USA > Indiana > Lake County > The First Hundred Years (1938) > Part 27
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"The English at the close of the seventeenth century faced a wave of crime far worse than ours. The roads of their country became so unsafe as to become almost impassable and in London there were endless murders and robberies in the streets. They got rid of the nuisance during the century, following the simple process of hanging it out. When a robber or murderer was caught he was turned over to 'Jack Ketch.' It was brutal busi- ness. But it worked. By the end of the eighteenth century al- most every criminal strain in England had been obliterated, and the country has been free from crime of violence ever since."
You see, his idea is, if you are going to give decent people a chance to live the courts must give us more swift justice ; in fact, more for our money. Not so much sop for the criminal, nor de- lays and monkey business for more money for the lawyers. The only way we will ever get justice is to demand it and fight for it.
AN OPEN LETTER TO PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT Crown Point, Indiana, September 3, 1934.
Mr. F. D. Roosevelt,
Washington, D. C.
My dear President :
I am a farmer and have done reasonably well at the business. Now I'm growing old and have time to do some thinking, and thought you might be interested in knowing what some of us are thinking about. I believe you are interested in the common peo- ple and would like to act for the interest of the whole. The Re- publican party made a miserable wreck of the public business and we were anxious for a change, and we got it.
I have supported you on most things that you have done to get the old broken down machine fixed up and going again, but have begun to wonder if your plan of operation is going to bring about the desired results. It is costing too much in every respect. You are arranging for the federal government to take care of ev- erything and everybody. You are destroying individual initia- tive and encouraging a lot of helpless dependents who are going to be a burden to the people of this country. My sympathy is not with the people who are on charity. My sympathy is with the people who have some pride and who are honestly working and trying to take care of themselves but must endure the extra burden of having several riding on their backs through taxa- tion.
Conditions are discouraging, especially to the farmer and his family who work long hours and sweat blood to make some
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money but when it is all said and done the family has not enough, after paying taxes and buying tariff protected machinery, to live decently. The high standard of American living is not on the farm and it won't be the way things are going, for you will not or can not get the price of farm products up high enough to buy the products of organized labor and the protected industries. Or- ganized labor is acting the fool. The conditions at this time do not warrant the price for labor that they are demanding and, since all wealth is produced by labor or its product, we can not bring back prosperity by short hours and high wages.
Why don't you put the farmers on a 36- or 40-hour week? We could then use all the idle people in the United States and the farm products would increase in value two or three times.
These strikes that are going on in industry all over the coun- try are terrible, but it is nothing to what it will be if the farm- ers go on a strike and, if things get much worse, we may show them what a real strike means.
What I am afraid of is that you do not know how long and hard most people have to work for a dollar. You have always been on Easy street and money has not been so hard to get. You do not see the situation of the common herd. You are trying to encourage the building of and the repairing of homes. I consider a man would be a fool to try to repair or build a home at this time. The general conditions do not warrant the price demanded for the work of carpenters, painters, plumbers, masons, etc.
Things are too much out of joint to get anywhere at the pres- ent time. If we are going to work back to prosperity it will have to be on a different basis from that now proposed. The made work program for those out of work is a farce so far as getting work done is concerned, and it is educating the dependents to kill time and to know that they do not have to earn their money. I admire you for trying to do something to get going, but it seems to me you are spending a lot of money and not getting much for it.
Business is very complicated and, when you fellows down at Washington start to telling all kinds of business just what to do, you have a big job on your hands and the chances are it won't work out to the satisfaction of the majority of the people.
I want to be for you and with you for the best interest of these great United States, which I believe are all right. That is, the country is all right, but the people do not know enough to make good use of the great abundance provided for them. Ev- ery business must have equal opportunity in price for their pro- ducts so that each can trade with the other. The price level does not make so much difference except in the payment of old debts.
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The more I study present conditions and the results of the experiments of the last eighteen months, the more I am convinced that the only way to get out of this muddle is to use good horse sense and work our way out.
Respectfully,
-S. B. Woods.
WHO MAKES WAR?
Our good friends that believe in being prepared for war must get a jolt in the findings of the investigating committee who is examining into the workings of the munitions makers. They certainly had a close corporation with the different manufactur- ers in this country. In fact the manufacturers of war materials the world over were in a combine to sell war materials, and of course, if they were going to sell the machinery of war they had to see that the different nations go to fighting one another and that was their business to stir up trouble between different na- tions. They had a well laid combination that could do it, and they did it and they have been doing it for, lo, these many years, and have made their millions doing it. When countries go to war, they do not lose much time in quibbling over the price of the goods and it made it possible for these war machinery manufac- turers to put on the price so there was a big profit in the business.
