Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 5 October 1949 — Page 14
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~The Indianapolis Times = W. HOWARD WALTER LECKRONE HENRY W_MANZ
PAGE 14
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Arsenal for Communism? Communist regime in China, “being the child of Soviet Russia, would naturally be recognized by its father,” as a Chinese Nationalist spokesman has remarked. But the two $64 questions remain to be answered. Will the Communists’ so-called government -be’ recognized by “the Chinese people? Will the United States make that govt more acceptable to the Chinese people than it might be by giving the Reds the things they need to succeed? A large part of the country has been over-run by the Communist forces but that does not mean that the people living there have embraced communism. The Red commissars installed by the Communist forces are no more than titular heads of a military government. No election has been held, so the “government” cannot claim a popular base. The set-up differs in no material respect from the puppet regime in North Korea. Imperial Japan operated behind a similar front when in 1932, it established the “State of Manchukuo” in Manchuria. The United States refused to recognize that “government.”
so » 0» ss 8 8 THE same Communist strategy which has been successful in China was attempted in Greece. It failed there because of .American intervention. It succeeded in China only after our government withdrew its support from the Chinese Nationalists. So, while the plan was Moscow's, our State Department can claim credit for an assist, or confess an error, depending upon one's point of view. One blunder, however, will not excuse another. The rest of Asia is imperiled, but not lost. It is likely to be lost only if Soviet imperialism becomes a band-wagon movement. We can help to make it that by withdrawing our recognition from Nationalist China and doing business with the Reds. We have what they need in order to consolidate their gains and push on into Burma, Indo-China and Siam. Left to their own resources, the Communist bloc probably cannot supply its forces with the food, oil and transportation ‘American merchant vessels trying to run the Nation--alist blockade and carry supplies to the Chinese Communists should be warned that they do so at their own risk. It is preposterous for these blockade runners to appeal for U, 8. Naval support. Supplies they deliver to the Reds could be shot back at us in Japan, the Philippines or even Hawaii. This country should not be made an arsenal for communism simply to earn a few dollars for steamship owners.
ve
Victim of a Cruel Boss
N° OTHER %ction by an employer can create more ill " will than the ‘discharge of a veteran worker on some flimsy pretext, such as abolishing his job and refusing him a transfer to other work. Such a man has just been fired after a lifetime of devoted service to his boss—fired, apparently, without warning, discharge pay or any form of pension. This is the sort of thing which usually brings'yells by Communists about the ruthlessness of employers and the cruel greed of capitalism; the sort of thing which produces angry outcries by the Daily Worker and picketing by the Civil Rights Congress. Yet neither of these has raised its voice, or is apt-to do 80, in the case of this man, whose name is Earl Browder. He headed the Communist Party in the United States for many years until, in 1945, he got in dutch by failing to follow a sudden switch of the party line.
. MR. BROWDER now admits he is out of work and looking for another job. The Russians abolished his office last July 1. They have plenty of other jobs in the United States, but refused to give him one of them. After long and faithful service to the Soviets, Mr. Browder is kicked out, He has, as the Commies phrase it, “hit the bricks.” The excuse for firing him was that there was “no business” to justify his job. Think of giving such a dirty, capftalist alibj for firing a veteran worker. Above all, think of the Daily Worker ignoring the case,
Fire Prevention EVERY winter in Indianapolis too many families are forced to flee from their homes by fires that could have been prevented. = It is a useless menace to life and waste of property. Fires are started by defective electric wiring that could have been remedied; by cigarets left to burn off ash trays onto paper and cloth; by falling asleep in Ped with a lighted cigaret; by defective stoves, furnaces and flues that could have been found and corrected before the heating seasons started and by the careless use of inflammable liquids.
» . . " » » PREPARATIONS have been made for a concerted campaign all next week to warn the people of common fire hazards in the home, factory and store. It will be the duty of every citizen to follow the campaign closely and do something about those hazards regardJess of how small before it’s too late. ; The time to fight a fire is before it starts.
