Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 22 September 1950 — Page 24
y The Indianapolis Times
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A SORIPPS-HOWARD NEWSPAPER >
HOWARD WALTER LECKRONE HENRY W. MANZ oY Bo Editor Business Manager
PAGE 24 Friday, Sept. 22, 1950
FHRRTAER
Telephone RI ley 5551 Give Light end the People Wil Fixe Thor Own Wey |
Trucks . . . and Indiana's Roads WE saw a huge trailer-truck on the road the other day with a sign across the back which read “this unit pays $1878 a year tax.” ! That's smart public relations and welcome news that at least some truck operators are becoming aware of the rising tide of sentiment against them. :
But it will take more than signs, and very likely more
than $1875 a year on a trailer unit, to even the score much of the industry has piled up against itself :
THAT tax agure, for example, seems like a large one.
Until you stop to consider that the average private family
sedan very likely pays $100 a year in taxes, when you count up license plates, personal property levy, gasoline tax, and so on. Then it doesn't seem like so much. Obviously a 10 or 12-ton trailer outfit which may be carrying 20 or 30 tons weight and operating 18 or 20 hours a day the year round is using 100 or 200 times as much pavement as the family ear, Governor Schricker was, as he usually is, forthright and fair in his approach to the problem before the Munieipal League this week. It is Indiana's biggest highway problem . . . and it ig the problem of every state in the nation. As he said, there is no desire to destroy this industry which is valuable, and in fact essential to the nation. It must, however, be made to bring its operations back within the bounds of reason, and it certainly should be made to pay its own way. As of today, with some outstanding exceptions of enlightened operators, the industry does neither.
® »5 » . =o» IN INDIANA, as elsewhere, loaded trucks ignore speed limits both inside and outside cities as a matter of course. Loading beyond legal weight limits is the common prac-
tice . . . and so widespread that almost a universal warning -
system exists to keep truck operators from being caught. When they are caught, and fined, the federal government has been paying most of the fine through the generosity of the Treasury Department, although there is some hint that this may stop, now that the remarkably
* sympathetic attitude of income tax bureaucrats has been
And a very high proportion of trucks on the highways are driven recklessly, in complete disregard of the rights and safety of others. : These are things the truck industry itself should be concerned about. In Pittsburgh it is, just now. Not long ago a truck overloaded to nearly double the legal limit, turned out also to have no brakes at the top of a hill. Fortunately only one man, legally driving his own car, was killed in the crash that followed. There could easily have been a dozen, if it had happened to be a school bus that got in the way. ‘So now there is a concerted campaign in that area, with truck owners, drivers, and police all co-operating, to bring loads back to legal limits and speeds back to reasonable rates. 3 :
¥ ~ “ ~ » " THE appalling cost of Indiana highways destroyed is » » almost wholly . . . by trucks, is only one of the ills the industry needs to cure. : Clearly the answer to overloading is not raising the weight limits . . . which the truck lobby asks of the legislature each session. Nor is'it putting higher taxes on private autos, another project the industry at least has never yet opposed. In order to pay their own way trucks must carry smalier loads, and pay higher feea than they do at present. We trust Gov. Schricker will make that as plain to the legislature next January as he did to the Municipal League this week. :
Reminder 'to the French THE four-year-old revolt against French rule in IndoChina has shown signs of becoming another major war jn the Far East. : It is led by the Moscow-trained Ho Chi Miith, whose “immediate objective-is to drive the French out of northern Indo-China. The French say his well-armed fresh troops have been equipped and trained in Communist China. It is too early to be certain whether this is a Moscowinspired ‘effort to take the heat off Korea by opening a second front in Asia. But military observers ever since the outbreak in Korea have speculated that this might be the case, with the Chinese Reds eventually invading Indo-China, if necessary. rh » ~ Ld » ~ THE French, regardless of the fact that we still have our hands full in Korea, and apparently thinking of nobody but themselves, want our help, but fast. : Jules Moch, French defense minister, arrived in New York for a meeting with British Defense Minister Shinwell and U. 8. Defense Secretary Marshall in a conference called solely to lay the groundwork for early formation of a West ern European Army. But, Paris reports, Mr. Moch will raise entirely different issues by arguing (1) that the United States must speed up promised arms aid to Indo-China; (2) that Red China should be recognized, to deter her from taking part in the Indo-China war, and (3) that the United States must intervene with troops, as in Korea, if Ho Chi Minh géts too
.< much for the French.
