Houston home journal. (Perry, Houston County, Ga.) 1924-1994, March 14, 1946, Image 6

Houston home journal., March 14, 1946, Image 6

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Newspaper Page TexthJmhingtrm Mojrt-gdround JV j & drew Pearson l»i ll*i A AAA *’i lilHJUlllilul WASHINGTON. - Some people are wondering whether the fact finding board for the meat packing industry took the trouble to read the newspapers. If so, they might not have recommended that the house wife bear the main burden of the cost of increased wages in the meat packing industry. The fact-finding board, which in cluded Dr. Edwin E. Witte of Wis consin university, Chief Justice Raymond W, Starr of the Michigan Supreme court, and Clark Kerr, former chairman of the meat pack ing branch of the war labor board —three able men—decided that a 16-cent pay increase was fair and equitable for meat packing work ers. But they added that only five cents of this was "absorbable by the meat industry without price or subsidy relief.” In other words, the fact finders recommended that the big meat packers could pay only 5 cents of the 16-cent wage increase out of their own pockets. The rest would have to be passed on to the consum er or the government. Their report was filed February 7. However, early in December, long before the fact-finding board was appointed, a number of smaller meat packing plants had already signed contracts with the CIO and AFL for 15 cents an hour pay increase with out any strings attached re garding increased meat prices. The small packers who signed such agreements included Hygrade Food Products of New York, George A. Hormel of Austin, Minn., and others in the Chicago area. Apparently, the fact finders did not take this into considera tion. Apparently also, they ig nored the fact that Swift and company previously had agreed to a pay boost of 10 cents an hour without any strings at tached regarding increased meat prices to the housewife. For, despite Swift’s offer of 10 cents an hour and the smaller com panies’ increase of 15 cents, the fact finders recommended that only 5 cents of the 16-cent increase could be paid for by meat packers. The remaining 11 cents will be passed on to the housewife—unless the gov ernment votes a subsidy. BREAD WASTE SCANDAL. Department of agriculture sleuths have been doing some quiet check ing of unscrupulous bakeries which violate bread sales regulations in order to kill off competition. Despite the fact that the nation has been forced on a “dark bread” diet to help feed war-starved peo ples of the world, thousands of loaves of good bread are still go ing to waste, or being fed to hogs and chickens. It works like this: If a big bakery is trying to grab business away from a competing bakery, it will begin supplying gro cery stores on a “consignment basis,” which means that grocers’ shelves are loaded up with supplies of bread in excess of what they can sell. The following day—sometimes the same day—drivers pick up the un sold loaves and replace them with fresh stock, charging the grocer only for the bread actually sold. Idea is to promote sales of a particu lar brand of bread because of its “freshness.” Tins is a violation of war food order No. 1, but it hasn’t stopped certain bakeries in Houston, Texas, Richmond, Va., San Francisco, Cleveland, Kansas City and St. Louis from carrying on the prac tice on a huge scale. Instead of making their re turned stocks of one-day-old bread available at a reduced price to poor families, the loaves frequently wind up in garbage bins. One Texas farm er who tipped off the depart ment of agriculture about condi tions in Houston said he had been buying wagon-loads of bread “fresh enough to eat” to feed his hogs and chickens. ATOM VS. BATTLESHIP Unless President Truman does something drastic about it very soon, the forthcoming atomic tests in the Pacific, scientists say, may turn out to be a study in water spouts instead of atomic energy. On-tbe-surface atomic-bomb explosions, the scientists claim, will add nothing to the knowl edge already accumulated from previous explosions at New Mexico, Hiroshima and Naga saki, except that we may learn the size and damage of the world’s largest water spout. Administration lobbying to con firm Ed Pauley has reached white hot pitch. Gov. Mon Wallgren of Washington was brought east to put the heat on Senators Magnuson and Hugh Mitchell, the latter having been Wallgren’s secretary. Both will now vote for Pauley. . . In some states, where the November race will be close, a vote for Pauley may mean defeat for a Democrat. . . , The Pauley-Allen-Vardaman Merry-Go-Rounds have evolved the latest Washington wisecrack; “Tru man is suffering from Pendergastric Ulcers'” WEEKLY NEWS ANALYSIS Rip Franco Rule; U. S. Stiffens Foreign Policy; Readjust Crop Goals to Meet Emergency Needs .... Relenupd by Wntfm Nfwipapfr Union ___________ (EDITOR’S NOTE: When opinion! »r« expressed In those columns, they ore those of Western Newspaper Union's news analysts and not necessarily of this newspaper.) !