Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 10 April 1950 — Page 10

ROY W. HOWARD WALTER LECKRONE HENRY W. MANS President Editor Manager

Site Be TO 0

"PAGE 10

Give Tioht and the Peosls Will Find Their An Wad

Expert Advice ChmsTi C. DAVIS is one of this country’s real authorities on agricultural problems. He was born on an Iowa farm. He edited a farm paper for several years. He was Montana's State Commissioner

- of Agriculture in the 1920s. He was the New Deal's first ‘head of the “old Agricultural Adjustment Administration.

He served for a time as War Food Administrator during World War II. Mr. Davis, now president of the St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank, made a speech the other day at Des Moines, in his native state. And that speech was full of good, sound sense.

~ » - ~ » . FOR instance: “Supports (of farm prices) at wartime levels will lead in the all-too-soon future to tight acreage control, impossible- -to-manage farm surpluses and eventual price collapse.” - ; And: “We should have learned by now that bare enactment of a law doesn’t make price supports effective at the prescribed level. The prices have to be worked out by shirtsleeve operations on the farm, in the warehouse or in the market place.” And: “I am convinced that if we had followed the lessons of the last 15 years—let’s make it 25 years— we would have stuck to the long-range provisions of the Agricultural Act of 1948.” (That was the Aiken flexible price support law which the Democratic Congress repealed last year.) And: “Don’t let anyone tell you there is magic in this device. (the Brannan. Plan). by which. to insure high wartime incomes to farmers on the one hand and cheap food to corisumers on the other. The idea may have political

__appeal, but it won't work that well.” ~

~ LJ . AND: “The “most ‘far-reaching and, in an economic sense, the most dangerously ambitious legislative programs for agriculture are not advanced by responsible farmers or farm organizations but by men who are honestly—and understandably—interested in farm votes.” As he considers proposed solutions for farm problems today, Mr. Davis said, he finds himself thinking: “I've seen that before, here's where we came in.” He ought to know.. The farmers, and the rest of us,

- right be spared costly mistakes in the future if Secretary

of Agriculture Brannan and members of Congress would read and ponder Mr. Davis’ Des Moines speech.

A ‘Futile Thing’

(CHAIRMAN VINSON of the House Armed Services Committee said that “we must buy the defense the nation must have, regardless of cost. Knemy capabilities, not fo}: lars, Jatphhine our needs.” Mr. Vinson was calling on Congress to vote $583 million for more war planes for the Air Force and the Navy. “Enemy capabilities” is a pretty broad term to cover ap what we don’t know about Russia. Bernard Baruch believes that Russia telegraphs her punches and that if our intelligence services are alert enough to read them, the Soviet Union may not be such an unfathomable mystery as

we commonly believe.

~ » » » WE DON'T Fnow how well our intelligence agencies are crystal-balling Russia. Maybe they have found out something. Maybe they are guessing. But it strikes us that if Congress becomes convinced that we've got to raise the defense budget by another $583 million or more, then the crisis. must be grave enough to warrant proportionate economy in other fields. ~~ We don't go along with the Vinson contention that Congress has discharged its constitutional responsibility to provide for the common defense solely by voting additional millions for arms. Economy and preparedness need not remain strangers to each other. Gen. Eisenhower wisely said the other day that mere military preparedness without a balanced economy would be “a futile thing.” We will do well to consider any pressing needs of the Defense Department in terms of our ability to cut till it hurts i in other depart ments.

Tax and Spend: ‘Spend and Tax

: BUSINESS is booming. Employment is high, and rising.

Yet the statisticians report that new jobs are not being treated fast enough to keep pace with the number of voung folks coming of job-seeking age. Hence, they say,

‘unemployment is rising also.

So there is talk, among the planners of Washington, about a “need for pump-priming”— proposals for some new

WPA like. projects. sprout. in. government. DUreaus.. ... ow... : Of course it’ never. occurs to the planners that Planted:

high taxes may be one reason more money is not being invested to create more new jobs. Or that planned high prices may be another reason the working population cannot buy more goods and services and build a still larger market for more productive jobs. The planners never seem to have any solution except more government spending, more’ price supports -and still more taxes. They came into power in Washington at.a time in the depression when our government ran on a $4-billion budget and a $1-billion deficit. They're still talking along the same lines, at a time of a $43-billion budget and a prospective $5-billion deficit. We've a hopeful hunch that the theory is beginning to wear a bit thin with Congress—the branch of government which votes appropriations and levies taxes.

