The Bismarck Tribune Newspaper, March 18, 1935, Page 4

THE BISMARCK TRIBUNE, MONDAY, MARCH 18, 1985 The Bismarck Tribune An Independent Newspaper ‘ WHE STATE’S OLDEST NEWSPAPER (Established 1873) State, City and County Official Newspaper Published by The Bismarck Tribune Company, Bis- gee N, D., and entered at the postoffice at Bismarck second class mail matter. GEORGE D. MANN President and Publisher Subscription Rates Payable in Advance Daily by carrier, per year .. Daily by mail, per year (in Daily by mail, per year (in state outs! Bismarck . Daily by mail outside of North Dakota ‘Weekly by mail in state, per year ...... Weekly by mail outside of North Dakota, ye 50 Member of Audit Bureau of Circulation Member of The Associated Press The Associated Press is exclusively entitled to the se for republication of all news dispatches credited to t or not otherwise credited in this newspaper and also the local news of spontaneous origin published herein. Il rights of republication of all other matter herein are Iso reserved, NO CAUSE FOR FEAR Despite disquieting reports from abroad, Americans need have no fear of another world war or of ANY important war in the near fu- pure. The reason is that no nation dares take on @ war with another anywhere near its size. Even if victory is certain, there is nothing to gain by armed combat. Didn't America win the last war? Or did we? It is true that there are many sore spots on the map of world diplomacy, The French- German feud continues to rage but it will be confined largely to diplomatic messages and to headlines in the world’s newspapers. Russia and Japan still are at loggerheads, each seeking a large slice of China or at least control over the old Celestial Empire, but neither stands to gain anything by starting hostilities. There is more than enough to go around. There are two main reasons why there will be no major wars—in the near future. The first is that no nation stands to gain anything. The second is the lack of cannon-fodder, young men of military age. Public opinion has nothing of the force in Europe that it does in America but it still counts for a great deal. Particularly must any ruler have general support who expects to wage a successful war. That is why there is no prospect of gain from military aggression. The nation which started the war probably would lose. Particularly is this true of the MEN who started a war of aggression for wars are de- clared—as well as waged—by MEN, There is good reason, however, for the war scare which now is taking hold of the world as the result of Germany’s violation of the Ver- sailles treaty. Horror at thought of treaty violation has nothing to do with it. All the na- tions of Europe are expert at that. Practically all of the allied nations already have voided the Versailles treaty in one way or another. The simple fact is that nearly all nations in Europe, and Russia and Japan in Asia, have good reason to preach the doctrine of fear to their people. All of them have internal troubles of one gort or another, Unemployment, high taxes and other ills have vexed the people with exist- fng governments, Everywhere pressure is be- {ng applied to do something about it. In deal- {ng with these issues, most governments have proved themselves futile. It is either divert the attention of the people from their personal {lls or abdicate. Under such circumstances, nothing is more effective than tub-tumping on a national scale. By directing the attention of their people to real or fancied enemies across their borders, each set of rulers instills a new sense of na- tional unity, inspires new devotion to country, fresh determination to bear current ills for the sake of the home land. It is an old trick and one with which Amer- {cans are familiar by reason of their observa- tions of our political campaigns. The main dif- ference is that we keep our quarrels at home, ponfined to barrages between opposing groups of politicians, and do not let them creep be- yond our borders. In any event, even if anything should go wrong and war be declared, we need have no fear that the United States will get into it. Our memories still are too keen. We re- member the fruits of our last victory? We have no national disposition to offer more of our sons on the altar of Mars unless it is clearly a matter of self-defense. Any government consideration, although its approach was wholly differ: ent from that suggested by the faddists, The Townsend plan, too, has served @ useful pur. pose. It has pointed to the plight of those who, cast aside by commerce and industry because of aj still have nothing to keep the wolf away from the door. It emphasizes that they have certain rights which the country they long have served should respect. Because of it we are almost