USA > Indiana > Lake County > The First Hundred Years (1938) > Part 23
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SOME THINGS WE SHOULD REMEMBER
That man is a dangerous citizen who so far mistakes means for ends as to become servile in his devotion to his party, and afraid to leave it when the party goes wrong .- Theodore Roose- velt.
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The men who compose the intrepid minority which first be- -236-
gins a battle against established wrongs are called cranks .- Tom Watson.
A man that is in advance of the rank and file is abused as long as he lives. And they raise a monument to him when dead.
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Let me fail trying to do something rather than sit still and do nothing .- Wm. Carney.
Our only concern is to win victory regardless of cost .- Cyrus Hamlin.
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Do not pray for tasks equal to our powers, but for powers equal to our tasks .- Phillips Brooks.
There are 3 things which a man can never recall : the spoken word, the past life, and the neglected opportunity. . *
Education in high schools, colleges and universities has be- come the great American Racket .- Dr. Ralph Cooper Hutchison.
November, 1933
THANKSGIVING
Some one has said, "One way to get the most out of life is to look upon it as an adventure." Is not that so? We are cast upon the stage without our knowledge or consent. We are guided for a few short years and then sent adrift to sink or swim, live or die, survive or perish. Sometimes we hardly know where we are at or whither we are bound. Some think they determine the course of their lives, but circumstances and conditions determine it more than anything else.
We have no choice of our ancestors, but they determine our body, form, disposition, and capacity for good or evil to a great extent. We arise in the morning and go through the day, day after day, and more or less year after year. Some are called great and some small, but in the end as far as this earth is concerned, it all amounts to about the same thing-we return to dust.
"Earth to earth and dust to dust, Here the evil and the just, Here the matron and the maid In one silent bed are laid."
It is a great "adventure"! One of the biggest jobs the hu- man has on this earth is to get through in the best possible man-
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ner and when this fleeting life is over, may we be rewarded with, "Well done, thou good and faithful servant, enter thou into the joys of the Lord."
And for all that we should be thankful at this Thanksgiving time and glad that we are alive and able to take part in the great "adventure" that gives us all that we can do regardless of what our capacity is. We can show what sort of stuff we are made of and we are thankful that the plan is thus that the am- bitious, active and determined ones get the most out of life.
ENFORCE THE LAW AND LESSEN CRIME
A terrible scene was enacted at San Jose, California, when a wild-eyed, crazy mob knocked the sheriff down with a brick and secured Thomas Thurmond and John Holmes and hung them to a tree after they were more or less dead from rough treatment. These men kidnapped a young man and killed him and then de- manded $40,000 from his parents. They were arrested and con- fessed to the crime. They should have been hung all right, but not by a mob. We have at great cost the machinery of justice and that should take its course and do the business. But our courts have been nothing more than a farce in giving us justice.
We would never join a mob to wreak vengeance on some poor fool of a criminal. But sometimes we have felt desperate enough to join a mob and tear down some of these court houses and throw the whole business overboard. Where there is so much foolishness and monkey business in our courts in serious crim- inal cases, as the Fancher case, for instance, in Lake and Porter counties, and the Kirkland case in Porter county. And this Sammons case now being tried at Crown Point is another ex- ample of the laxity of our courts in dealing with criminals. You all know what it has been in Chicago and just of late they have shown that they have the power to punish criminals when they want to and the reason has been that those connected with the courts saw more money in favoring the criminal than they did in procuring justice. If it were not for the criminals one-half the lawyers would be out of a job and they know it, and if we had swift justice it would stop most of the crime and they, the law- yers, know it and if we had swift justice the people would be satisfied and there would be no mob violence. If there was the courts should give them swift justice and stop it, which it would.
The papers quote Governor Rolph of California as praising the lynchers for hanging the two murderers. He is not big enough man to be governor of the great state of California. He does not know his business. His business is to see that law, order and
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justice are carried out in his state-not to leave it to a mob to-do what he should see was done.
