Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 8 February 1946 — Page 18

Y letters have reached The Times on the subject of a memorial for veterans of the second world war.

fic and suggest a more tangible memorial in the orm of aid to veterans and their families. "We agree that before any more monuments are begun, the, basic problems of veterans’ welfare should be solved. =" We also suggest it would be a good idea to finish the to those who fought in the first world war. e churches which now stand in the Indiana World Memorial plaza should be removed. So long as hey remain, the main building will be obscured and the aza will not attain the beauty envisioned by the designers of this tribute to Indiana's soliders. Reputed to be the world’s largest memorial, it is far from most beautiful. “The barren stretches of the plaza would be made Jess unattractive if the First Baptist church and the Second Presbyterian: church were moved as contemplated by the designers. It has been 20 years since construction started - on the memorial, but the churches remain to block a full view of the main building. It is understood that the pastors of the two churches involved have stated their willingness to co-operate fully should plans for completion of the memorial be adopted. They properly place public interest above the affection of the congregations for the church homes that have housed them so long. After Indiana has met its responsibilities for the welfare of the veterans of this war, the next step should be i of the churches and completion of the present

memorial. Such action would meet with general approval.

ASKING FOR IT : . C. L O. unions of New York City are preparing for * a spectacular show of power next Monday afternoon. The Communist party's newspaper, Daily Worker, promises happily “that it will be “the biggest stop-work demonstration on record.” _ For two hours, according to the plan, 600,000 C. I. O. union members will quit their jobs. That will disrupt operations in garment shops and other factories, in depart“ment stores and drug stores, It will cut off cable communications to foreign countries. It will leave ships in the harbor deserted by their crews.

WR

age

oppose monuments on the" ground they have little |

Your Pipe and

say, but |

Koosier Forum w=

"1 do not agree with a word that you

will defend to the death to say it." — Voltaire.

"Why AryChildren Carried Across Town? Use Nearby School Instead"

By A Fellow Citisen, Indianapolis 1 read your editorial, with pride, in your paper Tuesday concerning the statements made by Mr. Ewing regarding the Ku Klux Klan. I agree with your statement that there is no place in America for racial and religious hatred. But I'm wondering, Mr. Editor, why something hasn't been done about the segregated public school system of Indianapolis. : I read about the appropriation of more than $7000 that was voted

the (upon by the school board, The paper stated that this appropriation

~~ The union proposes, magnanimously, to spare nation’s largest city from complete paralysis. Such servfees as light, heat, power, health, transportation and newspapers will be permitted to continue. But the aim is to tie Among the announced purposes of this display of union strength are: To support strikes now in progress in t the country; to “demonstrate the people's detgmisation to protect their living standards,” and to protest against the Case anti-strike bill which was passed by thé ‘house of representatives yesterday. § © If the leaders of this demonstration actually believe 8 fat i will create public sympathy for organized labor or Rouse public opposition to restrictive labor legislation, they xe. almost incredibly stupid. £ __ All they can create by such an unprovoked assault on ts of millions of innocent bystanders is public anger.

iE FORGOTTEN FILIPINO L MERICA usually does not forget her friends. Indeed, &.. our country has been going far to help some who abuse 6d aid and betray our trust. Jt is more than strange, therefore, that we are neglecting a small and weak friend of great loyalty to whom we have special obligations, Yes, the Philippines. ** Perhaps Americans have not been aware of the facts, and their officials in Washington have been too busy with other things. Nevertheless, the result has been the same as if we had deliberately wiped from our minds the memory of common sacrifice at Bataan. It is not too late to do something about the matter, though the time is short, High Commissioner McNutt has hurriedly returned from Manila to report the emergency fo the President and congress. He says: . “The Philippines exist today in an economic blind flley. They are not living on constructive work. That we _ have denied them by our inaction in Washington. The commonwealth’s reserve funds and revenues are being ex-

was to transport the Negro students recently, to a condemned school on First, why do these children have! to leave their immediate neighbor- | hood, where there are four white| schools, to go so far to school? Is| no consideration taken of .the icy streets of our city as these children leave their homes every morning to go across town to school by bus? In the second place, do you think it right that our taxpayers should have this expenditure added to the overburdened citizens?

boys fought and died for? I was of the opinion that they were fighting for democracy. As we enter our first year of peace, must we say that our boys died in vain? The negro population has to accept one high school; because no negro child can go to the high school closest to him if it is a white high school. A great deal of juvenile delinquency comes from overcrowded school buildings and the lack of proper training for our youth. Anyone can see that the segregated school system of Indianapolis is all wroffig. The negro youth fought and died in this war to preserve democracy. They have a right to enjoy the peace in all fields. Again, I commend you for your editorial,

Editor's Note: Thanks for the kind ‘words on a problem over which so many unkind words have been uttered, The Times has not received any answer to its challenge to Mr. Ewing to produce the evidence on which he states the Ku Klux Klan was back on the job in

Is this plan what so many of our |

of school No, 63, which was burned the East side.

