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Show Released by Western Newspaper Union. FRANCE AT THE PEACE TABLE TWO WEEKS before the signing of the Armistice that ended World War I, on November 11, 1918, I had a brief and informal Interview with Clemenceau, the French premier. I had no prepared questions and was not then permitted to use anything he might say. One of the two or. three questions I asked was: "When the war ends, will France support President Wilson's announced an-nounced policies at the peace conference?" con-ference?" For just a moment his eyes flashed under those heavy brows and then he replied very quietly: "In this war France has suffered far more than any other nation. We will collect. The Boche will pay." At the peace table American idealism was to, and did, collide with French realism. France, more than America, dominated the peace conference. con-ference. Again American idealism will collide with European realism. This time it will not be France that will name the peace terms. This time it will be Russian realism that will dominate. Insofar as eastern Europe is concerned and eastern Asia, should Russia enter the war against Japan, Russia will stake the boundary lines. Self-preservation of Russia, not self-determination of peoples, will be the guiding factor. Russia will take back much of what she lost in the settlement of World War I and in the war with Poland. In that, It is my guess, she will have the support of England. Joseph Stalin is a realist. There will be no federation of small nations of eastern Europe to threaten the Russian Rus-sian bear. j WAR PLANT PAYROLLS AND INFLATION WORKERS IN WAR PLANTS are given increases in wages until their income is at least double that of normal times. They want to spend that increase but there is a decrease de-crease in the commodities they can buy. Such a condition causes inflation. in-flation. Abnormal wage scales have meant excessive prices for war products, a doubling up of the cost of war. That calls for Increased taxation and an increased issue of government bonds. The taxation and purchase of bonds have fallen hardest hard-est upon those who have not profited from increased wage scales in war plants or increased profits from the production of war necessities. The increased wages in war plants has thrown the whole economic machinery machin-ery out of gear and produced the conditions out of which inflation is born. The place to have controlled inflation was in the war plant payrolls. pay-rolls. HERE IS A MAN WHO KNOWS FARM PROBLEMS I do not believe there is any man in America who has a clearer conception con-ception of the big and little problems prob-lems of American agriculture than Wheeler McMillen. He knows the needs of the dirt farmer through having been one and he is still operating op-erating a farm of that character. As organizer and president of the Chemurgic council, he knows the future fu-ture possibilities of American agriculture. agri-culture. He has been directly instrumental in providing new uses for farm products. prod-ucts. His urge is for greater farm production and in that increased quantity he sees the future of Amer- ica. His value to the American farm is far greater than those who seek temporary makeshifts to Increase prices of farm products. His efforts ef-forts are to create Increased permanent perma-nent markets that will provide profitable prof-itable prices. He is a safe and practical prac-tical type for agriculture to follow. CIVILIAN ACTIVITIES IN GOVERNMENT SENATOR BYRD'S COMMITTEE tells us the increase in the number of civilian employees of the federal government in the first six months of 1943 amounted to something like 900,000 new names on the payroll, that, despite all the efforts of the committee to reduce the cost of the civilian activities of the government They say withholding appropriations does not accomplish the desired purpose pur-pose as the employees are simply transferred from the departments for which theire is no appropriation to others for which appropriations have been made, even though to do this economies must be made in other oth-er than personnel lines. It is to be regretted that congress cannot find a way of exchanging the white collars col-lars of government desk jobs for uniforms of the armed forces or the overalls of war production plants. Such an exchange would help to solve the manpower problem. THE LABOR RACKETEER may be able to force obedience to his dictates on the part of union members mem-bers in most things but there is one place where he falls down. He cannot can-not accompany the member into the voting booth, mark his ballot for him and deposit It in the ballot box. The American secret ballot still works. THERE ARE SO MANY "just as good" things offered us thnt we scarcely miss the tilings we cannot get |