I DITOfelALPAGE
La Grande Evening Observer
Frank Schiro,
WKDMJSIJAY KVIiMMJ, Jl'f.Y JS. 191."
A Choice He Can
EVENING OBSERVER'S
PROGRESS PROGRAM
IRRIGATION Complete the Grande
Ronde Valley irrigation project!
LA GRANDE A city of 10,000
Extend the city limits.
THOUGHT FOR TODAY
And Satan trembles when he .sees the
weakest saint upon his knees. Cowper.
The Strike Weapon
Harry Iiridsfes, the powerful and un
j.redietalile west .coast labor leader, is
quoted as saying that the strike wea
pon is no tanner effective in the United
Slates.
Probably Ml. I'.rid.ues is not the only
high-up unionist who has reached that
conclusion, though no others have ex
pressed themselves with such flat fin
ality. And, whether or not the Austra
lian head of the longshoremen's union
made his statements with mental reser
vations, there is abundant evidence to
support it.
It was inevitable public opinion should
turn against strikes and strikers in war
industries. Responsibility for work stoi
pages which cost time and lives was
usualy fixed on local officials and local
lot'iiibirshop. Most nf the top union
officials condemned strikes in their own
domains.
Nevertheless, the whole union move
ment has suffered .some loss of public
esteem. And the result of these viola
tions of the wartime no-strike pledge
may be evident in the days of peace
to come.
Some weapons should le handled
Funny Ilusiness
- wWrfg
"He' going ritiy lie (loops only on uj ol
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tfui!:;?! , s , . WlhL -fowl
Publiaher
I'ujje Two
No Longer Avoid
carefully and used only on the strongest
provocation. The strike is one of them.
It is a legitimate weapon in the hands
of responsible persons who use it as a
last resort in enforcing just demands.
No fair-minded person would deny labor
the use of it under such circumstances.
I!ut too many war-work 'stoppages '
have seemed to be strikes for strikes'
sake. Too many have arisen from im
patience, not from intolerable and insol
uble situations. Too many have be
trayed a lack of sympathy with the
orderly, civilized processes of discus
sion, arbitration and compromise. Too
many have smacked of s enseless class
war in the midst of tragic conflict.
Tliero is little doubt that the strikers'
.short-sighted impatience has led the
foes of unionism to provoke further
stoppages in an attempt to inflame pub
lic indignation. This baiting and goad
ing has worked, even though wise labor
leaders have urged their membership
to endure these provocations clamly and
present them for public judgment in a
dignified manner.
Thus wartime strikers have not so
much destroyed the weapon's effective
ness as they have turned the weapon
i'gainst labor itself. They have caused
themselves loss of time and wages and
public respect. l!y flourishing the wea
pon indiscriminately they have suc
ceeded in boring or angering a great
many, and frightening no one.
Mr. Bridges counsels labor that a
newer and better weapon is political
action. This advice comes from a man
who has tried both violence and suavity,
and has noted the results.
SO THEY SAY
The nmtnl nations charter is
both a h'.ndint; agreement lo pre
serve peace and In advance hu
inan progress and constitutional
machinery by which nations can
co-operate tn realize these pur
poses. Dr. l.i-o Pasvolsky, U. S. state
department expert.
Frame op,vt.-. when the dis-cu-sains
begin concerning the
large-- problem of the security of
the Middle Kj.-t, that France's in-u-i.sts
will be fully honored.
- Unidentified French official.
I've col kind of a sentimental
feeling thai I don't want to mak-.1
a (motion) picture until the wars
over.
Joe E. Brown, actor.
Me- .-jn't ci-t (in .T.ipan)
and there is milk only in small
(iviantittes for babies under 10
months.
Aitur Karen, missionary repa
triated from Japan.
-assy
lnyHdcks!"
Washington Merry-Go-Round
Br DREW PCAfiSON
WASHINGTON Congressional hullaba
loo over attempts to corner the American
rye market has only scratched the surface.
If congress- should ever dig deep enough, it
will unearth one of the juiciest stories of rid
ing the grain market the country has heard
for a long tfme, including some of President
Truman's close supporters, chiefly Ed Hur
ley, former Treasurer of the democratic na
tional committee.
