Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 20 December 1947 — Page 10

"I've Iniffanapolis Times

"ROY W. HOWARD WALTER LECKRONE HENRY: W. MANZ

President Editor Y Business Manager - PAGE 10 Saturday, Dec. 20, 1947

I . Owned and published datly (ekeept Sunday) by ‘Indianapolis Times Publishing Co. 214 W, Maryland "St. Postal Zone 9." i ye Member of United Press, Scripps-Howard News. paper Allfarice. NEA Service, and Audit Bureau of Circulations. 3 "* Price in Marion County, § cents a copy; delivered by carrier, 25¢ a week. pr .

A SCRIPPS .-HOWARD NEWSPAPER

* . U. 8. possessions, Canada month. ; 0 Give LAght and the People Wili Find Thelr Own Way

and Mexico,

Monetary Bootstrapping HE writer of this recalls vividly a conversation with Franklin DD. Roosevelt in Albany early in. 1930, Roosevelt had just become governor of New York. presidential talk had .not yet developed.

urging by Alfred E. Smith. We were discussing various things, mostly state issues,

the electric power question, etc. The then recent stock piberty transformed is an angel with wings of

market crash was touched on only briefly. It had wiped out a lot of paper values; but return of prosperity was still in the just-around-thescorner stage, and the general public tone at the moment was optimistic.

Mail rates in Indiana, $5 a year; all other states, | $1.10 | ‘Telephone RI ley 5681,

Mr. | The | In fact, he had | run for the governorship reluctantly and only after strong | mnaiana's shrine for heroes long has been holy

{ |

In effect, Mr, Roosevelt expressed the opinion that the |

storm might die down. If it didn’t, he said, there wasn’t much the state of New York could do about it, being limited _in its capacity to raise money and create debt. : But—he went on-—the sovereign federal government

could é€xercise unlimited powers, since the very term 80v- | The shepherds’ with. flocks on the hiilside were

¢reignty implied that, It could coin money and fix the value ° thereof; it could tax to the hilt; it could do whatever it might take to fight a crisis. We are sure the governor was unaware of the prophetic nature of his remarks, for they were casual. And it will be

remembered that when Mr, Roosevelt finally did run for the |

presidency he campaigned on the orthodox platform of cutting government expense. As late as May, 1935, he vetoed the $2,2 against its inflationary nature. 3ut, as the wheel turned, spend and spend and spend came in. And a sovereign government strutted its stuff. Then came the war, and billions’hy the hundred were superimposed on a national debt that already had mounted by tens of billions. . : ~ - ” ’ , THE.WORLD has seen this week an exercise of that govereign power, with Russia's 1-for-10 devaluation of the ruble. coming a hot issue in our own country. ‘So let's not delude ourselves that it can't happen here.

$2 200,000,600 soldier honus bill, with a strong warning | Glory to God In the Highest bright angels from

| worry about,

| , 4 # | | { t

. . 7 i t we also have seen inflation in another form be-

The power to devaluate is the. power to repudiate, as |

"the power to tax is the power to destroy. It is the tradi-

tional “out” for those who sit in the seats of the mighty—or |

at least the temporarily seeming “out.” ployed world without end by kings and emperors and dictators. And democracies are by no means immune, Although they are restrained and therefore could never compete with tussia, for example, in ruthlessness. But some sort of repudiation is always the last play before the deluge. We find repudiation in the story of our own continental

It has been em- |

currency, in our greenbacks, and now our dollar is. question- |

ingly looking at itself in that same old trick mirror.

So, while we're still far from the deluge; and without |

getting panicky, but just as a matter of brushing up on the

facts of life, it might be well to take down our history books |

and read about what happened in the past to the assignat and the mark and the kronen; about John Law and. thé Mississippi bubble; and Kublai Khan and his mulberry tree money: and how Solon played the game in ancient Greece; and how Henry VIII devalued English currency. "In each case it. was a defensive mechanism working; tliose who are running sovereign governments answering to the first law of mankind—self-preservation. you can get it. But it seldom, if ever, lasts.

ruble, juggled to gyp a subservient people, ‘has joined the innumerable caravan of monetary bootstrappers.