/" e u Kanagawa-Ken. SPAIN: Hot Spot With leftist elements in France pressing the issue, a new govern ment loomed in Franco Spain, long under fire for Fascist connections but reportedly countenanced by Britain because of its neutrality dur ing World War 11, which diverted direct attack on Gibraltar. The Allies’ first major step in seeking to supplant Franco came with France’s closure of its border against Spain. Prodded by French proposals to take up the matter with the United Nations organization, the U. S. and Britain then reportedly agreed to form a common front to apply pressure for Franco’s re moval. While renouncing intentions to meddle with Spain’s internal af fairs, the U. S. and Britain moved to denounce the continued existence of Franco’s regime and proclaim their willingness to recognize an in terim representative government if he were ousted. Awaiting resolution of the situation, the U. S. and Brit ain would not break off economic tics or diplomatic relations, leaving the road open for negotiations for creation of a democratic govern ment. FOREIGN POLICY: U. S. Stiffens Answering demands of Sen. Ar thur Vandenberg (Rep., Mich.) for a firmer foreign Byrnes declared ture aggressors and tions settlements tably to permit the economic revival of Vandenberg the world. Byrnes’ enunciation of the admin istration's foreign policy followed Vandenberg's charge upon return ing from the United Nations Organ ization sessions in London that the American representatives sat back with compromising attitudes while Russia and Britain pressed their po litical ambitions. Unless the U. S. pushes its ideals, Vandenberg said, Russia will continue to press ahead in the Far East, eastern Europe, North Africa and Asia Minor where continued aggressiveness may set oil a powder keg. In reaffirming U. S. determination to check future aggression. Byrnes declared that the present arrange ment of the three great powers precluded world domination by any one of them, but that efforts to upset the balance would imperil peace. In calling for early peace treaties, he asked for an ending of the drain ing of occupied countries. Demand ing equitable reparations agree ments, Byrnes said the U. S. would not tolerate any power deciding for itself what to take. STRIKES: Costly Walkout The General Motors and CIO- United Automobile Workers pitched battle over wages ranks as one of the costliest industrial disputes in U. S. history, with financial losses of over 800 million dollars to com pany, union, dealers and other pro ducers dependent on G. M. for parts. With its plants closed as tight as a drum throughout the country, G. M. was estimated to have lost 500 million dollars in unfilled orders NATIONAL INCOME: With the national income in each month of 1945 running below the 1944 level, the year’s total dropped to 145,594 million dollars in 1945 from the record high of 160,695 mil lion dollars in 1944. National in come, however, was practically as large as in 1943 when it was the second largest on record. Further more, the fact should not be over looked that the 1945 figure is pre liminary and actually may be larger. THE HOUSTON HOME JOURNAL, PERRY, GEORGIA while 175,000 production employees missed 113 million dollars in wages. Dealers and salesmen were said to have lost another 100 million dol lars in commissions. Because of G. M.’s production of parts, other manufacturers have been forced to curtail assemblies, increasing profit and wage losses. At the Packard Motor Car company, 8.000 production workers have been off more than a month because of the shortage of G. M. supplies. Of 50,000 G. M. employees in Flint, Mich., over 2,000 strike-bound work ers are receiving welfare relief at a rate of $38.06 weekly. GERMANY: Ration Cut Reduction of the food ration to 1.000 calories daily in the British occupation zone in Germany, and need for substantial imports into the American-held sector if the present level of 1,500 calories is to be maintained, pointed up the criti cal situation in the fallen Reich. Seeking to alleviate the now hard ship imposed by the ration slash and head off possible rioting, Field Marshal Montgomery flew to Lon don to discuss ways of providing additional food