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/ THE NEWBERRY SUN, NEWBERRY. S. C. Controls Necessary in Food Crisis Export-Import Regulations Vital for Curing World Ills By BAUKHAGE News Analyst and Commentator. Baukhage VPND Service, 1616 Eye Street, N. W., Washington, D. C. WASHINGTON.—The sudden de scent upon Columbia's shoulders of the mantle of world leadership has forced the President to add all sorts of odd jobs to his other extra-constitu tional functions. Traveling sales man is one of them. Almost be fore he learned hi* way around the White House, he had the Unit ed Nations as signment at San Francisco. Hard ly was he back from the Golden Gate when he was ordered to Pots dam. He already has become our “flyingest” chief executive. The Mexican trip was scarcely over when he was called to the wearying vigil at his mother’s bedside. Meanwhile he has conducted White House business without en countering too much criticism for being absent without leave. In fact, his popularity with the public has grown. But at this writing some of his followers are growing a little res tive about what they call his appar ent neglect of certain issues which ought to be brought emphatically before the public. ^Vhat was considered a crisis in world affairs was met successfully by overwhelming congressional support for the post-UNRRA relief and Greek-Turkish aid bills. Al though at times it has balanced upon a rather thin edge, the solidar ity of bi-partisan foreign policy has been maintained. But there is an other matter which those most concerned declare has not been brought home to the public — the world food situation. There are two important facts: 1. Two years have passed since the end of the war and the world food situation is no better. 2. Although congress (the peo ple) has been willing to vote huge funds for relief, it appears unwilling to continue certain controls on business, without lich the machinery for help- the stricken countries to their feet will break down. The first job is to bring home the seriousness of point one. The second Job (which has been dumped into the President’s lap) is to convince congress of the importance of point two. Press and radio have been asked to help with the first job. They are trying. Here’s one small contribu tion: In terms of dollars the de struction caused by World War II was seven times that of World War I. Recovery is, therefore, at least seven times as hard. Economic dif ficulties are multiplied more than sevenfold because of political diffi culties. It is impossible to estimate the "destruction” i/1 terms of what has happened to social and political values. As to point two, that becomes a concrete issue which ought to be in debate before these lines are printed; namely, the question of ex tending certain wartime controls over exports and imports. Briefly, if export controls go off, foreign nations can bid against each other for food. Wheat, for example. That will send the price of wheat skyrocketing. What does that mean? In the first place it means the country with the most money gets the most wheat, regardless of its need. Others go hungry. It means the American taxpayer will have to pay a fancy price for the wheat the government buys. It means extra American dollars which could be used to buy other American products, which would encourage production, will be sucked out of foreign pockets and world trade will be stultified by just that much. That is on argument for extending controls on exports. Fortunately there are also a lot of "selfish-interest” reasons for con trolling some exports. It’s this way: The man who extracts oil from soy beans, although he is quite willing to have his oil exported, probably can sell it here anyway. But he doesn’t want beans from which he gets the oil sent out of the country. The man who refines the oil doesn’t mind having his refined product ex ported but he doesn’t want the un refined oil (his raw material), which he has to buy, exported; the man who uses that refined oil to make margarine doesn’t want to compete with foreigners for it, al though he’s quite willing to have foreigners buy his margarine. These mixed motives don’t add up to a very good argument for con gress, because the only controls de sired are for the other fellow. It doesn’t generate too much pressure because there are enough “agins” to balance the "furs." But when it comes to imports, it’s a different story. Take fertilizer. Britain and the United States, straining to increase production, now are using twice as much fer tilizer as in prewar years. That is all right. But the destitute Euro pean countries with their very tired soil need every ounce they can get —and if there were no import con trols they would get less—the rich buyers would get more. The pres sure on congress is all against limit ing importation of fertilizer. Some Imports into America are, of course, highly desirable—to get those American dollars abroad in order that foreign nations may buy raw materials and other things. But if we are to keep the rest of the markets alive until they can feed themselves, Jlrhat we give out and what we take