Show WEEKLY NEWS ANALYSIS weigh Tr political fate after labor crisis U S agrees to aid in french reconstruction EDITORS NOTE when opinions r re expressed is in these columns they t r re those of western newspaper union ll 11 news analysts sad and not necessarily of this tan newspaper WHITE HOUSE president s status td d the welter of climaxed by the great railroad and coal strikes strike S the political ic a I 1 status of harry S truman president of the U S remained clouded inheriting a thankless task from the late franklin D roosevelt the onetime one time missouri farm boy whom A F whitney of the railroad trainmen lashed as a political accident seemed to have reached a crisis in his public life in the railroad strike with reaction still mixed only time would tell the effects an avalanche of telegrams from average americans commending him for his courageous action in the railroad strike were partly offset by the bitter denunciations of the rail rol k chief declaring t tt we ye president had led him and aimley johnston of the locomotive engineers into believing that they could expect substantial concessions ces if they postponed their walkout whitney said they had been double crossed and 2 million e alt members of white house 11 ouse secretarial staff pore over flood of telegrams complimenting president truman on strike action dollars would be spent in trying to d de A 4 mr truman in 1948 ed with the breaking of the strike was the passage of restrictive labor legislation which tended to further complicate mr Tr position with strong sentiment for such legislation in and out of congress the president stood to lose much of the popularity he gained in getting the trains going by bucking labor regulation while he was faced with the potent disfavor of unionists if he approved it meanwhile settlement of the soft coal strike on terms favorable to the united mine workers promised to increase the prestige of john L lewis whose clever handling of the walkout enabled him to escape presidential ident ial censure with his hard bard won health and welfare fund burly john L at 66 took a front position in th theil on the eve of its great drive in the south in competition with the CIO FRANCE big loan having helped france in wresting its freedom on the battled battlefield beld the U S committed itself to assisting the liberated country in peacetime reconstruction with the advance of a loan and credit from the export import bank clim climaxing g 11 weeks of negotiations between the two countries the agreement provides for a cash loan of and a credit of for title to lend lease material shipped after the war and U S surplus property further discussions cus are being held over an additional credit lor for acquisition of tons of merchant shipping under the easy terms of the agreement no principal payments will be expected for the first five years but interest of 3 per cent on the loan and 2 per cent on the credit will start next july beginning in 1951 the loan is to be paid in 20 annual installments and the credit in 25 included in the agreement was U S payment of to satisfy all claims and obligations arising from operation disposal and loss of french vessels under american control during the war FOREIGN AFFAIRS U S russ clash stung by Fo foreign commissar mo lotous charges that the U S and britain had united at the paris conference to thwart russian demands and seek to high pressure moscow into acceptance of their views secretary ot of state byrnes disputed the allegations and questioned the sincerity of the accusations vs charges were contained in in a lengthy article in the communist party paper pravda as an official review of the recent paris parley among other things he belabored certain circles in the U S and britain for seeking to throttle russia warned imperialists in the west are instigating new and aggressive gres sive wars questioned U S intentions tent ions for building a base in iceland and asserted that U S proposals for a 25 year demilitarization pact for germany did not bear approval as claimed because they were incomplete hitting back at molotov with diplomatic nicety byrnes denied the existence of any U S and british bloc and declared that U S plans to appeal to the united nations organization for a peace conference did not constitute pressure tactics but merely a willingness to submit issues to world opinion passing over vs castigation of western imperialists byrnes bymes went on to assert that a U S b se in iceland was designed for security reasons alone and could be eventually turned over to the U N regarding U S proposals for a 25 year demilitarization pact for germany byrnes averred that stalin had assured him he would support such plans if they were presented formally though the open differences between the U S and russia clouded prospects for next months meeting of the foreign ministers secretary byrnes hoped that a calm examination of the issues would lead to grounds tor for settlement PAN AMERICA joint defense in testifying in behalf of president Tr plan for helping arm and organize south american countries and canada in a grand defense system general of the army eisenhower Elsen hower and fleet admiral nimitz told a congressional committee that hemispheric solidarity would discourage aggressive designs against this part of the world stressing the need for standardization of equipment among the pan american nations the military and naval chieftains declared that a similarity of weapons and tactics would simplify a common defense in case of attack unless the U S provided the arms they said the different countries would look elsewhere for material visualizing a joint naval task force of pan american nations operating under a unified command nimitz revealed the U S would give each country sufficient vessels to protect their own coastal waters to come from the U S s surplus of naval ships it was believed the craft would be of the small escort or destroyer classes DAIRY PRODUCTS ott on rise even higher prices for dairy products than recent increases granted to spur output were predicted by stabilization director bowles if congress approves of a sharp cut in in subsidy payments As a result of less stringent reductions duct ions bowles approved of a boost of 1 cent a quart for milk 11 cents a pound for butter and 6 cents for cheddar cheese but he said a bigger slash in subsidies would lead to an increase of 3 cents in a quart of milk and bring butter up to as much as 80 cents a pound the boosting of prices in the face of subsidy reductions would cost consumers a year bowles said thus consumers