Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 31 May 1945 — Page 14
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«Here is one governmental agency which may be de-
“obvious” point is that “the-Japs-don't- have-to-or-want. to |
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«able in it¢early stages, and X-ray is the best means of early |
The Indianapolis Times PAGE 14 Thursday, May 31, 1945 °°
ROY W HOWARD WALTER LECKRONE HENRY,W. MANZ President - Editor Business Manager (A SCRIPPS-HOWARD NEWSPAPER)
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«SP « RILEY 5551
Their Own Way
Member of United Press, Seripps-Howard Newspaper Alliance, NEA Serve ice, and Audit Bureau of Circulations.
Give Light and the Peoples Will Find
BYRON PRICE AMERICANS who admire character and value freedom will want to note a paragraph from a recent statement
by Byron Price, director of censorship.
S
REFLECTIONS—
Contrast - By Edward T. Leech
NEWSPAPER AND RADIO ‘men génerally knew about -the Japanese balloon-bombs before the army and navy recently made the news public. one. of the best-kept secrets of the war, and a fine example of “how voluntary censorship can work. . Censorship ‘is naturally odious to newspapermen. ‘By its’ very name the “office of censorship” should have created resentment and suspicion, | Instead, it is the one wartime agency that has won almost unanimous praise from the newspaper and radio industries. It has had the respect and co-operation of newspapers of every shade ‘of qpinion and political viewpoint. - By contrast, the office of war information should "be popular. Its function was to provide news, to give out information about-the war, to-help dig up facts and to make the vast amount of wartime news more accessible. Yet OWT is held in general contempt.
The statement accompanies a revised and greatly short- | ened -edition of the code of wartime practices for press and | radio. Because of victory in Europe, many restrictions are | removed. : : | “I recommend strongly that you... consign to‘history | and the waste basket all of the previous censorship cautions vou have received since the beginning of the war,” says Mr. | Price. “Nothing could be more haymful in"a land of free press and free radio than to preserve in force even the smallest | censorship guidance after the vital need for it had dis-| appeared.”
” = " 5
» 5 MR. PRICE has done, in this war, the'kind of job which
" Jdeserves, but seldom gets, monuments; which is, in a way,
too bad. pended upon to destroy itself at the earliest chance. We have witnessed lately the vulgar struggle of some | wartime agencies to find reasons why both their jobs and their controls over American life should be continued after the war. : : We like to think that Mr. Price is more nearly typical of the government service. Certainly there are many like him: men who use public office to advance the] country’s interests rather than their own ambitions. It has been men like Byron Price who, in all our | past trials, have worked quietly and faithfully and have | brought us through. . Rank these among patriots who are the hope for the future. ri : :
PROSPEROUS DEFEAT? : NYONE interested in a peace of vengeance against - Japan will find cold comfort in an article by Hallett Abend in the June issue of Tomorrow magazine. For it is Mr. Abend’s contention that a defeated Japan can prosper without either colonies or heavy industry.” And he produces figures to bolster that contention. Fifty years after Japan acquired Formosa, he says, there were only 300,000 Japs among the 6,000,000 inhabitants. Formosa was too hot, the Japs said. After possessing the southern half of Sakhalien for 36 years, there | were only 200,000 Japs there. Too cold, said the Japs. They couldn’t kick about the Korean climate, for it’s | the same as Japan's. Yet Mr. Abend tells us that in 1941, 31 years after Japan grabbed Korea, there were only 250,000 resident Japs among the 24,000,000 Koreans. His
colonize. . et Heavy industry,” Mr. Abend tells us, was a new hot- | house flower in Japan, brought along by government | subsidy. He claims that industries paid taxes of 3 per.cent | or less, while the peasants were taxed up to 20 per cent to | make up the difference. Removal of heavy industries, he | says, would lighten taxes by which Japan has been paying ! for their war.
We'd hate to see the Japs get a soft berth out of a| hard peace. But if Mr. Abend is right, we may as well | make up our minds to take away their colonies and warmaking industry and go ahead and let ’em prosper.
