Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 25 September 1947 — Page 22

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The Indianapolis Times

wg - Sarton

PAGE 22 ° Thursday, Sept. 25, 1947

In Tune

ROY W. HOWARD WALTEN LECKRONE President Editor Business Manager

~~ A SCRIPPS-HOWARD NEWSPAPER «&53»

Owned and published dally . (except Sunday) by Indianapolis Times Publishing Co., 214 W. Maryland st. Postal Zone 9.

paper Alliance, NEA Service, and Audit Bureau of Circulations, a ” Price in Marion County, 5 cents a copy: delly‘ered by carrier, 25¢ a week, Mail rates in Indiana, $5 a year; all other states, U. 8. possessions, Canada and Mexico, $1.10 a month. Telephone RItey 6551

Give LAght and the People Will Pind Thetr Oton Way

‘Another Rumor Blows Up

ROBABLY we'll never know where or how those fan-| jowered prices 10 per cent and requestéd co-oper-

tastic rumors that sometimes sweep through a city or a state get started. But it's easy to see how they keep going. terest—and folks who hear them them on to other folks, and Eo ud faster than a chain letter, It was a particularly tragic one that blew up here this | “week, as they all do when they come under any kind of| ohjective investigation. The Rumor: That an Indiana mother had opened the! casket containing the body of her soldier son returned | from overseas for burial—had. gone stark, raving mad at what she saw,- and was now in a state mental hospital,” | The Facts: No bodies have yet been returned. to Indiana from overseas for burial, and no Indiana mother has been admitted to any mental hospital for any such reason,

| ¥ on yun»

HERE did it come from? No one appears to know. | Everyone who knew of it, on inquiry, had heard it} from somebody else, who had heard it from still somebody | else—and so on, ad infinitum, It belongs, obviously, right in the category of the “basket cases” stories, and the “bump-'em club” stories, | and the phony atom bomb stories (we've even heard that one solemnly related over the radio). And while this one somddoimortant. only because it causes needless anguish tol a TA TTT aN oY “6 VE THAT A Tan wih of them are definitely dangerous, some of them have caused | riots and bloodshed—and none-of them ever did any good. A sound paraphrase of an old saying might be, “Look, | hefore you repeat.” :

——

. , » Speculation in Grgin ORE and more people seem to be concluding that speculation is to blame for the high prices of wheat, corn and other grain. We: think they oversimplify the case. Prices are high chiefly because the demand for grain, here and abroad, seems certain to exceed the supply. Stopping all speculation wouldn’t produce more grain, and would have most undesirable consequences, - : The grain exchanges have an essential’ function. That function, properly, is to register—much as a thermometer measures heat and cold—the working of forces that actually affect prices. Speculators, by buying or selling, express! their judgment as to whether those forces are likely to) operate upward or downward, If their judgment is good, | they have a valuable restraining influence; they sell when! the market gets higher than the supply-demand situation] warrants, and they buy when the market gets too low to reflect real values. So all speculation isn't evil. But when crowds of uninformed speculators rush to buy, on the theory that because prices are up they are bound ‘to keep rising, it seems obvious that market levels are forced higher than they have sound reason for going. That interferes with the exchanges’ proper function. It| happened in a hig way on the stock exchange, before the | 1929 tragedy. We believe it's happening now on the grain exchanges; and that such uninformed buying, or reckless gambling, is encouraged by the low margins—down payments—these exchanges require of speculators. As ‘#he result of what happened in 1929, congress empowered the federal reserve board to regulate stock exchange margins, The government has no such power over the grain exchanges. But, through its commodity exchange authority, it-has asked the three biggest of them in Chicago, Minneapolis and Kansas City margins to 334 per cent. The heads of the big exchanges show no enthusiasm for granting the government's request. | Well, they have a legal right to refuse, but they'd] better have mighty good. reasons to give if they expect] the public to accept a refusal gracefully. We would remind these gentlemen that, plenty of times before now, failure of stock and grain exchanges to correct conditions harmful to the public have brought successful demands that the government assume power to enforce correction. It could happen again—and in the present super-heated state of

