in the sm i patronage-dispensing administration in power, or the state | ~and district chairmen and the

. » o

el but anyone who ever has attended that the pressure groups figure | oke-filled rooms where the

other favored cogs in the

party machines hand-pick the slate of candidates.

It is argued that the primary jtures, that a nomination may be

may bring undue expend- | “bought” by a lavish

campaign. But nominations may be, and have been, bought in conventions, also—and it is much more difficult to check |

on or control the amount of mone : to hand in a hotel room than that which is spent in an open

campaign.

It is argued that only a minority votes in a primary. It is true that the primary voting has elections. But that is due largely to the fact that there was little interest in the campaign because the important offices were not on the ballot. And a much smaller minority | of those who voted had any idea who was being selected - to represent them at the nominating conventions, while only the barest few knew who these delegates were committed to support for the important state offices. is not popular government. 2 :

SUPPORT HAS BEEN growing for the primary proposal, and that in itself is proof that the people are not. satisfied with the way ated -in recent elections. however, from’ those who are more interested .in personal power than in the selection of the best cai dates for public office. a convention—particularly one in which a majority of the delegates have been named by “the organizations”—than it is to control the electorate of the state. . And that is precisely why we favor the primary system. We do not believe in controlled government.

opposition,

4-F's AREN'T SLACKERS

_.. YN justice to a large group of Americans, we all ought to remember that 4-F’s aren't draft dodgers. evading military service. who have complied with the law, registered for the draft, reported to their draft boards, -and been rejected for military service because of disabilities. The reason théy aren't in uniform is that the army and navy don’t want them in uniform—a fact which, to our knowledge, has bitterly disappointed many of them. Most 4-F’s are able to do useful work. They're in th - age brackets generally most wanted by essential war industries—and many of them are in such industries. It may be that more of them should be required to get into, or | stay in, such industries. assume that, willing to do their duty, less willing to sacrifice for their “country, than the soldiers and sailors, the men beyond military age, or the women who have not been required to register for the draft.

HOPE FOR FINLAND

THE President is wisely sending a diplomatic mission to

Finland.

y that passes from hand |

been small in recent

That

the convention system has oper-

There is, and will be, strong | |

Tul . For it is much easier to control |

They aren't | They are men of military age

But it’s not fair to intimate or as a class, the 4-F's are less patriotic, less

Though this does not represent a formal|

resumption of relations, it is a step in that direction. If Washington and the American people could have | prevented the tragedy, Finland never would have been |

caught between Russia and Germany. there was an opportunity for the blundering Helsinki regime to escape from Hitler's pocket without suffering another conquest by Stalin. But Finnish democracy lacked leadership in that crisis, and now the people are paying the price of harsh armistice terms. character, however, they are paying with work and without

“whining.

‘What matters now is that Finland shall retain, or rather regain, her full independence. Though the situation is obscured by censorship and isolation, apparently the Russian victors are not pursuing the puppet policy there as in some other countries of Eastern Europe. If thisis true, there is basis for hope that a free and democratic Finland—after all her suffering—may yet be recognized by both Russia and the Western world as a part of any lasting European peace. America, Finland's largest and best friend, can be of most help in this because of all the powers America has no selfish interest to serve there,

JUST A SUGGESTION

; ONGRESS" seems determined to try everything else _ before considering national service legislation. So it might ease the present shortage if the navy would lift its ban on married nurses, and if selective service wouldcomb the government bureaus again (especially OWI), before we set up a half-way draft organization for nurses or threaten our 1945 food production by a wholesale draft of young

More than once,

True to their sturdy

Day Dreaming on Office Time HAVING READ the story, we did a little day dreaming on:the~office time. We dreamed that this secession request was made some time ago and that, by some sad fate, Adolf Hitler was governor of Connecticut, at the time. : First thing Governor Hitler did was to call in his

WE WERE reading about the

from New York state and join up-

volute Qe nemisorermnsreetsiens

| |

chief of state. police and give him secret orders to |*

arm and train a secret task force. Then he hired

| time on a national network and made a speech.

