Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 29 July 1948 — Page 20

he Indianapolis Times

HENRY W. MANZ Business Manager

PAGE 20 Thursday, July 29, 1948

OY W. HOWARD WALTER LECKRONE t Editor :

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Give Light end the People Will Find Ther Own Wey

Relief —The State's Job Now?

THE resignation yesterday of Harper J. Ransburg and Robert A, Adams from the Marion County Welfare Board emphasizes again what's wrong with relief administration here. : It is a grave loss to the community when men of the unquestioned ability and integrity of Mr. Adams and Mr. Ransburg are forced out of important public service for any reason. In this instance the State Welfare Board left them little choice. Its recent action openly served notice that Marion County Board members are expected to take responsibility for administering the county's $4 million-a-year relief program—without authority to direct it. . Citizens of the stature this job demands are unlikely to accept such conditions. As Mr. Ransburg and Mr. Adams would not. ” » ~ #

» . THE net result, it seems to us, is that Marion County relief now becomes the job of the State Welfare Board. No new director now chosen can be expected to look to the County Board for orders, nor can new County Board members be expected to act independently of the state. We doubt whether the State Welfare Board wants the job. Its members are earnest and sincere individuals who certainly acted upon the conviction that they were doing. the best thing to correct a situation they believed needed correction, Without, apparently, much consideration of the method, or the consequences. But, having taken the step they took, it is going to be hard, iCetot impossible, for them to escape full responsibility for whatever now develops in Marion County. : : It js not a desirable outcome. Relief administration wor’ t in the smallest units. It tends to get worse as the size of units increases, as the policy-making authority gets farther and farther away from the persons who need relief. State administration is inferior to local, just as federal administration is inferior to state. NL. n ® 8 = BVT the fundamental issue is still there—and still unsolved. Does a Welfare Department exist to further New Dealish social theories or to implement the philosophy of a society that holds no reward for thrift, and no penalty for dloth? : Or is it there to forestall human suffering, and meet elemental human needs with the rights of tax payers getting some consideration, along with the rights of the indigent. © : v rN ; In the resignation of Mr. Adams and Mr. Ransburg Marion County loses the services of two able men who staunchly support the latter view. It would be an odd outcome, indeed, if the former should triumph by action of a Republicun board, selected by a Republican administration.

Quiet, For the Good of Our Souls

HE late Mahatma Gandhi kept one day of strict silence every week. Miss Margaret Bourke-White, famous photographer, mentioned it as she told of her visits with Gandhi and of their last interview just before he was: assassinated. . He had always said he would live to be 125. Since he was healthy enough to endure a long fast in his 78th year,

. it is reasonable to suppose he might have lived years longer.

On Mondays, Gandhi never spoke. He never ate meat and lived on the simplest and cheapest of diets. But.it was those periods of silence that intrigued one. . What if that became a custom in the United States? There would still be plenty of clamor going on, but if every person observed one day of silence a week the benefits to the individual and the nation might be tremendous. A campaign year, Sike this one, would be easier to get through, Think of the relief if every candidate spoke only on six instead of seven days. What if wives kept a quiet tongue for 24 hours? Husbands would enjoy that and probably the children too. Meditation is a healing balm for the soul. Those words of the Psalmist spoken so long ago have meaning for us yet: “Be still—and know that I am God.”

What About Oleo?

Price in Marion County, § cents a copy; de- |

Mail rates in Indiana, $5 a year; all other |

~ From dawn until the evening sun

PRESIDENT TRUMAN-—curiously—made no mention of the margarine tax repeal bill in his Congress message. That's puzzling because it’s in line with his drive to lower living costs; it's a non-partisan measure; it's specifically favored in the Democratic platform; it has been passed by the House, approved by the Senate Finance Committee, and—according to reliable estimate—would be passed by nearly a two-thirds vote of the Senate if it were brought up now on its merits. : ; Maybe that's just it. With such a line-up, omitting mention of margarine tax repeal couldn't be very offensive to anyone. But, as a Republican Senator pointed out, in’

- advocating it strongly there would have been a chance of

losing votes in northern dairy states. Well, if Mr. Truman wai®s to spread it that thin, he'd better not use a twoedged knife which could cut both ways.