FATAL LOQUACITY T OCCURRED to us, during the dying days of the Third | Reich, that escape for many of the Nazi big shots might | not have been too difficult. Not by elaborate hideaways or submarines to Japan, either, What, we thought, could be simpler than adding or subtracting whiskers and glasses, | dying or shaving hair, putting on a Wehrmacht private’s uniform or nondescript clothes, and®*joining the anonymous thousands of bedraggled, confused, homeless soldiers and | civilians? : Well, Heinrich Himmler tried it. Ile almost got away | with it, too. The fact that he didn't ean be credited partly to British army intelligence and general alertness. But | another reason was that Himmler suffered to the end from a notorious Nazi failing: He couldn't keep his mouth shut. The fact that he was perhaps the most hated man in | the world seems not to have occurred to him. He was a | big shot, even though his, bigness may lie in the fact that | he seems destined to be mentioned from now on in the | same breath with Attila the Hun. So he had to end his | masquerade and proclaim to his captors, “I am Heinrich, Himmler"'—as if it were actually something to be proud of. | All the conflicting stories of Adolf Hitler's death by some of his associates lend, credibility to the notien that | he is still alive. Perhaps he made an escape similar to | Himmler’s. But if he is still alive, there will come a day | when he cannot longer resist the temptation to shoot off | his mouth. And then he'll be doomed, wherever he is.
SENSIBLE COMPULSION A NEW YORK CITY school, teacher has gone to court to try to restrain the gchool board and board of health | from giving compulsory X-ray examinations for active | tuberculosis. Under present law all school employees who | come in contact with children must be examined every two years and receive & clean bill of health before continuing employment. Those found to have active tuberculosis receive part pay while recuperating. The teacher contends that the law should apply to all | employees who deal with children, or else that the examina- |
a
| tell
| newspapers
| facts, but went in heavily for propaganda.
| mal signature, made the charter's principles its
| the latter's African colonies | other great powers in order to seize territory in Africa,
| alleging her need for raw materials, “lebensraum,” or roowmn in which to live and produce | the raw materials without which, he bellowed, the | reich could not survive... Almost every great nation, at one time or another—including Britain, France, | Russia ‘and ourselves—has reached out for fundamen- |
Situation Stems From Two Men
MUCH OF THIS situation stems from two men— Director Byron Price of censorship and Director Elmer Davis of OWI Director Price—an” experienced and successful Associated Press executive—surrounded himself with some ‘of the best men in the newspaper, radio and magazine fields. Not ‘many—but good. Men who had met the test and made thé grade. Admitting the dangers and. unpopularity of cen-
| sorship, he confined it to the necessities of purely
military information., The censorship code-has been brief, understandable and’ reasonable. Any intelligent person could appreciate the necessity for keeping from the enemy the information it restricted. When unusual problems came along—such as the balloon-bomb situation—the reasons why use of the news would help the enemy were frankly and -intellgently ‘explained. So the request was observed. Censorship did not try to warder into political or social fields. . It did not try to inspire propaganda or publishers and broadcasters how to run their businesses. - It didn’t play favorites or try to remodel or .radio stations closer to its heart's desire, Often it protected newspapers agdinst improper efforts to suppress legitimate domestic news made by over-zealous army and navy officers or aspiring bureaucrats.
OWI Didn't Stick to Facts
BUT THE OFFICE 6f war information did not confine itself to its intended field. It didn't stick to By seeking to control news at the source, it tried to exercise the censor’s power. It wandered into movies and music and the operation of magazines and radio stations. Now it wants to publish newspapers. Instead of a Small, combetent staff of tested men. it became A. sort of journalisticc menagerie—a new WPA Writers’ Project—a catch-all that included some good men wasers, crackpots and experimenters. - It was rent by repeated internal conflicts. It trusts the press so little that it collects its own news from the White House, congress and other departments. It respects freedom of the press so little
| that it tried to bar all American publications from | Germany in favor of ifs own official newspapers.