in will have to be made to fit the needs of the situation, not the desires of the American busi nessman who doesn’t realize that if he is given too free a hand he’ll be cutting off his own nose with it. LIVING BARRIER PROTECTS CHILDREN . . . Whether the danger come from tigers or autos, mothers always are ready to protect their young. When a narrow residential street in Columbus, Ohio, became a speedway for motorists, aroused neighborhood mothers formed a living barrier to traffic to permit their children to cross the street from the school bus in safety. NEWS REVIEW Farm Budget Cuts Hit; Train Fares Increased Humanity Is at the Crossroads Two reports in the news recently caused some interesting comments in Washington on the international situation. Charles Reese, extension apiarist of University of Ohio, recently re ported that because of the late sea son and resultant scarcity of pollen on which bees feed, many of the drones (who do not work and are preserved for social purposes only) have been pushed out of the hives by the workers. Picket lines have been formed and the drones are not allowed to re-enter. They die in the damp and cold. "Theirs (the bees’) is not a very pleasant society,” says apiarist Reese. “Hive activity is communis tic and utterly ruthless.” A statement by Andre Visson, French writer who syndicates a column in American newspapers, was the second inspiration for un official comment. Visson said: "The world has indeed entered Into a contest between American ism and Communism." This pearl of wisdom laid beside the dispatch from Columbus moved a certain engineer-economist-philos opher to the observations which follow: For the first time, this pundit pointed out, the human race is really at the crossroads. Life has followed two paths, one taken by the animals, another by those who have in them something that dis tinguishes them from the beast. One path has been clearly visible to ma terialistic philosophers, Nietzsche, Hegel, Marx and the monster who was created out of their theories. Hitler. The other is the one illu mined by the thought and action of those who from cot or castle, from work-bench or cloistered hall, lived in the belief that the activities of the state, or the individual, should be measured against something other than material forces. It has been shown that animals, when they master technology, tend to form a perfectly regimented, to talitarian state. Take the ants and the bees. They long ago were able to do what Hitler planned and had begun to practice—change the na ture of species, not only by creating a special environment for the young but also by feeding it certain foods. The bees carefully segregate the babies (the eggs) and by "feeding them three different menus produce three different classes, the workers, the drones and the queen. Hitler had well- worked-out theories for produc ing a slave-class by feeding the children certain vitamins, with holding others, weeding out all those undesired by the Nazi state, feeding and training a ruling class (Fuebrerprinzip). And now, the followers of Marxist- Leninism are set up to carry out the principle. FARM FUROR: Stormy Weather Possibly the most violent storm of the year, according to the eco nomic and political barometer, is the one which was raised when the house appropriations committee recommended a 32 per cent cut in department of agriculture funds for j the coming year. Slashing more than 383 million j dollars from the amount asked by President Truman, the committee opened the flood gates for a deluge of protests from Clinton Anderson, secretary of agri- ■g ’WS0 culture, and Demo- ff|| c r a t i c congress- /l K men, who claimed /mm - they would fight .... the action right up to next year’s elec- Anderson tions, if necessary. Declaring that the reduction “directs a sharp cut at the interests of the American farm family and the general wel fare,” Anderson said that the “greatest harm” would be to the soil conservation program, the farm price support program and programs designed to help veterans and low income families become better established. The 32 per cent cut would elimi nate the Agriculture Adjustment administration by July 1, 1948. Cur rently, the AAA is carrying on its basic program of promoting soil conservation on 3,500,000 cooperat ing farms by paying farmers for following practices intended to in crease soil fertility and, hence, to increase production. The proposed fund slash would mean that farm ers this year would be paid about 50 per cent of what they previously had been promised. In answering the criticism, the house appropriations committee said that its recommended cuts are "selective” and reasonable—based on actual farm needs. . HOUSING: Unfounded Hope Popular belief that any substan tial reductions in the cost of new housing will occur in the near fu ture is not founded on realities. That assertion was made by James C. Downs Jr., president of the Real Estate Research corpora tion, who explained that besides being geared to a high national debt, housing costs, like prices of other hard goods, are directly af fected by the large demand for