Seeing Things at Night A/ ELL, here it is, midsumrger again, and the skies full

of weird spectacles. Jet space ships. Fiery crosses. . Mysterious lights. Discs.

3 But don't worry. It's about over.

Summer, we mean.

Just this week we saw the proof of it. In the advertise-

. “Straw Hats Cut to Half Price.”

In Tune | With the Times

Barton Rees Pogue FRUSTRATION

Oh, luscious crimson garden fruit, It's time to yield your precious loot. “Prolific bearer,” it says here, Not barren stems that stand and leer. From weak and spindly seedling To stocky sturdy vine, Just like my next-door neighbor's Except—no fruit on mine. The catalog describes you thus “80 meaty, so full of juice” — Then followed weeks of worried care, And now—oh, what's the use!

~J. M. M., Indianapolis. * + @

A TRUE STORY

An inmate, committed on the s of insanity, sat on an institutional lawn bench looking toward the colorful western sky, a | masterpiece designed especially for the moment. | One of the administrative office personnel said to him as she passed by: { “Good evening, Sir, I see that you are looking at the western sky!” “I look at what is commonly called a sunset,” was his reply. “And just what is it you stirred, said she— “I do not call it for it is too great for me,”

call it, Sir?” so deeply

said he. —EMMA JANE CRAIG, Indianapolis. * © < EXCEPTION

I have not wept your loss for years— Time has a way of drying futile tears. The days are full of things to do, And seldom do my thoughts fly back to you.

The whole of me makes much of work and fun— Except my heart. I keep it hid, And never, never dare to raise the lid. ~MABEL NEWMAN, Oakland City.

—

C-UMPLED HORN—

House Jack Built

By Frank R. Ford

THIS I8 the house that Jack built. Price control has been dead these two years, but the evils that it did live after it. This is the maiden all forlorn that milked the cow with the crumpled horn that tossed the dog that worried the cat that killed the rat that ate the malt that lay in the house that Jack built. 2 : Quick black-market profits drove breeding animals to the slaughter. Many farmers who wouldn't violate the law went out of business, Thus the future (now present) supply of meat was restricted. This is the house that Jack built, some of the end results of irresponsible tinkering with’ complicated economic machinery. But not all price regulations have been repealed. Only the rules that kept prices down. The rules keeping prices up are still on the books. The government will, for instance, buy and

destroy millions of bushels of potatoes this year\ |

—10 maintain the high price of potatoes. The government also supports the price of grain, It takes grain to produce good meat. High grain prices mean high meat prices,

Our Old System Isn't Working

THIS 18 the house that Jack built: The steel worker's wife complains of high

prices at the grocery and meat market. The steel worker demands higher wages. Steel prices are raised to compensate for higher wages, Auto prices are raised to com nsate for higher steel prices.’ “And so on. This is the auto made from the steel by the man whose wife couldn't afford the meat that was produced by the livestock producer who fed the grain that was held up in price by the government. We are, of course, in a period of unprecedented prosperity. More people are working, at higher wages, than at any time in history, A rising price trend is inevitable under these circumstances, But prices normally would tend to work themselves down. Invention and discovery of new machines, chemicals, methods” would increase man-hour production, thus tending to offset higher wage costs, A

Government Prevents It

THIS TREND has been a major American achievement. By this method autos, for instance, came down in price from a rich man’s plaything to a worker's necessity, despite steadily increasing wages. Wage increases, in other words, meant something because they were not

invariably offset by price increases. Living standards were improved. Potatoes provide a good illustration. Scien-

tific discoveries have greatly increased the potato yield. Same ground, same labor, but more potatoes, This crop could thus be sold at lower prices, the potato growers continuing to prosper, But the government prevents this with its price-support program. These extra millions of bushels of potatoes will be bought with tax money and destroyed, to keep people from eating them. Thus one more high price is kept on the grocery bill, to force wage increases, to force raw material increases to force increases in the price of autos. Don't blame the butcher, the baker, the grocer. Blame a misguided effort to eat our cake and have it. This is the house that New Deal Jack built,