Kansas City Alibi ITS OUR hunch that you're going to hear a lot for many days to come _ahout the killing of Charles Binaggio and his hoodlum bodyguard in Kansas City. It could blow the

. lid off quite a few things, including the 1950 elections.

But at the moment we're fascinated by the early announcement of the local police that “no one in Kansas City is tough enough or brave enough to pull such a job.” It's good to know that all Kansas City is in the clear

already, It must haye been some other town that produced

uth eriuivale,

the old time balloo|

DEAR BOSS ... By Domine Hoosier re.

Federal Thrift

But Few Big Cutsin U.S. wee Are Expected WASHING , Apr. 10—Dear Boss—Most

Congressmen are are back home for the’ Easter recess this week and whether Republicanis or Democrats they all will be saying “it's smart to be thrifty.” They will assure their constituents that they

and the sure-fire formula to get elected—or defeated. But the straight dope is that the taxpayers can consider themselves very forttunate indeed if the $1,385,377504 in. cash and $182523,000 in contract authority which was cut from President Truman's budget request stays out of the one-package appropriation measure all the way through the EL and Senate,

‘Up She Goes’ ALREADY Chairman Carl Vinson (D. Ga.) Is urging upping the. military. budgets -20- per cent and Defense Secretary Louis Johnson, who wanted to really. be thrifty, is getting hit with flying saucers, West Coast submarines and expert testimony from: Gen. Eisenhower. As the folks used to say as they watched ascension at a Hoosier county fair “up she » So any tall talk ay saving another billion or so this session of Congress can be labeled sheer “campaign oratory.” This first one-package appropriations bill in 150 years was sent to the House floor from the committee amid shouts from Congressmen demanding Inclusion of local projects saying .“We was robbed” and Rep. John Taber (R. N. Y.) making his customary predictions that he could cut billions out of it. The fact is that Chairman Clarence Cannon (D. Mo.) of the Appropriations Committee did all the amputating likely to be done. He will be glad to settle for his stand that no department get more during the next fiscal year than it has now. That will. not be easy, despite the homeconsumption Congressional talk,

431 Pages = - THE one-package appropriations bill is a 431-page measure, It takes the place of 10 or more bills used before adoption of the omnibus plan. It was accompanied by a 337- -page report and 25 volumes of testimeny from commiitee hearings. A member of the Agriculture Subcommittee who contributed was Rep. Edward H. Kruse, Ft. Wayne Democrat, member of the Appropriations Committee. The. bill..would- authorize -$27,266:403.:661 if “cash and $1,778,626,500 in contractual _—

tions to operate 40.government agencies in the *

year beginning July 1. It doesn’t include foreign aid, which is to be a separate deal. Chairman Cannon has scheduled the measure for action as soon as the House reconvenes Apr. 18. He predicts that it will be passed by the end of the month. Here is what the dean of the Hooslers in Congress, Republican Rep. Charles A. Halleck, is telling the home folks about it back in Rensselaer and throughout the Second District today.

‘Eliminates Waste’

“IT is a good thing for the country that we have been able to arrange the Easter recess for the House of Representatives for the week immediately before we begin action and voting on the tremendous appropriation. bill for the coming year. Along with other Republicans in the House I shall be doing everything that I can to eliminate wasteful, unnecessary, and extravagant government spending. But we need

votes if we are to achieve any substantial reduc- *

tion. My guess is that when the Representatives get home théy are going to find out that there is a real demand for governmental economy. “Personally, while I am already determined now as in the past, to do everything in my power to reduce federal spending( I am going to see as many people as I can in the 12 counties of the second district during the week to learn their specific ideas as to where cuts can and should be made. 1 also want to get their ideas on other problems before the Congress as we come to the half way point of this session.

‘What People Wanted’

“MY view is that those of us in the Congress who have been able to block socialistic, reckless, unwise, ill-timed and expensive proposals of the Truman administration have done what the overwhelming majority of our people wanted done.” This comes from a conservative Republican who really means business and knows how to operate after long service in the House. Democratic Congressmen also are talking thrifty. But it is still a safe bet that when this bill is passed the sum total appropriations will be just as big or bigger than the Cannon report. That is Washington, A. D. 1950.