Other democrats uctive in rye were Sen
ator "Pappy" O'Daniel of Texas, Senator
"Happy" Chandler of Kentucky, Attorney
General Phu. Kennedy of California, and
Senator Scott Lucas of Illinois.
Senator Lucas was chiefly engaged in try
ing to lift transportation restrictions so the
Chicago boys could unload their tremendous
quantities of rye, Chandler and Kenny
were let in on the deal through their friend,
Ed Pauley. Their profits were relatively
small, Chandler making less than $100.
They were stowaways compared with the
really big operators, General Foods, owned
in part by Mrs. Joe Da vies, wife of Roose
velt's former ambassador to Belgium and
to Russia. General Foods, after buying 8D
percent of all the deliverable supply of rye
and being stuck with it, then performed a
beautiful salesmanship job in persuading the
Belgian government to take a million bush
els off its hand paid for by U. S. taxpay
ers through lend-lease.
The department of agriculture has now
ordered a hearing on the earlier rye gyra
tions of General Foods. However, no hear
ing has yet been ordered on more recent de
velopments, including the operations of
democratic bigwig Ed Pauley and the glam
orous salesmanship by which a million bush
els of rye were unloaded on the Belgians.
One other interesting point is why the war
production board ordered distillers to use 10
percent rye in making grain alcohol. Obvi
ously this helped the General Food boys.
No Ceiling on Rye
The story begins in the winter of 1942,
when ceiling prices were put on all grains
WE, THE WOMEN
By RUTH MILLETT
In case you haven't noticed, summer is
really here officially, that is. You can't
always rely on the calendar to tell you when
summer has finally arrived.
But you can count definitely on its being
summer when newspapers begin to carry
stories that shorts have been banned on the
streets of this or that city by a convention
al minded" mayor or police chief, and that
the womep (are being sent; home to put on
more clothes.
, j -
Only the story I'm looking at right now
';has a happier ending than most. ; It says that
the women of Decatur, 111., are defying the
police ban against the wearing of shorts in
public and, .making the most of American
freedom, are wearing shorts whenever and
wherever'they like. It looks as though the
police chief p;f Decatur is going to have quito
a law enforcement problem on his hands, if
he carries out his threat to issue warrants
for all women who fail to "fully clothe
themselves" before appearing on the streets.
Good fur "the women of Decatur, who have
Behind Scenes in Washington
By PETER EDSON, La Grande Evening Observer Washington Correspondent
WASHINGTON, July 18 A "water lob
by" to fight the creation of more U. S. river
valley "authorities" like TVA the Tennes
see valley authority is now emerging as a
potent pressure group on the Washington
scene.
Most of the 31 national land and water or
ganizations making up this lobby are not
new-. But their banding together for the
avowed purpose of stopping the spread of
valley authority idea is highly significant.
It marks the beginning of what may be a
long Slid bitter fight aver the post-war de
velopment of every section of the United
States.
Motives underlying this fight are deep and
difficult to fathom.
While it would be natural to think any
opposition to the development of more TVAs
would come from the old private electric
power utilities lobby, connection between
the power lobby and the water lobby does
not appear on the surface.
F. O. Hagie, secretary-manager of the na
tional reclamation, one of the five organiza
tions whose Washington representatives
make up the coordinating committee of the
unofficial and unnamed water lobby, has a
simple explanation of its existence. He says
the 31 organizations are simply fighting
against a change in the American form of
government..- Hagie contends that dividing
the United States into nine regional author
ities of three men each, as proposed by Mis
sissippi Rep. John Rankin's bill, would give
these 27 men more political power than all
the 48 governors and state legislatures and
federal government tee. He is against that.
But, the issue may not be that simple,
either. For a better insight of what's behind
this fight, you have to appreciate what water
is and what it docs to keep the United States
a going concern. Water isn't just stuff to
drink and bathe in; water is billions and bil
lions of dollars. To the farmer, it is neces
saiy feed for livestock and crops. It is nur
sed in irrigation, fought m soil erosion. It
is drainage; it is tun ye navigation in rivers
and canals: deeper, it is barbers for ocean
.O r.s -.,iis. In flood t c. it must he con-'!";-.l;
behind, dams 1; generates electric
power. It is the lite bleed of commerce, and
all the Hade associations Spending on water,
have a stake in this idea of river valley do
vcloptnont.
except rye. Official explanation for this ex
ception is that rye was way below parity
around 52 cents a bushel and the ceiling
price was left off for the benefit of the farm
er who deserved to get parity, which is over
a dollar a bushel.