IN ITALY —

Let World Stew

By Ernie Hill

ROME, July 29—Despite an erratic political record for the last generation, Italians, as individuals, remain just about the most relaxed and unperturbed people anywhere, Italians like to sit down, drink white wine, smell the flowers—and let the world stew, Emotional outbursts occur, such as the recent general strike following the attempted assassination of Palmiro Togliaiti, the Communist leader. Then everyone settles back to enjoy life. I went to the Piazza Vittorio to see what the Communists were saying and doing after the recent bloody events. I expected to find angry groups listening to angry talk. But no. Like others in Rome, the Communists sat at sidewalk cafes and talked about almost everything except strikes and violence.

Agree That Violence Is Bad

“YES,” said one, “violence was bad. But have a drink of wine with me. It is the wine of Frascati. In your money it costs about 24 cents a quart. The wineries at Frascati are the best in theworld.” Deciding this was a lazy Communist, 1 visited another, cafe. “Oh, yes, the strike,” my Communist there said. “It was a shame. My son-in-law had to walk home from his shop. It took him two hours. We had to wait dinner. I was very hungry. The spaghetti was cold. I think the busses and streetcars should keep running.” Moscow-trained eager beavers have a difficult time here in Italy keeping people steamed

up over Communism. Poverty in Italy is not intense and suffering. :

{ |

"And He' Called It a:'Turnip" Session”

- LAL

u. S. AFFAIRS . + « ByE.T. Leech

Hoosier For

61 Million Employed, Half

Of U. S. Families

YOU AND YOUR NEIGHBORS are seeing something nobody ever has seen before. Here in America in 1948 there is a condition without parallel in all history. It has never been approached in any land. Yet, because it is all around us, we pay little heed. Anybody who wants to work—and is physically able—can find it. More than 61 million Americans are employed. There is a growing shortage of labor— with spirited bidding for workers. Unemployment of around two million is less than that involved in the normal, everyday. shifting from job to job. But this is only part of the story. Money and savings and investments are more widely spread than ever before. . Half the families in the United States are capitalists, because they own property used to produce income. A good many of them, however, haven't realized it, because they haven't thought of the matter in that light. They would realize it quickly and painfully if any scheme to do away with capitalists should take hold here, as it has in other lands. In addition to being capitalists, a majority

“of Americans have some kind of wealth put

away. The total of savings and other time deposits in banks is over $56 billion—more than twice what it was in 1939. ; “E” bonds—the “little fellows” bought by the general public at $18.75 for a $25 bond, or $75 for a $100 denomination—totaled over $31 billion at the end of last year. Few small Government bonds were owned prior to the war.

Wealth Widely Distributed

THREE out of every four families own some life insurance—which is one of the surest, safest forms of saving money. At the end of 1946, insurance was owned by 78 per cent of all American families. Through this means individuals had accumulated savings of over $46 billion. In 1947 there were 10,622,335 owners of stock in America’s principal corporations. The list of corporations, with the exact number of the individual stockholders, was recently compiled by Dr. Daniel Starch and published in Forbes Magazine. Twenty-one corporations had over 100,000 stockholders each. Millions of other persons owned all or part of small, unincorporated business ventures. There were nearly six million farms—most of them owned by those who operate them, The Census Bureau estimates that America had 37,900,000 separate families in 1946. Thus the total of those who own some shares of corporation stock or some part of a small business or a farm exceeds half of all families in the United States, No such degree

“of around half of America’s families.

Are ‘Capitalists’

of popular ownership of a nation’s wealth has ever before been approached in any other

country.

This does not take into consideration milHons of indirect owners who have deposits in banks or insurance in companies which are heavy investors in corporation securities. Nor does it consider the millions who also work for corporations at the highest real wages ever paid in this or any ‘other country. Considering all this, it is strange that the word “capitalist” is so widely used as term of reproach. ) It is strange that there should be active and widely accepted propaganda to the effect that something good could be accomplished by harming or wiping out the corporations and the capitalists who own them.

