I
■
:
At Mid-Century* A Look Back
Standing four days past the mid point
of the Twentieth Century, we pause a
moment to look back before looking ahead.
YVe look back to see where we and this
country have been in our lifetimes, and
maybe from that we can better fell where
we are going.
At A&M we find two generations—the
generation whose minds were greatly in
fluenced in a war they helped fight, and
the generation whose minds have develop-
Vl ed and are developing without any konw-
,ledge of war other than newspaper ac
counts and newsreel shots 6f it. In both
generations, a parallel ^>f thinking is be
ing struck, and withm a few years their
separate ways^of thought will merge into
"one.- ‘i
Where have we been? How far back
does our memory go, a decade? Even a
decade past our memory grows hazy on
most points and few experiments remain
' yfykl. . • •
And even if our.: memory reaches fur-
" ther into the past, does it go beyond v 1933
when the Democrats gained power? Can
we, then, say we remember any political
movement other than one Democratically
inspired and Democratically led?-The
TVA’s, AAA’S, WPA’s, WAA's, PMA’s—
ill the alphabetical agencies that forebode
even stronger governmental paternalism
and control have fused themselves in our
way of thinking about government and
,the wayMfhis nation should be run.
The automobile, airplane, radio, tele
phone and the many services they and
allied equipment render are a part of the
only United States that we have ever
f known. ' '
We have gotten used
the atom bomb.
And we cannot remember a world
which there has not been war somewhere,
tb sleeping with
wars that; either threai
involved this nation.
How, then, can our
spond to talk of “the
Were “thq good old days
year before, five years
What of the clamor
curity? Our hearts still
the desire for individu;
terprise, but our grad
of employment with es
tions—security, not bui
selves. Is this weakm
actually
generations re
good old days”?
last year, the
ago, ten? When?
we hear for se-
have a bestige of
and free en-
seek positions
blished corpora-
esses for them-
, or is it being
smart?
To work eight hours j a day five days a
week and then go home! to enjoy life and
the family and a regular, definite salary,
is that better than struggling long hours
and on ^n uncertain income in a business
of your own?
“American Telephone and Telegraph
doesn’t sound very exciting,” commented
an American college graduate not long
ago, “but there’ll always be an AT&T.”
If th| pioneering frontiers of America
—geographical and industrial—have been
reached, then perhaps tlje natural steps to
follow are more goods produced by mush
rooming and cannibalistic corporations
and more Iservices rendered by also mush
rooming- and octopus-like governmental
bureaus.
That is the road which brings us to
the year 1950. To what worlds will that
road lead us beyond this mid-century
point ?
Lists of Those Who Voted “Right”
If you are a laborite, the CIO and the
AFL will give you a list of members of
the 81st Congress telling you whether
each member voted “right” or “wrong”
for labor. .
On the CIO box score, 14 senators and
111 representatives voted “right” by labor
fin 1949); three senators and 28 repre
sentatives consistently voted “wrong.”
According to the AFL, 20 senators and
116 representatives went the “right” way
for labor, five Senators and 62 representa
tives didn’t play ball for labor’s interests.
. -.The lists are by no means “black lists”,
Qr “Wrong” .
information to let laborites
know who jtheir friends are. Conversely,
anti-labor ites can use the list as instruc
tion on who their friends are.
Whether the labor vote has yet be
come stro ig enough in this country to give
the “kiss of defeat” to congressmen who
don’t top
up to the labpr union pressure
we’ll not know until after the fall elections
this ypar. Should labor’s voice be reflec
ted so strongly at the balloting booths
that they can “make” or “break” candi
dates tpisi country will be much farther
down, thje road to the total welfare state
than we lowimagine. j
i I . - •
Besides Doughnuts and Co|fee, Ne
^ A Red Cross man, not bound by Air
Force red tape and hush-hush except
through official channels, told reporters
in Tokyo the other day that reconnais
sance planes—believed to be Russian—
operate at will over Okinawa and even
take sneak peeks of the Ryuku Islands (in
the Japanese chain of islands).
Ft - ■- 1
Air Force officers said they were not
Tit liberty to comment on the Red Cross
man’s claims. In the past the Air Force
has denied such charges which have leaked
out through unofficial sources.
i
ws by the Red Cross
We welcome the Red Cross man’s
forthrightness in telling newsmen of this
condition which should bring some sort
of Ait Force reply. Whether true or not,
the effect, is fundamentally American in
that the citizen speaks his piece, and has
no fear of suppression ! py military auth-
orities.