"TIS SAID

We have lost our courageous will to explore new ideas and methods. Perhaps the patent office in Washington is just full of cake and pie recipes.

—B. C., Indianapolis, Ind.

FARM PROGRAM . . . By Earl Richert

‘Brannan Still Hopes

WASHINGTON, Apr. 10—A year ago this week, Agriculture Secretary Charles Brannan drove to. Capitol Hill with what he regarded as some rather routine recommendations for changes

in the farm price support system.

A friendly, unassuming feliow and new at his job, -he was he was to set off.

altogether unprepared for the controversy He had no idea that his sug-

sy canna A

the only Indiana .

reve

PRICE SUPPORTS

Pel e : ; aes Se ¥ oi » - i's yes RE A A A NE YO OU URE :

By Peter Edson

Confusion in Farm lion

WASHINGTON, Apr. 10—New farm legisla-

..tion which Congress has finally worried. through...

is another patchwork job. In this jerry-built bill are bins—or amendments—for cotton, potatoes and peanuts. A wheat amendment or two was considered, but finally knocked out. The rigid cotton acreage allotment formula which Congress passed two years ago proved absolutely unworkable in 1949. Something had to be done about it. But cotton planting has already begun in deepest Texas. So the new amendment was rushed through practically without hearings. It will add about 1,200,000 acres onto the 21.000,000 cotton acreage floor approved last year. As that floor produced more cotton than the country could consume, the new amendment means only that the government will have to pile up still bigger surpluses. The cost is estimated by Sen. Clinton Anderson of New Mexico at $75 million. The potato section provides both acreage and marketing quotas om the 1951 crop. An amendment to apply these controls on the 1950 crop was introduced last October. If passed, it might have saved $80 million to $100 million on this year’s crop.

Surplus Potatoes THEN to throw good money after bad, another amendment was added. It will permit the government to pay freight on the surplus potatoes it has to give away to tax-supported welfare agencies. The peanut amendment was proposed for last year’s farm bill by Rep. Stephen Pace of Georgia, but it was killed at the last minute. Sen. Walter F. George of Georgia was more successful this year.. In effect, his amendment would put in a two-price support system which would b» almost impossible to.administer, And it would take off all acreage restfictions on peanuts grown for oil. The history of this peanut politics is an amazing example of how balled up farm legislation can become, Congress first provided price supports for edible peanuts in 1938, wbén they were declared a “basic” crop, along with wheat, cotton, corn and tobacco. Then by the famous. Steagall amendment of war-time, peanuts crushed for oil were declared a ‘‘non-basie” crop. This permitted the Secretary of Agriculture to apply price supports it needed to encourage production. The war-time demand for peanut oil was so great, however, that soon the price of oil peanuts shot up to the edible peanut level. From 1943 to 1947 all peanuts were treated s “basic” and received the same price support. Peanut acreage rose above the 3 million mark. But the Army demand was so great that the government lost no money on its peanut operations,

_ SIDE GLANCES

Peanut acerage in 1949 was ordered cut

about 22 -per-cent. Even $0;-it-was-tmpossible ~~ Instead of leav-:

to keep supply under demand. ing acreage reduction up to the Department of

Agriculture, however, Congress tacked a rider

onto the cotton bill which Specified that in 1949 no state could be cut below 60 per cent of its 1948 peanut acreage, and that the national acreage should not be under 2,100,000. The result was a national crop of 1,000,000 tons, and Uncle Sam stood on the hot deck this past year, buying peanuts by the million peck. The crop isn’t all marketed, but the loss is expected to be about $40 million. In this situation, along comes the George amendment. It is so complicated that only a peanut politician can understand it. In effect, it sets up a two-price system for edible and oil nuts. It requires the government's Commodity Credit Corporation to support edible peanut prices at 90 per cent of parity, which is now $212 a ton. This applies to all quota acreage peanuts. The George amendment then provides that all peanuts grown in addition to the quota acreage crop shall be supported at the price of peanuts sold for crushing, if marketed through the CCC. The price of oil peanuts runs from $85 to $100 a ton. Having to buy up all these surplus oil peanuts from practically unrestricted acreage is where the government would take its terrific loss.

Breakdown Possibility

WHERE this George amendment would probably break down can be seen by a typical example. Suppose a farmer had a 10-acre peanut quota. Then suppose he planted 20 acres. He could sell the peanuts from his 10-acre quota to CCC at the $212 price. If he were honest he could sell the peanuts from the other 10 acres to the government at the $85 to $100 price. If he were dishonest he could have his brother-in-law sell the nonquota acreage peanuts at whatever he could get for them on the open market.

