Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 23 December 1950 — Page 10

Telephone RI ley 555) Give I40hs ond the People Will Find thew Own Wey

Merit System Is the Answer JERIOUS errors found this week in records of the Indiana ** Motor License Bureau, if permitted to continue long, would disrupt the whole traffic safety program in the state. . Obviously, prompt and thorough action will have to be taken to correct these errors and get the bureau back on an efficient basis.

~The license record system, installed more than three

years ago, was declared a model for that kind of filing and was given an efficiency award by the National Safety Council. : .

- . . n nr - CONSTANT personnel changes throughout the department on a largely political “spoils” basis has made the handling of these records careless. : Experts who have studied conditions have proposed establishment of a merit system for the License Bureau as the: only way to build up a permanent, qualified staff to handle the highly technical job of keeping these records accurate. The answer to most of the license recording mess is passage of a bill in the legislature to set up a merit system for qualified personnel instead ‘of the haphazard custom of firing the whole staff every two years whena new Secretary of State is elected.

Defense of Europe

APPARENTLY replying to Herbert Hoover's speech, ‘Robert P. Patterson, former Secretary of War, asserted that those who advise a withdrawal of United States force to the Western Hemisphere are giving “counsel of discouragement, despair and defeat.” Mr. Patterson then made the startling statement that “the chances are ‘at least even” that Russia will start war next year. : Would we have any choice but withdrawal if that happened? - - Mr. Hoover proposed withdrawing to the Western Hemisphere only if our European Allies refuse to do their part in an adequate effort to arm against the Russian threat. He said: F ” ” » » » . “TO WARRANT our further aid they should show they have the spiritual strength and unity to avail themselves of their own resources. But it must be far more than pacts, conferences, paper promises and declarations. Today it must express itself in organized and equipped «combat divisions of such huge numbers as would erect a sure dam against the Red flood.” Anything less would make an eventual American withdrawal from Europe inevitable. The 250 million people : hers who share our ideals will be no help if they won't ght. : : The Brussels “rearmament” conference has just ended, and the first reaction reported in Paris is one of satisfaction that the United States is willing for the Schuman coal and iron merger program to have priority over German rearmament. That means indefinite postponement of German rearmament, despite the pending talks with the Bonn government, For the coal and iron merger will not get Germany's serious attention until next spring, when such

questions as conflicts with the Allied decartelization, and

obstacles presented by existence of the International Authority for Ruhr Industries must be settled. » ~ » » " » USE OF German manpower is considered one of the essentials for a successful defense of Western Europe. Yet an implied gentlemen's agreement to go slow on German rearmament is hailed in Paris as a victory for France. Such complacency, in the face of grave warnings by men like Mr. Patterson of the danger of Russian attack “Xannot” fail to undermine American confidence ‘in. our European alliances. : * When. the French and even the British are not: stirred to determined action by a threat which is nearer to them ‘than to us, Americans are compelled to consider the

alternatives available to them if Europeans won't defend themselves. :

The UN and Christmas

IN OBSERVANCE of Christmas, supposed to be the season of peace on earth and good will toward men, the United Nations is taking it easy the next three or four days. The United Nations has a huge stockpile of good will. : The staff of 3000 took yesterday off because it had to work on Armistice Day, Nov. 11. That was about the time when the United Nations was toying with the idea of branding the Chinese Reds “open and notorious aggressors,” a matter since forgotten, The staff will report back to work Tuesday. mT Principal matter now pending before the United Nations is an ardent wish that the Chinese Reds will consent to a cease-fire arrangement. The Reds have called the proposal a “trap,” and refused to discuss Korea unless Formosa and other items were taken up. The United Nations is now seeking to reassure Peking, saving that it positively was not a trap and that truce negotiations surely would be followed by talks on other Far Eastern questions, implying Formosa. = » » » . - ~~ THOUGH the United Nations has all but shut up shop for the holidays, the General Assembly Political Committee is standing by, waiting for a fuller report from the truce Committee. Meanwhile, in Korea, in-new defensive positions gouth of the 38th Parallel, the United Nations forces are apprehensively waiting for a full-scale offensive by several hundred thousand Chinese Red troops. _: Wu, the Chinese Red spokesman who was received gh dignity and honor in United Nations circles, is on his

One more thing: The United Nations is hurrying to ; temporary quarters at Lake Success. It t of the Sperry ope Co., which

