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Show ECONOMY: Profits and Prices As the Korean war roared Inti its fourth week much of the newi was being made on the home fron in the form of profits and prices. Government agencies announced after-tax profits of American manu facturing firms as a whole wer nearly five percent higher in tr. first quarter of 1950 than in thi fourth quarter of 1949. At the same time the prices ol foods, especially meat and coffee, took an upward swing that made many consumers catch their breaths. At least one congressman, Representative Rep-resentative Klein of New York, demanded de-manded an investigation of high living costs and profiteering. He went so far as to charge bakers and dairies with "soaking the consumer con-sumer without conscience." "Meat prices are threatening to turn this country into a nation of vegetarians anj ruin the cattle raising states," he said. Also on the economic front, the Federal Reserve Board said preliminary pre-liminary figures show that industrial indus-trial production reached a new postwar peak in June. Production was estimated at about one percent higher than the previous pre-vious postwar peak of October-November, 1948, and 17 percent above the level of June, 1949. Some highlights on the net profits pro-fits report: 1. After-tax profits were $100,-000,000 $100,-000,000 higher in first-quarter 1950 than the preceding quarter, but unchanged from the 1949 first-quarter mark of $2,400,000,000. 2. The rate of return on stockholders' stock-holders' equity was 12 percent in first-quarter 1950 against 11.6 in last year's fourth quarter and 12.8 in its first-quarter. 3. Dividend payments to stockholders stock-holders totaled $1,000,000,000 against $1,700,000,000 in last year's fourth quarter and $900,000,000 in first-quarter first-quarter 1949. 4. Profits per dollar of sales rose to 6.2 cents from 6 in last year's fourth quarter and 6.1 in its first quarter. 5. Setasides for federal Income taxes amounted to $1,500,000,000 in both the 1950 and 1949 first in fourth-quarter 1949. EDUCATION: No One Flunks A new trend in education 100 percent promotion of pupils in the lower grades is reported by educators. edu-cators. Educators won't come right out and say no one flunks any more in the lower grades on the ground that some elementary pupils still need the threat of failing to spur them on, but it's true that fewer are flunking. The new trend seems to be based on four points: 1. Little is learned by repeating. repeat-ing. 2. Failure merely discourages and does not aid pupils. 3. There is no reliable way of determining failures. 4. Real failures cannot do the work, no matter how often they repeat. re-peat. This is a long jump from the days of reading, writing and arithmetic and the rule of the hickory stick. The educators sum up their report: re-port: "Nonpromotion is an admission of an inadequate school program and has no place in a school where children are motivated properly and work to the level of their capacities. capaci-ties. "What is looked on as a pupil failure may be a teacher, supervisor, super-visor, or administrator failure." Into Battle IM& 1 f r - :; : ' - t . ..-. The realities of the Korean war were impressed on Americans Ameri-cans In every walk of life as this country's soldier went Into action ia Korea. Scenes like the one above were grim reminders re-minders to Americans that the foot soldier is still the workhorse work-horse of war. A group of U.S. soldiers above are nearing the front. HENRY WALLACE: What Now, Little Man? Henry Wallace, who calls himself a progressive but who has been the darling of the Communist prejs since his visit to Russia, now finds himself consigned to the ranks ol Wall Street buccaneers by the Daily Worker. Observers are wondering whal will be the next utterance of this muddled thinker who was once the Vice-President of the United Statei and greatly liked? |