Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 16 October 1949 — Page 26

Indianapolis Times Ta

Sunday, Oct. 16, 1049

» H

A SCRIPPS-HOWARD NEWSPAPER

ROY W. HOWARD WALTER LECKRONE “President Editor

PAGE 26

i_snd oy a Publish. Bevis Lata & doa Tete & 7 NEA ary and eau of

County. cents & for dally or i f A carrier daly aig sunday. 3 a Week. £4, GL a year Sa 3.00 » reas. Bunda; Whe wate Sunday 9c» copy. Telephone Rl ley 5551 Give Licht and tha Peovls Willi Fina Their Own Wow

The Guilty Communists MosT Americans will feel less sympathy for the 11 top v leaders of the Communist Party, convicted in. New ~ York Federal Court of conspiracy to teach and advocate violent overthrow of our government, than they would feel for so many cornered rats. Rats, at least, are born what they are. The Communist conspirators chose deliberately to become what they are— willing tools of the bloody Russian dictatorship and potential traitors to the United States. . The jury's verdict seems completely justified by the voluminous evidence presented in a trial that dragged through nine long months. . But many Americans will regret that it was necessary to conduct that trial. Our traditions of tolerance, our regard for freedom of thought, make us keenly sensitive to danger that men might be persecuted for unorthodox polit- : IN THIS case, however, we think such danger did not appear. The 11 Communist leaders were prosecuted for their deeds, not their beliefs. In Russia a group even suspected of similar activity against the Soviet government would have been liquidated long ago. Here the accused men were given fullest opportunity to defend themselves in open court. Their party newspaper was free to publish violent diatribes against the government prosecutors and the judge while the trial was in progress. Crowds of their sympathizers staged noisy demonstrations within hearing of the court. © Their lawyers resorted to outrageous tactics in the hope of exhausting Judge Medina's patience and goading him into angry rulings which might be cited in support of motions for a mistrial or applications for reversal of the verdict. And still open to them is opportunity to carry an appeal to the Supreme Court of the United States and to prove, if they can, that the trial was unfair or that the law under which they were indicted is unconstitutional.

ATTORNEY GENERAL McGRATH is said to believe that the verdict does not outlaw the Communist Party— that it was a trial, not of a political party but of a group of ~ individuals—and that in any future trials under present law the government will have to prove individuals guilty, as it did in this one. "That is a proper attitude. Present law may not provide the best possible method of dealing with the problem of Communist activity against the government. But in this case, we think, it has worked safely and well. * The country owes gratitude to the government prosecutors and to the jurors, who gave so many months of time to performance of a public duty. And especially to Judge Medina, who controlled his temper under extreme jocation and waited until the trial had ended to sentence five of the defense lawyers for criminal contempt of court— iniahment their misbehavior had earned many times

Start With Thrift ; WHAT ARE we going to do about it has been the upper"most question in the minds of Americans ever since Red atom day-—last Sept. 23—the day President Truman announced that the Russians had set off an atomic explosion. . . One sensible answer comes from Gen. Omar N. Brad18y, chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, who spoke before the American Forestry Association at Akron, O. The answer is that we needn't fly off the handle and start throwing our money around in the delusion that we can spend our way out of a perilous situation. + “Unlimited expenditures for weapons of war would ! spell bankruptcy for our economy,” Gen. Bradley says; and a strong economy is still “our best resource against the onslaught of the poison of communism.”

INDORSING the long-standing counsel of Bernard Baruch, he suggests more wisely placed security investments—"and some sensible thrift.” For, in the end, as the general pointed out, it is the American taxpayer who must pay the bill for his own security. Gen. Bradley's speech carried the implicit promise that the joint chiefs of staff, who make the estimates and draw up the plans, in order to gain maximum safety for the United States at the least expense, are going to “give very careful consideration to those items which constitute the basic necessities.”

clear perspective on it. We can't keep on living in a grasshopper summer with a winter of realism before us.

