USA > Indiana > Lake County > The First Hundred Years (1938) > Part 20
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40
. Wm. A. Wirt of Gary and Father Coughlin, a Catholic priest of Michigan, say that what caused the panic was that the buying power of the farmer was destroyed; that is, the low selling price of the farmers' products made it impossible for him to go in the market and buy the products of high priced labor and big profits of the manufacturers. The exchange was not fair, so he had to stop buying, and we have the results. They practically agree on a remedy, which is that the government issue more money (not fiat money or go off the gold standard) ; but instead of 25.8 grains of gold backing up the dollar, let one-half the amount-12.9 grains-be sufficient. Mr. Writ says the amount
-206-
of gold to back up the dollar is no sacred thing. It is simply an act of congress. If congress would say that 12.9 grains of gold backs the dollar, we could have double the dollars and still be on the gold standard. Suppose Griffith, Highland, Crown Point, Gary and Hammond and every other community in the United State would get together and have Father Coughlin or Mr. Wirt or some other man that had made a study of condi- tions and had a remedy, the people then could decide and act intelligently, and there would be such a force brought to bear on congress that the people would get some good laws enacted for the good of the common people. But if all we do is to kick and swear about conditions, and make no intelligent effort to know right from wrong, your congressman will be influenced by some one else and the laws will not be for your benefit.
Ours is the finest form of government ever devised by man for a wide awake, thinking, honest lot of citizens; but if it is too much effort to think and act for most of our American citizens we had better have a dictator.
Let every man, woman and child learn by heart one of Lin- coln's noble sayings and repeat it over at least once a week : "Let us have faith that right makes might and in that faith let us to the end dare to do our duty as we understand it."
Do you notice he says "we," not some one else? And "dare to do our duty," not crawl out of it and let some one else do it?
FUNNY THINGS
Funny things do happen in the best of regulated families. A while ago our county agent, Mr. Cutler, held a meeting over in Highland or Lansing arranging for a corn borer station, so the market gardeners could have their product examined and guar- antee it free from the corn borer, in order that they could market their crop in Chicago, Illinois. A week later Mr. Cutler and the producers of farm crops met at Gary with the consumers' repre- sentatives, trying to come to an understanding that the producers of Lake county would furnish the consumers of Lake county with farm products, and the consumers would buy the Lake county products.
The Chicago Herald and Examiner is putting on a cam- paign of "Buy American," and a button proclaiming the fact is yours for the asking. "Germany says Germans buy German wares." The English were having a banquet, and one of the guests turned the plate over and read on the bottom "Made in Germany." He smashed it on the floor and all followed suit.
-207-
Indiana is putting on a campaign to buy Indiana coal; Illinois is putting on a campaign to buy Illinois coal; and probably it won't make $100.00 difference.
It is a conceded fact that no country can live unto itself alone and succeed; so the world has built railroads, great steam boats, harbors, wharves-billions of dollars of expense for trade and commerce. And now we have a narrow, contracted, pusillanim- ous plan of obstructing trade and commerce by high tariff walls and "trade at home" propaganda. We had better destroy our railroads, burn up all the vessels, fill up the harbors, and put a Chinese wall around the United States-and if that is a good thing, put a wall around each state; and if that is a good thing, put a wall around each county, and we might extend it and put a wall around each township or town. Don't let anything get away. It would bring great prosperity and we all would be hap- py ever after.
BEER FOR THE POOR
We have heard of late what marvelous things beer would do for the dear people of these United States: Balance the budget, give us personal liberty and general prosperity and happiness, etc. But Dr. Alva A. Young, the North township authoried medicine man is the original advocate of giving our indigents beer. He says he has more than six thousand poor families to at- tend, and he claims that beer is better than milk for these poor people. He says it has an exhilarating effect which would allow indigents to forget their troubles momentarily.
