LEAD RANCE e.. 'J . - r-r v. ~ , ~ . ~" ,fso . . ( ~ -P l.vi, ~ ) The N ew Year begins on a note of politics far and wid - parliamentary struggles, election manoeuvrer , and all th e noise p f political battle. Te focus o! d r ama tonight w L s on Paris, where the proceedings in the Natlon~l Assembly were someth1n like a ame, with a chalking up of scores. And the re ults were •Its close and exciting. It w s a battle of the budget, with Bidault bringing in the biggest ever. The figure - two~rill1on-two•hundred and twenty-five billion rrance, more than six,billion-three hundre million aollars. The whole thing settled down to a long string of votes of confidence. 'f _i e budget •a• voted on, not as a whole, but one section after another, and each time the ; abinet said - •give this an okay or we resign.• In two votes of confidence last Friday, the Premier won by a • • majority of eighte n votes. But t o ay the overn m ent was almost ov e rturned. - LIAP lRABQJi - a called higher The section of the budget that came up for a tax increase - always pa inful. But ~-w t/J? - taxesA w.ea.e- nc,e.;eee•r~ to ba.lanc t h e budget - and that, 1n t urn was necessary or France might lose a oh u nk of Marshal plan money. Even so, it was touch ~nd go, and the Cabinet squeaked throu g h bT a mere majority of four.-three hundr e d~• t~ two- hundred-and-n1nety-s1x. But then things became easier. The Ministry won three votea of confidence n all today, the f1nBl by a majority of twenty-one. 80 the government at Paris hae gone through 1te crlt1oal teat, and haa eec ped an oTerturn that would have thrown France into new ,a■ political turmoil. BRITAIN Britain begins the new year wit h a buzz of guessin g about the general election, which will hav e to be held dur1n t e first part of the year - and today the signs were evident that the big battle of ballots may be at hand.Today Prime Minister Attlee cancelled his winter vacation, ar . d returned to Bumber Ten Downing Street ~ and there was quick 1ur ■ lae that be might be com1~g back to London to aet the date. Be has a heavy conference scheduled with the Lord President of the Council, Berb ■ rt Morr1aon - •umber One strategist of the In■ L~bor Party 1n buelneas oonoernlng votes. Korrleon 11 the grand ■a1ter of the policy of keep1ng the election date a aecret. The Labor government can call the voter• to the polls whenever lt pleaaea - the only ll ■ ltat1on being that an ~leotion must be held by this coming August. So the bright sa ldea 11 not to let the oppo1 t1on know just when the el . otlon will b held - which handicaps the ans Conservatives 1n BRIT4II - 2 timing t e ir on ca paign. The Morr1 on slogan 1s - keep them gues s ing,'f Down 1n the latitudes n ar the Equator, foreign Secretary Bevin has made an abrupt chan e of p lans. He attended a conference &t Colombo in Ceylon, a meeting of Foreign Ministers of \he la States of the British Commonwealth- and was scheduled to o to India tor talks with Premier lehru.(Durlng Rehru's v1s1t to the Occident, he gave Bevin a special 1nv1tat1on, and B e vin &Coepted. But now)he's hurrying back to London;(Vhich leads u to the belief that he ls returning.)to take part ln dlscu1a1on1 of election strategy. Still further signs are seen in the weekend eleTatlon of five labor ■embers of Parliament ,o the Peerage. Their n&111es, heade1 by Minieter ot Defense A.V. Alexander, were on the 11st of onora for the New Year, announced by King George yester4aJ. Wh1ob oontlnuea the interesting British way of sending Labor Party Soc1al1sts to the House of Lorda - labor peers. But the immediate significance BRITAII - 3 is noted n the fact that, departing upwards from t e ouse of Commons, the five new noblemen leave that many vacant s ats. Which will hav to be filled by a by-election - unlees