Playing Santa MERICA'S foreign give-away programs for the past fiscal year reached a record high of more than $5 billion—almost double the sum sent abroad the year before. Britain was not the biggest beneficiary. Germany was. Germany, where we are still dismantling industrial plants, some of which may be shipped to Russia. Germany, Italy and Japan, three former enemy countries, received more than one-third of this country’s foreign outlay for fiscal 1949. Germany's total was only slightly under $1 billion. Our gifts and grants to foreign nations since the end of the war have amounted to $13,260,000,000. Adding to ~ that figure $10,080,000,000 in foreign loans, and the total ~~ Yet, although we are in the red ourselves, official Washgton is giving little if any serious thought to the necessity of scaling dowm these expenditures. Quite the contrary. : the planning has to do with new programs. An oil

o'd better take a long hard look into all of these prop- | before going further. These do-good projects hav ‘small and growing big. Tl

DEAR BOSS . . . By Don Kidney Recall Minton’s Political Rise

Justice Wires Pleas Greenlee: ‘You Made Me What | Am’

WASHINGTON, Oct. 15—Dear Boss—Brightest beaming face of any Hoosier here for the big Minton day festivities last Wednesday was that of Pleas Greenlee, former Democratic State Chairman from Shelbyville. For “old Pleas” could proudly display a telegram from the now Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States which reads: “You made me what I am today, I hope you're satisfied.” It is signed “Shay,” the name his Indiana intimates always will call Sherman Minton despite his promotion to § what President Truman Z3 termed “the greatest court in 4 the world.” Mr. Greenlee Pleas received the telegram at his home on the day that President Truman | phoned New Albany to tell his one-time Senate seat mate that he was naming him to the vaccancy caused by the death of Justice Wiley Rut-

ledge. Left Sick Bed

RECENTLY arisen from a sick-bed, Pleas made plans at once to be “among those present” at the oath-taking ceremonies. He vividly re- | called his own blueprint for bringing his pal, Shay, into political prominence. This was the final payoff and it pleased Pleas no end. | Paul V. McNutt had been elected Governor | of Indiana during the depression days, and Pleas was his Democratic patronage secretary. The late Democratic Sen. Frederick VanNuys already had replaced the late veteran Republican Sen. James E. Watson and the next GOP Senator slated for replacement was Sen. Arthur Robinson. Franklin Delano Roosevelt had launched the first of his four terms as President of the United States.

Greenlee Choice

SHAY had returned from the empty fleshpots of the Florida boom to his home town of New Albany and hung out his law shingle. He was the Greenlee choice to succeed “Lil Arthur”

Aloha Forever She Hopes

ire or nada

si PH I ER RE ay

Ne AR

Ped > ai

Wo

I on HAAG : Re Ah om

- Vr ~ Seis , Fd “es

PPT d

a ape TEN >

Hoosier Forum ;

“] do not agree with a word that you sey, but | will defend to the death your right fo say i."

‘Plot to Overthrow Democracy’ - By Ben Cohen, : Chairman, Communist Party of Marica County. I doubt whether The Times will print this

Lr TES oS A —

2

3

aah

4 I NEA. letter as the subject it deals with has been Fi oF ; almost entirely ignored so far. I am referring 4 4 AAD to the plot of the U. S. Government to over-

% throw democracy with the assistance and at the TN instigation of Big Business. For the witch-hunt trial of the 11 Communist leaders in New York City is designed to do exactly this. The defendants are not being tried for any act of theirs. They are being tried for believe ing in the principles of socialism, for printing books and making speeches to win the Ameri-

i % | can working class and people to support of & g new society. No judge or jury has the right to tell you what you can believe and what you \ cannot. The people alone must have the power

through their own judgment and consideration to pass on what political movement they shall follow. The first article of the Bill of Rights states “Congress shall make no law abridging freedom of speech and assembly.” Now for the first fime in American history, a political party is to be outlawed, Americans are not to be permitted to read the books they desire, discuss freely new ideas and give up the surest guarantee of the preservation of democracy—the free flow of ideas. For there will be no free flow of ideas if the only things that can be discussed are those pleasing to the monopolies. Everyone knows that in the eyes of the bosses, talk about wage increases, civil rights, public housing, a health plan, etc. are all “subversive” and “totalitarianism.” Anyone who fights for these things or wants our country made into a better place to live in can be called a “Communist” and sent to jail for 10 years. The test of a democracy is whether it will allow opinions and ideas to be circulated which are in opposition to the powers that be and to Big Business. At stake in this trial and on trial with the Communist Party is the Bill of Rights and the Constitution. The world is waiting to see if the United States will follow the Hitler path of fascism or whether the power of the people will be able to halt this sinister conspiracy to overthrow the democratic rights of the American people.

