Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 27 February 1950 — Page 12

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DEAR BOSS . . . By Dan Kidney

A SCRIPPS-HOWARD NEWSPAPER

ROY W. HOWARD WALTER LFCKRONE HENRY -W MAN2

President Editor : Business Manager PAGE 12 Monday, Feb. 27, 1950

ubiished dally by indianapolis’ [mes Publish . Maryland St Postal Zone # Member of Onited Press. Scripps-Howard Newspapet Alliance NEA Serv ice and Audit Bureau of Circulationa

Owned ana > 214

he Indianapolis Tim imes

Links Congress To Lobby Ills

Rep. Jacobs Hits Pressure Of Selfish Interests

WASHINGTON, Feb. 27-—Dear Boss—Our Hoosler philosopher statesman, Rep. Andr

tor dally ana

{ce In Marion County. 8 cents a copy a To .

Pr tor Bunday. ceiivered hy carrier 3 and Bunday - daily only 28c Sunday only Ls dally aud Bundy $1000 a vear Fait “$5 00 only, $5.00 all other states. 1 8 possession Mexico daly $110 a month “Sundar lie a copy

Telephone Rl ley 5551

year

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Bive 14nht ana "he Peonis Wilh Fina Fhetr Nwrwn Was

I's. Only Money . . . V. Per subsidies for U. 8. shipping lines will cost the American taxpayer about $49 million this year and in 1951 will go up to an estimated $62 million. In addition, the government is putting out about $79 million in construction subsidies. The principle is that, in order to keep U."S. lines operating and building the government must pay the difference between material, labot" and operating costs in the United States and those of foreign competitors. That's in the interest of national security and no one can object to the principle.

3 ” - ov o" BUT recently the General Accounting Office has been looking into the Maritime Commission's methods of talculating ship-building subsidy amounts.

This involves computing the costs of constructing 2 a

comparable vessel in the Netherlands—as a typical lowcost ship building center—comparing the figures with lowest bids in this country, and paying the difference as a subsidy. The General Accounting Office reviewed the subsidy on three particular ships approved by the Commission. It found that a Commission estimator “admitted” using a wrong figure in calculating the subsidy rate, and that “time limitations” precluded”his using the correct figures “This error,” said the GAO, “greatly increased the subsidy.” In the three cases reviewed, the GAO found the Com mission had approved a subsidy of $123,700 per ship, for a basic rate of 41.93 per cent of the cost of the work performed.

. { ROUGHLY - récalculating on a more "realistic basis, the GAO found the subsidy should have been granted at the rate of 15.94 per cent. Comptroller General Warren, in a report to Congress, noted that the net worth of 12 subsidized American shipping lines increased from $65 million in 1937 to more than $363 "million by the end of 1948—a boost of about 460 per cent. It's only money that has been going to these shipping lines in the form of subsidies, sometimes calculated in error ~—but it's your money, taken from you in federal taxes. So perhaps you'll agree with Mr. Warren that these matters “require not only.the attention of Congress but remedial action.”

The FBI's Big Job TTACKS on Big FBI are becoming frequent, and it is well to note that most of them emanate from groups which have been identified as Communist fronts, or can be traced to the stooges or dupes of such groups. The reasons for that are obvious. No one but a criminal or a traitor has anything to fear from a careful; honest investigation. : Most of ‘the things the public knows about Communist spy rings are due to the revelations of two former Communists, Whittaker Chambers and Elizabeth Bentley, who saw the error of their ways and turned state's evidence. Relatively few Communists have turned state's evidence. ” o . » ” ” THE organization is a secret one, owing its allegiance to Saqyiet Russia, and most of its activities are underground. The¥® are 54,000 card-carrying members in phe United States, and we wouldn't know that if it were not for the FBI In terms of votes, 54,000 is not a formidable figure, even when it is multiplied by 10 times that number of fellow travelers and an even larger number of political innocents who unwittingly carry out Moscow's instructions. © Communism depends on intrigue and violence to gain its ends. It is essential that we know where such people are 80 they will not be in a position to do such damage. The FBI is our first line of defense against this threat.

