The Courier-Journal from Louisville, Kentucky • Page 34

SECTION 3 THE COURIER-JOURNAL, LOUISVILLE, SUNDAY MORNING, MAY 16, 1943. THE HOUSE'S STAR CHAMBER Dr. Schuman of F. C. 'acquitted' of subversion, tcarmly defends colleagues 'convicted' by committee Baefy Bingham, President, Mark Ethridge, Publisher.

Russell Bfiney, Chief Editorial Writer. 'ffCHJHD -THE- CLOCk V'- Zero THE POINT OF VIEW Kentucky Negro Education Associaion submits its program to equalize services of the public schools of The Focus. Nov. 22. 182fi: The Louisville Dailv Journal.

1830; The Mornlns Courier. 1B37. The Dsilv Democrit. 1843. First issued as The Couner-Joumal Nov.

8. 1868. Founded by Henry atterson and Walter Haldeman. Published by Courier-Journal and Louisville Times Company. Sunday, May 16, 1943.

Ciirulation rates first A Time for Sacrifice, We often wonder about the ruminations of the people's representatives when they peruse their daily mail, about the philosophical discipline that must be necessary for them to view its contents without giving up to utter frenzy. This curiosity is sharpened when we read two items which appeared all but simultaneously, each telling of a letter to Senator Barkley from a group of his constituents. Each makes use of the word "justice" in asking his consideration. And each turns on the heat: each gives voice to ominous forebodings which are heavy with the weight cf threat. Not against the Senator, but in effect against the war effort.

The first of the two communications issued from the Kentucky Farm Bureau Federation, protesting intentions of O.P.A. to fix ceiling prices en the sale of livestock. It set forth that farmers will be squeezed between the prices of feed and the prospective price which they would receive for their animals. It suggested that if O.P.A. persists in its plan, it "will seriously retard livestock production in this state." This obviously means that livestock producers will simply stop producing.

The suggestion invites our inquiry into all the factors in the situation. It is true feed prices are high. To a large extent, they are high because of the very demands of the farmers. They are high because the farm bloc in Congress refuses to permit the sale even of gram owned by the government at le.s than Use price which is the letter of the parity law. An exception was made as to a portion of the government surplus wheat, but even this must not be sold below the parity price of corn, and it now is all but used up.

In effect, it may be pointed out, the squeeze of which the farm organization complains was of its own planned creation. It Ls the fruit of the group's policy cf insisting upon its share, even when its shrewd leaders must have known that the result would be what they point it out to be today: th rationalization of a pressure for higher prices for the consumer commodity. The second of the communications went to Senator Bapkify from the Kentucky State Federation of Labor, likewi.se asking for "justice" through (1) shoving back the cost of living to the level of January 1, 1941, or (2) freezing the cost of living at today's figures and revising the Little Steel for The Senate Improves The Senate has acted with commendable dispatch on pay-as-you-go legislation, having taken just ten days to do what the House required four months for that is, make up its mind on the subject. And the Ifous is now probably going to have to change its mind to some extent. Happily, practically everybody accepts the pay-as-you-go principle, and, barring Congressional stubbornness of almost incredible dimensions, that seems certain to go into effect July 1.

The point of difference between the two branches concerns the degree of what some members of Congress horrifiedly call "forgiveness" which should be granted to put taxpayers on a current basis. The Senate's bill, a version of Beardsi.ey Ruml's skip-a-year plan, would abate either a taxpayer's 1942 or 1943 tax, whichever is smaller. This prevents persons with windfall incomes in a single year from profiting by the abatement, and they seemed about the only ones who could tangibly profit by the plan as first proposed. The Forand-Robertson bill, which the House approved May 4, would cancel the "basic Lability" of 19 per cent (6 per cent normal and 13 per cent surtax) on all incomes for 1942. Thus it would grant "forgiveness" to most taxpayers.

