Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 15 May 1949 — Page 14

W. HOWARD WALTER LECKRONE HENRY W. MANZ

Business M PAGE 14 Sunday, May 15, 1040 Oxted $80 published datz 0 indianspotis [mes Pubiien. a

Marion County, oonts tor 4 [ SY IB MAried Couey i and Bondar, 0 en

a filet, 7 i Sundsy Mexico, ie ai a os, Sansts : Telephone RI ley 8551 Give 1400s and the People Will Pins Thetr Own Way

Our Foolish Spanish Policy THE absence of Spain from the North Atlantic Security Bloc leaves a dangerous gap in the line in Western

* Spain, at the Straits of Gibraltar, guards the gateway to Mediterranean and the Middle East. It is a natural jand base for the defense of Western Europe, because the Pyrenees mountains are a barrier to easy invasion by tanks and motorized artillery—the major weapons of Russia's great land armies. Our military authorities are concerned about Spain's exclusion from the North Atlantic Pact. Our State Department displays no concern, although national security is a primary consideration in determining foreign policy. Because basic rights of the individual, such as habeas corpus, trial by jury and freedom of religion, ire not recognized in Spain, Secretary of State Acheson holds there ‘cannot be a working relationship between Franco's government and free Europe. _ Yet such working relationships do exist. Both Britain and France recently negotiated trade agreements with Spain. The British are building up a good market there for their automobiles—partly at our expense. = gn ” » » CIVIL liberties do not exist in Soviet Russia. That did not prevent the United States and Britain from having a working relationship with Russia during the war and continuing the exchange of ambassadors afterwards. Questions of internal policy have not interfered with our relationship with Turkey. Our diplomatic and business ties with Iran and Saudi Arabia do not imply any acceptance of the laws and customs peculiar to those countries, When a reporter asked Secretary Acheson why the United States did not withdraw recognition from iron curtain countries which also disregarded civil liberties, the Secretary said the question was “dialectical.” That's a 90cent word which, according to our dictionary, means “logical, argumentative.” > Mr. Acheson went on to say that the 1946 United Nations resolution withdrawing ambassadors from Spain was intended to serve as a lever to force Franco to improve his regime, but that it failed to do so. If it did not work with one dictatorship, he continued, it would not work with others. ; That is a logical assumption, to be sure. And a very

DEAR BOSS . . . By Dan Kidney Hoosiers Lead In Labor Fight

Halleck and Jacobs Figure

In Struggle on Legislation

Dear Boss — Taft-Hartley repeal may now depend uhon two Hoosier congressmen who are poles ap: n their thinking on labor-manage-ment problems. 5 They are the veterans Rep. Charles H. Halleck, Rennselaer Republican, and freshman Rep. Andrew Jacobs, Indianapolis t. Through a coalition with Southern conservative Democrats and northern Republicans who, like himself, survived the 1948 national election, Mr. Halleck hopes to get a new labor law which will take off the Taft-Hartley label but leave much of the substance of that legislation as passed by the Republican 80th Congress. Mr. Halleck was Majority Leader of that Congress and challenged President Truman to make the record of that Congress the campaign issue. He did!

Democrats Elected

THAT was ofie of the things that made Mr. Jacobs and five other fréshmen Democrats from Indiana members of the present 81st Congress. President Truman had called the 80th a “donothing” Congress. Only time will tell what he will say about the 81st. He says he still hopes for a Taft-Hartley repealer from it, although he was only saved from getting the Halleck-type Wood bill by a matter of three House votes. That was the narrow margin by which the whole matter was sent back to the House Education and Labor for rewriting, As a committee member and the man most familiar with labor law, Mr, Jacobs expects to take a hand in the rewrite. / About the only thing he has in common with Mr, Halleck is that they both want a new bill that will be acceptable to both the House , and Senate. ’

Emergency Provision IN HIS new bill, Mr. Jacobs would provide’ for an emergency setup to carry on minimum production for health and safety during a na-tion-wide strike. Mr. Halleck would keep the Taft-Hartley injunction plan. Since few R are running U. 8, industries, Mr, Halleck would be willing to extend the antiCommunist oath, now required of labor leaders, to the management as well, Mr, Jacobs, however, would provide court action to remove subversives or other law violators from either managment or union leadership upon action brought by unionists or stockholders. /, The Marion county congressman also would write into the new bill provisions for ‘more democracy and less dictatorship- within the unions themselves. He would open up the membership to those qualified and ban the ouster of unionists who criticized the management of their own union affairs.

