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Show Washington Officials See Good Year For Americans in '60 Editor's Note: What will be forthcoming in Washington this year? The answer to this question ques-tion is vital to all of us. To find the answer Columnist Clinton Davidson has talked to a number of government officials. offi-cials. He got an appraisal of 1959 and a preview of what is to come in 1960. His report follows. Almost without exception they rate 1959 as a "good year." It has been, they agree, a year, of marked economic recovery, only marred by the steel strike and sharply lower farm income. This has been a year of unprecedented un-precedented prosperity. National income has set a new all time record, more than $20 billion above last year. Unemployment has dropped and employment has increased by about two million. Peace is more secure than it was a year ago. There has been at least a crack in the cold war ice. World War III seems more remote and less likely than it did a year ago. There is unanimous agreement in Washington that the year ahead offers good prospects of continued national prosperity, as well as a further thaw in the cold war. With the exception of farmers 1960 is expected to be a better year for almost everyone than 1959. People will have more money to spend and factories will turn out more things than they can buy. Washington expects President Eisenhower's forthcoming visit to Russia, and the Summit Conference Con-ference which is expected to follow, fol-low, to lay the groundwork for peace between the great powers of the East and West. j There is hope, too, that at least a start can be made on : disarmament in I960" Negotiations Negotia-tions for arms reduction would be expected to follow a successful success-ful Summit Conference. The general feeling of optimism opti-mism in Washington is mixed, however, with the realization that 1960 will not be without serious problems. Some of the problems which those we talked with see ahead include: How to keep national prosperity prosper-ity rolling without it turning into inflation. Prices that go up faster than incomes could leave all of us with less purchasing power. Most officials rank farm prices and income as the No. 1 problem to be put before Congress. Farm prices now average 8 per cent below a year ago and net farm income this year is 15 per cent below 1958. There is worry, too, over the possibility of crippling strikes. The steel strike made Washington Washing-ton jittery over a possible strike of railroad workers in February. Along with its other problems Washington will devote considerable consid-erable attention to the general election next November. This is something more that worries Washington more than it does the rest of the country. On balance, taking into consideration con-sideration the good and the bad. 1960 looks like a year in which the good news should greatly out weigh the bad. |