Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 1 January 1950 — Page 10

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7 Materially, here in America, we are the Hd

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Half-Way . . ve to Where?

NEW YEAR'S DAY, 1900, in Indianapolis dawned bright au cleus asd God and harp. tieth a the of 169,164 people, bigger than Los Angeles (102,488) or Houston (44, 633) or Columbus (125560) or tlanta or Memphis or Denver; not quite as big as LouisBes (204,731) or Detroit (285,704), and only half as big -

as tant (325,002). ;

war with Spain was over and the boys. were home

| azain, ‘and times were good. There were plenty of jobs:

- Wages averaged $9 a week (for 60 hours), enough for a comin 1000, and a Jot, better than the $5.40.a week

fortable livi {for T2 hours) that had been the average just 50 years before: National ‘and local income had been rising slowly but

steadily for 20 years, and living standards wer# going up, too.

A FEW peotie ha telephones that didn’ t work -very well, and here and there some dreamer was - tinkering with a horseless carriage he ‘hoped would run. But nobody in Indianapolis had ever seen an airplane, or a radio, or-an electric washer or a movie sho ‘ There wasn't any’ such thing «one had to have, license to hunt or\fish or drive or sell real estate or run its parlor and no\government ever had to tell Hoosiers how much they could earn or how or what they could plant on their pay for ‘their

an income tax, and no

presumes! long they . could work farms or how much rent they could ask

Be ai es

The goverstaant of the Tinited States. that, eat. Fook in, ,

: altogether. from. all sources, $434,877.00 and spent $457, “a

451,000—running a deficit that was made up the next year. The wholg federal debt was a little more than a billion Seer —or $16.60 each for all the people. (New Year babies this morning came into the world already in" more tha $1800 each on the same basis.) Life was pleasant, and rather simple ev i like Indianapolis that New Year morning Most people were prosperous and everyone was free fo gdegree that he hasn't been since and may not be again. ere.was a vision of better things ahead. And Indianapolis was tof hope | and confidence for the -

en in a big city

That day the polis Sun, later to become The Times, said: * “This is to be Erste yer of the rests ce AN a ;

WELL, “we are. Hurwy dh hat estitury. Ahave been good times, and bad, but a lot of that come true, plus a lot that wasn't even dreamed at bright morning in 1900. e've fought through two wars and eight depressions, 50 and Indianapolis is still thriving and prosperous . . . and four times as big. Life isn't quite as simple, now, in Indianapolis as it was though perhaps as pleasant. Wages, in terms of t they will buy, are the highest they have Ever been. People who,

yet,

have ever lived. . Our government, city, state and nationdl, is a lot bigger now, though there is nothing to indicate it is any better. It does regulate the daily personal lives of all of us to an extent that ‘would have seemed incredible And impossible to anyone living in 1900. J That is a problem , , . perhaps the bi ot problem . .. that will have to be solved in the second Kalf of the century. . - Reactionary forces on every hand ingist that the world we have built is too complicated for us fo live in unless we have a government bureau at hand to fell us what to do in complete. detail under all circumstances. In return for this power they promise to take care of us and see that we never ‘need anything . . . with our money, of course; 3 Reactionary forces abroad have got that problem pretty well solved. They have gathered half the world into serfdom 48 miserable as arly from the dark ages or feudal days, beginning. with these same promises of “welfare” and “security.”

» » . » » . A PREE people wha have built this glittering civiliza: tion bécause they were freé,-can solve this problem, as they _ Have solved those of the past. If they find the right answer second half of this century we can see progress even ./ greater than the first 50 years have brought. 1 Bo, with our predecessors of 1900, we Jook forward with , hope and with confidence. Thus far, at least, their prediction of the "greatest century” has not only been fulfilled, but far exceeded. So, too, may any we may make today, for New Year's morning, 2000. A <D.

" Today's Thought : . DP your wife like. what she exchanged your Christmas gift for? Nn . ,

° New Year Greeting. To Congress: ; Please be thrifty in 1950. -

Wi Own Inner Bal

DEAR ARBOSS By Dan Kidney

x i Century began Indianapolis was a

Modernized State

eS 1950 Will See Lis Same Politics

In Campaign Programs WASHINGTON, Dee. 31-—Dear Boss: “Put not your trust in pringes” if you want a happy.

