THE FRANKLIN TIMES Issned Every Friday 115 Gout Street Telephone 2*8-1 A. F. JOHNSON, Editor and Manager James A. Johnson, Assistant Editor and Manager SUBSCRIPTION RATES One Tear ?1JM Six Months 78 Eight Months l.#0 Foot Months SO Foreign Advertising Representative AMERICAN PRESS ASSOCIATION New York Oltj Entered at the Poetofftoe at lioolsbnrg, N. C. as second In another column we are publishing the Compulsory Military Training bill as it was introduced in Congress, together with a short summary. The bill was passed in the Senate on Tuesday. This bill is especially drawn for the present and provides that if not continued by Con gress it will become inoperative in 1945. However, we feel that it would be an especially good thing to have a law requiring all young men to receive three to four vears military training before reaching 25 years of age. It would contribute a great deal to better health, better discipline and better morale, and of course, in times of emergency would contribute greatly to the armed stfengtb'io the country. ! Special Privileges Must Go THE jrole of labor in national defense is a topic which is causing much thoughtful discussion these days. ' And labor's best friends have come to the conclusion that it, no less than capital, must make sacrifices in the interest of liberty. j No longer can we afford costly industrial tie-ups, 1 while labor leaders and management wrangle and get nowhere. No longer can production be deliberately slowed down to conform to the ability of the least eflic* ient workman. And no longer will the public approve , a legislative policy which, in effect, starts with th^ premise that the manager is always wrong and the work} er always right in industrial disputes. The tragic experience of France contains a hard les son for America. In France, working hours were not increased until the last moment ? and that was largely responsible for the nation's incredible military weak ness. Politics pampered the worker-^?and politics thus made defeat inevitable. This does not mean that the worker is to be exploited. It silSaply means that all factors in our society must give up special privileges ? that no man can escape the neces sary sacrifices. That is the first step toward security. ooo Experts Survey The Farm Problem FORTUNE recently held a "round table" meeting for the purpose of surveying farm policies, from a straight business-like, non-political point of view. Twenty-two agricultura^ejmerts were invited to attend, of whom the majority were real "dirt farmers." The experts talk ed, argueji and analyzed ? and produced a number of highly interesting conclusions. / They pointed out that failure of export markets is hurting farmers, and that agriculture needs assistance to get back to some sort of parity level. They then made live definite suggestions for improving the farmers' lot: A public policy of soil conservation; better farm market ing^ajid reduction of erratic fluctuation in prices; elimi nation of interstate trade barriers and discriminatory commodity taxes; lower costs of food distribution and improved marketing facilities; new industrial uses for farm products. The suggestion concerning lower food distribution costs is especially important ? for it is here that the re cent legislative trend has been most inimical to farmet consumer welfare. Our lawmakers have gone the limit in discouraging efficiency and encouraging waste, with consequent higher prices and narrowing market^. We have legalized price-fixing ? we have levied punitive taxes-?we have burdened progressive retailing with a mass of restrictions which tend to increase prices, to freeze prices, or prevent price reductions. And the fai? mer, along with the wage-earner, has inevitably suffered. ' ' The Fortune round table turned the spotlight on the fallacy of legislative polieieS whi<& handicap or prevent normal production and distribution. 0O0 More Deadly Than Bombers WHEN a bomber of a warring nation destroys impor " tant industries and kills helpless people, it causes public consternation and determination to correct the evil. Minor news items in Oregon in two days reported denrh and destruction by fire which puts th^ average bomber to shame. For instance, three children were v trapped and burned to death in an upstairs bedroom in their home and a neighbor was injured in attempting th(?ir rescue. Fire swept through and virtually destroy ed a logging community comprised of homes and an abandoned sawmill. Another blaze destroyed a seed ex perimental plant and canned milk to the value of $15)0, 000. A fourth fire swept through a railroad siding at a cost of $75,000.' "A fifth fife burned a sawmill at a ebst of $40,000, leaving 80 employes jobless. j\ That'll better than the average record of death uild destruction caused by a modern bomber, and yet it itr simply the report of the fires in one sparsely settled slkftte for two days. Multiply that' record by 48 states ?u|d increase it in proportion to pop\iljKtion,*a!id yojr have up fdea of what th