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Show cr Section ) A Max Lerner )t gait fake Sfitmne Monday Morning, August 13, 1973 Maryland Mess Iaai' 8 Plagues Agnew Brannan Plan, At Last, Constructs Floor Underneath Farm Incomes It took a while, but the "Brannan Plan is now the law of the land. Also it has been and seen as the means called "constructive full to encourage production and dampen inflationary pressures without risking a market disaster for Americas farm families as they by a man who respond to new demands, voted against the Brannan Plan when it was first proposed in Richard Nixon was the speaker of those words of praise, but back in the days when Charles F. Brannan was Harry Trumans secretary of agriculture, Mr. Nixon voted with the majority in the House of Representatives when the plan was turned dow n. 19-1- Under the new method for supporting farm income the old plan of supporting farm prices is junked. The new plan, signed into law Friday by the President, works this way: For 40 years the government supported farm prices, not farm incomes. It has done this by restricting acreage to avert oversupply, and by purchasing part of the crop when necessary to keep the price from dropping below the desired level (parity). Now a target price will be established tor the main crops wheat, feed grains, and cotton. The farmer sells his crops for whatever the market will bring. When his average price falls below the target price, the govern ment pays the difference. If the market price exceeds the target price, the fanner gets nothing from the government. The new farm law puts a $20,009 limit on the payment to any farmer. The Los Angeles Times not As if Watergate were NEW YORK onchar, of spiro Agnew ?nouuh, the investigation twfrauds bnn0s to .s of bribery, extortion and the time of. full measure . rouble for American To the Watergate follies and the Cambodian now add deceptions we must ihe Maryland mess. Thus, if production is high and prices drop, consumers get the benefit, although taxpayers will experience a bite. But. farmers have an assured income, can safely plant all their acregage. This assures full production and should do much to eliminate shortages by encouraging farmers to plant all they can harvest. Obviously, investigation an is not an indictment, and not is guilt. In indictment tiis press conference Agnew came out fighting and he Urnef attentive our deserves and President the both have to detachment. But unrelated acts vice president under suspicion, for ex- is an extraordinary with criminal implications, mnwf t .. - poli-ics- little less than a year ago the National Transportation Safety Board, reacting to what seemed to be pretty much only a visceral feeling that recreation vehicles were unsafe, included in a series of recommendations a proposal that such vehicles be equipped with citizen band radios. The idea was that with such a radio a person in trouble could call for help. The limitations on such radios have been emphasized during the search for a person, presumably a boy, variously identified as "Larry or David Peak, thought to be lost somewhere in Arizona. Since last Tuesday-manpersons have heard the boys calls for the signal from the citizen band radio in help, his fathers overturned pickup truck growing ever weaker. The boy, according to persons who have heard his calls, says his father is either dead or seriously injured. But, searchers nave been unable to pinpoint where the truck is lying. There are possibly numerous technical reasons why searchers were unable after nearly a week of searching to locate the boy. his father and their truck. In times of high prices, such as the nation is currently experiencing, the outlay of tax money to pry the difference between market price and target prices will be negligible. If prices stay at the present levels through 1973, as many experts believe, for the first time in nearly four decades the nation will have a farm program that is virtually costless to the government and the taxpayer. I i i ' ; Another Viewpoint ; From the Los Angeles Times There the public responsibility to protect the President. It is a task made more expensive than ever before by the ferocity of the threat posed against public figures in the world today. The President must be protected at is no question about work and at play. Nor is there any question about the public re-- sponsibility to encourage the Presidents wellbeing by facilitating vacations with adequate working facilities and communications so that the functions of the Presidency are maintained. There has, therefore, been no surprise, no objection as government officials have acknowledged the use of tax money to install, at