Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 5 December 1947 — Page 30

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x | We Can Still Save Ourselves If We Want To| =" In Tune |" ~~ © = | Hoosie

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The Indianapolis Times

President - Editor Business Manager . h : . "do - : that you say. but | | As , ; | 4 ama ae 2 an rR g 0 ’ . PAGE 28 Friday, Dec. 5.1947 ver en IT With t e Times will defend to the death your right to sey it." NEW 1 . A SCRIPPS-HOWARD NEWSPAPER ogee : ~ make ends 9 lease ’ Owned and pliaoed dally (gzcent Sunday) by ‘BED BOOKS “The Plain Road to Peace’ ha Ji L 1 es Publish 0., 214 aryland . : it Postal Zone §. ig Fo ari Yow mich Jeiding qué ian By T. M. McGuire, 1126 Eugene St., City average li } y y . 1 ge 1roug n e p less than Member of United Jress, Scripps-Howard News-1 5 5. putting out the light, if only one is pro- In my opinion certain members of Congress are uiclans say paper Alliance, NEA Service, and Audit Bureau. of vided with the right book. Ordinarily T am omni- not sincere in their actions to Jaevent Mesiession been appr Otrculations. County. 3 wv : . delly- | Yorous. and will devour anything in print, but in by enemies In foreign Inna, ica - your Ruth's 60 Price in Marion oun ¥ cents a copy; de the matter of bed-books I am particular, fluence in our comm iy L Sui Joe ne may never ered. by cartier, 5c a week. ; [ A good bed-book is a rare and. precious thing. to you in reply to Sen. Capehart’s appeal i The new Mall rates in Indiana, $5 a year; all other states, | Our aid in Europe -and Secretary Marshall's

U. 8. possessions, Canada and Mexico, $1.10 a month. Telephone RI ley 5851 |

Give Light and the Peoples Will Find Thew Own Way |

he 0 ® - o @ oO > 0 a 3

NCE more the CIO is galloping to the rescue of the | American people's living standards. President Philip | Murray and his nine vice presidents announce:

“The CIO is determined to lighten the unbearable eco- | nomic burden which has been imposed upon the people.” How? Why, naturally, by grabbing another round of | “substantial” wage increases for the CIO's six million members, who are about one-tenth of the people now employed in this country. Gone is Mr. Murray's fervor for restoring government | price controls. That faded fast when President Truman | asked for wage control power, too. The CIO will stick to its old reliable weapon, equally good for fighting inflation or deflation. Higher pay. : “Greedy” industry can afford to grant it without raising prices, says Mr. Murray. We seem to have heard that be- | fore,

-

” » » » ” ” WELL, corporate profits, after taxes, are estimated at $1714 billion this year. That's very high—perhaps too high. But corporate profit dollars are inflated just the same as CIO wage dollars. And wage salary payments also are much higher than ever before. Their present rate is about $125 billion dollars a year, against $106 billion in 1943, and $48 billion in 1929, A great many people are being terribly pinched by the high cost ‘of living. ‘That, according to Mr. Murray, has risen more than 23 per cent since June, 1945. It has risen more than 66 per cent since 1939. But most of the CIO's

It must pot be too exciting or one will be loath to lay it down; nor must it be too dull or oné will be equally loath to take it up again! It must not be too obtuse as to make unreasonable demands upon a sleepy intellect, nor yet so frivolous as to be unworthy of continued attention. Pinally it. must be of such a nature as

| to lend itself to being read in minute installments,

and that is the hardest test of all : The only book that I have ever found that answers all of ‘these requirements is Pepys’ Diary.

| It Is, If you do not know it, the day by day record

over a period of some 10 years in the life of an official in the English® naval administration during the reign of Charles II, and it is certainly the most amazingly unself-conscious, brilliantly observant ‘diary ever written. Actually, I suppose, it is back-fence gossip related by a genius, and therein lies much of its charm for there is a little Mrs. Probe in the best of us. And then it is a lasting book, and no nonsense about finishing it just as one gets interested! There are eight volumes (a trifle of something better than 32000 pages), and you can begin it with assurance that your “bed-time problem” is solved for some time to come, Even so, I have,

| 1 think, gone through it not less than three times ' since it first found a place on my bed table

—FRANCIS H. °

* % ODE TO MY GRANDDAUGHTER

Baby dear, very soon you'll see The toys and lights on the Christmas tree, But darling, you're too young to know

INSLEY,

; That another Baby was born years ago,

| Unlike you, He had no cradle,

For you see, my dear, He was born in a stable. And He grew up, as you will do, But He was despised by many and loved by ‘a few.

