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Show ii t mw'iniiiini V i f '' 4T09 unci iwrii ! ' n'niiyy m DESERET gold bullion, Arab dhows 2 Dial into India for hoarding. It's today's Bankers, peasants: They go for the gold! O s Somewheie in Switzerland, a banker the look of the financial weather and reaches for a phone. In a church, a bride glances down at the new nng on her finger. In an office, a man writhes in the dentist's chair. analyi dis-ike- And near St. Paul's Cathedral in London, ive men in Savile Row suits chat quietly, occasionally waving small Union Jacks. All these scenes have one thing in common. Gold. All are factors in the international flood oi money that has sent the price of gold to a record high and hammered at the prestige of the once mighty U.S. dollar. Exactly a year ago. an ounce of gold was w ortli $35.25, then a record. Dealers were predicting it might reach $85 by 1980. On Tuesday, gold in London was sold for $110.30 an ounce, and 1980 was seven years away. The men with the Union Jacks meet every weekday morning and afternoon. They represent London's top five bullion merchants and form the nerve center of the world's gold trade. In the center of the gold room sits Its i new the representative of N. M. Rothschild & Sons, traditionally the market chairman. The others sit at separate desks, each in touch with his office by telephone. The chairman suggests a price at w Inch he thinks gold might be traded for the day. The others offer their ideas, and gradually a consensus emerges. Each man can change his bid if word comes of a surge in demand or a sudden offer of gold for sale. He indicates this by waving his flag. Eventually the London price is fixed' and flashed out on the tickers. The price then fluctuates according to the demand and any offerings for sale, but the London fixing influences financial thinking the world over. Most of the world's gold trading is done here, though Britons are not allowed to hold the metal except as jewelry or fillings. Who buys, and who sells? The sellers are easy to identity. Most new gold comes from South Africa and the Soxiet Union. A bad harvest in the Steppes will bring votes to win. I at Watergate, it is releashas been on the liberal that ing pressure House and progressive Republicans, Majority Leader Thomas P. O'Neill Jr., said in an interview with Con-- j It is going to gressional Quarterly. allow them to vote the will of their par- ticular areas. There is no time for us to settle back. Now is the time for us to As I look i v 1 keep moving. ONeill and Speaker Carl Albert, plan to continue their strategy of working to override the President every' time he vetoes a piece of legislation because he considers it too expensive. That strategy was a disaster the first time it was tried; the House fell 51 votes short of the majority it needed to override a veto of a rural water and sewer grant bill. I 1 two-thir- I I 1 that the water-- I sewer bill wasnt a particularly good bill to use as a test vote. But he said he be-- I Laves true sentiment on the issue was s closer to a majority than the actual vote made it appear. In his view. a sizable number of Republicans wanted to vote for the bill but didnt do so be- ONeill J j concedes two-third- j 3 percent margin, most By a thumping Americans said in April that they felt the cost of living has risen faster than wages, but by an almost 84-- 7 identical most percent 85-1- 0 WASHINGTON House Democratic leaders are hoping the Watergate affair will bring them a few more Republican votes the next time there is a collision between Congress and the President. .And the Democrats will need those f Gulf. In Dubai, a Persian Gulf port where the dhows tie up alongside banking houses, gold bars stamped with the Rothschild mark are on sale in the bazaars. Some Indians and Pakistanis working in Britain send their savings there to be turned into gold: the dhows smuggle it to the Indian subcontinent to be hoarded for the day when the exiles in the Yorkshire textile mills can sail home to comparative riches. In France, few peasants sleep soundly without a few gold Napoleons sewn into the mattress. This instinctive trust in gold stems from a distrust of paper currency born of the Continent's wars and financial upheavals. Today the French franc is strong, y et French demand for gold remains. Such industrial uses as jewelry, dentistry and electronic processes add to the demand. Industrial buyers began to stockpile around the level, expecting the market By Louis Harris Congressional Quarterly ! dustry Persian to go higher But the root cause of the past w eek s upsurge in the gold price lies elsew here. Ai its simplest, men controlling huge amounts of cash bankers, rich speculators, financial directors of multinational corporahave come around to the French tions peasant's way of thinking. The world has a surfeit of dollais, poured out of America since World War II as toieign aid. military spending, booming tourism investments in foreign industry and imports of European cars. Japanese radios and cameras Even Communist Eastern Europe has a huge float of