“IF CUSTOMERS ARE NICE, WE TREAT THEM LIKEWISE” By B. R. T., Indianapolis I have been a saleslady for quite some time and it burns me up the way some people such as E. M. and Ruth Millett throw slurs at us. After all, we too are human, If our customers are nice to us we treat them likewise. But we have also learned that we don’t have to take no stuff from the public. As for the “white headed” ladies —most of them are so slow and forgetful that they can’t wait on half the customers that a young frisky girl can. It all depends on the person as to whether they know their business. The girls of today] are much more educated than the white haired ladies. I also notice, that we were referred to as hand-painted freaks. We can’t go around the store looking like an old grease ball. It's part of our business to look nice at all times. ” As for our paychecks; what do you think we're working for? It| sure isn’t for the fun of it. After staying in a place all day | with -all kinds of people, it's mighty nice to see the hands on the clock point to five-fifteen, My people of the public, let's quit slurring our sales people and give them a bit of consideration for a change. . » ” ~ “CHILDREN’S MOVIES NEED IMPROVEMENT” By Mrs. Allen, Indianapolis As an interested parent I would appreciate a movement toward the betterment of more appropriate movies for children’s Saturday matir.ee features. Also, I think they are too long and are too much eye

hausted, and there are no new sources in prospect. Capital

investments have been destroyed. The national economy Sian

strain on young eyes.

has been paralyzed. Unless the United States acts, and acts swiftly, the Philippines will find themselves an inde-

Side Glances— By Galbraith

Pendent nation, true, but a nation without means of liveli- + Two pending measures are of utmost urgency to meet emergency. One is the Bell bill, which would provide an initial period of free trade before a gradual raising of | the tariff wall against the islands. The other is the Tydings bill, granting $450 million to cover war damage. The two Measures are supplemental. Both should be enacted at once.

| EI

rT)

- SUPPORT Y. M. C. A.

ken advantage of the as

of its program,

upport the Y, M.

be [BELIEVING that 1946, first year of peace, will ‘set the

pattern of the future, the Young Men's Christian As- " of Indianapolis is seeking 1500 new members, In I8 drive, it deserves support of business institutions and

During the war, a man’s uniform was his membership at the Y. M. C. A. Hundreds of free memberships yen to service men, and many returning veterans free aptitude tests and of the «The war service even included hips to sons of enlisted personnel. Its-swim-used by the army, navy and air corps for

this costs money. While a part of the expense Ananced through the Community Fund and : services, the association neverincreased paying membership to con-

M. C.'A. with irships. And it is an excellent ' {

ed

.

haw a guy - goin to get anywhere? | could make plenty of ,money if | just had some money fo invest!’

“SOLDIER POLICE SHOT WASN'T REAL VAGRANT” By Mrs. Walter Haggerty, Indianapolis The soldier who was shot in the arm by a policeman was a member of the 86th division, had re~ cently re-enlisted in the army and resided at (address omitted) S. Pine st. He is being charged with vagrancy. A vagrant is a person who can show no visible means of support or place of residence, or in ether words, one who does not belong. ’ The soldier belongs, by virtue of his uniform, to the greatest army in the world. He has also established residence. Can this vagraney charge be applied to a “multiple of sins?” Ignorance is no excuse of the law, but the Jaw should be plain. Just what is vagrancy? We shall appreciate the editor's note.

Editor's Note: We're afraid Mrs. Haggerty won't be too pleased with the comment she requested. Her facts are correct so far as they go, but are an unfair statement of the case. The soldier, whose address we have deleted, was slated on a vagrancy charge because that is the practice with men in uniform until an investigation is completed. According to the police report, he admitted stealing the automobile which he wrecked before the police finally caught him after a chase. He ran from the police who warned him and first shot at his legs and was caught only after further pursuit. The charge of vagrancy was changed the following day to vehicle taking following his admission to the police. } » n ” “WANT TO TALK TQ GOVERNOR GATES ABOUT THE BONUS”

By John H. Garver, Lincoln Robertson, Elsworth O. Young, Indianapolis

In reply to our fellow veterans who have answered our previous article in-this column: We are asking Governor Gates for an appointment on Feb. 19, 1946, for the purpose of discussing the building of a memorial versus a cash bonus. We will make an announcement to The Times as to whether we succeed in getting the appointment nnd if so, the outcome of the same. We are members of the V. F. W. snd have asked our local post to send a committee to the governor for the purpose, but got no results. S50 we are taking it upon ourselves to see what can be done. So back us up, vets, we are going all the way.