Spinks Sinks rs THERE is other momentous news, but a palpitating public should still take time for thought about what's hap- . pened to Dr. Lycurgus Spinks of Montgomery, Ala., recently self-proclaimed Imperial Emperor of the New Knights of _ the Ku Klux Klan. ; Dr, Spinks has been merged. And demoted. His Mont- - gomery headquarters have been closed. His New Knights have joined a still newer gang—the Associated Klans of America—with Sam W. Roper of Atlanta as Imperial Wizard and Dr, Spinks as mere Imperial Chaplain and Public Relations Counselor.- - - er : © It's quite a come down for an Imperial Emperor, especially for one named Lycurgus Spinks. Yet, although it may be too much to hope, in his humbler capacity Dr. Spinks give the Associated Klans some excellent counsel
UNIONS . ..ByE. T. Leech Dangers Seen
In Labor Power
Course of Freedom in : Nation May Be Changed
WASHINGTON, Oct, 5—America’s labor and business life seems to be at the mercy of John L. Lewis. Even the American system of government may be radically changed by him. Like him or not, he probably will go down in history as one of our most important men. For he exercises more power than ever before was wielded by any private American citizen. And he seems determined to exercise it to the very limit. Mr. Lewis is proving beyond question the great danger of monopoly. Americans always have feared it, and 59 years ago they passed the Sherman Anti-Trust Law. This was the first of a series of laws aimed at monopoly and restraints of trade. These laws largely have safeguarded competition in America. This in turn has protected free American business from the nationalization and -estraints which lack of competition brought in Britain and some other nations.
Great Weakness
BUT unions were exempted. And now Mr. Lewis is proving that this is the great weakness in our anti-trust laws. He is showing that a. labor monopoly can be as dangerous as any business monopoly, and even more.complete. Unless finally checked by application of the anti-trust laws, to monopolistic union practices, the course he has started threatens the existence of both free unionism and free business in America. ’ Mr. Lewis absolutely controls both the labor force and the output of America’s most basic industry—coal. He threatens to price it into disaster. He is doing the same thing to the rail‘roads, by driving up their costs and cutting their revenues. Since a nation cannot live and function without coal and railroads, the eventual result of what he is doing to them may be some form of government control, and even government ownership. He threatens to bring about the same fate for unionism. His power is so great, his methods are so ruthless, that eventually government will have to step In. And, whenever that happens, freedom steps out.
Sets the Pace
MR. LEWIS is not the only union monopolist. But he sets the pace for the others. He also sets the pace for the whole American economy, because in recent years there never has been any telling at what time he might shut off the supply of coal or again force up the price. It was Mr. Lewis who created the present issue over pensions paid entirely by industry. He forced In the coal fields the imposition of a private tax of 20 cents a ton, to finance an insurance and pension system. All the other big union leaders have been trying to catch with him on that one, but -he never will be ling to let them do so. This new industrial social security will be added to America's cost of doing business. That is, the purchasers will pay for it through higher prices for goods and services—as has been the case in coal, It adds a tremendous permanent expense item to business. If the Lewis formula is widely copfed, America's cost of living will go up sharply. Eventually we may find ourselves in the same trouble in the world markets which England's high costs have created for her.
State Control
IN MANY ways, John L. Lewis is changing America's economic life. The strange thing about it is that he is the nation’s most ruthless and unfettered rugged individualist. Yet his whole course is heading foward state control over unions, business and labor relations. Government cannot indefinitely tolerate any power bigger than itself. Otherwise it ceases to be sovereign. The only out—and by all odds the easiest one —1{s to do for unions what was done nearly 60 years ago in the case of business, That is, include them under the anti-trust laws. Their power clearly is as great as any Ameriican business or combination of businesses ever held. It can be used, as Mr. Lewis has revealed, to control production, jack up prices and impose burdens on the public. These are the attributes of monopoly which are so dangerous that long ago America started legislating against them. Now, because of a loophole in the laws, free business and free unions both are’in danger. Some sort of government control looms. The sole cause is the old evil of monopoly. On the basis of long experience, the. easiest and safest way is to make all monopoly—union and business—subject to the same laws.
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Land of the Free
— BT =
PEDDLER’S PASSAGE . . . By John Loveland Hoosier Tribute to Persimmons
PLEASE, PAPA, put a piece of prize persimmon pudding on my plate. I'm puckering for a plentiful portion of that pungent pastry. Yep, that season is with us again and without even looking for it I ran smack into people preparing for the Persimmon Festival at
.. Mitchell.
Frankly it was the first I'd heard about it, but this one is to be the third annual affair held in the Lawrence County town. I must admit that the citizenry is every bit as hopped
up over the affair as the boys in Peru or Fort-«
ville were over their centennials, or Jamestown was over its homecoming. The entire main street from Highway 37 to the railroad will be devoted to carnival atmosphere with local organizations vieing with a traveling show company for spaces along the several blocks.