We think it is a goo<jl;idea for civilians
to be around some of opr military opera
tions that aren’t top secret. Otherwise, we
would never know what Was going on un
less the news passed careful screening by
military Censors.
The Battalion
"Soldier', Statesman, Knightly Gentleman”
Lawrence Sullivan Ross, Founder of Aggie Traditions
News contributions may be made by telephone (4-5444) or at the edito
lloodwin Hall. Classified ads may be placed by telephone (4-5324) or at th|C
Office, Room 209, Goodwin Hall. I,
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City of College Station,' Texas, is published five times a week, and cii
irHrinv afternoon, except during holidays and. examination periods,
is published tri-weekly on Monday. Wednesday and Friday. J5i
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tarings
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*atkxiallr h? National Ad-
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PTT.T. mr.T.mGSLEY. C. C. MUNROE-
Clayton Salph. Lawla Burton,
Otto Kuaaa
John Whitmore
Charles Klrkham ._. • j-• • t'
. Acting Manactnc Editor
. wvr - .Editorial Boars Cnairmaa
George Chariton. Dean Read. 1
Clayton Salpl!* ••it• • • •
Emil Bunjea Jr. Dan Davia. Curtb Edwards, J. ,C. Valla.
Herscbel Kitts, Henry Lae our, B. F. Koland.
Jerry Zuber . . . , • • • Newa Writeds
Brad Hotmaa. Bill Hite., Hardy Rom. Joe
Trevino • - ■. ^5?*° ® n * r *’ r * T *
v Kvnneth Marak. Emmett Trent, Jack Brandt.
Jack Stansbury Cartoowats
Jim Beed 5 . . • Morgue Manager
V '
Omrm Coalttl
Chock
W.'T'co-ivi
John Tap]
Bob Alien.
Frank
Ban Brittain
A. W. Fredricl
Bill Po
ion. ;
lie. Roger Coelett. I
pley. John Whitmore
Harold Gann. Frank,
aa^aaaeSeaeew y • a
ck. Don Garrett; He
Hagens . - . .
Jim Hay. P
Howard
—.1 Hoover, Bob
?ietsch. John Stunt]
Co-Editors
....Feature Editor
•Sports Co-editon
tj«b Price,
Maaitiap,
Feature Writers
Sports Writers
rbert Gibb,.
i dv e rtiaing^ Repreaen taUvaa
BUI
. . Circulation Amfartanta
Letters To The Editor
(AU letters ta the editor which are
college and which do not contain obscene
HERE’E THE REASON WHY
Editor, The Battalion:
After reading Chuck Laakso’s
letter in The Batt on the 19th,
I would like to speak a few kind
words fpr the local girls; that is,
those who work foT the College,
since I cannot speak for the Bryan
girls.
Wc are somewhat in the same
shoes ah women school teachers.
You can’t win. If you arc friend
ly and speak to everyone, you are
a flirt. If you try to maintain a
little reserve, you arc a snob. 1
Again, I speak for myself," Itab.
I have been here for oyer two
years and only once during that
time has any student ever walked
up to me and introduced himself
or even had a mutual friend to in
troduce us.
I have never intentionally
“snubbed” anyone who has made
any effort to be friendly. As a mat
ter of fact, I have often started
out walking to- my office from the
North Gate and made a special ef
fort to speak to each and every one
I meet. Ordinarily, about half of
them return the gesture. After a
few days of that you begin to feel
as if perhaps you are pushing your
self on them.'
If we have appeared unfriendly
1950 Farm Prices
Going Downward
By Associated Press
WASHINGTON — Agriculture's
wartime and postwar boom in
prices virtually came to an end in
1949.
Nevertheless, farmers as a whole
still were prosperous—even highly
so when judged by the relatively
unfavorable standards of the '30s
when producers were plagued by
depressed prices, low incomes and
unmarketable surpluses.
Yet the year 1949 saw' agricul
ture lose a price advantage it had
enjoyed since late in 1941, the be
ginning of the war-inspired boom
for farm products.
