Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 28 June 1945 — Page 18
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i _ Bcripps-Howard Newspas
The Indianapolis Times "PAGE 16 Thursday, June 28, 1945
ROY W. HOWARD WALTER LECKRONE HENRY W. MANZ President Editor Business Manager
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i Give Light ond the Peopls Will Find Thew Own Way
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. HALF-WAY MARK
E see by The Times, yesterday, that Mayor Tyndall, half-way through his term in office, feels that his administration has done a pretty good job. So do we. Naturally the administration hasn't been in power two and a half years without drawing some criticism. We
haven't hesitated, ourselves, to criticize occasional short- | \." eomings of some of its members or employees, when we felt it was justified. But on the whole we agree ‘that the |
batting average of the Tyndall administration has been pretty high. The mayor has stuck firmly to the objectives
$5 a year, all other states,
and Mexico, 87 cents a | | this country to maintain an alert, modern and ade-
Price in Marion Coun- | ty, 5 cents a copy; deliv- | ered by carrier, 20 cents |
§’ By James Thrasher
A COMMITTEE of the national
planning association has issued a clear and thoughtful interim report _ on recommended national policies . for the reconversion and post-war development of the aircraft industry—policies which, it might be added, are conspicuously lacking at present. or The report expresses concern over this lack, and recommends that ‘legislation be enacted to enable
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quate post-war defense. As things stand now, military aircraft production will end with the end of hostilities, according to provisions of the war mobilization and reconversion “act. “On V-day,” says the report, “we undoubtedly shall have the world’s biggest and most modern air force, but it will be largely obsolete with respect not only to the most recent developments in conventional aircraft types, but also to developments in jet propulsion and other radical changes. “The temptation to rely on the size and- quality of our existing air forces, neglecting the means by which they were produced and by which alone their continued development can be assured, will be great in the inevitable period of letdown following the end of hostilities.”
End of Military Program in Sight SPEAKING OF the aircraft program now scheduled to end with V-J day, the report states: “If this continues to be our national policy, there will be
he set for himself, and if he hasn't yet attained them all, | compiete interruption of military procurement for an
he has certainly made progress toward some of them. It is not easy, in normal times, to keep the myriad
unpredictable length of time. The effect of this policy on aircraft manufacturing companies will be that few, if any, could keep their vital research, engineer-
gervices and functions of a modern city running smoothly | ns’ jabor and management skills together.”
enough to satisfy all the citizens who depend on them. It is a lot harder in wartime. No mayor in this century has served this city through a more difficult period. For the second half of his administration we wish
or Tyndall much success as he has had in the Mayor ynd Bs 3 | at four years, and that there be an annual 25 per
first half.
PROVING THE NEED
“THE labor leaders who are fulminating against the pro-
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posal by Senators Hatch, Burton and Ball for a new | “federal industrial relations act might well take a little time |
‘ “40 consider the rash of wartime strikes from which this
country is now suffering. If organized labor wants to provide clinching proof that some such law is needed to protect the public welfare, strikes such as many of these are the way to do it. Ther¢ are strikes over grievance disputes, issues which were supposed to be settled peaeeably under contracts signed by unions and employers after collective bargaining. There are strikes that stop or reduce the production
of urgently required war materials and weapons. Strikes
that all but paralyze the distribution of food to civilians. Strikes that slow down public transportation and put countJess citizens to needless inconvenience. Strikes in outright defiance of government agencies. There is the intolerable situation, centered in Detroit, of jurisdictional warfare between A. F. of L. and C.lLO. unions over which shall do the work of moving machines and preparing plants for the resumption of automobile production. Their effect can be delayed reconversion and unemployment for workers all over the country. Labor leaders who shout boldly against a proposal to require more responsible use of organized labor's great power seem timid or mute when it comes to doing or saying something that might curb abuses of that power. Yet if labor does not control itself it will be controlled by law. If the rash of strikes continues to spread and
to threaten the country’s future peace and prosperity, we |
believe public opinion will demand drastic punitive legislation going dangerously far beyond the reasonable; constructive Hatch-Burton-Ball proposal.