What Others Say

TO face the dangers of a very tough world, what we need is not to be overwhelmed with these dangers, but to understand them. —David E. Lilienthal, former AEC chairman. > AMERICA’S job . .. is not to make the world safe for similarities, but to make it safe for differences.— Norman Cousins, editor, Saturday Review of Literature.

I BELIEVE that A cause of world government deserves alll we businessmen can give it—William. L. Batt, president, SKF Industries, Inc.

By Galbraith

Dulles.

guilt would be ours.. Do we want it that way? Perhaps the worst of all, would be the great delusion. Imagining that we were safe and forgetting our responsibilities, and the real task before us. We. would fail to strive as we must on a spigitual basis. We would fail to keep ourselves strong and fit mentally and physically, We would fail to bring about that unity of spirit and brotherhood. That alone- can save the world.

‘Pray for Enemies’ By Mrs. Best, 5606 University Ave. The leaders of the world have been trying for years to bring peace, but they have failed to do so. Since men have failed, why not try God? We are all His children, and He is able and willing to help us if we will let Him. God's supply is here for all His people of all nations. But men’s love for power and greed brought wars and suffering to all people. When nations forget God they fall and are destroyed. If our country is to survive, our leaders must turn to God for wisdom, understanding and power and how to serve mankind. God's power can destroy all evil. - We must overcome Bate with love, fear with faith.

Pray. for. our. enemies. that they: see:the: tight wi

and get wisdom, understanding and desire. We, the people of this nation, must pray for peace and that the Kingdom of God will come in the

hearts. of.-men.and His will be done-on-earth:

as it is in heaven. earth once more.

Then peace will reign on

‘Disobeying the Law’ By Mrs. J. W. C,, City. 0. L. G. of Greencastle says that the City Council and Business Bureau of that city “have decided to open up and go to work an hour earlier this summer and leave the clocks as they are——on Standard Time.” I believe this is a better plan for Indianapolis than setting the clocks ahead: Our law says we should go by Standard Time. What kind of an example do supposédly rational adults set for our children if we so flagrantly disobey the law in this manner? This law was set up by our State Legislature. If we can disobey one law with impunity, why not disregard others? As an example to

the younger generation, this whole thing is a

disgrace to our city. If various women's clubs, church federations and other citizens groups would co-operate some constructive action could be taken.

‘Only Chance Is by Vote’ By Harrison White, Indianapolis. The only chance the people have in removing communism and communistic sympathies from the State Department at Washington is by an election that will take the collar of internationalism from the throat of Uncle Sam. The whole administration for the past 20 vears has been shot full of Joe. Stalin's little helpers and they are still there. The whole administration is contaminated, although they deny it. Franklin Roosevelt knew exactly what he was doing when he agreed to the rape of China and Asia by communism at Yalta, and Mr. Truman knew exactly what he was doing when he turned the continent of Europe to communism at Potsdam and all the grief with all its results in Europe is squarely resting upon the shoulders of the present administration at Washington. About two weeks before President Truman appointed Mrs. Roosevelt as American delegate to the United Nations, she appeared on the same platform with an English anarchist by the name of Laski at Madison Square Garden, where he said: “The people of the United States will have to give up their constitution and their personal liberties for the mass state.” This is a mere “Red Herring” in the vernacular of Harry Truman. Should communism take over in this country, all the pinks will be liquidated, for they will all have political ambitions. The real Commies will take over and don’t forget that,

POREIGN POLICY . . . By Ludwell Denny

Reds Forcing Unit WASHINGTON, Apr. 10—Stalin is unwittingly responsible for bringing together his enemies Harry: Truman and John Foster

The Soviet threat has become so grave the President, in the interest of American unity, finally forgot the feud which has exiled Mr. Dulles from the State Department since his partisan New York campaign.

