Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 21 November 1948 — Page 32

The Indiafapolis Times A SORIPPS- HOWARD NEWSPAPER pe

ROY w. HOWARD WALTER LECKRONE HENRY W. MANZ President Editor Business Manager

PAGE 32 Sunday, Nov. 21, 1948 Owned and published daily by Indianapolis Times Publishing Co. 214 W. Maryland St Postal Zone 9. Member of United Press, Scripps“Howard Newspaper Alliance, NEA Service, and -Audit Bureau of Circulations.

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Last Chance in China YHIANG KAI-SHEK'S urgent appeal to President Truman * for a clarification of the American attitude toward the Chinese situation demands an immediate decision by our government—and one which may have tremendous consequences to the American people and western civilization. The fate of China, and possibly of all Asia, may hang upon the President's reply. . And that reply may determine the ultimate success or failure of the Truman-Marshall foreign policy. In March, 1947, when Greece and Turkey were threatened by Communist aggression, the President told Congress he believed “it must be the policy of the United States to’ support free people who are resisting subjugation by armed minorities or outside pressure.” We went to the relief of Greece and Turkey. Why do we hesitate to lend the same assistance to China, a loyal wartime ally? While we are holding the line in Europe, communism is overrunning the larger, richer continent of Asia,

. 8 ; oun THE CHINESE are in immediate need of small arms, ammunition and planes and money to buy food for their hard-pressed armies. They also want an American general, supported by an adequate staff, assigned in an advisory capacity to reorganize their supply and communications systems. But, above all else, they want a statement from our government that we will support them in the fight to .save their country from Russia's fifth column. ‘China needs all these things now. If our decision is held in abeyance until Congress reconvenes, anything we do may-—and probably will—be too late. And, if China falls, the rest of Asia will be wide open to attack. The -Communists have seized North China and Manchuria and are surging through the Yangtze valley. We are spending $400 million a year to support the Japanese until their economy can be rehabilitated on a demilitarized basis. How can Japan's 80 million people ever support themselves if they are to be separated from their normal supplies of raw materials in Manchuria and Korea by a Soviet iron curtain? Under such circumstances, how could Japan survive except as a Soviet satellite? ;

fp » td » » » 8 MEANWHILE, if China falls, the next targets for attack will be Burma, Indo-China, Malaya and Indonesia, with their vital tin and rubber and “all the wealth of the Indies.” Chinese Communists, with Russian backing are operating in all of those areas now. If China's 450 million inhabitants are added to the manpower presently under Soviet control, what force would remain in Agia to stem the Communist tide? +The “open door” in China has been a cornerstone of American foreign policy for 50 years. That door is being closed. The attack on Pearl Harbor was precipitated by Cordell Hull's resolution in opposition to Japanese aggression in China. Did we fight to rescue Asia from the Japs only to turn it over to the Russians? What will it profit us to save Western Europe from communism, if by our do-nothing policy we permit all of Asia t6 be united against us and the free world? The answer to all these questions must be weighed when President Truman prepares his reply to Chiang Kaishek. Rarely has an American President been asked to make a decision of such far-reaching consequences.

On the Job Full Time

ANNOUNCEMENT by Prosecutor-elect . George Dailey ~~ that he will eliminate the usual part-time operation of. der~ty prosecuts>+~= “stip f seems a steps in the right direction for more efficiency in handling of criminal cases. : Instead of the 11 part-time deputy prosecutors who have’ been dividing their time between state prosecution and private law practice, Mr. Dailey has appointed six fulltime deputies who will carry through in all criminal cases, six days a week. The budget allocation for the 11 parttime deputies will be divided among the six full-time deputies. J y Full-time attention to any job usually is worth more than twice as much as haphazard part-time service. The change should increase the efficiency of the prosecutor's office.

The Changing Scene of the last of the old landmarks of Indianapolis’ gay nineties social scene will disappear with the razing of the English Theater building early next year. Its passing will be more than a reminder to old timers of the days when Indianapolis ranked among the highest in the country for patronage of the stage arts and a taste for social luxuries. Further, the razing of the old landmark will mean to modern Indianapolis the loss of a tradition in the legitimate theater. Patrons of the dramatic arts will look forward to its replacement in some other site.