Dixie-GOP Action

WHEN and if Mr. Jacobs brings his bill to the House floor, Mr. Halleck will muster his Dixie-GOPs and go to work on it. He may by that time be willing to make more major concessions than previously for many members of his party have pointed out that they would just as soon not have Taft-Hartley made an issue again in the 1950 congressional campaigns. “Keep the law but put a Democratic label on it” is about the way they sum the matter up, Like Barkus, Mr. Halleck is willing, But Mr, Jacobs has other ideas. “We must repeal the Taft-Hartley psychology.” he says. ‘He refuses to take a defeatist at-

good reason for abandoning this lever which hasn't worked against Spain, Franco Spain is committed to a peace program and belongs in the community of nations which are working to preserve peace, without reference to other considerations.

Turnip’s Running Out of Blood "A LOT of things have happened to change the economic picture since President Truman's January message to Congress asking $4 billion in additional taxes. : _ But the President says he still wants that extra four billion. : It's easier asked than acquired. : _ The post-war boom has deflated. What was left of a seller's market has disappeared, or is rapidly vanishing. On most things people want, supply has caught up with demand, prices have declined, business is hustling for markets. Venture capital—-a wet and timid finger to the cold - winds of competition—waits for a more hopeful outlook. . » a.» . AT such a time in business affairs, when hope of profit, or even solvency, teeters in the balance with fear or loss, larger revenues cannot be obtained merely by the simple expedient of increasing the tax rates. The man of business calculates his chances of gain. If the odds are too heavily against him, he will not take “the risks. Already the corporate income tax rate, except for very small corporations, is 38 per cent, when a profit is made—no rebate in case of loss. When and if any dividends are paid, the tax collector's second take, on individual in- . comes, ranges from 20 to 91 per cent, Those are heavy odds.

” ” ” . » » WILL more revenue be obtained merely by increasing the odds against the man who takes a chance? In wartimes, boom times, when a seller can sell anything he has to offer, at any price, yes. = But when competitors are scrambling for markets, the answer is no. Business taxes, in these circumstances, are beyond the point of diminishing returns. An increase in rates will not automatically bring in more revenues: A better way to balance the budget and provide some surplus to pare the $251 billion debt is to cut down on spend‘ing. Mr. Truman says the administration budget of+$41sbillion plus is the irreducible minimum. Anybody who has “ever had any business dealings with a government office— | and who hasn't—knows they could fire at least a third of the help and give better service.

Scholarships for Communists REVELATION that an acknowledged Communist had . 7" been awarded an Atomic Energy Commission scholar. ship for advanced study in nuclear physics at government \ shows that some officials in our government still aren't sufficiently aware that communism is a menace to ~~ Commission Chairman Lilienthal has explained that the scholarship program is administered by the National Research Council and that the commission does not in- _ Lfluence the selection of scholarship candidates. That is not

| Communists have no place in any phase of atomic « relo hy 4 f y y x. : The studen in question who admits his mem p the Con £ Party, said the form on which he applied

included no question about his “political Communists should be basic ‘in

titude, although a majority of both the House .and Benate are hold-overs who voted for the original Taft-Hartley law. Some have modified their psychology, but riot to the extent that they will completely reverse their previous stand.

Injunction Feature , 80 IT appears likely now that no bill can get through without the injunction feature in some form which labor will not like. In that case, President Truman, if he stands by his latest press conference statements, may veto the measure. It i= quite unlikely that a veto would be over-ridden. That takes two-thirds of both the Senate and House. There just aren't that many Hallecks in the 81st Congress. v

Barbs—

better on rabbits than they do on women.

A NEW JERSEY woman of 35 married a boy of 22. In 13 years Heyl} be the same age. : ® %

A SMART friend is one who talks about what you are doing” and thus keeps you from doing it. * & 9» A FLORIDA thief robbed a man, then gave him a ducking in a river, As if his spirits hadn't been dampened enough.

WE'LL still bet that some sable coats looked -

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| My Position Remains Unchanged

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Sos Mine. VIGHER.

