USA > Indiana > Lake County > The First Hundred Years (1938) > Part 31
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It would be pretty near impossible to write a platform, and promises, more opposite to the performance for the last two years of the President and the Democratic party. There might have been an emergency, as they claim, but they certainly did take long chances and a lot of money in making their experi- ments. On the whole we feel the supreme court decision is for the best in the long run.
I have lived just about one-half of the time in these United States since the Constitution was written and we always thought it a fine document that should be lived up to, and we still believe it, and also that this is the finest government man ever made and the finest country God ever made. All we have to do here in this country is go to work, use good, common sense, give everybody an equal chance in the race of life, let none ask for any special privileges, and "do unto others as you wish to be done by." All will have a-plenty and be happy ever after !
"BACK TO THE FARM!"
The writer of "A Line o' Type or Two" in the Chicago Tribune has been there, you bet! We quote :
" 'Back to the farm for me! I'll love it!' says Barbara Hutton."-Headline. Certainly, Barbara, because your new husband, Count Something-or-Other, has an ancestral estate in Denmark. Going back to the farm is great stuff when you can press a button and a butler in the uniform of a field marshal or a rear admiral appears like a jack-in-the-box with the cock- tails. A farm is grand when all the farming you do is to look out the window and see the happy peasantry cutting the oats or digging the potatoes. But, Barbara, when back to the farm means getting up at four-thirty in the morning and milking the cows and keeping some of those damn heifers from putting their hind foot in the milk pail, it's quite a different matter. And getting dinner for ten or fifteen harvesters and churning the butter and chasing the hens around the lot to make 'em lay-well, Barbara, your raving about going back to the farm just makes old Dobbin laugh. As they used to say in the long ago, "Dearie, you don't know nothing yet."
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HARD TO GET FARM HELP
The conditions on the farms are getting worse, and more of it, in the way of getting help to do the work. I personally know of the man on the farm and the woman in the house being worked beyond their endurance, for the reason that they can- not get help to do the work for the wages that they can afford to pay. And for that matter, the people nowadays do not want to work on a farm, there is too much work. The fact of the business is, people do not want work; they want a lot of money for a little work, or the dole where they do not have to work at all.
The people I refer to had a young man to help them, and he was pretty good as long as it was a novelty, but when that wore off he got slow and careless and let the team run away with the harrow and ruined it. He put the cream separator to- gether wrong and broke that, and he got to be more of a nuis- ance than he was a help and they had to let him go.
A proud father in the city wanted his son to get work on the farm so as to get him doing something and get him away from the temptations of the city. The boy came and mowed the lawn. There were big weeds in the garden and plenty of other work a good, ambitious boy could do, but he concluded he had enough experience on the farm and he is to be seen around there no more.
Girls agreed to come for the housework at $5.00 per week, but later sent word that they had a job in Hammond. We went to an employment agency at Gary for help, where they are look- ing up jobs for the unemployed. The woman in charge wanted to know how many rooms there were in the house, and she thought the girl would not want to do the washing and finally concluded that there was too much work there and concluded she would not want to send a girl out to such a place. Her idea seemed to be if she got all these people work she would be kill- ing the goose that laid the golden eggs and she would be out of a job.
The situation is this: There are lots of people that are working themselves to death trying to make an honest living and are paying outrageous taxes to support another set of people that are too lazy and have not the pride in them to make an honest living. It is a case of the best people burdened to support the worst class of people. We are putting a premium on laziness. shiftlessness and worthlessness. If that is going to bring pros- perity, I am a poor judge. These city people talk so much about plowing under cotton and killing pigs. Most of them would not hoe the cotton or feed the pigs, and as far as I am concerned they can go without cotton to wear and pigs to eat. If they did
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not have anything to wear or anything to eat, they probably would not be so particular about what kind of work they did, and it might be some of them would be willing to work on a farm.
