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Show YOUNG FARMERS AND RANCHERS in the Western FB Region met at Salt Loke City, Utah, for young people's exploratory conference on building a FB Young People's program in the region. States with FBYP programs exchanged ideas with states without programs in an effort to help young adults be "a part of, not apart from, FS." State Farm Bureaus represented at the meeting were Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Oregon, and Utah. Appearing on the program during the conference, and the topics they discussed, were Fred Heringer, first vice president California FBF, "Trade Oppor tunities in The Orient Clifford G. Mclntire, director, AFBF natural resources department, and Leonard Johnson, assistant director, "Natural Resources" F. W. Costello, area field services director, AFBF, "Farm Bureau Philosophy and Structure"; John Clough, director of distribution, American Farm Bureau Service Company, "The Group Purchasing Program"; and Ken Cheatham, assistant director, program development division, AFBF, "Action Programs for Young Leaders in Farm Bureau." Pay The Same Taxes , Schwengel Says This Week in Insurance 'Enjoys No Unfair Advantages' Washington FB A member of Congress who is an insurance man by profession and who has served on the insurance committee of his state legislature has defended the insurance companies affiliated with Farm Bureau against recent charges that they enjoy unfair advantages. When I sold life insurance in Iowa, I competed with the Farm Bureau, Representative Fred Schwengel (R.) of Iowa said in the House of Representatives on Au-gust 7. Their agents were reputable people who had no unfair advantages. They are sabject to the same regulation, the same rules and laws, and pay the same taxes that al other companies pay. Then in the Iowa legislature I also served on the insurance committee, and I know from my. experience there that no special treatment has been given insurance companies affiliated with the Farm Bureau. They must and do observe the same rules everyone else does, Schwengel declared. THE IOWA Congressman noted that there are many comparable groups who have their own insurance companies. They have as much right to provide services and insurance for their own members as any other organization, he said. The Iowa Congressman said it is irrelevant and unfair to attack the Farm Bureau because 100 percent of its members do not live on farms. MY FATHER, a farmer, was one of the original Farm Bureau members in Franklin County in Iowa, he said. I have been a Farm Bureau member, although not a farmer. However, I have had a very direct interest in farming because of the part I have had to play in managing farms belonging to members of my family. This kind of experience is repeated over and over again. In my district, for instance, many retired farmers still own land, manage farms, or still have an active farming interest. They not only have a natural right but should be encouraged to remain actively interested and maintain their v membership in the Farm Bu-ea- SCHWENGEL said the companying charge that the Farm Bureau cannot speak as a farm organization is simply not true in Iowa, nor do I believe that it is true nationwide. When the Farm Bureau solicits the viewpoints of its members, ac- it does on public affairs, it does a better job reflecting those views than most organizations I know. as. It is my experience that the Farm Bureau does represent the farmers who are its members. I have not always agreed with Farm Bureau positions. Both here in Congress and in the state legislature, I have opposed the Farm Bureau on issues such as reapportionment and others. But I have always respected the viewpoint of the Farm Bureau. I believe that their motivation is honorable and well-intention- ed. Schwengel said the distortion of the records which have taken place should not be allowed to stand unchallenged. And he added that he would rise to the defense of the Farmers Union, the Grange, or the National Farmers Organization if any of these organizations were subjected to a bitter, hostile, and unfair attack. Report From Washington By Representative Laurence The Senate on August 8 passed the wild rivers bill (S. 119). One of the most Interesting periences of my life concluded last week when after five days and nights I left the Colorado River ex- and its rapids and headed back to Total employment in the U.S. reached 76.2 million in July the highest in history the Labor Department reported on August 8. the nations Capitol. USDA forecast a cotton crop of only 8.3 million bales on August 8. This is a decrease of 13 percent from last year. The crop will be the smallest in over a century. a leisurely "float trip. I was sure wrong. Every half mile or so it seemed like we were The rising number of federal civilian employees probably will pass three million this month, a report of the Congressional Joint Committee on Reduction of Federal Expenditures indicated last week. Non-essenti- al Representative W. R. Poage (D.) of Texas, chairman of the House Agriculture