A fine idea! But how about after they get sobered up? We feel that Dr. Young is the original Simon pure advocate of beer in preference to milk, as all the scientific experiments and actual tests with rats, as well as with human beings, have proven that milk is one of the most perfect foods known and is highly recommended by the medical profession for adults as well as children. And another thing that is known: the old cow can take the brewer's slops, a by-product of beer, and make more food value out of that than the brewer did out of the grain in the first place. There may be some of the poor people that would prefer beer, but those that have an ounce of sense left would rather have milk, and besides, milk is the cheapest.
March, 1933
MOUNTING TAXES
Taxes in the United States are fourteen billion dollars, inter- est on our debts is ten billion dollars, interest and taxes are
-208 -
twenty-four billion dollars, more than it is possible for the people to pay.
The question is: How did we get that way? The only hon- est answer is that we did not know enough to do the business of the country as it should have been done. What is the reason for it? We have spent billions in this country for education, and we pride ourselves that we are an educated people. But under the present condition of things we will have to acknowledge that we don't know much. However, there are a few among the younger generation that are waking up to the fact that our education is lacking in some vital points. Here is one from the "Voice of the People" column of the Chicago Tribune, and this writer seems to have seen the light:
"Yesterday the entire world was electrified by the news of President Roosevelt's proclamation of a banking holiday for the United States. Yet today as I, a senior in the college of com- merce of the University of Illinois, sat through an entire day of classes, not once was this history making question even men- tioned, and three-quarters of those classes were business courses.
"Possibly I am wrong and look for a little too much from our college professors when I expect them to discuss some current economic problem. Maybe their only purpose is to teach us the economic theories of Aristotle and Plato, the Greek philosophers living in the fourth and fifth centuries B. C., but to my way of thinking, of far greater importance is the discussion of such problems as are now confronting us. I expect to graduate this June, and far more important and valuable to me would be a discussion of something more practical than ancient economic theories, the use of which has brought so much grief to this world during the last few years.
"Why don't our college professors wake up to the fact that this is the twentieth century in which we are now living? Let them give us their ideas on current problems, provided they have any ideas. Even when these subjects are brought up for discussion by the students the instructors usually somehow or other manage to evade the question. Let them get up to date." -Disgusted.
March, 1933
INDIANA'S DICTATOR
For the last several years most of us have been doing some talking about the depression and saying something should be done, and certainly things have been and are now being done in a most direct and speedy way, in the state of Indiana and in
-209-
all rules and regulations of our form of government. An emer- gency existed and our state legislature gave Governor McNutt the national government. They are breaking all precedents and dictatorial powers which he used to such an extent that it was useless to try to get anything through the legislature unless it had his sanction, and both the house and senate voted for bills proposed by the governor without consideration or question.
It has been about the same at Washington. Roosevelt and his advisers have decided what should be done and our august law making bodies have just acted as a rubber stamp and passed the bills as Roosevelt told them. We are not criticizing or com- plaining of what is being done, but just interested in the changed manner of doing business at Indianapolis and Washington. Ours is a democratic, representative government. We elect represent- atives to go to Indianapolis and Washington to make our laws, and the governor and president have powers to approve or reject them; but in this new dispensation the governor and president tell our representatives what laws should be made and they go ahead and do as they are told, and do not seem to give any thought or consideration to what they are doing-just leave it to the dictators.
There was a very small minority who did not approve of the banking agreement-Borah, Carey, Dale, La Follette, Nye, Costi- gan and Shipstead. Whether or not they had any good reason time will tell. It is a new plan of operation for the United States, and it may be just what we need. The old idea of the congress of the United States was to get together and pass laws for the benefit of the whole people of the country, but of late each congressman or senator seems to get the idea that his busi- ness is to get some special privilege for his particular locality, and if some congressman would vote for his bill, he would vote for the other fellow's bill, and the results were trouble.
This dictatorship business seems to be growing. Mayor R. O. Johnson of Gary wanted to dig a ditch and the aldermen did not give it support, and he told them he was going ahead and dig it anyhow. You see, we have a new dispensation, and I suppose it is the easiest way out. The people as a whole have not taken enough interest in our government to be able to vote intelli- gently on the questions of interest to them, and now our repre- sentatives either don't know enough or they do not want to be bothered about studying the thing out. So they just turn the job over to the governor or president and let them tell them what to do. Looking over the world as a whole, government is a very serious matter, and no government is better than the people make it, especially our form of government.