That Man Tito ARSHAL TITO angrily attacked the United States not long ago, alleging that loans he had applied for here” were being held up until he complied with eertain political _conditions.......

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more ships”

“expense account.

Jacobs, Indianapolis Democrat, made the p

A radio gpeech that no honest Congressman... nim

ever was corrupted by a lobbyist. He even went further and suggested that the

House lobby investigating committee should call Congressmen as witnesses, because If there is. any corruption connected with lobby activities here-it is Congress itself that should be investigated.

That doesn't mean however, that Mr. Jacobs thinks that some of the lobbying

¢ couldn't be dispensed with as™ : nonessential activity He pointed out that many so-called “pressure groups are kept lathered into fury enough

Mr. Kidney to write their Congressmen inaultingly, just be-

cause some lobbyist keeps them that way so he can continue to draw a good salary and fat

Looking over his mail, which is tremendous when any. issue 18 being -battled pro and con by pressure groups, Mr. Jacobs came to this conclusion } . “1 must frankly say that a majority who write seem to be concerned with self or group

peing the most enlightened nation in history;

notwithstanding our profession of Christian charity and our adherence to the golden rule; mast folks write to 2ay a law will hurt them

nat ymeane elae

Narrow Selfishness

HF. concludes .that this “narrow selfishness i a prime factor in creating pressure groups upon which lobbyists can feed. Then the freshman Congressman from Marion County offered this description of them:

“Tet me tell you something about pressure groups. (Generally speaking, they are formed by lobbyist These folks live here in Washington. ‘They represent people who belong to cer tain groups, like labor, employers, agriculture yes--and churches.

Believe it or not, these folks are fairly reasonable people. They don't try to pressure or kid Congressmen nearly as much as they do the folks they represent, In order to keep their organizations going, financially spéaking, they must broadcast a few horror stories occasionally. They feel the necessity of making you believe you will be put out of business un less they ride herd on Congress. “And of course, you are asked to help. So these lobbyists coin a few catch-phrases and slogans, These slogans and catch-phrases. become the currency of pressure. You are exhorted to write us, making good use of these same catch-phrases and slogans.’

-Slogans-Get-Stale

“GENERALLY, we Congressmen have heard or read all the new ones before they are sent out wholesale to the local pressure groups to retail to the puhlic generally. “Frankly, by the time these catch-phrases and slogans are sent back to us, they are about as stale as they are ineffective, “The lobbyists who coin these catch-phrases and slogans. don’t use them when they talk to us here in Washington. The truth is the lobbyist is-a pretty objective fellow, While he can’t publicly admit his organization is wrong on a point, he will often privately admit it. On the whole, he is a pretty well-informed fellow concerning the subject of his clients’ business.” Mr. Jacobs warned that the letters and telegrams which resort to abusive language seldom win over Congressional help. . Only the personal letters, which show that the writer understands his subject. and isn’t just being pressured to sign his name, are really effective, he declared. “A Congressman should always be a man without a pressure group, or at least a pet pressure group,” Mr, Jacohs concluded.

Congress Probes Self

“THERE is always talk about investigating ( ‘ rows closer together and used more fertilizer.

lobbyists. I don't see how a lobbyist can be guilty of wrongdoing by himself. There must be a (Congressman involved. So when a real lobbyist investigation is commenced, if ever, you will hear of Congress investigating itself and its members. “Any other investigation is ineffectual and incomplete. The only thing complete. about ft witl be a waste of time.” Rep. Charles A. Halleck, Republican Rensselaer, dean of the Indiana congressional delegation and a reluctant member of the committee conducting the lobbying investigation now under way, most likely would agree with that. °

ARCTIC LIFE . . . By Jim G. Lucas

How Not to Freeze

WHITEHORSE, Yukon Territory, Feb.