HENRY W. MANZ

Member of United Press, Scripps-Howard News-|

1 izarr , : in-| th necessity to replenish deUsually they are bizarre enough to command in themselves faced with necessity to replenish de

innocently enough pass!

| eentage-wise) of doing business in retail stores

| prices made-to stick, pressure must be exerted at

| sults as long as retail prices are subject to pressure

Aied oversea” roret™ -

With the Times

Donald D. Hoover

WHO CONTROLS PRICES? HE BELIEF that retallers are responsible for { increasingly high prices is a popular miscon- | ception embraced by many persons in all walks of life including some of the President's own | economic advisers. When retall prices started another sharp climb, | Mr. Truman ignored other levels of distribution | almost entirely and Ynade an urgent appeal to all retailers to “hold the line.” Numerous attempts to hold or reduce prices were made hy retail stores. Without exception these. proved abortive. Outstanding failure. was the Newburyport . plan, wherein the majority of retall outlets in one town

| ation from their suppliers so that the new low | prices could be maintained, No co-operation was obtained and retall dealers of Newburyport found

pleted Stash nt higher prices. The reduction could not maintained, the plan was labeled a flop. The real truth is that retail merchants are Just another type of consumer and are subjected to as much pushing around in a sellers’ market as the average man, - The average store owner has little to say and practically no control over ups and downs of his prices. When his suppliers raise

prices the store's prices go up; when his customers .

stop buying the store's prices go down. simple as that, Statistics show that for 40 years the cost (per-

It's as

remained static until recently, when it started to go up. It is revealed by statistical analysis that margins of profit remained equally static, until recently when they started to shrink. ‘This is good evidence that retailers are neither responsible for price rises nor benefiting in greater proportion by increases. If prices are to be lowered artificially and lower

the very lowest levels of distribution. Control exerted at the retail level will fail to bring re-

from below. This proved to be true in the case of OPA price cellings and again with the Newburyport plan, It will always remain so.

~LEONARD SOLOMON,

BVHer's Fights. oP HERE you are, M. T. O. A contributor has provided the words to “Lili Marlene,” which we believe is the top song to come out of world war II, He picked them up in Sicily,

¥ Outside the barracks by the corner light, I'll always stand and wait for you at night, * . We will create a world for two, I'll wait for you the whole night through, For you Lili Marlene, for you Lili Marlene,

Bugler tonight, don’t play that call to arms, LA want another evening with her charms, Then we must say good night and part, I'll always keep you in my heart. ~ With me Lili Marlene, with me Lilf Marlene.

Give me a rose to show how much you care, Tie to the stem a lock of golden hair, Surely tomorrow yeu'll feel blue,. But then will come a love that's new. For you Lill Marlene, for you Lili Marlene.

When we are marching in the mud and cold, And when my pack seems more than I can hold, My love for you renews my might, I'm man again, my pack is light, . : It's you Lili Marlene, it's you Lili Marlene.

There 1s another version which Includes a verse

Pilotless Plane

he z =,

FLUSHING MEADOWS, Sept. 25-—Russia’s incredibly fantastic charges of war mongering and . imperialism leveled against the United States and other countries=continue to be the most discussed topic here, : Assembly cloakrooms are buzzing with whether

“the Red dictatorship i§ slipping, or if itis so des-

perafely in heed of bolstering that its spokesmen must raise foreign war bugaboos to frighten the masses into line; = : Or, they also are asking, do Stalin, Molotov and other Soviet leaders really believe their own distorted accusations that practically everybody from tiny Greece and Turkey to Washington and Wall Street is plotting aggressive war against the Soviet Union,