Application of the legal stan
dard — parity — for measuring
farm prices shows quite clearly
what lias happened to agricul
ture. Parity prices are those
which, according to law, the
farmer must get In order to be
able to buy his fair share of
non-farm goods and services.
In the decade before the war,
farm prices averaged far below
the parity standard. In other
words, the farmer was at a price
disadvantage in dealing with oth
ers. i i j
But outbreak of the war in Eur
ope and this country’s eventual
entry into the conflict sent farm
prices skyrocketing. They reached
a record peak.of 33 per cent above
parity in October, 1946. In other
words, agriculture enjoyed a 33
per cent price advantage over oth
ers, judged by the parity measur
ing stick.
This big jump in farm prices was
accompanied by a similar increase
in farm income.
But farm prices started easing
off late in 1946 as world shortages
began to lessen and as domestic
production, no longer checked by
limited labor supplies and machin
ery. climbed to new heights.
A It per cent decline in prices
in 1949, added to decreases in
the two previous years, pulled
farm prices down to parity.
Thus, agriculture no longer en
joyed a price advantage.
The year 3 950 is likely to see
farm prices drop below the parity
level, thus again putting the farm
er at a buying disadvantage. Gov
ernment farm economists predict
agriculture prices in 1950 will av
erage about 10 per cent below the.
1949 average.
Naturally the lower prices have
reflected in a reduced farm income.
The agriculture department esti
mates farmers’ net income — the
amount .left after paying produc
tion expenses—at about 514,000,-
000,000 for 1949 com]
record of $18,000,1
The department also predicts
that net farm income in 1950 will
drift down to $12,000,000,000.
Despite the reduction in In
come. farm buying power still
in high In comparison with the
om pared with the
t,000,000 in 1947.
30’s, when returns dropped be
low $4,000,000,000. The differ
ence Is not as great as it might
seem by comparison of the fig
ures, however, because a dollar ’
in the ’30s would buy more than
today’s dollar.
Farm prices have dropped more
than have food prices. The rea
son for this is the fact that the
cost of transporting, processing
and distributing food has tended
to remain at peak levels. In fact,
freight rates have increased. Like
wise. wages in many processing
industries have increased.
Agriculture finds itself in about
the best financial position it has
occupied since the early twenties.
The agriculture department esti
mates agriculture's assets at about
$125,000,000,000. This is two per
cent above a year ago and more
than two and a third tipies the
prewar figure for -1940-
The big incomes of the war and
postwar years enabled farmers to
reduce a heavy burden of debt
accumulated during the difficult
years of the thirties. As a conse- ’
quence. they are in better posi- ’
tion to weatljer a period of reduced
prices than if their debts remained
high.
This does not mean to say,
however, that fanners face no'
financial problems. The pros
pect of a smaller income in 1950
indicates that they will have to
he more careful in their sepnd-
ing They will tend to buy some
what fewer automobiles, trac
tors, other machinery and house
hold furnishings.
They face also problems o f
changing production patterns.
Weakening foreign demands has
led the government to call upon
producers to grow less cotton,
wheat, peanuts, tobacco, and rice
next year.
Likewise the threat of costly
surpluses of such domestically used
crops as com, potatoes, flaxseed,
soybeans, and other grains has led
also to government pleas for re-,
duced volume of them.
The government is urging that
land taken out of. these crops be
put into grass, pasture and forage
crops for feeding meat and dairy
animals.
Hence, the situation points to
the possibility of further expansion
in the livestock industry, and indir
ectly in industries which process
and sell livestock products. The
government hopes that much of
this expansion will take place in
the south, a region heretofore
largely devoted to a cotton-econ
omy.
Official Notice
All pi grill': a! Ur ation major* who ex
pect to trAduate In June or during the
Summer please check your degree Man
with m before Saturday, January 7.
C. W. Landias
Physical Education Dept.
■■HMMiMsnMMMHHMHMaHianaHBnusiiWNi
•f: • i
Signed by a student or employee of the
' libelous material will be publWMd. Per
sons wishing to hove their names withheld from publication may request such action
and these names will not, without the consent of the writer, be divulged to any persona
other than the editors.)
to you, it is not our intentions.
Won’t you please telfvus where to
draw the line?
I’hylis Skhwarz
FIRE HAZARD
Editor, The Battalion:
It has been brought to the at
tention of the Fort Worth A&M
College Mother’s Club that fires
have been, made near the Aggie
Shelter House South of Fort Worth
on the Waco highway.