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World Supply Can't Ho To Fill All the Needs WASHINGTON, Dec. 23—For consumers, the outlook on wool and lamb prices couldnt be much bleaker. Both wool and lamb prices are now at their highest points in history. And experts can see little chance, short of a d e pression, for a price decline. for several years to come. The odds are

higher, unless the govern. ment steps in with a direct consumer sub-

used on milk during World War IL

wool supply is so tight that it's down to the backs of the sheep that are growing it. And on lamb chops and leg of lamb, the situation is that we simply don’t have enough sheep in this country to produce all the lambs people would like to eat. It will take years to increase the domestic lamb supply. When you eat lambs, of course, you get less wool. Agriculture experts believe the coming Jan. 1 estimate of numbers of sheep on U, 8. farms will show that the long decline in sheep population has been halted. But it takes years to rebuild sheep herds. And, even though lamb and wool prices are up to levels never dreamed of by most sheep-

men, cattle prices are such that a farmer can

still make as much money raising cattle as sheep. Furthermore, cattle raising is a lot easier, Sheep require more labor, particularly during lambing time, Also, sheep are more subject to disease. Rebuilding of U. 8. sheep herds, which is expected to get under way next year, will start from about 21 million breeding ewes, a figure

45 per cent below tne number of breeding ewes ,

on U, 8, farms and ranches in 1942. Experts estimate it will take at least five years to build up U. 8. sheep population to the 1942 level, Sheep numbers have been declining because farmers in the past few years could make more money raising cattle. Now, it is believed, high prices for lambs and wool will cause a slow rebuilding of herds. Some big U. 8. livestock men have been studying the possibility of importing breeding ewes from Australia and New Zealand and two shipments already have been brought in. But special boats are required and shipping costs are expensive. :

Errors in Judgment

THE STORY on wool is one of errors in judgment by both the U. 8. and British governments. During World War II, the U. 8. and Britain were the only markets for wool in the world and both countries acquired huge supplies. The U. 8. stockpile at the end of the war amounted to more than 500 million pounds (more. than three years' production at current rates). Both the British and U. 8. governments thought it would take them years to get rid of their stockpiles. So they were eager to sell. What they overlooked was the enormous demand for wool from Europe, which had been shut off from wool for years, and the fact that wool-spinning machinery in Belgium and France had been hardly damaged by the war. Both stockpiles disappeared fast as the world con-

sumed wool for several years at a rate of 15 to

25 per cent above production. The U. 8. currently is consuming wool at an estimated annual rate of between 410 and 440 million pounds. U. 8. wool production is only about one-fourth our production rate. We must import the rest. U. 8. sheep producers are now getting prices squivalent to 138 per cent of parity (the socalled fair price) for both their lambs and wool.

THINGS OF GOD

THE trees and flowers . . . grass and sky ois the beauteous waterfall . .. are products of the handicraft . . . God fashions for us all , . . the birds that fly on gentle air . . . the fertile earthen sod... are but a few of all the wonders given us by God , . , the moon and stars that light out way ... and sunlight beaming bright . are miracles God made to show . . . His power and His might , . . when raindrops fall remember too... our Master let them go . and who but our dear God on high . . . could dress the world with snow . . . no man-made

= nasterplece. conld take. .....the. place of things

like these . .. for they are made by God above + + + Who fashions them with ease.

-—By Ben Burroughs

BIG MONEY . . . By Peter Edson U. S. Ready to Smack ' | Income Tax Evaders

WASHINGTON, Dec. 23—With still higher taxes inevitable, the U. 8. Treasury has been doing some checking up on tax evaders. The purpose is to see if a few more dollars for defense

couldn’t be collected this hard way,

Over 52 million returns have been filed in each of the last few years, 1t's impossible to do more than a superficial audit on

them all. Common belief has been that only the big income returns were checked carefully, but this is said to be not so. All returns which show certain tell-tale signs of deliberate fraud or incorrect report- 2 ing are given a close scrutiny.. Experience over the years has taught income tax examiners where to look for evasions and how to spot them, ; Recently, however, the Treasury realized that it needed a more scientific method for selecting a small number of returns for close audit. As described by Assistant Secretary of Treasury John 8. Graham, this resulted in an “Audit Control Program.”

- - ~ FIRST step was a scientific sampling method which turned up 162,000 out of a whole year's returns. Those returns which were selected for audit were picked by number, without any knowledge of who the taxpayers were, or how much tax they had paid. The most surptising discovery of all was that one out of every four individual income tax returns audited was + Lodul by $2 or more in tax lability. In other words, 13

their income.

prices Will go

sidy program such as was

. The worlds

In other words, these errors must have lost the government about $1.3 billion, since the average understatement on - the returns checked was $114.