He talked about the New England ancestry and superior culture of the Fishers islanders, who were bound by racial and economic ties to Connecticut. And he annexed Fishers Island. Next he claimed that a gang of inferior people with foreign accents

| were pushing around some upstanding descendants of

old Connecticut settlers down on Long Island. There followed several speeches of increasing shrillness, Governor Hitler demanded that all of Long Island east of Flushing be given to Connecticut. They one day the country woke up to discover that during the night there had been amphibious landings by Connecticut forces at several points on Long Island's north shore, from Sag harbor to La Guardia field.

| That Was the End of the Invasion

AND THEN the United States army moved in,

| captured the invaders, and threw Governor Hitler in

tHe clink. And that was the end of the invasion of Long Island, and the dream. Later it occurred to us that the day dream was not so different from the true story of Chancellor Hitler of Germany, and the Sudetenland and the Polish

Corridor. Only in reality there were no international |

troops comparable to the United States army to step in promptly when the trouble started. So now the world is fighting history's most horrible war. And yet people shudder at the thought of a “world police force.”

ot : >

WORLD AFFAIRS—

Time for Action

By William Philip Simms WASHINGTON, Jan. 15.—Some “united nations envoys here are convinced that President Roosevelt will offer Britain and: Russia an ironclad treaty extending the life of the grand alliance until the compieted Dumbarton Oaks plan is formally ratified by the U. S. senate, This would be in line with Senator Vandenberg's proposal, hence. should win senatorial ap- | . proval without delay. In return, for this specific commitment, of course, it is expected that the President’ would exact from London and Moscow an equally definite pledge regarding the Atlantic charter, . * Failure of the President to press for some such agreernent ‘at his forthcoming meeting with Marshal Stalin and . Prime Minister Churchill undoubtedly would cause widespread disappointment in united nations circles. Spokesmen for the small nations say

would be little further hope of independent existence.

Stalin Has Conflicting Plans DIPLOMATS GENERALLY, however, are by no

ican offer, if made. Mr. Churchill, it is remarked, | be the result, but a training in pér-ithis same reasoning. France has |sonnel, sanitation, roads and the had universal training fof a number

would certainly jump at the chance, but the indications are that Marshal Stalin has conflicting plans which he may be unwilling to abandon.

there pending a free election to decide what form of government, and what leaders, the people want. And this neither conflicts with charter principles nor with the broad thesis advanced by Senator Vandenperg. There is serious doubt, however, regarding Russia. The Red marshal admittedly is ruthlessly realistic, Moreover, he has always feared anything resembling” a cordon sanitaire against the Soviet Union. Therefore he has gone to considerable pains to erect a cordon sanitaire in reverse—a Moscow-dominated chain of buffer states reaching from the Atlantic almost to the Pacific with outlets to the Mediterranean and the Indian ocean. I .

President in Position for Showdown

THAT WAS the main Idea behind Russia's war against Finland. It was behind her absorption of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia.” It was behind her partition of Poland and the creation .of a puppet Polish regime at Lublin, It was behind her backing of Marshal Tito, in Yugoslavia, and her other moves in the Balkans. It was behind.the recent riots in TeRran which resulted in the overthrow of. the government of Iran. And, most likely, the end is not yet. Now, it is observed, the President is fn a position to obtain a showdown with the other members of the Big Three, At London and Moscow there has been a considerable show of impatience ‘over the vague stand taken at Washington. Britain and Russia have given the impression of eager readiness to get a new league of nations started, but American uncertainty stood in the way. America had “walked out” of the Geneva league and she might “walk out” on the Dum-. barton Oake league. If, therefore, they had engaged

in unilateral or bilateral activities, it was because they had no option but to make sure of their post-war security in their own way. ; . A hard and fast defensive alliance between America and her prinpipal, partners of the grand alliance until the Dumb; the United States (when it would automatically supersede the alliancej would mike unilateral action unnecessary, . i :

spokésmen

a " . ) 4 ; “% Le

dent, would do Ta

orf Oaks formula can be ratified by |

If anything can saye the little nations—and with ‘them. the ‘collective security jdeal-—some of their observe, such .a move now, by:the Presi-