It Isn't a Perfect Boat

TO DO 80 would directly hit the investments But it also would injure far greater numbers by damaging and jeopardizing their savings .accounts and insurance policies. And what it would do to the jobs of highly paid workers for these corporations would be ‘beyond calculation. The nub of the matter is that most Americans are in the same boat. It is a boat called capitalism. It isn’t a perfect boat; it has defects which call for correction. Not everybody has good accommodations on the boat. Some of the passengers are greedy and have hogged too much space. But you can’t correct these things by sinking it. Then we would all go down together. Nor does it help any Amcrican—no matter what his station in life—to sow seeds of suspicion and class hatred against the business system under which our present record-breaking employment, production and living standards have been attained. Yet, strangely enough, various union publications have recently been striving to prove that America’s stock ownership is confined to a mere handful of people. That claim doesn’t square with the facts. ~ There is constant propaganda against the business structure which during the war furnished both our own fighters and those of our allies with the great bulk of their arms and supplies. This system now is making possible the highest standards of employment, income, living conditions and ownership ever attained by any people. ' And it is giving and lending billions in dollars and supplies to peoples throughout the world. It isn’t perfect—but compared to any other system or country it has shown such overwhelming strength that the score isn’t even close.

Side Glances=By Galbraith

Vi sqav EE Reavis. mo. TM. MAG MLO R20 2% bi Muriel is a populat git] right, but we're not very a

riendly—my mother “is

| be like her!" °

ways asking me why can't

! A UNITED NATIONS

Milestone

WASHINGTON, July 29 — The next—and third-—session of the United Nations General Assembly which opens Sept. 21, in Paris, is almost certain to be crucial not only for the United Nations but for the | world. > It may be the milestone at which. Russia either takes a turn for the better in world i {

co-operation -- er makes her isolation total. The United States, Great Britain and France are now making what some are calling | final efforts to get Russia to | honor her agreements on Ger- | many—at least enough for {further diplomatic negotia- | tions. | » » ” IF THESE efforts fail, it is widely remarked, there will be nothing left for them to do peacefully, except to cite Russia as a warmonger before the United Nations. As Russia almost certainly would use her veto to block action in the Security Council, | the Assembly would be a sort of final court of appeal. It can be said that every effort both now and at the Assembly meeting in Paris will be made to gain Russian collaboration in and out of the United Nation, If she takes a walk, the decision will be hers.

= 7 |

7a 4 3 "1 do not agree with & word that you wy, by, : . : In State Let's Wait for the Evidence PRINCETO By Johan L. Julian, 821 8. Norfolk St. uP)—The X Your editorial on Monday titled goited Mine They're Accused Here” gives one the A panned a Jol that in your mind you have already tried gpg the 13 co! convicted the 12 top American Commun, an explos | accused of conspiracy to Oyerthrow the goy. : 7 ao not know what would have happeneq survivors tc.(hef in Russia, Mr. Editor, and neither g, ff pasned 5ePar you. Whatever it is, it has no bearing on thi for some of 1 case. while In America, Mr. Editor, their conviction Mean 1 a toa. De DASSILON the ¢ the Fie” and not on e litical | - please those holding the py OPiniong Ba Oot If these men are guilty of trying to over. report throw the government by force, they should, ulated § of course, be Punished ‘according to law, But-State ¥ However, let us devote our efforts to making ; sure that their fate 1s deciiof on Be ily Morris Sa as any reputable newspaper should, and would, fl ‘i of the have done. +. peen worked : fore the blasf An Out-of-Town Criticism 104 2 coma By Mrs. M. L. C., Philadelphia, Pa. last Sunday. An incident with an out-of-state visitor and an Indianapolis motorcycle policeman Sunday fj MURDER CH evehing, July 25th, at 8 p. m. on 49th St. west CALAIS, M of Illinois, proves that all. motorcycle officers fl Mrs. Margare should be compelled to remove dark sun Schenectady, | so that vision will not be impaired after syn. J] a murder ch down. An error was definitely made by tne f§ Judge John motorcycle officer as to the license displayed on J] after it was f the car. He thought it was Florida, but it wag J] band she was Pennsylvania license. ing actually The Pennsylvania out-of-state car had net f§ ease. oat