Our Worst Shortage

UR government is. falling down on the program for stockpiling strategic materials. Unless the Defense Department, the Munitiohs Board and Congress put more energy into this preparedness measure we will not be able to win a war if one is forced upon us. The present paper program is not being carried out. We are supposed to he buying up these short supplies at a rate of $360 million a vear for five years, The actual total during the past two years has been less than $275 million, instead of $720 million. Even if we reached present quotas, we still would be ghort.. Some of the experts, including Bureau of Mines _pfficials, estimate that about $6 billion worth of strategic materials would be required for another war lasting as

Can World Food Keep “Up With Population?

And now in this week before Christmas the Russian |

| which

long as World War II. That would mean a stockpile three |

times as large as the current blueprint, and almost 10-fold the present acquisition rate. Our need extends to 67 different minerals and materials. Most of them are produced by countries seeking Marshall Plan aid or by their colonies. Certainly those

countries should repay us ir these materials to the limit of their capacity, : : But not even that prospect is excuse for further months of delay. If we buy all we can as soon as we can,

with this late starf it will be virtually impossible to Build adequate sto kpifbs within the next few years.

No Anti-Soviet Alliance YEN. alliance against the Communist menace. We do not think that is the solution. alliance has not been effective in the past. would play into Stalin’s hands. Stalin's favorite propaganda excuse for Russia's expansionist policies is the hoary one of all aggressors—Russia is being surrounded, others are ganging up on her, she is acting in self-defense. There is no more truth in this line now than when Hitler used it, but itis one .that almost any dictator by censorship control can sell to his own people. : If there is an anti-Communist alliance it- will be all | the easier for Stalin not only to convince his own people and

That type of In this case it

*

|

" InTune ‘With the Times

ITEMS FROM A CROSSROAD | "GRAPEVINE

The ‘Widder Larson is wearin’ her gay perfume agin, an Dog-nabit Mcgee -hes, started sprucin’ up.. Looks like a match in the offin’, The boys throw'd Bnifter Myers outta the store | "other -evenin’, Seems there wuz an’ argumint ‘bout a movie, “My Brother Talks to Horses” an’ Snifter kept braggin’ thet he'd seen times when: horses talked to him, .Milderd Hoskins hez been ’scused from school to hep her paw at the store ‘til after the Xmas rush. —CATFISH PETE. { ® 4 4 Late shoppers will find everything picked over— including themselves, by the clerks who are swamped, - . : LE

THE BEAUTIFUL STORY

ground, * . A fitting place for the stable, the Christ Child | with. fir trees around a

frosty white lace, Robed in white for in reverent grace,

His coming, head bowed

The hurrying throng pause a moment their heads in homage bend low, Far in the distance ring church bells as they did long years ago. . Beautiful, peaceful and” holy as in Bethlehem town far away : . When the Star in the East led the wise men to where the Christ Child lay. -

"entranced by the angels’ sweet song, Joy to the world afid glad tidings to Mary the "Christ Child is born, To ‘the manger the high and the lowly came, shepherd &nd king to adore. In garments of silk and of goat skin prayerfully knelt on the floor, ’

"I ‘do not agree with a word that you say, but | will defend fo the death your right te say M."

DE !