New Year. That quote is from the ‘third verse of the

PH-40 Se

give more meaning to the happy New Year addition. Sifice this is 1950 and an election year,

it should be “put not thy trust in politicians.”

While the latter half of this century may

“be better than the fitst (some think it couldn't ;

be worse), 1 don't expect the change-over to be very perceptible so far as the 1950 political crop is concerned. : Just to spell out what 1 miean, for example Harry 8. Truman still will be President. His White House lease runs. for two years after this one. With a fine Florida tan and an old home week at Indeperidénce, Mo, he {s reacy to march up, Capitol Hill and tell off Congress.

No New Ideas >.

HE will want all the things he fas ‘been asking for over and over since he first became head of the state upon the death of Franklin D. Rooseyeit and louder and louder since he won a full term on his own. ; Unlike the late FDR, Mr. Truman 1s unlikely to propose any new ideas for Congress to con: sider. He did coin a new term during his 1948 . He substituted Fair Deal for New

With so many former “liberals” turhed rich practicing- law through influence during this long-fime Democratic regime, some cynic called a Fair Dealer “a New Dealer who. can be bought.” Talking democ racy and practicing plutocracy is an earmark of current day Washington. Ard with his cynical defense of Maj. Gen. Harry ‘Vaughan’ taking free deep-freezers, .yoy somehow get the feeling that the little man from Missouri either doesn't know the difference or, which is worse, doesn’t care,

Little Expected BECAUSE that is the habit-pattern estab{ished here now, it is well to expect as little as possible from the second session of the Sist Congress. To begin with they will start fhe ballrolling with FEPC, which they all know can't Be passed. That Ukely will delay all other “progressive

legislation” until it. either. will She. musiated. oF aus

.Jourdered. Of it «ill fished out. of the political deep- freeze Wel over as ie red-

‘hot potitical- dieh-duringe the coming: 25a fed 2 nilion for t hg.

This type ef cynicism seeps into unexpected places. It just received the approval of Sen. Hubert H. Humphrey (D. Minn.) in his role of

- national Chairman of’ Americans for Democratic

Action,’ He wants the roll called on all the Fair Deal legislation so that each member's voting record Il be available for the 1950 campaign. He ds his list of 12 items with FEPC and then t down as follows: ralized displaced persons legislation, Kxf rent control with adequate funds for Extension of ERP and MAP, te funds, and the ng 54 for pig d

liberalization of sonia) security. Federal aa for educational program, services. and facilities. Repeal of the TaftHartley Act. A domestic economic expansion program. National health legislition. Further

thority principle,

lin “THE Congressional meeting-chambers been . modernized,” Sen. times require sta Ada just h demned Gen, /B in 1948 instekd of President Truman. A men “must all be on thelr aide.” to bell President Truman 1s becau says \ Yet such a “reactionary” as Sen. Harry Byrd (D. Vi.) prevented Mr. Truman from pu fing a United States Steel big-pay-roller in head of the Munitions Board and let him ar with U. 8. Steel too. Sen. Byrd said it didn’t look right, since the company might have large orders from the government. The President was blind to such a fine ethical point-—-as fine a point as the Washington monument. He loves labor of course and they love him. Yet .it was the “reactionary” Sen. Robert A. Taft (R. 0.) who saved him from the fate of being the only President in UU. 8. history who would have drafted railroad workers into the Army to settle a strike,

Few Samples

THESE are just a few samples of what I medn when I say “put not thy faith In peliticians.” I have kept them national and not from Hooglerdom in order to make the point without prejudice. No doubt there will be. plenty of points to be made when the Indiana campaign gets under way. I've heen reading a few of the Sen. Wil. fam E. Jenner (R. Ind.) tirades. He isn't up for reselection this vear.” Nevertheless he seems to be giviig the whole world about 24 hours to get out.

FOSTER'S FOLLIES

OTTAWA The Canadian flour-milling industry’s convention was offered a suggestion decorated flour bags to be used as curtains.

