Matter of Fact
POLITICS AND THE BUDGET
Washington Before Presi
dent Eisenhower submitted his
budget to Congress, Secretary of
the Treasury
G e o r,g e M.
Hu mphrey
and Dr. Ar
thur Burns,
chairman of
The Council
of Economic
Advisers, had
a long running
a rgument
the budget.
Joseph Alsop
Burns took
the position that
some continuing growth in the
economy ought to be assumed.
He agreed, as all government ec
onomists do, that the boom will
slow down. But the national
economy has been expanding
steadily since the war, and
Burns argued
that some con
tinued expan
sion in the
level of the
national in
come and the
level of cor
porate profits
must be allow
ed for.
Stewart Aisop Humphrey,
on the other hand, took the ex
ceedingly conservative view that
the budget should be based ap
proximately on the current level
of personal income and business
profits. In the end, Humphrey
had his way. The budget for fis
cal 1957 which begins in July
of this year is based on the as
sumption that business profits in
fiscal 1S57 will remain at the
1955 level of $43,000,000,000. It
Is also assumed that the national
income will be at the level of
$312,000,000,000, which is about
what it is today.
rPHE importance of the Burns
- Humphrey debate, which was
quite amicable throughout, can
be easily illustrated. Suppose
that the national income grows
by 4 per cent next year, which
has been about the postwar av
erage. Call the growth $12,000,
000,000. The treasury's take on that
$12,000,000,000, judging from
past experience, will be in the
neighborhood of $3,000,000,000
to $4,000,000,000," plenty to per
mit a balanced budget, some re
duction of the national debt, and
a nice? sweet tax reduction as
well. All these pleasant things
will be possible, moreover, with
out any increase in business
profits, which ordinarily in
crease along with the national
income. j
The other side of the coin is
less happy. Virtually all econo
mists, including the President's
advisers, have accepted the
thesis that the national economy
Watch for It!
Wait for It!
0 ss m
By Joe and Stewart AIsop
has to continue to grow to take
care of increases in the labor
force and labor productivity.
Thus, if Humphrey is right, and
the national income remains at
todays' level, there is certain to
be a sharp increase in unemploy
ment. In short, the Humphrey
budget in effect assumes a mild
slump.
OECRETARY of the Treasury
Humphrey is a conservative
businessman, and conservative
businessmen tend to take a cau
tious view of the economic fu
ture. But the political aspects of
the cautious assumptions on
which the budget is based are al-.
so rather obvious. '
In the first place, the budget
neatly boxes in the Democrats.
The Humphrey budget, because
it is in very close balance, al
lows no room for a tax cut. If
the Democrats vote a tax cut
now at least a tax cut big en
ough for the voters to feel in
their pockets they will be ac
cused of fiscal irresponsibility.
This is a charge to which the
largely conservative Democratic
leadership in both Houses is pe
culiarly sensitive.
By the same token, the Demo
crats are effectively barred from
voting any substantial increase
in expenditures. The administra
tion has achieved the prospect
of a balanced budget by cuts in
defense and security expendi
tures. The Humphrey budget,
for example, is actually more
than 54,000,000,000 higher in
the non-defense category than
the last Truman budget, while
it is $17,000,000,000 lower in the
defense and national security
category.
"DECAUSE the- administration
has shrewdly swiped so much
of their programs, the Demo
crats are at a loss for a winning
issue on the "domestic front.
They are obviously inclined to
make the defense cuts a major
issue. But it is hardly possible to
make defense cuts a major issue
without demanding Increased de
fense expenditures. And here
again the Democrats are imped
ed by the charge of fiscal irre
sponsibility plus of course, the
President's reputation a mili
tary man.
Finally, if the boom continues
to hum along, next summer Sec
retary Humphrey can take a
second look at the economic fu
ture. He can then announce
proudly that, on second thought,
a balanced budget, debt reduc
tion, and a nice tax cut will all
be possible and only a few
months before the presidential
election. -All this is - enough to
suggest why a good many Demo
crats darkly suspect that the
cautious assumptions on which
the Humphrey budget is based
derive as much from political as-
o WOW w w
m medford rPrRfpi 7 TrnfTn
OREGON y I I LI l Y J I i L
I A X II I A. I II J Ah i
Is That
Some clear winter night when
you are driving across our south
western deserts, turn off the
paved highway and follow a
winding dirt road through the
thorny shrubs and ghostly cacti.