Livability Standards

ITs a hopeful sign that the federal housing bureaus have got together on an engineering study to set up “liva. bility” standards for new homes and apartments built with government credit. . Since the war, for obvious reasons, the trend has been toward smaller and smaller houses. Tenants and buyers have been so desperate they would take anything, including, in the Middle West, converted grain bins. But many mortgage lenders, zoning boards and occupants feel that the trend has.gone too far. * - Building costs still are deplorably high. The Yovern. ment can't raise space standards for the homes it finances as much as many would like, ~The solution hit upon by the Housing and Home Finance Agency is to specify the minimum quantity and type of furniture each room must accommodate. This is

Price in Marion County, 5 cents a copy for

Il-time gobs in all courts .

LEAR BOSS . .. By Dan Kidney Capehart Says He's a ‘Liberal’

Senior Indiana Senator Cites Record to Prove It * WASHINGTON, Nov, 20—Dear Boss—Guess

who is a “liberal” now. Nobody but our senior ~ Benator= He not only

Homer - E. Capehart. claims the liberal label, but denies that he has appropriated it because of the election returns. “I've always been a liberal” Sen. Capekart told me, as he sat munching his luncheon on his Senate office desk with William Simon. They were resting beiween hearings on the basingpoint pricing system. Mr. Simon is general counsel for the Capehart subcommittee which is conducting them. “Why I introduced the first bill in the 80th Congress to increase the minimum wage from 40 cents to 65 cents, I was for the Taft-Ellender-Wagner pousing bill with its provision for federal financing of low-rent houses for lowincome groups. 2 “I also voted for federal aid to education, when the bill passed the Senate.” >

Confidence in Liberal Record

NONE of these measures actually became law under the Republican-ruled Congress, however, Nevertheless Sen. Capehart wants to be known as a “liberal” now, as badly as he wants to be renominated by the Republicans in 1950. He even is willing to reconsider his Taft-Hartley vote. “I'll be renominated whether the party convention is retained or the state legislature votes 4 direct primary,” he asserted. “I think I'll be elected also. On foreign affairs I have been a liberal also. I voted for Greco-Turkish aid to stop communism. Although I didn't vote for the Marshall Plan, I offered a substitute which would have been better.”

Sees Jackson as Opponent

SEN. CAPEHART, at this point, believes that the Democratic senatorial nominee in 1950 will be former Sen. Samuel D. Jackson of Ft. Wayne. Mr. Jackson sought the governorship and Henry F. 8chricker the senatorship in 1944. Both were defeated, the latter by Sen, Capehart. His hope to return here—provided he can win renomination—may not be too unfounded either. The way things are shaping up the “new Truman” may not be able to deliver on many of the New Deal promises which won him the presidency. A coalition of southern conservatives with Republicans of the same stripe might stop such delivery. In that case the 81st Congress may be in as bad repute with the voters as was the 80th.

A Worried Wife

WIVES and mothers, who waited during the war years for a word from loved-ones at the front, can sympathize with Mrs. Beverly Gunn, a secretary in Ben. Capehart’s office. Since October her husband, 1st Lt..C. D, Gunn Jr, has been in England as a B-29 navigator with the 301st Bomber Group. When she picked up her morning paper about, two weeks ago and read that a B-29 from this group had hit a mountain while flying in an English fog and all 13 crew members were instantly killed she screamed aloud. The story said names of those killed were withheld until notice had been given next-of-kin. Recovering from the first shock, Mrs. Gunn grabbed her apartment telephone and placed a trans-Atlantic call to Scampton airbase. Fifteen minutes later her phone rang. She shuddered, picked up the receiver and there was her husband—Dan. “I'm all right,” he said. “I knew when the call came that you were worried.”

“Republican Weather’

TIMES Reporter Robert Bloem’s contention that rain makes “Republican weather” was upheld by Rep.-Elect Andrew Jacobs, Indianapolis Democrat, on his visit here this week. He contends that the rain in Marion County during the last few hours before the polls closed on election day caused a loss of Democrat votes which well might have changed the state total In ‘avor of President Truman. “The rain came right at a time when the factories were letting out and I am sure that many workers went home instead of to the polls,” Mr. Jacobs said.

