Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 26 October 1945 — Page 20
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~ ROY W. HOWARD President
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~ effective league lack the power to produce it.
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The Indianapoli
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~ PAGE 20 Friday, Oct. 26, 1945
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Circulations, EE © RILEY 5551 Give Light and the People Will Find Their Own Way
WE CAN SAVE THE.U. N. O. ECRETARY OF STATE BYRNES, after receiving the required 29th ratification, has proclaimed the United Nations Organization in being and its charter a part of international law, So the brave new world is finally here —0n paper. But the announcement caused hardly a ripple. It was wedged in between blacker headlines from all over the orld, reporting colonial revolts in the Far East, unrest in the Near East, hunger and dictatorship in eastern Europe, and growing disputes among the Big Three. High hopes of six months ago, when the San Francisco conference opened, were deflated by the weak charter which came out of that meeting. Now, four months later, there iz so little allied unity that the big powers cannot even agree on procedure for a meeting of foreign ministers— much less get together on any major issue. We are not tempted to be Pollyannish about such a desperate situation. Denying the disagreeable facts will
not wish them away, but compound them, ” ” H » » »
NEVERTHELESS, there is the courage which faces facts
only long enough to despair, and the courage which continues the fight against heavy odds. The latter is the kind of courage which carried us through the Pearl Harbor period, and won the war. Precisely the same moral courage is called for now, if we are to win the fight for an international security system. : Unless the United States makes that fight, the U. N. O. will remain only a thing of paper and pious words. For the small and middle-sized nations that want a democratic and Britain of all the large nations has the largest stake in an international order and a secure peace. But, with internal difficulties, colonial skeletons, and fear of offending Russia, Britain cannot lead. : That leaves the decisive roles to Russia and the United States, with Russia doing everything to block an effective U.N. 0. In saying that, we are not explaining but reporting. We cannot explain it. Russia's policy of obstruction seems to us to be suicidal. But—whatever the cause, and the ultimate result—it is a matter of record that Russia is trying to dominate much of Europe and Asia and to prostitute the U. N. O. for her plan of dictatorship.
the everlasting credit of the United States, Secretary Byrnes under orders df President Truman, refused at the recent London conference to compromise any longer on that basic issue. And to the credit of the British labor government it stood with the United States. Hence the deadlock, which persists. There are three choices how. One is to go back to the policy of appeasing Russia's power grabs, But Washington is unlikely to do that, and if it does the American people will not support it. A second, and more probable, course is that the United States will react into isolationism and its illusion of lone security. That, apparently, is what Russia hopes and others fear. The third way is to take the U. N. O. charter at its face value, to rally and lead the great majority of nations that want a democratic international security organization. If the United States does lead maybe even Russia will see that it is to her self-interest to co-operate. We hope our country has the wisdom and the faith and the guts to go ahead.
ONLY THE STRONG ARE HEEDED PART from the sufficient military reasons for the Tru-man-Marshall universal training plan, which we discussed yesterday, there are also potent diplomatic reasons. Because of our speedy demobilization many foreign governments assume that the United States will lapse into the same state of unpreparedness that invited the rise of military aggressors after world war I. This foreign assumption, in turn, gravely weakens our diplomatic bargaining power in the international negotiations making the post-war settlement. It is too bad that military strength is a measure of diplomatic influence in peace settlements, where moral principles and democratic ideals should rule of their own right. Too bad, but nevertheless true. So true, indeed, that the smaller and even the middle-sized nations are virtually ignored today because they are not major military powers. As Marshal Stalin is reported to have replied when President Roosevelt suggested inviting France to the Yalta
conference: “How many divisions does she have?” ~ » » . ~
® \ WITH 40-0odd nations having little or no voice so far in the post-war settlements, and little decisive authority under the United Nations organization charter, the responsibility of the United States in winning democratic world decisions increases. We have to look after not only our own legitimate interests but those of many others—all of which tie into a workable peace. That is not easy. Ou} government got nowhere in such cfforts at the London foreign ministers’ conference. While the war was still on and ou giant, military strength was the decisive factor in the com victory, our government was listened to with more respect than now. Unfortunately, it neglected at that {ime to double-rivet enough diplomatic decisions. Now it is getting deadlocks instead of democratic settlements. And we shall get less, rather than more, in the future if any other great military power thinks we are falling back into our prewar military impotence, Universal military training is the quickest, cheapest end surest basis for preparedness. It is also the best evi-
en international security system will have plenty of force behind it. j : | |
BULLETS TO GLOVES JRUNNY how the value of fight news can change. Only last
summer Page One told us how, millions of men were men. Now Page One fight news
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~ WALTER LECKRONE HENRY W. MANZ Business Manager .
