Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 31 December 1950 — Page 16

PAGE 16 Soday, Der. 31, 1950

_ Give LAOAS amd the People Will Pind Their Own Wey

Man and a New Year

ER in reverence or in revelry, mankind will greet the dawn of a new year with hope for better things, Our troubled world begins another long circuit of its sun-centered orbit.

We cannot know what misadventures may befall us

before that journey is complete. We cannot say with certainty what must st be/ done if nations are to reconcile their differences and avert the curse of war, We cannot see the future, and our vision of the past and even of the present is blurred. : Indeed, contemplating the incredible vastness.of the universe around us, it seems presumptuous to suppose that our small affairs have any real importance in the cosmic scheme, : Our biggest telescope, the huge 200-inch lens on Mt, Palomar in California, can look into space as far as light travels—at 186,000 miles a second—in a billion years,

WITHIN the tiny part of the universe available to such

a telescope, astronomers estimate, there are two billion

galaxies of stars, many of those galaxies immensely larger than our Milky Way, many stars in each galaxy immensely larger than our sun. Beyond that minute fraction of the universe, they say, there probably are a hundred times as many more such

galaxies—far more than all the human beings ever born

upon this earth. In the Psalmist's words of praise: “When I consider Thy heavens, the work of Thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which Thou hast ordained, what is man, that Thou art mindful of him?" What is man? An imperfect creature, prone to error, capable of great cruelties and injustices, incapable, it sometimes seems, of learning to live in harmony with his neighbors on this little globe where each of us dwells briefly. Yet man is more than that. Though he sees dimly, still he can see the outlines of this world as it might be— a world of peace and plenty, fairly shared; a world in which the golden rule would be the common way of life. He can aspire to have a part in making this world that. If he breaks many good resolutions, still he does not break them all. And in the darkest times always within him lives “the hope that each new year will be a brighter, Tapper year than those before. 3

The Way to Peace

JR. RALPH J. BUNCHE, the American Negro United Nations official who won the Nobel Prize by establishing peace in Palestine, warns that “war won't be averted by sheer terror of war,” that “peace cannot be won by fright.” Dr. Bunche will merit another peace prize if he can sell those simple truths to some of his timid colleagues in * the United Nations organization, The lesson to be learned from the Korean conflict, as he points out, is that the United Nations must have énough military force at its disposal to meet aggression anywhere in the world. If such strength is available, he believes the United Nations authority will not be challenged. The record supports that view. The Stalin who is causing so much trouble today is the same Stalin who gladly signed a pact with Hitler, hoping thereby to keep Russia from having to fight. He didn’t begin to get tough, after World War II, until the rest of the world had disarmed. If the Soviets today were surrounded by nations as relatively well armed as Russia is, Stalin probably would be the United Nations leading proponent of disarmament.

Water Resources

‘COMMITTEE of citizens appointed by President Truman last year now recommends that Congress enact a unified national policy for development, _conservation and use of America's water resources. Each major river basin, the committee says, should be treated as a unit. ‘A national review board should pass on plans and projects. All the necessary purposes which water does and can serve should be carefully co-ordinated. Vehement criticism is greeting the committee's proposals. * The American Watershed Council asserts that they would extend federal domination at the expense of local control. Electric power companies charge that they manifest hostility to independent. private enterprise and would promote “an unfair federal power and water resource policy favored by ‘public power’ hoosters” in the government. ” » » » " - THE COMMITTEE affirms emphatically that it proposes ‘‘not dictatorship and centralization, but co-operative and shared responsibility.” The federal government, it says, should play a leader's role but should not, itself, become “a great monopoly.” Two things are certain: Our water resources are a precious natural asset which it is our imperative duty to use well and wisely for the benefit of this and future generations, And in many cases they have been and now are being used badly and wastefully. Congress, of course, is not bound by the recommendations of the President's committee. It can modify them as it sees fit. But it should not let criticism of them obscure the need for action on the problem they concern. ~ That problem is national, not merely sectional or local. It requires a national solution and leadership in finding such a solution is a proper function of the national government. ng the whole country, should adopt a ate and public interests, local, state

“Honest, There Ain't hoy body Here But Us Doves.”

DEAR BOSS .