HAPPY DAYS ARE HERE AGAIN
The report on 23 auto accidents in Hammond says the drivers were all under the influence of liquor. What a happy time they all must have had.
The big boss of the liquor business of the state of Indiana says (according to the papers) he does not want the law en- forcement officers to do any "snooping." Fry also warned against abusive use of the search warrant and search and seizure clause of the law. According to his instructions, the law enforce- ment officers will be inclined to wink at the law or make a very liberal interpretation of it. Can an officer do his duty and get results without "snooping"? That is what we are paying him for. He should be looking for law violations. That has been the trouble with our law enforcement officers, they have shown too much sympathy for law violators. If law-abiding citizens want the law enforced they had better do the "snooping" and see that the officers do their duty. Why not different societies that want law enforcement appoint a committee whose duty it is to see that the law is enforcel?
A HOT TIME IN THE U. S. A.
Discussions on politics are raging fast and furious. The decision of the supreme court judges on some of the principal features of the New Deal and the President's attitude toward the decision and his effort to get laws passed to prevent the supreme court from pronouncing unconstitutional laws passed by Con- gress has raised a storm of protest, not only at the "grass-roots" meeting at Springfield, Illinois, but by many southern as well as northern Democrats. The differences are now well defined and we may look for a hot time in this old United States from now until after the 1936 election.
POLITICS AND THE CHURCH
We feel that the speech delivered to the Kiwanis club at Gary by the Rev. F. W. Backemeyer, pastor of the First Presby- terian church of that city, and published in the Gary Post-Tri- bune, has the right ring. It is so important that we give it in full, hoping that other church people will read it, digest it, and decide to be a powerful influence for good government:
"Will America exist 1,000 years hence?
"Yes-provided she does not spurn the idealism of her
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churches, and the moral influence of spiritual longing and spirit- ual hopes !
"Let not America fear the church's influence upon her political and social life; let her rather fear the defeat of the church's idealism and persuasive influence. For if that goes, and if these forces win supremacy which are now urging that the 'church keep out of politics,' then we may as well write 'Icha- bod' over all our doors, and await the crash and ruin. And from that dread doom, may Providence deliver us!"
The foregoing represents the quintessence of an address on "The Church and Politics," delivered at the regular meeting of the Kiwanis club here yesterday by Rev. F. W. Backemeyer, pastor of First Presbyterian church and former president of the Gary Ministerial association.
Throughout his talk the clergyman defended the right of the church whatever its denomination, to "have a fair chance at human nature, without attempting to coerce personal con- duct," paralleling this prerogative with that enjoyed by other groups, such as newspapers, civic and fraternal bodies, political parties and organizations of lesser eminence.
"As an idealistic institution," he said, "the church is entitled to this right.
"The church also is a voluntary institution. Possessing only the force of numbers, it is not compelling, and its influence is graded entirely on the principles of the will of majorities, which is wholly American.
"As a free institution, the church has every right to project itself upon the moral conscience of the citizen, and to appeal to his intelligent judgment.
"Lastly, as an institution with moral responsibilities, it can- not avoid the burdens of social welfare and human progress !"
Were politics of the highest type always in vogue, the pastor asserted, there would be no need for "keeping the church out of politics," as clergymen often are admonished they should do.
"But our politics is not of that high order," he said. "Its present state demands that we do some drastic thinking and some courageous acting lest in another generation we find ourselves mired in a bog of such iniquitous wrong that we shall not be able to crawl out of its slimy depths for a long time.
"There is, then, that 'overlapping belt' which always brings up the question of whether the church should have any- ting to do with, or claim a place in, the politics of the day.
"I submit it is not a question of the churches trying to 'run the universe,' as some aver. I know of no church that wants to do that. I know some individuals who would like to 'run the
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universe,' but among those I know more are outside the church than in it. The average politician who cries, 'Keep the churches out of politics !' is not particularly interested in the purity of the church. He is more likely to be concerned with selfish ends, which are in open conflict with what the church generally stands for.