‘Shortest Ride for 10 Cents’ © By E Pluribus Unum, City = : Here's a toast to John Gunther,

anapolis. He must’ have ridden the

rather aristocratic. The shortest ride in. town for 10 cents. One morning the bus smelled 5o bad that's woman com to one of the men at the information desk at the Point tavern.

careful there, because most of the pigeons in perch on the wire above. Sometimes you're lucky though and nothin’ ) Oh, the in charge of information assured her she was wrong. Could be, the rest of us had gagged by the time we artived and it was too late to complain. After a tedious day there is nothing better than “obsolete” busses (the junk

man pays the company to retain—me thinks) and have yourself jarrefi, Now I don't have to worry about ocalis-

thentics—that’s inclu with fare along with a

g

climax is the jog in the middle of the anticipate this coming attraction and sure enough you hit it, but hard—a button pops off here, someone’s vertebrae is thrown out of Mrs. Jones has to hunt around for her faise teeth. Once more everything is in order until you near Kentucky Ave. and by that time half the balts are off the bus and the darn old middle door won't close, / What's the matter, why can't we have new busses during the week instead of on Sunday when it's seldom used? Isn't our dime as good as those elsewhere? Are we so inferior that we haven't a right to some of the luxuries? I don't think so. I've been a constant customer for 25¢years and have spent quite a fortune on this line. I have ridden new busses less than six times on this line. I'll say one thing, nearly all the drivers have been very polite—I've overheard them telling someone that they've presented some of these problems at their meetings. Guess the company doesp’t believe in constructive eriticism, Oh, well, where

ib

The wise men brought gifts of fine linen, frank encenseé, myrrh and gold; The shepherd, his treasure to Mary, a pure white lamb from the fgld.

Heaven: descend Bringing the beautiful story, peace and goodwill unto meh, — GEORGIA BAGE, : ¢ oo If young boys turned out as the neighbors expect, parents would really have something to

DEAR BOSS:

> o. 0 INFLATION

A man's heart ought to expand with his fortunes; but it happens often that the only expansion noticeable is in the head. Inflated ideas Instead of heart enlargement are too frequently the result of poorly digested wealth. -~VEE.

We can depend on the same old story Christmas morning—drums and horns for the little folks. It's a racket! . t

“ oo &

ONE OF THE LITTLE PEOPLE PRAYS

1f sometime there will come to me An easing of my path, T pray It will not cause me to forget All those who walk the harder way, ‘All those with whom I walk today. How hunger feels may I recall, And helpless pain, and bitter cold’ And workless days, the worst of all, If I would not have strength to be Aware of past necessity, Then, though indeed I like it not, Keep me within my present lot.

~—DORDTHY LYON.

retary Anderson

WORLD AFFAIRS . . . By E. T. Leech

A DISCOURAGING factor in our program to help Furope has. |

been the apparent lack of appreciation for aid already given. This want of a thank-you has especially been charged against England, after both world wars. Yet, in truth, one of the most famous members of Parliament thanked us heartily, in these words: “For some time past the Old World has been fed from tie New.

The scarcity which you have felt would have been a desolating famine, if this child of your old age ... had ‘not put the 1 reast of its youthful exuberance to’ the mouth of its exhausted parent.”

The words ‘were spoken 172 vears ago hy Bdmund Burke, in his famous appeal for “conciliation with America,” long a high school classic. One of his important arguments for conciliating the dispute soon became the American Revolution was England's _dependence on the colonies for food er Hunger in Europe and the ‘need for American aid are very old problems, X England #&lone “had an century for a good many help feed her, *

average of seven terrible famines each hundred years before America started to

Malthus’ Theory Didn't Pan Out

A FEW YEARS alter Edmund Burke's speech, another Englishman said something which seems to have similar aptness today. . An economist, THomas R. Malthus, wrote an “Essay on Population” which, for a long time, gave the science of economics a gloomy name. Proverty and® distress, he wrote, are unavoidable, because population increases far more rapidly than do the means of sustaining it. War, famine and disease, he held, were the only checks on mane

kind's tendency to reproduce beyond tHe world's capacity to pro |

vide food. Dr. Malthus’ dismal theory didn't pan out right away. But now A growing number of economists contend that he was right—but that proof of his theory was delayed because of the fact Edmund Burke cited. Two vast new continents, almost unpopulated and with enormous natural resources, came to the rescue of the Old World. American food for nearly two centuries ended the awful famines which periodically had swept Europe. American resources helped speed the industrial revolution which increased Europe's capacity to process and transport food. So world population jumped at amasz-

ing rates as deaths from hunger and its diseases decreased.

own,

DE GAULLE wants a French-British-American |

so-called neutral nations, but also to confuse many sincere |

though uninformed- peace-lovers in America and other democracies. Such confusion is what Stalin wants. = * If anything can turn Russia from her warmongering, it will be an effective world security alliance rather than

fust another shifting big power combina. i i . ah - 0 - * 4 . .-

.