December, 1933
PRESIDENT SETTLE ADDRESSES F. B. CONVENTION
Indiana's 15th annual Farm Bureau Convention was the biggest in every way ever held. They have been working hard for fifteen years with a clear idea and determination for the bet- terment of agriculture in particular and the public interest in general. In these dark days of the depression they have had a clearer vision and a more constructive purpose than all the oth- er interests in this country. Other interests "acted the hog" and took advantage of agriculture, which felt the depression ten years before the other interests were hit. What brought on the general depression was the loss of the buying power of the farm- er, making the manufacturing interests shut up shop. When the crash came they had nothing to say, but the farmers had good, constructive ideas which they have worked hard to put over. They now feel their efforts are crowned with success and they are feeling mighty good about it.
In his annual address President Settle said :
"There is more unity of action, closer harmony and greater accomplishments to review than at the opening of any former convention. While this has been the most strenuous and per- plexing year of our existence, I believe our labors have been crowned with greater rewards. We are nearer the goal of secur- ing equality for agriculture and parity prices for farm products than at any time since the pre-war period.
"Through organized effort we have achieved a strategic po- sition for agriculture which no informed individual or group would undertake to deny. Farmers, through their chosen lead- ers, to speak for their industry, are now recognized by the great political parties, by state legislatures, the United States Congress and the big business institutions of this country."
He reviewed the many far-reaching accomplishments of the Farm Bureau in state and nation during the past year and con- cluded with, "I am optimistic. I have great faith in our farm people. I know we will accept the challenge and take advantage of our opportunities and never again permit our industry to suf- fer what we have gone through in recent years for lack of or- ganization and cooperation."
In all past history the people who furnished the food for the masses were the mud sills of creation. But the American farm- er is made of different stuff. He is a descendant of the pioneer and is proud of his birthright. All he asks is justice; and he
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will get it, or the other fellows will not get their food. They are patient and long-suffering, but patience ceases to be a virtue about now and something will be done and must be done, or there will be trouble.
GOVERNOR SAYS THAT INDIANA LAW WILL BE ENFORCED
When the Hammond Times was reporting that the saloon keepers over there were going to sell all strong drink over the bar by the drink law or no law, I sent a clipping to the governor and asked him what he was going to do about it and this is his reply :
December 15, 1933.
Mr. Sam B. Woods,
Griffith, Indiana.
Dear Mr. Woods :
I have your recent letter stating that Lake County will not observe the regulations of the Excise Department controlling the sale of hard liquor.
We expect the law to be enforced by the local officials but if they do not do so, it will be necessary for us to send a man in to Lake County to see that the regulations are enforced.
Very cordially yours,
Paul V. McNutt.
If they don't see that the law is enforced we will let the governor know.
January 4, 1934
GRIFFITH, INDIANA, U. S. A., DECEDBER 28, 1933
This year of 1933 is growing old and feeble and he will pass on where all the years before have gone since Adam and Eve were created. We know not where nor can we change the an- nual performance one bit; and it is probably a good thing that we can't, judging from what we have done in running this little United States the last few years. Some of us think we know a whole lot, but what we have done does not prove it. It is about time now for "the world's greatest newspapers" to recount the doings of the past year which most of us would like to for- get-especially the first half where the good Lord had provided a- plenty for everybody and only a part of the people could get what they wanted. The rest were fed from a teaspoon by the pub- lic, which performance seemed not to be very satisfactory to either party. One hated to take it and the other hated to give it. Our great commander, with his R. F. C .- C. C. C .- A. A. A. (F. W. S. means fed with spoon, X. Y. Z. means something- don't know what), we will just have faith, will work miracles.
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With the brain trust and Johnson back of it, the project will surely go through, and we will be happy ever after.
