—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, August 11, 1973
10
It Seems Inappropriate
In a feature on “The Fallacy of Price
Controls for Food," Mr. Leo Melamed
writing in The New York Times observes,
"How often is it explained that although
food prices have risen significantly, they
have risen far less than most goods? Or
how often is it pointed out that while prices
for all consumer items rose by 58 percent
during the last 20 years and housing prices
rose by 64 percent, prices for retail food
went up only 47 percent since 1952 and
the price of food eaten at home rose less
than 40 percent? Even this.. .is not the full
story, since our average food bill, which
took 23 percent of our after-tax disposable
income in 1952... .Who has had the
courage to point out that during this same
20-year period, while home food prices
rose by 40 percent (but took 7 percent less
WINSTED, CONN., EVENING CITIZEN:
“When a woman gets a job traditionally
held by a man, or enters a field heretofore
dominated by men, that’s news. Lately
there’s been much news of this nature; it’s
getting to be about as old hat as dog bites
man. Comes now a man bites dog item--and
we hasten to say that this figure of speech
is not intended in the slightest degree as
an insult to the ladies, for whom we have
the most extreme regard. But consider if
the characterization is not apt: For the
first time in its 112 years, during most of
which time it enrolled only women, Vassar
College has a male student government
president. Ah, well, a little men’s liberation
is not a bad thing, either.”
NEW LONDON, lOWA, JOURNAL:
“About the high cost of living-cigarettes
sell for about $2.89 a pound and I don’t
recall anyone complaining about them
being high-yet to pay $1.89 a pound for
beef steak drives some shoppers right up
the wall. It’s a funny thing, but I know
people who’ll pay 90 cents or $1.25 for a
drink and never say a word about thl ‘high
cost of drinking’ but to pay over $l.OO a
pound for hamburger.. .is a different
story!”
GLENWOOD CITY, WICS., TRIBUNE:
“Imitation, artificial and fake seems to be
the way we are living these days. I don’t
mind so much about jewelry, furs and
material but when it comes to food I
wonder how healthy it is for a steady diet. I
never realized how much of the food
products are imitation until last week when
I paid for and carried home a jar of
imitation peanut butter, because I didn’t
look at the label close enough. One taste of
it and in the garbage it went. If the price
was half as? much I could see using it but for
a few cents more you can get the pure stuff
and that maybe is none too good.”
ALBEMARLE, N.C., STANLY NEWS AND
PRESS: “The fuel shortage is no myth. Just
how serious it may become in the months
ahead cannot be accurately foretold. It is
important that we get ourselves con
ditioned mentally for such a shortage and
come to realize that we may not be able to
go as nearly everywhere we desire as we
have in the past, and our homes and other
buildings may be a couple of degrees cooler
in the winter than formerly. With these
things we can become accustomed, even
though we may dislike the idea."
HYATTSVILLE, MD., PRINCE GEORGE'S
POST: “Life must be worth living The cost
has more than doubled and we still hang
on.
“Courage is a virtue only in proportion as
CENTRAL VALLEY, CALIF., VALLEY it is directed by prudence.”-Francois De
TIMES: “A wise commentator on the social Sahgnac De La Mothe Fenelon.
"Grassroots Opinion"
of our after-tax income), the hourly wages
received by laborers went up 140 per
cent?”
Mr. Melamed observes that it is not his
intention to be critical of wage increases,
but simply to emphasize the unfairness of
using today’s rise in food pricesas a reason
for even higher wages. It is a simple fact
that if food prices had kept up with wages
since 1952 a quart of milk today would cost
55 percent more, a dozen eggs 161 percent
more, a pound of hamburger 151 percent
more and a pound of round steak 267
percent more. In the light of figures such as
these, a freeze on food prices but none on
wages hardly seems appropriate. In the
long run, such policy can only breed
scarcity and black markets.
scene says that instead of congressmen
getting free postage so they can write to us
taxpayers cheap, we should get free
postage to use when writing to our
congressmen. This, he says, would put
things in their proper order, based on the
alleged relationship between employers
and hired help. We pay the lawmakers’
wages; we pick them for their jobs; our
money subsidizes all postage franking, and
we should be telling them instead of them
telling us."
LAMONT, OKLA., VALLEY NEWS: “The
Watergate incident has proved one thing;
there is still much need in our society for a
free and critical press. Without the per
serveranceof a few reporters in keeping at
the story despite the pressure involved,
the unscrupulous tactics involved would
never have been found out. Totalitarian
tactics, as those employed in the caper, do
not belong in our democratic, political
process. If they really do, then we are much
closer to becoming a totalitarian state than
many of us believe."
FARIBAULT, MINN., NEWS: "A lot has
been said.. .about the declining value of
the dollar. Nevertheless, we don’t know of
any country that has declined American
aid!”
“Some families in Burlington, Wiscon
sin. . .conducted an experiment to see how
they could get along,” reports Cipsco
News, a Central Illinois Public Service
Company publication, “if a crippling
shortage developed. They used candles for
light, did not use any electrical appliances,
left their cars in the garage and generally
pretended that the worst had happened.
Perhaps some of the government officials
who deal with energy problems should
have participated, too. If they knew what it
was like to do without gasoline or elec
tricity, maybe it wouldn’t take three years,
as it often does now, to get through the red
tape and obtain a license for a new power
station. Do you think they still would take
as long to decide if the polar bears and
caibou would be disturbed by an oil
pipeline in the Arctic? We doubt it.”