for the 20 million German residents in the highly in dustrialized northwestern region held by the British. Because a di vision of British food supplies would not furnish substantial relief, how ever, authorities appealed to the U. S. and Russia for food shipments. While Germans in the U. S. occu pation zone are receiving a subsist ence ration of 1,500 calories daily, two-thirds of the food eaten is com ing from local stocks. If the present allotment is to be maintained, im ports soon will have to be upped and a total of 700,000 tons shipped in during the first nine months of 1946. Because of scarcities of fer tilizer, seeds, tools and farm ma chinery, fall crops may be appre ciably curtailed. FOOD: Crop Readjustments In readjusting 1946 crop goals, the department of agriculture sought to assure a greater supply of edible grain, nutritious relief fare, fats and oils and animal feed to meet not only U. S. needs but growing Euro pean emergency requirements. Because winter wheat already has been planted, the additional 1,000,- 000 acres asked will have to be seeded in the spring wheat area, the department declared. While North and South Dakota, Montana and Minnesota are expected to plant the bulk of the extra acreage, other spring wheat areas were called upon to increase their crop. Since smooth dry edible peas con stitute a good protein relief food and ship well, the department planned for a 100,000-acre boost in plantings, principally in Colorado, Idaho, Mon tana, North Dakota, Oregon ana Washington. With small world supplies of fats and oils in the face of the slow movement of shipments from the Pacific and heavy overseas relief needs, soybean goals were boosted by 1,100,000 acres. lowa, Ohio, Illi nois, Indiana, Minnesota and Mis souri were asked for the greatest increase. Faced with the need for high meat and dairy output with feed stocks dwindling, farmers were asked to increase corn production over 1,000,- 000 acres and also step up roughage cultivation. At the same time, pro ducers were told to maintain the flow of cattle to market, ship hogs at lighter weights and cull poul try flocks. K or Id Supplies Supplies of all grains in the prin cipal exporting countries in Janu ary were about 15 per cent smaller than at the beginning of 1945, with wheat stocks about 25 per cent less, according to the department of agri culture. Total wheat supplies in U. S., Can ada, Argentina and Australia were placed at 1,392 million bushels com pared with 1,868 million bushels on January 1, 1945. The exportable surplus of 475 to 500 million bushel* is below world needs. STATE BANKS: Ship-Shape With government bond holdings, loans and discounts and other as sets showing substantial increases, the nation’s 9,538 state banks boost ed their total resources to almost 87*6 billion dollars in 1945. A breakdown of assets showed government bonds, totaling 50 bil lion dollars, made up 57.4 per cent of resources at the year end, with loans and discounts, approximating 16Vi billion dollars, next at 18.8 per cent. Cash and balances with other banks amounted to over 15 billion dollars to constitute 17.6 per cent of assets while state, municipal and private securities and other re sources approximating 5 billion dol lars rounded out the holdings. The 9,538 state banks had capital stock totaling IM> billion dollars, sur plus of 3 billion dollars, undivided profits of 1 billion dollars and re serves of 365 million dollars. Ready Credit Alive to the growing volume of installment financing, over 12,000 state and national banks will extend consumer credit in the postwar years, greatly expanding their pre war operations when they supplied 46 per cent of such loans in the country. While not all of the banks intend to extend all types of consumer credit, 10,500 plan to make personal loans. By buying dealer paper or ad vancing money directly to con sumers, 9,400 banks will finance sales of automobiles and 8,000 will back purchases of such goods as home appliances, farm equipment and airplanes. Over 5,000 banks will make 'FHA loans covering home repairs while 7,900 will extend credit for modern ization plans of small businesses or residential owners. Fritz Finds Heavy Going w- • Ir-awt irgfß Deported in September of 1945 as dangerous alien after he had been deprived of U. S. citizenship, for mer Bund Chieftain Fritz Kuhn is now baggage smasher in Hohenas berg castle in Stuttgart, Ger many. BIG MAN: Grows Rigger One of the biggest of the wartime entrepreneurs, Henry J. Kaiser con tinued his postwar growth with the leasing of two huge government aluminum mills at Spokane, Wash., with options to buy. In granting Kaiser companies use of the plants, the government an nounced that it sought to increase competition in the industry present ly dominated by two companies. Because Kaiser plans to extensively employ the metal in his automo biles, the government also said, he might open a new field for use of the material and thus open a mar ket for other U. S.