This United States is not now in a rut following a beaten path. The G. O. P. elephant has gone away back and sat down and now the mule is hitched to the chariot of State and doing his "darndest" to get things moving. He also was hitched to the plow that plowed one-fourth of the cotton crop under and he probably had something to do with hauling the small pigs to market and the sows on which birth control had been practiced. He is very much in evidence, but we will be charitable and not give him credit for the fifty-two varieties of crime in Chicago where the "gentlemen" of the underworld have a prolific mind, where they construct schemes to convince people who have money that they should turn it over to those who have not so much money. And some of their schemes are very convincing- for instance, where a man is entering his home and is confronted by a stranger who shoves a big gun up under his short ribs and demands he "shell out!" The argument is so convincing he gen- erally does, without any hesitation.
Another very profitable enterprise has been built up-more particularly in the last year, that is to enter the home of the wealthy and take one of the family-not that he wants to take a ride, but he is compelled to go with them to some dark cellar and then they write or telephone to the dear folks at home that their friend may return if they will deposit twenty-five to two hundred thousand dollars where it is handy for the "gentlemen" of the underworld to get.
Of course these things don't seem just right, but it may be more according to the modern way of doing things than just to shoot a man dead and then take what he has. The past year will stand out in history as the year of the repeal of the Eigh- teenth Amendment when the majority of the people believed the way to bring about temperance was to furnish all the beer, wine and whisky that the people wanted, and five hundred million dol- lars of revenue would be coming in, but "the tax should not be put too high because the bootlegger would do too much busi- ness." Of course he is to be considered, for it is known that this United States is not big enough to enforce laws. And then be- sides-if we had some simple laws without a lot of loop-holes in them, it would injure the legal profession. The criminals would be exterminated and one-half the lawyers would be out of a job, and that would be too bad now when there are so many people out of work and it would not look well to see lawyers working on the C. W. A. jobs. If they did they probably would work up trouble among the C. W. A. workers and get them into a
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law suit. So it is a mighty big question what to do with the lawyers, the bootleggers and all the criminals. The tariff, the labor question, what is good money ? and the foreign debt are all questions, but the lawyer, crime and politics is the big question of 1934. If we can solve that we can solve the mob question which seems to be coming to life again.
Of course what makes the mob thrive is because the crim- inal gets more consideration in our courts of justice than justice does herself. We would suggest for the coming new year of 1934 that the courts attend to the criminals and relieve the public of the responsibility of hanging them, shooting them, cutting their heads off or electrocuting them. If the courts do not do this, let the mobs tear down the court houses and save the expense of the courts and then attend to the criminal in proper manner. We would probably get more justice that way than we do now. At any rate it would be swifter. We might suggest several things for 1934, but we will just hope that it will be better than for several years past.
-S. B. W.
January, 1934
THE WOMAN AS A CITIZEN
As candidates begin to "throw their hats in the political ring," and another election is not so far off, it is time we were getting interested in the voters. At this time we are thinking more particularly of the women-they being comparatively new in the business. We have had great hopes of their beneficial in- fluence in politics, but as time goes on, and judging by results, we begin to think they are not much improvement over the men.
Far be it from me to have anything but kind words for the winsome creatures! If the situation were not so serious the women might put in their time playing bridge and eating dainty lunches-and most of them seem to be doing this, according to our Lake county newspapers-but when the country is in a death struggle for existence, it seems they might give some of their "bridge time" for a serious consideration of the needs of the country, so that when election comes around they will be able to vote intelligently instead of voting the straight ticket-either Democratic or Republican.
The women of America lost a wonderful opportunity. If they had been wise they could have had full control. By staying out of the parties they could have dictated both of the parties. They, demanding good, clean, capable, honest government backed by intelligence, would have compelled both parties to put up the best men they had-and then the women could have taken
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their choice. But instead they divided into the two old parties, learned "the tricks of the trade," and, as far as we can see, their influence for good is not noticeable.
This is especially true in Lake county. The women who were successful in getting into a county office were of no particular credit to the sex. As women now have the right of franchise and constitute about one-half of the voting population, would it not be a wise idea to "cut out" some of this bridge and dainty lunches and give more time to the serious consideration of the welfare of our country ?