there's a general election. That also 1s a reason for the betting in London tonight -that a date will be set within ihe nex, two weeks for the British voters to go to the polle. CONGRESS There were busy scenes 1n Congres today - although the le 1slators do not assemble for the new ses s ion nt11 tomorrow. The act1v1t1es today were by carpenters, paint~rs, m chanics, cleaners - in a started hurry to complete a ~ ~ . g jobjright after Congress want home for the autumn recess. Actually, there'll 1t111 be some work all through this present year, but more than seventy percent has been done - 1n renovating and modernising ,as these venerable halll of Congre••• Something badly needed - becau1e there hadn't been a.ny real improTement since the chamber• of the Senate and the House were firet occupied baok in the administration of President Ja■ ea Buohanan, just before the Civil War. So, after ne~rly ninety years, they were obsolete and moth-eaten and something was finally done - a fiTe milllon dol l ar re ■ odellin~ job. Tonight the wall• are newly decorated, covered with silk brocade - gold· in the Senate, light blue 1n the House of Representatives. Ugly beams have been removed, and graceful ceilings 1nstalle4 - ' . ., ~- - CONGRESS - 2 There are new seats, more comfortable - a.nd there is sound-proofing toa,making the acoustics bett e r. During th e new sea 1on, the law m akers will find it easier to make them s elves heard. Althou hone t ey - still need~to discover that much needed mir&ole, whloh would enable a Senator or a Con g ressman to be heard onlJ when he's talking good sense. Tod&J, early &rrlvala ln Wash1n1ton had & look at the new atreaallned aurroundlnga, and there W&I general approval. Senator Humphrey ot Mlnneaot& w&a lnaplred to remark: ••ow let's do ao■ethln1 &bout etrea.mllning the f111tuatere,which la muoh - to the point - because the new aeaslon pro ■ ie P a f1llbuater1ng complications rlght away. Sounds like the C1Y11 Bighta bill -j but there's some thing elae 1n addition. In tao,, the first filibuster aeema likely to be on the subject of oleoaaragarine. During the l&at seaslon the Bouse of R~presentatlvea paased a bill to re ■oYe the taxes from colo ed oleo - in spite of bitter CONGBESS - ~ opposition from t e dairy farming, butter producing states. Thelf'tre afraid that tax-fre - colored,oleo, selling cheaply, will run down the price of butter. Today, Democratic leader Sen&tor Scott L,,caa of Illinois said - the Senate will take up the oleo b111 right away - Wednesday. Which 11 countered by threats of a filibuster - 8en&tor1 from the dairy &nd butter states promising that they'll talk the bill to death. If that mater1al1see, it wlll put the southern 8en&tor1 in a strange po1ltlon - on the aide ••t• opposing the flllbuater, although they are the world's greateat ■■ exponent• of the art of talking the bill U>death. But the cotton states Senators are in favor of the bill, because oleomar arlne la partly out of cotton aee4 011 - a.nd repreeente a boo■ t tor buaineea 1~1x1elan4. · However, the southern Senators will not be deprived of their favorite JD pleasure. D~moera,10 ~ONGRESS - 4 1 ader Senator Lucas also an . ounced that civil rights will come up in the Senate mighty promptly - the Truman racial program. The word 1n Washington tonight 1s that there isn't a chance of 1t paas1ngj the Dixieland Senators being alls t to give up the filibuster. In addition to all of which, there'• the question of taxes, a new social security bill, and . the Brannan farm plan, not to mention other dlepute1, 10 the new year will bring no~ end of argument in those newly decorated halls of Con1re11, gold for the lenate, and Baby Blue for the house. And - plenty of opportunity for oratory to try out thoae new acouat1ci. - IQiHQ84 - ~ The debate about our