Image provided by: University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries, Lincoln, NE
About The Omaha guide. (Omaha, Neb.) 1927-19?? | View Entire Issue (Aug. 5, 1939)
I TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION $2.50 Per Yr. v All News Copy of Churches and Organiz- X ations must be in our office not later than v 5:00 p. m. Monday for current issue. All M Advertising Copy or paid articles not later n than Wednesday noon, preceeding date of X issue, to insure publication. U Race prejudice must go. The Fatherhood x of ’God and the Brotherhood of Man mu.rt pro- U vail. These are the only principles which will Q stand the acid test of time. X James H. Williams, James E. Seay, Linotype Q Operators and Pressmen X Paul Barnett, Foreman U Published every Saturday at 2418-20 Grant X Btrocv, Omaha, Nebraska— Phone WE. 154T y Entered fin 2nd Class Matter March 15, 11*27 Q at the Post Office at Omaha, Nebr., under X Act of Congress of March 3, 1879. V RAIN Thomson, in his most beautful poem, “The Seasons,” tells hV)W the clouds consign their treasurers to the fields; and, “softly shaking” on the dimpled pool prelusive drops, let all their moisture flow, in large effusion, o’er the freshened world”. The laithlulness with which the clouds have fulfilled this responsibil ity to mankind so far during the pres ent summer is a cause for gratitude. In the past we have not been so fort unate, Drought has been all too com mon as. an unwelcome visitation of na ture’s contrary whims and, in conse quence, there has been intense and wide-spread suffering. Miseries arising from the eco nomic depression have been intensified by the havtoc wrought by nature. In the parched soil the crops have perish ed. Streams have disappeared, leav ing empty beds. The plight of cattle, victims of starvation and thirst, has been pitiable. In one way or another, the disastrous effects of drought have been felt throughout the land. Happily, the treasures of the clouds have fallen upon the land more generously up to the present time and there should be no lack of gratitude for the benefits enjoyed. -——oOo LOAFING TIME Spring fever makes dullards of us all but even that tired feeling of May and June is as boundless pep compared with the lassitude of July and August. When summer’s heat is at its height leisure becomes a necessity rather • than a luxury. No need to apologize for being just lazy this season. Chances are the other fellow is taking things just as easy as you. It is no crime to loiter under a fan, lounge in the woods, float in the water or doze beside a trout hole when the mercury is hovering a round the century mark. Punishment is deserved only by those supermen who hustle artound making everybody else feel shiftless. No matter what their occupation none expend as much energy in July and August as in January. The hand that pushes the pen moves slower, the fingers that press the typewriter keys slacken their pace, the machine’s speed slows down to keep pace with the guid ing hand and mind and the mind dir ecting the huge organization adopts a new and slower tempo. Leisure is expressed in July and August through various forms of do ing nothing. An active vacation is nine-tenths loafing and one-tenth searching for a cool place to cool off and rest. r\ n A_ - V/ V-* v/ CULTURED SNEEZERS Nobody will begrudge hay fev er sufferers the consolation given them by Dr. Berno Paul, European allergist who says that in general only cultured people have hay fever. Yet is goes against our feeling for scientific truth that anything so variable and indefinable in content as “culture” should produce susceptibility to a disease. This is a serious ques tion, because if only certain kinds of culture produce hay fever a forebear ing educational system will want to deal warily with these branches in its efforts to drill culture into youthful skulls. The resistance of the young hopefuls to learning is sufficiently painful as it is, without giving them hay fever with it. Very possibly, we should say, the particular branch of culture conduc ive to hay fever would be none other than o'Ur old friend, botany. This the ory would gain added plausibility if the the student’s specialty were the study of ragweed, say, or goldenrod. -oC o POWER O OPINION The world is coming more and more to be governed by public opin ion. Even in governments when1 the public is supposed to have no opinion of its own, in the last analysis the reigning power cannot long disregard a settled adverse public opinion. Public opinion is the result of two forces. One is the accuracy of knowledge and the other is character, and when you know how much know ledge a man has and how much char acter he has, you can predict the result of those two things and forecast his course of action. And so it seems to be with nations. Therefore the hope of mankind is a. continuous process of education, that the public may possess both character and knowledge. Otherwise public op inion will misrule the world. -- A LIVING WAGE The amount paid by both employ ers and employes in social security tax es is scheduled to be materially in creased next year. That simply means that more and more money will go to government—and that there will be less and less money for private spend ing, individual investment, and indus trial development. As a result, the suggestion by Secertary Morgenthau that Congress change the law so that the going federal rate of 1 per cent be maintained for at least another year deserves the utmost consideration. There is no question here of en dangering the social security program. Any number of economists, including government experts, have pointed out that the creation of a gigantic social security reserve, is impractical and basically unsound. And the social se curity monies now paid in are simply spent as soon as received by the gov ernment, which then deposits promis sory notes in the form of bonds. Mr. Morgenthau has a number of excellent suggestions regarding tax policies. His advocacy of repeal of the “nuisance taxes” (levies such as the undistributed profits tax and the cap ital gains tax, which hamstring and discourage business, yet bring in com paratively little revenue to the Treas ury- should have been acted upon long ago. Business has a hard enough time now*, carrying the regular federal in come and corporation taxes. When the special nuisance taxes are piled on top of these, it’s no wonder that indus try is stagnant and investors lo/ok the other way when there is talk of issu ing new industrial securities for job— creating purposes. The greatest internal need we face today is to encourage