Wc \^ould like to ask all stu
dents using the Aggie Shelter
House to be very watchful about
fires. We realize that the shelter
isn’t warm, but it does provide
some shelter from tjhe weather.
Replacing i the shelter if it were
destroyed 'would be {diHi cu ^ "“t
only from expense of rebuilding,
but permission to rebuild might be
refused.
Would you please put a notice in
the Battalion so all Aggies may
know about this?
Sincerely yours, j
Mrs. George Tinslar
Corresponding Secretary
Fart Worth A&M Mother’s
Club.
•‘T '
T
•• r
i-
From Where I Sit
omwnereism * • •
:■ - H '—H - -:#• ! . i -
Jacques A bram Concert
Set For Thursday Night
1Y HERMAN C. GOLLOB ever since. / J.; , but as soloist with tl
Jacques Abram
ive Texan Jacques
by music' critics and
as one of
NaUve
bailed by
alike as one 'of the world’s"fore
most young pianists, will appear
in Guion Thursday night at eight
as Town Hall’s third attraction of
the year. if" T . ’
Abram strated off on a road to
becoming a concert pianist'when
he was only five. A visit to his
grandmothers home at /Lufk&i,
Texas, introduce 1 Jaques to the
piano for the first time, and the
two have been inseparable friends
‘Man of the Ye
Is Judge Medin
have extension pedals put on his
was ten, Jacques wali awarded a
scholarship to the Curtis Insti-
rn 'i,'™ I™
In 1838, after a situdy at the
Julliard Graduate School, which
he attended on fellowship, Jacques
won first pri*e of the annual
Federation of Music (Mum’eoatMV
and the Schubert Memorial Award
formal de-
pp r-
Soon after, he made h(s
By Associated Press
NEW YORK—Judge Harold R.
Medina, who presided at the year
long trial of 11 top U.S. Commun
ists, was ‘‘Man of the Year” for
1949. He has been so named by
vote of Associated Press newspa
per editors. ;
The court j drama started Jan.
17 and did not end until all defend
ants were sentenced Oct. 21, De
fense attorneys helped make head
lines by their disruptive tactics.
They kept the court in an uproar
day after day, refused to h e«d
warnings from the bench and, jin
the end, won Jail sentences fpr
contempt.
Judge Medina won headlines
early in the trial for his pdtienjee
in dealing with the lawyers. But
In one hectic session he had to
call a recess and retire to h) S
chambers for a ftw minutes to
calm his nerves.
It was not patience alone that
got attention for the judge, ft
was also his firmness In Insist
ing that no one, defendant or
attorney, would be permitted tb
benefit from disorder. Warn
ings .wan followed by action.
Inappropriate testimony was cut
off. Side remarks were strick
en from the record.
Before the trial, Medina had not
been widely known. When he
came to the federal bench ip 1947
he gave up a $100,000-a-year prac
tice for the $15,000 job. He was
known as a lawyer’s lawyer and
had written 15 books on federal
law. j- ;j. ,, j
When (he editors voted for the
leading men in Special categories,
they found that President Harry S.
Truman was first in politics; Dean
AcheSon, U. S. secretary of state,
led in foreign affairs; Philip Mur
ray was top man in labor; Henry
Ford II in industry: Vannevar
Bush, president Of Camegiej Insti
tution, wrs the leader in science.
In literature, Thomas Merton,: h
trappist monk and author of two
best-selling books, was chosen. Ez
io Pinza, opera basso turned musi
cal comedy star, got the nodi in eh-
tertainmeat, i .]
As head of the Democratic
party. President Truman watch
ed it shew new strength la the
1949 .elections. He had to deal
wrttJs; no spectacular political
problem* during the year. But
he did face some turbulent dis
putes between factions. Many
observers noted that the Presi
dent “sat on the Hd” without
major political disruptions.
1 * ‘ • * '
ACHESON promoted more
frankness in dealing with Russia
during the yean Sharp comments
on matters in the Russian sphere
and on (he cold war were com
mon. i
He took office as secretary of
state in; January. The Berlin
blockade ended In May. The year
also saw the Atlantic treaty com
pleted w;ith European countries
and later i Congress voted arms aid
for Europe.