dence to a doubting world that our verbal commitment to:
* BUR TOWN... . 4 . : / T. A Edison
By Anton Scherrer
NEXT SUNDAY—Oct, 28—will mark the 8lst anniversary of one
it was discovered that the big telegraph pole in front of Charley Mayer's store on W. Washington st. (Just where it is today) had crashed to the ground, carrying with it all the wires of the Western Union Co. It was a mess. John F. Wallick, who ran the Western Union back fn those days, rushed his crew to the scene, and for the better part of that day (and night), he was just about the busiest man in Indianapolis. At any rate, he didn’t care to be bothered with anything else least of all, by a gawky, 17-year-old kid who had picked that precise moment to ask him for a job a telegraph operator, » Mr, ck told the boy he would see him at his office when he got the wires untangled. He couldn't tell just when that would be,
Boy Was T. A. Edison
WHEN Mr. Wallick. finally returned to his office, sure enough, there was the boy waiting for him. Under cross-examination, he said that he had learned his trade in Mt. Clements, Mich, and that his last job was in Pt, Wayne, Ind. It wasn't until years later that we learned that the apprenticeship at Mt, Clemens was a reward for having saved the child of the stationmaster from the wheels of an approachtrain. . ne kid's earnestness impressed Mr. Wallick; enough, at any rate, to put him on the payroll which, of course, left only one thing to be determined —the name of the new employee. The boy said it was T. A. Edison. In this case, too, it wasn't until years later that we learned what the initials stood for, It is now historically certain that, upon his arrival In Indianapolis, the youngster dropped his ood name of “Al” go Alva Edison was given the job of night operator at the Union Station for the Western Union whose service he now entered for the first time. He received $75 a month, for which he had to run the night press wire. Finding that he “broke” frequently, he began to devise a mechanism fo increase speed and accuracy. There is reason to believe that the instrument Edison thought up in Indianapolis gave him the idea which, in later years, was to work out into the phonograph.
Had Another Idea
IT WASN'T the only thing Edison fooled with during his three months stay in Indianapolis, About a month after he started work, so runs the story, he appeared at Mr. Wallick’s office and asked for the discarded material around the place. He was told to help himself. Apparently, it wasn’t enough to satisfy his needs, for a little later he approached Wylie Smith, telegraph operator of the Belt railroad, with a similar request. The Belt railroad came through handsomely, too. Pretty soon, it was plain what Edison was up to. He was using the junk to find a way of sending two messages over thé same wire, or some such fool stunt. He didn’t get it to work in Indianapolis, but he must have made some headway here for s couple of years later he could send not only two messages, but a whole lot over the same wire. It became known as Edison's “quadruplex.” . It appears that Edison was fooling with the idea all the time he was in Indianapolis. As a matter of fact, he got the nickname of “Looney” because of it. Anyway, that's the story E. R. Cole used to tell. Seems that Mr, Cole lived with Mr. Edison at Patterson's boarding house on Alabama st. opposite the east end of the present Market house, Thirty years ago, Mr. Cole used to recall that most of the boarders thought Mr. Edison a little warped because of his constant dwelling on the possibility of sending two messages over the same wire.
'Rat Paralyzer’ Worked EDISON left Indianapolis on Feb. 1, 1865. It was a case of wanderlust. From here he went to Cincinnati where he found employment with the Western Union at $60 a month, the wage of a “plug” (a trade connotation for an inferior operator). In the course of a month or so, the W. U. saw the error of.its ways and made amends for its lack of judgment. At Cincinnati, Edison invented his “rat paralyzer,” a simple contrivance consisting of two plates insulated from each other and connected with a main battery. They were so placed that when a rat passed over, the forefeet on the one plate and the hind feet on the other, completed the circuit. Sure, the rat was electrocuted. Some of our old timers, whose civic pride ran deep, used to insist that T. ‘A, Edison got the idea for his “rat paralyzer” right here in Indianapolis around the Market house. Could be.