. By Dan Kidney

Maybe I's Time to Listen to Harry Truman

WASHINGTON, Dec. 30—Rereading President Truman's state of the union messages, during these five uneasy years of peace which finds us now in the disastrous Korean War, one is inclined to make a New Year's resolution to curb criticism of a man who has put over so many things that Senators and Represéntatives loudly claimed they didn’t want. That the country might have been better off today if he got even more of the things he asked for can well be argued with all the logic of hindsight. It is true that at his press conferences Harry 8. Truman looks and acts just like any other guy-in-a-blue suit. His abrupt answers to reporters’ questions have none of the brilliant byplay of the late FDR. His Superior? MANY, if not most, Senators and Representatives consider themselves his superior. But a backward glance at the five-year record shows that he has turned in .a rather creditable performance against a Congress which was outright Republican as the 80th, or nominally Democratic as the 81st. The latter, like the one starting Wednesday, will be dominated by the GOP-Dixiecrat coalition. > Undaunted by the self-styled and self-willed “big men” who will be there, President Truman

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

Little Stuff

By Pat Hogan, Columbus A FORUM writer says 1 have a “dangerous” attitude in stating that Indiana could well wash its hands of D. C. Stephenson, in face of the fact that I mentioned other issues of greater danger than a small fry who has been boarded by the state for 25 years. A recent experience or my friend Zeke stresses a point graphically. Zeke took his prized rabbit dog to the woods where he immediately chased a rabbit to a. hollow log, stuck his noble head In the hole and began to talk to bunny. Zeke stepped on a brush pile and four rabbits ran out so suddenly Zeke was unable to bag any of them; still the dog could not be induced to leave the log and look for them. . , EU EE EVEN S80, with the Julletta gold mine which has evidently poured money into greased palms while: hundreds of helpless, deserving old folks went hungry, the minions of the law spend taxpayer's money on irrelevant issues, The auto license bureau, recently under the wing of a mental giant, Fleming The Great, would bear looking into. Some employee of this bureau had the rugged honesty to state that he had been offered $100 to get away with the damning evidence on a card. Naturally, the question arises: “How much has been paid to whom for how many such cards lifted?” State police would not have to comb several states to get facts—and the facts might save many lives by keeping unsafe drivers off the highways. The Parole Board, the Governor, or both erred in not giving Steve a release with the only strings that he get out and stay out of Indiana, and if they can still make this provision they can save the taxpayers money and keep our police where we need them for bigger problems,

Let's Get It Straight By Elmer Bontrager, Fire Station No. 24.

I HAVE just read your article and editorial regarding drivers permits for police and firemen who operate vehicles. I have been a chauffer in the Fire Department for 16 years, and I have a chauffer's license No, 58325 which does not expire until Feb. 28, 1951 and I was included in the list that did not have license. I wonder why The Times ‘doesn’t correct its errors by sending the reporters out that got that erroneous information. They took trouble enough to mislead the public, it seems they should take trouble to obtain ‘correct information. It is no secret in the Fire Department who has licenses to drive, SONS IT HAS come to a point.where. the news papers are able to condemn as guilty and pronounce sentence before the person concerned is ahle to put into effect that old American custoni of “you are believ wd to be innocent unless proven guilty.” We did our part in getting our licenses, also donated our time in helping The Times MILE OF DIMES, we help in anything we are asked to do to serve the people, and we in the Fire Department feel The Times should go one more step by now publishing complete corrections. In the meantime we will always doubt that the error was in the Motor Vehicle Division, they too are probably “passing the buck” due to change of administrations,

Ho-Hum.

announced that he will deliver his 1951 state of the union message to the 82d Congress in person. The five Republican freshmen from Indiana had better listen closely, for eventually most of the things he asks for will quite likely become the law. It was way back in September, 1945, that President Truman made his. first recommendations for dealing with the post-war world.

It was a 16,000-word document, the longest

message since the late’ President Theodore Roosevelt submitted one of 20,000 words back in 1901. There was a 21-point program for orderly reconversion from the all-out war basis, which he revised to submit again to the first Republican Congress in 16 years, which convened in January 1946. That message set some foreign policy goals from which the President never has swerved. It asked for certain controls on the home front and such defense preparedness as continuation of selective service and enactment of a universal military training program, Instead of the latter, the Congress voted a tax cut. The President vetoed it as outrageous at the time and went to the country to win reelection by denouncing the whole 80th Congress record.

will defend to the death your right to ay | LL" Let's Get Going

By F. M,, City. MR. CAPEHART'S office in Washington, D. C., tells us that the volume of correspondence is extremely heavy these days—that Hoosiers did not stop writing even during the Christmas rush--most of the letters show the writers to be very angry because they are now in such dangerous situations as Americans. Why don’t we stop this business of kidding ourselves? We are extremely hostile hecause we face a task that is going to be unpleasant and expensive. We have been riding the “gravy train” for a good while now, and we just don't want to get off it. Instead of placing the blame squarely where it belongs—on ourselves, because we insisted on the “boom” days and business as usual, outnumbers us and who has tended strictly to the business of making war. The Russians’ desire to control the world is causing the war. The Americans’ refusal to ‘keep this country armed to the teeth is the reason why we are in such a precarious position, No man alive could have been elected dog catcher if he had insisted on keeping this country mohilized the same as Russia. I threw away my rose-colored glasses a long time ago. I rub elbows with my countrymen every day and I know what is going on. There is no need to pretend—the attitude of our people worries me a great deal more than the Russians. They just keep moving the line of defense farther back—just any place to keep from facing a very unpleasant task of fighting Russia. The trouble is, the line is much farther back than they think right now.

