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VA*3)ENBURG GOP CANDIDATE
WASHINGTON. Erpdite Sena
tor Vandenberg of Michigan not only
has been doing a good job on for
eign relations, but he takes it—and
himself—seriously. Perhaps one is
necessary to the other. Talking to
a friend the other day, the Michi
gan senator opined:
“Well, we’re getting along pretty
well now that we have a Republi
can foreign policy.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, analyze it for yourself,”
shot back the man who may be the
inext GOP nominee. “It all goes back
to my now somewhat famous
speech of January, 1945.”
NOTE—Van claims he Is get
ting bored with politics. “One
question I can’t answer to my
wife’s satisfaction,” he says, “is
why I’m running for re-election
(as senator). I’ve threatened to
divorce her if she asks me
again.” (The answer, of course,
is that If Van doesn’t run again
for senator, he won’t be in the
trial heats for President.)
• • •
SENATE LABOR REBELLION
Deadliest backstage punches
against President Truman’s labor
draft program were scored by CIO
Pres. Phil Murray in a secret meet
ing held by the senate education 1
and labor committee.
Those present included Murray;
Lew Hines, AFL legislative repre
sentative; Martin Miller, represent
ing A1 Whitney’s railway trainmen;
plus Senators Jim Murray of
Montana (chairman), David I.
Walsh of Massachusetts, Elbert
Thomas of Utah, Claude Pepper of
Florida, Lister Hill of Alabama, Joe
Guffey of Pennsylvania and Wayne
Morse of Oregon.
The CIO president got right down i
to cases.
“My organization has always fol- \
lowed President Truman’s recom- I
mendations in labor disputes and
the record proves it,” Murray de- j
dared. “Look at the auto, steel and I
oil disputes. We went along with the I
fact-finding boards. In some cases |
we had to accept much below what |
we asked, but we did so patri- I
otically.
“Can industry say as much?” ’
Murray continued. “Look what
happened during the auto
strike. General Motors held out
for months against the recom
mendations of Truman’s fact
finding board, which labor was
willing to accept. That was a
case of management striking
against the government, but did
President Truman call for a
joint session of congress to up
braid General Motors olli- ,
cials as he did recently against
labor? He did not.”
• * *
NO-STRIKE PLEDGE?
Then, with n scowl, the usually
mild - mannered CIO boss acidly ■
added:
“Did he offer legislation then
to penalize and enslave all I
management as he did in this
case against labor? Well, 1 don’t
remember reading anything |
about it.”
Senator Hill inquired if labor I
would be willing to offer Truman a |
compromise on the strike issue, ; I
such as a six month no-strike j |
pledge. 1
“That is impossible, as far as I
the CIO is concerned,” replied Mur- I I
ray emphatically, “My organization I
Is run on Democratic lines and such I
a pledge could never be enforced. H
When members of a CIO union are | I
working under intolerable condi- I
tions, I couldn’t dictate to them not j E
to strike. Therefore, I would never I
agree to such a pledge.” I
•* * I
RATIONING FERTILIZER I
Agriculture department experts I
are worried over a new drive by I
Dixie democrats. They now want I
fertilizer rationed. Hitherto, potash ■
fertilizer has been used mainly for
food growing, but now the southern
bloc wants it rationed so more can
go for the cotton and tobacco crops.
Midwest farmers do not object to
the idea of rationing of potash, pro
vided rationing regulations recog
nize the supreme importance of
food. The Civilian Production ad
ministration, however, has always
allocated scarce materials on the I
basis of a base period, and the I
southern representatives are insist- I
ing that any new rationing program I
be based upon 1944 consumption of 1
fertilizer.
In 1944, five southern states I
used 44 per cent of the nation’s '
fertilizer but produced only 10 I
per cent of the nation’s food. In
the same year, live midwest I
states produced 50 per cent of
the nation’s food but used only
6 per cent of the fertilizer.
• • •
CAPITAL CHAFF
The exit of young men continues. I
Josiah Dußois, one of Secretary
Vinson’s crack assistants, has re- >
signed to practice law here and in '
Camden, N. J. . . . Secretary of the
Interior Cap Krug ended a six-hour
fishing trip in the Virgin Islands
with a painful sunburn, then pro
ceeded to sweat out 12 days of hot
ter negotiations with John L. Lewis.
... At Fort Washington, Md., is a
half-empty veterans’ hospital which
costs the taxpayers $2ll a day per
patient
L jr ml
j
YOUNG PATTON RECEIVES COMMISSION FROM MOTHER ... At
graduation exercises in the U. S. military academy, Mrs. George S.
