Show WEEKLY Y NEWS ANALYSIS farm Fam Groups O OK Brannan Choice Tee uce Wai as s in ese ne iee o Pad d dBy Set Pattern a ef oBy By Bv Bill Staff Writer EDITORS EDITOR'S NOTE When opinion are arc expressed In these columns they ore are those of ti Western Newspaper news neVI analysts nn and l not necessarily of oC this newspaper APPROVED I Brannen f 1 r President Truman's Truman s 's choice J of or Charles F. F Brannan to to I succeed Clinton Anderson as secretary of agriculture has received the wholehearted wholehearted wholehearted whole whole- hearted approval of the national farm organizations They consider the year old former assistant secretary of agriculture agriculture agriculture agri agri- culture a ua friend of the farmer One of the bases for this feeling of harmony is the fact that Brannan Brannan Brannan Bran- Bran nan and the farm organizations concur concur concur con con- cur in thinking that the prewar parity law is badly outdated Such crops as soybeans for instance instance instance in in- stance have attained a much greater great great- er importance since the law was passed but still have no satisfactory price fixing basis Other farmers including cattle and dairy producers ers claim their parity scales are arc out of line in this postwar period Ideas developed by Brannan to help remedy this situation have been largely adopted by the leading leading leading lead lead- ing farm groups and are incorporated incorporated incorporated rated in bills now pending before congress Unless congress acts by bythe bythe bythe the end of this year the law guaranteeing guaranteeing guaranteeing guar guar- farm prices at 90 per cent of the fixed fLed parity rate will expire Serving quietly as assistant secretary secretary sec sec- of agriculture for the past four years Brannan has made himself the backbone of the administrations administration's administrations administration's administrations administration's ad ad- ministrations ministration's drive to enact a long- long range farm program Thus the farmers think a lot of Brannon because he has demonstrated demonstrated demonstrated demon demon- that he is looking out for their interests in a realistic levelheaded levelheaded level level- headed fashion President Truman it appeared had made a good choice in putting Brannan at the head of the de de- Almost everybody was satisfied and that in an election year was a a most desirable situation situation situation situa situa- tion for Mr Truman FAILURE No Peace It was difficult to say who would suffer more from the Arabs' Arabs rejection rejection rejection tion of U. U N. N truce plea for Palestine Palestine Pales Pales- tine the Arabs themselves the Jews or the United Nations Probably the Jews came off to better advantage in the world councils councils councils coun coun- of public opinion inasmuch as through their willingness to accept a truce they now can appear in hi the therole therole therole role of a nation nation- which has been wronged and is forced to fight a war that has been thrust willy nilly upon it The Arabs simply brushed aside the idea of a truce with the contention contention contention con con- that they could not halt the shooting war until the state of Israel Israelis is abandoned and the Jewish army demobilized There never was any question in the minds of Arab leaders leaders leaders lead lead- ers about the truce It was literally literal literal- ly unacceptable to them Their position was stated definitively by bythe bythe bythe the Egyptian premier Mahmoud Fahmy Pasha who said There never will be founded a state called Israel or any other name as long as the creation of that state relies relics upon the theft of Arab land the extermination of its Arab owners and the sacrifice of moral principles of its Arab neigh neigh- bors Nevertheless the Arab refusal was a bitter blow to the U. U N. N security council It had been pr- pr organized organized or or- for the express purpose of resolving just such disputes as this one in Palestine yet it could do nothing more than make a weak gesture of placation There was little doubt that the security security security se se- se- se council had been rendered toothless and impotent on the Palestine Palestine Palestine Pal Pal- estine issue by the U. U S. S attitude or rather lack of attitude toward the whole thing What position the United States would take as an individual nation with regard to the Palestine war was not clear either At a conference with Chaim Israels Israel's president President President President Pres Pres- ident Truman promised that the U. U S S. S would provide financial support support support sup sup- port for Israel in the form of a aloan aloan aloan loan of about million dollars Further he tie h hinted at the possibility possibility- that unless the Arab states cease fire the U. U S. S might provide arms for the Jews Day pay after the conference how however however ever Mr Truman dismissed Weiz- Weiz manns mann's plea for a loan as something something something some some- thing that could be handled by the thee e import export bank and he completely completely com com- ducked the issue of raising the embargo on arms shipments to the Middle East No Quarter SYRIA o uw 1 erne r wain a Nw R. R TRANS u u. u nl r 2 m. m 1 rr bus IS I S EGYPT ISRAEL Fires of war between Arab and Jew continued to burn in the HolyLand Holy noly HolyLand Land when the Arab states refused refused refused re re- re- re fused to comply with a U. U N. N request request request re re- re- re quest for a truce Attacking Jewish Jewish Jewish Jew Jew- ish forces at all points the Arabs said they would not quit until the Jews s renounced their new state of Israel Meanwhile as victorious anah ag-anah troops troops' took over Acre 1 Egyptian planes intensified the air attack on Tel Aviv 2 and Arab troops enjoyed their greatest greatest greatest great great- est victories in Jerusalem 3 PAY HIKE New N Formula F When General Motors corporation averted a threatened strike of auto production workers by offering offering offering of of- fering an cent 11 raise based on a of living formula it probably set a precedent which will be followed followed followed fol fol- fol- fol lowed in settling other industrial labor disputes Under the agreement described as an entirely new approach to the living cost problem GM I production production production pro pro- workers get an cent 8 cost- cost of-living of increase and a cent 3 pay boost based on annual industrial efficiency improvement Terms provide that wages be adjusted adjusted adjusted ad ad- up or down dO each three months to conform with fluctuations fluctuations fluctuations in the consumer price index of the bureau of labor statistics It appeared to be a sound plan and one that might be followed to good advantage by other industries Biggest flaw in the scheme was the fact that General Motors might have to pass the of living raise on to the public which step might have the eventual effect of nullifying nullifying nullifying nullify nullify- ing the benefits of the raise to the workers Significance of this adjustable of living wage formula can be seen in a review of the rise in prices since 1940 The cost of living living living liv liv- ing today is 69 per cent higher than thanin in 1940 Using 1940 as a base year which is what GM and the United Auto Workers did in arriving at their agreement living agreement living costs now are at per cent Biggest jump in the steadily rising rising rising ris ris- ris- ris ing price pattern came after OPA collapsed in the summer of 1946 VOICE Belittling Voice of America broadcasts which have never received a full measure of congressional approval sank to an even lower level of disesteem because of a series of starred ill-starred programs beamed to Latin America last winter The scripts in ques question ion denounced by senators as sabotage slander and libel of the U. U S. S first attracted attention in March during house appropriation committee hearings on the Voice of America In the sample script that the committee wanted to look over were some ill- ill chosen remarks about Wyoming Stout hearted Wyoming congressmen congress congress- men shrieked in anguish Other scripts were examined and Sen Homer Capehart Rep Ind finally finally finally fin fin- ally aired the whole thing before the senate The legislators shuddered as they heard Capehart read from the scripts such excerpts as uN New ew England was founded by hypocrisy and Texas by sin Nevadas two main cities compete compete compete com com- pete with each other because people people peo pea pie get married in in Las Vegas and divorced in Reno The programs were handled by bythe bythe bythe the National Broadcasting Br company under contract with the state I department Rene Borgia the man mm who wrote the scripts was was was' fired fire and Alberto Gandero Borgias Borgia's supervisor supervisor supervisor su su- su- su resigned |