USA > Indiana > Lake County > The First Hundred Years (1938) > Part 16
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November, 1931
ABOUT THE COURTS
I see by your paper that the lawyers are again talking about a change in our court house business. "We must have all our courts in under one roof." It is about time. For the last 40 years about so often somebody has got to agitate the court house business and propose first one thing then another. Years ago A. F. Knotts was elected representative and Gostlin senator, and it was understood by the powers that be that they would get a bill through the legislature giving Hammond a superior court. My father opposed it with great vengeance from the first and wrote many articles, both in the county papers and the Indianapolis papers, condemning the extravagant and ridiculous plan of scat- tering courts over the country. Will quote some of the things he said in these articles. Senator Gostlin in a letter to the Lake County Star, January 25, 1895, said: "They would be satisfied if they got the superior court and it would not put any additional expense on the taxpayers of Lake county, outside of North town- ship." But the figures show by the report of the auditor that it did not turn out that way. The superior court being very ex- pensive for a period. The circuit court cost $2,076.50 and the superior court cost $4,560.97, the superior court costing more than twice as much as the circuit court to run it.
Again we quote from his articles. "Never in the history of the state have courts of this character been established to be held at other places than at the recognized county seat. The whole thing is an outrage on the taxpayers and is a benefit to nothing except real estate boomers and some lawyers." There is plenty more to be quoted but that will show the feeling of the taxpayers of the county at that time. Maurice E. Crites in your paper says, "taxpayers staggering under the excessive cost of their widely scattered courts, etc." This is what they were scattered out for -to give more a chance at the public treasury and let the tax- payers foot the bill. J. Glynn Ellyson says in your paper, "we should secure a location for a central court and get a bill through the next legislature to build a central court house." May God help us, I say it religiously, for there does not seem to be enough common honesty and good judgment in the masses to keep these wild extravagant dreamers from putting over some fool thing that keeps the taxpayers swamped.
What most people want is a change of court procedure so that swift justice can be administered as Judge Martin J. Smith of Crown Point recommends, which would save a half to three- quarters of the time and expense of our courts. And the court
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house at Crown Point is all sufficient if we had a change of court procedure and would function in a business way for all the court business in the county .- Sam B. Woods, Lottaville, Ind.
November, 1931
SHALL WE ALL GO TO RUSSIA?
Editor Southeast Calumet News :
It seems that the depression bread lines and soup kitchens are not all of our troubles. Now all of our workers are likely to leave us to go to Russia. We were at a meeting in Gary Saturday evening when the speaker, who had just returned from an ex- tended visit in Russia, told of the Soviet's five-year plan, the great progress made, and the happy and prosperous condition of the working people. And that means all of the people, for they all work. The speaker showed pictures of the Russian factories, schools, homes, generating plants for electricity, and libraries for the farmers. At that point the speaker said that the farm- ers' library in the United States consists of an old Bible and a Sears-Roebuck catalogue. He showed to his own satisfaction, and apparently to the satisfaction of the crowd, that everything is lovely in Russia for the working people. Then he drew a word picture of Hoover's plan of making millionaires and paupers- bread lines and free soup kitchens, 12 millions of people out of work, people shot down because they took something to eat, women and children suffering. As compared to Russia, he de- clared, we are in an awful condition.
Heretofore the whole world and his wife and a lot of the children have come to the United States of America because there was more freedom and happiness here than in any other place in the world, and now our laws bar a lot of foreigners, but they steal their way in by airplanes-out of force of habit, I sup- pose. For, if Russia is so much better, why don't they go there?
If this country has gone wrong in the interest of the working man, whose fault is it? Is not the trouble caused by just such people as were at that meeting the other night? They are car- ried away by some ballyhoo speaker and then, when it comes to exercising the right of an American citizen in voting, they will vote for the shyster who will pay them the most for their votes.
The plan of this government is based on honesty and intel- ligence, and it is ruled by the majority. But if two per cent of the minority do all the advanced thinking, the result will be just what we now have.
