Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 18 May 1952 — Page 18

Fhe Indianapolis Times

Rov . HOWARD WALTER LECKRONE HENRY W. MANZ ow 3 ont . Editor .. Business Manager

~~ PAGE 18 - Sunday, May 18, 1952

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WL NN ns Indiana Democrats Reorganize VEFEAT OF FRANK McHALE for another term as National Committeeman yesterday ended 20 years of’ tight “boss” cohtrol of the Democratic Party in Indiana. 12. Mr, McHale was political heir to Paul V. McNutt who . swept into power with the first Roosevelt victory two decades ago. But while the McNutt machine controlled not only the party but the state government as well, Mr. McHale never actually controlled anything but the party. In the 15 years he was at its head, the party never really held control of the state. : > ~~ un His was, nevertheless, a post of very great power, made greater by his own unquestioned ability, With a Democyatic administration in power in Washington—but no ‘Democrats elected to important federal office from Indiana —the party's state chieftain held in his own hands every féderal job in Indiana, and could administer without challenige the enormous federal patronage that has grown up over the past 20 years. = ; i» + HE ADMINISTERED it with skill - <4 In the party's national councils he rose to a position

- ols. differed from those of more-publicized “bosses.” His - was'a close, one-man operation rather than a vast political mgchine. But his influence on the federal administration, especially that of President Truman, was very great. Only six:months ago, with the party facing a dire emergency, he ‘was strong enough to be avle to pick the National Comniiftee chairman rushed in to rescue it. + Normally his defeat here might have signalled. the énd of that chairmanship for his old Indiana protege Frank GC. McKinney. As it happens, however, that already had buen pretty well determined by events outside the State of Indiana.

+3 THE PARTY reorganization yesterday left Gov Sehticker the dominant Democrat in Indiana—if he wants to be. He has shown no inclination to seize such power, however, and never has been in any sense a ‘party boss.” Tt is more likely that behind his leadership the party will:operate from a very much broader base than it has had for a generation past, with more democracy, less dictation. In that direction lies its best chance to regain the préstige it orice held in Indiana.

Tax-Free Living . :

JOHN McCORMACK'S main excuse for the taxless cost--of-living plan he tacked on to a House bill the other day if that others are getting away with it, so why not members of Congress? ; : “Mr. McCormack, the Democratic floor leader, sponsored an ‘amendment to an appropriation bill which would permit Congressmen to deduct from their taxable income their travel and living expenses in Washington, *“ His reason was that businessmen have been getting génerous allowances from the Internal Revenue Bureau for travel, lodging, food, entertainment, tips, etc., while away from home—and Congressmen haven't. Ei.

. " » 1+ EQUALLY astonishing is a ruling which permits businfskmen who work for the government—and also maintain their private businesses at home—to deduct from their income-tax returns their Washington travel and living efpenses. : cv. But while Mr, McCormack thus was trying to cut Congressmen into a loose and lenient tax system, the King Committee of the House was drafting a bill to tighten up the tax collection system. This committee's bill, which among other things is aimed at what the chairman called “exorbitant, unsubstantiated deductions” for such items of business expense ag, “entertainment and promotion,” ; «iI s = =» ; . THE McCORMACK and King proposals go in opposite directions. iL : an, “Mr, McCormack wants* to spread the abuses in the income tax system to members of Congress—to give them the same privileges many other taxpayers, especially corporitions, now enjoy. ns The King Committee seeks to stop the abuses—regardles of who enjoys them. : The average taxpayer, whose only deductions are for his children and in gome cases extraordinary medical expenses, can't be blamed if he sides with the King Comor» Mr. McCormack says Congressmen are “the object of discrimination” under the present tax laws. Which is true, if you consider the liberal manner in which many so-called “Business” expenses can be charged off, ~ .=»“The King Committee thinks the average taxpayer is being discriminated against. Which is even truer.

arly

| Get Clark Do It

EMBERS of Congress—understandably—are outraged %. 8t what Chairman Carl Vinson (D. Ga.) of the House Armed Services Committee appropriately calls “the utterly stupid acts” of Brig. Gens. Francis T. Dodd and Charles Colson in the Koje incident. But a congressional investigation—which they demand ~is hardly called for. Mr. Vinson urges instead that they give Gen. Mark our new Far East commander, a chance to clean up this shameful mess he has inherited. The General, he rege. already has convened a board of inquiry. | : or» | A CONGRESSIONAL investigation ‘would ‘be difficult, | If not impossible. It would mean bringing witnesses hack 7000 miles to Washington. If we judge Gen. Clark's-temper n be relied on not to whitewash anyone, And 8 promised that “every fact . , . consistent % our

troops and the best interest of this known

~_a¥'potent as any Pendergast or Hague or Kelly. His meth-

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STEEL'S DIFFERENT . . . By Fred W. Perkins Law or Grave War Emergency Backed Rail and Coal Seizures

WASHINGTON, May 17 -- Nobody raised much of a fuss when the government seized railroads and coal mines, so how come the big fight against President Truman's steel in-

dustry seizure?