Ahead, and down between the
wheel tracks you may see a dull
ruby-red light, glowing steadily.
It winds out no, there it is
again. Look sharp and you may
get a fleeting look at the tiny
galloping ghost of the desert
a miniature kangaroo, that looks
like a mouse. An incredible crea
ture really because it has made
a fantastic, triumphant adapta
tion to its dry surroundings:
from birth to death, even though
eating bone-dry seeds, it never
takes a drink of water.
The fleeting apparition leaves
an impression of a large round
head, a mouse-like body perched
on two stilt-like legs, and a slen
der tail. If you were to look at
him more closely, nothing about
this inveterate teetotaler would
give any indication of his incred
ible abstention from all pota
tions. His fur is silky and long
on the back a soft shade of tan
or gray, the underparts snow
white with black facial markings
and a white line around the
rump.
The ruby light was a reflec
tion from his great black eyes as
round as an owl's and propor
tionately larger proclaiming his
nocturnal habits.
His crowning glory worn at
the pposite end from which
most crowning glories are worn
is his handsome tail, half again
as long as the rest of his six-inch
body, with a fur banner at the
end. His long hind feet have a
brush of stiff, long hairs all over
the soles, sand-shoes.
Misnamed Kangaroo Rat
Like so many animals, he is
misnamed kangaroo rat. He has
no kangaroo pouch and in ap
perance he looks more like a
pocket mouse than a rat, with
that big terminal tuft which he
uses to make sudden turns as he
sails out in prodigious leaps.
Because, he does not sleep
tuteness as economic conserva
tism. Copyright 1956, New York
Herald Tribune Inc.
a A c -f-
ensational Values Plus
By EUGENE BURNS
Ranger-Naturalist
through the winter, he stocks his
underground home with great
caches of food. One alone had
stored enough seeds and short
lengths of grass to fill 7 gunny
sacks. How has this little fellow mas
tered this greatest of all desert
difficulties, living comfortably
without water in the hottest and
driest spots of our land? Succu
lent food? Not necessarily. Ac
tually, as with most things in
nature, the harder the question,
the more amazing the answer.
To see how he accomplishes
the impossible, he has been sub
jected to seemingly brutal and
rigorous experiments: he .has
been kept under desert condi
tions of heat and oven-dryings
for 52 days and fed exclusively
on a diet of especially dried bar
ley seeds. And he not only "re
mained alive but flourished. Of
fered water, he refused it. What's
more, a post mortem disclosed
no lessening of the proportion
of water to normal body weight.
Of course his desert'habits are
good like most desert rodents,
he keeps to his cool underground
burrow during the heat of the
day. When he comes forth, it is
in the cool of the night thus he
conserves moisture. Also, for
him, there is no need for water
for body heat regulation either
by sweating from the pores of
the skin or from the mouth by
panting. But unlike the other
neighboring animals, he avoids
going out when it is moist. He
abhors rain: a few drops on his
body gives him the jitters. Even
a fog will keep him indoors.
Manufactures Own Water
But is this enough? Indeed
not. His secret is that he manu
factures his own water from the
dry materials present in starchy
foods. If you'll remember your
high school chemistry, water
consists of two parts hydrogen
to one part oxygen. Now starch
is a hydrocarbon and therefore
contains hydrogen. Add oxygen,
abundant in the air he breathes,
and you have H20. And with a
most unusual metabolism, our
kangaroo rat is able to convert
his starchy food, however dry,
into water. .
Yet this is not enough: to go
with it, he has developed what
may be the most unusual kidney
of any mammal: it permits his
kidney fluids to condense to 17
times the density of his blood
and therefore, if necessary, he
could quench his thirst with "sea
water!
How could you force him to
drink sea water, or any other?
By, feeding him a diet so largely
protein that he would not get
enough hydrocarbon to furnish
him with hydrogen. In that un
happy state, he will drink water,
the nasty stuff!