a. 8 8 ¥ ALL THIS on top of the fact that France, while refusing to build up her own army, has been instrumental in
~ balking the creation of an effective Germany army, which
might také some of the load off our defense commitments in Europe. : : And the fact, now obvious, that we stepped off on the wrong foot when we choose to support the weak Nationalist gime of Bao Dai in Indo-China thereby losing face with of Asiatics. =p : Moreover, we've already been sending srms and supplies
to Indo-China—possibly in exesss of our safe ability —as
The French need to be reminded of some of these
Xi & A oh x 3
AN EDITORIAL . .".
SEN. TAFT should thank W. Averell Harriman and John L. Lewis for unintentional but probable valuable aid to his Ohio campaign for re-election. Mr. Harriman, special assistant to the
President, addressed the AFL convention
at Houston in behalf of the Truman administration. He denounced Sen. Taft as one who should be ousted from Congress for advocating policies which, according to Mr. Harriman, would have furthered “Communist objectives” and “the designs of the Kremlin.” . This descent to partisan mud-slinging won't enhance Mr. Harriman's usefulness as a co-ordinator of foreign policy. It has the added demerit of inviting reprisal on the same low level. For example; : The New York Daily Worker, mouth-
DEAR BOSS . . . By Dan Kidney Capehart Maps Labor Stand
Senator's Proposed Changes
In Law Not Same as Taft's WASHINGTON, Sept. 22—Dear boss—“Politics should not enter into labor relations.” That direct quotation is from the speech which Sen. Homer E. Capehart (R. Ind.) put into the Congressional Record on June 30, 1949, just before he voted for the Taft amendments to the Taft-Hartley law. The Senator, in his re-election campaign, is pointing with pride to that speech. Now that he has joined with Republican congressional candidate, Charles B. Brownson, Indianapolis, in recommending 26 changes in the Taft-Hartley law, that speech becomes important. : As the Senator reportedly sald most of these changes have had the approval of Sen. Robert A. Taft (R. O0.), co-author of the original bill and author of the amendments, both of which the senior Senator from Indiana supported. The Taft okay is a quantitative one, however, For he certainly never has approved restoration of the closed shop, secondary boycotts for “farmed out” work, hiring halls, elimination of mandatory injunctions and the checkoff.
Closed Shop Changes
YET these are changes which Sen. Capehart supposedly supports in the joint statement with Mr. Brownson which was circulated among Indiana AFL convention delegates in Indianapolis. The distribution was handled by the Labar Division of the Republican State Committee. Speaking in Martinsville, Sen. Capehart recalled this paragraph from his June 30, 1949,
“The matter of civsed shop should be left entirely to the discretion of the employer and employee. If both management and labor desire a closed shop that should be their privilege.” When the Taft forces in the Senate beat down the amendment permitting the closed shop, Sen. Capehart voted against them. But then he turned around and supported the Taft amendments and thus made both sides angry at the time. Sen. William E. Jenner (R. Ind.) voted with the Taft forces all the way. Both he and Sen. Taft were puzsied by Sen. Capehart’s change of front, since he had been an original backer of the Taft-Hartley law.
Limited Closed Shop Plea
IN the June 30, 1949, speech which was prepared after sending an SOS to the office of AFI, President William Green, Sen. Capehart limited the closed shop plea to craft unions. He would not include the industrial unions, such as make up the CIO. Here is what he said: “I honestly believe that a closed shop works to the decided advantage of those businesses engaged in the kind of business which requires skilled help. j “I am equally opposed to the closed shop in those businesses where the union has what is commonly known as a ‘plant-wide’ union-—-a better description of them might be a union where all employees of a plant, including the Janitors on up, belong to the same union.” Applying this logic to his own concern, the Packard Manufacturing Co., Indianapolis, the Senator wouldn't want a closed shop contract there. * Capital, labor and management ail are equally important to the U. 8. system of production, Sen. Capehart said. He warned that unless fighting among each other stopped, the government would take over. : “Once we all work for the government,” he sald, “we will find that the worst private in Susiry boss iz better than the best governmental sn. ’ 2 .
