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THE SUN, NEWBERRY, S. C- APRIL 30. 194.3 Washington, D. C. FOOD AND PAY-AS-YOU-GO Although food was supposed to be the chief topic of discussion at the recent White House conference with farm leaders, actually Foodczai Chester Davis did his best to sell the President on pay-as-you-go taxa tion. He proposed it as an anti inflation measure to drain off surplus income and ease the work of income tax payment on the average citizen. “We have simply got to come tc it, Mr. President,” argued the food chief. “It was unfortunate that pay- as-you-go taxes were given a black eye by the Rumi plan. But pay-as- you-go taxes should go hand in hand with rationing to prevent overspend ing." The President didn’t commit him self definitely, but indicated that he would favor a pay-go plan if wind falls to the wealthy, as provided for in the Ruml plan, were completely eliminated. Ed O’Neal, president of the Farm Bureau federation, and Ezra T. Ben son, executive secretary of the Na tional Council of Farmer Co-opera tives, also took up the cudgels, O’Neal contending that taxpayers wouldn’t be able to meet next year’s assessments unless the pay-as-you- go plan or forced saving were adopted. G.O.P. Watching Chances. "I’ve made a poll of taxicab driv ers and they are all for it,” said O’Neal. “The great majority of the American people feel the same way. They are against windfalls but they feel they won’t have enough money to pay their income tax payment next year. If the administration doesn’t take some action on this, the Republicans will steal the ball from you.” “That’s right, Mr. President,” chimed in Benson. “The farmers in my organization are overwhelm ingly for a pay-as-you-go tax pro gram. I think labor is, too.” “Maybe you’re right,” responded the President. “Chester (to Davis), I suggest that you talk this over with congressional leaders.” The conversation then turned to farm distribution and the President drew on his own experience as a farmer to illustrate the difficulty “little farmers” are having getting their crops to market. “I used to raise 100 barrels of ap ples every year on my Dutchess county farm in New York,” the President said. "I also raise some apples on my land in Georgia.” Apple Competition. Tne President grinned to Albert Goss, master of the National Grange who hails from Washington, the big gest apple-producing state in the country: “I’d stack my apples up against those you produce in Wash ington any day.” “You’re getting out of your class, Mr. President,” smiled Goss. “Have you ever eaten a Delicious?” “You win, Albert,” chuckled the President, “but the point I am try ing to make is this—little farmers like myself, and the same goes for all other farmers who don’t have the advantage of co-operatives, have encountered a lot of difficulty marketing their crops and getting their money since the war began , because of the transportation prob- i lem and other factors.” “Don’t you think the government should step in and buy up apples and other products that have been run ning into distribution troubles and store them in the warehouses?” the President asked Goss. “It would take a lot off the market and help many little farmers who are hard up for cash.” Helping Little Farmer. “I don’t agree with you, Mr. Pres ident,” replied Goss. “I think the way to protect the little farmers is by continuing the agriculture de partment ‘support price’ program. Farmers can get along if they are assured that they can get fair prices and a decent break on priorities for machinery to produce their crops. I don’t think the government should buy up and sell farm products when there is no necessity for it.” The President meditated for a mo ment and replied: “I guess you’re right at that.” The meeting also thrashed out the question of price ceilings, Ed O’Neal of the Farm Bureau and Aloert Goss of the Grange contending that if ra tioning were tight enough it wouldn’t be necessary to have price ceilings, that rationing would automatically take care of prices. Justice Byrnes, Chester Davis and Jim Patton of the Farmers Union argued to the contrary. The President decided with them. His order shortly thereafter put ting price ceilings on almost every thing was the chief result of the meeting. * * * / MERRY-GO-ROUND C. Ambassador John G. Winant has provided an apartment in London for six American soldiers wounded in action with the British Eighth army in Egypt. Three are Harvard men, three from Dartmouth. The six grad uated as the top six in a British officers training school before go ing to Egypt with the British 60th regiment. This is the famous regi ment which in Revolutionary times was withdrawn from action in Amer ica because it was too friendly to the colonial cause. As Yanks Ripped Rommel’s lines in Tunisian Hills In picture at upper left an American sapper (kneeling at right) holds an Axis mine which he has just dug from the sand near Gafsa, Tunisia. Upper right: On the hunt for snipers, a U. S. security unit searches the ruins of an old fortress in Gafsa. Below, left: Through rubble-filled