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. DETROIT, May 14—Walter Reuther has Hcked the Communists in his big Auto Workers Union every step of the way, but by relentless needling of workers and management they may do much to keep industry here jumpy for months to come, Many factors besides the Communists make " for abrasive relationships in the auto plants. Often the Reds are only a minor element. But their tactics are relentless—where workers have an honest grievance they seek to blow it up and pull down production lines; where no grievance exists they try to create one. There isn’t much doubt that there's a big push on in most of the auto industry now to get productivity up. It can be done by more efficient machine tools, by redesign of parts and in other ways—but it rests also on getting increased work out of the men in the plants. Grievances grow easily out of speeding up production lines.

Agreement by Good Will

OFTEN these grievances are settled at the level of plant management and the union's shop ‘committee, If there are men of good will”on both sides agreement usually can be reached without a strike. But the Communists.are in-

policy of constant harassment is aimed at nudging union leadership into action that will close down the assembly lines, Months ago Thomas Thompson, president of the River Rouge Plant local, charged Commies in the Ford plant with trying to foment a , strike there, He did not minimize the speed-up problem in general; he said it was as old as the union. But he warned that the Reds were trying to make it appear it was something new and that “they and their followers in the Rouge plant have discovered this new and startling speed-up.” He said these men were not interested in solving the speed-up problem. There isn't any doubt that UAW officials believe there has been an unjustified speed-up at Ford and that the management has been hard-nosed about settling the issue. But there also isn't any doubt that the Communists have used the situation both to cause trouble within the union and in trying to snag any agreement between management and the union. When the union and management renewed

terested not in order but in disorder, and their

LABOR CONFUSION . . . By Charles T. Lucey Reds Stir Auto Union Trouble

the negotiations that are in progress today, Ford plant Communists tried to get new issues into the discussions. charges against Ford broadened to include the entire Rouge plant rather than the afsembly line.

‘Cause Confusion’ BUT Walter Reuther knocked that one down fast. “We understand the Communists are trying to inject other issues,” he said. ‘People who are attempting to cause confusion by that kind of activity will be dealt with by our union.” The annual UAW convention is coming up In July in Milwaukee. The Communists and various other opponents of Mr. Reuther appear to have no chance to unseat him. He has been in control since he defeated R. J. Thomas, Secre-tary-Treasurer GeorgepAddes, and other oncepowerful UAW figures. Mr, Thomas is working on the West Coast for the CIO now, and Mr. Addes is running a sgloonbhere in Detroit. When Mr. Reuther first gained the presidency, the international board was dominated by his enemies. The board now is strongly. pro-Reuther. ; But none of this stops the Commies from fighting him. If they can pull a wildcat strike and if Mr. Reuther orders the fmen to go back to work, the Commies scream that Mr, Reuther is in with management. If they pull a strike

+ in a key parts plant which forces other plants

to shut down, they figure that, workers in plants affected may get sore at Mr. Reuther for letting conditions get out of hand in the parts plant.

Reds Slapped Down

MR. REUTHER has slapped down the Communists in one local after another, Once they were on top in the big Ford local, largest in the world. They were strong in the local at the Plymouth plant. Even now there probably are Commies in most of the larger units, but they nave lost much of the power they had. : Today, though, “speed-up” is the Communist party-line cry out here, and it will be used con: stantly in months to come—especially between now and UAW convention in an effort to embarrass Mr, Reuther or to try to weaken his position, »

They wanted the “speed-up” -

-Hoasier Forum

“| do not agree with a werd thet you say, but | will defend to the death yew right to say 0.°

‘All Pay Taxes for Schools’ or By ar or is in reply to that of Mrs. Frank which appeared in this column