One of these, h indicated, was that Yugoslavia recognize thesFrench-supported regime in Indo-China. as we have, rather than the Moscow- supported insurgents headed by Ho Chi-minh. © ‘This was promptly denied by U. S. Ambassador George Altett, who went to some length ° to appease the angry dictator. ® 1 # . FI I IN ANY event, Yugoslavia has now Moscow fifth-column in Indo-China, suggesting that wily Tito intends to keep a back door, open for a possible reconciliation with the Cominform and the Kremlin. We are backing this Balkan bandit only because’ of his nuisance value, in the hope that if he can stay out of the Mosgow corral, other Balkan Communists may break with the Kremlin and upset Stalin's playhouse there. But if Tito is going to play both ends against the middle, as his policy toward the war in Indo-China suggests, we'd better use our money for some other purpose:

Protection for the Community (CITIZENS of Marion County cannot afford fo risk the : chance that the ‘annual fund-raising ‘campaign of the * Indianapolis chapter of American Red Cross might -fall short of its $350,214 goal. ; - Ce

+ Failure to reach this. minimum budget would mean

thatzhundreds of citizens needing emergency help next year would have to be taken care of by other agencies not “ equipped for that type of service or-left unaided.

a , » ” . - = ~ “NEGLECT of agencies such as the ‘Red Cross could result in dangerous disintegration of, peblie service here in the event of a major disaster. Even without a major disaster, emergency -sérvices

performed by the Red Cross here last year was enormous.

More than 20,000 persons turned to the Indianapolis chapter last year for a helping hand. Without this aid, the community would have been seriously weakened. - Support of this campaign is_ the duty of every responi of ‘Marion Com. :

Hes RI STeeping HRd EAthy TH tHe "§how> If he's smart, and wants to live, he wears what the experts . Some of their ° But by’ and large they

tell him. They aren't always’ right. answers have been no answers at all. know best, “

27--What does a man wear up here where temperatures are 30 to 50 below zero. and

THYEreET rATHEr than pubhv-interest. Despite our —¢ :

" do not agree with o word that you say, but |

wil deind 4g Jiu death your right e.suy.Re8

‘Starve or Go to Work’ ° S By Pete, Brazil, Ind. ; We Americans have lost the habit our fore-

/ fathers had of helping one another. The coal

i miners, for instance, are made up mostly of

foreign elements who know nothing but mining

labor leaders are imported. They defy their

ALBURT™

PRICE SUPPORT MUDDLE

By Peter Edson

Potato Politics Getting Hotter

WASHINGTON, Feb. 27 -- Political potato soup is getting thicker. Illinois Sen. Scott W, Lucas proposed farm hill amendments to end all government potato price supports until marketing quotas are established, has hit commercial potato growers right between the eyes, It even has the Department of Agriculture worried. Secretary of Agriculture Charles F. Brannan has been yelling for Congress to do something about the potato situation. But the fear is now that the Lucas proposal goes i fast and too far = It would put the government in “the. TORition of going back on its announced promises to sup port the 19850 crop of potatoes at 60 per cent of parity—or an average of $1.01 per bushel. The Lucas proposal could not affect 1950 potatoes already planted in the Southern states, But it might, of course. deny supports to Northern states where planting comes much later.

This would be discrimination which Northern

potato growers would naturally resent. Finally, the Lucas proposal would deny ali future price supports unless the commercial potato growers agreed to marketing quotas,

Marketing Agreements

AN important distinction here has to be made between what the Department of Agriculture refers to as marketing “agreements” and marketing “quotas. Marketing agreements cover only the pra and sacking of potatoes according to size and quality. About 85 per cent of the 1950 potato crop will be under marketing agreements. Their effect was to have only the top-grade potatoes go to market. 4 Marketing quotas, however, cover the quan tity production of potatoes. In order to bea! acreage allotments which the Department of

- Agriculture imposes as a condition to receiving

price supports, potato growers planted their Under marketing quotas, they would not be permitted to increase their yields in this way, Growers would have to limit their production to a specified number of bushels of potatoes they would market, in order to be eligible for price supports. r } The legal procedure for establishing marketing quotas is closely prescribed. The issue of

whether to impose quotas js submitted to com-

mercial potato growers for a vote. Two-thirds of the growers must vote in favor of quotas before they can be put in effect. Trying to forecast a timetable on how quotas

