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Show Washington, I. C. FOOD AND PAY-AS-YOU-GO Although food was supposed to be the chief topic of discussion at the recent White House conference with farm leaders, actually Foodczar Chester Davis did his best to sell the President on pay-as-you-go taxation. taxa-tion. He proposed it as an anti-inflation anti-inflation measure to drain off surplus income and ease the work of income tax payment on the average citizen. "We have simply got to come to it, Mr. President," argued the food chief. "It was unfortunate that pay-as-you-go taxes were given a black eye by the Ruml plan. But pay-as-you-go taxes should go hand in hand with-rationing to prevent overspending." The President didn't commit himself him-self definitely, but indicated that he would favor a pay-go plan if windfalls wind-falls to the wealthy, as provided for in the Ruml plan, were completely eliminated. Ed O'Neal, president of the Farm Bureau federation, and Ezra T. Benson, Ben-son, executive secretary of the National Na-tional Council of Farmer Co-operatives, also took up the cudgels, O'Neal contending that taxpayers wouldn't be able to meet next year's assessments unless the pay-as-you-go plan or forced saving were adopted. G.O.P. Watching Chances. "I've made a poll of taxicab drivers driv-ers and they are all for it," said O'Neal. "The great majority of the American people feel the same way. ?'hey are against windfalls but they eel they won't have enough money to pay their income tax payment next year. If the administration doesn't take some action on this, the Republicans will steal the ball from you." I "That's right, Mr. President," chimed in Benson. "The farmers In my organization are overwhelmingly overwhelm-ingly for a pay-as-you-go tax program. pro-gram. I think labor is, too." "Maybe you're right," responded the President. "Chester (to Davis), I suggest that you talk this over with congressional leaders." The conversation then turned to farm distribution and the President drew on his own experience as a farmer to illustrate the difficulty "little farmers" are having getting their crops to market. "I used to raise 100 barrels of apples ap-ples every year on my Dutchess county farm in New York," the President said. "I also raise some apples on my land in Georgia." Apple Competition. The President grinned to Albert Goss, master of the National Grange who hails from Washington, the biggest big-gest apple-producing state in the country: "I'd stack my apples up against those you produce in Washington Wash-ington any day." "You're getting out of your class, Mr. President," smiled Goss. "Have you ever eaten a Delicious?" "You win, Albert," chuckled the President, "but the point I am trying try-ing to make is this little farmers like myself, and the same goes for all other farmers who don't have the advantage of co-operatives, have encountered a lot of difficulty marketing their crops and getting their money since the war began because of the transportation problem prob-lem and other factors." "Don't you think the government should step in and buy up apples and other products that have been running run-ning into distribution troubles and store them in the warehouses?" the President asked Goss. "It would take a lot off the market and help many little farmers who are hard up for cash." Helping Little Farmer. "I don't agree with you, Mr. President," Pres-ident," replied Goss. "I think the way to protect the little farmers is by continuing the agriculture department de-partment 'support price' program. Farmers can get along if they are assured that they can get fair prices and a decent break on priorities for machinery to produce their crops. I don't think the government should buy up and sell farm products when there is no necessity for it." The President meditated for a moment mo-ment and replied: "I guess you're right at that." The meeting also thrashed out the question of price ceilings, Ed O'Neal of the Farm Bureau and Albert Goss of the Grange contending that if rationing ra-tioning were tight enough it wouldn't be necessary to have price ceilings, that rationing would automatically take care of prices. Justice Byrnes, Chester Davis and Jim Patton of the Farmers Union argued to the contrary. The President decided with them. His order shortly thereafter putting put-ting price ceilings on almost everything every-thing was the chief result of the meeting. MERRY-GO-ROUND C Ambassador John G. Winant has provided an apartment in London for six American soldiers wounded in action with the British Eighth army in Egypt. Three are Harvard men, three from Dartmouth. The six graduated grad-uated as the top six in a British officers training school before going go-ing to Egypt with the British 60th regiment. This is the famous regiment regi-ment which in Revolutionary times was withdrawn from action in America Amer-ica because it was too friendly to the colonial cause. |