WORLD AFFAIRS—
Philippines By William Philip Simms
WASHINGTON, Oct, 26. —Although some Filipinos are advocat= ing postponement of Philippine sove ereignty, President Sergio Osmena, now in Washington, says independence will become effective on July 4, 1046, as scheduled. Advocates of delay point out’ that the Philippine independence act of 1935 contemplated a full 10year period during which the commonwealth Wovernment would prepare itself economically, politically, militarily and socially for complete freedom. That was in mind when, by a plebiscite, the Filipinos ratified the act. But war with Japan interrupted the 10-year period. It temporarily stopped the whole governmental machinery. It Involved staggering property losses. Communications were so disrupted, and so widespread was enemy interference in the national social and economic life, that it will take time to restore the situation,
Five-Year Postponement
SUCH BEING the case, say these Filipinos, they should take “time out” between Dec. 8, 1041-date of the Jap invasion—and the date proclaimed by the U. 8. president as that on which normal civil government has been restored in the islands, This “time out” would amount approximately to five years, This would postpone independence to some time around 1050 or 1951, President Osmena admits there is something to be sald Yor this argument. But, he observed, there are other and more important factors. Already certain foreign propagandists are saying the United States does not intend to live up to its pledge of independence by July 4, 1046; that, having returned to the islands, the Americans intend to remain; in short, that the promise of independence has been a sham all along.
Congress Against Delay NOW THE people of the Philippines, sald Presi. dent Osmena, know that this isn't true, They have complete confidence in the United States. In fact
But any change in independence would play into the hands of the
1
few,
law should neither be advanced nor Congressional circles appear to be in full accord with President Osmena. Many feel circumstances, the moral far outweigh the material, Almost a billion
E
of the worst storms Indianapolis ! ever had. When it came time to count the damage,
8o, he concluded, the independence date fixed by
Speaking of Reconversion + =.
| RECONVERSION—
| MOVEMENT ~
AND, PERHAPS BLOW UP C/7? v EY
20
His WAR PLANTS —
AGGRESSION 1S HERE Oren
WHAT, IF ANYTHING, CAN WE Co ABOUT T2
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| problems, he said:
Dish Washing]
By Thomas L. Stokes
|
nation today, a significant phase of the current unemployment situation, was summarized by the presi- p dent, of a chamber of commerce encountered on this | tour. "ro a group charged with local employment
“What I want to know is who is going to do the dishes?” ; He was referring to those hundreds of thousands
| | These compromise all those simple services which the | American people demand-and fortunately, for they
| provide jobs and income for millions.
| Not only washing dishes, but working at gasoline filling stations, in garages, in hotels, in retail stores, in restaurants, in offices, The classification includes | thousands of businesses of all sizes. | These are the jobs which people left in droves when the call went out fo man war industries, It was the resulting shortage of this kind of help which sent the housewife back to the kitchen, which put restaurants and laundries in such straits, which compelled travelers to carry their own bags, and forced shopkeepers to bring in their wives and children to help with the customers,
Unemployed Shun Them
THESE ARE the jobs which are in the majority today in the lists of openings at employment offices. They are the jobs which many unemployed workers are shunning, at least for the present. ° Q Many thousands have gone back to such jobs, just how many it is impossible to say. But the serv-~ ice trades and allied lines are still seeking workers. How numerous these jobs are may be seen in the fact ‘that only about a third of the people employed in a city, such as this or Buffalo are in manufacturing industry, though these are big industrial cities. The rest are in service trades and related. businesses. These jobs are less glamorous than working in a war plant in the excitement of war. More important still, they pay far less. Some do not pay enough in these times to keep a family in the bare necessities. After deduction of taxes there is less left from many such jobs than unemployment benefits in the larger states.