Affirmative Might Mean War

THE WRITER HAS BEEN at some pains to find out what assembly delegates are thinking along these lines. For all admit that the phenomenon of Soviet behavior for the past couple of years, in and out

we recall hearing Radio Berlin broadcast in English, as follows:

Underneath the lantern, by the barrack gate I remember, darling, the way you used to wait. It. was there thaf I kissed you, tenderly, And you told me you'd always be My darling of the lamplight, My own Lili Marlene.

of the United Nations, is of crucial impertance to the people of America and the world. They are also unanimous that the Russian stand ~—however “ludicrous,” “absurd,” or “monstrous,” as delegates have variously and publicly characterized it—is not something to laugh, or ery, or get angry over. It must be understood for upon the answer depends nothing less than peace or war.

eS > 2 As to the international situation, Taft says that a special session is not needed. Three Republican leaders are quoted to the same effect. Truman has not indicated that he would issue a call, ' Prediction No, 1: A special session will convene between now and the time of the regular session in January, ~—INFALLIBLE.

, |

«ob There are too many clubs for the good of the home, says a@judge. What's needed are more

A similar, crazy obsession on the part of Adolf Hiller that Nazi Germany was being “encircled,” it is pointed out, was no joke. It led to world war II. Opinion appears to be about evenly divided between the two_schools of thought: One, that the Kremlin bosses really believe what they are saving about the United States and other western powers and, two, that they don't believe it but are merely making propdganda for Communists and fellow travelers at home and abroad. It seems to be agreed, however, view leaves more room for hope. offer almost none, If the 14 men of the Kremlin—the coterie whose sole whim will decide whether Russia will co-operate

that the latter The former would

WORLD AFFAIRS . . . By William Philip Simms Reds Believe Own Propaganda?

in world peace and reconstruction or plunge it into a war of total destruction—believe the charges made by their Deputy Foreign Minister Vishinsky here, war would seem almost inevitable, - In a dictatorship such as Russia, decisions are made by less than a dozen, yess, The people have nothing to say. is what the dictatorship tells them. : Hitler was able to fling his masses into a fanatical war by first drawing an iron curtain around Germany shutting out truth, then stuffing “the people with lies to make them believe they were about to be destroyed by foreign “war mongers.” If the Red dictatorship believes its own lurid propaganda, it is ‘observed, the chances are it will emulate Hitler if and when it feels, as Hitler felt, the odds are in its favor. : A free press, free speech, multiple political parties, the right of assembly and the rest of the bill of rights make aggression impossible. A free, informed people simply would refuse to march. Soviet! charges to the contrary notwithstanding, the United States would not wage any but a de~ fensive war, whereas Stalin and the handful of-men about him could strike at the U. 8. whenever they like. If, as some argue, the Kremlin is so much the victim of its own iron curtain that it believes its own astounding propaganda, there would seem to be little chance of ever convincing it off its error. And the peril to the world would be correspondingly great.

Red Co-operation Means Peace

BUT IF THE KREMLINITES are only saying what, at heart, they know to be without foundation, then observers say they see a ray of hope. For, once the Russians realize they are not getting anywhere by such methods, being realists they would change their tune, If by some rare good fortune this could happen and Russia could be won over to world co-operation, not only could Europe be put back on her feet within a couple of years but world peace would be assured for a century. No country or combination of countries would dare break a peace guaranteed by a co-operative United States and Russia.

All they know

With No One af the Controls

redr SINREE PATS AD AOnaess phe abet x “1"fiard to sabotage food prices, trying

{ Rachel Ann. Nev

| | I

Hoosier Forum; “I do not agree with a word that you say, bet will defend to the death your right to say it"

Eliminate UN Veto : By Clara Rice, 531 K, of P. Bldg.