Suppose that Russia does succeed in her five-year plan-or suppose that it takes her 25 years, which is more likely-when
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they get on easy street and are sitting pretty, will not there be some who will want to get advantage of the others? And, if the great majority do not know enough to keep them from doing it, it will be done and they will have just the trouble there that we now have.
Would it not be better, instead of all our working people go- ing to Russia, for them to make a study of this form of govern- ment and acquaint themselves with the questions of the day, so that they could select lawmakers, both state and national, that would do justice to the working men? It can be done-they are in the majority. As Abe Lincoln said, "God loved the poor peo- ple, or he would not have made so many of them."
-S. B. W.
December, 1931
"ARE WE COWARDS ALL?"
In last week's issue of your paper I was interested to read the editorial entitled, "Are We Cowards All?" I would say, Miss Editor, if not all, pretty near it. When we look around and see what is going on and the very little honest attempt in most places to stop bootlegging, graft and corruption in general, it makes us think your editorial has a lot of truth in it.
Look what Chicago has uncovered of late. For the past ten or twelve years the grafters, bootleggers and robbers in general have taken from the taxpayers of Chicago between three and four hundred million dollars. They are now being "cleaned up," but was it necessary for the taxpayers to suffer that loss before they could put a stop to the infernal business?
It's just about the same here in Lake county, Indiana, only we are not as big as Chicago and the amounts not so large. Miss Editor, would we not have law enforcement if the people were not cowards? There are more honest people than there are rogues, so why do not the honest people control? A very en- thusiastic church member was talking about enforcing the Eight- eenth Amendment and he was told the way to do it was for the church people to get in dead earnest about enforcement and help the officers in enforcing the law, and see that the officers did their duty. "Why," he said, "we might get killed." This Scripture was quoted to him: "He that loses his life for my sake shall gain it." But he was like a great many others. He would rather not take a chance.
There has been in this county an organization comprised mostly of ministers and church people called "The Better Gov- ernment Association," and they were trying to do what the
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name implies. It seems now that the organization is nearly dead. It may be to be afraid to do things for the good of their coun- try There may be some other reason for their inaction, but we believe the word "cowards" explains the case more than any other.
A few in a community with some brains and a good deal of brass, bullheadedness and dishonesty "put over" a lot of things that decent people should not stand for and would not if they were not cowards. All down the ages the common people have suffered from want of more brains and courage.
January, 1932
PEOPLE RESPONSIBLE FOR PANIC
There must be a considerable number of persons in these United States of America who are simply and intelligently in- terested in fair dealing and strict justice for all the people if we are going to maintain this form of government. There is no doubt that the past attitude of the American people, in a great measure, is responsible for the present panic. In every known interest except the farmers-and they finally entered the game for self-protection-there was scrambling to get the advantage of the other fellow. The manufacturers went before congress and got tariff laws passed favoring their particular business. Labor organizations used what influence they possessed in congress, and brute force to accomplish their ends. The railroads got a guaran- tee for a certain per cent on their investments, a part of which investments was water.
The farmers were not organized, so they got what was left after the others got what they wanted, and it wrecked the agri- cultural situation and finally wrecked the whole business. The farmers saw they had to organize for self-protection, and we be- lieve right now they are having more influence in the United States for constructive legislation and justice for all than any other body of men. The striking fact to be noted is that the farmers' organization has been essentially conservative and tem- pered with a high purpose, and they have proven that they can fight when necessary, and that they have leadership and con- structive ability.
We have in this country three strong farmers' organizations, and we shall name them in their order as relating to strength : American Farm Bureau, National Grange and American Farmers' Union. As a whole they are a mighty influence in the United States, especially in national legislation. During the past week representatives of the American Federation of Business Men
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(the middle men) have been at Washington trying to repeal the agricultural marketing act. The combined efforts of the three farmers' organizations will be spent to retain the act, and you will see that the farming interests will win. We must have jus- tice for all the people if we would have permanent prosperity.
