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Show WALTER SHE AD . Three Items Consume Budget II'HENEVER the cost of food, rent and clothing consumes V all the income of the masses of the people, nothing can prevent a depression. That's solid logic because the people have nothing left to spend for anything else.. The bureau of labor statistics says that at the present time these three items, food, clothing and rent are taking more than two-thirds of the average family's income. It makes no difference what the amount of the Income Is, whether It's $20 or SIM a week, the fact remains that the consumer's con-sumer's dollar Is worth only 51 cents In a grocery and 55 cents la a clothing store and his total dollar for everything else Is worth only 64 cents. Those who attempt to blame high prices on exports In our efforts to sid starving Europe are barking up the wrong tree. For Instance, from May, 1946. to May, 1947, our exports of meat were only 2.2 per cent of total production yet wholesale meat prices increased 83 per cent The organizations which a year ago were heatedly berating OPA are now in noisy argument over who is to blame for what has happened since. H. L PHILLIPS The Golden Touch Uncle Sam, reacting to that proposal pro-posal to redistribute the Fort Knox gold, might quote from Hamlet: ' . "Oh, my offense is rank, It smells to Bevln." Maybe Ernie, on the other hand, has his Keats mixed up and would put lt: "Much have I traveled In the realms of gold. And many goodly forts and metals seen." At Los Alamos, atomic energy has been harnessed to do peaceful work. We want to get a little to open a hotel bureau drawer. "The Soviet government has the fullest respect and confidence toward to-ward the Bulgarian court set up by justice." From the Moscow reply to an American note. The understatement of the year! Prices are up now where we art compelled to get along with almost everything we don't need. Ben Ames Williams has written a book of 720,000 words. This Is 230,000 more than In "Gone With The Wind." A title "Gone With The Second Sec-ond Wind" la hereby suggested. Dr. Kurt von Schuschnlgg, once chancellor of Austria and who lost all through compromising with Hitler, Hit-ler, is in America. He says all he wants is to live a quiet life, perhaps In Brooklyn. It is our guess that he will Just have to keep compromising. compro-mising. Maybe we bad better turn over fort Knox to the British, at that, before we wake up tome day and find tome-body tome-body hat won it as a prize on a radio quit thow. A A PAUL MALLON GOP Presidential Possibilities f UCH may happen before the Republican presidential convention, but as it looks now, Taft is out in front as most likely candidate, with Dewey a doubtful second. Half a dozen are bunched for third place. The somewhat guarded endorsement of Governor Dewey for the youth draft military training at the Legion convention brought him forward on a national subject in response to the grumbling heard In Republican ranks that he had not taken forthright stands on big issues of the day. His Washington friends say he will speak out more nationally and internationally, inter-nationally, from now on. There Is no question of the unanimous support sup-port he will get from New York. Results of Taft's speaking tour will largely tell the tale for the Ohloan, although his candidacy has received stronger private growth within the party than has been advertised. Last spring the swing was to Dewey because of Taft's connection with union reform; now a reaction has set In attributable to the growth of feeling that the bill may not be unpopular. Both General Eisenhower and Governor Warren are credited with being sincere in their recent renunciations of Incipient campaigns. Before Be-fore their public disavowal, they let friends circulate the word of their lack of Interest and then made lt public. Eisenhower does not think he will be an important figure, despite the Kansas City campaign for him, but the presidency of Columbia university is a good place from which to view efforts In his behalf academically. The California delegation discounts dis-counts current reports of a coalition between Dewey and Warren. -A- -A- O. WALTER W1NCHELL Notes of a Bystander The candidate profiting most from all the Eisenhower talk is Stassen. .The more talk for Eisenhower, the harder it becomes for Dewey and Taft to crash through. After Stas-sen's Stas-sen's Washington press conference (In which he suavely posey'd the Taft-Hartley bill and said that further fur-ther aid to Britain should be stopped If the English socialize the steel Industry), In-dustry), one gal reporter wistfully said: "And he used to be such a nice liberal too." All that Stassen is trying to do it show the GOP biggies big-gies that he really belongs to the club and wouldn't be such a bad guy to nominate. Remember when Bilbo cried poverty and was allowed to stay on the senate payroll at 150,000 per annum (Including staffers' expensci) to pay for his operations? opera-tions? Now he bequeatht $100,-000. $100,-000. Of your moneyl . Toplo "A" in South America wasn't President Truman't visit but what Evita did when she returned from her 78-day Yurropean trip and found that Peron had Installed a beauty contest winner in the Presidential Presi-dential Palace of Ollvos. ... In Alfred Al-fred Dunhlll'a store (Radio City) all the male and female solicitors are compelled to wear glovet. DREW PEARSON fannnnnnnmmmmmmmmnnmmmmmmmmnnnnnnmmmnnmmmmmmmmmmmMnnnnnnmm Our No. 1 Enemy Rats f T MAY aound hard to believe, but the huge shortage of this year's corn crop could be largely offset if the American people were able to eUmi-nate eUmi-nate one factor In their economy rats. Most people don't realize it. but one healthy rat eats or spoils around 100 pounds of grain per year. While it's impossible to count the rat population. popu-lation. Interior department experts estimate that rats are almost double the human population probably totaling 250 million In the U. S. Entirely aside from the dlseaae which rats spread from privy to pantry and the havoc they wreak upon the waterfronts of American Amer-ican seaports, their effect upon the food supply of the United States Is almost beyond realisation. Between the time a farmer stores his corn In the fall and cleans out his corncrib in the summer, rats may have eaten the difference between profit and loss for the year. In addition, they spoil as much corn as they est If the food destroyed by rats could be shipped overseas, this alone would about save Europe from its current danger of ttarvatlon. At present one government agency, the flsh and wildlife service ol the interior department is working on rat eradication. Handicapped by lack of funds, government rat eradicators are able to do little beyond circulating anti-rat propaganda. , A . A 1 WRIGHT PATTERSON Inflation Helps Debtors TIOSE who are In debt are the nly ones who can profit from i. .uitlon, from cheap money. The United States government as the greatest debtor in the nation, stands to profit most from the Inflation we so greatly tear. The government hat promised to pay some 260 billion ollars to those who hold itt bonds. In that promise there Is no specification specifi-cation at to the value of the dollars the creditor Is to receive. Runaway Inflation could make our dollan practically valueless, but they still would be dollan. The best gambit would be to hold on, If the government govern-ment does not call the bondt. untt the value of the dollar comet back |