According to the papers, the selling of this war machinery is done through public officials who have to be greased (that is, given graft) to put it across, and of course, the public has to pay an extra price to pay for the graft. There is a man now, who is very prominent in the New Liberty movement, who has made his pile of fifty-eight million dollars in the munitions manufacture, so we will look upon him as a doubtful apostle for honest gov- ernment for the good of the common people.
There are a whole lot of things the people should get more in- formation on so as to be able to vote intelligently to select men to represent us, and this war and munitions question is one big one, as they have worked their trade to the detriment of the whole world, and we have been fools enough to stand for it.
AIRPLANES FOR WARFARE
Arthur Brisbane, writer in the different papers under the heading "Today," is always advocating the flying machine as the great defense instrument in warfare. He claims we should build a great number of flying machines to keep the other fellows from coming over here and blowing us out of existence with their
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bombs and poison gas. And now we find the nation that has the greatest air fleet is afraid that someone will come to Paris and blow them off the face of the earth and get away before they can get their war flying machines in action. A Paris newspaper suggests that military aviation must be given up and every coun- try must loyally agree not to use its commercial planes for mili- tary purposes.
That word "loyalty" is a nice word to use in connection with war. If they are going to kill one another or blow their towns off the face of the earth they should agree to do it in a nice way -by a "Big Bertha" or just a common big cannon ; not go up in a flying machine and drop a big bomb on the enemy's city and blow them all to pieces. While they are about it, why do they not dispense with all this modern machinery of war and go at it as they did in the early stages of the "game"-meet on the field with clubs and beat each other's brains out? That would satisfy bloodthirsty brutes of men more than touching off a cannon or dropping a bomb from a flying machine. This fighting with ma- chinery is long distance fighting and is cowardly. It does not show the strength and valor of men.
We would suggest that only those who arrange for war should do the fighting. What sense is there in those who had nothing to do with bringing about the war being called upon to go out and get killed while the fellows who arranged for the war are in the background living on the fat of the land and reaping all the honor and glory? There seems to be some in this country coming to their senses. The National Council of Methodist Youth, in convention at Evanston, Illinois, condemns war and sympathizes with conscientious objectors.
We quote : "As Christians we are unalterably opposed to all types of military training, voluntary or compulsory. We declare our sympathy for all conscientious objectors. We declare our in- tention neither to sanction nor to participate in any war for any purpose whatsoever."
We suppose their idea is that if we attend to our own busi- ness, and do not mix in with the war business-as Sweden, Nor- way and Denmark did in the World war-we will not be molest- ed. We believe, and we suppose they believe, that if we prevare for war we will have war, and if we prepare for peace we will have peace. In this connection we will say that the United States spent one billion five hundred million dollars for flying machines for the World war operations and found them no good. France had to furnish machines for the United States men to use. Some of the beauties of war! "Oh, Lord, how long?""
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LOOKING THEM OVER
We have given both political parties the once over at their meetings at Wicker park. The Republicans had their grand open- ing last Sunday, where Arthur Robinson, candidate for United States senator, made a rousing speech, showing up in particular the shortcomings of Governor McNutt, and his profound belief that we should stand by the Constitution, and also told of some of his good qualities. One he did not mention, but we will, and that is, he is a conscientious dry, and as far as we know always stood with the drys in the senate. He expressed himself Sunday, and we believe the records will show, he has always been very liberal toward the Legion. We did not see any Republicans quenching their thirst with beer, but they were eating hot dog and ham sandwiches and drinking coffee out of tin cups.
The Democrats a week ago Sunday had a generous flow of beer in glass mugs or steins of no small proportions, and from the performance of many of them they seemed to believe in the wide open. A small gentleman from Chicago, by the name of O'Harra, we believe, with a big voice told of the wonderful qualities of President Roosevelt. According to the speaker, we were won- derfully fortunate to have one man in the United States who was capable of taking the wreck that the Republicans had reduced this country to, and on that construct a recovery program that was putting us on the high road to prosperity. All we had to do was to have faith in Roosevelt and he would lead us back to pros- perity. It seems on the whole the Democrats have great faith in Roosevelt doing something for the country, and about all the Republicans have to offer is criticism of the Democrats and tell- ing us to stand by the Constitution, whatever that may mean.
The Constitution of the United States says at its beginning : "We, the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquillity, pro- vide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and se- cure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution of the United States of America." The Republican party has been in power most of the time for the last seventy years, and they did not "establish jus- tice," "promote the general welfare," and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity. But they left a wreck of the machinery of the government, with the greater part of our wealth in possession of two per cent of our population. That does not look like promoting the general welfare.
