Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 5 May 1949 — Page 20

The Indianapolis Times

4

PAGE 20 Thursday, May 6, 1049

ey ” amber of mE CEE SR SEL AER I LAE, Su | Y, a year, yan. Telephone RI ley 5551 mlm Give [Aght and Ihe People Will Pine Their Own Woy We Can Lead—If We Will RUSSIA and the Western Powers have agreed to end the

Berlin blockade on May 12, and to a meeting of the Four May 23 for consideration of other German prob1 v Hy .

The Soviet concession in Berlin is a victory for the

: But concessions will be sought from us at the Big Four meeting, such asa Soviet voice and veto on the control of Ruhr industry, which we cannot afford to grant. Once we let the camel's head under the tent, the stabilization of Ger- . man economy would become impossible, Former Undersecretary of State Clayton observes that we won our point in Berlin “because that was a problem in transportation, & fleld in which we excel.” But he holds that “on balance, Russia is winning the cold war.” Supporting this view, he says the West has not won the battle of Greece and has “practically lost” in China, with a contest for the Middle East yet to come. On the whole, he adds, the West remains on the defensive.

. 8 =» s & » MR. CLAYTON'S picture is not overdrawn. But, if we admit and profit by past mistakes, the situation is not necessarily a cause for pessimism. It does call for sober, long-range thinking. Many members of Congress are irked because the - Greek-Turkish program, the Marshall Plan and the North Atlantic Pact, each in turn, has been presented in the light of & cure-all and a guaranty of peace, although each really has been just a step in that direction. ; «This crisis approach will become another “Wolf! Wolf!" piopcaition if it isn't abandoned. ' The Russian problem may with us for years and it should be studied and budgeted oft that basis. American genius is not confined to transportation. We excel in many other fields. But we do not apply our genius to international problems until we are forced to do it. The Berlin airlift was the product of sheer necessity, when the + Russians blocked the railways sad highways. Mr. Clay-

~~ ton’s most serious indictment is that we remain on the de- |

fensive, But that is because we #0 often leave all the initiative to the other fellow.

Wisma ee » : ’ . WARS, cold or otherwise, are not won by holding actions and limited counter-measures.

‘Our European policy has been pulled together by de. grees, and it is beginning to make sense. But in China we

< ... are "waiting for the dust to settle.” -And in the rest of Asia

Wwe are just waiting. The men in the Kremlin who are calling the plays for the other side aren't mental giants. We make them appear 80 because we lack the purpose and sense of direction which they have. When we act, we act by emotion and instinct, and usually do the right thing. But that is getting results the hard way, and it leaves too many gaps to fit into a balanced policy, : _ ‘The Atlantic Pact is sound. But it would have been Just as sound and expedient in 1947, as 4 companion measure to the Marshall Plan, And we might have been much nearer peace if we had adopted it then,

Chennault on China 5 MAJ. GEN. C. L. CHENNAULT, who has Just returned to this country after a personal survey of the Chinese military situation, believes the Communist spread can be stopped by $350 million immediate aid to the Nationalists. He told the Senate Armed Services Committee that “a great deal of China-and some 150 mijlion people still remain outside the Iron Curtain.” That area—substantially what was free China during the war against the Japanese-—would be an adequate base for the liberation of all China, in his opinion. ; This does not square with the State Department view that the outlook is hopeless. The Nationalists, according to Secretary Acheson, have lost the will to fight. On the contrary, Gen. Chennault insists, they are Swillag, indeed anxious to fight if provided with minimum » » . # # » IT MAY be said that Gen. Chennault is a personal pleader, since he has had business interests in China. But he is willing to risk his military reputation on the outcome, by heading a volunteer air force, just as he did (the Flying Tigers ), with such signal success in the war against the . A