- Why can't the veto power be revoked, or - can't the votes of the majority of the U Nations carry the point and overcome a In any parliamentary or similar body, if

pediments destroy the effectiveness of that

it is 3 “useless piece of machinery™ if it not be revised to work out the problems for it was formed. Should not voting power be enough? ‘Then majority could rule. Or ganize another body similar to UN without sveto power. . ¢ Chamberlain's method of appeasement and pedience with the criminal Hitler should enough of a lesson on the suicide effect of appeasement method. If Russia is determined not to “play ball” coddle her? Let her withdraw from the UN good riddance” if her only interest is Russia holding up the rest of the world, which is des perately trying to work out a peaceful solution their problems, a I can't understand why we must cater: Russia when she is only trying the “school-bds stunt of diverting the teacher's attention in ord to ‘put over’ some trick or piece of mischief” ‘to her advantage alone and to the detriment of rest of the nations, - Why in Heaven's name can’t United Ni take some drastic steps if necessary to overcome eliminate such selfish interferences with the ing of justice and humanitarianism? Or are expecting too much of the UN? ‘ In the phraseology of Patrick Henry, “When will we be stronger”—when Russia has used. the veto. and her insidious communism and atomie borhb to make us altogether helpless, destroying our democratic government and Europe as well? Cannot the other nations check this if they will, and speed UN on the magnificent objects for which "it was formed? Delay may be tere rifically expensive. Can anyone enlighten me? > SD

No Alibi for High Prices By Oscar Houston, Ellettsville 2 It's amusing as well as disgusting to hear the

Sirked ae ~~ to find dn alibi. Some Will say if we would stop shipping our stuff to feed the hungry in Europe making food scarce here, prices would come down, others say prices are high because wages are too high. Others say we eat too much and create a big demand. It doesn’t seem to me these excuses stand ‘up in the light of the facts. Is it not a fact that during the war we not only shipped abroad ™ everything our army needed but in addition we shipped through lend-lease billions worth of everything to needy nations so much went out that a real scarcity. existed here. Some things were not available at all but. what we Could’ buy then we got at. a reasonable price ° considering the conditions all because ‘+ price control to a large extent held the profiteers off and protected the people. Why should prices be” 50 outrageously high now that there is no scarcity, Go into the market places and you will see enormous stacks of everything good to eat, plenty of good meat but how many can pay the price? . When congress listened to the soft voices of the profiteers and lifted price control against the pleas of the consumers it was not only stupid but an exhibition of lack of interest in the welfare of the public. For several years past we have been hearing the boys in congress howling for free enterprise, now it looks like we have it and in very large doses. When, Senator Taft was asked what could be done about skyrocketing prices, he answered, “Eat less expensive food.” Very simple, isn’t it; but he didn't tell us where to find less expensive food. . 2

(

* + 0 Thanks to Methodist Hospital

By a Times Reader

We. want to thank publicly.the Methodist ho pital for their kindness, consideration and excel lent care, which my wife received during her brief confinement while at the hospital, The happiest moment of my life was, when I looked for the first time, upon my little girl, er in my life was I more thrilled, We dedicated her to God before she was born, God has entrusted us with a great responsibility, We are going to do our best, with the help of God, to take her to Sunday school and church, and to carefully instruct her in the ways of right eousness and Holiness. We hope and pray that every God-fearing person who loves the church

will pray for us, that we will walk, humbly, before our God. : 5

-to raise their

Red Hanging of Bulgar Leader Created Mart

hearts,

BOSTON, Sept. 25. Bulgaria's Soviet-backed revolution has begun devouring its children.