THE OTHER side of the picture is that the 10 per cent, or the 1.3 million individuals who overstated their income contributed $00 million that the government wasn't entitled to. On the returns with errors, 4 per cent were simple mistakes in arithmetic, with no fraud intended. cent, however, made mistakes in claiming exemptions, 25 per cent claimed deductions they were not legally entitled to, and more than 50 per cent made mistakes in reporting

Examples of mistakes made

REE nevis -

CONGRESS . . . By Charles Lucey

Stockpiles Are the Big Question

WASHINGTON, Dec. 23—A Congress, deeply resentful of administration fumbling in building up stockpiles of strategic materials, will vote another couple billion dollars shortly to try to repair the damage, : Congressmen studying the critical materials story say that under newly appointed John D. Small, Munitions Board Chairman, the government’s stockpiling program {is at last be-

ginning to roll. But they say it is coming very

late, and that although improvements are noted in the supplies of some basic resources, the United States is dangerously shy in many others. ; : For obvious reasons it is inadvisible to disclose’ figures, but many of the tightest spots occur in little-known materials. Columbite, for example, a material able to resist intense heat in jet-engine planes, is vital. Recently we had less than one-fifth of goal requirements on hand. Corundum is an abrasive used for grinding lenses and steels. As of recent date we had only a picayune percentage of the set goal. Mica, vital for insulating and important to defense in innumerable places, was built up to only about one-fifth of needs recently,

Another in Short Supply KYANITE, another strategic material, was in extremely short supply. Manganese, rubber, tin, copper and other materials have been stockpiled in much smaller amounts that is demanded by today’s new push for greater war output.

Three factors are given for past slackness

in building the stockpile: : - ONE: The. acknowledged difficulties of buying abroad, including reluctance of other governments to part with strategic materials, trade restrictions, and competition both of foreign nations and businesses. TWO: U. 8. industry has been chewing up materials at a record rate. Congressmen criticize the Munitions Board for not moving in more aggressively up to now and grabbing a greater share of available supplies. THREE: Bureaucratic bungling. The government's stockpile is pegged on needs for a five-year war. But in only about a dozen of 64 materials do we have a five-year supply. Even these goals were fixed just for U.S. consumption during wartime—and now Great Britain, France and other Allies are telling us

-théy must have help in making munitions for a

combined Western European armed force. Britain has complained recently that U. 8. stockpiling has caused her to face material shortages threatening important British industries. Both British and ,French stockpiles in some imprtant items range from meager to

recent talks with Prime Minister Clement Attlee,

promised the U. 8. would do what it ‘could to

help out Britain.

-SIDE GLANCES

Sixteén per

7-23

-- SIMPLE honesty results in ‘many leads to. the Treasury on {income tax violations. There bragging po hi he had defrauded the government

COM. 1950 BY.NEA SERVICE. M0. . "No wonder he looks successful—he owes more money than any other man in town!" i a TU

was the case of a Quaker who, ;

full

CONGRESSIONAL committees have been building a fire under the administration for months in an effort to get faster results in stockpiling. A House Appropriations Subcommittee headed by Rep. Albert Thomas (D. Tex.) and Senate Armed Forces Subcommittees headed by Senators Lyndon Johnson (D. Tex.) and Lester Hunt (D. Wyo.) have ridden herd on officials. The strategic value of the stockpile was emphasized by Rep. Albert Gore (D. Tenn.), House Appropriations Committee member who has followed the program closely, in this statement: “If worst comes to worst our stockpile, inadequate though it is, represents the best security the free world has.” Mr. Gore is urging a much tougher, moére aggressive attitude by the munitions board in competing against private industry for scarce critical materials, arguing that it is vastly more important to curtail certain civilian goods than

to bungle the job of getting greater arms pro

duction. : Further Communist thrusts in Southeast Asia, Mr. Gore points out, would endanger vitally needed U, 8. imports of tin, rubber, manganese and other critical materials,

VIEWS ON THE NEWS

By DAN KIDNEY

WHAT we and our Western Allies need are some boots that you can't shiver in. :

Civilized men used to condemn savages who used poisoned arrows, but today we would be glad to settle for that.

Instead of those parking lot shelters for cities, maybe we should be building an underground spear factory.

An illuminated globe makes a comforting Christmas gift. You can wake up at night and see if the world is still here.

About the best thing to teach a growing boy is how to be a guerrilla.

A lot of new Congressmen got elected because they asked the right questions. Finding the answers will be more difficult.

Who would have thought that Harry 8. Tru-

man would turn out to be our leading man of letters. : “5 Gi

What Others Say— IF ever a time imposed a test, not alone of strength, but of character, upon our people, this is the time. : : —Secretary of State Den Acheson.

the greatest investment anyone can make. —President Horace Hull of Hull ‘Dabbs.Co., on profit sharing... ...

Bv Galbraith

weeks. Production

Delaware.

oN uch

under the Commerce Department’'s National Production Authority, and manpower control offices, under the Labor Department’s office of Defense Manpower, will come later. Regional offices for all four defense agencies will be established in the same cities.