“HELPING” SMALL BUSINESS
SOMETIMES we wonder whether the well-meaning friends of small business in congress aren't overdoing their solicitude just a trifle.
a fair and favorable chance to get started, to grow and to prosper. . provide that. But to keep tellirig small business that all the
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The committee, of course, leaves determination of the size of our post-war air force. to congress, whose
| decisions will in turn rest on the success and re- | quirements of the world security organization. | insisting that we shall need an air force it suggests
But, that a useful life of military aircraft be estimated
cent replacement with new, superior planes in an air force of constant size.
Keep Prepared for Defense IT RECOMMENDS further that the research program not be confined to the building of a few prototypes, but that it be combined with industrial activity, including exhaustive tests and the solution of production problems. The report warns that there might not be another chance to get a “running start” on production by filling foreign orders, as happened in this war. It urges that we maintain an industrial nucleus capable of rapid expansion. All this is sound thinking, not sword rattling. We shall certainly need an air force in the new league to keep the peace. We should have the best. So far congress has done nothing about bringing that into being. We cannot afford to let our military aircraft production halt and die, as it did after 1918, and still contribute adequately to national and world defense.
WORLD AFFAIRS—
Meat Supply
By Karl A. Bickel
OTTAWA, Canada, June 28.— The swiftness and severity of the current meat shortage in the United States astounded Canadians. Officials on the wartime prices and trade board, who co-operate closely with the U. 8. government, did not expect the shortage to be anything but “spotty.” . The statistics on individual food consumption in the United States and Canada for 1944, they point out, show that citizens of the United States consumed more meat per person than did the people of Canada. The figures are 147 pounds per person in the United States as against 138 pounds per person in Canada. If these figures are correct, many Americans will
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| feel that their share of the meat did not appear on
| ineffective government control.
their own dining tables. : The black market in Canada is primitive, comspared with the illegal market in the United States. It is not fmportant in food distribution.
Ready to Smash Black Market CANADIANS say an active black market indicates Officials in Ottawa
| are prepared to act drastically—and, they believe,
It is highly important that small enterprises shall have |
cards are stacked against it—that nothing but constant |
government assistance can make its success possible—may
many small businessmen that they won't try very hard to succeed by their own efforts. Chairman Krug of the war production board seemed to have some such thought in mind the-other day. heard congressional critics complaining that WPB's pro-
effectively—to stamp out a black market if one of any ‘proportions should develop. They say
were necessary to eliminate illegal food trading. Dominion food officials say they are astonished
to hear that frequently no meat is available in United |
States shops while some restaurants are selling steak
| dinners. be the reverse of helpful. It may, we think, so discourage |
In Canada throughout 1944 steaks and other types of meat were available in all meat markets, at controlled prices. The policy of equality of distribution
| made it possible for every Canadian to have steak
He had |
gram for release-of materials to be used in making civilian | goods would put small manufacturers at a disadvantage. | The complaints, he commented, are not justified. There |
are some 145,000 manufacturing concerns with annual sales of less than $200,000, he said, and it is impossible for WPB to wet-nurse each of them through the reconversion period.
| Bonuses were offered.
