I
Inflation slows... Wholesale price hike encouraging
WASHINGTON (AP) —
Wholesale prices in September ad
vanced at the slowest rate in 11
months, providing the Ford ad
ministration with its best economic
news since taking office.
The government’s Wholesale
Price Index, reported Thursday by
the Labor Department, rose an ad
justed one-tenth of a per cent last
month. In absolute terms, without
adjustment for seasonal influences,
the index actually declined one-
tenth of a per cent.
While the report was encourag
ing, consumers can expcet sharp in
creases in the cost of living over the
next few months as a result of the
near record July-August wholesale
price hikes which have yet to work
their way into retail.
The latest wholesale price report
also could prove to be a one-month
aberration since poor weather has
hurt fall grain harvests, which could
send farm prices climbing.
Farm prices, after substantial in
creases of about 7 per cent in each of
the last two months, dropped 2.8
per cent in September, and proces
sed foods and feeds declined 1.5 per
cent.
Combined, the agricultural
category fell an adjusted 1.9 per
cent at a level 8.8 per cent below a
year ago.
The rise in industrial prices, re
garded as a more sensitive barome
ter of inflationary trends, slowed to
1 per cent last month. It was the
smallest increase in such prices
since last October’s rise of eight-
tenths of a per cent.
Higher prices for machinery,
chemicals, metals, furniture and
household durables accounted for
much of the rise in industrial com
modities. Declines for livestock,
grains, oilseeds and manufactured
animal feeds were responsible for
r
Cbe Battalion
Vol. 68. No. 24
College Station, Texas
Friday, October 11,1974
the drop in agriculture prices.
The government’s Wholesale
Price Index stood at 167.2 in Sep
tember, or 19.7 per cent higher
than a year ago. Translated into dol
lars, that meant it cost $167.20 to
buy at wholesale goods that cost
$100 in 1967.
Over the past three months,
wholesale prices have risen at an
adjusted annual rate of 35.2 per
cent.
Consumer foods — those ready
for sale on supermarket shelves —
declined three-tenths of a per cent
in September, with beef and veal
accounting for most of the decline.
Fresh fruits and vegetables, pro
cessed poultry and dairy products
increased but the most spectacular
rise in food prices was for sugar and
confectionery, which rose 10.2 per
cent over the month to a level 117.6
per cent above last September’s fig
ure.
Automobile prices increased last
month instead of declining as usual
in September, while prices for
gasoline, shoes, clothing and bever
ages also increased. As a result, con
sumer nonfood finished goods were
up 1.2 per cent over the month.
Lumber and wood products de
clined for the fifth consecutive
month, a reflection in part of the
sluggish economy which has depre
ssed the construction industry.
The one-tenth of a per cent rise in
over-all wholesale prices was the
smallest increase since prices de
clined one-tenth of a per cent last
October. Wholesale prices rose 3.7
per cent in July and 3.9 per cent in
August.
Marketing professor
says grain dealing
by Ford timed badly
By CINDY TABER
Staff Writer
President Gerald Ford’s request
to cancel contracts with the Soviet
Union for the saleof3.4 million tons
of corn and wheat was ill-timed, a
TAMU grain marketing specialist
told “The Battalion Thursday.
Roland D. Smith of the Texas Ag
ricultural Extension Service said
because a major portion of grain and
corn is still in the field, “we don’t
know how much we 11 end up with at
harvest time. The contracts were
canceled before grain exporters
knew how much the U.S. could af
ford to export, said Smith.
Continental Grain Co. and Cook
Industries, Inc., the two American
companies making grain deals with
the Soviets, canceled their contracts
Saturday. Smith said, “I would like
to have seen them wait to export
only a portion of the contracted
grain until we had seen what type of
situation we were in. This could be
done, Smith said, because there was
no time limit on meeting the con
tracted grain specifications.
Smith said, however, it was es
sential to slow down wheat exporta
tion until wheat availability could be
predicted.
“I believe the major reason for
President Ford’s decision to halt the
contracts was that Agriculture Sec
retary Earl L. Butz had asked the
wheat dealers to wait on making the
contracts and they didn’t,” Smith
said.
Smith added that Ford probably
requested to halt the grain ship-
Tomorrow
marks Ag
dedication
Groundbreaking ceremonies for
Texas A&M University’s proposed
West Campus agricultural complex
have been moved to 9 a. m. Satur
day, (Oct. 12) as Agriculture Day is
observed by the university.
The ceremonies marking the offi
cial start of the West Campus de
velopment were set originally for 11
a.m., but were changed to 9 a.m.
when the starting time for the Texas
A&M-Texas Tech football game was
set for 12 noon.
Agricultural displays wfll be open
to the public through the morning at
the J Earl Rudder Center and the
West Campus site.
ments because he knew a majority
of the American people were dis
pleased with the 1972 wheat deal.
Ford also knew the market would
overreact and food prices would in
crease if the contracts were com
pleted, Smith said.