NEW YORK CITY will be

headquarters for region two, which will include New York ‘State and New Jersey. The third region, with headquarters in Philadelphia, will consist of Pennsylvania and

Richmond will be headquarters of region four, which “will include the District of Columbia, West Virginia, ' Maryland and North Carolina. . Tennessee will be in the of womens’

A “BOP ON THE HEAD" is no worse than the kind of destructive criticism leveled at the Guardian's Home by some of Irvington's disgruntied residents.” We expect headlong. upthinking response from a provoked child. But from an adult we look for a more logical, ve reaction. . ; fhe Guardian's Home has problems. No doubt about that. Yet, if those who are standon ‘the outside throwing stones and shout-

*

derstaffed, underpaid group of Home ‘workers has succeeded in’ doing with the “bulging family” of all ages (20 are boys from the ages of 12 to 16), they would come away wondering, “How do they it” If the from the Home were not singled out as “orphans” by the families of Irvington, they would fit in more naturally to the pattern of the community. These children

~sspecially want to feel that they belong. They

have so often felt the sting of “not being wanted,” that they are suspicious of anyone who does not go out of his way to be friendly. Suspicion leads to fear, and fear to all kinds of delinquent behavior. : . > o> ¢ THE critics of the Home may well take the example offered by one kind woman in the neighborhood who has used honey (not gall) to win over one boy (not long ago known as “a real problem”), Every afternoon when school

——1s out this boy stops by Aunty's house (all the

boys from the Home call her “Aunty”) for a glass of milk and some bread and jam. Sometimes she sews a button on a well-worn jacket or mends a hole in the knee of his cords. In return, he runs errands and helps clean up the front yard. Aunty is only a neighbor, but she has played an important role in building up a boy’s character, Those who are willing to do something about the condition of the children at the Guardian's Home can offer their services to the Guild that tries to provide for some of the material and social needs of the children. Or they may just be friendly enough to offer a kind word with a smile instead of the “expected”

growl, : Criticism can prove its worth, not if it tears

down, but only if it bullds up.

‘We Drivers Want Justice’ By M. C.D, City ~~ THIS is what happened to me evening when I was parking my car in a prohibited parking zone. It was in the 3500 block on E. Michigan 8t., 5:30 p. m. The officer wore Badge No. 2071. The charge against me wa violating a No Parking 4:30 to 6:00 p. m. sign. I admit I was parking in the area. I never noticed whether the sign says such or not, but it seems it doesn’t do any good to tell ~ an officer of the law that. . It just seems they think it is an alibi. ; But here is the part that gets me. There was another car parked almost bumper to bumper with me in front. « This was not only parked in this same zone, but was parked in a bus zone also. The car had Georgia license plates on it. The policeman told him to move on and he did. 5 ® * ©

HE TURNED the corner and pared on a street that was O. K. to park on. Then the cop came back to me and started to write a summons for me to appear in court. I then asked him why he didn’t give this man in the other car a ticket. The officer replied. “He was from out of town,” - . . Now does anybody suppose that TI could go down in Georgia and do the same and get by with it? Go out of the state and try it. Tell them you're from Indiana and didn’t see the No Parking sign. ;

I suppose by my living in Indianapolis I am .

supposed to know every sign on every street. I believe this person that was driving this car had good eyesight. He could have read the sign as well as I could have, especially the bus _ zone sign. * : : I violated one of the laws of this city and I will pay the fine, if any, but is this justice?

wv Help the Aged By A Reader Speaking of high cost of living— Who is hit harder than the elderly people over the country in a general way, especially those on a fixed or limited income. For instance, those who are dependent solely on old age assistance, when you take into consideration an income of $50 per month to pay rent, buy food and clothing and other incidentals, The writer suspects if the parties who set the limit on amount of old age assistance had to exist on the meager amount the old people are supposed to live on under present conditions they would have another big think coming.

. is It appears that it’s time for the coming leg- . “Fimost nonexistent: “President-"Truman; in his THINK-an-investment-in human-beings-is-—islature i

“to-begin-to think of -the-elderly-once again by voting an increase in allowance. Give the old people a break—make it $100

DEFENSE . . . By John Cramer Production, Control Regions Scheduled

WASHINGTON, Dec..23—Thirteen regional offices will be set . up throughout the country to handle defense production, price, wage and manpower controls. 5 : - Wage and price control offices, under the Economic Stabilization Agency, will be established first—probably within a few

control offices, - = ” '

DENVER will serve as headquarters for region 11, composed of Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming.

headquarters in San Francisco, will consist of California, Ne‘vada and Arizona. : Teams of officials from variau ous government agencies will

The twelfth region, with

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