But, he added, the WPB program is specifically de- | signed to make available to small companies a fair share of |
the materials that can be released. will become evident before long, he observed that, meanwhile, congressional groups could be more helpful by urging small manufacturers to snap out of their inertia and get
Predicting that this |
busy. We believe that Mr. Krug made a good point there. |
SAVE A ROOM FOR US
(CONDITIONS have changed since a year ago, when the war food administration leased a 12-acre limestone mine near Atchison, Kas., and started making it into a huge cold-storage plant for surplus perishable foods. A big battery of refrigeration machines is now at work, lowering the temperature inside the mine toward 30 degrees—but the expected surplus of perishable foods apparently turns out to be a shortage. Oh, well, if the WFA hasn't any grub to store maybe it can rent rooms in its underground refrigerator to people looking for a cool and quiet place to spend their summer vacations. ot :
A BETTER PLAN ; | ERNIE PYLE would have been pleased, we think, by the ® genate military affairs committee's decision to shelve a proposal for award of a special medal of honor in memory "of him. = Instead, create a new distinguished service news medal for war
ts whose services deserve their country’s
Ernie ce
and most beloved of
| |
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the committee has ‘approved a general bill'to |
rtainly was one of |
in his home any day he wished. At the end of 1944, American experts estimated that the U.”8. civilian meat supply for 1945 would amount to 132 pounds per person. Now, it is believed here, the individual supply in America may not exceed 115 pounds. Canada introduced rationing in May, 1044, a few months after it was put into; effect in the United States. Canada made an immediate effort to increase meat production, obtain more for export. Farmers were urged to grow coarse grains for livestock food. The response was such that within a year the exportable surplus was almost twice what it was in February, 1943. Then Canada lacked bottoms to ship beef to England. Canada’s storage houses overflowed with meat. So Canada suspended rationing, and urged Canadians to eat the meat.
Surplus Not Shipped Here
THE CANADIAN meat surplus was not shipped to the United States because at that time the Amer- |
ican government did not want fit. Canadian-Amer=
ican relations throughout the war have been on a | Canada has never accepted lend-lease |
cash basis. from the United States.
Last march the Canadian government again apthe |
proached Washington- with a proposal that United States accept shipment of Canadian cattle from Winnipeg, where for a short period the pens were overcrowded. A reply was received from yards
in St. Paul stating it would be impossible to handle |
the cattle. Now with shipping facilities has plenty .of space for shipment to Great Britain. Canada's smaller “population has made the problem of control and! distribution simpler. Donald Gordon, chairman of the wartime prices and trade board, can reach all important Canadian food distributors over the telephone within are hour.
Mr. Gordon has worked consistently on the policy To |
of equality of distribution of food in Canada. assist him in this, a plan was worked out between Canadian army officials and the wartime prices and trade board by which the board buys all the army food supplies. This prevents the military from buy=ing up all the available food in any one section. The ‘plan may. cause lowered supplies for the time being but Gordon sees to it that all distributors are equally reduced in proportion.
So They Say
IF BRITAIN'S acres are not harvested to the -
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they | . : | would not hesitate to restore rigid rationing, if it Government policies can and should help to |
improved, Canada
[“NOT FAIR TO HOLD OLDER MEN IN SERVICE” By Mrs. L. A, Indianapolis | Papers of June 19 carried the | | statément by the War Department | {that the age limit for releasing older | service men is not going to be re- | duced to 38 years as is being ad-| |vocated by so many individual | | people and organizations. The War | Department says that it would not |pe fair to the younger men who | have had longer service. That may | be true. | However, it was manifestly unfair to draft these men so close to 38 in |the first place.e Is it treating these {older men fairly to hold them for {another two years or more until all |the good peace time jobs have been {filled by the young men, and by the | thousands of war workers who will be released from war plants in the near future? Many of these war workers are under 26 years of age, and are nothing but draft dodgers and they and their families have been living in plenty for the past four years, and it is high time they were rooted out and put in the service and give these servicemen of 38 years of {age and over a fair chance to reestablish themselves before the great ‘rush for peace time jobs begins. Families of these older service{men should shower their represen|tatives and senators at Washington | with letters and telegrams urging the immediate passage of the sen{ate bills S-835 or S-1006, introduced {by Senator Langer some time in {May. These bills would make posisible the release of all servicemen 38 years and over, but these bills have been temporarily shelved in the military affairs committee, | J “NOT A PENNY OF PROFIT [ SHOULD COME FROM WAR" By C. D. C.. Indianapolis In a little book called “A Study of War” covering the years from|
1480 to 1941 there is a list of wars
Hoosier Forum
death
(Times readers are invited to 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 responsie bility for the return of manuscripts and cannot enter correspondence regarding them.)