He told of God's love and how we should live To be honest and. truthful, and it's blessed to give,

| He brought Peace and Goodwill to all mankind, | Bo I hope, dear baby, you'll keep these in mind,

You see, .his Baby, who was born years ago, Was Jesus our Saviour, who loves us all so,

an iron-clad house.

OUR TOWN rie By Anton Sciverior

Mr. English Defends His Honor

IN THE SUMMER of 1880, the New York Herald sent one of its crack reporters to Indianapolis to investigate the rumor that William H. English was so fearful of his life that he had to hide himself in

be aroused and prepared to defend myself and protect the property of the bank, and that's the whole

egg from which Halstead's tremendous lie was

hatched.” Whereupon the New York Herald broke - down,

long-range plan seem good to me, The need is great and should pay dividends by helping the growing generation here and there to at least a knowledge that we keep our promise. As Mr. Marshall so aptly said, the supplies can be brought elsewhere rather than on our own inflated markets, By spending U. S. money in South America, Canada, Africa, Australia and elsewhere we not only protect ourselves from inflation but tend to promote our trade and goodwill with our neighbors,

bonded issue of money in circulation. There must now be in our own United States at least 50 concerns with individual capital value of from 1 to 10 billions of dollars. An average estimate should show five-billionh value each or a total of 250 billions, Our war bonds may possibly account for 275 billion dollars of inflation and no doubt 25 billion is the extent of inflation handled and controlled by the average citizens. “Remember the Maine,” “Don’t forget Pearl _ Harbor” and always keep in mind the enslavement of pedple by a promise of gold, For me so long as Uncle Sam can collect a payroll deduction tax to apply on our national debt, I have no fear of losing my income. A happy people are a busy people, Let's reduce swollen fortunes by just taxation and try the plain road to peace. . Se +

‘Let's Have Housing Action’ By Bud Koesel, City . When I hear about all those children starving to death and going to bed without any food all over Europe, it must be like that and I am in favor of helping them to get clothes and food for little children who didn't start the war. But I am

poor innocent people while we have the same condition existing in Our Fair City. Last week I was told by a friend that a family of seven were living in a big barn in the hayloft and were giving money to some landlord to live in this unfit and unsanitary hole, téo. And many other people living in automobiles, garages and even sleeping in coal bins. : I think it's about time we start building some

members aren't among those who are unbearably burdened. | It was on Christmas Day He came on this earth, That = was the year Gen. succumbed to what in the trade is known as the sub- | decent homes for veterans and their children so . . - . | That's why the Tree's lighted, it's the Day of His Hancock was the Democrats’ Jective mood, and opined: “Mr English appeared to | they can live like other people do. And also clean Mr. Murray says that, since January, 1945, workers in birth —MRS, STANLEY SCOTT, | pick for President with Mr. be entirely earnest and honest and spoke of him- | up our city by tearing down all of those houses

manufacturing industries have lost over 18 per cent in the

» . 2, ow ow “wo

English as his running mate. It

self and his affairs with commendation as though it

that are unfit to live in and get rid of these rats

Vom eh . Ves . cout ; ; St SAVE p . y Vas . aig argely as tly. accomplished fact that Mr. English | who have bitten small babies in homes where one yurchas we their wee wages, le doesn’t men- A wealthy philanthropist says it is hard to give | Was a bitter campaign largely was a perfectly ! purcha INE power of 3 r Kiy . 2 vier 4 Ayiae apa | AWAY a million, Just for fun, why don't you try it? | because of a story started and and the world were friends.” of these broken down shacks was next door. tion the fact that workers ir manufacturing industries are | Hel ue il circulated by Murat Halstead, : o I say, instead of talking about it. Go into action averaging $3.50 a week more than they did in January, | SOULS' HOLIDAY editor of the Cincinnati Com- Predictions Come True right now. ‘ mercial. Hb