More Action and Less Talk

By Gerald W. Landis, Linton. THE Communists are well-informed—and by us. It is very disconcerting to hear that our military weakness has beoen exposed to the world. Why do we have to tell the world about-our defense plans in Europe? Why tell the world about our new weapons, the location of our atom bomb stockpiles, list of strategic war materials in short supply, the location of the air bases of our Allies, the number of ships ready for action, location of our airfields, defense plants and military camps, number of atom bombs, details of our strategic air arm, number of troops in Korea, and the number of troops in training in the United States? With 54,000 Communist card holders in the United Statés and 500,000 Communist fell travelers we should guard carefully our confi. dential information, No Communist should be allowed to leave the country. Now is the time to place none but Americans on guard:-

Win the War

By J. F. Frantz, City APPEASEMENT is defeating our war effort. We no longer can restrain Gen. MacArthur from the bombing’ of the concentration of Red troops and war supplies in Manchuria. ‘In the face of defeat we no longer can say no to the appeal of the Chinese Nationalists to fight the Red Chinese troops in Korea. This policy has caused Gen. MacArthur to complain bitterly and justly so against the order of the so-called United Nations not to bomb Manchuria. To win the war we must bomb out Chinese war supplies and troop concentrations,

Who Threw the Overalls in Mrs, Murphy’s Chowder?

we now face an enemy, who

Things that he asked for and which were enacted included unification of the Armed Services and stock-piling of strategic materials, The Truman doctrine as expressed in the Marshall Plan was adopted and the bipartisan foreign policy came into being with the Soviet Union vetoing about everything or walking out. The United Nations debates began to be heated, the cold war, which has now become so hot, was on. So even the lame-duck session of the just expired 81st Congress got down to work and gave President Truman things he asked for to save the country.

Right All Along

TRUE it may be the times and not the Tru-

man leadership has made so much of his pro-

gram possible. But the messages spelled it out right from the start. The date was Jan. 21, 1946 when President Truman said in the Congress: “It will be the continuing policy of the United States to use all its influence to foster support, and develop the United Nations organization in its purpose of preventing international war. If peace is to endure it must rest upon justice no less than on power.” In January, 1951, that still is our country’s goal.

FOSTER'S FOLLIES . . . By Ben Foster

Et He Got a Wife, ~ And Wants Life

A LOCAL man was married five days before surrendering to postal authorities on charges of stealing, forging and cashing gov. ernment checks.

This chap had troubles by the score And he was badly harried, But ere he knocked on prison door He went out and got married.

Now, as to what was on his mind, We think perhaps the fact is He felt that he might be confined— And thought he'd get some practice.

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IF THE gent is like most married men, he won't be cashing any checks from now on! He'll just indorse ’em over to the little lady. And he'll be lucky if he’s able to steal out

once in a while for an evening with the boys. .

§

® © 9 MARRIAGE is often a funny thing. Pro-

vided you have a real sense of humor.

Yet despite all we fellows have to put up with, statistics show that half of the married people in this country are men,

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WELL, tonight's the night of the Big Bust of 1950-51. Just remember, Pop, you're neither a spring chicken nor a beauty gontestant. Don't try to build yourself up with too many outsize “cups.”

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TROUBLE is. a lot of those who go out to night to celebrate the splitting of the century, will wake up tomorrow feeling like they split an atom.

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A SORRY sight is “the life of the party,” But sadder still is the wife of the smarty!

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MOST folks like to just sit around taking it easy on Jan. 1, thinking what's ahead in the New Year, Others can only sit around moaning, “What a head!” eB 0

THE year which we have just been through Is nothing we can boast of, But theré’s a new one coming, too, Which we can make the‘most of,

So as we bid the old adieu, We leave a wish for you here, The wish that everyone of you May have a HAPPY NEW YEAR!

CALENDAR AND TIME

OH calendar I beg of you ... to make the time go slow. , . . gear down the pace of flying years . . . that turped my hair to snow , .. please let me see the summertime . , . with all its wonders green . . . and let me live again the time . . . when flowers graced the scene . .. turn back your leaves . . . that seem to run + + + & never ending race . . . toward a day that never comes . . . and echo there in space . . . what's that you say, my calendar . . . that what has passed must be . . . oh then I do suppose it's gone . . . for all eternity . . . and there is naught for me to do . .. but follow as before 2+» the winds of all the fleeting years ... until they fleet no more. —By Ben Burroughs.

Come, Come Boys! Time to Take Off the Gloves, :

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