Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 3 October 1945 — Page 12

The Indianapolis Times PAGE 12 Wednesday, Oct. 8, 1945

HOWARD WALTER LECKRONE HENRY W. MANZ BE © Editor Business Manager (A SCRIPPS-HOWARD NEWSPAPER) -

Price in Marion Coun- - ty, b cents a copy; dellv~ ered by carrier, 20 cents a week.

Mall rates in Indiana, $5 a year; all other states, U. 8. possessions, Canada and Mexico, 87 cents a

Owned and published daily (except Sunday) by Indianapolis Times Publishing Go., 314 W, Mary=land st. Postal Zone 9.

Member of United Press, Scripps-Howard Newspa- - per Alliance, -NEA Serve BE ice, and Audit Bureau of Circulations. V SCRIPPS ~ HOWARD

Give Light and the People Will Find Their Own Way

LOWER TAXES R the first time in 16 years a secretary of the treasury has recommended that congress take off some taxes, instead of adding on more. : Mr. Vinson's moderate proposals will disappoint those who had forgotten that the war hasn’t been paid for, and those who had failed to remember that the war's aftermath will keep the government's spending level far above any peacetime budget known before. Some in congress will start beating the drums for much larger tax reductions immediately—and in our opinion slight additional cuts would be in the public interest—but a few statistics offered by the secretary are proof enough that the nation cannot afford a much greater reduction in revenues at this time. Though the active war extended into only a few weeks of this fiscal year, present estimates are that the government’s spending will run to $66 billion and its revenues to $36 billion. That $30 billion deficit added by July 1 next will lift the national debt to around $300 billion. Obviously this is no time for a wholesale easing of the tax burden. That can come only after there has been a much sharper reduction in expenditures.

. . » ” » . R. VINSON 'S three simple suggestions could and should "* be acted upon by congress in 30 days’ time, so the seople may plan next year’s business knowing what the .ax rates will be. He recommends: Repeal the wartime excise profits on corporations. That's a tax which would multiply unemployment and create an artificial depression if carried into a peace year. By its repeal the government will gain greatly in revenues from the straight corporate income tax, which will still be high—40 per cent of net. Repeal the so-called “normal” income tax on individuals—which is really an abnormal war levy—thereby releasing 10 to 12 million income taxpayers in the bottom brackets. That would provide moderate relief to middlebracket taxpayers, though comparatively little in the higher brackets. The rémaining income surtax, with its exemption of $500 per head, would keep the individual income tax on a reasonably broad base. : \ Fix an expiration date for the special war-time excises and nuisance taxes. That should bring lower prices on those items and services, and to that extent increase purchasing power. The big job of overhauling the federal tax structure, long-promised and long-delayed, will have to wait until next year. And further substantial tax cuts will have to wait until we stop spending so much. :

BRIDGEPORT SETS A PACE ; “Y INCLE TOM'S CABIN” has been cited as one of the causes of the Civil war. Last week it almost started . another war, a small war lacking powder and shot, but a nasty little thing, at that. The old play's engagement for Bridgeport, Conn., was cancelled on grounds that it might awaken racial feelings which were “best forgotten.” The ban soothed one segment of the population but angered another. In tones not unlike those of the off-stage bloodhounds, the latter demanded cancellation of the cancellation. It was a hot September day and the mayor looked in vain for ice over which he might flee his baying constituents. He was trapped. With modern statesmanship, the mayor struck a blow for peace. No sneak attacks, no ultimatums, no alerting, ho atomics, no massing of might—none of that barbaric stuff for the mayor. Such practices were peculiar to nations. They led to wars about once a generation, fter Hiroshima and Nagasaki, wars went out of style.: So the up-to-date ‘mayor took a close, quick look at his situation, The original kick, he decided, was a misrepresentation, The people it was supposed to shield didn’t give a whoop about a situation that was remedied away back in Lincoln's day. So far as they cared, “Uncle Tom" could come in and play forever, The mayor “demanded” that the show play Bridgeport. He nipped the war in the bud. Let's hope his attitude spreads. Hundreds of millions

of frightened people want to live from now in the Bridgeport fashion,

SEND FOOD TO EUROPE!