SIDE GLANCES

- NR —

‘can’t fail”

"of the 20,000 U,

could be imposed on 1950 potatoes shows what kind of trouble the government might be letting

itself in for if the Lucas proposals passed Con- .

gress. They are now in the form of riders to a bill amending cotton acreage limitations. Assume these amendments could be rushed through Congress by the end of February. It would then take two or three months for the Department of Agriculture to print ballots, distribute them,

have the farmers vote by mail ahd tabulate the

results.————

Quotas Too Late IT would thus be some time in May before the quotas could be calculated and assigned. By

that time nearly all U, 8. potatoes are planted. .

And, of course, there is dlways the risk that the quotas might be voted down by a third or more 8. commercial growers who planted three acres or more ‘in potatoes last year. Sen. Lucas’ interest in pushing through his proposal to end potato price supports unless quotas are imposed is, of course, well intentioned. It is aimed at ending quickly what has becom® a national scandal on potato price support payments. Illinois is not a major potato producing state. It had only about 1200 acres in Ce at potatoes last year—about 1 per cent of the U. total Illinois corn farmers, however, nave a genuine interest in this issue. If the potato price support thing gets any worse, the whole pricesupport program may be fndangered for all other crops,

‘uddling Through

IN view of objections from the National Poato Council—the growers’ trade association and Washington lobby —it is possible that the Lucas proposals will be toned down. They might be made to apply. to the 1851 crop, for instance. That would mean that the government would have to muddle through, somehow, under the present program for 1950, at a loss of $80 to $100 million. } What the Department of Agriculture is really afraid of is that if the potato rules are now changed in the middle of the crop year, it will undermine the farmers’ confidence in all other government promises. . The Lucas proposals would, however, take the department off a $100 million hook, and that might be the simplest solution for a sorry mess

By Galbraith

country. They let their fellow brothers freeze, but cry out for their brothers to feed them because they are starvinge-wiatymg with jobs open to them. 2 They get paid $70 or more for a five. day week, while thousands are still working for $25 to $35 a week. If such is organized labor, then it-would do the citizens of the United States well if Congress would do away with the Labor Relations fact-finding board and all laws that have given labor advantages. We condemn Mr. Hoover for a depression he had no control over, yet, we are in worse shape today than then and a disgraceful one at that. Plenty of work, yet, we want given to us at the expense of our brothers, food, clothing, etc. Let those who wish to starve, starve or go to work. I will not give to feed them and neither. will the farmers-of :this country. Miners have caused coal to go from $5 a ton delivered in 1936 to $17 a ton in" 1950. Yet today eggs, milk and pork are selling near 1936 level. That is the price farmers are getting. Let's cut out this civil war, deport undesirable aliens, cut out importation of D. P.s. We cannot feed them and put them on our welfare rolls. Let the miners get to mining or soon we

“Will bé an off consuming country: ———

‘Mercy Death Not Murder’

By E. S. Barber, City

A recent. article entitled Not Condoned” is pure drivel. What is the authority for calling it murder? Webster defines it “Unlawfully killing a human being with malice aforethought.” in his heart? Some of my friends quote, “Thou shalt not kill.” Why omit quoting ‘Blessed are the merciful, for they shall see God, '—“What doth the Lord require of thee but to do justly, to love mercy.” Also, “Do unto others as ve would that they should do-to you.” The weight ‘of public opinion is perhaps at present against mercy death. Great things move slowly and thinking is painful. It takes a long time ‘and much agitation to convince reactionaries that change is needed. How would any progress be made without it?

“Mercy Murder

‘Washington Ideal’ By Mrs. W. H. Thompson, City

Many mothers are wondering why the publie ‘school children.were not dismissed to commemorate the birthday of George Washington. We've never. had another statesman like him except Abraham Lincoln. The children shonld be impressed with Lincoir's service to his founiy

3180.

