Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 24 January 1947 — Page 18
Postal Zone 9.
Member ered by carrier, 20 cents & week. “Mall
month. : »
THE CLOSED SHOP QUESTION THE Indiana legislature, like the federal congress, now *® has before it a bill that proposes to abolish the “closed shop” in all its variations, an ‘action that already has been taken by 12 other states. "As federal laws, and many state laws, stand today it is illegal to fire a worker from his job because ‘he belongs to , a union. The new proposal is to make it equally illegal to "fire a worker from his job because he does not belong to a union. : The immediate protest that this is an “anti-labor” move is somewhat complicated by the assertion of William
many employers will join his fight to keep the closed shop, and the showings of independent polls that union members themselves oppose the closed shop. * :
. ” {JE EASON for that is that the closed shop always has vaiue © to the professional union leader or organizer, it someties has value to an employer, but never, under any circumstances, does it have any advantage for the individual rank-and-file union member. Compulsory’ membership under any of the closed shop arrangements guarantees the union organizer 100 per cent membership and dues collections without further effort on his part. It enables the employer to unload most of his employee discipline problems on the union and to place an order for as many work"ers as he needs as easily and as casually as he orders a few carloads of coal. But to the union member it gives nothing that he does not have without it, and it takes away his freedom to decide for himself about his own union affiliation. Under the closed shop the employer decides that for _ So, essentially, the closed shop is a device by which the management-boss and the union-boss together-ean control and regiment the workers. Originally the unions which sought closed shop contracts had elaborate apprentice-training programs, and in return for an agreement to hire only members of their union they guaranteed the employer that any member
been pretty well abandoned, and possession of a paid-up union card now is usually the only qualification for a job. * Perhaps the most valid argument in favor of the closed
benefits to share in them.
Some allvocates also contend, as Mr. Green did, that it makes stronger unions, but in®practice almost the opposite is correct. The, union in which membership is voluntary has to be well conducted, has to work diligently for the interests of ‘its members and to keep out of activities that do not concern those interests. Otherwise the members will quit it. Where membership is compulsory it can become as corrupt, or as weak, or as much a part of a political machine as its leaders desire, but the members cannot withdraw from it. Withdrawing means they lose their jobs and are blacklisted nationally, sometimes out of a whole industry. : On the other side, it is the basis of all jurisdictional . disputes, which have caused many strikes. There could not be a jurisdictional dispute without a closed shop. It creates a monopoly in no way different from the business monopolies that were made illegal years ago because they were injurious to the general welfare. There is no difference, to the consumer of coal, for instance, between the monopoly of the man who would control all the coal in America, and the monopoly of the man who controls all the labor to proSues eo. Either could be the absolute dictator of prices and supply.
” » . » » » HE clamor for the closed shop is all coming, and will all come, from those who have something to gain by keeping it. Mr. Green, we believe, was quite right ip predicting that employers won't do much to get rid of it. Certainly professional union leaders won't. The pressure against com- ) pulsory membership is coming from workers, including union members themselves, and from the large majority of Americans who are neither union nor management but who fear compulsion and regimentation, and who dislike a labor monopoly as much as they dislike an owner monopoly. Far from being “anti-labor” or “anti-union,” the bill now pending in the Indiana legislature seems to us to be a necessary step toward making unions stronger, better, and more truly representative of the workers in whose interests they exist. It reaffirms the right of any worker to belong to a union of his own choice—a right for which we have fought for many years, which we believe to be a basic and ' fundamental right. We believe his right not to be a member is equally great.
% GRUDGE FIG
HT
Mr. McKellar also opposes confirmation of Gord
We think the senator is makin “Stalinist doctrines,
as general ‘hold important positions in that agency. + The charges are, in our opinion, without basis in truth Other Tennesseans in congress do not believe them, .
as a political
¢ of United Press, Scripps-Howard NewsAlliance, NEA Service and Audit Bureau of Price In Mariop County, § cents a copy; delivrates ip Indiana, $6 a year; all other states,
| 0. 8. possessions, Canadas and Mexico, 87 cents a a RI-5651
Give LAgh¢ and the People Will Find Their Own Wey |
Green, president of the American Federation of Labor, that
h SENATOR McKELLAR of Tennessee announces that he will make a vigorous fight to prevent senate confirmation of David E. Lilienthal as chairman of the atomic energy commission. Mr, Lilienthal, incidentally, was born at Winamac and was graduated from DePauw university. | Clapp, nominated by President Truman to ra 5 Lilienthal as chairman of the Tennessee Valley Authority. | g a ridiculou of himself. He charges Mr. Lilienthal with Saale i ’ and Mr. Clapp—who has served the TVA since 1933 as personnel director and, in recent years manager—with pernitting “Communists” to
0s The real offense of Messrs. Lilienthal and Clapp i olien: . p is that they have prevented Senator McKellar from using the TVA machine. He hates them for that. But his A Bruise SAmpaiin should not, hd we think will event the senate from confirming these two able and |
bri
Arm
Hoosier
Forum
do not agree with a word that you say, but | will defend to the death your right to say it." — Voltaire. .