| |

ERY

sr ar OT GLa

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

[Serious Chats

“TAKE PART OF THE BLAME YOURSELF” By Paul Davidsen, Thorntown As I was reading in your column | of a war worker in Indianapolis | complaining of the transportation {in Indianapolis, and as I drove the [trolleys and streetcars for several { months, I might say a few words {about that. Mrs. E. S. is right. Only I think that she could have brought out a couple of other facts. First, why {do the women have to go all the way downtown just to get a few items that the corner store has? Then, second, why do they have to take three or four little children with them, and when she gets on the trolley, she puts each of them in a seat by himself and lets the war workers stand up. Now most of the people could do a lot to help the operator in more than one way. So don’t blame the driver in all cases. Take part of the blame yourself.

n 2 2 “ARMING CHINA IS MOST IMPORTANT” By E. R. Egan, Indianapolis The most important allied move today to shorten the war and insure peace is arming China, that is to say, equipping and training their unlimited manpower, which is as necessary in maintaining the peace in the East as shortening the war. The native has the advantage of being acclimated and familiar with the terrain. And most of all, he does not have to move five or six thousand miles to the battlefront. - This should be moving to China now, with personnel to train them in its use which could be, indeed {must be, officers over age for combat duty.

{ weapons to meet the Japanese ag-

{ gressors at any time.

(Times readers are invited to express their views in these columns, religious controversies excluded. Because

ters should be limited to 250 words. Letters must be signed. Opinions set forth here are those of the writers, and publication in no ways implies agreement with those opinions by The Times. The Times assumes no responsibility for the return of manuscripts and cannot enter cor. respondence regarding them.)

of the volume received, let-

that time the political history of Germany is nothing more or less then the evolution of the modern German army. The social and industrial progress of the German nation can be measured in military terms and is controlled by the German supreme cothmand. Every German citizen, not physically disabled must serve from one to three years in the regular standing army and afterward in the three grades of reserves until he is 45 years of age. From the time a German boy is old enough to carry a gun, until he is 45 years of age, he knows that ‘the government can claim his services at any time. The young man, just beginning his services, may be rebellious at first but after he has served . two or three years and has had the education and training only

{

a start.

greater effort, but would progress against the Japanese.

| might <" apparent. This,

rocket . bombs on

tary regime.

{defend herself—would

| {world means to have peace.

8 (“LET'S LOOK AT

| WHAT HAS HAPPENED” By Roy Van Wye, Columbus

in.the near future.

| rifts, ‘indeed heavy | artillery, for

People who have carried on with practically no modern. equipment would be not only stimulated to make |

Then when the navy barrage has cleared the way for landing forces, the Japs would indeed feel the] pincers that would make their | and the| the Japanese mainland, could in a year’s time at’ the most bring the militarists to terms, unconditional surrender of their armament and whole mili-

Arming China—ftraining her to i convince Japanese milifarists the rest of the

! | With the Chinese inured to primi-| The American Legion, and many it would mean missing the last boat. For some, there [tive conditions, an army of at least otper organizations, including the four million men, and which could rime editorial department, seem to be augmented constantly, would beithink that universal conscription ready and equipped with modern should be a part of our national life

to be had in the army, and after he has discovered it does no good to disagree, he will become reconciled | and become an ardent advocate of the training for future classes.

The whole system and practice

the will of the individual must be merged into the will of the state, and universal conscription is the most logical way to instill that doc- | trine into the youthful mind. The] ‘avowed purpose of the German| military training has been to ad-| minister this training to the Ger-| man people during their most for- | mative years and impress upon the | national character the idea of a supreme state, and -to ‘make each in. | dividual a part of a hugh military | machine, which will instantly obey, without independent action or thought, the command of a superior officer. A soldier is trained | to obey, not think for himself. He| must obey blindly and without! thought of consequences, gh As every man has had the same training it .is only the exceptional | person who manages to retain al distimet individuality. Thus the) German people carry this habit of | obedience to superior authority throughout their entire life, That | is why Germany has been able to]

{ |

‘ | Let's look at what has happened carry out at man ial remeans sanguine as to the outcome of such an Amer- | Not only would first-class armies in otler countries that’ have tried | forms uly zr aly J0lgS re

The army must

| rewards for such ventures—and this|are net worth trying for.