As it is now, a young milk wagon driver, without any capi- tal invested, will make more clear money in a year than a farm- er with $25,000 invested and the whole family working double the hours of the driver. And the carpenter, mason and plumber want more for one hour of work than the farmer can make in a day.
Simple justice for all is the only rule that will bring and maintain prosperity. And are not the farmers' organizations doing more to accomplish this end than any one else?
March, 1932
GO AWAY BACK, MR. EDITOR OF THE CHICAGO TRIBUNE
The following, in criticism of the stand the Chicago Tribune has taken regarding the Eighteenth Amendment was mailed to the Tribune a few days ago by our genial contributor, Mr. S. B. Woods :
Crown Point, Ind., March 15, 1932. Editor, Chicago Tribune :
Don't you know that a lot of that stuff you are putting in your paper about prohibition doing so much harm to the country is all bunk? A few days ago you had a picture of the Ship of State, manned by Prohibition, which was causing all the crimes and calamities of the present day. And today you show that the farmers lost twenty-three million dollars through grain going down in price, on account of the wets losing out in the late con- test in congress.
I am a farmer and I know that the increase in the consump- tion of milk, since prohibition went into effect, required more grain for feeding the cows, to make the extra supply of milk, than the breweries would have used for making beer. And an- other thing relating to economy in food production, the old cow can take the brewery slops, after the brewer has used the grain for making beer, and make more food value from the left-over in the slop than the brewer put into the beer. I am seventy-six years young and have lived in Lake county, Indiana, all my life, and have had my eyes open most of the time, and I can see a big change for the better since we have prohibition.
We had over seven hundred saloons in Lake county, and most of them were hell holes. Liquor was carted around here in
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big truck loads. And now they find a pint bottle in a hip pocket and we hear more about it than we used to when tons were carted around. I used to see drunken men everywhere. Now I see one very seldom.
As for the girls and boys going to the devil so fast, I know a lot of young people, and the girls are not so bad-and the boys are not carrying hip flasks. You can always get into bad com- pany if you want to, but there is plenty of the other kind in this U. S. of America if you seek it.
What is having a tremendous effect on the price of grain is the gasoline engine trucks, tractors and automobiles. Very little grain is used for horse feed in the city, much less than used to be is used in the country. If the farmers would keep brood mares to do the work on the farms, and raise colts, and have good horses to sell, they would be getting more out of their power plant while using their own product instead of buying tractors and gasoline. There are a great many things in the country that are doing more harm than prohibition.
-S. B. Woods.
"LAND OF THE FREE AND HOME OF THE BRAVE"
What next in this "land of the free and home of the brave"?
It is not enough that we are held up and shot for our money, banks robbed and, if you make resistance, shot on the spot, rack- eteers and communism.
The baby of the most distinguished American family stolen from its crib by thieves of the worst sort! No business can be done with the kidnappers-so we have to go into partnership with notorious characters as a "go between" to deal with kid- nappers and the parents. Ye gods !
"Be ye men and suffer such dishonor? Men and not wash the stain away in blood?" How much longer shall the American people patiently submit to all this shame and abuse? It is posi- tive proof that we have not enough courage and determination to stop this infernal business. You do not have to go over to France where "poppies grow on Flanders field" to die for your country. You can die for it right here in America, where people are shot at their places of business, and babies are stolen while sleeping at home, and sold back for money.
We do a lot of mouth exercise, honoring our forefathers, and praising their good examples. But we have not enough deter- mination and courage to stop crime in this country, and we have to go into partnership with Irwin Bitz and Salvatore Spitale, no- torious characters of New York's underworld, as leaders to do
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business for us. The men and women of America had better right now consider their responsibility as American citizens, and act before it is too late. Are we going to lose our birthright?