-210-
March, 1933
THE PEACE CONFERENCE
Prime Minister MacDonald of England is visiting around among his neighbors-Italy, France and Germany, trying to come to some understanding in regard to the peace of Europe, and, of course, would like the United States to join in for permanent peace. We do not know whether or not they can fix it up. But we are satisfied of this: If we are Christian nations and our religion means anything, it should be done. For two thousand years we have been taught to love one another and to do unto others as we wish to be done by. If we can settle our differ- ences only by going to war and killing one another, we have not much Christianity nor religion,
And as a matter of business judgment, it is time we had learned that war does not pay even the victorious. War has kept the world in poverty and misery. If the people of this world would use a little common sense and decency and be honest, every man, woman and child in the whole world could live in comfort, if not in luxury. The good Lord has provided an abundance for all and it is just our infernal ignorance and meanness that causes all the trouble.
Some of our wise war lords are trying to come to an under- standing of what means should be used in war to kill one another off. They would have the deadly gases, submarines and some oth- er desperate means for killing people outlawed, so that it would be more humane. Now, what is the difference? Would it be more agreeable to be struck by a cannon ball and knocked all to pieces than it would be to be drowned by a submarine? Or, would it be more humane to be killed by having a bayonet run through you several times than to have your life snuffed out by deadly gas? They say that our modern inventions have pro- duced a gas that, dropped from airplanes, would wipe out the whole population of New York City in one bold stroke! What a fine idea, to do it up in that wholesale way! And it would be cheaper than killing them with cannon balls and probably just as humane.
So why try to make war pleasant and agreeable? Either agree to do away with war, or else make it hell and do your d-est. It would be like the law against carrying firearms. The bad buy them, anyway, and the good get shot.
THE PRESIDENT'S FARM RELIEF PROPOSAL
There may be some reason for objection to the proposed President Roosevelt farm relief bill; but we believe the proposed refinancing of the mortgage indebtedness of the farmers, pro-
-211-
posed by the president, is one of the best things that have yet been proposed for permanent prosperity. This country must have a foundation to build on; and the farm, the farm owner and his family are the best possible foundation we can have. Our government for the last twenty years has been killing the goose that laid the golden eggs by taxing farm lands for more than it was possible to pay, and by putting up high tariff walls in the interests of manufacturers and to the detriment of agriculture, until the farmers have their lands mortgaged to the insurance companies and the big monied interests to the extent that it is threatening the foundation of our best interest-agriculture.
Jay Pearce of Eagle Creek township in this county is hired by a big insurance company to superintend between eighty and ninety farms that this insurance company has come in possession of through foreclosure of mortgage, which means that the owners have lost their farms, and the insurance company has got them. This means that these farms will now be worked by renters, which is not the right condition for the prosperity of the United States.
There are only three sources of wealth-farming, mining and fishing. All others may be classed as parasites, getting their blood from the source and living from the foundation. History shows that all down through the ages, when the foundation has been neglected, the whole structure has crumbled.
The price of farm products broke eight or ten years before it struck the other interests, but it finally broke down the whole system, because the farmers' buying power was weakened. There- fore, President Roosevelt shows he is long-headed and has fine business judgment in helping the farmers to have their farms and homes, not only for the interest of the farmers, but for the continued interest and prosperity of the whole United States.
April, 1933
THE WONDERS OF BEER
I see by the papers what wonderful things beer is doing. Would you believe it-through lack of beer during the last thir- teen years we have had crime, racketeering and depression, and now the "happy days are here again." Everything is lovely and business is booming-$1,580,000 worth of beer sold up to Sunday, April 9. One man would not become a citizen of the United States until we got legal beer. He pronounced it "good" and took out his citizenship papers. My lady and her spouse got "tanked up" on beer and they loosened up their purse strings and made the dry goods market boom.