However, this ieft rye sticking up like a
sore thumb as the one grain in which specu
lators could trade, and General Foods im
mediately went into the market, working
through a well-known Chicago grain oper
ator Dan Rice. General Foods' excuse is
that they were hedging against inflation. At
any rate, they began to buy rye in tremen
dous quantities until, by Nov. 29, 1943, they
had so much jammed into Chicago elevators
that Charles Metcalf, vice president of Gen
eral Foods, was called on the carpet by the
business conduct committee of the Chicago
board of trade and warned he had so many
relatives and friends buying rye for him
through disguised brokerage accounts he
was barred from buying any more Decem
ber rye futures.
Finally, in May, 1944, the General Foods
rye corner reached the stupendous total of
13,262,000 bushels or 89 percent of the entire
rye crop.
It was for trading through this period
1942-44 that the agricultural department
cracked down on General Foods.
Elevators Jammed
However, it is since Mayr 1944, that some
of the interesting things happened.
During the summer of 1944 there was so
much rye heaped up in Chicago elevators
the war food administration instructed the
WPB to order grain distillers to use 10 per
cent in making alcohol. Naturally this was
a boon to General Foods. It hoiped get rid
of its accumulated :ye.
Ordinarily, alcohol distillers don't use rye.
Whether someone pulled political wires to
get rye used during the summer of 1944 is'
not known. Anyway, WPB issued the order
on instructions from the war food adminis
tration and on the excuse that room had to
be made in the Chicago elevators for wheat.
decided not to let any man tell them how to
dress!
If men want to swelter through the sum
mer heat in the get-up of a cocoon, that is
okay by women. They're polite enough so
that they don't even wonder out-loud about
the quality of the masculine mind that hasn't
figured out anything more sensible for sum
mer wear than heavy suits, long-sleeved
shirts, and neckties.
If men are such slaves to the conventions
that they cling to that kind of costume when
the thermometer moves up to 90 and over,
' that is their business. Women are willing
to be broadminded about it.
But as for themselves, that is a different
story. Women like cool clothes in summer,
and if some of them like comfort so well
they aren't hesitant abut wearing shorts on
the street, that is, or rather should be, a mat
ter between themselves and their mirrors.
After all the feminine mind should be just
as capable as the masculine mind in the mat
ter of deciding when a woman has "fully
clothed herself."
In almost all of the United States west
of Omaha, water rights for irrigation are
mare valuable than land rights. This is hard
for most easterners to understand, but it is
so. And, any time anyone comes along to
disturb water rights, proposing to turn them
over to some new authority that doesn't con
trol them now, he has a war on his hands.
More people have been killed in the west
over water rights than for cattle and sheep
rustling or highway robbery. Now the im
portance of this water fight begins to regis
ter. The disposition of billions of dollars worth
of lush "pork barrel" congressional appro
priations is at stake in contracts for river
and harbor improvement, flood control pro
jects, dam and canal construction, irrigation
and reclamation, soil erosion and. drainage.
Control over the goverment agencies now
administering these matters is another factor
not to be overlooked in this battle. War de
partment's corps of engineers, interior's
bureau of reclamation and public power
sales, federal power commission, and depart
ment of agriculture today share these re
sponsibilities. While it is now claimed that
the conflicts between these agencies were
largely resolved by the flood control act of
1044. rivalry still exists and each agenvy has
its backers who do riot want present policies
changed or given to new authorities.
These are some of the reasons why the
w ater lobby has been able to bring together
such divrse interests as the New York State
Water association, Ohio Valley Improvement
association, Florida Waterways congress,
Texas Water Conservation association, Cal
ifornia Water council, American Power Boat
association, Propeller club, American Mer
chant Marine Institute, Pittsburgh Coal ex
change and a score more.