greenbacks, the result in part of remittances from Detroit t i i datives on the farms of Poland and Hungary. The London gold market is traditionally cagey about its customers. The rival Swiss market is equally tight lipped. But the signs are that most of the recent buying has originated m New York and the Middle East. This means that men in control of big cash balances are worried that inflation and political upheaval in Washington may cut further into the dollar's buying power. Like the French peasant, they want to see something tangible for their money, something that will hold its value in a world of financial turmoil. That means gold cause the White House was putting on the squeeze. Now he doesnt think there will be that kind of squeeze. As evidence, ONeill cites the April 30 vote on the final version of a bill extending the President's wage and price controls for one more year The President was dissatisfied with portions of the bill permitting gasoline rationing and calling for disclosure of information about companies that raise prices. But the administration made no attempt to oppose it actively on the floor, and it passed by a 5 vote. people also said they would pre- fer a smaller raise in pay along with very little rise in the cost of living to a bigger raise in pay with a sharply rising cost of living. It is perfectly apparent by now ihai the American people are deeply concerned over inflation, and are finding the current rises in the cost of living intolerable. As a result, more people said (before the Presidents recent move to tighten price regulations somewhat) that they would prefer a return to a wage-pric- e freeze rather than to continue with the Phase. 3 set-upercent. In fact, by by 9 percent, more said they would rather go back to Phase 2, when a Price Commission and Wage Board were in operation, than have more of the relaxation which preceded the price jumps of 1973. A record high 88 percent felt in April that the prices of most things they buy are rising faster than they were a year' ago. In February', 74 percent felt that way, while last December only 49 percent felt prices were rising faster. For the first time since June of 1971. the public is ready to predict that a year from now, the country will be in a recession, by 7 percent. Last December, the opposite view carried percent. The public is convinced that inflation can 267-11- We got some Republican votes on ONeill said, and I have an idea Watergate may have had something to do with it. We didnt have the usual it, White House g among 43-3- 1 con- 47-1- servatives. O'Neill said the same factor was evident the following day u'hen the House in favor of a bill making voted the Presidents budget director subject to Senate confirmation. 229-17- 1 taken a whin count. ONeill recalled, and we were going to win the vole by 12 and 18 voles . . . We finally won it by 58 votes ... We got a tremendous surge of Republicans who voted along with us ... I feel the Republican members are going to yield and We had 43-2- the White House will bend and yield. 43-2- 6 i be held in check, but apparently does not think that enough will actually be done to prevent a sharp economic downturn sometime in the early part of 1974. The optimism over economic recovery that prevailed for over a year is row evaporating. Since last December, public pessimism about the economy has been growing, and now more than 4 in 10 expect a recession again a year from now. Similar periods of pessimism in the past have been marked by an increase in deposits in savings accounts and a slackening of consumer spending and investment in securities and mutual funds. One way to avoid such a calamity, many e people have felt, is to go back to a wage-pricfreeze, such as the one imposed by President Nixon back on Aug. 14, 1971. This latest shift of public opinion in favor of a wage-pric- e freeze stands in marked con-- , trast to the Phase 2 period in 1972, when most people said they preferred partial controls to a freeze. For example, last October a majority opposed reinstating a freeze, by 8 percent. the public feels that prices have gone through the ceiling and believe only a freeze will be able to prevent a further deterioration of their economic plight Throughout these past few years, the American people have consistently shown that they are unwilling to take their chances on obtaining wage increases to keep up with the rises in the cost of living, and are prepared for restraint in their pay hikes. Even union members would prefer smaller pay hikes if the lid could be put on inflation, by 90-- percent. Now', however, 6 (c) 1973 Chicago Tribune " By-ma- il signup: correct abuses or create problems? 