| I

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neipal one being that we print aid” now. However, fetter to which I refer sta schools were no religion is ta ported by all, thereby implying school system is not supported maintain their own private schools. 1 was educated in a private grade school, private high school, and a private university, yet my father paid the same taxes as did the fathers of my friends who attended public schools and staté-supported universities, Surely no one belHeves that anyone is exempted from any taxation because he does not choose to avail himself of the facilities of the public school system for the education of his children. On the contrary, such a man caries a double burden of supporting not only the public schools but also the school of his choice. Furthermore, there seems to be some fear held that some child attending a private or socalled “religious” school might possibly be benefitted by the health and welfare provisions of the act now before Congress. In my opinion, a child is essentially a child, I care not what school he may attend or in what manner he may have been taught to adore the God Who made him. He is a child, living in the greatest mation on earth, and as such is entitled to share equally with all other American children in whatever benefits that nation may choose to bestow upon them (paid for, remember, by all their dads through taxation). : - As an American, I am proud of our public school system; as a free American I am equally proud of.that freedom which allows me to support, in addition to the public schools, the private schools of my choice. Let me repeat that 1 am opposed to federal aid to education, but 1 am equally opposed to that discrimination which would deny to one group of taxpayers tie benefits bestowed upon other taxpayers. . It is true, Christ said, “Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's . . .” But it is the same Christ Who says, “Suffer little children to come unto Me, for of such is the Kingdom of Heaven,” : > 4 *

‘Little Fellow Takes It’ By Henry L. Lewis, 3420 E. 10th I have been in this town for 56 years and think after 83 years of life I am qualified to

§& city feist af:

“say something about the conditions today.

To begin, this is a: good town under the supervision of the Church Federation, and it has succeeded in making this place to its liking. But we have all kinds of people, of varied religious faiths, and that's one subject it doesn’t pay té argue about.. , : The big shots can do as they please and the little fellow can take it and like it. After all,

who does the fighting and dying? Answer: The

little fellow. "The backbone of America is the farmen and the railroads and what does any adminis tration do? Handicap them. The New Deal is a dead letter now, and we need something new to fit this age. I am a

taxpayer and a Hoosier-born and this Indiana

is the best place I have found.

What Others Say—

THE spirit of democracy is to find new ways

of doing things for the common good —Presi- 5

dent Truman. > 4 4 UNIONS are good for the country and strikes are necessary unless we are to accept the economic dictatorship of the employers alone.~President Woodruff Randolph, of International Typographical Yan

THE Congress and the President are working together and will continue to work together for the good of the country . .. and when the final score for this Congress is added up, some of the selfish pressure groups are going to be pretty badly Qlsappoiutal.a president Truman.

I BELIEVE Eastern and Western Germany will unite. I don't think anyone ‘will stop it. Germany will come together again, but it may take time.—Foreign Secretary Ernest Bevin of Great Britain. oe

‘IF the free nations do not stand together they will fall one by one.—Secretary of State Dean Acheson. |

AIRLINES . . . By Marquis Childs Competition Fading

ary defines the word “competition,” in the commercial and economic sense, as: “The effort of two or more parties, acting independently, to secure the custom of a third party by offering most favorable items.” That is the driving force of what we like to think of as the free American market — the steam behind private initiative. But the fact is that the area 6f competition is constantly being cut down as monopoly in one disguise or another takes over. The Civil Aeronautics Board is starting hearings into the application of Pan American Airways to buy American Overseas Alrlines. If the deal is approved by CAB, one of Pan-Am'’s chief U. 8. competitors in the foreign field will have been eliminated. Objective observers with expert knowledge believe that this is one more step in the direction of the “chosen instrument,” or single government-subsidized airline. For many years that has “¥ been the goal of Juan Trippe, the enormously resourceful and hard-driving president of Pan American,

Can't Afford Competition

subsidized or owned outright by foreign governments, the U, 8.

ment has considerable force.

the pressure from the foreign lines would be to divide up the business in the cozy cartel fashion that Europe prefers. And the temptation would be great to yield to that pressure. A more powerful argument against competition in the airline business, it seems to me, is that it is too costly, That hits home since the taxpayer pays the bill through the hidden subsidies contained in the so-called air-mail pay, those subsidies including & reasonable profit for the competing lines. If old Adam Smith, the apostle of free enterprise, knows about this he is probably revolving in his grave like a whirling dervish. Since regulation is inevitable, if only to insure safety for the traveling public, part of the competition among these competing airlines is for government sanction and government favor. This kind of competition gets into the realm of higher politics.