REDS ENCOURAGED . . . By George Weller
No Help from Italy
ROME, Sept. 22--American officials have. apparently decided to let Italy get away with sending nothing of its vast manpower resources to ease our shortage of soldiers in Korea.
No protest, official or unofficial, will be made against Italy's failure to offer even token forces, it is, intimated in American
Critics May Be He
piece of the Kremlin in this country, is now screaming for a veto of the pending Communist-eontrol bill. If Mr. Truman does veto that bill, after huge majorities of both parties in Congress have voted for it, he will surely have courageous reasons which he sincerely be-
Push BuHon Politics
ping Sen. Taft's Campaign for Re-election
lieves to be based on sound American principles. Let's hope no Republican would yield to temptation to follow Mr. Harriman’s unwise example and accuse the
President of furthering a “Communist
objective.” yy RE Mr. Lewis, on a different tack, warned
By Talburt
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SENATE INQUIRY . . . By Douglas Larsen Two Mysteries in Crime Probe
WASHINGTON, Sept. 22—There are two big mysteries behind organized crime in the U. 8. today which continue to defy solution by the best criminal investigators in the country. Although in the few months of its existence the special State Committee investigating organized crime in the U., 8. has done an outstanding job of exposing various rackets, its investigations have only made the two big mysteries more intriguing. - Mystery No. 1 concerns the notorious Mafia, its membership, influence and shadowy operations. Mystery No. 2 concerns the real -control of * the Continental Press Service which supplies the racing news to bookies all over the U. 8. The Mafia, or Black Hand, has its roots in Italy. In Napoleon's time the rich Bicilian landowners created it as a sort of private police force to keep the peasants in line.
Powerful Organization
IT GREW into such a powerful lawless organization, the whole Italian government had to get.in the fight to try to énd its reign of terror. This scattered its members to the U. 8. and other countries. Off and on for more than 50 years the organization has been in and out of American crime headlines. A special Senate Committee agent was sent to Italy to look into ‘possible connections between the Italian Mafia and criminal operations in the U. 8. He recently returned and cautiously reported that the subject was worth further study. His detailed report to the committee on what he found is being kept secret. It has been sald that Lucky Luciano, convicted and deported head of a big narcotics and white slavery ring, is the world head of the gang. Others claim that the true brains is
+ someone, as yet unidentified, with no official
criminal record. . Certain patterns of action—-in legitimate businesses as well as In organized criminal ac-
SIDE GLANCES
tivities—point to control by the Mafia in other spots around the nation. Certain key names which have been linked with the Mafia keep cropping out in investigations in widely separated cities. They could add up to a sort of super crime syndicate, but the final clinching evidence which would expose the leaders and send them to jail always seems to be just beyond the grasp of investigators. :
Mystery Unsolved : THERE IS no known link between the Mafia and the Continental Press Service, the source of all racing news which is the cornerstone of bookie operations in the U. 8. But the mystery of its operation is almost as profound. Its head is in Cleveland. The sole, legal owner of its physical properties is a young law student, Edward J. McBride, who apparently does not know much about his company’s operation. Long and bloody gang wars have been fought over its control in the past but today the issue seems to be settled. In fact, it's the very peaceful, routine operation of the service which is the most suspicious thing about it, according to investigators. A
bookie can't operate without its services. Yet -
there is fighting and gang strife among" the big gamblers about control of other phases of the bookmaking racket. But the Continental Press Service now goes serenely on about its business of. reporting up-to-the-second race track activities all over the country without becoming embroiled in the side activities of the business.
Agreement of Bosses AT SOME LEVEL, the experts point out, there must be an agreement among the big bosses as to what group or gang of crooks gets
the service in a locality. If the goods could be gotten on the men at
‘this level, it is claimed, the back of the fantas-
tically profitable gambling racket in this country could be broken. .
By
Ohio coal operators not to let Sen. Taf§ enter their mines and talk to the miners. That, of course, was a typical Lewis way of telling his union’s members to strike if Mr. Taft tries to speak in a coal mine— something he had announced no inten-
" tion of doing.