Patton, widow of famed U. S. 3rd army commander, presented a
regular army commission to her son, George S. Patton Jr. Young
Patton was one of 21 sons of generals graduated in largest class in
history of the academy. Others included the sons of Lt. Gen. James
11. Doolittle and Lt. Gen. Wedermeyer.
NEW BRITISH ENVOY VISITS BYRNES . . . Lord Inverchapel,
left, new British ambassador ot the United States, photographed with
Secretary of State Janies F. Byrnes, center, when he made his first
official call at the department of stale. John Falfour, right, British
minister, accompanied the new envoy, who relieved the Earl of
Halifax, now enjoying a rest after the hectic war years.
SB
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BANANAS FOR AMERICAN TABLES . . . Choco Indian boy with
silver bracelets, silver and bead necklace and painted face. The two
paints used, black and red, come from the berries of native trees.
The dugouts are carved from mahogany. The Choco Indians of Panama
are believed to be the Western Hemisphere’s wildest living tribe.
Each (logout will hold half a tun of bananas.
IN FATHER’S FOOTSTEPS ... A staff sergeant with his own
“private army” takes a stroll through Plymouth. He is Frank Cooper,
Hansom Lane, Halifax, who is trailed by Allan, 7; twins, Ronald and
Oerck, 6; and Malcolmn, 4, all born in New Delhi, while carrying
the only girl in the family, six-months-old Frances. Clothes are the
least of their worry, using battle suits for all except the baby.
THE HOUSTON HOME JOURNAL, PERRY, GEORGIA
AUSTIN TO UNO . . . Sen. War
ren R. Austin, 68, Vermont repub
lican, who has been named by
President Truman as U. S. repre
sentative of the United Nation se
curity council to succeed Edward
R. Stettinius Jr.
BARE IN MEXICO . . . Babe
Ruth, Sultan of swat, is shown
here zooming one across during
an exhibition game between Vera
Cruz and Mexico City. An over
flow of Mexican fans turned out
to see Babe. Reports are that he
will join organized baseball in
Mexico as the “Judge Landis” of
baseball in the southern republic.
SOVIET AMBASSADOR ... The
need for maintaining close rela
tions between the United States
and Russia was stressed by Niko
lai Novokov, when he presented
his papers to President Truman
as Soviet ambassador.
UNITED STATES MACE . . .
Kenneth Romney, sergeant-at
arms of the house of representa
tives, is shown holding the U. S.
Mace. It is 46-inches high, and con
sists of 13 ebony rods, represent
ing the 13 original states,
VOTED OUT . . . Portrait of “Um
berto,” favorite one of King Hum
bert 11, of Italy, whose royal
destiny was sealed by the Italian
people, who voted him out.
Personal Mail Exerts Big
Influence on Congressman
By BAUKHAGE
News Analyst and Commentator.
WNU Service, 1616 Eye Street, N.W.,
Washington, D. C.
There is a great mail mystery in
Washington which public reaction
sleuths are try
ing to solve. Re- f " jg? •
cent reactions of
price adminis
tration of its powers, until said
agency has little more control over
prices than man over a skidding
car on an icy pavement.
And yet, according to recent polls,
82 per cent of the public is in favor
of “holding the line.” The March
survey by that reliable poller,
NORC (National Opinion Research
Center of Denver university) among
other similar groups, points this out.
When the house virtually stripped
OPA of is powers late in April, let
ters poured in supporting the agen
cy, since then its head, Paul Por
ter, using the publicity machine
built up by his predecessor, Stabili
zation Director Bowles, has omit
ted no word or act to keep his side
of the arguments against ceiling
smashing before the consumer. Al
though congress is not now being
needled as heavily as it was at the
peak of the house debate, plenty of
people are still asking for OPA con
tinuation.
At the same time, of course, anti
control forces are keeping up their
pressure, both through lobbyists of
the interested groups, and through
the paid advertising of the National
Manufacturers’ association, and
other industrial organizations.
But as far as any one can gauge,
the people themselves still want
price control. Nevertheless, con
gress has managed to whittle it
down, and many observers, at this
writing, consider it as among the
dead already.
That is one mystery. Another was
provided in the recent move on the
part of the President, with his emer
gency strike bill, and on the part
of congress, with the reinforced
Case bill.
Up until the unions threatened to
tie up the railroads and ignored gov
ernment orders, there was no
chance to get any labor - control
measure through congress. But the
people wanted something, and when
the President offered it, he received
a response in the way of letters and
telegrams such as the White House
has not known in the memory of its
present staff, some of whom have
served there since the days of Wood
row Wilson.
Now I know that some of my
readers, like many of my listeners,
will see nothing strange in this ap
parent indifference to the popular
will on the part of congress.
A lot of letters I receive indicate
that a great many people think con
gress' pays no attention to the voter.