{need not be as much of a transportation problem as it has been.

Universal conscription-has been a success in Germany. It was started Planes could carry thousands, of about 65 or 70 years ago and since

| foundations for post-war prosperity, jof years, yet it did not save France | in transportation facilities and a in 1914 or in 1939. Why? Because {demand for the comforts ofsa stabi- universal training is not the main Despite the uproar.on both sides of the Atlantic |1jzed civilization free from the dis-|thing in building an army on that against the prime minister's action in Greece, he |t;rbances of possible, indeed prob-|principle. has already made it plain that all Britain is trying | able, invasion of a powerful aggres- supreme, over all civilian activities, to do is to maintain a semblance of law and order |5o. neighbor, which might be for and government, to produce results {awhile as regular as the probable|that are telling. Any other results

[if they were very worthy but have! complete submission of individuality as their basic: principal. Strange to say, the German people like it after three generations of this form of education. This sort of thing has been going on in Germany for 65 or 70 years, and was the djrect cause of the war in 1914 to 1919, and the present conflict. I do not see why it would work out any different in this country, As for the physical fitness program, that can be taken

Side Glances—By Galbraith

cr ———————

pt we < ta ML DORI 1648 BY WEA R71" 7A 5 1 WBE, U. 2 og

~~ gshe’s got fo quit:

3 =

‘5. PAT. OFF.

Sorority sister or no sorority sister, I'm servin i YN J

care of in our schools, boys clubs and scout programs. Basic military training can be given in our high schools and colleges if that is all that is desired. Otherwise why indoctrinate our sons with a theory that has led to two of the most destructive wars in all history, and the very doctrine we have given untold billions, and thousands of lives to abolish in other states. ” ” » “WHERE 18 THE EVIDENCE?” By An Ameriean Patriot, Greencastle , - The, American Legion says it Is sponsoring peacetime military conscription “to insure that the United Statés shall not again become the victim of an aggressor's tieachery.” How will it Accomplish this when we had already had peacetime military conscription for 14 months before we were attacked at Pearl harbor? : Europe tried it for better than 150 years—and failed, We tried it for 14 months and had over 922,000 men in training when “the Japa nese jumped us. Whete is the evidence that it will stop aggression?

———————————

DAILY THOUGHTS

‘Then saith the Lord God; Remove the diadem, and take off the cpown: this shall not be the same; exalt him that is low, and abase him that is high.—~Ezekiel

ent)’ p .

paw

Rigg on her that impressing my dates with her ta

{228 ! i ; iL

of the German government is that i

TQ Him no high, no low, no great, mall; He fills, He bounds, conand equals alll—Pope. :

oo ia

no 8 3 amy ’ > ¥, Fee,

By Thomas L Stokes ¥

WASHINGTON, Jan. 15.—~ _ Seemingly the first job of the new _ committee on un-American activities in the house ‘will be to investigate a serious charge of personal political persecution. against its predecessor, the so-called Dies committee, in particular, former : Rep. Martin Dies (D. Tex.), chairman of the now defunct special committee, . < _ Buch an investigation was deAe A manded by the .victim, Rep. Havenner (D. Cal), who took the floor on a point of personal privilege and denounced as completely false and perjured the testimony of a witness that he was a Communist. and had participated in Communist activities, > What so shocked the house, when it heard the story, were the circumstances surrounding it. The testimony was taken in a secret session at Beaumont, Tex, by former Chairman Dies on July 16, 1040, with no other member of the committee present and with other members unaware of it. It was looked away in “secret” files.