streets and past the bomb-blasted build ings of Gafsa march U. S. troops, meeting no resistance. When the call comes to go aloft, U. S. pilots are rushed out to their airplanes in jeeps. In picture at lower right one of the airmen is running from the jeep to his sky fighter. U-Boat Meets British Destroyer—Goes Down to Stay The Italian submarine Asteria had the misfortune of meeting a British destroyer in the Mediterranean. In photo at upper left the sub is brought to the surface for the last time by a depth charge attack. Her crew await being picked up. Lower left: The Asteria is on her way to a permanent rendezvous with Davy Jones, as members of her crew, most of whom were saved, swim to the destroyer. Right: Italian U-boat prisoners leave the destroyer at an undisclosed port. One Phase of Tough Job for Army Engineers ‘Ike’ Meets ‘Monty’ In transporting pipe and other supplies for a pipeline connecting the Norman oil fields of Canada with White Horse, on the Alaskan highway, to make fqrl easily available for defense stations, U. S. army engineers overcame great obstacles. Here a convoy of supply barges and towing craft nears the end of a rough 16-mile cross-country voyage. Gen. Dwight (“Ike”) Eisenhower (overseas cap) shakes hands with British General Bernard Montgom ery, commander of the Eighth army which chased Rommel from Egypt halfway up Tunisia. General Eisen hower flew to General Montgom ery’s headquarters to congratulate him and his men for cracking Nazi resistance. As partial solution of the farm manpower problem, farm families are being transported from so-called “submarginal” low-production farms to areas where production is high. Picture shows men, women and children arriving in New York en ronte to the truck farming region around Staf- 'ord Springs, Conn. Camp Connors, former CCC camp, will house them. Be-ruffled, but unruffled, smiling Kathleen Turner poses royally with an “Editor McFarland” rose, after she had been selected Florida’s rose queen at Cypress Gardens, Fla. NE of the high spots in this sporting existence is that an' argument can run along for over 40 years and still remain unsettled. We discovered this in quoting Doc Kearns, Jack Dempsey’s former manager, to the effect that Bob Fitzsimmons weighed 157 pounds the day he faced Jim Corbett, back in 1897. Doc has many supporters in this argument, but just as many who dis agree, claiming that Fitz wobbled the scales at 177 before the Carson City party. Both sides will swear to their side of the debate. Jim Corbett, before he died, told me that he' had a pri vate checker on hand, who reported Fitz at 177. Fitz had the legs Grantland Rice Df a welterweight and the arms and body of a big heavyweight. He was tough to guess. A short while ago a good bunch threw a small party for Barney Ross. Benny Leonard, one of the all-time tops, was referred to as a “Philadelphia lightweight.” “What,” asked one of the younger element, “is a Philadelphia light weight?” A Philadelphia lightweight used to be whatever you weighed, so long as the scales only registered '136 pounds. That part of it could be easily handled through the propel use of chewing gum, or glue or otb er skillful devices. An Important Factor We see where Beau Jack has been advised to take a rest, after losing Stamina from a combination of light er eating and overwork in the de sire to keep his weight down. Weight-making is an important factor in every game—boxing, horse racing, baseball, football and other sports. But it goes far beyond that. It is something that affects the ma jority of all people beyond the age of 21. It is something that doesn’t belong to the athlete alone. The greatest weight defier in sport was a fellow by the name of Babe Ruth. The Babe defied most con ventions and most rules of life. He was the greatest of aT the excep tions. “Here’s a funny thing,” he told me a little while back. “They were always after me about keeping down my weight, which at that time, in the 1920s, was around 230. Yon re member the year I hit those 60 home runs? You know what I weighed that year? Just 253 pounds. K had that much extra hulk and bulk to put back of my swing.” That might have worked for the astonishing Babe, but it would have been destruction for the average o' normal citizen. The Argument We were not present when Cor bett and Ruby Robert met at Car- son City those 46 years ago. But we’ve always doubted that Fitz won that title at 157 pounds, three pounds under the middleweight limit. There was nothing that made Jim Corbett madder than to be given these weight figures. It was tough enough to lose, but much tougher 'to lose to a light middleweight. A year or two later Fitz was fight ing around 177 pounds. But outside of his skinny legs, he was built on the order of a strong 190-pounder from the waist up. I For all that the freckled Cornish- man, as both a boxer and a puncher, was one of the top fighters of all- time. He was on beyond 35 when Jim Jeffries stopped him, well be yond his prime. Pound for pound. I’ll still nomi nate Harry Greb. Pace Raters Pace-rating is a distinct science in any game. Years