8y Dexter C. Ellis Deseret News Political Editor hen the nation was young,' mericans sometimes rode all lay on horseback to cast their I ullots in an election. ' Today, many won't forsake he tube long enough to walk i block or perhaps drive a ew miles to register and vote - a privilege rightfully as among the most irecious enjoyed by U.S. s. One of the latest efforts to wercome this apathy is the bill which egistration-by-mai- l ecently passed the U.S. Sente and is ready for consider-tio- n bv the House. it becomes law. an eligi-l- e voter would merely have 0 fill out a postcard sent to lim by the federal govern-nen- t and mail it back. After recessing by county clerks, b would be. registered to lf cite The legislation applies only to federal elections, but due to the confusion that a dual registration system would cause, states would be almost forced to adapt their own system to the postcard method Tor all elections. There are a variety of arguments pro and con, including the desirability of a uniform nationwide system of registration as against the increased possibility of vote fraud. However, one of the key issues is the question of whether the right to vote should be presented on a silver platter or w.hether a little effort on the part of the voter is desirable, perhaps heightening his appreciation of the privilege. The problem here is that partisan political considerations often get so intertwined with valid arguments that its difficult to determine where one ends and the other begins. this and Generally to enough for their country take the time to appear in person to register. Politics On the other hand, there are in almost every state some artificial barriers to voting which unfairly affect only parts of the population and which should be removed if feasible. DEXTER Utah has a reasonable sys- tem ELLIS voter registration which appears to work quite of well, judging to Utah it is beapplies lieved that voters most apt to vote Democratic, including racial minorities and the poor, are a little harder to motivate and get to the polls. Therefore, so the argument goes, anythat decreases the thing amount of effort involved in voting helps Democratic candidates. Sen. Sam J. Ervin Jr., of North Carolina, charges that the registration-by-mai- l tem Puts power sys- in the hands of the people who do not care 264 8e26o' .viteto Du-l- t Man PO Boxl257 Sa'tLakeCitv. Utai from the high percentage of voters who make it to the polls. But there are a few problems. In some rural areas, unreasonable travel is involved in registration and in a few instances, there are language problems, particularly with regard to Indian registration. In populated areas, a neighborhood registration , agent is seldom far away, but prior to every election there is considerable confusion especially among new voters and recent residents as to which voting district they are in. The solution is a call to the county clerk or the local newspaper, which doesnt seem like too much bother in exchange for the privilege of voting, but it probably does deter some from voting who was adamantly opposed, by ly mainon the Republicans, grounds that voters should put forth a little effort on their own initiative to qualify as voters. The registration-by-mai- l A bill to liberalize registration in Utah got bogged down in partisan wrangling during the last legislative session and failed of passage. is attractive from the standpoint that it would remove all artificial barriers to registration, making this as simple as possible without actually twisting people's arms to persuade them to register, which is going too far. It would have made city recorders and clerks registration agents, thus solving the distance problem in many Furthermore, it would equalize the effort factor involved in registration among all Americans. otherw ise would do so. idea cases. There was considerable support, also, among both Repub- licans and Democrats for a proposal to allow high school principals to register voting age students. However, roving door-to-do- We ordered some fishing equipment from Sportsmens Favorite, Providence. R.L, in October, 1S72. Now weve lost the address and since the order never arrived, wed like to find out why. Enclosed L a copy of our cancelled check for $18.15. We want our money back or our equip- ment. M.R., Moab. Since you didn't give us an addiess. we wrote to the bank who first deposited your iheik. They contacted the company, who then wrote to us Company said your Ashing satchel was slapped m November. Only when they received our inquiry did they learn it had not reached its destination. Normally, they would have the post oflice put a tracer on the package, but because of the time lapse, they say they'll reship But they have a stipulation that they vviil not slap a package to a box number (which your address is) unless it is a rural route box and not a post office box. We took a dim view of this and checked with the post office in S L. and were told this not a valid reason for refusing to ship a package. We aie informing the company of the PUs sentiments. We hope you'll get either the parcel or a refund. If not. get back to Us Nylon or orlon Nylon knit was popular in mens sox some 21) years ago. I find today's orlon wears out in about a dozen wear-ing- s but nylon (not stretch) will last for years. It mats into a hard surface but wont wear out. Nylon stretch pulls on my feet and shrinks. Whats the best buy in men's sox? F.B., Salt Lake City. Nylon is top rated for long w ear. Orion doesn't last as long but has a pleasant, soft, bulky