1945, but working about 51% fewer hours per week. Nor does hie-mention another-fact: The average weekly | factory wage is now $50.97. In 1939 it was only $23.62. The increase is more than 115 per cent. Considering the whole period since World War II began, factory workers—among | whom the CIO has most of its members—are,still far ahead | of living costs. : "Those costs, to be sure, have climbed faster than wages since the war ended, and especially since OPA expired. That | may be due, as Mr. Murray says, to “greedy profiteering" | and “monopolistic control of prices.” - : r= ! un | UT it could bé ‘more due—and ‘we "think it is—to other | things. For instance, to the CIO's success right after | the war in selling Mr. Truman its phony predictions of vast unemployment and decreased purchasing power. That led Mr. Truman to advocate big wage bBosts. Wage controls went off, and rising costs quickly made it impossible to hold | the OPA lid on prices without strangling production.

Mr. Murray now rejects with scorn the idea that more labor productivity and a longer work week might help to | beat inflation. The CIO prefers its own theory of more pay | for less production. Whatever purchasing power C10 members gain by that system will, of course, be lost to other people—those on fixed workers, public emplovees

| | {

incomes, pensioners, keep ahead of, or up with, the cost of living. Such people, we suspect, might he less unhappy over the prospect if Mr. Murray and his vice Presidents weren't quite so unctuous about being determined to lighten their burelen,

mi ————— Down, but Still High HE government's budget director announces that the ceiling for federal civilian employees is to be lowered |

by the equivalent of 106,148 full-time Jobs for the threemonths period beginning Jan. 1.

This means the total payroll of federal agencies must be trimmed to a maximum of 1,914,814—down more than | one-third from the wartime peak, slightly above three million, in 1943. The figure for the first quarter of 1948, however, will not include a considerable number of government employees abroad. And nearly halt of the shrinkage from the present quarter's ceiling will be due to layoffs of tem- | porary postal workers after Christmas.

Seven ‘years ago there were only a few more than a |

Hedged in we are by circumstance, Surrounded by such petty things; Yet sometimes for an Interval Our spirits stretch forth their tired wings.

They shyly fly a little way; They shyly gaze where, faint and far, And misted with a calm, pure light, The peaceful fields of Heaven are. z . —~DOROTHY LYON. “Gb © Cold shots are worthless, say some medical men. Just like a lot of self-styled hot-shots, * $b

FOSTER'S FOLLIES (WASHINGTON—Bans on Cans for Beer and Coffee Drafted as Means to Save Steel”) Bans on cans for beer and coffee Do not seem so bad to us Though some people may act scoffy, There's no need for any fuss,

w

Kegs and bottles still will thrill you, And should cheer you to a man: For we all know beer can't kill you— Though an old tomato can!

— Rene

Mr. Halstead claimed he knew for a fact that Mr. English was the most hated man in Indianapolis and was so scared of his life that he had to line all the walls of his home with armor-plate, When the reporter came to call on him .at his office, the first thing Mr. English did was to lead him to his home on the northwest quadrant of the circle, “It is an ordinary two-story brick house with a kind of. square tower rimning to the top,” reported the New York Herald with commendable-objectivity. “We entered and looked around, The doors are like thous sands in New York and have no iron protection, One window in the second story was then pointed out.