Editor's Note: The Forum has received so many letters relating to the question of memorial vs. bonus that this department Monday will be devoted to selected representative letters on the subject. We regret that space prevents our printing all the letters received. » » » “FRATERNIZING G. L's NOT GOOD AMERICANS” By Mrs. Mary Sheets, 238 N. Walcott I want to express an opinion for other mothers who have lost their sons in the war same as myself. We go to motion picture shows for a little peace of mind and here comes a newsreel—G. 1.'s loving Jap girls. I surely don't think much of these G. I's and really don't believe they are full-blooded Amer~ icans. And I don't think these pictures should be shown. My boy was taken over there and killed ‘while doing his job he had been . taught to do, and I'll never forget it. I have no use for Germans or Japs and everyone of those

by their heels for days. But we Americans fool around with trials, Our boys had no chance or trials, Pearl Harbor had no chance.

DAILY THOUGHT

Woe to the rébellious children, saith the Lord, that take counsel, but not of me.—Isaiah 30:1.

a length of time and deliberately

| and went around the world.

who committed crimes should hang

- MEN seldom, or rather never for

rebel against anything that does not

ANOTHER precious paradox, almost forgotten, is the literary fact that three of the best seafaring stories were written in Indianapolis, an inland town. Charles Nordhoff, born and bred in Westphalia (where the real pumpernickel. used to come from) arrived in America when he was 5 years old, After a grade school education in Cincinnati, he was apprenticed to a printer, When he was 14, he enlisted in the U. 8. navy, served three years,

After expiration of the term of enlistment, he spent several years on merchant vessels and in New England fisheries. In 1852, when he was 22, he turned up in Indianapolis. - It appears that his uncle, Prof, Nast of Green castle, persuaded him to come to Indianapolis and study law in the office of Governor Joseph A. Wright. (It also turns out that Charles Nordhoff had another uncle—Thomas Nast, the famous caricaturist of Harper's Weekly and later of Puck, whose cartoons did more than anything else to rid New York of Boss Tweed and his crooked political ring.) When young Nordhoff settled in Indianapolis, he almost immediately discovered that he wasn't cut out for the law. On the other hand, he itched to do literary work. Indeed, legend has it that he spent most of his first year in a- little room in the old State Capitol where he read everything in the State Library except the law books.

Started as Reporter

ONE DAY Austin H. Brown, then working on the Sentinel, urged Charles Nordhoff to come. over and have a Iook at their plant. When he got there, the editor offered him a job, The editor, it turns out, was Mr. Brown's father (today’s piece approximates a fairy tale). Charles accepted the offer and served as reporter, city editor and editorial writer, all at the same time. He ate all his meals at the Austin +H. Brown home the three years he lived in Indianapolis. It was during those three years that Charles Nordhoff, in his spare time, wrote “Man-of-War Life,” “The Merchant Vessel” and “Whaling and Fishing,” everyone of which is a graphic account of a

SHANGHAI, Feb. 8.—Although all political factions in China agree as to what should be done to achieve a strong, democratic, united nation, the stumbling block is the question of how it shall be done. Everyone from Nationalist Communists on agrees

that Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek is and should be China's leader. Everyone agrees that fighting should be ended, that China should be unified, that the army should be nationalized. But there is no agreement on just how these ends shall be attained. : To understand the situation in China today and to arrive at a realistic estimate of her possibilities for achieving the kind of government and the kind of life for which she is struggling, it is first necessary to examine some popular misconceptions.