If compromise with the Et'ML plan had to be accepted, as The Courier-Journal said when it was adopted, for it local it be to a or collaborated with organizations designated by the Dies committee or by the Attorney General as "front organizations. Congress has thus far enacted no such legislation. In the absence of such legislation, there is no statutory authority for declaring such persons "subversive" and unfit for office. Any attempt to use the power of appropriation to achieve a result for which there is no warrant in legislation can scarcely be differentiated from an effort to distort the functions, impede the projects, lessen the efforts and undermine the institutions of the Government of the United States. As for the men condemned, I have known Dr.

Dodd and his father before him for many years, both in 'Nazi Germany and in free America. I have worked daily with Dr. Watson for the past six months. Both are loyal and able public servants, as all who know them are prepared to testify. Confidence in their loyalty and ability was reaffirmed by the Federal Communications Commissioners in their statement of April 26.

During the 1930's both men co-operated, as I did, with all types of organizations (including some embracing members whose antipathy toward Fascism may have been a product of sympathy for Communism rather than of concern for Americanism), so long as such organizations were working to awaken American opinion to the Fascist danger and to promote a common front against a common peril. Both men take pride, as I do, in having foreseen at an early date the nature and the issues of the mortal conflict in which we are now involved. Neither has ever been suspected by those who know them of having any interest in the anti-Fascist cause other than an interest in the of the United States and in the defense of the democratic way of life. JN ACCUSING them of "subversion," the Kerr committee has not only paid no attention to their records in office and their reputation among colleagues and neighbors, but has gone beyond the Dies committee in ignoring evidence, twisting logic and slandering patriotic public officials. In a series on non sequiturs worthy of Humpty Dumpty, the committee has in effect espoused the dangerous principle that whose views are disliked by may be condemned as "subversive" and declared unfit for office.

Should the committee report be made the basis for punitive action by Congress. th elected representative of the wilt be indorsing a doctrine which is completely antithetical to the American popular traditions of free speech and fair play, for the defense of which this war is being fought. In approving the report of the Kerr committee, the House Appropriations Committee and the House itself (should it take such action) are not only accepting a document full of palpable errors of fact and glaring defects of logic, but are unwittingly indorsing a violation of he Constitution. A rider to deprive the convicted men of their salaries, and therewith of their good names, will be equivalent to a bill of attainder (since it will single out individuals for punishment) and to an ex post facto law (since all the charges relate to past views and acts which were emrtely lawful at the time). Such action will constitute a Congressional exercise of judicial and executive powers in plain disregard of the safeguards of individual rights provided by the Constitution with respect to such powers.

No counsel was allowed to the accused. No witnesses were called to testify either for or against them. No prior notice of charges was given, nor was there any indictment. The "trial" was secret, not public, with no pretense of any jury. The accused were condemned without due process of law.

They were obliged to be witnesses against themselves, under the formula of an invitation to make statements regarding charges. In tw-o out of three cases, the statements were ignored, and in all three cases some of the statements were rejected. The accused were charged not with aiding the enemies of the United States but with supporting its allies and with condemning its enemies prematurely and in bad company. Other officials, also accused by the Dies committee, are now being "heard" by the Kerr committee under the same procedures. The committee's guide is neither the Constitution nor the laws of the United but rather the motto of the Queen of Hearts in another famous trial: "Off with their heads!" The committee, moreover, asserts a Congressional right to dictate how the President shall conduct foreign affairs.

It asserts a right to remove executive officials without impeachment, and this merely because of their "views," "philosophies" and "affiliations." It usurps both judicial and executive powers. It sweeps aside the MEMBER OF THE ASSOCIATED PRESS: The Associated Press is exclusively entitled to the use publication of all news dispatches credited to or not otherwise credited in this paper and also news published herein. All rights of republication of special dispatches herein also reserved. classified page, Telephone WAbash 2211 Not Blackjacks mula so as to permit wage increases to meet those costs. And the Federation's executive secretary, Edward H.