re ‘

(Editor's Note: Federal court jury, after long, full, open trial, disagreed with Comrade Cohen, found U. 8S. Communists guilty of con-

in the U. 8. Senate. He needed a statewide buildup. | So the McNutt controlled legislature created | the post of Public Counselor in the Indiana Public Service Commission and Shay slashed

OUR TOWN. . . . By Anton Scherrer _ Facts of Life Back in Nineties

spiring to overthrow U. 8. government, establish instead Communist dictatorship which like all other Communist governments in the world today would forbid all freedom of speech ‘and assembly.) ¢ © ¢

That did it. Pleas, Jim Penman from Brazil and “the boys,” whose statehouse power was derived from the McNutt administration, put

him over in convention as “the peoples choice” |

for the Senate seat. He stumped on that platform, telling the jobless and hungry that “You just can’t eat the Constitution.” He won hands down. ; There followed a stormy six year term here where Shay rose to be the party whip and a top-flight New Dealer, He carried the banner for the F. D. R. “court packing” plan, which went down to defeat through a coalition of more conservative Senators. Among them was his colleague Senator VanNuys, then chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Attacked the Press

UNDAUNTED, Sen. Minton attacked the press. He introduced a silly bill to prove everything before—not after—it went into the paper. Later he explained he did so to get attention for a pro-Roosevelt speech he delivered at the time. This and the cougt fight rose to plague his ¢onfirmation for the Supreme Court by the Senate. So when he learned that Rep. Franklin D. Roosevelt Jr. (D. NY) attending his sweat-ing-in at the White House this week, had commented: “Father would have approved of this.” Shay wryly replied: “He surely should.” After his defeat by Republican Sen. Raymond E. Willis, during the Wendell L. Willkie presidential campaign, F, D. R. made him a presidential assistant at the White House. Later he named him judge of the Supreme Court of

~ His assurances are heartening. It's a good fundamental | approach to solution of perhaps the most vital problem now | confronting this country, and we applaud Gen. Bradley's |

Appeals in Chicago.

| Love of the Law

IT WAS during his eight years of service on that bench that his lifelong love of the law had a chance to express itself. From his days at

been an outstanding law student. After his flaming New Deal speech-making as Senate whip, he would retire to the quiet of the Senate law library and bury himself in legal tomes.

So when his nomination was about to be

challenged on political grounds, it was his court record that silenced his critics. Such poles-apart members of the Supreme Court as Justices Hugo L. Black and Robert H.

| Jackson have predicted great things from their

new associate justice,

was “Old Pleas” who first held the ladder.

Pleas Greenlee doesn't know beans about that. He is willing to settle for the fact that Shay, on his greatest day, remembered that it

| | | | | utility rates around a million dollars. { { } } | {

Indiana University and Yale, Judge Minton had

| NEWS NOTEBOOK . . . By Douglas Larsen

Behind the Scenes

WASHINGTON, Oct. 15 Cancellation of the White House

NOW THAT I look back and review my boyhood, it appears that I picked up more worthwhile knowledge of the facts of life by, way of patent medicine ads than in all the books I used at school—No. 6, if you don’t already know. . For example, everything contained in “The Elements of Physiology,” a grim textbook with which Mary Collier tried her utmost to impress me back in the TA, remains but a blurred memory today. On the other hand, I recall everything — including even the substance of the fine print —of the patent medicine testimonials published in the newspapers of the nineties. Old Gen. Joe Wheeler, I recall, gave Peruna a great send-off, and a Senator from Mississippi, whose name has escaped me, went on record that he had been a sufferer from catarrh to such a degree that it alarmed his constituents. But hearing of Peruna, he gave it a fair trial with the result that he began to improve—at such a rapid rate, indeed, that it enabled kim to resume his seat in the Senate and make a speech charging Henry C. Frick with the responsibility of starting the Homestead strike. Nor were these isolated cases. Back in the nineties, every Congressman suffered some mal-. ady which looked all the worse when it appeared in print. And incredible as it sounds, everyone got rid of his affliction by way of Simon's Regulator, Swift's Specificc Dr. Peal's Pennyroyal Pills, Radway’'s Ready Relief or Paine's Celery Compound. »

