i. .EDI! O RIALS.. f
"THE OMAHA GUIDE
Published Every Saturday at 2418-20 Grant Street,
Omaha, Nebraska
Phones: WEbster 1617 or 1618
Entered as Second Class Matter March 16, 1927, at the Poatoffice at
Omaha, Neb., underAet of Congress of March 8, 1879.
TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION $2.00 PER YEAR
Rare prejudice must go. The Fatherhood of God and the Brother
hood of Man must prevail. These are the only principles which will
stand the acid test of Rood.
All News Capy of Churches and all Organizations must be in our
affice not later than 5t00 p. m. Monday for current issue. All Adver
tising Copy or Paid Articles not later than Wednesday noon, preceed
ing date of issue, to insure publication.
A SOUND SECURITY MARKET
No one will question the assertion that the Inst sort of (se
curity) market to have :s the one which will absorb a vast, a
mount of tin* ing rml sell'ng orders without being unduly dis
flirted,’ ' I,,*,. Ralph Mender-hot, financial editor of the New
York Woild Telegram, tec ntly. “It is also highly ad vantageous
if the I id and offering prices are close enough together to ae
corniiiodat buyers and sellers without financial hardship. In
fae}, the practice of these two factors made the New York Stock
Kxehange what it is today.
“The importance of such conditions is apparent in more
ways than on . A bank for instance, is more likely to make u
collateral loan on a stock which enjoys a good market. The tms' j
t’ es of an estate are apt to place eonsideckble importance on
salability when selecting securities. And, of coitr-e, no investor
likes to feel that In* is ‘hung up’ in a stock or bond.’
Mr. llmdershot also comments on the fact that too much
governmental interference with the stock market can impair
its functions ami services. Relations so far between the Seen- j
rities and Kxehange ('ommission and Stock Kxehange execu-.
lives have be n cordial aid cooperative, and the Commission lias!
been cautious in issuing rulings. It is to he hoped that this at
titude continues for the public can he just as seriously dam
aged hy impairing a market's delicately adjusted mechanism
as it can by financial chicneray.
The problem is to abolish dubious financial practices and
at the same time preserve the stock market’s responsiveness to
trends, tliereh,. strengthening it as a true market place for se
curities. The fact that both tin* Commission and the Exchange
are working toward the same end augurs well for permanent
stability and protection for the public.
LOOK AT THE RECORD
A metropolitan newspaper recently stated that the railroads
had to be virtually strong-armed into introducing air brakes,
automatic couplers and devices to make their operation safer. In
considering tliis statement it is interesting to look at the record:
In 1887, Congress empowered the Interstate Commerce Com
mission to order any carrier engaged in interstate traffic to in
stall automatic train stop and control safety devices. The Safe
ly Appliance Aiq of 1893 made it unlawful after January 1,
1898, to operate trains in interstate commerce without automatic
couplers, nil* brakes and other safety devices. But in 1870, some
17 years before the government passed train safety legislation,
the Master Car Builders Association appointed a committee to
study various types of automatic train brake* Out of a thous
and patented devices, none were found to he satisfactory. Im
provements were being rapidly made, however, and hy 1874,
practical air brakes had been developed which would handle
freightt and passenger trains. Since then there has been con
tinuous improvement.
From 18G9 to 1874, a committee of the Master Car Builders
Association pronounced texts of automatic couplers a failure. By
1885 there were 3,100 patent* for car couplers in existence, but
none of them satisfactory. Continued tests, however, had, by
1887. produced a coupler which was adopted as a standard by
the railroads .and, with some modifietion, is the type in use
today.
By 1890, three years after the Master Car Builders Asso'
ciation had approved a coupler, and three years before the Safe
ty Appliance Act was passed, 25,551 out of the 26,8*20 passenger
cars, and 75,485 out of 918,491 freight ears were equipped with
automatic couplers. Ten years later, out of 1,450,838 freight ears
3,367,051 had them.
It is interesting to note that the railroads ycre working on
these safety devices many years before legislation appeared on
the subject, and that, when a satisfactory device was found it
was added to engines and cars almost as rapidly as it could be
produced.