That's a question puzzling many people over the country today. . The main answer {8 the one

that even the government's”

lawyer has conceded: To the Supreme Court, acting Attorney General Philip Perlman admitted that Mr. Truman had no specific law to back up his steel seizure. The rail and coal seizures were made either with direct authority by law or in a desperate state of war that soon produced the necessary law,

THE present seizure of all important railroads became effective’ Aug. 27, 1950. It was ordered by President Truman under a 1916 law. Attorneys for the three railroad “operating” unions in the dispute argued in the Supreme Court hearing ‘last Tuesday that the old law was neither valid nor applicable. This was the first formal protest made against this seizure, The union attorneys granted that the law exists for the administration to cite—in their view, mistakenly. World War II produced three extensive coal mines seizures to deal with great strikes started or threatened by John L. Lewis’ United Mine Workers. Two were. under the (Smith-Connally) War, Labor Disputes Act, which spelled out this presidential power and which expired six months after actual fighting ended. ® a a A THE FIRST coal seizure occurred nearly two months before the-Smith-Connally weapon became law on June 25, 1943. No sustained protest of illegality was made by the miners’ union, however. Actually, there had heen seven other seizure cases ip this period—all of individual companies—three of them in the six months before Pearl Harbor. . In the earlier coal seizures, President Franklin D., Roose-

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velt apparently relied on his “inherent” powers, as Mr. Truman now has done. But the country was either in a twohemisphere war, or close to it; none of the parties concerned

was disposed to make an all- .

out fight. The biggest wartime fight against sejzure was made in _the 1944 case of Sewell Avery

"and Montgomery Ward & Co.

‘That was based on the owners’ claim that this mail-order and mercantile firm was so far removed from the war effort that it was not subject to the S8mith-Connally law. sn =» PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT issued a total of 42 seizure orders. President Truman has used the seizure method 29 times, all under the SmithConnally, law except for. the

steel seizure and three rail-

road cases under the 1916 statute, Of direct interest ~in the

present situation is that the Supreme Court in 1947 upheld Smith - Connally seizures by validating an antistrike injunction against a coal strike. It found that the government had been operating coal mines under authority of law. . In addition to the lack of specific law, another difference between the steel seizure and the rail-coal seizures is that the latter were directed against strike action by labor unions, while the former was aimed at management. Union spokesmen assert the steel industry has been able to stir up more congressional and public protest than any labor organization could.

DEAR BOSS . . . By Dan Kidney \

aT a

Hoosier House Members Looking

WASHINGTON, May 17.—Most Indiana Congressmen seemed to have beén looking the other way when the cost-of-living-in-Washington taxeXemption amendment was adopted in the House, But, they all thinkeit is fine and dandy, for it lets Senators and Congressmen deduct such necessities as house rent and meals from their federal tax returns. There was no roll-call vote gp this amendment. Nor was there a roll-call vote on the legislative appropriation bill, to which it was attached as a rider. 2 In return for this expensive exemption, the Congress will let their $2500 tax-exemption on their $15,000 salary expire Jan. 1, 1953. The new gimmick will apply from then on, provided it is approved by the Senate and President Truman. The Senate could stop it by wiping out the House's secret action. The President may have to sign if they do not do so, because it is attached to an appropriation bill to which it bears no reference whatever,

An Unusual Case

THIS IS, of course, an unusual procedure. In the case: of non-congressional citizens, a taxexemption plan would require hearings before the House Ways and Means Committee, a committee report, a bill and, most likely, a rollcall vote. Like the so-called Fair Trade Bill, which didn’t have a House roll-call, either, the two Democrats from Indiana are united with the Republicans in approving the tax-exemption for themselves. : Rep. Winfield K. Denton, Evansville Democrat, declared that the amendment, which was offered by Majority Leader McCormack (D. Mass.), merely grants to Senators and Con-

..gressmen the same rights enjoyed by business-

men who come to Washington. They can deduct their hotel bill, : This will be done for the Congress by declaring that they are residents of their district

Other Way on Tax Cut Measure

and not of Washington, The Revenue Bureau and courts have held that your home is where you work. All Indiana Congressmen were in the ity when the hill passed the House by a voice vote, except Rep. Earl Wilson, Bedford Republican,

Few on Floor

A POLL showed that few were on the floor at the time. However, everyone contacted, ex. cept Rep. Ray Madden, Gary Democrat, said they would have joined in the “yea” chorus had they been there to vote. There were no nays. ‘Mr. Madden said he favored the bill, but would not have joined in the voting, as he is a bachelor and doesn't need the money like a family man. : Some of the Indiana (fongressmen were opposed to the $900 the Hbduse voted for office rent in their districts. A division vote was taken and it carried, 133 to 78. There were no roll calls at any time. So, the only chance of

knowing how a Congressman voted is to take “his word for it.