ILLIONS in Europe face near-starvation this winter. This is one of the few undisputed facts in the inter‘national situation. Reports from governmental and private agencies, from the United Nations relief and rehabilitation administration and from press correspondents agree that conditions in many countries are desperate and getting worse. Still congress has not acted on President Truman's pléa for UNRRA funds, America hitherto always has been willing to help suffering abroad. That would be our humanitarian duty now, even though we had to take in our national belt. Actually, we can supply many of Europe's needs without impairing our diet. Our department of agriculture reports there is a present or potential surplus of many farm products at existing prices. It says we can spare considerablé quantities of canned foods, including m at, fish, milk; also powdered eggs, cheese, dried vegetable and fruits, potatoes, and some grain, In fact there is fear among some Washington officials foi that American farm prices will be depressed unless such a foreign outlet is found for these relative surpluses. ». But apart from that consideration, it would be a disgrace to let American food products go to waste while the old, the very young, and the sick of Europe die of starvation. Of course this relief should not be used as a partisan political ‘weapon abroad. The only way that can be. prevented is to insist that distribution be in the hands of UNRRA or the Red Cross, or other non-political organizations, whose only interest is to relieve distress without

®

there is no excuse for further

OUR TOWN—

By Anton Scherrer

AGAIN 1 FEEL an urge to dip into that narrow margin between the incredible and the merely inexplicable where anything is possible, including even a personage as strange and fantastic as Francis Schlatter, the world-renowned divine healer of his time, Divine-healer Schlatter pitked a Sunday afternoon in the spring of 1900 to make his debut in Indianapolis. The lilacs were in bloom, I remember. The sycamores in Armstrong park, where Mr, Schlatter had pitched

the pattern of their leaves had the sun been willing to do its part. That was the unfortunate feature of Mr. Schlatter’s debut, The sun just wouldn't co~ operate, It rained cats and dogs that afternoon. Even so, Mr, Schlatter had an audience of something like 500. The people came from all parts of the state, from places as far away as Rockville and Mishawaka. All had come in the hope that Mr, Schlatter would live up to his reputation. In Denver, for instance, he had cured 3000 people in a single day with nothing more to help him than the laying on of hands, And once he had allowed himself to be buried for a period of 40 days and nights with no appreciable. ill effects. :

Even Raised the Dead

IN OTHER patts of the world, Mr. Schlatter's record was even more impressive. In London he had restored four people, all of whom had been pronounced dead by the coroner, He repeated the act in Chicago. On that occasion, however, he embarrassed the coroner only three times; . It didn’t impair his reputation. Those who believed in him said it was because Cook county coroners are notoriously more efficient than those of England. Others pointed to the inescapable fact that London had a greater population of dead than Chicago could ever hope to have, It's hard to say whether it was the failure of the sun to co-operate that Sunday in Armstrong park, or whether Mr. Schlatter had one of his off-days. What~ ever the reason, Mr, Schlatter's first performance in Indianapolis wasn't anything to brag about. The woman from Rockville (internal hemorrhages) let everybody know that the divine healer didn't do her a bit of good. And neither could anybody notice any definite improvement in the condition of the man from Mashawaka (hip and joint disease), That was nothing, though, compared to what happened the following morning. Mr, Schlatter was still at breakfast (Enterprise hotel) when a man: from Kokomo appeared, He looked exactly like Mr. Schlatter—same long black beard, same Prince Albert coat. And take my word for it, he was fighting mad. Mr. Schlatter wasn't feeling any too good that morning himself. The man from Kokomo came to the point immediately and sald he was the original Schlatter and that he has come to Indianapolis to show up the imposter,

Both Men Disappeared IT WAS a pretty kettle of fish. When things got more or less unraveled, our Mr, Schlatter confessed that his name was a pseudonym of Dr, Charles McLean. However, he crossed his heart and hoped to die if he wasn't the original Schlatter who had cured 3000 people in Denver in a single day. He explained the pseudonym by saying that the Germans of Denver had nickngmed him “Schlaefer” (the Teutonic equivalent for “sleeper”) because of his ability to go into a trance, The difficult umlaut, he went on to explain, finally resulted in the corrupted form of Schlatter. The man from Kokomo said he didn't believe it and, to support his heresy, he let out an ear-piercing Mephistophelian laugh, This so enraged our Mr, Schlatter that he promised to raise the dead before he left Indianapolis, So far as I know, nothing came of it. That same night, under cover of darkness, both men slipped out of Indianapolis and were never heard of again; at any rate, not under that pseudonym. : I'never did learn who of the two was the genuine Schlatter. However, I have an opinion. Our Mr. Schlatter didn't quite measure up tb my idea of a man gifted with divine powers. That Sunday afternoon in Armstrong park, for instance, he persisted in calling our place “Minneapblis” and, besides, he wore a pair of spectacles, It struck me that a man endowed with the power Mr. Schlatter was supposed to have might have fixed up his own" eyes before tackling with other peoples’ afflictions.