In view of the conflicting reports, Congress should look into this situation for itself. That has been proposed in the resolution introduced by Sen. Knowland of California. If communism becomes a bandwagon movement in Asia it could be a greater threat to our security than the presently static situation in Europe, A beachhead in China should be of as much concern to us as outposts of freedom in Greece, Turkey, North Africa and the Middle East. Qongrins. should determine whether such a project is

v

Big Job Well Done

G=N. LUCIUS D. CLAY'S resignation as head of the U. 8. Yo military government in Germany ends a career in the public service of the nation paralleled only by that of Gen. Douglas MacArthur in Japan. - Military government in major foreign countries was an uncharted fleld for America. We had no specialists trained for that service. Even the objectives of occupation _ ‘were slow to take form and poorly defined, with frequent ~ confusing shifts in policy. It was most fortunate that the Army had a Clay and & MacArthur to head the administrations. It was fortunate, too; that each of these men was something of an autocrat im way, with the courage, imagination and initiative $0 blase a trail of his own, held Ho has done a great job for us in Germany, and earned _ the rest he requested.” His successor will face a tough ! but it will be the easier because of the work that has

LOYALTY PROBE . . . By Tony Smith

Spy Suspects In U. S. Offices

Also Many Thousands Found To Have Police Records

WASHINGTON, May b—Soviet spies, exburglars, thieves, and sex offenders have been ‘unearthed by the federal government's employes loyalty investigation program, it was learned

today. The search for subversives in the govern. ment and among those seeking jobs with Uncle Sam yielded 141,400 sets of fingerprints that matched those kept in the files of the FBI ¥BI Director J. Edgar Hoover reported to Congress that 5.5 per cent of the 2,637,843 persons checked had previous police records. As a result, 8881 persons have been dismissed from the government service by the Civil Service Commission, Mr. Hoover said, The program turned up 21 “live” Soviet espionage suspects, 456 Communists and 108 suspected subversives in the State Department alone, it was reported.

Many Resigned + ALL of those subjected to spy investigations have resigned or have been dismissed, it was sald. The same is true of those known to be members of the Communist Party. Some of them moved on to jobs in American agencies of the United Nations, government records show. Many of the former law violators brought to light by the loyalty check were minor offenders who had served their sentences. Othérs, convicted of major crimes, were found to be loyal, béen | rehabilitated, the records

Some had showed, A few were still at their old tricks,

These were reported to the heads of the departments in which they worked. Bome were fired.

Throughout the loyalty cleck the emphasis was on employees and officials suspected of espionage aotivities, Here are some excerpts ‘from reports on some State Department workers: ae Mr, —'g file reflected that he is a close associate of suspected Boviet agents, Most of the derogatory information on him was developed in late 1946. There is nothing in the file to indicate he has discontinued working for the department.” v

Furnished Spy Material

“MR, =, This former employee's file is the largest in the Civil Service Administration. It reflects that he furnished material to a known Boviet espionage agent and that he has had consistent contact with a Jong list of Communists and suspected Soviet agents, This subject was in all probability the greatest security risk they Department of State has had. He was first rec ommended for dismissal July 24, 1046. He finally resigned voluntarily Dec. 13, 19468.” “Mis$ ——, Her file shows that she signed Communist Party election petitions on a number of occasions. The Security Committee of the State Department decided she was not a security risk on Apr. 15, 1947. It later decided she should be dismissed on grounds of being an undesirable employee. The subject resigned Apr. 25, 1047. This case shows that the Security Committee is inclined to accept a ‘change of heart.’ ” % “Mr, —, Confidential Informant reported him to be a member of the Communist Party; a sponsor of the Washington chapter of the American Peace Mobilization Committee: an attendant at the Communist Youth Interdationale

“in Rusdfa Th 1934; an active member of Amer-

ican Civil Liberties Union; a member of a Central Communist group spearheading an attack

. on J. Hdgar Hoover; an associate of four known

members of the Communist Party.”

—

In Tune With the Times

Barton: Rees Pogue

A TREASURED COOKBOOK

Why do I treasure this old worn cookbook? Ah no, not because of it’s recipes rare,

‘I treasure is because some chubby fingers

Have left 850 many memories there.

Memories of a tiny boy with golden curls, A twinkle of delight in clear blue eyes, As he pulled a chair up close beside my table, - “1 waits lo help you make some cakes and ples. i

Those moments when he jumped in expectation, Waiting gleefully to lick the spoon and dish . , , Just to go back again to those glad evenings Would be my heart's desire; my only wish,

Fingers smudged with batter, anxious, eager, Closing down upon the words, “one half a cup,” Have made a recipe that's worth a million, Have made a book I can't give up.