There are reasons for this. Many of these jobs
“THIS IS WHAT WE WANT STRAIGHTENED OUT” By Charles D. Christie, 2847 N. LaSalle sf. All of this talk about what they are going to do for the veteran of world war II is just about like the laws they passed for war vets of the first war. The vet has got to die to get anything out of it. Then his widow gets the money that he should have had to help him live a while longer, I, for one, my record—that is what they made of it—is at the Veterans hospital on Cold Spring rd. 1 tried to get treated and find out what was wrong with me. I finally got it down to this answer,
it happened at child birth. Well, that was not service connected so I was forced to struggle on trying to make it. With the help of my
wife and sister, I have managed to
get by. 1 had teeth knocked out while in the service. They would do nothing about it because it was not on my record. I had my teeth repaired while at Ft. Totten, N. Y,, after the war. Then I got my back injured while at Ft. Hancock, N. J., when I was driving a truck in front of a 12-inch gun, The crew depressed the gun and unloaded my truck with my body. Yet they traced my snjuy to child birth. ell, if I was in that condition
before the war, why did they take me into the army? It never bothered me until after the accident at Ft. Hancock, and I had been overseas 18 months, sleeping in mud holes, wore wet, muddy clothes for days. Then while I was at the Veterans hospital I got a dirty bottle of milk which I reported to Mr. John Ale. The only excuse was it could not happen at the milk company, yet a dozen or more bottles of milk would be set back with flies and roaches in them. I wrote to Washington in regard to it, but nothing was done about it as I know of because the same thing happened after the report, still flies and roaches in the milk. And such as this is what we want straightened out for once and always. These are true statements from the doctors, not guess work. Because if I had that injury when they took me into the service, and after it caused me to lose at least one-third of my working time, I feel that I and all other vets in the same shape should be paid for it, not be told your record has been lost, then later when they think the vet has a chance for a pension, dig up something like that, and cover eone like Mr. John Ale.
Forum
“l wholly disagree with whut you say, but will defend to the death your right to say it.”
(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 responsi bility for the return of manuscripts and cannot enter cor- ° respondence regarding them.)
“OUR NAVY BOYS DESERVE THE BEST” By Mrs. Arline Mitchell, Indianapolis Well, I have a gripe. (like everybody else) but I think mine makes sense and I'll bet there are a lot of other navy wives who feel like I do. I hear these gripes from war workers and it burns me up. That soldier at Billings hospital really had the right idea. That gravy train those soldiers and sailors were on is still waiting for passengers. So why don’t some of these griping war workers get on and have a ride at
“SHOULD OUTLAW THE CLOSED SHOP”
By M. W. A, Indianapolis As a reader of The Times I-am of much the same opinion as The Watchman. I like very much to read the articles by The. Watchman, One of my fondest hopes now is this: In the next presidential election I hope the Republican party will pick a strong candidate, pledged to outlaw the closed shop. Also to make picketing unlawful, as both are un-American and both should be stopped. We must remember that our boys in the army did not have any union to keep them out of battle, nor picket lines to prevent them from fighting. And now that they are returning we do not need the picket lines and closed shop to keep them from getting employment. So far as this high cost of living is concerned, that is as we make it. There can be a vast difference between the high cost of living and the cost of high living. The governor of our state did a fine job in alerting our national guard concerning the picketing of the refining plant at Whiting, Ind, If this striking and picketing is allowed to continue we may have a little Pearl Harbor of our own right here in Indiana. And our government has all the means necessary to put a stop to all this nonsense, If a man wants to quit his job, that is all right. Our Constitution guarantees him that privilege. But our Constitution does not grant him the right to prevent others from working. Remember the little Pearl Harbor at Herrin, Ill, several years ago, where men were tied to automobiles and dragged to their deaths. Such atrocities as’ these may occur again, and again, and again unless our law officials use strong methods
to prevent them.
Side Glances—By Galbraith
Uncle Sam's expense. Then they might understand my gripe. On Sept. 17 they announced that all navy men 30 years of age or over, with at least 3 children under 12 years of age, would be released, but they didn’t say when. Up to Sept. 23 (the latest dated letter from my husband at Leyte) their commanding officer had received no such order. And besides they had orders from the receiving station on Leyfe to not send any more navy men over there to apply for discharge. It seems they're pretty busy taking care of the army. Now from all I've heard, the army didn’t have so much in that Pacific war as the marines and navy. They had the tough part, but they're not given the preference. sWe have four children, and my husband could have had a deferment as he was on vital defense work, but he couldn't see it that way. He had four brothers in this scrap, so he refused the deferment and was drafted. He entered boot camp in February 1944 and May 1944 saw him on the high seas to New Guinea. He has been in seven major invasions and I'm sure has served faithfully for our country. He feels he did his share towards winning this war and saving the kids back home. Here and now it's time for somebody else to do their share, Can you blame him? Then to top everything else off, they tell him now there will be no more air mail service, It is a known fact that we have oodles of planes to carry the mail and these wounded men back, too. And don't start saying that the combat pilot is tired and wants to quit flying. We know that, too, and I think it's time they should be released too but how about those men here in the States that Uncle Sam has spent a fortune of our, the taxpayers’, money on to train as pilots. Why doesn’t he try to get something in return out of these boys? The money has been invested in them, let's it pay 'off. Oh, I know, thep-don’t want to but after all IT don’t suppose my husband wanted to shoot down the kamikazes at Leyte either, but Uncle Sam saw fit for that. So, gals, let's get together, Our navy boys deserve the best. Let's see that they get it. Let's write to our local papers. Let's bombard our senators and representatives. We pay them ~let’'s make them work for their
z
s 2» “YOU DON'T HAVE TO GO UNLESS YOU WANT TO” By Mrs. Waller Haggerty, Indianapolis The Declaration of Independence able rights, which are fhe right to think as he chooses, live where he
ing to force wages up. The pay was low when the war started and the wage freeze kept them there. Some have the dubious distinction of being white collar work. Many are in small enterprises, the income of which does not permit good wages.