Minorities Have No Voice PRINCIPAL among these are: . 1. That the Chinese people are divided into two, huge political parties, the Koumintang party of Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek and the Chinese Communist party of Mao Tze Tung—much like the Republican and Democratic parties in the United States. This is not true. Both the Koumintang and the Chinese Communist parties, in terms of total population, are so small that they probably could not even get on the ballot in the United States. The most liberal estimates from Koumintang sources give the party a membership of less than 2 per cent of the total population; and the Communist party is still smaller. More than 90 per cent of the Chinese people have nothing to say about directing the affairs of either group. . 2. That from a military standpoint, the Chinese “civil war” may be likened to our civil war of 1861-65

WASHINGTON, Feb. 8.—American shipping is concerned over the legislative policy which may finally be laid down for disposition of the wartime merchant marine. Also the navy. For an adequate merchant marine is just as much a part of the national defense as fighting craft, airplanes and bases. There are several reasons for this concern. In and out of Congress are officials who argue that in 1930 we had as large a merchant marine as this country needs. They say it would be more economical to use foreign ships than our own. At the same time, foreigners are raising the spectre of “American aggression” in post-war shipping. They say we threaten to take the bread from the mouths of our competitors. They warn that by increasing our merchant tonnage we will undermine our exports.

No Cut to Competition DEPARTMENT of commerce figures indicate no such danger. Dollar exchange -available to foreign purchases of American goods through our use of foreign bottoms is relatively small. During the 20-year period between world wars, the net foreign shipping earnings available for buying American exports amounted on an average to less than $35 million a year. That, it was pointed out, was less than 1 per cent of our average annual exports. The British, Norwegians and Dutch, it is argued, “are dependent for their lives” on income derived from shipping. Yet according to commerce, the ratio of income from shipping to total income is quite small, save in the case of Norway. While for Norway it amounts to 11.2 per cent, for the United Kingdom it is only 1.3 and for the Netherlands 2.4.

REFLECTIONS . . . By Robert

NEW YORK, Feb. 8.—Marion Hargrove, the exG. 1. whose recent side-swipes at the army is+causing the army great pain, has somewhat remodeled his “loud” lecture since he wounded an audience in Pel~

ham, N. Y., so deeply that he was called a rabblerouser and turned into the American Legion as a naughty boy. ’ Mr, Hargrove, thoughtfully chewing a chunk of | roast beef at the Stork elub, was saying that he has | two lectures—the loud one and the funny one. Pro- | spective banqueters may order either, after skimming through a prospectus which includes Maxwell An-: derson’s remark that Mr. Hargrove is “as wise as a young serpent” and the other fine phrases which were applied to “See Here, Private Hargrove,” the ent's first literary venture. TO Sara lecture, which is entitled “What shall we do with the army?” has inspired some heavy kidding since Mr. Hargrove the young serpent, bit the Legion,

' His Wife Says ‘Comrade’ “ONE RELATIVE in Washington intimated that I had turned communist,” Hargrove was saying. “And my wife Alison, who has always accused me of having no political : consciousness, now addresses me as 4 rade’ d ‘rabble-rouser.’ ” : havin Bong says that he, personally, has no grudge. against the army, and no personal, distaste for officers, even though his “loud” lecture was very bitter against

the army caste system. : ; : “1 cold have been ar¥ officer myself,’ he said.

deserve rebelling against.—Carlyle.

2

“And I was. always treated pretty well. I ran into

»

- Nordhoff Sea

WORLD AFFAIRS . .. By William H. Newton Many Misconceptions About China

IN WASHINGTON . . . By William Philip Simms Need Adequate Merchant Marine

Mr. Hargrove Has a Living to Make

w

we

Tales Written Here kid’s experience on the high Seas; The books were best sellers not only becdlise of their ‘intrinsic merit, but also because of H. W. Derby who, at that time, was a partner of Harper Bros, Mr. Derby, it appears, was a shrewd salesman who had made contracts with most of the Western states to supply their township libraries with up-to-date literature, A Nordhofl’s three books were on his list of recommended reading with the result that they got into practically every library in the country: Mr, Derby took a fancy to the German immigrant right from the start and persuaded him to leave Indianapolis and join the staff of Harper's Weekly. In the course of that affiliation, Charles Nordhoff got to know William Cullen Bryant who, at that

«time, edited the New York Evening Post. In 1861,

Nordhoff became managing editor of Mr. Bryant's paper. He was with the Post all during the crucial Civil war period—until 1871, as a matter of fact. In his spare time he wrote “Secession in Rebellion” and “America for Free Working Men,” two challenging books that had everybody talking.