-owned aluminum plants. In leasing the $47,630,000 Trent wood aluminum rolling mill, Kaiser- Frazier agreed to pay a yearly rent al amounting to 5 per cent of gross sales or fixed sums, running up to $2,667,000 in 1951. In obtaining the $22,270,000 Mead aluminum reduc tion plant, Kaiser Cargo, Inc., will pay annual charges up to $1,248,000 in the fifth year. MEAT: Consumer Costs Though consumers will have to pay the full cost of the packing com panies’ 16 cent an hour wage boost to employees, the actual outlay will approximate only 81 cents a year per person on the basis of record consumption, the department of agriculture reported. In arriving at the figure, depart ment economists divided the 1% per cent price increase allowed pack ers into anticipated consumption of 155 pounds of meat per person in 1946 at an average of 35 cents a pound. However, the actual cost might be less since the estimated consumption of 155 pounds per per son reflects a peak and is far above the average prewar level. Despite the per cent price boost granted packers to offset the wage increase, the American Meat institute termed OPA’s relief entire ly inadequate if livestock is to flow to legitimate channels. Even with the new price increase, the institute said, legal operators would be pressed to compete with black mar keteers in bidding for cattle. TIRE OUTPUT: The tire manufacturing industry produced approximately one tire for every automobile on the road in 1945, casings totalling 28,147,538 units. While this exceeded the war restricted quotas established early in 1945, output fell far short of meet ing long pent-up civilian demand. Rapidly accelerating production in the closing months of 1945 and steadily increasing production since the first of the year had carried current weekly output to an all-time record high by mid-February. Washington Digest/ Rediscovers America - EOt] Under New Sponsors Co-Operative Backing of Programs Affords Wider National Contacts; Brings Radio flflNflSr- 1 Close to Local Communities. By BAUKHAGE News Analyst and Commentator. WNU Service, 1616 Eye Street, N. W. Washington, D. C. In these days when there is so much talk about co-operatives, I would like to take this opportunity to say something about co-operative sponsorship of radio. It is a differ ent kind of co-op, of course, but it has done a lot for broadcasting. It simply means that instead of hav ing one big company sponsor a program over a whole network, a local concern in each town “hires” us. That is why I say the name of my boss is legion. There are many advantages in this plan from a purely material standpoint. But to me, the greatest, from the broadcaster’s point of view is the fact that co-op sponsorship provides a tremendous psychologi cal tonic. It gives me what I call an e-pluribus-unum boost, because I have a feeling that a lot of peo ple have elected me to my job instead of one man hiring me. I feel that I have become a citizen in a sort of new-found economic democracy. Now from the listener’s stand point: When a program is sponsored locally, the townsfolk are bound to look on it with a lot more intimacy. Hi. . '■ I f l ' * I ■. Baukhage (center) interviews the Oesers in Washington, D. C. The people of X-ville, listening to me as they have for the last three years, feel, I am sure, that they know me better because they know my sponsor, Joe Doe—a lot of them personally, a lot more because they have almost daily personal contact with the clerks in his big depart ment store. And that goes for the flour mill, the bank, the bakery, the dairy, the hotel, the electric power company, the finance company, the flour and feed store, and what have you (and what haven’t you in the co-op dish?). Like writing for a weekly news paper, there is a hometown intimacy about this arrangement. This inti macy, vicarious though it may be, goes a long way toward breaking down the barrier of invisibility be tween the unseen broadcaster and his audience. Highly important too, is the total goodwill engendered by the co-oper ative sponsorship system. It means a lot to the sponsor to have the lis tener realize that a hometown supported institution is paying for the program he listens to. Before I accept a sponsor I have to know something about him. When we