—

But now, the economists argue, Dr. Malthus is coming into his The world is over-populated, Its people even increased 7 per cent during World War 11, despite the slaughter. And there are no new frontiers, nor much additional land capable of cultivation,

How the Argumbnts Stack Up

MANY ARTICLES and books are being written to prove that man's biological power to multiply is outrunning the earth's capacity. to feed him, Here's a good summary of their arguments in a small booklet, “Human Breeding and Survival,” by Guy Irving Burch, director of the Population Reference Bureau of Washington, and Prof. Elmer Pendell of Baldwin-Wallace College. 45~cent edition by Pelican Books. Here, briefly, are a few "of the facts the authors cite—and which they and others contend have great bearing on the world’s plight and our capacity to relieve it:

| The world now has 2% billion people, At.the present rate of in- | | crease, it will have 3'4 billian by the end of this century, and could | double its population in 70 years (provided it could find enough food.) | The. world's population actually did double in 90 years from 1850 to

1940. It increased by 200 million in the decade before the last war. Yet two-thirds of the world is always hungry-—-often to the point

of starvation.” From 20 million to 30 million people die needlessly each .

vear from’ hunger, want, lack of sanitation and improper médical treatment. In spite of their deaths, the world's population is now increasing 20 millions each year, = ~~" Either “India or China, if their death rate were reduced to the U..8.' level while their birth rate remained unchanged, would fill five earths as full as this one in only a century. Russia, which has twice . the American birth rate, would take Mttle longer. Ne ® And so, argue the population researchers, miost of our present

i

Two of the leading Indiana GOP gubernatorial candidates “conferred” here this week and neither one of them brought up the subject. Since both of their candidacies are of the “une announced” variety, it was. easy for each to act as though they didn't exist. So when Sen. William E. Jenner was visited by Speaker Hobart Creighton of the Indiana House of Representatives, both agreed that it was “just a courtesy call.” Mr, Creighton, who organized the poultry division of the Agriculture Department, under Secretary Anderson, came here to be present at the White House when a 47-pound tom turkey was given to the President. Mr. Creighton attended in his role of president é & of the Poultry and Egg National Board. He runs one of the largest poultry farms in the country at Warsaw. Mr. Creighton got a chuckle out of President Truman when he pointed out that he was once a prin cipal Republican appointee in the administration. That appointment was made because Mr. Creighton was considered the best equipped man in America to set up the poultry division and get it under way, Sec-

Leslie's Path to Governor Recalled

WITH HIS experience as Speaker, Mr. Creighton undoubtedly feels that he would make a better than average Governor of Indiana also. It was from the speakership that the late Republican Gov. Harry Leslie was promoted to the governorship. That pat- - tern suits Speaker Creighton perfectly. He hopes it will be repeated. That is why he is out beating the bushes for convention delegates and running as fast as he can to catch them. Sen. Jenner's approach seems to be more subrosa. But he spends as much time as he can spare back in,

It has been issued recently in a |

DEAR BOSS . ; . By Daniel M. Kidney Creighton and Jenner ‘Confer’

Bedford. His plan is one of the boldest ever conceived, even in the far-from-coy annals of Indiana

rough-and-tumble politics.

successor,

at this time.

explained,

ocrats nominate,

“drafted.” the non-poultry congress here.