certain to have at least the begin- nings of an old-age pension system in operation soon, Only a few of those who now presumably advocate the Townsend plan support it without reservation, Many of them belong to Townsend clubs, of which Bismarck has a number, yet they have no illusions as to the prob- Jability of getting those fabulous §200-a-month pensions. One member in good standing of a local Townsend club put the matter this way: “Of course the Townsend plan isn’t perfect. We wouldn't know what to do with $200 a month if we had it and I have lived too long to || believe the thing would work out as they say. But we jare entitled to something and this is the best way I know | |of expressing myself. I salted away some money in stock jinvestments but they went up in smoke and I have to have something.” In short, the Townsend plan merely points to an evil. It offers no workable cure. But by pointing with sufficient emphasis it promotes consideration of the problem in other minds, stimulates enough mental ac- tivity so that a reasonable cure may be worked out. We shall have an old-age pension soon, And when it arrives the Townsend plan will be cast into the discard, It will have served its real purpose, Cause for Reflection Business in the northwest still is gaining, according to the February report of the federal reserve bank, All of us should be glad. Incidentally, the news gives us reason to pause and see if the course now being pursued by the government is justified in the light of this fact. ‘There is no argument that the bulk of this increased prosperity is due to the influx of federal money into this territory. Without it we should have been on the verge of starvation. This fact is noted by taxgatherers who report the best collections in several years. Tax Commissioner J. J. Weeks gives it credit for a sharp increase in state income tax collections. ‘The fact seems to be that revival is beginning to sift through. People no longer are afraid of the future, In- dividual enterprise is beginning to evidence itself, The stimulant administered by the government is being felt all along the line. As a result one wonders if the gov- ernment might not wisely let things alone for awhile; see what the American people can do to pull themselves out of the hole. We seem to be on our way and if the process continues we soon will be back to normal, With Other Editors Editorials reprinted from other newspapers are for showing the trend of thought. ‘The Tribune may or may not agree with the thoughts contained in them. The Crisis Has Passed | (Farm Credit Messenger) Only about one-third as many applications for land bank and commissioner loans are being received in Jan- uary this year as were being received a year ago through- out the whole country. From Washington comes the word that the emergency pleas to be saved from imminent fore- Sate have dropped from around 700 a day to about 50 a day, ‘There has also been a gradual decrease in the num- ber of loans and in the total amount of the loans made in the seventh district. Durig the first six months of 1934, the Commissioner and Land Bank of St. Paul during the last six months, this dropped to $22,486,000 a month, while the number of borrowers per month de- clined from approximately 9,800 during the first Half of the year. to approximately 8,500 per month during the last half. In January, 1934, there were 2,291 more bor- rowers than in January this year, and they borrowed ap- proximately one and one-third million dollars more, The bank, however, is still on the job, and with the coopera- tion of those who have benefited by its services, it will continue to meet farmers’ needs for land mortgage credit, at the most favorable terms. InoaliTic.. |POLITICS at the | Nation’s Capital | By BYRON PRICE (Chief of Bureau, The Associated Press, Washington) They will not acknowledge it openly, but various ministration advisers are making plans on the Until quite recently, the Roosevelt men had been confident they had the proposal beaten. They banked chiefly on the senate, however, and the situation there has been changing steadily. May Use Finally, he might propose to borrow ing another $2,000,000,000 to the public debt. the treasury is closed loans at the rate of $23,057,000 a month, but |¢Vey BEHIND THE SCENES IN WASHINGTON is} eu rll fee : int & H i 5 a i Rann fee ity Lan] dialet 8&2 A any al i i i egoes iil 386 sé il [ i i He E el iH ‘ | i ! if i I ofl el 4 ts fe & F £ F ee Fier & i i 3 ; { Be 8, I f & F i it i } fF t a ie if Ef : Hale i J HL ifs id Hd itt fi ! i f i i iE L i i i He aaa J a ry ik f i i Tr Ne tr vie Seu f il i : ‘ : Et ii &a & id i i BE i i : ae eli ak ge A fe [hat eretide Fs < br isd FE i ! re trae “ iH rH =f i te H if int! F ie fr F ell Fee E ett Et ey i i i ie ies 3