“I think what Ford is trying to do
is keep the export doors open to
regular grain purchasers, like Japan
and West Germany. Russia is not a
regular customer and shouldn’t get
the same treatment,” Smith said.
What worries Smith the most, he
said, is the psychological aspect of,
the proposed export control plan.
Under this plan export orders of
50,000 metric tons of grain or more
in any one day to a single country
will require prior government
clearance. A firm could be denied
the right to make that export if it
hurts the current American grain
market.
“I think we should allow the mar
ket to work,” he said. Smith said if
Collision
injures
student
A two-car collision near
Caldwell Thursday morning
killed three persons and
sent a TAMU student and a
Caldwell man to Scott &
White Hospital in Temple.
James Douglas Klotz, 19,
of Taylor, a freshman chem
ical engineering student,
was in serious condition in
the intensive care unit
Thursday night, said a hos
pital spokesman. He was
admitted with critical head,
neck and internal injuries.
Jimmy Broaddus, 38, of
Caldwell, remained in seri
ous condition Thursday
evening.
Killed were Charles Ed
ward Telg, 36, Ernest
Moravec, 45, and Warren
H. Ginzel, 47, all Caldwell
residents.
Department of Public
Safety investigators said the
crash occurred about 7 miles
north of Caldwell on High
way 36 at 6:45 a.m.
high grain prices continue, the in
centive will be there for farmers to
plant. “This will get the supply up
and will lower prices.”
“I anticipate that from now until
1975 we ll have to live with this
prior clearance’ system. Hopefully
by 1975 we can go back to the export
reporting system we were under
prior to the past weekend,” Smith
said.
Since grain prices depend heavily
on the export market, Smith said,
the price situation for grain produc
ers would be better if the grain
shipments hadn’t been postponed.
Prices, however, which dropped
sharply immediately after the grain
embargo announcement, advanced
Tuesday and Wednesday to the
level prior to the announcement.
Concerning a solution for the
grain shortage problem. Dr.
Donald E. Farris, professor and
leader of research in the depart
ment of Agricultural Economics,
said, “We ll just have to wait until
next year.” He said the grain situa
tion will begin getting back to nor
mal, provided there is not wide
spread drought.
Farmers ask aid
SHOOTING HALFTIME entertainment must be done by a special crew from ABC days before Saturday’s game. Luke
Pearyman and Gary Pickle take pictures for the program from a 1942 A&M yearbook. (Photo by David Kimmel)
Briscoe attempts to stop slaughter
HOUSTON (AP) — Central
Texas dairymen asked Gov. Dolph
Briscoe for assistance Thursday in
stopping next Wednesday’s
scheduled slaughter of hundreds of
calves as a protest against economic
conditions.
“We told the governor we will
have to have action by Monday or
Tuesday or it will be too late,” said
James Traweek, president of the
Crosstimbers Beef and Dairy As
sociation of Stephenville.
Briscoe said he immediately tele
phoned U. S. Rep. W. R. Poage,
D-Tex., chairman of the House Ag
riculture Committee.
“Congressman Poage will see
Secretary of Agriculture Earl Butz
on Friday and request that a top
official from the department come
to Texas and meet with dairy and
beef producers late this week or
early next week,” Briscoe said.
“I think it would be a very bad
mistake to kill the cattle and waste
the meat, and I told the dairymen
so.”
The calf slaughter originally was
scheduled Oct. 2 but Texas Agricul
ture Commissioner John C. White
negotiated a two-week moratorium
with the 400 dairymen and ran
chers.
In addition to Briscoe, Traweek
and White, those participating in
Thursday’s conference were Jack
Reyer, Stephenville dairyman on
whose range some 800 calves, many
of them dairy bulls are scheduled to
be shot and buried, Bill Irwin, pres
ident of the Stephenville Produc
tion Credit Corp. and Joe Gore,
Comanche diaryman.
“We don’t want to kill but we had
to take a dramatic action to get at
tention,” Traweek said.
“Hopefully we can get someone
to Stephenville to convince the pro
ducers this is not the right ap
proach.
“If something positive doesn’t
happen, I don’t think I can get the
slaughter stopped, ” he added. “And
other states such as Oklahoma, Mis
souri, Colorado and Wisconsin, are
talking about similar protests. It
could end up like dominoes.”
Traweek offered no solution but
said the real problem is the high cost
of food and low beef prices.
“If food prices were in line with
beef prices, we could live with it,”
he said.
“It’s a big poker game right now
and if the government doesn’t call
our hand, the government will loose
some chips and we will too.”
Traweek said he has opposed the
slaughter from the start.
“My idea at first was to have
dramatized the situation by taking a
bunch of calves to Houston, Dallas,
or Fort Worth and just turn them
loose,” he said.
White said he arranged the meet
ing with Briscoe and brought the
dairymen to Houston.
“They are having a meeting Fri
day in Stephenville to discuss the
situation,” White said.
“I am absolutely opposed to kil
ling calves. That is no solution to a
desperate problem. On the other
hand there is no law against killing
your own calves.”