correct, it would seem to indicate that neither the Germans or Japs are people who have been educated to make wars for generations as some of us have been led to believe. Adolph Hitler may or may not be dead, and it probably matters but very little either way. The thing that really matters 1s, the causes which produced Hitler are probably more prevalent than ever. one doubts this stateme®t, it might] be pertinent to ask why a lot of] Americans whose names were mixed
“I wholly disagree with what you say, but will defend to the
your right to say it.”
“LEGALIZING CLOSED SHOP WOULD BE UN-AMERICAN" By A. J, Schneider, Indianapolis Fred Perkins filled his column with the provisions of the proposed new “labor bill of rights”; but unfortunately he neither expressed his opinion nor stated the'policy of the Scripps-Howard newspapers on this proposed legislation. This column should be read and reread and studied and discussed by all men in thé services, by discharged vets, and especially the wives, mothers, relatives and friends of the men who are still fighting to preserve freedom in this tired old world and to protect the rights of minorities, however small. And after
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1 POLITICAL SCENE—
OPA Quips
By Peter Edson
WASHINGTON, June 28.-—Aver= age citizens aren't the only ones who’ get mixed up on these things. Take Congresswoman Jesse Sumner of Illinois, for instance, who actually made a speech criticizing OPA for wanting to break up the black, market. Here are her exact quotes: « « .. There is a point, I have noticed since I have been in politics, where people are so dumb that they _ cannot be that dumb and be honest. The people who do the real planning for this OPA program I think have reached that point. . . . We would not have as much food as we have today except for the black market. . . . You know it and the OPA knows it. So what do they do? The OPA has now started a drive to end the black market.” This house debate on OPA renewal had a lot of laughs in it. High point probably came when Con= gressman Alfred J. Elliott of Tulare, Cal, brought several big San Joaquin valley potatoes to the well of the house and laid them on the podium while he spoke. ? Jd “Hey!” came a voice from the floor. got butter for those?”
Lots of Rules, Few Potatoes
ELLIOTT said in the course of his remarks that it was nothing to see a potato 12 to 13 inches long in the San Joaquin valley, with irrigation. But he pointed out there are now 72 potato rules and regulations. “No wonder there are so many eyes in these potatoes,” said Elliott. “They need them in oader to keep up with the rules and regulations of the OPA.” When the Swedish exchange ship Gripsholm left the United States recently with a load of several thousand deportees to Italy and Greece, some $40,000 worth of war bonds were presented at thre docks for cashing. Most of the deportees were criminals and other undesirables and the first to go up the gangplank turned in their bonds for exchange. But when the immigration officials told them that the bonds didn't have to be cashed, the run stopped. As a result many more thousands of dollars worth of these securities were taken back to the old countries, to wait for maturity to full value,
Old Question "Who Won the War?"
IT MAY be apocryphal, but a story brought back from Germany relates that Lt. Gen. Carl Spaatz, commander of U. S. strategic air force, and Lt. Gen. Omar N. Bradley, commander of the 12th army group, went in to interview Goering. “You listen to the $64 question I'm going to ask him,” said Spaatz cockily. ’ “Isn't it true,” asked Spaatz when he got the right opening, “that it was the U. 8. air force bombings which really defeated Germany?” “No!” answered Goering. “It was the repeated, heavy and unexpected drives of the U. 8. ground forces. They continually threw us off balance and made it impossible for us to defend the Rhine.” “That,” Bradley remarked later, “was the $128 answer.” : The father of a soldier in Germany wrote the war department the other day, complaining about this “point system.” -It was bad enough, the father wrote, to have to give points for butter and meat and things like that, but when he had to surrender 85 points in addition to get his boy back, that was going too far. If they insisted on the 85 points, however,
“Have you
due consideration, members of coness and the senate should be bombarded with expressions of opinion of this piece of legislation. It is proposed to clarify the provisions of the Wagner act and “legalize the closed shop.” Legalizing the closed shop .would be the most un-American ‘act ever attempted in this coufitry where we
tion of minorities, with bloodshed if necessary. We have scoffed at Russia's slave labor and we would
which kind did they want—red or blue? | Congressman John J. Riley of South Carolina has | a story about OPA confusion. He tells about one old | colored woman who walked into the rationing board | in his home town of Sumter and demanded: { “I want one of them books you can't get nothing | without.”