Funds for Democrats

IN AN acute form this was seen in the struggle for the route from Seattle, Wash. to Hawail. Ever since. that was fought out last summer and fall, there have been persistent reports of large contributions made by the competing lines to the Democratic Na« tional Committee, The route was first awarded, on July 29, to Northwest Afrines, Inc. Then at the end of August Pan American asked for reconsideration and a rehearing. On Sept. 18 President Truman ordered Ng She CAB to grant Pan-Am what was, in effect, a dupli-

his kind, as a matter of elemental security., nergy Commission and the National Reine making such a stipulation a ! i ] wR 9

Northwest Airlines recently applied to the Reconstruction

Powwow

WASHINGTON, May 14— Webster's New Collegiate Diction-

IT I8 Pan-Am's argument that in competing with foreign lines cannot afford competition between U. 8. operators. This argu |

Once there were a single U. 8. carrier in the field, however,

Finance Corp. for a loan of $21 million, $12 millioh of which would go for new equipment. The balance would underwrite $9 million in loans from private banks. Pan-Am’s air- pay went up from $16,813,000 in 1947 to $23,849,000 in 1948 and Northwest's went from $3,884,000 to $8,056,000, the latter including a retroactive payment of $2,010,000. Competition between airlines, both domestic and foreign, seéms to the important. A “chosen instrument” fs very likely to be taken over by government and no one, or almost no one, wants government operation, When you put this up to Pan American officials, they say, ‘not necessarily. Look at the telephone company.” + Private and regulated monopoly may be essential in some fields, But it ia certainly not desirable in the kind of Industry that depends on public good will and support. Congress is at last looking into this whole question of competition in the air industry

and whether it needs to be so costly to the taxpayer,

ROOSEVELT POLITICS . . . By Ray Ghent

FDR Jr. Tries Wings

NEW YORK, May 14—A large chunk of Manhattan's West Side is watching the wind-up of its most furiously fought congressional by-election campaign in a generation—the fury coming from the entry of another Roosevelt in New York politics. Franklin D. Roosevelt Jr., as the candidate of the Liberal Party and the Four Freedoms Independent Party, has put on a razzle-dazzle drive for the 20th district seat of the late Rep. Sol Bloom. The election is next Tuesday. Ordinarily this West Side district should be a walkover for the Tammany choice. He is Municipal Court Justice Benjamin Shalleck. ‘But the 34-year-old, six-foot-four Roosevelt, striving to down the glamour boy tag hung on him by Tammany, has SAinpaigued intensely—street-corner speeches, hall rallies, personal canvass of apartment houses and the big stores and restaurants. He has, Tammany men wryly admit, a particular appeal to women voters.

Four in Race : ALMOST lost ‘sight of in the Roosevelt-Bhalleck fight are William H. McIntyre, the 61-year-old Republican, an insurance executive who never before ran for office;'and Dr. Annette Rubinstein, private-school principal and leftist labor party candidate. Mr. McIntyre reminds voters it was the Republicans in the 80th Congress who gave them income tax reductions, Dr. Rubinstein attacks the Atlantic Pact as a way to war, . Mr. Roosevelt set Tammany back on its heels when he got 25,830 signatures to the Four Freedoms Party petitions, Only 50.000 to 60,000 are expected at the polls, so anyone who could get 25,000 votes ‘in a four-way race probably would win. Tammany “tharged that most of the names were spurious or gained by fraud. As to the racial makeup of the district, politicians estimate it to be about 55 per cent Jewish, 25 per cent Irish and the rest of other origins, including a sizable bloc of Negroes and Puerto Ricans. i : Tammany spokesmen referred to Mr. Roosevelt as a country squire “trying to ride to hounds on 10th Avenue.” “Interloper” and “outsider” were some of the milder terms applied, referring to the fact he only recently became a resident district. made to Reno to draw attention to the fact his wife, the former Ethel Du Pont, left in April for

Justice Shalleck himself was divorced 10 years ago by Lillian then of stage and screen.

‘Small Son of Great Father’ JOINING IN was leftist Rep. Vito Marcantonio, American Labor Party leader, who called Mr. Roosevelt “the small son of a great father.”

Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt entered Hie TAY A) 5 Tuageion for . her son. Tallulah Bankhead; Melvyn Douglas, and Quentin Reynolds broadcast for him. : The Roosevelt circulars bear kind words from

William O'Dwyer, former Gov. Herbert H, Lehman, Sen. Ro F. Wagner

and Henry Morgenthau Jr. ;

His drive has plenty of campaign funds as well as workers °

from such CIO unions as Mike Quill's Transport Workers and

Joe Curran's Maritime’ Union. Also he has the International

Ladies Garment Workers Union, the Workers, both powerful here and for Democratic Action,

Hint Unde

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