Ligonier Banner., Volume 83, Number 2, Ligonier, Noble County, 13 January 1949 — Page 2

A Page of Opinion: - e LIGONIER BANNER | ESTABLISHED 1867 ~ |

This is our view: ’ Soldiers’ Bonus - Fair Taxation

-Some very serious charges have been hurled at Indiana farmers during the past week. It would not be right to let: these accusations pass without examination, even though it is difficult to be= lieve that those persons using the rough language were really serious. Farmers in Indiana are not tax evaders . State tax officials report that the farmer’s tax record is as bright as any other group. It is not difficult to recall when farmers shouldered for nearly a generation a most unfair proportion of government cost derived from property taxes. By tradition bred in the bone and etched deeply into their being by the nature of their occupation, farmers are sincere, conservative, free-dom-loving, honest business people, engaged in the manufacture oi food and fiber.

Indiana farmers through their organizations have worked long and hard to obtain fair tax legislation. Considerable progress has been . made. Equalization of taxes has been the battle-cry of agriculture for a generation. Farmers have asked for no tax bargains. Instead, they have worked for a fair tax program from the standpoint of every economic group that would produce the revenue needed to promote and protect the welfare of the entire state.

The veters of Indiana mandated that a state bonus be paid Hoosier soldiers who served in the last war. Therefore, it becomes the civic duty of the Indiana Farm Bureau, representing more than 93,000 farm families, to study ways and means to raise the necessary taxes to finance the bonus and to make recommendations based upon a careful study of the facts.

So the general public may not be confused by misleading charges, the following facts support our position: 1. A sales tax would require another unit to be set up in the state government. Administration of a sales tax would be costly, with estimates ranging from 8 to 16 per cent of the revenue collected. That would mean, conservatively, that from 700 to 1,500 people would be needed to collect the tax and would be added to the state payroll. Once a sales tax got on the law books, it would practically be impossible to remove. Hundreds of extra state government employees and their friends and relatives would be “working” to keep their jobs. Also, what a political plum this would be for future administrations!

2. Doubling the Gross Income tax rates for a specific number of years would require no additional employees. No new taxing unit would be needed. There would be a definite date for the ending of the “Bonus tax”, this preventing the tax to go on and on. 3. It would take years of legal battle to establish a sales tax in the courts. Whereas, the Gross Income tax is now legally established and its rules and administrative regulations are well known by all Hoosiers. i 4. A sales tax discriminates against the families of low income as well as large families. There are no exceptions for a sales tax, except with the person whose income is far more than his expense. But, with the Gross Income tax, the exemptions are uniform for all. 5. With a sales tax, all savings would escape taxation. The person least able to pay would be required to pay nearly as much, relatively, as the person who has a large income. A sales tax is completely out of step with the universally accepted taxing principle of taxing according to ability to pay. ko 6. With a sales tax the consumer pays the total bill, since the wholesaler and retailer do not pay the tax ,as they only collect it. : :

ne LIcONIER BANNER » Establishedin 1867 . Published every Thursday by the Banner Printing Company at 124 South Caoia B¢, Telephone: one-three CALEOUN CARTWRIGHT; Editor and Publisher Entered as second class matter at the postolfice at Ligonier. Tadiana under the act of March 3, 1879, ~' , MDMEEmSOR ol YA : Democratic Editorial Association . i.‘.i : ¥ Advertising '@d‘!ﬂlﬂnﬂ"h srioa ¥ FPrinting Industry of Americe

MUSINGS OF AN EDITOR by - Calhoun Cartwright

Benjamin Franklin, whose birthday is observed on January 17, was the most acute and broadminded thinker if his day.

The first edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica, published in 1768 when Franklin was 62, devoted many pages to his discoveries in the field of electricity. And today, 181 years later, Franklin is still praised by the reference work for his creative mind, his practical good sense and his humanitarianism.

Other men may have been greater, but very few have béen more human.

Franklin’s achievements are so great and so numerous that it is impossible to sum up all of them. His scientific interests ranged from his theory of electricity to speculations on the nature of earthquakes, and the Aurora Borealis, the origin of the common cold and the causes and cures of smoky chimneys. ; ;

Although he hoped to see America develop within the British empire, he threw all his energies into the colonial cause when his first hopes proved impossible.

Nobody in the 18th century knew so well as he how to pull the wires of public opinion and make use of newspapers, secret societies and academies. He served his country as a member of congress, postmaster general, minister to France, and delegate to the constitutional convention.

He was the first American economist a distinguished® political thinker, and a fruitful social reformer. He was always clearer, less abstract and more practical than the theorists he followed.