"The politician is not afraid, therefore, that the church will become besmirched with polities ; he merely fears that some of the church's thinking and idealism is apt to filter into politics.
"Never place confidence in the man who shouts: 'Keep the churches out of politics !' So long as evils are allowed to run rampant, so that their smell rises to high heaven, so long the church as an institution will have to wield her influence in the direction of moral responsibility.
"Why should gangs be organized, and the church remain idle? Why should bootleggers and gamblers have a strangle hold on everything down to the dog catcher, and the church sit silently by ?
"The church must be given absolute freedom of discussion and opinion and conviction and influence. By what right? By the right of its place in human society and its interest in human welfare. The corruptionists know that there is a saturation point in the public'e patience. That is why we have short periods when lids are clamped on, dives raided, gambling suppressed, and the talk of a grand cleanup goes the rounds. Don't ask the church to keep out of politics so long as that sort of s pasmodic, hypocritical reform goes on !
"The schools do not enter this realm of political influence because they are not free. They are a product of the govern- ment, supported by taxes, and in every way amenable, therefore to the general administration of government. Education is their text, and school men are expected to keep to that text. They exert no influence upon legislation, and rightly so, in reference to laws that may affect the processes of education, the physical equipment involved, and such related matters.
"But the church is not a part of the government. It is a free institution. It is not tax supported, and in America it never will be. It is entirely voluntary, and because it stands pre- eminently for moral and spiritual values, it must have a place in everything that tends to build up theese values. It must speak out against whatever would destroy them.
"Condemnation often may be the result of this manifestation of interest. Whatever the church may do, criticism will be forthcoming. The church thrives on some criticism, but I would rather the institution I represent be condemned for its vital in-
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terest in moral issues which are being befogged politically than for being cowardly silent.
"The weakness of the church lies, of course, in its lack of total unity. But perhaps therein lies its strength. No one can accuse the churches of forming a political bloc. There is no church trust. The church lives and lets live. Its members are free, and often their opinions differ widely.
"The church can influence, but it cannot curb; it can per- suade, but it cannot compel. Its influence should not be kept out of the political thought and issues of the day.
"Politics is the science of government. But unfortunately when we use the word in the ordinary sense, we do not refer to its higher meaning. Every man of us knows that politics often is 'the science of mis-government.' In that phrase we describe what most folks are thinking of when they use the term 'politics.' And while, in my topic, I would imply a higher use, yet in practical life we are compelled to deal with that type of politics described by the lower definition. That type has made itself so present, and has obtained such a tragic grip upon our American life, that we stand in need of a great purging. Even Mark Sul- livan, the Post-Tribune's commentator on national affairs, admits that-now!
"Being composed of a purely voluntary citizenship, organized to further benevolent projects, the church inspires spiritual im- pulses, fosters ideals, ennobles life and creates a spirit of fellow- ship among men and between men and the Divine. It has one of the major tasks of human welfare.
"That the church fails to accomplish all this is quite easy to understand, for it is made up of faulty humans, such as we are.
"I like Bishop Quayle's quaint definition of the church : 'It is not made up of perfect people, but of people who have sense enough to know that they ought to be better than they are.'
"There can be, under our constitution, no restraint what- ever in the matter of the church trying to wield a positive, con- structive influence in the lives of men, women and children. In fact, a compliment is paid the church every time some disaster shakes the community and people are heard crying, 'Where are the churches? Why didn't they try to prevent this calamity ?'
"The church is the butt of more sneering jokes and gets more stings of pointless abuse than any other organization in the moral failures in community life. In one breath they poke fun, and in the next they lay blame. In one act they would make it impossible for the church to help, and in the next they charge it with inadequacy, though they themselves helped create the moral impasse.