Investigation Is Assured -

THE CALIFORNIA CONGRESSMAN found out about-4t first when an advertisement quoting from the _

| testimony appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle

during the recent campaign. Though a member of the house when the secret hearing was held, he was never told of the testimony nor given an opportunity to appear. An investigation was assured when one was demanded by Rep. McCormick, Democratic house leader, after the California congressman told his story. Mr. Havenner has asked that the witness, John L. Leech, former member of the Communist party of California state committee, be subpenaed. The Havenner revelations were very timely, coming as they did before the new committee starts to function. Although they were somewhat embarrassing to those who had voted for the creation of a regular standing committee in the usual procedure the opening day of congress, perhaps they will cause the leaders to exercise care in picking members of the new committee,

Witch Hunt Would Be Unfortunate

A COMMITTEE of this sort has a heavy responsibility, for it would be unfortunate in these times and in the post-war period to have a witch hunt, to go around persecuting people merely for holding or expressing opinions, or for activity in labor or liberal organizations. There was such an era after the last war. Such a conception of its duty by the committee, would be itself an un-American activity, if our history and our traditions and our bill of rights mean anything. . There is undoubtedly a useful service that the committee can perform. The old Dies committee performed some useful work, though it strayed off every now and then into the field of persecution, as in’ Mr. Dies' action in the Havenner case. It displayed frequently an anti-labor bias. It showed at times a political bias against New Dealers and political progressivism, It would appear that there is a lack of “understanding among. some...people of such diversions of the old Dies committee from its supposedly assigned duty. This. is indicated by letters the writer has received. Either they represent that, or they reflect a strong anti-New Deal feeling which, of course, was shown in the last election. Some people, the letters also indicated, suspect all sorts of mysterious things going on here in Washington which the

| writer Las not been able to discover.

IN WASHING TON—

! \}] i Young Man's War By Charles T. Lucey

WASHINGTON, Jan, 15.—The army's own figures, after three years of war, show why it is that ‘battle-front commanders are call ing for young men and why, even though they must now be plucked even from vital war industry, plans are going forward to call them up for duty. The most recent figures show that 32 per cent of the army's seven million-plus men were 18 to 22 years old; 48 per cent were 23 to 30: 18 per cent were 31 to 38 and exactly 2 per cent—including officers—were more than 38. For some time now, only men up to 26 have been inducetd. You can talk to gegerals back from the war fronts and hear stories of how men up to 40 have performed | nobly in the field, going for days with scant rest dur- J ing tough battle campaigns, sometimes being chosen for spécial assignments over young men.

Eisenhower Asks for Youths

. BUT AS IT averages out, says the war depardment. you just-can’t pit any large number of men of 35 or 40 against men of 20. Army eipativney is n't have the resiliency and snapShon ne y So a gruelling battle trials, The older men are, the more likely they are to-be sensitive to extreme hot or cold weather—our armies are facing

' both—and to infections.

Gen. Eisenhower has asked for the younger men, and the war department apparently is determined to do everything possible to supply them. .Of the 150,000 men to be needed monthly by army and navy between now and summer, it's estimated that about half will come from the new 18-year-olds, and the balance must be taken from industry or wherever they can be found. Al qualified men up to 30, Secretary of War Stim. son now believes, must be turned into war service. The war department says age alone isn't always the final test—that physical condition is the pay-off. There are older men in the field who are good soldiers but very often, it is said, they are men who have lived an outdoor life and can take hardships. But in organizing and training men by the millions, the war department has to go by the averages,

Some Older Men Can Take It

MOST OF THE older men still packing a rifle or feeding shells into an artillery piece are men who have been through many screenings, A general who saw. active service in the Italian campaign recalls what he saw older men do there and says that “on the whole they've give us a fine job of soldering In this ry ‘He cited thelr participation in the fast-moving campaign that began when U. 8. forces finally breaking out of the Anzio beachhead joined fopces with others coming up from Cassino to make the drive on “Rome and push on to the north, altogether six weeks of hard campaigning. Troops were moving about as fast as they could and rest was often a matter of two - or three hours in a Hole beside the road at night. There were older men there, this genera] said, who stood up to it without flinching, “To assume that all older men don’t make good soldiers is a mistake,” this general said, “After all, ‘of course, so often it comes down to a matter of guts.” Another war, departrhent official, agreeing that many individual cases could be found of older men performing brilliantly, said that if age limits on inductions were upped by several years the almost certain result would be that most of those taken in and sent ‘overseas would wind up in supply jobs rather. on ae :