"Keep Inquiry Into
Are the policemen “inherently”
Mr. Remy and Mr. Stark go after the gamblers, make an honest effort to clean them up, reorganize the police department, get out the grafters? Some day I hope that day will come. And another thing, my husband has been working a long time in the department and he a patrolman. I know in my heart that he is a [good man but he refused to join this faction or that faction in the department, so he never got a promotion. Why isn’t there some kind of a merit system in the depart-
take advantage of -and climb up if he has the stuff which I think my husband has. The police department heads have a real job on their hands if they wanted to do something about it. I want to commend The Times for bringing out the facts in this situation, but for God’s sake, let's not drop it. Let's improve things and make Indianapolis a good place in which to live. I'é like to hear what other people have to say about our police and graft situation. Let's keep it churning and see if something good can’t come out of our discussion. = EJ = “A FEW WOMEN DRIVERS {DO WATCH THEIR STEP” {By Mrs. E. B., Columbus Women drivers a traffic peril, Mr. S. H F. N72 You're a very poor judge. I've driven a car since 1930, made a trip to Prisco, several to Michigan and one through St. Louis, and if you've ever been there you'll know its fortunate for you it you come out of there without a smashed fender or a wrecked
Police Graft
Alive; Reorganize Our Department" Tors By-a Policeman’s Wife, City
honest as you say or not? That
would be able to meet certain minimum standards of skill |seems to be the question after reading The Times articles on gambling. and efficiency. A few still do, but generally that idea has [rd like to give you my name for use in this letter but you know what could possibly happen if that were known. Simply let it go that I'm a policeman’s wife. I think our men are honest—if you don’t, you should visit some of our homes and youll see whether or not we are rolling in cash. My husband is honest but I'l admit he has been sorely tempted shop, or compulsory membership, is the one of fairness. |gnen he saw graft being passed around to other policemen. I agree The union achieves certain benefits for all workers, and it |with you that the fault lies with the heads of our city for making condiisn’t fair for workers who will not join and help get those |tions possible for such temptation to exist. Why don't Mayor Tyndall,
I took pity on a driver in Sears parking lot. His mother had stalled and so I gave him a push (after I'd squirmed out of the narrow place he’d hemmed me into), got his car rolling onto the street and off that incline. Instead of turning left as he should have done so he would have been on a fairly straight-away with very little traffic, he turned a sharp right and so got the bumpers hooked. We finally got them unhooked after much jumping up and down on them. And we tried it
ment that an honest man could |again
This time I told him to turn the wheels gradually left until we got over the other side of the street. By this time my bumper was broken, and did he offer to pay for the damage? No he did not, but just took one look, hailed the next passing car, was pushed (for by this time his car was straight) and drove merrily away. He had a new car; and mine was a 36 Chevrolet. So I started on my way again and near Vermont and East sts. put out my -hand to turn left. Did the driver back of me heed? No, but kept on coming and passed me. If I hadn't been watching the rear view mirror, we would have crashed. So you see a féw women drivers do watch their step. I've never had an accident and have been driving steady for 16 years. And I can't say too much for the men who drive, they're too reckless and too
Watch the accidents and see who is the cause of them. As for signals they don’t use them. Not “some men” but a lot of them are very
car!
poor drivers. So I think it's a
A few weeks ago in Indianapolis 50-50 case of who's the best driver.
Side Glances—By Galbraith A ————————
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8 PAT. nt again tonight—this time he ridiculed
: | was wearing what :my most alluring scent!”