Grandson Is Writer

AFTER leaving the New York Evening Post, Charles . Nordhoff spent several years in California and Hawaii living the life of Reilly. On his return in 1874, James Gordon Bennett grabbed him off for the New York Herald, and put him in charge of that paper's bureau of correspondence in Washington at a salary of $10,000 a year, which was just about tops for the time. In his spare moments during this period, Charles Nordhoff wrote “Politics for Young Americans” and, believe it or not, “Communistic Societies in the United States.” When Charles Nordhoff retired in 1890, after a stay of 16 years with the Herald, Mr. Bennett placed him on a penison of $5000 a year with the condition that he would write for no other paper. Nordhofr, then a man of 60, returted to California and for the next 11 years (until the day of his death in 1901) was never known fo stick his nose into a newspaper office. All of which Information has been laboriously gathered to prepare you for the payoff—namely, the news that the Nordhoff of the present salty literary team of Nordhoff and Hall (“Mutiny on the Bounty”) is a grandson of our Charles Nordhoff. Indeed, he was named for his illustrious grandfather.

in the United States. This is untrue. The Chinese “civil war” made headlines all out of proportion to the amount of fighting or to the average American's interpretation of the word “war.” It is doubtful that in the four months the so-called war was waged there were 2000 casualties. This is important because, just as we over-emphasized the actual severity of the war itself, we now are in danger of over-emphasizing the significance of the order to cease fire.

China Is Not a Democracy 3. THAT CHINA is a democracy. This is untrue, There has never been a national election in China. In areas controlled by the generalissimo’s government, the mayors, governors, judges, prosecutors, ministers-of-state all are appointed by Chungking and virtually all are members of the Koumintang party. The same is true in Communist areas if one interprets the word “election” in the American sense of the term. ? J 4, That once unity between Communists and Nationalists is obtained, this great country’s problems will be solved and China’s good earth will support her people in peace and prosperity. There could be no more unfortunate or dangerous conclusion. In the first place, China's earth is not good—it is worn out from 50 centuries of abuse. Only the tedious, back-breaking, year-round toil of the hardest-work-ing farmer in the world can eke out a bare existence on it. It is an existence that allows no time for the children to go to school, no money for medical care or for modern farming equipment, no savings against the inevitable bad years, and very little hope for the future. China, will need help—and substantial help—in agriculture, industry, finance and in almost every other field of man's endeavor for 50 years to come.

The United States, however, neither wants nor needs to cut the ground from under these, nor for that matter, any other friendly countries. American shippers quote the commerce department as forecasting double our overseas trade in the years ahead.

Vital to National Defense TO OPERATE a merchant marine fleet of 20 million tons, that is to say, nearly double that of 1929, would cost in operating subsidies alone, critics say, some $200 million a year. Also that we need no such tonnage for national defense purposes since we can easily arrange with the countries ‘to which

we sell our surplus ships to return them in case of (Righy Yell WAr. . All peacetime contracts, realists observe, are sub- weil ject to drastic change the moment a war breaks etal snap out. We might get some of our ships back and again we might not. Moreover, such a clause in a bill 6 to 12.

of sale obviously would bring the price down. In one way or another, therefore, we should have to pay for such an option and this payment, whatever it was, would be tantamount to an operating subsidy by the United States to foreign owners, At the outbreak of the war in 1939, we had 1400 merchant ships of 1600 tons or larger, totaling 12 million tons. Of these less than three million tons were engaged in foreign trade. At the end of the war, we had 5629 sea-going merchantmen of 1600 tons or better for a total of nearly 57 million tons. But the cost was colossal. It set the taxpayers back $15 billion, Wartime rush orders never come cheap. That is why, shipping men insist, we should maintain an adequate merchant fleet in peacetime.

C. Ruark

about the same amount of heels with brass as you'd expect to meet in civil life. But my chief objection to the present system is that an incompetent is armed by tradition to exercise his {ncompetence, merely because he is wearing things on his shoulders. “What I rebel against is that as things stand now, the army can do anything to an enlisted man, but the enlisted man can’t do anything at all to the army. Hargrove said he recognizes the need for authority in ‘the army, but that he is still plumping for the abolition of the officer caste. He wants officers to come out of the ranks, not from West Point, and he wants no social discrimination between officer and trooper,

Lecturers Not Objective “I AM WILLING to let the salute remain, however,” he says. “I have nothing against the salute. I think it will work itself out okay.” There has been a volume of mail to this office since the Pelham episode. The letters run from a condemnation of all officers as ogres who dined daily on innocent enlisted men to those, generally from combat troops, who say it must have been & pretty good system, since we won the war with it, and that the unjust incompetents were outweighed by men who were doing ‘a good job. " It should be renfembered by these flerce pen~ wielders that Mr. Hargrove ‘is a smart young man who is in the lecture business momentarily, and lecturers are rarely 100 per cent objective in the choice -of subjects for which audiences are willing to pay a ‘ fee, ‘Mr. Hargrove, a family man, has a living to

make. .

Smeg