This is laughably inaccurate. The
voice of the voter is the one thing
a congressman obeys. In spite of
this fact, 51 per cent of the people,
if our old friend, NORC, is right,
as it has proved to be on many oc
casions, believe that congress de
pends more on its own judgment
than on public opinion.
Of course, the reason for this im
pression is that the organized
voters, the ones which some organ
ization controls, form the congress
man’s judgment because they are
the most vocal. They make them
selves heard in person, through
their membership, and the people
whom they influence.
In the two recent questions I
have mentioned: labor control and
price control, you have two power
ful lobbies at work the unions and
the industrial organizations, but
pulling in opposite directions.
I am not saying that either is
right or wrong in the views they
express and the causes they advo
cate. I am saying that they are
active and powerful. And also that
they naturally promulgate ideas in
their own interest. If these inter
ests happen to be the public’s, as
well, fine. If not. . . .
Most of the congressional sec
retaries I know well enough to talk
with frankly support this view. Ex
cept, of course, when some strange
political deal is involved, whereby
the congressman feels it safer to
BARBS • • • by B a u kh age
Perhaps if we pay 11 cents more
a pound for butter, the cows will
be stimulated to generate more but
terfat, and competition will force
the price down again.
♦ * •
A man falls freely at about 118
miles per hour. In a parachute he
comes down at 14 m.p.h. Next time
you stumble over the rug, be sure
you don’t exceed the speed limit.
displease some of his constituency
because of its indifference, than (J,
disregard the pressure brought upon
him by other forces in or out 0 f :
congress.
This particular inquiry by the
Quarterly showed legislators'rated
the various influences on them as
follows:
(1) personal mail; (2) visits TO
the public; (3) newspapers; (4) vis.
its FROM the public; and (5) pub.
lie opinion polls.
The bearing which these figures
have on the importance of writing
your congressman, in my opinion
is this: they show that mail IS im!
portant, and that when letters at
one end of the spectrum of impor
tance jibe with the poll (at the
other end), it certainly puts a burr
under the legislator’s vote.
♦ • •
More People in
Buying Market
Recently, I said over the air that
America was eating better, and
eating more than it had ever eaten
before. Immediately I received a
squall of stormy letters, vehement
ly denying my statement.
All of the writers regaled me
with the same tale which my wile
brings home each day that the
grocer’s and the butcher’s shelves
are almost bare.
Nevertheless, America is eating
better and more food. Americans
who ate a yearly average of 127
pounds of meat before the war are
now gobbling it at the rate of 150
pounds apiece. This statement is
from Fortune magazine, a periodi
cal not noted for making false state
ments.
You and I cannot get everything
we want, but we areq’t all of Amer
ica by a long way. You and I have
always had meat virtually every
day in the week.
But millions of people in this
country never had meat more than
once or twice a week. These mil-
PUBLIC'S SPENDABLE INCOME
1939
1946 & -j iq
Estimate based I|T
on Ist quartet BILLION
Figwit* from Depailtnenl of Commerce.
lions of people have more money
today than they have ever had, but
you, if you are one of the people
who wrote me, probably never were
conscious of that fact.
The little graph shows the facts.
These figures on which.it is based
are compiled by the department of
commerce, and the most anti-admin*
istration banker you know won’t
doubt them.
They show, as you see, that in
1939, the public’s spendable income
was 68 billion dollars. The estimate
for 1946 is 139 billion.
Now your common sense will tell
you that the people who ate meat
every day didn’t get all of that 71
billion dollar increase in theif
spending money. The low-incoma
groups got a large part of it. In
other words, America (as a whole)
is eating more meat (and other
things) than it ever did before, and
because so many MORE people are
eating so much MORE meat, there
isn’t as much left for the people
who ate all they wanted before.
The discussion of how much
America is eating arose in connec
tion with the question as to our abil
ity to help feed starving Europe an ’
Asia. Some people believed that b»
cause they couldn’t buy as man -
things at the store as they wei
accustomed to buying, America
didn’t have enough to spare.
But the people (you and I) wh
can’t get all of what we want ar
in no danger of starving. We ca
get things we may not like, but
which will be just as good for us.
And also, we can be assured that
the people, who, in America’s past,
have been near the danger lines,
are getting a lot more than they
ever had before. And they weren’t
starving then, either.
So don’t think that we haven’t
enough to spare for the invisible
guest.
When Mr. Gromyko talks, he
doesn’t remove the bark even
is a bite, too.
* * •
Since our family started rat
scarce bread, there has been con
siderable complaint outside the bed
room window from a mother bird
who calls regularly for crusts. NoW
she’ll probably start on a meat diet
and probably the worms will turn.