The office of censorship removed practically all restrictions on. news from Europe right after V-E day Avhile OWI grabbed peace in Europe as a chance to expand its activities there. Censorship is working toward eliminating itself entirely as soon as Japan is beaten; while OWI is working to make itself a longtime and bigger government press agency. Censorship, the best wartime agency, will end its
own existence as séon as the war is over; but OWT, | a complete bust, sooner, the better,
will have to be killed. And the
a
WORLD AFFAIRS— © juasur
By ‘Wm. Philip Simms
SAN FRANCISCO, May 31. — & Raw materials, access to which has J been at least partly responsible for several bloodys wars — including world wars I and II—will be placed
| in the dock before the - United Nations conference
here this week. The French delegation will be chief prosecutor. Unless the new league of nations provides for an equitable distribution of the available supply of such materials it. warns, not only will post-war reconstruction suffer but so will national and international
| economies thereafter.
Resources Carefully Co-Ordinated
DURING THE WAR the resources of the United Nations were carefully co-ordinated by Anglo-Amer-ican . commissions called combined boards. These
| boards helped to avoid duplication, waste and losses
of every kind. The French government now wishes
| to internationalize such boards in some form or other, { and place. them under the direction
of the new
league's economic and social council. The question has. already come before the proper
{ committee here. Nothing, as yet, has been done about
it." Yet, the French contend, access to raw materials is obviously a corollary to the right to work and full employment about which so miuch has been heard. Moreover, they point out, this is definitely. down in black and white as one of our war aims. “They will endeavor,” says Paragraph Four of the
Atlantic Charter, “to further the enjoyment by al
| states, great or small, victor or vanquished, of access,
on equal terms, to the trade and to the raw materials of the world which are needed for their economic prosperity.”
Question Has Been Kicking Around
“THEY,” IN the Atlantic charter referred. of course, to Great Britain and the United States. But every member of the ¥nited Nations has since, by forOwn Should the new league refjise to take the matter in hand, the interested AIS would have to rely on private organizations whjch- clearly could not do the job This question has been kicking around: the world for decades, especially the first world
nce war,
| Kaiser Wilhelm II claimed German economy was be-
ing strangled for within an ace of
lack of raw materials and came going to war against France over He risked collision with
the Far East and the Southwest Pacific—the very islands which subsequently went to Japan in the
form of a mandate and where American boys are now | fighting and dying. t
Italy expanded in North Africa and
Hitler called it
tally similar reasons.
tions be made voluntary. With the first contention we Would Check Certain Types of Cartels
agree. Bit it seems odd that anyone should objeet to a free examination which protects both himself, and his associates. | Since most people avoid even the thought of having | tuberculosis, it is unlikely that voluntary examinations would prove 100 per cent effective. Yet the disease is cur- |
}
detection. - hae ga yt © Many industries have compulsory chest examinafions | r workers which. are credited with helping to prevent a | ise in. tuberculosis. during this wartime period of strain |
k. It would be well if such examinations were |
PRESUMABLY AN international *‘
and, when scarce, allocate them where most needed.
It is also-likely that it would act to check certain | types of ‘cartels which opérate in restraint of trade, || or, profit through a sort of international black market |
om
wherein scarce materials are sold to. eager purchasers |
willing: to pay above ceiling prices. American car owners, back in the '20s; shelled out
as”'much as $50 or $60 for a single tire because of an |
international combination which controlled practically all the crude rubber. That sort of thing, probably,
would likewise be out and nations with colonies or’ dav ma. |
trusteeships would be forbidden to exploit terials from such areas to the detrime
the detriment of others,
It was |
along with a lot of jhas-béens, never- |
hat Tw man naked Eincoln-onesl THe-1ad10rd IC SEITE out White eommHTsM? You “answer, "|said something about “government
Ethiopia, |
combined |} board,” functioning under the new league, would keép track of available raw materials -all over the world |
Scratchers
agp
[| Look Out for Back
| |
= SE ACAURT ee
“1 wholly disagree with what you say, but will defend to the death your right to say. it.”