Side Glances—By Galbraith

12-20

"But "bought all the office girls the same qift one year—nylon stockings! And remember the following year when they gave me 72 neckties?"

population figures. | Old Ben Franklin, pondered the same problem nearly 50 years | before Dr. Malthus. If all the people on earth were wiped out, he

For if he were “drafted” by the Republican convention for the governor nomination, he would retain his Senate seat until elected and then appoint a If defeated, he would return here and serve out his present term which expires in 1953. Backers of the Jenner candidacy contend that it will take a spry, young World War “II veteran like him to beat former Gov. Henry Schricker, whom they= think the Democrats will nominate, There are other candidates, also unannounced, such as Lieut. Gov, Richard James and State Auditor A. U. Burch. The former often has been credited here with having the support of Gov. Ralph Gates, but Mr. Creighton maintains that the Governor assured him that he hasn‘t any favorite candidate

Arranges a Consolation Prize

THE NEW CONVENTION rules, passed to prevent restoration of the primary in Indiana, lets each delegate to the convention cast a secret ballot for the man of his choice. Mr. Creighton believes that this ‘method will prevent any rigging of a majority vote and hopes that it will work in his favor. In case he loses out, he has arranged a consolation prize for himself. He and Mrs. Creighton will attend the World Poultry Congress in Stockholm in August and then take a leisurely look around what is left of Europe. But right now he would be glad to forfeit the trip to be out fighting to win the governor« ship against Mr. Schricker or anyone else the Dem-

Sen. Jenner would stump to win, also, if he is He might even forfeit a few sessions of DAN KIDNEY.

IN WASHINGTON . . . By Peter Edson

there's life, : . * ¢ 9

Must We Equip Enemies? By Richard A. Calkins, 1031 Security Trust Bldg. City. We learn very slowly. Before the last world war, we sent Japan many tons of scrap-metal — with the almost certain knowledge, on the part of official Washington, that it would be used in killing American soldiers. Today we are supplying Russia with machinery—some of it needed at home, all of it needed by friendly countries—and all but the most naive Americans know that lack of produc~tive facilities alone keeps Russia from attacking us right now. During the first nine months of 1947 Russia got nearly $114 million of shipments from this country. Of this amount better than 35 per cent was furnished under the guise of lend-lease and relief. Over 87 per cent of these shipments involved machinery and materials that directly or indirectly could be used in a war. Much of the machinery, including 1565 tractors, could now be in friendly European countries, helping those same countries to become self-supporting. What sort of an administration is it that cannot shut off lend-lease and, in fact, all shipnients to an unfriendly power? Must we always equip our avowed enemies before we go to war against them? Yes, we imported from Russia certain items, the main one in value being furs. We might be able to struggle along somehow withbut Russian furs, About one-third of our manganese ore, half of our chrome ore and more than of our platinum, purchased outside of the U, came from Russia. These are truly important products to eur economic welfare; but I have seen no statement to, the effect that this supply had to come from Russia. Moreover, our exports surely could be limited to just about the amount necessary to offset these necessary imports. Russia undoubtedly needs what we can supply just as badly as we need theses raw materials. Where, at any rate, is the Justifi-

cation for further charity. via the lend-lease and relief routes?

Stumbling Block On Path to Peace

p— ——————— cai

WASHINGTON, Dec. 20—If the collapse of the London Big Four Foreign Ministers’ Conference is disappointing, take a look at the record of trying to make peace after World. War I. Roles of the nations have changed, but the issues and arguments are much the same, and the results equally unsatisfactory, On-its face, the record after War I may look better, Two months after the fighting stopped, the peacemakers met at Versailles, In a month they had drawn up the Covenant of the League of Nations. In less than six months they had agreed on terms of a peace treaty. By contrast, it is now two and a half years since V-E Day. And there isn't a sign of a tréaty with Germany, This isn’t the whole story, however. The U. 8. never did sign the Versailles Treaty. It was July, 1921—nearly three years after the end of War I-—before the U. S. Congress, by resolution, declared the war with Germany ended. Even that didn’t settle things. There were years of trouble wover reparations, Apd, that's the great stumbling block today. \ : Wrangling among. the victorious and glorious Allies was no less bitter after War I than today. The studied insult, the double cross, the knife in the back, are’ always used when peace is being made— particularly when there is loot to divide.