disobeyed any law but was accused by the officer of not coming to a complete stop at 49th and Illinois Sts. In an insulting tone to the lady driver he said, “You'll have this car torn to pieces. You might do this in Florida, but you can’t do this in Indianapolis.” If his dark glasses had been removed a, they should have been after sundown he would have been more observant—the car carried Pennsylvania license plates and not a Filorid, . license plate. : No arrest was made, which signified witnesses that the driver _ eid law—only humiliation for the visitor. Courtesy should be the -watchword as well 33 accuracy in observation by an officer of the aw. Remember, remove rap il dark sunglasses after

* &

Warns of Bus Flirts By An Observer

Local streetcar. and bus supervisors should be warned about certain operators who permit flirting girls to ride over town wit them. These operators, I am told, permit these girls to ride with them to the end of the line and back free, or with free transfers. It isn’t promoting safety by having these girls hovering over the operators, engaging them in conversation. These drivers are happily married men, and they laugh and tell each other about’ certain jishly girls who are regular followers of their es. o driver should encourage these b talking to them. No ng Seley I have heard that some of these girls are daring enough to write letters to married men at the car barns, asking them for dates. This is a bad form of delinquency and should be checked. ; ¢ 4 <

A High Cost Reason?

By Times Reader

So the President asks Congress to do some thing about the high cost of living. In his key note speech, Sen. Barkley praised the. Democrats for legislation which “increased our fatmers’ income by more than 800 per cent.” That is why we have the high cost of living.

IN WASHINGTON—

Too Righteous

By Marquis Childs WASHINGTON, July 29—In the rowdy game of political chess being played out be tween Republicans and Democrats at this spe cial session of Congress the President's message is now the field of action. -" Republicans are finding the weaknesses in the President's line and bringing up ther strength to try to win the first round. The weaknesses are pretty obvious. It doesn’t take a political divining rod to find

them. : You save In my opinion, Mr. Truman would have bee! : better off it he had taken a somewhat let ll drawer anc righteous approach. You can imagine him saying in a subdued albums. Te confessional tone that at one time or other 28"x18" an everyone has been wrong on prices and infiation. But now the moment has come in 2 5 chastened spirit to try to correct those wrongs. | |

That is perhaps too much to expect of any candidate for high office in an election year

Weak on Wage Appeal THE MOST glaring weakness in the messag® was in the long paragraph dealing with the re lation of wages and prices. The Presiden seems to be saying, “Don’t look now, but Ta going to have to talk about wages and YO know how touchy that subject is.” 3 After recommending prics control for scarce commodities, he says that “non-inflationary wage increases can and should continue to made by free collective bargaining.” he A congress of economists might debate 0° definition of a “non-inflationary wage, Increase for as long as the medieval theologians ol cussed the question of how many angels © v stand on a needle point and not come an closer to a final answer.

Would Alter Our System

THE PRESIDENT rests his claim for nov inflationary wage increases on the same . that organized labor has used since me of the war. Many profit margins, he gr a his speech, have been adequate to absor i increases without the price increases tha followed. is Theoretically, this - may ‘be true. Rj have been fantastically, unconscionab y i ' even after phenomenal swms have bee aside for reserves. t But it is impossible to compel managemey to take a wage increase out of the P margin. That would meau economic eontrols, whieh are not politically possible. the Such controls ‘would be likely to sig wl nature of the free enterprise Bystem most of a vond_the intentions of Mr. Truman an a night" the labor leaders who have demande wages without rising prices.

Most Glaring Omission

he THE MOST glaring omission in the nigh sage is the failure to face up to in : . by a subsidy syste a year of record-breaking crops. tically | * "That is even more touchy ground, pol

speaking, than wages. “ Just before adjourning in June the ots d the

Durh

Al steel fr olding de posit Sname| fin

mer

was signed by the President.