+17 -REALLY : MADE ME HOT" By Ralph Stinson, Frankfort I just finished reading about the two-year sentence.imposed on Pvt. | Joseph - McGee for striking nine] | German = prisoners, , and it really made me hot. +. I guess all of the atrocities of this war were not committed by the Ger- | mans, as is shown by high army ofi ficials who imposed this disgrace- | ful sentence on an American fight{ing man. While they are showing {the people of this country pictures ; of Nazi horror camps, they are cod-| idling and pampering German offi-| cials. | Evidently we have a few Nazi|, hg taking care of everything else, sympathizers in high offices Who | orrying whether their men will should be replaced by real Ameri-| . dv : CARS. come back and how, working day Russia, it can expect nothing but 1 If the nine Germans lad: beaten 5) Fpl uying 9 make 8 Reownt trouble from Communists; strikes, |the American they would probably| W I8 an : eep their family 10-{sabotage and worse. And what have got a loving cup and an extra | SCther, they get a Aotice 10 move | would a Communist army officer be | helping of chicken. . It. seems {0 me Within ten days. Moye where t0? most likely to do in a war against
munizing of , Russian occupied territory is a menace to peace and security, which cannot be anything but dangerous. Reorganization-of goternments to meet the situation is /the part of wise statesmanship and prudence, for certain it is that if Stalin forces the issue war is inevitable. The significance -of the shooting in Greece should not be overlooked. It was a warning that Britain will fight to keep Communism out of certain areas. Stalin knows this and yet he is encroaching on Italy, a British and American liberated nation. A reshuffling of government personnel to get pro-Communist officials' out of power, in order to be prepared for any eventuality, is necessary, for if any nation has to fight
= _ (Times readers are invited Yo 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 responsibility for the return of, manu-. scripts and cannot enter correspondence regarding them.)
he can. Selling out so he can make |. Joe Stalin is playing with the fire a little money while the husband of that consumed Hitler and Mussothe tenant is out there giving his | lini and which is scorching Japan. all so the landlord can make a He had better take a good long look {thousand or more dollars off the|down that path of glory and rehouse his wife and babies ‘live in. member, well, where it led Hitler It seems to me there could be and Mussolini. He had better take something done to protect these another long look at Berlin and women and their homes. So many ponder what is happening to Tokyo. things are frozen, why can't prope | A few more acts of hostility and agty, * where these fighting men's gression and Stalin will force a new | for contempt. That seems to be| Wives are living, be frozen also? |alignment of nations, with the power the proper procedure against those| ‘That “move within ten days” is|0f the rest of the world lined up who try to help our fighting men, (3 cruel phrase to a worried wite | together against Russia in self dewhen she knows there's no place fense. That's the situation, as I to go. All these high priced proper- |see it. {ties will never be paid for when the | uy {let-down comes, which doesn’t seem | AM I RIGHT far off. People can't meet ‘these OR WRONG?” | It seems to me one of the most|yio hayments and the finance com-|By Mrs. A. A., Indianapolis unfair things that could happen iSipanies will own them all I read with much interest about being Pracuiced here HM we ey 4.8 8 one of our American soldlers, Pvt. And that is the homes being sold |«THE SITUATION that the service men’s wives are|fs CRITICAL | Joe McGee. The treatment he reoccupying. These wives and chil- |g, rps watchman, Indianapolis ceived has gone beyond anything dren are being given notice to move, The potential dangers in the that has ever been in your paper and with no place to go, it is about critica} political and military situa- since the war began. It is disgraceone of the most cruel things that|tjon in Europe, Asia and the whole ful. the people could do to these boys world cannot be met by evasion, | joe McGee did right.
who are out there fighting all over appeasement nor by wishful think- structed and trained to kill all Ger-the—-worid--to-- make -it—safe-for us ing The situation” is critical. OH gan Soldiers. AS 10r his beating | here at home. While they are giv- | . . ;
wie Visi a err V- course the people of the United in,se German prisoners, he did just| ing their lives, sight and limbs, the States, Britain and other nations | pion and the worst was none too greedy property owners and real ’ ,
{of the peaple, by the people and {for the people,” and I'm sure that {it is not the .will of the people [to mistreat our fighting men. { When our brothers and sons come thome I'm afraid they will be dis-~ [gusted with the things their government has tolerated. P. S.—Rep. John Rankin will | probably want to haye me arrested
- ”
‘WHY . CAN'T PROPERTY BE FROZEN By 8. W.
