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Show SCANNING THE WEEK'S NEWS of Main Street and the World Administration's Foreign Aid Program Faces Fight in Congress AID TO ALLIES Although President Truman and Secretary of State Acheson took to the radio and television in an attempt to gain public support for the administration's $7,900,000,000 program for military and economic aid to our allies, the program faces a bitter test before a money-conscious money-conscious congress. The administration feels that the $7,900,000,000 represents a figure that has already been cut to the extreme and has decided to fight any further cuts. Congress, on the other hand, which is considering the largest "peacetime" budget in the nation's history, must find some way to cut the budget and thus reduce deficit spending. An increase in taxes in an election year, which would be necessary if the budget is not slashed, is an unheard of thing. As a result, one of the items that must be cut, from the congressional viewpoint, is foreign aid. In view of the fact that the United States is attempting to build up a European army, it is unlikely that military aid will be reduced. That leaves the $2,000,000,000 for economic aid. There is strong sentiment in congress for eliminating this item entirely. Aside from the money angle, congressional reaction to the program will be of importance in that military mili-tary and economic assistance to nations standing up to Soviet communism is a cornerstone of the administration's foreign policy. An important fact in the coming congressional battle over foreign aid is the fact it is not drawn along strict party lines. A number of Democrats, Demo-crats, as well as Republicans, have announced themselves in favor of a great slash in foreign aid funds, some as much as 50 per cent. POLITICAL NEWS Sen. Richard B. RusseU of Georgia has announced an-nounced he will seek the Democratic presidential nomination. But the senator did not plunge deeply enough into the political pool to suit the bitter anti-Truman wing of southern Democrats. He refused to let himself be regarded as the center of an anti-Truman Democratic rebellion should the President Presi-dent be nominated again. He insists that Truman will not be a candidate for reelection, reelec-tion, but admitted he had no facts or information upon which to base his belief. Russell was firm about one thing. "So far as I can see I will support the Demo- Sen (H h h u cratic nominee, he said, , , - . , ,i . . , ' .. ireorge, also of Georgia. but I would not commit myself my-self to support a candidate or a platform injurious to the United States." U.M.T. BILL By sending the administration-backed universal military mili-tary training bill back to committee, the house virtually wiped out any chance of the measure getting through congress this year. The subject of bitter debate in the house, and just as warmly debated in the home towns of the country, the measure would have made able-bodied able-bodied youths liable to six months' military training as soon as they reached 18. In addition, it would have kept them in the reserves, and subject to recall, for IVt years after their training was finished. The bill's defeat can be attributed to strong opposition by a number of church, farm, educational, and other organizations. President Truman and most military leaders, including Gen. Eisenhower, had endorsed the measure. The house vote to return the measure to committee will probably sidetrack any action on such a measure in the senate. The measure, however, will come up again. How soon it will be enacted depends a great deal upon how soon the American public becomes educated to the Idea. KOREA ttussia appears so determined to be one ol the "neutral" nations to police a Korean truce that it may wreck the peace talks. This, and the insistence of the Communists that all prisoners of war be returned re-turned regardless of their wishes in the matter, have brought the talks to a standstill and what appears a final deadlock. As for the first demand, an Allied officer recently told the Reds: "I now tell you formally, unequivocally and with the fullest authorization that the U.N. command's decision to reject the Soviet Union as a member mem-ber of the neutral nation supervisory commission is final and irrevocable. irrevoca-ble. Further debate on this subject is completely futile." On the prisoner issue, Allied negotiators have been equally firm. They told the Communists there was "no possibility" they would ever agree to deliver prisoners who had to be forced to return to Communist territory. These exchanges have increased the atmosphere of distrust and bitterness which has surrounded the talks for months. As for the peace, it seems as far from becoming a fact as the day the talks began. There have been hints that a new offensive will be launched if the peace talks collapse. UNEMPLOYMENT Although unemployment in the United States as a whole is near a record low, the nation is faced with a serious unemployment un-employment problem. The problem is caused by the fact the unemployment unemploy-ment is centered in a number of definite areas while the country is in the midst of general prosperity. As an example, Detroit has had a high rate of unemployment for a considerable period of time, due chiefly to curbs on materials for consumer con-sumer goods, in this case automobiles. According to a government agency, total unemployment in the country coun-try is about 2,100,000. Spread evenly across the country the figure would cause no concern. However, they are in pools that dot the map, most of them in the east, a few in the midwest. How to remedy the situation is a problem now under study by the Department of Labor. The department will attempt to find long-term answers for these high unemployment areas, many of which are small towns whose economy is based on coal and textile industries. Si;' v ,'-:-'v'..- .y ... :r'.,::.:' j V ..v, r : .;. ' b, iv;:-;.; -.-,4 ";::-Lj:-,.srt:j.;:fi''-. Vg-;;i-t:iij!; S -! Jf 5 The Marine Corps demonstrates its new nylon bullet-resistant body armor which is worn by Leathernecks on patrol in Korea. Primary purpose of the 8-pound jacket, which will stop a .45 caliber bullet, is to guard against fragmentation ammunition, the cause of 70 per cent of all combat casualties. |