THEN AND NOW
One hundred and some years ago most of the people in the United States were farmers. They raised their crops, and had some of the grain ground at the mill, for food. They fed some to cattle and hogs and had their meat, milk, butter and cheese. They fed some to sheep and had their wool, which was spun into yarn for the making of socks, mittens and cloth for their clothes. They raised flax and, in the warmer section, cotton, which was worked into cloth for their linens and garments. They built log houses with the help of neighbors, and about all the tools they had were an ax and a saw. They used wooden pegs instead of nails. What nails they had were made at the shop of the village blacksmith.
But, as time went on, some of the people went into the busi- ness of making nails, making cloth, making wagons and other machinery ; and, as time went on, there were a considerable num- ber of people manufacturers and the farmers found a market for their products in the towns that had sprung up. They would sell them their butter and milk, their dressed hogs and beef, and would have their grains ground into flour to sell to these people of the towns, and in exchange would buy their manufactured goods and take it home to use on the farms. And finally, instead of the farmers dressing the cattle, hogs, sheep, etc., they would be driven or shipped to the great slaughter houses that had sprung up and there converted into all kinds of meat products and much better than the farmer was able to do it. So it has gone on until now there are more than one-half the people in these United States engaged in other occupations than farming.
In the early days there was not much exchange. Each fam- ily provided for their wants on their own farm. But now the ex- change and business is tremendous, making an army of what is called middlemen, and, of course, each one who handles a product gets something from it, and naturally it is the object of each one handling it to get all he can for his share. There has been more or less contention by the farmer that the middleman was getting too much of the cunsumer's dollar, considering the capital and work he put into it. For instance, the fifteen cent loaf of bread bought from the store by the consumer, only meant one-tenth of one cent to the farmer for the grain contained in the loaf.
Labor organized in the cities, and labor co-operating and de-
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manding a higher wage for their day's work has made it cost more to distribute goods and cost more to manufacture all pro- ducts, while the farmers were not organized and hence their pro- ducts did not rise in value to give them increased income like the city workers. The organization of the milk wagon drivers gives them wages, so that it costs as much to deliver a quart of milk as the farmer, who did eight times as much work, gets for it. Beside the labor, the farmer has capital invested, while the milk wagon driver has not. The young people on the farms, believing they were not getting a square deal at home, or, in other words, they could get more money for their labor elsewhere, went to town, leaving the old folks to get along the best they could.
Just as soon as the farmer goes to doing business with the other trades, he is on the road to bankruptcy, for an exchange of his labor will not buy the product of the other fellow's labor. So the farmers are getting wise and they are going to do business among themselves-not by spinning their own wool and making their own cloth, but through co-operation, they are going to have something to say about what their products sell for, and what they pay for the other fellow's products. This is being done through the Farm Bureau. I. H. Hull, formerly of La Porte county, but now living at Indianapolis, is head manager and a very capable gentleman, seeming to be master of the situation.
Gasoline and lubricating oils are pretty well distributed all over the state. There is a plant at Crown Point, selling also dairy and poultry feeds, farm seeds, binder twine, etc. Mr. Hull is now figuring with farm machinery manufacturers whereby he can supply the farm machinery for half the present price.
The Bureau has its own commission firms in the various stock yards to sell the live stock, and cheese factories and but- ter creameries to work up their milk, grain elevators, egg and poultry co-operative selling agencies, wool selling associations, etc. They not only expect to do the hard work of producing farm products, but propose to give them to the consumer at less cost than it is now handled, making it a benefit to the consumer. Through buying in large quantities from the manufacturers, and not passing through so many hands, the cost of what is bought will be less. So there will be more money left with the farmer that he may maintain the American standard of living, of which we have heard so much, but in which, it seems, the farmer was not to share.
The Farm Bureau is also interested in the social life of the farm, having meetings for the older people, and parties and clubs for the young folks, whom they call the salt of the earth-the
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most important branch of all, and they purpose that they shall have their share of comforts, luxuries and wealth of the country, which is theirs if they will undertake the business management, and not leave all to the other fellows, who have acted the hog and, in their greed, wanted to get more than their share for the work they had done.