The Barricaded Window

“THERE,” SAID MR. ENGLISH, “is the barricaded window of which so many lies have been told, When I was president of the bank, Col. New's room was entered by a burglar and shots were fired. He and I exchanged opinions about it and agreed that we ought to be more careful of our persons, lest prymg burglars should seize and bind us and, carrying us back to the bank, compel us to open the safe. I then had that lattice work which slides in and out, put up, so that if burglars attempted to get in I would

INDEED, MR. ENGLISH was not only able to dismiss the legend of the iron-clad house from the inquiring reporter's mind, but apparently he was also slick enough {o impress the Metropolitan paper with his extra-curricular activities. Anyway, the New York Herald went on to say that Mr. English “is building an opera house, a finé structure to hold 2000 people with a beautiful broad deep stage absurd little boxes and an entrance direct from the street. It is to be opened later in the month by Mr. Barrett in one of Shakespeare's plays. Mr. English showed me through it and pointed with apparent satisfaction to the name English worded in the particolored tiles upon the roof. His son who is theatrically minded is to have the management of the theater which stands next door to his dwelling and, like it, is to be part of a systematic frontage along the entire block owned by Mr. English.” Everything the New York Herald predicted in the foregoing paragraph turned out to be the gospel truth. On Monday, Sept. 27, 1880, English Opera House, under the management of Son Bill (Willlam E), was opened with Lawrence Barrett playing the part of Hamlet. As for the presidential election five weeks later, it was a different story—a story, more up Hr, Halstead’s alley. Hancock & English were licked, Score: 4,454,416 to 4,444,952,

‘We Would Like More Playgrounds’ By R.,V. 8., City

I wish to add my bid to the Hoosier Forum toe day if I may, concerning ball playing in streets, I read a letter written by A. F. I wish to say to you A. F, if you really loved children as you should you would not encourage the idea of chile dren playing on the streets. Perhaps you have been fortunate so far as not to have any children injured but last summer there were two children almost injured here on the street. It was only luck the one time. The driver was driving wtih caution but please do remember not all drivers drive careful and love our children as we love them. Therefore, if you folks of Indianapolis love your children please keep them off the street. The streets are made for cars and the sidewalk for folks to walk on. | Why not have nice playgrounds with matrons then, with safety first, let our boys and girls have their ball games and really enjoy themselves or else let's stop the cars driving on streets and all of us play ball. Let's co-operate. We as taxpayers would like

more playgrounds and no street ball playing.

stabilize international currency and keep our"

not in favor of giving billions of dollars for these +

IN WASHINGTON . . . By Peter Edson

Playing Politics

white-collar ° ° ° all who haven't been able to WwW th H gh Pp With High Prices

WASHINGTON, Dec. 5~Republican strategy in dealing with the President's anti-inflation program is to criticize the Democrats for everything they do and everything they don't do. whether it makes sensé or not. . Blame them for the existence of today's high prices, and view with alarm all proposals to put on controls to Keep ‘em down. Criticize the administration for not using all the powers it has, and bawl it out if it asks for more powers. Censure every one of the President's specific requests, and find fault with them because they are toorvague, In fighter's parlance, this is known as giving them the old onetwo. Feint with the left and sock with the right. The Democratic defense lends itself to this attack. Knowing that price, rationing and wage controls are unpopular, the administration has been feeling its way. : The result is that, before Sen. Taft's “Joint Economic Committee and Rep Jesse Wolcott's House Banking and Currency Committee Democratic spokesmen have given the impression that the Truman administration is far from sure of what it wants. There is no sign that the administration is preparing an omnibus bill to’ carry out all of Mr, Truman's 10 points. So Mr. Taft says the proposals are not made in good faith, and Mr. Wolcott says he never heard such vague testimony,

Leaders All Pulling Separately

AS A MATTER of fact, the Truman administration does not seem to be pulling together on this program. Sep. Charles W. Tobey's Baiiking Committee has been given conflicting testimony on how. credit

Side Glances—By Galbraith

1%

War for Democracy Still Being Fought

WORLD AFFAIRS . . . By Ludwell Denny

WASHINGTON, Dec. 5—Russian troops could take over Western Europe in 24 hours, according to Chairman Charles A. Eaton of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. Whether the best estimate is 24 hours or 24 days, military experts agree that the Red army under present conditions could sweep to the Atlantic in short order, The reason is that the Red army is on a war footing and others are not, American and British itroops in Germany and Austria cone stitute nothing more than a police force. In view of what Chairman Eaton describes as Russia's purpose “to conquer the world by infiltration or force of arms,” this disparity of forces in Europe is disturbing. It is a reminder that the United States must keep its powder dry. It is particularly pertinent to cone gressional considération of ignored universal military training legisla tion, of our decline in aircraft strength and inadequate appropriations for atomic and other scientific research.