President Nixons private vacation retreats, protective fencing, lighting, landscaping, bulletproof glass and alarm systems appropriate to his protection. And it has been taken as a matter of course that the government would install its own equipment at its own expense to maintain at the retreats communications appropriate to the Presidents strategic responsibilities. The Holland Cartoon payers. But at no time was there an expectation that the government investment had climbed to almost made by the $10 million. That announcement, General Service Administration under pressure of a congressional investigation, was shocking, shocking even in a nation grown accustomed extravagance to writing budgets in billions. Job for IRS? to This can only be the beginning of new controis asserting a new role, asking to approve vacation-homexpenditures until to the Presidents discretion. The Internal Revenue Service cannot escape the obligation of a review of the expenditures to determine if they generated tax obligations for Mr. Nixon. versies. Congress e The President has promised to deal, in the weeks ahead, more extensively with another aspect of his vacation homes, the details of how he acquired them and how the titles are drawn. The ownership of the San Clemente property has been concealed in an unusual trust arrangement that has not been satisfactorily explained. This nation, rich in its successes, will not want to quibble over each penny expended to protect the President wherever he is. But this nation expects of the President, in his use of public funds for purposes related to his personal property, the same probity he has urged for other federal expenditures. To spend this kind of money for this kind of purpose is to confuse the nations priorities. The Clumsy Greenhorn Not so long ago, we were worried that technology would leave man with leisure time he wouldn't know what to do with. Now, however, the results of modem teehnology may give him the opportunity to nil his leisure with chopping firewood and hoeing beans. i lt The Public Forum and not portrayed on the screen for the public to turn on with. Theft. No Answer Editor, Tribune: The irresponsible, irrational and unconscionable letter written by Ed Pace, Granger, in the Forum on Aug. 9, directing his wrath against the nation's cattlemen is one of the worst hate letters I have ever read in any publication. It deserves no answer except for two points. One. He is entirely ignorant of the facts regardthe beef industry is in at the present time and he is unjustly throwing rocks at an industry which has been his strong friend and ally for many years. Two. He is condoning rustling which is a polite word for stealing. Cattle stealing or killing is punishable in Utah by a fine of up to three times the value of the animal nr animals, a jail or prison Forum Rules Public Forum letters must be submitted exclusively to The Tribune and bear writers full name, signature and address. Names must be printed on political letters but may be withheld for good reasons on others. Writers are limited to one letter every 10 days. Preference will be given to short, typewritten (double spaced) letters permitting use of the writers true name. All letters are subject to condensation. sentence, or both. The state of Utah, Utah Cattlemens Assn, and several local cattlemens associations have all offered rewards ranging up to $1,000 for the arrest, conviction and sentencing of anyone caught stealing or killing cattle of an owner belonging to an organized association. The state has waived this latter provision. answer to a problem of which they know so little. SHERMAN D. HARMER Utah Cattlemens Assn. Secretary Manager It Is Demonstrated whose Tribune: Wayne Owens, Editor, approach to public issues is glandular rather than cerebral, is publicly wondering why we need to store none gas at all. instruct him. I shall Gas was used during the first World War; Adolf Hitler, not w idely celebrated as a humanitarian, did not use gas during the second World War because: He believed the allies possessed a retaliatory stockpile; Therefore: The stockpile was and is an effective deterrent. Quod erat demonstrate. STEPHEN TROTTER Ogden like by fire, and our predictions it may soon be in ashes. Especially after Watergate, a candidate must be as as Caesars wife. gossip-clea- ruling. Even if the unlikely happens, and Agnew is washed as clean as the lamb, the original stain will cling to him. For two reasons. One is that, as vice president, he is not a political animator, and cannot take the actions and initiatives a president can take to get a freshened image. The second is that was the traAgnews whole political ditional values system, which