feeling on the foot. You can make orlon sox last longer by using a shoehorn and by not wearing them with loose shoes such as loafers. Orion is better for casual wear, not daily business use. Its best to wash synthetic men's sox in automatic washers. This reshrinks them and puts back the stretchiness. Don't dry wool sox in the dryer. Wool is now being blended with synthetics to produce greater absorbency. The wool is on the outside to absorb perspiration, leaving the inner lining dry ,, , i t , ; Late, much too late A return to Phase 2 gets public support to settle back, Demos say t Russian gold into London to pay for American wheat. China is occasionally a seller. The Refinery of China in Peking Is among the 38 smelters and assavers whose stamp on a gold bar is recognized by the London market as good delivery containing a minimum of 993 parts of fine gold per l.OUO. The buyers range from world names in inand commerce to the smugglers of the Concern over inflation no time OUR READERS' ACTION LINE PO refutes firms box shipping policy version of the gold rush. lolin Frost A3 mon smuggle the precious bars from the Persian Gulf LONDON (AP) Along the Persian Gulf, in Arab dhow slips its moorings and heads for India. THURSDAY, MAY 17, 1973 DOIT Laden with By NEWS, proposed use of registrars The question is whether the abuses it would correct are greater than the problems it would create, including possible voter fraud and increased cost iG both federal and local governments. There are good arguments on both sides 5 m d A AU 1 was a FOW during WW II. When 1 returned home I received a check for food rations but I do not remember ever receiving one for forced labor. The claims office said they issued a check tut we net er received it. I inquired in 1967 but they said it had been destroyed. Isnt there some way of finding out whether the check was ever cashed and by whom? J.H.P., Salt Lake City. It is unfortunate that you did not inquire about this loss earlier, much earlier. The check for $1,821 was issued Feb. 16, 1933. Had you inquired within seten years of that date, the check could have been reproduced to indicate if it had ever been cashed. But the lapse of time permitted the check, to be destroyed along with any transaction evidence. No microfilm copies were ever made. Editor's Note: Were sorry the volume of calls and mail moke it impossible to answer every question. Piease, no medical or legal questions Answers con only be given in this column. Give vour name, odaress and telephone number (not for publication) to help help vou OUR MAN JOflES By Harry Jones Deseret News staff writer Tamara was old - - Met an old friend of mine the other day. She had come to the office to bring a picture of her youngest to the Womens Section, The youngest was getting married It had been awhile since I'd seen Harriet. It didnt seem possible that enough to leave the home nest for mar- riage. 5 ' Its going to be a bit quiet and forlorn around your house with all the youngsters gone isnt it? . .4 She:1 Quiet, yes, but forlorn, youve got to be kidding. answered. Ive been looking forward to the moment for , years. I need a rest. j ' w When she saw the surprised look on my face, she added that she was tired of fevers, measles, runny noses. colds, toothaches, earaches and whooping cough. I thought you would be taking up cabinetmaking, politics, become a pink lady fill your lonely hours, I said. Im going to find a shady spot in the backyard. I'm going to throw out all thoughts of cooking for seven peo- pie, putting up lunches. No thoughts of washing tons of clothes and the ironing that comes with it. No more of those boring Parent Teacher Association meetings! t Im going to sit in the shade for about six months. Then I might start rocking a little, she added. Before I could say anything, she started in again. Before I sit out in the yard, I look forward to a ong uninterrupted soaking bath with all the trimmings like bath oils and other lotions for a smooth and silky skin. The water is going to be hot, hot, hot. I gathered that it is 'hard to keep hot water on tap w hen there are a bunch of girls at home. While Im soaking in all that creamy loveliness, I'm going to read a magazine or a book, she said. Do you know how long it has been since I read even a short story without getting interrupted? Nope, I said. I didnt want to say more for fear of interrupting her. She didnt say just how long, but her actions indicated that it was years and years. After getting out of the tub, she was going to fix a lunch just for her. No peanut butter or honey sandwiches. I might even fix shrimp or crab salad without a thought to opening a can of soup, she said. She didnt even pause long enough for me to say good for you, or even just a plain, great. I might just sit all dfternuun and watch something on television besides that crazy squirrel and moose and Sesa- me Street. had to get home to tend mother went shopping. WITS END: I took one of those personality tests in a magazine and discovered I cheat a lot ! I invited her to lunch, but she a couple of grandchildren while the 1 ' , , ' |