Weird Collection
THE FIRST inkling I had of the impending big moment came while in the show room of the lumber company. On the counter was a weird collection of old irons. First it was a reminder that the electric iron at home needed repairs, but then deciding that nobody in Mitchell cared a hoot whether my shirts were done neatly or not, I realized that there must be some reason for the monstrosities there. They were to be on display during the celebration. Before Thomas Edison and a few others simplified matters by applied electrical engineering and inventiveness, the old-time inventors who cooked up such gadgets as the charcoal iron, and the fluting iron really found ways and means to do things the hard way. The charcoal iron rides high because there must be a bed of coals to keep the contraption not. Above the point is a goosenecked affair very obviously the flue, while at the back is a disc which rotates over a hole in the body of the iron and controls the draft. A trigger affair sticks out the back to permit opening the lid for adding charcoal or removing the ashes. : . About the time I decided that I knew what there was essential to kndw about a charcoal iron, into the store walked a man evidently from the locality.
“Is this where you want the old irons?” he asked, When assured he'd found the place, he began to Jook at the other relics with an air that these things weren't so much. His expression changed to one of mild disappointment, however, when he saw the charcoal iron.
‘All We Can Get’
“I'VE GOT -a charcoal iron that my grandmother used when I ‘was a boy, but you've already got one so I don't suppose you want another.” “Gracious, yes! We want all we can get, won't you please bring it in?” Which he did, and it having more copper evident than the first, we decided his must have been the higher priced. His name, I learned, was Stanley Watkins and he lives on RFD 2 out of Mitchell. “I remember my grandmother didn’t think too much of it,” he added. “The thing was nev just right or it was smoking, or the fire was going out or something.” If you go to Mitchell during the Persimmon Festival this week, pause before the window of the lumber company and shed a sympathetic tear for Stanley Watkins’ grandmother who didn’t know what it was to call grandpa and tell him to fix the cord on her iron. My interest aroused, I stopped at the Mitchell Tribune office, bought a couple of back issues of the paper to get some background, and then learned from Lowell R. Davis, the editor, that the annual affair is sponsored by the Chamber of Commerce as a non-profit function. .
Exhibit of 11 Counties
MOST noteworthy to me besides the reason for the event—to glorify the oft-scoffed-at persimmon—was the fact chat there will be crop exhibits by chapters of the Future Farmers of America coming from 11 counties. I've seen their work and like it, but for some reason or other they feel they aren't given the recognition that seems to be their dus at our own State Fair. Perhaps by coming into their own in festivals like the one at Mitchell, they will be headliners at Indianapolis before too long.
age of time.
place of the late Justice Wiley Rutledge.
been ailing and perhaps will retire.
Retire at 70
their duties.
by President Truman. Truman appointments, politics,
much of
ment that applies in other fields.
our judiciary a greater breadth of vision. the contrary, it is above politics.
courage and imagination.
Tradition of Holmes
won.
end of the war when most of us were still fear and hate and suspicion that comes out of
the Philippines, assigned to defend him.
~~ about how to improve their public relations. He could do
The thesis of Reel's book
TRUMAN JUDGES . . . By Marquis Childs ‘New’ Supreme Court
WASHINGTON, Oct. 5—Two deaths have altered the Supreme Court that meets for the fall term. Two justices are gone who contributed very greatly to the status and the prestige of the court. It is possible that the importance of their contribution will be better understood and more deeply appreciated with the pass-
Former Atty. Gen. Tom C. Clark will occupy the seat of the late Justice Frank Murphy. Judge Sherman Minton will take the
Reports have been printed that Justice Stanley F. Reed has | According to his office, there is no foundation for these reports and a news story saying he had been under prolonged treatment at Duke University Hospital in Durham, N. C., was inaccurate. The justice, his office says, had a checkup at Duke early in the summer and then stayed on there ° playing golf and using the university's law library.