American capital and production by other countries. “The housing shortage today is worse than a year ago,” he said, “and it will continue to grow pro gressively worse for some time.” He pointed out that increased earning power has put a greater number in the market for new homes, but at the same time build ers are afraid to start new con struction because of high costs. The theory that prices would drop kept many persons from buying or build ing homes last year. Downs said. TRAVEL PAY: Train Fares Up To offset increased operating costs, Interstate Commerce com mission authorized an approximate 10 per cent increase in basic pas senger fares for 60 railroads operat ing east of the Mississippi and north of the Ohio and Potomac rivers. The change will boost one-way passenger rates from 2.2 to 2.5 cents a mile in coaches and from 3.3 to 3.5 cents a miles in sleeping and parlor cars. There will be an increase of about 15 per cent in coach round-trip rates and about four per cent in Pullman round-trip fares. In granting the increase, ICC noted that those railroads which re quested the new rates incurred a deficit of 54 million dollars from passenger train operations last year. IT’S WONDERFUL: Long Time Peace Announcing the immediate aboli tion of capital punishment in Rus sia, Soviet authorities explained the move on the grounds that it was made possible by Russia’s growing strength, the people’s patriotism and the certainty of peace “for a long time.” Said the Moscow radio: “The in ternational situation during the time after Germany’s capitulation and Japan’s capitulation shows that the cause of peace can be consid ered secure for a long time in spite of attempts by aggressive elements to provoke war.” Meanwhile, Herbert Hoover looked on the other side of the mask to charge Russia with attempting to bleed the United States through relief channels and blaming her for the economic paralysis of Japan and Germany. He declared that futher relief will remain necessary as long as the Soviets continue their obstructionist tactics and demands for repara tions, thus blocking peace treaties with the two countries and ^keeping their economies paralyzed. French Honor Vincent Auriol, president of France, decorates opera singer Lily Pons with the rosette of the Legion of Honor. The French-born artist has been making a concert tour of France. APPALLING WASTE Mounting Fire Loss Predicted CHICAGO.—With fire losses con tinuing to mount, damage may ex ceed the billion dollar mark by 1950, Frank A. Christensen, president of National Board of Fire Underwri ters, warns in urging support of the federal action program to save life and resources which was the result of President Truman’s conference on fire prevention. The increasing fire waste was attributed by Christensen to two causes, one physical and one psy chological. "The physical factor tends to in crease the number of fires of all kinds, and the size of losses where flames gain headway because of de layed alarms, poor fire protection, negligence or bad housekeeping,” he explained. “The psychological factor arises out of our careless and reckless habits,” he explained. Christensen pointed out that since 1941, national waste by fire has more than doubled, rising to 616 million dollars for the 12 months ended April of this year from 300 million dollars for 1941. "Even more appalling," he said, "is the indication that the loss of life may have risen to a figure never experienced before. Loss of life in hotel fires in 1946 was greater than in any year in our history." Despite a 22 per cent increase in arson investigations, the national board had found a sharp decline in the number of fires started for profit during the last year. The board pointed out that in the year ended April 30, juveniles ac counted for almost half of the per sons arrested because of incendiary fires, and persons mentally irre sponsible for another large share. ** by WRIGHT A . PAT T E R S O N Released by Western Newspaper Union. NATIONAL DEBT MUST BE PAID OFF BY SACRIFICES Two hundred and sixty billion dol lars of national indebtedness! It is a huge sum; so large none of us can realize what it means as a total. Broken up into equal shares for each of the approximately 130 mil lion people of the nation it means $2,000 for each one of us to pay, plus interest. A mortgage of $10,000 on each family of five, parents and children. For each one of us to pay our share means we must sacrifice something; do without something we do not actually need or can get along without, that we may save that $2,000, or $10,000, for the family. What is true of each of us as an individual is equally true of the 130 million of us collectively. We, the people of America, owe 260 billion dollars, that we collectively must pay. To pay it we, collectively, must save that amount. To see that we do is the job of our representa tives at Washington. It is not their job to see that some do without non- essentials, and some do not. All of us, whether we live in Maine or California, in Washington or Flor ida, and all the states in between, are expected to do without some of tiie things we