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"Men say the church ought to keep out of politics. Yet in their better moments they acknowledge soberly that things are pretty rotten in Denmark, and if you lead them on a little way they will admit that they also are rotten in Bagdad and Liverpool and New York and Chicago and-in Crown Point. Some times, if you press them a little more, they will even admit the bare possibility of a little crookedness and rottenness in Gary.
"Only a spineless body of church folk would be wholly unconcerned for the moral welfare of its community, or of the state and nation!
"Let it be understood that I am not arguing that a church shall fling itself into a sordid political campaign, especially a local one wherein personalities are bound to come to the fore in every discussion of issues. No church ever should become identi- fied with a political faction. No church ever should 'party- ize' itself. But when that has been said, please do not ask the churches to back out of the scene. We are not unthinking voters. We overlook most party lines and vote for men, for women-for people. And if a bootlegger or gambler has the right to choose whom he will support on the basis of who is most likely to give him protection, then why may not I, as a churchman, make ยท known my choice among those who may have some confidence in my judgment, on the basis that my candidate will further the cause of righteousness in politics and civic government?
"Why should we be so unconcerned about how a professional gambler votes, or for whom he works during a campaign, and then get 'red-headed' because the preachers may think for them- selves and vote accordingly.
"Are we less American because we happen to be ministers, rabbis or priests? And as for our people, is it more wrong for me to persuade my members by word of counsel (though I seldom do that, and never publicly) than it is for some shyster politician to persuade his friends by slipping them a $5 or $10 bill?
"I know some folks who drag politics into the churches. You can see them warming up church pews a few weeks before any election !
"Let the church be heard. The newspaper makes itself heard -and how ! Business makes itself heard. Lobbies of every de- scription make themselves heard. So do privileged groups, great combines, moneylenders and corruptionists.
"The church has weathered the recent years of breakdown better than most institutions. Its leadership is uniformly high- minded. It goals have to do with human welfare, happiness and common morality. Its inspiration lies in divine law, born with the Ten Commandments, and directed wholly toward the highest ideals for the society of men.
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"It is not the church that needs warning in our generation. It is our commonly accepted system of politics that needs it!"
FOURTH CELEBRATION
The Fourth of July celebration seemed to be a great time to show off the military spirit. The American Legion was very much in evidence and the spirit of the day seemed to be to honor and glorify , war. The exposure of late in various ways, show- ing the tricks of the trade in the manufacture of war material put the advocates of war on the defense and they lost no time in making the Fourth of July celebration a big show for the war spirit. Calumet City, Illinois, got a big cannon and as usual, to appeal to the human and add some romance, they had it decorated with some good looking young women, whose duty it - was to fire the cannon off. Of course it was a very nice stunt on the Fourth of July for some nice young girls, but to get down to business for which the cannon was made, it would make a very different picture. O'donnell Eddy, post 714 of the American Le- gion of Chicago, was the speaker of the day and among other things he said, according to the newspapers, "America is not a pacifist nation." We feel like his enthusiasm must have gotten away with him and that he is mistaken. The United States of America is for peace and we abhor war. According to Mr. Eddy, we are a warlike nation, and we defy him to prove it. The American Legion put on a great program at Soldier Field in Chicago, where they claim from fifty to seventy-five thousand attended. The program was military and naval drills and an exhibition by the Sixty-first Coast Artillery regiment, a very fine military showing. At Denver the Legion's chief, Frank N. Belgrano, made a speech calling America to an awakening, which is mighty good advice, but we hope it won't get us into war.
"WHAT GOVERNS THE PRESS?"
In the magazine Today Marlen Pew gives his idea on "What Governs the Press," or, in other words: Why do editors of news- papers and magazines publish just what they do and leave out some things they would like to publish? He heads his article "Readers Censor the Press." He says: One hundred and forty- eight schools and colleges have turned out 2,500 youths and maidens bent on writing the story of current human experiences for the public print. He is a cavalier with plume in cap, romantic about the possibilities of making this country, at least, a better and safer place of habitation.