policy toward China brings & recommendation from/~mer President Herbert Hoover-... . . - . thinks the Un1 ed States HaTy should be sent to rormosa, headquarter• of what 11 left of the Nationalist g overnment - if 1u0h m■ Q - a step 1a needed to keep that vitally strategic 1alan4 from falling into the hands of the Coaaun11,1. ~••pot••) The statement ta made 1n~•••~••~to a query fro■ Senator Knowland of Cal1!orn1&. And still later - lenator Taft of Ohio ■a comes to the support of the Herbert Hoover prpposal that the Wavy be 1ent ,o ror ■oaa. QBIIA At Hongkong today Captain •Two Gun• Davey Jones has post~oned the sailing of hiss ip. He' a formidable aktJni skipper, as 1nd1ctated b his ••t nickname - •!_wo-gun•, but to ay the State - Department in Washington intervened, and reached out a long arm to Hongkong - where the U.S. Consul told Captain Davey Jones that the attitude of hia crew would be investigated. Were they being compelle4 under threat of force, to make the voyage! All of which 11 part of the tact that the A Iebran4aen Stea.mshi p Company insists •n the rtghl of its Teasels to aa11 to the Bed controlled port (proolaiaed of Shanghai - and thereby run the blockadeAUDZ■ltd bJ the Chinese~ ••nxdx■-..1••1x•A•at1on&lista at rormoa&j&nd our State Department refuaea to reoo nize that blockade but also gave warning that a akipper haa no rlgbt to endanger the lives of people aboard hla vessel - several of the Iabrandsen veesels havln~been ahoi up by Nationalist gunboats. But the ate&mehtp line a1serts its own right to trade with Oommun1at Shanghai. QHIJA - a The immediate point at 1asue 1s the steamship - Flying Arrow, loaded with inflammable cotton and a large quant~ty of exp101ive chemicals - dangerou• cargo, if sho o ting should begin. But, Captain Davey Jone• 11 a hard bitten ,ack tar, and 11Yed up to hie na■ e of two Gun by declaring th&, be would take ,he 11ylng Arrow into Bhanghal - and never ■ lnd - the ahootlng. Be wa• making gesture• of wh&, would haYe been bra•e indeed, had the cauae, in which ha 411played all that courage..,..., ■■ been a little ■ore patriotic than the mere bu11neea of trading with the Chlneae Re4•. An"ay, the crew of the r111n1 ATrow .,, 4ieplaye4 ■u• 1o■ewhat lea, valor than the •kipper - the 1allor1 quoted a, eaying that they were being compelled to make the voyage to Shanghai. They couldn't leave the d*IIIID■ ahlp becauee of regulations, whloh require eailor• to have paeeage ■ oney home. Moreover there were statements that Captain Davey Jones had issued revolvers ,o hla 10s1 BOYL That sure was a thril l er at the Rose Bowl, with the game depending upon the cool nerYel and educated toe of J1am1e Hague - who kicked a perfect twenty-eight yard field goal, which gaYe Ohio -- lta\e the Y1ctory over Cal1fornl&AleTenleen lo fourteen. that•• alway,1 a moment of moaenta, when a 1aae depend• on one kick. But Oalttornla lnelale4 on ~111n1 another thrill on top of that, a lut atnat, bld that put the gaae 1n eu1pen1e alao1I uttl the whlltle. - - - - YIAZUIB - IXP The headlines for western cold weather were s e t in British Columbia today, when the thermomeler -~~ hit a record-breaking low -~n the area of Prince George. Temperature - t1fty-aeTen- and-s1x-*• tenths degree• below zero. The prev10u1 11&rt for cold was set 1n Bln ~ teen Twenty-eight - when the te ■pera,ure ta fell to fitl7- ■ eTen below. All of which wa1n't ■uch of a headllae la the town of lnag, the Yukon, halt way bet•••• ftlte Borae an4 ra1rbant1. lna1 really 1•t• 0014, an4 W 1 ! , ~ ~ to4&7~ll waa 11x17-lwo below. leoa••• laat year, at . . . lna1, the botto■ tell out ot lhe lber ■o■eler re111terlng e11ht7-three below. I LVlhea yo ,1111 into tro1t7 weather llke that, I 1uppo•• you oou14 '* oall 11, hitting a l n a g ~ f LTP.1950.01.02.pdf LTP.430.219.014.pdf