Now comes a new combination that thinks it can promote the general welfare, called the "Liberty League," or "American Liberty League," and its promoters are Alfred E. Smith of New
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York, John W. Davis, who was Democratic candidate for Presi- dent in 1924, Irenee DuPont, the maker of war machinery, who made millions by promoting war, and John W. Wadsworth, who is ambitious to be President in 1936 on the Republican ticket. They want, according to their declaration, to uphold the Consti- tution and disseminate information that will teach the necessity of respect for rights of persons and property, etc.
We are wondering if these gentlemen are interested in the rights of the common herd, or do they want their own individual rights protected to keep what they have? We are of the opinion, if the common people want their rights preserved, they will have to look after their own interests. We won't expect the above named gentlemen to be looking after the interests of the under- dog. If they do, a great change must have come over the spirit of their dreams.
October, 1934
STILL A PACIFIST
Yes, Mr. Van Til, I am a pacifist, because war is hell. In fact, it is worse than hell. If I understand what hell is, it is a place to punish bad people and there is some reason for that, but war punishes everybody-the good as well as the bad. The fruits of war are desolation, destitution, broken hearts and homes, shattered minds and bodies, economic unstability, and taxation, that is destroying the happiness of the people. It is a racket where a few get rich and many suffer for ages. It is contrary to common sense and the law of God.
It is along this line of teaching of hell fire and damnation, where the many suffer and the few ever reach glory. It is where the worst in man is in control and the better in the human family is smothered. Christ's teachings are to love one another. War teaches to murder one another, and some of the boys got murder so thoroughly in their systems that when they came back to pri- vate life they practiced it. That accounts for so much murder and corruption after all wars.
The ostrich may not be so wise, but we think he shows more sense than the mass of the people do that will allow a few un- principled people to lead them into war to kill one another where the great mass suffers for it. This preparation for war to keep out of war is all bosh. If you prepare for war you will get into war, and if you prepare for peace you will have peace. The same with nations as with the individual. Let a man go out with a gun and a dirk knife, looking for trouble, and you can depend on it, he will find it. At the time of the World war, the ones that pre-
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pared for war got into war, but those that did not stayed out of it. Norway, Sweden and Denmark were right in the thick of the fight, but they attended to their own business and were not mo- lested.
It seems a strange thing to call ourselves Christians and we have been taught for two thousand years to love one another, and then we will deliberately plan and spend billions of dollars to kill one another, which is heathenish. If the people of this world ever expect to live like sensible human beings they must plan or arrange to settle their differences by some other means rather than war.
THE SECOND FIFTY YEARS OF LAKE COUNTY, INDIANA
Read Before the Old Settlers and Historical Society at Crown Point, Indiana, 1934
Lake county has been very fortunate in having so capable a historian as the late Rev. Timothy H. Ball, who gave much attention to, and an unlimited amount of hard work in, compil- ing its early history. His was the controlling spirit which or- ganized the Old Settlers Association, and in later years added to that the Historical Society. Rev. Ball was ably supported and assisted by many intelligent early settlers in making their an- nual meeting a source of pleasure and satisfaction. He has left to posterity one of the best histories of any county in the state.
It is needless for me to try to add anything to the first fifty years history as recorded by Mr. Ball. The men and women who were on the ground at the time were capable of writing it and they did-much better than it would be possible for any one to do it at the present time. The semi-centennial celebration of the settling of Lake county was held in 1884. Mr. Ball and his faith- ful followers fully covered the ground historically. This was all included in a second edition of the "History of Lake County" which was published by Mr. Ball at that time.
So we shall begin with 1884 and try to give some of the coun- ty's history during the past fifty years. The "big industry" of the county up to 1884, aside from agriculture and the big trunk line railroads, was the state-line slaughter house which was es- tablished at Hammond in 1869. It did a big business in the killing of all kinds of meat animals and in shipping meats, with their patented refrigerator process, to eastern United States and to Europe. In 1901 the slaughter house burned and the company then moved its forces to the Union Stock Yards in Chicago. At
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that time Hammond thought the loss a death blow to the city. But other businesses, seeing the advantage of Hammond's lo- cation, soon came in and she made a steady, prosperous growth until the depression of 1930 which hit the city hard, many of her banks going to the wall.
The Standard Oil Company recognized the advantages of northern Lake county as a distributing center and located at Whiting about fifty years ago, establishing refineries later at East Chicago and Indiana Harbor. Gary is the county's youngest city, having been founded in 1906. That year Gary's population was 1,000. Today the city claims a population of 115,000-fifty- five different nationalities being represented there.
Gary is a steel city. The United States Steel Corporation, in need of more extensive manufactories in the middle west, with war materials, shipping facilities and markets near at hand, se- lected the south end of Lake Michigan, and here about the steel works has grown up one of the greatest industrial centers in the world.