the Maryland mess is bound to make a shambles of. When a candidate crisscrosses the country preaching honesty, integrity and all the simple virtues, and then has to confront something like the Maryland mess, his credibility as a future champion and protector of the virtues gets pretty thin. Positive Effect JULIE CLARK Provo . Doesn't Like It Editor, Tribune: I should have written this sooner, but I've been in a state of uncontrollable laughter for five days and just couldnt get at it. I read in The Tribune (July 27) an article, "Inventory Delays Auditing. Seems that Mr. Hulbert and Norma Giles Thomas were using the excuse cf lack of manpower in the State Data Processing Center. These two names were mentioned as commissioners of '.e Liquor Control Commission. Now whats so funny and plain stupid about such a statement is this: Mr. Monson said that a legislative study was done a year ago showing the same thing. Mr. Monson said that his office had made a complete study. So what records did Mr. Hulbert and Norma Thomas use? Somewhere there must be some reliable records. Ever think of using those records, commissioners? Now that it is here, all on paper, it really isn't at all. It's sickening. And to think we taxpayers continue to pay this kind of commissioner a big salary. I. for one, dont like it, not one bit. P. VAL TIMOTHY so funny Apparently Mr. King feels that when one gees to a movie and witnesses people making love they are in the act of "procreating. I must disagree with him. I think a child, which is the outcome of sincere procreation, is the furthest thing from the minds of the actors and their audiences at the theater. Instead, I interpret this public act as what Mr. King refers to as dirty or "filthy." It is not procreation on the screen; it is more like lust and sensual entertainment or, in other words, public adultery. rerall correctly, no one has ever said the body or the act of procreation were "dirty" or "filthy." The comments have been that people feel these things should be a private matter If I human Now his career is singed n stock-in-trad- e And the impact on Mr. Nixons political fortunes? In my book it will be on the positive side. Mr. Nixon's Watergate unmaking would be if impeachment occurred Agnews making. Now Agnews Maryland unmaking can be an element in Mr. Nixons remaking. For one proimpeachment argument has been that it is better to have Agnew functioning in the White House than to have throe years of a crippled Nixon nonpresidency. Now that argument is a melted man. A three-yea- r Agnew incumbency, after a Nixon impeachment, would be three years of a crippled Agnew nonpresidency. Mark that one down to Mr. Nixons luck. The more obvious impact will be on peoples opinions about politics and politicians. The already intense popular cynicism will get more It could come dangerously close, to a disbelief in government itself. What might save us would he a surviving belief in law Wanted Wine, Got Buttermilk Editor, Tribune: With respect to Fred G. Driggs letter on Utah mores (Forum, July 26), he has omitted the coffee cup syndrome. Upon sitting down 'in a cafe, one instantly clanks down the coffee cup in an audibly defiant and righteous manner for all to hear and observe. We thus indicate our resentment of the proprietors presumption in setting out the cup. leading hotel restaurant observes methods a cup may be placed 'by the customer to indicate the beverage desired, i.e. milk, buttermilk or apple juice. A A recent dinner meeting of a social group w as held in the hotel. The guest speaker had been the leading U.S. foreign service officer for 30 years, speaks many languages, and is a connoisseur of fine wines. Not knowing "our language," he inadvertently turned his cup in a certain manner and received a glass of buttermilk, much to his astonishment. J. A. THORSON IU Public Adultery Editor, Tribune: We were asked by David A. King to exercise logic (Forum, Aug. 2) in considering, I suppose, the pornography ruling. I exercised logic and I agree with Mr. King's conclusion, but his argument is where I got lost. Career Singed Granted, something needs to be done about the violence we see so much of. But in Mr. King's vigor to see action on this matter, he mustn't lose sight of the intended purpose of the pornography ing the mess am shocked that anyone would be Personally so confused as to attempt to rationalize theft as an There has been, however, growing uneasiness about other things undertaken at government expense at Mr. Nixons homes in San Clemente a new heating system, ornaand Key Biscayne mental landscaping, lawn sprinklers, beach facilities, home improvements, a w hole array of expenditures that clearly are not