get together I have a chance to learn a lot more about him and he about me. Thus, my 130 bosses have helped me, in a sense, to re-discover America, and it doesn’t do a bit of harm to those of us who spend so much time on Pennsylvania avenue to have a daily reminder of Main street which is the real America. So much for direct benefits to sta tion - sponsor - listener - broadcaster. But there is something which is eve:i more important to radio as a whole. I believe the co-op system will go a long way toward dissolv ing an unfounded suspicion held by some of the general public; name ly that a commentator reflects his sponsor’s opinions. Personally, I have never known such a case, but the myth is widespread. Well, it is obvious that even 30 sponsors couldn’t agree to disagree with their commentator on any one thing and when the number passes the hundred mark, a neutralizing effect results which produces a cross-sec tion view that could reflect only an average of American tolerances. BARBS • • . by Baukhage Before the war, says the 20th Cen tury Fund, around four million Americans paid an income tax. After the war began, the number rose to above 40 million, or over 10 times as many headaches on March 15. * * • The clerks and salespeople are new demanding “Doncher know there’s a peace on?" We are all proud of the fact that radio has brought the world right into the listener’s home. We can be equally proud of the fact that the co-operative sponsorship system has brought thousands of American communities into the broadcaster’s heart and mind. The co-operative sponsorship system exemplifies the good, democratic principles of de centralization. I think it’s a great invention. * • * Chosen by Station WNAX, Yank ton, S. D., as “typical mid-west farmers,” Mr. and Mrs. John Oeser won a trip to Washington, a new tractor and money for a new ward robe. Immediately after being re ceived by the President, they were interviewed on our program. They were chosen by WNAX be cause, while running up a remark able production record on their farm in Westside, lowa, they also played a leading part in the war activities of the community. Mr. Oeser is 58 years old and is still cultivating the land his father pioneered. He and Mrs. Oeser have eight children—the one of military age is a marine—two daughters are graduate nurses. Since the eldest boy joined the marines, Mr. Oeser has been doing all the work on his 160-acre farm with the help of his wife and the 10 and 14-year-olds. They have a lot of livestock and raise enough grain on their farm to feed the cattle. Mr. and Mrs. Oeser were widely entertained while in Washington and enjoyed every minute of it. How ever, Mrs. Oeser was shocked at the prices of food and didn’t “see how a family the size of hers could possibly afford to live in a city.” • • • While congress recently rewrote the tax law to fit peacetime govern ment expenditures—and the people’s earnings—they had in their posses sion the suggestion for a new type of tax program. I say “new type” because it is sponsored by small businesses employing approximate ly 6,500,000 workers. The sponsors are convinced that their comprehensive program will do a number of worthy things in ad dition to speeding reconversion and giving tax relief to individuals and business. They say it will also pro vide a favorable tax climate for small business, encourage venture capital, provide high employment at well-paid jobs, stimulate consump tion, increase the national income, balance the budget at high employ ment levels, reduce federal expen ditures and retire the national debt. Aside from immediate reductions for individuals and corporations, the long-range program calls for the fol lowing: For the individual, an ini tial tax of 16 per cent and reduction of surtaxes, the rates on long-term capital gains, estate and gift taxes. Existing exemptions and credits would be retained, deductions of capital losses would be allowed on the same basis as capital gains are taxed, double taxation of div> dends would be alleviated. The state chambers of commerce would con tinue the principle of the withhold ing tax while at the same time try ing to improve it. In the long term picture for busi ness, the group would have corpora tion taxes reduced and the continu ation of a favorable tax climate for small business. Rubble plus rabble makes a revo lution—but a bowl of American soup goes a long way to convince even a hungry communist democracy isn’t so bad. • • • What does the American soldier in Europe (and officer) want most? Sorry, cynics, it’s (J) to get home and if not (2) the wife and kiddie* over there.