Too Weak for Deliberate War .

BUT WE CANNOT correct the dangerous situation by increasing our armies of occupation in Europe to combat size now, or by a huge military display elsewhere. Despite vast superiority in ground troops, Russia is too weak now to start a world war deliberately—her industrial capacity is still inferior, her transport is still in bad shape, her food reserves are low, her people are war-weary and she is still behind in

| atomic development,

Therefore on the military level, in the judgment of informed persons, the test is not the present number of troops but general pre paredness for the future—in five years or later. The immediate struggle ahead is on the political and economie

million persons on the federal payroll. Fourteen vears ago controls should be handled, Secretary of Agriculture Clinton #. Ander- | "levels, the so-called cold war in anticipation of the later shooting war, . v } rk ‘Rv " > OS . ati > - there were barely more than 600,000—less than one-third of | °° P48 had to back away from the proposed livestock marketing con The present question is not whether. the Red army could occupy Westv i A trols. Secretary of Commerce William Averell Harriman has not given ern Europe quickly—as it could-—but whether it could digest such the namber the budget director has set for the first three | a clear picture of what commodities he wants to control. or how. And 12-8 conquest. So the army is not likely to march until its fifth

months of 1948,

Tuft Luck

N unforeseen shortage, striking from a peculiar direc-

. tion, may become mmereasingly noticeable as Christmas approaches. We are referring to Santa Claus beards.

In this age of specialization. it seems, the best beards come from the goatees of male goats. For some reason not | now known, since there is no longer an OPA to Keep track | of such things, there were fewer goatees from male goats thrown on the market this year. So we're just telling you in time that you're likely to see either shorter-bearded Santas or w hiskers more syn-

| Secretary of Labor Lewis B. Schwellenbach indicates that wage ceil=

ings can probably be handled by voluntary means, though he'd like controls, just in case. This uncertain. approach enables Républicans to say that the Demoerats—just- want-to get a control toot in the door so they can muscle in later to regiment, the economy. Again the old one-two Part of the trouble seems-to be that the job of fighting inflation has been scattered all over town. Instead of one department being put in charge of economic stabilization, there are five. Agriculture is planning for grain and meat controls yCommerce for steel and such stufl, Federal Reserve for credit control, Treasury will put on the savings bond drive, and Labor will put on wage ceilings, if any, Perhaps this split-up is politically wise, since Congress left OPA's functions thus scattered by the Second Decontrol Act it passed last summer. Also, knowing how unpopular OPA was, the Democrats may not have wanted to hint that they might bring it back.

Entire Program Very Tentative

COPR, 1947 BY MEA SERVICE, TNC, T, W.

"Yes, | took some medicine, Mom, but | mixed up several kinds so I'd be sure to get the right thing for a stomach-ache!"

Housing Lobby Split

WASHINGTON, Dee. 5—The National Association of Real Estate Boards has decided to disown its 2-year-old baby, the National Home and Property Owners’ Foundation. The result is to split the housing | lobby wide open on the eve of the congressional battle to extend rent controls beyond next Feb. 29, as requested in President Truman's anti-inflation program,

In July, 1945, Herbert U. Nelson, executive vice president and chief

Washington spakesman for the realtors, had the bright idea of trying: |

fo organize a home owners’ protective association. Nobody had ever done. it successfully before, even on a state or local city scale,