WORLD AFFAIRS—

Fear Big 3

By William Philip Simms

WASHINGTON, ‘Oct. 3.~-Unless the Big Five can evolve a new and more democratic approach to the peace settlements, representatives of the smaller powers here are saying, the new League of Nations charted at San Francisco will go on the rocks. To say some of these representatives were shocked by the performance of the council of foreign ministers at Loridon is to express it mildly, They say it confirms their worst fears raised when, at the United Nations conference at San Francisco, the Big Five began to show signs of wanting to dominate the peace organization,

be narrowed down to a Big Three with France and China left out. China, it was contended, had no direct interest in Europe, Africa and the Near East, and France apparently was admitted only on suffer ance to discuss Italy. Thus, it is observed, peace-making has now been put on an undemocratic priority basis, No. 1 priority

Her unilateral decisions regarding Poland, Romania, Bulgaria ‘and Yugoslavia would appear to be final, Priority No. 2 is for Russia, Britain and America. No. 3 includes the same countries plus France, and No. 4 takes in China. Priority No. 5 allows the smaller powers to try to speak if and when the Big Three so decide. At London, the views of the Ukraine, White Russia and New Zealand were invited on Trieste, for example, while those of Belgium and Holland were not,

Lowlands Left Out ,

IT SEEMS that Russia demanded the Ukraine be heard and Britain sponsored her dominions, But as no one spoke up for the low countries, they were left out in the cold: And so it went. When it came to the Balkans, Russia demanded that France and China be excluded from the discus sions. Both are members of the Big Five. Both are permanent members of the security council whose decisions will make or break the peace. Both hold the power of absolute veto. If, therefore, world peace is indivisble, as Moscow's spokesmen were among the first to insist, war in Europe vitally affects the future of China, one of the Big Five guarantors. But even if China is ruled out of European councils as not being directly affected, certainly France cannot be. Many Frenchmen now living have Seen their country invaded three times from the east. One of

started in the Polish corridor,

Hope in General Assembly : AT SAN FRANCISCO, when the Big Pive assumed their vast powers, the “Little 45" were on the poin

patient and to “have faith.” In practice, they proms ised, everything would work out better might think. The Big Five would be fair.

is .any- indication, the Big’ Five--or Three—intend to run the world to suit But then again, maybe they won't.’ Ac the Potsdam directive, any peace t council of foreign ministers

The Healer |

his tabernacle, were far enough advanced; too, to cast |

P

£

Hoosier Forum

“l wholly disagree with what you say, but will defend to the death your right to say it.”

|POLITICS—

Broken Rule By’Ned Brooks

WASHINGTON, Oct. 3—A house explosion is being threatened over

-

the activities of a. lobbyist for ship- ~ YHE building interests who sat with congressmen this week through four g hours of debate ifvolving disposal of the $17 billion is wartime merchant fleet. -

The lobbyist is former Rep. Winder R. Harris (D, Va.) who resigned his $10,000-a-year house seat in September, 1944, to become vice president and Washington representative of the Shipbuilders Council of America. ¢ House rules permit former members to be present on the floor during sessions, but they limit this privie lege to those “who are not interested in any claim or directly in any bill pending before congress.” Mr, Harris occupied a seat at the Democratis table, a space ordinarily reserved for majority mems~ bers of committees handling pending legislation. He brought along his papers, tok notes on the proceed ings and frequently consulted with members of the merchant marine committee, sponsor of the disposal bill. Committee Chairman Schuyler O, Bland, another Virginian, sat a few seats away.

Unchallenged During Session

MR. HARRIS’ presence went unchallenged during the afternoon-long session, but it became the subject of lively discussion in the cloakrooms. After adjournment, Rep, Frank B. Keefe (R. Wis.) said he would seek a showdown on Mr. Harris’ ace tivities if the lobbyist re-appeared for the resum' tion of debate. 3 “When it comes to a point where a member of congress accepts employment to promote or oppose legislation, we ought to find out whether he has the right to carry on his work right in the house cham ber,” Mr. Keefe: said. No ex-member should be ale lowed to use his privileges to serve some special interest. “I'm not interested in personalities; I'm informed this thing has happened before.” i wv“ Mr, Keefe interrupted yesterday's proceedings to force a quorum roll-call. He explained later that he did so because of the “apparent lack of interest in a bill involving billions of government property.” At one age, fewer than 25 of the 435 members were on ‘the h :