Hoosier Farmer Honored

WHEN Federal Security Administrator Oscar R. (Jack) Ewing was given the honorary degree of American Farmer by the Future Farmers of America convention at Kansas City, he confessed that he is no “dirt farmer” and then added— “But I should like you to know that I spent much of my young life on a farm in Indiana. And that I also own and operate a farm in Indiana which I get back to just as often as I can. “Furthermore, I am very glad to note that you have had the good judgment to elect as national president of your organization another Indiana farmer, my good friend, Ervin Martin. It's a pretty good state, even though it doesn't grow as much corn as Iowa.”

| Season's Greetings

CONTRARY to general opinion, neither the Pilgrims nor the New Deal (as the Democrats would have us believe) had anything to do with putting turkey on the Thanksgiving bill of fare. It was the work of Sarah Josepha Hale, a 39-year-old widow with five little children to support. As early as 1826, almost 40 years before President Lincoln got around to it, Mrs. Hale nursed a notion that we ought to have a national holiday labeled Thanksgiving. “We have too few holidays,” she lamented apparently unmindful of the fact that it meant only more work for women. The very next year, in 1827, Mrs. Hale elaborated her idea, got to the heart of the problem, and delivered the turkey to the Thanksgiving table. That was the year she published “Northwood,” an. extraordinary novel not‘only because it was the first literary treatment of slavery, but because it was the first to describe an orthodox. Thanksgiving dinner “set forth in the parlor, being the best room and ornamented with the best furniture.” On that historic occasion, Mrs. Hale said by way of her book: ‘“The turkey took precedence sending forth the rich odor of its savory dressing.”

Seasons of Rejoicing

EIGHT YEARS later when she was editor of the Boston Ladies’ Magazine, Mrs. Hale's attitude toward “periodical seasons of rejoicing” became even more significantly social. That was the year (1835) when she said: “They bring out and together, as it were, the best sympathies in our nature.” Thus proving again, if further proof is necessary, that Mrs. Hale had the proper idea—namely that Thanksgiving should be a day of feasting and boasting and not of fasting and lamentation as some sour souls would have us believe. In 1846 when she was 58 years old and editor of Godey’'s Lady's Magazine, Mrs. Hale began a definite and alarmingly determined campaign to last 17 years for the nationalization of Thanksgiving. Year ‘after year she importuned the governors to join in establishing the last Thursday as a general turkey festival. By 1852 she was able to announce that 29 governors had seen

OUR TOWN . . . By Anton Scherrer First Thanksgiving Turkey Dinner Traced Back to 1827

the light. She didn’t have the same luck with the Presidents, however—at any rate, not until 1863 when she persuaded Abraham Lincoln to see things her way. By this time Mrs. Hale was 75 years old— plenty old enough, you'd think, to retire and rest on Her laurels. But there was more work to do, and nobody to do it for her. The fact of the matfer was that she hadn't finished her Thanksgiving bill of fare. -

‘Ducks With Snowballs’

FOR THE NEXT 15 years, Mrs. Hale used the columns of her paper (still Godey's Lady's Magazine) to tell the women of America what

to serve with Thanksgiving turkey. And among | other things, she recommended “Soodje,” a |

fancy fish course, and “Lafayette ducks with snowballs,” an artful dish compounded of boiled rice, raisins and “coffee A” sugar.

High on the list of recommended side dishes, too, was ham baked in maple sirup. To meet her specifications, the ham had to be soaked in cider at least three weeks. Subsequently, it was stuffed with sweet potatoes. Of pumpkin pile, Mrs. Hale said it was “an indispensable part of a good Thanksgiving dinner.” Not a word, though, about dousing it with whipped cream, ‘And let that be a warning to you modern cooks. Mrs. Hale died in 1879 when she was 91 years old. She ran Godey's Lady's Magazine almost to the day of her death. Besides putting the turkey on the Thanksgiving bill of fare, she also found time to think up a way of raising funds to build the Bunker Hill Monument, to say nothing of composing the poem “Mary Had a Little Lamb.”

Two Thanksgivings in 1939

SHE WAS a grand old lady and it would have tickled her no end to know that 60 years after her death, America Had the imagination

to celebrate two Thanksgivings in 1939. One |

was for the Republicans who had the fortitude to celebrate it on the traditional Thursday— this in spite of the fact that they didn’t have much to be thankful for at the time. The other one was for the Democrats who that year, as part of Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal, celebrated Thanksgiving a week ahead of time and, in their exuberance, called it Thanksgiving. Remember? : :

Hoosier Forum

"| do not agree with a word thet you say, but | will defend fo the death your right to say it."

Keep letters 200 words or'less on any subfect with which you are familiar. Some letters used will be edited but content will be preserved, for here the People Speak in Freedom.