may want, but which we have been able to get along with out in the past, that we may pay that 260 billion dollars of national indebtedness. GIVE UP SUBSIDIES Regardless of what our calling may be, it is up to us to do without that something a former profligate congress may have given us, that money may be saved to apply on national debt payments. The com, wheat or cotton farmer, the cattle and hog grower, the fruit grower, should be willing to forego subsidy payments, that money may be saved. What is true of the farmer is equally true of all others; the manufacturer, the merchant, the worker and professional man, all who have been receiving that extra something from the government, either directly or indirectly. The government employee, hold ing a needless job, who does not willingly quit and seek productive employment that will help in paying our government debt, should be arbitrarily retired, and so forced into doing his part. For many years we have had the seerfiingiy inevitable “pork” appro priation and for the past several years especially congress has been lavish in its spendings for unessen tial and expensive public projects which we had been able to get along without. Until that government debt is paid, or greatly reduced, the time has come to again get along without such projects. At best, such projects were beneficial only to the people of one state, or one section. They were largely “pork,” the purpose of which was to catch votes. Now is a time for the most strin gent economy, for doing only those things that will keep the wheels turning. Those expensive luxuries we were able to get along without in the past, we can, and must, con tinue to get along without until that debt is paid. Of the total each one of us owes $2,000 and each family of five owes $10,000. To see that we do these things is the job of our representatives at Washington. • * * LEAVE NATIVES ALONE We should hope the 50,000 new wards the government has taken over in the far flung Pacific islands will not, in time, repeat the state ment the native Hawaiians will make to you, should you visit the islands, and which they have made to me. Not one, but many, said: “When, a century ago, the mission aries came they had the Bible, and the Hawaiians had the land. Now the descendents of the missionaries have the land, and the Hawaiians have the Bible.” They make that statement with no malice, and no ill will. They are proud of their Ameri can citizenship, but they have a longing for the grass skirts of yes teryear. In many a home closet such a skirt is hanging. It may be worn indoors but never outside the house. We should let the new wards keep both their grass skirts and their land. Let them continue as the happy, care-free children of nature, with such customs and government as they prefer. The missionaries ol today are not zealots, as were those to Hawaii a century ago. • • • THE American home is a danger ous place. During 1946 there were, throughout the nation, a total ol 34,000 fatal home accidents, and w* think of home as the one place where we are safe. • • • BACK in the days of “Sockless” Jerry Simpson and the Popnlistf we were as mnch afraid of “print ing press” money as we now are ol the Communists. Today we have “printing press” money, and, al though it is not worth much, each of us fights to get our share, oi Millions of Chinese are starving, but there is food for the rulers oj the quarreling factions. It would be easier to settle their feuds on theii emoty stomachs. ■ TOUCH OF OLD WEST . . . Shaggy buffaloes provide a reminder of the Old West for visitors at Wind Cave National park in South Dakota, one of throe parks embracing the nation’s mysterious cave systems. MECCA FOR TRAVELERS Mysteries of Underground World Beckon Adventurous WNU Features. Caves have fascinated man from the dawn of antiquity to the present day. Stories of them abound in history, folklore and mythology, yet these mysterious underground worlds still beckon the adventurous and the weird scenes to be dis covered there fire imaginations. Three great cave systems in the United States have been established as national parks—Mammoth cave in Kentucky, Carlsbad caverns in New Mexico and Wind cave in South Dakota. In 1946 these three national < 3>- parks were visited by more than half a million people. Mammoth cave has been world famous for more than a century. It is believed to have been discovered in 1799 by a pio neer named Houchin who followed a wounded bear into the cave entrance. A few National Parks Sixth In a Series years later salt petre taken from the cave was used in the manufac ture of gunpowder for American troops in the War of 1812, and not long after that the great passage ways and domed chambers of Mam moth cave became an international mecca for travelers. There are gal leries on five distinct levels in Mam moth cave and during the course of the underground trip, the visitor de scends 360 feet to the lowest level where the Echo river winds its tor tuous way in eternal darkness. Echo river is probably the most distinc tive and interesting feature of the cave and a short trip is made on it in a