Ex-Member Ejected Once Before

THE RULE governing the presence of ex-members. on the house floor has been in operation since 1880, | Records show that in 1900 an ex-member was ejected | by the speaker because he prompted members and handed them notes during debate on an election cone test case. : The shipbuilding council, with headquarters in New York, was represented at hearings ‘before the merchant marine committee on the disposal bill,

AN

* IN(

seems to be reserved exclusively for the Soviet Union,

these wars started at Sarajevo, in the Balkans, One

of revolt. Alarmed, the Big Five begredt them %o be | | than one Well, some of the “Little 45" now say i onset

“MIDGET AUTO RACE FANS LIKE COMPETITION” By Race Fan, Indianapolis, I'd like to express an opinion about this strike by certain midget auto race drivers and owners against Offenhauser-powered cars. . From purely a spectator's point of view, I'd say their cry-baby attitude shows poor sportsmanship and is not at all in keeping with the fine spirit shown by the racing group in the past. The 30 or so Ford drivers who want. Offenbausers barred from the races because they often win the most prize money should easily recall that a certain couple of Ford-powered cars were able to beat Offenhausers early ¢his season—and several times, too, Where were the strikers when one of those same two Fords turned in second fastest qualifying time at 8 local track last Sunday—faster than all four offys? Only an Outboard beat him. How about banning Outboards, too, boys? Instead of going around signing petitions against other makes of cars, these soreheads could spend their time more profitably with some extra tinkering on their own cars. If they insist on entering the competition in old boilers that have hardly been looked into since before the war and start steaming on the first run, why olame the Offys for the pickle theyre in? Why must these individuals freeze onto the brake lever and try to slow auto racing down to their own level of laziness and penny-pinching? If they want to win a hundred or so dollars an evening, they should be willing to earn it with equipment in firstclass shape, and handled accordingly. And even though these peitionsigners would like to be just one big happy family all buzzing along in cars exactly alike, and monopolizing the entire program at each race track, they shouldn't forget they've got the spectators to consider, It so happens the customers like variety. We like seeing cars of all different shapes and sizes. We like the deep

But at London, Russia insisted that the Big Five4,,werfu] sound of the Offenhausers

and the loud din of the Outboards. We're already missing the sight and sound of the Harleys and the D. O. Hals of old, I suppose they've been dropped in favor of cheaper equipment, too, and a-sad thing it is from the standpoint of keeping auto rac ing as colorful and exciting as possible. So if they think we fans will continue attending “races” if limited to one kind of car only, they've, got another think coming.

* [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 responsibility for the return of manuscripts and cannot enter correspondence regarding them.)

“WE CAN KICK ABOUT U, 8. BUT OTHERS CAN'T” By Mrs. Aurelia Hayes, Indianapolis In answer to a piéce you printed the other day that I wrote about the people demanding more money for their labor mow, I received a letter from a Mr. Bartel, 930 Belle Vieu pl. He kindly sent be six pamphlets on socialism. In the letter he told me why I should be a Socialist. For his information I would like to say- that he didn’t understand the people any better than the Germans or Japs did. We are just like the soldiers who gripe all the time, It's all right as long as it's us but woe unto anyone from outside this country who says anything. In spite of her mistakes we wouldn't exchange our form of government for any other country’s. Maybe this is the man that wrote the piece called The Watchman that everybody is fussing about. » ” »

“DID STREETCAR COMPANY PUT SOMETHING OVER?”

By Mary Harris, Indianapolis I have been a resident here for over 50 years. I was wondering if the Indianapolis streetcar company put something over on the public when they were not looking. They have increased the fare to 10 cents and 8 tokens for 55 cents, rerouting the cars and also changing the cars to trackless trolleys. I have been

{riding on the E. Michigan streetcar

for some time. Traffic is always heavy. When you are compelled to stand you have trouble in getting handholds to keep you from falling down. There is no complaint about the operators. They do a good job, With all the increased traffic, which is always heavy, they increase our car fare. Let the public

pay. ‘That is the policy of the era.