“payments”

gestions would be labeled as the Brannan Plan and become a national issue. The thought

never entered his mind that his . Proposals. would cause a. split...

in the Democratic Party in

-Congress, almost wreck the

bipartisan farm bloc, and create a rumpus within the farm organizations,

AFTER ALL) the point about which most of the controversy has raged, direct “production to farmers, had been written into the HopeAlken farm law by the Republican 80th Congress. He was only proposing to use these “production payments” on a somewhat wider scale. Today, Charlier Brannan is a year older and a year wiser. But, he says he isn’t backtracking on any of his pro-. posals. “I would modify my program tomorrow if someone came up with what I regarded as a better means of handling the problem. But I haven't seen a suggested modification that would do the job,” he said. In many ways, Mr. Brannan's position is unparalleled in recent cabinet history. - - ~ HE IS opposed by the two largest organizations concerned with the activities of

his Department, the American

Farm Bureau and the National Grange. Chairman Harold Cooley (D. N. G.) of the House Agricul-

iy

i Tn 0 fa

ture Committee deserted him ~

this week to join ranks with such powerful opponents as Senate Majority Leader Scott Lucas (D. Il.) and Sen. Clinton” P. Anderson former Secretary of Agricul ture.

Even Secretary of State

Dean Acheson doesn't face op-

position like that.

- ~ - BUT Charlie Brannan says he is not discouraged. He thinks that he's been making headway with the farmers, even though he may be losing ground in Congress. And he thinks" that Congress eventually will have to come at least part way around to his way of thinking. He says the present government farm program presents this discouraging picture: Decreasing farm income; mount-

- ing surpluses with no outlets;

decreasing consurher intake of food. “Some folks are giving u extra eggs and butter for television sets and autos. Food has really got to compete for the consumer's dollar and we've got to compete pricewise,” Mr. Brannan said.

. - - HIS IDEA, of course, is to let prices of perishable foods, and perhaps even' cotton, fall so that consumers - would use more.

He would make it up to

farmers by paying them the difference between the prices they received in a free market

(DUNT

“Every year | hafta’ spend more on Muriel's birthday present— | better make up my mind if | really am in love with her!”

and the government fair-in- -

come price. » . » MR. BRANNAN lays most of his troubles at the door of Farm Bureau president: Allan Kline, who Brannan aides think has ‘presidential ambi-

tions and wants to return the

rural Midwest to the Republiican fold.

+*“I don’t mind opposition an

principle,” says Mr. Brannan. “But I'd resent being called dishonest and stupid.” Neithér does he care for the use of a John Randolph quotation in a limerick about the Brannan Plan “Shining and stinking like rotten mackerel

have been used at the en Farm Buregu convention.

“and

This reconciliation, engineered by Sen. Vandenberg and Secretary of State Acheson, is the most important ad-

‘ministration: move in “foreign

affairs in many months. Mr. Dulles’ appointment as top adviser to Mr. Acheson adds technical skill desperately needed by the State Department. At the same time it helps to clothe the department with the mantle of security respectability, equally needed. : - . » BUT paradoxically, it will not achieve the full bipartisan unity for which it is being acclaimed. Republican isolationists in Congress distrust Mr. Dulles as much as Mr, Acheson—more because he is

_ a member of their party. A

Republican, in their view, has

— no right to run off after “the - false

idols of internationalMoreover, they. scorm him because he is not a professional politician. He. is like Mr. Acheson in being a professional international lawyer with no party backing of his own, The fact that he has long been Gov. Dewey's diplomatic adviser, and was to have been Republican Secretary of State if the election had gone that way, makes him all the

more unpopular with the anti-

Deweyites.

80 the Dulles appointment

will not make the isolationists

genuinely co-operative with a

bipartisan foreign policy. But it will tend to isolate the isolationists, That is why it is

a shrewd “move politically, as ~ well as diplomatically. ) It “will isolate them in Con- .

gress by restoring to the Vandenberg Republican group the

- leadership seized by the isola-

tionists when the President foolishly allowed : bipartisanship to lapse. It will isolate them in the country by putting them on the defensive in ate tacking a joint. Democratice Republican. foreign policy. - =n

THAT is where the great power of Mr. Dulles comes in. For, though lacking in party machine power, he probably is the most influential man in the country on public opinion in foreign affairs. “Three major tend to follow his pl lead: The Protestant churches and peace groups, the colleges, and the big industrialists and bankers. His public influence is matched by his lifetime experience in international affairs, and by his determination to do all in his power to stop Stalin. ” ~ - : MR. DULLES will not work any over-night miracles at the State Department. He is not the spectacular type. But he will, add wisdom and steadiness. For brains and cool

courage the Acheson - Dulles.

combination will be the best in any Allg foreign office anywhere.

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