FEW WANT THE “DOLE”
The fear has been expresed that government old-age pen
sions, which have been endorsed in principle by both major par
ties, would be a blow to the life insurance industry. But serious
students of the question doubt that it will—for two reasons.
The first reason is practical. Neither party has gone on rec
ord in favor of big pensions*—both favor small payments, that
would simply provide for necessities. Persons who want a few
luxuries must buy their own old-age security.
Secondly—and this reason may be the most important—the
American citizen doesn’t want to be a pensioner unless he has to,
Tie inherited the individualistic character of the pioneers. And
he is going to make every conceivable effort to assure a finaiv
eially comfortable old-age through his own efforts, thrift and
ability.
Whether we have government pensions or not, men will
still invest against the future in life insurance and other sav
ings programs.
REVISE THE YARDSTICK
Writing in the Xew York Times, Arthur Krock points out
i that the so-called TVA power-cost “yardstick" must lie revised
i if the proposed Tennessee Valley power pool in which both the
■TVA and private systems would cooperate to serve, is to be suc
cessful.
Speaking of the existing yardstick, Mr. Krock said: “the
government can arbitrarily charge an unfair proportion of cost
at darns to navigation and flood control, and the rest to power.
On that basis impossible o private industry—the yardstick is
one which the companies cannot match. It is well known in Wash'
ington that Chairman Morgan has beon greatly dissatisfied with
the TVA estimates of power cost, one of the policies that has
brought the Authority into the courts.”
Mr. Krock might also have said that TVA pays almost no
thing in taxis while private companies are heavily taxed. TVA
i- immune to state rgnlation-—while the private companies are
stringently regulated in every phase of operation. TVA gets var
ious services free, /such as mail-franking, the use of govermnen
trucks, etc., while the private companies must pay for every
thing they use. TVA is subsidized with money raised at low in
ter, *t rates by the government while private power companies
must get their money from investors in the open money market.
So it goes down the line—the existing TVA “yardstick” is com
pletely inaccurate and entirely unfair.
It is rumored that the Administration now plans to correct
the yardstick, which will be a fine thing if it does. Only in that
way canrthe TVA make any pretense of being a self-sustaining
enterprise.
FOLLOW DELAWARE’S EXAMPLE
Delaware is a small state—but it ha.s big and worthwhile
ideas.
One of these ideas is its annual motor vehicle inspection
campaign conducted under complete state control. Delaware pi'
oneered this idea.
During two recent weeks 24,000 ears were examined and ap
proved. Thousands of other cars were found defective and or
ders to correct, mehanieal defects were issued. Defective foot
brakes proved the most serious cause for rejection, with bad
lights second. In addition during last year alone the state re
moved 580 antiquated vehicles and sent them to a well deserved
rest on the junk pile.
It is of great interest that, according to Delaware’s Secre
tary of State, there ha.s been an almost complete “right about
face’’ in the public’s attitude toward these inspection campaigns.
At first drivers were antagonistic-—Dow the great bulk of them
appreciate the value and necessity of inspections and are eager
to cooperate.
Every state should adopt the Delaware plan—and keep it
up year in and year out. Some of the states have carried on spor
adic. badly organized inspection campaigns, with inadequate fac
cilities, and little good haw resulted. Other states have conduct'
ed campaigns in which drivers could have their ears inspected or
not, as they chose. Such campaigns arc a waste of time—the
drivers with defective machines stay away from the inspection
stations.
The mechanically dangerous ear is directly responsible for
hundreds of deaths and thousands of injuries annually. Us elim
ination is essential if we are to reduce the ghastly accident toll.
ELECTRICITY—HERE AND ABROAD
Henry (). Knaf of the Consolidated Edison Company, lias
made a factual study of the retail use of electricity in Europe.
Conditions in seven representative countries were investigated,
including foreign nations where electric development has been
relatively rapid, snob as Norway and Switzerland.
Mr. Knaf’s survey shows that in those countries, the cost of
electric power, on a comparative basis of wage earners’ pay.
averages tliroe times ns high as in our country. That is, the cost
per kilowatt holir in the United States amounts to 8.4 per cent
of the hourly wage paid a skilled worker. In European coun
tries, it amounts to almost 27 per cent.