It is: this failure to face roll-calls that has caused ‘the greatest criticism. Nothing can be done about it except by the Congressmen themselves. and they certainly are not going ‘to change such a protective custom in an election

year—if ever.

Proposes Limits

REP. WILLIAM G. BRAY, Martinsville Republican; said he thought some limitation shold be placed on the congressional exemptions. He would permit all legitimate travel expenses and possibly rent, but is dubious about deductions for meals. Rep. E. Ross Adair, Pt. Wayne Republican, said he was in his office when the voice vote was takeén, but would have supported the amendment “reluctantly.” ' “I think it is justified, but would prefer that we voted ourselves a raise directly, rather than inthis devious fashion,” he said. - —imrene 8hould the proposal become law, there would ‘be no way of telling how much more than the present $2500. tax-free salary the Congressman is making through tax exemptions: di

LITERARY LIFE . . . By Frederick C. Othman

McCaithy Had Plenty of Trouble Selling His Book for $10,000

all champagne dinners.

WASHINGTON, May 17— The literary life is not, either, It's mostly rejection slips. You can ask Sen. Joe McCarthy (R. Wis.) who wrote that celebrated, $10,000 opus for the defunct Lustron Corp. As to what can happen to an author's polished sentences and gems of thought, don't even ask. It's aownright discouraging. All this week, you may have noticed, the elections committee has been investigating charges by Sen. William Benton (D. Conn.) that cohort MeCarthy should be fired from the: Senate for peddling his book to the outfit which had borrowed $37,500,000 from U. 8. taxpayers. o ”

” THE THING bw is beginning to fit together. and my sympathy pours out to Author

ASASERNANIRNRANNAIN AN,

MR. EDITOR: I know that all Scripps-Howard papers are strictly Republican, but being a Times subscriber I wonder if they will print this. Both parties agree that we have to have foreigh trade. Yet Mr. Taft is afraid that other countries’ standards of living will come up with ours. Yet how can they buy our products, built by $2 labor with their 10-cent labor? Mr. Taft wants to isolate ourselves just like Mr. Hoover did, with no outlet for our products and soup kitchens. To have peace and prosperity in the world the other countries’ living standards must come up to ours or ours drop to theirs, ~Ernest R. Adams, 1658 S. Talbot St. Editor's Note: No Scripps-Howard newspaper is either Republican or Democratic,

Take Cover, McGruin MR. EDITOR:

(Open letter to Mr. Elwood W. McGruin.) Perhaps you had better go back where you came from if you aren't satisfied with our

“architecture. Of course, some of our state bufld-

ings were built years ago, probably before you were born. If we are still satisfied, what difference should it make to you? Please don't give the politicians another idea to tax the people of Indiana. We've had enough. You prob-

ably haven't been around much since you came

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HOOSIER FORUM—‘Prosperity?’

"| do not agree with a word that you say, but | will defend to the death your right to say it."

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ATTEMPT TO +UNIONIZE “SPEEDWAY

Teesvovasncsnsasvenene

here, Have you been to Bloomington yet to inspect the new dormitories and the Auditorium at Indiana University, partly built with state funds? Anyone finding fault with those buildings, be he architect or layman, should have his head examined. i : As for our department stores, architecture and everything else included, I wouldn't trade them for any in New York, Chicago, St. Louis or Cincinnati, and I've been there.’ . Yes, Indianapolis is dirty, but what makes it dirty? The industries from which you get quite a few dollars. I don't know or care where you came from, but you can have your George Bernard Shaw. I had English and New England poets and poetry crammed down my throat in school until I'm sick to death of them. I'll take Riley, the

‘warm Hoosier friend of the kids, and Edgar Guest, the real down-to-earth poet. Their poetry ©

means something. You to your taste and I to mine. —Betsy Gray, 29138 E. 19th St, City

What Others. Say—

A MAN without much principle never draws much interest—from his friends, LE

~ AN OKLAHOMA restaurant holds classes to

teach waitresses to smile, We'll bet some customers should attend.