Weyler, who signed the letter, wrote that otherwise "the coming year will not be as industrially quiet as the past." This obviously means that workers will strike. In neither communication does the organized group even suggest the thought that is possible for people at home to do with less, as the men on the battle front are doing with immensely less less in money, less in comforts, less in security, less in the very prospect of keeping alive. It is the tone of threat in both communications that startles us. Threat is both explicit in the letters and implicit in the impulses and circumstances that envelop the writing of them. In a convenient pigeonhole of Congress repose the Bank-head bill and the Pace bill, kept alive and available in defiance of normal action, weapons in a kind of arsenal of vengeance and force, to be drawn forth and used if it deemed that too little is being done for the farmer, too much for labor.

And although the Kentucky Federation of Labor may not think so, its letter is dark with the same intention as that by which John L. Lewis holds the nation today in terror, uncertainty and perhaps incurable resentment while the determination of his demands is stretched out. It is the evidence of cleavages and contending jealousies among the American people that worries us, too. How are these be ended, except through vision? As to practical description, the two communications ask for actions which are diametric opposites higher prices, on the one hand; lower costs, on the other. And these; as well as the bitter and perilous divisions of self-seeking which they represent, cannot be reconciled except by a gift of new ardor and insight.

They cannot be reconciled except by a kind of moral regeneration on the part of the letter writers, and of others. They cannot be reconciled unless our people, all our people, become more deeply confirmed in a sense of their responsibility in this time of peril for their nation and for all it represents in a feeling that today's obligation calls for sacrifice, rather than for insistence on normal standards, on peacetime ways or on business, profit, as usual. Upon the House this was about the best compromise that could be devised. However, compromise may not have to be accepted. The House has been moving toward the Ruml plan.

In the fantastic imbroglio of March 30 when the House collapsed into futility on pay-as-you-go legislation, the Carlson version of the Ruml plan w-as rejected by 215 votes to 198. On May 4, when the Forand-Robertson compromise was evolved, the House had rejected the Carlson bill by 206 votes to 202. The Ruml plan advocates had gained and with only three votes from the other side could have prevailed. As matters now stand, counting the Senate's 49 votes to 30 in favor of the Ruml plan Friday and the House's vote ten days before, the tally in Congress is now 251 votes for the plan and 236 against. These figures show where a majority in Congress as a whole stands, but they are, of course, meaningless if the anti-Rumlites in the House can maintain their narrow margin there.

That remains to be What must not remain to be seen, if the interests of the country are to be put first, is bitter and hopeless deadlock between the two houses at this juncture. Congress and the administration, too cannot continue to fail as they have failed so far on the vital tax front in the battle against inflation. of keeping, netting up, conducting, operating or managing a game of chance or assisting is a felony, punishable by a sentence of three years in prison and loss of the rights of citizenship. The statute is quite broad under the definitions of all those words. Then the owner of the real estate, the lessee, occupant or person in control is subject to a fine of $500; and, if the person accused of the more serious offense on the premises, is convicted, those responsible for the premises are presumed to be guilty and the burden of proof shifts to them to prove their innocence.

Satisfaction of irate citizens with the outcome will depend upon the future behavior of the lawless element, but obviously the legislature contemplated more than occasional or periodic fines. Be a Patron civilized people upon the indispensable part of good music in making their community what they would want it to be for themselves and, more importantly, for their children. All that should be necessary is the reminder that the Louisville Philharmonic Orchestra has served and will serve this cause faithfully, discriminatingly and graciously in the education of the young, in the cultivation of the artistry already among us and in the presentation, from time to time, of renowned musicians. If you are asked to be a patron, it means that some of your fellow-citizens, knowing you, have concluded you have such things at heart, understand their meaning and their value. On April 21 a subcommittee, headed by Representative Kerr of North Carolina, of the House Appropriations Committee, presented a report on three officers of the Foreign Broadcast Intelligence Service of the Federal Communications Commission against whom complaint had been made by the Dies committee.

Dr. Frederick L. Schuman, Woodrow Wilson Professor of Government at Williams College and a distinguished authority on foreign affairs, was "acquitted," but Dr. Goodu-ii Watson, an ordained Methodist minister eminent as an educator, and Dr. William E.