would pay directly for increased prices designed to assure producers of fair returns instead of having the higher costs spread to all taxpayers through government 0 outlays U alays meanwhile representatives of the american butter institute declared that although an increase in butter production could be expected from higher producer returns and a ban on the sale of whipping cream restoration to of a free market was essential tor for output sufficient to meet the large demand the ban on the sale of whipping cream was one of a series of orders linked with the price readjustments to balance production of dairy products agriculture export future although live five years will be required tor for full ull restoration of agriculture in europe surplus producing countries including the U S must keep in mind the time when Eu ropes present acute need for imports will have subsided drastic measures of international scope then will be necessary to expand greatly the purchasing power of importing countries so as to maintain trade at high levels just as after world war 1 I europe Is again in a stage of demand at any price according to the USDA at that time european imports were larger than they were before the war and continued to increase tor for several years despite the much greater severity and territory affected by world war II 11 the decline in the total volume of european agricultural production during this war 1939 through 1945 was not much greater than the decline of slightly over 25 per cent which took place during world war 1 I 1914 through 1919 cotton crop world cotton production in 1945 46 ot of the crop now being marketed is estimated at 50 bales of pounds net according to the department ot of agriculture this is the smallest world crop since 1923 24 and represents a reduction of 12 per cent from the 1941 1944 45 production and of 30 per cent from the five year 1935 39 average the reduction is due mainly to the smaller production in the U S this seasons total foreign production on the other hand shows a slight increase compared with 1944 45 being estimated at bales against bales the year before total foreign production however was substantially below the 5 year average of bales production in india during 1945 46 was reduced because of the continued need for using land for food crops the crop there being estimated at bales compared with bales the year before and with the five year average of bales FLOOD takes toll swollen by continuous rains the susquehanna river swirled through pennsylvania and southern new york overflowing its banks and cracking reinforced dikes to cause heavy losses of life and property in the sections most serious flood in 10 years valuable farm land was inundated and industrial centers were under water with williams port pa and elmira N y especially hit hard williamsport William sport with its population lay helpless as the river rose over eight feet above flood level and one third of elmira with its people was under five feet of water with all roads but one closed at athens pa the susquehanna crashed a reinforced 23 foot dike to cover the entire business section and while the levee held at wilkes barre pa lowlands in the nearby wyoming valley were flooded JAPAN draft reconstruction even as japanese workers rallied tor for immediate delivery of delayed rice rations and removal of officials the new central government worked feverishly along the agricultural industrial and political fronts to speed reconstruction in agriculture the government strove to provide fertilizers as the first step toward increasing short food supplies in industry proposals were shaped for the decentralization of japanese production and the encouragement coura gement of craftsmanship through small enterprises pointing to the count rys population of 73 million commerce minister hoshijima declared that laborsaving labor saving methods were unnecessary and the slack in employment could be taken up by increased handiwork in politics plans were drafted for a million dollar public works program designed to provide employment for jobless FIRE LOSSES show increase annual fire losses in the united states increased to the highest level in 15 years during 1945 reaching the national board of fire underwriters reported this figure is 6 per cent greater than the national boards preliminary estimate of based on monthly reports ot of incurred losses of member companies and confirms the upward trend indicated by that compilation it also is per cent over 1944 incendiary fires have contributed materially to the mounting fire losses because an increasing number of fires have been set by irresponsible persons the board said many fires some in a series have been set by juveniles 50 per cent of the incendiary fires in the past year on the pacific coast being set by young people on the other hand fires for profit have decreased it was said since the end of the war prices of personal property and of buildings have continued to move upward and such fires as have had profit for a motive have been confined to cases where the circumstances were very unusual and have been very few in number T I 1 ABOR test law dapper little james casear petrillo who laid aside a trumpet to become czar of the american federation of musicians struck out to test the legality of the lea act passed in the midst of the efforts to compel radio stations to hire standby performers when using recordings or transcriptions though the act provides for up to one years imprisonment and a 1000 fine for each attempt to force employment of extra help natty little jimmy called the strike at station in chicago only after exhaustive consultations with attorneys had convinced him of the questionability of the law in running the risk of being found guilty of violation in event of the law being upheld he bravely exclaimed 1 I am ready to face the music declaring that the was committed to all out opposition of the law until the supreme court adjudged its constitutionality petrillo said the act penalized members tor for seeking to obtain fair working conditions and assuring the continued existence of the union FARM ACCIDENTS going up farm resident deaths from accidents increased 8 per cent in 1945 compared with 1944 and are in line with an anticipated general rise in fa farm rm accidents durino during the next few years the accidental deaths and nonfatal injuries among american farm people represent the highest toll since 1942 farm home accidents took the greatest toll with deaths compared to in 1944 there were nonfatal injuries released bv western newspaper |