Except for the decorations, . This scheme is as old as the hills, “~* They've always filled expectgtions--Those bags that came fresh from the mills.

.Like other things, simple and certain, In days that preceded the boom, Maw transformed each bag to a “curtain” — For 9-year-old Jane's “sitting room!" . o

COLUMBUS, 0.—The home she lives in may e the direct cause of a wife's bad temper, according to Prof. James T. Lendrum. If your chickadee's excited, Or morose, or sometimes tense, We are told all may be righted In a home without offense,

But take heed ye errant hubby, Erq¢:that ranch hoiise grand You Buy. \ Woulde.a hovel be more clithby With an underitanding guy? *

It Must Be Done With Mirrors

U. S. FINANCES .

vear to da e (sl nce

hal July 1) as against $1713 period a year prev lous. Where are the bles through which all these extra government dollars are pouring at a time when Treasury “income is holding about even? So far this year, the government has spent $2.8*billlod more thah it has taken. in. Last.

the r - The National Defense Department accounts f6r the biggest dpilar increase in spending. De-

2 the this time, it was only $775 million in

“fense spending since July 1 amounts to $6.8

billion, an increase of $475 million over the year previous,

Army Spending Down AIR FORCE spending is up $759 million while the outlay for the Army is down $428 nilllion. Navy spending so far this year is about $98

‘million ahead of last.

Next to the Defense Department comes the National Service Life Insurance Fund, the in-

stirance fund for World War IF veterans out of ,

which $2.8 billion In dividends is to be paid during the coming months. ‘

Federal spending for this fund is $414 mil- ,

lion so fdr, as against $44 million a year ago. The Federal Government pays for ‘the cost of administration of the fund and reimburses it for insurance payments made on service-con-nected deaths, Treasury officials say that most of this money should have beén voted by Congress last year and.that in the future no such large con-

tributions will bé required from the government. -

Interest on the public debt is up $376 million.

SOCIAL SECURITY. .

iTON, Dec. 31— Presigént Truman's economic advisers believe the best way to meet the booming demand for ‘old-age pensions is to improve the federal Social Security system.

Leon H. Keyserling and fohn D. Clark, eco-,

nomic counselors, did not criticize the drive of unions for private pensions, The Council of Economic Advisers, they said,

. “4s certainly not prepared to censure the drive

toward privately’ operated old-age security, which has arisen from delay in enactment of changes in the federal system, that many workers and employers have had no' choice but to do what they have done.”

Combination Insurance THE advisers did not deny that . ‘some thoughtful combination of publiciand private insurance against old age” eventually might develop, but they added, "We incline strongly toward’ immediate expansion of federal old-age security as the more urgent-reqiiirement,” They observed that the “free enterprise” sloBan might lead Susfssenion to believe that privatély negotia, sd pénsions systems were prefer-

"able to the expansion of federal oli- -age security

because that involves government Supervision and administration. “But this is not happening” they pointed out,

By Earl Richert :

Nation Runs Into Big Deficit

WASHINGTON, Dec. 31--Uncle” Sam heads into the last half of the fiscal year with a deficit YAR ITY Your “thes wo Targe 25° Year ago

“Billion "f for He i i Be

It seems to us .°

“Many businessmen, on entirely unselfish

Much of this is due to a new bookkeeping practice of counting interest as an expenditure when -it. becomes due. and payable rather than just

CBSA NY

Farm Costs Soar” NEXT comes the Commodity Credit Corp., the agency which supports farm prices. Its

Iva s:

- spending is up 56 per cent—$§1 billion this year “80 far against $640 million last.

Then comes the Reconstruction - Finance Corp. with:a spending increase of $264 million, This is due largely, say Treasury officials, to purchasés of government-insured home mortgages by a RFC subsidiary. Marshall Plan spending too is ahead of last year by nearly $190 million, Practically all government departments are running with the increased spending tide. Spending is up $9 million for Congress itself and nearly $2 million for the federal judiciary. “ Federal contributions to government employees’ retirement funds is up about $75 million.