~FRIEDE J. HENKAMP, Seymour.

POLITICS . . . By Peter Edson

GOP Dodges ‘Policy’

WASHINGTON, May B8—The Republican Party is having Last week's meeting of the Repub- | lican National Organization Strategy Committee in Washington | ®

policy troubles some more.

produced lots of harmony and a demand that somebody ought to raise $000,000, but little else. This goose-egg performance tied the score with the GOP Congressional Policy Committee actions

which have so far done nothing, too.

The Republican Strategy Committee, which met in Washington at the call of National Chairman Hugh D. Scott Jr, was made up of half a dozen elements. Representatives were there from the Republican National Committee, the Republican House e Committee, the Republican Senatorial Committee, the Republican Governors, the Republican State Central Committees and Na- \

tional and State Finance Committees,

It was apparently a case of too many cooks to do any cook- | Wi ing. All that came out was a decision to do something later on. x QU 80 anyone holding his breath to find out what the new and Y revitalized party now stands for, might as well relax. Policy 3 decisions, it is now announced, are to be worked out at a series | | R.~ \]

of regional conferences.

Western state Republican organizations have already scheduled a meeting for Los Angeles in June. Questions of conservation, reclamation, valley authorities and so on may be taken

up there, Grass Roots Level

A SESSION on the problems of industry and taxation, to be

1 It itaines

STRIKE THREAT . . . By Marquis Childs Cloud Looms Over Labor Front

WASHINGTON, May 5-~While members of the House struggle toward some sort of agreement on the terms of a labor bill, many eyes are fixed on-.a dark cloud on the immediate horizon. It could mean a tornado, a cyclone or, maybe, just an old-fashioned blow. The cloud that disturbs many members is the imminent fourth round of wage increases in coal, steel, automobiles, electric manufacturing. Out of this fourth round can come a national shutdown such as occurred three years

.ago with such far-reaching political and eco-

nomi¢ consequences. The power of the unions in these industries and their ability to shut down the nation’s econ omy has a lot to do with the decision Congress will make. It is doubtful that a substitute labor bill can be finally approved that does not contain a provision giving the government the right to ask the courts for an injunction to stop a strike threatening a national smergency. When they are candid, administration lead ers will admit this. Realists within the trade unions also see it as more or less inevitable and, when they are talking privately, they acknowledge it will not be too harmful.

Cooling Off Period

THERE was one dramatic move that might have assured the timid. That would have been a public statement signed by all top union leaders declaring that they would abide by a presis dential request for a 30-day cooling-off period before calling a nation-wide strike. The administration bill provides for the 30-day period on order of the White House. : For a time Secretary of Labor Maurice Tobin was hopeful that such a statement would be forthcoming. But one of the signers would necessarily have been John L. Lewis, and the boss of the United Mine Workers is sternly conditioned against any action in common with his fellow union bosses. The struggle to agree on a substitute for the Taft-Hartley Act shows up the political divisions

within the Democratic Party more clearly than

any other issue, In the House you have. right, left and middle. While the boundary lines are not closely drawn, nevertheless the three groups are very definitely divided. To the left are the Democrats who go all out for the Truman pledge to repeal Taft-Hartley. They come, for the most part, from large cities where the labor vote is decisive. Some come out

SIDE GLANCES

Lt?

of the labor background and they owe their presence in the House to the active support of the unions. \ >

To the right are the Southern Democrats,

joined with a majority of the Republicans. Their objective is to keep just as many of the re-

-strictive provisions of Taft-Hartley as they can

get away with and still defeat the administration. Rep. John 8. Wood of Georgia has given his name to the bill that is the core of this strategy. _

South's Advantage

THESE men are from the South where the unions are still driving hard to organize the great mass of the unorganized. The fear is that the South’s advantage in lower wages, which has helped attract away northern industry, would be lost with organization. . ... 5 In the middle group are nearly a hundred emocrats, They come; many of them, from border states. In this middle group are such able and conscientous members as Rep. Mike Monroney of Oklahoma City. Theirs is not a happy position. It's much éasier to be all for or all against an issue. But these men, who like to think of themselves as liberal and progressive on most questions, are an essential part of the Democratic Party. What the middle group fears is & nation wide strike in coal or steel in midsummer. Without any legal safeguards, such a strike could run on until inustry was slowed to a virtual standstill. a