‘Utopian Theories’

By R. M. Black, 961 Mills Ave. City A reader who evidently idolizes Mr. Truman and believes in his Utopian theories has enumerated his many promises. Repeal Taft-Hartley law. Why? Could it be because it cramps the

style of Bill Green, Phil Murray, Dan Tobin, ete.? Mr.

Truman says he has learned a lot from labor leaders. ¥ Establish price controls and keep farm prices high. A good trick. It was Mr. Truman who took the lid off wages and then scuttled price control before the “awful” 80th Congress came into existence. He will keep us out of war, Why should there be any reason for assuming we will. have a war? Why do we have the present explosive situation in both Europe and Asia? It was not the 80th Congress that made the secret, oneman deals at Yalta, Teheran and Potsdam. Neither did they order our armies to halt in order that “good old Uncle Joe” could have the honor of taking over Berlin and Czechoslovakia. A little Bavarian paper-hanger also fooled millions with his Utopian theories, through the technique of name-calling, demagoguery and distortion of facts? Where are they today?

* oo Wild Turkey Comeback

By C. M. Goethe, Sacramento, Cal.

Thanksgiving has rolled around again, Forgotten is that the turkey almost was se= lected as our national bird. The eagle cult had persisted from prehistory in most Euro pean nations. In the 1780s, it was perhaps natural our new republic thought first of eagle-power. The old folklore persisted. But the golden eagle was a predator. The new U. 8. A. was to be truly a republic with no designs on others. Hence Benjamin Franklin proposed “our noblest and best beloved bird, the wild turkey.” It then was found wild from New England to the Gulf of Mexico. Somehow, however, the wild turkey's gobble did not seem quite proper < a. nation determined on “acts not worMs.” Our nation founders finally compromised on the bald eagle. Its record was not objectionable. Conservationists are interested in the wild turkey’s comeback. If not cruelly overhunted, our wild life has a replacement birthrate.

* S. @

Taxes ‘or Bonus By J. 8, City. I would like to make a suggestion on paying soldiers’ bonus. I see where the Farm Bureau said put a penny tax on chewigg tobacco and cigars. That would be just fine, if they would go farther and put a penny tax on every 10 cents you buy, except food. That would get everyone. Also, when one has income of over $10,000 a year, put a 10-cent tax on the dollar over $10,000 a year. The boys went over and fought for our freedom. Why not show them by paying the bonys soon that we haven't forgotten their many sacrifices for us. Also repeal cigaret tax. The election told the story. > % ¢

‘Tired of Being Suckers’

By G. K., City The investigators in Washington should come to Indianapolis. We certainly need them. A new car here is loaded with gadgets at ridiculous prices, then you must have a tradein, then maybe you can get the new car. I was offered $296 for a 1941 car worth $900 on a new car full of gadgets which made it cost nearly $2000, when the list price was about

$1600. Needless to say, I was indignant. No -

sale. Let's get together and break up this racket. Don’t buy, and when they know we are tired of being “suckers” the cars will be sold in an honest way again. '

> 4 ¢

‘Going to Cause Trouble

By 8S. C. Mosley, 2818 Draper St., City Just a few words about the smoke the city is making all the fuss about. Do they know all the trouble they are going to cause? There are a lot of people who can’t afford high-priced coal and they are forcing railroads to diesel engines to cut out smoke. That is going to throw thousands of men out of employment right here in Indianapolis. Coal smoke is not going to kill ‘anyone. .

POLITICS. . . By farquis Childs

Dim Future Seen

For Wallace Party

WASHINGTON, Nov. 20—Ever since the election Henry Wallace and the Communists have been trying to explain away

the pathetically small vote for the Wallace party. While the official total is not in, it is not likely to be much larger than the

unofficial return of little more than a million votes. The alibis have an empty sound. The failure cannot be explained away either by Wallace rhetoric or the gobbledygook of

| Both: ‘It's Yours’

12 years ago.

| sqciaL SECURITY + « + By Paul R. Leach - @ Old Age Pension Increases Planned

WASHINGTON, Nov. 20—Federal old age and survivar pensions are going to get the most thorough going over in the next Congress since the original Social Security Law was passed

Extension of the pension program is one of President Truman’s “musts.” ised in nearly every campaign speech the President made. It will be in his Jan. 3 message on the state of the union to the

It’s in the Democratic platform. It was prom-

the practical approach, of families shopping for new houses.

the Communist’ Party. Rejecting all forms of isolationism, the voters’ emphatically said no to Mr. Wallace's charge that the Marshall Plan is a device of Wall Street to involve the United States in a war with Russia.