This unusual comparison easts additional light on the old
debate of whether the II. S. electric utilities have done a good
i job. in tlie seven European countries studied, electric develop
ment has been largely by government, while in this country it
i 1ms been primarily by private initiative and enterprise. And our
! rates are not onlv much lower, when living standards and in
comes are taken into'account, but service is invariably better
and use of power in the average home is greater.
Borne critics of the private electric utilities cite eases of the
European countries where farm electrification has apparently
been developed to a higher degree than in the United States.
What they don’t cite is the fact that in such countries population
density is great, making the problem of building lines into the
rural areas a much simpler one. Mr. Knaf observes that when
sections of the United States truly comparable to Europe are
examined-—such as Oregon and Washington—our rural electri
fication development compares favorably with that in any other
country and is far ahead of most.
In the most advanced European countries the percentage of
a worker’s pay cheek that goes to the power company is three
times as great as in this country! Thatj striking fact alone is
enough to refute the argument that our private electric utiliites
have fallen down on the job, and should be Europeanized at the
expense of private enterprise and opportunity.
HIS DUE SHARE
It’s a far cry from the day when the average farmer raised
his produce, sold it for whatever he could, and knew nothing
about organization.
Today the up'to-the-minute producer belongs to an agricul
tural selling cooperative. ITis cooperative management, elected
by the members, helps him to better producing methods. It stud
ies markets, existing and potential. It makes its voice heard in
legislation. Tt bargains with distributors—not in an attempt to
overly boost prices, but to see to it that the farmer gets his due
share of the eventual consumer price, for what he has to sell. It
keeps its members informed on all manner of issues that affect
agricultural welfare. The result is that today's little fanner is in
a sounder economic position than yesterday’s farmer, big or
little.
MAXIE MILLER
! WRITES |
Maxie Miller; I am a man 45 and
my wife is a girl 18. I don't mind
work, but the WPA job I have does
not give me enough to buy all this
girl wants- She is not satisfied and
unless I get more money and buy
more things for her she will quit
me- Do you think it will break my
h»*art if she does, and still I don’t
know how to get any more money
What can I do? —Samuel
Samuel: You are “in the middle
of a bad fix,” but common sense
will get you out- I urn sorry for
you since you love this mercenary
woman who does not care for you
Sho is foolish and she is unfair to
lake such a position, and f she re
ally means this she is unworthy of
your love I’d just talk “cold tur
key” to her and if she insists on
quitting, let her go- Learn the art
of forgetting-—Maxie Miller
SUCCESS NOT IN THE STARS
By R- A. Adams
(For the Literary Service Bureau)
Success has never come thru stars,
But rather by defying bars
By foes erected in the way,
Progress to hinder and delay.
Folly Indeed, to center hope
In sodiacal horoscope,
And for all who of such would prate,
Does disappoinment cruel wait
‘Tis not thru stars one may succeed;
To deem so folly is, indeed,
For victory in the game of life
won by constant toil and strife.
Sc, of this truth I would remind;
Persistent striving, you will find,
Greater success will bring to you,
Than all the stars can ever do.
SERMON KITE
By Arthur B. Rhinow
(For the Literary Service Bureau)
The man in the street car smil
ed at the pretty child sitting on its
mother’s lap, and immediately the
mother smoothed the little one’s
hair und daress- I have often noticed
that and wondered why it was done.
T believe the mother says in her,
“You admire my child, and there
for I want her to look her best ” If
nobody paid attention to the little
girl, the mother, too, would cease
to care. Why make the child look
her best if nobody looks?
Indeed why would any of us try
0 look and be our best if nobody
:ared, if no one ever said a word
>f commendation to us? A little
tompiinient, if sincere, has brigh
tened the day for many a person
“Your hat is becoming,” “You
tpoke well,” Nice work,” and simi
lar words of encouragement often
trail much more to the recipient
ban wo know- Some hearts are
hungry for a little recognition. We
.;U like to be told that we did well
tpd yet how little we avail ourselves
of the opportunities to cheer others.
Just a few words. They cost so
'.ittlo and they may help so much
1 hey spur us on to finer effort, If
we are at all healthy minded. They
make the heart sing “Excelsior.”