Dodd, son of the late former American Ambassador to Germany and an American made familiar enough until Nazism to hate it well, were described as unfit for office because of connection with organisations the Kerr committee called subversive. Drs. Watson and Dodd tcotild be removed from the F.C.C. payroll by the Congressional device of striking out appropriations fo pay their salaries. The Courier-Journal has protested against the star-chamber proceedings of the Kerr committee, which have been continuing against others in the government service and only Friday impaled also 72-year-old Robert Alorss Lorcff, noted scholar and writer, who serves the Interior Department as government secretary for the Virgin Islands and was long a professor at the University of Chicago.

He likewise teas irst a target of the Dies committee. A statement issued earlier last week by Dr. Schuman on the cases of Drs. Watson and Dodd is especially timely. Excerpts from it follow: 'JpHE fact that I have been "cleared" of unwarranted accusations does not place in any better light the more important fact that two of my fellow-citizens have been condemned on the basis of equally unwarranted accusations and sentenced to prospective dismissal and disgrace.

To remain silent out of personal gratitude would be to betray the very principles which the Kerr committee was appointed to protect. The issues involved are larger than the fate of particular mice or men. The sentences already handed down will, if unchallenged, be a precedent for others. They place in potential jeopardy the activities of all the war agencies of the Government. They threaten the possible subversion of the fundamentals of the American democratic system.

What is "curiouser and cui iouser," as Alice would say, is that the threat comes not from "radicals" and "crackpots" in the federal public service but from those members of Congress who are so eager to nit in judgment on others that they appear to have forgotten the ultimate test by which they themselves must be judged i.e., their own devotion to American traditions of fi'ce speech and fair play, and their own understanding of, and loyalty to, the Constitution of the United States. The committee's report of April 21 concludes that in my own case there is "not sufficient evidence to support a recommendation of unfitness to serve in the employment of the Government at this time," but that my colleagues, Dr. Goodwin Watson and Dr. William E. Dodd.

Jr, are "unfit for the present to continue government employment. Their alleged "views and philosophies" and their alleged "membership and association" with various organizations are said to constitute "subversive activity." Such activity, which the committee concedes has never been defined by the courts or by Congress, is defined by the committee as "conduct intentionally destructive of or inimical to the Government of the United States the ultimate end being to overturn it all." The organizations in question, says the committee, "have not been adjudged by the courts or Congress as subversive," nor have the alleged "views and philosophies" been so judged. But "public opinion" (as interpreted by the committee) has passed judgment. And by this test (which Pilate also applied), the committee finds two fellow-Americans guilty of trying to overturn 'the government of the United States and hence unfit to serve that government. yyiTH all due honor to the distinguished gentlemen of the committee, I venture to suggest that their report is based upon a false evaluation of two fellow-citizens and exhibits little knowledge of, or respect for, the laws of the land which Congress has enacted.

The action of he committee against Drs. Watson and Dodd is lacking in any statutory or constitutional basis. The condemned men nre not accused of violating any law or of holding office contrary to any law. They have never advocated, or belonged to any organization advocating the overthrow of the government by force or violence or by any other means. If it chooses to do so, Congress may (subject to correction by the Supreme Court as to the constitutionality of such action) enact legislation barring from federal posts all premature anti-Fascists and all person who have urged Soviet-American co-operation, supported the Spanish Republic, criticised the profit system POEMS OF PARTING From the Works of Sonnet XII.

JOW like a Winter hath my absence been From thee, the pleasure of the fleeting year! What freezings have I felt, what dark days seen, What old December's bareness everywhere! And yet this time removed was Summer's time; The teeming Autumn, big with rich increase. Bearing the wanton burden of the prime Like widow'd wombs after their Lord's decease: Yet this abundant issue seem'd to me But hope of orphans and unfather'd fruit; For Summer and his pleasures wait on thee. And, thou away, the very birds are mute: Or if they sing, 'tis with so full a cheer That leaves look pale, dreading the Winter's near. Hour? teen hours a day. The farmer is willing to put in these long hours to meet the increased hazards that he must face to reach the nation's production goals, but he must at least be given a chance to make a reasonable return or he will not continue this extra effort.