< Such -a man as Washington, whose

Surely intelligent people do not rt to be told how- important it is to keep such a national figure before the eyes of the American youth. integrity was above reproach, should be eulogized in the hearts and minds of the youth of this great country.

What Others Say—

EXCEPT for wartime emergencies, there has been no need for maintaining a reserve supply (of wheat) in excess of around 200 mil.

. lion bushels to meet all requirements even in

years-of short crops.—Frank K. Woolley, deputy” production and marketing administrator, U. 8. Department of Agriculture.

THE public is a for reves] of the anti-margarine laws and a little reflection should convince anyone that the laws are wrong in principle and constitute barriers to free trade and fair competition.—Sen. J. William Fulbright (D. Ark.).

BUSINESSMEN have raised their sights to the magnitude and lasting nature of post-war opportunities. They have shiken off most of their qualms over the readjustments that they surmounted last’ year. — Industrialist Henry Kaiser,

THE Soviet regime bases its rule entirely on fear . . . and the well-organized minority will remain in power until some outside force can shake it. —Dr. Vladimir Petrov, Yale University professor.

.WE would not be importing potatoes now if the Republicans and Farm Bureau-dominated coalition in Congress had not rejected the Pace Bill providing for a trial-run on the Brannan plan.—Rep. Cecil R. White (D. Cal.).

IRON CURTAIN ‘TRIALS’ . . . By Bruce Biossat

Reds’ False ‘Justice’

WASHINGTON, Feb. 27—The case of ‘Robert Vogeler, Amer--ican businessman who “confessed” spying and sabotage against “Hungary, should “provide final, “convincing instruction to free neoples on the nature of Communist “justice.” From evidence already in hand outside Hungary, there's little doubt his admissions of guilt were obtained through pressure

Had Dr. Sander malice

recognized the:

The wise lads, on the other hand, ean’t be bothered. They improvise. They decide certain

normal precautions aren't nec-

essary, particularly for the tough guys, About 50 of that sort are now—or have been—in hospitals with bad cases of frost bite and frozen feet. » 2. ” OVERALL, the Americans are .fairly well-clothed — with one zone of the human frame a single glaring exception. From the hips to the knees we are woefully unprotected. Even the experts admit it. They promise to do something about it. . The trousers and long underwear worn by most American

troops fit far too snugly. As a

result, cold bottoms, thighs and laps have become a major problem of comfort.

Let's dress for the military

maneuvers. You start with long undies. Uncle Sam provides two kinds — the tradi-tional-iong flannels which fit like -a glove, and a more ad-

vanced “pajama” type which billows and ruffles. That's important. It's .not

how much your clothing weighs —- although we've been packing

25 pounds—it'’s how many lay- -

ers are between you and the arctic air. Each additional lay-

_ er imprisons an insulating wall

of dead, warm al.

NFORTUN (ATEL Y, we have

— few ‘pajama-type . under-

. wears Those we have naturally

went to combat troops and not to reporters. We tried to solve

‘that by” wearing our pajamas.

That's not a satisfactory answer but it beats freezing. CIE AS J *ol-=ang it is—

: provide

you wear two pair. Then you wear a couple of wool shirts Hf-you-have them. On -top-of that you put a wool Knit sweater, then you draw og a pair of wool trousers. Over that a pair of baggy. cotton dungarees.. You envelop- all this in a pair of rubberized - all-weather pants.’ You've just started. To this you add a heavy windbreaker lined with rayon pile, Over that you drape a heavy fox - fur parka -with an additional

underneath the parka—you wear. an “arctic cap which covers the ears and the back of the neck. It too has a pile lining. . ~ o - YOUR heavy arctic gloves weigh two pounds. They're leather and fur on the outside and include two inner layers of wool mittens. You also wear a heavy wool scarf. The most important is yet to come-—your feet. You have your choice of several types of - footwear. The canvas muckluck — the least impressive

, looking—is the best. In it you

stuff two pairs of foot pads.