Even the index of the Encyclopaedia Britannica reveals the remarkable versatility of Franklin’s mind. References to him are found in such articles as that on the American Philosophical Society, an outgrowth of a club he founded, and the oldest scientific association in the United States; and listed under his name are found “Declaration of Independence,” which he corrected; “glass harmonica,” a musical instrument he invented; and ‘“University_of Pennsylvania,” which he helped to establish. Nobody could approach him without being charmed by his conversation, his humor, wisdom and kindness. He had a way of telling stories that delighted all his friends and was well liked-by the ladies because he seemed equally to enjoy listening to them.

When he died in 1790 at the age of 84, the whole civilized world was moved by the disappearance of the old sage who had done so much good during his long life.

- 7. The Gross Income tax is really fair to the professional man as well as the farmer. The farmer’s big investment is in land, buildings, and implements, all of which are fully taxed as property. The professional man has his big investment in schooling and experience, none of which is taxed as property. The farmer is a manufacturer of food and fiber, too. For these reasons the current Gross Income tax rates are z%‘g to farmer and professional man ike. .

8. The farmer today is about the only manufacturer.-left who still buys his farm supplies at retail. Thus, a sales tax would greatly add. to his costs, which he couldn’t pass on because he doesn’t set his own commodity prices, being unlike other manufacturers. The present Gross Income tax is most fair to all manufacturers as well as to ail other tax payers.

9. Experience shows the Gross Income tax will work. We don’t know for sure what kind of results would be produced from an added sales tax.

10. And finally, the average person despises the nuisance of a sales tax, requiring everybody to carry a lot of change so that he can pay out two or three pennies extra every time a purchase is made. o —Hassil E. Schenck, President, Indiana Farm Bureau, Inc. A

ﬂ% " é@% 5y LPhillips r COLLEGE AND BIG BUSINESS

A congressional committee reports that American colleges are partners in real estate projects, chain restaurants, mail order houses, department stores, gas stations' and many other enterprises. One practically owns and operates a spaghetti plant and piston ring factory. Another has money invested in a Limoges china and leather industry. One of the biggest universities has apartment house, otiice building and Radio City Center projects running into millions..

Our colleges have to invest their

endowment funds some way and it is perfectly legitimate to do what they have been doing, but the charge is made that, since the income of educational institutions lis exempt from taxes, the colleges are in unfair competition with business men and cost Uncle Sam millions in taxes every year. j

About that we wouldn’t know ‘OO much, but it is disconcerting to a man to find that the little lady he has been so tenderly calling Alma Mater is an industrial tycoon, a member of a dozen boards of- directors and maybe a top distributor of potato chips, catsup, auto tires and lubricating olls.

Can it be that Alma, instead of being the dignified and bandsome gal carved in marble on the lovely campus, should be pictured with a prematurely bald head, a countingroom twitch and a strictly business look? Instead of a sweet and aloot lady interested mostly in the arts and sciences, is she a holding corporation, an inner tube manufacturer and a promoter of chain lunchrooms? iy

Don’t tell us that Dean Dumplin and’ Professor Highforrid have in truth been responsible for the kid's education but that the spaghetts, mustard, orange drink and real estate businesses have been a big help, too. ‘

Down there on the gridiron is it possible that the lads have been giving their all for dear old Schlotz, Brown, Hallock & Whiffle, Inc., the Cronkhite Doughnut Machine corporation and the Grand Union Radio Ornament Industry? Is it possible that the old grads should sing it ‘“‘For Siwanikesh, for Country and for Whooziss’ Refrigerators’’?

These are disillusioning times. We like to think of the faculty worrying only over a student's progress in . philosophy, literature, Greek and mathematics, and never in an all-day conference over whether to put a few hundred grand into a department store, a row ot de luxe apartment houses or a new tooth-powder idea.

Of course it costs money to run universities. All those funds Rave to be invested ‘where the return will be good. But we hope the paper isn’t delivered the night the news comes out that Little Lester has had to be withdrawn from college because his old man couldn't keep him in and at the same time pay the rent, food and clothing bills sent in by the college’s business affiliations. 5