Lake and Porter counties, first beer district, used 10,000
-212-
cases in the first two days. Calumet City is having a real beer boom. Men came from Valparaiso and Michigan City to quench their thirst in the oasis of beer and rye bread. By a very scien- tific experiment they find they can drink more standing than sitting. We suppose they will all stand now.
Mrs. Charles Sabin, the queen bee of the Women's Organi- zation for National Prohibition Reform, begs the dear people that they obey the liquor law, and appeals to their consciences. Mrs. Sabin must be young and tender to make such an appeal as that to the liquor interests, or she would know that they do not have such a thing as a conscience. They don't know what it is, and, as for obeying the liquor law, does she expect them to? We don't; for we tried that for two hundred years, and we could not get them to obey the laws, and so we put them out of business. They may have learned something, but you watch their smoke. If they do not get back to their old habits, I miss my guess.
For downright sop, slop, flapdoodle, foolishness, rot, ridicul- ousness and disgusting damphoolishness this beer stuff they are carrying in the "world's greatest newspaper" and others beat anything we have seen for seventy-five years. Now, what is the real truth about this beer business? They have finally got the revenue down to $150,000,000. If the government gets $150,- 000,000 revenue the people will have to spend $1,500,000,000 for beer. If they pay out that much for beer, they will buy that much less of articles that are much more valuable and useful than beer-good homes, good clothes, good food, and good amuse- ments. That is positively certain. It was always so and always will be so, and you can't get away from it.
One of the much quoted phrases is: "Happy days are here again." When you get your happiness and enthusiasm out of a bottle, it is of short duration, and the reaction is sorrow and misery. It has always been so and always will be so. When you expect this beer business to bring happiness and prosperity, you are barking up the wrong tree.
-S. B. W.
FARM ORGANIZATIONS
In talking of farm organizations people have said, and are still saying, "O yes, but they won't stick together." That may have been the truth in the past, but for a number of years it is far from the truth. There is no body of men, nor organization, that are sticking together in the state of Indiana and the United States as a whole, and having as much influence on legislation, both in the state and nation, as the organized farmers, and the
-213-
history of our last legislature and the present business of our law making body at Washington will prove this. And we will make another claim, and can prove it: They have the most advanced outlook and most constructive ideas of any body of men or or- ganization in this country.
While other interests were selfishly trying to get the advan- tage in laws and regulations, the American farmer has always fought for a square deal and justice for all, and they are doing that where it is possible. But the middlemen have acted the hog to such an extent and will not listen to reason, and the farmers may have to do some pretty severe things to bring them to their senses in the way of buying and selling co-operatively, which they are now doing, having just got fairly started. But at a late meet- ing at Indianapolis of the Farm Bureau Co-operative, the report shows that the state system has a net worth of over one million dollars and has returned about the same amount in cash funds to its members in profits. The International Harvester Com- pany kept the prices of their farm machinery up so high that the Co-operative made other arrangements and are now getting their machinery for half the cost, and they should do the same with the prices of farm products.
Who was it in the state legislature who got the tax rate for operating expenses to the limit of $1.00 on $100.00? Whose in- fluence put the gross income tax over? It was the farmers, through the Farm Bureau. Who is sending Bill Settle and a lot of forward looking men down to Washington, D. C., to look af- ter the best interests of the country in general and the farmers in particular? The Farm Bureau, backed by the farmers. The farmers right now are at work (not out of a job) 100 per cent, doing their full duty feeding the people of the United States and some to spare for Europe, while the other industries have "laid down on the job" and have no money to buy the farmers' pro- ducts.
The other fellows have to go to work regardless of wages. and start the machinery going, and then we will grow into some- thing. Organized labor is acting the fool and blocking the whole business. If you fellows don't want to come in and play fair and square, we can get along without you.
