Detroit evening times. (Detroit, Mich) 1921-1958, 1942-03-02
Gambling
Hypocrisy
AssaiIed
U. S. Treasury Taxes
Illegal Machines
Nv BENJAMIN DE CASSERES

GO FAR as solid physical action
~ goes in this war land that's
the only thing that will win for
us-industrial production and Of
fensive action) I'm for every
one on our side of the fence
even Russia (if she sticks ii OUT.
But sometimes I gag at the
way some Of our Allies prod the
u. S. A. to do the whole job. or
at least intimate that the whole
thing is up to us.
The Chinese press, for in
stance, at Chungking, recently
made a concerted lunge at the
u. S. A. and Britain because 1t
did not send reinforcements to
the East fast enough to relieve
the pressure. 1t twits us for be-
ing Caught offguard" at Pearl
Harbor, although, it says. we
knew, 20 years ago, that Japan
was getting ready"
That is all true, but it seems
to me that this comes with
somewhat bad grace from China
"a country Of 400 million people
that was licked by Japan so
years ago, that later saw Japan
smash Russia, that saw her seize
Korea and Manchuria and, yet,
never did anything to defend
herself. Where is China's home
built navy, her submarines, her
air force?
China has, for all the good
work she is doing now, depended
too much on the United States
and Britain 10 help her out OF
her scrapes, meanwhile exhaust
ing her own vast resources IN
civil wars.
China seems TO be on her feet
at last, but / can't help asking
China when she twits us with
our short-sightedness:
"Say, big boy, where the heck
have you been for years. when
japan was getting ready to
gobble you up:"
IF WE are going to get rid Of
l. a lot of things" after the war.
as Dorothy Thompson remarked
the other evening on the radio,
/ hope that among the things TO
which we are going TO give the
air" will be our hypocrisy con-
corning some pleasant and uni
versal vices" which are really
not vices" at all, but escapes.
For instance, there is the
petty, political. demogogic war
on pinball and slot machines.
Now, although these machines
are "outlawed" in many states
and municipalities, the treasury
acknowledges take" OF almost
five million dollars in taxes from
these machines during the last
three months, alone. of 194l.
There is a tax on pinball games
Of $40 year and $50 a year on
slot machines.
These taxes are being paid
in many states where these
games are illegal. but the treas
ury. says an Associated Press
dispatch from Washington. "is
discreetly ignorant Of who paid
the taxes and where"
What a confession! What
hypocrisy! Will they tell us next
that it was all mailed to the
conscience fund? s
WHEN Congress approved the
w slot machine tax, there
were arguments from some legis-
lators that it amounted to legal
izing gambling and that they
might as we'll go all the way
and approve a national. govern
ment-controlled lottery"
Well. why not? Let us have
a national lottery and state lot
teries and city lotteries. Gam
bling is, il seems, an ineradi-
cable instinct in human beings.
Our SNUG and hypocritical legis-
lators, under the lash of some
"group"-the same group" that
is now trying again TO put over
the infamy of prohibition on us
pass bills which decree as
"crimes" those very forms of
gambling that they themselves
privately indulge in.
We should recognize gam
bling as a common pleasure.
Our hypocrisy in regard to it is
something of a stencil.
While we are fighting liars.
thieves and hypocrites abroad
let us flick a few beams out of
our own eyes.
WELL, folks. you've listened
w IN prpSi Il emf Roosevelt