Grey-haired, hawk-nosed radical farm leader Nikola Petkov dangled lifeless at the end of a ‘rope in Sofia's federal jail. When the Communist hangman -took Petkov's life, Bulgaria's silent and

angry farmers gained their first grassroot's martyr since Premier Alexander Stambulisky, whose body was chopped to pieces and flung into the river, Stambulisky paid for battling the Bulgarian Fascists after world war I in the farmers’ “green revolution.” Petkov has paid for daring to oppose the Communist dictatorship now emerging into total con-

public opinion about high prices -we think it very probably trol of Bulgaria. would, ' U.S. Intervention Suppressed r——— » BY HANGING PETKOV after repeated American and British “a. » * | mre lp ye ys « y n protests, Bulgaria flings down a contemptuous challenge to the Russ Munitions in China War |

\ ORE ominous than the bitter, provocative, name-calling | : speeches of ‘Delegate Vishinsky at the United Nations wembly are the actions of Russia in Asia. William H. Newton, Scripps-Howard Far Eastern correspondent, reported yesterday for the first time evidence that the Ruskians are furnishing some of their own munitions to the Chinese Communist armies. It has long: been known that the Soviets permitted the Chinese Commies to take over the vast munitions dumps of the surrendered Japanese Kwantung army in Manchuria. Mr. Newton's dispatch of Feb. 19 was the first to give dates and places of those armaments transfers. Now comes this account! f captured equipment showing that the Chinese Commies! re replenishing their military supplies directly from Rus-

dll SOUrces, It is vital to remember that shortly before the war ith Japan ended the United States exerted strong, diplonatic pressure on Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek to sign a treaty with Russia relinquishing control over Outer Mongolia, Port Arthur, Darren and certain rights pertaining to the Manchurian railway. The only important.promise given:the Chinese in return was that the Russians would recognize and do business only with Chiang Kai-shek's . Nationalist government. Russia, it now ‘appears, has ob-served-that pledge as she has observed so many others. by breaking it. The active arming and aiding of the Chinese Communist insurrectionists fits into the pattern of what the Soviet satellite states of Yugoslavia, Bulgaria

and Albania are doing in connection with the guerrilla Doomed to Death Before Trial

forces of northern. Greece. a I it isn't stopped, future references to what is now called a “cold war” may have to be couched in the past tense.

3 A - . .

a ’ - CRE

United States. Petkov was condemned while Bulgaria was. still an enemy power, before the Communist-dominated parliament has passed the peace ‘treaty,

The U, S. tried by every means rhort of armed intervention to gain reconsideration of Petkov's fate. American Acting Envoy Everett Horner even put aside American prestige to lay the plea

before Communist President Vassili Kolarov, Maj. Gen. W, Melville Robertson, American gember of/the allied commission for Bulgaria-—Soviet-dominated thanks to American poli-

Editor's Note: George Weller was one of three American reporters | and condemnation | to death of Nikola Petkov, anti-Communist farm radical and rival | Here is Mr. Weller's |

allowed to enter Bulgaria and witness the trial

of Bulgaria's Communist boss Georgl Dimitrov, story of what Tuesday's Sofia hanging of Petkov signifies.

tical concessions made during the war—tried repeatedly to persuade Soviet Lt. Gen. Alexander Cherepanov to intervene, The Soviets refused even to recognize the American and British notes,” asserting they wounded Bulgaria's “sovereignty.” Bulgaria's furmers never knew of the Anglo-American efforts being made to suve Petkov, , Bulgaria's censored press suppressed them. The lawver-editor of 56 fought for his life even though the omen’ of doom seemed to hang over him, : Three army officers and one farm party organizer went on trial with Petkoy in the big modern Byzantine courtroom against a mural mosaic showing justice blindfolded. Even before all four pleaded guilty to “conspiracy against the people,” their Attorneys had made

‘no pretense of defending them in the ordirmary sense. They simply

shouted four vitriolic speeches against Petkov, depicting their clients as misled lambs and thereby saving their lives. | Totteringly {ll with diabetes, Petkov managed to pull himself together for a final speech of deflance, mixing humor with irony. He ridiculed governmental charges that it was his ambition to get into power through a Soviet-American war, which. would unseat Communist mastery of the Balkans. “Our farmer's party wanted peace, bread, lawfulness and government by the people,” said Petkov coolly.