Many voters in Ohio, as in other
. states, are likely to resent attempted dic-
tation of their political affairs by outsiders, whether administration spokesmen or union bosses. They are particularly likely to react against such dictation by Mr, Lewis. ely But if Mr. Lewis has made votes for Sen. Taft by this snide display of hatred for the Taft-Hartley Act's co-author, it won't be-the first time such help has been given. Even more than the Ohio Senator, John L. Lewis, his arrogant abuses of power and his ruthless disregard for public rights are responsible for making
"the Taft-Hartley Act the law of the land,
OOS ER = NCORLM
"| do not agree with a word that you say, but | will defend to the death your right to say it.
‘Curb Chinese Issue’ By F. M., Indianapolis. : Y You do not have to be very bright to know what will happen to our boys in Korea if the Chinese Communists decide to march in from the north. The very last thing on earth we want is for the Chinese Communists to be induced to intervene by Russia or provoked to do so by some action of the United States. That is why it is so difficult for me to understand why the Republicans keep dragging this Chinese issue back and forth in press and om the radio. They feel it is good campaign material, I know, but there is such a thing as good common sense and they are not showing much of it. I was ashamed of Sen. Jenner's vicious attack on Gen. Marshall last week. If this is a sample of their statesmanship, I am not buying any this fall. : * ¢ ¢ IN connection with the China affair, it has always seemed to me, American thinking im some sections was getting a little out of line. America opposes aggression anywhere in the world, but that does not give us any legal or moral right, to interfere in the internal affairs of other nations. We may not like the Chinese Communists. I do not like them, but if that is what the Chinese people want, then that is their business and not ours. It does not become any of our business until and unless these Communists in China march against another nation, or enter foreign territory for refuge and bases, I do not claim to know what the Chinese people want—Communists or Nationalists, I do not know if anyone does know for sure for the Chinese people have not been consulted about anything for years. Common sense tells me, however, that when thousands upon thousands of soldiers surrender en masse, commanders and arms, to the other side, something is very wrong with their side. They evidently did not have much to lose by changing sides. pt
BUT whatever the argument about China, the important thing right now, is to localize the Korean War and not expose our boys to any more military might. I feel the name China should disappear from the news entirely until the Korean victory is won, for that reason. And for our own sakes, I hope we do not get too nosey in other nation's affairs for no one has given us the right to run the world any more than any other nation.
‘Merge Trolley Lines’ By W. J. Rice, 432 W, 42d St., Indianapolis. Now that the street railway is planning to reroute many of its lines, now would be a good
.time to consolidate the Illinois and College car lines. The College car could use the tracks
‘on Illinois St. from downtown to 34th St. This would do away with streetcars downe town, except on Illinois St, and most of the safety islands could be removed. Traffic could then move much better. A bus line could operate on College Ave, as far north as 34th St. to serve people on the old College line. Another way to speed up traffic downtown would be to put up “no turn” signs in the area bounded by Ohio, Illinois, Washington and Pennsylvania Sts. These should prohibit all turns from 6 a.m. to 6 p. m. Motorists making turns in this area endanger pedestrians and block traffic while waiting for a chance to turn. Motorists going through this area should go straight through and make their turn after passing the congested area. The portable “No Turn” signs the police now have would not be necessary.
Galbraith NAVAL GUNNERY ... By Jim G. Lucas
Hitting the Target WITH THE U. 8. MARINES, Sept. 22—The accuracy of oug naval guns supporting the Marines on land is unbelievable. For instance, the case of the 200 Korean Reds. The Marines . had by-passed them on the way to Seoul. 80 the Reds spent their time shooting at convoys and generally acting as if they didn’t know they were trapped. That kind of activity. is called nuisance
embassy quarters. The Italian failure to provide either volunteers "or regulars, In effective or in token - numbers, has encouraged and strengthened the Communists here. This policy of isolation from effective help in the Korean War is one Communist leader Palmiro Togliatti’ has long demanded. i ~ ~ y THE American consent in this and spiritual help to . the United Nations but nobody Italian to do any fighting—is based on accepting the basic Italian excuse. This excuse is “we are not members of the United Nations, and therefore we do not have to fight anywhere except in support of our own borders.” The authorities here recognize that troops—any kifid of troops, in any numbers are needful to save American lives in Korea and to broaden the democratic front there.
