Tuesday, November 24, 1964

The Point Of Diminishing Returns

"Cut Somewhere Else, I Beg Instead, But Spare Our State's Proud Flag!" She Said.

.yndon

Now that total figures for the 1964 tobacco season on the Eastern Belt have been tabulated, it should be evident to tobacco producers they have gone as far as they can in attempting to compensate in pounds for acreage reductions that have been necessary.

They have reached the point of diminishing returns in the production of pounds per acre without regard for the kind of quality tobacco purchasers want.

Total production of flue-cured tobacco has gone far beyond the market demand. The 1964 crop in this huge belt brought the lowest average price in seven years. It sent into Stabilization the highest percentage of tobacco from any crop on record. And its total production in pounds was far more than the acreage reduction from the'previous crop would have indicated.

it should be evident to even the most optimistic that Stabilization cannot continue to take anything close to 29 per cent of the tobacco crop and remain

iOrly Step To Tace A Pitfal.

By WILLIAM A. SHIRES

MOVE By calling a pre-Christmas conference between public and private power Interests, Gov .-elect Dan K. Moore recognized a pitfall that might wreck both his 1965 legislative program and his hopes for a successful, progressive administration.

Recognizing the hazards. Moore is now trying to avoid a bitter fight In the legislature altogether, or at the very least to keep the dispute isolated and himself removed from it. He wants to reach a clear understanding on this.

The govemw - elect Is hopeful about what he might be able to accanpllsh In the way of reaching a truce In the public - versus - private power dl'ipute, and even more confident about reaching an understanding with both sides.

BREWING It Is by no means a new Issue, one that happened to spring up overnight.

It has been brewing and building up for years, with its political effect becoming more pronounced all the time. It Is a dispute which has reached explosive iM*oportions, and Moore is particularly anxious to avoid having it erupt in his first, or even his secwid General Assembly session.

He feels too much else Is at stake to risk having it all swept aside in a knodt-down, drag-out over the utilities is-.:ue. This is the principal thcuiiht behind calling the con-ferrnee next month.

AVOID The public-versus-private power Issue almost r-mc to a head in 1963s reg-par .se.ssion of the legislature. Ihrrr* was a great deal of r rablins. but by adroit handling and cool-headedness In

WILLIAM

SHIRES

committee it remained In the background.

Many legislative sour c e s give credit for avoiding a showdown in 1963 to the man who will be 1965 Speaker of the House. H P. iPat) Taylor Jr. of Anson.

Time and again. Taylor placated one side or the other and his work behind the scenes succeeded in winning him friends and supporters on both sides.

The result in 1963 was a much - needed recodification and rearranging of the states bulky utilities laws and some rafc rmr,--

changes. Actually, howev e r, there was not a great deal done in the way of changing the law itself.

There were cwnpromises on virtually all of iht controversial proposals which might have triggered a real fight. Because the utilities dispute was kept in the background. Its lines never became clearly drawn in 1963

LINES These lines appear to be clearer now. although there has been little specific about what either side may propose In the 1965 General Assembly.

The electric cooperatives, of course, feel that they have a better chance both for protecting their Interests and for enactment of favorable changes In the law. This Is be-cau.se Robert W. Bobi Scott, newly-elected lieutenant governs. Is a friend of the rural coops and a legislative advisor in 1963.

The coops gave Scott strong backing in his 1964 political campaigns and are encouraged by the fact that he will preside In the Senate and name the Senate committees this time.

In 1963, the coops felt that they had an edge in strength In the House but were at a distinct disadvantage in the Senate. So this time, if a fight should develop. Lt. Gov, Scott could be. and probably will be. a highly Influential figure In its midst.

On the other hand. Moore has no inclinatiim to becMne deeply tovt^ved in a fight, and his Interest now lies In avoiding anything which would endanger other pnrams.

CORRECTION In compiling a list of elected state senators and representatives a few days ago, this column overlooked three newly - elected members who did not serve In 1963 but who have had previous legislative experience.

Two are In the House and wie in the Senate. Thus, a corrected compilation shows nine of 43 newcomers In the House have previous experience. There are 77 House holdovers and only 34 freshmen In the Senate there will be only 122 freshmen.