obligations of the tax- I mdi-tanc- y I Expense for Presidents Home Shocking Untangle Knots of The only time I tried to untangle the knots in a magaknotted personality, Armew's tightiv to zine piece a few- years ago. I suggested that up 1968 one might have seen him as a Maryland a liberal Muskie, a liberal Republican rather than ethnic strain, of Eastern European Democrat, earnest, talented, committed. Then something happened to make the underground river in him run the other way. Nixon s way. In 1970 he became a symbol of antimedia his image beyond Nixon. In 1972 he changed this of his stream direction the also and again, tune toward a mellowed and liberal reasonableness. With Watergate it seemed that his dazzling strokes of luck might carry him to the throne room even before 1976. Now this Maryland mess, with a smell that might just possibly reach in Agnews direction. It underscores how fragile we commentators are our most are, and howr rickety and gerry-buiconfident predictions. Our profession is to read s and we dont even pour the tea. We might dislike or like Agnew, respect or disrespect him, but we were mesmerized by his persistent and astounding luck. Perhaps we believed there was a fatality in him that would carry him to the presidency, now or in 1976, whether we liked it or and most of us didn't. not self-mad- in certain recreation vehicles. The suggestion was not accompanied by any proposal for accurately locating a receation vehicle in distress, even if its occupants were able to get a message out. If people like these get in trouble they are likely to radio the wrong location, causing help to be sent miles from where it is needAlso, the possiblity the whole affair is ed. Or, as is possible in the case of Larry, nothing but a hoax, cannot be discounted. they are unable to say where they are. Some persons, for perverse motives, enjoy If the NTSBs plan for CB radios in recreindulging in such inane practices. ation vehicles is to be truly effective, or even achieve part of what is expected of it, a sysBut, technical reasons and the possiblity of a hoax aside, the "Larry affair emphasi- tem must also be developed to pin down the zes one major weakness in the NTSBs sug- - location of stranded and injured recreation gestion that citizen band radios be required vehicle users. Vr 1 I Hows the wind? covery for so long. If the NTSB plan is to be at all effective it must be incorporated as part of a monitoring system that will pinpoint the position of a distress vehicle. In this day when people with little or no wilderness or outdoor experience, scant intimate knowledge of isolated areas and enough money can buy a vehicle that in minutes can take them many miles from civilization it is easy to understand why such persons dont know where they are when they get there. ( V It took nearly a quarter century for the Brannan Plan to become law. Whether it is the zenith in farm plans awaits the test of time and practice, but in the eyes of many persons its enactment once again proves that a good idea cant be put down forever. Eventually, someone will see that a better mouse trap is truly possible. For some as yet unexplained reason efforts to electronically triangulate the position of the Larry transmitter have failed. It is hard to believe in this day of sophisticated airborne radio direction detection equipment that the overturned truck eluded dis- t nfnl To Complete the System A iP Orbiting Paragraphs The fellow who is stupid enough to run out of gasoline has always been a figure of fun, but now he is in the mainstream of the American wav of life. The traditional American aim was to pay off the mortgage. Now the condition of the money market seems to be such that you're lucky if you can get one to pay off. Politicians used to dream of having a school park or boulevard named after them. Immortality, of a sort, is achieved these davs by having your name attached to a few reels of tape. No Theater Savvy Editor, Tribune: What is the matter with your , staff writer David L. Beck? He couldnt have been to Theatre 138s opening of 110 In The Shade and viewed it with all his senses. His review was disgusting and in poor taste. My guests and I found the musical to be one of the best, and with a cast. Your writer certainly diiesnt have any knowledge of the theater, or know a good voice when he hears one. n Im sure your paper has other, more intelligent, staff writers or critics who could give a better and honest review. called the townspeople strolhrs. and dummies. Opening night the cast a standing ovation, and the audience doesn't react like that to something which Mr. Beck called "clumsy and amateurish. MRS. INA ANDERSON He hand-holder- I I V i t $ |