Carnival —By Dick Turner

“LET THEM ASK THE G. 1s WHAT THE BOTTLENECK 18” By A Service Man, Camp Atterbury. Now that the brass-toppers have given their alibis for the slow rate of demobilization, this G. I. would like to sing his own version of the same popular song. These observations are made by one who is actually connected with the “separation machinery” that Senator

‘|Johnson of Colorado says he is not

satisfied with. I think a committee. is being formed in congress to investigate the slow rate of discharges. Here's what will happen: A few congressmen will visit the various separation centers and will be wined and dined by the brassdomes. They then will be given “official” figures as to how many men are being released which on paper looks good. Then these congressmen will go home and tell their constituents that Jim, Bill and Joe will be home very soon—maybe by “mid-winter.” . But if all separation centers are being run like this one at Camp Atterbury, it will be a damn sight longer than midwinter. Here's why: There is no provision made for the welfare of enlisted men connected with separation processing. We have no orderly room (a city without a city hall), We have no place to get clothing and equipment (at this writing we have no supply section); this, in face of the fact that men being discharged turn in most of their clothing. . We are an organization and yet we are not. If we have a commanding officer I would very much like to know where he is. This also applies to the first sergeant (maybe you civilians can tell me where to locate these gentlemen), There are men here who have not been paid in three or four months. At this late date the payrol] for September has not been made up. Mail from Kome—the only factor that enables us to maintain our perspective in this circus of chaos—is two to three weeks late. The food? Let's not discuss it. Passes and furloughs? Are you kidding? For recreation we have a thrilling game of horseshoes unless we walk a mile to the show or sports arena. Now these may seem trivial things to gripe about compared to the sacrifices endured by many of our boys, but it sure as hell isn’t inducive to giving that extra effort that may mean a couple of hundred more discharges per day. Yes, let the congressmen start their investigations, but don't let them to the brass-toppers for their information, Let them ask the G. I.s what the bottleneck is in demobilization,

- ” » “LET'S HAVE CURFEW TO PUT STOP TO CRIME” By Pat, Indianapolis It seems a shame to take space away from your authorities on world problems but I am damn

which has just reached the floor after nearly two years of preparation. Committee members said Mr. Harris was a, free quent visitor at the hearings. Sale of ships in the vast merchant fleet was not covered in the surplus property act since it involved complex problems of allowances for vessels traded in to the government and formulas allowing for the extra cost of building ships under wartime conditions, " Rep. Alvin Weichel (R. O.), member of the com= mittee, charged during debate that the maritime come mission and the war shipping administration had entered into an “unholy arrangement” with subsidized shipping companies under which they received tax exemptions of $329 million and other large concessions,

RECONVERSION—

Farming By Roger W. Stuart

WASHINGTON, Oct. 3.—There’s § one important unit of the govern=ment which refuses to talk in terms of reconversion—the department of agriculture, . . Why be content, they ask, with “reconverting” to the pre-war ways of farming? Why not build on the extensive foundations laid during the war, and go on from there? The answer lies in a great number of new mechanical devices which, they assert, will change the whole way of life on the farm. f It lies, too, in new discoveries which point the

way to vastly increased crops, to reclamation of

millions of acres of hitherto unusable lands, to ime proved stock. ! In the South, where for decades cotton has been king, the biggest changes will occur, according to the experts. But every farming section now stands on the threshold of a new—and richer—life, There is, for example, a- new cotton picker, which is destined to replace thousands of southern laborers —but they are expected to enter other phases of agriculture that are new to the South. Here’s the way the experts describe the possibility of the new picker: In the delta region of the Mississippi, where farme ers use a mule to cultivate and hand labor to pick, it takes 141 hours of work to produce an acre of cotton. The mechanical picker, when used in connec tion with a tractor cultivator, will reduce the time to 25 hours.

Cows for the South

THE HAND pickers, who become unemployed as a result of mechanization in the cotton fields, ac~ cording to agriculture authorities, will turn to other activities, particularly dairying. “The development of a strain of cows which thrive in the South, plus introduction of legume hay to build up the soil, will hasten the spread of dairying in thas area,” they declare. Despite wartime curtailment of farm equipment manufacturing, there are 50 per cent more milking machines in use today than there were three years ago. During the same period the users of combine harvesters .and corn pickers increased by about 28 per cent. _As for the future, here are some of the developments which are expécted to play important parts im the transformation of American agriculture: Hay driers installed in barns. With these devices, hay may be cut, allowed to stand only briefly in the field, then blown into the barn through tubes and dried on the way to the mow, A cranberry picker which works like a vacuum cleaner, It does the work of 50 field hands. A flame cultivator, which burns away matted grass

Small grain combines for one-man farms. Poultry feeding and watering devices, which will cut the chicken farmer's work by 80 per cent.

| Peanut Harvester

G machines, which cut up hay in

* MA

NE

OCTOBER

This giver assist

ead

Fund and Atte

TICK

fax stree