Washington must quit playing the farmer against the coal miner and the farmer against the small business man, if it wants the increased production which it has asked for The price ceilings which have been put on foods by the O.P.A. without regard to production cost are goingto diunpen the spirit of the farmers who are trying to make a living as well as feed the world. You haven't seen any shortage in food yet, but present methods are leading us toward that end. These same bureaucrats should be willing to take the blame for the greater food shortage which is bound to follow their program. The city man, the war worker and the coal miner should all know the truth so that they may place the blame for food shortages where it belongs.

If given the tools and a fair price, the farmers will raise the food and meat necessary to meet our govern mentgoals. Glasgow, Ky. Leonard W. Preston. Her Si'tilinirnlft, Anvwnv To the Editor of The Courier-Journal.

The view expressed in The Point of View about the folly of Mother's Day so exactly coincided with mine that my friends accused me of writing it, notwithstanding the excellent presentation of the subject was far superior to my literary abilities. However, I wish to add my assent to all that was expressed in that article. Mother's Day has grown to be a racket and. recognizing this some years ago, my children were firmly admonished that I would have none of it. It seemed an excellent thing at first but when the florists and the merchants" began suggesting gifts and showing clearly that they were commercializing something that should be fine and spontaneous it grew to be something abhorrent to any sensible mother.

First thing you know these same money-mongers will be having mother-in-law day or first cousin-once-removed day. No telling where this thing will end. Let's do away with it not only for the duration but for all time to come. M. W.

P. Bowling Green, Ky. "Real Patriots" To the Editor of The Courier-Journal. I read with great interest in "Ruby's Report" the story of Blown Brachey and Mrs. Brachey of Munfordville, in which Mr.

Ruby called them real patriots because they had not used a single meat or canned food coupon since rationing was started. Here is an opportunity for other people who raise their own food to become real patriots. Mrs. Ralph SMbyville, Ky. "Think Twice" To the Editor of The Courier-Journal.

Many, many thanks to Charles A. Walter for his timely letter in The Point of View entitled, "Cruel and Unjust." Any man in uniform who would call a young man who was not in uniform a "slacker" and "yellow," especially when he doesn't know why this person isn't in the services isn't fit to be a soldier or sailor. No doubt this boy feels badly about being rejected, just as many thousands of other young men do. for one, was very much disappointed when I was turned down for the services. Before you slur or condemn another person, think twice.

That person may have been rejected for any one of various reasons. After all, he would be in service if Uncle Sam wanted him. Don't help the enemy by idle slander. E. Webster Birtles.

Louisville. Annoying To the Editor of The Courier-Journal. I heartily applaud the letter in May 12 on the subject of abolishing Mother's Day. Shall we send a petition to Washington or what? Let's get down to business and settle this matter before another painful Mother's Day rolls around. I will gladly champion the movement.

Louisville. Mary Norris Helm. Letters should be brief (rarely above 300 words), preferably typewritten, on one side of the paper. The writer's name and address must be signed, to be published only with his consent The Courier-Journal reserves the right to condense. Concrete Measure.

To the Editor of The Courier-Journal. I wish to call attention to some problems whose solutions are being sought by the Kentucky Negro Education Association in harmony with the current movement on the part oT cdumtors to raise the general level of educational practice. Its board of directors recommends that the governor call a special session of the legislature to deal with major issues vitally affecting the schools and that Congress he requested to the Thomas-Kill nill, for the federal aid to reduce the glaring inequalities of educational opportunity among and within the states. Attention is called to the distressing inequalities which exist in facilities for skilled and technical war-work training as between the white and colored students in Kentucky. Numerous public high schools are provided with elaborate machines, tools and other equipment for this training but, on account of certain state laws and the failure of school boards to provide this equipment for Negro schools, the Negro youths and workers are denied this training, even though it is provided by the federal government at public expense.