To suggest, as Mr. Wallace has done, that the “Red smear” contributed to the outcome is to evade the issue which is what the third party candidate-did throughout his campaign. Facts

spoke louder than words as it beceme more and more apparent -

that Wallace was following every twist and turn of the Moscow line. Over and over again during the campaign Mr. Wallace demonstrated his political ineptitude. S8eldom has any man in American political history been so ill equipped for the rough and tumble of campaigning.

Extraordinary Performance

BESIDES his impassioned and often windy rhetoric, summoned up in response to crowd applause, he brought to the contest little more than a grin and dogged persistence. Those who predicted he would withdraw before the election had no comprehension of the fires of frustration burning in the Wallace bosom. Measured in sheer human endurance, it was an extraordinary performance. Fortunately he did not retire cven though many of his nld associates pleaded with him to get out, arguing that he could nnly contribute to the election of Gov. Dewey. If he had stepped out in the closing week or two, we should never have known the real weakness of the Wallace movement.

All this makes the big talk about the future of the Wallace

party sound like just what it {s—-empty bombast. It is hard to see how Mr. Wallace, who is 60 years old, can be revived for any political purpose. The major claim to come out of the Wallace post-mortem In Chicago was that the third party forced President Truman in his campaign to move left. Since that is not susceptible to any measurement (certainly not by polls), it will be argued for a long time to come.

Strong New Deal Line

THE WALLACEITES, in my opinion, can make out a fairly good case. One of the objectives of the Truman strategists was to recapture as much of the Wallace vote as possible by a strong New Deal line. . : On the other hand, if the President really wanted to win n, he had no alternative but to take the liberal-labor

side regardless of whether there had been a third party in the field. He had to win the support of organized labor and organized farmers and he did it my promising all that the New Deal had promised.

seem determined to give Wallace another amd, perhaps far more favorable opportunity. I mean those who are saying in the aftermath of the Truman victory that the will of the majority who voted for the candidate promising change and reform can be balked. They are saying that a coalition of Republicans and Southern Democrats can make the election meaningless. In other words, they are saying that the Democratic system is null and void. Mr. Truman's victory came from those who believe in New Deal reforms; in the kind of changes the President talked about in his campaign. To frustrate it would be to hand Mr. Wallace an opportunity for the kind of comeback that now bable.

~ seems highly improl

\ : : 1

-

Strangely enough there are those on the extreme right who

new Democratic Congress, as it was in earlier messages this year,

When and how Congress will act on increasing pensions, boosting Social Security payroll taxes and adding some 20 million persons to the eligibility list has not been decided. Here are the main points of the Social Security revision proposals: The President wants old age pensions increased by “as much as 50 per cent” to meet inflated living costs for retired persons over 65.

Increase of 50 Per Cent

IN GENERAL terms, if the President's plan is enacted, the present single man’s top pension of $44.80 a month would go up to around $67. Pensions of a married man could rise from the present top of $73.20 a month to around $110. y The present law says no benefit may exceed $85. That would have to be changed if the married pension increase went up by 50 per cent. Payroll taxes for old age pensions are collected now at the rate of 1 per cent from employer and 1 per cent from employee on the first $3000 of annual pay. The present law says this will go up Jan. 1, 1950, to 15 per cent from each, and 2 per cent each after Jan. 1, 1952. If compulsory health insurance is enacted, as asked by the President, the payroll tax will go up more,

Payroll Tax Increases :

RECOMMENDATIONS for revision have been made by Arthur J. Altmeyer, Social Security Administrator, and by & special committee reporting to the Senate Finance Committee. Mr. Altmeyer would have the payroll tax assessed against the first $4800 of annual »ay instead of $3000. The special committee, headed by former Secretary of State Edward R. Stettinius, would have the tax assessed on the first $4200. Total payroll taxes collected for pensions last year were $1.5 billion. Outgo for pensions was $530 million. A total of 3 per cent on the first $3000 at the present rate’ of wages and employment would raise collections to $2.4 billion. Collections on $4200 or $4800 of annual pay would send it still higher. : i Excess of income over outgo now goes into a Social Security fund administered by the Treasury. It now totals about $10.3 billion and is held in government bonds, not ‘n cash. When

outgo exceeds payroll tax income Congress will have to ap- .

propriate from general tax income to cash the bonds in the fund.

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