By O'Donnell

aN 3 .

is DIDNT FI TR

McCarthy. He got the $10,000, but were the travails worth it? That's the question. He had the idea in 1948 that what this country needed was a good pocket-sized book telling folks how to buy a house under the Federal Housing Act, which’ is a complicated law if ever there was one. So he got a man-and-wife writing team, identity unrevealed, to produce one. The result was stinko. The Senator. realized nobody’d buy that ome. He wastebasketed it. i

” ” . THEN HE sent Miss Jean Kerr, one of the bright young ladies in his office, over to the Housing Administration to gather the straight dope for his second try. Miss Kerr met up with Walter M. Royai Ir, one of the top publicists there. He put her in touch with a dozen or so experts and after about five months she had the doggonedest armload of documents you ever did see. Mr. Royal called this the ‘raw material.” So Miss Kerr got down to her typewriter and started turning out a draft of the book, while the Senator began getting in touch with an assortment of leading book publishers. They all were polite, he being a statesman and all, but they just weren't interested. - ” » » THEN OUR author figured maybe he'd better cut down his book drastically and sell it to some big magazine as a snappy article. Publicist Royal

helped Miss Kerr with the cut- °

ting-down job, while the Senator wrote to the Saturday Evening Post, Life, Collier's and some others. These editors were courteous, too, but "vague. Not

one of 'em told him why his article, in their opinion, wasn't worth printing. So you remember how he sold it to the president of the Lustron Corp, for the $10,000. That was only the beginning of our author's troubles. ” ” »

LUSTRON’S advertising ex. perts said the Senator's ars

ticle, now running about. 36 pages, was what they called rough. They hired a New York scrivener for $2000 to touch it up. The book finally came out in proof form and the author's name wasn’t even on ‘the cover. He had to write a letter howling about that. "

Somebody down at the FHA complained that: he, in print, was Kicking a dead dog in his prose about. public housing, Mr. Royal told Miss Kerr he was disappointed in the .outcome. After all, Lustron only distributed 11,000 copies.

” 5 ” SO THEN along came Sen, Benton with his charges, the investigation by the author's peers, and finally the unkind-

est cut of all. Witness Clark Wideman of Columbus, 0.

' said he had been charged with

writing the Senator's book for him, and he was indignant, Mr. Wideman used to be a newspaperman himself and a good one, if he did say so, and to be accused of writing a document as dull as this made him sore. Why, said he, one sentence in the Senator's book was 140 words long, Made him cringe. As to whether the Senator did right or wrong in peddling his masterpiece to Lustron, none of the Senators seem to know. Author McCarthy, however, knows something: War

is hell and so is the literary

life,

WEST IS WARY . . . By Peter Lisagor

All-Out Soviet Bluster Expected in Germany

WASHINGTON, ‘May 17— The Communigt campaign of intimidation in West Germany can be expected to mount in fury during the next few weeks and months. Moscow, through its Red spokesman in East Germany, will use everything in its sinister book to frighten the West Germans, officials here are convinced. The aim, of course, is to scare them away from ratifying agreements which will legally affiliate the Bonn government with Western Allfe and European defense. ” s » WHETHER this campaign will remain one of bluff and bluster or will take the shape

of overt action, such as an- .

other Berlin blockade, no one will venture to predict. Already, the East German Communist leaders have threatened reprisals and darkly hinted at “another Korea.” The war-thréat line will pergist, officials believe. Soviet guards have barred

Allied military patrols on the

highway into Berlin, another gloomy straw in the wind, With sum m er maneuvers

about to take place, the Rus-

sians have another weapon of intimidation "to use, although American authorities say the

"Germans. are used to seeing

Red troops skirmishing near

"the border and ar unlikely to _panic because of it.

threats and muscle-flexing with diplomatic enticements to the West Germans, it is also be. lieved. : These could be contained in their answer to the latest Western notes on German unity. Despite official wariness. of Soviet booby-traps, it is ree alized here that every time the Russians make another noisy promise of a united Germany, it falls on receptive ears. among the West Germans. Each vague Soviet “pro posal” makes it tougher for Chancellor Adenauer to keép the Socialists and even dissident members of his own coalition government in line. For this reason, American officials are hopeful that the contractual arrangements with Bonn can be signed this month, 80 that the United States Senate can act upon them before

it adjourns for the political conventions.

8 N I" THE SENATE doesn't act, chances are slim that the West German Biteiie and the French Parliament will push the agreements through to Roni Fatifdation, e te Department has been cofiducting prel talks with Senate leaders, as well as members of the House, in an effort to speed up debate once the signed docu ments reach the ital for es has ‘no crysta been no crystal. lized opposition to the pacts in and the

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POLITI( head-on te Taft slate! Dakota, Jn gates, but cause of « of feeling.

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General

CAREE] T. Dodd are over, say, thou whether | punished. ing back Washingto Koje priso! Clark’s bo take actio: You'll ni in today’s speeches, hot water ’ fast. In. addi and Colso! ‘Gen. Rot military who face cause he I Red hand: J. Crawfo Detroit ar chummy w tors, and Brooks, 2c accused of ing. Lieutena of North / struction home foll accusation court-mart Heutenant charged w contractor

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ORGAN are eyein; dential ce have big nominee.

George heads AF 2 tee, favor .He brough Washingtc Mr. Harri) But firs dorsement Ketauver.