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1 thought was
impatient to get “no place” fast
“LET'S GIVE OUR YOUNGSTERS A BREAK” By Mrs. C. W. H, E. 55th st. Jail sentences dealt out to teenagers is only confirming what an unsympathetic and ignorant society {we as adults are. How can Wwe {think that delinquency will improve by these methods? Anyone committing a crime does not expect to get caught. * Consequently, crimes will go on and on unless we delve deeper into the conditions causing them. Least of all we cannot hold children responsible for waywardness when they are nothing but byproducts of an ignorant and indifferent society. Consider just ‘how much we do for the underprivileged child—as a nation, that is. A child has to be just about dead before it is taken away from parents who neglect it. You cannot find a place to live if you have children. If a home is fatherless the mother is forced to leave the youngsters to shift for themselves while she earns their food, if she can find work. We pay our teachers such poor wages that teaching as a profession is passed by by .the higher type girls. (Thank heaven for the good teachers we do have.) Teachers tell us that equipment needed for schools to provide workshops for children who can do things better with their hands than their minds just aren’t—because they say, there is no money for such things. Money is spent to build roads, monuments, etc., instead it seems. We throw our children into jails when there is no room at orphanges. We kick them about and neglect them in every way, yet hold them responsible when they go wrong. Who can blame flowers when through neglect they turn out to be nothing but weeds? A child's life is much the same. PAR Instead of throwing our delinquents into the jails why not provide “homes” where they could direct their energies into the right channels. Provide educational centers and recreation centers, giving them what they need—encouragement and kindness, something they have never ‘had. Look at what a person with sincere interest has |done, and none of his boys have {disappointed him yet: Father Flansagan of Boys Town. . Foster homes should be found {for children whose parents neglect them and they wouldn't be so hard to find if there weren't so many |silly restrictions. The same goes | for adopting a child. There is too much politics involved. The orphanages are full and yet there are long waiting lists for fine couples who are anxious to have some child to love. Can we believe that our children’s welfare really comes first? I can’t. Our children have the right to ve provided with decent surround{ings as well as the necessities of |life—it is their due. We have all mountains of money when it comes to weapons of war and then we worked night and day. Why can’t we do the same when it comes to doing good and being just plain human, for a change? No ome
| {would mind paying wartime taxes
if constructive and humanitarian things are done inside of our country as well as In foreign countries. Why can’t it be done? Why? Let's give our youngsters a break. On them depend the future of America.
DAILY THOUGHT
The beloved of the Lord shall | dwell in safety by Him; and the ' Lord shall cover him all the day | long, and He shall dwell between | his shoulders.—~Deuteronomy 33:12. v's ; LJ » ” WHATEER we leave to God, God does And blesses us. —Henry David Thoreau. »
"| resolution which is still intact, I
A
ees 4. 9 b
‘about the mystery of the babies back in Lew Shank’s administration
a
lumbago. Well,
have finally made up my mind. ‘The story is going to start with ° Mr. Wasserkrug, | It was just about a generation ago on a sticky ‘sumnrer morning that Mr. Wasserkrug, a breesy native of St. Louis, blew into Mayor Shank's office and introduced himself as the representative of = the Temple of Childhood. That enterprise, he explained, was to be the outstanding feature of the Panama-Pacific Exposition to be held in San Francisco the following year (1918). : Mr. Wasserkrug went om to say that all he wanted the mayor to to exercise a prerogative of his A office and pick the 300 prettiest bables in Indianapolis. After which, of course, their photographs ‘would be exhibited in the Temple of Childhood along with all the rest of the most beautiful babies in the United States.
He Fell for the Job NOBODY COULD understand why a politiclan of
~—{Mr. Shank’s astuteness would want to tackle such a
ticklish job. The fact remains, however, that he fell for it. His wife, Sarah, when asked about fit, opined that Lew didn't know what he was doing because of the bad case of lumbago he had at the time. (For the benefit of you benighted youngsters, I guess I ought to add a note to the effect that Sarah helped Lew to run the city of Indianapolis—to such a degree, indeed, that history now identifies Lew Shank’s administration as that of “Sarah and Me.") Well, having accepted the job, Lew had to see it through. He was a man of his word. To get things started, he decided to hold a reception for the bables and their mothers. What's more, he advertised his intention. The mothers with babes in arms came in droves from all parts of town and tangled up traffic for blocks around. So much so that it suspended all other business in the City hall that day. More serious, however, was the discovery that Mayor Shank wasn't anywhere around when the
Mr. Harriman an
WASHINGTON, Jan. 24.—One of the. most interesting figures in the Truman administration is Secretary of Commerce W. Averell Harriman. He represents -that curious phenomenon of American life— the rich man in politics. J In his service abroad under President Roosevelt, Harriman developed a sincere interest in many of Roosevelt's objectives. He tends to think of himself as a liberal. Thus, for example, he was an honor guest at the recent dinner given by the liberals who later formed the new organization, Americans for Democratic Action. ’
Railroads Affect Economic Structure
YET AT THE SAME TIME he possesses one of the largest private fortunes in America. .He is a partner in one of the most powerful private banking groups in Wall Street. The major family interest is railroads and, since 1932, Harriman has been. chairman of the board of the Union Pacific. Because of his rajlroad connections, he has been sniped at recently from the left. James G. Patton, head of the National Farmers® union, pointed out that Harriman was one of the railroad executives who set up the western rate agreement which the anti-trust division of the department of justice has . taken as the basis of a suit against the men involved. Harriman was not named in that suit. The justice department says he was not named because, at the time of filing, he was in Russia as ambassador. Attack also came from A. P. Whitney, head of the Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen. Whitney, one of President Truman's severest critics as a result of the railroad strike impasse of last spring, accused not only Harriman but many of Truman's assistants of being dominated by big business.
