Covenanter Witness Vol. 55 - Rparchives.org

area"Current EventsProf. William H. Russell, Ph.D.UNEVEN PROSPERITYFinancial reports for the third quarter of this year indicate that 1955 may be the most prosperous year in ourhistory. Many corporations have had record-breaking salesand earnings. General Motors, our largest corporation, willprobably reach $1 billion in net profits by the end of theyear. The gross national product is now at a rate of $392billion per year, $7 billion above last year. The increase isnot due to inflation, either, for the cost of living has notvaried more than a few tenths of one per cent.However, about 120 cities in the U. S. still have heavyunemployment. One such "distressed is the textileregion of Massachusetts, due to the flight of this industryto the South.Eastern Pennsylvania's anthracite miningtowns show an unemployment rate of ten to fifteen per cent.Their plight is due to the increasinguse of oil and gas forfuel. The government offers rapid tax amortization for newbusiness in these areas, and tries to give employers preference in government contracts, but the results are questionable. The administration is now consideringa more direct program of technical aid to help the depressed regionsgain new industries or revive their old ones.FARM SLUMPAnother dark spot in the national economic picture isthe farm situation. Gross farm income is running a billiondollars a year below the rate for 1954. Between mid-September and mid-October, farm prices dropped two per cent,bringing the parity ratio down to 82, the lowest since 1940.Secretary Benson is under heavy fire. Democratic leadersadvocate a return to rigid price supports at 90 per cent ofparity, and payments to farmers for taking land out of cropproduction.One factor in the farm-income drop is that hog pricesare about 25 per cent lower than last year. The acreage controls put on corn did not apply to corn raised for feeding onthe farm; so farmers raised just as much as ever, and fedmore of it to hogs, glutting the pork market. The government will buy $85 million worth of hog products in an effortto keep up prices. Cotton prices also slumped following theforecast of a larger crop than last year. Acreage allotmentswere cut 14 per cent this year, but good weather and moreintensive cultivation have more than made up for this. Acreage will be cut another 4 per cent next year, but even thiswill not be enough to reduce the huge surplus already ingovernment warehouses.BRAZIL HESITATESA presidential election was held in Brazil on October 3,but it is still doubtful whether the victors will be allowedto take office January 31, as the constitution provides. Thepresident-elect is Juscelino Kubitschek, formerly a physician.The grandson of a Silesian immigrant, Kubitschek made agood record as governor of the state of Minas Gerais, wherehe concentrated especially on economic development. He wassupported by a coalition of leftist and center parties. Kubitschek is not liked by the enemies of former PresidentVargas, but the opposition centers on his vice-presidentialNovember 9, 1955running mate, Joao Goulart. As head of Vargas' own LaborParty, and Labor minister in the Vargas cabinet, Goulartwon the hostility of the armed forces and other conservative elements. The top military leaders of Brazil have promised to support the constitution, but there is still muchtalk of a military coup.WHAT TIME IS IT?At the end of October the entire country finally returnedto Standard Time. This year the situation was more complicated than usual, because some areas which had DaylightSaving during the summer dropped it at the end of September, while others continued for another month. Some statelegislatures set one time for the entire state, but manyleave the matter up to local governments. Daylight Savingis usually favored in urban and suburban regions, but opposed in the rural areas where people rise earlier. Probablythis is one matter which still can best be decided by thewishes of the local residents, even if the result is confusingto travelers.JURY TALKQuite an outcry has been raised over the use of concealed microphones to record conversations in a Wichita juryroom. The deliberations in six civil cases were thus recorded.This violated the traditional secrecy of the jury room, butit was done purely for scientific purposes, and with theconsent of the judges and lawyers involved. The recordingswere treated as confidential research data and were madeavailable to only a few persons. Many distinguished juristsendorsed the study as an aid in determining how jurors arrive at a verdict. Yet there have been demands for a Congressional investigation and for punishments of the officialsconcerned. Attorney-General Brownell denounced the studythough he himself has asked Congress for greater wire-tapping powers. We cannot see how the protests are justified.Part of the uproar probably comes from the fact that thestudy was financed by the Ford Foundation, which hasespoused many liberal research projects.WATER FROM THE SUNThe Interior Department of the U. S. Government isspending $10 million to find the most economical means ofconverting salt water into fresh water. The object is tomake large quantities of pure water available for irrigationnear the seashore. One experimental device,now beingplanned, will utilize the heat of the sun as its source ofenergy. If successful, it will permit the continuous distillation of sea water, using the sun to boil it during the dayand letting the cooler night air condense the pure water.Phoenix, Arizona, has had a world symposium on thepractical applications of solar energy. Scientists from overa dozen different countries presented research papers. At thesame time a "solar fair" displayed devices for harnessingthe energy of the sun, such as stoves andhome-heatingunits. Most such inventions are still in the rudimentarystages, but sunlight is free and may be of great practicalvalue when other fuels have become more scarce.307