The potters herald. [volume] (East Liverpool, Ohio) 1899-1982, 1939-10-12
The Cherry Tree
Where We Hutchef Oui
The Truth
. NEUTRALITY SPEECH
@ VS.. WORLD SERIES
@ ALL THE ELEMENTS
. BUT NO COORDINATION

Senator Tom Connally of Texas was
Grating in the Senate on the neutrality
issue.
He noticed only about 20 Senators
were in the chamber getting the bene-
fit of his speech. He interrupted his
address to say:
"Mr. President, l realize there is a
world series going on on the outside,
but there is another world series 60
ing on in Europe.
"That's the world series with which
the Senator from Texas is more con-
cerned"
He noted that "the absence of some
Senators is at times advantageous"
which was evidently delicate way of
saying that he didn't mind if some Of j.,
his opponents stayed away while he
was speaking.
Senator Connally was rebuking his
colleagues for being more interested
in baseball than the European war.
European war is more important
than baseball, but after all, why isn't
it a good sign that Senators and other
Americans are interested in baseball,
perhaps even at times to the exclusion
of European affairs?
Continued preoccupation with Euro
pean bloodshed and tragedy is hard on
the nerves. Human beings can't stand
tragedy all the time. They need a
change. Interest in baseball and other
purely recreational activities is good
for the soul.
1t is easy to overdo dwelling on the
affairs of Europe. We have troubles
of our own. AS often pointed out in
this colum, there are lots of things at
home that need our attention and need
it badly.
Unemployment, for example. We
haven't solved it, despite tremendous
efforts. What chance is there to solve
it if we concentrate on Europe's prob
lens to the exclusion of all else?
"We place the problem of getting
the unemployed back to work in pri-
vate industry as our first concern"
the Executive Council of the Ameri-
can Federation of Labor told the Gin
cinnati convention.
"We know, the council added, "that
idle plants can be brought into oper-
alton, idle capital can find investment
in productive private enterprises and
idle men be put to work producing the
things they need for decent living.
"After seven years of partial re-
covery, we still find ourselves today
with 100000 who have no work in
private industry; and at no time in
these seven years has unemployment
been less than 100000"
What an indictment of American
industry, indeed of America as a
nation!
The worst of the matter is that as
the Executive Council pointed out,
"our nation has all the elements
necessary to provide an adequate liv-
ing for every American family; we
lack only coordination of effort"
That "co-ordination of effort" is the
vital thing. We must have it to put
the vast army of idle to work.
IL hHlSl hCCP IIlCli VII
Europe, progress in getting "co-ordin-
alton of effort" is likely to be slow.
There has been too much delay al
ready. Widespread and long lasting
unemployment is a continuing threat
to democracy, a continuing basis for
the discomfort that provides a fertile
soil for the growth of Fascist and
other anti-democratic movements.
Written around the face of the old
sundial were the words, at is later
than we think" What if this applies
! to America?
x X X
American interest in baseball won't
solve unemployment. But it shows
Americans can and are thinking of
something besides war in Europe and
indicates they have the capacity for
interest in home affairs. Which gives
hope they will attend to their knit
ting and won't drop all interest in do
mestic affairs, especially the all-im-
portant matter of unemployment.