The association urges upon superintendents and boards the moral and patriotic duty to provide comparable opportunities for nil the children under their jurisdiction. The association respectfully requests that the state director of vocational education conduct a study of war training courses as they affect the Negro population throughout the state, and to make the findings known to the association, and that a Negro person be employed full time by the state division of vocational education. Department of Education, whose duty will be the promotion of war training courses among Negroes in the state. In view of the impossibility of operating high schools in many districts in which the Negro population is very small and the impracticability of transporting these pupils daily to a consolidated school, there is need of legislation for boarding high school service in the state. The association recommends that these services be established at Lincoln Institute and West Kentucky State Vocational Training School by an appropriation fox this purpose.

A study should be made by the director of finance, State Department of Education, of the status of salary equalization in the various school districts of the state. There should be a Negro assistant in the division of Negro education to interpret educational issues and problems to Negro groups, to stimulate a maximum participation of Negro schools, school folk and local communities in the educational responsibilities, opportunities and advantages in the state and to interpret the Negro community to the Department of Education, to the mutual understanding of both parties. Congress is petitioned to continue the N.Y.A. until such time as the states remove discriminatory laws and practices which deny the government's training services to Negro youth and workers. The Kentucky legislature is petitioned to amend the Teacher Tenure Act to include principals and administrators of public schools.

The governor and state superintendent, preferably the candidates for these two offices, should be called upon with the insistence that definite plans be worked out for eliminating inequalities in higher education, these plans to be put into immediate effect. W. H. Perry, Secretary. Louisville.

Wants No Subsidy To the Editor of The Courier-Journal. Farmers who are working seven days a week, twelve hours and more a day without thought of over-time pay, do not want government subsidies or hand-outs; they want fair prices for the products they sell. They want fewer rules and regulations out of Washington so that they can spend their time in raising the food needed by our soldiers and civilians. The farmers who are really producing the food and meat needed by our armed forces know that this country produces more than it consumes. They do not want Washington to tie their hands with price control and regulation just because they are doing it in England, which cannot produce enough food to feed itself.

If Washington wants the American farmer to increase his production of meat and foods, then it must realize that the farmer must work longer hours and go to greater expense to meet this increased production. Washington must realize that the farmer is entitled to a reasonable profit for the chances taken and for the additional labor required to carry out this program. The farmers in this country are, without a doubt, the most patriotic group. No one ever hears of a farmer striking even though a large per cent work ten, twelve or four Our Gaining Laws Can Bite Harder Henderson County's anti-gambling crusade so far has netted the state $13,000, fees of the commonwealth's and county attorneys and circuit clerk, in fines against 29 cf the defendants indicted last January vho pleaded guilty to "suffering gaming devices on the premises." The fines amount to 2 per cent on a $550,000 annual business, if the volume estimated in a story on the situation in Henderson by Bruce Temple at the time of the grand jury investigation was correct. The state law has good, sound teeth if local authorities share the crusaders' desire to eradicate this enterprise forever.

In the first place, the law directs that all the paraphernalia shall be confiscated and destroyed. In the second place, the offense If You Are Asked to What the friends of the Louisville Philharmonic Orchestra who started their annual quest of patrons this week-end are offering to the people they approach is a rather extraordinary opportunity be helpful to the community in which they live. It is a day of many calls upon the citizen and each of them has its strong appeal, but these solicitors of support for the orchestra must have a hearing. and a response amid the bustle of today's stiijring cents, if this is to be a city really to live in as well as a city to work and play in. And that goes for the urgent present and also for the future that we hope for beyond the red s-hadnw of war.

There is no point in dilating before principle of the separation of powers. It violates the letter and the spirit of numerous articles of the Constitution which it eulogizes and from which it derives its authority. AND REMEMBERING illiam Shakespeare Sonnet XVII. NEVER say that I was false of heart. Though absence seem'd my flame to qualify! As easy might I from myself depart, As from my soul, which in thy breast doth lie: That is my home of love; if I have ranged.

Like him that travels to return again, Just to the time, not with the time exchanged, So that myself bring water for my stain. Never believe, though in my nature reign'd All frailties that besiege all kinds of blood. That it could so prepost'rously be stain'd, To leave for nothing all thy sum of good: For nothing in this wide Universe I call. Save thou, my Rose; in it thou art my all. of Parting and Remembertng" are selected from classic English literature.) More POLNT OF VIEW on Page.