They have high ideals and believe that truth will make
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men free, and they are willing and anxious to give to the world their best. But-he discovers that the editor of his paper, the managing editor, the city editor-all these who stand for its opinions-do not take the local graft situation, or bad slum con- dition or some other flagrant evil, by the horns as he thinks they might. Instead he finds that they rationalize, extenuate, com- promise. He finds the edge of their idealism has been dulled and they have relaxed in the role of local guardsmen. It is explained to him that there are "dangers" in certain situations. He dis- covers there are certain things his paper does not care, or does not dare, to touch.
He sickens to see it back away from controversy. "But, if he does change to some other work, one of the underlying reasons is that his ideals of public service have frayed when they rubbed on reality." He asks: "Why a free press if it does not fully em- ploy its freedom?" and says: "What censors the press is the people themselves." They are the unspoken censorship imposed by newspaper readers. Upon the community in which a paper publishes must lie much of the responsibility for a press that com- promises and evades and thus places a censorship upon itself.
Much more important is the censorship of the community that wants to be told things it likes. It does not want its bad housing conditions, its race problem, its bread line publicized. It says, "Smother the truth or the town will get a bad name." Are local organizations-bar associations, chambers of commerce, women's organizations, churches-behind the courageous press battler ? Were they behind Don Mellett in Canton, Ohio? They were not, and many cities are just like Canton-so the edge goes off the young editor's idealism.
The typical local editor knows his city. He knows the popula- tion is primarily concerned with making a living. The reading given them must be painless and dressed up to meet their order. He knows they prefer the comics and serial story to something more serious and important. He knows they would rather have a spicy divorce story from Hollywood than one of the disarma- ment conference. The typical editor has a pretty good idea of what is going on in the world, but he is continually appalled at the superficial information of the people with whom he talks, and since his friends and acquaintances are so badly informed, how little of the world's real news must the mass of his readers com- prehend ?
They (the people) would have a much better press if they would understand its principles. But newspapers are as they are -commercial-because the people are commercial; non-crusading, because the public does not want to be involved in controversy,
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because the people of the United States do not demand anything better.
That may be a good word picture of other newspapers, but not of the Calumet Weekly News. It is in a class by itself.
WHERE TO ?
What is going to be the outcome of the government taking care of everybody? From the federal government down through the states, the counties and the townships arrangements are made to provide for those who cannot, or do not want to, exert themselves enough to make an honest living, to give them a living at public expense. We have the soldiers' pension, old age pension, teachers' pension, etc., etc. What is going to be the outcome of all of this? Who is it that won't be on a pension, and who is it that is going to pay for all of these pensions? We are of the opinion that it is all wrong, making it so easy and honorable to go on charity and receive a pension.
We were brought up with the idea that people who amounted to anything could take care of themselves, and those who could not take care of themselves were poor pieces of humanity and their end was the poorhouse, or to be supported by relatives or friends. But sentiment is changing and it is getting to be thought of no disgrace to be supported by the public.
We have the condition here that seems to demand something of the kind. But instead of arranging to take care of a lot of paupers, would it not be more in line of a man's job to put this country in shape so that everybody could make a living and if they did not they would have to suffer the consequences? It has never been easy for most people to make a living until our boom, and then the workers in our factories got a lot of money for a small amount of work. They seem to have gotten fixed in their minds that they must have a lot of money for a little work, so they demand from four to eight dollars for a short day's work, and if they can't get it they go on charity. The favorite theme of our magazine writers is "No More Frontiers."' Their idea is that the west is settled and there is no more wild country to conquer. Therefore the people have not the chance to expand and show their energy as they once had. The fact is, there is just as much or as many "frontiers" now as there ever was. But this frontier business is a hard job and the people are not look- ing for that kind of an occupation. They want a factory al- ready built, or a farm already equipped and stocked and all the machinery supplied with a spring seat and would not object to an air cushion on that.
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