Those listed erroneously as freshmen were Co. Ridings of Rutherford, a newly - elected state senator, who served In the House from Polk County in 1921. Rep. B.W. Thomason of Transylvania County, a Democrat who served In the Senate in 1959, and Rep. James C. Green of Bladen, with previous House service.

PLANT - P.H. Hanes Knitting Co. has announced plans to establish a sewing plant In industry - scarce Avery County. The plant at Newland. employing 150 to 200 persons. Is the third new Hanes facility to be announced this year.

solvent. It should also be evident that the production control-price support program that has been the salvation of the tobacco farmer in recent yeara cannot continue indefinitely unless production is realistically controlled.

The over-production that has taken place in recent years is reflected in both the record stocks of leaf now on hand and the lower price average on the Eastern Belt this year. The emphasis by farmers on poundage production year after year as acreage allotments have been reduced is choking the life out of the goose that has laid the^ golden eggs.

Fortunately or unfortunately, as the case may be, the problem has not been created in just one year. Neither will it be resolved in one or two years.

Some changes will be required in the acreage allot-mentment system of production controls. It may be necessary to make some changes in the price support program as well. But in addition to whatever changes are made in the regulations governing tobacco, it is also going to be necessary for the individual farmers to place greater emphasis on quality rather than quanity production of tobacco.

The Line Of Reasoning Difficult To Follow

Even though youngsters in public schools cannot use a prayer prescribed by school officials, they can still use the words under God" in pledging allegiance to the na,tions flag.

The Supreme Court yesterday declined to interfere writh the use of the words in the pledge of allegiance recited by school youngsters in New York. It had been asked by petitions to rule out the use of the phrase on the grounds that it amounted to an unconstitutional religious exercise.

It is difficult for us to follow the line of reasoning that apparently brought about the petition in the first place. But at least it is reassuring to note that the high court did not rule God out of the familiar pledge of allegiance to the flag. It has been only in recent years that the words under God have been in the pledge to the flag. ^

In our opinion the two words were a most By ART BUCHWALD fitting addition to the pledge and should remain a part of it wherever the pledge is recited.

.egislator is ?oraotten Man

DeGaulle Didnt Show

It Is not generally known that President de Gaulle planned to visit President Johnson right after the elections, but

somehow plans went askew. This is what happenel.

A few days after the election President de Gaulles For-

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By RAYMOND J. CROWLEY

WASHINGTON (AP) - In aU the talk about ending poverty, building the Great Society and so oti, one element of the population is being overlooked.

These forgotten people who really need succor are our state legislators.

Squalid is the only word to describe the cwiditlons they subsist in. Miserable pay. Sometimes no office to work in.

A man has to read his mail standing up in a corridor. And he cant even think, hes so busy warding off the hordes of lobbyists that beset him.

Take New Hampshire. This state has the third-largest parliament in the English-speaking world 424 members. Englands Parliament is the biggest and the U. S. Congress second.

Do you know what the New Hampshire legislators are paid? The laughable sum of $100 a year. It is true they dont woric anywhere near full time on the job, but you can easily consume $100 in cigars in smoke-filled rooms these days.

Or take Connecticut. Some of the solons there, when called upon to transact the states business, have applied for and got unemployment compensation. The legislators pay In Connecticut was, imtil two years ago, $300 a year, but now has been raised to $2,500 for a two-year term.

This subject Is to the forefront now because of a tremendous, fundamental revolution going on in American politics. The U. S. Supreme Court has ruled, with finality, that state legislatures, mostly controlled up to now by rural elements,, must be apportioned according to population (me man, one vote.

The hopes of the backers of this great change are that the states now will resume the role the Founding Fathers visioned for them a powerful role In which they would solve their own problems without running to the federal government for help. Such problems as mass transportation in the cities, remedies for urban blight, for poor educational systems, and so on.

The Johnson administration is thinking of turning over to the states billions of dollars in federal taxes. But what will happen to this money in the

states where legislatures, meeting for only short terms, have no adequate committee systems or staffs to plan programs, no really sure - fire saieguards against outright thievery?