‘Active Old Age’

YOU HAD to be mighty circumspect, though, when reading the testimonials published oy the Celery Compound people, "Once, I remember, they had an ad with the caption: “Edward Everett Hale; a Living Monument of Active Old Age.” And then it went on to quote Mr. Hale something to the effect that everyone should aim to get the system into such condition that sound sleep and good digestion may always be enjoyed. All of which, of course, led the reader to believe that Mr. Hale was grateful for what the Celery Compound people had done for him. It didn't turn out that way, however. A thorough reading of the ad revealed that it wasn't Mr. Hale at all, but a preacher residing in some remote village in Pennsylvania who was the beneficiary of the medicine. Even more mysterious were the actresses— the very people whose photographs led one to believe that they were always in the pink of health. Believe it or not, they were the sickest of the lot—even worse than the Congressmen. To read the testimonials of Pauline Hall, Della

Fox and Jennie Yeamans, it was hard to figure out how they ever survived. The actresses, I remember, never left anything to the imagination, notwithstanding the fact that they exercised a kind of coyness to describe their symptoms, both physical and emotional. It was done with such literary skill, however, that to this day I can look at a woman and assure her that she’s got the same sickness that sent Pauline Hall to bed back in the nineties.

‘Women Heir to Pains’ THE MOST revealing patent medicine ads, however, were those published by Lydia E. Pinkham in behalf of her Vegetable Compound (18 per cent alcohol). Except for them, I probably never would have learned that all women are heir to the pains suffered by actresses, a discovery which, of course, left me no alternative but to believe that the privilege of suffering wasn't confined to the women on the stage. Indeed, when it became common knowledge that Lydia E. Pinkham’s Vegetable Compound could cure anything from dysmenorrhea to nymphomania, I got hep to the fact that the women off the stage experienced more fantastic symptoms than those on the stage; and what’s more, they could describe them with less hobbling modesty than the actresses of the time. Probably because of its romanticism, the patent medicine ad published by the Williams’ Pink Pills people sticks uppermost in my memory. It had all the elements of a great story which, as nearly as I recall, went something like this: One chilly April day in 1890, a New York boy fell into the East River. When all efforts to rescue him had failed, one Edward Donnelly, at the risk of his own life, plunged into the cold water and pulled out the kid alive. The news of the humane and self-sacrificing deed caught the eye of a rich woman who was

prepared to decorate Mr. Donnelly and grant |

him a pot of gold. But by this time, Mr. Don-

nelly had disappeared; so mysteriously, indeed, | that nobody-—not even the newspapers—could |

locate him." .

Met at the Races

WELL, two years later, a newspaperman so-

journing in Saratoga Springs (to cover the races |

in a professional capacity) met a man from Indianapolis (intent on the same purpose in a prirate capacity). In the course of discussing their worldly ailments, the Hoosier produced a letter written by a friend of his living in Aurora, N. Y. “I am taking Dr. Williams’ Pink Pills,” said the letter. “They have cured me of that horrible

disease locomotor atoxia. When I commenced | taking them, I was wholly unable to work and |

nearly helpless. I am now improved so much that I have been picking apples and wheeling them to the barn in a wheelbarrow. Yours truly, EDWARD DONNELLY

| The Biggest Show

on Earth

‘False Statement on Employment’ By CLINTON M. MARSH, 2620 N. Capital Ave, A. J. Schneider makes this mis-statement in a letter to the Forum, Oct. 7. *“ . . . most employers do their hiring on a basis of qualifications, not one’s color or religion.” No more false statement could be made. In Indianapolis thére are no Negro operators of street cars or busses, no clerks in the chain grocery stores or the department stores, no staff reporters on the daily papers, no clerks or cashiers in the popular drug stores, no typists or other clerical help in most of the larger firms, no insurance agents with a firm like Metropolitan, even to handle its business with Negroes. On the larger scene there are no Negro en gineers on the railroads and few, if any bus drivers, Nor are there conductors or brakemen, There are only a scattered handful of freight truck, operators. The situation relating toc face tories and firms in Indianapolis could be ree peated all over the country. If Mr. Schneider's inference is correct, there are no Negroes capable of handling these jobs, or none have applied.. Neither is true. This is not to say that a law could solve this problem, but merely to point out the vicious untruth found in Mr. Schneider's article. If further proof is desired the writer would be glad to introduce any reader to actual situations involving persons and employers in this city as of this day. Hold your point if you will, Mr. Schneider, but do respect the truth.