The coordination committee now manag
ing the affairs of the 31 organizations in
cludes besides F. A. Hagie of the Reclama
tion association, William H. Webb of the Na
tional Rivers and Harbors congress. Roy
Miller of the Intracoastal Canal association
"f Louisiana and Texas, E. W. Rising of the
water conservation conference, and Lachlan
Macleay of the Mississippi Valley association.
Further .look at the authority issue and the
water lobby activities will be given in the
next issue.
Side Glances
1, 1 1 1 1 I 1 ' j 1' H 1; i-p
cent iwiriit Kavicg. wc. t. m. o. v. t. pat, off.
"How soon will I gat the bomb?"
O McKENNEY ON BRIDGE
Br WM. E. McKENNEY. Amarica'i Cud Authority
GEN. MARK CLARK
BRIDGE ACE, TOO
I certainly enjoyed seeing Gen.
Mark W. Clark, during his re
cent visit to New York, and he
reaffirmed the fact to me that
when things settled down he
would be glad to visit one of our
victory tournaments to help
me the other night at six and I
made seven and then he insisted
I should have bid the seven."
Well, even though seven can be
made you will admit it is a tough
hand to bid.
The opening lead was won with
the ace and one round of trumps
taken. The ace and king of
spades wfere then cashed, dis
carding two hearts from dummy.
Now the ace and king of hearts
were cashed and a low heart
ruffed in dummy, droppling
Gruenther's queen. Declarer-returned
to his hand with a trump,
led his now established heart, dis
carding dummy's losing club for
the overtrick.
O IN FORMEK
YEARS
30 Years Ago
Prof. J. B. Horner, who with
the late Mr. Grimmett helped
build the first brick building in
La Grande, is in La Grande from
Corvallis where he now occupie3
the chair of history.
Miss Susanna Deal, Hanna Ro
gers and Austin Sloan went to
Union Saturday to visit friends,
Mrs. William Ash and daugh
ter, Mina, are leaving tonight for
San Francisco to visit relatives
and see the fair.
IS Years Ago
Harley Richardson returned to
La Grande after a 10 day trip to
San Francisco. While there he
visited an art and gift exhibit,
and displays of American and
imported merchandise.
Miss Florence Houston, Miss
La Grande in the state wide
beauty contest held in Portland,
was rated high among the 11 con
testants, to represent Oregon at
the International Pageant of Pul
chritude at Galveston, Tex., next
month.
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Opening J
raise funr. for war orphans'
scholarships.
He told me he mr naged. to. get
in a bridge gan with Major
General Gruenther, his chief of
staff, just before he returned to
this country. He said: "Gruen
ther is a good bridge player, but
he doubles too often he doubled
Questions & A nswers
Q How does salvage paper
help toward victory?
A The war department re
ports that more than 700,000 dif
ferent war items are made,
wrapped, packaged, labeled or
tied with paper.
Q What operating schedules
are likely in postwar air travel?
A Experts say that no place
in the U. S. will be more than 60
hours' travel time from any spot
on earth.
10 Years Ago
J. L. Hedden and his son, Louis
Hedden, accompanied by George
Balch of Baker have gone to Los
Angeles where they will attend
the buyers convention. They ex
pect to be away about two weeks
and will attend the San Diego
International exposition while in
California.
Mr. and Mrs. Hal' Bohnenkamp
have returned from Wallowa lake
where they spent several days
vacationing.
Q Who holds the record for
the running broad jump?
A Jesse Owens, 26 feet, S'A
inches, set in 1935.
Q In addition to the Aurora
Borealis wiat other similar
heavenly phenomenon is there?
A The Aurora Australis,, dis
played in the border regions of
the south pole.
This Curious World
HAVE SEEN DRILLED IN THE UNITED STATES... J I
with ovfii? 200, 000 of the.w cuter states;'
ctPR. mi IV NC4 wwicc. IN.
WHICH ONE OF THtSl ISLANDS 15
NOT TOUCH fO BY THE EOUATOI 9
A NORTH DAKOTA KILLER WOL.5
WAS ESTIMATED TDHAV DESrSJtD
SO. OOO WCRTH OP
LIVESTOCK BEFORE ITS CAPTURE
iNisas.
7-is
ANSWER: Java, which lies south of it, Sumatra and Borneo
are bisected by the equator.
NEXTi Dringing wcrats.
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