The Nationalized Pub England is considering nationalization of the pubs (bars and’taverns to you). Government operation of hangovers is something new. But it is a further indication of how far the idea of state control of everything, up to°and including the dark brown taste and the morning after, is going. ' e For generations, it would have been thought far below the dignity of any government to run a saloon and put itself in the position of replying to unceasing orders of ‘“‘make mine the same, Joe.” But today a proposal that the state operate poolroomé bowling alleys and men's smokers would hardly astonish anybody. : . = D Tot v Just the same, we hate to think of any sovereign state becoming a combination saloenkeeper, bartender and bouncer, It isn’t going to be nice when the folks fake to blaming bad Mickey Finns on bureaucracy or demanding a change of administration on account of what seems to be a government imposed headache. . 2 9 VANISHING AMERICANISMS “Let’s all. chip in 50 cents and make the present something good.” - : “The gentleman wants everybody in the place to have a drink on him.” v <t -~ . You can’t do that, i’s againss the -®& @ ; ; We are all for the two-million-dollar fund for musicians’ welfare, but hope it won't offer too much eneouragement to the guy upstairs who is taking saxaphone lessons,

STRICTLY BUSINESS & MeFuﬂnnl

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“Yes...uhhuh...er, well, I've got to rush off to an urgent conference!l” ,

Letters to the Editor

Dear Ligonier Friends:

- Nursing is one profession wheére the remands for service are expanding more rapidly than people can be trained to meet the needs.

Right now Indiana schools of nursing have places for 200 additional students. It is estimated that there -are about 300,000 professional nurses in the United States and that 409,700 will be needed by 1950. So this is a wonderful field for young women of intelligence, faithfulness and sympathy who want to prepare for the very rewarding job of helping to ‘heal the sick and of teaching people how to stay well.

At R SRR

. ]"! « ey o s sl bl . BLP I

SCRIPTURE: Matthew 2:13-18, 10-33; Mark 6:3; Luke 2:39-52, “Dnvo'riom READING: Luke 2:25-

His Growing Years

Lesson for January 16, 1949

DOUBTI.ESS God can do anything he wants to do. He could have sent Jesus to earth on a moonbeam; he could have had him for the first 30 years i A N of his life on a P ol RS2 lonely peak in the i AR Andes, far from } any bhuman dwellB ing; be could have e B 8 sent him into the T world full-grown, B without ever havthe grind of growDr. Foreman Ing and learning as . the rest of us do. But God did not plan it that way. If the manhood of Jesus was to be real, and not a hothouse facsimile, he had to come up the hard way. Angels do not grow, they just are; ‘but human beings grow. The great difference between Jesus and ordinary mortals is not that they grow and he did not; the difference is that he grew straight e ¢ ¢ No ‘Good Chance’ ' THE world around us makes its impression on us; it makes no impression on dolls. They go on smiling their built-in, painted-on smiles, but we bave to learn through tears. And so did Jesus. The heavenly Father saw to it that his experiences were not always easy ones. He was born in a stable, of parents who were very poor, living the first few years of his life as a displaced person im a foreign country, with a price on his baby head. : He grew up in a village “off the main line,” among ecompanions mot one of whom ever became famous, working through long years at a simple During Jesus’ first 30 years his the most extraordinary person of history was living in thelr We sometimes wish that we had an easier time of it, and that God had seen fit to cast our lot in some

(SR O TR

Girls 17 years of age graduating from & commissioned high school in the upper half or third of their class who pass physical examinations, are eligible. They may have a three year hospital course leading to a diploma in nursing or a combined college and hospital course in which they may earn both a diploma in nursing and a baccalaureate degree in four to five years. Indiana schools of nursing in which college affiliation makes a baccalaureate degree possible are Ball Memorial, Muncie; Indianapolis General; Indiana University Continued on Page 9 .

wig Ciyy wesa » u:u sQlillay, aas stead of where we are. We feel we could be better people if we ‘*had & chance.” Yet every reader of these lines has a far better chance than Jesus. It did not take perfect “Surroundings to shape a perfect life. e & o Holy Family o WE CALL Joseph and Mary and the rest the ‘‘Holy Family,” but they were not known that way in Nazareth. They were just Joseph the carpenter, and his Mary. Then there were the boys and girls; Mark (6:3) tells the boys’ .pames, but no one ever remembered %o put down the sisters’ names. Even then it was nosmall family, Jesus, as the oldest of seven, would have many responsibilities. Atter Joseph’'s death he would be the chief breadwinner. Seeing that the rent was paid, that there was grain in the house for Mary to grind into meal, finding money for clothes for seven growing children—this could not have, been easy for Jesus the young carpenter. They were not an easy family to live with, those boys and girls. When Jesus later began his work of teaching and healing, we bhear that evem his brothers did not believe in him. But in spite of the brothers, there was always Mary. Moth-or-like, she loved her first-born as no other could or daid. There are some who worship her as “Queen of Heaven;” but it is enough for us to remember that she was queen of the home where ‘Jesus the child grew to be Jesus the man. Not this.side of heaven can we know how much we owe, as Christians, to this one woman, whose mind and spirit were woven irto the thought and spirit of her Son; e o :