May Need Jobs in Winter
NO GREAT rush can be expected to these jobs apparently until wages are raised or until, as a last resort, they are grabbed at when unemployment benefits run out some weeks hence in the middle of winter. Some analysts foresee real competition for them then. ; Big insurance companies in Hartford, Conn., have recognized this problem among unemployed white collar workers formerly in war jobs by raising wages to attract help, There probably will have to be more of this. Some adjustments in attitude and thinking are going to be necessary among idle war workers who lack any particular skill and have occupied jobs of this sort before. But it is doubtful that the nation will permit any considerable lowering in standards, especially since so much is being said about the responsibility of providing jobs at good wages in peace as in war.
IN WASHINGTON—
Home Prices By Ned Brooks
WASHINGTON, Oct. 26.—Ade ministration coolness toward Price Chief Chester Bowles’ plan for cone trolling the price of homes was evi= dent today as a result of testimony before the senate small business committee. John W. Snyder, reconversion director and President Truman's closest adviser on domestic policy, said the ceilings proposed by Mr, Bowles “might be helpful if a bill could be drawn which would not stifle construction.” Mr. Snyder declined to commit himself on the Bowles plan, saying he had seen no bill embodying it He added that the administration would indorse legislation “if it is found feasible.” Mr. Bowles told the senate committee that his bill was “about ready” and asser that the absence of controls over housing prices “is a crippling weakness in the whole program.” He added that housing provides “the most dangerous single inflationary threat of the war period.”
Industry Opposes Plan
MEANWHILE, it was learned that Mr. Bowles favors turning over the operation of his plan to the national housing agency rather than. handling it through the office of price administration. He told the committee that OPA “will have its hands full” in controlling building materials and service prices. He did not, however, name the agency he thought should handle it. . He conceded that members of the building ine dustry are opposed “at least 25 to 1” to his plan for ceiling prices. The National Association of Real Estate Boards said: “We are ready to build homes but now it develops that OPA is doing everything in its power to prevent this construction.” Mr, Bowles’ plan calls for establishing ceiling prices both on new homes and dwellings offered for resale, For new homes, he proposes ceilings fixed on a cost-plus system under which builders or developers would be allowed a “generous” profit margin above materials and labor costs. Builders would be required to conform to OPA-fixed ceilings on materials and services. Profit margins would be based on the industry’s highest rate of earnings in recent pre-war years.
Limited to Small Units . FOR RESOLD homes, the plan would embody these essentials: 1, The first sale after passage of the proposed law would not be subject to government control, but this price automatically would become the ceiling in the event of future sale, 2. Controls would apply only to buildings of not
i Mr. Bowles proposed that the controls be imposed says, “quit yapping, go to Russia.”| oo yn areas “where such action is warranted,” qr I think there is one right we have| jn much the same manner as rent ceilings are now ~the right to be born, now stop| applied. , that’ one! : " Senator Wherry (R. Neb) challenged the feasiMy nameless friend, there is a| pjlity of Mr. Bowles’ plan, declaring it couldn't be place I'm thinking of where you| policed and would require sn army of record-keepers, could go, but you have ihallenable| Senator Stewart (D. Tenn.) suggested that a profit rights. 1 apologize, you don't have) margin of 5 or 10 per cent be allowed on resales. to go unless you want to. Mr, Bowles agreed that a 5 per.cbnt margin 2 “might not be inflationary.” The OPA chief defended
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