"On your feet you put two or

three pairs of heavy wool socks. Over that, you draw a felt boot weighing about one and a half pounds and then

‘put, on the muckluck. With all

that, you should be Teagy Hor the arctic. : - " Ld THE EXPERTS' job is to adequate protection

" with less weight. It's not easy.

In Operation Sweetbriar, the:

name for these maneuvers, nd Ad 2 a» LE V

COPR. 1960 BY NEA SERVICE, INC. T. M. REQ. U. §. PAT. OFF, — h

"Don't you thirk ‘you ought to go to bed a litte bit earlier, George? You know what that insurance man said about so

mary women outliving their husbands

radical experiments are being made. This operation is to test standard equipment. The . Canadians are much better equipped. For instance, they wear a knit-type underwear which looks like something grandmother used to crochet: » Each Canadian also carries a pint thermos-filled-with. hot tea or vofféee. We didn't think of that. We carry the same old canteens we used on Guadalcanal. It's water for us—if it doesn’t freeze. |

here?”

these days!"

Taking the clothing off also is a chore. It takes at least 15 minutes. But the man who

-wants to go home thinks twice before working up a sweat,

When he goes outside, the sweat freezes. It's° ‘hard to distinguish friend from foe in all arctic rigging. No one under-

stood that grim fact more than the little Canadian nurse whe — wept into her coffee last night: “What's the use of having a

figure if Wey. send you up

, they are.

this

and probably torture. His be- -

havior seems to resemble the abject resignation of Cardinal Mindszenty, his celebrated predecessor in the Hungarian ‘ourtroom.

THE whole free “world must surely know that “trial” is no Hitting word to describe these ridiculous parades of cowed defendants through Communist courts. Their patently phony confessions, their mutterings of regret over wrong-doing, ‘heir almost eager pleas for »unishment are all part of a standardized: propaganda ex1ibition. Any similarity between ‘these proceedings ‘and justice would be purely accidental. It's time, therefore, for free men to stop dignifying these shows as “trials” andto-call’ them what

. o o WHEN one of these con-

" trived performances is playing ‘fn a Communist courtroom,

our aim should be not to treat *it in Communist terms as a judicial affair but to analyze and proclaim its propaganda purposes.’ In Vogeler's case, the Reds’ objective would séem to he that old stand-by: keep the home folks in line, make them wil-

ling to endure hardship by con-

vincing them that foreigners really are” plotting against them. It's a pretty transparent device for quieting discontent, but our unoriginal Iron Curtain frienas never tire of using it.

A SECONDARY am is prob-

' ably to injure American prestige in Europe and the world by. demonstrating: that we're

: unable to protect a citizen who

gets into Vogeler's spot. The Chinese * Reds ‘were playing this angle when they. harassed Angus Ward, U. 8. “consular official. There’s even the prospect the Reds hope they will plant in European minds the notion this country is actually plotting war, and that hence its professions of peace intent aren't to be taken seriously. LJ ” INSOFAR as these Communist circuses involve American victims, one sure way to defeat their aim is to keep our citizens

“out of their range. Any Iron

Curtain country which shows any signs of drafting Americans for-star roles in a court room fantasy should be cut off from normal" U. 8. contact.

The course we have followed '

in severing diplomatic rela-

“and would not do another Kind of Work. Thelr ~~

tions with Bulgaria.ought now .

to be adopted toward Hungary. Neither nation can be trusted to accord protection to our citizens. z *. 88 . THE State Department always has justified maintain ing ties with Iron Curtain countries on- the ground they ve us excellent “listening

gl - posts” which keep us abreast

of Red activities: : - But- there i8 no sense in clinging to such posts when the Reds seize upon our most innocent activities, Vogeler's sending out of routine business reports, as evidence of “espionage. "yInformaa tion bought at the cost of se-

‘Tlous. propaganda. disadvan-

and personal tragedy 1s worth the. -price.

such as.

And

prowling The “You, T - Can

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