TORONTO, Jan. 24.—It's obviously impossible to nail down all the whys and wherefores of a strange land in just a few days—unless you happen to be a short-order journalistic genius who can rattle off one of those “inside” volumes by spending six hours in each country. I definitely ain't. : So I will take off my expert's cap and pass on a few of the things that the Canadians are talking about right now. Canada is a country in the midst,
I think, of great change, and there is a lot of talk and conjecture,
Fears Backyard War THE PEOPLE ARE looking nervously at the north —at the Arctic—which they seem to think is the logical place for any future shooting to start.’ You hear many half-serious comparisons.of Canada with Belgium and The Netherlands as the highway to the next war. ; “Europe’s finished as a battleground,” one man sald. “You know and I know that if there's another war, it's going to be between the East, as typified by Russia, and the North American continent. And it's going to march right through Canada’s backyard.” This is a feeling which pulls Canada even’ closer to the United States and which is simultaneously loosening its ties with England. Of all the British Empire's family, the Dominion has always been. a fairly unresponsive child, and Canada’s dependence
| on mother England is not increasing.
As I understand it, the French Canadians feel no loyalty whatsoever toward British sovereignty. The Canadians of English descent are happy to be theoretical “subjects of the king emperor. They would
WASHINGTON; Jan. 24.4-One of Gen. George C. Marshall's first major tasks as secretary of state will be to do something about Poland. It is a job which can't be put off for long. The Polish ‘question has. now become far bigger than Poland itself. The. Balkans used to be called the powder-keg of Europe, but Soviet imperialism is planting powder-kegs all over the continent, the latest area being Poland. opis Russia has imposed Communist minority dictatorships in Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, Poland and elsewhere. And the list is growing. An explosion in any of these places .would imperil the peace of the world which the United States 1s pledged to defend, if necessary, by force. To make matters worse, the United States, In. a large measure, is to blame for the present Polish crisis. The United States and Britain conspired with Russia at Yalta to redraw Poland's frontiers. The eastern half was to be given to Russia. By way of “compensation,” Poland was to receive a large slice of Germany and East Prussia. If history teaches anything, it is that just such “lost provinces” as these eventually lead to bloodshed. If the Poles some day revolt against the partition | of thew country, or if the Germans rebel against . absorption of their farms ‘by Russia's’ puppet, the United Nations doubtless would be called upon.to act.
It's Up to Washington a MUCH NOW DEPENDS on Washington's dttitude
toward Warsaw and Moscow. The Yalta deal which the. late President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Prime
vate
+
nk and the 300 Babies
{| T never could Ey Ty rth | ua Skipped our. uth aa Ka “| story with Mr, Wasserkrug or with the mayor's case oh the porch of a¥Martinsville sana Appar largely because of a New Year's Ine Sreadit) disease had not yet sneaked into : right hand. 3
ne
WORLD AFFAIRS . . . By William Philip Simms «
Poland Is Marshall's No.1
w Ew a In smoking a 10-cent cigar (a gift) torfum. 3 3
. However, there Is every reason to believe that Lew's
-lumbago had gotten worse and had not turned into
an aggravated case of what was then diagnosed as. “rheumatism.”. Which explains why Annis Burk, the mayor's private secretary, had to receive and register the babies that day. When the whistle blew, Mr. Burk had registered the names of no less than 700 babies which was quite enough as far as he was concerned. tos :
“Rheumatism’ Takes ‘Over
I'VE NEVER BEEN .able to learn whether the pictures of the 300 picked babies: ever reached the Panama-Pacific fair or not. Indeed, I can't find out whether anything was ever dong beyond registering the names of the contenders. Probably mot. One reason why the babies were completely forgotten was because, just about that time, everybody took an in-
-terest in Mr. Shank's case of rheumatism,
The interest in his case was so great, indeed, that he was showered with advice and sympathy. Most of it came in the shape of prescriptions and recipes, every one submitted as a sure cure. For instance, there was Frank Johnson who had several bee hives at his place on Fall Creek and what is now 38th st. He invited Lew to come out’ and get stung. Mr. Johnson said there was nothing like a bee bite to cure rheumatism. Mr. Johnson's invitation was flashed-all over the country with the result that Lew Shank's pitiful condition became a-nation-wide issue. Even the mayor of New York City wrote a long and sympathetic * letter in the course of which he derided the efficacy of bee bites. The N. Y. mayor suggested the bites of wasps or snakes as the only thing that could possibly cure Lew's rheumatism. Mayor Shank's plight was a topic of gonversation for the better part of six months not oily in Indianapolis, but all over the country. In the meantime everybody had forgotten about his promise to pick the 300 prettiest babies in Indianapolis. Sure, he got well. After that, Sarah saw t¢ it that her husband never got into a similar jam.