Middle Group

IT WAS Inevitable in my opinion, that

Speaker Sam Rayburn should consider the feel-'

ings of this middle group. To ignore them was to risk driving them into the camp of the Re-publican-Southern coalition. : "Labor's deep distrust of the injunction in any shape or form is understandable, since its abuses in the past have been many and flagrant. That distrust is shared by men in both parties in particularly in the Senate. It comes close to abrogating the basic right that no man shall be compelled to work against his will. In the present era of troubled uncertainty it may be necessary as a temporary expedient, But it should be considered as merely a temporary step, to. be discarded when pattérns of collective bargaining are more nearly reg-

_ularized on a basis of mutual responsibility,

o 2

I do not with 8 word thet you sey, but | 78 defend to the death your right Yo tay 1"

Koop letters 200 words or less on aay skb- : used will be edited but content will be ‘pre. served, for here the People Speak in Freedom.

‘Taxpayers’ Strike?’

By C. D. C., Terre Haute

tional debt was $19,487,010,000. Th na there are over 2,000,000 federal employees on the payroll besides over half a million that don’t show up on the list but the taxpayers iy them. J Pay he annual spending is over $45 billion and the national debt is $257 billion. Today there are 400 per cent more jobholders than in 1932. The tax rate is 10 times as heavy, and the national debt is 1300 per cent larger n. Wan then w Mr. Truman tells us we need another tax increase to pay expenses to prevent flation. Inflark all this is on top of an increase in state, ty and city taxes, ig a en is, of course, how long will it pe until the taxpayers are forced to strike and the bureaucrats take over as they have done in England? os

‘Indiana Benefits Below Average’

By Oscar Houston, Ellettsville, Ind.

In a recent survey made of all the 48 states to determine the average payment per person for old age assistance, the result shows the national average to be $42.02 per month. Indiana’s

. average is $34.21 or $7.81 below the national

verage. Also the same survey shows the naee voites monthly payment to the blind was $43.53. Indiana's average was $36.14, a difrence of $7.39. . ts The great state of Indiana is trailing the nation in caring for the helpless aged and blind. I wonder if our past legislators who have so consistently ignored the old people’s needs are proud of their record. There is no reasonable excuse for these conditions. It's downright indifference on the part of our legislators and other officials. Two years ago our legislature put the lien back on the old folks’ property and told them to sign the lien on the dotted line or be stricken from the rolls. That and other unfair restrietions being enforced against the agéd show they regard these old people more like undesirables than they do old citizens entitled to be respected. One wonders when Indiana is going to wake up and join the union.

* ©

‘For Better Community’ By Clement L. Stanford, 5484 Winthrop Ave.

Congratulations on the photo-story by Victor Peterson on “The American Home” in The Sunday Times.

can make Indianapolis a better community and The Times an even better newspaper.

What Others Say—

1 AM compelled to express my skepticism (about the possibility of a Pacific Pact). ... A skepticism which, diplomatically disguised, can already be felt in Washington. For America, as great as it is . . . cannot save the world simultaneously in Europe and Asia , ,. and between Europe and Asia, America has already made an unmistakable choice. — Claro M. Recto, Philippine foreigh minister during the Japanese occupation. ®» 4 ¢ ve

THEY (European countries) realize that they do not have, either individually or collectively, the forces which could prevent armed aggression from the East, and they look to us for necessary assistance.--Secretary of the Army Kenneth CO. Royall, revealing that several European countries have requested additional U. 8. troops on the continent. ¢ 4 WE (Socialists) don’t believe government should take care of everybody. We want government under which everyone can get a job with enough pay so that he can have a home and food without the tender mercies of Santa Claus in Washington.—Norman Thomas, former

Socialist Party candidate for president.

By Galbraith

FEDERAL MONEY . . . By Earl Richert

rU); | War Spending Probe

accountin

inves tion.