MURRAY won his vote as head
the CIO and the steel
In steel he led the strike
that won company-paid pensions
for the meh. In the CIO Murray
led the ouster of left wing unions.
He also started a drive to replace
them with groups farther to the
right.
This year the Scotland-borm for-
mer miner was again
of the CIO, which he has led since
PALACE
Br^an 2’8$79
Thursday thru Saturday
“Doctor and
the Girl”
—with—
GLEN FORD j
Friday Prevue 11 P.M.
“Mrs. Mite”
QUEEN
w
SPECl
Saturday
BOB MOPE
“The GrJ
Lover”
ied head
_ Va o a 1
1940, .:P -Jl
FORD was forced to shut down
his plants briefly during the year
when the union struck because it
said the company had speeded up
assembly lines. But when time
came to talk over a new contxact,
Ford became the first bijf »mp|oy-
er to agree to a company-paid
pension plan. It was a similar
plan that was won by the steel
workers after a strike.
BUSH remained, in 1949, one of
the nation’s leading spokesmen for
science. He has been head of Car
negie since 1938 and has tried to
make it an agency to help coordi
nate U. 8. scientific work.
Trained as an electrical engineer,
he is also an inventor. He -Writes
on scientific subjects fnd his
speeches gql'iwide attention.
MERTON has written two best
selling books and many poems. The
first best seller was “The Seven
Storey Mountain.” The latest,
"Waters of Siloe,” came out in Oc
tober. Merton writes about his
faith and tells in simple language
of experiences which led him to
become a monk. He Ursa in a
Kentucky monastery. !, |_u-
PINZA has been popu
opera singer in the unit
since he wept to the Mi
Opera Company in
switched to musical coUt.^,
the opening of "South;; Pacific,’’
April 7, 1949. Here hi*! found a
new audience and more
but as soloist with the Philadel
phia Orchestra under Eugene Cjr-
irfandy in Philadelphia’s Academy
of Mpsic and then in New York’s
Thfen followed appearancea wjth
the New York Philharmonic-Sym
phony, the NBC Symphony, C^S
Symphonjy, and St. Louis, Chicago,
and Houston Symphony Orches
tras.; I
Abram’s brilliant Car
terrup
called
he siei
year*. Up
presented
Hall whicl
MOT
taq - in 1942 when] he wps
to service in the arhiy, whdro
he sierved for three and a half
ton his return in il948, he
a recital in Carnegie
1 which proved one of the mdst
gratifying musical - events of the
entire season. . J. /
After his Carnegie Hall program,
Abram made a natioivwidd touriof
this country, CanadaL and an ex
tensile tour in the summer of 1947
of Central and South! America. ;
er his American tour this ;
current season, which will include
appearances af. Carnegie Hull and
a nation-wide: broadcast with (lie
New York Philharmonic dymphoiiy,
Abriim will leave on 4 t°ur of
Europe and a return tour of South
America.
j. r* j
That one last fling before knuck
ling down to the inexorable grind
■of finals will be provided by Spike
Jones and his>City Slickers when
they bring their 1950 edition of the
Muaijcal Depreciation Rcvije ito
Guio|i Hall, Thursday, January 19,
for two performances, one at fliiG
p. m., the other at 9. ^.[1
Noted for their brash; and Isiis-
tcroijs song parodies, the Jones
ntion includes Doodles
1 Want For Christmas Is (dy
Two Froht'Teeth'D Weaver, Geoijge
Rockj. lovely Helen Ginyeo, Sir
Frederick Gas, Freddie and Dick
Morgan, Dr. Horatio Q. Bifd-
bath, the Slickerettcs, and an En
tire company of forty-four. ]
Students will be given prefer
ence on seats, as tickets to (he
two [performances will he sold;to
students only at the Student Ac
tivities office this week before (ic
ing released for general sales n*xt
week. Priced at $2.50, $1.80, mid
$1.25, the ducats represent the low
est tarrif collected for [ the soiig-
and-laugh-packed Jones 1 revue ‘ in
all hi* appearances in ij'exas.
gregntion
(’’All ‘ ‘
{ja/ripu
j '■ ■ ‘ •
TODAY THRU SATURDAY
+- FEATURE STARTS —
1 (00-7 £0-4 ;40-6:20-8 H'O-IO :00
FIRST RUN
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