(Copyright, 1956, by
Eugene Burns)
(Released by McClure News
paper Syndicate)
Free: By special arrangement
At
GGLY
Listen to KBOY and Watch Your Mail Tribune for Opening Date!
Shop This Beautiful ONE STOP SHOPPING CENTER and Thrill to the
Pleasure of the Most Modern and Exciting Super - Deluxe Store on the
West Coastl Be Smart! Be Thrifty! Be Satisfied! SHOP Piggly Wiggly!
Meat Inspection Program
Working Into
Salem The state pilot meat
inspection program will be work
ing in the sixth area in the state
within another week, J. F. Short,
director of the state department
of agriculture has reported. '
with the editors of the Encyclo
depia Americana, my panel of
judges will award each week to
the reader who sends me the
best true-life nature adventure,
the best nature observation, or
the best question on nature and
wildlife, a complete 30-volume
set of this world-famous refer
ence work in a handsome Seal
craft binding. Each week new
submissions will be considered.
Sorry, I simply can't answer
your many friendly letters.
Please address your letter to:
IS THAT SO! co Medford Mail
Tribune, - Box 575, Sausalito,
Calif.
MODERN PLUMBING & SHEET METAL Co.
613 EAST JACKSON v PHONE 3-5368
THIS WEEK ONLY!
Lennox
Wesco
GE
0 Crane
Sawdust
ooil
0 Gas
Wood
P - H
ith DOUBLE DUTY
LOW, LOW PRICES
Bedford's New Super-Styled
STEWART AND KING STREET - MEDFORD, OREGON
Sunday, January 22, 1958
Sixth Area
At the same time, Short an
nounced results of inspections
and findings in the first four ar
eas in which the survey has been
conducted. The areas, were Sa
lem; Portland suburban and up
per coastal; Klamath and Grant
counties and central Oregon and
Wasco county. The program is
ending in Linn county and start
ing in Benton county.
In the first four operations,
3,882 animals were slaughtered
under the compulsory program.
The species breakdown was l',
849 cattle, 265 calves, 1,566
swine, 180 sheep and 22 goats.
Both ante-mortem and post
mortem inspections are made at
plants which the program enters.
In the first four areas, eight ani
mals were condemned during the
live inspection. They . included
three cows and five sheep.
In the post-mortem inspec
tions, 36V4 carcasses were con
nn Minimum Trade in Allowance
FOR YOUR OLD BATH ROOM SET
- ,
Regardless of Age
GUTTERS and DOWNSPOUTS
feIIISTMEb
LET US SOLVE YOUR HEATING PROBLEM
FREE ESTIMATES,
YOUR HEADQUARTERS For
O Heating O Sheet Metal O
Our New Location BYTHE
demned as unfit- for human con
sumption. Two of these were
veal, 18 were sheep, 5 were hogs,
and 11V4 were beef. Parts of
carcasses condemned totaled 929
and included 863 1 i v e r s, ' 49
heads, 1 heart and 16 tongues.
Meat food products condemn
ed totaled 15,175 pounds, of
which 1,807 pounds were fresh
and the remainder frozen meats.
All frozen meat condemned was
withdrawn from trade channels
because it had been held too
long.
Short said that Dr. Rolla Sex
auer, field supervisor for the pro
gram, reported one plant closed
because of unsanitary conditions.
Several plants were required, to
do considerable cleanup work
before reaching . minimal ap
proval, while some plants oper
ated under virtually ideal sani
tation conditions.
The pilot program is conduct
ed for three weeks in each area.
During that period, a special
meat shield-shape stamp goes on
all carcasses passed. This pro
DOLLARS
SOON!
reen Stamps!
MEDFORD (OREGON) MAIL TRIBUNE FIVE
gram was authorized by the last
legislature to determine whether
statewide compulsory meat in
spection is desirable and. neces
sary, and what such- a program
would cost.
INVESTIGATE
whether you are earmarking your
savings to provide security for later
life, extra cash income now, or are
just starting to accumulate an
emergency fund, it will pay you to
investigate here.
FIRST FEDERAL
SAVINGS & LOAN ASS'N
of Medford
27 North Holly
An .Institution Dedicated
To Those Who Save
Always
O Plumbing
Air Conditioning
PARK
STEWART
AND
KIIIG
STREET