WASHINGTON, May 5—A Senate commitfee this week is expected to decide whether to launch what might be the last of the major investigations of government wartime activities. Up for consideration before the Senate Expenditures Committee is a resolution by Sen. John J. Willlams (R. Del.) and eight other Republican Senators calling for an investigation of the fiscal affairs of the Commodity Credit Corp., the agency which handled the government's $6 billion wartime food procurement program. Serving as a foundation for the prospective inquiry is a critical report just issued by the general accounting office which charges the corporation with “major wartflne deficiencies in accounting policy and procedure and methods of financial reporting.” Many accounting discrepancies are mentioned in the report but the one which most attracted the attention of the Senators was an item of $386 million listed as due from sales but, which could not be verified. i

Carelessness Indicated

THE report does not indicate any theft of government money, only great carelessness in keeping the records, said a government official. = Sen. llams and his colleagues think the critical nature of the accounting office report will make it impossible for the Democratic-controlled committee to ignore their request for an

&

Forthright presentation of these problems

, Meanwhile, put outythe welcome mat for a great

held in New England some time, was talked about but not decided on. Ben. Qwen Brewster of Maine is strong for this one. The idea of having a Midwest farm policy conference did | 4 take hold. It will probably be held in Des Moines in September. ' rv oo The idea 1s to see if something can’t be worked out at the grass Bo roots level to help the Republicans get back the farm vote. o

The idea of having one big National Republican convention Quel Tie just before the 1952 Songseasional elections was spparently killed F for good. This was Phil Willkie's propogal just after the Dewey eaves. i defeat. His plan was to get the party on record as to what it "Dad I Uh Wa AY G40. Tok. on " stood for. Nobody seems to want it now. ac says Moms reaiives ar : 0 POP Ih: OR Us atter This ties in with sentiment from one wing of the party you're married=—but I'll bet a Suarjer some of his leadership, to the effect that the Republicans already have a good win the race for your old room! enough platform. The reference is to the platform adopted at Philadelphia last June. This platform has never been used, according to one somewhat cynical view, and they might as well try to get some good out of it instead of starting from scratch to build a new one.

So, Why Bother?

STILL ANOTHER sour comment was that thers was no use trying to adopt a new GOP platform anyway. Even if a specific set of principles could be written, half the Republican members of Congress and the new candidates wouldn't consider themselves bound by such a declaration and wouldn't live up to it. So why er? should stand. No action was taken on it. The

; i receptio The stunned House Republicans who came back to Washing- | cool that nobody claimed authorship. In the opinion of some of ton last January started right in to set up a new kind of policy '| the Republican Congressmen who saw the statement later; the committee. Great things expected of it. So far it has held would have been just as well off if this draft had never about three meetings and made one policy pronouncement, This | seen the light of day. : :

»

was an unequivocal stand against excise taxes on transportation and | . The issue hasn't come up yet, but it's one of Republican Minority Leader Joe Martin's pet projects, The Senate Republican Policy Committee under Robert A. Taft of Ohio has of late distinguished itself only by a couple of .. violent rows over public welfare legislation and the whole Truman legislative program in general. At last week's meeting of the National Organization Strategy Committee, which was created by Chairman Scott after the Omaha National Committee meeting last January, somebody did produce a draft statement of principles for which the party

0

| “million transactions and the program was

One committee source doubted the committee could do much on the acoounting phases with which the general accounting of fice has worked over for more than two years. “But,” he said, “I wouldn't. be surprised that with so much money involved we could find something pretty good if we get into it.” The general accounting office said in its report that the

Commodity Credit Corp. had instituted many improvements in

its accounting procedures since June 30, 1945. Sen. Willlams pointed out that the accounting office could only report the facts, “We can ask who was responsible and see if they are still on the payroll,” he said. “We can help make sure it doesn’t happen again.” The Senator hinted that he had items for investigation other than those in the re

No Fraud Charges

AGRICULTURE Secretary Charles Brannan in a letter to Senate Majority Leader Scott Lucas sald there” had been no charges of fraud or dishonesty or of loss to the government. He said the $366 million discrepancy had been accounted for—that it ‘was a net book figure representing the results of some two liquidated in-accord-ance with plans known to general Jecounting office auditors. “It was not possible, however,” he said, “because of backlogs to furnish the auditors a detailed listing of the amoun due the corporation by name and address of debtors as of June

30, 1945." Secretary Brannan also sald the facts were covered in an inAIuEwon Made 1 a ious Appropriations Bubcommittee in the

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