Mandates Used After First War

BY THE DEVICE of “mandates,” Clemenceau, Lloyd George and Orlando took over every bit ‘of loose and unprotected real estate on the map. And they very nearly compromised the U. S. into becoming a partner to their crimes and accepting a mandate ‘over Turkish Armenia. : - Compare that with today's situation. Now Great Britain is shucking colonies and mandates as fast as she can. France wants the Saar, as she did in 1919. The U. 8. is actually involved in the Middle Bast —right up to its neck—in an effort to block the spread of Russian communism. For it is Russia which is today intent on grabbing all the real estate and reparations. } The big difference between War I and War II peace negotiations

| is that after War I they tried to make peace first and settle reparae

problem has nothing to do with the war, but is due to inescapable |

wrote in 1751, “it.might in a few ages be replenished from one nation

only, as for instance, with Englishmen.” Anyway, it's something else to worry about.

So They Say

tions later. Today, the Russian aim is to get reparations first. As a matter of fact, the peacemakers after War I never took care of the reparations issue. The Treaty of Versailles merely held the Germans responsible for all war damage. Then it set up a Reparations Commission and told it to come back in two years wiih ea report on how much Germany owed and how it should pay back. This commission fixed reparations at $33 billion. It was to come largely out of Germany's current production—which is what Russia now also wants—and it was more than Germany could pay. It brought

| on the ruinous inflation that put Germany into a tailspin.

WHY DO WE move into Greece on the pretense of protecting |

democracy? Why don't we say oll when we mean. that instead of grease? «Henry A. Wallace.

~ ” ” » » ~ USTRY sla on two or three price | To hus Pped p | $30 million a year for 50 years.

increases while paying extra dividends and making big profits,

—Sen. John Sparkman (D. Ala.). ” » - . IY MAKE ane movie a year at my $100,000 contract figure, taxes

leave me $40,000. If I make four a year for $400,000, as my contract |

permits, I will also make about $40,000. Which would you do? : «Bing Crosby, radio and film star,

» n wns THE RUSH ACT being worked on Congress is a phony. n —Sen, Joseph H. Ball (R. Minn.).

o - ~ » » ” THE KEY to peace is in the hands of American industry and-

agriculture since the Soviet Union is gambling on the failure of our system. Allen Dullés, head, Office of Strategic ; Services in Europe, World War IL J , . 8 @ THE COAL “MINERS have had enough—in fact too huthmet meddling in coal affairs, and we want no more 0 ; - wmjobn kb Keowis, UMW.

Hitler's Coming Ended Reparations

WHEN GERMANY collapsed financially in 1923, Brig.-Gen. Charles G. Dawes went to Germany and worked out his plan for scaling down reparations, calling for $500 million reparations payments a year, In 1928, Germany failed to make payment and Owen D. Young worked out a second scale-down. The Young plan called for $15 million to

That lasted three years. Then, With Germany's depression spread

| all over the world, President Herbert Hoover took the lead in pro-

|

posing a one-year moratorium on all international payments, Later,

in 1931, representatives of the Europeansgovernments met at Lau-

| sanhe, Switzerland, and agreed to cut back German reparations by | 90 per cent. Next year, Hitler came to power and that ended the

:

whole business of reparations.

'" Thus, in the 13 years after the end of War I, the Allies ool lected in reparations from Germany only a little over $4 billion. Over half of this amount was offset by American loans: jo and the purchase of German bonds by U. 8, private citizens, Of the $240 million cost of German occupation, only $66 million were collected. It is to prevent a recurrence of this business of having Germany's

| reparafions paid by American dollars that the U. S. has taken its

firm stand against Russia's demands for $10 billion worth of repara-

tions from current German production. This kind of not be paid or collected after World Wag § +

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Hoosier Forum

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