WHO GETS THE ADVANTAGE?
Mr. Roy G. Price of the Gary College writing in the Journal of the National Education Association on "Education of the Consumer" says the producer is educated at our school and col- leges and he seems to think the producer has the advantage over the consumer. But the way we see it is the consumer gets all advantage of the producer's education providing it makes him produce more, and that is the object of educating the producer for we all know that know anything about how it works that a farmer's big crop brings less money to the farmer than a smaller crop as the price is so much better on a small crop. The trouble is with the consumer. He wants to be waited on too much and have his goods delivered at the door in nice packages or bot- tles. What the producer gets out of it is only a small per cent of what the consumer pays. In the case of wheat the farmer gets sixty or seventy cents a bushel and when that bushel of wheat is ground into flour and baked into bread the consumer pays over $5.00 for it. A very small per cent of what you pay for apples and oranges goes to the grower. Milk is the same. You pay two to three times as much for a quart of milk as the producer gets out of it. If the consumer wants to cut the price in two and get a better article from a cooperating buying and distributing asso- ciation, let him buy of the cooperating selling association of the farmers who will be glad to sell to him.
We once heard a man say, "all a town woman wanted was a can opener and a pocket book." A great many of them are that way, but not all. Those that are willing to do some work will be well paid in organizing a cooperative association getting goods at the lowest cost and better quality.
February, 1934
THE LAWYER CRIMINAL
The Chicago Tribune has an article on the above subject. What it has to say about it applies to Lake county, Indiana, as
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much as to Chicago and Cook county, Illinois. We will quote a part of the article. Read it carefully, and then decide what you are going to do about it:
"A person accused of crime and brought into court is en- titled to his defense. He is entitled to the best defense he can get. He is represented by counsel. If he is unable to hire a lawyer the court will appoint one for him. Cook county has a public defender. The defendant is presumed innocent until he has been convicted on the evidence, even though outside of court the presumptions based on a long criminal record would be against him.
"The defendant stands trial on the evidence. He must be given the benefit of impartial judicial rulings and proper pro- cedure. The record must be clear of reversible error. For the criminal as well as the decent man the legal rights of the indi- vidual must be protected, and if punishment is given it must be in accordance with law and lawful procedure. .
"But to what abuses have these inestimable rights led ! Al- most daily there is illustration in the criminal courts.
"When it is granted that the worst criminal is entitled to the best defense he can get, the meaning is that he is entitled to an honest and honorable defense conducted for him by lawyers who are honest and honorable men, servants, in fact, of the court ad- mitted to the practice of law by the state itself and invested with quasi public duties and governed by the ethics of their profession. Such ethics are supposed to govern. They are supposed even to have scrupulous and vigilant custodians. The bar association has certain duties in guardianship of practices and discipline of of- fenders and disbarment is one penalty for shady or corrupt con- duct in a case.
"In spite of all this it is notorious that there is a special class of lawyers whose purposes are specified and explicitly against the administration of justice. Their object is not the ad- ministration of law but the protection of criminals. They do not want a just verdict but a crooked one. They are clever ; some of them are brilliant. Often the criminal's one hope is to get such services. These lawyers as they become notorious get rich. They select this branch of practice intending to develop it as an anti-social instrument for their own profit.
"They form political as well as criminal connections. Their clientage is composed of the recognized criminal gangs. They are more dangerous than the criminals themselves because they give the criminal freedom. Because of their law practice one crime may become a series of crimes. They promote miscarriage of justice in the trial room. They open prison doors with paroles
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or pardons. They beat the chair or the rope. They are not hon- orable members of the bar. They know the ethical code only to breach it. They will corrupt juries, suborn perjury, bribe whomever they can, citizen or official, intimidate witnesses and bring po- litical influence into the administration of justice.