The tax question is on the same line. In that early time, about the only property was real estate and personal property, and it was right to raise money for public expense on those items. But now fully one-half of the wealth of Indiana is bonds, stocks, etc., which pay practically no tax. A man may have a big in- come, and send his children to school, and ride over our good roads without paying tax except gas and auto license, and per- haps a little on household-probably not enough to pay for half of one child's school advantages, while the farmer has broad acres, but a very small income and was taxed beyond his ca- pacity. By these conditions, his purchasing power was curtailed to such an extent that the present panie was brought about.
The farmer can live within himself better than any other class and, if we learn how to do business, the other fellows will realize that they rather overdid in getting their share of the profits. The manufacturers became so greedy that they wanted the United States walled in by the tariff, and they wanted it higher and higher-and higher, until the European market for farm products was killed. And the manufacturers and organ- ized labor made the cost of products so high that the farmer could not buy it-another cause of the panic !
March, 1932
A special correspondent of the Indianapolis Farm Bureau, writing to the Gary Post-Tribune lately, says : "A good many re- publicans in Indiana have come to the conclusion that the iden- tity of their governorship nominee depends on a nod from Sen- ator James E. Watson. Although 1,451 delegates will be seated in the state convention at Tomilson hall on June 8 and 9, empow- ered to select a nominee, the party leaders evince a disposition to place the responsibility on Senator Watson alone."
Yes. Do you think that is right? The people themselves don't have much to say about it. A bunch of scheming politi- cians, and Jim Watson, decide whom we shall have for governor. And this is a government of the people, like the old woman- kept tavern. And then we complain of the conditions as they are, and do nothing about it. And it may be that the average John Citizen doesn't know very much about what to do.
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The first thing for a community to do, in their respective parties, is to elect the precinct committeemen, and, if they want good government, these committeemen should be intelligent, honest and willing to give some time for the good of their coun- try. These committeemen appoint vice precinct committeemen of opposite sex, and then they elect the county chairman and coun- ty delegates to the state convention. These nominate the state officers.
And there will be in the state 1,451 delegates representing the people of Indiana. Or, they should be representing the peo- ple of Indiana, but they are not if they are waiting for a nod from Jim Watson.
That article is an insult to the intelligence and manhood of the people of Indiana. But, for all that, it is just about the sit- uation. What are you, or I, or the other fellows doing right now to select precinct committeemen, which is the foundation of the whole business for honest government-if we know enough to use it, and want good government? So there you are-not cap- able of being good American citizens, in a great many instances. Now, who is this Jim Watson, who, by a nod, is going to deter- mine who our next governor will be? We all have our opinions. Some are worse than others-and ours is not the best. We look upon him as looking out for Jim Watson politically, and not concerned so much about the common people.
There is an article in the Atlantic Monthly magazine of Feb- ruary, 1932, by Frank R. Kent, on Senator James E. Watson, which gives his pedigree in a bold way, and there must be truth in it or the Atlantic Monthly would not publish it. We will quote : "He is one of the most colorful characters on the American po- litical stage, on which he has strutted for a great many years. He has represented the state of Indiana in the senate since 1916. Twice he has aspired to the presidency and once for vice presi- dent.
"It is somewhat startling to those who know him well to consider Jim Watson, the Indiana politician, as affecting the af- fairs of the world, and dealing with the destinies of men. In Jim's case the distinctive character is given by the color, the charm, the gusto and humor of the man, his Gargantuan amia- bility and friendliness, his extraordinary lack of conviction, amazing flexibility and robust nature. In many ways he is the ideal politician-built for the game as it is played in America. 'From the ground up' expediency is the keynote of his existence. He can shift from one position to another with extraordinary celerity and practically no inconvenience to himself. His basic
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