IN WASHINGTON . . . By Marquis Childs
d the Bulwinkle Bill
Harriman is perfectly frank about his point of view on railroads. He traces the western agreement back to the early days of the New Deal and the NRA. Railroads were at the bottom of the financial pit. Railroad executives decided it ‘was essential to eliminate the “waste of competition.” With that object in mind, Mr. H got together with other western railroad executives and agreed to cut out many forms of competition they considered too costly. . : What makes this background interesting right now is that congress will soon pass the so-called Bulwinkle bill. Republicans such as Senator Clyde M. Reed of Kansas are strong for it, and so are many Democrats. That bill gives railroads the right to do many of the things they did under the western agreement and, above all, the right to agree on rates. The $64 question is whether President Truman will sign it after it is passed.
Path to Monopoly : THE BULWINKLE BILL could open the way to the most potent monopoly this country has ever seen. Certain supposed safeguards are included, such as subniission of rate agreements to the interstate commerce commission and anti-trust protection for railways that do not want .to comply. But it would not 'bé hard to get around those safeguards. ‘If Harriman were asked for his opinion on the Bulwinkle bill, it is a safe guess he would be for it, Others high up in the Truman administration feel the same way. But the President, out of his own experience in the senate, knows what remote control by the bankers can mean. And this may be the deciding factor when he is faced with the question of whether to sign or not to sign.
REFLECTIONS . . . By Robert C. Ruark French Influence Growing in Canada
very much prefer to determine their own foreign policy. as well as their domestic affairs, The desire to stand up straight, like a little man, is also why there’ was so much to-do on New Year's when the residents of the Dominion officially ceased being British subjects, for the purposes of international identification, and became “Canadian citizens,” with engraved cards to prove it. In the last few years the greatly individualistic French-Canadian has made long forward strides, which has bolstered the Canadian desire to be something more than the tip of the lion's tail. The French-Canuck birth rate is still curving upward, and the English-Canuck’s birth rate is dropping sharply downward. The French-Canadian is spilling out of the boundaries of Quebec province into Ontario. One statistician has rounded up figures to show that, without immigration to bolster the English population, the French quotient would control Canada by 1960.
Oust Neighbors From Jobs IN QUEBEC province, the. French have become passionately bi-lingual and as a consequence, have © ousted their neighbors from many a job. The French influence, I'm told, is being felt in Ottawa—especlally since the Communist figure is markedly small in Quebec province, and communism is a source of consider« able anxiety in the Dominion these days. “But the French will never run Canada,” one French-Canadian politician told me. “Whenever we get a good leader, he gets rich and we lose him to the English. Als, I expect to see half of England emigrate to Canada in the next 10 years. . Maybe Ottawa will be the seat of the British Empire some day, hein?”
Minister Winston Churchill made with Marshal Josef Staln-was-in-two- parts: . mes First, the American and British statesmen agreed to juggle Poland's frontiers about in total disregard of the Atlantic charter. But they got something in return from their Soviet colleague. They won from him, in writing, the promise of “free and unfettered” elections in Poland. Mr. Stalin’s promise has not been honored. A small Communist minority now rules the police-ridden Polish state. Moscow's failure to live up’ to the deal releases Washington and London of any moral obligations Yalta may have imposed upon them. Legally, of course, the United States was never bound. by President Roosevelt's Yalta promises. To be legal, the
required senate confirmation, ' Marshall Faget Fioblem p TODAY 8 ARY MARSHALL faces the prob-
lem of where we go from hefe. To do nothing means that, without an effort, we consent to the snuffing out of Polish independence. To send more protests would be pointless. To= gether, London and “Washington already have pro=tested vigorously half a dozen times only to be told, in plmost 50 many words, to mind our own business. A readjustment of’ American—and British—policies toward Warsaw and Moscow to meet present-day realities, however, is patently imperative. In the light of events in- Poland and elsewhere, it is now. clear - that Soviet imperialism'is on the march everywhere. Communism, native
w—-
and imported, is its spearhead.
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