JUSTICE REED has been on the court for nearly 12 years, being second in length of service only to Justice Hugo Black. He is 65 years old. The law provides that justices may retire at full salary of $20,000 a year after 10 years of service, providing they are 70 years old or unable for reasons of health to perform
In a sense it is a new court. dominated by the judges named | There has been harsh criticism of the | it obviously motivated by |
It seems that the most severe judgment that can be passed on the President in his reshaping of the court is the same judgThat is to say he has not gone beyond his immediate circle to give to this highest institution of
The judgment applies with special force to the court since, in popular esteem, even-though at times the facts have shown to In naming Oliver Wendell Holmes to the Supreme Cdurt, Theodore Roosevelt went beyond the accepted and the political to put on the court a judge of
BOTH Justices Rutledge and Murphy were, in their own rer spective ways, in the great tradition of Justice Holmes. They hewed to the line of the rights of the individual, expressing in opinion and dissent the heritage of Individual freedom so dearly
That was especially conspicuous in the years following the der the cloud of
flict. Above all, in the cases of the so-called war criminals, appealed to the Supreme Court, they spoke courageously for the guarantees to the individual of justice under law. * The University of Chicago Press has published “The Case of Gen. Yamashita” by A. Frank Reel. Yamashita was put on trial in Manila for the barbarous crimes committed by his troops in Reel was one of the American
’
SIDE GLANCES
Sa calli
Comm, 19 BY W0A SUVIOL, WO. You. M00. U8. av. oon; 0-8 "Don't let those cokes fool you—if we date ‘em they'll order banana splits!"
,though T'll admit it was
Hoosier Forum
*| do not agree with a word that you say, but § «il defend to the death your right to say |
‘Time fo Stop Waste’ - “ By Raymond Medsker Jr., Beech Grove The factor which labor and capital must consider is the consumer. If people buy goods, then goods will be made. If people, due to low wages and unemployment, do not buy, then depression follows. The wealth and prospertty in a 5iuem nomic structure rests on consume: power. This power can be increased only through a steady increase in wages, through the creation of more jobs, and through the raising of Hving stdndards in the lower income groups. Produs®®en costs are high due to the wastefulness Jf industry. Production facilities are not used to their fullest capacities. Therefore, high costs are due to unused plans gapacity rather than to wages paid to its wo Industry must produce to its fullest extent so that production costs may be lowered. Lower taxes on industry and the consumer would increase the incentive for business expansion, create more jobs, and give more money to the public to buy goods. The strikes that are in process today are not justifiable against industry. The policies of the government are at fault, It has overtaxed both industry and public. It is paying farmers for food subsidies, thus adding a burden on the consuming public. The increase of foreign loans and pouring money into the support of socialistic Britain and communistic “Yugoslavia, whose theories are against free enterprise, is a waste of taxpayers’ money. The duplication of governmental agens cles is wasteful and a needless burden to the people it serves. The failure of our leaders to promote the : world government will cost us another war and a drain on our public debt. The nolicies of President Truman are leading to socialism and destruction. It is time for all Americans to wake up and put a stop to their wastefulness and inefficiency. ® ¢&
‘Forgetting American History?’ By Alma Bender, Zionsville, Ind. "aw I notice Lyle Wilson, writing about the Mine". ton nomination, calls the Roosevelt court enelargement bill an “astonishing” piece of legislation. What is that—an attempt at a one-word editorial, or just forgetting American history? The Constitution makes no suggestion about the size of the Supreme Court, and it has been changed both ways, three time in all, if I re member correctly. We have followed English practice, I suppose—they used to water down - opposition in the House of Lords by creating: new peers whenever they got eut of touch with the times. I don’t think h of the idea, ale goed as the suggestions made by some of the leading political scientists of the country at the time, and more dignified than the way the problem was finally settled, i. e., by bribing the judges to quit voluntarily if paid their full salary for life. But weak though the Roosevelt bill seems to me, ft was too traditional to be called “astonishing.” I'd like to register a protest against the defi’ nition of “freedom of the press.” I remember, at the time, the late Prof. Brooks. of Swarthmore said Mr. Minton’s proposal was no more than a suggestion that it ought to be against the law to feed the people “mental Paris green.” What legitimate freedom Joes that invade?
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‘Cut Down on Waste’ By Lawrence R. Cochrone As a tax-paying citizen, I would like to know when Mr. Truman, our spending President, and the rest of our Washington officials are going to cut down waste and spending for things that are not of real importance. We taxpayers, large and small, have waited long enough, but all we get from Washington is * that we will have to have a larger budget again this year and the next. I suppose that is why we are paying 90 cents a dozen for eggs. There is too much being paid out to hold up food prices. We seem to be more concerned about foreign ers than we are about our own people. Social security should have been raised so these people could help themselves a little better. How long the Senate will hold this up is a big question. >
What Others Say—
WE hope to get out before Thanksgiving Day, but we have a program to consider.— Senate Majority Leader Scott W. Lucas, Illinois, ® 4 9
FROM what I have seen, the only country in the world safe from communism is Russia— Actor Clifton Webb. > © THE minimum wage law is not intended for organized employees. It is intended only to protect unorganized workers against a condie tion where they have to accept less than they are really entitled to.—Sen. Robert A. Taf$ (R. 0.).