"These men are public enemies. Their purpose is to defeat . the law and protect criminals, and they do so. Here the question may be asked: What penalties do they face or incur? Must we say none? It would seem so. They do not apparently lose stand- ing in the community. They are not regarded as outlaws them- selves, enriched by the injuries they do the social organization in which they live. They are not shunned or marked for what they are.
"Although the state admitted them to the bar, the state does not disbar them. The disciplinary code of the bar association does not operate against them. They remain members of the bar and officers of the court. The practice of law is not closed to them. The law does not proceed against them. Their fellow members of the bar who make ethical pretensions either fear them or for other reasons pass lightly over their conduct.
"So serious has the situation become that it begins to taint the reputable lawyers supposedly on guard in their profession against unethical or criminal practices. If nothing is done to pro- tect the public the bar association will lose credibility. Its recom- mendations and advice will be made worthless. It will lose its in- fluence and become itself discredited."
MORE ABOUT WAR AND PREPAREDNESS
We have had in the last two issues of the Calumet Weekly News both sides of the "Prepared for War" question. Mr. An- derson is strong for preparedness and he has a perfect right to be. He puts up the usual argument-that human nature is such that the only safe protection is brute force-must be stronger than the other fellow or be annihilated. The questions of Chris- tianity, common decency, right or justice do not enter into the picture. If we have not bigger ships, bigger guns, more poison gases and more flying machines to bomb the enemy and kill him before he can kill us, "we must prepare." Like a lot of savages with no moral sense, settle everything by brute force-may God forbid! After two thousand years of being taught to do unto others as you would have them do unto you-if that is the way we have to do, the whole civilized world is a failure.
When the nations used to fight with clubs and swords it was not serious. But now, with the machinery of war, it is ruinous to the world, and we cannot exist under that condition of things
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If we have no higher view of man's destiny than war for suprem- acy, we are doomed. The truth is, the better element allows the baser element to control, and we have a positive proof of it. There are no two countries on the face of the earth that have been better prepared for war than France and Germany, and they have always been at war. Canada and the United States have three thousand miles of frontier and not a cannon or fort on eith- er side of that boundary, and we never have any trouble. Why don't we have to put up a fort between ourselves and our neigh- bor and have guns ready to kill one another? Because the people themselves have too much sense for a brutish thing like that. But our organized government with some well paid military group in the control will keep us in trouble if the people as a whole are fools enough to stand for it.
February, 1934 THE FARMER AND THE CHURCH
A good friend minister gave me a copy of a publication called Economic Justice-Bulletin of the National Religion and Labor Foundation, which is very outspoken and energetic in its pleading for the cause of labor, and from their viewpoint, labor means the worker in the city is not getting a square deal; and these good ministers are interesting themselves in trying to see that he does. A very worthy cause, and we believe that is a part of the church's business.
But why do they leave out the cause of the farmer, who has suffered more and longer than the city worker? His depression commenced in 1919-ten years before labor got hit, and about that time the church was interested in labor and fought for an eight-hour day in the steel industry. But the hours on the farm concerns her not.
The church has declared against child labor, has helped to banish labor's worst features in the cities, but has been silent about educational inequality of opportunity suffered by the farmer's child as compared to the city child.
In regard to our government's "new deal," they have ban- ished child labor except on the farm, where they can work six- teen hours a day if the parents wish. From our viewpoint there was more need for child regulation on the farm than anywhere else. Today and for fifteen years past American agriculture has been passing through a crisis serious not only to the farmer, but to the whole American nation, and its outcome affects vitally the future of the church itself. The present situation of agriculture is far more serious than the present condition of labor.
Agriculture as an industry is fighting for its life, and it be-
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ing the foundation of the whole business, the church would do well to consider its interest. While labor has been organized, making often unreasonable demands, and guarding against too much work for a day's pay, farmers have worked long hours and the prices of their products hardly pay the taxes on the farms- at least not enough left to live respectably and to keep up the farm and buildings.
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