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Show f1jYij)Tli COMMIT WALTER SHEAD Drop Seen in Farm Prices CONGRESSIONAL mail today from rural areas and smali towns of the country points to the drop in farm prices as the only break in the inflationary spiral. Generally these letters let-ters say that while the farmers are willing to take a cut from the abnormally high farm prices, something should be done to relieve them of the brunt of the entire price cut that la, the things the farmer must buy should be cut proportionately. Insofar as this reporter can find out, however, economists here do no) look for much of a letdown In prices for several months. As for farm prices themselves the consensus Is that they will to down f radually until they reach the parity floor, when the gov-ernmrnt gov-ernmrnt will have to step Into the picture and begin buying 'to maintain the 90 per cent of parity program. Secretary of Agriculture Anderson has temporarily withdrawn from the grain buying picture but he still has about 100 million bushels of wheat to buy to meet the government's export commitments. When he does step back into the rn -rwaritetr-pwlMrfely about April 1, he will be buying to Bupport farm prices as well as to meet overseas commitments. As it now looks, the farm Income for 1048 likely will be some 16 per cent under the 1947 total or about equal to the 1946 income, which was a record high until topped by 1947. In the meantime, not many farmers were hurt by the spectacular grain drop, most of them having sold before the crash. -a- j. i WALTER WINCHELL Notes of a New Yorker The Argentine ambassador In Washington has quite a Job to do. He has been ordered to see that Mr. Truman Invites the Perons "or else." Evita's big ambish is to impress im-press Washington sassicty. (That will he the dayt). We suspect the White rtouse can see nothing amusing In the fact that Henry A. Wallace's Initials spcU HAW! Many stiekups In some of the fashionable sections of Brooklyn have not been reported because the victims were picked carefully. People Peo-ple who made oodles in the black market and kept their wealth In ! their homes. Can't squawk now. . . . Communist chief William Z. Foster hides In the phone directory (Bronx) under the listing of William E. Foster. Timet S quart Vignette: Songwriter Hugh Martin probably will never get any medals from Texai became hit new long bit, "Tired of Texas," joshes the lone Star State. . . . But it was ordered written by Texans, who asked Martin to knock out a "Texas-flavored" tune to be sung at a luncheon honoring tome Texas-born army big shots, . . . The lyrics got a Intta "yox" (more than the composer expected) so he worked on the ditty to whip it into commercial commer-cial use. . . . Several producers with musical comedy scripts turned it down. . . Another producer (almost on the verge of taking it) changed his mind when the headlines shrieked about Texas City's disaster. . . . Today it's the click song in the show, "Look, Ma, I'm Dancin'!" DREW PEARSON Aviation Program Mapped nUBLICITY-WISE Sen. Owen Brewster, Maine Republican. Is taking no chances on being left out of the headlines when his congressional aviation advisory committee presents its formal recommendations. Instead of leaving the report to his staff to write, he called In the three major press services and Invited their help. United Press could not spare a man, but Brewster was able to borrow Jim Strebig from Associated Press and Leon Shloss from International News service. They are expected to give him a big publicity break. Brewster's committee will recommend: I A huge five-year aviation program, building U. S. alrpowcr to such a peak it should obviate the necessity for universal mill-tary mill-tary training. Old planes will be brought out of mothballs until a new building program produces new planes, p Coordination between military and commercial air systems; untangling and coordinating the country's air routes; establishing establish-ing an Independent agency to control air safety; unification of armed services aviation. The congressional committee will blast both the army and navy for failure to achieve air unification. In fact, unification, it will find, is not even halfway round the corner. X W H. I. PHILLIPS College Is 'Mediocracv' Educators are sounding warnings against the administration's expressed ex-pressed hopes that there will be an enrollment of nearly five million In American colleges by 19C0. .They say it will mean "educalional inflation" in-flation" and a "tide of classroom mediocracy." They hint that the time might come when the boy who didn't get a college education would be the lad of distinction in any community. com-munity. Already our colleges are so overcrowded that there is no more chance of the student getting acquainted than there la In a subway rush. The whole mood of college life is c hanging. Where a boy used to get a kick out of making the glee club, he now won't sing unless it's for a radio audition. . . . The freshman fresh-man rush l.s fiding out because the modern student won't wrestle wres-tle without pay. . . . The old rah-rah spirit Is being replaced by something resembling the mood in a wartime brass mill. , Altogether, boys, three rousing cheers for dear old Willow Run uni-j versity! Even if you are processed, like a Ford fender instead of edu-i catcd like a potential scholar, it is all made easier than yesterday. Nancy Walker says, "Don't bother reading a contract; the big type gives and the small type takes away. w WKTBROOK PEGLER Just a Cut and Dried Plot pHILIP MURRAY, the CIO, and lawyers for the Hollywood-Wall Strecl moving picture trust may rest serene amid the sound effects, discoursed with wind-machine, thunder-sheet and such mechanical gear by the department of Justice. It Is Just another production schedule whooping along in election year. Each show will be a mint of money for the party. In the long run. on ceremonial appeal to the Supreme court, Murray and the CIO will be acquitted of violating the Taft-Hartley law In using the columns of the CIO News, a private publication of the union mobsters, to N boost their candidate in an election. Although the plot Is cut and dried, does anybody suppose that any other theatrical play Is Impromptu? That moving picture anti trust case has been going on, starting and topping, for 10 years now. But this is a good year for it. The Hollywood trash are in the grease because of the Communist business, and since FDR died they haven't been so conscientious about getting up the money. This will remind them, In election year. I Everything Is going to be all right, though. It Just takes time and the' rifcht kind of pressure and the right frame of mind in the department of Justice. Thai's all it takes. WRIGHT PATTERSON 'Porkers' Spend Millions FEDERAL "pork" expenditures represent projects which havo only a partisan political patron.ige value. They represent the ability of the senator or representative to bring home the bacon for his stole or his district. They buy votes. Such expense Items are found In every budget and appropriation bill passed by congress. No single item calls for the expenditure of billions of dollars but many of them call for millions. Summed up. the total represents rep-resents a considerable sum of money gleaned from the taxpayers' pockets. |