By Galbraith |
frightful con-
Army officers {
N \
A Sa ek -
general was punished for the vile deeds of his men over whom he might or might not have been able to exercise control. The Supreme Court rejected the appeal of Yamashita's defense counsel by a vote of six to two. The two dissenters were Justices Rutledge and Murphy, and there were indications that their dissents came after a bitter controversy within the court. Reed quotes frequently from those dissents. Charging that the majority of the court had overriden the due process clause of the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution, Justice Rutledge said: “Not heretofore has it been held that any human being is beyond its universally protecting spread in the guaranty of a fair trial in the most fundamental sense.’ That door is dangerous to open. I will have no part in opening it. For once it is ajar, even for enemy belligerents, it can be pushed back wider for others, perhaps ultimately for all.” \
who have made it an-institution to be looked up to, In the is that the military trial of % le ard, HU a el ream of an of the p . Rutledge Mr. Murphy who Yamashita was, in effect, a legal lynching. In other words, the ' carry it on become all the mere importan Wy
activities.
that tradition |} te «
FEDERAL BUDGET . . . By Bruce Biossat
U.S. Spending Curb
WASHINGTON, Oct. 5—Next year Congress will make an important advance in its handling of appropriations ‘covering regular government expenses. i be lumped together in one omnibus bill. This reform was assured recently when Sen. Harry Byrd, Vire ginia Democrat, finally won the Senate over to the idea after four years of trying. Rep. Clarence Cannon- of Missouri, chair« man of the House Appropriations Committee, already had ane nounced that his group would put together a single appropriation’ measure in 1950. Up to now, money for the various regular departments and agencies has been voted in a long series of separate bundles, Debate and action on the full list always has consumed many days time in both houses. This year the Senate has not yet coms pleted passage of all appropriations.
Piecemeal Basis
BUT there is far more than time involved in this change, Handling government funds on a piecemeal basis simply doesn’t wark well in these days of huge expenditures. Congress never gets the panoramic view it needs if it is to keep outlay and revenue intake in balance. For example, many times in. recent years lawmakers charged with preparing tax legislation have put off action for months and months on the ground that until they knew how much the govern: ment probably would spend they could not fairly decide whether an increase or reduction in levies was justified. Furthermore, government budget-making ought to be a well knit process all the way from the Budget Bureau's basic estimates to the final congressional vote, A budget is a thing of many parts, but they are related parts. What good does it do to scrimp and save in one department if funds for another agency are to be doled out with careless abandon?
Genvine Need Si
MONEY for any particular purpose ought to be considered in relation to genuine need, to the amount of revenue expected at existing tax rates, and to the competing requirements of other
Funds for all-major activities will
Too often our lawmakers have blithely voted for partieular projects as if there were no others bidding for government funds, But even those who wanted a fuller picture contended they could not get.it under present congressional practice. The Byrd-Cannon plan is no cure-all for our budget-making. troubles. More reforms are needed. Congress still must rely too heavily on the word of the government agencies themselves as to | the necessity of expenditures. It needs its o is.in the great tradition of the court and of those judges | of budget investigators; present assistance is inadequate. And the administration, for its part. ought to present its budget he pias eel Doors pie Jo tow Thesis: p welcome as an opening in a fleld neglected. 3
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Public rhous! will not dent t Builders, like whose fields ¢ not like the “public.” At th tually have lit they can fear public housing deep enough t “private” righ enterprise.” Five thousa Indianapolis t leave an unsa mand, big eno four years. Jobless Unemployme pected to gr steel-making the strike str or more. While strike to unemployn other industri volved, lay of slows down. Col. Everett of the State E: Division, has tl E. Chicago ar “We'll be al the load, whe by the shiftin other parts of Snowballing sure to follow coal walkouts. of a million r are affected. could easily re strikes go th: Employmen! a sharp drop six weeks. Th Gardner, is d 36,000 which the way out woods when t effect.
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