What Others Say

TAKE IT from me, these people are determined to improve their productivity. They are working hard not only to earn their way day by day, but also to build for the future.— Paul G. Hoffman, on people of Europe. eS

I HOPE the Republicans now will develop party principles so that even a person as dumb as I will be able to tell the diffrence between the Republican and Democratic Parties.— Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower. > DO I BELIEVE that not all Chinese accept communism. Many of them are forced to yield. And the Nationalist government really failed to improve conditions. But the Chinese will .not be satisfied with Communist rule and: China will not rest in peace under them.—President Syngman Rhee of the Korean Republic. Dede

I'M A lovable character, about as vicious as Margaret O'Brien.—Humphrey Bogart.

| AIR FORCE . . . By Jim G. Lucas

$60 Million Savings

| formal social season for the second straight year came as a surprise to most society folk in Washington. Word had gotten around that that was the main reason Mrs. Truman had dieted so strenuously this summer: to look better in the evening dresses she would wear for the big social functions which she and the President were planning to give. Official excuse for the cancellation was the fact that the White House is undergoing repairs. Actually, at least a dozen | suitable Washington clubs, mansions and hotels were offered to { the President for entertaining purposes. It was Mrs. Truman's | decision to turn them all down.

Instead of the traditional big state functions, the President and his wife will hold only a few small and exclusive dinners and receptions this winter. As one society woman puts it, “This insures Bess Truman of going down in history ag the most reluctant First Lady.”

Whirling Giants

THE Air Force has decided to keep large helicopters perman-

12 airmen crashed on Greenland and were stranded there for more than a week because its small helicopters didn't have the range to reach the men. It was only a last desperate Air Fofce effort which got. the

out to make the rescue could get to them, Specifications for the kind of big helicopter needed for the job have been given to manufacturers. but are being kept secret from the public.

Grass Roots Campaign «ihn THE latest maneuver of the American Medical Association in its fight against President Truman's national health insurance plan is revealed by the following statement in the Dallas Medical Journal: 2 “We need to locate the personal physician of every Congressman and every U, 8, Senator . . . and have him send a

the danger of socialized medicine.”

Trying Out Consideration HERMAN W. STEINKRAUS, president of the J. 8. Chamber of Commerce, gives the following anecdote as proof of his claim that labor relations is far from an exact science: “I recall a time when we were in the midst of a very difficult negotiations with the Mine, Mill and Smelter Workers' Union. ) Near duight we SE have a club in our town send ee and sandwiches for us. When it arrived we thought suddenly of the union men and the employees’ repre-

I ‘ "w

ently stationed in Alaska and in the arctic regions for rescue purposes. It doesn’t want a repeat of last winter's experience when |

men off the ice, before the Navy's carrier Saipan which steamed |

BS

sentatives in the room below, with the cafeterias closed and nothing to eat since noon. So we divided what we had and sent half of it down. I shall never forget how surprised they were when they opened the door and saw what was sent down

: | to them. From that rh personal letter to his patient, the Congressman, telling him of | m moment on the whole situation seemed to |

thaw. We found clauses we could agree on. There was no strike.”