Me . PETKOV'S LAST WORDS OF DEFIANCE reached 80 per cent | of the Bulgarians, who are farmers, only by hearsay, since the Com munists had already closed down hoth ‘agrarian papers this, spring. . The government attempted to ‘prove that Petkov's so-called ‘plots iy

5 i 1 ;

were made to cause the Intervention of foreign (meaning American) troops from Greece. Petkov snapped: “I never served any forces of reaction, foreign or domestic.” Petkov was reported doomed to die by the politbureau of the Bulgarian Communist party long before the actual verdict. Petkov was never dangerous as a plotter. - His openness and naivete were both his best weapon and his weakness, Friends of Dimitrov will certainly claim that Petkov died a martyr to the impotence of American diplomacy in the Balkans. From the Communist point of view, Petkov's execution is simply a routine landmark along the revolutionary road fully explained in Stalin's writings. Petkov opposed the Germans; just as he opposed the Russians, demanding “Bulgaria for the Bulgarians.” Firebrand Andrei Vishinsky personally attempted to win him to

Ibraith

"There's. smarty laughing his head off at the boss’ stories—you “don't see me doing that just for a raise!” en ; iy ib oy Xi . go

|v.

a . ight, Si as ed

| certain that an entirely neutral viewpoint will be extended.

r By George Weller

the Communist bloc. He had proved his friendship with the Sovies Union by being one of four Bulgarians who went to Moscow te make the peace terms after the U. S. handed Bulgaria to Russia, Further, he had served as vice premier under Dimitrov untfl unable longer to stomach the Communist party's system of forcible crop collection and Communist control of the army. Petkoy oould not be absorbed and, therefore, had to be liquidated by trial,

Question of Liberty Unsettled

SINCE HIS EPITAPH will never be known, perhaps an official summary of his last day of public life—in the courtroom-—as given out by the Bulgarian government may indicate what Petkov fought against until he died. Here are the exact English words of the Sofia government: “The principal accused and conspiror against the people of the republic Petkov, against whom in the course of the trial definite evidence was brought forth proving his heavy crimes to the.people, once more attempted to deny his guilt and tried to conceal in the shades { of his brother and father. He pleaded the court to pronounce a | hon-guilty verdict, though he personally feels that he is annihilated by the. weight of the facts established.” .

BACKGROUND . . . By Nat Barrows

FLUSHING, N. Y. Sept. 25.—As the tragic Palestine problem reaches its crucial stage before the United Nations, it is importang to realize one vital fact: : Two fanatical, nationalistic movements are meeting each othes beforg the United Nations general assembly in what amounts to

head¥n collision. This is the tragedy of Palestine. It is practically impossible to convey to any non-Jew the uttes emation and near-hysteria which surrounds any, and every, phase of the slightest question involving. Palestine. "There is ‘absolutely no compromise. The Jews—that is to say, the Zionists—argue that Palestine fis their homeland. :

The Arabs respond that Palestine, by the simple rule of majority self-determingtion, belongs to them.

Put this da its mathematical formula and it adds up to one answers

Both Sides Make Sound Claim

TROUBLE AWAITS any attempted solution to the Palestine problem no matter what. «, The Arabs, in their solid front before the United Nations, will argue that Palestine, legalistically, belongs to them, They will be right—Ilegally, The Jews, through their Zionist spokesman, will argue that the basic ‘humanitarian justice, pitis the already established settlements, give them a right to a foothold in the Holy Land. They, too, will be right, by the ordinary standards of human What confronts the United Nations general assembly, then is how to compromise between the two widely separated, semi-hysterieal Today's electiofr of Dr. Herbert V. Evatt, Australia’s minister fop external affairs, as chairman of the ad hoc committee on

THURSDAY, Infuriat Fight to

LONDON F/ furiated British fighting to kee short. Here is v showing in Lond is. a Victor Steit two-piece red-we with a black fur | ~Asathers. falling ¢ 2 A pearl choker | . high slit neck swathed hipline cented, The skirt a trifle shade lo & ‘year's model.

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