The court has monkeyed around in Arizona trying Winnie Ruth Judd so long she has gone crazy ; or they are now trying to prove she is crazy. The delay and foolishness of the courts are enough to drive anybody crazy. In fact, we must all be crazy to stand for so much foolishness. Harry K. Thaw was tried for- killing a man and was found guilty. There was so much money
-214-
back of him they decided he was insane and several other things, and he was kept in court for over twenty years on different charges; all because they could get money out of him, and they got it. Are our courts looking for justice or for money ?
May, 1933
MOB RULE
The American people are influenced by mob rule and rough- house tactics. Last Saturday morning's Chicago Tribune had a front page picture showing the farmer mob attacking Judge Bradley of Iowa because he refused to act as they requested. One headline on the front page read: "Iowa Troopers Hunt Mob That Attacked Judge," and another : "Farm Bill Wins 64 to 20." The farmers have plead and begged for the last twenty years for help from congress to put them on an equality under the law with other interests, and nothing could be done. Coolidge ve- toed one bill that congress passed, and Hoover could not see his way clear to get action.
The farmers made no headway with our lawmakers as long as they pled and begged in a peaceable way. But when they adopted the rough-house tactics of the labor organizations, our lawmakers began to sit up and take notice that something will have to be done, or there is going to be trouble. Labor never got recognition until they used force and killed people. Most of their organizations have been, if they are not now, headed by men with a criminal record.
Carrie Nation, with her little hatchet, probably did more for the temperance cause than any one person in the United States. Force seems to influence the majority of people more than any amount of peaceful reasoning. Where is this leading us to? A lawless nation. The racketeer is an outgrowth of the spirit of control by fear, and if that is not put down, it will be the ruin of this country. If our lawmakers and the people are governed by fear, more than by reason and justice, we are headed for the rocks.
May, 1933
THE RACKETEERS
The business interests in the big cities of the cleaning and dyeing industry, tailors, teamsters and other industries have been bulldozed by the racketeers for the last ten or twelve years, who have fleeced millions of dollars out of legitimate business through fear of bombings, window smashing, acid throwing, shooting and killing. The people have stood for it up to this time, but now
-215-
there seems to be a concerted action in Chicago to throw the lot overboard and clean house. The most surprising thing of the whole business is : Why did the people put up with it?
The only explanation is dishonesty and cowardice, else they never could have gotten the hold they did. Some of those inter- ested in business would hire these hoodlums to injure the business of their competitors, expecting to gain by that action, and in that way the gangsters got in and got control, and made life miser- able and the cost tremendous whenever the racketeers got con- trol. And these racketeers are so organized that it is going to be no easy job to oust them, but it can be done and will be done, because business cannot go on under that condition of things.
The final sufferers, who passed the bill, were the public and they are vitally interested that a cleaning up shall be made.
WHERE ARE WE?
The president and congress are still working hard trying to clear the road to go forward to progress and prosperity. We are all very much interested in what is being done, but sometimes it is hard for the common garden variety of us people to know just where we are, or to understand just what they are trying to do. Here is a sample, as one fellow sees it :
"An economist is a man who knows a great deal about a very little, and who goes along knowing more and more about less and less, until finally he knows practically everything about nothing. A broker, on the other hand, is a man who knows very little about a great deal, and keeps on knowing less and less about more and more until finally he knows practically nothing about every- thing."
Values are going up on most everything, and speculators are getting in their work. One fellow walked into a grain broker's office and bought 50,000 bushels of corn. Sold it in a short time at two cents advance and had $1,000 profit. Then he and his wife went to see the races at Louisville. Easy enough to make money now on a rising market. But what busted most of them was a falling market. The president's talk over the radio on Sunday evening had a very beneficial and soothing effect; and that is the object of his talk-to come directly to the people and tell them just what they are trying to do, and how they expect to work it out. He doesn't claim to be infallible, but just doing the best he can with the horrible mess we have gotten into. The president said that Theodore Roosevelt told him that if he could be right 75 per cent of the time he would come up to the full measure of his hopes. The Herald and Examiner and some of the other newspapers claim that congress has abdicated its functions
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.