British election gives Labor
Party control of government
Campaign reform passes
Signing by Ford indefinite
LONDON (AP) — Prime Minis
ter Harold Wilson’s Labor party has
won Britain’s general election with
an assured majority in the next
House of Commons, official returns
showed today.
Wilson’s Laborites won at least
318 seats, the magic number for an
over-all majority in the
635-member House of Commons.
Computer projections by the
British Broadcasting Corp. pre
dicted Labor would end up with an
over-all majority of five seats when
the final result is known later today
or early Saturday.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Con
gress completed action Thursday on
a Watergate-triggered election bill
designed to reduce the influence of
special interests and control the
flow of campaign money.
The bill, sent to President Ford
for his signature by a vote of 365-24
in the House, would finance the
1976 presidential election and
nominating conventions with public
funds.
It would also apply strict limits to
the amount of money candidates for
president and Congress can spend,
and on the contributions individuals
and organizations can make to their
campaigns.
At the White House, Press Sec
retary Ron Nessen said “no final de
cision has been made by the Presi
dent whether he will sign it or not.”
He said Congress had removed or
softened some of the provisions
which Ford had objected to and
thus “improved chances the Presi
dent will sign the bill.”
The maximum any individual
could contribute would be $1,000 to
any one candidate and a total of
$25,000 for all candidates, with no
cash contributions over $100 al
lowed.
For the first time, a Federal Elec
tion Commission would be estab
lished to administer the new rules,
with the power to enforce them
through the court action.
Rep. Wayne Hays, D-Ohio,
House manager of the bill, said if its
spending and contribution limits
had been in effect two years ago
“Watergate never would have hap
pened. ”
Rep. Bill Frenzel, R-Minn., the
Republican manager, called the bill
“a clear message to the American
people that Congress is concerned
about the need to restore confi
dence in our system of govern
ment.”
The major innovation in the bill is
thepublic financing of the presiden
tial nominating and election pro
cess. The money — up to a max
imum of $20 million for each major
party candidate in the November
election — would come from the
voluntary $1 check-off on federal in
come taxes that has been in effect for
the past two years.
As of last July 1 the fund had
about $29.5 million in it, and with
two more years to accumulate it is
expected to be large enough to meet
the demands.
Candidates of minor parties that
received at least five per cent of the
national vote in the preceding elec
tion would be eligible for partial
funding based on the percentage
they did receive, and those that'get
at least five per cent in the 1976
election could get partial reim
bursement of their expenses.
In presidential primaries, a can
didate who raised $5,000 from each
of 20 states could have that $ 100,000
matched by money from the
check-off fund. Up to $250 of each
subsequent contribution would also
be matched.
Spending on presidential
primaries, from whatever source,
would be limited to $10 million and
a candidate could not spend more in
any state than twice the amount
permitted a U. S. Senate candidate
in that state. For the New Hamp
shire primary that would be
$200,000; for California’s, $2.3 mill
ion.
The check-off fund would also be
tapped to provide $2 million for
each major party national conven
tion in presidential election years.
A light voter turnout was re
ported, although party leaders had
called this the country’s most criti
cal election since World War II.
There are about 40 million eligible
voters.
Both major parties campaigned
mainly on inflation and other
economic problems. Britain has an
annual inflation rate of 16.9 per cent
and.expects this year a foreign trade
deficit of $10 billion.
Labor also has pledged to call for
elections within a year on whether
Britain should remain in the Com
mon Market.
Today
\Today in the Batt
Sports pullout p. 3
County court p. 7
OPAS p. 8
Weather
Fair to partly cloudy Fri
day and Saturday. High
both days in mid-80’s. Low
tonight 62°. South-
southeasterly winds 10-14
mph.
Wilson generally has advocated
bringing Britain closer to the Un
ited States rather than swinging
sharply toward Europe.
Britain entered the European
economic alliance under Heath’s
Conservatives, and Labor has all
along said that unless better terms
are agreed upon Britain should pull
out.
To solve Britain’s economic prob
lems, Wilson contended that radical
leftist-oriented measures were
needed. He said opposition parties
have frustrated his efforts to enact
such legislation since he formed his
minority government.
Political observers predicted that
Thursday’s vote will open the way
for Labor to push through measures
like a tax-the-rich proposal aimed at
families worth more than $250,000
and nationalization of some private
industries. In return, Labor has
pledged to try to make unions exer
cise voluntary restraint in wage de
mands.
Altogether 2,252 candidates con
tested 635 seats in the House of
Commons.
In Britain’s last election Feb. 28,
' Wilson came out on top ousting
Heath’s four-year-old administra
tion. But his party won only 298
seats in the Commons and failed to
gain over-all command — a
minimum 318 seats. He suffered
several defeats, and this led him to
call for a new and stronger mandate.
In the last Parliament two Labor
strongholds were vacant because of
deaths. The Conservatives held
296, Liberals 15, and other parties
held the remainder.