As Charles S. Rhyne, former president of the American Bar Association, sees it, the times demand a thorough-going reform of state legislatures.

Rhyne argued for the city folks and the suburbanites In the historic, break . through Supreme Court case which resulted In the "one-man, one-vote ruling.

Rhyne says the states must offer salaries adequate to attract good people to the legislatures. and must give them modem tools to work with.

Men of character are needed, he believes, to withstand the importunities of special interests. Rhyne made a study of Connecticut, not because its the nations horrible example, but because he was due to make a speech In Hartford.

"More lobbyists registered to promote or defeat legislation in the last session of the General Assembly than there were legislators! he said. "There were 330 legislators as compared with at least 380 known lobbyists.

Opiniona In Brief

"Autumn Is that magic time of year when you look out the window and your swimming pool is no longer filled with the neighbors kidsit's filled with the neighbors leaves. Charlotte (N.C.) News.

Other Editors

United Front

Saying...

Essentia.

"Heard about the Republican who takes his politics so seriously he refuses to accept any Roosevelt dimes or Kennedy half dollars? Washington County (Kan.) News.

"There is nothmg In tha Bible about Ood having a juvenile court. You are responsible, Just as any adult is responsible. You dont pay the price all at once; you pay it in installments for the rest of your life."Billy Graham.

Strength For Today

By EARL L. DOUGLASS A SPIRITUAL UNIVERSE What is the world's greatest need?

There are. to be sure, vast areas of the planet where people live on fertile soil yet never know what it means to have their hunger appeased. In other areas there is tyranny (rf long standing. Still other parts of the world are barren and poverty stricken. There Is. of course, vastly more Ignorance In the world than knowledge. Illiteracy curses hundreds of millions of persons who should, by every right, have had by this time a basic education.

But the greatest world needs is not political, economical or social. Down at the bottom of all our reasoning about everything must be the realization that we are primarily aplritu-

al beings. The universe in which we live is primarily a thing we call matter is only one form which reality has taken. The most necessary thing, therefore, i sthat we understand the requirements of the spirit.

This is only another way of saying that the truths which religion sets forth are the most important truths In the world. We have to know these truth.s before we can begin genuine reasoning in any area. Completely secular education is a curse to any group which falls under its spell.

In all our learning let us begin by learning about the Creator and the means He has tidcen and continues to take to Instruct, guide, and sustain us.

These are the factors of life which are really important.

(Henderson Dispatch)

Whatever may be the solution of the tobacco problem, it will not be achieved by squabbling. Arguments at the Wilson meeting Friday between grower spokesmen from the Georgia-Florida Belt and the upper belts of the flue-cured area were unfortunate in the extreme.

The Georgia-Florida people apparently threw logic to the winds in their demand and determination to separate themselves from the retst of the bright tobacco States. They proposed that acreage cuts be on the basis of the percentage of tobacco going under loan in the several belts, with heavier slashes where more leaf was consigned to Stablization.

Growers In the far southern States should not lose sight of the great advantage they enjoy by being able to sell their crop first each year because of earlier maturity. If auctions began first in the upper regions, the shoe would be on the other foot. Under such an arrangement. which would be quite impractical. Stablization would probably get less tobacco In this section and larger percentages In Georgia and Florida.

Not being a tobacco expert at all, we wouldnt know for a fact, but our feeling Is that there Is not as much difference In quality of leaf in the northern and southern areas as would be indicated by the wide difference In tobacco placed under government loan. Georgia-Florida leaf undoubtedly is very desirable, but so also is that in the Carolinas and Virginia. One difference is that the companies seem to gorge themselves by purchasing a large portion of their require-

One O::

By ELMER ROESSNER

The U. S. Department of Agriculture Is one of the biggest buyers and sellers of goods In the nation.

In one day. for example, the USDA, as It refers to Itself ;

Authorized the sale of $39.7 million In wheat to India.

Loaned $1.1 million for watershed develoimient in Hood River County. Ore.

Asked for offering prices on 35 million pounds of bul g u r parched, crushed wheat for donation overseas and ior school lunch and welfare programs.