They make us thankful for kind
ness And when some day we shall
hear the Great Voice say, “Well
done, thou good and faithful ser
vant” that will be no small part of
the bliss of heaven
take time to be holy
The tercentenary celebration of
Long Island reminds me of an In
cident I read in Jacqueline Overton’s
Long Island’s story.
About the middle of the seven
teenth century, the people of the
hreo colonies, Midwout, now Fiat
bush, Amrsfoot, now Flatlands and
Breukelen, now Brooklyn, worship
ped in the same church, all three
groups contributing to the minis
ter’s salary- After a while, however,
Breukelen discontinued Its pay
ments because “his sermons were
too short.”
They felt they were not getting
their money’s worth- The way to
the church was long and ’arduous
and they paid their good guilder,
and so they thought they had a
right to expect something of “last
ing” value
How times have changed- Today
a congregation is more likely to be
come dissatisfied with the minister
becauso his sermons are too long
than too short- Surces of informa
tion have vasitl^r multiplied^ and
the preacher is expected to inspire
more than inform- And yet the ad
vantages are not altogether with
the modern age. The cultivation of
the spiritual life needs, and in the
everyday rush we make so little
provision for vaitng upon the Lord.
And while we do not advocate
drawn out sermons, we certainly be
lieve in what the old Gospel hymn
admonishes: “Take time to be holy ”
j MRS. SCHULYER SAYS j
By Mrs. Josephine Schulye?
1 FOR THE CALVIN SERVICE I
The Stork That Lays
The Golden Egg
Up in Canada, an ironic bachelor
died a decade ago and left a half
a million dollars to the mother who
would produce the greatest num
ber of little Canadians in the next
ten years, since then, many mo
ther has broken down under the
strain of stork competition The
first of November Is the marathon’s
dead line.
Why all of this new interest of
capitalistic countries in multiple
births, triplets, quadruplets, quin
tuflets? The root of the mutter is
the actual decline in population in
western nations.
America reached the peak of its
birthrate In 1921, the year that
beckoned three million little ones
from t-e infinite. But it will never
happen agan- It came after the
Work! War as a reaction to the
feeling that we had conquered,
thaf we were a great expanding
empire- That was before we had to
! PROVERBS !
AND
| PARABLES i
f -T~t—f §t.
Hy A. H- Mann
(For the Literary Service Bureau)
SAFETY VS SORROW
In the axiom "Better to be safe
than to be sorry” there is a warning
against haste and carelessness such
as usually end in accidents and in
juries which are seriously regret
table. The further meaning Is that
care, caution, restraint, self con
trol, which insure saftey are infin
itely better than haste and rashness
which cause sorrow or repentance
for injuries done—and that could
been avoided.
Then, it is an indisputable fact
that in very many instances the in
jury done is such that the most
sincere repentance and deepest sor
row cannot undo- Yes, it is far
better to be safe and avoid accidents
and injury than to be sorry after
such have been caused by careless
ness or rashness
j ALTA VESTA j
A GIRL’S PROBLEMS ?
f
f By Videtta Ish
t »
Dear Alta Vesta; From your let
ter I see that you are wondering,
and I am glad you are taking such
interest in these subjects. I shall
help you to get the proper views,
but there 'are questions no one can
answer
Yu see, my child, all of the peo
ple believe in God and all of them
love God—the same God, and that
counts first. It is like going to a
big city There are differents ways
-f reaching it from the different dir
ections, but they all lead ta it. So
these cults as they are called, are
seeking God, trying to please, Him,
though they differ in what is called
their approach to Him- And, of
course, since He understands them
all, He gves them credit for their
good intentions and uses them to
help His cause
But in spite of this, people who
do not understand, wonder just who
is right. Ail are right in their in
tentions and desires to do right, and
that is what matters rather than
the minor thing such as names and
methods. I 'am anxious for you to
give the closest attention to these
things and profit by this religious
campaign
Love to you both
Your father
Gets Death Penalty
For Wounding Man
Shreveport, Da-, ,Oct- 31 (C)—
Thomas Howard, 28, was given a
death sentence Wednesday for
wounding Dan L Perkins, whom
he shot in ambush in Perkins’ gar
age. No case in which a jury spe
cified the death penalty when the
victim of a shooting survived could
be recalled by court attaches, al
though the crime of lying in wait
with intent to commit murder is
punishable by death in Louisiana
Forniss Retires From
Tampa Bulletin
Birmingham, Ala., Oct. 31 (C)—
M- L- Fonii.ss,formerly advertising I
manager and linotype operator of
the Tampa Bulletin, has announced
Ms retirement from journalism- Mr.