According to The Wall Street Journal,
“Cost of attending college rose about $lOO
to $l5O during the past year, the College
Entrance Examination Board said. The
average yearly cost of college can range
from $1,637 for commuter students at
junior colleges to $3,279 for residents at
private four-year schools.”
| NOW IS
I THE TIME . . .
Max Smith
County Agr. Agent
Telephone 394-6851
TO BEWARE OF
LIVESTOCK RUSTLERS
With the high current values on
all types of livestock, the temp
tation to steal animals might
increase. We have heard of thefts
in other parts of the state and the
country. The scarcity of red meat
will increase the danger of
animals being stolen. It’s difficult
to know how to protect livestock
against rustling, but well-lighted
premises at night will make it
more difficult. Also, a good watch
dog should challenge any in
truder; loading ramps and chutes
should be locked. If the family
goes away for a day or an
evening, nearby neighbors should
be alerted to watch for strangers.
Animals on pasture should be
checked often and persons living
nearby should be alerted to
inform owners of strangers near
the livestock. Producers should
try to make it difficult for anyone
to steal their animals.
TO FLUSH EWE FLOCK
The sheep breeding season is
approaching and a healthy ewe
flock will help get a larger lamb
crop next spring. Several weeks
prior to the breeding time it will
help if the ewes are given ad
ditional grain or placed on a lush
pasture containing a large
percentage of grass in the forage
mixture. Straight legume
pastures should not be used
because of the danger of bloating,
and grass pastures have given
better breeding results. If the
ewes are in a gaining condition at
the time of service, they will
usually produce more twin
lambs.
THE ANSWER
WITHIN
Lesson for August 12,1973
Background Scripture: Proverbs 23:19-
21; 29-35; 1 Corinthians 10 6-13,
31, Gelations 5 13-24.
Devetienel Reading: Philippions 4 4-13.
American adults, shocked and
bewildered by the cancerous
growth of narcotics addiction in
the United States, often are over
heard to ask: “Why? Where did
we go wrong?” One observer,
John Charles Cooper, thinks we
ought not to be so
puzzled. In his
book RELIGION
IN THE AGE OF
ACQUARIUS, he
says: “Most young
people taking
drugs today real
ly learned about
pills and the pos-
Rev. Althouse sibilit y of dru S
relief at home,
not on the streets with their
peers. A drug-oriented culture
such as upper- and middle class
America was bound to end up
with child addicts sooner or later
—and it has come very soon in
deed” (Westminster Press, Phila
delphia, 1971).
Where God should be
Without necessarily agreeing
with the extremity of his conclu
sion, I would agree that we must
look more deeply in trying to
assess the lure of the drug cul
ture among youth and young
adults today. Like many adults in
the world about them, they are
TO PROTECT MACHINERY
It’s not time to be putting the
machinery away for the season,
but it is time to be planning on a
good storage place for all pieces
of farm equipment. If a new
machinery shed is needed, and
we prefer a separate building for
machinery storage, then plans
should be made for construction
before winter arrives. The in
vestment in machinery requires
that it be stored out of the
weather when not being used.
Since rust is the major enemy of
most farm machinery, winter
protection is a good investment.
When the main barn is used for
machinery storage, the risk of
greater losses in case of a fire
increases. Good farm
management includes proper
machinery storage.
TO SPRAY ALFALFA
Far too many local alfalfa
fields are turning yellow at this
time of the year when they should
be a healthy green. In most cases
this yellowing is due to either leaf
hoppers or aphids. Both of these
insects are working in alfalfa
fields at this time. The use of
Malathion, Parathion, or
Diazinon should control the
aphids; leaf hoppers can be
eliminated with Methoxychlor or
Parathion. Best results can be
attained if the crop is sprayed
when 3 to 6 inches tall. If the
cutting is nearing maturity (bud
to blossom stage) then it should
be harvested and sprays held for
the new growth. Alfalfa is still a
very important protein crop;
maximum yields are needed and
will help reduce the feed costs.
looking for the answers to life’s
problems and frustrations in
things outside themselves. They
have been conditioned by tele
vision and other media to believe
that whatever is our difficulty,
there is a pill or drug to be taken
for its relief. The resource you
need, they have learned, is some
thing outside you, something you
can ingest and absorb:
Do you have pain? Here’s a
pill to bring relief!
Are you unpopular? Here’s a
mouthwash that will change all
that!
Do yon need prestige and ad
miration? Our car will bring
you that!
Do you want to be a man of
distinction? Drink our whiskey
and you will be!
The answer, we are lead to be
lieve, is always outside us.
Yet, in fact, the answers we
seek are more frequently within
us. Even medically speaking, pills
and drugs are not the answer, but
often simply allow the healing
power in the human body to do
its work. The answers to most of
our problems are not “out there,”
but as close as the God who
dwells within us. Pills, drugs, al
cohol, and all kinds of material
goods may very well become sub
stitutes for God. They occupy the
place in our lives where God
alone should be.
Beyond drunkeness
Narcotics, alcohol, and other
things outside of us are often
used as the means whereby peo
ple try to cope with the problems
and frustrations of life. Yet, as
the writer of Ephesians puts it,
. . do not get drunk with wine,
for that is debauchery; but be
filled with the spirit” (5:18).
These “outside” things may be
alternatives to God’s Spirit.
Drunkenness and addiction are
bad enough by themselves, but
the issue really goes beyond this.
Addiction and Christianity are
competing religions. Both are a
total way of life.
*