Asked for ofrtring prices on 18 million pounds of rolled wheat (or domestic and foreign give-aways.

Accepted offers to export 2.5 million pounds of extra-grade nonfat dry milk under the pay-ments-ln-klnd progrsum. by which the . S, barters surpluses for foreign commodities.

Bought 7 million cans of com for the school lunch program. ONLY A BEGINNING

Those were the activities announced in a single day. Sept. 1, perhaps a busier-than-usual day.

The purchases (or the full month were:

Dried milk, milUcm

ments in the belt that starts its auctions first, in the full knowledge that they will have a further choice as the season moves northward.

Instead of quibbling over acreage allotments, or any other part of the problem, producers need above all else to stand together in rniity, for It is only in that manner that satisfactory adjustments can be made.

Growers in this region are on solid ground in opposing Georgia-Florida efforts to grab the lions share of advantage In allotments. They are of no mind to surrender their priority in producing tobacco for decades to those who came in rather late. Nor indeed should they.

Arguments at the Wilson meeting will not ease the difficulty of U. S. Department of Agriculture officials in determining the amount of the cut for 1965. What the impression was that they received from the Wilson meeting is best known to them. But the facts of life are that good flue-cured tobacco is grown In all belts of the Southeastern States. Certainly there should be no discrimination in favor of one region to the detriment of the others.

All are In the same predicament together and all will, in large degree, sink or swim If there is continued disposition to rock the boat In this time of emergency for a great agricultural crop. It must be saved In the. most practical manner possible, and that method will not be attained by partiality in either direction. Fairness to all Is the most sensible way out of the dilemma.

eign Minister came Into his office and said, Monsieur le president, I have just received word from our ambassador concerning your state visit to the United States. I have the tentative schedule with me. Good. What time do I get to Washington?

Youre not going to Washington. Youre going to the LBJ ranch in Texas. "Alors?

"We will fly directly from Paris to Texas, where you and Mrs, de Gaulle will be met by President Johnson and Mrs. Johnson in a golf cart.

What is a golf cart? "Its a small car that Americans use to play golf in. Have you been drinking? No, Monsieur le president. It is traditional on the LBJ ranch to ride around in a golf cart, Euid our security people feel its safer than if you drove around with him in his Lin-

ART

BUCHWALD

coin Continental.

The Foreign Minister continued. The first thing will be a tour of the ranch. The American President will in all probability start chasing his cattle In the golf cart.

De Gaulle said, "I am not going.

Please, Monsieur le president, listen to the rest o the schedule. After the tour you will go to the main house to rest and meet the Presidents relatives. Then you will be measured for a 10-gallon hat and cowboy boots.

I have the bomb. I do not have to go.

But, Mfxisieur le president. Chancellor Erhard did It. After the measurements, you and Mrs. de Gaulle will be escorted outside to "k barbecue." What i.s a barbecue? (Continued on page 5)

A Boom

By JOHN CHAMBERLAIN

Copyright, 1964, King Featurea Syndicate. Inc.

Thank heaven, said the chairman of the board of an important roller bearing company, for the balance of trade.

It was a cryptic remark, put' when its implicationa are explored it becomes marent that Lynd( Johnsons choices as President of the U.S. do not include an (H>tion for radical experimentation with the economy. He must try to keep things on a relatively even keel, lest inflation keep foreignera from buying our goods. Should the balance of trade turn drastically against us, the gold |rain would get out of hand kgain, inflation would be magnified. a depression might ensue and the Republicans would come roaring back In

JOM CHAMBERIJUN

1968.

Lyndon Johnson not only has a mandate to continue good times at present price levels; he is under absolute political necessity to do so. So whera does this leave the Great Society? It leaves It in the hands of Johnsons Council of Economic Advisers, which is n o w headed by Gardner Ackley, a University of Michigan professor who did duty with the Office of Price Administration in World War H. Ackley follows in the footsteps of the recently departed Walter Heller, who thought the economy could be kicked along by periodic tax cutting without losing altitude. To this idea Lyndon Johnson added a promise that the budget would be kept within a hundred billion dollars a year. This was the voice of Senator Harry Byrd of Virginia speaking. Senator Byrd Is still around to exercise a potent influence in the Senate, which means that LBJs Great Society must be paid for within relatively narrow limits.