Slow Motion Candidate

THE CIO Political Action Committee is charging Senator Taft with “A plan to steal 100,000 votes” wheh he runs for reelection in Ohio next year. The PAC says: “Taft forces are

not voting line moves the less inclined to vote are people who have to get-to jobs or who are on their way home from work. Voters WhO Can get. off in the afternoon are favored.” ;

Mien : , - Aim

wy

pushing the so-called Massachusetts-type | ballot on which the voter must vote for each candidate and is |

permitted to vote a straight party ticket. The slower the | ves

i WASHINGTON, Oct. 15—Defense Secretary Louis J i J 0 tis set to crack down on the Air Force and x the ns | another $60 million a year. { Mr. Johnson has decided that the Air Force's, desk m | : , des en do {| much aerial gadding about. Technically, it's listed as a trative flying.. It works like this: Every air force pilot, even though he’s assi 4 ssigned to a de the Pentagon, must put in four hours’ flying time a 2 i keep his “wings.” Usually, he takes off a couple of afternoons to get his hand ack on the stick. But sometimes, Mr. Johnson's economy sleuths have found, air force fliers do , hours’ administrative flying. Tors than fom It's not unusual to combine business with pleas 1} ure. instance, a pilot may decide to visit his home NR in the _—

west. He makes the trip—eight or 10 hours in all—: up as administrative flying. Sii-—and marks it

Reduce Flying Hours

MR. JOHNSON says that must stop. The Air Force b ready for approval by Congress, sets up $300 million to ade 3.9 million flying hours. Mr, Johnson is asking the Bureau of the Budget to lop off 300,000 of those hours. He may, if audits now in . Brogless Show it can be done, whack as many as 400,000. A reuction o ,000- flying hours will save, h s, 8 er 20.0au. 8 e estimates, at least Only about half'of that $60 million will be flight pa . The rest will be saved in incidentals—transportation t. Jay field, gasoline, truckage, etc. 20 22nd Trom he In all, the Air Force will spend $1 billion this year on - tenance and operation of aircraft. That includes li poi parts, pay of ground crews, etc., as well as flight pay. A lot of it can’t be cut. But Mr. Johnson thinks joyriding can be reduced. Next year, by holding. administrative flying to 3.6 million hours, he hopes to save an additional $50 million.

| Back to Treasury

THERE'S some question what will be d saved. Mr. Johnson would like to turn it hh he Toney On the other hand, he is considering using it to buy more airplanes. That could be done simply by asking the Budget | Bureau to reduce repair and maintenance from $1 billion to $940 million and transfer $60 million to aircraft procurement. 5 t |

Emphasis in the Defense Department now is o reduc overhead. Mr. Johnson and President Truman are ic Ue

son’s order for the dismissal o” 147,000 workers. F200 million. But he thinks more can be done. That wit save Op men say there will be some reductions in The Navy will take the sharpest cuts. The ney Toro 667,000 to 640,000 men before the end of the year, : > NNT ? > Fie » 2 iy : !

savings can be made. The most spectacular move was Mr. Johns

SUNDAY STATE FP

Ce

If The They'

WHEN calling their chips on the There's coming up i it may be fi These uni jumped into — 1950 — that if they shots they m: selves virtuall rounds two ¢ two comes uj be a battle fo of 102 cities state. Round thre comes in 19! not only vote for President a U. 8. Senatc This week

Washingto. Navy Victo Army

Hands For Ex

WASHII victory in w handed two Senate Appr “survey” tri] Navy ar early, spent tI liaison with C to-get tickets. $40 from brol Price Nav No comm ures they plan Air Force divided on hoy attacks on E bombing when next week. One group, 1 to go in swing curity is viola fault. More sober Force has to no matter w tion. Om q radar, antia weapons, it © timony to su “We've 801ve we can't tell y It >." device that re the B-38 can’t nets. If we stand and ex] it’s done, and the informati lin in a Afr Secreta: though he’s r leans to the Chances are ff

Called Cn

DEFENSE JOHNSON'S non-technical-He'll tell C men are cry-b they're hurt; but mutinied authority, mu places. His separa Armed Service

Mr. Johnsor

ing to be hea Mr. Vinson s it was releas Mr. Johnsor son’s retort v Mr, Johnson's other commi the chairman out on them. son got budge ary from for restal, kept desk. Johnson v

Johnson wi trying to mal allocating $2( million cut t ment. Army does division if it: and Air For lose a plane c say. Navy, « tries to get persecuted. Johnson wi cuts were the hower, in o gradually to he ordered fo And fina

point to his lon moder Essex type he isn’t an defend his super-carrie:

Seek Mili NO FALL] in number of