ago, I recall the tall and willowy Robert Moses Grove facing the Yankees. The big left-hander struck out six or seven of the first nine Yankees that came to bat. He had more smoke than a burning oil well. He put everything he had into every ball he threw. Before the end of the sixth inning. Lefty was on his way to the cooling showers, taking a tired arm along the melancholy route. Counting his baseball experience in Baltimore and Philadelphia, it took Grove eight years to learn the correct way to conserve his left arm. This was in 1928 when he won 24 games and lost only 8. In 1931 he won 31 and lost only 4, one of the greatest of all major-league pitch ing years. No pitcher knew better than Christy Mathewson how to rate himself when he was winning over 30 games a year and saving 8 or 10 others in relief work. Also, Cyrus Denton Young, the Paoli Phenom. “I had four different deliveries,” Cy told me once, “and I used to mix ’em up to save my arm.” Old Cy only won 511 ball games in 22 seasons. Matty had no interest in any earned run record. After get ting the jump. Big Six would then turn part of the game over to his outfielders. It was a small differ ence, of course, with the deader ball. MR. TWITCHELL COMES OUT AGAINST PLANNING Elmer Twitchell today came out with a post-war plan. Article one in the plan is a plan to abolish too much planning. • • • “Over-planning has put the world where it is,” he declared. “What this world needs most is less plan ning.” • • • Superdoop planning has been all the rage and it Is at the peak just now but once this war is over you are going to see a terrific swing against anybody or any government with a plan, a chart or a blueprint, especially if it’s hard to follow with the naked eye. • • • The revolt against planners will be so big that both major political parties will adopt a plank that reads, “We promise to leave a few things to God, to nature, to the laws of gravitation and to chance.” And both candidates for the presidency will start their campaigns with a candid ’How can I solve everything? I’m as mixed up as anybody tlsel’ ” • • • Suddenly Mr. Twitchell drew him self to his full height of five feet four inches and announced his can didacy in the first post-war presi dential campaign. Here is my plat form, he announced: 1— If elected I promise not to wor ry too much. . 2— I make the solemn pledge t» voters that I shall draw up no in volved plans whatever. 3—I shall do what I can about forgetting most of the plans that have been piling up all over the premises. 4— I shall prohibit blueprints h) government, and name in my Cabi net only men who have no especially bright ideas about anything, except golf and gin rummy. 5— In the appointment or election of all men to public posts I shall op pose any candidate who has ever been heard to say “Let’s try this. It’s something novel.” 6— I promise an end to regulations and controls. 7— I give the American public my solemn pledge not to peer into the future. I offer my candidacy on a non-peering basis only. 8— I have no definite ideas about the Shape of Things to Come. But I shall do my best to avoid the cruller shape in my personal opinions. 9— It shall be my steadfast aim to respect the past, concen trate on the present and let the future take care of itself. 10— I promise nothing. I think a lot of things have to be left to Providence and all I agree to do is the best I can, which is prob ably not any too dazzling. * • • BLACK MARKET STUDIES He’s Moochie the Butchie Who laughs at the charts. Ignores OPA and Loves all the black marts; A loophole he’ll find in Each rule that is framed; He’d scuttle the war and Be quite unashamed. H. There’s Sadie the lady Who’s with him in crime: She grabs all the food she Can grab at one time; Whatever she hears that Our troops badly need She’ll go for with vim and Incredible speed. III. And Chubby, her hubby. He too cramps the war By stuffing it down and Then yelling for more; A trio all out to Get all that it can . . . Will somebody rush the Insecticide man? • • • 1943 VERSION Mary had a little lamb; Its fleece was white as snow; And everywhere the lambkin went The OPA would go! Jay Russell. * • Why Non-Politicians Go Mad “The Nickel Plate Road report showed an operating revenue of $88,- 742,412, a gain of 47 per cent. Net income was $27,762,787, the highest in the road’s long history. Taxes jumped from $3,500,000 to almost $23,000,000. The net income was $8,592,438, a decline of 35 per cent in a year.”— Newspaper report. • • • With a bigger year the road might have gone much deeper into the hole. • • • The first triumph you must gain in a Victory Garden is a victory over the impulse to let it go to the dogs. • • • The trout season has opened in some states. And rationing has be come so much a part of life that when a game warden leaned over a bridge and demanded “What luck?” many a fisherman answered, “Oh, about 16 points worth.” * * • Theme song proposed by Maurice Turet: “Brother, can you spare a point?” • • • “Remember away back,” asks Merrill Chilcote, “when a ‘sacrifice’ meant a bunt with a man on base?”