business— and you can do that only by allowing business to earn a decent profit if it can. SUBSIDIZED LUNACY A majority of the rural electric cooperatives, intended to supply mem bers with cheap electricity, and fin anced by the Rural Electrification Ad ministration—in other words, public money—are faceu with “financial dif ficulties,” to put it mildly. As of June, 1938, according to the R. E. A., itself, rural electric projects including some that were started as early as 1935, had absorbed federal loans of over $60,000,000. Under nor mal circumstances accrued interest and amortization charges would run into $3,000,000 or $4,000 annually. Yet, at that time, the government had received only $138,869 as interest and $50,567 as principal repayments. And of the total repaid principal, 73 per cent was paid by six private enterpris es that had b \ rowjed. The “cheap power” rural electric cooperatives re paid only about $13,000 on the $60,000 000 principal! And now the only solution which the public power advocates seem able to offer in an effort to salvage this “experiment” that has not only been costly to taxpayers, but has helped to paralyze the private utility industry, is that the states adopt legislation ex cusing the electric cooperatives from certain taxation, exempt them frcln the jurisdiction of state public serv ice commissions and exempt their sec urities from “blue sky” laws. As long as the private utility in dustry is forced to compete with this kind of subsidized lunacy, is it reason able or fair to ask it to attempt to ex pand, employ workers, lower rates and progress—normally ? -oOo WE CAN’T POINT FINGER Speaking editorially, a leading Pacific Coast newspaper says that af ter three years, during which a Social ist government has been in control of New Zealand, that commonwealth is in a desperate financial condition, ac cording to reports from Wellington. Export prices and exports have fallen off and the industries of the country are unable to compete under Socialistic conditions with those of other countr ies. One doesn’t have to go to New Zealand to see what a policy destruct ive to private enterprise, does to busi ness—witness our own government ownership drive against our own gov ernment ownership drive against our electric industry and the havoc it has raised in this country—loss of private jobs, unnecessary loss of private in vestments and increased taxes. It’s a poor time for us to point a finger at New Zealand. -0O0 IS IT “Reactionary” To Promote Recovery? More than 75 percent of invest ors have money available that could be used to promote new enterprises, ac cording to a recent survey. But the money is niot forthcoming for the fol lowing reasons: 62 percent of the in vestors covered by the survey said that the Government takes too much in tax es from the individual taxpayer. Six ty-three percent feared the possibil ity of labor troubles, 73 percent fear ed the possibility of new taxes on in dustry, 77 percent cited legislation re stricting industry, 83 percent com plained that the government take too much in taxes from corporations. Here in black and white, are some major reasons for upwards of 10,000,000 un employed men and women, soaring re lief costs, industrial stagnation. Impartial authorities have fre quently pointed the way to a correct ion of abuses which have destroyed in vestor confidence in the future. The Brookings Institution, for example, has recently set forth a complete tax revision program that should serve as a model for Congress. And as a mat ter of fact, as Arthur Krick of the New York Times, observes, many congress men and treasury officials would un doubtedly support a conservative tax reform program—privately. Yet, for political reasons—probably for fear of being called “reactionaries”—many have so far refused to support such a program publicly. One can only ask, Since when has it become “reactionary” to prbmote jobs and recovery? DO IT TODAY Every building should be checked at regular intervals for fire hazards.* And it is obvious that the checking, will be useless unless the checker is fa-* miliar with at least the more common hazards. You, for instance, can adequately inspect your own home if you are arm-' ed with a certain amount of simple, non-technical knowledge. Look at your roof—old or warp ed roofing easily collects sparks and flying brands. Throughly go over your chimneys in search of loose bricks cracks or any other failure that might start 'or encourage a fire. Keep your yard clean, trim conr dition—dry grass, leaves, boards, etc., are readily ignited and are a definite danger to nearby buildings. The same thing is true of garages and sheds— cleanliness and good maintenance go a long way toward preventing fire. Pay. special attention to the storage of in flammable materials—liquids such as gasoline and benzine should be kept in tight, metal containers. And remem ber that explosive liquids should never be used fior home cleaning operations. Accumulations of discarded ma terial—whether old clothes, furniture or magazines—in closets, basement, and attic, constitute* one of the worst hazards. Oily rags are most danger ous of all, as they are subject to spon taneous combustion. If you use wood for fuel, pile it neatly. And never mix rags or paper with wood or coal—spontaneous heatr ing may result. The whole heating system should be inspected carefully., and it’s wise to hire an expert for this job. Oil burners should be installed with extreme care, and in accord with standard regulations. That is also true of gas appliances. No gas appli ance should be used Which lacks a thejj mostat for cutting off the supply iji case the pilot light goes out. If your work room, as many ar4, is littered and disorderly, you’re sim ply asking for a fire. Keep it neat.. , This doasn’t exhaust necessary * instructions by a long shot—but it shows you where to start. And it’s a good idea to do it today. ti FAITH ♦ American agriculture faces many problems—epme of the mc)3t serious nature. And American farmers are doing something about them. Fewer and fewer farmers are sitting back and waiting for the gov ernment to step in and fix things up. More and more farmers are working with their fellows, through such or ganizations as the marketing cooper atives, in a determined effort to les sen their troubles. The gain in tlie membership of these cooperatives, ajid the increase in their volume of busi ness, is one of the most significant fac tors in the whole history of agricul ture. Today’s farmers have faith in their own abilities to earn a living and go ahead. When men feel that w^y, few problems can defeat them. »•