Naturally this is going to take some doing. LBJ wants new classrooms and teacher training programs and federally supported scholarships, which could mean a billi(Hi a year. He wants something for the eradication of poverty in Appalachia, something for aid to mass transportation, something for a magnified slum clearance program, and something for carting away and destroying all the rusty hulks in our i":ed car dumps. Besides all this, there is Medicare, which, though it would be paid for by special levies outside the budget, would dry up some of the money accruing to individuals by way of excise tax cuts.

The idea, at one point, was to hack enough out of the military to pay for the programs of the Great Society and still keep the budget within relsr five balance close to the one hundred billion mark. Maybe all this can be done. But a lot hinges on the tax take, which, in turn, depends on the ability of the economy to keep going In high by virtue of tax cut stimulation. And a lot also hinges on price stability.

As Gardner Ackley sits down to commune with his Council of Economic Advisers to figure out ways of presenting LBJ with a hundred-bilUon-dol-lar Great Society, a fair number of hazards are looming up. One: the rank and file memberships of the unions are res^ ive; they are threatening to break through the current wage guidelines, or else. Two: prices are already straining upward; the aluminum companies are threatening to do the same. Three: on next April 15 a lot (rf taxpayers are going to make the unpleasant discovery that they owe more money to the federal government than they now suppose to (Continued (m Page 5)

Buyers, Sellers

pounds, at $12.5 a pound.

Cut-up frozen chicken. 10 million pounds, at around 30 cents a pound.

Dried eggs. 431,000 pounds, at around $1.05 a pound.

Frozen young turkeys. 31.4 mllliOD pounds at from 30 to 33 cents a pound.

Frozen and canned beef. 54.3 miUon pounds at from 50 to 63 cents a pound, depending on grade.

Milled rice, 8.7 million pounds.

Canned tomatoes. 3.4 million No. 10 cans.

Processed cheese, 968.000 pounds.

Canned plums, 1.6 million No. 10 cans.

Peanut butter, 15 million pounds.

Sweet potatoes. 1.9 million

cans.

Bulgur. 44 million pounds.

Rolled wheat. 17 million pounds.

And those 1.7 million No. 10 cans of com.

Much of this food was (or the school lunch program which helps feed almost 19 million children. The rest was for needy families, charity organizations. welfare programs and for *

ONLY A BEGINNING

In addition, the USDA sold 17.8 million pounds of once-rc-fined cottonseed oil and bought an equal amount of fully refined oU. for export.

'The Department authorized the financing of more than $80 mllUoD of Pood for Peace commodities (or needy nations. It made eight grants to finance

ELMEB

loaned $145,000 to finance B housing project for the eldeily at Oklee, Red Lake County, Minn.

All this was in one mtmtl). and all In addition to the dutiea of advising fanners, developing new varieties and products, regulating milk and other markets. estimating crops a n8 carrjdng on other duties.

All these activities have been authorized by Congress, (tf course; it is Congress that has made Secretary of AgriciflttuB OrviDe Freeman the great American Santa Claua.

aOBSSNEB QUOTATIONS

WORTH QUOTING

research Into agricultural problems to scientific institutions in India. Britain. Israel and communist Poland.

The USDA contributed food to victims of Hurrican* Dora; authorized emergency ODerat-ing loans to farmers te 781 counties in 25 states hit by drougbt; offered drought-hit farmers feed grains at bargain prices and opened certain government lands for grazing of drought-starved dattle. It also

If we went back to the farming methods of 1910. it would take every man and woman In our country, working 48 hours a week. Just to feed us in the style to which we hav become accustomed. EllisoQ L. Hazard, mesldent. Continental Can.

B was sweet of you to invite me. Irvin A. Hoff, executive director. UJ5. Cane Sugar Refiners Association, at a ccmventioD M the American Bottlers of Carbonated, Beverages in Chicago.