Committee, introduced a separate telephone bank proposal after the Rules Committee rejected the rural electric supplementary financing bill (H. R. 10190). Along with seven other Congressmen, I toured the Grand Canyon as It is only possible to tour it from the very bottom. When I first agreed to take the trip, I must confess I thought it would be quite plunging through another of the rivers legendary rapids and literally "hanging on for dear life. I modestly admit to being ly fearless but there were moments on that trip when I was scared. It's an interesting experience to sit on a rubber raft and see the nose fall into a "hole over which towers a ten or twelve foot rapid wave which promptly crashes over the crew and equipment. But it is also exhilarating to make it through and wipe the muddy water from your eyes and start bracing for the next one. prac-ical- Names like Dubendorff, Hermit, Crystal, Lava Falls, Upset . . ur. all names of famous rapids, con-jup scenes of excitement for me now. Rep. Morris K. Udall rode in the bow of the raft through Crystal and-a- the raft plunged into a big breaker the bow bent back violently and smashed him into my lap, a very water soaked and shaken Congressman. One of the Eastern Congressmen after three days had all he could take and requested a heliocopter to fetch him from the Canyon. The Bureau of Reclamation Obligingly sent a chopper in the next morning and it hovered overhead as we prepared to "shoot Duben(D-Ar- iz) s dorff. Riding in the rear of the raft was Orren Beaty former Administrative Assistant to Secretary Stewart L. Udall and newly appointed Four Corners Commissioner. As the raft fell into the last (and the worst) hole in the rapid, Orren was bounced so hard that his hold was broken on the line he was holding and he went over the back of the raft head first. His head struck the outboard motor, knocking him (fortunately) back into the raft but unconscious. He had some bad cuts on the face and head and a dislocated nose. So it was a real break having the chopper there to ferry him to a hospital at th South Rim. Most of the "River Rats discontinue their runs during August because of the extreme heat at the bottom of the Canyon. This was the only time that our Congressional group could all get away and so we had to endure the heat . . . and it was hot. Sometimes it got up to 110 degrees and those rocky canyon walls reflected every single degree of it. For drinking water we drank straight from the muddy Colorado. J. Burton It helped to pretend it was just chocolate milk. Usually once each day we would pass a side canyon where a stream of cold, pure, mountain water entered the Canyon. These were exotic little bits of paradise where we would beach the raft and sit in the side stream and cool off and drink like horses. Usually about 100 yards or so back up these sides canyons there was a waterfall and deep pool and if you didn't know better, you could imagine you were in Samoa or Tahiti. The third day out "Mo Udall stood in the middle of the raft and chanted an Indian Incantation while doing a rain dance in his battered "levis and straw hat. Thirty minutes later were were in the middle of a Grand Canyon cloudburst and Udall's stock rose sharply among both Democrats and Republicans. We saw two herds of antelope, one deer and quite a few wild bur- ros. Rep. Rogers Morton, a Maryland Republican, made some uncomplimentary comparisons between the wild donkeys on the shore and some of the wild donkey Democrats on the raft, whereupon the Democrats promptly threw Oregon Republican Wendell Wyatt in the river as a "living sacrifice to assuage the gods whom Morton had offended. Morton is too big to throw in the river. I had a chance to tour Havasupai Canyon where about 500 Havasu Indians have lived in isolation and obscurity for several hundred years. Their ancestors used to dwell on the canyon rims and plateaus but the Navajos warred with them and drove them into the canyon and what they thought would be extinction. It was the best thing that ever happened to the Havasu. Their canyon is a verdant paradise through which flows one of the most beautiful little rivers in the world replete with magnificent waterfalls. They grow corn and tend fruit trees. Their only connection with civilization is a twenty mile horse trail. Many of them are born and die in that little valley without ever leaving it. There isn't a psychiatrist in the whole community, either. My Ogden friends Dr. Aaron Ross and Fred Montmorency have been trying to get me to take the river trip with them but our schedules haven't allowed it. The purpose of the Congressional trip was to give members of the Interior Committee an opportunity to explore first hand the proposed damsltes in the Grand Canyon, one in Marble Canyon and another on the bottom end at Haul-apa- l. Everyone on the trip agreed that nothing man-mashould ever disturb the grandeur of Marble Canyon, but we were not agreed on Hualapai. It was a wonderful trip consisting of high adventure, gorgeous scenery, a spectacular river and good companions. I heartily recommend it. de |