Home Memories INDEED. Jesus whole »oyhood was woven into his manhood, Among life’s most precious memories are those of our growing years. Dater on, we can see how Jesus’ mind was bright with memories of home. The parables of the patched garment, of the leaven hidden in the meal, of the poor woman hunting with a lamp for her one lost coin, of the hungry neighbor at midnight, of the son who said “] go’” but did not go — these and many others may well be echoes of Jesus’ boyhood home. Deeper than these are Jesus’ habits of prayer, his fondness for calling God “Father,” his familiarity with: Scripture even in death’s agony—h'WuMQm:

Second Time Around THE MOST important spot in any baseball player’s career is the second time around. It is the sophomore year, not the freshman span, that counts. Naturally a ballplayer likes to look good that first season to get paneeaeeeme DiS chance, but @ S too many of them ;'fz.:’f‘*' ¢ have suddenly hit PR the soapy chute T e after a fine initial £& B 8 campaign, much to SRR the sorrow of some : S optimistic manager, : Among those who 3 i will be closely, tland watched next sea-! bk o son will be: Al Dark, the Braves’ shortstop; Richie Ashburn, the fleet-footed Phillip. outfielder; Billy Goodman, the Red Sox first baseman; Larry Doby, the Indian outflelder, and Hank Sauer, and Virgil Stallcup of the ‘Reds. - Some of the pitchers under scrutiny will be: Gene Bearden of the Cleveland club; Robin Roberts and Curt Simmons of the Phillies; Bob Porterfield of the Yankees; Pitisburgh’s Bob Chesnes; Ralph Hamner of the Cubs and Erv Palica and a few other Dodger entries.

The three prize rookies who can play leading roles next season are Dark, Ashburn and Bearden. Ashburn will hate no pennant-winning act to unroll, but Dark and Bearden might, Both are fine young ballplayers on teams that won pennants last fall, largely or partly because these two rookies were around. The Brayes couldn’t have - won without Dark ﬁothe Indians couldn’t have won without Bearden. I can almost hear Billy Southworth singing:* ‘‘Honey dear, listen here—l'm afraid to go home without Dark.”

Dark, a great football player—almost another Van Buren, a flne golfer—a star all-around athlete, can be the top entry of 1949,

. So can Gene Bearden of the Indians, If Dark is as good as he was last year, and Bearden is just as effective, we might see a replay of 1948 this next season.

Raschi and Porterfleld can mean a lot to’' the Yankees. You may recall the able job Frank Shea did for the Yankees in 1947. He was a. different Shea in 1948, where he had exchanged his streamlined form for a blimp, If Shea reports at 190 or 193 pounds, he has a chance. He, has plenty in the way of stuff and heart. . ‘ Doby, like Raschi, is hardly a° sophomore. He was around in 1847, But not too much in evidence. His first big year was 1948 and he has the equipment needed to have a bigger year in 1949, - e& » '

Looking to 1949 ' We are now looking through winter’s snowstorms, mists and fogs: _into the campaign of 1949 from late | April to October. Who will be the star rookie of 1949 to make good on - his *‘second trip around?”. ; You already have the leaders—: Dark, Bearden, Ashburn and Goodman. Doby can be rated, if you figure him a 1948 freshman or a’ 1949 sophomore. .-

Doby is as good an all-around outfielder as I’ve seen besides Musial, Williams, and DiMaggio. And Bearden is the best young pitcher I've seen in some time. He was the pennant and the world’s series savVior of 1948, But there are always pitfalls ahead. Who can tell where they are?

In 1947, Ewell Blackwell looked, fo be one of the star pitchers of many years. The 6-foot 6-inch star' from California won 22 games and’ lost eight with the drooping Reds.. With other teams he would have passed the 30 mark. Here was one. of the great young pitchers from baseball history to reach the game, But it was a different story in 1948. The tall and willowy Blackwell came along with a sore arm. He was never right through the 1948 season, where the year before he had pitched 17 consecutive nohit innings.

You can’t pitch with a sore arm. Blackwell couldn’t. You - can’t pitch with too much fat. Shea couldn’t. You can only pitch when you are in shape. You can only play baseball when “you are in shape, and yet last spring I'd say that about 70 per cent of the players who reported were not in nearly as good condition as Ducky Medwick was, and Medwick has been around for more years than most of us can Medwl::d h:;‘n always reported in shape. : in better shape. Most blnvm report in soggy shape and spend most of their time trylng to work off fat. At least too many do. e I don’t believe this will happen to 1 look to see both Rasch ﬁ terfleld of the Yaukees ready to go..