Few Spending Less . THE Social Security Administration is spending $57 million more; the Bureau of Reclamation, $19 million; the new General Bervices Ad‘ministration, nearly $120 million, efe. Among the few agericies spending less are the Farmers Home Administration, thé Atomic Energy Commission, the Executive Office of

_ the President, the Export-Import Bank, the Pub-

lie Housing Administration, the Justice Department and the Tennessee Valley Authority. Treasury officials say that the current deficit of $2.8 billion for the first half of the year is in line with Budget Bureau estimates of a’ deficit of $5.5 billion for the entire year.

. By Fred W. Perkins | er Federal Pensions Urged

grounds, are questioning whether the random development of unequal pension systems in scattered industries would really

8 5 §

§ z

and make new ones. Tmpress upon. the child, before he is old enough to go this description of the life of the criminal and he will not be likely to fall into the ranks of juvenile delinquents,

‘Not Enough Brightwood Cars’

By Charles L. Fleitz, 2024 N. Talbot Ave. ” To Indianapolis Railways: I ‘bowl in Bright. wold at 6 p. m. every Tuesday, and last week I stood at the corner of Vermont and Massa chusetts Aves. for over 25 minutes waiting for ‘a car going to Brightwood. There were over eight cars, more than half empty, going to 37th

. and 52nd and Pennsylvania via Central.

Now, what I want’ to know is why don’t .you have one of your supervisors check just what is happening and get these cars going to the places where they will do the most good for passengers and at the same time give you some kind of a decent return o nthe investment, I know for a fact that there were more people waiting for a Brightwood car op that corngr than there were on the Pennsylvania cars that passed us by, Now for your information, I Anally had to take a taxi out to Brightwood.

Hoping that this letter will have some of effect, I remain, a poor abused strap-ha

‘Women Protest Unfair Taxes"

te ; SOURLIDE. it when. the ‘bondholders Fd op “Hy MiFYam GIbsoi French “We women ire’ Gedoning® AE wad a 4 TRA sree spopsed.about, he, URIAIENess. at. PAYING A FAT Ss

time tax because: = The war has beéii Over for more than four. years. : : HR GN then The 20 per cent tax on toilet preparations,

handbags, fur coats and inexpensive jewelry is

~ discriminating against women.

leave the

business system’ more truly free than the- sys- -

tematic uniform

security.”

National System Pushed ALTHOUGH some big unions have pressed for pension plans in which employers pay the entire cost—with the consumer later picking up the check in prices of what he buys—the council emphasized Ths preference for the national system “which involves contributions from employers and from workers on a systematic basis, and which also involves contributions by the government.” However; the - report. advocated gradual efforts to place the contributory system on a pay-as-you-go basis—producing a closer balance

development ~ of old-age

between Social Security receipts and payments /

from year to year.

“We also believe,” it was stated, “that as < coverage becomes more general, a larger part |

of Social Security receipts should be obtained

through general revenues rather than payroll

taxes, Our’ nation can afford a considerably ‘expanded Social Security program ‘without impairing our economic stability or weakening our growth poténtial.” ;

Cartoon Highlights of 1949

IT WAS an exciting” and newsworthy year-—1949--what with Stalin tinkering with the -atom, the Commies overrinning China, John IL. Lewis -busting out all over, and 'the Veep getting married, among other things, «= Harold M. Talburt,, The "Indlanapolis Times and Scripps

Howard's

“tions.

Another Explorer Views Some Let's Ses Now—Where Were We? Queer Fish"

Pulitzer winning editorial caught the highlights of the » year in his cartdons published during - the - year, them are ‘published here, by way of illustrating some of the year's biggest news stories and important world situa- -

Prizecartoonist,

One of the nation’s leading cartoonists, Talburt's pen has depicted three decades . of Twelve of .. American and world history.

1920-—and his drawing pen tecomes more “incisive, his .ink more penetrating with each succeeding year; , r

One Man's Family

He has been cartooning since

‘Bankers N

The items on which we pay this tax are

.necessities—not luxuries.

Last year our congressmen promised action onsthis matter during the 1950 session. Now is the time *for them to act, and something probably will be done if women protest to the

men on Capitol Hill

KNOW-HOW . ., By Andrew Tally.