~ » » ONE diplomat even said to me: “I am sure that Italy would be willing to give men if it were asked. But it just has not been asked.” The reason why Italy had not been asked to provide men from its-quarter-miilion strong army, it was explained, is because such an invitation had to come from the United Nations, not from the United
- States.
The reason why the United Nations had not sent such an
invitation to Italy it was said, was because the other ;:
Italian doctriné—moral
American diplomatic:
- powers had not agreed that
(asperi . notion of r ‘ing international sacrifices.
wt
[isolationist
Italy’s participation “needed.”
was
~ » ” . A- CLEAR precedent for a
request to Italy for help, from the United Nations already exists. The United Nations asked Italy early this year to take over the United Nations trusteeship in ex-Italian Somaliland. - Italy not only accepted the bid—despite the Soviet veto which keeps it from United Nations membership—but sent several thousand well-armed troops to Somaliland. . =» & : IN SOME Nationalist Ttalian quarters the view prevails that Italy has an excellent chance, given the war in Korea, to
prove its worthiness for United
Nations membership by offering men. These Nationalists, who have already slammed the door on appeasing Russia, say that the Premier De Gasperi’s Christian - Democrafic ment is letting down its own ideals
- by dodging its international
responsibilities behind a Soviet veto. 8 8 HOWEVER, with the strong and anti-war
spirit Italy—wh in 25 years has never been 80 the risks of Italy into the Korean war without any kind of outside request bulk large. The Communist “peace campaign” has diverted the De government from any
But a United Nations re-
. -
in all classes in
or shar-
x
2 COPR. 1950 BY NEA SERVICE, IN0. 7. M. REC. U. 8. PAT. OFF. “I'm afraid of a nervous breakdown—Polly has been so dejected about those Russians at the United Nations
quest, rightly couched as a test
of Italy's sincere will to ab- -
jure totalitarianism. and to fight - , would be an . easier on which the
timid Christian Democrats might cross to the same
. of responsibility they t
so eagerly in Somal
"ITALY will do nothing unless Skel and asked 1y. With rican_economic help
y— r. i
meeting on television!"
pouring in at the rate of $26
millions a month, plus hun-
dreds of thousands in arms aid, its major debt is to the United States. But the United States is too
J
fire but it can be mighty uncomfortable.
» » oTHE Marine colonel didn’t want to send in a company to clean out the pocket It
would take too much time and .
delay the advance. So he: called for naval gunfire. A cruiser off Inchon started lobbing five and eightinch shells into the enemy pocket.
Our men walked or drove -
around the area in complete unconcern as the shells fell. The enemy soldiers who weren't killed were kept in their holes. They stopped making nuisances of themselves, which was what the -colonel wanted. | ” » ” 3 A COLONEL who had asked a carrier 11 miles away to fire on an enemy troop concenfration reported that the first salvo was right on the target. They're not always that
» good, of course. Every salvo
has its dispersion pattern. Some fall short and some go
‘been better than anything anyone here saw In the last war.
Lr THE shooting score of one
“of our cruisers reads:
At 1:30 p, m. fire was called for on Red defensive positions on Kimpo at a distance of 12% miles. Nine rounds were fired.
large caliber.” -
but the shooting has .
looking and north of Kimpe where “the enemy is well dug in, many guns, 20 mm, te
» - TWENTY rounds were fired from 13 miles away. At 3:55 p. m. spotter planes reported “gunfire destroyed caves, trenches and large and small
: caliber guns.” :
From 6:08 p. m. until 8:25,
-81 eight-inch shells (weighing
285 pounds each) were thrown
13 miles into another en
troop concentration. We had to wait for daylight to check on. the results, The troops were dead or dispersed, their guns: wrecked. . # » . THE next day at 8:40 a. m. we upped our sights to nearly 16 miles on more enem troops. By 9:25 we had fired 1 rounds. The targets—caves and dug-in positions -— were destroyed. We dropped our sights to 14 miles at 10:30 a. m. and fired 13 rounds in 25 minutes. Same result. At 5:25 p. m. we six eight-inch shells more than 13 miles into the Kimpo pum station. Result: position neu
» » . AT 7:30 p. m. we fired 10 shells into . enemy positions 1415 miles away. Twenty-four
minutes later they had been . destroyed. bic ~The next day between 10
a.m. and 10:12 we fired 12
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