| | IN WASHINGTON—
If any-f have always boasted our protec- |
G. |. Buyers
up with the cartel crowd and the a Xan an have worse here. In Russia slave | By Roger W. Stuart sri
international banking system followed our doughboys in France and are presumably now in Germany. Still in San Francisco we are winding up a meeting which is: supposed to end all wars while the militarist group backed by many big industrialists are working in Wash- | ington, D. C., for permanent mili-| tary conscription which = doesn't make good sense to some of us. The latest news from Germany| seems to be that we are going to teach the German people the ways of peace such as we have in our own country. This is to be done by the movies and radio and will probably be something like the educa-| tion we receive to eat a certain brand of breakfast food or taking a bath with a certain kind of soap. If we want to end wars, I would | like to suggest a remedy. Put
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labor is slave labor only to the government or country, But with a legalized closed shop, our labor
would pe slave to individuals—no- |
torious' criminals and racketeers. If that is what we want we ought to let our congressmen know it.
There is nothing in the Wagner | act that needs changing. The plain |
intent of the English language used is clear—only the lopsided interpretations need cleaning up. Get busy and let your congressmen and senators know your mind. The racketeers will force their slaves to write—indeed they will furnish the letters, cards, stamps and telegrams to burn up Washington. But since organized labor
represents only about 15 per cent | of all workers, the free and unor- |
ganized workers must assert their views. ”
u ”
and the various nations participat- |overy civilian, from the heads of “LET FARMERS GO BACK
ing. The number of wars various nations have had are as Great Britain, 78; France, sia, 61; Spain, 54; Austria, key, 43: Sweden, 26; Italy land, 23; Germany, 23, 20: China, 11; Japan, 9. | The figures are those of Prof. Quincy Wright, and not my own.| Prof. Wright lists our own “peace loving” U. 8. A. as having had 13
follows:
52; Tur-
wars in 160 years, not including In- keep us out of war, but we can be | quite sure that there is at least]
dian wars. These Prof. Wright did not list as it seemed to be impos-| sible to tell where one left off and \A new one began. Assuming the above figures are
the great corporations down to the)
day laborer, as well as the Presi-|
71; Rus- dent, congressmen, generals, in fact | By
every American, on exactly the|
25; Hol-|same wages that is paid to G. I.!ernment Denmark, Joe, with his allowance for food, changeover in production we hear
clothing, dependents, efc. Then see to it that not a single penny of profit is made by anyone as long as the war lasts. This may not be a sure cure to
some equality of sacrifice and every American should be patriotic enough fo dgehis part if a war is forced upon us
side Glances=~By Galbraith |
| | | |
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. ‘ - : "0 Yan aro
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Pe. 1944 BY NEA SERVICE, ING. 4. RED. U8 PIT, DPF, ¥ A, Ne Tope WN ocr Ea 3
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| true.—Jonn 8:17
TO THE FARMS” Oliver Thornberry, Indianapolis 1t seems to me that if the govwanted to make this
so much about, without causing too much discomfort or mental anguish for those involved, they would lay
|off the men who have farms and
are paying someone to farm them, while they are reaping a harvest both in town and at home. There’s supposed to be a shortage in manpower on the farm, so why not kill two birds with the same stone, After all, the people who live in the city depend solely on the city for their livelihood. Of course, this would probably
mean appointing another board but
then we haven't had a new one for quite awhile, and I hear they are
cutting appropriations on some of]
the others. This would help more than you think.