Soending Jobs WASHINGTON, Dec, 31-—The State Departe ment says it can't be helped—we're going to have to spend some dough teaching the world. how to spend our dough. . Something's also got to be done, says the Department, to teach undeveloped countries how to keep track of themselves, And so—with fingers crossed—the Departs ment has earmarked $1,443,600 of its proposed $35 million Point Four budget for “public administration,” “finance,” and ‘general stafise tics. »_ Translated. into ordinary English, the State Department's Priicipal arguments in support of these projects a + ONE: You = t tell how myuch dough a country should get unless you know what it's already" got. In other words, there's no use spending a stray million or two to build up a country’s oil

industry if that product already is coming out

of the country’s ears.

- Shouldn't Be Trusted

TWO: Any guy who adds two and {wo and comes up with five shouldn't be trusted with the job of setting up a new currency system. THREE: There's no use building a railroad for a country in ‘which the ‘government is having trouble keeping a stagecoach line going In support of the $491,700 it wants to spend teaching countries how 16 keep statistics, the Department points out that most of the places which need ‘help don’t know much else about themselves but their names. ~ For example, of 32 countries studied in Latin America, the Middle East and East Asia, only eight knew what their national income was or how many cows and pigs they had. Only four knew how much money was being paid out in

wages annually, and only two knew how many,

workers they had.

ed a

the Department suggests spending $253,900 to‘deveiop some bankers in these countries. The ugh would be spent in different ‘ways, depending on what the problem was. "© One country, for Instahoe, wants some help

Under “finances,

“to fix up its money so it'll 'buy something. Ane other wants to know what's all this about fore

eign exchange and tarriffs,

The “public administration” item is the biggest of the three, with an estimated cost of $608,000. It's also the biggest problem, says the State Department, because it's practically impossible in most of thosé countries to get really

efficient public services,

Before pouri ,g money into them it's going to be necessary to convince some. public officials

~— i

that it jsn’'t necessary to hire two street cleaners ~~

for the same job-—one to carry the broom and

the other to do the sweeping.

. _Under the proposed plan, the U. S—would send teams of technical experts in all three specidities into undeveloped countries to train .officials:there in the way we do things over here, Presumably, no hapdouts will be approved until ‘a country gets a passing mark from the teacher. They'll probably catch on fast, though,

Potent

Indian Summer

A es

- expected to ls “not voting more Big winner He wanted juni in running milf And he figure caught idea, kn

Mr. Vinson 1 ignored when

* policy is made.

Mr. Vinson department d ings. Now he a: 748 Nad 18 roe Eoing, h Shoulders blot that even If |

“nothing comm ‘that more he “jeopardize ha lations. we've « the Pentagon.” There may b

. ports, ~tHOUEH

mags; fo snakdA to compro romise

SAC CWAIRINGS, |

services bury hi He's likely to though Rep. W, (R. N. Y.), still

. Ing a pro-Nav

Air'ferce men J. Kilday of 1

* Brooks of Loui

rap Navy's atte atom warldre

Trade Out BOTH BUSIN ernment predict ‘conditions in fir It's first time casts have be One economist ¢ the experts agre

The Branna LONG-RANG Brannan Farm byist for big far are against it): Farmers now declining incon ‘war they thou get. along with ernment aid 1» ‘80 sure. If 1 much more, t Brannan Plan, all. Talk of * won't frighten pinch comes, ” 4

In Governo REP. ALBE] will seek GOP governor of u Michigan next year. Rep. 4 Engel was chairman of# House Appropriations Subcommittee on * military establishment in 80th Congress. He says RBepublican governors win in his state in off years; believes Gov. Mennen Deal Democrat

Mme. c h 1 leaves soon She'll rejoin the ‘generaliss Air Force h to talk abo airplanes in security reas willing to tell * pounds of pls year.’ Total ‘25.1 million p NOTE on do Parnell Thom week: “Be back at What Year, (

Liquor: Figh WETS AND hot battle Jan ings start befo state Commerc banning liquor newspapers, m ‘Wets contend Ing the bid - publicity, kna anywhere. Dr