flat-bottomed boat. Strange eyeless fish live in the river. There are' now more than 150 miles of explored passageways in Mammoth cave and the visitor is offered a choice of several tours which vary in length from IVe to 7% hours. On the all-day trip one has lunch at the Snowball Dining Room, 267 feet below the surface. An indi cation of what one may expect to see is given by the names of some of the formations in the cave: Bot tomless Pit, Fat Man’s Misery, Ruins of Karnak, Frozen Niagara, Violet City, Jenny Lind’s Armchair and Martha Washington’s Statue. Long under private ownership, Mammoth cave became a national park in 1941 largely through the foresight and generosity of the peo ple of the State of Kentucky, who through personal contributions made possible purchase of the cave property and its donation to the federal government. • • • CARLSBAD CAVERNS was pro claimed a national monument in 1923 and given national park status in 1930. Probably its earliest ex plorer was Jim White, a cowboy, who entered it in 1901. Seeing a dark, moving column issuing from | the top of a mountain. White inves- | tigated and found a natural opening in the earth which led him down to the caverns. The dark, smokelike column proved to be alive, a mov ing stream of bats from down in the darkness of the caves. This spec tacular flight of bats, may be seen every afternoon at dusk during the warm months of the year. The descent into Carlsbad caverns from the natural en trance is an unforgettable ex perience. From a point well be low the surface one may look back through the semi-gloom to see an endless procession of people zig - zagglng downward amid huge boulders and gro tesque rock formations. The scene reminds one of descrip tions from Dante’s "Inferno.” Elevators are available for those who do not wish to de scend or ascend on foot. Everything in Carlsbad caverns is on a vast scale. The rooms are huge and the stalactites and stalag mites are larger than in any other known cave. Some of the stalag mites have the shape and size of church spires. The dominant colors in Carlsbad are varying shades of tan. The descent from the natural entrance to the 750 foot level is made via the Green Lake Room, the King’s Palace, the Queen’s Chamber and the Papoose Room. After lunch in the underground caf eteria comes the main event, a tour of the "Big Room.” This tremen dous chamber is about 4,000 feet long, 500 feet wide and 300 feet from floor to ceiling. In this room many city skyscrapers would seem small. Here one sees the Temple of the Sun and the pagoda-like stalagmite, called “Rock of Ages.” The trip takes about seven hours. • * • WIND CAVE near the Black Hills in South Dakota, a national park since 1903, is much smaller in ex tent than either Mammoth cave or Carlsbad caverns, but it has un usual formations known as “box work” found in no other caves in the United States. The tour of Wind cave requires from one to two hours and the return to the surface is made by elevator. An additional interesting feature of Wind Cave National park is a large buffalo herd which may be seen from the park road. • * • MAMMOTH CAVE, Carlsbad cav erns and Wind cave are accessible by paved highways, and all have bus or taxi connections with one or more railroads. There are no over night facilities at Carlsbad caverns, but there are tourist camps near the park entrance and hotels in Carlsbad, N. M. A free campsite is provided in Wind Cave National park, but the nearest hotels or cab ins will be found in Hot Springs, S. D. At Mammoth Cave National park hotels, cottages and park transportation are furnished. Here also National Park service has free campsites and picnic areas. AU three caves are illuminated by modern electric systems; however, in the historic section of Mammoth cave parties still are guided by the traditional lanterns and flickering pine torches. There are no elevators in Mammoth cave and visitors in poor physical condition should not descend to the level of Echo river as the climb to the surface is steep. All trips in the cave are conducted by National Park service guides and rangers. SCENE FROM ‘INFERNO’ . . . Like a scene from Dante's "In ferno,” giant stalagmites and grotesque rock formations abound in Carlsbad caverns in New Mex ico. Scenic Wonders Lure Many to Arizona PHOENIX, ARIZ. — A treasure trove of scenic wonders plus a full program of western entertainment await vacationers this summer in this land of striking contrast. Strongest bid for summer travel ers in the state is being made by northern Arizona, which boasts such sights as the famed Grand Canyon, Painted Desert, Petrified Forest. Canyon de Chelly, pictur esque Oak Creek Canyon, Meteor Crater and other natural wonders set aside in national park and na tional monument areas. Outstanding among the celebra tions scheduled this summer are the Frontier Days celebration and ro deo at Prescott, July 3-6; the all- Indian Pow-Wow at Flagstaff, July 4-6; the Smoki Indian ceremonies at Prescott, August 10, and Hopi snake dances at Indian villages near Wins low, August 15-25. 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