P. 8. This seems like a pretty | sensible suggestion so I doubt it
shall be used.
o ” ” “HOW DID THE GOLFERS GET HERE~WALK?” : By L G. X., Indianapolis I don't suppose you will publish this but one day the first of last week you had President Truman asking folks not to travel, spend vacation at home and buy war bonds. On the same page all the golf ladies from different states were shown here in Indianapolis How did they come—walk? That is their pleasure; but a person can work a whole year, very seldom taking time off, and want to have a few days. But no Or probably go see your mother on that once-a-year trip you always plan. If a railroadman has a pass, they want to put him off the train. That is all he gets—no bonus or
Christmas present like most firms|-
pay.
DAILY THOUGHT - It is also written in your law, that the testimony of two men is
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| | WASHINGTON, June 28.—The way finally has | been paved for veterans to get their share of surplus | | war property. : 2 { G. I. Joe has a new “purchasing agent.” Starting @ | next week, the Smaller War Plants Corp. will embark on a’ program to supply the million or so veterans who plan to set up their own businesses with the surplus equipment they need. Under terms of a new regulation- issued by the surplus property board, veterans will get first crack at equipment, up to a point, Each may buy $2500 | worth of an A-1 priority, if he allows the Smaller War Plants Corp. to do his “shopping.” The $2500 limit, according to retiring Chairman Gillette of the surplus property board, is an arbitrary figure set by the board “to afford a broad and equitable distribution.” It was, he says, “picked out of the air.” If it proves too low, it will be changed.
Equipment for Business HERE'S THE way the new regulation is expected to help veterans: Suppose Joe wants to open a machine shop. He requires considerable equipment but doesn’t know where to buy it. He tells the WPC of his wants. This agency, through its 110 field offices, will buy the items Joe wants from goods marked surplus by various government disposal agencies throughout the country. Noe, in turn, will buy at cost from the SWPC. He may pay cash or arrange tor terms. 80 much for ordinary equipment. But suppose Joe is interested in farming. That situation, as a spokesman for the surplus property board expressed it, is “a bit scrambled.” . For here the war tood administration enters the picture, If Joe wants to buy farm equipment, he informs the WFA, The latter then sends its investigators out to look over the farm equipment. If iti determines that equipment is adequate and {fairly priced it notifies the Smaller War Plants Corp. to that effect.
Agency Can Veto Purchase SINCE, HOWEVER, the SWPC is charged by the surplus property board with final responsibility fox determining whether the veteran is likely to make good in his proposed business or farming venture this agency retains veto power over his purchases | Buying of farm ‘land results in an even more “scrambled” situation, Veterans do not get firs crack at such property, The priority system pro vides that a government agency may be the firs | to buy if ft so desires, State and local governments are next in line, then the former owner, then hif tenant. And then the veteran. There's one more catch in: the regulation. Nd surplus goods other than’ for business purposes of agriculture may be bought by veterans under wl A-1 priority. Moreover, the veteran must maintaid nf
the business as sole proprietor, or, if non-vete: are associated with him, they must hold less thax half interest.
To The Point—
THE WAR DEPARTMENT is for compulso training of yo men. Some, people would like see it fof.some of those young kids ‘next door, > . . * FURLOUGHED vets are given plenty of red point for meat eaten at home-—but will they ‘get énoug gas to ride around until they find it?
WE'LL be tired enough to need a vacation we get through trying to figure out where to spen one without traveling. fie wit . ’ . . vl 3 to look out for, owne: keep in mind’ own
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WHILE UNCLE SAM plans of fant industries he should 18. . Tega &