The entire Calumet region has made history and is today making history in a big way. In the past ten years the district has increased in population more than 100,000 which is twice the increase of Indianapolis in that time and more than most of the larger cities of the United States. To show the immense growth of Lake county we give the following figures :
The census of 1900 showed the population to be 37,892, and in 1930 the census reported 262,310 population-an increase in thirty years of almost 600 per cent, the growth in those years being seven times greater than in the preceding sixty-six years of the county's history.
Northern Lake county is now one of the leading industrial centers in the United States. In fact it is Chicago, the great mid- west manufacturing and distributing center, run over into Indi- ana. It is at a cross-roads of commerce and in the center of a region from which all raw material needed for heavy manu- facturing may be secured. It has wonderful water freight facili- ties, railroads in abundance for both freight and passengers, and some of the finest east-west and north-south paved highways in the country. All the trunk railroads and the arterial highways from the east to Chicago go through it.
East Chicago is situated on Indiana's largest public harbor and, with the other Lake county harbors, does more business than the Chicago ports. Last season the port of East Chicago re- ceived cargoes from Europe, West Africa and South America. With the opening of the Mississippi waterway and the ocean ves-
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sels coming in by the St. Lawrence river route, Lake county will surely surge to the front in water transportation and growth in other ways.
The Universal Atlas Cement Company, a subsidiary of the United States Steel Company, is one of the largest in the world. The new motive power, gasoline, has its headquarters in Lake county. Besides the Standard Company, there are Sinclair's, Wad- ham's Vacuum Oil Company, Standard Oil Company of the New York group, and the Shell Petroleum Corporation. Crude oil is brought into Lake County from all over the United States to be refined and distributed. The county can show a great diversity of industries besides those mentioned above. There are car build- ing plants, lead refineries, chemical plants, soap factories, copper manufactories, the Union Carbon and Carbide Company's works, and those of the General American Tank Company and the Unit- ed States Gypsum Company. Lake county is truly one of the work shops in the world, employing over 60,000 men directly, and indirectly giving employment to as many more. To show the vastness of the Lake county manufactories, we quote from a newspaper article published a short time ago: The article stated that the value of the county's manufactured products is nearly double the value of the agricultural products of all Indiana. (We are anxious to know whether they pay nearly double the taxes paid by the farms of Indiana.)
Agriculture in the past fifty years has seen great changes also. The gasoline engine, automobiles and tractors have given motive power for the farms as well as for the towns and, with the building of good roads, the automobile has changed the social conditions on the farms as well as in the industrial centers. Our nearness to Chicago and the great growth of towns in Lake county has created a large demand for whole milk, and during the last fifty years we have become a dairy county of reputation in the state. In the first half of that period the shipping of milk was done by railroads. But, as good roads developed and the gasoline truck came into use, truck transportation grew in favor until now all the milk is carried by trucks, and the railroad de- pots and receiving stations for the milk, which used to be scenes of great activity, are no more.
The tractor now is much used instead of horse power, mak- ing it possible for a man to do much more work in less time. But it is a question whether or not in the long run this new power has been an unmixed benefit to the farmer. It has, without doubt, been a great help in doing work rapidly and efficiently, but the farmer has had to buy the kerosene and the gasoline to feed the engines and has therefore not used his own products-hay and
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grain. And the cities, discarding horses for transportation pur- poses, have no market for the hay or grain.
We have shown the great progress of manufacturing business in Lake county, but we cannot say as much for agriculture. While manufactories have forged ahead, agriculture has stood still, or lost ground. As many of the early farmers grew old, the boys and girls, instead of taking pride in the farms and going to work on them, have gone to the towns and cities seeking easy money and good times. The old folks have not been able to care for the farms as they once did, or they have sold out to some one who does not know how to keep up the farm, or the income from the farm has not been sufficient to support a good upkeep.
Practically all writers and speakers date the depression as beginning in 1929, when in fact it began with the farmer in 1919. The price of farm products fell while the tariff protected other in- dustries, and organized labor kept up its high wage scale. So the farmer was handicapped on every side, and it was impossible for him to trade without going into bankruptcy. At the end of the ten years of this loss of the farmers' buying power, the mills closed and threw the men out of work-the immediate cause of the depression.
The last fifty years have seen these changes on the farm. The increase of the importance of the dairy business caused many silos to be built for the storage of green corn for cow feed, and the growing of alfalfa and soy beans for feed. There has been a change in the kind of cattle which predominate on the farms. The black and white Holstein cows are large milk producers and have therefore been raised most extensively for the production of milk. There are some Ayrshires and Jerseys, but comparative- ly few.
The market garden business, especially near the large indus- trial centers, has grown to big proportions, and the draining of the Calumet bottom by the Burns Ditch has added thousands of acres of very good land that can be used for this purpose. Many acres are being now used for garden to help out the destitute in this time of depression.
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