Ld un |
ALSO?”
Watson, Indianapolis
He was in-
[POLITICAL SCENE— **
state tealers. ate ‘sellin. thelr do not wank war with Russia, nor | good for them. Joe McGee should ; eaters are selling their do. I believe the Russian peopleine given high honors for handling] property While they can get a good (want to be plunged Into another | &srmans as the papers say he did, | price for it. They are puttifig’ these war, but Stalin's hostile and aggres- [go our hats off to Pvt. McGee. service men's wives and babies out sive acts in Poland, the Balkans, | .one reason we have a shortage of without any consideration at all Yugoslavia in particular, the and with their men gone and the
: food is due to feeding German j presence of a large Communist |,.isoners, Cut down on their food. whole burden of raising children|army in China and active eom- :
After all, we have one flag, one Side Glances=By Galbraith
country, one language. Joe McGee | is a true American. .I am sure all your readers will agree with what I write, that Joe McGee must have been a- good soldier or they would
not have sent him back to active duty. And thanks to Robert P.| Patterson for taking the case up. Also our thanks to Rep. John W.| McCormick. | I simply had to let you know how | I feel as I have quite a few, relatives in the South Pacific. If all these German prisoners were wiped out, what a pleasant place this world would be, and with the Japs wiped out. I hope all our boys will come home with a better understanding. Knowing they did what they were trained to do, their minds will be at rest. - So think back to how many of our American boys those Germans killed, and those ‘they starved and mistreated in prison camps. We know -the Germans are liars , , . I'll take an American soldier's word against all Germany, or the people who tried McGee in Le Mans,
Prance--for. such treatment of one of our boys after {freeing them and feeding them. That indeed. is one big laugh. : Thank you, and I do hope I hear from some of you readers on this question, Am I right or wrong?
DAILY THOUGHT.
Behold, I send an angel before . thee, to keep thee in the way, and to bring. thee into the place which I have prepared.—Exodus 23120. be
"Yes, I've baked six pies, apple, peach, apricot, Temon, chocolate : co end banans—he!ll be pleased when he comes home tomotrow to hope 1s
France. Indeed, I am surprised at].
+ forgotten his favorite kindsl
fod
oe
ro Headstart - By Thomas b¢ ‘Stokes
WASHINGTON, May 31.—President Truman, by a combination of native finesse and circumstance, is building himself up politically "to | such a nice headstart for 1948 that it is making Republicans sit up and take notice, After last year's election, in- which they crept up elose- to’ the=Democrats, the Republicans had figured
‘tht 1948 certainly would be their year, They figured
on a natural reaction against a party long in power, on an expected swing of the political tide at the end of a hard war, and on the disturbing problems of a
‘post-war period, problems difficult to handle to the
entire satisfaction of anybody. . But they are beginning to wonder now about this man Truman. : 3 He inherited the mantle of President Roosevelt by fate, and he is wearing it in a progressive style, but he did not inherit the resentment and bitterness which attached to the late President. : This has been a break for Mr. Truman and he has capitalized on it.