But here was a group of over 20 million solid American citizens

coulmns have completed their work, until the chaos is more complete,

If Marshall Plan Should Fail—

THE RED ARMY we have to worry about today is not the one in Eastern Europe, but the disciplined Communist ranks wrecking the economic and political systems of France and Italy. The American help needed for the defense of Western Europe today is not more troops on the Stettin-Trieste line but fast and effective operation of the Marshal Plan. Without that, the victim nations cannot defend theme selves. ‘ If the Marshall Plan fails or if America’s great economic superiority should collapse in depression, as Stalin plans, the Red army could do much more than sweep to the Atlantic. It probably could stay there for a long time, and advance farther, But the Marshall Plan need not fail and there need be no Amerie can- depression if Americans understand that the war for democracy is still being fought, that their best intelligence and courage and pere sonal sacrifice are still required to win,

thetic looking than usual. who owned or were buying their own hemes. If they could be organa ANYWAY, each of these outfits has been fooling around with ized and stirred up about the dangers confronting them in govern- S ; The Sa £00 . : drafts of bills fo carry out its part of the Truman program. All draits = ment bureaucracy, - socialized housing and such communistic stuff, oO Y Y | . . * ’ ; : = are now very tentative. They're being: kept top secret until the admin- ! they might exercise a powerful influence on Congress, ! volun tio Libraries Limited istration has a better idea of what Congress will go for. Mr. Neison sold the idea to his high command and they decided to ae LOW Spun SNE Suis vo vily Sry rationing. He is i MERICAN railioads have added a new servic f ) { All this monkeying around and political shadow-boxing is rem- put some money into it. To head it up, they selected Arthur W. Binns —Sen. Ralph Flanders (R) of Vermont. A gengers. Ti il sell i ' Service tor pas- | iniscent of 1941. Everybody was then talking about selective price = of Philadelphia. f le 2 wm oy 8. 1ey will sell books on trains picking titles | control and taking things easy, as they came, which didn't do any In August, a federal grand jury charged the Realtors’ Washington z from current best-seller lists and making them available | 870d. It Wasnt until they started to get tough about high prices, | Committee with conspiring to fix real estate commissions in the Dis- a ey trig enine experiance i ywood haz been seeing : through dining car steward 1 Pulm: : with a hold-the-line order and a real stabilization act, that they began | trict of Columbia, The Departmerit of Justice slapped an anti-trust g ~H Mors g 8 slewards anc M'ullman porters. to get results. suit against them. NAREB promptly replied with a charge that this enry Morgan, actor.

What with telephones, movies, radio, Jukeboxes, play- | Ing cards; stenographers, baths, hostesses; latest magazines

There is, of course, a. marked difference of opinion as to whether further inflation in 1048 offers any danger. :

. was a reprisal for the fight against housing controls.

. ® =» a . 8 8.» 3 WHAT GOOD does it do to require a one-third down payment on

wea

an : All this hullabaloo was in the background when the National a refrigerator, say, as perso ) diamond and a portable library. the eager traveler ng If. experience in two world wars“proves anything, it is that the = Association of Real Estale Boards met in. mid-November in San Fran- Hoa ais Town Jong I a lh ay a — ring by | : ; Ys ag E eler now may acquire only way to regulate wages and prices is to regulate wages and prices, | cisco. ' Mr, Binns made an impassioned speech for more support to the ~Rep. J. P. Wolcott (R) of Michigan, ( . the Seligieful sansyfion of having stayed at home. period. This is the idea that Bernard M. Baruch has tried to sell in | Home and Property Owners’ Foundation, and Bs lot of applause «nn . PER 3 Timetables, however, will gontinue to | i «| both wars, and never gotten across. Slap on a ceiling. Not as of next | from the several thousand delegates on the . But whey the ONE DOLLAR spent td China is worth $10 spent in Europe’ Liss something blin skrit. . be printed in April when Inflation may be worse, but as of yesterday. Then hold that ' directors of NAREB met in executive session next diy, they decided for our objectives, which are to preserve free men.—Sen. Owen Brew- o Hing resembling sanskr |" line and quit playing politics. a , they had had enoveh. - Nt : stor (R.) of Mal». i ile 7