I and Mrs- Forniss now live at 2G25
I South 18th street.
pay the war d*bts Since then
with two depressions, several drou
ghts and prospects of new, unwant
ed wars, the birthrate has steadily
declined. If it keeps on, thirty years
hence will see the start of a perman
ent depression from which we’U
never recover.
More Babies, More Industry
When we are unable to maintain
our present level of population, no
more building on a large scale will
b>* possible Real estate which has
been rising in value since 1620, will
constantly decline. So will 'all other
industry, ineludng farming, teach
ing, medicine and law But between
now and this distrastrous date pro
bably lies our period of greatest
building expansion. These three mil
ion 1921 infants are growing up
and will soon be married and de
mand homes of their own. So all
ye wicked land speculators get your
profits soon or never
1 ho C>ty s Io Blame
Cities have always been Warned
for every major evil. Now, accord
ing to 0 E Baker, U. S. Depart
ment of Agriculture, cities are to
blame for a falling birthrate. In
the city, children are an economic
liability, not an asset On the farm
children pay for their keep from an
early age. So with the industriali
zation of all western countries has
ccme the steady birth decline.
Europe, of course, suffer* far
more from this trend than we She
Is more urbanized- Italy put a tax
on bachelors, pays for the honey
moon and offers bonuses for babies.
Germany has a marriage loan and
■all kinds of state privileges for
large families But these are crut
ches and have not actually increas
ed their birthrates a lot. What
would do It immediately would be
a rising standard of living Humana
like animals respond to a greater
food supply by immedaite natural
increase. What is the only country
in the world today with a rising
standard of living? Soviet Russia
Fascism’s bugaboo! Russia has the
largest and only steadily rising
birthrate anywhere The Fascists
know that Time is on the side of
the Russians; hence, their haste for
war. It’s now or never for them,
too.
Hope: A Midwife
What else has Russia they have
n't? Hope A future for the deve
h'pment of their culture. If it were
fe'ar of war alone which blighted
populations, as some experts say,
Russia wdth two enemies, Germany
and Japan, snarling at her from
either side, would be blighted- But
Russia is as we were in our war
wth England in 1812 She is fear
less because her future is unlimit
ed now. She has room to expand.
In Allahabad, India, sextuplets
were recently born to a poor woman
of the most depressed class One
died but the other five are doing well
Rut they will never rival the Dion
nes. They will not become the
shrino of a whole continent^, the
ideal of a whole culture. The Pow
ers That Be do not desire to en
courage the darker folk of the
world to increase It is too danger
ous. In the long run, oer a period
of centuries, it is the nations of the
most people who survive (however
wretchedly)
Aframerieas’ Birthrate
Lowest Here
The birthrate of colored America
is going down fastest of all Amer
icans- Hopelessness Is the reason.
With the movement of greater num
bers of Negroes to the cities, the
decline will increase Though cities,
in one way, offer greater freedom to
Negroes, they have their own forms
of severe slavery. (This goes for
whites, too). As long ‘as people
have the earth and the sky to them
selves, they can better endure hu
man bondage, because these offer
■avenue of escape to the spirit- A
bad diet in the country where sun
shine is free and 'air pure, dees not
ravage the body as bad as a city
diet. The city diet is killing color
ed America- You have to become
food conscious, select your diet de
liberately and scientifically to sur
vive city life- Most Aframerlcans
don’t do this.
The birthrate of those on relief
here rose in the beginning- That
was the first reaction to a degree
of security provided by the govern
ment- I doubt if It will continue.
Some people got very excited about
this, saying it would give us an
increase in the poorest stock- Pro
fessionals and the wealthy should
have more children and improve
the stock- Nonsense! Professionals
woefully neglect their children and,
with the rich, leave them to the
care of poorly paid nurses- The poor
have always been the incubators of
the races- ,