Advantages Became Apparent
SOME OF ITS advantages became" apparent re= cently. For. example, when President Roosevelt & few years ago sent to congress a proposal for reoi= ganization of the government to make it more effie cient, there were shouts of “dictator.” -President Truman sent up a request for presie dential powers to reorganize the government after the war emergency more far-reaching than those suggested by President Roosevelt. It caused hardly a ripple. It was, in fact, received favorably in gens eral. There were no moans. This does not mean, of course, that congress will speedily enact it. Every senator and house member has his pet bureau—pere chance one well-stocked with his own patronage— and . there will be demands for exemptions from abelition or transfer here and there. But nobody calls Mr. Truman a “dictator” for asking it. Another example is President Truman's invitation to ex-President- Hoover to consult with him at the White House about the food problem, the first time Mr. Hoover had set foot there since that raw March day in 1932 when his term ended. Nothing like that ever happened in Mr. Roosevelt's time. No invitae tion would have been extended, nor would one have been accepted. La Yet Mr. Hoover knows a lot about distribution of food, and his counsel should have heen sought long
Considerate of Congress, and Smart THE PRESIDENT followed this up by asking in Messrs. Dewey and Landon, thus deftly making & nice gesture to Republicans, . ; . * With his right hand, so to speak, he has been cleverly doing things that Republicans have been advocating, such as a readjustment of the executive
. machinery to bring under regular government de=
partments “such of those special bureaus which are to be retained. Republicans- have been. frothing for a long time over those “dangling participles.” He has been considerate of congress and smart about it, too, as, for instance, by picking men wha had service and experience there for two of his three new cabinet officers. But, with his left hand, he has been putting in some licks with a progressive smack, such as his res: sistance to “letting off the brakes” on taxes: and price control, his demand for more adequate uneme ployment benefits during reconversion, and his suce cessful fight in the house for the reciprocal tariff program which already has put Republicans on the defensive, judging from reaction from the country, He is conservative in ways ‘that please his own party as well as Republicans. He is progressive in directions that will please New Dealers and" hold rank-and-file support.
IN WASHING TON—
Payments
‘By Ned Brooks
WASHINGTON, May 31.—Action requiring purchasers of residential property to make down payment of at least 35 per cent is under consideration by the office of economic gtabilization as a means of curbing runae away real estate prices. The proposal is said to have the backing of OES Director William H. Davis. OPA Administrator Chéster Bowles and some officials of government housing agencies. The latter agreed at an OES conference that speculation in home values has reached “dangerous” proportions, : A draft of the plan is being prépared by OES staff members for submission to the agency's board. If approved, it will be recommended to President Truman for issuance as an executive order under the emergency war powers act. Still to be determined, it was understood, is the extent to which the 65 per cent limitation on new mortgages would be applied to new construction, which is counted on to supply thousands of job ope portunities in reconversion.
Exemption for Veterans Proposed OE SUGGESTION was for the exemption of homes built under priority assistance. This would include virtually all current construction but the building industry has been promised that priority restrictions will be lifted as soon as.manpower and materials become more readily available. Another proposal was for exemption of veterans in building or buying homes. The down-payment requirement, it was pointed out, would virtually, nullify - home loan provisions of the GI bill-of rights, which make it possible for veterans obtaining fed eral housing administration insurance to purchase homes with no cash. : A recent survey by the national housing agency showed that values in some war centers had risen as much as 75 to 100 per cent. The greatest increase, NHA said, has been in properties in the lower price pracket. - The proposed requirement would reverse governe ment policy of prewar days in encouraging long-term loans with low down payments. Under the FHA program, loans.have been insured with down pay« ments of 10 per cent on homes costing up to $6000 and with payments of 20 per cent on deals of more than $6000, Frank W. Cortright, executive vice president of the National Association of Home Builders, said the down payment requirement would be “cumbersome and drastic.”
Fear Plan Would Curtail Building “UNLESS AND UNTIL new construction in volume is authorized, any afrtificlal attempts to hold down real estate prices by clamping restriction on morte gages or sales levels will defeat their own purpose,” he sald. “If prices really are getting out of hand, a premise not yet established, the best way to relieve the situe ation would be to encourage instead of discourage new construction.” . The National Association of Real Estate Boards agreed that the plan would curtail new building “unless there 1s a clearcut exemption.” The only controls over down paymer‘s an home purchases. now in force are those applied by OPA. Under these; a 20 per cent payment is required in the sale of tenant-occupied property, And evice tion cannot be enforced -for 90 days: The federdl reserve syStérh eriforces, controls over installment buying, requiring ong-third down payments, but these are not applicable to real estate transfers. : :
The OPA controls, according to Administrator
| Bowles, have been insufficient to prevent an “alarme
ing” ‘increase in evictions and spe ve sales. He told the senate banking committee recently that
the\absence of -controls over real estate prices has
produced “a boom reminiscent bf the lush 20s" °